Page 3 of Magnum, Volume 1

But his walk was what truly intrigued me — confident and lazy at the same time, and so fucking sexy. This man would know exactly what to do with his hips when he fucked.

I stopped that line of thought right away. I was here for this man to hopefully keep me safe, which he may or may not agree to do. Bud hadn’t contacted him to keep opsec, and maybe this sexy, naked man would want to protect an investigative reporter as a favor between bikers, but maybe he wouldn’t.

I took my helmet off and began working my hair loose from the tucked and wrapped ponytail, and the man lifted a hand in an easy wave.

Bud made an odd wave back, and I wondered if it was some kind of internal signal. A long-distance code-word.

The man grabbed some shorts from a table and stepped into them without hurry, tugging them over his hips before he began to walk to us.

Was I looking at the club’s enforcer? The brute? Did he get paid to kill people? Because what else would a biker do for this kind of money?

I’d been warm on the ride, but without the air traveling over me, I thought I might melt. The humid air felt like a physical weight, and I stripped all the riding equipment off as fast as I could manage, until I was down to the oversized men’s jeans and a snug white halter top.

Chapter 2

Magnum

The turtle was hanging out on the island in the middle of the lake on our favorite log when we heard a motorcycle in the distance. We paid attention to the vibrations we could feel in the log, and determined it wasn’t one of our brothers’ bikes. Or at least, not from the local chapter. It was a Harley, which made it more meaningful, so we walked down the log, slid into the water, and began the swim across the lake.

The turtle lost some sensory input while swimming. We could hear when the bike turned off the road, but without the vibrations in our feet and belly, there was less information.

It took about a minute to make the two-hundred-yard swim, so the bike came into sight before we were across.

The turtle ducked underwater, changed into human form, and then I came up and swam the final fifteen yards to the dock.

The bike carried two people, and it looked like two men to me, but the turtle had pegged them as a man and a woman.

When the rider took her helmet off and freed her hair, I knew the turtle had been right, as it often is.

My human eyes could see more details at a distance than the turtle, and I analyzed what they’d done to make her look like a male. Heavy riding boots, men’s jeans, and a pro-riding shirt designed for summer, with hard-shelled elbows and shoulders.

But with the large leather gloves off, and the long blonde hair, it was clearly a woman.

And then she took the huge riding shirt off and handed it to Bud, who I recognized once his helmet was off — and my eyes went to the woman’s rack.

Built was an understatement. This woman had tits for days, not to mention a waist so slim the large jeans would’ve slid right off without a curvy fuckin’ ass to hold it up.

But then the clues added up in my head, and I stopped focusing on her ass and tits while she was leaned over unlacing the boots, because Bud had arrived without a heads-up, with a woman he’d brought here disguised as a man.

Didn’t take Sherlock-Holmes-level skills to deduce he’d brought her here in the hopes I could hide and protect her.

I gave a subtle, coded wave that asked if there was a problem, and he responded with one that said yes but it isn’t immediate. So, I could relax and not go into urgent defense mode, and I’d been right about his reasons for bringing her here.

Not the first time I’d been asked to hide someone, but I wasn’t looking forward to having to babysit a ditzy female who’d likely made a string of idiotic choices that’d put her in hot water with either LEO or a criminal organization.

Bud said something to the woman and then walked down the yard, meeting me halfway while the woman stayed put.

“I’m assuming you didn’t bring me a sexy little present out of the blue?” I asked, my voice soft enough the human wouldn’t hear but the wolf easily could.

Bud shook his head. “She’s Nickie’s friend. The two have worked stories before, and they have each other’s backs. Need you to casually get Mad Dog here, probably either Squatch or Dementor, but no more. Nothing that makes it look terribly odd for them to come. We’ll wait to tell her story until everyone’s here. Meanwhile, we can hang out on the porch if you need to get some work done.”

I frowned. “Stories? You brought an investigative reporter to my house?”

“Made her promise not to use anything she found out against the people helping keep her alive. My Nickie says she’s solid, and Storm’s scent was honest and sure when she made the promise. You’re welcome to make her vow to the same thing.”

Okay, so some trust had been set up. I’d wait until I heard the story to make any decisions. Meanwhile, it was already eighty-five and muggy, and the day hadn’t started yet. I wasn’t willing to invite her into my home yet, but I wasn’t going to ask them to sit outside, either.

“The boathouse has a/c. Ya’ll can hang out down there until I get Mad Dog here. I’ll walk ya’ll down and get you settled.”