Tempting Tabitha

by Tianna Xander

  “Are they coming?”

  “Of course they’re coming. They were notified something was up the moment you pressed that red button. Not only does that button lock down the basement and trigger the motion sensors so it knows how many will enter the safe room, but it also sounds an alarm at the shop and all of their homes along with their father’s ship. They set it up in case someone found out where they’re from or what they are and sent people to Magic to take them into custody. The alarm is to warn the others.”

  “Did he say how long it would take?”

  It seemed as though Deno should have arrived by now. She wrapped her arms around her middle. “How big is Magic, anyway?” Deno had taken her out to dinner each night, but she never really paid attention to where they were going or how long it took to get there.

  “That might be him now,” Charly said as a loud thump sounded on the other side of the door.

  “I hope so. Otherwise, we’re screwed.” Tabby stared at the door and waited for it to open.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Deno mashed the accelerator with his foot. He had just finished tightening the oil plug on a tourist’s vehicle when his phone shrieked. He almost panicked as it alerted him of the lockdown of his safe room. He hadn’t really expected Tabitha to need to use it when he’d shown it to her. For the most part, Magic was a safe haven for anyone who wasn’t normal.

  The people his family had collectively called the others, the seven of them included, flocked to the small town where they could live their lives in peace and harmony. Magic was a well-kept secret among the supernatural and shifter world, among a few others he’d heard about.

  He’d built the safe room when they had first arrived. All of them had one, but they had never used them. They had been safe the several years they had lived in town. Perhaps thinking they were secure in this town had been a mistake.

  Downshifting, he jerked the wheel, and slid around a corner, hoping that no one would be there crossing the street as he shoved his foot to the floor. He should have brought his shooter instead of his car. His shooter, having anti-gravity tech, would surely have gotten him home in half the time. Hell, with the shooter, he could have cut through some of the vacant lots on the way there. With his small sports car, he couldn’t. The ion propulsion conversion he’d done wouldn’t help him with the low-riding clearance of the vehicle. He should have listened to his brother and gotten a four-wheel drive.

  Out of habit, he reached for his phone and cursed. Why hadn’t he thought to grab it? The damned thing had been sitting on the workbench he’d passed on the way out of the service station.

  In a panic, he’d exited the garage running, hopped into his car, and headed for his home, knowing his brothers would be hot on his heels once they heard the alarm. Their alarms all had different sounds and colors.

  His was an annoying shriek and the color blue, Reno’s sounded more like a police siren and was red. Xeno’s green alarm sounded like the tornado-warning systems he’d heard while driving through Oklahoma. His other brother, Ceno had a yellow alarm that sounded like something from a science fiction show. His father, youngest brothers and Clyde all lived aboard his father’s ship, and nothing on Earth sounded anything like the alarm the ship’s computer had programmed into their phones.

  Each of them had a similar setup. They had designed a system to protect them all individually until the rest of the family could arrive and help in case of discovery.

  It would take dozens of trained mercenaries to overpower just four of them. Besides, they not only had their father and two youngest brothers here to help, but they also had the added power of Clyde, who never backed down from a fight as an elderly human. He certainly wasn’t about to miss one since he now had the body and stamina of someone half his age.

  Deno sped through the streets, driving well over the speed limit. A part of him hoped the sheriff would catch him speeding and he could enlist his help as well. The more, the merrier when it came to protecting one’s mate.

  He’d thought of asking a few of his neighbors to keep an eye on Tabitha while he went to work. Try as he might, he couldn’t bring himself to ask, even though he knew they were more like his family than not.

  Everyone in Magic had some sort of secret. Whether they were shapeshifters, vampires witches, or trolls, they all had something to hide. That was the reason most of them lived in a town full of what most would consider freaks. A genie worked at one of the restaurants in town, and he wasn’t positive, but he’d heard another man, named Frost, was an alien, as well. All in all, it was in everyone’s best interest to keep who and what the people of Magic were a secret.

  The ride home seemed to take forever. Every minute that ticked by was another minute that Tabitha could be forced to defend herself. While he knew she was capable of doing such a thing when she shifted, he wasn’t positive, she would take the chance of exposing what he was to an outsider. To her, everyone was an outsider, until she’d been told otherwise. She had already told him that. She refused to endanger her sister or his family for any reason.

  He pulled into his driveway still doing about twenty miles per hour and abandoned his car half on the lawn. He didn’t give a damn about the deep skid marks his vehicle had dug into the manicured lawn or the six-year-old shrubs he’d mown down. All he cared about was finding his mate and his brother’s woman safe in his home.

  Deno scanned the yard and the part of the backyard visible through the fence. Everything seemed clear, so far. He was halfway up the porch steps when a man stepped out in front of him. In his mid-forties, if he was human, he was tall, wearing khaki-colored slacks and a light blue pullover. Whoever the man was, he didn’t appear to be someone to warrant a lockdown of the house. Though, by his twin’s account, looks could be deceiving.

  The woman who was with the older man sat on the porch swing crying. “I told you we shouldn’t have stayed. We should have gone and returned later.”

  The Zolonian in him wanted to comfort the older woman who cried as though her heart had broken. The warrior protecting his woman and his home wanted to know what the hell the man was doing on his porch, so close to his unprotected mate.

  “What are you doing here?” His beast attempted to take over, but Deno held a tight rein. It wouldn’t do to show what he was to a human couple. Though, for all he knew, they also could be residents of Magic and projected only what they wanted him to see.

  “Are you Deno Brewer?” The man’s thin mustache twitched as he stared down at him, an accusatory expression on his face. He clenched his fingers at his sides, making Deno wonder if he planned to attack. If so, he lacked in the intelligence department. Anyone could see, as the younger man, he would have the advantage.

  “It depends.” Deno stepped up onto the porch, satisfied to see that he was nearly a head taller than the older man. “Who’s asking?”

  “I am Ian MacCleod, and this is my wife, Elizabeth. We have wanted to speak to you or your brother Xeno for the last couple of days.” He gestured to the older woman. “My wife works in county records.”

  “What has that got to do with my brother or me?” What had the idiot gone and done now?

  “Well, he has applied for a marriage license.”

  “That’s his business, not mine.” Deno moved past the man and examined his front door, looking for forced entry. There was none. He frowned. Were the old man and his wife the reason Tabitha had panicked and sealed herself in the basement? “Now, if you’ll excuse me. I have business to attend to.”

  He unlocked the door as Xeno pulled up into the driveway and jumped out of his truck, almost before the thing had come to a stop.

  “Nice job parking, there, brother.” Xeno gestured to the car Deno had abandoned.

  “Shut your cake hole, brother.” Deno crooked his thumb toward the couple. “These two are here for you. Handle it.”

  He threw open the door to his home and did a cursory inspection of things as he made his way to the basement door. There was noth
ing out of place. Just the strange couple on his porch.

  Deno keyed in the code that unlocked the steel door, trotted down the stairs, and searched the basement. No one lurked in the darkness, and he sighed with relief. A false alarm. The beat of his heart began to slow, and he rested his head against the steel door with a sigh. She was safe and sound behind the door.

  His beast snarled inside him as though to say, prove it.

  After punching in another sixteen-digit passcode, Deno stepped back and waited for the door mechanism to do its work and open the eighteen-inch thick steel door.

  The wooden interior door was closed but not locked. After turning the knob, the door opened on silent hinges.

  Tabby ran to him and threw herself into his arms. “You’re safe!” She kissed him on the cheeks and then hugged him to her. “I was so worried about you. Who was it who rang the bell and wouldn’t leave?”

  “Some man looking for Xeno. When he couldn’t find him at his house, I guess he came here looking for him at mine.” He smiled, his heart swelling as she continued to cling to him as though he mattered to her.

  “Maybe they came here because I was here.” Charly slipped past him. “Is Xeno out there, now?”

  “He is, and he’s talking to the couple.”

  “Couple?”

  “Yes. Apparently, the man’s wife works at county records, and she has some questions for you two.”

  “Oh, okay.” Charly smiled. “Don’t be too hard on her for setting the alarm. I’m the one who convinced her that anyone lurking around your home was most likely up to no good.”

  “No harm done. That’s what it’s there for. I would rather be safe than sorry.” And he knew just how sorry he’d be if anything happened to his mate. The terror he’d felt when he thought she was in danger was unlike any he’d ever felt in his life.

  Charly said something as she left, but he was too preoccupied with the way his mate pressed her body against his. She was so soft and warm, and he wanted nothing more than to take her into the bedroom and make love to her.

  “How are you feeling?” Deno cupped the back of her head and tilted it back. He had to see her face, look into her eyes, and see that she was okay.

  “I’m fine.” She blushed and tried to look away. “I’m sorry I caused so much trouble.”

  “Trouble?” He smiled down at her. “What trouble? I spent the morning looking for a reason to come back home to you.”

  “I’ll bet.”

  “I’m serious. I’m finding it difficult to concentrate on anything when you aren’t around.” The truth was, he’d spent the better part of the morning trying to find a plausible reason to leave work and head home. He’d wanted to spend the day with her but had been afraid she would think he didn’t trust her alone in his home.

  So far, over the last couple of days, he’d managed to leave work early to go home and be with his mate. He had begun to think she suspected that he thought she would disappear in his absence. He heaved an inward sigh. It was probably just his imagination.

  “Me, too.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and drew his head down to her.

  Lightning struck when their lips met. If he hadn’t known better, he would have insisted the ground shifted beneath his feet. This was what he’d rushed home for. This was what he’d dreamed about over the past several nights while they shared his cabin, and now his home.

  Drawing her closer, he thrust his tongue between her lips and deepened their kiss. She tasted sweet. Her natural flavor, a cross between bubble gum and strawberries, ratcheted up his desire.

  Straightening, he lifted her off the floor, letting out a low groan when she wrapped her legs around his waist and pressed the heat of her sex against his rock-hard erection. It pulsed as she rocked against him.

  “Hey, you guys! You need to come up here.” The sound of his brother’s voice barely reached him through the haze of passion Tabby had lit within him. “Don’t make me come down there, you two. Get your asses up here. This is huge!”

  Reluctantly, Deno broke their kiss and rested his forehead against hers.

  “I guess we’d better get up there before they come down here after us.” He stared into her passion-glazed eyes and wished, for a moment, they had stolen his father’s ship and headed back out to space, where they could be alone.

  “I suppose your right.”

  She unwound her legs from his waist, and he slowly lowered her to the floor, feeling every inch of the front of her supple body as he did so.

  “I probably look a mess.” Tabitha ran her fingers through her hair and smoothed it down.

  “You look gorgeous.” Anyone who told her otherwise would answer to him.

  “Thank you.” Her cheeks pinkened again, and she smiled up at him. “Shall we go before they send down a search party?”

  “I don’t know why they’re being so insistent.” Deno held out his hand and waited for her to take it.

  “I don’t either.”

  “It can’t be anything too troublesome, or they would have dragged us up to the kitchen by now.”

  “I hope you’re right.” Her gaze meeting his. Tabitha bit her lip and squeezed his hand. You have no idea how much I hope you’re right.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Tabby followed Deno out of the safe room and up the basement stairs, unable to shake the feeling of expectation that had settled in her stomach. It felt as though something momentous was just around the corner.

  Deno’s family filled the kitchen to almost overflowing. All of them either sat at his huge, wooden table or leaned against the counter. Her pot of coffee was gone, and another was brewing as they entered the room, and Deno closed the basement door behind them.

  The strange couple sitting at the table looked familiar. Perhaps it had been the older couple, who had been ringing Deno’s doorbell over the last few days and that’s where she’d seen them before.

  The couple stood as soon as they noticed her. The woman began to cry, or perhaps she’d already been crying, judging by the red rings around her eyes. The man stood silent, his thin, graying mustache twitching, his eyes shining with what she could have sworn were unshed tears.

  What the heck was going on?

  “Tabitha?” The woman let out a sob and covered her mouth. “I—” She glanced toward the man who was obviously her husband. “We thought we’d never see either of you again. To find you both in one day is a miracle.”

  “What are you talking about? Who are you?” She looked closer. Did she know the couple? Should she?

  “I thought surely you would be the one to recognize us.” The woman moved closer. “Look at me.”

  Tabby stared at the woman, finally noticing her eyes when she drew closer. They were violet, just like her mother’s eyes—her own eyes.

  “Grandmama?” Tabby’s throat burned as she said the word. She shifted her gaze to the man. “Grandpapa?”

  “Yes, my dear. It is. We have found you, at long last.” He pressed his lips together, most likely to keep up the appearance of a hardened male. It didn’t take a trained eye to see he was having a difficult time holding his own emotions in check.

  Her gaze shifted to Charly, who sat with her head on Xeno’s shoulder, her eyes red with tears.

  “How did you find us?”

  “Elizabeth,” her grandfather began then shook his head. “Your grandmother works in county records. One of us has managed to get jobs in records departments all over the country. It was the only way to search databases for you without raising suspicion.”

  “You’ve been looking for us?”

  “Of course we have!” Her grandmother rushed to her side and grasped her hand. “We’ve been searching for you ever since we heard...”

  “Since we heard about the accident,” her grandfather said what her grandmother could not. “You must understand. We didn’t hear about it right away. Your parents had taken you two away to protect you. We had thought they would disappear for a while and then resurface
after a few months to a year and we would be able to come to visit.” He shook his head slowly. “But it wasn’t to be. By the time we’d heard about the accident, we couldn’t find any record of where you’d been taken. We couldn’t search openly because you were just children and we didn’t want to draw danger to you.”

  “So you just left us to the system?” Tabby’s voice broke. “We had lost everything, and you left us there?” She gestured to her sister. “Correction. You left Charly there. Did she tell you what I did to find her when we got separated? Did she tell you what I’ve gone through trying to find her?” She glanced at Charly. “Did you?”

  Charly gave an imperceptible shake of her head.

  “Well, I’ll tell you if she didn’t. I spent twenty years living as a little black cat, moving from place to place until I finally found her. Then, after I found her, I didn’t tell her who I was. I lived as her pet.” Tabby hadn’t even realized she’d been crying until she tasted her tears on her lips. “I lived as her pet because...” she sobbed. “Because I was afraid she wouldn’t remember me and any part of her was better than no part of her. I’ve been alone all of these years, but that was my choice.” She turned to Charly. “But it wasn’t hers. She never should have been left to grow up in foster homes. Shame on you. Shame on the both of you.”

  “Tabitha, please.” Her grandmother whimpered when Tabby pulled her hand from her grip. “We searched for you. We’ve been searching for you every day since we heard. We never would have allowed you to make that sacrifice had we known where either of you was. But you must understand, going through legal channels would have alerted the men who were after you, and we couldn’t take that chance.”

  “Were they after us or our parents?” Tabby needed to know. She needed to know what made her parents pick up and run in the dead of night, only to lose control of their car and die on a lonely mountain road.

  “They were after your parents.” Her grandmother glanced toward her husband and continued at his nod. “And they were after you. They didn’t know about your sister because she’d been spending the week at camp. That’s why your parents drove down that road to begin with. They had gone to pick her up.”