Bonded (9 page)

Whoa! Brandi gave
her head a shake. Where did she get off calling herself beautiful,
even if it was just in one of her own fantasies? She pulled a face
and scolded herself. A bit full of yourself this morning, aren’t
you Johansson? One roll in the hay with a hunk and suddenly you’re
seeing yourself as beautiful? With a regretful sigh, she shook her
head again. Passable was more like it, not beautiful.

Well...she pulled
open the shade and examined her features in the sunlight that
streamed into the room. Turning her head this way and that, she
relented a bit. Okay, she was a bit more than passable, but
definitely not beautiful. That term belonged to the Tabithas of the
world. Short, curvy girls were ‘cute’ or ‘cuddly’ but that was it.
Another critical look had her poking her belly and resolving once
again to lose weight and work out, maybe even retake that
self-defence course like Reno had suggested.

Her alarm beeped
and she checked the time. Darn, she’d have to hurry. She had a
meeting scheduled with her faculty advisor to go over the results
of her final exams. With any luck, she’d passed and would be on her
way to a new job before the week was out. Excitement curled in her
belly at the thought of finally starting her career.

After showering,
she dressed and grabbed her purse off the top of her desk. A piece
of paper fluttered to the ground and slid under the bed. She almost
ignored it but then hesitated for a moment, some inner voice
telling her to get down on her hands and knees to look for it. It
probably wasn’t important... Feeling around with her hand, she
finally managed to locate the page and got to her feet.

A quick glance
revealed bold male writing. Reno’s phone number! And he said to
call!

She pressed the
paper to her pounding chest, unable to believe her luck. If she’d
ignored the paper she’d never have known he wanted to see her
again. Offering up a quick ‘thank you’ to her lucky stars, she
carefully folded the note and tucked it into her pocket. There was
no time right now, but she’d contact him as soon as she had a
chance. Almost skipping as she left the apartment, Brandi couldn’t
believe how perfect everything was working out. School was over, a
possible job was in the offing, and a fantastic guy wanted her to
call.

As she crossed the
parking lot to her car, she heard the squeal of tires and turned
just in time to see Tabi slam her car into park and then storm out
of the vehicle.

“Hey, Tabi! How
was your—”

“Don’t you dare
ask me about last night. All men are assholes!” Tabi stomped past
without even a backwards glance.

Brandi sighed.
This wasn’t the first time Tabi had made that pronouncement. The
problem was the girl was just too impulsive when it came to men.
She was always flitting from one to the other without really
getting to know them first. If she’d just take some sound advice
and set some goals, her life wouldn’t be such a constant
rollercoaster of emotion.

Well, she wasn’t
going to let Tabi’s mood spoil her own. Humming under her breath,
she climbed in her car and drove off to her meeting.

A few hours later,
Brandi was leaning against a tree near the edge of the campus
anxiously listening to the ringing on her cell phone. She was
calling Reno and her fingers had actually been shaking as she’d
pressed the numbers.

Call me. That’s
what his note had said, yet she still felt anxious. What if he’d
changed his mind? What if it had just been an impulse on his part
and he hadn’t really meant it? Or maybe he just wanted to ask her
something; after all, she
had
fallen asleep. Perhaps he
wanted her to split the bill for their drinks! She worried her lip
and clutched the phone tighter, the fluttering in her stomach
taking on a more ominous rhythm as doubts began to bombard her.

“Smith.” Reno’s
deep voice rumbled in her ear, sending shivers down her spine.

For a moment she
couldn’t seem to think of what to say and simply stood there with
the phone pressed to her ear breathing quickly.

“Hello?” His voice
sounded irritated now which did nothing to quell the nervousness
plaguing her.

After swallowing,
she finally managed to squawk out a hello.

There was a pause
and then he responded sounding doubtful. “Brandi?”

He remembered her!
Some of the tension eased from her body. She cleared her throat.
“Yeah. I mean, yes. It is. It’s me. Brandi.” Oh God. She rolled her
eyes at her own blathering; now he’d think she was a complete
idiot.

He chuckled
softly. “I’m glad it’s you. I wondered if you’d call.”

Brandi felt her
knees weaken and she was glad she had a tree behind her for
support. He was glad it was her! Licking her lips, she explained
the delay. “I wanted to call earlier, but I had a meeting scheduled
with my faculty advisor and—”

“No need to
apologize, darlin’. How’d it go?”

He’d called her
darling! Her heart rate picked up speed and she had to force
herself to focus on his question. “It went very well! I—”

“Wait. Are you
free for coffee? You could tell me your news in person.”

“Sure.” She stood
up straight, feeling a grin spreading from ear to ear. Reno Smith,
of all people, really did want to see her again!

“Where are you
now?”

She explained and
they made arrangements to meet at a small coffee shop just down the
road from where he was.

“I’ll cut across
campus and be there in about fifteen minutes, okay?” Brandi
mentally calculated the route she’d take. It was only a ten minute
walk but the extra time would allow her to fix her hair, maybe put
on some lip gloss...

“Sure. See you
then.”

Brandi snapped her
phone shut and gave a happy twirl turning her face up to the sky.
The sun was shining, the birds were singing... Well, no, not
really. A rather large cloud was actually starting to cover the
sun, but she didn’t care. To her it had to be the most perfect day
she’d ever experienced. She quickly programmed Reno’s number into
her phone and slipped it into her purse before setting out for
their meeting spot.

Reno was already
seated at a table when she arrived. A waitress was eyeing him with
interest and Brandi smiled thinking, ‘look, but don’t touch. This
one’s mine.’ And God, he was so touchable. It was barely past noon
and the stubble was already showing on his jaw, and his hair... Her
fingers twitched remembering how it had felt to clutch it.

He turned from the
view he’d been studying and saw her, an easy smile breaking out
over his face. She smiled back in return and tried not to walk too
quickly towards him. Don’t appear too eager, she reminded herself.
You’re not some little girl on her first date after all.

When she reached
the table, he stood and placed a soft kiss on her cheek. The brush
of his lips over her skin had butterflies taking a quick flight
about in her stomach and she pressed a hand to her midriff to try
to quell the feeling.

“Hey, you look
happy.” He pulled her chair out and then sat down across the table
from her. “I ordered you a coffee and a bagel. I hope that’s
okay?”

“Thanks. I haven’t
eaten yet today.”

“Long
meeting?”

“Sort of. My
advisor went over my test results. I graduated top of my class.”
She struggled to keep from sounding too boastful.

“Great.” A crooked
smile adorned his face and he seemed to be studying her carefully,
his gaze drifting over her face, her hair...

“It gets even
better.” Brandi took a deep breath to compose herself before
delivering her news. “She had a job offer for me from Lycan Link. I
start next week!”

“Congratulations!”
He reached out and took her hand, squeezing it gently, but didn’t
let go immediately afterwards. Instead, he lazily rubbed his thumb
across the back.

Brandi stared at
their point of connection. Little electric tingles were running up
her arm and down to her core while her heart began to beat an
excited tattoo in her chest. Her wolf was murmuring in pleasure as
well and she exhaled slowly, trying to ignore the feelings building
inside her. Honestly, where was her self-control? She’d just had
sex with the man less than twenty-four hours ago. Surely, that
should hold her over for a while.

She forced herself
to draw her hand away and focus on talking about her new job. “I
have so much to do. I won’t even have time for a trip back home
before I have to fly to Lycan Link Headquarters.”

“So, we won’t be
seeing each other again.” Reno looked down and adjusted the
position of the spoon on the table.

Brandi bit her
lip, the happiness of a moment ago fading. She played with the
handle of her cup, her stomach clenching at the idea of being
separated from him. “I guess not. Unless, once you’re back at
work...?” She cast a brief glance up at him, trying not to sound
too hopeful.

Reno paused for a
moment, a slight frown on his face, and Brandi wondered if she’d
been too bold. He’d seemed genuinely happy to see her just a few
minutes ago, but now there was ambivalence about him. She took a
nervous sip of coffee, her mouth suddenly dry.

Finally, he
nodded. “Well, I’m here for another two months, but once I’m back,
I’ll try to look you up.”

Relief flooded
her; he’d just been thinking of the logistics, that’s all!

After drinking
some of his own coffee, he gave her an inquiring look. “What
department will you be working in?”

“Damage Control.”
She couldn’t stop beaming as she made the announcement. It was the
job she’d always wanted.

“Professional
Liars?” Reno looked at her with raised brows and a faint expression
of distaste.

“Well... I guess
that’s what some people call it, but it’s a very important job.”
Brandi tried not to frown at his use of the disrespectful slang
term. The fact that he’d say such a thing hurt and made her feel
defensive. She pulled her hand back from where it had rested on the
table near his. “As an Enforcer, you must know how crucial the
department is. After all, think of how many cases you deal with
that need tidying up afterwards.”

He rubbed his neck
and looked away. “Yeah. I suppose.”

His tone further
deflated the bubble of happiness inside her and she instinctively
tried to cover the fact with an attitude. “You
suppose
? If
DC officers weren’t around, it wouldn’t be long before Lycan
existence would become public knowledge!” She sat up straighter,
lifting her chin slightly.

Reno made a
non-committal noise and leaned back in his chair. “I’m not saying
DC isn’t a necessary evil, but—”

“A necessary
evil!” Brandi felt her face flush and her temper begin to flare.
Her hands curled into fists. “Reno, I really don’t think I like
your attitude. This is my chosen profession you’re talking about.
You don’t see me bad-mouthing Enforcers even though some of their
methods cause almost as many problems as—”

“Enforcers don’t
cause problems,” he protested, cutting her off. He sat up straight,
the front legs of his chair making a distinctive sound as they made
sharp contact with the tile floor.

“Oh, yes, they
do.” She warmed to the topic, talking faster and louder. “During my
apprenticeship year, I ran into a lot of cases that wouldn’t have
needed DC help, if the attending Enforcer had just used some
discretion and diplomacy.”

Reno snorted at
her statement and rolled his eyes. “Spoken like a real DC officer.
You people have no idea what we deal with.”

“And you have no
self-control!” Brandi shoved her chair back and stood up, tossing
her hair over her shoulder. “I think I’d better leave now before I
say something I shouldn’t.” She snatched up her purse and glared
down at him. “Thanks for last night. Too bad you turned out to be
just another jerk.”

“Yeah? Well, too
bad you aren’t as pleasant standing up as you are on your back in
bed.”

She gasped and
then stormed out of the cafe, ignoring the painful clenching in her
chest and the tears that stung her eyes. Tabi was right. All men
were
assholes!

Chapter 6

Four months
later...

Reno gave a
satisfied smile as he looked over the group of refugees he and his
men had rescued that afternoon. They had just stopped for a quick
meal at a fast food restaurant and would then travel for another
two hours before reaching their final destination for the day. God,
it felt good to know they were finally making progress against the
damned Purists.

Lately, the ACS
had been on the receiving end of several strong leads that resulted
in the discovery of a number of Purist packs in remote, backwoods
areas. His team was making some real headway now; rescuing halves
and mixed families, finding possible lieutenants within the Purist
organization, and maybe even stopping the movement’s spread
entirely.

His men were
standing nearby, laughing and jostling each other with good-natured
high spirits after yet another successful mission. He looked on
indulgently. They were all on an adrenalin high and deservedly so.
Every member had at one point been classified as a rogue, written
off by their pack and destined for the fringes of society. Becoming
Enforcers had turned their lives around. Now they were
highly-skilled, devoted to a cause, and making a positive
difference in the world of Lycans.

Yeah, it was a
good feeling.

“I don’t wanna
eat!”

A child’s petulant
voice caught his attention and he noticed one of the young halves
was huddled in a ball while her exasperated mother tried to shush
her. The woman looked around nervously and Reno shook his head.
Poor souls were so used to being seen as second class citizens; the
woman probably thought she’d get into trouble because her pup was
being noisy.