The Secret (7 page)

In the kitchen she found some heavy-duty gloves and pulled them on. Using a spray bottle of bleach, she cleaned every surface in the house, every door handle, every spot of wall she remembered anyone touching. The used paper towels also went in a garbage bag left by the door. Last she pulled out a vacuum, not surprised when her sister didn’t budge at the noise. She was changing the bag to discard when the others returned.

Carlos and Declan wore matching furious expressions. Asa took in all her work and nodded. “Excellent. We need to move out ASAP.”

He began moving bags from the house to his SUV and hers. She scowled when she noticed all the garbage bags were going into her vehicle. He caught her gaze after his last trip.

“We should stick together. We’ll find someplace down the highway to dump your car.”

“Why my car?” she complained.

He cocked an eyebrow. “We’ll all fit in the Excursion.”

She pressed her lips together. Hell, he was right, but she hated to give up her sporty little hybrid SUV. Course it wasn’t really hers. Julian kept a fleet of vehicles. This was just one of them. She sighed.

“Fine.”

“Where’s your sister?” Carlos finally asked.

“Sleeping. Someone will have to carry her out.”

Asa nodded. “I got her. You want to get the bedding?”

“Yeah.”

She grabbed two large garbage bags and then followed him down the hall. He was scooping up Jaz, wrapped in the comforter, when she entered.

“I’ll get her in the SUV, then take yours. We’ll meet up in about an hour. Keep your cell on.”

She nodded, thinking it odd he was taking command and Carlos was letting him, until she got a good look at Carlos’s face. He was beyond pissed at her. He was livid. His teeth were ground together, skin pulled tight over his cheeks. With a sigh, she moved to the bed and stuffed the pillows into the first bag. When she reached to pull one corner of the sheets free, he went to the opposite side to help.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Can we talk about it later? It’s a story I don’t want to tell three times.”

Declan walked into the room. “But we’re both here now, baby.”

His smile made her shiver. It was a touch cruel, a lot mean. His eyes narrowed into a glare when he reached forward to touch her face and she cringed back. “I’d never hurt you.”

She took a deep breath. “I know,” she said softly.

She
did
know that. She’d never have risked her sister if she didn’t. But taking that final step into full trust was hard. Didn’t they get that?

Carlos took the sheets from her and stuffed them in the bag before leading the way out of the house. He tossed them in the rear of the hybrid, then went to the Excursion and got behind the wheel. She climbed into the back with her sister, who even in exhausted sleep seemed to recognize her as an ally, as family. She moved to lay her head in Sunny’s lap.

Neither of her men spoke.
Her men
. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back. She’d definitely crossed the line to acceptance in her mind. Jaz moaned and tried to move away. A nightmare. Sunny crooned to her, soft nonsense words until she settled.

“She needs a doctor.” She looked up to meet Declan’s gaze. The controlled fury was still there, but seemed to be pointed in another direction now.

“When we get home. We can’t know who to trust here.”

She gently rubbed her thumb over Jaz’s wrist. “She’s already starting to heal. She needs sleep more than anything.”

She could tell by his expression he didn’t agree, but he kept his opinion to himself. Not all the worry and fear was for her and her sister, though, and she felt guilty for forgetting she hadn’t been the only one searching for someone.

“Your brother?”

“Gone. Again.” His tone was bitter and uninviting. She didn’t press for more information. He’d tell her when he was ready.

Silence reigned again until her phone chirped and Asa directed them to his location. They found him waiting on a dirt road; he’d already ditched the car. He climbed into the third-row seat, and once they were back on the highway, Sunny met Carlos’s glare in the rearview mirror.

“Talk, kitten.”

That had to be a good sign, right? That he was still using pet names? She stroked her sister’s hair away from her face and wondered where to start.

“Our dad was a werelion, and so was Mom’s father. She wasn’t like us.”

“What pride, kitten?”

She frowned. “I don’t remember. Somewhere in north Georgia, I think.”

He nodded. “I must have seen you then. That’s why you seemed so familiar when we met. What about your father?”

She took a deep breath, experiencing that pang of sorrow she always did when she remembered her parents. “When he discovered what we were, it scared the hell out of him. Not that we could shift,” she hurried to add when she caught Declan’s low growl. “He was afraid that if others knew what we were, they’d try to use us. I was too little to really remember those days. Dad told us later to always hide what we could do. That when he took us away, there were already rumors of females who could shift, and males who were hunting them. He made us change our appearance. Our names. Everything.”

“That’s why the background check came up empty,” Carlos whispered. She would have called him on that, but hell, she’d done the same to him.

She took another breath, pain and horror filling her now instead of irritation. “We thought it was overkill. His protectiveness.
I
thought it was overkill. I was sixteen, and I’d met this boy. A wolf. I thought he was as crazy about me as I was about him, because hell, I was sixteen. I knew everything,” she said bitterly. “I swore him to secrecy and let him see what I was. A long time later, I found out his father was a member of the Society. A few weeks after I showed him, our parents died in a car accident. We didn’t know if it really was an accident or if someone was after us, so we split up.” She tensed up tight. She still counted that as the worst day of her life.

“So you see, I couldn’t tell anyone. I told once before and probably got my parents killed.”

The silence that fell over the vehicle was frightening. It was Asa who finally broke it. “So now we keep this secret, between the five of us.”

She twisted in her seat to look at him, trying to gauge how serious he was, but his gaze was fixed on Jaz, who’d sat up during the telling of her story.

“Sunny.” Her eyes were filled with dismay, and she shook her head. “You know better than to tell.”

“We can trust them.” She squeezed her sister’s hand, but the words didn’t seem to register. She was staring at Sunny’s neck.

“You mated one of them.”

“Two, actually,” she said drily, still a little stunned at her wantonness. Her greedy lust for both men.

It was a long time before Jaz spoke. She nodded first. “Okay. We trust them. Now what?”

Sunny smiled, joy filling her at being reunited with her twin. “We take you home. Where you can recover. Safely. And you won’t have to worry about hiding or running anymore.”

She knew it wouldn’t be that simple, but Carlos, Declan, and Asa already knew what they were. No one would have to pretend. Though they might go crazy overprotective.

“Where’s home?”

“North Carolina.” It was unwelcome to recall how little they knew of each other now. “It’s a big house. Plenty of room for all of us, and it borders a protected area of forest. You can run without fear there.”

Everything, all the pain and sorrow and emptiness of the last few years, was worth it to see the joy light in Jaz’s eyes at the prospect.

“Not alone,” Carlos ordered. “Not until we’re positive they haven’t tracked us.”

And here came the protectiveness, though in this instance she conceded he was probably right. She made sure her agreement came out reluctantly, however. She didn’t want him or Declan getting the idea she’d let them have their way all the time. A little pampering, though; her cat liked that idea very much. Its purr was soft and eager, and Carlos answered it with a chuckle, Declan with a grin.

She settled back with her sister for the rest of the journey home.

Chapter Eight

“What about my father?”

Sunny sighed. She didn’t have any answers to give Gia, who’d been waiting with her mate, Anthony, on the porch when they arrived. Sunny had relayed the sanitized version of the trip’s events. Basically accurate, but minus the female shape-shifters.

“I don’t know, Gia. I’m sorry.”

The other woman bit her bottom lip and nodded. “You had to get your sister out. I understand.”

“They were both gone when we exited the house,” Declan added.

“Thank you for going after him.” There was acceptance on her face. She didn’t expect to see him again.

It wasn’t long before Gia and Anthony went on their way, and Asa, promising to return in a few hours with dinner, also left. Declan turned to her.

“You’ve been a very bad cat, baby.” He spoke in a tone that made her insides melt, then clench. Oh God. If he fulfilled even half that unspoken promise, she sure as hell hoped so. She’d be bad all the time if necessary.

Carlos laughed. “Somehow I don’t think she’s feeling threatened.”

“She knows she can trust us.” Declan spoke to Carlos but held her gaze.

“Hmm. Yes. The idea occurs to me…she’s not human. We don’t need to hold back as much.”

She squeezed her thighs together, knowing it didn’t make a difference. They would still scent how the words made her arousal spike, then continue to grow. Carlos smiled. Slow and carnal. Sexy and passionate. He glanced over his shoulders at the wood line.

“Let’s go for a run, kitten.”

She frowned, looking at the door. She couldn’t leave her sister unguarded.

“We won’t go far,” Carlos promised.

Both men were already removing their clothes, and her cat scrambled to get out and join them. Nothing matched running free through the woods in her other shape. Well, maybe one thing. She stripped quickly, shifted, and joined them on the lawn. She knew the perfect place to go, the reason she’d bought this property, and led them there.

It wasn’t far, and when she entered the small clearing she went right to the large slab of rock on one side. It hung out over a small pool that the creek ran through, and she often sunned herself on it, bathing in the pool during the warmer months. She stretched out and gloried in the sun beating down, warming her pelt.

Carlos and Declan entered the clearing and shifted. Her cat watched, breathless and horny and awed as Carlos pulled Declan to him. Kissed him. It wasn’t what she’d expected. It was slow, almost soft, and deep, consuming. She felt the tiniest twinge of jealousy before they broke apart.

“I think our kitten is feeling neglected,” Carlos teased when he looked up at the rock. “Come down, Sunny. Leave the cat behind for now.”

She stood on all fours, made a lazy preening stretch before jumping to the ground and padding softly to them. Declan came to her side, stroked her neck. She purred, and he laughed.

“Yes, you’re gorgeous. Now change so we can fuck you till you can’t move.”

Well, when he put it like that… She lay down on her belly and shifted, rolling to her back to look up at them when the change was complete. She laughed when they pounced until two mouths covered her nipples, two rasping tongues stroking until she thought she’d combust.

Her chest heaved when they broke away. Her thighs were slick with her moisture even though neither had touched her there. Declan rolled to his back and pulled her over to straddle him. She groaned when his cock poked her belly. She tried to position herself to take him.

“Not yet, kitten.”

Carlos knelt behind her, fingers thrusting into her pussy, drawing at her cream, and rubbing it against her ass. She groaned, her mind filling with images of him taking Declan’s ass. Of Declan returning the favor.

Over and over again, his fingers drew moisture from her body, until he could press three fingers into her ass, twisting them to stretch her, while Declan alternated between teasing her nipples and clit. Finally, she felt the head of Carlos’s cock pressed against her, not yet demanding entry though she knew it was coming. Declan took her hand and wrapped it around the base of his shaft.

“Take me slow, baby.”

She guided him to her entrance, took the head into her pussy slowly like he wanted. Carlos flattened a palm on her lower back, urging her to lean forward against Declan. She kissed him, a flutter of teasing brushes against his lips, as she sank onto his length. His hand held the back of her head; his lips bit at hers until she opened her mouth for him. She moaned when his tongue met hers, and tilted her head to get better access. She broke away with a gasp when Carlos began to push inside her ass.

“Relax, kitten.”

She couldn’t see his face, but she heard the wildness in his voice, the slipping control. She held herself still, panic rising as he gave her another inch. He stretched her impossibly, and it fell on the wrong side of the line between pain and pleasure she liked.

“Relax,” he ordered again, this time nipping her back. He held her still with one hand on her hip while the other slid around her body, delved through her folds to touch her clit. Declan began to move in short, shallow strokes to match Carlos’s caresses.

Her desire rebuilt with each move until it was once again consuming, until she whimpered with Declan’s long, slow withdrawal from her body. She shifted to take him back inside her, and Carlos, moving with her, slid more of his cock in her ass. This time it wasn’t pain that bloomed inside her but a different kind of pleasure. One that threatened to short-circuit her brain. Yet still it wasn’t enough. On Declan’s next withdrawal, she made her demand.

“More,” she said, pushing back against Carlos. With a hiss, he gripped both her hips and slammed inside her. When he pulled out, Declan pushed back into her pussy. The pace was fast. The thrusts hard. Alternating so she was never filled by both at once, until the end, when her cry was more cat than human. When her whole existence just shattered, joy and ecstasy filling every nerve, every pore, as she came.