Vixen by Jessica Sims Page B

she’d control her own were-fox nature better. No harem of men. No constant stream of new boyfriends that zipped out of her life as quickly as they zipped in. Miko preferred a quiet, celibate life.
    Her mother clearly had other ideas.
    Miko turned. Both of the men were still studying her, standing where she’d left them. Though one blushed at being caught staring, the other returned her frank look with a smile. She sank down in one of the two chairs, indicating that they should do the same.
    At her cue, the tall one sat, awkwardly.  Jeremiah , she reminded herself. “My mother probably told you that I need a big strong man around the house to see to all my needs. She’s wrong. I don’t need anyone.”
    Jeremiah rubbed his face, a blush moving across his cheeks. “Actually, she hired us to be your bodyguards for this week.”
    Miko sat up in surprise. Bodyguards? But both of them were so attractive. Surely that hadn’t been just luck. “Oh.”
    Sam seemed to want to fill the silence with small talk. “This isn’t what I expected,” he said, glancing around her messy house with surprise. “You’re not what I expected.”
    Annoyance flared in her. “Oh?” What were they expecting from a were-fox? A room full of sex toys and a guy in latex chained up in the corner? “What exactly  were  you expecting?”
    Sam the blond gave her an assessing look. “We thought you wouldn’t be, you know.” He rubbed his nose and grinned. “Pretty. Young. What with you living out here on your own. Heck, I was expecting a bunch of cats and some knitting.”
    Jeremiah put his hand over his face. “Sam…”
    “What?” His partner looked surprised. “I’m just telling her the truth.”
    Miko smothered a laugh. All right, then. They weren’t here to jump in the sack with her, despite what she’d suspected. She relaxed a bit, and wondered briefly if they even knew she came from a family of fox shifters. “And what is this about, exactly? Why did my mother send you to be my bodyguards?”
    Jeremiah’s face grew serious, his brown eyes growing darker. “The local hunt club has a new chapter leader. An English one.”
    She frowned. “So what does that mean?”
    Sam finished downing his iced tea, then reached across her low table to grab Jeremiah’s and drink it as well. “Rumor has it that he’s started a fox-hunting club.”
    Her breath left her lungs. “Fox hunting? That’s…that’s not allowed. It’s illegal.”
    “It   is  illegal,” Jeremiah said calmly, glancing over at Sam, then back to her. “But we have it on good authority that it’s happening, nevertheless. Another were-fox – Hayami – was chased through the woods by several men on horseback with hunting dogs.”
    Miko sucked in a breath. No wonder her mother had sent them. “Hayami’s my cousin. Is she all right?”
    Why hadn’t anyone told her? Her mother had said nothing on the phone, simply started in on her usual tirades, and Miko hadn’t known to ask. Guilt surged through her. She should have known that Hayami had been attacked, but…she didn’t keep up with her family. It was easier than answering nosy questions, seeing her cousins and mother with an endless string of men, the appraising looks she got from their dates, and her own involuntary response.
    Her mother seldom took Miko’s opinion into mind, choosing to drop by – or send people by – to remind her exactly who and what she was. Family was complicated. Family expected things. Family expected her to embrace her nature fully, and she’d spent years fighting that very thing. Still, hearing that her cousin had been hunted filled her with fear and a little bit of shame. She hadn’t known.
    “She’s fine,” Sam assured her. “But until this gets this sorted out, other shifters have been assigned to shadow the local foxes.” He gave her a sideways glance and muttered. “And you are definitely a fox.”
    “Sam,” Jeremiah warned, then gave Miko a bit of an embarrassed