“Talk to me about what?”
“I’ll just go grab some drinks.” Sarah’s mood seemed to have brightened considerably. “Iced tea, Nikki?”
“Sure. That sounds great, Sarah.”
Sarah didn’t bother asking Hope if she wanted iced tea. Her sister was smart enough to know the answer to that question in advance. But clearly, she thought Nikki’s visit would buy her time to change Hope’s mind.
“Talk to me about what?” Hope repeated. She had a feeling Nikki was there to make an appeal on behalf of her brothers, and she dreaded that almost as much as she was curious about what the woman had to say.
“I’m just going to lay this out there. As you get to know me, you’ll see that I’m not one to pull any punches. You absolutely cannot leave things the way they are. You can’t go back to Philadelphia and leave all of these broken people behind you.”
“Broken people?”
“Your sister and my brothers.”
“Sarah looks great. I’ve never seen her happier.”
“Then she hasn’t been completely honest with you. As far as I know, Sarah has been very happy with Wes and Jackson, but they mated two years ago and she’s been waiting all of this time for the joining ceremony.”
“That’s like a wedding, right?” Sarah had explained it to her the previous night, but Hope hadn’t paid much attention to the explanation. The phrase “they’re wolves” just kept running through her mind and blocking out most other intelligent thought.
“Yes, it’s like a wedding, and some fated don’t care much about having an official ceremony, but your sister really does. She’s told me she wants pups—er, children—but she wants to do things in the tradition of our clan. She wants to be officially joined and become a recorded member of our clan before she has pups. Though she could have done that as soon as she accepted Wes and Jackson, she’s put all of this on hold for you.”
“For me? Why?” Hope couldn’t imagine why Sarah would put her life on hold for her.
Nikki gestured toward the porch, and Hope followed, sitting on one of the benches. She had Hope’s full attention now. The last thing she’d ever want to do was get in the way of her sister’s happiness.
“I don’t know all the details, but Sarah told me she couldn’t join with them without you and her mother there. But then she said she was worried it might be too much for you. That you were still grieving over something. Then, after a time, she said she believed you would be strong enough, but she needed you here to tell you about, well, her men and our clan.”
Hope nodded. “I guess it’s not the kind of thing you say over the phone, but why didn’t she just visit me and tell me then?”
“Our laws wouldn’t allow that. You see, Sarah didn’t want to lie about what she’d become and who she was joining with, but our laws required her to reveal the truth only on clan land. She told you in River’s Bend, right?”
“Yes, just yesterday.”
“Okay, well, she needed you here, but she said you weren’t…up for a visit until now.”
“I…that’s true, yes.” Could she feel any guiltier? Hope had never guessed that Sarah had a reason for wanting her to visit beyond the regular I-miss-yous.
“So now that you’re here, Sarah can plan her joining and hopefully have it arranged for some time over the next couple of weeks.”
“That soon?”
“It’s been in the works for a while, and with most of our clan in the vicinity, it’s not hard to pull it all together. My own joining took a couple of months to plan, but that delay was partly because of the reticence of one of my mates.” Nikki gave a little laugh at that. “But that’s a story for another time.”
“I could just come back for the wedding, um, I mean joining.”
“You could, but I’m willing to bet Sarah wants her sister here for the final planning. And there are events leading up to the joining that Sarah is supposed to attend with her family. She’s becoming a member of our clan and that means a new family for her, but if it were me, I’d want some of my loved ones there, too.”
Hope felt the wind leave her sail. She was going nowhere. That was clear to her. Though this visit had been too long in coming, she loved Sarah dearly and would not continue to be a blockade to her happiness. “I don’t understand. Why didn’t she tell me all of this herself? Did she ask you to come here and tell me?”
“No, she didn’t ask me. I honestly don’t know why she hasn’t told you. Maybe she didn’t want to guilt you into staying.” Nikki smiled. “I, on the other hand, have no problem doing so.”
“Well, it worked.”
Nikki tossed her dark hair over one shoulder. “Good. Now, on the subject of my brothers—”
Sarah chose that moment to return with a tray of iced tea and a pile of cookies, and Hope couldn’t have been more pleased with her timing.
“Sarah!” Hope injected as much enthusiasm into her voice as she could muster. “I’ve decided to stay a little longer.”
Setting the tray down, Sarah pulled her up into a tight hug, and Hope looked at Nikki over her shoulder, glad to have headed off that conversation. The look on Nikki’s face, though, let her know the subject was far from closed.
* * * *
Adam glanced at the caller ID and snatched the phone up before it got to the second ring. “Nikki? How did it go?”
“And a great big “Hello” to you, too, Adam. It went well, I think. She agreed to stay until the joining.”
Exhaling forcefully, Adam felt that he could relax for the first time since Hope had left the previous day. “We owe you, Nikki. Big time.”
“Yes, you do, but really, it wasn’t that difficult. I just told her the truth about Sarah waiting all this time for her joining. I didn’t even have to bring out the big guns about how her leaving would break your big wolfie hearts.”
“Nikki…”
“I know, I know, you don’t want her to feel obligated to stay, but she needs to know it won’t be easy for you to just get on with your lives. She needs to know a bond has already begun to form.”
“As much as I want her with me, I won’t have her accepting me out of guilt.”
“Well, then, it’s time to turn on the charm, big brother. She looked ready to bolt when I told her I wanted to talk about you and Levi, and she jumped on the chance to change the subject. You have your work cut out for you.”
Nikki ended the conversation the way she always did, abruptly and without saying good-bye, and Adam hung the phone up, already deep in thought. Nikki was right about that. Hope was skittish and it wouldn’t be easy to convince her they belonged together. It was a good thing he was up to a challenge.
* * * *
Hope hadn’t slept well at all. Her dreams were haunted. She’d dreamt of the bar attack, though this time her attackers met a grisly end rather than just being carted off by the police. She’d woken up and gone for a glass of water, then read for a while before trying to go back to sleep. The dreams were there again, but this time they were of Adam and Levi, each one more sexual than the next. At one point, she’d woken up, shaking and sweating with her hand clutched between her legs. After bringing herself to completion, she’d gone to take a shower and change into a dry T-shirt and pajama pants, but she hadn’t slept any better after that. For some reason, they’d remained on her mind.
She must have managed some sleep, though, because she was shocked awake by the sound of her sister knocking on the door, asking if she wanted to go with her to run errands. As tired as she was, the answer was a resounding no. Still, she was fully awake by then, so she got up and made some breakfast. Then she opened her laptop to check for client emails and see if there were any projects that needed her immediate attention. She ended up playing some games online, and that went on until Sarah’s ringing phone brought her back to reality. Thinking it might be Sarah, she answered it. “Hello.”
“Hope, it’s Adam.”
The sound of his deep voice sent a jolt through her body
. She’d heard it in her dreams all night and had just that reaction. “Hi, Adam.”
He’d called the previous day, too, to see how she was doing and if she’d needed anything. She’d only just managed to stop herself from saying she needed him and Levi. If all they’d wanted was a fling, maybe she would have managed to say that. She did still remember how to flirt, after all. But with all of their talk about fate, she couldn’t risk leading them on. “We’d like to take you out today, to have lunch and see some more of Silver Spring. We can pick you up a little after twelve.”
Her whole body tingled at the idea of seeing them again, but she opened her mouth to say no. “That’s nice of you guys, but I didn’t sleep so well, and I’m too tired to go out.” It wasn’t a lie, not really. She wasn’t feeling up to a tour, but, of course, it wasn’t the whole truth, either.
“I’m sorry to hear you had a rough night.”
She could hear the concern and disappointment in his voice. “It happens. It’s no big deal. It was a nice offer, though. Thank Levi for me, okay? Gotta go. Bye.” It all came out in a rush. She had to hang up quickly before she got another wild hair, like the one three nights ago, and ended up agreeing to go on a date or something. The telephone call left her even more restless than she had been, and she shut her laptop and paced the floor. This exhausted yet full of restless energy feeling was annoying. Maybe she should sketch. That always relaxed her. She went back to the guest room and rifled through her things for her sketchbook and charcoal, then headed toward the double doors at the back of the house that led to the deck. Opening the doors, she stepped outside, and breathed deeply, then settled down in a lounge chair to take in the scenery. Sarah and her men had a fairly sizeable backyard with well-kept grass and tall trees off in the distance. She spotted some wildflowers here and there, and with the blue sky and the warm breeze, she decided it was a pretty good place to lose herself in drawing. It wasn’t as good as sex, but it was definitely a release for her.
* * * *
The knocking was faint, but still drew her out of her imagination. She’d gotten lost there as she sketched. Looking down at her work, her breath caught. She’d sketched a large, beautiful wolf surrounded by plant life. Sighing, she put her sketch down on the ledge and went to answer the door. Apparently, her mind couldn’t leave the wolves behind, even while she was trying to relax.
Checking through the peep hole in the door, she saw Adam. Her heart flipped as she glanced down at her clothes. She’d changed into a ratty old T-shirt and a pair of cutoffs, and there were charcoal smears everywhere.
“Just a second,” she called. There was no time to change. Well, if she was his mate, he could see her as she was, right? Not that she was anywhere near interested in calling herself his mate. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door, all the while hoping she didn’t do anything stupid like pounce on him.
He was a sight for sore eyes, standing there in a pair of jeans and a sleeveless, black denim top that frayed at the edges and showed off his incredibly muscular arms. He beamed at her, and his smile sent butterflies straight to her stomach.
“Levi’s in the car,” he said, pointing over his shoulder.
As if on cue, Levi got out of the car and bounded over, clutching a couple of brown paper shopping bags in his hands. He was wearing cut-offs like hers and a t-shirt with a band she’d never heard of on it. Like Adam, he looked good enough to eat, and his hopeful smile made her want to melt inside.
“What are you two doing here?”
“You said you didn’t want to go out for lunch,” Levi said, holding up the shopping bags.
“So we brought the lunch to you,” Adam added.
For the first time, she noticed the incredible smells coming from the bags. She must have been too caught up in her eye candy to notice before. Briefly, she considered turning them away, but it was an empty thought. After dreaming about them all night, that would take a surge of willpower she just didn’t have at the moment. Besides, she was hungry.
“Come in,” she said, stepping aside and pulling the door open wider. She got two wide smiles for her efforts.
They walked right in and headed for the kitchen, as if they’d been there before. She shut the door and followed, taking the opportunity to check out the way their asses looked in those jeans. Good enough to grab. Levi immediately set the bags down on the table and started unpacking them.
“Whoa… What’s all that?” From all the containers he’d brought, there looked to be enough food to feed at least a dozen, not just the three of them. “You do know Sarah’s not home, right?”
Adam grabbed some plates from the cabinets, then looked around for utensils. “Yeah, we ran into her in town. She wasn’t sure what you’d be in the mood for, so we got a lot of everything.”
“There’ll be at least a week’s worth of leftovers.”
“Don’t be so sure,” Levi said. “We eat a lot.”
Yeah, she remembered, but still. There would definitely be plenty of leftovers. “Give me a sec, okay? I’ll be right back.” She could at least go wash the charcoal off her hands.
Heading back to the guest room, she shut the door and checked herself in the mirror. She was a true mess. There were black smudges on her cheek and across her nose, where she must have rubbed it. Her hair was a tangled mess, as she hadn’t bothered doing anything to it once she woke up. They hadn’t said anything about it or even expressed shock, and she shouldn’t care what they thought of how she looked. She really did, though.
Hope quickly scrubbed the charcoal off then ran a comb and brush through her hair. A shower would be better, but her stomach growled angrily again and she didn’t want to let the food get cold. The quick cleanup would have to do. She grabbed a pair of jeans and a tank top to change into, but decided not to wear any makeup. She didn’t wear much anyway, but she didn’t want to try too hard.
They’d waited for her and both stood up when she re-entered the room.
Levi stared for a moment then grinned. “You didn’t have to change for us.”
Adam nodded, walking over to her. “You were beautiful before and you’re beautiful now.” He leaned down as if he would kiss her and she scooted out of the way.
“We should eat before everything gets cold.” She opened the refrigerator and checked inside. “Beer or iced tea?” They both wanted beer, and she grabbed one for herself, too.
There was so much to choose from. “Is this from your restaurant?” she asked, sitting down across from Levi, next to Adam.
“Yes, there are several selections from our regular lunch menu,” Levi said. “Go ahead. Dig in.”
She did. There were three different types of pasta dishes, roast chicken, steak, ribs, fried chicken, and salmon. Her stomach kicked up a fuss again, and she added a little bit of everything to her plate.
Adam and Levi waited for her to finish before they served themselves.
They all ate in silence for a few minutes before Adam spoke. “What were you doing when we got here?”
“Oh, I was sitting out back, sketching.”
“For work?”
She’d forgotten she’d told them she was a graphic artist. “No, I’m trying not to turn this into a working trip. I haven’t had any kind of vacation in years. I brought all my stuff along in case a client really needs me for something, but… No, I was just drawing for fun. It relaxes me.”
“What sorts of things do you sketch? Levi asked. “For fun, I mean?”
Most people didn’t ask about her drawing, with the exception of her mom, Natalie, and Sarah. That was probably because she could go on and on about it. And today was no exception. It was hard not to overshare something she felt so passionately about. Usually, Brad’s eyes had started to glaze over just two minutes in. “I’m sorry,” she said after a while. “I shouldn’t go on and on like that.”
Adam shook his head, smiling. “No, it’s interesting. We want to hear all about you.”
Levi nodded. “And you know, I can relate.
The way you describe your art is how I feel about carving. I get in a sort of zone where everything kind of fades to the background. Last night, I couldn’t sleep, so I got up and went to work on a new project. Before I knew it, the sun was coming up.”
He didn’t look any worse for wear for his lack of sleep. She, on the other hand, had to use concealer to hide the dark circles. “What were you working on?”
“A few things for your sister, actually. I did the benches on the porch for her, and she wants to replace the deck furniture.”
Hope was impressed. She’d admired the benches when she’d first arrived in Silver Spring. She turned to Adam. “What about you? What do you do to relax?”
“I run,” Adam said. “Being outside in the fresh air… Somehow it just makes everything better.”
How had she forgotten? He’d gone for a run their first night together. Remembering the sight of him dripping wet in the foyer made her nipples hard. “What’s it like? Transforming like that?” she asked, thinking a change of subject might be in order.
Adam shrugged. “It’s effortless for us now. When we were kids, it would happen by accident. You know, if someone said we couldn’t have a cookie or something, poof, it would just happen. Then, later, when we would purposefully try to shift, it sort of felt like growing. It’s hard to explain. We can feel the change in muscle and bone, but it doesn’t feel like work to do it.”
“More like a thought that almost instantly changes reality,” Levi said. “But it does take more concentration for humans who’ve been changed. At least at first. Eventually, it becomes like second nature.”
As fascinating as that was, that was definitely conversational territory she didn’t want to get into. She glanced at the dessert. They’d brought cheesecake.
Adam had apparently noticed her interest. “Want a piece?”
Claiming Hope [Wolves of River's Bend 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 9
