Exposed: A British Bad Boy Romance (24 page)

Chapter 16

SLOAN

S
arah’s look of confusion pained him as Sloan reached into his pocket and fished out his phone. He didn’t even know he got signal way out here. She was so ready and willing and someone was going to pay dearly for interrupting them.

His eyes found the caller ID and a low growl escaped his throat before he could stop it:
Randal
.

He sure had incredible fucking timing, that sniveling little tiger.

Sarah stared at him with wide unblinking eyes, her lips plump and swollen from his kisses. He wanted to claim her mouth again, and then every other part of her. But it would have to wait. He didn’t want the fallout from ignoring the call.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, answering the phone. He wanted to shoot himself for leaving her for the other shifter.

“I thought I told you not to call me,” Sloan growled under his breath.

Randal
tsked
, “We need to talk. In person. Tonight.”

“No. I’m busy,” Sloan answered, his hand idly tracing lazy designs on Sarah’s arm, delighting in the goosebumps that prickled her sensitive flesh.

“I don’t care,” Randal barked, “Your Elder compels you.”

“Then why doesn’t he call me his fucking self?”

“That’s none of your concern. Now, bid your pretty little witch goodnight and meet me at the theater.”

Sloan felt the fine hairs on the back of his neck bristle at the mention of Sarah, his tiger close to the surface, ready to protect its mate from the threat.

“Fine,” he ground out through a clenched jaw, unwilling to let any harm come to Sarah for his own stubbornness. He would deal with Randal and then come back to the luscious librarian.

He hung up the phone and sighed, an apologetic expression taking over his face. Regret was a better option to the untold fury that roiled within him. The Elder would never hover over him like this. Would never micro-manage the way Randal had been. It made Sloan suspicious, but he couldn’t concentrate on those suspicions with Sarah looking at him so bewildered.

“I’m sorry,” he said, a pit forming in the bottom of his stomach, “There’s a family emergency. Would it be alright if I took you home?  I promise to make it up to you if you’ll give me another shot at this date thing?”              

              Sarah nodded mutely, seemingly speechless. Everything had just taken a complete 180 turn and he didn’t blame her for being a little confused. He knew he owed her a better explanation, but would sweet innocent Sarah welcome him to her bed if she knew the truth? She wouldn’t even want him near her beloved library if she knew what he was.

              Thankfully, the ruckus from the motorcycle prevented any need for awkward small talk on the ride back to Sarah’s home. He felt he grow more tense the closer they grew to Palm Haven. The nearer they got to the Kerris, the more her magic responded to him.

              Yep. She was definitely the Guardian. Even if she didn’t know it.

              He let the bike idle as Sarah dismounted and handed him the spare helmet. He wanted to kiss her senseless, but didn’t know if she’d welcome it with the abrupt end to their date.

              “Are you sure everything’s okay?” she asked, finally remembering her voice.

              Sloan shrugged, a frown lining his forehead, “I’m not sure, but I’ll make it all okay. Don’t worry.”

              Why was he telling her not to worry? She didn’t even have a clue that there was even anything to worry about. Now she was sure to worry. Sometimes, his stupidity astounded him.

              He gave her a chaste kiss — the best compromise for his two halves — and took off to meet Randal in the thicket of ancient mangroves known to the Tigris as the theater. Hallowed ground to their kind and a safe haven in which to shift or discuss matters of the clan away from the distractions of the modern human world.

              Dried leaves crunched underfoot and the sound seemed amplified in the eerie quiet of the woods. Daytime creatures were settling down for the evening and nocturnal beasts had not yet risen from their slumber. This was the in between time when it was easy to forget the dangers that lurked around every corner. The time when Sloan’s kind basked in their superiority.

              “I don’t like to be kept waiting,” Randal hissed as Sloan entered the clearing of the theater.

              “And I don’t like to be interrupted,” Sloan answered with malice in his voice, “guess we’re both having a shitty day. Now, what’s the stick up your ass about?”

              Randal’s eyes flashed in the darkness and Sloan knew he was walking a tightrope of disrespect and self-importance. He didn’t care.

              “Our timeline has changed. The other clans are mobilizing. The Elder fears that it’s only a matter of time before the wolves attack us.”

              Sloan tried to appear bored, “What does that have to do with what I’m doing?”

“You have what you need, don’t you?” Randal asked, “Or have you been too busy trying to bed the witch?”

“I think there is still more information to glean,” Sloan answered calmly avoiding the second half of Randal’s comment. He wouldn’t be baited.

“We don’t need more information. The witch needs to go. She’s endangering everything. A Guardian could royally fuck up all of our plans.”

“She’s not endangering anything. She’s not a Guardian. There’s no need to get rid of her,” Sloan said, a threat making his voice rough and lower than usual. He knew the truth. And he knew that hiding the truth from the clan could be his death sentence. It didn’t matter. He wouldn’t let Randal anywhere near her.

Randal growled, “It wasn’t a suggestion. I won’t let harm come to Tigris because you have a soft spot for a little witch.”

“And what are you going to do if I refuse? Run to your wife’s daddy?” Sloan taunted.

A sinister bark of laughter made Sloan think he’d crossed the line.

“If you refuse, I’ll finish your assignment myself. I’ve never had a witch… I bet she’s delicious,” he sneered.

Sloan roared and shoved the man into a thick-trunked Oak, his tiger responding to the threat to his mate.

“You stay away from her,” Sloan growled, tipping his hand.

Randal laughed maniacally, “I’ve heard that they’re very special. What with all that sex magic… they’re always ready. Willing to jump into bed with anyone with a pulse,” he sneered, knowing he’d struck a sore spot and twisting the knife deeper even with Sloan’s arm pressed into his windpipe.  

              “One more threat against her and I’ll rip your fucking throat out without another thought,” Sloan promised, his voice cold and surprisingly steady given the amount of emotions coursing through him.

              A twig snapped and both shifters’ heads swiveled. Then it hit him. The sweet citrus scent. The rapid heartbeat that didn’t belong to either of them.

              Randal sneered and his body began to shift.

              Sarah gasped.

              Sloan had no choice. He shifted just in time to tackle Randal as he pounced for Sarah.

Chapter 17

SARAH

A
s Sarah tip-toed through the swampy forest, she started to question the wisdom of her choice to follow Sloan. What kind of ‘family matter’ led someone into the middle of the woods?

She’d gotten the niggling feeling that something else was afoot with his last words to her. He didn’t know if things were okay, but he’d make them? What did that even mean? Maybe she could help him. She was magic after all.

If nothing else, she didn’t buy the ‘family emergency’ excuse and she wanted to know what was worth cutting short their date. Call her vain, but she’d thought that Sloan wanted her as badly as she wanted him. His sudden change had her confused and hurt.

The sound of voices stopped her in her tracks.

“You have what you need, don’t you?” an unfamiliar voice asked.

              She heard Sloan answer but couldn’t make out the words.

What was he talking about? Who was he talking to? Why did they need to talk about it in the forest of all places?

“We don’t need more information. The witch needs to go. She’s endangering everything.”

Sarah’s eyes grew wide; were they talking about her? Did they know her secret?

She tried so hard to hide her unruly powers. She fiddled with the charm her mother got her – the very first charm that started the bracelet – the eye, meant to give her something to channel her nervous energy into. Her mother thought that an ancient symbol of wisdom and power would help Sarah remember how to focus and contain her powers. Had she failed to conceal herself so badly? Sloan knew what she was the moment he saw her. Did others too?

She lost track of the conversation for a moment, panic overtaking her at the thought of everyone recognizing her nature.

A sharp bark of laughter made Sarah think she should turn heel and run. She was frozen in place. Could they hear her ragged breaths? The staccato of her pulse? They were talking about
her
and if she hadn’t followed Sloan, she never would have known.

“If you refuse, I’ll finish your assignment myself. I’ve never had a witch… I bet she’s delicious,” he sneered.

Sarah crept ever closer, desperate for a look at the stranger that threatened her existence. She knew she should run. She just couldn’t.

Sloan jumped into action, slamming the stranger into a tree, holding him half a foot above the ground, his face purpling with the effort of breathing.

“You stay away from her.” She heard Sloan say.

Sarah caught only a glimpse of the other man as his body began to morph and change shape. The gleam of light in the tiger’s eye was the first thing that resonated deep within her. He was a shifter! Her blood froze in her veins. Shifters were bad news. Dangerous, unpredictable and power-hungry.

Sloan’s body responded in kind, morphing and shifting with a magic foreign to Sarah and she couldn’t suppress the gasp of surprise that pushed past her lips.

Both tigers whipped their head to face her. The stranger shifted his weight to his hind legs and leaped through the trees at her.

Sarah screamed.

She screamed and hid behind a skinny pine tree. This was not happening. This was not happening. Sloan was not a shifter. She wasn’t about to be disemboweled by a tiger.

A howl of pain made her peek from behind her poorly-chosen hiding place. The tigers were locked in battle; a never-ending flurry of claws, teeth and fur. Sarah wished she could intervene, but she was pretty sure at least one of those beasts wanted her dead. Her mind reeled with all of the implications.

The fight was brutal; she couldn’t watch. Sarah only heard the sickening symphony of bones breaking and animals howling in pain. This couldn’t really be about her, could it? She was a nobody. A harmless little witch.

Guardian
, the word rose to the surface of her mind like a bubble through water. She’d heard Sloan say it. She remembered reading about the special witches. But she wasn’t special. She wasn’t even any
good
with magic.

Finally over the frantic beating of her heart, Sarah heard one of the tigers amble off into the forest to tend to its wounds. The other turned its gaze on Sarah. For a moment, she saw the deadly predator lurking just below the surface. For a terrifying instant, she thought she was a goner.

She watched Sloan shift back to his human form, his beautiful flesh covered in a multitude of fresh wounds and wet blood. He didn’t say anything to her.

She ran.

As fast as her clumsy feet would carry her. She broke through twigs and branches, pushed through curtains of Spanish moss in the dark forest. She didn’t think. She had to get away from the deadly creature that filled her with so many conflicting feelings.

She never heard him coming. Tigers were stealthy like that. He tackled her to the ground, sending her sliding on damp leaves. Sloan grabbed her by the arm and tugged her through the trees, wincing every few steps as he did.

Sarah didn’t have the good sense to argue. Or the presence of mind to speak at all. Her mind was working in overdrive and somehow simultaneously blank with sheer shock.

By the time he’d dragged her back to the library, most of his bleeding stopped. He healed so quickly. Was that part of being a shifter? She wondered.

Sloan.
A shifter.

None of it made any sense.

Sloan locked the door behind them. Sarah didn’t know why she felt like a child ready to be scolded. She hadn’t done anything wrong. Well, following someone wasn’t exactly right, but neither was plotting the demise of an unsuspecting employee. Sloan certainly wasn’t without fault here. Even if he had defended her and nearly killed another man to protect her.

“What were you thinking?” He hissed, his hand never loosening its grip on her forearm.

“Me?” Sarah exclaimed, hysteria creeping into her voice. “You’re a
shifter.
”

Sloan’s jaw tightened at the reminder. He could snap her neck like a twig. Why didn’t he? He wanted to keep all of this a secret, didn’t he? The only question left was whether the secret was worth her life…

Her heart hammered and her magic went crazy, blinds fluttering, papers swirling in the air like a small tornado was contained within the library.

“You could have been killed,” he said ominously, ignoring the obnoxious display of her magic.

“Yeah, and you were casually discussing it like the menu. What kind of plans do you have? Who was that man?” Sudden suspicion crept into the recesses of her mind and she wrenched her arm free of Sloan and hurried into the back office.

He followed in a handful of long graceful strides, hot on her heels. She knew she should be more afraid of him. One swipe of the tiger’s claws could disembowel her. One bite from those powerful jaws could rip through her aorta as she slowly bled to death.

Janine would find her body, undoubtedly.

She started rifling through papers on his desk, shuffling through the orders for his new acquisitions and adding all the pieces together in her mind. How had she missed it before? Her own life didn’t matter at that moment. Only the Kerris. A deep-down protective instinct kicked on as if a switch had been flipped.

“Will you just listen to me?” Sloan rumbled. Sarah’s wild magic sent a desk skittering across the floor, pinning Sloan against the wall. She kept searching.

With every page flip, Sarah’s suspicions grew. Sloan apparently had an obsession with the history of the ley lines that ran below the Kerris. His desk was littered with shifter lore and history, accounts of witches guarding the veins of power from the shifter clans, and the Kerris. It was all here. He and his clan were trying to take control of everything. To what ends? To destroy the ley lines? Or to use them? Which would be worse?

She felt a tug in her very soul at the thought of the ley lines being destroyed. She couldn’t let that happen.

But he was right. She wasn’t a Guardian. She couldn’t stop them. She couldn’t even stop herself.

But she’d do her damnedest to try.