Page 35 of Covert Affections (Shadow Agents/PSI-Ops #5)
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Jesse
Jesse stepped out of The Hell Tap bar and into the midday sun despite every bone in his body telling him to turn around, head back inside, and not leave.
The neon sign for the bar, which was shaped like a beer mug with the words Hell Tap written inside and a female demon sitting in the foamy head of the beer, was only partially lit.
It buzzed loudly before flickering and lighting fully.
He couldn’t help but let out a shaky laugh.
The voluptuous demon woman sitting on the beer reminded him a little of Lindy.
There was a devilish-yet-impish quality about the thing.
Just like her. It had taken every ounce of restraint to keep from going straight to Lindy when he’d been inside.
He wasn’t sure what he’d have said to her.
Hey, how are you? You don’t know me, but I totally did an online deep dive into you and your life.
Then, I hacked your webcam and jerked off to the sight of you.
When I heard coyotes in the background through your webcam, I panicked and drove straight to your house in the middle of the night.
If that doesn’t freak you the fuck out enough, I can shift into a huge cat.
You named me Fluffy. Side note: I’m not a fan of the name, but since you’re smoking fucking hot, I’ll deal.
Oh, I laid on your porch, and once you were asleep, I turned back into a man, let myself into your house—while butt ass naked—covered you up with a blanket and decided to randomly fix broken things.
Somehow, he doubted that would have gone over well.
A smart woman would have called the authorities and had him arrested for any number of things.
Lindy wouldn’t have found it sexy or romantic like her books made it out to be.
Then again, maybe she would have. She didn’t seem all that bothered to have a giant fucking mountain lion sleeping on her porch.
Jesse entertained going back inside and confessing everything to her, all in the hopes she’d take pity on him and take him for a tumble in the back of the bar. Hell, he’d accept sex on the bar top even if she was willing. He wasn’t picky.
Fuck. I’m a sick prick, he thought, running a hand over his face. How in the hell did I end up in all this?
He still couldn’t believe that he’d actually joined the job fair and had managed to get a job at the rescue.
His intent had been to make sure the hybrids couldn’t do as they’d planned and harm Charley.
He’d done all he could to prevent them from getting easy access to Charley or the bar where they’d planned to carry out their attack.
Jesse had paid road crews to create diversions and control the flow of traffic, making sure the road the bar was on was busy. So busy, the hybrids would think twice about causing a scene. They’d have too many eyes on them. He’d even made sure any alternate routes to the bar were blocked.
He’d waited at the bar, hidden off in the tall grass, fully shifted into cat form, watching and waiting.
When he saw the number of men showing up for the available positions, he found himself growing more and more agitated.
Strangely, it had more to do with Lindy, and the fact she was hosting the event and she’d be there, near all the men, and they’d be by her.
He didn’t like that. Didn’t like thinking she might pick one or two men for herself to work at the bar, or worse—to warm her bed.
The worry had left him hurrying back to his Airstream, shifting into human form, dressing, and driving to the bar without putting too much thought behind it all.
When he’d arrived, he’d found himself joining the line, wanting to kill each and every male there just to keep them away from Lindy, who hadn’t even gotten there yet.
When he’d seen her small hatchback coming down the road toward the bar, he’d gotten butterflies in his stomach like he was a teenage boy, and she was his first crush.
He couldn’t even really remember that age, let alone the first time he felt this way over a woman, and he had to admit he wasn’t a huge fan of it all.
It was times like this that he missed having Nick around.
Nick would have mocked him for a while and then taken him out for drinks and to find a random woman to hook up with.
Maybe that was what Jesse should do—find a woman and use his newly working dick.
There was a point in his life when he had game, so picking up a chick wouldn’t be difficult.
Maybe it would help him get Lindy out of his mind so he could focus on the real threat—the hybrids.
Not a bunch of random men showing up for a job fair—all of whom had seemed more than taken with both Charley and Lindy.
Thinking about it now made his fingertips tingle as his claws threatened to break free. Any thoughts he had of finding another woman to handle his needs vanished as his mind filled with images of Lindy in bed with any number of the men from the job fair.
He started his truck and gripped the wheel so tight he was shocked it didn’t rip out of the dash, as he tried and failed to push thoughts of Lindy with other men from his head.
The rational side of his brain knew she shouldn’t be his concern.
Hell, neither should Charley, but at least he had a history with Charley and her father. That made sense to him.
Nothing about his pull to Lindy made sense.
He watched the men from the job fair file out of the bar, one by one, all looking defeated after losing out to Jesse and the two most unlikely picks he’d ever seen. The very two men The Corporation had eyes on—Bill and Gus.
The file that The Corporation had on them did not do them justice, especially Bill.
How someone so small could be such a massive pain in the ass was baffling.
Jesse had gotten a fairly good whiff of him.
If Jesse ignored the body odor, the smell of everything the man had eaten for the past twenty-four hours, stale farts, and every other disgusting thing the guy had going on for him.
Jesse could smell hints of something more than human.
He just wasn’t sure what that something was.
He didn’t think it was a shifter, but he couldn’t be sure.
Jesse did know if he had to put up with him much longer, he’d more than likely eat him just to be rid of him. To hell with how bad he’d taste going down.
Worth it.
Jesse needed to show up for work at the rescue later tonight to start his new job as a ranch hand.
Not that he needed a job, seeing as how he already had one and was currently fucking it up big time.
If The Corporation found out, he wouldn’t have to worry about unemployment or a black mark on his resume.
He’d have to worry about not ending up in a pine box.
He glanced at his reflection in the rearview mirror, instantly noticing his eyes were glowing slightly. “Shit. Get it together, man. Pull your head out of your ass and do what needs to be done. Track the hybrids like you’re supposed to be doing.”
The mini-pep talk helped him regain his composure and gather the willpower needed to drive out of the parking lot and away from the bar—away from Lindy. The drive back to the Airstream felt as if it took an eternity, each mile causing an uneasy feeling to form in the pit of his stomach.
His cat was restless, wanting to be back near Lindy, not confined in his truck and certainly not adding distance between itself and Lindy.
It didn’t even care that she’d taken to calling him Fluffy.
It was totally fine with the name. Hell, he had a funny feeling that his beast side would be totally onboard with Lindy putting a collar on him and calling him her pet.
Jesse lifted a brow as thoughts of her collaring him in a kinky way filled his head.
His cock stirred to life and he had to drive the rest of the way to the Airstream with a hard on.
Great. He wasn’t just pathetic when it came to his new obsession with a woman he’d only just met, he was also apparently hiding a secret submissive side.
Wonderful.
All he needed now was for Samuel and Benat to pop out of the woodwork with a hidden camera to tell him he was being punked.
Jesse pulled his truck onto the secluded path leading to his Airstream, his mind still churning with thoughts of Lindy and his newly awakened desires.
The moment he opened his door, those thoughts evaporated.
A sharp, acrid stench hit him. Hybrid coyote urine and the lingering smell of rot, was strong and unmistakable.
His nostrils flared as he scanned the area, every muscle tensing.
The hybrids had been here.
Recently.
He circled his Airstream slowly, looking for tracks and following their rank scent.
The fuckers had marked their territory, their stench a deliberate message or a taunt.
Multiple scents overlapped. He could make out Jean-Guy, Masturbator, Mr. Smitten and several others.
They'd come as a pack. Whether they'd stumbled across his temporary home by chance or had been hunting him specifically, one thing was clear: his cover was blown.
A low growl built in his chest. There wasn't time to report in or strategize and doing so could possibly tip off The Corporation that he’d been behind protecting Charley this morning.
No. He was on his own.
His cat side surged forward, demanding action.
Jesse stripped quickly, tossing his clothes into the truck cab.
There wasn't time to overthink or be strategic in his plan.
The shift into cat form came quick and clean, muscles twisting, his skin pulling taut and reshaping.
His cat side was instinct and fury, and it took over the second his paws hit the ground running.