Skin Walkers: Gauge (12 page)

Chapter
20

A few days later and it was the day of the Christmas Celebration.
Ella and Alysa stared in delight at the two dresses that were laid out on the dining room table as they entered the suite.

Alysa screeched and clapped her hands, while Ella simply stared in awe.  Not one to typically wear gowns, the silky white fabric and
high beaded bodice with billowy sleeves had Ella eager to try it on.  Resting on the table beside the gowns was a red envelope.  Ella quickly opened it and read,

The tailor promised this would fit to perfection.

Can’t wait to see you both at the celebration.

Congratulations
and best of wishes for the future.  –Brooklyn Ami.

Congratulations?
  Ella’s face scrunched in confusion.  She thought for a moment that perhaps the card had been intended for Gauge. 
Maybe ‘can’t wait to see you both’, means me and Gauge?
  Shrugging, she replaced the card and set the envelope out where Gauge could easily find it.

“Momma, can I put it on?”

Ella smiled, “A bath first, young lady.”  She led an excited Alysa to Gauge’s guest bathroom, it was the only one in the suite with a tub.  She turned on the taps as Alysa undressed, tossing her clothes all over the bathroom. 

“I’m gonna grab you some clean underclothes. Stay out of the tub until I get back
.”

Alyssa nodded as she fought to jerk one socked foot free of her jeans.

Passing the dining room table, Ella smiled at her gown.  For the first time in years, she was excited.  She was very much looking forward to the party and bit her lip as she thought of ways to do her hair and make-up that would get the best reaction from Gauge. 
Gauge
.  Her heart gave an involuntary squeeze at the mere thought of him.  It’d been doing that a lot lately and it worried her that she and Alysa might be getting too attached.

After their heated exchange she’d gone out of her way to make things work between them and Gauge had apparently decided to do the same.  It had become so easy that she couldn’t help but wonder how it would be if she gave Gauge her full trust. If she asked, would he protect them?  Could she ask such a thing of him?

Ella stepped into Gauge’s room, to retrieve some clothes.  She instantly froze at the sight that met her. 

Gauge stood
on the far side of the bed massaging a towel into his wet hair.  A second white towel hung low on his lean hips and his eyes were closed as he moved the towel in his powerful hands to scrub it over his face. 

Ella seized the opportunity to rake her eyes down his lithe frame.  She’d guessed he was sexy as hell beneath his clothes, but her imagination hadn’t done him justice.  There wasn’t an ounce of fat on him.  The thick corded muscle of his arms bunched and flexed
as he worked.  His chest was thick and her eyes flitted over his firm abs and locked on the smooth plane just below his navel.  A thick vein stood out in relief and disappeared beneath the towel. 

She licked her lips as she imagined blood rushing through it and th
e results that would ensue.  Heat pooled between her legs and she felt an unfamiliar yearning center in her womb.  She sucked her bottom lip between her teeth as she imagined her fingers gentling over the vein and following it down to where it hid from her view.  She moaned and the action had her jerking out of her reverie. 

She watched his body tense, each muscle suddenly sharply delineated. 
Her eyes snapped up and collided with Gauge’s.  He’d been watching her watch him!  Heat singed her cheeks. 

“Aaah, sorry.  I was uhh…,”
she eyed the room trying to remember what it was she’d been doing before she had stopped to drool over Gauge.  She heard him sniff and winced, knowing what he’d scent. 

“Sorry,” she offered lamely
a second time as she backed toward the door and spoke rapidly.  “Highly inappropriate, I know!”  She held her hands up.  “I should have knocked.  Won’t happen again.”  When Gauge dropped the towel he held and took a step toward her, she quickly backed out of the room and slammed the door.

Turning she flattened her back against the door and used a hand to fan herself
as she fought to slow her heart and her breathing. 
God, what have I ever done to deserve this torture?

In his room, Gauge strode to the door and placed a flat palm against it as he leaned into it.  He closed his eyes and inhaled slowly.  The scent of Ella’s heat lingered and had a growl vibrating in his chest.
  The corners of his mouth lifted when he remembered the look on her face when he’d opened his eyes and caught her watching him.  Her female appreciation of him was so apparent that it’s a good thing she’d run out of the room.  Knowing she wanted him as badly as he wanted her did funny things to his stomach. 

His hearing picked up movement and he knew she was still outside his door.  The hand braced on the door curled into a tight fist as he fought the urge to jerk the door open, drag Ella into the room, and fuck her to completion.  Instead he opted for a warning
. “Ella,” he was surprised at how deep and animalistic his voice sounded.  “Go and get dressed
now
, or I’m coming out to get you.”

He had to smile, ignoring the bite of rejection,
when he heard feet scurrying away from his door.

Turning back to his task, he was just about to don his tux when Marko’s alarm carried
to him through the mist in a clouded buzz that told him that the Walker Sentry was attempting to contact more than one Walker at a time. 
“We’re under attack!”

Gauge
’s heart seized as fury swept through him only to be replaced by fear for his females. 
“Megalya?”
  He grabbed his discarded jeans and crammed his legs into them.

“No.  One man.
” Marko’s words were more clear, this response was for Gauge alone.
“He’s crashed the gate.  The scent you gave us….   It’s him!”

Ignoring his shirt, Gauge turned to eye the door before calling to his unmated Walker neighbor,
“Haka!  Guard my family.  Do NOT leave them unattended.”

“On my way!”

Gauge rushed to the window and thrust it open.  Bracing a hand on the sill he vaulted himself out and shifted mid-drop.  His heart pounded and his blood surged through his veins.  He was about to exact revenge on the man who’d beat his Ella to within an inch of her life.  He had every intention of showing the bastard how to finish a job.

***

“She’s mine,” he heard a man bellow as he dropped in the cover of the trees to shift back to his male form.  “I demand you give her to me!” 

Storming out of the tree line,
Gauge stalked forward with a lethal determination. 

A car sat lopsided
half onto of the thick wrought-iron main gate.  When Marko said the man had tried to crash the front gate, he’d clearly meant it literally.

The man was on his knees, surrounded by four Walker Sentries.  They parted as Gauge approached. 

His shoulders bunched and his muscles tensed as he struggled to keep from ending the man then and there.  A ferocious snarl left him when Marko stepped forward and gripped his arm. 

Marko lowered his voice, but spoke quickly, “Monroe’s on his way.  If you’re going to do something here, make it quick!”

Every Walker was aware of Monroe’s penchant for questioning enemies.  It could be days before Gauge ever got this opportunity again.

Gauge jerked free and was on
the intruder in the blink of an eye.  One hand clamped around his throat as he jerked the man to his feet and dragged him toward the woods.

“What?  Stop!  W-what are you doing?”
He stammered as he turned imploring eyes on Marko and the team of Sentries that merely watched as he was taken deep into the woods.  “You can’t do this. 
He
can’t do this!  MAKE HIM STOP!”

When Gauge disappeared from sight, the Sentries listened to the man’s cries as they turned to horrified screams.  Terror scented the air and a ferocious bear’s growl sounded off the trees
before the scent of blood blossomed in the air.

“What if someone comes looking for him?” Banta asked at Marko’s side.

“The man clearly came here with bad intentions.  Do you think he let anyone know where he was going or what he’d be doing?”

Banta shook his head, “If I were going to commit a crime, I’d tell as few people as possible.”  They listened as the forest went silent.  “What of the body?”

“We’ll take it far from here.  Leave it in the woods.  He’ll be just another citiot who got mauled by a bear.”

Chapter
21

Standing at a table in StoneCrow’s elegant ball room, Gauge smiled proudly a
s the processional of angels and their offspring began entering.  The room was dimly lit and soft music from the string quartet set an intimate tone.  It was worlds apart from the carnage he’d just let loose mere hours before, but there was no guilt, no remorse.  Surprisingly, a calming sense of closure came over the Walker.

Leading the line of mates was Eden StoneCrow.  Gauge hadn’t expected to see her, and apparently no one else had either.  A few audible inhalations were heard before a round of applause erupted from the Walkers standing throughout the room at the appearance of their swollen Domina.

Gauge watched as an impatient Monroe abandoned his table to greet his angel and children.  The display was extremely rare. 

Beaming, the dominant Skin Walker slowed as he reached his mate.  One hand cupped her cheek while the other smoothed over her rounded belly.  Her navy gown hung to her
slippered feet and the color was mirrored in the ties worn by her three sons and gowns of her two small daughters as they gathered around her.  

It wasn’t the outright display of Monroe’s affection that awed Gauge.  It was his smile.  The CEO rarely smiled and if he did, it was typically a terrifying sight, indicative of some
maniacal scheme he’d soon put into play to terrorize his Walkers. 

Watching Monroe’s smile
as it reached his eyes and shone through to his mate, Gauge realized he was witnessing pure joy. 
This
was what Monroe wanted for his Walkers.  His machinations and schemes were all pitted for one purpose.  He wanted his Walkers to finally experience true happiness.  Gauge swallowed at the sudden realization that Monroe was a more noble Dominant than many—including himself—had given the man credit for.  He’d have to make an effort to thank the CEO sometime soon for his efforts on all their behalf.

Any thoughts of confronting Monroe vanished when several pairs of male Walker eyes left the processional to turn toward a second entryway.

Gauge instantly tensed and the air left his lungs at the sight that met him.  His Ella, holding little Alysa’s hand, was walking toward him and she was the most exquisite woman he’d ever seen.  He felt his heart swell with pride as he took an involuntary step toward them.

Her white gown clung to her curves and flared at the hips, billowing around her like
a dream.  The beaded bodice glimmered and winked in the dim lighting.  He was delighted that Brooklyn had remembered the high collar and billowy sleeves.  Ella’s back was still scarred and he didn’t want her feeling any insecurities tonight.  Her chestnut hair was piled up and her bright red lips were more than inviting. 

The Walkers around him stared at her and he heard murmurings from the unmated Walkers before he silenced them with a lethal glare.
 

Aching desire exploded inside of him.  He wanted her more than he wanted his next breath.  When her eyes lifted and found his, he knew she was his!  Her lips parted and a hand flattened on the swell of her chest as if she’d sensed it too. 

He hadn’t ever realized he’d loosed a possessive growl until King laughed at his side, “Easy, man.”  King stepped away then to greet his angel as she entered the processional with their young daughter.

Ella found her way to Gauge’s side and smiled shyly up at him.

“Why didn’t you enter with the parade of wives and children?” He demanded.

Ella shook her head,
“Because we’re no one’s family, Gauge.”

“You are mine!” his inner beasts howled, surging to the fore with their want for him to claim her. 
His tone softened, tempered with a tender emotion that he couldn’t place.  “I expected to see you in the processional.”

Ella smiled softly dropping her eyes to
Alysa, unsure how to respond to his declaration that they were his.  “I’m afraid we’ve taken too many liberties already.”  She lifted her eyes to meet his, “If you don’t mind, tonight after the party I’d like to discuss my plans for our departure.”

“Our?” Gauge questioned, his brows drawing together.

“Alysa’s and mine,” worry shone on her face.  “Gauge we can’t stay.  Anthony knows we’re here.  We’re a liability to the Walkers now.  I’ve thought about what you said.  Monroe is right to want us gone.”  She eyed the table and dropped her voice, “There is more here to protect than a frightened woman and her niece.  Monroe doesn’t want our kind of trouble and Walkers don’t need…”

Gauge leaned in close to snarl, “I don’t give a damn what Monroe wants.  You and Alysa are staying.  That’s final.”

Ella took an instinctive step back, using a hand to pull Alysa behind the shield of her own body.  As Gauge’s eyes slid from Ella’s to the child behind her, she thought she caught the slightest hint of shame before it disappeared. 

“I only want to protect you
, Ella.”  Gauge brought his eyes back to her face and Ella felt a sharp stab of guilt at the pain she read there.  “
Both
of you.”

She smiled up at him, unable to keep her hand from lifting to his cheek.  Her fingers were smoothing over the savagely hewn line of his jaw before she realized what she was doing and drew her fingers back embarrassed. 
I wish I knew how to trust.  Teach me how to trust you
, she silently pleaded.  Instead, she dropped her head and whispered, “We’re not yours to protect.” 
But I wish we were.   God how I wish the affliction would set in!

Gauge barely controlled the growl
that ached to roar from his chest at the truth of her words.  He scented her need for him, for his protection and strength.  Hell, he wanted them as badly as they needed him, but there was no affliction.  She was right.  They weren’t his.

Ella watched as King stalked from the table to meet his approaching
wife and their small daughter, Mahkya.  She couldn’t control the jealousy that washed over her as King wrapped his arms around his beautiful angel and dipped her backward for a long sensual kiss before righting her then bending to scoop up their daughter and place a kiss on her cheek.

Feeling like she’d intruded on a personal moment, Ella dipped her eyes before looking up to find Gauge watching her curiously. 

“What’s that expression you were just wearing?”  The blatant curiosity sounded threatening when asked in his typical demanding tone.

Ella cleared her expression.  “I don’t know what you mean.”  She gasped when Gauge stepped closer, his hands
gently griping her arms as he pulled her into him.

“Yes you do.  When you wer
e watching King with Lilly and Mahkya.  What were you thinking?”

Ella passed
a cursory glance at the tables on either side of them, hoping no one was watching the display.  “Nothing.”

“Ella
!” Gauge demanded warningly.

Her
cheeks singed in embarrassment as she hissed, “Will you stop it.  You’re causing a scene.”

He
didn’t take his eyes from her.  “I don’t give a damn!  Now,” he leaned closer until his nose was inches from hers.  She watched as his eyes transitioned from their usual luminescence to the deadly matte black that meant he’d partially shifted.  He was scenting her.  He wanted the truth.

“It was envy for Christ’s sake
!”  She darted a glance from side to side, aware of the several pairs of eyes that were now glued to them.  She dropped her head and ground out between clenched teeth.  “Let me go.”

“Are you going to spank mommy?” Alysa’s words left several
couples within earshot laughing and Ella’s cheeks flaming several shades of pink.

Ella closed her eyes for the briefest of moments in an attempt to compose herself
and tamp down the wave of humiliation that washed over her.

“If mommy’s a bad girl then I’ll spank her, but not right now.” Gauge smiled down at the child before releasing Ella and
bending to lift the girl with one arm while the other circled possessively around Ella’s waist.  He watched as Alysa’s face crinkled into a worried frown.

“But I don’t want you to hurt mommy.”

Gauge kissed the girl’s cheek before titling his head so he was looking her straight in the eye.  “I was just playing, pretty girl.  You know I’d never hurt mommy.”

“Promise?” Ella scoffed under her breath.

“Yes,” he answered her directly.

Her
gaze jerked to his.  She’d thought he hadn’t heard her words.

Ella
pulled away to drop gracefully into her chair as King and his family approached and took their seats.

A
server passed by and filled the children’s empty glasses with sparkling cider as Gauge retrieved the bottle of champagne that sat in a bucket of ice in the center of the table and filled each of the four adult’s glasses.

“Thank you
,” Ella whispered lifting the glass to her lips.  She felt Gauge’s eyes on her and she shifted uncomfortably, aware that since she’d entered the room, he’d rarely taken his eyes from her.

“I just love the Christmas ball, don’t you?”

Ella couldn’t help but smile at Lilly’s genuine excitement.  She too was secretly enjoying the rare occasion to don her finery.  It felt magical.  “Yeah.  I’m a sucker for any excuse to dress-up.”

“Well, you do it very well.”  Lilly held up her glass and Ella raised hers in gratitude.

“As do you.”

Mahk
ya squirmed in King’s arms as she tried to turn and face the table.  “Daddy, momma’s pretty.”

“Yes,” King answered struggling to control the boisterous child, “she certainly is.”
  He turned and set the child on the floor and watched as she dashed away from the table and across the dance floor to the Walker dressed as Santa that was handing out treats and presents to children on the far side of the room.  He looked ridiculous with his muscles bulging under the red suit so that the seams were clinging together by a prayer.

Alysa
turned to beam curiously up at Gauge. “Are you
my
daddy?” 

Ella, who’d just taken a sip of her champagne choked
.  Her cheeks flamed in mortification even as she caught sight of King reclining back in his chair, stretching his arms to fold them behind his head while a smug grin split his features.  He stared at Gauge in obvious delight as he waited for his fellow Walker to respond.

Ella dabbed her mouth with her napkin
as Lilly patted her back.

“You okay?”

“Fine,” Ella croaked before reaching for her daughter. “Alysa,” she whispered before Gauge’s hand on her arm stilled her.  Ella looked up to meet his eyes and was worried to discover they lacked the humor King clearly found in the situation.  “I’m sorry, Gauge,” she offered tremulously.

A soft smile touched
his lips before lighting his eyes.  “Don’t be.”  He turned and tossed Alysa up into the air before catching her and pulling her close.  “And you, pretty girl,” he nuzzled the child’s neck sending peals of laughter dancing through the room, “may call me anything you like.”

Ella pulled her hand back and straightened uncomfortably, knowing even as she did how rigid she must look.  She made a mental note to talk with Alysa later regarding their relationship with Gauge. 
Then to Ella’s great relief, Lilly changed the subject.

“So Gauge, King tells me you’ve accepted a position with the Board of Directors.”

Gauge nodded.  “I figured it was time.”

Lilly’s ruby red lips tipped in a smile, “
Well, I was delighted and surprised to hear it. Although, I thought you’d vowed to shirk the Board if they ever came calling?”

Gauge set Alysa
on the ground and watched as she chased off across the room in pursuit of Mahkya.  “I’ve decided that Monroe needs a little more overseeing then King alone can offer.  We’re of a like mind King and I, and with the two of us on the Board, we’re able to offer more resistance to Monroe and his…ideals.”

“Funny,” Lilly pursed her lips. “Why the sudden change of heart?” 
She slid her eyes to Ella knowingly.

Ella knew where the conversation was heading even as she scooted her chair back, “I’d better check on Alysa.”  Both King and Gauge stood as she rose and left the table.

Lilly smiled at King as they watched Gauge’s eyes follow Ella across the room to her daughter.  “She’s beautiful.  The dress fits her perfectly.”

“Yes,” Gauge responded
appreciatively without looking at Lilly, his eyes instead sliding longingly over Ella’s petite frame.

Lilly’s smile grew as she dipped her head at the sound of sh
eer male interest.  “Uhh, I was talking about Alysa.”

“Oh!” Gauge tore his eyes from Ella and turned to
eye a laughing King.