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  Waiting For Willow

  Copyright © 2008 Bonnie Rose Leigh

  ISBN: 978-1-55487-161-1

  Cover art by Martine Jardin

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

  Published by eXtasy Books

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  Waiting For Willow

  By

  Bonnie Rose Leigh

  Dedication

  To Chris for being there for me—as always, Twila and Selkie for being my Beta Readers, and Amanda for naming the characters. I couldn’t have written this one without the four of you.

  .

  Chapter One

  Scanning the crowded pub, Willow Kincaid knew business couldn’t be better. Ever since hiring Derek Moretti and Quinn Donovan to tend bar at The Howler, and act as bouncers for their rowdier clientele, the place filled to near capacity every night. Tonight wasn’t an exception despite it being hours away from Samhain. They’d begun turning people away more than an hour ago due to the very real possibility of overcrowding.

  As always, her gaze settled on Derek and Quinn, the two men she’d felt compelled to hire for her pub nearly a month prior. Though she hadn’t really been looking for either bartenders or bouncers at the time, she didn’t regret hiring them in the least. Her business had increased tenfold since they’d started working for her, both in female clientele desperate to watch her new employees in action, and males anxious to ensure that the new Werewolves in town didn’t step on their turf, taking the single females for their own.

  Willow thought the whole situation hilarious. Besides, just like every other red-blooded female in town, she enjoyed the luscious view as the pair worked her bar every night. Derek’s golden brown hair hung down to his shoulders in tousled waves. Emerald green eyes could be laughing one minute, then smoldering with heat the next. His lips were full, begging the right woman to walk up to him and just give ‘em a nibble or two—and man did she want to be that woman. His chest was wide enough to intimidate anyone who even thought about causing trouble, and it was also the perfect size to make any woman feel small and sheltered in his embrace.

  Quinn, on the other hand, had Black Irish written all over him. With blue-black hair that hung carelessly to his collar and deep sapphire blue eyes that seemed to see into a person’s soul, Quinn was the more serious of the two men. Older by a year, he tended to take the lead in most situations. Willow considered him the thinker of the duo. He stood just an inch or two taller than Derek’s six-foot-four, and had to turn sideways to get through the doorways at the pub. His shoulders and thighs were the size of small tree trunks and she’d spent entirely too much time visualizing just what he—and Derek—would look like sans clothes.

  In fact, in the last month, her dreams had gotten decidedly more erotic and always featured her new employees. In the last week alone, she’d had to resort to breaking out her vibrator several times, wearing out the poor batteries more than a few times in an effort to appease her body’s insatiable demands for sexual relief. Apparently, her body wanted real men between her thighs and wouldn’t settle for her plastic toys much longer. At least, not at the rate she ran down batteries.

  As Quinn lifted the pass-through separating the bar from the patrons, Willow took a seat on the nearest empty barstool and waited for the show to begin. Over the course of the last month, she’d found particular enjoyment watching the pair of walking studs tossing out troublemakers. Watching the flexing of Quinn’s and Derek’s jeans cupping their muscular asses when they bent over to pick up their prey off the floor just before they threw them out the door was a favorite pastime of hers.

  This time it was Jessup Jones and his cousin, Marcus, causing problems. She’d known they were looking for a fight when they reached for their waitress, Sera, and pulled her onto Jessup’s lap despite her apparent distaste for her new position. She attempted to push herself off him. It wouldn’t take long now before Quinn would be all over their asses. He didn’t like to see women abused in any capacity, especially when others were nearby to prevent the abuse and did nothing but watch from a distance. Once a woman said no, that was it. No meant no and Quinn would pound anyone who harmed a woman, no questions asked.

  As Quinn moved toward the Jones’ table, Derek made his way from behind the bar, an oak bat in his hand. Not that he’d really need the baseball bat to do any damage if the situation called for it. She’d seen these two protect the wait staff and female patrons enough to know they could take care of each other and then some, no weapons needed. When danger surrounded them, they always had each other’s backs, no matter how simple the situation may look on the surface. This instance wouldn’t be any different.

  When Jessup refused to let Sera up from his lap, going so far as to yank her top down exposing her breasts to the rest of the drunken room, he pretty much signed his own ass-kicking warrant. Knowing that the safest place for her to be right now was behind the bar, Willow hopped over the counter and made her way over to the phone. Her hand rested just inches away, ready to call in the law if necessary, although she doubted she’d need to do so. Not when the situation looked to be already in hand.

  With one hand wrapped around the nape of Jessup’s neck, Quinn had already pried him from his table while Derek quickly but gently eased Sera off his lap. Marcus lay sprawled on the floor, his chair knocked out from beneath him. Heaven only knew how traumatizing a lecherous attack by the drunken Jones cousins could be on a person but, thankfully, Derek and Quinn were right there to protect Sera before things got out of hand. Within seconds, Jessup and Marcus were forcibly shown the door to the sound of jeers and mocking laughter.

  Knowing the pub was safe in the men’s hands, Willow went back to her office and tallied up the afternoon’s receipts. She needed to get to the bank before the witching hour and the pranksters started roaming the streets of Serenity pulling mischievous Halloween shenanigans. In Serenity, starting the night before Halloween and for a full twenty-four hours until Halloween ended, the citizens were fair game for pranksters.

  Although her town had little crime, even she didn’t feel quite comfortable taking the deposits to the bank drop-off slot after hours, despite the bank president’s insistence that it was perfectly safe at any time of day or night. She especially didn’t feel comfortable doing so on Halloween when the veil between the worlds thinned.

  After leaving a note for her guys, Willow filled out the deposit slip, dropped it into the bank bag, grabbed her keys, and slipped out the back door of the pub. She paused, letting the cool October air soothe away the stench of too many men who’d insisted on finding reasons to rub themselves all over her skin. She just wanted to make her deposit and get back so she could shower off everyone else’s scent but her own.

  Within minutes after leaving the pub, she dreaded her decision to drop off tonight�
��s take by herself. The eerie silence and creepy sense that someone watched her from the shadows had the hair at the nape of her neck standing at attention.

  She should have waited until after closing and taken Derek and Quinn with her. It’s not as if they hadn’t offered more than once to accompany her on her nightly jaunt to the bank, but she was afraid she’d jump them if she were alone with them for any length of time. In hindsight, it would have been smarter to take a chance at rejection and die of embarrassment if she did jump them than to become some victim of random crime.

  A chill worked its way down her spine. Willow sped up. Her gaze constantly scanned the darkness searching for anything suspicious, her senses hyperaware of the darkened doorways and alleys that could hide a mugger. She only had three more blocks until she reached the bank—three more blocks of her own stupidity. Perhaps she could stop at the all night diner, give Derek and Quinn a call and have one of them drive her to the bank and back. Better to be safe than sorry and all that.

  As she crossed the street and approached the diner, she saw a sign clearly announcing they’d closed early to celebrate Halloween. Willow’s dread increased. Looking up and down the street, she gnawed on her lower lip in indecision. Not willing to take the risk, she decided to head back to the safety of her pub despite having no solid proof that something—or someone—currently stalked her. She’d seen too many movies and books where the heroine ignored her instincts and ended up dead. She wasn’t about to be one of those too-stupid-to-live women. Not if she could help it.

  Without giving herself more time to dither, she immediately turned in her tracks and started back across the street heading toward her bar. Besides, it was Samhain and nothing said she had to drop off tonight’s take now. She could wait until tomorrow, after the bank opened for the day. If she hurried, perhaps she could jump in the shower before the pub closed and talk one or both of her new employees into spending a few hours doing the horizontal tango with her.

  Perhaps she should feel guilty for wanting both men, but in Serenity having two men in her bed wasn’t exactly taboo—not like in the human world, anyway—since there were triadic mate bonds, several of which had formed right here in town. Why her thoughts had turned toward mate bonds while walking down an eerily quiet street when all her attention should focus on her surroundings, she didn’t know. Maybe so I can cope with the unreasonable terror flooding my veins. That sounded reasonable to her. Besides, she definitely preferred thinking about sex with Quinn and Derek than the alternative.

  She was still two blocks from her pub when every instinct inside her told her to get the hell off the street and somewhere safe. Whether it was her imagination or not, she’d not ignore that inner voice. Holding her purse closer to her side, Willow put her head down and sped up, desperate now to get back to her pub before whatever was making her uneasy struck. An eerie howl split the ominously silent night, and she shivered in dread. The hairs on the nape of her neck stood up and her gut clenched in terror.

  She hugged her purse holding the bank deposit closer and started to run. Her footsteps pounded against the sidewalk and her heart hammered against her chest. Sweat ran down her back as she made her way closer to safety. Focused on the neon sign at The Howler gleaming in the distance, she promised herself never to go through this kind of fear again. From now on, she’d either take someone with her to drop off the deposit or wait until the next day. That was her last thought before someone dressed in all black stepped out of the alley just in front of her and held a gun to her chest, freezing her in her tracks.

  Before she could blink, a soft shuffling from behind caught her attention, then pain the likes of which she’d never imagined ripped through the back of her head, dropping her to her knees. She could feel warm liquid seep into her hair and knew immediately someone had struck her hard enough to break the skin. Darkness closed in on her and she could do nothing to fight it. Before she could find her voice to scream for help, her body gave up its fight, dragging her down and under. Goddess, help me.

  Chapter Two

  Endless seconds became minutes and Derek’s sense of unease grew. They’d waited for this night for over a month, the night he and Quinn would finally claim their mate. However, the last twenty minutes seemed to stretch for hours. With his stomach churning and his wolf pressing against his consciousness, something within him demanded he go search for her.

  Having closed down the bar at one, they’d immediately let themselves into Willow’s apartment, anticipation hanging heavy in the air. Tonight they’d finally make her theirs after years of searching for her. However, Derek watched Quinn pace from one end of her living room to the other, knowing instinctively something had gone horribly wrong and that, even now, Willow needed them now more than ever.

  Without pausing to think about his next move, Derek stood and headed toward her front door. “I’m going to search for our mate. Something isn’t right, Quinn. She should have been back by now.”

  Quinn’s blue eyes blazed with rage before he slowly nodded, his hands fisted at his sides. “I’ll wait here in case she comes back before you return. If you find something suspicious, call me and we’ll search for her together.”

  Derek knew just how difficult staying behind was for Quinn. The man had an obsessive need to see all women protected, especially their mate. Every night, Quinn ensured that Willow got home safely, watching from a distance until she was safely tucked into bed for the night. This had to be tearing him apart. “Of course, Quinn. We’ll find her, don’t worry.”

  Derek headed out the door and glanced at his friend one last time. “Keep your cell phone handy. I’ll call when I know something.” By the time he reached the street and looked up toward Willow’s apartment, Quinn had already situated himself in front of the window, his arms braced against the window frame. He scanned the street below looking for any sign of trouble.

  Knowing that Quinn watched from above, Derek closed his eyes and inhaled, breathing in the myriad scents surrounding The Howler. Hundreds of different odors thickened the air around the pub but, having spent hours near Willow, it didn’t take long for him to pick their mate’s scent from all the others.

  As he expected, it veered to the left, in the direction she normally took to get to the bank. After waving up at Quinn and pointing toward the route she’d taken, Derek started following her scent trail, aware that every second he wasted tracking her meant it would be that much longer before they could hold their mate in their arms—where she belonged.

  Looking back, they should have claimed her weeks ago instead of letting her get to know them gradually, but they wanted to ease her into a relationship with them. If they had mated her immediately as their wolves had demanded, they’d be able to communicate with her telepathically, no matter the distance between them. Not to mention, they would have known right away if something dire happened to her. They wouldn’t wonder and worry—they’d know the moment danger surrounded her. Once they had Willow safely home and finally in their arms, they wouldn’t waste another moment before finalizing their position in her life. She’d just have to get to know them after they mated her.

  Within seconds of following what remained of Willow’s scent, the hairs on the nape of his neck quivered. Visceral fear whipped through him when he picked up the sickening smell of freshly spilled blood. By the time he reached the alley whence the smell emanated, he knew without a doubt that the blood belonged to their mate. Despite the late hour and the pervading darkness of the alley, he had no trouble spotting her purse wedged between the dumpster and the rusted rim of a car tire. Nor did he miss the smeared blood on the wall above it.

  Derek pulled out his cell phone and speed-dialed Quinn even as he bent down to lift Willow’s purse out of the filthy grime coating the ground. While the phone on the other end rang, he unzipped her purse and grimaced when he saw the still full moneybag nestled inside. The motives of whoever had taken her obviously hadn’t included robbery. He would have felt better if they had.
/>   “Quinn here.”

  “Get down to the alley across from the diner. Willow’s been taken and they left her purse—and the bank deposit—behind.” Derek clutched the heavy purse in his hand, leaned against the alley wall and lowered his head in prayer. She had to be okay. Nothing else was acceptable.

  “Be there in five, my man.”

  Derek nodded, despite the fact that Quinn couldn’t see the movement. Closing the lid to his phone, he took a deep breath, then straightened away from the wall. He’d successfully hunted rogue paranormals for years, tracking them across the country and ultimately dispensing justice once they captured the criminals. He’d find Willow. They’d find her and bring her home—alive.

  First things first, while he waited for Quinn to arrive he’d try to determine how many had attacked her and what their method of escape had been. They wouldn’t have wanted to chance someone seeing them with her, whether she was conscious or not. So, how had they managed it?

  Derek walked to the mouth of the alley and looked out toward Main Street. Looking both directions, he quickly realized the town looked eerily vacant of people. In fact, only Quinn was on the sidewalk and he was practically running toward the alley.

  Normally, citizens were all over the sidewalks, clogging the way, forcing you to move along at a snail’s pace while the townsfolk gossiped and chatted with friends. Tonight though, with many of the shops and restaurants closed early for the holiday, the scene lacked a noticeable absence of witnesses─something Willow’s attackers must have banked on. In the end, that wouldn’t make a difference. With Quinn’s help, they would find her and, when they did, Derek vowed her kidnappers wouldn’t live long enough to regret going after her.