3. Madelyne
I was screwing up. I knew it. I had started flirting and making eyes at Nate, who was trying to focus on protecting us. And I didn’t have any excuse, because I damn well knew that he had a thing for me. He always had. In fact, when he left the year before Ben’s death, I had been almost certain that it was because of me. We would never betray Ben, either of us, so he could never have me. But now…
Ben was gone. I was alone, and Nate was there, in my home, protecting me, living close. After the damage Matthias had done to my trust and self-respect, I never expected to get hot for a man again.
But there I was, pussy aching like I was going to explode just from Nate’s hand on my shoulder, craving so much more but knowing I shouldn’t invite it. It was like my body had forgotten about Matthias and my time with him the very moment Nate walked in my door.
I took my jeans off and lay down on my bed in my t-shirt and panties, aching with exhaustion. I believed Nathan when he said that he and his guys were stronger than Matthias and were going to make this right. But holy crap, all this sexual tension was going to make things a lot more complicated. The last thing I wanted to do was mess with Nate’s head while he was trying to help, especially not in front of his Pack.
I just hoped they liked me. They were a huge part of his life, and I would be relying on them to help protect me and my son. We would have to get along for at least a few weeks. And meanwhile, I would be fighting the urge to start a torrid affair with their Alpha before it was even safe to do so.
I turned the fan on, not bothering to get under the covers. Even with heavily insulated walls, windows, and the air conditioner blasting, I was overheated. The air clung to me like a damp blanket, smothering me and making me restless despite my exhaustion. Cooled, dry desert air suddenly felt like New Orleans in high summer.
Was I feverish? Was this just sleep deprivation and too much adrenaline? Or was this all Nathan’s doing?
I want him so badly it’s killing me thinking about it. But now is just not the time.
My thoughts flung back to a decade ago, back when Ben was alive and neither one of us would have dreamed of betraying him. The two of us had sat far apart, with Ben in between us if possible, and tried to ignore the energy that had crackled between us every time our eyes met. Pure, stupid, primal desire that didn’t care who was married to who or what was forbidden. It had been an agony then, but we found the strength to fight it off for Ben’s sake.
But now Ben was gone. Matthias had gone from my lover to the threat du jour. I was both single and in Nate’s company for the first time ever. And unless Matthias really screwed up or we really got lucky, Nate would be around for weeks–months, maybe.
And me with no handy excuse for not falling into his arms, except the vague worry that I might distract him from his work. And that wasn’t enough to cool me off. Not one bit.
I drifted off wet and aching, craving his hands on me, and dropped into muddled, exhausted dreams until a knock at the door woke me.
I blinked my eyes open and sat up, confused and still tired, but already feeling better. I could tell from the light and the way the air conditioners were blasting that it was late afternoon. They had let me sleep for a good while–Aidan too, I hoped.
“Yeah?” I called out.
“It’s Nate. The others just arrived. Think you can be down in a few minutes?”
“Just let me shower off and change and I’ll be right down. How’s Aidan?”
“Excited about the company, apparently. He’s already up and plowed his way through a sandwich. Hope you don’t mind that I fed him.” He opened the door a foot, saw I was in my panties, and glanced away politely. But there was a gleam in his eye.
I fought a smile at the sight of it. “No, thanks for doing that. Just give me a bit and I’ll be down.”
He closed the door again, and I headed for my ensuite to rinse the sweat off and change into fresh underwear. The spray water stung my nipples, which seemed permanently stiff despite the heat in my body. The cotton of my bra slid against them almost painfully when I dressed. I was so damn horny that I wished I could take care of it myself before walking down to see Nate again.
Sadly, that wasn’t an option. There was no time and going solo like that didn’t always work out for me. I liked being held too much, getting half-crushed against or under the body of a man I had a real connection with. It was almost like I couldn’t really let go until a lover was restraining me.
I switched to a loose, knee-length skirt in lavender cotton to go with my tank top. I couldn’t stand having my arms covered in this weather, nor did I feel comfortable having them restrained when there was a lurking threat. It was the heavy fighter in me–and the mom.
When I came down the stairs, I heard several deep voices talking, interspersed with Aidan’s curious chirp. It was both comforting and distracting. Four big, strong Wolves in my home, and I knew only one of them.
I can handle this. I squared my shoulders and went down the rest of the way to face my guests and saw a giant talking to my son.
I was mostly Swedish, which made me taller than most women and blonder as well. This guy looked like he’d just stepped off a Viking longboat and into a pair of cowboy boots and jeans. I had no doubt he could have handled a full-sized claymore without any trouble. He even had a serious beard and long, wavy white-blond hair. His eyes were as pale as tinfoil, but a bit soft as he crouched and smiled at Aidan.
The look on his face put me a little more at ease with his being close to my boy. He looked like he was made for mayhem. The fact that he was hot barely softened that. He looked up at once as I came down the stairs, and a faint gleam came to his eyes as he assessed me. He gave a nod before we broke eye contact, and I looked around at the others.
The second stranger had a lot less mass but made up for it in energy. He leaned against the front door, tattooed arms folded, stripped down to his BDUs and tank top, just like the giant. He was tall and spare, with a runner’s build, a soldier’s haircut that was barely black fuzz on his tanned skull, and a face that looked too young for his hooded blue eyes. He seemed in better humor than everyone else, except my son, of course, but there was a strange edge to him. He looked like a Russian mobster gone heroic. He gave me an actual smile, a flash of sharp teeth that was sly and friendly but told me that, like the giant, he wasn’t altogether tame.
The third stranger had a build that was somewhere in between those of his packmates. He was a bit over six feet and looked like the kind of bodybuilder who didn’t just do it for looks. Short brown hair, brown eyes, bronzed skin, handsome in a wholesome, farm-boy kind of way but with that little predator gleam to his eyes that I’d come to expect from Wolves.
Nathan walked up smiling and said, “Hey, so, this is my team. Ulf’s my beta, he handles all the elements of external security and tracking that don’t involve technology. He’s also team tank.” The giant listening to my son talk about his latest Lego build looked up, grunted his hello, and nodded before going back to Legos. It was weirdly adorable, though it barely softened the hulking man’s impression.
“That’s Bela, former Russian special forces. He’s our entry man and other team tank. He and Jamie over there will be taking point on tracking down Matthias and his family. Bela does the social engineering, and Jamie handles the tech and the Internet. They’re also the guys who do most of the work designing our security and surveillance setups.”
Bela lifted his head a bit in greeting, eyes hooding like a friendly cat’s. Jamie meanwhile flashed a grin and came over to offer his hand. “Hey. So, you make swords, right?”
I blinked at him briefly, then smiled tentatively and shook it. “Uh, yeah. Are you interested in blacksmithing?”
“Oh, nah, never picked up a hammer. Picked up plenty of swords, though. I train with them. Maybe you could show me some of what you’ve made later?” He chattered on like we were in a crowd at a tourney instead of in the middle of a team briefing. I liked him immediately and wanted to roll my eyes at the same time.
“Sure, later,” I said with a tight little smile. Bela snorted. Jamie beamed.
Nathan said, “Jamie,” his smile now a lot fainter.
“Oh, right, sorry.” Jamie let go of my hand and went back to his seat near the door.
“Anyway. Here’s our plan of action. We’ll put together everything we can dig up about this stalker of yours and his accomplices. That means we’ll need to talk to people involved, as well as getting everything you know.” He met my gaze firmly, and I tried to ignore my toes curling in my sandals.
“I understand,” I murmured, trying to ignore my body’s restlessness. Damn it, now I’m going to be dealing full-time with three other hot guys on top of Nathan. I love the distraction from all this… horror, but I really should be trying to focus.
It was going to be tough, though. I could already tell. But I couldn’t let myself be an idiot and distract Nathan and his men with flirtation while they were focusing on keeping me and my son alive.
“I’ll get us some fresh drinks.” Of course, the men wanted longnecks, just like Ben used to. I made some lemonade for myself and Aidan as I tried to piece together what to say about Matthias.
Once we were settled, with Aidan puttering with his Legos at my feet, I sat in my favorite chair and faced my guests.
“I first met Matthias eight months ago.” The words stuck in my throat, and I paused to take a sip of lemonade and a deep breath. “I hadn’t dated since Ben died. No real interest in it.” I couldn’t meet Nathan’s eyes suddenly. It felt like my involvement with Matthias was something to be ashamed of.
“He had been hovering around the artist’s colony in town for about a month. All I knew about him was that he was rich, he’d just bought a mansion outside LA, and he was looking for art to fill the place up. He bought some of my metal sculptures and one of my swords. We talked. He was charming. He asked me out. I hesitated at first because I don’t trust rich guys too much, especially ones who come from a civilian background.”
“They’re soft,” Bela sniffed before taking a swallow of his beer. “And they have no honor. They think they’re better than everyone else without actually earning it.”
Ulf grunted in agreement. I wondered if the big guy ever talked at length. I could see a lot of shrewd intelligence in his fierce eyes.
”He was very charming at first. He very convincingly pretended to be interested in me, my kid, and my work. We started dating, and it was glamorous and fun but lacked any real depth. Still, he always seemed to know how to keep me interested and attracted. I didn”t realize that was because he was setting me and the others up, because I”ve never dealt with anyone like him before.”
This time, Ulf spoke up. ”Sounds like he was telling you what he thought you wanted to hear. And was good at it.”
”Yeah. I can”t say he”s not observant or that he”s not smart. I wish I could.” I smiled apologetically. ”If he had been an idiot, we would have caught onto him a whole lot faster.”
”He pulled out all the stops once he decided he was serious about me. I hadn”t been courted in a long time. It was nice, at first. Now, though, I realize he was just softening me up for his long-term plans.”
”Which were?” Nathan looked at me somberly. I wondered if he was jealous that Matthias had gotten to me first when he and I had been carrying a torch for each other for years.
No, that”s ridiculous. Nathan is a grown-up.
”He planned to rob me blind. Me, the artist”s colony, and as many locals as he could.” It came out in a flat tone, but my stomach was jumping around again.