UnexpectedFind (14 page)

“I hate to tell you this, but the deed on this house is in
my name, not yours.”

Rafe’s gaze slid behind her to the other shifters who were
no doubt listening to their conversation, then yanked her against him. He
fisted her hair. With his mouth near her ear, he said, “I am your male,
Jasmine. In my world that gives me every goddamn right to your body and your
holdings.”

He lowered his voice. “Do not fight me on this. You have
every right to my holdings as well…and my body.”

She felt his engorged shaft pressed into her belly and
desire swept through her. Moisture pooled low and the damn ache in her core
grew. She blew out a breath. She had to get away from him. Whenever she touched
him, her thoughts drifted to sex. She shoved hard against his chest but didn’t
move him.

“You are my lover, Rafe. In the human world, that doesn’t
give you the right to take over my life,” she growled.

Rafe licked the length of her neck. She shivered. “And your
lover isn’t human, Jasmine. Your rules don’t apply to me.”

She squirmed, tried to get away but only succeeded in
arousing herself. “And yours do?”

Rafe brushed his lips up along the length on her neck across
her jaw to her mouth and kissed her. Slowly, he twined their tongues. The
gentle strokes took the anger away. She moaned, the seduction one she couldn’t
resist. He broke the kiss but whispered against her lips, “Yes, sweetheart.
Mine do. You’re a part of the shifter world now.”

“I’m not sure I like it,” she mumbled.

He pulled back and ran a hand over her hair. “You will, my
Jasmine. You will.”

She stared into his feline eyes and Xander’s words came back
to her. She didn’t understand their culture but the burning stares directed her
way reminded her this wasn’t the place to discuss their differences. They’d
already shared too much.

“This conversation is not over, Rafe.”

Rafe bent close and pressed his mouth to her ear. “Yes it
is.”

He ran a finger down the length of her neck but turned away
before she could say anything else. She watched him walk over to his brother.
Their heads bent close as they talked and Kade made a frightening sound,
something between a hiss and a snarl. He looked in her direction and one corner
of his lip lifted, revealing a fang. Apparently he wasn’t too happy with his
baby-sitting orders but he strode toward her while Rafe and the other men faded
into the woods.

Kade didn’t speak to her. He settled on the porch swing and
propped his feet up on the banister.

Mira cleared her throat. “Jasmine, I’d love to meet your
kids.” She turned to Josh. “And your daughter too.”

Jazz led the way into the house, introduced Megan and her
boys to Mira and stepped back to watch all three kids’ eyes light up when she
sat down in the middle of the floor with them. Mira spoke softly and within
minutes they were giggling. Jazz smiled.

“She’s good with kids,” Josh murmured from right next to
her.

“Very,” Jazz agreed. “I wonder if she has any.”

Josh shrugged but he didn’t look happy about the idea. He
turned his back on Mira and faced her. “I need to talk to you, Jazz.”

“About what?”

“Rafe.”

Josh turned and headed toward the kitchen without
elaborating. She followed and sat at the table. “What about him?”

“I thought you weren’t getting involved with him.”

“That was before we were attacked. I told you I overreacted.”

Josh’s brows rose. “Did you?” He held up a hand. “Look, I’m
not saying Rafe and his friends mean the kids harm but I’m concerned about us.”

“What do you mean? Rafe has done nothing but protect us and
so have his friends. Remember, it was Devin who chased off that lion.”

Josh glanced down the hallway toward where Mira and the kids
were. He shifted his gaze to her and bent closer so his breath warmed her
cheek. “Rafe came in here earlier asking all sorts of questions about Tony and
the lawyer he used to get Megan. He said it wasn’t the first time a shifter
child had been sold through a private adoption, and that those who stole their
kids should be punished. I told him what I knew because I agree, but then he
started asking about you.”

When Josh didn’t say anything else, she prompted, “What
about me?”

“He thinks you’re lying about finding them. He’s convinced
you knew the mother and wants to know how it is you ended up with her babies.
According to Rafe, no female shifter would willingly part with her children.
They’d kill for them, take on a whole damn pride.” Josh leveled a hard look her
way. “And after he went into graphic detail about what he’d do to the lawyer
when he found him, I couldn’t help but worry about what he’d do to you if he
learned you stole Seth and Levi.”

She shook her head. “Rafe wouldn’t hurt me.”

“I hope not. But are you willing to bet your life on it?”

She pushed away from him and crossed her arms. “I didn’t
steal them.”

“I know that but you better hope the truth is something he’ll
accept. We don’t know them or understand their ways.” He pointed toward the
yard. “That little display out there proved it.
Beloved human?
Fucking
load of crap is what I say. It’s ownership. I don’t give a shit how they label
it.”

He pressed his mouth to her ear
.
“Is that what you want, Jazz? To be
owned
by a shifter,
even if he is one you’re fucking?”

He squeezed her hand once more. Without waiting for an
answer, he walked toward the living room.

She watched him leave then dropped her head into her hands.
She didn’t fear Rafe but Josh’s words mirrored Xander’s warning. Their cultures
were different. Josh was right. The little display in the yard proved it. While
beloved human
made her feel special, it was ownership, no matter how
they spun it.

And there was the way the other shifters treated Mira. It
worried her. Rafe had said their females were precious and they were protective
of them, but would his possessiveness of her grow to the point where she couldn’t
even talk to another man? If it did, she wasn’t positive being Rafe’s
anything
was a good idea.

Rafe ran the perimeter of Jasmine’s property and marked the
land as his. Twice he’d had to lay low while hikers trampled through the woods.
The land might be secluded but humans still crawled around. It posed a risk to Rafe
and his family and a danger to any unfortunate human who might stumble over
Calum. Tony’s death proved he had no problem killing the locals.

He watched the last pair cross the small creek and disappear
over the hill before shifting. He pulled his clothes out from under a bush were
he’d stashed them and dressed before jogging the last few feet to the open
yard. Kade met him halfway.

“What did you find?” Kade asked.

“No scent marking, but I did find paw prints. He’s been here
but doesn’t appear to be now.” Rafe glanced in the direction the hikers had
gone. “There are humans in the woods though. I’m worried for them.”

Kade grunted. “Bastard should be dead.”

Rafe clenched his fists. The betrayal was still sharp and so
was the regret. “I trusted him. How was I supposed to know he was crazy?”

“You couldn’t have.” Kade rolled his shoulders and hissed
out a rough breath. “We’ll get him, Rafe. He won’t get away this time.”

“You’re damn right about that,” he said and walked toward
the house.

Rafe followed Jasmine’s scent to the kitchen and found her
standing at the counter with Mira. They had their heads bent close together and
were giggling over something. Jasmine turned with a smile on her face but the
grin drooped before she forced it back in place. Still wide and as welcoming as
when she’d first turned around, he wouldn’t have known it was fake if he didn’t
smell the bitter trace of fear tainting her lovely fragrance. The reaction
drove home the fact that he had a long way to go in earning her trust.

He leaned over the counter separating them and ran a hand
down her arm. “Hey, baby. I missed you.”

“Oh Jazz, it must be love. Rafe never used that tone on me
when we were lovers.” Mira gasped and covered her mouth. “Gods, I’m sorry. I
didn’t…I mean, we’re not…”

Jasmine’s muscles tensed under his hand. Rafe turned his
head and bared his fangs. “Get out, Mira. Now.”

Mira hurried out of the room, the scent of her shame
drifting behind her.

Jasmine yanked her arm away and turned to the stove. She
stirred a pot of chili with quick flicks of her wrist. “Any sign of Tony’s
murderer?”

She wasn’t going to ask about Mira? Rafe took in her stiff
back and inhaled. Too many different emotions flavored her scent for him to
judge her mood. He walked around the counter separating them, took her hand and
carefully pulled back her fingers from the ladle. He turned the heat off on the
stove and dragged her unyielding body against his.

“This is not the kind of jealousy I like, Jasmine.”

“I’m not jealous.”

Like hell she wasn’t. He kissed her shoulder, her neck, and
licked the spot below her ear that made her shiver. She did but pressed her
lips together. No breathy sigh.

“Liar.” He laved her skin until a soft moan escaped. Much
better. He nibbled along the length of her throat then soothed his nips with
his tongue. “There’s no reason to be jealous of Mira. She’s a friend, always
has been, even when she graced my bed.”

“Friend with benefits, huh?”

He’d heard the human expression before but Mira had never
quite fit that role either. She had only ever come to him when she needed love,
reassurance or when the loneliness had gotten to be too much. He had never
sought her out.

“In a way, but we have not been intimate in many years.” He
turned her in his arms and ran a hand up the length of her spine. “Nor will we
ever be again. I don’t want another female. Only you.”

She rolled her eyes but not before he saw the warmth in
them. “More with the sweet words, Rafe? Please. Compared to Mira, I’m plain.”

“You’re beautiful. Not plain.” He pressed his lips to hers
to stop her denial. “And mine. Mira never captured my attention. You have.”

She slid her fingers into his hair and toyed with the
strands. “Is that true?”

The soft brush of her lips sensitized his mouth. Before he
could answer her, she kissed him slowly, explored him and filled him with her
contented sighs. She massaged his scalp and her gentle touches aroused him
quicker than he’d thought possible. He pulled her closer, forced her to lean
back in order to continue her drugging seduction.

He swept his hands over her back, caressed her rounded
cheeks and reached lower. The loose knit shorts she wore offered him access to
her sex and he took advantage of it. With just the tips of his fingers under
the edge of her panties, he traced her lips. Slick, warm and inviting. He
couldn’t resist the invitation and dipped a finger inside her opening. The
angle didn’t offer him the opportunity to stimulate her the way he’d like but
the small invasion drew more cream forth. He added a second finger and she
fucked herself. The movement of her mouth on his quickened and low,
appreciative sounds crawled up her throat.

Needing more, he tugged the material guarding her sex out of
his way and plunged his fingers inside. Her groan rewarded him. Wasn’t enough.

“Let’s go upstairs.” The husky sound of her chuckle wrapped
around him, made him hungry for her. “I don’t think I can wait until bedtime.”

“And whose bed will you be warming tonight, Rafe? I didn’t
invite you into mine.”

She might’ve kissed him but she hadn’t let go of her
jealousy. He grinned and pressed his fingers as deep as this position would
allow. He spread them, stretching her, then twisted his wrist so his fingers
rolled. Her breath escaped in a rush. He swallowed it and kissed her. He moved
his fingers back and forth in a scissoring motion until her pants and the
writhing of her hips grew fevered before pulling them out. He laid the wet
digits against her swollen lips.

“But you’ll accept me when I come to you. Won’t you, my
female?”

“You play dirty. I don’t like it.”

“Yes you do.” He withdrew his hand and brought his
glistening fingers to his lips. He sucked each one in. Slowly. Savoring her
flavor. “I have the evidence of your approval right here.”

Half-lidded eyes met his. A small smile graced her face, but
it was the wry kind, not one of pleasure. He tensed and waited for her words,
knowing they wouldn’t be ones he’d want to hear. The satisfaction in her eyes
was bittersweet.

“So I shouldn’t be jealous of Mira because she’s from your
past?” She waited until he nodded. “And when I see the two of you together I
shouldn’t imagine what you looked like naked and tangled in passion. Is that
what you’re telling me? Because it’s over. The past.”

“Yes. Mira and I are over.”

Jasmine slid one hand to mold his cock and one down the back
of his shorts. He held completely still while she drew a finger down the crack
between his ass cheeks. His breath lodged in his chest and he waited to see
what she’d do. Lower, she moved it while she stroked the ridge of his erection.
Her exploration stopped at the puckered opening. She pushed.

She toyed with his backside and his front—the sensations
doubly assaulted him.

“Jasmine.”

“Yes, Rafe?” she purred.

“What are you doing?”

She squeezed his cock. “Just giving you a visual.”

“Of what?”

Josh’s scent drifted to him followed by the sound of the
male clearing his throat, but he couldn’t tear his gaze from Jasmine, his
little siren. She winked at him, pulled her hands away and turned to the sink.
He watched her wash her hands and tried to assimilate the tight, untried sheath
he’d filled last night with the woman who had just insinuated that her sexual
experience was more varied than he would’ve thought.

Jasmine draped the towel over a shoulder and turned to face
Josh. Her smile was wide and real, not the fake one she’d given him. He glanced
between the two humans and his earlier thoughts took hold. Had they been
lovers? Sex could be shared in many ways. His fangs punched out. He fought the
release of his claws. He didn’t want to do anything to encourage Jasmine to seek
out Josh, and scaring her might send her right into his arms.

“Hey, Josh. I dug out the old photo albums. Found some great
pictures of when we went to the prom and all those dances. Thought maybe we
could sit out on the swing after dinner and look at them.” She licked her upper
lip and dropped her gaze to skim the length of the human’s body. “You know,
remember old times.”

It was too much. Rafe growled and reached for her but she
ducked and scrambled away. She had the audacity to waggle her finger at him. “Now,
now, Rafe. I don’t have time for any of that. Dinner is almost ready then Josh
and I are going to reconnect.” She flashed another grin, this one as real as
the one she’d given Josh. “If you want my attentions, you’ll just have to get
in line.”

She was teasing him, purposely trying to make him jealous.
Rafe stepped up to her, yanked her to him and kissed her. He ate at her mouth,
showing her the lust she’d stirred, warning her of the fire she’d have to put
out. He pulled back and enjoyed the drowsy look in her eyes. He swiped his
tongue across her lips. “Tonight I want your door unlocked and you naked and
waiting for me. Do not disappoint me.”

He released her and she swayed. The aroused flush to her
cheeks tempted him to sweep her into his arms and carry her upstairs but he
wanted her achy, desperate for his possession. And he had the rest of the
evening to ensure he got exactly what he wanted.