Taming the Heart (Creatures of the Night Book 2) (12 page)

“I didn’t say slave. You just work for me, make sure my house is cared for, relocate me when I need it, clean up behind me,” Braden shot back.

Miranda saw them exchange measuring looks and nearly rolled her eyes. Men and their machismo. “What happened back at the cabin? Do you think those people will follow us,” she asked to break the tension.

“If they even get close I will know about it. I have their scent in my nose now. I already disabled the devices they left behind but maybe you can find out who produced them, get some type of signature from them,” he said to Saul.

“These groups have become so high tech lately. They think that makes them better at it, but it only makes it easier for us to track them,” Saul said with a shake of his head.

“What devices,” she asked.

“Sometimes the radical groups who are out to crucify the hunters think they can gather enough information to go public. They try to plant recording devices to catch the hunters at work,” Saul explained as he pulled one of the small recorders out to show her.

“But they only succeed in giving themselves away. Once I can smell them, if they ever get close to me again I will know who they are and they will be dealt with,” Braden stated plainly.

Saul put the mechanical gadget back in his pocket. She swallowed. “Dealt with?”

“Not that. We have a serum that when injected into a human can help them… forget say… the last few months or the last few years depending on how much we need them to forget.”

“This all sounds like something from a B movie.”

“It is as real as it gets. We have to stay a step ahead of the curve in order to keep up our mission. Otherwise the wolves win, and no one wants the wolves to win,” Saul said gravely.

She understood, but still. At lease they weren’t killing people. “How long will you stay here to watch over us,” she asked.

“We will only stay long enough to make you secure. We can not risk being here with Braden for very long.”

“Why not,” she asked. Surely they were not afraid of him. He was a good guy. Wasn’t he?

“A hunter does more than hunt,” Braden supplied. “A hunter produces a light scent that draws the wolves to them. We are magnets for the wolves. It makes it easier for us to find them. On average just coming upon a wolf randomly is as remote as winning the lottery. It is not safe for humans to be around us for an extended period of time. They are in greater danger of being bitten by the creatures if they stay around us.”

Something donned on her. “That is why you don’t think it’s a good idea for me to go see my mother?” Braden nodded and she was quiet for a moment. She turned to Saul.

“Thank you by the way for taking such good care of her. She looked really happy.”

“It is my job to care for innocents,” he said with a dismissive wave of his hand. He then pulled an envelope from his pocket and held it out to her.

“What is this,” she asked as she opened the envelope. It was filled with cash.

“We are paying you for your house and business. We also emptied you’re families bank accounts. There is a new social security card and birth certificate inside. Your new last name is Rolling.”

She blinked in shock. “But you are already putting my mother up in that nice house.”

“That has nothing to do with you. It is a part of our cover up so we will cover the cost.”

She shook her head and looked at the envelop. “I guess its real then. Miranda Jamison is gone. I’ll never see my family again.”

Both men fell silent for a while as if allowing her to absorb that information and all its implications. The only sounds that filled the room were the two men situating the weapons rack. Katie was dead, her mother was taken care of, her father’s copy shop was sold, her childhood home was gone, just like that, after two days. The emotions that went through her were not all bad, but they were certainly disorienting. There would be no funerals for her loved ones but they were gone from her as surely as if they had died. 

“We have brought some personal items from your house in Madison. They are in suitcases in the bedroom. I was going to bring them to you in the morning,” Saul finally cut in. He seemed to be waiting for some reaction, but when she gave none he turned to Braden. “So… do you think she’ll be all right to come back to base with me to wait for Bateman, or do you want her to stay here? She seems all right to me.”

“She can turn,” Braden replied evenly.

Something in his eyes told her that the last thing he wanted was for her to leave. Why? It wasn’t like she wanted to leave any more than he seemed to want her to, but she had good reasons to want to stay. This place was as close to home as it seemed she would get from now on. Maybe… just maybe there was a way to find out what had really happened to her sister. He, on the other hand, had no reason to stick with her when he didn’t have to.

Saul looked her over. He tried not to let them, but his eyes strayed to the wheel chair and she understood. “My legs work when I… turn I guess you call it.”

“She is untrained and still wild. She has snapped my neck, broken my collar bone and shoulder blade, and scraped the skin and muscle completely off my arm, not to mention blowing half my face off with a shot gun.”

The room became soundless as Saul and the other men looked at her with awe and respect shinning in their eyes. Apparently no one did things like that to Braden.

“He made me mad,” she said with a shrug.

“Well. Perhaps it may be best if you stay here then,” Saul replied with an amazed whistle. He shook his head and finished off his coffee.

Braden and Saul stood and headed over towards the weapons to discuss new developments made to them. They may as well have been speaking Portuguese for all she understood. She got into her chair and wheeled herself back towards the bedroom to inspect the cases they had packed for her. She opened the lid to each case reverently. There were photo albums and awards and trophies with her and her sister’s names on them in two cases. There were clothes and jewelry in two others.

One of her mother’s best patchwork quilts was folded and placed at the foot of Braden’s large bed. The vibrant colors were a sharp contrast to the black bedding he preferred on his bed. It was stark and oddly… fitting. The colors of the quilt almost belonged on this big black bed, as if the colors brought the room to life. She closed the cases and pulled the quilt off the bed and around her shoulders.

She pulled herself up onto the bed and cried a bit as she let the tears in her heart bleed. She had put on a brave front at the table but her whole world had suddenly come to an end all because of that stupid dog thing that had bitten her arm. She clutched the envelope full of money to her chest. That copy shop had been her father’s legacy and they had sold it as if it meant nothing at all.

The new owners would probably change the name and her father’s place in history would be forgotten. No one would carry on his work. No one would franchise his shops. He was just gone. She had never felt that more than at this moment. Somewhere in the back of her head she had always thought that she would turn things around at the shop and turn it into what he had always wanted it to be.

She cried from her soul. She cried for the loss of her sister who was just at the beginning of her life. She cried for the career her sister had sacrificed so much for. She cried for the golden haired bright eyed child that everyone adored, including herself. Katie had come out of her mother looking like a cherub and she had become so vital and necessary to Miranda that being without her was like forgetting how to breathe.

She cried for the mother that would never remember any of them, or if she did she might remember them as a dream that she had once had. Lost. It was all lost. There was no getting it back. There was only this new and confusing life that she would live as Miranda Rolling. She didn’t know anyone named Rolling. There was no love for that name, no connection, but she supposed that was fitting. She had no more family. She had no more roots, might as well have a meaningless name as well. Finally when she was all cried out she yawned deeply.

Panic overtook her in a wave. She pulled herself out of the bed and into the chair then went to the bedroom door and called Braden. He came into the room carrying a glass of water.

“I thought you might need this after crying.” He held it out to her and looked as if he wanted to run away before she could start crying again. She motioned him to set it on the side table before she shut the door behind him.

“You have to get them out,” she said with fright. He looked confused at her change in moods.

“They are still searching for-“

“I am going to fall asleep,” she said as her eyes drooped nearly to closed.

“They won’t make any noise. I’ll-“

“What if I wake up with them here,” she asked with a pointed stare. He still looked confused and she wanted to smack him in the head until he understood. “Do you remember what happens when I wake up?”

He went still. “I will be in here with you.”

“How do you know that this… whatever it is that is happening, is just limited to you? What if whatever it is happens and they all come running back here like horny bulls?”

“I would rip them limb from limb.”

Even though she felt a surge of appreciation for his display of jealousy, it wouldn’t fix the problem at hand. “You are supposed to protect innocents remember. I want them out,” she said angrily. Fatigue hit her and her head fell into her chest before she could stop it. She felt him lift her up and tuck her in before she sank completely into darkness.

Chapter Seven

Braden shut the door behind him and strode out into the living room. Saul turned to him.

“Is she feeling better?”

He tried to control his annoyance with his friend, but for some reason he was feeling… was it jealousy? Why? He hadn’t felt anything at all in so long that the emotions were nearly overwhelming.

“It will take time.”

Saul nodded before he turned, hit the button on Braden’s key chain, and the armory slid back into the floor cleanly. The two men who had been helping load it left the cabin without further instruction.

“They haven’t found anything, but we will continue to search through tomorrow,” Saul said as he began towards the couch. He sat down and flipped open the lap top on the table.

“Your new chat room handle is going to be Viking Hunter. I was trying to be clever with a name for her but I don’t know her well enough to-“

“Kitten Hunter,” Braden supplied crossing his arms over his chest where he stood. He tried not to but couldn’t help but to smile at the thought of that. She would like it.

Saul grinned up at him with a lifted questioning eyebrow. “She have anything to do with this new look?”

Saul looked over the new wardrobe and shook his head. Braden shrugged. “She said that I was scaring people with my other look. She said I looked too much like a Viking.”

“I could have told you that,” Saul supplied.

“But you didn’t asshole. You let me walk around frightening young and old alike.”

“I thought you liked to frighten people.”

Braden nearly laughed out loud. Saul was one of the few humans Braden liked, but he knew not to get too attached. Humans were fragile and tended to die around him.

“The look suits you.”

“Well. I can just die happy now that you like the way I look.”

Saul laughed out loud as he typed in a few things on the lap top. “All right. She is all set up and you are too. I’ll write down your new passwords for you. You can take her into town soon and get her an account so we can deposit her pay into it.”

“Still no word from Bateman?”

“None. I will return to our archive in a few days and try to find out what I can about her… condition. In the meantime, we will set up a perimeter. The area seems to be clear of creatures at the moment since you ran them up towards-“

“You can’t stay,” he said evenly.

“What? Why?”

“There are some things about her condition… I’ll just say that you don’t want to be around when she wakes up in the morning. Trust me. It’s not safe for you or your men to be anywhere nearby.”

“She is violent in the morning?”

Braden kept his mouth shut unwilling to say anything more. Saul watched him for a while. He looked as if he wanted to argue. “You need help with her.”

Braden scoffed. “I can handle her plus any other threat that comes along. It is you and the others that I fear for. You must leave.”

Saul nodded. He stood up and gathered a leather binder from the table. “You have the number. Please. Try not to kill the humans if they return.”

“I will do my best.”

Saul laughed at that and went to the door. He stopped and looked over his shoulder. “Try to remember that she is human and fragile sometimes too. I don’t know why but she is different. You can hurt her.”

“I know that. You try to remember this is my house and not to bring things like toasters here without my permission, and if I ever find a coffee pot here…”

Saul snapped off a little salute before he took his leave. Braden went to the couch and sat down. He looked at the new coat and boots. Despite himself, he really liked them.

*                            *                            *

Miranda’s eyes fell open as dawn light filled the sky. She moved her legs beneath the covers and stretched her arms out above her. If there was any way to fight it at all she would have, but the need snaked up her body and coiled around her insides. She groaned as she was struck deep. She wanted the covers off of her. She wanted the nightgown off of her, and she wanted them gone right now. She pushed the covers away and lifted the nightgown. The core of her body felt like hot molten lava as she lay in the midst of the sleep warmed sheets.

Braden was coming to her and he was ready. His body was heat and steal and it radiated out to her as if calling her name. She could feel it and she welcomed it. The door swung open. He had begun to strip on the way down the hall and stood only in his briefs. She looked at him and her mouth watered. She wanted him. She wanted him now.

She opened her legs wide as she put her hands over her breasts. She massaged her breasts as he watched her and she licked her lips in anticipation. He removed his briefs and she hissed as she arched her back and continued to touch herself. He came to her his weight making the bed dip. He knelt between her knees as he hovered above her. She released her breasts and grabbed his shoulders, pulling him down over her.

She was so small. He felt certain that she would be too small for him, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself. It had been so long. He took her lips in a passionate kiss as he pressed himself to her opening. She was so wet with need and she lifted her hips to him as if she were ready to take him. Unable to wait, to prepare her some, he slowly began to push into her and saw stars for a moment.

She was so tiny and tight. She gripped him in a way that made him lose his breath and mind. She was so small, soft inviting. Her cry of alarm brought him back to himself. Her legs had gone limp and she was pushing at him instead of pulling him towards her now. It took a real physical effort for him to pull out of her. He ground his teeth as the near pain racked him.

“I’m sorry,” he heard her murmur as she began to cry.

“Don’t,” he warned.

He hated it when she cried like a frightened animal. He rolled off of her and lay on his back panting. She was trying to kill him. That was the only explanation. She was shivering beside him and he moved to pull the comforter up over them. He needed a moment before he went into the bathroom and took a cold shower. Why the hell was this happening to them and why did she keep pulling him in only to push him away? If she would just let it happen…

“I don’t know why it keeps happening like this. I don’t know why I keep calling out to you. I mean you have been nice to me through all this, and you are handsome but I’ve never… I’ve never… you know.”

He tilted his head to look her in the eye. “You are a virgin,” he asked. She nodded quickly. He sat up right and looked down at her. He hadn’t expected that at all.

“I thought you were twenty nine years old. While that is young to me, isn’t that kind of… old in human years to be a virgin?”

Tears crowded her eyes again. He wanted to shake her and make her stop crying so much. “I only just turned twenty nine. I was only eighteen when… the accident happened and I had never… and since I’ve been in the chair… It’s not like I was ever any great beauty in the first place and who wants to sleep with a woman in a wheel chair?”

He looked over her clear face and her multicolored blond hair as it was spread out over the pillow. Her small size and dainty ways alone were enough to pull a man in. “You ARE beautiful,” he said before he threw back the covers and left the bed. He slammed the bathroom door shut and turned on the cold water.

She was a virgin. She had saved herself all this time and he was not going to let her throw that away on him. She would somehow convince herself that she loved him when she couldn’t possibly. He was a thousand years old and she was so young and beautiful. He didn’t know how, but he would control himself better tomorrow morning. She deserved better than him.

Miranda watched the door as it slammed on his gorgeous backside. Despite his words, he couldn’t possibly think she was beautiful. He was just saying that to make a crippled virgin feel better. She smacked her forehead before she sat up and pulled herself into the chair. She had been there. They were about to finish the deed when she had flaked out.

She couldn’t help it. He was just so… big. It had hurt to feel him entering her and it had scared her a little. She rummaged through her suitcase and pulled out kakis and a long sleeve white undershirt followed by a pink and white striped polo. She pulled on her underwear and the clothes quickly just as she heard the shower going off.

She wheeled herself out to the living room. She was shocked to find the ramp she had intended to build already finished. He must have stayed up all night working on it and he’d done a better job than she would have ever thought of doing. She used the little rope handle to pull it over to the stove. Saul had left the pot on the stove so she picked it up and filled it with water. She needed coffee.

He came out and began to pull out eggs and things to fix breakfast like nothing had happened. Again. She wanted to scream at him. She moved off towards the coffee table instead. She picked up the remote and turned on the news. Anything to not have to look at him. She noticed a piece of paper on the table with passwords. All anger fled her in that instant.

She looked over and beamed her best smile at him. He caught sight of the look and shifted uncomfortably. “What?”

“Kitten Hunter?”

He sighed and went back to his work. “You can use it now if you like,” he said.

She clapped her hands in excitement as she pulled his new lap top into her lap. He came over and typed in his pass code and got her onto the sight.

“I am going to have to buy another laptop I see,” he commented as he went back to work.

“I can buy my own lap top thank you very much,” she said teasingly as she made a salutation.

Kitten Hunter: Hello.

Wave Hunter: You that new hunter up there with the Viking?

Kitten Hunter: Yes.

Mandarin Hunter: That explains the name.

Kitten Hunter: What have you heard about me?

Highland Hunter: That you like to wear t-shirts that say ‘I love kittens’.

Miranda eyed Braden suspiciously. Sometimes she wondered if he liked her at all, but it seemed that he had been talking about her to his friends.

Kitten Hunter: I also wear gloves that say ‘Smiles make me happy.’

Wave Hunter: Slap me with an iron skillet and bury me in the yard.

Seminole Hunter: I think I can handle that for you California.

Wave Hunter: You couldn’t even handle your own mother Arizona
.

“These guys are funny,” Miranda said out loud.

“It makes up for their ugliness.” She laughed as she began typing again.

Kitten Hunter: Braden says that you all are so funny because it makes up for how ugly you are.

She laughed again at some of the responses. “I told them what you said. I got so many hits I can’t even write a response. There are several death threats and a few choice words about your mother,” she said with a blush.

“Good to know. I’ll respond in kind later,” he said as he set an omelet on the coffee table before her. He also set down a cup of coffee and when she took a drink she was surprised to find that he had made it just the way she liked. He must have been watching her the night before. He really seemed to go out of his way for her.

He turned his attention to the news as she read more of the responses as they flashed up. They had jumped from Braden, to the Californian’s mother and lack of proper education, to the new mentor and her kick ass body, to several other random topics in the span of thirty minutes. She had finished her breakfast and still couldn’t interrupt.

“They will go on like that for hours. Sign off. We have training to get to,” he said as he turned the T.V. off and rose.

She felt like she should say something to him about this morning, but what was there to say? She had called him to her and pushed him away again. He had not pushed himself on her when he could have and for now that was enough. Perhaps tomorrow she could… She snapped the lap top closed and moved so he could open the armory. They began again with the weaponry lesson and she absorbed as much as she could.

*                            *                            *

Miranda held the gun in her hand and the weight almost seemed too much. They were outside in a field behind the cabin. He had fired a few rounds into a target he’d set up and she had nearly jumped out of her skin. Guns were louder than they sounded on T.V. She didn’t like guns. Her sister had attempted so many times to get her out to the range but she had never been interested. That had been more of her father and Katie’s thing. She wished now that she had gone.

She knew enough about them to know how to load them and how to avoid shooting herself, but that was the extent of it. Her hand shook as she held out the gun. She closed her eyes and began to squeeze the trigger.

“What are you doing?”

She opened her eyes and looked up at Braden. “I was going to shoot.”

“With your eyes closed?”

“You don’t expect me to hit the target on the first try do you?”

“You hit me on the first try! I expect you to hit the target the first time and every time. Innocents are at risk depending on your skill, now focus and stop being ridiculous!”