Beneath a Blood Lust Moon

by Jodi Vaugn

  Braxton shoved his hand through his hair. What Damon was saying was right. But his heart told him to do something else.

  “Come with me and…” Damon’s phone rang. He growled at the interruption and pulled it out of his pocket and answered.

  Damon’s entire expression softened.

  “I don’t know, sweetheart. I won’t be home for dinner. Things aren’t going as planned.” Damon gave Braxton a pointed look like it was all his fault.

  Braxton headed into the kitchen. Would he ever have someone in his life like Damon did? Would there be a day when someone was waiting for him at home, someone calling and asking him what he wanted for dinner? Would he ever have a mate? Would that mate be Kate?

  Braxton swallowed, startled at his romantic thoughts. What the hell was wrong with him? He’d never entertained the idea of having a mate before. Not after how he grew up. He would never want to raise a child in an environment like that. Yet here he was entertaining the idea of a life with a female who wasn’t even a wolf.

  The hum of someone pulling up the driveway pushed away any fantasy thoughts.

  The Assassins. They’d found him.

  Braxton hurried to the front window where Damon stood next to him with his hand on his gun.

  “Assassins?”

  “Not unless the Assassins have traded their Harleys for a minivan, a sedan, and a Volkswagen Beetle.”

  The vehicles rolled to a stop. Groups of women began piling out of the cars.

  “Did Kate mention she had guests coming in?” Damon shot him a glare.

  “No. In fact, she’s behind on her mortgage and heading toward foreclosure because business has been so bad.”

  Customers were exactly what Kate needed. From the expression on the ladies’ faces, they were sure to book a room.

  “Leslie, I don’t know. This place looks so isolated,” a younger woman who’d gotten out of the VW mumbled as she walked across the yard.

  “Yeah, but it’s got character,” one woman offered. She smiled and lifted her gaze to the snow-covered pines.

  Braxton snorted at the women’s interaction. He didn’t know their names, but he already liked the one who said the place had character. If Kate got all those women booked for the weekend, that would help her business.

  “Kate needs to get out there then,” Damon said.

  “I’ll go check out back. If those women knock, go answer the door,” Braxton called over his shoulder.

  “I’m not answering the damn door. What do I look like? A butler?” Damon hollered after Braxton.

  Braxton bounded down the steps and out into the snow-covered yard. The wintery air made his lungs ache as he sucked in a chilly breath. Kate was nowhere to be seen. Maybe she’d headed into the woods.Trampling through the fluffy snow, he stopped at the tree line. He closed his eyes and sniffed. He caught her sweet scent but it wasn’t coming from within the woods. He changed direction and headed toward the storage shed off to the side of the house.

  Opening the door of the shed, he stepped inside. Kate stood, gripping the counter of the potting bench as her head hung down. She looked like he felt. Broken.

  His heart twisted in his chest.

  “Kate.”

  She stiffened and then slowly turned.

  “There are some people that just pulled up. Looks like they are needing a place to stay.”

  A flicker of surprise flashed across her face. “Guests?”

  He shrugged. “I think so. They were talking about whether or not they were going to stay.”

  “Did you talk to them?”

  “No, I just heard them talking.”

  Kate rubbed her hands on her jeans and hurried past him. “Did you invite them inside?”

  “Well, no. I thought you were outside. When I didn’t see you greeting them, I came looking for you.” Braxton rubbed the back of his neck as he followed after her. They entered the front yard. The cars were still there, but the ladies were gone.

  Kate stopped suddenly. Braxton plowed into her back. His hands came around her waist, steadying them both.

  “They must be inside.” Braxton’s hands slid up and squeezed her shoulders.

  “Inside?” She turned and stared up at him with wide eyes. “With Damon?”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Braxton hurried inside the house. Damon wasn’t exactly Mr. Personality, and most women found him downright intimidating.

  He braced himself as he rounded the corner in the living room, ready to apologize to Kate for Damon scaring off her customers. She needed those customers if she were going to have a chance at saving her home.

  All the ladies were in the living room, with Damon standing in the middle, looking uncomfortable. Instead of keeping their distance, they were all eyeing him like a lion looking at a steak.

  “What’s your name?” The younger girl who’d been bitching about the Bella Luna being too isolated leaned closer to Damon.

  “That’s Damon.” Braxton narrowed his eyes in warning at his friend. “Damon’s my favorite name. I’m Felicity.” Felicity stepped closer to Damon and smiled.

  Another woman tugged on Damon’s arm. “Damon, how long are you staying here?”

  Damon glared and pulled out of the woman’s grip. “I was just leaving.”

  “You can’t leave. We just got here.” An older woman with a pageboy haircut pressed her lips together.

  “Hi, everyone.” They all turned at Kate’s voice.

  Damon eased himself out of the circle and moved to stand by Braxton.

  “I’m Kate. I’m the owner of the Bella Luna.” She gave everyone a warm smile. “Are you ladies interested in booking a couple of nights with us?”

  “Well, we were, but…” One of the older ladies’ gaze zeroed in on Braxton.

  “Are you a guest here, too?” Felicity gave Braxton a feline smile as she stroked her own throat.

  Kate reached for his hand. “Actually, he’s more than a guest.”

  All the ladies’ eyebrows shot up in understanding. Braxton bit his lip to keep from smiling. So Kate was claiming him, was she? Two could play at that game.

  Braxton reached for her, pulling her into his arms, and kissed her.

  He expected her to hesitate, to pull away at the public display of affection, but she didn’t. Instead, she laced her fingers around his neck and kissed him back.

  Damon cleared his throat. Braxton finally pulled away. Kate’s heavy eyes made him want to throw her over his shoulder and lock themselves in her room for a week. Hell, for eternity.

  “Awwww. That’s so sweet,” one woman whimpered.

  “Sweet, my ass. That was hot. Like fuck-me-up-against-the-wall hot.”

  Braxton and Kate turned their shocked gaze upon the women. Damon snorted.

  “So, if he’s yours, what about him?” Felicity pointed at Damon.

  Damon’s eyes grew wide and he held up his hands. “Sorry. I’m taken, too.”

  “Well, shit. Don’t that figure. All the hot ones always are.” An older lady crossed her arms and cocked her head at Damon. “So, I’m guessing you’re faithful to your woman?”

  Damon looked offended. “Of course. I’d never cheat on Ava.”

  That garnered another round of awwwws from the ladies.

  Kate cleared her throat and glanced at Braxton. “Are you ladies looking to have a girls’ weekend?”

  “We’re here on business.”

  A blonde-haired lady wearing a blue twinset frowned. “I thought we were here to get drunk and write smut.”

  “We are, Jackie. But I’m writing this off on my taxes, so we’re officially here on business.”

  Felicity snorted.

  “So you’re all writers? What kind of books do you write?” Kate asked.

  “We write everything, hon. I’m Felicity and I write romantic suspense. This is Jackie; she and Myrtis write paranormal romance. Leslie writes contemporary romance. Danielle and Barbara write historical romance. That’s Lynn over there. Don’t let th
e shy act fool you. She writes erotica.”

  Braxton felt Damon edge closer to him. He didn’t blame the guy. The way these women were openly staring at them pushed the boundaries of lewd.

  “Wow. All of you ladies write romance? How exciting. Are any of you published?”

  “Lynn’s the only one published right now. As for the rest of us, we were hoping to spend our time here writing during the day and drinking at night. Who knows? It might result in a best seller. Do you have internet?”

  Kate’s face fell. “I do, but the snowstorm knocked it out. I’m not sure when it will be back up. I could call and…”

  “No!” All the women answered in unison.

  Felicity shook her head and grinned. “It’s better if there’s no internet. That way we’ll spend the entire weekend writing and not looking at the internet or checking email. Isn’t that right, ladies?”

  They all nodded.

  “Do you have enough room for all of us? The last B&B we stopped at only had three rooms open.”

  “She has four rooms open,” Braxton spoke up. “You girls don’t mind sharing a bed, do you?”

  “Of course not. In fact, it would be better on my wallet if we did.” Myrtis smiled. “And since Lynn is the published writer in the group, she can have a room to herself.”

  “So how much is it a night?” Felicity looked at Kate.

  “Well, the rate is two hundred dollars plus tax. It includes a full breakfast and cookies and wine at five in the afternoon.”

  “How come I didn’t get cookies and wine?” Damon scowled.

  “Because you ate everything in the house,” Kate deadpanned.

  “That sounds so romantic.” Barbara sighed.

  Kate frowned. “What? Damon’s appetite?”

  “No. The cookies and wine.”

  “How much wine are we talking about? Because we’re just letting you know, we can throw back some liquor,” Myrtis said.

  Felicity waved her hand in the air in a dismissive gesture. “Ignore her. We brought our own alcohol. The last bed and breakfast we stopped at said no alcohol. We were beginning to wonder if Eureka Springs was a dry city.”

  Kate laughed. “It’s not a dry county. That’s for sure. And alcohol is definitely allowed at the Bella Luna.”

  “What a relief.” Barbara sighed. “I was beginning to think we were going to have to stay at that hotel just outside of town. You know, the one next to the construction site with all the police tape around it.”

  Kate went pale.

  Braxton squeezed her hand to keep her from saying anything.

  “I’m afraid there was a death there last night.”

  The ladies let out a collective gasp.

  Too late. Braxton rubbed his hand down his face. She needed to bring in customers, not scare them away.

  “I’m not sure what happened, but…” Kate’s voice trailed off.

  Lynn’s eyes widened. “Was it an accident?”

  “Was it suicide?” Barbara’s mouth dropped open.

  Felicity arched an eyebrow. “Was it murder?”

  Kate looked up at him. “I believe the police are ruling it as a homicide.”

  “Murder! I knew it!” Felicity pumped her fist in the air while the other ladies shot her a glare at having guessed correctly.

  “Sorry. We’re writers and we sometimes get excited over the weirdest things.” Barbara laughed. “It makes for great fodder for our novels.”

  “Yeah.” Felicity’s eyes grew wide with excitement. “On our last trip to New York, we were almost kidnapped by this crazed taxi driver and held for ransom.”

  Myrtis snorted. “We were not. That cab driver wouldn’t let you out of the car because you refused to pay him.”

  “Fifty bucks for two blocks. That’s criminal.” Felicity crossed her arms.

  Braxton shook his head. These were the craziest women he’d ever seen. And he’d seen a lot of crazy during his stint bartending in a strip club. “Are you ladies interested in seeing the rooms?” They needed to quit yapping and book the damn rooms already.

  “Nope.”

  Sadness filled Kate’s eyes.

  “We don’t need to see the rooms. We’ll take it.” Barbara clasped her hands together.

  “Really?” Kate brightened. “The rooms are ready now if you’d like to get settled in.”

  “That would be great.” Felicity plucked her keys out of the depths of her oversized purse. “Let’s unpack first. Then we can head back into town for a late lunch at that place Lynn pointed out.”

  Barbara looked horrified. “You mean that hole in the wall? I’m not sure it’s safe, Felicity.”

  “We don’t want safe. We want excitement for our novels.” Felicity gave a sly grin. “Besides, if there’s trouble, I got this.” She pulled a .45 handgun out of her bag.

  “Holy shit, Felicity. Put that damn thing away.” Danielle flapped her hands up and down nervously.

  Braxton shoved Kate behind him. “Do you have a permit for that?” Crazy women and guns did not mix.

  “Sure do. Concealed carry permit right here.” As Felicity waved her license, her gun swung around and pointed at Barbara, who had the good sense to drop to the floor.

  “Jesus, give me that!” Myrtis grabbed the gun and pointed it at the ceiling. “Who the hell would give you a concealed weapon permit?”

  “The guy teaching the concealed weapon class. Plus, he asked me out to dinner.”

  “Great to know there are assholes out there willing to give a crazy woman a gun for a piece of ass.” Myrtis glared.

  Damon and Braxton snorted. The women turned and looked at them.

  Braxton sobered and nodded. “If you ladies unlock your trunks, we’ll be happy to take your luggage to your rooms.”

  “We will?” Damon arched his brow.

  Braxton elbowed him hard in the side.

  “Why, aren’t you two gentlemen?” Barbara gushed and then locked her gaze on Braxton as she cocked her head. “Do you know who you remind me of?”

  Braxton stiffened. Holy fuck. Had his face been splattered over the five o’clock news?

  “A pirate.”

  “Excuse me?” He had fucking blue streaks in his hair. No pirate had blue streaks in their hair.

  Damon laughed out loud.

  Braxton shot him a glare and jerked a thumb in his direction. “What about Damon? Who does he look like?”

  Barbara gave him a thoughtful look. “He looks like a vampire.”

  Damon looked horrified as Braxton barked out a laugh. “I do not look like a fucking vampire.”

  “Damon! You can’t say the F-word in front of these ladies!” Kate hissed.

  “Why not?” Felicity shrugged. “We say it all the time in our writing. Don’t we, Lynn?”

  Lynn smiled. “Fuck, yeah.”

  “Plus, we need to be around alpha males like you two. You know, to listen to how you really talk. Don’t edit yourselves for us.” Barbara smiled warmly.

  Braxton looked at Damon. “Well, you see, we were planning on leaving today.”

  “Oh, you can’t do that! I need an inspiration for my hero and you two gentlemen fit the bill,” Barbara pleaded.

  “Yeah. You can’t just leave us helpless women here alone while there’s a madman on the loose,” Felicity offered.

  “I don’t think you are exactly helpless.” Braxton nodded toward the .45.

  “Are you kidding? What if I hear a bump in the night, get up to investigate, and end up shooting Kate who couldn’t sleep and is making homemade cookies because that’s what she does when she’s got something on her mind.”

  “You wouldn’t really shoot me would you?” Kate’s voice quavered the tiniest bit.

  Felicity smiled broadly. “Not on purpose.”

  “If you ladies will excuse us, I need to have a word with Kate.” Braxton guided her toward the kitchen.

  Alone in the kitchen, he glared at her. “I think you need to tell them they can’t stay.”
r />   “Why would I do that? Are you crazy?” she hissed.

  “I’m not the crazy one wielding a .45. Did you see the look in Felicity’s eyes? I don’t think she’s right in the head.” He tapped his temple for emphasis.

  “I’m not telling them they can’t stay. They’re not crazy. They’re just writers. Besides, I need the income. If the bank sees I’m bringing in customers, then I might have a chance against foreclosure.”

  Kate’s face lit with the hope. He doubted she’d survive a foreclosure. It would crush her.

  Braxton blew out a breath. “They can stay, but on one condition.”

  Kate crossed her arms and narrowed her gaze on him. “What’s that?”

  “I stay, too.”

  ***

  Kate stood in front of the living room window, watching Damon and Braxton retrieve the luggage out of the cars. She grinned as Damon dropped a bag, cursed, and straightened. From the posture of the two males, Braxton had to be telling him he wasn’t going anywhere.

  A few minutes later, they were stomping back through the house and following the group of writers to their rooms. Kate busied herself in the kitchen, checking her supplies and making a list of what she needed to pick up. She had enough for breakfast in the morning, but would have to head into town afterward to replenish her stock. The writers popped in the kitchen to grab their room keys and tell her they were heading out and might be back late.

  “What the hell am I supposed to tell Barrett?” Damon followed Braxton in to the kitchen.

  “Tell him you couldn’t find me.” Braxton grabbed a soda out of the refrigerator and popped the top.

  “I already told him I found you, dumbass.”

  “Then tell him you lost me again.” Braxton gave his friend a broad smile.

  “I...” Damon growled as his phone began to ring. He snatched it out of his jacket and slid his finger across the screen. “Hello?’

  Damon’s face softened and then a smile broke out across his lips. Speaking in a hushed voice, he walked into the living room.

  “Must be Ava.” Braxton stepped up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She let herself lean back into the strength of his warm chest.