Aaron's Kiss Series Boxed Set (Books 1 - 7) (68 page)

~CHAPTER TEN~

Tucker stood there long after she left, having gotten in and taken off without waiting to see if he’d continue on with her. The words, the connotation that she would willingly forfeit her life, kept running through his mind. He needed to talk with someone, but he didn’t know anyone, didn’t have anyone he could call friend. He reached out to the only person he knew and asked to speak to him.

~~~

“She went into a stranger’s house and kidnapped the children from an armed drunk tonight. How do I protect her if she does that during the day, sire?”

Tucker was seated in the study again; this time, Sara was with Aaron. Aaron had thought that Sara could shed some light on the girl’s behavior as she herself had been a warrior and savior at one time. Sara hoped so.

“I believe she is doing it during the day, Tucker. I’ve had her investigated. The information I have of her is in and out of hospitals and long nights in jail. She has led a much checkered life if one were to only look at the information given here.” Aaron handed the file to Tucker and leaned against his desk.  “I’ve tried everything I know to get information about her, and believe me, if my computer whiz can’t find it, it’s not findable.”

“Who is she?” Sara asked them. “What is she? Because I can’t believe either of you believe she’s strictly human. I mean, the girl drives me nuts most of the time, but she is wonderful with kids, and Mac is in love with her.” She glanced at Tucker and saw the man stiffen. Vampires were a very jealous lot, and she found it amusing that he would be upset about a five-year-old little boy.

“We need to find out. She’s Tucker’s mate, and as a part of my Kiss, then it is imperative that we make sure she isn’t something that could harm us. I don’t really think that she is, but she is hiding something.”

“Sire, I still haven’t…she isn’t my true mate. I don’t know if she ever will be. You know the reasons and as I have said, they are too great to burden her with at the present. Marta it getting closer, and the moment I take Sam, she will know.”

“You let me worry about Marta. I seem to say that to you a lot, don’t I? But I mean well. The moment she enters my territory, I’ll know. I’m a much older and wiser master than her and have loyalties that she could only dream of. I have decided that you are already a member of this Kiss, Tucker; my family protects what is theirs. You have nothing to worry about, I will see to it.” Aaron put his hand on Tucker’s shoulder.  And we will keep Miss Hunter safe, no matter how hard she tries to say otherwise. But I will tell you this, and I’m making this a demand, Tucker, you must mate with her, mark her. I cannot protect her as well until then. Do you understand? I hate making demands.” He glared at Sara when she snorted at that. “I want it done in one week or face the consequences.”

“Yes, master.”

Tuck left soon afterwards, having given Aaron as much information as he could on Sam’s schedule, where she had gone tonight, names, anything and everything they could think of.

“You can’t really demand that he mates with her, can you?” Sara had been slightly taken aback by his demands to Tucker; she didn’t realize that a master held such power over another vamp.

“No, I can’t really. But I’m hoping that by the time he figures that out, it will be too late for either of them. I believe she will be good for him; her ability to be so outspoken and demanding could be just what he needs to be brought out of his shell. He has been browbeaten for so long; it will take a very strong woman to pull him out. The woman Marta is his maker; that’s a very hard call to resist, especially in light of the way he was treated by her. No, getting them bonded and mated will serve them both, her safety and his sanity.”

Sara thought that if Sam set her mind to anything, she’d succeed. Just thinking about Sam taking her on that day she’d been shot made Sara smile. The girl had guts, that was for sure.

~~~

The next morning, Pete showed up at Sam’s bakery. She couldn’t believe the incredible smells coming from the place even before she opened the door. The smells of cinnamon and sugar were the most prevalent with fresh baked bread and yeast coming in next. She took a deep breath before she approached the counter.

Pete was mate to Dominic Marshall, and the best computer expert there was. She could also run the tightest security system and had been known to step on the incorrect side of the law just to show larger companies what they were lacking in that department. She was now employed by the Brotherhood of Gray, the largest werewolf pack in the nation, as their security expert. It paid very well and helped donate great amounts of money and time to Becca’s Place, a place that held a very dear place in Pete’s heart.

“Hi there, cutie, what can I getcha?” Betty didn’t say a word to Pete about her face and arms. Most people turned away from the elaborate designs on her face. If people could see her in her natural form, they’d be one of two things; fascinated by the extent of the markings or terrified when the marks moved independently of the woman who wore them.

It wasn’t a tattoo, but a crest, a sigil that marked her magic abilities. Pic was a wood nymph, and a very strong one at that. And because of her magic, when Dominic claimed her as his mate and changed her to a vampire too, she didn’t lose her ability to be out of doors. Which was great for her, because like all plants of the forest, the one growing on her body needed sunlight and moonlight to rejuvenate and to grow.

“Is Miss Hunter in? I’d like to speak to her please. That is, if she isn’t too busy. I was sent here by a mutual friend.”

“Oh, Sam’s not in right now. She’s…hummm…well, she’s just not in, but I can take a message and have her get back with you.”

Pete could read minds and she had no problems reading this woman’s. Sara and Aaron both had warned Pete that Sam was going to be more than a little uncooperative about this. Pete didn’t mind; she was used to dealing with stubborn people. She also knew that she was one too. Betty didn’t know where Sam was, only that there was stock piled up in the back to go out and a note that said she’d be back before the wedding cake was to be picked up, nothing more. Also, the worry about Sam and the assignments she took on.

Pete was surprised to know that Sam’s people knew what she did. Then she realized that Betty was one of her assignments from long ago. But it hadn’t turned out quite as easy as the night before. Sam had been injured that night and Betty nearly killed by the woman’s live-in boyfriend. He had taken a ball bat to Betty before Sam arrived and had hit Sam once in the head before she was able to take him down with a gun. Betty had been her friend since. Pete was startled by the memories and Pete’s respect for Sam jumped a few notches. Pete decided to do an Internet search on what had happened that night to see why neither woman had apparently severed much, if any, jail time.

“If you expect her back anytime soon, I’d like to wait. What I have to see her about is very important.” Pete gave her a tiny push to allow her to wait in the back kitchen.

When she was led back there by a bemused Betty, she sat at the desk and looked around. There was nothing there to say anything about the owner of the shop. There was no computer, no phone, no pictures, nothing at all. Pete wandered over to the side by side refrigerator and looked at the drawing that Lizzy had done for her. Sam had gotten a magnet frame and fit it over the childish picture of a room of cakes to protect it. There was also a large daily calendar that had orders, pickup times, and bake schedule written on it in wipe off pen. Pete had to admit, Sam was organized.

“Find everything you’re looking for, or would you like to search the upstairs too?”

Pete had felt the moment someone had entered the kitchen with her, but didn’t turn around until the woman spoke. When she turned to face the angry woman, Pete was surprised at the beauty standing there staring at her.

“Unless there’s a computer or other storage devices, I’m afraid I wouldn’t know how to get into it. I’m Pete Marshall, you must be Sam.” Pete didn’t reach her hand out to shake. She had been warned that she wouldn’t take it, and that Sam didn’t like to be touched.

“What are you looking for? And no, I don’t own a computer. I tend to fizz out things like televisions, computers and such. I once owned a stereo system that every time I touched it, the stupid thing would freak out.” Sam walked over to the calendar and made a notation Pete didn’t understand. “State your business and get out. You smell like alpha, and I don’t care for him at the moment.”

“I see, well, I’m not here for Bradley, but I do work for him. I’m the pack’s and Aaron’s security expert. That’s why I’m here. Tucker wanted me to install a security system for you, in both the shop and the apartment upstairs. You can call them if you need a reference.”

“No need for them. I trust you’re not lying.”

Pete started to relax. Maybe this wasn’t going to be as hard after all. But Sam’s next statement dashed that thought.

“Sorry you wasted your time, but no. Now, if you don’t mind, I have things to do.”

Sam walked into the walk-in freezer and pulled out the supplies she would need to bake. Ignoring her, she got out a box of eggs from the walk-in refrigerator and started breaking them in the large mixer. Pete didn’t mind. She was just as stubborn as the next person.

“I don’t offend easily, so I can wait you out.” With that said, Pete moved the desk chair over to the farthest wall and sat down. It was just after eight in the morning, she noted, and sat down to fill in the time with work or until Sam threw her out. She hoped it wouldn’t come to that, but who knew.

The bride and her mother showed up an hour later, thrilled beyond words with the cake. The delivery men who had come with them carefully loaded the cake and the top into their special truck and left. When Sam closed the back door after declining an invitation to the wedding yet again, she went back to work, still not speaking to her. Pete grinned, just knowing that she would win this battle of wills.

At two-thirty, Pete was getting mad; by four she was downright pissed. When Sam walked to the front of the shop to lock up at six, Pete was ready to concede defeat. Not once in ten hours did Sam even look in her direction. Pete had even tried talking to her. When that didn’t work, she pulled out her cell and began making calls and checking emails. The day had not been a total loss. Pete had figured out the lack of computers and other electrical equipment. Even the cash register was an antique kind that required no power. Pete had noticed that when the other women had gone to lunch and Sam had watched the front while they’d been out.

Every time Sam got close, Pete noticed that she either lost the connection or her phone would glitch out altogether. When Sam returned to the kitchen to begin yet another round of baking, Pete tried again to speak to her.

“Sam, I know how the men are of Aaron’s Kiss, arrogant, overbearing and damned near stupid with their old fashioned ways. But I’ve also noticed that they are loyal, loving, and would die for any of us. Tucker seems like an okay guy, and I believe Aaron is right when he told him he had to bond with you by the end of the week. When you mate with him—” Pete stopped and backed up several paces when Sam stiffened and energy poured into the room. “Shit, you’re strong.”

“What did you say? Mate? As in sex? Are you saying that Aaron demanded that Tucker fuck me by the end of the week? Or what, he’ll do it himself? He’ll cut off Tucker’s dick? What? I’d really like to know, and don’t even try lying to me, because if I have to, I will get the answers myself. And believe me when I say, you will not like my way.”

Pete was pretty sure she wouldn’t either. “No, nothing like that. It’s just that you and he are mates. He’s…Tucker is your other half, the one that will complete you. And as for Aaron doing it himself, I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that. That’s just not right; he loves Sara and she, him.”

“Are you fucking kidding me? Aaron loves her, yet can demand…demand that Tucker and I have sex?” The room tightened again. Pete was getting nervous. “That’s just great. So, was there a particular way he wanted us to do it, do you know? Maybe he’d like to be there to make sure it’s done right.”

“That’s enough, Sam.” Tucker’s voice vibrated through the kitchen, strength and authority resounding from him. Pete had never been so happy to see someone in her entire life.

Pete moved toward the door, hoping no one would notice that she was making a hasty retreat. She needed to contact Aaron and tell him what she had done. She hadn’t meant what she said to Sam. She just wanted the other woman to be happy and know that she was going to be safe and loved from now on. She guessed she might have used a bit more tact, but she was bored and hadn’t spoken to anyone all day. No excuse, she knew.

Fuck the power that woman had. Pete was sure it wasn’t just magic either, but something more, something mental too.

~CHAPTER ELEVEN~

“You might as well leave with her. I’m not in the mood to be fucked tonight, but thanks anyway.” Tucker felt her hurt. And from her, he felt it as his own. He wanted to comfort her, take her into his arms and hold her, but he knew at this time she’d rip a strip of hide off him in a second. He smiled at that.

Instead, he moved up behind her, started to reach out and touch her, but she pushed away from the counter and went to the door. She locked it, and went to the stairs to her apartment. When she got to the top, he stood at the bottom of the stairs and looked up at her when she turned her back to him again and went inside. Once she was inside, he heard the door lock click shut. He was amazed at her control. He could tell that she wanted to slam it shut and hurl something at him. Wondering what she might to do him now, he turned off the kitchen light and slowly followed her up the stairs.

Tucker was standing in the doorway when she came into the bedroom. Completely ignoring him, she stepped into the bathroom and turned on the taps to the bathtub. Even with her back to the door, he saw her stiffen when he walked in. Filling it with her scent, honeysuckle and gardenias, she stripped down and sank into the deep hot water.

She didn’t move when he sat on the toilet next to the old fashioned, claw-footed tub. “My mother took the locks off of doors when I was a little girl. I’ll have to make sure I put stronger ones on here.”

“I can go through the doors and locks. You won’t be able to keep me out. I told you before that you have my blood and it calls to me.” Tucker wanted…no, he needed to touch her. “Sam, I’d like to talk with you about what Pete said to you. She shouldn’t have said anything. I’m not even sure how she found out, but I—”

“I don’t care. I’d really like it if you were to leave. I’ve had a very hard couple of days, and I have two wedding cakes to make tomorrow. People pretending to care about each other all over the place now days.”

He was getting frustrated with her, at himself as well. He didn’t know what to do with her. “Sam, please, you have to listen to me. There are things you need to be made aware of. Things that could save your life. I need you and you need me.”

He wasn’t going to leave her, not tonight. If she wouldn’t admit that she needed him, then he would show her how much he needed her. He moved closer to the tub and stopped. The pain started in his legs, and then moved up to his hips. It took him a few minutes of discomfort before he realized it was her.

“It will only get worse. In about fifteen minutes, your head will begin to pound and your heart rate will speed up. I will make it increasingly more painful until you leave. And every time you step into this shop, it will begin where it stopped when you left. I want you to leave, right now, Tucker. I don’t want to see you again.”

As soon as his nose started to bleed, he shimmered from the room. He knew that if he stayed, she would watch him bleed out until he was drained. He materialized in the lair that Aaron had lent him. He had to think and plan. Satisfied that he had things in order, he crawled into bed. When the sun came up the next morning, he had a plan in place. Heaven help the woman who had taken his heart.

~~~

“Miss Hunter, I’m Officer Justin List of the…local police department. I have a warning…warrant for your arrest. Would you come with me please?”

Sam had just walked out of the shop and was headed to her garage when the “Officer” List stepped up beside her. She reached into his mind and was blocked. She pushed harder, not caring if he felt it or not, and made the man stiffen with the slight pain. But she knew the source.

Justin had been warned that she was mentally strong, but that Sara would protect his mind from her. Justin was aware of her touch. As were, he would know the mental touches when someone touched his mind. But he had come into her domain and all bets were off.

“I see. Officer List, you are just a pawn in this little game, so I won’t hurt you, but ‘hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.’”

“Ma’am?”

She could almost feel sorry for him. Almost. “Never mind.” She followed him to his car and stood by the back door when he went to the front.

“Oh no, let’s do this up right, shall we? So, are we going to the mansion, pack house, or are you to take me to the station?”

“Hummm, we are…I guess to the mansion. Miss Sara said that you would hurt me if I let you know about the plan. I guess you’re not going to, huh?” The man actually looked relieved. She hated to burst his bubble, but she meant what she said about fury.

“No, I’m not in the habit of shooting the messenger.” No, she wanted to shoot the man or men who had sent him. “But as we’ve already established, you aren’t really a cop. What do you say we just lay it all out on the table? Who are you really?”

“I’m a werewolf that works for the Brotherhood as a cook. How did you know? I practiced everything they told me. I don’t think I missed anything.”

“You did well, but…you did mess up what you had for me, but that’s no biggie. What you didn’t do was check for a weapon.” She put the Glock to his temple and calmly explained what the revised plan was. “This is a loaded Glock forty, Mr. List, and there is one in the chamber, and hot. As in ready to kill if I pull the trigger. What you’re going to do is contact your alpha through your mind link and tell him that I have you hostage. I can understand you and will be able to hear you, so go ahead.”

He nodded and left his hands on the steering wheel. Smart guy her Mr. Justin. It really was a shame his boss wasn’t.

“Alpha? I…it’s Justin, my lord.”

“How’s it going, Justin? Have you picked up Miss Hunter yet?” Sam could hear the amusement in his voice. “And I hope that you were extremely careful.”

“I messed up once or twice, sir. And about that, she is…Well, sir, I have a gun pointed to my head, well, she has her gun pointed to my head, quite closely as a matter of fact, my lord.” Justin smiled at her in the rearview mirror. “She is listening to us, said she can understand. Sir, no one mentioned checking her for a gun, so I didn’t.” Justin swallowed loudly. “That would have been something to know, my lord.

Bradley didn’t answer right away. He was too busy cursing the young woman who had out foxed him again. She could understand that and through her link with Justin, she could hear every thought that ran through his head. Someone should teach the alpha about blocking, she thought.

“Miss Hunter, are you planning to hurt our young Justin?” He was snapping and, for now, she decided to ignore that.

“If you bothered to get to know me at all fuck face, you’d have your answer. What the fuck is this all about now? Don’t you have better things to do than harass me?”

“Yes, but I did this for a friend, for your master. Aaron wants to talk to you and since you won’t cooperate, he moved on to desperate measures. Had you have talked with him and Tucker, this could have all been avoided.”

Sam didn’t think now was a good time to piss her off more but then doubted he was any happier. “Ah, so the bloodsucker and his sidekick have decided, have they? Well, we’ll see about that. Justin is fine, but I think I will keep him for the day. If anyone furry or dead comes near me or my shop, Justin will cease to exist. Do I make myself perfectly clear?” She wouldn’t hurt him, but the alpha didn’t need to know that.

“Yes, but let me make something clear to you, Miss Hunter. If you harm one hair on his head, you will suffer like you never imagined.” His voice was sharp, even in her mind. “Do I make myself clear?”

“Bring it on, asshole; I have nothing to live for so if you think to threaten me, go for it. You will regret fucking with me.” She cut the connection between them as if she had slammed down a phone. She was sure that Bradley felt it as if she’d punched his ear drum.

~~~

Duncan answered the phone in the kitchen when it rang and then passed it to Sara. It took her a good ten minutes of just simply listening to Bradley rant and rave before she could speak and then it was only in half sentences.

“She fucking had a gun to his head. What kind of woman puts a gun to a man’s head and makes him call me?” He had asked this same question twice now. “Is she that stupid?”

“You did back her against a wall, Bradley? And as much as it pains me to agree with her, you brought this all on yourself. None of you—” He cut her off.

“You can’t possibly think that this is my fault! Damn it, Sara, I was doing what your mate told me to do.” She could almost see him pacing. “I sent a man to bring her in so that she would have to let us take care of her.”

“And what makes you think that you wouldn’t have done the same thing she’s doing right now? No, let me change that, you would have ripped the throat—” This time his growl cut her off. She was getting pissed herself now.

“I would have been calm about it! She said that if any of us—furry or dead—shows up, she’d kill Justin. I don’t like it when someone threatens one of—”

Sara had enough. “Now you listen here you overgrown pup. You are the one who sent Justin to get her. You’re the one who sent out three men to follow her. You’re the one who thought that he was so invincible that one little human couldn’t harm the great alpha. She has beaten you at every turn. And the more you push, the harder she pushes back. I told you this wouldn’t work. I told you to let her figure this out on her own, but no, not one of you listened to me. Now I’m going to have to go there and see if I can rescue poor Justin. If you so much as lift your leg to piss on a dead log on this property until you hear from me, I will neuter you.” The phone slammed so hard she cracked it.

Sara felt the tears threaten. Duncan simply nodded, opened the door under the telephone stand, and pulled out a brand new phone still in the box. She watched him replace the broken one and thought about what the men in her life had done.

She had told them this wouldn’t work, that playing this childish game on someone whose mind was as strong as Sam’s was going to backfire. And it had. Big time.

Sara was concerned, however, about Sam thinking she had nothing to live for. She had heard this twice now about Sam. Sara thought it might explain why she’d taken such chances with helping the children the other night, and with the story that Pete had gleaned from Betty yesterday. It seemed that Sam may be trying to get herself killed. Sara was sure there would be more to the story about the man in the bakery the first time she had met Sam. She intended to find out.

Sara was also concerned about Sam’s plans for Aaron and Tucker. She wasn’t worried about either being killed, Aaron was now an immortal thanks to her blood running through his veins, and Tucker was Sam’s mate. She wouldn’t be able to harm him either. But just in case, she put a little magic around both men just to be sure. She asked Duncan to pick the children up from pre-school and drove into town. First stop, the bakery.

“Hi, I’d like to speak to Sam, is she in the kitchen?” Sara didn’t wait for an answer; she just plowed right through to the back when she got to the bakery.

“Come on in, Mrs. MacManus, won’t you join us?” Sam and a large man were sitting at her big work table making flowers.

Well, she was making flowers, Sara realized, hundreds of them by the looks of it. Justin was squirting blobs onto the wax paper squares and then eating his mistakes. Neither seemed to be terribly concerned about the others jobs.

“You don’t look any worse for wear, Justin,” Sara said to the man.

Actually, she was relieved that he was all right. For as much as she told Bradley that Sam wouldn’t harm Justin, she had been a little worried.

“No, missus. Miss Sam and I have been getting acquainted, and she’s showed me how to bake up a mean apple pie.” Justin stood and stretched. “Miss Sam, would it be all right if I took a little stretch? The missus looks ready to explode to talk to you.”

And Sara was, too; she was a woman on a mission.

“Sure, Justin, thanks for your help. I don’t suppose you wouldn’t mind going down to the deli and picking up the lunch I ordered for us all? Tell Betty to give you some cash from the drawer. And take your time; Mrs. MacManus thinks she has a lot to explain to me.”

He left; the two women in the kitchen could hear him talking and flirting with Betty and Sally. When the little bell over the door chimed him leaving, Sam looked up from her flower and grinned. “You thought I’d kill him. That’s good. No point in making a threat if no one believes you’ll carry through with it. I’m kind of busy right now, Mrs. MacManus, so I’d appreciate it if you stated your business and got out of mine.”

There were hundreds of tiny little pink roses in front of Sam, all of them the same size and perfectly matched. They were lined up in perfect lines on a large display tray. Sara didn’t want to be impressed, but damn it, she was. Sara continued watching Sam, forgetting for a moment why she was here.

“Well?” The hostility was thick in Sam’s voice. “I’ve had about enough of you people, all of you coming in here anytime of the day or night and thinking that I am some sort of part of you. I’m not. I just want to be left alone. By all of you.”

“I’d like to call a truce between you and me. I have some things to say and I’d like to not fight with you until I’m finished. There are things you need to know, things that are very important to Tucker and his life.”

“Go ahead, but as you are aware, the stipulation to Justin staying alive was none of you to bother me today. I have four wedding cakes for this weekend and taking time out to kill him now is going to put a dent in my plans.” Sam didn’t even look up from the rose she was currently forming, but reached her left hand down to her side and unclipped her weapon from her belt. She laid it on the table next to her and picked up her tube of pink icing again.