by Amelia Jade
“Yeah, ‘oh shit’ is right. What the hell are you doing, you moron?” Andrew was in no mood for excuses or further shit. He didn’t wait for an answer, crossing the distance between the two before the wolf shifter could react and grabbing him by the back of his neck.
The wolf mewled and bent his head to the side, exposing his neck to the gryphon shifter almost immediately.
“Pathetic,” Andrew spat, though he was grateful the wolf shifter had submitted to him without putting up a fight.
Not that gryphon versus wolf was a fight.
“I’m sorry,” Riley began, but the tightening of Andrew’s fingers on his neck cut him off before he could say any more.
“Stay quiet,” he ordered, turning to survey the bar. As he moved his hand dragged the wolf shifter with his arms. “Did he cause any damage?” he asked the two humans who had been nervously facing off against the shifter.
“Not really. A broken table and chair, a shattered pitcher,” the one said, gesturing directly behind Andrew.
“How much?” he asked, not even bothering to look.
“I dunno, hundred, maybe hundred-fifty,” one of them replied after a moment’s consideration.
“Give them three hundred,” Andrew ordered.
This time Riley didn’t argue. He painfully reached into his pocket and removed the cash. No sooner had Riley’s fingers released the money did Andrew start hauling the shifter toward the door, ignoring the painful yelps his charge was emitting.
“Shut up,” he ordered as they increased in pitch. “You brought this upon yourself by getting too drunk and trying to be violent. This isn’t Cadia. You were warned about what might happen.”
He moved outside, and then without it seeming like any effort he lifted Riley clear off the ground by the back of his neck. Then he shook him vigorously. The wolf shifter’s head snapped back and forth, and Andrew knew it would hurt him, but not permanently.
“Now you get your ass to the embassy right now. If I hear that you delayed, or anything, you’re done. I’ll snap your neck myself,” he snarled, pushing his face right up to Riley’s. “I am not in the mood for any games. Got it?”
Riley nodded, terrified.
“Good. Now get out of my sight,” he said and tossed the wolf shifter to the side.
“Hey! Watch it!”
Andrew spun at the sudden words. He recognized that voice! To his chagrin, he realized that when he’d turfed Riley, he’d thrown the tall lithe shifter right into the path of the same human woman from the night before.
This time though she was in the light, and he could make out all her features. His eyes lit up as he took in the sight of her. She was short, like he’d known, perhaps five feet in height, and incredibly thin. The night before he’d wondered if she was in fact a minor, but now he knew better. It was evident in her poise, the way she held herself. There was nothing childlike about it. This was a woman. A woman unlike any he’d ever encountered before.
Andrew knew it right then and there. His gryphon reared inside of him, wings extending wide as it shrieked triumphantly.
Mate.
The word was branded invisibly upon her, knowledge that only he knew. Chains lashed out in his mind, wrapping first around his wrist and then around hers, striving to pull them tight. Others dragged at his legs and torso, urging him closer to her. He could taste it in the air, though she wasn’t wearing any perfume. Perhaps it was the light waft from the purple sports drink she had in her hand, he wasn’t sure, but whatever it was, he would forever associate it with this woman.
Even as the immaterial chains dug deeper, Andrew stood firm, refusing to be controlled like a puppet. He didn’t know this woman, and she didn’t know him. That meant it was not okay for him to do what he longed to so badly. Instead, he dragged his eyes away from her short, yet intoxicatingly desirable figure.
It was hard. Her bright blonde hair came down to the small of her back, though it was currently held up in a ponytail so as not to bother her while she ran. Naturally thick yet maintained eyebrows and a slim, pert nose highlighted a pair of the most vibrant blue eyes he’d ever seen.
Eyes that were currently looking at him not with the instant interest he felt for her, but a much more realistic mix of irritation and disgust.
Right. Stop staring; she doesn’t feel what you’re feeling.
Andrew had never felt it before either, but he at least knew what was driving his gryphon wild, and so it would be up to him to corral it, to force it to understand that things didn’t work the way it wanted them to.
“I’m sorry,” he apologized, his arm reaching out to swiftly drag Riley out of her way. With a careless, almost wayward flick he sent the wolf shifter tumbling down the sidewalk away from both of them. The wolf shifter yelped and cried out, but Andrew never noticed. He couldn’t stop staring at the woman.
How had he not noticed this the night before? It was unbelievable. His mind played back the memory of their meeting, and he realized that she’d been on one knee. Their eyes had never met, nor had he seen her face in the dark.
But now… Now he knew.
The only question was, how was he supposed to convince her?
Chapter Six
Karri
“I’m sorry.”
The words washed over her like thick, warm honey, trapping her, keeping her feet planted on the sidewalk right then and there. His voice was angelic. Deep and powerful but smooth and melodic all at once. She just wanted to stay there and listen to him talk.
“I know you,” she found herself saying as the sounds of the hapless individual he’d sent tumbling down the street faded away. Karri barely even turned her head to watch.
“Yes,” he replied. “We…came across each other last night. I’m sorry for that, and then for this today.”
She hadn’t actually seen her rescuer the night before; she’d been too busy trying to protect herself from Al’s forced advances. Now though, Karri took a good long look at him. He was tall, like all shifters, but without the colossal nature of a bear shifter, of which she’d seen many before. He was still built like a tank, but there was a slightly more lean aspect to him. He wore a tight beige-colored shirt with red sleeves on the top of the same black utility pants that every shifter seemed to wear. She wondered sometimes if they owned any other pants.
Thick hair in an interesting grayish blond covered his head, swept forward and narrowing up to a point over his forehead. She immediately determined that the color was natural, and not as a result of him going gray. Eyes that were nearly as blue as her own shone from within the center of a facial structure that made her want to lick her lips. Thick cheekbones and a jaw that all men craved were accented by thick lips that forced her to stop imagining how they would feel against her skin.
He was so attractive it was intoxicating in a literal sense. Karri felt her body responding to him even though he’d not made any sort of advance on her in the slightest. It irritated her to feel her nipples harden as if seeking his attention, or the flow of blood that rushed through her body, pooling heat between her legs as if she were just going to open them for him simply because he was attractive.
“It’s fine,” she said, waving off his apologies, trying to put her brain back into some semblance of order and function. Yet another part of her that he’d turned upside down simply by looking at her.
“Are you sure?” he queried.
Karri bristled slightly as he questioned her statement. “Yes, I am sure,” she said, managing not to snap at him. “Why would I say it if I wasn’t?”
To his credit he didn’t back down from her challenge.
“Many people will say they are okay when they are actually not,” he replied. “For appearance’s sake, or to be polite. There are many reasons. I simply wish to ensure you are not employing one of those now.”
Karri relented a little at his above-average honesty. “No harm was done,” she said. “Last night or tonight. I probably won’t sleep well for a bit, but in the end
, I will be just fine. Thanks to you,” she added after a moment, feeling silly when she realized she’d yet to thank him for saving her.
It irked her that she’d even needed saving. For most of her life Karri had prided herself on being able to get herself out of situations, so to have had this shifter come in like a knight in shining armor was annoying, to say the least. But she couldn’t deny that if he hadn’t, her life would be extremely different right now.
“I’m glad,” he said. “I’d like to avoid any more work if I can.”
Karri nodded slowly, trying to keep her face calm. Inside, she was repeating the same two words to herself over and over again.
Don’t ask. Don’t ask. Don’t ask.
“What do you mean?”
Seriously? I said don’t ask. That’s very much the opposite of what you just did. Why the hell do you have to do that to me? It was an easy task, and yet you got it backward. Idiot.
“Ah, I’m the Cadian envoy,” he explained. “So when any of us screw up, it’s on my shoulders to deal with it. I decide on appropriate punishments and sometimes have to carry them out as well.” He paused. “Plus there’s all the paperwork that goes with it. So I’m glad I don’t have to do any more of it for today.” The shifter shook his head. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to get all serious on you like that.”
“It’s fine,” she said, brushing him off and trying to make good her escape before she did something else stupid.
Behind them the door to the bar opened and feet scraped on the pavement behind her. She didn’t turn around, her attention caught by the way the shifter turned his attention to the newcomer. She could see him tense, prepared to move between her and whoever had exited the building.
She felt her blood boil. He didn’t need to protect her at all times.
“Oh, hey there, cutie. What are you up to?”
There wasn’t even time for her to react. She’d only started to get irate at the words the obvious drunkard had said before the shifter slid smoothly behind her, using his size to block her off.
“Saying anything more would be a bad idea,” she heard him say.
“Listen pal…”
Karri wasn’t sure what the shifter did, because by the time she could turn around and slip to the side so she could see what was going on, the drunkard was nodding, his eyes wide with horror. He looked at her and then took off down the street.
“Neat party trick,” she remarked.
He snorted. “I’m so done with idiots today. They are causing me far too much stress.” She watched him rotate to face her, once again looking at the gray-blond hair on his head, focusing on that to ignore the look of his eyes as they gazed at her, seeing something only he could see.
“Tell me about it,” she muttered. “That’s why I go jogging.”
Uh-oh.
His eyes ran over her black leggings and the pink sports bra showing from underneath the loose tank top she wore, as if reevaluating why she wore it or something. Karri really didn’t know.
“Jogging,” he mused. “May I join you?”
Yep. That’s what she’d been expecting from the moment she sort of gave him an invitation to join her. Fuck. What was she supposed to say now? No? That was just rude, and he hadn’t really deserved any rudeness from her.
Crap. She actually sort of owed him. The option to say no to him was always on the table, Karri knew that. While she did owe him for rescuing her the day before, that didn’t make her obligated to open up her life to him. Still. What was the harm in letting him run with her? She could direct where they went, and wouldn’t have to worry.
“Yeah, sure,” she said, then took off again without waiting for him.
If he wanted to run with her, he was just going to have to keep up. Her short legs moved gracefully as she moved down the sidewalk at her own pace. Seconds later a much heavier footfall sounded, and shortly after that the tall shifter appeared at her side, moving effortlessly to match her pace.
“What is your name?” he asked after a handful of minutes of silence.
“Karri,” she said, exhaling. Having a conversation while jogging was not something she was interested in doing. Silence please.
“Andrew,” he replied, though she didn’t ask. She didn’t want to waste her breath.
She hated the way he didn’t sound like he was even breathing hard. It was like he was just walking casually along next to her.
Aggravating is what it was. Instead of letting it get to her though, Karri just let it go, feeling the impact of her feet on the ground as she ran on, leaving her stresses and anger behind her. She made no effort to speak, though she sensed that Andrew would be up for it if she did. Eventually she came out of her trance as her mind told her that she’d arrived.
Oh hell. You had to take me home?
When Karri went jogging, she often lost herself in the run and the exhilaration of it all. She’d done it now, and her subconscious had guided her back to her house. Which now meant that Andrew knew where she resided. Which was lovely. Just lovely.
“This is your place?” Andrew asked, looking up the drive at her property. “This is a nice place.”
“Yeah, well, I’ve worked hard for it,” she said more harshly than perhaps was necessary. A lifetime of being told she’d earned nothing and had everything given to her had created some automatic defenses within her.
“I never said you hadn’t,” Andrew replied calmly, seemingly unfazed by her response.
“Sorry. I’m just not used to people genuinely complimenting me,” she explained. “It’s usually a lightly veiled insult suggesting that I didn’t earn it, or it’s unwanted flattery in an attempt to curry favor with me.” She gave him a shrug, as if that should be explanation enough.
“Why is that?”
“Umm, never mind,” she said, trying to brush it off, not really feeling like getting into a complex explanation of her father, the relationship between them, and everything else associated with that. “Thanks for the jog,” she called over her shoulder, moving up the drive, leaving him there.
“Wait,” he called to her.
Karri turned to regard him evenly. If he thought he was going to weasel his way into her house, he was in for a rude awakening. She prepared several retorts to possible ways he might go about it. Just in case. When he didn’t immediately start speaking she lifted her eyebrows questioningly.
“Would you like to do it tomorrow?” he asked, frowning at something unseen. “I found this to be quite relaxing.”
Against her better judgment, Karri shrugged in agreement. “Sure, I guess. Be here at five tomorrow morning.” She didn’t always go for morning runs, but this way she could fulfill her obligation by agreeing to run with him, and also brush him off.
There was no way he was going to show up. Not that early. Without waiting for a response she continued up the driveway.
“I’ll be there.”
The words drifted up after her, carrying just far enough that she could hear them.
Somehow I doubt that.
Chapter Seven
Andrew
The city was still asleep around him when he left the embassy the next morning. Overhead the moon was just beginning to give way to the glow on the horizon, promising a warm sunny day to come. The chill of the evening had yet to give way. It was mid-June, and the truly hot summer weather had yet to arrive, but Andrew knew that once the sun rose in the sky, today would feel like it. As he jogged through streets nearly devoid of vehicles, he breathed in and out in a comfortable pace.
Without anyone he needed to pace, his legs stretched out as he ran on, the sidewalk flowing by like water beneath him. He moved so fast the pavement seemed to blur and blend together into one smooth surface, though he knew it to be rippled with cracks and bumps. Buildings flashed by on either side of him, there and gone too fast for him to read signs. The slap of his shoes on the ground echoed briskly off the storefronts, but always behind him.
He ran on and on, with no parti
cular destination in mind. Not yet, at least. There was still an hour to go until he was supposed to meet up with Karri. He fully expected that his morning jog with her would help relieve some of the stress of day-to-day life, as it had the evening before. That wasn’t why he was running now. No, now he was running to work off the stress of having to run with Karri later.
This is silly. Working off the stress about going to do something that will help you work off stress.
Andrew understood the irony of course, but how could he not be nervous about seeing her again? Early in the morning. Alone. Nothing was going to happen, he was well aware of it, and yet…
And yet there was always the possibility. Just the idea that perhaps he would get to explore this strange newfound connection with her was enough to ensure that he hadn’t slept at all the night before, tossing and turning in his bed as visions of her long blonde hair and perky lips kept flashing through him. He saw her bright blue eyes staring down that slim pert little nose of hers at him, despite the fact that he towered over her, having well over a foot of height advantage. Not for the first time he wondered how she managed that effect.
He kept a firm glance at the time, however, his analog wristwatch faithfully clicking along. It wasn’t something he wore often anymore, but he hadn’t been sure where it was he was going to end up that morning, and being late wasn’t an option. Without realizing it, his run brought him back by the embassy. Glancing down he decided that changing his sweat-soaked shirt might not be the worst idea he’d ever had. There was still fifteen minutes until he was supposed to meet Karri.
Plenty of time.
Ducking inside, he headed directly to his room and doffed the wet garment, pulling out a replacement and tugging it over his head. Satisfied with his appearance he headed back down the hallway and then down one of the staircases to the lobby. He’d almost reached the bottom step when the big double doors blew inward under a mighty blow.
Andrew came to an abrupt halt as four shifters strolled inside. There was no doubt in his mind that they were shifters. No human could have blown open the doors like that, not on their best day. The first one in seemed to admire the place, his head craning this way and that as he looked over the embassy. Approaching the reception desk, he dragged a finger along it in a seemingly contemplative manner. Andrew wondered if the leader had even noticed him standing there on the stairs, so dismissive was his attitude.