Freedom in the Smokies (3 page)

He propped one shoulder against the gatepost, and yet…something was off. As if his stance were forced. One leg was bent and crossed over the other, but rigid.

She rose to her full height and stepped around the mare to greet her third boss. After wiping her sweaty palm on her jeans, she reached out toward him with a shaky hand. “Kaitlyn Winston.”

Micah stared at her hand for several seconds as though unsure what the gesture meant. She didn’t know what to do, so she waited while her hand shook harder. Nerves sent a shiver through her body.

Maybe no one had told Micah she was here? His brothers had mentioned the possibility the man wouldn’t be super fond of the idea of hiring her without his permission. In fact, they’d said her appointment to the job was provisionary, pending Micah’s approval. However, she hadn’t really expected it to be a problem.

Now she doubted her assumption.

In slow motion, Micah removed his right hand from his jeans pocket and reached for hers. His gaze never lifted. He hesitated at the last second, making Kaitlyn squint her eyes toward her hand.

“Micah Durham,” he mumbled as he latched onto her firmly.

Kaitlyn gasped when he touched her. Holy hell. His grip alone made her pussy grow wet with need. She instantly wanted to feel that hand on the rest of her body. Good grief. She shook the thought from her mind. Surely it had been a shock of static electricity that raced up her arm. The man must have shuffled across the barn to get to her. He put off enough of a charge to make her jolt. Geez.

His hand was extraordinarily warm. He gave a quick shake before tugging back almost prematurely.

How rude.

Kaitlyn let her hand drop as she glanced toward the youngest Durham brother’s chiseled face. The single brother.

Heat rose to flush her cheeks. Her bra suddenly felt too tight and her nipples abraded the lace. All this from a handshake? What would happen if he kissed her? The flush spread down her chest. She’d probably orgasm on the spot.

Get a grip. You can’t have this man. You work for him. You don’t want a man, remember?

If she’d learned one thing in her twenty-two years, it had been never to mix business with pleasure.

She’d seen the results time and again in her grandmother’s barn. Hired hands who flirted with each other, screwed behind the hay bales and then had to deal with the effects of working together after a break-up.

Micah stared at her until the silence between them grew uncomfortable.
What’s with this guy?
He could stop traffic with his looks and yet his social skills were severely lacking.

Perhaps he was mentally challenged? She had enough experience working with disabled children to handle him. But she hadn’t been expecting this turn of events. Maybe the others hadn’t prepared her because they wanted to test her to see how she would handle him.

Shaking off her initial shock, Kaitlyn broke the ice. “I was just introducing myself to your horses. This mare and I seem to have hit it off.”

Micah blinked. His gaze wandered from her head to her toes and back up while she waited. He definitely seemed to be challenged in some way. She’d been in this situation hundreds of times. As with children, and coincidentally, horses, she would need to earn this man’s trust.

“Do you have a favorite?”

Micah tipped his head to one side with a quizzical look on his face. “A favorite what?”

“Horse.” She leaned toward him a few inches and then stopped to give him time to get used to her nearness. She resumed stroking the mare’s neck, but let her gaze glance back and forth between the mare and the man.

The confusion disappeared from Micah’s face and he straightened from his slouch against the post. “You can’t stay here. This’ll never work. It’s not safe.” Turning on his heel, Micah stomped away.

Kaitlyn heard him mutter, “God almighty,” under his breath.

She watched his quick escape. He never looked back.

For several minutes, she stood and trembled in the aftermath of one of the strangest and, in a way, the most frightening encounters she’d ever had with a man.

That didn’t go well. And what the hell did he mean? What danger? From him? Or from something or someone else?

“Kaitlyn?” The voice behind her caused her to spin around so fast she almost tripped over her own boots. “You okay? You look like you saw a ghost.” Jaxon chuckled as he came toward her.

“I, um…I met your brother Micah.”
Why didn’t you tell me he was so…

“Oh.” He grabbed a shovel from against the wall. “Was there a problem?”

Not unless you consider being a flat-out sex god without enough brain cells to hold normal conversation a problem. No.

“I don’t think he was too pleased with my presence.” That was putting it mildly.

“Really?” Jaxon leaned back and cocked his head. “What did he say? I knew he’d be shocked we’d hired someone, but…”

She wasn’t about to tell Jaxon what his brother had said. It still gave her chills.
You can’t stay here. This’ll never work. It’s not safe
.

“Not much. But he didn’t seem happy.”

“I’ll go talk to him. That’s strange.”

She didn’t want to get Micah in trouble, especially if he was mentally challenged in some way. That was no way to make friends. And she wanted this job more than anything. She could overcome this obstacle…in time. She just needed to get to know Micah. Eventually everyone liked her. “No, Jaxon, please, don’t worry. He was probably shocked to find me here.”

God, I hope he doesn’t have violent tendencies. Maybe that’s why he said it wasn’t safe
.

“Okay. Don’t worry. He’ll come around. You almost done?” He let the subject drop and nodded to the stall she’d left open behind her. The one with the mare who’d inched toward her and stuck her head out for more of the attention she’d been getting.

“Oh, yeah. Just finishing up.” Kaitlyn guided the mare back into the stall. Now she needed to work up enough courage to return to the house. She couldn’t very well hide in the barn forever. Supper would be ready soon, and the Durhams expected her to join them—well, except the newly returned Micah.

Keeton McKinney leaned against the tree at his back and smiled. Finally, all the wolves were home. As a bonus, they’d added another woman to the mix. The brunette was as fine as the other two women at the Durham cabin. Perhaps she was the final piece of the puzzle and mated to Micah. He would so enjoy the tasty treat the three would provide after he destroyed the men.

It had taken him eight months to recover from the staking through the chest he’d received at the hands of Jaxon. That bastard had set him back. The time was not wasted though. Keeton was back and he was stronger and more powerful than ever.

He chuckled to himself. Hell, he barely needed the binoculars he held anymore. He’d crept so close to the Durham farm, he could practically see their mouths moving with his naked eye.

Concentration and practice had given him the skills he needed not only to block the Durhams from communicating with each other, but to block the three wolves from sensing his presence.

First, he intended to toy with his prey a while. Put them on high alert. And then, when they were sufficiently worn out and confused from his antics, he’d move in for the final blow. Kill the wolves and drain the women.

Hell, he might even decide to keep one or two—or all three—of the beauties as his own. There was no law of nature in the vampire world that said he couldn’t mate with the women after killing their wolf partners. It would be quite entertaining to watch them succumb to his will. With a hint of his saliva running through their veins all the time, he could control them indefinitely.

Yep, it was almost time to put his final plan into action. A few finishing touches and he’d be ready to roll.

Chapter Three

“Micah?” Sergius spoke to Micah’s back as he let the screen door slam shut and continued plodding through the kitchen. “What’d you think? Isn’t she fantastic?”

Micah didn’t turn around. He headed directly for his wing. He needed to think.

Fuck
. What were the odds?

Juliana caught him in the living room. “What happened?”

What happened?
What happened?
He shouted the question of the day in his own mind. Well, he might’ve leaked a bit of it. In his current state, he doubted he could keep his thoughts to himself.

In fact, if the sound of footsteps following him was any indication, he was in for a lot of questions.

Micah didn’t even bother to shut the door to his suite after he entered, but the distinct snick told him Sergius had closed the door behind him.

Micah paced the wide room, running his fingers through his hair. What a clusterfuck.

“Dude, I know her hiring was unexpected. And we should’ve checked with you, but I didn’t expect you to be quite this upset. If you’d give her a chance, I think—”

“Shut. Up.” Micah turned his attention toward Sergius, who stopped rambling, his mouth ajar. “Give me a second. Please.” Micah resumed pacing.

What the fuck was he supposed to do now? That sweet, sexy woman with long, silky, black hair that hung down her back and mesmerized him with its texture wouldn’t be in danger—if he hadn’t walked into the barn this afternoon and taken a long whiff of her… If his feet hadn’t propelled him toward the stall where she’d been greeting the mare… If he’d stayed away. If if if…

“Mic?”

Micah flung himself across the room and dropped onto a love seat. He threw an arm over his face and leaned back. His legs wouldn’t have held up much longer.

“What…aren’t you telling me?” Sergius asked.

“Read my mind.”
Micah used their telepathic link. Perhaps, if he didn’t say what was wrong out loud, it wouldn’t be true.

“Damn.” Sergius dragged that one word out for an eternity. After a few seconds of silence, his older brother giggled like a girl. His laughter turned into full-fledged hysterical chuckling.

Micah jerked his arm down from his eyes and turned to stare at his brother. “This is so not funny.”

“Oh, but it is. It’s the funniest thing I’ve ever seen.” Sergius wiped his eyes and continued to laugh. Clutching his stomach, he walked toward the chair across from Micah and plopped down. “The big, bad, hold-out brother has fallen.”

“Ha ha.”

“Did you tell her? I bet that was a shock.”

“Are you crazy? I didn’t tell her anything. In fact, she undoubtedly thinks I’m addled. I barely spoke. You have to get rid of her.”

“What?” Sergius sobered, his mouth still twisted in a smirk, but his eyes narrowed. “You know it doesn’t work that way, bro.” Sergius continued to stare at Micah until his mouth fell into a frown. “Seriously?”

“She isn’t safe here. I don’t want this crazy life for her.”

“Safe? You mean like Juliana and Brianna aren’t safe?”

Micah sucked in a breath. “Exactly.”

“Listen…” Sergius pointed a finger at his brother, “…I’m going to ignore the implication you don’t believe I’ve made good judgments where my mate is concerned because I know you’re confused and…
addle
-minded right now.”

Sergius rose and continued. “However, I think you should take a few hours to ponder this situation before you make any rash decisions. Yes, times are dangerous. Yes, we have a lot on our plate with a vampire lurking in the forest. No, I would not choose to have women in danger under such circumstances. But we don’t get to choose. You can’t deny what fate has brought you. Trust me. I suggest you get over it—quick-like—and make nice with the woman before she decides you are a lunatic and dumps your ass before you even get to first base.”

With those parting words, Serg left the room, shutting the door behind him. Micah stared at the door, alone with his thoughts.

He slumped back into the cushions of the little sofa and adjusted his throbbing cock.

His jeans were suddenly smaller than they had been an hour ago. Kaitlyn had done that to him. She’d made his dick grow hard and his mouth water. Watching her speak with the mare, her gentle loving voice, her soft delicate hands, her pert button nose, her creamy white skin with cheeks pinkened by the chilly weather… It all combined to make him groan in frustration.

He wanted her. No, he needed her. The pull to take her—claim her—made his heart pound so hard his ears rang. His hand still tingled where he’d touched her.

Why now?

Serg was right. As Micah had left Kaitlyn in the barn, he’d known on some level he couldn’t simply waltz away and be done with her.

But he’d hoped.

Maybe she hadn’t been as attracted to him as he had been to her. Maybe his harsh words and warning had scared her off.

Right
. As dainty as the woman was, she’d held her head high and firm. She wasn’t a woman to let the strange actions of one man deter her from her path.

Nope. Kaitlyn Winston had come to this farm to stay, and no one would be able to stop her. Especially not the ridiculous off-the-cuff actions of her less-than-articulate mate.