Wolf with Benefits (23 page)

“Huh,” Jackie said. “She sure is.”

“That’s kind of Bo’s fault,” Blayne explained. “He scares regular dogs. He doesn’t mean to, of course, but there’s no helping it.”

Paul shook his head. “That’s fine. It’s not a—”

“I’m really excited he’ll be spending some time with your kids,” Blayne went on, cutting Paul off but somehow not being rude about it. She just seemed to have all this energy that simply could not be contained. “I plan to have a whole busload of kids myself, and he needs to learn how to deal with children without making them cry or hide or scream hysterically.”

Jackie tensed in Paul’s arms, so he held his mate a little tighter, keeping her in place.

“He’s such a great guy, but no one ever sees it because, ya know, the glower and all
is
off putting, but that’s just his focus. But now that I’ve met your kids, I see you guys totally understand that. What’s it like having so many prodigies in one family?”

“Well—” Paul began.

“Although I don’t know if they’ll all be like Bo. I’m honestly terrified they’ll all be like me. I’m not sure how he’ll handle that. But this is a good start, don’t cha think? Let him deal with kids just like himself and then I can ease him into more . . . challenging children. Yeah. That’s a good plan.”

“O—”

“Anyway, it’s really nice of you guys to let us stay here. We’ll just sleep on the couch. Don’t worry”—she grinned and winked—“no hanky-panky while we’re here.”

Paul held Jackie even tighter. “You’re staying here?”

“Oh, yeah. I thought maybe a day for this thing but after meeting your kids and realizing how much like Bo they are . . . you’re looking at a minimum of a two-day but more likely a three-day ordeal to get them all to agree. But according to Ricky Lee, most classes and whatever don’t really start until next Monday, so that’s enough time. I wouldn’t worry.” She stepped closer. “I just have to say you two are
such
a cute couple and I think we’re going to be such great friends!”

Paul’s grip on his mate at this point was so tight, he was surprised he hadn’t broken any of her ribs. But he had to take the risk because Jack hated people who, in her words, “chatter on.” And holy hell could this wolfdog chatter! And too much chatter meant that every once in a while, Jackie started swinging, and Paul really didn’t want to have to listen to the whining that would inevitably arrive come practice time once Jack’s knuckles started to swell. It was really hard to play violin when one’s knuckles swelled.

“While we’re waiting for Bo to come back with the kids,” Blayne went on, “would you like to go get some coffee or—”

Irene suddenly took hold of Blayne’s forearm, gripping her tight. Like Paul, Irene knew how to read Jack like a book. It helped them work together to keep her calm. “Come with me,” Irene ordered.

“Where to?” Blayne innocently asked.

“Any place where we can intelligently discuss why your fiancé is so freakishly large and inhuman looking. Was he subject to radiation while in his mother’s womb?”

Jackie snorted a laugh and quickly buried her face against Paul’s neck while Paul bit the inside of his cheek hard so he didn’t laugh.

Blayne stopped walking right outside the living room and frowned at Irene. “Wait . . . what?”

N
othing like a nearly fourteen-hour flight to make a girl miserable.

Even though flying on Madra Airlines meant that Toni and the wolf could stretch their legs out since the plane was designed with Russian and Alaskan bears in mind. They also got to choose between entrees like cow, gazelle, buffalo, zebra; and for the polars, whale and seal blubber.

Other than that, it was still the same, excruciatingly long flight it always was whether a shifter-run flight or full-human.

Dropping her bag to the ground, Toni took a long, much-needed stretch, then did an allover shake.

Once done with that, Toni pulled out the itinerary from the back pocket of her jeans.

“Okay. Now we need to get to . . .” Toni’s words faded out when she sensed someone standing in front of her. Slowly, she raised her gaze up and up and up some more to the male standing in front of her.

“Hi ya,” he said, and smiled at her.

“Hello.”

“I’m Vic Barinov.”

“Hey, Vic,” Ricky said, holding out his hand and shaking.

“Ricky Lee. Long time.” He motioned with his head. “Let’s go. I’ve got a car waiting for us. It’ll take us to a private airstrip.”

Toni looked down at the itinerary. “But we’re taking the Trans Siberian Ex—”

“That’s changed,” Barinov told them. “You don’t want to be caught on a train if there’s a problem.”

Toni, completely confused, shook her head. “I don’t . . . I mean . . .” She looked at the two males watching her. “What I’m trying to say is . . . you both know I’m only going to negotiate a deal between our
hockey
team and the Russians’, right? It’s not like I’m Double O-Seven, trying to set up an arms deal.”

A low rumble rolled out of Barinov while Ricky just grinned at her.

“Ain’t she cute?” the wolf asked.

“Very. Let’s go.”

Great. Another male ignoring her.

“Who is that guy?” she asked Ricky.

“That’s Vic Barinov.”

“I know his name, Ricky Lee. Who, and for that matter,
what
is he? Because he’s not just some security guy.”

“He’s a former Marine or Navy SEAL. Something like that. Born and raised in the States, but his parents were born and raised here in Russia. His daddy’s Kamchatka grizzly and his momma’s Siberian tiger.”

“
He’s
our protection.”

“Trust me, darlin’”—Ricky laughed, putting his arm around her shoulders—“that boy ain’t gonna cause any problems if it means he’ll have to deal with Dee-Ann Smith for even two seconds.”

Toni thought about that as they headed toward the exit, pushing past tourists and locals rushing to their flights. And Toni realized . . . Ricky was absolutely right. No one wanted to deal with Dee-Ann if they didn’t have to.

 

Devon “Junior” Barton had been on Iowa’s Death Row for more than ten years. He’d started out with life, but after killing a couple of fellow inmates, he earned a cell on death row. Not that he cared. Junior didn’t care about much. He hadn’t cared about the addicts he’d sold drugs to. He hadn’t cared about the dealers he’d hired that, when they’d cheated him, he’d beaten to death with pipes. He definitely hadn’t cared when he’d strangled the life out of his third wife or that his daughter had been watching when he’d done it.

Junior Barton didn’t care about much. What was the point? He did get bored a lot, but there were always those who wanted to save him. The religious ones who wanted to save his soul—they were always fun to torment. And the ones who just wanted to save his life because they thought the death penalty was wrong. And, when he was really bored, he could write his daughter and with just a few well-placed words, turn her life into a flashback nightmare that sent her screaming to her therapist.

It really didn’t matter to him; it was all just a game.

So when that really big C.O. suddenly appeared at his cell and told him he had visitors at one in the morning . . . Junior didn’t really care. He’d assumed it was time for a beating from the guards, but this particular guard—a big black guy named Gowan—didn’t spend much time around the others. He didn’t speak much in general and most of the other inmates gave him a wide berth. The crazy ones never threw shit at him when they flipped out, and the dangerous ones never tried to cut him or gouge out an eye. There were other big, black guards at this prison, but this particular one . . . he was different.

So when Gowan kept walking until they reached the same room where Junior had met that priest he knew he could easily make fall in love with him, he began to wonder what was going on. And he wondered if it would be something fun.

“Sit,” Gowan ordered. He was an abrupt kind of guy but never rude. He didn’t get enjoyment out of torturing inmates like some of the other guards. He just did his job.

Junior sat down at the long table and waited for Gowan to shackle him to one of the metal legs, but he didn’t. That was the strangest thing of all because everyone knew that if Junior had the slightest chance, he’d cut a bitch. Cut a face right off . . . and had. A doctor that was helping him after a fight. She’d been kind of pretty, too, but not anymore. Not once he was done with her.

Gowan stepped back by the door and stood there, waiting.

That’s when Junior realized that no other C.O. had ever taken him anywhere without a partner. Usually more than one.

What was going on?

Curious, but Junior didn’t say anything. He didn’t ask Gowan what was going on. Mostly because he didn’t care.

Finally, after about fifteen minutes or so, the door opened and three people walked in. One was another really big guy. He looked like a biker Junior once knew. Maybe. Another was a female. Really pretty. Long black hair with some red and white streaks in it; tall; big tits that sat high on her chest. He bet she had a tight pussy, too. Man, would he love to find out. The third person was a woman, too. She had short hair, but wasn’t really pretty, and had lots of scars, but it was her weird eyes that he noticed first. Her eyes reminded him of a pit bull he once used for protection. That dog had the same colored eyes.

The three strangers walked into the room, and the hot one sat in the chair opposite Junior. The biker stood behind her with his back against the wall, and the one with the dog eyes sat kitty-corner from the hot one.

“Mr. Barton?”

Junior didn’t answer, just stared, waiting to see where this was going.

“I won’t bother with introductions,” she went on, a smile on that pretty face. That pretty face just begging to be destroyed. “Instead I’ll get right to it. We’re here for information. About one of your old cell mates.” She studied Junior a moment, then said, “Frankie Whitlan.”

So that’s what they wanted. They wanted good ol’ Frankie. Junior didn’t have friends, but neither did Frankie. But they both understood the world they lived in and how the barter system worked.

“I haven’t seen Frankie Whitlan in a lot of years. Not much I can tell you about him.”

“We’re not looking for anything recent. Just some details that perhaps no one else would know but the man who once shared a cell with him.”

“And what do I get out of giving you information?”

“What would you like . . . within reason, of course?”

“You could start by getting on your knees and sucking my cock. Then we can take it from there.”

The biker’s entire body tensed and he growled. A low, rolling growl that made Junior laugh. Guys always thought they sounded scary when they growled.

The hottie smiled. “That’s not going to happen, sweetie. Sorry.”

“Then I don’t know what you’re hoping to get.”

“You’re really not going to help us, are you? I can see that in your cold, dead little eyes.”

Junior didn’t answer because there was no point. The hottie seemed to understand him perfectly.

She looked over her shoulder at the biker, and Junior prepared himself to get slapped around by the guy.

The biker pushed away from the wall and walked toward Junior . . . then past him and to the door. The hottie got up and followed him, leaving Junior alone with the plain girl.

That one waited until the door closed behind her two friends and the guard, then she brought one long leg up and dropped it onto the metal table.

“That’s a mighty big foot you’ve got there, princess,” Junior remarked.

The plain one didn’t say anything, just brought up the other leg, crossing them at the ankle, and folding her arms over her nonexistent chest.

Junior stared at her and waited. She stared back.

And she kept staring . . . and staring . . . and staring . . .

 

Cella sat on Crush’s lap and rested her head on his big shoulder. “Mom invited us for dinner this weekend.”

“Okay.”

“Are you coming for me? Or are you coming because you get to hang with my dad and hear more stories about the good old days of shifter hockey?”

“Why does it have to be one or the other with you?”

Cella laughed and snuggled in closer.

“How long should we leave them in there?” Pete Gowan asked. He was beginning to look a little nervous.

“Give them a few more minutes.”

“Yeah, but . . .” The leopard male shifted from one foot to another. “I’ll have to explain if anything happens to him.”

“Would I leave you hanging, Gowan?” Cella asked her fellow feline.

“Yes.”

Crush laughed. “At least he’s not delusional.”

“Quiet, you.”

After another fifteen minutes, there was a knock on the door. Gowan quickly opened it and then, just as quickly, all three of them choked from the smell and turned their heads.

Once Smith was out of the room, Gowan slammed the door shut. “Before I go back in there,” he snarled, “what did you do, canine?”

Smith shrugged. “Nothin’.”

“Then why,” Cella demanded, “did he shit himself?”

Another shrug. “I don’t know. He suddenly pissed himself and then took a shit.”

“No way, Smith.” Gowan shook his head. “The man has been clinically diagnosed by three separate psychiatrists, including the one working for his defense team, as a sociopath. So you must have done something to him because”—Gowan opened the door, looked in again, and closed it—“he’s in there sobbing. Sociopaths don’t sob, Smith. They don’t know how to sob unless it’s to get what they want.”

“Maybe he’s faking it,” Cella suggested. “Sociopaths can fake anything.”

“No,” Smith said. “He’s not faking it.”

“Then what did you do?” Gowan pushed.

“Nothing,” Smith insisted. “Just stared at him.”

“You didn’t hit him?” Gowan asked. “Cut him with that knife of yours? Shoot him in the knee cap?”

“No.”

“Any reason I need to rush him to the infirmary?”

“No.”

“Did you at least find out anything?” Crush asked.

“Yep.”

When the wolf said nothing else, Cella began rubbing her eyes so that she didn’t get into a fistfight with Smith.

“How about you tell us what he said,” Crush prompted, because the bear had way more patience than any cat.

“Whitlan’s got a kid. A daughter.”

Cella sat up in Crush’s lap. “A daughter? Are you sure?”

“He wasn’t lying to me,” Dee said about Barton.

“Where is she? Did you get a name?”

“He didn’t have the kid’s name, but he had her mother’s.”

Crush stood, carefully placing Cella on her feet. “Good work, Dee.”

“Thank you kindly.” She looked up at Gowan. “Sorry about the mess, hoss.”

“Yeah. Sure.” He pushed open the door and entered the room. Smith looked in at the convict and said, “Bye now, darlin’. Thanks for all your help!”

Cella cringed when she heard a sound familiar to any Malone who’d attended a St. Patrick Day’s parade.

“Jesus, Smith!”
Gowan exploded from the room. “You made him throw up!
God! He’s throwing up all over the goddamn place!”

Smith shrugged and came over to Cella and Crush. Another shifter, a black bear, waited to lead them out, the security cameras conveniently and temporarily turned off.

“What did you really do to him?” Cella had to ask her.

“Nothin’.”

“Smith,” she said, stopping by the bear. “The man shit, pissed, and vomited after spending less than thirty minutes with you. There has to be a reason.”

“Got me. All I did was stare at him until he told me something I could use.”

The bear looked Smith over. “Did you stare at him with those eyes of yours?”

“I have my daddy’s eyes.”

“Annnnd, we now have our answer,” Cella announced before they made their way out of the maximum security prison and headed home.