Protection: A Bad Boy Stepbrother Romance (29 page)

“We still have our enemies, but it’s been years since the last open attack. To be on the safe side, Shaw and I have agreed that you will stay here in the Den until we’ve sorted things out with Jasper.”

“And how long will that be, exactly?” Tessa asked, sounding more than a little skeptical. Jace didn’t like the insinuation that his skills as a protector might be imperfect, and he scowled at her.

“No idea. Are you in a hurry to go somewhere?” he asked.

“No. Well, sort of, yes. I have some things to settle, and I can’t do them from here,” she said, twisting her hands in her lap and glancing away. Here was Jace’s chance to find out what was really going on with Tessa.

“Such as getting back to… what was it, Byron?” Jace asked, baring his teeth on the man’s name.

Tessa’s gaze snapped up to his, startled.

“Where did you hear that name?” she asked, her face going pale. The reaction only served to spur Jace on.

“He’s posted a sizable reward in return for information about your current location, Tessa. My guess is he’s probably panicked that he’s misplaced a couple of heiresses. Am I right?” Jace asked.

Tessa’s jaw dropped, but she snapped it back up and scowled at him, face flushing.

“It’s none of your business, now is it?” she spat.

“It could be. How do I know that you didn’t do something horrible to him? Maybe you stole all his money and left him at the altar or something,” Jace said, raising a critical brow.

“That is not… I would never… ugh! That isn’t what happened at all!” she said, her voice rising with pique. Just as he had at the safe house, Jace found her anger quite arousing.

“So what did happen? He’s not a relative, so that leaves very few options.”

“If you must know, he’s… he was my legal guardian. He was a friend of my parents’, and after they died he took over managing their estate, checking in on Camilla and myself,” she said. Her whole body went tense as she spoke, and Jace knew he should let up, but he couldn’t. He needed to know every detail, for reasons that were less than clear to him just now.

“Why run from him, then?” Jace asked, his question half accusation.

“He’s a bad man. He pretends to be a kindly uncle, but really he’s awful. He must have had my parents completely snowed, because he was only ever interested in our money. And he’d do pretty much anything to get it,” Tessa ground out.

“Such as?”

“Such as try to seduce both me and Camilla before we’d even turned eighteen. He was looking for a quick marriage with whichever one of us was stupid enough to give him access to our money.”

“And he wasn’t handsome enough or charming enough for either of you?” Jace asked.

Tessa’s face went red as a beet, and she looked mad enough to spit. Jace worried that she might have some kind of apoplexy if he didn’t stop prodding her.

“He was over fifty, and we were just girls! It was disgusting! He cornered me once, at a party. I was drunk, and it took him all of five minutes to get me alone and get his hands up my skirt. I pushed him off, and he came back a day later with a proposal of marriage! He knows that I loathe him, but rather than give up, he’s just continued to push at it for most of a decade. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d rather not relive the past,” she hissed.

Damn, Jace had gone too far. If her story was true, the bastard deserved a lot worse than a vanishing act. Jace raised his hands as a white flag, giving Tessa a casual shrug.

“My fault, I shouldn’t have assumed. He’s running all over the place telling anyone that will listen that your sister tried to seduce him, and then you left him standing at the altar,” Jace said, keeping his tone even.

“He has some kind of nerve. I agreed to let him tell people what he wanted about me if he’d leave Camilla out of it,” Tessa said, heaving a frustrated sigh.

“If you’re here, where’s your sister now?” Jace asked.

“You know, I think we’ve talked enough about me and my bad decisions for one day, don’t you think?” she snapped, still aggravated.

“Fine. I have some things I need to do today anyway. You’ll be safe from Jasper while you’re at the Den, but I haven’t told everyone that I’ve brought an Ascendant female here. I need you to stay here while I handle some business.”

“You’re just going to leave me here? I’m supposed to be in mortal danger!” she protested.

“I’ve asked Declan to keep an eye on my property, so no one will make it as far as the house. You’re shedding Ascendant scent like crazy, and he’s the only one I trust not to come in and… let’s just say he’s promised to keep his distance.”

Jace stood up and stacked their plates, placing them in the sink.

“I don’t have a TV, but there are plenty books if you’re interested. Just don’t leave the house unless it’s on fire,” Jace said.

Tessa rolled her eyes and went over to the couch, flopping down dramatically.

“Tessa, I mean it,” he said, staring her down until she flapped a hand in agreement.

Damn.

Jace really hated to leave her here, but if he didn’t go over to Maddie’s house, his sister would come over here. That couldn’t happen until he’d figured out what to do with Tessa.

Jace hustled himself to the shower, turning the heat up all the way and scrubbing at his skin in order to remove all traces of Tessa’s scent. He thought he might even shift and roll in some leaves on the way over to mask the human scent.

The girl had only been in his life a couple of days, and already things were getting complicated, Jace realized. This couldn’t go on for much longer.

All he had to do was trick his very clever sister for a few days, and find Tessa a mate that met with his approval.

It couldn’t be that hard, right? First Maddie, then the mate thing. Someone decent for Tessa.

It’d have to be Rhett. Tessa would like Declan, but the idea of her touching his closest friend and rival sickened Jace. Jace would talk to Rhett, make him understand. Jace needed to see this through, to make sure Tessa would be protected and accepted.

Jace tried out the idea of Tessa scowling at Rhett. Rhett giving her orders, telling her to behave. Tessa lying in Rhett’s bed, making those noises she tended to make.

THUNK.

Jace looked down to the floor next to his foot, where a fist-sized chunk of the marble counter top now rested. He sighed and brushed off his now-dusty right hand.

Maybe finding Tessa a mate was going to be harder than he thought.

“
T
hanks
. This whole mating thing— it isn’t very romantic, is it?” she asked.

Jace shrugged, making his own breakfast as he spoke.

“I think that’s up to the couple. The whole lavish celebration and chapel thing, that’s definitely a human thing. But courting can be any way you like, I guess.”

Tessa wrinkled her nose and took another bite of the omelet.

“Are you making a face at my cooking or at mating?” he asked, amused.

“The omelet’s perfect. The mating thing… I guess every little girl imagines her white wedding, you know?”

Jace made a noncommittal noise and turned back to his omelet making. Silence reigned for another minute or so before Tessa spoke up again.

“So did you mean it when you said that you’re not going to take a mate? I mean, is it that horrible?”

Jace sighed, and then shook his head.

“It’s not that. Several of the females in the Den would be a good match. I’m just not interested in taking a mate. It seems like a lot of hassle just to have sex. I can get that other places.”

Tessa gave him another look that said he’d over-spoken, but it wasn’t Jace’s fault that she was a bit of a prude.

“Ugh. I don’t want to know about it. And I don’t want a mate, either. I have my own life.”

“You’ll change your mind.”

“I won’t. You’ve held out.”

“You’re not me,” he said, sliding onto the stool next to her with his omelet.

Tessa rolled her eyes, and they ate in silence. Jace finished his huge omelet before she was even halfway through her smaller one. When he stopped eating, so did she.

She’s going to need to learn to eat more than that if she’s staying with this pack, Jace thought.

“What if that guy Jasper is my most compatible mate?” Tessa asked, out of nowhere.

Jace stopped looking Tessa up and down, trying to find the right words to comfort her.

“You’re going to stay right here. If you socialize with wolves from this pack, you’ll find your mate here. I could make a couple of guesses as to who it’ll be.”

“Are you seriously matchmaking for me right now?”

Jace shook his head, taken back by the idea.

“Not exactly. I can just guess who you’ll like. Declan or Rhett, maybe. Hopefully not Cord or Jesse.”

“Uh huh. This is sounding less and less appealing.”

“They’re good guys, possibly excepting Jesse. I’ll take you around to the Den soon, and you’ll get along with everyone. Shifters males are tall and good looking, pretty much without exception. Plus, most of us make pretty decent money from our jobs within the pack. You’ll be happy enough here, and you’ll find a good mate.”

“Sounds like you’ve got everything figured out, then,” she said, sipping her coffee with a demure smile.

What the hell did that mean? Gods, Jace never had understood women. Taking a long pull of his coffee, he reclined as he watched her, speculating. Tessa turned on her stool to face the living room, soaking in all the details of the house.

“Did you build this house?” she asked.

Jace shook his head, setting down his coffee cup.

“It doesn’t work like that here. Remember, I told you before that the Den is sentient. It creates what we need to live in comfort.”

Tessa’s eyebrows raised as she looked around again.

“It’s just… this place is very you. All the details are just right, down to the books,” she said, waving a hand at the crowded bookshelves in the living room area.

“What does that mean?” Jace asked.

“I just mean, of course your shelves are full of Dumas and Moore and Emerson and Hemingway. ‘Every man is an island’, indeed. I can’t believe the Den could understand you so well,” she said, a soft smile touching her lips.

“I brought the books in myself. The Den can’t create anything so personal. It can do beds and clothes and light fixtures and food, but that’s all powered by your own mind,” he explained, for some reason feeling a bit embarrassed that she’d pegged him so well.

Tessa frowned but nodded.

“How did Shifters come to live here? It seems like an incredible stroke of luck,” she said.

“Shifters are originally from Europe, and when the Inquisition washed through Greece in the late seventeen hundreds, our secret was discovered by a group of humans. It didn’t take long for our accusers to out many other supernatural species, especially the Fae and the vampires; we all lived much more openly before modern communications existed.” Jace took a breath, then forged on. “We joined forces with the vampires to protect the weaker Fae species as much as possible, but it was a terrible loss. There was a wholesale slaughter of paranormals, and those who survived scattered across the globe.”

“That’s terrible!” Tessa said, her upset genuine. Jace shrugged, at a loss. Tessa’s compassion put him off balance.

“It’s ancient history. When the war ended, the Fae thanked the vampires and Shifters by giving us the ability to create a between-place, in the event that we ever needed to hide again. Thus, the Den was born.”

“You really are a great storyteller,” Tessa said, some secret amusement lighting her eyes.

“I have to admit, it’s because I spend a lot of my free time playing RPG video games. I think they’ve rubbed off on me,” he said. He ran his hand through his hair. He wasn’t very comfortable revealing so much of himself to a female, especially an Ascendant. Tessa managed to make him feel… shy.

“So you’re a nerd at heart? I guess you did tell me that you’re the pack’s computer guru,” Tessa said with a grin.

“I understand machines a lot better than people. You can learn dozens of languages to speak to a computer, but when it comes to people… you either know how to relate, or you don’t. I’ll bet you can guess which category I fall into,” he said, wincing at the bitterness in his tone.

“You’re doing a fine job relating right now,” Tessa pointed out with a shrug.

“Most people don’t feel that way,” Jace said, amused. Tessa narrowed her eyes, but changed the subject.

“What about now? I know the Inquisition is long gone, but are the Shifters safe?” she asked, seeming concerned.

A little warm spot sparked in his chest at her question. He was glad that she cared about his people, even if it was only motivated by self-preservation. Shifters were her people now, too.

“We still have our enemies, but it’s been years since the last open attack. To be on the safe side, Shaw and I have agreed that you will stay here in the Den until we’ve sorted things out with Jasper.”

“And how long will that be, exactly?” Tessa asked, sounding more than a little skeptical. Jace didn’t like the insinuation that his skills as a protector might be imperfect, and he scowled at her.

“No idea. Are you in a hurry to go somewhere?” he asked.

“No. Well, sort of, yes. I have some things to settle, and I can’t do them from here,” she said, twisting her hands in her lap and glancing away. Here was Jace’s chance to find out what was really going on with Tessa.

“Such as getting back to… what was it, Byron?” Jace asked, baring his teeth on the man’s name.

Tessa’s gaze snapped up to his, startled.

“Where did you hear that name?” she asked, her face going pale. The reaction only served to spur Jace on.

“He’s posted a sizable reward in return for information about your current location, Tessa. My guess is he’s probably panicked that he’s misplaced a couple of heiresses. Am I right?” Jace asked.

Tessa’s jaw dropped, but she snapped it back up and scowled at him, face flushing.

“It’s none of your business, now is it?” she spat.

“It could be. How do I know that you didn’t do something horrible to him? Maybe you stole all his money and left him at the altar or something,” Jace said, raising a critical brow.

“That is not… I would never… ugh! That isn’t what happened at all!” she said, her voice rising with pique. Just as he had at the safe house, Jace found her anger quite arousing.

“So what did happen? He’s not a relative, so that leaves very few options.”

“If you must know, he’s… he was my legal guardian. He was a friend of my parents’, and after they died he took over managing their estate, checking in on Camilla and myself,” she said. Her whole body went tense as she spoke, and Jace knew he should let up, but he couldn’t. He needed to know every detail, for reasons that were less than clear to him just now.

“Why run from him, then?” Jace asked, his question half accusation.

“He’s a bad man. He pretends to be a kindly uncle, but really he’s awful. He must have had my parents completely snowed, because he was only ever interested in our money. And he’d do pretty much anything to get it,” Tessa ground out.

“Such as?”

“Such as try to seduce both me and Camilla before we’d even turned eighteen. He was looking for a quick marriage with whichever one of us was stupid enough to give him access to our money.”

“And he wasn’t handsome enough or charming enough for either of you?” Jace asked.

Tessa’s face went red as a beet, and she looked mad enough to spit. Jace worried that she might have some kind of apoplexy if he didn’t stop prodding her.

“He was over fifty, and we were just girls! It was disgusting! He cornered me once, at a party. I was drunk, and it took him all of five minutes to get me alone and get his hands up my skirt. I pushed him off, and he came back a day later with a proposal of marriage! He knows that I loathe him, but rather than give up, he’s just continued to push at it for most of a decade. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d rather not relive the past,” she hissed.

Damn, Jace had gone too far. If her story was true, the bastard deserved a lot worse than a vanishing act. Jace raised his hands as a white flag, giving Tessa a casual shrug.

“My fault, I shouldn’t have assumed. He’s running all over the place telling anyone that will listen that your sister tried to seduce him, and then you left him standing at the altar,” Jace said, keeping his tone even.

“He has some kind of nerve. I agreed to let him tell people what he wanted about me if he’d leave Camilla out of it,” Tessa said, heaving a frustrated sigh.

“If you’re here, where’s your sister now?” Jace asked.

“You know, I think we’ve talked enough about me and my bad decisions for one day, don’t you think?” she snapped, still aggravated.

“Fine. I have some things I need to do today anyway. You’ll be safe from Jasper while you’re at the Den, but I haven’t told everyone that I’ve brought an Ascendant female here. I need you to stay here while I handle some business.”

“You’re just going to leave me here? I’m supposed to be in mortal danger!” she protested.

“I’ve asked Declan to keep an eye on my property, so no one will make it as far as the house. You’re shedding Ascendant scent like crazy, and he’s the only one I trust not to come in and… let’s just say he’s promised to keep his distance.”

Jace stood up and stacked their plates, placing them in the sink.

“I don’t have a TV, but there are plenty books if you’re interested. Just don’t leave the house unless it’s on fire,” Jace said.

Tessa rolled her eyes and went over to the couch, flopping down dramatically.

“Tessa, I mean it,” he said, staring her down until she flapped a hand in agreement.

Damn.

Jace really hated to leave her here, but if he didn’t go over to Maddie’s house, his sister would come over here. That couldn’t happen until he’d figured out what to do with Tessa.

Jace hustled himself to the shower, turning the heat up all the way and scrubbing at his skin in order to remove all traces of Tessa’s scent. He thought he might even shift and roll in some leaves on the way over to mask the human scent.

The girl had only been in his life a couple of days, and already things were getting complicated, Jace realized. This couldn’t go on for much longer.

All he had to do was trick his very clever sister for a few days, and find Tessa a mate that met with his approval.

It couldn’t be that hard, right? First Maddie, then the mate thing. Someone decent for Tessa.

It’d have to be Rhett. Tessa would like Declan, but the idea of her touching his closest friend and rival sickened Jace. Jace would talk to Rhett, make him understand. Jace needed to see this through, to make sure Tessa would be protected and accepted.

Jace tried out the idea of Tessa scowling at Rhett. Rhett giving her orders, telling her to behave. Tessa lying in Rhett’s bed, making those noises she tended to make.

THUNK.

Jace looked down to the floor next to his foot, where a fist-sized chunk of the marble counter top now rested. He sighed and brushed off his now-dusty right hand.

Maybe finding Tessa a mate was going to be harder than he thought.