Blind Heat

by Nara Malone

  She stepped between the solid bodies of a stone and tree to look down the forest where the yard sloped steeply toward a river, pearly columns of light shimmered between tree trunks. The sounds of night creatures drifted up from the forest. She’d never heard a whippoorwill or an owl, but she recognized the calls instantly. She’d aimed her camera toward the wood, right at that moment a white buck stepped into the meadow. She caught her breath, frozen in awe. That quick, her memories of Marcus found a chink in her mental armor and crept in.

  Breathe. Find your center.

  She could almost feel Marcus touching her, hands on her shoulders, lips against her hair. Her self-talk came to her in his voice. Easy. Focus. There’s a girl. Gently press the shutter. The click and whir brought the buck’s head up. He saw her, contemplated her a moment and then blended back into the woods. She let her longing for Marcus fade into the background of her thoughts the way the buck had faded into the wood. She had a bad case of the Marcus bug. She would have to get over it.

  “Allie, there’s a pair of yellow eyes staring at me from behind that tree over there.” Lila’s voice, a tight whisper just behind her, startled. Before Allie could turn, Lila had backed up against her. Worried that sudden movement would upset whatever watched, Allie tried to angle her head so that she could see over Lila’s shoulder without turning around.

  “Maybe’s it’s a deer. I saw one down the hill.”

  “I think the eyes are too far apart for a deer. Whatever this is, it’s big. Maybe lion big.”

  “They don’t have lions in Virginia.” Allie thought she could hear a soft chuff, chuff of breathing coming from the general vicinity of the other side of Lila, and reconsidered. “Do they?”

  “There’ve been rumors of mountain lions along the Blue Ridge,” Lila whispered. “I doubt they’d be here, this close to a town.”

  Allie saw the eyes then, glowing yellow, unblinking. She swallowed. “I think that’s bigger than a mountain lion.”

  * * * * *

  “You sent Allison Summers where?” Jake dropped his duffle inside the door of his shop and gave it a kick. It skidded across the floor and bumped against the service counter, the thud echoing in silence as he locked the door behind him. Maya backed up as he approached. Jake wasn’t fooled into thinking she was intimidated. She’d thumbed her nose at the high council and made her way to a foreign land to find shelter with the handful of people she could trust to shelter her. She wasn’t the sort to be cowed by a show of bad temper. Which freed him to dump his bad mood on her. He didn’t think he was going to be able to resist the temptation to do just that.

  “I sent her to Adam’s compound. There’s no one there. I don’t see what the problem is.”

  “Well, to start, Allison Summers is Allie, the magus’ Allie, and I’m supposed to be watching over her. He will likely ship us both back to Pantheria if he finds out she’s there unprotected.”

  “Watching over a human female for the magus? Now that’s interesting.”

  “I’d tell you not to get any ideas, but…” Jake scrubbed at his face with his hands, too tired and frustrated to keep up with his own thoughts.

  “But you think he’s hung up on her.”

  “I think he’s hung up on her at mate level.”

  Maya pulled a stool up to the counter, sat, propped one elbow on the counter and her chin in her hand. “The magus take a human? Allison Summers?”

  “You’ve met her?”

  “She came by about an hour ago to get the gate keycard. She seemed sweet. A little reserved. Sort of waif-like.”

  “Waif-like. Hmm. Ever known him to resist rescuing another being in need?”

  “No. He’d risk his neck to save a spider.” A fear of spiders being one of the few weaknesses Maya admitted to, she didn’t bother to suppress a delicate shudder. “But saving her and bonding with her are two different things.”

  Jake dropped down on the bench he’d set by the door for customers waiting on a repair or too frail to stand for very long while they spilled their tales of computer woes. He was feeling wiped out himself, a reaction so unfamiliar that he hadn’t been able to name it at first. With Maya as a sounding board he was beginning to figure out why.

  “Maybe she wouldn’t have the same impact on another female, but when I am near her, I feel compelled to stay at her side, keep her safe, make her smile.”

  Maya met his gaze and held it, as if that alone could force some sanity back into his brain. “Don’t even go there, Jake. Even if he wasn’t the magus, you’re Yeti.” This time the shudder was more pronounced than it had been for the idea of saving spiders. Until he’d met Allie, Jake had shared the Pantherian view that interspecies sex was taboo, repellant. But he had considered, on that long bus ride, with Allie’s sweet scent filling his brain like a drug and her sadness tugging his heart, that those rules applied to Pantherians, not humans. Pantherian mating might begin in human form but it rarely stayed there. Pantherians having sex with humans had to stay in human form. So if he could keep his awareness of Marcus as a tiger out of his mind, they could share a human female. Pantherian males preferred ménage, even with human females. He cut those thoughts off before the idea could take root. Maya was right. He couldn’t go there. And he didn’t want to discuss his sex life with her. Species differences aside, he’d watched her grow up and she was like a sister to him—a pain in the neck, but still cherished.

  He rubbed at his neck and looked away. Maya was perceptive enough to switch the subject back to safer ground.

  “You didn’t say anything about Allie or the magus in your message. You said find a centerfold-quality garden and direct the photographer calling about it to the location.”

  “It was a text message. My fingers are bigger than the phone. Do you know how hard it is for me to type on one of those things?” Jake spread his fingers wide, waved his hands to emphasize.

  “Well you wouldn’t need to text if you were in town watching her like you were supposed to be…”

  “I was watching her. I followed her to DC where she slipped away and apparently caught a ride back. I asked you to find a garden she could photograph thinking I would be with her when she called here for the appointment and later when we went to the garden. I was desperate to come up with a lure to get her back to town before the police were called in to find her.”

  “Police?” Maya leaned to the side, peering over the counter through the storefront window as if she expected the door to be stormed at any moment.

  “I took care of it. It’s a really long story and there isn’t time now. When did she plan to go out there?”

  “I think she planned to take pictures after moonrise. She came by a few hours ago to get a keycard for the main gate.” Maya perched on the stool behind the service counter. Her brow puckered. “Why are you back so much later than she is?”

  “I had to take the bus back and buses take a long time. I probably could have walked back faster.”

  “You could have asked someone to come and get you.” His hands clenched into fists at his sides as he tried to hold back annoyance. As if he couldn’t think of any of these simple solutions for himself.

  “I couldn’t ask the magus because I didn’t want to tell him I lost Allie. Adam and Ean are pretty busy these days. I tried Ben and the alpha pack. Guess where they are?”

  “Not in Virginia Beach?”

  “That’s right. They’re at Adam’s place. A good moon tonight…so they’re doing a geochase.”

  “What’s a geochase?”

  “A sex game they like to play. They hook up with human females who are into this sort of thing. They pick a wild setting, private enough where they won’t be disturbed and turn the female loose with a GPS. They give her a head start. If they catch her before she reaches the spot designated safe, human mating ensues.”

  “That system hardly sounds fair to the women playing.”

  “Of course the pack is in human form which evens things up somewhat.”

 
“Even that’s not even.”

  “I think their playmates aren’t all that into winning. The pack is careful with them. A couple of the males patrol as wolves to keep the players safe and when the guys playing are done they switch off with the guards. They make sure the playmates don’t take dangerous risks.”

  “Oh.”

  “Anyway, I guess this is how they cope with the fact there are no mateable lupine females left in their tribe. Ben said it’s hard to find human females who will play with four males at once.”

  He knew the exact moment when Maya connected all the dots. Her eyes went round and she leapt off the stool. “Oh crap!”

  “Oh crap is right. Who is with Allie at the compound?”

  “Another woman, name was Lila. I think.”

  “Okay, I can fix this. I’ll go over, say I’m the caretaker, keep them from running into Ben and his playmates.”

  “There’s more than just the Ben issue. This gets worse.”

  Jake rubbed his temples. He didn’t want to know, but he had to ask. “How could it be worse?”

  “I think Marcus must be there. He’s supposed to be meeting up with Ben tonight.”

  “It’s Magus,” Jake snapped and pushed up from the bench. “Remember your manners.”

  Maya was not intimidated. “I’ll call him what he said to call him. He’s getting touchy about us using his title.”

  “If you think he’s touchy, check me.” Jake’s voice rose.

  Maya stuck her chin out, glared right back. “Look, don’t yell at me because you screwed up. We need to do something, not yell at each other.”

  “Okay. Okay.” He raked a hand through his hair. “I’ll pop through the portal and see if I can avert disaster.”

  “You should take the truck. Marcus,” she emphasized the name, “left it here.”

  “If I use the mirror portal I can be there in a second. The compound is a forty-five-minute drive from here.”

  “Someone is going to need a way to bring the humans back. I’m assuming Marcus will want Allie separated from the others. Had you thought how he will get her home?”

  Jake rubbed at his stiff neck. His stomach growled. He wanted nothing more than a hot shower and hot food. Instead he was going to have to trek through the forest collecting terrified females and try to explain to the Magus how it all came about. All of that after the ever-so-pleasant ride down winding country roads in the cramped cab of an exhaust-spouting monstrosity that humans considered practical transportation. Everything about automobiles was a violation of the first tenet of the Pantherian code, and the tenth if you thought about it. “Maybe you could drive it out there?”

  “I’m already in trouble with half the family for driving here without a license.”

  Maya tossed him a white paper bag and he caught it out of reflex. It was warm. A deliciously edible fragrance greeted his nostrils.

  “My dinner,” Maya said. “Looks like you need it worse than me. You’re cranky when you’re hungry.”

  “Thanks,” he said and caught the keys she tossed.

  “Go,” she said. “I’ll wait up so you’ll have someone to snarl at when you get back.”

  Chapter Seven

  A shadow lengthened and shifted just to Allie’s left. She and Lila whirled to face a tall, black-robed figure.

  Lila bolted. When Allie tried to block her, they landed in a heap, rolling in damp grass with the perfume of crushed blooms spilling into the air.

  “I know him,” she whispered as Lila struggled and then stilled. Allie shifted to ease away from a flagstone digging into her shoulder blade. “Pretty sure I do, anyway.”

  “Pretty sure?” Lila hissed. “Pretty sure means you run now and ask questions about identity later.”

  But Allie was only half-listening, caught by the glint of silver eyes in moonlight. Beneath the hood, highlighted by stray moonbeams, his face was outlined in planes of blue shadow. Something fluttered high in Allie’s stomach, the same fluttery feeling that had replayed so many times last night.

  “Marcus?” Allie asked.

  “How can you recognize anyone in this light, in that hood?” Lila’s asked in a tight, high-pitched whisper. He came closer.

  Allie pressed a finger to Lila’s lips and she asked again. “Marcus?”

  He pushed the hood back from his head before he bent to offer Lila a hand. His eyes were glued to Allie’s. Mentally she could hear the thought, the unspoken demand she read there. You tell me.

  Lila looked from him to her and back. “This is your prince charming?”

  Allie’s confidence fled. She dropped her eyes.

  “Is that what she calls me? I think you’ve embarrassed her with that revelation.”

  Marcus’ sexily mesmeric voice. Relief washed through her, a wave of cold swept away by the heat of a blush. She’d been right. She’d recognized him even when she couldn’t see him. With his hair and body concealed by the shapeless robe, she’d known who he was. With that out of the way, a more important question came to mind—why was he here?

  Lila let Marcus pull her up and Allie scrambled to her feet, brushing off her jeans as she did. Marcus’ gaze moved over her skin like a physical touch. The corners of his mouth lifted in a triumphant tilt. One night under his tutelage and she’d made progress. It didn’t mean anything, Allie told herself. After that candle game last night, she’d have to be brain dead not to recognize his eyes in the moonlight. Her stomach fluttered, a reminder that she’d known him through physical awareness. It left her with no doubt he could teach her to see with more than her eyes. She had plenty of doubt as to whether she could survive another lesson.

  Maybe Lila didn’t notice the sexual tension crackling in the air. Then again, perhaps she did and wanted to redirect the tension back to something more pressing. She pointed, drawing Marcus’ attention from Allie. “There’s a bear or something, over there.”

  “Really?” Marcus asked. But the glowing eyes were gone.

  A distant howling from the forest moved Allie closer to Marcus. Another howl, from just below the garden, had Lila clutching Allie’s arm.

  “Let’s get some light on the matter,” Marcus said. “A good fire should keep all curious, furry neighbors at a distance.”

  He went to the fire pit and poked around. “I know there is an electronic lighter here somewhere. Ah…”

  Allie expected to hear the click-click sound of a grill lighter, but there was only the soft swoosh as flame caught tinder and the crackle of blaze licking through kindling and then the bigger branches arranged above. The image from last night, a flame appearing cupped in the palm of his hand, did nothing to settle her nerves.

  “I can light the torches around the garden if that will make you more comfortable,” he said.

  “No, this is fine,” Allie said. She didn’t think Lila’s nerves could handle Marcus’ fire games. “I need moonlight to dominate for dramatic shots. We were probably overreacting. We’re a little out of our element.”

  “Thank you for coming to the rescue. You’re our hero,” Lila added with an exaggerated flutter of lashes. “When I get back to my element I’m not leaving it again.”

  Marcus was staring at Allie. Allie stared back. When silence must have stretched past polite, Lila cleared her throat.

  “Are you almost done with your pictures, Allie?”

  “No,” Allie said. “Oh no.” She glanced around. The camera had landed in a clump of wildflowers. Allie retrieved it and angled the lens toward the light to inspect for scratches. She’d rather be eaten by a bear than have to go back and tell Elaine she’d damaged the new camera. It all looked okay. “Just let me get another dozen or so shots first. You two talk while I finish up, then we can go.”

  “If you don’t mind,” Marcus said, stepping between the two and catching Allie’s arm. “I wouldn’t mind knowing who let you in here and what you’re doing?”

  “We let ourselves in. And I’m doing my job.” She let her gaze travel over his robe. “Is
that what you’re doing?”

  His eyes had a devil’s glint. “Yes.”

  “Why do I get the feeling this conversation means more than it appears to?” Lila asked.

  Marcus circled them. Allie realized her body had developed more than the ability to see without eyes. It responded to something in his posture, his tone. A primal need stalked her and an ache to fill it bloomed inside her. He moved like a big cat backing prey into a corner.

  “And you are?” He was looking at Lila.

  Lila swallowed, uncharacteristically intimidated. “Lila Fontaine. I work in sales at the paper. I’m helping Allie with her shoot. Well, really, I’m just chauffeuring her. She’s the photographer.”

  “How did you get in?”

  He asked that of Lila, apparently he decided she was a better source of information than Allie. He was right.

  “With a keycard. We have the owner’s permission to be here.”

  “That’s interesting.” He emphasized the last word, letting it hang unexplained.

  “Why?” Allie finally asked. “How did you find me? Turning up everywhere I go is not the way to reassure me you aren’t stalking me.”

  “I’ll take those questions one at a time. I am one of two owners and I know neither of us was available to give permission for the two of you to be here. Which leads to the second question—in a town of twenty businesses and possibly twice that many people, it’s easy to keep bumping into each other unexpectedly. The present circumstances being a perfect example of accidental stalking.”

  Lila turned it all back on Allie. “You didn’t know he lived here?”

  “Marcus doesn’t like to talk about himself much.” She looked back up the hill where the mansion’s silhouette loomed, a hulking shadow against the skyline, and considered the obvious wealth it took to have and maintain a place like this. It had to surpass even Eddie’s net worth. She suspected the means Marcus used to acquire that wealth weren’t any more acceptable than Eddie’s.