“You’re a wolf and I think she trusted you. Or was beginning to. Not really clear which. But as far as she’s concerned, you betrayed her trust, so she’s not eager to trust other wolves. I’d watch my back around her, boss. Maybe she can’t kill you, but I don’t think she’d hesitate to cause you pain any way possible.”
Cal sighed. “Yeah, already had experience with that. Does she trust Thane?”
“Fully? No idea. But she looks to him for approval, which is good, and she hasn’t blown up at him for any reason.” Brian’s attention wandered back to the screen, and he snorted. “Rick keeps that up, she’s going to kick his ass.”
Rick, her small arms trainer and a lion, was guiding Morgan into proper shooting stance. Standing behind her, he was in physical contact. Cal could see her tensing in reaction and checked to see what Thane was doing. The were-liger’s frown was faint, but present. “Better call down, tell Rick to back off.”
Brian shook his head. “Nope.”
“Why not?”
“I want to see what happens.”
Cal rubbed a hand over his face. “Why?”
“Because...”
Thane moved, placing his hand on Rick’s shoulder. Startled, the other man looked up at him, and then quickly backed away from Morgan. Once Rick was clear, Thane took his place and the two watchers could see Morgan relax as the were-liger positioned her arms a touch higher. Brian grinned. “That’s why. He’s been getting better at reading her, and stepping in before she blows up.”
Watching Morgan inch backward to press against Thane, Cal merely nodded and ignored the silent growl resounding in his mind. He’d hoped Morgan would end up attached to Thane; here was visual proof it could happen. It shouldn’t bother him.
But it did.
“Seriously, Cal, this is proving to be the best therapy for Thane. We don’t know how long he was alone. Sure, he’s formed attachments, especially to you and Sebastian, but I’ve worried about him not having a close attachment to a woman.”
Irked for unexplainable reasons, Cal said, “And you think his forming one to Morgan is good?”
Brian leaned back, turning his chair slightly for a better view of Cal’s face. “Excuse me, weren’t you the one who decided to dump her in Thane’s lap?”
“Yeah. He’s big enough to handle her when she loses it.” So am I, but that hasn’t worked out well, has it? Come to think of it, even Thane had taken cover when Morgan went fully ballistic.
“Then why the second thoughts?”
Cal scrambled for a reason that wouldn’t sound like utter bullshit. Most of his half-formed reasons did. “I don’t want her to hurt Thane. Emotionally hurt him.”
“Point taken. However, haven’t you noticed pretty much everyone who interacts with Thane on a regular basis tends to avoid hurting his feelings?”
He had noticed that. He did it, himself. “Is that a bad thing?”
“Bad, no. But I’m not convinced it’s a conscious decision on our parts.” Brian’s attention wandered to the screen for a second. “It could be natural sympathy, but it’d have to be from the human in us, not the animal. Animals often see the wounded as prey or something to steer clear of, if it’s not their own offspring, pack mate, or mate.”
Cal let that sink in before nodding. Morgan’s a predator who’s spent most of her life masquerading as prey.
“And humans aren’t always shining examples of sympathy,” Brian said. “I’ve been wondering if maybe Thane has a hidden talent.”
“You think he’s psychic?” There was a new idea.
“We don’t know much about the so-called psychic abilities. Most psychics are frauds. Those that aren’t seem to be pretty limited with their particular talents.” Brian frowned, his brow furrowing. “Laney’s the most accomplished of our people who have them.”
Laney was one of his wolves, an extremely useful woman with telepathy. She was often deployed as a spy, and Cal had taken her along for meetings several times, when he needed to be certain his human compatriots weren’t playing games.
She was also one of the few women who’d ever turned him down. Politely, because Laney was nothing if not polite in such matters, but firmly. Cal respected her decision and hadn’t tried again, nor had he asked why. Her reason or reasons were her business, not his as far as he was concerned. She’d been mildly telepathic before her Awakening, resulting in her seeking him out and trusting he wouldn’t think she was crazy. Laney was the woman soldier he’d mentioned to Morgan as one of his best.
If he had his choice of who his Chimaera would be, Cal would’ve chosen Laney. She’d have been perfect. Talented, deadly, and she had a knack for diffusing potentially volatile situations, regardless of who was involved. She’s talked me down a time or two.
“Right. We’re lucky to have her.”
Brian agreed with a nod. “Yeah. Anyway, what I was getting at: we don’t have a real method to determine who has such abilities, what less obvious abilities they may have, and so on and so forth. Thane could have something that persuades people to be nice to him.”
“Interesting, but you’re forgetting something. Lion and tiger women won’t have anything to do with him,” Cal pointed out.
“Not sexually, but even those who once seemed disgusted by his very existence have come around. Enough to acknowledge him, and well, to be nice when he’s near them.” Brian tapped the arm of his chair. “But what I’m really getting at is, I don’t think you’ll have to worry about Morgan hurting his feelings. I don’t think she’ll be able to bring herself to.”
“Because you think Thane has some sort of built-in defense system that prevents people from doing it.” Sounded crazy, but then again, Cal had thought the Guardians were completely nuts until he had witnessed his first vampire attack. He’d still thought they were slightly nuts after that, right up until his first change. Then I thought they were gods. “Okay. I concede it’s possible.”
Brian cocked his head. “You don’t sound happy about it.”
“Anything that keeps Thane from suffering more is fine by me.”
“Uh huh.” Brian narrowed his eyes. “Didn’t mean that, boss. I meant the part about Morgan getting attached to him.”
“That’s fine by me too. It’ll keep her out of trouble. I’m pretty sure we don’t want her running loose among the men.” Cal certainly didn’t, and was ashamed of himself for it. It wasn’t like him to want to keep a woman from bed-hopping if she wanted to. Brian’s gaze sharpened, and he quickly added, “She was a prostitute. Told me she wanted out of that life.”
“I see.”
“And I’d better get going. Things to do.” Cal stood, took a last look at the screen to watch Thane slide his arm around Morgan’s waist as she smiled after hitting the target, and beat a hasty retreat.
His retreat didn’t stop until he was parked behind Chanteloup.
Chapter Fourteen
Morgan finished cleaning the gun and carefully pieced it back together before sliding it across the table for Rick’s inspection. She fought a smile as he avoided looking at her face. Thane’s show of protectiveness had made it clear who was top dog between the two men, and it definitely wasn’t Rick.
Sitting back, she looked up to unleash her smile on the were-liger, who stood beside her chair. He uncrossed his arms to smooth a few wisps of hair from her cheek, one corner of his lips quirking briefly. She’d realized he wasn’t one to splash his emotions all over his face, though she hadn’t completely figured him out yet.
In spite of the fact he was silent, Thane wasn’t hard to get along with. Morgan had been surprised by that, expecting it to drive her crazy. Maybe it was the fact he treated her with respect. The only times Thane had simply acted had been to stop her from attacking someone. Aside from those few times, he offered his hand or arms, depending on the situation.
Now he was stepping in before something happened, and Morgan found she liked the idea that the big guy was paying close enough attention to notice when she was feeling uncomfor
table.
“Great job, Morgan,” Rick finally said. “That’s it for today.”
“All right.” She accepted Thane’s offer of help in rising from her chair, and kept hold of his hand as they walked out of the room. Right outside the door, Calhoun’s familiar scent slapped her in the nose, reviving her anger at him.
He’d been here, spying on her. Morgan gritted her teeth and released Thane’s hand. Bastard.
She hadn’t come close to understanding the feeling of hurt that accompanied thoughts of Calhoun. The only logical explanation wasn’t one she found palatable: that she’d started falling for him.
At least this time, he didn’t reek of sex and other women.
They entered the elevator and Morgan crossed her arms, staring at the floor. Every breath singed Calhoun’s scent into her lungs. Thane was watching her. She finally looked up to offer him a strained smile. If she could smell that Calhoun had been around, so could the were-liger. “I’m okay.”
His response was to rub her back in slow circles. Morgan had never met someone so quick to offer physical comfort. The elevator doors opened and they were back on the apartment’s level. A few minutes later, they were in the kitchen.
Thane enjoyed cooking, but she rather thought he enjoyed sharing the results with someone more. Her offer of help was accepted this time, when he gave her a few large potatoes to wash and peel. Not a sign of worry as he handed over a short-bladed knife.
He trusted her. Morgan decided she liked that as the were-liger turned his back to select spices for the chicken he’d set out to defrost before her class. Not that the tiny knife would do much damage to him anyway. She took care of her task quietly, thinking over her plan.
It would help to know more about Thane before hitting on him. For all she knew, he was gay. He certainly hadn’t gotten boners the two times he’d seen her naked. If he is, I’ll have to think of something else to do.
If she’d spent this much time with any other man, she’d know his life’s story by now. But Thane’s lack of speaking worked against her. I need to talk to someone who knows him, without him listening in.
That meant no one here, because Thane was never more than a few feet away any time they left the apartment. Calhoun was out, because Morgan didn’t trust herself to be around him without it ending in a fight or a fuck, and she’d be damned if the second ever happened again. No matter how good sex with him had been.
Which didn’t really leave her any options, unless... Morgan tried to sound as casual as possible. “If I promise not to do anything, would you take me to see Jake?”
Silence, but she felt Thane turn to look at her. “We didn’t exactly part on good terms. I want to tell him there’s no hard feelings. And maybe you and I could have a drink? I’m kind of getting a little cabin fever.”
His fingers touched her chin, and she lifted her face and turned her head to meet Thane’s eyes. Goddamn, how can he be so big and not make a sound when he moves?
She had no intention of trying to make a break for it yet, and apparently, her expression assured him of that. Thane nodded and patted her shoulder before gesturing at the potatoes. “After dinner?”
He nodded again, and Morgan smiled. “Thank you.”
Dressed in tight jeans, a sleeveless red top, and her favorite black high-heeled boots, Morgan strolled up to the front entrance with her hand wrapped around Thane’s forearm. She spotted Patty and her posse in line, noticing the blonde woman gawking at the were-liger, and smiled. The other woman did have good taste, because Thane was just as built and sexy as Calhoun. Yeah, I can bag the best. You’re so outclassed, Blondie.
Jerome was on duty. He nodded to Thane and leaned close enough to present his cheek to Morgan. “Got to pay the cover charge, babe.”
That widened her smile before she kissed him. He stepped back, swinging his arm to indicate the door. “Go right in.”
“Thanks.” She peeked at Thane, but he didn’t seem upset. Is that good or bad?
They made their way to the west bar, and Jake was fortunately behind it. His eyes widened and sparked gold when he caught sight of her. The fact that he edged backward when she leaned across the bar said he was ready to haul ass. It amused the hell out of Morgan. “Hey, can we talk privately for a few minutes?”
“Depends on whether or not you intend to take a piece out of my hide.”
“I don’t. Promise.” She crossed her heart, which put a reluctant smile on Jake’s face.
“Okay, come into the office. You want a beer, Thane?”
The were-liger shrugged, but Jake went ahead and got him one anyway, before meeting her at the end of the bar. They went into the office and he went around to sit behind the desk. “If you want an apology, you’ve got it. I’m sorry.”
“So am I.” She didn’t specify about what, but Jake nodded. “But what I really want is you to tell me about Thane.”
“Oh?”
Morgan smiled. “We’ve been roommates all week. He’s in charge of me, and I’m guessing you know he’s not much on conversation.”
Jake snorted, settling back in his chair. “Yeah. What exactly do you want to know?”
Morgan sat down in front of the desk. “Whatever you feel comfortable telling me. I’m basically living with a complete stranger. I mean, he’s been really nice, but I don’t know jack about him except for his name, he watches way too many movies, and that he’s a good cook.”
His eyebrows rose. “Thane cooks for you?”
“Three squares a day. Why? Does that mean something?”
“It could.” Jake hesitated. “Okay, I’ll give you the highlights. Thane’s the only were-liger the boss has ever come across. Don’t know who his parents were, or even when he was born. Cal found him about eighty years ago, trapped in an ice cave.”
She blinked, having successfully avoided contemplating Calhoun’s mention of centuries passing. “Eighty years ago?”
“Yeah.” He cocked his head. “No one’s explained that we don’t age? Not past whatever age we are when we Awaken?”
No, no one had told her that, and Morgan had to shake away a wave of dizziness. “So I’m going to look just like this forever?”
“Well, no. We physically evolve to keep fitting in with the humans. It’s not like your hair or nails stop growing either. But you won’t physically age, so you can toss any beauty products promising to keep wrinkles away.”
“Okay, let’s go back to Thane, please.” She couldn’t handle the new information yet and put it away for later examination.
“We don’t know how long Thane was trapped there, or how he even got there. Don’t know what happened to him before then either, though if you’ve seen his scars, you can guess just like we did. Someone had him, and tortured him.”
That sent a spike of pure sympathy through her heart. Why would anyone do that to him?
“We do know his father had to be a tiger, his mother a lion. That’s based on the assumption that the only way to get a were-liger is the same way natural ligers come about.” Jake paused. “And we know he’d never seen a car or airplane, or any other so-called modern miracles before Cal found him.”
Which could mean Thane was extremely old. Morgan again shied away from thinking about that in more depth. “Has he ever been violent?”
“Ah.” He smiled. “Thane’s never hurt anyone but vampires, and he’s probably the most respectful guy you’ll ever meet when it comes to women. You don’t have to worry about him going nuts or anything. But, he did have a hard time at first. Whoever had him did a number on him and he was terrified for years. Not just that they’d find him again, but of everything else. Except the boss. Thane trusted him from the start.”
That was a useful bit of information, though she wasn’t sure what, if anything, she’d ever be able to do with it. “Why does he still have scars?”
Jake shrugged, his eyes leaving hers for less than a second. “Don’t know. They’ve faded a lot. We think one day, they’ll fade completely awa
y.”
He wasn’t telling the full truth. Morgan nodded. “Calhoun has a scar on his chest.”
“You’d have to ask him about that.”
Right, he was done giving her information. “Maybe I will sometime. Thanks. I feel better having a little background on my roomie.”
They both stood and Jake smiled. It didn’t quite reach his eyes, causing the hair on the nape of Morgan’s neck to stand at attention. “Do yourself a favor and don’t hurt Thane.”
She scowled. “I have no intention of hurting him. He’s the only friend I’ve got right now.”
“You could have more, if you wanted them. Not trying to beat the hell out of people would be a good start.”
“I haven’t beaten the hell out of anyone lately.” With that, she turned and left the office. Thane was right where she’d left him and Morgan climbed onto the barstool beside him. “How’s that beer?”
He slid it over; she took a drink.
What the hell is she doing here? Cal stood frozen at the edge of the dance floor, staring at Morgan. It took him a few seconds to realize Thane was beside her. Son of a bitch, I didn’t specifically tell him she was on lock down.
“Are we going upstairs?”
He looked down at the brunette clinging to his arm. “Not right now. I just remembered something I need to do.” She pouted and he smiled before dropping a kiss on her lips. “Sorry. I’ll find you in a little while, unless you make other arrangements.”
She smiled, apparently satisfied with his response. “I won’t.”
“Good. Your drinks are on me, just tell Ish I said so.”
“Cool.” She bounced off toward the bar and Cal slipped into the crowd. He headed for the DJ booth, surprising Daniel.
“Request?”
“No, I’m going to hang out with you for a while.” He couldn’t go to the office or upstairs, not with Morgan at the west bar. Cal hitched himself onto the back cabinet in the corner away from the entrance and whirled his hand at Daniel. “Just pretend I’m not here.”
The booth afforded a good view of the dance floor through one-way mirrors. Cal liked having semi-private spots to watch the club’s activity, and had made certain the plans had been drawn up to include as many as possible. Unless someone came to the booth’s entrance, no one would know he was there.
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