Lily wished her once mother-in-law would have been like that. Instead, she’d encouraged her pathetic excuse for a husband to mistreat Lily.
“Ladies,” their waiter returned, “have you had a chance to look at the menu?”
They hadn’t but both knew what they wanted. Once he left, Lily gave Tina a squeeze of the hand.
“As long as you’re feeling good, I’m okay waiting as long as you need.” She glanced down at her cell phone and saw the email follow-up from Thane Dreki asking what time he should expect the proposal at his place.
“Are you okay? You’re growling.” Tina giggled. “I’ve never seen you growl. Not even when you were married to Asshole and he treated you so poorly. Not that it lasted long either, but for those six months he made you miserable and even then you didn’t growl.”
4
She glanced up and Tina gasped. “What?”
“You are super pissed.” Tina’s brows slowly lowered. “Who did it?”
“This man is going to make me tear him limb from limb,” she hissed.
“Don’t do it. I don’t think our company insurance covers dismemberment.” Tina lifted the glass of wine to her lips and stared at her with curiosity. “What is he’s doing and who is he?”
“Thane Dreki.”
Just thinking the name did something to her. When they’d spoken on the phone, the sound of his voice had made her tigress purr. No fucking way she’d talk to him on the phone again. It took her three days to stop dreaming of him saying dirty things to her just from hearing him once. She couldn’t go through that again.
“Oh!” Tina gasped and gave her the same look Stephanie had earlier. Like she’d spoken some rock star’s name.
“What?”
“Have you met Thane?”
“No, so?”
Tina grinned. “I love my husband and my heart is only his, but holy crap, Thane Dreki is hot. He’s like one giant Viking you want pillaging and plundering you.”
Lily almost choked on her wine. “Seriously?”
Tina shrugged. “What can I say? I like big men with that domineering look. It’s what won me over from Brett.”
“Um, isn’t he your mate?”
“Yeah, but that’s just part of me. The human side wanted a strong man that loved me. Wait ‘til you meet Thane and you’ll see what I mean.”
She wasn’t impressed. “Oh, I’ll be meeting him, all right. Then I’m giving him a piece of my mind.”
They stopped their conversation when their food arrived. There was a moment of quiet before Tina spoke again. “Come on, tell me what he did.”
“He’s treating me like I am to bow at his feet for whatever he wants. And if that isn’t bad enough, Royce told him about the newest proposal I have and he wants me to send the damn file to his home.”
Tina stopped her fork mid-flight to her lips. “The cabin in the Cranwood Mountains?”
She nodded and bit down on the piece of steak with a lot more force than necessary. “Yes. Who in their right mind would go up there?”
“Well, we have a helicopter messenger that would go if you needed, but I think you should go personally.”
She gulped her sip of wine and put the glass down. “What?”
“Yes,” Tina said with more conviction in her voice. “He’s clearly treating you in a way you dislike. You should go up there, take the files, and tell him to stop acting like a dick.”
Hmm. The idea had merit. After Louis, she refused to let any man treat her like she was less than him. While that wasn’t the impression she got from Thane Dreki, she disliked feeling like he thought she was some kind of joke. She glanced at her plate, most of her food sat untouched. Oh well, she’d make something later at home.
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
“It’s a great idea!” Tina said as their plates were cleared. She glanced up at the waiter and smiled. “We’re going to the share the chocolate lava cake and two mini cannoli.” She glanced at Lily but quickly turned back to the waiter. “Oh! And we’ll need two decaf lattes, as well.”
“Will be right out, ladies.” He chuckled and walked away.
“So,” Tina gave her that look that screamed Lily was going to get in trouble, “I can get you his address right now.”
“I have his address.” Was she really considering this? Yes, she was. She needed to explain to him she wasn’t his assistant. Okay, dammit. What she really wanted was to meet him now that both Tina and Stephanie had reacted so strangely fan-girl like about him. She was dying to see what he looked like.
And to know if that voice sounded just like she heard over the phone.
“Stop thinking so hard and do it,” Tina encouraged. “Besides, you looked pretty pissed when he sent you that message. Didn’t you say he was treating you like you were at his beck and call?”
She nodded.
“Then you need to put him in his place. Don’t stand for that stuff. You’re a strong woman.”
She giggled. “I know I am.”
Tina nodded vigorously. “And this would give you the chance to finally discuss the proposal Royce got before he did. Maybe talking to the guy in person would make a big difference.”
She was right. Lily hated phone calls. She hated phones period. Listening to Thane had already done weird things to her body. And the impersonal emails made things worse. Perhaps a face-to-face was the best thing.
The waiter put their desserts and coffees on the table and left the check, which Lily didn’t get a chance to grab before Tina snatched it out of her reach.
“Hey!”
“We’re celebrating my baby.” Tina grinned.
“Exactly. So it’s my treat.”
Tina rolled her eyes and blew a raspberry. “No way! I ate a lot more than you. Besides, you paid last time. Don’t think I forgot.”
She laughed at her cousin’s raised brow and put sugar in her latte. They ate their dessert while Tina continued to push her to go up the mountain to see Thane.
“You sound more invested in this than me.” Lily giggled. “You’d think he owes you money or something and you want me to get it.”
“No, but I think a live conversation with you both in the same room where there can be no more miscommunications about tone or text would be good.”
“You’re right.” She sipped the last of her latte and didn’t mention that Tina ate most of the cake and both cannoli. She was eating for two anyway.
Vinnie brought their coats a moment later. “It was lovely to have you both here tonight.”
Tina smiled and slid out of the booth. Lily did the same. “Same here, Vinnie.”
“All right, Lil. Get your butt in gear and go now.”
“Now?” Lily glanced at her clock. It was seven thirty. Wasn’t it too late to head up the mountain now?
“Yes. Now. If you talk to him tonight, you can take the morning off because it counts as a late night.”
That was true, but still. “I don’t know if I want to drive an hour and a half up that mountain.”
“Psssh,” Tina whistled. “It’s not that long. An hour tops. And besides, you’ll feel better afterward. I know you, Lily. You’ll keep thinking about this until it makes you crazy.”
Dammit! Tina knew her so well.
5
Lily glared at her speedometer. Why in the hell had she let Tina talk her into going up this mountain at night?
The sound of her ringing phone filled the inside of her Prius. She didn’t recognize the number displayed on her dash.
“Hello?”
“Lily?” said a voice she’d never wanted to hear again. A voice she had told herself not to hate but couldn’t stop the rage at the sound of it.
“Louis? What the hell do you want?”
“What do you think I want? Money,” he said with an attitude that made her wish he was in front of her so she could run over him, back up, and run over him again.
“We are divorced, you dick! I don’t owe you anything. You
took all my money and left me broke. Even if I had some now, the last person I’d give it to is you.”
“You’ll give me money, Lily.”
She hissed, her tigress ready to rip that smug grin off him. Even though he wasn’t in the car, she could hear it in his voice. “Yeah? What makes you think that?”
“Because you give two shits about the stupid shelter I’m on the board of.”
She frowned. There was only one shelter she cared about. The local wildlife shelter where displaced animals were taken when something happened and then reintroduced to their local habitats again. “What the fuck do you mean by that?”
“I mean, you’re going to get me some money or I’m going to make it my business to shut the place down.”
“You scumbag piece of shit!” she screamed inside her car, hating the sound of his laughter. “We’ve been divorced for a year. I owe you nothing.” She took a deep breath, trying to calm her tigress.
Louis was the worst fox. A lot smaller than her and clearly too full of himself to realize she wasn’t going to let him get away with whatever he had planned. He had no idea how lucky he truly was that she’d given him a chance to live after all he’d done to her. All because she’d felt stupid that she bothered with a different species. She should have never even tried to have a relationship with the rat bastard. Now she knew better.
Louis had even used the best lawyers in the city to get her last cent. She wondered why he needed anything from her when his grandfather led the largest crime family in the state. It amazed her to hear him calling her at all.
“Get me my money. All two hundred and fifty thousand of it. I know you keep a stash. You have a week, Lily, or say goodbye to your precious animals.”
The line went dead and she struggled to keep her eyes on the road instead of screaming at the top of her lungs. Her cat wanted out. She wanted to run wild and hunt. To kill and see blood flowing, imagining it was Louis. Soon enough. His time would come.
The falling snow caught her unawares. At first they fell in a few random flakes. But the closer she got to the top of the mountain, the harder and thicker the flakes got. Her visibility dropped to a few feet and she had to slow her car.
Thank goodness she was only minutes from the cabin or she might find herself stuck in the middle of the road. Suddenly, there it was. It was damn big for a cabin. At least two stories high and made of gorgeous wood and glass. She shut her car off and grabbed her bag, glad she’d worn her coat now that she realized it was damn near freezing up there.
Shifters adapted to lower temperatures but when in her human body, she was still more likely to get cold than when in her tigress. Of course, that wouldn’t apply if she was in heat. Then she would happily walk around naked from how needy she’d be.
Her shoes sank into the foot of snow and her feet soaked. She ran to the front door and pounded loudly on it.
“Hello?”
There was no answer. She did it for several minutes until she realized the stupid man wasn’t home. Fuck. The storm was picking up, blowing flakes harder. She couldn’t simply leave the folder at his front door. It’d be buried in minutes, if not blown away first.
Against her better judgment, she turned the door’s knob. To her unhappy surprise, the door opened easily. Well, shit. What idiot left their front door unlocked when not home? Then again, it wasn’t likely that someone would drive up the side of a mountain to visit a recluse without calling. And why did she care? It was his stolen items.
Now what? Was it considered breaking and entering if there was no real breaking?
“Hello. Mr. Dreki, are you here?” She stepped inside and glanced around. Her cat didn’t smell anyone, but it sure as hell was hyper for some reason. She hoped to quickly find a place to leave the file so she could leave before the storm got worse. When she got home, the first thing she’d take was a nice hot bath and open the biggest bottle of wine in her fridge.
Thankfully, he’d left a nice warm fire going so she could sit and wait for him if she wanted to. Nah. Curiosity wouldn’t kill this cat, but she really wanted to know how Thane Dreki lived.
The cabin was bigger than it appeared from outside. With large comfortable brown sofas and wood furniture, it really brought the outside in. Plants were everywhere, too. Bamboo and some larger ones with braided leaves. No photos, though, something she found very peculiar.
She continued through the cabin, past the dining area where a massive wooden table with chairs sat. Upon close inspection, because she wasn’t doing a half-assed job of snooping, she realized the table didn’t appear used at all. Weird, didn’t the guy eat?
The table and chairs appeared to be antiques with a gorgeous scroll design fit to be in a museum. The entire set looked straight out of a castle. The wood looked heavy, as if someone had cut a tree down to make those pieces. None of that shitty compressed wood things were made from nowadays. This was the real deal.
Farther down, she entered a giant open kitchen with top-of-the-line chef-inspired appliances. Either Mr. Dreki could cook, or he had someone that did. Her stomach chose that moment to remind her she’d barely eaten dinner, being so preoccupied with Thane Dreki and his habit of frustrating her to no end.
She set the envelope of papers on the counter and headed back to her car. Time to get the hell out of here. He’d call her if he had any questions on anything.
Back on the road, the car maneuvered the twists and turns better than she anticipated. With the storm setting in, night had fully fallen, narrowing her field of vision. She’d driven in snow for years, but she wasn’t prepared when a thump on the roof pushed her car sideways, coming to a sliding stop in a deep drift.
Panting for air, Lily sank back into the driver’s seat, her arms straight and elbows locked, hands tightly wrapped around the steering wheel. Her heart stampeded like a herd of buffalo. The inside of her car was dark, but her cat’s help showed her nothing was damaged there. She wasn’t so sure about her hood, though. If it was only snow that stopped her, then all should be fine. She turned the key. The engine didn’t respond.
“Oh please, no. Not now.” Lily again turned the key. Same response. Her forehead dropped onto the steering wheel. Goddamn, motherfucker, son of a bitch. Man, she really needed to clean up her language. She never cussed until after she married. His trashy family had more effect on her than she realized.
She pulled her phone from her pocket. Just as she guessed, no signal on the stupid mountain. She sighed.
With her tigress’s help, she was able to shove her door open enough to slip out. Fortunately, only the front half of her car was in the snow drift. She wrapped her coat around her. It was damn cold with the wind whipping. Then she saw the dent in her roof.
Oh hell. What had hit her? A boulder? An eerie cry slashed through the air. Lily searched the dark sky for the cause. That was no bird. What animal could possibly fly in a blizzard? Something in the air wasn’t normal. The snow outlined a long, black body that sort of resembled a whale. Wait, was that wings that the snow swirled around?
Holy fuck. Was she staring at a dragon? One that looked to be diving straight for her. Her animal instincts had her diving into the drift next to her car. A rustle of sound came behind her. What the fuck? Why was a dragon attacking her? Was it Dreki? Shit. He must’ve come home and smelled her and was now coming after her, thinking she was a robber or thief.
She never met the man, so he had no idea who she was. How could she communicate to a flying dragon in the middle of a storm that she was a good guy?
She crawled out of the snow and looked around. Where was he? Since no one was around to ridicule her, she decided shouting was the best option. “Dreki, I’m Lily Cruz from the office.” Turning, she continued. “I brought you the proposal. It’s in your kitchen.”
A man appeared from the blowing snow, naked. His face held an expression that sent a chill down her back. He was smiling, but not. The man was physically stunning. Bodily perfect, including a nice package of junk swayin
g with his stride. And in the cold, weren’t guys supposed to be their smallest?
The guy had dark hair, not blond, so it wasn’t Dreki. But was he the dragon who attacked her? She put a hand up. “That’s close enough. Did you just dive bomb me for no good reason?” she asked.
His smile turned genuine. “Bold. I like that.”
“I’m thrilled. Now answer the question.” She crossed her arms as best she could in her winter coat.
The man laughed and walked closer. Lily’s cat came closer to the surface. They didn’t like the person. He stopped close enough for her to see his dark eyes look her up and down. Her stomach wanted to throw up.
“I saw you drive away from the cabin. I want to know who you are,” he said.
She relaxed a bit. This was all just a misunderstanding. “I work with Mr. Dreki and was delivering a packet to him. He wasn’t there, so I set it inside his house and left. I’m not a robber or anything like that.”
Within a heartbeat, the man had her pinned against the car. He stuck his nose down the collar of her coat and took a deep breath. His tongue skated up her neck, his breath hot. Before her cat could react to the violation, he jumped back, out of her reach.
“You’re telling the truth,” he said. Again, his eyes took her in.
“Of course I’m not lying, you dickhead,” she growled. “Try touching me again and my cat will rip off your fucking reptilian head before you can bust out a scale.”
The man threw his head back and guffawed. His disrespect was eating at her patience, quickly.
“I am called Ramoth,” the asshole said. “I needed to make sure who you were. I couldn’t have Dreki’s pregnant mate driving alone in such…treacherous conditions.”
Lily broke out in a full body laugh. “Me? Dreki’s mate? Pregnant, even? If that wouldn’t be hell on earth, I don’t know what is.” The wind whipped around too much for her to get any scent from him. She couldn’t tell if he meant her harm or not. Her cat was ready, just in case.
“I see,” he said. “You do smell very, very good to my dragon.” His tongue slid between his lips.
Vote Then Read: Volume II Page 307