Bonded (2 page)

Unwillingly, she
was being pulled to this man, drawn in by the force of his
personality, by her instinctive awareness of his physical presence.
The fight had left them both breathless and she could feel little
puffs of air on her face each time he exhaled. Her own heavy
breathing caused her chest to rise and fall, her breasts
rhythmically brushing against his body. Only the thin material of
their sweat-soaked clothing separated them and it did little to
block the tingle of awareness she felt from having such close
contact with him.

Heat from his body
mingled with hers. The scent of sweat and male surrounded her and,
against her will, the warm feeling rose inside her once again,
ancient instincts now refusing to be denied. Her muscles relaxed,
her body softened, readying itself to welcome him. She was at his
mercy and strangely enough, despite her attempts to deny it, that
thought sent a thrill through her. It began to coil low in her
belly, making her ache for his possession.

Perhaps he felt it
too, because at that moment something flared in his eyes and he
leaned in closer, his nose skimming over her cheekbone, his tousled
brown hair brushing against her forehead. Her chin began to lift,
exposing her throat, inviting his bite. Did his hand tighten on her
wrists and his hips bear down on hers? His cheek was pressed to her
face. Something warm and wet licked her neck, and wasn’t that his
arousal pressing against her thigh?

Her breath caught
in her throat at the frisson of sexual awareness between them. His
slightest move seemed amplified as he brushed against her
sensitized damp skin and she found herself straining within his
grasp, trying to get closer, wanting to touch, to explore. The
scent of his arousal surrounded her, causing her own to grow
exponentially. To her horror, a whimper of need escaped her. Did
his chest vibrate with a suppressed rumble in response? Before she
could decide if it was real or a product of her overactive
imagination, he pulled back.

With an agility
not expected in such a large man, he leapt to his feet and reached
a hand down to her, his face suddenly implacable.

Brandi was stunned
by the quick progression of change from aggression to intimacy to
cool indifference, and blinked up at him owlishly before focussing
on the hand he extended to her. After a moment’s hesitation she
took it, allowing him to pull her into a standing position. Her
body ached, not only from the beating it had just endured, but also
from the desire that had been burgeoning within her just seconds
before.

Dropping his hand,
she forced herself to look away and came to a stunning discovery.
They weren’t alone! How could she have forgotten that? She
swallowed hard and schooled her face into a bland mask; showing
weakness in a room of dominant, alpha-type males was never a good
idea, especially when you were one of the few females present.

She tried to
control her breathing; the exertion had left her short of breath
and panting. Licking her dry lips, she grimaced at the salty
metallic taste which tingled on the tip of her tongue.

“And that, class,
is how
not
to defend yourself when in human form.” The
instructor—her assailant, Reno Smith—addressed the students
gathered in the gymnasium before giving her a nod and a distracted
smile. “Thank you kindly for your assistance, Miss Jones.”

“It’s Johansson.”
She murmured brushing her hair from her face and wondering how he’d
been able to turn off his feelings so quickly. She was still
feeling decidedly off balance. Searching his face for some sign
that he really
had
been affected by the encounter—that it
wasn’t just her imagination—she found none. Already he was turning
away, her presence seemingly forgotten. He began to talk to the
class and she knew she’d just been dismissed.

For a moment she
stared at his back, her gaze tracing his strong muscular shoulders
that tapered to a trim waist and lean hips. Her palms itched to
touch him and she clenched her fists, digging her nails into her
own flesh in an attempt to eradicate the insane desire to cup his
firm buttocks and squeeze. It was utterly ridiculous. She couldn’t
go around groping a man who was basically a complete stranger, no
matter how hot his body was! Besides, he’d just brushed her off. He
deserved her scorn not her lust!

Whipping herself
up into a temper over her ill-treatment at his hands helped quell
some of the desire within her. Resisting the urge to stick her
tongue out at him—it really was too juvenile an action for someone
who would be graduating in a little over a week—she satisfied
herself with rolling her eyes instead. Walking over to the bench at
the side of the room, Brandi forced herself not to limp. She
grabbed her things and made her way to the door near the back of
the gym, refusing to look to see if anyone was watching her
progress. Damn, this had been an asinine idea.

When her roommate,
Tabitha, had heard Reno complaining in the hall outside the
gymnasium that his volunteer for the self-defence seminar hadn’t
shown up, she’d presented Brandi as a candidate.

“Mr. Smith, my
friend here would love to help you.” Tabi had pushed her at the
man. “She’s taken the basic self-defence course and would be
perfect.”

Brandi had been
shocked. They’d been on their way to class when Tabitha had
overheard his grumblings. And before she could formulate a protest,
the man had looked her up and down and declared that ‘she’d
do.’

“Name?” Without
checking to see if she was following, he barked the question at
her.

“Johansson. Brandi
Johansson. But I don’t think—”

“Don’t worry,
Jones. It’s just a basic demo.”

She’d hesitated
and looked helplessly at Tabitha, yet her roommate had merely urged
her to follow him. “This is your chance, Brandi. Now go.” Tabi
whispered the words in her ear before giving her a push to hurry
her along.

Shaking her head,
Brandi had followed, just knowing it was a bad idea. In a matter of
minutes, she’d found herself in front of a room full of first year
cadets, listening to Reno Smith explain to the class that she was
there to help demonstrate self-defence techniques.

“I’ll go easy on
you,” he’d assured her. “Just do your best to take me out.”

At first she’d
hesitated. Attacking someone who was just standing there didn’t
seem right, but when he’d swept her feet out from under her and
she’d landed hard on her rump, accompanied by the snickers of the
students, the proverbial gloves had come off. Using every trick
she’d ever been taught Brandi had done her best to gain the upper
hand.

Now, barely half
an hour later, she was sweaty and sore while her erstwhile opponent
continued on with his class as if nothing had happened. She bit
back the desire to snarl and pushed open the changing room door
instead.

“So, how’d it go?”
Tabitha was waiting inside, fairly bouncing up and down with
excitement.

Brandi looked at
her, stunned that the woman could even ask. “What do you mean, how
did it go? You set me up to be attacked by Reno Smith, one of the
toughest Enforcers Lycan Link has ever produced. How do you think
it went?” She huffed and limped over to the sink to examine her
appearance in the mirror. At least there were no visible
bruises...yet.

“I’m sure he was
careful not to really hurt you, Brandi. And besides, it was a
perfect opening for you to ‘accidentally’ meet. After all, you’ve
been crushing on him ever since you first saw him. This was your
chance to get up close and personal with the man. I saw an
opportunity and I made sure you took it.”

Brandi stared in
disbelief at her friend’s reflection in the mirror. The girl seemed
oblivious to what she’d just been through. “If this is how you set
people up, please do me a favour and
don’t
do it again.”

Turning on the
taps, she splashed her face, pleased to rid herself of the sticky
sweat that had accumulated there. Sure she’d dreamed of getting all
sweaty with Reno Smith; it just hadn’t been from this type of
activity!

After shutting off
the water, she dried her face and rummaged in her backpack.
Thankfully, she had a spare top in there. Brandi pulled off her
sweat-stained garment and donned the fresh one; it was a bit
wrinkled, but it would have to do. Balling the dirty t-shirt up,
she shoved it to the bottom of her bag.

When she looked
up, Tabi was frowning. “He didn’t ask you out?”

“No, he didn’t ask
me out! He was in full instructor mode. He didn’t even notice me.”
She rolled her eyes, exasperated both with her friend and the ‘man
of her dreams’ who’d just treated her as a non-entity.

“Now that can’t be
true. When I peeked in the door, he was lying on top of you. He had
to notice you!”

Brandi snorted.
“Oh sure, he noticed me. I was an anonymous body to beat up.”

“I’m sure it
wasn’t that bad.” Tabi gave her a doubting look.

“When it was all
over, he said, and I quote, ‘Thank you for your assistance, Miss
Jones.’”

“But your name
isn’t Jones. It’s Johansson.”

“Exactly! He
didn’t even know who I was.” Brandi shook her head, wondering how
her friend could be the next thing to a computer genius one minute
and then morph into the poster child for every dumb blonde joke
ever written. “I know you meant well, Tabi, but don’t do me any
more favours, okay?”

“Okay. Sorry.”
Tabi answered in a small voice. Brandi sighed and gave the girl a
one-armed hug. Her roommate meant well, however, when it came to
men she just didn’t think things through all the time.

“Come on, we have
one final lecture before exams start.” Brandi finger-combed her
hair and pulled the mass of fire-red curls back in a clip. After
taking a look around to ensure she wasn’t leaving anything behind,
she picked up her bag and headed towards the hallway. Behind her,
she could hear the sound of yelling and grunts of pain. Reno Smith
must be beating up on someone else now. Poor fools.

Chapter 2

Reno sat on the
terrace outside the cafeteria. As he stared across the grassy
commons watching the young men and women who had gathered there, a
touch of envy shadowed his heart. God, how long had it been since
he’d been that young, felt that carefree? He took a sip of coffee
and sighed. He might be only twenty-eight, but as far back as he
could remember he’d been weighted down: duty, responsibility, the
need to contain his wolf... He snorted and pushed back the
self-pity—there was no place for that in his life—and resumed
watching the scene before him.

Some of the
students were studying while others lounged on benches or under
large shade trees visiting with friends. A few were engaged in a
lazy game of football that involved more laughing and talking than
actual sport. For all intents and purposes, it looked like any
other college or university; the only difference was that the
entire population was made up of Lycans. Residents in nearby towns
thought the school was a private denominational institution and
great pains were taken to maintain that facade.

A shout rose up
from one corner of the green space; the football game had
encroached on a group intent on studying and they hadn’t
appreciated the interruption. He narrowed his eyes and watched the
altercation to see how it evolved. Hot-headed young Lycans didn’t
always have the best self-restraint. If need be he’d step in, but
it was preferable to let them learn how to sort out their own
differences. Soon they’d be in the real world and needed to know
how to handle themselves with discretion.

Words were
exchanged. One male started to lunge aggressively and Reno tensed
ready to wade into the fight if necessary, however the fellow
seemed to catch himself. With a nod of approval, Reno noted the
group talking, then the football game moved over while the others
settled back down.

For at least half
of the students gathered, exams started tomorrow and they didn’t
want to waste their time on pointless arguments. Reno recalled how
nerve-wracking finals could be—flaring tempers were to be
expected—and mentally wished them good luck.

He settled back in
his chair and lifted his face to the sun, pleased the cafeteria had
an outside terrace. Vaguely he was aware of the patrons who were
sitting inside, so busy with food and conversation that they barely
glanced at the view offered by the large glass wall that separated
them from the outside. Fools, he thought to himself, enjoying the
warmth that beat down on him, both relaxing his muscles and
soothing the beast within.

Not too hot, a
clear bright blue sky arched overhead and the faintest of breezes
skimmed his face. Sighing in contentment, he slouched back in his
chair and closed his eyes. Summer days like this were too few to
waste and he begrudged the fact that he’d have to go back to work
in less than half an hour.

“Hey, Reno! What
happened to your face?”

Reno opened one
eye and noted that a tall blond-haired man carrying a tray of food
was approaching his table. He gave an irritated growl. He’d
purposely chosen an inconspicuous seat in a corner hoping for some
time alone, but obviously that wasn’t going to happen. Brad was
okay in small doses, it was just that he could talk the ear off a
stalk of corn. Hiding his displeasure, Reno sat up and nodded a
greeting.

“A wild night with
the ladies? Someone get turned on by your ‘Texas charm’?” Brad set
his food down and looked around for a chair before borrowing one
from a nearby table.

Reno flicked his
gaze to the window beside him and noted his own reflection. Faint
red lines still showed across his cheek, the tanned skin and dark
stubble on his face doing little to hide the marks. He touched the
scratches he’d received the previous day, his eyes darkening at the
memory of how he’d received them. Trust Brad to notice, damn
him.