“Why?”
“Just leave it at that. Take our word for it, we can’t. Is there something else you think we should do?”
Harley stared at him for a few seconds, then sighed. “All right. The next thing I’d do is get his blood work done. The tests can tell you any number of things.”
“Once again, it’s not something we can do. Too many people would know.”
She looked at all three of them with her brows drawn together. “Okay. How about this? I’d be willing to come here and draw some of your dad’s blood. And since you want the utmost privacy, there’s a way for me to run the tests myself without it going through the regular system of paperwork at the lab. I could come take the blood before I go into work tomorrow morning and have the results for you at the end of the day.”
Taylor looked at their mother. “What do you think? It’s your decision.”
His mother nodded. “We’ll do it. There really isn’t any other way.” She turned her attention on Harley. “Are you sure you can do it without getting yourself in trouble? I wouldn’t want you to lose your job over it.”
Harley smiled. “No one will know. I’ll be careful. I can go today and get the things I’ll need to draw the blood. I have keys to the lab since there are times when a doctor needs to have a test done at the last minute and I have to stay late to finish it.”
“Would you mind sleeping over tonight again?” Blaise asked. “That way you’ll be able to take the blood before Caleb gets here for his morning examination of my father. I think it’s wise we keep what you’re doing from him until we get the results.”
Taylor quickly agreed. “I think that would be best. You don’t mind, Harley, do you?” He winked at her. “Having to sleep with my brother and all that. I know it’s such a hardship.”
Harley laughed. “Of course I won’t mind.” She stepped closer to Blaise and put her arm around his waist. “And it’s hardly a hardship. I’ll have to go to my apartment and pick up another change of clothes.”
“I can take you,” Blaise said. “And I can drive you to the lab to pick up the supplies you need.”
“That’s not necessary. I did drive myself here so I have my car. It’ll go faster if I go by myself.”
“When will you leave?”
“Can I take a shower and eat first?”
“Of course,” his mom answered for him. “Lunch will be ready soon. If you have a shower now you’ll make it in time.”
“All right, I’ll do that,” Harley said with a smile before she walked out of the room.
Once Blaise heard his bedroom door shut, he said, “I think I’ll go get ready for lunch, if you’ll be okay with me leaving, Mom.”
She waved him to go. “Your dad is sleeping now, and it isn’t as if you aren’t still in the house if something else happens.” She glanced down at his cougar head pendant. “No glowing eyes yet, I see. I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed Harley does set off the magic inside it. I like her.”
Blaise kissed his mother cheek. “It’s still early days, Mom. I’ll see you downstairs in a little while.”
He left his brother and mother and headed to his own bedroom. Inside, he closed the door and locked it. He heard the sound of the shower running in the en suite. With a smile, he shucked his jeans, then walked toward it.
Chapter Five
Harley closed her eyes and ducked her head under the showerhead to wet her hair. She stood there longer than was needed, enjoying the warm water beating against her body. Blaise’s shower was a work of luxury with marble tile, glass surround doors and body sprays running vertically underneath the head. It was more like a spa shower than a regular one. If she owned it, she could easily see herself running up a huge water bill by taking long showers every day.
Her mind wandered to Blaise and his family as she grabbed the bottle of shampoo she’d brought from home and squeezed some into her palm. They all seemed very nice. The only person she had yet to see was Taylor’s wife Aspen, but Blaise had told her about his sister-in-law.
Taylor and Blaise looked a lot alike, right down to the same tawny-blond hair and light-brown eyes that were almost gold in color. Actually, both their parents had those features as well.
Harley ducked her head under the water again, rinsing the shampoo out of her hair. Thinking of Blaise had her thoughts straying to the night before, how she enjoyed being in his arms, taking his body into hers. No, staying another night with him would be no hardship for her.
As if her thoughts had lured him to her, Harley opened her eyes at the feel of two large hands caressing her breasts and found Blaise standing in front of her. She ran her gaze over his naked body, stopping on his cock, which was fully engorged. Her pussy grew instantly wet, a throbbing ache building with her need to have him inside her.
“Decided to join me in the shower, huh? We’ll be late for lunch, you know,” she said with a smile as she skimmed her hands from his wide shoulders to the center of his chest where his pendant lay.
She ran her fingers across the cougar head, the gold feeling warm under them. It wasn’t the first time it’d felt that way when she’d touched it. During the night, as they made love, every time the pendant came in contact with her skin, she swore it heated against her. She also found herself drawn to it, the urge to touch it one that was hard to ignore.
“We’ll make it fast,” Blaise said with a sexy grin. “Before my mom called, I’d hoped to wake you up by making love to you.”
“I guess we can have a quickie.” Harley stroked the cougar head pendant again before she lifted her face and met Blaise’s lips halfway with her own.
Passion blazed between them in an instant. Blaise wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her flush against him. The water streamed down their bodies, making them slippery. Harley moaned at the slick feel.
Blaise left her mouth and sucked on her skin at the side of her neck. “I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of you,” he said in a husky voice. “I crave your touch, need it as much as I need the air to breathe.”
Harley shivered at his words despite the fact warm water pelted her back. And in that moment, she realized she was falling for Blaise. It’d started sometime during the night. His taking her over and over again had her wishing she could stay in his arms forever. Normally it took her a little while to have strong emotions for a man. She lusted for them in the beginning, but only a few had her feeling as she did for Blaise. And even then it wasn’t as strong as what she felt for the man who held her so intimately.
“God, I need you too.”
To show Blaise she was more than ready to be claimed by him, Harley lifted a leg, placed it around his hip, took hold of his straining erection and led it to her pussy. He made that purring sound that cranked her arousal up even more. He slowly thrust into her, feeding her his cock a little bit at a time, until he was seated to the hilt. He filled her completely.
In a show of strength, Blaise lifted her, guided her other leg around his hip, then cupping her bottom, lifted her on and off his shaft. Harley put her arms around his neck and held on. She tightened her inner muscles around his plunging cock. He controlled everything else.
Blaise nuzzled the side of her neck before he nipped it, his pendant brushing against her breast. Harley felt the heat of it sliding along her skin, adding to her pleasure. His pace quickened as his shaft grew even harder. It stroked in and out of her pussy, stretching her, rubbing in all the right places.
Her body coiled tighter, readying itself to come. The sound of their loud breathing echoed off the tiled walls. There was no holding off her orgasm. It slammed into her, sweeping her away on a wave of intense pleasure. She cried out Blaise’s name, a whimpered moan soon following. As her inner muscles spasmed around his thrusting cock, he let out a deep groan, coming right along with her. He held her tightly to him, emptying himself inside her.
He slowly let her legs down and rested his forehead against hers as he fought to catch his breath. She breathed just as quickly.
She skimmed a hand along his chest until she reached his pendant, then hooked her fingers around it.
“Even though that was quick,” she said, “it was pretty intense.”
Blaise chuckled. “I have to agree. It just keeps getting better and better.”
That was the truth. At the rate they were going, she wasn’t sure another man would ever live up to Blaise’s standards. He said he craved her touch, well, she had a feeling she was becoming addicted to his.
Once they came down from their pleasure high, they quickly finished showering. By mutual consent, they let each other wash their own bodies. If they’d done otherwise they wouldn’t have left the shower without going for another round.
They toweled dry and headed into the bedroom to dress. Harley took her clean clothes out of her backpack. She’d pulled on the ones from the day before, sans bra and panties, before going to Blaise’s parents’ bedroom to see what was going on. She packed the dirty things to take home with her.
Once they were dressed, Blaise took her by the hand and walked her out of his bedroom and into the hallway. They silently headed down the stairs. The smell of something delicious hit Harley’s nose after they reached the lower level. Her stomach growled in response.
“Hungry?” Blaise asked with a smile.
“Very. I think I’ve worked up an appetite.”
“Then I’d better get some food into you.”
They walked into the dining room to find his family already there eating, except for his father. Harley was introduced to Aspen. She took an instant liking to the other woman. And from the way Aspen and Taylor acted with each other, Harley could tell they were deeply in love. She also noticed Aspen wore an identical cougar head pendant like Blaise, as did his mother. She guessed maybe it was something the men in the family did, gave their wives their necklaces once they were together. Harley thought it was cute.
She furtively gave Blaise’s pendant a glance, imagining what it would look like around her neck. Maybe if things lasted between them he’d give it to her. Harley shook her head at her silly thoughts. It was just a necklace, not as significant as, say, an engagement ring. And she wasn’t expecting one of those any time soon.
Lunch turned out to be really good. There was freshly made bread, lobster bisque and a spring mix salad dressed with a raspberry vinaigrette. There was no mistaking it as anything but a chef-made meal with the way it was plated and the garnishes sprinkled around to add color. Harley dug into the food, relishing every mouthful. The only time she got to eat like this was if she went out to a fancy restaurant, which didn’t happen very often.
“I can see you like the food,” Blaise said as he leaned closer where he sat beside her. “You haven’t lifted your head since you started eating.”
Harley felt her cheeks grow red. She realized what he’d said was true. She had been kind of wrapped up in enjoying it. “Sorry,” she said softly.
“You have nothing to be sorry for,” Blaise’s mom said. “Blaise is just being Blaise. He sometimes likes to make people the butt of his jokes. If he says something stupid like that, you have my permission to give him a smack.”
“Now that’s not very nice, Mom,” Blaise said with exaggerated indignation.
“You mean like this?” Harley asked as she reached behind Blaise and gave him a smack to the back of his head.
The surprised look Blaise turned her way had Harley laughing, along with everyone else at the table. “You hit me,” he said.
Between chuckles, she replied, “Well, your mom did say I could.”
“I think you better watch out for that one,” Taylor said. “She’ll give as good as she gets.”
The rest of the meal passed in good-natured banter. Once Harley was finished eating, she reluctantly pushed back her chair and stood. “Thanks for the great meal. I should go do those errands before it gets too late.”
“I’ll walk you out,” Blaise said as he stood as well.
After getting her jacket and backpack from Blaise’s room, they returned to the main floor. He swept her up into a kiss that took her breath away, then let her go. Harley really didn’t want to leave now.
Blaise opened the door and walked outside with her. “You’ll come back as soon as you get what you need, right?”
“Yes, I promise. I should only be an hour or so.”
“Good.” At her car, Blaise kissed her again.
Harley climbed into her vehicle and then waved to Blaise once she started up the long lane to the road. Leaving him, she came to the conclusion it was already too late. She was in love with him. Now the big question was if he felt the same way about her.
* * * * *
Blaise decided not to go back into the house. Watching Harley leave had put him on edge. He hadn’t been lying when he’d said he’d miss her. During their night spent together, he’d grown closer to her. Plus, sleeping with her and not having her wanting to check out his pendant to see if the ruby eyes were glowing right afterward endeared her more to him.
Needing to expend a little excess energy, Blaise headed for the back of the house where he could easily get to the open stretch of land. He shifted to his cougar form and took off at a run. He’d just hit the grassy area when another cougar came up beside him. It was Taylor. They ran until they reached the opposite end of the field before they stopped and took on their human forms once again.
“It’s a nice day for a run,” Taylor said.
“Yeah, it is.” The sun shone brightly, and even though it was fall, it wasn’t too chilly, not that they’d have felt the cold through their thick pelts.
“You really like Harley, don’t you?”
“Yes. I now know why you prefer human women. No pressure.”
“You mean a human woman, as in the singular. Aspen is the only one for me.”
“I know. I meant before you met her.”
“Being banished from the family group did give me a better perspective on life. I’m thankful one of our females didn’t set off my pendant. I don’t think I would have been able to stand it.”
“Which is why you have a human for a mate. Speaking of your banishment, have you spoken to your werewolf buddies yet?”
Taylor had lived and worked for a werewolf. Meadow had been human until she became the mate of one of the werewolf sentinels, who turned her. Meadow and Taylor had become so close Taylor thought of her as a sister. When he’d left Juneau, where Meadow lived, he’d done so without telling her where he was going or why, not sure what to expect when he arrived in Anchorage. Banishment was usually meant for life. Only their father’s illness had made it possible for Taylor to come back to the family group. He’d been the heir apparent to take their father’s place. And since Blaise had outright refused to take his brother’s place after he’d been kicked out, their dad had decided no one else but Taylor could do the job so he overturned the banishment.
His brother nodded. “Yeah, I called Meadow a couple days ago.”
“How did that go?”
Taylor chuckled. “Good. I explained everything to her. Once she got done giving me crap for feeling as if I couldn’t talk to her about it, she said she wants me to bring Aspen to Juneau for a visit or Meadow and her mate Durlach will come here. She made it perfectly clear she was going to remain a part of my life.”
“So you told her about Dad.” Blaise said it as a statement.
“Yes. Meadow also offered a couple options if he starts to go downhill fast. She said she’d get Durlach to bite Dad and see if he would gain immortality like them, or she’d talk to Ryder, the sentinels’ shaman, about seeing Dad and trying to cure him with a magic spell.”
The sentinels were the only werewolves who were able to turn a human, or mortal, as they called them. The six original sentinels were the very first werewolves, who were from the ice age. Their shaman back then had used a spell to create them. They had different aspects about them that modern-day werewolves, their descendants, didn’t have. Like being able to turn humans and werewolv
es alike, making them hybrids, and being immortal.
Blaise met Taylor’s gaze. “The first one, I know for a fact Dad wouldn’t tolerate. He’d be a mix of werewolf and cougar, and who knows if that would even be possible. Plus, if he became immortal, then Mom would have to be turned as well since she would want the same life span as him. The shaman on the other hand, I wouldn’t turn him away.”
Taylor nodded. “I already told Meadow I’d be giving Ryder a call if it becomes necessary. She was going to pass on that message to him.” His brother paused before he spoke again. “So you’ve been having doubts about Caleb as well?”
“Yes I have. I didn’t really until the other day. Before that, I was starting to question if he was going to be able to help Dad. Now I’m wondering if he’s purposely making him sick.”
“Even though Caleb is our cousin, we aren’t as close nor know him as well as we do Jase and Grady. He was raised in his mother’s family group after our uncle disappeared and his mother died. We’d have to know for sure he’s deliberately causing Dad harm before we accuse him of it. For one thing, Dad wouldn’t believe us. He’s always tried to look out for Caleb when he could.”
“Even paying to send him to medical school. I know we’d have to have proof. Hopefully the blood tests Harley does will show something.”
“We don’t know for sure, but you realize there’s more than a good chance she’ll see the differences in our blood compared to a human’s.”
“I know that. I’ll deal with it if it comes down to that.”
“How?”
“I’ll tell her exactly what I am, what we are.”
“Be prepared for her not to accept it.”
“I will be. She hasn’t set off the magic in my pendant. There’s a chance she never will. I’ll let her go if she can’t handle the truth. And I’m pretty sure she’ll keep the secret of our existence as well. If she told anyone I doubt they’d believe her, and she’ll know that. She’s not stupid.”
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