Changing Hearts (7 page)

“I don’t know. Am I scaring you?”

“Yes.”

Her answer surprised him.
Honesty? Since when is that a human trait?
Slade trailed one finger across her jaw. The softness of her skin delighted him, though he kept his expression impassive.

“Are you married?” He had no idea where that question came from or even why he’d asked it, but it had caused an interesting color to come into her cheeks.

“No. Are you?”

She didn’t sound as frightened now. He moved back a pace, just far enough so that she could move if she wanted to. Joie took two small, slow steps to the side. He realized she was edging toward the door, but made no move to stop her.

“No.” Slade leaned against the wall, having to duck to keep from banging his head on the ceiling. He spared a glance at the cages again, noting that the animals were calmer with him on this side of the room. “Joie, that’s an interesting name.”

“Thank you. It means Joy in French.” She’d stopped moving away from him, sensing, perhaps, that he really wasn’t going to hurt her.

Shit, I suck at this. I don’t know how to talk to a human female.

“I’d like to have sex with you.” Slade wanted to kick himself in the head when those words came out of his mouth. If she’d been a shifter, that would have been fine, but he knew he wasn’t supposed to just blurt things like that out to a human.
If her face gets any redder, she’s gonna catch the room on fire.

“I, well, thank you, but I don’t think so.” Joie moved quickly to the door and fled. Slade let her go. After a few seconds, he started to laugh softly. If he’d blundered with a female this badly in the past, he couldn’t remember when, and she’d thanked him.

Slade left the small building, scenting the air. Joie and the old woman, Kay, were in the cabin. Joie probably telling her godmother she’d brought a lunatic home. He turned away from the cabin to take a walk. No time like the present to scope his surroundings out a bit more. He’d been pretty out of it when he’d landed here, so he needed to get more familiar with the area.

Slade jogged and walked until he felt satisfied that he knew what lay around the cabin for at least a mile in all directions. He stared up at the sky. Though it was still day, he could feel the moon rising. It sent a prickle down his spine, like someone touching him on the inside of his skin, calling to the animal inside him. He knew it would be full in a few days.

Maybe he could hide out here with these two women. No one in New Orleans would ever expect to find him taking shelter with humans.

By the time he returned to the cabin both women were sitting on the porch. He wondered how they made their living. Surely they couldn’t survive on being “faith healers”. He stepped up on the porch and stood directly in front of the old woman.

“I appreciate lunch and the offer of a place to stay. I’d like to pay you for the bed.”

“We don’t need charity, boy. You just help pay for the groceries you eat and we’ll be square. ‘Sides, you did save me from them punks, consider the bed your reward.”

Slade stared at Kay for a long moment, then turned his attention to Joie. “How much do you need for groceries?”

“Well, I’m not sure. I don’t really think we need that much.”

Slade reached into his back pocket. He peeled two hundreds off the fold of money from his pocket, handing them to Joie. Her mouth fell open and Slade grinned at her.

“I have a very healthy appetite.”

The old woman just cackled, and after a moment or two, Slade laughed as well. Joie shook her head, then went inside to put the money away in the kitchen. He looked at the old woman, who winked at him.

She let her eyes close to nap in the afternoon sun. For a moment he watched her, wondering what had caused her to trust him to that extent. Then he realized that he wanted a nap as well. Funny thing, though, he didn’t feel in danger from her. Stretching out on his back, he soaked up the comforting warmth of the rough wood under him. He laced his hands behind his head and closed his eyes.

It seemed only a few moments before he heard footsteps. Although he became instantly aware, he kept his eyes closed. The sounds came from the cabin, not toward the cabin. Soft snores told him that the old woman still dozed next to him. He waited until he felt the person standing over him. Opening both eyes like a lazy dog, he winked up at Joie.

“Oh!” Her exclamation came peppered with half disgust and half dismay. “You knew I was there!”

“Of course I did. You weren’t exactly quiet and I’m lying on the boards you’re walking on.” His grin seemed to annoy her even further, since she whirled back toward the kitchen.

“Well, if you want to eat, you can get yourself up off that porch and get cleaned up. Wake
Tante
Kay up too.”

Joie felt her temper rise. Grin at her? Mock her? He’d wear the cornbread she’d just pulled out of the oven. First he came on to her like she was some bar tramp, like one of the Tarbeaux girls, just blurting out that he’d like to take her to bed. Then he tried to make her feel a fool for looking at him.

Was it her fault the man looked so fine? She’d only wanted to see if that power he exuded dimmed when he slept. She shook her head. Her ire faded as she laughed at herself.
Who are you trying to fool, girl? Your hormones were shouting loud and long at you about that man, and if you weren’t so skittish, you’d have taken him up on his offer!

Malcolm and
Tante
entered the kitchen to hear Joie laughing softly. She saw them exchange a glance, watched as
Tante
Kay shrugged her shoulders. “My goddaughter, sometimes she’s a bit fey.”

Joie caught their eyes with a smile. She and
Tante
Kay laughed, then Malcolm chuckled softly as they sat down to the dinner table.

* * * * *

After dinner, a knock at the door had Slade tensing until the old woman grabbed her bag. She hugged her goddaughter, but Slade heard her whisper, “You be careful now, child. Malcolm’s a good boy, but he’s got heat too.”

Heat? Old woman, you don’t know what heat is.
Slade’s thoughts ranged from anger at her warning to amusement. If he desired something, nothing would stop him from taking. He looked at Joie through narrowed eyes. He wanted her, but he didn’t know if it would be worth the time. He sniffed. Damn lilacs.

“I’ll help with the dishes.” He didn’t know what else to say, but in the back of his mind he knew it was the polite thing to do. It had been so long since he’d had to be polite that he didn’t know for sure if he could still do it.

Her look of surprise notified him that she thought him to be some kind of barbarian. The arrow of anger that shot through him startled him.
What do I care what she thinks of me? She’s just a human. Just a damn human who smells so good she makes me ache.

“Yeah, I’m fully capable, sweetheart. If I promise not to break a glass, will you sit on the porch with me after? I have some questions.”

She measured him for a moment with her head cocked to the left. He watched her curls tumble into place as he waited for her answer.

“Yes.” A small nod accompanied the word. Then she handed him a glass to rinse.

They worked in a companionable silence until the last cast-iron skillet had been dried on the stove. Joie grabbed a pair of clean glasses, filled them with sweet tea and headed out to the porch.

“Coming?”

Slade took a moment to give himself a good shake, head to toe. He remembered his thoughts in wolf form about her last night. And he reiterated under his breath, “Not yet.”

He slid out the door. Joie sat in the porch swing with her feet tucked under her. Her smile warmed him. Maybe she had forgiven him for his bluntness this afternoon. Then he realized she’d shifted her legs so that there wasn’t room for him.
So much for that idea.

Slade lowered himself to the porch to lean against one of the roof supports. The wood still held the heat of the day. It felt good sinking into his body. Most of his aches had gone, but the few that remained were good ones.

“So, how long have you lived here?”
Good opening question, wolf man. Can’t go wrong with that.

“Nine months. I’ve been home nine months. What about you? Where do you call home?”

Slade heard something in her voice, but couldn’t define it. And he didn’t want to answer questions about himself either. Damn humans. They always had to know more than they needed to.

“Here and there. I’ve called a lot of places home.”

Her eyes caught the fading sun as she turned to look at him. “You must have traveled a lot. Was your family military?”

He thought about the man who’d been his “family” after his folks had died. Yeah, he’d been military, retired, and a total bastard. His mother’s sister hadn’t wanted to take him in when his parents died. She’d lived in fear of her drunken, abusive husband discovering her family’s “dirty little secret”.

With Slade in the house, he’d gained someone else to knock around. What should he say to Joie? Should he tell her about the belt or the fists? Should he tell her how often they moved because the neighbors complained about the noise from the beatings? Would it shock her? Silence seemed to be his best option. Still, the short answer never hurt.

“Yeah, you could say that.”

Joie nodded, but didn’t say anything else. The cicadas started their incessant humming, while the tree frogs provided a percussive tenor to the night music. They sat watching the sun slowly take the evening light across the horizon, leaving only dusk. As the mosquitoes began to whine, Joie slapped her arms twice and her legs once before getting up. He never moved.

“Well, I am going to call it a night. Good night, Malcolm, sleep well.”

Savoring the sound of his name on her lips, he said nothing in return. The
whoosh
of the screen door closing emphasized the gaping holes in his ability to communicate with humans. He shrugged. Didn’t even know why he bothered other than the fact that he was bored. Lilacs and soft moss-green eyes that cried for him in wolf form and sweet lips that kissed him in human form had nothing to do with it. Not a damn thing.

* * * * *

Slade lay on his back, watching the ceiling fan. Night fell quickly this far away from civilization, but he couldn’t sleep. The old woman had returned while he had been out on the porch. She’d looked so tired that he’d carried her bag in for her. She’d thanked him.

He got the feeling she wanted to talk to him, but after his dismal attempt with Joie, he honestly had no clue what to say. Humans weren’t on his short list of friends and he’d never had to deal with them for such a prolonged period of time. He’d tersely bid her goodnight, then turned back to the living room.

He thought about the only human who had ever treated him well. The last interaction Slade had had with his old boss, Tonio, had been nearly twenty years ago. Two days before he’d been gunned down. No one since then, not even his own Pack, had ever done a damn thing for him without wanting something in return.

Slade changed position again, trying to get comfortable on the pullout couch, seeking a cool spot on the sheets. Putting a six-foot-four-inch man on a foldout double bed wasn’t exactly the best idea in the world, and besides that, it was damn hot in the cabin. No central air-conditioning for this old place.

He almost missed his suite at the mansion, but not the mansion itself or its inhabitants. The king-sized bed would have been a plus here too, though it would almost fill the small living room.

Movement caught his attention and Slade turned his head slightly to see Joie coming out of her room. She glided, almost tiptoeing, toward the kitchen. Trying to not wake him, he supposed. He grinned in the darkness. Obviously she didn’t know he lay awake watching her.

Her white nightgown glowed in the dark room. She disappeared into the kitchen and he heard a cabinet door open, then the fridge. Slade sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed, pulling on the jeans he’d dropped on the floor.

Moving quietly, he reached the doorway in two long strides, then stood watching her. Sometimes in wolf form he would just stare at his prey before leaping, but this felt different. He felt a need to protect her from whatever might be out there…outside the cabin walls.
Stupid wolf. She’s human, remember?

Slade watched as Joie filled a glass with water from a pitcher in the fridge. She looked out the kitchen window as she took a long, slow sip. From his angle he couldn’t see what held her attention so he looked at what had his.

He took in the tousled hair curling around her soft shoulders. The shapeless white gown ended just below her knees, emphasizing the curve of her calves. It was different from the one she’d worn last night. This one had a square neckline and lace around the bottom. Visually traveling her creamy white skin down to her ankles and feet, he licked his lips. She had small feet. He imagined pressing his lips and teeth to the arch of her foot until she screamed with pleasure.

He stopped his roaming eyes on the curve of her hips. They were made for holding on to. Her breasts and her shoulders made him sweat. The sleeveless gown hugged her shoulders with thick straps, making him want to rip through the material with sharp canines, exposing her body to his gaze. She seemed to have been built just for him.

The curve of her neck and jaw drew his attention next. In his imagination, he nuzzled into her there, breathing in her scent and feeling her pulse under his open mouth. Slade knew his eyes glowed. They always did when he became this aroused.

He adjusted his position for comfort in the jeans that suddenly felt very tight. The slight movement caused her to jump. He grinned when she leaned back, as if to get away from his position in the doorway.

“Malcolm! You startled me. I didn’t know you were awake.” Her voice ran down his neck like a soft summer rain.

“Too hot to sleep.” He ran his hand over his stomach and saw her shiver as her eyes followed his hand. He pushed his hips forward slightly, refusing to hide what he couldn’t cover. The fact that her eyes flickered to his growing erection made him even harder. He wanted her. Human or not, he wanted her. And she wanted him. He could smell her arousal and he could see her nipples pressing against the soft cotton gown.