“Blackstone Mountains,” he answered. “On the east side, near the bottom. A large patch of land is reserved for housing for rangers who want to be near work. Anyone who’s got at least five years can apply, and they make it easy for you to own your own place.” He opened the door and let her go in. “Make yourself comfortable,” he said before heading toward the kitchen island.
It was hard not to stare and soak in the interior of his trailer, because this wasn’t the type of place she’d imagined him to be living in. It was spacious and modern, but very minimally decorated. Aside from the armchair, couch, and coffee table, the only decoration in the room was a paper divider in the corner and a shelf with a few knickknacks. The first thing that caught her eye as she walked closer was the single photo on the shelf. It was of Anders and an older Japanese man with white hair and weathered skin, dressed in Hawaiian shirts, standing in clear blue water to their ankles, and two large rocks behind them.
“That’s in Okinawa. Kouri island.”
Anders sudden appearance beside her made her start, and she stepped away from the shelf like a kid being caught doing something naughty. “I’m sorry, I didn’t—”
“No, it’s fine.” A fond smile spread across his face. “Sensei Toyama brought me there the first time I visited. Those are called the heart rocks.”
“Heart rocks?” she echoed.
“Yeah, they’re shaped like hearts, see?”
Squinting at the photo, she could make out the shape. “Oh. Right.”
“Tea?” He handed her one of the two cups he held in his hands.
“Thanks.”
He walked over to the couch, and she followed, sitting on the other end from him. Lifting the cup to her lips, she took a sip. The tea tasted similar to what they had at the Japanese restaurant last night, but had a nuttier flavor. “Thank you for the tea.”
“You’re welcome.” His expression turned serious. “Now, what scared you?”
“I’m not … it’s silly.” She shrugged. “Probably the wind.”
“You didn’t see anything? No one’s been around you, following you? Or have any more of your admirers popped up?” His knuckles grew white as they tightened around his cup.
“Uh, no.” That damned billboard. “By the way, I told Sarah I wanted it to come down as soon as our rental on it expires. Or at least replace the photo with a professional model.”
“Look.” He place his cup on the coffee table. “I didn’t mean to make it sound like you were asking for it. You should be free to do what you want with your body without worrying about having creeps coming after you.”
She set her cup down next to his. “Then why were you so angry that time? Was it so awful?”
“No, you were absolutely stunning. But I didn’t want anyone else to see you like that. Not … not when I hadn’t seen you like that.”
A breath caught in her throat as he stared at her with those golden eyes. “Anders, I—”
He made the first move this time, pouncing on her as his arms came around her. Desire flared in her as their lips touched, his kisses becoming hungrier each second.
She found herself being lifted up and carried into the bedroom at the end. Clothes were shed urgently, more kisses were exchanged, and she forgot about her troubles as they were replaced with the desperate need to be close to him. To have him inside her.
The sex was slow and unhurried, yet still laced with a hunger that couldn’t be sated. He took his time exploring her body, and she did too. When they finally reached that last crescendo, they held each other tight, mouths melded together, as if afraid to let go.
How long they stayed fused, she didn’t know. Her eyes closed, and she drifted for a bit, waking only when he rolled off her.
Her mind was only beginning to process what had happened when she heard a familiar ring tone. Jolting up, she scrambled off the bed and out to the living room, making a grab for her phone. “Yes?”
“Darce?” came Adam’s voice. “Where are you?”
She glanced at the clock. It was past eight. “Still here. I’m, uh, having car trouble.”
“Why didn’t you call? I thought we were doing pizza and a movie while Sarah and Daniel went out on a date night.”
Crap! “My phone ran out of juice, and I’m just charging it now.” She sprinted back to the bedroom to grab her clothes from the floor, unable to look at Anders. “I’m on my way. Why don’t you go ahead and order the pizza, then it’ll be there by the time I get back?”
“Yeah, sure. Did you want to watch an action flick or a comedy.”
Holding the phone to her ear with her shoulder, she hopped into her panties. “Either’s fine.”
“’Kay. See you in a bit, Darce.”
“See you.”
“Who was that?” Anders stood up, frowning as she bent down to pick up her bra.
“Adam.” She slipped her arms into the straps and clipped it on in the back. “He’s home alone, and I forgot I was supposed to hang out with him while Sarah and Daniel went out.”
His expression relaxed. “Oh. Uh—”
“Do you think I can call a cab from here?” She put on the rest of her clothes and ran her fingers through her hair.
“I’ll take you back to your car.”
“No time.” She rushed back out to the living room to grab her purse.
“I’ll take you home then.”
Her brain told her to say no, but she couldn’t waste any more time, not when she’d left Adam waiting. “I—Fine.” She could get a ride back to the boutique tomorrow.
He got dressed quickly and led her out to his truck. Anxiety filled her at the thought of Adam by himself, which was good, because that meant she didn’t have to think about what just happened.
Soon, they were pulling up to the front of the house. Thank goodness Sarah and Daniel were out and Adam was probably already settled in the living room. “Um, thanks for the ride.”
Before she could open the door, a hand settled on her shoulder. “Darcey, we should—”
“Come by tomorrow night,” she said quickly, unable to stop the words from leaving her mouth. “I’ll leave the door unlocked again.”
Without a backward glance, she sprinted toward the front door, her heart still pounding as she entered the house. Had she really said those words? Would he even show up tomorrow?
He showed up that following night. And the one after that. Two weeks passed, and they had spent nearly every night in each other’s arms. However, as if by silent agreement, neither of them stayed afterwards. She told herself it was better this way as she didn’t want Sarah, Daniel, or God forbid, Adam finding out. But part of her didn’t want to admit that she’d been starting to feel things she didn’t want to feel.
Each time she told herself it would be the last. Her swan protested, wanting to be near him all the time, and she found herself succumbing to temptation. He was too irresistible, and not like the men in her past. While she had pined for them, she actually craved Anders.
Maybe tonight will be the last night, she thought as she worked on the window display in the shop. But then again, that’s what she kept saying every night, but somehow, she still ended up sleeping with him.
Today was a slow Wednesday afternoon, plus it was dark and drizzling outside, so there was hardly any traffic. Normally she was thankful for the downtime, but it was hard to keep busy when no one came in. And when she let her mind wander, it only went to one thing. Or one person.
As if on cue, her phone chirped with a text.
Hey, beautiful.
Her heart skipped a beat. Hey, yourself, she typed back.
See you tonight.
She bit her lip, staring at the message. As she began to type out a reply, something caught her eye outside the shop—a familiar, white-haired man walking by. Alfred Marsh. She’d been so distracted these last two weeks, she hadn’t even thought of him or called him back. Slipping her phone into her pocket, she dashed out the door.
“Alfie!
” she called out. “Dr. Marsh!”
The man turned around, brows knitted together, but when they locked eyes, he went pale and turned on his heel, picking up his pace as he continued to walk away.
“Wait!” She was about to chase after him, but two women walked into the shop. Crap! With a last glance at Marsh’s retreating back, she went inside. How weird. But there was no time to unpack what just happened.
“Hi,” she said to the women. “Can I help you, ladies?”
The rest of the afternoon went slowly, as the rain continued to fall and it grew gloomier outside. Anticipation thrummed in her veins as six thirty came closer and closer. She finished some work in the office and then practically flew out the door to rush home.
Even as she ate dinner with Adam and Sarah, her mind kept drifting to Anders. She volunteered to do the dishes as she needed the distraction.
Finally, as she lay in bed wearing a sexy new negligee, the sound of the back door sliding open made her jump off the bed.
“Hi,” she said as she rushed up to meet him. Heat coiled in her stomach as she soaked up the sight of his damp, tousled hair and the tight T-shirt stretched over his tanned, muscled skin as he entered the room.
“Hi, yourself,” he greeted back, his gaze already greedily soaking up her body.
“Um, did you eat yet?”
Golden honey eyes burned with desire. “I’m hungry, but not for food.”
Oh, mercy me.
Chapter Eleven
Anders swore Damon must still be pissed at him, because he seemed to be getting the short end of the stick at work lately. Some punk kids thought it would be funny to set fire to bags of poop in the middle of the woods. But they didn’t use dog poop like normal people. No, they had to use large bags of buffalo poop, each the size of a garbage can. Unfortunately, the wind must have changed direction, and the flames jumped into a pile of dead leaves, making the fire spread. Thankfully they had contained the fire just in time, but it had been a close call.
Talk about a shit job. That damned smoke was so foul, he’d basically have to toss out his uniform. Everyone gave him a wide berth as he entered HQ and headed to the lockers.
He was dirty and exhausted, and as he stood under the hot spray of the water in the shower room, his mind drifted to Darcey. Every minute he wasn’t with her, she was on his mind. She and her sweet, curvy body, lush lips, and smooth skin. Shit. If he wasn’t careful, he’d have a full-blown erection in front of the other guys.
Who could blame him? The sex with Darcey was phenomenal, and he craved for her every moment of the day. Sneaking around and leaving right after, though, that didn’t settle well with him. But they had an unspoken understanding, and neither brought up the subject of what they were doing and where this was going. He attempted to stay away from her, but who the hell was he kidding? With a girl like Darcey, one or two or three times would never be enough. The thought of not being able to hold her and kiss her made his chest tighten.
Shutting off the water, he toweled off and got dressed. Those two clowns—Gilmore and Davis—were in the locker area and gave him wary glances before they headed out. Good. Word must have gotten around about the postcard incident, and he hadn’t seen anyone else put Darcey’s picture in their lockers.
Only a couple more hours before he could see her. He’d been careful whenever he snuck into Daniel’s house. It was tough, because they both worked the same shifts now, so he drove slower, and made sure the bear shifter got home first before parking his car a few houses away and sneaking into the backyard. Thankfully, Daniel was distracted enough with his own mate that he hadn’t caught Anders these last two weeks.
“Anders.”
He froze. Damon. “What can I do for you, Chief?”
Damon cleared his throat. “Good work out there. On the fires.”
Wow, was Damon actually complementing him today? “All part of the job. Didja need me for anything else? I have to get back to work.”
“F.D.’s still clearing up that sector so they’re not letting anyone in. Look, you’ve had a hard morning. Why don’t you take the rest of the day off?”
His jaw practically unhinged itself. “You’re shitting me?”
Damon chuckled. “I think you’ve already been shit on enough today. Go on, before I change my mind.”
He wasn’t one to look this gift horse in the mouth. “Thanks, Chief,” he said with a two-fingered salute before he pivoted toward the exit. He fished his truck keys out of his pocket, making a beeline for his parking spot. As he grabbed the handle to the driver’s door, a voice from behind made him freeze.
“Anders? Anders Stevens?”
Dropping his hand to his side, he turned around. His heart slammed into his rib cage as he stared back at familiar golden-brown eyes. Eyes that belonged to him. Felicia’s son. “Yeah, kid?”
Today he was dressed more casually in a dark sweater, checkered shirt, khakis, and a suede jacket. He still reeked of eau de la rich preppy kid.
“I’m Christopher,” he said. “We met at Blackstone Castle a couple of weeks ago.”
“Yeah? And so?”
His lips pursed together. “How do you know my mother?”
“I don’t.”
“I don’t believe that,” he shot back.
“You heard what she said,” Anders snorted. “I’m nobody.”
But Christopher pressed on. “You’re a tiger, right? So am I, but my dad’s a lynx shifter. Clive Kerr.”
Just the sound of the name made his blood boil and sent his tiger pacing. “Good for you.” He turned to get into his car, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. He whipped around, shrugging off the touch. “What do you want from me, kid?”
Christopher swallowed hard. “The truth. About who you are.”
He shut his eyes tight and turned back to his truck. “Go ask your mother.” Without another word, he hopped into his pickup and shut the door. He could still feel Christopher’s eyes on him, but he ignored it and instead, started the engine and pulled out of his spot.
Fuck Christopher. Fuck Felicia. And fuck my Goddamn life. He let out a growl as he sped down the mountain road, his rage barely contained. That kid … what was he thinking, confronting him like that? Did he really want to open this can of worms? Anders didn’t need this shit right now.
His body was still vibrating with emotions by the time he reached home. “Goddammit!” He slammed his palms on the wheel. His tiger was on edge, too, prowling back and forth, body tensed like a tightly-wound spring.
Jesus. There was no doubt in his mind that Felicia would have children with her mate, but that had always been an abstract idea to him. To be confronted with the fact was a completely different matter. How old was Christopher? Did he have siblings? How many, and what were they?
“Fuck.” He couldn’t think of that, or it would slowly drive him insane. It was hard to breathe, as his chest was collapsing in on itself. He needed something to distract him. To anchor him.
Darcey.
She was the first thing that popped into his head. He needed to see Darcey and her sweet smile and beautiful face. He didn’t care if he had to show up at the boutique or if Sarah was there. He needed to touch her, smell her, embrace her. It would be the only balm that could soothe this ache growing inside him.
Chapter Twelve
Darcey wouldn’t have thought anything about Marsh’s strange behavior except that her instinct kept telling her something was not right. She remembered he gave her his card, so she called him several times, but his number was unreachable. She tried texting, too, but there was no answer. It had been a week since that incident, and she still couldn’t figure it out. A pit in her stomach began to form. From her unfortunate previous experiences with men, she knew when her number was being blocked.
“You okay, Darce?”
Daniel’s voice jolted her out of her thoughts. They were all sitting at the breakfast table, finishing up their breakfast. “Yeah? I mean, yes.”
“No
t hungry?” Sarah nodded at the plate in front of her, where she had taken two bites out of her pancakes.
“Just a little queasy today,” she said.
“You do look a little green around the gills,” Sarah remarked. “Are you sick?”
“Uh, yeah. My stomach hasn’t been well lately.” Not since that day Marsh ran away from her. He had clearly seen her, but something had scared him. She woke up in the mornings, feeling nauseated. What could have happened?
Daniel looked at her strangely. “You’re sick?”
“Can I have your pancakes?” Adam asked before her brother-in-law could say anything more.
“Sure.” She pushed her plate at him. “I’m not really hungry. Excuse me.” She got up from the table and headed into her room to finish getting ready.
She wished she could talk to Anders about it, but they hardly spoke when they were together those brief hours of the night. Truth be told, she didn’t want any conversation during that time anyway lest she accidentally blurt out things she would regret later. Somehow, she could tell he felt the same, like they had some kind of silent agreement to keep things physical. She would not break that, no matter how much her swan protested.
If only there was someone she could talk to about the whole Marsh and the Australian bevy situation. She didn’t want to bother Sarah and Daniel over it, but no one knew the situation like her and—
Cam.
She’d nearly forgotten about him. Maybe he knew what was up with Marsh. Dialing his number, she sat on the bed, waiting for him to pick up. There was no answer, so she waited and tried again. Two more unanswered calls, and she finally left a voice message. “Hey, Cam, it’s me. Darcey. I, uh, wanted to talk to you about something. I just don’t know how to ask you. Anyway, give me a call back when you can. No rush.”
With a deep sigh, she put the phone down and went to the bathroom. After washing her face and changing her top, she left the house, then drove to the boutique to open it up for the day. Sarah came in before noon, but she wasn’t alone. Following behind her was Cam.
Blackstone Ranger Rogue: Blackstone Rangers Book 4 Page 13
