After spending most of her evening talking with Sunray, Jaclyn now walked amongst the crowd, working hard to make small talk with the women, who seemed no friendlier toward her now than they had been upon her arrival Monday morning.
When she spotted a group of three women huddled together in conversation, she decided it was time to make her move. As she walked toward them, Ruby ran from the house and jumped into her arms, hissing at the guests in the pool.
“Ruby,” she admonished and ducked under her bird feeder as she moved in beside the women. “Hi, ladies,” she said. “Did you all get enough to eat and drink?”
They nodded, and after a round of introductions were made, Harmony’s violet eyes turned to Ruby. “This is Ruby,” Jaclyn offered. When Harmony looked at her cat longingly, Jaclyn asked, “Do you have any pets?”
“No,” Harmony said, a sadness in her eyes. Her bangles jangled when she reached out and petted Ruby’s fur.
“I haven’t really seen anyone around town with pets,” Jaclyn said, trying to lighten the mood. “Nor have I seen one dog in the park since I’ve been here.”
“Too many coyotes,” Alexis piped in.
“Coyotes eat the pets?”
“Yes,” all three ladies said in unison.
Jaclyn gestured toward her bird feeder. “I guess they must also be eating all the birds too, then. I haven’t seen one little robin.”
“Yes, they do,” Harmony added, in a very patient yet firm voice, reminding Jaclyn of her stern but fair headmaster back in prep school.
She shot the lady a dubious glance. Okay, even that seemed a little far-fetched to her. It was starting to look like everyone was as crazy as Slyck. “Is that what the gate is for? To keep the wild animals out?”
Harmony angled her head, her long black curls tumbling in waves over her shoulders. She really was a beautiful woman, Jaclyn mused. The look in her warm violet eyes, as well as the humorless smile on her face, told Jaclyn this was a conversation she had no interest in pursuing. “Sometimes they crawl under.”
Despite the admonishing regard in Harmony’s gaze, Jaclyn decided to push—partly because she wanted answers, and partly because she wanted to prove to herself that the strange goings-on were just the quirks of small-town living. Things like the cluster of people who came out only at night. Heck, if she didn’t know better, she’d think they were vampires.
Damn Slyck for putting such crazy notions into her head.
Unnerved with the direction her mind had gone, she shook her head and marshaled her thoughts. Her cat swatted at the bird feeder behind her, and it brought back memories of her grandmother, which raised another question.
She shifted Ruby in her arms. “Tell me, where are all the elderly?”
“Excuse me?” Harmony asked.
“The elderly. Where are they?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Well, the elderly purchase the highest percentage of skin-care products, and since I’m here to sell cosmetics, I was wondering why Serene has no elderly residents. Do you ship them all off to a retirement home or something?” she asked, only half teasing, because she certainly expected to see a high number of geriatrics in such a quaint town.
“Yes, that’s exactly what we do,” Harmony said, and then
excused herself, taking her friends with her, and leaving Jaclyn standing there all alone, a little pissed off and a whole lot more concerned.
Where were the elderly? The birds? The animals?
Suddenly her flesh began to burn and she sensed Slyck’s presence. She felt him long before she saw him. She could even feel his hot gaze caressing her body. God, she was so aware of him. It was all she could do not to come unhinged.
Jaclyn spun around. Her gaze surfed through the crowd, and despite the darkness at the back of her yard, she spotted him in the shadows.
Her body came alive just knowing he was watching her. Moisture grew between her thighs, and her nipples turned sensitive beneath her sundress, every little movement of the fabric causing them to tighten, swell. Ignoring Slyck, Jaclyn shook off her arousal and moved through her backyard, where she tried to mingle with her guests, albeit unsuccessfully.
Less than an hour later—no further ahead with the townsfolk than she had been when they’d arrived—Jaclyn stifled a yawn and began to pick up the discarded dishes as the crowd slowly began to disperse. Soon the backyard fell quiet, and she strived to hear one cricket chirp, one bat squeak. Nothing.
She gave a heavy sigh, planted her hands on her hips, and glanced around.
“Well, that didn’t go as well as expected,” she mumbled under her breath.
“It shouldn’t have gone at all.”
Slyck pressed his chest to her back, and it was all she could
do to remain standing. Awareness hit like a wrecking ball. God, her body called out to him in ways that confused her and left her breathless.
She turned around and worked to sound casual. “I don’t remember giving you an invitation.” She tried to keep her eyes on his face and off his rippling muscles as he shifted his stance and deliberately leaned over her.
Smoldering green eyes met hers, and it took every ounce of control she could muster not to rip her clothes off and offer herself up to him. She linked her hands together and fought the natural inclination to touch him.
He wet his lips, and before she realized what she was doing, she moistened her own. When his head dipped, her breathing grew shallow. In a voice that was deep and sensual, he said, “The look in your eyes and the way your body reacts to me is all the invitation I need, Jaclyn.”
Before she could come back with some smart-assed response, a noise in her driveway pulled her focus. She caught a glimpse of Sunray exchanging words with Vall, and by the intent look on his face, she would have hazarded a guess that they weren’t tossing around friendly words. When Vall forcefully grabbed Sunray’s arm, she quickly jerked it away. There seemed to be some sort of power struggle between the two.
Jaclyn made a move to go to her friend’s aid, but Slyck stepped in front of her, his huge body blocking her path. “Stay out of it.”
“I don’t like that man, Slyck.” It didn’t appear that Sunray did either. So why would she date him? A strong, outgoing woman
like Sunray didn’t seem the type to be pushed around or dominated by any man. Did he have something over her?
“That’s because he’s a werewolf and you’re a were-cat. The two don’t always mix.”
“Slyck—”
“Look at their eyes, Jaclyn. Their behavior. I know you’ve noticed.”
She took a moment to entertain the idea. Okay, so she couldn’t deny that their eyes were a strange color. That seemed to be a definable characteristic amongst everyone who’d come tonight—a definable characteristic that clumped them into a group of five. From the silver eyes of the group that loved the water, to the gorgeous green eyes of the group that didn’t. From the black eyes of the group that only surfaced at night, to the amber-yellow glow of the rowdy group that liked to create chaos. And of course she couldn’t forget the quiet group with the violet eyes and dark black hair.
She transferred her thoughts back to her friend when the sound of Vall’s rising voice echoed in the air.
“Why are they fighting?” she asked quietly.
“Because Sunray has a fetish for all things kitty.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning she’s not like the other wolves and she likes you. A lot. Even though I suspect she doesn’t quite know why yet.”
“I like her too.” She turned to see Vall grip Sunray’s upper arm tighter, forcing her compliance as they moved into the shadows.
“Even though she’s a lycan?” Slyck questioned.
Jaclyn gave Slyck a deadly glare. “She’s my friend, and she’s the only one in town who’s been nice to me.”
Slyck brought his lips close to hers, and despite a hard-fought battle, she could feel the heat rising in her. Her lips automatically parted.
“I’m nice to you,” he whispered into her mouth.
Her eyes slipped shut, and she waited for his kiss. What she got instead infuriated her.
With a light shove, Slyck threw her into the pool.
A moment later she surfaced, sputtering and cursing and wanting to kill the man. She finally found her footing and stood. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she asked, pushing her wet hair off her forehead and madly blinking droplets from her eyes.
Instead of answering he let his eyes race over her wet dress, and the way it clung to her body. When his green eyes darkened with desire, her nipples hardened in response, alerting him to her arousal. Damn him.
“Are you insane?” she bit out.
“I thought you already established that I was.”
“What are you trying to do? Drown me?”
“Nope, trying to anger you.”
“Well, congratulations. Mission accomplished.” She shot him an indignant glare before making her way to the ladder. “Why the hell did you want to anger me?”
“So your panther will show.”
“Okay, Slyck, I’ve heard enough of this.” She climbed from the pool, but there was no ignoring the niggling in her stomach—a familiar intuitive reaction. She didn’t want to believe Slyck—she really didn’t—but she couldn’t ignore her gut feeling any more
than she could ignore his blatant sexuality. As she ran over the events of the night, she couldn’t deny that there was something very unnatural about this town and the people in it, making it hard for her to cling to the belief they were merely fearful of outsiders. There was something more unnatural than just their eye color. Everything from the aloof way they treated outsiders to having no pets, no birds, insects, or elderly. And their skin, it was flawless. Eternal-looking, really.
Oh Jesus.
Her stomach knotted. She worried her bottom lip. Surely to God she was caught up in some bad nightmare. Maybe if she pinched herself . . .
With two easy steps Slyck closed the distance between them. “Still angry?”
“Yes,” she bit out, then challenged, “If anger causes one to shift, why haven’t I shifted before? Trust me, I’ve felt anger many times over.”
“I told you, you need male seed.”
“So you really expect me to believe your seed brings out the panther? Sounds like some kind of trick to get into a woman’s pants if you ask me. God, leave it to a man to come up with something so ludicrous.”
He ignored her comment and continued. “It also changes DNA in humans.”
She planted her hands on her hips. “I thought you said I wasn’t human.”
“You’re panther. And a female’s panther lies dormant until the male seed is introduced,” he reiterated.
Jaclyn’s head began swimming, and she tried to hold on to her anger. She nibbled her bottom lip as her body tightened. Christ, this was becoming all too much for her to comprehend. “Slyck—”
He brushed the backs of his fingers over her cheek. His familiar caress combined with his close proximity caused all her anger to evaporate, her resolve to crumble.
The heat from his body reached out to her and she grew moist, but that moisture had absolutely nothing to do with her unexpected dip in the pool. Oh God, she needed him again. There were no two ways about it. There was something so right, so comforting about his touch, and it almost hurt when she wasn’t in his arms.
So maybe he was crazy, an escaped mental patient even. Or maybe he was as sane as she was and this town really was full of fairy-tale creatures. To her lust-drunk brain, what had seemed so important earlier now suddenly seemed insignificant. Especially when she had other things to think about. Things like slipping between the sheets with Slyck again. Things like spending the rest of the night making wild passionate love with him. Things like riding his mouth, his fingers, and his beautiful cock. God, she wanted to give herself to him in a way she’d never given herself to a man.
She couldn’t deny the way her body craved him,
needed him
, in a way that she’d never needed another, and she swore if she didn’t feel him inside her again within the hour, she’d die of want.
He lowered his head, and she caught a whiff of his earthy scent as it assailed her senses.
“Jaclyn . . .” The soft way he said her name instantly brought them to a deeper level of intimacy.
The air around them suddenly felt heavy, suffocating, and it was all she could do to inflate her lungs.
“Yeah,” she managed.
Slyck’s eyes darkened when he curled a damp strand of her hair around his index finger and said, “There are other ways, you know.”
She worked to find her voice, but it came out all raspy and aroused. “Other ways for what?”
“To get your panther to show.”
His voice was so full of emotion and tenderness it made her abandon any rational thought. “How?”
“Passion.”
Chapter Eight
Slyck brushed the pad of his thumb over her plump lips and watched her face suffuse with color. As his panther clawed to get out, he leaned into her, conveying how much he wanted to ravish her. Here and now. Not that he thought she’d balk at the idea, because everything in her beautiful blue eyes told him she needed this as much as he did.
He slid his hand over the smooth bare skin on her arms, and watched the bumps that formed in its wake. She gave a little shiver of excitement and bit down on her lower lip. He could tell her breasts were swollen, achy, and hot beneath her light summer dress, and he had every intention of soothing away that incessant longing with his tongue.
He watched her eyes cloud with need when she murmured, “Slyck . . .”
“I know, Jaclyn,” he whispered back, the agony in his voice
matching hers. He pinched his eyes shut, let out a slow breath and added, “Trust me, sweetheart, I know.”
The sound of thunder rumbling in the distance propelled him into action. He ushered Jaclyn into the house and closed the patio door behind them just as the clouds sliced open and frigid rainwater blanketed Serene in a cool summer bath.