Gerard (4 page)

The water was hot, but she didn’t want to waste it so took a quick shower. The need to linger under the hot strong spray had her hurrying faster, and she was standing in the bathroom with a towel around her waist when she heard someone knock on the bedroom door. Not bothering to answer, she finished brushing her teeth and then came out to find a strange man in the room. He nodded to her as he put a tray on the little table by the window.

“Mistress Emma asked that you come to see her when you have finished up here. She is at the office until four this afternoon. I have taken the liberty of making you a large breakfast, but should you desire something different, please let me know. My name is Randy Byrd, butler of this home.” Susie nodded at him as he stood there. “You are very beautiful, if you do not mind me saying so, my lady.”

“I’m not going to have sex with you.” The moment she said it she hated herself for it and told him she was sorry. “I don’t have a lot of trust for people, men especially. And lately, the last five years or so, I’ve been in a place that lent more to the distrust of people than trusting them. I’m very sorry.”

“That’s fine. I mean, I’m…Mistress Emma has told me of your life. And I’m sorry for my words. I should have taken better care than to say them to a stranger. But you are quite lovely.” He nodded at her again and left her to herself.

The idea not to eat what was on the plate was tempting. And she might have been able to resist had her mouth not been watering over the scents coming from the covered dishes since the man had come into the room. Walking to the tray, she told herself that she was only going to eat the toast, but knew as soon as she saw the eggs and bacon she was going to devour it all. It had been forever since she’d had a crappy meal, and longer than that since she’d had a good one. Susie finished off the entire meal in less time than it took to make her bed and clean up after herself.

Taking the tray to the kitchen, she was surprised to find Mason there with four other men. They were related, any fool could see that, but she still paused in the doorway until Randy, the butler, took the tray from her.

“Hello. Did you sleep well?” Susie wasn’t sure how to answer the man. She didn’t understand why he cared, but he only grinned at her. “My name is Jace Douglas. These two are my brothers, Zach and Logan. We’re waiting on Gerard and Darin, two more brothers, to join us while we eat Mason out of house and home.”

“Susie Benjamin.” Mason stood up, and she took a step back from him. It wasn’t that he’d hurt her, but she didn’t want him to be close enough to try. “Where am I to work off my punishment?”

“Do you cook or clean?” She told him she could do both, but not well on the cooking part. “How about ranching? Do you know anything about cattle and milkers?”

“I worked in the prison barn.” She’d run it, but didn’t say that to him. It wasn’t any of his business, but if she could work outside instead of in the house, she might even give him her life history. “If you don’t mind, I’ll muck stalls rather than be inside.”

“I don’t think you’re gonna have to do that, but we do need to go and clean out a barn and several outbuildings. The barn has been…the steer are gone for the most part, but we have to clean things up for the new cattle coming in. There are some horses too. I don’t know how many, but there are a few of them that are out and about. The barns need to be stripped and redone. That means the feed has to be taken out and burned. You up for that?” She nodded and watched him in the event that he slapped her around. He didn’t strike her as the hitting type, but then people, all of them, had all kinds of hidden talents. “If you’d go on out with Logan and get a start on the feed barn, I’d be grateful. If it’s too much, let him know and I’ll find you something else.”

As she followed the other man out, she felt the sun on her face and paused long enough to let it burn on her face for several seconds. The man she was with, Logan, only waited for her, not making fun of her or saying anything nasty to her. And when she moved to go again, he never questioned what she’d done, but she did see him smile.

“The ranch that we’re working on has been left in poor shape by the previous owners. It’s not that he didn’t feed his herd, but he didn’t give them fresh food even though he had a stockpile in the barn. We looked it over and figured out that rather than take a chance on any more of them falling ill, we’d start fresh. The horses that Mason was telling you about have been set free for some reason. There are as many as a dozen in the other paddock, but other than that, we don’t know.” She nodded as she got into the truck with him. “Mason said that you’re to take it easy today. He doesn’t want you hurt.”

Saying nothing but thinking hard, she knew that she’d work harder than anyone else even if it killed her, just to prove the big cougar wrong on what she could and couldn’t do. It was childish, she knew, but she didn’t want to be there any more than he wanted her there. She wasn’t a person to slack off, and if she was set to a job, then she’d, by God, give it her all. This one, even under the circumstances, wasn’t going to be any different.

As soon as the truck came to a stop, she could only stare at the shape everything was in. The barns were missing parts of the roof. There was fencing down all around the big corral, and the two horses there looked to be as underfed as she’d been lately. Their bones were showing, and their coat was dull with unhealthiness. She felt her heart break for them.

“We can’t get too close to them.” She asked Logan why not. “They’re not used to our kind. I’m not sure even that many humans can get close to them. But if they don’t get help soon, we’re going to have to put them down rather than see them suffer. There were five of them that stayed pretty close to the barn, but they’ve already passed away. The vet seemed to think these two will as well if they don’t start to trust us.”

Not been killed but passed away. She moved to the fence and Logan cautioned her twice before she gave a soft whistle as she climbed up on the railing. Their ears flickered but neither of them moved in her direction. Getting down and on the other side of the fence, she felt Logan come near but not touch the fencing. She asked him to stand back as she made her way to two of the prettiest horses she’d ever seen, despite their being sick.

The first horse, the smaller of the two, was skittish. He kept dancing away from her, and she kept an eye on him as she moved to the other horse. Susie had always been good with animals because of what she could do, and it mattered little to them if she was human or not. It was the one thing she loved about working in the barn, getting to touch and be with other animals like her.

“Come on, buddy. You know you want to come to me. I can touch you if you let me.” His ears flickered in her direction, but he didn’t move. “I’ve been hurt, too, by people. Most of them were animals, but not like us, huh?”

He moved away from her, and she stopped moving. He was turned in her direction now, and she stared at him as he moved his head up and down, as if he was agreeing with her. She put out her hand and spoke to him again.

“I don’t have anything to give you. If I had an apple, I’d split it with you if you let me touch you. Do you like apples?” He didn’t move when she took several steps toward him. “I love them. Not all kinds, just a few. There are these ones called Gala that you’d like, I think. They’re a little on the tart side, but oh so good when you bite into a nice crisp one.”

Susie was within inches of touching his nose. The other horse was still now, taking his cues, no doubt, from the older horse. When he put his head down and she ran her fingers down his soft nose, she took the last two steps toward him. His head touched her forehead as she curled her fingers into his mane. As soon as she touched him, she knew that he was hurting. Not just because he’d not been treated well, but because his mate was gone, along with his child.

Susie had never told anyone what she could do. Not even when she’d been in prison had she mentioned that she and animals had a deeper connection than most adults. While not able to talk to all the creatures she encountered, she could hear them. This one she could talk to. When she felt the other horse come up to her, she reached out her hand and let him touch her too.

Susie felt someone touch her mind just as she was running her hand down the flanks of the smaller horse. She only glanced at Mason, who was at the fence now.

Are they going to be all right?
She told him that would depend on him, she supposed.
Fair enough. But what I meant was, do you think you can get him to let the vet look him over? And the other one?

They’re both in good health. They need water, fresh water if you don’t mind, and the larger horse needs to have his left rear foot looked at.
Susie moved to the other side of the horse and saw the long marks of a whip on his belly and flanks
. Someone has beaten them. Was it you?

No. I don’t beat animals any more than I do people.
She only looked at him.
You’re not at all trusting, are you? No, Susan, I didn’t beat them. They were like they are when we got them out of the barn three days ago. Or I should say when they charged out of the barn three days ago. We’ve been leaving them fresh food, but I’m sorry to say I never thought of the water situation. I’ll have it done now.

Susie, not Susan.
She moved to the barn where there were two men, and both horses followed her.
Do you happen to know where I can buy an apple or two? I promised him one should he let me touch him.

I have one in the truck, as a matter of fact. Will you come for it, or will I need to lay it out for you to give him?
She led the horse to the barn where Mason was, and he moved to get the apple. When he started to hand it over to her, she told him to give it to the horse. When the horse took it from Mason, she smiled at the animal. He was going to be all right now, she thought.

Going into the barn, she picked up a pitch fork and began emptying the feeders of all the meal that was in them. She could see the mold now, and the rats had been in it as well. Susie turned when Mason said her name.

“How did you do that?” She asked him what. “You know what. That horse had been slated to be put down because no one could get within ten feet of him, and Logan said you just walked out there and he came right to you.”

There wasn’t a question, so she didn’t have an answer for him. She supposed he did ask her how she’d done it, but she didn’t have an answer to that either, so she didn’t say anything. But when he crossed his arms over his chest and asked her again, she turned her back to him and worked as she answered him. Now that she was a part of his leap, even temporarily, she had to answer him. It was that or risk having her sentence extended, as well as another whopping headache.

“I have a way with animals is all. They…I get along better with them than I do with people. Shifters or just regular people. It doesn’t really matter, but we get along better. They’re not as…abrasive to me.” He asked her what that meant. She wondered if he meant the abrasive part or just getting along. Susie decided to answer it in a way that wouldn’t get her into trouble again. “I don’t know really. They…we have a connection of sorts. I don’t hurt them and they trust me. And I trust them as well.”

“Can you talk to them? Can they talk to you?” She told him not always. “Then how do you know what they need? How they feel?”

“I don’t know that either. I just…like I said, we have a connection. It’s their…everything. Emotions. Hurt. Hunger. Sadness.” She turned to look at him then, and his huge body was outlined in the barn door. There was something calming about his stance. She had no idea why, but she thought she could trust him if it came to something bad. “I won’t bother them any more if you don’t want me to. But I don’t want to work inside. If you leave me outside, I won’t do anything with the animals anymore.”

“But you will if I need you to? You’ll help me with them should I ask you to help me?” She was confused but nodded at him. “Good. That’s good to know. I might. Need you, I mean. And soon. And if you want to work with them, go ahead. I’m sure that both of you, you and the horses, could use a friend about now. At least until you begin to trust us.”

When he left, she started on the second stall. Logan came in to help her, and they worked through the morning on the stalls. By noon they had them all cleaned out and the feed, nasty shit, taken out to the large pile that was set to be burned in a few days. She was taking the last to the burn pile when she was introduced to Holly Douglas and the rest of the men of the family.

“Gerard isn’t here, but he’ll be here by dinner. There are some problems in town that he has to deal with.” Susie said nothing as Logan told her this. “You’ll like him, too.”

Moving to the lunch tables that had been set up while she’d been working, she wondered why he thought she’d like any of them. They were just a job, and the sooner she was gone, the better she’d be. And the further away she could get from her father, the safer she’d be too. Or she would be until he found her again.

Chapter 3

The house was quiet when he moved into the living room. Gerard had been so busy today that he was bone tired, and sore even. The thought of shifting and moving into the trees beyond the house was so tempting that he moved past the kitchen, where he knew a meal was waiting on him, to the deck surrounding the house. He was glad now that he’d been staying with Jace and Holly. They had the densest woods he’d ever been in. He was naked by the time he moved off the deck, and was just about to shift when he felt her. Turning slowly, he looked at the large cougar and put his hands up with a grin.

“Hi. You caught me at a disadvantage, I’m afraid.” She snarled at him and moved back. “Don’t run. If you do, I’m going to shift and chase you. I’ve had a really shitty day, and my cat would love to take it out on a trespasser right about now.”

He watched her and wondered if she was the cougar that Mason had told him about today. He’d gone on and on about how she’d tamed the horses to the point where he wanted to beat his brother’s head in. But the cat laying here now made him think that she might be a lot more fun than he’d thought. At least he hoped so.

“You must be Susan…I mean Susie, right?” He didn’t know why, but he was disappointed when she didn’t answer him. “I was tied up at work. I run the mill in town until they find someone to take it over. They said you were working off your punishment.”

Gerard took a step toward her when she stood up. He felt someone behind him before she growled low in her throat. When he turned slowly, covering himself as he did so, he was relieved to see the local alpha, Patrick Sexton—Paddy to his friends—coming up behind him as a wolf. He turned back to the female to introduce her to him and found himself alone. His disappointment was profound. He let his cat take him and turned to Paddy.

I’m sorry. I had no idea she was out here.
Gerard told him it was fine, but he needed a good run anyway
. She’s moving along the river. If you hurry you can still catch her.

Why would I want to do that?
Several things came to mind about why he’d want to catch the cat, but he didn’t voice them to his friend.
She’s this woman who works for Mason. Not anyone I want to get tangled up with. Maybe a good lay, but nothing more than that. I don’t need anyone in my life that is going to be here only for a few days.

As they moved deeper into the forest, his thoughts kept going back to the woman. So when Paddy tackled him, catching him off guard, he told him he was going in. Paddy was still laughing when he told him good luck, and that she was still near the river. Gerard headed in that direction, telling himself that he only wanted to make sure she was all right.

He had no idea what he expected to find when he saw her again. Certainly not her floating on the river as naked as he was. Watching her, seeing her like this, Gerard thought of how long it had been since he’d been with a woman, and tried to convince himself that was why he was thinking of going into the water with her and seeing if she was as sexy as she looked from the shore. He had a feeling that she was even more beautiful.

When she sat up and stared at him, he let his cat go and stood as himself on the shore. She didn’t come to the banks as he’d hoped she would. Nor did she swim away from him. He fisted his cock when it began to ache.

“Are you going to come like that?” His balls tightened to his body as he heard her voice. It was as beautiful as she was, and seemed to pour over him like her fingers would feel should she only touch him. “Do you care that I’m going to watch you do it?”

“No. If you’d like, you can come here and we can come together. I’d like nothing more than to come inside of you.” Bold words, and ones that he’d never said to a woman, much less a stranger, before. “I want to taste you too. Come here for me.”

“No. But if you come, I’ll come out of the water and dress. I’m starting to get cold.” He thought about telling her he’d warm her up, but she moved in the water enough that he could see her breasts again. Gerard wanted her now, and moved to the water’s edge to go to her if she wasn’t going to come to him. “You’re supposed to come over there, while I watch you. I don’t want to have to hurt you, but I will if you come any closer.”

“I want to fuck you.” She shook her head, but didn’t move deeper into the middle of the river. “Come here, Susie, and let me fill you. I have no idea why, but the thought of fucking you has my cock hurting badly.”

“You’re not what I thought you’d be.” He only nodded, his feet in the cold water now. “Don’t do this. If you do then we’ll both be fucked.”

“Come here.” He watched her and saw her indecision. She wanted him as badly as he did her. He could see that now, and when he fisted his cock again, he moaned loudly so she could hear him. “Come and take me in your mouth. Then I’ll eat you. Christ, my cat wants to eat you as well.”

“I don’t want this.”

He nodded and moved into the water to his knees. He knew this river almost as well as he did his room, but not this bank. He figured that if he went much further he’d be above his head, or on his ass from falling. When she started for the other shore, he felt his cat move along his skin. They were both aching to fuck this woman.

Gerard moaned when she turned her back to him and began swimming away. He nearly dove into the water to go after her, but he would never have made it. She was standing on the opposite shoreline when he begged her to stop.

“Come for me. I want to see you.” He nodded to her and fisted his cock faster. Watching her body, her hands moving over it, he felt his balls tighten up again. She pulled on her nipples, cupped her breasts. Even as her fingers slid in and out of her pussy, faster and faster, he knew that she was going to come hard when he did. “I’m going to come with you. My pussy is hot enough to burn me.”

“Christ.” He came then, his cock spilling his cum in the water and all around him. He closed his eyes when his vision blurred, and when he opened them, his body aching for more, she was gone. “Mother fuck.”

Gerard sat on the grassy bank, his body hurting to find the woman even though he’d come only seconds before. He looked along the shoreline in the hopes of seeing her again, even for a moment, but he didn’t, and when he lay back on the grass, he felt his body sort of mellow out, and he closed his eyes again.

He’d never had an encounter like this before. Gerard, like his brothers, had never been without a woman, but this was different. She had been different. Even when he’d been a lot younger, women, even older ones, seemed to love having him around. He’d never dated anyone older than him and had his pick of sexual partners for as long as he could remember, but nothing had made him feel like this one had.

When Paddy entered his mind a few seconds later, Gerard got up and made his way back to the house.
You should know that she’s found her way back to the Mitchell ranch. I think she might be planning to sleep there rather than with you.
Gerard told him to fuck off, and Paddy only laughed as he continued.
You should have gone to get her, young Gerard. Playing with a mate like that will only cause you both heartache.

He stopped moving and stood as still as stone.
What do you mean, mates? We’re not mates. Are we?

I would think she knows what you are to her. Maybe you’re a little slower, but had you gotten close enough—and I’m only assuming here that you didn’t—you would have figured it out too. Perhaps that’s why she ran from you.
He asked Paddy how he could locate her.
Yesterday. At the station. She killed one of my men, and I took a bit of her blood. If she causes me any more grief, which I don’t think she will, then I will be able to hunt her down and tear her throat out. But as I said, I don’t think that will be an issue.

Gerard looked back to where he’d come from. She’d known that…he thought about her words now, and wanted to hunt her down and demand for her to tell him why she’d done that to them. Done that to
him.
They were fucking mates. Then Paddy laughed again.

I’m not sure that you’re mates, Gerard. You’d have to get close enough to her to find out for sure. And as upset as I’d say she is right now, I’d wait to find out. She would hurt you, I think.
He asked him how he knew she was upset.
Because she’s cursing a blue streak at the wood that she’s chopping. And the ax that she’s using is very sharp. So if I were you, I’d not plan any more outings with the young cat. She will hurt you. But if it makes you feel any better, I have others watching over her. Though I have no doubt that she can take care of herself.

That’s no reason why you should think she’s my mate. I mean….
Then something occurred to him.
You can hear her. What’s she saying? I never touched her, if that’s what she’s telling you.

No, you didn’t, and that’s not what she’s saying. I’m close enough to her to hear her words. She is saying that she no more wants you in her life than you’ll want her when you figure out things about her. I’m assuming that she has a checkered past that might concern you.
Gerard said that it wouldn’t matter to him if she’d murdered someone.
Then, my young friend, I suggest you talk to your brother or Palmer Snow. They might enlighten you on a few things about her. From what Mason told me today, she has a bit of a history.

What sort of history?
Gerard made his way into the house. He didn’t want to wake the house up so he didn’t even bother going to the refrigerator, even though he was starving.
You know something. Please tell me.

I really don’t know anything. But for what she did for me yesterday, I feel a little more protective of her than I would another stranger. Had she not stepped in when she did, Emma would have been hurt badly, and it would have been my fault entirely.
Gerard had forgotten about her killing one of his men.
Had she not done what she had, then, as I said, he might have caused me more pain than his death has already. I got a heads up, something that will save me a great deal of trouble when his family comes to collect his body.

So, you don’t know for sure she’s my mate. You don’t know anything about her past, and you think she might have saved you some trouble. What is it you do know?
He wanted Paddy to laugh again and tell him it was all a joke, but Gerard knew that is was true. All of it.
Paddy, I’m not ready for this. I’m the baby of the family. The rest of them, my brothers, they should be mated before me.

You’re a grown man, Gerard, and you should be happy that you have a mate, not complain that you’re not ready. When are any of us ready for major changes in life? But I will tell you what I do know about her.
Gerard waited for him to speak, and when he didn’t, he thought the man was just playing with him again.
Get to the Mitchell ranch now. There’s trouble.

Gerard turned and moved to the yard, and shifted immediately. He was running to the house even as he smelled the smoke. Terror like he’d never felt ran over his body, and he just knew she was dead.

~~~

Susie sat in the back of the ambulance without talking. She wasn’t really sure what she could say that she hadn’t already said. Someone had come up to the house just as she was going to bed. The smell of gas alerted her that something was wrong, and she’d gone to check it out. When she’d hit him from behind, the light in his hands had hit the wood pile and it had caught fire immediately. She knew it was because of the gas, but it didn’t stop her from trying to put it out as he ran from the scene. She looked down at her burnt hands and wondered if anyone would believe her if she told them she’d tried to put it out as best she could. She looked up when someone said her name.

“You should go and shift.” The man in front of her was one of the brothers, but for the life of her she couldn’t remember his name. “It’s Darin. You and I met today in the house.”

“No, thank you.” Looking around the small place, she looked at him again. “Are they taking me to jail soon? I have to make sure my things are with me. It’s all I have.”

“You’re not going to jail. Why would you think that?” Nodding but not answering him, she looked at her hands. “My brother would like to speak to you. He’s having a hard time with his cat right now, and he’d have better control if you’d let him see you.”

“I don’t want to see anyone. If it’s Mason, tell him…I don’t know what to tell him.” He didn’t say anything, and she looked up at him. “I think there’s a chance that I’m a mate to someone from around here. I don’t know who it is, but I’d like to be left alone. Do you think that Mason could let me go early? I’d like to run now.”

He smiled at her then, and she felt her own smile start to curve up. It wasn’t like her to enjoy talking so much. And when he told her he’d be back, she felt the loss of his closeness. Closing her eyes, trying her best to ignore the smallness of the bed and back of the ambulance she was in, she nearly screamed when someone touched her leg.

“You.” He nodded. The man from earlier was moving into the small space even as she tried to wrap her mind around what he was doing there. “You should go away and not touch me. I’m going to go to jail soon, and there will be no coming together for us.”

“You ran from me today.” Not bothering to deny or agree with him, she tossed off the blanket that someone had put over her and heard his hiss of breath before she realized what he might be seeing. “Why haven’t you shifted and taken care of these wounds? Is this their doing? The men that are supposed to be caring for you? Damn it all to—”