Wesley: Bishop’s Snowy Leap – Paranormal Tiger Shifter Romance (Bishop's Snowy Leap Book 3)

by Kathi S. Barton

  “How long do you think he’d have stayed in jail had it come out that his brother had multiple personalities, and that he’d been the one who had told on him? I had to wait on things to go in a certain way. Mostly that Penny would be safe.” Wesley asked him if he thought she was safe from James. “Oh, yes. She has been since the moment you found her. There were other things that needed to be in line. The most important thing was that the house, thankfully, someday soon would be renovated, and they’d find the bat. There are other items that can be found that will link him to murders. I believe your brother is looking into two such murders now.”

  “Yes, the murder of Penny’s biological parents. I didn’t know there was any doubt that the accident that killed your mother was anything but an accident.” Entering the room as he spoke, Sawyer shook hands with Randal, and Wesley was glad when Raven left the room with Penny. She was looking stressed. “I have to ask this. Not just so that I know, but also for my peace of mind. Is this some sort of revenge tell-all? In a way that shifts all the blame from you to your brother? It’s my job to warn you that when the evidence comes out, I won’t hesitate a moment to come after you if this is going to come back and bite someone in the ass.”

  “You always were a good cop. I’ve known that since the beginning.” Something was different again. This person spoke in an older, much more gravelly voice. Mr. Joe noticed it as well and sat up straighter in the chair as if he knew this one. “Hello, Joe. It’s been a long time, hasn’t it? My name is Presley.”

  Mr. Joe just shook his head as he began to talk. “We used to pretend, you and I. Tony, he’d come to see me, and we’d talk for hours on end. But it was you, wasn’t it? I did wonder at times how the boy was able to keep in character so well.” Mr. Joe started sobbing. “You saved me a million times. You know that, don’t you? You’d come around as Tony and get me to talking so I’d not do anything stupid with my wife gone. The things you knew, it astonished me that you could relate to me so well.”

  “You saved us as well. There were times when we’d go there just to be with someone that cared. We all know Wendy was your daughter, but she wasn’t the motherly sort. As we got older, you would even hug us like we were something you treasured more than you did anything in this world.” Mr. Joe said they were. They were his grandchildren, even the others like him with Tony. “Yes. We knew you’d say that. To count us in as family too. It was why we were able to go through life with James around and not be a part of what he has been doing.”

  It took the people that had knowledge of James almost three hours to get all the information to Sawyer. Different people within Tony all had a story or incident to tell. A couple of times, Sawyer had to get up and walk around, he told them. Having to solve this many cases done by one man was almost too much for him to imagine. What Wesley noticed and was so very proud of his brother for, he never once asked if the other personalities had helped James with these crimes. Nor did he seem disbelieving of what they were saying to him.

  As it turned out, there were enough things that involved Dutch and Butch, too, that would hopefully put them away for a long time. He hoped so. The simple fact that the idiots still thought Penny and Emmie were to marry someone that they wanted was enough to make his belly churn up.

  ~*~

  Penny was enjoying working in her new area. It had taken a longer than she’d anticipated to get things organized, but now that it was, for the most part anyway, she was working again. As she stood there looking over the design she wanted to work on next, she looked up when Wesley came into her shop.

  “If you don’t mind, I’d rather not talk about what went on in the house this morning. Not for a while yet.” He said Raven had told him that when she and Sawyer left. “She’s a wonderful and scary person, isn’t she?”

  “Yes. But why are you saying that?” Penny told him what they’d been doing out here. “Ah. So, she finally convinced you to let her put your product online to a larger demographic, did she?”

  “More like she bullied me into it. But she was right. She showed me the numbers of one of the companies that she owns that did it, and they tripled their profits by seventy percent. I told her I wanted to ease into this. I think what I said went into one ear and out the other. She’s going to overwhelm me, I just know it.”

  “You don’t look stressed right now. Or is that because you aren’t thinking about what this might mean for you?” She said she was only thinking about one thing at a time. “Good idea. I do that too. When I’m working in the spring, I get that way. Overwhelmed by how much I want to plant and get ready for the season. So, I make me a list and then check the things off one at a time. It’s what I do to keep me focused.”

  “I do that too.” She pointed to the wallboard that had been put up for her over the last few days. “I know I could write on it then erase things off as I do them. But I love being able to tear up a little note that I’ve hung there. It’s sort of like a feeling of accomplishment for me.”

  Wesley told her he could understand that completely. As he wandered around the room, she worked out the pattern she wanted in the placemats she planned to make. It wasn’t an order, but something she wanted to do for their own house. Raven told her that she needed to do that more often. Instead of taking orders, she should put out a few items that were one of a kind.

  “Will that work?” Raven told her that people who already followed her would be buying that kind of stuff up because it was a one of a kind. “I have always wanted to be able to just come out here and do my own thing. Well, not here, but when I was working before. It was sort of boring to make sure I got the same pattern in everything I did.”

  “Then do it.” Penny thought about how neither of them mentioned what was going on in the house. “You’re going to be all right with this. Growing into a larger art community will open doors for you all over the place. You know that, don’t you?”

  Penny said she thought so as well.

  “When you’re out here, what is it you miss the most?” She had completely forgotten Wesley was with her. She asked him what he meant. “You’re going to be out here on a schedule now, you told me that. What is it that you’d like to have out here that would make working a schedule easier? I see you have a fridge. That’s good. You also have a computer, as well as a printer. I imagine that saves you from going into the house for orders. What is it you want? Not for the business, but for you. Your own little addition to this place.”

  “I don’t know.” She looked around the large area and smiled at him. “Is this your way of getting out of putting shelves up for me? I have to tell you, I never will mention anything to Raven again. She’s one to take over, isn’t she?”

  “She is at that. And while I can plant a garden without any issues, building something, even as easy as it sounds to put up shelves, is not something I think I can do. So, I hired some people from the local pack to come and do it. They could use the income as well.” Penny told him that was a wonderful idea. “Thank you. For as much as I’d like to take credit for it, it was Gunner’s idea. He remembered the shelf I made for Mom when I was in grade school. I doubt I’ll ever live that down.”

  “What happened to it?” She started laughing as he explained. “Wesley, even I know that one nail wouldn’t hold up much on a shelf. I’m glad you’ve learned something from that. My shelves need to be sturdy. Thanks to Raven.”

  “As you said, she’s pushy.” She watched as he seemed to glide around the room. He asked her about colors and the material she used for different things. “This is nice here. I see where you’re going with this now. You’re wanting to stack them up by colors. That’s a wonderful idea.”

  “I’ve never had to do that before.” He turned and looked at her as she moved toward where he was. “Usually, I just go with the same colors, so it wasn’t that big of a deal. But now, I have seventeen shades of green that I never used before. Also, there are different weights to so
me. For heavier or lighter usage.”

  Pulling one of the colors off the table where she’d put some of the material, she showed him the variations of the cloth. Penny realized he wasn’t paying attention and looked at him, asking him why he was so interested in her work.

  “I’m interested in anything you might be doing out here. However, the reason I came out here is because I thought I could perhaps help you break in a table or two. You don’t have any space open that I can use.” He pouted at her, and Penny couldn’t help but laugh. “Laughing at a man who just had all his hopes dashed is sort of mean.”

  “Actually, I was thinking about how I’ve not had a lot to do with your cat. I mean, I have seen him, but it’s always been in a position that there were other people around.” He asked her if she wanted to have some fun with him. “In fun, do you mean having sex with me? Because that is a hard no.”

  “No, not that at all. Sheesh, woman. I only meant that he could chase you through the woods. Every time he catches you, you have to remove one article of clothing. Then when you’re naked, I’ll shift back and take you hard out in the open air.” She asked him if he were so sure he could catch her. “Oh, a challenge, is it? Sure. What would you like to have of me should I concede that I can’t find you?”

  “An entire night of pampering and making love.” He told her he’d do that for her anyway. “I meant you. I’d pamper you and make love with you all night. How’s that sound?”

  He kissed her then. She could feel his hunger, almost taste his need to take her. So, when he backed from her, she was slightly disappointed. Then he pulled off his shirt as he toed off his shoes.

  “I will have to make sure I leave some clothing out here from now on.” She nodded as she watched him strip down for her. “You keep looking at me like I’m a thick juicy steak, and we’ll never make it outdoors.”

  “I can live with that.” She pulled him to her, pressing her entire body to his as he did the same to her. It was earthshattering, his touch to her skin. “I can smell you, how wet you are for me. We’re not going to make it, love.”

  He dropped to his knees and tore her pants from her. She was going to have to put clothing out here as well if he came out often. When he suckled her clit into his mouth, she held onto the table directly behind him. When her legs began to tremble, and her breaths were too much for her, she begged him to slow down. To give her a moment.

  I don’t think so. I don’t think that’s what you really want, either. Penny screamed when he bit down on her clit. Stars danced over her closed eyes. Her nerve endings were now awake, it felt like, and making her very aware of what Wesley was doing to her. You taste of heaven and sweetness at the same time. I could do this all day long and never get enough of you.

  Penny was sure if he did try and do that for any longer than ten minutes, she’d be dead. As it was right now, she needed to lie down and hang onto something at the same time. Begging him again, she was ready to fall on her ass when he shifted his body around, helping her to the floor.

  Come for me, Penny?

  She couldn’t help it. For as much as she wanted to hold out on him, her body belonged to him and only him. Digging her fingers into anything she could touch, she screamed out her releases. Several times she had to inhale harshly as wave after wave of ecstasy cloaked her.

  As he moved up her body when she begged him to stop, he nipped at her skin, her breast, and her navel as he journeyed to her mouth. He tasted of her juices. It was a heady feeling to know that he’d drank her down. Holding his head to her, she explored as much of his mouth as she could, tasting more and more of her as her tongue rolled throughout his mouth.

  Wesley wrested with his pants to remove them. Finally, in the end, he just ripped them off. She could see his restraint, almost see his full cat as he snarled and growled. When he entered her, making her eyes roll to the back of her head, Penny screamed at the delicious pain that made them one.

  He fucked her hard, taking her to heights she’d never been to before. Every time they made love, it was like it was all new to her, like having sex with a different person each and every time. Sometimes he was gentle; other times, he was consuming. But when he was like he was now, in control of both their bodies, it was all she could do to hang onto him. Much less keep up with him.

  “Come for me, love. Now. Please come for me.”

  She came again, holding onto his shoulder, keeping her teeth in her mouth so she’d not bite him. But when he leaned into her throat, having him so close, she licked her tongue over his pounding pulse, hoping it would sedate her need to taste his flesh. It wasn’t nearly enough.

  She felt empowered when he bared his throat for her, like she knew whatever she was about to do would change things. Not just for her but for the two of them. Feeling her teeth by running her tongue over them, she first licked then bit down as hard as she could on the hottest part of his neck, directly over his beating pulse.

  There was no sound for perhaps an hour, it felt like to her. It could only have been a few seconds, long enough for her body to go to its highest point of sensations to releasing it all from her mouth. She heard herself scream, felt the rawness of her throat as it escaped her. During it all, her mouth filled over and over with the most wonderful tasting elixir she’d ever experienced.

  Dizzy with the sounds and colors that made themselves known to her, she let it ride over her as she swallowed again and again. Moving away from her bite, dropping her head down to the hard concrete, she watched in fascination as it sealed itself just before Wesley bit her.

  Even with what she’d just experienced, she was still overwhelmed with these new feelings. She was being lifted up, tossed around, then held gently in his arms as she came again and again. When he drew deeply on her throat, every single cell in her body felt as if it exploded inside her. Then when he came, his cock stretching her beyond anything she’d ever felt before, Penny let go of her hold on her body and slipped over the edge of the cavern and let herself be blissfully taken under.

  Not another sound came to her. Nothing impinged on her epic release. As she laid there, her heart full of love, Penny knew that on some level, she had achieved one of the greatest gifts ever given. She had become one with not just Wesley, but his large white tiger as well.

  Chapter 8

  Dressed from head to toe in black, Gunner stood on the rooftop and coiled up his rope for his descent to the window that he knew was the apartment where Jackson lived. It wasn’t his real name. He’d figured that out a few days ago when he’d been searching for him. As soon as he had the rope just the length he wanted, he knotted it off around the air conditioner unit and was as ready as he’d ever been. Taking a deep breath in, he was ready to take the leap when someone screamed at him.

  Don’t do it! He nearly fell backward off the fucking building when he realized it had been Chandler. Asking him what the fuck he was doing, his brother asked him to give him a moment. He’d been awakened from a deep sleep. Just don’t do anything until I can wake up. Something is wrong.

  You don’t even know where the fuck I am. What the hell is wrong with you? Good Christ, you nearly made me fall. Chandler told him not only which building he was on, but also that his rope was a new one that he’d gotten at the hardware store six months ago. What are you doing? Spying on me? What do you want?

  Ruby is here. He only knew one Ruby, and she was— She’s one of the three ghosts that follow you around all the time. I didn’t mention them because they didn’t seem to be harming you. But Ruby said you’re not to engage with Swartz.

  How the—? She came to you to tell me not to go into the apartment? Why not? He coiled his rope up again and tied it back to his belt. Moving to a place where he could sit without being seen, he waited for his brother to tell him. Chandler, if this is a joke, I’m not laughing.

  She said to tell you that not only is he waiting on you, but that Swartz, the real
name of the man you know as Jackson, has four men in the place to kill you as soon as you enter. He asked him how she’d know. How do they know anything, Gunner? They get around in places that none of us can. All right. Now, she’s telling me to tell you to go to the other side of the building. There is a medium sized building there that you can hide behind. Also, she wants you to keep an eye on the western sky. There are drones out looking for you.

  Not taking any chances, he moved just where he’d been told. As soon as he was seated, his black clothing blending well with the dark shadows of the building, he saw the drone fly over where he’d been standing just a few minutes ago. He decided whatever was going on at Chandler’s home, he was going to listen.

  Does she know how he knew I was coming here today? Gunner kept an eye out for another drone, as he could hear it coming. Once it buzzed by him, he laid down on the rooftop where he was and kept as still as he could. What’s the holdup?

  The holdup is you can either cut me some slack here, or you can very well get your ass shot off. I was dead asleep when she screamed for me to wake up. Scared the living shit out of me. I not only fell out of the fucking bed, but I hit my head on the bedside table. So, fuck off and let me listen to her. Gunner couldn’t help it, he laughed. Laugh it up, soldier boy. I’m doing the best I can here.

  Soldier boy? Like I’ve never heard that before. Gunner, for as scared as he’d been a few minutes ago, was enjoying this. He heard a shuffling sound nearby and pulled his gun to kill whoever was up there with him.

  Don’t shoot. They won’t see you. Apparently, one of the older ghosts with you can use some kind of magic over you. Just don’t move. The man did indeed come to stand within an inch of where he was lying. He even looked right at him. As he turned away, Gunner heard him give the all-clear to someone else that was with him. She said to tell you there is a man with you, a ghost, that will take care that one of the two there with you is gone.