Staking Their Claim

by Rebecca Airies

  “All right, I’ll get you into that scan as soon as possible. First, a nurse will come take a blood sample. You’re telling the truth, but the hospital would give me hell for weeks if I didn’t test for levels of pain medication in your blood. They don’t like possible overdose.” Judge smiled and stepped back. “I’ll be back as soon as your scan is finished.”

  “All right, thank you.” Penny nodded and her smile trembled

  Pain etched her face. Dawson took a deep breath. She needed a distraction.

  “Tell me about how you met my sister.” Dawson strode to her side. “I know it was when you were both in college in California, but haven’t heard much more than that.”

  “It was at the start of I think our second year in school. We actually met briefly in the dorms, but it wasn’t until we met in class that we clicked.” Penny shifted against the back of the bed.

  “You two lived together when you were in college?” Dawson leaned forward. A few details had filtered to him, but not a lot. “How did that come about?”

  “We were both in need of a roommate the next semester and we decided to give it a try. I was a little afraid that it would ruin the friendship we’d built.” She twisted her hands together.

  “Why did you fear that?” He frowned.

  “I had a roommate before that seemed nice, but it turned into a horrible situation.” She looked toward the door.

  “Well, I’m glad that it did work with you two. Obviously, you found a way to live together comfortably since you shared a house with her up until recently. Was she still into playing jokes on everyone when she was in college?” Dawson raised a brow. “There was a period when she drove us nearly crazy with pranks.”

  “Oh, yeah, we got into a prank war one time.” Penny grinned and handed him his phone.

  Dawson tilted his head. Why the smile? And how long had that gone on? The door opened. Two nurses came in and transferred Penny to a wheelchair. They took her out. He checked his messages. What had Ethan and John found at her house? Had Griffin made it there yet? None of them had even texted.

  He sent off a quick text to them both. Waiting sucked. If only he could be with her, but that wasn’t possible. With the stalker she mentioned, every moment she was out of his sight grated on his nerves. Damn rules.

  They wheeled Penny back into the room, but his brothers still hadn’t replied. The nurses helped her onto the bed. Her cheeks had paled and her lips pinched into a straight line. He straightened. Did something happen while they x-rayed her?

  “Are you all right?” Dawson moved up next to her.

  “Yes, the moving to and from, as well as the positioning for the x-ray hurt a lot.” Penny relaxed back against the bed.

  “Do you want to finish telling me the story of the prank war between you and my sister?” Dawson rubbed her arm.

  She didn’t pull back or flinch. A good thing. It was as much comfort as he could offer now. She might get nervous if he did much more.

  “Um, there’s really not much to tell. It started with her putting peppermint in my coffee. So not nice. Then we traded off pranks for a while. I’d get her. She’d get me. We’d settle for a while and it would start up again a few weeks later.” Penny lifted a shoulder.

  “How long did that go on for?” Dawson lifted his eyebrows. The prank wars never lasted more than a few days at their house. Their mother broke it up as soon as she learned of it.

  “Most of that college year.” Penny put her hand over his.

  “How did the pranks end?” He leaned a little closer. Apparently, there hadn’t been anyone to stop it with them.

  “You’ll think I’m mean.” Penny lowered her head.

  “No, I won’t. I know how annoying my sister can be even though I love her very much.” Dawson grinned. Those two wouldn’t be such fast friends if what she’d done had been that mean.

  “We’d stopped for a while, mainly because we both had tests coming up, but she’d been doing little things that would annoy me. Moved my stuff, woke me up when I’d fallen asleep studying by screaming ‘tension break,’ and some other small stuff, like putting dry beans under my sheet. I’d been ignoring it. Mainly because I knew that was what it was to her. A way to get some tension out in a relatively harmless way.” Penny smiled.

  “I can understand that. Sometimes, we all need to release tension.” Dawson tightened his fingers a little. What had she done? It couldn’t be that bad.

  “She did something to my shampoo. I had pink hair for a few days. I’m still not sure what, because it wasn’t permanent dye. I didn’t respond to that. When she put the toilet paper on with the paper trailing against the wall, I decided that I needed to get her back a little. That was the perfect opportunity.” Penny smiled.

  “What did you do?” Dawson leaned forward. So beautiful. Her eyes sparkled and her cheeks pinkened.

  “I don’t know if you realize, but your sister has a teeny thing about spiders.” She raised her brows.

  “Yes, she’ll run away if a spider gets anywhere near her.” Dawson chuckled. When they were younger, he’d used that knowledge.

  “Well, I taped a small, fake spider to the toilet paper with some double-sided tape, arranged it so it was hidden under the roll and waited.” Penny looked up at him through her lashes. “I heard the door open and close. A few minutes later, I heard a scream and a series of thumps. She came into the room and flopped down beside me as I laughed. She told me that I was lucky she liked me because she’d almost fallen into the tub.”

  Dawson laughed. The door to the room opened and Judge came back in.

  “All right, I’ve examined your scans. The bone moved quite a bit. I have to remove your cast and reset it.” Judge exhaled. “Since you went through this earlier, you know the procedure. We’ll splint it, put on an air cast, and then a few days from now, you come to my office and I’ll put on a cast. Your leg is swelling and we have to get it out of confinement.”

  “Yeah, this feels a little tight. Let’s get this done.” She nodded.

  Dawson sat down in a chair next to the wall. He clenched his teeth. They cut the cast off. Not too bad, but those other males needed to stay away. They gripped her leg and pulled. She drew in a sharp breath. He tightened his hands on the arms of the chair. His muscles strained. Fuck. He couldn’t push them all away. They were helping her. He took deep breaths.

  They wrapped her leg and placed the splint on. Once it was secure and Penny looked more comfortable, his muscles loosened. In almost no time, they put an air cast on her.

  His phone buzzed. He swiped and read the text.

  Ethan: Bring Penny to her home. She’s in danger. Ask her to stay with us.

  “Penny, they want me to take you to your house. They believe you’re in danger. Ethan didn’t put more description than that. He would like you to stay at our home so that you’ll be safe and Maggie won’t have to worry about you. He’ll talk to you, but I didn’t want that to hit you out of the blue.” Dawson walked over and put his hand on her arm.

  “I wasn’t imagining it?” She frowned.

  “No, apparently not. They’ll wait for us there. Just relax. You’ll know everything soon enough.” Dawson patted her arm gently. Hopefully, he didn’t cause more pain.

  “All right, once they release me, we can go see what they discovered.” She nodded. “Damn, this has been a long day.”

  “And it’s not over yet.” Dawson put his hand on her shoulder. “But don’t worry. You’re not alone.”

  “My cat Minnie Mags, is she all right?” She glanced over at him.

  “I’m sure she is. They said they’d get her. We’ll discover what the problem is soon.” Dawson grabbed her crutches as the nurses came in with a wheelchair.

  Penny transferred into the chair, her movements slow and cautious. The nurse wheeled her out of the room and down the hall. Dawson followed. How would she react to whatever they found? They’d wouldn’t have texted a warning for something minor.

  Dawson left Penny
sitting in the wheelchair while he went for the car. He pulled up as close as he could and hurried around to open the door for her. He stood nearby, ready to catch her, but she slipped in without help.

  Judge had given her some pain medicine, but he’d kept it light so she could discover what had happened. He slipped the crutches in the back and closed the door. He hurried back to the driver’s side and slipped in.

  “All right, we’re on our way. Why don’t you recline the seat and rest? It won’t take long to get there, but I’m sure that you could use it.” Dawson glanced over before he pulled away.

  “Don’t you need me to tell you where to go?” Penny frowned.

  “No, Ethan sent me the address and I know the area. If I make a wrong turn, you can tell me. Hell, if you want, you can even be a little condescending about it.” Dawson grinned. He might have been gone, but one of his friends from high school had lived on that street.

  She laughed. “I don’t think condescension would be necessary.”

  She relaxed back in the seat. He drove to her home. Nice neighborhood. Neatly cut lawns, well-kept houses with no sign of neglect. Not as upscale as the one she’d shared with Maggie, but it still looked relatively safe. He exhaled. Danger stalked her, but she wouldn’t be alone anymore.

  He pulled up at the curb in front of the little yellow house. No room in the driveway for another car. He hurried around to get the crutches and stand nearby, just in case. She eased from the car and took the crutches.

  He stayed beside her as they made their way up to the sidewalk. The front door opened and Ethan stood in the doorway. Dawson shortened his stride to stay beside her.

  She stopped at the steps. Dawson stopped at her side. She took a deep breath and maneuvered her way to the first and then the second.

  “Are you all right?” Dawson touched her hand.

  “Yeah, steps are always a bitch.” She grimaced.

  Ethan’s fist clenched. Nice to know someone else was fighting the urge to sweep her up and carry her. Dawson shook his head. They couldn’t stop her from moving, even if they wanted to protect her. She maneuvered onto the top step and then through the door. He exhaled. Good, she was inside and safe.

  “Why don’t you head into your living room? We can talk there. John called Leslie and she’s coming over to help you pack,” Ethan urged.

  “Pack? Why would I leave my house?” Penny stopped and glanced back before continuing.

  “When you’re comfortable and seated, we’ll talk.” Ethan led Dawson into the living room.

  Griffin lounged on a large, plush, blue couch with a cat tree beside it. A sleek gray cat perched on the top level.

  Penny swung over to a large chair with an ottoman in front of it. She settled into the plush cushions and lifted her leg up onto the footrest. When she finally relaxed back in the chair, Dawson sat on the couch. John strode into the room. He stopped beside Penny’s chair.

  “You were right to be worried, Penny. There was something strange going on.” John rolled his shoulders.

  “What is it?” Penny tensed and sat straighter.

  The cat jumped down and sauntered across the room. She jumped up in Penny’s lap. Penny stroked her hand down the feline’s back.

  “Someone’s been coming into your house while you’re gone.” John kneeled down. “He’s been all over this place.”

  “What? How? I lock the doors. I fixed the windows.” Her mouth gaped and she looked from left to right.

  Dawson inhaled. Fear filled the air. Fuck. He ran a hand through his hair. Damn it, she shouldn’t have faced this on her own. He couldn’t sit and let her be afraid. He walked over and put his hand on her shoulder.

  She didn’t tense or try to shove his hand away. Warmth curled through him. Maybe she felt a little of the attraction already. She turned her head and smiled before facing John.

  “He didn’t use either of those. There’s a crawlspace access to your house in the backyard. It has a lock on it, but he’s pried the clasp away. He’s coming in through the crawlspace and an access point in a closet off your utility room.” John glanced toward the back of the house.

  “What’s he doing here?” She shifted in her seat.

  “I can’t tell. He’s been all over your house. You’re not safe here. Leslie should be here soon. She’ll help you pack some of your clothes.” John rose. “I’ll hang around until you and the others leave. With the activity today, I think setting a trap for him will fail, but I’ll have someone watch the house.”

  “What the fuck does he want?” She ran her fingers through her hair.

  “I don’t know, but until we find out, you have to stay somewhere else. We will find out who’s doing this.” John stepped over and patted her arm.

  Dawson snarled. He didn’t need to touch her. Two knocks rapped on wood. John turned and headed for the door. He came back shortly with Leslie and Archer. Leslie rushed over and hugged Penny.

  “Girl, you look tired. If John hadn’t told me about the broken leg and the phone disaster, I’d be pissed. Maybe even enough to set Dixie and her bowling happy self on you. Are you ready to get some clothes together? There’s nothing worse than being stuck at a place without clothes and the other things you need. While we’re at it, maybe the men can get some of the other important things together.” Leslie straightened.

  “There were definitely times when I wouldn’t have minded having either Dixie or Chloe nearby to practice their new sport.” She grimaced and eased Minnie to the side.

  “Is something wrong, Penny?” Ethan eased forward.

  “I don’t like the fact that you’re being forced to house me because of this.” She rose and grabbed her crutches.

  “We’re not being forced into this. Penny, you’re my sister’s best friend. I’ve seen how much you two support each other. She’d be here for you if she could. Let us be here for you.” Ethan put a hand on her arm.

  She bit her lip, but nodded. “I’d better get moving before I fall asleep without packing anything. Thanks for helping, Les. You and your mates are awesome. Judge set my leg. John’s trying to catch this bastard, and you and Archer are here to help out.”

  Dawson watched her walk out and looked around. What would she need from here? They could come back for the furniture, but she probably would feel more comfortable if she had a few things.

  They’d make it as normal as they could for her. She’d be safe with them. The only problem was her work. The stalker could easily come after her there. Somehow, they had to protect her.

  Chapter Four

  The rubber tips of Penny’s crutches hit the floor with a slight squeak. She thumped into her office. Such a long day at work. She sank into the chair just inside her office and sighed. Only a little longer.

  Dawson scooted his chair closer. “Are you all right?”

  “A little tired.” She leaned her head against the wall. Exhausted, but she’d rest when she got home.

  “When will the tech arrive for the overnight watch? How’s your leg?” He reached down for her cast.

  He helped her put her leg on his jean-clad thigh. Warmth rushed through her and if she could physically do it in this position, she would have hugged him. That was so sweet. For a couple weeks now, one of them had been coming to work with her.

  “About thirty minutes. Until then, we wait. I’ve locked up the clinic and have clicked off the open sign. Have you heard from Ethan and Griffin?” She closed her eyes.

  “You never said how your leg was. Griffin just called to tell me that he was home and he planned to grill some chicken tonight.” Dawson stroked his palm over her plaster encased leg.

  “It’s not throbbing or searing pain, anymore. There is a dull ache, but it’s much better than it was a couple weeks ago.” She smiled at him. The cast was the problem, along with the itch crawling up her leg and the weight.

  “I’m glad you’re feeling better.” Dawson shifted. His white shirt stretched across his wide chest.

  Metal rattled agai
nst metal. She groaned and heaved a breath. Maybe that was the tech. Dawson lowered her foot back to the floor. She rose, grabbed the crutches, and swung toward the front of the office. A shoe squeaked on the floor. He hadn’t stayed in the office. No one was at the door.

  “Stay here.” Dawson put his hand on her arm. “I’ll look through the windows.”

  She stopped at the end of the counter. He moved forward slowly. He eased to the side of a dog food display and peered out the window. He frowned as he straightened.

  “No one’s there. There’s not a car and no wind to rattle the door. Come on. Let’s go back to your office.” Dawson strode back to the desk and cupped her shoulder.

  “But what made the noise?” She scraped her teeth over her lower lip.

  “I don’t know and searching is out. I won’t leave you alone.” Dawson glanced back at the window. “It could have been a bird glancing off of the glass, but I doubt it.”

  “You’re right.” She swung back to her little office. The rubber end of the crutch skidded sideways as it hit a slick patch and she tilted. Her breath caught and her stomach tightened. Strong arms wrapped around her, hauling her back against a muscled body. Fuck, that had been close.

  She drew in a shaky breath. Her fingers tightened on the soft grips and shivers rippled down her back. The last thing she needed was to hit the ground again.

  “Whoa, can’t have you falling.” Dawson eased her into a straight position and held her.

  She maneuvered the crutch until it was straight and not on that damn spot. Once stable, she turned to face him.

  Deep brown eyes stared down at her with burning intensity. Words locked in her throat. Damn, what would it be like to have that focus on her for something other than protection?

  “You scared me there for a moment. I don’t want you hurt again.” His fingers brushed over her cheek.

  A sizzling current zipped from that light touch. She breathed in and leaned toward him. What would it be like if he did more? His fingers threaded through her hair and cupped the back of her head.

  His lips brushed against hers, a soft questing contact. Warmth spread through her. She opened her mouth. His tongue swept inside. Something rich tantalized her, drawing her deeper. She hummed and relaxed against him. His arm swept around her, pulling her close. Her breasts pressed against his chest. Tingles fluttered from her hardened nipples down to the ball tightening in her stomach.