by Shannon West
The sheriff smiled. “I’m only teasing, Jace. Most of the people here in town are my relatives, actually, in one way or another.”
“Oh, well, that’s…a little odd. Nice, though, I guess.” Jace smiled. “Well, at least the food at the diner is good.”
“Not that you’re eating much.”
Jace looked up in surprise. “I-I’m kind of a vegetarian.”
The sheriff looked stunned. “Vegetarian?” He said it as if Jace had just confessed to being an extraterrestrial.
“Yes, but not vegan. I mean, I eat cheese and dairy products. This mac and cheese looks good.” He took a big bite and tried a conciliatory look. “And I love green beans.”
“They were probably cooked with fatback. That’s not like against your religion or something, is it?”
Jace shook his head and laughed. “No, that’s okay. I mean, I’d prefer it if they weren’t, but I’m not that strict, and it’s not a religion or anything. I’m just trying to be healthy.”
The sheriff looked down at his own plate, the meatloaf glistening with grease. “Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.”
“Don’t let me stop you from enjoying your food. Really, I’m happy with the mac and cheese and the beans.”
He still didn’t look sure, but the sheriff picked up his fork and they ate in silence for a few minutes.
“I’m a lot better,” Jace said. “I’ll get out of your hair soon, though it was really kind of you to help me. Do you know yet what attacked me?”
The sheriff looked steadily back at him, an unreadable expression on his face. “There’s no hurry in leaving,” he said, ignoring Jace’s question. “The doctor told you to rest in bed until tomorrow.”
“Yeah, but that’s not really necessary. I never heard of a sheriff letting someone recover from an accident in his house. That’s just above and beyond.” He leveled another look at Sheriff Sutherland. “About my question as to what attacked me…?
The sheriff shrugged, but didn’t meet his gaze. “We’re still investigating.”
“Yes, but...”
“We didn’t find any tracks. So look, there’s plenty of time to talk about all this later. The doctor said you need to rest today. So as soon as you eat, you’re going back to bed.”
Jace glanced up at him, surprised and a little resentful. No one had told him what to do in a long time, and he saw no reason to let some stranger do it now, even this handsome sheriff. They ate in silence for a few minutes, with Jace not asking any more questions, since it seemed to not go over so well. Jace felt a little uneasy. The man had been kind enough to open his home to him, but what was with the attitude?
Hawke pushed back from the counter and stood up. “I’m going out soon, and I’ll probably be out all night.”
“Oh, okay.” A sensation that felt like jealousy shot through Jace. He hardly knew the man. Why the fuck would he feel jealous? But what did the man have to do that he already knew would keep him out all night? Did he have a date? Or was this about him? Maybe he was going after the thing that attacked him and didn’t want to tell him for some reason.
“Is-is this anything to do with the thing that attacked me?”
“No.” The answer was said abruptly and so firmly Jace was a little surprised. “I mean, not exactly, but I have to work. I have some patrolling to do.” Hawke looked at Jace distractedly, as if he had something on his mind and was trying to decide how to say it. “Look, when I leave tonight, I’m going to make sure all the doors are locked and I want you to stay inside the house. Don’t open the doors or go outside, no matter what. Understand?”
“Yeah, I understand, but what’s going on? You make it sound like it’s dangerous or something out there. Is it?”
Hawke hesitated before answering. “It could be. Whoever attacked you could still be out there.”
Jace looked the sheriff straight in the eye. “Don’t you mean what and not who? That thing wasn’t human.”
Hawke looked rattled and wouldn’t meet his gaze. “What do you mean?”
“I think it was a big cat, like a mountain lion or something.”
“There haven’t been any mountain lions in this area in a lot of years. I know that’s what you think you saw, but remember that you got a hard knock on the head, and your memory might not be all that accurate. Besides, there’s an old hermit that lives up in the hills, and he’s hairy and dirty and bat-shit crazy. I’m thinking it might have been him.”
“So, you’re thinking that I saw some old hairy man and thought that he was a mountain lion? Oh yeah, because they would look so much alike.” Jace pushed the Styrofoam plate away and folded his arms over his chest, glaring at him.
“I’m just saying it’s a possibility. No need to get all pissed off. Besides, I’ll be patrolling tonight to check it out. Maybe I’ll have the answer by tomorrow morning. Just remember to stay inside and keep the doors locked.”
Jace stared at him for another few seconds, but his vision was getting blurry again, and he wondered briefly if the sheriff had put something in his food. No, that was crazy. He was getting paranoid, and the sheriff had actually been quite nice to him.
“Okay,” he finally said, a sullen tone still creeping into his voice.
Walking toward his bedroom, Hawke said over his shoulder, “I mean it. You’re safe here, so stay inside. Don’t go out for any reason and stay away from the windows. If you hear something, it’ll probably be me. I’ll be checking on the place all night long, and you’re safe here.”
Once he was sure the sheriff was in the other room, Jace muttered, “Okay, I got it, damn it. Stay inside. Fuck, I’m not deaf.”
The sheriff had already disappeared into his bedroom, and Jace had spoken this last in a very soft voice. Even though there was no way the sheriff could have heard him, he suddenly appeared back in the doorway with a frown on his handsome face.
“You know, Jace, there might be some people who would say that you’re a smartass.”
Jace looked up in surprise. He felt himself blushing, but he raised his chin defiantly. “Really? And would you be one of them?”
Hawke Sutherland stared at him, his eyes flashing. Jace tried to stare back at him, but couldn’t quite hold his gaze. He dropped his head, and the sheriff strolled over to the counter and picked up his keys.
“Remember what I said. It’s for your own good until I can check this out.” Hawke looked toward the window. Jace followed his gaze and saw that it was getting dark outside. “I’ve got to go. See you in the morning. Get some rest.”
“Okay,” Jace said before he turned to watch Hawke walk out the door. It was a nice view. One thing was for sure, the man had a spectacular ass. Defiantly—or at least he felt defiant now that the sheriff had gone—he decided to stay up a while. After all, he’d slept most of the day.
He strolled over to the brown leather sofa and sat down, turning on the TV. Maybe he’d see if he could find a movie to watch. His eyelids felt like they weighed ten pounds each, so he decided to close them for just a few minutes. His last thought as he drifted off was maybe the man really did must have put something in his food. He’d never been so sleepy before in his life.
Chapter Five
Early the next morning, Hawke arrived at the edge of the woods near his cabin at the spot he usually left his clothes when he shifted. He’d had an exhilarating run once he’d made sure Jace was safely locked in for the night.
During the night, he’d tried hard to focus and assure himself that all the potential troublemakers were being monitored well. He’d find out later if anything had gone wrong, but he didn’t think it had. One more night and they would be done with this shit for another month. Then, he could concentrate on other issues, like Jace.
The one thing he didn’t like about him was hat smart mouth. Maybe he needed to do a little fine-tuning on that. There were a lot of far better things Jace could learn to do with that mouth. That thought made Hawke shift in his seat as his cock began to take an intere
st.
He had shifted out of his cat and had been sitting on a tree stump at the edge of the woods waiting for some of the pain to subside before getting dressed. Every bone in his body had been broken and reformed, and the pain that lingered was pretty bad. He reached in his pocket for a couple of Vicodins and dry-swallowed them both. He sighed and waited for them to take effect before putting his clothes back on just as the sun was coming up.
Hawke limped across the yard and went into the cabin through the front door. He heard the television, sounding like some infomercial, and looked over to see Jace curled up on the couch, sound asleep. He had evidently fallen asleep watching TV. His mouth was open, and he smelled warm and sweet. Hawke wanted to jump him right there. Instead, he went to the hall closet and took out a quilt that his grandmother had made. It wasn’t one of the fancy ones, just an old, soft, comfortable one.
Walking back to the living room, he placed it over Jace, who snuggled down into it and sighed in his sleep. Hawke almost scooped him up then and there to take him to his room, but forced himself to turn and go into the kitchen to make some coffee. He needed to make some breakfast, too, because he was starving.
Hawke had the bacon frying and coffee on and was beating eggs in a bowl for scrambled eggs when he caught a movement out of the corner of his eye. He looked toward the sofa and saw Jace sitting up, watching him. His hair was tousled from sleep and his eyes looked as if they weren’t open all the way yet. In other words, he looked adorable and sexy as hell. Hawke smiled and said, “Good morning. Are you hungry?”
Jace yawned and smiled and said, “Yeah. I’m one of those people who wakes up starving every day.”
Hawke laughed. “Well, it’ll be ready in a few minutes. Do you think you can hold out that long without passing out from hunger?”
“I’ll try, but hurry as much as you can.”
“Well, we could always go into town and have breakfast at the diner. I’m sure that Marie would be happy to see us.”
Jace shuddered. “No, that’s okay. On second thought, take your time. I’ll be fine till it’s ready.”
Hawke laughed again. It wasn’t just the companionship—it was having Jace here. He’d never felt that way before when he’d had a visitor, and usually couldn’t wait to get them out of there, as a matter of fact. Of course, the fact that Jace was his mate must be the difference. As soon as they got through tonight, he was going to have to figure a way to break the news to him that he was going to have to stay here in Blackwater Falls.
Jace walked toward the bathroom but came back into the kitchen to the coffee pot just as Hawke was putting the eggs and bacon on a platter to take to the table. As Jace walked by Hawke, he reached over and snatched a piece of toast off the plate, dancing away and smiling up at Hawke.
Hawke slapped playfully at his hand, pretending to frown at him. “You can sit at the table to eat, you know.”
Picking up his coffee cup and moving toward the dining area, Jace said, “Yeah, I just needed a little sustenance to be able to make it to the table.”
Taking his seat, Jace began filling his plate with food. Looking over at Hawke as he placed three pieces of toast on his plate, along with some eggs, he asked sweetly, “Aren’t you eating anything?”
Hawke quirked up one eyebrow. “I actually thought some of that might be for me.” Hawke narrowed his eyes at him. “Oh, I get it--a joke. Don’t tell me you’re one of those damn morning people?”
Jace laughed, his eyes sparkling and licked his fingers. Hawke took a bite of his bacon and used every bit of control he had to keep himself from taking Jace’s fingers in his own mouth and sucking on them. God, he wanted to throw Jace down on the floor and have his way with him right there.
Somehow, he managed to get through breakfast, but Hawke didn’t know how. Neither of them had much to say, but Hawke watched every morsel of food that Jace put in his mouth. Every time Jace wrapped his lips around a piece of toast and bit into it with his teeth, he looked over at Hawke, giving him a look from under long, thick eyelashes. He was gorgeous. Or at least, Hawke’s cock thought so, swelling with each bite Jace took.
Was Jace flirting with him? He was about to get more than he bargained for—both Hawke and his cat wanted him badly. Forcing the cat back down, he cleared his throat and took another sip of the hot coffee.
“Think I’ll take a nap. I was up all night.”
“Okay, you go ahead and get some rest and I’ll clean up the kitchen. It’s the least I can do since you’ve cooked breakfast two days in a row. Then I really need to get on my way. If my truck’s not ready, maybe I can get someone from my office to pick me up. I need to call them anyway. By the way, did you find any evidence of what attacked me?”
“Nothing, but I’ll be patrolling again tonight. Oh, and about your phone…it got damaged in the fall you took. I can call for you when I get to the office. Not much service here at the house.”
He could feel Jace’s gaze on him, but he avoided eye contact. Finally, feeling as if he could stand up without drawing attention to his bulging crotch, Hawke got up, taking his plate to the sink.
“Yes, but…if you’re not going into the office until later, then…I really need to contact somebody and get a ride.”
“Sorry, it’ll just have to wait.” Looking out the back window, he could practically feel Jace’s gaze burning a hole in his back, but he ignored it. He was bone-tired and still aching all over so he reached up into the cabinet next to the sink and took out a medicine bottle. Opening it, he shook out a capsule and swallowed it with a little tap water.
“What’s that for?” Jace asked from close behind him.
“Just something for back pain from an old injury,” Hawke lied. His body’s metabolism was already burning through the Vicodins he’d taken earlier, so he’d taken another one to help him get to sleep. “Look, I’ll see you in a couple of hours. If you don’t feel like fooling with the dishes, don’t bother with them. When I wake up, we’ll check on your truck, okay? Is your head still hurting?”
“I’m fine. I think that I can manage cleaning a few dishes.”
“Okay, then, whatever. I’ll see you in a while.” As Hawke walked into his bedroom, he already had his shirt off and was shedding his pants. He wanted to take a shower, but didn’t think he could manage it right now. He’d just have to wait until he had rested a while. He hated to leave Jace on his own, but he had to get some sleep sooner rather than later. He hoped Jace would stay put and give him a couple of hours anyway.
****
Jace kept himself busy for a while cleaning the kitchen. He needed to do something to keep his mind off Hawke who was in bed, maybe naked, and just down the hall. He didn’t understand this attraction he had for the man—he’d never felt that strongly about anyone before, had never allowed himself to, but he was completely drawn to him. It was as if Hawke had cast some sort of strange spell on him.
He really needed to get out of here somehow. Obviously he’d lost his mind, thinking about spells and shit. He had a job, after all, and his boss would be wanting him to get this assignment done and get back to work.
To tell the truth, he really didn’t want to leave, but he knew he had to. The sheriff had been kind to him, and was almost certainly gay or bi, considering the fact that he’d gotten into bed with him, something no straight guy would ever do. But even if by some miracle, he was interested in Jace, an idea Jace found unlikely considering how fucking gorgeous the sheriff was, Jace could never let himself get involved in relationships. Getting involved meant getting hurt, and he’d had enough of that for a lifetime.
Jace had finished the kitchen but even that small activity had tired him out, so he went over to lie down on the sofa and watch some television until Hawke got up. He must have drifted off because the next thing he heard was Hawke coming into the room calling his name.
Jace sat up and looked over the back of the sofa at Hawke, who was already dressed for work.
“Hi. I must have gone back
to sleep for a while.”
“Yeah,” he grinned. “Like four hours’ worth, but that’s good for you. Doc said for you to sleep and take it easy for a few days.”
“Four hours?” Jace sat up and rubbed his face. He felt a little dizzy and disoriented. “Oh my God, I need to get up and get out of here.”
“You just need to rest.”
“Well, I have been resting, and I appreciate your hospitality and all, but I think that I should be going back down the mountain. What’s the story on my truck? Is it fixed yet?”
Hawke looked down at him and shrugged. “No, the mechanic said it might take a couple more days, and I already told you, I have no problem with you staying here. I’ll be gone the rest of the day and again tonight anyway, so you’ll have the house to yourself.”
“Okay, I appreciate that, but I really need to get this job done here and get back to work.”
“I’ll talk to the mechanic and see if I can get him to put a rush on your truck, but just stay here until tomorrow, at least. I’ve already talked to your boss and explained to him that you had an accident and would be recuperating for a few days.”
“You did? But how did you get his number?”
“It was on the card you gave me.”
“I thought you said there wasn’t a good signal here.”
Hawke looked startled for a moment, and then blushed. “There’s a spot in my bedroom where I can sometimes get a signal. I called from there.”
“Oh…” Jace shook his head. “And he was okay with it?”
“Yes, he was fine. He said to tell you to take all the time you needed.”
“Oh, man, are you sure you called the right number? That doesn’t sound like my boss.” Jace smiled. “Okay, I’ll stay till tomorrow, but then, I’ve really got to get out of here.”
Hawke nodded. “I understand. We’ll talk some more later. Just rest for a while. I’ll be back in a couple of hours, and I’ll bring supper home from the diner again.”