Cash [Pyrate's Treasure 3] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Cooper McKenzie

  He watched her eyelids flutter before they opened, and she looked up at him. For the first time he realized her eyes were purple, a deep grape-jelly color. His heart stuttered when he saw they glistened with unshed tears.

  “Are you okay?” he asked again when she did not answer him.

  Then she smiled. “Can we do that again soon?”

  Cash’s heart began to beat again as he chuckled. “Yes, my mate. Whenever you want.”

  Zoe took a deep breath and sighed. Lifting one hand, she slipped it between them and raked her fingers down the center of his chest. “Now?”

  Cash’s cock twitched with renewed interest, but before he could answer, someone began pounding on the hall door.

  “What the fuck?”

  “Cash, are you in there? Is Zoe with you?” Silver’s voice filtered through the thick wood door.

  With a sigh, Cash pulled from Zoe’s pussy and rolled out of bed. Pausing at the foot of the bed to scoop up his shorts, he slipped them on as he stomped across the room.

  Opening the door just wide enough to glare at his cousin, he growled, “What. Do. You. Want?”

  “Goldie wants to see you in the library.”

  “Tomorrow,” Cash said, wishing for the first time in his life that he did not live in the same house with the rest of his family.

  When a gentle hand rubbed down the center of his back, he stiffened for a second and then relaxed into her stroking touch.

  “She would not send for you unless it was important. We’ll come back up here afterward and start all over again,” his mate whispered against his shoulder before brushing several kisses over the skin. Her hand continued to stroke up and down his spine from the nape of his neck to the top of his shorts.

  When the fingers of her other hand slid under the front waistband of his shorts at his hip bone, he sucked a breath as his cock twitched and began to lengthen. “Tell her we’ll be down in an hour.”

  “You have ten minutes,” Silver said, giving Cash a look that said there would be big trouble if he did not obey.

  “Oh, all right, ten minutes,” Cash grouched before slamming the door in his cousin’s face and turning to his mate.

  He frowned when he turned and found Zoe was no longer beside him. She had moved across the room and was picking her clothes up from the floor.

  Cash watched her graceful movements for a moment, wishing there were enough time to return to bed to show her some slow, easy loving. Reading nervousness in her body language, he crossed to stand behind her. When she straightened, he wrapped his arms around her middle and nuzzled the side of her neck.

  She froze at his touch. A second later, she turned within his arms, wrapped her arms around him, and buried her face in his chest. Hot tears splashed on his skin in the next instant.

  “Gypsy? Mate, what’s wrong?” He leaned back, trying to see her face, but she clung to him as tight as a kudzu vine.

  She did not answer. But the tears fell faster, and she began to shake within his grasp. Something was definitely not right here, but he had no clue what.

  “Zoe, you’re scaring me. Please, talk to me,” he pleaded as he tightened his hold around her.

  * * * *

  Zoe could not look at Cash. She could not tell him what was wrong. How could she when she did not understand it herself?

  Instead of speaking, she shook her head and tightened her hold on her man. And he was her man. No matter what he had said about their first time together being without romance, she had thought it had been perfect. Until his cousin knocked on the door.

  She understood he had responsibilities to his family and his pack, just as she did to Luka, but she did not want to leave this room. She wanted to hole up here and make love again and again and again, until she knew every sensitive spot on his body and how to please him in every way.

  Finally, her crying slowed and stopped. But she still could not look at her mate. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, rubbing her wet cheek against the dampness of his furred chest.

  Cash did not immediately respond. His hands slid to her shoulders and held her in place as he stepped back. Then one hand slipped across her shoulder and up her throat. With two fingers, he lifted her chin, forcing her head up until she looked into his face. His expression was one of concerned fear as he stared down at her.

  “What are you sorry for?”

  Zoe shrugged, unable to order her thoughts and find the words she needed to explain herself.

  “Gypsy, this is just the beginning for us. I’m not letting you go, no matter what. You are my mate. I am your mate. And nothing will come between us,” Cash said with a gentle smile. His deep voice reached deep inside her and soothed the fears that she had not even realized she had.

  Sniffing, she hesitantly returned his smile. “We need to get dressed and go downstairs.”

  “Yeah, I know, but I don’t have to be happy about it.” Cash gave her a quick kiss before turning and picking the rest of his own clothes from the floor. “Do you want to come with me or wait here?”

  Zoe stepped into her skirt and pulled it on before reaching for her bustier. “Unless you have a map to show me how to get around this place, I think I’d better go with you.”

  Cash chuckled. “I’ll draw one up for you. Later. For now I don’t know if I can be with you out of my sight.”

  Zoe finished dressing before looking at her new mate. He was pulled together with a different shirt and looked as good as he had when she had first seen him. She, on the other hand, felt like anyone who even glanced at her would know what she and Cash had been up to.

  Shrugging because nothing mattered as long as she was with Cash, she crossed to his side and took his hand in hers. “Sounds like a plan to me. I’m not sure I can be that far from you either.”

  He grinned as he raised their joined hands and kissed the back of hers. Then he kissed her lips for several long minutes before releasing her and stepping back. “Let’s go see what Goldie wants. Then we can come back and start all over again if you want.”

  A shiver ran through Zoe at the thought. “Sounds like a plan to me,” she said, purring with a grin of her own.

  As they left Cash’s room hand in hand and made their way through the house to the library, her mate kept up a running commentary of which room belonged to which cousin and the purposes of the other rooms. By the time they reached their destination, Zoe had drawn her own mental map, though there were a few blanks that she would fill in later, the biggest one being where the kitchen was. Her stomach was beginning to complain about skipping lunch in preparation for their trip since she had not eaten due to a history of airsickness on past trips.

  The library door was closed. Cash did not bother to knock and wait to be acknowledged. He shoved it open so hard it banged against the wall behind it before he marched into the room. His arm around her shoulder kept her by his side every step of the way.

  “What is so damned important that it cannot wait until morning?” he demanded loudly with a bit of a growl in his voice.

  Chapter 5

  Cash stopped when he saw there were only three people in the room. Goldie, King Luka, and Silver all turned to stare at him.

  King Luka looked stunned.

  Goldie looked pissed.

  Silver looked like he was going to burst out laughing.

  Though he knew he should apologize for his outburst, Cash took a breath and remained silent. Zoe stroked her hand up his back, letting him know she was on his side no matter what. His fingers tightened for a second before he pulled his arm from around her and took a step forward, half shielding her from the room. Whatever was going on, this was his fight. As her mate, it was his duty to protect her.

  “Glad to see you could join us,” Goldie finally said after taking several deep breaths herself.

  “I was busy claiming my mate.”

  “What?” The king growled and took a step in his direction. Cash straightened to his full height and crossed his arms over his chest. No one, no
t even the King of the Wolves, was going to harm his mate.

  “She demanded it, and I will refuse my mate nothing, even if it goes against you.”

  The older man stopped and looked past him to his mate. “Zoe, are you all right?”

  “I’m fine, Your Highness,” she responded. She stepped forward to stand beside him and again smoothed a hand down Cash’s back. Cash had to fight an urge to throw her over his shoulder and return to their room. “And you? Have you met her yet?”

  “Met who?” Cash asked, turning his head to look at his mate. Something was going on between these two, but he could not tell exactly what.

  King Luka ignored his question. “I believe so, which is why I need to speak with your mate.”

  Cash watched as Zoe nodded as if she understood what was going on. He, on the other hand, felt as if he had been dropped in the middle of a desert without a map or a compass.

  “What’s going on?” Cash turned to Goldie, hoping she would answer him.

  “Why don’t we sit down,” the king said, as if he was their host instead of the other way around.

  King Luka took the seat he had been in earlier and waved Cash and Zoe back to the couch just across from him. Once seated side by side, Zoe slipped her hand into his and held it securely, as if giving him comfort for what was to come.

  “I was raised by old-school rules in Europe, which is why I wished to speak to you before I approach your sister,” the king said, leaning forward and resting his forearms on his knees.

  “Diamond? What about her?”

  “Though I have yet to be formally introduced to your sister, I believe that she is my mate.”

  Cash glanced at Goldie, who looked solemn, but noncommittal. Turning back to the king, he frowned with his confusion. “Ooooookay, so why are you talking to me and not her?”

  Zoe leaned close and whispered in his ear. “He needs your permission to meet her.” The touch of her breath on his ear sent an electric shiver through him.

  “Really?”

  “Yes, really,” King Luka answered dryly.

  “Yeah, sure, go ahead,” Cash said with a shrug. “Just know that if you hurt Diamond, I will take you down and eat your liver for breakfast.”

  “Cash!” Goldie scolded.

  King Luka smiled and nodded his head. “I completely understand. I feel the same way about Zoe. Now, if you will excuse me, I believe I shall go and introduce myself to my mate.” With that, the king rose and walked out.

  Once he was gone, Cash looked at Goldie and grinned. “That should be a hoot to watch. King of the Wolves claiming Diamond. Oh yeah, it’s going to be quite a show.”

  “No, I don’t think it will be,” Zoe responded softly, sounding worried. “He’s facing the toughest challenge of his life, and no one will be able to help him through it. All that will keep him going is the knowledge that his mate is on the other side.”

  Wondering at her strange tone, Cash pulled his hand from her grasp. He wrapped it around her shoulder and lifted her into his lap. “We’ll be here for him, Zoe. If Diamond is his mate, then he is now family, and the Pyrate family always takes care of its own.”

  “Unfortunately, what Luka will face, no one will be able to help him with,” Zoe said. She then blinked and shook her head as if disoriented. “I’m hungry.”

  Cash’s stomach growled in response, and he chuckled when she then yawned widely. “Then we need to find something to eat. Would you rather raid the kitchen or go into the village before we return to my room?”

  * * * *

  During the funeral the next morning, Zoe stood at Cash’s side and fought to keep her own tears at bay. She had met Edward Pyrate several times over the years when he had come to meetings of the Alphas with Luka. She remembered Edward as a wise, soft-spoken, gentle man who had loved his family and pack above all else.

  The sadness of the Pyrate family and the pack members pressed hard on her brain, resulting in a dull headache. This was why she normally stayed away from funerals and other places where emotions ran high and intense. While she could block a few people most of the time, gatherings like this one broke through her shields and overwhelmed her.

  When they had come downstairs an hour before, Cash had introduced her to the rest of his cousins, as well as Goldie and Emerald’s mates, but Diamond had been absent from the breakfast table, and no one had seen her since the previous evening. Luka had been there, looking as if he had barely slept the night before.

  Glancing at the crowd gathered around Edward’s casket in the Pyrate family’s front room, she still did not see the young woman who was in several pictures in Cash’s room.

  As the final hymn began, Cash’s hand tightened around hers until she was afraid her bones might break under the pressure. He had kept a hand on her in one way or another since they had come downstairs. Though she could feel it, the depth of his grief was muted, as if he were trying to shield her from his emotions. She squeezed his hand in return. He took a deep breath and sighed, and the nearly painful hold on her hand eased.

  Glancing toward the head of the casket, she met Luka’s eyes. He looked troubled, and not just because he was saying good-bye to an old friend. Something was going on between the king and his mate…or rather not going on, Zoe suspected to be truer.

  Had Diamond denied his claim that they were mates? Or was she hiding from the most powerful shape-shifter alive for reasons only she knew? Why would she do that? As mates, they were destined to be together for the rest of their lives.

  Once the service ended, Zoe gently pulled her hand from Cash’s and followed the pack members and other guests outside, giving the family time to say their final good-byes in private. A few minutes later Cash, Silver, Luka, and three other men appeared in the doorway carrying Edward’s simple wooden casket between them.

  Earlier she had learned that Edward’s body would now be taken by boat to the mainland. After cremation, his ashes would be returned to Pyrate Island in a few days, and during the next full moon, the six cousins would scatter them over the pack lands. It was a family tradition that went back as far as Pyrates had lived on the island.

  After the casket passed through the crowd, Zoe followed Goldie and the other female cousins as they fell into line behind it. The procession worked its way through the village and to the docks, where a boat decorated with black bunting waited. Once the coffin was loaded onto the large fishing boat, Cash joined her on the dock. She slipped her hand back into his, needing to touch him as much as he needed to feel her. They watched in silence as the boat left the dock and headed across the harbor to the open waters between Pyrate Island and the mainland.

  The crowd remained silent until the boat was well away from the dock. Then quiet conversations began as they dispersed and headed to the bar to catch up and share memories of their dead Alpha over beers and refreshments. Cash remained behind, watching until the boat moved out of sight. Only then did he turn to her. His arms came around her back as he rested his forehead on her shoulder. He breathed deeply, as if trying to keep himself from crying.

  “Gods, I’m going to miss him,” he said, his voice thick with unshed tears.

  “I know you will. But a fast, painless death is better than being ill and lingering for months,” Zoe assured him as she began to run her hands up and down his sides in a soothing motion.

  Cash’s head moved up and down in agreement, but he said nothing else for several long minutes. Finally, he took a deep breath and released it on a sigh.

  Lifting his head, he met her eyes. “I need you.”

  “You have me,” she returned gently, not quite sure what he meant.

  “No, I need you,” he repeated as he leaned in until his lips were next to her ear. He dropped his voice to a whisper so no one could hear him, though there was no one in sight. “I need to be buried so deep in your pussy I can’t tell where I end and you begin. I need to lose myself in the taste and touch and smell of you. I need you right now.”

  Zoe’s pussy cl
enched, and her nipples beaded in instant response. “Whatever you need, my mate,” she assured him.

  Her words seemed to ignite something in Cash. Keeping one arm around her shoulders, he turned and guided her down the dock away from the bar. “I promise you that one of these days I am going to romance you properly. But today doesn’t look to be that day.”

  They reached the end of the wooden dock, but Cash kept going through the grass. Zoe wanted to point out that she did not need romance. All she needed was him, but she was too busy focusing on walking the uneven gravel path in stiletto heels.

  When several rocks shifted under her heel, she tripped and began to fall. Cash caught her and once again swung her up into his arms. Once she was secure, he continued walking, his longer stride quickly eating up the distance.

  Knowing that arguing with him would be futile, Zoe decided to test some of the sexy moves she remembered from her books. Wrapping her arms around his shoulders, she drew a line up the side of his neck with the tip of her nose. When she reached his earlobe, she licked it before taking it between her lips and gently sucking on it.

  His arms convulsively tightened around her as he sucked a breath. Then he was moving even faster, heading somewhere, though she did not care about his exact destination. Her need for her mate was growing in a way she had never felt before.

  Releasing his earlobe, she licked his shell of his ear before whispering, “Will you teach me how to please you? To suck your cock and make you come? To make you moan and groan and go wild with your need?”

  Cash’s response was a growl from deep in his chest. Zoe looked around and found they were passing between some tiny cottages. A moment later, they crossed a street before he stopped at a bench. Setting her on her feet, he toed off his shoes.

  “Strip.”

  “Excuse me?” she asked as he began to unbutton his shirt.

  “Your outfit is beautiful. Take it off. This is a nude beach, and I’d hate for Caleb to have to arrest you for breaking the law.” Cash smiled, though his eyes remained dulled with sadness.