“Have you eaten today?” What the hell kind of question was that? Obviously her brain was going in the wrong direction. She wasn’t supposed to be talking about food-she was supposed to be helping him work through this. They needed to work through it together for the sake of Presley, her unborn cub, and for themselves.
“Had some waffles.” He responded as his palm collided with the side of the machine. The small alarm went off and both of them had to cover their ears quickly. Pain pulsated in her brain as she gasped, squeezing her eyes shut. Damn sensitive hearing!
After ten seconds, the shrill noise shut off and they were surrounded by silence save for the peppy 8-bit tunes of arcade games. Arnold slowly turned around to face her and his eyes landed on the floor.
“Why do you feel the need to babysit me?” He questioned. “I’m a grown man, Natalie. I don’t need you hovering over me as if I’m entirely helpless. I can do things, you know. I can make my own food. I can bathe. I can dress myself. Hell, I made it here just fine, didn’t I?”
She studied him closely, noting the dark circles beneath his damaged green hues. Her heart seemed to shatter all over again as she realized he was wearing the exact same clothes he’d had on yesterday.
“You didn’t even go back home after going to the Bamey’s, did you?”
She watched as the corner of his lips twitched and her mind automatically flew back to that moment when they’d touched the corner of her own. Her stomach flip flopped as she swallowed hard. She couldn’t’ think about that right now. There were more important issues to discuss.
“It doesn’t matter.” He said in that deep southern drawl that had a tendency to make her heart melt. Urseth, she had to stop admiring him and focus! Why was that so hard?
“It matters to me.” She straightened her shoulders and took a step closer to him, only to freeze when he stuck a hand in the air as if trying to repel her.
“Don’t, Natty,” he whispered in a broken whisper. “Please don’t.”
He was frustrating her. How was she supposed to help him if she couldn’t be near him? She understood it would only be like that for a week or so, but that was an awful lot of time to keep her distance from the man she so desperately wanted to help. She needed to be there for him. Didn’t he understand?
“I’m worried about you,” she managed to whisper as tears brimmed over the bottom lids of her eyes. “How could you stay out all night? Where did you sleep?”
Arnold blinked and then frowned. “Jimbo let me sleep off the alcohol here.”
Unbelievable. Natalie’s bottom lip quivered and she bit it, hard in an effort to keep herself from breaking. She couldn’t be weak when Arnold needed her to be so strong. He could say whatever he wanted to, but she was the thin line keeping him from teetering over the edge of insanity right now. If she were to be completely honest; he was the same line for her.
Danger would return to Kadenburg. Some ursithropes were under the assumption that calmness meant safety....but she’d been around Breslin Connor too long; she knew better. He was the type of man who waited patiently for his enemy’s to set up a false sense of security, and then he would attack-brutally and mercilessly. She’d seen it happen too many times.
How did I ever allow him to do that? She wondered as shame clouded her heart. How did I stand by and let Breslin kill off my people?
“What’s wrong?” Arnold asked. “Why is your heart beating like that?”
What? Natalie blinked rapidly as she tried to make the tears disappear. Obviously, her body was betraying her on the ‘stay strong’ aspect and now Arnold sensed her distress. She sucked at being a graceful ursithrope. She sucked as a person in general, but that was so far beyond the point at the moment.
“Nothing’s wrong,” she stated quickly as she lifted a hand to knuckle away one stray tear. “I’d just like to take you home if that’s okay with you. You need some proper sleep and a real meal. Waffles? I don’t think so. Let me cook something for you.”
“I ain’t hungry and I asked you a question.” Arnold said through thinned lips as he took a step towards her. Wait. What? Why was he getting closer? Didn’t he just tell her to stay away?
“I’m fine.” She repeated, taking a step away from him. She would honor his wishes. She’d stay back and try to keep her scent from reaching him. It was wrong to drive a man mad with something beyond his control. Urseth, why did she come here again?
“You’re lying to me,” he stated bluntly as his long legs carried him two paces closer. He cocked his head to the side and drew his eyebrows together. “I’m blind, not naïve.”
Urseth! Why was this man so difficult to deal with? Natalie took yet another step backwards and yelped as her hip connected with the corner of a table. The brief pain was nothing compared to the panic screaming through her body at the moment. He needed to stay back. The last thing she wanted to do was make him angry again for luring him in. She hadn’t meant to do it the first time, and a second time would surely make him furious.
“I said I’m fine, Arnold....I’m just a little tired. I didn’t sleep well last night.” That wasn’t too terribly far off from the truth. It was his fault, too; but she couldn’t very well tell him she’d been having sex dreams about him. Glorious, hot, wonderful sex dreams that she very much wanted to be a reality. Oh, Urseth, if only they could be real.....
“You, too, huh?” He scoffed, shaking his head. “Woman, I ain’t gonna beat around the bush here. You drive me crazy and that ain’t a secret. I’ve spent the better part of my life despising you and everything you stood for....but I’m not so coldhearted as to ignore the emotions rolling off your body right now. I know it’s partially because of me...but there’s something else you’re not saying. Have the decency to tell me what’s going through your mind, Natty. I can’t read it, ya know.”
But he could if we were mated, her bear said excitedly. Tell him how you feel!
I have told him how I feel, Natalie replied heatedly. And he sent me away with a broken heart. He wanted the human.
“Damn it, Natalie,” Arnold whispered as he gripped her shoulders and pulled her closer. She gasped loudly, stumbling towards him as his fingertips dug into her skin painfully. “Stop talking to your bear and talk to me. That’s all I’m asking.”
“I...I can’t,” she stammered, watching as his nostrils flared. Oh no. He was already sniffing her and it wouldn’t end well. They couldn’t do this again. She couldn’t allow it to happen. She squirmed, trying to wiggle away from his grasp as his arm snaked around her waist to prevent her from putting distance between them. “Arnold, please.....”
“No, Natalie. You....please,” he swallowed hard and she could feel his fingers trembling as he tried to keep himself in check. Urseth, the scent of his desire was dizzying. “I’m only going to ask you one more time. Talk to me.”
“I.....” Her voice escaped her again. It seemed like layer after layer of guilt, fear, and sadness fell away from her all at once as more hot tears spilled down her cheeks. Why did he have to have this effect on her? Why couldn’t she just forget him and everything he’d done to her in the past? Why did she long to be in his embrace so much?
Arnold’s lips suddenly touched her cheek, kissing away the salty tears as a small breath squeezed its way from her tightened lungs. Everything hurt within, and it felt like her soul was shattering as she sobbed.
“Let me go.” She begged as her palms flattened against his muscular chest. A lot of people probably wouldn’t think Arnold was as conditioned as the other ursithropes in Kadenburg, but she’d seen him shirtless too many times. She could still remember the handsome 17 year old boy who played football with his friends in the field. The image of his chiseled chest and stomach had been burned into her memory long ago. He was tall and thin, but the muscles were there. The very same muscles that quivered beneath her touch right now.
“Not til you tell me what’s wrong,” he promised, pressing his hand against the base of her spine and pulling her even
closer. “You’re hurtin’ and I can feel it, Natalie. What are you hiding?”
“We can’t do this, Arnie, please!” She cried, shaking her head furiously though he could not see it. “You must let me go!”
“Damn it! I’m not letting you go til you talk to me,” he hissed in her ear. She was crushed against his chest and there was no place to go. She was unraveling-and fast. She buried her face against his chest, breathing him in as her bear sighed contently. This was home. He had always been her home....even if he’d denied her access.
“I’m scared,” she confessed. Her voice was barely above a whisper as her tears soaked the fabric of his flannel shirt. “For Presley...for all of us. I’m so scared and I don’t know what to do. I’ve let this happen. I allowed this to happen and I hate myself for it. And now look at what I’m doing to you, Arnold. This is wrong. Please.” She moved her hands down his sides, gripping at his hips in an effort to push him away.
“Stop,” he grunted, nuzzling his nose against her hair as he breathed her in. “Stop trying to get away from me. You’ve been running all your life and you’ve got to stop. Ain’t you tired, Natalie?”
Yes. More than he could ever know. She was exhausted. All she wanted was to live happily in her hometown with the people she’d grown up with. All she wanted was to watch Presley’s cub enter the world and experience the very best that life could offer. All she wanted....was a second chance at getting the happiness she’d been deprived.
“I know why you did what you did.” Arnold murmured against her soft strands. Her heart stopped in that instant. What?
She pulled her head back, staring up at him with wide eyes. What did he mean by that?
“You know how Pretz has been having those dreams about Bamey Number One?”
She nodded and even though he couldn’t see it, he somehow sensed it. His tongue darted out, wetting his lips as he continued.
“He sure had some insightful information about things; things about the past, Natalie.”
“I don’t understand,” her voice cracked. “Presley said she’s dreamed about Liam and about Urseth. She’s even dreamed about Pierce, but.....did she keep something from me?”
“She kept a lot from you,” he nodded. His eyes moved back and forth, and though she was certain he couldn’t see anything, it felt like he was staring straight into her soul. “Natalie, I think you need to know this or else you’re gonna drive yourself insane with guilt. Maybe if you know....you’ll finally find some sort of peace.”
“What is it?” She repeated, tilting her head to the side. “What did Presley not tell me?”
Her heart was lodged in her throat as she waited for whatever truth Arnold was about to reveal. However, there was no way she could prepare herself for the words about to leave his lips.
Eight
“Please let me come in to see her,” Greg’s voice pleaded from the other side of the door. “I need to see her.”
“I can’t do that,” Lorcan replied as he leaned against the heavy wooden door and crossed his arms. “You need to go home, Greg. When she’s ready to talk, she’ll call you.”
He could totally sympathize with the hybrid, but his hands were tied. Presley would kill him if he let Greg inside and he wasn’t necessarily a fan of dying. Or worse, she’d cut him off and he definitely wasn’t going to risk that. He could hardly go an hour without touching her; let alone a day or longer.
“Please, Lorcan,” Greg nearly whined. “It’s a misunderstanding! I didn’t do anything-I swear it. Just let me talk to her.”
“Go home, Greggy,” he sighed. “My mom’s on her way over and it’s probably best for you to be gone by then.”
“Shit,” Greg huffed. “Why is your mom coming over?”
“Uh,” Lorcan laughed from an amusing thought as he scratched at the scruff adorning his jawline. “It might possibly have something to do with Louisa showing up in our front yard as a massive panda bear, but maybe she’s just visiting for tea.”
Lorcan leaned his head against the door, listening to Greg as he cursed quietly. He got it-he really did. The kid was upset and there was probably a good reason behind Louisa catching him in a lip-lock with a human.....but he couldn’t really do anything until Presley had the chance to calm the girl down. Louisa was highly sensitive and anger obviously wasn’t as easily contained as everything else. The last thing they needed was for one of Kadenburg’s locals to spot a panda bear in the woods-then what? What would happen to them? Bad things, that’s what.
“Just go home,” Lorcan repeated. “I’ll call you if anything changes, Greg. You’ve got to give her time to cool off.”
Seconds passed by as Greg mulled it over, but he finally released a heavy sigh.
“Just tell her I’m really, really sorry and I’d like to see her as soon as possible. Please?”
“Sure thing.” Lorcan nodded, frowning. He did hate to leave him out in the cold like that, but it was for the best.
He heard the wolf’s footsteps retreating and that somewhat stinky smell faded away. Lorcan finally relaxed and closed his eyes, slumping against the door. His mom would be there soon and she’d set things straight. She always did, didn’t she?
——————————-
“I can’t believe he did that,” Louisa wailed as she lifted another tissue to her nose, blowing hard. “Why would he do that, Presley?”
“Because boys are stupid,” Presley replied softly. “He’s just being a stupid boy, Lou. Sometimes it takes them a while to mature, you know?”
“But he is mature!” Louisa argued as she hiccupped. “Or at least he was. He saved me from Colin. I don’t understand. Why would he do that just to turn around and play tonsil hockey with some stupid girl with too much makeup on her hideous face?”
Presley bit at her bottom lip and fought the urge to laugh. She wasn’t laughing at Louisa’s pain-it was just the description of the girl. Greg was out of his mind if he was choosing someone like that over an amazing young woman like Louisa.
“It’s going to be okay.” Presley insisted as she patted her knee gently. They’d sought refuge in the bedroom with a chocolate bar, a jar of honey, and a cup of whiskey just for Louisa. Presley didn’t condone underage drinking-and for good reason, but the kid had to calm down. They couldn’t risk another bear-out.
“No, it isn’t,” Louisa shook her head slowly, wiping at her bloodshot eyes. “I really liked him. I’m so stupid.”
“You are not stupid,” Presley said firmly. “You are smart, beautiful, and so wonderful, Lou. Don’t you ever let a man make you feel like you’re anything less-not even Greg Kress.” Oh. That rhymed.
She watched as Louisa bowed her head. Her sadness was still raging in Presley’s heart and all she wanted to do was take that heartache away. If only she could.
“When my mate-to-be died....I just knew I would spend the rest of my life alone,” Louisa whispered. “I know I chose him for the wrong reasons, but he would have been kind to me. He never would’ve hurt me like this,” she sniffled and wiped at her eyes again, shaking her head slowly. “And then I met Greg and everything changed. I tried to resist-I really did, Presley,” she peered at her from beneath her dark bangs as her bottom lip quivered. “And what did I do it for? Just to feel like this? I hate it. I hate him too. People shouldn’t be allowed to do this to each other.”
“I don’t believe it’s okay for people to do it at all,” Presley agreed in her best maternal tone. “But I think it’s embedded in our DNA to sometimes make mistakes. I’m not saying it’s okay...I’m not saying what Greg did was okay in the slightest...Louisa,” she reached out to touch the girl’s hand. God, she was burning up. She really needed to take her mind off of things before Louisa demolished her home. It’d taken a while to get her back into her tiny little human form. “I’m here for you. You know that, don’t you?”
“Of course I do,” Louisa sniffed. “I just hate feeling so alone. Beau is gone and I know that he has an attraction to Sam
my. I can see it plain as day.....and when he finally decides on what he wants in life, I’m going to be by myself.”
“No, you’re not,” Presley reassured her as she leaned forward to kiss her forehead. “I promise you will never be alone. I’ll be right here.”
Louisa stifled another sob as she buried her face in her hands. “I liked him so much.....”
A light knock sounded on the door then, and Presley already knew who it was before Mrs. Bamey pushed it open to peer inside. She looked so pretty! Well, she always looked pretty, but something was different tonight. Mrs. Bamey’s brown hair was made up into tiny curls that framed her round face in a way that complimented it. She had on a light application of makeup and her shiny lips curved into a frown.
“Is it all right for me to come inside, Louisa?”
The girl lifted her head, nodding quickly as she sniffled again. Presley handed her yet another tissue before giving the mama bear a look that said, ‘help me’. Mrs. Bamey quietly closed the door behind herself before stepping further into the room, a worried expression overcoming her features.
“Now I know this isn’t very easy for you, Sweetie, but the first thing I want you to know is I have no qualms with bending Greg Kress over my knee and tanning his hide.”
She was very serious about it-Presley could tell just by the way she said it, but Urseth if it didn’t make her want to laugh again. She was obviously very bad at comforting people. Biting hard at her lower lip to refrain from giggling, Presley dropped her head and gazed at her stomach instead. Little Liam would keep her from losing it.
“Thank you, Charlotte.” Louisa managed a small nod as she plucked another Kleenex from the bright pink box and lifted it to her nose. As she blew lightly, in the most polite manner as possible, Mrs. Bamey released a breath and puffed her cheeks out.
“The nerve of that boy,” she muttered, shaking her head in dismay. “You better believe I’m going to have a talk with him and I’ll get to the bottom of this. Urseth’s sons do not behave in such a manner. Oh, how disappointed Yliana must be!”
Kadenburg Revealed (The Kadenburg Shifters Series, Book 4) Page 6
