Revenge: A Ghost Cats Story

by Jaycee Clark

  She frowned. Maybe that was what she was partially afraid of? There were things, when they’d been apart, she wasn’t sure she ever wanted to dig up again.

  “We’ll see.”

  “Well, don’t wait too long. Lorenzo isn’t going to just sit quietly forever, you know. You’ve lived without him so you know what that’s like. Here is a chance to have it all. Why the hell would you turn your back on it?”

  She thought about that for a minute and then nodded. “Can you close the shop up for me?”

  He smiled. “Of course. Need help packing?”

  She ignored him and hurried home.

  True, there were a lot of things neither of them knew about the other, but there were a lot of things that she never wanted to give up again and this was her chance.

  Was she going to let this chance pass her by out of fear that it might not work?

  Or grab ahold of it?

  Their life would probably never be easy, but she couldn’t lie to herself. With Lorenzo, things were just…better. Right. Scary. So damned scary. She knew what it was like to have him, to lose him, to find him.

  Now she just had to figure out a way to keep him.

  Lorenzo sat in the barn loft, the tang of turpentine and oil paints thick on the air. He was so mad he couldn’t see straight, but damn it, he’d make her come around. She should be living with him, not in that empty apartment. The question was how? Wait her out? Push her? Once upon a time he’d have known. But now? Now enough time had passed he just wasn’t certain where Ree was concerned.

  He’d gotten used to living in the same location as the woman, seeing her around, watching out for her regardless of whether or not she wanted or knew he did it. He kept his distance even as he never got over the knowledge she was his.

  Now that they’d again been together, made love, stoked the ashes back to freaking flames, he wasn’t sure he could calmly sit aside until she came around.

  But he also knew if he pushed too hard, she’d pack up and leave. There were dark places in her that had never been there before. Places he wondered about. Times he couldn’t read in her.

  To hell with worrying about it right now. He’d lose himself in painting.

  He gathered paint on the tip of his brush and finished the scene of Reya naked in the moonlight.

  He grinned. She’d kill him if she saw this. Come to think of it, maybe he’d just offer to set this in the gallery that showed his work if she didn’t move back out here with him.

  She was his wife to protect, his partner to stand beside and his mate to love, no matter how damn many centuries had passed or how she might deny it.

  No, no one would see this painting but him. Though he might show her.

  He whistled to the wooden flute music soothing from his speakers.

  Time.

  He would never understand the woman.

  He was also currently trying to explain to the elders what the hell had happened that night. Not wanting a huge werewar to begin, they were having meetings with a liaison who, though werecat, worked within the packs. He’d see how it went. For now, everyone was sticking to the same story.

  There were no more murders and the newspaper and locals had wondered what had happened to all the coyotes and wolves out on the lip of the canyon several miles from town. A rancher, Lo’s neighbor, discovered the rotting bodies when the buzzards started circling.

  He, Detective Lorenzo Craigen, had no idea what had gone on out there and had rushed home because someone had called claiming to be the murderer and had kidnapped his girlfriend. Of course, that turned out to be a humorless prank and he was left explaining to both Taos Chief of Police and his own boss why he’d left the scene of a murder investigation. The elders were more concerned with repairing any damages between other packs of wolves and prides of cats. He’d leave that to them and do what he could to smooth things over. No one would blame him, not any shifter, especially any male who knew what it meant to have a mate and protect her.

  As for the mortals, the murders were listed as unsolved though he still asked around and the state police would eventually file them into cold cases when there was nothing new.

  Reya had even reported her assistant, Mica, hadn’t shown for work in a week and couldn’t be reached on the phone. Apparently she hadn’t been to classes either and no one had seen her since. She had listed no next of kin on any applications or forms.

  He’d also made sure that Reya honed her defenses. She was studying with a local bruja to work on building and honing her powers. No sense in being caught off-guard again.

  He was still pissed she’d been so damned careless.

  Taking a deep breath, he tried to shake off the constant tension humming under his skin knowing his mate was not where she should be. Right beside him.

  So what was he to do?

  He stood, raked a hand through his hair and tried to see what the painting was missing.

  Lorenzo studied the painting.

  “Wow.”

  He whirled.

  So lost in his thoughts he hadn’t heard her arrive. Maybe he needed to brush up on his own training as well.

  “Um.” Strangely uncomfortable, he looked down at the brush in his hand. “I didn’t know…”

  She glanced around and pushed her hands into her pockets. “Is it okay if I come up here? I know it’s your place, your space and everyone should have a place just to get away from everything.”

  Was it okay? He nodded. “I just wasn’t expecting you.”

  Her eyes moved again to the painting. “That’s how you see me?”

  He shook his head and cleaned and his brush. “Honestly? I’ve no idea how the hell to see you, Ree.” He motioned to the painting. “Yes. The muse wanted that painting and that’s what came out. Is that how I always see you?” He chuckled, the anger back, and he fought for understanding. “I could have painted a brick wall and it would reflect you to me just as well.”

  She nodded and said, “I see that.”

  Her tension and worry trickled across the air and over his skin. He shuddered. “What do you want?”

  When she didn’t answer, he locked his gaze with hers.

  “I’ve asked myself that question a thousand times. What I want, what I don’t. What if, how can…” She shook her head. “None of it makes a difference, does it?” She stepped closer to him. “You could demand I move here, but you haven’t. Not exactly.”

  He opened his mouth and she held up her hand.

  “Please let me get this out or I might not ever get it said.” She took a deep breath. “There’s a lot between us, Lo. I know that and you know that. Hell, everyone knows that. It’s not that I don’t want to move out here. I’m just tired of…of…”

  “Of what?” he asked, wanting to go to her, but deciding to stay put.

  “Of the cycle of us. We get so close to it all, so damned close every time and every time it’s ripped away. Every time I lose a piece of myself, of my soul, and the last time…”

  He closed his eyes. “I can keep apologizing and—”

  “I don’t care about that. I do, but not like I did. But I know what it felt it felt like to lose you—again. To watch you with someone else after it all fell apart, to think I’d found something and then—”

  He knew when her heartbeat rocketed and he could taste fear on the air. “What? What aren’t you telling me?”

  She shook her head again. “I’m making a muck of this. Look. There are things neither of us knows about the other. We never will and I’m okay with that. Are you?”

  He thought about it, bit down and felt a muscle jump in his jaw. “I honestly don’t know. I could say yes, but then part of me would be lying. Is it everything? To know all secrets?” He sighed. “No. We’ve led lives apart and I get that. Fine.” Why was this so important to her?

  And it was, so damned important.

  Then again, they had time.

  “Reya. My Reya,” he said more quietly. “I don’t know why this is pa
ramount to you, but as I said, we’ve lived lives apart. We’ve lived and seen things for most of a millennium, Ree. I want you, however I can have you.” He shrugged. “I don’t know what that makes me.”

  “I just… It’s all coming out wrong. I was and am afraid to move here to get close to you again.”

  “Isn’t it a little late for that?” he asked, uncrossing his arms and striding to her.

  “Not to me. If I lost you this time, I honestly don’t know, Lo… I don’t know if I could survive it again. Last time almost killed me.”

  He pushed against her, tried to read what she hid from him and her shields only strengthened. “I looked for you. I searched.”

  “You did?” She smiled and it didn’t come close to reaching her eyes. “Of course you did.” She huffed out a slow breath and shook her head. “I want this between us. I do. I don’t want to throw it away, throw the chance to be with you aside because of fear.”

  He froze. Was she saying what he hoped? “What does that mean?”

  She smiled and this time her eyes sparkled. “It means I love you. I always have, Lorenzo.” She cupped his face in her palm. “I always will.”

  He turned so he could kiss her palm, holding her gaze. “I don’t know if I can let you go this time. I asked myself if you really wanted that, if you wouldn’t agree to be my mate, if I could…” He brushed his lips softly across hers. “I know, with every fiber of me, I cannot let you go. I just can’t do it anymore. I’ll never let you go again. I’ve lived without you, Ree, and that’s no life. No existence.”

  “I know, I know, Lo.” She rubbed her thumb back and forth over his cheek.

  “You don’t have to tell me every last little bit, Ree. We’re adults. We’ve lived a long time and things have changed us. Both of us. If you need space, fine. I’ll give you as much as I can if it’ll keep you by me. And if you want to share something with me, or me with you, we’ll share. Whatever you’re comfortable with.”

  Her brow arched. “Really?” she asked skeptically. “Have you been watching TV talk shows?”

  He grinned. “No, reading self-help books.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes. Alphas Respecting Their Mates’ Boundaries: The Modern Were Matings. Dry at times, but helpful. They could have used a more feline point of view. Very canine in my opinion.”

  She chuckled like he hoped she would.

  “We both have secrets huh?”

  He nodded. “I’m sure there are things we’d both rather keep from the each other.”

  She nibbled on her lip.

  “I can do that. Can you?”

  Staring into his eyes she nodded. “Yeah.”

  “On one condition, Reya.”

  She licked her lips. “What?”

  “As long as keeping those things to ourselves keeps them in the past. As long as whatever doesn’t affect our lives together now. In the past is where the secrets can stay. But if they start affecting our now, then I will push until I fix the problem. That’s just me.”

  Her sigh of relief brushed warm against his neck. And he knew it was relief—he could feel it on the air between them.

  “I think that’s fair on both our parts.”

  There were still secrets between them, but wasn’t there with anyone? They’d spend time learning each other again, secrets if they wanted, or not. He could live with that if that’s what the cost would be to keep her by his side.

  “I love you. I’ve missed you,” he whispered, closing the distance between them, kissing her softly.

  “I know. I love you too. You’ve been the missing piece in me for so long, Lo,” she whispered, kissing him back.

  He quickly undressed her, his clothes mixing and melding with hers on the floor as their hands grappled and they reached for each other. “You’re mine,” he whispered, biting as he kissed her.

  She met him kiss for kiss, lick for lick, bite for bite.

  “We should go slow, savor.” He set himself at her wet opening.

  “Later,” she muttered, arching into his surge.

  He thrust deep. “Later and later again and maybe later after that.”

  She laughed against him.

  “Mine,” he said again as he set a rhythm.

  “You’re mine,” she answered as she met him, reaching up and pulling him down, devouring his mouth. “I love you.”

  He thrust, wanting to prolong this joining but knowing he wasn’t going to last. He pushed up onto his arms and looked down at him. God she was beautiful.

  “Always,” he said as he felt her tighten around him.

  “Always,” she whispered as they finally found peace.

  About the Author

  To learn more about Jaycee Clark, please visit www.jayceeclark.com. Send an email to Jaycee Clark at jaycee@jayceeclark.com or join her Yahoo! group to join in the fun with other readers as well as Jaycee Clark! http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jayceesden

  Look for these titles by Jaycee Clark

  Now Available:

  Mystic Moon

  Angel Eyes

  Black Aura

  Talons Anthology

  Firebird

  He needs their energy. Their essence. Their very lives…

  Black Aura

  © 2008 Jaycee Clark

  If anyone needs a vacation, it’s Lake Johnson. After her psychic abilities failed her—almost costing a friend’s life—she hopes a little time away in Taos, New Mexico will ease the self-doubt haunting her. Perhaps what she needs is the distraction of sexy gallery owner Maxamillan Gray.

  Women look great on canvas, Max has learned, but in real life, they’re a pain. Although the mysterious Lake gets under his skin, he’s wary after having been betrayed too many times before.

  As Max and Lake cautiously explore their attraction for each other, Lake becomes aware that Max’s edgy, complex daughter has been targeted by a building malevolence. The problem—getting Max to believe her. And convincing herself she can trust her own instincts.

  If she can’t do either, it’s only a matter of time before a soulless madman steals Max’s daughter away—and another gifted young woman dies.

  Warning! This work depicts a merciless villain, a sexy hero who will do anything to protect the ones he loves, and an eccentric heroine who the hero really wants to paint…preferably naked. Contains sex, graphic language and violence.

  Enjoy the following excerpt for Black Aura:

  She’d run away.

  Which was completely unlike her. She hated, absolutely hated failure.

  Lake Johnson shifted in the chilled early morning air, tinged with smoke and tickling pine. She could also smell snow on the air, as if the low-hanging clouds obscuring Taos Mountain were not enough of an indication.

  Chicken.

  She stood on the sidewalk, outside the art gallery across the street from the loft she was renting. The gallery’s rusted metal sign over the door, Symbols, made her wonder exactly what it meant to everyone. Symbols was a popular gallery, judging by all the traffic it saw. She’d been inside it more than once, but not because she really liked everything in it. Some of the sculptures were weird, though she loved the sepia prints done of local landscapes, slightly skewed in some graphic design program, probably. Either way, some of the stuff called to her.

  Or maybe someone.

  Go in. Just go in and ask him.

  No.

  Taking a deep breath she looked around, tapping her nails on her thigh. Maybe she should have had another cup of coffee. But then the cup of coffee was a problem. The owner of the damned coffee shop was one of the reasons she stood here contemplating asking the sexy gallery owner, Maxamillan Gray, out on a date.

  Once upon a time she wouldn’t have thought twice about asking a guy out. But that was before. Before her life had been tossed into chaos. Before she started to second-guess herself.

  Which was why she’d spent the winter here in Taos, New Mexico. Why she was still hiding here when she owned her own new age shop
and other property in Sedona, Arizona. At least she wasn’t hurting for money. Which was a good thing, considering she needed a reasonable excuse for coming into the gallery yet again. Maybe today she’d spend some of that money…on…something?

  Guts and glory. Just open the door, look around and ask him out.

  Lake scanned the crowd again. The locals, or who she thought of as locals, were out and about. She glanced across the street to see Mr. Howard, the owner of the coffee shop and her landlord. The coffee bar sat on a main street, lined with more galleries, stores, and restaurants than most passing-through travelers cared to appreciate. The old streets were lined with historical adobe buildings. The streets were also narrow, so traffic on any given weekend and most weekdays was a real bitch, she’d learned, but that was okay too. There were worse things in life than sitting on her little deck above the coffee shop and watching the tourists piss each other off as they tried to maneuver through the old town shadowed by mountains, pueblos and Native American history.

  Mr. Howard waved to her. Wiley old matchmaking bastard. He knew she watched the gallery, must have sensed she liked the owner, because this morning with her cup of coffee he’d served her the idea that Maxamillan was interested in her. He’d asked about her.

  So if he was interested, then why didn’t she wait for the guy to ask her out, and what the hell was she doing standing on the sidewalk arguing with herself? These days however, she second-guessed herself all the damned time.

  She didn’t know if she could read people correctly anymore.

  Once upon a time she’d read people, made a fine living running her shop focused around readings and tarot and auras. That had been before. Before she’d had the misfortune of thinking she fell for a guy who was not what he’d seemed. The bastard had almost killed her best friend, and she had not even seen it until it was almost too late.