Page 61 of Covert Affections (Shadow Agents/PSI-Ops #5)

Jesse didn’t love the thought of taking a dump in the woods while in cat form, but it was part of nature and happened. He certainly wasn’t thrilled Bill had seen it happen. The little asshole probably had a picture or video of that happening too.

“Nah.” Bill tipped his head partially, appearing almost pained as he fought to keep from laughing. “ You didn’t shit there.”

It took Jesse a minute to follow what Bill was suggesting. When he did, he stepped away from the pile of leaves. “ You did it?”

“Hey, man,” said Bill and if Jesse didn’t know better, he’d have sworn the man blushed. “When you gotta go, you gotta go. I blame my chili. It’s good but when those beans finally kick in, all bets are off. I think I got what folks call irresistible bowel syndrome.”

Gus squeaked.

Bill glanced his way. “Irritable? You sure that’s the word? Nah. Mine is irresistible.”

Jesse was about to comment when his cat side prickled with unease.

The hair on the back of Jesse’s neck rose, and his inner alarms went off.

There was a predator closing in on the location.

The next he knew, Jesse was sweeping Bill behind him and putting his body out in the lead, ready to take the hit he knew was coming.

He may not care much for Bill and think Gus wasn’t all there, but he wasn’t going to let either man be hurt.

He growled and opened his hands fully, letting his claws emerge.

The dog moved in front of Gus quickly and went low, growling, her gaze locked on the trees. She wouldn’t be able to do much against what was headed their way, but it was a sweet gesture.

Gus darted over, sweeping the dog up into his arms a second before an abnormally large timber wolf came bounding through the trees, right at Jesse.

He leaped at it too, meeting it in the air.

Flesh met fur, and the impact rattled Jesse’s already battered body.

He ignored the bite of pain and used his body weight to knock the wolf off course.

They hit the ground hard and rolled, each snarling at the other.

Jesse recognized the newcomer’s scent instantly.

Robert.

Jesse was about to shift forms mid-roll when Robert shifted into human form instead. It left the naked men rolling while snarling at one another, trading blows. Jesse got a good hit in on Robert’s jaw, and Robert managed to get a kidney shot in on Jesse.

They continued to roll, trading punches, neither willing to back down. Robert caught Jesse with an elbow to the ribs while Jesse landed a solid hit to Robert’s solar plexus. They tumbled down a small incline, landing in a pile of leaves, still locked in combat.

A sharp whistle cut through the air, making both men pause mid-fight.

“Hey, Romeo-Robert and Juliet-Jesse, this all very Shakespearean, but you might want to wrap up this naked wrestling match. I already got a picture of it,” he said, holding up his cell phone.

He grinned more. “You can keep going if you want, but you should know, you both just rolled through my morning deposit. Catch my drift?” He cackled. “My gift to nature.”

“Shakespearean?” echoed Jesse.

Bill stared down at him with a haughty expression. “You and him—a cat and dog—forbidden romance. Kitty-Scat I thought you was educated. How can you not know what that means?”

Jesse remained in place. “I know what it means but it doesn’t apply here. We’re not lovers.”

A wicked grin spread over the man’s face. “The photos I just took of the two of you rolling around on the ground together naked say otherwise.”

“Asshole,” spat Jesse.

Robert lifted a brow and sniffed. “What the hell is that smell?”

“Shit!” Jesse released Robert fast when he realized what they’d rolled through.

“Exactly,” said Bill, bending and laughing harder.

Robert moved away from Jesse and was to his feet with lightning speed.

Jesse stood too, a bit slower, his body sore. When he looked down the length of himself, he saw a smear of Bill’s morning deposit on his thigh. His lip curled as he glared at Bill. “I really do not like you.”

“The feeling is mucus , bucko,” said Bill, putting his phone in his pocket.

“Mucus?” asked Robert, staring down at himself. His nostrils flared. “Is that human shit on me?”

“He means mutual,” said Jesse, his voice hard. “And yes. Well, maybe. It’s kind of to-be-determined if little fucker is human or not.”

Bill perked. “Ooo, look at you, Kitty-Scat. Gold star. Knew you was educated.”

Robert glanced at Jesse. “We could eat him.”

“He’d give us worms or something, Bob,” said Jesse.

Robert grunted. “Don’t call me Bob.”

Bill grinned. “Look at me. My shit made you two come to an understanding. An agreement. It’s pretty clear. I’m a master meditator .”

“Do you mean mediator?” corrected Robert.

Bill scratched his scruffy chin. “Hmm, no. I’m sure it’s meditator.”

Robert glanced at Jesse. “Does he know the difference between meditation and mediation?”

“I highly doubt it.” Jesse sighed.

Gus turned to the side, moving his arms up and down as he did. The dog, who was no longer in his arms, sat on his foot, giving Robert the hairy eyeball.

Bill grunted. “Really? That’s what that means, Gus?

Think those hippie-humus-eating Flock members used to meditate?

Didn’t really help them none in the end though, did it?

They didn’t find inner peace so much as they got blown to pieces.

Ha! I still say there is nothing better than smell of burnt hippie in the morning. ”

Ignoring Bill’s rambling, Jesse faced Robert fully, unconcerned about being naked. “Why did you attack us?”

Robert’s gaze hardened. “I didn’t attack them. Just you.”

Jesse lifted his chin. “Why?”

Bill raised his hand. “Probably because you were playing hide the sausage with his former sweetheart.”

Robert growled, his shoulders heaving. “You and Lindy had sex?”

Jesse ignored the man, his focus on Bill. “How the hell do you know anything about what happened between Lindy and me?”

Bill nodded to Gus.

Jesse wondered just how much Gus actually knew, and how it was the man knew what he did. The Corporation clearly were onto something with keeping records on the two men.

“I smelled you at Lindy’s, asshole. I caught your scent at the bar first—out by the dumpster, but I thought it was my imagination.

” Robert huffed as he glared at Jesse. “Then I caught it again at her place. Sure, it was muddled with body spray, but it was there. Again, I thought I was making something out of nothing, especially when she told me you were just a stray cat. I was nearly back to the crime scene when I realized Lindy is great at bending the truth. And that she never outright said if you were a house cat or a mountain lion, only that you were a stray.”

Bill laughed. “Stray. Ha!”

Jesse didn’t like hearing how well the wolf-shifter male knew Lindy. He snarled. “She’s mine !”

Robert cocked his head to the side, looking Jesse up and down. “You’re him, aren’t you? The guy from the job fair. The one her succubus side zeroed in on?”

Bill whistled low. “Lucky dog, erm, make that cat. Succubus women are the best in bed. I’d know. Dated one once.”

Jesse puffed out his chest, his attention on the wolf-shifter, not Bill. “And what if I am the guy from the job fair? What the fuck are you going to do about it, Bob?”

Jesse prepared for another fight.

Robert drew back slightly, pain flashing in his eyes.

He took a deep, shaky breath. “I’m going to tell you not to hurt her.

To hold on to her with both hands. She doesn’t let many people get close to her.

She doesn’t trust easily.” He bent his head, appearing defeated.

“Life hasn’t been kind to her. She deserves the world but hates accepting help.

She’d do anything for anyone but is quick to tell everyone she’s fine and doesn’t need anything.

It’s total bullshit. She needs and deserves everything.

Treat her right. Make her see her worth. ”

Jesse wanted to stay pissed at the man, but it was hard when it was painfully clear that Robert really did care for Lindy’s well-being.

Robert met his gaze. “And if you ever do hurt her, I’ll kill you.”

“I’d never hurt her,” Jesse said.

Running out on her hurt her emotionally , said a deep male voice in Jesse’s head.

Jesse turned quickly, thinking someone was behind him. Sneaking up on him was rare, but it could happen with as heavy as the smell of Bill’s shit was in the area.

There was no one there.

You crushed her spirit when she returned to the room to find you were gone. It doesn’t matter that she doesn’t know yet that you’re Fluffy. Robert left her alone, and she went to her room to find that you—Fluffy—had left her alone too.

Jesse twisted around more, trying to figure out whose voice he was hearing in his head. He swatted at thin air as if that might help make it clearer.

“What the hell are you looking for, Kitty-Scat?” asked Bill. “If it’s your dignity, you’re wearing my shit while standing there naked as the day you were born, next to your current sweetie’s ex boy toy who also happens to be naked. The USS Dignity ship has sailed.”

“Did you hear that? It was a voice,” said Jesse. “I think it was…in my head.”

Bill rolled his eyes. “Stop being dramatic. That’s Gus. It’s how he prefers to talk to people. He’s always yapping away in my head. Boy hardly shuts up.”

Gus’s breathing grew louder through the gas mask. His eyes were wide, but his gaze was elsewhere.

“Don’t pretend you’re not a talker,” said Bill with a shake of his head. “You was going on and on this morning about Lindy-Lou and Kitty-Scat, telling me all about how they’re an item and how congratulations are in order.”

“Congratulations?” asked Robert, before sniffing the air.

Brave man, since the area still smelled like shit.

A pensive look came over Robert. “You claimed her, didn’t you?”

Jesse stiffened before nodding. He wasn’t proud of the fact he’d done so without realizing Lindy had thought she was dreaming. He wasn’t proud of running out on her either.

“I see.” Robert turned, shifted back into a wolf, and was racing off before anyone else could comment.

He needs time to accept this , said Gus, his voice bouncing around in Jesse’s head. Kind of like how you need time to find the right words to tell Lindy what you did—that you claimed her. And that you are her cat.

Bill motioned to Jesse. “Come on, Puss-N-Toots, we best get you back to the rescue. You need to be hosed down. You smell like shit.”

“Whose fault it that?” asked Jesse, his voice hard.

“Hey, you’re who rolled around in it,” Bill replied.

Part of Jesse wanted to go back to Lindy’s, tell her the truth about everything, and ask her to run away with him. But doing so would put her at risk. She’d be forced to live a life on the run.

The Corporation’s reach is deep. If I run with her, they’ll find us—find her.

It was better if he focused on killing the hybrids in the area, the ones who were stalking Charley. Then he could get his truck and Airstream and leave town—for good. He could divert attention from the area and make sure The Corporation focused on hunting him, not Lindy.

His chest tightened at the thought of leaving Lindy. How could he walk away from his mate—his wife?

He closed his eyes and sighed. How can I even think of staying?