Hunting Season: Werewolf Bodyguard Romance (Guarded by the Shifter Book 1) by Kate Rudolph (new reading TXT) 📗

"He's mine." It came out so fast and fierce that it shocked her. Stasia was not a possessive person. She'd had a couple of boyfriends before and only one she'd call serious. That had ended in disaster. She had no claim to Owen, not really, but she'd fight her sister to keep him.

That got Em excited. "I knew you were going to fall for someone sometime. This is going to be good. Front row tickets."

"I know what you charge for front row tickets." Out the nose. Crazy. And the fans happily paid. "So if you want them you’re going to have to pay the same price."

Em stuck her tongue out. "Like you care about money."

"I care about privacy." The thing with Owen was new and fragile and she wasn't an exhibitionist, especially not when it was her sister who was watching.

"Would it really be that bad to let someone in?" Em asked.

"I don't know. Last time I tried it didn't go so well." Her last, only, serious relationship had been back in college and med school.

"You're not over Julian? That guy sucked." Em didn't know the half of it.

Julian had wanted money and access to the Selbys more than he wanted Stasia. It had taken her way too long to figure that out. "I'm over him. It just still sometimes hurts to remember." Was there any chance Owen was like that? She knew he thought she was a spoiled rich girl, or he had, but what was under that?

"I say you give this guy a chance. Maybe he'll surprise you."

She didn't know if he was going to turn on her, but her heart was already engaged. "I don't know if I could stop myself if I wanted to."

Chapter Thirteen

Owen was happy not to be banished forever. After a few hours of catching up, they invited him to share dinner and watch a movie. The best place for that was back in the library, and though the couch was more than big enough for the three of them, Em opted to sit in one of the chairs, leaving him and Stasia alone.

Could he have left space between them? Sure.

But the taste of Stasia was imprinted on Owen's memory, and he didn't want to be an inch further from her than he had to be. He didn't know if she'd kiss him again; he could barely hope for it. But sitting next to her was a good start.

He'd done a sweep of the perimeter and checked in with the surveillance team. He couldn't let his hormones get in the way of his job, and no one was getting close to Stasia on his watch.

He had to keep his mate safe.

The thought came from deep in his mind, where his wolf was prowling, demanding that he claim her, human sensibilities be damned. Owen was ignoring him. For now. He'd have to figure something else out if the wolf got more insistent.

But he was growing to like the sound of the word mate.

He considered checking in with Gibson, but there was no change from the day before, and he didn't need his boss thinking that he needed his hand held. He could do the job.

Stasia shivered and Owen pulled a nearby blanket over both of them. He couldn't quite read the look she gave him, and if Em's sputtering cough was anything, she saw right through his moves.

Too bad.

Andre sent him a text to let him know that the job Vega and Rowe were on was going long and they'd hit a slight snag. Apparently the happy couple hadn't made it to their honeymoon after all and needed guards for another few days. The follow up text told him not to worry.

Owen filed the information away. If Andre was updating him, it had to be at least a little serious, but it didn't sound like they needed him to abandon Stasia and this job. And it would take a lot more than a little difficulty to get him to leave her.

Where did his loyalties lie?

He knew they should be with his pack, the people he'd worked with for years and who'd gone through hell right alongside him. But he could feel the warmth of Stasia's body pressed against his side and he didn't know if he'd ever be able to walk away from her.

The emotions should have been scary, too intense, too fast, but Owen had never run away from emotion before, and he wasn't about to start now.

He had no idea what they were supposed to be watching. Some comedy starring actors he didn't recognize telling jokes that would probably be funnier if he was paying attention.

Instead he paid attention to the way Stasia's scent wrapped around him and the heat of her thigh.

Em said something about a canary which set Stasia off, her face open and laughing with abandon.

Owen's heartbeat kicked up at the sight. She was serious by nature, even a bit grumpy, but she'd opened up when her sister appeared and now she was all contentment. He wanted her to smile at him that way and he got a hint of it when she looked over at him, as if she was checking that he got the joke.

He couldn't have stopped the smile he gave her if he tried.

He knew her grumpy face would come back when the movie ended or when Em left, but it had its own charm. Everything about his brilliant doctor charmed him, and he wanted to learn all there was to know about her.

And then she shocked the living shit out of him by casually placing her hand on his leg, her fingers teasing his inner thigh, all hidden by the blanket. It wasn't an accident, not given the gentle squeeze she gave him.

Owen let out a shuddering breath. His mind might not have paid any attention, but now his cock was perking up and he was thankful that the blanket hid it