Three Fur All (4 page)

He hesitated. After seeing her shivering, he couldn’t help but put his arm around her. Her body went rigid, but then she relaxed against him. October rested her head on his shoulder and started to cry again. Everything in him said to pull her even closer into his body so that he could comfort her, but he sat perfectly still so she could continue crying. Finally, he melted and moved his fingers through her hair and kissed her forehead. The aroma of peaches clung to her hair. He remembered that Dominique used to use that bathroom, and she had had some scented soap in there. Elliot had probably never cleaned out the bathroom.

Mika shook his head and tried to think more wholesome thoughts, because his mind easily allowed him to peel back the collar of the shirt and plant kisses along her collarbone, to the base of her throat. There he would lick the hollow before moving along her breastbone, over each of her breasts, sampling her skin, and taking each nipple between his teeth. Then he would tease them until they were hard and swollen from all the attention.

October pulled away. Her eyes were puffy, and a few tears lingered on her cheeks. Mika wiped the tears away with his thumb. Even with the lost look in her eye, he wanted to kiss her. She leaned closer until her mouth was centimeters from his. He needed to see if those lips were as soft as they appeared. If they were, then Mika knew he was in trouble. An explosion of hot breath blasted against his mouth. The heat of her breath warmed his exposed skin, and he was losing himself to the moment.

“We shouldn’t do this. I don’t want you to think I’m trying to take advantage.”

“I don’t.”

He nodded, only half hearing her. October’s lips were full and so very kissable. Mika focused on how they parted slightly when she exhaled, giving him a glimpse of her even teeth. He couldn’t wait any longer and claimed her lips for himself. A shock went through her and vibrated across his skin. Her heart raced from their lips touching, and she returned the kiss with a fervor he hadn’t expected. Mika took her face between his hands and cupped her cheeks. October pushed against him, craving to be kissed more. She moaned so softly he thought he had imagined it. But no, he had heard her. It made him yearn to bury his dick inside of her pussy. He ran his tongue across her bottom lip and waited. She opened her mouth and touched his tongue with hers. It took everything in him not to throw her down on the bed, rip her clothes off, and fuck her right there.
Elliot was right.
It has been way too long since I’ve gotten laid.

“My, my, why am I not surprised to see this?”

Mika pulled away from October and glanced at the doorway. Dawn stood there with a duffel bag slung over her shoulder and another plastic bag in her hand. Her lips were pursed and her eyes tinged yellow from holding back her anger. She dropped the things on the floor, then turned and left the room. He raced after her and caught her arm. She whipped around and slapped him so hard he could feel the imprint of her palm on his cheek. The force of it turned his head. He worked his jaw just to be sure it was still attached.

“How dare you!” she seethed.

“Excuse me, but I never asked you to butt into my affairs. You washed your hands of me when you claimed I turned you against your will. You were the one who chickened out at the last moment, when I warned you ahead of time I couldn’t pull back. Because of you, I was thrown out of the pack. I can’t go back to my house. I barely make a living. But I kept my mouth shut, hoping one day you could love me again.”

“I could never love you after what you did to me. And you’re going to do it again to that innocent woman in there. Elliot asked for some of Dominique’s clothes and some personal items because I know he doesn’t have anything like that here. I left the crutches in the kitchen. I’ll be back in the morning. If I find out that she’s not human, then I’m going to Cooper, and you’ll be run out of here.” Dawn stomped out of the house, and the door slammed shut.

Mika shook his head and couldn’t control the anger and hurt that welled up inside of him. For a moment he saw nothing but red. He smashed his fist into the wood paneling next to a picture, which crashed to the floor. Behind him he heard a gasp. When he turned around, he saw October leaning on the doorjamb with such fear in her eyes that he knew she would never see him as anything more than a monster.

Chapter Five

October stared at the dark brown pool of ice cream in the bowl. Her appetite had vanished after Mika slammed his fist into the wall. The look in his eye had been alien to the kind one he had given her only moments before. After the explosion, he had set the crutches inside the room. Her mind played over the kiss they had shared. It was soft and filled with a need she hadn’t understood, and he had seemed so sincere. Then the other woman had come in. It sounded like they used to be together.
I don’t need to be in the middle of that. Hell, I don’t need to be in the middle of anything. I just want to get better and go home. But I can hardly even walk, so I’m not going anywhere anytime soon.

The thought depressed her. She was at the mercy of the two men who had taken her into their home. They wanted to know where she had been kept. Could she find that place again? Nothing in her wanted to return to that cellar. However, there were others down there. If she could save them, then that was something.

“Knock, knock.”

Elliot stood in the doorway with a cardboard tray in one hand and a large bag in the other. His silver hair made him look older than he really was. Whatever his age, he was drop-dead gorgeous. She had to keep from drooling when he sauntered into the room and sat on the chair next to the bed.

“Sorry about getting back so late. I was at a meeting. I hope you don’t mind. I see Mika brought you some ice cream. I told him to go shopping. You aren’t hungry?”

Her stomach gurgled at the smell of the food he had brought. From the aroma, she could tell it was greasy and everything that she needed to help her feel normal again. “I’m not a big chocolate fan. I didn’t want to hurt his feelings.”

He nodded and glanced at the bags on the floor. “I take it Dawn stopped by. I hope you don’t mind. I asked her to bring over some of her sister’s things.”

“No, it’s great as long as her sister doesn’t mind.”

A half smile worked on his face, but the pain in his eyes told a different story. “Dominique passed away a couple of years ago. We were going to be married.”

She placed a hand on his knee. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize.”

Elliot glanced down at her hand, which she quickly snatched away. He shook his head and unloaded the contents of the fast-food bag. There was two of everything, so it appeared he was going to eat with her. October took the burger,
unwrapped
it, and then took a large bite out of it. The meat was juicy and had everything on it: cheese, bacon, lettuce, onions, tomatoes, mayonnaise, and ketchup, with a pickle too. She licked her lips from the dribble of ketchup that got caught on the corner of her mouth. Her host chuckled and handed her a napkin.

“I take it you’re enjoying it?”

“Oh God, yes.
Right now it’s better than sex. Not that I’d rather a cheeseburger over sex but I . . . um . . .” Her cheeks burned when she realized she had talked herself into a corner. October studied her onion rings. When she glanced back at Elliot, he was trying hard not to laugh. October burst into giggles too. “Sorry. It’s been kinda stressful these past few days. What’s the date anyway?”

“That’s okay. I knew what you meant. It’s Monday, September twelfth. What was the last date you remember?”

The burger sat on her lap as the dates went through her mind. Her fingers went numb. It was hard for her to breathe at the revelation. The smell of the food suddenly turned her stomach sick. The spinning in her head began again. Small tremors ran along her nerves, and the room was closing in on her. Elliot grabbed her food and set it on the nightstand. The next thing she knew, she was in his arms with him rubbing her back. That sensation of him moving his hands over her spine helped anchor her in her body. It took a few minutes until she could focus again.

“I was gone for a month. Oh God! All that time.”

“Shh . . . it’s okay. You made it out alive. Don’t let it get you down.”

“But the others.
They’re still down there.”

“How many more?”
Elliot asked her.

October pushed away from him and saw his intense stare.
“Three or four.
I don’t know. The only reason I got away was because he was distracted with another girl and his partner wasn’t there.”

“Tell me what happened.”

Images of her captor morphing his shape brought fear, but it was his eyes she was always going to see. Demon eyes that could peer into her soul and know the very things she was thinking.
I’ll never get those out of my head no matter how old I get. No matter how much I try to forget. Those yellow eyes will haunt my nightmares
. She turned back to Elliot and tried to remember where it had all started.

“A friend of mine set me up with this guy. I went to this café, and he never showed up. I waited a while, until it was dark. Then I left. I was heading to my car when someone hit me over the head. The next thing I knew, I was locked up in some underground cell. There was a mattress to sleep on and a bucket. He left me fruit and fresh water, but nothing else. There were more girls when I started. Seven, I think. We would tell each other our names and talk while he was gone.”

“You mentioned he had a partner.”

She nodded.
“Yeah.
I only saw him a handful of times. He turned on the power once when his partner was gone. He took one of the girls and brought her to the main room. I don’t know what he did with her, but her cries haunt my dreams. His partner came back, and they had a screaming match. It was pure luck I was able to get the pin loose on the chains that held me. They were so rusted. My abductor came in and said I was next. He went to a girl down the hall. I used that chance to open the door and wait. My kidnapper was distracted. I snuck out, and then I stopped. One minute he was there, and the next, in his place was a wolf. I know it sounds crazy, but I swear it. When I ran out of the cellar, it was a not a man on my heels, but a wolf. Didn’t you hit an animal?”

He took her hand and squeezed it. She searched his face, but it remained blank. “I believe that you suffered a great shock after your ordeal. Your mind is still processing that. You ran in front of our car, and, yes, we did hit something, but it wasn’t a wolf. It was a large elk.
Damnedest thing.
I think it did more damage to us than we did to it.”

October wrenched her hand away. “I know what I saw. What was behind me was not an elk! It was a wolf. My kidnapper turned from a man into a-a monster. I’m not imagining it.”

She grabbed her cheeseburger and tore into it again. After a few minutes of silence, she glanced back at Elliot. He was eating too, but she could see the wheels working in his head from the tightness of his concentration.
There’s something he’s not telling me.

“Did Mika happen to tell you where he was going?”

“No. And I honestly don’t care.”

“What happened? Did he get into another fight with Dawn? They used to have a thing, until he lost his temper one night and hurt her.”

“You mean he beat her up?”
It wouldn’t surprise me since he hit the wall and looked like he was going to come after me. And I let him kiss me. What an ass.

Elliot sighed.
“Not exactly.
Mika isn’t a violent man, but he’s been under a lot of stress lately. Don’t pay any attention to him. Dawn and he have been going back and forth for years. She presses his buttons, and then he pushes them back. I’ve learned to ignore it. You should too, considering you’re going to be here for a couple of weeks until you can walk on your ankle.”

“What happens after it heals?”

He put down his burger and took a sip of his drink. “I figured I’d talk to you about that later. We were hoping you could lead us back to where you were held captive. After that, we find the guy, turn him over to the authorities, and then you get to go back to your life. We’ll drop you off, and that’s it.”

She nodded. “Didn’t you call the cops about finding me? Why are you so intent on going after this guy?”

“We contacted the local sheriff and told them we had hit an elk and totaled my car.”

The color drained from her face. “But you didn’t tell them about me? So I’m your prisoner until you catch this guy?”

“No. No. You misunderstand. You are our guest. When you’re better, we’ll make sure you get back to your place. We didn’t want to involve the outside authorities because this guy’s one of our own.”

“So is this some kind of Native American tribal thing?”

Elliot gave her a half smile, but that didn’t reveal what was going through his mind. His answers had only supplied her with more questions. “Something
like
that. Don’t worry about it.
Really.
I’ll go shopping in the morning for food. Just write down what you want, and I’ll pick it up. Dominique used to take care of that sort of thing. She—” More pain burned in his eyes, and his skin paled. A faraway look came to his eye.

“What happened to her?”

“There was an accident, and she didn’t make it.”

“Is that one reason why Mika and Dawn fight, because he was involved with the accident that killed your fiancée?”