Jaguar On My Mind: Book Two - Bridenapping Jaguars Page 9

  “I’ll walk you home,” he said.

  “No, I’ll help with the washing up.”

  “You don’t have to.”

  “I don’t mind. Besides, I’d just be going back to an empty house.”

  “Fine, you sit, I’ll do them.”

  She smiled and did as she was told, watching his back as he washed. Watching the corded muscles ripple and bunch as he moved. They were hypnotic.

  The two of them didn’t talk much, but she kind of liked that. He wasn’t a big talker, and nor was she. But he seemed to be one of the few people where she didn’t mind the silence.

  “Want me to help with the laundry?” she offered.

  He scowled. “No, that’s not your job.”

  “But I don’t mind.”

  “You stay here; I’ll do it.”

  He did too, while Mary fixed him a sandwich – she figured he hadn’t eaten so she thought she could at least help a little. He was surprised to see she had.

  “You didn’t…”

  “I wanted to,” she said a little exasperated. “Since you missed dinner, sit down and eat,” she said a tad bossily.

  He smiled slightly. “Thank you.”

  “I wasn’t sure what you liked,” she admitted. In truth, she had put everything on it she could find. It was a kitchen sink of a sandwich.

  Tomas ate a huge chunk and pleasure alighted on his face. “My favorite,” he said in between bites.

  “Everything is your favorite?”

  “Yep.”

  “Good,” she murmured.

  He finished in record time, and his pleasure started to wane. “I should take you back before…”

  “Before your brothers get home. Yes, they are a little… ummm…”

  “Little assholes.”

  “I was going to say high-spirited… though you may be right. Would you like some chips or something?”

  While a tenth of the sandwich he ate would be filling for her, she understood from Hester that shifters ate a lot, and male shifters ate a lot and then a whole lot more. It was something to do with their metabolism and how much energy it takes to shift.

  “Uh, thanks, beneath the sink.”

  Mary raised her eyebrows, and he shrugged.

  “The only place my brothers won’t look for them. It’s where I hide the good snack cakes, too.”

  “Clever.”

  He winced, and she blinked. “Did I say something wrong.”

  He rolled his huge, still naked, perfect shoulders and Mary felt an awfully strange twinge in her stomach. Or rather, a little south of her stomach.

  “When people call me clever, usually they’re making fun of me.”

  She grabbed the chips and found herself a can of soda from the refrigerator.

  “I’m not making fun.”

  “I know.”

  Their eyes locked, and she blushed.

  “What are we doing tomorrow?”

  Tomas swallowed what appeared to be a shovel full of chips. “You want to hang out tomorrow?”

  “Well, yes, I mean, if you want to, we don’t have to…” she trailed off, her feet turning icy cold.

  “Yes,” he growled. “I mean, yes.”

  Mary smiled at him, and drank her soda, reflecting that although she had been kidnapped, she was feeling more normal than she had in years.

  Eighteen

  Tomas waited impatiently for Roberto to get off the phone. He had spent the night working guard duty, and then the early morning helping to install a new septic tank for old Alberto. Now, he was hoping to spend some of the day with Mary. But he had to ask permission from Roberto for something, and given his behavior yesterday, he doubted his prime would be exactly receptive.

  Roberto grumbled a goodbye and then stomped back into his living room, eyeing Tomas sourly.

  “What?”

  “Need a favor.”

  Roberto glared at him in disbelief. “After attacking two lions in front of dozens of witnesses, now you want a favor?”

  “Yes.”

  Roberto stared at him and snarled. “What?”

  *

  “I’m not sure I like surprises,” said Mary uneasily. She had endured so many over the years, just the idea of a surprise made her antsy.

  “You will like this,” said Tomas without any doubt.

  He grasped Mary’s hand to pull her with him. Her small legs didn’t keep up very well, but she had to admit, she liked holding his hands. She’d never walked around holding hands with a man. Her only real boyfriend wasn’t overly demonstrative in public, but then neither was she, and she kind of liked how her small one slipped into Tomas’ so easily.

  Without her usual cardigan to rely on, she was wearing a black sweater, that was a little bit more form fitting and made her feel a bit more feminine. Not that Tomas seemed to notice. Though Sadie and Hester had both commented on how pretty she looked.

  He brought her to the library, and she frowned.

  “The library again?”

  “It’s yours.”

  “What.”

  “Prime agreed you could have it.” He smiled awkwardly.

  “But I… I don’t understand.”

  “He agreed you could have it, and he agreed funds will go into hiring leap mates to run it, and for new books.”

  “Tomas, I…”

  He stared at her unemotionally. “If you don’t like it…”

  “Of course I do, I just…”

  It was a library - of course, she liked it! She just… She felt pressure. Pressure to stay. She was always under pressure. Pressure from her family when she was young. Then pressure from her stalker. Someone always wanted to control her, to tell her what to do and she hated it.

  He dropped her hand, and she immediately felt the loss of heat and sensed his disappointment.

  “Even if you go, it will stay open,” he told her gruffly. “But you know… thought you’d like it… if it was open…”

  “That’s a nice thought.”

  “It’s yours, even if you don’t stay.”

  “Thank you, it’s… well, it’s so nice.” He had done something wonderful for her, and she couldn’t find the words to show her appreciation.

  Tomas grunted and found the key.

  Mary pressed her hands to her cheeks. A library. He actually gave her a library. It wasn’t with quite the same flourish as when the Beast gave it to Belle, but… wow.

  *

  Tomas had to go off and run more errands or perform more dirty tasks for his prime – his continued punishment. But when he could, he returned to help Mary with the cleaning and cataloging of books.

  Not that she had a chance to be lonely for long. Various leap mates popped in throughout the day to see what she was doing, to say hello, to say how nice it would be to have the library back. A few of Tomas’ brothers came in; they were nervous but relaxed when they saw Tomas was not there. They voiced their opinions that books were dumb and then they left.

  Tomas was rarely gone for long. He kept coming back to check on her, to bring her sodas, sandwiches, and pie. Plus, he helped with the high shelves – he could reach without stretching, and he took care of all the spiders – of which there seemed to be hundreds.

  It was during one of the spider retrieval operations that they were rudely interrupted.

  “Hey, Harry, what’s going on in here?”

  One of Tomas’ leap mates leaned against the doorway, smirking at the two of them. She couldn’t recall his name.

  Tomas’ jaw ticked at the nickname.

  “Elvis,” Tomas grunted.

  Mary had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing. Seemed like the kind of name she should have remembered. Tomas didn’t seem inclined to say anything more. Not naturally chatty, she noticed he became even less so around anyone else other than her.

  “We’re re-opening the library,” she explained as if it wasn’t obvious.

  Elvis’ large black eyebrows – they really were caterpillars – shot up his
head. “We? Meaning you two?”

  “Well, yes.”

  Tomas scowled.

  Elvis burst out laughing. “Yeah, right. Harry running a library!”

  Tomas stirred next to her and Mary frowned.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “Aren’t librarians supposed to be literate? Good luck with bozo here – he can’t even write his own name!”

  Elvis’ cackle died as a snarl rattled out of Tomas’ throat.

  “I’d leave if I were you,” said Mary in a mild voice.

  Elvis tried to retain some dignity, but when Tomas made a move to him, he turned tail and ran.

  “He was unpleasant,” said Mary.

  Tomas grunted.

  Mary tried to catch his eye, but he firmly stared at the bookshelves.

  “Illiteracy is nothing to be…”

  “I am not…” he snarled before taking a deep breath. “I can read, I just… it just doesn’t come that easy to me.”

  Mary flicked through an old romance novel, reflecting how much Tomas looked like the hero on the cover, and how little she looked like the heroine.

  “And why Harry? Why do they call you that?”

  Tomas let out a rumble. “It’s from Harry and the Hendersons.”

  Mary wrinkled her nose. “The movie?”

  “Yeah. I was always big.” He smoothed his hand over a book cover. “And I was slow to talk and read, so the other kids called me Harry – like…”

  “Like the sasquatch from the movie.”

  “Growing up, it was one they used to show all the time in the leap hall.”

  “I love that movie,” murmured Mary.

  Tomas looked down at her, searching her face, perhaps to see if she was making fun. Hesitantly, she placed her hand on his back, feeling his muscles move beneath her touch.

  “I wouldn’t take it as an insult,” she said.

  He huffed.

  “I think they make fun because they’re jealous.”

  That earned her a snort.

  “Because of how big and, ah, handsome you are.”

  Mary could feel the heat spreading up from her feet. She felt like a boiling kettle. She avoided looking at Tomas for as long as she could, and when she finally did, it was to find a strange look on his face.

  “I don’t think so,” he said slowly.

  “No, you are very handsome!” she blurted.

  Tomas gazed at her before grinning. “You are, too,” he said. “Beautiful! I mean, you’re beautiful, not handsome… well, you are… but…”

  Mary giggled, both flustered and embarrassed. She knew she wasn’t beautiful. No one had ever thought so.

  “Stop, I know I’m not.”

  Tomas’ large hand cupped her head and tilted it to look at him; he bent down to her.

  “You are,” he urged.

  Mary’s lips parted. They were inches apart, staring into each other’s eyes. The rough pads of his fingers grazed her cheek. Her heart banged like a drum and the book she was holding tumbled out of her hand. Her nerves rattled ferociously. It had been so long since she had been really kissed, and since she had wanted to kiss anyone. But staring into Tomas’ perfectly chiseled face, inhaling his masculine scent made her want to throw her arms around him and never let him go.

  “Tomas,” she murmured.

  He growled and bent down to meet her lips; he had barely touched them when a voice interrupted them.

  “Having fun?”

  Mary jumped, headbutting Tomas right in his nose.

  “Are you okay?” they both asked each other.

  Mary clutched her head while Tomas tweaked his nose.

  “Ugh, your head is like steel,” she muttered.

  Tomas steadied her and scowled at his father.

  “What are you doing here?” he demanded.

  “Roberto wants you,” said his father, casting an amused look at them.

  “Humph.”

  Tomas inspected Mary for damage, but she waved him away.

  “Roberto is waiting,” said his father.

  “Humph.”

  “I’ll be fine, whispered Mary. “Go.”

  Tomas hovered, reluctant to leave.

  “I’ll just continue working and see you later?” she asked, hopefully.

  As scary as coming here had been, she wouldn’t deny how much she liked spending time with Tomas.

  He nodded. “Don’t do any heavy lifting. I’ll do that.”

  “I won’t,” she promised.

  He grunted and then glared at his father until he left, and then Tomas followed him out the door.

  Mary retrieved the book she had dropped. Another romance. Another hero who looked like Tomas. He could be a book jacket model. Mary regretted she didn’t fit the heroine mold. Maybe if she lost about twenty pounds… and gained five inches in height… and lost five inches around her waist… and tried a hairdo that wasn’t from the Cousin It style guide. Sigh. No, that wasn’t her. She could dress up and look nice, but she couldn’t smolder.

  “The Hungry Heart,” she read aloud, looking at the cover. Romances had never interested her, but maybe she should borrow this one. Just to get a few ideas. The last time she had sex was over two years ago, or was it three now? It had been a date set up by Elise with one of Brick’s idiot friends. He wasn’t interested in her but, well, he had been willing to have sex with her. It was terrible, but it scratched that itch for a while. She hadn’t really dated since college.

  “Mary.”

  Mary squealed and threw the book in the air. She dove behind a chair and peered at Ray, who was currently studying her like she was an escaped lunatic.

  Mary slowly got to her feet, dusting herself off. “Sorry, you startled me.”

  “Aha.”

  His amused mood was gone, and he just seemed irritated. He bent and picked up The Hungry Heart, snorting at the cover.

  “Your type of thing?” he asked.

  “No, not…”

  “If you’re expecting some big romance here, then you really don’t have a clue.”

  “Excuse me? I…”

  Ray turned the book over in his hands, roughly pulling at the pages. Ugh, it was painful to see a book treated so disrespectfully.

  “Some of the other women may say it’s romantic to be kidnapped and brought up here. But life here on the mountain can be tough. We don’t have all your fancy stores down in Los Lobos. We have to make do with a lot of things, and grow a lot of our own food.”

  “Fancy stores?” Mary shook her head uncomprehendingly.

  “Yeah. The women here can’t run out and buy new shoes whenever they want.”

  Mary glanced down at her own worn sneakers – they were five years old.

  “Or run out for manicures…”

  Mary peered at her fingernails – they were jagged and ugly because she bit them on a regular basis. It was a bad habit she was loath to lose – she had so few pleasures in life.

  “They have to take care of their families,” he finished, giving her a significant look.

  “Okay?”

  “My mate works hard for her family.”

  “I noticed,” Mary muttered. Shamefully, her family didn’t work hard for her.

  “And she needs help.”

  Mary couldn’t agree more with that. Luckily she had a large brood that could easily get off their lazy butts once in a while.

  “Clearly, you’re not up to it.”

  “What?”

  “When the two weeks are up, you should go. Tomas will find someone else next year – someone more appropriate. He might be sad for a little while, but the boy will get over you in no time.”

  Mary pursed her lips. She had been planning on leaving at the end of the two weeks, but she wasn’t going to admit that to this guy and make his day.

  “It’s nothing personal,” he said in a condescending voice. “I told Tomas to bring back someone who could help the family, but it clearly isn’t you. Just go home, back to your little life and
let Tomas find someone who will make him happy.”

  Hurt bubbled inside her before she snapped. “You mean someone who will make you happy?”

  Ray glared at her but didn’t say anything.

  “You don’t care what your son wants; you just want another woman to treat like crap – like you do your mate.”

  “How dare you? That’s none of your business,” he growled.

  “My relationship with Tomas is none of your business,” she replied primly. “But if you think your wife needs help, why in the world don’t you help her? Or make your sons help her? You’ve all got two hands, haven’t you? Jeez, you’ve got fourteen between you!”

  “This is the way it is in the leap,” he said a tad defensively. “The males work, and the females take care of their families.”

  “The way it is isn’t always the right way.”

  He narrowed his eyes, and without another word, he spun on his heel and left.

  “Not a happy bunny,” she breathed.

  She wasn’t about to pay him any mind – he was a jackass. But she did wonder whether Tomas brought her to the leap because he wanted her to work for his family. Did he?

  Mary thought about it for a few beats before snorting. Nah!

  Nineteen

  Mary spent all day at the library, and now, both she and Tomas were enjoying a picnic on the floor. Unexpectedly, it had turned into her best day in a long, long time. The library would need to be repainted, and some of the shelves needed repair, but it would look great when it was finished.

  She winced as she reached for another piece of chicken.

  “What is it?” snapped Tomas, dropping his own chicken leg as he jumped to attention.

  “My back is killing me,” she said as she rubbed just above her ass. “I haven’t worked this hard in a while.”

  Recently, her biggest workout involved picking up and dialing a phone.

  “Allow me,” murmured Tomas.

  He shuffled his large frame behind her and gently pulled her between his legs. His plate-sized hands carefully started massaging her aching muscles.

  “Oh, that’s nice,” she cooed, leaning into his touch.

  He growled lightly.

  “This place is going to be very nice when we’re done,” she commented.