Bear My Baby (Shifter Squad Six 1) Read online

  Why are you doing anything he tells you to? Maybe he’s the fucking psycho who killed Jonah? Maybe those other guys are here to help…

  At that instant, the door was blown open with a hail of gunfire. She yelped and ducked lower, holding onto her head with both hands. Her fingers dug into the loose curls of her hair and she tasted that bitter taste of dread again in her mouth that she’d experienced when that big guy grabbed hold of her. He dragged her right off her doorstep, but from the corner of her eye she’d seen guys start piling out of there and none of them looked too happy to see her leave.

  She was confused as hell, but that primal desire to live kicked in full force. The gunfire was so loud she had to imagine every cop car in the city would be heading there. Or would they? The South Side, late at night, shots heard… yeah, she’d be lucky if there was a patrol car coming to survey the apartment. And even then, what could they do against the arsenal that these guys were obviously packing?

  Cassie bit down on her lower lip to keep from sobbing. It was all too much. Finding Jonah dying and having him tell her that she needed to get out, that someone would come for her. How he pulled her face closer to his to whisper into her ear, pressing down hard on the back of her neck, so hard that it hurt. He wouldn’t even tell her why she would have to run, all the while choking on his own blood from the deep puncture wound to his chest. Just that it was important that she did. He wouldn’t let go of her until he drew his last breath and the last bit of life left him.

  Then, coming to her apartment and finding a veritable army waiting to do to her what she could only assume was the same thing they’d done to Jonah. And now there was a firefight going on over her head.

  There were too many open questions to even try and make sense of anything, and her mind raced to keep up. Her cream coat was spotted with blood, and she’d crouched her five-foot-eight form into as small of a ball as she could, peeking out from the side of the air vent. She could mostly see feet, ducking to the sides and finding a better vantage point to shoot at her nameless savior. As they backed up a bit more to put themselves out of the immediate line of fire, she could see that they were all in black, with harsh expressions and angular lines on their faces.

  Like the kind of guys you could buy as a set to do your bidding. All almost interchangeable. The big guy, as she was referring to him in her head, wouldn’t have a chance. One of the guys was carrying a damn assault rifle for heaven’s sake.

  I’m a God damn assistant! How’d I get involved in this?!

  Panic frayed at the edges of her mind, but she pushed it down. She’d have time to lose her mind later.

  Peeking out a bit more, she could see the occasional shot fired from the other side of the little outcrop, muzzle flashes blinding her in the otherwise solid darkness of the night. The shots echoed and reverberated through her, choking her with numb fear.

  I hope he kills every last one of them.

  It was then that the big guy rolled out of his cover, completely exposed. He tricked one of them into dodging out of his own cover and shot the man in the knee and then in the throat as he toppled forward, screaming in agony. Cassie had to muffle her scream by clamping a hand over her mouth, her hazel eyes going wide as the man slouched to the side. The last thing he saw was her, staring back at him as the life went out of his eyes.

  There was a spark of recognition in his gaze before it went completely dull.

  The next thing she knew, the big guy was right by her side, gritting his teeth so loud she could hear it. He was favoring his right side and the smell of blood and gunpowder residue on him burned her nostrils.

  “Stay down,” he barked again, and Cassie had no intention of moving.

  She felt oddly better though, with him right there with her. Not that it would do them any good when they both ended up bleeding out on the roof like the guy in front of Cassie.

  “You got a shot,” he said into his earset, strain obvious in his voice. “Fuck,” he concluded, and then rolled out again without so much as a warning.

  Bullets blazed around him and Cassie could see one of them nipping by so close to him that the fabric of his shirt tore on his arm and a thick red streak of blood appeared on his bicep. He didn’t lose a beat, but kept moving like it had been nothing more than a mosquito bite.

  One of the assailants leaned out an inch too far and was awarded for it with a bullet right between the eyes, leaving a gaping wound that smoked as he collapsed onto the ground. It hadn’t come from the big guy though, as he was halfway up the outcropping, scaling it like he was a mountain climber trying to break some sort of a demented record. In astonishment, Cassie watched as he descended on the last enemy from above, bringing his heavy fist down on the guy’s head like Thor’s hammer.

  They fell to the ground and within a few aimed, unrelenting punches, the man with the angular features wasn’t even twitching anymore. How could he? His face was nothing more than a bloody pulp. All Cassie could see was a steady pool of blood forming around what used to be his skull.

  “Come on,” the big guy called, getting up with a grunt.

  He didn’t spare a look at his arm, which was seeping blood. It seemed like all the colors she saw that day were crimson and black.

  Cassie stood up on shaky legs, looking from one mangled body to the next and then back at the big guy. Her legs suddenly felt like they were filled with lead and even if she wanted to, she wouldn’t be able to move a step. He gave her a stern look that would have had her melting like snow in the summer heat had the situation been any different, and then ran to her. His iron-like grip latched onto her hand and pulled her along, past that horrible door that seemed to only let death in, and to the assorted gear in the corner.

  “We need to move fast. There will be more.”

  While he was talking, he was already putting her in a harness and checking the connections on the ropes that were tied down on the roof. His hands worked lightning fast and a tiny bit of her brain couldn’t help but notice the way his cheeks strained as he concentrated and that little dip formed between his eyebrows when he checked over his handiwork.

  “Coming down,” he spoke into his earset.

  Cassie could hear a reply on the other end, but she had no idea what was said. The wry smirk he cracked told her that it was something probably not meant for her ears to begin with.

  “Get on the ledge, honey. We’re going to fly,” he said with a grin.

  Fuck, he was hot. And it pained her to no end that that was what her brain decided to focus on. Not the life-threatening danger, nor the fact that she’d watched four people die that day. No, she had to take notice of the hunky psycho commando and think that she’d sure love to see what he looked like underneath all those black layers. The croak of laughter that came out of her mouth was about as fitting as funeral music at a wedding reception.

  He hooked himself into his own harness as she wobbled up on the ledge, holding onto it with her hands and staying on the balls of her feet. At least she was wearing flats instead of pumps—small mercies. He hopped up next to her like it was the most natural thing to be hanging out on the ledge of a building, ready to rappel down into probable danger. He flashed her a smile that was as cocky as it was delicious.

  “Who are you?” she asked, struggling to find her voice.

  “I’m the man who’s about to make you grow wings,” he said, grabbing hold of her suddenly and throwing both their bodies off the ledge and into the darkness below as the stairwell door was flung open again.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Connor

  Cassie was furious with him and he thought it was the cutest thing he’d ever seen.

  The way the corners of her mouth turned down a little and how she furrowed her brow made him want to throw her over his shoulder and carry her into the deep recesses of the cabin they were in. He wouldn’t let her out before she was screaming his name at the top of her lungs and not a hint of that frown remained.

  That made him shift his cock in hi
s pants uncomfortably, trying to remain discreet as he sat on a chair by the window facing the yard in front of the house. He could still feel her eyes boring into the back of his head, as if she was willing him to give her some kind of an explanation that could make this all better.

  But he couldn’t. And as things were standing, the adrenaline was still pumping through his veins like ice cold vodka, and he was having a damn hard time drilling his attention down to anything that wasn’t her juicy figure or the way she would squirm underneath him.

  With a grumbly sigh, he adjusted again.

  Fucking hell.

  “Where am I?” Cassie demanded, the tiniest note of hysteria in her voice.

  He didn’t hold it against her. She was a civilian. A woman who had never expected to get into something straight out of the high-budget action flicks. She’d seen death and carnage and been thrown off a roof in the short span of a few hours—he’d give her a little leeway. But not too much.

  “Like I said, you’re in an undisclosed location near Chicago. I am Connor. My team and I have been tasked with your protection and I will be keeping you company here until the secondary unit comes to pick you up in the morning,” he rattled off.

  He neglected to mention that there were five guys around the perimeter at various distances and vantage points, training every piece of surveillance equipment on and around the cabin. And that he could have been outside too, but he didn’t want to. Something about that woman made him burn and act like the irrational kid he hadn’t been ever since they beat it out of him in basic training. And yet here he was, getting a boner because a pretty girl was pissed at him.

  Some things never change.

  “You already told me that,” she started, stressing the patience in her voice that had really left a long time ago. “But I want to know where I am and why I’m here! Can you tell me that?!”

  He chuckled under his breath, leaning back in the chair and giving her a long, rowing glance. Grant, Grim, Tex, Thatch, and Dutch had this place locked down tight. All he was at this point was a contingency to the contingency. But he needed to at least pretend he was doing something other than enjoying the view that Cassie created, her cheeks lit with a blush of anger and her hands on her hips. She could go from zero to a hundred really fast when she wasn’t dealing with bodies dropping dead around her.

  Connor couldn’t help but appreciate that quality in a woman.

  I can appreciate a lot of things about her, he thought with dark amusement.

  “No, honey, I can’t tell you any of that. You just gotta trust me and my boys. We’ll keep you safe, don’t you worry your pretty little head about it,” he said, letting his deep voice rumble maybe a bit too hard.

  So he was showing off a little. Big deal.

  “Stop calling me honey. I’m Cassie,” she said, exasperated.

  She’d thrown off the coat and washed her hands and face. They’d gotten to the cabin about half an hour ago and the takeout that had been waiting for them was sitting cold on the table, since neither one of them was particularly hungry. Connor needed time to come down from the high of the game and Cassie… well, seeing guts spill out of a guy really does something to one’s hunger. Unless they’re used to it.

  “Sure thing, honey,” he drawled, wearing her glare like a badge of honor.

  “What can you tell me, then? Why were you at my house? Who were those guys? What do they want from me?”

  Scowling a little, Connor shrugged. This was one of those little jobs they did in between the big ones. If there weren’t machine guns and aerial drop-ins involved, it only counted as a side job to Squad Six, or Shifter Squad Six as their employers affectionately called them. All ex-special ops or Navy SEALs, they were the best of the best and they damn well knew it. Most of them had left active service because of personal reasons, but the money was too good in the private sector to say no for long.

  It was supposed to be an easy job, in and out, no muss no fuss. And so far, it had been just that. With the unexpected boon of getting to enjoy the company of a gorgeous woman added in. But with most jobs, information was purely on a need-to-know basis and he didn’t need to know. As far as he was concerned, that meant that she didn’t either.

  He shrugged nonchalantly, throwing her a smirk that sent her bottom lip curling in annoyance. What he wouldn’t have done to turn that frown upside down.

  “I don’t know what they want with you, honey. I was there because some fancy men in very expensive suits threw money at me to be there. If it makes you feel any better, we weren’t there specifically for you. But I’m not at all disappointed that it did turn out to be you,” he said, pressing a low, growling purr into his voice.

  Shit. That was the kind of behavior he could expect from himself when he was about five shots of tequila and a glass of whiskey into a night, not when he was on a job. But the way her hair bounced off her forehead when she threw her head back in exasperation and the way she kept wringing her hands together were really doing a number on him. Anything she did seemed to him like a big, screaming sign, really. A sign that he should not be sitting alone on that side of the table.

  She paced back and forth, giving him a good view of her thick thighs and her ample ass, made to be grabbed by his calloused hands. He set down the rifle he’d been babying on the windowsill and settled in to watch the show. She huffed under her breath, obviously more irate now than worried. It was to be expected. People coped in very personal ways.

  Suddenly she stopped, and gave him a hard look filled with annoyance. He shrugged nonchalantly and spread his hands, giving his best schoolboy grin.

  “Just making sure you’re safe, honey.”

  “By staring at my ass?”

  “That needs protecting too, you know. And there’s nothing better than a Navy SEAL at your back,” he said, winking.

  He could see that she was trying to be irritated at him, but he didn’t miss the little smile that spread over her lips for the tiniest moment. Ah yes. There, he had her. That spirit he liked so much already.

  “You should give yourself some credit for today, you know. Not many women can throw themselves off a building and not lose their cool in the process.”

  “Did it look like I threw myself off? Somehow, I can only remember some jerk grabbing me and flinging us both off the ledge,” she said, sitting down across from him and resting her chin on her hand.

  “Only trying to make sure you stay alive, honey,” he quipped, stressing the “honey.”

  The way she twitched a little bit every time he said it made his blood boil with hunger.

  “You think you’re so smooth,” she sighed, rolling her eyes. “Has anyone told you that you might be overly cocky?”

  “Lots of stuff has been said about my cock, honey. Usually it’s in incoherent formats though, through moans and screams. I can’t really keep track,” he said with a yawn, stretching his arms back.

  His tendons were getting stiff and the heat in his muscles was supposed to be dying down as well, but his heart rate was still way up. Connor knew why that was. That fine piece of ass sitting close to him, smelling like sex on legs, had him all kinds of riled up.

  Cassie was about to bite back something when his earset pinged.

  “Listening,” he said, keeping his gaze fixed squarely on Cassie.

  “Perimeter seems clear. Dutch has set up a defensive position. Grant and Tex have first shift. Pickup at 0600. Comms out,” Thatch said matter-of-factly, short and to the point as usual.

  Connor fished the unit out of his ear and set it down on the windowsill next to his rifle. Nothing to do now but amuse himself with this juicy morsel in front of him.

  Usually, if Connor wanted something, he would leave no questions about it. But it was never a mark. It was never someone he was tasked to protect. And most certainly no one ever made him act quite that way. He was willing to give her room, let her scope him out a little. But he knew that if he wasn’t going to have that woman that night, he would re
gret it forever.

  “What was that?” Cassie asked, cocking a brow.

  “Good news!” he started, grinning. She looked hopeful for a moment. “You have a full six hours of my company and mine alone. Now, tell me, what do you want to do with it?”

  “I want you to tell me something that would actually make sense. Why is some damn SWAT team buzzing around me and why were people trying to kill me? Because that’s what was going on, right? They wanted to kill me. I’m a secretary. I don’t know anything,” Cassie said, resting her face in her hands.

  He was half-expecting her to sob, but she wasn’t that kind of woman. She wouldn’t break under the pressure, just bend a little, maybe. But that’s why he was there, right?

  “I can’t tell you anything I don’t know, honey. I don’t know what it is they think you know or have, but it’s apparently enough to kill and maim over. So that means you’re valuable. And I like to keep valuable things safe, you hear? I can promise you that nothing will happen to you while I’m around. I won’t let you out of my sight until I get to hand you over to someone who understands the price of precious things as well as I do, okay?”

  Who was this guy and what had he done to Connor? Like he was viewing the show instead of participating, Connor heard himself say all those things and worst of all, he meant it. It wasn’t just the call of duty that made him say those things, but he honestly, desperately wanted to be sure that Cassie was going to be okay. He’d bring the moon from the skies if that made her feel better.

  His bear growled deep within him as another whiff of her scent wafted into his nostrils, driving him mad with desire. Damn, she smelled good. Like she was meant to be in his arms and nowhere else.

  A sudden bout of jealousy hit him, thinking about how he’d have to hand her over to another squad the following morning. And along with it came the memories of another time he’d felt similarly, and how that had completely exploded in his face.