Outfoxed by Love (Kodiak Point Book 2) (8 page)

Someone looked like the devil chased him.
A devil or was he haunted by a ghost?

Gene hadn’t acquired his nickname by chance. He truly was a ghost, able to drift into places unseen, unheard, all but invisible until he decided to show himself.

Now wasn’t one of those times. Camped in the vacant apartment across the street from a certain female fox, the occupants gone on an extended cruise, Gene had the perfect spot to watch, wait, and plot his next move.

He’d had his fun with Reid, that Kodiak bastard
, and his mate. He wasn’t quite done with him, but given the alpha’s watchful eyes since their encounter, Gene backed off. He’d let the big bear off the hook for the moment and lull him into a false sense of safety. Then he’d strike again when he least expected it.

In the meantime
, though, there were other people to target. More
old friends
, men he’d trusted to have his back. Men he, once upon a time, would have laid his life down for. Men who’d left him behind when they escaped the cesspool and assholes holding them prisoner.

It didn’t matter in Gene’s mind that they thought him dead.

They left me.

Left him to suffer.
Alone. In pain.

Even now, Gene still felt the lingering effects of the torture they’d subjected him to
, and he’d probably never rid himself of the nightmares.

But he could share them. He’d spent a lot of time watching those who’d made it back
. Spied as they settled into the quaint and remote town of Kodiak Point. With its shifter friendly population, and most of the men he’d once served with—those that survived at any rate—in residence, he could have happily lived.

Now he happily plotted.
His next victim? None other than a moose.
My old friend, Boris
.

Hurting Boris initially seemed impossible
, short of a head-on confrontation, until certain rumors he’d gleaned from social media sites and the moose’s actions themselves confirmed it.

Boris had the
hots for Jan, a blonde arctic fox. The same Jan whose picture Boris used to keep in his pocket back when they served together. The Jan who Boris now studiously avoided.  A fox he’d seen the moose kiss through a telescopic lens when he’d spied on them through the windows of Beark Enterprises.

It gave Gene an idea.

The roses and the note caused some decent fireworks, or so his planted bug indicated. Gene quite enjoyed the moose’s jealous fit. It just cemented Gene’s belief that, to truly hit Boris where it would hurt, he needed to do what the moose feared most.

Pretend to steal his woman, and if that didn’t work, threaten her.

Once upon a time, Gene would have never harmed a hair on a female’s head. That was before he learned sadism wasn’t an exclusively male gene.

And as Boris slammed his way out of the vixen’s house, Gene smiled.
Time to fuck with a moose by playing with his fox.

Drumming his fingers on the dash of his truck, Boris mentally castigated himself for running away. What sane man took off like a mouse before an owl when faced with a sexy woman wearing a bra?

I did.

Because if he hadn’t, she wouldn’t have worn that bra—which cupped her supple breasts so perfectly—for long.

Did fleeing make him a smart man or
the biggest wuss in town? Not a question he’d pose to any of his guy friends, that was for sure. He preferred to keep his man card and wouldn’t want to kill any of his buds just for deservedly mocking him.

And mock him they would.
Jan was simply a cute little fox. Nothing dangerous or menacing about her, despite her predilection for guns and her fearlessness when it came to violence. So what if she didn’t even scream like a girl when she killed things? She didn’t pose a real danger.

Unless
the danger of losing his heart counted.

But Boris wasn’t about to allow her to steal that part of him.
He kept what was left of the damaged organ safely locked away.

Oh yeah,
if my heart’s so secure, then why the hell am I parked outside her place?

For protection.

Against what? A possible secret admirer?

Yes.
Any man without the balls to ask her out to her face didn’t deserve her. The fact that wasn’t his choice to make didn’t enter the equation.

Boris felt a responsibility toward Jan.
A lifetime ago, he had led her to believe they’d share something when he got back from the war because when he left, bright-eyed and fuzzy-racked, he’d totally intended to. Then shit happened.

It wasn’t her fault he couldn’t keep that whispered promise
, but he could at least ensure that until she found a man to replace him—grrrr…—that she was well protected and—

What the fuck is she doing on her front porch wearing only a towel and
aiming a gun?
And how did she keep reenacting his fantasies?

Now was not the time to drool and wonder if she’d do a strip tease and actually fire the weapon—and he didn’t mean the one in her hands. Something had his vixen agi
tated. In seconds, Boris had exited his truck and bolted the dozen yards separating them.

“Did you see him?”
Jan asked, peeking around his broad frame.

“See who? What the fuck is going on? Get your damp ass back in your house before you turn into an icicle.” Because already the
wet blonde wisps escaping the towel turban on her head froze in the cool air and her moist skin pebbled.

“Some guard you are,” she huffed
as she whirled without further explanation and stalked back inside. He followed, shutting the door behind him. Yet an explanation wasn’t forthcoming. Gun still in hand, she headed to the sliding patio door at the rear of her townhouse. Curious, he shadowed her.

“
Care to explain what you are talking about? What the hell’s got you so spooked?”

“I am not spooked. I am annoyed. Learn to know the difference,” she snapped as she yanked the curtain open and flipped a switch, illuminating her tiny yard. She peered out the rear window, but other than
a few bunny tracks—brave little suckers considering the predators living on this block—nothing marred the pristine surface of the snow.

“Annoyed about what? And would you please explain why you’re toting a gun around?”

“For defense of course. Someone was in my house.”

Boris almost stumbled on the stairs where he followed her delectable ass, barely covered in her towel. An ass he was pretty sure was bare underneath. Drool.

Her words penetrated. “What do you mean someone was in your house? I inspected the place. No one was here.” Or had she addled him to the extent that, once again, he’d missed an obvious clue?

“Whoever it was came in while I was showering and left me another note.
On my bed.”

His heart stuttered to a stop
, probably because his blood turned to ice. Surely he’d misunderstood. “Say that again.”

“
How much clearer would you like me to be? Someone left me a note while I was naked in the shower,” she growled as she stomped into the bedroom he’d inspected earlier.

He wanted to deny her claim,
explain it away and say they must have missed it, but then he walked into the bedroom. The distinct scent of another hung in the air. Not just another. A bear. A polar bear.
Gene.

Gene was here.

But how? The backdoor showed no signs of entry. The front he would have seen.

And there was no way he’d missed the polar
bear’s presence during his sweep.
Even I’m not that dim-witted.

“Let me see the note.”

“It’s on the bed.” She waved her gun-toting hand in its direction as she wandered to an open door, which, judging by the clothes hanging within, was a closet.

Boris snatched the missive and read.

Peek-a-boo, I see you. And might I say, you’re looking foxy. I can’t wait to make you mine.
Signed once again,
Your Ghostly admirer.

“Still going to tell me it’s the asshole who works in the mine?” he rumbled, crumpling the missive and tossing it. Given it didn’t go far, break anything or hit
anyone, it didn’t do much to alleviate his fear-driven rage.

“Okay, so maybe you’re right. I have a stalker. Maybe even this Gene guy who’s got it
out  for Reid.”

“Reid and possibly anyone else he served with.”

“But I was never in the army. I never even met the man, so why me? Why now?”

He knew why, because Gene obviously included Boris in the group of people he blamed for his torture at the hands of their captors
. But he didn’t say it aloud. Boris didn’t like to talk about that time. Somehow, Gene mistakenly thought Jan meant something to him. Okay, maybe not quite mistaken, he did care for her. As a friend. A friend he wanted to see naked. Grrr.

“Who the fuck knows
why?” he snapped. “The bear’s obviously deranged. A better question is, how did he get in?”

“Attic,” she answered from the depths of her closet.

“How do you know that?” he asked, moving to find her, only to stop dead at the sight of her bare legs dangling from a hatch in the ceiling inside the closet.

And yup, his earlier guess of her wearing no panties?
Totally on the mark. But he ignored her pink perfection to focus on the more important thing at hand. “Get your fucking ass down from there, woman. What are you, stupid?”

“I’ll come when I’m ready.”

Or when he pleasured her. Bad thought. He averted his gaze from the source of the naughty ideas. “Get down here before I paddle your dumb,” —yet so utterly sweet—“ass.”

“Don’t call me names, Boris
Sobolev.”

Down she hopped into his arms
, which he thrust out at the last moment, snagging her. Her tucked towel still clung to her body but did little to hide her curves. He ignored her delectable frame in favor of his irritation. “I’ll call you whatever I like when you act rashly. Again.”

“I was following my nose.”

“Right into trouble.”

“There’s no one up there.”

“Now. What if he’d still been hiding in the attic? He could have killed you. Or grabbed you as hostage.” Or touched the bare skin exposed by her flimsy towel.

“Well, he wasn’t.
However, I did learn an interesting fact. The attics for these townhouses are all interconnected. He probably went in through the end unit that’s for sale and then counted hatches before paying mine a visit. A better question is why? What was he hoping to accomplish? I’m more annoyed than afraid.”

Funny, because Boris was feeling quite the opposite.
Gene had set out to rattle him and to show him how easily he could get to Jan. How the bear had figured out she was his weak spot, Boris didn’t know, but he did understand all too well the art of mind warfare. Thus far, Gene was winning.

“
Pack a bag.”

“What for?”

“Because you’re not staying here.” The townhouse wasn’t secure.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“Yes, you are, before Gene comes back.”

“Don’t be silly. This Gene guy hasn’t done anything to hurt me.”

“Yet. You might not be so lucky next time.”

“
And exactly where do you expect me to go?”

“My place.”

She blinked at him. “Say that again?”

“I said you can
come stay at my place.”

The sweet tinkl
ing sound of her laughter surrounded him. “Oh, Boris. You are so funny. As if I’m going to move in with you.”

“
I see nothing amusing about it.”

Her lips curved into a smile. “You know, if you want us to live together, and share a bed, you just need to say so.”

Wake up to her gorgeous face each morning? Her body cradled into his? Her scream of fright as, in his nightmare, he held a gun to her head and tried to kill her? “I am not asking you to marry me. I’m offering my home as a haven to keep you safe.”

Like a cloud passing in front of the sun, her brilliant smile disappeared. “
Perish the thought of us hooking up. Thanks for the offer, but no thanks. I’ll take my chances here.”

“But the attic—
”

“Can be nailed shut.
I sleep with a gun under my pillow. I’ll make sure I have one by the tub when I bathe,” —
oh god, her naked with a weapon!
— “and if Gene shows up, I’ll give your regards before I shoot him dead. Unless he’s really cute and means what he says. Then maybe I’ll run away with him and we can start a new life.”

He couldn’t help his roar. Yes, moose could roar if agitated enough, and by damn did Jan ever manage to do that with ease.
“You will stop with your jokes. This is not funny, Jan. You are leaving with me.”

“No. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to get dressed. This wet towel is getting mighty uncomfortable.”

And then she did it. The one thing guaranteed to addle what wits remained to him. She dropped the towel. Bared it all. Turned away from him, presenting her bare backside so she could thumb through her rack of clothes.

A man could only take so much.

He could also take what was right before him.

With her hair bound up in a towel, he had no problem rubbing the rasp of his chin against the tender skin of her neck as his hands gripped her around the slim indent of her waist. He ground his groin, the fabric of his jeans an irritating barrier
, against the rounded cheeks of her buttocks.

She gasped, but didn’t fight to escape his grasp. Even when he growled against her skin,
“You’re driving me even further into insanity, woman.”

“And I’ve been crazy for you since the moment we met. Your point would be?”

He nipped at her flesh, a shudder running through him at her moan of pleasure. “I’m not the man for you.”

“You’re the only man for me.”
She turned in his grasp, her delicate hands reaching to cup his unshaven jaw. “Let me in.”

Before he could say, “I can’t,” she kissed him.

Where the insurgents might have lacked the skill to break him, Jan, sweet, fucking Jan, demolished him, and in that moment, he gave her what she wanted. He gave her himself.

Actually,
he didn’t give, more like took. Because, dammit, he was the man, and he’d waited a damned long time for this moment.

He plundered the warm recess of her mouth, his tongue sweeping in and laying claim to hers. He ran it along the sharp edge of her teeth.
Tasted her. Imprinted her flavor so he would never forget.

As if he could ever forget Jan. The woman owned a part of his heart, maybe even his soul
, despite his attempts to keep her out.

But he wasn’t worried about that at this moment. No, he was more concerned with how to shed his clothing so he could press her delectable body against his.
Skin to skin.

Hoisting her slight frame, he walked them out of the closet, and he la
id her on her bed, his lips never once losing contact as his hands practically popped the buttons on his shirt in his haste to shed it. He had an irritating moment where he wobbled as he tried to step out of his jeans, which he’d unbuttoned and shoved down. However, he managed to kick them away without losing his balance and crushing her.

Lips still locked, h
e knelt on the bed, the mattress dipping with his weight. Her hands rubbed the length of his biceps, stroking him, a simple touch, but even something so small was enough to turn his breath ragged. Sparing one hand, he used it to grasp her roaming fingers and then pinned her wrists above her head. With one arm only, he held himself over her, the magnetic sizzle of her bared skin tempting him to lower himself.