Resisting the Cougar (Cascade Shifters #2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

Since it would be pointless to resist, he did and all he could think about was how her curvy body would be living mere feet away from his. Even now, he imagined taking off her glasses and fisting a hand in her long, light brown hair.
    Fucking cougar, stop it. She is our assignment, nothing more.
    His cat grumbled, but reluctantly retreated. At least, for now. Aidan looked back to Kian. “Who will watch her while I’m away?”
    “Dani.”
    He wanted to say that was a bad idea, but thought better of it. Kian could only be swayed with reason, and for the moment, Aidan was feeling anything but reasonable, let alone logical. He needed time to think of a way out of this assignment.
    Once Aidan nodded, Kian, Kaya, and Trinity walked around the table to stand in front of Claire. The human was nearly a foot shorter than the shifters. It would be easy for him to shield her body from Kian’s view.
    At that thought, he clenched a jaw and waited. He didn’t trust himself to say anything until asked.
    Kian put out a hand. “While I had to force your hand a bit to agree to this, I think we’ll both benefit from the situation.”
    Claire shook Kian’s hand and Aidan clenched his jaw harder. “It had better, because if you try to screw me over, Kian Murray, I will find a way to use it against you. I have my own set of connections.”
    Kaya laughed. “Good, a woman with bite. Don’t be easy on him. I’m mated to his brother, so I have lots of experience at keeping Murray shifter males in line.”
    Trinity leaned against Kian and added, “Oh, I’ll keep Kian in line. I’m the one who will be able to help you the most, Claire. I can be quite persuasive.”
    As Kian merely shook his head, memories of Aidan’s own dead mate filled his mind. He and Emily had once been like Kian and Trinity. Yet Emily had been stolen from him after only a few years of being mated. He was long past asking why, but it didn’t mean it was any less painful to watch two mates in love tease each other. Or, to touch each other on a whim.
    He’d taken all of that for granted and regretted it to this day.
    Claire dropped Kian’s hand. “When can I contact my second-in-command?”
    Kian replied, “In the next day or two. We’ll set up secure access to the internet tomorrow. However, when you do contact him, Aidan will be in the background for the first few times, just to make sure nothing slips.”
    Irritation flashed in Claire’s eyes and Aidan moved to her side. Placing a hand on her back, some of his cougar’s tension eased. “Unless there’s anything else, I’ll take her to her apartments and get her settled. Have Dani stop by in about twenty minutes.”
    Since it was Aidan and Dani’s job to protect the clan, Aidan was allowed to order Kian in matters of clan security. His clan leader nodded. “Sounds good. Now, take Claire to her quarters.”
    Before Claire could do much more than open her mouth, Aidan pushed against her back. With a glare in his direction, she moved. He wasn’t quick enough, however, because as he shut the door behind them, he could hear Trinity’s voice. “Don’t have too much fun, you two. Remember, Dani will drop by soon.”
    Claire whispered, “What the hell is she talking about?”
    Rather than answer, Aidan slammed the door and got them moving again.
     
    ~~~
     
    As Aidan made them half-jog down the hallway, Claire dug in her heels. With a growl, the shifter looked down at her. “What?”
    She poked him in the chest. “Don’t growl at me. I understand that babysitting me is the last thing you want to be doing, but it wasn’t my call. Don’t take it out on me.”
    “I’m not, but we have twenty minutes to get you settled in. I can answer your questions inside your quarters. Ears are everywhere. Remember that.”
    He pressed gently against her back. What had once been a strong, firm touch only reminded Claire of how Aidan had someone else. Maybe if they hurried, she could spend most of the remaining twenty