by E A Price
Ten
Lorenzo paused outside the door to his house. His jaguar growled, sensing danger, sensing people lurking behind the door, waiting for him. Sadly, they weren’t there to attack him. No, it was much worse than that.
With a belabored sigh, he pushed the door open and stilled as his family screamed ‘Congratulations’ at him.
His family was big on parties and celebrating. Though, thankfully, the surprise hadn’t caused him to shift and jump on the coffee table like his last birthday. The table had been a bugger to repair.
With a martyred smile, he allowed his brothers to slap him on the back, his sisters-in-law to kiss him and his nephews to clamber all over him.
“Well done, son,” said his father jovially, slapping his back and nearly sending him across the room. His father was a larger than life male, with a large barrel chest, a full beard, and a perpetual jolly mood. He looked like a swarthy Santa Claus. “We’re all proud of you.”
“Where is she?” asked his mother, squeezing his hand.
“At the guest house,” replied Lorenzo slightly sullenly. He wished he hadn’t left her – his jaguar, in particular, was not pleased, but it had been a long day and she needed a little time to relax before the urge to start throwing things resurfaced.
“What’s her name? What is she like? What are her favorite foods?” she asked eagerly.
His dad let out a booming laugh and patted her rear affectionately. “Sweetheart, give him a chance, he barely knows her.”
His mom smiled and snuggled against her mate’s huge chest. Lorenzo’s parents had always been touchy-feely to the point of making all their sons want to be sick. He knew that his dad had indeed kidnapped his mom to be his bride many years ago. Though, he couldn’t imagine his mom ever looking quite as annoyed about it as Sadie.
Would Sadie be able to overcome her feelings to want to be his mate? Right now, he wasn’t so sure. He didn’t regret kidnapping her. He wanted her to be his. He just wasn’t sure he could ever persuade her to want him.
“When can we meet her?” asked his eldest brother, who was starting to take on the same portly proportions of their father, not to mention the burgeoning facial hair.
“I’m not sure,” said Lorenzo uncertainly.
“We can’t wait,” said his next brother gleefully.
His three brothers and their sons started tucking into the mass of food they had prepared. They must have been baking and cooking for two days for all this. Any excuse for a party.
His mom was taken away by his brothers’ mates to coo over the newest cub.
His dad cocked his head to one side. “You’ve brought a mate home, boy, and you don’t exactly seem thrilled.”
“We only spoke for a matter of minutes.” Most of the minutes had been filled with awkward silence.
His dad nodded. “Same with your mother and me. I only had to look at her, and I knew I wanted her. The moment she spoke, I was a goner.”
“What about mom?” he asked watching his mother holding the cub. Her delicate fingers traced his face, memorizing every inch of him.
His father smiled as he looked at her, he flushed with love and devotion at just the sight of her.
“Took her a little longer, but she got there, and it was worth the wait.”
“I think it will take Sadie longer,” he said darkly, wondering if she would ever get there.
He could be charming with women when he wanted to be – he could flatter and flirt and make them forget the way he looked. But he didn’t want to put on a show with Sadie. He wanted her to want him the way he was, scars and all…
His dad squeezed his shoulder. “Son, if she’s meant to be yours, they won’t matter to her.”
“Yeah, maybe,” he muttered.
It wasn’t just the scars though. The dreams, and the nightmares – the awful memories of how he got his scars were still there. Even if she could see past his looks, would she stick around for the rest?
*
After a thorough search of the house – which yielded nothing of any interest and certainly no phone or computer of any kind – Sadie made her way to the kitchen.
The weather was warm, so she changed into a floaty dress and flats. Heels would be no good – she was planning on fleeing the first chance she got.
The refrigerator was well stocked, and she set about making something to eat. In her younger years, she had lived off noodles and power bars, but Al had wanted a little wife who could cook and had nagged and nagged her until she took a cooking class. Now, she was pretty proficient, and while she didn’t like Al trying to change her or make her feel less than, she was glad she did it. It meant she could cook good, healthy meals for Mandy. Also, it meant she could make something for the two glum women making their way into the kitchen.
Laurel, the pretty blonde who had been kidnapped by Diego, didn’t seem quite so upset. But Mary, Tomas’ victim or mate or whatever, looked like she was a mouse on the run from a cat. Which, she kind of was.
Sadie’s mothering instincts kicked in. She wanted to take care of them and feed them and make everything okay in a way that her own mother never had.
“C’mon, ladies, I’m making a stir-fry.”
“Smells delicious,” said Laurel giving her a creaky smile.
Mary shrugged slightly.
“Mary, can you set the table and Laurel get us some drinks. I saw some sodas in the refrigerator. Look for some ice, will you?”
They both did as asked with no fussing. She was going to get them talking when she heard voices outside the window.
“What in the…” Sadie peered out the window and let out a squawk of laughter. “Oh my god!”
“What?” Laurel rushed over to the window and dissolved into a fit of giggles.
Even Mary had to smile. Hester, the fourth in their not-so-merry band of kidnappees, was currently dangling from her bedroom window, completely naked and being teased down by her kidnapper – Antonio. She must have been attempting her own escape and got caught. Hester was a cheetah shifter. Perhaps she had thought to jump out her window and shift and make a break for it. Sadie was a little jealous that Hester had an advantage when trying to escape, though it hadn’t really helped her so far.
“Should we help her?” said Laurel.
Sadie snorted. “I think she’s getting all the help she needs.”
The three of them continued what they were doing, though a little more slowly, as each was listening to the conversation between Hester and Antonio. It didn’t last long and culminated in Hester leaving in a huff, but they got the gist of it. Hester had agreed to stay for the whole two weeks of the wooing process.
Sadie was surprised she capitulated that easily. The woman had been nearly spitting nails earlier and was adamant that they were all leaving. But Sadie didn’t pretend to understand anything about shifters. She’d barely spent any time around them. She heard vague rumors about them having strange traditions, but she’d never really given it any thought… until she found herself unwillingly participating in one of their traditions.
It wasn’t long after that Hester herself appeared in the kitchen.
“I thought I’d cook dinner,” said Sadie, “since we don’t seem to be going anywhere,” she added casting a sly look in Hester’s direction.
“What are you making?” Hester asked.
“Just a stir-fry,” replied Sadie. “I’m throwing in all sorts – chicken, potatoes, rice, egg – it’ll be gorgeous.” Without thinking she added, “My college roommate was Chinese, and she used to cook this all the time. This is actually a really nice kitchen, very well stocked.”
Hester nodded absently, and Sadie was amazed at herself for, first of all, coming up with that lie, and then throwing it out there for everyone to hear. She’d always been a good liar – she had to be growing up. She lied to her mom’s landlord, her mom’s parole officer, to anyone her mom owed money to… But she just made that whole college roommate thing up on a whim. Well, maybe not entirely,
her cooking teacher said something similar in one of their lessons. But Sadie had to remember it on the spot.
“I agreed to stay for the two weeks,” said Hester, looking a little morose about the fact.
Mary seemed to curl up even smaller, but Sadie merely gave Hester a look.
“We know,” sighed Laurel.
Hester winced. “You heard?”
“Only because you yelled it,” chuckled Sadie.
“Look, I know this isn’t ideal, but what they did to us is one of their crazy-ass traditions, and I don’t think they had much of a choice… it’s hard to explain.
“Don’t get me wrong, I don’t excuse what these bozos did to us – I’d much rather be back in Los Lobos sipping a Martini. But if we make a break for it and call the cops, then a lot of people will get arrested, and a lot of innocent kids will lose their parents.”
Sadie tensed at the mention of the kids. What about her kid? Her Mandy? No, she didn’t want any kids to lose their parents, but she needed to know Mandy was A-okay.
“Maybe it won’t be too bad,” said Laurel hesitantly. “I did think I had a connection to Diego when I met him, I just… just didn’t think he’d ever be interested in me.” Her cheeks turned crimson, and she became very interested in the carrot she was chopping. “Maybe we can look on this as an adventure. I’ve read a lot about the mating habits of shifters, and they are different to humans. I don’t think they mean us any harm.”
No, Sadie didn’t believe they did either, but she couldn’t stay there, and she didn’t trust them. She could pretend everything was fine, could lie and make it seem everything was okay, but truly, she needed to get out of there and get to a phone.
Eleven
Lorenzo let out a small growl of familiarity as he scented Diego making his way toward him. Diego growled out of the darkness, and a second later, the man himself appeared, strolled over to the porch and dropped down next to his friend.
He cocked his head as he heard laughter coming from inside the house.
Lorenzo grimaced. “Surprise congratulations party.”
Diego gave him a look of amusement. “And you’re hiding out here?”
“I’m not hiding,” bristled Lorenzo, even though he knew he was.
His jaguar humphed, but the beast didn’t want to play pin the tail on the jaguar any more than he did.
They lapsed into silence for a few minutes, until Diego felt obligated to fill it. Diego was someone who couldn’t stay quiet for long. Or ever really. Lorenzo had been on camping trips with him before, and the man talked in his sleep.
“Long day, huh?”
Lorenzo grunted.
“Unexpected us all finding mates, huh?”
Lorenzo grunted.
“I wonder what Laurel’s doing right now…”
Lorenzo had to chuckle at the predatory gleam that entered his friend’s eyes. He wouldn’t have pegged Diego with Laurel – the woman was a vegetarian for heaven’s sake! A quality unheard of in a jaguar leap, but he supposed the beast wanted what the beast wanted.
His beast wanted Sadie. How anyone could not want her was beyond him. She was a beauty plain and simple, and he’d seen glimpses of feistiness in her that he found infinitely appealing. But also, he saw hints of vulnerability, small cracks beneath a confident façade, and he found that appealing too.
“No regrets?” asked Diego.
“No,” said Lorenzo. He had no regrets. Anxieties, worries and a new collection of nervous ticks – but no regrets.
“I can’t wait to see her tomorrow. To see her smile, to hear her laugh, to see her… her…”
Diego swallowed and let out a small, plaintive yowl. Lorenzo laughed, but then he started thinking about Sadie, and his jaguar let out a yowl.
Diego stood up abruptly. “I’m just going to go home now.”
Lorenzo narrowed his eyes. “Roberto said we should let them be for their first evening at least.”
Roberto was their prime – the leader of their leap, and the scariest jaguar in their leap. Which, considering their leap contained the man-mountain that is Tomas was saying something. When Roberto gave them an order, they listened and followed it as if their lives depended on it… because they kind of did.
Diego gave him a pouty look. The same one he did whenever he had done something wrong – or was about to do something wrong – and was going to lie about doing something wrong. Like the time he borrowed Lorenzo’s car and crashed it because he was trying to impress a girl by driving on two wheels – he couldn’t drive on two wheels at all, he just thought it looked easy in the movies.
“I told you, I’m just going home,” he said in a crabby voice.
Another sure sign he was lying – Diego only became petulant when he was lying.
“Aha.”
Lorenzo stood up and stretched. “I think I’ll take a walk.”
Diego folded his arms. “Oh, really?”
Lorenzo shrugged. “Really.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
They started walking, eyeing each other balefully and continuing arguing – it lasted until they arrived at the guesthouse where their mates were staying.
*
Sadie held her breath as she opened the front door to the guesthouse. She half expected an alarm to blare at her, or at least a jaguar to pounce out of nowhere and roar at her. She’d seen a few wandering around the compound earlier on their ‘tour,’ but nobody paid them any mind. She supposed to them it was the most natural thing in the world to strip and turn into an enormous hairy beast. She supposed Lorenzo did it on a regular basis. Supposed he peeled himself out of his clothes and then shimmered his way into the form of a giant, wild jaguar…
She gulped and gave herself an inner slap. Now was not the time to get a case of the vapors. Nope, she could do that later when she was home, alone, in her dingy apartment… For a second she had to wonder about the logic of wanting to leave this beautiful, idyllic place to go back to a home where it was a competition as to which room had the largest water stain. But she knew why. Mandy.
Sadie shook her head and gingerly stepped outside. She had gathered a few things – a bottle of water, spare panties, a couple of granola bars, lip balm – always a must - and a torch – and she was leaving.
She had managed to creep past the other girls’ rooms and was now making her bid for freedom.
Sadie took another step and… nothing happened. The night was still and dark, and she was nervous, but she was resolved to leave.
She started walking towards where she thought the exit was. All she could hear was the soft patter of her footsteps. She must have passed five other houses when the hair on her neck bristled.
Sadie stopped, peering ahead of her, seeing nothing. One of her hands dropped limply to her side, and when it connected with something warm, she screamed.
Her meager assortment of items went flying as she realized there was a jaguar beside her. He regarded her steadily for a moment before his body shimmered, and he turned back into Lorenzo.
Sadie clutched at her chest, willing her racing heart to slow down to a mild jog. “Holy shit! You scared the life out of me!” she harped.
Lorenzo gave her a cool look. “No kidding.”
She blushed at having been caught trying to sneak out – even if he was her kidnapper she still felt irrationally guilty for trying to leave. Though, as her body flushed, it was for a completely different reason.
“Good grief - you’re naked!” she breathed, her eyes widening at the sight before her.
Lorenzo’s face tightened, and he growled lightly, but Sadie didn’t care. Nope, she was too busy goggling at the sight before her. His body was… stupendous. Having only been with her two husbands, she was feeling a little cheated… given that she now knew what else was out there.
“You could look away,” he said stiffly.
Wasn’t the only part of him that was stiff she thought saucily.
“Look away?” she muttere
d incredulously. “It’s filling my vision.”
Lorenzo let out a bark of laughter, and she jumped.
“It’s not funny,” she murmured, though without any heat – no all heat was reserved for her suddenly aching flesh.
“I thought you were…” He stopped, and she managed to wrench herself away to see his expression cloud over.
“What?”
“Just… my scars,” he said with a growl.
Sadie shrugged. She hadn’t paid them any mind. Nope, too busy salivating over his hard muscles, and his gigantic proportions…
“Perhaps you should cover up,” she said hastily.
She had a strong urge to touch him, and she wanted to stop that urge dead in its tracks. The urge was reminding her that she hadn’t had sex in over a year. It was also pointing out the fact that she’d never been with someone quite so… delicious looking.
His mood lightened a touch. “Trying to run?”
“No,” she lied immediately. “I’m just out for a walk. I’m a night… crawler.”
She’d watched far too many cartoons over the past twelve years, and the words just bubbled out.
Lorenzo gave her an almost bemused look. “You one of the X-men? Or are you a bug?”
“First of all, euw – bugs! Second of all, if I were an X-man, I’d be Storm because she’s awesome.”
His lips twitched into a smile. “I’m surprised you know the names of the X-men.”
Mandy had watched the cartoon obsessively when she was age seven to ten – if it happened in the cartoon, Sadie knew about it. She almost said that out loud and caught herself.
“Shouldn’t you be in bed?” she countered.
Lying naked in bed she added in her head, trying to sleep despite the distraction of the motorboat sized object in his pants… Oh boy she needed a cold shower or perhaps therapy…