Second Chance Mates (5 page)

And with a tiger, too.

A tiger who made her wolf whirl and
howl in recognition, a man who made her swoon.
How
embarrassing.
Try as she might, she couldn't quite comprehend
exactly what this tiger-man was doing in her kitchen cooking. What
he was doing here at all. Cade had said something about him being
his friend? Maybe that was it. Screw the heat. It was probably just
her wolf's, and her body's, strong reaction to Cade after so long
that had her fainting. Probably it was nothing to do with the tiger
at all.

Part of her wanted to shut the door and
hide in her bedroom, but another part of her—and it wasn't just her
stomach grumbling—but a more curious part, wanted to find out more
about why the two men had pitched up, unannounced on her doorstep.
Fortunately it was her stomach that pushed her on. Cade was right.
She hadn't been eating properly and she was hungry.

With another deep breath, another
internal 'one step at a time' inner speech, she put one foot in
front of the other and went to face the two men who'd decided to
invade her peace.
At their own peril.

Chapter Four

At the sound of the light footstep in
the doorway, Luke looked up from the generous serving of pasta he
ladled into each of the three dishes and smiled, a smile that
didn't falter as the beautiful woman in the doorway scowled
back.

He'd only glimpsed Clara for a few
seconds before her eyes rolled back into her head and Cade had
leaped forward to save her from crashing to the floor. But those
seconds had been enough to throw him into turmoil. Fully prepared
to loathe the woman who had caused his friend such pain, he hadn't
reckoned on his tiger bursting forth and roaring in recognition of
the woman who should be his.

In those few seconds he'd caught sight
of her gorgeous tumbling mane of blonde curls and her lightly
tanned skin, and could only imagine the body hidden under the
work-appropriate shorts and t-shirt. His tiger even growled and his
incisors lengthened as Cade caught her, swinging her gently into
his arms and striding inside with barely a backwards glance. Luke
had to restrain himself from attacking his own best friend and
making off with the woman himself.

Never had a woman caused such a primal
reaction in him.

Rooted to the spot on the porch for a
moment, Luke found himself in a rare instance of indecision. Follow
inside and find out more about this woman who drove the men in her
life wild—and away—or step back, and not interfere. Before he even
thought about it properly, his first instinct won out and he
stepped inside, shutting the door behind him.

In that moment he knew he had probably
sealed his fate. Damn it, he wanted Clara for a mate.

Luke had watched silently as Cade
checked her pulse, and nearly bowled him over when he made to carry
her upstairs, returning a short while later. In and out, Cade had
gone all afternoon, checking on Clara while she slept off the
effects of her fainting fit; time Luke took to get himself in order
so he didn't end up prowling around in tiger form, marking his
territory with a lift of his leg. Poking around her neat as a pin
house, he was pretty certain she would be mad as hell if he did
that.

And now, here she was, looking fresh
and cute, her hair still slightly damp from the shower.

"Hi," he said and smiled, because that
seemed the smartest thing to do given she didn't know him from Adam
and he was making free in her kitchen.

She raised her eyebrows. "Hi? Really?
That's all you have to say."

"Most women think it's a good
conversation starter. Actually, I believe it's generally considered
a good greeting wherever you come from." He turned away and reached
tongs into the pan, holding up a strand of pasta and checking it.
He felt Clara’s eyes follow him as he turned his back to strain the
pasta before heaping it into a large white serving dish he’d found
on an open shelf.

"Considering you've broken into my home
and made yourself at home in my kitchen, I hardly think it's a good
start."

"One, I didn't break in. The door was
open." She narrowed her eyes, given his hazy version of the truth,
and Luke held up a finger as he continued, "Two, we're hungry.
Taste this." He dipped a spoon into the sauce and held it to her.
She narrowed her eyes at him. He shrugged and licked the spoon.
“Perfect.”

"If you think that makes
it..."

"Told you she was feisty," said Cade,
brushing past her and picking up the glass salad bowl. "Don't hurt
me. You'll be picking glass out of your feet for days if you do
that, 'k?"

Clara turned to follow Cade, but not
without a backwards glance at Luke, who winked at her, grinning
when he saw her affronted face. "You said I was feisty?" she asked,
surprised.

Luke grabbed the bowls and followed
them. "He also said you were butt ugly, but I didn't believe
that."

Clara gasped, which made them both
snort. "Oh, ha ha. Very funny."

"Sit," said Luke, unloading the bowls
and pulling out a chair for her.

"I can pull out my own chair, thank you
very much," she said smartly, moving around the table and doing
just that.

Luke shrugged. "Suit yourself." He
retreated to the kitchen, mixed the pasta and sauce, returning to
slide it in front of Cade who'd snagged the seat next to her.
No
matter
, thought Luke,
I'm more than happy to sit opposite
her. It'll give me a chance to get a proper look at the
she-wolf.

He watched as she inhaled, licking her
luscious pink lips, an unconscious movement that caused his cock to
twitch. At least no one could see seeing as they were all tucked
under the table. He was fairly sure Cade might send him flying
through the window—Cade would probably even close it first then
toss him through it for extra effect—if he thought Luke was getting
a hard-on for his woman, which he was.

"I didn't get a chance to introduce
myself," he said, extending a hand across the table. "I'm
Luke."

"Cade's friend. I got it," Clara
replied, giving his hand a quick shake then snapping it back as if
electrocuted, her eyes widening. If he wasn't mistaken, her breath
quickened too. Did she feel what he felt? She seemed to shake
herself and stared at the bowl Cade placed in front of her as she
asked, "What I don't get is why you two are in my house, acting as
if you live here."

"I told you already, I came for a
visit," said Cade.

"And when are you leaving?" came
Clara's rude reply.

Luke held back a laugh. She wasn't what
he expected at all. He'd expected frigid, or nasty or just plain
horrible, but instead, the apparent love of Cade's life was a hot
blonde with a feisty temper to match. He could imagine screaming
rows then screaming orgasms as they made up with frantic, sweaty
sex. He could imagine initiating such rows for the sole purpose of
getting her all riled up just so he could take her over the table,
or the floor, or on any damn surface she pleased. Stuffing a
forkful of pasta in his mouth, Luke caught her looking at him from
under her eyelashes and to his amusement, pink rose on her cheeks.
She might not like him yet, but Luke had every intention of making
sure she did.

If something did pass between them,
Cade didn't seem to notice. "Are you telling me you're asking your
favorite brother-in-law to leave? Your manners
have
gotten
worse since I last saw you."

Luke watched with interest as Clara
blushed fully this time, then picked up a fork and, ignoring them
both, dug in. His tiger roused as he watched her rosebud mouth
close around the fork, her tongue flicking out to catch a stray
spot of sauce on her upper lip. Her eyes close as she savored the
taste. He could imagine lots of other delicious things her tongue
could do, most of them involving him, naked. With a shake of his
shoulders, he shook that thought out.

He'd only come along for the ride.
Hadn’t he?

It was coincidence, he told himself,
that he happened to find himself free just as Cade announced the
trip. It was certainly wrong that all afternoon his tiger had
insinuated itself into the fierce feeling he felt that Clara should
be his.

Mate her. Now.

What was with his
beast?

Glancing at Cade, who was watching
Clara, he was fairly certain that his friend was thinking exactly
the same thing. Well, the bit about tongues, getting naked, and
mating anyway. He was pretty certain Luke’s instincts hadn’t
figured into his best friend’s brain yet.

What had gotten into him?
He’d
known her for less than a day. He had no intention of searching out
a mate, not when he had a satisfyingly long list of
willing-without-commitment females in his cell phone's contacts. He
certainly had no intention of looking for a mate whose eyes
alternated between absolute fire and an infinite sadness, and
certainly not one who already had mated, and lost, and then there
was the small matter of another potential mate she'd
rejected.

Hell, it chafed his very being that he
was last in the fucking queue. Was this fate's idea of a joke? Wait
until he started to question his no strings sex policy before
landing him with a woman who most certainly did not want a
mate?

"What?" Clara snapped, dragging his
attention back to her.

"What?" he repeated, like a
moron.

"You were staring."

"Perhaps you shouldn't be so cute," he
replied, enjoying her indignant reaction, and that she'd already
packed away half the pasta.

"What happened to the dress?" asked
Cade suddenly. "I picked out your favorite."

"You put a lacy thong on
top!"

Luke snickered at his friend’s
audacity. "Did you?"

Cade held his hands up in protest. "It
looked appropriate. Better than those granny panties you were
wearing. Ow!" He flashed an angry look at Clara as he bent down to
rub his shin and Luke had to shake his head. It wasn't often a
female put Cade back in his place, so he was planning on enjoying
every minute of this. Plus, it was a pleasant distraction from the
tug he got in his groin every time she cast a speculative glance in
his direction. He had to give Cade props for not moving away. They
were clearly just as stubborn as each other.

"You look very nice just as you are,"
Luke said, wondering if a compliment would help her wind down. Or,
given her temperament, rile her up even more.

Surprisingly, as she looked over at him
the corners of her mouth flickered. "Thank you," she said, softly.
Finishing her last forkful of pasta, she leaned back in her seat,
casting her eyes first from him to Cade. "Now get out."

"Excuse me?" Luke couldn't help the
surprise in his voice. He couldn't recall the last time he'd been
kicked out of a woman's house. Well, there was that time he'd had
to climb out a window and make a swift exit via a back porch roof,
but at least he'd gotten his leg over in a very enjoyable, very
athletic afternoon first. And he never got kicked out when he
cooked. It was his secret weapon.

"You heard me. I don't know what your
game is but I don't want any part of it. Pack up your stuff," she
said, her eyes flickering over the packs they'd pulled in from the
truck while she was unconscious and unable to protest. "And go
wherever it is you were going."

Cade chuckled, pushed his chair out and
stretched his long legs. "This is the end of the road for us,
honey."

"Whatever are you talking about?" Her
voice rose.

Luke felt a pull on his heart at the
sound of her panic. He wished he could stride around the table,
pull her into his arms and tell her not to worry. He didn’t just
want to sleep with her, he wanted to protect her from everything.
Oh hell, this is that pure mating instinct I’ve heard
about.

"Like I said before, we've come to stay
and you aren't getting rid of us that easily."

"But, but..." she spluttered as she
kicked back her chair and pointed at Luke. "I don't even know
him!"

Luke mirrored Cade's relaxed position
as he pushed back from the table and crossed his arms. "Sure you
do. We just met. I'm Luke."

"That's not what I mean and you know
it!" Clara turned back to Cade. "I don't want some strange man in
my house."

"I can assure you I'm not strange.
Wicked, maybe, but strange? No. Besides, it looks like you need
some help around here."

"No, I don't," came her automatic
protest.

"Sure you do. Take that," said Cade
twisting in his chair to point to the rear windows. "I know for a
fact that deck was in the same state two years ago because Colton
and I assembled the frame and you still haven't finished it. At
this rate, it'll be twenty years before you can eat out there or
even sunbathe."

Luke closed his eyes at the sudden
image of Clara out on the deck, her body oiled, an itsy bitsy
bikini, or, even better, topless. His tiger started the pacing
again.
Make her our mate,
his beast insisted with a
plaintive whine.