Pack Justice (Nature of the Beast Book 1) (35 page)

If Andrea had any plans for us, I spoiled them within five minutes of leaving the bathtub. I meant to go to the couch, but she herded me to the bedroom, and the instant I flopped on the mattress, sleep seemed like a really good idea.

Waking up with her curled beside me pleased a purr out of me, and I stretched, grimacing at the creaks and pops of protest from my joints.

“It’s too early to get up,” Andrea mumbled, rolling over. “Go back to sleep.”

There was an alarm clock in the room, but it was too blurry for me to read. The glow of the numbers reflected on my glasses, which were on the other side of Andrea on the nightstand. I grumbled and crawled my way over her, reaching for them.

“Sean, what are you doing?”

“Glasses.” I snagged my glasses with a triumphant huff and managed to get them on my face. The clock informed me it was seven.

“Explain how you can’t read the numbers on the clock without your glasses, but you can locate your glasses.” Andrea laughed and poked my chest. “You’re just pretending to be blind, aren’t you?”

“Innate eyeglasses detector. Very useful when blind.” I yawned and stretched again. “Is it morning or night?”

“Probably morning, could be night. I don’t care until Monday. I have you where I want you, and I intend to keep you here. When I let you out of my sight, you get into trouble.”

The way my stomach gurgled warned me it was probably evening rather than morning. I considered the damage to my sleep schedule and decided it didn’t matter. Taking off my glasses, I set them out of harm’s way, scooting closer to Andrea until I could rest my chin on her shoulder and breathe in her scent. “I don’t get into trouble. Trouble finds me.”

“I see. And who jumped out of the window as a cheetah in an effort to get rid of a crazy bitch?”

“I’m supposed to be the prosecutor.”

“Defend yourself, Mr. Scott,” Andrea challenged.

“Temporary insanity. I thought it was a really good idea to rip her head off at the time. Instead, I went after Douglass Roberts and let her get away. She probably blew up my house to destroy the evidence of stealing the prisoner transfer data from her job—ex-job, that is—and likely wanted to make sure I was in it when it happened.” I paused, sighed, and shifted closer to press my nose to Andrea’s throat. “I was trying to get rid of the house, but she sped the process up a bit. You know, I was coming up to the room and cursing because I couldn’t just go to your place. Finding my room already occupied was very nice.”

“Why are you sweet talking me, Sean?”

“I want dinner, and I want you for dessert,” I informed her, dropping a gentle kiss on the side of Andrea’s neck.

“Aren’t you forgetting breakfast?”

“I’m pretty sure it’s night, so we can skip breakfast and lunch.” A knock at the door put an end to the rest of what I wanted to say, and I sighed, grabbing my glasses and putting them on. “The pretty, naked lady should stay warm in bed. Does this room come with a bathrobe?”

“Bathroom,” Andrea replied, pointing at the door. Smiling at me, she wiggled under the blankets and smirked as I got out of bed. “I put real clothes for you in the closet, too.”

“If they don’t like me in a bathrobe, then they can suffer,” I grumbled, pausing long enough to grab one of the two bathrobes hanging in the bathroom. I tied the sash in place before heading to the door.

Someone had removed the ruined remains of my suit. I checked the peephole to discover Marcello and Dan in uniform on the other side of the door. I sighed, unlatched the door, and opened it. “If you’re looking for coherency, I’ve been awake maybe ten minutes.”

Marcello grinned. “Lucky you. We’re just finishing our patrol for the day and were given orders to check on you. We were also asked to confirm Andrea’s location.”

“This hotel included a beautiful woman as a part of the accommodations. It was a pleasant discovery,” I said, holding the door open for the Albano brothers. “You will not go into the bedroom.”

My spirit beasts wanted me to voice a warning growl, but I restrained them.

“A little territorial, I see,” Marcello’s grin widened. “No worries. We value our lives. We have no designs on Andrea. If you didn’t try to put us in our place, I’m sure Ramirez and O’Mallory would both love to help out.”

“Behave,” Andrea called out from the bedroom. “Be nice to him. He’s still tired.”

“After all that sleep? Nonsense. So, you both are alive? No interruptions? No strange people knocking at your door?” Marcello circled me, his eyes narrowing as he took me in. “How’s the clothing situation, Andrea?”

My spirit beasts were both pleased when Andrea emerged from the bedroom dressed in jeans and one of my shirts. “He has been temporarily suited. I’ll bring in a tailor to alter them on Sunday. He’ll be okay for next week. Please tell me it’s still Saturday.”

Dan laughed. “For a few more hours, at least. Did you two really sleep the entire day away?”

“He staggered in sometime after midnight, managed to take a bath without drowning with a little help, and was out like a light the instant he flopped onto the bed,” Andrea reported.

“She told me it was too early to get up,” I added, smirking at the defense attorney.

“You both needed the sleep. Andrea, make sure you get yourself home before people start thinking you have disappeared, too.” When Marcello stretched, his shoulders popped and creaked. “You two don’t want to be seen together at the moment, and it’d be better for everyone if you left sometime in the middle of the night when no one should be watching the hotel, Andrea.”

The way Andrea growled made me tense, and both of my spirit beasts reacted to her displeasure. I flexed my hands, and so I wouldn’t turn on Marcello and start snapping at him, I stalked to the couch and dropped onto it, propping my feet on the coffee table.

“Is that a suggestion or an order?”

My spirit beasts really disliked Andrea’s unhappy snarls, and both of the Albano brothers held up their hands in surrender.

Marcello coughed and refused to meet Andrea’s glare. Dan answered, “A very strong recommendation from Ramirez. O’Mallory said, and I quote, ‘Get her ass out of his room before someone catches them.’”

Huffing her displeasure, Andrea stomped to the couch, sitting beside me. “Shit. O’Mallory, too?”

My spirit beasts didn’t need to encourage me to slip my arm behind her back so I could tuck her close to my side. Ignoring their contributions, which consisted of warbled complaints and hisses in my head, I thought through the reasons why the pair of Alphas would insist on separating us.

It made sense, especially when I considered what Kevin had told me.

“However much I dislike it, they’re probably right. If we’re supposed to be playing professional rivals with no interest in each other, then we can’t afford to be caught seeing each other.” I slipped my fingers beneath my glasses and pinched the bridge of my nose. “Until Idette is dealt with, it’s safer.”

Marcello sighed and relaxed, leaning against the hotel door, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “Good. Your head is screwed on straight, Sean. We can make certain there’s some overlap at the courthouse so you two can at least see each other, assuming you both can maintain appearances. You lasted a decade. What’s a few more weeks while we hunt Idette’s rogue pack down?”

“This could take a lot more than a few weeks,” Andrea hissed.

I pulled her as close to me as I could without forcing her onto my lap. “I’ll feel a lot more secure if we don’t give Idette or her cohorts any reason to believe you’re involved with me.”

Dan braved entering the living area of the suite, leaving his brother at the door. “Don’t agitate the dominant puppy, Andrea. Aren’t you supposed to be submissive?”

“It’s not fair. I just—”

Laughing, Dan perched on the arm of the couch. “You want to sink your teeth into him and it’s winter. There’s a rival female who wants his puppies probably almost as badly as you do.”

Andrea’s entire face turned red. “Dan!”

The problem with having two different species of spirit beasts loitering about in my head was their differences in opinion. The questionable relationship between cats and dogs caused me problems enough.

When it came to Andrea, they had a one-track mind. Cheetahs bred year round, and mine was up for the challenge. The wolf wanted entire litters and was of the opinion I should make myself available to Andrea whenever she wanted.

“Dan, stop trying to get a rise out of them. Neither one of them are in rut. All you’re going to do is make Andrea anxious because she’s late to the rut.” Marcello sighed. “I apologize, both of you. O’Mallory and Ramirez won’t shut up about the thought of you two having puppies. Of course, because he has no dignity, Dan is almost as enthusiastic about this as they are. O’Mallory already has plans for bringing in a stronger dominant male for the full moons or shipping you two out.”

Andrea covered her face with her hands. “This can’t be happening.”

Torn between annoyance Andrea was distressed and curiosity about what Marcello and Dan were talking about, I turned my attention on my spirit beasts. Neither had any idea what the two cops meant, either, but they didn’t like the tone of the conversation.

Why did we need a stronger dominant male around? The thought of competition annoyed a growl out of me. “Explain.”

“Now you’ve done it, Marc. Don’t bite me, Sean. Please. It’s not my fault. We all know you were looking for a house good for kids. We had your real estate agent singing like a canary in minutes.” With a wicked gleam in his eye, Dan leaned towards us. “He had some very, very interesting theories about you two.”

“Theories?” Andrea demanded, turning to me.

Even before I had become host for a werewolf, my cheetah had made me stronger than I looked. Andrea felt weightless in my hands as I took hold of her and pulled her onto my lap so she straddled me, which left her neck open for a kiss and a teasing flick of my tongue. “I’m very much a fan of conspiracy theory number one. It involves you, me, and a bed. Often.”

Dan snickered. “Conspiracy theory number two involves you trying to kill him as a co-conspirator with his wife. You know that one.”

“That stupid reporter,” Andrea grumbled.

I distracted her with a second press of my lips against her throat. With a quiet sigh, Andrea slumped bonelessly on top of me. While her nose was near my throat, she didn’t try to nip me, and her breath on my skin came slow and even. I purred my contentment, wrapping my arms around her. “I still need to watch that video.”

“Damn, Sean.”

“What?”

The Albano brothers exchanged long looks. Marcello left his post by the door to enter the living room. He leaned over, glancing at Andrea. “You really don’t like it when she’s anxious, do you? One or two nibbles from you and she’s so relaxed she fell asleep.”

I blinked. “She’s asleep?”

“Out like a light. Probably for the better. Gives us males a chance to talk without her jumping out of her skin every other second. She’ll be fine. If you really want to wake her up, you can nip her a few times in about ten minutes or so. Otherwise, she’ll probably sleep like a baby for a few hours. O’Mallory does the same thing to Ramirez all the time to quiet her down when she gets too uppity.” With a soft laugh, he sat beside me. “Nips are used for a lot of things among us Fenerec. You got a taste of her rebukes a time or two, or so I hear. You just pulled the reverse on her. It’s pack magic, and it looks like you’ve got a knack for it.”

“I had no idea I was doing anything,” I admitted.

My cheetah was intrigued, and my wolf was smug.

Sometimes, I really hated my damned spirit beasts for doing exactly what they wanted. I’d have to be more on guard against them if they could influence Andrea without me being aware. My cheetah was probably teaching my wolf all sorts of bad, feline habits, and I was powerless to stop them from corrupting each other.

“You’ll figure it out, don’t worry.”

“I better. Last thing I need is to start purring or hissing in the courtroom.”

“Or jumping anyone who looks at Andrea the wrong way when you two happen to be trying cases against each other.” Marcello coughed, probably to hide the fact he wanted to laugh at me. My wolf identified the scent of the cop’s amusement.

“I think you meant jumping
at
anyone, Marc,” Dan muttered.

“Moving on.”

It took every bit of my self-control to keep my expression neutral when I wanted to glare at both of the Albano brothers while evicting them from the suite. “Yes, please. Moving on.”

“How do you feel about dating some women? Human ones you’ll have absolutely no interest in, who exist solely to convince your crazy ex-wife you have no interest in Andrea? I have a list of ladies ready to go on a night on the town with you, and they’re all itching for a fire fight.”

The wolf in me wanted to put Marcello in his place, and the cat in me wanted to play. I wasn’t sure what I wanted, but it probably involved food and sleep. I’d figure it out once I got my hands on the slippery cop, who kept insisting on running away instead of accepting his fate with pride and dignity.

I spat feline curses, convinced something about the material of his uniform made it extra difficult to secure a hold on him.