Passions Recalled: Forbidden Passions, Book 2 (8 page)

Jason didn’t answer right away. With one hand on his hip, he bent his head forward and massaged the back of his neck with the other hand. He retrieved the phone and put it in the hall closet. When he returned his gaze to her, there was a feral gleam in his eyes.

“You
were
involved with Derek?”

She almost smiled at his emphasis on the past tense and nodded. His expression hardened, and he approached her slowly with the stealth of a big cat. A predatory, pissed-off cat. Her heart skipped a beat. She glanced down the hall behind her and considered making a run for the bedroom.

“I wouldn’t if I were you.”

“Wouldn’t what?” she whispered.

“Run.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

Like hell she wouldn’t. He was within arm’s reach when she took a nervous step back. It was reflex more than desire to get away, but if he realized that he didn’t care.

Jason pounced before she could retreat any farther, taking them both to the floor with a thud. His hand swept under her head, protecting her from the fall as well as pinning her under him. He ground his hips against her belly, and she opened her legs to accommodate him, groaning when he readjusted himself and his erection pressed against her pussy.

He shoved her shirt up above her breasts and took one nipple into his mouth while his hand fisted in her hair and tugged so she arched her back, pushing her chest up to him. Both stung a little more than was good, coming down more on the pain side of her pain/pleasure comfort zone than pleasure. She yelped a protest, Jason released the pressure on her hair, his teeth abandoned her breast to be replaced by soft kisses, gentle licks. When he lifted his head and met her gaze, she trailed her fingers down the side of his face.

“It was always you. Only you.”

“Damn right,” he growled. “And it’ll always be me.”

The door banged open, and Celeste’s alarm spiked. She craned her head, trying to see around Jason’s body, to see what was coming. Storm or monster?

Derek strolled in, a rifle propped on his shoulder and an insane look in his eye that made her shudder in terror.

“Well, isn’t this sweet. Lovers reunited. Too bad for you, it’ll be so short lived.”

Jason jerked the shirt down over her chest and leapt to his feet, dragging her with him and shoving her behind him.

“Derek,” he greeted him coldly. “What brings you to the neighborhood?”

“Just a quick visit.” Derek looked at her and sneered. “I’m so disappointed in your lack of fidelity, sweetheart.” He returned his gaze to Jason. “My girl here is a liability. I was delayed in coming after her. Small matter of disposing of another body, you understand. Come to think of it, you’re a liability too.”

Jason growled low in his throat, and she clutched his wrist, afraid he’d attack and get himself shot.

“She’s not yours. Never was and never will be.”

Derek chuckled. “No, I’ll give you that—she really wasn’t. But she made good bait, didn’t she?”

She tried to peer around Jason, to see Derek, this man she’d thought she knew and was obviously clueless about, but Jason held her immobile behind him, his strength easily overpowering hers.

“Let’s see her, Jason. I want to watch her face when I kill you. Then she and I have some unfinished business to tend to.”

She gritted her teeth against the scream welling inside her, the anger building in her. He was crazy. Insane. Certifiable. She wasn’t ready to die, yet, especially now that she’d found Jason again.

“She’s just fine where she is,” Jason answered.

“No, I don’t think so. Come out, come out, Celeste. Or I’ll just shoot your mate while he tries to guard you. Fair trade don’t you think?”

His voice had a singsong, loony quality to it and, knowing he meant what he said, she wrenched free from Jason’s grip and stepped into the living room where she could at least see what was going on.

“Ah, there you are, love.”

She sensed more than saw Jason bristle at the endearment. Arching an eyebrow she addressed Derek, hanging on to her cool by a thread.

“I never was your love though, was I?”

His laugh was more a cackle, and it grated on her nerves, making them raw and alert. How could they get out of here alive? She was determined to live. Watching Jason in her peripheral vision, she was certain he felt the same way.

An eerie quiet descended outside. She was so used to wind screaming and rain pelting that it threw her for a loop.
What the hell?
The sudden calm was unnerving. She looked at Jason, and he was looking up.

“We’re in the eye,” he said.

In the eye of the storm? That couldn’t be good, even if it was a
small
hurricane. The highest winds were on the back side of a hurricane. If it passed directly over them, they’d get the worst of it, regardless of the psychopath in the living room with a gun. And here she’d thought her luck might be changing. Not.

Jason met her gaze, then reached out and took her hand, squeezing it gently. There was a hard look on his face when he turned back to Derek, and she hoped it meant he had a plan to get them out of this in one piece. Releasing her hand, he shrugged, somehow combining it with a smooth step closer to Derek that the other man didn’t seem to notice.

“If you’re going to kill us, we might as well know why.”

“Why not? Celeste may not even know the story. Michael’s always spent too much energy protecting his human daughter.” Derek’s grin was pure malice and the way he sneered
human
made her skin crawl.

“Once upon a time, there was an Alpha who was challenged by his Beta, and the Beta killed him.” He frowned theatrically. “Sound familiar yet, Celeste?”

“My father. Your father.” She shrugged and tried to look nonchalant. She hadn’t had a clue he held a grudge about that. No one had. “That was what? Fifteen years ago? Isn’t that old news?”

“Old news.” He sneered. “For y’all maybe. Michael killed my father and stole my clan. I’ve watched and worked and waited for years to get it back. Destroying his family in the process is just an added bonus.”

“Well, I don’t have a problem with that on general principal you understand,” Jason drawled, and she glared at him. This was helping? “But Celeste is my family, not Michael’s, so she’s hardly a target for your revenge.”

Derek shook his head in mock sorrow. “I might have let her go, but she saw something she shouldn’t have. It’s better if she dies here really. It’ll be quick, Jason. And it’ll destroy Michael. One more woman he’s responsible for that he couldn’t protect.”

“About the women.” Jason stood calmly with his arms crossed over his chest as if it was perfectly normal to stand in his living room in the middle of a hurricane and hold a conversation with a madman, as if it was simply curiosity that made him inquire. “I get going after his business. I was ready to take the land. But how do the women fit into the plan?”

“Ah, you spoke to Michael. He told you about the women.” Derek’s eyes were wild and he gave her a smile she could only describe as creepy. She wished Jason would hurry the hell up and get them out of this. She tried not to watch as he took another step toward Derek, tried not to give the movement away. Derek waved a dismissive hand in the air. “They were only human. Well, except the first one.”

She sucked in a deep breath as realization hit her. She remembered the whispered conversations.

“Michael challenged your father because he thought Darren killed his youngest sister. But it was you, wasn’t it?”

Derek grinned at her. It made her skin crawl, and she tried to edge closer to Jason, but he’d managed to put too much distance between them.

“So you do remember. Irresponsible of me to kill one of our kind though. I didn’t make that mistake again.”

“So you target human women,” Jason said, admiration in his voice, part of sidle-up-to-the-crazed-killer-to-take-him-out act. She hoped like hell he knew what he was doing.

“I knew you would understand, Jason.”

“Oh, I get it all right.”

The wind and rain picked up again outside, and Jason lunged at Derek. Before he could take aim, the rifle flew from Derek’s hands and skittered across the floor. She grabbed it as they fell in a tangle. Both men lurched apart and shifted as the eye passed over the house and the wind built to a roar. It was as loud as the tornado that ripped through her neighborhood a few months ago, and she tried to get a look out the window. She couldn’t see anything but knew tornado or not that much wind was very dangerous. They needed to find shelter
fast.

A growl made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end, and she spun her attention back to Jason and Derek, both now in their animal forms. They circled each other, the gray wolf huge and growling, the black leopard quiet and stealthy. His complete focus on Derek was chilling. She got the impression the wolf was trying to induce fear and found it laughable—he wasn’t nearly as scary as Jason.

She lifted the rifle to her shoulder and found Derek in the sights, but jerked her finger away from the trigger when he leapt at Jason. Jason twisted out of the way with feline grace, a smooth efficient movement. But he wasn’t quick enough, and she held her breath when she saw blood dripping down his side as they separated.

The blood agitated the wolf. He snarled, the sides of his lips peeling back to reveal rows of sharp teeth. Jason stayed between them, and she was afraid to take a shot, afraid with the way her hands were shaking she’d miss her target. Before she could steady herself again a burst of wind hit the roof, pulling back one corner that flew away into the storm. She eyed what was left warily. It didn’t look like it would take much to bring the rest down on top of them.

“Hurry, Jason,” she muttered, knowing she shouldn’t distract him but afraid they were out of time.

The wolf and leopard circled each other again, each taking swipes at the other and missing. She got the impression they were testing each other, their respective reach, speed and strength, and she grew more frustrated. Neither ever stopped moving, and her hands didn’t stop shaking. Another huge gust of wind swept through and, amid the constant roar of the rain, there was a loud boom somewhere outside. Everyone’s reaction to the sound was different. She jumped. Derek froze. And Jason attacked.

He leapt across the space between them and clamped down on the wolf’s neck, hitting his jugular. Flesh tore, blood spurted and the leopard straightened, giving Derek a vicious shake before dropping him. Jason didn’t waste any time over the body but returned to Celeste’s side. She dropped the rifle, and he lifted his muzzle, gripping her wrist and dragging her down the hall to the bathroom where he pushed her into the tub. He shifted and climbed in with her, wrapping his arms around her and protecting her with his body.

She didn’t have a chance to wonder what had happened to Derek. The wind hit the roof, peeling the rest of it and the hall wall off. She watched from under Jason’s shoulder as the side of the house where Derek’s body lay was blown away, Derek along with it. Even if by some miracle he’d survived the damage to his neck, not even a werewolf could survive getting swept away in hurricane force winds. That part of the nightmare was over at least.

The storm raged for several more hours. After the worst passed, Jason had gone out to his truck and found a blue tarp for them to huddle under. They moved into the bedroom. The ceiling was gone but at least they weren’t cramped in a tub. The tarp helped keep most of the wind and rain off, but they were still soaked through by the time morning dawned. The sun came out by late morning, and they left the ruin of the house to stand in the ruin of the yard.

She was amazed to see the truck still in place and all in one piece. Even more shocking was the calm, pretty day in the midst of so much destruction. She stood in her bare feet on what was left of the front porch and tried to take it in. It was overwhelming. How could he live in such a place? How would she? Assuming of course, he was serious about them being together. She didn’t have the guts to bring that up yet.

“I thought category ones weren’t that bad,” she said instead, sticking to a safe topic.

“They aren’t,” he answered. “When it changed course yesterday it stayed on open water longer, warmer water. It made it a stronger storm. It hit land as a cat three.”

She arched an eyebrow. How did he know that?

“I got the radio to work for a few minutes this morning while you were asleep.”

“I see. Now what?” she asked.

Standing next to her, he took her hand and lifted it to his lips, pressing a soft kiss against her palm. “Now you go home while I clean up the mess.”

She jerked free. So much for working things out.

“Tomas is on his way now. I spoke to him this morning. He was already on his way down.”

He’d been on the phone for hours before the sun came up, when the storm had begun to abate. She hadn’t had any idea he was making arrangements to send her away, though, and tried to hide how deeply it cut. It had been a nice fantasy, but it was over now, and she wasn’t going to make it worse by crying or screaming or begging. She bit her lip against the urge to do just that and turned her back on him.

“Hey.” His footfalls were heavy as he followed her, and she tensed when his hands landed on her shoulders, pulling her back against him. “It’s just for a couple of weeks, sweetheart.”

“Right,” she whispered, fighting the moisture gathering in her eyes. Her fingers twisted together, and she looked down as a tear escaped and landed on the ruby glittering on her hand. Her voice broke. “Just a couple of weeks.”

“Celeste.” He growled and spun her around. “You can’t stay here right now. There’s no power or water or, hell, even a house.”

“Of course.”

No there were none of those things. But there was Jason, and she’d been under the foolish assumption he wasn’t letting her go again. She clenched her jaw and ignored the ache in her chest. She’d survive—she always had. Inside the satellite phone rang, and he left her to answer it. She heard him return, but didn’t turn to face him.

“Tomas is here. He’s waiting for us at the gate.”

“Fine,” she said, moving toward the truck, but before she reached the door an eagle flew into the clearing, huge and majestic. It shifted into a tall, gorgeous woman with short, spiky white hair. She inclined her head slightly at Celeste and Jason stepped in front of her, blocking her view of the woman.