Desert Bound

by Elizabeth Hunter

  “You still moving back?” Alex asked.

  “She’s ten now. How much longer do I have?”

  “Depends. I’d say anywhere from a year and a half to three years. That’s about average for girls.”

  Josie nodded and swiped at the tear that ran down her cheek, marring the thick black liner.

  She pursed her bright red lips and said, “Then we’ll be back. Marcus said this was the best place for the kids once they changed.”

  “It will be. I promise. They won’t have to hide who they are from their friends. They’ll have people who know what they’re feeling. And not everyone is like Marcus’s family.”

  “I know. And he had some good friends here.” She glanced toward the kitchen and the dramatic, sobbing women. “Normal ones.”

  “You let me know what you need. Anything. You know that. We’ll figure out a place for you to live. Get you set up. Help moving. Whatever you need. When you’re ready. How’s the business? Is that going to be enough for you guys?”

  “My brother and Marcus were half and half once they expanded. Chris will have to hire someone, but I’m sure they’ll be fine. They still have the contract for the resort, right?”

  “Of course. The plans were all done. So if your brother—”

  “Chris.”

  “If Chris can come down or send someone else that can do the on site supervision, I don’t see how there could be a problem.”

  “Chris…” She looked worried. “He doesn’t know. About you guys. About the kids.”

  Alex nodded, hoping to sooth the fear in her eyes. “I’ll let everyone know to be careful. If he doesn’t need to know, he won’t. It’s for the best.”

  “He can be… well, he’s kind of judgmental. I don’t know—I mean, he’s a good guy—but I’m not sure how he’d react to…” She glanced at the kids. “Scales.”

  He felt the corner of his mouth tick up. “You know, tortoises are a possibility, too.”

  “Shit, Alex.” Josie snorted through tears and slapped his shoulder. “Don’t joke about stuff like that. Snakes were bad enough. I don’t want my babies carting shells around.”

  “It’s not that bad. Very tough shifters, desert tortoises.”

  “I hate you a little right now.”

  But she was smiling and looked more like herself again. “I can handle it. You’re not the only woman who hates me.”

  “Still no luck with your ex, huh?”

  He cocked his head. “How—”

  “Marcus tells me everything.” She caught herself. “Or he did.”

  He spoke, trying to distract her. “I knew he was a gossip. Never should have had him pass that note for me during study hall.”

  Josie laughed through her tears. “You guys… He thought the world of you, Alex. I’m sure your girl will come around, too.”

  Alex thought about Ted giving him a hug the day before. Knowing when he was hurting, even if he covered it with anger.

  “I haven’t given up yet.”

  “Good.” Her eyes glassed over again, and she glanced at her kids. “When you find the right one, it’s worth the work.”

  A loud cry erupted from the kitchen, and she glanced at Marcus’s mom over her shoulder. “You know, he sent her money. Every month. Not once did I hear her say thank you. Even though she never stood up for him, he still took care of her.”

  Alex swallowed the lump in his throat. “He was a good man.”

  “The best.”

  The cool wind from the air conditioner picked up and Alex felt a blessed breeze waft over him. He was still in his work shirt and jeans, having come straight from the job when he got Josie’s call that she and the kids had arrived at Marcus’s mom’s.

  “You know, the Chief of Police is going to come by, right?”

  “I figured. He a decent guy?”

  “Yeah.” Alex nodded, even though he’d had his problems with Jena’s new husband. “He knows everything about us. Married to one of my friends now, but he’s from New Mexico originally. Good detective. Tried to come out here and retire, even though he’s young.”

  “That didn’t work out so well, did it?”

  “No, but he knows his stuff.” He shifted toward her. “You know he’s gonna ask a bunch of questions about Marcus, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “There anything I should know about? Anything that’s gonna upset you if he asks?”

  She sniffed and shook her head. “Not really? I mean, you know Marcus, he’s… Everyone liked him, Alex. He was fair to the guys that worked with him. He was a good dad. A great husband—”

  “You know Caleb’s going to ask if there were other women.”

  Josie just started laughing. “As if he’d ever have the nerve to talk to them. As good-looking as Marcus was, he was a total wuss around girls. I had to throw myself at him to get him to make a move.” She kept laughing, and Alex had to admit he was relieved. Glad there were no skeletons that Marcus’s widow would have to deal with.

  “He looked tough, but he was a big softie,” she said. “If there was anything that led to this, it might have been that. Him trusting the wrong person or thinking the best of someone he shouldn’t. He always wanted to give people the benefit of the doubt, even when they screwed him.”

  That pricked a memory of something he’d mentioned to Ted. “Do you know Joe Smith?”

  She scrunched up her face. “Allie’s Joe?”

  “Yeah, I heard that he and Marcus got into it at the Cave a while back. Right before Joe took off.”

  That surprised her. “Allie’s husband took off?”

  “Yeah.”

  “That rat!” She glanced quickly at her kids, who were all looking at her, then she turned back to Alex. “You know, Marcus mentioned that Joe borrowed some money from him and wasn’t paying him back. But he mentioned it in passing, like it wasn’t a big deal. He did that. He’d loan money to people, but never more than we could afford or anything. I didn’t even think about it. I doubt he did, either.”

  “Caleb’s probably going to ask about that.”

  “I don’t know much more than what I told you.” Her voice lowered to a whisper. “Do you honestly think that Joe had anything to do with this? He doesn’t seem like the type.”

  “I don’t think anyone knows what Joe is capable of at this point. Now that he’s gone, all the shit is coming out.”

  “Oh…” She rested her forehead on her hands. “Poor Allie.”

  Alex rubbed Josie’s shoulder and thought that Marcus had been a lucky man to have a woman who’d just lost her own husband, but still had room in her heart for a friend. And whoever made Josie lose that man was going to pay, if it was the last thing he did.

  It was an hour later when Caleb finally came by. Alex was heading out the door, but Caleb put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him on the front walk.

  “Don’t put your hands on me, skinwalker.” Alex knew it annoyed Caleb to have that term thrown around.

  “Do you enjoy pissing me off, McCann?” He hadn’t risen to the bait, which left Alex vaguely disappointed. “Because I know you’re not stupid.”

  “I’m helping out a friend. And she’s as baffled by this as we are, so don’t step over the line in there, or I’ll hear about it.”

  Caleb drew back. “What kind of bastard do you think I am?”

  “I think you’re a hell of a good detective. That’s why I hired you. But when that ‘detecting’ happens to be about a friend, I don’t give a shit about offending you. I’m more concerned about the woman in there who lost her husband.”

  “And I’ll keep that in mind. But you know I have to question her.”

  Alex nodded. “She can take it. But just saying, her kids are in there, and her mother-in-law’s a mess. Josie might be easier to talk to if you got her out of the house.”

  “Noted.”

  He started to walk back toward his car, but Caleb called him again.

  “McCann.”

  “Yeah?”r />
  “You’re not part of this investigation. You know that, right?”

  Alex grinned. The shit-eating grin he knew Caleb hated.

  “I am nothing but a humble citizen, Chief.”

  He could hear Caleb muttering all the way to his car.

  Alex was sleeping, but he heard it. Soft padding feet creeping through his trailer.

  Big padding feet.

  He woke when the bed creaked to find a hundred pound mountain laying half across his legs, staring at him with lazy golden eyes. He shifted to his back and scooted up a little, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

  “Hey, baby.”

  The lion was silent, but her lip curled up. Alex smiled and reached out, running a finger through the soft hair behind her left ear. The instinctive purr made him smile, but the smile was wiped away when she got up on all fours, leaned down, and hissed in his face, baring vicious two-inch long fangs.

  A full-grown cougar was a terrifying sight, but it was the silence that had always freaked Alex out more than anything. When wolves hunted, there was panting and crackling as they ran through brush. Little yips and barks to let each other know the movements of the pack. But cats were silent hunters, they could creep up rocks and through brush with little trace, their silence broken only by the occasional, blood-curdling scream.

  So it was probably stupid that the only thing Alex could think of was getting Ted to shift back to human form, just so he could see her naked.

  He reached over and grabbed the small bag he kept in his bedside drawer ever since he moved back to the Springs. The cat lurched back as he opened the bag.

  “Oh yeah. You know what this is.”

  Her eyes glazed over a second before her head dipped down to nuzzle the blanket. Then she shook her head and immediately shifted back to her human form.

  Alex grinned. “Still like the catnip, huh?”

  “That is so wrong, Alex.”

  He laughed wickedly, even as Ted grabbed a corner of the sheet to wrap herself up.

  “But it’s so cute.”

  “I hate it when you do that!”

  “Big scary cougar acting like a kitty cat? How can I resist?”

  “That stuff should be regulated.” She scrunched up her nose and shook her head, as if still trying to rid her senses of the smell.

  Seeing the advantage in her distraction, Alex grabbed Ted and rolled her under him, trapping her hips with his legs. He always slept naked, and it wasn’t lost on him that the only thing separating their bodies was a sheet.

  “My turn to pounce.”

  “That’s not why I came over.” She was trying to brush him off, but he could scent her arousal and feel her pulse picking up.

  “You’re the one who snuck in my trailer naked.”

  “I wasn’t naked. I was wearing fur.”

  “You’re not now.”

  She shrugged. “I felt like having a run and I wanted to talk to you. It’s quicker this way.”

  “Definitely quicker.” He leaned down to her neck, taking in her scent. “We’re both naked. Saves time.”

  She could shove him off if she wanted to. She was more than strong enough. But she just lay there, staring at him with an inscrutable expression, as if they were in business negotiations, not naked in bed. She had to feel how aroused he was, it wasn’t something she could miss with his legs caging her in, but she did nothing. Said nothing.

  He let his mouth whisper across her neck, felt her pulse spike, then he pulled away. “What did you want to talk about, Tea?”

  “Why do you keep antagonizing Caleb?”

  He lifted an eyebrow. “You want to talk about Caleb Gilbert while you’re in bed with me?”

  She huffed out a breath. “I’m going to keep you in the loop on this, but it makes it more difficult when you’re pissing him off. I do have to work with the guy. And he’s married to one of your best friends.”

  “I wasn’t consulted on that.” He braced his elbows beside her shoulders and played with a curl of her hair. “I like it when you don’t straighten it.”

  “It’s a pain in the ass.”

  “You didn’t straighten it in college.”

  “I didn’t have time in college.”

  “Hmm.” He didn’t say anything more. Didn’t push things, even though his body wanted him too. It was this he’d missed, as much as anything. Whispering with her in bed. Arguing about things, then kissing the frown from her mouth. He pulled a thick curl from behind her ear and pulled it out to it’s full length, laying it across her face, so the soft strands touched her lips. Then Alex bent down the slowly took the curl between his teeth, letting his lips brush hers as he pulled it away.

  Ted let out a soft breath, and her scent bloomed around him. He buried his face in her neck as her hands came to rest at his waist.

  His lips trailed up to her ear.

  “Kiss me, Tea.”

  “Alex, we shouldn’t—”

  “A kiss.” He spoke against her lips. “Just… a kiss.”

  She drew in a breath and he felt her body relax. Her hips sank into the bed and her hands spread across the small of his back. His lips rested against hers. Not moving until the opened her mouth and let him in.

  A ferocious need tore through him, but he clamped it down and sank into what she offered. Just that. Soft lips pressing and moving against his, then her mouth opened and he tasted her again. Slick tongue licking the inside of his mouth, lapping at him like the cat she was.

  His Tea could do amazing things with her tongue.

  He smiled as he kissed her, enjoying the familiar rhythm that took over their bodies. They rocked together, hands grasping harder, the friction of the sheets maddening against his skin. Their lips never parted. His hands sank into her hair, tugging her mouth back to his when she pulled away to gasp his name.

  “Alex—”

  “Shh,” he murmured, taking deep breaths, forcing his body away from her and closing his eyes as he rested his cheek against hers. They were flush with desire. She was hot and wet. He could smell it around her. Alex ached to take her like that. Sink into her and sate the need that clawed them both, but he pulled back.

  Too much too fast would only come back to bite him. And not in a good way.

  “Thank you,” he whispered.

  I miss you so much.

  His wolf growled at him to claim her.

  She said nothing, and his heart hurt a little.

  Ted didn’t need him. Not like he needed her. Her life was full. Work she loved. Family. Friends. But cracks had appeared in her walls with the shock of Marcus’s death, and he was trying ease closer without her shutting down. She hadn’t clawed at him when he and Caleb almost came to blows. She’d comforted him. Soothed both the man and the wolf with her touch. And so far, she hadn’t raised her guard again. It was an advantage he didn’t plan to waste, and he didn’t think his old friend would mind.

  “You know… I’m sorry,” he said, still pressing his cheek to hers. His thumb stroked the side of her neck. “For hurting you. Sorry that you didn’t know how much it hurt for me to lose you. Even if it had to happen, you should have known—”

  “I should go.”

  He closed his eyes. Too much. Slowly, he nodded and rolled to the side, but she didn’t get up right away. Just stared at the ceiling while he watched her in profile.

  “This place is tiny,” she said.

  “It’s decent for a trailer.”

  She’d pulled the sheet up to her neck.

  “If you’re really staying, why didn’t you just get a house? There’s a few in town that are nice. And you could always fix one up.”

  Dammit, his sister had been right.

  “I like the old places like yours,” he said. “There’s none of those right now. I can wait.”

  “For what? Why not just build a new one in the old style?”

  “You really want to know?”

  She said nothing, but he could feel her tense.

  “I didn’
t want to buy one by myself, Tea. Or build one. Not alone. I always wanted—”

  He broke off when he felt her shift. Seconds later, the mountain lion was out the door. He could hear the wind whipping through the trees that shaded the trailer. He listened for a few moments, then stood and walked to the door, looking out into the black night. He didn’t see her, of course. He didn’t expect to.

  Alex sighed. “I wanted our house, not mine.”

  Chapter Seven

  Hating someone was easy. Trying to understand their motives was harder.

  Never in a million years would Ted have expected Alex to let her go without a fight like he had the night before. He’d have persuaded. Tried to coax her into staying in his bed. Nudged her to have sex, because he’d known she wanted it. He wouldn’t have had to nudge much. He’d have known that too.

  She’d never wanted anyone like she wanted him. It’s what made moving on so completely impossible. Shifters were sensual by nature. Physical connection was crucial for Ted, and no one had ever come close to Alex. He could read her body like his own personal map. More than that, he’d never taken advantage of it. Never used her physical need for him against her. No, he was the lover who laughed with her. The one who teased her to the point of madness, then gave himself over completely.

  “I didn’t want to buy one by myself, Tea. Or build one. Not alone. I always wanted—”

  He wanted their home. She didn’t need to hear him say it, because that had been her dream, too. Even though they’d never said it.

  There was a lot they’d left unsaid.

  “You’re a million miles away.”