Jameson (Darkness #9)

by K. F. Breene

  “I thought you were going to blow the place up,” Addison said, looking back.

  “I am. I have a bit more distance to play with. Given that it is light out, I want to get as far away as possible.”

  “It should make me nervous that you’re so knowledgeable about making bombs.”

  “Not any more nervous than my other lethal attributes.”

  He had a point there.

  “So, what are you—” She cut off as an explosion concussed the air behind them. Flame took over the small collection of buildings, releasing thick clouds of black smoke into the air. Addison let out a breath. “Are you sure that’s everyone?”

  “As far as the people working on the project, yes. They had a contact that we obviously missed with the first sweep. I have his information. Getting to him should be no problem.”

  “You’re sure it was only the three?”

  “I’ll go through all the files, but I’m fairly certain. I think they were at the facility because of the one we followed. They had a rinky-dink outfit, to say the least. They didn’t have the resources to process the information they’d collected, they didn’t seem like they had a proper plan for the future, they didn’t even have their equipment clean and organized…” He shook his head. “They were doomed to fail. Anyway, what were you saying?”

  She couldn’t help blinking for a moment, trying to process. The man was wicked smart. Some of those things she could infer, sure, but she could tell he was speaking from knowledge. Had he wanted to run the operation, she bet it would prosper. “And that’s why your people drive really nice cars,” she said, following her thought through.

  “There’s no reason why yours can’t. I could…” He hesitated as he turned onto the highway. It took him a moment before he finished his sentence. “I could help, if you wanted. I don’t mean to say you can’t figure it—”

  “Yes, please,” she said quickly, sounding eager and not caring. “That would be great.”

  “It’s the least I can do for you saving my life.”

  “You went into a building to protect mine—it was the least I could do. The least I would do.”

  After a quiet moment, he said, “I know.”

  A tingly ball of goodness settled in her chest. It wasn’t his words, which were telling enough—it was his resolute tone. The resignation with the tinge of hopefulness. She knew that tone. Had used it when she agreed to work for Tim, a Kodiak. If she wasn’t mistaken, Jameson was ready to move on from his past. And maybe, just maybe, he would be open to moving on with her.

  “Yowza,” she said to herself. Talk about jumping the gun. She’d known the guy for less than twelve hours. It was a little soon to plan a future with him.

  “What?” he asked.

  “Nothing. I’m just losing my mind, is all. No biggie.”

  “I know what you mean,” he muttered. The brow furrow was back.

  “Anyway, what are you going to wear to your shindig? A baby-proof smock, perhaps?”

  He smiled. It dwindled quickly, his expression falling. He shook his head. “Something nice so I look the part.”

  “Listen.” She shifted in her seat before punching the seat warmer. “Since you are going to help me with the managing stuff, I can help you with the holiday party stuff.”

  He turned off the highway and stopped at a light. The turn signal flared in the silence. “How?” he finally said, guardedly.

  The uncomfortable feeling of putting herself out there and getting rejected had her shifting in her seat again. “I can go with you, purely as friends—don’t get any ideas—and take the heat off you. Once they see me making a fool of myself with children, being a woman and all, they won’t be as worried about you. Plus, added bonus, all the women will be shooing their kids away while gossiping about you bringing a girl. They won’t believe we’re just friends. And the guys will gossip as well, but trying to hide it by making it sexual in some way, like throwing in my nice rack or butt or something. They’ll try to play it cool around you to see if you’re hitting that. They’ll all be more concerned with watching us together than watching us with the kids. See? My diabolical plan is perfect.”

  He turned up the road as silence fell. Her cheeks burned and she scratched her leg. His expression had hardened. Bad sign.

  She shouldn’t have said anything. Clearly she’d read too much into his tones and things.

  “Just throwing it out there to even the score,” she threw in, then laughed good-naturedly, like the embarrassment of his non-answer wasn’t a horrible load weighing down her shoulders.

  “Don’t you have family?” he asked, still guarded.

  Stop with the tone reading, Addison! Clearly you suck at it.

  “Not around here, no. I’m too new here to take holiday time away, especially with the intruder. So I’m just hanging around for the holidays. Thanksgiving was boring, let me tell you. With horrible food. All the single shifters can’t cook, me included. Anyway.” She vaguely pointed at Tim’s truck as they pulled into the driveway of the compound. “Just anywhere here is fine.”

  The SUV came to a stop and Jameson sat back, staring out in front of him. A vein in his temple throbbed and his jaw repeatedly clenched. Those were danger signs.

  “Okay,” she said, shrugging off his sweatshirt. “So I’ll…see you around. Thanks again.”

  When she opened the door, he jerked, like he might reach toward her. His furrow was back, though, and his eyes were cool as he watched her get out. He slowly put his hands back on the wheel, silent.

  The heated ache she felt in her core withered and a grimace covered her face. She threw up a hand in salute and shut the door behind her. No friendly fucking, she took that to mean. Mr. Control was back in the driver’s seat, and that kiss had been a crazy, awesome thing that he didn’t want to dive further into, which may or may not have been because she’d basically asked to be invited along to a family affair.

  Hell, why not ask if he wanted a wife, how many kids he wanted, and where he wanted to live? All would be with her, of course. Don’t worry—just as friends!

  Groaning to herself, she trudged the rest of the way up the driveway, going over the conversation. Obsessing was probably a better term for it. She didn’t know if she wanted forever with anybody, but a date might’ve been nice.

  A date! Not an intimate family gathering with his closest friends!

  She took a deep breath and let herself into her cabin.

  “Why not just leave it at him helping you, Addison? You had it in the bag. He was being open and helpful. That would’ve been fine. Maybe work toward a date. How about dinner? Dinner! Instead, what do you do? Ask if you can go with him to his family-style holiday party, something men don’t ask women to until it’s serious. Don’t worry, though, just as friends! You’ve only known him for a few hours, but somehow you suddenly think you’re BFFs.”

  She rolled her eyes, threw her phone on the bed, and placed her clothes delicately on her chair in the corner instead of in the hamper. She wasn’t ready to get rid of his delicious, exotic smell.

  And, to be honest, she wasn’t ready to get rid of the man. The way he calmed her rage comforted her. His intelligence and the analytical way he saw the world jibed with hers. Then there was the look, and the feel of him. Raw and powerful. Electric.

  She blew out a breath and headed for the shower, not seeing her screen light up with a text message agreeing to her proposal.

  Chapter Seven

  Jameson sat in the driveway of the shifter compound clutching the wheel. Full night had fallen not long ago, and he knew everyone would be arriving at the Boss and Sasha’s house relatively soon so the kids could tear into the presents. He had already been warned several times that they’d be waiting for him.

  He clenched his jaw and stared straight ahead, no idea what he was doing. There was no logic in this. He barely knew this girl. Her own pack barely knew her. Yet here he was, consenting to bring her into a personal setting in which he felt extremely
vulnerable and uncomfortable.

  He dropped his head and shook it a little.

  When she’d thrown the idea out there, solely trying to help him, he’d frozen up. Everything in him wanted to blurt out yes immediately. Wanted to hug and thank her for trying to help bail him out. Then let that bodily contact continue on until his mouth was on hers, and her hands were ripping at his fly again.

  Jameson squeezed his eyes shut as the memory resurfaced. The woman was scorching hot. So raw and passionate. She had a fire inside her that burned so brightly it made him feel alive. Like he could do anything. The edge on his desperate need for logic and self-control smoothed out, making him feel looser. More relaxed. No other woman had had that effect on him.

  How had she gotten her hooks in so deeply in so short a time?

  He blew out a breath.

  One thing was for certain. He trusted her. Despite his past, and despite his general misgivings with shifters, he’d go into battle with her any day. Any day. She could take direction, and had courage in spades. She’d be an alpha someday. Despite being a woman, and despite any handicap with strength or size, she’d dominate. It was in her nature. He could learn something from her.

  He opened the car door and stepped out, the cold air accosting him. He hated winter, and he hated the holidays. He needed to move to Hawaii or somewhere, without humans or religious people, so he wouldn’t have to deal with either.

  Nearly at Addison’s bungalow, he saw a male shifter walking his way, short and compact. The shifter saw Jameson and started, before bristling. He stepped in the way. “What do you want?”

  “You to fuck off. Why don’t you do that now?” Jameson stared the other down, happy to take out his frustration physically if the shifter wanted to push his weight around.

  “Thanks for helping us out ’n all, but you’re no longer needed. Why don’t you fuck off?”

  Jameson analyzed the other, cataloging his movements that surely pointed to his weaknesses. “Does your alpha know that that’s how you talk to my people?”

  “Your people? No. You?” The shifter smirked. “Ain’t no one wanting you around. We don’t need your kind.”

  “Nice English.” Jameson took two steps, getting into combat-ready position. He flexed and leaned forward, intimidating the much smaller man with his size. “By my kind, do you mean…lethal?”

  The attempted smirk didn’t come so easily this time around. The shifter tensed, shifting his weight to the middle. His shoulders pushed up closer to his ears, and his hands jerked in and up. He was reacting to fright, zeroing in on the danger and trying to protect itself. The shifter was scared. He must’ve been low on the totem pole and knew what taking on someone like Jameson meant. He wasn’t running, though. He wasn’t abandoning the fight.

  Maybe Addison was right. Jameson needed to get over it. The shifters of his past weren’t the same shifters Tim was leading. They’d proven that. Addison had proved that. Even this small idiot was proving it.

  Jameson was about to take a step back, letting the male off, when a whip crack of a sultry voice rang out. “Ross, stand down.”

  Ross, the shifter, jumped and then hunched. If he was in animal form, his tail would be between his legs.

  Down the walkway of her cabin, her spiky high heels crunching on gravel, strode a vision. Her beauty was absolute, capturing his eye and holding on. A tight black dress showed off her curves, plunging down her chest to reveal part of her perky breasts. That wasn’t what made him want her with everything in him, though. She walked with confidence and dominance, her power radiating out from her like a birthright. She would give the Boss a run for his money with how she owned her supreme authority at that moment. If the Boss and Sasha ever decided to join the Council, and left Jameson in charge of the mansion and their people, this woman would be able to help him lead. She’d keep people in line as a part of her day, and defend them with her dying breath, as she did him.

  His breath came hard as something hot and tight wound through his chest. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. Didn’t want to.

  “He would rip your head off, Ross, pick up your body, and play baseball with your various parts,” she said as she reached Ross and stopped, staring down at him with eyes on fire. He shriveled in her commanding stare. “He took time out of his holiday to help us. He took my place going first into a building to secure it, for us. He put his life on the line, for us. And he is a guest here. All that, and you think the right protocol is acting like an asshole?”

  “No, beta,” he said in a weak voice.

  “No is right. He is welcome in this compound at any time. Any time. He is welcome in our various city residences at any time. Further, I’ll be suggesting his name to Tim as a contender for Pack Friend status. Do I make myself clear?”

  Ross’s eyes widened and he looked at her. “Pack Friend? But he hates shifters.”

  “Out of all the things I just described to you, which of those proves he hates shifters?” she demanded, the air around her crackling with anger. It seemed Ross had just pushed her rage button by trying to put down Jameson.

  That warm, tight thing in Jameson’s chest got a little bit bigger.

  “I’m…I’m not sure I follow, alpha—I mean, beta,” Ross stammered.

  “Out of the things I mentioned…” She ticked off a finger. “Taking time out of his busy holiday.” She ticked off another. “Trying to protect the beta of this pack by proceeding her into a dangerous building.” Another. “Risking his life.” One more. “Visiting this compound of his own free will. Which of those do you suppose indicates that he hates us?”

  “But I’ve heard—”

  “Exactly,” she barked. “You heard. You lot are worse gossipers than a sewing circle on crack, with even bigger tall tales. Use your head for once.”

  Defeated, Ross hunched again. “Yes, beta.”

  Addison stepped around him and met Jameson’s eyes, the wildness there calming slightly. She still crackled with fire and electricity, but the dial was turned down just a bit.

  She exhaled—in relief?—before joining him. “Sorry about that. Sometimes this lot is so excited to swing their dicks around, they forget there is another part of their body actually used for thinking.”

  “I didn’t help the situation,” he said as he held out his arm.

  Surprise flitted across her face, and then a gorgeous smile. She threaded her arm through his as they walked to his SUV. “I wouldn’t expect you to back down,” she said, the purring tone settling deep in his gut. His cock stiffened.

  “You look beautiful,” he said, leading her around to the passenger side and taking his arm back so he could run his hand down her back. She had offered to come as friends, he knew, but he couldn’t help himself. He wanted to touch her. To hold her.

  To fuck her until neither of them knew what day it was.

  “Thank you. You okay?” she asked as he fumbled the keys. His hands were shaking and he was sweating.

  “Yes.” He managed to get the door open and her seated before taking his time walking around the back of the vehicle so he could regain control. That all went out the window as soon as he sat in his seat, however, getting intimate with her delicious smell. “You put on your perfume.”

  Her fingertips barely glanced across her chest, drawing his eyes. All it would take was a swipe of his hand to push her fabric to the side so he could then take her nipple into his mouth.

  “Jameson?” she asked, her voice a little deeper. He belatedly realized she’d said something.

  He ripped his eyes away from her chest and started the car, staring out in front. “I apologize. I lost my train of thought. What were you saying?”

  “I called you a snoop, actually.”

  He drove out of the driveway. “When I followed the scent of the intruder, I noticed the space between your comb and perfume, wondering if something had been there. I smelled your perfume then.”

  “I was kidding.” She folded her hands in her lap. “Why do you
think they took the whole hairbrush instead of just a piece of hair? Or, hell, the other stuff they took would’ve had DNA.”

  “They were a long way from processing DNA. They surely didn’t think so, I wager. As for taking the items, they probably wanted to snatch what they could as quickly as they could. They were hurrying. They knew what they were up against.”

  “They were just too stupid to think it would catch up with them?”

  “That, and they probably thought they were invincible. Two of them did, at any rate. The one with the sniper rifle was definitely special ops in the past. He should’ve known better.”

  “Unless battle twisted his brain. That happens.”

  “Could be.”

  She crossed an ankle over the other and tapped her fingers, almost like she was feeling vulnerable. Or uncomfortable.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “Yes, of course. Just trying to unwind. I haven’t been on a social engagement in a while. All work and no play, as they say.”

  “Thanks for doing this. It shouldn’t make me so wound up, but…” He shrugged as he headed into town.

  “Is it at the mansion?”

  “No. The Boss lives on the other side of town. On the outskirts. It’s a huge house. Not as big as the mansion, but not too far from it. I thought Sasha wanted it that big for vanity, but with all the parties they throw, and the people randomly staying over, it makes sense.”

  “Vanity is fine, too. I’ve always wanted a big house.”

  “Really? I didn’t peg you for a material person.”

  “You pegged me as something after a few hours of knowing me?”

  “I just…analyze those I come into contact with. I didn’t mean that—” The hand on his arm stopped him up short. He flexed his arm unconsciously.

  She took it away. “I was kidding.”

  He glanced over and caught her smile, and then matched it with his own. “Right.” He shook his head, feeling like the humorless oaf he always did in these situations.

  “I’m material about some things, and not about others. I don’t care about jewelry, but I grew up in a tiny house. Four of us, until my brother passed, had to share two rooms.”