Guardian Bears: Marcus by Leslie Chase

night,” she said at last, blushing.
    “I noticed,” Marcus replied, grinning at her. “So did I, in case that wasn’t clear. I’m looking forward to doing that again.”
    She blushed brighter and nodded, and he laughed, pushing back his plate. Then she sobered, looking at him. “I guess I am too.”
    “You ‘guess’?” He frowned at her.
    “Marcus, I’m serious about not wanting to have anything to do with the Serpents. They’re bad news, and they scare me! I don’t know if I can do this if you’re going to be in business with them, no matter how good it feels to, um, to be with you.”
    She looked stricken, glancing up at him and then looking away, but her voice was firm. He grimaced, unhappy that he’d caused her pain.
    “I know what they are, I promise. It’s just for a little while, and I’m keeping myself safe.”
    “That’s not good enough, Marcus. I’m serious about this. They’re not just a regular gang of bikers, that would be bad enough, but you hear these awful things about them. Even if you’re safe, I won’t - I can’t - be involved with someone who is helping them out.”
    Marcus looked at her, seeing fierce determination. Could he risk telling her the truth? One of the most important lessons he’d learned in the Special Forces was that even the smallest mistake could compromise security, and that could be really dangerous. Deadly. Not just for him, either - he’d take a chance with his own life, but risking hers was out of the question.
    No, I can’t take the chance she’ll let something slip , he told himself, feeling awful about misleading her. But not living up to his cover story could get them both killed.
    “What kind of stories?” he asked, buying time to think about what he was going to say.
    Lisa didn’t look happy about answering that. Collecting the plates, she took them to the sink in silence and started to clean them. Only then did she answer.
    “People go missing sometimes. You know how it is here, some people just up and leave and no one hears a thing, but sometimes - too often - they were seen near some Serpents just before they vanish.”
    Damn it, that’s too close to the truth . Marcus felt himself tense up, anger bubbling to the surface and then ruthlessly pushed back down. This was not the time or the place for it and he didn’t want to scare Lisa any more than necessary.
    “Some folks say they’ve seen some of the gang bring in strangers, too,” Lisa continued, busying herself with the washing up. “Only the strangers never come into town. They just pass through to the club’s compound out in the woods, and we never see them again. Maybe it’s nothing, maybe they’re just bringing in girlfriends in or something, but I don’t like it, Marcus. And you know how the police are around here.”
    “Didn’t seem that bad when I left,” Marcus said, shaking his head. “But I heard it got worse since then.”
    “It has. The police won’t do anything if there’s a Serpent involved, and who else are we supposed to go to for help?”
    Her shoulders tensed, and her movements were jerky as she rinsed the plates and put them down to dry. Marcus got up from his seat and walked around the table to her, putting his hands on her back gently, feeling her relax a little at his touch. The connection between them let him lend her his strength, but it wasn’t enough, he could feel that.
    “I have to finish what I started,” he told her, feeling her tense up again. “But that’ll only take a couple of days, I promise. That’s all, and then I’m done with the Serpents.”
    And they’re done for good, he finished silently. No more trouble for the town, or for anyone else, at least not from this chapter of the club.
    “So you’re happy to do business with them? You can’t just stop?”
    “I didn’t say that,” he rumbled unhappily. “I have to get this done, okay? If I back out now, they won’t be happy, and they’ll take it out on you. So unless