by Reina Torres
Five
Xavier had never really learned how to converse with women. There were never any around when he was young, and even after Celeste came to Mystic, he wondered if the ease he had with her was because of Aaron.
Celeste was happily mated and yes, married, to Aaron. He had adopted her twins even though they were adults, and thanks to the happy circumstance of the preternatural strength of shifter genetics, Celeste was expecting another child.
Many didn’t question it. In fact, no one in Mystic did. What Xavier questioned was his own family’s propensity for losing the women they love. Was it really just his family? Had there ever been a time where the Salazars had happy lives that included mates?
It didn’t take long for children to be conceived and born. Was that the extent of a woman’s future with a man of his line?
For once, he wished he’d asked the question of his uncle during the years he’d lived under his roof.
At the moment, True was hovering beside the broken wall, struggling to see around him. “How long will it take for you to open the door?”
The growl that came from his throat was his, and his alone. The panther inside of him snarled in anger, protesting the way he was treating True. “Do you want me to break it open?”
There was a soft exhale of air and then a shuffling of feet. “I’m okay if you’re okay. I’ll be happy to pay for a new door if it breaks.”
The door was solid hardwood. Old school carpentry.
As frustrated as he was, he didn’t want to tell her that if he broke the door it would be irreplaceable unless he crafted it himself. And the instant he thought the words, his panther was only too happy to tell him to-
Break the door. Take it down.
He should have told her that they’d have to wait until Aaron came back with Celeste, he wanted to see the space with her at his side. Aaron was only too happy to have him break through the wall from the beginning. He wouldn’t mind having to replace the door.
Especially since True was so excited by the idea.
Still, as he took the doorknob in hand, he realized that the knob was an antique.
“You should come in here and look at this.”
He regretted the words and the invitation, but he didn’t step back and away fast enough when True wiggled through the opening and rushed to the door.
Xavier had to grab a hold of her hips to steady her as she fell against him.
“Sorry,” she rushed out the apology, “I tripped over something on the floor.”
He didn’t argue with her or even look, just took his hands off of her hips and dropped them back at his sides. The damage that he’d done to the wall sent pieces flying across the floor in the hallway.
She turned to look up at him and her hair brushed against his chest and his shoulder. The scent of sun and dust mixed up in his nose, and he felt the odd urge to sneeze. “This is amazing,” she gushed and then looked back down at the doorknob. “This is an antique and a fine example of brass work. Thank goodness you didn’t destroy it.”
“I wasn’t going to destroy it,” he growled in reply. “It would have broken, but you’re the one who wanted me to burst through the door.”
“Yes,” she lifted her chin to smile at him, “like the Kool-Aid man in the old commercials.”
He just stared at her.
And he watched her struggle with the silence.
“You know,” she hedged, “the glass pitcher with a cartoon face and all the red fruit punch sloshing around?” Another pause and then she tried again. “He bursts through walls, so the family knows to drink the Kool-Aid. Remember?”
He barely managed to lift a brow in question. “Television?”
True bit the inside of her lip and winced. Xavier wanted to reach out to her, but he kept his distance. He just couldn’t seem to find the right words to be polite and his inner war wasn’t helping the matter any.
“Never mind,” she blurted out and stepped back. “Maybe we should wait for Aaron and Celeste.”
He heard her hesitation, but his eyes were fixed on the other side of the door. The hinges that held the door to the frame were basic and bore no design beyond a functional one. Lifting the sledgehammer in his hands, holding the thick handle parallel to the floor, he gave the hinge a good solid hit. The wood that finished the frame on one side cracked in two, and the hinge buckled with the impact.
Before True could complain, or say anything at all, he swung the sledgehammer, letting the heavy metal head add momentum to the swing. The hinge at the bottom half of the doorframe buckled just like its counterpart.
Almost before he managed to wiggle the door open in a way that wouldn’t damage the doorknob and lock beyond repair, True was trying to wiggle through into the other room.
As irritated as he was at her eagerness to get inside, the one thing that stoked a different kind of fire inside of him was the press of her ass against his hips, and everything between. True might wear her share of loose flowy blouses, but pressed as close as they were, he could feel the plush curve of her backside rubbing up against his jeans, and the friction alone had him hard.
Having her scent filling his nose, and the brush of her hair against his chest, had his panther clawing at their link and his hunger flaring in his eyes.
“If I can squeeze through,” her words were breathless in anticipation, “then I can wiggle the door open further so you can make it.”
Xavier wanted to grab her arm and pull her back, but the door was going to be tricky and he could hurt her without realizing it. As it was, it was taking everything in him not to drag her back into the hall and turn her over his knee, so he could deliver a few well-placed spanks. True was a willful woman.
Stopping her from hurting herself in some reckless manner was a worry that had only developed since she arrived. Celeste was a strong-willed woman, but he didn’t feel the worry for her that he felt for True.
And as True’s rounded hip disappeared into the other room he considered asking Aaron if he’d ever considered tying his mate down to a chair to keep her safe.
“True?”
He called through the opening, and then waited for her to respond.
“Dammit, True? What’s going on in there?”
“Oh, my goodness!” Her voice was full of amazement. “You need to see this!”
Xavier bit back a curse as his panther shook with laughter inside of him. “Move away from the door so I can come in.”
“Hurry up. This is amazing.”
“What’s amazing,” he grumbled to himself, “is how I haven’t thrown you over my shoulder and dragged you out of here.” Xavier grabbed a hold of the hinge-side of the door and pushed. The door barely moved, scraping loudly against wood.
Gritting his teeth, he pulled and thought he might wiggle it free in that direction.
No. It seemed to be even more stuck than the first direction.
Opening the room on a rush had not been the best idea. He could feel the air against his skin and knew that the hall had more moisture in the air than the open parts of the building. Maybe the humidity in the air made the door swell after he’d broken the frame.
He had to get inside and see what she was doing.
And no door was going to stop him from that.
Reaching up to the top of the door, Xavier allowed his panther to rise up through their link and change his hand into a combination of claw and fingers. The top of the door pressed tightly against the top of the frame, and the pressure felt like the door was trying to burst free on its own.
Blowing out a bit of his frustration, he curled his fingers around the top of the door and tore away a section. Thankfully, it was large enough to let him through.
True had a feeling that Xavier was almost standing close enough to touch her, but she knew he wouldn’t, unless he absolutely had to. The man had something against her, and it was a shame. Then again, no one who’d ever looked like Xavier Salazar had ever looked at her twice.
She ha
d a little more ‘cushion’ than guys usually liked, and on the off chance that they did, it was almost a fetish rather than a preference. And just the thought of her last boyfriend made her shudder. Hearing his proclamation that she was so lucky to have him because he didn’t mind that she was a little porky had turned her stomach.
Instead of feeling like she’d dressed to the nines for their dinner, she suddenly felt like she’d worn nothing better than a burlap sack, making her feel self-conscious.
But this far away from the big city life of Sylvan City. She’d found room to breathe.
That is, unless she was stuck in a room with Xavier.
The man gave her a complex. Not like Brad and his thoughtless comments.
Xavier seemed to take all the air out of the room just by being there. All of that gorgeous muscle must stretch around lungs that acted like bellows, mercilessly pulling the fresh air out and leaving her gasping.
It was silly really. Xavier was hot. Crazy hot.
And even when he snarled at her, she couldn’t help the instinct to snarl right back in his face, but she didn’t want to act like one of those ‘crazy cat ladies’ that her friend Katherine was always predicting for her future.
Her friend was working on opening up her own boutique in Sylvan City, but she was having trouble breaking into the market and right before True left town, Katherine had reminded her to, “Focus on getting some tail while you’re there.”
True had laughed out loud at the ridiculous play on words. “I’m not going out to Mystic for tail.”
Katherine had laughed just as hard. “Cock-tails? But still tails, my darling. Look, all I’m saying is to have a little fun. Let down your hair. What happens in Mystic-”
“What’s happening in Mystic,” True had reminded her, “is a job. A great job. I’m not going to do anything to mess up this opportunity. I know I’ve got the skills and the creativity, but I really want to outdo myself and make the bar there a huge success.”
“That’s right, sweetheart.” Katherine had pressed a smacking kiss on her cheek. “Just don’t turn your nose up if some hot shifter offers to bend you over the-”
“Kath!”
“What?” Her friend shrugged. “Just remember that when you become one of those crazy cat ladies.”
True rolled her eyes at her friend. “You and I said we’re going to live out the ‘sunset years’ of our lives together, so I’ll at least have one kitty cat under my roof.”
Katherine had the gall to act hurt by the statement even though she usually liked to joke about her ‘cat-like’ abilities of falling asleep in the sun.
And she would have had a good laugh at True’s frustrations in dealing with the panther shifter. Thank goodness she wasn’t around to do that, because that would have made True bury her head under her pillow and stay there most of the day.
That would have kept her from finding this amazing gem hidden behind a false wall.
“Isn’t it amazing?”
She heard Xavier’s growl almost purr into her ear. “If you like spiders and dust. It’s perfect.”
True stepped back and gestured at the far wall. “Isn’t it gorgeous? I bet there are light fixtures or sources behind that wall. I’m betting that’s stained glass back there. And there’s a bar over there.” She turned and pointed back toward the bar they’d left. “It’s probably some kind of mirrored construction.”
“And you can see all of this with your x-ray vision?”
Rolling her eyes, she gave him an elbow. “Before you managed to get in here, I used the flashlight on my phone, but I like using my hands to… to feel the room.”
She didn’t have to see his expression to know that he was looking at her as if she was one foot in the door at an asylum.
“And I think I saw some kind of a stage in the corner, so the wall must be enforced really well so people in the bar wouldn’t hear what was going on in here.”
“What exactly do you think that was?”
“Music,” she shot back as if she couldn’t believe there was any other answer. “I bet it was sultry music. A stand-up bass. Some kind of brass to give it a slinky feel.” And even though the room was silent around her, she swore she could almost hear it coming from the walls. “That kind of jazz that makes you sit up and take notice and melts you into your chair at the same time.”
She swayed her hips a bit, listening to the sounds of Harlem Nocturn in her head, with the sensation of that gorgeous beaded dress pulling at her shoulders and coating her body like the fabric itself was liquid.
“I think we have to find a way to open this too. Think of the excitement when we reveal the history of a speakeasy here at the resort. I bet the statute of limitations on serving illegal alcohol during Prohibition is over, and they couldn’t exactly blame Aaron for the business practices of those before him. The history and attitude of a space like this could make the Winters a mint and draw in the crowds with money to spare.”
She felt Xavier tense up behind her and turned around to look at him. “Not a fan of crowds?”
He shook his head adamantly. “No. Not at all.”
“So, you’re not going to be a usual customer here?”
Smiling, he shocked her. “I don’t need to come down here to drink.”
“Oh,” she rocked forward on the balls of her feet, and poked her finger into his chest, “secrets. I like that.”
Where was this confidence coming from? Maybe it was left over from her dream. That woman, she knew, would have no qualms about calling Xavier out on his actions, but she wasn’t that woman, was she?
She could see the way his frustration with her crawled over him like a cloak weighing heavily on his shoulders. And she felt bad for him. She really did. She could be crazy at times and she had a feeling that she really got on Xavier’s nerves, probably more than anyone else had ever done.
True’s smile only deepened. After all, she really liked being Number 1 when the opportunity presented itself.
“You know,” she started to speak again, hoping to find a way to smooth things over between them, but her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a freight train blowing by outside the door.
The screaming rush of sound seemed to bear down on her head. She lifted her hands to cover her ears, but she never had the chance.
The whole building shuddered and then shifted under her feet as the door slammed shut. The walls echoed a sickening crack that reminded her of a lumberjack video she’d seen somewhere. Before she could even think of what was happening around them, Xavier wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to the ground under him.
He kept a hand behind her head, cushioning her fall, and the other… the other hand must have braced against the floor to hold him up because one moment his body was almost crushing hers and then the next, there was a little bit of space between their chests.
As the dust began to settle, she blinked to clear her eyes and looked at him.
“Xavier?”
He took his time in answering, but when he did, she heard the strain in his voice. “Wind.” He drew in and pushed out his breaths between clenched teeth. “It came through the bar and down the hall. Leaving the door open was a bad idea.”
Oh God. “I’m sorry, Xavier. I should have waited. I shouldn’t have pushed you.”
“Something must have eaten through a beam, or more than one.”
True felt a drop of sweat fall on her cheek. “Are you hurt?”
He didn’t answer her in words. His soft grunt made her ache for him.
“Tell me. Where?”
He didn’t speak, and she wasn’t going to just lay there and wait for him to say something. She gently traced her hands up his chest and over to the back of his head. Fine. His neck was tight, but she couldn’t feel any blood there.
“True, don’t.”
She ignored the pulse of frustration that rocketed through her. She certainly wasn’t the easiest person to deal with when she was in pain, she couldn’t expect him
to be any better.
“Then tell me where it hurts.”
Her hands descended down his chest, and when she felt the bottom of his ribs, her hands smoothed around back. That’s when she felt the beam.
The same woodwork she’d admired before had tried to kill them!
“I really am sorry, Xavier. How can I help?”
“I need to concentrate,” he grumbled above her. “I think I can shift while I’m getting to my feet. That should work, but it’s going to be hard.”
“Just go ahead and shift. I’ll be okay.”
He shook his head, and she felt the movement through his body. “If I shift while I’m hurting this badly, I won’t have as much control.”
She shook her head and tried to reassure him. “Just do what you need to do. I don’t want you to be hurt because of me.”
He groaned under the weight of the beam, arching his shoulders. He gave her even more room to breathe, but it brought his hips flush against hers, and she couldn’t help the way her body reacted. She was still full of concern for him, but the way he fit against her body made her ache in other ways.
True tried to push that feeling away, but when she felt a ripple of energy course through her body from his, she looked up into his eyes and felt something shift inside of her.
His eyes were emerald green and for a heartbeat his pupils contracted, but not to pinpoints, the sides contracted and the darkness looking back at her was the narrowed gaze of a predator. She knew that his panther had come to the surface.
Knowing about shifters was one thing, seeing the shift in his eyes was quite another. Even though she saw the raw evidence of his other natural shape, quite literally staring her in the eyes, the only fear she felt was for Xavier, hoping he wouldn’t suffer more.
The panther looking out at her wasn’t angry, he wasn’t wary of her either. Unless she read his mood completely wrong, his panther saw her… and hungered.
And heaven help her.
She felt the same.
Xavier shook his head and when he returned his gaze to her, his eyes were completely human again, and the look bleeding through his eyes was frustration and pain.