Seduced by a Shifter (6 page)

Much too soon, they ret
urned to the clearing in front of the cabins. Understanding that Ben had obligations, and that lives were quite possibly on the line, did little to ease the disappointment of their brief outing. She didn’t want to peel her body from the masculine warmth of his, didn’t want to watch him leave, didn’t want his attention on anyone or anything but her.

She stiffened at the unprecedented greed, brows furrowed in confusion.
Where in the world did that come from?

The contemplation of her selfishness ended when she caught sight of a second SUV parked adjacent to one of the unused cabins. The front door of her cabin opened, and because she expected to see Rome, she was thrown when two large and unfamiliar men exited. The strangers quickly shut the door behind them, yet didn’t move forward, effectively barring the entrance with their bodies. Willow unconsciously clung tighter to Ben as he braked near the bottom of the porch stairs.

Feeling her arms tighten around his waist, Ben ran one hand soothingly along her forearm. “It’s okay, Will. Joe and Scott might
look
like wannabe hit men.”

The change in the two men as they turned to one another in feigned shock had Willow re-evaluating. As they play-fought, ducking and throwing mock punches, it took her a moment to realize the men couldn’t possibly have heard Ben. Though they were only a short distance away, Ben hadn’t raised his voice to compensate for his helmet, or the still-running motor. Even at idle, the snowmobile was loud enough that Willow, closer to him than skin at the moment, barely heard the words.

Ben cut the engine, his words easing one concern even as another took hold. “But they’re here to protect you. As I’ve known them for some time now, I can vouch for their keen ability.” At their smug smiles, Ben added with wry amusement, “just not their intelligence.”

At his gentle coaxing, Willow swung off the machine and waited patiently as Ben undid her helmet and then his own, her eyes flitting from his to the faces staring intently at them from atop the porch. Rome was still nowhere to be seen, which worried her. Ben wound an arm around her, his palm wide open and firm as he rested it on her hip.

“Willow, this is Joe Feider.” The lighter-haired man gave her a friendly grin, though he didn’t stray from his position.

“And Scott Boeing,” Ben said as

Scott bounded down the wooden stairs, his grin a little more interested. “Nice,” Scott murmured, taking her gloved hand in his bare one.

Willow tensed at the blatant come-on, and felt Ben’s grip on her tighten. “Mine.”

Dumbfounded by the husky word, she blinked up at Ben, then dropped her jaw when Scott dropped her hand and asked, “How fast she go?”

For several thick seconds the only sound heard was the ticking of the snowmobile’s cooling engine before Ben relaxed and let out a soft chuckle. “She can hit sixty, depending on the snow condition, of course.” Ben stroked Willow’s back, a caress she felt all the way through her clothes. She would have arched into his touch but he was gone, having moved off several paces with Scott to admire the snowmobile.

Willow shook her head. Of course that was what Ben meant when he said “mine.” The machine, not the girl. Just because he’d kissed her didn’t mean he thought of her as his. People kissed all the time without making a big production out of it. So maybe she’d felt a bit greedy earlier, wanting Ben all to herself. She dismissed it as a natural reaction to the man’s sensual appeal. He was hot, sexy, funny, charming, and most definitely knew how to use his mouth to make a woman swoon with pleasure. She would have to be dead not to want more of his special attention, especially the lips and tongue part.

Thinking of where else she’d like to have his lips and tongue had her crossing one booted foot over the other.

“Scott’s a geek gearhead,” Joe informed her as he alighted the stairs, making her blink away the erotic thought. He lounged against the bottom rail, seemingly to keep his distance from Willow without looking like he was keeping a distance. “If it lights, rings, or moves, he’s all over it.”

“Uh, okay.” She paused, polite manners demanding she ask something of him. “And you?”

Joe laughed. “I make sure he stays out of trouble.”

Willow’s frown was back. “That happen often?”

Possibly clueing in on Willow’s unease, Joe’s tone turned serious. “Not while he’s working, and until you’re no longer in danger, consider us working, no matter what happens.”

Despite her new bodyguard’s words, Willow wasn’t comforted. At all. Her gaze went past Joe to the closed door, wondering again where Rome was and hoping the appearance of the newcomers didn’t mean the agent had to leave. She felt safe with Rome. Bored stupid, but safe.

Strangely enough, she also felt safe with Ben.

She peeked over at where Ben and Scott chatted amicably, feeling that warmth steel over her whenever she saw him. She might not feel bored with Ben but at times she could cop to feeling stupid. He was totally out of her league, and not only due to his hotness factor. Based on their kiss, Willow figured he had a lot of experience with women and pleasure of the not-so-innocent kind. Whereas she—well, not so much.

Mistaking her sigh and visual perusal as one of concern with Scott, Joe spoke again. “We aren’t new at this, Willow. We wouldn’t be here unless Rome was absolutely certain of our ability.”

Willow looked back at Joe. “It’s not that.”

Joe’s turn to frown. “Then what?”

What, indeed. Even if she’d known Joe her whole life Willow wouldn’t just blurt out that she’d been mooning over Ben. Not when the man in question stood mere feet from her. How humiliating would that be?

Her awkwardness only increased when she felt Ben come back to her side, his hand once more gliding along her back in long strokes. “I need to go. I’m hoping this won’t take long so I can come back, see how everyone is settling. If not, I’ll call you.”

Eyes half-closed, she leaned a fraction closer, his breath a hot whisper over the sensitive shell of her ear. “Okay.” Wait. What? She straightened. “Oh. Wait. No. I don’t have a phone.” Rome had insisted she abandon everything in her locker, informing her any item could carry a bug or tracker and had sent it all off, including the clothes she’d worn to Jade’s office, to his agency for testing.

“You do now.”

Willow looked up into Ben’s smiling face. “I do?”

“It’s inside,” Scott told her. “Best of the best, with GPS tracking and all the bells and whistles you could ever want.”

Huh. She could only surmise the phone was part of the protection detail—why, she didn’t know, especially since she was never alone. Nonetheless, the thought of having a cell phone again would be a comfort. When had she started thinking of a cell phone as a security blanket?

She shook that off, meeting Ben’s eyes with a solemn, “Thank you.”

“Welcome.” He brushed a bare hand over her head, a soft caress that had her wanting to nestle in for more. “Take care of her,” he warned Joe and Scott, though his eyes never left Willow’s.

“That’s what we do best,” Scott called out. “Remember?”

Ben grimaced. “I’m surprised Rome hasn’t already booted them out of the cabin.”

“That’s because we haven’t been here long enough to annoy him.” This from Joe.

Willow felt her lips twitch, nearly laughed out loud when she spied Rome standing, hands on hips, legs apart, just outside the front door. His head was tilted up, as if seeking reassurance or patience from the heavens, and not getting any.

Ben brushed his hand over her shoulder and down her arm as if loath to leave. “I’ll see you later.”

Willow nodded, watched as Ben resettled on the snowmobile. “Be careful.”

Ben winked. “I have reason to be.” A minute later he was roaring out of the clearing.

As he left, another vehicle entered, this one carrying two women. The two vehicles met in the middle and the driver’s side window of the blue SUV rolled down. Willow recognized the driver as Kaylie Gentry, er, Kinigos, but didn’t know who the passenger was. Mild curiosity turned into sharp jealousy when the blonde laughed and reached over Kaylie to pat the hand Ben lay in the open window.

What is wrong with you?
She forced her hands to unclench and hugged her waist, very aware she’d never been this moody before, even on the most brutal of PMS days.
Ben isn’t yours. You aren’t even dating. Just deep breath in, deep breath out.

Willow’s mental mantra was interrupted by Rome’s exasperated, “Now what?”

“If you’d wanted privacy, you should have gone to Richmond.” Joe admonished.

“I wanted security, not fucking Grand Central,” Rome snarled.

Willow yanked her head to Rome, her mouth forming a shocked “oh.” It wasn’t that she hadn’t heard the word before, she just rarely heard Rome lose his calm demeanor.

Rome heaved out a sigh. “Sorry, Will. There’s been some...difficulties with another case and I’m not handling it very well.”

A shot of uneasiness went through her. “Do you need to leave?”

He straightened, every inch of his muscled frame pure determination. “Not unless I absolutely have to and if that happens, know that you are completely safe here. No one will get to you without a fight, and a deadly one at that.”

She didn’t need the reminder. “I don’t want anyone else to die, Rome. Not on my account.”

“He’s not talking about us, love,” Scott cracked his knuckles. “It’s the bad guys who are gonna fall.”

While Willow could appreciate Scott’s confidence, no one was invincible. She turned back at the sound of vehicles, seeing Ben zoom off—without a backward glance—and Kaylie ease to a stop right where the snowmobile had been.

The blonde stepped from the SUV with a hearty laugh and Willow gritted her teeth. The woman was absolutely stunning. Tall and slender, her thick silky hair glowed in the dying sunlight, framing a face that was perfectly made up, yet far from overdone. Her attire might be an almost duplicate of Willow’s, and Kaylie’s, for that matter, as the other clomped through the snow, but the newcomer seemed more elegant somehow, and moved through the white fluff with a grace that surpassed that of any dancer Willow had ever come across.

And this bimbo flirted with Ben? Just who was she and, more importantly, what was she to Ben?

Once again Willow had to pry her fingers free from where they gripped the material of her coat.

Not yours, remember? Ben doesn’t belong to you.

The blonde smiled and Willow narrowed her eyes, this time in thought, because the Mona Lisa lip twist made the tall woman appear familiar somehow.

“Hey, everyone. We’ve come to snatch Willow away for girl time.” Kaylie’s eyes sparkled with mischief.

“Holy hell. You’re Tess Gentry.” Scott practically drooled with open admiration.

The blonde made a face. “Guilty.”

The name meant nothing to Willow, other than the gorgeous creature must be related to Kaylie. Still, she racked her brain trying to place the face. It was in the midst of Willow’s hard stare that Tess turned to her and held out a hand. “Hi, Willow. I’m Tess, Kaylie’s sister. I just have to tell you I saw you perform in New York once and was mesmerized by your grace. You moved so effortlessly you seemed to simply float over the ground.”

Taken aback, Willow looked down at the offered hand, free from any covering, and automatically responded, yanking her hand back briefly to rip off her glove. “Thank you.” Willow tilted her head in contemplation. “You look familiar.”

Tess shrugged indifferently. “Well, if you’ve seen a
Victoria’s Secret
catalog in the last six years you probably saw me.”

“Or an
SI
swimsuit edition,” Joe happily supplied.

“Or scanned the Internet for hot chicks,” Scott announced.

Willow’s tongue glued itself to the roof of her mouth.
Yeesh. What the hell was Ben doing kissing me when this woman was free to flirt with him?

To all this Tess only rolled her eyes. “I do have a brain as well, boys. I’m not just a body.”

“And you keep that stupid look on your face, Scott. Caleb will take great delight in knocking it off,” Rome murmured.

At Willow’s confusion, Tess held up her left hand. “My fiancé, Caleb Bennett. Which is why Kaylie and I are here. Tonight is my wedding shower and we’ve come to pick you up.”

Any relief Willow felt at hearing Tess was engaged to the big guy she’d met her first night here dried up at the idea of joining a bunch of unknown women for a wedding shower. She turned wide eyes to Kaylie, seeking help. “But I. That is. Um. I don’t...”

Kaylie waved a hand through the air, dismissing any reason Willow tried frantically to dredge up. “Nothing you could think of will keep us from transporting you to an evening filled with females, fun, food, and games.”

“Count me in!” Scott said.

Rome reached out and smacked the back of Scott’s head. “Idiot.”

Tess looped an arm under Willow’s. “You must have cabin fever by now. Besides, our mom is an amazing cook and if the spread she’s laying out is anything like she did for Kaylie’s, well, let’s just say I’m salivating already.”

Willow glanced up at Rome, half-expecting a refusal or a grudging submission as he did with Ben. But she was surprised yet again. “I think it’s a great idea.”

Willow gaped. “You do?”

“Sure. You’ll be safe with them and you won’t get into any trouble.”

Kaylie snickered under her breath. “So he thinks.”

Tess patted Willow’s arm when she jerked. “The trouble part, hon, not the safety part. Now let’s get out of the cold. You people are weird, standing here, freezing perfectly good body parts off.”

Willow had to admit the tips of her ears were long numb, and she was starving. Yet before she could agree, Scott bounded up the stairs, hollering at them to wait until he got Willow’s phone.

While Scott was gone, Rome eyed the three women. “Two hours, ladies. I’ll be down to pick Willow up in two hours.”

“Hah. You don’t even know where we’re going.” Kaylie chortled. “And it’s three hours.”

Willow mentally cringed, thinking two hours was plenty of time to feel like an interloper.