A Summer in Paradise (5 page)

Chapter Eight

Jarrod plowed into the boar, his claws
digging into the other animal’s flesh. Death was on his beast’s
mind as it attacked the large boar that threatened his
mate.

The other animal squealed when he bit
down on its neck and Jarrod came to his senses. He couldn’t kill
this animal for being hungry or just being itself. Perhaps Pearl
was near its home and he attacked to protect it. Jarrod knew little
about feral swine.

The boar took advantage of his
hesitation and scrambled free of his hold. Jarrod gladly chased the
other animal through the woods. He wanted it away from Pearl. He
didn’t want to hurt the thing. He only wanted to scare it
off.

It never crossed his mind that the boar
could be another shifter, until it reached the edge of a cliff and
leapt over the side. An animal would have felt cornered and turned
to fight.

Running to the edge, Jarrod looked down
to see the large hog plunge into the river below. It surfaced as a
man and swam to the other side. The only distinguishing
characteristic he could see was that whoever it was had
light-colored hair.

He snarled down at the man, his jaguar
pawing the ground. He would have leapt over the cliff as well, to
continue his pursuit, but his animal side fought him. It wanted to
return to its mate. Jarrod didn’t fight it. He wanted to make sure
Pearl was all right as well. Turning around, he headed back to the
cabin, sure that Duncan would already have her inside and
protected.

He wanted to know who would do such a
thing and since when did they have shifters that could turn into
boars? Was it an all-shifter? They could turn into a person’s
living room sofa if they wanted to.

One thing was certain, whoever Pearl’s
assailant was, he had a death wish, because no male would ever
touch his mate with malice and live.

Jarrod made his way back to the cabin.
He used a longer circuitous route that spread his scent far and
wide. If another shifter wanted to come for his mate, he would damn
well be forewarned that she was protected and by what.

After about an hour, he made his way to
the cabin door. His dinner would be cold and it would most likely
be dry, if Duncan didn’t eat it all. Still, it wasn’t the food that
drew him, but the scent of their mate.

He didn’t bother to knock. Instead, he
opened the door and looked inside. What he saw, made him want to
laugh, to shout with joy. Their mate was there and she was safe.
Her luscious scent filled the room and made him feel
welcome.

Fire burned in his gut as he looked at
her. Her scent nearly drove him wild. He burned for her in a way he
had never burned for another woman. What was it about mates that
cause such an intense reaction? He’d heard about it before. Others
had told him about how a mate could seemingly turn him inside
out.

He never really believed it until
now.

“
Don’t just stand there.
Come on in.” Pearl smiled at him. She sat at the table in front of
a clean plate.

“
Why haven’t you eaten?” he
asked when he heard her stomach growl.

He glared at Duncan. “Why haven’t you
taken care of her needs?”

“
Don’t give me that look.”
Duncan returned his glare with one of his own. “She wouldn’t eat
without you.” He grinned. “She was worried.”

Worried? What could she have been
worried about? That boar couldn’t hurt him, even if it was a
shifter—unless it was an all shifter. Then it could have changed
into anything and ripped him to shreds.

Jarrod was leaning toward it being a
part of a species they didn’t know existed. Otherwise it would have
changed into something else to gain the advantage. Instead, it had
taken the cowardly way out and jumped over the cliff.

Whoever the shifter was, Jarrod had his
animal’s scent. If he ever changed back into his boar again and
Jarrod was around, he would know and he would pursue it.

No one threatened his mate without
suffering the consequences. Animal instinct was one thing.
Attacking as a shifter was another matter entirely.

Turning his attention back to their
mate, he watched nearly mesmerized as she reached over and patted
the chair next to her. “Sit down. I’m starved. I can’t wait to eat.
The fish smells wonderful.” She looked at Duncan and smiled. “It’s
a good thing he didn’t cook it all the way before you guys went to
get me. Otherwise it wouldn’t be fit to eat.”

“
It wouldn’t have mattered
as long as you had something for yourself.”

“
But what about you
two?”

He exchanged a knowing look with Duncan
then turned his attention back to her. “I would have found
something even more delicious to eat.” He lowered his eyelids and
gave her a practiced look. “Perhaps I would have found something
that would serve as a nice, creamy dessert.”

Chapter Nine

Pearl stared at him for a
moment, her face heating up once again.
Holy crap! He can’t be talking about me.
Yet she knew he was. What else could he mean by that
statement?

“
You—” She paused to clear
her throat. “I’m going to pretend you don’t mean what I think you
mean.” She took a drink from the glass of water in front of her.
“You don’t even know my name, for heaven’s sake.”

“
That’s where you’re wrong.”
Jarrod looked at Duncan who merely nodded his head. “Your name, if
I’m not mistaken, is Pearl June Alexander. Your older sister is
Gemma and your little sister is Crystal.”

“
How did you—”

“
We guessed,” he interrupted
with a shrug. “We were relatively certain you were one of Gemma’s
sisters because you disappeared right around the same time her
sisters did. Plus, you were the only one of the two old enough to
want to spy on two old shifters who sunbathed nude.”

Duncan chuckled. “She thought we always
did that.”

“
You’re kidding,” Jarrod
said with a chuckle. “I’m glad we did it right then.”

Pearl wanted to throttle them both.
They’d played her all of those years ago. They had purposely got
her all hot and bothered knowing full well they wouldn’t touch her
until she was over eighteen.

“
I don’t believe you two.”
She stood and began to pace, choosing to ignore the fact that
Duncan had to dance out of her way before she ran into the hot pan
he carried. “How could you do that to me?”

“
Do what?”

Pearl suspected that Duncan knew
exactly what she was talking about. Turning to glare at him, she
practically snarled. “You two jerks got me all hot and bothered
when you knew damned good and well you wouldn’t touch me until I
was eighteen. Didn’t you?”

“
Don’t ask questions that
you know you don’t want the answer to, darlin’.”

“
Who said I didn’t want the
answer?” God, she was angry. She hadn’t been so pissed since she’d
had her breakthrough in therapy. She was so mad, she wanted to hurt
someone.

“
Sit down and eat. You can
be mad at us later.” Jarrod turned her chair so the seat faced
her.

“
Eat? What makes you think I
can eat now?”

“
You can eat, because we
tell you to eat.” Duncan set the pan of potatoes on the table and
moved toward her. “You may have gotten here first, and by the rules
of Paradise this cabin is yours as long as you want to stay, but
you invited us in and therefore, into your life and you will listen
to your mates.”

“
Mates? Ha! I don’t know you
well enough to want you as mates.” She tried her best to sneer at
them. “And from what I’ve learned of you two so far, I’m not sure I
want any more to do with you.”

“
Sit down and eat or I’ll
spank your little ass.”

Pearl almost didn’t believe
her ears. “You wouldn’t dare!” She glared at Duncan. Had he lost
his mind? Spank her.
Really
?

“
Don’t count on it,
sweetheart. We’ll spank you if you do something to warrant it and
not taking care of yourself is at the top of the list.” Apparently
Jarrod had lost his mind as well.

“
If you think I’m going to
let either of you touch me after that threat, you’re both out of
your ever-lovin’ minds.” Pearl stared down at the plate that Duncan
had filled for her. “Not that there’s a reason for you to touch
me.” She closed her eyes. Good grief, was she transparent or what?
And why did she get all wet at their threats of spanking her? She
wanted nothing to do with them if they planned to hurt her. She
wasn’t stupid.

Lifting her glass, she took a sip of
her water with a frown. All those years of therapy and the men
she’d lusted after weren’t any better than the men who had abused
her all those years ago. Only this time it was worse. This time she
was afraid she would like it, if the moisture gathering in her
panties was any indication. What in the world was wrong with
her?

Duncan sat across the table from Jarrod
which put one of them on either side of her, if she joined them.
“Sit, now, or I’ll get up and put you across my knee.”

“
I’ll sit, and I’ll eat, but
only because I want to. Not because you two Neanderthals told me
to.” She moved to sit on the edge of her chair. “I swear. You two
are like a couple of apes, or something.” She gave them each a
sideways glance. “I half expect you to stand up and start beating
your chests.”

“
You know very well we
are
not
apes. I
don’t even think an ape shifter exists.”

“
Really? You think not?” She
shrugged at Jarrod’s comment. “I think they used to.” She gave them
both an assessing glance. “You both must have at least one in your
family tree.”

“
Stop stalling and eat,”
Duncan said, pointing a fork at her plate.

Pearl stuck her tongue out at him and
picked up her fork.

“
You shouldn’t give us
ideas, Pearl.” Duncan grinned. “I can think of a lot of things you
could do with that little pink tongue of yours.”

What was it about them? She bowed her
head and stared down into her plate at Duncan’s comment. They
always seemed to know what to say to make her blush. She felt the
heat of it as it crept up her neck and into her face.

Spearing a small piece of fish, she
brought it to her mouth. Nothing could have prepared her for the
flavor of the fish as the first bite touched her tongue. It was
delicious. Tall, sexy and they could cook. What more could a woman
want in her men?

What was she thinking? They weren’t her
men. They never would be. She planned to use them, plain and
simple. They weren’t hers and she wasn’t their mate. What she was,
was one damned horny woman who wanted to know what it was like to
make love to the two men she’d fallen in love with before she left
the country.

Bound and determined not to
bring her troubles to their door, Pearl had decided to take the
position in Scotland and
nothing
would stop her from doing so. A summer in Paradise
was all she would ever have and she planned to make the best of
it.

During the meal, Pearl stole a few
glances at the two men, certain that they would never raise a hand
toward her in anger. It just wasn’t in them. They might hurt her
without meaning to, but she refused to believe that either one of
them would ever hurt her intentionally.

She only hoped she didn’t live to
regret that belief.

After dinner, she stood and gathered
the dishes. “I’ll do these. It’s only fair. You two
cooked.”

“
Leave them in the sink.
We’ll wash them tomorrow. No one is going out to gather water in
the dark.”

“
Don’t be ridiculous,
Jarrod. The well is just a few feet off the side of the cabin.” She
bent to pick up the pails. “I’ll be right back,” Pearl said as she
headed for the door.

Just as she opened the door, Duncan
reached over her shoulder and pushed it shut with a bang. “Jarrod
said it could wait. Must you disagree with us at every turn? Do you
wish to go out in the dark and have that boar return when you can’t
see him?”

Pearl looked up at him and bit her lip.
She hadn’t thought of that. “Then what do you suggest we do?” She
set the pails down beside the door then straightened.

“
This,” Duncan said just
before he cupped her cheeks and slanted his mouth over
hers.

All her life, she’d read books or seen
movies about the heroine seeing fireworks when the hero kissed her.
Never, did she ever think it could really happen. Yet, it did when
Duncan kissed her and Jarrod came up from behind and nuzzled her
neck.

Heat filled her as Jarrod reached
around and cupped her breasts. Cream slid sinuously from her
channel, coating her panties. She wanted them, but she wasn’t sure
she should trust them now. Would they really get
violent?

Duncan pulled back, his hands still
cupping her face. His thumb caressed her bottom lip while she
looked up at him. “Never think that we would get violent with you,
sweetheart. We might threaten to spank you. We might even spank
you, but we would never, ever touch you with anger.”