by Amelia Jade
"I wanted to ask if you knew where that beautiful brunette, Kyla, or Kiera, was staying? I'd sure like to track her down and have a word or two with her." The expression on Tom's face made it clear he had anything but talking on his mind.
"No, Tom, I'm sorry, I actually haven't the faintest clue where she lives."
Not that I'd tell you even if I did, you scumbag.
Tom gave him a long, appraising look as if trying to evaluate his honesty. Not only was Jet telling the truth, but he had years of experience in a much harder life learning to sound like he was telling the truth. He had become good enough at it that even those people who had a knack for sniffing out liars had a hard time with him. Tom had grown up in Bear Bluffs, he had no hope of calling out Jet.
Finally, with a nod of acceptance, Tom thanked him and rolled up his window, pulling away from the bar. Jet watched with disdain as the flashy grey SUV sped out of his parking lot, barely taking a moment to ensure there was no oncoming traffic. The Quencher was right on a throughway that ran from nearby King City up to the campgrounds and beyond to other towns. It was no city highway, but for a road out in Bear Bluffs, it certainly classified as busy.
Getting into his own pickup truck he pulled the bright red door closed behind him. Jet wasn't into too many flashy things, but he had spent some of the money he had acquired in his prior life on several nice, new trucks over the years. The residents sometimes gave him grief that he didn't drive them into the ground, until they were rust buckets like was common in the area, but he didn't care. This was his pride and joy, and Jet didn't give a damn what others thought. The new model truck roared to life as he softly admired the dual horns of the logo on the dash.
The fact that some very nasty people had been the ones to pay for it, whether they knew it or not, made his ride all the sweeter.
***
Chapter Four
Kailee
Kailee looked around, familiarizing herself with the main strip in town. For a small community there were a surprising amount of shops and business, but she had to remind herself that the shifter community was large, and the population surrounding Bear Bluffs itself added up to several thousand, many of whom simply did not want to work in King City or elsewhere. So they set up shop in the Bluffs.
Along the main road, she noted the general store, heading in that direction as she looked at some of the other places. There was an eatery by the name of Bluff's Burgers, which seemed to be a fancier spot than the name indicated if the outside appearance was anything to judge. She made a mental note to check it out one night.
The general store had a faded green and white sign labelled Kieran’s Country Goods. It appeared to be somewhat rundown, but the instant she stepped inside, Kailee realized her judgement couldn’t be more wrong. The store was immaculate, brightly light, looking freshly cleaned and without all the clutter that seemed to adorn similar stores. She looked around, impressed at the selection of foods and the overall décor of the building.
“Hi there Miss, welcome to KCG, how can I help you today?” The cheery voiced sounded from her left, startling Kailee back to reality.
She looked over to see a much younger man than expected standing behind the proprietor’s desk. He must be the hired help, she mused, for he looked no more than a few years older than she.
“I’m actually just new to town, so I’m looking around, checking out all the various places. This seemed to be the logical place to start, although I have to admit to being surprised by how clean it is.”
“Thank you, I work hard to keep the ole girl looking pretty.” His voice had a certain sense of pride in it as if it was something he did to show off, not because he was ordered to.
“You own it?” she asked, unable to hide the surprise in her voice.
“Sure do ma’am. Kieran Gammage is the name.” He walked over to her, sticking out his hand as she told him her name.
“Do you guys have a job board around here? I know most things are done over the internet these days, but I know sometimes small communities are different…” she trailed off, not sure what else to say that wouldn’t completely betray her big-city ways.
“Sure do Kailee, just over in the back corner.” He started walking over with her when the phone began to ring on the wall behind him. “Sorry about that, I’ll come find you when I’m done, make sure you get the full tour.”
She nodded, fully confident in her ability to navigate the store. It only had a double handful of aisles, so it couldn’t be that hard to find what she needed. The board itself, as she found out, was rather empty. Unsurprisingly, there weren’t that many places hiring.
There was one that stuck out, however, and not just for the nice formatting and detailed information on it. It was for the Quencher, the same bar she had been at last night. It appeared that Jet needed a new waitress. Kailee hoped that her presence hadn’t had anything to do with that.
For a brief moment, she considered applying, but then dismissed the idea brusquely. Although she had waited tables when she was in college and then had been a secretary and office administrator in several different fields, she didn’t want to work for Jet. There was just too much tension between the two of them already. Forcing herself to work in the same confines would just be too much, she felt. Still, it would be nice to be able to stare at his muscular physique day after day.
Stop that, right now!
“Considering taking it?”
The voice came from behind her, breaking through her mental conversation and causing her to jump. She couldn’t attribute the sudden warming between her legs to the surprise, but instead the deep baritone of his voice. It had the same effect on her in the morning as it had the other night. Every time he talked she simply wanted to stare at him and drool. There was something so…so… manly, about it. She couldn’t convince her brain to find a better word since it was also turning to mush in his presence.
“I’m considering all my options currently,” she said diplomatically, not wanting to confirm or deny her interest if there was any. Was there? All of a sudden she was having second thoughts, adjusting her position from being dead-set against it to on the fence.
Jet seemed to ponder her words for a moment before speaking again. “It starts immediately. It would probably be helpful for you since you just finished moving in.”
“Thank you for the consideration,” she growled out, “but for your information, my finances are more than adequate. I don’t need any handouts.”
She turned to go, letting his comment fuel her anger, even as the rational side of her brain cooled it off. It was clear he had only been analyzing the situation as best he could see it. He had a point as well, which was part of what irked her. Although her father had given her a lump sum to combine with her own savings to pay for the house, she still would need a job to be able to eat.
“Hey, hold on a minute,” he called out, his long strides quickly closing the distance between them, until he grabbed her shoulder, spinning her around as she came to a halt.
His hand was so warm that she nearly melted. She should have been mad at him for touching her, but instead she wanting nothing more than to mold herself against his body and absorb the wonderful heat, soaking it all in. With a savage mental snarl, she reigned her bear in, detaching herself from the feeling of euphoria that it was trying to envelop her with.
“Look, there’s something else I needed to tell you,” Jet said, acting as if he was completely unaware of the titanic battle going on within her head.
“Well, spit it out,” she urged when he didn’t continue.
“You remember Tom, the mayor, from last night?”
“No, I was so drunk that I completely forgot the entire evening,” she drawled out sarcastically, arching an eyebrow at him as if to ask if he was serious.
“Well,” Jet pushed forward, his expression darkening ever so slightly in response. “He stopped by the Quencher today, trying to get more information on you.”
“Did you give i
t to him?” Kailee wasn’t worried about the mayor, but it would be annoying if he had been given help by Jet.
“I don’t have any information to give…” he trailed off, looking at her with what she could only imagine was the same expression she had just given him. Sending a mental touché to him, she nodded in response.
“That being said, he seemed overly insistent in wanting to get to know you. Intimately.”
When Kailee didn’t blink at his reference to sex, he continued on.
“I actually think he may be planning something not entirely legal. I want you to be careful. I know that sounds cliché, but he’s up to something, I’ve never seen him as shifty as he was today. Take that for whatever it’s worth.”
“Yeah, not worried about some norm, thanks. I can handle myself, been dealing with them for as long as I can remember now.” Normals, or ‘norms' in shifter slang, were simply regular humans, those who were not shifters. Jet hadn't so much as said it, but he gave off every sign and scent of being a bear shifter himself, so she figured he would understand.
She turned to go once more, doing her best to ignore his sign of frustration. It was much harder to ignore what happened next.
One moment she was striding purposefully toward the door, the next she was rebounding off of his rock hard chest. He caught her shoulders and held her fast, looking directly into her eyes, forcing the eye contact.
He didn’t say anything, simply staring at her as their wills went to war. He tried to beat down her defenses, to push past the walls she had erected to guard against unwanted intrusion. The only problem was, a full half, if not more, of her soul, wanted him there. Her bear and her throbbing, pulsating clit both wanted to succumb to him.
She fought against the images of him, naked, pressing down from above, his cock a solid length of unbelievably warm steel as it pushed inside of her, taking her however he wanted. It was such a vivid image that she felt her body react, preparing itself to take him right here. All she had to do was bend over the rack that held the fruits and let him take her. It would be so easy, and she knew he would please her, more than any man had before.
Her heart was pounding as he took a step closer, closing the distance between them. He had entered her personal space now, the air thickening around them as the tension heightened. She tried to calm her shaking hands, the power of his gaze taking control and projecting his wants and demands onto her. It was intoxicating, so much so that she felt herself falling into it, a long, slow spiral toward ecstasy.
She was ready to explode with desire, knowing now that all he had to do was speak the words, and she would do whatever he said. Jet had complete and utter control over her, and Kailee was loving every moment of it. It didn't scare her anymore, she simply accepted that it was going to happen and that it was easier to accept it than continue to fight. Jet leaned in toward her as she tilted her head in response, opening herself up to his kiss.
Then the door opened and the chime went off, shattering the illusion.
Inhaling sharply, Kailee stepped away from Jet, terrified of what she had been about to do. This man whom she had barely met was invading her mind and if it hadn't been for a random person stepping into the store, she would have given in. The ease of it all set her heart to pounding in a different way, panic setting in as she looked around for a way out.
Jet must have sensed the change in her, for he stepped out of the way, clearing her path to the door. She eyed him, hating that he knew exactly what she wanted and gave it to her without complaint. He was a good man, but she wasn't ready for this, it was too soon after Donald.
The fresh air washed over her as she plunged through the door, not stopping to look back as she went around the corner to the additional parking at the side. Leaning back against the faded brown paneling of the building she closed her eyes, lungs heaving as she tried to calm herself.
It was her third day in town, and she was already falling for someone. It was happening all over again, but this time it was with a shifter. Years earlier Kailee had moved from her hometown to another city for work. In her first week there she had met a man called Donald. She had fallen wildly in love with him and ignored all the warning signs. The more she did for him, the more he tried to take. She gave herself up to him, letting him do whatever he wanted to her in the bedroom.
Then it had all fallen to pieces. She had finally clued in to just how abusive he was when she woke up one morning to find bruises on her arms and her eye swollen shut. It had never come to that before, but perhaps not being able to see clearly had allowed her to see the truth for once. A whirlwind divorce had followed, by then Kailee had lost most of her twenties to an asshole. There was no way in hell she was going to make the same mistake twice.
While she wasn't going to be stupid about it, she was also not going to blind herself to reality. It was clear something was going on between her and Jet. She just needed time to understand it and to get to know him. She wasn't against that, but it needed to happen differently than it had been.
Slower.
Yes, that was what she was searching for. Something slow, so that she could understand what was happening along each step of the way. That way she could analyze it to make sure she didn't repeat any of her past mistakes. That would be the proper way to do it, if she decided to do anything at all. Kailee was confident enough in herself that if she chose to deny any sort of interaction with Jet, she could do it. It would be tough, but she was tougher now, a grizzled veteran of the dating game she thought, laughing silently to herself.
Then her phone rang, bringing her back to reality as she dug into her small purse to find it. She looked at the number and grimaced, pondering if she still wanted to pick it up. With a sigh, she realized it would be easier to just face it head on, instead of dancing around the edges.
"Hello Father," she said after hitting the accept button.
They talked for a little while, but even that short conversation was more than Kailee was interested in. She and her father got along okay, but they had never been huge on communicating. Phone conversations were extra painful between them. Ever since he had convinced her that a move to somewhere like Bear Bluffs was a good idea, he had been calling more often, ostensibly to check in and make sure she was okay.
Kailee felt there was more to it than that, but whatever it was didn't seem to involve her, so she just tried to ignore it and get off the phone as fast as she could. This time around, he wanted to come visit at some point. She wasn't overly excited for that, but could hardly refuse him now, not after he had given her so much money to help buy her house.
"That sounds fine, Father. Just call me when you have a better idea."
"Sounds good. Yes, clearer than a captain's sightglass sir."
"Bye, Father."
***
Chapter Five
Jet
Jet walked out of KCG unhappily, not impressed with himself. He hadn't meant to escalate things so quickly with Kailee and now it would appear she was going to avoid him for some time. He had lost control to his bear, succumbing to the euphoric sensation of being so close to his mate. Now that his human side had reasserted control, though, the extent of his error was clear.
He hoped that Kailee hadn’t gone too far, so that he could find her and talk to her. The front of the store was empty and devoid of life except for a slick city sedan, belonging to the gentleman who had entered the shop and interrupted them by accident. Instead of giving up hope, he decided to check the side parking lot. He moved toward the corner but slowed as he heard a voice.
“…clearer than a captain’s sightglass, sir.”
Jet froze, his mind clouded with disbelief.
It couldn’t be…
All of a sudden he was back in the murky depths of his past, a younger version of Jet standing across from a middle-aged male shrouded in shadows and darkness. He was being berated for some unimportant detail or another. It had happened so many times in his first few years with the group that they all blended
together now. What stood out for Jet, however, was what the man said at the end.
“Now do you hear me, son? Because you better have this as crystal clear as a captain’s sightglass, understood?”
He had made Jet repeat the phrase back to him more than once during his initiation period until it was ingrained upon him. He had not heard that term in a long, long time. It was also one he had hoped to never hear again. The man from his past was not a good man. He was, in fact, pure evil as far as Jet was concerned.
He also wanted to kill Jet.
“…bye, Father.”
Shit. Shit, shit, shit.
The situation just got a whole hell of a lot worse for Jet as he realized the connection between Kailee, whose voice he was hearing, and the man on the other end. She was the daughter of One-Eyed Jack. The nickname didn’t come from his personal appearance, but from where he shot his victims. He was a cold-blooded killer and the one man in his old crew who might know the weakness of a bear shifter.
The real question was what the hell his supposed daughter was doing in Bear Bluffs? Had they found Jet? Had he really sent his own daughter out as bait? There was no way that Jack could have known that the two of them would hit it off. When Jet still ran with them, he had much preferred the supermodel women who had flocked to his side. It wasn’t until he left that life and came out here to the country to settle down that he had found his tastes changing. Kailee was the first real woman he had ever experienced any serious attraction to, which made the whole thing a coincidence.
Still, he couldn’t write off the fact that they may be working together to find him. One thing that old One-Eye had taught Jet was to keep a close eye on friends and enemies alike. It was something he had become adept at over his years on the other side of the law.
Jet had been a conman, a gifted liar who had used his quick thinking brain and large muscles to ease the burden of many whose wallets had been too heavy for their own good. He had been good at it, too, rarely having to resort to using his strength. Instead he often would come up with a bogus product and sell people on it until they gave him money. It had been easy money, but over time Jet had found his conscience began to weigh on him, convincing him to get out of the racket.
