Claiming His Human Page 9
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Holly couldn’t have heard him right, and the door opening to reveal a cheerful porter, spared her from any response. Not that she could have thought of anything to say. What could you say to that? He believed what he was saying to her was the truth. That much was obvious from the intensity in his softly glowing amber eyes.
“Do excuse me. I’m just going to move this bed out to make room for Mrs. Trent because she’s coming back down to the ward any minute now.”
The balding middle-aged man smiled at them, and Holly jumped off the bed, followed by Darius, who put his big body between Holly and the porter. She could hear his bear’s low growl, and she inwardly rolled her eyes. Had he been a peacock he would have no doubt spread his feathers and presented in a show of male posturing that should have been ridiculous, had it not been for his earlier warning that she wasn’t safe. Lord only knew what he meant by that, and this porter certainly looked no threat to her, just your ordinary, overweight, run of the mill human, but what did she know? She had been working for a fox, surrounded by shifters, and lusted after a man who changed into a deadly grizzly bear for weeks without being any the wiser, after all. Clearly, Holly’s judgment in these matters was way, way, off the scale, inaccurate. So, she swallowed her must be an independent woman at all costs streak, and simply let him take charge of the situation. Some battles weren’t worth fighting, and if she was completely honest with herself, his possessiveness was a huge turn-on.
Now that he had reassured her that there would be no lasting consequences of their earlier encounter, she could relax and enjoy it for what it had been. The best sex she’d ever had. And wasn’t that a sobering thought in itself? That what had in effect been a hurried and interrupted quickie in a public location had been the most satisfying sexual encounter to date. Her cheeks heated at the mere thought what he might to do her if they were in a more traditional setting and with all the time in the world. Darius pulled her out of the way as the porter moved the bed, and nuzzled into her neck.
Shivers raced each other across her skin. Why was that so damn arousing, anyway? He inhaled deeply, and she could feel his lips curve into a smile before he withdrew and whispered into her ear.
“I would love to know what thoughts are turning your cheeks such a pretty pink, girl, though I can guess. You’re being a naughty girl, aren’t you?”
Holly shook her head, all too aware of the solid length of his erection resting against her lower back. Darius’s soft laughter washed over her.
“Liar,” he said. “Oh, look, here comes that giraffe again. She really should have known better than to interrupt us when she did.”
Holly half-turned to look at him, but he wasn’t smiling. He looked annoyed, in fact, and the low rumbles his bear had been making erupted into a full growl as the nurse stepped closer. The young woman almost dropped the notes she’d been carrying and looked about ready to pee herself.
“I really am very sorry about earlier.” She dropped her head in a sign of submission, and Darius’s stern features relaxed a little.
“I know. Make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Sonja offered him an apologetic smile and then addressed Holly.
“Mrs. Trent will be here shortly. She’ll be a little bit groggy due to the aftereffects of the anesthetic, but the surgery went well, and Mr. Ingle will be here in a little while to answer any questions you might have.”
“Thank you,” Holly said. The other woman consulted her notes and then scribbled some medical abbreviation on the white board on the wall next to the monitoring equipment left in the room before she pulled the door shut on her way out.
“Giraffe, really?” she asked.
Darius laughed. He stepped up to the slatted blinds which covered the large window and peered through them to the outside. She didn’t catch his muttered curse, but it was clear from his body language that he didn’t like whatever he’d seen out there. Her mother’s room faced onto the front of the hospital, which afforded the perfect view over the comings and goings.
“What is it?” she asked. Holly, too, peered out, but she couldn’t see anything, bar the usual busy traffic. A nondescript white van was waiting in the drop-off area, but she couldn’t make up the driver from up here. Certainly, no men sprouting fur, or villagers carrying pitchforks to rid the land of the beasts in their midst. That mental image, while amusing, also made her heart beat faster. Humans, on the whole, couldn’t know that shifters existed. If they did, they’d do their utmost to destroy them all. That’s what humans did, destroy what they didn’t understand. With sudden insight, Holly realized what was happening here. No wonder, his shifting in full view of a human, i.e., her and lord only knew how many other unsuspecting passersby, had brought the council down on their heads. How much trouble was he in, exactly?
“We haven’t got much time left,” Darius said, in answer. He looked through the slats again and pointed at the van. “See that? Cole’s men are here to escort us out of here.”
“Oh.”
“Yes, oh.” Darius’s smile didn’t reach his eyes, and Holly had to lighten the mood.
“Is she really a giraffe?” she asked. As she’d hoped Darius laughed and nodded.
“Can’t you tell? She’s all long arms, legs, and necks. Unusually tall for a mere human?”
Holly contemplated that for a minute.
“So, what you’re saying is that shifters look like their animals?” She regarded him and smirked, which meant one of his eyebrows shot up. Lord only knew how he did that to such devastating effect, but if she had still been wearing her knickers, they would be soaked through again. As it was moisture slowly trickled down the inside of her thighs, and she clenched them together, grateful beyond belief for the length of her dress, which covered the evidence. He would know, of course, and sure enough, he inhaled deeply and his eyes glowed softly.
“Most of them do, not always. Some of us get a lot bigger, or smaller, as the case might be, but we all, generally speaking, carry some characteristics of our inner animal.”
“Right, and a shifter can be anyone?”
Darius nodded.
“Pretty much. Insects are the exception to the rules.”
“Thank God for that. Spiders are bad enough as, well, spiders, let alone … well, you know.”
Darius laughed and continued.
“No man-eating arachnids, I promise. In any case, the smaller shifters and non-predators have less of a need to be in their animal form, so you will find a lot of them living perfectly happily side by side with their human neighbors. Lydia, for instance, hasn’t shifted in years. For those that do need to shift, the council has established safe zones in which they can do so. Shifting outside of those carries heavy penalties unless it was an emergency. However, it is up to council classification what constitutes an emergency. Cole is the head of council security, and his team, of which I am part of, ensures the rules are upheld. For the most part, it all works. When it doesn’t, we step in and clean up, apprehend the offenders and take them to the council to await their decision on how to proceed.”
He stopped talking, and a heavy silence fell between them as the enormity of Darius’s actions dawned on Holly.
“Jeez, knowing all that and with you being on the security team, why did you do what you did?” she asked.
Darius shrugged but his bear’s growls got louder, more menacing, and she could see his animal pace under his skin. It was utterly fascinating to witness.
“He hurt you.”
Holly blinked, and Darius was back to his normal self. Or should that be his human self, because his bear was very much part of him, Holly realized. What’s more she was getting rather fond of his growly self. Not every day a woman got her own walking, talking teddy bear, after all, let alone one devoted to just her.
“He only grabbed my arm, Darius.”
“He knew better, and he left bruises. No one touches what’s mine.”
“Right, but what—”
 
; The doors being flung open heralded the arrival of her mother, and more questions would have to wait. Holly swallowed hard seeing her mother almost entirely engulfed by the bed. She was just so small and frail, her elevated leg now in plaster with a metal frame attached to it. Darius stepped up behind her, and she sought refuge in his strength and warmth so that when Mama looked at her, Holly managed a bright smile.
“Some amazing hardware you’re sporting there, I have to say, Mrs. T.” Darius’s deep voice made her mother’s tired smile deepen.
“I’m told it’s all the rage these days. Holly will want one next.”
“Hah, hardly, you can keep that accessory all to yourself, Mummy.”
Darius squeezed her shoulders in support, and she leaned back into him. Her mother’s surgeon walked in once her bed was back in his customary spot by the wall, and the entourage had cleared away.
“The operation went well,” Mr. Ingle said, addressing Holly. “We did need to use a much more extensive framework then I would have liked, but this should give your mother the best chances of a full recovery. Unfortunately, that also means that she will have to remain here a little longer than we’d first estimated. I take it that will not be an insurance issue?”
Holly shook her head and mentally crossed her fingers.
“I pay enough in my premiums, so it better not be.”
“It won’t be an issue at all, even if the insurance isn’t happy.” Darius’s quiet statement uttered with complete sincerity made her heart miss a few beats. “I left my details with your receptionist, so if money becomes an issue, she knows how to get hold of me.”
Mr. Ingle smiled, and Holly could almost see the pound signs go up in the man’s eyes. Maybe she was being unfair, they gave excellent treatment, after all, but it sure wasn’t cheap, and this hospital was first and foremost a business.
“You really don’t have to do that.” She looked up at Darius to see his jaw clench.
“I know that, but I want to, little one.” Oh the way he dropped his voice on those last two words. Yeah, she was toast. Even if she could have formed a coherent reply past the huge lump of emotion lodged in her throat, she instinctively knew that resistance was futile. Darius had made up his mind, and that was that. If she had learned one thing over the last day or so, since she’d been thrown headfirst off the cliff and into her very own twilight zone it was that Darius would not be swayed from a course of action he thought to be the right one.
So, she simply grasped her mother’s hand and waited for her to drift into healing sleep, while Mr. Ingle explained the post-operative care, and eventually left. Darius didn’t say anything while they quietly sat with her mother, and it was only when she’d been asleep for some time, that he touched her shoulder.
“I’m sorry, we have to go, baby.”
Chapter Eight
Holly murmured her goodbyes to her mother and kissed her forehead before she meekly turned around and smiled up at him. There were a thousand and one things he wanted to say to her right now, but they’d run out of time. Hamilton and Patrick’s scents had been lurking outside the door for some time, and the two bears were getting impatient. With good reason, because the longer this took, the more time the council had to gather the proverbial ammunition against Darius. While Hamilton and Patrick were his friends, they had families to consider. Either one of them could be fired at a moment’s notice by the powers that be. Cole would reinstate them, of course, but in the current climate, the fewer waves Darius could create right now, the better.
Unease poured off Holly’s curvy frame when they stepped into the corridor and she saw the two bear shifters. For their part, both men inhaled sharply. Darius didn’t miss the coy glances at Holly’s neck and shoulder where his mark ought to be. Hamilton frowned, but Patrick shook his head at him.
“Finally, let’s get you out of here. Back way, I think.”
If Holly thought it odd that they were leaving the Cromwell through the kitchens, then she didn’t say so. She simply clung onto his hand with a death grip and put up no resistance when Darius pulled her up and into the back of the van. The internal light came on and he’d just managed to strap her into her harness, which served to restrain any passengers they usually carried in here before the van set off.
He expected her to have more questions, but she kept quiet during the seemingly interminable long drive to his cousin’s house. Far too quiet, but with Hamilton and Patrick able to hear anything they could have said to each other, Darius wasn’t inclined to talk either. She’d let go of his hand when they entered the van, but when Darius held his out halfway through the drive, she took it with a strained smile in his direction.
Darius leaned closer so that he could whisper the words for her ears only.
“It will be all right, little one. Cole will keep you safe.”
Silent tears marred her cheeks when he pulled back slightly so that he could take in her expression.
“Who will keep you safe?” she asked.
“I’ll be…” The rest of the meaningless platitude he was going to throw out stuck in his throat because Holly shook her head.
“You said you wouldn’t lie to me, so don’t start now. How much trouble are you in?”
Patrick’s grim laugh from the front seat made her head swing around to look in his direction.
“The lethal kind, human, especially as you’re still not—”
“Shut the fuck up, asshole.” Darius interrupted the other man, and Patrick flipped him the finger.
“Take it you haven’t told her then. Not like you to pussyfoot around.”
Hamilton cuffed the other man upside the head.
“Concentrate on your driving, fool. If you crash this thing, and something happens to her, I’ll gladly let Darius tear you limb from limb. In fact, I’ll sell tickets.”
Patrick glared at the other shifter and shrugged.
“Sell tickets to that one’s funeral.” He shoved his thumb over his shoulder at Darius and finally stopped talking, but the damage was done.
Holly paled, and the grip on his hand would have felled a lesser man. As it was he was pretty sure he would carry crescent shaped marks where her nails dug into his skin.
“What on earth are they talking about, Darius?”
Her expressive eyes sought his, and while he wanted to make this easier for her, he couldn’t. He hadn’t wanted to tell her in the back of a freaking van, and especially not with an audience, but he knew her well enough by now that she wouldn’t let this go. They had established a fragile trust between them, and he didn’t want to jeopardize that.
“It means that there’s a warrant out for my arrest for the murder of that wolf.” Her horrified gasp rang through the air.
“But, you didn’t … I mean you killed him, I know. It was a fight. He’d have killed you otherwise, right?” She pulled her hand away and traced the leftover marks said wolf’s fingers had left on her wrist. His bear voiced his disapproval, and Holly shook her head.
“Quit that, I stopped being frightened of your bear a long time ago. Acting like a bear with a sore head is what got you into that mess in the first place. If you used your brain instead of your brawn we wouldn’t be having this conversation now, would we? And you—” She poked Darius in the chest and glared at the back of Hamilton and Patrick’s heads. Their amusement at her response was obvious, and it was clearly pissing his little human mate off.
“You two furry Neanderthals can stop sniggering, too. This isn’t remotely funny. It’s—”
The combined enraged growls of their respective bears filled the van. Darius had to marvel at Holly’s response. Where was the frightened stiff young woman of yesterday? Nowhere to be seen, that’s for sure because this new, much more assertive version rolled her eyes and mimicked a yawn.
“Save your posturing for whatever hapless female you’re trying to impress. It won’t work on me. Besides, I know damn well you can’t touch me, so give over and shut up.”
Hamilton swu
ng round in his seat to glare at Holly, but she stared him down, and Darius’s chest filled with pride at her strength. He ignored his bear’s satisfied growl and smug impression of told you so.
“Are you going to let your female talk to us like that?” Hamilton’s eyes glowed in outrage, whereas Patrick murmured something under his breath that sounded decidedly like pussy whipped.
Darius let that remark go. Holly seemed to have heard it, too, because she pushed her hands together in a slow clap.
“Oh, this is just typical. So nice to know the men of any species are stuck in teenage boy mode. Throw insults about all you like, but that’s not going to change anything.”
More furious roars rocked the van, and Darius shook his head in wry amusement.
“Some of us have grown up, little one.” He dropped his voice on the last two words on purpose, and sure enough, some of her fight went out of her. “Don’t be too hard on those two. Believe it or not, they are on our side, and they can’t help the fact that their mothers must have dropped them on their heads at birth.”
Both Hamilton and Patrick flipped him off, and Holly shook her head at the three of them. “And for the record boys, my female can talk to you any which way she wants, especially when she’s right. Show her some damn respect. Got that?”