Falke’s Captive (2 page)

Oh, he was good. What a line. He probably did this on a regular basis. Now that the shock of his appearance had worn off—as much as sitting next to the sexiest guy in the bar could wear off—she was better able to handle small talk.

“I might be around for a little while.” She’d actually planned on setting up their base of operations in Wenatchee or perhaps farther north near Chelan, but Leavenworth was looking pretty good at the moment. Unwilling to share all her secrets, and possibly bore him to death with scientific business, she added, “When my…friends arrive, we plan on doing quite a bit of hiking.”

She was surprised to see him grin. “Yeah? You need a guide?”

She chuckled. “Why? You volunteering?”

He shrugged. “Maybe. These friends of yours…How many are there, and are they boy or girl friends?”

She grinned wider and played along. “Well, there’s two of them, and they’re both men.”

He slapped his hand over his heart as if in pain. “Seriously?”

She laughed again. “Yes, just a couple of good friends, but…” She leaned closer. “They’re not here tonight.” She dared a wink at him and wondered where in the world she’d found such bravado.

He smiled back at her, and she realized that somehow the man beside her made it so easy. He was charming and handsome, and she wasn’t keeping up professional appearances for colleagues on campus. With this stranger, she was free to be herself, if only for a little while. Just tonight. No harm in a little flirtation.

And she was having fun, something she hadn’t done in quite some time, what with classes and hours upon hours spent in the lab. A nice change of pace—one she’d all but forgotten existed until this chance meeting with Kelan Falke.

He had a nice name to go with that handsome face. Sexy. She liked the way it felt on her tongue.

The bartender delivered her food, and as she picked up her fork, she glanced at him. “You on a liquid diet?”

He cast a look at his beer and chuckled. “No. I finished a double bacon cheeseburger just a bit ago.”

“And you were supposed to order another round,” a new arrival said from behind them in a voice that rumbled with a sexy bass tone.

Beth turned to greet the newcomer and froze when she saw double.

Deep down she knew it was rude to stare. Twins were not unheard of in the world, but she never expected to see
two
men like the hard-bodied hunk on the barstool beside her. The first one had been a big enough surprise. The second had all her fantasies coming into focus.

Not that she’d act out those fantasies. She was a single woman in an unfamiliar town, in a pub no less. She wasn’t the type to pick up strangers and take them home with her, even if they looked like these two.

But still.
Oh my God!

She so wanted to giggle, but chose to hide behind her glass of OJ and vodka.

“Reidar,” Kelan said, “this is Beth Coldwell. Beth, this is my brother, Reidar.”

“Rider?” What strange names they had.

“It’s spelled differently, but the sound’s the same. Hi, Beth.” He turned to Kelan. “The others took off, said they’d catch up with us tomorrow.”

“Okay. Sorry, bro.” Kelan waved at the bartender and ordered, “Another round here on me,” when the man approached. “For Beth too. What are you having?”

“A screwdriver, light on the vodka,” she said.

Seated at the bar, she ate and watched the brothers as Kelan filled Reidar in on her plans to go hiking with two other guys. Reidar’s response was similarly amusing.

Between bites, she asked them, “So, what do you two do for a living? I assume you live here and aren’t just passing through yourselves.”

“Born and raised here,” Reidar said with a smile as captivating as his brother’s, though there was a distinct difference between them. His hair was shorter, neatly trimmed. Just a little wisp curled against his forehead, giving him a not-so-good-boy look that kept her thinking about how these two guys could rock her world. If she were that type of woman, which of course, she was not.

She shoved her glasses up her nose and then took another bite of steak, slowly chewing, telling herself that just because she hadn’t been with a man in a few years didn’t mean she’d go jumping into bed with a couple of hapless locals.

She almost snorted. These two weren’t hapless. But she figured they could make her helpless to say no, if they asked the right questions.

Kelan added, “We’re guides.”

She snickered, not believing him. Sure they were. “Seriously, what do you do?”

He grinned, but Reidar responded. “Seriously, that’s what we do. We take city slickers into the mountains or down the river rapids and make sure they survive while roughing it in the big, bad, dirty wilderness.”

She blinked, her brain clearing from the sensual fog they seemed to emit. Guides. Maybe she could find out a little about the national forest before even meeting with the forestry service. She took another bite as she formulated her questions. “Um, what about the wildlife? Is there a lot to see if a person stays on the mapped trails?”

“Sure,” Kelan said. “Of course, if you hike through the woods making a lot of racket, your odds drop considerably.”

“What kind of animals?”

“The usual,” he replied while Reidar took a drink of beer. “Rabbits, deer, squirrel, and a lot of birds if you like to watch those kinds of critters.”

“What about the…carnivorous type?” she asked, using his own words from earlier.

“There are bears, wolves and cougars in the area, but most will avoid contact with humans, particularly when you travel in groups.” He ran a thumb in a gentle arc along the corner of her mouth, his fingers curled beneath her chin. “Don’t go wandering off alone, and you’ll be fine.”

His touch left her skin tingling after he pulled his hand away, but she swallowed and said, “And don’t camp with food in your tent.” She wasn’t a stupid city slicker, but she’d keep that information to herself too, for now.

Both men grinned.

“Right.”

“If you wanted to see some, though,” she asked, “are there places along the trails where they’re more prevalent?”

As she finished off her meal, they answered her questions and shared more about the quaint Bavarian-styled village, their descriptions often filtered with brotherly teasing she found entertaining. In return, she shared a little about where she came from in Seattle and admitted to being a grad student working toward her doctorate. She steered clear of talk about her scientific research, a topic she would’ve happily discussed ad nauseam on campus. But, tonight, she didn’t want to talk shop. Didn’t want to be the geeky scientist. She liked the way these two handsome men made her feel more womanly than she’d felt in a long time.

After the meal, and after a bit of coaxing from the brothers, she took a couple of spins around the dance floor with each of them before somewhat reluctantly calling it a night.

“I really should get back to the hotel,” she said, exiting the pub with her twin escorts.

“The Bavarian Inn?” Kelan pointed toward the well-lit building a short jaunt down the quiet street.

She nodded.

“We’ll walk you to the door,” Reidar volunteered.

“Oh, you don’t have to do that.” Nervous butterflies took flight in her tummy, not alarm but unvarnished anticipation. She shook her head, knowing she couldn’t let this—whatever
this
was—go further. She’d just met these men, and as fun as they were, she wasn’t prepared for a one-night stand with either of them, much less both.

Her pulse leaped at the thought.
Uh, don’t go there, Beth.

Not the time to explore crazy fantasies. Fantasies were always better than reality, anyway. Right? Her fluttery tummy told her these men would be everything she’d ever imagined, and more.

The men, of course, hadn’t actually suggested such a thing. But for the small caress that Kelan gave her at the bar, they’d made no further advances.

“We know we don’t have to,” Kelan said, taking her hand and tucking it into the crook of his arm. “But our parents would tan our butts if we didn’t act like gentlemen and walk a woman safely home.”

They began a slow stroll down the sidewalk, one man on either side. She glanced at Reidar when he tucked her other hand in his arm and winked.

“Do you two always provide such protective services to the tourists in this town?”

Kelan’s grin was cheeky.

“Hospitality at its finest,” Reidar quipped, making her laugh.

“Besides,” Kelan said, “you said you
might
stick around. We’re hoping to impress you enough that you
will
stay for a while…or perhaps return again.”

She nodded, coming to a stop at the hotel’s front door. “A repeat tourist, huh?”

The men released her, and she turned to face them. Both were smiling. Both so devilishly handsome.

“This place is colorful in autumn,” Reidar said, keeping the verbalized topic G-rated, but his gaze hinted at a totally different message. “And in the winter, it’s majestic.”

And I bet you two could keep me warm.
Dismissing such thoughts, she took a deep breath, chastised herself for not having the guts to go through with what they might be offering and gave Reidar a grateful hug. “I’ll have to think about that. It sounds lovely.” He hugged her back, dipping his head to nuzzle her shoulder. She gave him a peck on the cheek and then turned to Kelan. “Thank you, both. I had a wonderful night.”

He wrapped her in a second hug, a little tighter than the first, but when she turned to kiss his cheek, he turned too. Their lips met in a brief, chaste kiss that knocked the breath out of her. Before she could cast caution to the four winds, he was the one to pull away, his hands at her elbows to offer support, which she much appreciated.

“It was our pleasure, Beth,” he said, letting go.

She didn’t want him to let go, but she reached for the stability of the door handle instead of him. “Good night,” she said, pushing the words out with little air.

They wished her the same and watched her walk inside. When she crossed the lobby and looked back, they were gone.

“There is no reason this can’t work. Why aren’t you seeing that it would benefit Catamount Outfitters as well as the entire community by producing jobs the locals seriously need?” Kelan paced the confines of Axel’s living room, while his brother sat so smugly on the leather recliner and didn’t answer.

Kelan had finally gotten up the nerve to approach Axel with ideas to expand the family business, and his big brother—by a whopping three minutes—refused to even contemplate the plan.

“There are a number of reasons,” Axel said. “
Risks
that I must consider.”

Kelan stopped pacing and narrowed his eyes at Axel. “Damn it, Ax, why are you so stubborn? The business might be in your name, might have even been your brain child—though I know at least four of us were in on the planning—but we all bust our asses every fucking day to make it the best in Leavenworth. It’s
our
company too. You have no right to shoot down good ideas.”

Axel raised his eyebrows and folded his hands over his stomach, looking much too superior and relaxed. “And you have the funds to buy another piece of property and build the warehouse needed for this ‘good idea’?”

Kelan scowled. “The company does.”

“The company?”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” Kelan slashed his hands through his hair.

“Not only do you need to build the warehouse, or rent the space somewhere, and hire people to run it, but we’d also have to expend the funds to stock the warehouse before we could go online.”

“Why couldn’t we use your old apartment above the store? Knock out some walls, and that could work to start—”

“I thought you and Reidar were going to move in and live across from Torsten and Sindre.”

Kelan shrugged. “It’s not a done deal.” They’d discussed moving out of their fathers’ log home. They were adults after all and had the means to be on their own, but the homestead was huge, both house and acreage. Too much for their fathers and little sister to handle alone. Still, that wasn’t the only reason Kelan had been reluctant. He also liked his childhood home because, unlike the apartment over the store, it wasn’t in town. It was remote enough that he could shift and go for a run on Falke lands or even cross into the national forest anytime the desire struck without worry.

“I see. So, while you two are remodeling the upstairs and spending company savings on stocking this experimental online store, the business we have now will suffer because two of my best guides will be off on this new project. It’s not as though I can hire anyone to fill your positions in the store.”

How was remodeling an apartment any different time-wise than what Axel and Gunnar had spent supervising the construction of their new home? “You have, including yourself,
six
guides! We’re all good, and you know it, so don’t try to stroke my ego by calling me one of the best. Jeezus, Ax, I’m not twelve. Besides, Reidar can do the website work after hours. He’s already onboard.”

“I’m not surprised,” Axel muttered.

Kelan’s temper spiked yet again. “If you and Gunnar weren’t so busy with Dakota, there would be enough guides. When was the last time you took a group out, anyway?”

Axel came out of the recliner so fast, with such a look of murder in his eyes, Kelan took a step back. Axel raised a finger, opened his mouth as if to say something, then turned and stalked out of the room.

“Shit.” Maybe implying that Axel hadn’t been pulling his weight on the job lately wasn’t such a brilliant strategy. He eyed the empty chair. His brother wouldn’t be open to any more discussion, so Kelan decided retreat was the best move for now. He’d fucked up, which only fueled his anger over the whole situation.

Kelan headed out the back door and into the woods behind Axel’s home. His steps gained speed as he jerked his shirt over his head and dropped it on the ground. Running, dodging low evergreen branches and jumping over fallen logs, he unbuttoned his jeans and shoved them down. He slowed only long enough to shed his shoes and socks and kick free of his pants. Then, he took off again.

Midleap, he transformed into his catamount form, landing on all four paws. He let out a frustrated yowl and dashed through the woods, going deeper and deeper into the Wenatchee National Forest.

Ever since Axel and Gunnar found Dakota—their mate—the family alpha had changed. Before, Axel’s life revolved around Catamount Outfitters. Now, his entire world seemed to be Dakota. Gunnar wasn’t much better, but at least he came to work every day. Granted the two had been extra busy designing and then supervising the construction of their new home, but they’d completed it before the first hard snowfall. And it was late spring now. Business was picking up as they headed into the heavier tourist months of summertime. But they, or mostly Axel, had remained preoccupied with…he didn’t know. Newlywed honey-do lists or something.

If Dakota worked from home, then so did Axel. If Dakota wanted to go to Seattle for a damned shopping spree, Axel drove her. As if the woman hadn’t lived for years alone just fine in Vegas of all places.

As protective as the brothers were over their baby sister, Axel never tagged along behind Heidi that way. Then again, Heidi would probably flatten Axel if he tried.

Kelan splashed through a stream and scurried up a hill to a clearing. He stopped, breathing hard, and looked up at the bright blue sky and the sun on its westward decline. He growled, snarled, let out another yowl of frustration.

Everything around him seemed to be changing, yet when he tried to make a change in
his
life, something that would be
his
, his overbearing family squashed him.

For a fleeting moment, he thought about going. Running. Making a place for himself somewhere. But he knew what happened to rogue catamounts. Freedom and a solitary life were neither synonymous nor equal in value. He couldn’t go anywhere without Reidar. To do so would be to condemn his brother to a lone existence.

No, together they would one day find a mate and make their own family as their fathers had done before them. He wanted that, and so did Reidar. But it was still far in the future, and he needed to do something
now
, or he’d go stark raving mad.

Damn it, he loved his brothers and sister. He couldn’t leave them. He just didn’t understand why Axel was being so…stupid.

Something bit his ass, and he yowled in pain, spinning around to find the bee or wasp that landed its stinger in his butt. What he saw, though, was the white and red tail of a…dart?

What the hell?

He swatted at it, but it just danced about, the embedded needle causing him more pain. He plopped down on his side and twisted his body, trying to get at it, but his vision blurred. He growled and tried to change form, to reach for his human body so he could pull the thing out, but he couldn’t seem to focus his mind.

A tranquilizer? Someone drugged him?

His limbs grew heavy even as he struggled to think.
Shit
. He couldn’t shift. Shouldn’t, even if he did have the strength to succeed. Whoever shot him might be watching.

He had to get out of there, hide from whoever did this to him. He struggled to stand, stumbled and face-planted into the dirt. He sneezed the dust from his nose and tried again. He couldn’t make his legs work. Darkness closed in around him even though the sun was still high.

Oh, fuck. This can’t be good.

Beth almost shouted with glee as she watched the massive puma stagger and fall. Her first day in the woods, and she’d gotten the biggest, most beautiful mountain lion she’d ever seen. What a find. And in the middle of the day.

Turning her head, she called, “Tim. Where are you?”

“Coming. I heard you fire. Did you really shoot something?”

“Yes, hurry up.”

“Seriously?” He crashed through the undergrowth, sounding like a herd of bison. “Damn. Ouch. How do you get through this crap so easily?” he grumped as he trudged into the clearing next to her.

She grinned and pointed. “Look. Isn’t he pretty?”

Tim’s interest visibly piqued when he spotted the downed cat a few dozen yards away. “Oh! Wow, Lizzy. I thought we were just scouting the area today.”

“We were, but…” Beth was so thrilled with her catch, the silly nickname her friend insisted on calling her didn’t even crack her smile, though she did playfully swat him on the shoulder. “Come on!” Eager for a closer look, she headed toward the beast.

Her heart hammered in her chest, and a sheen of sweat coated her forehead. She thought it would be cooler here in the mountains, but this early June day was in the mid-eighties.

To find a cougar out and about in the middle of the day wasn’t unheard of, but they were mostly nocturnal. She and Tim had planned to scout around, see if there was a spot where they could pick up some fresh tracks, set up a blind and wait for one. She’d only brought the dart gun along just in case, more for personal safety than anything. Was she ever glad she did.

Their grant from Washington State gave them enough money for at least two months of research in the Wenatchee National Forest. She’d been hopeful, but hadn’t let herself get overexcited. A small part of her suspected she’d be chasing tracks and scat all summer and never get to touch a live, breathing, beautiful cougar. Especially this close to town.

“Careful,” Tim warned, and she responded with a nod. As they neared the animal, he searched for and found a stick long and thick enough to use as a poker. With it, he nudged the beast’s butt, looking for a response. When the cat didn’t budge, she slipped around Tim, adrenaline making her laugh with glee.

“Would you look at him! He’s so big.” She knelt at the cougar’s head and reached out to feel for its pulse.
What the…Oh, crap.

“Is that a collar?” Tim bent and touched the black strip of leather around the cougar’s neck. “I knew we should’ve waited for the professor to arrive. Didn’t I warn you?”

Yes, she’d listened to his dire warnings after they’d set up the mobile lab and she’d suggested scouting some of the trails. He’d wanted to check into the hotel, take a dip in the pool and relax until the professor arrived on Saturday. But he’d caved when she told him she’d just go alone.

“How was I to know we’d even see a cougar today,” she challenged, “or that when we did, it’d have a collar?”

“Point taken.”

She nodded, pushed up her glasses and inspected the collar further. A small, pewter medallion twinkled in the sun, and she slid her fingers over it to take a closer look. An oval with a teeth-bearing cougar head embossed on it. No identification tag.

“It’s a damn pet,” she snarled. “But no ID. Who in their right mind keeps a cougar for a pet?”

“There are people in the world that think having exotic cats for pets is vogue,” Tim said, adding quickly when she scowled at him, “Not that I agree it’s a wise thing to do. I’m just sayin’…people do crazy things.”

“People are idiots.”

“So, do we tag ’im anyway?” he asked.

Pet or no pet, she had a job to do, and until the owners were found, she’d do her job exactly as planned. “Yeah.” She felt for the animal’s pulse. Strong. Good. She glanced over her shoulder, back toward the trails. “But we can’t let him go or leave him here defenseless. That tranq should keep him knocked out for a while. We need to take this big guy to the lab while we search for its owner. He’s out here running wild, and that’s potential for disaster with all the kids and pets around Leavenworth.”

She shook her head in disgust. The professor hadn’t even arrived yet, and they’d already have to move locations. With a damn pet roaming the area, there wasn’t likely to be any wild pumas around. They were too territorial and had too wide of a range. Damn it all. She’d liked the fact she was doing research yet had a nice, cozy hotel room to sleep and shower in. They’d have to move deeper into the forest, which meant pitching the tents and digging a latrine.

There went her happy mood. “Go get the four-wheeler. We can’t carry this guy. He’s two hundred pounds if he’s an ounce.”

“There’s no way to get the four-wheeler up here,” Tim said with a frown. “I could barely walk through it.”

“Try over there.” She pointed to a slight break in the trees. “It’s probably just a deer trail, but I’m sure you can get the ATV up it. The locals do it all the time.”

“So, that’s how you did it.” He gave her a little smile, which she returned with a look of wide-eyed innocence. “I see how you are. ‘Let’s split up,’” he quoted the suggestion she’d made when they first arrived. “Send Tim into the thicket while Beth takes the easy trail.”

Beth chuckled, watching him trek toward the trail.

“I’ll remember this,” he teased.

She rolled her eyes when he turned his back. Day one of their two months working together. It was going to be an interesting summer.

Kelan smelled a female.

He couldn’t quite open his eyes for some reason, and his legs were too heavy to move, but he could smell a woman.

Not perfume. The sweet tang of warm flesh. He breathed in deep and purred, wishing whoever she was would come closer so he could taste her.

Then he realized how dry his tongue felt, how thirsty he was. The ground felt awful hard, and flat, and cold. Where had the sun gone? Had he lain here the rest of the day?

“Hey, big boy.”

His ear twitched toward the sultry voice. It seemed familiar.

“You finally waking up?”

His right ear stung like hell. The back of his neck ached, and his butt cheek hurt too.

It all came rushing back to him. The tranquilizer dart in his ass. He growled and finally pried open his eyes. Steel bars surrounded him.

“It’s okay, baby. You’re okay.”

The hell he was. He forced himself to his feet and turned a circle, spotted the door to the cage and bumped his nose against it. God damn it! How had he let himself get captured?

“Hey there, don’t hurt yourself.”

He turned again to face his captor and growled.

Beth?
He almost couldn’t believe his eyes, but the sexy grad student stood on the other side of the bars, and part of him was tempted to take a swipe at her. He didn’t only because she had such a sweet voice. And those kind emerald-green eyes he’d all but drowned in the other night. But she was supposed to be out hiking somewhere, not staring at him like an oddity on display at a Ripley’s exhibit.