Surrounded by Pleasure (10 page)

She sighed, glancing at her coffee cup and willing it to
be filled with the delicious ebony liquid so she wouldn’t have to actually get
up. Her expression must’ve been more forlorn than she realized because Mikaela
got up and grabbed Krista’s cup with an exaggerated roll of her eyes. “Good
gravy, girl. Here. I’ll get you some. Just start spilling your guts. I can
listen and pour at the same time.”

“I want to tell Toby the truth. About me not having a
boyfriend, I mean.” When Mikaela whirled to pin Krista with a stare, she
continued. “I understand what you told me before coming out here, but I don’t
think Toby will dump me because I don’t have a boyfriend. I think we’ve moved past
the casual sex phase . . . like almost right away.”

Mikaela turned back to the coffee pot, filled Krista’s
cup, and brought it over to her before sitting on the corner of her desk. “No,”
she said softly, “he won’t break up with you because you don’t have a
boyfriend. But do you want to risk that happening? Because it might if you tell
him the truth now.”

Krista took a deep breath. “I’ve thought about that, too,
and, well, I know this mess is of my own making.” She narrowed her eyes at
Mikaela. “Instigated by you, of course, but I can’t fix it if I don’t come
clean.”

Mikaela nodded. “Okay, how about this—you keep quiet
until after you leave. Stay in touch with Toby, and when the time’s right, tell
him you’re not getting married and you want to be with him.”

“That’s still lying.”

“Jesus, Krista. You’re an attorney. Think like one. What
I suggested isn’t a lie because (A.) you’re not getting married and (B.) you do
want Toby.”

“That’s lying by omission.”

“Semantics.”

Krista groaned with frustration as she leaned back into
her chair and picked up her coffee. She sipped it lightly.

“How did you know you wanted Josh?”

Mikaela smiled with a faraway look on her face. “I just
did. I’d recently broken off an engagement, as you know, when I was assigned to
revamp Thomas’s will. Of course I was drawn to Josh right away, but I had my
secret. I wanted him, but I was here on an assignment. He wanted me too. Boy,
did he want me!” She laughed. “He came onto me that first night then dodged me.
I didn’t know what to make of it at the time, but everything makes sense to me
now.” She turned and gave Krista a pointed look. “Everything will fall into
place with you, too. If you let it. Just keep quiet for now. You leave next week.
Why chance pissing him off when you can enjoy the remaining time you have
here?”

She had a point, damn it. Krista didn’t want to ruin the
relationship she had with Toby. Even if they were just playing house for now,
it’d been the best time of her life. “I love him,” she murmured. Her eyes shot
to Mikaela, panicking that she’d said it out loud.

Mikaela smiled at her. “Then love him and keep him as
long as you can. And talk to him after you’ve had some time away from here to
make sure it’s truly how you feel.”

Good advice, but Krista was already certain. No time
apart would ever change how she felt about Toby. But a week from Friday she’d
be gone. Did she want to chance disrupting the only peace and love she’d ever
felt in her life when she could live it just a little bit longer? No. She knew
that made her incredibly selfish, but she’d need these memories to get her
through the rest of her life.

“Okay,” she breathed. “I’ll wait.”

Mikaela nodded. “Good. Now we don’t really have a lot
going on today. I’m not expecting a call from the title company until tomorrow.
Why don’t you and I go see the guys in action? It really is amazing watching
them plant and cut the trees.”

“Sure, sounds great.” Only she couldn’t muster real
enthusiasm. It should’ve been easy for her to fake it since she was a big ol’
fraud anyway.

* * * *

Toby wiped the sweat from his brow as he tried dislodging
debris from the wheels of the tractor, grunting and straining with effort.

“Hold up there, hawse.” Toby turned to see Josh walking toward
him with some tree pruners.

“You rock, man,” Toby said as he stood and caught his
breath.

“Can’t argue there.” Josh chuckled, and he bent down and
started to chop the mangled limbs. While he worked, he glanced up at Toby. “You
wanna come over to my cabin one night this weekend? I was thinking we could
cook out, do the double-date thing before Krista has to go back.”

A crushing weight landed on Toby’s chest at the reminder
of Krista’s schedule. He’d been avoiding the reality of her departure, knowing
it was stupid not to face that fact head-on, but damn it, he just couldn’t
bring himself to accept there’d come a day when he’d wake up and she would not
be there. She’d rocked his world. Not wiggling her way into his life. Oh, no,
she’d forced her way in with what seemed like no effort at all. And with her,
he’d found himself surrounded by pleasure like none other. Her presence in his
life a balm to his lonely soul. She was the other part of him.

He loved her.

God, he was so screwed. A few times he’d almost told her
how he felt, but at the last second, he’d found the strength to resist
confessing his heart and soul to her. She belonged to another man, and his
mountain lion was in agony with the knowledge that he’d never get to claim his
mate. Because Krista was the only mate for him.

And once she was gone, he’d go back to how life was
before. But he’d never be the same. His mountain lion wasn’t the only part of
him hurting.

“Toby?”

He blinked looking at Josh.
Oh, shit
, he’d asked about dinner. “Yeah, okay. I’ll ask her, but
I’m sure she won’t mind. How about Saturday?” He tried being nonchalant but had
no idea if he was.

“Works for me.”

“What’re you two dickheads doing? Quit pussyfooting
around with that and come on,” Rob said as he came around the tractor.

Josh stood. “Almost got it. Just having a little trouble
with this branch.”

Rob leaned down. “Let me.” He reached for the branch just
as the tree pruner slipped. It sliced across his arm, and he yelled, grabbing
his wound.

“Fuck! Are you okay?” Josh asked, turning toward him.
Toby stepped up so he could see how badly his brother was hurt.

But as soon as he did, his adrenaline kicked in double
time. Not only had Rob’s fangs descended, but his pupils had turned into
cat-eye slits. “Rob, you have to calm down,” Toby said as he grabbed his
shoulder. “We’ll get you inside and cleaned up.”

Rob roared and lunged for Toby, shifting before he
reached him. He landed with his paws on Toby’s chest. Toby didn’t want to hurt
his brother because he knew it was an animalistic reaction to the injury he’d
just received. So, he grabbed him by the scruff, trying to pull him off.

As soon as he grabbed him, Toby heard a scream. A very
feminine scream. As he turned, he saw Mikaela and Krista stopped on the dirt
road staring right at them.
Shit.
This was so not good.

Then Rob hissed in their direction and tried pushing off
Toby’s chest, eyes on the ladies. “No!” Toby yelled.
Rob, chill out. Don’t you fucking dare try to attack—

Toby’s protest died as Rob got loose and charged the
girls.
What the fuck?
They weren’t a
threat to him, and he knew that.

He had to protect Krista. She was his! There was a roar
beside him as Josh shifted and chased after Rob.

Stay away from my
mate!

Toby started running after Josh. Then Mikaela shifted
right next to Krista and ran toward Rob.
Fuck,
fuck, fuck!

Back off, Mikaela.
It’s not you I want
,
Rob growled as he neared the women.

Toby knew what he had to do. He couldn’t fight it, not
when his love was in danger. He shifted, his clothes ripping off his body just
like the others, and ran as fast as he could. He couldn’t look at Krista. He
didn’t want to see the terror, the confusion in her eyes. A closely guarded
family secret—and Rob had just fucked that up. He should’ve known after the
first several days of being with Krista when Rob and Jack had finally backed
off that it wouldn’t last. They’d never had a female on the property this
long—taken or otherwise—unless she was one of their mates. But Krista was still
unavailable, so Rob couldn’t claim her. His behavior was uncharacteristic of
their kind. Unless the injury ignited some fight-or-flight-or-fuck reaction.

Toby reached Rob just as he jumped over Mikaela and
tackled Krista, knocking her to the ground. Toby roared, barreling into his
brother’s side and toppling him over beside Krista. He rolled them over several
feet while Mikaela and Josh shielded her from further attacks.

Bro, what the fuck?
She’s taken. Taken!

I know, Toby. I’m
not going to claim her, but I want to play with her
.

Oh, fuck you! You
ain’t going anywhere near her; you hear me? She’s mine!

“Rob!” Jack bellowed. “Stand down. You don’t want to do
this. You’re stronger than your lion.”

Toby wasn’t sure when Jack had arrived, but when Rob’s
struggles lessened, he was glad Jack had been able to reason with him.

Rob finally stopped struggling altogether, going limp
underneath Toby.
Sorry. Shit. I-I don’t
know what got into me. And, fuck, my arm hurts
.

You’re getting
blood all over me
,
Toby said as he licked his brother’s wound to help the blood coagulate.

Rob hissed at him, but Toby knew it was because of the
pain.
We need to get you out of here
.

“I called Dad. The doctor’s on his way,” Jack said,
obviously hearing the mental communication.

Toby moved off Rob and looked at Krista. Jack was
standing next to her, grasping her upper arms as if holding her in place. Toby
growled low in his throat at the sight of another man touching his woman.

“None of that,” Jack warned.

Damn it, he knew his brother was right, but he still
didn’t like it. But when he finally looked at Krista, saw her pale face, wide
eyes, he suppressed his urge to continue protecting her. Jack wasn’t a threat,
and the last thing Toby wanted to do was scare her even more than she already
was.

Fuck, I’ve got a
lot of explaining to do
.

I’ll do it
, Mikaela said.
Just, er, let me run home and shift first. I
don’t want to walk back in the buff
.

I need to be the
one to tell her
.

I understand, Toby,
but I think it’d be better if you let me ease her into your conversation
.

She’s right
, Josh agreed.
Let her smooth things over. Then you can
talk to Krista
.

Toby didn’t like the idea of losing sight of her. What if
she ran off without talking to him first? But as he thought about it, he knew
Mikaela had a point. They were friends, and his sister-in-law could help Krista
see things from an outside perspective since she’d once been an outsider
herself.
Fine. But I’m going to follow
her to your place. Jack, can you walk Krista to Josh’s cabin?

“Sure,” Jack said. Krista looked up at Jack, clearly
seeing them communicating. “Come on, sweetheart. Mikaela wants to talk to you.”

“I-I . . .”

“I know. This is a big surprise. But I promise all your
questions will be answered.”

* * * *

Krista sat on the couch inside the cabin Mikaela shared
with Josh, waiting for her friend to come and explain to her how in the hell
everyone turned into animals. She wasn’t sure what they’d turned into. Some
kind of cat, it’d looked like, but they sure as hell didn’t look like Mr. Fuzzy
Tail, her childhood kitty cat.

She was freaking out. That had to be it. Maybe she was having
a nervous breakdown? If that was the case, she needed a straightjacket STAT.
People didn’t just up and turn into other things. That kind of shit didn’t
happen. And what was all that looking around at each other and Jack responding
like he’d been talking to them? Either she’d lost her mind or she’d ended up in
some alternate reality. Maybe her ass was still asleep and this was one fucked-up
dream.

She started when Mikaela walked into the room.
Nope, no dream.
Krista was dreadfully
awake. Oh, God, she was going to the funny farm.

“Don’t look at me all scared like, girl. I’m still the
same person I was yesterday. I just have a natural fur coat that I didn’t have
to skin another animal for or pay
beaucoup
bucks to get.”

Krista laughed nervously.
Oh, Jesus, it was real.
They really turned into animals. She
couldn’t wrap her head around that knowledge, though. Mikaela looked exactly
the same, yet she wasn’t. She just wasn’t.

Mikaela sighed, walking slowly toward Krista as if trying
to corner a skittish cat.
Cat
. She
giggled manically. Would she ever think of cats again and not freak the hell
out?