Rafe lifted one eyebrow and stared as Mayor Holt began to sweat. Rafe hadn’t been sure before, but he was becoming more confident that Holt was skimming off the top of several lines on the budget.
“I think we should table this discussion for next week,” Holt said, casting a desperate glance at his watch. “It’s far past lunch, and I’m sure the committee would like to eat.”
Rafe gritted his teeth. He hated waiting and despised the political shenanigans. “Next week is fine. It will give you time to get bank balances prepared.”
Holt turned a greyer shade of green before pounding his gavel and called the town meeting adjourned.
<<<>>>
Rafe and Kimber walked back to the office of Jaguar Realty. “Do you think you can convince them?” Kimber asked.
“Hard to read them. I suspect the sewer maintenance and upgrades were put in Holt’s rainy-day fund or his war chest. His reaction today seemed to confirm that.”
“That’s terrible! Is there anything we can do?”
Rafe unlocked the door to the office. “Send emails to Quinn Maxwell and Creole James. As the owner of two major businesses, their attendance at the next township meeting will be crucial.”
Kimber nodded and sat at her desk. “And it doesn’t hurt that Creole is a mountain lion shifter.”
Rafe nodded. He steepled his fingers and brought them to his chin in thought. “Quinn has more contacts in the shifter community. And his wife is a vet tech, right? Her opinion might help, too.”
“On it, Mr. Chamorro,” Kimber said.
The bell over the door jangled. Kimber looked up and smiled. “Hey, Mel, did we have plans for lunch?”
Rafe turned, feeling his inner jaguar stir within his soul. Ours, it growled, echoing in Rafe’s head.
“Chela,” Rafe said before catching himself with a frown. “Melody,” he corrected himself. She wasn’t his beautiful girl, he reminded himself.
Melody didn’t even look at Kimber. She swallowed, nervousness pouring off of her like “I don’t have an appointment, but can we talk?”
Kimber glanced between the two of them before something lit in her eyes. She grabbed her purse and hurried out the door. “I’ll send these emails after lunch, boss. I’m going to get something at the Lunchbucket. I’ll just, you know, lock up.”
Chapter Two
Melody
“Do you want to come into the office?” Rafe asked, already leading the way into the cavernous interior of his office. Large windows framed the room, giving it the look of being outside. “I can get coffee for you.”
The idea of coffee set Melody’s stomach lurching. She sent up a prayer to the pregnancy gods to not let her ralph all over her shoes, his carpet, or whatever else was in front of her.
“Just some water, please,” she said around her suddenly tight throat. Her body trembled as she took a seat on the cordovan leather loveseat in Rafe’s office.
Rafe continued to frown as he pulled a bottle of water out of a mini fridge under his desk.
“Thank you,” she said. At first, Melody couldn’t get her fingers to respond but after taking a deep breath was able to break the seal and sip a refreshing drink of water.
“Are you okay, Chela? You don’t look so good.”
Melody felt her eyes sting at Rafe’s words. Hated the way she wanted him to shower her with those sexy Nicañol words. She didn’t understand half of them, of course. And none of them were pronounced like she’d learned in high school Spanish, but it was his tone. The way he trilled his r’s. The way his dark eyes looked at her while he said them.
“I know I don’t but thanks for reminding me of how bad I look.” She knew she was fat and ugly. She just hadn’t expected him to tell her so to her face. Melody’s hand went to her lips, and her eyes grew wide in shock. Had her internal voice turned into her external voice?
Rafe looked taken aback. “That’s not what I meant. You look pale is all.” He wrapped Melody up in a hug and lifted her off the ground. She “eeped” in surprise but he didn’t pay any attention. “It’s good to see you. I wasn’t sure you’d ever come around again.”
“Well…” Melody hesitated as her body responded to his nearness. She slid her arms around his broad, muscular shoulders and gazed into the coffee-brown eyes. Would she ever get that view out of her mind and heart?
Heart? Oh, lord, please don’t let that traitorous organ be involved, Melody thought with panic. Instantly her hand massaged the ache that refused to leave.
Rafe's hands cradled her chin and cheeks, and Melody wondered if he could see the weight she’d gained. He cocked his head and scanned her body. He traced her arms, using neatly trimmed nails to trail down her sensitive skin.
If Melody didn’t know better, she was pretty sure he was trying to seduce her.
“Damn, baby. You’re a sight for sore eyes.” Rafe’s arms tightened around her, and he picked her up, resting the warmth of her core against the bulge in his trousers.
Melody wanted to be angry. She wasn’t a toy to be picked up and played with until he had time to play again. And yet, Rafe’s body felt so good pressed against her. She closed her eyes to enjoy the momentary sensation of being suspended against his supple form.
“Put me down,” she said, striving for strength in the face of overwhelming desire she felt.
“What’s going on, Chela?”
“Can we talk?” Melody asked in a whisper, feeling as if her throat was closing over the words she didn’t want to say. “And enough with the cutesy endearments.
The pulse at the base of his throat began pulsing as he began to sense something was wrong. Rafe’s muscles tightened as he gently set her back on her feet.
“Anything you need.” His fingers entwined with hers and Melody wondered if he understood the sense of strength and intimacy he provided. Because even after all these months, it felt like no time at all. Melody craved his touch but forced herself away.
Rafe’s eyes flared with emotion. “Tell me fast,” he said, his grip around the delicate bones of her hand tightening. “Just say it. What’s wrong with you and what do you need?” Gentle fingers pushed at stray locks of her hair, smoothing it away from her face.
Melody froze, confusion rippling across her soul. Did he actually care for her?
“Are you sick, Chela?”
“Maybe? Kind of?” Melody bit her lip in confusion.
Rafe shook his head, closing his eyes and robbing her of the wild look in his eyes. Immediately she missed the gold-flecked magic of his gaze. “What does ‘kind of’ mean? Do you need to see a doctor?”
Melody nodded slowly. She was going to need a doctor, after all. “Don’t freak out, okay? Because I don’t need anything from you. I’ll figure that part out on my own. Unless you want to be part of it. And if you do, then I guess we figure it out. Together.” She gulped for breath as tears streamed down her cheeks. “Just don’t be mad at me, Daddy.”
The nickname slipped out, reminding them both of their heated night of passion. Rafe’s sharp inhale at her words undid her.
She hated crying. Melody knew she wasn’t a pretty crier and didn’t need to show it off. Was it wrong to just want to crawl into a strong man’s arms, relax, and let him take care of everything?
Not always, of course. But in bed? Well, he’d definitely been her Daddy on the night they’d gotten together.
“Slow down. You lost me. What’s going on?” His brow creased and Melody felt her heart beat steadily, heavy in her chest.
With a sigh, she eased away from the lure of his touch and pulled her sweater over her head. Underneath was a snug tank top that clung to every curve of her body.
Rafe shook his head, wide-eyed and horrified. He backed up, stumbling against his oversized desk. “Tell me that is not what it looks like,” he ordered, pointing at her tiny bump. His hand trembled slightly in his astonishment.
Melody sighed. He was handling this as badly as she thought he would. “Guess that all depends on wh
at you think this looks like.” She lovingly traced her fingers across the firm curve. She pouted slightly, agonizing over this confession. It should be a time of love and kisses, not the abject betrayal on Rafe’s face.
Rafe’s brown eyes, usually so composed and unruffled, definitely looked panicked.
“I’m pregnant.”
Rafe
If there was ever a time for a Rickey Ricardo rapid-fire stream of Spanish swears, this was it, Rafe thought.
He should have known Melody Strauss was trouble. With a capital T that rhymed with P that stood for pregnant. She was long-legged, sexy trouble with hair he ached to bury his hands in and a mouth he still coveted like a starving man. Let alone having her shatter in his arms while calling him Daddy.
No one else had ever called him that. If asked the day before having her in his arms, Rafe would have laughed at the descriptor. But once the words left her lips and hung on the air like raindrops, Rafe knew he’d found his calling. To be his girl’s Daddy.
Despite the panic dismay of her news, his other senses registered how good she looked. A little fuller, yeah. Curvier for sure. A little more for his hands to grip while he held her still for his thrusting hips. And so damn beautiful it took his breath away.
Slowly, his brain processed her words, her curves, and the pronounced firm bump sticking out of her once-flat belly. “It can’t be mine, Melody. It can’t be. Don’t try and play those games with me. First, I can’t have babies. The government told me so. Secondly, we used a condom.”
“It broke! Don’t you remember?” Melody cried, and guilt hit him like a one-two punch right in the gut.
Remember? He’d been so deep in lust with a slip of a woman with hair the color of caramel candies that he couldn’t even remember his God damn name. Her soft, puffy lips that called to him, begging to taste his cock.
Unbidden, and highly unwelcomed considering their current conversation, memories swarmed around him. The silken hair catching him in its snare and snagging on his beard. Delicate skin that begged for his touch. Legs and lips that parted for him like they were made for him.
“It is. Your baby that is.” Her voice rang clear as a bell, with such honesty it stopped Rafe in his tracks. Tears slipped down her cheeks, and her breath came in short pants that reminded him of their night together.
Stop thinking about it, asshole, he scolded himself. Not the time for it. He shook his head to clear it.
“It’s not mine, Melody. In addition to the DNA splicing I went through at eighteen, I was captured and experimented on in Quibria. I’m not even sure what all they did.”
Although he had to admit to himself, maybe he had been a ravenous bastard that night. He’d seen her around the Lusty Leopard for months but had never made a move. One-night stands weren’t his usual thing.
But then she’d smiled at him. Teased him in that husky contralto that reminded him of Demi Moore. Looked up between her bangs and flirted him. Instantly, he’d been starving for the feel of her surrounding him. Parched for her kisses. Had he been so impossibly famished, he’d ignored the tell-tale pop of the condom as it snapped mid-thrust? Entirely possible.
Eyes the color of sage pleaded with him for understanding. “I haven’t been with anyone but you in years.”
Rafe ran a hand through his hair and felt his heart rip to shreds. You didn’t need shifter hearing to scent the honesty in her voice. The way her respiration changed. The sweetly perfumed voice of integrity.
It was easy to dream of a white-picket world with children when they weren’t a possibility. Far different when reality was busy staring him in the face.Rafe closed his eyes, despair pulsing through his veins as he thought about the dirty blood pulsing through his veins. The blood of his father, may the bastard rest in peace.
Rafe hated the idea that he’d passed his filthy gene pool on to an innocent baby. Especially when it was through a woman as gentle and talented as Melody.
“We can have a paternity test. A million of them. But I swear, Daddy, I haven’t been with anyone in ages. It’s your baby.” Her bottom lip trembled ever so slightly and Rafe had the overwhelming desire to gently suck on it.
Rafe sat down on the edge of his desk. Melody was too soft for the life he led. How could he explain his overwhelming claustrophobia? Or worse, the fear he had that he’d be just like his father? Horrified, Rafe looked down at her stomach that she still hadn’t hidden. She was swollen with his child.
Some distant caveman gene cheered for the continuation of the species, but the overwhelming majority of his mind was filled with dread. He’d screwed up Melody’s entire life and the life of their child, too.
“I need to think,” he muttered. But what was there to think about? He wasn’t a good man. Wasn’t even a good jaguar. No child of his would have a chance at success with him in it. Melody and her baby were much better off without him.
His inner jaguar snarled and nipped at him. Rafe startled at the sensation of being scolded by his cat.
They’re ours, the jaguar growled. Fix the sins of the past.
“Can’t be ours,” Rafe muttered, feeling sweat bead on his forehead. Suddenly, his tie felt too snug, and he longed to undo the top button. He was a wreck of emotions as they crashed down on him.
He wiped his hand across his eyes. SERE training was long ago, and Melody wasn’t torturing him. Exactly. But the idea of any child having him as a father was torment enough. All hope was gone. It was a done deal. Melody was pregnant. He visualized all the possible outcomes, most of which made him long to mourn that long-ago night of bliss.
“We’ll have a paternity test to make sure,” Rafe said, fighting for a calm breath. There were multiple options. There were always options. Already his brain was calming down to assess the situation.
He watched as she slipped her sweater over her shoulders to hide her swelling body. “Anything else I need to know?”
That look of a wounded, reproachful deer was still on her face, but she didn’t cry.
“I’m living up on Maxwell Mountain for a while.”
Rafe waited for her to explain. “My roommate didn’t want me there anymore. I guess I can’t really blame her,” Melody said, looking away. Rafe noted the way she didn’t quite meet his eyes. He made a mental note to check out her roommate. “You lived in that Victorian off High Street, right?”
Rafe’s brain reviewed recent leases. He’d rented that space to Abby Cromwell. Maybe it was time to know more about the woman who brought sadness to Melody’s eyes.
“She asked me to leave, and I’m moving into the little yellow cabin at Maxwell Mountain Resort.” Melody rushed through the words. “I have some savings, and I’ll figure it out.” She pressed her fingers to her belly. “The bean and I will figure it out. But I just, you know, thought you should know.”
Breathe, he reminded himself.
“I will pick you up in the morning,” Rafe said abruptly. He took her by the arm and ushered her out of his office. He scrawled a quick message for Kimber.
“You. I mean. You don’t want to talk about it?”
Rafe shook his head. “There’s nothing further to discuss. Now is a time for action.”
Chapter Three
Melody
Melody drove back to the apartment she shared feeling more confused than before she told Rafe. She wasn’t sure what she expected from him, but he’d seemed so shut down and focus.
An emotional reaction would have been nice, she thought glumly.
“Oh, you’re still here?” Abby asked as she entered the apartment.
“I told you I'd be out by the end of the month,” Melody said, feeling yet another attack on her. Melody was trying to be calm. Make adult decisions in a world that was spinning out of her control. She didn’t need Abby’s maliciousness on top of it all.
“You put me in a terrible position,” Abby continued as Melody walked into her bedroom. “How am I going to pay rent?”
“You kicked me out, Abby. Remember?” Melody r
efused to feel guilty for Abby’s emotional train wreck. Head held high, she walked into her room. Quinn and Lacey would be arriving soon, and she wanted everything ready to go.
Melody dug into the back of her closet before dragging out her suitcase.
“Well, you’re the one who had irresponsible sex with an animal,” Abby remarked snidely before thankfully finding something else to do that didn’t revolve around insulting Melody.
Don’t flinch, Melody ordered herself. Small-minded people like Abby were not worth revealing her pain.
Melody opened her suitcase and smiled at the sight that greeted her. Her grandmother’s quilt lay in the bottom, waiting for her.
“One more move,” she promised herself as she began pulling clothes and personal effects out of her dresser. Since Little Yellow was full of magic, maybe it was the perfect location to use the quilt her grandmother made.
The years felt more like decades when Melody thought about her move in date. She’d been so grateful to find a place fully furnished. Now, the joy she once felt in her yard-sale finds and local artwork felt sad and depressed. It took surprisingly little time to pack up her belongings.
Melody hoisted the suitcase from the bed and was shocked at how heavy it felt. A pulling sensation started between her legs and lifted upwards towards her womb. She dropped the suitcase immediately and sat on the bed, her heart beating a little faster than usual.
Scattered thoughts swirled in Melody’s mind. She heard warnings of not lifting anything heavy, but had she strained something from lifting a single suitcase? Wings of panic fluttered against her heart. She hadn’t given her pregnancy a lot of thought. Between the chaos of moving and the unexpected nature of the pregnancy, it hadn’t felt real. Maybe that was the reason she hadn’t said anything to Rafe.
But in that moment of pain. That light tug on internal muscles and ligaments, Melody had a lightbulb moment. This baby was very real and very, very much on his or her way.
“Yo’, Mel. You’ve got company,” Abby called from the living room.
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