by Faye Avalon
She smiled. The girl’s smile had made his legs tremble. The woman’s cut them off at the knees.
“Thanks. I will.”
Watching her drive away, he wondered if he’d ever be able to have her in the immediate vicinity and not feel like someone had cut off his oxygen supply.
Chapter Six
Naomi barely had a chance to give the two men from the hotel a thought over the following two days, due to the imminent arrival of a medical student looking for work experience in a general practitioner surgery. Plus, she’d been kept busy planning for extra work after talk of a flu epidemic was apparently about to hit the population. Added to which, the heating system at the medical center had just gone into meltdown and engineers were crowding the place, trying to get it fixed before health and safety closed them down.
Anyway, Tynan was rarely out of sight, and she knew he had her back. He’d been a regular visitor to the medical center and the hospital, his visits almost always coinciding with her schedule. According to one of the receptionists, he’d been checking and rechecking the computer system, adding firewalls and updating the data protection system. Then he’d checked the whole thing over and over again, looking for glitches. He was thorough, Naomi would give him that.
She couldn’t help but wish he’d do whatever he needed to do when she wasn’t actually on duty. That way she’d be spared her inappropriate reaction whenever she saw him.
It wasn’t enough that he set her hormones racing with just one glance, but he’d set off something far more disturbing. Her memories. She couldn’t reconcile the man who accelerated her pulse with the boy who had taken her virginity and then rejected her.
Unconsciously, her hand went to her abdomen, and she closed her eyes. She’d long since given way to hope that the pain would ever diminish. She had days now where she could go hours without the sharp bite of reality squeezing her heart. Work helped, of course. Plowing energy and heart into helping others was the best way she’d found of dealing with her own loss. But there were moments when the pain hurt so much that she feared for her own sanity.
Lately, those moments had been returning with frightening regularity. She supposed it was having Tynan at the forefront of her mind again. Hardly surprising, seeing he was there almost every time she turned around.
But she wasn’t the only one who had experienced loss. Like her, Tynan lived with a constant reminder of what they’d done. After their conversation at his house, she realized he had no idea that her father was behind his accident. Bob Tucker might have been instrumental in having Tynan clear the traps, but he and her father were thick as proverbial thieves. She had absolutely no doubt her father had arranged the whole thing.
As soon as he’d realized she was pregnant, he’d banished her to London to live with his sister to make sure her shame didn’t reflect on him. After which, he’d set about making Tynan pay in the cruelest way imaginable.
Her father would have known what an injury like this would do to someone with Tynan’s pride and sense of destiny. Had Tynan been a different man, she knew her father would have had no compunction about beating him within an inch of his life. Instead, he’d hit Tynan where it really hurt.
God. At some stage, she would have to tell Tynan that she suspected her father was behind his accident. He had a right to know. But just not yet.
First she had to stabilize her feelings toward him. At the core was a straightforward physical response to his masculinity. What woman wouldn’t react to such a fine specimen of man? But at the heart was a sense of the unobtainable. The untouchable. She couldn’t have him, so she wanted him. It was that simple. And that complicated.
She could never risk getting close to a shifter male who wanted the happy-ever-after and little versions of himself running across the moor in some future reality. Never be with one who would seek to mate, to mark her as his. Nathan was safe. He didn’t want that fairy-tale ending any more than she did. But Tynan?
Since that night at Seth’s hotel, she had thought more about what she could never have than in the whole decade she’d been away.
But enough was enough. With the arrival of the medical student from her old university, she’d have plenty to do making sure she gave the student relevant guidance. She remembered her own work experience in Kent, in a practice run exclusively by humans. She’d had no opportunity to learn from a shifter and had to wait until she’d returned to Bodmin for that opportunity. Until he’d retired two months ago, old Doctor Clarke had covertly taught her how to help their kind. It wasn’t that different to how she helped humans, but the small anomalies required specific skills, which she had soaked up from him like a sponge. She wasn’t averse to calling him on the couple of occasions she had been stuck regarding how to help a patient from her pack, and he’d been happy to advise her.
Naomi was determined that she would offer the same generosity of spirit in order to help the shifter student assigned to her.
So all in all, she’d have her work cut out with medical students, flu epidemics and temperamental heating and computer systems. No time for erotic thoughts of Tynan Galloway or for what-might-have-beens. And certainly no more thoughts of threesomes. That particular avenue of adventure was most definitely off the cards now.
Her cell pinged. Nathan. Likely he was looking for some company.
“Free tonight?” he asked, confirming her assumption.
“I could be. Where and what time?”
“Caleb and Talia’s place. Seven thirty.”
What? But seeing the phone had already clicked off, Naomi slipped her mobile into the desk drawer. Even had Nathan given her the opportunity, she didn’t really need to ask the reason for the meeting. She and Nathan never socialized as a couple, and definitely not at the house of the pack leader and his wife. It obviously had something to do with the consequences of her transgression.
Not wanting to speculate on the course the meeting would take, she buzzed through to reception and asked for her first patient to be sent in.
* * * * *
A few minutes before the allotted time, Naomi arrived at Caleb and Talia’s, her cheeks glowing from the thirty-minute walk. She frowned when she noticed Tynan’s car in the driveway.
The door opened, and Talia stood welcoming in the doorway. “Where’s your car?”
“In the shop. Keeps cutting out on me. Is this an official meeting?” she asked Talia. “Am I up for a lambasting over my inappropriate sexual desires?”
Talia laughed. “Of course not. Come on in.” She stepped back, and Naomi walked past her.
“Then what’s going on?” she asked, lowering her voice and shrugging out of her coat. “Why did Caleb call a meeting?”
“It’s not technically a meeting,” Talia said, taking Naomi’s coat and hanging it. “It’s more an unofficial get-together to discuss a potential problem. Caleb thought it best if we all battled it out together. Glass of white?” she asked. “Or are you on duty?”
“Not on duty, so wine would be good.” Small mercies, Naomi thought. She wasn’t sure coffee would be strong enough to see her through the evening.
“Go on in,” Talia said when Naomi stood in the hallway, staring at the living room door and hearing the voices coming from beyond it. “Nathan and Tynan have just arrived.”
Great. She had a feeling her private life was about to come under even closer scrutiny and her secret desires bandied about for all to hear. In which case, she really hoped Talia would use a large glass for that wine.
Caleb and Talia’s house was traditional and comfortable. It had been home to the pack leader and his family for generations, and its current occupants had respected its antique fixtures and fittings: large Victorian fireplaces with original tiled surrounds and grates, beautiful ornate coving, and decorative plastered ceilings. During her visits with Talia since her friend had married Caleb, Naomi had noticed the couple’s stamp on
the property. They had installed highly polished wooden floors, a new kitchen complete with state-of-the-art appliances, and, at the rear of the house, a conservatory was in the process of being constructed.
Naomi took a breath and opened the door to the living room. The scent of fresh paint was still evident, and Naomi tried to take in the newly furnished room. Anything but be subjected to the stares of three pairs of eyes as the men looked at her.
They all got to their feet, but it was Caleb who came forward to play host. He indicated the seat on the sofa next to Tynan. Of all the damn chairs in the large room, why did he have to indicate that one?
She gave Tynan a brief nod, then sat, making sure to keep several inches of space between them. Talia came in, handed Naomi her drink, and took her place on the other sofa beside her husband. Caleb immediately placed his arm behind his wife, his fingers stroking Talia’s shoulder. She snuggled against him and reached up to cover his hand with hers.
Naomi sipped her drink, something mournful twisting inside her. What she witnessed wasn’t for her. While Talia was a reporter on the local paper and had carved out a successful career for herself, her marriage to Caleb was her priority. She loved her husband deeply and one day planned to have his children.
Naomi’s womb clenched; her heart squeezed. That wasn’t for her either.
Sitting next to Tynan heightened the poignancy of her situation. Hardly surprising, seeing as he’d stirred up all manner of feelings, desires and wishes. None of which she intended acting upon.
“Now we’re all here and everyone has a drink, let’s get down to business.” Caleb’s deep voice boomed out across the room, full of authority. He looked directly at Naomi. “I trust you’ve had no further contact with the two men you met recently.”
She’d known he knew about it. There was no way he wouldn’t. He was leader. It was his place to know anything out of the ordinary that affected his pack, as it was Nathan and Tynan’s place to tell him. Both as his friends and as fellow members of the Council of Principals. On the death of his father, Caleb had announced Tynan as his second in command, so Tynan had even more reason to apprise Caleb of the situation.
Knowing that didn’t make it easier to swallow. Everyone in this room knew what lengths she’d gone to in order to feed her sexual fantasies. Not that she should feel bad about it, seeing as virtually everyone in this room had indulged in their own.
She raised her chin, refusing to apologize. “No. I’ve had no further contact.”
Caleb gave a slight nod of acknowledgment before turning his head. “What about the computer systems, Ty? Anything?”
“Not much. I found evidence of that attempted hack on Seth’s, but haven’t been able to trace it. Same with the hospital. Nothing on the medical center. I’ve got bugs on all of them, but nothing’s popped since. Everything looks solid.”
Naomi shifted around. “You bugged our system?”
His jaw was so tight, she wondered if he was grinding his teeth. “Attempted hacking is a serious business. I’m not apologizing for taking steps.”
Of course not, but her blood ran cold at the thought of Tynan having access to medical records. Hers in particular. She couldn’t bear to think of him finding out what had happened to her.
She didn’t have the chance to respond, because Caleb turned to her. “If someone were to access the medical records of shifter patients, is there anything there that could throw suspicion on us? Could they find out anything that would put the pack in jeopardy?”
Naomi shook her head. “No. I’m meticulous about that, and so was Doctor Clarke before me. There’s never really any need to record specifics in that regard, and nothing that would flag up as suspicious in any way.”
Caleb nodded. “Anything out of the ordinary at the medical center recently? Contractors? New staff?”
Naomi considered it. “We’ve got heating engineers in at the moment. But nobody new has joined the staff… Oh wait, we have a medical student arriving shortly. She’s coming for work experience.”
“Who arranged it?”
“I did. I was contacted by a specialist in the hospital where I trained. He’s a member of the North London pack, and he asked if I’d take one of his students. I thought it would be a good opportunity to train up some young blood.” She immediately realized she’d made a huge faux pas in terms of pack protocol. “I’m sorry. I should have run it past you first. I apologize. I wasn’t thinking.”
Caleb’s eyebrows lowered over his powerful eyes, making her palms turn sweaty. “Apology accepted.” But his fearsome scowl warned her not to make the same mistake twice. Hell. Sometimes she wondered how Talia coped with such a formidable man.
Thankfully, he turned to Tynan. “What else do we know about Stoltz and Hortner?”
“Found out they’ve got priors for phone hacking,” Tynan went on. “Derek Stoltz served time; Malcolm Hortner got off with a warning. Looks like they’ve changed MOs.”
Knowing their full names made it seem more real, more serious, and Naomi felt wretched. She’d gotten herself mixed up with criminals, for God’s sake. “What were they looking for?”
“The nature of the attempted hacking suggests identity theft. It’s big business. Hotels, hospitals, they can be easy pickings.”
“Likely they’re opportunists,” Nathan said with a nod to Tynan. “Big-city amateurs who think we’re straw-sucking morons without the wit to know we’re being jerked around.”
The vitriolic edge of Nathan’s sarcasm and the dark answering nods of his friends made Naomi feel sorry for any man who dared to cross the males in this room.
“Let’s hope the opportunist angle is right,” Caleb said. “But we’ll keep an eye open for other possibilities.” He looked down at his wife. “You pick up any rumors at the paper involving big cat sightings in the area?”
“Of course not. I’d tell you immediately if I had.”
He reached for the hand she’d placed on his thigh and tightened his fingers around hers. An unspoken act of absolute trust. Naomi’s heart squeezed again. Damn. She really had to stop being so bloody melancholy about displays of affection and love.
She yanked her attention back to immediate concerns. Drawing in a breath, she prepared to voice the niggle that refused to go away. “If those men came here specifically because they suspect something about us, I could have put the pack at further risk by taking a student who is a shifter.” Naomi leaned forward and pressed her palms to her cheeks. “And, God, I shoved that man so hard, I may as well have spelled it out for him.”
“You’ve done nothing wrong,” Caleb said sharply, then, with a pointed look at Tynan, said, “Nobody has. This hacking attempt was aimed at the community in general, not specifically at us. But let’s backtrack a minute, make sure we cover those bases. This specialist, the one who asked you about the placement. How long have you known him?”
“Years. I trained under him at one stage. He’s a well-respected member of the North London pack. A first born. He was a medic, badly injured during Desert Storm.” She cast a glance at Tynan, who watched her closely. “When he recovered, he decided to specialize in conflict trauma.”
“I’ll check him out,” Nathan said. “Let me have his details.”
Naomi didn’t much like squealing on colleagues, but she supposed it was necessary. Protection of her pack was paramount, even if it meant investigating members from other clans.
Caleb turned to Tynan. “I agree with your decision to start routine overhauls for any security systems involving pack interests. Until we know for sure we’re not being targeted, we don’t take any chances.”
Tynan nodded. “Got it.”
“Where are they now?” Naomi asked, trying to temper the queasy feeling in her stomach. “Stoltz and Hortner.”
“Uncertain.” Tynan leaned forward and clasped his hands between his knees. “Nothing popped w
hen I checked hospital treatment for facial injuries, but I’ve got a lock on their spending. Using their cards in Truro, mostly, and taking out large sums of cash. No online activity.”
“It’s almost like they already know you’re on to them.” Talia said and smiled. “That makes me feel a lot better. Okay.” She stood. “Supper should be ready to serve up about now. I hope everyone’s hungry.”
Naomi didn’t think she could eat a thing, but once the meal was served up, her stomach began rumbling in appreciation. Yet the moment she tried to swallow, her throat closed up. Guilt swam around the edge of her thoughts and, despite Caleb’s reassurance, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she had brought this on the pack. Surreptitiously, she pushed slices of roast lamb around her plate.
“Is everything okay?” Talia asked, her eyes wide with concern. She wasn’t known for her culinary skills, and Naomi’s lack of interest had obviously worried her.
“No, it’s lovely, really.”
The men mumbled in agreement, each of them tucking into their meals.
Determined not to insult her friend, Naomi made herself eat. She ate small mouthfuls of vegetables and cut potatoes into tiny pieces.
“Not hungry?”
She glanced up at Tynan, seated next to her. “I’m trying to think back on everything I said to them that night. Whether I might have made things worse in some way, apart from pushing Stoltz across the room.”
Tynan’s smile was placating. “We don’t know what’s going on yet.”
“Those men interacting with me? Trying to hack into the hotel, the hospital? Two and two make four, don’t they?”
“Seth called me in before you even met those assholes.”
While she appreciated Tynan’s support, it didn’t entirely allay her concerns. “It seems strange that this happens right after I take on a medical student.” Thankfully, the others were engaged in conversation, so she leaned in. “Maybe those men followed me to Seth’s hotel. Maybe they invited me to join them because they wanted to find out more about the pack.”