A Summer in Paradise (4 page)

Duncan liked to think it was because
the girls hadn’t been adults. The last thing he wanted to do was
kill a man because he’d gone mad while waiting for his mate to
become an adult.

Deep in thought, it almost didn’t
register when he felt another nibble on the line and jerked the
pole. The fish on the other end tried to escape, pulling and
yanking on the line, giving him a good fight. It felt like a big
one.

“
I think she’s Pearl.”
Jarrod tilted his head to the side. “I think Crystal was a
blonde.”

“
Yeah. She was. And, at the
time, Crystal was way too young to want to look at a couple of
naked guys.” Duncan said with a chuckle as he pulled the large fish
from the water.

As he had suspected, the fish was a big
one. It was probably worth stuffing, but he was more worried about
providing for his mate at the moment than seeing this whopper of a
walleye hanging on his wall.

“
See, you asshole. There are
walleye in this lake.” He grinned as he held the fish up for
Jarrod’s inspection. “Hell, this one’s huge. I won’t need to catch
anymore today.” He took the fish from the line, hooked it to the
stringer and dropped it back into the water. “What do you say to
heading back to the cabin to start cooking dinner for her while she
cools off in the river?”

“
Sounds like a plan.” Jarrod
smiled. “She needs the swim if she’s even half as worked up as I
am. With the way she smelled, she
was
worked up.” He stood, walked over
to the bushes and picked up their clothes and tackle box. “You go
ahead and get the fish. I got all of this.”

The two of them made their way back to
the cabin, raided the garden and started their meal. They left
Pearl to herself to get used to the idea that she’d spend her
evening with them.

Duncan couldn’t wait—even if they did
nothing more than talk all night. He’d waited years to see her, to
scent her once again. Both he and Jarrod had spent the last several
years worrying about her and wondering if they would find her too
late to claim her. As much as they might have wanted to, they could
never have attacked a human male for loving her the way they had
planned.

It was their fault she’d gone without
warning. In fact, neither of them could blame her for doing so. He
and Jarrod thought they had years to get to know her, to court her,
when they had noticed her so long ago.

They’d been planning a coup d’etat with
the current alpha and hadn’t wanted to involve an innocent female.
If they would have been caught, she could have been punished
whether she knew about it or not. With the way the old council was,
he had no doubt her punishment would have been severe.

They had hoped to come home one more
time to get her and her sisters out of Paradise before the battle,
but she’d disappeared, taking her siblings with her, or so they had
thought.

It wasn’t until after the battle raged
for months that they learned her sister, Gemma, had remained with
their adoptive parents and had endured a shit-storm of abuse. That
alone drove every shifter worth a damn to finally take action at
the treatment of an innocent, human female and join their cause. It
had turned the tide of their war. Even the elder shifters who had
thought themselves too old to join the battle took a stance when
they learned of the abuse poor Gemma suffered.

Afraid to make the little
human even more self-conscious, no one told her that
she
was the reason for the
final revolt that had decided the outcome of their years long war.
The influx of the experienced elders helped them win Paradise back
from the tight grip of tyranny.

They finally won and
that
was what mattered.
The town and its people had taken a long road to healing all of the
deep wounds, but finally, they were reaching the end. Only a few
remained who needed the love and guidance of their people to return
to their rightful home in a town that could, once and for all, live
up to its name.

“
Are we ready?” Jarrod
looked over his shoulder. “It smells like dinner is.”

“
Yes. It’s almost ready, but
not because you did anything to help.”

“
Hey! I’m the one who dug up
the potatoes, carrots and onions to make this meal complete, you
ass.”

“
I guess you’re right,”
Duncan said with a grin. “I just hope she likes it.”

“
Yeah. Me too.”

They had just opened the door to go
find Pearl when they heard her scream.

Chapter Seven

After an hour and a half in the water,
Pearl began to wonder what the guys were up to. She trusted them
not to take off with her gear. Heck, she’d practically known them
for years. If Pearl knew even one thing about them, she knew they
were honorable.

That was the main reason she never
approached them before. She knew they would never make a move on
her until she turned eighteen.

She’d also known she couldn’t stick
around long enough to reach an appropriate age. Crystal had been
safe as long as she hadn’t started her menses, but at fourteen, her
time was running out and they knew they had to get her out of
Paradise before her scent changed.

The two of them knew they had to get
their fourteen year-old sister out of Paradise before some sick
bastard took a liking to her and forced himself on her. It was bad
enough that she and Gemma had to endure their sick pawing. They had
both refused to allow their little sister to be subjected to it as
well.

It had taken Pearl years to heal. She
suspected it took Gemma at least as long. The road back to mental
health had been a long one, filled with pitfalls and many, many
winding side roads. It had felt like forever before she could look
at a man without wondering if he was trying to figure out a way to
get her alone so he could violate her. It had been even more years
before she overcame her fear of the dark, elevators and just plain
being alone.

After thousands of dollars spent on
counseling sessions, Pearl was her own woman once again. Fear no
longer ruled her actions or her life. The sick bastards who took
away her right to choose, who stole her control over her life for
that space in time, lost the hold they had over her.

Now
she
had the control. She lived her
life for herself. Pearl was through hiding from solitude and the
darkness. She had come home this one last time to prove it—to
herself as much as to any man left who was party to her
violation.

Pearl drifted on the current, the cool
water washing around her, but not fully cooling her blood. She
relaxed, listening to the silence and enjoying her time alone. She
smiled, knowing that just two short years ago, doing this very
thing would have terrified her.

A sound in the bushes drew her
attention and she smiled. It was most likely one of the men coming
to see what was taking her so long. She sat up and looked toward
the shore, her smile still in place.

She turned warily when she heard the
sound again. It couldn’t be one of the men. The noise came from the
wrong side of the river.

As quietly as she could, Pearl made her
way to the bank. It was most likely nothing and she could laugh at
herself later for freaking out over a rabbit scaring the crap out
of her. However, life had taught her to be cautious. Just as she
bent to retrieve her towel, a feral boar charged from the brush and
headed for the river.

With a scream, Pearl took off running,
glad that she had decided to wear her river shoes into the water.
At least she wasn’t running through the woods with bare
feet.

Damn!
Wasn’t this just her luck? Sure, she’d had the thought that
she just might get eaten tonight, but this wasn’t quite what she
had in mind.

Pearl ran as fast as she could toward
the cabin, looking back occasionally as she heard the boar getting
closer and closer. It crashed through the woods behind her, making
the most fearsome noises she had ever heard in her life.

With one last yelp, Pearl dove toward
the nearest tree with a branch low enough to climb onto. Once
higher in the tree, she sat and waited. Sooner or later, Duncan and
Jarrod would wonder where she was and come looking. She only had to
hold on until then.

It was a good thing she wasn’t up here
on this mountain alone like she’d originally planned. One thing was
for sure, once the wild boar got a good look at what the two men
could shift their shape into, it would take off. Either that, or it
would stand and fight and the three of them could make use of the
small smokehouse situated behind the cabin.

She had only been in the tree for a
minute or two when two large Jaguars burst into the clearing. The
largest of the two hit the boar hard. They went tumbling into the
brush as the jaguar growled, its large paws swatting at the animal.
The boar squealed its frustration at losing its prize to a larger
predator and fought back for a moment. It must have realized it was
outmatched. After a few lunges where it met air or a large clawed
paw, it turned and ran.

Pearl stared down at the remaining cat
and smiled. “I knew you’d get here in time to save me from that
porker.”

The air shimmered around the big cat as
it shifted, finally changing into the man who stood grinning at
her, naked.

Returning his grin, Pearl rested her
hands on her thighs and tilted her head to the side. “Why is it
that I’m always seeing you naked?” She slapped her hand over her
mouth too late to keep from revealing herself.

Duncan just shook his head and
chuckled. “What makes you think we weren’t getting naked just to
impress you?

Heat rushed to her face and
Pearl pressed the palms of her hands to her cheeks. Had they
really
came here just to
sun themselves in the nude, just for her?

Duncan laughed again as he turned to
look through the woods where they had last seen Jarrod chase after
the boar. “I don’t believe you thought we always got naked like
that.” He shrugged. “We like each other, but not that much.”
Turning back, he winked at her. “If you know what I
mean.”

Oh, she knew what he meant all right
and she never once thought that of them. Not that it would have
mattered. She wasn’t sure the thought of the two of them being into
each other would arouse her, but it didn’t quite turn her off
either.

“
You were fast.”

He looked back up at her. “We were on
our way out the door when we heard you scream.” Smiling, he held
his hands up. “Need help down now?”

Pearl climbed down a few branches until
she felt his hands circle her waist and lift her down. Her heart
slammed in her chest when he set her down and turned her around to
inspect her for injuries.

Though, he seemed only to touch her to
see if she was all right, Pearl’s nipples hardened with
anticipation. She felt her face heat once again. If he noticed she
would just die. She looked everywhere but him as he ran his hands
lightly over her skin.

“
You’re all right then? He
didn’t bite or gore you?”

“
No.” Pearl shook her head.
She held her fists pressed against her sides. As he continued his
inspection, she made one of her own. “I managed to get to the tree
before he caught me. I’m just glad I heard him coming to the
river.”

“
Me too.”

As Duncan knelt down to inspect her
legs and ankles, Pearl studied his broad, sun-kissed shoulders.
He’d always been muscular, but she thought perhaps he’d thickened
up a bit since she left.

“
So, what were you two doing
up here besides losing your fishing gear?” Pearl wanted to keep
their conversation light. She didn’t know what she would do if he
stood and realized she’d practically been drooling over him. Die
from mortification came to mind.

“
We were just contemplating
leaving Paradise to go in search of our mate.”

Pearl didn’t expect the shaft of pain
that shot straight to her heart at the thought of her men with
another woman.

“
Your mate?” Pearl squeezed
her eyes shut. God, did that pathetic sounding voice really come
from her?

Taking a deep breath, she swallowed.
She didn’t need a man, or men. If she could, she’d get these two to
screw her brains out, hopefully get her pregnant, then leave for
Scotland. She wanted a baby, but she didn’t necessarily need a man,
or two, in her life permanently. She pushed the melancholy thoughts
away and stepped back. She needed to keep her distance before she
fell in love with them all over again.

Too late.
The warning came from a little voice in her head
that sounded suspiciously like herself.

She looked at Duncan and bit her lip.
God help her if she’d really fallen in love with these two again.
She shook her head slowly as she continued to stare. It didn’t
matter now. In a few weeks, she would be on her way to Scotland in
search of a new life and a new career. She just couldn’t take the
chance that Glenn would find her here. Pearl wanted a life and
children, but she knew she couldn’t bring her troubles to them. She
would have to stick to her original plans. A summer in Paradise was
all she could manage.