Conqueror, p.3
Conqueror, page 3
His interests were different than those of his brothers. He liked odd factoids, as they called them. He liked modern history from the Industrial Revolution onward. He liked tools, as he’d told Amalie, and tinkering with things to make them better. He’d even quietly invented a few things that Uncle Sam had used to improve certain weapons systems. Had a few patents on that tech too. Not that his brothers cared.
The money from those patents went into a separate bank account Billy used to fund further research. One day, he’d promised himself, when he was retired, he’d build himself a real lab with that money and tinker to his heart’s content.
He just hadn’t expected to retire so young. And he wasn’t really fully retired. He was still running missions, like this one, on a contractual basis for Admiral Morrow. Though, now that Rich was mated, Billy might consider cutting back his real-world missions even more. Maybe it was nearly time to start looking for a place to build that lab he’d always dreamed of… Maybe.
Another thought he’d have to get used to. Damn. The changes were coming hard and fast. It was like being at the center of a whirlwind and not knowing where it was going to dump you out. Billy just hoped he’d still be on his feet when things finally calmed down.
“That’s got to be a rough adjustment,” she said quietly. “I’m sorry. If there’s anything I can do to help…”
“It’s fine,” he replied, touched by her gentle offer. “I just have to deal with all the changes and keep moving forward.”
“Improvise, adapt, and overcome,” she said, surprising him. “Is that what Clint Eastwood said in that old movie?”
He cocked his head and considered her words. “You like old war movies?”
She nodded. “Some of them. I like the really old ones best.”
“What’s your favorite?” Damn if this woman wasn’t unexpected and intriguing.
“I’d have to say Patton. George C. Scott did a masterful job, and the visuals are really striking,” she replied at once.
“The famous speech in front of the giant flag? Yeah,” he agreed. “That’s a classic.”
He pulled out some of the gear and took one of the mini cams out of its box. He handed it to her, and she examined it in detail.
“It’s so tiny,” she exclaimed.
“Tiny and powerful,” he replied. Sorta like her, he suspected, though he didn’t give voice to his thoughts. “It has a wide angle, infrared and audio. Once we get it into position and camouflage it a little, only a real pro will be able to detect it.”
“Neat. Where do you mount something like this? In a tree or something?”
“Yeah, tree trunk will do, if you don’t mind a little damage to the bark. We can chisel out a small spot for it, and it’ll be nearly undetectable.”
“It runs on a battery?” She turned it around as if to look for the power source. “How long can that last? And how do you change it?”
“The battery lasts about a year with average use,” he told her. “As for changing it…” He held out his hand, and she placed the little camera into it. He popped the tiny slot on the back, showing her the thin round metallic disk that was this model’s battery. “They sell these in most hardware stores, or you can get them online. Simple to replace, and the software will tell you when the power is running low in plenty of time to arrange receipt of a replacement battery.” He put the camera down and unboxed another miniature device with a small, clear dome. “Now, this is a motion sensor. We can set it for various sensitivities so it won’t pick up every squirrel or chickadee that wanders through your garden but will warn you of anything larger.”
She took the device from him and took a close look at it. “It’s amazing how small these things are.” She blinked up at him. “And they really work?”
He nodded. “They really do. Better than the older, larger models, in fact.”
They spent the rest of the afternoon working together. She helped him place some of the gear, and he showed her how to access the feeds on her phone. By the time they finished covering most of the perimeter, it was time for dinner. They ate on the patio. She served the stew, taking only a small portion for herself and giving him the lion’s share, he noticed. She ate most of the salad, though he had a little to be polite. They talked about the security setup and the events that had taken place on Long Island the day before.
By the time dinner was over and they sat talking over coffee, Billy noticed he was having a hard time keeping his eyes open. When he yawned for the second time, she put her coffee cup down.
“All right, I can tell you’re about to crash. Let me show you the guest room so you can at least get into bed before you start snoring.” Her smile softened her words as she stood. He rose as well, lifting his coffee cup, intending to help her clean up the remains of their meal, but she shook her head. “I’ll do that. You’re about to collapse into a heap, and you’ll get a crick in your neck if you end up sleeping on my kitchen floor. You’re too big for me to move.”
“I’m not going to pass out. I’m a light sleeper,” he told her, but did as she asked and lowered the cup and saucer to the table.
“You won’t be tonight. And probably for part of tomorrow. I’m not sure how it will affect a shifter, but you’re going to crash hard at first. Trust me.”
He didn’t think he would, but he agreed. When he expected her to usher him into her house, she did the opposite and made for the back of the garden where he’d noticed a shed earlier. She was going to make him sleep in the shed? Really? He’d thought they were beyond all that. But he was the interloper here, and he followed her lead, wanting to see where she was taking him.
When she opened the door of the shed and went in, he was truly surprised. It was larger than it looked from the outside and done up like a little cottage. There was a desk in front of the small window, and when she flipped on the lamp, he saw a daybed covered in luxurious, dark velvet along the far wall. It looked just big enough to fit him, and right now, it looked like heaven as his eyelids began to lower of their own volition. Maybe there was something to her claims about him crashing after all.
She went to the bed and removed the velvet cover to reveal a down comforter and cotton sheets in a tawny color. Amalie took the pillows that had been on either end of the bed and put them together at the side facing the doorway, just as he’d have wished. Then, she stood back.
“Make yourself at home,” she invited, gesturing toward the bed.
Billy had brought his small duffel bag from his truck when he’d parked it at the back of her property at her suggestion. He’d kept it under the patio table all night but had brought it with him when she showed him to the shed. He had everything he’d need for an overnight stay including clothes, communications gear and his laptop. He dropped it beside the bed and sat down. It was soft and inviting, and it was all he could do to keep his eyes open while she moved to the foot of the bed.
“This is your bathroom,” she told him, opening the door and flipping on the light to reveal an empty shower stall, toilet, and small sink.
“Handy,” he observed.
“They advertised this as the guest house when I rented the place. Really, it’s just a glorified she shed. I heard the previous owner worked from home, and this was her office,” Amalie explained. “Now, lay down, and I’ll check on you in the morning.” She walked to the door. “Sweet dreams,” she said, smiling in that sexy way she had that set his blood on fire. Then she walked out and shut the door.
Billy made himself rise to watch her progress through the garden out the small window. He wouldn’t rest until he was sure she was back in the house. He opened the window so he could hear a little better. She walked through the garden as if she hadn’t a care in the world and looked like something out of a fairy tale. A wood sprite, or an elf, prancing through the woods.
Even the fireflies seemed to come out to greet her as she passed. Now, that was some magical shit if he’d ever seen any. He began to wonder if she had some sort of elemental power, but that didn’t feel quite right to his lion. She had magic, he was sure, but he still didn’t really know what kind.
Her long blonde hair waved in the soft breeze as she made it to the patio, where her cat joined her, stalking out of the bushes by the garage. She bustled around on the patio for a moment, gathering the coffee cups and other items onto a tray, then headed inside with the orange cat at her side. As she returned to the back door a moment later, he heard the snick of the lock, and she gave him a little wave then closed the curtain on the window. He heard the alarm system hum into its on position a moment later.
“Good girl,” he murmured to himself as he dragged his ass into the bathroom. He got ready for bed, tired to his bones, and just had time to shuck his clothes before he got into the inviting bed. She’d been right about him crashing, was the last thought he had before sleep overtook him.
CHAPTER FOUR
Billy had been asleep for several hours when he slipped into a dream that could best be described as erotic. He’d been having these dreams off and on for the past few months, but he’d never seen the woman’s face. Always the same woman too. He didn’t know how he could tell when her face was always obscured, but somehow, he knew.
She was back again, but this time, they were in a garden. In the garden he’d been in tonight, as a matter of fact, behind Amalie’s house. And when she turned to face him, surrounded by the light of a dozen fireflies, he wasn’t really that surprised to see she had Amalie’s lovely elfin face. From the determined, pointy little chin and wide blue eyes to the slight pointiness of her ears and the pale creaminess of her skin.
She was gorgeous. And she was—at least for tonight—the woman of his dreams. He walked beside her in the seemingly endless garden with fireflies dancing around them. They didn’t talk, but when she paused to sniff at a night-blooming flower, he took her hand in his. He couldn’t resist. He had to touch her in some way. He had to have that connection with this woman who stirred his blood, and had done so for the past few months.
The sensible part of his brain knew this was just a dream and that, in all likelihood, his dream woman had taken on Amalie’s face simply because he’d met her today and thought she was beautiful. Just a coincidence. Right?
He touched her hand in the dream, and electric sparkles danced up his arm and through his body. Magic.
She looked up at him and smiled.
“I waited so long for you to get here,” she whispered. It was Amalie’s voice, but with a warmth in it he hadn’t heard today.
They’d talked as they’d worked, but not about intimate things. Not about feelings and hopes…and desires. They’d just talked about the gear and how to install it. The threat the Venifucus posed and the events of the past week on Long Island. They hadn’t touched on any truly personal subjects. But he felt as if he knew her somewhere down deep, where particulars didn’t really matter—only the soul and the heart mattered on that level.
And on that level, he felt he knew her. And he really liked her. Hell, he more than liked her. He knew down deep that he could very well fall in love with this woman. The question was, could she fall in love with him and be his forever mate?
His brother had fallen for a magical woman, and they showed every sign of having the sort of lifelong bond that all shifters craved. Billy just wasn’t so sure he could form that kind of bond with a woman who had seemed so stand-offish at first. Would she even want a man in her life on that forever sort of basis? Or was she more of a solo flyer who might dally with a man from time to time during her life, but mostly go it alone?
He just didn’t know her well enough to understand that facet of her personality yet. But they had time. Maybe. He’d have to convince her to let him stick around and get to know her better. He’d planned to stay nearby even if she tossed him out tomorrow. He couldn’t shirk his duty to protect her just because she didn’t want him around. He’d promised her grandmother, and the Admiral. He’d made Amalie’s safety his duty, and Billy was never one to abandon something he’d taken on as a sacred trust.
“I’m sorry I made you wait,” he replied to her in the dream. “I’m here now.”
She smiled again. “I’m glad.” Then, she stepped closer and raised her lips to his. She was smaller than him, but she stood on tiptoe, and in the magical space of the dream, it was simple for her to reach his height and match their lips together.
The kiss started out innocent and gentle but soon turned sultry and even tempestuous. In the foggy surroundings of the dream, they were suddenly horizontal, laying on a cloud, both of them wearing only their skin. Touching everywhere.
The kiss turned molten as he sought entrance to her willing body. Time stood still, even as it sped into oblivion and they raced together toward a pinnacle of pleasure he’d only ever experienced in these forbidden dreams. This time, the woman had a face. This time, he called Amalie’s name as he shuddered in ecstasy. This time, she whispered his name in his ear, even as her body shuddered and shook around him.
The sound of his name echoed as he jolted awake. Sweet Mother of All! That dream had been something else. Hotter than any of the previous dreams, he was hard, and his blood was raging. He might have come in the dream, but not in the real world, and he hurt.
Shaking his head, he threw off the sheets and turned to sit on the side of the bed. Dropping his head into his hands, he cursed under his breath. There was nothing for it. He had to get up and do something to relieve this stress.
He’d go on a prowl around the grounds. His inner lion was itching to get out, and letting the cat take over for a little while was probably a good idea at this moment. The man was almost out of control. At this point, the cat had better sense than his human half.
Billy opened the door and shifted into his lion, slinking outside into the dark yard to patrol the perimeter. It was either that or knock on Amalie’s door and beg for her to let him make love to her.
Like that was going to happen tonight. Maybe it would in a few days, after he’d had a chance to seduce her with his questionable charms. But not tonight. Resigning himself, he loped into the darkness on silent paws.
Amalie dreamed of Billy again. This time, she knew his name, and when they made love, she whispered it to him. That seemed to break the spell, and she was released from the dream. Her body was thrumming with unrequited desire, but there was little she could do about that.
Getting out of bed, she padded down to the kitchen to get a glass of cold water. That helped a little. When she got back to her bedroom, she went to the window as if drawn there, to look at the shed at the other end of the garden. The door was open, and she frowned.
A moment later, she saw a large, dark shape slinking out of the bushes at the edges of the property. It paused, and as her eyes adjusted, she realized she was looking at the darkly golden fur of a…lion. Billy was a lion shifter. Sweet Mother of All.
The golden glow of his eyes shifted to her, and their gazes met and held for a timeless moment. She gasped, and the spell was broken. He moved forward, toward her window, but she retreated, running scared from the wildness of him.
She bolted for her bed and slipped under the covers. She wasn’t sure how she was going to sleep after that startling encounter, but somehow, between one thought and the next, she drifted back to sleep. She didn’t dream again that night, which was both a relief and oddly disappointing.
The next morning, Amalie woke with the sun and felt refreshed. She decided to just not think about that sexy hot dream she’d had. She’d never get through breakfast with Billy—the least she could do was feed the man before she sent him on his way—if she thought about that dream.
She got ready for the day, perhaps taking a bit longer than usual with her appearance for no particular reason, she was sure, then went down to the kitchen. She was about to start preparing breakfast when she noticed a slip of paper tucked against the window of the back door. Amalie disengaged the security system, opened the door and grabbed the note. It was from Billy. He’d gone for supplies and was bringing back breakfast.
“How thoughtful,” she said as she closed and locked the door and turned back to the kitchen to put away the frying pan she’d just taken out.
She was debating whether or not to make a pot of coffee or tea when she heard Billy’s truck return, pulling into her driveway and shutting off at the far end near the garage, mostly out of sight from the road. That’s where it had been parked last night too.
A few minutes later, she saw him walking through the gate with a few bags in his hands. He set them down on the patio table as she walked out to join him.
“You saw my note, I hope,” he said by way of greeting as he started unpacking containers of food from two big bags. “I didn’t know what you liked, so I asked the local diner guy to just give us two big breakfasts with a variety of things. Take what you like, and I’ll eat the rest. I woke up famished this morning.”
“That’s another side effect of that particular ceremony,” she told him. “Though you didn’t sleep as long as I expected. If it were me, I’d still be in dreamland.”
Now why had she referenced dreams? Silly girl. He looked up at her, twisting his head to the side to meet her gaze, speculation in his eyes.
“I had a doozy of a dream last night, and when I woke from that, I had to get up and go out on a prowl. I hope I didn’t spook you too badly,” he said in a gentle tone of voice that was also somehow challenging.
“No,” she replied, shaking her head. “You didn’t scare me. Surprised me, maybe. I mean, I knew you were a cat, but I never expected…”
“The king of the jungle?” His earthy chuckle warmed her as he returned to taking things out of the bags he’d brought.
“I’ve never seen a lion in real life. Just on TV. I didn’t realize you’d be so huge in your shifted form,” she admitted.
“Generally, shifters are larger than their animal counterparts in our shifted forms. Not always, but usually. But me and my brothers are a bit larger than the average lion shifter anyway. Good genes,” he said, a smug expression on his face that soon disintegrated into amusement. “That’s what Rich always says, anyway. Personally, I think one of our long-ago ancestors was Samoan. It would explain a lot.”
