Already Freakn' Mated (10 page)

*

Almost caught kissing the handyman, Jiao found she couldn’t muster enough emotion to care. How could she when her whole being still burned? Wanted to say to hell with her cover as Jill, the married woman. One taste. One touch, and she was ready to risk it all.

Jiao’s thoughts were chaotic. Fragmented. Ever since her kiss with Chris, she couldn’t seem to gather her wits. The arrival of her brother should have thrown an immediate damper on her feelings when the ball in the face as a cover didn’t. Nope. Nothing it seemed could extinguish the fire burning inside her.

Totally, utterly insane. Yet exciting. She could no longer deny Chris was her mate.
Mine. Mine. Mine.
A wonderful revelation, but one she couldn’t act on.

That freakn’ sucked.

Sitting at a table, one of the many set up outside in the backyard under a white tent for the Thanksgiving feast, she locked her feet under her chair and fisted the tablecloth lest she stand up and go to where she belonged. Chris’s lap. Or arms. Or bed. She didn’t seem to care at this point.

Only a thin thread of sanity and self-preservation kept her glued to her seat, that and her glowering brother beside her. Any wrong move on her part and he’d have them packed up and gone before the day was through. It behooved her to behave. Yes, she might have won the battle to stay and enjoy the meal, but she’d hear about it later, and despite the clamor of her cat, she wouldn’t escape Sheng’s sharp eyes or presence any more this day.

It made her want to scream in frustration.

So unfair. I finally find my mate
,
t
he man meant for me
,
b
ut I can’t have him because my brother, who is my husband, says I have to stay a virgin.
It sounded like a topic for Jerry Springer.

Annoyed, she would have eaten in sullen silence, unwilling to talk to her brother unless it was to beg him to end the charade, but Chris didn’t exaggerate about his family. They didn’t have any boundaries when it came to personal space and privacy. They also owned as much curiosity as her cat.

A good looking, long haired brunette sat down across from Jiao flanked by an extremely large man carrying a baby dressed in pink on one side, and a tanned Latino type holding another baby on the other.

Sharp eyes took her in. “Hello. I don’t think we’ve met,” the brunette said. “I’m Naomi. Daughter of the folks hosting this thing and these are my mates, Ethan and Javier. And their precious bundles are Mark and Melanie.”

Two mates? How fascinating. Exactly how did that work? Maybe not the best question to ask of a stranger. “I’m Jill, and this is Jack.” Yeah, Jiao omitted the husband part. She didn’t think she could say it aloud without sounding ready to file for divorce.

“You’re the couple Chris is working for.”

“He spoke of us?” Jack asked sharply as he tuned into the conversation.

“Not exactly. I’m his accountant, so he sends me all his contracts and receipts so I can keep his taxes and business stuff in order.”

“Oh. I see.” The tension in Sheng’s body eased.

“Best money woman around,” Gina announced flouncing into the seat across from Sheng. “I trust her with all my finances.”

“It’s an easy job since Gina doesn’t have any money, just a gift for spending,” Naomi remarked dryly.

“It’s a family trait,” Javier confided with a grin, not even flinching when his mate elbowed him in the ribs.

“Says the man who keeps buying stuffed animals every time he sees one,” Ethan rumbled.

“So shoot me for spoiling my babies.”

“Does anyone have a gun?” Naomi asked, a smile hovering on her lips.

The only one who didn’t laugh was – guess who – Sheng. The look of confusion on his face as he followed the playful banter made something ache inside Jiao. Had their captivity and subsequent hiding damaged him so much that he no longer recalled how families acted with each other? Did he not recognize happiness when he saw it?

“So what brings you to town?” Naomi asked.

Using the answer they’d rehearsed, her brother replied. “We decided on a change of scenery.”

“And weather.” Jiao jumped in, improvising as Sheng’s short answer seemed to leave them with more questions in their eyes. “We used to live out west on the coast where it rarely snows. I can’t wait to experience my first real winter.” A lie. She knew exactly what snow felt like. Loved playing in it. But, having lived in Vancouver for a while where the season went from warm and wet to cold and wet, the lie wasn’t too far from the truth. She had missed the fluffy ice crystals.

“You came to the right place then. Ottawa gets its fair share of the white stuff,” Gina said with a shudder.

“You’ll love it. When the canal freezes over, you get to skate on it, which is a total blast,” Naomi replied.

“She doesn’t skate.”

No one paid attention to Sheng. Babbling and talking about the things they could show her, and Sheng, if he ever stopped scowling long enough to let anyone get close to him.

From time to time, as the conversation and laughter flowed, she’d peek over at Chris who sat with a redhead and a few men, both of whom seemed somehow familiar. Was one of them Chris’s brother? They seemed to share some of the same facial features. While Chris didn’t come over to join them, his intense gaze whenever their eyes met screamed how much he wanted to. She didn’t know whether to thank him for his tact in not actively pursuing her in front of her husband, or to take him to task for not even trying. As for herself? She hated that he kept himself so far away.

But only for now. Starting tonight, she’d work on Sheng, and his obstinate stance. Convince him it was time to get on with their lives. Once she got her brother to drop the ruse once and for all, the wolf wouldn’t stand a chance. Her cat would make sure of it. Meow!

Hours later, dinner over and done with, most of the family departed for their own homes, his mate whisked away by her cold fish of a husband, Chris could finally relax and think back on the magical moment in the basement.

She kissed me!

And he finally understood why some romance novels said it was like fireworks going off. He’d never expected the tumultuous reaction, the wild, almost untamed urgency of the embrace, but damn, what a rush. Only one problem though. Now, he wanted Jill more than ever, but the same problem stood in his way. Jack. The husband that even Jill seemed to barely tolerate. A guy who brought new definition to the term antisocial. A man who got to go home with the woman Chris wanted.

Yeah, that freakn’ sucked. He couldn’t help wondering what happened when the pair got home. Did Jack exert his rights as the husband? Did he even now touch the body Chris thought of as his? Did Jill close her eyes and pretend it was Chris?

Why couldn’t he stop torturing himself? As if sensing his inner turmoil, his mother gave him a clean-up task.

Stuck with kitchen duty, Chris washed while Naomi dried. Odd, because of late she usually used the excuse that she needed to care for her babies as her reason not to help. More annoying, their mother let her get away with it.

Women! They were always in cahoots.

Take earlier, during dinner for example. His sister took Jill in hand, stealing her from her dullard of a husband and tugging her around, talking animatedly. The occasional tinkle of laughter by Jill, a mirth he’d not yet inspired, rang out. Each time Jill giggled, Chris sported a boner, which really sucked when he got caught by his Aunt Matilda who unfortunately noticed and smirked, saying, ‘Randy pup.’

Still though, while torturous, he’d enjoyed seeing his woman –
yes mine,
despite whose ring she wore – getting to know his family, and even better, the instant way she blended in. Even his cousin Gina seemed to like her, her ribald laughter ringing out loud and often, which brought an amusing wince to Jack’s face, each and every time.

Someone should give the guy some Mary Jane laced brownies. Anything to lighten him up.

Mind whirling with thoughts of his mate – and ways to rid himself of the obstacle in his way – he’d not noted the heavy silence between him and his sister as they did the dishes. But Naomi did.

“What’s got you so quiet?”

Startled from his musings, he shot her a quick glance. “Me? Nothing. Just, um, tired. Yeah. It was a long day, you know, helping ma clean. And stuff.” It sounded lame, even to him.

Judging by Naomi’s snort, maybe he should have omitted the last part. “Here I thought Stu was the comedian in the family. So are you going to tell me what’s up?”

“I have no idea what you mean.”

“Oh please. I’m not blind and if it’s any consolation, I don’t think she’s happily married,”

The dish slipped from Chris’s grip and splashed in the soapy water. “Excuse me? What are you talking about?”

“Jill, of course. I don’t think she and that Jack fellow are mated or all that happy with each other. I think you should go for it.”

“I don’t have a thing for Jill,” he lied.

“Oh please. Mom already told me.”

Dammit! “She what? I thought it was a secret.”

Naomi shook her head. “You have met our mother, right? Born a meddler. Or have you forgotten she got my mates to drug me so they could slip under my guard and seduce me, the jerks.”

“I heard that,” Javier yelled.

“Love you too,” she hollered back. A glare in Chris’s direction made him halt the gagging noise.

“Someone kill me now,” he joked. In truth, he thought it great his prickly sister found a pair of men to love, even if Chris couldn’t beat them in a sport, the pricks.

“The husband might put you out of your misery if he catches you putting the moves on his wife.”

“She’s my mate though.”

“So you’d better get him to start liking you if you intend to be part of their lives. Or are you going to be like Mitchell and fight the other man in her life and make her miserable?”

A violent shake of his head accompanied his horrified. “No way. You seem to have gotten the wrong idea. I am not getting into a threesome. It’s not my thing. At all. I just have to find a way to get her to leave the asshat.”

“You know it would be a lot easier if you just unwound your morals long enough to accept she already has a man in her life and joined in.”

“I don’t share.”

“And yet sharing is so much fun,” Ethan rumbled as he came into the kitchen with steps more silent than a man his size should have managed.

“It is,” Naomi giggled, tilting her head back for a kiss.

“Oh gag me with a spoon. Just because you and your jocks like to get your freak on in a naked pretzel, which I really prefer not to think about lest I get nightmares, doesn’t mean all of us do.”

“Want me to hold him so you can hit him?” Ethan asked his mate.

“Nah. I’m still older than him and can kick his ass if I need to without any help.”

“You wish,” Chris taunted.

Of course, the problem with daring his sister was she usually acted which was how he ended up on his ass on the floor while Ethan shook with laughter.

“If you weren’t a girl…” Chris growled.

“I’d hurt you even more,” she sassed back. “Now stop avoiding the question. You want this Jill girl. Who by the way, I can’t believe is married to a Jack. What, did they meet tumbling down a hill?”

“So I’m not the only one that thinks it’s weird?” Chris asked picking himself up off the floor.

“What’s weird?” Gina asked wandering into the kitchen and hopping up onto the island.

“Jack and Jill.”

“Went up the hill.”

Naomi laughed. “We know that part. What we want to know is, what are the odds of them being married?”

Gina popped a cherry tomato in her mouth from the remnants of a vegetable tray before answering. “It does seem kind of odd. I mean, here you have two obviously Asian folks, with accents, bearing extremely English names, and not just any names, but a pair from a nursery rhyme.”

“What are you implying?” Chris asked, hackles up in defense of the woman he wanted as mate.

A shrug lifted Gina’s shoulders. “Nothing. It’s just odd. Do we know anything about them?”

“They’re new to the area.”

“From Vancouver,” Ethan added. “Or so she said.”

“Do you know anything else? Did the guy drop anything about their past when he hired you?”

It was Chris’s turn to shrug. “Nope. He’s as tightlipped as they come. But I do know she has a brother, Sheng, I think she called him.” Which was decidedly Asian in origin. Odder and odder.

“It’s a start.”

“Start to what? What are you going to do?” Chris asked.

“Me? What makes you think I’m going to do anything?” Gina asked with patently false wide eyes.

“G-i-n-a!” Before he could go after her and make her promise to stay out of Jill’s affairs, which in turn were his affairs, his mother hollered, “I don’t hear the sound of dishes being washed!” The mild observation in itself wouldn’t have stopped him from putting Gina in a headlock, but the following announcement did. “If you guys are done washing, then there are a pair of poopy diapers looking for a change.”

Despite the crowded conditions, Chris, Gina, Naomi and Ethan squeezed and jostled to grab a dish to scrub or dry. Wrinkly fingers were a much better prospect than the smell that came out of his niece and nephews bottoms.

“Someone has rotten breastmilk,” Chris hissed, just to annoy his sister.

“And someone might need to invest in lube,” she replied.

Yeah, his sphincter tightened in response. “Delicate freakn’ flower my ass,” he muttered darkly.

Sheng no sooner slammed the front door shut than he let loose his frustration – most of it not caused by his sister but a certain dark haired temptress. But since he couldn’t give Gina what she deserved – a naked tongue lashing – he ranted at Jiao instead for getting him in to his current emotional mess.

“What the hell were you thinking?”

“You’ll have to explain because I’m sure I don’t know what you mean,” Jiao calmly stated as she kicked off her shoes.

“Going off with that wolf. Do you know how that looked?”

“Yeah, it looked like the son of the host, who happens to work for us, wanted to show me an example of his work.”

“Alone? Without your husband? It was completely inappropriate and you know it.”

“Maybe in medieval times,” she shouted back, losing her temper in the face of his own.

“People won’t believe we’re married if you act like a she-cat in heat.”

“Oh, you did not just say that,” she growled. “Especially considering you’re covered in the scent of that wolf, Gina. What did you do? Roll yourself all over her?”

No, but he sure as hell wanted to. “She’s the one who was all over me.”

“So it’s okay for you to socialize with a woman and let her mark you with her scent, but I’m not allowed? I’m sorry, did you want me to start bowing and scraping too while we’re in public? Maybe following you three feet behind like a good little geisha?”

He blew out a noisy sigh. “That’s not what I’m saying.”

“Funny, it’s what I hear. Do as I say Jiao and not as I do. God, I am so tired of this charade.”

“We need –”

Eyes flashing, she held up her hand to stop him. “Don’t you dare say it one more time. I really don’t freakn’ care anymore whether this fake marriage is for my own good or not. For the first time in a long time, I had fun tonight. Do you hear me? Fun. I made friends. It felt great. Despite your constant scowl, they want to have lunch with me and maybe go shopping.”

“I don’t think that’s wise.”

“How did I know you’d say that? Gee, what a surprise, you’re already trying to ruin my new friendships. Trying to make me feel guilty for acting normal. Did it ever occur to you that your behavior is what sets us apart and gets us noticed? Because it’s so normal for married couples to ignore their neighbors and shun attempts to get to know them. Why not stick a big sign on our house that screams this couple wants to be left alone because they have a secret? Better yet, get your forehead tattooed with something to the effect that your antisocial behavior is a ploy hide your true identity. Your attitude is what’s making us stick out like sore thumbs.”

“You’re wrong. I…” Sheng trailed off, because he realized he didn’t have an answer for her accusation. For some reason, her observation struck him. In his quest to keep them under radar, had he inadvertently brought them more attention? In a close knit community of shifters, would a pair who rejected contact and friendship stand out? The answer deflated him. “I’m sorry,
jiâ z
ǐ
. Much as it pains me to admit, you might be right. It’s so hard for me to trust. I worry that we will be discovered. Worry that we will befriend the wrong person.”

“But wouldn’t knowing the people around us help instead of hinder? If we had friends, people we could count on, wouldn’t they help keep us safe? You can’t do it alone forever, Sheng.”

“I know. But what if we choose wrong? What if the person we confide in betrays us?” What if he let down his guard and Jiao got hurt?

“What if I cross the street and get hit by bus? Or the sky falls? Risk is all around us, Sheng, and yet, people still manage to live and have fun.”

“But those people don’t have a madman determined to get them back.”

“Or so you assume. Come on, Sheng. Kaleb won’t look forever, so you’re going to have to lose that excuse eventually. What’s the real reason? Is it because you’re scared? Have we hidden from the real world so long that you fear it?”

Sinking onto the sofa, Sheng cradled his face in hands. Had Jiao stumbled on something? Did he fear losing the safety of the small world he’d created with Jiao? He’d lost everything – his old life, his parents, his naïve belief that everything would turn out all right. Could he stand to lose the one thing, the one person, he had left to love? He’d die if that happened. But it seemed cowardly to admit it aloud. “I don’t know. Maybe. It’s been so long since I’ve allowed myself to trust anyone other than you and Patricia.” And it took him a while before he believed the shifter who offered them her aide had their best interest at heart.

“What’s it going to take for you to let go of the past? To believe we can live our lives in freedom. I’m not willing to wait forever.”

And neither was he, but did he dare risk Jiao’s life because she chafed at their fake marriage? “I’m meeting with Patricia on Thursday. Let me talk to her and see if she’s heard anything about Kaleb, or seen anything suspicious pop up on her reports for the area.” He’d also get her to run background checks on the Grayson family who seemed to have too much interest in his sister.

“Thank you. I promise it will be okay. We’ll be okay.” Jiao hugged him, squeezing him tight, and he closed his eyes.

I want to end this constant fear too,
jiâ z
ǐ
.
And not just because of the dark haired wolf in a short skirt who made his cat rumble. It was time to face the future instead of running from their past. Jiao said it best:
It’s time to live.