by Tamsin Baker
Tears pricked Sam’s eyes, and when she blinked, two salty tears were running down her face in empathy. “Oh my God, imagine loving someone that much.” She’d dreamed of such a thing but never known it.
Laura sighed. “In their family, that’s the legend, or so the parents have said. But Kane and Reid haven’t died, and today you proved why.”
Sam sat up straighter, wiping away the tears that still lay on her wet cheeks. “What do you mean?”
Laura sat up and reached out across the small space between them, taking Sam’s hands in her own. “Please hear me out without freaking out. These men are part of a very special family, but I think it’s better I tell you that part later. This is more important. A Perfect Pair only gets one wife, because she is a perfect match to them. The biggest sign to them is an immediate attraction and the electricity on first touch. I had it with my twins and Ash with hers.”
Sam pulled her hands out from her cousin’s heavy grip. “You mean that thing I felt before?”
Laura nodded. “Yes, it means you are a perfect match for Kane and Reid.”
“No!” Sam gasped and threw herself back on the couch. It was impossible. “But I … how?”
“Did you feel an immediate attraction to them before the electrical touch?”
Sam searched her memory through the cloud of confusion.
“Ah, yeah … though they don’t look very well.”
She had been attracted to them, very much so. When she’d been dancing with her cousins she’d felt them watching her, and he body had been tingling with awareness. But she hadn’t thought anything of it. Shit. This was all so strange!
“They’re not. They’ve been through a lot. You really should talk to Ash about it actually. Scott especially was pretty damaged when she met him. His ex-wife did a real number on him.”
“Ah yeah, ok. Hang on… What am I saying? How can I actually be considering this?” Because the evidence in front of you is pretty damn convincing. “Oh, shit. Laura, what am I meant to do?”
Her nose began to tingle, and her throat closed up as her fear got the better of her. “This is just too much to take on.”
She covered her mouth with her hands and blinked away the tears. It was all very overwhelming.
“Look, Sam. How long are you staying for?”
Sam forced her unfocused eyes into looking directly at Laura, her green eyes strong and sure. “Ah, I took the week off work, and I’m staying at Ash’s house as of tomorrow.”
“Well, that’s perfect. You have the week to get to know Kane and Reid, if they’ll let you, and you can go home at the end of the week if what you learn about them doesn’t suit you.”
Laura’s voice went up an octave as she finished the sentence, and Sam fixed her cousin with a dry look. “Yeah, and what do you think the likelihood of me just walking away is?”
Laura giggled. “Not much, but you still have a choice. Your men have been to hell and back by the looks of them, so your task isn’t as easy as mine was.”
Sam let her head drop into her hands, shocked to hear the words coming out of her mouth. She was actually agreeing with this ludicrous plan.
“And the whole boyfriend thing?”
Laura patted her on the head and said with a condescending tone. “I’m sure it’ll all work out in the end.”
Sam groaned, loudly and with no ladylike etiquette. “I think I need a drink.”
Chapter Five
“I need to find my brother, Jack.” Kane paced the hallway, internally ordering himself to calm down. His skin was tingling as though it had been rubbed with sandpaper, and there was a spring to his step that he hadn’t felt in a year.
Jack glanced back at the closed door that hid Sam and Laura, then back to him.
“If you think so. I’m not sure you should leave Sam at the moment though.”
Kane growled a little at his cousin, letting the long forgotten noise vibrate through him and feeling his heart leap in excitement. “I know that, too, but Reid needs me, and if Sam is who we think she is, I need him on board to work through this.”
He still wasn’t convinced that Samantha was their true mate, but the evidence was indeed starting to mount up. He had to find his brother so together they could find out if she was the one, the real one.
Jack gave him a single nod and clapped a hand to his shoulder. “Go then, I understand that thought, believe me. I was lucky with Ash and actually got her on board first, before attacking Scott. But you know your brother better than me.”
Kane considered that option for one moment, but shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. Reid and I have only had each other through this year. He’s been suicidal at times, and I don’t think that me bonding with Sam will help his feelings of loneliness.”
He grimaced out a smile for his cousin’s benefit and headed towards the door, goose bumps covering the skin on the back of his neck as his subconscious dragged up pictures of that time in their life.
Hell on Earth. Simple as that.
He turned around and eyed his cousin, “Tell Sam I’d really like to see her tomorrow. Can you give her my number?”
Jack nodded, that characteristic grin covering his face. “Yeah sure.”
Kane slipped through the door and pulled out his phone. He rang his twin as he paced the front footpath, an empty feeling in the pit of his stomach. Trust Reid to take the car and not even think about him.
“Hey.”
Kane sent up a prayer of thanks to hear his brother’s voice, very alive and sounding strong. “Where are you? I can’t find the car.”
“I drove back to the hotel, but haven’t gotten out yet.”
So Reid was sitting in the car waiting? That was sort of good, Kane hoped. As long as the car wasn’t running with a hose stuffed in the window, or parked anywhere near a cliff.
“Good, can you come back and get me?”
There was silence for a moment. Then Reid huffed out, “You aren’t staying to talk to that Samantha girl?”
Kane took another deep breath, trying his hardest to think before speaking. This was important, and not a moment that could be repeated. “No, I think you and I need to talk first.”
“About what? I don’t want anything to do with her.” Reid’s tone was nasty and dark, a mood he had been in many times in the past year. Kane inhaled slowly through his nose and out through his mouth, his counseling training coming into play once again.
“We still need to talk about what we’re going to do. The plans have changed a bit, don’t you think? I don’t know about you, but we’re probably not going to be paying for our funerals while we’re here now. What do you think?”
Kane tried to keep his tone as light as possible, yet his hands were shaking as he held the phone to his ear. He was never as calm with his family as he was with his patients.
“You’re probably right.” Reid’s voice sounded broken and a little annoyed, the tone giving Kane something to smile about. His brother was pissed off that they were going to live. Awesome. They were both on the same page.
“You’re feeling better too, huh?”
Silence then a grunting noise. “Yeah, I’ll come get you.”
And Reid hung up.
Kane let his arm fall down and his shoulders slump. One step at a time was the only way to navigate this course, but it wasn’t going to be easy.
“Kane.”
A husky female voice made him turn around, and his heart leapt in his chest at the sight of Sam walking down the path to him.
“You’re leaving?” She crossed her arms over her ample chest and glared at him.
He shook his head and had to squash the urge to reach out and draw her into his arms. She was so delicious, the beautiful, healthy skin of her cheeks begging to be stroked by his fingers, her plump lips needing his kisses.
Stop it, you idiot!
“I’m not leaving for good, but I need to find Reid before anything bad happens to him. We’ve had a pretty rough year.”
That was good news. The less he had to explain the better really.
“I’m wondering whether I should stay for the week, or go home tomorrow.”
“No!” The word shot out of him before he could control it, his heart leaping once again in a stomach lurching fashion. “Did Laura explain about us being a Perfect Pair?”
He glanced down the road, too aware of the fact that he’d told his twin that he wasn’t talking to Sam.
“Yeah, which is why I had to come ask you what I should do. I have a thousand questions, and I’m not sure whether I should stay to find out some answers, or go back to work and pretend that this never happened. I mean, it’s pretty bloody weird, no offense or anything.”
Fear tingled in Kane like he hadn’t felt in a year. His feet seemed rooted to the spot as hot flashes of drowning, heart pumping panic flooded through him.
“Please stay, Sam. I don’t … ahh…” He thought fast as his words slowed. He was too worried about Reid to properly think anything through, but he had to try something. “Can you give me one hour alone with my brother, and then I’ll answer any question you have? I’ll come back tonight.”
A loud horn blared from the end of the road, and Kane glanced over to see his silver Mercedes parked and waiting on the curb, his brother’s large bulk in the driver’s seat pointedly ignoring him.
He reached out for Sam’s hands and squeezed tight. Small shivers of electricity shot through him, making him groan and stare as Sam shook and gasped with him. “Please. I’ll come back in an hour and we’ll talk. I promise.”
Reid, please don’t make me break that promise.
Sam pulled her hands free and rubbed them together. “Ok, but only because that is seriously the weirdest thing I have ever felt, and I can’t ignore it.”
Kane gave her one more smile and turned to jog down the street, feeling a strong pull to turn and run back. He shivered as he reached his car and turned to look back over his shoulder. Sam was still watching him, and waved a little when she saw him.
He raised his hand and waved back as he pulled open the car door and got in. If the pull to remain by her side was this strong already, he worried about how strong it would grow in time.
“You said you weren’t talking to her.” Reid glared at him, angry red slashes across his face.
Kane slid into the car seat and locked the door. Reid put the car into gear and pulled a hard left into the main street. Kane’s stomach lurched as he grabbed for the car door handle. He hated being in the passenger seat.
“I wasn’t when I spoke to you. She rushed out of the house to stop me leaving.”
“Pfft, yeah right.”
Kane rubbed his hands together, trying to distract himself from the need to pull open the door and leap from the car to get back to her. The need to be with a woman he’d only just met over the brother he’d known his whole life was incredible to him.
He clenched his teeth and focused on his brother, the strength needed almost more than he had. “It’s true. I talked to her a little, but she freaked out when she found out about Perfect Pairs. I told Jack to give her my number and that I needed to talk to you first.”
The car lurched again as Reid took them back to the hotel at a heart-wrenching speed.
“You all right driving?”
Reid shot him a murderous glare then looked back at the road, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the steering wheel hard.
“Yeah. Of course I am. Why?”
Kane made a noncommittal noise in his throat and said, “No reason.”
He stayed silent for the remaining few minutes back to their hotel, almost flying through the windscreen as Reid slammed on the brakes right outside their room.
“Let’s pack up and head home. There’s no point hanging around here.”
Huh? What home?
“What do you mean?” But his words were said to the empty car as Reid had already gotten out and slammed the door in record time, the car actually rocking with the impact of the closing.
Shit, he’s getting strong again.
His heart lighter, Kane jumped out of the car and followed his brother inside. Thank goodness they’d paid for the biggest suite the hotel had. They had two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a lounge that you could hold a conference in. Or more to the point, a screaming match, which Kane feared was about to happen.
He stepped into the shared space and watched his brother grab his suitcase down from the chest of drawers. Reid started to stomp around the room, throwing things at the case as he went.
Kane crossed his arms and puffed out his chest. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing, big brother?”
Reid stopped, turned in slow motion, and stared at him. His eyes were wide, and his mouth hung open.
Surprised? Good! I’ve found something worth fighting for, and I’m not going to stand by as you run away.
Kane felt a smug smile spread across his lips.
“Yeah, I know, not my usual language, but the situation calls for it, don’t you think?”
Reid prowled out of his room and into the lounge. He stood in front of Kane, so close that Kane actually had to tilt his head up to look into his brother’s angry blue gaze.
“I’m packing to go home, little brother. What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
A chill passed over Kane as he saw some of his real brother returning. Oh, the fights they’d gotten into as teenagers had been epic. Reid had a temper and a half and loved to smash his fist into guys who could take it.
When they’d gotten older, Reid had mellowed, and since meeting Amanda and her subsequent death, the caveman in his brother had disappeared. He’d read a lot on psychosomatic illness in university, but he’d never thought he and his brother would fall prey to it. They’d stopped eating and working out, assuming that the legends were correct and they would soon die. Had they really done that to themselves?
He shook his head and focused on the good that was happening now. His brother was back, and Kane wanted to shout for joy. “We need to go back to the party together and talk to Samantha, although I think she likes being called Sam.”
Reid glared down at him. “Why the hell would I do that?”
Kane inhaled deeply and swallowed his fear. “Because it’s possible she’s our true mate.”
“What?” Reid bellowed, and Kane took a few steps back, not willing to go up against his brother physically at a time like this.
“What do you mean, what? You felt it, Reid. You know there’s something very special there. Signs we ignored are now coming back to haunt us. Even if she’s not our mate, we owe it to ourselves to find out.”
“I am not … I repeat, am not, going to spend time with some frumpy, arrogant, little … girl, just so you can see what it feels like to touch up a woman again, Kane!”
Kane growled with a venom he’d never felt, the anger and pain in his gut so intense he could practically feel the partial shift rip through his spine.
“Don’t you dare say such a thing about Sam!”
Reid’s eye brows went high on his face, and a snarl ripped though his features.
“How dare you defend her! She’s nothing to you, Kane. You don’t even know her. Amanda was our mate, our wife, not this new woman. Amanda was perfect for us, you know that.”
Kane shook his head, looking at the ground and biting his lip as memories rolled though him. Good memories, bad memories, things he didn’t want to rehash. He didn’t want to fight his brother on this, but he might have to.
He looked up again, hoping that pleading with his brother may work.
“Reid, let’s not talk about Amanda. She’s gone, and we have been given an opportunity to live again, love again.”
“No!” Reid began to pace, his once frail body rippling with power and muscle again. “I will not forget her, and I will never replace her! How can you even say such a
thing! My own brother. Her husband!”
Kane clenched his teeth, the muscles in his shoulders and arms shaking as he glared at his brother. “I don’t want to replace her. We can’t replace her! But we have a chance here, Reid.”
“A chance for what? To mate a woman I don’t want?”
“You don’t even know her, Reid!”
Reid threw his hands up in the air. “I don’t want to get to know her, Kane. Amanda was my wife, my mate. She was perfect, and I am happy to die knowing I married the person I was meant to love.”
Kane looked away, unable to let that one lie. “She wasn’t perfect.”
Reid stepped right up in front of him again, his eyes angry and wild as his hands turned to fists at his sides. “Say that again.”
Kane curled his own fingers into his palms and took a breath, his heart aching to tell the truth and fight for what it knew was right. He could handle a punch or two. He’d done it before.
He took a breath and channeled the anger he’d felt time and time again when Amanda had been the exact opposite of what they’d needed. “She wasn’t perfect, Reid, and you know it. She played us off against each other when it suited her, and when she wanted to be, she could be a real bitch.”
Reid’s fist cracked him straight across the cheekbone, the pain and force throwing him back against the wall. White light blinded him as he cradled his face and stretched his neck, his face throbbing with pain. Kane glared at his brother with his one good eye.
“And you bloody know it, Reid.”
Reid took a step closer, and Kane lifted his fists and pulled his arm back. He’d never win this war, but he’d go down trying.
“If you want a fight, brother, bring it on, but you need to remember who she was! The day before she died, you two had a massive fight. Just because she’s gone, doesn’t make her a saint now.”
Reid wheeled back as though Kane had indeed struck him, and Kane pushed himself away from the wall. He saw it happen time and time again with counseling. When someone died, the memories of that person became sanctified. The family only remembered the good things about their loved one, not all the bad memories. Which, for the most part was a good thing.