Their Virgin Mate [Panther Cove 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (13 page)

“I’m good with that.”

As soon as Georgiana pulled on her coat, Tanya locked up. Their destination was only two blocks west so they walked.

Georgiana tugged on her arm. “How was the spa?”

“The spa was very nice, but the evening before was more amazing.” She told her about the slight delay due to the closing of the parkway, but once they got to the cabin, things went really well.

They entered the Drinking Emporium, and she noted half the tables were already full. Julia Watson was serving at the coffee bar, and Kendis was on her tea side. “Mind if we sit on Kendis’s half? There are fewer people.”

“Sure.”

Georgiana walked over to Julia to get her full-loaded coffee drink, and Tanya headed over to Kendis. No one was nearby. “I’ll have an orange amaretto hot tea.”

How did one begin to ask if what Hercules and Casius said was true about Jeremiah and Mario being shifters, too? It made sense in a way, as those two had worked at Panther Cove. Tanya always assumed the name was just a spoof on the people of Delight. Now she wasn’t so sure.

Since the tea only had to steep for ninety seconds, Kendis brought it right over. “So how’s it going with your two hunky security men?”

The last time they’d talked, or rather the last time they’d seen each other, was last week at the Christmas festival. “I think it’s going well.” Tanya looked around. “They told me something about their heritage.”

The quick downcast of Kendis’s gaze confirmed her suspicions.

“Oh, yeah. What was that?”

“That your men, as well as mine, are shifters.” She kept her voice to a whisper.

Her body froze for a moment. “You can’t tell anyone.”

For some reason the relief eased her mind. “I won’t.” She glanced over and saw Georgiana choosing a table on the tea side. “I’m not sure what I’m going to tell her. She doesn’t know about
them
.”

“Just be careful.”

“I will.” She picked up her hot cup and carefully walked it over to her.

Telling her friend everything but the shifter part was going to be hard.

* * * *

Hercules pulled in front of their house, and Casius couldn’t wait to get to the gym. He needed to punch something.

As soon as his brother cut the engine, he jumped out, and Hercules rushed after him. “It’s not your fault.”

That was easy for Herc to say since he wasn’t the one who lost control. He spun around. “Even after we explained things to her, didn’t you see her withdraw?”

Hercules opened the front door and went in. “She was scared, but she seemed to accept things after we explained them.”

His brother could be so dense. “She pretended to accept them. She never bought into the idea that we want her for who she is and not because some mythical trigger went off in our bodies pointing at her to be the one.”

“Then maybe we need to show her how much we appreciate her entrepreneurial spirit.”

There was a lot more to Tanya than her ability to run a store. “She’s resilient. Who else could go through the loss of her only parent at age twenty-two and come out on top?”

“Not anyone I know.”

Casius stabbed a hand over his head. “So what do we do?”

Hercules dumped their gear in the living room then headed into the kitchen. “Beats me. I think if we can get her to fall in love with us somehow, then we’ll be in good shape.”

“What do you think we’ve been trying to do, dumb-ass?”

Hercules shook his head. “We love the hot springs, so we took her there. We love the Christmas festival and bobbing for apples. What about her desires? Have we tried to think what Tanya wants to do?”

Fuck
. Maybe they didn’t deserve her. He wracked his brain for something she’d like. “We need something other than sex. I think we all agree that even Tanya thinks we’re compatible.”

“True.”

Casius snapped his fingers. “Remember when you commented on those pictures in the entranceway and she told you she took them?”

“They were awesome.”

“How about if I take her on a photo shoot?”

“You might be the artistic one of us two, but you don’t even know how to use a camera.” Hercules held up a finger. “Secondly, I hardly think she’ll want to take pictures of snow.”

That would be a problem. Then he smiled. “I got it. How about if we drive down to Charlotte? It doesn’t snow there very often. I bet she’d love the museums if the weather doesn’t cooperate.”

“I like it. It might be good for her to be just with one of us. Perhaps we’ve overwhelmed her. We are a little domineering.”

His brother was the master of understatement sometimes. “I’m going to see if any of the men have a camera I can borrow. How hard can it be?” He used to be pretty good with film cameras but lost interest once digitals came into play.

“You’ll have to tell me.”

Happy that he had at least one solution, he headed out to the gym. Inside, the place was packed with the men. Hunter and Derek were once again fencing. He just didn’t get why Derek didn’t try another sport. He was never going to beat his brother.

Bantum and Noble were lifting weights alongside William Hanson and Thad Elders, two of the new recruits. Well, they weren’t so new anymore. They’d proven themselves to be quite competent, but a month or two at Panther Cove made them the newcomers.

Before he approached any of the men and disturbed their workout, he decided to work out on the punching bag. He took off his jacket and tossed it over a chair. He should change, but he figured he wouldn’t be here long. As soon as the men finished their reps, he’d speak with them.

Sweat beaded on his forehead. Both Hunter and Derek approached. Hercules stopped and wiped his brow. He’d already briefed them on the debacle in Baltimore.

“We have a problem,” Hunter said.

Hercules’s gun soured. “What would that be?”

“About an hour ago, a school bus in Baltimore full of kindergarten kids blew up. Most were killed.”

His legs turned soft. He tried to read their minds, but apparently they were blocking the transmission. It was worse than he could imagine. “What are you telling me?”

“One source said it was in retaliation for a particular Drummond Aster being killed in a particular home in Baltimore.”

He tapped his chest. “This is my fault?”

Hunter shook his head. “Not saying it is.”

He knew what he had to do. “If you get any leads, let me know. Casius and I will take care of it.”

“We’ll count on it.”

Well, crap.

* * * *

Tanya was a little bummed when neither of the men called. This only added to her belief that they might be having second thoughts about having her in their lives. The more she thought through things, the she more she realized she wanted this relationship with the men to work. While she hadn’t told Georgiana about the men being shifters, her friend had made her take a step back and figure out what she really wanted.

Initially, Tanya thought it would be better if she walked away before the men dumped her, but then Georgiana said the pain would be the same either way, and why not let the men make the decision. Her friend’s logic seemed sound at the time.

For the last two days, she’d embraced the idea that if being with them was meant to be, then she wasn’t going to stop it.

She’d just locked the storefront’s door and was looking forward to her day off tomorrow when someone knocked. She glanced up and nearly jumped for joy. Casius was at the door with his cheek pressed to the window making a funny face. He wasn’t normally the goof-off of the two, but she liked it when he relaxed and was himself.

She opened up the door and motioned him in. “Welcome.”

Without saying anything he grabbed her and kissed her. “I’ve missed you. Do you forgive me?” He was talking nonsense.

“Let’s close the door first.” He shut it and turned back to her. She moved closer. “What do you think you need forgiveness for?”

“We’ve been selfish. Hercules and I have done things with you that
we
like. I want to spend time with you doing what
you
like.”

That concept floored her. “I liked going to the hot springs.” Even though she couldn’t help but compare herself to those skinny girls.

“We figured you did, but how about going on a photo shoot?”

Had he been talking with Georgiana? “I know you commented on the photos in the hallway, but you don’t have to do that.”

“I know, but I want to. What do you say?”

He seemed so excited that she could hardly say no. “Where would we go?” She wasn’t much of a hiker. Right now the streets of Delight had brown slush on them.

“It’ll be a surprise, but you need to pack a bag.”

“Is Hercules coming?”

“No. One of us needs to supervise the troops, and I’m the one with the good eye.”

She laughed. “You never said you were into photography.”

He cocked an eye. “Never said I wasn’t.”

What the hell? This would give her a chance to see how well the two of them clicked. “Okay.” Tomorrow the store was closed anyway. The timing couldn’t be better.

“Great. I’d hoped you’d agree. I took the liberty of ordering dinner to go at the Highlander’s Café.”

“How did you know what I wanted?”

He rubbed his chin. “Since you eat there several times a week, I was able to extract what your favorite meal was from Eileen.”

The owner would pay. “Well, thank you.”

Once they picked up their to-go boxes, Casius followed her back to her house. They decided to eat the food first then drive to their destination.

“I’ll need to know where we’re going, so I’ll know what to pack.”

He winked. “You sly one. Actually, we’re going to Charlotte. Normally, it would be in the fifties, but they are experiencing a warm front and it’s in the mid sixties.”

That would be a wonderful change. “I haven’t been to the city in forever.”

“I’m glad.”

Casius sat on the bed while she packed and collected her camera gear. She made sure to bring her battery charger because she hadn’t taken photos in forever. She debated about gathering some sex toys for fun but decided it might be nice to have plain, old vanilla sex for a change to see if the excitement would be the same. Casius, however, might have other ideas.

Only having one set of hands on her wouldn’t be quite the same, but she planned on making this trip a very memorable one. She closed the case. “I’m ready.”

He took her gear and hustled her to his car. Once they were on the road she bubbled over with enthusiasm about sharing something as intimate as taking pictures. She’d be able to tell a lot about a person by what kind of shots they liked. “What is your favorite kind of picture?”

“Candids.”

“I never get the lighting right, and I never did learn about indoor lights and stuff.”

He smiled. “Since I am ancient by your standards, I took a few classes in my day. Even took a two-day seminar with Ansel Adams.”

“For real?”

He chuckled. “Trust me, it wasn’t as much fun as you’d think. We hiked up the mountains, and when we got to the top, we sat for something like six hours until he said the light was just right. He took two shots, and then we hauled all the gear back down.”

“Why only two shots?”

Casius glanced over at her before returning his focus to the road. “He used plates and an eighty-by-ten frame camera. Those thirty-five millimeter cameras only have film about one inch by an inch and a quarter. He had to process each plate before taking another one. It was quite old-fashioned, but as you know, the results were amazing.”

Being able to sit with such an artist must have been pretty amazing. “Do you get to do landscapes often?”

“Not anymore. Once film cameras went out, I never embraced digital. You’ll find out that I’m quite inexperienced.”

“You can always cheat and put it on automatic.”

He smiled. “I may do that.”

By the time they got to their hotel in Charlotte it was past nine and too late to shoot. As much as she wanted to wander around the town, the idea of getting naked and making love with Casius held so much more appeal.

All the way up to the room she had ideas on how to seduce him. When they got inside, she did a double take. “You got a suite?”

“Only the best for my babe.” He set the two suitcases down.

She laughed. Casius stepped behind her, and as he removed her jacket he nibbled on her neck. His warm breath and slow-moving hands spoke of a wonderful evening.

He turned her around, and the heat from his eyes stunned her. For a second she wondered if he was going to shift, but he’d said it wouldn’t happen again. The more time he spent with her, the lack of control would slowly wane.

“I want you, babe.” He backed her up against a wall and leaned in, hovering close to kiss her. “I was so tempted to stop the truck and take you in the front seat.” His lips captured hers.