Ever Tempted (7 page)

I slammed my hand against the stone wall, then paced the floor.

“We don’t have time to waste on one of your rabid animal temper tantrums. Just go tell her. I don’t know any other way to keep Allie’s trust. At least if you’re truthful with her, she can’t hold that against you.”
Shelby took my arm and shoved me in the direction the two women had gone.

At the library doors, I stood just outside.

“…and if you can start right away, that would be wonderful.” Allie’s voice was happy. It wouldn’t remain that way for long.

I stepped into the library.

Seemingly past our overprotective outburst from earlier, she slipped her arm around my waist.

I stiffened.

She noticed that time.

I couldn’t tell her it was because she just hired a stalker. At least not yet. I needed time to plan what to say to her about the motel room incident, because no doubt, Sage would fill her in as soon as she had time to plan the best way to do it. If she hadn’t already.

“We’re glad to have you. Just make yourself at home. The staff living quarters are on the third floor. You have my cell number. If you need anything, let me know.” Allie gave her a warm smile and ignored me completely. Yes. More like Annabeth every day.

My heart slammed all over my chest like a rabid squirrel, but Sage’s next statement crushed the squirrel into my rib cage.

“Personal assistant is even better than what I’d hoped for. Thank you.” Sage flicked a quick, mischievous sneer in my direction.

My tongue was set in cement.

“I haven’t been in town very long, and it’ll be great to have someone with the inside scoop on all the socialites.” Allie retracted her arm. “I have friends here, but a fresh take on the town is just what I need if I’m going to move forward with my plans.”

Plans? What plans?

“I guess I’m in need of a new wardrobe. I’d planned on a house staff position, but if I’m going to be a good assistant, I need to look the part. If you two will excuse me, I have some shopping to do with my sign-on bonus.” Sage took Allie’s hand this time, looking and sounding almost human. “I’ll see you in the morning, bright and early.”

God, she was good.

As Sage exited the library, Allie turned to me. “Don’t even start. I need some friends outside of this house. I know I have you and the twins, but I need a good outside eye’s view of things.”

I shook my head and took Allie’s hand. As stubborn as ever, she was. And just as blindly trusting too.

“You and I need to catch up on some much needed us time.” I grazed her fingers with my thumb.

Her hard gaze softened. “Why do I think you’re up to something?”

“Because you know me.” I pulled her hand.

She held firm and stood in the same spot. “As long as when we’re alone, and you don’t drone on and on about how dangerous everything around me is, we’ll be fine. I’m tired of the obsessing. I need some normal days. I’ve had enough of the freakiness.”

“No obsessing. Gotcha.” I would have to tread lightly, but I couldn’t back out. I’d learned from my past lessons.

With our hands still linked, Allie followed me through the library doors. “So, where are you taking me?”

“To the waterfall.” I kissed her fingers. “But I have a few things to take care of first. You get breakfast put in a basket for us, and I’ll meet you in a few minutes.”

* * * *

“Hey!” I caught Sage just as she got in a rickety old car in the driveway.

“With my new salary, I can definitely trade this rat box in for something a little classier.” She turned to me with an acid smile and pressed her long, brown hair over her shoulder.

I approached her and kept my voice low so no one would hear. “Whatever she promised you, I’ll double it if you leave right now.”

“It’s not about the money, honey. It’s about revenge. You rejected me. Now you have to pay. I’m sure you’re not going to tell her about us anytime soon. She looks too happy.”

I didn’t know what to say or do, so I stood in the July heat on the steaming sidewalk.

Sage went to the driver’s door of her car. “I’ll be back. Don’t lock the gate, or I’ll be forced to send word to Allie that you’ve been less than loyal to her.”

* * * *

With a basket in one hand and Allie’s hand in the other, we strolled down the path toward the waterfall in the woods. I didn’t talk a lot.

She was quiet too. And fairly happy.

When she was mad, I didn’t have access to her thoughts. I hadn’t let her in on that secret, but I would eventually. In an attempt to have as normal a relationship as possible, I would keep some things to myself. Until it served me to reveal them. We men were like that.

I was an open book these days.

I had to find some way to keep things exciting.

Right then, I could filter through her mind with ease until, at intervals, her mind went to a darker place where Grace haunted it.

The plans she’d made without me were staggering. Changes to the house. A new business. Wishes of a wedding that would never happen, even if she had time to plan one.

My mood darkened. I’d never wanted to be a source of her unhappiness.

“I’d hoped your time away would brighten your disposition, but you seem as angsty as ever.” Not an insult. Just Allie’s wise observation.

“I promised not to obsess. So I’m keeping it in. I don’t mean to be gloomy.” I tugged at the neck of my T-shirt. I was hotter by the second. The truth would have to come out soon, and it would have to be on my terms because if I didn’t soon tell Allie, Sage would.

She’d made it clear she didn’t want money.

“Good. I have a great picnic in that basket.” She paused, her face twisting with worry. “You probably don’t want regular food. I forgot.”

“I can eat normal food. I just need a gargantuan amount to feed my hunger. Or to hunt.” And the day that I could indulge in all Allie’s caresses, my appetite would probably be insatiable given I’d waited over a century. We’d need at least a week alone. I smirked with the thought.

With Sage and Grace in the way of that ever happening, it wasn’t hard for my mood to darken again.

The sky was pale blue, dotted with fluffy, small clouds.

I tried not to sweat, because I hadn’t exactly been around Allie enough to be comfortable with damp armpits. Why couldn’t it be late August or September?

Hell. Would we see August or September?

Why couldn’t we be like normal couples and welcome the uncertainty of days ahead? The change in leaf colors, Halloween decorations, ghosts and goblins ringing the doorbell. All things we could happily experience when we got rid of Grace for good.

Allie was quiet as we strolled over the increasingly rocky terrain. The water made a thundering sound as it pummeled into the pool at the bottom of the falls. The sound blocked at least some of Allie’s thoughts, but a few broke through.

Will he change in front of me? Or will he ever be comfortable enough to allow it to happen in my presence? Will he still be dangerous when he shifts?

“Don’t worry. I’ve been working on the shift. And you’re right. I’m not going to give you any more reasons not to want to be near me, so I won’t be changing in front of you.” I put the basket down on a flat place under a tree. The thundering water was a little more muffled there.

“That’s still unsettling. That you can hear what I’m thinking. Is there no way to have a little privacy?” Allie wouldn’t look at me. She sat a bottle of wine beside the basket and spread wrinkles out of her yellow sundress.

“I’ll see what I can do to work on that too. I found a way to block a good bit of Ava’s thoughts, but I guess it was because I got tired of hearing her complain all the time. If it wasn’t flying out of her mouth, her thoughts were nothing but bitching.” I slid the basket over a little to spread out a blanket. I normally didn’t use one when I slept in the wild, but for Allie’s comfort, I would have carried a sofa out here if she’d asked me to.

As she spread a full buffet over the blanket, Allie’s shy smile warmed my frosty mood. “I don’t remember the things you liked most, so I brought a little of everything. I thought out of all this, you might find something you wanted.”

As strong as the hunger normally was, out here in the woods, alone with her, I was suddenly starved for only one thing. “Yes, there’s certainly something here I want.”

A cute giggle escaped Allie as she flattened her dress over her thighs. “I thought we were trying to be good.”

I tugged it back up. “That’s challenging in an un-chaperoned situation.”

“It was your idea.” She slapped at me.

“I promise to keep you as pure as possible until we’re married.” I gave her the grin I knew she loved. “After that, all bets are off.”

“I hate it when you make promises I know you’re going to keep.” She scowled playfully and began unpacking the picnic.

For a minute, we were a normal couple, in normal woods, having a normal picnic.

She was right. This was nice.

I could almost imagine a happily ever after. Almost.

Only now there was more than one reason why I had to keep my longings under control. Not only did I want to do things the right way, by God and all, but Grace could be haunting the property again. And after what we’d done to her, she was sure to be extra pissed.

Which brought me to the fact that I had to tell Allie about the motel room.

The urge to reach out and scoop her into my lap overwhelmed me so that a stiff whisker tried to push through.

No. Not now. You’re not going to ruin this moment, Cat.

Allie took a bite of a sandwich and sighed as she looked up at the heavy tree trunks protecting us from the scorching sun. She swallowed, and just when she started to speak, she stopped herself.

I had to block her thoughts. I’d stop eavesdropping and let her have her moment.

So I talked. “What sort of plans had you considered while I was away?”

“An orphanage or something along those lines.” She put her sandwich down and poured a glass of wine. Her face suddenly lit with a new glow that I was almost jealous I hadn’t caused. “The house has so many wonderful rooms with endless potential to be not gloomy and empty. I thought the laughter of children would be nice.”

The thought of having children with her settled over me. The immense need to create them now crushed the sweetness of the moment with heat that would have melted her underneath me.

“Shelby and Kaitlyn have been in contact with some people who are having trouble with their children. It’s not that they don’t want them, they just…” She took a sip, put the glass of wine down and turned to face me. When she was excited, she gestured a lot. She couldn’t know how cute she was. “There are other people like you. I mean, not exactly like you, but kids with similar afflictions. It’s not something I would have ever dreamed with my scientifically based mind. I’ve always operated under the understanding that the world is black and white. Now that you’ve come into my life, I have a soft spot for people with problems like yours. I thought it might help to have those people around you too. Not only would you help them understand their issues, but you might also be able to learn some things about yourself while you spend time with them.”

“Whoa. What exactly are we talking about here? I need specifics.” Especially if I was going to leave her with them running all over the house without my ability to be in more than one place at once if more than one of them happened to get dangerously out of control.

“There are kids who have abnormal abilities. Their families don’t know how to cope with them. So the kids are left not understanding their place in this world. I want us to be there for them. To let them know that things aren’t as bad as they seem.” Allie tucked a lock of brown hair behind her hair but the soft breeze blew it, anyway.

“You mean shape shifter kids?”

“Not exactly. They can do things others can’t. Like moving things with their mind. Burning things without thinking about it.” With a hopeful look, she waited.

“You’ve already moved ahead with the plans, haven’t you?”

“Sort of.” She knotted a corner of the blanket.

I took a long draw of her wine. “I think we need some time to dig through some of our past baggage before we bring other people into it. It’s messed up enough.”

Allie’s face darkened. “That’s why I thought we could form a new normal. We’re not like everyone else. It would be nice to be surrounded with other people who understand.”

“You mean, like misery loves company.” Shit. The wrong thing fell out of my mouth once again.

Her big brown eyes looked up to meet my gaze. Definitely the wrong thing to say.

“I don’t plan on being miserable. I hope you have the same outlook.”

“Did you read any of that journal, at all?” I concentrated on her facial expressions so they’d take the place of her thoughts.

She was upset again. What she thought of me right now was probably not pleasant.

I couldn’t get out of protective Cole mode.

“The first few pages, but I didn’t want to jumble my memories with stuff I didn’t remember. It was all too confusing.” She let the blanket go and took the wineglass from me.

“You’re still scared of what you’ll learn about yourself. I mean Annabeth.” Glad for the support, I leaned back on the tree.

Allie took the last sip of wine. “I guess I am. I want to be me. Not a mixture of me and someone else. I want you to forget about all that past life stuff and move forward with our life together. I want us to be us. Not people who worry about the past repeating itself.”

“Your sister killed herself and you in the process to keep us apart. That’s pretty damned hard to forget.” I pushed some of the picnic stuff out of the way and stretched out.

“We’re here now. I know the past won’t go away, but I just want some time with you without it hanging over us every second. I can handle your animal shifting thing, but I don’t want to share you with a past we can’t change.” She needed more than this.

This life I’d created.

How could I have let her fall into it? How had I been so selfish as to think she would be okay with it now?

Allie absently rested her hand on my leg as she took bird bites of a sandwich again.