He frowned as she ended their conversation and briskly walked back toward the ranch house. Exhaling heavily, he turned back around, continuing his walk.
They’d been having an enjoyable conversation, and he was sorry it was over. Clearly she didn’t like personal questions. No, it was more than that, he thought as he remembered her suspicion when he first asked her about herself.
Something made her wary of telling people about her past. Maybe she’d been hurt before, or there was something she was hiding. Hell, maybe he had it wrong and she just didn’t like talking about herself, but it felt more complicated than that.
He wished he kept his mouth shut, but he knew better now. The next time they talked, and he hoped like hell there would be a next time, he’d let her volunteer information on her own. No more questions from him, no matter how badly he wanted to know the answers.
Chapter Two
“Can I help?”
Cammie glanced over from where she was pulling out the ingredients for biscuits, and smiled at the little girl lingering in the doorway of the kitchen.
“Of course. Come on in. You can help me make the biscuits.”
Shelby walked in, gathering her long brown hair into a ponytail. Cammie gave her step by step instructions as she helped her measure ingredients, studying the eight-year-old as she did.
Shelby came to live with them a little more than a month ago, and was still extremely shy, especially with the guys, whom she’d never met before. Shelby’s mom was a tiger, like Ian, and part of a particularly nasty tribe. Ian had been fighting to get Shelby with him for the majority of her life, and had finally won.
Now that she’d been here for a few weeks, she was starting to loosen up with the fighters a bit, but she still kept mostly to herself. Shelby’s mother, and the tribe, had been vicious, mocking her relentlessly for her birthmark. It was no wonder she was so timid.
Shaking those thoughts from her mind, Cammie showed Shelby how to use the biscuit cutter and line them up on the pan, and then she turned away to check on the chicken casserole baking in the oven.
She wasn’t the greatest cook, but she liked to contribute when she could. Besides cooking and housekeeping, she didn’t have much else to offer. She couldn’t fight for money like the guys did, because there were no other female fighters in the area. And she had no other skills to bring money in like the others.
She was taking online courses through a community college based out of Cheyenne, but once she was finished, she wasn’t sure how she’d use what she learned. She was taking the classes under a fake name, because she couldn’t risk her people finding her. While it worked for college, she didn’t think it would go so well for actual employment.
Sometimes she felt useless, but it would be dangerous to leave on her own. She could fight, and she was damn good at it, but she wasn’t sure she could hold her own against a male dragon intent on owning her. There was safety in numbers.
But she worried about what would happen if another dragon found her. She couldn’t risk any of the guys getting hurt because of her. They were her brothers in every way except blood. If she ever got wind of a male dragon coming this way, she was out of here, no matter the danger to herself.
Deliberately pushing those thoughts from her mind as she threw together a quick dessert of banana pudding, her mind immediately turned to Alex. She’d thought of little but him since she’d left his side.
This afternoon had been the first time she’d spent so close to him. She’d hardly spoken to him at all in the weeks since he arrived. Avoiding him was necessary. She’d survived as long as she had because she trusted no one. But she also couldn’t deny she kept her distance because he fascinated her on a level that disturbed her. He was incredibly gorgeous, true, but that wasn’t even close to being all of it.
She found herself wondering about him all the time. About his likes and dislikes, what made him tick. About what his life had been like, what he was good at, what he did for a living.
Whether he had a girlfriend or not.
It was the last thought that freaked her out the most. She had no business wondering if he had someone back home, wherever that may be, who was waiting on him. And she’d never wondered about a man, and his life, with so much intensity before. Never felt so attracted to one before.
Oh, she’d had a few lovers back in Washington, where they lived before coming to Eagle Creek. Pleasantly attractive humans who were looking for nothing more than she was—just some brief moments of pleasure, and an escape from the monotony of life.
She’d never met one who could make her heart race with a glance. One who, she was sure, if he ever touched her, would incinerate her insides with the heat of his touch. That was Alex, in a nutshell. Add in the fact that it wasn’t just his body she was lusting after, but his mind as well, and she knew she was screwed.
Shaking those thoughts from her head, she had Shelby sit the table while she got the food out of the oven. By the time everything was on the table, the guys had all taken their seats, the food and conversation flowing freely.
“This is really good, Cammie,” Alex said, gesturing at the casserole.
“Thanks,” she replied, keeping her eyes on her plate. She couldn’t engage. Couldn’t look at him, talk to him. Nothing that would make staying away from him even harder.
“You excited to learn to fight, Alex?” Seth asked.
“I am. I’ve never done anything like that before. I don’t think, anyway,” he replied, and she couldn’t help flickering her gaze to him. He had a frown on his handsome face, and he was pushing the casserole around on his plate.
A wave of compassion washed over her as she thought for the first time how hard it must be to have no knowledge of your past, of who you really are. She realized she was staring at him when he suddenly looked up and locked gazes with her. She got stuck in his gray eyes for a split second before she ripped her eyes away, but that split second was all it took. Her dragon was stirring in her chest, just from that little bit of eye contact.
“Cammie, are you okay?” Ian asked, interrupting her thoughts.
“Just been a long day,” she replied. It was the truth, but she hoped he didn’t hear any off notes in her voice, clueing him in that something else was going on.
Glancing up, she looked around the table, still avoiding Alex. Everyone was busy eating, and she stifled a laugh as Seth tried to take a biscuit from Jax’s plate, narrowly escaping Jax’s stab with his fork. But when she looked at Ian, he was watching her, eyes narrowed. Uncomfortable with the intensity of his look, she glanced down at her plate. Maybe she should just ignore everyone at dinner tonight.
Her thoughts immediately turned to her dragon, and how she woke up whenever Alex was close. That was bad, because her animal was interested in him. Maybe too interested. Cammie didn’t like to use the “M” word, because she didn’t want to put dangerous thoughts in her dragon’s head, if they weren’t there already.
She didn’t have room in her life for a mate. They would only be a liability, someone else she had to worry about protecting, when she wasn’t altogether certain she could protect herself against what was inevitably coming for her. A strong shifter might be someone she could take the risk on. But a human with no added strength or skills… that had to be a hard no.
The powerful attraction she had for him, her dragon’s interest, all of it. It scared the shit out of her, plain and simple.
She needed to ignore today’s conversation, block it, and how much she and her dragon both longed for more, out, and go back to pretending he didn’t exist. It’s what was safest, for her mind as well as her soul.
“Do you need any help cleaning up?” Alex asked Cammie as everyone started filing out of the dining room.
“No, I’m fine,” she replied, not even glancing his way as she grabbed his plate.
His eyes narrowed, wondering what was going on. They had a pleasant afternoon, but she spent all of dinner refusing to speak to him, or even look his wa
y.
This couldn’t be because he asked her to tell him about herself. It felt like there was something more going on he was missing, but he didn’t know how to ask her what was wrong. He was tempted to dig his heels in and help her whether she wanted it or not.
“Alex, dude, she said she’s got this. Leave the little lady to do the clean-up and come on,” Seth urged from the doorway.
He watched Cammie tighten her lips and stiffen, expecting her to respond to the sexist remark. But she just turned and started putting leftovers away. Hell, he was offended, even though he knew Seth hadn’t meant it like it sounded. Probably.
Alex reluctantly stood and followed Seth to the front porch where Ian and Jax were already sitting. Jax, his customary ballcap pulled low over his eyes, was plucking at the strings of his guitar, and Ian was slowly rocking in his chair, looking off into the distance.
“Cammie is going to take that out of your hide,” Ian told Seth without looking his way.
Seth snorted as he picked up a knife and a block of wood from a basket on the porch. “She wishes she could take me.”
“She has taken you, dumbass,” Jax said quietly, a smirk on his face. “She can kick your ass. We all know it. How many times does she have to do it before you stop conveniently forgetting?”
“I wish I could have been there to see Cammie kicking Seth’s ass. I’m gonna make sure I’m there the next time to watch it happen. You deserve it, Seth,” Alex said with a smirk. It was true, Seth did deserve to have his ass kicked by the ‘little lady’ for what he said.
“I think I liked you better when you didn’t talk as much,” Seth replied, as he started whittling the block of wood.
“We’ve got a fight this weekend,” Ian said, glancing his way. “You’re welcome to come watch. Seth said he was going to teach you the basics. So knowing that, I think it would probably be good for you to see how real men fight before he shows you what it’s like when boys do it.”
Alex laughed as Seth flipped Ian off, chucking the wood he’d been whittling at Ian’s head. The other man caught it, barely lifting his gaze, and tossed it back.
“Yeah, I’d like to go,” he said.
When they first took him in, he’d been bad off. But his health had slowly improved in the two weeks since he woke up to find himself in their spare room. He’d watched them train, separately and together, and he’d become more and more curious about how it worked at fights.
Surely they didn’t pit these fighters against the humans. Talk about an unfair fight.
Alex jerked upright in bed, eyes wide, but not really seeing his bedroom in front of him. His body shook, and he swallowed painfully around a dry throat as a scene played out in front of him.
“Where the fuck is he? It’s been five weeks!”
The small man frowned up at the much larger man in front of him. “I don’t know yet, Ivan—I mean Your Excellency. There’s been no sign of Kincaid so far.”
“Did he find the girl? Fucker probably thinks he can keep her for himself.”
The smaller man paced around the mostly empty room. “He wouldn’t be so stupid. He knows we’d kill him for such an offense. I don’t know where he disappeared to, but I’m sure he didn’t find the girl.”
“I want him found, and I want him disposed of,” the brute said, slamming his fist hard onto the table, leaving a dent in the already banged up metal. “And I want her found, as well. No more excuses. She’s escaped her destiny for long enough. Heads will start rolling if I don’t see results soon.”
The scene faded to black, and Alex’s bedroom at Rocky River was abruptly in focus again. Gasping, he ran a shaky hand through his hair, feeling deeply disturbed over whatever the hell that was that just happened.
He got out of bed and slipped his shoes on, not bothering to put on a shirt, and left the room in his jogging pants, intent on going to the barn. He hadn’t had much of a chance to train with Seth this week, but he didn’t need to be good to hit the bag and get some of his confusion out, and maybe work through the weird dream while he was at it.
The sun was just starting to peek over the horizon as he let himself out of the house and walked to the gym. Once inside, he stretched his arms, and then pounded his frustration and fury out onto the punching bag.
His arms were weak when he finally paused for a moment, only feeling marginally better, but he needed to catch his breath before he went for round two.
Panting, he wiped the sweat from his forehead as he thought about his dream, if that’s what it was. One of the men said his name, but the timeline didn’t add up, if it was really something that was happening and he was suddenly, inexplicably clairvoyant. The man said he’d been missing for five weeks. He wrecked only three weeks ago. It didn’t make sense, unless it took him two weeks to get from wherever the men were to here, and that seemed unlikely.
None of it made sense, not the least of which was his gut reaction. Something inside him was hissing and spitting, warning him he needed to stay hidden, and protect the girl at all costs.
He punched the bag again, as hard as he could. Did he find the girl? Fucker probably thinks he can keep her for himself. Maybe he should treat the dream like it held clues as to what he was here for. So he was looking for a girl. Somehow the man’s words didn’t suggest he was in Eagle Creek to deliver a fruit basket.
“You’ll hurt your hand if you keep hitting that hard, Alex.”
He blew out a breath, trying to compose himself before he turned to face Cammie.
She was standing a few feet away, looking soft and adorable in leggings and an oversized t-shirt, her long reddish-brown hair in a tangled mess falling past her shoulders. She looked like she just got out of bed, and he immediately pictured her in his own. The image made his dick thump in his pants, and he willed it down, not wanting her to see him getting a hardon when she hadn’t even touched him. She studied him for a few moments before turning, making her way to a shelving unit against the wall. When she came back, she was carrying strips of fabric.
“You need to wrap your hands when you hit with that kind of aggression. You could hurt, or even break, them if you don’t. Hold out your hand.”
Alex gave her his right hand without saying a word, watching her bent head as she wrapped his hand. She finished and gestured for his other hand, and he held it out for her.
“You’re still doing it wrong, too. I’m surprised Seth hasn’t taught you better yet.”
She finished, stepping back, and Alex looked at his hands, flexing them to get a feel for the wraps.
“He hasn’t really showed me a lot so far. Mostly I’ve been watching him as he trains. He said he wants to beat Jax or Ian this weekend, so his focus has been on that.”
Cammie snorted. “He needs to be out here twenty-four-seven then, if he wants a shot at beating them,” she said with a smirk. He raised an eyebrow at her, and she laughed. “No, seriously, Seth is a good fighter, and he can beat them when he focuses. But he gets too cocky, too into the fight, and rushes in without thinking things through. Ian and Jax have a lot more muscle mass than him. When they land a hit, which is often, because he lets them get too close, it’s powerful. He needs to use his brain and be more cunning, not rush into it.”
“So brawn and size aren’t all there is to a fight,” he said, throwing an experimental punch at the bag.
“No, not at all. I mean, you can’t let your thoughts take over and distract you. That’s a quick way to get beaten, too. But you have to be smart about it. Instinct plays a big part, but you also have to use your brain.”
“Have you ever fought before? Not trained, because obviously you do that, but been in fights like the guys do?”
“Yeah, where we used to live,” she replied with a wistful smile. “There were some other female fighters in the area, so I’d have a couple fights a month.”
He took note of the regret in her denim blue eyes. “You miss it, don’t you?”
She glanced at him in surprise. “Am I that
obvious about it? Yeah, I do miss it. I mean, I still get to fight our guys, and I can beat them occasionally. It’s just not the same. But I like it here in Eagle Creek, so I suppose the trade-off is worth it.”
He started to say more but paused when Jax walked in. The other man was in a tank top and jogging pants, ballcap firmly on his head, his hands already wrapped, and clearly ready to train. Alex hadn’t spoken to Jax often, mostly because the fighter didn’t talk much. His silence only made him that much more intimidating. Alex wouldn’t want to meet up with him in a dark alley, that’s for sure.
“Hey, Jax. Listen, could you show Alex how to hit the punching bag properly? Seth apparently hasn’t taken the time. I’m gonna go get breakfast started.”
Cammie walked swiftly out of the barn, not waiting on a reply. Jax nodded to him and started showing him the basics, with the least amount of words possible. Alex would rather have Cammie teaching him how to do it, but at least someone was. Hopefully he’d be a quick learner, and he wouldn’t make as much of a fool of himself in front of her again.
“Don’t stare at the bag in one spot. Treat it like a real opponent. Aim when you punch, but look at the whole bag when you’re not. Keep your balance, and punch don’t push. Go ahead, take a swing.”
Taking a deep breath, Alex did what Jax told him to, feeling the vibrations of the punch up his arm.
“That was okay. Move your feet when you’re not punching, ground them when you are. Go again.”
He tried to listen to Jax’s instructions and emulate what he was demonstrating, but his mind was stuck on something Cammie said, going over and over it on a loop. She’d called the Rocky River Fighters our guys. Maybe she was starting to see him as one of them, now.
Chapter Three
Cammie resisted the urge to squirm and stared straight ahead, but she wasn’t really seeing the scenery flashing by through windshield of the truck. Alex shifted against her, and she shut her eyes briefly at the rush of desire coursing through her veins. Shit. This was the opposite of avoiding him.
Heart of a Fighter Page 2