by Bianca D’Arc
Jim heard Helen moan, and his body immediately reacted, growing hard and ready.
Down, boy.
Her muscles were probably just stiff and painful from all they’d been through, and here he was having sexual fantasies over a barely-heard sound that could have been the result of pain as well as pleasure. His caveman brain was stuck on the pleasure side of the equation, and he began wondering what kind of sounds she’d make when he was inside her.
He got even harder and had to curse under his breath. This was getting him nowhere, except frustrated. Jim retreated to the main room of the suite and took a look at the guidebook to the town. He needed a few things if he was going to be here a while, so he set about identifying the local businesses that might have what he needed.
That occupied his mind well enough that he was able to answer the door without embarrassment when someone knocked. He found a tall man in a police uniform on the other side, carrying a shopping bag.
“I’m the sheriff. Sorry I couldn’t meet you at the airport. Joe had me collect this and bring it over.” The big man handed the shopping bag to Jim. “I think it’s clothes,” he added.
“Thanks. I’m Jim Hanson.” Jim offered his hand for a friendly shake.
“Shane McClure,” the sheriff responded, taking Jim’s hand for a firm shake. “I just wanted to come by and let you know that I’m available for backup, should you need it. I’ve talked to Joe about your mission here, and he’s concerned that this may impact the town, so he’s given me wide latitude to assist as needed.”
“That’s great,” Jim replied. “I’m not sure what I’ll turn up, but I’ll keep you posted if I find anything you should know about. So far, all we have is one of my target’s aliases showing up on some of the paperwork associated with that old mill just beyond the town limits.”
Shane nodded. “Understood. We don’t have a big department, but I have a couple of deputies who could help out if you want to set up surveillance or anything like that.”
“Thank you. I’m not sure yet, what we’ll need, but I will be checking that place out. Some of my contacts are still tracking down the rest of the paperwork, so they might come up with some new leads as well,” Jim told him.
“Those contacts of yours wouldn’t happen to be on the Washington Coast, would they?” Shane asked, a glimmer of laughter in his eyes.
“As a matter of fact, some of them are,” Jim replied, nodding.
“I’ve heard a lot about the bear town out there. Big John and his guys were approaching legendary status before they retired,” Shane observed.
“That they were,” Jim agreed. He knew all about Special Forces legends, considering his uncle, but he wasn’t going to volunteer that information if Shane didn’t already know.
“Good group of men,” Shane summed up his feelings. “Let me know what you need. Here’s my contact info.” He handed Jim a business card with the sheriff’s office logo emblazoned on it, along with Shane’s name, title and phone numbers. The handwritten number on the back was for his cellphone.
“Thanks,” Jim replied. “I’ll keep you in the loop. So far, it’s observe and assess. If I go active, I’ll try to give you some advanced warning.”
“Good enough.” Shane nodded and left.
Jim closed the door and took a peek into the bag. It was a change of clothing—things that would actually fit. Jim would have to remember to thank the Alpha for arranging this so he could at least go shopping in town today without looking like a vagabond.
Jim went back into his bedroom and changed into the new clothes. They fit well enough, and he didn’t look like a bum. That would have to do. He had his wallet and phone, which was all he needed to resupply with the other things he’d need. He just had to go out and get shopping while everything was still open. Hopefully, he could pick up a few things before dinner.
He didn’t hear any more noise from inside the bathroom, so Helen was probably done with her shower. He went back out to the common room of the suite and knocked gently on her door. She opened it a moment later and took his breath away with the fresh scent of her skin.
She’d put on a slinky cobalt blue dress she must’ve had in that ginormous bag of hers, and she looked like a million bucks. At this point, if she pulled an entire wardrobe out of that bag, he wouldn’t be surprised, but this dress had the look of something that would fold down to almost nothing. It fit her curves faithfully, in a way that made his mouth water.
“You look…” He had to clear his throat before continuing. “You look amazing.”
She smiled brightly at the compliment. “Thank you. I’ve never worn this before, but it’s specially designed for travel.” She modeled it a bit, looking down and smoothing the fabric over one thigh. “It’s so soft.”
That’s it. He was going to die, right there on the spot. She was killing him with her innocent sexiness.
“The color really makes your eyes sparkle,” he said, looking for something that was both complimentary and somewhat neutral to hide the rather obvious reaction of his body to her presence in that form-fitting swath of fabric.
“Thanks,” she said, stepping out of her room and closing the door behind her. She had left the big bag in the room and carried a much smaller floppy tote, instead. “I see you got a new outfit, too.”
“The sheriff delivered it,” Jim explained. “Joe sent it over. But I want to pick up a few more things on our way to dinner, if that’s okay with you.”
“Fine with me,” she replied. “I’d like to get a chance to see a bit more of the town while I’m here.”
Jim wanted to see how the town reacted to her presence, as well. So far, everyone had been welcoming, but they hadn’t met that many people yet. Still, things were looking good for Jim being able to leave Helen on her own while he pursued his mission. He just wanted to see how the regular townsfolk responded to her. If all went well while they were shopping, he’d be able to leave her alone without worry.
They went out of the B&B without running into anyone, then headed down the street toward a clothing shop. That would be their first stop. Inside, Jim picked up two new pairs of cargo pants, one black and one camouflage patterned. He also got a few dark T-shirts and some underwear, as well as a web-gear vest that was a surprise to find in such a store.
While he shopped on the men’s side of the store, Helen did the same on the women’s side. He noticed she had a few things on the counter when he went up to pay. He nodded to the salesclerk and had them add her purchases to his.
“That’s very sweet, but I can’t let you pay for my stuff,” Helen objected softly.
“You’re here because of me, and I’m on an expense account,” he reminded her. “It’s my treat. Or rather, SeaLife’s treat. And besides, you saved my life. This is the least I can do for you.”
The clerk watched their banter with wide eyes.
“You saved his life?” the teenaged girl asked, seemingly unable to stop herself. “But you’re…”
“Human,” Helen supplied, smiling kindly. “It’s okay. I know it seems odd. I just did what I could. Right place, right time, you know?”
“It was much more than that,” Jim said, speaking to both Helen and the clerk girl. He figured building Helen’s rep in this town could only help her. “She chased away a pack of mercenary hyena shifters using fireworks and then dragged my badly bleeding butt to safety before healing my wounds and quite literally saving my life.” He rounded on Helen as he said the last bit, handing the company credit card that Ezra Tate had sent him when he’d signed on for this mission to the gawking girl.
“When you say it that way it sounds…” Helen was blushing so prettily Jim had to smile at her while the girl ran the credit card through her machine.
“Heroic?” he prompted. “Courageous?” He was enjoying this, he realized. “Badass?” He nodded as if to himself. “Yeah, that was totally badass, Helen. You were amazing, and I will never forget the way you came to my rescue.”
Their
eyes met and held…and the moment stretched. Jim felt the pull of attraction, the joy of just being with Helen, and the need for more. So much more.
The girl behind the counter broke the spell, sliding the credit card slip across the counter for Jim to sign. He turned away and picked up the pen, scribbling his signature on the receipt. The girl then handed over a large shopping bag with both their purchases inside. Jim thanked the girl, took possession of the bag and headed for the door, Helen following close behind.
“You shouldn’t have told her all that,” Helen hissed as soon as they were back outside. “If she’s like any other teenage girl, I bet she’s already on her cellphone telling all her friends about the weird couple that was just in the shop.”
“I hope so,” Jim said, smiling smugly as Helen walked at his side. “I want this Pack to know not to mess with you. I owe you a life debt, which means if anybody messes with you, they mess with me.”
He put just enough of his wolf’s growl into his voice to make a man they were walking past jump a little. Jim dialed it back a bit.
“I didn’t realize…” Helen’s words trailed off, then she turned her head to meet his gaze. “Do you guys really take things so seriously?”
“Saving someone’s life is always a serious matter,” Jim replied solemnly. “And, I’ll admit, I’ve been concerned about how the Pack would treat you. I want to be sure they know that, if someone treats you badly, they’ll be answerable to me. Think of it as me extending my protection on your behalf.”
Helen cocked her head to the side, and a smile lifted one side of her luscious mouth. “That’s sort of sweet, but I don’t think I’ll have any trouble. Everyone here has been so great.”
“Yeah, they’ve been good, and you have the Alpha, Felicia and Miss Felicity on your side. That’s no small potatoes, but you never know. It’s a big Pack, and there are always some idiots in every large group,” he told her. At that moment, they passed a store he wanted to go into, and he paused. “Hey, do you mind if we duck in here for a moment?”
“No problem,” Helen replied easily.
She was such a good sport about everything. He found it easy to be around her, which was a unique experience. Most of the time, he found himself craving alone time when he was around people other than Arch. Jim feared he was in danger of becoming a truly lone wolf. If anything ever happened to Arch, it might just happen. Even his brother, Brock, Alpha of their Pack, wouldn’t be able to keep him in the Pack without that binding tie to Arch.
Somehow, over the years, it was Arch who had kept Jim coming back home. Not Brock. Not anybody else in the Pack. Just Arch. If not for his uncle, Jim probably would have faded away into a lone existence long before.
Helen had that same soothing quality about her. Being around her was different than being around Arch, but the same in that he felt a tug on his heart, a tie that was starting to bind him to her, similar but not exactly the same as the strong tie that bound him to his uncle.
He held the door for her as they entered the shop, and she went immediately toward a display that had a number of colorful pairs of sunglasses. It was a sporting goods store, and with any luck, they’d have what he was after—or something close to it.
Jim bellied up to the counter in the back where they kept the hunting knives and guns.
Chapter Ten
Helen tried not to notice what Jim purchased, but it was pretty hard to miss the giant Bowie knife and all its little friends that went into the shopping bag as she joined him at the checkout counter. She hadn’t found anything she wanted in this store, but they had lots of outdoorsy sorts of items on display.
“So…I hate to ask, but what are you going to do with all those sharp things?” she asked as they got back on the street. The sun was much lower now, on the horizon, and it was getting close to dinnertime.
“Hopefully nothing,” he replied, his expression sincere. “But, when you need a knife, you need a knife, and it’s best to be prepared. I lost a bit of my personal equipment in Virginia, so I replaced that and then some. Just in case. If they’d stocked any decent firearms, I’d have bought some of those, as well.” Helen shuddered. She couldn’t help herself. “I’m sorry if that bothers you, but you know I was a soldier. I’m well-trained in all sorts of weapons. That’s been part of my life for a long time, and that doesn’t really change now that I’m out on my own.”
“Guns don’t really bother me,” she said, a bit more forcefully than she’d intended. “My brothers all have rifles on the farm. Sometimes, you need them what with the animals and all. I just don’t have much personal experience with them because, you know, healer? I have a hard time with anything that can cause injury.”
Jim seemed to consider her words then nodded, just once. “That looks like our destination,” he said after a moment, pointing to a bustling entryway where two groups of people were passing each other—some going in and some coming out. She saw the sign above the door.
“Big Wolf Barbeque,” she read aloud. “That sounds good.”
“It smells even better,” he agreed. “Wait ‘til you get closer and get a good whiff of what they’re cooking inside. This place is well-known among pilots. They deliver out to the airport, and some people just fly in for the ribs then fly back out again.”
Dinner was every bit as delicious as Jim promised. They were seated quickly because the restaurant had a deceptively large dining room with other rooms branching off from the main one. What she’d assumed was just one store in a row of them was probably more like the whole block, spread out in interconnected rooms and a very large state-of-the-art kitchen.
Helen hadn’t quite realized just how hungry she was until they got there. She ordered a shifter-sized portion of ribs and ate every last piece. She didn’t remark on the fact that Jim still ate way more than she did, but he was grinning at her steady consumption all through their meal.
“Stop that smiling,” she told him at one point. “Haven’t you ever seen a woman eat before?”
“I’ve never seen you eat like that before,” he replied quickly, still smiling. “I’m just happy to see it. Shifters like feeding the people they care about.”
He cared about her? That was…interesting…and exciting.
“That’s nice to know.” Let him figure out if she meant it was nice generally that shifters liked to feed people they liked or, more personally, by implication, that he cared for her. She smiled at him, hoping he would say more to clue her in on which it was.
“I hope you’ll join me in dessert,” he said, pushing the plate of assorted pastries that had been delivered to their table toward her. “I hear the bakery in town recently got an upgrade. Some fancy baker from New York joined the Pack and has been teaching classes for some of the teenagers who want to learn the trade.”
“Teenagers made all this?”
Helen was impressed by the variety and fanciness of the little treats. Now that she looked around, just about every table had a similar plate of goodies on it, and everyone was partaking with gusto. She picked a small cake with a lacy sugar decoration on top and put it on her plate.
“So I’ve heard,” Jim replied, taking two of the treats for himself. There were still two more on the plate, but knowing how much Jim ate, she knew they wouldn’t go to waste. He was probably just being polite in not grabbing the whole plate right away. “My brother is in pretty close contact with Joe.”
“Your brother, the Alpha of your Pack?” Helen repeated what Joe had said, inviting Jim to explain more.
“Brock is… Well…he’s great. He’s my older brother. A few decades older than me, so we both grew up, to some extent, independently, but we’re close friends now, of course. He’s been the Alpha for a while, but he’s still relatively young for an Alpha of a big Pack, like ours. Joe has been sort of mentoring him over the years, which is quite a coup for our Pack. Joe runs one of the largest, most successful Packs in the country. He’s a great role model for Brock and his ambitions for our home Pack
.”
“That’s really nice. I didn’t realize there could be so much cooperation between groups like that,” she said, taking a bite of the little cake. The flavors danced on her tongue, and she had to stifle a groan of delight at the incredible taste. “Sweet Mother in heaven,” she said instead, once she had swallowed. “This is amazing. Whoever is teaching a bunch of kids to make this is some kind of culinary genius.”
Jim took a bite and nodded. “Agreed. Amazing,” he replied after a moment. “Just like you.” He took a sip of his water, watching her over the rim of his glass with half-hooded eyes that she found incredibly sexy.
Was he flirting with her? Sweet Mother of All. She really thought he was flirting with her! Helen tried not to panic and to just go with the flow. She knew she’d be a goner if he so much as crooked his little finger at her, but she hadn’t thought he’d really noticed her as a woman. Well…not much. He’d kissed her last night, of course, but he hadn’t really made any more bold overtures all day, and they’d been together for most of it.
Then again, they’d been really busy flitting from Virginia to Texas and then getting things settled here. When had they really had time, before this sumptuous dinner, to explore a little more flirtation?
They had ordered a peppery red wine with their meal, and the rich flavor of it had paired perfectly with her meal. Both the food and the wine had left her feeling mellow. She’d had a nice long shower, and all three things combined to finally relax her enough to enjoy the adventure.
Her healing power lay dormant, for the most part. Everybody seated around them were shifters, as were the waitstaff. They were all obscenely healthy and didn’t pull at her gift, which let her enjoy the night as she usually couldn’t enjoy a dinner out in public. She couldn’t remember when she’d had a better meal or environment in which to enjoy it. Or better company.
Jim proved to be both intelligent and witty—a combination that attracted her greatly. She hadn’t been sure what they would find to talk about, but he’d surprised her with a discussion of his travels and the various cultures he’d been exposed to while globe-trekking in the Navy. He’d proven knowledgeable on a wide variety of topics and had explained about how the Navy had offered classes in all kinds of things to him, from mechanics to languages, flight training to chemistry. He had an impressive array of knowledge, but he wasn’t conceited about it.