Aaron's Kiss Series Boxed Set (Books 1 - 7) (112 page)

CHAPTER NINE

“I don’t know why you think I need to wear a dress to this stupid thing. I have worn pants all my life and no one cared one whit about it.” She had bought a dress over the Internet. Not a smart move in the first place because she had bought the size she had been wearing pre-accident. Airic didn’t even realize she’d lost any weight until Diana had pointed it out. The second was she had stupidly bought one that was puce. Who the hell wore puce? But in her defense, the description had said mauve.

“You said you’d go, and you’ll wear a dress because it’s the professional way to do it. I can’t keep telling people that you’re sick all the time. Do you want them to think you are sickly and not a reliable person? And you are going shopping with me because you have absolutely no taste in clothes. Just look how you’re dressed. Jogging pants and a sweatshirt are all right in the studio, but out in public, it’s a no-no.” Diana made that noise in her throat again, the one she made every time she was trying to make a point. It sounded snarky to her, but she wasn’t sure.

“I do not have bad taste in clothes. You liked that thingy I got yesterday.” Airic was getting more nervous the closer they got to the boutique. She didn’t want to admit that she was wearing these clothes, not as a fashion statement, but because the pants had a string in them and she could keep them up around her butt. Underwear didn’t have ties, but she had fixed that problem with a safety pin. The sweatshirt was a necessity because her bras were all way, way too big and she felt as if she’d be “flopping” around and she didn’t want to subject people to that poor sight.

“Airic! That was pajamas! That so does not count as clothes. This lady, Elaina Spencer, is supposed to be the place to shop for these things. She does all the beading by hand.” Diana consulted the map again.

“Beading! You didn’t say anything about beading. I’m going to be sick. Pull over, please; I need to throw up again.” Diana ignored her like she had the last three times she had claimed to be sick and wanted to throw up. “Isn’t there some written rule somewhere that you’re supposed to kiss my ass and suck up or something because I sign your paychecks? I could have sworn I saw that somewhere in the ‘How to be a Great Employee’ handbook somewhere.”

“Well, I’ve had it updated and it now says that if you want to keep said great employee, you kiss her ass and suck up. Besides, I sign your name better than you do. You’ll love this shop. I talked with that guy Bradley Wolff’s assistant and she said that she does all the clothes when there is a big to-do.”

She felt Diana look over at her again. She felt like one of those lab projects where a person had to keep an eye on it or it would blow up or something. She didn’t say anything for a few minutes. She didn’t want to shop, had hated it even before. But this was different; she was going to have to go to her own opening, something she hadn’t done since the very first one. And she was going to have to wear clothes she knew she wouldn’t be comfortable in, and she knew Diana would insist that she wear heels too. Beading, for goodness sake. Who wore beaded clothes?

“You didn’t get to show him the paintings then?” Diana had mentioned that she hadn’t been able to see Bradley Wolff, the gallery owner, and then when she mentioned shopping, it pushed the fact that she had left her paintings with a stranger.

“No, he called the gallery and told them that he wasn’t going to make it even before I got there. Mallory, his assistant, said that he was sorry, but he’d had a minor fender bender and his car wouldn’t be serviceable until later. So, he’s going to look them over, including the wet ones, and call me at your house tonight. Are you mad because I left them?”

Actually, she was, but done was done. “No, I’m not mad. I mean, I shouldn’t be, right? I just…they’ve never…” She looked out the window of the car. She didn’t know what she meant or anything right now.

“He’ll take good care of them, Airic, I swear. I even had them sign a receipt for them.”

Airic didn’t say anything. She was too touchy lately and she knew it.
Nerves,
she thought,
that was all, just nerves.
She’d get over it soon.

They pulled up in front of the beautiful mansion and got out of the car. Elaine’s was painted on the sign in the front yard. There were flowers and rose bushes everywhere. And on the wraparound porch were rocking chairs, several of them, as a matter of fact. And in two of them were two kids, young boys. They looked to be trouble.

“Hey, pretty ladies! How’s it goin’? Need any help in the changing room, I’ll be more than glad to offer my assistances.”

Yep, trouble all right. Airic was all for leaving, but Diana plowed straight ahead, ignoring them as best she could. When they got to the steps leading up to the shop, the bigger one stepped in front of Airic and sniffed her.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” It was out of her mouth before she knew it.

“Well lookee here, I found myself a she-bitch.”

Airic made to move past him, but he grabbed her arm and jerked her hard to him. The other boy had already trapped Diana against the wall. It was over in a matter of seconds.

CHAPTER TEN

At first she was scared, then she saw her friend struggling, and suddenly, she was very…calm. There was no way she was going to let her be hurt again. “You’ll let her go, now.” She didn’t even bother with asking or pleading with them. She didn’t think it would do any good anyway. She just wanted them to let her go.

“Oh, and who’s gonna stop us? You? I don’t think so. I’m gonna play with you, then my brother Phil is gonna have his turn.” He laughed, turned back to Airic, grabbed her breast, and pinched her hard.

Airic growled. The growl was low, coming from deep within her, deeper than she’d ever felt before. She grabbed his throat with her clawed right hand and lifted him six inches off the ground. She didn’t take the time to analyze what had happened to her hand, but gripped him harder around the neck, nicking him slightly.

“You’ll back the fuck up or I’ll make sure your own mother won’t recognize you when I’m finished. Let her go. Now! You should have more respect for your betters, boy.” She noticed also that her voice had become deeper, harder than she’d ever heard before. The younger boy must have too, because Phil dropped to the floor and curled into a ball. But her tormentor was trapped; she had him still clutched in her hand. With a slight shake, she dropped him and he too fell to the floor, curling into a tighter ball than his brother had. Okay, she liked this subservient thing. “If you come near me or my friend again, or for that matter, you ever treat another woman like you just did the two of us, I will hunt you down and make you wish you’d never been born. Do I make myself perfectly understood?”

“Yes, ma’am. Never. We shouldn’t have touched you. We wouldn’t have if we’d have known who you were. Please, we’re sorry. Don’t tell Alpha; it’ll never happen again. I swear.” The older one was begging now, and he was stroking her leg with his neck. She didn’t know why, but that seemed the correct response to her.

“Go home, and thank your mother for you even being alive. And this alpha person, I won’t tell him, because I expect you to. And you’d better believe I’ll find out if you don’t. Now, get.” She backed away from them. The one called Phil crawled over to Diana and stroked her leg too before he stood, still bowed at the waist, and took off running, his friend and brother with him.

Diana just stared at her, her mouth opened and eyes wide. Airic glanced to her right and saw that two of the girls from the shop had come out at some point and were staring at her too.

“What? They were hurting you. Was I supposed to just stand there and let them? Not again.” She didn’t understand why they were so aghast. Okay, she thought, my hand did do that whole claw thingy, but that happens once a month anyway doesn’t it? Maybe it has something else to do with the accident. She mentally shrugged and walked into the shop.

***

“Hello, Mallory, did the shipment arrive?” Bradley was removing his jacket as he walked to the storage room. His day hadn’t gotten any better since this morning. But he did have a nice new car.

His grandda had talked him into buying a Mustang Shelby GT500 series right off the lot. It was every man’s wet dream and Holy Grail rolled into one, he’d said. He was going to have to have a serious talk with him, he thought again. This car was loaded with every imaginable gadget known to the car industry. The black chameleon paint was a custom job for a buyer that had decided after it was finished that he didn’t want or he couldn’t afford the car. Heated leather seats, leather-wrapped steering wheel, six speed convertible, V8 engine with 550 hp engine and 19-in. painted machined-aluminum wheels.
Oh yeah,
he thought,
very nice car.

“Yeah. Couple of hours ago, it’s all in the back. Nice wheels by the way.” He glanced out the front window and smiled.

His grandda had been driving when that deer had jumped out in front of them, thank God. At the gas station just outside of town, he had been talking to a pack member about a small issue he was having and Grandda had gotten hot. So he slipped into the driver’s seat and turned on the air. Bradley, distracted, let him drive them the rest of the way into Merchant area. Had it been him, they might have been really hurt. As it was, his sedate driving over Bradley’s pedal to the floor approach had made what could have been a major accident into just what it was, a fender bender, driving into the ditch instead of over the small hill where they had been headed.

“Yeah, thanks. The other one was really old and Danny said that getting parts for it would be expensive. Grandda talked me into this one.” He began his trek to the storage area again.

The pottery crates had already been opened, having had a few of the younger pack members come in and do that right away. He looked over each piece and noticed a slight difference to the style. Nothing major really, but she was using deeper, richer colors and the scenes were getting more detailed, more colors too. He supposed that came with experience. He really liked them. He marked twenty for the sales floor and the other thirty-two for the show. He decided to buy the other four for his own collection. He had asked Mallory not to open the paintings, as he had wanted to see them first. He had three opened and sitting against the wall when Grandda walked in the back room.

“Christ! Where did you get those?” He walked closer and knelt down for a better look. He watched as he stroked his finger down the delicate brush stroke along the wolf’s back.

“They’re part of the show this weekend. The artist that I was suppose to meet here today, well, her assistant anyway. She brought them by for me to look at. I’m supposed to decide if I’d like to put them with the ceramic pieces. What do you think, do you like them?” Bradley moved over to open the next line of six. He liked them; they were powerful and moving. In the three that he had just opened, he felt that she had captured the true shift of the wolf. The colors were dark and almost sinister-looking, but hard and compelling too. He turned to look at his grandda. He was holding one that had been separated from the others and wasn’t wrapped. It must be one of the wet ones she’d told him about.

“Grandda?” He suddenly noticed that he was pale. Bradley also noticed that the canvas was trembling in his grasp. He moved over to his side, grabbing his desk chair for him as he went. Shoving it under him, he made to take the picture from him when he looked at it himself. “Holy hell.” Bradley felt his knees tremble and he sat down on the floor beside the chair.
No,
he thought,
this can’t be right.
No one knew, no one but him and David. It was a painting of David and him naked, painting the Morgan house robin’s egg blue.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“Is this it, how you two did it?” Bradley realized that Grandda hadn’t been shaken so much as startled and the trembling was him laughing.

“Yes. How did it get here? Is this a joke? David! He did this. I’m gonna kill him.” He stood and took out his cell phone to call him. Just then, the door flew open and Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum walked in. “Oh hell no. I’m gonna kill you both.”

“Alpha, forgive us. Don’t let her…please, we’re sorry. Never. I swear to you, never will we do it again. We would never have touched her if we’d known. Please, Alpha, tell her, tell her please that we told you.” Daniel was sobbing.

“He touched her, I didn’t. I even told him that we shouldn’t do it, that you’d rip our ears off, but oh no…the other woman, I…she said not anyone, but he touched her.” Phil reached over and hit his brother.

“I didn’t know. But I swear to you, I will never do it again. Never ever, ever, Alpha, we won’t. We already told our mom, just what she said…”

“I told her first, you ass. He was too chicken, afraid Dad would make fun of him. I told her we were grateful for her and that…”

“Enough!” Bradley roared. Both boys dropped to the floor again and curled into tight balls. He knew what they were doing; it was just a reaction to his command, but it startled him all the same.

He didn’t use that tone often and not much in the past several years. It was what set him apart from other males in the pack, the ability to command with his voice.

His grandda stood then, taking the picture with him to the door. He sat the canvas aside, backwards to the room, and assured Mallory that everything was all right, that yes, she could go ahead and lock up, and it was after six anyway. He thumbed the lock on the doors to the room and leaned against it.

“What did you two do now? And if you lie to me, you will never see the light of day again.” He sat in the now vacant desk chair. He didn’t want to have to kill them, really he didn’t. He liked their parents, they were a nice couple. Their dad was a good man and had his own limo service that Bradley used on occasion. Such a waste if he did end up killing them both, he mused to himself.

“Just don’t tell the alpha bitch, please, sir. Please?” Phil didn’t even raise his head, neither boy did.

Bradley shot a look to the older man with a raised brow. “You pissed off an alpha bitch? When, today? You fucking left my office and drove to another territory and pissed off someone else’s alpha? Are you fucking nuts? Do you both have a death wish or something? Because if that’s all you want is to be dead, I guarantee that’s a perfect way to go about it.” He was up pacing now and gesturing wildly. What the fuck was wrong with these two?

“We didn’t leave the pack area. We saw her at Elaine’s on Prospect Street. She was going in when we…” He stopped when Daniel hit him in the head.

“She was here, in our town? Holy shit, you are both dead. Dead, do you hear me? She comes to go shopping in our town and we insult her! I can’t help you boys. You’ve screwed yourselves royal now. I hope you have nice wills made out, because you’re gonna need them.”
I have to find her alpha and see if I can fix this before we have a bloodbath,
he thought. Her alpha will kill them and will be completely justified in doing so. One did not touch another wolf’s mate, especially a female alpha. She would have been completely in her rights to kill them both without a second’s hesitation. As much as he’d had to fix things for them over the past few days, he was surprised that she hadn’t.

“She weren’t mated. That’s why we hit on her. She was fresh, you know. A virgin. We could smell her as soon as she got outta the car that she didn’t have a mate,” Daniel confessed.

Bradley sat down hard. He had an unmated alpha female in his territory. Lynne. Another Lynne was back and trying to take his pack, kill him and take what was his. He was dizzy, he realized; the room was spinning. Leaning forward, he put his head in his hands and waited for the room to slow.

He barely heard his grandda escort the boys out with a stern lecture and a promise from them that they would go straight to their home and stay there until Bradley contacted them. And if they even thought of getting into trouble between here and there, well, he couldn’t be responsible for holding the alpha back even if he was his grandson.

“Come on, son, let me drive you home.” He felt him tug on his arm and he stood up. He was out to the car before he realized it, going through the motions like a robot. He watched without really seeing Grandda lock the front door to the gallery as he sat in the passenger seat of his new car. Then when he slid under the steering wheel, Bradley spoke.

“Grandda. What do I do now? Am I such a poor leader that even a female thinks she can come in and take my territory?” He jerked back when his head was suddenly forced forward and slammed against the dashboard hard enough to see stars for a few seconds.

“I hear you say something like that again and I will paddle your ass but good, you hear me? You have the word of two idiots who say she was unmated. Virgin! Ha, how the hell could they tell that, I ask you? And you, you stupid fool, what makes you think she wants your territory? Could be she was just shopping and those dumb asses pissed her off. Like they haven’t done that to damn near every female in the pack lately. What, she can’t defend herself in your territory because you’re the wonderful and infallible Bradley Wolff? Grow up.” He turned to start the car, and then looked back at him. “Where the fuck is the key hole?”