by E A Price
She pondered it as she showered, considering what she should do. Tomas may not consider himself perfect, but he was one hell of a prince charming to her.
She scratched her head. Darn, that feels itchy. She ran out of her usual shampoo so borrowed a drop or two of Hester’s – it was an expensive brand Mary would never dream of buying for herself, but she knew Hester wouldn’t mind. No, Hester’s attention was completely taken by Antonio.
Mary wrapped herself in a robe and pulled a towel around her head. She ran into Hester as she was coming out of the bathroom.
Mary scratched her neck and snaked a finger under her towel to get at her scalp. “I hope you don’t mind; I ran out of shampoo, so I used yours.”
“Oh, help yourself,” said Hester.
“It just smelled so lovely,” said Mary, pushing another couple of fingers under the towel. Damn, this was really starting to bother her. Her whole head tingled.
“Yeah, it’s vanilla and jasmine. Are you okay?”
“My head itches.” Never mind itching, it felt like it was starting to damn well burn.
“Lord, maybe you’re allergic to the shampoo.”
Mary groaned and pulled the towel off her head and started rubbing her scalp furiously.
Hester took her elbow and dragged her back into the bathroom, and grabbed the showerhead. She pushed Mary to sit down on the toilet, turned the water to cold and started dousing her head. Mary squealed at the coldness, but Hester held her firmly and kept up the spray.
Naturally, her squeal attracted the attention of Tomas. The sound of his giant boots thundered on the stairs as he sprinted towards them.
“What are you doing?” he snarled at Hester as he burst in.
“My head,” whimpered Mary, reaching out a hand in his direction. Yes, she was pathetic, but oh she just wanted to crawl into Tomas’ arms – she wanted her giant prince charming to make everything better.
Tomas virtually melted and knelt in front of her, clasping her tiny hand in his.
“What is going on?”
“Mary borrowed my shampoo, and it looks like she’s having an allergic reaction,” explained Hester quickly.
“I’m not allergic to anything usually,” said Mary with chattering teeth. The water was freezing.
Tomas pulled her hand to his lips and kissed it. “It will be okay,” he rumbled.
Hester turned the shower off and ran her fingers through Mary’s hair, peering at her scalp.
“Does that feel a little better?”
Mary nodded. It did, because her head was freezing and was now numb.
“You’re so brave,” crooned Tomas.
Mary smiled wanly. Tomas looked up at Hester with an accusing look, as if it was her fault Mary happened to be allergic to the shampoo.
“Tomas,” Hester sighed, “why don’t you go get the leap healer to see if he can give her anything.”
He started to grumble before Mary let out a little eep of pain as she tried to touch her head.
“I’ll be right back,” he promised, giving her hand another kiss and charging out of the room full throttle, almost knocking down Laurel and Sadie who had come to find out what the fuss was about.
Hester quickly filled them in while Mary tried to smile at them. She was used to the kind of looks they were giving her – sad and pitying.
“C’mon, sweetie,” said Sadie, pulling Mary to her feet. “Let’s get you dressed. We’ll see what this healer person says, but I do have three types of hypoallergenic creams you can borrow.”
Sadie made a great job of dressing her and combing her hair – getting rid of all the knots – particularly as Mary wasn’t feeling very cooperative.
The leap healer arrived with Tomas looming over him, snarling every time he tried to touch Mary. The older male sighed and gave Tomas a green, goopy concoction to rub on Mary’s head every couple of hours. It smelled like seaweed.
“Maybe we should look at the ingredients on the bottle, to see what I’m allergic to,” she suggested.
The healer flirted a nervous glance in Tomas’ direction. “It’s not an allergy.”
Tomas’ head snapped in his direction, and with a slightly quavering voice, the healer said, “It’s poison. The shampoo must have been poisoned. I’ll take it with me to try and find out what…”
“Poison?” rasped Mary.
No, no he had to be wrong! It had to be an allergy. It couldn’t be poison because that would mean… Oh no, he’d found her! Her stalker had found her and was trying to kill her!
Her chest constricted as she started panicking and her legs gave out. Tomas dove to catch her.
“He’s found me,” she muttered. “He’s found me!”
*
Mary reacted over nothing. Okay, so not nothing. Mary used Hester’s shampoo – and someone poisoned it because they were after Hester. For once, Mary wasn’t the target.
Her head still hurt like hell though. She scratched her scalp as Tomas leaned against the wall watching her. He had barely left her side since it happened – only when Sadie was helping her change into a dry sleep shirt.
“Don’t scratch,” he grumbled.
“You may have to put oven mitts on me because this is driving me insane.”
Tomas grunted a half-laugh. She wasn’t kidding.
“What did you mean ‘he’s found me’?” he asked, and Mary froze.
“Ah… I’m really tired, Tomas. Can I just go to bed?”
Mary was tired and in pain – explaining that kettle of crazy fish was not something she wanted to do. She gave him a pleading look. He wasn’t happy, but he nodded in agreement and pulled his shirt over his head.
Mary’s eyes widened. “What are you doing?”
“Staying here tonight,” he said unconcernedly.
“Oh.”
Dreams do come true apparently.
“I can sleep outside your door,” he offered.
“No, no, that’s fine. There’s plenty of room.”
She patted the bed beside her, hoping that she didn’t look too eager. This could be just the thing to take her mind of her painful scalp.
While she was pretty sure she wouldn’t stay with Tomas long term, she wasn’t averse to spending the night with him. Quite the opposite. Jeez, maybe her dad was right about her slutty tendencies, but Tomas was the most attractive, sweetest man she had ever met. Not just that, everything about him appealed to her, and she wanted nothing more than to feel his lips all over her body – and she meant all over.
He gazed at her for a moment, his whole body tensing and yellow flashing through his eyes. He truly looked like a jaguar ready to pounce. Her honey started flowing as she readied herself for him, right before he blushed and looked away.
“I’ll sleep on the floor,” he muttered before pulling his pants off.
His boxers had lemons all over them – of all things. Made her think of those delicious lemon croissants he made her. Made her wonder what he was hiding under the lemon boxers. Something else to take into her mouth. She almost let out an eep at her dirty thought. That was not something she had done before, in spite of her college boyfriend’s requests. She was not interested in doing that, thank you! Though, as she eyed Tomas, she was starting to see the appeal.
“You don’t have to,” she entreated, trying to sound sexy. Though to her ears, it was just whiney. She was not practiced at flirting. Plus, with green goop on her head, she must have looked like a frightful sight.
She kneeled on the bed, and Tomas’ eyes immediately sought her breasts. She wasn’t wearing a bra, and they were pressing against her t-shirt. She fought the urge to cover them; she wanted Tomas to see her as a sexual being, even if that was the furthest thing from her mind.
“I better sleep on the floor,” he said in a low voice.
Mary’s brow creased in confusion. “Don’t you want me?” she asked in a small voice.
From their kisses, she had thought he found her attractive, thought she had felt his manhood
pressing insistently against her during their embraces. Okay, she didn’t look her best at that moment, but could she really have been so wrong?
“Of course I do,” he growled forcefully, and yes on looking down at his boxers, she could see he did.
“Then why don’t you…”
“We’re not supposed to,” he growled, giving her a pained expression. “We’re supposed to wait until… we mate.”
“Oh, so no sex until mating?”
Tomas nodded, and Mary slumped in disappointment. She probably shouldn’t agree to the mating just to get some nookie, right? She wasn’t sure – it seemed like a good trade considering how frustrated she felt at that moment. Three years was a long dry spell.
“I’ll sleep outside.”
“No,” she murmured. “Stay, please.”
Even if she couldn’t get her own way, she still liked having him near.
He nodded though he gulped a little. She clearly wasn’t the only one having a little trouble with this rule.
Twenty-Two
Tomas jogged up the steps to his prime’s house.
He was a little tired and frustrated and exhausted from sleeping so close to Mary and not being able to do anything about it. His jaguar had no idea what was holding him back. Yeah, the rules, but that hadn’t stopped dozens of other males and their chosen mates over the years.
His dad bragged about how he had his mom on the first day he brought her home. His dad had always been a dick.
But Tomas was still reticent. Maybe he was worried about disappointing her. Everyone in the leap thought he was some kind of stud. In spite of his silence on the matter, they thought he must go running down to town every weekend to score with random females. He never did that. The only thing he did was go running as his jaguar.
It would be so easy to give in and just be with Mary, but he wanted it to be special because she was special. He wanted her to stay there as his mate.
He groaned as he scented his dad with the prime. Terrific.
He slowed and considered turning around, but his prime had summoned him. Disobeying was not really a good idea.
“Get your ass in here,” called Roberto and his jaguar huffed.
He found the large prime leaning against the fireplace staring at the framed photos. Photos of his late brother, his nephews and his late mate. The prime was brooding. Tomas knew him well enough to understand that he only looked at those pictures when he was brooding.
Tomas’ own father had his arms folded and an almost triumphant look on his face.
“Prime,” mumbled Tomas.
Roberto turned to looked at him. His face was hard and bordering on scary. The prime was perhaps the only person on earth who could scare him. Well, maybe Mary could, too, but in a different way.
“How much do you know about Mary?”
Tomas’ jaguar bristled. Why was he asking?
“She has told me some things,” he said uncertainly.
His father snorted, and Roberto let out a rattle that soon hushed him.
“She has told you of her stalker?”
“Stalker?” snapped Tomas. His jaguar howled to attention as every part of his body went on high alert. “What stalker?”
“I looked into her,” blurted his father almost in glee, unable to hold back. “She’s had a stalker for years.” He seemed thrilled.
“I didn’t…”
“She has to go back to Los Lobos,” said his father definitively. “Prime can’t allow her to stay here.”
Roberto gave him a look that quelled him and said ‘don’t speak for me.’
Tomas could feel the anger inside him bubbling, and this was far worse than being called ‘Harry’ or being teased for being a dummy. This was his mate. Someone had been stalking his mate, and he wanted to explode. To shift to his jaguar and tear the whole world apart.
Roberto could sense what he wanted, and he strode towards him and pressed his forehead to his. “Easy, cub,” he said in a commanding way. “Think of Mary. Keep it together for her.”
He was breathing like a freight train as his heart tried to pound out of his chest. After a few minutes under his prime’s influence, he managed to calm.
Roberto nodded at him, asking if he was good. Tomas nodded in response. It was something they went through repeatedly when he was eighteen.
“Your father believes that having Mary here will put leap mates in danger,” said Roberto.
Tomas sneered.
“This stalker could easily show up and…” His father’s argument trailed away as Roberto curled his lip.
“You want to send Mary home?” asked Tomas to his prime.
The prime grunted and brooded on it for a few more minutes before he came to his verdict. “I doubt her stalker managed to follow her here, but I don’t want to send her back home to potential danger. The situation needs to be resolved before she can live here permanently.”
“So?”
“The two weeks is almost over. I want you and a couple of enforcers to go home with her and find the stalker. Then, when she is safe, she can make her decision about whether she wants to come here.”
Tomas nodded, relieved at his prime’s ruling but still impotently furious at the situation. Why had Mary not told him? How long had this been going on for? How long had his poor Mary suffered?
“Prime,” said his father in an urgent, wheedling voice. “You should reconsider. She is not a suitable female…”
Tomas snarled, and his father blanched but continued. “She lied, she did not tell us about the stalker.”
“Actually,” piped up Maria walking into the room. She was holding a mop. It was likely she had been cleaning the prime’s house. “She told me.”
Roberto cocked his head. “You?”
“You?” growled Tomas.
Maria took a deep breath and nodded. “Yes, and if I thought any of us were in danger, I would have told you.”
This was directed to Roberto, who nodded quickly. “Yes, I believe you would.”
“But… but… but….” spluttered Tomas’ father.
“Good, it’s settled.” The prime clapped his hands together. The matter was final as far as he was concerned – and in a shifter group, decisions began and ended with the leader. “Tomas, talk to Mary – get her to tell you everything about the situation. Maria, tell Antonio to find Tomas a couple of volunteers to go to Los Lobos with him.”
Her eyebrows raised. “Volunteers?”
“Yes, get him to find a couple of enforcers and tell them they are volunteering.”
She smiled. “Of course.”
“Prime,” snarled his father. “This is ridiculous; you are being stupid, you cannot…”
Maria and Tomas froze as Roberto let out a blood-curdling roar and took Ray by the scruff of his neck. His father looked terrified. Roberto was all red eyes, teeth, and claws. Some of the younger men in their hot-headed ways often wondered if Roberto was getting too old to be prime – usually when they had been drinking. But Roberto was still the toughest they had, and the pants-wettingly scariest as Tomas’ father could attest.
“You do not tell me what I cannot do in my own home,” hissed Roberto through a mouth full of fangs. “You do not insult your prime. My word is law. You talk to me like that again, and there will be consequences.”
His father whined, and Roberto dropped him without waiting for him to agree – his agreement was implicit, Roberto didn’t have to wait to hear it.
Roberto squared his shoulders and returned to his usual self – which in itself was quite formidable.
“Get moving,” he groused.
Tomas nodded, and Maria smiled as they left.
“I am sorry for your father,” whispered Maria on their way out.
Tomas wasn’t – might knock the man down a peg or two. Tomas scowled at her.
Maria sighed. “And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but it is Mary’s secret to tell. Now go on, and be gentle with her.”
His scowl slow
ly evaporated, and he nodded, jogging away to find his mate.
*
Mary beamed when Tomas came into the library. She took his hand and pulled him down for a quick kiss on the lips.
“Doesn’t this place look amazing?”
One of his leap mates – a carpenter – had fixed the bookcases that were being propped up by paint cans, sanded them and then his kids had painted them in bright colors. They looked great. He murmured his agreement that it did.
Mary’s nose wrinkled. “Something wrong?”
She could already tell the difference between his normal quietness and his irritated quietness. She knew his moods – and that was something his parents were still trying to figure out. Well, not trying very hard, admittedly.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Mary pushed her glasses up her nose. “Tell you what?” she asked with her cute smile.
“About your stalker.”
Her eyes widened to saucers, and her face paled. She tried to tug her hand out of his, but he held onto it. She settled for half turning away from him.
“It’s not…”
“Any of my business?” he snarled. “Mary…”
“No, don’t you dare!” she snapped, whipping back to him. Her face was flushed and her eyes watery from unshed tears. “Don’t you dare make me feel bad about this! My life has sucked for the last ten years thanks to some… some… dickhead, trying to consistently make me feel bad. So no, I didn’t want to tell you about it. I wanted to enjoy a little time away from all that – actually to feel free for the first time in a decade.” She poked a tiny finger in his chest. It was like an adorable mouse trying to bully a, well, a jaguar. “So don’t you dare try to make me feel bad for wanting that! I’ve been under the thumb of two men nearly all my life, men who wanted to make me feel like shit and I won’t let you do that too!”
Tomas blinked at her, his jaguar both shocked and impressed by the way she stood up for herself. He’d been a little worried she would be too timid to deal with his leap and family on a daily basis, but she had fire inside her. It had just been nearly extinguished from years of pain. Luckily, he was there to piss her off and ignite it.
