Stealing Hope [Midnighter Seductions 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Corinne Davies

  “It doesn’t make any sense,” she muttered to herself and stopped spinning the chair. “How can I feel so connected to men I’ve known for a few hours?”

  A movement outside caught her attention. At least she thought she saw something through the window, but it was so dark outside she couldn’t really tell. Closing the laptop, she leaned over the table and peered through the glass.

  Golden eyes flashed in front of her and she scrambled back away as fast as she could. Tripping over the computer chair in her haste, her leg slammed into the side of the coffee table and pain exploded in her knee. “Ow, Fuck!” Hope hit the floor hard on her hip, while grabbing at her injured knee. A tear slipped from the corner of her eye as she curled up. Her knee felt as though she’d smashed it to smithereens. When she finally caught her breath she lifted her hands and peered at her leg. An angry red blotch colored her skin on the side of her knee.

  A deep throb mimicked the beat of her heart as she tried to move it, but she was fairly certain that she hadn’t broken anything. A quick glance up to the window proved there wasn’t any threat. Moron. It was probably nothing more than the lights reflecting off an animal’s eyes, probably a deer or something, and all her banging and yelling scared if off. She didn’t stop to consider if there really were deer in New Mexico because she didn’t want to think of any other large animal prowling around the house.

  Bracing her hands on the furniture, she staggered over to the fridge. Fishing a bag of frozen corn out of the freezer, she hobbled over to the sofa and dropped down onto it. Propping a couple of pillows under her knee she gingerly placed the frozen veggies on her aching knee. “Please don’t be broken or anything expensive.” She didn’t have any insurance and couldn’t afford a huge bill of any sort.

  She lay there trying to calm her breathing when something slammed into the side of the house. Her heart launched itself into her throat and she leapt up. Balancing on one foot, she looked around, frantically wondering what the noise was. She stopped herself before yelling out “Who’s there?” like every other stupid person she’d watched in horror movies. Instead, she turned on the lamp next to her and then limped over and hit the switch on the wall. The room plunged into darkness and she crawled as best she could across the floor to the counter where the phone was.

  A darker shadow slid past the window to her left and then another to her right. She’d checked that the windows were closed earlier before she turned the air-conditioning on, but she hadn’t locked the door when she came in. Sliding across the floor on her butt, she reached up and gently turned the dead bolt into place. Something slammed into the door a moment later and Hope screamed then covered her mouth with her hands. A low growl echoed on the other side, and her injured knee was forgotten as she scrabbled across the floor.

  More screams and snarls echoed in the air and she heard a loud bang against the back of the house. The moment she touched her phone the screen lit up like a flashlight. One of the windows screeched as something dragged its claws across it. The vicious yellow eyes appeared again and then vanished. Her hands shook as she dialed 9-1-1.

  * * * *

  “Looks like a bear might have taken an interest in your house.” The officer sat across from Hope and jotted down a few notes in his book. “Perhaps her cub wandered a little close. I saw an opening at the back, it might have crawled underneath and gotten trapped. That would set its mama off.”

  “I feel kind of stupid now to be honest.”

  “Our mind is a great tool, but it’ll play tricks on us. Have you been watching any scary movies lately or reading some horror novels?”

  “No, not at all, I know what I heard and something scratched the window and growled on the other side of my door.”

  “You’re Arlene Levey’s niece right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Dottie said you’d been in the diner today listening to stories about Chupacabra and Midnighters. And now when it’s late and you’re all alone you thought someone was breaking in?”

  “But what about the yellow eyes I saw?”

  “Yellow eyes?” The officer looked confused but shrugged and patted her shoulder. “Bears don’t have yellow eyes, honey, but then maybe you were so scared you didn’t see it correctly. Like I said, our minds can play tricks on us.”

  Hope knew what she saw, but she wasn’t going to argue it with him. He was nice and all, but it had become obvious that he was a sexist jerk who was placating the poor nervous female. “Is there somewhere you can stay tonight? I can call Dottie and ask her if you could stay with her.”

  “No, thank you, sir.” Hope wasn’t about to go anywhere and if she was it wouldn’t be with the diner owner. “I’ll be fine. You’re probably right and my imagination got the better of me.”

  “It can happen to anyone, miss. Don’t worry your little head about it.”

  Hope was contemplating kicking him in his little head if he placated her any longer.

  “If that knee’s still bothering you in the morning, you give Dr. Elder a call.” He ripped a piece of paper from his notebook and scribbled a number down on it. “He might be able to give you something to help you sleep or calm you down if this happens again.”

  Hope smiled as she nodded. “Thank you again. I’ll be sure to call him.”

  “You have a good night, Miss Hope.”

  “You. too, officer. I’m really sorry to have bothered you over nothing.”

  “Don’t you worry about it. Maybe stop listening to so many scary stories?”

  Hope nodded and waved as he got into his squad car and backed out of her driveway. She ran her hand over the front door and felt scratches in the wood. “Scary stories, my ass,” she muttered as she shut the door and locked it. There’d been something out there before, she knew it, and it wasn’t any damn bear.

  She hobbled over to the closet in the bedroom and pulled out the baseball bat she’d found in there yesterday when she hung up her clothes. Grabbing a comforter, she used the bat as a makeshift crutch as she went back to the sofa, turning on every light in the room as she passed. Propping a couple pillows under her sore knee, she lay down and thought about what had happened. Maybe her mind was playing tricks on her, but there was something about what she’d seen. Either that bear moved incredibly fast or there was more than one of them, because she remembered the shadows passing windows on either side of her house.

  * * * *

  “Did you hear about that hot chick freaking out in the middle of the night and calling 9-1-1 for help?”

  “Which one?”

  “What do you mean with one? There is only one as far as I’m concerned.”

  Falcon was on his way to meet with Wolfe when he recognized Donovan’s and Jim’s voices. They were working on drywall around the corner and hadn’t seen him. After Hope’s visit yesterday both men had avoided him and Wolfe, which was fine with him, but they’d better steer clear of Hope.

  “Remember the one who disappeared with Wolfe and Falcon yesterday?” Wolfe didn’t like Jim’s tone or the derision in it. “My uncle had to go out and settle her down ’cause she thought some animals were trying to get her.”

  “Maybe she’d already seen some monsters earlier in the day and she was having flashbacks.” Donovan laughed, and Falcon turned the corner in time to see him slap Jim on the back. “I don’t care what she did with them. I plan on tapping that one myself this weekend.”

  “As long as she has a cunt, I’m in. I don’t care if she’s fucking loony or not.”

  Falcon had both of them against the wall by their necks a moment later. Lifting to the point they balanced on their tiptoes. “You will not speak of her in such a way.” Fury boiled his blood at their disrespect. That was his Atan they spoke of in that manner.

  Jim and Donovan clawed at his wrists and arms with their hands, gasping for air he refused to allow them. “Never speak of any woman in that manner again.” They both dropped to the floor when he let go. “Get out!”

  He turned to see Bobby
standing behind him with his arms crossed over his chest. He looked at his friends with disgust and didn’t help them up. Instead he glared at them as they passed. “I apologize for their behavior, Falcon. If I heard them speaking of my wife in that manner I would have done the same thing.”

  Falcon nodded and slapped the other man on the shoulder as he passed. “They’re lucky Wolfe didn’t hear them. He’s not as calm as I am. He would have killed them.”

  Too bad Bobby hadn’t been born in Lu’um and had a warrior brother. He’d have made a good Midnighter. Falcon’s concern now was Hope. The knowledge that she’d been in danger and they weren’t there to protect her burned in his stomach. She was going to come back here and stay until they could take her home…orders be damned. They would take her home with them that night. Rock and Jag would understand when they explained. Protecting their Atan was more important than anything else.

  He pulled up his sleeve and tapped out a message on the band strapped to the inside of his arm. A moment later he received a reply, the pulses vibrating against his skin. Wolfe was checking out some suspicious activity at the base of the mountains and would meet him at her place. Similar to the Earth’s Morse code, they’d developed this communications device as a silent means to relay messages during an attack. It had worked out perfectly on this world where the energy levels weren’t strong enough to carry voice or emotional messages.

  He pulled his hair back and quickly braided it out of the way before putting on his Stetson and leaving the building. Eddie had given them directions to her home and he debated on the fastest way to get there. At home, he could draw on Lu’um’s energy to carry him over running long distances, but on Earth it was too difficult and he didn’t want to be exhausted when he arrived. The drive to protect his woman was in the forefront of this thoughts and demanding he take action.

  Eddie had gone with the truck to pick up some construction supplies, but one of the four-wheel ATVs they used for patrolling was parked behind the building. Perfect. It might take him a bit longer, but he wouldn’t have to follow the roads or the humans’ rules. He revved it up and took off across the sandy terrain.

  He made better time than he’d expected, but when he arrived at the house, Hope wasn’t there. He debated on driving on into town, but instead poked around outside of the house. He checked all the windows and ran his hand over the scratches on the front door.

  “Hey there, son! What do you think you’re doing?” Falcon turned and faced the large officer who’d pulled up in front of the vehicle. Falcon had seen this one around. He was large and lazy and often bullied those he felt were below him. Deciding he wasn’t worth the bother Falcon turned away and continued his observation of the markings on the side of the house. There were dents in the siding near the roof line and along the foundation. The Kimil had been searching for a way inside, a flaw in the building they could have exploited.

  “Hey. I’m talking to you,” the rotund officer snapped from his window. “You the one harassing that girl last night? Yeah, I bet you were. You look the type. Too much liquor and you tried to have some more fun with her. I heard all about you and your friend taking care of her yesterday. Heard you boys tapped her. Girls like that don’t want a repeat performance, boy.”

  Falcon swallowed down the inferno of fury at the officer’s words. All the Midnighters had been warned not to tangle with the law in the area. It would only bring attention to the building and threaten the portal they were hiding. He turned and leveled a glare at the overweight man who still hadn’t bothered to get out of his car. “Where is she?”

  “You’re not so bright are you? Gorgeous girls like that are gold diggers. She’s looking for a sugar daddy to take care of her, and workmen like you and my nephew are nothing but a quick fuck for her.”

  “Jim’s your nephew?” Falcon nodded. Now it was making sense, He felt the urge to wrap his palm around this man’s throat the same way he’d clasped Jim’s a short time before. “He was saying things about Hope today, too. He needs to find employment somewhere else.”

  The officer spluttered and Falcon watched as his face turned red. “You can’t fire him for speaking the truth. I know that family. Her aunt wasn’t any better. She found herself a better ride and took that one all the way to the bank. Waste your time if you want to, but don’t you cross my path. I take care of my family.” He put the car in drive and spun the tires so hard rock sprayed out behind him. Falcon was disgusted. That man didn’t care about protecting the people of this town.

  He sat down on the step and pulled a cloth out of his back pocket. Taking off his hat, he wiped the sweat from his face and neck before putting it back on. It was too damn hot in this world. He missed the perfect temperatures of his home. Getting up, he continued to examine the exterior of the house as he waited.

  About ten minutes later, Hope rolled down the road on a bike. The basket in front held a bag and she graced him with a large smile when she saw him. His heart clenched and he almost ran over and plucked her off the seat and hugged her tight. That officer didn’t know what he was talking about. Hope was light and happiness with a burning passion below the surface.

  “Falcon! What are you doing?” She wrapped her arms around his neck when he followed through with his instincts. Feeling her in his arms, safe and sound, did a lot to calm his emotions. “I heard about what happened last night. Were you hurt?”

  “Nothing life threatening and it was my own fault. I overreacted to nothing but some animals.” She might have tried to sound nonchalant, but he heard the underlying nervousness in her tone.

  “Don’t ever try to lie to me, Hope. It’s a useless endeavor that will only anger us both.” He let her go and picked up the bag with one arm and gave her enough space to get off the bike. She pulled a key out of her pocket and stepped away from him toward the door.

  “You’re limping.” He scooped her up with his other arm and supported her under her delectable ass, pulling her against him. She let loose with a squeak and then rolled her eyes.

  “Last night, I saw something outside that startled me and I banged my knee when I tripped over my chair. I’m not sure why I told you because it’s embarrassing being such a klutz.”

  Falcon knew why she told him. Her conscious mind might not have accepted it, but deep down she knew he was there to help her and she could trust him. There was a long stretch for him and Wolfe to travel to get her to accept it. “What did you see?” He carried her and the bag to the front door before setting her down. She unlocked the door and he held onto her arm, preceding her into the house. It was very unlikely that the Kimil would be lying in wait this time of the day, but Falcon refused to take any more chances with her.

  “Nothing, just my overactive imagination.” She frowned at him as she moved past him. “It’s stupid really. What I thought were yellow eyes must have been the light reflecting off his retinas.” Her movements were hesitant and she braced her hand first on the back of a chair then the counter as she limped toward the small kitchen.

  Falcon put the bag down on the table and came closer to her as she lifted herself onto a barstool. “You’re hurt.” There was a large purple-and-black mark that marred the side of her leg above her knee. “Why didn’t you call us or at least Eddie?”

  “Why would I?” Her face looked pale and she had dark circles under her eyes. “And I can take care of myself, but hindsight being twenty-twenty, riding to the store to get juice was a bad idea. I peddled mostly with my right leg, but it didn’t stop this one from hurting.”

  He gently felt around her knee and she jumped and punched him in the arm. “Motherfucker! Don’t do that, it hurts!”

  “You’re going to a healer.” Falcon didn’t care if it looked worse than it was. If Hope was hurting enough to start swearing, she needed to be healed. He’d noticed a few things about their Atan in the short time he’d known her. She tried very hard to hide behind a placid exterior, but her fiery temper got the best of her when her emotions were engaged. He wasn
’t certain why she acted like that, but he was starting to realize he liked seeing the fire in her eyes. Why he ever thought he wanted a calm, quiet woman he wasn’t certain. Meeting Hope had made him realize the merits to a lively female. Even if she tried to act otherwise, he liked the glimpses he was getting of her fiery temper.

  “I’m not going anywhere, Falcon, and you can’t make me. I appreciate your kindness, I really do, but I’m only here for a few more days. You don’t need to pretend that yesterday was anything more than it was.”

  Falcon didn’t like the way this conversation was going. Did Hope hear some of the comments being made? Does she think my and Wolfe’s interest in her is temporary? “I think you have underestimated what yesterday was, Hope. But don’t worry. You’ll believe it soon enough.”

  She frowned up at him and shook her head. Her cheeks were pink and getting darker by the moment, but that sweet, placid tone was back in her voice. “I’m not going to be here long enough for that to happen. I apologize if I misled you, but I simply got carried away yesterday.”

  She hopped down onto her good leg and braced her hand on the counter. “If you don’t mind I’m going to go and rest my leg. Thank you for coming to check up on me. That was kind of you.”

  He knew she was dismissing him and expected him to leave. If this was Lu’um, he’d scoop her up and take her home without another word. But since this was Earth and he and Wolfe had strict orders to stay out of trouble, he nodded slightly and turned and left.

  The heat hit him like a wall of fire as soon as he stepped out the door of her home, despite the fact that the sun had dropped. The air was thick and felt harsh against his lungs as he walked back to his ATV. Every spark of energy in his body was fighting this decision. He missed the sweet, pure air of his home and couldn’t wait to leave this place…with his Atan. The shadows outside had lengthened as the sun neared the horizon and Pyramid Mountains, a warning that he needed to get Hope out of there as soon as possible. It looked like they were going to have to do things the traditional way after all.