by Eve Langlais
One thing was certain, none of the boys in her teens, and then men in her twenties, ever evoked the strong reaction Rory did by just looking at her. None ever made her knees weak when he touched her. Only Rory could make her panties wet when whispering against her lobe, “I can’t wait to peel that dress off you later.”
“I say we do that now,” was her mumbled reply as they entered the restaurant and became the focus of too many eyes.
Instead, he lifted their clasped hands and drew the crowd’s attention. They quieted, and in that silence, he firmly declared, “My wife, Danita Beauchamp.” Just about everyone in the place clapped and whistled. Some even howled, which was a little unnerving.
Only one small group by the bar didn’t react in a positive manner, and Dani clung closer to Rory as she spotted Kelso and his crew.
The nausea was back in her belly, crawling up her throat.
“I take it that’s the guy,” Rory said with a slight tilt of his head.
She could only give a short bob.
The fool man tugged her toward Kelso rather than away. She almost dug in her heels, and yet how would that look?
She did her best to hide her trembling as they approached Kelso and his posse.
He can’t hurt me here. Not in front of a crowd. Brave words. She just hoped they were true.
“So you must be the douche nozzle that thinks it’s all right to terrorize women.”
Dani could have groaned at Rory’s taunting words.
“And you’re the idiot dog who wants to start a war over sloppy seconds.”
At that, Dani winced, but also found a spurt of anger enough to say, “I never slept with you.”
“Is that what you told the dog? And he believed it? Did she tell you we spent weeks at my cottage? Together. All alone. Not much to do in the woods in the fall other than lounge in bed.” Kelso winked, and while some women might have found him attractive, she sure as hell didn’t. He wore his hair like an eighties rock star: dirty blond, longer in the back, but not quite a mullet. He was clean shaven and wearing an open-necked shirt.
His looks didn’t impress her. Neither did his claim they’d slept together. Indignation drew her ramrod straight. “We did not have sex!”
“I don’t know why you’re lying about it. I just wish I’d known you were dying to get married. Especially given your condition.”
“My condition?” She regarded Kelso with puzzlement. What was his game? Why did he lie about what had happened?
“I’m surprised puppy chow over here can’t smell it himself. Let me ask you, have you been feeling queasy lately?”
As a matter of fact, she felt queasy right about now, especially as Kelso kept talking and Rory’s face turned into a frozen mask.
“…understand now why you had to get married so quick, given your baby needs a daddy.”
Baby?
“You’re pregnant?” Rory sounded shocked, but not as much as her. Enough that she fainted for the first time in her life.
Chapter 12
The announcement hit her like a ghostly left hook, and she went down hard.
Rory caught Danita before she hit the floor.
She wasn’t faking it. Not the fainting and, now that he was looking for it, not her scent. What did shock him was the fact he’d not caught on to it sooner. Then again, he’d been so overcome with rutting lust he’d not smelled much other than their mutual desire.
But if he took a moment, and really allowed himself a good sniff, then it wasn’t hard to find it, that ripeness of a womb quickening. With child.
Supposedly another man’s child.
Was that the reason why she’d married him in Vegas and then refused initially to divorce him? Had she planned to pass off the child as his?
“I can see you’re a little shocked, puppy chow. Understandable. She’s been a flighty thing since her father died. Needs a firm hand, this one. I know how to handle her, so tell you what. I’m gonna make it real easy for you. I won’t cause trouble for you and your pack so long as you divorce her and let her leave with me.”
Leave? Rory frowned. How could he let Danita go with a man who so obviously terrified her? How could he let her leave with any man period?
“She’s not going anywhere.” Not until he’d had a chance to figure shit out. He didn’t want to act hasty. Last time he’d acted first, he’d gotten fucked. This time…he needed to be careful.
For the moment, he was stunned. He’d only just begun to wrap his head around the idea he was married—and not minding it. To find out she carried a child—whose child?—put a whole new spin on things.
What if Kelso lied? What if it was his baby she carried? He stared at her still flat stomach.
Mine.
He swept her into his arms, ignoring the hushed murmurs around him. Too many had witnessed what happened and, given most everyone in the restaurant was a shifter, probably heard the words exchanged. Still, a man should always hold his head high.
Rory cleared his throat. “If you’ll excuse me. It would seem my blushing bride is overcome with all the excitement.” He exited the main dining area and then outside again to his parked car. He gently placed her on the backseat and had just closed the door when he heard footsteps.
Whirling, he unclenched his fists as he noted Connor, his lawyer and friend. “Did you just arrive?”
“In time for the floorshow. So this is the woman you want to divorce.” Connor bent down to peer through the window. “I can see why. Cute face, still, though, sounds like she comes with lots of baggage.”
“Understatement,” Rory said with a sigh. “Want to hear a crazy thing, though? We were actually planning to make a go of it.”
“Were? I take it you changed your mind.”
Rory scrubbed a hand over his face. “I don’t know what I want to do anymore. You heard what happened in there. That bastard is claiming she’s carrying his baby.”
“Is she?”
“I don’t know. What I do know is if she is…”
“Then what?”
“Then is it fair for me to take it away from its real daddy?” And then, because Connor knew the truth, he continued. “I mean, that’s what my mother did. Passed me off as a true Beauchamp. Kept me from my real dad.”
“But you still had a dad.”
A tough old wolf who raised his only son sternly. Who barked more often than he wagged. “Yeah, but how different would my life be if I’d known the truth? And here I am, stuck in a similar situation, married to a woman carrying another man’s kid.” Because surely it wasn’t his. It was too soon. “Maybe I should let her go with Kelso.” The moment he said it, he knew he couldn’t do it. Just fucking couldn’t, which pulled a sound from him as he pushed away from the car.
“What does she want to do?” Connor asked.
Perhaps the thing they should all be asking. “She doesn’t want to be married to douche nozzle, that’s for sure. And the only thing protecting her is marriage with me.” Married because of circumstance and not because she wanted to be hitched to him.
Someone signaled from the restaurant. His mother. The one person he couldn’t ignore. He glanced back at the car and his unconscious wife. He shouldn’t leave her.
Connor saw him and shook his head. “Lock the doors. She’s not going anywhere.”
“Kelso’s here.”
“He’d be a fucking moron to break into your car and steal her.”
True. Then again… “It might be easier if she was gone before I came back.” He immediately regretted saying it. “We better go say hi and tell people what’s going on.” He turned to look back at the car as he walked away, the sensation of wrongness strong, and yet Connor was right. He couldn’t ignore his mother, nor could he exactly carry Danita around like a limp doll.
Connor kept pace with him as he returned to the restaurant. “No one will blame you if you divorce.”
Divorce? That seemed a little hasty. His feelings for her might be in a state of chaos, but the co
re of them remained. She was his mate. “What will people say if I don’t divorce?” He stopped before the restaurant door and whirled. “What if I said I can’t stand the thought of her being with another man? That I don’t care if she’s carrying another man’s baby?”
“I’d say it’s your life, your choice.” Connor shrugged. “Do what makes you happy.”
“What would make me happy is punching that smug cat in the face.”
“Would you like me to hunt him down?”
Yeah, he kind of would. But first, he had to deal with his mother, who insisted on introducing him to someone. All the while he could think only of Dani. Who was alone.
What if she woke and ran?
What if Kelso still wanted her?
Even though he’d been gone only minutes, it felt like longer, especially with his inner beast pacing. He made his excuses and headed outside. The car was locked, in a well-lit area with lots of traffic. No one would have done anything to her.
Yet he wasn’t surprised to discover the backseat empty. Danita was gone. The question was, did she leave of her own volition or had someone taken her?
Chapter 13
Dani’s lashes fluttered, but she didn’t move or open them as she listened in and heard Rory’s words.
“It might be easier if she was gone before I came back.”
She couldn’t blame him. Rory didn’t believe the baby was his, and Kelso’s lies were believable. Yet, the fact that Rory chose to believe him over her hurt. When he walked away, she sat up, lower lip trembling.
Here came the pity party. The same one she’d suffered from when her daddy would leave on one of his long absences and she felt all alone in the world. Abandoned.
Why is it I can’t keep anyone close?
Why couldn’t she find someone to love?
Sniffle.
Well, one thing was for sure, she wasn’t about to stick around for the excuses and the dumping. Rory obviously didn’t want her.
But the baby is his.
And maybe once the baby was born, she’d return to prove it. To shove the fact in his face.
However, she had about eight months before that would work. Eight months to find a new place to hide.
She exited the car and stood, looking around at her options. No car keys meant no stealing his wheels. Pity, they were nice, almost as nice as the last car of his she’d boosted.
With nothing on her but a fancy dress, heels, and jewelry, she began to walk, her gaze intent on the sidewalk and street. If she could find a pawnshop, surely she could get something for the earrings he’d given her.
Or you could finally give Daddy’s lawyer a call. He had promised to help her if she needed it. Except she wasn’t quite sure she trusted him. Something in his eyes. The way he moved. The fact that he asked her, “Would marrying Kelso be so bad?” Making her wonder if he really had her best interests at heart.
The clack of her heels moving away from the restaurant toward the road sounded loud even over the noise of the cars prowling the street. Perhaps that was why she didn’t hear the approach of someone behind her.
Someone who placed a heavy hand on her shoulder. Who said, “Are you Danita?”
She whirled and beheld an older gent with whitish-silver hair, his topcoat buttoned, a scarf at his neck. “Who are you?” she asked.
“If you are Danita, then I am a friend of your father’s. I was sent to find you.”
“Who sent you?” He mentioned the name of her father’s lawyer. Her eyes widened.
“Why did he send you?”
“Because he thinks you’re in trouble.”
Understatement. Still, though, given her troubles of late, she wasn’t as quick to trust. “How do I know you’re telling the truth?”
“Would it help to mention I knew your mother? You are the spitting image of Rebecca Jean.”
The fact that he knew that was enough for her to dive into the luxurious comfort of a car. The door slammed shut behind the stranger, and he leaned forward and said, “Airport. And lose any tails.”
Then he leaned back, his Old Spice cologne a comforting scent that reminded her of Daddy.
“Who are you?” she asked. “How come we’ve never met before?”
“Because your father always kept his family life separate from everyone else. And we’ll talk about that. But first, is it true you’re pregnant?”
In reply, her stomach gave a lurch, and she spilled its contents on the man’s lap.
Chapter 14
Discovering Danita was gone did something to Rory. It ignited his anger. Goddammit, she ran again. Quickly followed by fear. What if she didn’t? Kelso seemed pretty intent on getting his claws on her. Because he thought the baby was his. But what if…what if he lied? What if, as she claimed, he’d never touched her?
Nothing Rory recalled of that first night with her spoke of any prior claim. She bore no scent. No mark. She did, however, after their night together.
Bloody hell, that bastard lied.
Rory stormed back into the restaurant and ran into his father. Just the man he wanted to see. “Where is that bastard cat staying?”
“Are you talking about Kelso Pumeaux and his pride?”
Rory’s lip pulled back in a sneer. “Lions have prides. He’s just an alley cat who took something of mine.”
“You mean the girl? He technically had prior claim.”
Rory jabbed a finger into his chest. “Like fuck. She’s my wife. She bears my mark. Not his.”
“According to him, she’s bearing his child.”
“He’s lying.”
“Why would a man lie about something like that?”
“You did. You told the world I was yours.”
His father’s lips tightened. “To save your mother the humiliation.”
“Don’t you mean to save your own pride? How would it look if it was known the mighty leader of the pack had his wife step out on him?”
“We were having troubles.”
“I’ll say. She fell for another man.” A man who’d left her and returned to his own wife.
“We were in a tough position in our marriage. We got past that.”
“Yeah, you got past it so well you’ve been a dick to her.”
“At times our relationship is strained.”
“Understatement. And not the point.”
“I’d say it is. You look at me and blame me for being a dick to you and your mother. Well, think of it from my view. The woman I loved, my wife, cheated on me. She didn’t just sleep with another man, she fell in love with him. Got pregnant by him. He gave her the one thing I couldn’t. Exactly how should that make me feel?”
The restaurant at their back got quiet, too quiet, as the drama played out. His father dragged him outside. But Rory wasn’t done.
“If you were so mad, then why not divorce her?”
“Because I loved her, dammit. Even though she betrayed me. I love your damned mother. And because I couldn’t let her go, I did my best to forgive, to move past that, to accept you as my son.”
“But a part of you hates me.”
At those words, his father’s expression softened. “Is that what you really think?”
“You were hard on me my whole life.”
“Because I wanted you to succeed. I tried too hard to be the man I thought you needed.”
“A cold fish?”
“Not cold, afraid.” His mother emerged from the restaurant and placed a hand on his father’s arm. “Your father loves me, and I betrayed him.” Before Rory could jump to her defense, she shook her head. “I did. We were struggling with the fact he couldn’t give me a child. And I was weak. I turned to another man for comfort.”
“A man who abandoned you.”
“A man who returned to his family, just like I returned to your father. I can’t say I wish I’d done things differently because, otherwise, I wouldn’t have you.”
“A constant reminder,” he said bitterly.
“Yes,
a reminder to your father that, if he gets too close, one day, you might betray him, too. Leave him for another man. Call someone else father.”
The reasoning struck Rory, and he physically reeled. “Do you really think I’d abandon you?”
His father shrugged. “The first thing you did when you found out was run to find him.”
“Because I was curious.” And, yes, angry. Angry his parents kept it all a big secret. “But I came back.”
“I know. Thank you.”
Surprise made Rory blink. “For what?”
“For coming back. For still calling me father. For—”
Before the man could spill another word, Rory threw himself at him, giving him a rare hug that was returned amidst applause from those who emerged to watch—and probably craved popcorn.
Mother inserted herself in the middle, and they shared a rare moment of family togetherness that ended with his father’s gruff, “About the girl…”
“My wife.”
“Raising another man’s child is hard.”
Yeah, but his dad had done it. “I don’t care.” Danita was his mate.
“Very well. Here’s where he’s staying.”
Rory didn’t wait for reinforcements. Although he didn’t eschew Connor’s aid—given he didn’t have a choice, as his friend hopped into the front seat of the car.
The hotel the cats were staying at was one Rory knew, which meant getting to the penthouse level was easy. Kicking in the door somewhat satisfying. Not scenting Danita at all, worrisome. But his true pleasure came when Kelso rose from the couch and exclaimed, “What the fuck are you doing here?”
“Where is she?”
The other man’s lip curled. “Did you lose your new bride already?”
“I know you took her. Where is she?”
Kelso raised his hands. “Not here, and not with my men. I guess she ran away. She has a habit of doing that.”
Rory stalked closer, every inch of him bristling. “If you harm a single hair on her head…”
“You’ll what?” the other man taunted. “Start a war? Go ahead. I’m the leader of the Canadian pride now. Which means I’m allied with my American cousins. Is the pack really ready to go to war over a woman?”