Navarro's Promise (8 page)

“Oh, wait, you do know Cassie Sinclair, right?” she pointed out.

The false amusement in her voice would have fooled most humans, perhaps even a Breed whose senses truly were recessed.

His weren’t recessed though, despite what he’d led her to believe.

“I know Cassie,” he answered ruefully, though he didn’t grin, he couldn’t smile back. It would take far more inner strength than he possessed at the moment to find something to even fake a smile for.

The pain and fear were too much. He wanted nothing more than to pull her to him, to hold her, to remind her that he would give his last breath before he would allow her to be harmed, just as he had promised.

Reaching out, almost without thought, Navarro let his fingertips stroke down her arm with a gentleness he hadn’t thought himself capable of.

Her head jerked back from her study of the top of the SUV, widening as she stared back at him.

“I promised to keep you safe.” He couldn’t pull her into his arms, but he could tell her again and hope that it would help.

“I remember.” She nodded slowly.

“I keep my promises.”

She licked her lips with a hint of nervousness.

“I know.” He could see her breasts rising and falling faster, her gaze darkening with an awareness he hadn’t expected.

Then, something dimmed the fear and pain, even the pain that radiated from her very bruised ribs. An emotion he didn’t want to scent, one he didn’t want to sense swirling around him as it reached out to him, as though begging to be allowed in.

It wasn’t love, not yet. It was that tender, exploratory emotion that leads to it, that reaches out so very tentatively to a man from a woman, stroking against the wall that blocked his own emotions.

Psychic tendrils. He could sense them just as any animal could. He could identify it and make the choice to accept or to reject it.

Only humans were unaware of their own extrasensory gifts. They closed their eyes to them once they learned that their adult counterparts refused to accept the gifts.

Animals didn’t block them, they didn’t deny them. In many ways they communicated with them, letting their senses do for them what man allowed his lips to do. To speak of emotion.

“Don’t, Amaya,” he whispered, blocking the fragile threads of emotion determined to reach inside him.

“Don’t what?” The whisper of emotion paused, as though even subconsciously she knew exactly what he was warning her against.

“I didn’t promise I wouldn’t break your tender heart, Mica. Protect it from me. Don’t let me touch that part of you. Don’t let me destroy both of us that way.”

It was a warning, and the only one he would give her.

Her lips trembled, and though he expected her to pull back emotionally, expected the heated warmth of that emotion to recede, still it lingered.

“What do I do, Navarro, if it’s already too late for the warning?”

Sanctuary was one of the most beautiful prisons in the world, Mica thought the next morning as she stood at the window of her bedroom and stared out into the pristine landscape that surrounded the main house of the Feline pride leader and his prima.

Callan and Merinus Lyons were the reason the world knew about the Breeds. The reason they had been rescued, the reason they were now fighting to hide mating heat and a variety of other secrets that the world would never understand.

Secrets that even Mica didn’t know. Genetic experimentation and breakthroughs in such incredible gifts, given to the creatures that weren’t wholly human or wholly animal, but were that mysterious in-between that was nothing short of terrifying, fascinating and completely supernatural.

She remembered she’d felt that fascination the moment she’d watched her first television documentary on the rescues. In school, they were taught that the Breeds were humans too, that they were no different than another race or another nationality. But Mica had known otherwise, long before she’d heard the first teacher give the first lecture.

“Mica.” A soft knock at the door had her turning from the window to rub at the chill in her arms as the door cracked open.

“I’m awake,” Mica called out as Merinus paused outside the door.

“Excellent.” Filled with gentleness and an innate compassion that could calm even the most fierce of the Breed personalities, Merinus stepped into the bedroom, stood aside and with a smile allowed a young Breed female to step in with a small serving cart loaded with coffee, two cups and Mica’s favorite breakfast.

Her brows lifted. “This is a nice surprise.” She smiled back at Merinus gratefully. “Breakfast almost in bed. I’ve been up for a while.”

“That will be all, Janey.” Merinus smiled back at the quiet, somber girl.

She wasn’t a Lion Breed, nor was she a Wolf; Mica could normally identify them.

Janey gave a barely imperceptible nod before turning and leaving the room.

“I’ve had to find a way to drag her out of the hole she created for herself in the communal housing,” Merinus said softly as Janey left the room. “She loves cooking though, so I’ve managed to drag her up here and convince her to cook for us.”

Merinus was good at that, convincing those around her to do what she wanted them to do. It helped that she always had their best interests at heart.

“She’s very shy,” Mica agreed.

Merinus glanced back at the door almost thoughtfully. “Yes,” she finally said softly. “Janey is very shy.”

“She’s not a Lion Breed, is she?” Mica asked Merinus as the other woman pushed the cart the short distance to the small table and two chairs that sat next to the window Mica had been standing in front of.

“No, she isn’t,” Merinus agreed, but then busied herself setting the coffee and breakfast on the table.

“She’s not a Wolf or Coyote Breed either,” Mica said, probing more deeply as she waited until Merinus finished.

“No, she isn’t.” Merinus stepped back before taking the seat closest to her and motioning to the other. “Have a seat, Mica.”

Mica wanted to roll her eyes, but her respect for Merinus simply wouldn’t allow it.

“Is it a secret?” Mica sat down gingerly as Merinus poured their coffee. “A Breed species no one is aware of yet?”

Merinus gave a brief shake of her head. “No, she’s no secret, simply rare. Janey’s a Bengal, and still very damaged. The Breed location group found her about three years ago in a lab they would have never found if it hadn’t been for a tribal hunter in the area that heard the screams one night. He contacted one of the hunters who had been through before and led the group to the area.”

“There are still more out there, aren’t there?” Mica asked as she sugared and creamed her coffee.

“Unfortunately,” Merinus agreed. “Now, let’s talk about something else as you eat breakfast. I refuse to allow anyone in the house to discuss anything depressing before I’ve eaten.”

Mica almost grinned. “How are the children doing then?” she asked.

“David’s growing up too fast and Erin has her father and every Breed on the place wrapped around her finger,” Merinus laughed. “Including her big brother who’s convinced she’s going to get into trouble the moment she begins walking.”

“Knowing her parents, there’s no doubt,” Mica agreed. “David should have a few years before he really has to worry though.”

“Let’s hope so.” The prima sighed. “Otherwise, Callan may start actually growing gray hair.”

They should both have at least a few gray hairs by now, Mica thought, still astounded by the fact that with their mating, their natural aging was far different than that of humans.

Merinus was nearing forty years old, and she barely looked the twenty-five she had been when she first met Callan.

And Callan, who had already celebrated his fortieth birthday years before, still looked as fit, muscular and in his prime as he had when he first stood in front of a television camera and made his incredible claim of being a Breed.

It was no different than Cassie Sinclair’s parents, Dash and Elizabeth, or the other mated couples who were often at Sanctuary and at Haven for long periods of time, if they didn’t make their homes there.

Most mates moved immediately to one or the other Breed communities for safety. The world still wasn’t a safe place for them, not entirely, especially for mates. There were Council scientists who were well aware of mating heat, as well as the unscrupulous members of the pure blood societies who were becoming desperate to prove to the world that the Breeds were a danger to them.

“Surely there’s something we can talk about that isn’t completely depressing.” Merinus laughed after sipping her coffee. “Callan said Navarro Blaine brought you in last night with Cougar. What do you think of Cougar?” Merinus leaned close, her gaze both curious and amused.

It was that curiosity that had Mica stifling a light laugh. “Matching doesn’t work with Breeds,” she reminded her. “It’s all hormonal, remember?”

Merinus sat back, a look of patently false innocence on her face.

“Mica, I would never attempt to matchmake,” she said, lying outrageously.

“I might not be able to smell a lie like your mate can, but I know you,” Mica laughed back at her. “And I know good and damned well you’re more than capable of attempting it, and failing quite often.”

Merinus hadn’t yet seemed to have a success when she attempted to pair either Breeds with each other or human and Breed pairings. It still never worked out, because it wasn’t the emotions that mattered.

“Eat your breakfast,” Merinus said, chiding her, barely able to hold back her own laughter.

Mica followed her advice as Merinus began to catch her up on everything that had occurred since Mica’s last visit to the Feline Breed stronghold the year before. Especially where Jonas, his daughter, mate and sister-in-law were concerned.

“Diane is making his life hell, you can tell it,” Merinus related with a very satisfied grin. It was no secret that Jonas often had Merinus threatening to murder him.

She’d dared him to enter into her house on more than one occasion and, whenever possible, had ensured she didn’t have to be in his presence for long.

“Why would she want to do that?” Mica was listening in rapt attention. There was simply no soap opera quite so good as Breed gossip.

“Between you and me, I think she does it simply because she’s a bit jealous. She had Rachel and Amber to herself whenever she was home. Their entire attention was on her whenever Rachel wasn’t working. When she was, Diane had Amber all to herself when she visited. And let me tell you, that is a woman who adores her niece.”

“Sounds definitely like jealousy to me,” Mica agreed.

Merinus leaned forward confidentially.

“Add that to the fact that Harmony is here as well, with her husband, Lance, and we both know how well she enjoys poking at Jonas. I’m telling you, Mica, we’re going to be attempting to push back the war of the Breeds any day now. Harmony and Diane would decimate Jonas.”

Mica shook her head. “Rachel won’t allow it.” Then she thought about it and grinned; it was a fight she would love to see.

Merinus grimaced with good-natured regret. “And isn’t that such a shame? I personally think she should simply stand back and allow those two to count coup and let it be done.”

Mica shook her head. “Come on, Merinus, Jonas isn’t that bad. He’s arrogant I’ll agree, but he adores all of us.”

The glint in Merinus’s eye assured Mica that the other woman might consider questioning her sanity.

“You and Cassie always take up for him.” Merinus waved her hand dismissively after a moment. “Cassie’s influence on you isn’t always a good thing, Mica.” Merinus shook her finger at her then.

Mica couldn’t help but laugh at the admonishment.

“Nothing matters more to him than protecting us,” Mica reminded her. “Besides, the pressure he’s under right now has to be incredible.”

They both sobered then. Merinus looked down, her expression suddenly incredible saddened. “We try to find ways to take his mind off it, I believe,” she finally said softly as her gaze lifted. “And it’s easy to fall back on past habits to do so. But trust me, Mica, we all know Jonas well. As soon as he’s learned what that bastard did to Amber, then he’ll be up to his old tricks again.”

Mica could only shake her head. “I believe mating and fatherhood will make enough changes to surprise you. Besides, Jonas isn’t attempting to hurt anyone. He simply wants to protect everyone.”

“In the worst possible ways,” Merinus complained. “He’d lock every mate and child in an impenetrable area if possible and close us completely off from the world. We’re closed off enough as it is.”

And that was more than the truth. For all its beauty, its pristine neatness and sense of activity, as Mica had thought earlier, Sanctuary was little more than a prison. It didn’t just keep those who would harm the Breeds and their mates and children out, but it kept the rest of the world out as well. The experiences and socialization that were so important were denied the community in exchange for safety.

“At least the children can go to public school now,” Mica pointed out. “That has to be an improvement.”

“We have three new teachers.” Merinus folded her arms on the table and stared back at Mica somberly. “But I’m beginning to wonder if we simply created more problems in forcing this issue. As far as Callan and Jonas are concerned, protection is barely adequate, though the school board often calls it outrageous, and any Breed, Breed spouse or relative of a Breed spouse is barred from running for the school board for another five years, to ensure changes that aren’t beneficial to all the children can’t be blocked.”