Wyvern Protection Unit - Chapter 91: Chapter 91

Zircon grunted as he lifted box after box of Jennifer’s shit from her office, loading into his new F150 Raptor. He’d had the thing completely customized by a Shifter friendly shop and had been dying to take Jennifer out with him for a drive. Of course, he hadn’t been planning on hauling a ton of her work with him.
Work. Ugh.
That was all the female cared about. On one hand, it was inspiring the way she’d committed to her job, which was essentially handling all assignments and possibly snafus involving the . Sometimes it seemed like Zircon would be carrying a torch until the end of his days for this woman.
He might have believed that, too, if not for the way she’d sweetly submitted to him the night after the big battle with that Alien motherfucker, Cass Viper. Then again, they were all Aliens, weren’t they? It was still difficult for him to wrap his brain around that little factoid.
“Careful with that. It’s electronic equipment,” Jennifer said, and he raised an eyebrow at her.
She threw her hands in the air and turned around with her list and pencil, making sure she had everything she needed. Fuck. She was cute. Looking at her in her tight pencil skirt and knee-high boots, her white blouse buttoned up to her throat, glasses perched on her nose, and hair pulled back into a neat bun made Zircon’s Wyvern growl and his cock stand at attention.
She had the whole sexy librarian look smack down. Zircon never wanted anyone the way he wanted her. And he’d saved himself for her, too. After all, they’d been working together for a long time. Like decades long, but Shifters aged differently than humans.
His skin crawled at the thought of anyone else ever touching him, so he hadn’t let anyone else touch him. Not ever. Sometimes he thought he’d die from wanting her so fiercely, and now that he’d had a taste of her, it was that much fucking worse.
Zircon had been waking up in a cold sweat almost every night this past week. His beast was ornery as fuck, and the lightning he used to call so easily to his aid was not responding like it used to. He felt adrift. Confused. And angry.
Why else would he be at her office, begging for a crumb of attention from the female?
Shit. He had it bad. And if he wasn’t careful, he was going to lose his damn mind the same way he had his heart to the woman. Something was wrong. He knew she cared about him. It was evident in the way she’d embraced him. Jennifer had welcomed his body, urging him on until he’d filled her heat with more ardor and zest than he’d expected. She tried to convince him it was simply a passing need, but he knew better.
Zircon was in love with Jennifer, and she loved him, too. But she was in denial. He’d urged his father to extend this offer to her, knowing she would take it in order to do a better job. She took her position at the DPCA very seriously, and it was something he’d admired her for. But no one could live on work alone. She needed to find a balance between her personal life and professional one, and he was just the Wyvern to help with that.
Of course, he didn’t expect to be her personal mover. But he knew what this was—another of her tests. Jennifer didn’t trust easily, and she was constantly testing the people she worked with, and those few she called friends.
It was fine, though. Zircon always was good at tests. And he’d been studying for this one for years.
“Anything else?” he asked once he’d loaded the last box.
“Um, no,” she said, looking at her list. “I think that’s it.”
“Great. Let’s go.”
“Oh, I have my car⁠—”
“No, you don’t. Jasper came by to pick it up while you were inside. He’s bringing it to get that oil change you’ve been putting off for weeks now.”
“What? You had no right to do that,” she snapped.
“You’re going to be staying at our place now, Jenn, I have every right to make sure you’re safe. Besides, your break pads need changing, too. I’m surprised your Owl hasn’t been driving you nuts because of the squeaking.”
“She has, and I’ve been meaning to get them checked, but it’s been very busy,” she supplied.
Her frown was so damn adorable, Zircon wanted to nibble it. He resisted, though. Barely.
“Well? What are you looking at?”
“Nothing,” he murmured, turning away.
“Oh, I have to brief you on something,” she began.
“Shoot,” he said, listening as she explained about some missing Shifters.
“Are we being sent to investigate?” he asked.
“No. Mother just wants everyone aware and alert.”
“Got it.”
Zircon walked away, making her follow behind him, and she did. He bit back his grin, knowing it would rile her, but he couldn’t help but feel elated at this minor victory. He opened the car door for her, ignoring her angry huff as she got in without touching him. Almost, anyway. He put his hand on her hip, steadying her when she would have slipped off the runner.
“Gonna have to put in a step for you,” he muttered, cursing himself for not thinking about that beforehand.
Jennifer was short for a Shifter, and her body was a study in delicious curves that drove him wild with need. She turned around, eyes wide, ready to give him a piece of her mind he’d be willing to bet. But something else happened, and she trembled under his fingers.
“No need. I won’t be riding in your truck often enough to warrant such a thing.”
“We’ll see about that, baby.”
Zircon grinned, closing the door before she could come back at him with some snarky retort. The woman was a hellion. Sassy, snarky, smarter than anyone he knew, and prettier, too. His heart yearned for her, and his beast, too. The Wyvern was pissed he hadn’t claimed her during their night together, but Zircon wasn’t going to win her that way.
He wanted Jennifer to be his more than anything, but not if he had to steal her choices. He wanted her ready, willing, and wanting. He wanted her to want him. To pick him. To choose him for her own. Then and only then would he claim her.
And fuck everyone else who offered advice and told him what he was doing wrong. Hell. He knew exactly what Jennifer needed. She needed him. But until she was ready to admit that they would be stuck in this stalemate.
“Can we stop to get Daeja some fries?” Jennifer asked, and her cheeks heated prettily under his scrutiny. “She texted,” Jennifer added, lifting her phone and shrugging.
His new pink-haired sister-in-law was a sucker for French fries. She used to say it kind of funny, but it’d been weeks since she crash-landed on Earth, and she’d almost lost her accent entirely. He guessed Shifters everywhere were like that. It was on account of their supernaturally enhanced hearing they picked up on local accents so quickly.
“Yep. I guess the rest of them want some, too?”
“Um, hang on. Yeah, actually. Do you know Heavenly Burgers?”
“Of course,” he replied, altering his route.
“Great. I’ll call in an order,” she said.
Zircon waited for a chance to tell her what he wanted, but he didn’t have to. He couldn’t stop his grin now as Jennifer placed an order that could feed six Drakein females, the two males who’d stayed behind, as well as his brothers, their mates, and his dad. But what really made him grin was the fact she remembered he liked chocolate banana milkshakes with his burgers. She ordered him four and asked them to make them extra thick.
He pulled into the parking lot twenty minutes later.
“Um, I guess I’ll go wait inside,” Jennifer said, going for the handle on her door.
“Never figured you for a runner, Jenn.”
She stilled, and he knew that struck a chord. Watching her with predatory eyes, Zircon trained his face to reveal nothing when she turned back in her chair to face him.
“I am not running from you, Conny.”
“Then why are you afraid to sit in the truck with me while they make our order? You know it’s not ready yet, Jenn.”
“Fine,” she snapped, slamming the door shut.
“Fine. But you don’t have to stay here. Not if you don’t want to.”
Zircon watched her closely for any sign of anything she might be feeling. Oh, it was touch and go alright. The woman was a freaking master at hiding her emotions, a really interesting trait for a Shifter. They relied on body language to give away signs of what someone was thinking or feeling.
Usually, it was easy for him and his Wyvern to determine how someone felt, but not her. She never made anything easy, and he’d been studying the woman for years. Maybe that was part of the attraction. Jennifer was this huge unsolved mystery to him. He wanted to know everything about her.
What made her tick? Why did she prefer ‘80s rock to alternative even though he was pretty sure she went to school with Caro and that female could not get off the Pearl Jam train? Why did she sometimes whimper in the middle of the night? What would it be like if she told him she loved him?
Fuck. He had to stop. He couldn’t afford to go there right now.
“What are you doing, Conny? Why are you starting with me?”
“Starting with you? Jennifer, I never finished with you,” he growled, and couldn’t keep that spark of emotion from lacing his words.
The air between them sizzled with electricity. The truck’s cabin was fraught with sexual tension, and Zircon was hanging on by a thread. Everything inside him demanded he grab the female and pull her onto his lap. Even his beast wanted him to take what she was holding just out of his reach.
Crap. This was not what he wanted. He and Jenn had been playing this tug of war for years now, but he was quickly losing this round, and he knew it. He would have to bide his time. Another thing he’d gotten really good at over the years was knowing when to pull out—metaphorically speaking.
Then again, why not?
“Fuck it,” he growled, giving in to his baser instincts.
Jennifer gasped as he pulled her on top of him, cupping her face with his hands as he yanked her down for a kiss. She tasted even better than he imagined. Like crisp Autumn leaves and hot tea by a warm fire. Kissing her was a drug, leaving him addle-brained and panting, always needing more.
Zircon was no better than an addict. Too little of her, and he might just die, but if he had to pick a way to go, dining on Jennifer’s sublime kisses was the only way he’d choose.
“I thought we had a truce,” she said once he let her up for air.
“A truce? Is that what you call it? Fuck, Jenn, you’re killing me.”
“You only want what you can’t have, Conny. We both know it.”
“I have had you, Jenn, and I want you more than ever.”
“It will pass. It’s just sexual⁠—”
“You’re wrong. How can you still be so wrong about me?”
“No, I’m not. You’re just stubborn,” she said, stopping when her phone buzzed. “Food’s ready. I’ll get it.”
Then she slid out of the truck, leaving him there to deal with his frustration and his hard on. Zircon pinched the latter, willing it down as he stewed in his seat. He was furious at both himself and her.
Why was she being so damn stubborn? Didn’t she know he worshipped the ground she walked on, for fuck’s sake? One thing was obvious, Zircon needed help. He needed to come up with a new plan to win the willful Owl’s heart.
“It’s just a matter of time, baby,” he whispered, before exiting the truck to grab the box of food from her.
Oh, she was plenty strong enough, but nothing in the world would make him just sit there while she did the work. He simply wasn’t wired that way. Yeah, he trusted her to be able to handle a whole lot of shit, but why should she do something as mundane as that when he could take the burden from her?
“I had it,” she grumbled.
Zircon ignored her and tossed a few hundos at the cashier, winking at the teenager and telling her to keep the change. Then, he hefted the box loaded with delicious smelling fries and burgers and started towards the exit.
Jennifer moved faster than him, opening the door as he passed by. He caught her sniffing him, and that just made his Wyvern want to roar out loud. She was attracted to him, that was the only certainty he knew.
He just had to figure out a way to use that attraction to his advantage. Jennifer was the smartest person he knew, and he was no match for her brains. But he knew plenty about her body. Hell, he’d had years to study it. He just needed a strategy to go about making her his.