Siren in Bloom

Chapter Eight

Wolf felt magnificent despite the fact that his dick was languishing in hell. He walked into the men’s locker room with a huge grin on his face. He’d kissed Shelley, those gorgeous, sensual lips pressing against his, and dropped her off at the women’s dressing room with strict instructions on how to dress and where to wait for him.

She’d smiled and called him bossy and agreed.

She was fucking perfect.

Wolf glanced around the locker room. It wasn’t some cruddy, poorly lit gym locker room. Oh, no. Everything at The Club was first-rate. Gleaming hardwood floor at his feet, and the lockers were engraved with the name of the holder. It was really more like a small closet.

This place was unlike any club he’d been in before, and he got to work here. He’d spent months trying to get back on the Teams, and he’d worked on a ranch, but when he’d walked into this club, he’d had the oddest feeling that he was coming home.

“You high-fived her? What? Are you still in fifth grade?”

He grinned as Leo marched into the locker room followed by Logan. Yes, his brother was bitching at him. It really did feel like home. “Hey, I thought Shelley and I made a great team. And she totally deserved that high five. I would have patted her on the ass, but I’d already spanked it earlier.”

Leo kicked off his boots. Naturally, someone had given Wolf the locker right next to his brother’s.

“Yeah. Not sure you should be spanking her when she doesn’t have a collar on yet, but that’s beside the point. Nowhere in all of the clubs I have been in have I ever seen a Dom high-five his sub after a scene,” Leo complained.

Wolf wasn’t stupid. Shelley might never have slept with Leo, but they’d had something serious going on. He’d spent the whole afternoon thinking about the problem. The minute he’d figured out that Shelley had something to do with Leo’s yearlong crappy mood, he’d wondered if he hadn’t made an enormous mistake.

And then he’d realized he had a choice. He could walk away and hope that Shelley and Leo found what they needed. Or he could be what they needed and bring them together. And all the while he could make a place for himself.

A family. That was what he really wanted, and he couldn’t think of anyone he’d trust more to share a family with than his brother.

It worked for his friends. Hell, he’d seen men who hated each other bond over a shared woman. Why couldn’t it work for him?

“Hey, she was hot, man. I would have high-fived her, too,” Logan said, giving Wolf a thumbs-up.

Leo turned back to his charge. “I told you to watch Julian’s form. You were supposed to be studying the scene.”

Logan shrugged. “When some hot chick has her cootch on display, I’m not going to be capable of studying two dudes. It ain’t happening.”

“I am surrounded by twelve-year-olds,” Leo said.

Leo had never been huggy with Wolf, but god, he hadn’t been this dried-up prune. Leo’s sarcastic, snarky self seemed to have been replaced with someone Wolf didn’t understand.

“Well, it worked. It took her mind off what happened this afternoon.” But Wolf’s mind was working overtime. He couldn’t help but follow his instincts. And he didn’t like the fact that Steve Holder had been there. “I don’t want her in that apartment alone.”

Leo untied the straps of his leathers. “You know about the trouble she had?”

Wolf shoved his leathers into his gym bag and pulled out a pair of jeans. He was going to need to buy another couple of pairs of leathers if he was going to be in The Club every night. And he needed to find a dry cleaner who wouldn’t mind some unsavory stain removal. “I read the file Julian sent me. Her husband seems like he was an asshole.”

“He put her through hell.”

Yes, he understood that. If he could, Wolf would love to have a little talk with Bryce Hughes. It seemed to Wolf that a single bullet to the head hadn’t been painful enough. “You’re worried that someone’s going to try to take revenge on her?”

“I don’t know.” Leo shoved his legs into a pair of boxers and sat down on the bench in front of his locker. “The feds cleared her, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t a lot of people out there who would love to get some revenge on someone, and Bryce is no longer available. It won’t work. She doesn’t know anything.”

“I believe you. You were around this guy. Why the hell did she marry him?” It surprised Wolf that she would be in a bad marriage. Shelley seemed so smart, so capable. Yes, she was submissive, but she knew what she wanted. He just couldn’t see her wanting this Bryce guy.

Leo sighed and leaned back against his locker. “Go away, Logan.”

Logan’s eyes lit up like a prisoner who had just realized he might get parole.

Leo frowned. “I find you in the bar and we’re going to have trouble. Go and find Ben and Chase. Follow them around for a while.”

“Cool. That Kitten chick seems like a trip.” Logan was out of the locker room in a flash.

Leo looked up at him, his eyes narrowing. “He doesn’t seem as broken as you said he was. I actually thought he would be a little unsettled by the scene, but he simply watched you get your sub off, paying no attention at all to the very intense scene going on onstage. I thought I would use it as a talking point, but I guess I’ll have to find another way.”

Wolf shook his head. Leo was barking up the wrong tree. “Logan isn’t going to be disturbed by a lot of this stuff. He grew up in Bliss. I’ve heard that most of the men of the town have spent some time in Stef Talbot’s playroom. I spent the last summer with him and his best friend, James. Logan is into some kinky shit, but don’t think for a minute that he’s not troubled. You just haven’t found his pressure point yet. Now, tell me about my sub.”

Wolf was satisfied with the way Leo’s eyes tightened at the word “my.” Leo wasn’t as remote as he liked to pretend. “I met her when I started treating Trev.”

“Yeah, I knew who her brother was. I probably should have put two and two together, but math was never my strong suit.”

Leo’s eyes rolled. “God, I wish you would stop the ‘I’m dumb’ shit. Anyway, I really liked her. It was obvious that she loved her brother and that her marriage sucked. You know me. I like to flirt.”

Wolf liked to flirt, too. He just preferred to flirt with women who he could actually have a relationship with. But then his brother wasn’t big on relationships. He’d had a few girlfriends in high school, and he’d married Janine, but other than that, as far as Wolf knew, he hadn’t even had a permanent sub. Having spent the day talking to other Doms and some of the subs who worked at The Club, he knew that Leo was a bit of an enigma. The Doms respected him, and the subs fought for his attention, each one desperate to be the one sub who finally caught him. But Leo was a hard case who never fell easy. “So you fell a little hard for her?”

Leo closed his eyes, his head against the door. “I guess so. I just know that I felt more for her than I’ve felt for anyone in a long time. I might flirt with my friends’ wives, but I wouldn’t touch them. They’re safe. So are the subs I work with.”

Yes, Leo had been running from the whole idea of commitment for a really long time. “So after years of anonymous sex and flirting with no real intent, you meet Shelley and suddenly you can’t help yourself. I can see it. She’s amazing. She’s gorgeous. She’s funny. So why didn’t you try to get her away from that asshole?”

Leo’s eyes flew open, and his face hardened. “You think I didn’t? Goddamn it, Wolf, I offered to take her away. I told her I loved her. She told me to stay out of her marriage.”

Wolf could guess what had happened next. Leo would have stepped back and walked away. “Why did she do that?”

“Because she didn’t want me.”

“Bullshit. Why did she do it? I’ve known her a month and I would bet my life she did it because she thought she was protecting you. But your pride got hurt and you walked away when you should have tied her ass up and shoved her in your truck.”

Leo leaned forward. “It’s nice to know you would have done it differently. It’s over now.”

“Is it? Does it have to be? Do you want it to be?”

Leo laughed, but there wasn’t a damn thing humorous about it. “You’re going to give her up?”

“Why should I have to?” There, he’d put it out as flatly as he could.

Leo stood and slammed open his locker. “You’ve spent too much time in Bliss. It wouldn’t work. I’m too possessive. I can’t share.”

“Bullshit. You aren’t possessive enough.” Maybe it had been too soon to bring that up. Wolf grabbed his jeans and started to get dressed. “You can use a word like possessive all day long, brother, but you let Janine walk out on you. Now you’re letting Shelley walk away.” He shoved his feet into his boots. “But I’m not going to make the same mistake. She’s the one. I’m crazy about her, and I think I can get her to love me.”

Leo sighed, the sound making Wolf feel like he was five years old again. “You’ve known her for a fucking month. You just met her in person. God, Wolf, you have always just jumped in with both feet never bothering to look and see what you’re jumping into.”

Wolf wasn’t about to argue with that assessment. “I go with my gut. My gut tells me Shelley is special. My gut tells me to go for what I want. And my gut tells me to share her with you because we could give her what she needs. But I’ll handle it by myself if I have to. She has ménage fantasies. I thought you could help with that. But I have friends who won’t mind.”

“Don’t you fucking dare.”

That was what he wanted to hear. His brother was actually quite possessive, though he had spent the last several years hiding it well. Or he simply hadn’t cared enough about anyone to be possessive. Wolf knew the feeling well. “It’s my job to give her what she needs. If I decide that she needs a ménage, then I’ll make it happen.”

He wouldn’t. He wouldn’t share her with anyone except Leo, but Leo didn’t have to know it. Wolf had known the minute he’d laid eyes on Shelley that he wouldn’t share her. He’d enjoyed the ménages he’d shared with his friends, but she was serious and only a seriously committed ménage would work. If Leo wouldn’t go along with it, then Shelley would have to be satisfied with toys and fantasy.

Wolf had needs, too, and in this case, they trumped hers. He needed her for himself—and his brother.

Leo’s fists tightened at his sides. “I swear to god if you hurt her, Wolf, I’ll kill you myself.”

“Yeah, that should be a pleasant conversation with Ma.” He felt unaccountably better. If Leo had shrugged and said go for it, he would have known it was all over. But he hadn’t, and seeing that Wolf intended to put his little sub on display as often as possible, Leo wouldn’t stand a chance. He would come after Shelley.

The only question was, would he accept Wolf as his partner?

It was a dangerous game he was playing. Wolf knew that. But he didn’t have another choice. The minute he’d figured out Shelley and Leo’s deep connection, he’d known it was only a matter of time. He was crazy about Shelley. He loved his brother. He wanted the best for both of them.

And he wanted the best for himself.

“I’ll stay at Shelley’s tonight. I don’t like the idea of her being alone until we figure out if the robbery was random.” Wolf glanced at himself in the mirror. He didn’t look terrible, but he could use a good night’s sleep. He probably wouldn’t get it on Shelley’s couch, but he also wasn’t going to press his luck.

She was probably in some serious deep scene dive. He’d seen it before. She’d been caught up in the adrenaline of the scene, and now she would be thinking about the fact that she’d been naked. He would have to calm her fears by taking it slow.

But he didn’t want to. He wanted to take her back to her place and shove his cock deep inside her.

“Dear god, Wolf, can’t you control that thing?” Leo asked, his eyes rolling.

Yep, he had an erection again. “Nope. Little Wolf is very upset, but there ain’t a damn thing happening to you tonight, buddy.”

A smile finally broke over Leo’s face. “It’s good to know you still talk to your cock.”

“Hey, sometimes it’s been my best friend.” It was an old joke between them. One they had started when Wolf was twelve and had gotten caught in the middle of math class with an erection because Penny Wells had worn a V-neck for the first time and she’d magically grown breasts over the Christmas break.

“Go and take care of her.” Leo looked weary. “Call me if you need me.”

Wolf started out the door.

“And Wolf?”

He turned. His brother’s eyes opened and a sad smile crossed his face. “I’m glad you’re here. We’ll work this out. And god, don’t bring Ma down on me.”

“I promise nothing.” Wolf walked out the door, pleased with the way the evening had gone.

She stood right outside the women’s dressing room. She practically cringed every time someone walked in or out and gave her a little smile.

Were they smiling because they were friendly or laughing because they’d seen her ass? It had seemed so hot at the time, but now she was thinking about the fact that her ass wasn’t as perky as it had been. And she’d never actually gotten a mirror out and looked at her pussy. It could be hideous.

And Leo had seen her. God. She’d spread her legs in front of Leo Meyer and writhed on his brother’s lap. When she went wild, she really went wild.

“Hi, Shelley. Great scene. Very hot.” Marcy, a sub who also worked at the bar, said as she walked up. “My Master was impressed. He shoved me onto a sawhorse and, wow. That was some of the best quickie sex I’ve ever had.”

Shelley felt her cheeks go up in flames. “Glad I could help.”

Marcy had a pixie-like bob that shook slightly as she spoke. “I always thought you would end up breaking Leo’s self-imposed exile, but, hey, his brother is even hotter. Although he’s a little informal for my tastes.”

Yeah, high-fiving wouldn’t make everyone take Wolf seriously. “He’s different.”

“Oh, yeah. I’ll say.” Tara, a regular who attended with her husband, agreed. She was a cute redhead who had very patiently answered many of Shelley’s questions when she’d first been interested in the lifestyle. “I just wish he’d managed to get his leathers off.”

“I heard that, sub. That’s ten,” her husband called out. But he was wearing a grin on his face as he slapped her ass. “Come on, baby, give me another ten.”

“Wolf Meyer is hot.”

“Oh, yeah. Now I’m getting the crop out.” Tara’s husband kissed her cheek and strode into the men’s locker room.

It was that sort of easy relationship she wanted. Tara didn’t look like she would be sitting around terrified someone was making fun of her cellulite. Tara seemed deeply secure in her relationship, and Marcy looked perfectly happy to have just had some amazing sex.

“I hear you’re getting all the little subs in trouble, love.”

God, he was so damn sexy. Wolf stood in the entryway to the locker room wearing a perfectly respectable pair of jeans, a T-shirt, and a light leather jacket that he somehow turned into something ultra sexy. His broad shoulders filled the entryway, but she was caught on his male-model-worthy smile. She sighed.

And so did Tara and Marcy.

Tara leaned over and gave her a hug. “I’m going to change before I really get in trouble. I’m into Darin for double digits with a crop already. If he catches me mooning over the new Dom, he just might attach a TENS unit to my pink parts.”

“God, and you’re running from that?” Marcy asked, giving Shelley a little wink before she followed her friend.

“I’m glad to see you’re getting along with the other subs.”

He looked so self-satisfied that Shelley had to wonder just what he’d overheard. “They were sympathizing with me because my Dom is so sadly unattractive.”

His grin grew. “Is that right? Poor Shelley. Well, I’m the lucky one because all anyone can talk about is just how hot my sub is.”

How did he do that? One minute she was vowing to never be naked again and the next she was perfectly willing to throw off her clothes as long as he took her.

“Come on, sweetheart, I’m going to take you home.”

The evening was ending already? “I thought we were going to have a drink?”

“Fet wear only in the bar. I thought we could stop somewhere vanilla. If we stay here, we’ll have to talk to other people, and I would like to focus on you. And then I can get you drunk enough that you don’t fight me when I tell you I’m sleeping on your couch tonight.”

He was what? “Wolf, why would you sleep on my couch?”

“Because you got mugged and you might have nightmares?”

The truth hit her with all the subtlety of a runaway train. “You think it was a setup. You think he knew who I was. Why would he steal my laptop? Oh, god, he was looking for information.”

It was happening again.

“Hey.” Wolf reached out and grabbed her hand. “I’m just being paranoid. As a man who used to fight some of the worst human beings and terrorists in the world, you have to just understand that I sometimes see the glass as half empty and maybe there’s a bomb at the bottom of it.”

But what if he was right? It had always been there in the back of her mind. The press had reviled her for months. It didn’t matter that she’d been cleared. She’d been the one who had unwittingly placed the cameras that had caught the blackmail material Bryce had used on her clients. For months, she’d received nasty phone calls and e-mails calling her every bad name in the world. After a year, it had quieted down, and she’d hoped it was over.

What if it wasn’t over? Her son-of-a-bitch husband was never going to let her go. He still had a hold on her, even from beyond the grave. She was going to have to give up another man she cared about.

She shook her head. “No. You should stay here. You shouldn’t get involved in this.”

Wolf took a step forward, his lips curving into a little snarl. “What did you say?”

“She said you should leave her alone, Wolf. She obviously wants to be assaulted.” Leo was suddenly beside him, the Meyer brothers taking up all the available space.

She found herself pressed against the wall. “I’m just trying to protect him.”

Leo snorted a little and slapped his brother on the back. “This two hundred and twenty pounds of pure Navy SEAL?”

“He isn’t a SEAL anymore,” Shelley pointed out. He could be out of practice.

“Once a SEAL, always a SEAL, love.” Wolf’s tight smile seemed predatory.

And Leo’s matched him. “So you think you’re going to be able to handle this better than Wolf?”

He was willfully misunderstanding her. “I think Wolf shouldn’t have to handle this.”

“I disagree, and I damn sure think he disagrees. I watched him bring you to orgasm not half an hour ago. You had your legs spread wide for him, and you gave him everything he asked for. He owes you his protection.”

“He doesn’t owe me anything,” Shelley insisted. The last thing she wanted to do was to bring Wolf into her nightmare. It wasn’t fair. He hadn’t done anything wrong, and he could get seriously hurt if he got involved. She couldn’t live with Wolf getting hurt any more than she’d been able to handle the thought of Bryce hurting Leo.

“Then you were using me?” Wolf asked, his eyes stony.

“I told you,” Leo said to his brother in his first sign of sibling solidarity. Naturally it was against her. “She did the same thing to me. When she no longer needed me, she told me to get out of her life. At least she gave you some sort of excuse. She just told me to leave.”

He hadn’t been willing to discuss this for almost a year and a half, but he brought it up now? Frustration threatened to overtake Shelley. “I had a reason. God, Leo, I tried to explain that to you. I didn’t want Bryce to hurt you.”

Leo’s eyes rolled. “Yes, Bryce Hughes, who I outweigh by forty pounds of muscle. Bryce Hughes, who ran away from a bar fight. Yes, he was going to take me out. Bullshit. It’s a ridiculous argument, and it won’t fly.”

“He had guns, Leo. I found them that day.” She could remember how terrified she’d been when she’d opened the drawer to Bryce’s desk and found his gun. All she’d been able to think about was Leo taking one of those shiny bullets.

“Yes, dear, because no SEAL ever had to deal with guns.” Sarcasm dripped from Leo’s voice.

Wolf pulled at the side of his jacket, and sure enough, there was a gun in a shoulder holster. “Shelley, I have a permit to carry concealed. Julian made sure of it before he hired me. Besides being one of his resident Doms, I’m also considered a trained bodyguard. Finn has worked some controversial cases in the last few years and a rich man’s wife is always a target.”

She turned to Leo. She’d never imagined that he would be walking around Dallas with a gun. “And you?”

Leo stood, his legs apart in a stance she was sure had once terrorized new recruits. “I don’t carry in The Club, but when I escort Dani or Finn or even Julian himself somewhere, I carry. And, sweetheart, that day you dumped me, I had two SIG Sauers and a sniper rifle in my truck. I also do some training work with Dallas SWAT.”

Wolf turned to his brother. “Are you seriously telling me that you don’t have a weapon on you?”

“Well, I don’t have a gun on me right this second.”

“And if I checked your boot?”

“You might get your hand sliced up,” Leo admitted.

Shelley stared for a moment. The world seemed to have tilted slightly. “You have a knife?”

Leo tapped his boot against the floor. “More than one, if you have to know. And I had more than one on me the day you dumped my ass. It was only my remarkable patience that kept me from killing your asshole husband the night before in a bar fight. I thought you might have been angry.”

Had she made a terrible mistake? Was she making one by trying to protect Wolf?

“I’m going to make this easy on you, sweetheart,” Wolf said. He crossed his arms over his chest in a show of mulish stubbornness. “You don’t get a choice in this. I am going to take you home. I am going to stay on your couch. And I am going to bring you back here tomorrow. If you want to safe word me, go on. I won’t be your Dom anymore, but until I’m certain that you’re safe, you won’t be able to get rid of me unless you call the cops and have my ass hauled to jail.”

“I’m not calling the cops.” Tears blurred her vision. She’d given up so damn much, and now Leo was standing here telling her it had all been for nothing. If she’d gone with Leo that day, would things have turned out the same way? Or would Beth and Bo have been in an even worse position?

Misery washed over her. Regret.

“I’m glad to hear that,” Wolf said, his voice softening. He reached out for her, his big hands enveloping hers. “Shelley, this is what I want. This is who I am. I want to protect you. I want to be the big badass who stands in front of you. It’s all I’m fucking good at.”

“You’re going to have to work on his self-esteem, Shelley,” Leo said. “But he’s right, and if you try to get away from him, I’ll call your brother in. How do you think Trev will handle this? He’s trying to settle in and now Beth is having a baby. Do you really want him to have to leave his new ranch and his pregnant wife because you’re too stubborn to accept protection?”

“Damn it, Leo, stop being so hard on her,” Wolf complained, pulling her close. “She’s had a rough day. She’s not going to call the cops.”

But Leo’s words had formed a hard knot of guilt in her belly. Wolf hugged her, but she simply stood there in his arms. She’d been so happy when she’d heard Beth was pregnant, but there was a nasty kernel of envy in there, too. Trev had done everything wrong and still managed to build an amazing life for himself. She’d sacrificed everything for the people she loved and she was alone, and it seemed she always would be.

“I’d like to go home now.” The words came out in a flat monotone. “I think I just need some rest. Wolf can stay on my couch.”

“Shelley, baby, don’t be so glum,” Wolf cajoled. “I really can protect you.”

Leo took a step back. “And tomorrow we’ll all sit down and discuss it. It’s Saturday. We all have to have breakfast with the boss to discuss the weekend’s parties and scenes. We’ll discuss your situation. And we’ll put Ben and Chase on the case. It’s been forever since Chase got to hack something. He’ll be thrilled. It really will be fine. I won’t let anything happen to you. I didn’t before, and I won’t now.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” She looked up at Leo. “You haven’t talked to me for over a year.”

Leo frowned and looked like he wished he hadn’t said anything, but Wolf’s face lit up.

“Julian didn’t pay Finn, did he? You did. Finn was her lawyer.”

Shelley thought her heart might break. Leo had paid Finn? “I thought he was doing it pro bono. Trev told me he was.”

Leo wouldn’t quite look her in the eyes. “Finn would have done it, but I knew damn well that he wouldn’t be able to give it his full attention if he was still working on his other stuff. So I paid him to get you to the top of the list. Finn didn’t actually make the money. He used it to bring in the consultants we needed to hurry things along. Money is the only thing that talks, Shelley. If I hadn’t given Finn money to grease a few wheels, you would still be under a cloud of suspicion.”

“Why would you do that?” He’d acted like he couldn’t care less whether she lived or died. He’d utterly ignored her, refusing to take her calls and making up excuses to not see her.

“It doesn’t matter now. It didn’t matter then. But the point is this. I spent a lot of money making sure you were okay. I would prefer you didn’t blow it all by not allowing Wolf to protect you. And he can handle a few bullets. Half of him has been replaced by titanium rods and his skull is far too thick to ever let a bullet pass through it.” Leo turned and began to walk back into the locker room, retreating. “I’ll speak to you both in the morning.”

Wolf grinned down at her. “Wow, he is such a coward. He ran back to the men’s locker room because he doesn’t think you’ll walk in there with half the Doms in The Club down to their bare asses.”

“He’s right.” Her mind was reeling. What did any of it mean?

Wolf kissed the top of her head. “Well, it’s progress all the same. Now, let’s go get that drink. I could use a beer. There’s a store across the street. We’ll grab a six pack and head back to your place.”

She stared at him. It seemed to her it was time to start training her Dom.

He stopped, and she could see him thinking. “Or we could get a bottle of wine.”

He waited as if hoping against hope he’d penciled in the right answer.

“I would love a white, thank you.”

“And a six-pack of beer.” He was back to grinning as he led her down the hall.

Shelley looked back at the door Leo had disappeared behind. It seemed one of them was always closing the door on the other.

Wolf took Shelley’s hand as he walked past the security guard.

“Mr. Meyer? Do you want me to bring your truck around?”

Wolf wasn’t sure why this guy needed to bring his truck around when he himself had two legs, but he figured it was a “Julian Lodge” thing and he should get used to it. The same young man had insisted on parking the truck when Wolf had driven in, so he guessed this was the new norm.

He was going to have to start watching Leo and taking his cues. He’d been either in the Navy or on a ranch most of his life. He sure as hell wasn’t used to wealth and people doing stuff for him, but it seemed to be the way The Club ran.

“Thanks, Nelson. We’re going to run to the store across the street. Just have it ready when we get back. Give us ten minutes or so.” It seemed silly to get into the truck, drive across the street, and then look for parking when they could just dash over there.

But maybe Shelley didn’t want to walk. God, he was so out of practice. He’d spent the last freaking year of his life trying to get back into the Navy, fighting his discharge. He’d forgotten how to treat a lady.

He’d high-fived her. He felt a little flush go through him. “I’m sorry about the high five. I was feeling pretty good. I’ll be more formal next time.”

“Don’t you dare.” She stepped out of the garage onto the sidewalk. The streets were quiet at this time of the night, but there were a couple of restaurants and a bar that still seemed to be hopping. She turned her face up to his, her skin like alabaster in the moonlight. “Wolf, I want you the way you are. I really do. I get that you were in the Navy for a long time, but the man I’ve been talking to through e-mail and on the phone is one of the nicest, most charming men I’ve ever met. I can handle the occasional high five. And you’re obviously very smart, so I wish you would stop talking about yourself like that.”

He growled, but it was definitely not at her. “I get this way around my brother. I’ve kind of been in his shadow for a long time. Our dad left when we were young, and he took care of me. He really became the man of the house. He went into the Navy because he didn’t have the money for college. When he got out he whizzed through his undergrad and straight through to his PhD. He’s the smartest guy I know.”

They walked down the street toward the corner. “Well, you’re no slouch.”

“I just read a lot.” He’d gotten ribbed for his reading tastes by his teammates. He’d read in his downtime. Pretty much anything his mom or brother would send him. Thrillers. Mysteries. History books. Books on psychology and sociology. But he didn’t have a formal education.

“You can learn a lot from books. College is nothing but having a guide to reading the right books.”

Her hand in his felt so damn right.

She took a long breath. “Mexican food smells good.”

Well, he could fix that. “Come on. I’ll get you some enchiladas. And a margarita. You’ll see. This whole thing is probably nothing, but it’s best to be safe.”

A little cloud passed over her face, but he could see plainly that she had accepted the inevitable. “I will feel safer if you sleep over. But maybe we can talk about the couch thing. It’s really small and probably uncomfortable.”

And the only way he didn’t end up burying himself in her before the end of the night. “I’ve slept in worse places.”

And then he felt it. It was a little thing, but he’d learned to trust it. A little prickle that ran up his spine as though his body could process his surroundings faster than his brain could, and it sent a warning. He stopped in the middle of the street.

The night was quiet, only the muted sound of mariachi music coming from the restaurant down the street. He looked up and down but there was no one out. Just him and Shelley.

But he knew they weren’t alone.

“Hey, did you change your mind? We could just get some wine and go back to my place.” Shelley looked up at him.

Wolf held a hand up, his fingers in a tight fist.

“You want to punch something?” Shelley asked, her mouth hanging open.

Of course. It was a habit. That fist would have told anyone in the military to go silent, but Shelley hadn’t served for years and obviously didn’t have the same instincts he had. “Hush, love. Stay still. If I tell you to run, you run.”

Up ahead there was a long line of bushes that garnished a small store. The store’s lights were out, but the streetlight glowed through the leaves. Except in one place. There was a man-size dark spot. Wolf looked down. Shoes.

Fuck.

Adrenaline, his old friend, began to pump through his body. He loved the fight. God, he’d missed the fight. Even now his muscles were loosening and his mind sharpening as he got ready to fight for his life.

But he had Shelley.

Double fuck.

His need to kill would have to wait. He pulled his SIG and grabbed his cell, pressing a single button. “We’re heading back to the garage, love. You stay behind me.”

Those feet were starting to move.

“What’s up now?” Leo asked over the line.

“Trouble. Come now. I’m taking her to the garage.” He slid his cell back in his pocket, certain Leo was on his way.

The streetlight above the shrubs flickered, and Wolf could see that whoever had been waiting there was moving a bit faster now, hugging the brick of the wall. Wolf gave the guy thirty seconds before he hit the end of the shrubs and then he would be out in the open. There would be no more play. There would be a bullet.

It was the lightest of sounds that had Wolf turning, realizing that Shrub Guy wasn’t alone. Someone was coming up from behind him, and it sure as hell wasn’t his brother. Leo wouldn’t have made that little mistake. Leo wouldn’t have made a sound. The only way Wolf would have known Leo was there would have been when Leo wanted him to know. It would be the same with Ben and Chase, who had also put in their time with the Teams.

So it was an easy thing to turn and, in the blink of an eye, the scene played out in front of him. A single tango coming in at a run. He held a gun in his right hand. He wore all black, and he’d covered his face with a ski mask.

Yeah, Wolf knew how to handle that. He aimed and squeezed twice, moving his hand not more than an inch. The sound broke up the night. The minute he squeezed the trigger, he turned, absolutely certain the man wouldn’t get off a shot of his own. His aim would be true. There would be two holes, one in each lung. Wolf grabbed Shelley around the waist with one hand just as he heard Shrub Guy’s shot. Wolf dove, curving his body around hers and trying to take the brunt of the roll he had them in. He heard Shelley’s little gasp as they hit the street, but he had protected her head.

“Stay down.”

Another bullet whipped by, but this guy wasn’t a pro. His shots were going wild.

Wolf’s didn’t.

Two final shots rang through the night, and the man who had been running at them stopped, went still, and then fell to the sidewalk, his lungs both useless now that Wolf’s bullets had lodged there. He wished he could do what he knew he needed to. He’d prefer to leave nothing to chance. Two to the chest, one to the head. But Shelley was here. He had to take care of her first.

Wolf kept a hand on Shelley’s head, his eyes searching the night.

“Goddamn it, Wolf. You couldn’t have left one of them alive?”

Yep. He only knew Leo was around when Leo was ready to start bitching at him. With a long breath, he reached for Shelley. “Hey, sweetheart, are you all right?”

Her whole body was shaking. Her eyes were wide. Wolf’s blood was still pumping hard through his system, but his heart softened. Shelley had been here before. She’d had someone—her husband—shot dead right in front of her. What if she was scared of him now?

Shelley nodded, but her eyes were on the second dead man.

“I’m sorry. I acted on instinct.” He’d just killed two guys on their first date. He was really glad he hadn’t taken the head shots.

“Sorry?” She sounded like she was in shock. “You’re sorry?”

“I should have gotten you away.”

She threw her arms around his neck and held on for dear life. “You saved me. Don’t you dare feel bad for killing them. You saved me.”

She sobbed against his neck, but he relaxed. It was natural that she would cry, but he was so damn grateful she understood that he felt a smile cross his face.

“This one’s dead, too, Leo,” one of the twins said. Wolf thought it was Chase. The big Dom had a gun in his hand as he examined the body.

“Oh, excellent.” Julian Lodge stood over the scene with his arms crossed. A tall, well-built man stood beside him wearing slacks and a dress shirt. He knotted his silk tie as he said something quiet to Julian and then pulled out his phone and walked away from the crowd.

Wolf pulled Shelley closer. He was going to get fired. He’d killed two people on Lodge’s land. He would do it again, but, fuck, he was getting tired of having to find new jobs. He was running out of places to work.

Julian walked over to the first dead guy, staring down with unabashed fascination. “Do you know how long it’s been since I had to deal with corpses? It’s been ages. I almost felt…legitimate.” He said the word with a shudder. “You never kill anyone anymore, Leo. And Ben and Chase are far too lazy. Wolf, you’re my new favorite. You get an extra waffle tomorrow morning.” He sighed and straightened his shirt. “Well, I should get inside. The police chief is calling this in. It will be handled with discretion, but I think we want this on the record. Wolf, don’t incriminate yourself.”

“I’ll make sure he doesn’t,” Leo said with a frown.

Shelley simply shook and held on to him. He tightened his arms around her. He’d almost lost her. Damn it. Someone was coming after her, and it really pissed him off. Two assholes had hidden in the dark with the intent of taking her out. He didn’t believe for one stinking second that this was random, and that meant that this afternoon hadn’t been random, either. Someone wanted his girl, and they would have to get through him.

And his brother. Leo stood over the man who had tried to kill Shelley, and Wolf saw his intent. Leo would kill anything that came her way. Leo’s eyes came up, and they were dark and hard, his brother every bit the SEAL he’d been trained to be, only this time he wasn’t protecting his country. He was protecting the other half of his soul.

While Shelley wept out all her anxiety, Wolf and Leo made a silent promise.

They would take out anything that came her way.