by Jane Jamison
“No.” Marrick slugged back most of his wine.
“Maybe he’s out of the area by now.”
“No. He’s still around.”
“How can you be so sure, Marrick?”
“He wouldn’t leave without his kids,” added Craig. “No matter what he did to Donna, no matter what he’s become, he wouldn’t desert his kids. We just don’t do that.”
“We?”
The men exchanged a look. “People in Twisted.”
She twirled the wine, making the red liquid ebb and flow inside her glass. “I don’t mean to stick my nose into your business, but why did she stay with her husband? For the kids?”
“That’s part of it.” Marrick took a swig of his drink, his gaze settling on the view out the window.
“And the other part?” She was pushing, but was too curious to stop.
“She and John shared the—” He paused, as though he’d almost said too much. “They shared something special. He was hers and she was his.” Craig’s hard expression softened. “Around here, people believe that when you find the right one or ones to love, it’s forever.”
“Even when it’s bad? You don’t think women have to stay married to abusive husbands, do you?”
“No, of course not. But falling in love doesn’t mean the relationship stays great like it was in the beginning. Or that the people involved are good people. People change and not always for the better. You can fall in love with an asshole, right? And, although they’re an asshole, you can keep on loving them. Do you know what I mean?”
She’d thought she’d loved Richard, but now she knew she’d been wrong. Instead, she’d been in love with the idea of loving him. “Yeah, I do. Although I’d never stick around if he put his hands on me.”
“Everyone has to make their own decisions. Donna made hers.”
She studied Craig, wanting to know more details. Yet with Marrick looking so bleak, it was better to change the subject. “Have you guys lived in Twisted all your lives?”
“I have,” answered Marrick, looking a little less pensive. “Twisted Oaks Ranch has been in my family for two generations. I’ll make the third.” His gaze met hers. “My kids will be the fourth generation.”
“Your kids?” He’d never mentioned any former wives, much less baby mammas.
“When I’m lucky enough to have them.”
“So you haven’t been married?”
His dark mood lifted. “Nope. Neither has Craig. We waited for the right woman.”
“What about you, Craig?”
“I grew up in a middle-sized town in Colorado called Shallow Springs. During a stint in the army, I met this lug. It didn’t take long before Marrick finally figured out that he couldn’t run the ranch without me, so I moved down here to help him out.”
Marrick lifted the casserole dish and started heaping piles of it on each of their plates. He paused at Craig’s joke. “Yeah, right. The place was going into the dumps before you came along.”
Although she told herself not to ask, she blurted out the question anyway. “And there’s no woman in your life, either? Or kids?”
“Like Marrick said, we waited for the right woman.”
“You make it sound like you’ve already found her. And that it’s supposed to be the same woman. Like you’re both going to be her husband.” Which, of course, was absurd. She’d heard of polygamists, but that was one man with sister wives. Not the other way around. They were joking. Or were they playing her?
“That’s exactly what we’re thinking.”
She paused, looking from Craig to Marrick. “Seriously? You’re planning on sharing one woman?” All at once, she found it difficult to think. Trying to hide her confusion, she took a drink and dropped her gaze to the table. Were they toying with her? Was she just a girl to mess around with until their woman showed up? If that woman existed, then where was she?
“We are.”
Marrick’s tone had lowered, adding a silky richness that swept into her and turned her thinking upside down. Her libido took off into a wild race.
“We think you’re the one, Lisa.” Craig took her hand and squeezed. “No, I didn’t say it right. We know you’re the one.”
She had no choice but to look at him. “I don’t understand. We just met. People don’t fall in love at first sight.”
“Trust me. They do.” His gray eyes sparkled. “Tell the truth. You feel something when you’re with us, don’t you?”
She couldn’t speak. Instead, she nodded. How could she lie?
“It’s an intense sensation that keeps getting stronger. Right?” asked Marrick.
She nodded yet again. Denying what she felt was impossible. And yet, she wasn’t prepared to believe. Everything was coming at her at lightning speed, searing through her, scrambling her mind.
“We feel it, too.” Craig squeezed her hand again. “It means we belong together.”
“How do you know?” Were they really saying they were meant to be together? Like they were fated for love?
“Ask yourself the same question, babe.” Craig turned her hand loose.
How did she know? Because she couldn’t resist them? Because she yearned to have them near her every second of every day? But those yearnings were based on physical attraction, not real love. She wouldn’t mistake lust for love again.
She stood up abruptly, knocking over her wine. The red liquid spread under the casserole dish. “I—I don’t know what’s going on. This is too fast.”
They stood and came toward her. She backed away, not because she wanted to, but because she was afraid not to. If she didn’t, if they touched her, she’d be lost, ready to do whatever they wanted. Sex was one thing, but they were talking about so much more.
“Don’t fight it, Lisa. What you’re feeling is good and right. We’re meant to be,” insisted Craig.
“This is crazy.” Crazy, maybe, but what if it wasn’t?
“Baby.” Marrick closed in, taking what little air seemed left in the room away.
“No. Please. I can’t do this.” Desperately, she searched for an answer. She pointed toward the stairs. “The kids are waiting for me.”
“Lisa, we have to talk about this.”
“No, Craig. I can’t.” She spun around and dashed out of the room.
* * * *
“Well, hell, that went great,” joked Craig.
“Fuck. You’d think as much as we’ve talked about the day when we’d finally find her, we would’ve handled it a lot better than we did.” Marrick dropped onto his chair again.
His friend couldn’t be more right, but that didn’t help them now. Craig grabbed a rag from the kitchen and started cleaning up the wine. Marrick didn’t move. Instead, he sat, staring into his glass.
They’d brought up the subject in a bad way, but at the time, it had seemed the natural thing to do. “We pushed too fast and too hard, but it doesn’t mean it’s all over.”
Marrick lifted his glass and took another long drink. “Sure as hell looks like it to me. We’ll be lucky if she stays the night.”
“She’ll stay. The connection will keep her here.” He sounded a lot more confident than he felt.
“I hope so,” muttered Marrick.
“Don’t worry, man. And if she leaves, we’ll go after her.”
“We’ve got to finish the other problem first.”
Craig tossed the rag into the kitchen and took his chair again. “What else can we do? The pride’s searching for him. We’ve looked everywhere we can think of.”
“He’s still in the area. I know he is.”
“How can you be so sure? If he’s smart, he’d be halfway to Mexico by now.”
Marrick snorted. “He’s not that smart. If he was, he never would’ve laid hands on my sister.”
“He has a temper. That played a part in it.” How many times had they worried about John taking out his anger on Donna? And yet, they’d failed to save her. He’d never forgive himself for letting it happen and knew
his friend’s guilt was worse.
“Are you saying it’s my sister’s fault? That she deserved what she got?”
Craig couldn’t get an answer out before Marrick was on his feet. His friend’s eyes flashed amber as fangs slipped over his lower lip and claws slashed at him, ready to rake through his chest. Craig pushed his chair back, knocking it over. He barely got out of the way as Marrick launched his body at him.
“Damn it. Calm the hell down. I’m not saying that at all. You fucking know I’m not.” His inner tiger surged to the surface. The colors of the room morphed into amber. Fighting to maintain control, Craig rushed into the living room, putting as much distance between them as he could. The last thing he wanted was to fight his friend.
He glanced up the staircase. If Lisa saw Marrick starting to shift, they’d have more trouble than they could handle. She’d run for sure.
“Get control, Marrick. Do you want her to see you?” He spoke as softly as he could while stressing the possible danger.
Marrick growled, but came to a stop. The struggle to push his inner beast into submission showed with his facial contortions. By the time he had his tiger under control, he was breathing heavily. He’d come far too close to losing it. Seeing Marrick so close to turning his tiger free was unnerving. His friend was the strongest person he knew and if he couldn’t control his animal, then they were screwed.
“You know I loved her as much as you did. I thought of her as my sister, too.” Craig kept his voice down, but for another reason now. It hurt him to think his friend would believe he’d ever say anything bad about Donna.
“Yeah, I know. I’m sorry. It’s just that…” Marrick groaned and leaned on the couch for support. The struggle to regain control of his beast had taken a lot out of him. “He’s still around. I know him. He wouldn’t leave his kids.”
“You really think he cares about them? I don’t see how any man who loves his children could hurt their mother.”
“He loves them in his own sick way, but it’s more. They’re possessions to him. He’s greedy and selfish enough not to care what’s best for them.” Marrick pushed away from the couch. “I’d bet the ranch he went back home and found them gone. If Lisa hadn’t come along, he would’ve tracked them down and left long before we found out about Donna.”
Craig understood what Marrick was going through. He felt the same way. “We’re going to find him if it takes us the rest of our lives. I swear it.”
Marrick dropped onto the couch and rested his head in his hands. “I know.” His body shuddered as he dragged in a breath. “I hate the way Lisa came into our lives, but I don’t want anything to mess it up.”
“Don’t worry.” Craig patted him on the shoulder and sat beside him. For as long as they lived, he’d stick by his friend. “Relax, man. I won’t let you fuck it up.”
Fortunately, Marrick chuckled. “Thanks.”
“Good. As long as you know I’m in charge.” Craig crooked his head toward the kitchen table. “Let’s clean up then finish that bottle of wine. I could use a few more drinks.”
Craig had only been half-joking, but the truth was simple enough. If Marrick did anything to run Lisa off, he’d have his head. Barring that, first they’d find John Bask and then they’d claim Lisa.
Chapter Five
As far as Marrick was concerned, being a shape-shifter, especially a white tiger, included more pros than cons. He was faster and had sensitive hearing, sight, and smell. Whenever he allowed his tiger to rise up, he was stronger than any human male ever could be. One con, however, was that it took a hell of a lot of alcohol to get him drunk. He and Craig had finished off a couple of wine bottles a few hours earlier, but it had done nothing to take the edge off. Craig had gone to bed, reminding him that they planned on getting up early to hunt for John. But sleep had eluded Marrick and he’d finally given up on trying.
Instead, he strayed to the back deck, leaned against a post, and gazed at the stars. Sorrow filled him as memories of his sister came racing back. Like Teag and Kitty, they’d wrestled and fought, but they’d also had each other’s backs. Then John Bask had come along and, although at first he was happy his sister had found her intended mate, he hadn’t liked John. Just because weretigers found their fated lovers didn’t mean they didn’t have problems. Or that one of them wouldn’t turn into an abuser.
If only I’d made Donna to leave him.
But his sister had been as stubborn as he was.
Donna would’ve liked Lisa. They would’ve become fast friends in a matter of days.
Lisa was perfect. She was beautiful with her shoulder length brunette hair and blue eyes. Her body curved in all the right places, giving her the rounded look he liked. A man needed to get a good grip on a woman whether she was underneath him or riding on top.
Beauty alone, however, wasn’t worth much. He and Craig had often talked about their future mate’s personality. The bond drawing them together wouldn’t make up for their woman being a bitch. If they’d had the chance to choose, they would’ve chosen personality and a good heart over a pretty face. Luckily for them, Lisa had looks, personality, brains, and a compassionate soul. Not every woman would’ve searched for the kids then walked all night to get them to safety. Although the connection was responsible for keeping her in Twisted and near them, he knew she’d stayed for the kids, too. The way the three of them were together was unmistakable. They were bonded as surely as she was to Craig and him.
He scanned the area behind the house. Where was John? If it was the last thing he ever did, he’d found his son of a bitch brother-in-law and exact revenge.
No.
He’d had enough of thinking about John tonight. Finding him was his priority, but he’d be damned if he’d let that murderer come between getting Lisa as their mate. Turning his gaze to the second story, he checked the guest bedroom where she slept. A dim light stilled glowed.
What if he went to her tonight? Would she listen to the primal urges the connection fired inside her? She’d started to do so when they’d come together on the deck. Or would she fight it, denying the inevitable?
Suddenly, he had to find out.
He took the stairs two at a time while still being as quiet as he could. He could hear Craig’s snoring coming from his room and paused, considering waking his friend. What would Craig say if he and Lisa had sex without him?
More than likely Craig would kick my ass. Then congratulate me.
Smiling, he continued down the hallway to the guest room. His hand stilled as he was about to knock. Instead, he noticed that the door was ajar and decided to ease inside the room.
The bedspread was turned down and he could tell she’d lain down, but she wasn’t there now. He stepped inside the bedroom and glanced at the attached bathroom. The door was open wide enough to see that she wasn’t there, either.
Where was she?
At first, the loss of his sister swamped him, making him fear that John had come back and taken Lisa. Then, remembering that John didn’t even know Lisa, he calmed down. Maybe she’d gone downstairs to the kitchen for a late night snack. But that didn’t make any sense, either. He would’ve seen her in the kitchen or on the stairs.
Walking back into the hallway, he paused and shifted enough to heighten his sense of hearing. A sound drew him toward the bedroom where the kids were sleeping. He peeked around the corner, hoping not to awaken them.
Lisa stood next to the large bed, her hands clasped in front of her, her attention on Teag and Kitty who were sleeping peacefully. She gazed at them longingly, her yearning expression tinged with pain.
If she wasn’t his mate already, he would’ve fallen in love with her at that very moment. Although he couldn’t know what she was feeling or what it was she wanted so badly, he would’ve done anything within his power to give it to her.
He stepped forward then drew back up as Teag let out a cry. The boy jerked awake, thrashing in the bed next to his sister, his mouth wide, his teeth bared as though ready t
o bite.
Lisa sat on the edge of the bed and pulled him into her arms. “It’s okay. I’m here. Teag, you’re safe. I’m here.” She stroked the boy’s cheek. “No biting. Okay? You’re safe now.”
Marrick wasn’t the type of man to cry, but tears blurred his vision. She cuddled the frightened boy to her, rocking him and making soft cooing sounds. Even with his shifter hearing, he couldn’t understand what she was saying, but it didn’t matter. Teag’s fisted hands relaxed as she calmed away his nightmare.
He backed up and headed to his bathroom. The last time the twins had stayed overnight, Teag had gotten up around midnight to get a drink of water. He filled a glass then started back to the kids’ room.
“Here. Let him have a drink.”
He was halfway to the bed before he stopped and smiled. Lisa lay between Teag and Kitty, her arms wrapped around them as they snuggled against her.
His throat closed up, emotions overwhelming him. Yeah. She’s the one, all right.
* * * *
Lisa leaned back in the rocking chair and took a sip of Lena’s sweet tea. Lena had shown up bright and early, telling her that she needed to check in with “her men and the kids.” Since her friend had arrived, she’d cooked breakfast and lunch, and then cleaned the house—even though Lisa had already done the chore—and had finally shooed everyone outside to enjoy the afternoon. Almost as soon as the men were involved with showing the kids the horses, Lena had returned with a large pitcher and several glasses.
Lisa wasn’t sure where the woman got her energy. Being at least twice Lisa’s age, Lena Fortran was a force of nature, a whirlwind of indomitable spirit she admired.
Craig scooped Kitty up and whirled her around, eliciting giggles. Teag let out a ferocious shout and “attacked” his Uncle Marrick, pretending to be an ancient warrior. It did her heart good to see the children happy. Smiles and laughter had been in short supply.
“I’m glad you’re still here, honey.”
