The same woman who had come to Mary’s preschool just over a week ago looking for a job. Mary had liked her. She was perfectly kind and overqualified for the job.
And Mary had dissed her the next day when the women of the church coerced her to believe Laurie Hamilton was Satan’s spawn—so to speak. Now these same women seemed to actually believe this to be the case.
“No.” Edmund shook his head. “Of course not. No one’s asking you to sleep with that woman. Just lure her. Make her believe you would fornicate with her in order to prove she was sent by the devil.”
“Right. Of course. Got it.” He rubbed his hands on his jeans. “Where do you want me to approach her?”
Mary opened her mouth, not sure if she would end up kicking herself in the ass later for interjecting or not. “Probably at the resort. Since she doesn’t have a job in town, I’m betting she’ll start working for the Masters.” What Mary was really hoping for was that the church would opt for a public place so the poor woman didn’t end up getting raped by this Brock jerk who seemed ready to offer up his cock for the betterment of society.
Brock nodded. “That’s easy. I work there. I can do that.”
I’ll bet you can, Brock.
Pastor Edmund continued, “How about this weekend. And Mary, why don’t you head to the ski lodge also? See what the Masters are up to. No one would ever suspect a sweet face like yours meddling in their business.”
Mary cringed inwardly.
Great. Open mouth, insert foot.
Someone stood and headed for a side window. “Jesus, the weather looks awful.”
“We should probably adjourn.” Ada held up her cell phone. “I show widespread falling temperatures.”
A woman spoke up from behind Mary. “My husband just texted me that there’s a geyser on the main road between here and Sojourn. The water’s freezing on the concrete and making it impassable.”
Brock chuckled sardonically. “Well, thank God none of us are heading toward the reservation tonight.”
The man who had looked out the window headed toward the door at the back of the sanctuary next. “I don’t think any of us are going anywhere. The door’s frozen shut.”
Chapter Fourteen
It was dark when Laurie opened her eyes. She blinked several times before she realized where she was.
Zach’s condo.
And she was way too warm. Trapped in a cocoon of blankets and hot male body. She moaned, wiggling to free herself.
Zach tucked her closer, making her wince in claustrophobic frustration. Even her head was covered. She couldn’t see light because of the blankets. She had no idea if it was night or day. It was a wonder she had enough oxygen.
“Zach.” She shoved at his chest. They were face to face. Naked.
Her body came alive when she moved her legs to find one of them was between both of his. His cock was stiff and thick and lying against her thigh. Was it ever not erect?
She smiled, but then groaned as her pussy grew wetter with each inhale of his masculinity. His pheromones consumed her in the tight space.
She pushed at his chest again. “Zach,” she said louder. “Let me go.”
He wrapped his top arm around her tighter and pulled her chest against his. “Never.”
Her nipples jumped to attention at the contact with the fine hairs on his pecs. Her body aligned with his as she stretched out and arched into him against her better judgment.
Suddenly Zach went from half asleep to totally awake, flipping her onto her back and planting his body completely over hers, his cock nestled at her entrance.
She sucked in a lungful of air when her face was freed from the blankets. His weight over her body was oppressive, but she didn’t care. All she could think about was the thick length at her pussy and the way her body called out to have him fill her.
Zach grabbed both her hands and tugged them over her head.
Her breasts ached. Her nipples strained to press into his chest. She wrapped her legs around his hips and lifted off the bed.
Zach slammed into her with such force, she stopped breathing.
Her heart beat wildly. Every nerve ending in her channel came alive. From zero to one hundred in a few short moments, she came around his cock, pulsing with such force her entire frame shook. A loud moan escaped her lips.
When she finally managed to focus on her mate’s face, she found him smiling down at her. The room was totally dark. Still night. That didn’t deter her excellent vision from witnessing her mate’s expression.
“Baby, that is by far the sexiest thing I’ve ever witnessed.” His hands stroked down her arms until he held her biceps. And then he pulled out and thrust back inside her.
She gasped. Her mouth fell open and her eyes rolled back. Another orgasm built on the end of the first one. She reveled in the feeling, enjoying the clench of her body around Zach’s shaft, the throbbing of her sensitive clit, the shaking of her thighs.
Zach thrust again. His eyes fluttered shut, and his face tightened. “God, baby…” He sped up, fucking her harder.
It felt like heaven. They fit together perfectly. Fate knew what She was doing when She selected mates. She didn’t make mistakes.
Laurie arched upward again, ensuring that her clit made contact with the base of his cock with every pass. She inhaled slowly as her orgasm built until she reached the crest a second before Zach, releasing her breath on a low moan as he came right behind her.
Zach hovered above her for long moments, his face lowered, his forehead against her chin. He breathed heavily. Finally, he pulled slowly out of her body and collapsed to her side.
Before she had been hot. Now, she was on fire. She tugged her leg free of his thigh and wiggled to the edge of the bed to avoid any contact with his skin. “You’re like a furnace.”
He chuckled. “What time is it?”
She glanced at the clock. “Two.”
“We never ate dinner.”
Her stomach growled at the mention of food.
Zach lifted onto one elbow as he turned to his side. “I need to feed you.”
She nodded. “Have you heard anything from Corbin?”
He shook his head and closed his eyes. She watched his face as she listened to his call for their other mate. “Corbin? Things going okay?”
A few seconds passed before Corbin replied. “Not really. It’s a mess out here. Record low temps and a sheet of ice that won’t thaw until this time next year.”
“Shit. How low is the temperature?”
“Twenty below.”
“When was the last time we saw that in this area?”
“Never.”
Laurie stared at Zach. She felt a chill race up her heated skin.
“Do you need me to come get you?”
“No. I need to stay here and direct traffic. We’re taking turns diverting people. We can only stay outside a few minutes at a time, and then we have to switch.”
“Be careful,” Laurie added. She didn’t like this. Nothing about the situation made her feel warm and fuzzy.
Zach hugged her against his body again. “You okay?”
She sighed. “I suppose. I think I’ll take a quick shower.”
He kissed her forehead. “Okay. I’ll fix something to eat.”
She crawled out of bed, sauntered to the bathroom, and flipped on the water. What was happening? Why the strange geyser? Why the lowering temps?
She wanted answers. And it didn’t work that way. All she had were warnings.
When the water had warmed sufficiently, she stepped under the spray and let it sluice over her skin. She took deep breaths, trying to calm herself.
Nothing worked. As she washed her hair and then her body, her hands shook. When she stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel, she felt a heavy sensation, as though she were sick with the flu.
She leaned over to dry her legs and then righted herself. When she opened her eyes to glance in the mirror, she almost jumped out of her skin.
She spun around to face the black figure hovering near the door. It floated closer as she watched. It was fully coalesced this time. Had she missed that? Or was the spirit getting quicker to react?
It closed in on her, pressing her backward into the counter. She dropped the towel on the floor and grabbed the edges of the vanity with her fingers. “What do you want?”
She felt a sense of exasperation coming from the aura. It was stressed. Angry. Frustrated.
So was she.
Finally, it floated toward the window, seeming to glance outside, and then sucked in on itself and disappeared.
“Laurie?” The door opened, startling her.
She yanked her gaze to the entrance to the bathroom and found Zach standing there. He wore nothing but a pair of low-slung jeans. His chest and feet were bare.
His face was scrunched up in concern. “Another apparition?”
She nodded, licking her lips. She didn’t tell him what her instinct was this time.
His shoulders slumped. “I heated spaghetti.”
She released the counter and grabbed a tank top from next to the sink. As she shrugged into it, she closed her eyes and went into her head. She needed to think. “I’ll be right there.” She grabbed her panties next and stepped into them.
“Baby?”
She pasted a smile on her face and stepped toward him, patting his chest with her palm as she lifted her gaze to meet his. “Starving.”
The change of subject ended any discussion he might have wanted to have about the black shadowy spirit. Besides, what was there to say? The world was going to hell quicker by the day it seemed. Whatever she’d been doing up to that point to appease the spirit had not worked. She needed to make a change.
∙•∙
Zach took her hand and led her to the kitchen.
Just as she pulled out a chair and sat, his cell rang. It vibrated on the table. Zach grabbed it with a frown. “Who would call at this hour?”
“The precinct,” he muttered as he answered it. “Hello?”
“Zach. This is Sheriff Terrance Bergman.”
“Hi. I’m guessing this isn’t a social call at two thirty in the morning.”
The man sighed. “No. Sorry.”
“Talk to me. There isn’t much you can say to shock me.”
“We’ve had disturbing reports of a group of people meeting with the intention of running you out of town—at any cost.”
“See? That doesn’t shock me at all. Not after someone broke into my condo and filled the place with gas, and not after bricks came through the window at Corbin’s apartment. I assume it’s worse than that and whoever this fucked-up group is, they’d like to see me dead. Me and my mates.” Thank God Bergman was a shifter. Made it easier to express himself openly.
“Well, it’s not hard to figure out who’s organizing this crime. They were trapped last night inside the church. They were forced to call for help when the door froze shut during their meeting.”
Zach chuckled. “Perfect. What church?”
“The Church on the Hill.”
“Of course. Why am I not shocked? That church is the most fundamentalist one in town. But I’m surprised they’d go to such lengths to conspire against me. How do you know that’s what they gathered to discuss?”
“Apparently one of the members is not in complete agreement. She panicked when she realized they were moving from hate to actual crimes. She was the same person who anonymously called in the gas leak.”
Zach sighed. He leaned against the counter and rubbed his temple with his free hand. “Do you know who she is?”
“Nope.”
“But she called again?”
“Yes.”
“What are you going to do?”
“There isn’t a lot I can do. My hands are tied. I can’t arrest people for meeting.”
“Even if they threatened my life and that of my mates?”
“I need more solid proof. The woman who called was whispering to our dispatcher, and she hung up before she got into specifics. Trust me, I’ll be on those folks like glue. But in the meantime, I think it would be best if you watched your backs.”
Zach nodded, even though obviously the sheriff couldn’t see him. He met Laurie’s gaze across the room where she sat on her hands with her lips pursed. “Thanks for the warning. We’ll see what we can do.” Zach ended the call and turned to face her.
“Some people are pissed with our arrangement,” she stated, deadpan.
He nodded. “To say the least.”
She lowered her gaze toward the table, picked up her fork, and dove into the spaghetti as though nothing had happened.
Zach watched her eat for several seconds before he came over to sit next to her. “Baby?”
“Yes?” She lifted her brows.
He stared at her. Obviously she wasn’t interested in discussing this issue further. Finally, he dug into his own plate of spaghetti, not the least bit oblivious to the deafening silence filling the room.
»»•««
“When are the cops going to arrive?” Ada asked her husband.
Pastor Edmund paced the front of the church where two dozen members had met late the previous evening. They all still sat there now. It was after four a.m.
Mary was among them. The only reason she had attended this farce was to eavesdrop on their plans. When Florence had called to see if she was coming, she’d hesitated for a moment before accepting. These were not the sort of people she wanted to be involved with. But after the stunt they pulled at the condo, she didn’t see how she could ignore them.
What she needed to do was get to the police station alone and speak with someone. She should have done so already after the fiasco with Zach Masters’s condo. But there hadn’t been time. And she realized it was probably more help to the police that she gather more information than blow her cover yet.
Pastor Edmund gave a long exasperated sigh. “I just called them for the fourth time. You heard me on the phone. They said they’ve had dozens of calls all night long. Since we aren’t in imminent danger, we’re not high on their list.”
Florence jumped to her feet. “We’re trapped. How is that not a priority?”
Even Edmund looked annoyed at that. “We have heat, restrooms, and food. Some people out there are trapped in ice, freezing.”
Florence flounced back into her seat, grumbling. “Probably some of them aren’t worthy of rescue.”
Mary sucked in a breath, but tried not to give herself away. Seriously? She had assigned a different value to various people’s lives? That was above and beyond crazy. How the hell had Mary found herself among this sort of so-called Christian?
Sure there were things she believed were sins, but that didn’t give her the right to extinguish lives. She was not the judge. God would determine the punishment at each person’s reckoning. Not Florence. Not Pastor Edmund. Not Ada. Her skin crawled with the desire to get away from these people. The church was large enough, but suddenly she felt claustrophobic.
When she’d heard about the attack on Zach Masters’s home, she had been appalled. She had hoped the mission had been simply to scare the occupants into leaving town. But natural gas? Filling the condo with flammable material was not a warning sign. It was dangerous. And she still wasn’t sure if one of the members had intended to toss in a match or simply let nature take its course.
Either way, she hadn’t wanted to take her chances with three lives, so she called the sheriff’s office.
What she’d listened to last night in the meeting made her cringe. It had started with several members organizing a boycott against the Masters, hoping if they could convince the citizens of Cambridge to stop patronizing the resort, they could put the Masters out of business. That was innocent enough and within their rights.
But soon the conversation deteriorated to acts of violence if they didn’t feel heard. They weren’t really interested in a slow demise. They wanted the entire Masters family out of town yesterday.
/> “Those people” were ruining their way of life, making a mockery of the Bible, God’s will, and the good citizens of Cambridge.
Like an organized mob scene, it only took a few people to convince two dozen others to take up “arms” and fight this religious battle.
There was discussion of burning down the main resort lodge, destroying property. One of the members had access to explosives.
Mary had almost vomited as they discussed their complete disregard for the possible loss of innocent lives, stating the blame for that would be on the Masters, not the Church on the Hill.
How had it not occurred to anyone that while they tossed their stones, perhaps it was really the members of the Church on the Hill who were the sinners in this charade? They were all so worked up in judging the Masters and their partners, no one could see the real issue—thou shalt not judge. Which was worse?
“Call the sheriff’s office again. Demand that they get us out of here.” Ada stood to pace next to her husband.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell. “Go ahead, dear,” he mocked. “We’re lucky we have cell service at all. Apparently the temperature outside is at an all-time record low. It’s like the weather in this area is possessed.”
“It’s been possessed for a few years,” someone stated. “Freaky earthquakes, rain out of nowhere, snowstorms that swoop in without warning. And now a geyser on the side of the highway? What is the world coming to?”
Florence set her hands on her hips and cocked her leg out to one side. “I’ll tell you what the world is coming to. We’re being punished for the sins of our neighbors. It’s a sign, I tell you. If we don’t wake up and straighten out our citizens, we’re liable to be wiped from the map.
“God is punishing all of us for the sins of a few. If we want to stop this madness, we need to take action. Have you noticed that every time one of those Masters kids enters another immoral relationship, the weather gets freakier?”
Pastor Edmund pinched his chin between his thumb and forefinger. “She’s right. I hadn’t thought of that.”
“When their first boy got together with that nasty Indian and that loose hooker of a girl, we had an earthquake. When the second boy shacked up with an Indian girl and another man, we lost the casino and the revenue it would have brought to our area. Now, the third son is tempting fate again with his sinful nature, fornicating with some mixed woman and another Indian. God is furious.”
Laurie's Wolves Page 17
