A Faire in Paradise (2 page)

Grabbing his hat, he jammed it on his head and hurried for the door.

It wasn’t until he nearly ran down the woman at the counter, buying shampoo, of all things, that he realized where that wonderful aroma originated. His gut clenched, his insides going into meltdown as he stared at the gorgeous woman who stood in front of him.

He wanted nothing more than to grab a lock of that glossy black hair that fell around her shoulders and bring it to his nose. Perfect brows rose with surprise when he grabbed her upper arms. Sparks flew between them, and the hair on his arms stood on end, the sensation not unlike a transformer exploding in a lightning strike.

The woman, no, the goddess, stared up at him, her startled gaze frozen in a mask of beautiful and obvious amazement.

It did Wade’s heart good to know she was as affected by their contact as he was.

“Excuse me.” Wade managed to squeeze the words out as he stood staring at pure feminine perfection.

His heart raced, his chest ached, and he realized he’d forgotten to breathe. What really shook him up was when his beast lifted its head and he sniffed the air again.

Mate!
The word shimmered in his mind. Deep within his human form, his cat stretched, unsheathed its claws, a low rumble in its throat,
his
throat, and it repeated the wonderful, fateful word…
mate.

Wade stood speechless. He stared down into eyes such a light blue, he thought the woman blind, at first. She wasn’t. She couldn’t be.

Every muscle, every cell in his body screamed at him to mark her with his bite, mate her and make her his in every way. He took another deep breath, steeling himself for the riot of emotions tearing through him, caused by her glorious scent, alone.

“Excuse me.” He released her before she had the chance to berate him for holding her. She had no idea who he was—what he was to her. To top it all off, she was human. That alone warned him to tread lightly. “I’m a clumsy ass. Please forgive me. I hope I didn’t harm you.”

“No.” She cleared her throat before licking her full, pink lips. “I’m fine. Thank you.” She glanced over his shoulder, a twinkle in her eye. “
You
might not be, though.” She lowered her voice. “Your hairdresser looks pissed. Did you forget to tip her?”

Damn it!
Yes, he
had
forgotten. He’d also denied her a job today. Turning around, he pulled his wallet from his pocket and glanced down at the woman’s nametag. “I’m sorry, Marcie. “I’ll go ahead and pay you for the cut. It’s not your fault I have to leave.” He shoved a fifty-dollar bill into her hand. “That should cover it.”

Wade wasn’t sure what the woman usually charged him. He always slid his card, not paying attention to the cost. She always did a good job, and that was all that mattered to him. Since he wasn’t a poor man, the cost was secondary.

“Thank you, sugar,” Marcie said as she folded the cash and shoved it down her cleavage.

Wade wasn’t stupid. He knew she did it to draw his attention. Yesterday, he might have looked his fill. Today, he wanted nothing more than to pick up where he left off with a certain gorgeous brunette standing behind him. He intended to do just that as he spun around. He scowled at the empty space. She was gone. How had she managed to leave without his cat hearing her move?

“Damn.” He turned to the women in the salon, tipped his hat, and smiled. “Have a good day, ladies.”

Now what?
He pushed through the glass door and looked around at the people bustling about. The ringing of the cash registers covered any noise she would have made and the smells coming from the hot food at the deli and the restaurant at the front of the store blocked any scent he might have acquired.

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his phone and dialed Ryker’s number. “You’re never going to believe this.”

Alexa hurried back to Nadya’s truck. The shopping cart skidded sideways, almost tipping over in her hurry to get around to the other side and out of sight of the store.

She stopped briefly at the open passenger window. “Do you mind if I store my things in your rig until we set up?”

“Of course not.” Nadya yanked her keys from the ignition and got out to unlock the trailer. “Why are you so out of breath? Did you run through the store, or what?” She tilted her head and studied Alexa’s face. “You look as though you’ve seen a ghost.” Opening the door, she stepped up into the trailer and reached down for the bags Alexa held.

“I just saw the most beautiful man.”

“Ha! Men aren’t beautiful.” Nadya laughed and shook her head as she took more bags and set them on the counter behind her.

“This one was.” Alexa took a deep breath and sighed. “I was in the salon they have inside up by the service desk.” Reaching up, Alexa touched her hair. “You know how I like that special shampoo…” She continued, giving a one-shoulder shrug. “He was in a chair when I got there. I swear the hairdresser has the hots for him. She was rubbing all over him like a cat in heat. Then…I guess he changed his mind about getting a cut.” She chuckled. “He bound up out of the chair like his rear was on fire. I think he pissed off the hairdresser. At least she didn’t look happy.”

She handed the last two bags to Nadya, walked the cart the twenty or so feet to the cart corral, and gave it a shove.

“So he’s a local in need of a haircut. Of course he’s beautiful.” Nadya shook her head and clucked her tongue. “I should have known.” She laughed. “Honey, you’ve been hanging around with the guys at the carnival too much if you think shaggy is beautiful.”

“That’s just it.” Alexa heaved a dreamy sigh. “He wasn’t shaggy at all. His hair was already military short. I don’t even know why he thought it needed a trim. He was also clean-shaven and so sexy with his sable brown hair and eyes as green as Ohio Valley grass. I wanted to rip every shred of material from his hard body and inspect every single inch of his tanned skin with my tongue.” She pressed her hands to her cheeks, her face burning at her confession. She’d never felt that way about a man in her life!

“Wow! That’s some kind of sexy, if it makes
you
want to do something like that.” Nadya nodded. “That explains why you ran out here the way you did. Admit it. You were terrified of the man’s awesomeness.”

“Will you be serious?” Alexa grabbed a bag of refrigerated items and started shoving them in the refrigerator. “I have separate receipts. We might have to compare things to them later.” She emptied her bags and closed the door. “There was just something about him. I’m not sure what. I just felt…” She bit her lip. “I don’t know. Something strange happened in there when he looked at me. I could have sworn I heard a big cat snarl and the word mate.”

“Of course you did.” Nadya stowed several bags full of non-perishables in the cubby under one of the dinette seats. “Something inside you finally woke up.” She wrapped her arm around Alexa’s shoulders and squeezed. “It happens to all of us sooner or later.”

Alexa’s stomach clenched at the thought. She hoped something hadn’t woken up. She didn’t want it, couldn’t afford it. Not a gift. She pressed her lips together, closed her eyes, and prayed that she wouldn’t get her gift this late in the game. It was the last thing she wanted, at this point in her life.

“Time to go. I hear everyone starting up.”

The rumble of truck engines and the smell of gas and diesel exhaust slapped Alexa as soon as she stepped down from the rig. Wrinkling her nose, she made her way to Nadya’s vehicle. She wouldn’t miss the smell of the trucks and generators, that was certain. Though she knew she would miss certain people and the smell of Italian sausage that she had always associated with fairs and carnivals.

“Did our guide show up?” Alexa frowned, looking through the windshield. “From what I understood, this place isn’t easy to find.”

“Yeah.” Nadya pointed to the left at a tall, muscular man with much the same coloring as the man she’d seen in the salon. This man’s hair was darker though. She liked the rich sable color of the hair on her mystery man.

Her stomach clenched again as she thought of the man. She fisted her hands on her lap and concentrated on keeping her feet still.

“Why are you so fidgety?” Nadya frowned at her. “You haven’t been able to stand or sit still since you came back from the store.” She turned her gaze back out through the windshield and smiled as she put the truck in gear and eased on the gas. “And we’re off.”

They took what appeared to be the main road out of town. About ten miles, or so out, they turned onto a small dirt tract that didn’t look like it could be someone’s driveway, not to mention a road to a good-sized town.

“What kind of town is this?” Nadya asked, as she frowned through the glass at the vehicle in front of them.

It was one of the kid’s rides. Alexa didn’t remember which one. “I was just wondering the same thing.”

They followed the leader down the road. Alexa felt strange. It was as though something pulled at her, warning her, but then after only a few moments it was gone.

“Look at that,” Nadya said pointing. There’s this low-lying fog covering the ground everywhere but the road. Isn’t that weird?”

Alexa nodded. It
was
weird. “I noticed that, too. It’s almost as though it’s parting for us.” She shook off the ridiculous notion with a laugh. “That’s just crazy, right? I’ll bet the heat from our engines caused it to dissipate on the road. Not too long after we’re through, it will most likely cover the road again.”

“It’s creepy.” Nadya shuddered. “I almost feel as though there’s something out there in that fog, waiting for me. Like it wants to hurt me.” She shook her head. “Listen to us,” she added with a laugh. “Next we’ll be imagining vampires in capes who tell us,
I vant to drink your blood
with horrible B-movie accents.”

“I know what you mean.” Alexa laughed, as well. Mainly because if she didn’t laugh, she knew she would scream. She felt some strange evil…thing lurking in the mist, too.

Ryker slapped his hat on his head and left the diner. He’d just finished his lunch when Wade called to tell him about the woman he’d seen in Mason. As much as he wanted to head out and help his friend find the woman, he had work to do here.

Their ranch wasn’t going to repair itself and he had to be on site when the carnival came in. They were setting up on the line of Paradise and their property ran just along the outer edges of the spell line.

They already had people watching the gates. Instead of strengthening the spells, they were there to change them just enough to allow outsiders in for the next few days. Everyone in town had sworn to be on their best behavior, meaning no shifting until the faire was over and everyone who didn’t live in Paradise had gone home.

It would be difficult for the adolescents, but it was good disciplinary practice. All shifters had to learn how to control their tempers, and anything else that could urge them to give their beast free reign. If they didn’t, they’d be shifting all over the damn place revealing their secrets to the world.

His phone rang. Reaching down, he pulled it from the clip on his hip. “Herrick here.”

“Hey, Ryker. It’s Adam. Can you get over to your place and tell them where to set up? They’re on their way.”

“Sure, Alpha. I’ll be right there.”

“I wish you’d call me Adam. We were friends once.”

“That was before we took Paradise from those insane bastards and before I knew you were the rightful alpha.”

“It shouldn’t matter what I am.” The alpha sighed. “I liked being friends. I liked having your confidence and I want that back. I need a new council and I’d like you to consider taking a seat.”

“You’re shitting me.” Ryker barked out a laugh. “
Me
on the council? Maybe we should challenge your position, alpha. I’m not sure I should follow a man crazy enough to put me on a council.”

“You’re a good man. Think about it.”

“Okay, alpha,” Ryker said with a sigh.

“Oh, and, Ryker?”

“Yes?”

“The next time you even joke about challenging me, you’d better be ready to do it. And call me Adam. That’s an order from your alpha.”

Shit!
“Yes, alph—Adam.”

With a curse, Ryker shoved his phone back into its clip and headed for his horse. He’d ridden into town for some lunch and to use the phone book at the diner. They needed a farrier. Most of the horses they had gotten so far, were rescues and every one of them needed new shoes.

Now that he had one scheduled to come out to the ranch on Monday, he’d already planned to head back to the ranch. The alpha’s call really had little to do with the fact that he was heading home.

Why did Adam want him on the council? He was nobody special. So he’d been the man’s friend when he didn’t know who he was, so what? Now that he
did
know, he knew that the alpha needed to hold himself to a higher standard and friends like Ryker Herrick and Wade Remington would only bring him down.

Mounting his horse, Ryker clucked his tongue and eased the gelding around, careful to be gentle with his mouth. The horse had been abused and Ryker wanted to teach the mount that having a bit in his mouth didn’t have to cause the beast pain.

“Come on, boy. Let’s get on home. I have a nice juicy apple there for you.”

The way he figured it, he’d have just enough time to ride home, curry his mount, and feed the stock before the carnival folk arrived. He only hoped they mapped out enough property for them. Otherwise, they might have to tear down a fence or two and he really wasn’t looking forward to that.

“Look, a diner,” Nadya said as she pointed to their right while she brought the truck to a stop in a vacant lot next to the restaurant. “Oh, my God! Is that who I think it is?” She jammed the truck in park, yanked the keys from the ignition, and jumped out.

Alexa was closer, reaching their friend just a few seconds before Nadya. They both squealed when they pulled the woman into their arms and squeezed her tight. “