Kingpin Bear (A Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance) (The Agency Book 4) by Amelia Jade Page B

individually, but with enough of them, they could take any one of us down.”
    He scowled. “They hit us with far more men than I thought they had this morning. Obviously our estimates of their strength were incorrect. There were almost six full teams of men there, double our earlier estimates.”
    “Perhaps they pulled everyone from their building downtown?” she asked. “Would that give them enough?”
    He shrugged. “It’s entirely possible. Ever since they firmly established themselves in town, we’ve never been able to get an accurate count of just how many men they have in there. It could be that they’ve had more teams all along, and we’ve just never known about them, or never seen them.”
    Nadia moved around him, her hands dragging across his back as she did. At one point her fingernail dug into him just a little, pulling across his skin and sending a shiver down his spine. He looked up at her and their eyes met.
    The room seemed to shrink in size almost instantly, until it was no more than the size of a circle around them. He tried to breathe in, but his lungs refused to work. Their gaze became a stare, and Jared realized that she was swaying closer to him as she stood there. Her tongue flicked out, licking her lips.
    He suppressed an urge to surge up from his seat and kiss her, fighting it down with all of his considerable mental strength. Fingers tense, they closed around the edge of the armrests on the chair until his knuckles went white.
    The spell was broken when his grip continued to increase until it was so strong the armrests snapped.
    Nadia giggled as he looked down in surprise. By the time he looked back up she had pulled away, the moment over. He flexed his arms to try and stop some of the flow of blood to his cock, hoping she didn’t notice the bulge between his legs. After several seconds of that and intense focusing on nonsexual things, he felt comfortable enough to stand up. With a helpless shake of his head he tossed the snapped-off ends of the armrests onto the desk.
    “I hope you weren’t too attached to your life here in town,” he said at last, bringing up a subject he’d been avoiding so far.
    “What do you mean?” she asked, her eyebrows furrowing at the sudden change of topic.
    “I mean, since you were seen with me, and fled with me, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to go back to what you had,” he said delicately, knowing that breaking this news would be tough for her to hear, but that it had to be done.
    Perhaps it will help put a barrier between us, so that we don’t fall victim to our hormones. If she hates me for ruining her life, perhaps it will make all this easier.
    Jared didn’t actually believe that, nor did he want for it to happen, but he knew it would inevitably be easier this way. If he could do anything to make her life smoother, he would. Perhaps he could play it off like he had kidnapped her, so that she wouldn’t lose everything she had.
    But even as he thought about pushing her away so that she wouldn’t end up in trouble alongside him, Jared knew it wasn’t what he actually wanted. He’d already had visions of the two of them doing various activities. Of him properly introducing her to his team, and showing her Genesis Valley, where he had lived for most of his life. Of learning more about her, and seeing her home as well. So when she began to speak, he braced himself for the outburst of anger.
    But once again she surprised him.
    “I know,” she said bluntly. “I doubt I truly understand, or comprehend what it means. But I’m aware that I can’t go back to anything I had.”
    He shook his head. “So why, then? Why throw it all away?”
    Nadia hesitated.
    “It’s okay, I won’t judge you,” he assured her.
    She smiled faintly. “You’re going to think I’m crazy, trust me.”
    He shook his head. “No, I won’t. I’ve probably heard crazier things.”
    “Okay. But I warned you,” she said, then sat back onto the couch and began to