Lover Behind Enemy Lines Read online

  Table of Contents

  Blurb

  Sneak Peek

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  About the Author | By Liv Olteano

  Now Available

  Coming in December 2018

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  Copyright

  “Why did you break in?”

  This was familiar ground. I’d asked that question a lot of times since he was here. He had yet to give me a believable answer.

  As expected, he pouted and looked away. His gaze landed on the plate I’d brought. “Can you at least free one of my hands so I can eat like a normal person?”

  I sighed and got the fork out of the nightstand drawer where I’d stashed it. “Because that went so well the last time.”

  “You’re not feeding me again. I’m not your fucking pet.”

  “Of course not. I wouldn’t handcuff a pet.”

  “Screw you,” he muttered.

  “I wouldn’t do that to a pet, either. And I’d advise against waking everyone up. They won’t like the fact that I’m feeding you the leftovers they were no doubt planning to devour later on. Now, are you hungry or not?”

  Lover Behind Enemy Lines

  By Liv Olteano

  A Dreamcatchers Tale

  True mates, together at last.

  Claw—fearless leader of Seattle’s Team 32—has faced many dangers during more than a century and a half as a dreamcatcher. Yet nothing has ever scared him more than his obsession with Nathan Gallagher. Tormented by visions and dreams about the man ever since he first laid eyes on him, Claw now has to deal with living under the same roof with the object of his most ardent desires. And Nathan is so much more than a simple crush.

  Brother of the caster who’s been plaguing Team 32’s area, and less-than-willing houseguest of the team after a strange break-in attempt, Nathan may hold the key to finally apprehending his sister and putting a stop to the havoc she’s wreaking on Queen Anne…. Meanwhile, Nathan’s wreaking some havoc of his own on Claw’s heart.

  Chapter One

  I HAD to wait until everyone in the house settled down. It wasn’t easy to do. It took a while for our second floor to get quiet. Two of the bedrooms there were occupied by couples of young and energetic men. There wasn’t much honor in sneaking around the corridor to eavesdrop on what they were doing. It wasn’t a stellar moment for my dignity when I listened in on them as they made love. I wasn’t a pervert, so I only stuck around until I could tell they weren’t asleep yet. Some thirty minutes later, I went out on the corridor to check again.

  My fellow dreamcatchers and members of Team 32 had recently found love. Drew—the second-oldest team member or the first of the more recent additions, depending on how you looked at things—had reconnected with his once-lost love and as a result his Angelo had joined us. Taka—my oldest teammate and the most experienced one in our team except for me—had finally given in to his feelings for a young spitfire of a man named Ginger who was currently our team’s junior. I liked the sense of a fuller family, and the strength and talent our team now boasted made us stand out among Seattle teams. We were more than well-equipped to protect the Queen Anne area of the disgusting spaga—who attacked sleeping victims, inducing nightmares while they drained their life force. The only inconvenience was working at night, when the spaga attacked and we did our hunting. It was particularly unhelpful now, when I wanted to sneak about. Our sleeping hours were early morning to whenever each woke up. But human bodies weren’t necessarily wired to sleep in the light of day, so it took them so very long to get to the sleeping part.

  My reason for sneaking about wasn’t nefarious in nature, though they might have disapproved of my actions. Who was I kidding? I was sure they would disapprove. But I was this team’s leader, a proud warrior descendant of the Little Shell tribe of Montana. I didn’t need to ask for their permission to do a damned thing. And yet, I didn’t like the looks of unease they’d been giving me lately, either. So it was better to be stealthy about what I needed to do, since there was no way I could avoid it.

  I had to get in the bedroom across from mine without my teammates hearing. Inside it was Nathan Gallagher, brother of the caster we were hunting down now and our reluctant houseguest. Reluctant because he was held here against his will. We hadn’t kidnapped him, technically. He’d broken in two days ago. We weren’t sure why, and he wasn’t really talking, so we’d decided to keep him here for a while. At least until we made some sense of why he’d made his appearance in the first place. We were guessing our keeping him here was against his will, though his demands regarded other things than us letting him leave. I knew our spiritual leader and commanding force, the Spider Woman and Spirit Mother Asibikaashi—we called her Aashi for short—didn’t like us keeping him here like this. But it was the best thing to do in order for us to reach our goal of taking down his sister.

  It was mere coincidence that I couldn’t stand the thought of letting him go anywhere now that I’d found him—and I couldn’t bring myself to share that information with my teammates. At least not yet. They suspected I had ulterior motives, and I did. It brought me shame, but I had weaknesses just like everyone else. Nathan was my weakness, and—I feared—the possible cause of my downfall. My dreams had been telling me as much since I’d first laid eyes on him.

  So here I was, somewhere close to brunchtime, skulking about in my own home. I tiptoed my way to the kitchen and fixed a large plate of leftovers. Then I carried my loot back upstairs, moving as silently as possible. I could move silently, thank the heavens. I fished out the key from my pocket and unlocked the door of his room with bated breath. This I couldn’t control the level of noise of. But I’d taken care to fix the lock so it opened smoothly. I got in and set the plate on the nightstand. Then I closed the door behind me and locked it from the inside, making sure to put the key back in my jeans.

  He was asleep on the bed, turned on his side. I’d decided he had to have both hands handcuffed to the bed, just so he wouldn’t be tempted to try escaping again. It hadn’t gone that well the first time he’d tried, and since he’d injured Ginger in the process, it had taken considerable effort to keep Taka from eviscerating Nathan. I had taken his side over my team’s when that altercation took place. It had become clear to me that night: treason festered in the pit of my stomach and wormed its way through my heart. It didn’t matter that my team didn’t know it yet as clearly as I did; at some point, I’d be forced to make it clear: I would choose keeping Nathan safe over the interests of the team. I prayed to the ancestors that I wouldn’t have to choose between their well-beings.

  Nathan stirred on the bed, and as he opened his eyes, his eyelashes fluttered. They were blond and long, mostly visible through the shadows they cast on his cheekbones. His eyes were a very dark brown, though; as dark as night, full of doubt and mistrust, but also holding some tantalizing secret that refused to make itself known to me despite my attempts to uncover it. Nathan stirred my interest in so many ways that it was getting very scary very fast.

  I sat on the chair next to the bed. “Hey. I thought I should bring you something to eat.”

  “What the hell is wrong with you?” he a
sked and squinted.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I broke into your house, pitiful as it went. You were all pissed. Okay, I get the point: I won’t break into this house again.”

  “Well, at least you learned that lesson.”

  “I did, okay? I did. But why are you keeping me handcuffed to a bed now? Do you run some human trafficking ring?”

  “Why did you break in?”

  This was familiar ground. I’d asked that question a lot of times since he was here. He had yet to give me a believable answer.

  As expected, he pouted and looked away. His gaze landed on the plate I’d brought. “Can you at least free one of my hands so I can eat like a normal person?”

  I sighed and got the fork out of the nightstand drawer where I’d stashed it. “Because that went so well the last time.”

  “You’re not feeding me again. I’m not your fucking pet.”

  “Of course not. I wouldn’t handcuff a pet.”

  “Screw you,” he muttered.

  “I wouldn’t do that to a pet, either. And I’d advise against waking everyone up. They won’t like the fact that I’m feeding you the leftovers they were no doubt planning to devour later on. Now, are you hungry or not?”

  His light cheeks colored a delicious rusty shade. “I’d rather you just killed me already than humiliate me like this.”

  I sat back in the chair. “We don’t kill people, Nathan. Surely you know that.”

  “No, I don’t know; in fact, I don’t know much of anything except that you have an obvious boner for handcuffs.”

  I didn’t. I did have a boner for him, but I disliked seeing him cuffed to the bed. Unfortunately, it was how things had to be for the moment. And Nathan refused to help me help him out of the situation.

  “Again with that?” I sighed heavily. “You broke into our house. You have to know who we are.”

  “Well, I know next to nothing about you people.”

  “You knew something before deciding on this house.”

  “You only think that because you know who I am,” he hissed.

  “And what a coincidence it was, then, that you—who knew nothing about us—broke into this home, where we—who know things about you—live. Call me crazy, but I think it just seems far-fetched.”

  He looked away, and silence fell over us like a thick blanket. It was almost smothering for me. If he kept this up, Aashi would lose her patience and cast the forgetting spell on him. He’d lose track of ever seeing either of us. And I’d lose my chance to get through to him. If that happened, I felt sure that sooner or later I’d follow him. Why I was so sure, I couldn’t really understand. But it was an unshakable and terrifying truth. If he refused to see things our way, then that had to mean he was on his sister’s side and maybe even working for her. And if the side he’d choose was his sister’s, then I would follow in that direction too, sooner or later. If that meant I’d cross to his sister’s side, as detestable a thought as it was, then I would eventually do it. Being around Nathan was that much of a necessity already.

  Decades of longing and regret were weighing down on me, and they would keep on doing so until I’d lose it. I knew for sure that this was my second and last chance at making things right between what I saw in Nathan’s eyes and my own heart. But he knew nothing about me. He remembered and felt nothing. This was part of my torment.

  His eyes haunted my dreams and my waking hours since I’d first glanced into them, what felt like a lifetime ago, back in Denny Park. Drew and I had followed him due to one of Drew’s infamous though usually on-point gut feelings. It was how we’d identified the caster we were dealing with—obviously Nathan’s sister, considering how much they resembled each other.

  I knew a lot about the man lying on a bed before me. He was Nathan Gallagher, son of an influential family of ley line witches that was part of the strongest coven of Seattle. Despite his pedigree, in witch circles he had a reputation for avoiding the practice of magic like the pest. He had a sister, Vivian Gallagher, who had been reported missing as a child. Our caster lady had to be precisely that sister. That was one more thing we needed him to tell us about, in fact. That and why he’d decided to break into our house.

  I knew the story of Nathan Gallagher’s life as Taka could piece it together from his research. But when I looked into his eyes, it wasn’t Nathan Gallagher that stared back at me. His eyes, windows to his soul, told me he was someone else. When our gazes met, I wasn’t in the here and now anymore. I went back to the sound of water gurgling down rocks and wind whistling through trees; to the sound of laughter, to skinny-dipping in crystal clear waters while everything inside us seemed murky but exciting. When I looked into his eyes, I saw my sweet and so terrible first love, and felt the pang of more than a century-and-a-half-worth of longing.

  “Look at me,” I said in as terse a tone as I could so I wouldn’t betray my emotions.

  He turned his face back in my direction, though it took him a couple of seconds to find my gaze with his.

  “Let me feed you. I assure you I see absolutely no humiliation in it.”

  His gaze scanned my face. I wished he’d be reassured by the sincerity in my heart. It was a joy and privilege for me to feed him, in fact; it would never be a way to belittle him, regardless of circumstances. But I couldn’t tell him that. I knew he’d think I was crazy, and that I really couldn’t afford—even if the thought crossed my mind more often than not of late.

  “Is this some elaborate scheme to gain my trust? Do you guys think the good cop/bad cop routine is going to get better results than just asking? Because it won’t.”

  “You are not my enemy, Nathan.”

  “Well, I’m your prisoner, so you are my enemy.”

  “Fine, then. See me as an enemy, if you so desire. But please eat.”

  He looked at the plate again, this time with a tint of suspicion. “Is it drugged?”

  I used my fingers to grab some bits of cold turkey and carrot salad and stuffed them in my mouth. After swallowing, I wiped my hand on one of the napkins stashed under the plate. “Happy now?”

  “Delirious.” He huffed and rolled his eyes. “Maybe you drugged just some bits, though.”

  “Think of it this way: if the food is drugged, then you’ll be aware of less time spent here.”

  “Encouraging thought,” he deadpanned. “And then you can cheerfully rape me, because I’m so out of it. Don’t think I don’t see how you look at me, buddy.”

  I widened my eyes. “Rape you? Dear spirits and heavens, I would never.”

  “I bet that’s what all rapists say.”

  “And how could I prove to you that I wouldn’t do such a thing?”

  “You could uncuff me,” he said, shrugging a little.

  I smiled. “Nice try.”

  “It was worth a shot. So you’re sure you don’t want to rape me?”

  “I’m positive.”

  “Bummer,” he muttered. “Sex would have given me something nice to do to pass the time, at least. It wouldn’t be rape, though.” He waggled his eyebrows.

  “So you actually enjoy handcuffs,” I concluded.

  “Not necessarily. But I’d enjoy you.” He looked at the plate for a moment, then back at me. “That stuff smells torturously good.”

  “Are you asking me to feed you, then?”

  “Of course not. You keep me handcuffed to a bed and refuse to make the most of it, so I won’t humiliate myself by asking you to feed me next. But if you felt so inclined to get some of the food close enough to my mouth, it wouldn’t go to waste. That’s all I’m saying.”

  So I did just that. He ate everything I’d brought up. When he was done, I wiped his mouth—to his mortification, if his expression was anything to go by. It wasn’t really necessary to wipe his mouth, I had to admit; that one I did purely to indulge myself.

  He focused on me for a few seconds. “I just had the strangest feeling that this has happened before.”

  “It did happ
en before. I brought you food yesterday too.”

  “No. I mean exactly that moment when you wiped my mouth with the napkin.”

  “Ah. It’s called a déjà vu.”

  “I’m not sure it ever happened to me before. It’s weird.”

  “Is it?”

  “Yeah.” He frowned. “Can I ask what your name is?”

  “You have no gag, so you can ask.”

  “Very funny. Will you tell me?”

  “If I tell you, do you promise not to throw baseless accusations at me anymore?”

  “Deal.”

  “My name is Claw.”

  “As in Claude?”

  “No, as in say a bear’s claw.”

  “Interesting name. I think it fits you. I can see how easily you could tear someone up.”

  “Can you?”

  “Yeah. There’s something wild about you, yet contained. I would have found you endlessly interesting even if we’d met under different circumstances.”

  “Are you trying your hand at seduction now?”

  “Would it work?”

  “Not in our current situation.”

  He grinned. “So I guess there’s no way to guilt-trip you into blowing me at least, huh?”

  “Would you like some water before I go?”

  He sighed and nodded.

  After I made sure he didn’t need to use the bathroom for now, I went back to my room with the empty plate. My heart was beating fast and my palms were sweating. If just seeing him had been tough on me until now, him playing around with me was doubly as tough. My heart so wanted to take his smiles and flirty glances as true. But surely they weren’t. He was a prisoner trying to charm a guard into letting him go.

  Not for the first time since he’d become our guest, I regretted letting him break in. I’d had a vision of it before it had actually happened. My thinking was that if he was here with us, his role in my fate would be easier to clarify. On top of that, having him here could be the ace we needed to finally get his sister. All I had to do was convince him to play ball with us. It had to be in his best interest—I just needed to prove that to him. It was an interesting challenge, since at the moment he refused to tell me why he’d even broken in. I was determined to get through to him, though. But at what cost to my poor and battered heart?