Hunting Her (The Keeping Her #6) (5 page)

Logan
had a problem.  His mate had changed from the hot red dress into a pair of
pants made of some supple shiny material that settled right below where her
hips flared from her natural waist and cupped her ass most distractingly.  A
stretchy white tank top and an oversized grey zippered hoody with a Nike swoosh
across the breast in neon orange and bare feet completed the ensemble.  The
problem was she looked just as good in casual as she did the dress, and that
should have been impossible. 

 She had
taken a shower while they waited for clearance and the hair she had wound into
a twisting mass at the top of her head, trailed wet strands that Logan noted,
even against the flushed heat of her moist neck, did not curl.

She had
lost the voluptuous breasts when she glided out of the small room in the back
of the Gulfstream jet that housed both the big bed and the bathroom. Which she
was quick to point out by actually pointing to her smaller endowments herself.

"Notice
anything different?”  She didn’t wait for him to answer.  “I left the big
boobage with the dress," she said, opening her sweatshirt and looking down
at her breasts two steps before him.  Her bra, which he could see from the
exposed straps was a bold pink, did not show through the material but it also
did not hide the lovely shape of her, as it clung from her cleavage to her
midriff.  It was obvious, in the little stretchy tank, that she was smaller by
a cup size than when she entered the back room.  She also might be a little
chilled.  Sitting in the white leather seats of the jet, with her standing, he
had a direct line of site to said "boobage". 

"Told
you not to get excited," she finished, smirking down at him while she
closed and zipped the hoody.

Logan
narrowed his eyes on her small, perfectly formed breasts, now hidden from sight
behind the neon swoosh.  Having had the sight of her in nothing but a stretchy
white tank with her pert little nipples pressed up against the fabric burned in
his brain, he doubted the zipper would hold out against him if he really
applied himself.  He raised his burning eyes up to find hers smiling down at
him.  Her eyes were subtly different as well, brown with little flecks of gold,
and without make-up highlighting the exotic slant and black lashes she looked
less fantasy, more real woman.  And seeing all of her as she really was for the
first time, he wanted her more.

"I
have to admit," Logan finally said after a long moment, his drawl
obviously long, the words drawn out.  His eyes moving back to that swoosh. 
"I'm still pretty excited, darlin'."  Xena laughed, drawing his eyes
to the warm brown tones of her eyes.  "But," he finished giving her a
slow grin to match hers.  "I would be happy to do a thorough study before
I make a committed decision." 

He
placed his hands on the flare of her hips over soft form fitted material and
dug his fingers in just a bit, pulling her a step closer so that she had to tip
her chin down to keep eye contact while he was looking up from his sitting
position.  He was close enough he could have unzipped that fucking sweatshirt
with his teeth.  The heat flared in her eyes and Logan let his grin widen
tauntingly.  "I'll even promise to keep my hands where they are if you're
feelin' shy."

Xena
narrowed her eyes just a bit and he knew she had seen the challenge in his
own.  Then she laughed.  "Nice try cowboy."  She shifted to move out
of his reach and Logan dug his fingers in just a bit to hold her in place.  She
looked down at him with one slashing brow arched in question.

Logan
stood up without allowing her the step back that would make the move less
personal.  When he was fully upright, she was pressed all along his length, her
chin tipped the other way and he was looking down on her, his hands still
holding her where he wanted her.  "You let me know when you change your
mind.  I promise to make it a thoroughly informed study."  No way could
she miss the steel, hard, proof of his willingness to study any part of her he
could,  now pressed against her belly.

Seeing,
with no little satisfaction, the flare of heat in her eyes, and hearing the way
her breath stalled, and her heartbeat pickup, Logan smiled, pushed her back a
step and let go, moving around her and making his own way into the back area to
take his turn in the bathroom.

He heard
her sexy laugh before he closed the door and the fact that it was slightly
breathless was almost as satisfying as the feel of her under his hands had
been.

***

Xena
needed to cool down.  She was happy to find out that not only was Logan McCord
hot, good in a fight and handy in the kitchen, but he could play too, which was
something that appealed to her mightily.  He seriously flipped her switch.  She
had not expected it of the slow talking wolf and it was wreaking holy hell on
her libido. 

She
laughed again, thinking of the look on his face when she opened the sweatshirt
for him.  She was almost positive the Nike swoosh across her boobs was going to
retain a permanent heat signature from the way he stared at it.  But he had
turned the tables on her quickly enough.  Besides the way she was retaining
heat at her chest, she was pretty sure she had an imprint of his hands at her
hips and a large indent at her belly where his dick had branded her through two
sets of clothes.  The man was packing some serious heat, and she could not wait
to do her own in depth study on the hard length she had discovered.  Which was
why she needed to cool down.  Mating heat could play holy hell on your body and
your good sense, or so she had heard.  Playing with Logan McCord was one thing,
but all laughter and sexy by-play aside, that alpha wolf was smart, and he was
tricky, and if she was not careful her teasing play would become his successful
seduction, and trust had never been her strong suit. There had never been much
room for it in her life up to now and she did not see that changing any time
soon.

In the meantime,
she would play with the hot alpha wolf because he was more fun than she had met
with before, and, she didn't think she could stop herself.  She would meet his
pack, discover who was out to get her and in a position to make that happen and
end the threat permanently.  All the while keeping herself unclaimed and her
heart unbroken in the meantime.

See,
totally doable.

First
things first, she needed to find a way to make a stop to see Sterling, report
her situation and let him know chances were high they had a leak.  Cleo and
Shawn, who had made themselves scarce by moving to the cockpit as soon as they
entered the plane, needed to be aware they were making a stopover in Anchorage
before too much longer.

***

Logan
did not know what to expect from his mate when he joined her after his shower. More
game playing maybe, but she seemed to be through teasing him for the moment,
and just looked him over in his customary jeans and grey t-shirt and flashed
him an appreciative smile.  Apparently, she approved.

"We
need to talk about where you have us going from here," she said in a no
nonsense voice, despite the flash of her smile.  "I need to take a side
trip into Alaska before I do anything else."

"Alaska?" 
Logan felt his interest stir and had more than an inkling of where she wanted
to go.  "Anchorage?"

His mate
narrowed her wickedly sharp brown eyes on him and then sighed, as if he was
being difficult. "I assumed you would figure it out once you knew where I
needed to go, but there's no help for it.  I need to make a report and I need
to do it in person, so I can be assured no one else gets wind of what I have to
say."

"You
think the leak is there," he said following her logic.  "Probably a
bad idea then, to walk in off the street."

"Not
necessarily, if no one has an inkling I am coming and I leave quickly I don't
think they will have time to set me up again."

Logan
studied her for a few more moments gauging his chances of talking her out of
it.  "'
You don't think they will have time'
seem a chance worth
taking?"

Xena
shook her head slowly at him.  "Not a fight you can win cowboy," she
assured him with that sharp gleam sparking in her eyes.  "If there is a
leak in the shifter council, it's my duty to report it, fast.  Regardless of
the chances I take."

Logan
heard the warning in the tone as much as he felt it raking over him from her
eyes.  "Duty, I understand, Darlin'," he finally said mildly. 
"Just pointing out the obvious."  He watched her blink, open her
mouth and then close it.  Narrowing her eyes once again on him.

"I
was gearing up to kick your ass.  You know that, right?"  She said on a
huff, looking mildly annoyed and a touch amused.

Logan
chuckled as he stood up to report their change in destination.  He could feel
the engines rumbling the floor beneath his feet and expected at any moment to
get the seat belt call.  "Why do you think I conceded?"

His mate
snorted inelegantly, amusing him further.  "Conceded my ass," she
muttered low.  "You didn't stand a chance."

Logan
thought about his strategic retreat and smiled. She was right about him knowing
when he was not going to win a fight, and from the look in her eyes, his mate
had been gearing up for a doozy. Since he didn’t want her rabbiting as soon as
they hit American soil, and he had no doubt she could find her way past customs
if she had a mind to, he was going to play this one smart.  He would take her
exactly where she had to go, and make damn sure she was safe while he did it. 
Once her duty was performed he would take her home, where he knew she would be
safe while Eli worked his magic.

He
knocked on the cockpit door before he went in.  Shawn and Cleo were newly mated
and he had been burned before.

"Change
of plans.  Xena needs to go to Anchorage."

Cleo
looked up at him, fully dressed, thank fuck.  "And you are telling us this
now?"

He
shrugged his massive shoulders, feeling confined hunched down in the doorway of
the cockpit.  "I'm telling you as I hear it.  I'm not exactly thrilled my
mate needs to report in to the shifter council before she will consent to hide
and let us work."

Cleo
looked at him a moment as if she was trying to figure him out, then humor hit
her eyes.  He waited, thinking she was going to say something about the council
but she had other thoughts that took precedence unfortunately.  "You think
she will consent to hide?"

He
thought about that.  "I think she has agreed to lay low while Eli finds
the leak.  That's hiding."

Cleo
laughed in his face.

"Sure
it is," Shawn nodded his head with the same humor in his raptor eyes. 
"You keep telling yourself that.  If it helps."

Logan
ground his teeth.  "Just get us to Alaska.  I'll handle my mate."

Shawn
snorted.  His humor misplaced in Logan's opinion.  "Sure you will.”  He
shared a look with his mate while his half grin was all for Logan.  "You
keep telling yourself that.  If it helps."

Logan
ground his teeth and stepped back out of the cockpit, closing the door.  If
this was what Cleo and Shawn had in store for him, he shuddered at the thought
of the rest of Lionsgate.  Giving a brief thought to the characters he dealt
with on a regular basis and what their reaction would be to his mate, he was
somewhat beginning to welcome the stop in Alaska.

"Your
friends are cute," Xena said.   Leaning against a seat close to the
cockpit meant that when he turned around she was right in front of him, making
no bones about the fact that she was listening in to his conversation with
them. 

Logan
raised a brow, not bothering to hide his irritation.  "Did you think I was
lying about taking you to Alaska?"

Xena
shrugged.  "Occupational hazard."

Logan
let it go.  "They aren't cute.  They're damn irritating, and it just
occurred to me, it is going to get worse when you meet the rest of the
pack."

"Well,
don't get your knickers in a twist."  The smirk she gave him was
reminiscent of the one Cleo had just handed him.  "If they're assholes,
I'll just hurt them until they stop."

Her
words ended his annoyance and made him laugh.  Then he shook his head, this
time thoughts of her meeting his pack anticipatory.  "I was dreading it,
but now I think I'm looking forward to you meeting Ian," he muttered
almost to himself.

"That
would be Ian Gibbs, Lion shifter, and jail bate?"

Her
words drew his narrowing eyes to her face.  "Jailbait?"

She
purred, raising her brows up and down in a suggestive manner.  "I've seen
the picture, and glimpsed the rest of your team on the island.  And he's a lion
shifter.  Let me just say, meow."

The
irritation was back.  "He's fucking seventeen."

"Yeah,"
she did that eyebrow up and down motion again.  "Hence the term
Jailbait
."

Logan
growled.  "Are you trying to piss me off?"

Xena
laughed, again, to his face.  "Relax cowboy.  I'm a coyote, not a
cougar."

Logan
gritted his teeth at her humor.  What was it about the woman that had his
normally staid emotions zigzagging like a teenage girl?  "How about we
talk about how attractive you find teen-age Lotharios," he said.  Letting
his wolf come out in his eyes, he gave her a look of firm warning. 
"Never."