BirthStone (6 page)

He inhaled deeply behind her ear and placed
a kiss in that spot. “Yes you do.”

“No. I don’t like it when I explain things
about my culture, things that are a part of my upbringing and a
part of me, you don’t listen.” She shoved at his chest again. But
he held fast.

“I do listen. I don’t remember the
discussion you’re referring to. But I listen to you.” He tipped up
her chin. She searched his eyes. He appeared serious.

“Godparents are individuals chosen by the
parents to care for the children in the event of the parents’ death
or inability to care for the children,” she explained, hoping he
understood, because she would hit him over the head the next time
he asked for an explanation.

“No.”

“What do you mean no?”

“To set someone up in that position is
sending the wrong message to my enemies. I cannot do that. I agree
with you, we will exclude that from the ceremony.” He placed a kiss
on her cheek. “I like this dress,” he murmured as his palm rubbed
over her butt, inching the peach colored fabric upward.

“I bet you do,” she said, glancing around
the corridor and removing his hand. Stepping back, she gazed up at
him. “I am going to explain the half-breed thing to mom and Renee.
Since mom is a breeder it won’t be too much of a jump. Renee… she’s
not bringing her girlfriend, Mandy, who would make the leap easier,
but I think she’ll be okay. Do you need to scan them as well?”

“Yes. When I shake their hands –”

“Mom will probably hug you.”

“I’ll do a quick mental scan, just to be
sure no one slipped anything into their drinks or anything like
that.”

Although the idea bothered her, memories of
recent surprises killed her qualms. “The pastor flies in Saturday
morning around eight, does the christening at noon, and then flies
back to Washington at four that afternoon. Rose made arrangements
through your service.”

“That’s fine.” He gazed up the hall and she
knew her few minutes were up, but at least they had covered quite a
bit of the event. After her bout with depression he had suggested
they postpone the christening, but she'd held firm since almost
everything had been done.

“Rone and Rese have to be at the
christening, do you have someone else covering security?”

“Yes, Cameron will be in charge.”

Her eyes widened. “Cameron’s not going to be
at the christening?”

Silas met her gaze and responded slowly.
“No. Should he be?”

Jasmine’s heart plummeted. He still didn’t
get it. This was a family event. A time when everyone came together
to celebrate the newest family members. Cameron was like a son to
Silas and in a roundabout way, the catalyst for Jasmine and Silas
coming together.

“Yes. He should be there.”

He stared into her eyes a moment longer.
“Okay,” he said softly. “He’ll be there. I’ll put someone else on
security. Tonight, give me the exact date your mother arrives and
I’ll make sure I’m here to greet her and your sister. Whatever you
need to make this a good event, you got it.” He squeezed her hand
and placed a kiss on her forehead.

He had used his 'I want you' voice, which
always turned her to mush. The man still revved her engines when he
looked at her with that gleam in his eyes. “I just need you.” She
leaned into him.

He held her tight. “You have me and
everything that goes along with me.” He brushed his lips against
hers, she grabbed his head and deepened the kiss. He tasted like
sunshine and coffee, sweet and decadent.

“Mmmm, I love the way you taste.” She
breathed deeply as they stepped apart. “You smell so good,
too.”

He smacked her on her rear cheeks. “Your
special scent keeps me grounded and your taste is my morning meal
and midnight snack. Now stop distracting me, I’ve got to get to
work. See you later, sweet bitch.”

Feeling better about the upcoming event, she
patted him on the ass and turned in the opposite direction toward
the elevator. “Okay, wolfie, it’s a date.” She watched the smile
cross his face and then disappear. No doubt his mind was on the
next fire he needed to put out. At least there hadn’t been any more
bombs or kidnappings recently. While waiting for the elevator, she
released her breath. That week had been a living nightmare. Her
doctor had no idea the types of challenges she had experienced
after the birth of her babies. It was a miracle the depression was
the only thing she'd fallen prey to.

The elevator doors opened and she stepped
inside. Rose worried over Tyrone’s obsession to take the shot to
level the field with Tyrese. Much of the twins' identities were
locked within each other. Rose had tried to talk him out of it, but
he claimed his connection with Tyrese was off balance and the shot
would fix it. Her daughter-in-law had asked her to keep quiet over
her concerns. It had been hard. Seeing her sons in the lab earlier,
she was certain they were there to get the drug. When the elevator
stopped, she headed toward Rose’s office.

One thing for sure, if anything went wrong
with the injection, Rose would know immediately through the
connection. Since Jasmine couldn’t sit with Tyrone to make sure he
was okay, she’d do the next best thing.

She noticed something was wrong the moment
she stepped inside the dimmed office. “Honey, you feeling okay?”
she asked Rose as she stepped inside.

Slumped in her large leather chair with her
fingertips pressed to her forehead, Rose groaned an unintelligible
response. Thick black hair was pulled from her face with a white
headband. Her normally dusky complexion appeared two shades
lighter, and her pinched lips were pale.

“Not really. I think Rese is blunting it,
but some of it is seeping through.” She pushed back, grabbed the
trashcan and pulled it up to her face. Jasmine rushed to the small
mini-fridge and pulled out a bottle of water so Rose could rinse
out her mouth when she finished vomiting.

“Oh my…” Rose panted. Beads of perspiration
dotted her forehead as her small hand opened and closed
spasmodically.

Jasmine placed the bottle of water on the
desk and placed her hand on Rose’s back. “Come on, you need to lay
down, get as comfortable as you can.” She thought back to what
Silas told her had happened with Tyrese. It hadn’t lasted long, but
he had been in a life or death situation. Did that have something
to do with how the drug impacted you?

“No…no. I can’t move…it hurts…I can’t –” She
snatched up the trashcan again. The sound of retching and the
unpleasant odor rose swiftly, spilling into the air with equal
measure. Unable to watch the painful sight, Jasmine strode to the
private bathroom in the office, inhaled the fresher air deeply, wet
a towel, and brought it to Rose, who lay with her head on the
desk.

“Let me put this on your forehead.” Jasmine
eyed the trashcan sitting next to Rose’s foot.

Rose whimpered. “I can’t move, everything
hurts.”

“I’m so sorry. So sorry.” Jasmine placed the
cool towel on the section of exposed forehead she could reach.

“Ah…that feels good, thank you,” Rose
whispered.

“It’s okay. I wish I could do more.” Jasmine
sat in a nearby chair, prepared to wait until the pain receded,
signaling that her son was doing better.

The phone rang. “Owww… too loud.”

“Who’s covering today?” Jasmine asked as the
ringing continued.

“I don’t remember, but they need to pick up,
the noise hurts,” Rose moaned.

The ringing stopped. Jasmine released a
breath, hoping Rose would feel better soon. It bothered her to see
the young vibrant woman in so much pain. Especially when, in her
opinion, it wasn’t necessary.

Just as Jasmine thought to check on Tyrone,
if Rose had it this bad, her son had to be in worse condition, the
phone started ringing again. Seeing Rose flinch at the sound,
Jasmine picked up the receiver and spoke.

“Silas Knight’s office.” Out of
consideration for Rose, she softened her voice.

“I’d like to speak to Mr. Knight.” She knew
the person on the other end was human because Silas had another set
of protocols in place for wolves to contact him.

“Mr. Knight is unavailable at the moment.
Can I take your number and have him return your call.” She searched
the desk for a piece of paper and grabbed a pen out of a nearby cup
full of writing utensils.

There was a long sigh on the other end.
Jasmine wasn’t sure how much longer she would stay on the phone
waiting for him to make up his mind. Rose did not appear to be
getting better, which made Jasmine more anxious to check on Tyrone.
Normally, the twins didn’t give her much reason to stress or worry,
but knowing Tyrone was willfully altering his body to be like his
brother placed them both in the ‘you’re stressing me’ category.

She frowned.

“Miss…can’t he even afford good help…miss,”
the man on the other end yelled.

Jasmine snapped out of it, catching the tail
end of his remarks. If she had not been thinking of other things,
and ignoring him she would take offense at his crude remarks.
Instead, she sucked it up.

“You’d like to leave a message?” Hell if she
called him sir or any other pleasantries.

“Yes. Tell him Alfred Merriweather wants to
discuss the situation in the caves. I have some information I think
he will be interested in.” His voice had taken on a condescending
edge that rubbed Jasmine wrong. She took an immediate dislike to
the pompous sounding man. Something bogus about him sang through
the phone.

“I’ll tell him.” She scribbled the name
knowing Silas would never meet with this creep. First off, he made
it seem as though Silas should be happy to talk to him and second,
he had been rude to her. Two things guaranteed to piss her mate
off.

“I’ve left my number before, would you like
me to give it to you again?”

“No. He’ll contact you if he has time for a
meeting.”

“The polite thing would be to contact me
either way, to say he can or won’t meet with me. I’m assuming the
great La Patron understands how to conduct himself in business and
society.”

Anger, hot and potent, flashed through her
at the insult. His dig hit its target. Her control over her
emotions had been skewed since the postpartum debacle. The only
reason she hadn’t mentioned the outbursts of rage and tingly hot
energy across her skin to Silas is because she wanted to explore
this new area on her own. It gave her something to focus on besides
her domestic duties.

Jasmine eyed Rose, who lay on the desk
whimpering with her eyes closed. Turning, so she could lean against
the desk, and knowing that Rose could hear her, Jasmine responded
to Merriweather.

“I think you misunderstand, Merriweather.”
Her tone was low and hard. ”La Patron schedules meetings with
Presidents of countries, stateside and abroad, he has friends in
the Senate, the House, and on the bench. He is the ruler of his
nation, and the fact he does not return your call, someone who does
not rank on his societal scale, says nothing about him but
everything about you.”

“Wwwhaaat?”

“I believe we will have a discussion with
the good Lieutenant over how you have this very private number.
Don’t bother calling again, your line will be blocked and I will
report you to the captain for stalking.”

“I’m not –”

“Of course you are stalking Mr. Knight,
Merriweather,” she said, grinning, quite enjoying the exasperated
sounds he made on the other end as he tried to out-talk her. But
the experience of raising two outgoing sons held her steady while
she took the conversation in the direction she wanted it to go.

“By your own admission, you said you’ve
called before, and I know for a fact you’ve called three times this
week.” Rose had been complaining about the man’s attitude and told
her that he was becoming a pest by calling so often. It was a
calculated guess on Jasmine’s part that it was more than twice.

“I have important business to discuss with
him. If he doesn’t want to talk to me, then fine, I’ll find someone
who will listen. We’ll see how big he is then, won’t we. I promise
you this, Silas Knight will pay for killing Robbie. On my honor, I
promise you that.” His voice had dropped to a low snarl.

The air in her nostrils stilled. Her
heartbeat stuttered as each word he spoke registered. Rage, red and
potent, curled within her belly. She sensed her mate’s attention
and shut down their connection. She would handle this.

“Are you threatening Silas?” Jasmine asked
in what she hoped was an even tone. Her body tightened at the idea
of danger to her mate. She unclenched her fist while waiting for
him to answer.

Silence met her question, followed with a
delighted chuckle. “Ah…this is better than I hoped. Ms. Bennett,
how wonderful to hear your voice. It is truly an honor… I mean I am
most fortunate of men to have this gratifying opportunity to speak
with you.”

Frowning, Jasmine removed the receiver from
her ear and then replaced it. “You have been speaking with me for
the past ten minutes. I ask again, are you threatening Silas?”

“Not in the sense that you are thinking
–”

“You have no idea what I’m thinking,” she
snapped, aggravated by his about face. Now she’d have to explain to
her mate how talking with a crazy person got her so twisted up she
shut down their link. He would think she forgot to take her
medication, again. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“I assure you, nothing is wrong, all is
right in my world. To hear the voice of the one… I apologize for
being testy before. I would close with these words of caution, be
careful and stay close to home.”

Brow raised, she glanced at Rose, who
remained seated, face down at her desk. She was torn between
helping Rose and by extension, her son Tyrone, or listening to
information that may or may not shed light on the level of
hostility aimed at her or Silas. With her mom and sister arriving
soon, she wanted to be sure everyone was safe.