Gorilla in the Wind: Book Six - Supernatural Bounty Hunter Romance Novellas

by E A Price

  Zara snorted.

  “C’mon, puddin’ pop…”

  “I do have a job to do. You know if it weren’t me coming for him, it would be someone else.”

  Holt nodded, pleased and annoyed that it was her in equal measure. He doubted other bounty hunters would take his kisses or sniffs with quite so much enthusiasm. Well, they might…

  “Probably a good job it is you, but he is my brother.”

  Amid her squawks of protest, he upended her on his shoulder and deposited her in the bathroom, quickly locking the door on her shocked face. She banged and swore at him.

  “This won’t hold me you overgrown furball!”

  Holt pocketed the key as he strode away. “No, it just needs to hold you long enough.”

  *

  “Cora!”

  “Oh, um, hi,” she said awkwardly.

  Cora was a bobcat shifter and quite new to the club. She was a good dancer and quite sweet. He could see why his brother had taken to her. She wasn’t an irresistible, pain in the ass witch, but he could see the attraction. Course, it was kind of hard to tell what she was like given the angle he was viewing her at.

  His gorilla snorted as she dangled. Good job he locked Zara up when he did. Cora was on her way out the window.

  “Fleeing somewhere?”

  “I… no,” she puffed as she dropped her purse to the ground of the alley.

  “C’mon.”

  He pulled her out the window and set her on her feet. She looked at him nervously and finally settled on her feet.

  “Where’s Sean?” he asked softly.

  Cora looked close to tears, and her bottom lip trembled dangerously. “I don’t know.”

  “He missed his court date.”

  Her eyes widened and quivered. “He did?”

  Holt gave her a hard look. “You knew he wasn’t going to turn up?”

  Cora shook her head profusely. “He was worried. He didn’t think he was going to get off. He was talking about the two of us going to Mexico or something. But when he didn’t call, and he didn’t turn up for court, I figured he went on his own or found some other girl.”

  She dissolved into sobs – body-shaking sobs and Holt looked around, considering whether he could just run away. Run insisted his gorilla. He wasn’t easily scared, but crying women horrified him. They were in an alley; he probably could just make a dash for it. But that wouldn’t help him find his brother. Though, it seemed unlikely Cora would either.

  This was hardly worth locking Zara in the bathroom for, not that he really thought it would stop her – more like just slow her down for a moment or two, which was why he also locked the door to his office, and that door has four locks on it.

  He was considering his options when something hit him on the back of the head.

  “Come here, sweetheart,” cooed the voice of many a wet dream.

  Zara pulled the unresisting Cora into a hug, while shaking the hand she used to slap him on the back of the head.

  “All men are bastards,” crooned Zara as Cora shook and heaved in her arms.

  His gorilla grumbled. “Ahem!”

  Zara cocked her eyes to him. “What? Are you sick or something? If you are, stay away from me. In fact, stay away anyway. Now, Cora…”

  Gently, Zara pried Cora away from her and wiped away her tears. “What happened, sweetheart?”

  What followed was a series of mewls, wails and bawls of which Holt didn’t understand a single word. Zara nodded dutifully and made tut-tutting noises. Holt gazed at them blankly. Was she even using words?

  “I know, sweetheart, now, let’s get you home.”

  Zara led Cora to her car and packed her into the driver’s seat while Holt followed dumbly. Cora blew her nose several times and finally gave them both a watery smile before driving away.

  Zara turned to Holt and pursed her lips. “Smooth.”

  “I’m not good with emotional women,” he grumbled.

  She snorted delicately. “Considering the way you treat women, I would have thought you’d had plenty of practice.”

  “I’m not the kind of guy you think I am,” he said a little reproachfully.

  “Given the way you treated me…”

  “For your own good.”

  “Ugh!”

  Zara eyed him for a moment before breaking into a run. Damnit! Holt bolted after her, but she was already in her car by the time he got there.

  “Zara, open the door,” he roared pulling at the handle.

  “Sorry, pudding poop,” she sneered, “but this is my job.”

  “I’m serious, Zara!”

  He buffeted the car. He was seriously starting to lose his patience over this matter. Was it too much to ask her just to do as he said? Okay, maybe. Plus if she did, she wouldn’t be quite the woman who stole his heart all those months ago. Truths that weren’t helping him in that moment.

  “Do not scratch my paintwork or you will be sorry!”

  “I mean it. You do not want to mess around with my family!”

  “I’m just doing my job so stay out of my way!”

  “You’re going to get hurt!”

  They hurled threats/promises at one another while Holt rocked the car for another few minutes.

  Finally, Holt stopped and leaned against the car – it listed worryingly. “You have an idea where my brother is?”

  “Not really an idea,” she hedged.

  “Zara!”

  “Jeez, you must be pissed if you’re using my real name.”

  He groaned. There was no way she was going to give in. “We should work together to find him.”

  “I don’t need your help.”

  There was also no way that he was letting her run off on her own. “Maybe not in finding him, but you will when it comes to subduing him.”

  Zara looked at him dubiously. “You really expect me to believe that you’ll help me take him back to the cops?”

  “After I’ve had a few words with him, yeah.” Possibly a few thumps to the head added his gorilla.

  “Why should I trust you?”

  “I won’t lie to you, and I mean it.”

  Zara stared at her steering wheel for a moment. His heart thundered in his chest as his gorilla huffed. He really wanted her to trust him, needed her to. She couldn’t yet, but he wanted her to understand that the only reason he kept them apart was for her own good. He wanted her to trust him enough to believe that. Tall order, maybe, but helping with his brother might actually take him a step in that direction.

  “Fine. Get in,” she murmured so softly he barely heard her through the glass.

  Holt looked at her compact doubtfully. “Why don’t we take my truck?” He wasn’t sure he’d fit in there, never mind him and his brother.

  It appeared that Zara had reached her limit when it came to compromising. “This is my bounty, so my rules. You want to come along? Get in, and by the way, you’re holding my soda. It usually sits on my passenger seat.”

  “Don’t you have a cup holder?”

  “Yes, and it holds my phone – so either get in and hold my soda or get bent!”

  Carefully, he climbed in, making her small car lilt worryingly. She passed him a half full can of peach-flavored soda, warning him not to even think about drinking it.

  “So what did Cora say?” he asked trying not to lean too far in one direction, lest the whole car tip over Flintstones style.

  “Ha. I’m not telling you.”

  “What?” He raised his eyebrows at the disgusted tone in her voice. “You don’t trust me?”

  “Not even a smidge. I tell you what she said, and I won’t see you for dust.”

  Holt sighed. He probably deserved this. In fact, he was certain he did. “Fine, let’s go.”

  “Fine, I… ugh.”

  Her phone rang. She peered at it for a couple of beats and then hit ignore, tossing it on the dash.

  “Boyfriend?” he bit out a little more venomously than intended. His gorilla hooted in a fury.


  “No, and it’s none of your…”

  He grabbed the phone, ignoring her outraged yelp, and found himself pleasantly surprised. “Your mother? Eighth missed call today. Why?”

  “None of your damn business.” He allowed her to snatch it away from him.

  “Really?”

  Zara muttered under her breath and started pulling away, but the journey was cut short as someone appeared in front of the car, Zara slammed on the brakes, and the peach soda went all over. Well, all over Zara.

  Chapter Six

  “Mom! What the hell?”

  Zara slammed out of the car.

  “You were avoiding my phone calls,” replied her mother simply.

  “So you thought you’d appear and scare the crap out of me?!”

  Yep, not the first time her mom had shown up in an unexpected place. Like when she lost her virginity, and her mom ‘appeared’ in the guy’s bedroom the morning after to frighten the life out of them and thoroughly shame them. Ugh – still makes her shudder. Weirdly, the guy never called after that.

  Holt got out of the car with a strange smirk on his face. She wanted to yell at him, wanted to get him back in the car before her mother saw him, before she latched onto him, but that would only draw her attention to him.

  Her mother waved her hand dismissively. “I just did a finder spell on you, and here I am.”

  Zara harrumphed. Clearly, the distortion spell she cast on herself was not working. She was considering the best and politest way to tell her mother to get lost when her mother caught sight of Holt. She eyed him with a worrying and deceptively friendly smile on her face.

  “Is he the reason I haven’t been able to get hold of you?”

  “No, Mom, now maybe…”

  “Madeline Benoit,” said her mother striding towards him, hand outstretched.

  He beamed at her. “Angus Holt.”

  Zara snickered at Angus. Still funny no matter how many times she heard it.

  Holt took her hand and rather than shaking it, kissed it. Her mother tittered in laughter – fake laughter, but Holt ate it up and flashed a triumphant grin at Zara. Lord – he thinks he’s charming her. You’re just digging your own grave she thought morosely.

  “Have you two been enjoying yourselves?” asked her mother.

  “No,” Zara said.

  “Yes,” Holt said.

  “Mom, I’m working, okay? Nothing else.”

  No need to start looking at Holt too closely. When her mother took an interest in one of her boyfriends, it was fatal.

  “So you two are not dating?”

  Her mom asked the question with a light laugh, but Zara heard the edge in her tone, and as frustrating, annoying and bloody-minded as Holt could be, Zara did not want him to get hurt. It irked her to realize that she wanted him safe, and the idea of a world without Holt in it wasn’t something she wanted to think about.

  “No,” Zara said.

  “Not yet,” Holt said as he winked.

  “Hmmm.” She gave him a disarming smile, and Zara cringed.

  Hell. Distract her, distract her!

  “Mom, I really have to get to work,” she cried, perhaps a little too loudly and frantically.

  “Zara, darling, the coven needs you.”

  Ugh – who did they want to curse now? “Right now? It’s night time.”

  Her mother arched an eyebrow. “I thought you said you were working.”

  “Well, ah, I was just about to go home and get a little rest.”

  “With your new… friend?”

  “No!” Zara said.

  “Yes,” Holt said.

  Zara glared at him before taking her mother’s arm and leading her away.

  “What’s the spell?”

  “Oh, it’s nothing, just a little hex on your cousin Leah’s ex-boyfriend.”

  Zara tried her best not to grimace. “They broke up already?”

  Her mother sniffed in an injured way. “Yes, apparently he was more interested in flirting with his female customers than paying attention to Leah.”

  Marvin was a car salesman and quite personable with everyone. She imagined his ‘flirtatious’ nature was for both his male and female customers. Zara had also thought he was smitten with Leah who frankly looked like a goddess, and whom Marvin treated like one.

  “He dumped her?”

  Her mother sniffed again. “No, Leah dumped him before he could.”

  Zara tried not to groan out loud. Another male bites the dust. She bet her mother, aunt, and grandmother had a little something to do with that decision.

  “So to teach him a lesson, we’re concocting a little voodoo curse for him?”

  “Nothing invasive.”

  Zara rubbed her forehead. No, what curse could be invasive?! Like the curse, they put on Leah’s former boyfriend where every cat that saw him attacked him. It was a miracle he managed to survive to get the restraining order and for the judge to order the curse be lifted.

  “Just a little something of what he deserves.”

  “Do you really need me?”

  “I suppose not, my darling.” Her mother affected a look of hurt. “We just thought you would want to be involved.”

  Yeah, cursing men being the family business and all.

  “Ordinarily I would… but…”

  Her mother flicked a look at Holt, waiting patiently beside her car. “I understand, darling. Just watch out for him, I see the way he looks at you.”

  “He’s an idiot, but he’s not interested in me,” she said quickly - partly because she still believed that to be true and partly because she wanted her mom to leave him alone.

  “Darling, I think it’s adorable how naïve you are, but it’s obvious how much he wants you.”

  Something like hope flickered inside her, but before it could turn into a real flame it died. He had me, and he dumped me. She’s wrong.

  They said their goodbyes and Zara sent her mother on her way. Back at her own car, Holt was already in the driver’s seat.

  “I’m driving,” he said.

  Zara didn’t really care enough to argue at that point. It was one battle he could win.

  “Whatever, I need to go to my place to at least change my shirt.” It was covered in peach soda and given that Holt was having trouble getting past her wet shirt to look at her face, a dry one was perhaps called for.

  She slipped into the passenger seat. “Sorry about that.”

  Also, possibly sorry for whatever was about to come his way from her mother.

  He shrugged. “My brother’s on trial for murder. You really want to play who has the most messed up family? Besides, she seems nice.”

  “Humph. Appearances can be deceiving.”

  He darted her a curious look, but she really didn’t want to dwell on her crazy mother, so she turned the music up.

  “What’s this?” he asked, not at all thrilled by her choice in tunes.

  “4 Non Blondes.”

  He reached out to it, and she slapped his hand.

  “Touch my cassette and die.”

  “You still listen to cassettes?”

  “It’s a classic.”

  They arrived at her place in no time.

  “Hang on a second.” Zara narrowed her eyes. “How did you know where to drive? I didn’t tell you where I live.”

  He froze for a moment, and his cheeks started turning slightly pink.

  “Ah… lucky guess.”

  He was out the car before she could really question that.

  “Hmmm.”

  *

  Zara’s apartment looked very different from the inside. A lot smaller thought Holt as he looked around. He’d only seen it through binoculars.

  It was nice and comfortable, though. Not overly girly but not too tomboyish. Like Zara herself, he thought fondly. She wasn’t into frills and high heels, but she didn’t lose an inch of her sexiness from trotting around in sneakers and yoga pants. In fact, he loved those yoga pants. Never mind seeing
a woman dressed up to the nines in a little dress, all his fantasies revolved around watching her ass bobbing and swaying in those pants. Not to mention when he finally peeled her out of them.

  Her mother seemed nice, and a little charmed by him even if he did say so himself. Perhaps if he could get Madeline on board, getting Zara to forgive him would be a lot easier.

  His gorilla grunted as a sleek black cat sauntered in through the window. He’d noticed Zara left that open for her kitty to come and go – a blatant security risk and the first thing to stop when they mated and moved in together.

  The cat gave him a bored look, and his beast huffed. He had never been one for pets – especially cats. Couldn’t see the point in them.

  He nodded at the animal. “Cat.”

  The cat cocked his head to one side. “Gorilla.”

  Holt froze for a fraction of a section before his gorilla let out a loud whoop.

  Chapter Seven

  Zara had only planned on changing her shirt, but on getting a whiff of herself, she thought a shower was definitely in order. Not that she cared whether he thought she smelled bad. Nope, she didn’t care one bit what he thought of her. Even so, she dug out the fancy fruity shower gel that Mia bought her for Christmas and slathered it on as if she hadn’t bathed in weeks. But that certainly wasn’t for his benefit!

  She was pondering whether or not to use body scrub as well when she heard the yell. Briefly, she panicked and worried that her mother had followed them. Without thinking, she ran out of the shower.

  “What happened? What’s going on?” she asked breathlessly, her head whipping to and fro as she tried to find all the vicious members of her family.

  But the only person she could spot was Holt. Well, and Sebastian, looking like his usual smug self.

  “What happened?” she insisted as Holt gaped at her.

  “You ah… ah…”

  As shock turned to lust, his eyes wandered over her with hungry glee and he let out a small rumble.

  “Angel,” he murmured.

  “Holt, what is… oh!”

  Zara grabbed a throw and pulled it around her. Yep, probably should have spent a second or two reaching for a towel when she stepped out the shower. Instead, she just careened in there naked and dripping and probably made Holt’s day. Idiot.

  She rolled her shoulders and raised her chin a little higher, mustering as much pride as possible while soaking wet and only wearing a daisy-print throw in front of the guy who dumped her.