Swallowing His Pride

by Serena Pettus

  Samantha paused, note in hand, wondering if she should reply to it before going. What would she say? A simple, “Thanks for last night,” sounded every bit as cold as his note, but she just couldn’t bring herself to stoop that low.

  In all honesty, it hurt. She’d felt as if they’d connected last night. It was hard to explain, but when she’d woken to his soft kisses on her neck, it was as if he’d sensed her need for comfort. Then when he’d proceeded to make love to her slowly, it had opened a part of her heart she’d kept under lock and chain since her divorce.

  Sadly, it appeared her heart was still every bit as foolish as it had always been. From now on, she would rely on her common sense rather than her easily swayed emotions when dealing with men.

  It was getting later as she contemplated her reply, and the fear of having to see him, having to listen to whatever brush-off speech he’d managed to come up with, spurred her to simply jot down her phone number followed by a little heart. That was the best she could do, not trusting herself to put down actual words, lest she give away any hints of her hurt feelings.

  She still had her pride after all.

  She hastily exited his room and took the elevator down to the floor she was staying on. Judging by the anxiety she felt when she even thought about running in to Dylan again, Sam was ready to go home.

  She crept into her room, careful not to disturb Lynn, who she was certain was still asleep. She was easing the door closed when Lynn snapped, “It’s about damn time you came back! You better have gotten laid, young lady.”

  There was Lynn, standing in the doorway of the bathroom, a playful smile on her face. Her expression quickly changed as she noticed Sam wasn’t finding her crack humorous.

  “I think I’m ready to go home,” Sam stated, her voice flat. It was taking everything in her to keep from breaking down and bawling her eyes out right that second.

  “What did he do?” Lynn demanded. “I’ll kill his ass. You’ve got enough property back home. We’ll rent a car, stuff the body in the trunk and bury him later.”

  “He didn’t do anything.” Crossing the room, Samantha flopped onto the bed, facedown. “He left me a note this morning,” she grumbled into the comforter, her words muffled and face hidden from Lynn’s gaze.

  “Sweetie, you need to cover your ass first, because the whole no panty thing is kind of a giveaway for what you did last night, and second, you need to pick your head up so I can understand what you’re saying.”

  Flipping the covers over her lower half, Samantha turned her head and regarded her friend before repeating, “He left me a note this morning.”

  Lynn frowned, not at all an attractive look with her wild bed head and wrinkled jammies. “Why leave a note? Where the hell was he?”

  “Apparently, he had a meeting.”

  “What did the note say?”

  “It said, ‘Samantha, I have a meeting to attend, but stick around. We need to talk about what happened last night’, or something like that. I was too mortified. I mean, it’s kinda obvious he planned to give me the old ‘Last night was great. It was nice meeting you’ crap like you see on television, and I didn’t think I could take it.” She sniffled, rapidly losing her fight against the moisture in her eyes. “I get it. I was a one-night stand, but God, did I hope he cared for me just a little.”

  Lynn came to her side and rubbed her back while she sobbed. “You really did like him, didn’t you?”

  “Obviously more than I should have, but he was so sweet. We woke up in the middle of the night and made love so tenderly I thought for sure he felt something more for me than just lust. I guess I was wrong.” She wiped her face on her arm and groaned. “I can still smell him on me. How pathetic am I?”

  “Okay, you go get yourself into the shower and wash that loser off. Then we’ll get some breakfast and call the airport to see if there are any earlier flights home. Deal?”

  “To everything but breakfast.”

  “You need to eat, Sam,” Lynn scolded.

  “Fine, but can we just order it for up here? I’ll buy. I just can’t take running into him right now.”

  Lynn’s eyes softened, and Samantha knew her friend understood. “You got it. We’ll carb out and trash talk the male population while we wait to go to the airport.”

  After watching Lynn rummage around for the room service menu, Sam headed into the bathroom and turned the water as hot as she could stand it. She was determined to burn away the lingering feel of Dylan’s body on hers and was sure she took off several layers of skin while she scrubbed herself raw.

  Determination settled in as she recalled everything she’d already overcome, and she knew she’d come out of this with yet another layer of armor around her heart. No, she wouldn’t allow anyone back into that particular area of her life anytime soon.

  Hell, maybe never again. It just didn’t seem worth the pain.

  Chapter Five

  One month later …

  “You really need to get a handle on your temper, brother,” Liam stated as he closed the office door behind him. “The contractors are human and not accustomed to being roared at, nor are they as strong as our males. You’re going to end up completely running off the crew if you don’t chill out. They’re working as fast as they can.”

  Dylan sighed. He knew he was being a bastard, but it seemed he was unable to control his emotions as easily as he had in the past. Since he’d returned to his empty suite in Vegas, his usually levelheaded disposition had soured. Now, after a month had passed, he could admit things were getting bad—just not aloud. He was the Prime after all. Admitting to weakness wasn’t something he was willing to do.

  “I’m fine,” he grumbled.

  “Bullshit,” Liam spat. “Where did you go last night? Were you skulking around again? Hiding in the shadows like some crazed stalker?”

  Dylan scowled. It figured his nosy brother would follow him, and it pissed him off that someone might discover the one person capable of destroying him.

  “What were you doing there?” Dylan demanded, knowing the jealous, possessive rage building within him wasn’t warranted where Liam was concerned, but then again, logic hadn’t really been ruling him lately.

  “I actually wanted to talk to you about that. My landscape company has been hired to go out to Samantha’s home and do some work. I figured you might want to tag along or have me test the waters for you.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I could bring up Vegas; ask why she bolted like that. I’ll bet you never even told her how close we live to her house, did you? Don’t worry,” Liam smirked. “I won’t let her know what a lovesick puppy you’ve become.”

  Dylan snarled, but his brother didn’t even flinch.

  “Just what the fuck is up with you, Dylan? It’s not like you to get this obsessed over a woman you barely know, so tell me what the hell happened that day.”

  Choosing to ignore his brother, mostly because he partially blamed him for his current situation, Dylan lowered his head to go over the mock-ups the designer had sent over for the hotel lobby.

  The way Dylan saw it, Liam likely knew Sam could have been Dylan’s mate, given the reaction of his cat at the gym. The smug bastard had told him he’d heard of someone else having a similar problem but, to this day, had not informed him what had happened. Dylan was sure he knew the answer now. They were mates.

  Obviously realizing that he was being dismissed, Liam gave a frustrated huff before saying, “Well, hurry up and get over it. There isn’t a pussy in the world worth this much grief.”

  Before he even realized what he was doing, Dylan had gone over his desk and pinned his brother to the floor by his throat. “Don’t you ever talk about my mate with such disrespect!” he hissed.

  Even as his face turned red, Liam smiled, and Dylan realized what had happened. The son of a bitch had goaded Dylan into confessing his true problem and thus giving light to how dangerous he was becoming.

  He quickly let go and sat bac
k against his desk, his elbows on his knees and head in his hands. Great, now, he’d put his brother in the very situation he’d hoped to avoid. It would now fall to Liam to put him down when his mind was so far gone Dylan was more beast than man, because by that point, he’d even be a danger to Samantha, and he couldn’t risk that. Ever.

  “I can’t say I’m surprised.” Liam spoke softly, no doubt from the pain after nearly having his windpipe crushed. “When we got back, I talked to Scotty, the guy I mentioned, and he told me all about how crazy his cat went when he met Misty for the first time. You never said anything though and were so down after we got back. I didn’t know how to bring up that you and Sam could have been mates. How far did you guys take things? Did you…? Fuck, you marked her, didn’t you?”

  “It doesn’t really matter now, does it? She didn’t want me, and I won’t go begging for her to come back, either. She seems happy enough without me. A man has his pride, Liam.”

  “Not where women are concerned. You need her, Dylan. I won’t be forced to end your life just because you refuse to swallow your pride and talk to her.” Liam shook his head in thorough disgust. “I saw the way you two looked at each other. She cared. Maybe, she still does. Besides, you never actually told me what happened that morning. All you said was that she left.”

  “I had a meeting with the Cougar’s Prime, Alexander. I left a note for her, and when I came back, she was gone. All that was left was her phone number on my note.”

  “Then call her. She wouldn’t have left it if she didn’t want to hear from you.”

  “Then why did she leave?”

  “Who knows? Maybe, she had to meet Lynn for something. Or maybe, she was just plain scared. I mean, seriously, did she seem like the type to partake in a random hookup? I wasn’t getting that kind of vibe from her at all. Can you remember exactly what your note said?”

  Of course he did. Dylan had stared at the tattered piece of paper for hours every day since they’d come home, hoping to gain the courage to dial her up, but the more days that passed, the more his confidence waned. Pulling out his wallet, he plucked the note from inside and handed it to Liam who quickly opened it.

  “Well, no wonder she left!” Liam exclaimed, causing Dylan’s head to shoot up. “If you had awoken to find this note, what would you think? I know I’d be expecting to be given my walking papers if a chick left this for me, and that’s probably exactly what she thought, too. There’s no sweetness or soft words to this at all, man. What were you thinking when you wrote this?”

  “I was running late. I just scribbled it at the last minute and bolted for the meeting. Do you really think she believed I wouldn’t want to see her anymore?” Damn, how had he gotten this so mixed up? He’d thought she wanted nothing more to do with him, but it turned out she’d likely thought the same thing about him. “I need to try to fix this.”

  Liam smiled. “I’ve got an idea.”

  “When you smile like that, I don’t exactly feel like it’s in my best interest to agree with you.”

  “Oh, come on! I was going to say you should come with me, and we’ll do the work at her place together. Nobody else. That way, you can feel more confident about talking to her.”

  It sounded good, but Dylan wasn’t so sure Samantha would want to see him. He’d been sleeping outside her bedroom window almost every night in his lion form just so he could be near her. His instinct to protect her overrode any hurt feelings he harbored over her leaving, so he regularly patrolled her property and made sure that his scent was strong enough to warn any other shifters or predators away. Now, the only thing he wanted to keep away was other interested men.

  “If you think it will work, I’ll give it a shot. What kind of work does she need done? I’ve seen the changes she’s made to the house so far, and I can tell that she’s worked her cute little butt off fixing the place up.” Several times, he’d even overheard her talking to herself as she bemoaned her aching muscles, and he’d yearned to be able to knock on her door and offer to rub down every inch of her body.

  “She wanted some of the branches on the oak tree cut back, so they’re not touching the roof. I’ve got a couple small palms to plant on either side of her porch steps and some lava rocks to spread in an area where she’s talking about putting a water feature in. I think a small pond like they put those Koi fish in. It should look real nice when it’s all done.”

  Damn right, it would because Dylan would see to that himself. He’d make sure she had whatever her heart desired for as long as she lived. Samantha Cooke was his mate, and he was determined to win her back, no matter what it took. For once, swallowing his pride wouldn’t be so hard to do, because she was his life, and when your life was on the line you’d do anything to save it.

  * * * *

  A contented sigh escaped her lips as Samantha settled on her new porch swing. It had been a challenge, but she’d been determined to have it hung before she started her new teaching job, and now, she got to enjoy the evening air while she sipped herbal tea and watched the fireflies dance around the yard.

  Everything would be perfect if she could get her pesky stomach to settle. For the last few days, a persistent nausea had taken hold, and Sam began to wonder if all the stress between the house and her new position at the school had given her an ulcer.

  Hell, she couldn’t complain too much because the house looked amazing. She’d been able to salvage the wood floors, and after a fresh stain, they looked perfect. Wanting to save as much as possible, Sam had bought the majority of her furniture from individuals instead of the big department stores. The only exception to this had been her bed. She drew the line at sleeping on anything someone else had probably had sex on.

  A fresh coat of paint in all the rooms and some upgrades on the hardware throughout the kitchen and bathrooms had impressed even Lynn. She’d come over the weekend prior and helped Sam sand down a few rough spots on the wood porch and put a weather treatment on. It appeared the quiet country was growing on her friend.

  Lynn had even taken a ride in the little cart the mechanic had called a Mule, and Samantha had given her a proper tour of the property. The last stop had been to the creek that separated her land from her neighbors. She and Lynn had set up a date for drinks and sunbathing the next weekend.

  Samantha took a deep breath, enjoying the balmy August night, then noticed a pair of eyes reflecting at the edge of the trees. They were too low to be a deer yet too big to be anything small like a raccoon or a possum. She watched, frozen, as they rose up. The eerie floating orbs came a little closer until she made out the huge shadow of the animal in the moonlight.

  Fear shot through her at the sheer size of the animal now that it was upright and slinking from the woods. She had no clue what it could be and had no urge to find out. Quickly, she scrambled out of the swing and ran for the front door. Slamming it behind her, she dug her cell from her purse and hit Lynn’s number.

  Lynn answered cheerily. “Hey, I was wondering if you were still up. I’m off and was thinking of bringing a movie over to watch.”

  “Lynn, there’s something in the front yard!” Samantha’s voice was high, a fact that she could do nothing about, but she regretted how weak it made her sound.

  “A person?” Lynn asked, instantly alert.

  “I think it’s an animal.”

  “You think?”

  “Well, after it stood up and moved closer, I didn’t exactly feel like staying on the porch to find out.”

  “Can you peek out the window and see if it’s still there?”

  Samantha took a few deep breaths to calm herself some then slowly pulled the curtains aside. What she saw made her gasp and stumble back. “There’s a huge black cat out there,” she whispered.

  “For crying out loud,” Lynn huffed. “A cat? You’re scared of a little cat?”

  “Not little. It looks like a freakin’ panther, Lynn. It’s still close to the trees, just walking the edge, and I know it’s looking at the house because I can s
ee its eyes reflecting.” She breathed faster now, her lungs not wanting to allow enough air in as a panic attack began. She was all alone. What if something happened to her? Would help even make it to her before she died? Would Lynn end up finding her mangled body out here one day?

  Lynn, obviously picking up on the problem, lowered her voice to the soothing tone that always helped to bring Sam down. “Slow and easy, Sam. I don’t need you passing out and falling. Sit down somewhere and put your head between your knees. The cat can’t get into the house. You’re safe inside, and I’m on my way.”

  A new wave hit Sam as she sat up straight and shouted, “No! He’s…out there. Don’t…come.”

  “It’s no match for my SUV, so don’t worry. I’ll pull right up to the porch. I guess it’s a good thing you haven’t had your yard work done yet.” Lynn’s light tone was forced, and Samantha knew her friend was trying to brighten the mood. Just knowing she wouldn’t be alone much longer went a long way to calming her down.

  “Okay, okay. Honk when you come down the drive. Maybe, that will scare it away,” Sam suggested.

  “It’s probably just a bobcat in the shadows,” her friend guessed. “I figure it’ll be long gone before I get there, but you’re fine inside. I have my on-call bag in my car still, and I’ll bring it in with me to stay the night. I don’t have to go in tomorrow, so it’s no big deal.”

  “Thank you.” Samantha knew what it meant for Lynn to stay over. As a physician, she valued her downtime. Sleep was a rare and precious thing when you didn’t know when you’d be called to deliver a baby. Countless times, their movie nights or shopping trips had been cut short by the sound of Lynn’s pager going off. Every time that happened, Samantha had once again been grateful she hadn’t chosen a medical profession.

  She had a couple months off each year, every holiday at home to spend with family or friends and even a few weeks during the school year for spring and fall break to recharge before tackling the classroom again. Students always came back with the best stories and the biggest smiles, a fact that never ceased to warm her heart and left her longing for children of her own.