Authors: Paige Tyler
him in his tracks. Half human cry of rage and half pure cat hiss, it was unlike anything he’d ever heard in
his life. It stopped Buchanan, too. It probably would have stopped a charging bull.
The fury disappeared from Buchanan’s face, his claws retracted, his eyes returned to their normal color.
Landon moved to stand beside Ivy, but she put her hand on his chest, keeping him where he was. That
was when he realized her feline scream wasn’t the only thing that had shocked Buchanan back to his senses.
Her face was a mask of rage, her eyes pure green, her fangs long and glistening. And that rage was aimed
squarely at the man in front of her.
She glanced at Landon, let out a sound that was half snarl, half plea as she nudged him back. Don’t get
between her and Buchanan. Period.
He gave her a nod but didn’t step back. The threat from Buchanan might have passed, but he still wasn’t
going to let her stand up to the shifter alone.
Buchanan stared at her in shock, taking in her protective stance as well as the sharp claws that were still
extended and ready as if he couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing.
“My God, Ivy. I can smell him all over you. Do you have any idea what that does to me?” The shifter’s
voice was filled with pain. Unfortunately, Landon couldn’t seem to summon any pity for him. “How could
you sleep with him?”
Landon ground his jaw. He wanted to tell Buchanan who Ivy slept with was none of his damn business,
but that would only start another fight.
“I slept with him because I…” She broke off, her voice throaty and rough. “Why I slept with him is
none of your business, Clayne. I can see I hurt you, and I’m sorry. But who I sleep with is my choice.”
He let out a low growl. “What about us?”
Ivy cut him off with a hiss. “There is no us. Not like that. There never was. I made that clear to you
over and over, but you wouldn’t listen. We’re friends. And if you still value that friendship, you’ll respect
my decision.”
Buchanan regarded her in silence for a long time, then turned without another word and stormed out.
Ivy sighed, the sound loud in the suddenly quiet apartment. Landon set the knife down on the counter
and gently touched her arm.
“Hey. You okay?”
She turned to face him. Her claws were in, her eyes were back to their normal color, and her fangs were
gone. She was definitely far from being back to normal, though. She was hurting, he could see it on her
face.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
She reached up to cup his cheek. Her hand was warm and gentle. “You have nothing to be sorry about.
That fight with Clayne has been coming for a long time. You just happened to be the final straw.”
“But I can still be sorry I was that last straw. And I’m sorry about your table.”
She made a face. “Forget about the table. I’m glad he didn’t hurt you.”
“It’d take a lot more than razor-sharp claws and fangs the size of railroad spikes to hurt me.” The joke
wasn’t as funny when he said it out loud. “Ivy, you and Buchanan were friends for a long time. I didn’t
mean to come between that.”
“He came between that, not you. What’s done is done, and I wouldn’t have acted any differently if I had
it to do over again.”
He caught the hand she was resting on his cheek and pressed it to his lips. “I’d rather you promise me
you’ll never do anything as crazy as jumping between me and a psycho like Buchanan again.”
“That’s a promise I can’t make. If someone or something I care about is in danger, nothing will stop me
from protecting them.”
“Protective I understand. Just temper it with a little caution, okay? I thought Buchanan was going to hurt
you.”
“I was more worried about what he was going to do to you.” The corner of her mouth curved into a
rueful smile. “Besides, it’s not like I had a choice about putting myself between you and him. When I ran
out and saw you two fighting—not just fighting, but ready to kill each other this time—I zoned out again
like I did in South America.”
“I thought we talked about you trying to control that instinct, so that didn’t happen again.”
“I know. But keeping my animal side in check takes a lot of control, and I lost that when I saw Clayne
was about to rip out your throat. I would have killed him if it meant protecting you. I’ll do anything to
protect the people who are important to me.”
Landon didn’t even want to think about Ivy fighting Buchanan. He brushed her damp hair back from
her face. “Can you at least let me know when your shifter side feels like it’s going to take over so I can be
prepared? If for no other reason than to protect you from yourself.”
She nodded a little too quickly, as if she was agreeing simply to placate him. But she started fussing
over the scratches on his chest before he could call her on it. She wet a dishtowel with water and gently
dabbed at the wounds, carefully washing away the blood.
“Damn him. The last claw marks hadn’t even started to heal yet.”
Landon looked down at his chest. After the initial pain, he hadn’t thought much about the scratches, but
now he saw they crossed over the ones Buchanan had given him in the pugil pit a few days ago. The new
set was deeper, but nothing that wouldn’t heal on their own.
“But they’ll leave scars,” Ivy protested when he said as much.
“I’ve gotten worse.” He grinned. “Besides, these will be a reminder of what I had to go through to earn
your affection.”
She rolled her eyes. “Sweet talker.”
He chuckled and bent to kiss her. He slid his hand in her hair, cupping the back of her head, and
suddenly remembered that shower they were going to finish. Unfortunately, it was going to have to wait a
little longer. He reluctantly lifted his head.
“Do you think Buchanan will tell the DCO about us?”
Ivy’s face was thoughtful as she ran her fingers over the claw marks on his chest. “I hope not, but I
honestly don’t know. I want to believe Clayne wouldn’t deliberately hurt me like that, but after what he did
today, I realize I don’t know him nearly as well as I thought.”
He tilted up her chin. “Whatever happens, we’ll deal with it.”
Behind them, someone knocked on the door. Landon forgot Buchanan had left it open.
He jerked his head up to see a teenager standing in the doorway, a red warming bag in his hand. The
kid’s gaze went wide as he took in the destruction in front of him.
“Um, you the ones who ordered the large, double meat pizza?”
He’d forgotten about the pizza, too.
Ivy slid her arms from around Landon’s neck. “Yup, that’s us.”
Reaching around, she pulled the wallet out of his back pocket, then walked over to the door. Thanks to
the scuffle with Buchanan, the top of her robe had come a little undone and was gaping open slightly. The
teenage boy’s eyes went wide as he realized she wasn’t wearing anything underneath, but he kept his cool
long enough to take the cash and pull the pizza box out of the bag and hand it to her.
He swept the apartment again, his gaze lingering on the demolished dining room table before going to
the hole in the wall. Brow furrowing, he looked pointedly at the scratches on Landon’s chest, then at Ivy.
“Um, everything okay?”
She cracked the lid on the pizza box to make sure the kid had gotten the order right. “We were
renovating the dining room and decided to stop and have sex.”
The kid’s eyes practically bulged out of his head. He looked around the room again, surveying the
damage in a whole new light. No doubt he was wondering how much of it had come from the renovation
and how much from the sex.
Realizing Ivy was waiting for him to leave so she could close the door, the kid turned to go. Then he
stopped to eye the four deep scratches slashed across Landon’s chest again. Landon waited for him to ask
how they got there, but the kid must have a good imagination because he grinned at Landon and said,
“Dude!” before giving him a thumbs-up and walking out.
Ivy laughed as she sauntered into the kitchen. “That was bad of me, wasn’t it?”
Taking the pizza box from her hand, Landon set it on the counter. He then pulled her close by the belt of
her robe, which made it fall open a bit more. “Yeah it was. But that’s okay. I like when you’re bad.”
Chapter 13
“Have you seen Clayne this morning?”
Kendra looked up from her computer as Ivy perched on the edge of the desk. “Earlier. Why?”
Ivy sipped her coffee, trying to look as casual as she could. “Just wondered if you saw him talk to John.
Or Dick.”
Since no one had raked her and Landon over the coals when they’d gotten to work, she didn’t think so.
But she’d relax a lot easier if she were sure.
Kendra frowned. “What the hell would he talk to Dick for? He hates Dick.”
“I don’t know. I was just wondering.” She took another sip. “Do you know if Clayne’s around?”
“He bailed in a pissed-off mood. He only came in long enough to tell me he was taking leave.” She
pushed her reading glasses up on her head and sat back in her chair. “When I asked him where he was
going, he practically bit my head off. I have no idea what’s with him.”
Ivy looked away before Kendra could read anything on her face.
Kendra bolted upright. “Wait a minute. You know something, don’t you? That’s why you want to talk to
him. Okay, spill it.”
She should have known she couldn’t hide anything from Kendra.
“Clayne came over yesterday and found Landon at my place.”
“So?” Kendra’s eyes went wide. “No way. You and Landon…?”
Ivy nodded.
Kendra grinned. “It’s about time.”
“Well, Clayne doesn’t share your enthusiasm, and now I’m afraid he’s so pissed off he’ll tell John—or
worse, Dick—just to get us split up.”
Kendra shook her head. “Clayne wouldn’t do something like that.”
“You didn’t see how angry he was when he realized what was going on. He and Landon got into this
huge fight. They came close to killing each other.”
“You’re not serious.”
Ivy nodded. “I ended up siding with Landon to end it.”
She didn’t mention she would have fought Clayne to the death to protect Landon if she had to. She was
still freaked out by that. Having sex with Landon hadn’t gotten him out of her system. It made her want him
even more.
“Which must have infuriated Clayne.” Kendra nodded.
Ivy nodded. “Now, I’m worried he’s going to destroy both our careers to get back at us.”
The phone on Kendra’s desk rang. She answered it, had a cryptic conversation with whoever was on
the other end of the line, then hung up.
“That was John. He wants you and Landon in the main conference room. The guy you apprehended in
New York finally talked.” When Ivy moved to get up, she grabbed her arm. “Don’t worry. I’ll find Clayne
and get him to calm down. I’ll make sure I get through to him.”
Ivy hoped so, but she wasn’t going to hold her breath.
Landon was already in the conference room when she walked in. They’d ridden the Metro together that
morning but came into work separately, so they wouldn’t raise any eyebrows.
She yawned as she sat down across from him. They’d stayed up most of the night repairing the damage
to her apartment. The hole Landon and Clayne had put in the wall was easy to fix. So was replacing the
chandelier. However, her beautiful antique dining room table was history. There wasn’t enough glue in the
northeast to put that poor thing back together. Landon swore he’d find her one that was as close as possible
to the one he’d help demolish. She didn’t have the heart to tell him not to bother. It had been a once-in-a-
lifetime find. But then, so was he.
Which was why she’d felt the need to show her appreciation for all his hard work when they’d finally
stumbled into bed at two in the morning. That had kept them up for another hour, but it had been worth
every sleepless moment.
Ivy was about to tell him about Clayne taking leave when John walked in. His face looked haggard, like
he hadn’t gotten much more sleep than they had.
“The man you apprehended in New York disclosed Stutmeir’s location.” He set down a folder on the
table. “As of a few days ago, Stutmeir was holding the medical experts in a private mountain lodge located
in the Cascades in Washington State, north of Chelan. Unfortunately, the guy has no idea what Stutmeir’s
doing with these doctors and scientists. Apparently, that kind of information is reserved for Stutmeir’s inner
ring of soldiers. As it turns out, you picked the least informed of the two men to capture. He wasn’t much
more than a driver.”
“Next time we’ll make sure to ask for a résumé first,” Landon said dryly.
Ivy picked up her mug. “Do you believe the guy?”
“Trust me, he wasn’t of a mind to tell any lies at that point.” John’s face was grim. “All he knows is that
they were supposed to kidnap Bosch and bring him to the ski lodge.”
Landon took a swallow of coffee. “What do we know about the place?”
“At the moment, not much.” John sighed. “It was built to be a ski resort just after World War II, but
apparently that didn’t exactly thrive. So, in the early fifties, it was picked up by a doomsday group sure the