Bonded (32 page)

He silenced her
with a kiss, his wolf still wanting to stake a claim. The fact that
his wolf’s desires and his were in accord made the action
impossible to deny. Dipping his tongue into her mouth, he rumbled
in pleasure. So sweet, he thought as he explored the warm cavern.
Threading his fingers through her hair, he held her head in place
with one hand while sweeping the other down over her back to cup
her delightfully curved rear. Arousal hit him hard and he pressed
closer, making her aware of his need.

She gasped and
broke the kiss, staring up at him with wide eyes. Her fingers
splayed across his chest, her nails faint pricks through the
material of his shirt.

Reno laughed,
unexpectedly feeling joyful in her presence. “I’ve missed you, too,
darlin’ so I came down for a visit. I thought we could drive back
to Lycan Link together.”

Brandi blinked at
him, and he could see her thoughts were racing. Reno wondered why
she wasn’t jumping into the scenario that she had started to create
during their brief phone call the other night. She was usually
quicker than this on the uptake.

He decided to give
her a subtle prompt, mindful that whoever was lurking in the
hallway was listening in. Playfully, he wrapped a strand of her
hair around his finger and gave it a gentle tug. “I know we weren’t
planning on telling anyone yet, but I let slip to Walt that we’re
engaged.” It felt good to say that, he realized, even if it was
just part of a cover story. A rueful smile played over his lips.
“He seemed real surprised to hear you were my fiancée.”

She gasped, her
eyes growing wider, and for the first time since he’d known her she
seemed at a loss for words.

Pressing a quick
kiss to the tip of her nose, he continued, laying on his Texas
charm for any eavesdroppers. “Sorry, sugar, but I can’t wait for us
to officially become mates. I’m damned near busting with pride over
the fact.” With that he grasped her hands in his and brought them
to his mouth, placing a tender kiss on her fingertips.

While the sappy
words made him cringe, Reno was pleased with the masterful
performance he’d just given of a man in love. And there was a
certain feeling of rightness about the whole situation. His wolf
was happier with him than it had been in ages and a warm feeling
was growing in the region of his heart. It was strange, but...
nice.

He wondered if
Damien felt this way with Beth. As if everything was finally right
in the world. A grin spread over Reno’s face. Being with Brandi was
good, real good. How had he allowed himself to forget that
fact?

It wasn’t often he
allowed himself to have hopes for the future—hell, had he ever—but
maybe, once they were back at Lycan Link, he and Brandi could try
again; see each other once in a while. Just casual, of course. He
wondered what she’d think of the idea and decided she’d probably
agree. After all, she’d enjoyed their kiss at Clancy’s and she’d
called him for help the other night. Yeah, Brandi was warming up to
him again.

“Damnation, Reno!
Now why the hell did you have to do that?”

Chapter
20

Brandi cursed at
the man before her, all too aware of who was listening in the
hallway. Of all times for Reno to be clever and remember one of the
scenarios she’d set up! When she’d called him ‘darling’ the other
night, she’d been hoping to throw Victor off. Never once did she
imagine Reno would recall their conversation and extract an
imaginary engagement from it! Now she had to do some fast thinking
if she was going to save Reno’s butt and get him out of Kolding’s
Pass in one piece.

As much as she
hated to leave the comforting circle of his arms she forced herself
to push away and made a show of wiping her mouth and hands as if
his kisses hadn’t been welcome. Out of the corner of her eye she
noted a flash of hurt in Reno’s eyes and her own wolf protested the
action but she ignored both. The greater good, she reminded
herself. Always work for the greater good.

How can pushing
him away be good?
Her wolf pouted discontentedly, recalling the
pleasant roughness of his stubbled chin against her cheek and the
nip of his teeth.

I’ve explained
that, she answered shortly. He’s in danger if he remains.
Convincing him to leave will ensure his safety.

The wolf’s ears
twitched as it puzzled over this yet again.
Saving our mate is
important but so is being with him. We can do both at the same
time. We are stronger together than apart...

Brandi rolled her
eyes inwardly at the recalcitrant animal’s logic and focussed on
the man before her instead. Dammit, now she had to work the phoney
engagement he’d told everyone about into the story she’d just spent
over an hour concocting and hope he had enough sense to follow her
lead. When she spoke the frustration in her voice wasn’t in the
least bit feigned.

“Reno, I can’t
believe even
you
would have the gall to go around telling
people we’re engaged!” For years she’d been hoping for a real
relationship with Reno and now she had to act as if it were the
furthest thing from her mind. She hoped she could be sufficiently
convincing.

“But—”

“I mean what the
hell were you thinking? When did I ever give you the slightest bit
of encouragement?”

“Well—”

She ignored the
fading of his smile and the puzzlement on his face. “Sure, we’ve
had sex but really... Did you actually think I’d even consider a
permanent relationship with
an Enforcer
?”

“I—”

She gave him no
chance to respond. “No, of course you didn’t think. All brawn and
little brain, that’s what Enforcers are known for, isn’t it?” She
threw in a taunting laugh. “Well, that and for being
barely-civilized rogues.”

He made no attempt
to interrupt this time but she could see a muscle working in his
jaw. A shutter seemed to have fallen over his eyes as well, and the
light of happiness she’d briefly glimpsed upon greeting him was now
gone.

“Everyone warned
me; why didn’t I listen? I guess I thought you were different but
you aren’t. You’re just like all the others, so wrapped up in
dealing with your inner wolf that you never think about how other
people might feel!” She flicked a disdainful gaze up and down him.
“I guess that’s why they kick your kind out of packs.”

If she didn’t know
better, she’d swear she saw Reno flinch but of course she had to be
wrong. Continuing her impromptu tirade, Brandi allowed all the
bottled up feelings from the past three years to come pouring out.
The words weren’t true but Victor wouldn’t know that, he’d just
sense the emotional hurt. And while Reno knew they weren’t really
engaged, hopefully her performance would anger him enough that he’d
leave town.

“Why I mooned over
you all these years, I’ll never know. I guess it was the edge of
danger, the thrill of sleeping with a rogue, but once that was
gone...” She paused and gave a one shouldered shrug. “The sex was
good but anything permanent is out of the question.”

A quick look at
Reno’s face revealed it was like stone and she couldn’t read his
expression at all. Of course, she could peek into his mind and see
how he was feeling but did she really want to know? What if she was
actually hurting his feelings? No, that couldn’t happen. Reno
didn’t care that much about her. Her opinion wouldn’t really matter
to him. And even if it did, it was for his own good.

“I’ve only been
here a few days but it’s been long enough to make me realize some
things and one is that there’s no future with you.” She took a deep
breath, planted her hands on her hips and lifted her chin. “I think
it would be best if you’d just leave.” Arching one brow at him, she
gave him the bitchiest look she could muster while holding her
breath and wondering how he’d respond.

“Leave? Why the
hell did you call me in the middle of the night if—” Reno clamped
his mouth shut on whatever he’d been about to say. His chin began
to jut belligerently and his hands fisted at his side, most likely
to keep himself from grabbing her and shaking her in anger, she
thought with trepidation. A dominant male such as he wouldn’t take
kindly to being given a tongue-lashing, even if it was just part of
a show.

“The call was a
mistake. I... I’d had an argument with Victor, my Alpha, and was
just lashing out, but we’ve patched things up. As a matter of fact
I’m seriously thinking of staying here and resigning from Lycan
Link.”

“You’re what?”
Reno’s face reflected his shock and a part of her was pleased,
though she didn’t dare show it.

“I...I know it’s
short notice but I’m going to resign from Lycan Link and stay in
Kolding’s Pass.” Brandi stammered as she recited the story. She was
a ‘professional liar’ but she hated doing it to Reno...especially
to Reno.

“And do what?” He
stepped forward, his tone angry, shock turning into aggression
before her eyes. It radiated from him and Brandi fell back a pace,
never having felt the force of him directed at her in such a way.
Was he acting or was he really upset with her? She wasn’t sure.

Victor chose that
moment to abandon the shadows of the hallway where he’d been
lurking. The Alpha strode across the room, chin up and eyes
narrowed. Confidence, aggression, possessiveness; it all radiated
from him like a blast furnace.

Brandi got a sick
feeling in her stomach. The situation was rapidly turning sour.
Reno wouldn’t respond well to Victor’s territorial show. She knew
only too well how the Enforcer dealt with ornery Alphas. Wasn’t
this just great? She was supposed to be on vacation and here she
was stuck smack dab in the middle of what could well become a
critical incident with no backup in sight!

Before she could
think of how to defuse the situation, Victor was tucking her
protectively to his side. “She’s staying with me, Smith. As
my
mate, so back off.”

A snarl ripped
from Reno’s throat and he lunged forward. Victor responded in kind.
Energy crackled in the air and Brandi could sense that both males
were on the verge of transforming and she was stuck in the
middle!

While her wolf
bristled ready to jump in and defend its mate, Brandi wiggled free
of Victor’s grasp and pressed a hand against each man’s chest,
trying to push them apart.

“None of that!
You’ll behave like you’re civilized, not wild animals. Get your
wolves under control. Now.”

Surprisingly
enough, both men glared at her but eased back. The fire dimmed in
their eyes and their muscles relaxed minutely. While they weren’t
exactly backing down, the threat of a fight was diminishing. The
energy that accompanied transformations no longer sparked in the
air and she slowly exhaled the breath she’d been holding.

Now, if she could
just get through the rest of this without either man going
ballistic on her! Who’d have thought after all the years of
bickering, that Reno would put up such a fuss over her staying in
Kolding’s Pass?

See? He does
care. If you’d just listen to me and tell him about the bond rather
than trying to be noble, none of this would be necessary.
Her
wolf chided her, thoroughly exasperated with her human host.

Not now! I need my
wits about me to get through this without bloodshed. She hissed the
reprimand at the beast while eyeing the men before her.

“We’re still
exploring that possibility, Victor. And didn’t you agree to let me
handle this?” She spoke with a smile, almost gagging on having to
be pleasant to the bigoted Alpha. Why it bothered her more this
time than it had during any of her past cases she wasn’t sure. Was
it because Reno was watching? Because she was lying to him and it
just felt so wrong?

“I only stepped in
when he showed signs of becoming aggressive, my dear.” Victor gave
her shoulder what could have been a comforting squeeze except for
the strength of his grip. His fingers bit into her flesh as he
silently delivered a warning and she fought not to wince. “I’ll
just head back to my office. Meet me there once you’re done. And
don’t forget,” he gave Reno a hard stare, “I can hear everything,
so just call out if you need me.” He released her and left the
room.

Brandi resisted
the urge to rub her aching shoulder and assumed an airy, almost
patronizing tone. “Reno, it really was kind of you to come all the
way here and I apologize for sending out a false alarm but as you
can see, everything is perfectly fine. I really have no need of
your...services anymore.”

“Really? Or are
you just saying that because the asshole’s around?” Reno almost
snarled the words at her, his gaze hard as if he were dissecting
her, picking through her brain and analyzing her motives. She
struggled not to squirm as she noted a muscle ticking in his jaw.
From past experience she knew that was usually a bad sign for
whomever his anger was directed at. Using all her skill, she
projected as much confidence into her tone as possible.

“I really mean it,
Reno. Everyone at Lycan Link knows I’ve been feeling restless for a
while now. I’d hoped a new job would help but since I’ve been
here...well... I really think that reconnecting with my old pack is
what I need to do at this stage in my life.” She flipped her hair
back over her shoulders and stood as straight and confident as
possible.

Reno stood
silently before her, his arms crossed over his chest, his head
cocked to the side. When she finished speaking, he didn’t answer
immediately and she desperately hoped he wasn’t going to kick up
more of a fuss. Victor would be out here in a flash if he did, the
man seemed to be aching for an opportunity to fight Reno. It was
almost as if he had a personal vendetta against Enforcers.

Please, please,
please believe me. Just for now. It’s for your own good. Brandi
projected her thoughts towards Reno, praying that for once their
connection would work more than one way. There was no answering
whisper in her mind, though.