by V. A. Dold
Julia blushed a bright red. “I think I would know my mate and the signs.”
“Oh.” Thomas ducked his head.
“Maybe we should just finish our dance for now?”
His expression turned to one of relief. “Yeah. Um, good idea.”
With each sway of her hips, he fell a little further under her spell. He was being swamped by feelings stronger than anything he ever expected to feel for any woman. But then, he’d never had a mate before. He wasn’t sure he was at all comfortable with the whole situation. When the song ended, he stepped away, intending on returning to his post as quickly as possible.
It quickly became apparent that Julia had other ideas. Faster than he could react, she wrapped her arms around his neck and planted a kiss on his lips. The shock of it had him staggering back and confused beyond words.
Chapter Four
The next morning…
“Hey Junior,” Marcus grinned as he turned to glance at Thomas. “I wanted to set you up with a gal I know.”
“What?” Thomas gave Marcus an annoyed look. “I had a long night, and it’s too early in the morning for your shit.”
“Not shit, a girl, you moron. I have one for you to take out on a date.”
“Not interested, buddy.”
“And why is that? You have someone else occupying your time?”
“Spit it out, Marcus,” Thomas growled. “What are you getting at?”
Marcus shrugged. “Nothing, I thought you might like to meet this awesome gal I met the other night and take her on a date.”
“I don’t need you or anyone else setting me up. I have someone.”
“Really? Since when?”
Thomas scowled at Marcus. “Stop playin’ me, dude. I know you, and everyone else saw me.”
Marcus barked out a belly laugh, which startled everyone within hearing distance. He wasn’t known for laughing or joking around.
“Oh, shut up,” Thomas snarled.
He’d managed to concentrate on reviewing last night’s event and security issues that needed addressing without thoughts of Julia intruding. At least for the last thirty minutes, anyway. Thanks to Marcus, his concentration just waved bye-bye, laughing hysterically as it went.
He grinned. “So. Since you have a gal hidden away somewhere, you won’t mind if I set my cousin up with a friend of mine?”
Thomas felt like a bear being poked by Marcus with a stick.
Bad idea.
Very bad idea.
His temper flared dark and dangerous, right before he launched himself at Marcus and started pummeling the ignorant idiot.
“Hey! What’s your problem, man?”
“Keep. Your. Horny. Buddies. Away. From. My. Mate!” Thomas emphasized each word with a punishing blow.
Marcus managed to loosen Thomas’s grip enough to throw him off. “Krystal is your mate?”
Thomas felt like a Mac truck had blindsided him. “Krystal?”
“Well, yeah. Who did you think I was talking about?”
“Are you telling me you honestly didn’t see me last night?” Thomas panted.
“No, I saw you. With Julia,” Marcus clarified, rubbing his jaw as a big grin spread across his face “But I was talking about Krystal.”
“Oh, son. You should see your expression,” Marcus snickered and cupped Thomas’s shoulder. “You, my friend, are irreversibly whipped.”
Eight a.m. and Julia was back at the Royal Plantation. Heat warmed her face along with all her intimate parts further south, the ones she’d already decided to ignore. What was the point, until Tommy accepted they were mates, her libido was on lockdown. Dang it! I need to think of something other than…him. Stupid horny body!
Granted, she’d only had a small sample of what being with him would be like when he danced with her at the gathering. And then there was the kiss—she’d wanted so much more than one dance and an unexpected kiss, but she would take what she could get for now.
Hopefully, it had been enough to get his attention. If that small sample of their explosive passion did its job, he would be courting her in no time. At least that’s how it happened in her books. Please, let it be like my books, she thought as she began to daydream about him, for oh, the thousandth time.
He’d looked exactly the way she imagined the heroes in her stories—wide, strong shoulders, muscled arms and legs. Solid, but not overly muscled to the point of looking creepy, like some guys on steroids and a billion hours in the gym. A trim waist with what she imagined was a delicious, defined abdomen and chest.
Enough swooning over the man, she was here to see Aunt Emma. Somehow, she had left her Michael Kors clutch behind last night. It couldn’t have had anything to do with the way Tommy scrambled her brain. No, not at all.
Why did her brain take an exotic vacation every time she thought about the sheriff? She figured since he was in charge of security for her uncle, the shifter King, Sheriff, was a fitting title. So, that was what she secretly called him.
Maybe it was his incredible shy smile? Or it could be his heart melting sky blue eyes? But there was his smoking hot body too. It could be that. No. No, it was most certainly his sexy, ‘in charge’ energy, and completely confident personality. Oh, what the heck. It’s the whole dang package.
Her suddenly complete lack of concentration or control of her wayward daydreaming wasn’t just because of his looks. If it were, she would be a blubbering idiot every night at The Backwater. At her bar, there was nothing but wall-to-wall hotness everywhere—total gorgeousness, with a capital G. But she had no trouble functioning around that crowd of panty incinerating men. Heck, she bossed them around on a nightly basis without batting an eyelash.
It had to be the mating attraction blasting her with all its might. The Goddess must really want to get them together in a hurry.
As much as she enjoyed her little erotic dreams of Tommy, she really needed her brain firing on all cylinders. She couldn’t function when it took a hike into the land of naked Tommy bliss. It’s a wonder she hadn’t driven into oncoming traffic on her way to the plantation. Until she convinced him to complete the ritual, she was a hazard to herself and anyone who came within a hundred feet of her.
A movement to her left caught her eye as she stepped from her car. It looked like her cousins were taking a coffee break on Simon’s patio. From what she could see, all of them were there. She swore someone else sat with them, and her heart skipped a beat. Was that Tommy? Whoever it was sat at an odd angle so that she couldn’t be sure. She waved back at her beloved troublemaking cousins as she reached the front steps.
Aunt Emma pulled the door open before she could knock. “Julia! Good morning, cher. I’m so glad you could come over so quickly. I bet a certain security guard is happy to see you, too.”
“Thomas?” She frowned and then narrowed her gaze at her aunt. “I wouldn’t know. I haven’t spoken to him. The question is, what do you know about it, Aunt Emma?”
“Oh, nothing. It’s just the way he looked at you last night,” she hedged, a knowing smile curving her lips as her eyes twinkled.
“Right…” Julia drew out the word sarcastically. “You haven’t been matchmaking, have you?”
“Me?” Emma clutched her chest dramatically and gasped for good measure. “I would never. But mark my words. He’s interested in you. I’ve never seen him so taken by a woman.”
Julia crossed her arms. “Somehow, I don’t believe you. Besides, I’m here to get my purse, not flirt with Thomas.”
“Of course, you are,” Emma said patting Julia’s arm. “I was just making tea. Would you like to have a cup with me before you go?”
“Yes, please. I’d love a cup.”
Thomas sipped his coffee, relieved to have a busy schedule today. Between his duties to the king as head of security and Jack and Michael returning after their conversion to vampire, he’d hardly spared a thought for Julia.
Just thinking of his longtime friends, Jack,
and Michael took him back to that fated day in the bayou. Rose had been abducted, and they were taking her back.
Sadly, during the battle with the shifters who snatched Rose, Jack and Michael had been mortally wounded.
Thomas remembered that day as clearly as if it were yesterday.
Simon hissed into Travis’s ear, demanding to know where Rose was. The menace in Simon’s growl spoke of the long, painful death he had planned for this idiot.
Travis told him to go to hell, blood pouring down his face and soaking his torn shirt. He had even spat teeth before he threw back his head and laughed like a crazy man. But when Travis had claimed, “She’s long gone, and you’re never gonna find her.”
I couldn’t breathe.
Uncle Simon’s attack on Travis. his overwrought roar, and wild slashing shocked me back to reality.
Travis tried to shift but couldn’t. That’s when Grandpa really floored me. He can stop a shifter from changing!
Grandpa Isaac calmly stood before that maniac and said, “You can’t shift unless I will it.” Dang, Grandpa, is badass.
That was when it got really bad. Travis broke free and lunged at Michael and Jack with a knife. Michael blocked the initial attack, taking a gash to his arm. That was when Jack put Travis in a chokehold. I had never seen anyone escape one of Jack’s holds before, but Travis was slick with blood and Jack’s grip slipped.
Before Stefan could get ahold of Travis, he managed to slash Michael across his belly, and Jack across the throat.
Thomas shivered as he remembered the agonized scream that had torn from Michael’s throat. His guts actually spilled into his hands. It was no wonder he went into shock.
Then that bastard turned on me. Wrong move asshole. I was more than ready for him. I blew his chest open with a slug from my shotgun. When he kept coming, I flipped him to the ground.
The bastard was too stupid to stay down. He tried to get to his knees, and Rose came out of nowhere and took that idiot out with a rock! It was awesome!
Rose couldn’t handle losing her brothers and begged Etienne to save them.
Even though, Michael was white as a sheet and scarcely breathing. Rose managed to get both of them to agree to be turned into vampires.
Who knew Rose could be so demanding? Suddenly she was shouting commands and directions. She even started yelling commands at Etienne.
A bulldozer couldn’t have budged that determined woman. She stood there and watched the entire process while Etienne fed both Jack and Michael his blood, careful not to give them too much.
Etienne said it would take time for the men to recover and be ready to be around humans. At the time, none of us really knew what he meant by that.
The time to learn to be a vampire in modern day society that Etienne had spoken of, took months. But they were finally ready to join the security team for the king.
Shaking off the memories of that terrible day, Thomas tried to think of something more pleasant. He told himself he wasn’t imagining Julia’s soft curves, or hot sweet mouth, and certainly not her incredible scent…
Shit. Who was he kidding? He hadn’t stopped thinking about her. Hell, he hadn’t slept a wink fantasizing about her in his bed.
Out of habit, his gaze roved continuously, taking in his surroundings, his vigilance was why he saw her car pull up to the main house. Luckily, she hadn’t seen him.
His heart seized before it nearly pounded its way clean through his chest. Damn, his ribs actually hurt, from the beating they’d just received. Was she going to cause this reaction every time he saw her? He sure hoped not.
Thomas tried to force himself not to stare. That was a losing battle. He couldn’t tear his gaze away.
Licking his lips, he focused on her bare neck. He loved the way she wore her long hair swept up in a messy bun thingy. His fingers itched to twirl the dangling tendrils around them.
Thomas’s heart slammed hard in his chest once again trying to batter his ribs to dust. With five of the brothers sitting at the table with him, he couldn’t afford to let them catch him ogling their cousin.
He kept his face expressionless, utilizing his years of practice around his psychotic father. He and John had been careful never to let their mother know that as children if either of them showed any emotion, their father immediately preyed on them. If they were happy, he would make them miserable. If they were sad, he would rub salt in the wound. The man was straight up evil. He’d learn to hide his emotions, and he was damn good at it.
And when it came to Julia, it was if those hard-learned lessons from his childhood never happened. He’d never been so attracted or aware of anyone in his life, and his emotions were all over the board. He was fooling himself if he thought he could suppress them.
“Hey, Thomas, look,” Lucas said as he elbowed him. “There’s your girly friend.”
The pain-in-his-ass waved at Julia, but it must be his lucky day because she didn’t see him.
“Since when are you dating Julia?” Stefan asked, feigning ignorance as he joined Lucas waving and laughing like a hyena.
The ruckus the guys were making caught her attention. She smiled and waved back. When she acted like she hadn’t seen him, he breathed a sigh of relief. That was a bullet dodged. He wondered if his grandparents would notice if a couple of their sons went missing. Glaring at Lucas and Stefan, he decided it might be worth the risk.
“Congratulations, you lucky dog. I have to tell you. There are going to be a lot of heartbroken shifters at The Backwater when word gets around about you two.” As Cade spoke, Thomas’s expression and behavior finally registered. Something was off with his stepson. “I thought she was your mate?”
Who has the hots for my woman? Wait! Where the hell did that thought come from? He opened his mouth to ask who he needed to beat the crap out of but spotted Cade scowling at him. Had Cade asked him something? “What’s that?”
“I asked you if Julia was your mate.”
“Yeah, well...maybe. But I don’t do relationships so let’s drop the subject.”
Simon walked out of the kitchen with a fresh pot of coffee and a bottle of brandy. Grinning. He poured an even mix into Thomas’s cup. “You look like you could use a little encouragement.”
Marcus snorted but wisely kept his mouth shut. Smart man.
Lucas smirked. “You’re just in denial. But that’s okay. Simon had the same delusions when he met his mate, Rose. Look at him now. Your stupidity will pass soon enough.”
Simon smacked Lucas on the back of the head as Stefan rubbed his hands together like an excited little boy. “Since you’re not interested, I’ll let all the guys know she’s still available. Some of my friends wanted an introduction.”
Thomas stood so fast his chair toppled to the floor. “Back off, asshole.”
Both Lucas and Stefan barked out laughs as Cade held Thomas back from killing his dimwit brothers.
“Knock it off, you idiots, or I’ll let him have a go at you.”
The guys attempted to maintain straight faces, but it only resulted in more laughter.
“That’s enough, both of you. Go and make yourselves useful cleaning up the party.”
“I thought the party supplier was doing that,” Stefan whined.
“They were. But now, you’re doing it.”
Pouting like spoiled children, Stefan and Lucas left the meeting. When it came to a challenge, no one was stupid enough to push Cade.
“Take your seat, Thomas.” Cade gave him the do what I tell you or else, stare. “We need to review what worked and what didn’t last night. That should take your mind off things…but we’re going to have a chat about your mate afterward.”
Thomas didn’t say it out loud, but he had no plans of discussing Julia with Cade or anyone else for that matter.
He didn’t need or want his advice. He was fine just the way he was—single, unattached, and unmated.
Cade narrowed his piercing gaze on Thom
as. “Whatever bright idea you just had…you’re wrong. If you think you don’t need your mate, you’re doubly wrong. And take it from Simon and me, if you think you can control this situation…you might as well give up right now because you are completely and utterly helpless to prevent your relationship with Julia.”
Thomas shook his head. “This isn’t the same thing as your situations.”
Marcus, who had sat silently during the exchange, threw his head back and laughed. “Oh, man. This is going to be a good show.”
Simon ignored Marcus and leaned toward Thomas. “You have a lot to learn about mates, and believe me, you’re going to learn the hard way if you maintain that attitude.”
How the hell had he become the topic of conversation? Thomas slammed his empty coffee mug down and glared at the three do-gooders staring at him.
Shaking with frustration, he took a deep breath and a moment to calm himself. “Look, I’m sure you mean well, but drop it.” Then he turned to Cade. “You know my history with my father. I don’t do relationships. Don’t get me wrong. I’m happy for you and Mom, but settling down, having a family, they’re not in the cards for me. I don’t want a wife or a mate. That’s just the way it is.”
Marcus suddenly leaned back in his chair. The creaking drew Thomas’s attention. Marcus was looking at something over his shoulder with a sad expression on his face. Slowly he turned, and son-of-a-bitch, Julia stood not two feet away, white as a sheet. Ah hell.
“Excuse me. I didn’t mean to interrupt. You all have a good day.”
He watched Julia turn on her heel and stumble as she hurried away. But not before he saw a tear spill from her eye.
“Julia?” He had no idea what to say or how to apologize.
She snapped back around to face him. Fists clenched and heaven help him, righteous indignation flared in her usually soft amber colored eyes.
The woman was downright scary when she was mad. Breathtaking, but damn, she scared the crap out of him with that angry expression aimed his way.
He’d heard many times that one mate could feel the other’s emotions and even see images sent to them through the telepathic bond, but it was freaking creepy to actually experience it the first time.
