Savage Alpha (Alpha 8)

by Carole Mortimer

  Besides, he had almost strangled poor Evan.

  “Is it safe to leave me alone with him?” Evan eyed Jonas nervously as Lily got up to go through to the kitchen.

  “Is it?” Lily quirked a questioning brow at Jonas.

  “For the moment,” he allowed grudgingly.

  Lily would like to think he was joking, but she knew by Jonas’s behavior in the hallway that he wasn’t. One wrong move from Evan, and he was likely to find himself pressed up against the wall again, Jonas’s hand once more about his throat. And this time, he might not let go.

  “It’s safe,” she told Evan, shooting Jonas a warning glance as she continued into the kitchen to get the glass of water.

  Jonas assessed Evan. Mid to late twenties, about six feet tall, slender frame, pretty-boy face, tousled brown hair. “So you’re an actor?”

  The guy’s Adam’s apple bobbed nervously up and down before he spoke. “Yes.” He gave an enthusiastic nod. “I also have a boyfriend called Todd,” he added quickly.

  Jonas’s eyes narrowed. “Then what are you doing here?”

  “Todd goes away on business a lot, and Lily and I occasionally go for coffee after the show when he’s away.” He shifted uncomfortably. “I was concerned earlier when someone said she’d left with you.”

  “Why?”

  “Well…the letters. Those roses.” Evan shuddered. “I thought you might have been him. The stalker. You aren’t him, are you?” he added as a worried afterthought.

  Jonas gave a derisive shake of his head. “I’m a friend of her brother.”

  Evan’s eyes lit up with interest. “The big dangerous-looking one, with the incredibly wide shoulders and gorgeous green eyes?”

  “That would be all of them. And I’ll take your word for it on the gorgeous green eyes,” he drawled.

  “This brother also always wears suits that look as if his tailor loves dressing him.” Evan gave a swooning movement with his eyes to emphasize his point.

  “That would be Gabriel.” Although Jonas had a feeling the other Knight brothers looked as good in a suit. “And yes, that’s the right brother.” He wondered how Gabriel would react to this man’s obvious crush. No doubt the same way he reacted to everyone—with complete indifference. Gabriel didn’t have women, or men, in his life, only in his bed, and then only for the time it took to satisfy his sexual itch. “I wouldn’t waste my time in that direction, if I were you.”

  “Are you and Gabriel together?”

  Jonas almost choked on his own tongue. Him and Gabriel? It would be like putting a tiger and a panther together, and anyone’s guess which one would maul the other to death.

  “Yes, are you?” Lily prompted innocently as she arrived back and handed Evan the glass of water.

  Jonas narrowed his eyes at her. “Remember that promise I made you earlier?” His mouth twisted as Lily’s cheeks colored with a blush. “Consider it a notice of intent. But you won’t know when to expect it.”

  “Lily?” Evan looked between the two of them uncertainly.

  “It’s okay, Evan.” Lily turned to give him a reassuring smile. “Jonas is just a big teddy bear, really. Aren’t you?” she taunted.

  More like a grizzly—with attitude.

  And right now, Jonas’s attitude was telling him Lily not only took delight in pressing every one of his buttons, but she succeeded too.

  “Time I was going.” Evan had obviously had enough of the tension he sensed between them, placing his empty glass down on a coaster on the coffee table before standing up. “I only wanted to make sure you were okay, baby girl.” He touched Lily’s cheek gently.

  She pulled him into a hug. “I’ll walk you to the door—”

  “I’ll be the one walking him to the door.” Jonas pushed away from the wall.

  “The two of you can leave together.” Lily nodded.

  Jonas gave her a mocking glance. “We’ll talk about when I’m leaving once I’ve seen Evan out.”

  Lily eyed him nervously, not liking the determined glitter she could see in those dark blue eyes as Jonas left the room. Or the promise of intent he’d made a few minutes ago to spank her bottom.

  She knew she’d behaved badly with Jonas tonight, mocking, challenging, and then being downright provocative when those two things had failed to get a reaction. It was no excuse, but she was tired from tonight’s performance and defensive from the days of tension caused by her stalker. Jonas Grayfeather, six and a half feet of in-your-face power and impressive masculinity, was too much to take on top of all that. She could even envision him out there on the American prairie, dressed only in a breechcloth, as he stalked and then captured his prey.

  How on earth did Gabriel even know a man like Jonas? Admittedly the two men were of a similar age and temperament, but that was where the similarity ended. They came from different backgrounds and different countries. She was pretty sure Jonas didn’t work at Knight Security either. She knew all the men who did.

  Gabriel hadn’t been in the least forthcoming about Jonas on the phone earlier, but that was nothing new. As she’d told Jonas, her eldest brother rarely felt the need to explain himself or his actions.

  All Gabriel would say was that she could trust Jonas.

  Problem was, she was quickly learning she didn’t trust herself when she was with him. Jonas’s physical presence brought out a recklessness inside her. The strong, silent thing he had going made her want to constantly challenge, to poke and prod at him in whatever way she could, in order to get a reaction. As for the way she reacted to him physically…the last thing she wanted was to find herself attracted to a man who was so like her overbearing and arrogant brothers. Not least because they would all find it hilarious if she did.

  “I’m tired. I’d like you to go now,” she told Jonas wearily when he came back into the room.

  He nodded. “I’m leaving two of my men outside to watch the building tonight, one at the back, one at the front. But I’ll be back in the morning.”

  Her eyes widened. “Your men?”

  Jonas gave a hard smile. “I work for a company called Grayson Security.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  He shrugged. “Gabriel said you weren’t happy at the thought of anyone from Knight Security being involved in protecting you.”

  She wasn’t. She loved her brothers dearly, but she couldn’t stand being around any of them for too long. “So he hired someone from your company instead?”

  Jonas’s mouth tightened. “Not exactly.”

  “How not exactly?”

  “Long story. One you’ll have to ask Gabriel about if you want answers,” he added before Lily could press the matter. “Can I take these with me?” He moved to pick up the pile of letters she hadn’t shown her brother.

  Alarm coursed through her. “Why?”

  “These are the only ones still in their envelopes—I understand why the others weren’t,” he assured her as she would have spoken. “The fact the letters and envelopes are printed isn’t going to be of much help. We could probably narrow down the printer, but that’s about it, and no doubt there are thousands of the same model out there. But there are times and postmarks on these envelopes that may help in my investigation.”

  She was an investigation now?

  Of course she was. This was a job to Jonas. She was a job to Jonas.

  Lily suddenly felt even more tired. Bone weary, in fact. As well as a deep need to be alone. “Fine,” she agreed tersely.

  Jonas could see Lily had clearly had enough for one night. The shadows had returned to her eyes, and her face was pale. He resisted the urge to take her in his arms and reassure her. “I will find him, Lily,” he said instead.

  “I hope so.” Her voice sounded very small, and she somehow looked smaller and more vulnerable too.

  “Don’t hope, know.”

  She gave the ghost of a smile. “Lord save me from overconfident men.”

  “I’m exactly as confident as I need to be,” he stated gr
imly. “Now get some rest, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “Yes, sir!”

  Jonas instantly felt heat course through his body before centering on his rapidly engorging cock, and he wondered what it would be like to have a fiery woman like Lily as love slave to his master. Not that he was into that lifestyle at all, but it might be fun to play at it for a couple of hours. Once this was over—

  Once this was over, he would return to his world and Lily would stay in hers. His was based in harsh reality, Lily’s in the artificial world of acting. Total opposites.

  Opposites attract as often as they repel.

  Jonas wasn’t about to deny he was attracted to Lily, any more than she could deny her response to him earlier. He had been able to breathe in the perfume of her arousal as he held her in his arms and her pussy pressed against the hardness of his cock. To feel the heat between her thighs and the press of her engorged nipples against his chest.

  His mouth thinned as his cock gave an interested throb. A response he ignored. As he also chose to ignore her most recent attempt to annoy him. “Do I need to warn my men to expect any more nocturnal visitors?”

  “Is that your way of asking if I have a boyfriend?”

  “Do you?”

  “Didn’t Gabriel tell you that?”

  “I doubt Gabriel would know,” he drawled.

  She gave a humorless smile. “You’re right, he wouldn’t. And the answer is no. No more nocturnal visitors, and no boyfriend.”

  Jonas nodded. “What time do you usually leave your apartment?”

  “There’s a matinee performance tomorrow as well as an evening one, so about one, then back again at six thirty.”

  “Must be hell on your social life.”

  “I told you, I don’t have one.”

  “Tomorrow,” he reiterated abruptly.

  Once Jonas had gone, what little defiance Lily had left deflated like a punctured balloon. The letters and the roses had been and continued to be disturbing. Jonas’s presence in her life, while reassuring in one way, also made it impossible for her to continue denying how frightened she was of whoever had sent those letters and bloodied roses.

  But at least Jonas’s presence means I no longer feel quite so alone and defenseless.

  “Any progress?”

  Jonas raised dark brows. “It’s been less than twenty-four hours, Gabriel.” And this was the second visit the other man had made to his office during that time, Gabriel having marched straight into Jonas’s office, without an appointment and uninvited. He was lucky to have caught Jonas here at all; he was leaving for Lily’s apartment in a few minutes.

  “And?”

  “As you know, Lily and I met for the first time last night. Thanks for letting her know about me, by the way.” He scowled his displeasure. “I can’t tell you how thrilled she was, once she’d settled down, to learn who I am and what I was doing in her dressing room.”

  Gabriel grimaced. “I told you, my relationship with Lily is complicated.”

  “More like nonexistent.”

  “You try being guardian to a thirteen-year-old girl some time, and then tell me if she still likes you at the end of it.”

  “Good point,” Jonas conceded. He didn’t have any siblings of his own, but if Lily’s challenging attitude now was anything to go by… “I have some of my people investigating the letters.” He wasn’t ready to tell Gabriel about those six letters Lily had kept from him, or the envelopes they came in. It was more important that he build the trust between himself and Lily than Gabriel needed to know all the details. “Let me do my job, Gabriel,” he added firmly. “I’ll tell you if there’s anything I think you need to know.”

  The other man breathed deeply. “It’s hard for me to let someone else deal with this, when I just want to pulverize the bastard.”

  “I almost made the mistake of doing exactly that last night. Turned out the man I was about to pulverize was a friend of hers. Evan Butler,” he supplied as Gabriel looked at him questioningly. “He thinks you’re gorgeous, by the way. Totally impressed with the wide shoulders and sexy green eyes.”

  Gabriel’s scowl deepened. “I trust you told him he isn’t my type.”

  “Now why would I do that?”

  “Bastard,” Gabriel said without rancor.

  Jonas chuckled. “He’s sweet. If you like sweet, that is.”

  “I don’t,” Gabriel stated.

  “He has a boyfriend anyway.”

  Gabriel gave him a look that clearly said as if I care. “So what’s our next move?”

  “My next move. Although I would appreciate any information you might have that I don’t.”

  “Lily isn’t being cooperative,” Gabriel guessed ruefully.

  “Not exactly,” Jonas conceded. “I’ve met Butler. Do you have any idea how Lily gets on with the rest of the cast?”

  “Really well, I think— No, wait a minute, she did mention there was some problem with the assistant director during rehearsals.”

  “What sort of problem?”

  “Not sure.” Gabriel’s gaze sharpened. “Are you thinking the stalker is someone Lily actually knows?”

  Jonas was exploring every avenue, and that included Lily’s enemies as well as her friends. “What’s the guy’s name?”

  “Mitchell…? Marvin…? No, I’m pretty sure his name’s Maurice.” Gabriel’s brow cleared. “Do you think he might have something to do with this? If he does, then I want to be there—”

  Jonas stood up. “I’ll take any information you have to give, but anything else is out of the question. I appreciate this is your sister and you’re worried about her, but you have your own business to run, so I would appreciate you allowing me to do the same.”

  “I thought Seth was back today?”

  “He’s running late.” Jonas sighed. “Guess he’s finding it difficult to leave his bed and bride of three weeks.”

  “Can’t say I blame him.”

  “Me either.” Seth Armstrong was the closest thing Jonas had to a brother, and his wife, Diana, was beautiful and her softness totally complimented Seth’s harsher nature. She also grounded Seth in a way he had never been before, as Seth gave Diana the confidence to live her life without fear. Jonas couldn’t have been happier for them. “He’s a lucky bastard.”

  “Would you be talking about me?” Seth breezed into the office as if he wasn’t over an hour late, a smug smile on his face as evidence the two men had been correct about the reason for that delay.

  “As it happens, yes.” Jonas shook his friend’s hand. “It’s all yours.” He stepped away from the desk belonging to Seth, which he had occupied for the other man’s three-week absence. “I’ll walk out with you, Gabe.”

  The two men came to a halt outside the reception area of Grayson Security.

  A nerve pulsed in Gabriel’s jaw. “She’s my little sister, Jonas.”

  “I know that, and I promise you I will do everything in my power to make sure she stays safe.” And that included protecting her from himself. Last night, Jonas had stepped over a line. It couldn’t be allowed to happen again.

  Chapter 4

  “Oh my God…” Lily hadn’t slept well, then had to suffer a visit from her brother Asher this morning—he was only marginally less domineering than Gabriel—and now this.

  This being the graffiti-covered walls of her dressing room.

  Jonas took one look at the words spray-painted in red on the walls and pulled Lily back out into the hallway, closing the door firmly behind them. He sincerely hoped she hadn’t had time to read those words. Being called a “whore,” “bitch,” and several other words no woman should be called was a bloody awful way for her to start her working day.

  The shocked look on her pallid face said she had seen and read all those names. “Why is he doing this?”

  Jonas took her in his arms, liking the way her head fit against his chest far more than he should have done, considering his decision last night to keep his distance. “It
’s what usually happens with stalkers. When they receive no response to their overtures, they tend to get nasty.”

  She looked up at him in amazement. “Those letters weren’t overtures, they were disgusting. As for the roses… They were just sick.”

  “Not to him. He thinks he’s paying you a compliment.”

  Lily gave a shudder of distaste. “And how could I have given a response, when I have absolutely no idea who’s doing this?”

  “I never said stalkers were logical.”

  Jonas didn’t say much at all.

  As he’d said he would, Jonas had been waiting outside her apartment building for her earlier, once again dressed in that ankle-length black leather duster, his T-shirt a dark blue this time, and the same faded denims and black biker boots. He hadn’t spoken a word as he opened the passenger door of the black SUV for her to climb into before getting in behind the wheel of the vehicle and driving to the theater.

  Lily wasn’t used to silence.

  She had grown up as the only girl amongst four brothers, who may have grown up to be moody and uncommunicative men but had argued constantly with each other in their teens. School, and then drama school, had been a constant noise. The jobs she’d had since, working in television or theater, meant there was always something going on, carpenters banging and sets being built, members of the cast rehearsing or filming.

  Jonas was content in his own silence.

  Not only was he content with it, he actually preferred it.

  His expression didn’t give away any of his inner thoughts either. Occasionally those deep-blue eyes would glitter with an emotion, but so far it had been too fleeting for Lily to gauge what that emotion was.

  Because of her brothers, she had never thought she would be attracted to the strong, silent type, but Jonas was starting to intrigue her, in an irritating sort of way.

  Nor could she deny the physical attraction that seemed to simmer beneath the surface whenever the two of them were together. It was the reason Lily had slept so badly. She couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened last night if Evan hadn’t arrived when he did. Would Jonas have—