Unconditional (28 page)
Her lips moved, eyelashes fluttering. Nothing but slight muttering to his question.
Damn it. He had to call someone, and now. He leaned over her to snatch the phone from the side table. Her arms flailed. In his unprotected position, one hand connected sharply with his nose, and he grunted in pain.
Ignoring the phone for a second, he tucked her in again, holding down her arms to stop her from hurting herself or taking more pot shots at his face. “You don’t need to hit me, I’m trying to help you.”
“
Bear
…”
The word whispered past her lips, and Tyler paused. Leaned in closer and sniffed.
The scent of wolves clung to his waterlogged woman, but she wasn’t wolf. Human through and through, yet the fact she’d just called him a bear?
Something was happening he wanted to get to the bottom of.
“Can you hear me?”
Her lips moved steadily, drawing his attention to them. For the first time he paused long enough to look the rest of her over. Her blonde hair stuck up in spots, the pale colouring all the way to the roots. Her skin was pale as well—whether from soaking in his tub or her natural colour, he wasn’t sure. The deep red of her lips contrasted sharply against her skin, a delicate pout forming on their soft surface as she attempted to speak.
Speaking of bears, his was at full alert. The beast bumped to the surface, keen on him shifting for some reason. While he was the bear and the bear was him, there was one part of his brain that remained independent. His human side reasoning, rational. His animal side more…well, animal. Earthier and more connected to the wilder roots of shifterdom.
He understood why his bear was interested. Pretty face and pretty body, the swells of her breasts rose and fell as her breathing evened out and grew stronger. That was the reason he was staring at her chest, to make sure she was recovering from her ordeal. Not because he could see straight through the wet shirt and the bra underneath it. Not because the lush redness of her lips seemed to be reflected in the tips of those breasts…
Tyler shook his head to make his brains settle back in place.
Damn bear.
His mystery woman sucked in a deep breath, her eyes opening all the way. “Frack.”
He soothed her, attempting to keep her horizontal on the couch without actually forcing her back. “You should stay still.”
Her gaze darted over his face, and this adorable little crease appeared between her brows. “Who are you?”
Caution made him word his answer carefully. If this was someone planted by another bear clan, he wanted to know, so he used the oldest ploy in the book. His friend would understand. “I’m Justin. What’s your name?”
“Caroline.” Her eyes widened. “Why am I soaking wet?”
“I found you in my hot tub. I hoped you could tell me—”
“Oh, shoot.”
She would have surged upward, and this time he made contact, hands to her shoulders, to keep her from jerking to vertical. “Don’t. You nearly drowned. Until you remember what happened, you shouldn’t move.”
The fabric separating his palms and her skin warmed, and the scent of her skin grew stronger. She relaxed onto the overstuffed fabric as she tentatively touched the back of her head.
“I remember. I was finishing cleaning the suite and slipped on the tub.” She moved her fingers slowly but still cringed in pain. “There’s a goose egg to prove it.”
Tyler settled on his heels beside her. Cleaning staff. Okay, that was a possible solution to the question without turning this into some kind of political intrigue.
“Do you mind if I check?”
“Be my guest.” She frowned. “You’re Justin? You’re the security man for Tyler Harrison.”
Cleaning staff who knew details of the room’s occupants? Tyler returned to being suspicious all over again.
He lifted her carefully until he could examine the back of her head. “I’m checking things out in the room. Everything seemed to be in order other than you doing unsupervised synchro.”
“Can you get me out of here before he arrives?”
“You sure you’re okay to move?” Tyler helped her upright, sitting next to her on the couch. He held one arm around her to stop her from shifting from side to side.
Caroline groaned lightly. “I’ll be all right. I’m not nauseous or anything, which is good. I would hate to throw up and ruin the great cleaning job I did.”
Tyler laughed. The conversation was far more blunt than he usually got to hear from people. “Well, yes. Let’s avoid vomiting, shall we?”
It was rather comfortable sitting with her. Far more comfortable than he should be after rescuing a strange woman in a strange place. He wanted to be wary, wanted to remain alert to the potential troubles in the situation, but with her wet body cuddled beside him, his damn bear seemed to have taken control of his mind.
Her shirt had separated from the waistband of her pants, and a sliver of bare skin rested under his fingers. The sheer willpower it took to keep from stroking that soft section of skin shook him.
His human side pushed forward in defense with logic. “I should call a doctor to check you out.”
She frowned. “I’ll go to the clinic. Let’s not have ambulances at the hotel today. It wouldn’t be a great way to start things off. Might set a damper on the meetings.”
Curiousier and curiousier. “You’ve obviously worked at the Moonshine Inn for a while.”
Give her a chance to admit she knew about shifters, and the game would change all over again. A tiny bud of a notion had burst forth in the last minute, probably planted by his bear, but damn if it wasn’t a working idea.
She nodded slowly, wincing. “I’ve been on staff for nearly five years. Since before the Takhini pack bought out the previous owners.”
And there was his answer. “You know about shifters, then.”
She snorted.
His bear was far too charmed by her instant and honest response.
Caroline motioned upward. “Help me to my feet, and we’ll see how I do. Yes, I know about shifters. Half-blood family, actually. My stepdad’s wolf, so I’ve lived with pack most of my life.”
A human who grew up with shifters. This might be the solution to one of his problems during the upcoming conference days.
Not to mention a lovely distraction, as long as she hadn’t injured herself with that crazy fall.
He had her standing, his arms still around her in case she wobbled. Caroline clutched his shoulder momentarily as her knees gave way. He caught her around the waist and pulled her against him for support. She was tall enough to make him not feel quite as enormous as he usually felt around the ladies. Other than that, he was desperately beating back the bear, who had just suggested they should peel her out of her wet clothes to make sure she wasn’t hurt anywhere else.
“I think we should get that doctor in here.”
“No.” Caroline spoke firmly. “Damn, you shifters are all the same, bossy as get out. I’m fine, and I really have to leave before your boss gets here.”
His boss. Oh right, his little name game. They could drop that ploy. “Actually, I’m—”
The door opened, and Justin walked in. His best friend froze in midstep as he took in the entire scenario. From the open door, the trail of water across the carpet, the wet and disheveled woman, and Tyler himself.
Caroline swore and to his great surprise, hid herself against his side, arms curling around his torso.
Unconditional
Lauren Dane
Their second chance generates a dangerous kind of heat…
A
Cascadia Wolves
Story
As a cop, Michelle Slattery is familiar with the dark side of human behavior, but this case is way above her skill level. Mages have been scouring the country kidnapping witches, draining their energy, and leaving their broken bodies behind.
With Michelle’s best friend among the missing, she appeals to the Owen witches, who send her to the last place she’d thought she’d see a familiar face. The werewolves.
When a witch seeking help shows up at the Pacific Pack headquarters, Josh Neelan gets the shock of his life. She’s none other than his high school sweetheart, the one he left behind when he was bitten and turned. Their intense sexual chemistry still sizzles for a reason—she’s his mate.
As they begin to work through their issues, their rekindled romance quickly flames red hot. But the closer they get, the more dangerous the outside world becomes. And they realize magick-thieving mages are just the tip of the iceberg.
Warning: Bossy alpha wolves, witches who take no guff, sexytimes, bad words, and some violence.
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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
11821 Mason Montgomery Road Suite 4B
Cincinnati OH 45249
Unconditional
Copyright © 2013 by Lauren Dane
ISBN: 978-1-61921-653-2
Edited by Anne Scott
Cover by Angela Waters
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
First
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
electronic publication: August 2013
