In Too Deep (3 page)

“
Jess showed everyone in Edenton the magazine showing off all of your tattoos.” Her cheeks turned a pretty shade of pink as she looked away. Maybe that magazine wasn’t the best thing to bring up. Now, all he could think about was her perfect body and all her ink. Her entire back was covered with a waterfall scene, both arms had full sleeves, and she had several other individual pieces. The humming bird under her left breast was his favorite. Brody wanted to explore every inch of her, and for the first time in what seemed like forever, he felt desire.

“
Of course she did,” she muttered, bringing him back to reality.

“
Anyway,” Brody continued, “Jess is going to chew my ass for nearly getting you killed and wrecking your bike. I have an empty apartment above my garage, and it's yours as long as you want. My garage is not attached to the house. There’s only one key, which you can have. At least until I fix your bike, which I
will
be fixing since I am the one who busted the hell out of it.”

She shook her head and opened her mouth like she was going to argue, but headlights washed over them. Groaning, she covered her eyes and looked away.
“Shit, that’s bright.”

He reached over, gently touching her shoulder.

“That your guy?” Her tone was resigned

“
Yeah. He happens to be Jess’ mate and the local alpha.” Fallon didn’t trust Brody, but she trusted Jess, so maybe between the three of them, they could talk her into staying in his apartment.

Brody looked up to see Slater hopping out of the truck. He scratched his neatly trimmed beard as he took in the scene. The alpha shook his head and walked over. He tossed some sweats and a t-shirt at Brody who hopped up
to quickly dress.

Fallon stood up slowly, but Brody stayed close and kept an eye on her.

“Hey, I’m Slater. Let’s get you back to my place where we can get you looked at.”

“
So, you’re Jess’ man?” Fallon smirked, one scarlet brow arched. “Figures she wouldn’t mention that you’re the pack alpha.”

“
She wasn’t sure how you’d take that little tidbit. She told me about the mess with Isaac.”

“
Of course she did.” She let out an amused laugh, and damn she was sexy. “As long as Jess is happy, you could be a demon and I’d be fine. But after the last man she was with, and the way she tears down every man I’ve ever dated, she probably didn’t want to give me any ammo.”

Slater grinned.
“Probably not.”

Fallon rubbed the back of her neck.
“So, how long has Jess known I was heading this way?”

“
She mentioned it was possibility a couple weeks ago. She’s kept it pretty hush, said she didn’t want to jinx the chance of her best friend moving up to Edenton.”

“
Right. And honestly, I wasn’t consciously driving this way, but when I got to Seattle, I figured I-90 was a good place to turn east.” A shiver wracked her body as she pinched the bridge of her nose. “Mind if I sit in the truck?”

Brody was pretty sure she was only on her feet through sheer force of will. He didn’t wait for Slater’s response, just scooped her up and carried her to the truck. He did his best to hide the smile at having her in his arms.
It felt like she belonged there, which should have scared him.

“
Sorry,” he murmured into her hair. “You looked like you were going to fall. We’ll get you to Slater’s in just a minute. I promise.”

She didn’t open her eyes, just nodded as he opened the door.

He sat her on the bench inside the truck. Then he reluctantly released her before taking a step away. “Be right back.” He shut the door. When she didn’t bother looking at him, he turned to walk back to Slater.

Slater got the bike on the truck and gave him an unsettling
look. “I know that look, Brody. I know that feeling.”

Brody knew exactly what he was talking about. Slater reacted the same way when Jess came to town. But he couldn’t be mating to Fallon. Could he?

He shook his head. “I nearly killed her when I slammed into her bike. She gets up and heals me like it was no big deal, shoves my shoulder into place and puts my wolf to sleep. Then she blew my mind with the spells she slung around. She was incredibly fast and obviously knows what she’s doing because she killed both vampires.”

Slater chuckled.
“You’re both in one piece.”

Brody was surprised to hear his own growl.
“I fucked up. I nearly ripped her throat out when I freaked out and yanked one of them off her. She already took care of him. I just didn’t realize it until the bastard burst into ash. Damn it, I could have killed her.” He wanted to punch something for hurting
his
woman.

His? Where the hell did that come from?

Slater rolled his gray eyes. “You didn’t know she was going to be on the road, so just stop. For future reference, you don’t tear a vampire away when their fangs are engaged. She won’t hold it against you.” He nodded toward the truck. “Come on. Let’s get back to my place.”

Fallon slowly released the breath she was holding and shook her head. Brody had picked her up like it was no big deal and put her in the damned truck. Instead of pissing her off, it felt good to have someone worried about her for once.

So fucking stupid
. She didn’t need him, didn’t need anyone. So she shouldn’t feel so good in his arms. Goddess, she made herself sick sometimes.

Jess and her damned visions. They were best friends for years and though they hadn’t seen each other in two, they talked on the phone every day. Fallon was willing to bet Jess had the next few months planned out for her.

Everything was just too convenient to be a coincidence. After all, Jess was the last person to call, Jess’ friend was the one to crash into her motorcycle, and he just
happened
to have an available apartment. At least he could fix her bike, so there was a plus.

As long as Jess wasn’t planning on setting Fallon up with Brody, she could deal. The last thing
she needed was another man when she was so very done with men and all the bullshit that came with them. She wasn’t lying about her track record. Her relationships always went to hell, and she had just left the latest episode that morning.

A country song came on the radio, making her cringe. With a groan she
flicked the radio off and laid her head back on the seat. Her eyes wouldn’t stay open, and she was tired of trying to fight her exhaustion. She gave in and drifted away.

“
Fallon, wake up, sugar.” Brody’s voice was just a breath above a whisper. His large and gentle fingers caressed the curve of her cheek. “Can’t sleep if you have a concussion.” Her eyes fluttered open and his big smoky blue eyes sucked her in. Her breath caught and he murmured, “Not yet anyway.”
Oh wow.
His voice was just a low rumbling purr that turned her on, even though her heartbeat was drumming through her skull.

Dazed, she shook her head and instantly regretted the movement. Her hand came up to hold her skull together.
“Goddess, my head.” He cupped her cheek with a tender touch. The pain started to melt away as she leaned into him until she realized what she was doing and yanked back with a wince. Her head started throbbing again.

Shit, she shouldn’t feel so much better from a simple touch.
“Sorry,” she whispered.

“
No, I’m sorry.” His eyes dropped to her throat, concern drawing his brow down as he traced the jagged wound with a tender touch. “This is my fault.”

Embarrassed, she glanced away, her tone gruff.
“You weren’t aiming at my bike, and I already told you how easy it would be not to see me.”

Slater laughed a big boisterous sound.
“Oh, do tell how Brody managed to plough right into your motorcycle, and I’ll even promise to forget in time for Jess to show up.”

Brody’s eyes narrowed at her, sending a shiver down her spine
. A growl edged into his tone. “She was riding with the lights out and a spell to keep the noise down.”

Slater gave her an appraising look.
“Now I know why Jess called in a panic. She knew you just left the bar, Brody.” He pulled into a driveway that wound back into the woods. “She was worried about both of you.”

Fallon groaned.
“She really doesn’t need to know about the light and the spell if she doesn’t already.” Of course, Jess probably saw it in a vision. She did call just before the accident. Now she sort of wished she had answered her phone. Maybe she could have avoided the whole wreck.

Her phone had rung all day, but by the first time she stopped for gas, she had
five missed calls from Isaac and assumed the rest were from him. It might be a good idea to make sure Jess wasn't the only important call. She dug her phone out and checked with a sigh. Except for the last, Isaac was the only caller.

She played back her messages and deleted all fifteen. By the last message, he was screaming and she hit delete as soon as she heard his voice.

They had been such a good friends. Why did she have to go and ruin by falling into bed with him? That one night turned into two years of pretending they had more than just sex between them. In no time, their friendship had deteriorated. Of course, Jess had warned her.

Brody was tense by the time she
shoved her phone in a pocket, and Slater didn’t seem too happy either. Of course the wolves heard it all, they have ridiculously sensitive hearing. To their credit, they kept their mouths shut.

It wasn’t like it was any of their business anyway. The vampire problem seemed like the much bigger issue than her screwed up love life.

Besides, she didn’t believe in love.

The truck came to a stop and both men climbed out. Fallon scooted to the edge of the seat, but Brody picked her up and set her on the ground. He gave her a sheepish grin and whispered,
“You can lean on me if you need to.”

She stepped away from with him with an icy stare.
“I’m not fragile and I’m not going to break.”

He held his hands up in apology, but his eyes sparkled.
“Yeah, I saw the way you handled yourself. I wouldn’t dream of calling you fragile. I only want to help. Now come on.”

Ooh
, she could smack him. She didn’t need his help.

Slater stood on the porch of a large wood cabin with her backpack slung over his shoulder. He chuckled as his eyes bounced back and forth between them.
“Come on inside. A friend of mine should be here anytime now. Dakota is a shaman and a healer. He’ll take care of you.”

Fallon didn’t want the help, but she didn’t have a lot of options. She had a feeling the werewolves would insist. Jess would be there any minute and go all mother hen on her. Too tired to argue, she followed them inside.

They stepped into a large room of knotty pine where an old worn area rug covered most of the floor. There was a fire in the stone hearth, and beige leather couches and chairs throughout with strategically placed wood sculpture end tables.

“
Look,” Fallon stopped just inside the door with her hands on her hips, “I’m sure Jess will let me stay with her until my bike is ready, and she’ll probably let me work at the bar to make some money to pay for the repairs.” A wave of dizziness hit her, and she attempted to look casual as she leaned against the wall.

Both men rushed to make sure she was all right.

“Just chill, Goddess, I swear this is the problem with all you shifters. You all worry too damned much about us poor humans.”

* * * *

Jess drove like a bat out of hell. Snippets of vision had plagued her for the last month. Blood pooled around Adam’s truck, Fallon kneeling on Brody’s massive and furry chest, Brody naked with Fallon limp in his arms.

She knew Brody was fine, and Fallon would be. Someone needed to talk some sense into
the bullheaded woman before she could bail. That’s where Jess came in, but she had to play this just right.

Being psychic sucked. You never knew when your visions would happen. Of course no one wanted to know the future. Probably because she mostly saw bad stuff and nobody likes to hear
about the wrong decisions they were making. No one hated Jess’ visions more than Fallon.

Right now, Fallon was running from what she wanted to forget, and was probably looking for any excuse to keep going. Jess just needed a week and Fallon would see
that she belonged in Edenton.

Hell, Jess spent the last few weeks setting everything up. Fallon was the best tattoo artist Jess had ever met. So when one of Adam’s artists left Inktastic, she talked him into holding the position open for Fallon. She helped Brody get his empty apartment ready for a tenant a few weeks
before even though she knew he wasn’t ready to rent the space out. All he needed was one look at Fallon and he would change his mind

Fallon had been thinking about leaving San Francisco for over a year, but something
always held her back. She finally reached her breaking point and left for good. So really, Edenton was perfect. Everything Fallon needed was here, as long as she didn’t talk herself out of staying.

Jess pulled into the driveway, and tried to clear her head as she hopped out of her truck. One word
about visions and Fallon would bolt.

She could hear Fallon’s exasperation through the door.
“Just chill, Goddess, I swear this is the problem with all you shifters. You all worry too damned much about us poor humans.”

Taking a deep breath, Jess pushed open the door.
“Now, Fallon, these gentlemen are just worried about you.”

Fallon stood against the wall just inside the door with fire in her eyes as Brody and Slater crowded into her space. Jess knew they only wanted to help, but Fallon was too damned independent to let anyone. She was barely on her feet, covered in blood and ash, and had two raw tears in her throat.

Jess froze. Her visions hadn’t prepared her for the reality. “Please, for the love of God, tell me that isn’t all your blood.”

Fallon snorted indignantly.
“Little of mine, but mostly vampire, and some of Brody’s.” Her emerald eyes darted to Brody, then back to Jess, pleading for help.

Jess had every intention of helping, just not
the way Fallon wanted. She grabbed Fallon’s arm and dragged her to a chair. “No one’s worried about a little blood on the cushions. Now sit your ass down before you fall over.”

Fallon jerked her arm away and clenched her jaw. Jess shoved her and she fell into the chair.

Before she could argue, Jess crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot. “Slater needs to know what the fuck happened out on the road. And I want to know what that two-faced, lying, piece of shit, Isaac did to make you leave everything without a moment’s notice.”

Slumping into the chair, Fallon sighed.
“Do we have to get into that mess tonight? I don’t want to talk about Isaac.” She laid her head back and closed her eyes. “Just let it go until tomorrow.”

“
Fine,” Jess agreed with a smirk. “You can stay at Brody’s, and tomorrow he can bring you to breakfast so you can tell me what happened this morning.”

Fallon sat up straight and practically begged.
“Can’t I just crash at your place?” She glanced up at Brody, then right back at her with wide eyes.

Nope
, Fallon was going to Brody’s, even if Jess had to tie her up and drag her.

Jess put her hands behind her back and shrugged innocently.
“Remember, I live here. And we’re
loud.
” she waggled her brows in Slater’s direction.

“
Gross.” Fallon shook her head. “But fine. I’m too tired to argue.”

That was too damn easy, and Jess had to hide her shock. Fallon never gave up without a fight. Maybe this wouldn’t be so impossible to pull off.

Brody relaxed and looked away with a sheepish smile. Jess knew Brody was perfect for Fallon. Hopefully Fallon would figure out just how much she needed a good man like Brody.

Fallon took a deep breath and looked
in Slater's direction. “Can we just get this over with? I could use some food and sleep just about any time now.”

Slater took another look at Fallon.
“Why don’t you go take a shower so we can see how much of that mess is yours?” He nodded to Jess. “Jess will fix you some food. Then we can try to figure out what the hell happened
tonight
.” He shot Jess a steely look.

Jess pouted. She already promised to drop it, and she knew better than to push her luck with Fallon.

“Thanks,” Fallon muttered and looked down at herself. She took a shaky breath. “Right. I won’t be long.”

* * * *

Lord, that woman was stubborn.
Brody watched as Fallon limped to the bathroom after scooping up her bag.

She was h
urting and he wanted to help. He couldn’t sit still, so he started to pace, combing his fingers through his hair. “Does she even realize she’s having trouble walking?”

Jess snorted.
“Doubtful. Fallon is tougher than any old wolf I’ve ever met.” She patted Brody’s arm as she walked past. “Are you hungry?”

After the night he had, he probably should be, but he really wasn’t. Fallon healed him and left him feeling
—whole in more ways than one. He shook his head. “No. But thank you. Just make sure she has something to eat.” He glanced toward the bathroom door again.

She nodded.
“Try not to worry about her. She’ll be right out.” Jess walked back to the kitchen.

“
You okay?” Slater asked quietly.

“
Would you stop looking at me like I’m some horribly interesting zoo exhibit?”

The corners of Slater’s mouth twitched.
“I’m just glad to see you interested in something or
someone
again.”

“
Just stop. She’s awfully irritated with me. She’d obviously rather stay anywhere but at my place.” Brody clenched his hands into fists and shoved them in his pockets with a dark scowl.