There was something about her that said she could be trusted. Besides, if she learned nothing, she’d have nothing to report. I am.
Hunter pulled out his phone. “I’ll call the butler and have him prepare something special.”
We don’t have a butler.
We do now.
* * * *
Something wasn’t right. All she did was sit down next to these incredibly hunky men, and in minutes she’d wrangled a peek at their mansion. Mr. Diggers had said few people had ever seen their compound, and she hadn’t even had to beg. They were up to something. Two supposed recluses didn’t just ask a reporter to their house unless they didn’t want her snooping around.
She might have questioned them further, but if they wanted to ask her to dinner, far be it from her to decline. These rich hunks oozed sex appeal. As soon as her leg touched Derek’s thigh, it was almost as if something inside her had transformed. Being with them elicited a calm and confidence in her she didn’t understand, but why question her good luck?
Hunter got out of the booth and held out his hand. When she took hold, pulses of desire rippled up her body and her pussy juice drenched her panties. The intense reaction almost scared her. While she liked men, she’d never found anyone who instantly made her hot. With these two it was almost as if they were beacons guiding her on a dark night.
In truth, it was more than plain lust or a lack of sex that drew her to these men. Being near them almost seemed to alter her insides on a cellular level, as if her body was telling her that she belonged with these men.
Get a grip. There are no such things as shape-shifters. Her imagination must be out of control. Or was it?
Hunter pulled her to a stand, and her nipples painfully pressed against her thin bra. Never before had she wanted a man to touch her so much. She had no idea what was happening to her. Did they cast some spell on her? Or was the air in Delight filled with some erotic pheromone?
In trying to get by her, Derek bumped against her ass. She scooted out of his way. “Sorry.” She’d been daydreaming. At the moment of contact, she thought she’d heard a low growl behind her. She slightly shook her head. It must have been some noise from the bar.
Hunter wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “Are you going to be warm enough?”
How nice that he cared to ask. “I think so.”
As soon as they exited the bar, the biting wind cut right through her blouse. She shivered, and Hunter pulled her close. Her car sat in front of the bar. She debated saying she’d follow them to their home, but something tugged at her that said they’d be insulted if she did. These were gentlemen who donated money to the community for God’s sake. They’d never risk their reputation by doing something she didn’t want them to.
Hmm. At the moment, she was hard pressed to come up with anything she’d say no to if they asked.
Chapter Three
Hunter had driven a truck, and she found herself deliciously sandwiched between them. She might have been able to keep her poise had Derek not been absently rubbing her thigh and getting dangerously close to touching her pussy.
For a second, she closed her eyes and willed his fingers to go closer, but just as she’d sent her wish out to the universe, he withdrew his hand. What was up with that?
“What do you think of Delight so far?” Hunter asked.
She figured his question was just a way to start a conversation. Nonetheless, she was happy to have something to focus on other than how tiny and sexy they made her feel. At five feet nine, she’d never felt small, but with these men she did.
Since she was a little claustrophobic, Jen was surprised she wasn’t sweating and clawing to get out of the front seat. Things like overcrowded elevators usually made her breathe hard, yet being surrounded by them had the opposite effect. It was like nothing could harm her.
“Other than searching for apartments, I haven’t seen much.” Perhaps that would inspire them to offer to show her around the town at a later date.
“Do you like to hike?” Hunter glanced at her then returned his gaze to the road.
“I love to, but I’m really out of shape. Raleigh isn’t exactly mountain country compared to here.” Hunter suddenly accelerated as he took the next curve. Good thing the sun hadn’t quite set or driving here would have been treacherous since there weren’t any guardrails or streetlights lining this part of the mountain. “How far away do you live?” They’d already been driving more than fifteen minutes.
He smiled, and maybe it was the way the light hit his eyes or something, but delightful shivers trickled over her skin. “We’ll be there soon.”
The vehicle he drove might only have been a truck, but its gleaming interior had more dials than a cockpit. They reached the mountain summit, and not only did the distant view of other mountains take her breath away, but the large expanse of the manicured entryway delighted her.
“This is amazing. You own this?” Perhaps she should have asked if Mr. MacLeash owned all of it.
As a reporter, she shouldn’t have imbued her comment with such awe, but right now her job was quite far from her mind. Come to think of it, nothing other than having wild monkey sex pounded at her brain. Whoa! She never lost focus when working, but these two were jamming her rational thought waves. Maybe these men were really magicians who could bend a person’s mind without her knowledge.
He wove around another corner and her jaw dropped. It wasn’t the large wrought iron gate with the Carolina Panthers flags waving but the home, or rather the number of homes that dotted the acres of property, that stunned her.
“Just part of it.”
“This is amazing.” She couldn’t even fathom the square footage of each of the homes. Several large mansions were arranged in a semicircle, each of which could warrant a magazine spread. “You live in all of this?”
Derek laughed, picked up her hand, and rubbed his thumb over the back. Her mind blanked, and her body reacted almost violently at his touch. Her nipples hardened and her pulse raced. What was wrong with her?
Hunter pulled to a stop near the massive front door. “Welcome to our home in Panther Cove.”
She loved football as much as the next person, but this was a little extreme. “Do you own part of the football team or something?” That might explain their obscene wealth.
Hunter tugged on her waist even though Derek was holding her hand. “No, little kitten.”
She waited for some other explanation, but they ushered her inside their house without saying another word. “Whoa.”
Even though the men were moving forward with her in tow, she managed to stop. It was dungeon chic at its best, complete with red velvet curtains lining the two-story windows, oriental carpets on the thin-slated dark hardwood floors, and heavy, ornate furniture.
Hunter cleared his throat and removed his hand from her back. She felt the loss immediately. “Yeah. It’s been in the family forever. We’ve not taken the time to redo anything.”
Derek leaned his lips closer to her ear. “It needs a woman’s touch.” Her pussy moistened unexpectedly at the implication.
At a loss for a response and a little uncomfortable at her erotic reaction to the home and to the men, she tried to take it all in. “Got anymore light?”
She hadn’t meant it as a complaint, but she really would have liked to examine the gold-framed paintings above and bordering the massive fireplace. If she hadn’t been a guest, she would have taken out her camera phone and snapped a few pictures.
Her stomach interrupted her viewing by rumbling loudly.
Hunter laughed. “Come on. Let’s see about food first, and then we can give you a tour.”
They continued through the living room and turned left. There was a table that surely could seat at least twenty people. Double, swinging doors at the far end probably led into a kitchen.
Derek pulled out her chair. Her slightly wobbly legs were happy for the respite. “Thanks.”
Hunter scooped a pile of her thick hair off her
shoulder. The intimate gesture wasn’t lost on her and sent tingles up her spine. “I’m going to check with the kitchen staff to see about the timing of the meal.”
Everything was so formal around here with a butler and kitchen staff. She glanced up at Derek. “I feel like I’ve gone through a time warp.”
His smile conveyed he totally understood. “You’ll get used to it.”
“You’ll” and not “you”? What did that mean? Before she could get her bearings, Derek poured a glass of red wine into beautiful crystal goblets that seemed to have been antiques.
He filled his glass and sat next to her. “To your new adventure!” He lifted his glass and she tapped hers against his.
The wine slid down her throat so smoothly she almost couldn’t tell she was drinking alcohol. That wasn’t necessarily a good thing.
What could these men be hiding? Probably nothing, but she still wanted to find out more about them. “Do you get lonely here?”
Derek rubbed her thigh. Once more his touch had the effect of blocking out the reporter in her. “Sometimes, which is why we go into town quite often.”
Chatter poured out of the kitchen as Hunter pushed open the big doors. She tried to get a glimpse behind him, but between Hunter’s body and the swinging door, she missed getting a view.
“You’ll get tour a later if you’d like.”
She jerked her attention back to Derek who was peering down at her with his mouth slightly parted and his eyelids half closed as if he wanted to eat her for dinner. A small shiver raced up her arms.
“That would be nice.”
He tilted her chin upward. “You can relax. We’d never harm you. You are special to us.”
While the words were comforting, there was something he wasn’t saying, and her body shot on alert. Men didn’t just meet women and say they were special, but questioning him on his choice of words might put them at odds.
Derek glanced up at Hunter. His brows pinched, and then his brother nodded as if they could silently communicate.
“Dinner is almost ready.” Hunter sat on the other side of her, almost making her feel blocked in. Before she could even move her seat, Hunter pushed back his chair and moved across the table. “I’ll give you some personal space.”
Now she was almost creeped out. “Can you read my mind?”
Silence ensued, but their eye contact was rapid between them. The kitchen doors swung open and three servers appeared with trays full of food.
“Oh, my. You expecting ten more for dinner?”
Hunter laughed. “I wasn’t sure what you liked to eat, so I had the cooks prepare a lot of different kinds of foods.”
This was surreal. “It looks amazing.”
Derek, who was next to her, lifted a big fork and handed it to her. “Dig in.”
Now wasn’t the time to grill them. She wasn’t going to pass up food like this. For the next twenty minutes they ate and drank. She’d never tasted anything this wonderful in her life. Or was it the incredible company that had her head swimming?
The lights in the chandelier dimmed, and she glanced up. The sound behind the big doors seemed to disappear, and from a darkened kitchen, seven giants emerged dressed in monk’s robes. What the hell? Heads bowed, they each carried a lit candle and were chanting as they slowly eased their way past the table. The last monk was pulling a cage on wheels. She leaned to the right to get a better view at what was inside. Oh, my God. It was a live goat. Were they going to slaughter it?
Her hand shot to Derek’s thigh. She squeezed his leg, hoping he’d explain, but neither man said anything. A million questions zoomed through her mind. As soon as the entourage disappeared, the overhead light brightened. That was way cool and spooky at the same time.
Hunter and Derek picked up their forks and continued eating as if it had all been an illusion. The reporter in her couldn’t let it go.
“What was that? Who were they? Was it a ritual? Were they planning on killing the goat as a sacrifice?”
“What was what?” Derek polished off the rest of the wine.
“Those monks. That goat. What do you mean what was what?”
Hunter appeared totally confused at first. Then his eyes widened. “Maybe it was the wine.” He lifted his glass and sniffed it.
That kind of pissed her off. “I am not seeing things. There were seven monks who came from the kitchen.” She faced Derek. Hunter’s back had been to the men. “You saw them, right?”
He ran a knuckle down her cheek as if to soothe her crazy notion. She swatted his hand away. Her lips thinned and she debated leaving. Too bad they’d driven her. Damn.
Derek pushed back his chair, pulled her to a stand, and enveloped her in his arms. His warmth made her feel cherished.
Hunter laughed and stood. “Come on back, boys.”
Huh? She stiffened, and stepped from Derek’s grasp. All seven men trotted back into the dining room with big grins on their faces. “We had you goin’, didn’t we?”
No way! “You set me up?”
The two lead men walked over to Hunter and did a series of funky, knuckle-knocking, finger-clasping gestures.
“Let me introduce you to my team, and then we’ll explain why we did it.”
At first she wondered why he’d need a team until she realized that a lot of people would have loved to get their hands on some of these priceless antiques. “What about the goat?” If they’d harmed the animal, she’d be upset.
Derek pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. Her hair tingled from his touch. “No goat was harmed in the making of this movie.”
She looked up and smiled. “Thank you.”
When he’d kissed her head, she might have considered the contact brotherly, but from the way his lips lingered, it was anything but. Her whole pussy vibrated and contracted as if she’d die if she didn’t get his cock in her. Hold it. Where had that thought come from? Heat raced up her face. Since both men seemed to be able to read her mind, she hoped that tidbit hadn’t been translated.
Then his grin got bigger, and she almost wanted to fade away.
“Ahem.” Hunter swallowed a laugh. “This is Jeremiah and Mario. These two goons head up my security team.” They both waved. “This here is Casius and Hercules, who are their minions.”
She glanced at Derek to see if this was another joke. Surely, no one named his kid Hercules anymore. He did fit his name, as he was a good six feet ten of pure brawn. She bet no one had made fun of him when he was growing up.
One of the shorter men, who was only about six four, stepped forward. “I’m Geoffrey Harper. I’m a professor at the college.” He gave her a little salute.
“Nice to meet you.” Why would a college professor live here?
The last two waved. “We’re Bantum and Noble Jackson. We’re personal trainers.” Since they packed more muscles than the rest, she believed their story.
“I’m Jennifer Anderson. Nice to meet you.”
Hunter nodded toward the door, and the men disappeared as fast as they’d come. Derek clasped her hand in his. “How about a nice boat ride around the lake? I’ll fill you in on the Black family history.”
“That’s great, but while I enjoyed the stage presentation, why the show?” Hunter had said he’d fill her in, and she was still a little miffed at the trickery.
“People expect it,” Hunter explained.
“Why?” She could have guessed, but she wanted to hear the confirmation.
“Everyone who comes here gets the same show. You’re a reporter. Surely, Diggers filled you with all the hype about us. When folks don’t have any facts, they make stuff up. What did he tell you?”
She couldn’t lie. “That you have some kind of secret society up here?”
Hunter’s brows rose. “That’s a new one. Usually, they say we’re panther shifters because we’re mysterious and fly all those crazy Carolina Panther flags.”
Now she kind of felt like her new boss had taken advantage of her and probably just
wanted to see how she reacted to this wild-goose chase.
Derek leaned closer. “Come on. You’ll like it.”
She glanced at Hunter, wondering if he’d come, too. “You two go ahead. I’ll catch up later.”
Though she was disappointed, she still believed there was a scoop here somewhere. “Okay.”
Keeping a tight hold on her hand, Derek led her outside. Being this high in the mountains, the summer air was chilly. Goose bumps shot through her thin top and chilled her exposed toes.
“I’ve got blankets in the boat.”
“Good.” She hated being cold. Behind the house resided a large rectangular building. “What’s in there?”
“It’s our training facility. Hunter and I like to fence, Jeremiah and Mario love to box, and Hercules and Casius are expert wrestlers, but we all do weights.”
“Wow.”
“It takes work to look this buff.” He puffed out his chest, and she laughed.
“Perhaps you’ll have to show it to me sometime.” She was referring to his naked chest, but he most likely thought she meant the center.
“Oh, I will.”
He knew! Her body reacted again.
You are a reporter. Think information.
“Are your parents still alive?” He and his brother only seemed to be in their midthirties.
“No. I’m afraid not.”
“I’m sorry.”
He led her to the other side of the building. “Me, too.”
Behind the workout center sat another grand building that edged the lake. Not wanting to sound like a reporter all the time, she didn’t ask who lived there. Perhaps it housed the staff.
The path they were on was graveled and bordered by enticing-smelling flowers that made her body relax. She couldn’t imagine the upkeep on a place like this.
As they rounded the building, a lake appeared, all shimmery and lit from the bottom. “This is incredible.” She’d been to Disneyland, and this looked like something from a movie set. “I love the fountain.” Just then the white lights turned yellow before changing to green, and then finally red. “It’s amazing.”
Protecting Their Mate [Panther Cove 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 3
