by Cara Adams
“Keep your dick in your pants and your fangs in your gums,” Cayden ordered.
Leo sniggered. Yes, that was good advice. “Let’s plan this scene. Oh, wait, did you arrange for Aria’s lunch yet?”
Leo jumped up off his chair and went over to the bookshelf against the wall by the sound system. It was crammed with books from their childhood and youth, but he knew what he was looking for. It was a book he’d loved as a preteen. It was big, with a white cover, and there it was.
“Why don’t we give this to whoever takes Aria her lunch. It’ll give her something to do and might also give her a hint of what we’ll plan for her in the next scene.”
He dropped the book onto the table. It was a series of stories of boys from various historical eras. Along with the boy from Ancient Greece who learned to run the marathon, there was the boy from the far north who’d sailed on a Viking ship, a boy who’d walked the Oregon Trail with a wagon train, and a boy who’d visited the Roman Coliseum to see the gladiators battle the lions.
“Hey, good idea. I’d totally forgotten about that book,” Seb said.
“Yes. Take it around to the office. They can deliver it with her meal. And while you’re doing that, think about how the scene will work out. We need to vary the BDSM punishments as well,” Cayden said.
Leo raced off to the office as instructed, delivered the book and the message, and was about to leave when the Alpha called to him.
“Hurricane Nathan is wandering all over the area but has turned back this way again. Tell Cayden there’ll be a meeting this afternoon. I’ll text him when it’s organized.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Well fuck. The last thing they needed was a fucking hurricane to ruin all their plans and their romance as well. He walked back home much more slowly, thinking everything through.
Chapter Seven
Cayden stared at Leo. “A fucking hurricane. Just what we fucking need. There goes any chance of telling Aria about our panthers.”
“Not to mention any chance of fucking her in the next few days.” Seb groaned.
Cayden was surprised when Leo shook his head. “Not necessarily. While I was coming home I thought about it. We could do the scene in our dungeon. We don’t have to keep Aria in her cottage anymore now she knows about us. So we set up our dungeon as the Coliseum and play the scene there. I guess whether or not Hurricane Nathan really does arrive will mean whether it’s a long or short scene and how much BDSM we can do. But then we move down to the hurricane shelter and we can fuck her. We’ve already got plenty of blankets and pillows there. It’ll be easy to make us a nice warm and cozy bed.”
Cayden stared at Leo. What he said actually made damn good sense, and it wasn’t overlaid with Leo’s usual worrying about everything. “That’s actually not a bad plan.”
He sat up straighter in his chair thinking, and then jumped up and came back with a notepad and pen. “We’d better write this down. We need to plan and choreograph the panther scene. And then we need to make plans for if this hurricane does come here. I hope the fuck it doesn’t.”
“The Alpha said it had been wandering around the area,” Leo said.
“I’d better head over to the office and get the latest data on its trajectory. But that can wait. First we need to organize the scene for Aria and then the preparations for the hurricane.”
Cayden flicked a glance at the clock. “We’d better have a proper hot meal now as well. Who knows when we’ll be able to do that again. It’s just as well we’d organized one for Aria. She’ll need the nutrition.”
He meant because of the hurricane, but when both his brothers snorted he had to grin. “Get your mind out of your pants. The hurricane’s the problem here, not your dicks.”
Seb and Leo cooked and he helped while he took notes, and they planned the fantasy, plus a BDSM scene, and then the basics of sex assuming it’d be in a bed on the basement floor. By the time they were ready to eat it was still a little early for lunch, but they were happy to sit at the table adding the finishing touches to their plans, as he wrote a detailed list of the tasks they needed to do to protect their home in the event of a hurricane, and take their most important possessions down into the cave in case they lost their roof, as Leo suggested.
“We aren’t going to lose the roof, Leo. Stop being a worrywart,” Seb said.
“No, that’s a valid worry. Just because the house stood up to the previous hurricane doesn’t mean the roof won’t come off this time. Let’s just hope it’s not a category four,” he said.
“Let’s hope it keeps wandering around and fucks off somewhere else,” argued Seb.
Cayden laughed. “Good point.”
“We should bring Aria’s luggage here when we collect her as well. Those things are all she has with her and her cottage could lose its roof, too, you know,” said Leo.
Cayden wrote that down. It wouldn’t be much extra work.
“Flashlights, warm clothing, food, water, camping stove and fuel, cups, plates, cutlery,” he chanted and then wrote a note to himself to bring the keys for the steel door into the other caves. If the worst case did happen they might need to move even farther down into the caves. One of the smaller caves would be easier to keep warm and dry if the house was badly damaged.
“Add to that our favorite books, DVDs, photographs, and that box of treasures Mom put on the top of her closet,” Leo said.
Cayden wrote it all down. Like a number of other older people, their parents lived on the mainland in the warehouse and apartment the panthers owned. It also had accommodation for the high school age panthers who went to school Monday to Friday on the mainland and traveled home for weekends and holidays. Younger kids were homeschooled in the office on the island. The warehouse was also where all the merchandise the panthers ordered online was delivered, and sent over on the weekly boat with the teenagers and a regular order of fresh food. Bread, meat, milk, cheese, and other things they didn’t produce themselves.
They then went down into the storeroom basement, which was the cave below their dungeon, and Leo and Seb checked the stores already there so Cayden could cross things off the list, or add more items to their to-do list.
It took longer than they’d expected and Cayden was starting to worry about getting everything done in time. “You two collect the food and other things. I want to climb up on our roof and add some weights to it to help tie it down. Then I’d better go check on the helicopter as well. Likely Logan will be onto that, but I need to look for myself.”
“I’d better help you. Leo can collect the stuff and put it by the stairs. When I’m back we’ll move it all downstairs but for now, as long as he gathers it all together, that’ll be a start.”
Cayden was relieved. It would be much easier to check the roof with one of his brothers to help him, but he didn’t want to make Leo nervous. Leo was a worrier and a hurricane was something they ought to worry about. But they had too much to do to waste time settling Leo down. He would be fine once they made him think about the details. When he was busy collecting food and things he wouldn’t have time to be nervous.
Seb fetched the ladder and a bucket of metal boat tie-downs while Cayden collected some thick, heavy-duty canvas and metal-reinforced rope used to tie up boats. That was the advantage of living on an island. The boat equipment would work just fine for their roof as well.
Once he was happy with the house roof, they went to the barn housing the helicopter. Cayden noticed there were extra ropes and more anchor points for it, so Logan had probably done that, but he added some metal tie-downs on the roof as well.
Seb took their ladder and the last of their equipment home and Cayden went to the office to check the trajectory of the hurricane. Several other people were there as well. Hurricane Nathan had wandered all over the ocean. Instead of following a standard curved path toward land, Nathan had lurched north and south and even turned back on his own track at one stage. Cayden looked at the dotted line and it reminded him of a drunk, trying t
o walk.
“That damn hurricane is drunk! Just look at his path.”
“I know. But unfortunately he’s definitely headed our way. There’ll be a meeting in ten minutes,” the Alpha said.
“Why did we end up with a hurricane that doesn’t even know how to behave? It was supposed to dissipate,” one of the women complained.
“Hurricane Nathan is drunk,” Cayden said.
Everyone laughed, but Cayden was serious. That was the only logical explanation for its behavior. And now the fucking drunk hurricane was coming their way. Not only that, but it also was going to arrive right when he finally had a chance to get to know the woman who might be their mate.
Dammit, sometimes life just plain sucked.
* * * *
Aria was surprised when a children’s book arrived with her lunch, but she’d already taken a long hot shower and gotten dressed, then tried in vain to get the TV to work, so she was more than happy to sit and read the book. Besides, it wouldn’t have been given to her if it wasn’t a hint as to what would happen next.
The stories were very predictable. In each case the boy experienced an exciting adventure that might have happened in history. However, being children’s stories, and reading them from an adult point of view, they were somewhat unrealistic as the child was never really in danger. Aria knew from her own school days that plenty of people died traveling the Oregon Trail, in the arena with lions, sailing on Viking boats, and so on. But reading was a pleasant way to spend an hour or two, and then she had more entertaining thoughts, wondering which of these stories might be her clue as to what would happen next. None of them were her fantasies, but any of them might easily be turned into a fantasy scene.
When the door opened she was surprised to see it was just Leo, no one else.
“There’s been a hurricane warning so we thought it would be safer to move you to our house because we have a deep and safe hurricane shelter.”
“A hurricane? There was no mention of that on the brochure.” As soon as she said it, she realized it was a pretty stupid thing to say, but his words had been most unexpected.
He laughed. “Yes, well, it’s not something we advertise. Anyway, there’s still a chance it might turn away from us, or just diminish into some wind and rain, but we need to be sensible and prepare in case it doesn’t.”
He was right and she needed to be sensible as well. “Okay. What should I do?”
“Pack up your things and we’ll move them to our house. Let me help you.”
He closed the door behind him and walked across to the closet, but she shook her head. “We were only allowed to bring a carry-on case with us because of the helicopter not have much luggage room. It won’t take me very long. You can sit at the table to wait for me.”
She opened the closet and pulled out her carry-on case, opened it, and laid it on the bed, and then methodically emptied her few things from the drawers and the closet. She had some beauty products in the bathroom as well. But a carry-on case hadn’t allowed her to bring much with her, so it didn’t take her long to pack everything. Before she zipped her case closed, she looked at her clothes and looked at Leo. “Maybe I should change into jeans first.”
“I’m sorry. I should have suggested that. And shoes, and leave out a sweater. If the power goes out because of the rain and the wind, it might be cold.”
Hell. She hadn’t even thought about the power going out. What if it was off for days and days? Then she shrugged. It wasn’t how she’d planned to spend her vacation, but she was here for another four days yet, and if the hurricane was that bad everyone would know about it. In fact all her friends at work, who’d been so jealous of her going to an island, would be laughing at her instead of envying her.
She pulled off her sundress, kicked off her sandals, and then put on jeans, a long-sleeved T-shirt, shoes, and socks, and tied a sweater around her waist. Then she zipped up her luggage and was ready to go. At the last minute she remembered the book and picked it up.
Leo looked at it. “I loved that book when I was in middle school. I must have read it a dozen times in maybe three years.”
“Is that why you left it here for me to read?”
Leo shook his head and then said, “Well, sort of.”
“It’s a scene we’re going to play isn’t it?” she asked.
Instead of answering, he took the handle of her carry-on. “We need to get moving. My house is over on the other side of the island. Come on.”
Aria didn’t mind walking. She’d only seen parts of the island so far and was happy to look at the rest. The paths wound through the foliage so that she was never quite sure which direction she was heading in. Often she couldn’t see much except the trees and bushes around her, but every now and then the view opened out to a less dense part of the land. Not once did she see another house up close, though, which really surprised her. The houses seemed to all be tucked away at the end of private paths, not built along a little street or anything like that.
“Where’s the township?” she asked Leo.
“Township? What township?”
“The main town for the island. The village? The Main Street? Whatever you call it here.”
“Oh, that. There is no village. No main street or any other kind of street either. The original building on the island is the big house and that’s on one of the beaches. But most of the houses are built over caves. The island has a lot of limestone rock underneath it. Limestone is made up of calcite that formed on the floor of the ocean from the shells of sea creatures. But limestone is quite soluble so that’s why there are caves.”
“Rocks are soluble? I’ve heard of water wearing away stone, but I wouldn’t have thought it was that easy,” she objected.
“Oh it isn’t easy. It takes thousands of years. But calcite is calcium carbonate, and rainwater carries carbon dioxide. Add carbon dioxide to calcium carbonate, and it makes carbonic acid, which dissolves limestone.”
“Oh, yes. I vaguely recall hearing something about that in chemistry class. Why did they build their houses over caves?”
Leo shrugged. “Lots of different reasons. I suppose it made building easy. The new owner already had a couple of rooms ready-made. Adding another room above ground for the kitchen and bathroom would be relatively easy, I guess.”
Aria had the strangest idea that Leo wasn’t telling her the full story, but what he said made sense. Why spend money to build rooms when the house could be built over a couple of ready-made caves.
Aria was very surprised when Leo stopped. They were at the end of a path that seemed to go nowhere until she noticed the door beside a rocky outcrop. He held the door for her and she walked inside to a single room. It was a living room with several easy chairs and shining polished wooden floors. But she got the impression it wasn’t used a lot.
Leo locked the door behind them and led her to stairs, which went down. That was so opposite to what she was used to. In ordinary houses the stairs led up to bedrooms or living areas. But one level down was a passageway to what seemed like bedrooms. Leo kept going down and stopped at the next level. This was clearly where the family spent their time. There was a full kitchen, a table pushed against the wall with chairs along one side of it, and couches in front of a large TV. Bookshelves and a sound system were also at the far end of the room.
Leo led her through the room to a closed door beside the pantry. More stairs led down again, and she knew she was deep inside a cave. The door to the next level was closed, but the stairs ended one more level down in what looked like a mixture of rumpus room and storeroom. Heavy shelves were filled with canned food. Large barrels with taps held what she assumed was water, and two couches were littered with pillows and blankets.
“This was our favorite place to hang out when we were teenagers, but it’s a very safe refuge if stupid Nathan does visit us,” Seb said.
“Nathan? Who’s Nathan?”
“Poor drunk Nathan is the hurricane wandering around in this area. If h
e knows what’s good for him he’ll fuck off,” Cayden said.
“But even if he doesn’t go away you’ll be perfectly safe here,” Leo said seriously.
“I know I will be.” And she did. This far underground, nothing could possibly harm her.
* * * *
Seb was glad Leo had returned with Aria. Cayden had arrived just before them, saying the hurricane looked set to hit the island, and might even be category three, although there was still hope it’d only be a two. Either way, Seb wanted her and his brothers safely down here where the wind couldn’t hurt them. This far underground they might almost be able to ignore the storm.
It was about fifteen years since the previous hurricane, which had ripped up a lot of trees. The island had firewood for years afterward, but clearing up the mess had taken them months. Fortunately, no one had ever been killed in a hurricane, although there been various bumps and bruises on people determined to check on neighbors or tying down roofs at the last minute.
But not his family and not this hurricane. There was plenty of time still, and they were already safe. No way would any of them leave the building until the Alpha told them to. While his brothers were gone he’d checked their stores a second time and couldn’t think of anything they might need that wasn’t already in this room. Even if their house did lose its roof, if Nathan did end up being a category three hurricane, the damage couldn’t possibly penetrate this deep. It might trash the living room, but they almost never used that anyway. It might even make a mess of their bedrooms, which would be a huge fucking nuisance, but he couldn’t imagine the rain penetrating as far as the kitchen much less the dungeon or here.
Seb looked at Cayden. He was the one who’d organized the timing. As far as Seb was concerned they could start playing panthers and victim as soon as they liked. Just seeing Aria made his fangs ache. His body was desperate to claim her as his mate. It was strange that neither of his brothers felt as strongly as he did. But for him it was unmistakable and almost unable to be controlled. The sooner she knew the truth about them, and they could talk freely about mating, the better as far as he was concerned.