PolarBearS-express (4 page)

“We’ve been friends for a long, long time,” Liam said as he leaned back against the counter and crossed his legs. “Working together is something we’re used to.”

“Yeah, I could tell.”

“Most people can.” Liam chuckled. “When you’ve been friends for as long as we have, everything seems to come naturally.”

“I could see that. It’s almost as though you can talk to each other without saying anything.” The two men looked at each other strangely and Kaitlin frowned. “What?”

“Nothing, lass. Do ye hae some bread for the toaster?”

Kaitlin pointed to the breadbox. “Right there. The rest of the butter’s in the fridge.”

After the butter melted, Kat poured the vegetables in. She cracked the entire dozen eggs she had, whisking them in the bowl. Afterward, she dumped the egg mixture in, layering the meat, cheese and vegetables onto it. She eyed her largest skillet critically. She only hoped it was enough to keep them satisfied until she could get something in the freezer thawed.

Chapter Six

Liam smelled the best omelet he had in a long time—maybe ever. He wasn’t sure if it was the lass’s cooking that made it smell so good or if it was the fact that it was the first meal they would eat with their mate. Whatever it was, he was certain that both he and Angus wouldn’t forget it.

After so many years alone, watching the mated pairs enjoy each other and their families had begun to wear on them. Just having to watch them together during clan gatherings had gotten difficult to bear.

It was as though someone had gouged a deep wound inside them. Every year, at every gathering, it festered more and more until they could no longer tolerate it. That was why he and Angus had left. Nothing could have made them stay another day in Scotland with the clan always getting together for this birthday or that. Watching others so happy, even though they were elders, had begun to fester inside them like some dirty old wound.

Every festival they attended, every birthday they went to celebrate, twisted the proverbial knife deeper until they had to leave. Anger filled them at the thought that others had been so lucky, others had mates and cubs, but Angus and he had been left out, forgotten as if they didn’t matter to the fates.

Deep down, they knew that wasn’t true. Deep down, they understood that the reason mates were so difficult to find was because of the hunter-gatherer time of human evolution, where they had hunted animals for their warm pelts, but he’d gotten to a point where he had begun to feel a deep-seated animosity toward those of their clan who had been lucky enough to have their families complete.

Both Angus and he knew they must leave the clan. When they began talk of feeling enough anger to take out their frustrations on their kin, they knew they had to go in search of a mate. Even if they didn’t find one, they knew they would be better off without the constant reminder of what they were missing.

His throat burned with such deep emotion, he wasn’t certain he could contain it as he stared across the table at the only female in decades to stir his body or his heart. That this female, this human woman did both was a miracle that he refused to allow to slip through his fingers.

Kaitlin pulled the frying pan from the heat of the stove. Grabbing a second potholder from the counter, she turned and tossed the thick pad onto the table and set the pan onto it. “Dinner is ready.” She smiled at them. “Thanks for making the coffee and the toast. It made everything so much easier.”

Liam was sure it had. He had never once thought about the things a woman did to prepare a meal until he’d helped this time. Of course, he and Angus usually fixed their own dinners, but it typically consisted of a burger or steak, a side of potatoes and a cola or the coffee that was left over from breakfast. Their breakfasts had never amounted to anything like this, either. As a matter of fact, their breakfasts were usually what they had left over from dinner the night before.

He frowned down at his plate. When had they gotten so complacent? When had they gotten into such a self-destructive pattern that they didn’t care what they ate or drank or whether or not they ate at all?

Closing his eyes, Liam took a deep breath and said a prayer of thanks to whatever deity brought them to Kaitlin.

A rush of her scent had him opening his eyes. Her unique and heady sweetness was enough to bring him to his knees. It was a damned good thing he was already sitting. Another rush of scent hit him when she sat down and heaved a tired sigh.

“Have I thanked you two yet for saving my life?” She smiled down into her plate. “If not, thank you very much for happening by. I’m sure I would be dead if not for you.”

She would have been, but he didn’t agree with her. The last thing she needed right now was for anyone to confirm her fears. The wilds of Alaska was a frightening enough place without Angus and him helping things along.

“You would have found a way to survive.” He hoped she would have. To find the one woman whose scent stirred their senses, mauled to death, would have been the last straw. It might even have driven them both over the edge.

Liam could see them tearing every polar bear in the region to shreds in search of the one that killed their mate. As much as he hated to admit it, now that they had met Kaitlin, she was the one person in this world that could keep them from losing their minds. That they had been so close to doing so was frightening.

Kat tucked her hair behind her ear with a smile and cupped her coffee with both hands. She shook her head. “I wish I had as much confidence in me as you two seem to have.”

“Confidence in oneself is not difficult to cultivate.”

“It wouldn’t matter. I’m not that brave.”

“It’s not confidence in your bravery that we hae, lass. It’s knowing that ye hae spunk. A woman without spunk wouldn’t hae climbed that tree in the first place. That’s what bought ye the time ye needed.” Liam reached across the table and brushed her arm. “If ye hadn’t climbed that tree, ye might not hae lasted long enough tae scream and get our attention. Gunshots in the woods means little tae us. However, a woman’s screams, are something else entirely.”

“I’m not sure how much spunk I have either.”

“Ye had enough tae get yourself up in that tree.” They never saw her in the tree, but she didn’t know that. Her scent had been all over the thing, though. A human male couldn’t have gotten to her fast enough if they were far enough away to miss that bit. “A woman without your spunk would hae stood there, paralyzed with fear.” He shook his head. “Not Kat Robertson. Kat is a woman that makes things happen.”

Kaitlin laughed out loud. “Yeah, right.”

It didn’t matter that she didn’t believe him. All that mattered was that he managed to get her mind off her fears. They needed her to believe she would have survived no matter what. Kat needed to think that she could stand her own with polar bears. After all, she’d be doing that for the rest of her life, if he had anything to say about it.

Chapter Seven

Kaitlin stayed in the kitchen as long as she thought she dared. After the men finished eating, they insisted she let them help, but she refused. She needed to put at least a little distance between them. She couldn’t think and could barely breathe when they were so close. Something about them took her breath away.

She wasn’t sure if it was seeing their well-toned bodies beneath their too-tight shirts or their to-die-for good looks. Whatever it was, she just couldn’t seem to function properly when they were in the same room with her.

After washing the dishes and everything else she’d dirtied while fixing dinner, Kaitlin hung the dishrag to dry on the divider between the two sinks and headed for the living room. Since she no longer had an excuse to stay away, it was time to face the two men that she couldn’t seem to get out of her head.

“Come sit down, lass.”

How in the heck did Liam know she was standing there? She hadn’t made a sound. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

“Why? We don’t bite.”

She wasn’t at all sure about that. The expression on Angus’s face when he said it gave her pause. Something told her that she wasn’t quite safe with them, or maybe it was just her virtue she needed to worry about.

“Maybe not. But if I’m so safe with you two, why is it, the only seat left open is the one between you?”

Liam pointed to his chest. “Lad.” He pointed to the empty seat. “Lass.” Then he pointed at Angus. “Lad.”

Kaitlin shook her head. “I don’t know about you two.”

Grabbing the blanket from the back of the couch, she threw it onto the thick rug in front of the fireplace and sat down.

     Liam frowned down at her. “You’ll be cold down there, lass.”

     “So?” She patted the blanket with a smile. “That’s what this is for.” Though outwardly she put up a fight, something drew her toward the two men. What it was, she couldn’t say. Something about them made her feel the same way she did when a wounded animal needed her help. It was as though some deep, animalistic part of them called to her.

It frightened her. She’d never felt this way before. What could she do to keep those feelings from overruling her good sense?

In the past, those strange impulses drew her to the wild animals, and even against her good judgment, some strange inner drive always forced her to do exactly what she tried to avoid doing.

Something told that the same thing would happen this night. Some strange impulse would drive her to do something stupid tonight. She could feel it.

“Come sit with us for a bit, lass. We won’t harm ye.”

The look on Liam’s face was anything but harmless. She tried to avoid looking in his eyes. Something deep inside those slate-gray eyes called to her soul and something about the way he moved, the way he looked and the sound of his voice called her body.

It was the same with Angus.

Everything about these two men both frightened and drew her. Some strange, mystical force pulled her closer and closer to them and she could do nothing to stop it. Why couldn’t she ignore them? Why couldn’t she just sit here on the floor and keep away from the two men that stirred her body in a way no one ever had before?

Rising to her knees, Kaitlin rubbed her damp palms on her thighs. She wanted to go to them. Something inside her insisted that she
needed
to go to them. How could she ignore something that felt ingrained so deep within her soul?

With trembling hands, Kaitlen slowly rose up onto her knees. She couldn’t explain why. She only knew that she felt as though she would never be complete if she didn’t answer the call she felt from within Liam’s and Angus’s souls. Like the animals she nursed, these two were also injured deep inside. She could feel it.

Resting a trembling hand against her heart, she tilted her head and stared at them for a moment. “What is the pain I feel so deep inside you?”

“Ye dinnae want tae know, lass,” they both said at the same time. The shake of their heads and their adamant expressions should have told her to leave well enough alone, but she pressed on. They said curiosity killed the cat. Well, they may not be far off the mark on that one.

“I
do
want to know.” She bit her bottom lip. Kaitlin needed the pain to keep from throwing herself at the two men. She might be different, but she wasn’t a loose woman.

Her insides churned at the thought of what they could do together in this remote cabin. Her family need never know that she had given herself to two strange men in this remote cabin in the wilds of Alaska. No one would know but her and these two men.

Heat filled her as she lowered her hand to rest it over her middle. Her stomach felt tight, full of flitting butterflies.

“Come, lass.” Liam held out his hand and wiggled his fingers. “Ye hae nothing tae fear from us.”

“I can’t trust you if you can’t trust me enough to tell me what causes the two of you so much pain. I feel it. My heart aches for you,
with
you. I must know what it is that drove you out of Scotland.”

“What makes ye think something drove us from our home?”

She wasn’t sure she liked the expression on Liam’s face, but she pressed on. “I can feel it. Just like I feel your pain, I know it has something to do with your home. Your family.”

“I’m telling ye, that ye dinnae want tae know, lass, and still ye press on.” He shook his head. “And ye think ye dinnae have courage.”

“You would hurt me.” She felt that, too.

“No, lass, we wouldn’t hurt ye, but how dae ye know?” Angus moved to sit on the edge of his seat.

“I feel things.” She shrugged. “Ever since I was little, I could feel animals in pain. I could feel where they hurt and I knew how to care for them. For some reason, I’m drawn to animals in pain.” Frowning, she bit her lip again. “I’ve never felt it for humans before.”

“That should tell ye something, Kat.” Liam sat up, then eased himself onto the floor. “It should tell ye that the two men ye invited into your home are more animal than man.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” What in the world was he talking about? “You’re no more or less human than every man.”

Kaitlin fisted her hands at her sides. It was all she could do to keep from putting her hands on his chest and tracing the hard ridges she could see beneath the shirt he’d put on while she cooked dinner. Something inside her urged her to get closer, to run her hands up his chest and over his shoulders to feel the hard muscle. She wanted nothing more than to grasp the hem of his shirt and yank it over his head, exposing every solid inch of his torso once again.

Squeezing her eyes shut, she shook her head.
You can’t lust after two different men, Kat.
She opened her eyes with a sigh. Listen to her calling herself Kat again. What was it about these two men that kept testing her resolve and her safeties?

“That’s where you’re wrong, lass. What if I told ye that Angus was about tae show ye that you’re wrong?” Liam jerked his head in Angus’s direction. “Would ye believe us then?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She shook her head and eased back a bit. “Show me what?”

“Dinnae be frightened, lass.” Liam moved closer, and rested his hands on her shoulders before he moved around to her side. “I’ll stay right here next tae ye so you’ll see that he won’t harm ye.”