Seducing the Schoolmarm

by Mahalia Levey

  “Oh Em Gee!” Caress threw her arms around her brother. “You found me a greenhouse.”

  With a grunt, he struggled not to drop his end of the sofa as he bent to set it on the living room floor. “Took you long enough to see your surprise.” He straightened. “See why you didn’t have to bring your portable one? This one is all set up. I had your gardening things packed. Raze already set your supplies outside for you. You can go when you want. We figured this would keep you out of trouble for a little while, at least.”

  “Thank you.” She beamed. “Planting is the only thing I remember doing with Mom. The yard needs some flowers, too. I should have a few bags of bulbs, and we can go grab rocks and cedar chips for landscaping.”

  “Sounds good. The house needs a fresh coat of paint. Tomorrow, Raze and I can knock it out while you do what you want with the yard. We’ll need to buy a riding mower, though. We left the old one behind.”

  “I’m not mowing.” She moved toward the back door. “I’ll leave that work to you two. I will plant a garden in the greenhouse, so I can control the weather in there, and well, when that’s done, I’ll figure out another project.” Her face lit up with excitement.

  “You could offer to plant a community garden,” Raze suggested. “Or pack up some of the canned goods and dehydrated meat for the Alpha and his mate.”

  “Do you think a basket will please him?” Caress blanched and glanced at Ravage. “He’s kinda scarier than you are.”

  “Mm-hmm. Maybe showing you can do something productive will go a long way.” He kissed her head. “You have all week to play in your greenhouse before you report to the school.”

  “Again, I feel the need to bring up regular college. I don’t understand why I can’t go like all other students.” She moaned and flipped off Raze who snickered.

  “You need to be around some pack females.” Might as well get her on board now. “Adrie Scarlett is in her mid-twenties and took over teaching the students here a few months ago. The two of you will be good for each other. She needs to learn about pack hierarchy. I taught you all about it. Plus, I’d really prefer for you to land a good mate. One who will cherish you and see all the great parts of you, not only your pretty face and”—he cringed—“your body.” If a male didn’t treat his sister right, he swore he’d crush the guy’s skull.

  “Gee, two parts compliment, one part gross.” She scrunched her nose. “You’re my brother.”

  He sliced the air with his hand. “Point is, this pack will provide for us in many ways. It’s a good opportunity for you to learn cohesion, how to be selfless and work with others.”

  Though he was strict for her protection, he loved her more than life…but that didn’t make her resent him any less.

  Her eyes narrowed, a smirk twitching her lips. “You need to get laid. You are so uptight and worried about Raze and me, you don’t date or try to find a mate yourself.”

  “I don’t have time right now. My focus is on you two.” He ushered her toward the back door and the greenhouse beyond. “Besides, I believe in true mates. When I find her, I’ll know.”

  Chapter Two

  Caress laughed. “No one believes in true mates. Isn’t the term more of an urban legend? After living in the human world for so long, you still think you’ll know? I’m old enough for you to bring your lovers home.”

  “Who I choose to fuck is no one’s business.”

  Her eyes flashed a mix of humor and fire. “You don’t want to live by your own rules. For us, casual sex is a personality flaw or bad choice. But for you, since you don’t show them to our face, it’s okay.”

  “She has a point, brother.”

  “Shut up, Raze. We’re ten years older than she is. Did you think when we were twenty and she was ten, we’d bring home our lovers? No. When I took a lover, I did so away from impressionable minds, or at least I did back then. Now it’s more out of habit.”

  Caress flipped her hair over her shoulder and gritted her jaw. “I’m so over this conversation. I’m going to set up my greenhouse.” She dug in her pocket and handed Raze a folded piece of paper. “These are the items I need right away. Please go shopping and grab some fast-food or whatever on the way back.” She sauntered toward the back of the house.

  “Always the gopher,” Raze mumbled and glanced at the list. “Good God, you need everything written here? What if they don’t have it?”

  “Then go to the nearest big city that does and make sure you get organic.”

  “Yes, Princess.” He growled and headed for the SUV, driving off.

  Grinning, Ravage pulled his cell from his pocket. “Bro, make sure you hit home on the GPS so you don’t get lost.”

  Raze snorted and hung up on him. Chuckling, Ravage shoved his phone in his pocket.

  He would take a few days to get them settled. Maybe take a break and head into town later that night or the next. He’d heard plenty about a place called Gee’s Bar. Sometime during the weekend he’d set them up with jobs. His mind locked on the conversation he’d had with Ogden regarding the lumber mill and town renovations. Knowing Raze, he would want construction since he’d majored in architecture and had a passion for restoring buildings to their former glory. For himself, he would seek out the pack enforcer and ask about protecting the pack.

  In Los Lobos, he had a chance to really make a difference, help turn this town into something remarkable. For him, the entire move was a surefire win-win situation.

  With a sigh, he headed to the rear of the house. He wanted to keep an eye on his sister to make sure she didn’t try to sneak off and run back to the loser he’d saved her from.

  Wandering outside, he took a seat on a porch step to watch his sister in her element. When she was small, the sandbox had possessed the same calming ability as digging in dirt to plant flowers or food. He’d never understood what drew her in. As a kid, outside of gardening, she’d screamed bloody murder if she got dirty, had to have her nails and toes done up, and refused to play tag or any other outside game for fear of messing up her clothes.

  Did I make the right decision coming to Los Lobos? Will Caress be all right? Will Raze? He sniffed the air, something snagging his attention. The scent of sweetness, a hint of vanilla and jasmine. His Wolf smiled. Glancing at his watch, he was surprised to find three hours had passed while he’d been deep in thought. He rose and headed through the house to meet their new visitor.

  Ravage opened the front door and leaned against the frame.

  He raked his gaze over the curvy woman in a skirt and form-fitting shirt. His perusal ended on her pixie-cute face and beautiful gray eyes hidden behind the ugliest pair of horn-rimmed glasses he’d ever seen. “Hi, beautiful.”

  “Hi. I’m Adrie. I figured since we’d talked on the phone so much, I’d come by personally and welcome you and your family to Los Lobos.”

  “Nice to meet you. I’m Ravage.” He wanted to release her hair from the tight bun at the nape of her neck, let the tresses hang around her shoulders and face.

  “I figured you’d be hungry, so I wanted to be a good neighbor and bring by dinner and sweet tea. We don’t have any quick restaurants nearby, and I thought you’d be too worn out from moving to cook, at least for tonight.”

  She’s cute when she rambles on. His Wolf agreed. “Let me take that from you. Come on in. We haven’t done much yet, just unloaded our trailer.”

  “I saw. Looks like you’re moving an entire state in with you.”

  Ravage led her to the dining room, the only area with chairs unpacked, aside from the breakfast stools along the breakfast counter. As he set the containers on the table, he considered calling Caress inside but wanted to check out the sexy schoolmarm. “Please have a seat.”

  She perched on the edge of a chair, a pretty blush staining her cheeks. Her gaze traveled from his bare chest to his face, to his chest again, and a lingering pass back up to meet his eyes.

  Amused, he arched a brow. “Do I need to put on a shirt?”

  “I,
um…. You don’t have to on my account.” She looked at him from behind her glasses.

  Interesting. He didn’t know of any shifters needing prescription glasses. He reached over and plucked them off her face. “Do you always hide behind fake glasses? You have beautiful eyes. It’s a shame you don’t show them to others.”

  “Can I please have those back? The students take me more seriously when I wear them.”

  “Hmm. I don’t know exactly what to make of you, Ms. Adrie.” He returned the glasses to her. “Would you care for a bottle of water? It’s the only thing cold I have on hand.”

  “Um. No, that’s okay. I wanted to drop off the food and introduce myself. I’ve done what I came to do. Now, I can head home.”

  “To eat alone or with your mate? You never said during our conversations on the phone.”

  “Real smooth, Casanova.” Caress strolled into the room, bringing a horrible stench with her.

  “I hope you’re going to shower.”

  “Yep. I need a break. Everything’s coming along out there, though. I’m Caress.”

  “Oh, nice to meet you. I’m Adrie.” She smiled, and his heart tripped. “You’ll be the one working with me, then?”

  His sister gave a quick wave. “I’d shake your hand, but you don’t want fertilizer and my mixed compost leeching into your pretty outfit.”

  “No worries.” The woman rose to leave. “I was in the neighborhood, dropping off dinner.”

  “You might as well stay. My brother has this amazing way of getting females to do what he wants, and I think he wants you to eat with us…unless you have someone at home to get back to?”

  “Uh, no.” She stared, a deer caught in headlights. “I only have some papers to grade in an empty house.”

  His sister snorted. “All work and no play makes for a bad—”

  “Caress, go take your shower.” Thankfully, with a parting grin, his sister dashed up the stairs. “Excuse her crass.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Really, we’d love for you to stay and share what you prepared for us. My brother, Raze will be back soon if you’re worried about being alone with me.”

  Adrie stiffened then slid her glasses back on her face.

  She’s ours. Her Wolf likes us, but she is skittish.

  I know, dear friend. What an interesting creature. She keeps sucking her bottom lip into her mouth.

  His Wolf growled, wanting a sample.

  “Have you always been this shy, Adrie?”

  “I’m sorry. I’m not a good conversationalist. I’m either teaching or have my nose stuck in a book.” She glanced around the all but empty room. “What do you do for a living?”

  “I’m a professional fighter.”

  Her eyes widened.

  Chuckling, he pointed to his bruised ribs. “Took a bad hit. I should be healed completely by tomorrow. All the bumps and ruts on the back roads to get here didn’t do me any favors.”

  “You get beat up for money?” Her focus dipped to his injury. “I never understood why men enjoy such a barbaric profession. The violence of fighting is a bit much to take.”

  “What are a few bruises or broken bones between warriors? The skill and strategy to give a good performance and knowledge to beat someone as good, or even better than you are, is a prime motivation in my line of work.”

  “You find pleasure getting hurt?”

  “I enjoy the thrill of winning. I don’t enjoy losing, so I make it a point to learn everything I can about my opponent through tapes, even private investigators who follow and report back what might be a psychological weakness.”

  Her brows drew together. “That’s, um…primitive.”

  “We are beasts, darlin’. Underneath this human skin, challenging is innate.”

  “You mean you’d challenge for Alpha?” She sucked in a breath, clearly misunderstanding his viewpoint.

  “No. I would never challenge my leader. I’m a dominant male but not Alpha material. Fuck’s sake, I can barely handle my siblings, let alone an entire pack.” He chuckled. “Please, excuse the language.”

  “Oh. I see.” She pulled the pins holding the tresses in a tight bun, shiny dark-brown waves unfurled over her shoulders. She combed through the tendrils with her fingers. The sweet floral scent filled his nostrils, fogging his mind. “Do you fight often?”

  “I, uh….” He paused, coming closer to losing restraint. “Yeah, about a dozen times a year or more. Depending.”

  “How will you continue to work from Los Lobos? I mean once you pick a pack job here.” Adrie played with strands of her hair, as if doing so were natural for her, instinctual to keep her hands occupied.

  “Alpha Tao knows I’m contracted to fight. I’ll have to plan my shift around my existing contract. I just fought though, so I have another month at least before I have to fly out.”

  “How can you maintain privacy with such a high-profile job? You don’t have fans who want to know where you live and stuff?”

  “Beautiful, I’m on a team of mixed martial artists for shifters of any species. We fight for the purse and recognition of our classification. Yeah, we have fans, but a majority of us reside in seclusion and are adept at keeping our private life out of the open.”

  She wrapped a tress around her index finger. “Oh. Why aren’t you on the same team as the humans?”

  “Strength. Going into hand-to-hand combat with them wouldn’t be a fair competition, and the sport is always about the skill and level of championships. Not saying we don’t have our challenges. Although we’re shifters, it doesn’t matter who we spar against.” Damn, she’s hot. He rode the lust thrumming along his veins. “There’s no shifting allowed, including partial shifting and the changing of our eyes. Since we’re televised, we have to maintain the perception we’re human just in case. Going against our nature is hard, but we do in order to avoid disqualification.”

  “You shouldn’t get him started on fighting.” Caress sidled into the room and slid onto a stool. “He’ll talk you to sleep. Literally have you snoring from how everything is set up to the matches in the cages. I’d stop to preserve your sanity before it’s too late. Or you’ll be zombiefied from too much information you really didn’t care to know.” She cast a glance at each of them and sat back.

  Adrie grinned, seeming to get his sister’s warped sense of humor. “Thank you for saving me. The idea is intriguing, but if you’ve seen one televised fight, you’ve seen them all. Crazy fans screaming for violence, blood, and gore. Fighters giving what the crowd asks for. I guess the only good thing shifters have going is the ability to heal quickly. I can’t imagine a shifter having any long-lasting cognitive damage.” She moved to unload the fare for dinner from the warming trays. “I made southern fried chicken, loaded potatoes, seasoned green beans, and peach cobbler.”

  “Smells delicious. We appreciate the sweet welcome.” Rising, Ravage went to the cabinet to retrieve the paper goods they’d purchased. “This will have to do for tonight, at least until we’re unpacked.” He flashed a smile and set the table.

  A horn blared, breaking the casual conversation.

  Caress caught his stare and sighed. “Raze is back. Let me go tell him where to deliver my goods, and we’ll be in to eat.”

  “Have you met anyone else yet?” Adrie moved around his kitchen with ease, poured them a cup of ice tea then slipped back into her seat.

  “We met the Alpha. He swung by to welcome us. We made plans to meet up at Gee’s Bar when we’re settled.” He took a deep drink of the tea, the sweet beverage hitting the spot. One sip wasn’t enough. He’d much rather have a sampling of Adrie’s sweet plump lips. Instead, he drained the glass in a few gulps, hoping to relieve the thirst she’d created when walking into his home.

  “Somethin’ sure smells damn good.” Raze came in through the back door. He set a bag of groceries on the empty kitchen counter along with pizzas. “Who’s our lovely visitor?”

  “Raze, meet Adrie, the school teacher Caress will be working with. Adri
e, meet my younger twin-brother Raze.”

  Her gaze flitted between them. “You look exactly alike.”

  “That’s us, identical,” Raze quipped. ”He’s only older by five minutes. I’m the sane one and the family peacekeeper.”

  Ravage snorted. “Don’t let him fool you. Raze is as high maintenance as our sister.”

  “Oh, stop bothering him. He’s right. He makes you calm when you go berserk on me.” Caress sauntered into the room and passed around the food. “Thank you for feeding us. I was not looking forward to pizza again. That’s all we’ve eaten since leaving our last home.”

  “Dear sister, leftovers are the perfect breakfast. Cold pizza and beer.”

  “So, Raze, are you a fighter, too?” Adrie asked between bites of food then licked the breaded flavoring off her finger.

  Watching her finger disappear between her lips stole Ravage’s attention. He couldn’t rip his gaze from her sexy mouth until she clicked her teeth at him. Sitting back, he forced his eyes to look up.

  “I spar with my brother and keep in shape,” Raze said, “but he’s in a class all his own. I’m an architect. I don’t get off causing others damage.”

  Her face lit up. “Oh, you’ll have to help rebuild this town, then. They remodeled the school for me. I only have a handful of students, though. More will come as wolves make Los Lobos their home.”

  “This food is delicious, Adrie.” Raze reached across the table to get second helpings.

  Ravage stole a piece of his chicken and smirked.

  “Caress,” Adrie addressed.” I happened to hear of some adults around your age will be hanging out tonight at the water hole. I can give you directions if you want to get out.”

  “Water hole?”

  “Yes, it’s a nickname for the hangout spot here. You’ll want to wear your bathing suit. There are some rocks they jump from into the water and a huge rope tied off onto a tree.”

  “Sounds like an epic time. Thanks.”

  “You wouldn’t be sending my sister off to Make-out Lane would you, Teach?”