A Summer in Paradise

by Tianna Xander

  Two men, one woman and one isolated lake add up to one hot summer in Paradise.

  Pearl didn’t expect to run into anyone on the mountain over Paradise when she went home for a visit. She planned to spend a few weeks in the wilds at a line cabin between Sabbats to try and recover from her last encounter with her ex-boyfriend. She didn’t expect to find two males on the lake sunning themselves, naked, while the fish took off with their fishing poles.

  Duncan and Jarrod loved the mountains. It was why they decided to go to the lake. Between Sabbats there was nothing more to do than swim, fish and get a tan. Planning to live off the land, while they contemplate ways to find their mate, the two men are surprised to discover that the mountain over Paradise can provide everything they need—even a beautiful female to help pass the time.

  Three souls, one cabin and one isolated lake add up to one hot summer in Paradise.

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  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  A Summer in Paradise

  Copyright © 2012 Tianna Xander

  ISBN: 978-1-77111-259-8

  Cover art by Martine Jardin

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

  Published by eXtasy Books

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  Smashwords Edition

  A Summer in Paradise

  Paradise 12

  By

  Tianna Xander

  To my family: Thank you for understanding that there are times when I would rather write than watch TV.

  To my editors: Thank you for always being there and laughing at the parts I hope are funny.

  Chapter One

  Pearl made her way from the highway and hiked along the road to Paradise. She knew what to expect. She’d gone through the barrier two times before, but it didn’t keep her from dreading it. She’d experienced it once when she and her sisters walked along this same road in the cold when her parents died and once again when she left here with her youngest sister, Crystal.

  She hated leaving Gemma here, but Gem had refused to leave their adoptive parents in Paradise when she knew the council would punish them for allowing all of their daughters to escape. Pearl knew she had to get their baby sister out of here. After the first time a man had attempted to assault her, she realized it was time to go. Her only regret was that she hadn’t forced Gemma to go with them.

  Now that Crystal was safe in college, it was left to Pearl to do exactly what she’d always wanted to do. She wanted to raise a family. That was why she’d finally started to date. It was just too bad that she didn’t have a basis of comparison to tell a good guy from a bad one. Her adoptive father didn’t count. He hadn’t been around much because of the strictures of the council and she’d never been sexually attracted to him, thank the gods.

  She left the road and started up the side of the mountain. If she remembered correctly, Shadow Lake was just over the soft peak and there was a cabin there where she could stay for a few days to gather her courage to tell Gemma she was leaving the country, probably for good.

  Her options were clear. Stay and let Glenn find her or take the teaching job offered to her in Scotland. It was a no brainer in her opinion. The last thing she wanted was for her ex to find her and force her back to Chicago. He was a thug—an abusive thug and she didn’t want a damn thing to do with him anymore.

  The woods should have seemed welcoming, but she could still feel the magic warning her away. Her chest tightened painfully as the sensation of hopelessness and fear surrounded her.

  The scent of the moist dirt and rotting undergrowth smelled familiar and welcoming even as the magic of the barrier made her want to turn around and leave. Though nothing was there, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something evil watched her. Pearl pressed her lips together in a grim smile. That feeling was what kept most everyone, but the bravest of souls, or the most desperate, out of Paradise. She was desperate.

  What Pearl felt was the protective barrier that guarded the magical town from outsiders. She frowned. According to her sister, outsiders were again welcome in Paradise. If that were so, shouldn’t the barrier be down? There wasn’t a Sabbat soon…or was there?

  Shaking her head, she continued on. Whatever it was, it didn’t matter. If there was someone in the line cabin, the worst thing they would do was take her to town. At least she hoped it was the worst thing. Gemma told her things were different now. Pearl was optimistic that her sister was right.

  After another two hours, Pearl neared the peak where, if she remembered correctly, she would finally see Shadow Lake. She wanted to see it almost as much as she wanted to see her sister.

  She had a few fond memories here. Several times when she was younger, she followed a pair of men up here to watch them swim. Watching the men skinny dip was a favorite past time when she was a teenager. Young and curious, she often wandered up here when the two came home on leave.

  Standing atop the rise, Pearl looked down at the lake. As usual, it was shadowed by the mountains on the west side. The entire valley appeared almost dark though it was only five o’clock.

  When her stomach grumbled, she reached back for her water. She’d take a drink for now and fix something to eat when she got to the cabin. It couldn’t be more than a three mile hike.

  “Just a good stretch of the legs, Pearl.” She unscrewed the cap of her canteen, took a long drink then recapped it and adjusted the strap so it rested against the back side of her hip once again.

  Humming, Pearl made her way down the mountainside. She couldn’t wait to get to the cabin and kick her boots off. Her tennis shoes would have been infinitely more comfortable, but they wouldn’t have withstood the hike. She didn’t even have regular shoes with her. She’d left everything she planned to ship to Scotland, including the small motorcycle she’d just purchased, in a small storage unit on the outskirts of Jackson.

  The thought of sitting in front of a cheerful fire and making something to eat sounded good, as well. Besides, the backpack was getting heavy and she just wanted to sit down and rest.

  Tomorrow she would go have a bath in the lake while she remembered what it was like to hide in the bushes and spy on the two men she’d half-fallen in love with while watching them skinny dip.

  Smiling, she practically skipped her way down the mountainside. Just remembering the objects of her puppy love, gave her the energy to complete her hike faster than she thought she would. Maybe, if she was lucky, she would see them just once while she was here.

  Once in the cabin, Pearl opted for a protein bar instead of a real meal and made her bed instead. It was almost dark and she didn’t want to waste the battery in her lamp by falling asleep with it on and she was beat.

  Climbing into bed, she was so exhausted she barely remembered to take her boots off. Tomorrow was soon enough to worry about changing her clothes.

  Chapter Two

  “What do you mean y
ou don’t want to go to the lake?” Duncan frowned at Jarrod. “I thought you liked going up there.” He glanced over his shoulder at his best friend. With the rising sun behind him, Jarrod’s face was in shadow. Still, Duncan could almost see his green eyes filled with distaste.

  “Yeah, I did. Once upon a time. That was when we were home on leave and had that sweet little girl ogling us,” Jarrod said with a grin. “You remember her? She was a tempting little morsel. It was just too damned bad she was only a teenager. Two or three years more and she would have been ripe for the picking.”

  “Of course I remember her. I loved the way she smelled.” Duncan grabbed their fishing gear and headed for the truck.

  “Me too.” Jarrod sighed, and then followed with their bedrolls. “I’ve never smelled another woman like her.”

  “That’s just it.” Duncan slid the poles and the tackle box into the bed and turned to take the bedrolls from Jarrod. “No woman has stirred our senses like that one. Hell, I have a hard time getting it up because of her.” He turned to look toward the mountain. “Sometimes I wonder…” He shook his head, dismissing the idea as ridiculous.

  “What?” Jarrod threw his duffle bag in after the rest of their gear and eyed the box of food. “Do you think we’re taking enough to eat?”

  Duncan shook his head. “Will you get your damned head off of your stomach for once? Don’t you realize the implications of our reaction to that little girl?” He had a difficult time thinking of her as a grown woman. His cat snarled at the idea that she had been with another man. That alone was enough to convince him that she was more than just a little girl that liked to see them naked. Perhaps, even she, even as young as she was, realized that they belonged together. Was that why she spied on them every time they came home?

  Do you ever think of what would have happened if we could have stayed here?” What if they had staked their claim and took her with them to someplace safe? Gods knew that, back then, nowhere in Paradise was out of harm’s way with Camulus and his men in charge.

  Jarrod stopped and turned around. “Of course I do. I think about it all of the time. I also know what it means.” He glanced back toward the middle of town as though he could see the lodge from where he stood. “It means that she was most likely our mate and now she’s gone.” He shook his head. “I don’t even think Gemma knows where she is.”

  Duncan knew his own expression mirrored Jarrod’s the bleak look. Without their mate, they would never love, never reproduce, and never feel whole. “We could ask.” He sighed as he closed the tailgate. “But not before we have our weekend at the lake. I’ve been looking forward to getting some sun and pretending our little girl is up there staring at us through the bushes like old times and that she is our mate.”

  “We could never get that lucky.”

  “I know, old friend.” He shook his head as he made his way to the driver’s side of the truck and jerked the door open. “But we can dream, can’t we?”

  Jarrod strode up the passenger side, pulled the door open and joined the man who would, hopefully one day, be his triad mate. “I would rather live it than dream it.” He strapped himself in and looked at Duncan. “We should be out searching for her.”

  “And we will. I’m through waiting for her to come back home. I wanted to go to the cabin this weekend to pick up the pair of shorts she lost the last time she went to the lake. I’ve hidden them in the cabin. We’ll need it to remember every nuance of her scent.”

  Jarrod settled back in the seat and closed his eyes. “I don’t need to get a sniff at her shorts to remember that sweet scent.”

  She had smelled sweet, but Duncan wanted no mistakes when they went after the woman that he suspected was their mate. With her scent fresh in their minds, they had a much better chance of finding her. He only hoped that no one found the plastic bag he’d put her shorts in and hidden in the cabin.

  Even after all these years there was a chance that they could find her using her scent alone, but that was only if someone else hadn’t touched them and added their smell to the mix.

  They drove the truck into the mountains as far as they could, then got out and packed the rest of the way. It started to drizzle half way from the truck to the cabin and Duncan sighed. He wanted this little weekend away to unwind and regroup before they set of on their search. He’d hoped to fish.

  Just before they reached the cabin, the rain stopped and the sun came back out, bathing the woods in dappled sunlight. The sun, high in the sky, beat down on the forest and made the wet leaves sparkle and helped the pungent odor of the rotting vegetation rise into the muggy air.

  “I think I’m just going to walk to the cabin, drop off our things and hit the lake right away.” He swiped the sweat from his face with his forearm with a grimace. “We needed the rain, but it could have brought cooler weather behind it.”

  Jarrod agreed with a nod. “I know what you mean.” He turned his gaze forward and stopped dead in his tracks. “I think the cabin is already occupied.”

  “Shit.” Duncan slammed his fist into the large tree next to him. “Someone found the shorts.” He pointed at a pair of bright red running shorts hanging from a clothesline. “And whoever it is, washed them.”

  Closing his eyes, he bowed his head and rubbed the back of his neck. “I know I would remember her scent anywhere, but I’d wanted those shorts to help us when we got to the bigger cities.”

  Now what the hell would they do? Washed and hung out to dry, the shorts would be of no use to them and now even their weekend was shot. They couldn’t very well stay in the cabin. As a line cabin, it was fair game to anyone who wanted to use it.

  “Well, hell.” He shot a Jarrod a look. “How do you feel about spending the night on the shore then heading back down in the morning?” They may as well start their search early.

  “Why not?” Jarrod said with a shrug. “It’s not like we didn’t want to find our treasure.” He turned toward the lake. “I just hope this isn’t some sort of fucked-up sign.”

  “Yeah.” Duncan sighed. “Me too.”

  Chapter Three

  After cleaning the cabin from top to bottom, Pearl slipped on her swimsuit, threw a towel over her shoulders and headed for the lake.

  The sun was out and the mid-morning shower that drenched her laundry had left the day hot and muggy. She glanced at the clothesline and smiled. It was a stroke of luck that she found that pair of stretchy shorts in the cabin. She could use another pair.

  Though they looked familiar, she wasn’t sure who they belonged to. She only hoped they wouldn’t mind her using them while she was here. It would give her another pair to wear while she washed her clothes instead of having to wear her suit like she’d planned.

  Packing light was a given. Most of the space in her pack had been left for food, water and the little water sterilizing packs she’d use in a few days when her supply ran out. Her dehydrated meals wouldn’t last long either, which was why she’d brought the collapsible fishing rod.

  If there was one thing she knew how to do, it was live off the land. Her adoptive parents had taught them all how to do that. Just in case.

  When she was a child, she never knew what they meant by that, but she knew by the time she left Paradise, dragging her baby sister with her. They’d spent weeks hiding out in the woods, living off the land in their escape from town all those years ago.

  Her only regret was not forcing all of them to go with her. Their parents wouldn’t leave and Gemma couldn’t leave them.

  Her sister suffered for staying. Though Gemma refused to talk about it, Pearl knew what they did to women during that dark time and she feared that her sister wouldn’t have been left out, especially since she wasn’t really one of the clan. As an adopted human child, she would have had fewer rights in the eyes of the council than even the lowliest shifter female. Pearl hated the thought.

  Many times, she’d almost came back to help take some of the focus off Gemma, but every time she thought of Crystal and kne
w she couldn’t subject her baby sister through the abuse that even she, herself, couldn’t escape.

  She was almost to the shore when she heard the low murmur of voices and stopped. Goose bumps rose on her skin and she closed her eyes. Those voices sounded so familiar. It can’t be…

  With a sense of déjà vu, Pearl moved slowly closer, creeping forward, she peered through the bushes. She covered her mouth when she almost gasped with shock. Her entire body trembled with recognition as she knelt in the vegetation and stared toward the shoreline. There was no mistaking them. They hadn’t changed a bit in all these years.

  Pearl glanced down at her too plump thighs and sighed. If only she were a teenager again. If only she hadn’t left. Fifteen years ago, she’d had a chance. Now she was too old and definitely too fat for the two to even give her a second glance. Tears filled her eyes as she watched the two sunning themselves on the rocks where they half reclined, leaning back on their elbows, their fishing poles lying forgotten next to them.

  “Where do you think she’ll be?” One asked the other. She wasn’t certain which was which. She only knew that one was Duncan, the other Jarrod. No one had ever introduced her to them. She had never told anyone of her guilty pleasure of watching them sunbathe.

  The years had changed them a bit in that they weren’t totally naked like she originally thought. She peered through the foliage and noticed that they each wore a G-string swimsuit in a different color.

  Both were tanned all over, just as she remembered them, but at some point they had gained a grain of modesty. Perhaps someone had brought children up here and caught them with their pants down…literally.