“Yeah. You’re father called them to see if they’d seen you. You were supposed to come to dinner that Sunday afternoon. When you didn’t show up, we panicked. Your father looked for you everywhere. In fact your grandfather was here too. They both searched for days. You never came home. And when they confirmed you never showed up for work, we didn’t know what to think.”
“Why was Grandpa here?”
Good one, Marcus.
Lora paused. Clearly she wasn’t the one who intended to share the details of that Sunday afternoon. That was the men’s job. “Oh, he has some project he wanted to invite you to participate in. Something with work.”
“Huh. That’s weird,” Marcus said.
Yeah, about as weird as the way she stated it. Heather fought not to react to the woman’s words.
“Yeah.” She waved a hand as if to dismiss the idea. “Don’t worry about it now. You’re home, and that’s what matters. You’re staying, right?”
“Well, we need to go to Oregon right away and visit with Heather’s parents. We haven’t decided what to do after that yet.”
The front door opened, startling Heather, and apparently Marcus also, because he whipped his head around as though he expected an ambush. She grabbed his arm tighter to keep him from jumping out of his seat.
The man who entered froze on the spot, his brow furrowed. “Son.” He didn’t step forward. “I wondered whose car was in the driveway. Where have you been?”
Not, hello… So good to see you… Oh, look, you’ve found your mate… We missed you so much… Just son. Heather held her breath, watching the man’s reaction closely.
Marcus stood, but his thigh still touched Heather’s. Thank God. She needed his touch to ground her. “Dad. This is Heather. My mate.” He turned toward her and took her hand to pull her up next to him. If not for his assistance, her wobbly legs might have given way.
Carl Cunningham turned his gaze toward her, his brow still furrowed as though he hadn’t noticed her presence or the distinct scent of a newly mated couple. Finally, he nodded. “You mated.” He stated the obvious with a certain amount of disappointment in his voice.
Lora stood to approach her husband, tentatively. “Isn’t it wonderful?” she asked.
Heather got the distinct impression Lora was used to placating Carl. The man looked like he might blow steam any minute. Nothing on his face registered relief that his only child had returned from being missing.
Slowly, as Carl gazed absently at his mate, he snapped out of it. He jerked his face back to Marcus, and then Heather. “Welcome,” he stated, belatedly. The initial reaction wasn’t lost on any of them. Least of all Heather, who fought hard to keep from trembling.
Marcus lowered them both down onto their seats again, much to Heather’s relief. “We were just telling Mom how we met last month and what we’ve been doing. She said you were worried. I’m sorry. I could think of nothing but my mate for weeks. It was rude. I apologize.”
Heather wondered if Carl would stand there all night or perhaps take a seat.
“Well, you’re here now. I suppose that’s what matters.” Carl stepped farther into the room and plopped onto an armchair as though completely deflated after holding vigil for his lost son for all twenty-seven days. Heather cringed at the irony. The man had held vigil for Marcus, but not for altruistic reasons. There was no love in his eyes. No hug. Not even a handshake. Just relief his son had returned. Most likely so good old Granddad would be placated.
“I’ll start dinner.” Lora stepped toward the kitchen, but Marcus stopped her.
“Mom. No. Don’t. We can’t stay. I need to get to my place and take care of the cobwebs and dead plants.”
“Oh. You must stay. You just got here.” She hesitated.
Marcus shook his head. “Next time, Mom. Not tonight. It took all my self-control to come for a visit. I’m not ready to share Heather for that long yet.”
Heather wanted to kiss him for insisting. If they had to stay much longer, she wasn’t sure she could keep up the act. The bile that had risen in her throat since the arrival of his father was threatening a revolt. In fact, she gripped his thigh with one hand until her knuckles hurt. She wasn’t aware she was doing it until he set his hand on top of hers and loosened her grip.
As if to punctuate his words, he took her cheek in his other hand and kissed her. And then he rubbed his nose against hers.
She would have laughed at the totally ridiculous gesture not remotely like her Marcus if the situation hadn’t been so dire and serious.
“Your grandfather was looking for you.” Ah, so Carl wasn’t going to waste any time.
“That’s what Mom said. Is he okay? He isn’t sick or something is he?” Marcus pasted a worried expression on his face. He was going to win an Emmy before this was all said and done.
Carl shifted his gaze toward Lora as if to admonish her for speaking a word of the conversation before he arrived. He narrowed his eyes and sent her a glare.
Lora smiled, but her hand flew to her throat. “I was just telling Marcus that Dad has some sort of business proposition for him.”
Carl didn’t move for a second, and Heather hoped he didn’t beat the woman as soon as they were alone again. Finally, he shifted his gaze back to Marcus. “Melvin has a very enterprising business in Minnesota. He came to offer you a position.”
“He needs a contractor?”
Heather could have beamed. Marcus was so convincing. After all, since Marcus was a contractor, why else would his grandfather be requesting his services?
Carl hesitated. “Not exactly. I’ll let him explain. He’s been as worried as we have since your disappearance. I’m sure he’ll want to see you right away. I’ll call him this evening.” Carl fingered the arm of the chair, stroking it with the tips of his fingers.
Heather imagined him itching to pull his cell out and make that call posthaste.
“Well, I am out of a job…” Marcus rubbed his chin. He turned toward Heather. “Maybe this is the sort of opportunity we need, honey.”
Heather smiled. Was it too strained? She didn’t feel half as confident in her acting ability as the show she was watching her fantastic mate perform. “You should look into it.” She turned toward Carl. “Minnesota, you said? I’ve never been there. I hear it’s beautiful.”
“Oh. I, uh…” Carl swallowed. He hadn’t counted on Heather accompanying his son anywhere. She knew that, but it would be unnatural for Marcus to insinuate he was going to leave her and move to Minnesota even for a day.
Marcus interrupted to create a divergence. He set his forehead on hers. “I’ll talk to him. Maybe I could call him myself tomorrow.” He turned back to his father.
“Oh, well, I’m sure he’ll come here in person. He’s got lots of good ideas. And I know he’ll be anxious for you to get started.” Carl swallowed. “You’ve been gone so long.”
“It sounds like an excellent opportunity and a change in pace. I hope he didn’t find someone else.”
Carl shook his head. “He really wanted you to have the job. He wanted to keep it in the family.”
“Excellent.” Marcus grinned as though he’d won the lottery instead of a trip to a medical facility in God-knew-where Minnesota where he would be lucky if he wasn’t killed or in any way tortured.
Heather shivered, and Marcus took the cue thankfully to get out of Dodge before she lost it. He stood abruptly and hauled her next to him, putting his arm around her in support, his grip on her shoulder firmer than anyone was aware of. “Well, we’ve got to go. I want to get back to the house before it’s dark to give it a good inspection.”
Carl stood also, as did Lora.
Carl stepped toward the front door, blocking it.
For a heartbeat, Heather worried the man wouldn’t let them leave, but then he stepped to one side and opened the door. “Come by in the morning, okay? I’ll speak to Melvin tonight.”
“Excellent. Thanks, Dad. That’s a huge weight off my shoulders. At least n
ow I won’t have to worry about how to feed my mate now that I’ve blown through my savings acting like a love-struck idiot for a month.”
Carl didn’t smile, but his shoulders relaxed marginally. The important thing was for the man to buy the idea Marcus and Heather weren’t a flight risk this evening.
As Marcus led Heather onto the front porch, Lora said good-bye. A new tear formed in her eye as Heather glanced back to see her in the doorway.
The moment Heather turned toward the car again and landed on solid ground at the bottom of the steps, she exhaled slowly. She couldn’t get away from the house fast enough. And she ached for her mate, for all the years he’d endured under that roof, even if he hadn’t known what his grandfather planned for him on the side most of his childhood. It still rankled. And she wanted to go someplace where she could hold him.
He had to be reeling from the shock. Even knowing everything that occurred in the last hour had been exactly as expected, it didn’t change the fact Marcus’s parents had betrayed him. That confirmation would make anyone freak out. Heather didn’t believe Lora knew much about her father’s plans at all, and she doubted Carl knew the entire story either, but it felt as though they’d sold their only child to the devil himself.
Chapter Ten
Marcus drove. He didn’t say a word for several minutes, keeping both hands on the steering wheel and his eyes on the road. He couldn’t reach out and touch Heather yet. He felt dirty somehow, and until he purged himself of the filth that made up his entire life, he couldn’t face her.
He needed a run. He hoped she would be okay with that.
When she spoke, she startled him. Her soft voice interrupted his pity party. “How far is it to your house?”
He glanced at her, and some of the anger dissipated. No matter what a son of a bitch his father was or how browbeaten his mother, he had Heather and the rest of their lives after this was all over. Even one day with her would make up for anything in his past. It already had. He took her hand. “We aren’t going to my place.”
“Why?”
“Because I wouldn’t be able to rest one second in that place. If I never see it again, I’ll be fine with that. Few things are of any value to me there, anyway. Whatever I need, I’ll send someone from NAR in to get later.”
Heather inched closer to him and set a hand on his arm. Instantly he calmed, wondering why he’d avoided touching her in the first place. “NAR has the place surrounded, you know. It isn’t as though someone could kidnap you from your home in the night. Besides, if you moved an inch, NAR would track you and tail you to the end of the Earth.”
He knew that, intellectually, but nevertheless his stomach threatened to toss his lunch if he went home. NAR had shifters everywhere. They were undoubtedly tailing him even now in an effort to stay close. They would watch his parents’ home and his own home tonight, in case anything didn’t go exactly as planned.
Chip or no chip, Marcus didn’t relish the idea of being kidnapped and taken to Minnesota against his will.
No. What he needed was to be convincing enough he was eager and willing to take the “job” on his own without coercing. It was the only way to ensure he had control over his communication with the outside. He knew the window would be limited. If his grandfather really did intend to conduct medical experiments on him to alter his DNA, as soon as that came to light, his world would be cut off.
He looked at Heather again and swallowed. She’d be alone, perhaps never to see him again. Or at least not the same him he’d been before the alterations his own kin had planned.
He couldn’t let that happen. And he wouldn’t risk it by returning to his house.
Instead he drove around in strange patterns for a while and then left town, heading for a hotel two towns over. It wasn’t going to be far enough to allow him to let his guard down completely, but at least he might be able to stop the shaking.
After a run. And a shower. In that order.
Heather set her head on his shoulder.
He was glad she didn’t say anything placating because nothing she could say would alleviate his concerns. They were valid. He knew good and well he’d made this bed himself, but there had been no other choice. He was committed, but that didn’t make it any easier.
They drove miles past the town he wanted to stay in. He pulled off onto a side road and hid the car in a grove of trees a distance from the highway. “I need to run,” he said as he cut the engine.
Heather nodded against him. “It’s a good plan.”
He opened his door and helped her slide out on his side. He took her face in his hands. It was dark, but he could see her perfectly. “I love you. You did beautifully back there.”
She smiled. “You did too. Deserving of an Academy Award.” She kissed him and then stepped back and held his gaze as she stripped from her clothes.
He knew she was trying to distract him from himself, and it was working. She could do anything she wanted as long as she looked at him like that and never stopped.
Marcus hesitated. He considered forgoing the run and fucking his mate hard on the hood of the car instead. The pent up frustration would dissipate just as easily if not quicker. But she deserved better. She deserved his full attention directed at her because he craved her, not because he needed a fuck.
And besides, until he had a shower to wash away the stench of betrayal from his parents’ home, he couldn’t picture himself pushing his cock into his sexy mate’s body.
Firm in his decision, Marcus stripped himself of his own clothes moments behind Heather and shifted on her heels. Bless her for going along with his innate urge to take his natural form and not just pacify him but join him.
Marcus set off at a slow pace at first, fighting the need to run harder and risk losing his mate in his wake or causing her to run too hard for her size. But Heather surprised him, taking off ahead of him at a breakneck pace and glancing back with a twinkle in her eye that said, “Aren’t you coming, wolfboy?”
If he could have chuckled in wolf form, he would have. Instead he had to content himself with knowing he was the luckiest bastard alive to have found Heather.
Two hours later, they had run themselves to exhaustion, eaten at a diner near the hotel, and called NAR to fill them in on what transpired at his parents’ house. They checked into a room on the third floor. Marcus wished they could have stayed on the twenty-ninth floor, but the highest high-rise in this small town only extended to three floors. The farther he was from the filth that could be lurking on the street, the better.
As if she’d read his mind, Heather took his hand and lured him toward the room’s king-sized bed, her ass shaking seductively in front of him. “Stop worrying. We’re totally safe here. I’m sure even NAR was lost a few times on the way.”
He rolled his shoulders as his mate distracted him with a second strip tease. This time he intended to take full advantage of her nudity, and he quickly removed his own clothing to drop it on the floor. “Let’s get in the shower. I can smell my parents’ house on my clothes. I might have to burn them.”
She nodded and turned for the bathroom, dropping another garment every few feet along the way. “We could burn our clothes if it will make you feel better.” She knew just what to say to lighten the mood. “Or we could forget the trip down memory lane altogether, and I could take your mind off things in a more entertaining fashion.” She turned in the doorway and waggled her eyebrows. The words she uttered next were the exact one’s he’d imagined in the woods earlier. “Are you coming, wolfboy?”
Marcus lunged at her, pinning her to the vanity in the tiny bathroom when she stepped back. He took her lips in a deep kiss. She tasted of the outdoors and the sweetener she’d put in her tea at dinner. He wanted to consume her. And he would. As soon as they were clean.
Still kissing her, he reached under her ass and lifted her against his body. She wrapped her legs around him, and he carried her to the shower.
He waited until they were inside, and he plas
tered her against the tile with her legs still gripped around his waist to turn on the water.
She yelped at the instantly cold waterfall running over her body.
The water grew warmer quickly. Marcus was almost disappointed as he reached for the knob to turn down the temperature as it got too hot. Returning his gaze to his mate, he tucked his fingers back under her ass and reached farther until he could pull her pussy open with his middle fingers and press them toward her center.
She squirmed again, this time to dislodge him rather than avoid the water.
He set her down slowly, hating when his cock lost the intense direct contact. It bobbed in front of him, and Heather reached with one hand to stroke the tip.
He moaned and then stepped from her grasp and turned her around to face the wall.
A shiver wracked her body, one he could feel clear through his own at such close proximity. He wanted to stroke his finger through her pussy again, but he didn’t dare. She’d likely come from that simple contact, and he wanted her to wait while he pampered her body in the shower.
Marcus reached for the shampoo and poured it in his hand. When he set his palms on her red curls and massaged her scalp, she tipped her head back on a moan. “That feels so good.”
He nudged her legs apart with one of his and planted his foot between them. Massaging her head longer than necessary was easy. The longer he stayed in the shower and stared at his mate’s sexy ass, the longer he could avoid reality and concentrate on the mate he’d met only a few days ago, whom he was in no way done exploring. Especially knowing there was always the chance he would never see her again.
He hadn’t said as much out loud at any point in the planning, but inside he knew what his grandfather was capable of. He’d been the recipient of years of experimental drugs. The man no more loved him and cared about his wellbeing than a blade of grass under his shoe. Visiting his parents that evening confirmed his fears. No blood relation of his would be a champion in his court. His father was clearly in cahoots with his crazy grandfather, and his mother was spineless.
Betrayed (Wolf Gatherings Book 6) Page 12
