Shelley Munro
Emily sighed against his chest. “I should ring Maggie. She’s probably frantic.” The thought of speaking with Maggie rubbed away some of the gloss. They would argue—
she sensed it. Maggie would probably sulk and ignore her for weeks. Yeah, she should ring right now and get it over with. But she didn’t want to move. Saber warmed her through. A generous lover, he tempted her to commit the ultimate folly. A bit silly of her, considering her experience with Michael. A sliver of fear worked through her at the thought.
To trust again. To lay her heart down and become vulnerable.
“She’ll know you’re with me.”
And she was probably having a cow because Emily wasn’t acting the grieving widow. Not for the first time, Emily wondered if she’d made a mistake in trying to protect the family from Michael’s shortcomings. They had given him saint status, and already Maggie was questioning her right to date again or go out for a night of fun after only six months of being a widow. Emily grimaced. “She’s probably guessed since we both disappeared.”
The seductive idea of staying formed in her mind. A week or two in the fresh country air.
No
, she thought.
Treasure this one perfect night. Nothing stays the same. Save the
heartache. Go home and start over.
The bedroom door creaked. When Emily turned her head, a huge black cat pushed the door open and prowled into the bedroom. Emily froze, her mouth dropping open in shock. The cat halted just inside the door.
“Out,” Saber snapped.
The cat mewed, sat on its haunches and fixed them with a haughty stare. The door flew open again and another cat stalked into the bedroom to sit beside the first. Saber reached out and snagged the sheet off the floor. He covered her naked limbs before turning his attention to the cats. “Out.”
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Scarlet Woman
“Um, big kitties,” Emily said in understatement. Her voice trembled more than she liked. There really were panthers?
Hurried footsteps sounded outside the bedroom and one of Saber’s brothers burst into the bedroom.
“Anyone else waiting out there to come in?” Saber demanded with a note of impatience.
“The local cop car is heading up the driveway,” Joe said. At his words, the two black cats raced from the room. Strange. It was almost as if they had understood. In the distance, she heard the peal of the doorbell. A hand seized Joe by the scruff of the neck and hauled him out of the room. Felix stuck his head into the bedroom. Emily tugged the sheet up to her chin, very aware of her nakedness beneath the sheet and Saber’s erection pressing against her leg.
“I’ll deal with Allan.” A brief smirk tugged at Felix’s lips before he disappeared, pulling the door shut.
“Sorry about that,” Saber murmured. “They’re used to walking in whenever. I don’t usually…”
It made her feel good to know he didn’t have a procession of women in and out of his bedroom. Special. “Um, about the cats—”
“I’m not leaving until I see with my own eyes,” a furious voice shouted.
“Oh, damn.” Emily frantically sought a place to hide. Wardrobe. No time. Damn. Under the bed. Emily half-slipped out of the bed before she realized that drawers filled the gap between the mattress and the floor. Footsteps thumped closer. Just as the door opened, she tugged the sheet Saber had retrieved from the floor over her head and shut her eyes. Maybe Maggie would go away?
“What have you done with my friend? Where is she?” Maggie demanded.
“I haven’t done anything with her.” Saber’s voice held a hint of amused arrogance. 41
Shelley Munro
That wasn’t true
, Emily thought, chewing on her bottom lip. Each time she moved, she felt the pull of well-used muscles. And his erection pressing against her had woken her libido so much that she wanted him again. Her pulse hummed in sexual awareness. But he’d done more than make love to her. He’d changed the way she thought about herself. The words Michael had screamed at her weren’t true. She was capable of attracting a man. A smug grin curved her lips when his cock twitched.
And keeping his
attention.
“She’s in that bed with you, isn’t she?” Maggie snapped. “I’m not stupid. I can see there are two bodies in that bed.”
“I love an intelligent woman,” one of Saber’s brothers said.
“Me too,” another agreed. “A brain is a sexy thing. I think I might be falling in love,” he added in a dramatic tone.
“Oh, shut up!” Maggie snarled in a very Michael-like growl. Emily trembled, knowing in her gut that her friend was going to hate her when she found out. Maybe she’d just go away? Please let her go away.
The sheet was yanked off the bed, leaving them both visible. Emily gasped in shock and tried to make herself small. Saber calmly replaced the sheet and tucked it around them.
Sly walked up to Maggie, trying to divert her. “Why don’t we discuss this over coffee? Let Saber and Jo get dressed.”
“I’ll be out in the kitchen,” the policeman said. “Doesn’t look like a crime scene to me.”
Color surged to Emily’s cheeks and seeped down to her chest. One perfect night of passion. That’s all she’d wanted. But even that had gone awry, turning into a fiasco of gigantic and embarrassing proportions. It took two hands to count the number of people who had seen her naked this morning. She scrunched up, trying to make herself small.
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Scarlet Woman
“I’m sorry I dragged you out here,” Maggie said in a stiff voice. Emily cringed at the dark glare her friend fired at her. “I can’t believe you’d treat Michael’s memory in this way. He’s barely cold in his grave. You’re just a…a slut!”
“No, you don’t understand. Michael and I…” Emily trailed off when she saw Maggie had made up her mind. No matter what she said to excuse her actions, Maggie would think she’d lied and was besmirching Saint Michael’s memory. For all his selfishness, Michael had been a good brother to Maggie, giving his help and money when she’d needed it. Without any questions or recriminations either. It was no wonder Maggie had adored him and was upset with Emily’s wanton behavior.
“Look at you. You’re sitting there naked in his arms with not a shred of shame.”
“Your friend is here of her own free will,” the policeman said. “That’s all I need to know.”
“So it would seem,” Maggie snapped.
“That’s it. Everyone out,” Saber ordered.
When Maggie turned to go, Emily leapt up and seized the sheet, dragging it off the bed and wrapping the cotton around her to cover her nakedness. “Listen to me, Maggie. Michael was leaving me on the morning he died. He was having an affair with his secretary.”
“That’s a lie.” Maggie’s mouth twisted in an ugly sneer. “You’re despicable saying that when he’s not here to defend himself.”
“No,” Emily said, her voice hard. “It’s the truth.”
“Michael wouldn’t do that. You’re lying. God, I never thought you’d stoop so low. I thought you were my friend.” With a sob, Maggie turned and ran out. The room emptied like magic, leaving Emily alone with Saber. She couldn’t look at him, didn’t want to see his expression. All this mess because she’d wanted a single night of fun.
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“You can use the shower first,” Saber said. “I’ll find some clothes for you to wear.”
He gave her a comforting squeeze that brought tears to her eyes. She didn’t want his sympathy. “Don’t worry, kitten. This will blow over.” A single tear rolled down her cheek and she hurriedly turned away. Pitiful. Emily wanted to burrow into his comforting embrace and stay there for weeks, for months. But this was a fantasy. Reality was an empty home in Dunedin and her best friend angry with her. She knew Maggie. She held a mean grudge.
Saber directed her into the en suite and flicked on the shower. Shock had whisked all color from her cheeks and she was trembling. Tears looked imminent. He leaned over to touch his lips to hers, lingering for a long moment when she responded. His mind leapt immediately to sex. Making love. But he shoved his urgent need away, knowing this wasn’t the time, not with her friend out there waiting. After tugging the sheet from her body, he pushed her gently under the warm water. Once he was sure she was okay, he strode back into the bedroom and pulled out a T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. He left them on the bed, then yanked on a pair of jeans and went to face his brothers.
Felix saw him first. “Bro.” He smirked. “Why didn’t you tell us you were bringing the luscious Jo home with you?”
“Yeah, we wouldn’t have barged in on you,” Leo said.
They couldn’t fool him with their innocence. They’d known he’d had a woman in there with him. They would have picked up the scent of a stranger as soon as they entered the house. Saber rounded the battered wooden table in the middle of the large kitchen and wandered over to the coffeepot. He grabbed two mugs from the cupboard above the coffeemaker and set them down on the bench with a clunk. “Where’s the friend? Gone with Allan?” Perhaps he’d make some toast. Jo might be hungry. He pictured her tight, pinched face. Maybe not, but he needed something to do. Making toast was better than bashing his brothers.
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Scarlet Woman
“Allan left to round up some stray stock. Joe and Sly offered to give Maggie a lift to the train station. Knowing them, they’ll probably talk her into letting them drive her to Dunedin. They both seemed to like her.” Felix shook his head. “There’s a brawl in the making, if ever I saw one. They have the same taste in women. Feisty and fleshy.”
Saber gave an abrupt nod. His youngest brothers did everything together. They’d sort themselves out, though personally, he thought Maggie had the personality of a viper. The twins would find that out once they saw past the initial attraction. His eyes narrowed on Felix. “What the hell were you thinking? I could have had anyone in there.”
“We knew it was Jo.” Leo ducked past Saber to stand behind the table before he smirked. “Recognized the flowers in the girly lotions and potions she smears over her skin. Same ones I smelled last night. And her pheromones. Very sexy. What’s she like?”
“None of your damned business.” Saber took two steps before a soft chuckle jerked him from the red haze of fury. His brothers were jabbing at him on purpose, enjoying the situation. And when he thought about it, from their point of view, his hooking up with Jo probably was a bit like payback for all the stern lectures he’d delivered last week. He forced the edginess away and went back to the coffee pot. He filled both cups and picked one up to take a sip. The black coffee rush soothed his ruffled fur and eased the tension in his shoulders.
“If you’re going to keep her, the truth has to come out at some stage. You can’t live a lie.” Felix took a sip of his coffee but kept watching him as though he was an interesting bug.
“I’m going to ask her to stay, but I’m not going to spring the truth. Not unless she asks questions.”
Felix’s brows rose. “Do you think that’s wise?”
“I’ve no idea.” Saber felt a moment’s panic before he replied. “I wasn’t expecting to find a mate.”
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“You should hold onto her,” Leo said, his cheeky grin absent for once. “Keep her here no matter what it takes. Make her believe that staying here in Middlemarch with you is the only alternative.”
Footsteps in the passage silenced them, and Saber took the opportunity to skew the conversation away from him. “What did you and Leo get up to? Meet anyone?”
Leo snorted. “Nice try. We were talking about you and the luscious Joanna.”
“Morning, Joanna,” Felix said.
Saber took in her appearance with possessive pride. His woman. His sweats dipped low on her hips. She’d turned up the legs so they were the right length for her while the worn T-shirt clung to her breasts. A sharp intake of breath reminded him his brothers were present. He turned to nail them with a warning glare. “Mine,” he snarled softly before he went to her and tugged her against his side. Saber touched her because he had to. His. Her pulse quickened beneath his fingers. Her body recognized they were right for each other even if she didn’t understand.
“When does the train go? I need to go home.” Jo caught her bottom lip between her teeth.
Her pale face called to him. Her eyes were red… “Your eyes are brown.”
She shrugged, peering at him owlishly. “Contacts. The train? I have to explain to Maggie.”
A tense silence enveloped the kitchen. Saber signaled his brothers with a jerk of his head. For once, they took the hint and faded from the room in total silence.
“Perhaps you should give her time to cool down. Stay with me for a few days.”
Joanna yanked from his touch. “Why?”
Saber wanted to curse. This wasn’t going well. His vision of cozy families and steamy sex was a hundred miles away from this scenario. “We’re good together.”
“In bed. It’s not as though we made promises of forever. It was about animal lust. Scratching an itch. Sex, dammit. That’s all.”
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Scarlet Woman
Saber stared, speechless, his gut churning as he absorbed each verbal blow. “Maybe it is just sex,” he said finally. His mind railed at him, but he forced the words out knowing if he didn’t tread carefully, he’d lose her. She didn’t understand the connection between them. Not yet. “I’d really like you to spend a few days with me. We don’t need to have sex. We have plenty of spare bedrooms. You can take your pick.”
“Why do you want me to stay if it’s not for sex?”
Saber hated the suspicion he saw in her brown eyes. The vulnerability. Her husband had hurt her deeply. The fool. How the hell could he fight a ghost of the past?
“We could be friends. A person can never have too many friends.” For a fleeting instant, he wished the shifters in his line hadn’t lost the power of subliminal suggestion. When he was a kitten, his mother had spun tales of their ancestors defeating their enemies with this extraordinary power. Saber concentrated hard on sending her a silent message despite knowing the decision had to come from Jo. He wanted her to stay so badly but didn’t have a clue of what to offer for incentive. They didn’t know each other well enough—that was the crux of the problem.