“Eli,” she breathed, eyelids heavy. “What are you?”
“I’m a wolf.” She searched him and he nodded just enough that their lips brushed each other. “I’m a wolf. There is a wolf inside this man, a wolf who has claimed you as his own. I would have taken longer but, it’s done. He has to have you. I have to have you.”
Her breath hitched. “Are you a,” she glanced around to make sure they were alone. He knew they were. He had been listening very closely. “Are you a werewolf?” Her light brown eyebrows rose.
Bracing himself for her to run from him, he nodded slowly. She stayed where she was which was a miracle to him. He blinked and took a deep breath, explaining, “But we’re not like in the horror films. We’re not ruled by the moon and I can’t turn you. You don’t have to be afraid.”
Her heart had picked up speed. “We? We’re not? Do you mean Nathaniel? Dontae? Darik?” He didn’t nod. He didn’t have to. From the look in her eyes, she already knew. It felt so strange to tell their most well kept secret to someone outside their pack and he couldn’t help wondering how Nathaniel did it. “That makes so much sense. The four of you when you’re together, you’re so powerful!”
When he was younger he had taken pride in it but now that he was almost thirty, it was a part of life, but hearing her point it out, it made him think of his friends. They’d given him this gift tonight and had sacrificed themselves in the process, in a way. His bond to them deepened. “They are my brothers. And Rose, you can’t ever tell anyone what we’ve shared with you.”
Rose made a face as if that were foolish of him to even say it. “That’s what Michelle has been hiding from me! She knows, doesn’t she?”
“You can understand why she couldn’t tell you.”
On a slow nod, a series of questions tumbled from her. “How many people know? Have you always been this way? Your body, it’s so strong, do have supernatural powers? The woman you gave my number to, how do you know her? Michelle said you like to help people…did she mean you guys are superheroes or something?”
He grinned, humbled. “You’re so smart, Rose. That mind of yours won’t let up until I tell you everything, will it?”
She smiled. “I love that you get me.”
He kissed her. “Let’s talk over dinner. How about burgers? This place look good?” He pointed to Bareburger, a restaurant just up from where they stood on Laguardia Place. He was starving now that they weren’t fighting anymore.
“It’s perfect. French fries and burgers are perfect. Let’s go.”
He led her there and opened the door for her. She made a beeline for a corner, pale green booth and sat down without ceremony.
He joined her and glanced around the casual environment. They were the most dressed up of anybody there. A female server headed over and Eli and Rose ordered quickly. He got the boar burger, and she beef burger with bacon and cheese. He loved that she didn’t order salad, and when he asked if she wanted a shake she looked at him like he was an idiot for having to ask.
“Two chocolate shakes, please. Thanks. And I’ll give you a fifty dollar tip if you keep these two tables empty.” He pointed to the booth behind them and the table to their right.
The server was surprised, but offered, “I could get reserved signs?”
“Perfect.” He flashed his dimple. She flushed and disappeared.
Keeping his voice low, he leaned across the table. Rose met him in the middle like two people drinking from the same glass with two straws. He had her full and undivided attention, so he began in a voice so quiet only she could hear. “I was born this way and my family was, too. My mother passed away years ago and my father still lives in the woods. He never took a new mate. We lived there up until about five or six years ago? Wait,” he stopped and tried to recall. “Is it longer than that?” Shaking his head, he muttered, “I’m not sure. Darik’s better with that stuff. Anyway, it was some years ago, we were friends but not as close as we are now. Nathaniel and I have been like brothers since we met eleven years ago. I remember that date well because I’d just turned eighteen.” She nodded slowly, soaking in every detail. It felt good to have her so interested and to be honest for maybe the first time outside of when he was with his pack. Her eyes were so sharp he knew she wasn’t missing any of this, which meant a lot since it was his life he was talking about. “We moved to New York when Dontae said he wanted more than the woods. I think I’d felt that way for a long time, but hadn’t voiced it until he brought it up. Nathaniel jumped on it. He broke the straw for me and Darik was good to go at about the same time. We told our pack–that’s what we call them–and most didn’t understand. But we live a free life and so no one stopped us.”
“Do you go back…there?”
“To Maine? Sometimes. Not as much anymore. We love it here. You know we design buildings now, right?” She nodded. “There’s something in a man’s D.N.A. that makes building something from the ground up extremely fulfilling. And to abate our missing the forest, we use eco-friendly materials and as much stone and wood as we can. It’s a balance, but we do our best.”
She smiled. “I’m so excited. Thank you for telling me this.”
It was like a weight he didn’t know he was carrying had suddenly disappeared.
As they ate their burgers and fries, they talked. Eli described about Darik, how he was different and therefore special. His blue eyes gave him away to his kind, but to humanity, he fit right in since he’d started out as one of them. Eli scraped his lettuce off as he added, “but Dontae’s the powerhouse. We don’t have a pack leader, but if we did, he’d want it to be him.” A rueful smile lit him up at the thought. “Yeah, he’d love that.”
Rose smiled, chewing a French fry and picking up her shake to swallow it down with. “Would you like to go to Tahiti with me?”
He’d just stuffed a big bite of rare boar meat into his mouth, so all he could do was nod and hit the table, trying to chew fast. She laughed as he spoke through half a mouthful, “Fuck yeah! When?”
She sipped on her straw, acting innocent. “Tomorrow?” Her eyes twinkled and she laughed. “I quit my job yesterday. I start my own practice soon, but I haven’t had a vacation in…” she paused, thinking about it. “I don’t think I’ve taken a vacation since I graduated from law school! Oh, that’s horrible!”
He reached over and touched her hand. “Let’s go.”
“Really?” she yelped. “Oh, my God, I just squealed. I don’t squeal. But…REALLY?”
“Let’s go. Hang on.” He pulled out his phone, calling Nathaniel who picked up after the second ring. “What took you so long?”
“I had to get the phone out of my pocket. How’d it go? Where are you?”
“I told you those pants are too tight,” Eli joked. “Well, it’s going really well.” He shared a smile with Rose, holding her eyes as he asked, “Can you guys cover for me at work?”
“Tomorrow’s Sunday.”
“I know. But I’m going to Tahiti for…”
“Just a few days,” she whispered.
“A week.” She jumped around her chair, freaking out with excitement as he grinned into the phone, “Rose and I are going to get to know each other.”
Nathaniel laughed and told the others, “They’re going to Tahiti.”
Dontae’s voice was stern. “Tahiti is sixteen hours away.”
“How do you know that?” Darik asked.
“Never mind.”
Nathaniel asked. “You hear that?”
“Yeah.” Eli leaned in to tell Rose the bad news, “Tahiti’s sixteen hours away.” She blanched. “Yeah, how about the Bahamas?” More chair jumping and she covered her mouth so as not to squeal for the second time.
“You’ll need a passport,” Nathaniel reminded him.
“He’s got one from when he went to London for that British chick,” Darik said.
Eli didn’t share that forgettable fact with Rose, but he did ask her, “You have a passport?” She nodded and he had to shove do
wn the jealous rush that jumped up as he imagined her with some French dude in Paris. This woman has me by the balls. He coughed and muttered, “Bahamas it is. Cover for me?”
“For a honeymoon?” Michelle asked.
“No!” Eli interjected before Nathaniel had a chance to even breathe. “We are NOT getting married.”
Rose emphatically shook her head. “NO! Tell them we are NOT.”
He smiled to Nathaniel, “So, you’ve got it covered, yeah?”
“Yeah. Hey, you tell her?”
“Yes. Listen, I want to get off the phone so I can stare at this gorgeous creature and you’re keeping me from that. So cut it out with the questions. I’ll tell you all about it later tonight. Rose and I are not sleeping together. I’m coming over, or you guys can come over to my new place.”
Rose lost her smile. “We’re not?”
Eli laughed, “No, we’re not. We’re waiting until we’re in the Bahamas. Because I say so and I am the master. Right?”
She grinned while biting her bottom lip. “Mmhmm.”
Nathaniel chuckled. “Alright, see you back at our old place.”
“See ya there.” He hung up.
Rose pointed at his phone. “What happened?”
He glanced at the shattered face of it, all taped with scotch tape. “Had a little accident,” he smiled, and put the phone back in his pocket. She didn’t need to know everything. Leaning forward he took one of her fries and said, “I’m buying the tickets,” and plopped it into his mouth triumphantly.
“No!” she exclaimed. “It’s going to be expensive with no notice like this–”
Wagging a thick finger, he said, “Uh uh uh! I’m the guy. I’m buying the tickets. Trust me. We do really well and I haven’t bought anything in a long while. Don’t you worry about it.”
“I’ll get the hotel?”
“What, do you want to cut my balls off right here and now?” He leaned back in the chair with his hands up. She laughed and shook her head. “That’s what I thought. You’ll want these to stay right where they are, I assure you.” She wadded up her napkin and threw it at his face. He caught it easily and set it back down. “I’m a big fan of this aggression you’ve got going on.” It wasn’t a lie. It turned him on to have her fight him, and he’d been half-hard for over an hour now. “Let’s get you home. I have some planning to do.”
Rose eyelashes fluttered with simultaneous disappointment and excitement. She hastily adopted an expression of cool disdain but then started jumping up and down like a child. “Oh, the Bahamas!! Oh my God I can’t wait, I can’t wait, I can’t wait!!!”
He laughed, threw down a hundred dollar bill and led her out of there, smacking her on the ass on the way out.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Not the type to meticulously pack, Rose threw her clothes from the closet to a suitcase lying on her unmade bed. She was humming to herself an indiscernible tune. She opted for light clothes with bright colors that could layer well if the nights got crisp. She had two bikinis, one sexy black, the other bright pink that bordered on neon. She’d torn apart the cupboards above her closet searching for a wide brimmed hat before she burst out laughing, realizing she’d never bought one in her entire life. She just always wanted one!
Her phone rang and she jumped over piles of rejects to get to it, sweeping it off the bed. “Hello?”
“So you know,” Michelle said with a gravity uncommon to her.
Rose plopped on the bed and looked out her window at the city. The idea that werewolves were real, were out there doing good things, and that she was going on vacation with one had her drunk from the mind-opening paradigm shift.
“Yes.”
“I wanted to tell you. I’ve been dying to say something! I almost gave it away…”
“You did give it away, kind of. I knew you were hiding something and…” she stopped, her years of law snapping her mouth quiet. “We shouldn’t be talking over the phone about this.”
Michelle agreed. “But I want to talk to you! I finally can! This sucks. Can I come over?”
“YES. Come over. Now. I need help packing. Bring Xanax. I’m too happy. Kidding. Don’t bring it.”
Michelle laughed. “You’re delirious.”
“Weren’t you?”
“I guess I was. I’ll be right over.” She hung up and Rose dropped the phone on the bed, grinning at her suitcase.
A vacation with a hunky werewolf who wanted to be her master, and here she was worried her thirtieth birthday two weeks ago meant it was all over for her. “What a dork,” she whispered.
Twenty minutes later, Michelle was tearing through her suitcase with approval. “Except for this. This color flattens you out.” She tossed a dark purple dress aside. “You’re too pale and with your light hair and eyes, it’ll wear you.”
Rose pouted, “I love that dress,” picking it up.
“It’d be better on me.” Michelle laughed at the frown thrown her. “I’ve got dark hair and eyes; it’ll blend well. Trust me. Go with pastels, and red is fantastic. Other than Red, Black is the only dark shade you should wear. Bright red is best.”
“Okay, okay,” Rose threw the dress at her friend. “Take it. You convinced me.”
Michelle socked it away and held up the pink bikini. “Oh I love this. He will drool!”
Rose giggled and threw her hand over her mouth. “I just fucking giggled.”
Busting up laughing, Michelle pointed at her. “Yeah you fucking did.”
“Listen to us. We’re like sailors. My dad would slap my face if he heard me.” She got quiet and folded up a sundress. She glanced at her friend to find compassion staring back at her.
“He’d be really proud of you.”
Rose nodded, but then mischief danced up from her heart. “Not if he knew I was dating a werewolf.”
Michelle shook her head on a slow grin. “Can you believe it?”
“You know what? I can.” She continued to fold and sort the pile, tucking everything into the suitcase. “He’s just different in so many ways, it feels right to have a reason that ties it all together. I’m so good at figuring out who people really are, that’s how I present my cases. I can show the truth and explain it in a way that makes the jury able to see what I see. But Eli is just so complex, even though he comes off as a dude. When he was walking me home from the burger place last night, he told me all about the string of abused women he’s helped. They keep appearing before him, he says, like it’s his duty and by some design he doesn’t second-guess, even though he doesn’t know where it comes from. Werewolves, Michelle! I mean, what else is out there that we just think are stories?”
“I know.” Michelle pulled up her knees tightly to her chest, sitting on the bed. “I’ve asked myself the same thing. Does this mean there’s a God, too?”
Rose rolled her eyes. “If you’d have seen Eli’s body, you’d know there’s a God.”
Busting up again, Michelle agreed, “I feel the same way about Nathaniel. I’m so glad you know.”
Rose stopped folding. “Thank you for bringing him to Gotham.”
Making a face, her friend leaned forward. “You have no idea how awful I felt when he rushed over to you guys. I thought for sure your date was going to be crushed. Knowing what I knew about what they are, and the way Eli looked as the guys tried to talk him down, I was so scared!”
“I bet!”
Michelle stared into the memory like it was happening all over again. “But then when you guys raced out of there, Darik turned to Dontae and waited. Nothing had to be said. Dontae glowered at him and finally growled, Fine. We all left the restaurant then to find you. You know the rest.” She threw up her hand. “Oh, no that’s not true. You don’t know that when Eli came back to our flat, he was practically skipping. He was so cute.”
“Don’t call him cute.” Rose headed for the bathroom. “He’s going to be here soon. Have to get my toiletries.” The two of them picked out what was needed together, and Michelle grabbed
the unopened box of condoms. “You have any more of these?”
“Shut up!” Rose laughed. “That’s a pack of 30!”
“What are you going to do the second night?” She burst into a series of giggles, clearly exaggerating, but Rose couldn’t help but feel very excited anyway.
A loud knock at the front door was followed by Eli shouting through it, “Bahamas, here we come!”
Rose leapt up from where she kneeled in front of her bathroom cupboard. She glanced to the mirror and saw a pink flush in her cheeks, her light blue sundress making her eyes shine. Before she ran out of the room, she turned and whispered, “Just so you know, we are not getting married.”
Throwing up her hands, her best friend mouthed, Okay!
Chapter Twenty-Four
They’d taken an American Airlines flight from Newark, New Jersey to Nassau, where they had to switch to Air Bahamas, taking the shuttle plane to Arthur Town, the only way to get to Cat Island by air. Eli wouldn’t tell her anything about the place he’d booked and she expected it to be some huge hotel, but when the car he’d hired to pick them up drove up to a secluded sandy beach, she shoved her nose to the window.
“Is this it?” There were small bungalows widely set apart, all the same size.
“This is it! Shannas Cove. You like it?”
She flipped around and threw her arms around him, kissing him hard. “I love it, Eli. I love it so much!”
He laughed and caught the driver’s smile in the rearview as he pulled into a dirt parking spot. Jumping out of the car, he opened the door for them and Eli got out, then offered his hand. Rose took it and rose up into bright sunlight, a warm breeze blowing over them and lifting her blue sundress. He had on faded blue jeans and a graphic t-shirt that said, Don’t Even. Both of them wore sunglasses and Rose had made him put on sunscreen before they switched planes. He’d acquiesced only when she offered to put it on him herself. He’d told her he could let her do that all day long.
“We’ll get the bags, thanks.” Eli handed the man a tip, an amount she couldn’t see from how he stuffed it into the guy’s hand. Pulling their bags from the trunk, he said, “Lead the way.”
Werewolves of New York: Eli (Werewolves of... Book 2) Page 11
