Midnight Touch

by L Ann

  He hoped it hit Sam in the face.

  Shaun followed Cassie up a flight of stairs, then waited while she unlocked a second door and they entered the apartment.

  “Make yourself at home,” she told him, and waved a hand toward a couch that had seen better days.

  Shaun looked at it warily. The bright yellow throw covering it couldn’t hide its age and he was sure if he sat on it, it would break under his weight. He opted, instead, to follow Cassie and leaned against the door frame of what, he assumed, was her bedroom.

  His lips twitched up into a smile at the explosion of colour that greeted him, and he almost reached for his sunglasses to protect his eyes. It looked like someone had grabbed the brightest paint they could find and hurled it at the walls. There were yellows, greens, reds and blues everywhere. On the wall above her bed hung a painting of a wolf standing in a clearing, making him smile. His eyes shifted to Cassie, who stood in front of a bright orange dresser. The outfit she was wearing didn’t match the insanity of her bedroom.

  “Were you high when you decorated?” he asked, and she jumped.

  “I thought you were in the living room!” she said, spinning around with one hand pressed to her chest.

  Shaun’s smile became a grin. “You were in my bedroom. Only fair that I get to see yours.”

  “I did apologise for that.”

  “You did,” he agreed. “Twice, I believe. In between begging me not to murder you.”

  “You heard that?”

  “Was hard not to.”

  The front door opened behind Shaun, and he shifted position slightly, so he could see who entered. It was another woman, this one a brunette – probably Cassie’s roommate, he thought. From the look he caught on Cassie’s face before she blanked her expression, she had spotted her too.

  “And then there was the way you were eating me up with your eyes,” he raised his voice to make sure the newcomer heard him.

  “I was looking at your tattoos.”

  “Baby, my tattoos don’t go down that low.” Shaun winked at her as her eyes slid over his shoulder to where he knew her roommate was standing and listening to them. “Goldilocks, if a man could get pregnant from being stared at, I’d be having triplets from the eye-fucking you were giving me.”

  “I only saw your tattoos because you came out of the shower naked, not even a towel around your waist,” she chided him, and Shaun grinned.

  “You’re very welcome.”

  “Oh my God! Get out of here!” Laughing, Cassie grabbed a scatter-cushion off her bed and threw it at him.

  Shaun caught it, chuckling. “Fine. I’ll wait out here.” He tossed the cushion back onto her bed and backed out of the room, closed the door behind him and then turned to face her roommate.

  “Hi.” Shaun kept his voice casual as he walked past the woman standing in the centre of the room, her lips down-turned and her eyes narrowed. He could feel the waves of hostility rolling off her. Ignoring the bitter scent of anger, he headed over to the danger-couch and eased down onto it gingerly.

  “I know you.”

  “I get that a lot,” he replied. Gonna be like that, is it?

  She turned to the coffee table, rummaged around amongst the magazines, and pulled out a local newspaper. Flicking through I, she folded the pages over and threw it onto his lap.

  “Like I said, I know you.”

  Shaun looked down at the picture of himself as he was exiting his SUV outside The Lodge. The newspaper article headlined with MYSTERIOUS NEW OWNER MOVE INTO MARGARET DUNCAN’S FORMER HOME.

  “Small towns,” he muttered beneath his breath. “What’s your point?” He asked Cassie’s roommate.

  “You do know how small towns work, don’t you? You’ll have been seen walking in here with Cassie. By tomorrow night, it’ll be all over town that you’re her latest lover and the reason she and Sam broke up.”

  “I repeat – what’s your point?”

  The brunette shrugged. “Well, it won’t do her reputation any favours, will it?”

  “How will your reputation fare if it got out I was here because I was helping out a friend whose roommate had fucked her boyfriend while she was at work?” He tapped the newspaper with one long finger. “Small towns don’t generally like that kind of behaviour. So, who’ll look like the bad guy here? You or me, for being there when Cassie needed a friend?”

  They were trading glares in silence when Cassie returned to the room. She glanced at Shaun, then her roommate, then back to Shaun.

  “I’m ready to leave,” she said into the silence.

  “Cassie.” Her roommate moved to block her path. “We need to talk.”

  “There’s nothing you can say to me that will fix what you’ve done,” Cassie replied. Her eyes caught Shaun’s, a hint of desperation in her eyes. Her scent confirmed how upset she was. “Are you coming?”

  “Not yet,” he responded lightly, rising to his feet. “But the day’s not over yet.”

  The roommate glared at him, but Cassie gave a soft laugh, the darkness in her eyes receding, and shook her head at him. He winked at her, his eyes taking in her appearance.

  She had changed her clothes, he saw, and no longer reminded him of a librarian. Now she looked like a girl who wouldn’t be out of place in his pack. Skin-tight jeans, and a t-shirt that moulded itself to her curves.

  Oh boy, he thought, those curves are a wet dream just waiting to happen.

  He was suddenly really glad she’d broken into his house.

  “What did she say to you?” Cassie asked him as they walked down the stairs.

  Shaun glanced back over his shoulder and shrugged. “The usual ‘I know who you are’ speech.”

  Cassie frowned. “And does she?”

  “Know who I am? Sure … I mean, it’s not hard to figure out, is it? I’m probably the only new face in town.” He dropped the suitcase he’d insisted on carrying to the floor and waited for Cassie to unlock the door. “Let me go out first and make sure your ex isn’t waiting for you.”

  “What if he is?”

  Shaun’s smile was a quick baring of teeth. “Oh Goldilocks, I really do hope he is.”

  He was mildly disappointed to find the street empty when he opened the door. They walked to his car and Shaun threw the suitcase into the back before he opened the passenger door and waited for Cassie to climb in.

  Once he had settled into the driver’s seat, he glanced over at Cassie. “Where are we going?”

  Cassie reeled off the directions to her sister’s house and Shaun pulled away from the kerb. She watched him covertly as he drove. None of the men in her life, apart from her dad, would have taken her unexpected appearance in their lives as easily as he had. From the moment she’d first laid eyes on him in his bedroom, she had sensed an underlying air of amusement around him, like he found her entertaining. There was a brief moment where she felt that she should be insulted by that, but she admitted to herself she liked how he was dealing with it.

  He didn’t attempt to fill the silence, and strangely that didn’t bother her. The quiet between them felt comfortable and Cassie didn’t feel the need to make small talk like she would when she travelled with Sam anywhere.

  Shaun was looking straight ahead, concentrating on the road, and Cassie let herself admire him, safe in the knowledge he couldn’t see her looking. He had one hand curved loosely around the wheel, the other arm propped on the door, elbow resting in the gap where the window would be if it was closed.

  Her eyes fell to the tattoos covering his arms and hands, disappearing beneath the sleeves of his t-shirt. The memory of how they covered the rest of his torso flashed into her mind’s eye.

  She wanted to paint him.

  It had been so long since she’d last picked up a paintbrush. While Sam had never said anything outright, Cassie knew he hadn’t liked that side of her, and she had tried to tone it down. She had taken a job at the local bank and packed away her art supplies.

  Finally joined the adult world,
Sam had told his friends.

  “This the place?” Shaun’s voice broke through her reverie and she blinked.

  “Yes.”

  He parked the car and climbed out. Cassie undid her seatbelt and reached for the door, then paused to watch as Shaun strolled around the vehicle.

  When he opened the door, she smiled up at him and he cocked an eyebrow in query. She shook her head and took his offered hand, letting him help her out of the car.

  “What are you smiling about?” he asked once she was standing beside him.

  “It’s nothing. I’ve just not had anyone keep opening doors for me the way you do.”

  He gave an easy laugh. “My mom would come back and kill me if I didn’t.” A shrug followed his words, and he reached into the backseat to haul out her suitcase. “Don’t get me wrong. I can be a total asshole when the mood takes me.” His grin flashed on again. “And I have been, many many times.”

  Without thinking about it, Cassie placed a hand on his arm and leaned up to press a kiss to his stubbled cheek.

  “Well, you’ve had every reason to be an asshole to me, but you haven’t.” She felt his forearm flex beneath her fingers, and a buzz of electricity ran through her fingertips.

  “Aww Goldilocks,” he drawled. “You’re gonna make me blush.

  Cassie pulled back and punched his shoulder, then yelped at the impact. Eyes dancing, he captured her hand between both of his and raised it to his lips.

  “Let me kiss that better for you.” His lips brushed over each of her knuckles, his eyes never leaving hers.

  The buzz turned into a spark at the touch of his lips, and she tugged her hand free, a blush rising over her cheeks.

  “I need to make sure Gemma is home,” she blurted, and ran up the path.

  Soft laughter followed her.

  The door opened before Cassie reached it and she saw her sister framed in the doorway. The moment Cassie saw her, she felt tears sting her eyes and her throat closed up. She realised that the hours she’d spent with the man leaning against his car had kept her thoughts about why she had run to The Lodge at bay, but as soon as she saw Gemma, it all came rushing back.

  Gemma took one look at Cassie’s face and rushed forward, her arms opening wide.

  “What did that rat bastard do now?” she hissed. “And who the hell is he?” Her tone changed to one of awe.

  Cassie heard a deep chuckle behind her and knew he had caught up to them.

  Gemma looked at Shaun with a mixture of suspicion and appreciation – a reaction he was used to. So used to, in fact, that it generated an automatic response. Something his brother mockingly referred to as ‘Alpha Male Mode’.

  He flashed a smile, designed to win her over and reached for her hand. He could feel Cassie frowning at him as he raised her sister’s hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to it.

  “Gemma,” she spoke, a tone to her voice that made both Shaun and Gemma look at her. “This is –”

  “Shaun,” he supplied, squeezing Gemma’s hand and let it drop. “Cassie dropped by The Lodge earlier, so I gave her a lift back.”

  Both women stared at him, making him feel like a slab of prime steak waiting to be cooked and eaten. His eyes swung from one to the other, grin firmly in place.

  “And now she’s arrived, it’s time I got on with my day.” He turned to head back to his car.

  “Wait!”

  Shaun paused and hiked an eyebrow.

  “Thank you … again.”

  “That’s okay, Goldilocks,” Shaun reached out and tugged a lock of her hair. “You’re more than welcome to break into my bedroom any time you like.”

  Gemma’s sharp intake of breath caused Shaun’s grin to widen as he strode back to his car.

  “So,” Gemma began as Shaun’s car disappeared down the road, “what happened first? You met Shaun and split up with Sam … or split up with Sam and then met Shaun. Because, damn, he’s a step up in the right direction.”

  Cassie smiled, then sighed. “Can we go inside?” She looked around and found her suitcase behind her. Grabbing the handle, she dragged it up the path and followed her sister indoors.

  “I take it you want to stay here for a bit?” Gemma asked, glancing at the suitcase.

  “If it’s okay?”

  “You know it is.” Gemma moved around the kitchen, pulling out mugs and filling the kettle. “So, what happened? Sam turned up here a few hours ago demanding to be let in. He was convinced you were here and wouldn’t leave until I’d let him check upstairs to make sure you weren’t hiding in a cupboard or something.”

  “He came here? God, he’s got some nerve!” Cassie snapped.

  “He said you walked out, that there was a misunderstanding and you wouldn’t let him explain.”

  Cassie’s laugh was bitter. “That’s how he’s explaining it? Oh my God!” She raked a hand through her hair and shook her head. “He was having sex with Rebekah on the table in our kitchen. I walked in on them. There was no misunderstanding!”

  Gemma’s jaw dropped. “What the hell?” She wrapped her arms around Cassie and pulled her into a hug. “I told you he was no good!”

  Cassie rested her head on her sister’s shoulder. “I know you did, and I should have listened.”

  “What are you going to do now? You know you can move in here. There’s no need for you to go back there.”

  “Thank you,” Cassie whispered. “I know I need to deal with them both at some point, but not yet … not right now.”

  Other than the old guy behind the counter asking him fifty questions about his life, Shaun’s shopping trip to the grocery store was uneventful. He kept half an eye out just in case he saw Cassie’s ex and amused himself with the thought of cornering the man on the off-chance he did see him. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on one’s perspective, Shaun saw no one and drove back to The Lodge less than an hour later.

  His cell rang while he was unpacking his groceries and Shaun spent an hour entertaining Deacon with the events of the day.

  “The place is living up to its small-town reputation, then?” Deacon asked.

  “Well, I made the local newspaper. One of their reporters snapped a pic of me moving in,” Shaun said, as he made himself a coffee. “They’ve left me alone, though, so it hasn’t been too bad.” He took a sip of his coffee and wandered into the living room to sit on the couch and propped his feet on the table. “Are you driving up soon? This place is unreal. It’s going to make the perfect sanctuary.”

  “Mac wants to head down in a couple of weeks. He’s waiting for Isabella to come back from Italy.”

  “I’m hoping the renovations will be signed off tomorrow as complete. The main house has four bedrooms, but the three barns that were half-collapsed have been fixed up and we have, I think, a total of sixteen bedrooms,” Shaun chuckled. “And there’s acres of forest, Deke, all private. No more worrying about being seen.”

  There was a long pause, and then. “Shaun, are you –”

  “Don’t start that again.” Shaun spoke over his brother, then stopped when he heard another voice talking quietly. “Is that Mac?”

  “Yeah, hang on.” There was a muffled conversation, and then a different voice sounded down the line.

  “Are you well?”

  “I am,” Shaun replied. “Are you mated yet?”

  “Negotiations are proving to be difficult. Isabella is resistant to a few of the requirements of combining our packs.”

  “With that kind of romancing, I can’t understand why,” Shaun chuckled.

  “It’s a political move, Shaun, not a love match.”

  “She’s still a woman, Mac,” he took another swallow of coffee. “Try being a little less robotic in your approach. Embrace your inner wolf.”

  “We’re not animals, Shaun.”

  Shaun’s laugh was bitter. “We both know that’s bullshit.”

  Since moving into The Lodge just over a month earlier, Shaun had overseen the renovations needed on the property an
d surrounding land to prepare for the pack’s relocation. He’d been thankful for the distraction and threw himself into the work with a single-minded determination. Two days after his unexpected visitor, he stood back to survey the results.

  The house itself hadn’t been changed other than the updating and redecoration of some of the rooms, so far. The main focus had been on the out-buildings – most of which had been in various states of ruin for years.

  Three of the old barns had been converted into living quarters – two with five bedrooms, and the largest one with six. They were each equipped with fully fitted kitchen and general social areas. There were two other buildings earmarked for future development – based upon how the pack settled when they arrived.

  The thirty acres of forest were no longer open to access from the roads – closed off with a variety of stone walls, fencing and the natural vegetation of the forest itself – stopping people from wandering through without passing the house.

  The main drive up to the house had been adequate enough to not require extensive repairing and had also been marked for future changes. The only change that had been made – that morning, in fact – was a set of gates, controlled from the house with security cameras attached.

  The safety and security of the pack was Shaun’s highest priority, and this new Sanctuary would ensure they would be able to shift and run without fear of exposure.

  Shaun stood on the porch and watched as the team of workmen Cormac had hired drove away for the final time and, after checking the time, Shaun decided a quick trip into town for food would be a good idea. He half-hoped there would be some kind of restaurant or fast food place but wasn’t holding out much hope. From what he’d seen of the town, it didn’t appear to be big enough to attract much in the way of good dining.

  Half an hour later, after a quick shower and a change of clothes, he found himself parking outside the grocery store. Exiting his SUV, he glanced up at the windows of the apartment Cassie shared with her cheating roommate. He wondered whether she had moved back in or had stayed at her sister’s.

  In the back of his mind, his wolf whispered encouragement, reminded him of the shock of her touch. He couldn’t shake the feeling she was important in some way – to his wolf, to his pack, maybe even to him. But Shaun ignored the temptation to go and seek her out. Cassie had enough problems in her life without him adding his own brand of crazy to it.