Authors: Debra Smith
Her gaze drifted to Clint’s deadly posture. His muscles bunched under the cotton of his shirt
, reminding her of a feline. Even though she would never tell him, so she wouldn’t insult his canine pride. He crouched by the door, waiting for his prey.
With her shifter hearing she did her best to interpret the sounds coming from the other room. The hinges of the door softly rubbed against each other
then the sound of a scuffle had her tempted to peer down the hall to get a peek. What sounded like plates crashed to the floor, and the sound of glass shattering mixed with grunts and curses followed by a female voice.
“What in the world are you doing in my house?”
“God damn it, female, get that steak knife away from my throat.”
“Jesse!” Clara pushed past a grinning Clint and made tracks for the kitchen.
“Lord, child, I didn’t expect you till tomorrow.”
Before fo
llowing the others Alex remembered the photo of the beautiful woman next to Clint in the picture on his dresser. Gorgeous didn’t begin to describe the woman. Alex’s eyebrows drew together, and she shrugged away her thoughts. She didn’t have a claim to Clint so why were her claws digging into her palms?
Despite her confusion, she couldn’t help the grin spilling across her face. Plates that had once been full of uneaten food now decorate
d the floor in the form of a messed-up puzzle. Several pounds of meat lay at the feet of Jesse and a fuming Kane. She still held his hand in what must be an aching position with a steak knife pressed firmly into his neck directly above the major artery running just beneath the skin. One false move and Kane would meet his maker. Alex briefly wondered who would claim the cursed shifter, God or the Devil?
The woman stood seeming completely unaffected by the huge male at the tips of her fingers. Alex took in Kane’s face. She guessed he was handsome in his own dark, bad boy sort of way. His face reminded her of a marble sculpture
—all hard lines but mostly unmoving. Except for now. He scowled at Clint but made no move to disarm Jesse.
“Jesse May Jones, let go of the man and give me a hug.”
She did as he asked and skipped, literally skipped over to Clint, threw herself into his arms and wrapped her entire body around him as he lifted her off the ground and spun her around. Alex was going to puke.
“Careful
, Little Cat, your fangs are showing.”
“Shut up
, Kane. At least I didn’t get caught off guard by a human.”
He made no
excuse but shrugged his shoulder as if it didn’t bother him, but she could tell his demeanor was off a little.
~****~
Clint’s heart warmed as familiar laughter filled his ears. Home. He noticed the Little Cat’s face sharpen in what he hoped was jealousy. He gave Jesse a little twirl to spark a more feeling from the woman invading his senses. Her taste lingered on his lips from the kiss in his cabin even after he tried overwhelming her sweetness with his Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Nothing diluted the way she filled his body. Even now the scent of her anger made him want to take her to the barn and make her purr with the pleasure only he could bring to her.
Frankly the feelings toward her stuck in his
muzzle. If he knew kissing her would do this to him, he would have braved the coming explosion of his cabin. Even that had to be better than the constant ache behind his ribs.
Focusing on the bouncing girl in his arms he sat her down and looked her up and down. Not sexual
ly but like a big brother would his little sister.
“Wow, you sure have
grown, darlin’.”
“Well, what do you expect? It has been forever since you’ve been home. You seem to forget I’m not all pigtails and freckles anymore.”
Clara cut in. “I can’t believe we’re all here. I’m gonna make some campfire chili and some honey’d cornbread for supper.”
The redhead placed her hands on her hips and tapped her foot. “You know I don’t eat that stuff.”
“Yeah,” Clara shook her head, “I know you’re a vegetarian, but I keep hopin’ some of the sense God gave ya would change your mind.”
Everything was the same. Jesse still detested meat
, and Clara still tried to get her to eat it.
“Don’t worry, I stopped at the store in Casper and grabbed what I needed. Lord knows, your definition of a vegetable is different than mine.”
“Thank goodness.” Alex’s face turned a pretty pink. “I mean that I’ve been craving some fresh fruit and veggies.”
Clint started to laugh but faked a cough in a pathetic attempt to cover it up.
“See, Momma, I’m not the only one that likes a little variety.”
“What? I serve potatoes at every meal. It’s a vegetable.”
Jesse shook her head and regarded Clint. “Come help me get the groceries out of the car.”
His shifter hearing picked up a slight rumble in the direction of the little hell cat. She was growling—how fascinating.
“Sure darlin’, I’d be happy to help.”
The rumble grew a little louder as he threw his arm around Jesse’s shoulders and led her through the door to the front of the house and her waiting pickup.
Once out of the view of the kitchen windows, she pushed his arm off her and punched him in the chest.
“
Ow, that hurt.”
She shook out he
r hand and glared at him. “You’re just plain mean. She likes you.”
He lifted his shoulder
. “Naw, couldn’t be.”
“Yeah, okay. Men are idiots. Quit grinning like a baboon and grab the two bags from the back
seat.”
“Man, city life sure has made you bossy.”
She scowled at him then flashed him her famous grin.” Don’t you forget it.”
Opening the rear door of the car he pulled out the groceries
, manhandling the overfull bags.
“So, what kind of trouble are you in this time?”
She grinned mischievously.
“Trouble? I’m not in any kind of trouble.”
She snorted. “Sure, the only time you come home is when you’ve got trouble nipping at your heels like a pack of coyotes.”
Coyotes no, but jackals? That hit a little closer to home. But he wasn’t about to tell her that. Before he could muster an argument, she continued. “Last time you came home, you had to get away from that clingy brunette…Cindy. Yep, that was her name. Little spitfire, that one. Didn’t she shoot you?”
“No
, she didn’t shoot me. She shot in the general direction of my person.”
“How do you sleep at night?”
“Very well, thanks for inquiring?”
Laughter bubbled out of her. He had a sneaking suspicion it was directed at him, not with him.
“So since you are not in trouble I can hang around and get to know that fellow you brought with you. What’s his name anyway?”
“It’s Kane and no
, you can’t,” he growled. “He’s bad news.”
“Can’t be that bad if you brought him here.”
“I didn’t have choice. I had to get away from—”
“I thought you said you weren’t in trouble. Sounds like trouble to me. Don’t you growl at me, Clint. You’ve been doing since we were kids, and it isn’t any more appealing now that we’re grown.”
“Sorry.”
“So tell me about the pretty little city girl in the house.”
“Not much to tell.” He hated not being able to share everything with her, but because she w
as human he had no other choice but to lie. It sat sour in his stomach like rotten meat.
“I’m looking after her till Gryph and Jenny
get home from their honeymoon.”
She paused for a moment and gave him a slight nod.
“Let’s get these inside.”
“Sure, but there’s one thing I need you to do for me. I want you to go stay at your cabin.”
“W-what cabin?”
“Don’t play coy with me. I know you have your own place. Why haven’t you told us about it yet?”
“I didn’t want Momma to get upset. She almost had a heart attack when I left for school. Could you imagine what would happen if I told her I was moving out for good?”
“She’s stronger than you think.”
“Yeah, well I don’t want her life in my hands. And if you say anything before I’m ready then I will tell her whose naughty magazines were found in the trash. To this day she still thinks they were from one of the seasonal hands on the ranch.”
“You wouldn’t break her heart like that
, would you?”
“Try me.”
“Good Lord, woman, you sure are mean.”
Alex had to admit sitting around a huge fireplace, drinking homemade apple cider, and laughing at baby pictures of a gangly, awkward Clint took first place for one of the best nights of her life.
Clara’s smile lit up the room as she handed an
other compromising picture to Alex for her viewing pleasure.
Clint whined from across the room, “Not that one. I thought I burned the final copy last time I came home. How the heck do they keep showing up?”
Alex gazed to the innocent-looking redhead and would put money on the fact she had something to do with it. Confirming her suspicion, Jesse gave her a subtle wink. The girl was growing on her. She envied the easy relationship between the two.
“It
must have been fun to grow up on the ranch together.”
“It was
.” Jesse beamed. “Even though we aren’t blood, it didn’t stop us from acting like it.”
Her full attention fell to the picture.
Holy chicken legs, Batman
. She covered her mouth to contain the escaping laughter. The photo captured an awkward, skinny, pre-teen Clint with and oversized cowboy hat on his head. That wasn’t the funny part. The Stetson pushed his ears out, rivaling Dumbo in comparison. Then on top of that, he sported a goofy grin with a missing tooth. A sturdy-looking horse stood beside him with bits of hay sticking out of its muzzle.
She nodded to Jesse
. “Do you have any more of these?”
“I sure do.”
“Good, I would like to keep this one.”
“Sure
, help yourself.”
Yep, they
were going be great friends. Even if everything with her family went south and the queen couldn’t help her. She would keep in contact with Clint’s family. Maybe she could send them money or something to thank them for letting her stay with them. No, they would never accept it. She needed to help them in a different way, but how?
“
Momma, I’m gonna go stay with some friends this weekend.”
Clara’s gaze darted to Clint
, and he dipped his chin ever so slightly. “Okay, I should be able to do your chores and mine without any problem since Clint’s home.”
“I don’t know. Old Gus doesn’t like him. He may get trampled again.”
“She does have a point. I do like my bits right where they are,” Clint hedged.
“I can do it.” As soon as the words were out, Alex regretted it. They all looked at her with equal amounts of skepticism and surprise.
Clint ran his hand through his hair, making errant strands stick up in an annoying but charming sort of way.
“I don’t
know, darlin’. Gus is a bit ornery.”
She shrugged
. “It’s not like he’s gonna try and kill me. Right?”
The group exchanged glances.
“Right?” she pushed.
“Well, I’m just not sure.”
“Listen, I have a way with animals. I’m sure I can handle it for the next few days. It’s the least I can do.”
“Yeah, come on
, bro. She at least deserves a chance.”
“As entertaining as this conversation is, I must retire for the night. Miss Jesse, do you think I could catch a ride into town with you tomorrow?”
Kane waited.
Alex had forgotten he was even in the room. He seemed to fade into the shadows cast by the firelight.
She worried for the girl, but with Jesse being human, he wouldn’t risk breaking the one law no one could escape death for breaking.
Never let a human know what you are.
“Sure. I’d be happy to.” Jesse winked at Clint
, making him scowl at Kane.
“Thank you.” He rose and headed in the direction of one of the spare bedrooms.
Clint spoke immediately after the door shut. “No.”
Jesse stuck out her tongue. “When have I ever listened to you? Besides it’s not like anything is going to happen.”
A feeling of unease settled in Alex’s chest like fog drifting in on a coastal morning. Kane would be leaving with Jesse tomorrow. Alex would needed to thank him for warning her and Clint about the jackals. She may have already been captured if it wasn’t for his diversion. Needing to lighten her mood, she looked at the goofy picture of the sexy man she found herself liking a little more. She placed it carefully in her pocket, intent on keeping it and the feeling of being with this family, safe.