Cooking was an interest he shared with her, and he knew she deliberately brought him in here so he would feel a bit more comfortable. He sat on one of the barstools on the other side of the large butcher-block counter that sat in the middle of the room. He picked up the peeler and started working on cleaning the skin off the potatoes. He didn’t know what to say because he had been avoiding her. The oven was on, and the incredible scent of strawberry rhubarb pie was beginning to tint the air around them.
She leaned back against her kitchen counter. “Kaden, I’m worried about you.”
“I don’t know why.” Picking up speed, he worked his way through a few spuds. “I’m fine. Working on the landscaping around the house has kept me busy lately. I want to get the gazebo finished before the summer is over.”
“Then why are you sounding more and more like Alec? You never agreed with his views before, and now I see a change in that.”
“Alec wants to keep us all safe, as do I. Although, his tactics are more aggressive than I’m comfortable with.”
“I hope it stays like that. I know you and Jack both shared a vision for keeping the peace around here. What do you think he would say about your attitude toward humans lately?”
Ann played dirty when she wanted to. Jack died protecting not only the pack but also the Solfalvis’ True Mate. Kaden knew Jack would kick his ass if he knew how his opinions toward the humans had changed. What could he say? Ann and Gordon’s wife, Helen, was a human, and he would protect her with his life, but he still resented Jack getting himself killed. His view of the counter blurred, and he blinked back the moisture that started to gather in his eyes. He concentrated on his work, and before he knew it, he’d finished peeling every spud.
“You need to forgive Jack for dying.” Ann stood at the stove, stirring. Her words were soft enough that only with his sharp hearing he picked them up.
“He shouldn’t have charged at the asshole that refused to drop his gun.”
“We have been very lucky because the violence of that day is rare around here. Perhaps Jack wasn’t thinking straight, or maybe he saw something you didn’t and knew he didn’t have a choice. We’ll never know because his loss was immediate.”
“I killed the bastard that put the bullet in his head.”
“I know.” Kaden heard the sadness in Ann’s voice.
Kaden darted a look over at Ann. He should have known that Gordon wouldn’t have hidden the details of that day from his wives. Ann never treated him differently, considering what he had done. He lost complete control that day and tore the other man apart with his bare claws. Losing control was such a sign of weakness that he’d been certain Gordon would strip him of his position of leadership. Instead, he told Kaden that the events of that day would stay within the walls of the cabin. The cabin burned to the ground. Everyone had been there to make certain that the fire didn’t spread, but at one point Gordon had met his gaze and nodded. Kaden had known then that his secret burned with the fire, never to be brought up again.
Gordon didn’t lose faith in him, but he had lost faith in himself.
“Kaden?”
“Sorry, Ann. I was thinking.”
“Well I don’t mind talking with you, but if you sit here much longer, I’m going to have you peeling carrots next.”
Kaden smiled and held out his hand for the bag. “Hand them over.”
Chapter Nine
“Well hello there, gorgeous.”
Carol stumbled when a low voice called out as she sauntered down the sidewalk. She slowly glanced around, not that she expected the compliment to be in her direction. She didn’t get hollered at or complimented in that manner, but she couldn’t help but look around in case.
Leaning against an archway she passed stood Sloan. Her body reacted immediately. Warmth spread over her skin, despite the obvious humidity in the air. Her libido raised its head and shivered at the sound of his voice. Considering she had his brother between her legs less than forty-eight hours ago, should she be reacting like this to someone else already?
“Hi, Sloan.” Any uncertainty she had disappeared as she walked toward him. He slowly looked her over from her hair to her toes. She nervously brushed some strands off her face. The humidity had her hair sticking to the back of her neck, even as she walked on the shady side of the street.
“You weren’t going to walk by and not say hello, were you?”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to. I wasn’t paying attention.” She was thinking about waking up in Jaxon’s arms yesterday morning. Jaxon made her breakfast and then kissed her good-bye before they both had to go to work. At some point, he programmed his number into her phone because she had received two text messages from him already thanking her and asking if she wanted to go to dinner. Did Sloan know she had sex with his brother? Would he be speaking to her like this if he did? Somehow, she doubted it. The rational part of her brain told her to wish him well and keep walking, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She felt as drawn to Sloan now as the other day. Strangely, the feeling was even stronger now.
Opposite to her damp skin, Sloan looked cool and comfortable in this heat. He wore a pair of long camouflage shorts with a small black apron tied low over his hips. A black T-shirt highlighted his muscular chest. The sleeves pulled tightly over his arm muscles.
“I could tell. You looked miles away.” He closed the distance between them and tucked a bit of hair behind her ear. “What were you thinking about?”
Having sex with you and your brother. “The surgery I performed this morning. I had to fix a tomcat.” She tried hard not to grin at the look of horror on Sloan’s face. “Is this your place?”
“Yup, McDurbin’s Arcade is mine. The McDurbins were a family that lived up here for years before they decided to move down south to retire. Come in and have a look.”
Cool air bathed her as soon as she stepped inside the doorway. The musical sound of video games blended with the thumps and bangs of Skee-Ball filled the air. Kids laughed and hollered back and forth to each other as they played. Some carried around handfuls of tickets, gathering more as they played.
“What do they do with the tickets?”
Sloan pointed to a counter in the corner. “They save them up, and when they’re ready, they can cash them in for stuff.”
“Wow, I’ve seen this kind of set up before, but you have some neat stuff in here.” Beach toys hung from the walls as well as the typical stuffed animals and a vast selection of smaller toys. There were also lots of things that could be used in the outdoors, like skipping ropes, binoculars, bug-catching kits, and Blavet merchandise. From what she could tell, Sloan didn’t try to rip off the kids. He had some decent toys in here for them, and the ticket cost wasn’t that crazy.
“Thanks, I like kids, and I used to hang out here when I was younger. Mr. McDurbin always had the coolest stuff to win, and I try to do the same. Kids need a place to hang out.”
“Sloan’s the best.” A young boy rushed up from behind Carol and waved a paper at Sloan. “I did it! Look, Sloan, I got an A.”
Sloan took the paper and looked it over, a large smile breaking out over his face. “Logan, this is amazing! I’m so proud of you.” He gave Logan a high five. “Looks like you put a lot of work into this. Way to go, dude.” He handed the paper back and then reached into his apron pulling out a handful of tokens. He counted out twenty coins with impressive speed and handed them to the boy. “There you go. Great work.”
“Thanks, Sloan.” With a smile a mile wide, the boy ran over to what looked like a zombie apocalypse shooting game.
“That was nice of you.”
Sloan shrugged, pink tingeing his cheeks. “Logan did all the work. I have a deal with the local kids. If they do well in school and bring in their As and Bs for me to see, I give them tokens. Logan has a learning disability and has spent a lot of time with a tutor this summer, but all the kids work hard so they can earn tokens.”
“I guess their parents don’t mind either
since the kids are working toward better grades.”
“I asked the parents first before I started doing this, and I didn’t hear any negative response.”
Carol was very impressed. He wasn’t out to scam the kids and used his position in a positive way to get the kids working on their grades. I wouldn’t see anything like this is the city, that’s for certain.
“Carol?”
“Sorry? What did you ask?”
“Do you want to play a game?”
Insecurity hit her square in the chest. She would look like a fool trying any of these. Ping-pong was more her speed. “I don’t think so. All of this is way too technical for me.”
“If you can skip rope, you can play this one.” He caught her hand and led her over to a corner away from the bulk of the kids. Standing there was a big oval disk, as tall as her, with flashing lights. A single red dot moved around the inside edge of the oval. There was a distinct mischievous crook to his smile. A look she decided that was part of his personality and made her want to play with him. “Come on. It’s fun.”
“This is a skipping game?”
“Trust me, it’s not hard. Step on the large square in front of it and think of the red dot as a skipping rope. As it swoops along the bottom of the oval, you jump. There is a sensor in the plate that tracks when you jump. If you’re still standing on the square when the red dot moves along the bottom, you’re out.”
“That seems easy enough.”
“Cool, give it a go then.” He dropped a couple tokens into the slot, and the game started up with flashing lights and music. It was very easy, and Carol had been good at skipping rope when she was a girl. The longer she played, the faster she jumped until the red dot moved too fast for her to keep up. There was a sad beeping as the red light flashed at the bottom, but she was laughing too hard to care.
“Want to try again?”
Nodding, she watched the red dot carefully, and this time she tried to keep her timing while trying to figure out the easiest way not to stop. She only made it a few seconds longer than last time, but beating her first time did feel good.
“Don’t forget your tickets.” Sloan pointed at a long tail of brightly coloured tickets hanging out of the slot in the machine.
“Wow. Look at all these. I did pretty good.”
“Yes, you were amazing.”
Carol wasn’t certain how to take that comment, but when she looked at Sloan, his focus was on the V of her T-shirt. Part of her felt as if she should be outraged by his obvious appreciation for her “girls,” but the other part of her enjoyed the attention from a man as incredible as him. “Sloan Henderson, do you have any idea how many tickets I earned?”
“Fifty-two your first try…” His eyes met hers, and the hunger she saw there made her next breath a bit more difficult. He moved much closer, and his warm breath brushed her ear as he spoke. “The second try I don’t have a clue because I couldn’t get my eyes off your incredible body. Good thing I’m wearing an apron.”
“Thank you for the compliment.” She darted a quick kiss against his cheek before stepping away. “I had better get back to the clinic.”
Sloan grabbed her hand and pulled her closer, but not too close. She saw him glance over her shoulder at the kids and then shake his head slightly. “Come out with me later tonight, after the game.”
“Um, I don’t know if I can.” Nerves batted at Carol. What would she have to talk about with this incredible man? She slept with his brother for Pete’s sake. Better to stop this at casual flirting than risk another heart stomping. “I have plans.” Sloan’s gaze narrowed on her, and she felt for a moment that he knew she was lying.
“All right, but I want to get to know you better, Carol.”
“There isn’t much to know. I’m simply me, nothing that interesting.”
“I don’t believe you, and I fully intend to prove you wrong.” He lifted her fingers to his mouth and pressed them against his lips. She felt a zing shoot through her body at the contact and almost told him the truth.
“Sloan, I need some tokens,” one of the kids called out to him.
“All right, I’ll be right there.” He rested his hand on Carol’s lower back and walked her to the door. “Until later, Carol.”
The way he said her name was like a caress over her skin, and she felt herself flush. “Um, yes, I’ll talk to you later. Bye, Sloan.”
The August humidity made it feel like she walked into a wall of pea soup. Turning around and going back into the arcade for the afternoon sounded like a good idea. She would skip all afternoon and see if Sloan got that hungry look on his face again. He looked at her as if she was a double-dipped chocolate ice cream, and damn, if she didn’t want him to take a lick.
* * * *
“Looks like someone discovered the arcade,” River commented from behind the counter as Carol walked into the clinic.
“How did you know?”
River nodded down at Carol’s hand where she realized she still held on to the tickets she won on the skipping game. “Oh, I forgot about these. I’ll stop by later and give them to one of the kids. Most of those games were way beyond my ability, but the skipping one I was pretty good at.”
The other woman didn’t bother to hide her grin. “Skipping, in that top you’re wearing? I bet Sloan couldn’t take his eyes off you.”
Carol could feel her cheeks warming up but didn’t get too embarrassed. “If he got any closer, I might have knocked him out when I was jumping.” She pulled up a chair and flopped down into it. She had to talk to someone about what she was feeling. Brenna was never horrified by her bluntness, and Carol hoped that her impression of River was correct. “Is it normal to feel like this around men like them? I mean, they’re brothers, isn’t there something immoral about lusting after siblings?”
“If there is, then I don’t want to know about it. Carol, I’m the last person to ask about normal things. Living in this town will change your point of view drastically. I wouldn’t know normal if I tripped over it. You’re all consenting adults. As long as you all understand what you are getting yourselves into and no one is trying to hurt anyone else, then I don’t see the problem.”
“But what about when I leave? I’m only here for a few weeks.”
River raised both eyebrows. “Have you told them that?”
“No, not really, but I haven’t said anything about staying up here permanently.”
“Don’t be surprised if they ignore anything they don’t want to hear. That is completely normal, from what Mai tells me. You know we should have a girl’s night tonight. You haven’t met Mai Solfalvi yet, have you? You two might have more in common than you realize.”
“Why would you think that?”
“Well, Mai lived in Toronto before moving up here, and she is married to Vencel and Gaspar.”
“She’s married to brothers?”
“Twins. If anyone is going to understand what you are feeling, then it would be her. She didn’t even know they were wolves when they first met, so it was a double whammy for her.”
“Oh, please introduce me.”
“Are you coming to the game tonight?”
“Game? Sloan mentioned something about a game, but I got distracted and didn’t ask any more about it.”
River practically vibrated with excitement. “Oh Carol, you have to come. I’ll teach you about the wonders of rugby.”
Chapter Ten
“What’re they doing?”
“Picking the teams, it’s an old town tradition.”
Carol watched as the men standing on the field pulled what looked like checker pieces out of a bag. River talked her into coming to that night’s local rugby game, and now she understood why her friend insisted she would love it. There was something about watching large men dressed in shorts and bare chests getting ready to play a rough sport. That might also explain why the number of women in the stands outnumbered the men three to one.
“Strange,” Mai said, pointing at he
r husbands. “Vencel and Gaspar are playing for the same team.”
“Why?” Carol asked. “Isn’t that bound to happen now and again?”
“Gaspar and Vencel never play together because they get accused of cheating. They can tell what each other is about to do.” Mai frowned. “They have been in a foul mood ever since they sat in on the meeting with Gordon this morning.”
River leaned forward. “Do you think Gordon said something to them?”
“No.” Mai shook her head negatively. “It was something else, but they wouldn’t talk about it. All they said is it would all work out after the game.”
“Oh, shit. This is going to be a brutal one then.” River whistled softly. “Someone has pissed them off, and they’re planning on getting their pound of flesh on the field.”
“That doesn’t seem fair if it’s two against one.” Carol watched Mai’s husbands and noticed that they continued to level black looks at Kaden Henderson.
“Well, they must be expecting to have to go up against more than one.” Mai added, “That’s what usually happens when you try to exact some revenge during the game.”
Sloan and Jaxon moved to stand on either side of their brother. Sloan had slicked his hair back into a tight ponytail. The effect was much different than when his hair flowed around his face. He looked intimidating and ferocious, not playful and warm like the other day.
Both Kaden and Jaxon stood there with their arms crossed over their chests. She could feel a flush crawl up her skin, and it took a great deal of self-restraint not to fan herself. While the evening was still warm, she knew that River would understand it wasn’t the temperature overheating her. Despite her mental lecture to herself, seeing the three men together getting ready for a battle was turning her on. It must be some primitive genetic coding deep in her DNA because normally she would never even consider dating three men at the same time, let alone together, and brothers to boot.
Davies, Corrine - Embraced by Fur [3xtasy Lake 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 8
