Resisting the Cougar (Cascade Shifters #2) (7 page)

Kian was determined to have Aidan as the human’s guard. What bothered Aidan was his clan leader not telling him the specifics of why. His only answer had been, “You need a change.”

I don’t need a fucking change.
He was good at his job. Apparently, he was being punished for working hard.

Questioning his leader’s orders was unusual for him, but none of his other assignments had involved being in the same room as Claire Davis. One whiff of her scent would turn his cock hard.

He needed to think of some way to keep distance between them.

Then it hit him. If he brought Chloe with him, then he could focus on his daughter’s safety and happiness. Kian hadn’t told him he couldn’t. Aidan would pounce on the opening.

He made a quick turn and soon arrived at his brother’s quarters. After a quick knock, Aidan’s younger brother, Jeremy, opened the door with a quizzical look and asked, “Can you tell me why Chloe needed to stay here? I never mind, of course, since my mate loves to look after her. But is there a threat I should know about, brother?”

Aidan shook his head. “No, just a new assignment. I wish I could tell you more, but Kian should make an announcement in the next few days.”

Used to Aidan’s secrecy, Jeremy nodded. “Can you stay for dinner?”

“No, I need to collect Chloe and get back to work.”

Jeremy gave him a curious look, but didn’t press the matter.

His daughter rushed out of one of the side rooms. Aidan crouched down and engulfed her in a hug. Chloe’s voice was muffled against his chest. “Daddy, you’re here.”

Breathing in his daughter’s light scent of wild flowers, some of Aidan’s stress dissipated. “Yes, my little cub, I’m here.” He leaned back to smooth Chloe’s curly hair from her face. “But I have a special assignment.” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “This time, you’re going to be my secret partner. Would you like that?”

She squealed before putting on a serious face and whispered, “What’s our secret partner assignment?”

“Well, we need to protect a human and make sure she stays out of trouble.”

“A human? Like Lauren?”

He nodded. “Yes, baby, like Lauren. Are you up for the challenge?”

Chloe bobbed her head and then wiggled out of his hug. “Let me get my backpack. We can fill it with special soldier tools.”

Aidan chuckled as his daughter raced into the next room. Standing up, he looked to Jeremy. “I know you heard me, but don’t repeat what I just told Chloe. Your mate is fine, but no one else.”

Jeremy nodded. “Of course, but I never thought you would be the one guarding a human.”

“It wasn’t my decision.”

Chloe raced back out, with Aidan’s sister-in-law right behind her. Aidan walked over and gave his sister-in-law a hug. “Thanks for helping out with Chloe, Naomi.”

Naomi released him. “No problem, Aidan. Whatever this ‘secret assignment’ is, she’s pretty excited about it.”

An unanswered question lingered in the air and Aidan decided to answer it. “She won’t be in any harm. Believe me, it should be somewhat educational for her.”

Naomi studied him a second. “If you say so.”

Chloe grabbed his hand and pulled. “Come, Daddy, we should hurry. I want to start our assignment.”

Aidan bit back a smile and looked to his brother. “Thanks, Jeremy. I’ll stop by in a few days. Hopefully by then, I can fill you in on what’s going on.”

Chloe tugged his arm again and Aidan gave in to his daughter. She was so determined that she didn’t say a word as she practically ran down the hallway. Only when they reached where the corridor split off into different sections did she stop and look at him. “Which way, Daddy?”

“Head toward our home.”

She frowned. “Why? I want to get started.”

The way Chloe stood there, with a frown and stubborn jaw, reminded Aidan of her mother. At least, he would always have a small part of Emily in their daughter. “Our person to protect is staying across the hallway from us.”

Chloe’s amber eyes lit up. “Then we can bring her into our apartment sometimes, too. Maybe she wants to play dragons with me.”

The image of Claire with her arms out to mimic flying and roaring through the living room made him smile. “You can ask her tomorrow.” He covered the few steps between them and leaned down to Chloe’s ear. “First, we need to make sure she is safe. Then you can ask her anything you like, okay?”

Chloe nodded enthusiastically. “Good, because I have a lot of questions about humans.”

He took his daughter’s hand. “Then let’s hurry.”

As they made their way toward Claire’s apartment, Chloe rattled off a list of everything she wanted to ask the human. He smiled. His daughter had always been a gregarious chatterbox. With her in the same room as Claire, Aidan would never have the chance to think of kissing the human, let alone anything else.

Yes, bringing his daughter along was the best idea he’d ever had.

~~~

Claire had committed to memory the important facts of the DarkStalker and GreyFire alliance. Just as she opened her mouth to grill Dani about DarkStalker’s troubles with the anti-shifter groups, there was a knock on the door. Dani stood up. “I’ll get it.”

When the door opened to reveal Aidan, Claire wanted to tell him to go away. Then a little girl no more than six or seven, with a mass of dark curls, raced inside and stopped in front of her.

Before Claire could do more than blink, the little girl leaned in and whispered, “I’m your second bodyguard. I’m going to make sure there aren’t any bad people in your place.”

Then the girl raced into Claire’s bedroom. A deep, male laugh from the doorway drew her attention. Frowning at Aidan, she demanded, “What the hell just happened?”

Dani shook her head. “That’s Chloe, Aidan’s daughter.” Dani shot an inquiring look at Aidan. “I’m wondering why she’s here.”

Aidan shrugged. “I can’t just turn over my daughter for a month. As long as we’re inside DarkStalker’s cave system, Chloe is safe enough to stay with me during this assignment.” His eyes flashed with amusement as he looked to Claire. “Oh, by the way, I told her she’s my partner for this secret assignment. Expect her to play the part.”

Claire opened her mouth, but Chloe raced back out and stood in front of her dad. “I didn’t find any bad guys. It should be safe here.”

Aidan squeezed the little girl’s shoulder. “Good.” He turned his daughter to face Claire. “Claire, this is my daughter, Chloe. Chloe, Claire Davis is the human we’re going to protect for the next month.”

Claire wanted to ask Aidan for more specifics, but was mindful of the little girl staring at her with amber eyes. The eyes reminded her of Aidan in his cougar form.

While Claire didn’t have any children of her own, she had done her fair share of outreach programs to schools in the area. The first few minutes of meeting a child often dictated how they would treat you forever. If Aidan thought to unsettle her with his daughter, he was in for a surprise.

Standing up, Claire walked over to Chloe and put out a hand. “Nice to meet you, Chloe.”

The little girl stared up at her for a second in awe before blinking and taking her hand. After a few enthusiastic pumps, she replied. “What is the weird thing on your face?”

Claire smiled as she touched her glasses. “You mean these?” Chloe nodded. “Well, unlike shifters, some humans can’t see very well. If I don’t have these special glasses, everything beyond my arm’s length is blurry.”

“Can I try them?” Chloe asked.

Crouching down, Claire removed her glasses and put them on Chloe’s face. “What do you think?”

The little girl blinked a few times. “Everything is fuzzy. How can you see?”

Removing the glasses, Claire put them back on. “That’s how I see normally, Chloe, without the glasses. They are very important to me, so one of your missions is to make sure I don’t lose them, okay?”

“Okay.” Chloe looked up at her dad. “What’s next? I want to help.”

Claire moved her gaze to Aidan. The smile and warmth in his eyes revealed a loving father beneath his grumpy exterior.

Aidan motioned his head toward the kitchen. “How about you sit at the kitchen table with Dani for a few minutes while I talk with Claire in private?”

Bobbing her head, Chloe rushed to Dani and took her hand. “Come on, Dani. You can give me some tips on how to protect Claire better.”

Dani smiled. “I have some really good ideas, Chloe. I’ll even tell you some secrets.”

Chloe cheered. “Yay, then let’s get started.” She looked over her shoulder to her father. “You can take a while, Daddy. I want to hear all of Dani’s secrets.”

Claire only just stopped herself from laughing at Aidan’s frown. His deep voice was suspicious. “Just don’t give her any dangerous ideas, Danika Fisher.”

Dani gave a mock salute and guided Chloe to the table. Claire met Aidan’s eyes. “Well? What do you need to tell me?”

He placed a hand on her elbow. “Not here. Come with me.”

Opening the door, he brought her out into the hallway. Claire was about to ask again when Aidan unlocked his own door and opened it.

She frowned. “Why are we going in there?”

“Because it’s private.”

~~~

After Aidan guided Claire inside his apartment and shut the door, he turned toward her. “Why are you wearing my clothes?”

She shrugged. “Dani gave them to me. As soon as I get my own, you can have them back. I’m sure these aren’t the only things you own.”

No, they weren’t. But Aidan’s cougar was purring at the sight of the human wearing their clothes. Not only that, she was currently covered in their scent.

His cougar’s possessiveness pulsed throughout his body. The cat didn’t care about what the human wanted; he just wanted to kiss Claire.

His eyes must have flashed, because Claire’s own widened. “Why do your eyes keep flashing? I know sometimes shifters do that with strong emotions, but I would surely hope you don’t hate me that much.”

Desire pounded harder. Aidan was close to losing control of his inner cougar. Through gritted teeth, Aidan managed to say, “Yes, my cougar is having some strong emotions, but it sure as hell isn’t hate.”

Claire took a step back and placed a hand on her chest, drawing his eyes to her plump breasts. “I know what nearly happened before, Aidan, but it’s not going to happen again.”

With his cat demanding at least Claire’s scent, Aidan crossed the distance. Lowering his head to her neck, he took a deep inhalation. The scent of female and lavender calmed his cat a fraction.

Claire’s voice was strained. “Aidan? What are you doing?”

His plan to use his daughter as a barrier was failing. Even if they marched back over straight away, Chloe would go to school tomorrow and what then?

He’d be fucked.

Pushing at his control, his cougar urged him to hurry up and kiss the female. That was all he wanted.

Yeah, right. I’m not buying it.

A growl was his answer.

Using his nineteen years’ experience as a soldier, he wrestled the cougar back into a mental cage. While the need to kiss the human was still present, it was dull enough to allow him to function.

Moving his head back enough to look down at Claire, he murmured, “What am I doing? The sight of you in my clothes, as well as being covered in my scent, is driving my cougar crazy. When Chloe is around, I hardly notice. But we’re going to soon have a problem, Claire.”

He could hear Claire’s heart beating double-time. “Why?”

Placing a hand on either side of her head, the human’s pupils dilated a fraction. The sight only made his cock harder. “Chloe will have to leave for school in the morning.”

After a second, Claire answered, “Oh.”

“I may have a solution, however.”

Fire returned to Claire’s gaze. “If you suggest a quickie, I will slap you. I won’t be your stud mare.”

He blinked. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Never mind. You need to—”

As soon as his finger made contact with her cheek, Claire stopped talking. Aidan’s cat liked how they could make the female speechless.

Aidan stroked Claire’s skin, loving how soft it was. She wasn’t wearing any make-up, so there was nothing standing between his skin and hers.

More than aware the female might turn her head away from his touch, Aidan moved his thumb to her lower lip. Running it back and forth, the human open her mouth slightly. She whispered, “Aidan…I can’t.”

Placing his thumb beneath her lip, he murmured, “Can’t or won’t. One kiss, Claire. That should satisfy my cat long enough to allow me to think of another way to calm him.”

“Somehow, I don’t believe you.”

The corner of his mouth ticked up. “I won’t lie to you anymore, nor to myself. I want nothing more than to lick between your thighs and pound into you from behind. But…”

The scent of Claire’s arousal instantly filled the room, which made his cat snarl and growl. The female wanted them. They should take her.

The human swallowed. “But, what?”