Forbidden Bond (12 page)

“Eion?”

“Huh?” He jerked his head back to Betty.

“Your order…you never said what you wanted.”

“Oh.” Eion rattled his head. “Sorry. The Reuben. To go, please. You make the best, Betty.” He winked and smiled wide.

She swatted him with the menu. “Flattery will get you nowhere with this old lady, Eion Mandrake.” Yet despite her claim, her cheeks flushed as she tucked a strand of silver hair behind her ear and waddled away.

“I haven’t seen Betty blush like that in years.”

Liv slid onto the vacant red barstool next to his. Awareness heated his skin like hundreds of tiny flaming pinpricks. He snagged the glass of ice water Betty had left for him and swallowed down a couple of gulps.

“I think you made her day.”

Lowering the glass, Eion added, “She was always really nice to us when we’d sit in her booths for hours after school.”

Liv nodded. “Yeah. It won’t be the same in Little Crow when she and her husband can’t run the place any longer.”

“Speaking of running the place,” Eion said. “It’s only been a week, but I’ve got some things I’d like to go over with you guys. I’d like your approval to implement them right away. They should prove cost effective in a very short time.”

“Great.” She smiled. “I’m sure he’d love to hear your ideas, especially if it will cut costs and bring in some money.”

Liv gave Betty her lunch order and Betty placed a glass of water in front of her. She wrapped her fingers around the clear cylinder and lifted it for a drink.

“How’s…Taylor, is it?” Like he could forget the other man’s name.

She pulled the glass away from her lips, her gaze darting to the counter’s surface as she lowered the water. “Oh, he’s fine.” Liv looked up, a smile playing at the corner of her mouth. “We’re just fine.”

“Good.” He nodded. “That’s good to hear.” It was, wasn’t it? Why did he feel like someone had given him a sharp kick to the gut?

“There you are, Eion,” a female voice called out from behind him, ratcheting the pain higher in his gut.
You have got to be kidding me.
In a slow, deliberate move, Eion swiveled his stool around.

“Tawny?” Her name coming from his lips in front of Liv felt ten kinds of wrong. “What are you doing here?” Eion pasted on a thin smile, knowing full well Liv was taking in the whole scene.

“Your real estate agent showed up at the house,” she said, a mischievous grin blooming on her face. “Said she’d been trying to call you on your cell.”

Eion grappled for the phone secured in its holder on his belt, all the while wishing he could remedy the order he’d given to Betty a few moments ago. This time he’d pass on the Reuben in favor of item number two. He glared down at the cell’s display. Three missed calls. He checked the ringer.
Damn.
Somehow he’d tripped the smart phone’s silent mode.

“Anyway,” Tawny said. “She had a client who wanted to look at the place, so I needed to get out of there.” She glanced over at Liv.

“Hi. I’m Tawny Danniger. A
close
friend of Eion’s.” She stuck out her hand. Liv slid her palm into Tawny’s and shook. “You two know each other?” Tawny narrowed her gaze at Eion then looked at Liv.

“Yeah…” Liv stared at Eion, confusion written all over her face. “Um…” She glanced back at Tawny. “I’m Olivia Wilson.” Liv smiled, but the effect never made it to her eyes.
Dear God
. Eion’s eyelids shuttered. This was turning into a nightmare. “Eion went to high school with my brother. They were best friends back then.”

“Oh…” She grinned. “How nice. Wait a minute.” Tawny looked to Eion then Liv. “Wilson? As in the Wilson ranch that Eion’s been doing some work at each morning?”

Christ.
Eion bit back a groan, ready to spit molars. Tawny was making sure Liv knew that Tawny was staying with him.

“That’s right.” Liv’s smile drew tight. “It’s been a long time since Eion and I have seen each other. We’ve appreciated how much time and effort he’s been putting in at the ranch. Eion’s really been a big help. But I guess even after all this time, bonds like those we form from back then never really fade. Do they?”

“I see…” Tawny’s grin died. “No. Apparently they do not.” She glanced at Eion, her nostrils flaring. “You guys must be having a great time catching up. There must be some interesting history between you.” The corner of her mouth lifted with an attempt at another smile as she wedged herself between him and Liv. “I would love to chat and hear all your Eion stories.” Her voice dipped, the words coming out close to a growl.

What the hell was she doing?

“Yeah, I’m sure that would be fun…” Liv added, however the look in her eyes said
fun
wasn’t exactly how she’d describe this particular moment. Was she jealous? “So…” She swung her stool around, making room for her to stand. “Pleasure meeting you, Tawny. Sorry we haven’t before now, but Eion failed to mention a friend was staying with him.” Liv added a laugh, but she failed to sell the humor. “If you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to work.” She turned to leave.

“Wait.” Eion’s stomach roiled as he reached for her arm and jumped to his feet. Liv slowed and glanced over her shoulder. “I can explain. This…” He indicated the other female with a lift of his chin. Tawny had pasted on her best innocent expression. “It’s not what you’re thinking.”

Liv stopped and faced him. “What am I thinking, Eion?” She shrugged.

Eion surveyed the restaurant and the sprinkling of customers who pretended they couldn’t hear a thing. Yeah, right. He lowered his voice. “You know. That we’re…” Eion wagged his finger between him and Tawny with a shake of his head.

“What you two do on your free time away from the ranch is your business, Mr. Mandrake.” She crinkled her nose. “Doesn’t matter to me who you’re sharing your…whatever with.” She added a wag of her own finger between Eion and herself. “We’re not dating.” Liv whirled back around and out the door.

“Livvy!” Betty called out as the door clanged shut. “Poor girl walked right out without her lunch.” She shook her head and tsked, the To Go bag ready in hand.

Frustration over what Liv was thinking festered under his skin like a parasite ready to erupt and consume him. The woman had no idea what kind of power she had over him. The last twelve years had been nothing more than a string of one-night stands, because he could never imagine any other woman sharing his bed for more than one unfulfilling release.

A second later, the door chimed once more. Liv hustled back inside and up to the counter.

“Forgot my lunch,” she mumbled, breathlessly, tossed down a few bills, and accepted the brown bag.

“You okay, dear?” The crow’s feet that added extra character to Betty’s face deepened with concern.

“Sure.” Liv nodded. “Just in a hurry,” she added with a dismissive wave of her hand and an uncomfortable sounding chuckle. Liv pivoted without a glance in their direction and retraced her steps—slower, more controlled this time. The sway of her hips, her hair, a siren’s song to his libido.

Eion yanked his gaze from Liv before he ran after her and told her…
what
? That she had it all wrong. Tawny wasn’t his lover because twelve years ago he’d bonded to
Liv
which meant giving his heart and soul to any other female wasn’t possible. That she was the intended lifelong mate to a wolf shifter? Not going to happen unless he wanted to be arrested and placed in a straightjacket.

“Your order is ready too, hon,” Betty announced, pulling him back from his thoughts. Eion paid, thanked Betty, and nabbed the bag from the counter. Turning, he tossed the order into Tawny’s hands.

“Here,” he barked. “Lost my appetite.” Eion walked toward the door. Tawny could follow or stay behind and eat. He didn’t give a shit. At that moment, all he wanted was some distance between them.

Outside, he yanked his keys from his jeans pocket. “Wait a minute,” Tawny yelled, coming up behind him. She clutched his arm, halting him. Eion whipped around, but she didn’t let go. Instead, with her brow furrowed, she ran her palm up his arm as if getting a better feel of his skin.

Shit.

Eion yanked free of her grip.

“Oh, my God…” Tawny looked up from under her lashes with a low growl. “It’s much worse than your father imagined, isn’t it?”

“What are you talking about?” Eion backed away and unlocked his truck. He climbed inside behind the wheel, but before he could crank the engine and get away, Tawny darted around the bumper, popped open the passenger door and joined him inside the cabin.
Of course she would
. She’d been relentless ever since she was a little girl when she used to chase him on the playground and pull his hair.

“You can’t blow me off that easy. I recognize that scent and what the temperature of your skin means.”

“Bullshit,” he grumbled, and shoved the key in the ignition.

“Your skin is burning up and you can’t deny that you’re aroused as hell.”

Eion fell back against the seat, defeat heavy in his limbs, his gaze trained on the blinking open sign in
Take a Break
’s window.

“Individually, you know as well as I do that alone those signs can be taken at face value— you have a fever and the other, you’re horny,” Tawny brushed her hand over his forearm, the heat cooling with Liv’s absence. “Together, they mean something much more.” A low rumble vibrated off her chest.

“You have to keep this between us,” he said, still focused on the steady blink of the neon.

“You’ve bonded to that human.” She snarled. “At least your scent hasn’t altered, and I can’t smell her on you,” Tawny spat. They both knew what that meant—he hadn’t slept with Liv and completed their mating.

“Damn, Tawny.” The way she’d uttered the words, Eion would have sworn she had vomited the statement all over his leather. “You need a barf bag?”

She rolled her eyes. “I can’t remember the last time anyone has mixed outside our species. If they have, they’re not living with the pack, that’s for sure. It’s just so…so…unnatural.” Her lip curled in disgust.

“It is what it is,” he growled. “Natural or not.”

“When did this happen? How?”

What the hell. Knowing what she did now, why not unload the whole saga? It might even help ease some of the tension he’d carried around forever, not being able to tell a single soul. Hesitantly at first, then gaining steam and propelling out of him, his story unraveled, taking him back to the place where everything had changed.

His eyelids lowered, and like a movie screen, the moment in time flickered past. Bright green irises had stolen his breath, captured his gaze—his very being. “Liv looked right into my eyes…it was like nothing I’d ever felt before,” he said, his voice hushed. Eion groaned and dug his fingers into his scalp as if the act could somehow erase the memory from his mind. He pulled his hands free and rotated his head in Tawny’s direction.

She stared back, tapping a finger on the center console.

“Damn,” he growled. “Say something.”

“This is so fucked up.”

“Thank you so much for that professional analysis.” He rolled his eyes.

“What?” She tossed her arm up, shooing away his comment and reaction. “It is!” Tawny leaned back, centering herself into the passenger seat. “Oh, my God. Your father is going to go ape shit when he hears his rising alpha son is bonded to a human.”

“My father will hear nothing,” he chewed the words through his teeth, the threat in his tone unmistakable. “You hear me, Tawny? I’ll decide if and when there is a need for anyone else to learn about this.”

“Fine.” She crossed her arms under her breasts. “I just can’t believe you allowed such a thing to happen.” Tawny scowled. “You were destined for
so
much better.”

“Oh, really? And by that you’re insinuating that would be you?” She flinched, but she’d pushed him too far and he didn’t give a rat’s ass if his words stung. “Let’s get a couple of things straight.” Eion leaned in, making sure he was close enough that she didn’t miss a word. “First: you know as well as I do that no one
allows
a bond to occur. As much as our pack would like to believe otherwise, so that their bigotry against the human race would be a bit easier to swallow, it’s beyond our control. Second: you and I were never meant to be more. Third: for your sake, I’m going to choose to ignore your implication that Olivia Wilson is beneath us.” Eion reached over, clutched Tawny’s chin between his fingers, and turned her head, forcing her to face him. “This time,” he qualified. His vision sharpened, signaling that his attempt to control his beast over her comment about his human had not been one hundred percent successful. Tawny’s breath hitched, her eyes widening.

“I would never hurt you, Tawny, but within our pack, I do have power and connections that should make you think twice about what we’ve discussed. You hurt Liv…you hurt me. Don’t go there.”

Tawny jerked away from his grip, the tips of her own canines flashing.

“You’re making a huge mistake,” she growled and exited the truck in an irritated huff.

Eion clenched the steering wheel and put his head down on his hands.
Please don’t make me regret opening up to you, old friend.

Chapter Ten

Olivia closed the clinic’s back door and scurried down the hall to their office, carrying the sandwiches she’d acquired at Betty’s. The drive from the diner hadn’t been nearly long enough to get her head back on straight. Seriously, had she really thought Eion hadn’t had lovers all this time? He was a man. Of course he had. However,
Tawny
flaunting it in her face that
she
was living with Eion had Liv’s stomach slamming into the back of her throat and her heart squeezed tight. Olivia hadn’t really had time to discuss with Kris how things were going at the ranch, but she couldn’t help but taunt the bimbo with info on how close the three of them had been. And of course a little misinformation of sorts of how bonded they still were had helped to soothe Olivia’s green-eyed beast a tad. Too bad her cool and collected exit turned out to be an epic fail, delivering a hard smack to her pride when she had to turn around.
Real smooth there, Olivia.