Sara Humphreys - Unclaimed

The dog whined and sniffed at Dominic as he approached, which was not unexpected. Dogs seemed more in tune with the animal side of Amoveo, and this little mutt was no different. The guy, on the other hand, remained as clueless to Dominic’s true nature as most humans were.

Matt’s energy signature was typical for a human, and he had an open, innocent look in his eyes. Dominic suspected Tatiana was lying about Matt being her boyfriend, and now that he met him, he was relatively certain it was bullshit. This kid was no match for the feisty, no-nonsense woman he had just met.

Matt was all of five foot nine with a slim, wiry build. Hell, he was no match for anyone. Even the puppy could kick his ass.

“Hi, I’m Matt,” he said as he placed the dog on the ground, allowing him to explore. “I’m Tatiana’s assistant and, at the moment, dog walker.”

“Dominic.” He shook Matt’s hand briefly before folding his arms over his chest and staring the kid down. “Head of security here at the ranch.”

“Security?” Matt laughed and ran a hand over his messy brown hair as he looked at the sprawling property with the backdrop of looming mountains. He stretched his arms over his head and arched his back, working out the kinks from traveling. “What does a place out here in the middle of nowhere need security for?”

“Never can tell,” Dominic said quietly. “Things aren’t always what they seem to be.”

“Right.” Matt stuffed his hands in his pockets awkwardly and turned his attention to the dog currently sniffing around Dominic’s feet. He was clearly intimidated by Dominic and visibly nervous. “Maybe I should put Cass on a leash?”

“So,” Dominic asked, “how long have you and Tatiana been together?”

“We’ve been working together for about a year. She’s incredible,” Matt said enthusiastically, his demeanor immediately changing at the mention of Tatiana. “I’ve never met anyone who has the kind of connection with animals that she does. It’s uncanny, man, and if I didn’t know better, I’d think she could actually talk to them.”

“She’s a regular Dr. Dolittle, huh?” Dominic said as he squatted down and scratched the dog’s floppy ears.

Dominic had heard that hybrid Amoveo possessed unique abilities, and it sounded like Tatiana was no different. Communicating with animals was an interesting power. He’d never met another Amoveo with that particular ability, and it made Tatiana even more intriguing.

Glancing over his shoulder toward the house, he caught a glimpse of her in the window as he rose to his feet. She didn’t look happy that Dominic was chatting with her boyfriend.

“Tell me, Matt,” Dominic said quietly. “Are you and Tatiana involved on more than a professional level?”

“What?” Matt’s blue eyes grew round, and his face went bright red. “No. I mean, sure we’re friends, and we work together.” He stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jeans and looked down at the dog again, avoiding Dominic’s stare. “She’s too busy with her practice to date anyone .”

Matt shot him a quick look of disapproval as he fiddled with the change in his pockets. Dominic suppressed a victorious smile. Bingo. Matt wasn’t Tatiana’s boyfriend, but he’d probably give up his paycheck for the chance.

Silence stretched awkwardly as Dominic studied Matt. He seemed harmless enough, but in Dominic’s experience, sometimes those were the ones you had to watch. Dominic, better than anyone, knew looks could be deceiving.

Hell, Dominic’s own sister had been a traitor, and her betrayal stung as badly as the fact that he didn’t see it coming. He’d never been more humiliated in all his life and, after everything settled down, Dominic even offered to relinquish his role as Guardian, but Richard and Salinda wouldn’t hear of it.

The Muldavis may not have held him responsible for his sister’s actions, but Dominic sure as hell did. Mistakes were unacceptable for a Guardian because people could get killed.

Dominic stuffed down the uncomfortable memories and prevented his eyes from shifting. Poor Matt would probably piss himself, and even though the idea was amusing, he refrained from breaking the rules. Besides, he wasn’t a bully.

“I wonder how much longer Tatiana is going to be?” Matt said while keeping his eye on the puppy and off Dominic.

“I have a feeling she’ll be along in a minute.”

Dominic sensed her agitated energy from all the way outside and suppressed a grin as he touched her mind with his. I’m having a nice chat with your boyfriend, Tatiana.

The connection was severed as quickly as it had been made, and a dark void swiftly replaced the vibrant telepathic contact. Dominic’s smile faded as he realized she had closed her mind to him and for all intents and purposes, slammed the door in his face.

About five seconds later, he heard Tatiana and Layla coming down the porch steps, and the now familiar humming of Tatiana’s energy signature filled the air. She didn’t respond when he tried to reconnect. Try as she might, Tatiana couldn’t completely hide from him. A warm gust of wind preempted her arrival and announced her presence with a whiff of cherries and vanilla.

“Hey,” Matt said with a wave. A smile of relief washed over his face as he spotted Tatiana, and he quickly cut a wide path around Dominic.

“Hey, yourself,” she said sweetly.

Dominic turned around just in time to see Tatiana plant a big kiss on Matt’s cheek before taking the puppy from him.

“Cass,” she said as she patted the dog’s head. “Are you being a good boy?”

The look of surprise on Layla’s face was only matched by Dominic’s. Son of a bitch. A low growl rumbled in his chest, and it took herculean strength not to let his eyes shift as he loomed large behind Matt . I suggest you stop doing that, or we’re going to have problems. And by we, I mean you and this kid who almost fainted when you kissed him.

You were the one who wanted to play games. Tatiana’s sweet voice touched his mind as she peered at him over the puppy’s head before turning her attention back to Matt.

“Sorry I kept you waiting so long, but we had to get a few things straightened out,” she said, flicking her eyes briefly to Dominic. “Just needed to lay the ground rules for the duration of our stay.”

“N-no problem,” Matt sputtered happily and gave a victorious glance over his shoulder at Dominic. He hooked his thumbs in the back pocket of his jeans and nodded toward the house. “Are we staying at the motel in town, or should I bring our bags inside?”

“Neither,” Layla said. She bit her lip, as though she was trying to stop herself from laughing. “You two are staying in one of the guesthouses here on the ranch, next door to Dominic’s, in fact,” she said with a big smile. “But Tatiana wanted to look at the horses first.”

“Matt, grab my medical bag from the backseat. Would you?” Tatiana followed Layla to the massive red and white barn to the right of the house. “We’ll get some vitals on them and see where to go from there. No point in wasting time,” she said over her shoulder with a pointed look to Dominic. “We’re here to help the horses, so let’s get to it.”

“You got it.” Matt turned around and almost ran face-first into Dominic’s chest. “Whoa, sorry.”

Unmoving, Dominic kept his eyes on Tatiana as she disappeared through the barn doors. Matt ran bag in hand to catch up to her, wasting no time in putting distance between him and Dominic.

What was he doing? Why the hell was he letting some woman he barely knew get under his skin? So what if she was his mate? He never in his life forced himself on a woman, and he sure as shit wasn’t starting now—mate or not—no matter how intriguing, sexy, or enticing she was. Dominic swore, and his eyes shifted with a tingling snap.