Kaleb (Samuel's Pride Series) (11 page)

“You’ve done very well
, my dear. Very well. You’ve managed to tame the savage lion, have a lovely home, as well as a manor, and now you’ve a son to carry on the family name. I’m very happy to call you my own.” Kennedy blew her nose. “Now we’ll have none of that. You’ll have this old woman blubbering like an old fool if you don’t stop.”

“I’m so happy. Ye’ve made me feel like I belong.”
Summer nodded and held her hand. When
Seanmháthair
asked if she was all right, Kennedy nodded. “I’m just the luckiest woman in the world.”

“Not as lucky as me.”
Samuel kissed her quickly on the mouth and pulled her to him. “I’ve a gift for you if you don’t mind me giving it to you with all these people around.”

He pulled out the pretty blue box before she could answer and opened it.
There inside was the most beautiful bracelet she’d ever seen. Diamonds and emeralds fought for brilliance with the darkest rubies she’d ever seen. He pulled it out and put it on her, much to the enjoyment of all those with them. Michael patted Samuel on the back.

“Ye’ve a hell of a wife there, brother mine.” Kennedy felt her heart swell every time Michael called him that. “But I’ve something
, too. I’ve found me a wife. I’ll be bringing her around when all this ado is over with.”

Everyone congratulated him
, and she kissed his cheek. When he wiped at the tears, she smiled at him. “Your future wife, does she know you’re not much of a catch?”

“Aye
, she does. Doesn’t care a whit though. Says she’d settle with me until someone better comes along.” He smiled at her. “You’ll like her. She’s a bit like you, bossy and all.”

Nodding
, she couldn’t talk over the lump in her throat. They’d done well, the three of them, despite all that had happened to them. When the nurse came in to tell them visiting was over, Samuel asked for her
seanmháthair
to stay. It was finally time to let her know what they’d done.

She took it well considering the amount of money
they’d spent to make it happen. The house for her on the property wasn’t a mansion, but it was very lovely. And she’d have servants, too, to help out, along with the added bonus of being so close to her and her new family. Michael had also said he’d be honored to take over the estates. But he wanted to finish his education as well as marry his girl. The love of the right person could do that.

After everyone left
, Kennedy leaned back on the bed and watched Samuel with Kendal. He was so gentle despite his size. Kendal yawned and then smiled at them both. Closing her eyes, she listened to him talk.

“You’re a big guy
, aren’t you? I can see you taking on the bad guys with just one hand.” She laughed softly. “And you’ll protect your sisters and brothers, right? You being the oldest, you’ll have to be the one to tell them what to do. However, so you know, if you have a sister anything like your momma, she might take you to task if you try to boss her around. Your mom is the same way.”

“What a thing to say to him.” She opened her eyes to glare at him.
“He’ll be thinking his mother is a tyrant.”

“Nah, he’ll love you no matter how bossy you are.”
Samuel got up and brought Kendal to her. He already looked more at ease with him. When she had her son in her arms, she smiled down into his small face. “Your dad would be so proud of you.”

“Aye, he might.
I’ve a mind to take you both home again.” They’d not been able to travel as much in the past few months because of the baby, but now she wanted to see her green hills again. “I’ve decided to bring some of the things back with us this time to furnish Kendal’s room. I’ve spoken to Hawk, and he’ll take on what I give him.”

Samuel
crawled into bed with them and kissed her neck. “Whatever you need to do, you know I can work from anywhere.” She nodded and leaned back against his chest. “I’m exhausted. You having a baby is tiring.”

In minutes he was asleep
, and she listened to his heart beating beneath her. When the nurse came in a few minutes later, Kennedy reluctantly gave her Kendal to take to the nursery so they could rest. When she snuggled down into Samuel’s arms, she reached out to her friends and family to see if they were all right. Thor spoke back to her.

“Do you suppose all men are
idiots or just a select few?”
Kennedy told her most and asked her what happened. “
Kaleb seems to think that because I said yes to marry him that it should be right now. I think it can wait a few weeks, months, too, if you want to know the truth.”

“He asked you to marry him? Wow, that’s wonderful. And I take it he gave you a lovely ring
, too?”
She told him he hadn’t.
“Well then, you hold off for as long as you can. Any mon who pops the question without benefit of a ring deserves to have to wait. You tell him I said so, too.”

“Yeah, I think I can handle him.”
Kennedy waited, knowing there was something more.
“Something happened tonight. While we were having sex. I think we…well, I was going to say evolved, but I’m not sure that’s quite right either.”

Kennedy felt a finger of fear touch her.
She reached deeper into the other woman but was blocked, and for whatever reason, that made her more fearful. Both of them were silent for a while. When she spoke again, Kennedy had a feeling that Thor was as afraid of this as she had been anything else in her life.

“We were having sex
, as I said, but when I bit into him, it felt as if I was coming so hard that I was going to explode. Then something changed. It was as if every part of me, even my fingernails, came, too. Then I felt something…something’s enter me. As if it was just waiting for that moment to take me over.”
Kennedy got up from the bed and moved to the chair. The heater was there, and she turned it on. Chilled to the bone, she put her hands on it as Thor continued.
“You must think I’m a real nut-ball. Not to mention talking to you about my sex life as if we’re great friends.”

“
Aren’t we?”
For some reason, Kennedy wanted Thor to be her best friend. She’d been a part of Samuel’s life when he’d been but a boy. Kennedy wanted to know that child through her.
“I’ve no idea what has happened to you. What does Kaleb say? Surely he noticed, too.”

“He felt it.
I’m not sure what he knows, but he’s…did you know that he is two thousand years old?”
She didn’t, and wondered if Samuel knew. “
Yeah, this witch did this to him and now he’s telling me I have the same thing. Oh, and let’s not forget the fact that there are faeries running around here to protect me. My life isn’t what it used to be.”

Kennedy burst out laughing and looked over at Samuel when he sat up.
“I’m talking with Thor. She’s having issues about her new life.”

“Kaleb is talking to me
, too. Something about they’ve changed or something. I don’t understand just yet.” Kennedy nodded and got up to go back to the bed. “He seems to think that whatever happened to them tonight is going to be something I’m not going to like.”

“He’s over two thousand years old, did you know that?”
Samuel nodded as he pulled her into his arms. Thor spoke to her again before she could get completely settled.

“I have a question. No biggy if you don’t know the answer
, but what the hell am I supposed to do as a bear?”
Kennedy laughed. “
I mean other than be all furry and shit, what possible reason would anyone want to change into this huge lumbering thing that eats honey and sticks?”

“I’m reasonabl
y sure you’ll find something useful to do with her. And she can protect you as well. Did you know that if you’re hurt as a human, or even a bear for that matter, that if you shift, you can heal yourself?”
Thor asked her if there was a book on this.
“Not that I’m aware of. Kaleb should talk to you about your abilities. I take it he hasn’t.”

“No. We’ve been dealing with other shit.
Did you know that my father was in town? I meant to tell Samuel and his mom, but I got sidetracked. He’ll hang around until I give him what he wants or he beats the shit out of me again. Then he’ll move on. But he’s pretty much bad news, and he hates Summer.”
Before she could ask her why he’d hate such a lovely woman, Thor continued.
“When we were kids, Summer took me in for a while. My mom was sick back then a lot, but now that I’ve given it some thought, I’m pretty sure she wasn’t so much sick as she was beaten up. I don’t know if you know this or not, but my mom killed herself one day when I was ten.”

“No, I
didn’t know that. I’m very sorry for your loss. Me own mother is a bitch. I’ve dealt with her for years before I finally told her to leave me be. Michael and me sister Kaitlin are doing well now without her influence.”
Kennedy settled next to Samuel and smiled.
“Do you think ye can come to my home tomorrow? I’d very much like to have a sit down with ye. And the baby, you’ve not seen him yet.”

“Yeah, we were having sex in the car in the lot when you were in the throes of that stuff.
I’ll come over, but…well, I don’t do kids. I know nothing about them and have never even changed a diaper before. Hand me a gun and I’m fine. A kid? And you might as well shoot me with the first thing ‘cause the second one will put me over the edge.”
Kennedy was enjoying her candor and wondered if she was being so blunt because they were miles apart, but for some reason, she didn’t think so.
“I guess you’re tired. I suppose I should go back to the bedroom and try to get some sleep, too. The cook here is eyeing me like I’m going to muss up his kitchen or something. And Ana is asleep on my leg. Maybe you can figure out what I’m to do with a faerie as my guardian before I come over.”

Kennedy assured her that she would.
And as soon as the connection was closed, she shut her eyes. Sleep took her almost immediately. Tomorrow she’d talk with her face-to-face and things would be well. She hoped anyway.

Chapter 1
1

Thor watched the news reel run again. There was something off about the whole thing, and she wanted to see if she could figure it out. When the cook—what the hell was his name?—came into the room, he set a large mug in front of her. She sniffed it and looked up at him.

“It is plain coffee
, my lady. No sugar and certainly no cream. I poured it for you myself.” Tomas...that was it. When he started to leave, she called him back.

“Do I make you uncomfortable?”
He opened his mouth and closed it twice before he finally nodded. “Why? Are you afraid of me?”

“Not really afraid of you
, but…I know very little about you, and you are very….” She waited for him to finish, but he did that pursing thing with his mouth again, like he’d done last night when she told him she just wanted to sit in the kitchen.

“My mom loved to cook.
You wouldn’t know that, but it’s true. And when my father had just beaten the shit out of me, I’d go in there to settle myself. The room smelled like she did, you see.” She motioned for him to sit down and after several seconds, he finally did. “My father wouldn’t have gone into the kitchen if it was the only way out of the house and it was on fire. It was a woman’s domain. Anyway, I don’t cook, wouldn’t know how to make toast without having someone turn the stupid toaster on to the right temperature for me. But I could eat. When there was food enough. And there my mother would be my mom. She was sort of free of him, I guess, and she loved on me as much as she could.”

“She died
, I understand.” Thor nodded. “The kitchen is not a woman’s domain. I happen to love the room myself. You just make me feel inadequate.”

“Me make you feel that way? How the hell did you come up with that one?”
He started that mouth thing again, and she slammed her hand on the table. “Look, we’re going to be living together for a long time. And I’ll not improve with age if you don’t let me know what I can do to make you like me.”

“You’re very blunt
, aren’t you?” She grinned and nodded. He didn’t look comfortable, and she knew that whatever he found lacking in her, she was going to try her best to fix it. For him. Because despite his prudish ways, she liked him. “There was a man here yesterday. A man who said that he was your father. I’m assuming that he is the man who made you seek refuge in my kitchen.”

“He’s part of it. What did he want? You didn’t lend him money
, did you? If you did I’ll make sure you’re paid back, in full.” He shook his head and smiled. “You turned him down.”

“I had him removed from the
property.” She laughed hard, and he finally joined her. “Mr. Thornton said that you had told him he was to come here for an envelope. He claimed that you said he could have the master’s car to use as well. Master Kaleb does not loan out his cars.”

“I’m sorry you thought I was like him.”
When Tomas started to protest, she lifted her hand. “It’s okay. I would more than likely have thought the same thing. He’s slick and he’s sly. But he’s not welcome here. Ever. And if he tells you differently, you’re to tell me immediately, and I’ll deal with him.”

“He needs to be arrested.
I’ve never seen a more…how did he have such a child as you and be the way he is?” Thor didn’t know, but she was going to have to deal with her father again. “Miss, I would like to say that I am sorry. I should never have judged a book by its previous owner. You are a fine addition to the master’s household.”

“
We’re okay then?” Tomas nodded. “Good. I like you. Now I need your help. Look at this when they play it again. Tell me what you see that seems…well, it doesn’t seem right.”

As the feed came around
again, he reached for the remote that was right beside her. When he paused the video, she moved closer to the screen and looked hard at it. Then she saw it. Turning to Tomas, she grinned.

“You found it.” She looked at Kaleb when he spoke and then back at Tomas
, who was staring at the screen like he was going to find what she did or know the reason why. Finally after several moments, he looked at her. Taking pity on him, she walked to the screen and pointed to where the blanket lay over what she assumed was Sweeney’s body.

“
What do you see here?” He told her a road. “But the road seems to be moving downward, like he’s lying on a hill. But look at the blood. Where does it go?”

Tomas got up and walked to the television.
He stared at it for several seconds before he looked at her, shocked. “The blood is going in the wrong direction. Why would it do that?”

“
Because whoever put him there wanted everyone to think he was killed there and not somewhere else. But logic wins out. If you kill a man on a hill, the blood would go in the direction of the landscape, not defy physics and go uphill. Whoever planted this body there poured the blood, no doubt from someone else, to hide the fact that he was murdered elsewhere. The body was planted, not killed there.” Tomas looked at her, then at Kaleb.

“I shall have luncheon on the table at one
, sir. It will be pot pies.” When he turned to her, he winked. “I am glad we had our talk, my lady. Shall you need anything…and I do mean anything...I am your man.”

Thor looked at Kaleb when Tomas left them. She was confused.
But Kaleb seemed to understand. He pulled her into his arms when he was close enough to do so.

“You’ve won him over, I see.
He only has luncheon for someone when he likes them. When Vinnie comes over, it’s repast. I don’t think he cares for the dragon.” Thor looked up at him. “I heard you two talking. I guess we’re going to have to deal with dear old Dad again.”

“I’ll take care of him.
Maybe I can eat him or something.” She sat down on the couch again and turned off the television. “I’m pretty sure we both know who planted Sweeney there. I just have to figure out where he was killed.”

“I’ve had Stephan go to the house that you told us about. It’s empty like you said it would be. I’m guessing that he had another one that no one knows about.” She nodded
, thinking about the lengths that Lipscomb was going to. She also wondered about his game plan.

“Sweeney said that he needed me to go to Lipscomb.
Why? It’s not like I know much more information about the man other than he was there when I was hurt. And last I heard that’s not really enough to kill someone over. At least not really. I mean, Lipscomb is big fish, but other than a few things that I suppose about him, there is no real evidence to put him at the scene of any of them.” She leaned back and closed her eyes. “I found a few things, a warehouse and a shipyard, but there was nothing there when I went to check them out.”

“Did Sweeney know you were going there?” She looked at him.
“They were partners, right? And you would have been a loyal and dedicated cop and told him where you were going and when, right?”

“I did. So you think that he made it so I’d find nothing?” Kaleb nodded.
“I think you might be right. I mean the warehouse alone looked like he could have performed surgery there.”

“W
e could go there now. Or we can go out into the woods behind this house and I can show you how to shift into my sow.” Her body shivered at his voice. Kaleb could make her feel things no one else ever had. “Are you up for it?”

“Wait.” She stood up when he did but didn’t move toward the door. “What if I
can’t do this? I mean, what if my bear or whatever she is decides she doesn’t want to come out and be a bear? And what about those other things inside me?”

“She wants out. I can feel her
, and I’m sure you can as well.” He ran his finger down her arm and the animal in her reacted. “Feel her? Feel her slide along your skin and change you?”

Her arm darkened with thick hair.
When she looked up at him, Thor could see his as well. His bear seemed to take part of him and make it his own. She nodded once and took his hand when he offered it.

They were standing in the woods when she felt something stir along her body. It wasn’t the bear this time but something else.
When Kaleb said her name, she felt something take her, and fear had her screaming his name as she changed. Then suddenly she was out.

“Take deep breaths.” Thor tried to pull away from Kaleb
, but he held her tightly. “Not just yet. You have to learn to get your feet under you. Christ, you scared the crap out of me.”

“Kaleb?”
She heard herself talking in her mind but what spilled from her lips was anything but human.
“What happened?”

“I don’t fucking know.”
He sounded so terrified that she felt fearful herself. And when she looked down at her body, she knew real terror. “One minute you were shifting and the next you were changing into ten different things at once. But when you fell to the ground, I nearly died. Christ, what the hell was that?”

“
How the hell should I know?”
She tried to stand up but fell over. Her body was huge, but it wasn’t a bear like she’d assumed she’d be, but a large feathered animal. When she looked up at him, she realized that he really was afraid.
“Is this what happened to us last night?”

“I think so. And so you know
, you’re not alone. I did the same thing you did. I think the only reason I’m not a falcon right now is because I have a tad bit more control.” She felt him stroke her back. “You’re the most beautiful bird of prey I’ve ever seen.”

“You shifted
, too?”
He nodded.
“I don’t want to do this anymore. How do I be like you?”
She glared at him when he laughed.
“I’m going to knock you on your ass if you laugh at me again.”

“
You’re going to be naked when you shift back and I, for one, can’t wait. And as much as I’d like to tell you you’ll be okay, I find you to be very sexy right now.” She huffed. “I don’t mean I want your bird but you. I want to fuck right now.”

Thor realized then he was naked
, too. And when he told her to think of her human self, she closed her eyes and saw them all there. All the animals that had come to her sometime last night. Fear had her looking at Kaleb again as her body seemed to melt into herself. This time it was painless and made her feel like she could do this. Whatever this was.

“There’s a wolf, dragon
, and what appears to be a human but not.” He told her it was a vampire. “I think there’s a faerie and the lion, too. Do you have those as well?”

“Yes. I’m thinking that we’re taking on whatever shifters we’ve had contact with.
When did you meet Hawk? He’s the only bird I know.” She shrugged and closed her eyes again. When she opened them this time, she knew she was just herself. “I want you.”

Moving over his lap
, she settled herself down over him with his cock straining between them. Wrapping her hand around him, she rocked her body against his and moaned. When he laid back, she put her free hand on his chest and watched his cock.

The tiny pearl of cum on the tip had her wanting to taste him. When she scooted back to licked him, he growled at her. Watching his face when she leaned over him
, she nearly came when he threw back his head the moment she touched him with her tongue.

Thor loved tasting him this way.
He let her explore him as much as she wanted. And when he started to rock his hips up, filling her mouth with his cock, she swallowed him. The feeling of him in the back of her throat made her hum. And that nearly had him bucking her off.

“Again. Christ, do that again.” She hummed again and again
, and every time he begged her for more. “I’m going to come. Let me come on you.” He pulled her away, and she sat up just as his first stream of cum sprayed over her. Hot and thick, she rubbed it over her body as he emptied himself over her. When he sat up, she moved back from him to stand up, and he nearly flipped her to the ground. She then turned to look at him when he pulled his hips to hers from behind.

His cock slamming into her took her breath away. And as he took her to the ground, his body bent over
hers, she pressed back against him, giving as good as she got. Thor felt her own climax rising up. And when Kaleb slid his fingers into her pussy from beneath her, she screamed until her throat was raw with it.

Neither of them moved, not that she thought she could. Her knees were beginning to ach
e a little when he shifted his weight off and rolled to the ground, taking her with him. Looking up at the clouds, she tried to get her breathing under control.

“Did I hurt you?” She smiled at his question. “I’m sorry. I don’t know
what came over me. One minute I was as sated as any man could be and the next, I needed to dominate you or die. Christ, it felt as if I were some sort of animal.”

“You were
, but I loved it.” She rolled off him and to her side. Thor rested her head on his chest and stared at him for several minutes before she spoke again. “It was the wolf. I think he needed his time with mine somehow.”

“I felt them
, too. This is the strangest thing that I think has ever happened to me.” She could relate to that statement. “We need to talk about this and other things.”