by Roxie Noir
It was two seconds of pure torture.
Then his lips met hers.
He was tentative at first, even as he snaked his fingers through her hair, just barely pressing his lips against her, but then Charlie inched her head forward as much as she could without angering her back, and Daniel pressed against her a little harder.
Charlie opened her lips against Daniel’s, giving him permission, and slowly, almost lazily, ran her tongue along his bottom lip. She tried to move one hand to his shoulder, but she couldn’t, so she laid it on the table instead.
Then the tip of Daniel’s tongue found its way into her mouth and she met it with her own, eagerly, moving her lips against his. She could hear a low, almost inaudible growl coming from his chest.
For a second, she was taken aback, and ended the kiss, her heart pounding.
His hand still on her face, he leaned his forehead against hers, their noses nearly touching. He’d stopped growling.
There was a noise outside, and Charlie gasped, her heart jolting in her chest.
Daniel slid back down into his seat, facing her.
“Is it—”
The door swung open and Kade stood there, wearing just his pants. He looked at Daniel and jerked his head to one side.
“Draining two deer,” he said.
“That was fast,” Daniel said.
“Good hunting day, I guess,” Kade said with a shrug. “Got out there early.”
Charlie’s head was swimming. Seconds ago, she’d been kissing Daniel, utterly swept away, and now here he was, talking to his mate like there was no problem.
The fact that Kade wasn’t wearing a shirt didn’t help. She was really getting the impression that the two of them weren’t particularly accustomed to wearing clothes. After all, they lived way out in the forest, and it wasn’t like there was anyone around to see them being naked.
As much as she didn’t like Kade, and as certain she was that he didn’t like her, he looked good with his shirt off.
Really good. Male model good.
Firefighter calendar good.
For a second, she entertained the thought of getting both of them. After all, didn’t shifters naturally form triads of two men and one woman...?
Then she looked up and caught the look on Kade’s face.
He was staring at her and scowling. Charlie’s stomach flipped over inside her.
“Thanks for the meat,” she said. She had no idea what else to say.
He nodded once at her, then went into the bathroom. She heard the water running in a few moments.
Charlie looked at Daniel, her eyes wide.
Did we just get caught? She thought. Is Kade going to hate me even more, now that I’ve made out with his mate?
“I’ll go wash up,” she said out loud. She pushed herself up on the table, beginning the slow process of standing.
“I can get it,” Daniel said. “No problem.”
“Let me at least feel a little bit useful,” Charlie said, mostly teasing.
Finally upright, she grabbed both coffee mugs and headed into the kitchen. She put them in the sink and stared out the window for a moment, trying to clear her head.
She needed some kind of plan. It was obvious that she couldn’t stay there, with one shifter who made her want to rip off her clothes — well, her bathrobe — and one shifter who she feared.
At least he wanted her alive, though she didn’t have any idea what for. Why else would he be sleeping on the floor in the back bedroom, making sure she couldn’t escape while everyone slept?
More than anything, Charlie needed to get back to the backpack she’d left in the woods. In it was her phone, which was definitely dead by now, but also an emergency beacon. If activated, her team would swoop in and rescue her.
That backpack was pretty much her only chance. She’d been unconscious when Kade brought her to the cabin, and she had no idea where she was or how to find civilization. Besides, it wasn’t like she’d last long enough to find it. If she fell once, she’d rip out all her stitches and probably bleed to death.
Charlie moved her weight to her other foot, and even that slight motion made her back complain. No, running was out.
Fuck, she thought. She turned the water on in the sink and started washing the mugs from breakfast. She absolutely hated the idea that she might need rescuing. Most of her life, she’d wanted to be the rescuer, from the time that she was the kid who insisted on saving herself, to joining the FBI right out of college.
She’d even fought to rescue Kade, sort of. Her bosses on the FBI / Fish and Wildlife Task Force hadn’t had a problem with killing the guy, and Charlie had to talk them into just capturing him.
This case was pretty clear-cut, though. Even though she was healing nicely, her back was still torn up and might need more medical attention than Kade’s cousin could provide. She could hardly walk, let alone run through the woods.
Charlie was going to have to get rescued, and that was all there was to it.
She put the mugs on the drying rack, then leaned against the counter, looking out the window. It was possible that she could ask Daniel to get her backpack for her, but that would only open him up to a wolf attack, and that wasn’t fair. Just because they’d kissed once didn’t mean that he should risk his life for her.
In the other room, she could hear Daniel humming to himself as he carved the lion on top of the big wooden sphere. She’d meant to ask him what it was for, but then some things had gotten in the way.
With a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, Charlie realized she was going to have to wait before she did anything.
Her team was going to think she was dead, but that wasn’t the end of the world. She was more or less OK, she had antibiotics, and as long as she didn’t leave the cabin, everything was fine. It wasn’t like she could force Kade and Daniel to do anything they didn’t want to.
Nope. She was going to have to sit tight, read some books, cook some venison, and above all else, be patient.
Just the thought made her start fidgeting. She shut her eyes and rubbed her temples, taking deep breaths.
It’s a vacation, she thought. You’re having a lovely vacation in the woods. Now go take a sponge bath or something, because when you lift your arms you smell terrible.
She put her arms back down by her sides, took one more deep breath, and opened her eyes.
Outside the window was a very lean, fit, gray-haired naked man.
“Daniel!” she shouted, clutching the counter.
She heard a chair fall over in the next room as Daniel jumped up, knocking it over, and his huge frame filled the doorway almost immediately.
Charlie just pointed at the window, but the guy was gone.
She really, really needed things to stop happening while she was incapacitated.
“There’s a naked guy outside, he had gray hair—“
Someone knocked on the door.
“Stay here,” Daniel said.
“Where else am I gonna go?” she shouted at his back as his long strides carried him to the front door.
Kade emerged from the bedroom and went to the door without looking at her, and the two shifters reached it at the same time.
For a moment, they made eye contact, and then Charlie saw Kade nod once, tensely. He still didn’t have a shirt on, and he undid his belt and took his pants off as Daniel opened the door.
Holding onto the kitchen counter, Charlie ground her teeth together and walked toward the front door, bracing herself against the wall as she walked.
Why does everything require nudity? She thought as she walked. Not that I mind, but I never know where to look. He sleeps naked, he hunts naked...
Then, Charlie realized why Kade had stripped. It was in case he had to shift and deal with a problem.
“What do you want?” Daniel said.
Charlie couldn’t see the person he was talking to, standing just outside the door.
“Can I come in?” the man asked. His voice had
a slight country twang to it, and he talked a little slower than either Daniel or Kade.
“No,” Daniel said. He crossed his thick arms across his chest as Charlie hobbled into the living room, finally leaning her body against the doorway.
From that angle she could see the man who’d knocked. It was the same guy who’d been naked in their front yard moments ago.
He was still naked, of course.
Except for the plastic ziploc baggie that he held in one hand, something dark inside it.
Charlie had absolutely no idea what to think. The gray-haired naked man smiled, revealing a mouthful of large white teeth.
“I thought we were neighbors,” he said. “Can I borrow a cup of sugar?”
“Cut the bullshit,” Daniel said. “What do you want, Buck?”
The man’s grin didn’t fade, and Charlie began to feel a little creeped out by him. Leaving aside the fact that he was naked, his attitude just didn’t match the situation at all.
Without answering Daniel, he looked around the room until he finally locked eyes with Charlie.
She glared back at him.
His grin widened, and she felt her stomach writhe. There was something horribly familiar about this guy, and she didn’t like it at all.
“What’s your name?” he said to Charlie.
Kade bared his teeth and growled, taking a step forward toward Buck.
“Charlotte Fiore,” she said, standing up as straight as possible. She tried to pretend that instead of wearing a bathrobe, she was wearing her black power suit, the one she wore to important meetings and job interviews.
“I’m Buck Reynolds,” he said. “It’s nice to meet you, Charlotte.”
He went on ignoring the two massive, angry men in front of him and spoke right to her, even though he was shorter and thinner than both of them.
“What would you say to getting out of this smelly old cabin?” he asked. “These two managed to feed you anything that they didn’t kill with their own teeth?”
Charlie didn’t answer.
Buck chuckled.
“That’s a no, then. Come back to the ranch with me. We’ve got steaks and garlic bread and ice cream, liked civilized folks do.”
He looked her up and down with a gaze that made Charlie pull the robe around herself more tightly.
“We could even find you some real clothes, no problem.”
“I’m fine, thanks,” Charlie said. She didn’t know what was happening, but she did somehow know that Buck was bad, bad news.
He shrugged, his smile finally fading. “Suit yourself, then, and don’t say I didn’t try.”
Then he looked at Daniel and Kade in turn. He held up the strange plastic bag that he’d brought, and Charlie leaned forward, trying to see what it was.
All the color drained from Kade’s face. He snatched the baggie away from Buck, tore it open, and pressed it to his nose.
Then he crushed it in his face, and Charlie could see him start to shake with rage.
“WHERE IS SHE?” he roared.
Daniel grabbed the bag and smelled it as well. Charlie rubbed her eyes, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Was there some kind of drug in the bag that made bear shifters absolutely lose their minds?
“You’re scum,” Daniel said, his quiet voice low and dangerous. “You’re unbelievable. I wouldn’t piss on you if you were on fire.”
In a flash, Kade had one hand around Buck’s throat and he was lifting the other man, holding him up against the wall just inside the cabin.
“Tell me where she is right now,” he said. “Or I swear to God I’ll slit your throat and then I’ll gut you—”
“Kade,” said Daniel.
“—And I’ll rip out your heart—”
“Don’t kill him!” Charlie shouted, her heart in her throat. Not another one, she thought.
“Kade!”
Kade stopped talking but didn’t put Buck down.
“What do you think is going to happen to her if you kill him?” Daniel’s voice had an edge to it, a slight waver, like he was also having trouble controlling himself. Kade was breathing hard, his chest expanding and contracting so forcefully he looked like a bellows.
“If you’ve hurt her,” he said, then swallowed.
“Put him down, he can’t talk,” Daniel said.
Slowly, Kade let Buck slide down the wall until his feet hit the floor. When he took his hand off the other man’s beck, it was bright red and bruising already.
His eyes looked like they were flashing, yellow one second and gray the next. Standing behind everyone in a bathrobe, Charlie shuddered, wishing that she could do anything besides stand there and hope for the best.
“I’m here to propose a trade,” the man said. His voice still had that twang, but the glib, folksy quality was gone, replaced by hard steel. “Olivia for Charlotte.”
Kade punched the wall right next to Buck’s head, sending his fist through the wood.
Buck didn’t flinch.
Who’s Olivia? Charlie thought. Her head spun as she tried to make sense of this information. She still had no idea what was in the bag and she didn’t quite understand what Buck was proposing.
“Fuck you,” Kade said. His voice had gone dangerously quiet, and his face was inches away from Buck’s.
“Is that a no?”
“Get out of my house.”
“I know you’ve been looking for her for years, Kade.”
Kade picked up the plastic bag from where it had fallen and threw it at Buck.
“She’s just some human,” Buck said, tilting his head toward Charlie.
Charlie flipped him off.
Kade bristled, and Charlie could practically see the bear about to burst out of his skin, but he reined himself in, putting his face inches away from Buck’s.
“I would rather die fighting a hundred of you mutts than give you the girl,” he said. “If you want her, you go through me, and I will die before I let you hurt her again. Is that clear?”
Me? Charlie wondered, bewildered. Is he talking about me?
Buck shrugged. He was trying to look nonchalant, but Charlie could tell that Kade’s intensity had finally thrown the other man off.
“Have it your way,” he said, taking a step toward the door. “Just remember I tried to make it easy.”
Then he was gone in a flash, and Charlie could see a huge gray wolf running away from the cabin.
Daniel slammed the door shut and started pacing back and forth as Kade stood almost still, rubbing one hand over his head.
Charlie stood behind them, staring, wide-eyed. Her mind raced a hundred miles an hour.
Who’s Olivia? She wondered.
Then her stomach sank. Daniel said they didn’t have a mate, she thought. Is it because she went missing and they’re looking for her?
Charlie was much, much more disappointed than she thought she should be.
Finally, Kade looked over at her, then at Daniel, and then back at her.
“We should talk,” he said. “Let’s go in the kitchen.”
He turned and stomped out.
9
Kade
Kade wanted to rip something apart with his bare hands. He wanted to shift and run down every single fucking wolf in Cascadia until he found Olivia. He wanted to uproot every tree and turn over every boulder and tear apart every building until she was safe again.
“Kade,” said Daniel’s voice behind him. “Pants.”
His mate held out the jeans he’d shed just a few moments ago, and Kade took them. He put them on.
Strange, how Daniel was the one who kept him human sometimes.
“I’ll kill them all,” he said. His voice was quieter now, but it still shook with fury. “I swear.”
Daniel took Kade’s face in his strong, warm hands, squeezing.
“I know,” he said.
Kade interlaced his finger’s with Daniels and squeezed his eyes shut, forcing his bear down.
“Sit,” Dani
el commanded, firmly but gently.
As he did, Charlie finally shuffled into the kitchen, her jaw set in determination. As she sat at the table, Kade could tell that Daniel itched to simply pick her up and put her down in the chair so that she wouldn’t have to go through all those painful motions, but that wasn’t going to fly with the strong-willed, independent girl.
The side of Kade’s mouth twitched. Of course the girl for them was a tough-as-nails broad.
Charlie looked from Kade to Daniel and back, her eyes wide.
“Okay,” she said. “What was any of that?”
Kade looked down at his hands. He had no idea where to start.
Try the beginning, he told himself.
“Olivia is my little sister,” he said. “I haven’t seen her in over ten years. Since she was seventeen.”
Charlie adjusted the neck of her bathrobe. She watched Kade, frowning slightly, like she was trying to put some puzzle together, but she also looked the tiniest bit relieved.
“She’s missing?” she asked.
“Sort of,” Kade said.
He paused for a moment, locking eyes with Daniel.
“She’s feral,” he finally said.
He looked up at Charlie. Most humans didn’t know that much about shifters, but he could tell from the look on her face that she knew what that meant, and how serious it was.
“Oh,” Charlie said. She looked down at her hands for a moment. “I’m sorry.”
“It was a long, long time coming,” he said. “She was never really happy.” He felt something welling inside him, some emotion he couldn’t name. It wasn’t anger, though that was close; it wasn’t exactly sadness or desperation or longing, but some combination of all three.
“Even as a kid, she wasn’t happy,” he went on. “I mean, we had good times, but she always sort of... seemed worried, you know? I remember once when I was twelve and she was ten she told me she’d been up all night thinking about the heat death of the universe.”
He shook his head.
“Not normal, right?”
Charlie rubbed one nail along the table. “It’s not that unusual,” she said. “Kids get ideas.”
You’re not explaining her right, he thought. You’re not getting across how strange and somber and sad she could be.
