Releasing all thoughts, she simply enjoyed lying next to James, his hard body wrapped around hers with the moonlight shining in on them.
In the house next door, Alex lay in her husband’s arms, feeling very content. Joshua always knew just how to touch her, to please her. He kissed her temple and she snuggled closer.
“I like her.” They’d been talking about Shelley before they’d gotten sidetracked.
“I don’t want to lose her.”
She could hear the fear in Joshua’s voice. She patted his chest. “I’ll do everything I can to convince her to stay.”
He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles one after the other. They’d just made love but she was suddenly breathless all over again.
“James wants her.”
Alex wasn’t certain how she’d felt about that at first, but the more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea. Her father had been alone for far too long. “I think you’re right.”
“You don’t mind?” Joshua shifted in the bed so he could look at her.
She shrugged. “As long as he’s happy, that’s all that matters to me.” And she meant it. Shelley had a lot of problems to work through. But heck, who didn’t? She wasn’t exactly problem-free herself. She was still dealing with the issue of being a half-breed werewolf.
“Don’t worry. It will all work out.” Joshua rolled her beneath him, covering her with his large body.
Alex wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer, forgetting about all their problems for now.
Across the compound, Quinn lay on a firm mattress and held a phone to his ear. “Yeah, Craig, I’m fine. No, I’ve told you everything. Hold tight and I’ll get back to you in a few days.”
“I can be there sometime tomorrow if you need me.”
Quinn closed his eyes as emotion welled up inside him. He could always count on his younger brother. “I know, man, but I’m okay.”
“I’m only a call away.” Craig paused, and Quinn knew what was coming next. “What’s he like?”
He being Quinn’s father. Or rather, sperm donor. He’d never been a father.
“It’s like looking in a mirror, except for the difference in hair color.” Which was spooky as hell. The guy looked more like his older brother than his father. But he’d learned that werewolves lived longer than normal humans.
“But what’s he like?” Craig persisted.
“I honestly don’t know. I met Donovan Brody. We talked for a few minutes and I’ll see him again tomorrow. They had a lot of pack politics and shit to deal with after the attack today.”
“I’m glad you’re out of that.” Craig never missed the opportunity to let him know what he thought about the bounty hunters.
“Me too.” He’d lost a part of his soul this past year and wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to get it back.
“Do they really think some werewolf might have her?”
“That’s the current thought, and they may be right.” Quinn watched the shadows dancing on the ceiling. “I’m open to the possibility. I haven’t found anything to suggest the hunters have her.”
“Fuck.”
“You said it, brother.” Quinn turned onto his side and stared out the window. “Look, I gotta go. I’ll keep in contact.”
“You let me know where you’ll be and I’ll come to you. I’m only renting this dive I call home month to month.”
“Will do. Take care, Craig.”
“You too.”
Quinn thumbed off his phone and tossed it onto the nightstand. He was surprised he’d been allowed to keep it. Then again, Levi Striker was in the bed next door and Micah was bunked out in the room on his other side. Either one or both of them had probably heard the entire conversation. Werewolves’ preternatural hearing made it difficult to have a private conversation.
Either way, he didn’t care. He was more than ready to start the search for his twin. “Hang in there, Chris,” he whispered. “I’m coming for you.”
Chapter Seventeen
Her week was up today. Shelley peered out the kitchen window, wondering how the time had gone by so quickly. She’d spent her days puttering around James’s house and getting to know her family and other members of the community. True to their word, the males had all been back, but they hadn’t pressured her in any way.
She’d spent time with Alex and Meredith, coming to like and respect both women. She’d also come to know her brothers much better. The more time she spent with them, the more she remembered.
Isaiah was the one she had the most memories of. They’d spent time talking and simply being together. The one thing she hadn’t been able to make herself do was shift into her wolf form. Too many years of training and conditioning had taken their toll. She was afraid of that part of herself even as she was coming to accept it in the people around her.
She’d seen all her brothers shift and run as a family. She’d longed to go with them but had been unable to make herself take that final step. James had stayed with her, his arm around her waist, telling her not to worry, not to push herself. That there was plenty of time.
Well, time had run out.
And then there was James. The man was insatiable. She smiled, a private smile of pleasure. She was insatiable too when it came to him. He came to her bed every night. Some nights they’d simply pleasure one another. Other nights, they’d go all the way. She still wasn’t comfortable saying they were making love, but she wasn’t going to label it simply sex. It was much more than that.
Just this morning, he’d rolled her onto her side facing him, draped her leg over his thigh and slid into her before she was fully awake. She’d opened her eyes to find him gently rocking them both to orgasm.
She’d clung to him after, not knowing what today would bring. She had to make some decisions about her future.
“Penny for your thoughts.” As though her musings had conjured him, James slid up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. It was a familiar pose, one she was coming to love. He made her feel cared for and safe.
“I’m not certain they’re worth that much,” she offered.
He released her and turned her to face him. “Let me be the judge of that.”
She leaned against the kitchen counter and stared up into his face. When had he become so important to her? She rubbed her hand over her forehead. “It’s been a week.”
James tensed, his expression going from lazy, tolerant male to fierce predator in a heartbeat. Yet, she didn’t fear him. A week of being with him and her family had gone a long way to helping her get past the years of imprisonment.
Not that she believed she was totally over them. No, it might take her the rest of her long life to put those years behind her. If she ever did. But she’d made a good start.
James had taught her that not all men were cruel. He’d shown her that there were good males out there. Those who stood by their word and protected those around them.
He’d also shown her that she was more than simply a werewolf. She was a female with a female’s needs. She shifted her weight from one foot to another, uncomfortable as the familiar blast of desire shot through her.
All the man had to do was look at her and she wanted him.
His eyes half-closed and he took a deep breath. She knew he could smell her arousal but she didn’t care.
“You don’t have to go.” He pulled her closer and rocked her hips against his rather large erection. “Stay.” He leaned forward and brushed a kiss over her temple and down her cheekbone. “Stay with me,” he coaxed as he nibbled on her neck just below her ear.
“I can’t.” It would be too easy to remain here, to let James continue to take care of her. She’d never learn how to stand on her own two feet that way.
After all her years of captivity, Shelley needed to be free. To make her own decisions. To forge her own path in life.
“I can’t,” she whispered. Her chest hurt and breathing became difficult. She wanted to stay but had to leave.<
br />
James tightened his arms around her briefly and then moved back a step. “Where will you go?”
Perversely, she wanted him to argue with her. God, what was wrong with her? She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to keep his warmth as long as possible.
Shelley shrugged. “Isaiah wants me to go to Chicago with him.”
James closed his eyes briefly and nodded. “When will you leave?”
She chewed on her bottom lip. “He wants to leave this morning.” Her stomach was churning. She was making the right decision. Wasn’t she? If she stayed she’d have the pressure of all the males wanting to mate with her. Plus, the more time she spent with James, the more he’d come to mean to her. As it was, she felt as though she was freefalling without a safety net.
The panic attack hit her hard and fast. Her breath caught in her throat. Her skin went hot and then cold. Perspiration beaded on her forehead and her hands began to shake.
“Breathe.” James was beside her. He didn’t touch her but kept repeating that single word over and over. She kept her eyes on his face, memorizing every hard plane and line.
The feeling of fear and dread slowly receded and she was able to suck some much needed air into her lungs.
“That’s it,” he encouraged. “One breath at a time.”
The world seemed to stop as she watched him. She’d known him a little more than a week but he’d become such a huge part of her life. She was going to miss him so much.
Leaving was going to be like cutting off a piece of herself. But like any surgery, it was best done swiftly.
“I need to finish packing.” And that was a total lie. She didn’t have that much and had shoved all of it into her two shopping bags earlier this morning.
James stood aside and she scurried out of the kitchen, feeling his eyes on her until she was out of sight. Up in her room, she shut the door and sank down on the edge of the bed and buried her face in her hands.
How was she going to do this? How was she going to leave?
Swiping at the tears on her cheeks, she straightened her spine. “You have to do this,” she said aloud. She needed to get strong, to learn to accept her wolf, to shift. Maybe then she could come back on her own terms. Maybe then she could be the female James needed by his side.
That thought stopped her cold. That was why she was really leaving. She didn’t feel worthy.
James was alpha of this pack. He needed a strong female beside him, not one who was literally afraid of herself.
She needed to get beyond her past, to accept all aspects of herself. Maybe when she was finally whole again, she could be what James needed. Maybe then she could return and see where the attraction between them might go. Maybe it would be too late by then.
That thought made her heart ache. But she shoved it aside. She knew what she needed to do.
James wanted to drive his fist through the wall. He needed to feel the sting of pain to distract him from the total destruction of his heart. Shelley was leaving him.
He knew it wasn’t logical to feel that way. Shelley was doing what she felt she needed to do. Still, he felt betrayed.
After spending the last week in her bed, he’d thought he’d gotten through to her, thought she’d understood how he felt about her.
All the hair on his body bristled as the wolf inside him howled for release. He clamped his hands around the edge of the countertop, not surprised to see claws instead of fingers. He was close.
His mate was leaving him and he didn’t think he’d survive.
But he would because this was what she needed. He needed to set her free if he was ever going to have a chance of claiming her as his mate. If he kept her here, forced her to stay, she’d never forgive him. And he’d be as bad as those bastard bounty hunters.
No, as hard as it was, he was going to have to let her go.
His heart felt as though a gigantic boulder was lying on it. She hadn’t even left and already he was bereft.
Taking a deep breath, he straightened and rolled his shoulders. He could do this. For Shelley. For himself. She was only going to Chicago and would be with her brother. Isaiah would take good care of her, and James could find a lot of reasons to head to Chicago on business.
He would court her long distance if that’s what it took.
Resolved, he turned when he heard footsteps behind him. It wasn’t Shelley, but a female he loved all the same.
Alex stopped a few feet away. “What’s wrong?”
He smiled ruefully. His daughter knew him too well. “Shelley is leaving with Isaiah today.”
She frowned. “I thought she was staying.”
James absently rubbed his hand over his chest. “So did I.”
“Aren’t you going to do anything to stop her?” Alex demanded.
James crossed his arms over his chest. “What should I do? Should I lock her in her room? Maybe chain her up somewhere?” Alex paled, but he couldn’t stop. “She’s already had too much of that in her life. She needs to make her own choices.”
“I know.” She tentatively walked up to him and put her hand on his arm. James knew his muscles were as hard as steel. “I just wanted her to stay.”
He sighed and pulled his daughter into his arms, kissing the top of her head. “Me too.” She had no idea just how much.
Alex pulled away. “I’m going to go up and say goodbye.”
He nodded and turned back to stare out the window. The beauty of the trees and mountains that usually soothed his soul did nothing for him today. How could they when he knew he was losing his heart.
A tentative knock came on the door. Shelley knew it wasn’t James. She took a deep breath. “Come in, Alex.”
The door opened and the younger woman stuck her head in. As always, Shelley was struck by just how alike father and daughter were. “I heard you were leaving.” Alex stepped inside but left the door ajar. As usual, Alex was wearing jeans and a sweater. She was less intimidating than Meredith who always seemed to look put together and classy no matter what she was wearing.
“Yes.” She nodded, not knowing what else to say.
“I wish you would stay.” There was no mistaking the honesty in the younger woman’s voice.
“I can’t.” Shelley sighed.
“Why? I know you like it here. Don’t you?”
“It’s not that simple, Alex.”
“Why not?”
Shelley just shook her head. Alex didn’t understand. Couldn’t understand. Yes, she’d dealt with a lot herself, finding out she wasn’t human but really half werewolf. But she was confident in her ability to deal with it. Alex knew who she was. Knew how to stand on her own two feet.
Shelley was still learning. Had barely begun to find her own feet, her identity. She couldn’t expect James to wait for her to figure out her life. Nor could she ask him to take her with all the problems she had. She had to deal with her issues and become a strong female. To figure out who she really was.
“Will you come back?”
That was a question she could answer honestly. “Yes. I’d like to.”
Alex came to her and wrapped her arms around her in a hug. Shelley returned it, blinking back tears. “I’d like that. And I know my father would.”
Shelley tried hard not to think about James. If she dwelled on him too much, she’d never find the strength to leave. There were more footsteps in the hallway and she knew the time had come.
“Hey.” Meredith stood decked out in jeans and boots and a cashmere sweater. Her leather jacket was hooked over her arm. Her long, black hair was pulled away from her face and clipped in the back. It emphasized the beauty of her face. Even in what should have been casual attire, she looked impeccable. “It’s time.”
Shelley felt underdressed standing beside her. Her choices were limited, as was her knowledge of fashion. But it wouldn’t always be that way, she promised herself. She’d work hard and do whatever it took to become whole and healthy again. And that meant learning about every aspect
of life.
Alex hugged her hard again. “Remember, you’re welcome here anytime. You can stay with me and Joshua if you want.”
Touched by the offer, Shelley hugged her back. “Thank you.”
“Can I help you with your stuff?” Meredith motioned to the two bags on the bed.
“No, I’ve got it.” It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Meredith. It was just hard to relinquish control. Everything she owned was in those two bags. And a little voice in the back of her head reminded her that James had bought most of it for her.
She’d pay him back. As soon as she started working at Meredith’s nightclub, Haven, she’d send money back to James. That would put them on a more even footing. She didn’t want to owe him. Didn’t want him to have to take care of her. She wanted to be his equal.
“I’m ready.” Grabbing her belongings, she left the room without a backward glance and headed down the hall.
James was waiting for them by the front door. It hurt to look at him so she kept her gaze averted. He murmured to Alex and Meredith as they hurried out the door. She started to go past him but he stopped her.
“Shelley.”
She swallowed the lump in her throat and stared up at him. His eyes were molten gold as they held her spellbound. When he cupped the side of her face in his hand and leaned inward, she couldn’t move.
Their lips barely met. He pulled back, swore and swooped down, capturing her mouth. The bags crumpled between them as he yanked her against him and plundered her mouth.
He tasted like coffee and a hint of mint from his toothpaste. But beyond that was the flavor of hot male. Of desire. Of want and need.
The bags fell from her nerveless fingers and she grabbed the front of his shirt to anchor herself. His tongue tangled with hers. Their breath mingled. His cock throbbed against her belly.
She didn’t know how long the kiss lasted. She was lost. In James. In his taste, his scent, the feel of his body against hers, the whimpering sounds of need that came from deep inside her.
It was a shock when he pushed her away. He bent down and picked up the bags at her feet and handed them to her. She took them automatically and closed her arms around them.
Legacy Found: Legacy, Book 3 Page 20
