Neal (Golden Streak Series) (4 page)

The fourth time she’d had to be called
out, she’d huffed at him and told him to go back and get all the stuff she was
working on and to bring it out where they were. He put everything on the cart
and wheeled it out as she was telling a man that she wasn’t available to go out
with him, but thanks for asking. She glared at him when he growled.

“Behave. He asks me every time he comes
in here. He has a wife and four kids. He comes in here once a month to buy her
a planter. She kills them faster than I can pot them. But he stupidly loves her
and keeps doing it.”

“You don’t believe in love?” he asked. She
didn’t answer him as she started to work on the project. He watched her between
ringing out customers, and when he went to get something for someone, she
manned the station. He thought they worked well together. When Karin returned,
Rayne put her lunch aside and finished up while he devoured his.

“Tell me what to do and I’ll finish up
while you eat.” She told him no. “You have to be hungry. I know I was and I’ve
not been working nearly as hard as you were. Come on. I can shove a few posies
in the dirt while you watch.”

“Are you always this annoying?” He told her
he was, but mostly when people were being too stubborn to eat when he could
hear their belly growling. “Well, I don’t need a fucking sitter.”

“Then act like it,” he said. She stomped
away, and he followed her with her lunch. “You are by far the most pigheaded
woman I’ve ever known. Eat the damned sandwich.”

She snatched it from him and tore the
wrapping open. He knew that her mom had made them lunch and had brought it
back. His had been a thick roast beef sandwich with mayo, lettuce, and tomato. She’d
also brought him some potato salad and a couple bottles of water. He sat down
at the desk while she sat at the tiny table in the office.

“I’m not going to go away.” She didn’t
answer him, but he’d come to realize she didn’t answer when she wanted to argue.
He thought she needed to argue more. He knew he did. “Do you know how much I
want to press you against that table you’re at and have my way with you?”

She dropped her fork, and he smiled. When
she looked at him, he sobered up, deciding that she’d hurt him badly if she
even thought he was making fun of her. When she glared, he decided to try
another tactic, one less likely to get him murdered.

“Tell me about your business and where
you see you in a few years.” She took another bite of her sandwich and he noticed
that she had pasta salad, not potato. He wondered if she didn’t like it or her
mom had brought different kinds of salad. Not that it really mattered, but even
as full as he was, he thought he’d like to have a bowl of it as well.

“I just want to grow things and help
others grow them too.” He started to tell her that she had to want more. Then
she shook her head. “No, that’s not right. I want to work for myself and not…I can’t
work for other people, I guess. I don’t play well, as my mother is fond of telling
me. I guess you’ve figured that out as well. But my last job…I had to quit,
kill someone for being just plain stupid, or at the very least be fired. My
boss wanted more from me than I thought that his pissy checks covered. So my
mom and I pooled our money and we bought this place. I want to buy her out
someday and support her, but she says she likes her job and figures that’s good
enough for her right now. She’s the cook at the Casual Diner.”

“My mom and I ate there this morning. It
was really good.” It was, too, and after thinking about the lunch he’d just eaten,
he couldn’t wait to eat there when Karin was there. “How long has she worked
there?”

“Since my stepdad died. He’s been gone
for a few years. Mom was set up really well no thanks to him. But she was bored,
she said, and needed something more.” He could relate to the being bored part. He’d
been bored at his job for the past several years. He smiled at her when she
stretched out her long legs. “He changed her when I was ten. He told me that
he’d make me a wolf too when I got older, but he didn’t live long enough. He
was killed in a snow storm when he came to pick my friend and me up from the
mall. He didn’t…he drove off a ravine and drowned in an iced-over pond he’d
broken through.”

“I’m sorry,” he said. “Stan, that man
who works for me, said he was a good man. He likes your mom too. I’ve been
thinking that I need a change too. Something more than numbers, at least for a
little while. Something that I can…I want to be outside in the sunlight, move around
with other people. Help them when I can. I want to work for you.” Rayne shook
her head and stood up. “Wait, hear me out, please. I’m bored too. I’ve worked
as an accountant for my entire adult life. I need a change or I’m going to
explode. I’ve really enjoyed working for you today.”

“I can’t help you. I don’t have the
money for someone to work for me, and I don’t want you hanging around me like
some sick puppy. I have to make this work. And I will. I don’t want you here.”
He moved to stand in front of her, and she backed against the table. “Don’t.”

“How do I kiss you? How do I get to see
if your skin is as soft as it looks and as tasty as I think it is?” Her breath
hitched a little as he lowered his head to her shoulder and inhaled deeply.
“You smell so good to me. Like warm sunny days and sex.”

“You can’t do this. I’m a monster and I
don’t want you.” He leaned in more and took a chance on running his tongue
along her pounding pulse. She moaned as he pressed his mouth over it and
nipped. “Please don’t do this. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

He moved slowly as he suckled her flesh
into his mouth and touched her arms. When nothing happened, he moved his hands
up her elbows to her shoulders and wrapped around her. Her hands moved to his
shoulders. He was sure she was going to push him away. Lifting his head, he
looked at her mouth, and when she licked her lips, he groaned. The need to
taste her was like a fix he needed. Lowering his head to her mouth, he was
ready to taste what he was sure was paradise when something alerted him that
they were about to have company. Her mom came around the corner.

Chapter 4

Karin’s first instinct was to shove him
away, but then she realized that he was not doing anything to her little girl
that she didn’t want. She made a mental note to be a little noisier when the
young tiger was in the building or, for that matter, anywhere around her
daughter. Smiling to herself, she went to the sink and turned on the water. She
was washing her hands and thinking about the two of them together as a couple
when she felt the tension in the room.

“I’ve locked up. All that needs to be
finished is the two planters for Monday and then tomorrow’s deliveries.” She
smiled bigger. “Oh and I have to go to work in the morning for a little while.
Not long but I won’t be able to be here when the Saturday morning rush comes
in. I’m sorry.”

“It’ll be fine. Most of the people who
come in know where you are anyway if you’re not here. I can do it.” Karin hoped
that Neal would say he’d help. She nearly turned to hug him when he did.

“I have nothing going on at work on
Saturday’s. I’ll be here.” She turned then to nod when she saw her daughter was
all the way across the room from him. They were going to need some help if this
was ever going to come to mean she’d have grandchildren any time soon.

“No,” Rayne said as she moved to the
open doorway. “I don’t want you coming around here anymore. I’ve told you that
several times already. Just stay away from me and my shop.”

Karin was sure that Rayne would have
slammed out of the room had there been a door, but that was on the next budget.
She looked at Neal as he stared at the door. The poor man looked like he wanted
to strangle someone. She cleared her throat, and he turned to her.

“Is she always this stubborn, or is it
just me?” Karin sat at the table and nodded to the chair across from her. “I
don’t know what to do. I’m afraid of touching her without her permission, and I
don’t have a clue…what is she, Mrs. Hull?”

She thought about telling him what she’d
been telling people for years, but if he really was her mate—and she had no
doubt now that he was—she felt he deserved the truth. Reaching under her shirt,
she pulled out the medallion hanging on a gold chain and pulled it off.

“Do you know what this is?” He took it
from her when she held it out. “It’s very old and you might not know the
history behind it. But my family does and now…well, I trust you with this,
Neal. If you hurt her with this information, I’ll kill you.”

“It looks like some sort of faerie or
something. Is that what she is? A faerie?” He shook his head. “No, they aren’t
real. I mean right? They’re not real.”

He sounded so hopeful, but he needed to
know if he was going to make her his. “Yes, she’s a faerie, but not like you
see in the movies. She doesn’t have wings or any dust she sprinkles around. She
just has her ability to do these amazing things that have gotten her into a
little trouble in the past. And only a few of the things she’s used on you.”

He nodded. “She tossed me around like I
was nothing. And her touch…what is that? Some sort of protection shield?”

“Yes, but it’s not part of what she is. That’s
her own doing. She won’t let anyone get close to her because she doesn’t trust
anyone.” Neal stood up to pace as she continued. “There was a man once, not
long ago, who she fell in love with. He was a good man, not great, but good. They
dated for several months before he asked her to marry him. It took her a long
time to tell him yes because she had to work up the nerve to tell him what she
could do.”

“I take it he didn’t take it well.” She
shook her head, knowing that was an understatement. “I’m not him or anything
like him. I have my own secrets to keep from the outside world and I’d die to
protect her.”

“That’s what he said, too, up until she
touched him without a shield.” Karin stood up and patted him on the back. “I
don’t really have to work in the morning, but I’m giving you the chance to come
in and try to work this out with her. But I’m not kidding you when I tell you
that if you hurt her in any way I will hunt you down and tear you apart.”

He looked at her and she could see that
he believed her. He was bigger than her even as a human and his cat would
likely kill her as soon as she shifted with intent to harm him, but he knew she
was serious. When he nodded, she started to tell him that she had other means
than her wolf to hurt him, but then he spoke.

“If I hurt her in any way, I would
gladly let you kill me.” He moved to the door that led to the showroom. “I’ve
spoken to my mom, and she would like for you to let her host this dinner tonight.
She said that there are a great deal more of us than of you, and she’d very
much like to have you two over to dinner.”

“I can do that. Tell her that I’ll bring
desserts. I was going to have pork chops and trimming, but I like that better. I
was wondering how to seat all of you.” He nodded. “Neal, she’s not going to be
happy with either of us when she finds out I’ve told on her.”

“I know. But I do thank you. And Mrs.
Hull? I won’t hurt her. I’ll protect her with all that I am.” He looked into
the showroom and then back at her. “The man that hurt her, where is he?”

She smiled. “Please call me Karin, and
he’s dead.”

~~~

Closing her eyes, Rayne let her power
pour over her as she held the large container. She knew it was an unfair
advantage she had over other florists and greenhouses in the area, but she had
it and wanted things to work for her and her mom. She opened her eyes when she heard
someone step into the room with her. Neal was standing there.

“That’s how you have such lovely
flowers. I like it. You give them a sort of jumpstart.” He nodded, seemingly
approving what she was doing. “Do you do that to all your containers?”

“I thought you left.” He shook his head
and picked up one of her little plants. “You need to leave now. I have a lot of
work to do and very little time to do it since my mother said I have to be at
her house tonight.”

“No, we’re all going to my mom’s house. She
called and said she had more room for us all. Your mom is making some desserts
to take over. Do you think they’ll be anything like her food at the diner?” He
put the flower in the dirt where she’d put hers only moments before. When he picked
up the next two and did the same she wanted to bash his head in.

“What the hell are you doing?” He
grinned at her. “I won’t have time to repot everything if you mess them up.
Just back the hell off and let me do my job.”

“I want to help,” he said. “Either let
me do this or I go to another part of the building and put some together to
help you without your supervision.” She huffed at him and he laughed. “What’s
it going to be?”

She didn’t answer him. He picked up the
next plant and mimicked her every move until he got the large crock filled with
flowers. She reached over to give it her power before she could think about it.
They were on their fifth and sixth container when he spoke.

“I never got to kiss you.” She almost
fumbled the flower she was putting into the hole she’d made for it. “I really
want to feel your mouth under mine when our bodies touch. Your skin tasted
better than anything I’ve ever tasted before.”

“You’re not going to kiss me or anything
else. What happened in the kitchen was a mistake, and it won’t be repeated.” She
looked up at him when he snorted. “I’m serious. You can’t be around me. I don’t
even know why I’m letting you be here now.”

He stood up and stretched. Her body
tightened. He was taller than most of the men she knew, and he was bigger too. She
was sure that most accountants like he’d told her he was didn’t have near the
muscles that seemed to move along his forearms like they were alive. She
dropped her head when he looked at her.

“Are you sure about that? From where I’m
standing I can see that you want me to kiss you. Maybe even do a little more
than that.” He raised his nose to the air. “I can smell you, your arousal. It’s
not strong yet, but I can change that if you…are you afraid of me and what I
can make you feel, Rayne?”

“I most certainly am not afraid of you.
If you remember correctly, I already showed you how unafraid I am of you.” She
snorted as she fixed the last two of the containers and moved to the area where
she had some small herbs that she wanted to transplant. “I’m all finished now,
so you should get the hell out of here.”

She felt him follow behind her, but she
didn’t stop walking. He’d helped her get the larger items done, so she decided
that she’d fix these for tomorrow. It was nice to have the extra time, but she
wasn’t going to get used to him or it. She didn’t think he’d hang around if she
kept giving him the cold shoulder. Or at least she hoped he wouldn’t.

“These smell much better to me than the
flowers.” He picked up the thyme and held it to his nose. “Lemony. And…I don’t
know what the other is but it’s good.”

She pinched one of the little leaves and
watched his face as the scent hit his nose. He looked at her, shocked, and
picked up another one and pinched it as she’d done. He did this several more
times until he found the catnip. She wasn’t sure what it would do to him, but when
he sneezed three times in a row, she figured that big cats like him didn’t like
it like the little ones did. She laughed when he set it down and away from him.
He looked at her.

“You should do that more often.” She
flushed. “Your laughter is like music to me, and I’d love to hear it more.”

“I don’t have a great deal to laugh
about.” She picked up the long wooden container and put parsley into the middle
of it and then oregano on one end and the little thyme on the other. She did
this to three more containers, grabbing herbs at random and filling them as he
handed them to her. She looked up when there wasn’t one held out to her.

“They’re all full. What do you need to
fill now?” She looked at the herb table and saw that working together they’d
filled nearly two dozen pots. They all looked like she’d given them her power
too. She looked at him, suddenly afraid that she’d touched him with it.

“I was careful not to touch you when I
saw what you were doing. But it was fascinating to see you work without any
sort of restrictions. Did you know that your eyes change from brown to almost
clear when you do that?” He moved around the table picking up the empty bags of
potting soil and brushing the extra dirt they’d spilled into a bucket. “I’m
assuming that’s why you do your work behind that wall over there. So no one
will see you.”

“They’d freak out,” she said. He nodded.
“Why are you doing this? I’ve told you several times I want you to leave, but
you keep hanging around. Why?”

“I’ve thought about nothing but you
since I’ve figured out who you are to me.” She shook her head, and he nodded as
he sat the bucket on the table. “But I have. And you can deny it all you want,
but you’re my mate, Rayne. No amount of you shaking your head or trying to deny
that will change a thing.”

“I don’t need you.” He smiled at her as
he took a step toward her. “And I don’t want a mate. I have enough problems on
my own without a male coming around thinking he can order me around like I’m
his property.”

“I have property, and I’d never put you
in the same category as that is. It’s a thing to me. You are not. And I have
possessions, too, but you’ll never be that to me either. I have too much
respect for you to do that. My mate is what I want and need from you, a partner
that works and lives beside me, not someone for me to have hanging on my arm. I
want you to be a part of me and not lose yourself in me.”

“I don’t want any of that. You should
find someone else.” He shook his head, and she knew that he was going to tell
her that he couldn’t, not now. “I can’t be anything to you, Neal. You have to
realize that.”

He had backed her into a wall and she
wanted to run. But he was so close to her that she could see the different
colors in his eyes, browns and golds along with greens and blues. When he
moaned her name, she realized she’d licked her lips and watched as he lowered
his head.

“I want you to kiss me, Rayne. Blend my
mouth with yours and kiss me.” She wanted to tell him no, but her body was
screaming at her to at least try to kiss him. She touched her mouth to his and
felt his warmth. His breath moved over her cheeks as he exhaled softly. She
wanted to touch him with her fingers. Shaking, she lifted her hand to his face
and ran her finger along his cheek to his throat as her mouth was hovering
above his.

“If I kiss you…when I kiss you, I want
to give you some of me. You’ll see then why this won’t work.” He nodded and ran
his tongue over her parted lips. “You should hold onto something.”

His arms wrapped around her, and she felt
his body become flush with hers. As her mouth covered his, she let just a
little of the power she knew she had go and knew when he’d felt it too. He
stiffened, but before she could pull back, he rocked her into the wall and
groaned loudly against her mouth.

A kaleidoscope of color danced beneath
her closed eyes. When he lifted her up to his hard cock, she curled her fingers
into his hair and pulled him tighter to her. Her legs wrapped around his hips,
and he held her closer to him. When he lifted his head and looked at her, she
saw his hunger and his need. Before she could decide what to do, he nuzzled her
neck and suckled her pulse into his mouth as he’d done in the kitchen.