Taming the Lion (10 page)

“No, ma’am.”

As he headed for the stock room, he wondered what Jon was doing at that moment. He’d have finished his breakfast and cleared the table. Perhaps he was in the shower, soaping up his body. Maybe he’d take himself in hand and dream of Kaspar as he…

Don’t think about that. You have work to do. Tonight you can speak to Jon, make plans. Have the kind of relationship you’ve always dreamed of.

Marina might be skeptical about the chances of a shifter finding happiness with a human, but Kaspar was sure it could happen. And he would do whatever it took to prove the point.

Chapter Twelve

“So, who is she?”

Ellie had emerged from the living room, a glass of white wine in hand.

Kaspar paused at the bottom of the stairs. The last couple of hours of his shift at løve had been manic, and he’d hoped to go up to his room and collapse on the bed. It didn’t look like that would happen now.

“Hi, Ellie. Who’s who?”

“Oh, don’t come the innocent with me, Kaspar de Wit. You didn’t come home last night, and that can only mean one thing.” She gestured toward him with her wine glass. “Let me pour you some of this and you can tell me all about it.”

“There’s nothing to tell, honestly.”

Her expression told him she didn’t believe a word. He supposed when someone spent all day with small children they got pretty good at knowing when they were being lied to.

“Well, come and have a glass with me anyway. I should have had a date tonight but he just rang up to cancel, and I hate drinking alone.”

Kaspar followed her into the living room, kicked off his shoes, then settled in an armchair. Ellie poured him a drink.

“Tell me about this date of yours,” he said as he took the wine glass from her.

“His name’s Tom. He’s a solicitor. Works in the city but lives in a little village about ten miles away. We have this…arrangement.”

“Arrangement?”

A flush appeared on Ellie’s cheeks. “Well, neither of us has met our mate yet, so sometimes we get together for dinner, a couple of drinks and whatever happens after that.”

“You mean you’re fuck buddies?”

“If you want to put it like that, yes. And like I said, I was supposed to be seeing him tonight but one of his clients has been arrested and he’s got to go down to Bath police station so he can sit in on questioning.” She tipped the inch or so of wine remaining in the bottle into her glass. “That’s my story. What about yours?”

“I don’t have a story.”

“What, so you slept in the bar last night? Kaspar, there’s no point denying something’s happened. It’s written all over your face. I want to know who she is and how you met her.”

“Okay, I was with someone last night, but it was a he.”

Ellie’s eyes sparkled. “Funny, I never had you down as being into guys, but that’s cool. Who is he, and how did you meet him? More importantly, have you found your mate?”

“If you don’t mind, I’d rather not talk about it right now. It’s still early days and I don’t want to jinx anything.”

“There’s nothing to jinx,” Ellie scoffed. “Once you find the one, that’s it…” Her tone was wistful, as though she described some faraway land she feared she might never reach.

Part of Kaspar longed to tell all her about Jon, but as he had done with Marina, he held his tongue. Shifters weren’t supposed to bond with humans. Never mind that Arjan and Kees seemed so happy with each other.

He took a sip of wine and thought of a way to move the subject onto safer ground. “I met Marina’s brother today.”

“Marcus? He’s great, isn’t he? I had a real crush on him when I was younger, but I knew he wasn’t destined to be mine. And he and Thérèse make such a lovely couple.”

Kaspar was about to pass on the news of Thérèse’s pregnancy but Ellie’s phone trilled and she plucked it off the coffee table.

“You don’t mind if I get this, do you?”

“Not at all.”

While Ellie spoke to whoever was on the other end of the line, Kaspar closed his eyes and recalled Jon walking across the bedroom naked. He couldn’t wait till they were together again but for now he was happy to spend the evening chatting with Ellie, just as long as she didn’t try to grill him about the man he’d been with last night

“Looks like my date’s back on again,” Ellie said as she set her phone down.

“What happened?”

“They don’t need Tom at the station after all. Apparently, it was all a case of mistaken identity. Said the neighbors saw this guy climbing into a house through the bedroom window. They thought he was trying to rob the place, but he’d just gone out to put something in the dustbin and the front door locked behind him. Tom said the fact his client was in his dressing gown and slippers at the time might have made the neighbors realize he wasn’t a burglar.” Ellie downed the last of her wine. “Anyway, he’s going to drive over here, pick me up then we’re going to find somewhere to grab dinner. I take it you’ll be all right here on your own.”

Kaspar nodded. “I’ll probably just have a shower and get an early night. But at least I’m not back at work until Monday lunchtime.”

“If you’ll excuse me, I should just have time to change and put on some lipstick before Tom arrives.”

“Sure.”

It had been well into the small hours by the time he’d drifted off with Jon wrapped in his arms and his body needed to catch up on sleep. He felt himself starting to doze. There was the distant sound of a knock at the door, then light footsteps descending the staircase. Ellie called, “Bye, Kaspar. Don’t wait up!”

The door slammed and he had the house to himself. Struck with sudden hunger, he wandered through to the kitchen in search of something to eat. Like all shifters, Ellie had a good supply of meat in her fridge, both raw and cured. Kaspar cut a couple of slices of bread, smeared them with butter and mustard then filled the sandwich with a combination of chicken breast and honey-roast ham. He fished a couple of gherkins from a jar and added them to his plate of food.

By the time he reached the living room, he’d already eaten half his sandwich. He switched on the television and flicked through the channels, past a ballroom dancing competition, a men’s singles tennis match, the most recent of the
Indiana Jones
films and a documentary on penguins. None of it held his attention for longer than half a minute. On a normal Saturday night in Amsterdam, he’d have been getting ready for work right now, and Kaspar didn’t quite know what to do with himself.

He took out his phone and scrolled through the saved numbers, quickly finding the one he needed. Jon Fellowes. For a moment, he hesitated. Maybe Jon would be busy. When he thought about it, they’d barely shared any details of their lives with each other, too caught up in their bodies’ immediate needs.

Fuck it, I have to speak to him, even if just for a minute…

Kaspar dialed the number and waited. Jon should be expecting his call, but if he didn’t recognize the number, would he ignore it?

“Hello?”

His heart leaped at the sound of his mate’s voice.

“Hi, Jon. It’s Kaspar. I hope I haven’t caught you at a bad time.”

“Not at all. I’m sitting in my pajamas, watching
Indiana Jones
and shouting at my TV. Honestly, if I had a pound for everyone who thinks that’s how archaeologists really operate, I’d be a very rich man…”

Pajamas? Who the hell wore those anymore? If Kaspar were with Jon, he’d strip the things off him so he could admire that gorgeous naked body of his. He didn’t mention that. He just chuckled and said, “Well, I’m glad I’m not interrupting anything important. I rang because I hoped we might be able to get together again soon.”

“I’d love to. How about tomorrow? You’re not working, are you?”

“No.”

“Then why don’t I pick you up and we can go out to a country pub for lunch.”

“What—? You come here? But I thought your car was being repaired?”

“I picked it up this afternoon. Give me your address—I know you said you’re near Alexandra Park somewhere…”

Anxiety flared in Kaspar. He couldn’t allow Jon to come to the house. If Ellie saw him, smelled him, she’d realize at once he was human. That would raise all kinds of questions he didn’t yet feel able to answer.

“You don’t need to go to any trouble for me.”

“Kaspar, it’s no trouble. Honestly.”

Ellie had said Tom lived some distance outside Bath, hadn’t she? Maybe they’d decide to spend the night at his place. She might not even be back by the time Jon arrived.

“Okay.” Kaspar reeled off the address. He did his best to convince himself his worries were unfounded.

“Well, I’ll see you tomorrow. About half-past twelve suit you?”

“That’ll be fine. It’ll give me a chance to lie in.”

“Sleep well,” Jon murmured.

Oh, I will. And I’ll be dreaming of you.

Chapter Thirteen

When he woke, it was close to five in the morning. Pearly tendrils of light already crept across the sky and the first notes of the dawn chorus rang out.

Kaspar hadn’t intended to fall asleep on the sofa but the stresses of a busy shift at løve, combined with the wine, had caused him to nod off within minutes of ending his phone call to Jon.

He rolled his head from side to side, easing out the tension in his neck. If Ellie had returned to the house, with or without her friend Tom in tow, she hadn’t woken him in the process.

His boots were on the floor under the coffee table. He took them with him as he left the room.

Kaspar crept up the stairs, doing his best to avoid the treads that creaked. If Ellie were asleep upstairs, he didn’t want to disturb her slumber. But as he passed her room, he saw the door stood ajar and the bed was empty. It seemed whatever Ellie had hoped might happen after dinner was taking place at Tom’s.

In his room, he shrugged out of his clothes then flopped on the bed. He was asleep again within minutes.

* * * *

When Kaspar woke for a second time, he discovered he had less than half an hour before Jon arrived to pick him up. He showered then put on a fresh pair of jeans and a long-sleeved white T-shirt, hoping that would be a suitable outfit for the lunch date Jon had in mind.

He went downstairs to the kitchen. Ellie was sitting at the table, a mug of tea at her elbow and the Sunday newspaper spread out in front of her.

“Hey, I didn’t hear you come in,” Kaspar said.

“Oh, I only got back about half an hour ago,” Ellie admitted. “Help yourself to tea, by the way. It’s just brewed.”

Kaspar went over to where the teapot stood on the counter. “Did you have a good night?”

“Good and bad. We had a nice dinner in this little Italian bistro near the Abbey then Tom took me back to his place. The sex was out of this world.”

“So what’s the bad part in all of that?”

“It was our last time together. Tom told me he’s moving to London in a couple of weeks. He’s been offered a position with a firm of solicitors in Lincoln’s Inn Fields. The salary’s nearly half as much again as anything he could earn in Bath, so he’d be stupid to turn it down. More than that, he thinks if he goes there, he stands a good chance of finally finding his mate. I can’t begrudge him any of that but…”

When Ellie looked up, tears shone in her eyes.

“Hey, Ellie, I’m sorry.” Kaspar hugged her from behind, resting his chin on the top of her head.

“I know it’s stupid to get so upset. Tom and I aren’t bonded. He’s got every right to look for someone else. But I’m still going to miss him.”

Kaspar was about to offer some words of consolation, knowing how deeply Ellie must feel the loss of her lover even if theirs had only been a casual arrangement. A knock at the front door stopped him.

“That’ll be Jon,” he said, before realizing he hadn’t told Ellie his mate’s name.

“Jon?”

“The guy I met on Friday night. He’s taking me out for lunch.” He tried to make it sound like this was no big deal.

“You’ve got it bad for him, Kaspar. I can tell.” Ellie seemed to have forgotten about her disappointment with Tom, clearly more interested in Kaspar’s burgeoning relationship.

“Oh, I don’t know about that. Look, I’d better go.”

He hurried to the door, aware of Ellie hovering behind him. When he opened it, Jon stood on the step.

“Hi, Kaspar. Hi…”

“That’s Ellie, my landlady.”

“Well, aren’t you going to invite Jon in?” Ellie asked, obviously angling for a better look at Kaspar’s new friend.

Anxious to prevent her getting more than a whiff of Jon’s distinctly non-shifter scent, Kaspar shot Jon a look that indicated they needed to be off.

“I’m sorry,” Jon said, “but I couldn’t find a parking spot, so I’m kind of obstructing the traffic. Another time, maybe.”

“Oh…well, in that case I suppose you’d better go.”

Before Ellie could add anything further, Kaspar had hustled Jon off the doorstep. He shut the door firmly behind him then strode down the path. As he’d expected, nothing blocked the roadway, but the lie had worked. He smiled to himself, impressed by Jon’s quick thinking.

“I hope you’re hungry,” Jon said, pulling the car away from the curb. “The place we’re going to does a fabulous Sunday lunch with all the trimmings.”

Kaspar, who’d had nothing more than a couple of sips of his tea to break his fast, nodded.

Jon drove them out to a rustic-looking pub with whitewashed walls and a red tiled roof. The inn sign bore the image of a running stag pursued by hounds. He found a space in a car park that was already more than half full.

They went inside and up to the bar. “What would you like?” Jon asked.

“No, I’ll get these,” Kaspar insisted. He didn’t want Jon thinking he couldn’t pay his way.

“Well, seeing as I’m driving, I’ll have orange juice and lemonade.”

Kaspar got the same for himself, knowing that if he drank alcohol on an empty stomach, it would go straight to his head. They took their drinks over to a free table in the area reserved for diners.

“The menu is on the blackboard over there,” Jon said, gesturing to the chimney breast. “Looks like it’s a choice of roast beef, lamb or chicken, which all sound good… Unless you need to be informed about the vegetarian option?”