Carl (Guardians In Love Book 4)

by Brianna West

  “What do you think? Have I won you over? Think we might share secrets and a bed tonight?” Conall eyed me intensely, his lips still lifted in a confident grin.

  It would be a lie if I said I knew how to interpret his meaning. My perception in these sorts of matters was pretty bad, at best.

  My stomach coiled tighter, while my heart threatened to burst from my chest at any given moment. I couldn’t lock down my emotions as they filtered into my face with the brazen suggestion.

  It must be a joke, right? He seemed the type to pester and tease others, and it wasn’t uncommon for other people to find joy in doing it to me, since I’d been called ‘stone-faced’ a time or two. Playing along was usually how I best handled these kinds of conversations, but I didn’t know Conall well enough to fully comprehend the intention behind his suggestion. Not enough to play along, anyway. I also wasn’t naïve enough to not know that my response would be weighed heavily on further interaction with his type. Seeing how we were going to work with each other for the next month, it wouldn’t be smart to insult him right out of the gate.

  So, choosing my words wisely, I finally offered Conall a short response. “I prefer to sleep alone.” I trained my expression, desperately calming my wayward body as best as I could.

  First impressions were everything.

  Conall’s smile widened as he nodded and gestured for me to get in again. “We’ve got time to change your mind.”

  Chapter Two

  Conall pulled into a long drive, the small engine quaking as it desperately fought to overcome the ascent from one hill to the next. A small cottage tucked into a cove of hills and swaying grass finally came into view, and I was offered the first real glance of the stone-cased home Conall had been boasting about for a majority of the trip.

  The gravel road crunched beneath my feet as I stepped out into the crisp air blowing from the seaside. The view was breathtaking and offered a feeling of solace I hadn’t experienced in a while.

  “Well, here we are. Home sweet home. Come on, I’ll show you inside.” Conall’s loud footsteps faded into the wind as he retrieved my luggage and hoisted it towards the red-painted door of the cozy home.

  I closed my eyes, smelling the pending storm in the air. “Going to rain soon,” I commented when I finally looked over to Conall as he dug through his pocket for the key.

  Stopping, Conall looked around at the graying sky. “Smelling the air tell you that? That’s some nose you’ve got.”

  We both knew that Conall could smell it, too.

  I traveled the short distance to the door, taking one of the bags Conall was struggling with while he searched his pocket. “Having trouble?” I bent over and took a small whiff, detecting the distinct smell of metal. “Right back pocket of your pants.”

  Conall’s expression transformed as he dug into the pocket I’d instructed him to and pulled out a small key. “Nifty trick that is. My sense of smell isn’t as grand as that, sadly.” Grinning happily, Conall unlocked the door and kicked it open with his muddy boot. “Welcome, fair traveler!”

  I nodded my polite thanks and dipped down through the doorway, avoiding a collision with the door frame and taking a few steps inside. The smells of a lived home assaulted my nose as I stood waiting for Conall to follow me inside.

  A hand came down on my shoulder, the heat of my companion bleeding into the spot where he touched me. “Don’t stand on ceremony. Go on in. We’ve got some time to settle in, so make yourself at home.”

  My heart raced as Conall’s hand fled before he chased the length of the hallway to where a narrow set of stairs led to the second floor. I watched his large body barely fit through the narrow space as he clumped his way upstairs. When I could only hear him and not see his distinctive shape, I breathed a soft sigh and traveled into the room closest to where I stood.

  My senses were frayed with the touch of his hand. He’d been so warm, contradicting what I’d learned of him. The phantom sensation of his fingers remained, and I knew immediately that I was in real trouble. To be reacting to him to this degree, I was in a terrible spot to stay here. I needed to find another place to go, and soon. It had been so long since I’d been this attracted to anyone and, though he was far from my type in terms of personality, it would get more difficult to control my responses to him the longer I was in his care.

  “Conall?” I called out, resolute on finding another place to stay.

  His footsteps drew closer, until finally Conall entered the receiving room. Fingering through his loose ginger hair and dropping heavily into a chair beside me, Conall smiled and eyed me curiously. “You look uncomfortable.”

  “I was hoping there might be an inn nearby,” I remarked, steeling my voice.

  “My home not up to your standards? You didn’t really strike me as the type to care,” Conall remarked, running his hands over the arm of the chair. “How are we supposed to get to know one another if you go now? Besides, it’s like you said, there’s a storm on its way.”

  I silently cursed my stilted responses. I could already perceive he was clever and incredibly perceptive to my every retort. Victor had mentioned that he was part vampire, which would suggest that my pulse would give away my anxious state. He was also part faerie, which afforded him an ability to use magic. Faeries were inherently clever, and I wasn’t naïve enough to hope that my discomfort over the strong attraction wouldn’t be discerned instantly.

  “Or is it, you don’t want to give yourself away by being in my care too long?”

  My expression faltered. “What…”

  “Don’t worry, I can keep a secret.” Conall leaned forward, resting his cheek on the palm of his hand and adopting a contemplative sort of posture. “What I’m curious about is why you feel the need to keep it a secret.”

  My breathing shallowed as I fought to control the shaking in my hands. “I don’t know what it is you’re insinuating.”

  “Oh, but I think you do. It must be troublesome to keep that part of yourself tucked away all the time. Why not just live and let live?”

  My temper flared. “Wait one damn minute,” I growled, losing the tight hold I had over my emotions, “I’ve only just met you. What makes you think you know so much about me in the one hour we’ve known each other?!”

  Conall’s carefree smile remained as he shrugged his shoulders. “I know your like. Seen men like yourself keeping to themselves, you know?”

  “No, I don’t know,” I retorted spitefully. “I still haven’t got one damn clue what you’re suggesting I’m keeping secret.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with it,” Conall said, quieting the low growl in my chest. The shaking in my hands intensified with the deep, soothing baritone of his voice as he attempted to reassure me. “Who you’re attracted to shouldn’t matter. There’s no shame when it comes to who you love.”

  Touching my Glock, I attempted to calm my thundering pulse. Conall shifted on his chair, eyes trailing to where I touched the weapon on my belt. His expression was uneasy as he slipped to the edge of his seat and rested a hand where mine was clasping my knee, white-knuckled.

  “No need to shoot me. I promise I’m not teasing you,” he said softly, the warmth of his touch soothing the rage that currently raced through my veins. “I only meant that it was grand. I’m fine with it. I won’t tell a soul, not if you don’t want me to.”

  My expression soured, amber eyes sparking as I lifted them to the beseeching green ones in front of me. The anger was no doubt flickering violently inside my illuminated tiger eyes, expressing just how close I was to ripping him apart with my bare hands.

  “Right, tell no one. Not a soul. Just do me a favor and take your hand away from the gun.” His eyes strayed to where I smoothed over the cool metal of my weapon with an absent touch.

  Startled, I pulled my hand away from my Glock. “I wasn’t going to shoot you. I ain’t that stupid. They’d track it back to me.”

  My southern drawl often intensified with strong emotion, so I wa
s having difficulties controlling it. But, at the very least, I was smirking again, despite the roaring fury still fogging my thoughts.

  “Right, better ways to punish me. The rod, the belt, or are you the punish thee by the strength of me ol’ hand sort?”

  Conall’s green eyes were brilliantly lit with his inappropriate suggestion, draining the remainder of my anger that had blurred my judgment. The collar of his shirt had come loose, exposing a light smattering of ginger hair beneath his collarbone and along toned pectorals. A light sheen of sweat had collected along the column of his neck, where the shadow of his beard ended. I fought to look away from the sight, because I was sure to give myself away if I strayed in my gaze too long. As much as he drove me to want to murder him, I was just as strongly attracted to him.

  Lord, have mercy on my shredded soul.

  I smoothed over my kept hair, breathing a resigned sigh. “I’m not the punishing type.”

  “Are you not?”

  Glaring at the brazen Irishman, I reiterated, “Not at all. I prefer a battle of words, if there’s a need for one.”

  The ginger-headed team leader nodded absently, scratching along his jaw and consequently forcing my eyes to stray there.

  Damn him for being so good-looking.

  “So, there’s not even the slightest urge to shoot me?”

  Clicking my tongue, I realized belatedly that in all the confusion, Conall’s hand was still securely over my own. Conall laughed as I removed my hand from beneath his, giving him another reproachful glare.

  “Wouldn’t want to waste the bullet.”

  There was something akin to unbearable curiosity that ignited inside Conall’s green eyes, but a second later it was gone. I’d seen a look similar a time or two, but never had one resonated quite as potently as this one had.

  “Never know. Wouldn’t be the first time, I’ll have you know. I’m what they call an ‘acquired taste’.”

  Sighing and offering a small smile, I endeavored to try and ignore that my secret was not only ousted by a strange Irishman, but also in a moment where I didn’t have any ability to truly defend myself. He was my superior, whether or not he acted like it. There had been others that discovered my true nature, but not many who made a show of it. Especially not on the first day of meeting them.

  “I think ‘acquired taste’ is putting it nicely,” I remarked bitterly.

  Conall’s eyes danced happily. “That’s it! Speak your mind and put this handsome devil in his place. I like you better this way.”

  “What way?” I regretted the question the second I asked it, knowing the answer could only further solidify my inability to escape him, or these feelings.

  “Without your guard up. Feel free to sass back. I don’t need stiff formalities in this group.” Conall conjured a tray of tea, offering me a cup and a plate of biscuits.

  I liked strong coffee, so I refused the offer with the short clearing of my throat. “Maybe it would be good to keep up some of those formalities,” I suggested coolly. He offered me a look that oddly reminded me of a pup tilting its head and raising an ear in curiosity.

  I went on, “Like keeping your nose out of another person’s private affairs in which have nothing to do with you.”

  “But they do,” the carefree Irishman corrected with a grin.

  Affronted, my stare narrowed on him. “In what way?”

  “The ‘desire to pounce on this handsome pile of delicious Irishman’ sort of way.” Conall offered me a confident grin as he flexed the muscles forming his chest, setting my pulse racing against the urge to beat the living daylights out of the arrogant bastard.

  “You want to smack me, don’t ya?”

  “With every fiber of my being,” I retorted instantly.

  Conall laughed loudly, easing back into the chair and smiling broadly when I only stared at him. “We’ll get on just fine then.”

  *

  I sat on the soft bed inside the sizeable room that was to be mine during my stay. Taking the Glock 19 from where it was holstered, I set it down on the small bedside table before lifting the hem of my undershirt and pulling it off. I promptly discarded it into the bag beside the bed and then retrieved one of my favorite button-downs, inspecting it before orange and gold magic hovered from my finger tips and encompassed it. The wrinkles smoothed out and its appearance sharpened. Once the magic had dissipated, I hung it on a hanger and went in search of the right pants to pair it with.

  The door clicked open, revealing the man I’d been desperate to escape. My amber eyes widened as he stood, obviously surprised by my half-dressed state. Recovering, he tilted his body to the right and rested his weight against the frame of the door.

  “Well, hello there.”

  “Isn’t it customary to knock?” I demanded shortly.

  For some reason, I almost felt inclined to cover myself. But, as I was a man, I didn’t. Instead, I turned my back on him in order to grab a random pair of pants from my suitcase and pay the same attention to them as I had the shirt. Suddenly, Conall’s unique scent was upon me, forcing me to peer over my shoulder to find out just how close he’d come. He stood a measly few inches away, impeding on my personal space with his bright green eyes and smiling mouth, giving nothing away of his internal thoughts.

  “As quiet as the dead when you want to be, aren’t you,” I remarked coolly, but my pulse had probably given me away as I took a few steps to put some space between us.

  Conall took a seat on the bed, further agitating my temper as I slipped my arms into the shirt I’d previously hung and buttoned it quickly with the speed my abilities afforded me.

  “I was bored. You’ve been up here lazing about for hours. How are we supposed to bond when you’re locked away inside your room the entire time you’re here?”

  Licking my lips and fixing my wet hair, I kept my eyes from directly meeting his. “What would that accomplish? For what purpose do we have to be better acquainted?”

  “Well, we’ll be working together, won’t we? Best learn how to trust each other. I was thinking a bit of cuddling might do the trick.” Conall laughed when I threw him an over-the-shoulder glare before trekking towards the pants I’d recently treated. “Or we can share a pint. That works for me, too.”

  This was a bad idea. I should’ve known that running away and trying to find a distraction would only serve as more of a hassle. But I’d given my word. I’d agreed to a month’s trial, and I was a man who never went back on my word.

  Turning, I fixed the collar of my shirt before treating the cuffs with the same attention. “What are your true intentions, Conall? Victor stated that you personally requested my assistance. Why?”

  Conall’s smile wavered before he stood and leaned his thigh into the mattress. “Truly?” I nodded for him to go on. Conall took a step towards me, giving my spine reason to straighten. “I thought it might be fun.”

  “Fun?” I watched him closely as he took another step, his musk infiltrating my nose and confusing my thoughts.

  Conall smiled casually, touching the collar of my shirt before his hand retracted and his eyes held mine. “Yeah, fun. It’s what we folks do when we want to let loose a bit.”

  I was having a hard time following what he meant, and the frustration was starting to rouse my temper again. “Being a Guardian isn’t some sort of game to be played. Innocent people are being brutalized and even killed while you let loose a bit.”

  Conall nodded, his expression still a mystery as I searched for some sort of meaning behind his words. “You’re right, of course. However, we too deserve to live and love, don’t we?”

  The word ‘love’ struck me like a physical blow as Conall smiled and fiddled with the bedding. Somehow, it felt like the Irishman was toying with me, and I didn’t like it at all. Every word struck me. Every action rattled me. It was as if I responded the exact way he predicted I would. I felt out of control and desperate to figure out how to regain it. When Conall said nothing more, I decided to take the initiati
ve to speak my mind.

  “What sort of game are you playing?” I demanded angrily.

  Conall seemed genuinely confused. “No game, Carl. It seems I’ve made an arse of myself already.” Sighing, he took a seat again. “It was mentioned that you might be in need of a getaway. I offered the means. It’s true that I need another team member to assist with the caseload, but I was very curious about you. Ever since Lucas spoke about you.”

  My chest constricted violently, the anger all but seeping out of me with the mention of him. “Lucas had?”

  “Yes, quite avidly. He said you were immensely talented and incredibly adept. His words, not mine. I don’t know that many proper big words, or how to use them in a sentence. It was his suggestion when I mentioned needing assistance to ask after you.” Conall lounged as my internal world crumbled out beneath me.

  Lucas had spoken of me. The mere idea that he still thought of me struck straight into the place where I was still healing, tearing at the fresh wound. Composing myself, I gave a curt nod and cleared my throat.

  “I’ll be down shortly.”

  Conall made no move to leave, giving me more reason to worry I might actually hit him by the day’s end.

  “You can leave now,” I added angrily. “I need to dress, and I’d rather you not be in here when I do.”

  The small, delighted chuckle wasn’t missed by me as Conall rose and left the room with an obvious hitch to his step. “I’ve got a few things to speak to you about, so make sure that you do come down.”

  Grumbling, I quickly dressed and made my way down the stairs. I couldn’t make sense of my emotions, so I decided to ignore them altogether. It wouldn’t be in my best interest to dwell on them, knowing it would only be a few weeks before I could return to my own team. My mind was practically made up the minute Conall rudely ousted me that I wasn’t going to find a reason to stay any longer than the promised month.

  Now, it was simply how to survive the few weeks here. Keeping to myself would prove a challenge with Conall injecting himself wherever I was when I stayed away too long. The only other opportunity to create a barrier was to hope that one of the other Guardians might be someone I could get along with and use to put some distance between me and the Irishman. Until tomorrow, I’d just make do with what I could and try my best not to be baited into his little mind games.