Shifters, Inc. The Bear Who Loved Me (A BBW paranormal romance) (2 page)

“You foiled an assassination last month,” she said patiently. She’d gone over this with him a million times. “You and your team rescued a group of kidnapped oil contractors from terrorists. Your company opened up shop only a year and a half ago and you’re already one of the most successful and sought after in your field.  The
Playa Linda Telegraph
wants an article on you and your company.”

He shrugged, and took another sip of his drink, visually scanning the room before returning his attention to her. “The press is the enemy, and we don’t need publicity.”

She shot him a challenging look. “Why is Shifters, Inc. so dodgy about talking to the press? Who’s afraid to talk to the press? Guilty people. People with something to hide.”

Heath tossed back the rest of his beer. “Yeah, yeah, freedom of the press, first amendment, blah blah. Come back when you think up something original, babe.”

“You’ll be waiting a long damn time for that to happen!” She turned on her heel and walked off, then stopped and spluttered in indignation. “Wait, I meant I won’t…damn it. That did not come out how I intended.”

“Very smooth.” Bridgit had snuck back, and glanced over at Heath appraisingly. “He also likes you. I think him and Tom should fight a duel to see who gets to claim you.”

“Bridgit, I sincerely wish that all the men you think lust after me really did. I’d never be home alone on a Friday night.”

Before Bridgit could answer, the lights blinked off and the room was plunged into darkness.

Tonya had been expecting that. Thanks to the precautions taken by Hammersmith, the lights would be back on immediately.

Except they weren’t, she realized, panic clutching at her.

She heard heavy thumps, oddly sounding as if bodies were falling to the floor, and the sound of smashing glass and swearing.

This was bad. Between Hammersmith and Shifters, Inc., all the exits should be blocked, but still…what if the thief actually got away? The animal shelter literally would not be built if the statue was stolen.

In fox form, she had exceptional night vision. She knew what she had to do.

She partially shifted, just her head, feeling her snout lengthen, and her eyes immediately adjusted to the pitch black. Tom and his cohorts were sprawled on the floor. They were breathing, she noted quickly, so she would deal with them later if nobody else had gone to help them.

The thief, a tall, skinny man whom she’d spotted earlier admiring abstract paintings, was vanishing with the statuette through a door at the rear of the room.

She dashed across the room after him, ignoring the stumbling, shrieking guests. Why the hell wasn’t anyone else chasing him? Apparently the worst security operatives in the nation were all on duty tonight.

She ran through the door and down the hall. “Stop! I will kill you!” she screamed.

She heard footsteps pounding behind her, and she scented Heath and some other shifter – a wolf. About damn time.

Le Magnifique was housed in an enormous building, with the front part set up as a gallery and the rear housing their offices, warehouse and restoration workshop. She chased the thief down several hallways and into a storage room. There were shelves and boxes and crates everywhere, and the room smelled like dust. The thief wove nimbly down the alleyways created by the rows of shelves, with the statuette tucked under one arm, but she was right behind him. She was about to tackle him – when instead, someone tackled her.

She hit the ground with a thud.

“Oops, sorry.” Heath didn’t sound sorry.

“Let me go!” she howled, as Heath sprawled on top of her. “That statue is for puppies! Puppies and kittens will die if he gets away!”

He didn’t move. He just kept her pinned down, and she heard footsteps running away, and then a door slammed open. The door led to an alley; she grimaced at the gust of sour air from the garbage bins outside. The thief’s footsteps were getting further and further away; now she could hear him climbing into a vehicle and the vehicle was taking off…he was getting away.

What kind of heartless bastard wasn’t moved by puppies and kittens?

The room was still pitch dark. She struggled furiously, clawing at his face and biting him on the shoulder with sharp fox fangs, but he just laughed, grabbed her hands and pinned them over her head. She stifled a gasp of arousal and was horrified to realize that her panties were completely soaked with her juices.

Shockingly, she could sense that Heath was aroused too. She could feel the thick, hard length of him pressed against her stomach. She was sure that he wasn’t attracted to her; was it a leftover erection from talking to the hot brunette earlier?

The lights flickered back on, and she shifted her head back to human form and glared up at him. She was completely pinned underneath him, his muscular body covering her like a blanket. He was so warm, so strong…he was also the bastard who’d deliberately let the thief get away.

“You again.” He flashed her a feral grin. “Can I buy you a drink?”

“Get off me, you son of a bitch! I swear to God, I am going to rip your face off the minute you set me free.”

“Really?” He looked amused. The bastard was laughing at her. “Then why, exactly, would I let you go? I kinda like my face. I’ve grown attached to it.”

“What’s your alternative? Are you planning on just lying here forever?” She snorted contemptuously.

“Not forever, but I’ve got some time to kill.” He winked at her. “Now, what should we do to pass the time? I’ve got some ideas.”

With a growl of anger, she headbutted his nose, hard, causing him to let out a surprised howl of pain. She could feel blood trickling down her forehead, but it was worth it.

At the same time, she heard heels clattering through the room, and then Bridget appeared. She grabbed a stone statue off a nearby shelf and held it high, threateningly.

“Okay, what’s going on here?” she demanded. “Is he assaulting you? And are you objecting? I’m serious – I really can’t tell what’s happening. Should I leave you two in privacy or beat the hell out of him?”

Tonya managed not to laugh. Bridgit was the least threatening person on the planet.

“He is assaulting me, and he is going to let me go now before he really regrets it,” Tonya said, although she had no idea what she was going to follow that threat up with.

“So we’re beating him up? Oh, goody,” Bridgit said, raising the statue even higher over her head. Tonya could have told her that someone who says “Oh, goody” wasn’t likely to intimidate anyone, much less a bear shifter, but before she did, a big, brawny wolf shifter stalked up behind Bridgit, snatched the statue from her and pinned her arms to her sides by wrapping one muscular arm around her.

“Whoa there, sweetheart. I know Heath likes to play rough, but we wouldn’t want you to hurt his tender little head.” The shifter grinned and bared a mouthful of white teeth. He had a scar through his right eyebrow, which was unusual. Only silver would leave a permanent scar on a shifter.

“Let go!” Bridgit yelled furiously.

The wolf let go and stepped away. As he did, Heath rolled off Tonya and sat up. The minute his warmth vanished, her body cried out in protest; she wanted him on her again. Covering her. Pinning her down. Kissing her…

She shook herself and sat up, brushing dust off her clothing.

Blood trickled from Heath’s nose where Tonya had headbutted him, but he didn’t even seem to notice.

“How long have you been there?” Heath said to the wolf shifter, exasperated. “Were you just standing there watching?”

The shifter snorted and raked Heath with a contemptuous look as he set the statue back down on a nearby shelf. “Oh, I’m sorry. Were you scared here in the dark? Did you want me to hold your hand?”

“Fuck you,” Heath growled. He stood up, reached down and grabbed Tonya’s hand. He yanked her to her feet, his big hand closed around hers and holding it for a second longer than necessary before letting go. She could have sworn he squeezed her hand before releasing her. “Bridgit, meet my good friend Levi. We just call him the Beast. And when I say good friend, I mean the asshole that I work with.”

Levi shrugged. “You’re welcome for saving your life last week.”

“Yeah, yeah, you took a bullet for me. It wasn’t silver and it took you five minutes to heal, so wolf up and quit whining.”

Bridgit glared up at Levi, hands on her hips. “I guess I know why they call you the Beast.”

He gave her a slow, appraising once-over and a smile curled his lips. “Not yet, you don’t,” he said with a wink.

She spluttered with indignation. “You presumptuous bastard! Not if you were the last shifter on Earth!”

He shrugged. “Your loss,” he said, and turned and walked away.

“Dickhead!” she yelled, and threw her purse at him. It bounced off his back and he didn’t even break his stride. “You…jerk! You buttface!”

Bridgit really, really needed to work on her swearword vocabulary, Tonya thought, shaking her head.

She turned her attention to Heath as Bridgit ran over to retrieve her purse

“You are beneath contempt. Kittens and puppies will die because of you,” she said, frost dripping from every word.  She was actually about to cry at the thought of it, but she wouldn’t let him see that. “I hope the bribe was worth it.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You clearly took a bribe to let the thief escape. Even you aren’t this incompetent.”

“Why, thank you. I think.” He folded his arms across his broad chest.

“You drugged the drinks of the Hammersmith security too. Because they wouldn’t take a bribe. They are far too professional.” She glared at him with accusing eyes.

To her surprise, Heath threw back his head and laughed. “They’re far too professional. Right. If they were professional, Tom wouldn’t have told a reporter that a theft was going down tonight just because he wanted to get into that reporter’s panties.”

“Told you,” Bridgit said cheerfully.

“Traitor! Do not agree with anything he says!” Tonya cried out, shooting a wounded look at Bridgit. “If he says the sun is hot, you say it’s ice cold!”

Then she redirected her wrath back at Heath. “That shelter won’t be funded because of you! How can you live with yourself?”

Heath let out a lengthy sigh. “Don’t get your panties in a bunch. The real statue is still here, the auction will carry on. If you want to find out what happened, first shift and heal your hand and your forehead while I heal my possibly broken nose.” He started to strip off his clothes without even waiting to see if Tonya would follow suit.

Annoyed, Tonya stepped behind a row of shelves and shed her clothes. Shifting in clothing was generally destructive, especially for someone like Heath, who would grow even bigger.

She shifted into fox form, dropping down to all fours. Scents swirled through the air, and she sniffed appreciatively. The musky, masculine scent of Heath tickled her nostrils, and she inhaled it, drawing in several breaths before shifting back to human form. Her hand and forehead were healed. She quickly pulled her clothes back on and walked around to see Heath pulling on his jeans. Ouch. She looked away quickly, but not before she saw the size of his massive cock right before he slid his boxers over it and zipped up his pants.

Great. She’d never get that image out of her head. He’d be haunting her wet dreams.

“Let’s go,” he said, gesturing at her to follow him. She didn’t have much choice; the thief would be long gone by now.

She and Bridgit followed him through several hallways until they were led into an office. There were six shifters in there, as well as Diana and Jacques. They were all gathered around a big laptop, watching a grainy image of a team of armed men battering down the door of a building. The shifters all wore Bluetooth headsets, and several of them were talking at the same time.

Diana and Jacques applauded. “Brilliant!” Jacques cried out.

“The thief tonight was just an errand boy,” Heath said to Tonya. “We wanted the boss. The gallery owners created a fake statue here in their workshop, we put a transmitter in it and made sure he was able to steal it. Now we’ve tracked him down to his buyer,” Heath said with satisfaction.

“The real statue…” Tonya stared at the screen. The men were running down a hallway, tackling several people who were fleeing…

“Safe and under lock and key.”

“And Hammersmith…”

“We knew they’d be incredibly obvious and stupid. We told the gallery owners to hire them so the thief would see there was security here.” Heath shrugged. “If there hadn’t been any, the thief would have been suspicious. But with those guys bumbling around, he thought he knew what he was up against.”

“So when Hammersmith got a tip that the gallery was going to be hit tonight…that was your agency, wasn’t it? Since you wanted them here.”

Heath just gave her a big, wide-eyed smile.

“What did you do to them? How did you knock them out?” She demanded.

Heath looked innocent and wounded. “Me? I didn’t do anything. But I’d say it looked like someone slipped them all a Mickey so they wouldn’t screw things up for us. And by the way, don’t quote me on anything.”