“The nearest hospital is too far, it all went rather quickly and she didn’t want to give birth there anyway. The doctor was supposed to come to supervise but as I said…” He gave her a look that said there wasn’t anything more he could have done.
She supposed there wasn’t much he could do, in that case. Deciding that quiet was best for now, she settled into a dark red chair of well-stained leather so red it was almost black, and waited for whatever was coming next.
She sat quietly, observing the house and the people inside of it. The couple were obviously delighted with the peacefully quiet baby and Cade sat stonily staring at his phone in between shooting glares at the door. She hid a smile, she’d been promised quiet and peace but had walked into the exact opposite.
Jacqui was used to a lack of conversation, generally her opinion wasn’t wanted by the clients she served or the people they were around. She was little more than an ornament, really. Obviously, things were going to be the same in this situation too. That was fine, she was used to staying quiet, observing, and keeping things to herself. The practice had served her well so far.
The house was richly done, tasteful of course, but dark warm tones filled the room and the area she’d seen when she came in. There was very little in the way of color to shock the senses, all earth-tones and shades of white. Even the two men were dressed in dark shades, though Cade wore a dark gray dress shirt and black slacks while Kane wore black jeans and a black t-shirt. This was a family that liked nice things but kept a low profile. Good.
Jacqui stood when a man in a white lab-coat with a black bag walked into the room. Cade glared at him, promising to return shortly, and asked Jacqui to follow him. He led her to a door that took them outside. She was greeted with a large rectangular swimming pool surrounded with wood furniture and white umbrellas on the six tables. This house was obviously meant for more than one family member and was some kind of social center for the entire family. There weren’t any other people out here and it was far quieter than in the house.
Cade led her to a table by a natural-looking but very small waterfall, and apologized.
“I’m sorry but I must speak with the doctor. I’ll come back in a little while, if that’s alright with you? I am deeply sorry about all of this.” He looked contrite but distracted, almost boyish for a moment before he looked away.
“I understand, things do happen. I’ll be fine out here, if someone can bring me a drink and maybe something to eat?” Jacqui looked at him with understanding.
“Thank you, of course, yes. I’ll send someone out right away. It won’t be a moment.” He turned and walked away.
Jacqui watched him go and decided that he wasn’t the stereotypical gay male. Definitely an alpha male, but polite and considerate, if somewhat formal and cold. This was their first meeting, though. She didn’t hope for anything more than cordiality really, but perhaps a bit of warmth would be nice. Something had changed inside of her in the last hour, something she wasn’t sure she entirely liked. That woman had done something to her, broken something inside of her, and this sudden need for warmth from a man she didn’t even know was a bit embarrassing and distressing.
Jacqui told herself to shape up and asked for a drink and a sandwich from the young woman that appeared at her side. Jacqui hadn’t seen her approach and startled when the woman spoke.
“I’ll bring that right out.” The woman left without introducing herself.
Jacqui felt a moment of disquiet. Was the woman staff or family? Either way, the entire household seemed to be uninterested in knowing who people were. That seemed odd to Jacqui but perhaps they were used to not asking questions. She felt an urge to tap at her teeth once more but squashed it, this was all proving strange.
A sandwich and her drink were brought out by a different young woman, and before Jacqui could try to speak to her the woman walked away. Shrugging at the whole thing, Jacqui began to eat her sandwich.
She jumped when something thumped against her back and she heard an odd noise from the back of the chair. Turning she saw a medium-sized dog that looked rather like a large beagle of red and white staring at her sandwich with longing. The dog turned brown eyes up at her with the saddest eyes she’d ever seen.
“Oh my. Where did you come from then?” Jacqui turned to pet the dog and saw a name on the collar. “Annie. Is that you?”
The dog grinned, gave a breathy sound of happiness, and shook her head. Well, Jacqui thought, that’s a new one. A dog that answers you.
“Well, Annie, I have far too much sandwich here so would you like to share with me?”
Annie shook her head once more and did a little dance with her front paws. They were very large paws, much larger than she needed it seemed, but she knew how to use them. Jacqui smiled and fed the dog part of her roast beef sandwich. She was tickled when Annie very carefully took the bit of bread and meat from her fingers before wolfing it down greedily. Annie pranced again, waiting for more.
Jacqui fed more of the sandwich to the dog than to herself but she loved watching the way Annie delicately took each bite between her teeth, as though she were a very dignified lady, before letting instinct take over. Annie had a lot of self-control; that much was obvious.
Jacqui and Annie soon finished off the sandwich and waited for someone to come and retrieve them. Annie looked up at Jacqui happily as the woman scratched at her ears but started to get anxious. She kept going to the glass paneled door and then back to Jacqui. At first, she didn’t make any noise but then a loud whining noise, almost a piercing whistle, started.
Jacqui didn’t want to intrude on whatever was going on inside but when Annie started to jump up at the handle, as if she knew how to open it, Jacqui decided it was time to find somebody. The dog obviously belonged here and knew her way around. She wanted something so Jacqui let her in, following the dog as she sniffed at the air.
Annie seemed to have caught the scent she was looking for because her ears perked up and she took off for the room Jacqui had left an hour ago. There wasn’t anyone in the room now but Annie had her nose to the floor, snuffling along as she followed a scent. Jacqui was fascinated with the dog and followed her up a curving set of stairs, up to a room with an open dark walnut door.
The couple in the room looked up at Jacqui as she came to the door. They looked confused at first, uncertain of why she was there probably, but then smiled when they saw Annie.
“Baby girl! Come meet your sister!” the woman called out to Annie, who had stopped at the door. The dog ran into the room and gingerly found a spot to sit where she could look up at the woman. “This is Elspeth, Annie. She’s your sister.”
The dog gently stuck her nose to the baby, sniffing the tiny girl, before barely sticking her tongue out to lick the back of the baby’s head. The woman smiled down at Annie and they all settled together as the man came to Jacqui.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know who you are but you must know Cade. Can I help you with anything? You’re obviously waiting for something.” His eyes were gentle, a dark to the woman’s light, and he brought calm with him.
“Hi, my name’s Jacqui. I have a meeting with your brother. I flew up from Florida this morning for it. Do you know where he is, perhaps?” She offered him a smile rather than her hand.
“Ah, right. He said he had an important meeting today that we were fu…uh, right. No, I don’t know where he is but he said something about dinner as he saw the doctor out. Obviously, we won’t be coming down but I can show you where his office is.” He gave her his own kind smile and Jacqui wondered if there was Native American in their ancestry.
Both men were dark, even their skin was a dark tan, and their eyes were unlike any brown she’d ever seen before. Kane was a gentler version of his brother and he offered to take her elbow as they walked back down the stairs. She politely refused, her heels weren’t that high after all, and followed him.
“Congratulations by the way. You must be very excited.” Jacqui felt awkward in the qui
et as they walked and thought the baby might break the ice.
“Oh yes, she’s our first. Thank you very much, and thank you for not panicking when you came in. Damesha wanted a quiet home birth but she wanted the doctor here. Baby Elspeth decided to come more quickly than we thought she would.” He gave a grin of amusement and stopped in front of a door not far from the room they’d all been in earlier.
“This is his office. I’ll be back off to see to Damesha if you don’t mind. I hope your meeting goes well.” With a twinkling gleam in his eyes and a quick smile, Kane dashed away, leaving her at the closed door.
She knocked softly, the way she’d been taught to, and went into the office when Cade’s voice told her to come in.
“Oh, good grief, I left you outside, didn’t I? What you must think of me! Do sit down.” Jacqui noted he still hadn’t spoken her name.
Jacqui took the leather chair opposite his desk and settled in. Maybe now they could have a discussion.
“Dinner will be served shortly. I hope you haven’t changed your mind? Today was a bit, well, unusual.” He looked down at his hands, his nails were neatly manicured and clean, his hands strong and capable.
Jacqui was certain the man was capable of handling his business affairs but the strength in those hands told her he wasn’t afraid of hard work either.
“Do you help birth children often then? You seemed rather capable.” She couldn’t help her curiosity. Her control seemed to slip around him for some reason.
“I do with the sheep and cattle we raise on the ranch, but not with human children usually. I was flying by the seat of my pants and with skills I learned from a vet.” He looked a bit bashful for a moment.
She could tell that he wasn’t used to answering questions but seemed open to giving her that opportunity. Perhaps because she was soon going to be his wife? It wasn’t that important that she knew anything about him more than what she’d already learned but it was nice to talk with him.
“Well, you did an admirable job. If you’ll show me to my room, I’ll change for dinner.” She fell back on formality, the moment of warmth almost frightening her. This wasn’t going how she’d planned at all.
“Of course. Follow me.” He led her to a room on the bottom floor and she was soon changed and ready for dinner. A long sleeved black sweater along with a pair of black slacks were appropriate in the house. It was incredibly cold inside, even if it was warm outside of the walls and doors. She tied her hair in a knot on the back of her head and walked to the dining room Cade had shown her earlier.
They hadn’t spoken much on the tour of the house, just a simple exchange about what each room was and how nice the house was. Jacqui would have found it all very boring but something about him made her feel warm inside. His scent filled her nose and she could feel him beside her, even with her eyes closed she could still feel Cade beside of her.
Maybe it was best if she went home? This awareness of him wasn’t good for her, not good for her at all. Besides, he was gay! It wasn’t like he’d be interested in her anyway. Maybe that was a good thing? Maybe she could let her guard down, if only a little, with him?
“Hello, Jacqui, thank you for joining me. It’s just going to be us two this evening so I thought we’d eat outside by the pool, if you don’t mind?” He’d been waiting for her in the dining room and stood as she came in. All formality back in place.
She gave a small nod in agreement and followed him.
“Now, I understand if you’d like to go back home after the events of today. Normally we are far more organized around here.” He paused to pull her seat out for her. He sat in his own seat before speaking again. “I would like it if you’d give us another chance, however.”
“Of course.” She gave him a small smile before looking down at the food. She wanted to distract herself. Several times today she’d felt a warmth towards him, a thawing of her cold shell, but now the wall was back up. His formality came with cordiality but it brought her own walls back up.
“Thank you. Now, if you don’t mind discussing things over dinner, I’d appreciate it. I have another meeting in an hour I need to be on time for.” He didn’t seem to notice that the words were just a bit rude or how Jacqui stiffened.
“Not at all.” Her words were stilted and the beautiful dinner spread out before them seemed to lose its flavor as he spoke.
The duck seemed cold and oily, the vegetables wilted and limp as she listened to him.
“I’d like to have the wedding here, if you don’t mind. You’ll be given an account to get whatever you need and arrangements have been made with a wedding planner so you won’t need to worry over that. I know this is a formal arrangement so I assumed you wouldn’t be overly concerned with details. We’ll leave it all up to the planner shall we?” He cut slices from his duck, eating just as delicately as Annie had earlier. He had beautiful table manners but it was back to business and that all but shut Jacqui’s brain down.
“Of course, whatever you’d like.” She let her walls grow just a little icier as she ate her dinner. This was what she’d chosen, after all.
This is why she didn’t allow herself to be weak, those moments this afternoon made the whole dinner incredibly painful. With her walls in place, the pain soon disappeared.
The dessert, a rather grand tiramisu when it first appeared, seemed soggy and tasteless when she started to eat it. She wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. From now on she was the ice queen, no matter how tempting Cade Alexander might be.
Chapter Three
Cade
A week later, Cade lounged in a hot tub, preparing for another dinner with Jacqui that evening. His family was shocked about the woman’s role in his life, of course, but knew better than to question his decision. He and Jacqui had prepared a story about meeting a few months earlier when he’d visited Florida. None of his family would question the falsehood, Cade was the head of the family, head of the clan, and his word was law.
He’d thought a long time before seeking out a mail-order bride. The term was old-fashioned, he knew, but that’s what she was, really. He’d put in a request with a business he knew of and they’d sent him an ice-queen, just what he’d ordered. She’d seemed to thaw a few times but her shields had gone right back up.
He’d liked how she responded to the chaos of the afternoon, how she’d dealt with the aftermath and his callousness. She’d passed the test, she’d do. It didn’t hurt that she was beautiful, tempting, and lovely. It didn’t help either, however. Kane had produced an heir, that’s all the clan needed. They’d wanted Cade to marry, harassing him with offers for daughters he’d known his whole life, women just like himself. He didn’t want that, he didn’t want a mate, he didn’t want a soul-mate most of all. His parents had paid the ultimate price for biology, he wouldn’t fall prey to the same mistake.
Cade sank into the water as he considered his parents, murdered by the Mungons so long ago. The enemy clan had taken his parents in the hopes of destroying their clan and revealing the truth to the world. The Mungons wanted to take control of the entire world for the good of the shifter community, they said, but Cade knew better.They wanted to be the global rulers themselves. He wouldn’t allow that.
The Mungons had used the very nature of shifters against his parents. Kept the pair apart so they pined until they died, souls starved of each other. When a shifter’s soul mated, separation was dangerous, ultimately deadly. The Mungons had known this but they hadn’t known the strength of the Alexander boys or their clan. For a long time, Cade denied his own biology and the facts of their magical world. He’d agreed with his brother Jadrian that the cold damp conditions of their cells, along with starvation, had killed his parents. But seeing how Kane had fought to stay with Damesha had opened his eyes. Only a soul-stirring love could do that. A love that could kill you.
The clan became stronger over time and Cade ruled in such a way that brought in new clan members. The Mungons had retreated for a time but now they were back. It pr
obably wasn’t the best time to bring in a bride but Cade needed a woman to keep the clan mothers at bay.
Jacqui would suit the purpose. Diving under the water one last time, Cade stood from the steaming hot water and reached for a towel. His body glistened as water dripped down his muscular back, over a tight round bottom, and down corded thighs. Cade spent a lot of time in business meetings but he also worked hard. His body showed just how powerful he truly was.
His face was chiseled into strong lines, his jaw strong and powerful. His nose was lean but suited his face and his eyes had made many a woman, and many a man, quiver. Black as night, his eyes were magnetic and drew people in, despite his cold exterior. He could look straight through a person, rendering them all but invisible, but they’d still tremble, wanting his gaze to see them once more.
A handsome man, Cade had little time for sexual entanglements and even less time for love. His family came first, then the clan. There was little room for anything else after that. Jacqui would be his bride in name only and that suited him just fine. It had to.
He wasn’t sure how he was going to keep all of this from Jacqui but if she stood up to her part of the bargain, and so far she seemed like she would, then things would be fine. There’d be no questions asked, so no answers would have to be given.
Looking into the steamy mirror in the bathroom, Cade knew that his life wasn’t normal. He should be getting married for love but that wasn’t in the stars for him. His purpose was to serve his clan and if that meant marrying a woman colder than an ice cube in an Arctic freezer, then so be it. At least she was nice to look at. Clothed and ready to go, he shifted his head, trying to ease muscles that had become tense as soon as he stepped out of the bath. Time for battle.
Jacqui
Jacqui prepared for the dinner in her normal fashion. She ensured she was well dressed and that every hair was in place. She’d spent the day with Damesha and the baby, along with the ever wonderful Annie. It had been a very unusual day for Jacqui as she spent it dressed in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. She hadn’t worn jeans since the day Evelyn first took her shopping when she was 18 years old. It was an odd experience, even if the denim was smooth, expensive, and as soft as a baby’s blanket.
Cade (Alexander Shifter Brothers Book 2) Page 3