“It is the time I came from. Men were trained to care for women then. It was ingrained.”

She set a moderate pace; he walked by her side. A light rain fell, more of a mist than anything. “So what happens next?” she asked.

“For us, or for you and The Company?”

She stopped a moment, forehead creased in thought. “Both. Start with The Company. Come on.” She brushed damp hair back from her face. “This is easier when we’re on the move.”

He fell into step next to her again. “You will share blood with Garen, and then we will develop a training regimen for you. It will be similar to a job. You will have a schedule to increase your physical endurance, and to teach you skills to be effective in the field.” He took a breath. “There are milestones. When you have accomplished a minimum amount of them, we will give you your first assignment.” He couldn’t keep a fond smile off his face. “I am afraid much of it will feel trivial after the things you have already done.”

“What were Garen and the rest of you so stoked about earlier?”

Lars started to relay an annotated history of their war with Chen’s gang, decided it was overkill, and settled for saying, “We had to do something to make Chen’s people back off, so Garen deployed agents to destroy two of the labs where they refine poppy juice into heroin.”

She halted and turned so she faced him. “Sure and it can’t be that easy.” She snapped her fingers. “You blow up a lab and they go away.”

“It is not. But we did slow them down. Their priority will be to rebuild, so they will leave us alone—for now.” He inhaled sharply. “The war is never over, liebchen. There will always be bad guys.”

“What you do is important work.”

He placed a finger beneath her chin. “What we do is important work. You are one of us now.”

“So I am. It will be taking a wee bit of time for that to sink in.” She licked her lips, gaze somber. “Now. About us.”

“I am falling in love with you.” Shock waves rocked him to his conservative core. Was it possible he’d actually said that?

“You’ve got that just-swallowed-an-elephant look about you again.”

“Probably, but it is because such things do not come easily to me. I will care for you, liebchen. Protect you. Love you. Shelter our children from harm.”

Her eyes shone with unshed tears. She closed the distance between them and he folded her into his arms, rejoicing in the feel of her body against him. He wanted to kiss her until they were both breathless, and do a whole lot more beyond that, but he satisfied himself with her body molded to his and her scent eddying about them. They weren’t quite done talking. He had good news and wanted to make certain she knew because it might set her mind at ease.

“Garen checked his records. They helped him remember some things about your father.”

“Really?” She drew away, hope burning in her eyes.

He nodded, “Really. Come, liebchen. There is an enclosed gazebo at the end of this walkway with a brazier I can light if you are cold. It would be more comfortable and get us out of the rain.”

They didn’t talk, but she did take his hand while they navigated the inlaid brick walkway past a fountain and up a few steps. He opened the summerhouse door and dusted off cushions that sat on a bench built into one wall. The air smelled damp, so he fired the electric brazier; it glowed cherry red from its raised, round dais in the center of the room.

He sat with his back against the wall and his feet propped on the stove’s platform. She curled her body against him. He sensed her waiting for him to say more. “Most of this is not my story to tell. You must ask your father. He worked with Garen for well over a hundred years, both in the Old Country and here in the United States.”

She twisted so she could look at him. “Da was a…a spy?”

Lars nodded. “So he will understand and support you in your new occupation.”

Her forehead creased in concentration and she closed her teeth over her lower lip. “It also means he can keep Mum and everyone safe.” She blew out a tense breath. “Och and that was one of the things that worried me the most, once the deed was done and Jaret was dead. I was scared silly my hare-brained scheme to avenge Moira would mean someone would come after my family. There would have been no living with myself if something happened to them because I was rash and stupid.”

He kissed her forehead and smoothed the concern from it with a gentle hand. “Your father can take care of himself. Bet on it.”

“Why wouldn’t he have said anything?” She shook her head. “Never mind. I know the answer. It’s the same reason we shied away from anything related to being shifters.”

“So long as you brought that up,” Lars settled a hand in her hair, drawing her thick locks through his fingers, “there is one more thing.”

“What might that be?”

“I asked you once, half in jest, if your family had taught you anything about shifters and mating.”

“Yes, I remember.”

“You come from old stock, as do I. There are other types of shifters, like those who become lycans when someone bites them. It is different for them than for those of us who inherit our dual form.”

“You’re telling me this for a reason, but for the life of me, I’m not sorting it out.”

“That is because I am not being very clear. Let me start over.” He pulled her head against his chest and caressed it, loving the feel of her hair, and of her next to him. “The shifter mate bond is a gift we old ones bear. It is why I am so drawn to you, and you to me, even before we make love in both our forms. It will take time for you to accept, but you are the only woman for me. And I the only man for you.”

“What if I hadn’t shown up?”

“I gave up on finding my mate long ago, gave up on having children. I am still astonished our paths crossed. To answer you more directly, if I had not met you, I would have continued as I was. My work was my life. At times it was almost enough, and when it was not, I volunteered for particularly dangerous assignments to drive my loneliness away.”

“Well and that clears up why I never could make things stick with a boyfriend.” She snuggled closer. “It feels so right being in your arms, but it’s like a miracle, too, and it’s damned hard to believe in them. Not since I grew up, anyway.”

They sat for long moments with her cradled against him. He knew what he wanted, what he needed. Before he could get the words out, she said, “Today is a day for chances. If you’re willing, I’d like for us to shift and make love.”

His heart cracked and spilled over. Tears were closer to the surface than they’d been since he was a boy. She moved away from him, placed a hand on either side of his face, and closed her mouth over his. He read love and longing in her kiss, along with heat and hope as she nibbled, licked, and suckled his tongue.

His cock swelled, desperate to take her, make her his forever. He broke their kiss. “Are you certain?”

She smiled, her lips flower-petal soft from their kiss. “Aye, I’ve never been more so.”

Chapter Fifteen

Lars had just enough presence of mind to shut off the brazier. He turned to Tamara and began to undress her, starting with her shoes. He rubbed the insteps of her feet and she wriggled her toes against his hands, making little mewing noises. He ran his hands up her ankles and calves, enjoying the feel of her sleekly muscled legs, before unfastening her pants.

“Dear God but your hands feel heavenly.” She smiled dreamily. “It’s almost painful to tear myself away, but this will be easier if we stand.” She got to her feet and her pants pooled around her. She stepped out of them and reached for the waistband of his sweats, running a palm over his hard-on. He leaned into her, wanting her to touch him, and she did, but only for a moment. She slid his sweatpants over his hips with firm hands, followed by his shorts. His cock sprang free. Tamara’s fingers hovered so close he felt the heat of them, but she made a grab for the bottom of his shirt instead and tugged it upward.