by E A Price
Even if he didn’t have to cook for his family, he probably still would. It was about the only class in school he could do without struggling.
“I envy you,” she said wistfully.
“It’s easy.” If it weren’t, he felt sure he wouldn’t be able to do it.
“It isn’t, not that I’ve ever tried very hard to learn. I’m pretty poor when it comes to food.”
“I can tell.” The words were pushed out by his jaguar before he could stop them.
Naturally, Mary frowned while deciding on whether to be offended.
“You’re too skinny,” he tried to explain, though this did not help much.
“I’m not skinny.” Her embarrassment returned, and he wanted to kick his blasted beast for bringing this up.
“A few more pounds wouldn’t hurt.”
Mary rolled her eyes. “You sound like Elise.”
“Elise?” Jealousy reared its big, ugly head. Was it crazy for him to want to be Mary’s whole world – her best friend, her mate, her everything? Fine – then he was crazy!
“My friend. My roommate.”
“Where is she?” he asked uneasily. He had seen the other bedroom in her apartment, unlike Mary’s it was a catastrophe, with clothes, shoes and fashion magazines strewn everywhere.
“On her honeymoon. A month-long cruise. Though she won’t be my roommate for much longer. She’ll be living with her husband.”
And you’ll be living here with your mate. He thought rather than said that. Even he could see she wasn’t quite ready for that yet.
Mary looked at him uncertainly.
“Chocolate,” he blurted while groping for a new topic.
Her nose wrinkled. “Chocolate?”
“Do you like chocolate cake?”
Mary pursed her pretty little lips. “It’s okay.”
“Okay?” He didn’t bother to hide the dumbfounded look on his face, and Mary giggled.
“I know. Elise can’t believe it either. Chocolate’s fine, but I don’t love it. She jokes that I may not be a real woman.” She laughed half-heartedly, though she was a little put out by that.
“In my house chocolate only lasts ten minutes before someone eats it.” If he wanted anything to last, he had to find a hiding place – a good hiding place because his brothers had already discovered his stash in the attic behind the creepy mannequin. Curse his brothers for getting too old to be afraid of that thing!
“Your brothers?”
“And my mother. What do you prefer?”
“I’d rather have coconut or lemon – or both.”
Tomas nodded, and Mary yawned.
“You’re tired.”
“Oh, maybe,” she admitted.
“I’ll go.”
She opened her mouth to say something as if she was going to object but she just nodded.
“See you tomorrow?” she asked.
He wanted to say it, wanted to tell her she would be seeing him tomorrow but didn’t want to give her the chance to say no immediately. Instead, he nodded and left.
His jaguar was sulking at what he perceived to be slow progress with his mate, but Tomas felt on top of the world. She was warming to him, just as he was to her. She no longer resembled a startled bunny; she was becoming comfortable with him, and at that point, it was the most he could hope for. No, the most would be her throwing herself into his arms, and then him taking her over and over…
Tomas stopped walking and shuddered. Her hands on his arm earlier hadn’t helped his desire. It was another cold shower night for him.
He sniffed and scented Maria before she called out his name. She hurried to catch him and fell into step beside him. Or at least he slowed so she could keep up with his long-legged stride.
“How is Mary?” asked the older woman.
Maria was Antonio’s mother and sister-in-law to the prime. The females in the leap were not ranked – in spite of some of them wanting that – but Maria was considered a high-ranking female nonetheless. It helped that she was kind and level-headed. She had on numerous times tried to talk to his mother about not letting his father treat her like a doormat, but it never seemed to work.
“Fine,” he muttered.
Maria’s face tightened, and he stopped to look at her, his jaguar going into full protective mode for his mate. Maria seemed to be trying to tell him something about Mary.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing… just hang in there with her.”
She left him, walking away as quickly as her small frame would allow. His jaguar wanted to follow, to shake her and demand she tell him what she wanted to say. But, that would probably earn him a sound thrashing from the prime and Antonio, and moreover, he would not hurt a female.
No, for now, he would just have to deal with an uneasy feeling.
Fourteen
Mary had a good night sleep. The best night she’d had in… ever. She still awoke a couple of times, fearing someone was lurking in the shadows, but she felt more restful than she had in a while.
For the last ten years, she’d been waiting for her stalker to jump out at her. To round a corner and he would be there, but here, in the leap, it seemed so unlikely that could happen that she barely woke up in the night at all.
She actually felt confident enough to leave her room without peeking outside first. Her guard was almost completely down until she rounded a corner and ran smack-dab into Lorenzo. In shock at the unexpected male, she screamed and jumped back, curling into a ball, expecting the worst.
Doors opened, footsteps echoed, and the next thing she heard was growling. She peered out from behind her hands to find Tomas had Lorenzo pinned against the wall while the other male snarled.
“What happened?” Thomas hissed.
“What’s going on?” demanded Sadie looking between the three of them.
Mary peeked at her. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “He just startled me.”
The stern looking Lorenzo scowled at her and Tomas snarled.
“Why did you startle her?” he roared.
Sadie grasped Mary’s arm and pulled her to her feet.
“He didn’t do it on purpose,” Sadie said in an authoritative voice. “Everybody just settle down.”
Tomas didn’t seem to be calming; in fact, given Lorenzo’s rapidly purpling face, he seemed to be gripping harder. She wasn’t sure how welcome this would be, but she stepped forward and placed a hand on Tomas’ arm.
“Please,” she whispered.
He stared at her hand in wonder for a few moments before dropping the other male. Lorenzo huffed and glared at Tomas like he had gone insane.
“There,” said Sadie smoothly, “no harm done.”
“I’m sorry, it was my fault – I would have jumped at anyone,” fretted Mary.
Her eyes took in the scars on Lorenzo’s face. He was not ugly, but the scars were very noticeable. She didn’t want him to think she jumped because of the way he looked.
Lorenzo nodded shortly. The rough looking male grunted at Tomas and followed Sadie into her room.
“I’m sorry,” she breathed.
“It’s not your fault,” he grumbled eyeing Sadie’s closed door.
“It is. I’m… jumpy.”
Though that seemed a poor excuse for almost getting Lorenzo strangled. If only Tomas knew why she was jumpy, but she just did not want to tell him. She was starting to trust him – which was crazy given that he had oh so recently kidnapped her – but she was. She just didn’t really want him to know, didn’t want to see that pity in his eyes. Mary felt like she had been a victim her whole life, at least here, she could try to be something else, even if it was only for a couple of weeks.
“Lorenzo should not wander around the house,” Tomas groused.
Mary couldn’t help the giggle at that. “You haven’t been wandering around the house?”
His cheeks turned slightly pink, and she knew her answer. He was always just a yell away.
“Not without good reason,” he muttered.
He stooped and picked something up, a brown bag that now looked a little squished.
“I brought this for you.”
“Oh?”
Gingerly, she took it from him and peeked inside at the dilapidated muffin. Boy, this was better than the last gift a guy gave her – that had been a pig heart.
“It’s lemon…” he explained. “It probably looked better before I dropped it.”
She reached in and pulled a bite off, eagerly eating it. Hunger overruled her bashfulness, and she was glad it did. It was by the far the most sublime, and silkiest cake she had ever eaten.
“It’s lovely,” she said, muffled as she had another bite.
“Thanks.”
“You made it?”
He shrugged self-consciously, and she thought of her huge jaguar shifter in a pink apron moving around a kitchen baking muffins. It was funny and sexy at the same time.
“It’s really good. You’re very talented.”
“It was nothing.”
She finished it in record time and licked her fingers, only pausing when she realized he was watching her with a hungry look on his face.
“Oh, did you want some?”
“No,” he muttered looking away. “What are you doing today?”
“I…”
She was going to say read, but she knew that meant Tomas would go away and leave her alone and she wasn’t sure she wanted that at all.
“Nothing.”
His chest inflated slightly. “I wondered if you wanted a tour of the compound.”
“Oh, ah…”
“I know you had one already, but…”
“Yes.”
“Yes?”
“Yes.”
His face lit up. “Good. Ah, are you ready?”
Mary fingered her trusty cardigan self-consciously, trying not to compare herself to Sadie who managed to look slinky and sexy in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. “Umm hmmm.”
“Good. Let’s go.”
*
Tomas was not a natural born showman. If Mary had been expecting an interesting tour or even a lively one, then she would have been sorely disappointed.
“That’s the school.”
He pointed at the large building. Mary nodded.
“You have your own school?”
“Just until middle school, then we go to the local high school.”
Tomas could not seem to calm down, he was still riled about Lorenzo, and the way Mary had been licking her fingers certainly didn’t help his agitated beast. He was sure Lorenzo did nothing wrong, but he was still angry. Mary was his mate – he had to protect her. Though maybe she felt like she needed protection from him. He gave her a sideways glance. If what he did to Lorenzo bothered her, she wasn’t letting it show.
“Hey, Harry!”
Tomas growled as his leap mate Henry walked towards to the two of them. The younger, unmated male grinned at Mary, and his jaguar snapped his jaws. Tomas stood in front of Mary, hiding her from view entirely.
Henry held up his hands in surrender, but Tomas did not stop snarling until he gave up and walked on by.
“What on earth was that about?” said Mary when he finally quieted down, and she could be heard.
He didn’t like anyone else flirting with his mate, and he didn’t like being called Harry either. He wanted to explain that to her, but instead, he just shrugged his massive shoulders.
“You seem so angry.” Her face scrunched in concern.
“I’m not usually,” he lied. He was always angry, but usually, he managed to push that anger down and pretend the taunts didn’t bother him.
Now she looked worried. “Something I bring out?”
Yes. “No!” She just made it harder for him to retain control of his beast. “I…”
“Why did he call you Harry? I thought your name was Tomas.”
Tomas grimaced. “It is.”
“Then why Harry?”
Tomas narrowed his eyes. He gestured at a small building next to the school. “That’s the old library.”
Mary frowned at him as he very un-smoothly changed the subject, but her interest was actually piqued, and she looked at it. “Old?”
“Been closed for years.”
She wasn’t entirely satisfied by the topic change, but he could tell she was interested in this. She did like books. He couldn’t have diverted her attention better if he actually tried – seriously, pointing out the library was just luck.
“How come?
“The guy who set it up died. No one else was interested in running it.”
Not surprising. Most of the leap males preferred doing something more physical, and the females usually had their hands full in taking care of their families.
Her nose scrunched. “Isn’t anyone in the leap big on reading?”
He shrugged. No one in his family was. He doubted the other males he knew were. He had no idea what interested the females in the leap. They were a complete mystery to him.
“Can I see it?”
“I guess,” he said slowly. He couldn’t see the harm.
“I used to be a librarian.”
He nodded. She had told him when they first met at the speed dating. She only said a handful of words to him, and he remembered every single one, he replayed them over and over in his head at night when he was trying to sleep. They helped him and were definitely a welcome distraction from his brothers’ snoring – and he did mean brothers plural. He shared a room with two, and they both snored like foghorns.
“Cutbacks meant I lost my job. Fewer people were borrowing books. Last hired and first fired.”
They reached the door and Tomas rooted around the dead potted plants for a key. They generally left the keys around for the shared buildings in case any leap member needed to get in. It’s not like there was anything in there to hide.
He opened the door and led Mary in. She let out a delicate sneeze as the dust hit her. He flipped the lights on and moved to raise the blinds.
“It’s a nice little library,” she commented, clearly being able to ignore the dust and grime better than he could. “It’s a shame no one wants to use it.”
Tomas peered at the shelves and the finger marks in the dust. “I reckon some people still do. They probably just come in and get books when they want them.”
“Hmmm.” Mary ran her finger along the books, frowning at the gaps. “Looks like they forgot to bring a few of them back.”
“No one to notice them missing.”
Tomas grunted in reply. He had no idea how many would be missing. He had never come in here back when it was open. A library was not the place for a young cub whose reading ability was on par with a potted plant.
“It’s such a shame. A bit of a clean, some paint and some new books to fill the gaps and this place would be great. Isn’t there anyone in the leap who could run it?”
Tomas gazed at her, watching the wistful look on her face and she blushed. He didn’t usually pick up on things very quickly, but even he could see she would be the perfect person to run it. She must have realized what he was thinking, and it was clear that she wasn’t ready to comment on her future in the leap. Particularly given that she then tried to change the subject.
“Why did that man call you Harry?” she blurted.
Tomas scowled. “It’s not important. Let’s finish our tour.”
Fifteen
“There you are!”
Mary yelped, and Tomas hauled her behind him in an instant. He started growling before he stopped and grunted.
“Mama.”
Mama? Mary tried to peer around his wide frame. She found an older pregnant woman. Her eyes held heavy bags under them, and she had a few wisps of silver hair, but even tired she was pretty.
On reflection, Mary probably shouldn’t have yelped, but the woman was suddenly there when Mary set foot outside the library, and Mary was naturally jumpy.
“Hello,” said the woman, also trying to peer around Tomas.
The woman beamed. “I’m Tomas’ mother, Julia. You must be Mary.”
“Uh, yes.”
“Well, it’s about time I got to meet you.”
“Mama,” grumbled Tomas.
“It’s ridiculous that we haven’t spent any time together yet.”
“Mama.”
“You must come and eat all your meals with us.”
“Mama.”
“In fact, why not move in with us?” She lit up with excitement. “We can make room. That way you can spend all your time with me.”
“Mama. Enough!” Tomas looked like he was about to explode.
Julia pursed her lips. “Well at least come for lunch today.”
“We’ll see,” muttered Tomas, though without much conviction.
His mother gave him a wounded look. “It was nice to meet you, Mary,” she said before waddling away.
Mary looked at him uncertainly. Why wouldn’t he want her to meet his mother? Oh – was he ashamed of her? Which her did she mean?
“Let’s continue the tour,” he said gruffly, clearly annoyed at his mother.
She nodded, and they continued, both a little less happy than before.
*
“We could go for lunch in town.”
Mary blinked at him. “I thought…”
He didn’t want her to meet his family. But why? His mother seemed thrilled to meet her.
“Your mother…”
“You wouldn’t enjoy eating with them.”
“Okay.”
Wasn’t he trying to have her stay there? So why hide his family? Though she wouldn’t deny if she were ever serious about a guy, she’d try and hide her family for as long as humanly possible.
“My family is crazy,” she blurted.
He watched her patiently, though with a touch of mild confusion.
“They wouldn’t let me even talk to a boy when I was a kid.” Not that it completely stopped her.
“That doesn’t sound that bad,” he said thoughtfully.
“They locked me in a cupboard every evening to correct my behavior.”
“Hmmm.” His expression turned stony.
“Not to mention the four-hour lectures every night about how I was a sinner who was definitely going to hell.”
