“I told him to go ahead and get a shower before he comes down.”
Gen shook her head at them and walked to the front porch to greet Duke. “I have a houseful of people and they won’t stop talking about sex,” she told him.
He laughed. “Bethany seems to have a constant case of sex-on-the-brain, which makes me wonder how the two of you have been so close for the past twenty or so years. And with your brother and his love nest here? I’m not surprised she’s in a constant state and talking about it.”
“She and Cam played drunk Twister last night, and I’m mortified because they got into positions I didn’t even know about until you showed them to me, but Isaac said they had their clothes on and no one had an orgasm so it’s all okay, but… I don’t think I’d want you doing that with someone else, so how can it be okay?”
He sat in one of her front porch chairs and pulled her into his lap. “Every couple, or quadruple, or whatever, makes their own rules. You and I will decide what we’re comfortable with, and we’ll both abide by whatever we agree to. I’ve already warned you I hug a lot of women, and there are a handful I kiss on the forehead. I need you to be okay with that, but I promise you I’ll never play Twister, drunk or otherwise, with anyone.” He chuckled and added, “Probably not even you.”
Gen buried her face in Duke’s shoulder. “Bethany slept with me last night, and said after I went to sleep she had orgasms listening to Isaac do Cam in the other room. She’s never, ever, sleeping with me again.”
Duke held her tight as he laughed, and then a little tighter as he leaned back and laughed a full belly laugh. He let her go a little as he leaned forward and laughed some more. Finally, he caught his breath and stood, making sure Gen’s feet were under her before he stepped to her side and opened the front door. “I adore your Bethany. Come on, Beautiful, let’s say hello to everyone.”
Duke shook hands with Isaac and Frisco, and hugged Cassie. The conversation stayed casual, and when Cam came down without a shirt again, and Gen liked what she saw, the humored look Duke gave her told her he was aware. She remembered he could smell emotions, and she blushed, which made him chuckle and kiss her forehead.
Frisco decreed Cam would do the dishes while everyone else went to the living room to hear Gen’s story from beginning to end, starting with Mike coming into the clubhouse and ending with the police officer leaving the night before.
She sat beside Duke on the sofa, but he lifted her into his lap and held her a few times, and Gen had the distinct impression it was because he needed to hold her, not because he thought she needed the moral support.
From the way her brother watched them, she thought he picked up on it, too.
When she finished her story, Frisco looked to Duke and said, “Gen thinks she’s capable of taking care of herself, and most times, she is. With that being said, I’d like to hear what you plan to do about the situation.”
Duke looked to Isaac, who said, “It’ll be handled, Frisco.”
“Aside from that,” Duke said, “she’ll be with me at night from here on out, and if for some reason she can’t, then she’ll be in my bed at the compound. Not quite as sure what to do to keep her safe during the day. I have a tag on her car, in her wallet, and on her cellphone, so if she’s taken I should be able to find her, and if her cellphone or wallet get too far away from her car, we’ll call her to be sure she’s okay. Otherwise, I’m open to suggestions.”
“How about this,” Gen said. “I have a bra with an underarm slot for a weapon. I’ll have my three-eighty in it, my nine mil on my hip, pepper spray in my pocket, and I’ll be aware of my surroundings at all times. If I’m meeting someone new, I’ll bring my assistant along. Mike hasn’t actually threatened to hurt me, he’s just stalking me. Granted, it’s creepy and I need to be careful, but let’s not blow it out of proportion, okay?”
Gen was sitting in Duke’s lap again, leaned sideways against his chest, and she noted Cassie in Cam’s lap, too. Isaac and Frisco were both in arm-chairs, while Bethany was stretched out on a love seat. Gen looked at the time, saw it was nearly ten o’clock, and asked, “Bethany, do you have clothes here or do you need to go home to change?”
“I brought clothes.” Her friend looked at the clock, realized she had two hours until she had to be at work, and said, “Ah, yeah. Maybe I’ll go get a shower. For what it’s worth, I think he’s dangerous and I don’t like the idea of you being out and about on your own. I know you can protect yourself, but he’s been trained in how to take armed people down, Gen. I’d like you to have someone watching your back.”
Gen reached for her phone, pulled up her schedule. “I’m meeting a couple after church tomorrow to show them some properties on the brow of both Signal and Lookout Mountains, and possibly White Oak Mountain near East Brainerd Road. I’m taking her to all of the properties, and then her husband will meet us later if there’s something she wants him to see.” She went over her schedule for the next three days, detailing which were established clients, and which weren’t.
An hour and a half later they had a game plan to last through Wednesday, and her house was empty except for her and Duke.
Gen took a shower while Duke did something outside so Brain would be notified if a car other than one tagged by the club pulled into her driveway.
He sat and watched as she put her makeup on and fixed her hair, and didn’t try anything while she got dressed for the day. She completely forgot about Bethany spilling the beans the night before until he pulled her into his lap on the sofa in her bedroom and asked, “What do we need to talk about before we have sex again, Beautiful?”
She tried to pull away, but he gently held her in place, his face caring and concerned. “I’ve obviously missed something important, Gen. Talk to me.”
“Would it be okay with you if I didn’t want to do anything anal anymore?”
“If you didn’t like it, sure, but I know you enjoyed it. You’re still a little conflicted, but it’s just a matter of getting you past the idea it’s wrong, and then the conflict will fade.”
She closed her eyes, remembering his sense of smell, but was still uncomfortable he knew so much about how she felt. Of course, in this case he was wrong about the source of the conflict, but she wasn’t sure she could explain it to him.
She thought about asking if it was important to him, if he’d find someone else who wanted that if she decided it wasn’t for her, but just couldn’t bring herself to ask.
“This is more than I thought,” he told her, his voice full of concern. “You’re truly distressed.”
Gen tried to get up, but he again held her, though gently, careful not to hurt her.
“Tell me what’s going through your head, Genesis. Talk to me, Beautiful. Please.”
She shook her head and he sighed. “Okay, I’ll give you some time, but I won’t have sex with you again until I know what’s going on.”
“No!” It came out louder than she intended, and she tried to cover. “Regular sex is okay, I just want you to do stick to regular, is all, and not…” She took a breath and whispered, “Please, Duke. I like you. I couldn’t bear it if you went to someone else because I wouldn’t…”
His body went tight, and she didn’t risk looking to see if his jaw muscle jerked. She felt him relaxing his muscles as if one at a time, his legs, his abs, his shoulders, his arms. Finally, he pulled her closer to him, nestled her face into his chest.
“McPherson said he had to go elsewhere because you weren’t what he wanted in bed. You were letting me play with your ass to keep me from straying to someone else who’d let me.”
Gen didn’t respond in any way, but about ten seconds later Duke’s muscles all went stiff again and he said, “Fuck me.”
He stood with her in his arms, turned, gently settled her on the sofa, and left the room. His heavy motorcycle boots sounded on the hardwood floors, then on the marble steps. She heard the front door open and close, and sat wondering what’d just happened. She didn’t hear hi
s motorcycle crank up, and when she went to the front of the house and looked out a window, she saw him on the phone, pacing in her front yard like a caged animal.
Fifteen minutes later another Harley pulled into her driveway, Duke got on his, and left. She watched whoever was in her driveway take off his helmet, and recognized Brain.
Still unsure of what had happened, she went down to talk to Brain.
“The bad news is you pissed him off so bad he needs some time to himself,” Brain told her before she asked. “The good news is he still cares enough about you to be sure you have protection today.”
Gen looked at him a few seconds and asked, “Don’t you have something better to do with your Saturday?”
He shook his head. “Duke needs some time away from you. You did worse than piss him off, you hurt him, and you hurt his wolf. He’ll never hurt you, as in harm you, but apparently his wolf wanted him to turn you over his lap and spank your ass, so he left before he was tempted.” He walked down her driveway to the back of her house, and Gen followed, not sure where he was going. “I think you’re good for him, and I like you. He needs me here, I’m here.”
He made it to the back of her property, jumped up to grab a tree limb, and climbed twenty feet up. “Damn, the view is as good as I thought it’d be. If you were mine, I’d spend half my time in this tree and the other half in your bed.”
Gen had no idea how to respond, so she said, “Yeah. I’m going inside. I’ll unlock the back door so you can come in when you want. My home office is downstairs, just past the dining room on the right if you come in the back. Make yourself at home, get whatever you want from the kitchen, but the pantry is my housekeeper’s domain and I have to make a list of what I take out of there, so let me know if you go foraging.”
Gen worked for nearly two hours before Brain came in, saying, “You have the most awesome backyard, and that view. How do you not spend all your time out there?”
“My bedroom is at the back of the house. I imagine my view is a little better than the one you saw from the tree. You can go up and look, if you want.”
He shook his head. “Duke won’t want my smell in your bedroom, no matter the reason. Are you into something big, or can you use some company?”
She shook her head. “I hadn’t planned to work at all today, but it’s surprising how much you can get done with no phone calls or emails streaming in. You’re probably getting hungry, want me to see what’s in the fridge, or would you rather go get something?”
“You have a housekeeper?”
She rolled her eyes. “Yes, I have a housekeeper. I know how to cook, but I worked in my mom’s restaurant most of my life and I don’t enjoy it. Frisco loves it, it’s like his stress relief, and I don’t mind helping him, but I’d rather stay out of the kitchen, if possible.”
“You and I are kind of reversed. I grew up with housekeepers and private tutors, and now I’m a biker.”
Gen could see it in him, had known there was more different about him than just his IQ, but now she could clearly see it. “It seems to suit you, you’re happy with your decisions?”
His smile was answer enough, but he said, “Yes, I am. And thanks for going there with it, not making it sound like I lost something with my choices, because as far as I’m concerned, I gained.” He was quiet a second and added, “Most of my brothers know, but none of the women do and I’d appreciate it if you keep it that way. I’m not sure why I told you, but…”
“No worries, Brain. Your secret’s safe, and if you like a view, there’s this great little marina in the middle of nowhere on the Hiawassee River with the most awesome burgers. It’ll take maybe an hour to get there on your bike — you up for a little road trip?”
Brain drove different than Duke, and it took her a little while to get used to it, but when she did, she relaxed and thoroughly enjoyed herself. As they crossed the county line he stopped on the side of the road, took his vest off, and put it inside a bag on the back of the bike. She looked at him in question, and he said, “We’re way out of our territory so I need to be here as me, not as a member of RTMC. I have no idea where we are, exactly, but riding into someone else’s territory without permission would be bad. I’m supposed to be keeping you safe, not endangering you.”
They took off again, and she pointed where he needed to go. Thirty turns over winding country roads later, they pulled into the marina.
“How the hell did you find this place?” he asked as they dismounted.
Gen took her own helmet off, and kind of missed having Duke do it for her. Not that she wasn’t capable, she just liked having him touch her, take care of her.
“My brother’s house is only about five miles downriver from here on the Hiawassee, but thirty miles over the roads. We found it on the river originally, then figured out how to get here by car.”
Brain ate three burgers, two orders of fries, an order of onion rings, and two slices of lemon meringue pie. He was nearly as thin as Cam, and just as ripped, and Gen was surprised he could eat so much in one sitting. She had trouble eating an entire burger and an order of rings.
They walked down to the water, and as people started to arrive he said, “I can’t believe there are this many people here for the burgers.”
“Oh, they have a live band on the weekend. I forget their name but they’re pretty good. Some cover songs, but they have a lot of their own stuff. Someone’ll set up an outdoor bar soon, basic mixed drinks and beer, nothing special, but it’s a nice evening if you want to hang out and see them.”
He checked his phone, said, “Nothing from Duke, so we may as well.”
“Yeah, nothing on my phone, either, but he knows how to find us, if he wants.”
Brain was sitting on one large rock, Gen on another, and she took her boots off and settled her feet in the icy water. “How bad did I mess up?”
“You hurt him, Gen. Wounded him. Gonna have to figure out how to fix it.”
“Do I give him time, or text him?”
He considered her a few seconds and said, “I wouldn’t call him yet, but a text might be a good start.”
Gen thought, but didn’t know where to start. “I don’t know what to say.”
“My telling you what to say would be dishonest. It needs to come from you. From your heart, not your brain.”
From her heart.
Yeah. She’d been overthinking it. She typed:
I’m sorry. I was an idiot. Can we talk?
She hit send and then showed it to Brain, so he wouldn’t think she was asking for advice. He smiled. “It’s a start. Why do you have your feet in the water?”
“It’s probably my version of your climbing a tree for the view. I’m a water person. This river is 147 miles long and traverses three states. I’ve either canoed or kayaked all but about ten miles of it.”
“Well, you’re just full of surprises, but I have another for you. See the heron on the light pole, just this side of the houseboats?”
It didn’t take Gen long to see the tall, graceful, majestic bird, and she nodded.
“She’s a shifter. In bird form now, but can turn into a person.”
Gen looked at the bird in a whole new light, and wondered at the incredible experience of being able to shift into a bird and take flight.
“I thought you couldn’t tell me who’s a shifter and who’s human? Not without their consent?”
“Right, if they’re in human form, but you won’t be able to tell this bird from another once it flies away, and neither of us has any idea what she looks like as a human.”
Okay, that made sense. “How do you know she’s a shifter, and a she?”
“Wind carried her scent to me. Didn’t take long to figure out where it came from.”
When the band started, Brain got them some drinks, and they sat at the water and listened to the music. Gen asked to switch to Coke after two drinks, as she didn’t want to get drunk, and Brain explained that with his metabolism, it was impossible for him to get drunk
.
Several songs in, Gen told Brain, “The heron has a thing for the lead singer. I think she’s freaking him out.”
Two songs later, he said, “Damn if you aren’t right. Heron shifters are odd, and he smells human. Gotta wonder what the story is there.”
During a particularly good song, Brain looked towards the road, paused, and looked back to the band.
“You heard something? Or smelled something?”
“Sounds like Duke’s Harley, about a mile out.”
Sure enough, before long a bike pulled into the parking lot, and when the rider got off, she recognized Duke’s walk. She stood to go to him but Brain put his hand on her arm. “He’ll find us. Wait for him, Babe.”
Duke walked up to them and Gen noticed he didn’t have his vest on, either. No one said anything, so she asked, “Can I hug you?”
He shook his head. “You can walk with me to my bike, get on, and ride to somewhere quieter so we can fucking talk.”
She looked down. “I need to let my feet dry before I can put my socks and boots back on. Will you sit with us for five minutes?”
“Why are your feet in the water?”
She shrugged. “I’m a water person. Brain sat in a tree in my backyard for two hours, I sit with my feet in the river. Same thing, but different.”
Duke squatted, looked at Gen a dozen of her racing heartbeats, and looked to Brain. “Interesting day?”
“Yeah, brother. She’s a keeper. You need to find a way to figure this out, move beyond it.”
Duke looked back to Gen, pulled his shirt off in that ultra-sexy one-hand-over-the-shoulder move, and handed it to her. “Dry your feet.”
“With your shirt?”
He didn’t say another word, just offered the shirt and looked at her. She rolled her eyes, took it from him, and dried them. When she returned it, he put it back on and she said, “Can’t imagine having the smell of my feet on your shirt is a good thing.”
He went stock still, and the next thing she knew, he gave her the smell. It was her, and clean because of the river water.
Duke Page 24