Aaron's Kiss Series Boxed Set (Books 1 - 7) (117 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

She wanted to hide, but knew that she couldn’t. She also knew that it was him, the man from the phone, the one who had said he’d come for her. When he couldn’t find her, he had punished someone else.

Alastriona got up and made the bed. It took her nearly fifteen minutes because it was so big and they had made a royal mess of it. As soon as she was finished, she went into the bathroom.

It was huge! Along with all the normal bathroom needs there was a shower stall that would easily hold four people with jets at two levels and overhead. The thing she thought she’d enjoy the most was a deep, sunken bath tub. The tub was surrounded with a large shelf that was filled with ferns and unlit candles in silver and glass holders. One whole wall was glass blocks that would let the light in during the day. Overhead and centered over the tub was a skylight. It was still dark enough that the moon and stars were visible in it. Sighing heavily, she turned on the shower. Using his things felt very personal and intimate. Trying not to dwell on that too much, she hurriedly washed her hair and her body and was drying off in record time. Finding her clothes proved to be futile.

After looking for a good thirty minutes, she finally had to open one of his drawers and wear a shirt of his. There were only white t-shirts in any of the drawers, and being a female with large breasts, she knew that white and her darker nipples just wouldn’t…well, it just wouldn’t. Going through another drawer, she found several pair of boxer shorts and finding the smallest-looking ones she could, slipped them on. Next, she went to the closet. She didn’t want to wear one of his nice shirts, but that was all she could find.
He must not ever wear fun clothes,
she thought. Too bad, a very tight tee and some equally fitting jeans made her mouth water just thinking about it. After pulling on a pair of his socks, she went downstairs.

The house was bigger than she thought and she wandered about the main floor for a few minutes before she heard the voices. Following them, she ended up in the kitchen where several other women were. They all stopped talking and turned to stare when she opened the door.

“Hello, I was wondering where my clothes might be?” The quietness of the room was loud and overwhelming.

A pretty, very pregnant woman came to stand before her and then dropped to her knees. And started rubbing her neck against her leg.

“I’m so sorry, mistress, I forgot them. The alpha said to wash them and have them back in your rooms as soon as possible, but I was…I have no excuse. Please forgive me?”

“What are you doing? Get up! I can do my own friggin’ laundry. Here, let me help you.” Alastriona leaned over to help the woman up to her feet. She had been shocked when she dropped like that. Guiding her to a chair, she helped her sit down. Pulling out another chair, she picked her legs up and sat them gently on the seat. She looked around the room and noticed the look of amazement on the other faces, but barely registered it. “What’s your name, please?” She nodded to a woman about her age.

“Megan Sheppard, mistress,” the girl answered. Alastriona saw her back up several tiny steps as she answered.
And I thought I was timid,
she thought.

“Megan, could you please get me a large bucket? And stop calling me mistress; it’s just Airic, or Alastriona, but I prefer Airic.” She watched curiously as Megan looked quickly to the older woman in the group and with her small nod, left to get the bucket, she hoped. “My mother carried my little brother…my little brother Jacob in the summer. He would have been eighteen this year.” Airic moved to the sink and turned on the cold water tap. She stared out the window over the sink and continued. “I’m sorry, I was drifting. She had swollen feet and legs like you do. The doctor was forever telling her to sit down and put her feet up, but her hips hurt doing that. My dad is, err was an engineer and he watched her struggle with it. He searched on the Web for over a week on what could help her. Then one day, he tried cold water. He had her soak her feet and ankles in cold water. Thank you.” Megan had brought the bucket and she began to fill it with the cold running water. When the bucket was about half full, she carried it over to the young woman and had her plunge her feet into it. She grinned when the girl sighed.

“That does feel good. Oh so very good. Thank you, mis…Airic.” It was then that she realized she didn’t know her name.

“You’re very welcome. What’s your name and when are you due?” Airic wanted to touch the mound at her belly, but knew that some women found that to be an intrusion into their personal space. Nor would she ask her.

“Donna Wolff, and I’m due in three weeks. I’m David Wolff’s mate.” She said that as if Airic should know, but she didn’t comment. She didn’t know any of them and would most likely be gone in a few hours anyway. Maybe forever if that man found her. “Would you like to feel him?”

Airic looked at the woman and nodded. She couldn’t form any words; her throat had locked up. Stretching out her shaking hand and let Donna take it and place it over her baby. The kick startled her, and when it seemed to roll under her hand seconds later, Donna laughed.

“Doesn’t that hurt?” She felt her face blaze hot with embarrassment. And she went to pull her hand away, but Donna only held it tighter to her.

“No, it doesn’t hurt. It feels great to know there’s life inside of me. You’ll have your own soon enough, a son for the alpha.”

Airic jerked away and stood. A son. That man had said she would have his sons, many sons. He had hurt a woman, probably killed her because of her. She backed to the wall and stared at them all. What if he came here? She noticed then that there were several pregnant women in the room, about three more.

“I have to go. He’ll come…my clothes, where…where is the laundry room?” She was hyperventilating now, and she was dizzy. Holding on to the counter, she moved to the door and outside. Run, she had to run away. There was no way she would let that man come here.

“Alastriona, Alastriona, listen to me. Stop right now. Damn it, girl, I’m too old to have to shift and run after you, but I will.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

“He’ll come here, that man. He’ll find me here and hurt those nice women. I have to go, leave. I…my home. I’ll go to my home.” Airic stopped and let the older woman catch up to her, but she still moved backwards and away from her.

“And what do you think will happen if you go home? Do you think that he will happily take you into his arms and love you? And what do you think Bradley will do when he finds you missing from here? Do you think he’ll just let you go, not come after you and bring you back here?”

She glared at the woman. What was it any of her business anyway? “I’m my own person. And do you think I care what he’d do to me over what I have seen? What he could do to those women in there, or those children they carry? Bradley? He said that I’m his responsibility because I’m in his territory, nothing more. Well that’s easily remedied, isn’t it? I can throw anywhere.” Airic looked longingly at the trees. Whenever she got upset, for some reason, walking in the trees soothed her. She turned back to the older woman.

“I can’t let you run, Airic. Bradley’s my grandson and my alpha. Letting you run away would tear him apart. You must know that. He has looked a long time for you, and now that he’s found you, he won’t let you go that easily. None of his people will. Not now.” She had wrapped her arm around Airic’s waist and was guiding her to a group of chairs that were set up around a large in-ground pool.

“Look, I’m not sure what you think is going on between us, but it isn’t permanent. I mean he…that is, we haven’t…I’m just someone he wants to have…sex, that’s all it is, just sex. I’m sure that he’d have no problem getting anyone, and I mean anyone, to sleep with him. The couple of times we’ve almost…you know, he seems to know his way around a body pretty well, so there’d be no complaints about that. But I have to go home. I’m…you know not experienced enough to keep someone like him happy.” Airic looked at the woman and saw that she was shaking with laughter. Frowning, she started at her. “What the hell…heck is so funny?”

Laughter burst from her then. She had to lean forward and hold her belly she was laughing so hard. Airic watched her and never said a word. These people are nuts, certifiable.

“Oh God, child, you are too much. You will talk about having sex with my grandson with me, but you won’t cuss. That’s just too funny. Oh my, I don’t believe I’ve laughed that hard in a coon’s age.” Airic watched Mrs. Wolff wipe tears from her cheeks and sighed.

“I didn’t say we had sex, I said he was good with a body. And my mother would have tanned my butt but good if I’d cursed in front of an elder.” She sat there for several minutes and looked over the pool. The water looked so smooth, she thought, smooth like Bradley’s body sliding against hers. She sat up suddenly. Thoughts like that were not going to help her get home.

“You don’t know what you are, do you, love?” Seeming to have gotten control of herself again, Mrs. Wolff leaned back and looked at her.

“I’m an animal. That wolf, the one that attacked that woman tonight, he’s a werewolf too. He hurt her because he couldn’t find me. He’ll keep hurting until he gets what he feels is his. Me.” She didn’t want to see the certain blame in her eyes, so Airic kept looking at the water.

“Probably. Do you know who he is? If so, then you could help them find him and punish him by telling Bradley. The men who left here tonight, they’ll search until they find her, if that’s what worries you. But you don’t think they’ll find her alive, do you?” Mrs. Wolff asked her.

“No. They won’t. When those men had me in that cave, they brought in another woman. She was very young and she screamed continuously. They told me that the master had told them they were not to touch me, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t touch others. The bigger one said that I had to watch them while they played, I had to be prepared, he had told me. He raped her first while the others held me still. Then they took turns with her, holding me so that I could see what they did to her. Then when they finished, they tore her in two, literally ripped her in half and tossed her beside me. She laid there for a whole day before they took her body away.” She looked at her now, turning in her seat. “He’ll not stop. I don’t know why I know that, but I do. He said that he wanted me and that was reason enough to kill my family. He still thinks he owns me now because he created me. I’ll talk to Bradley when he returns, but I won’t stay.” Airic stood then and walked back to the house. She felt Mrs. Wolff following her and held the door open so that she could enter before her. “When the men return, they’ll be tired and hungry. I think we should fix them a big breakfast and have it ready when they get here. Mrs. Wolff, do you know how many men went and maybe give me an idea of what they’ll eat?” Airic pulled out a sheet of paper and began making notes.

***

They found her body four hours after the call from David. It had taken them longer because when he shifted to carry her off, they had lost his scent and had to backtrack to find another trail. She was dead, as Airic had said she’d be. Her body had been torn at and ripped to pieces. Bradley stood over her as he waited for the others to arrive.

He had already sent six pack members as wolves to follow the two scents out of the cave to see if they could find where he had gone when he left. He didn’t think it would do any good, but he had to try.

He kept thinking about Alastriona and what she had endured at this monster’s hand. She hadn’t been killed, but she would have suffered terribly. She had been in the cave as a captive for six days and nights until Bailey found her. Bailey had told him she had begged to be left there, to tell the others that she hadn’t found her. But of course she hadn’t. Even after almost two years, Bailey said that she could still smell him in the room and on her. She said that Alastriona was extremely strong to have endured what she had.

He moved to the mouth of the cave when he felt David draw near. He was in human form, as were the rest of the pack members. Because of the other officers on his force who where humans, David played the human when he needed to. Bradley and the others did as well. It made for good working relations when they didn’t think of you as a movie-type werewolf.

“Thanks, Bradley, I appreciate the help. Is she dead? Yeah, thought so.” They watched the coroner’s van pull up the hill toward them. “This isn’t going to be good you know?”

“Yeah, I know. We have to find him and soon.” Bradley had already told David about Airic and the phone. He hadn’t had a chance to tell him she was his mate, though. He wasn’t ready to share that yet, just a little nervous about the fact that they still had not mated.

He had dropped off the cell phone to Pete yesterday to have her see what she could find out about it. Pete was a computer whiz and could find out anything legal or illegal about anyone when she set her mind to it. She was also a magical being, a wood nymph, and mated to Dominic, Chief of Security and bodyguard to Aaron.

“So, you gonna tell me about my new alpha bitch, or do I gotta wait and read about it in the monthly newsletter?”

He should have known better, he thought. Wolf grapevine was worse than YouTube when it came to news.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Preparing and cooking breakfast for sixteen hungry werewolves was hard work, Airic thought. Sheesh, why she wanted to make biscuits was beyond her. Martha had been stupefied when she’d asked permission to work beside her. She thought about that as she cut more of the batter into circles.

“I know how to make pretty good biscuits. May I do that, please?” Seemed a reasonable question to her, but the kitchen had done one of those noisy silence things again. Martha, the cook, had looked shocked.

“You are mistress here, and you may do anything you like. This kitchen is yours to command.”

Airic looked around the room and realized that they were waiting for her to get pissy with the woman. Why, she didn’t know, but it seemed a turning point to the morning. “I am only mistress in the studio where I work. I have everything in its place. Everything is where I want it, just how I want it. That is my domain, not here. Would you come in and start throwing a pot or paint just because you’ve done it at home before? No, you’d ask me first, wouldn’t you? This is your area of expertise, Miss Martha. I’m the novice here. And as such, I ask your permission to use your things in your kitchen.” After her nod of approval, Airic set to work. She had also made the tea.

That was another weird stepping point. Mrs. Wolff had asked her if she’d like a glass of iced tea, that she had made a fresh pitcher just today, and when she had said yes, several people had rolled their eyes. When she had taken her first sip, thank God it was only a sip, she gagged.

“Wow, that’s sweet! I can’t possibly drink that; I don’t know how anyone could.” With tears in her eyes, she noticed that it was just her and Mrs. Wolff in the room. Shit! They had cleared out fast!

“Yes, it is incredibly sweet, isn’t it? I’ve been trying for years, and I mean years, to find someone brave enough who would tell me that. I kept making it sweeter and sweeter thinking someone would say, ‘hey, this is awful.’ I hate making it. I hate drinking it. Thank you.” She sat down at the table and started peeling potatoes again.

“Well why didn’t you just tell someone that instead of trying to put them into a sugar coma?” Airic dumped the whole pitcher in the sink and put water on to boil. While that was working, she found the tea bags and counted out what she needed. No sugar, not in her tea. It was always easier to add more than to take away she thought.

“But this was so much more fun. You should see the ways they’ve come up with to dump it. Most of the time it was in that big plant by the dining room, or over the railing when they thought I wasn’t looking. The poor plant had to be transplanted last fall because there was something wrong with the soil, the lady said. Too much sugar byproducts, I would guess.”

Airic couldn’t help it. She leaned over and kissed the woman on her cheek and laughed. One by one, the women returned to the kitchen to resume work.

Airic was still smiling when she felt him. Bradley. He was coming home, err here, she thought. She looked behind her because it had felt as if he had run his fingers down her spine. Closing her eyes, she saw him, running. He was a wolf and coming with the others. When she opened her eyes, Donna was smiling at her.

“Neat, huh? The first time I felt David it damn near made me jump off the ladder I was on. Do you know how long?”

“Maybe thirty minutes…how did you know? I mean, I’ve never…” Airic cut out the last biscuit in the last batch and went to the oven. She was embarrassed and frustrated. He shouldn’t be doing these things to her, she was leaving soon.

“You’re his mate; you’ll always be able to feel him. Especially when he wants you specifically to know he’s coming.” With a pat on her shoulder, Donna waddled away.

What the hell was that supposed to mean? But she didn’t have time to ask. Donna announced that the alpha and men were thirty minutes away and to hop to it.

The kitchen became an artist palate of smells and sounds to her. From the ham and beef cooking, sizzling in the pans, the eggs cracked on the side of the bowl for omelets to the coffee being brewed in the giant urn on the counter. Each woman knew her job and the small sounds of ice tinkling in the glasses to the juicer squeezing oranges, the air perfumed with their sweetness, all came together as a musical telling of love and respect for each other. Airic wished again for her sketch pad and a few minutes to capture the room, but she’d have to wait until she got home to put it to paper.

***

By the time they were less than hundred yards from the house, they could smell the food. Each wolf stopped and sniffed the air; meat, and the sweet smell of other foods cooking scented the very air around them. They took off much faster then, running and romping to the house. Several of the younger wolves nipped at the older ones’ tails and ran when they gave chase. Tumbling and jumping, he thought one would never know what a grizzly discovery they had just made. This is what they needed and he’d have to make sure his grandmother knew how much he appreciated it.

As each wolf shifted, they went to the outdoor showers to clean up and dress. His wolves weren’t very modest, and being naked most of the time didn’t bother them at all, but Bradley had made sure they all knew that there was a stranger in the house and to behave. He hoped that she was up; he wanted them all to meet her.

He felt her the moment he walked into the house. His body hardened in response to her scent. He needed to find her, to touch her. He followed her scent into the kitchen and was almost bowled over by two women coming out with platters of food. He saw her across the room and strode toward her, unmindful of the chaos he was creating in his wake. The master just didn’t come into the kitchen at meal times.

He watched her hand the bowl of food to the woman standing next to her and come toward him, never breaking eye contact with him. When he reached her, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her, devoured her, tasted her. Both of them forgot about the room full of people and the dining room full of more.

He pulled her tight against him, loving the feel of her warmth and strength. She opened her mouth beneath his and he swept his tongue inside her sweet heat, tasting the honey she’d just eaten. When he felt the tug at his arm, he slapped out at it. When it continued to pull and yank, he turned to snarl at the nuisance. Grandda.

“Go away. I’m busy.” He growled at the older man. And was turning back to kiss her again when he felt him pull again. “I mean it, old man, go away.”

“Bradley, my boy, you need to let the little girl go so she can feed the others too. If you stay in this kitchen kissing her, then the rest of the food won’t get served.” Bradley looked at the now vacant kitchen with all the serving platters and bowls just sitting ready to be taken in the other room. With a sigh of regret, he let her go, but not without another quick kiss and a promised “later” did he walk away, grabbing a platter and taking it with him.