Loving Her (Keeping Her) (6 page)

He chuffed in annoyance,
the sound very like the one he would make as a jaguar.

Then they rounded the
corner and Essie was standing there, blinking at the two of them, one of them
naked.  She started wheezing, her mouth opening and closing, her face going
red.  Mac sighed, shoving Ben.  “Go get some clothes on before you give the
lady a heart attack.”

Ben eyed Essie, who seemed
to be having troubles looking away from him.  Mac could tell from his
expression that he was contemplating some kind of mayhem.  When he started to
open his mouth to speak, Mac interrupted him.  “No Ben.”

This time Ben sighed. 
“It’s like you don’t want me to be happy.”  He rounded the old lady and headed
for his room.  Essie watched his naked ass the whole way.  For once seemingly
incapable of speech.

***

About an hour later,
Cassandra was sitting with Clytie on the couch in the great room, and they were
both avidly ping ponging their attention from one side of the room to the
other.  The men were supposed to be having a strategy session, but they were
waiting on some info to come in and right now, everyone was just hanging out
and enjoying being with the pack.  Cassie and Clytie were enjoying watching
them hang around with the pack.

“I think they’re actually
getting prettier,” Cassandra whispered.  Clytie just nodded.  Her eyes going
from Logan in his jeans and cowboy boots with one of those blue plaid cowboy
shirts with snaps, to Lucas Gibbs in his black business suit, with no tie and
some of the buttons on his shirt undone.  Even in a suit, he still looked like
a marauding Viking.  Then to Eli and Shawn, both in commando black.  Then of
course, Mac in his jeans and grey button shirt that made his eyes look amazing,
and Ben whose jeans were more faded with a t-shirt that was so old you couldn’t
read the words.  Everyone was armed and dangerous, and dangerously hot. 

Demon took that moment to
walk into the room, all seven feet of Barbarian warrior in denim, his chest, and
arms bulging against the faded cotton of his grey t-shirt.  He also had a
six-year-old riding on his shoulders.

And how cute is that? 

"We totally need a
camera," Clytie said in an aside, her eyes glued to Demon.

“Do you think they would
re-enact the shirtless volleyball scene from Top Gun if we asked nicely?” 
Cassie whispered back.  Clytie got a glazed look in her eyes then sighed. 

Eli took that moment to
look over at them and wink.

“They can hear us can’t
they?”  Cassie squeaked out, burrowing farther down in the giant couch.  Clytie
lost her testosterone daze when Demon narrowed his eyes at her.

“Crap.”  She burrowed down
with Cassie until her head was resting on her shoulder.  They both started
giggling at the same time.

“Forgive me for saying so
Bucko, but that is one prime piece you and Mac commandeered; before the rest of
us had a chance, I might add.”

"Eli, are you
referring to the future mother of my children?  Cause she has a name and it
isn't piece."  Ben’s smile turned wicked.  "Having said that, you
will never know how true that statement is."

"Do you think Ben's
over there telling Eli how I was in bed?"

"Don't be ridiculous. 
Ben's a gentleman...sort of.  He'll wait till you leave the room."

"Men.  Do they ever
really leave high school?"

Clytie burrowed down
further.  "Speaking of that.  OwHey erWey eyThey?"

Cassie burst out laughing. 
"We're surrounded by x-special forces with supernatural senses who
routinely deal in corporate espionage and security; I don't think pig Latin’s
going to cut it."

Demon was glaring their way
again.  "Crap."

"So let me see if I
understand this."  Logan was shaking his head in disbelief.  "While
the rest of us are out in the fight, doing our best to try as many beautiful
ladies as we can find, looking for our mates and having no luck; you guys just
stay home and the perfect one comes waltzing to your door and just stays?"

Ben looked at Mac and
shrugged.  "Pretty much."

"Basically," Mac
chimed in.

"And Cassandra, like
Clytie, was fine with the whole shapeshifter thing?  You turning, the imminent
attack.  You told her and she didn't run screaming or throw anything?  Try to
kill you?"

"Pretty much."

"Basically"

Logan growled:  "I
hate you both," then stomped off.

"Don't be silly.  You
need 12 men for a Calendar."  Cassie rolled her eyes.  "Now you're
just being ridiculous."

Cassie felt the couch shift
as someone sat beside her.  She turned to see a golden haired blue eyed,
extremely young, lion shifter sitting beside her.

"So, Cassie.” Ian, who
was 16 year old, had a naughty smile on a face that was surely going to break
hearts for many years to come.  "Did you know that when wolves find an
alpha female, she is usually shared by the Alpha males of the pack?  It’s like a
biological imperative.  It's ‘The Calling,’ he said, making air quotes with his
fingers.  "They are all drawn to mate together.  Like the wolves of
yore."

"Really?"  Cassie
asked, one brow going up.  "Like the wolves of yore?  Well, that's
interesting."

"I think I'm feeling
that call."  Then the little lothario actually winked.

"So then, you're a
wolf shifter?"

"No.  Lion."

"Mac and Ben, they
aren't wolf either?"

He cleared his throat. 
"No, wolverine and jaguar."

She crinkled her nose. 
"Then it really doesn't apply does it?"

"Not...
entirely."

"Demons a wolf, isn't
he Clytie?"  She turned to Clytie who snorted and then straightened her
face to serious.  "He is."

"Then that's the answer. 
Clearly, it’s Clytie you're drawn to, not me.  Demon!”  She yelled, making Ian
cringe.  "Ian wants to join you as Clytie’s mate.  He's got a biological
imperative; Like the wolves of yore." 

"What.  The. 
Fuck?"  Wow.  Demon was not happy.

"Ian," his father
called in the steely voice of authority.  "A word."

Ian cleared his throat and
jumped up, heading for his father and away from the fast approaching Demon. 
"Ladies," he said, his voice breaking over the word.  Demon stopped
where he was, watching him go, his eyes so focused on his escaping prey even
Cassie could feel the heat.

"Wow," she said,
fanning her face.

"Yeah," Clytie
said, licking suddenly dry lips.  "It just makes me want to bite him when
he does his alpha male thing."

Cassie looked around. 
"Where are Essie and Roxanne?"

"I haven't seen
Essie.  Roxanne went outside to play with Cleo."  Cleo had been introduced
earlier as Ian’s older sister.  A beautiful golden girl was how Cassie
remembered her with killer cheekbones and blue-green eyes.  Plus, she was
extremely well armed, which had made an impression.

"Maybe we should go
find her?  Essie I mean," Clytie said.  “Now I'm worried."

"You don't think we
should stay here and help plan the ‘offensive.’  This time, Cassie did the air
quotes.

"Do you know anything
about tactics or military strategy?  Combat?  Hillbilly shapeshifter
shenanigans?  Anything sounding vaguely familiar?"

"That's a good
point.”  Cassie mulled it over.  "I got nothing.  Let’s go find
Essie."

They took two steps towards
the door and every man in the room lazered in on them.

"Yowza," Cassie
whispered.  "That's a bit...disconcerting."

"You get used to it,"
Clytie said, subtly pushing her closer to the room exit.  "They are just
super intense about the whole security thing.  The trick is to show no
fear."

"Just where do you
think you're going?"  Demon said as soon as they turned around he was
there.

For a big guy he was sure
fast.

"I know you're not
talking to me like that," Clytie said.  Her hands going to her hips in the
ever popular but girly, ass-kicking pose. 

Cassie wondered where
Roxanne was.  This was something every girl should learn as early as possible.

In a classic male counter
move, Demon crossed his massive arms at his chest.  "It's not safe for you
to be wandering around."

"The house?  It's not
safe to wander the house, with all you commandos here and a security system to
rival the White House.  Really?"

 "Just tell me where
you're going and I'll send one of the guys to take care of it."

Avoidance.  Good one.  Plus
the ever so reasonable tone of his voice suggested quite clearly that she was
being
un
reasonable.  Another classic male move.  He was good.  Cassie
watched them both, thinking Clytie’s only recourse was to be reasonable back,
with sarcasm of course.  Or to go bat shit crazy and defy all logic.

"I don't want someone
else to take care of it.  I want to ‘wander,’ little air quotes there, "around
my own house without having someone trailing me.  We both know that if you
really thought I was in danger
in the house
you would have tried to send
me somewhere else already."  Very reasonable and subtle use of the sarcasm. 

Demon dropped his hands to
his sides and moved closer until they were toe to toe.  He leaned way down
until he was speaking right in her ear.  "They got to you once," he
said, his voice a deep tortured rumble.  "You should have been safe and
you weren't.  It kills me when I can't see you, because if I can't see you, I
can't protect you.  Just the thought of anything happening to you makes me lose
my fucking mind."

"Demon," Clytie
whispered, wrapping her arms around his neck.  He shuddered, pulling her off
her feet and into his arms.  Tucking his head into her neck, he just breathed
her in while she wrapped her legs around his waist and held on.

Cassie slipped out, giving
them a small semblance of privacy, as much as possible in a room full of
shifters anyway.  All joking aside, there was no defense against raw need.  She
knew enough about her cousin to know she wasn't going anywhere.  She'd find
Essie herself and get a little air while she was at it.

"Where you
going?"

She jumped, grabbing her
heart and then relaxing when she saw it was Ben. 

"Just giving them a
little time."

"And making your
escape?"

She smiled, shaking her
head.  "Just taking a little walk.  Not instigating operation: over the
wall."

He moved up into her
space.  "You wouldn't get two feet."

Cassandra moved in even
closer, until she was plastered against his front.  Then she put her cheek
against his soft cotton t-shirt and wrapped her arms around his middle. 
"I could distract you with sex and then escape while you’re passed out,"
she said softly, rubbing her cheek up and down.  His hands came up and went
into her hair to pull her head back.  He was smirking, that damn sexy smirk
that made her knees weak. 

"I dare you to try
it," he purred, then nipped her bottom lip.  "Hell, I double dog dare
you."

She laughed, giving him
little nibbling kisses while his hands tightened in her hair.  "What do I
get if I win?"

"I could get the guys
to re-enact the shirtless volleyball scene in Top Gun." 

She froze between kisses. 
"Really?"

"Yeah and if I win you
and Clytie can have a pillow fight in your underwear."  She burst out
laughing, her face falling back to his chest.

"You are such a
perve."

He snorted.  "Like
every guy in that room wasn't thinking the same thing when you two were on the
couch giggling like teenagers."

She pulled back so she
could see his face.  "They were not!"

"You want me to take a
poll?"

Cassie opened her mouth to
speak, and then closed it again.  She thought about it for a minute, blushing
red, and cleared her throat.  Did she have a problem with the hot brigade
having fantasies about her?  "I'm actually OK with that."

Ben threw back his head and
laughed.  Then he picked her up and twirled her around.  "I love that you
don't pretend anything."  Then he was holding her high in his arms and his
face was uncharacteristically serious.  "Everything is right there for
everyone to see.  No fake, no lies.  Just Cassie.  Goddamn beautiful." 
Then he was kissing her as if he was dying of thirst and she was water in the
desert.

Cassie wrapped her arms
around his neck and held on.  It was just going to be a kiss, really it was. 
But his lips were so soft and his tongue so hot that she lost track of where
she was, and who else might be buying tickets.  Before she knew it, he had
turned them and pressed himself full body against her using the wall.  Her legs
rose until she hugged his hips with her thighs, pressing herself against his
growing hardness.  He pressed her harder into the wall with his hips so he
could use his hands to pull her shirt up enough to get his hands beneath the
cotton.  He palmed her breast and squeezed, growling against her lips.  Then he
just stopped.

He turned his head and
looked over his right shoulder and Cassie followed his gaze breathing hard and
wanting.

Well, we found Essie.

"Tom Cat," she
hissed at Ben.  Then hurried around them with undue haste, as if the devil was
on her heels. 
Weird.

Ben just watched her go
with a contemplative look on his face.  "I wonder who she gets to watch
the flying monkeys when she's away from Oz."

Essie hissed again, but
didn't turn around.  Cassie was still laughing when they joined the others back
in the great room.

"I just got word from my
kin that Bidel is on his way," Essie was saying.

"That's confirmed,"
Eli said, looking up from his elaborate computer set up.  "Looks like
Bidel hired some muscle from other packs.  We have over twenty wolves heading
our way.  Some of them may actually know what they're doing."

"Since they hit us
with heavy artillery last time, we can probably expect more of that." 
Logan added grimly.  "If he hired, we're talking full on assault."

"Agreed," Mac
said, his eyes going to Cassie who was leaning against Ben at the kitchen island. 
"With that kind of fire power we have two choices.  We place the noncombatants
in the vault or we escort them out and split our focus."

"What's the vault?  A
safe room?"  Cassie asked, Ben’s hand was pressing soothing circles on her
lower back beneath her shirt, or he was just enjoying the feel of her skin. 
With Ben, it was hard to tell.

"It's a full out
bunker.  4800 square feet of Concrete walls and steel doors.  You'd need more
than anti aircraft rockets to get through that."

"Wow.  You guys don't
mess around."

"Standard procedure
for our residents to have a safe place to crash in case of attack.  The one
here is the most extensive, next to the one at Lionsgate."  He pointed to
Lucas.  "His is bigger."

"Yeah."  Ben
laughed, "And there's a pool in case of swimming emergencies."

"No need to be jealous
little tiny kitty," Lucas Gibb drawled out in his deep voice.  "I'm
sure you would have built one if you'd thought of it."

"Little tiny
kitty?"  Cassie whispered.  "Has he seen you're jaguar?"

"Lion."

"I am not lying. 
You're huge."

Mac snorted and everyone
was looking at them.  "What?" she asked at regular volume. 
"He's seriously big.  He took up the whole bed."

Ben laughed aloud, pulling
her into his chest and kissing her between laughs.  "Not, you're lying. 
He's a Lion.  As in Lion Shifter.  There's a reason he's considered king of the
jungle."

"Oh.  Right." 
Everyone was looking at her with stupid grins on their faces.  Except for
Clytie who was laughing silently into Demons chest.  "So his beast is
bigger."

"Yeah," Eli said
choking, and then clearing his throat.  "Ben's downright tiny in
comparison."

Cassie looked at all of
them, wondering what was so funny.  She narrowed her eyes.  "I was not
talking about the size of his dick."  Then they were all laughing.  Ben
was practically hanging on her to hold himself up while he laughed.  Even Mac
was chuckling while his eyes smiled at her.  She rolled her own. 
Men.

Cleo burst into the room at
a run.  "I can't find Roxanne."

"Mother fucker,"
Demon barked, standing up.

"Wait Demon, let's
find out what's happening first," Lucas said, pulling his daughter over
and looking her over.  "You're unhurt?"

"I'm fine,” Cleo said,
taking a breath and visibly calming.  "We were playing hide and seek and
she just disappeared.  I can't find her anywhere."

"Hah," Essie
barked.  "She's just hidin'.  Taught her how myself.  You won't find her
till she thinks she won."

"She's six years
old," Clytie said, her hand on Demons arm.  "And she's out there
alone."

"I should have been
able to smell her at least," Cleo said.  Her eyes damp.  "She was
just gone."

"I'm tellin you, she's
good.  Had to be a good hider in the Bone Crusher clan.  She'll show up when
she gets hungry."

"When she gets
hungry?"  Clytie was aghast. 

Cassandra narrowed her
eyes, speaking directly to Essie.  "Even if what you say is true and she's
just hiding and this isn't part of an eminent attack, she's a little girl alone
in the woods.  Sitting and waiting is a shit plan."

Mac had heard enough. 
"Eli, check the perimeter cameras.  Shawn, you take Cleo.  She can show
you where she last saw Roxanne.  If she is hiding, I doubt she's good enough to
escape hawk eyes."  He walked over and kissed Cassie full on the lips, his
hand running down her face in a brief caress.  Then he turned to Ben,
"Just in case, we need the noncoms in the vault."

"On it," Ben said
grimly.  Pulling Cassie by the arm and going for Clytie.

Demon kissed her, then
pushed her gently toward Ben.  “Go, I need you safe.”

“Bring back our girl,” she
said, letting Ben take her arm.  “And not a scratch on you Demon or I’ll be
pissed.”

He grunted, but his eyes
followed her with the weight of wolf behind them.

 “Follow along Old
Yeller,”   Ben called back to Essie.  “Time to go."

Essie grumbled, but
followed.  “Still say it’s a waste of time.”

"Ian, I want you in
the vault too.  Cleo will join you after she shows Shawn where to start
looking," Lucas said and his son and daughter both started protesting at
the same time.

"I'm not a
child."

"I can fight."

He shushed them with a
look.  "We need guards in the vault.  That's you, if I say it’s
you."  They shut up but both had identical mulish looks on their faces.

"Come on
princess," Shawn said.  His voice, when he bothered to speak, was smooth
and mellow.  Right now, it was rife with sarcasm.  "Let's see if the puppy
did manage to hide from the big bad lioness."

"Stuff it bird
boy," she hissed at him.  "And don't call me princess."

“That’s bird man little
girl.  Try to keep up.”

“Come on ma’am.  You’ll be
safer in the vault,” Ian said, trying to take Essie by the arm for support. 
She whacked him with her cane.  Ian jumped back with a surprised grunt.

“Mother fu…” he started to
curse but she talked over him.

“The day I need help
walking from a kitty cat is the day they bury me,” she spat, whacking him once
more for good measure.

“Can we get that in
writing?”  Ben asked, leading the ladies out.

Cassie looked back at Mac
while she was being dragged to safety.  "Be careful," she mouthed
silently.  He raised his chin in acknowledgement, but his eyes were steel grey
and cold.  Hunting mode.  If it was the Bone Crusher clan attacking, she almost
felt sorry for them.

The vault was hidden so
well, Cassie had no idea they were at the door until Ben pressed the wall in
two places and a secret passage opened up. 
Very cool.
  Then they passed
through and it closed behind them just as silently.  Lights flipped on and Ben
led them to another door that looked like it was solid steel.  He pressed a
sequence of numbers into the keypad and then a little light came on.