by E A Price
She halted as she realized the crocodile shifter had stopped, and was glaring at her while holding a knife. Zara briefly considered making a Crocodile Dundee joke, but given the murder in the female’s eyes, she didn’t think it would be well received.
Damnit. Her taser was back in her car. Spotting the crocodile had been pure chance, and she didn’t honestly believe the woman was ready to kill over a minor charge of theft.
Zara held out her hands. “Whoa, now.”
The woman smiled, showing an alarming amount of sharp teeth. Stupid crocodile.
Zara was considering turning around and running as the woman started advancing on her, when a door from one of the buildings was thrust open with a startling amount of force. It smacked the crocodile in the mouth and elicited an ‘ugh’ noise from her as she dropped to the ground.
“Good timing, huh, sweets?” boomed an unmistakable voice.
Relief and elation mixed with anger. “Holt?! What are you… How did you… Are you following me?!”
The huge male strode into the alley and shrugged. “Pure coincidence.”
The smug grin on his face suggested that definitely was not the case. But then, why was he there? How could he be there? Was it really just perfect timing?
Zara pulled out a pair of handcuffs and slapped them on the crocodile.
Holt leaned against the wall, smiling – like he didn’t have a care in the world. “Need a hand?” he offered.
“No,” she replied immediately. “But, ah… thanks,” she mumbled quietly.
“Anytime, honey bunny. Anytime.”
*
Present day
Zara was ripped from her daydreams as headlights illuminated the car.
“Look out!” she screamed.
Too late, as another vehicle slammed into the side of them, sending them careening. Vaguely, she felt Holt’s strong arm holding onto her, but everything quickly turned to black.
Chapter Nine
Zara blinked awake to find her blurry vision invaded by the huge head of a gorilla shifter.
“Love bug, you had me worried,” cooed the head.
“Love bug,” she giggled.
She reached up and traced the head, trying to make it come into focus.
“You’re so handsome, blurry head,” she mumbled.
The head frowned. “Jeez, you must have really hit your head hard.”
“Mmmm, kiss me blurry head.”
The lips were immediately on hers – no hesitation. She moaned at the soft pressure as his tongue delved into her mouth. His scent, his taste enveloped her, and for the first time in months, she felt truly happy. She was finally home.
*
Zara awoke to find her head pounding and her hand being gripped just a little too tightly.
“You’re awake again, sugar pie,” sighed Holt, sounding mightily relieved.
“Stating the obvious,” grumbled Zara. “And don’t call me that.”
“And back to your normal self,” he laughed.
Zara swirled her tongue around her mouth. It was like dragging sandpaper over a porcupine. Her lips felt strangely swollen as well – pleasantly so but still swollen.
She shuffled up in bed, fruitlessly struggling until two strong hands pulled her up and vigorously fluffed her pillows.
She peered around at the white walls. “Where am I? What’s going on? What are you doing here? How long have I been here?”
Holt smiled at her in a strangely worried and concerned way. She didn’t like it one bit.
“Hospital. We had a car accident. You were knocked unconscious; you’ve been waking throughout the day.”
Zara rubbed her eyes. “Car accident nothing, we were run off the road.”
Holt grunted, and his smile turned stony. She looked him up and down. He’d changed into a new t-shirt and shaved – he looked as fresh as a gorilla-sized daisy.
“You look fine,” she said, trying to hide her questioning tone. He didn’t need to know that the idea that he wasn’t concerned her.
“I am; they already discharged me.”
“Then, what are you still doing here?”
He gave her a tolerant look. “Making sure you’re okay.” He grasped her hand, raising it to his lips for a tender kiss.
Her heart fluttered – the traitor. One of the nurses caught sight of the gesture through the open doorway and giggled.
“More like flirting with the nurses,” sniffed Zara, trying and failing to regain her hand.
Holt’s eyes narrowed. “Making sure they take care of you. You really had me worried there, pookie.”
“Sure.”
She shifted slightly, pretending she didn’t need to go to the bathroom. For one thing, the toilet didn’t appear to have a door for some reason – she was not showing Holt that. For another, it was quite pleasant just lying in bed while a gorilla fondled her hand. Well, she had just been in an accident – surely no one would begrudge her a little attention before she had to return to the real world and…
“Your brother?” she blurted. Darn it – she almost completely forgot about him!
Holt’s cheek ticked. “Gone. Taken by the guys who rammed into us.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah.”
The strain showed on his face, though he didn’t seem overly shocked by this train of events.
“Something strange is going on with him and this whole murder thing, right?”
He said nothing, just focused on her hand.
Zara sighed in frustration. More secrets.
“I thought it was weird that you weren’t actually at the trial – I thought you would have known your brother wasn’t there.”
Holt’s lips thinned.
“Who took him?”
“I’m not sure,” he said slowly.
“But you have a pretty good idea, right?” she probed, starting to sound mildly peevish.
Holt shook his head but would not answer.
Zara yanked her hand away from him, and he had the good sense to let her do it. If he hadn’t, she might have broken a couple of fingers. But she’d had enough of him. Being all flirty and sexy one minute and then being all secretive and sexy the next. Okay, so he was consistently sexy, but she could not take this stone wall impression for another second.
“You know what, trying to work with you was a huge mistake.”
“Baby…”
“Don’t!”
She threw back the bed sheets, realized she was wearing a tiny, near see-through hospital gown and then pulled them back again, wrapping them around her as she struggled off the bed.
“Please, honey,” he entreated while trying to help her.
Zara slapped at his hands and despite the dizzying sensations, managed to stand up on her own. Finally free from the danger of throwing up, she poked him in his oversized chest while his look of worry increased.
“Don’t look at me like that, don’t call me baby or honey. We had a one-night stand a million years ago, and it meant nothing. There is nothing between us so just get out!”
He stared at her intensely. The muscles in his jaw were working overtime as his eyes shuttered and nearly closed. The air in the room virtually buzzed as both of them started working themselves into a fury. Zara was afraid they were either going to kill each other or worse – kiss each other! Something needed to come along and pop the tension.
“Heyyyy!”
That would do.
Carly, the fox shifter, and Zara’s fellow bounty hunter, bounced into the room. She was preceded by an enormous bunch of flowers and followed by two balloons – one in the shape of a dolphin and another a frog. Her surly wolf shifter mate, Jackson trailed behind while muttering about hating hospitals.
Never one to be able to read moods, or more like never one to take any notice of anyone else’s mood, Carly immediately started chattering.
“How are you? What happened? I heard it was a car accident – your car is totaled by the way. Everyone sends their love,
and these are from everyone. Or at least they will be when Jackson beats them up for the money.”
Carly thrust the flowers at Zara who dropped her hospital sheet to grasp them. The bunch was so large it covered up any areas that would otherwise have been on display.
The fox shifter prattled on for a few more minutes before even noticing that Holt was there.
“Oh, who are you? Are you a friend of Zara’s? You’re a gorilla, aren’t you?”
Jackson just grunted and glared from the wall he had found to lean against.
“He’s leaving,” snapped Zara.
“I’m not leaving you here alone,” rumbled Holt, his eyes flashing in warning.
Carly was a lovely woman, but sometimes a little too energetic for Zara. But at that moment, Zara was more than happy to let Carly blunder and bustle to get her own way.
“She’s not alone,” said Carly. “We’ll look after her.”
Holt tried to argue, but when Carly had her heart set on something, she was rarely dissuaded, and she would not listen to reason. Jackson didn’t look thrilled to hear that he would be spending his evening taking care of Zara, but he was more than happy to get in Holt’s face about it. Any excuse for a fight, the male squared his shoulders as he started growling.
With a sound of exasperation, Holt’s eyes slid to Carly.
“Make sure she is safe.”
It was part of a warning and a request, but it was the last thing he said before storming out of the room.
Carly rolled her shoulders while Jackson huffed in disappointment about the lack of a punch up between him and Holt.
“He seems nice,” commented Carly, “though a little stubborn. You really don’t want to spend your life with someone who is so stubborn about things.”
Jackson made a small choking noise at that point.
Carly didn’t notice. “Cute butt though, don’t you think?”
Jackson made a large snarling noise at that point.
Carly didn’t notice. “We’re here to take you home,” she said brightly. “Good thinking making me your emergency contact.”
In fact, Zara had been talking about who she wanted for her contact – not wanting anyone from her family to do it - and then Carly pestered her until Zara gave in and let it be her. Apparently, she wasn’t anyone’s contact because Jackson refused to get medical insurance or divulge any details about himself to anyone. Zara wasn’t entirely sure Jackson was his real name.
“Do you want me to call your mother?” asked Carly.
Zara withheld the shudder. Her head throbbed something fierce, and she was more confused than ever about the damn gorilla.
“No, I just want to go home.”
Curling up with Sebastian with a mug of hot chocolate always made things a little better.
*
Zara was glad to get home. She didn’t realize how tired she was – the lack of sleep over the past couple of days was really catching up to her.
She managed to get rid of Carly by saying her head hurt and she needed total silence. Jackson understood that Carly was rarely capable of such a thing – given how many stakeouts they had been on together, he could attest to that – and he soon whisked her away. Though, their speedy departure was perhaps also partly because of Sebastian.
Carly took an immediate liking to him, and if the purrs were anything to go by, it was definitely mutual. Course, Sebastian was being crushed against Carly’s more than ample bosom at the time, so it was hard to tell. But given his location, Zara had to believe he was happy.
Jackson, on the other hand, wasn’t happy; especially when he found out Sebastian was technically a man in a cat-shaped body. His reaction wasn’t dissimilar to Holt’s, and it was only made worse when Sebastian started flirting outrageously, and Carly blushed and made noises about whether they could get their own parolee pet. That was a definite no and a yank out the door from Jackson.
Zara called Marcus and told him what happened to Sean.
He wasn’t particularly surprised. Not much did surprise him – over his years of experience he had seen a lot, plus he was actually too happy to flip out. His mate was having another boy, and he was thrilled. She could tell by the fact that his voice warmed a little past freezing point.
She wondered whether she should call the cops, but she wasn’t entirely sure what happened, and besides, surely they had already spoken to Holt about the car crash.
Jackson and Carly were going to look for Sean, on Marcus’ orders. They had another skip to look for, but Sean was worth a lot of money, he needed to be found and quickly. Zara was still peeved and wanted to get him, but the fizz of getting revenge on Holt had worn out.
Still, she didn’t like losing one, and she needed her bounty money to live so… she needed to pull herself together. Forget about getting her own back on Holt, and knuckle down and find Sean.
But after a little sleep, she was feeling a little worn out from the car accident, a lack of food and chasing her own tail for the past couple of days.
Sebastian fussed a little, and she enjoyed the attention. Feeling her eyes close, she decided to take a nap with him beside her and forget the Holt shaped thoughts buzzing around her head, at least for a little while.
Chapter Ten
Holt watched her window from his truck. His gorilla paced incessantly, annoyed that Holt had left her back at the hospital. He hadn’t wanted to, both man and beast had been on edge since the accident.
Zara was fragile and human. She was lucky all she got was a mild bump to the head. Good job his reactions were quick, and he managed to swerve, otherwise… His gorilla let out a gruff snort. Yeah, otherwise. Still, dragging her small, unconscious body out of the vehicle, cradling her in his arms had given him a shock. He had come close – too close to losing her forever, and his chest still felt tight.
He should find Sean. Sean should be his primary concern. No, Zara was – and always would be.
He had followed as that chatty fox, and sneering wolf brought her home. He scented the two of them were mates. If they hadn’t been, he wouldn’t have allowed Zara to go anywhere with the male.
But he had promised Sean he would make sure Cora was safe. He had promised his brother he would ensure her safety, but he could not tear himself away from Zara. Mates came first no matter what, and his mate was mad and hurting right now. She was hurt because of his whack-a-doodle family, and he couldn’t even get close to her right now.
In the hospital, the look on her face had been the one after he told her to get lost after their night together. Hurt, confused and disappointed, and it cut him to the core every time it was aimed in his direction.
At least the wolf and the fox had been true to their word and ensured she got home safely, though it had taken every iota of his restraint not to go running in there when he saw them leaving.
His gorilla wanted to bash his way in there, to pick her up and squeeze her and refuse ever to let her go. Yeah, that would go over well.
She was home, she would be okay. She had that pervert cat to watch her. Sean didn’t have anyone.
His uncle had taken Sean; he recognized a couple of the goons who work for him. His uncle really was desperate if he sent them to pick Sean up by any means necessary. The goons had sneered at him as they dragged Sean away, and their gazes lingered a little too long on Zara making him growl.
His beast bellowed a warning, and he snapped to attention as he spotted the same guys from the crash boldly making their way into Zara’s apartment building.
How did they… Maybe they took down her license and traced her that way. They hadn’t stuck around to exchange insurance info when they crashed, and he doubted they were here now to do so either.
His beast howled. He got out and bounded after them, hurtling up the stairs three at a time and nearly knocking over two pixie girls selling cookies.
Holt found the males picking the lock to Zara’s apartment. His animal let out a thunderous growl. He got one in a headlock while the othe
r fumbled with a gun, leaning against the door he had just unlocked. The door swung open, and before he could get his weapon, an angry cat attached itself to his face.
The male grunted and stumbled around trying to dislodge the beast, but Sebastian hissed and clutched on tighter.
Holt held onto his guy until he passed out and dropped him to the ground. He kicked his body out the way and dove into the apartment, grasping a lethal looking book from Zara’s coffee table and slapping the other around the head. He groaned and slumped. Holt’s gorilla beat his chest in triumph.
With agile grace, Sebastian leaped off the male onto the sofa and gave him a smug look. Holt opened his mouth, and Sebastian hissed.
“She’s asleep,” he whispered haughtily, “and I’d like to keep it that way.”
Holt nodded in agreement, though the tone grated. This other male was not Zara’s brother or father – he had no right to be so worried about her. That was Holt’s job.
Sebastian jumped down again, landing on one of their assailant’s backs. He dug his claws in and drawled, “I take it these are something to do with you.”
“Yes,” grunted Holt.
They were both gorilla shifters who had worked for his uncle for a couple of years at least. Not a brain cell between them, but they made up for it in brutality.
Sebastian huffed. “Perhaps you would like to remove them from our apartment.”
“Zara’s apartment,” he whispered. His beast chuffed in agreement. “She lives here; you’re just her pet.”
Sebastian just looked smugger. “I’m the one she spends her nights with.”
Holt soothed his pissed off animal. Sebastian was just a tiny, little cat – he really was no competition no matter what he said. There was no way Zara could prefer the little hairball to Holt. No matter how cute or big his eyes were.
“Trust me; she’d be with me, if she could.”
“Says you,” taunted the tiny animal.