Hunted (10 page)

I stood in the doorway to the bedroom and my breath caught in my throat. Matt stood at the closet, his back to me. Barefoot, shirtless, he was everything I’d ever thought of as “mouth-watering.” I could feel his strength and power. Even though he had complete control over his cat, I could sense it just below the surface, just as I could feel my own jaguar responding, wanting to claim it as I had already claimed Matt--mate to mate, equal to equal.

And yet I couldn’t allow myself to accept it. Not yet. My grandmother had been right about that. We might be meant for one another, but there were others to consider. Matt held responsibilities not only to his pride but to all the packs and prides that made up the Texas clan. As much as I might want to be with him--and it was difficult to understand how I was so sure we belonged with one another when we really didn’t know anything about each other--I couldn’t expect him to put everything he’d worked for at risk just for me and my desires.

“You’re thinking awfully hard,” he said, a smile in his voice.

He finished whatever he’d been doing in the closet and turned. As he did, he pulled on a shirt and buttoned it. Damn. Guess that meant no fun and games, which was for the best. We really did need to talk.

“Matt, are you sure about this? Really sure?”

The words, so simple to say and yet so hard to get out, were little more than a whisper. My right hand held onto the doorframe, anchoring me where was I was. Intellectually, I knew there was a very real possibility that once he quit thinking only that he’d found a mate that he’d decide the danger to those looking to him for leadership and protection was too great. If he did, I would go to the Tulsa pride. My grandmother and Uncle Adam had already made it clear I’d be welcome there. But, damn it, I was tired of running, of letting fear of Michael dictate my life.

“Having second thoughts?” he asked. He moved to sit on the bed and patted the mattress next to him, motioning for me to join him.

“No. Dear God, no!”

Now that I’d found him, I didn’t want to lose him. He was my mate. Somehow, some way, we were bound to one another. I might not understand it, but I did accept it. Just as I accepted the fact I could live without him if I had to. It would hurt like hell and I’d never feel completely whole. But to protect him and those he cared for, I would do it if I had to.

At least until I figured out how we could be together without bringing down Michael’s wrath.

“Then what?” He shifted slightly on the mattress so our knees touched and his hands reached for mine.

“Matt, have you really thought about what might happen when Michael realizes I’ve stopped running and you’re protecting me?”

“Finn.” He smiled and caressed my cheek with his left hand. “I’ve given it a lot of thought. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t. And I’ll admit that I’m concerned about what he might do. He’s already shown he doesn’t respect the territories of other clans. Nor does he respect our laws. So yes, his reaction to the news that you are here and have agreed to be my mate is something I’ve thought about a great deal.

“That said, I do respect my pride and clan. I trust the clans in the surrounding territories. We have long worked together, forming an unofficial coalition of sorts. If Jennings tries to cause trouble, he will find he has far more than just the Texas clan to deal with.

“Finn, I’m not just protecting you. I’d do that if you were one of us or not. Jennings is the worst sort of man there is in my book. He tried to take advantage of you when you were grieving. What he did was straight out of the books describing classic sexual predator behavior. The way he has continued to hunt you,
to stalk
you all these years speaks of obsession and mental illness.

“But it is more than that and you know it.”

I swallowed hard and nodded.

“And I know the arguments you want to make. We don’t know one another. My pride, much less the clan, might not accept you. Then there are all the concerns about Jennings and what he might do. Right?”

Another nod.

“Finn, you are my mate. That will be all the pride needs to accept you. Remember, you’ve already been welcomed by Sharon and Stefan. Believe me, my sister would be the first to voice her concerns if she had any. Stefan might be a bit more circumspect, but he’d have already taken me aside to question my motives and make sure it wasn’t just hormones making me take you as mate and offering you the protection of pride and clan.

“What both of them have said is something far different. They have offered to speak for you at the pride meeting. They want to champion you, if need be. That is all I need to know the pride will feel the same way and, where the pride goes, the clan will follow. Sweetheart, what you need to understand is that the leaders of the prides and packs in the clan have been after me for several years now to find a mate and I have--I found you.”

I blew out a shaky breath. Relief mingled with concern, but the concern no longer paralyzed me. I drew strength from Matt’s conviction that what we planned was right, not just for the two of us but for pride and clan as well. All I had to do was start believing it as well and quit thinking Michael would show up at any moment to destroy this promise of happiness, the first I’d had in much too long.

“Matt, I’ve been on my own for so long. I’m afraid running has become too much a part of me –”

He shook his head and gently rested a finger against my lips, silencing me. “You have been alone too long. But no more. If you want it, this is your home. I won’t force you to live here. We’ll find you a place of your own if that would make you feel better. But you don’t have to run any longer. You have a pride and a clan and, if you’ll have me, a mate.” Now he grinned and pulled me close. “It won’t always be easy. You’re right. We don’t know one another. We’re both headstrong and opinionated. Hell, sweetheart, we’re alphas. So there will be times when we butt heads. But we are meant to be together and that’s what we have to remember. For all I know, you’ll leave your clothes all over the house and make me wear a French maid’s costume when I clean up after you.”

The image of him in a very short French maid’s costume, complete with tiny white apron and very high stiletto heels, sent me into peals of laughter. “Well,” I said, trying and completely failing to sound serious. “If that’s what it takes to get you to play dress-up.”

“I can see I’m going to have my hands full with you.” He grinned.

“More than you know.”

“Promises promises.” He lightly kissed me and then leaned back. “So, no doubts?”

“Doubts, sure. But not enough to run again. Those days are over.”

At least I hoped they were.

“Good.”

He bounced off the bed and crossed to the closet. Curious, I watched as he leaned inside and rummaged around on the floor. Then he turned, a huge grin on his face and two large sacks in his hands.

I waited, wondering what he was up to. Excitement grew as he placed the sacks on the bed. When I reached for the one closest to me, he lightly swatted my hand. So, it was going to be that way, was it?

“Your uncle and I stopped by your apartment while we were out. I hate to say it, but Danny was being kind when he said the trackers searched it. I’m sorry, but they pretty much trashed it.”

Sympathy and anger colored his voice. My hands fisted at my sides. I didn’t have much, but there were a few things that meant the world to me. They were my links to my parents and the life we’d had. If those were gone or destroyed–

“It was bad, Finn, I won’t lie to you. But we were able to salvage some things we thought you might want right away. I’ll take you over tomorrow and you can collect anything else you want to save.”

With what could only be described as a flourish, he began pulling items from the bag closest to him. My hands shook and tears burned my eyes as I reached for the first thing he produced. The small framed picture had been with me since before I’d run away. It was the only picture I still had of my parents. In it, they stood arm in arm, smiling broadly. Memories flooded back of that last vacation we’d taken together. It had been a year before they were killed. We’d been so happy then.

Anger flared as I ran a light finger over the cracked glass and chipped wood of the frame. At least the picture itself appeared to be undamaged. The frame could be repaired and the glass replaced. All that mattered was the picture had survived. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I clutched the frame against my chest and rocked back and forth.

Matt waited until I brushed away my tears. I didn’t put the picture to one side. Instead, I placed it in my lap, not yet ready to let it go. Still, there was no denying the way my pulse quickened in expectation as he once again reached into the sack. Had he and Uncle Adam managed to save the other items that meant so much to me?

The next item he produced was the battered copy of
Atlas Shrugged
that had been on my bedside table. At least that’s where I’d last seen it. Like the picture, it had been with me since I’d left California. My father had given me the book, telling me to read it and understand that, for all its flaws, there was still a great deal of truth in what Rand had written.

Matt colored slightly as he then produced underwear. We both laughed when I snatched it from his hand. My cheeks burned as I quickly stuffed the bras and panties under the pillow behind me. It was so ridiculous. He’d seen me hurt and hurting. He’d seen me naked and had loved me long and well. And yet I blushed to have him handling my underwear.

Embarrassment was replaced when I saw what he held in his right hand. My mother’s engagement ring nestled in his palm next to my father’s pocket watch. Tears once more filled my eyes. These were the only things I had that had belonged to them. It would have killed me to have lost them.

“Thank you.” It was barely a whisper, but it was all I could manage.

“Finn.” He gently placed the ring and watch into my hands. An understanding smile touched his lips. “I want you to be comfortable here. This is your home now. That means you need to have your things here as much as I have mine. I promise, we’ll go to your place tomorrow and bring back everything you want to save. Anything else you want or need, we’ll go shopping for. But, for now, I thought these would be a good start.”

The left side of my mouth quirked up in a half-smile. With the picture in my right hand, I stood and moved across the room to the dresser. When I glanced back at him, Matt simply nodded in approval. I set the frame on the far end of the dresser, carefully angling it so I’d be able to see it from the bed. Then Matt was there, sliding his arms around my waist and holding me close.

“Your parents?” I pointed to the framed photo of a man and woman sitting on the other end of the dresser.

“Yes. I was already in college when Dad’s job took them to Ireland so I stayed here. Sharon moved back as soon as she could. And, before you ask, they’ll approve of you.” He pressed his lips to the top of my head. “We’ll call them this weekend. I promise.”

I nodded, suddenly worried they wouldn’t approve.

“And, now that I can look at you and the photo of your mother, I have to admit that Adam was right. You do look like her.”

“And you, Matt, are a flatterer. I’ll never be as gorgeous as Mom was.”

“We’re going to have to agree to disagree about that, Finn.” He gave me a hug and then led me back to the bed and the other sack. “There’s some more from your apartment in here,” he continued as we sat down on the edge of the mattress. “But there are also some other things. This first is from your uncle. He can tell you more about it later, but he said to tell you it had been your mother’s and he knows she’d have wanted you to wear it tonight.”

He produced a beautiful wristlet of woven leather from inside the sack. Approximately two inches wide, made up of three bands each of black and brown leather, the wristlet fastened with two clasps. In the center, where a watch might be, was the embossed head of a jaguar. I couldn’t remember my mother wearing it, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t. It was enough that Uncle Adam said she had.

Matt reached for my left hand. I watched, a funny little smile on my lips, as he carefully fitted the wristlet in place. When he glanced up to see if it was comfortable, I nodded. Then, with a catch in my throat, looked from the wristlet to my new tattoo. They looked like they belonged together.

I belonged.

“This next is from me. You already wear the markings of my pride and clan. CJ will add the rest of it in a day or two.” He paused and suddenly looked uncertain, maybe even a little nervous. Could he be worried I wouldn’t like whatever it was? “When I introduce you to the pride tonight, I want them to see how proudly you wear our markings just as I want them to see your strength.”

I swear he turned beat red as he reached into the sack. A number of possible explanations came to mind and not one came close to reality. I whistled softly as I reached for the soft leather vest, the softest leather I’d ever felt. The black leather laced up the sides with equally soft leather ties. To call it a mere vest was to do it a disservice, but to call it a bustier would be to cheapen it.

I held the vest before me and shook my head in wonder. It was cut in such a way my entire tattoo would be visible. Thank God I worked out regularly. It would be terribly embarrassing to wear such a beautiful--and revealing--vest and have chicken arms.

“Matt, I’ll look like a dominatrix in these!” I laughed as he produced a pair of matching black leather pants.

“Well.” He actually leered at me, humor twinkling in his eyes. “You can dominate me any time you want.”

“Be careful what you wish for,” I warned, grinning. “When do we need to leave?”

He checked his watch. “Sharon will be here in an hour and a half. Your grandmother and uncle shortly after that.”

“Plenty of time then.”

Matt gave an “oomph” of surprise as I twisted, swung a leg over him and straddled him. Hands against his chest, I pushed him back onto the mattress. He grinned and reached up, cupping my breasts. I bared my teeth and shook my head. Not this time. He wasn’t going to distract me this time.