Fury

* * * * *

“They what?”

The deep voice behind Ellie startled her. She spun and dropped her purse. Fury had stalked right up behind her without her knowing it. He’d moved so stealthily he hadn’t made a sound to warn her of his approach. She clutched her chest as she faced him.

“Don’t sneak up on someone that way. I had no idea you were there. You almost gave me a heart attack.” Her arms dropped to her sides.

Fury moved closer. “Someone tried to kidnap you?” He bent down, lifted her purse from the pavement, and held it with his big hand while he straightened to his full height again. “How?”

Ellie’s racing heart started to calm. “I’m guessing one of the protestors followed me to my motel and they rented a room beside mine. They were waiting to ambush me when I returned to my room after grabbing some food. I screamed when one of the three men grabbed me. There were people around who started to yell and they ran away.”

The look on Fury’s matched his name. The name sure does fit him, Ellie decided. He became silent while he continued to stare down at her but then he softly growled. His canine teeth peeked out from his slightly parted full lips. She backed away, leery of his anger. What did I do? It wasn’t my fault. He looked as if he wanted to tear out her throat again.

“You aren’t safe out there,” he stated in a harsh tone. “From now on you stay here. Don’t argue with me.”

Dean Hoskins cleared his throat and pulled out his cell phone. “I’ll call guest housing to make sure they have a room for her.”

“Hang it up,” Fury demanded. “She is staying with me.”

Ellie gawked at him, trying to make sense of his offer. “With you?” she gasped.

He took a step closer. “You seem to know how to find trouble, sweetness. Or maybe it just seems to know how to find you. I have a guest bedroom and you are staying with me. That way I can keep an eye on you.”

Uh-oh. She watched as Fury tore his gaze from hers to turn his attention on her car. He paced all the way around it, examined every inch of damage, only stopping when he stood in front of Ellie again. He snagged her hand, holding it firmly inside his hot-skinned but gentle grip.

“Let’s go. My house isn’t far so we’ll walk there. I’ll have someone remove your things from that and tell them to fix what they did to it.”

“But my suitcase” Ellie tried to stall.

“Not now,” he snarled, tugging sharply on her hand, forcing her to move when she hadn’t meant to.

He pulled Ellie alongside him, giving her no choice but to accompany him. She noticed Dean Hoskins’ alarmed expression. She didn’t want to cause a scene or for Fury to get into any kind of trouble. She knew he was protecting her for some reason and she hated the idea of leaving Homeland more than living inside his house.

“Thanks for coming to get me,” she called out.

“Not a problem,” Hoskins mumbled.

Ellie glanced at Fury’s handsome but grim profile while she all but jogged along beside him as his long legs ate up ground. He still clutched her purse in a fisted hand. She gave her purse a worried look and hoped nothing inside it got crushed in his white-knuckled hold. Ellie didn’t protest as Fury kept going until they arrived at his house. He released her at the front door, reached into his back pocket, and used his key card to open it. His dark gaze fixed on her.

“Inside, now.”

Ellie hesitated. “Why are you so mad at me?”

“I’m not,” he growled. “Get inside.”

Ellie entered the dim interior, darting glances around to take in the room. The door slammed behind her loudly. She spun to face him. Fury leaned against the door, just dropped her purse onto the floor, and she flinched, hoping her cell phone she’d shoved in there survived the hard hit to the entry tile. Her attention returned to Fury only to find him staring at her with his dark, intense gaze. His sharp teeth peeked out between his slightly parted lips again.

“For someone not mad at me,” she stated softly, “you’re doing a hell of an impression of it. Could you please, at least,” she pointed to her own mouth, “put away the fangs?”

He growled.

She backed away a few feet. “Fine. Don’t. It’s just that when you show fangs and have that angry look, you tend to give people the impression, well, me at least, that you’re pissed at them.” She took a breath. “And the growling…” She shrugged. “Kind of implies you’re mad.”

“I’m furious,” he snarled.

“What did I do?” She took another step back.

“Nothing. It’s not directed at you. You were fired for protecting me. You were tossed out there into your world and because of us, you have been targeted as though you were one of us.”

“Well,” she relaxed, secretly thrilled she hadn’t ticked him off. “I worked at Homeland and knew I wouldn’t make friends with dim-witted people when I took the job. If I agreed with those jackasses I wouldn’t have been here at all and they know I’m pro New Species. It’s just a fact of life that they are jerks. Everyone has hate groups.”

“No one hates you because of where you come from.”

She smiled. “I’m originally from California before my family moved to Ohio. Half the country is sure every freak and weirdo in America lives or is born here in Southern Cali.”

Fury blinked. “How pro New Species are you?”