Tyler

by Kathi S. Barton

  It was nearing nine in the evening when the bidding for the car was about to start. He knew that he was going to buy it. Not for himself, but to have it bid on again. And the only two people that knew what he was up to was himself and the auctioneer. He wanted this to be a bang-up day for everyone.

  When the bidding got up to where people were dropping off, he watched the people that hadn’t gotten it. They were disappointed, but it was the ones that looked like they didn’t just want the car but needed it that pulled on his heart. Now that family would have a car by this time tomorrow. He and his lovely bride had figured on that happening. Having a bit of money to play with sure did make it nicer to give people a helping hand. Yes, sir, he thought, he had a great deal of fun with it too.

  Just as the bidding was finishing up, the auctioneer looked in his direction and he doubled the bid. People turned to look at him and he kept his eyes on Davy. The kid loved this, he could tell, and when no one outbid him, Davy nodded and sold him the car.

  “Now, you go on ahead and you sell it off again.” Davy nodded, and the room went up in cheers. “It ain’t nothing. You go on now. This is for a good cause, and you all know it.”

  The car sold again for about the same price it had been up to when he’d bought it. Kelley was right proud of the town, and when the keys were handed to someone who didn’t buy it, he nearly bust a gut. Yes sir, he was proud to be living in his little town.

  At the end of the day, nearly midnight, all the money was put into one pot and then taken to the safe that had been, up until recently, unused in his house. They’d done so much better than anyone could have hoped for. Not only were they going to be able to do all the things that they’d earmarked the money for, but also have some money left over for emergencies should they come up. All except for the money that the ladies made at the food counter. All that, he’d been told, was going for a new playground at the church and new robes for the choir.

  He and Sara made arrangements with the people that were picking up some of the larger items to come in tomorrow to get them. Kelley and his boys were going to be there to help with the loading up and were even bringing their trucks to help deliver some of the items that had been purchased. Looking around the building that had served a double purpose tonight, he thought about fixing it up so that it could be used for events like this in the future. When Sara came to ask him if he was ready to go, he asked her what she thought.

  “It would need a bit of paint and some things to make it prettier. I could see them using this open space for proms and the such. And with food, the kids would be able to eat here and not have to travel too far. I like that idea. Oh, and weddings. This would make a great venue for weddings, Kelley. My, but what a wonderful idea.” He didn’t point out that he was just thinking for meetings and the such. Not when she was so pleased with him coming up with the ideas. “You’ve done a good job here tonight with the car. Why, when you doubled that bid, I thought you’d lost your mind. Then to donate it again? Well, that was very sweet of you.”

  “Mr. Powers stole our thunder though. I really wanted that new couple to have that car.” She kissed him on the cheek and he felt better for it. “He sure did make them happy, didn’t he? And I was talking to Tyler about him. Mr. Powers is thinking of bringing some of his work here to the town. Said we was growing up.”

  “I heard. And Jazzie is getting with him and a couple of others right after the new year to have a bunch of employers to come here and have a look around. I’m telling you right now, having that airport so close and for us to have a good way to the highway, that’s going to put us on the map.” They watched Dom, the last of their sons to find himself a mate. “He’s been talking to O’Reilly. Do you suppose that he’ll find a mate with working with him?”

  “Don’t know. O’Reilly, he’s a good man.” She said that he was. “And his sister, she’s happy? You don’t hear anything untoward going on with him and her, do you?”

  “Do you think she’d put up with him if he did?” No, she’d knock him in the head a good one with a cast iron pot, she would. “They’re coming to visit soon. I’m a little nervous about that, to tell you the truth. O’Reilly is the king of his kind now, and we might have money, but we’re still just a little above being poor in the eyes of most people. I mean, we don’t put on airs or anything like that.”

  “Yes, that’s true. But we broke us some fine bread with a man that made us feel good about ourselves while he was having himself a good deal of money.” She nodded. “I’d not worry about that, Sara love. He might be king of his people, but we’re the king and queen of our own growing family too.”

  “Sometimes, Kelley, you can say the most romantic things.” Kelley didn’t have the first clue what he’d said, but he’d remember it. Nothing like making your wife feel good about you for just a few words put together in an honest way. “I’m ready for bed. I’m glad that you made arrangements with those people coming by to come later in the day. I might sleep until noon.”

  She’d not do that. He knew that as surely as his love for her. She’d be up before the chickens and have him a nice pot of tea made when he came in from milking old Bessy. They didn’t need the fresh milk, but it sure did taste good when she cooked something with it. And a dollop of it in his tea was about the best thing he’d ever tasted.

  As soon as they were home, he felt the last few days settle into his bones. It had been well worth it, but he wasn’t a young man anymore, and it surely did take its toll on him. Going up to bed, he looked around the house and at the new improvements that had been put in and was proud again of his boys. They sure did know how to treat a parent, and he had to think of something that he could do for them soon.

  Kelley wasn’t a very learned man. He was smart, he knew, at a great many things, but he was limited on what his knowledge was about. Sara, she was the smart one, and kept him from making too much of a fool of himself most of the time. Well, all the time, really. And when he got into their room, he went to his little side table and pulled out the little box that he’d meant to give her for Christmas.

  “A man should be able to give his wife a gift year-round, don’t you think?” She asked him what he was talking about. “For a great many years, Sara love, I could only dream about making you happy with a little bobble now and again. So, with all my love, I want you to have this from me.”

  She took the box. Kelley thought for sure that she’d give him a hard time about it. Like tell him to wait or to take it back. But she did neither of those things and tore off the pretty paper around it and then opened the box.

  “Oh Kelley, it’s beautiful.” He had her lean forward so that he could put it around her neck. “I’ve always wanted a family necklace. And I love the fact that you’ve added the girls. And look, room for Dominic’s mate too. Oh, you old poop, I love you so much.”

  “The chain is nice, but the clasp in the back is a breakaway. I didn’t want you hurt if you have to shift.” She looked at each of the stones that were there, each of them a birthstone for the kids. “And you’re right about the one for the last holdout. I’m telling you, Sara, I’ve never been so happy in my life than I am right here, watching all this come about with you right there with me. And you make me feel like a special man every time you look at me with those pretty brown eyes.”

  He held her all night. Kelley couldn’t have been more in love with his wife if he had two hearts for her to fill up. And when she fell asleep, her hand holding her necklace over her heart, he knew right then and there that he was going to buy her more things like that. Have them stashed around the house so that he could pop one on her when she needed it. Kelley enjoyed having the money more too, just for his Sara.

  Chapter 12

  Tyler wanted to go and find her now, but he wanted her to also have some fun. Having to shift the way she had the first time, then kill someone, it had been hard for her to want to shift again. So, he watched her play in the woods, keeping an eye out for anyone that might come upon her.r />
  I just heard from Brian. He said that she did what she was supposed to do and reported to him. I had no idea that Jazzie was a cat, did you? He told Caleb that he hadn’t. Also, Dad has it in his head that the building that we used tonight can be used for all sorts of things. Venues, he said. Mom mentioned weddings to him, and then the prom. I think that’s a wonderful idea, but for the fact that we have enough on our plates right now that we have to get finished up.

  Now that we have a personal tie to the cougar leap, why don’t we find out if any of the kids there need some extra money for things? I’m sure with a little help they could get it painted and ready for about anything. Caleb said he loved that idea. By the way—and this is just a thought—I think that if there was a wedding or a prom there, they’d decorate it on their own. I mean, we’d still need to clean it up and give it a couple of coats of paint, but the decorating part would be up to the person using it.

  I never thought of that. Yes, all right. But we should make things available for them. Like what, I don’t know, but we could put out some tables and chairs for them to use, and perhaps a removeable bandstand. Do they do that still? Tyler told him that he thought so. I like that too. And when the weather gets better, we can get rid of those buildings on either side of it. They both have been marked as being torn down. We could have some kind of garden put in for the wedding part of it, as well as the prom.

  My goodness, that’s wonderful. What about prices? I mean, it’s not as if we need the money. I think we should make it so that the person who needs it has to do either some community service sort of thing or perhaps donate some time or money to the charities we have going now. Caleb said that he thought that would work. We’ll need to hire someone to work with Jazzie soon too. I heard someone asking her to help with a project they have going on. And if we open her an office with a few people working for her, the venue building can use her to keep track of who needs it and when.

  All right. Good deal. I’ll talk to you in the morning. No, never mind. You’re going to convert her tonight, aren’t you? Tyler told him that was the plan. All right then, I’ll talk to you in a few days. And remember, we have that meeting with the council on the seventeenth that we cannot miss.

  After assuring his brother that he would be there, provided that everything went well tonight, he walked into the snow-covered yard as Jazzie made her way to him as her cougar. She was a beautiful cat, and he could not wait to see her as a wolf too.

  I’m ready. He nodded and waited for her to say something more. Tyler could tell that she was nervous, so he paused. I could smell everything out there. I would never have thought that snow had a smell. It’s fresh. And the sound of my feet, paws crunching on it, was a really nice sound, don’t you think?

  “Yes. Sometimes in the summer, I get lost with all the smells. Like the flowers in bloom. You’ll be able to tell when some of the other animals have been in heat and that they’ve mated too.” She nodded and laid down in front of him. “I’m hoping that when I change you, I’ll be able to tell when you’re in heat. I so want another child with you.”

  I’m afraid. He told her that was understandable. I know that—it’s silly. You’d never let me be hurt, and I’m an immortal, but all I can think about it how much blood there was around Glenda when I murdered her.

  “I’m not going to tear into you at your throat, love. That’s the reason that there was so much blood with her. And you didn’t murder her, Jazzie—you saved the family and yourself from being hurt.” She nodded. “Before we do this, I’d like for you to be a human long enough for me to chase you through the woods and have some fun with you before you’re down for a while.”

  I’d love that. The shift from cat to human was beautiful. She was gorgeous, and he told her so. “I love you, Tyler. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me.”

  “Run.” She laughed, the sound of it bouncing off the snow and making it echo around the air. When she hit the tree line, he shifted as well and took off after her. He paused for just a moment when he saw her paw prints and footprints alongside of one another. Tyler thought he’d love to have this in a picture. He’d frame it and put it in his office. Then he smiled to himself.

  Shifting back, he was dressed. Pulling out his cell phone, he snapped several pictures of the prints, and even took a couple of them in black and white. The effect was just as he wanted it to be. And tomorrow he’d have either Caleb or Clare make it into a nice sized picture for him. But now he had to change his wife. Bringing his wolf again, he followed the paw prints into the woods.

  Catching her twice had been easy for him. First of all, he was much more experienced at tracking than she was right now, and he didn’t think she was hiding all that much. The next time he caught her, he knocked her to the ground and licked her belly. She was laughing so hard that when she got up to run again, she fell twice.

  When he caught up with her again, he did the same thing, but shifted to himself and held her to the ground. As a cat, like him, she’d be hotter and the cold wouldn’t bother her so much. But Tyler wanted her hotter still, and touched her everywhere he could reach and still hold her hands above her head.

  “I can’t touch you.” Tyler kissed her and told her to behave. “I am, because you won’t let me touch you. I need to feel your skin under my fingers.”

  “You’re too greedy. Let me have my fun. Then when you change me, you can have as much fun as you wish.” She laughed with him, his body warmed by the sound of it. “You’re aware of what is going to happen to you, right?”

  “Yes. But right now, I don’t care. Take me, Tyler.”

  He slid into her heat. It was the coming together that he’d never felt with anyone else. And when she screamed out his name, coming that quickly, he filled her over and over with his cock as he watched her face with each emotion that she had.

  When she screamed out his name the second time, he let his body fill hers. Nothing could have prepared him for the way he felt as his body emptied into her. The connection was profound; the feeling of love, want, and need washed over him with each hard stroke that he used to mark her with his seed. And when his wolf took him, moving off Jazzie’s body, he bit down into her even as she was still coming.

  She didn’t scream in pain as he’d thought she would. The bite to her soft belly was the most painful, he’d been told. And when she put her hand into his fur, telling him that she loved him, his wolf seemed to purr under her hand.

  The second bite to her shoulder had her crying out. Not in a loud way. The deer that were coming out to see what the noise was all about didn’t run in fear. Instead, the deer watched them as they ate the last blades of grass coming up above the snow.

  When he bit into her thigh, bones broke, and blood filled his mouth again. She was unconscious by now, but her fingers were still tightly woven into his fur. Jerking his teeth just a little more, Tyler could feel the changing begin in her body.

  Waiting a bit more, he licked the wounds closed then laid down next to her to keep her warm. The deer that had been watching them came closer until they were standing just close enough for him to touch. And when they laid down next to them, covering most of Jazzie’s chilling body, Tyler was as shocked as he’d ever been.

  They laid near them, changing out the ones closest to them over and over for the next hour or so. The warmer body would lay down, and when it got too cold for them, they’d stand and another one would lay down. It was the strangest and most wonderful thing he’d ever seen.

  Tyler let his wolf go and watched as the deer that had been most helpful move away, never running but just moving deeper into the woods. He stood up and decided that he needed to put out more things for them to eat. And he’d protect them too, making sure that no one bothered this area. Lifting Jazzie up, he took her to the house, telling her along the way what had happened.

  “It seems that we have friends in very high places, my love.” Jazzie opened one eye and looked at him. Tyler stopped moving to watch her. “Ar
e you awake?”

  “Yes. Why are you talking to me when I should be resting?” He laughed and told her that he thought she was out. “Not now, gabber mouth.”

  He stood her on her feet and held her. When she dressed herself in boots and a warm coat, she looked up at him. Tyler could see the difference in her eyes immediately. They were no longer blue, but now a lovely shade of light brown.

  “I could change you now.” He felt his heartrate pick up. “Unless you’re afraid. I guess we can just skip it then.”

  Laughing, Tyler pulled her back into his arms just as she started to walk away. “We have to talk to Brian about it, and then you have to know how to do it.”

  “I spoke to Brian when I went to tell him that I was a cougar. And his wife, a very lovely person by the way, told me how to make sure that you didn’t hurt too badly. I only have to bite you once, if I do it right.” He asked her how it was different. “Well, first of all, I have to dig my nails into your groin, then when you’re suitably in pain, the bite to your body won’t hurt you at all.”

  She was still laughing when she took off to the woods. He wanted this, more than anything, and having her do it now would be perfect. Chasing after her, he found her waiting for him in the deepest part of the woods. As soon as he was naked, she pounced on his chest and bit him in the belly.

  It wasn’t nearly as painful as he thought it would have been. But when she tore at his flesh, making the bite deeper, he moaned. It hurt, and he could feel his warm blood staining the snow, but he wasn’t in so much pain that he couldn’t tell Jazzie how much he loved her.

  You ready for the next one? And it really isn’t any different than when you changed me. But I do have to dig my claws into your chest, right where your heart is. I didn’t think to ask her why, but she said that it was important to do it while looking you in the eye. He said that he was ready. All right. I love you.