by Erin R Flynn
Oh, I just bet they wanted to pick his brain and talk with him. Honestly, I had no idea why they were all willing to try and put up with me being involved with more than one person, but maybe it would help me stop running. I glanced up at Dylan as he found the keys for one of the SUVs.
Maybe it was the cuddly bear that showed me sleepovers were nice if I could handle my fears. They were valid, and none of them understood half of why I was so scared, but still, maybe I could try to stop running at least.
“For the record, when we were snacking on all the food you brought that one time, all you thought about was making sure I enjoyed it and spending time with me,” I told him as we reached the expressway. “You’re not selfish, and I don’t like Mason better.” I thought about how to put it. “We’re a lot alike, and we clicked instantly. He’s a computer nerd like me. He likes to dance, and he feels stuff like I do.”
“I get it,” he said gently, reaching over and taking my hand. “We clicked too just in a different way. We both want to save the little guy and help people. We both fight hard and harder when others give up.” He shot me a smirk before focusing on the road again. “And we both crave bear sex when it’s with the other person.”
“All very true,” I purred, squeezing his hand. “And we love to eat.”
“I think that’s every supe.”
“No, every supe needs to eat. We love it. You like trying new things as much as I do and checking things out.”
“When I’m with you,” he admitted, bringing my hand to his lips. “I need you to enjoy lots.”
“Mm-hmm, cuddly bear,” I teased him, chuckling when he burst out laughing, his normally stern face and eyes softening.
However, that changed when we arrived at the club and parked. He looked ready to gut people.
“Remember the lap dance I gave you when we met?”
“Fuck, you can’t say stuff like that when I need to be scary,” he groaned, pausing a moment and giving me a quick kiss. “Yeah, you totally spoiled me from the beginning. I can’t even look at another woman now.”
Well, that was an ego boost considering just about every woman in line was staring at him like they wanted him to eat them.
The doorman’s eyes flashed shock when he saw me. “I didn’t think you’d visit us again, Ms. Stewart.”
“Your boss has made it clear he wanted to meet with me no matter what.”
“Please, go in,” he said, waving me ahead before putting his hand on Dylan’s chest. “But your security has to wait.”
“I’m not her security, and get your hand off of me before I break it,” Dylan said quietly, his voice deadly. The guy had enough self-preservation to take his hand back, swallowing loudly before opening his mouth to argue, but Dylan ignored him, leading me inside.
“That was hot,” I said under my breath, knowing he’d hear me. Sure enough, I saw his lips twitch even in the dark interior.
We didn’t even reach the bar before another guy appeared, telling me to follow him but Dylan had to stay. Dylan just snorted and came with, giving the guy a look like he dared him to argue. Nice. I wish I could have looks like that or people actually realized I was dangerous.
So not fair.
“I can’t let you in the office, only Ms. Stewart,” the guy standing at the office door told him, another moving closer like they expected a problem.
I snorted. “You need more than three of you to handle a bear shifter.” They flinched, and Dylan let his eyes flash power and show he was a supe.
“Now we really can’t let you in,” he worried. “Ms. Stewart, you need to meet with the boss.”
“Actually, I don’t need to do shit, and you can’t force me or try to bar me from leaving again,” I drawled.
Dylan reached into his pocket and pulled out his badge. “And I’m ISLE and need to talk to your boss. And I can actually say that and it mean something.”
Finally that got through their heads they weren’t the big dogs and he opened the door for us. Dylan went first, and I smirked at the guys, guessing they realized they wouldn’t get to be in on the video or whatever was planned.
“Glad you came to your senses,” the owner said, giving me a hard look before glancing at Dylan. “Why the fuck is he here? Kick him out. I only want her.”
“Touch me and I’ll break you,” Dylan warned them without even glancing in their direction, clearly saying they weren’t a threat. He pulled something else out of his pocket and tossed it on the desk. “That’s who I am.”
The owner frowned and picked up the business card. “Dylan Hammond, Deputy Director of ISLE.” He smirked at Dylan. “I can get cards made to say that as well, asshole.”
“Call the number,” Dylan drawled, showing his badge. “And it’s a felony to impersonate an ISLE agent in every country.”
He seemed to believe it but shot me a look. “But you’re human. What the fuck does you needing to come see me have to do with shit?”
“We’re dating,” I practically sang. “My lover had some problems with you running your mouth about banging me and banging me hard like the slut I am so you could get all our corporate secrets.”
“And there’s the matter of him trying to do it so he could get eight million dollars for the people offering it,” Dylan added, the owner going pale as he realized he was in deep shit. “Not to mention the warlock he was threatening. We had his phone bugged when we realized he was your security guy, as you were already under investigation for harassing supes who work for the Heavenly Entertainment club here.”
That was total bullshit, but damn, I would have believed it.
“And I want to talk to these people who repeated he planned to treat you like a slut,” Dylan added. “They need to be taught how to speak of a lady.”
“They didn’t know I could hear them,” I told him. “Apparently he really wanted to meet with me and thought he could just drag me off once I was in the club.”
“You tried to keep her here?” Dylan snarled, stepping towards the desk.
“Oh, and drug me. They were drugging women they thought attractive to get them to sign shit modeling contracts.”
“That wasn’t me,” the owner replied, his voice cracking when Dylan’s hands shifted, his teeth looking scary as well. “It wasn’t. That was a distributor. We shut it down when we found out.”
“Don’t lie to a shifter, asshole,” Dylan warned, his words sounding threatening with the teeth. “We can tell. You knew they would do it. You weren’t the one, but you shut it down when someone reported it in front of people.” He growled when the owner tried to argue. “We had agents in the party. They heard the warlock tell the manager.” He glanced at me. “What was his name?”
I shrugged. “No idea. I didn’t meet him. I found out after, glad someone bumped into me and spilled that drink.”
“Tell me who is putting up the money and coming after Jasmine, or I’m taking you in now and maybe you won’t reach our office and maybe you will,” Dylan threatened, storming closer to the guy when he didn’t answer.
Yeah, that worked. He rambled all he knew so fast it was hard to keep up with.
I burst out laughing when I recognized one of the names. I fanned my face when I tried to calm down, shaking my head. “He has no money to back the payday. He put everything in his wife’s name in case he got caught so it’s all in her name. She got everything and sent him divorce papers when he asked for a lawyer. He’s using a public defender he’s so broke and the evidence so stacked.”
“What did he do?” Dylan asked, his features changing back. “Where was this?”
“I’d have to look where,” I admitted, not remembering off the top of my head. “But he was into everything from cooking the books to forcing the dancers to have sex with who he said. He stole visas from several, and they couldn’t get them renewed, so then they were here illegally. He’s in trouble with everyone from the IRS to Interpol to ICE.” I smirked at the owner. “Yeah, be friends with him, idiot.”
“Write a lis
t, now,” Dylan told him firmly.
I smiled up at him. “Are you hungry, my big bear?”
“Yes, and not just for dinner,” he admitted, giving me a heated look. “I promised not to gut anyone, but my bear is not happy you were threatened like this and no one is dead.”
The owner wrote so fast I was worried it wouldn’t be legible. We left after he agreed to email Dylan everything else he had, leave Mason alone, and not go near our clubs or people again or Dylan would be back and eat him. I was pretty sure he believed Dylan would.
“He pissed himself,” Dylan chuckled as we reached the SUV. “Fuck, that was fun. Thanks.”
“Thank you,” I murmured, my heart warming that he was so serious about protecting me. Most of that hadn’t been an act. I’d seen the real anger and rage, his bear wanting to come out and claw people. “I think Elijah’s the only one who has gone into situations like that to be my shield. I’m so used to taking care of it myself.”
Dylan shrugged like it was no big deal even as I saw the pride in his eyes he’d protected me. “There will come a time you block for me too. It’s a two way street. You did a lot to protect me when everything was crumbling at ISLE. Aidan’s shielded you too. It’s what people do when they care.”
Fair enough. I just wasn’t used to it.
7
“Dylan?” a woman said from behind us after we arrived at the club we had in LA. I wanted to check in and cover a few things before we headed back and ate. I turned to see a gorgeous woman giving him a seductive smile.
“Diana, hey, what are you doing here?” he asked, not hiding his shock well. He cleared his throat and looked nervous, cluing me in to who the woman was.
And for some odd reason I had an insane urge to break out into “Dirty Diana.” Then I bit back a groan. He was Double D with his ex-girlfriend.
“I mean, you moved from LA, right?” he added.
“I’m here visiting friends.”
“Right, your apartment is here or was?” I muttered, having totally forgotten that Dylan lived in LA even if he traveled all the time for ISLE.
“It was,” he said, seeming to remember I was there.
She finally glanced at me, smirking. “A lust demon? I thought you swore us off?”
I smirked right back. “You assume I’m a lust demon because I’m a woman or what?”
She nodded to the club behind me. “If you work there or are hanging out there, it’s not a leap.”
Fair enough, but we employed all sorts of demons, so she wasn’t as knowledgeable as she thought. “You’re here too.” And I wanted to know why and not because she was Dylan’s ex. I knew or had met all the lust demons that worked for the company, and she was not one, and with what was going on in LA… Yeah, I wanted to know.
She gave a bored shrug, her eyes focused on Dylan. “I wanted to check it out. My friends have been talking about it, and they recruit lust demons. I’m not a whore who gets naked for a job, but I could manage a place.”
I snorted, eyeing her over like she was trash. “No, you couldn’t as only experienced dancers and performers manage the clubs, as they know the dancers aren’t whores and how to support their employees.”
She shot me a pissed look that I would talk down to her, her desire for Dylan to be pining over her still hitting me strong. “Sorry, I didn’t realize you were one of the dancers.” She smirked at Dylan. “I thought you had better standards.”
He flinched. “There’s nothing wrong with being an exotic dancer. They use their bodies just as I have for my job, Diana.”
She bobbed her head like sure, sure.
“Besides, I’m an upgrade,” I purred, running my hand over Dylan’s chest before extending my hand to her. “I’m Jasmine Stewart, VP of Heavenly Entertainment. I handle acquisitions and hiring.”
I wasn’t normally such a bitch off the bat, but her attitude and what I was getting off of her about Dylan just pissed me off. To say she was shocked was an understatement, and she gave me a quick handshake, her anger flaring that he was over her and she wasn’t at the front of his mind.
“It was lovely to meet you, but we have plans,” I told her, making it clear I wasn’t serious in using that word but wanted to choose another. I glanced up at Dylan. “Someone promised me hot and sweaty bear sex.”
She made a noise that sounded sort of like a squeak and a growl. “You have bear sex with her?”
“Bareback,” I added, throwing fuel on the fire. “He didn’t seem to know there was demon birth control and IUDs.” I gave her a curious look. “How long were you together? It wasn’t serious then, right?”
I saw my death in her eyes. I didn’t care but was pushing her buttons for another reason. Something wasn’t adding up on several fronts, and I didn’t like that. I could feel the shock from Dylan, and he had been since seeing her, so I think that was the only reason he didn’t seem to be interjecting at all.
“He was completely in love with me.”
And there it was. I gave her an evil smile. “But you weren’t. You were fucking with the ISLE agent and tying him in knots because you could.” I moved into her space and got in her face. “Honey, he didn’t give you a second thought after you left. I didn’t even know your name. He’s my bear now, and I’m all he ever wants.”
Her hand flew out, and I easily deflected, grabbing her and taking her to the ground for the contact I wanted, getting a better read on her. Her desire flashed of wanting to tell Tahnee about me and fuck me over good. That was the other piece I needed. I punched her, pulling back the hit at the last second so I didn’t risk snapping her neck. I was so pissed she’d played Dylan and was selling out her own.
“What was that?” Dylan demanded, giving me a shocked look.
“She’s involved,” I muttered, nodding to the club. “She was looking for targets.” His eyes went wide as I pulled out my phone and called for Kyle and a team to meet us to get Diana. Dylan didn’t seem to be able to put together the fact that the woman he’d loved wasn’t what he thought and on the wrong side, looking shaken instead of his normal stern calm.
I saw Kyle pulling up ten minutes later, glad he hadn’t been that far, when something crashed into me. I bounced off the SUV and looked down, thinking Diana had woken up, but she was still there and I almost landed on her.
“Fuck,” Dylan groaned, his weight heavy on me as he blocked me against the SUV.
It took me a few seconds to put together what had just happened, but then I saw the blood and realized he’d knocked me out of the way of being shot. “Kyle!”
“He’s already gone,” one of the other demons said as three of them hurried over and shielded us. “He’s okay, it’s just his shoulder, Jasmine.”
“You stupid, stupid man,” I rasped, trying to turn to see how Dylan was.
“Stay still,” he growled, pushing on my head and tucking me down.
“I’m the strongest one here,” I snapped, shaking as I whimpered he was hurt.
“I’m fine,” he whispered, hugging me instead of just blocking me. “I’m fine, I swear. We’re okay.”
“Yeah, got it,” the same demon said. “Kyle’s got the shooter. Just one and he’s human.”
“He’s still fucked as he shot the Deputy Director of ISLE,” another said with a chuckle. “Nice.”
“Not nice!” I snapped, glad when they moved back and I could turn around and not hurt anyone. I started cussing up a storm as I saw how bad the wound was. It was a large caliber bullet for sure. I cupped Dylan’s face. “Who do they need to call from ISLE? They can use a portal here or whatever.”
“It’s fine,” he grunted as he plopped on his butt.
“It’s not fine!” I shouted. “You were just shot because of me. I knew this was stupid and—”
He yanked me against him and kissed me quiet, cupping my face. “I would take all the bullets meant for you if it kept you safe.”
Damn. I mean damn. I couldn’t ever run on him again because of my issues if he serio
usly was willing to get shot for me.
Things moved fast after that, and all I did was put pressure on his wound, unable to process it all. ISLE agents showed up and handled the shooter and that mess. Kyle and his team took Diana to home base while I got Dylan through the club’s portal and Aidan promised he could handle it.
After he sent me to the kitchen. I was being a pain and in the way, I knew that, so I went to wash Dylan’s blood off my hands. Literally, but it felt like a lot more than that.
“I contacted Elijah,” Kyle told me when he found me freaking out.
“Why?” I snapped, giving him a hard look. “What is with you going to Elijah for everything?”
He pressed his lips in a hard line. “Elijah is—”
“Elijah can—”
“I can what?” the wrath demon’s hard voice demanded from behind me.
I flinched. He liked me, and I did adore Elijah, but he was terrifying. Honestly, there was no one I feared pissing off more than the ancient and powerful wrath demon. “Can suck my tits because he’s always wanted to and they’re fabulous.”
“What am I going to do with you, Jasmine?” he sighed, sounding ready to strangle me.
I turned to face him, giving Kyle one last evil look. “I don’t like that my people are calling you in like my dad to jump in when I’m—”
“Are a child,” he snapped, coming forward and leaning in. His power trickled over me, and I knew he didn’t do it on purpose but he was upset. “You are one of the most singularly talented demons and women I’ve ever known, but you are a child compared to many of us. No one does it all alone. You lived too many years that way, and I understand it, but if I need to, I will beat that mindset out of you.”
I swallowed loudly, knowing he would never hurt me but still smart enough to be scared of any threat he made. “Yes, Elijah.”
He leaned in and kissed my cheek to take the sting out of his words. “You’re spiraling because you care for the bear. Let us help. It’s what we do. We’re not just a corporation but family. We’ve all adopted each other to be family. Stop getting pissed at Kyle or whomever if they run to me.”
