Читать книгу Covert Desires - Sondrae Bennett - Страница 4

1

Leaning against the counter, Danny zoned out as the conversation hummed around him. He drank from the glass in his hand and somehow managed to suppress his grimace. Beer was his drink of choice. Never had been particularly fond of the fancy stuff. But it was a celebration of Misty, mate to a friend of his, having been proven innocent of some nasty charges brought before the shifter council. So Danny hadn’t complained when his sister, Julie, showed up with a bottle of champagne. Who was he to spoil the fun?

“To solving problems,” Misty toasted. His brothers and sisters all raised their glasses in salute and Danny followed suit. Although he didn’t know her well, Misty a fox shifter and he a wolf shifter, they’d been in the same class in grade school and he’d always admired her cheerful spirit. He was glad the trial had ended in her favor. Otherwise they would have had a rogue alpha fox to deal with, considering how fiercely Cody loved her.

The whole trial was troubling. It seemed as if the hybrid shifters present had wanted blood, egged on by one woman in particular–the sister of a man who’d kidnapped Danny’s sister, Julie, not so long ago. All of it motivated by a desire for power and a foolhardy plan to gain a foothold with the shifter council.

Yellow-brown tinted the edge of his vision. Just remembering the terror when they’d discovered Julie missing made his eyes shift to wolf. The riots that had followed the man’s punishment, incited by the convict’s bitch of a sister, had raged out of control. When Misty had gotten caught in one, she’d injured a few people while trying to flee, and the hybrids had twisted her desperate escape into a hate crime against hybrids everywhere, with Misty trapped in the middle of the scandal. Hence the trial.

At least now everything was settled. The bad guys were in the council’s hands, their crimes known, and his troubles were over. The woman had been sentenced for conspiracy, kidnapping a human, and inciting riots that could have exposed shifters to humans. The shifter council had no other option than to hand her a death penalty.

Life would settle back into its routine. No more riots. No more trials. Just normal, everyday problems. Paper jams and burned coffee. He’d take those over the problems of the past month any day of the week.

Routine was good. It helped steady him. Allowed him to maintain control of his wolf. Anything that tipped the scales of that battle in his favor was something to be grateful for. Some days were harder than others. And he’d learned firsthand how important control was. His gaze drifted to Julie before he guiltily looked away, remembering the time he’d grabbed her arm in anger when they were kids, and broken the bone.

Letting his wolf get away from him only caused heartache for those he loved. So he kept it leashed as much as he could, never completely releasing the reins of control, even when in wolf form. And routine helped distract him from the cagey feeling that had been building inside him the past year.

“Not to rain on anyone’s parade, but we’re not problem free quite yet. Apparently, the protests and riots in the area have drawn the attention of some government officials. The council’s sources in Washington have informed them that an undercover agent has moved into the cabin off Route 70. Since our two communities are the closest around, we’ve been asked to make sure they don’t discover something they shouldn’t.” His brother, Jason looked around the gathered group, stopping momentarily on Danny. Great, more problems. “We need to figure out how to approach this, and find out what the humans know. More importantly, we need to keep the wrong information from getting out.”

“Well, that’s easy enough,” Misty said. Danny stared warily at the mischievous smile on her face. She was a bit too gleeful. Definitely planning something. “There’s only one unmated woman here. Laurie will just have to seduce the man.”

“Oh, no…”

Danny didn’t even have time to breathe a sigh of relief that her plan hadn’t involved him before Laurie started protesting.

Jason cut her off just as quickly.

“The agent is a woman. Although, she is young enough something like that might work.”

No one spoke for a minute. Then as one, their gazes swung toward him. Danny froze, glancing between the stares directed his way. At first he didn’t understand, then the conclusion they had all obviously reached hit him with the force of a Mack truck. The agent was a woman... And he was the only unmated man in the room.

“Shit,” he said.

He wanted to protest, wanted to deny it, but there was no point. It would be useless. Even if it was possible to reason with this group–which it wasn’t–he didn’t have a better idea to offer. It did seem to be the easiest available plan. Well, for everyone in the room who wasn’t him.

Which was how he found himself ringing the newly rented cabin’s doorbell with a plate of badly burned chocolate chip cookies. A pathetic excuse for spying on the town’s newest resident, but it was the best he could come up with. And the alternatives his family had suggested were out of the question. Misty had actually suggested he show up shirtless to “mow the lawn.” Then pretend to be shocked that someone had recently rented the property. Yeah, like that was going to happen.

Still, glancing at the plate, he couldn’t help but wince as he took in the barely distinguishable black lumps. He should have stuck with the Toll House premade stuff, but had wanted a more personal touch. After all, he was trying to seduce the woman. To get close to her just so he could deceive her. The least she deserved was homemade cookies. But apparently thinking cooking was better than store bought was where he’d gone wrong. Well, no. Agreeing to this stupid plan to begin with was his fatal mistake. No matter how unfeasible the other options he’d frantically proposed the past two days had been.

Even if he did manage to seduce the woman, how was he supposed to keep her from learning too much, or asking the wrong questions? For that matter, seducing her under these circumstances felt…wrong. Cheap, somehow. Like his family was trying to whore him out.

He thought about how he would feel had the agent been a man, and seducing the agent had been Laurie’s responsibility. Oddly enough, not so bad. Guess he wasn’t any better than the rest of them.

Sighing, he glanced at his watch before ringing the doorbell again. The woman’s car was in the driveway, so she should be home. The cabin stood close enough to the town to be a potential concern information-wise, but would still be a trek by foot. At least it would be on two feet. Plenty of the wolves and foxes hunted in the area. Which reminded him, he’d need to make sure everyone stayed away until the woman left. He made a mental note to address the issue at the next pack meeting.

“Can I help you?”

Danny started at the voice. Not only because it came directly behind him, but because he hadn’t sensed her approach. At all. Not many people had the ability to sneak up on wolf shifters. Especially not him, a dominant wolf who helped run the local wolf pack with his two brothers, and one whose wolf was closer to the surface than even his own family knew. It wasn’t easy to catch him off guard.

The voice was lyrical and soft. Not the voice he’d expect from an FBI agent, or CIA, or whatever she was. The council hadn’t exactly been forthcoming on details. But he didn’t recognize the voice, knew she wasn’t from Alpine Woods, and doubted she was from the foxes’ territory either. Which meant this had to be the woman he sought.

Pasting a charming smile on his face, Danny turned to greet the interloper.

“Yeah, I’m the Alpine Woods welcoming committee, and…” The rest of his speech fled, his mouth hanging open as he got his first look at the woman. His wolf immediately strained against his control.

The wind swirled around her, catching at the hem of her gypsy skirt and plastering the flimsy material against her legs, the outline of her shapely thighs clearly visible. Danny ran his eyes from the tips of her toes, clad in a pair of sandals with ribbon running up her legs, to disappear beneath the bottom of the skirt. The kind of sandals that made a man imagine following the crisscross of ribbon with his hands and lips. The skirt didn’t naturally cling to her hips, but thanks to the wind, he saw everything the fabric and style tried to hide. Like the fact that the woman before him was in impeccable shape. Her waist cinched in, thick with muscles. Her breasts were small and perky. A perfect body for an athlete. Or a fighter.

The thought jerked him out of his musings. Ruthlessly, he pushed aside his desire, tightening the reins on his wolf and jerking it away. He ignored the strange tingling in his hands, and continued his perusal objectively.

She wasn’t gorgeous. Her nose was too large for her face, with a crook that looked like it had been broken at some point and never healed properly. Her eyes were too round, and her teeth too big for her mouth. But her hair was a deep brown color that somehow rounded out the look, making her more attractive than she should have been.

As he stared at her mouth, her lips curled into a cocky smile, and he jerked his gaze to her eyes smiling back at him.

“And?” she prompted.

Danny smiled and raised his hand to his forehead. He was surprised to find it sweating slightly. The day was warm, but not scorching, as fall quickly approached. But the woman in front of him put his wolf on edge, making him tighten his grip on the reins of control.

In all his scenarios, he hadn’t counted on being attracted to her. Dangerous had never been his fetish.

This was definitely a bad idea. Maybe he should tell Jason he couldn’t do it, to find someone else in the pack. But the thought caused a slight bubble of panic, and he knew he wouldn’t back out. Not anymore. And not when his family counted on him.

“What? Oh, right. I brought you cookies to welcome you to the area.” He held out the plate he carried, and waited until she took them. “I’m Danny.”

“Amber.” She looked down at the plate and raised one eyebrow as she looked his way. “Cookies?”

“Yeah, they’re kinda burnt,” Danny apologized, clearing his throat in embarrassment. If he’d known beforehand how attracted he was going to be to her, he might have tried a bit harder not to burn the cookies. Or had one of his older brothers cook them for him. Both of them were whizzes in the kitchen, his mother having sworn that all her children would know how to cook if it killed her. Then Laurie, his older sister almost had, starting a kitchen fire that, luckily, their father had seen and put out before the whole house went up in flames. That had been the end of the cooking lessons. He and his younger sister, Julie, were left to their own devices. Now, he wished he’d taken the time to learn.

“Doesn’t matter what they look like, only what they taste like,” she said.

His gaze strayed to her lips again. He liked her smile. Couldn’t stop staring at the dimples denting her cheeks when her lips curled.

Danny grimaced. “Unfortunately, they probably don’t taste much better than they look.”

“Oh.” She glanced down at the plate of cookies before looking back at him. “Well, what is it they always say? It’s the thought that counts. I appreciate the welcome.” She glanced around the yard. “A committee of one, huh? I have to say, not much of a welcoming committee.”

Danny laughed. “Guess not. But it has its perks. I get to make all the decisions. And I’m the first to meet any pretty girls who’re new to town.”

He winked at her, wondering if he was going too far. But the others had told him to be forward and flirty. Of course, they’d also told him not to come on too strong. Maybe he was better off not taking their advice.

* * * *

Amber smiled at Danny, even as nervous energy rolled her stomach. It felt as though a herd of elephants were tap dancing in there. In other words, uncomfortable. She’d have thought she’d be used to the feeling by now.

The man seemed harmless enough, rather sweet with his offering of burned cookies, and his awkward attempt at flirting. But the last guy had seemed more or less harmless, too. Looks could be deceiving. She’d learned to never underestimate the enemy, and to never trust anyone unless necessary for survival. A lot of wolves wore sheep’s clothing.

But that didn’t mean she could hide out, no matter how much she wanted to rush inside and lock the doors. She had an assignment to complete, and if she didn’t have anything to report when her boss next called, she might find herself without a job. Not a pleasant prospect in the current economy, especially when half her work was FBI classified. Who would hire an employee who couldn’t fill out a resume without leaving large gaping holes? And if she did manage to get as far as an interview? Forget it.

But those thoughts were best left for another day. Right now, she had better focus on the job she did have. Nerves had no place here.

So she pasted a smile on her face, letting one end curl slightly higher than the other in a practiced move she knew drew men’s attention. She hadn’t missed the interest in his eyes as they’d slid up her body. And if she were honest with herself–which she usually was–she’d have to admit that desire had pooled in her belly under his regard.

Not that it mattered if she were attracted to him. Even if Danny didn’t end up being the enemy, she couldn’t afford distractions. And she couldn’t let herself get tripped up. Again. Her boss may have assured her this job was a simple recon assignment–the perfect assignment to ease her back into undercover work–but that didn’t mean she was taking any chances.

Truth be told, if the job were as easy as he made it sound, any of their field agents could have weeded out the information. Either that, or the job was harder than he’d let on. But she’d gotten the impression he’d worried about her, and had made something up so she could get her confidence back in the field. Her boss understood that some things left scars far deeper than the visible ones on the body.

Clutching the plate of cookies, Amber focused on the task at hand. The man appeared to be exactly as he advertised, a charming man here to welcome the new girl to the neighborhood. There was something sweet about the way he’d been struck speechless at the sight of her. She knew she wasn’t gorgeous, but it was nice to feel attractive. It had been a long time since she’d felt… feminine.

Yet, even as sweet as he sounded, an air of dominance surrounded him. The contrast between boy next door and warrior intrigued her. And made her wary. She had a sixth sense for recognizing when things were more than they appeared. And Danny was definitely more than he seemed. Not dangerous exactly, although she wouldn’t rule anything out, but something was off about him.

“So, welcoming committee, what does one do for fun around these parts?”

His eyes sparkled as he assessed her. “I can think of a few things.” The flirty tone, combined with the flash of heat in his gaze as it moved back down her body, told her what sort of “things” he had in mind.

Oh, he was good. But she was too old and had seen too much in her thirty years to fall for a pretty young face and flirty voice. There were plenty of other “things” men did to women in isolated cottages, too, that weren’t nearly as pleasant as what she saw in his eyes. She’d seen enough of the aftermaths to know. Just thinking about some of them curled her stomach, and brought her mind back to the task at hand.

Pretending his flirt had affected her as he’d intended was easy. After all, it had affected her at first. And Danny was very attractive. A few years younger than her, if she had to guess.

Batting her lashes and widening her eyes, Amber allowed her lips to form the slightest pout. She knew her part, and knew which poses could knock off a few years.

“Can you?” She was going for airhead, but the narrowing of Danny’s eyes told her he wasn’t buying it. She switched gears, raising one eyebrow and smirking to show she’d only been playing the vixen. If possible, his smile got even wider, showing her a perfect row of pearly white teeth.

“Oh yeah.” He rumbled. The shift from shy boy to practiced charmer had her eyes narrowing. Her original instinct came rearing back. Something wasn’t adding up.

If he wanted to play games, she’d play along. She’d played with some of the best, and here she was, a bit worse for wear maybe, but still alive and kicking it. He might be good, but she was better.

“And what would you recommend first?” she asked, leaving him with two options. Drop the innuendos and back off, or go all in and proposition her. She was curious to see which he’d choose. And worried he’d call her bluff. Because no matter how sweet or how handsome Danny was, she wasn’t inviting him inside, especially not with the sexual innuendoes they’d been passing between them. No matter how much she might want to, or how long it had been since anyone had touched her with anything beyond sympathy. Not since Nick. Amber barely managed to suppress the instant panic that surfaced at the thought. Here and now. Concentrate on that.

“Why don’t I take you out for dinner and drinks? Show you around town a bit.”

She blinked, not hiding her surprise. A date? She hadn’t expected that. She’d been more worried about what would happen if he made a move on her. Maybe Danny wasn’t more than he seemed. Just a nice, attractive guy interested in a girl. Too bad he chose her, someone who was an agent first and a woman second.

Before responding, she analyzed him. Brown hair, medium height but stocky, and with a lot of muscle. If she had to guess, she could take him, but it would be one hell of a fight. Her stomach rolled with another swirl of unease. An air of strength surrounded him, but with something more. Something hiding just beneath the surface, tightly restrained.

Amber had been around a lot of powerful men in her lifetime. Men who wrapped power around them like a shield, and she recognized the differences between those who sought power and those who radiated it without trying. Danny’s power infused his very being. Not something he sought, but something he was straight down to his core. So the question became, what were his motives? And whose side was he on?

If only she could simply come out and ask, excuse me, where do your loyalties lie? To your country, or to a secret anarchist organization we think is operating in the area?

“I’d like that,” she finally replied. After all, she needed information about the town and the people. First dates were all about questions. A perfect way to learn some basics about him and about the town. That was why she was saying yes. The only reason.

“Shall I pick you up around six, then?” he asked.

She looked at her watch. It would give her two hours. Plenty of time to run a background check and do a bit of research. Amber didn’t believe in the phrase being too careful.

“Perfect.”

“Great. I’ll see you then.”

As he passed, she smiled, not taking her eyes off him until the car door was firmly between them. Good or evil, nice guy here to welcome her, or enemy here to keep an eye on her? Her guard would stay up until she knew for sure one way or the other.

As he pulled away from the house, she turned her attention to his trunk, committing his license plate number to memory. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw his head turn her way, and quickly met his gaze, raising her hand in a cheery wave until he passed out of sight.

As the tension of the moment disappeared, she became aware of the pounding in her head. Relief rushed forward, filling her with giddy euphoria.

She inhaled deeply, and put a hand against her temple. To trust or not to trust, that was the question.

She knew her job. Had once been able to do it without questioning every move. Now questioning seemed to be all she did. Constantly wracking her nerves. If only she could get out of her own head, away from the memories of another time and place.

A stronger person than her would have overcome these issues by now. It had been eight months since her last assignment ended, and although her therapist had lauded her progress, Amber still felt it was too slow. She couldn’t do her job if she was scared all the time.

Not for the first time, she wondered if she should quit. And maybe it would be the simple thing to do. But being an agent was all she knew. After college, she’d gone straight into the FBI and been promoted to field agent in two years, moving to undercover work almost immediately. For whatever reason, facing down a madman with a gun scared her less than a nine-to-five desk job.

With a sigh, Amber glanced around at the forest surrounding her cabin. Maybe here she could gain a level of peace. Or maybe this would be the job that put the final nail in her coffin as an agent. She knew the higher-ups were watching her closely, testing to see if the last assignment had broken her or not. But she’d prove to them she could be the same agent she’d been in the past. Better, even.

Somehow…

Dejection and determination warred as she turned and strode inside. The satellite phone that allowed her to check in with the agency even in the most remote locations sat on the island in the kitchen. She kept it on her and hidden at all times. At least she usually did. It had saved her ass on more than one occasion. But she hadn’t expected visitors this soon and had only left the house for a short walk around the perimeter of the property. For security, but also to clear her head.

Stupid. Leaving the phone had been a rookie mistake. Even though she hadn’t thought she’d need it, the phone should have been glued to her from the moment she’d stepped off the plane. Not like her at all. She was better than that, and had to start acting like it.

Sweeping a lock of hair behind her ear, she sighed as it swung back in her line of vision. Her new short haircut showed the nerves behind the useless gesture.

Picking up her phone, she pressed the number preprogrammed into speed dial.

“Jiffy Dry Cleaners, we clean your clothes in a jiffy,” a woman on the other end answered.

“This is Agent Mason, passcode Alpha Gamma six, requesting a background check on the owner of a blue Ford Explorer.” Amber rattled off the license plate number from memory.

“Okay, the requested information will be sent to your email momentarily, Agent Mason.”

Efficient, as always. The Agency always was.

“Thank you,” Amber replied before hanging up.

The information would take a while to assemble, but she knew that thank you would speed things up a little. Remembering the frustration other agents expressed when they discussed her average information wait time, she smirked. It always amazed her how many people forgot the simple courtesies. Sure, providing agents with information was the operator’s job, but that didn’t mean a little thanks wasn’t appreciated. Gratitude went a long way.

Amber glanced at the clock. If she got ready for the date now, she could spend all the time leading up to Danny’s arrival to check up on him. With a nod, she headed for the shower. Time to get beautified. The more he stared at her chest and legs, the less he’d notice if she seemed a bit too inquisitive.