Bear My Baby (Shifter Squad Six 1) (3 page)

That made him shift his cock in his pants uncomfortably, trying to remain discreet as he sat on a chair by the window facing the yard in front of the house. He could still feel her eyes boring into the back of his head, as if she was willing him to give her some kind of an explanation that could make this all better.

But he couldn’t. And as things were standing, the adrenaline was still pumping through his veins like ice cold vodka, and he was having a damn hard time drilling his attention down to anything that wasn’t her juicy figure or the way she would squirm underneath him.

With a grumbly sigh, he adjusted again.

Fucking hell.

“Where am I?” Cassie demanded, the tiniest note of hysteria in her voice.

He didn’t hold it against her. She was a civilian. A woman who had never expected to get into something straight out of the high-budget action flicks. She’d seen death and carnage and been thrown off a roof in the short span of a few hours—he’d give her a little leeway. But not too much.

“Like I said, you’re in an undisclosed location near Chicago. I am Connor. My team and I have been tasked with your protection and I will be keeping you company here until the secondary unit comes to pick you up in the morning,” he rattled off.

He neglected to mention that there were five guys around the perimeter at various distances and vantage points, training every piece of surveillance equipment on and around the cabin. And that he
could
have been outside too, but he didn’t want to. Something about that woman made him burn and act like the irrational kid he hadn’t been ever since they beat it out of him in basic training. And yet here he was, getting a boner because a pretty girl was pissed at him.

Some things never change.

“You already told me that,” she started, stressing the patience in her voice that had really left a long time ago. “But I want to know
where
I am and
why
I’m here! Can you tell me
that
?!”

He chuckled under his breath, leaning back in the chair and giving her a long, rowing glance. Grant, Grim, Tex, Thatch, and Dutch had this place locked down tight. All he was at this point was a contingency to the contingency. But he needed to at least pretend he was doing something other than enjoying the view that Cassie created, her cheeks lit with a blush of anger and her hands on her hips. She could go from zero to a hundred really fast when she wasn’t dealing with bodies dropping dead around her.

Connor couldn’t help but appreciate that quality in a woman.

I can appreciate a lot of things about her,
he thought with dark amusement.

“No, honey, I can’t tell you any of that. You just gotta trust me and my boys. We’ll keep you safe, don’t you worry your pretty little head about it,” he said, letting his deep voice rumble maybe a bit too hard.

So he was showing off a little. Big deal.

“Stop calling me honey. I’m Cassie,” she said, exasperated.

She’d thrown off the coat and washed her hands and face. They’d gotten to the cabin about half an hour ago and the takeout that had been waiting for them was sitting cold on the table, since neither one of them was particularly hungry. Connor needed time to come down from the high of the game and Cassie… well, seeing guts spill out of a guy really does something to one’s hunger. Unless they’re used to it.

“Sure thing, honey,” he drawled, wearing her glare like a badge of honor.

“What
can
you tell me, then? Why were you at my house? Who were those guys? What do they want from me?”

Scowling a little, Connor shrugged. This was one of those little jobs they did in between the big ones. If there weren’t machine guns and aerial drop-ins involved, it only counted as a side job to Squad Six, or Shifter Squad Six as their employers affectionately called them. All ex-special ops or Navy SEALs, they were the best of the best and they damn well knew it. Most of them had left active service because of personal reasons, but the money was too good in the private sector to say no for long.

It was supposed to be an easy job, in and out, no muss no fuss. And so far, it had been just that. With the unexpected boon of getting to enjoy the company of a gorgeous woman added in. But with most jobs, information was purely on a need-to-know basis and he didn’t need to know. As far as he was concerned, that meant that she didn’t either.

He shrugged nonchalantly, throwing her a smirk that sent her bottom lip curling in annoyance. What he wouldn’t have done to turn that frown upside down.

“I don’t know what they want with you, honey. I was there because some fancy men in very expensive suits threw money at me to be there. If it makes you feel any better, we weren’t there specifically for you. But I’m not at all disappointed that it did turn out to be you,” he said, pressing a low, growling purr into his voice.

Shit. That was the kind of behavior he could expect from himself when he was about five shots of tequila and a glass of whiskey into a night, not when he was on a job. But the way her hair bounced off her forehead when she threw her head back in exasperation and the way she kept wringing her hands together were really doing a number on him. Anything she did seemed to him like a big, screaming sign, really. A sign that he should not be sitting alone on that side of the table.

She paced back and forth, giving him a good view of her thick thighs and her ample ass, made to be grabbed by his calloused hands. He set down the rifle he’d been babying on the windowsill and settled in to watch the show. She huffed under her breath, obviously more irate now than worried. It was to be expected. People coped in very personal ways.

Suddenly she stopped, and gave him a hard look filled with annoyance. He shrugged nonchalantly and spread his hands, giving his best schoolboy grin.

“Just making sure you’re safe, honey.”

“By staring at my ass?”

“That needs protecting too, you know. And there’s nothing better than a Navy SEAL at your back,” he said, winking.

He could see that she was trying to be irritated at him, but he didn’t miss the little smile that spread over her lips for the tiniest moment. Ah yes. There, he had her. That spirit he liked so much already.

“You should give yourself some credit for today, you know. Not many women can throw themselves off a building and not lose their cool in the process.”

“Did it look like I
threw
myself off? Somehow, I can only remember some jerk grabbing me and flinging us both off the ledge,” she said, sitting down across from him and resting her chin on her hand.

“Only trying to make sure you stay alive, honey,” he quipped, stressing the “honey.”

The way she twitched a little bit every time he said it made his blood boil with hunger.

“You think you’re so smooth,” she sighed, rolling her eyes. “Has anyone told you that you might be overly cocky?”

“Lots of stuff has been said about my cock, honey. Usually it’s in incoherent formats though, through moans and screams. I can’t really keep track,” he said with a yawn, stretching his arms back.

His tendons were getting stiff and the heat in his muscles was supposed to be dying down as well, but his heart rate was still way up. Connor knew why that was. That fine piece of ass sitting close to him, smelling like sex on legs, had him all kinds of riled up.

Cassie was about to bite back something when his earset pinged.

“Listening,” he said, keeping his gaze fixed squarely on Cassie.

“Perimeter seems clear. Dutch has set up a defensive position. Grant and Tex have first shift. Pickup at 0600. Comms out,” Thatch said matter-of-factly, short and to the point as usual.

Connor fished the unit out of his ear and set it down on the windowsill next to his rifle. Nothing to do now but amuse himself with this juicy morsel in front of him.

Usually, if Connor wanted something, he would leave no questions about it. But it was never a mark. It was never someone he was tasked to protect. And most certainly no one ever made him act quite that way. He was willing to give her room, let her scope him out a little. But he knew that if he wasn’t going to have that woman that night, he would regret it forever.

“What was that?” Cassie asked, cocking a brow.

“Good news!” he started, grinning. She looked hopeful for a moment. “You have a full six hours of my company and mine alone. Now, tell me, what do you want to do with it?”

“I want you to tell me something that would actually make sense. Why is some damn SWAT team buzzing around me and why were people trying to kill me? Because that’s what was going on, right? They wanted to kill me. I’m a secretary. I don’t know anything,” Cassie said, resting her face in her hands.

He was half-expecting her to sob, but she wasn’t that kind of woman. She wouldn’t break under the pressure, just bend a little, maybe. But that’s why he was there, right?

“I can’t tell you anything I don’t know, honey. I don’t know what it is they think you know or have, but it’s apparently enough to kill and maim over. So that means you’re valuable. And I like to keep valuable things safe, you hear? I can promise you that nothing will happen to you while I’m around. I won’t let you out of my sight until I get to hand you over to someone who understands the price of precious things as well as I do, okay?”

Who was this guy and what had he done to Connor? Like he was viewing the show instead of participating, Connor heard himself say all those things and worst of all, he meant it. It wasn’t just the call of duty that made him say those things, but he honestly, desperately wanted to be sure that Cassie was going to be okay. He’d bring the moon from the skies if that made her feel better.

His bear growled deep within him as another whiff of her scent wafted into his nostrils, driving him mad with desire. Damn, she smelled good. Like she was meant to be in his arms and nowhere else.

A sudden bout of jealousy hit him, thinking about how he’d have to hand her over to another squad the following morning. And along with it came the memories of another time he’d felt similarly, and how that had completely exploded in his face.

Her name drifted somewhere at the bottom of his consciousness, taunting and tormenting him.
Evita.
He couldn’t muffle the snarl that rose to his lips when that name materialized in his head, the perfect embodiment of loss and humiliation and anger that he could visualize.

Cassie looked up, startled at the sound. That tiny flash of alarm on her pretty features made him plant his feet firmly on the ground and cover the space between them with a few sure, short steps. He crouched down before her and gently peeled her hands from her face, cupping them in his big paws. They were a little bit cold and he barely resisted the urge to blow on them or kiss her fingertips to make them warm.

A part of him told him to dig in his heels and stop, figure things out. But a much bigger, much more demanding part of him was having none of that and frankly, Connor agreed wholeheartedly.

“Hey. It’s going to be okay, Cass. Nothing’s going to get you. Whatever the reason is, a solution will be found. You will start a new life and you can make it whatever you want it to be. So what if you got mixed up with some bad shit. It’ll make you stronger,” he said, believing every damn word.

She looked at him and her hazel eyes twinkled with something he couldn’t quite read.

So he did the only reasonable thing to do in a situation like that.

Connor slipped a hand behind her neck and kissed her on the mouth, hard and deep.

CHAPTER FIVE

Cassie

Cassie gasped as his warm, soft lips met hers in a hungry taste, leaving any sense of modesty somewhere far outside the cabin. She knew she should have pulled away, maybe even slapped and screamed at him, but that wasn’t what she wanted. Despite what her rational brain was telling her, the irrational part of her was already well sinking into that heavenly kiss.

That gasp turned into a moan and her initial hesitance bloomed into matched desire, her hands already tugging him closer by the front of his shirt. He complied willingly, getting up off his haunches and pulling her to her feet along with him.

She hadn’t really realized how tall he was. Sure, she knew he was big, she’d noticed that even when they were dodging gunfire and trying to keep their bodies from ending up without additional holes, but not that he was
so
big. Cassie felt like a speck next to him. A sexy, desirable one at that, though. He towered above her, and his light blue eyes, almost ghostly in their clarity, took her in for a moment before he dove down again, his mouth seeking out hers.

She could have protested. She could have said no and there was no doubt in her mind that this man who seemed to be made of steel and concrete would have honored her wishes immediately. But God how she didn’t want to.

The horrors of the day floated away as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him like she needed it to breathe, almost clinging to him. Connor’s hand slid down her neck and then her back, tracing the curve of her spine until both his hands were on her hips, pulling her close to him. She mewled softly as she was pressed against his massive, chiseled frame, the sheer
solidness
of him taking her by surprise.

Even through the heavy black camouflage clothing, she could feel every thick dip and flat plane of his body. Curiosity driving her ahead—along with the maddening need to put everything behind her, even for a moment—she tugged at the bottom of his shirt and lifted the edge of it. He pulled it over his head, his short-cropped dark hair falling back perfectly as he tossed the offending piece of clothing aside.

The desire in his eyes… she’d never felt so wanted. As if to confirm that, he grabbed her ass and lifted her easily, accompanied by Cassie’s yelp, making her wrap her arms around his waist. His mouth was on hers again as he set her down on the edge of the table, brushing the takeout containers off along with her jacket. Like she was a teenager who’d never been kissed before, she attacked him hungrily, biting and nipping, her tongue lapping against his in an all-encompassing desire to be closer to him.