“Lexi, you haven’t done anything to be sorry about,” Lucas opened his phone, tapping in Hank’s number. “Pass this information through the pack. Anyone comes looking for Lexi Baker or asking questions about a cougar, you contact…” he looked up at his brother, not surprised at the tense nod he returned. “Eli. Keep an eye out for some out of place coyotes and any hint of a Mitch James. Get one of us immediately. Yes. Get the information to Sage, I think he’s patrolling somewhere west of here. Thanks, Hank.” He snapped the phone and set it down, lifting his burger and taking a large bite.
Chapter Ten
“Your friends are worried about posting bail,” Jess moved quietly behind her, leaning on the railing she held in a knuckle white grip.
“Issues,” she said sullenly. “He drove one of our friends to kill herself because she didn’t think there was a way out. A way to get away from him. I won’t let him take another of my friends,” she told herself confidently.
“You’re all of…what…five-six? Maybe?”
“Attitude makes you taller. And boots don’t hurt,” she returned, her head down and breathing back to normal. “You should be eating your lunch. You need the food after healing.”
“You know a lot about us.”
“Friends,” she placed a palm on his bicep with a gentle pat. “I’ll be back. Restroom.”
Jess wasn’t sure whether to believe her or not, but he returned to the table. She was right and he was starving. Tension eased free when he saw her heading back and he took in the full package.
She was right about the boots and the attitude, he thought, almost laughing. Next to her friends, she was petite, since he’d guess both Lexi and Scarlet were at least five-ten without shoes.
She had sunny blond hair that probably didn’t touch her shoulders but was pulled back into a bundle at the back of her head. Except for all the wild golden curls that had eased free and framed the delicate heart shaped face.
Her eyes were a sea blue-green that seemed far too wide, round and innocent for the woman he’d only known a few hours. Add to that a sexy bright red colored pair of full lips that formed the most kissable bow he’d seen in ages.
But in the end, it was the black leather and black jeans that messed with his head, he decided with a welcoming grin.
“I’m sorry,” Lily looked at the two men sitting close to her friends. “I don’t contain anger well.”
“I’ve put my people on alert, Lily,” Lucas told her confidently.
“Where are you staying?” Lily looked at Lexi, one brow up when her friend looked a little embarrassed.
“She could stay at the ranch,” Scarlet said immediately. “Lucas has lots of room.”
“She’ll be staying with me,” Eli said without hesitation. “The fences are alarmed as well as the house. Toby is coming out later this afternoon and towing her car to his garage.”
“Are we having a funeral?” Lily chuckled at the scowl from Lexi. “Just checking. I didn’t pack a little black dress.”
“Ha-ha. Just you wait. That car will be a classic one day,” Lexi mumbled, ignoring the looks that didn’t ask about her housing arrangements.
“Well, if you’re sure, Eli,” Scarlet nodded, her attention on Lily. “Did you find a place to stay yet?”
Lily was about to reply when a tall, leggy redhead slipped into her vision, her hands going immediately to Lucas’s shoulder before she bent forward and kissed his cheek.
Lily arched a brow at first Lexi and then Scarlet, the obvious form fitting very short dress not for their attention or appreciation.
“Lucas, I’ve been trying to call you,” blue eyes crinkled as she used a long, slim finger to remove the lipstick that had tinted his cheek.
“Can I shoot her?” Lily asked, opening her jacket and reaching inside.
“Lily!” Lexi hissed furiously, glancing around at the people watching them.
“We could feed her to the coyotes,” Lily responded, sulking and sighing. She picked up her sandwich, watching Lucas slide his chair back and move out of the younger woman’s reach.
“Kelly, I’ve told you to find someone who’s interested.”
“Oh, I can make you interested,” she said with a low, sexy laugh.
“Aww…c’mon, guys…let me shoot her.”
“Who are you?” Kelly cast an irritated look over at the blonde.
“Lily Gaines,” Lily stood up and would have moved forward but found her waist surrounded by a very firm arm. The frown was first and then the low growl.
Jess had seen the frantic eye movement from Lexi and moved quickly, holding Lily close. For a little thing she had muscle. He lifted the palm closest to him and kissed the soft center.
“Darling, you don’t want to damage your knuckles again,” Jess winked at Lexi who suddenly found the last fries on her plate very interesting.
“And I’m Scarlet Matthews. Lucas’s mate,” she stood up but did not offer her palm. “I’d appreciate if you kept your lipstick to yourself. It’s really not his color,” she felt her heart begin to hammer when his arm rose and circled her waist, his head against her breast.
“Good bye, Kelly,” Lucas met the angry eyes with a grin. “You’re way too young for me.”
“Is she out of high school?” Lily asked, following the curved redhead as she stormed from the restaurant. “Is it my imagination or are a lot of people watching us? Seriously, the whole freaking restaurant,” she kept her head still and let her eyes wander, only just remembering that Jess was holding onto her. “I think it’s safe to let go now. You let the prey get away.”
“I don’t doubt for a minute it wouldn’t take you five minutes to find another target, Lily,” Jess opened his arm, finished his burger when she sunk into the seat. “I have a spare room you can use. And extra keys.”
“Why are you ignoring my question?” Lily frowned at Lexi and Scarlet. “Why are people staring?”
“Probably because it’s gone through town like wild fire that the Daniels’ boys have dates,” Lucas watched Scarlet sit back at his side. She’d made the declaration in public and in front of her friends. She’d staked her territory and he was it.
“And that’s a major event?” Lily asked curiously.
“We need to go,” Scarlet stood up and grabbed Lily’s hand, dragging her toward the door.
“We’ve seen this before,” Lexi offered quickly, following. “We’ll be outside.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Oh, nothing…nothing at…”
“What are you people gawking at?” Lily had broken free and stormed into the middle of the restaurant, hands settled on the curve of her hip and full view offered of the laced up front of her corset. “Have you never seen couples on a peaceful date before?”
“We need to get her to a gym,” Lexi felt the heat in her cheeks, staring at Jess as he calmly stood up, laughing with his brothers and walked over to Lily. He grabbed one of her hands and spun her before she could react, bending slightly and putting his shoulder into her middle.
“Let’s go, Lily. We need to find you an outlet for all this energy,” he was still laughing when he set her down on the sidewalk.
“What is wrong with you?” Lily gaped at him in disbelief. No one had ever carried her over their shoulder before. No one would dare. She stared into the green eyes behind the glasses, her head shaking. “Why didn’t you fight back out there?” She asked suddenly.
“I was walking back from visiting a sick little girl, taking a short cut across the field. One of them…I don’t know where my head was…tests or symptoms…hell, I don’t know. Somehow, one of them caught me with a two-by-four and it took a while for my head to stop spinning. That was almost when you showed up,” Jess took her hand and walked with his brothers to the park in the center of the large round-about. “So what’s the plan, Lucas?”
“We have the pack on alert,” Lucas liked the feel of the smaller palm in his, her body moving at his side. “We all have alarms and we’re
armed. It’s Saturday. If we don’t…” he stopped when his phone and Jess’s sounded. He looked over at Eli. “You turned yours off, didn’t you?”
“Damn straight.”
“Mom,” Jess said after looking at the readout.
“No kidding,” Lucas sighed.
“She won’t stop.”
“Why are you avoiding your mother?” Scarlet asked, looking from Lexi to Lily to the males. She stepped away from Lucas and sat back on the curved iron bench.
“You guys go off and deal with your mother,” Lexi told them, giving Eli a shove. “We need to talk. Privately,” she said before their mouths could open. She tugged Lily’s hand and pushed her onto the bench before sinking to the ground and facing her friends. “Shoo…off with you…”
Lily watched the three men drift to the other side of the small area.
“When did small town guys get so darned sexy,” Lily murmured, taking in the long legs and simple sneakers Jess was wearing.
“No kidding,” Lexi leaned her elbows on her knees, her head shaking. “Last night…no memory…for some reason I thought we were married and…damn he’s sexy,” she sighed thickly.
“Are you alright, Scarlet?” Lily turned sideways on the bench, crossing her legs beneath her.
Scarlet let a little nervous laugh slip free. “I don’t know. I…I never wanted to be here again. I like my lake…my inn…”
“You like him, too,” Lexi said softly. “I always wondered how that bonding thing works.”
“It isn’t the bonding,” Scarlet shook her head. “I mean…it’s there. But this is different. The feeling is different.”
“I’m glad sometimes I’m just a boring little human,” Lily sighed and looked at her friends. “And you like him,” she said, looking at Lexi. “A dog?”
“Yeah…go figure…if nothing else, I have to thank his mother for raising a gentleman,” Lexi looked down at her palms. “If it wasn’t for Mitch, I’d be headed to your Inn for the winter and happy with that. So now maybe I have a little fling and then head north. Towns always need computer people.”
“Yeah…a fling…” Lily folded her body in half. “It’s been a long day.”
“Why don’t you come out to Lucas’s and I’ll make breakfast in the morning?” Scarlet suggested, watching the three men walking slowly toward them, their voices low. She knew Lexi would be safe with Eli, but she still wished they could… “We’re having a sleepover.”
“A what?” Lucas heard the words and hoped he was wrong.
“A sleepover. We haven’t seen one another in a few months,” Scarlet announced cheerfully, bouncing up from the bench. “I’ll go buy some stuff. You guys come out to Lucas’ and we’ll have a sleepover.”
“Scarlet, I’m not sure that’s…” Lexi found herself pulled off the ground, staring into the dark eyes of her friend. “Alright. Sleepover. Right. Umm…are you sure about this?” She looked from one scowling male to the other.
“What the hell? There’s plenty of room,” Lucas exhaled deeply. He’d had some idiot notion he could finally pin her down and get her to talk to him.
“We have plenty of food but I’ll get some fun stuff and see you about six,” Scarlet said excitedly, ignoring the frowns from the men and the pure disbelief from her friends. She grabbed up Lucas’s palm and pulled him along. “You guys can come, too! Bye, see you in a while!”
“She’s lost her fucking mind,” Lily said with a shake of her head. “Are thirty something’s supposed to have sleep overs?”
“I think it’s all the stress,” Lexi shrugged, frowning at Lily. “But I think it’ll be fun. You gonna come out?”
“If I don’t, I have to look at those damn puppy dog eyes next time I see her,” Lily sighed and shrugged. “What the hell? At least it’s not going to storm tonight. I’d spend the night pulling the pair of you out of closets,” she mumbled, offered a backward wave and headed to her bike.
“Miss Sensitivity?” Jess nodded at Eli and let him wander off in another direction with Lexi.
“Don’t you start. So why is the redhead dangling all over your brother?”
“Social climber,” Jess shrugged, sliding his hands into the pockets of his jeans, his face tilted to the sun and then to the way it sparkled and danced over her head.
Lily stopped at her bike, leaning back and crossing her arms over her chest, unaware that it only served to push her chest out a little more. She was focused on the ground in thought and didn’t notice him taking in the full effect of her on the people continuing to watch them.
“Is that why he brought her here?” Lily looked up to find him studying her. It wasn’t difficult. From what she able to gather, he was the middle Daniels’. She’d seen the muscles and strength in him and wouldn’t mind running her hands through the short cropped straw colored hair. For an instant she saw something flare inside his pale green eyes and she felt something begin to sizzle inside her.
“He hasn’t talked to us about all of it, but I know he’s less than happy with the behavior of some of the females in the pack. Not to mention one who came from outside,” Jess frowned slightly. “Caroline has only been here for a couple weeks. She couldn’t have known that Lexi would be coming here.”
“How could she? Lexi’s plan had been to go to Morning Star Lake, not here,” Lily shrugged. “But I’m not a big believer in coincidence. It’s annoying.”
Jess felt the tension grab his body, the intensity in her eyes holding his. “She’ll be here and safe. Eli will make sure of that.”
“Why did you tell them I was staying with you? We just met and while that’s really generous of you,” Lily stopped when he moved closer, her feet hastily uncrossing and her body straightening as he closed the open space between them.
“I agree with you about coincidence,” he leaned closer, amused to watch her trying to bend back over the seat of her bike. “But I do believe in fate.”
“Fate? Oh, please…what the hell are you doing? Fate’s just another word for…that means you believe in some higher power guiding things! You think it was fate that created shifters? It was idiot humans playing around with stuff they should have left alone,” she sputtered to a stop, eyes wide and air stuck in her chest. Her head shook slightly. “I’m sorry, that’s…it didn’t sound…”
“Maybe I believe some higher power pushed humans to their experiments because they weren’t doing such a hot job on their own,” he answered calmly, his nose inches from her throat and her scent sending spears of arousal through him.
“The purists would argue with you,” she answered, meeting his curious gaze. “There are purists on both sides, Jess.” She held still, working hard not to shiver when his face came closer, his nostrils flaring as he inhaled slowly. “We need to discuss a little thing called personal space,” she whispered hoarsely.
“I’m breaking my own rules about personal space just for you. Do the purists worry you?”
“I’m betting there aren’t many humans in this town.”
“A few,” he admitted watching her chew on her lip. “Lily, no one will hurt you here, I promise you that,” he said the words sincerely then grinned, remembering who he was talking to.
“Do you…um…dally…with many humans?”
“Dally?” His laugh was low, husky. “Sweetheart, you are far more than a dally.”
“People might not like that. Like that girl in the restaurant…she looked at Scarlet and Lexi, but she wanted to eat me. Raw.”
“The people who matter will accept you. Is that worrying you?”
“Your parents…” She closed her eyes. You’ve known the guy less than twelve hours, she screamed inside her head. You never settle anywhere! Ever!
“My mother will be taking out a full page ad in the local paper,” he said with a laugh, his head shaking. “Eli’s the youngest at thirty-three and she’s been lamenting that none of us have settled down yet. My father…he’ll ask a lot of questions until he sees you shoot. We can handle guns, but d
on’t care for them. We prefer our claws and teeth. You…he’ll adopt and make primary in his will.”
“I don’t think you’re taking this…this…whatever it is…serious…”
“Then you don’t know shifters as well as you thought, Lily,” he leaned closer to her ear with a little nip. His body hardened when her scent shifted to pure desire.
“What are you doing?” She whispered, unable to raise her voice or move.
“Getting your scent. It’s special. It’s you…purely you…and it’s amazing,” he murmured, his tongue dragged slowly along the column of her throat.
“Umm…for food?” Lily held her breath, deciding she liked the way the corners of his eyes crinkled when he was amused, that mouth hovering just above hers.
“Humans taste terrible…as food…”
“I don’t even want to know how you know that,” she mumbled.
“I’m sure I saw it on TV,” he returned softly, giving into the temptation and settling his mouth over hers.
He began at one corner, dragging his tongue along that deep bow of her lower lip and working around the sweet curve. Jess savored the shiver that raced through her, made her press closer to him.
Her hands left the bike and landed on the belt of his jeans, fingers curled and holding on. Her nails lightly grazed his stomach and sent streaks of fire through him.
He could feel the rapid beat of her pulse, the steady increase as he explored and she responded, fueling what fate had sent him to discover.
Jess let the low groan inside him free, her response hungry and spiced with promise. His palms rose to frame her face, softly scented skin beneath his fingertips. Feathery tendrils of pale blond hair caressed the backs of his hands, his fingertips
“You…um…believe this is fate?” Lily asked when she could form words again, her eyes closed as he continued to breathe in her. She shivered and knew she wasn’t the least bit chilled.
“You feel it, Lily, or you wouldn’t have your leg wrapped around my waist,” Jess chuckled when her head popped up, eyes wide and then down.
Devil Hills: #1 Scarlet, Lexi & Lily Page 7
