First Beast (16 page)

“How did that happen?”

He slipped on his shoes. “I was with a woman.”

Jealousy flared, pushing heat into her cheeks. Which was ridiculous. She hadn't known Caleb then, and she certainly didn't feel anything beyond a sexual attraction now. Why should she care that he'd been with a woman? From the stories she'd heard about his prowess in that regard, she'd be in a permanent state of ire if she reacted to them.

To camouflage her response, she put steel into her tone. “Did they take her too?”

His smile didn't reach his eyes. “She was the bait.”

Her feelings turned to fury at the woman who had betrayed him. Was it any wonder he had trust issues? “What happened?”

He shrugged. “Told her I couldn't take her home with me. She was their leader's daughter, which meant her place was in South America. She got pissed and went over to the dark side.”

Talia's fury intensified, but she banked it for the same reason she hadn't wanted him to know she was jealous. “What happened then? After you were taken?”

“They kept me in a cage. Basically left me to rot there.”

When her legs went shaky, she sat on a small rock. “What did they want?”

Drawing in a breath, he came and sat beside her. “To keep me from coming home.”

“Do you know why?”

“I have my suspicions. Just can't prove anything yet.”

It was almost impossible to link the frail woman in the nursing home with an act of such awful treachery. Maybe she could have suspended her disbelief if she hadn't seen Vivien McLeod with her own eyes, but now that she'd met her mother-in-law, there was no way in heaven the woman was behind it.

“It wasn't Joshua's mother behind your kidnapping. Joshua lied to me.”

Caleb turned to face her. “Seems that way.”

“That's the reason he wanted me to go through with the marriage to you. He said you would hurt his mother if I didn't. Banish her.”

Caleb scoffed out a laugh. “Sounds like something he'd cook up.”

“If that's not true, why would he agree to the marriage?”

He got to his feet. “I suggest you ask him that question.”

He'd likely be as tightlipped as Caleb was, but she'd damn well get an answer if it killed her. She ignored Caleb's outstretched hand. “I'm starting to wish to heaven that I'd never come to this place.”

“Why did you?”

She took a deep breath and let it out on a sigh. “When I was young I was on a camping trip with my father and brother and got lost on the moor. I spent the night under some rocks. I was scared, cold and hungry. I couldn't stop thinking about all the tales of giant cats and various beasts that roamed the moor. Then, all of a sudden, I came face to face with a panther.”

Beside her, Caleb jolted, undoubtedly incensed that a pack member had been reckless enough to let himself be seen in beast form.

“I thought my heart would pump out of my chest,” Talia continued, on a roll now. “I was so scared. But there was something in his eyes. He sheltered me, kept me warm through the night. I felt really safe and…and there was something about the panther I couldn't get out of my mind. After university I applied for a job on the local paper. All I wanted was to find that panther. Ridiculous, I know, but I felt this bond with it.

“When I met Josh I told him about it. He asked me what I'd do if I found out that panthers really did roam the moor. Would I report the story? Would I make it known to the world at large? I told him I wouldn't, that I'd really felt a connection to that glorious beast, and the last thing I wanted was for it to be hunted down.”

She faced him squarely. “I still feel that way. Which is why I would never betray the pack. They're my people now and despite what you think, I'd never betray my own.”

Caleb remained silent, which she supposed was the response she'd expected. She sincerely wondered if he'd ever believe her.

Long moments passed, and Talia decided to finish out her story. “When Josh and I started to get really serious, he began dropping hints. Little by little I started to piece things together. I have to admit I was horrified at first. I mean, the existence of people who could change form and shift into wild beasts? But I remembered that night on the moor. I'd felt closer to that panther than I had to anyone else, except my grandmother. In fact, it was my grandmother who persuaded me to come to Bodmin. She had what some call
the sight
, an awareness of things not altogether of this world. With her help, I came to accept the truth. That Joshua was the young panther who'd protected me that night.”

Caleb's jaw went tight. “He told you that?”

“Yes. He said he'd heard me crying and came to find me. He stayed with me through the night, protected me.”

Caleb stared at her, his expression tight and forbidding, then his nostrils flared. “We need to get back.”

Watching Caleb's retreat, Talia worried that she'd spoken out of turn. Perhaps shifters were forbidden to reveal themselves to humans in such a way.

Had she just made things worse for Joshua?

Not that she cared right then. All she wanted was answers. The most pressing being why he'd lied to her about his mother. And just exactly why he'd been so adamant for her to marry Caleb. What was in it for him?

Answers
, she thought, following Caleb back to the car. This time she was going to get them, and they'd better be the truth.

Chapter Twelve

A little over an hour later, Caleb stormed into the bar where he'd demanded Joshua meet him, trying in vain to bank his fury. At first, he'd planned to confront him at home, but with Talia around to witness the direction of his venom, he'd decided a more neutral meeting place was in order. That way Caleb would be forced to keep his temper in check, which meant Joshua might just keep his fucking teeth.

His brother was waiting at the bar when Caleb arrived, looking for all the world as if he hadn't a damn care to his name. Bile rose in Caleb's throat. For as long as he could remember, Joshua had been a thorn in his side. There had never been any love lost between the brothers, and Joshua took every opportunity to decry Caleb, to make his life difficult in any form he could. But Caleb could never have known just how far Joshua would go and how low he would stoop.

Even now he found it hard to believe, hard to accept.

He strode toward the bar, his arms tight to his sides for fear he might let his temper free after all and land one on Joshua's treacherous face.

As Caleb neared the bar, Joshua managed a sneer in his direction before returning to sip his half-drunk beer. “Since when do you get to summon me like I'm one of your lackeys?”

Caleb jerked onto the stool next to him. “Since you lied through your conniving teeth and manipulated Talia into marrying you.”

That got Joshua's attention. He placed his beer down and turned to face him. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“One particularly eventful night on the moor when you allegedly protected her, kept her safe from predators.”

“I don't understand what the hell you're talking about.” Josh turned away and raised his glass again. Beneath the bravado, Caleb sensed he was shaken. For as far back as his memory took him, Caleb remembered that his brother could never look a person in the eye when he was lying.

“You made her believe you were the hero, when all the while you're riding on some other man's tail.”

Responding to the barman's unspoken inquiry, Caleb nodded that he wanted his usual. He and Joshua didn't exchange another word until Caleb's beer was set in front of him. Sensing the two siblings were in the middle of something, the barman moved away to the far end of the bar.

“What's stopping me from telling her?”

Joshua drew in a breath, pursing his lips. “She wouldn't believe you.”

“She will when I tell her you were too young to have shifted back then. Let alone be out on the moor alone.”

His expression tight, Joshua took a swig of his beer. “She still wouldn't believe you.”

“Maybe not. Which is why you're going to tell her.”

“Not going to happen.”

Caleb leaned closer. “How many other lies have you told her? You think she's going to stay with you when she knows the truth?”

Joshua's head snapped around so fast his hand jerked, sloshing beer over the polished bar. “We made a deal.”

“This changes things.” Caleb gave a feral grin. “I'm betting you've never once taken her to the spot you allegedly protected her. Let me guess—she's asked you for sentimental reasons, maybe the anniversary of the day you met, but you don't want to dredge up old memories for her. Or maybe the moor has changed since then and there's now an encampment there, or a wildlife reserve. Am I close?”

“We had a deal,” Joshua repeated, his face colorless now, his eyes gleaming with malice along with panic. “What do you want?”

Caleb took a moment to enjoy the triumph that had been slowly building inside. Then he looked Joshua square in the eye. “I want her.”

“It's not enough that you're fucking her. Now you want her to yourself. You want me out of the way.”

“I've always wanted you out of the way. At first I thought this threesome could work. Now I know different.”

Maybe he'd always known it. He'd always planned to have Talia as his own, but had anticipated it would be a long time before Josh would tire of sharing. Even longer for Talia to accept that he, Caleb, was her true mate. Now Joshua's own lies had opened a chasm between his brother and Talia, one that might bring about the fruition of Caleb's plans faster than even he had anticipated.

While the thought delighted him, he couldn't shake the anger that rippled through him. The lie Joshua had told Talia about being her protector that night on the moor cut deep, ripping at the very heart of Caleb's need for her, his deep desire to protect and cherish her.

It changed everything.

“She's with you under false pretences.” Caleb kept his tone calm, though his heart thundered with the very real possibility Talia would soon belong to him alone. “She knows.”

Joshua's face paled. “Knows what?”

“That the reason you coerced her into agreeing to our arrangement had nothing to do with your mother.”

“Shit. You said—”

“She came to the nursing home. Wasn't too long into the visit before she worked out that plotting treachery was beyond the grasp of someone in such fragile physical and mental health.” He waited a beat, enjoying the anxious dart of Joshua's eyes. “Turns out, Talia's pretty good at math.”

“Shit,” Joshua said again, and raked a hand through his hair.

“I'd brace myself for a thorough questioning if I were you, brother. And seeing as she now has your measure, more lies won't get you out of the hole.”

“If I tell her, I'm finished.”

Caleb almost felt sorry for the treacherous son of a bitch. “With her? Yeah, I'd say so.”

“With the pack,” Joshua said weakly, grabbing for his drink to take a healthy swig. “There's no telling what she'll do, but betraying me to the pack is an option.”

“She won't do that.” Caleb had never been so sure of anything in his life. “She's loyal to the pack. She's loyal to you. Though why the fuck that is, I'll never quite work out.”

Joshua knocked back the last of his drink. “You've changed your tune.”

Caleb thought back to the visit at the nursing home. Talia had been so tender and patient with his stepmother, asking her nothing other than how she was feeling. He'd been wrong accusing her of ulterior motives. If he'd been wrong about that, what else might he be wrong about?

He pursed his lips. “Maybe I have.”

“I can't tell her the truth.”

“Then you have only one other option. Tell her it's time for you to move on.”

“I can't do that.” Joshua shook his head, a shadow of panic in his eyes. “I love her.”

Caleb seriously wondered if Joshua was capable of loving anyone other than himself and his own interests, but maybe he really did care for Talia. Not that it made any difference.

“There's something else you love more.” Caleb waited until his meaning clicked in and Joshua's eyes went wide. “Don't for a moment think I won't do it.”

“You fucking bastard.”

“You tell her your marriage has run its course and you want out,” Caleb said conversationally. “Then it stays buried.”

“You think she'll stay with you if I'm not around? She'll be gone before you can take a piss.”

Caleb had considered that and it had given him pause, but he knew Talia was developing feelings for him. Hell. A man and woman didn't enjoy sex the way they did and share nothing beyond the physical, and he had enough faith in his own ability to convince Talia to remain married to him long enough to prove to her that she was meant to be his.

Even so, Caleb suffered a shudder of doubt. He'd always been a man who took pleasure in his ability to go after, and retain, the things he wanted. But Talia was a whole other ballgame.

“You've got one week,” Caleb said, downing the rest of his beer. “That should be enough time to think it over and reach the only conclusion available to you.”

He slid off the bar stool and tucked a bill under the empty glass. About to walk away, he turned back to Joshua. “And by the way. Make sure you don't come home for another couple of hours.” He smiled wickedly. “I've got plans.”

He walked out of the bar, certain he heard Joshua growl.

Caleb allowed himself a satisfied grin.

His happy mood lasted until he walked into the house and found Talia furiously chopping vegetables in the kitchen, her face red and heated. She spared him a glance before returning to her task.

“Everything okay?” Caleb ventured.

“Just dandy.”

Obviously not, but he wasn't inclined to take on a pissed-off woman wielding a sharp knife. “Something smells good.”

“Something smells burned.” She rammed the knife down on the worktop before sliding the chopped vegetables into a steamer. “It was at the smelling good stage an hour ago. Since then I've thrown it in the bin.”

Shit. “Are we just having steamed vegetables?”

“
I'm
having steamed vegetables. You, and that other excuse for a husband, can get take-out.” She banged the steamer on the stove. “You think I don't have better things to do than play domestic goddess to the both of you? I told you dinner would be early because I've got a Pilates class with Naomi at seven. But no, Josh has fallen off the face of the planet, and you saunter in here asking if everything's okay.”

Double shit. After the events of the day, he'd clear forgotten it was Talia's turn to cook and she'd asked them to be early so she could make her class. He'd been pleased she'd struck up a friendship with Naomi—indeed, he encouraged it, and her desire to make friends within the pack. But damn it, he'd hoped they could spend more time together with Joshua out of the house.

“Seems I forgot.”

“Well, thanks for pointing that out. I never would have guessed.” She turned on the stove before glancing at her watch. “I need to get changed. Watch these vegetables. It's the least you can do.”

It was. But instead of allowing her to step away, he moved behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. “I apologize.”

She held herself stiff against him. “It doesn't matter.”

“It does.” He brought his mouth close to her temple and brushed a kiss there. “But you're not mad because of a ruined meal.”

If possible, she went even more rigid. “I'm mad about a lot of things.” She slammed down the lid on the steamer. “I'm mad at being put in the middle of your relationship with Joshua. Mad about having my integrity questioned when it seems I'm the one being lied to.”

“You're right.”

He felt her relax a tad. “What do you mean?”

He turned her in his arms until she was facing him. “You don't deserve to be caught up in the animosity between me and Joshua.”

Again she tensed, her chin angling into the air. “Right. As long as that's clear.”

He wanted to smile at the sarcastic tone, but knew he owed her much more than a token offering. “You also don't deserve my lack of trust.”

Suspicion filled her eyes as they met his. “No. I don't.”

“I was wrong accusing you of visiting the nursing home to get a story. I'm sorry for that.”

She drew back as far as he'd let her, her hands pressing against his chest. “You actually thought I was capable of interrogating a sick woman. That's hard to forgive.”

“I hope you can find a way. Maybe put it down to my tendency to be an idiot?”

A flicker of a smile crossed her lips. “There's that.”

Encouraged by the release of the pressure of her hands against his chest, he drew her close again.

He tried to kiss her, but she shrank back.

“There's always going to be mistrust between us, Caleb, at least on your part. I'm not sure how this arrangement we have can survive that.”

His chest went tight at her words, reminding him of Joshua's prediction that she would leave them both if Joshua ended their marriage. He knew he had nobody but himself to blame for it. Since meeting Talia, he had let his own fears and prejudices rule his relationship with her. If he wanted to salvage that relationship, build on it, strengthen it, he had to let his heart rule his head and step out from behind his self-imposed barrier.

“I don't find it easy to trust.” He ran his hands up and down her arms. “But that doesn't mean I can't learn.”

“If I thought you meant that—”

Since he couldn't find the words to prove it, he spoke the truth of it by slanting his lips across hers. He wanted to be gentle, but the spiraling need for her exploded at the first taste of her sweet mouth. She opened willingly for him, giving him hope that she believed he was capable of changing. The warmth of her tongue fired his blood, stormed his senses.

“I want you,” he said into her mouth. “Want you so badly it drives me insane.”

Her arms came around his neck, her breasts crushing against his chest. “I want you too.”

He hoisted her up until her legs wrapped around him. “What do you say we finish what we started out on the moor today?” He moved out of the kitchen and toward the bedroom. “Your room or mine?”

Since she'd taken the master bedroom, and he'd been relegated to one of the spares with its single bed, he could only be relieved when she answered, “Mine. The bed's larger.”

He kicked the door to the bedroom closed behind them and lowered her to the mattress. Positioning himself beside her, he slid his fingers across her waist then up to cup her breast. He touched his mouth to her nipple, sliding his tongue across the hard bud beneath the fabric of her T-shirt and bra.

She arched, moaning softly, and slipped her fingers through his hair. He reveled in her touch, in the almost tender and reverent way she stroked him. He ached to feel those fingers along his flesh, around his cock. She barely touched him when they had sex, something else he could only blame himself for. Had he not exerted his will, his desires, so strongly, she might have been more reciprocal.