A Warrior's Love [Blackhawk Brothers 3] (BookStrand Publishing Romance)

by Lavada Dee

  Devon couldn’t believe his ears. Nadia was the epitome of a sophisticated woman. It went without saying that she was elegant and educated, but the way she was pursuing a…dare he call it a relationship? Well, it was bizarre, to say the least. Finally finding his voice, he said, “I’m flattered. Really I am. Any man would be, but…”

  Her eyes pleaded with him to understand. “I know this is highly unusual and if we had more time I wouldn’t be so open, or I imagine what you might call ‘pushy.’ This isn’t me at all.”

  Devon didn’t know what to say, or more to the point, what had to be said. “You are no doubt stressed. You have a lot of road ahead of you, and a deadline looming. Believe me, I know how that alone can stress you out. In the morning, you’ll want to forget all about tonight.” He had released the button holding the door closed. As it slid shut, he winked at her, hoping it would take any sting out of his rejection.

  * * * *

  As soon as Devon left to get the sandwich, Tyrell made his way down the back stairs. Using his arms and the railing to get down, it had been slow going. But standing on the shore of the lake, breathing in the cold crisp air was worth it. He drew in a deep breath savoring the moment. Checking to make sure he couldn’t be seen, he stripped off his clothes. It was a risk to shift with his injuries. In the beginning, he had discussed it with his team and all had agreed that to be wounded in his wolf form would be dangerous. He wouldn’t have access to medical treatment, for one. For another, they were in a foreign country and couldn’t get him back home if he couldn’t shift back. Well, he was home now and common sense told him to be patient. He was healing. In another month he should be able to resume his life in any form he chose. It all sounded good, but as soon as Nadia entered the picture, he knew he didn’t have the luxury of time.

  He closed his eyes, willing his body to respond. Usually it happened in the blink of an eye. So fast that he didn’t experience the transformation. One second he was man, the next wolf. This time was different. He felt his body change. It wasn’t unpleasant, but if it had been this way at first, he knew he would have been frightened. How much longer would he retain the ability? He didn’t want to think about losing it. The ancient totem his people carried manifested itself most commonly in warriors, and to a lesser degree in healers. At one time it was needed to survive, but with modern warfare shifters weren’t needed. Would his kind become extinct?

  We will lie and wait.

  Satisfied with his wolf’s voice, Tyrell ran into the dense forest. There was no sign of weakness in his body. He bit back the urge to howl in triumph. But he was too close to the lodge and his parents’ house. His father would hear and recognize his voice. Instead, he ran silently in the night. He didn’t have long if he wanted to be back before Devon returned. But then again, did he care? Devon had seen him shift once. It had been long ago when they were both in their teens. Devon knew, but refused to believe. It was easier for him to accept it all as a dream.

  Tyrell felt alive. It had been a long few months. He wasn’t a good patient, but now it was over. He was breathing hard when he got back to where he had left his clothes. Mentally, he slowed his breathing, and again willed his body to respond. This time shifting was faster. A good thing, but he again wondered how long he would retain his ability now that the need for it no longer existed.

  Back in full human form, he tested his weight on his legs. He had been right. The wolf had finished the healing of his body. It had also recaptured his strength. He still wasn’t a hundred percent, but no mortal man would be stronger.

  Tyrell’s senses picked up Devon’s presence before he opened the door. It looked like his brother had beaten him to the room by a minute or less. He had thought maybe it would be best to fake his full recovery, but almost immediately rejected the idea. Page would try to reason it out. Devon, he wasn’t sure about. Either way, it was what it was. Strolling into the room, he reached for the sandwich. “Thanks, I’m starving.” He reached the kitchen and opened the fridge door. “Want to share this?”

  Silence greeted his question. He paused and then took out two beers and slid one across the counter to Devon. “Come on, join me. This sandwich is big enough for two. Plus there are french fries.”

  Devon looked like he was in a half-trance. He sat down and automatically reached for a fry. “No sandwich, but the beer sounds good. Hell, right now I’m ready for a whiskey straight.”

  Tyrell laughed. “It has been a strange night, even for me.” He took a bite of sandwich, giving him time to observe Devon. He would bet his brother had connected with Nadia, and that, maybe more than his miraculous recovery, was what had Devon psyched out. Excitement surged through him at the thought of Nadia, and again, his body responded. He felt an enormous relief that his man parts were working. “I’m guessing you ran into Nadia.”

  “You guess right, but I’m guessing it’s more of a knowing for you.”

  “Why do you say that?” Tyrell leveled his gaze at Devon trying to see the thoughts behind his eyes.

  “Come on, enough. Hell, Tyrell, it’s late and I’m too tired for any more games.” He slid off the stool. “Maybe this should wait until morning.”

  No! Tyrell heard the wolf voice within him. “Wait.” He pushed the still full can of beer forward. “Finish your beer and let’s talk.”

  When Devon was seated at the bar again, Tyrell made eye contact and said, “Okay, you are right in that I was almost positive you would run into Nadia. She has something on her mind. Until she resolves whatever it is, she isn’t going to respond to me.”

  “You sure about that? And, what do you care? I thought you didn’t like her.”

  “I’m as sure as I can be, and I’ll tell you why in a minute, but first, what happened downstairs?”

  “You mean after that surreal encounter at the elevator? And what was that all about?”

  “First, tell me about your meeting with Nadia.”

  Devon picked up his beer and left the bar to settle himself on the sofa. He waited until Tyrell took the chair opposite, and then said, “You are right in that Nadia has something on her mind. In fact, it scared the hell out of me.” When Tyrell didn’t say anything he continued. “You know that she offered me a modeling job.” It wasn’t a question and he didn’t wait for Tyrell to answer. “That was when she assumed I was a clerk or at best the manager. Now that she knows who I am, and has connected the Blackhawk name, she is after a lot more.”

  “Like what, your body?” Even as he said it, Tyrell could feel the objection of his wolf. “That shouldn’t surprise you. You have certainly been propositioned before.”

  Devon shook his head. “This was different, not that I don’t like the package and even though we don’t seem to have the chemical elements that create fireworks. If getting in my bed, or getting me in hers, was all she had in mind, I would have been up for it in a nano-second. Again, pun intended.”

  Tyrell involuntarily growled. Devon’s head snapped up. “What? Don’t worry, that isn’t what the lady had in mind. Or at least, I’m pretty sure it isn’t.”

  “Start over, just exactly what did you two talk about?”

  Devon sat forward, taking his time.

  Tyrell wanted to reach over and grab the words out of him. He contained himself and waited.

  “You are not going to believe this but I think…no, I’m sure, she wants me to marry her and …”

  Tyrell could feel the blood rush through his body. Before he could stop himself, he stood up and with a quiet almost deadly sound said, “No.”

  Silence hung over the room. Devon looked stunned. Tyrell held up both hands and sat back down. He didn’t apologize. Thankfully, Devon didn’t seem to expect him to. After what seemed like forever, Devon put his beer on the coffee table, and stood up. “I think we might want to resume this conversation in the morning. I don’t know about you, but everything is happening too fast. Nothing seems real.”

  It would be better and Tyrell knew it, but if they waited would th
e moment pass? Would what needed to be said be lost? He motioned for Devon to sit back down. “You’re right about today. It has been surreal, but my life isn’t exactly the norm. I probably shouldn’t have come home so soon. And, staying here, spending so much time with you, has sucked you into what I am.”

  Devon made a sound of denial, but Tyrell didn’t let him talk. Instead, he said, “I know you know about the totem our family carries. In this day and age, it is deemed a legend, or myth. It is relegated to fairy tales about leprechauns, werewolves, and vampires. But if you look far enough back, Indian tribes believed that totems lived within some men. They believed that these men, shamans, medicine men, chiefs, could see visions and have supernatural powers.”

  He stopped for a moment, letting his words echo over the room. “I could give you a history lesson on how these totems have, for the most part, become dormant. This happens because they aren’t needed anymore. I won’t be surprised if I lose mine now that I am home.” He again paused. “Bet you wish I would just let nature take its course and shut up.”

  Devon chuckled. “Well, now that you mention it.”

  “Sorry, old man, I want…. No, I need to share what happened tonight. Maybe not so much for you as for me, because it’s something I haven’t encountered before. And, it’s something I don’t like. In fact, it is scaring the hell out of me.”

  Now he had Devon’s attention. “Come on, nothing scares you.”

  “Yeah well, how about knowing who you are destined to claim as a mate?”

  Now Devon did laugh. No doubt he hadn’t thought the night could get any stranger. Devon finally stopped and said, “Mate? Come on, shifting well…I can understand that. Sort of. But mate?”

  “Don’t they call the one you are destined to share your life with a soul mate?”

  Devon nodded, “I guess it was how you said it. Sort of like ‘Me Tarzan, you Jane.’”

  Tyrell nodded. “You’re right, I guess it did sound that way. Like I said, I’m out of my element here, so you will have to cut me some slack.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Tyrell again hesitated. How much should he tell Devon? Maybe he was wrong, maybe it would be better to keep it to himself, but Devon already knew or suspected things were outside the norm. When he didn’t answer, Devon again asked what he meant.

  Okay, here it goes. “You know how we have talked about following Cooper and Grant and settling down.” It wasn’t a question. “I’m serious about it. I’m tired of one-night stands. Hell, for me it can’t even be termed dating, or on-again, off-again relationships.”

  Devon nodded in agreement. “I’m serious, too. The dissatisfaction, the inability to enjoy what I’ve always loved to do. It…started to fade. Then, having you here, having someone to hang out with, it sort of eased. But you’re right. It’s time. Hell, past time to move on with the next phase of life. Seeing Cooper and Grant so happy makes me want a piece of what they have.”

  Tyrell hadn’t taken more than a bite or two of the sandwich. Devon motioned to it. “Give me half of that. This conversation is making me hungry.”

  Laughing, Tyrell pushed it across the coffee table. “So have you given any thought to building a house? Cooper had his built before he met Galynn and Grant was in the process, if I have it right.”

  “Yeah, you do. And, I don’t want to build a house. I like living here. Now to find a woman that will feel the same. What about you? We all have land on the lake.”

  “Yeah, and I like my piece. I have even been daydreaming of a design.”

  Devon went to work on the sandwich. He swallowed and wiped his mouth. “I have to tell you, I’m surprised. I know we talked, but it was more like speculation, and maybe a little bit of envy of Cooper and Grant.”

  Tyrell sat back and crossed one leg over his thigh. “I was centered on recovering until tonight when …”

  The sounds of a key drew both men’s eyes to the door, and then back to each other. Page was at her place for the night and no one else had a key. Before Devon could move, Tyrell was at the door pulling it open. He stepped back as Page almost spilled into the room.

  He bent forward and grabbed her arm to steady her. “Whoa, I didn’t expect you back tonight.”

  Page straightened up, and a look of surprise passed over her face. “You…you are walking.”

  Tyrell’s laugh boomed across the room. “I’ve been walking.”

  “Not without help. How…?”

  Tyrell’s gaze locked with hers, and then slid down to her lips. They seemed to be offering an invitation. He drew back. She wasn’t for him. He didn’t need his totem to tell him that, though he had no doubt it would make itself heard in another second or two. “I told you…I heal fast.”

  “Yes but…” Page stammered.

  He was stopped from saying anything more when Devon joined them at the door. “Tyrell said you were taking the night off.”

  “I was…am.” She was still flustered. “I hadn’t expected to have it off, and I didn’t want to go to the grocery and stock up only to be gone again, so decided to come back here for the night.” She hesitated, unsure. “Is it okay? I mean, I can…”

  Tyrell turned her around and took her coat off her shoulders. “Of course, it’s okay. My umm…recovery will mean we need to reassess how to proceed. I know we contracted for another two weeks. I’d like to stay with that.”

  Page looked confused. “I’m not sure what you mean. It’s obvious you don’t need a physical therapist any longer. Still you’re right you could have a relapse.”

  “I won’t have a relapse but I’d still like have you on retainer.” His voice sounded deeper even to his ears. “We will talk about it in the morning.”

  Chapter 9

  Page hung her coat in the closet in her room, and then almost fell into a chair. The suite was beautifully appointed. Again she thought of how her studio apartment didn’t begin to compare to it.

  The penthouse, like the lodge, was well constructed and she couldn’t hear anything from the other room. Were the brothers talking, or had Devon left for the night? And, what about Tyrell? She hadn’t expected him to be at the door earlier. When he had opened it she couldn’t believe how healthy and virile he looked. He had been recovering fast but…

  Tyrell said he still wanted her to stay for the length they had agreed on, and that was another two weeks, but why? And would it be prudent? It was one thing to stay with a patient, but the virile man that had just stood in front of her? She couldn’t shake the image of how he had looked at her. He was recovering more than just the use of his legs. No doubt he would have looked at any woman that way. His eyes haunted her, how had she missed how expressive they were?

  Whew. Get a grip. Page glanced at the bedside clock, just past midnight. It had been a long day. Tomorrow would be soon enough to figure it all out.

  * * * *

  Nadia finally gave it up, and got out of bed. Now that she was by herself, it wasn’t Devon she was thinking about. It was Tyrell. Worse, her body reacted to the thoughts, making her feel almost—hungry. She closed her eyes and saw him in the elevator. Again she felt the pull of a force she didn’t understand. It was like he was commanding her to come to him. Heat moved down her body, making her want to touch herself. Instead, she walked over to the patio doors and stepped outside. The air was cool, almost cold. It felt good on her heated skin. She forced her thoughts to Devon. He was the one she wanted. He was the one that completed the family picture. She smiled, thinking of what her father would say when he saw him. The man was so perfect.

  She knew the Cortico contract had been a carrot. There had been other smaller ones the last couple of years, but they weren’t enough. She also knew how her father’s mind worked. First he dominated, and then intimidated. This time the ploys hadn’t worked, so he had shown her what could be hers if she married and produced an heir. She could almost feel sorry for him. Powerful, handsome, in control, her father lived for the business. From things her grandmother sa
id, Nadia knew he had loved her mother. Maybe he had transferred all his passion to the business when she died.

  Nadia shivered. Thinking of Tyrell had heated her body, and she hadn’t realized how cold the air had turned. She went back inside and climbed under the covers. Hopefully, the spell was broken and she could sleep.

  Sleep.

  She closed her eyes.

  “You belong to me.” A man walked slowly toward her. With his hand palm up, he reached toward her. He was a big man, but walked with the grace of a dancer. Her heart beat in her throat. She wanted to step into his arms, feel his body pressed to hers. Instead, she put her hand in his. Her palm pressed into his like a caress. He brought it to his lips, and pressed open-mouthed kisses over it.

  “Say my name.”

  Tyrell’s gaze held hers. As she watched, his eyes changed from almost black to a steel gray. She couldn’t break away, and didn’t want to. Feelings she didn’t know existed sent warmth rushing through her body, turning it soft, almost liquid. She longed to melt into him, become one with him.

  A warm breeze flowed around them, and in the way of dreams, Nadia found herself standing in a clearing. Trees formed an umbrella over her and Tyrell.

  “Are you afraid of me?”

  She was surprised when she heard her voice answer. “No, I’m not afraid.”

  His voice was low and deep, barely more than a whisper. It moved over, and through her. “You belong to me.”

  “I belong to no one.”

  “When you wake up you will know. Until then…” His hands spanned her waist, and he turned her so her back was to him. He put one arm just under her breasts letting the weight of them rest on his forearm.

  He moved the other arm across her stomach, resting his hand so that his arms surrounded her. She should feel trapped by his power, instead she felt enfolded in a warm, safe cocoon. He pulled her against him, showing her his desire.