Wild (47 page)

“Your mother's corn bread looks scrumptious,” Kira told her as Caroline took the pan of golden-brown corn bread from the oven.

“She was a great cook, when she had the time,” Caroline replied. “And I paid a lot of attention. Because of her work hours I often had to feed myself.”

“Oh really? My mom was a stay-at-home mother. I always wondered why she didn't go out and get a job, if only to get away from the people in our house for a while,” Kira said in a wistful way. “What did your mom do for a living?”

Caroline hesitated, then resumed rubbing the stick of butter over the hot surface of the corn bread. My mother was a prostitute, she thought about saying. Short and sweet. And very true. Caroline knew all too well how that admission would have been taken by other people. But Kira had just explained how “sexually liberated” they were here. Would she have had the same response—a shocked look or a quick change of subject while she began to pre-judge Maxine Douglas without ever having met the woman? Caroline wasn't sure, so she kept the admission to herself. Her reply instead was, “She was in customer service.”

Not totally a lie. According to the repeat business Caroline witnessed, Max was excellent at providing good customer service.

“Do you want me to take this out to the table?” Caroline asked as a way of moving on from a subject she had no intention of discussing.

“Sure. The chili's ready. I'll bring it out in a second, and then we can get the salad and other fixings,” Kira replied.

About fifteen minutes later they were all seated at the large dining room table, Caroline sitting—not surprisingly—between Malec and Channing. For the first few moments after she'd showered and changed earlier in the day she'd felt a little strange that Kira knew about Malec and Channing sharing their lovers and that Caroline might be next on their radar. The fact that Kira had continued, throughout the day, to mention how common it would be and how it might just be what Caroline needed in her life at this moment had been more disconcerting. Yet she'd still managed to feel extremely comfortable with all of them.

That was something Caroline had realized while she'd walked with Channing and Kira. For maybe the first time in her life she didn't feel like the outsider. Even knowing that her upbringing was most likely different from everyone else's in this house she still hadn't felt as if they were judging her in any way. She hoped to keep it that way.

So what she was currently thinking, how she was feeling sitting between Malec and Channing, wasn't going to work. Sure, Kira said it was okay, that this particular group … or tribe … or family was open about their sexuality. Supposedly, if she were to take both of these men as her lovers, no one at this table would blink twice at that reality. But that wasn't something Caroline could do. She couldn't give herself to two men at one time. How could she allow them both to have her body, to touch her, and to “pleasure her” as Malec had said so many times? Even Channing was certain that she would enjoy them together. As for Caroline, while the thought aroused her tremendously, the aftermath still scared the hell out of her. That, regardless of what the only other woman at this table had said, was what mattered most to Caroline. It was what had to matter most.

The “normal” part of her mind continued to rule over the physical, a fact she was proud of at the moment. But what if the people at this table weren't what she would call “normal”? What if they were that other species that had been occupying the news as of late? Would that explain why she was even considering a threesome in the first place? From the first moment she'd watched the men falling to their feet and turning into sleek and powerful cats on the local news Caroline had been intrigued by the entire Shadow Shifter species. Was her lifelong obsession with animals and their care a part of the reason she'd felt immediately drawn to these two men? She wasn't certain, and she hadn't decided if this was the ideal time to consider all these issues. Then Blaez spoke, and Caroline had to quickly decide if it were too soon for other things where this bunch was concerned.

“It might be a good idea if you stay here, at least for tonight, Caroline,” Blaez stated a few minutes after he'd complimented his wife's chili and Caroline's addition to the meal as well.

Caroline didn't get a moment to respond before Channing chimed in, “It's a good idea if she stays here
and
gives me the recipe for this corn bread.” Channing looked to her with that charming-as-hell smile.

There was something about this guy, she thought as she looked over to him with his soft blue eyes. A peacefulness that Caroline had always sought. He was at home in his skin, she thought, watching him smile and joke with the others in the house earlier. Even now, while Phelan and Blaez had intense looks on their faces and Kira had one of slight concern, Channing smiled. The act lighting his eyes and coercing her to join in. He made her think of happiness and lovemaking, picnics beneath a huge oak tree, and long, sensual nights.

He did not, in any way, remind her of a big, ferocious cat.

“You can have the recipe,” she replied to him. “And about staying here—” she began, only to be cut off by Malec's quick statement.

“She can stay in my room.”

Everyone at the table continued on with their meal, almost as if they'd expected him to say just that. Caroline, on the other hand, thought it was strange that the first time he'd actually acknowledged her presence since she'd first arrived was to tell her where she would stay for the night.

Again, the “normal” Caroline thought Malec's remark was rude and presumptuous. She should stand up, drop her napkin onto the table—well, that might be a bit too dramatic—and declare that she was leaving right at this moment.

But then Malec looked at her, and the first thing Caroline realized was how different from Channing this guy really was. There was no softness to Malec Zenta, not in his dark eyes or the thick arch of his brows. Not the strong jaw of his chin, covered by a light and tapered goatee. He wore gym shorts and a fitted top, muscles boldly on display.

She didn't feel all warm and fuzzy when he spoke to her or when he smiled—because he never smiled. What she felt instead was just a pinch of sadness draped with a huge helping of lust. There was no doubt she wanted him, wanted to be in his bed for every second that he would have her there. But there was something else where Malec was concerned, and that something else bothered Caroline.

Although it was not enough to change her impulsive response. “If staying will get me the answers I need, then I'll stay.”

“What answers do you need?” Malec asked, sitting back in his chair to stare closely at her.

“Why am I not safe now? Just who do you think is hurting these animals and why?” she asked without preamble.

She'd asked earlier when she'd first arrived and had allowed herself to be sidetracked by Kira and Channing and their tour. That was to appease the interest Olivia and the town's gossipers had planted about the people who lived in the house. The theory of them being cat shifters had been put aside in deference to what Caroline thought was the priority—the dead animals and whether or not there would be more to come in that respect. She was not about to let them sweep that under the rug or keep a secret from her.

“You might as well tell me,” she continued when no one rushed to speak up. “If this person … or … whatever is leaving me notes now, sending me out here to you, then we're all connected somehow. I'd like to know why and what can be done to put a stop to the killings.”

“We're going to put a stop to the killings,” Malec said, his tone brooking no argument from anyone at the table. “And he won't be coming after you again. Not if I have anything to say about it.”

His tone was lethal, the look on his face cosigning said tone and sending a slight chill down Caroline's spine. But she, Caroline Marydell Douglas, was no weakling. She'd seen and done things in her lifetime that she knew had made her who and what she was at that moment. Sure, she could cut her losses when circumstances dictated she do so, and she didn't have to be told twice when it was time for a change in her life, but one thing Caroline definitely was not was a quitter. With that said, she gave Malec a nod of acceptance, because she had understood every word he'd said. But then she'd cleared her throat and looked directly at Blaez. “If you know who this person is, I want to know also. I'll agree to stay here for the night if you can tell me it will save another animal's life. But I won't stay under any false pretenses or while you all sit here and lie to my face.”

If she thought they'd been silent after Malec's declarations, the sound of the proverbial pin dropping was surely about to ring true at that moment.

Kira was the first one to speak up after using a napkin to wipe her mouth and her hands. Caroline watched as the top and only female of this household sat up straight, squaring her shoulders, and captured Caroline's gaze.

“You're absolutely right, Caroline. There should be no pretenses regarding the matter at hand,” she began.

When Malec moved closer to her, Caroline figured he was about to say something to stop Kira from telling Caroline the truth. But one glance from Kira to him kept him silent, even if Caroline could still feel the agitation all but radiating from his body.

“We think this person is trying to send us a message. No, we do not have a name or an exact location of him or her, for that matter. But we're fairly certain these animal attacks are geared toward us. You, unfortunately, have been looped in for reasons we're not quite sure of at this moment,” Kira told her.

Blaez nodded at his wife's words before continuing, “And that is why we wish to keep you safe. If you're here with us, we can do that. Going back into town tonight, alone, would be a mistake.”

“Because you think he or she will come to the clinic again. That this person will think you didn't get the first message and kill another animal to continue trying to get your attention,” Caroline said, trying to make sure she understood exactly what was going on.

“He or she probably won't stop until they know for a fact that they have our attention,” Channing offered. “You'll be safer here, Caroline. Trust us.”

He'd reached the short distance to rest his hand on hers, and Caroline looked at him immediately with a start. It was there, the instant soothing and calming effect of his touch. But this time it was accompanied by something else—a simmering of desire. Like anticipation brimming just beneath her skin. And when she looked at Channing, his soft blue eyes had darkened slightly, his desire for her evident.

“What does he want you to do? And why is killing the only way he can achieve it?” she asked after clearing her throat.

Malec stood from the table then, his abrupt movement causing his glass to shake and his silverware to clink against the now-empty plate. “He wants to draw us out, so that we'll come for him and kick his ass for daring to threaten us in any way. You're safer here. Now, I'll show you to my room.”

Channing started with, “What he means is—”

Caroline raised a hand to stop him, shaking her head as she removed her napkin from her lap and dropped it onto the table. “I know what he means. I also know that he's rude and domineering, but those are probably traits he was born with.”

There was a muffled chuckle from the other end of the table, and she figured it was Kira.

Caroline ignored it and stood, facing Malec, even if they weren't eye to eye. He was much taller than she was, as she only stood five feet six and a half inches tall. And his muscled body could be perceived as intimidating. But Caroline wasn't afraid, not at all. In fact, there was a small part of her, that part that had already been awakened by his tense looks and heated touches, that was reacting to Malec's every word and action.

“You should know that I'd already made up my mind to stay. And,” she continued, taking another step closer to him, “before you even think about going out to tackle whoever this person is, you should probably get rid of that tension that has you wound so tight you're threatening to explode.”

This Caroline had said while lifting a hand to casually run her fingers down the bare skin of his arm. It was a light touch, but even she had to admit it was full of electricity, desire piercing through her with razor sharpness.

Malec looked as if he wanted to say something, as if the words were right there on the tip of his tongue, but he held them in, his lips going into a thin line before he spoke.

“Let's go,” was all he said before he reached down to take her hand and, to her surprise, gently lacing his fingers with hers.

Caroline didn't look back. She didn't wonder about how the others were reacting to what seemed like a strange exchange. No, she simply followed Malec back to his room, to where she hoped and prayed he was going to take her up on her offer of releasing his tension. She had a certain amount of sexual tension of her own going on, and despite all her reservations and proclamations she knew there was no way she would be able to resist this man all night long. Especially not sleeping in his bed beside him. That would be sheer torture.

No, Caroline thought with another punch of lust settling between her legs, she and Malec Zenta were going to have sex. Tonight.

And there was nothing anyone could do or say to prevent it. She was absolutely certain of that fact, or so she thought, but as she continued into Malec's room she knew that Channing's gaze followed her. It was intense and blatantly sexual, adding another strange layer to the arousal she wasn't so certain she could handle at that point.

*   *   *

Malec frowned as he walked. She couldn't see him, he thought. Couldn't see the conflict that was playing a grand game of volleyball inside his mind.