Bears in Flight: Book Four - Supernatural Bounty Hunters Romance Novellas (4 page)

Chapter Four

Logan strode around the office. He stopped and stared at Marcus’ door.
What the fuck was he doing in there?
His bear roared impatiently.

Logan moved as if to open it, and Ling clucked her tongue. Ling was Marcus’ new wife. She was a red panda shifter; she was pregnant with twins and she absolutely would not let him in to see Marcus no matter how urgent Logan said it was.

He considered that if he wanted to, he could just force his way into Marcus’ office. But that would mean going through Ling, and that would end with a very irate boa constrictor wrapped around his neck.

Logan reflected that at least Ling was a little more laid back than Alma. With all his huffing and puffing, Alma would have kicked him out the office on his ass by now. Alma had taken off with her vampiric true mate a month or so back.

Ling and Mia now ran the agency’s office together.
Speaking of…
Where was his little rabbit? The memory of her curled up in bed, and her cute nose twitching as she dreamed, warmed him.

His bear grumbled at him again. The animal didn’t understand why they had left her bed in the first place. They could have had a couple of extra hours with her delicious body pressed up against him. Lord knows they didn’t spend nearly enough time together for his liking as it was.

That wasn’t his fault though, was it? Logan balled up his fists as he felt red-hot anger washing through him. His body tensed, but then he closed his eyes and breathed in and out until it left him. He wasn’t that guy anymore; he wasn’t that guy who flew into a fit of rage and started throwing furniture around.
He was calmer; he was better.

Besides, at that moment, he had other pressing matters.

Maya
.

He needed to deal with her. He needed to get her sorted and out of his life again before Mia had any idea of what was happening. The last thing he needed was his past and his present colliding. He wasn’t altogether certain that his current relationship could weather hurricane Maya.

He stared at Marcus’ door for a few beats before scowling at Ling. She gave him a pleasant smile in return.

Letting out another audible huff, he sat down at Mia’s desk and drummed his fingers on the desk. Ling quietly tapped at her keyboard, occasionally taking sips of caffeine free tea and nibbling on a Happy Heart donut.

His eyes roamed over her desk alighting on the sole photo; it was a family portrait. Her father dominated the photo and he had his arms clutched possessively around Mia and her mother who were smiling warmly; they were surrounded by Mia’s brothers who had cold, dispassionate stares to match their father’s.

Logan frowned; he felt a tinge of irritation that she didn’t have a photo of him on her desk.
Maybe one day.

The office was so darn quiet. He hated to admit it, but he missed Jackson and his fox shifter mate, Carly. They always livened things up; they alternated between bickering, whispering sweet nothings at one another, and then out-and-out shouting. The pair of them was part-way through a three-week stay at Carly’s parents’ house in Florida. He forced himself not to chuckle as he imagined his gruff wolf shifter friend trying to ingratiate himself with Carly’s gentle family.
Carly might have been better taking an untrained gorilla with her.

Jackson had already texted him five times asking if Logan needed his help catching skips. Logan imagined the wolf must be climbing the walls by now. By Jackson’s own admission – he didn’t do family. But, he’d do anything for Carly.
Ah, the things we do for love.

Logan forced himself not to smirk. He was sat in the very same chair where he first found his little mate.

*

Six months ago

“It’s a pleasure to meet you… Mia.”

Mmmm, Mia.
God, her body felt good against his. Fuck, she was tiny, but so warm and soft. His bear was practically going out of his mind.

Hell, she must think he was a loon. To her, he was a strange man, completely naked, and trying to crush her with a bear hug.
It was a wonder she wasn’t screaming.

The sliver of light illuminated her beautiful face.
Damn she was perfect
. From her quivering plump mouth, to that tiny freckle over her top lips and her cute nose – she was lovely. Her enormous dark eyes stared at him with a mixture of fear and arousal.

Her heart was thundering, and she was almost panting. She squirmed a little in his arms, pushing her hard nipples against his chest. He bit his lip to stop himself from groaning out loud. She was almost as affected by him as he was by her.

Fuck it.

He ignored the look of alarm in her eyes as he leaned forward and inhaled deeply. His bear sighed pathetically. She smelled divine, like sunflowers and sunshine.

He held still waiting to see if she would object before he closed his eyes and buried his face in her hair. He could never get enough of this scent,
her scent
, not if he lived to be a thousand.

His eyes snapped open as he heard an almost imperceptible moan escape her lips. His animal growled in delight.

Logan pulled back to see that she was blushing in embarrassment. He forced himself not to chuckle.

She cleared her throat. “Ummm, I guess you’re not here to rob the place then?”

“No, I work here.”

A smile tugged at her lips. “Me too.”

Of course! She was the new girl – Marcus’ niece.
Oh
. Probably wouldn’t be the best move to be caught pawing the boss’ niece,
not even if he were fully dressed…

Reluctantly, and against strenuous objections from his animal, he put her down on the ground. Her eyes flicked downwards to his bobbing manhood, and she quickly looked away.

“I… ummm… uhhh…”

“I was just taking a shower,” he explained.

“Oh, I’m sorry if I interrupted.”

He shrugged his massive shoulders. “No, it’s fine. I thought you were here to rob the place too. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have, umm, grabbed you like that.”

“It’s fine; I really didn’t, ah, mind.”

Logan pressed his lips together to stop himself from laughing. He couldn’t see it very well in the limited light, but he knew she was blushing up a storm. She was unbearably adorable.

“Well, I guess I better get dressed.”

“Yes,” she agreed unenthusiastically.

“Don’t go anywhere, I’ll be right back.”

He ran back to the shower before she could argue and threw on the ratty clothes he had found. He regretted that he didn’t have any of his own clothes with him, but, with any luck, she’d just be thinking about him naked anyway.

He came out to find the lights on, and Mia sat at her desk. He felt his insides tighten, and even his bear was quiet as he watched her. He’d never had such a fast and furious reaction to a woman. But then, what man wouldn’t want this sweet creature? That thought soured him a little; he didn’t like the idea of other men looking at her and lusting after her…

She was clothed in a modest shift dress that hugged her slim figure; her long brown hair reached down her back. He watched as she lifted the dress to scratch her thigh, exposing a smooth expanse of her creamy leg.

Aww, fuck it.

He stalked across the room and scooped her right out of her seat. He pressed his lips to hers in a scorching kiss. She gasped and opened her mouth. He took advantage and plunged his tongue inside her mouth, kissing her passionately as if he may never get the chance again.

Her limp body soon came alive, and she snaked her arms and legs around him, kissing him back as fiercely as he did her.

He broke from her lips and trailed his mouth down her jaw and neck.

She murmured the word ‘yes’ and scraped her fingers through his hair…

*

Present day

“Logan? Logan?”

He blinked and looked around to see Ling, Marcus and Detective Wyatt Leeman staring at him. Ling and Wyatt appeared amused; Marcus glared at him with irritation.

“Enjoying your daydream?” asked Ling sweetly.

“Ummmm…”

Ling’s shoulders shook in silent laughter. “You must have been; you were moaning.”

If Logan wasn’t so wound up about Maya, he might have been embarrassed. Instead, he quietly asked Marcus if he could have a word.

Marcus scowled, and Ling rolled her eyes exaggeratedly. “Play nice,” she cooed.

Marcus softened, marginally, and said goodbye to Wyatt. He didn’t shut the door to his office when he went back in, and Logan took that as an invitation. He ignored Wyatt, who was snickering.

Logan could see that Marcus was in a mood, so he decided to cut to the chase. After he firmly shut the door he said, “I need you to bail out a… ah… a friend of mine.”

“How much?” demanded Marcus as he leaned back in his chair and stared out the window.

“Five hundred grand,” he admitted almost apologetically.

To give credit to the snake shifter, his eyebrow only ticked ever so slightly. “That’s a lot of money.”

“Yes,” he agreed placidly. His bear harrumphed at him; he wasn’t thrilled at having anything to do with Maya again, and the beast would have been happy for Marcus just to turn him down flat.

Marcus gave him a cynical look. “Does your friend have ten percent of five hundred grand?”

Logan didn’t blink. “Yes.”
Sort of.

Maya had some of the money, and due to his own guilt and worry about her, he had scraped together the rest.
Just
. And that involved a visit to a very shady lizard who gave out loans from the back of a disgusting nightclub by the pier.

Marcus flexed his jaw. “And this friend won’t run?”

“No.”
He hoped.

“If they do…”

“I’ll find her,” Logan told him firmly.

The snake quirked an eyebrow. “Her?”

Logan stared at him stonily, meeting his cold eyes. As unhappy as the bear was about the whole Maya thing, he wasn’t going to be beaten down by a snake shifter.

Eventually, Marcus relented. “Fine, let’s go.”

Logan let out a small breath. His animal snarled, but he ignored him. He just needed to sort out the whole Maya debacle, and he could go back to quietly worshipping his little mate. The bear let out a happy growl at that thought.

Yep, all he had to do was sort out Maya and persuade his mate to bond with him without the two women ever coming into contact with one another. There were parts of his past with Maya that he never wanted Mia to know about, and he was determined that she never would.
No matter the cost.

Chapter Five

Mia reluctantly shuffled into the bail bond agency. Every inch of her tensed as her father followed her. The rabbit in her was very nervous about what he was up to.

“You don’t have to walk me in…”

“I insist,” he interrupted crisply.

Ling looked up from chatting with Detective Leeman, who was perched on her desk; she frowned on seeing her brother-in-law. Mia shot her an apologetic look that said ‘I had no idea he would come in.’

“Hello, Matthew,” called out Ling cheerfully.

“Ling,” hissed Mia’s dad and he moved towards Marcus’ office door. “Is he in there?”

“Yes, but he’s in a meeting.”

Matthew’s lips curled up in a sneer.

Ling rolled her eyes and made a funny face at Mia, who in turn stifled her laughter. Ling did not get along with her new brother-in-law. It was just a clash of personality. Ling was bubbly, and at times naughty, while her dad detested bubbly and naughty. Matthew considered his brother, Marcus to be weak for indulging her.
Marcus couldn’t give two hoots what his brother thought.

Mia set her purse on her desk and watched cautiously as her father stalked around the office impatiently tut-tutting.

After a few seconds, Mia gasped quietly as a sober looking Logan strode out of Marcus’ office. Oh, she was miffed at him but he looked so damn fine. He had the ‘I just got out of bed’ look down to a tee.
Mmmm, he looked edible.

Logan halted when he saw her, and wariness flashed through his eyes when he spied her father. Mia chewed her cheek as her rabbit mewled unhappily. They’d met before, briefly, but Mia wasn’t keen for them to spend any time together.
Whatsoever
. She didn’t want her father to take against Logan before he even knew the handsome bear was her mate.
She figured her dad would automatically hate him when he found out…

The silence was cut by Marcus stomping into the office. He pulled on his jacket and fiddled with his tie. Marcus took in the lion shifter Detective sitting on Ling’s desk. “Still here, Wyatt?” he snapped. “Don’t you have a job to get to? Or are you planning on flirting with my wife all day?”

“Don’t be rude,” Ling chided playfully. She smiled indulgently as she looked at Mia and Wyatt conspiratorially. “He’s just being a grumpy butt because I’m going away this weekend.”

Matthew’s eyebrows almost shot off his head. Mia cringed at his condemning glare. He certainly wouldn’t allow his mate to talk to him that way. Mia couldn’t even imagine how her dad would react if her mom had dared to tell him off for being rude,
never mind the ‘grumpy butt’ crack…

Marcus groaned. “Well, a whole weekend at a spa just because your sister was dumped – that’s ridiculous!”

“It’s two days and one night,” she told him soothingly, “you’ll barely even notice I’ve gone.”

“Doubtful,” he muttered crossly. Marcus narrowed his eyes when he noticed his older brother. He nodded, “Matthew.”

“Marcus, do you have a minute?” asked his brother gruffly.

“Just one, I’m on my way out,” replied Marcus tersely.

Matthew nodded and turned to his daughter. “Be good, baby girl.”

Mia’s cheeks turned pink at the gentle threat in his voice but then went completely red when she gaped at the almost x-rated kiss goodbye Ling was giving Marcus.

Matthew frowned contemptuously before stepping out of the office. Marcus, almost speechless after Ling was done with him, held up a finger to Logan and gave Wyatt another annoyed glare before following his brother.

The four watched the two snake shifters through the window for a couple of beats. They were eyeing each other coldly and speaking in hushed tones.

Wyatt sighed. “As much as I’m enjoying this, I really should get back to work.”

Ling offered him a donut from her stash in her desk, and he gladly accepted. She winked at him. “I hide them because otherwise Carly eats them all. She’s not here right now, but I don’t want to break the habit.”

Wyatt waved goodbye and left.

Mia watched Logan out the corner of her eyes as she fussed switching on her computer. She wanted to talk to him, but not in front of Ling, and she wasn’t altogether sure of what she wanted to say. Who the hell is Maya? Sprang to mind.
Her little beast was all for that question being asked.

Logan, for his part, was standing stock still gazing at her with a guarded, uncertain expression. And it bothered her. She felt the normal flush of desire she always did, but her stomach was doing flips at the twinge of anxiety she felt.

“What was Detective Leeman doing here?” she asked quietly, trying to distract herself.

“Oh,” Ling waved her hand, “he was just letting us know that, umm, Jacinta’s case wasn’t going to trial. Apparently she pleaded guilty due to insanity.”

Ling was trying to act indifferently, but Mia sensed the tightening of her mouth.
Which wasn’t such a surprise
. Recently a gorilla shifter called Jacinta had tried to murder Ling,
several times
, for unwittingly having an affair with Jacinta’s husband. It was not Ling’s favorite topic of conversation, so Mia let it drop.

Mia reluctantly returned her gaze to her dad and uncle. Both had grim expressions, although there was no shouting going on. Her dad raised one hand and gestured towards the window through which Mia was watching them.
Crap, maybe he was actually referring to her
. Marcus glanced in her direction, and her rabbit twittered nervously.
Oh, what were they saying?

After a few more moments, she watched as her father abruptly left, and Marcus rolled his eyes.

Mia frowned as Logan perked up.
What was going on with him?

He opened his mouth as if he was going to say something but, instead, he mumbled a goodbye and ran out of the office.

Mia chewed on her cheek. What the heck was happening? Yesterday he seemed fine. Was it just her? Was she overreacting over nothing? She hoped so, but all her instincts and her nervous rabbit told her that he was hiding something.

He was hardly the most forthcoming guy. He was always friendly enough, but in general he was placid and closed off.
Except maybe in the bedroom…

She felt a flush creeping over her skin as she thought of her passionate bear. Her rabbit cooed at her. Yep, she definitely had no complaints in that department. He’d been hot for her since the moment they met,
almost as hot as she was for him…

*