Head Hunter

by Layla Nash

  The manager, Sara, blushed furiously and excused herself to head back to the office. Which gave me the opportunity to turn around in his arms and kiss his cheek. "Maybe I am tired. That doesn't mean I don't have to work."

  "You don't have to work," he said. His arms tightened around me and he grumbled more. "That's why I bought this place and hired all the people. So you can show up and do what you want, then leave when the hard stuff is happening."

  "That's not who I am." But I still leaned against him. The pregnancy was going well, according to the doctors, except I was exhausted every second of every day. Which drove Dodge crazy with worry, which in turn drove me crazy from his hovering and mothering. I'd screamed at him to leave me alone more than once, which usually sent him lurking in doorways and around corners to keep an eye on me from a distance. Like I wouldn’t notice the lumbering shadows creeping after me, or Silas acting like a sentry and shedding all over whatever I was doing.

  It had been a real surprise to find out how much money his grandparents left to him. Apparently there were no other heirs, so he got their bank accounts, houses, planes, islands, everything. It was Dodge who bought that fancy apartment where I'd lived for the month after I left the hospital. I should have known he'd do something like that.

  He didn't care about spending the money, as long as it went to something that his grandparents would have hated and refused to support. Like a nice apartment for Dodge's girlfriend and his illegitimate love-child. He proposed to me almost weekly, and still managed to take me by surprise occasionally. Once he'd hired a sky-writer. Another time he had the rest of the pack line up with placards that spelled out "Marry me, damn it" outside the sanctuary when I left for the day. The most memorable attempt was when Smith and his mysterious friends changed the stars. Deirdre had snorted and muttered under her breath about "ostentatious assholes" but I loved it.

  I didn't know why I hadn't said yes or just gone to the courthouse to get a marriage license. It didn't really matter, after all, except that Dodge thought I wanted to be married so I was never technically a single mother. His determination grew with every passing week. Which just made it a little more fun to tell him “no” all the time. As Deirdre said, it was good for them to hear “no” every once in a while.

  Dodge slid his hand under the waist of my jeans so he could squeeze my butt. "Let's go home. Just a quick nap, then we can come back out."

  I snorted. "You say that, but that's never what happens. We don't come back, and we definitely don't nap."

  "What can I say, gotta take advantage of you getting so worked up all the time," he murmured in my ear, and I shivered.

  He was right about that. Apparently pregnant ladies got really horny. The moment he knew I was pregnant, Dodge went out and bought every book about pregnancy and babies that he could find. The main fact that stuck with him was that I'd be lookin' to get laid a lot.

  "Maybe don't get started in front of everyone here," I said, maneuvering his hand out of my pants. "The animals are supposed to be the focus, not you trying to get to third base."

  "Trying?" He chuckled and I closed my eyes in anticipation. He nibbled on my ear lobe. "I'm already there. How about a homer in that fancy new office of yours?"

  I laughed and managed to extricate myself from his embrace, planting my hand on his chest to keep him from chasing after me again. "Okay, mister. I'll go, but I'm coming back tomorrow and you're going to stay somewhere else."

  Dodge rolled his eyes and picked me up to carry me across half the park to get back to the car, Silas loping along behind us. "We both know that isn't going to happen."

  "You've got to give me space, Dodge." I frowned as I looked at his profile. I didn't know how it was possible to love someone so much. Imagining my life without him had become impossible, even if he annoyed the shit out of me without even trying very hard.

  He sighed as he put me down so I could get into the car, and he closed the door gently once my feet were safely inside. Rather than ramping down the chivalry after I said I loved him, it spiraled out of control. I couldn't remember the last time I'd touched a door handle or made the bed. Dodge let Silas into the back seat, then got in and started the car up, not quite looking at me as he pulled out of the parking lot. "Persephone, love, I can try but it never works."

  "What do you mean, it never works?"

  "You've seen Deirdre and Evershaw, right?"

  I clamped my lips together to keep from giggling. If I thought Dodge was bad with the hovering and wrapping me in bubble-wrap, the pack alpha was a thousand times worse. He wasn't shy about trying to boss Deirdre around when he thought she needed to do something. It had led to more than one epic showdown in the living room, much to the pack's amusement. Evershaw made a lot of noise trying to get his way, but the second Deirdre's voice wobbled… All the witch had to do was cry or look like she might cry, and her mate froze.

  Half the time I suspected Deirdre was just doing it to get him to stop pestering her about pregnancy yoga, or playing music for the baby, or taking new vitamins, or oiling her skin. I'd observed her technique for distracting her mate, though I hadn't needed to go that far to get Dodge to settle down.

  I rubbed my jaw and sighed, leaning my head back against the top of the seat. "Of course I've seen them."

  "The way Evershaw behaves..." He took a deep breath. "That is how I want to be, and even he's holding back to try and be considerate. If it were up to me, you'd be cocooned somewhere warm and safe, and I would bring you food, and you wouldn't have to do anything for the next five months."

  "That's absurd," I said. My eyes drifted shut for a second. Just a second. It wasn't that I wanted to fall asleep in the soft hum of the car tires against the smooth, freshly paved road – something else Dodge paid for when too many potholes jostled me on the way to work. "I couldn't possibly..."

  "I know," he said. Dodge reached over to take my hand and brought it up to his mouth so he could kiss my knuckles, my fingers. "I know. But I want you to know what I'm struggling with. I need to protect you, to keep you and the baby safe. I couldn't live with myself if anything happened to either of you."

  "Nothing is going to –" I started, turning my head so I could study him.

  The muscles in his jaw tightened, and he held my hand tighter. "But it could. There are so many terrible things that could happen. We've already been through some of them. I can't take the chance that something might go wrong even the slightest bit."

  I sank lower in the seat, wiggling around to try and ease the ache in my lower back and hips. "I get it. I'm worried, too. But I can't stand to feel suffocated, Dodge."

  He muttered under his breath. "It's not the same for humans."

  "Oh, for God's sake." I pulled my hand away and massaged my temples. "How do you know it's not the same?"

  "Well..."

  "You gave me shifter blood," I said, irritation making my voice sharp. "Right? Why wouldn't I feel the same kind of stuff you're feeling?"

  "Persephone..."

  My eyes narrowed as I glared at him, a surge of unreasonable anger swinging through and carrying me along. "Don't you dare say I'm being crazy."

  Silas huffed in the backseat, the closest he could get to a wolf laugh, and I whirled to glare at him, too. "No comments from the peanut gallery until you can say it out-loud, got it?"

  The wolf grumbled and rested his head on his paws, heaving an impressively expressive sigh. Dodge took a deep breath and reached for my hand again. "Okay, babe. You're right. I'll back off."

  "You're just saying that." I frowned at him in suspicion. He never gave up that easy. "What are you planning?"

  "Nothing," he said. Dodge kept his eyes on the road as he pulled onto Deirdre's street. "I agree with you a hundred percent."

  "Now I know that's bullshit!"

  He cracked a smile and parked the car in front of Deirdre's neighbor's house. "It's not."

  But I was distracted by a cramp in my side and grumbled, finally heaving myself up and to m
y feet when he'd opened the door. Pregnancy heartburn was a real bitch. Why hadn’t anyone pointed out you could get heartburn from practically just breathing? Silas jumped out and chased off after Cricket where he lounged in Deirdre's garden. Dodge tucked my hand in the crook of his elbow and kept me close to his side as he trudged toward the neighbor's house.

  I looked around, frowning. "Where are you going?"

  "Home."

  My heart beat faster. "That isn't..." I caught the edge of his smile and groaned. "What did you do?"

  "Just look." He didn't say anything else until we were on the porch and he unlocked the front door. "They'd been wanting to sell for a while but didn't think they could make enough on it. Someone came along with a generous offer, so they were only too happy to take off to Florida."

  "You're nuts," I said under my breath, but even as I shook my head, I couldn't contain an answering smile. "Seriously. The apartment, and now a house?"

  "Technically we own the block."

  I stared at him, smacking his shoulder as he pushed the door open and peered inside. "A block? You bought a city block?"

  He shrugged, then swooped me up in his arms to carry me through the doorway. "Why not?"

  "You're ridiculous." I shook my head, staring around at the house. It was as large as Deirdre's but emptier, with only a few pieces of furniture.

  Dodge didn't put me down as he started the tour through the downstairs. "I didn't want to run the risk of getting shitty neighbors. Two empty lots and two other houses – one was unoccupied and the other the tenants are leaving at the end of the month. We can do what we want with the properties, although it would be nice to have at least one house for pack to use when they're around."

  I rested my head on his shoulder, suddenly too tired again to argue about walking on my own damn, swollen feet. "Sure. That makes sense."

  "But we might need redesigns for everything," he murmured. Dodge kissed my forehead and started up the stairs. "I want to change the layout up here so it's closer to what you want. I figured you could do all the plans for it."

  "I'm not that kind of an architect."

  "But you're a habitat designer," he said. Dodge squeezed me tighter, meandering to the back of the house and a huge master bedroom. "This is our habitat. I want you to design it."

  And just like that, the emotional whiplash was back, and my eyes prickled with a hint of tears. "Th-that's really nice."

  He grumbled, though it was closer to a laugh than anything else, and held me tighter. "Good. There's also the two empty lots that we can decide what to do with. Deirdre wants more garden space but I told her to look on her own block. Evershaw didn't like that. But it's all yours to play with, whatever you want."

  Before I could come up with a response, we stood in the doorway of the master bedroom. The decor hadn't been updated in a few decades, but there was a familiar bedroom set and fresh sheets and – in a reading nook near the window – a bassinet and changing table.

  Dodge took a deep breath as he eased to sit on the end of the bed, me in his lap, and pointed at the far wall. "I thought we could knock down part of that wall so it leads into the next room, which could be the nursery or playroom or whatever. So the kids are close."

  I wasn't ready for plural kids, but I let it slip by. My hand tightened in his shirt as I gazed around the room and envisioned all the ways our lives would change in the very near future. I liked what he'd made, and I liked even more the idea that we'd design and build it together, so it fit both of us. It would be our home, our room. Our family.

  "Now," Dodge said, his voice quiet even in the silent room. "There's just one more thing to take care of."

  My heart beat faster as I looked around, partially distracted by making mental notes of things to do and change and research, and I felt him reach into his pocket.

  "Persephone Lawson," he started, one arm looped firmly around my waist to keep me in his lap, while the other slid a diamond ring on my left hand. "For the last goddamn time, will you marry me?"

  I laughed and rested my forehead against his throat, reveling in the feel of his arms around me. "Sure."

  "Sure?" He chuckled and, after he got the ring on my finger, his hand chased up my side to tickle a particularly tender spot. "Not exactly the resounding enthusiasm that a guy hopes for."

  I nuzzled closer and kissed at the line of his jaw, even with the scratch of beard against my cheek. I whispered, "Closest alligator to the boat, babe."

  "And here I thought we weren't calling each other alligators anymore." But his smile spread and his gaze heated. His hand slid down to the waist of my jeans and started tugging at the button.

  "I said you couldn't call me an alligator," I said. "Big difference."

  "Got it." He growled a little and rolled us back into the bed, shoving aside sheets and pillows, and stripped off his shirt before leaning in to kiss me hard enough my toes curled.

  I shivered as I ran my hands over his chest and shoulders, wanting to touch every inch of him. I'd already memorized how he felt against me, but every time we touched I learned something new about him, or me, or love. "Here's the thing, though."

  Dodge focused on unbuttoning the camp shirt I wore, all of his attention on working the buttons since I'd burst into tears the last time he tore my clothes trying to get me naked. "Uh huh."

  "A wedding can wait," I breathed, working my fingers into his hair. "I just... I want to focus on us and the baby and I think that other nonsense will just... just..."

  I trailed off as my shirt finally parted and he licked my stomach before unhooking my bra. Suddenly I had no idea what I meant to say. Something about planning a big ceremony being a distraction. Dodge nodded and peeled my jeans down, feathering kisses all over the swell of my stomach.

  "We can get the license," he murmured. "Don't need a ceremony or anything fancy. I want to marry you tonight. Tomorrow. As soon as possible."

  I sighed and relaxed as he moved up to kiss me again, his thigh a comfortable weight between mine. "Dodge..."

  "Mmm?"

  "I definitely want a cake."

  "You can have anything you want, baby." He grinned as he bumped his nose against mine and his hand drifted down my stomach to tease under my panties. "We could go to some fancy island or up to the mountains, maybe to Paris. Anywhere you want. Whatever adventures you want, Persephone, I'm there. I'm on board. First class all the way."

  I smiled and arched my back, trying to wrap my legs around his waist to keep him close even though the growing bump started to make things awkward. I'd never really wanted adventures. I thought I only wanted a normal life, a stable job and an average apartment, and a reasonable boyfriend. From the moment Dodge careened into my life, I learned how much I'd been missing. How much more I wanted. How much more I needed in my life.

  I stretched and relaxed and murmured as he kept on worshiping my body. There was no telling what the next few months and years would bring, but we were ready. One alligator at a time.