“Yes, my lord. Lord Micah called as well. He informed
me of the man who is Master Shane’s father. I have asked to have more magic put
around the house and the two of you. Also, Myra has taken precautions for
Master Shane.” He didn’t want to ask what sort of things she’d done for Shane,
so only nodded. Going to the door, he turned back when Beckman said his name. “The
vampire that was here earlier, he has given young Shane a gift of himself. I
don’t know if you were aware of it or not, but it will also keep him safe. He
will…harm will not come to him as it would have before, and I think they have a
connection not unlike the one that the vampire has with your mate.”
“Good. I think. Do you…should he have asked
for permission before doing that?” Beckman said that he didn’t believe it was
necessary to ask. “All right. I’m going up now. If anyone calls…I don’t know.
Handle it if you can, or come get me. I’ll have her in bed in about twenty
minutes, I guess.”
“I shall bring you up a tray. And if you ask
the house to help you, it will.” Beckman turned his back to him and opened the
refrigerator. Nolan wasn’t sure what that meant, but he nodded and moved to the
stairs. This house was really going to be strange getting used to.
Nolan thought when he was standing in the
stall with a very naked, wet Rylee in his arms that dressing her had been a
piece of cake compared to this. Even doing something as simple as washing her
hair had turned into a mess. He’d dropped the bottle on the floor, and before he
could figure out how to pick it up without dropping Rylee, he realized most of
it had already spilled down the drain. It wasn’t long before a mound of bubbles
grew large enough to reach his hips. Christ, this was a horrible idea, he
thought.
“I could really use some help.” The wall
shifted next to him, and he watched in fascinated horror as it moved to have
two large pieces of tile branch out like arms. Having no idea what he was
supposed to do now, the bubbles just disappeared and the bottle he had dropped
was filled again and just seemed to levitate to his hand. He sat it gently on
the wall shelf as he tried to think what he could do. Then it hit him.
Hanging her arms over the protrusions, he
wasn’t surprised this time when something came out of the tile again and
wrapped around her waist. She was secure now, and he could use both hands to
wash her. Thanking the house, he filled his sponge with soap and began
scrubbing the twigs and other things he’d not seen when he’d dressed her in the
woods. Nolan began talking to keep himself to keep from thinking about what the
house had done for him.
“I have to go into the office tomorrow.
Caroline James missed her appointment on Monday and I told her I’d help her out
by coming in on a Saturday for her. She’s going to have twins in a few months.
While she’s not a cat but a lioness, she’s having a hard time of it with her
husband gone a lot. He’s in the service right now and is expected to come home
in a few weeks. Hopefully before his sons are born.” He filled the sponge again
as he continued. “David is on the run. I’m not really sure what he thinks he’s
doing right now, but if he comes here, he’ll get what he deserves. Micah told
me yesterday that his wife left him, and her daddy is taking care of things.
I’m not sure I want to know.”
“He wants to use me and Shane to bargain for
his inheritance back.” Nolan was on his knees in front of Rylee when she spoke.
“You look very good there. Why don’t you…eat me?”
Looking up at her, all he could do was stare
at the picture, a very lovely and sexy picture she made standing there with her
body draped over the wall. Eat her. That thought, along with a great many
others, looped around in his head until he was dizzy with them. When she
prompted him again, he smiled.
Dropping the sponge to the tile floor, he
pulled her forward and buried his mouth over her nether lips. Christ, she
tasted so good, and when he slid his hand up her leg to her opening, she cried
out while riding his mouth and fingers as he fucked her this way. When the
water was turned off, he looked up at her with his tongue worrying her clit
that was peeking so sweetly from her pussy. He’d thought she was gorgeous
before, but right now, she was simply the most beautiful creature he’d ever
seen.
She rode his mouth as he drank from her. Every
time she came, her body would flood his mouth with her juices. Her scent, the
cat was there now and was making his wild to take her, but Nolan was going to
have his fill first, and to hell with the cats for now. When he stood up and pulled
her from the wall, it moved back the way it had been, a smooth surface that he pressed
her against as he took her mouth. Lifting his head from hers, just enough to
whisper to her, he could see the desire in her eyes was as high as his was.
“I’m going to fuck you here.” Her moan was
enough to have his balls tighten to him. Lifting her up by her ass, he filled
her quickly and fucked her in long hard strokes as he continued to watch her
face. “You’re so beautiful. The way your eyes widen when I touch that spot in
you that is all mine.”
“Make me come.” He told her she was too
greedy. “I am. Make me come please. I need to feel you come inside of me and
bite me when you do. I want to mark you. Sink my teeth into you. My cat, I can
feel her there too. She wants you, to taste you as you did me.”
He needed it. Needed to feel her bite him,
mark him as hers. As he fucked her harder, no longer needing to hold back, he
felt his teeth shift in his mouth and knew that this bite was going to be
different, the mark would be permanent. As she screamed out her release, her
body hard beneath his, he bit her, tore into her neck like he was taking her
life. And when she did the same to his shoulder, breaking not just flesh but
his bones as well, he too cried out as his mouth filled with her hot-spiked
blood. Nothing could have prepared him for the immediate and profound
connection that snapped into place.
Her nails dug into his back as his cock
filled and stretched again. Even as he continued to move in and out of her, she
held him to her, her body humming beneath his hands as he held her to him. When
she roared out, her cat running along her skin as she came again, his own moved
too, seemingly chasing hers as they moved over their bodies. This time when he
came, filling her almost violently, he threw back his head and cried out. He
wanted the world to know that Rylee was his now and forever.
Holding her up was tricky. He wanted to lie
down and take a nap, but she was limp in his arms again and he didn’t want to
drop her. Lifting his head from her shoulder, licking the last of her blood
from the now scarred mark, he smiled when she did.
“You’re supposed to be out for at least a
couple of days when you’re converted, did you know that? Not that it matters, I
guess, but I should know that you’re never going to conform to things like
rules and norms. But now we’ll have to get all dressed up and go to the charity
event at the shelter in a couple of days.” She told him she was sorry. “I don’t
think you are, actually. Like me converting you, I think you planned this all
along. I’m going to have to keep my eye on you a little better, I think.”
“I think your eyes are on me enough.” She
stretched, and his body reacted to having hers slide over his. “You’re so hard.
Not just that wonderfully talented cock of yours, but all of you.”
Her hands moved over his body and gave him
strength. Lifting her up, he moved them out of the stall to the sink, where he
sat her down. Handing her a thick, warm towel, he dried himself as he kept an
eye on her. She really had recovered very quickly, and he was sure there was
going to be a relapse or something. He wanted to be there to catch her should
she fall. But then nothing she would ever do, he thought, should surprise him.
“I don’t have anything to wear to this thing.
From what I’ve heard, it’s dressy.” He told her it was. “Shane either. I mean,
he can go, right? Do we have time to go shopping for something nice?”
“Yes. We’ll make the time. And I want him
there. My family is going too. And he’s my family, so yes, he can go.” He
wrapped the towel around his waist when someone knocked on the door. “That
would be my dinner. I had no idea at the time I asked for it you’d be up to
take part of it.”
“I’m starved too.” When she stood up, he
watched her carefully. “I really do feel pretty good. Fantastic, actually. Now
go and get our food, and maybe you should tell him to bring more while you’re
at it.”
Nolan was smiling when he opened the door. Beckman
was there, but he wasn’t alone. The woman behind him, with an equally large
tray, moved into the room and set up the table that Nolan had never noticed
before. As they began laying out what looked like a feast at Thanksgiving, he
thought that perhaps this was going to be too much, and smiled when Rylee came
out of the bathroom wrapped up in a snowy robe. Another thing he’d never seen
before.
“My lady and lord, I have taken the liberty
of bringing up a larger portion of food than you requested. There is also a
pitcher of juice here you both should drink down. As always, it will refill until
you are finished.” He wondered briefly if the food would as well when Beckman turned
to Rylee. “A seamstress has been called, my lady. She will arrive in the
morning to help you with your dress. Also, a stylist will be on hand to help
you with your hair and anything else you might need. Master Shane will be fitted
as well, but his tux will be brought here to do so while your dress will need
to be made first. I do hope you find this satisfactory?”
“I do.” Rylee picked up a slice of toast and
three pieces of bacon as she continued. “I don’t do heels. I have a bad knee,
and I’ll be in pain if I have to wear them for very long. Like four minutes
tops.”
“Not any longer, my lady.” With that, Beckman
and the woman left them, and Rylee sat on the chair nearest the table. Nolan
sat across from her. Then she asked him what Beckman had meant.
“You’re a panther now. Any injuries or scars
you had before are gone. Tats too, though I’ve never seen one on you. Not only
would you be able to wear heels, sexy ones I’m hoping, you’ll not hurt at the end
of the night either. You’ll heal a great deal faster as well.” He went to the
bathroom again and pulled the matching robe to hers from behind the door, just
knowing it was going to be there. As he sat down, he watched her fill her plate
like she’d not eaten in years. Laughing, he did the same. “You’ll need to eat
more meat now. Red, but not necessarily bloody. Also, we have to drink more
juice. In talking to my brother Joey, he said that magic drains us pretty quickly,
and juice, natural juice, helps to combat any kind of after affects we might
have.”
“All this is very strange; you know that,
right?” He nodded as he dug into the fluffiest eggs he’d ever eaten and moaned.
“Yeah, you should try this. All these things in this cheesy sauce are so good. I
don’t know what he calls it, but that man is a keeper. But if he cooks like
this all the time, I’m going to be as big as a house and then some.”
The breakfast casserole was indeed good. The
potatoes and cheese along with the eggs were done just right, as were the
onions and peppers that had been baked right into it. The ham was in thick yet
bite-sized chunks, and the bacon that had been sprinkled on the top was still
crisp as well. As he took a second helping of everything, Rylee handed him a
homemade biscuit with butter and honey on it as she ate the last two slices of
fried ham.
“You won’t, by the way.” She asked him what
he meant. “Get fat. You might put on a few pounds as you get older, like Grandma
and Grandda have, but you’ll never be fat. We have a higher metabolism, as well
as a higher overall body temp. Besides that, you’re too energetic, and cats
rarely get fat simply because we’re a great deal more active than humans are.”
“Good to know.” As she lay back on the chair,
he could see the lines of exhaustion around her eyes. “I wonder if I’ll ever
feel this good again. I feel like I could take on the world and win. I mean, I
will admit that I’m tired right now, but it’s not like a stressful tired. More
like…well, that I’m exhausted from working hard.”
He thought about telling her he thought David
might show up there, but she was happy and he didn’t want to spoil it. Besides,
he had a feeling that if the man showed up now to take her on, he was going to
be in for a very rude awakening. And Nolan was going to enjoy watching him go
down. When he noticed she’d fallen asleep, he picked her up and put her back in
the bed. When she rolled to her side, he noticed she was naked now and wondered
if the robe was back in the bath room. Taking his in there, he saw that not
only was the one she had on there, but it was dry as well. By the time he was
ready to crawl in the bed with her, the room was back to its pristine state and
all the dishes, as well as the table and chairs, were gone. Nolan thought
perhaps he could get used to this.
David sat on the hotel bed and thought about
his day so far. Four days ago he’d been summoned to his grandmother’s home to
have his life ruined. Why the hell, after all this time, someone had decided to
get a burr up their ass about him was beyond him. Motherfuckers.
The kid was first and foremost his biggest
issue. Fourteen some odd years, and that little bit of shit was coming back to
bite him in the ass big time. Had Shelby just shut up and signed off on the
papers he’d told her to, everything would have been rosy for him. He might not
have sold the house out from under her…but then on second thought, he would
still have done it. He wouldn’t have paid her as he’d promised—that much was a
given—but he might have been less pursuant in making her pay for every little
thing he could gouge her for. Then there was the fact that all this had come
around just when he was having himself a nice little thing with the woman that
lived across the street from his current home. Becky’s home, he supposed now. The
timing could not have been worse.
The money from selling the house when he had
was what he was living off right now. Had he not had the foresight to do that,
he’d be living in a cardboard box. He had put the money in a safety deposit box
and had kept adding to it whenever he was in the bank. Mostly it was Becky’s
money. He’d buy something and take it back later just to have the cash, since
Becky had started to question his every move and purchase. But as far as he was
concerned, her money was his anyway. David wished now that he’d left her when
he’d figured out that she was boring. He could have been getting some
settlement money right now, and that would have been handy in taking care of
this business with his first wife. Christ, now this.
He looked over at the paper that had been
left on his doorstep that morning. The hotel had asked him if he wanted it
delivered, and like a fool he’d said sure. Now there his picture was, blazing
across the front of it like a beacon on a lighthouse. And the headline under it
had made him slightly ill.
“Dead Beat Dad, David Cole Kicked Out of His Life.”
His life, as he’d read about it, was much better on paper than it had been in
real life. At least it was to him. He had even highlighted the things he found
to be untrue, and wanted to talk to his attorney about them. There was no
reason for them to print shit about him that wasn’t true. It was bad enough
that the stuff that was true was there. He glanced at the time on the
television and thought about his lawyer. Whenever the little bastard called him
back, David was going to get a retraction as well as a public apology from the
fucking papers. Picking up the paper, he looked at the items that had been
listed.
Limo driver and car. Wrong. He had them, he
supposed, but he rarely used them. For one thing, he was pretty sure that
Poser, his father-in-law and the meanest man in the world, had paid the guy to
keep tabs on his every move. It was easier for him and a good deal more private
to drive himself where he wanted to go. It was hard sometimes, finding the
right parking spot as opposed to just being dropped off, but he didn’t like the
constant questions about where he was and how long he was going to be gone. And
he could also stay out as late as he wanted under the guise of being at work. Smiling,
David thought of how easy that one was to use. But in reality, David hadn’t
worked in twenty years.
Credit cards with a seemingly endless supply
of money. Also not true. He couldn’t spend over five hundred dollars in one
place unless he called his wife. Becky had cramped his style a great many times
when he’d wanted to have some fun. Twice he’d been told yes on something, and
the rest? He’d been denied. Why the hell couldn’t he just buy what he wanted
when he wanted? It wasn’t as if she didn’t have the money. And when good old Dad
passed, she’d have his too. Why did she feel she had to have her hand in all
his goings on?
There was mention of the private jet, as well
as the yacht. He’d been on both and wasn’t impressed. The jet couldn’t be just
taken wherever he wanted to go without a formal written itinerary, and the boat
was only big enough for a smallish party of about two hundred people. Not to
mention when he’d taken it out alone, the staff wouldn’t let him have his fun.
No fucking of the guests, and when asked, the crew told him they were off
limits too. Why were they paying these people if they had all these things that
they wanted and not him?
Parties. Okay, there were endless parties,
but most, if not all of them, were without his family. He supposed if he’d been
there when his first daughter had been born, Becky might have let up on that a
little. But when he’d missed the second daughter coming into the world, she’d
threatened him with no more sex or children. Not really much of loss there as
far as he was concerned. He could and did get it as much as he wanted from
whoever he wanted. A week after the second brat had come into the world,
screaming and shitting everywhere, he’d gone in and had his own little
procedure, and taken care of that issue right away.
Kids were useless as far as he was concerned.
And they were messy and loud. When he was home, which lately hadn’t been often,
he had no desire to help with homework, see what they’d done for the day, and
he most certainly didn’t want to have anything to do with teacher’s
conferences. Teachers, as far as he was concerned, were only teachers because
they were too stupid to do anything productive.
David laid the paper in front of him to see
what else he’d marked. When he read down the list, he realized he’d missed
something. Vacations with his family and how he’d missed all of them. Big.
Fucking. Deal. He’d missed them simply because he didn’t want to be stuck in
some hotel on an island with nine thousand other people only to hear his family
bitch about how he wasn’t spending time with them. Nope, not going to happen.
The point of missing the vacations with his family was that he didn’t like his
family. They were a way to what he wanted and nothing more.
When the phone rang, he moved to pick it up,
holding the paper so he could go over things with his attorney now that he’d
gotten up off his ass and called him back. But before he could launch into his
list of bitches, the woman at the other end started talking. He had to ask her
twice to slow down and repeat herself before David sat on the bed to listen
carefully.
“As I have said, you are no longer being
represented by this firm. There would be a conflict of interest in another
matter, and going to court with you would not be welcome by all parties.” David
asked her what she was talking about. “Your grandmother, sir. She is suing you
as well. And representing you in the matter of the divorce of you and your wife
would not work, because we have a prior commitment to her and her family.”
“But I am her family. She’s my grandmother,
you moron.” The woman said nothing, and David started again. “Listen. This is
just stupid. Let me talk to Conrad Morgan. He’ll be able to tell you what’s
what. My family is the Cole’s, in the event you missed that bit of information
when you were no doubt fucking around. Get him on the line.”
“Hold please.” He could hear the tightness in
her voice but really didn’t care. When she came back and told him he was being
transferred, David felt empowered again, like things were finally looking up. But
the woman at the other end of the phone when it was picked up was not who he
wanted to talk to. Not now and not ever if he could manage it.
“David, I don’t have time for your bullshit. Leave
my attorneys alone and get up off your lazy ass and get your own. I hear there
are any number of free ones you might be able to afford.” He sat down on the
bed when his grandmother laughed. “Or do you expect me to get one for you? If you
do, I’m afraid you’re out of luck. I have neither the time nor the inclination
to help you anymore. Not after what I’ve found out about you and your treatment
of your children.”
“Why not? I never wanted them in the first
place, so why are you punishing me with them?” She laughed again, and he wanted
to go to her house and hit her. “You can’t do this to me, Grandmother. I’m your
only heir. That kid? He won’t know what to do with all your money. Besides, I
have plans for it. I want to use it the way you should have been doing all
these years.”
“Had I used the money the way you would have,
I’m afraid there wouldn’t be any for you in the first place. You would have had
me as broke as you are now if I had done just half of the crap you tried to
pull. Do you honestly think that everything needs to be handed to you on a
silver…no…make that a golden platter? David, you’re going to have to make do
with what you have now. Just think of this as a learning experience for you.
You might find that you like being poor.” He told her that he didn’t think so.
“Be that as it may, you are. And when Phil Poser gets finished with you, you’re
going to be more than broke. And what I have in store for you will just put you
over the edge, I’m afraid.”
He was more afraid of Poser than he was of
his grandmother if the truth were told. He knew that he’d had her wrapped
around his finger before and would so again soon, but Poser was a man that got
what he wanted at any cost. Murder was not something he would shy away from.
With his grandmother, he would just have to wait her out, or have her killed.
But Poser…well, he hated having him pissed off at him.
“You’re doing this because of that kid and
his mother, aren’t you? She didn’t mean anything to me. And him even less.
Christ, do you expect me to start acting like he’s my son now? After all this
time? I don’t even want the ones that call me ‘daddy,’ much less one I’ve only
seen once in his entire life.” She didn’t say anything. “Look, to make you
happy, I’ll try to work on being someone you want me to be when I’m around you.
He’ll be the best son in the world when we come to visit, but that’s it. I’m
not going to support him. I’m not going to take him to little league games. And
I will never have him come around for a daddy visit unless it’s to see you. Will
that make you stop this ridiculous campaign to make me out to be some horrible
person?”
“You are a horrible person, David. But until
this very moment, I never knew just how horrible you really are. My God, that
is your flesh and blood. Don’t you even care what happens to him?” He started
to answer, but she cut him off. “I’m finished with you. As of this very moment,
I’m done. Don’t call this house again or I’ll have you arrested for harassment.
And you are certainly not to bother me again, even if you see me out in public.
As of now, you are dead to me.”
The line went dead, and David sat there
listening to the tone for a full minute before it occurred to him when she
called him back to apologize she’d not be able to do that with the phone off
the cradle. After replacing the handset, he moved to sit at the little desk that
had come with the room to wait her out. Soon she’d realize her mistake and call
him back, telling him what a fool she’d been. Any time now. He shifted on the
uncomfortable chair and wanted to complain again about the accommodations.
No matter how hard he’d argued with the
manager, no one would go out and get him a better desk to use, along with a
state of the art computer. He had the money for it, but they only laughed at
him. Apparently they didn’t do that sort of thing for just guests. He supposed
if he owned the hotel, as he was pretty sure his grandmother did, he’d have a
gold plated everything, and even a hooker in his bed should he need one.
It was nearing midnight when he realized she
might not be calling him back. Then around one in the morning he’d realized
something else. He was alone in this world. No one loved him. It took him
nearly two hours to console himself enough to go to sleep, and that was fitful.
Why, he kept asking himself, why was he the bad guy?
Upon waking the next afternoon, he felt
better. Not as rested as he should have been given how much they were charging
him for this room, but after he finished up with the things he wanted to do
today, things would be back to normal. Well, as normal as he could make them
without having a wife and her money.
The first thing he was going to do was go and
make amends with his son. Or at least the appearance of making amends. And if
that didn’t pan out, he’d just make him obey. He was his father, after all. His
grandmother would take that as a good sign and not take him out of the will if
the kid would just meet him halfway. Then when that was set and his grandmother
was no longer a problem but worm food, he’d toss the kid away like the old rags
that he was, as far as David was concerned. Calling a limo service, he looked
up the address of Nolan Bentley and took a shower. Things were about to be in
his favor.
But as soon as he pulled into the long drive,
he knew he was at the wrong address. This place was a horse farm, not the home
of a doctor. When he was about to tell the driver what an idiot he’d been, the
boy walked out of the barn and stared at him. Maybe this man, this Nolan person,
was a vet and he’d gotten it wrong. Not that he cared. But David got out of the
car just as the kids leaned back against the fence.
~~~
Shane knew who it was. What he wasn’t sure of
was why he was there. His aunt had dropped him off here an hour ago and he was
learning the ropes. Walter had been showing him around until about ten minutes
ago when he just needed a break. Walter, as it turned out, was becoming a good
friend to him, and a sort of big brother too.