Mate For Hire: For Hire Series - Book 3

by Tressie Lockwood

  “No.” Janessa ducked her head. Lachelle suspected she hid tears. “I’m starting to think he doesn’t want to marry me—or bond. All this time, no one has truly warmed up to us. We’re still outsiders. And with Bannon not showing signs of being a shifter, they’re probably thinking the shifter genes have rejected him too. Plus—”

  Janessa clamped her teeth together.

  Lachelle frowned at her. “Plus what?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Say it. I have a feeling you’re hiding something from me.”

  Janessa sighed and swatted Bannon’s butt when he tried to defy her again. He screamed like she tried to kill him.

  Lachelle laughed. “Lord, he’s dramatic.”

  “He gets that from you.”

  “Your mama!”

  “I’m going to tell her.”

  “Shush, Nessa.”

  Her sister smirked.

  “Tell me what you started to say.”

  “Just let it go. I’m going to put this boy to bed. You can finish cleaning up.”

  “Isn’t that what you have servants for?”

  “You’re spoiled that fast?”

  “Um, excuse me, but I don’t have servants at my little cabin.”

  Janessa left the room, carrying a struggling Bannon. Lachelle thought about what Janessa started to say before she clammed up. Apparently, as long as Declan and her had been together, living among the shifters, she still didn’t feel accepted.

  The people were polite enough, but one could say it was because they feared Declan’s anger or didn’t want to show their leader disrespect. Lachelle had walked through the homestead with her sister since she arrived, and upon passing the shifters, they were presented with a polite nod, nothing more. Some people went out of their way to avoid them or turned their head to pretend they didn’t see the two humans coming along.

  Then it hit Lachelle. If there was a question as to whether Lachelle was Gerard’s mate, and it looked like she wasn’t because Kelly was alive, it stood to reason maybe Declan was wrong as well. Declan had never had a mate before Janessa, but she still might be the wrong one.

  Lachelle busied herself with picking up the model planes and placing them in the toy box. It was odd that a kid who should be able to fly enjoyed playing with planes most of all.

  Then again he might like them because he’s a shifter.

  Lachelle sighed. Guilt threatened to overtake her emotions because her life with Gerard complicated the happiness her sister had found with Declan. If she could resolve the issues, she would. What she desired more than her own happiness was Janessa’s, as well as the rest of her family’s happiness.

  A horn sounded from somewhere nearby, not a car horn but a musical one. Janessa walked into the family room, frowning. “What’s that noise? I’ve just laid Bannon down. It’s going to keep him awake.”

  Lachelle shrugged. “I don’t know. You’re the one who lives here.”

  “I’ve never heard it.”

  A maid stepped into the room. “The guard blows the horn when royalty arrives, or when a special event is about to begin.”

  “I’m pretty sure no one ever blew a horn when Declan returned to the homestead.”

  The woman smiled a little in amusement. “I’m sorry. I meant when royalty arrives just before a special event. It’s an old tradition, and as far as I know, no one has blown it since just before the civil war.”

  Janessa nodded in understanding. The dragon shifters had lost more than lives because of the battle. “So what’s happening that’s so special?”

  “For that matter,” Lachelle injected, “who’s the royalty? I thought Declan and Gerard were already here and meeting with the council.”

  Someone knocked on the front door, and the maid went to answer it. The woman reappeared in a few moments. “Miss, your presence is requested at the main hall.”

  Janessa grumbled under her breath. “I have things to do. Why can’t Declan come here? Jeez, these people and their rituals. Give me a break. I’ll be right back, Lachelle. Can you watch my little man?”

  “Sure.”

  “Um, all of your presences,” the maid emphasized.

  “Huh?”

  The maid’s cheeks pinked. “The request is for you, your sister, and for Master Bannon.”

  “You have got to be kidding me!” Janessa stomped to her son’s room with Lachelle behind her. “Sometimes I think these people toadying to Declan has gone to his head. Really? He has to have someone blow a dumb horn to precede me coming to the main hall? For what?”

  “Calm down, girl. There’s no need to get worked up.”

  “That council looks down on me more than the rest. I hate going there, and I avoid it like the plague. I don’t understand what’s in Declan’s head.”

  “He’s probably trying to force them to accept you, but why do I have to go?”

  “And why Bannon? He knows I put him down for a nap about now. And I’ve been trying to put together some plans for an online business. He knows that too.”

  “Cool. What are you selling?”

  “I don’t want to talk about it. Look at me. I’m a mess. I bet he expects me to show up looking like this.”

  Lachelle laughed. “Well, I had to shower and dress to come over here. So I’m fine.”

  Her sister eyed her with distaste, increasing Lachelle’s amusement. With more complaints, Janessa readied herself and her grumpy son. A short time later, the three of them headed over to the main hall where Declan often met with the elders of his people. The place seemed to be busier than normal with people arriving from every direction and vehicles filling the lot outside.

  Lachelle squinted. “Nessa, doesn’t that look like Daddy’s car?”

  “Similar, but Daddy has a sticker on the back that says—”

  She stopped speaking.

  The hall’s doors opened, and Declan appeared. He smiled and held out his hand to Janessa. She visibly shook from head to toe, and her face paled. Lachelle thought she would faint, and she grabbed her sister’s arm.

  “You okay, sis?”

  “I think,” she whispered, staring at Declan. “I think this crazy man is going to…”

  Declan left the doorway and strolled over to compel Janessa gently forward. Lachelle followed the two of them into the building. The place was jammed full of shifters. Their parents sat on the front row of chairs. Gerard stood at the front, facing the crowd, and at his elbow stood none other than Kelly.

  Lachelle lost the ability to move just as her sister had done a second ago, but late arrivals jostled her forward. She managed get to the front row of chairs and sit down next to her mom.

  “I’m not sure about this, Chelly.” Her mom held her hand in a tight trembling grip. “I love Declan, but he’s…one of them. It was a shock to my system when I found out. And Nessa has been keeping it from us all this time.”

  “I know, Mom.” She didn’t look at her mom but kept her eyes on Gerard. Kelly stood close to his side and chatted intimately with him.

  “I appreciate the fact that he let us be here. He arranged for someone to escort us. Apparently, he had to be sure we weren’t followed.”

  “Uh huh.”

  “I’m too old for this.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Are you listening to me, child?”

  Music started up, and someone blew the horn once again. Declan held his mate to his side in a protective and loving embrace. Little Bannon held his mom’s hand on the other side of her, and he resisted when one of Janessa’s maids tried to take him away. After a moment, Declan signaled to her that his son could stay with them.

  Declan addressed the crowd. “I know this is coming without notice, and we’ll do something according to human tradition with more planning later. Today, I wanted to conduct the bonding ceremony with the woman I know to be my mate and the love of my life. So you’ll see that there is no doubt, Janessa Waverly is my One.”

  Chapter 7

  Declan a
nd Janessa exchanged vows as guided by one of the elders. Mostly it was Declan who declared to one and all about who Janessa was to him. His words weren’t all that dissimilar to wedding vows in a human ceremony. What struck Lachelle was the response from the shifters.

  All around the hall, silver shimmered over the shifters’ skin. They didn’t reveal their scales exactly, but it was something magical, like a silver light illuminating every face. As one, the shifters sang a dragon song that stirred emotion in Lachelle’s heart. She didn’t even understand the words. They were spoken in what she guessed was a long since dead language in the modern world. Regardless, the melody brought tears to her eyes.

  When she glanced over at her mom, she found the same reaction from her. Her mom brought out tissue from her purse and passed one to Lachelle. “This is so beautiful. What are they saying, Chelly?”

  “Darned if I know, but it’s amazing,” Lachelle whispered. “I can feel the love in my bones, so pure and sweet. This has never happened at a human wedding.”

  She looked at Gerard. His gaze burrowed into her, and while there were no tears in his eyes, the emotion was obvious. His facial skin shimmered with the silver light. He’d never appeared so beautiful. It was all she could do to stay in her seat and not run to him. When his eyes widened a little, and his lips parted, she knew he could feel her desire to be closer to him.

  Curious about reactions from other women—and in an effort to keep from making a fool of herself—she broke eye contact with Gerard and scanned the room. The female shifters all wept. The men stirred as if overwhelmed with the ceremony.

  Lachelle checked on Kelly, and there was nothing. No shimmering light, no tears, nothing. Kelly appeared to be bored and wishing it was all over. She hung onto Gerard’s arm and studied her foot as she tapped it lightly with impatience.

  Talk about a black heart! Gerard deserves better than her.

  The ceremony came to an end, and Lachelle jumped to her feet. She rushed outside, welcoming the breeze to cool her face. Walking a little ways in the trees, she tried to clear her head. The mental image of Kelly’s stupid reaction to what was the most beautiful event Lachelle had ever seen drove her to want to go back in there and smack her face.

  Instead, she kept moving, despising that woman more and more. Her anger charged higher the longer she moved, which was totally contrary to the norm. Of course it had to do with replaying Kelly’s antics in her head.

  “Stupid woman. How can she not have been moved?” Lachelle complained. “We’re human, and even we felt it. She’s his mate? Never—never!”

  “Lachelle.”

  “What!” She shouted before she realized someone spoke her name. When she turned, Gerard tugged her into his arms. His lips descended on hers as his arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her up to her toes. She didn’t have a chance to think or to consider if this was right or wrong, or if she should force Gerard to tell her his decision before she gave herself to him.

  They were alone in the trees. Everyone in the entire homestead must be back at the hall, crammed in that building, congratulating Declan and Janessa. Perhaps they were even telling her right then that she was accepted and now one of the family. Lachelle would have liked to see that and know that her sister was happy and more at ease.

  At the same time, she couldn’t let Gerard go. She couldn’t pass up the chance for one more moment in his arms, with his hands on her body and his lips melded with hers. She kissed him until she was breathless, drew in a breath, and then kissed him again.

  He picked her up and carried her deeper into the woods. She knew what he intended. The thought passed through her mind that she caused him to lose control with her desire to be with him. He always knew what she felt, and if the emotions overflowed, he was like a helpless animal to resist her.

  Her mind whispered that she should let him clear his head and make a sane decision. Her body said forget all that mess and jump his bones. She followed the bone idea and made love to him in the woods, where anyone could happen upon them. None of that mattered. She lived and breathed Gerard.

  Lachelle opened her eyes and found Gerard looking down at her. She lay with her head on his thigh and pushed up to her elbows. “Was I asleep long?”

  “No.” He looked away.

  Her belly clenched, and she sat up all the way and pulled her clothes on. “You shouldn’t have let me sleep. What if someone caught us?”

  “I would know.”

  “Gerard, why aren’t you looking at me? Don’t tell me you’re feeling guilty about what we did. Not too long ago we were a couple, and I haven’t heard anything from you saying we aren’t now. Or am I wrong and you slept with me to tell me goodbye?”

  He stood and stretched his arms over his head. She scanned the area and listened. As far as she could tell no one had come near them. Maybe the others knew what they were doing out there and gave them space. She wouldn’t put it past them. Heck, a few other shifters might have done the same thing. The dragon shifters lived life on their own terms, something she used to be proud of doing.

  “Gerard, I want to know now if we’re still together. I should have asked before our roll in the grass, but whatever.”

  He didn’t speak.

  “I never took you for a coward!”

  He rounded on her. “I’m not a coward. I want—”

  “What?” She put her hands on her hips. “By all means tell me.”

  “I want to be with my mate.”

  Her heart cracked. He made an animal sound and launched at her. She held up her hand, and he stopped cold. The misery in his eyes was obvious, but she refused to acknowledge it.

  “Goodbye. I’m going back.” She turned around and started walking.

  “To the cabin?”

  It was her turn not to speak. Let him wonder what she meant, but she had no intention of staying at the homestead pining for a man who didn’t want her. The next thing she knew she would be a murderer because she’d kill Kelly before she watched her paw Gerard.

  Back at her cabin, Janessa waited for her, a mischievous light in her eyes. “I was told not to look for you.”

  Lachelle groaned. “So they did know. “I don’t care. Look, Nessa, I’m leaving. I’m going back to the city.”

  “You can’t, Lachelle. It’s dangerous.”

  “I’m still going. I can’t stay here.”

  “But I thought you and Gerard had made up.”

  “Sleeping together isn’t the same as making up—um…not really.” She shook her head in confusion. “Never mind that. I’m going. I need a job. I need to get my apartment together. I can’t afford the rent for next month unless I put it on my credit card, and I’m not even sure I can do that. At any rate, I need to pull my life together.”

  Her sister hugged her tight.

  Lachelle drew back and cupped Janessa’s cheek. “That ceremony, girl. It was…wow!”

  “I know, right? I never imagined. If I did, I would have pushed Declan to do it long time ago.”

  “And have they accepted you?”

  “I think so. Apparently, if I wasn’t the one, the reaction you saw in their faces wouldn’t have happened.” She frowned and chewed her lip. “But how would they even know that? Declan said there’s never been anyone who bonded with someone who wasn’t their mate. Oh! You and Gerard could—”

  “Don’t say it.” Lachelle walked into the bedroom and started packing. “I’m not going to perform some sacred ceremony with Gerard to prove I belong with him and risk looking like a fraud. Even if I didn’t look like a fraud, I refuse to try to prove it.”

  “Aw, sweetie.”

  “Please, Nessa. Don’t get me emotional. I can’t handle it right now. Suffice it to say Gerard made his choice, and I’m not going to fight him over it.”

  “You’re not serious? He chose that woman? We don’t even know if everything she told us is true or not. Declan’s got some guys out right now checking on her story. I mean what if she’s one of Patrick’s people an
d he hired her to come here to lure Gerard away from you? He’s probably ticked off that Gerard quit working for him.”

  “Yeah, I thought of that possibility, but it doesn’t change the fact that she’s his mate. His childhood sweetheart. He planned to marry her, and he thought she died.”

  “That is a tough one to compete against.”

  “I’m not competing!”

  “Alright. Don’t yell at me. I didn’t bring her here.” Janessa flopped onto Lachelle’s bed. “Although I would gladly send her on her way given half the chance.”

  “Didn’t I tell you not to tempt me?”

  “I’m going with you.”

  “Say what?” Lachelle faced her sister. “I thought you said things have turned around here. You’re not thinking about leaving Declan right after you’ve married him. I’m not letting you do it, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

  “Are you crazy? No way. I love that man too much. No, I’m going to go with you to get things situated back there, and to make sure Mom and Daddy get home safe. I could kiss Declan every day until eternity for bringing them here. It was a risk, but he did it for me. He’s so sweet.”

  “Are you crying?” Lachelle’s voice softened.

  “A little. Can you blame me?”

  “No.”

  “I feel guilty for being so happy when you’re struggling.”

  “I’m fine. I’ll bounce back in no time. I love him. Don’t get me wrong. But I’ll find someone new. I’m young.”

  “And beautiful.”

  Lachelle hugged her again. “I don’t know if it’s a good idea for either one of us to go to the city, but I’m going. Someone might recognize us.”

  “We can wear disguises.”

  Lachelle snorted. “You’re not serious.”

  “I’m very serious. Everybody’s gaga over the dragons. They’re looking for Viking-like sexy with silver eyes. Our brown eyes and chocolate skin will help us to blend into the background.”

  “Hmm. You’re forgetting about the video with me, and Gerard dropping out of the sky like super dragon.”