Forbidden Blood (43 page)

He
’d waited until his barbs receded, but since she hadn’t been quite prepared for their lovemaking in the beginning, his withdrawal had made her more aware of her tender flesh. In fact, every move she’d made the rest of the night was a reminder of Vaughn. When she’d stood from the bed, she had seen the T-shirt she wore to sleep ripped in half on the floor across the room.

She hadn
’t tried to shut him out again.

Naya glanced at the clock again,
and then she grabbed her things and exited her car. She might not have been shutting Vaughn out, but she hadn’t shared her thoughts with him either. With a sigh, she knew she was going to have to step up and talk to him if she wanted to find out where his head was. Now, she just had to work up the courage.

As she walked through the doors of the animal shelter, she reminded herself
that she still had several months to figure things out before the babies would arrive. The best thing she could do was plan for every situation. And that was why she’d come to speak with Marilyn about taking the job. Part of her would love to be a stay-at-home mom, but she was tired of relying on others to take care of her. If Vaughn and she didn’t stay together, then they would probably have joint custody, freeing up some of her nights to work. Although, she tried not to think about that scenario because she didn’t want to be away from her babies…or Vaughn.

She headed down the hall to Marilyn
’s office. Naya felt bad that Marilyn had stayed late on a Friday night to talk to her. However, Naya hadn’t wanted to put off her return any longer. Not only had two months passed since she’d last volunteered at the shelter, it was Vaughn’s first night back at work. She didn’t want to sit in his apartment all night, alone and ruminating.

She knocked on the open office door, and Marilyn looked up
with a big smile breaking out across her face, easing Naya’s anxiety.

“
Naya, it’s good to see you. Come in.”

Taking a seat, Naya immediately said,
“I’m sorry, Marilyn, for not getting back to you sooner. I know my personal life is not an excuse, but the last few months have been crazy.”

Marilyn waved her hand.
“Not a problem. I heard you were sick. Are you feeling better now?”

“
Well, I found out I wasn’t sick.” Naya couldn’t stop a grin from forming as she shared her news. Despite the unknown future with Vaughn, Naya was still eager to be a mother. “I’m actually pregnant with twins, and that’s why I was feeling unwell.”

“
Oh, Naya, that’s wonderful. I didn’t know you were in a relationship.”

“
Well, it’s a new relationship, but we’re both very excited about it.”

“
I’m happy for you…but sad for us.”

Naya
’s face immediately fell. “Why?”
Did someone already take the job
?

“
Oh,” Marilyn said. “Well, I assumed you came to tell me you couldn’t take the job. I know your family has a lot of money, and now, you’re going to have a baby—or rather, babies. I assumed you probably wouldn’t want to work.”

Relief filled
Naya. “No, I very much want the job.”

Marilyn beamed at her.
“Really? That’s wonderful. I’m thrilled.”

“
I just have a few questions, if you don’t mind.”

“
Sure. What can I answer for you?”

“
How many hours a week would it be? I really do want the job, but as you know, I can only work nights, and I do worry about working full-time when the babies come.”

“
The job is salary, so you work as many hours a week as it takes to get your work done. Naturally, there are times when you might be needed after your workday is completed even if it’s just over the phone. But if it’s during the day, Sharon can come in.” Sharon was Marilyn’s assistant. “But honestly, everyone knows their jobs well enough that you don’t have much to worry about.”

“
Speaking of Sharon, are you sure she will be okay with me taking your position? Doesn’t she want it? She should really be the person for the job.”

Marilyn smiled.
“Nope, Sharon doesn’t want it. Honestly, much of this job is paperwork and business stuff. Sharon has less responsibility and gets to spend more time with the employees, which is how she prefers it. It works out well for both of you. You can do a lot of paperwork at night or even from your own home. As long as everything gets completed when it’s due, your job is done. Sharon is actually really hoping you take the job. She doesn’t want to get stuck working under someone new.”

“
It almost sounds too good to be true.”

Marilyn laughed again.
“Don’t worry. You’ll have your work cut out for you.”

They discussed a few more things
, including when Naya would start training and when the new position would begin. They also discussed salary, and even though Naya knew the position didn’t pay tons of money, the job combined with her trust would keep her and the babies living comfortably, if needed.

After Naya and Marilyn finished up, they said
good night, and Marilyn wished her good luck on her first night back. Marilyn left, and Naya made a quick round to check on all the animals. She took care of any clean-ups and bathroom breaks, and then she headed for Leo’s kennel.

The minute she opened the door, he attacked her.

“Hey, buddy. I missed you.”

Leo rubbed himself all over her, paying special attention to her belly.

“I’m going to be a mother. Can you believe it?”

Leo rubbed on her some more and
then knocked her over. He rubbed her neck and chest, but then he stood over her and looked into her eyes.

She sucked in a breath.
At that moment, he reminded her of Vaughn on the night when he’d shown her his cat.

She sat up immediately, almost hitting heads with Leo.

“Oh my God. Oh my God.”

It all made sense now
—how he hadn’t seemed to be any kind of known cat breed, his hyperintelligence. He had to be a shifter. She tried to get more from his scent, but she didn’t have enough experience with shifters in their animal forms to know if she was right or not.

“
Leo, are you what I think you are?”

Meow
.

It wasn
’t exactly a yes. She needed a test.

“
Lick my hand.”

Leo licked her hand.

“Leo, walk to the corner of the room and come back.”

He did exactly what she
’d said. It was good enough for her.

Naya stood
and quickly went to the break room where she’d left her purse and cell phone. “I need to call Vaughn.”

Meow
.

Naya paused.
“Leo, do you know Vaughn?”

Meow
.

If only he could talk
…

She called Vaughn
, but there was no answer. She left him a message, asking him to call her as soon as possible. Then, she sent him a quick text in case he didn’t have time to answer his phone, but maybe he could look at it when he had a free second.

Pacing back and forth, Naya was about to burst, but there wasn
’t anything she could do until Vaughn called her back. To try to keep her mind off of it, she did everything she could to keep busy, but she was a little irritated that she couldn’t get a hold of him.

It ended up being the longest night of her life. She called Vaughn repeatedly, but he didn
’t answer. After a while, it went straight to voice mail, so either his phone had died, or he’d shut it off. At that point, she was pissed. The minute she saw him, he was going to get an earful.
What if I was calling because something bad happened to the babies? What’s going happen when I’m farther along and go into labor?

When the day crew showed up in the morning, she still hadn
’t heard from Vaughn, and she was at a loss about what to do. She knew she could take Leo to Vaughn’s for the time being, but she had no idea where Vaughn was, and she didn’t want to be stuck at the apartment after the sun came up. Leo had been at the shelter for months now, and she could guess from his size that he wasn’t fully grown, which meant he was still a child. He probably had a mother and father somewhere who missed him.

Naya filled out the paperwork to adopt Leo
, and she paid the fee. She grabbed her stuff and Leo and headed for her car. The sun would be up in just over an hour, so she needed to hurry. Thankfully, it was a Saturday morning, so she didn’t have to worry about rush hour traffic. It only took her forty-five minutes to get to her destination. She was grateful that she’d paid attention the first night when she had gone this way and that she was good with directions.

When she pulled into the long driveway, she noted all the trees on the land around the home provid
ed privacy. Knowing what she knew now, she guessed they needed the room to roam around in their cat forms without anyone seeing them. Suddenly, she felt guilty for keeping Vaughn in the apartment in downtown Minneapolis. He probably missed living out here.

That was j
ust what they needed—another problem to work out.

Shaking off those thoughts, she told herself
,
One situation at a time
.

But as she pulled up to the house, Naya realized she
’d been so set in her determination to get Leo away from the animal shelter that she hadn’t taken the time to think about what she would do once she got to Vaughn’s parents’ house. She barely knew them, and she had no idea what they would think of her showing up unannounced. Plus, the sun would be up soon. Would they be okay with her staying there all day?

After she put her car in park and shut off the engine, she hesitated a moment before stepping out.
“Crap.” There was no going back now. She was stuck there.

Leo scratched at the door, so she quickly held the door open for him.
After taking a quick look around to see if anyone was outside, Naya headed to the front door. It was still very early, so she knocked rather than ringing the bell. She was hoping someone was up and would answer the door. If anyone else was sleeping, she didn’t want to wake them.

Vaughn
’s father answered the door. He was the last person she wanted to see. She wasn’t sure how he felt about her yet, whereas she actually felt comfortable around his mother and sister.
Of course, he would be the one to answer my knock.

Too late now
.

“
Naya?” he said with a note of surprise.

“
I’m sorry, Mr. Llewelyn, for coming over this early, but I need your help with something.”

“
V
AUGHN.
V
AUGHN.”
S
OMEONE shook him awake.

Shit.
He’d fallen asleep on the couch in the bunkhouse. He’d only meant to sit down for a minute. Opening his eyes, he saw it was Zane who had woken him up.

“
How long have I been out? What time is it?” Vaughn asked. He felt around in his pockets. “Where’s my phone?”