His kiss was cool, yet scorching at the same time. He lifted his head, his green eyes had darkened to blackest night. “I’ll keep a close watch. Your other mates won’t touch you again in anger. They know what they did was wrong.” His voice was barely a whisper as she started to fade from the room.
“No, I want to stay,” she whispered back, but knew she had no choice.
Once again in her room on her bed, Tabatha curled up into a ball, hugging her pillow. An emptiness resided in her heart. She didn’t know how, but in those few minutes, he had captured and held a piece of her.
No one had ever treated her with such specialness. Tabatha turned her gaze to the door. Hoyt and Chax still owed her a huge apology. Climbing out of bed, she walked to her closet and opened the door. She grabbed a T-shirt, slipping it on. Tonight she wanted time alone to just sleep. Tabatha locked her bedroom door, even though she knew it wouldn’t do any good.
Stiffness started to settle in her backside as she walked to the full-length mirror and lifted her T-shirt up. Sure enough, she was already starting to blister from their spanking. She didn’t know why her bottom hadn’t been sore earlier. Maybe it was because I was in a different world where there’s no pain. Whatever the reason, she didn’t want to inform Drakos of this. She could just image his wrath.
Slowly, she slid onto the bed on her stomach and covered herself. Tomorrow would be soon enough to work through all the emotions. Right now all she wanted to do was sleep.
***
Tabatha woke up and glanced at the clock. Three a.m. She scanned the room. No mates. Getting up, she went into the bathroom and sat carefully on the toilet. Tabatha had no idea how she was going to handle them. She knew they were hers, but could she forgive them for their actions?
Walking into the hallway, she listened and heard nothing. She knew someone watched her, but whoever it was, they did not show themselves. She entered the living room to investigate where her mates had gone. Coming around the corner, she noticed them asleep in each other’s arms on the floor. They lay there so peacefully. She’d never seen such a beautiful sight. She knew they had made love to each other. The smell of passion still lingered in the air. Tears rolled down her face.
I can’t believe I’m falling for the big lugs, even after all they have done. Very quietly she covered their bodies in the blanket that had been folded on couch. She made her way back to her bed, alone.
She awoke when the sun rose. She looked at the clock. Six a.m. Crawling out of the bed, she threw on a dress. Her ass burned, and blisters had formed over night. Tabatha walked into the kitchen and didn’t say a word to her mates. She started the coffee and peeked out the window at the lake. It appeared so peaceful.
She grabbed a cup and made her way down the pier. She didn’t dare sit down, so she just stood at the end of the pier staring out at the lake.
How can I get past what they did to me?
“I’m here to help. Talk to them, Tabatha. I think so much has been thrown at us that we all need to step back and breathe,” Drakos murmured.
We’ll see. I wish you were here or that I was there with you. I feel like a piece of me was left there. Tabatha sighed.
“I know, my little angel. It’s the same for me, and you should have told me about the blisters. I could have healed you. I’m a little angry about that. I guess we are all going to have a nice long chat.”
Tabatha looked down at the water. Cool water would soothe her burning butt, so she threw off her dress and dove into the lake. The water stung at first. Pulling herself up onto the floating pier, she laid down on her stomach, staring out at nothing. She felt someone watching her and looked up. Her mates stared at her from the shore. She ignored them and closed her eyes. She heard splashes and knew they would be there soon. The platform sank as they lifted their bodies up onto to it.
“We need to talk,” Hoyt stated and sat down next to her.
Water dripped down onto her. Chax sat on the other side of her and rubbed his hands up and down her legs. She used every ounce of willpower to ignore them.
“Don’t you know you mean everything to us? Especially to me? I’m free because of you. I can walk in the light now. I know what love is. If you die, I die also,” Chax whispered into her ear and rubbed her neck.
“If this is your kind of love, I don’t want it,” Tabatha stated. “You don’t understand this, but I need some freedom. You’ve taken my life and my freedom away from me. I like to go to movies, shopping, and doing things outside of a home. You can’t keep me prisoner in my own house. Then you tie me down and spank me like a child. I am not a kid. I told you to send a guard and I wouldn’t complain about it,” Tabatha stated calmly.
“I am sorry, but we’re new at this. We can’t lose you. You can do the same things you’re used to, but all we ask is that you give us time. You have to keep the guards with you.”
“I told you I wouldn’t complain about the guards.”
“The danger isn’t over. That demon wasn’t the one who put the snakes in that box,” Chax stated.
Tabatha sighed and got up, jumping into the water. She swam back to the shore and turned to pull her dress on.
The woods always soothed her. She started to walk the beaten path. She needed to think. Tabatha knew her mates followed as she made her way up the path toward the top of the bluff. It was weird how she could walk barefoot and not feel a thing. There were some nice benefits to being changed. She snorted taking a deep breath and closing her eyes taking in the quietness.
“When will your parents be here?” She asked, looking out at the view as she came to a clearing in the forest.
“Mine will be here tomorrow, and Chax’s father will be here the next day,” Hoyt said, strolling to one side of her and slipping his arm around her waist.
She pulled out of his arm. “I don’t know what I did wrong, but what you two did was uncalled for. I have blisters on my ass, thanks to you two.” Tabatha walked over to a big stone and gently sat down. Her butt burned on contact. “You two come into my life and in the past two days you’ve changed my body, lied to me, spanked me, and claimed me without me having any say in the matter. I’ve tried to overlook certain things and forgive the both of you, but you keep taking and taking.
“When will I be on the receiving end, when will you give me something back? Where is the love, Chax? Hoyt? Sure, we have great sex, but there has to be more.” She looked over her shoulder at Hoyt. “You have planned my bonding ceremony without even asking me what I would like. Did you ever think maybe I’d like to have a normal wedding? No, you didn’t! I need time to think. Just go away…” she whispered the last part and stood.
“Tabatha,” Chax started to say.
“No, you come waltzing into my home and tell your brothers they can stay without asking me. You change me into a demon that I don’t know anything about. And you claim to love me. How can that be, Chax? Do you know anything about me? Both of you know nothing about me. Sure, I like to be dominated in the bedroom, but I can get that from any man, and I have. But what about romance? Maybe I wanted our first time to be with candles and flowers all around.”
She stopped and looked at both of them. “You two are the most handsome men I know. Well, the three of you are. Did you ever think I might want to explore your bodies? You’ve told me I’m beautiful, but with your actions, how am I to believe this?”
“Will you come have breakfast with us and talk to us?” Hoyt asked before she could say anything else.
“I’ll be down in a minute. Just give a few minutes alone. I know Chax’s brothers are guarding me.”
Tabatha watched them walk back down the bluff. Tears slipped down her face.
“You do know they love you, right?” Chax’s middle brother, Nicor, said behind her.
She whipped around and glared at him. “Don’t do that. You scared the crap out of me.” She sighed. “I know they feel something, but we’ve been together for such a short time. How can someone love someone else so quickly
?”
She spun away from him and walked down the hill.
Nicor fell into step beside her. “You haven’t been around our kind. You don’t know what it’s like for us to have a mate. You’ve been raised as a human. I know being a demon is hard. Most of our kind don’t ever find a mate. My brother is very lucky to have found the both of you. He won’t give up, Tabatha.”
“I’m not asking them to give up. I just want my thoughts and feelings to be considered once in a while, instead of them just doing what they want and making all my decisions for me. I’d love to just be held and told I’m beautiful.” She glanced up at him. “Do you know what it’s like to hear you’re a freak of nature and your own kind wants you dead? It hurts. I’m a freak.”
The cabin came into view, and she saw her mates standing on the deck waiting for her.
“No, I don’t know, but I do know if you told them what you felt, they would listen. Give them a chance.”
“Thanks for listening. I’ll try.” She smiled up at him and turned to walk up the stairs to the deck.
Tabatha took a deep breath and let it out. She did feel something for them, but love them? There was something there that was stronger than she had ever felt with other men, but she didn’t know whether it was love or not. She looked up at Chax, meeting his smiling countenance.
“We set up some food on the dining room table while waiting for you.”
She stepped into the living room and stopped when she saw the candles and flowers scattered everywhere.
Tabatha walked slowly around the room, taking everything in. Candles lit the dining room table, and breakfast waited for them. Tears formed in her eyes when saw the red dress hanging on the door behind the table. She smiled, hugging Chax tightly.
“Thank you. This is so beautiful, and I love the dress. I was afraid if I went back to the store that it wouldn’t be there. Thank you for buying it for me.” Tabatha pulled his face down and kissed his mouth softly. Then she moved to Hoyt, who stood with his arms out, and she went into them willingly. She hugged him and kissed him. He led her to the chair to sit.
She eyed the chair for a moment and sat carefully on it. She hid a growl as her ass hit the seat. They sat down next to her and heaped food on her plate.
“Hey, what do you think I am, a pig? Slow down.” Tabatha laughed.
The phone rang, and she started to get up, but Hoyt shook his head.
Hoyt answered the phone while she dug into her food. Her stomach rumbled. Hoyt came back to the table, sitting down with a frown on his face.
Tabatha put her fork down, looking at Hoyt. “Okay, give it up. What else has gone wrong?”
“It seems my grandparents are also coming to our ceremony. They haven’t left their home in years,” Hoyt stated, digging into his food with a smile.
“Okay, that’s a good thing,” Tabatha stated, digging back into her food. “Don’t scare me like that.” She peeked up at her mates. “May I ask where Melody is?” Tabatha looked at her food. She heard Hoyt set his fork down, and looked up at him.
“Shane and Ben took her to visit Shane’s parents for the day. We wanted some time to spend alone with you before everyone starts showing up for the ceremony. The pack will be arriving tomorrow to help work in building the pack house before our bonding.” Hoyt cupped her face in his hand.
She smiled, rubbing her face against his palm. “Are Shane and Ben furious with me?”
“They’ll get over it. They know Melody had a part in you two taking off,” Chax said around a mouthful of food.
She laughed as a drop of syrup fell onto his chest. Tabatha stared up at Chax, then she stood, leaned over the table and licked the syrup off his bare chest.
Desire rose in his eyes. Tabatha always did have a fantasy involving syrup and/or Cool Whip.
She started to sit back down into her chair less carefully than she had before, and she hissed at the pain. Hoyt’s chair fell backward and he came up behind her, lifting her sundress up over her hips.
“Shit, why didn’t you tell us what we did? This is bad, baby,” Hoyt mumbled.
Chax pushed his chair back and came around to examine her ass.
“I did tell you.” Tabatha scooted away from them, shoving her dress back down, the good mood totally ruined. Grabbing a muffin and her coffee from the table, she ignored them and walked outside to the back porch. She felt them come up behind her.
“I bruise easily, I always have.” She shrugged. Her muffin crumbled and fell onto the deck as she tried to take a bite. She bent to pick it up when something whizzed by her ear.
The next thing she knew, she had landed flat on the porch floor with Hoyt on top of her, growling. She tried to move, but he wouldn’t let her.
“Stay still! Someone just took a shot at you, Tabby,” Hoyt growled.
Her stomach lurched.
“Chax and his brothers are after them now. We have to get you inside.”
“If you let me up, I can crawl to the door.”
He cussed up a storm, but lifted a little, still covering her as they crawled to the door. As he pushed it open she looked up and noticed the bullet hole in the door.
Tabatha’s body shook as she realized she could’ve been killed. Her stomach pitched, and she felt sick. She stopped moving and lowered her head to the side. Her breakfast came back up all over the doorsill. Hoyt held her hair back and kissed her neck, holding and rocking her, shielding her with his body for about five minutes till her stomach seemed to stop twirling.
Chax knelt down beside them. “We got one of them, but the others got away. You can get up now, baby.” After her stomach stopped heaving, Chax helped her up. She wiped her face with the back of her hand. They moved her to the couch and Tabatha curled into a ball. Hoyt sat next to her and rubbed her arms.
She knew Hoyt and Chax were worried about her, but she couldn’t stop shaking.
“This has to stop! I’m calling in the pack now.” Hoyt reached for the cell phone on the coffee table. “We need to start building that house now. We need guards patrolling the grounds. That was far too close a call,” Hoyt growled to Chax.
Chax paced back and forth. “Caym is on his way. He has heard that some demons might have joined forces with some local werewolves to stop our joining ceremony. The Master is furious. No one has gone against his word in ages.”
“Tabatha, I’m going to wake the Others. I can’t stand to be so far away and not do anything,” Drakos snapped.
No! Please, it will only bring more trouble. I miss you, but I can talk to you, so that is enough for now. I don’t want you hurt or in trouble because of me. Please, Drakos, I couldn’t take that too.
Tabatha felt the room tremble as his anger moved the Earth below them.
“That’s going to wake them, so you better stop it. You don’t want to draw attention to us.” Chax interrupted their thoughts.
“There has to be another reason they’re going after her now. We need Ben here and we need answers about this mess,” Hoyt said, as he picked up his cell phone and called Ben.
Tabatha took it all in. “Maybe they don’t want a freak with you guys?” she mumbled to herself.
They both heard and stared at her for a moment.
“Why would you say that? You’re not a freak.” Chax pulled her up and hugged her as he sat next to her. Hoyt joined them on the couch and sat on the other side.
“Hell, Chax, they’ve wanted me dead since birth. I think they left me alone when I wasn’t involved with the pack. But now that I am, they’re not going to stop now. Maybe they know about Drakos already?”
She couldn’t stay there all day, though. She tried to get up, but Chax pulled her into his arms and held her. That’s when she noticed her butt didn’t hurt anymore.
She looked up into his face. “You healed me, didn’t you?”
“Yes, but that doesn’t mean you won’t get punished next time. We’ll just have to be more careful of that tender little ass. Now, I don’t want you to think that y
ou’re a freak, because you’re not. You’re perfect for us.” He kissed her softly.
“When will Caym be here? Why don’t I put some more coffee on since it’s going to be a long day?” Tabatha pushed herself up, needing to brush her teeth and rinse out her mouth.
Hoyt looked sharply at her as she avoided his hands while he tried to grab her. “I need to brush my teeth,” she mumbled.
Hoyt stood right outside the bathroom door refusing to allow her out of his sight. He yelled at her brother on the phone about the attack. Will I ever have a nice quiet life, and do I really want this?
Chapter Fourteen
Tabatha stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her face was pale.
God, my lips are so thin, and look at my stringy hair. Why can’t I have hair like Melody’s? Hell, for that matter, a body like hers, too. She sighed and splashed some cold water on her face, trying to get rid of the negative thoughts that ran through her mind. Her men liked her, so that’s all she had to worry about.
Tabatha jumped at the sound of pounding on the door.
“Tabby, open up, it’s me,” Melody yelled and banged again on the door.
She smiled ruefully and let her in.
Melody flung herself into Tabitha’s arms. “I’m sorry about not being here earlier. I made Ben and Shane bring me here directly when we got the call in the car. Are you okay? Did they hurt you?” She stepped back and inspected Tabatha.
“I’m fine, Mel. Just feeling a little sorry for myself, that’s all.”
They linked arms and walked out into the living room already filled with pack members. Demons worked together to set up guards.
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