Cat of a Different Color

by Dana Marie Bell

“Yes, I know. I’m not the world’s most observant person. Are you hungry?”

  “Ah...yes?”

  Mrs. Anderson beamed down at her, dark blue eyes twinkling. “Good. I’ll just get you your lunch then.” She marched over to the door and pulled it open. “The young lady is awake and we’re hungry.” She shut the door and marched back over to the bed. “There. Your food should be here shortly.”

  Sheri tried, and failed, to stifle a giggle. “Door to door service, huh?”

  Mrs. Anderson nodded decisively. “Of course. It pays to be the grandmother of the sheriff and the mate of the Marshal, you know.” She plopped down into the chair next to the hospital bed, grinning. “So, what is it you want to know?”

  Sheri thought about it for a moment. “The secret of immortality?”

  One salt-and-pepper eyebrow rose into the air. “When you learn that one make sure you share with the rest of the class.”

  “How’s Belle?”

  The smile left her face. “They had to put a pin in her hip.”

  Sheri winced. “She won’t be able to change unless they remove it.”

  “Which won’t be for quite a while, unfortunately. And don’t feel guilty, either. Belle said she wants to see you as soon as you feel up to it. She’s worried about you.”

  “Okay. As soon as I’m allowed I’ll take a walk and go see her.”

  “Not without the guards.”

  Sheri grinned. “Of course not.”

  “Let’s see, what else.” Mrs. Anderson tapped her finger against her chin. “Oh! Someone vandalized Wallflowers.”

  “What?”

  “Yup. Threw a brick through the front window. I don’t know why they didn’t do any other damage, but Emma arrived to find the window totally smashed. Luckily whoever did it wasn’t there any longer and no one got hurt.”

  Sheri knew why no other damage had been done. That was next. If Emma and Becky continued to harbor her, things would only get worse for them.

  The older woman chattered, giving her all the Pride gossip. Most of the people she mentioned Sheri didn’t know, and she felt her mind beginning to drift back into sleep.

  “Lunch!” a male voice announced from the doorway.

  “It’s about time.” Mrs. Anderson got up and got the meal, two nice big bags full of fast food burgers, fries and milk shakes. “I know this isn’t exactly the healthiest thing on the planet to eat, but frankly, my dear, I never could resist a Big Mac,” she shared with a guilty grin as she handed Sheri her food.

  Biting into her own burger, Sheri could only nod in agreement. Yum.

  Chapter Seven

  She had a bruise the size of his fucking head on her hip. The sight of it made him furious again as he gently helped her into the tub. He’d bought several large candles in glass jars, placed them on the counters and the edges of the tub and lit them so she’d have soft lighting for her sensitive eyes. She’d smiled when she’d seen it, and that made the extra trip to the store worthwhile.

  “God, that feels so good,” she moaned as the hot, bubbly water covered her creamy skin.

  She’d been home for maybe an hour, and he couldn’t stop touching her. Two days in the hospital; two days of pain Parker needed to pay for. Every bruise, every mark on her was etched into his brain, a visual reminder of the payback he meant to exact. “You need help scrubbing your back, princess?”

  She smiled up at him, soft and sweet, her blue eyes languid. “Maybe later. Right now I just want to soak out the aches.”

  He knelt down and, careful of her injuries, gently pulled her mouth to his. It was the first time since the attack he’d been able to really kiss her, and he took full advantage. He persuaded her lips apart, tasting her mouth like it was fine chocolate, slowly and with exquisite care. He loved the way she tasted, sweet as honey, tart as apples. He could sit there and kiss her all day long.

  When he reluctantly pulled way she was panting and her eyes were glazed. She licked her lips and swallowed. “You know, I feel much better now.”

  “Do you?”

  “Mm-hmm.” Wet arms encircled his neck as she tried to pull him back down to her mouth.

  “Well, then, if you’re a good girl maybe I’ll tuck you into bed after your bath,” he purred.

  Her eyes flashed red as his fingers tweaked one bubble-covered nipple. “What if I’m a bad girl?”

  He growled, his eyes flashing gold. “Then I’ll just have to punish you.” He stood abruptly, lips twitching as she gasped in surprise. “Now be a good girl and take your bath.”

  “Pig,” she pouted.

  He laughed all the way down the stairs, his heart lighter than it had been in days as he heard her amused sigh.

  As soon as her muscles were all nice and warmly relaxed from her bath he had every intention of seeing his princess safely ensconced in his bed. He then had every intention of licking every inch of her body. And once she was boneless he’d curl up around her and finally get his first night’s sleep in days.

  He heard the phone ringing and decided to answer it in his office. “Hello?”

  Silence.

  “Hello?”

  Nothing.

  That stupid danger sense of his was tingling again. “What the hell do you want, Parker?”

  “I think you know the answer to that, Giordano.”

  Adrian leaned one hip against his desk, every sense alert. He could hear Sheri splashing gently in the tub. Outside the house was silent. He could hear Parker’s breath over the phone, and the sounds of traffic in the background. “She’s my mate, Parker.”

  Parker laughed. “Sure she is.”

  “She bears my mark.”

  “She bears my mark,” Parker snarled.

  “Sorry, Muttley, but you need to back the fuck off. She’s all mine.”

  He could almost feel the other man smile. “Sheridan has the sweetest pussy I’ve ever fucked.” Adrian’s Puma growled possessively and his eyes flashed gold. “And she loves taking it up the ass. I bet I’m still the only man who’s ever taken her there. She screams so loudly and clamps down so hard around your cock you feel like she’s going to squeeze it off.”

  Adrian snarled silently, his mind racing. There might just be a way to get Parker focused on him and not Sheri. He smiled coldly. “I know,” he purred. He could hear the other man’s breathing accelerate. “I love it when those sweet lips of hers wrap around my cock. Did you know I was inside her when she marked me?” Adrian laughed softly at Parker’s growl. “That’s right, Parker. I bear her mark.”

  “I’ll fucking kill you,” Parker panted.

  “She’s upstairs, naked, wet, and waiting for me, Parker. As soon as I hang up this phone I’m going to go upstairs and fuck her until neither one of us can see straight.”

  “You’re a dead man!” Parker screamed.

  “Then I’m going to curl up around her and sleep with her in my arms. My arms, Parker.” Parker’s growl wasn’t even human anymore. He hoped the man had control of his change, or things could get really ugly really fast. “And do you know what I’m going to do tomorrow night?”

  “What?”

  The gravelly voice on the other end of the line let Adrian know it was time to end this. “The same damn thing I’m going to do tonight. Fuck my woman.”

  “I know where you live.”

  If Parker thought that would scare him, he had another thing coming. “Bring it on. In the end it’ll be my cock in her tight little pussy.”

  He hung up the phone and took a deep breath. It had taken every ounce of his self-control to play that little game with Parker; talking about his princess like that with her fuckhead ex was the hardest thing he’d ever done. He didn’t even want the other man thinking her name, let alone spewing his filth about her body.

  “You sure that was wise?”

  He turned, not surprised to see Gabe standing in the doorway. The other man had volunteered to spend the next few nights with them. He was supposed to be out front in an unmarked car, th
ough, not inside the house where Sheri could see him.

  “I want him focused on me. Not Sheri or the Pride.”

  Gabe nodded. “Yup. Telling him how you like to fuck the woman he’s obsessed with definitely grabbed his attention.” He shifted uncomfortably. “Hell, it grabbed my attention,” he muttered, smiling slyly.

  Adrian rolled his eyes. “You have a better idea?”

  Gabe shrugged. “Even if I did it’s too late now. Odds are good he’ll be here before morning.”

  “When is Richard due?”

  “He’s already here. He’s staying with Mr. Friedelinde.”

  The Friedelinde mansion was probably the most comfortable place for the visiting Pack Alpha and his entourage. “Give them a call and let them know what happened. I’ll call Max.”

  Gabe nodded and pulled out his cell phone on his way back towards the front door.

  Adrian shook his head, still somewhat uncertain how he’d wound up the Marshal and Gabe his Second. The other man radiated authority from every pore. His loose limbed stride and relaxed posture fooled no one. Those dark blue eyes could be cold as an arctic breeze in an instant. That large frame, almost as big as Simon’s, moved with a grace and agility only professional athletes could mimic.

  But when the other man looked back at him, a question in his eyes, something in Adrian immediately responded. “What’s the problem?”

  “Richard wants in.”

  Adrian sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He’d planned on meeting with Ben, the Pack Marshal, in the morning over coffee to discuss strategy. Apparently that plan was now in the crapper. “Fuck.”

  “Yeah. I told him I’d call him back.”

  “How many does he have with him?”

  “Four. His Marshal, the Second and two others.”

  Adrian stared at a painting on his wall without really seeing it. Plans were busy whirling through his mind. “Van?”

  Gabe nodded and grinned. “I’ll park them at the corner.”

  “Get Simon to bring them. I want you here.”

  “Will do.”

  He shook his head and picked up the phone. He dialed Max, quickly filling him in on what was going down. Max agreed to have Simon play liaison with Richard, since there was no Omega to do the job.

  Then he climbed the stairs to his wet, willing princess.

  Sheri was already out of the tub when she heard him coming up the stairs. She’d heard his entire conversation with Rudy, and was ready to kill Adrian herself. She wrapped the robe closer around herself and waited, tapping one foot impatiently.

  She wasn’t stupid. She knew why he’d said what he’d said. She hadn’t needed to hear him explain it to Gabe. But the fact that he was making himself a target for her sake had driven her out of the tub. She wanted to scream at him, rant and rave until he gave up his idiotic plan. But it was too late for that. Rudy would have him in his sights now, and if Adrian died because of her she’d never survive it. Just the thought of Rudy sinking his teeth into Adrian, pulling away flesh, making him bleed, had her seeing red. She’d kill Rudy herself before letting him hurt her mate.

  The man himself stepped into the bathroom, took one look at her out of the tub and frowned. “Why aren’t you soaking?”

  “I got out because I didn’t think there’d be enough room for both me and your fat head.”

  “Huh?”

  The man looked totally clueless. “I heard your conversation with Rudy, Adrian.”

  He sighed wearily. “Princess—”

  “Don’t you princess me, Adrian Giordano! How could you put yourself in danger like that?”

  He rolled his eyes and took her hand, gently leading her from the room. “I can handle Parker.”

  “Sure you can. But can you handle him and five of his best friends?”

  He led her into the bedroom and stripped the robe off her before she could blink. “Into bed with you.” He gently picked her up and laid her down on the bed, careful of her injuries. He snarled when she gasped anyway. “I will be facing Parker. His best friends will be facing Max, Simon, Gabe and Richard Lowell, plus the wolves Richard brought with him.”

  “Then why don’t you leave Rudy to the Pack?”

  She watched him strip silently. “Because,” he said as he finally climbed between the sheets, “he’s mine.”

  “Adrian.”

  He put his finger over her lips. “Don’t try to talk me out of this. I am personally going to gut him for what he did to you. Every bruise on your skin, every bite mark he placed on you, I’m going to give back to him. And when I’m done making him hurt, I’m going to make him scream. Then I’m going to kill him.”

  The calm tone of his voice, the factual way he stated everything he had planned for Rudy, made it that much more frightening. “This isn’t what I wanted.” She sighed.

  He rubbed his cheek against hers gently in a gesture meant to comfort her. “I know. You were hoping he’d see you here, safe and surrounded by people, and leave you alone.” He looked deep into her eyes, his nose touching hers so she could read every nuance of his expression. “But that’s not what’s going to happen. He’ll hound you, day and night. He knows where you live, what your dog looks like, who your friends are—and you’ve been here only a week. Once he knows your routine he won’t hesitate to use it, or your friends, against you. He’ll lure you out into the open where he can grab you. And if he does that, he’ll be a dead man anyway. If Max and Simon don’t get to him first and hand him over to Richard, who, by the way, plans on killing him, I’ll kill him.”

  “It’s not your job to stop him, Adrian.”

  “Yes, it is.” He slid one arm around her carefully. “Max confirmed me as Marshal a few days ago.”

  She frowned. “Marshal?”

  “I keep forgetting you’ve never been part of a Pride before. The Marshal is the one who sees to the safety of the Pride. Gabe’s my Second, like Simon is Max’s.”

  “I thought Mrs. Anderson was mated to the Marshal?”

  “Why would you think that?”

  “When she sent the guards for McDonald’s...uh-oh,” she whispered as his furious expression registered.

  “She sent the guards out for McDonald’s?” he growled through clenched teeth.

  “We were hungry.” He glared at her. “Besides, I don’t think both guards went.”

  “Oh, well that’s all right then. Not.”

  She frowned at his sarcastic tone. “Give them a break, Adrian. It’s not like you were dealing with soldiers or cops. You’re dealing with people who have been asked to guard someone, almost a complete stranger, against a threat they’ve never faced before.”

  “So?”

  “So, take it easy on them because I really like McDonald’s?”

  He sat up and glared down at her, holding both hands in front of him as if he was weighting something. “Hmm, let me think. Your life, a Big Mac. Your life, a Big Mac.” Both hands waved in the air. “Hey, no contest, right?”

  She bit her lip to keep from laughing. “It was a really good Big Mac. And we are talking McDonald’s French fries.”

  He growled, and she quickly decided to change the subject. He looked ready to climb out of bed, get dressed and hunt down her “guards” to give them the sharp end of his teeth.

  “So explain to me again why it’s your responsibility to go after Rudy.”

  He sighed. “It’s the job of the Marshal to remove threats to the Pride.”

  “And Rudy is a threat to the Pride.”

  “Yes. The moment he went after you and Belle, he became a threat to the Pride.”

  She’d known her decision to join the Pride could have consequences. The price Belle had paid was, in her mind, too high. She closed her eyes as the guilt threatened to choke her.

  “Hey.”

  She opened her eyes and saw the anger in his.

  “You better not be blaming yourself.”

  “And what if I am?” she whispered.

  He shoo
k his head. “You are not responsible for the actions of Parker.”

  “If Belle hadn’t volunteered to protect me she wouldn’t have been hurt.” Relief lit his eyes at her tone of voice, and she knew he understood that she wasn’t upset.

  She was pissed.

  “Belle is going to be fine. I promise you that.”

  Sheri shook her head. “How can she be? Mrs. Anderson told me they had to put a pin in her hip! If they did she won’t be able to change, you know that.”

  He sighed. “That woman talks too much,” he muttered.

  “Tell me about it.”

  His lips twitched, the rest of the anger leeching away. “We’re trying to figure that one out.”

  “And what about Emma’s store?”

  His eyes widened in shock before dark lashes dropped over them, hiding his expression. “What about Emma’s store?”

  “I know about the window, Doc Obvious.”

  He laughed. “That’s a new one.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Stick with me, kid, I’ve got a million of them.”

  “I plan on it,” he purred, gently cradling her body against his. He reached up with one hand and gently tweaked one of her pale nipples.

  “Uh...”

  “I know just which part I’d like to stick to, too.”

  She thought about bopping him on the head, but it hurt too much to move. “First off, I’m in way too much pain for what you have in mind. Secondly, I will not be distracted by sex.”

  “No?” He pouted down at her, eyes twinkling with mischief.

  “No.”

  “You’re sure?” he asked as his hot tongue swiped quickly across her puckered nipple.

  “Sure,” she gasped, not sure anymore what she was agreeing too.

  “Marry me?” he whispered just before he kissed her with mind-bending thoroughness.

  “Sure...wait, what?”

  “Too late,” he grinned triumphantly.

  “Hold on there, weren’t we fighting a minute ago?”

  “Nope.”

  “But—”

  “Hey, no take-backs!”

  “Adrian!” She laughed, loving the look in his eyes as they twinkled down at her.

  He shook his head, clucking his tongue. “That wasn’t the kind of screaming I was going for tonight, sweetheart. Guess I’ll just have to try harder.” He sighed happily.