SWNOVELS Chapter Chapter Six: Crash-Bang-Boom
Lyra watched the women flank around the hulk of a man that is her protector, her guardian, her bodyguard. She doesn’t know what kind of Shifter he is, and she doesn’t care. He could be a bobcat for all she cared. She smiled. There is no way that man is a bobcat. No offense to bobcat Shifters—if there are any—but that large man is in no way a bobcat.
“Great party, darlin’.”
Lyra turned around and smiled at the sweet man standing behind her.
“Uncle Paulie,” she said, swinging her arms around the man who has been like an uncle to her since she was three.
Paulie hugged her back. When he let her go, he looked across the room at the man who was supposed to be keeping an eye on her.
“Why isn’t your bodyguard doing his job?” he asked, looking at Lyra.
Lyra smiled. “He is. Trust me, Uncle Paulie. He’s good at his job.”
Paulie snorted, “he better be, for his own sake.”
Lyra giggled, “believe me, he knows what he’s doing. Watch.”
Lyra raised her hand to her brow and flicked a makebelieve lent away. Within moments, Maverick was away from the women and making his way to her side.
Paulie eyed the large man as he made his way to them. ’Not bad, not bad at all,’ he thought, a smirk on his face when the large man looked at him to decipher if he was friend or foe.
“Mav,” Lyra said with a smile when he stood before her. “I want you to meet my uncle Paulie; he’s the….”
“Sheriff,” Maverick said, holding his hand out to Paulie.
Paulie nodded and shook the large man’s hand.
Maverick let go of the sheriff’s hand and looked at Lyra.
“You are only supposed to use that if you are in danger.”
Lyra looked up at him and smiled. “Sorry. I wanted to prove to Paulie that you are capable of doing your job and flirt with women at the same time.”
Maverick snorted, “I wasn’t flirting with them, sweets.”
“Maybe not,” she said, watching his dark chocolate eyes dilate. “But they were flirting with you.”
Maverick chuckled, “not my thing.”
’Am I your thing?’ she wanted desperately to ask but kept her mouth shut.
“I am happy to see that someone is keeping their eye on my niece. She may not be blood, but I love this child as if she were my own,” Paulie said, watching Maverick.
Maverick nodded. “Yes, sir. There are also others here who have her back.”
The sheriff looked around and noticed a couple men watching them and nodded to them.
“Good,” Paulie said, looking back at Maverick.
“The party is winding down,” Lyra whispered. “I need to go home soon. I have an appointment in the morning.”
Both men looked around the room, then at her.
“Okay, darlin’. I hope to see you soon. I have something I would like to run by you,” Paulie said with a smile.
“What things?” Lyra asked, intrigued by the smile on his face.
“Your mother will fill you in,” he said, then kissed her cheek and headed toward her father on the other side of the room.
“Ready to head home?” Maverick asked, watching her watch Paulie walk away.
She looked at him and nodded. “I am exhausted.”
“I will be right behind you, as always,” he said with a nod, then turned and left her standing there.
Lyra took in a deep breath and let it out in a sigh. If only things were different, then just maybe she could give everything she has to the Shifter who has all her attention, mentally and sexually.
~🎃~
Lyra looked in her rearview mirror and smiled when she saw the single headlight. The first time she had seen Maverick on his motorcycle, she had wondered how the thing held such a large man. But it did. She chuckled and turned up the music on her radio. Soon, she will be out of this damn costume and stuffing.
Her apartment was in town, away from her parents. She stayed in both, half the time with her parents, and when she needed time to herself, the other half by herself in her apartment. Of course, her father hated it, but if she was to continue the charade that she isn’t their daughter, she needed a place of her own and her room at their mansion. And tonight, she was going home so that no one saw her slip upstairs.
A light blinded her through the mirror on her door, and she looked in the rearview mirror. Two headlights. Where was Maverick? Maybe she should pull over and let this vehicle pass.
The feel of the car behind her hitting her bumper made her heart skip a beat.
‘What the hell?’
The car hit hers again, and she pressed down on the gas pedal. Was this another attempt on her life? The other vehicle pulled around her, and she thought they were going to pass—until they hit the side of her car. She looked over but couldn’t see through the tinted windows. She pressed down on the gas again and tried to outrun the maniac. But the other car kept up with her and slammed into her door again.
Lyra screamed as her car went out of control. She tried to straighten the wheel, but it was too late. Directly in front of her with a large oak tree, and she was headed straight for it. She hit the brakes and covered her face with her arms.
‘Please God, I’m not ready,’ she prayed as her brand-new car hit the large tree. She heard the other car’s tires squeal as it drove away just before everything went black.
~🎃~
Maverick snarled when a car sped past him doing well over the speed limit. When it pulled back into his lane and slowed, he cursed. He can’t see Lyra’s car anymore.
They should have stayed at the mansion.
When Lyra had said she wanted to go home, he had thought to her room upstairs in her parents’ house. But no, apparently, she has her own apartment in town. Of course, she does. And she wanted to go there tonight.
“Fuck this,” he grumbled, revving his bike.
He can swerve around this car no problem and catch up to Lyra.
When the car ahead of him sped up, his heart plummeted to his boots.
“No,” he whispered.
He raced after the car and heard it hit something.
“Lyra.”
He tried to see the cars ahead of him, but they were too far away. His heart thundered in his chest as he caught up to them. But he was too late. Lyra’s car lost control and headed straight for a large oak tree.
“Fuck!” he cursed, watching the car slam into the tree.
The other car squealed tires as it drove off. He couldn’t follow it—he had to get to Lyra.
“Follow the car!” he growled into his earpiece.
His two teammates were just behind him, and he could hear their tires squeal as they headed after the car which had run their target off the road.
Calling Lyra his target gave him chills. Yes, she’s his client, but she has become more than that in such a short time. His tires squealed as he pulled off the side of the road. He laid his bike down and ran to the car. It was totaled—she will have to buy a new one. But who the fuck cared? He needed to get her out of the vehicle.
He tried to pull the door open, but it was stuck. The other car had slammed into it hard enough to dent it in. With a growl, he reached into his Shifter strength and pulled the door off. He tossed it to the side and looked inside. Lyra laid across the airbag, her arms at her sides.
Maverick pulled out his knife and popped the airbag, then cut her buckle straps. He lifted her out of the car and moved away from it in case it caught fire.
“Maverick?” she moaned, her eyes still closed.
“Yes, sweets, it’s me,” he said, holding her against his chest. “I am here now.”
“I couldn’t control my car,” she mumbled against his chest.
Maverick closed his eyes and pulled in a long breath. He shouldn’t have let her drive herself.
“Do you hurt?” he asked, opening his eyes and looking down at her Red Riding Hood costume.
“My ribs,” she said with a moan.
That’s when he noticed the blood and cursed. What punctured her? He set her on the ground and started removing her costume so he could get a better look.
“No,” she cried, covering his hands with hers.
“I need to check you over,” he said, looking at the blood-soaked spot in her costume.
“Please,” she pleaded.
“Don’t worry, I promise not to look,” he said with a grin.
She shook her head, then her head fell to the side, and her arms went limp.
“Lyra!” he hollered. “Damn it, woman, look at me!”
Nothing. With a growl, Maverick started yanking on her costume. Something didn’t feel right. She felt too soft. It didn’t feel like flesh. He ripped her costume away from her body and sucked in a surprised breath.
“Well, fuck me,” he said with a chuckle as he pulled stuffing away from her clammy body.
When he finally found skin, he felt a small puncture and held pressure to it, using her red cape.
“So,” he said, grinning down at her. “You were hiding yourself even from me, were you?”
Lyra moaned but didn’t open her eyes.
Maverick sighed and continued to hold pressure to the wound. He looked up when he heard sirens. His men had called 911 before they took off after the bastard who had run her off the road.
The ambulance pulled in close to him and Lyra on the ground.
“What happened?”
“Car drove her off the road. I was just behind them, so I pulled off to help her. The driver kept going,” Maverick said, nodding to the car which was wrapped around the tree.
“And the door?” the paramedic asked, staring at the door on the ground.
Maverick chuckled, “it was stuck.”
“Guess Shifter strength comes in handy,” the other paramedic said with a shake of his head.
Maverick let them take over and watched them load her into the ambulance. He wanted to go with her, but he couldn’t leave his bike on the side of the road. Once the ambulance was gone, he picked up the stuffing he had pulled from her clothes and tossed them into the car. Something black caught his attention, and he leaned into the car and pulled out a bulletproof vest. He sighed and threw it back into the car.
Would it have saved her in this crash or made it worse? He shrugged and grabbed her purse. The cops would be here soon, and he needed to be gone.
He lifted his bike up off the ground and lifted his leg over it. A laugh left his lips, and he shook his head. Now he knows why she had held herself away from him. She wasn’t holding herself back. She didn’t want him to know she wore a disguise other than her wig. He laughed and started his bike.
‘Okay, my Little Red Riding Hood, no more hiding.’