Let Us Prey: BBW Military Paranormal Romance (Wild Operatives, #2) (12 page)

Argus winced. “Yeah. Sounds like you’re making the right choice.”

After dinner, the kids split and went back to their own home. I hung around with Argus for a while longer then eventually retired to the guest room where I dropped onto the edge of the bed. My silent cell phone taunted me. Not a single call from Leigh. I bit the bullet and phoned her instead.

What am I doing? She’s not a child. She can fend for herself now, and she’s more than proven she isn’t the same drug-dependent woman. She doesn’t need me checking in on her.

But I wanted to hear her voice. The call wasn’t to check up on her — it was purely for me. I dialed my house line and waited with my breath held until she picked up the phone on the third ring.

“MacArthur residence.” She sounded out of breath, winded like she’d sprinted for the line.

“Hi, Leigh. Are you okay?”

“Was exercising. One sec.”

“Why are you exercising?”

There was a pause on her end of the line, then a quiet, nervous laugh. “I just felt like exercising.”

Is she doing it for me?
A cocky little voice whispered in my mind, bringing a smug smile to my face. “I think you’re perfect just the way you are.”

Leigh didn’t answer right away. I pictured her with a rosy flush on her face. “Anyway, I hope you didn’t call earlier and I missed it. Daniela invited me over for dinner.”

“Why don’t you go and buy a cell phone,” I encouraged her.

“I didn’t want to waste money. You were so generous and the amount you gave me was enough to cover the household needs. It just seemed stupid to get a cell phone, too.”

“It’s not a waste. You have Sophia with you and you’ll be driving places for Gram and yourself. We’ll have a line added to my plan.”

“I don’t know, Ian—”

“I insist. It’s a smart purchase. How’s Sophia by the way?”

“She’s great. Your grandmother complained about you leaving again. She thinks since you’ve retired you shouldn’t be doing these jobs anymore.”

“Don’t listen to her, especially since this job has nothing to do with the government or our military. I’m visiting a friend to discuss some important business negotiations, and they sort of sweet-talked me into bringing you along next time,” I said.

“Really?”

“Really. My goddaughter, Ceres, is planning to be married in the spring, so we’re both invited. Fair warning: she’s incredibly excited about meeting you and thought I was gay until now.”

A moment of stunned silence was followed by the cutest peal of giggles I’d ever heard.

“You definitely aren’t gay,” Leigh said. I pictured her blushing red and heard it in her voice. When I got home, we’d have to talk about the night we shared together and which direction it would take our blossoming relationship. It was imperative for her to understand it wasn’t a one-night thing, unless of course, she wanted it to be.

I hoped she didn’t want that to be the end of it.

“Anyway, I’m leaving sometime in the morning and should be home by lunch time unless I hit some serious traffic on I-45.”

“I’ll have lunch waiting for you.”

I wished her a good night and ended the call after she bid me to have the same. As I settled down for bed, my confession to Leigh remained on my mind. It couldn’t wait another day.

~Leigh~

I
an returned around noon from his trip to San Antonio as I was completing a few household chores. Petunia barked loudly to announce his SUV pulling into the driveway.

“Wow. It looks great in here. You were busy while I was gone.”

“I wanted it to be spotless when you came home. I even cleaned the fan blades. You’re just on time, too. The pizza delivery man left right before you pulled in.”

He opened the box and whistled. “Sausage and mushroom. You ordered my favorite. Wanna eat on the deck?”

“Yes!” I shouted it a little too enthusiastically. His curious glance and raised brows brought heat to my cheeks.

“You look great when you blush.”

Emboldened by the affection in Ian’s sunlight-colored eyes, I stepped forward to touch his face, tracing my index finger down his jaw and over the soft scruff he never seemed to shave. He had traces of silver in his beard I hadn’t noticed before. It suited him, adding a hint of contrasting maturity to his striking features.

Turning his head, he brushed his lips against my fingers. My belly clenched as if he’d kissed me between my thighs. “We should eat before the food gets cold.”

“Or before Sophia wakes up,” I added.

Ian moved the pizza and breadsticks while I carried the lemonade pitcher and our glasses. We settled on the deck with the baby monitor close at hand and enjoyed the cool autumn breeze snaking in between the trees to dishevel my bangs. The sweet scent of earth and woods surrounded us, blended with fragrant pizza sauce and garlic bread sticks.

We chowed down and shared friendly conversation about his day with his old friend and my evening out with the neighbors. I didn’t do long distance drives well and always fell asleep, so I admired his ability to make the five hour trek in high spirits. I couldn’t wait to return with him.

“Leigh?”

“Hmm?” I had so much food in me, the only thing able to improve my day would be a nap stretched out in Ian’s massive feather-soft bed.

Ian’s expression changed, taking on a worried appearance. His brows creased, alerting me to something heavy on his mind. Our short friendship and even shorter marriage didn’t hamper my ability to read him like an open book.

“What is it?”

“I decided to run for sheriff in the next election.” The apprehensive expression remained.

“Won’t you have to be here a lot if you run for sheriff, Ian? I thought you liked going away with your squad and taking up your government contracts.”

“I do,” he said. “And I can still do that, it just won’t be as often as it used to be.” I wanted to leave my seat to rub his tense shoulders. “But I want to do something for this area besides throwing my money around at people. Sophia deserves to grow up somewhere safe. To be honest, when I married you, I knew then I’d be cutting back on the work I do.”

“This is great news!” I leaned out of my seat to throw my arms around his neck and kiss his cheek. “People around here respect you. You’d make a great sheriff.”

“That’s not everything. We need to discuss one more thing first. There’s something I want to show you... and I know it’s going to seem crazy, but I need you to have an open mind.” He returned my embrace then ran his fingers through my hair, smoothing strands back from my face.

I raised my brows. His pale, champagne colored eyes watched me closely. “Okay? Ian, you’re driving me crazy with this somber mood. Just tell me everything.”

“The thing I need to show you has an incredible amount of importance for me, Leigh. I need to know I can trust you to keep this to yourself, because it affects more than me.”

Was he going to let me in on something related to one of his top-secret government jobs? My pulse sped and my mouth went dry, prompting me to pour another glass of lavender lemonade from the pitcher. I sipped it nervously and cleared my throat before answering him. “Ian, I’ll keep any secret you want me to keep. What’s wrong?”

“I think it’ll be easier if I show you first. Then we can talk about it.”

Ian rose from his seat and pulled off his shirt, in the sexy way where guys grabbed a t-shirt by the back of the collar.

“Are you giving me a strip tease? You didn’t get a tramp stamp of my name or something while away, did you?” I tried to ease the tension with some humor, sensing he needed it as much as I did.

Ian chuckled nervously and unfastened his jeans. I sat up straighter in the chair and stared at him. My child napped indoors, tucked safe and sound in her crib with a monitor on the table beside it, so if Ian was fishing for sex, he’d picked an excellent time for a second intimate encounter.

“Ian?”

His pants dropped and his boxers followed. He was perfect from head to toe, the very idea of masculinity. Because hard muscle and a lean build made his age indeterminable, I wouldn’t have guessed my husband to be a day over thirty-five, despite the generous amount of silver in his dark hair. Ian’s youthful features contradicted the loss of his chestnut brown coloring.

I lost the battle against my willpower and let my eyes drop below his waist. Even in its unaroused state, his cock was nearly as large as some of the guys I’d dated in the past when erect.

“Just remember it’s me. Don’t freak.”

“Ian, I’m not going to freak because a hot naked man is standing in front of me. I’m freaking because you’re being mysterious. What are you—?”

Ian’s slim body contorted and a loud, cracking sound filled the air. A tiny shriek ripped from my throat. Before my eyes, he jerked one direction and shrank as a rush of ivory and brown plumage materialized into being. It may have all happened in a split second, but for me, it lasted an eternity. Ian wasn’t there anymore; in his place, a proud American bald eagle stood on the wood patio deck. The eagle I touched in my very own yard less than six weeks ago.

When the raptor came closer to me, I slammed against the bricks beside the patio door. At some point, I must have leapt from my seat and stumbled against the back of the house.

It’s Ian.
I tried to tell myself it was Ian. The bird hadn’t spirited him away, and he hadn’t pulled a disappearing act worthy of Houdini. The bird
was
him. I leaned against the house until the threat of fainting was long over. My bird was him.

My heart leapt into my throat. Speaking became difficult, like a fist clenched my neck.

“Ian?” I whispered.

The bird tilted his head. They had the same gorgeous eyes, a too pale shade reminiscent of rose gold. How had I never drawn the comparison until now?

My racing pulse demanded for me to run, but the sensible part of me saw the man beneath the feathers and knew he’d never hurt me. Fighting against instinct, I crouched low and raised one trembling hand to the top of the eagle’s head. I stroked him then let my fingers travel lower until I petted the silky feathers covering his breast.

“You’re so... so gorgeous. I don’t understand.” I felt dizzy again. “I need to sit down. I need to sit down.”

Ian was Ian again, a man crouching with me, his strong hands on my shoulders steadying me. Speechless, I couldn’t even make lame come-ons or joke about his nudity.

“I’m a shapeshifter, Leigh.

“Not possible.
This
isn’t possible.” It became a struggle to control my breathing, and I was in danger of hyperventilating. Quick intakes of air whistled in and out of my lungs. “I am dreaming. Any minute I am going to wake up because you’re walking through the front door and I’ve been asleep on the couch taking a nap.”

“I knew from the moment I first saw you, that you were the woman I wanted. Because I’m a shifter and because I’ve been drawn to you. You met me once like this Leigh, because I wanted to see you again after I took you home.”

The light-headed feeling didn’t abate. When I wobbled again, Ian coaxed me to sit on the deck. I’d recently swept it clean of leaves and debris at least. “Like love at first sight?” It was hard having a conversation with a naked person, harder when the naked person had transformed from the shape of a bird.

“Sort of. You could call it such, I guess. I could have resisted if I wanted to, but the thing is, Leigh, I didn’t. When I saw the way the people at church treated you, I couldn’t let it pass.”

“So you helped me because of what?”

“Because no one deserves to be treated that way, Leigh. Hell, I’d have stepped in for anyone, but finding you at the same time...” He sighed. “Come on. Let’s get you off the ground.”

Ian helped me up to my feet, but I stumbled against him and into his hard body. His strong arms surrounded me without hesitation.

“What’s this mean, Ian? For me and Sophia. For... us.”

“It means I don’t only want you for a year, or until you’re out of school and on your feet, Leigh. I want you for the rest of my life, for as long as you’ll have me. I never intended to let you go without a fight. When I married you, I hoped you’d eventually come to want me, too.”

And then I had visited his room in the middle of the night. I trembled, distracted by the memory of his lips against mine. I wanted to be afraid. I wanted to be terrified of a man who could turn into a wild animal in the span of a second, but in my heart, I knew he was the same Ian who rescued me from my shitty life decisions. Cold from the shock, I pressed closer against him to reap the benefits of his body heat.

“Are you okay, Leigh?”

“I’m fine,” I whispered.

“If you want out, I’ll understand.”

“I didn’t say that.” The idea of ending it all and walking way away seemed scarier than the secret he’d revealed. I’d have to be a fool to go.

Sophia’s sudden, piercing shriek interrupted our conversation. “I have to check her... um...”

“We’ll finish this when you’re done,” Ian assured me.

I returned inside, glancing once over my shoulder to see him gathering his clothes off the deck. By the time I’d finished comforting my infant by changing a wet diaper, Ian had brought in our leftover goodies and clothed himself in his jeans. That was regrettable. We crossed paths as he exited the kitchen and moved our conversation to the living room where we settled on opposite ends of the same couch.

When Ian didn’t speak first, I bit the bullet and started us off. “So... You turn into an eagle. Bet that was useful in the Air Force.”

Ian’s faint smile held a trace of amusement. “It was, actually. I’m the leader of a special group of individuals, each of us with a unique skill set related to our shifter traits.”

“Wait a minute. Wasn’t Russell in your squad? Are Dani and Russ eagles too?”

His rich, deep laughter filled the room. “No. Not eagles, sweetie. Dani is as human as you are, Leigh. My kind are incredibly rare.”

Ian gave me a lot to think about and too many questions to ask at once. If Russ wasn’t a human or an eagle, what was he? And had Ian settled for me due to the lack of women among his own species?