The Bodyguard

by Adair, Cherry; Showalter, Gena; O'Clare, Lorie

  Unable to keep his attention off the hot lady across the bar, he glanced back her way. She stood there, resting her cup against the balcony ledge, her expression somber. Apparently she had figured out she no longer had him as an audience.

  Large hands snaked around her from behind and Seth stiffened. A predatory instinct jumped to life inside him. Putting his beer on the bar, he turned toward her, convinced she didn’t appear happy with the intrusion. Seth couldn’t see the bastard who grabbed her, his head nestled against her neck, buried in her hair. Seth wasn’t the jealous type, but damn, what he wouldn’t do to have his head where that guy’s was.

  The guy dragged her away from the balcony. But when she grabbed the ledge and spilled her drink, Seth lunged away from the bar. Whoever the guy was, the lady didn’t want to be with him.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Jenna damn near gagged on the stench from the male who wrapped his greasy hand around her face. He was a large werewolf and a hell of a lot stronger than she was. Her fingernails dug into the wooden balcony ledge, scraping the wood, as he forcibly dragged her back through the crowd.

  Stupid fucking humans. Someone could be killed in front of them and they would stifle the smell of their fear and pretend they didn’t see it. Allowing a bit of muscle to come forth on her own, Jenna felt the pinch as her teeth grew in her mouth. Then she opened her mouth and got a rancid taste in her mouth from the male’s flesh; Jenna’s eyes watered as she bit into his flesh.

  “Fucking bitch,” the male howled behind her, yanking his hand from her mouth and holding it with his other hand.

  Jenna didn’t wait to see how upset he was. Darting around the humans who now appeared mildly interested, she headed for the small flight of stairs and toward the main part of the club.

  “I don’t think so,” the male growled, reaching her on the stairs and grabbing her hair.

  Jenna growled fiercely as she fell backward, the small stairwell creating a private area where no one else would see her attack with the strength she possessed.

  “Someone should have taught you manners,” she hissed, using the wall as leverage as she turned and smacked the male in the face, her claws extended. Her words were garbled with her teeth pressing against her lips as she spoke. Allowing her stronger half to come forth also heightened her senses.

  Jenna stared into the fury-laden, pale blue eyes of her attacker. She didn’t recognize the male, but as she made contact, scratching his face and watching red lines appear down his cheek, she did recognize the unleashed rage filling him. He had a lot of nerve getting pissed at her for defending herself.

  “They’ve tried teaching me to behave,” he grumbled through clenched teeth. “And all have failed. Now they think they can have another shot, but you, little female, are my meal ticket out of here. Don’t think I won’t kill you if you keep fighting me, though.”

  As nonsensical as his words were, she believed him. He smelled disgusting, but she didn’t smell a lie. At the same time, Jenna didn’t belly-up for any male, sane or insane.

  “I’m not your meal ticket for shit!” she roared, bounding down the stairs, ready to run through the crowd and use every human in there, if needed, as a block against this insane werewolf.

  The male behind her wrapped his hand through her hair, yanking her backward when she would have lunged out of the stairwell. Jenna cried out, feeling the pain in her scalp. At the same time, the human male who had spoken with her brother the night before in the woods stepped into the stairwell.

  “Let her go, Tray.” The deadly calm in his tone was uncanny coming out of a human, and it seemed to still everything around them.

  The human male wouldn’t smell the slight change in her attacker’s scent. Jenna banked on it, though. Tray, whoever the hell he was, suddenly smelled hesitant. And she swore there was the slightest tinge of fear. Already she’d guessed this wasn’t an ordinary human male, especially if her brother was meeting with him. Apparently Tray knew that, too. It took a moment before he regained his insane, cocky attitude, and Jenna took advantage of that moment.

  She lunged at the human, praying his strength was as strong as his self-confidence. Tray’s hand slipped out of her hair as she practically tumbled down the stairs and into the arms of the human.

  Instead of taking her in his arms or pulling the two of them out of the stairwell as Jenna had guessed the human would do, he shoved her behind him and bounded up the stairs toward the insane werewolf.

  Tray retreated, which shocked her even more. What werewolf would run from a human?

  “I can smell the little bitch on my hands. She’ll be easy enough to hunt later,” Tray snarled, flying into the unsuspecting crowd of humans on the landing upstairs.

  “Hunt me and you’ll die!” she yelled up the stairwell.

  Jenna couldn’t see the male who had attacked her anymore. But she got an eyeful of muscular ass and long, powerful-looking legs as she stood at the bottom of the stairs. Then suddenly she stood alone, the noise of so many people partying around her irritating. She’d come here tonight after hearing her brother tell this human to be here. Already the male intrigued her. He wasn’t a werewolf, yet he was strong enough to make a lunatic werewolf bolt at the sight of him. Jenna needed to know more.

  Charging up the stairs, she searched the humans sitting at tables, or standing in small groups chatting and laughing, oblivious to the two males who had just raced past them. Jenna couldn’t sniff either of them out, not with so much activity swarming around her. She cursed under her breath when she realized there was another flight of stairs on the other side of the landing. The werewolf male was gone and her human was rushing out the main door.

  By the time Jenna reached outside, the human and the werewolf were already across the parking lot. And the human was still chasing Tray.

  “Damn,” she muttered, the entire scene so incredibly insane she couldn’t blow it off and return inside.

  “Are you heading home?” Bruno, one of the bouncers at the Golden Grill, stepped outside.

  Jenna offered him a limp wave over her shoulder. “No one in there appealed to me.”

  “I’ll let your brother know to expect you soon.”

  Jenna growled under her breath, itching to race across the parking lot and not interested in overprotective single males. “Don’t bother. He’s not at our den,” she offered lightly, then walked quickly, aching to break into a sprint, but sensing Bruno watching her as she headed across the parking lot.

  Jenna waited for the annoying comment to ransack her brain that good little females didn’t wander alone at night without an escort. Bruno knew humans might be in hearing distance, though, and fortunately had enough sense not to howl after her. She hated hearing that. Good little females could do whatever the fuck they wanted to do. Including ignoring good little males.

  Insanity had a really odd smell to it. Jenna tried figuring it out as she followed the scent past the parking lot and around the corner. The moment she was out of sight of the Golden Grill, she broke into a hefty jog, wishing she’d opted for something other than her lace underwire bra and short skirt. Better yet, she prayed the scent would carry her out of the city so she could change and run with some speed that would allow her to catch up to the human. As powerful as the warped smell of hostility, egotistical confidence, and fear was, the smell of her human male was just as strong.

  Putting some muscle into it, and probably running faster than most humans would dub as “normal,” Jenna spotted the human male trucking ahead of her. She paced herself, staying less than a block’s distance behind him. There wasn’t any harm in letting him know she tracked him. She was curious. The man he chased had attacked her. Different lines pranced through her head that she might use if he turned on her. Which she really wanted him to do. It was one thing for him to save her honor, and she was appreciative. But the human was more intent on chasing down a rabid werewolf than he was in her. Jenna wouldn’t let that get to her.

  After running a few blo
cks, they came back around to the back side of the shopping center where the Golden Grill was. The werewolf, Tray, was a few blocks ahead of the human. In spite of his well-built body and his apparent aggressive nature, the human male wasn’t a match for a werewolf. Jenna watched Tray jump up against a wooden privacy fence and clear it. But the human slowed in the middle of the street, fisting his hands at his waist and breathing heavily as he studied the darkness.

  Jenna slowed to a walk before coming up behind him. When the human turned around, beautiful gray eyes pierced her, an array of emotions washing off of him as he swallowed a couple times.

  “Were you following me?” he asked, sounding surprised and out of breath. His sandy blond hair was curlier than it was in the club, and its tousled look made him even sexier.

  Jenna was surprised at herself. Humans didn’t turn her on. They never had. Whatever it was about this particular male screamed caution. She made a show of sounding out of breath, too.

  “Men don’t assault me in bars.” She straightened, sticking out her chin. “I wanted to watch you take him down.”

  “Tray Long is not a man,” he growled.

  She thought of telling him which way Tray went, but then froze. “Tray Long?” she said, and dropped her attention to the sidewalk between them. “I know that name,” she said more to herself than to him.

  “Then you should know to stay the fuck away from him.” The harshness in his tone wasn’t missed.

  Jenna’s attention shot to his face, smelling his irritation. “He tried grabbing me, not the other way around,” she snapped.

  He searched her face with those distracting eyes of his. They were an odd color, especially for a human. And he was definitely pure-blooded human. The rich, dark color of them reminded her of a stormy sky, right before all hell broke loose. When his gaze dropped lower, heat washed over her.

  “I’ll walk you to your car,” he decided, as if this whole time he was contemplating what best to do with her.

  He held his hand out, turning, implying she should walk alongside him back around the shopping center.

  Jenna started toward the building with him, glancing at his profile as he in turn looked at her. “I don’t have a car,” she told him.

  “Husband?”

  “No.”

  “Boyfriend?”

  “No.”

  “How are you getting home?”

  Apparently the species of male didn’t matter. They all thought females incapable of going anywhere by themselves.

  “The same way I got to the club,” she told him derisively. “Walk.”

  He stared straight ahead, staying in pace with her, their arms brushing once while their shoes created a mutual rhythm against the black asphalt.

  “I’ll take you home,” he said after a moment.

  “Don’t worry about it.” The last thing she needed was her brother actually being at her den, then having to listen to him rant and rave about a human bringing her home. Although this human was her brother’s friend. “I don’t mind walking.”

  “I mind. You’re not walking alone tonight.”

  Jenna sighed, which he apparently didn’t appreciate. Before they reached the corner of the building he grabbed her arm, turning her to face him. “I realize you don’t know me. But you were just grabbed by a killer. I tried apprehending him and I will catch him. Until then, I either take you home or stay with you until you find someone you trust to take you.”

  “Tray Long.” She said his name, not surprised at how it changed the expression on the male’s face. His frustration and determination didn’t sway, and although his nature frustrated her, she had to admit the strong emotions mixed well on him, giving him an appealing aroma she didn’t mind breathing deep into her lungs. “That’s who tried grabbing me?” She shook her head. “I’d forgotten about the rumors spreading about him until you said his name.”

  “If you heard he’s killed several people, done time for it, is out on parole and now suspected of killing again, then you heard right.”

  Jenna nodded. She hadn’t given it much thought when the werewolf said he could sniff her out later, but if humans were hunting him and the rumors about him were true—that no pack would have him—then he might have sought her out intentionally. What better way to get at their pack leader than to take his younger littermate?

  She shivered at the thought. Her companion touched her arm, his warm, callused fingers creating a much different sensation than what she’d experienced a moment before.

  “I’ll wait with you until you find a ride,” he said, his baritone deeper than it was before, the tone soothing as he rubbed his fingers down her arm. “I’m Seth Gere. And you are?”

  “Jenna,” she offered, and wondered if she should give him her last name. If he knew her litter, it might not go well for her.

  “Jenna?” He tilted one eyebrow, obviously not liking the informal introduction.

  “Yes.” She lifted her gaze when she realized she stared at his broad chest and stared into those incredible dark gray eyes. “Jenna Drury,” she added, watching him.

  Seth cocked an eyebrow, then pursed his lips as if he knew already why she had held out on giving him her last name. “How related are you to Jeremy Drury?”

  “Pretty related.”

  “Did you know already that he’s a friend of mine?”

  She shifted her weight, turning and staring at the end of the building and parking lot, which was filling up with even more cars than when she’d left. Seth considered her littermate a friend. Possibly Jeremy met him in the woods so no one would smell a human coming around their den. Jeremy didn’t explain his life to her, which never bothered her because she didn’t tell him everything, either. Although now she needed to figure out a way to keep Seth from telling Jeremy she was here, alone, almost abducted by a rogue werewolf, then helped chase him around town. She wasn’t sure asking Seth to keep quiet would work. He’d known Jeremy long enough to call him friend and only known her a few minutes. Seth’s loyalty would lie with her brother.

  Apparently she hesitated long enough to give Seth the answer to his question. “So when you made your comment at the door when we entered, then watched me while we were inside the club, all of that was intentional?”

  Jenna took her time returning her attention to him. She hadn’t had an agenda. Not really. Other than her curiosity being piqued. But now so was Seth’s. And she needed to say something or he’d think she was trying to pick him up. That wasn’t her intention, was it?

  “I was teasing at the door and I wouldn’t say I was watching you. I noticed you and didn’t know anyone else there tonight.”

  He nodded once, although his hard features gave her the impression he didn’t feel she was out of the water yet. Jenna sighed, not liking someone who was a stranger treating her the way her brother did, as if she needed to justify her actions.

  “I think it would be smart from now on not to flirt with men you don’t know.”

  “And I think I can take care of myself.” Under different circumstances she might find it cute that this human, of a species possessing half her strength, tried protecting her.

  Jenna started toward the parking lot, but Seth grabbed her arm, catching her off guard when he spun her around. She slapped her hand against his chest, immediately aware of the warm, solid muscle flexing under his shirt.

  “You are not walking away from here alone,” he growled, his menacing tone causing her insides to flip-flop. He reached into his pocket with his free hand, pulling out a cell phone. “If you aren’t going to call for someone to get you, I will.”

  “Who are you calling?”

  “You said you were related to—”

  “You’re not calling my brother!” she snapped, yanking free of his grasp and feeling the sting on her skin when his fingers scraped over her arm.

  “I should have guessed Jeremy was your brother.” Seth walked around her, his back to the parking lot, and blocked her way. “And why don’t you want me
calling him?”

  “There’s no reason to interrupt his evening.” She tried to make light of it but didn’t bother searching Seth’s face this time to see if he bought it.

  Seth’s scent told her enough. He had an unusually strong, protective, dominating aroma about him.

  “Then it’s decided.” He took her arm again, this time not as roughly, and placed his hand on her back as he guided them into the parking lot. “I’m taking you home.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Seth wasn’t sure calling Jeremy about his sister was a good idea. At least not at the moment with the thoughts Seth had running through his head. She didn’t argue but walked silently next to him as they neared his Harley. Seth kept his hand on her back, enjoying the narrow curve of it and how her hips swayed while she remained at his side.

  “I didn’t bring two helmets, so you can wear mine.” He hated taking his hand off her, and shot her a side glance when he took the helmet from his bike.

  She hesitated only a moment before accepting the helmet, then twisted her hair behind her head and slid it on. Seth straddled his bike and held it when she climbed on behind him, gripping his shoulder, then pressing her legs against his body as she slid up against his backside.

  Jenna put her hands on either side of his waist. Seth took her wrists, pulling her hands to his stomach, then held them both in his hand, keeping her pinned against him. When the bike rumbled to life, Jenna slid closer, resting her chin against his shoulder. Seth was acutely aware of everywhere she touched him and took a moment fighting to concentrate before making an ass out of himself and tipping his bike.

  “Where to, my lady?” he asked, and rubbed his finger over the smooth, silky back side of her hand.

  “Do you know where the entrance to the woods is just north of town? Where all the trails start?”

  “Yes,” he said slowly, having been there just last night when he met Jeremy.