by Terry Spear
“No,” Lelandi screamed and tried to tear off the seat belt.
“Quit it, Lelandi. We won’t kill the guy.”
Yet his icy look told another story. Darien attempted to brace her against the seat, his big hands pinning her shoulders back. She bit into the leather jacket covering his arm, but it protected him.
Pinning her left arm down, Tom chuckled.
Silva slammed on the brakes in the parking lot. “He got away.”
Looking like the devil was after him—and for now he was—Ural dove down a side street, and Jake took chase again. Lelandi was impressed. She didn’t think Ural could outmaneuver the gray in a footrace in their human form. But he was a wiry little guy. If he could turn into the wolf, he’d do even better.
“Drive us home,” Darien said to Silva, pulling his cell phone out. He punched in a number and moved a tress of hair away from Lelandi’s cheek. She scowled and turned her head away. “Uncle Sheridan, get your men to the pizzeria, south on Silver Maple Street, suspect wearing a hooded copper coat. Jake’s on foot chasing him. Yep, same guy who accosted Lelandi behind Hastings B&B. No, Larissa was my mate. The guy in the copper coat is small, most likely a red. Gotcha.” He looked at Lelandi, his expression one of deep satisfaction.
Despite what a jerk her cousin could be, she didn’t want the grays to harm him. She gave Darien her meanest glower and would give him more hell as soon as she could.
Darien had every intention of putting Lelandi to bed when he got her home. But after what had happened with the guy in the copper jacket, he didn’t trust her to stay put without a guard. And he didn’t trust that the guy wouldn’t come for her again.
He planned on securing her in the guest bedroom, but he was awfully tempted to put her in his bedroom suite to cut down on the amount of guards posted. Hell, as light a sleeper as he was, she’d never be able to slip away if she had a notion to. He didn’t care how his people would view his actions either—they’d adjust, but he did care how Lelandi felt about it. To that end, he wasn’t sure.
Although she sure as hell kissed him back when he kissed her. Which meant? She was probably half out of her head after being injured so badly. Or was that the reason she had clamored for his kisses? Then passed out. Yeah, it had to be the blood loss screwing up her brain.
But another thought took hold. The woman from his dreams was Lelandi. He stared at her. She refused to look at him. A sickening feeling instantly swept through him. Hell, he’d mated the wrong woman.
When they pulled into the circular drive of his wooded estate two miles from town, Darien had every intention of showing Lelandi she was his soul mate, but her injuries…he’d kill the bastard who tried to murder her.
“Tom, you have guard duty from twelve to two. Get some rest before then.”
“I’ve been sleeping most of the day, Darien. I’m fine.”
Darien lifted Lelandi out of the SUV, the fight out of her now. Soft and pliable, she looked damned kissable again, but when she groaned, he squashed that notion. “Watch her in the living room until Trevor gets here to guard her.”
“Yeah, sure, Darien.”
Darien had the greatest urge to carry her straight up to his bedroom, lay her in his bed, and ravage her. And he would, once she was healed, and he convinced her she was the one meant for him. Did she have the same dreams he did? If so, why hadn’t she recognized him? Or had she, but she didn’t want him now because he’d taken her sister as his mate? Hell.
With that damning thought, he carried her to the living room, the craving to have her growing with every step he took. Already he was as hard as granite and the friction from his jeans was making the situation worse. Her eyes widened and he was certain she could smell how turned on he was by touching her.
Clenching his teeth, he set her down on the longest velour sofa, nearly six feet in length. “Silva, can you get a spare pillow and blanket from the linen closet in my bathroom?”
“Got it.” Silva hurried off.
“Tom, you can get her some ice water. Doc said the fever’s abated, but she still needs to drink plenty of fluids.”
“Yeah, I’ll get it.” Tom headed for the kitchen.
Lelandi wouldn’t look at Darien, but held her chest lightly.
“Are you hurting?”
She nodded.
He touched her cheek and although she was still cool to the touch, the feel of her soft skin beneath his fingertips burned him. Hating how much the siren ensnared him, and he couldn’t do anything about it, yet, he pulled away. “I’m sorry for being too rough earlier.”
“My fault.” Tears glistened in her eyes.
He felt like he’d shrunk to half his size. “Lelandi.”
She quickly looked away. “I’m sorry for what my sister did. It must hurt to learn she’d…” Her voice broke and a wave of commiseration washed over him. Her lower lip quivered. “I’m sorry. I loved my sister and I wish she hadn’t been mated to him. That she’d found you first and loved you like you both deserved. She would have been happy and…and no one would have hurt her.”
He took Lelandi’s hand and rubbed his thumb over her fingers, her skin silky soft, her hand small like her sister’s. “It wasn’t your fault, and I assume she had good reason for doing what she did, in her own way. Besides, it was partly my responsibility.” He crouched in front of her and rested his hands on her knees. “Silva was right. I wouldn’t let Larissa be. I pursued her and she repeatedly said no, but not why. I figured she was playing hard to get, maybe reluctant because she feared the grays wouldn’t accept her like I did. I thought she was the one for me. When we mated, I discovered she wasn’t a virgin. That she had a living mate never crossed my mind. I guess I was too proud to consider such a thing. Why didn’t you tell me we’ve been together in our dreams?”
Her eyes widened.
He knew it.
She shuttered her eyes. “I…I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“What I’m talking about is this.” He pulled her from the couch and with one arm wrapped around her so she couldn’t step back, he kissed her mouth with a gentle sweep of his lips. Her eyes fluttered closed, her heartbeat quickened, and she fell under his trance. She wasn’t as immune to him as she let on. The tension in her body melted, and he pressed further, his mouth caressing hers, his fingers touching her cheeks, the heat of her body setting his on fire. God in heaven, she was his soul mate.
She parted her lips slightly to take a breath, but the invitation was too great. He explored her mouth with his tongue, and her hand clutched his shirt, her eyes searching his. “You are she,” he whispered thickly.
He pressed his heavy groin against her mound, showing her how much he wanted her. How much he always wanted her. “Lelandi,” he said hoarsely with need, then bent his head down to touch her forehead with his.
Confusion reigned in her gem-quality eyes. “You are she,” he repeated, kissing her cheek.
She winced and bit her lip.
He cursed silently. “Are you in pain?”
She seemed torn between telling him the truth and living with the discomfort to avoid being medicated. He helped her sit back down, then saw Tom standing with the glass of water, having witnessed the whole affair. A slight smile curved Tom’s lips, and he raised his brows a hair.
“Silva’s got Lelandi’s pain pills. Get them for her, and check on Silva to see if she got lost,” Darien said.
Lelandi smiled a little, but the same soulful expression Larissa had filled Lelandi’s eyes, too. He wondered what had happened to the sisters to make them hurt so.
He helped her out of her leather jacket and stared at the shirt Silva had bought for her. Vixen. Matchmaker deluxe. In the soft glow of the overhead light, the scrap of lace pushing up Larissa’s breasts showed through the blouse.
When Tom came downstairs with the medicine, Silva, the blanket and pillow, he meant to tell Tom to bring him one of his flannel shirts for Lelandi.
The doorbell rang thwarting him
, and Sam barged in, his arms loaded down with pizza boxes. “Got tons of pizzas and beer, if anyone wants to give me a hand.”
Darien covered Larissa with the blanket. “Sit with her, Silva.”
“Sure thing.”
But when he and Tom brought in an armload of drinks, he noticed Silva had helped Larissa remove her jeans, now folded on the arm of the couch. He silently groaned, imagining seeing the rest of her nearly naked underneath the blanket.
When Darien disappeared into the kitchen with his brother and Sam, Silva pulled a chair closer to the couch and asked Lelandi, “How do you do it? Man, oh man, I thought Darien would take you right there on the couch. I sneaked back up the stairs before Darien noticed me. Tom’s gawking in surprise was audience enough.” Silva grinned. “Darien’s pants get so tight in the crotch when he’s around you, he’s probably strangled. But I can’t get Trevor to feel anything for me.”
Lelandi knew damn well Darien was projecting her sister on her, and she felt Silva’s pain. Yet, she couldn’t help wanting his heated touches. Nothing was worse than a lupus garou wanting another who didn’t share the same feelings. Yet, she knew from past experience and from her other wolf mates that Silva would have to learn this on her own. No one could tell her what Lelandi and most, she was sure, could already see. Trevor was a bastard, knowing that Silva wanted him and giving her the cold shoulder, taking pride in having her salivating over him when he had no intention of showing her any affection in return.
As far as Darien was concerned, Lelandi wasn’t Larissa and never could be. He’d have to find another mate. Not someone who looked like her.
Taking a deep breath, Lelandi advised, “Find someone else, Silva.” She truly meant it, although she had to be a little more devious in her plan.
Silva’s eyes widened.
“I don’t mean for real. Convince someone to help you make him jealous, but be sure you make it clear from the beginning that you’re only trying to get Trevor’s attention.”
Silva’s whole face lit up. “I know just the guy.”
“Make sure he knows why you’re doing it. You don’t want to give some poor guy hope when you don’t really mean it.”
Nodding vigorously, Silva loosened some of the curls piled on top of her head.
“So, who are you targeting?”
Silva grinned. “Sam. He’s perfect. Ten years older than me, but he can really put on the charm when he wants. And he’s used to my flirtations.”
“I can see you turn on a lot of wolves.”
“Yeah.” Silva fingered her loose curls. “I kind of have a teasing personality. Guess I should tone it down.”
“Not necessarily. Just channel it.” To the right guy.
The fact Silva wanted Sam’s help made Lelandi wonder if there wasn’t some underlying interest in him that Silva couldn’t recognize because she was so infatuated with Trevor. Plus if Sam was interested in her, the way she mooned over Trevor would be a dead turnoff. But if Silva gave Sam half a chance…
If Lelandi could, she would help show Trevor a thing or two before she had to leave. And maybe if she could win Silva over, she might be willing to share more pack secrets that could lead to Lelandi’s discovering who murdered Larissa.
“What did you want to do about the little lady?” Sam asked in the kitchen, as Darien welcomed his men to the leader’s pack meeting.
Sam was talking low, but Lelandi could still hear him, although the medicine was making her groggy again while she reclined on the couch.
“She needs to be taken up to the guest bedroom,” Darien said. “She needs to sleep and get her strength back.”
“Tom’s got a slew of problems to discuss. Is he feeling all right to present the issues?” Sam asked.
Ice clunked into a container.
“Yeah. He’ll be fine.”
“Heard Jake lost that guy in the copper coat near the bank.”
Lelandi breathed a sigh of relief. Her cousin was the runt of the litter—a beta. No true family loyalty. But if he took her home to Bruin, the leader would undoubtedly force her to mate his brother, Crassus, the bastard. One Wildhaven wouldn’t be enough.
“I was Larissa’s friend,” Silva said to Lelandi, her voice whisper soft. “The only female friend she had. Although Nurse Grey was always nice to her. But I don’t think Larissa trusted her or anyone else. Larissa wasn’t an alpha, but she was sweet, had an innocence about her. She didn’t lead Darien on, but I could tell she wanted to know what it would be like with someone who wanted her so badly and really cared for her. Darien seems hard, but he’s still grieving for her. But…she told me some things.”
Silva paused when the chatter in the kitchen died down. Her lips curved up slightly. “Let’s move to the guest bedroom, sugar. Darien won’t want us to hear boring pack business.”
Jake slammed the front door and stalked into the living room, casting a glance in Lelandi’s direction. He looked pissed. Guess because he hadn’t caught Ural.
Lelandi’s lips rose slightly despite willing them to remain still. He shook his head at her. Hearing Darien’s voice in the kitchen, he headed that way.
“Well?” The sound of Darien’s voice indicated he already knew his brother’s answer.
“The guy got away. But Uncle Sheridan and a bunch of our men are searching for him. We’ll get him.” Jake sounded more like he was telling Lelandi the news—a warning.
“Trevor arrived. Take Lelandi up to the guest room, and he can guard her. Afterward, we’ll start the meeting,” Darien said.
“Will do.”
Jake stalked back into the living room. When he lifted Lelandi off the couch, she noticed no one spoke in the kitchen. She was dying to hear what Silva had to say about her sister and bet Darien was, too.
Jake carried her upstairs and she admired a score of photographs on the walls, featuring clusters of mountain wildflowers. Beautiful, colorful, vivid—lavender columbine peeking out from the base of an alpine grove, pink, showy milkweed like starbursts, purple thistle, and golden mountain dandelions. “Who’s the photographer?”
Jake’s dark face brightened some. “Me.”
“Oh.” She thought maybe Darien had taken them. Despite feeling she shouldn’t care, she wanted to know more about the gray, who had taken her sister for his mate.
“Darien doesn’t have any real hobbies,” Jake explained as if he read her thoughts. “Too busy keeping the town going, running two businesses, taking care of the pack. That’s a lot of responsibility for one lupus garou.”
“He has a whole pack to assist him.”
Jake gave her a smug smile and carried her into a room. Vases of roses and wildflowers cluttered an antique dresser and one of the bedside tables, scenting the air with the most delightful summertime floral fragrance despite being autumn. He glanced at the flowers and shook his head, then laid her in a king-sized, canopied bed of white eyelet. Fit for a princess.
Silva hurried into the room with Lelandi’s medicine, jeans, and the extra pillow. “Nurse Grey, Bertha Hastings, Tom, and a few others sent the flowers. Four secret admirers also.” She pulled a card off a vase of wildflowers and handed it to her. “From me.”
To one hell of a fighter! Go get ’em, girl! Next margarita’s on me! Your friend, Silva.
Lelandi managed a groggy, heartfelt smile. “Thanks, Silva. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate all you’ve done for me.”
Jake headed for the door. “Holler if you need any of us.”
“Will do.” Silva handed Lelandi another card as Jake shut the door. “This one’s anonymous. Your secret admirers probably hope Darien decides he doesn’t want you and you’ll be interested in one of them.”
He didn’t really want her. He wanted her sister.
Her heart in her throat, Lelandi read the card out loud. “You sure shook up the town, little lady. You’ll make a first-class mate. From someone who would like a chance at being more than a friend.”
Silva handed her another. “T
he anonymous guys probably called the flower orders in. I’ll find out from Rosie who sent them.”
“After I discover what happened to my sister and take care of the bastard, I’m leaving to find my brother.” Lelandi glanced down at the card.
“I’ve been keeping myself for the best. Wanna tango, baby? Loving you.”
She gave a short laugh. “I could never tango.”
“I’m more of a rock and roll kind of girl.” Silva placed her hands on her hips. “I haven’t a clue who any of these guys could be.” She waved at a dozen red roses. “I’ll let this guy give you his card in person.”
“Who?”
“Tom. These burgundy and gold mums are from Bertha Hastings. She says,
‘You kept your room as neat as a pin, until Darien and Sheriff Sheridan broke in and made a mess of it. To cheer you, here’s a pot of flowers they didn’t manage to break. Get well, young lady. Your room will be ready once you’ve recovered. Free of charge. Bertha Hastings.’
She’s a sweet old lady. Really was worried about you.” Frowning, Silva touched her finger to her lips. “Hmm, one vase of flowers is conspicuously absent.”
“From whom?”
Silva wiggled her brows. “Darien. He probably didn’t want to order any without raising any more speculation about you and him. Rosie would have told the world.”
Lelandi took a tired breath and put her hand on her waist. “Jake didn’t send me any either.”
Silva laughed out loud. “He’s too cheap. Woe to the girl who ever tries to win his heart.”
“He could give her a framed photo of wildflowers. They’re really lovely.”
“Don’t tell him you think so. That’s why they’re hidden on the staircase and not displayed in the living room for all to see. He loves doing it, but he doesn’t like for anyone to know.”
Except for Lelandi. She smiled at the contradiction.
“Hmm, the vase of carnations are from a couple of girls who are staying at Hastings Bed and Breakfast. Caitlin and Minx. They said they worried about you when you were in the loft and hoped you were okay. I heard they’re sixteen and want to join the pack.”