Avet, Danica - Ain't No Bull [The Veil 4] (Siren Publishing Classic) (6 page)

“Now, why don’t we all calm down,” the deep voice rumbled again as Izzy was set on her feet several yards away from Grant and his mother.

Izzy kept her head down, trying to look contrite. It usually worked on human males. Even with her great height, they tended to go easier on a woman who looked helpless. So instead of looking up at the man, she stared at his feet. His gigantic feet. She frowned. He had feet that probably required separate seating on public transport.

“What seems to be the problem here, Aunt Bella?” The cop’s voice was steady and soothing, but something in it set Izzy on edge.

The cow started talking, but Izzy ignored her. There was something about this cop that made her Spidey senses tingle. Her eyes traveled up the very long length of his legs. He was freakishly tall, she thought with a gulp. She squeezed her eyes closed. This was no human cop. Her stomach soured and her head began to spin. No, please, not a bear. Please, please, not a bear, she chanted in her head.

“Is this true, miss?”

There was no help for it now. She had to look at him. Her gaze followed the center line of his uniform—pale blue polyester that would’ve made Rosetta vomit in her mouth. His chest was bigger than the bull’s, thicker and much more muscular. Shoulders blocked out the sky leading to a neck she knew was too thick for her hands to wrap around. He had a neatly trimmed beard the color of earth. Beneath that beard though, he was an attractive male. Sharp cheekbones, similar to Grant’s, eased into lean cheeks and a full mouth. Deep brown, nearly black eyes, twinkled with humor, but Izzy was a far cry from laughing. The thick hair on his head was like a pelt of fur, the same dark color of rich soil. But it was all the confirmation she needed. He was a bear and closely resembled her old lover.

“Miss? Can you tell me what happened?”

Izzy’s eyes rolled to the back of her head and she fell right at his feet.

* * * *

Grant scooped the Amazon into his arms and strode into his house. “What the fuck did you do to her, Ricky?”

His mother trailed behind him, shooting sultry looks at the incubus while Ricky brought up the rear. Once inside, Grant crossed to the sofa, laying Isola on it.

Her face was pale as snow, her breathing shallow. He smoothed the hair from her cheeks, not sure how to help her. He’d never seen an Amazon faint before. They were the fiercest Veilerian females, they weren’t scared of anything, but Isola had dropped at Ricky’s feet like someone had pulled her spine right out of her back.

“I didn’t do anything, cuz,” Ricky drawled, leaning over the back of the sofa to look down at the woman. He squinted at her. “She’s cute. Are you keeping her?”

“He is not!” Arabella squeaked, pushing between them to force Grant away from Isola. “She is not staying here. She doesn’t belong here, Grant.”

He frowned at his mother, not sure what her problem was. She should be thrilled the Amazon might be his mate. Hell, that had been a shocker for sure, he thought with another glance at Isola. But it did explain the reaction he’d had to her touching his ring. He’d had the ring tugged during fights, during sex, even brushed by some of the sexiest women he’d ever met, but never had he felt as though his body was a lightning rod from a simple touch on the gold.

“Your
mère
is correct,
taureau
, Izzy does not belong here. She is only staying for a little while then she will go home to her family.” The French-accented voice reminded him of the incubus.

“And what the hell are you doing here anyway?”

The male shrugged. “
Mais
, I am Izzy’s friend. Her family sent me to check on her.”

“I don’t believe we’ve met,” Ricky said in full cop mode.

If there was anyone in the world Grant could trust to keep things calm, it was Ricky Davis. A Kodiak bear related to the Strickland family through some very convoluted lines, he’d settled in
Eustis
,
Wyoming
when his family kicked him out of
Alaska
for being too passive. The Stricklands had accepted Ricky with open arms, voted him sheriff of their small town, and let him handle most of the problems that came through. He was good at his job and the best at handling difficult people.

Grant looked down at Isola. Maybe Ricky was too good at his job if this is what he could do to an Amazon.

“I’m Fallon Plaisance, Master of the Louisiana Sin Den,” he said mildly, bowing to Ricky and Arabella.

Grant seethed. Fallon wasn’t just an incubus, he was a fucking Master, which meant he had more power in his little pinky than some backwoods minotaur had in his whole body. Oh, sure, incubi weren’t known for being fighters, but they had connections with some of the most powerful people from every walk of life, and a Master incubus would have even more.

“And what are you doing with this young lady?” Ricky acted as though it was normal to meet incubi Masters every day.

“This is Isola Malone of the Blood Maiden Tribe.” He moved closer to the sofa and Isola. “She is a close friend of Queen Albreda, Lineage Chieftain Ruby Blue, and several High Council members. She is here for…
comment faites-vous pour dire
, a time-out?” He smiled and Arabella sighed. “She is impulsive, our Izzy is. She was sent to the Black Dog Camp to meditate on her behavior and learn control.”

“And you were sent here to check on her?” Ricky asked smoothly.

Grant blinked down at the female on his sofa and saw trouble. Sexy trouble, but trouble nonetheless. She was a close friend of an Amazon Queen and some of the most powerful beings in the Veil. Everyone in the Veil knew you didn’t mess with any of the Amazon Queens. They were unpredictable and violent. And their tribes were barred from living within any city limit inside the continental
United States
. He scrubbed a hand over his face.

As much trouble as she could bring to his door, that didn’t change the fact that his ring recognized her. It still tingled and it hadn’t fallen out yet, but he knew she was his mate. And by the way she’d reacted to his mother’s words, it wasn’t something Isola wanted. Damn it to the nine hells, he thought with a grimace.

She moaned. The soft, breathy sound sent blood straight to his cock which swelled. His mind instantly bombarded him with images of her making those sounds while he rode her hard, or she rode him hard. He didn’t care.

“Why did she pass out?” Grant moved to sit next to her on the sofa. He wanted to be the first person she saw when she came to. The last person he wanted her to see was Fallon.

He sensed the incubus’s confusion. “I do not know. I have never seen her faint before.” There was concern in the Cajun’s voice.

Ricky watched Isola coming out of the faint. “I think it was a panic attack.”

The Cajun shrugged. “Faint, panic attack, it’s the same thing, yes?”

Grant supposed he couldn’t begrudge the incubus for worrying about his friend, but only so long as that concern didn’t extend any further. He wouldn’t tolerate any male laying a hand on her again, something she’d best get used to quick.

“Isola,” he said softly, tapping her cheek. In her faint, her face was relaxed, younger looking, and so godsdamned beautiful, he wanted to lock her away.

He was surprised by his feelings. Minotaurs were not possessive, not really. It was hard to become possessive when they had to service a harem of cow-swans, but with Isola he felt as though he would kill anyone for even looking at her.

“Bears,” she moaned, her eyelashes fluttering. “Fucking bears all over the place with bad breath and big paws.”

Grant looked up at Ricky, whose eyebrows arched high on his forehead. He couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face at Ricky’s offended expression. He looked back at the crazy woman coming out of her faint.

“You need to wake up, Isola.” He didn’t know what her problem with bears was, but he would fix it. She needed to get along with Ricky since he was Grant’s best friend.

Her eyes opened and just as Grant wanted, they landed on him. He smiled again, watching as awareness crept into the coffee-brown depths. This was his mate, he thought in wonder. He understood she probably wasn’t a big fan of men and wouldn’t be happy having a minotaur as a mate, but she could get over that. What they could have together was enough to fight for if she was of a like mind. Grant knew he’d have to work hard to get her to see things his way and good thing he was a goal-orientated bull, because he could do it.

What he didn’t understand was the sudden anger that flared to life in her eyes, and he would’ve asked her about it if her fist hadn’t found its way into his nose.

* * * *

Izzy didn’t know how she came to be inside and at this moment, she could give a rat’s ass. When she saw the soft glow in Grant’s eyes, anger mingled with panic swept through her again. The bastard was planning. She could just about see the wheels turning in his fat head! He probably already had her decked out in nothing but a pair of heels and an apron fixing his dinner.

So she did what any self-respecting Amazon did when confronted by an arrogant man. She punched him.

His hands immediately covered his nose as he bent over her with a curse. The movement revealed the rest of the room. Fallon looked down at her with affectionate indulgence, the cow bitch cried out with anger at the blood spewing from her son’s nose. Her blue eyes promised retribution, but Izzy was past caring. Then her gaze lit upon the bear.

Blackness threatened to swarm over her again.
Fuck no
, she thought, pushing it back. He was just a bear. A big, smelly, mauling beast with paws the size of her head. She shuddered, avoiding the bear’s eyes. She loathed bears to bottom of her soul. They were part of the reason she’d become a nomadic Amazon. Ruthlessly pushing those unwelcome memories to the side, she sat up.

Shoving the bull off the sofa, she got to her feet although she made sure to keep the bear in sight. Never turn your back on a bear. That lesson had been drilled into her brain and carved into her skin.

“What the hell is going on here?” Her eyes darted between Fallon, the cow bitch, and Grant, who glared at her over his hands.

“Well now, that’s what we’re trying to figure out, missy. Mind telling me why you were attacking my Aunt Bella?”

Yes she did mind, but she wasn’t going to get into a pissing contest with a bear. Especially not a bear who was also a cop and capable of locking her up where she’d have to look at him.

Izzy shrugged, taking a step away from them. It was a barely noticeable movement, but Fallon’s eyes narrowed on her like laser beams. “She said something I didn’t want to hear.”

“And that’s just cause to attack someone?” the bear growled, impatience coloring his tone.

“It is after she tried to beat the shit out of me with her shoes,” Izzy shot back, anger finally overriding the panic. “I was trying to keep her son from killing my friend and she started hitting me. Then she pissed me off when she said…she said…that.” She couldn’t even say the word, her stomach churning at the thought.

The cow’s chest swelled up with indignation. “You were touching my son where only a mate should! I have a mother’s right to protect my child.”

“Don’t you think it’s time you cut the umbilical cord, lady?”

“Well, I never!” Arabella said, looking to her son for help.

“Exactly, you never cut the apron strings,” Izzy told her brutally. “Your son is old enough to do whatever the fuck he wants without your interference. If you’d stop chewing your cud once in a while and think about it, you’d realize I’m right.”

Izzy refused to be cut off at the knees by the wounded look in the cow’s eyes. Bella was only causing more trouble for her son by being overprotective. Yet again, another memory threatened to resurface, but Izzy fought past it. She didn’t have time for this shit.

“Are we finished here?” she demanded of the bear without looking at him.

He studied her for so long, she started feeling sick again. “Not quite. Mind telling me what my aunt said that you didn’t like?”

“I wish you’d stop asking me if I mind telling you shit when it really means I have to tell you,” Izzy mumbled, crossing her arms over her chest defensively. “She said ah, I was her son’s mate, which is a complete fucking lie. First off, I eat beef, I don’t mate it, and secondly, I’ve taken a vow of chastity.”

Okay, so that last one had been sort of a lie, but she was desperate to get her point across. She’d taken a vow never to sleep with another shapeshifter, which left the rest of the yummy men in the Veil for her to look over. Unfortunately, she saw Grant’s eyes go from amused to challenging. Aw, fuck.