Chapter Fifteen
Cliff stroked Taylor’s arm gently as they lay tangled on the couch. “Would you hate me very much if I went to my office for a little bit? It’s hard for a CEO to take the whole day off, unfortunately.”
“Yep, I’d hate you forever.” Taylor looked at him sternly. But then she winked at him. “But I’d still do you.”
“I can live with that.” Cliff leaped up, and her body cried out at the loss. She wanted him pressed up against her, skin touching skin.
He headed for the door, naked.
“Cliff!” she cried out, scandalized. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”
“Like what?”
“Your clothing?”
“No, I was going to send a servant for it.”
“You’re going to go to your office naked?” She paused to look at him admiringly. “Admittedly, the view is very nice. But still.”
“I was going to go to our room, get some fresh clothes, and then go to work. We’re very comfortable with our bodies here. We’re part animal, remember.” He’d said our room, she noted with a glow of warmth.
But walking around the house flashing all her bits and pieces? Nuh-uh. “Yeah, that’s one lifestyle change I’m not going to be making.”
He flashed her a smile. “Good. Because if someone looked at you while you were naked, I’ve got to admit, I might accidentally kill them.”
“Well, we wouldn’t want that,” she muttered, watching him as he walked out the door. Good God, that butt. It would have made Greek sculptors weep. So round, so firm, so perfect.
“I saw you look!” he yelled as he shut the door behind him.
“Stuck-up dick,” she said, but with a smile.
She flopped back on the couch. Was she really letting this happen? Was she letting Cliff seduce her, making her forget how mad she was that he was keeping her prisoner here? Was she ready to commit to a lifetime of living as his wife – no, mate – on pack property?
And did she have a choice?
They hadn’t talked about what would happen after she turned. If she even survived the turn. And if she didn’t, how would Cliff explain it to Chantelle and her parents? Also, she didn’t know how much longer she could stall Chantelle, who was sending her increasingly worried text messages, which were passed along to her by Cliff. And she had to answer the text messages with Cliff sitting there watching. Which pissed her off, and which was going to be harder and harder to ignore.
But there was nothing she could do about it right now, so there was no point in stressing out about it.
With a sigh, she started pulling on her clothing. She went back to Cliff’s room and took a long, hot shower. Then she put on a black dress with a pink flower print and zip front, and black sandals, and headed out the front door to walk into town.
Truman and James were lounging around on the front steps. Or it looked like they were lounging, at least. She could tell they were scanning the gardens and the road in front of the house – the entire front perimeter of Cliff’s mansion – while looking as if they were two friends just sitting there and chatting.
“Where you going?” Truman called out as she walked by.
None of your damn business. I’m a grownup; stop stalking me. I didn’t like it when my ex did it, and I don’t like it now. She stifled the flare of annoyance. Deep breaths, deep breaths.
“Going to get a cup of coffee on Main Street.” She said it abruptly and walked off very quickly without waiting for permission or approval.
She heard a clatter of footsteps approaching her, stiffened, and walked faster.
James caught up with her.
“I swear to God,” she snapped, “I’m about to punch a wolf. Just saying.”
“I just wanted to tell you that it’s not always going to be like this,” he said. “The reason we’re being so hyper-vigilant is that Jerrold seems to have targeted you as a way to get at Cliff. And until you turn and can summon your wolf at will, you’re not going to be able to defend yourself against him and his pack. Even when you can turn, you couldn’t go up against Jerrold or his men – they’re stronger than you.”
“All right.” She sighed. “I won’t punch a wolf. Sorry. And I’ll be careful.”
“I have suggested to Cliff that Jerrold might be behind your illegal turning. We all knew how Cliff felt about you, ever since he first laid eyes on you, even if he thought we couldn’t tell. If Jerrold had spies in Cliff’s house, they would have told him.”
“Oh. That’s a thought. A disturbing thought. Although I still don’t see how he could have turned me without biting me.”
James was keeping pace with her. “Do you mind if I walk with you?”
Would he stop if she said no? She doubted it, and he did have a point about her being vulnerable as long as Jerrold and his pack were there. “No, that’s fine. You really want this mating to succeed, don’t you?”
James snorted. “If it doesn’t, Cliff will be so enraged and heartbroken that he’ll make all our lives a living hell. Especially mine. So yes. I am very invested in the success of your relationship.”
Taylor laughed at that.
They walked in silence until they got to the center of town. James went to scout out the area and make sure that Jerrold and company were nowhere in sight, while she bought a coffee.
Afterwards, she took her coffee and strolled to a little garden circle off the main street. There were ornate iron benches set on red brick and arranged in a circle around a fountain. The fountain was thickly ringed with pink and white begonias in fragrant red mulch. Beyond the fountain, a tangle of thick, high rose bushes was roughly trimmed into the shape of a hedge, and beyond that was a park. The werewolves incorporated nature among their buildings and took the natural landscape into account when they were planning the town, Grant had told her. They also liked as much tree cover as possible everywhere, for privacy’s sake.
Grant was sitting on a bench by the fountain, looking at a picture, lost to the world. As he sat there, Austin walked up to him and tried to grab the picture from his hand. Grant glanced up and quickly tried to put the picture away. Austin grabbed at it again.
Grant leaped to his feet, snarling, and the two men lunged at each other. As they fell to the ground, wrestling, the picture flew out of Grant’s hand and landed in the begonias. Taylor walked over and grabbed it.
The two men broke apart, swearing at each other, and climbed to their feet, brushing dirt and mulch off their clothing. Austin tried to snatch the picture from Taylor, but she dodged him and handed it back to Grant, who quickly tucked it back in his wallet.
“Grant’s got a secret,” Austin crooned in a mocking voice.
“Austin, I think your diaper’s on too tight. You seem a little cranky today,” Taylor said sweetly.
“Oh, impressive. Back in pre-school, that really would have stung. Did you stand there and practice it in front of a mirror?” Austin growled. He turned and walked off.
Grant sighed, then focused his attention on Taylor. He turned on his dazzling smile and seductive gaze, like flipping a switch. “Austin doesn’t appreciate a beautiful woman. I, on the other hand—” Grant started, but Taylor cut him off.
“Don’t. It doesn’t work on me.”
“Because you only have eyes for my brother. Your loss. If you ever change your mind, you know where to find me.” Grant winked at her.
“Just out of curiosity, if I said yes, would you actually cheat with your brother’s intended mate?”
Grant looked at her with interest. “Why? You coming around?”
She snorted. “No, I’m just trying to figure out exactly how much of a douche you are.”
“Only one way to find out. I’ll rock your world, princess.”
“Gag me.”
“So that’s on the table too? Kinky. My brother’s a lucky man.”
Taylor shook her head. “I’m going to leave now, but please, don’t let that discourage you. I think there’s a lamppost down the street that you haven’t hit on yet.”
She turned to go.
Then she glanced back at him. “Oh, and Grant?”
“Yes?”
“The girl in the picture – she’s lovely.” She had been very lovely. Straight, shiny brown hair, a spray of freckles on her nose. She looked like a corn-fed country girl; she might not draw glances on the street, but her beauty shone from within. The complete opposite of the type of over-made-up, over-inflated woman that Grant always had hanging on his arm.
She saw a flash of immense sorrow in Grant’s eyes for a fraction of a second. Then his face smoothed out. For once he didn’t have a flirty comeback. He just turned and walked off without a word.
Who was the beautiful girl? Taylor wondered. Was she dead? Or had she dumped Grant? Seemed hard to fathom – everybody except Taylor seemed to melt into a puddle of lust when they met him.
With a sigh, she headed back towards Main Street, only to be stopped by a loud, angry voice coming from behind the hedge.
Jerrold.
“Did I ask your opinion?” Jerrold barked.
“No, Jerrold.” That was Leota’s voice. Meek. Frightened.
Taylor looked through the hedge. Jerrold was towering over a cringing Leota. Standing nearby, arms folded, impassive, was one of Jerrold’s men, Rusty.
“Do I ever ask your opinion?” Jerrold barked at her.
“No, Jerrold.”
“Damn straight! So don’t speak until you’re spoken to!” Jerrold cuffed the side of Leota’s head. She let out a whimper, but didn’t budge from where she stood.
That was it. She was going to punch a wolf today.
Taylor started to push her way through the hedge. Suddenly, a hand clamped over her mouth and she was yanked backwards. She struggled and fell onto the grass.
“Taylor, be quiet. They’re leaving now. Just let them go.” It was Grant. Grant had grabbed her and was pinning her to the ground.
Then she heard furious footsteps pounding on the sidewalk. Cliff was running towards her, holding her cell phone in his hand, face flushed with rage as he looked at Grant lying on the ground tangled up with her.
“What the hell is going on here?” he shouted.
She shoved Grant off her and rolled away. Before she could say anything, Cliff shifted and lunged at Grant.