by Dawn Kirby
I got out when my skin turned bright red. I wrapped myself in one of the luxurious Egyptian cotton towels and went in search of my clothes. It was easy to narrow down which section of the closet they were in, but there were at least ten drawers in that section alone. Finally, I found the right ones.
I put on a black pair of tanga panties and a blue satin nightshirt. The plush carpet felt so good on my bare feet I decided to hold off on the socks until I went to bed. With the last button done up on my shirt, I went to back to the bathroom to brush my teeth. Halfway through, Raine came in.
“You weren’t kidding about the shower,” he laughed. He stood inside my dressing room door, staring at my bare legs.
“This is nothing. I’ve been out for a few minutes.”
I rinsed off my toothbrush and threw my wet towels on the bathtub. I picked up my hairbrush and wandered into the dressing room.
“You’ve never been burned?” he asked, still looking at my legs.
“Not yet,” I answered admiring his shirtless body. The muscles in his arms and chest were big, but not too big. He had the tightest six-pack I’ve ever seen. Heat rushed through me as my eyes slowly moved to the defining V shape leading to a pelvis covered by a pair of white silk sleep pants.
“Did it bother Mia?” His question abated the desire.
“I never told her,” I confessed. “I was afraid it would scare her and I’d find myself in a specialist’s office.”
After I said it, I realized she probably knew. David could handle a cup of piping hot coffee as well as I could. Tolerance to extreme heat must be a vampire trait. Like my sight. Before I came here, I thought my senses were weird. Now, they seemed perfectly natural. Here my unusual ability to read people wasn’t looked at as a liability. It was seen as a gift. At least by those who knew.
He followed me back to the bedroom and stretched out on the bed. I sat on the edge beside him and brushed the tangles out of my hair. With my hair smooth and tangle free, I leaned over him, taking in his amazing scent and laid the brush on the nightstand. Shock waves teamed through me when my body brushed his. I quickly regained my composure, enough of it anyway, and sat back up.
The bite on his arm caught my eye. It was still red and a little swollen, but so far it didn’t look infected. I gently ran my fingers along the uninjured skin beside his deep wounds, wondering at his pain.
“Does it hurt?” How much tolerance to pain a werewolf/shifter had was anybody’s guess.
“It’s a little annoying, but it doesn’t hurt. The stitches are the worst part. I’m afraid if I move wrong they’ll pop.” He sat up and looked at me with cloudy eyes. “If she had done this to you, I would have killed her.”
“If it had happened to me, my arm would have already healed,” I pointed out. “I could be wrong though. I’ve never been hurt quite that bad before.”
“You heal, too.” It was more of an observation than a question. I could tell that by the smile on his face.
“The only thing I didn’t inherit was the need for blood. I do seem to be able to find it a lot lately though.” There was no arguing with that. “How long will it take your arm to heal?”
“It’ll be fine in about a week. We don’t heal as fast as vampires do, but it doesn’t take as long as it would for a normal person either.”
“How can she be so cruel?” Raine’s injuries conjured up images of the puncture wounds on my mom’s neck. Tears filled my eyes.
“Don’t let her do this to you. She’s not worth a single one of your tears,” he said soothingly.
“There not for Judith, Raine.” I turned my body to face him. “JD and Deana were used.”
“Leah, they knew what they were getting into,” Raine told me. “Nobody works for a vampire and expects to live long. Even Kale and I know our days are numbered if Donovan ever gets on anyone’s bad side. In this little corner of the world, that’s how the game is played.”
“Better start counting,” I sighed. I traced my finger along the scab covering the deep trenches her fangs had left in his arm. “Shooting her probably put us all on her bad side.”
He looked at me. His eyes were sparkling blue. “I’ll heal, this isn’t permanent.”
“That’s not, but whatever he does to you could be.”
Raine’s eyes went stone gray. He grabbed my shoulders firmly and looked me right in the eye. His scent was so overpowering I expected to hear thunder at any moment. The dark blue haze turned to black.
“His name is Dane,” he said coolly. “What he doesn’t know about me will work in my favor. Unlike him, I’m not confined to becoming one thing. The only pain he could cause me is what he’ll inflict on you if he ever gets his hands on you.”
“Then I guess there is only one thing we can do,” I said solemnly.
“What’s that?”
“Make sure I stay close to you,” I answered, smiling sweetly.
“I like the way that sounds,” he said, winking at me. Poor guy was so tired his eye nearly didn’t open back up.
It was definitely time to bandage him up and go to bed. I went to the bathroom in search of bandages. To my utter amazement there weren’t any first aid supplies of any kind anywhere. Not one drawer in the bathroom held so much as a cotton ball. The medicine cabinet hanging on the wall was empty too.
“Would you happen to know where I could find some gauze?”
“There’s some in my bathroom,” Raine said, getting off the bed. “I’ll be right back.”
I hurried past him to go get them myself. “I bet I can find them. Just relax.”
It didn’t take long to find a drawer full of first aid supplies. I’d never seen so many. Working with his hands was apparently a lot rougher than I thought. Drew’s dad clearly wasn’t the only one who’d fallen victim to power tools.
I was pleasantly surprised to see a straight razor on the counter beside a can of shaving cream. There was a leather strop lying beside that. Most guys I knew stuck with electric or disposable razors. In a way finding out that he used such a time consuming method impressed me.
I got the supplies I needed and went back to my room. Raine had already pulled back the covers and was waiting on the bed for me to return. His breathing was as steady as his heartbeat. I smiled when I realized he wasn’t waiting. He was sleeping.
Not wanting to wake him up, I put the stuff on the nightstand beside me. His arm would be fine for now. I switched off the light and closed the bedroom door. After I pulled the blinds down, I crawled into bed and pulled the covers up over the two of us. Sleep was one thing we both needed.
I woke up wrapped in Raine’s arms. Darkness had already fallen outside. I turned my head towards the nightstand to see what time it was and found David’s pale face instead. He was sitting on the floor beside the bed, head in his hands, leaning against the nightstand.
“David?” I asked nervously. Here I lay in a bed with a man I’d just met, with my father sitting inches away. “What are you doing?”
“I was thinking about how different our lives could have been,” he said weakly. “I missed out on so much. You missed out on so much.”
“You guys did what you had to. I understand that,” I said quietly. “Judith tried to take you. When she couldn’t, she took Mom.”
“I’m sorry. I should have been there,” he said. He turned to look at me, stress and grief was written all over his face.
“I don’t care what you are, David. You can’t be in two places at once,” I said, tears stinging my eyes. “To be honest with you, I think Mom knew it was coming.”
David got up and sat down on the bed beside me. I eased Raine’s arm off my waist and sat up to face him. David smiled warmly while I tried to maneuver my body away from Raine’s without waking him. The scent of sandalwood pelted the air around me. Smelling him again gave me hope that he would be okay, despite Mom’s death.
“Raine!” David yelled harshly.
Raine shot out of the bed like a bullet. His feet rooted to th
e floor on the opposite side of the room while his eyes frantically searched for the source of the angry voice. David sat calmly beside me, grinning mischievously. He’d gotten exactly the reaction he hoped for.
“David, I-” Raine started to explain, but David cut him off.
“It’s alright. Stay with her,” he told him smiling. “I’m not upset.”
Raine cautiously walked around to face David. There was no way he was going to crawl back in the bed. Not that I blamed him. I’ve seen what a vampire can do in anger.
“I’m so glad to see you found it, Leah,” David said. A soft smile graced his face.
“Found what?” I couldn’t remember finding anything. Not anything good anyway.
“Love. I see it in both of you. Don’t fight it.” He looked between the two of us. “And don’t let anyone stop it.” David picked up my hand, and then Raine’s. He put them together palm to palm between his. “Mia and I gave up way too easy. I see that now. I don’t want to see you make that same mistake.” His eyes stayed fixed on me. “He’s a good man, Leah. Let him love and protect you. Do the same for him.” He turned to Raine. “I thank you for protecting my daughter this morning. I am sure Judith would have killed her.”
“I’ll continue to protect her,” Raine assured David, “for the rest of my life.”
That sounded like a promise. One I meant to hold him to. Not because I wanted to live, but because I wanted to live to be with him. In two days, Raine had come to mean more to me than my own life.
“I would consider that an honor,” David told him. He bowed his head towards Raine and took his hands away from ours. When we didn’t let go of each other, he smiled. “I have some arrangements to make at the funeral home. Donovan has been kind enough to offer Mia a place to rest here.” He put his cool hand on my cheek. “You and I can find the perfect place tomorrow night.
Tonight, I want you to rest. Stay here with Raine. Enjoy each other. We’ll deal with Michael and Dane later.” I started to tell him I’d go with him, but he waved away any objections and stood up. “Stay. This is my burden.”
In a second he was gone. Raine silently crawled over me and laid back down. After a few minutes, I did too. There wasn’t anything else I could do. David was not going to let me go with him. It was already eight thirty, and I was still tired. I decided to do what he said and rest. What were a few more hours anyway? Raine pulled me close to him.
Quick footsteps running up the stairs shook sleep away. I bolted upright, expecting the worst. I knew it was Kale. I could already smell him. What I didn’t know was why he was running so quickly in his own home.
“Leah, wake up! I need to talk to you,” Kale said excitedly. He threw my bedroom door open, moved close to the bed, and stopped cold. Raine was awake too, and not very happy about it. If looks could kill, Kale would have dropped dead right there. “Nice knowing you, brother,” he said, flashing a nervous smile. “David is gonna kill you.”
“I’m not worried about David,” he growled back at Kale. He propped himself up on his elbow and winked at me.
“It’s your funeral, man.” He shrugged his shoulders and squatted down beside the bed.
“What did you want to talk to me about?” With that kind of entrance, I expected something huge.
“I wanted to say thanks,” he answered. His chocolate eyes were sparkling and for once his minty smell wasn’t too much.
“I haven’t done anything, Kale.”
“You kept a cool head when Raine needed you,” he said seriously. Then the mint coming off him saturated the room. “Then you had me haul Drew over to your house.”
“You’re welcome, I think,” I said, trying not to laugh. “I hope you know what you’re getting into.” Looking at the goofy smile he was wearing, I didn’t think it mattered much.
“I don’t have a clue,” he said happily. “But I like it. She’s sassy, opinionated, and downright aggravating.”
Raine buried his face in the pillow beside and started laughing. I assumed being so taken with woman was a new experience for Kale. Not the case for Drew. She’s had guys falling at her feet for years now. Kale was in for a real treat.
“She’s gorgeous too,” I said offered.
“Oh man, she’s beautiful!” He ran his hands quickly through his short hair. “But she’s so much more. That woman is fierce. And she dearly loves you.”
“It’s hard not to love her, too,” I told him. How many other people were okay with a half vampire best friend and her two werewolf sidekicks?
“After you guys left, she lectured me for an hour because I didn’t bring her to you sooner,” he said, trying to look hurt.
“That sounds like her. Sorry if I earned you a tongue lashing.” I knew firsthand what being on the wrong end of one of those was like.
The goofy smile came back. “Don’t apologize. I enjoyed every minute of it,” he said coyly. “You do realize how amazing the two of you are, right? There aren’t too many people around that can, or will, accept us.”
The sincerity in his eyes touched me. It hit me how lonely it must get to be one of them. I’m sure it was hard to get close to people. If the person wasn’t a werewolf, they risked being rejected or worse. At the same time not all people would run away in terror and I needed him to know it.
“Not everybody’s jaded Kale. I’m sure there are plenty of people out there that would feel the same way we do.”
He stood up and gave me a good, long hug. “No, Leah, there’s not,” he told me sadly. “You two are amazing.”
On his way to the door, I noticed the limp. Surely her lecture hadn’t gotten physical. “Hey Kale, what happened to your leg?” I asked. Raine sat up quickly to see for himself.
“That damn dog bit me,” he said gruffly. “Nobody bothered to tell me she had one.”
“I completely forgot.” I clashed my hand over my mouth. “I am so sorry.”
“What does she have?” Raine asked smiling. It was pretty clear he was expecting a small dog.
“Bull Mastiff,” I told him. “And he is crazy about Drew.”
“Crazy is a good description,” Kale mumbled. “He was fine with me. I even rubbed the ungrateful mutt’s belly. The minute I went to give her a hug to leave, he bit me!”
Raine’s laughter exploded after that. I couldn’t help myself and laughed, too. I’d been bit as well. All I’d done was touch her hand when I handed her some money.
“He got me, too,” I shared. “Her dad can’t even touch her without getting growled at and Rufus is his dog. Don’t take it personally.” As soon as I finished my sentence, a strange question popped into my mind. It was probably tacky, but I had to ask. “How are you with cats?”
It got so quiet in the room I could hear the filament in the light bulb crackling. Kale shot Raine a strange look and smiled at me. When I glanced at Raine, he looked bored. The exaggerated yawn in his brother’s direction didn’t help any.
“We get along fine for the most part,” he said smoothly. “I just have to make sure I avoid Raine when he’s having a bad day.” His hand went to his left shoulder and he walked out of the bedroom rubbing it as if nursing some unseen injury.
“A cougar can definitely take a wolf,” he mumbled, after his bedroom door closed.
“You can change into a cougar?” I asked stunned.
“I can,” Raine answered nonchalantly. “Actually I can change into anything I want. I just don’t have to like other shifters and werewolves.”
“You said they have to,” I pointed out. “Is it because of the moon?”
“When it’s full, yes,” he answered. “But we can change anytime we want.”
“How do you keep from it when the rest can’t?” Honestly, I’d been curious about this since I found out he could control it.
“I really don’t know. If I feel like it, I change. If I don’t, I won’t.” He lay back with his hands folded behind his head.
“Does it hurt when you do it?”
“Nope, i
t’s just inconvenient.”
“What do you mean?” I couldn’t believe I was actually having this conversation.
“You go into it naked and you come out of it the same way. Sometimes you lose track of your clothes. Sometimes you lose track of where you are.”
“If they can’t control it, how would they have time to take their clothes off? Isn’t changing something that just happens?”
“Not really,” he shrugged. “The moon’s predictable. Instead of ripping our clothes off, we take them out of the equation all together.” He must have seen the question brewing in mind. “Changing isn’t a surprise. We can feel it coming on long before it happens.”
“Can I ask you another question, Raine?”
“Shoot.”
I lay down and looked at him. I didn’t want my question to offend him, but I was really curious about anything that involved him. Maybe somewhere down the line the information would come in handy.
“How did you figure out you were both? I mean maybe you’re just a shifter.”
“I wish I was. My life would be so much easier,” he said, turning on his side to face me. “The werewolf came first. The first time I changed I was eleven. The first couple of years I, like any other juvenile werewolf, could only change during full moons. Sometimes Kale would skip the pack runs and stay out here with Granny and I. It feels good to run. No destination in mind. We just go.”
“What about Dane? Weren’t you required to tell him after your first change?”
“Kale was his firstborn. Dane expected him to change, not me.”
“What about Mark?” I asked. “Y’all did say he’s a werewolf, too.”
“We don’t have the same mother,” he explained. “Kale was his first with my mother. Typically, the firstborn is the only one who inherits the ability to change. It’s not usual for a second child to inherit a few minor traits though.”
“Traits?” My curiosity grew with every answer.
“Some might inherit werewolf strength,” Raine answered. “Others may inherit the senses.” He snorted and rolled his head to look at me. His gorgeous blue-gray eyes twinkled. “We can’t smell or see things quite as well as you can, but our senses are far from average.” The twinkle vanished almost as quickly as it had appeared. “Anyway, it was Kale’s idea to keep Dane out of the loop as far as my changes went. He figured what Dane didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him, and everybody in the house happened to agree.”
