FireStarter (6 page)

Glancing around I took a
guess at which drawer would have knives. On the second try, I found what I
needed, and as I turned back around Clayton was there setting a stack of three
plates on the table. Marshall opened the fridge and brought over a tub of
whipped cream.

Without a word, Marshall
served us each a slice and added a big dollop of cream to each one. Clayton
snagged some spoons, and then we were all eating. The first mouthful had me
moaning.

“
Hmmm. This is the best cake
I’ve ever eaten.”

“
I’m glad you like it,
baby.”

I looked over to Marshall
and saw the pride in his gaze as he’d spoken. If I wasn’t careful, things were
going to get too deep again with emotions I wasn’t ready to deal with. So, I
turned to Clayton and concentrated on the job we had to do. I’d focus on
catching this
firestarter
, and then I’d worry about
what to do with my two jaguars. I mentally shook my head. I was being wooed by
two shapeshifting jaguars. Could my life get any more surreal?

“
So, Clayton? Where are you
at with this
firestarter
? How did you know he wasn’t
human?”

Pushing his empty plate
aside, Clayton rested his arms on the table and locked his gaze with mine.

“
I wasn’t one hundred
percent sure until three days ago. Whenever the police have trouble tracking
down a criminal, they call us in to take a look. There’ve been a few clues at
previous fires. Claw marks on trees and the odd large animal footprint. He’s
careful, but he’s not perfect. The way he behaved at that last fire cemented
the fact he was a shifter. A human would never have acted like he did. Hell,
only a shifter could get away with returning to the ignition site as soon as he
did!”

I chuckled. “There’s been
plenty of
firestarters
caught at the scene of their
crime, Clayton. A lot of pyros feel the need to return to admire their work.
That doesn’t mark him as a shifter.”

He shrugged. “Yeah, I see
your point. But to come out in the open and show himself like he did? And of
course, I was close enough to scent him. If I get in proximity to him again,
I’ll know him in an instant.”

I frowned as I thought that
through.

“
Okay, so he’s a really
stupid shifter to give that information to you. So, if you just wander around
sniffing for him, you’ll eventually find him?”

I stiffened and winced when
he rolled his eyes at me.

“
Seriously, Penny? He could
be anywhere. He’s lit fires over one-third of the state. Simply walking around
sniffing everyone isn’t a viable option.”

Yeah, okay. So that was a
dumb idea.

“
Sorry, didn’t mean to
insult you or anything. I was just trying to think outside the box. Do you know
how he’s starting them?”

A muscle ticked in his jaw
for a moment before he responded.

“
It burns away every time,
so we’re thinking something along the lines of a Fire Lighter or a Mosquito
Coil.”

I jerked back in me seat on
a gasp.
That’s it!
That’s what my
mind was trying to get me to remember.

“
Baby? Are you all right?”

Marshall was kneeling
beside me and cupping my face in his palms. Ignoring the arousal coursing
through me from Marshall’s touch, I pulled free and faced Clayton again.

“
I know how he’s lighting
them! While I was pacing around the room earlier I was going over what I’d seen
before you took me, and I remembered smelling something out of place. But I
couldn’t place it. Now I can. It was sandalwood! He’s using incense sticks.”

Clayton winced. “I don’t
think an incense stick would be enough to light a wildfire, beautiful.”

How dare he brush off my
idea so quickly! Anger fueled my words, and I rose from chair and let him have
it
.

“
Don’t you dare
beautiful
me and discount my idea. Think
about it, I’m not saying it was a single standard stick on its own.
What about those really thick ones designed for
camping? Or he could be bundling a heap of them together. Hell, he could use a
single stick as a wick for some other fuel to start them. I’m telling you I
could smell sandalwood mixed in with the smoke at that fire scene.”

Still furious that clearly
he wasn’t going to really let me help him, I spun and stormed out of the room.
I headed back upstairs to grab my bag and boots. I didn’t care what the fuck
they thought was going on with this
firestarter
being
after me, I was going home.

Where I’d continue my
investigation alone. Like I always did.

****

Clayton

The moment Penny stood I
knew I’d said something wrong, but I wasn’t sure what! We’d just been chatting.
Marshall radiated with his fury as rose from where he’d been kneeling beside
her and stood to glare at me.

“
Really? You tell her she
can help you investigate this thing, but then you shut down her first attempt
at having input like she doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Smooth,
brother. I bet she’s up there packing her bag. She’ll be down here demanding
her keys any moment. You know that, right?”

I winced. That’s not what I
meant to do. Marshall’s fists clenched, and I wondered if I was going to get a
punch in the face. I wasn’t going to just sit here and take this. She’d
suggested I turn into a bloody hound dog and run around the State!

“
You honestly think me
walking around town sniffing people is a good idea?”

“
No, you bastard. I’m
talking about the sandalwood thing. Even she knows the sniffing idea was a long
shot. But she doesn’t know anything about our kind, so it was a fair question.”
He paused and closed his eyes. Surely he couldn’t be this mad over my
completely unintentional insult to Penny? “And how the fuck did you not think
I’d want to know we were co-mates to Penny? You should have told me the day you
worked it out!”

Ah, there was the real
reason behind his fury. I stood and moved around the table towards my brother.

“
I explained why. I didn’t
want to make your life any harder than it already was. Be honest with yourself,
would you have changed your mind? We’ve both got a little darkness in us, and
back then neither of us had worked out how we were going to control it. You
still would have walked away, but you would have felt like shit over it because
you would know you were killing both our chances at a mate and family. I’m glad
it’s come out and the three of us can move forward together, but back then? It
would never have worked out, and you know it.”

A thump on the staircase
cut our argument off, which was good because I wasn’t sure what else I could
say to Marshall. Especially since he still had that look in his eye that
indicated he still wanted to pound me into the ground.

“
Penny? You okay?”

I followed behind Marshall
as he moved through the doorway to find her coming down the last stair.

“
I want all my things.
Phone, laptop, keys. I’m leaving.”

In a flash I was behind
her, wrapping my arms around her to gently hold her to me.

“
Beautiful, I’m sorry for
how I spoke to you. I didn’t mean to brush you off. I want you to help me catch
this guy—”

“
That’s the issue right
there. You want me to help you. Not be a partner to track him down. Just to sit
on the sidelines and
help
. I want to
go home. From there I can do what I always do and catch this guy. Human or not,
I don’t care. I will take him down.”

For all her brave tough
words, she hadn’t pulled away from me. I pressed a kiss to the side of her
head, just above her ear.

“
Don’t leave because I chose
my words badly. I didn’t mean to put you on the sidelines. We’ll work together
on this, I promise. And if I step out of line again, just give me a kick in the
shins or something. Don’t walk out. I’ll never mean to hurt you with my words,
but it doesn’t mean it won’t happen on occasion
.
”

Marshall snorted. “Yeah,
his social skills have always sucked. He’s spent too long alone in the shadows.
He never learned how to interact with the outside world real well.”

Unsure of his mood, I
glanced up at Marshall as he moved to stand in front of Penny. As he came in
close and cupped her shoulders in his palms, I moved my hands to grip her hips.
Damn, but this felt so right. Having Penny between them like this.

“
It wasn’t what you said.
Well, okay, it was. But I know I overreacted. Look, you two have given me one
hell of a lot of information today, and I need some time to process it all. On
my own. It’s how I am. I need to be alone sometimes. If we are going to make a
go of this relationship, you both need to understand that from the begin
ning
.” Her body had gone soft, all the tension leaving her
as she’d spoken. After locking gazes with Marshall, I gave him a nod, and he
moved in to kiss her lips. I nuzzled my nose through her hair into her neck.
Hmm.
She smelled so damn good. I kissed
the soft skin at the base of her throat and grinned as a tremor went through
her.

A moan slipped from my lips
when her fingers wound in my hair. The scrape of her short nails over my scalp
had me shuddering. I’d never been so aroused in my life, and we were all still
fully dressed. I worked my way up, trailing kisses along her neck and over her
jaw. Marshall released his hold on her to allow me to turn her face so I could
take a taste of her mouth. But I needed more. I ran my tongue over the seam of
her lips, and she opened, granting me access. I delved my tongue in to play
with hers and found ambrosia. She tasted like pure heaven. Just as I was
sinking completely into her she gasped and pulled away, stepping out from
between us. Her chest was pumping with her heavy breathing, the same way mine
was.

“
What happened? Why’d you
pull away?”

I was confused and horny. I
wanted my mate back in my arms all soft and sensual, not across the room
looking lost and out of control.

“
I slid my hand under her
shirt and over her bra. I guess she wasn’t ready for things to go that far
yet.”

Marshall’s voice was
strained, showing he felt as I did. While I could understand he had a point, he
also gave me the mental image of her naked between us. Because without a doubt
that was where Marshall had intended to go with this little impromptu make-out
session. The situation needed defusing, and we all needed to cool off a little.

“
Okay, well, how about
Marshall goes and grabs your things from the lounge room, then we’ll all head
over to your place? I’ll grab the research I have, and when we get to your
place, we can sit down and compare notes. How does that sound?”

“
Fine. But I need to go to
the shop on my way home. And I’m going alone! I was serious about needing some
time to myself to think, and I’ll do that while I get some groceries.”

Along with Marshall I
nodded in agreement because we both knew at least one of us would be shadowing
her the whole time. She’d never be alone, even if we allowed the illusion of
being so.

Chapter Six

Penny

With a shove, I pushed the
shopping-trolley from the checkout and toward the exit. This supermarket’s
parking lot was on a slope, and it always made me chuckle watching other people
try to unload their groceries into their vehicles without their trolleys
running away down the hill. I always made sure I parked so the back door of my
RAV4 swung downhill. That way I could rest the trolley against it. One of the
handiest things about my car was that sideways opening door. It also made a
great shield to get changed behind, which I’d had to do a time or two after
getting filthy out on a fire scene.

I put all the bags neatly
in the back and hoped like hell I’d bought enough food to feed the two men who
I suspected wouldn’t be leaving any time soon. Two men. What the hell was I
going to do with them? I’d never had a serious relationship with one man
before, let alone two! Tears stung my eyes. I wished my mum was still alive so
I could talk to her. I needed her guidance on this. Although, I doubt she’d be
impressed with the concept of her little girl taking on two lovers. Brushing my
eyes clear as I sniffled, I shoved the empty trolley into the return bay and
headed back to my car.

Too late I realized I
should have been paying more attention to what was around me, rather than my
potential love life. As I turned and put the key in the driver’s door lock, the
sliding door of the van behind me opened and before I could react, I was
snatched into its dark interior. The moment I could get a lungful of air, I
started screaming out for help, hoping like hell Marshall and Clayton hadn’t
left me alone like I’d asked them to, but had been watching from a distance as
I shopped. How could I have been so stupid as to disregard Clayton’s warning of
the danger to me
?
I kicked and punched at my kidnapper but didn’t land
many before pain exploded through my skull and with a groan, my world went
black.

****

Marshall

It took a moment for my
brain to process what just happened. One second Penny was sliding the key into
her car door, brushing tears from her eyes, the next she was pulled into a van.
As her scream rang out, my instincts took over and I started my car to get to
her as fast as possible. Clayton had shot out the passenger side and started
running to her the moment the van’s sliding door had opened. Clearly my
brother’s instincts were more honed than mine. I was going to have to chat with
little brother about teaching me to be more observant. I had a mate to protect
now.

Before Clayton could reach
the vehicle, it squealed out from its spot and headed to the exit. I skidded to
a stop long enough for Clay to get in and took off before he shut the door. We
couldn’t lose sight of that vehicle.

“
I relocked her car. We’ll
come back for it after we get her back.”

“
Was it him? The
firestarter
?”

Clay’s voice was barely
more than a growl. “Yeah, I scented him clear as day.” He pulled his phone out
and dialed quickly.

“
Alpha, call the troops. The
firestarter
has just taken Penny.” Pause. “From a
parking lot, in broad fucking daylight while we were watching from the other
side—” Another pause where I could just hear the Alpha’s angry voice. “She
wanted some alone time after all we’d laid on her, so we let her have the
illusion of it. Both Marshall and I are here, and we’ve shadowed her the whole
time. The bastard parked next to her in a van and snatched her when she was
between the two vehicles.”

After another pause Clay
relayed the van’s plate number and hung up.

“
I gather our Alpha isn’t
happy?”

“
No, he couldn’t believe we
left her alone. He said all us young males were idiots and something about past
mistakes being repeated no matter what he did to prevent it. Whatever. We need
to get to Penny. I’ll worry about appeasing our Alpha later.”

Since we were in my car, a
nice sporty Subaru WRX, I was gaining on the van. I was suddenly extra grateful
I liked to rally in my spare time because it meant I had the skills and the vehicle
we needed to get our mate back. I took another hard turn, and Clay groaned as
he crashed into the side of the car.

“
Sorry, no harnesses in this
thing. If I had my rally car we’d have caught them already, and you wouldn’t be
getting banged around.”

“
Brother, I don’t give a
shit how many bruises I get, so long as you catch that damn van.”

The chase seemed to take
forever. The
firestarter
clearly knew he was being
followed so instead of stopping he seemed to be randomly turning through back
streets.

“
Looks like this is going to
continue until one of us runs out of fuel. I’ve still got three-quarters of a
tank, but I have no idea how much he’d have.”

“
If we run out first, I’ll
take off after him on foot.”

In jaguar form, Clayton
would have no trouble keeping up with
firestarter
,
but he’d cop hell for it afterward.

“
You’ll get severely
punished if you go revealing yourself on a public street.”

“
I don’t fucking care. If it
gets Penny back safely, I’ll take whatever the Alpha dishes out.”

I was about to argue that
him dying wouldn’t help any of our cases when I noticed the van jerk before it
suddenly began to slow down.

“
What the fuck?”

Clay unclipped his seatbelt
and got ready to open the door. “Something’s going on in that van. The second
we stop I’m out.”

I didn’t slow until the
last moment, and skidded to a stop behind the now stationary van. Clay burst
out, with me two seconds behind him.

“
You take the driver. I’ll
get Penny.”

With a nod, Clay raced for
the driver’s door while I gripped the sliding door and ripped it open, busting
the lock with my supernatural strength. The sight inside had me frozen in
shock.

“
Hi, boys, how nice of you
to drop by. Clayton, be a dear and cuff this bastard, would you?”

For a full minute I
couldn’t move. My mate was calmly standing behind the driver with Clay’s blade
pressed tight against his throat, her other hand holding a fistful of his hair.
There was a small open wound on the left side of her forehead, and a trickle of
blood was working its way down her cheek.

Sirens filled the air as
Clayton cuffed the asshole and pulled him from the vehicle. I shook myself free
from my stupor and scooped Penny from the back seat, before turning to sit on
the grass with her in my lap.

Taking the knife from her
hand I thrust it deep into the ground beside me before I wrapped her in a tight
embrace.

“
Thank fuck Clayton strapped
that thing to you this morning and you knew how to use it.”

I wasn’t sure my heart
would ever beat right again after today. She wriggled until I loosened my grip
and I winced as I thought she was getting up and leaving me, but she surprised
the hell out of me by only rearranging herself so she straddled me. She wrapped
her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck. Then she nuzzled her face
against my upper chest before she shuddered and I felt her tears wet my shirt.

Carefully wrapping my arms
around her, I stroked her hair and her back.

“
Shh
, baby. It’s okay. Everything is fine now. It’s all
over. You’re safe.”

My heart was both breaking
and rejoicing. I hurt that she was sobbing but was filled with joy that she’d
turned to me for comfort and support so naturally, as though we’d been together
for years and she knew I had her covered no matter what. I hoped it was a sign
she was accepting me as her mate, and I hoped that included Clayton.

I glanced up to see Clayton
shove the
firestarter
into the rear of a police
patrol car and chat with the officers. He flashed his badge and gave the guy a
business card before, with a nod, he turned toward me and Penny. A tow truck
had arrived soon after the police and was now finishing off hooking up the van
to take it away. I stayed where I was, holding Penny to me as she fell apart.
As Clayton made his way to us, the tow truck rumbled away and the police sped
off, finally leaving the three of us alone on the side of the road.

Clayton dropped to kneel
behind Penny and gently moved her hair away from her face. A wince creased his
features before he gently kissed her cheek below the cut that had fortunately
now stopped bleeding.

“
That’s one hell of a bump
you’ve got, beautiful. I think we better get you to the hospital to make sure
you don’t have a concussion or anything.”

Her grip on me tightened,
but she nodded. Thankful for my extra strength, I rose without needing to let
her go. I sensed Clayton’s need for reassurance that Penny was all right.

“
I’ll drive, Clay. That way
you can sit with her on your lap and know she’s okay.”

“
Thanks, I’d appreciate
having a few minutes with her in my arms.”

My brother got in and
adjusted the seat all the way back. I carefully handed Penny over, and my heart
swelled as she reached for him.

“
You saved me, Clay. Your
knife. Without it, I wouldn’t have had a chance.”

My brother pushed her hair
behind her ear. “I’m sure you would have still thought of something, beautiful.
And we were one step behind you. He had to stop eventually and we would have
jumped him the second he did.”

Tears welled in her eyes.
“You need to accept a compliment, Clay. I’m trying to thank you for making sure
I was equipped to deal with this on my own. It proves you really do want me to
work with you, that you see me as an equal partner.”

Clay squeezed his eyes shut
and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Marshall? Let’s get moving. The sooner we
get her checked out, the sooner we can take her home.”

Taking their girl home
sounded like a great idea … but which house was going to be their home?

“
Ahh
, Clay?”

My brother chuckled as I
slid into the driver’s seat and buckled up.

“
Yeah, we need to choose
whose house is going to be our home.”

“
My house is down in
Ceduna
near where I work, so that’s not an option. That
leaves you two. And no offence, Clay, but your place isn’t big enough for the
three of us all and all our stuff. So, I guess we’ll be heading back to your
place
,
baby. How big is it? Will we all fit?”

“
It’s a big farmhouse on the
outskirts of town. We’ll all fit with plenty of space.
Gah
,
I’m so tired. Can’t you let me sleep already?”

She adorably nuzzled
against Clayton’s chest, and my brother wrapped his arms around her instantly.
I
stayed silent as I started the car. I couldn’t believe she’d accepted the idea
of us all living together so easily. Although, she may well change her mind
when she wasn’t potentially suffering a concussion, I didn’t think she would.

“
Not till we get you checked
out at the hospital, beautiful. I don’t want you to slip into a coma on us.”

Clayton’s reminder, along
with my earlier thoughts had me kicking it up a gear to get our woman to the
hospital as fast as I could. It felt so right to have the three us of together,
it had to work out. Even if she tried to take back that she’d agreed to us
staying at her place, we’d win her over. This was the rest of our lives, and I
was certain that like me, Clayton would do whatever necessary to make sure
Penny stayed with us from now on.