Charming (Exiled Book 3) (7 page)

“Just what it sounds like.” She didn’t know where the bravado was coming from, but something about his tone and more aggressive body language rankled. She raised her chin. “I’m leaving!”

The sound of his answering growl startled her and reminded her that he wasn’t fully human. “You are
not
leaving!”

Instead of vocalizing her surprise, since that’s what she thought he wanted, she said, “I am! You can’t keep me here.”

“I can and I
will
. I didn’t promise Rosie to look after you only so you could… what? Sleep in the park? Exiled wouldn’t bother you, but there’s no telling what the more unstable humans might do.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve dealt with unstable humans and no place to live.”

He pressed his mouth into a tight line. “Be that as it may, there won’t be a first time for that in Farsuitwail. You’re staying here and you’re going to find a way to contribute to the community.”

When she laughed, he pulled his neck back and looked at her with confusion.

“Community service?” she asked. “You’re sentencing me to community service?”

“I’m not ‘sentencing’ you to anything. Being a productive member of society isn’t a punishment. It’s a privilege.”

“Man, what movie did that come from?”

“Maybe it’s in a movie because it’s true. Work needs people. It doesn’t get itself done. Coincidentally people need to work. It’s a perfect match.”

“Okay. What do you suggest?”

Charming held his hands out in front of him for a couple of seconds, then took in a deep breath. “Let’s just take a minute and calm down. We’ll sit and talk it out. Everything can be worked out when people keep talking with a willingness to compromise.”

“Compromise.”

“Yes. It means you give a little. I give a little…”

“I know what it means, Charming.”

“Well, I can never be sure.”

“Ditto.”

“What is ditto?”

“It means same here.”

“Oh.” After a few beats of silence, he said, “Let’s just sit down and start over.”

He sat and took a drink of tea which, undoubtedly, had gone cold.

She looked at him warily, but sat. “You don’t own me. Just because I’m in this situation doesn’t mean you own me.”

“I know that,” he said quietly. “I shouldn’t have said those things. It wasn’t fair.”

“Maybe. But it
is
how you really feel.”

“Yes and no. It’s true that this is my home, but it’s also true that I don’t mind having you here.”

“You don’t?”

“No. It’s just that there’s a lot going on right now.”

“Like what?”

“Three humans have turned up dead. Just since about the time you arrived. It looks like one of us is killing them. It’s making people nervous. More than nervous. Scared. Scared of us. And the last thing we can afford is to have humans afraid of us. When people are frightened, bad stuff happens.”

She nodded. “I can see that. Why haven’t you told me? I see you almost every night. I ask you about your day. You never talk.”

“Well…” He really didn’t know where he was headed with that sentence when he began.

“You’re under stress.”

“Stress?”

“Yeah. It’s when you feel tense because there are things that are outside your control are getting out of hand.”

“I know what stress is. Humans talk about it all the time. We don’t usually feel stress. We see what needs to be done and do it. We don’t get emotionally involved with jobs.”

She laughed. “Right. That’s why you’re acting like you’re suffering from PMS.” He opened his mouth and then closed it. “That’s…”

“I know what it is.”

“Okay.” Ana was paying attention to his body language for the first time. His arms were crossed in front of his chest like he was working at keeping himself from fragmenting. “Look. Maybe you’re right. It wouldn’t be bad for me to have something to do. I don’t know how to cook, but I’d like to learn. Is there someplace I can do that?”

“Look, Ana, I just mentioned that as a starting point for a discussion on what might interest you. It wasn’t intended as a suggestion or recommendation.”

“I know, but maybe you hit it the first time. It could happen. Who knows if I don’t try it?”

“I can talk to Scar. Maybe he’d be willing to have one of the cooks teach you a few things in exchange for doing a few chores around the pub.”

Pulling a stray strand of hair behind her ear, she nodded thinking it couldn’t be as bad as a lot of things she’d done to stay alive. And at least, with Charming, she had food, a shower, a clean bed, even a room of her own.

“If you try it and don’t like it,” he went on, “then you can try something else.”

“I can rub some of the stress out of your neck and shoulders if you want.”

“Is that a joke?”

“No. It’s an offer to massage.”

“I haven’t ever had that.”

“Well, then you’re in for a treat. Stay right there.”

Ana went back down the hall to the bathroom where she kept the cache of fabulous toiletries supplied by her strange and magical benefactor. She grabbed the unscented lotion and returned to the kitchen.

“Take off your shirt,” she ordered.

“What?” Charming asked, hating that his dick had jerked in response to her command. “Why?”

“Just do it. You won’t be sorry.”

He hesitated for only a few seconds before grabbing his shirt hem and pulled it over his head. “Now what?”

“Just sit here and try to relax.” Ana had to swallow when she saw Charming’s upper body bared. He had the sort of physique that would require life at the gym for human males. The slightest movement caused muscles to ripple over his body in ways that made her mouth water.

Walking around behind him, she squirted some of the lotion into her palm, made sure it was warm to the touch then spread it across the back of his neck, shoulders, and upper back.

At the first hint of pressure he moaned and dropped his head forward so that his chin was resting on his chest. She began to massage slowly, going in wider circles, increasing the pressure as she went.

“How’s that?” she asked.

He couldn’t form words. The best he could do was to say, “Hmmm.”

“Yeah. I knew this would help. It’s the best stress reliever in the… in, um, in any world that I know of.”

Charming’s muscles were bulkier and tighter than any she’d felt before. They were also more resistant to massage which meant her hands got tired faster than they would have with a human.

“Okay,” she said when she stopped. “That should make you feel a little more relaxed for a while. So you won’t be so growly.”

She handed him his shirt.

“I’m not growly,” he said, but the protest sounded more like a compliment than an argument. “Thank you. That was really, really good. I’ve never felt anything like it.”

Even though she was hardly an innocent, she blushed when his praise brought images of sex to mind. “You’re welcome. Anytime.”

“Maybe you could…”

“No. Let me try cooking.”

“Just saying that when you said you didn’t know how to do anything, you were either holding out or you were very wrong. Because that was good and people would pay for it.”

She sighed. “I’d rather make cookies.”

Charming stood, turned around, and gave her a smile she could learn to crave. “You know, you kind of smell like cookies.”

“You’re making that up.”

“No, I’m not. You know, your, ah, girl parts smell like cookies.”

She blinked, having no idea how to respond to that. Charming had never given her any reason to think he might be interested in her girl parts. If that was a hybrid approach to flirting, it was drastically unusual, but also effective. It certainly had her attention.

“Thank you. I guess.”

He laughed. “Consider this your last day as a watcher in the park. As of tomorrow you will be some cook’s very pretty helper-trainee.”

With that he walked out and closed the door behind him.

Ana threw out the room-temperature tea, made a fresh cup, and sat at the table wondering if Charming liked her like
that
. He didn’t bring girls around the apartment or the bar, but she also didn’t pick up any vibe that he was more interested in boys. She decided to test the waters and find out if he was as attracted to her as she was to him at the first opportunity, hopefully without doing something that would make things awkward between them if she was wrong.

She didn’t see him again that day. He didn’t come to the pub at supper and wasn’t home when she went to bed, but the next morning when she woke, she heard noises in the kitchen. Since Charming was usually gone at that hour, she was surprised to hear that she wasn’t alone.

When she was dressed for the day, her first day as a student of cooking, she went toward the kitchen hoping for something liquid with caffeine and something doughy with sugar.

She’d learned to recognize the differences between humans and hybrids and knew instantly that the tall woman looking through cabinets had to be one of his kind. Plus, she was wearing the traditional garb of Exiled females which was long sleeved, form fitting knit shirt with a wraparound print skirt and lace up leathers very similar to hiking boots. The costume was an odd combination of feminine allure and combat readiness. It was practical, but showed off curves. And somehow it worked, fashion wise.

“Can I help you?” Ana asked.

When the woman turned, Ana felt twinges of an unfamiliar emotion that she strongly suspected might be jealousy. She’d never experienced jealousy before. She’d experienced fear that some other woman might catch the eye of a guy who was providing for her or protecting her. But that was very different.

This female was undeniably stunning, with coloring very similar to Charming’s except that the streaks in her hair were such a pale blond they were almost white.

The beauty’s eyes came to rest on Ana in a lazy, reserved, almost aloof way. Before the interloper answered, Ana heard the front door open and close.

Charming.

He breezed into the kitchen carrying a bag of pastries.

“Hey, Ana. This is Dandelion.”

Ana looked from Charming to the female who was wearing a hard-to-place expression. “Hello.”

“She’s my sister-in-law, mated to my older brother, Crave.” Ana sincerely hoped her instantaneous relief wasn’t evident, but judging by the knowing look on the woman’s face, she knew it was. “Dandy was a good friend of Rosie’s.”

“Is,” corrected Dandy.

“Is what?” asked Charming.

“Dandy
is
a good friend of Rosie’s,” Dandy said.

“Well, sure. Of course that’s what I meant.” The tea kettle whistled. “Oh, good. You made tea.” He busied himself pulling cups out of the cupboard. He threw some tea leaves in with the water and set the kettle on the table with a strainer. “Dandy’s here to visit some of her kids.”

Ana looked at the other woman with open curiosity. “Your kids don’t live with you?”

Dandelion smiled. “A lot of them do. My mate and I supervise an orphanage. We’re also parents to a bunch Kids. Some are of our bodies and some are adopted. We all live in the original Exiled settlement up in the hills just west of here. Newland.

“When the kids are ready,” she gave a little head wag, “and I use the term ‘ready’ very loosely, we give them the option of finishing their education here in Farsuitwail. A friend of mine runs an interim home that establishes a bridge between Newland and life fully integrated with humans. It’s called Town House.”