RaleighPointRescueSue (9 page)

She struggled half-heartedly. “I’m too heavy.” She wasn’t
ready to forgive him yet.

Mac carried her into the bedroom and sat in the chair with
her on his lap.

* * * *

“You’re right. You came here because there was nowhere else
for you to go.”

Lisa gasped, struggled. Mac just tightened his arms until
she relaxed.

“Listen to me.” Blue eyes pinned her. “It started like that.
But that isn’t what it is now. I’m not perfect, Lisa. I have a past. I wasn’t
ready to mate. I’ve never been one for too much responsibility. Hell, I don’t
even do the F.B.I. thing one hundred per cent. I play at that like I play at
most things.”

He ran a frustrated hand through his hair and eased her
closer to him. “It’s like I just take bits of life that I like.
Riley, Zack, hell, they run their own business.
Cassie’s
doing her nurse training. Even my baby brothers are at college.”

He struggled inside. He’d done college, but more because it
was easy, and it put off any more life decisions for another three years. He
didn’t know how to say the responsibility was scaring the
shit
out of him, without making Lisa feel
he didn’t want her. Now all of a
sudden he was twenty-six, and he still didn’t know what the hell he was doing.
Why do things have to be so damn
complicated?

“I want to try.” He gazed at Lisa willing her to understand,
willing her to meet him halfway. Mac smiled. He brushed a stray brown lock
carefully off yellowing bruises. He stood and gently lowered a sleeping Lisa
onto the bed.
Tight closed eyes.
Soft
breath.
Mate
.

Yeah, she needed him, but he had a feeling he needed her
even more.

Chapter Nine

Sometime later, Lisa rolled over to a large space where she
could still smell Mac. Startled at the empty space, she put her hand on the
bed. Still warm, so he had been there.

Was she still angry?
No.
She’d been in a bad place for most of her life, but that wasn’t his fault.
She had to grow up.

Time
to pull up your big panties, girl.

Her stomach rumbled, and she remembered the lasagna. Heading
to the bathroom, she quickly changed her creased tank top and jeans. Some
makeup had appeared in the bathroom,
probably
Cassie
. She experimented with a little bit of mascara. She looked at
herself in the mirror and wryly thought she’d either better start getting used
to a bra or wear more clothes. Quickly, she changed into a sweatshirt.

Nearly skipping eagerly to the kitchen, Lisa passed a closed
door and froze
at the sound of her name
and an angry sounding Mac. Without pausing, she pushed open the door. Mac,
Brett, and Riley were obviously in the middle of a full scale row, and it had
something to do with her.

Brett fumed. “Well, I think you should ask her first.”

“Ask me what?”

Mac turned, pulled her forcibly into him, and lowered his
head to inhale as if he wanted to reassure himself of something.

“Guys?
What is it?”

Brett answered. “Lisa we’ve got an emergency referral.”

Lisa nodded. “Do you need me to help with something?”
Please.

“No.”

Mac and Brett both spoke at once. “Yes.”

Lisa swiveled to look at Mac. “You don’t want me to help?”
Familiar pain stabbed at her insides, but Zack had trusted her with Codie.

Riley smiled. “It’s not that, Lisa. Mac is just worried,
understandably, that it’s asking a bit much of you at the moment.”

“So explain then.” Lisa calmly leaned back into Mac, keeping
his arms around her where she knew he would be happy. She could feel the
rumbling noises rolling off him as he tightened his hold.

Brett sat. “We’ve just got a call from a shifter over in
Atlanta. Apparently, there are a couple of girls, sisters who have been in a
regular group home for about two years, following a huge house fire. The home
doesn’t want to split them up, but they’ve been with prospective adoptive
parents twice so far, and it’s not working out. The younger one, she’s about
seven, totally sweet but won’t talk at all. Older one, eleven years old is
completely different. She’s very protective and talks for the younger one. She
can be very difficult, usually makes life hell for whoever dares take them on.
The younger one is a bear shifter, but the older one is human.”

“Is that possible?”
Wow.

“Yeah, definitely.”
Riley answered.
“One of the parents must have been human. With human/shifter relationships the
chances are about 70/30 human.”

“Thing is, the powers that be are getting a bit fed up of
the older sister. Not only is she screwing up the chances of the younger one
finding a family, but they don’t think the little one will start talking while
the older one is around doing it for her. They’ll split them up if we can’t
help.”

Lisa gasped, “But that’s awful.”

“Yeah,” agreed Brett, nodding.

“So where do I come in?”

Mac growled.

Riley looked at her. “We are really stuck for females.
Cassie’s got her end of year nursing exam tomorrow and—”

“That’s important.” Lisa nodded eagerly.

“I left Angie visiting with her pack. I know you’ve only
just got here…”

Mac growled again. “Brett she’s been through shit for the
past eight years. She probably hasn’t got all that crap they gave her out of
her system yet, she’s malnourished, and she needs rest. She can’t go charging
around all over the country.”

“Hardly that.”
Brett interrupted,
but subsided at the look on Mac’s face.

“Hey.” Lisa swiveled and put her hand to the side of Mac’s
worried face. “I want to help. Surely, you understand that.”

“I know, but—”

“Can’t you come with us?”

Mac opened his mouth again to protest, but nothing came out.
Lisa reached up and snagged his lips before he thought of any words, and the
big guy went soft all over.

Well, nearly.

His arms tightened.
“Alpha-
Mom
.”

Lisa grinned. Riley laughed.

Looping an arm around her big guy, Lisa led them all to the
kitchen. Alex, Zack, and the younger boy all piled in as well from the mud
room. Suddenly, there were a lot of bodies and a lot of noise. Small threads of
anxiety wove themselves into her stomach, and she automatically leaned back
into the huge soft wall behind her. Lisa smiled and relaxed.

The huge soft wall clearly had
her
back, and she grinned at the baby noises Alex was
unsuccessfully trying to do to a rather startled Codie.

Eating hungrily, Lisa let the raucous noise wash over her. This
was what she had wanted for so long, and she fiercely dropped a grateful kiss
on Mac’s cheek as he was just extolling some hitter’s talents to an arguing
Zack. Lisa fixed him a dazzling smile as he turned. He looked back at Zack and
opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

Zack let out a huge guffaw. “Way to go, Lisa. Mac lost for
words.” Zack waved his fork. “Many people will be eternally grateful for that
small service to mankind.”

Brett snorted. “There’s a few
animal
kind that won’t mind, either.”

Everybody laughed. The small, happy place grew larger.

Brett cleared his throat. “Actually, everyone, I have some
news.” The room quieted. “You know Angie has been missing her old pack? Well,
they’ve got a new alpha, very modern. Thing is, we think they might let us live
there.”

Riley and Zack grinned and pumped hands with Brett, who was
laughing. Cassie squealed and hugged Brett. “I’m so happy for you.”

Mac cleared his throat after clapping Brett on the back.
“Not to put a dampener on anything, but with Mom and Dad wanting to retire,
what are we going to do around here?”

Brett, Riley, and Zack nearly bust a gut laughing.

“What?” Mac looked bewildered.

Riley grinned. “Mac, haven’t you noticed how Mom and Dad
have involved you in every child placement recently?”

Lisa sat quietly, fascinated by the emotions rushing over
Mac’s face.
Determination?
Pride?

“Mac, you have been taking up the slack here for years.”
Brett smiled. “I know you take occasional tracking jobs on for the F.B.I…”

Lisa’s mouth hung open a little at that.

“…but haven’t you noticed, it’s usually child runaways? You
have a gift, Mac. Everyone knows it except you.”

Lisa watched Mac duck his head in embarrassment. There. That
was it, that moment. The moment when she knew he was so important to her. His
happiness was important, like chocolate or
oxygen
.
She wanted to hug herself and then she wanted to hug Mac. She must have made a
sound because he zeroed in on her.

“What do you think Lisa?”

“Me?” she squeaked. Everyone stared at her, and the kids’
voices seemed a long way away.

“Well.” Lisa searched for the right words. He glanced
hesitantly at her.
He was nervous. Wow.
She
warmed again inside. She couldn’t remember anyone ever wanting her opinion as
if something she said mattered.

“I just know how you made me feel.” Lisa struggled for the
right words. “I knew I could trust you, and that hasn’t happened for a very
long time to me. If you can give kids even a small amount of that feeling, then
you will be perfect.”
You are perfect.

Lazy blue eyes rolled over her, and the room didn’t seem
noisy anymore.

“You
wanna
go upstairs? You still
need to rest.”

Was that a blush? “Okay.” Lisa drew a tongue over dry lips.

Brett cleared his throat. “You’ll be ready after breakfast
tomorrow, yeah?”

“Sure, Brett.”
Mac wasn’t even
looking at him.

Brett grinned. “Oh and I forgot.” He dropped his voice,
glancing at the kids, but they were wrapped up in games. “I got a call from
Sheriff Judson over in Raleigh. Our problem with err… those dogs?
Taken care of.
Apparently a pack fight didn’t turn out
well.”

Zack grunted and looked pleased, and the guys shot each
other a satisfied look.

Lisa shyly let Mac lead her from the room. She could feel
his gaze on her. Her insides warmed.
Such focus, such
attention.

“Honey, are you tired?”

Lisa let out a long breath.
Maybe.
Not so much.
“Not really.”

He squeezed her hand in answer. Mac opened the door and
pulled her through gently.

“Let me…” Lisa disappeared into the bathroom. Quickly
washing her hands, butterflies took residence in her stomach. Was she supposed
to get undressed? Nervously, Lisa cleaned her teeth.
Oh God.
It had seemed easier the other time.

The door opened, and Lisa’s hands shook. Mac was naked.
Gloriously, comfortably, lazily naked.
Hot.
Hot and
hers.

“Did you forget where the bed was, honey?”

Lisa desperately wanted to taste the dimple that flashed.

“In fact…” Mac turned to the shower and started it, altering
the temperature. “
Mmm
… let’s see.” Mac pulled her
sweatshirt over her head. Embarrassment had her raising her hands, but the
immediate flash of desire in Mac’s eyes cautiously lowered them.

“God, I love it when you don’t wear a bra.” Barely finishing
the last word, Mac’s lips latched over her right nipple, his hands tugging the
rest of her clothes off in seconds.

Immediate heat, desire, and warmth spread straight from her
breast to her knees. Growling, but not hesitating in his onslaught, his strong
arms swung her up, and he stalked under the shower spray. Gasping, Lisa only
had time to put two arms around his neck as he bent to her breast before most
thought and corresponding muscle obedience left her.

Mac came up for air, and she balanced her toes on the shower
floor. “Wash me.”

Lisa shivered at the low demand and carefully squeezed some
foam onto her hands. Her teeth pulled at her bottom lip in concentration as her
hands smoothed body-wash over Mac’s shoulders. Confidence trickled through her
at the immediate groan, and Mac tilted his head back against the tiles and
closed his eyes.

Lisa licked her lips. Both hands traced huge muscles covered
in dark hair and small veins. Smoothing her fingers over his arms, she turned
her attention to the rise of his chest and flat of his stomach. Muscles
quivered and jumped as her fingers fell lower. Steam rose, and the noise of the
water fell away to just their harsh breathing. Lisa’s fingers hovered over his
abdomen. They moved lower of their own accord. As if they belonged to someone
else. Cautiously pulling herself out of Mac’s grasp, she lowered herself to kneel
on the mat. Mac’s gaze flew down to her face.

“Honey?”
His voice sounded raw.

Lisa smiled and lowered her head. She reveled in his
stiffening body and guttural needy cry. He hissed as she licked the velvet skin
around his rock hard shaft. Gentle hands cupped her face.

“I don’t have much stamina with you.” He whispered, “I want
you in bed.” Strong arms eased Lisa off the floor and pulled her up snug to his
body. Hot lips claimed her face and pulled at her lips. Warm hands lifted her
from the shower and wrapped her in huge fluffy towels. Mac deposited her
carefully on the bath stool and made short work of getting glistening water off
his powerful muscles.

Lisa swallowed.

In no time, he had her snug again in his arms and carried
her to the bed. Safe, like she was precious, like he’d never let her go
—ever.

Warm lips pressed hers, insistent, and she immediately surrendered.
A teasing tongue swiped at hers, and a soft moan left her mouth. Mac lifted his
lips from her mouth and continued down her throat. Lisa arched into him, to
smooth fingers grazing her nipple and a soft chuckle at her response turned his
fingers back to the same spot. Lisa’s mouth opened on a gasp as he ran a nail
on the underside of her breast and drew her nipple hard between his finger and thumb.
Sharp zings of pain shot from her breast and landed in her pussy.

Urgently, like she’d never wanted anything, ever, ever
before in her whole life, Lisa drew his face down and rocked her hips. Dimly,
she heard him murmuring, hot stupid words that made no sense, and she keened
softly into him, needing more. Hands flew over her body, making it his. She
didn’t need grounding. She wanted to fly and eased her legs wider as his hand
made one pass over her clit.

“Oh, please.” Lisa squirmed, her body feverish, needing.

Strong, insistent fingers had her climbing with him. He
rocked and teased, passing her little nub until it throbbed. Her whole body
throbbed. One cautious finger slipped in, and Lisa nearly lifted off the bed.
Another finger curled into her, and lust slammed into her so hard it seemed
like she fell into his hand. Pressure hardened her jaw and clenched her toes.
Desperate need snaked around her bottom and dived in her core. She let go and
soared. Pure pleasure shot out of her and returned, centering her and easing
her down. On and on, strings of heat swirled around and tugged, falling back
into Mac’s hands to hold and keep safe.

Someone was panting hard, making little mewling noises.
She was.

Blue eyes were still fixed on her, holding her, waiting and
she smiled.

“More.” She moved and her hand caught him, desperately to
have him inside of her.