MY BOSS IS A LION (8 page)

Without hesitating, he reached around the corner and caught hold of a wrist before yanking it out into the open with such a supernatural strength that the man gave a yelp of terror. He went sprawling onto the floor, gun flying from his hand as Red’s pistol flashed and put a bullet in the assassin’s head.

There was no time to do so much as take a breath. The assassins had been taken by surprise, but that would only last for a few moments, if the government was taking the threat Joe and his men represented seriously. These would be top-notch operatives they were killing tonight.

Indeed, the sounds of gunshots from Green and Yellow’s direction told them at least three of the assassins had marshaled themselves and prepared to defend the place.

A bullet struck the wall between Joe and Red, and the two of them ducked, Joe turning and shooting back in the direction of the gunfire on instinct. A cry of pain told him that his shots hit true, and the pair of them moved for cover.

Joe heard a shout from behind him, and he saw one of the unarmed assassins grappling with Red, hands groping for Red’s knife as they struggled. Joe lunged forward, drawing his own knife just as the assassin broke away and stepped back, at the ready. Gunshots rang around them as Red drew his pistol to suppress fire around Joe while Joe and the assassin squared off with knives. He came in for a lunge, but Joe’s reflexes let him move twice as fast, dodging out of the way and returning a slice across the man’s arm. In a quick flourish, he brought the knife down and into the back of the man’s neck, ending him silently.

Just as he caught his breath, though, Joe heard the click of a gun behind him and froze, immediately holding his hands up. “This ends here, you fucking freak of nature,” said the voice behind him. He clenched his jaw, bracing himself. He wasn’t going to give his assassin the dignity of hearing his last words.

In fact, he wasn’t even going to give his assassin the dignity of killing him.

Joe moved swifter than the assassin could react, faster than any human should, ducking and swinging his leg around to sweep the man’s legs out from under him, sending him spiraling to the ground.

The assassin hit the ground, and Joe drew his knife to move in and finish the job, but his pupils dilated as he realized the assassin had held onto the pistol and was aiming at him again even as he dove in. Joe’s life flashed before his eyes as the assassin raised his weapon and his heart skipped a beat as a gunshot rang out.

And the assassin’s arm fell to the ground as he went limp; his neck spurted blood from a gunshot wound. Another bullet whizzed an inch from Joe’s ear.

Sensing an opening, he pounced at the assassin and neutralized him. His attention snapped in the direction of the shooter, and his jaw dropped. Rose was standing in the doorway, her hands trembling as she held the pistol in her grip.

“Rose,” he breathed, but before he could stop her, she stepped into the room and opened her mouth to speak.

Then a figure dressed in all black appeared behind her like a shadow, throwing an arm around her neck and holding a knife to her throat.

Joe saw her eyes clench as she dropped the pistol, her hands going to her captor’s arm, but she restrained herself as the knife’s steel touched her neck.

“Give up,” the assassin growled, “and the civilian doesn’t get hurt.”

“Don’t do it!” she shouted before he put his hand over her mouth, her voice a muffled fury as she glared at the assassin.

But Joe hardly heard them. His blood was boiling at the sight of someone threatening Rose. At that very moment, he realized that she was more than his secretary or a woman he bedded.

He loved her. He wanted her as his, forever.

His feral nature awakened within him.

Joe’s predatory eyes watched with utter relish as he pounced forward, simultaneously letting his true nature breach the surface. His hands became massive claws with golden fur, his legs became powerful paws that propelled him forward, and as his jaws opened, he felt his mane sprout out from around him and his face extend into a muzzle, a fierce lion’s roar breaching the darkness of the building.

There was fear in Rose’s eyes, too, but as the assassin tried to back away, she dove aside, out of the path of destruction Joe was about to carve.

The 450-pound lion landed on the assassin’s body as he let out a shriek, but at the same time as the great cat’s weight shattered his ribs under his weight, Joe’s jaws closed around the man’s neck, and he took the man’s life with a single, sickening crack.

“He’s shifted!” one of the remaining assassin’s shouted, and more gunshots rang out, but Joe had already bolted from the body, darting into the darkness with fast, bounding steps as the sounds of ricocheting bullets rang out in the building. Joe heard Rose running for cover while he ran, but he was only peripherally aware of her at that instant. He was after their blood.

He knew what he did was wrong. He had agreed along with the rest of his fellow shifters that they would never again use the powers the government inflicted upon them to kill. But the sight of Rose in danger triggered something within him even he couldn’t control.

But after he broke that oath, he caught the scent of the other three melting into their feral forms. What happened next was nothing short of a massacre the assassins never could have been prepared for.

Two lions who has been under suppressing fire by some of the assassins pounced into the line of fire, bullet holes stinging them like nothing more than bee stings as they tore forward, and in an instant they were upon the assailants, tearing them apart in a flurry of claws. The lion that had been Red caught one of the assassins fleeing out the back door, ripping into his back mercilessly.

Joe’s vision was blurred with bloodlust. He tore through the building, and felt his jaws getting soaked with blood as he ripped through the remaining assassins, not even certain who or what he was mauling. He heard gunshots and screams around him, but he felt no pain. His muscles tore through flesh, and he pounced on.

Joe bounded towards the last human in the room, and he stopped short as his face was an inch from hers. He smelled his mate, and his eyes regained their focus in time to see her staring right back at him. His heavy breathing washed over her, and slowly, his bloodlust subsided, and he took a step back.

Joe wrestled with his will to regain control, reigning in his body as every muscle was poised to kill. His breath slowed, and he mustered his will to regain human speech.

“Rose?”

“Joe…?” she repeated, standing to her feet carefully. Joe was astounded at what he smelled in the air. There was fear on her, but the stink of panic was absent. She was afraid, but she stood in his presence, fully upright and exposed before him. He heard his fellow beasts circling in the darkness, but he growled at them, keeping them at bay.

“I never meant for you to see me like this,” his deep voice rumbled, his deep golden eyes turning back to Rose, and once he had regained enough of his human will, he shifted back into his human form, tall and dark-haired as ever.

“Joe,” she breathed, “I-I found out you were meeting here from your laptop. I was worried about you. I f-found the gun on the ground and oh god! I shot a person. What... what did you do just now? What did I just see?”

Joe took a deep breath, but he dared not take a step towards her as he was; he was poised for her to recoil from him. “Rose, I haven’t been completely honest with you. I’ve only been a private eye for a few years. My men and I,” he gestured to the lions now drawing closer, sitting in the darkness as their leader spoke, “we were part of an elite special operations unit in the military. We were volunteered for a military genetic research program spearheaded by ArisCorp. The military wanted super soldiers. So we were volunteered for experimental recombinant gene treatment. The results were…” he looked around him at the massacred assassins, he and his men utterly covered in blood, “... effective. So much so that the government panicked. They ordered us terminated after our first mission. So we went into hiding.”

“Until now,” said Red as he stepped forward, resuming his human form, and the rest of the squad followed suit.

Joe nodded, looking back at Rose, whose eyes were shining in wonder. “Rose, I know this must have been a horrifying sight for you,” he said softly as she stepped forward. “I’m sorry for deceiving you earlier, but I couldn’t stand to let you see me like this. I understand if you wish to leave. I know you’ll keep what you’ve seen here to yourself.”

“Joe,” Rose said, almost laughing as she stepped forward, and to his surprise, she wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly. “Are you kidding? I’m just glad you’re safe!” Joe stood stunned for a moment before a soft smile appeared at his lips, and he returned the hug. “I love you, Joe,” she whispered softly.

The declaration put him off balance. “Do you really mean it?” he asked, and their eyes met, glittering in the scant light the building afforded.

She nodded.

He kissed her, hard. “I love you too, Rose. Now come on. Let’s get out of this horrible place.”

Chapter Five

“Emma, could you set the table, please?” Rose asked, tousling her daughter’s hair as she passed by her in the kitchen. Emma nodded enthusiastically, scooping up the pile of silverware to start arranging them on the dining room table. Despite her assurance that this didn’t need to be a formal affair, Rose’s parents were dead-set on going all out for their dinner with Joe.

Rose looked around the kitchen at all the various platters of herbed roast chicken, sweet potato casserole, and sautéed vegetables. There were three different kinds of pie for dessert, and Rose’s father had brought out an old, dusty bottle of Chianti for the occasion. She sighed, shaking her head. Her parents really didn’t know how to do anything low-key. They were incredibly excited to have company over—and especially if it meant finding a suitable man for Rose.

She just hoped they would be able to clamp down on their bubbling enthusiasm and not scare him off entirely. This was all a little over the top for Rose’s taste, but there was no going back now.

“Mom, you really didn’t need to do all this,” she remarked, sidling up next to her mother, who was taking homemade biscuits off of a baking sheet and setting them in a basket.

“Oh, honey, we just want to make a good impression,” her mother replied, beaming.

“He’s not the King of England or anything,” Rose laughed. “He’s just a… regular guy.”

She knew
that
wasn’t true. He was a beast, something more than human. And even though it might have scared a lot of women, it didn’t frighten Rose. She knew him to be patient, kind, and controlled. She had no real reason to fear him.

There was a knock at the door and little Cassidy toddled over to answer it, Rose following close behind. Her daughter’s chubby hands opened the door to reveal a neatly-dressed Joe Sanford smiling down at her. Cassidy giggled excitedly and reached up to take his hand, pulling him into the house. Rose had to swallow back a lump in her throat—her daughter was often afraid of strangers, so this was definitely a good sign.

“Nice to meet you, too,” Joe laughed, looking down at Cassidy with a grin. The little girl hugged his leg and then bashfully ran off to take her place at the table, climbing up into her pink booster seat. Joe leaned in and kissed Rose chastely on the mouth by way of greeting. She wanted more, but this was not the occasion for it. Not yet, anyway. Rose’s parents came around the corner to greet him, smiling warmly.

“Welcome,” Rose’s mom said, immediately embracing Joe in a tight hug. Rose’s father shook his hand and gave him a nod. He was a quiet man, but very gentle.

The family sat down to eat, Joe seated between Rose and Emma. The seven-year-old was enraptured by him from the very first moment, and she kept asking him sweetly to cut her food into pieces for her. Of course, he obliged happily, and Rose felt her heart swell with love. Joe was fitting in perfectly with her family, as though he’d been there all along. The meal went on for hours, all of them talking easily together, laughing and sharing anecdotes. By the time they finally moved on to dessert, the little girls were getting sleepy. Rose carted them off to bed and then returned for a couple hours of red wine, rhubarb pie, and effortless conversation. When ten o’clock rolled around, Rose’s parents excused themselves.

“You’ll have to excuse us,” her mother said, smiling. “We’re getting old now, and this is our bedtime. But do feel free to stay as long as you like. It was wonderful to meet you, Joseph.”

As they trotted off to their bedroom upstairs, Joe and Rose were finally alone together. He reached across the table and took Rose’s hand, his thumb trailing warm circles inside her palm. Rose felt so blissfully happy. She couldn’t believe how much had changed in a few short months. After what Brent had done to her, she had never expected to find real love—and certainly not in Cleveland, of all places. But Joe settled into her life like a missing puzzle piece. Despite the impossibility of his existence—and how sometimes disturbing it was to remember exactly what he was—Rose was eternally grateful for him. She had never lived a particularly normal life, anyway, so what was the harm in adding more craziness?

“Dinner was fantastic. Your mom is an excellent cook,” Joe commented softly, trying to keep his voice low since the others were trying to sleep. “I can’t remember the last time I felt so welcome and at home. Even at my own apartment it doesn’t feel like home. It’s just too empty… and too quiet.”