Embrace the Heat (20 page)

Taking the birthday girl for a run in her new
form.

That should get Con up and moving.

Sure enough Connor replied before he got to
the bathroom.

Holy shit! That is really cool. Meet us here
in an hour, and we’ll go with you. Otherwise you have to take
guards.

Simon replied.

20 minutes. She won’t wait longer.

Simon hurried to shower and dress. He grabbed
an extra shirt and shorts with a drawstring waist just in case
Layla changed back while they were out. This was all new to him, so
he wasn’t sure if she’d have much control over the change at
first.

Layla was pacing when he got downstairs.
“We’re going to pick up Connor and Raven on the way. It’s the only
way to avoid the guards.”

More than a few people stopped to stare as he
walked the lynx out of his home, and let her into the backseat of
his jeep. They’d just gotten used to wolves in the settlement. Most
had never even seen a lynx and looked like they weren’t sure what
to make of her. Everyone kept a safe distance. Simon wasn’t in the
mood to explain any of this, so he ignored the gawkers.

Raven raced out of the house as soon as they
turned the corner and stood waiting impatiently for them. Layla was
lounging in the backseat when Raven threw open the door. “Oh my
goddess!” Raven practically screeched when she caught sight of
Layla.

Connor followed Raven to the jeep, looking
more than a little irritated as he scowled at Simon. “I thought we
had a truce, and you weren’t going to be a pain in the ass
anymore?”

“Raven wanted to bring her here,” Simon
argued.

“Your mate, your fault,” Connor said.

Simon smiled because he really liked the
sound of that. Layla was
his
. “Might be best if we take two
jeeps. Layla is sprawled out in the back seat, and she doesn’t seem
happy about having anyone tag along.”

Raven nodded. “This is a very personal thing
for her. Let me talk to her.”

From anyone else, Simon might have found that
comment strange, but Raven was a wood nymph. She could communicate
with animals and could probably understand Layla better than he
could. Although he was getting images and things from her. Well,
maybe it was just his imagination. Even if Raven hadn’t been a wood
nymph, she’d practically raised Layla, so Layla was likely to react
better to her suggestions.

“I know you don’t want us to go with you,”
Raven said. “I promise we aren’t going to follow you all over. As
long as you agree to stay with one of us we’ll let you do your
thing.” Raven cocked her head to the side and then stared at Simon.
“Well, if you prefer Simon, that’s fine, but we really need to talk
about this when you decide to change back to human form. I’m not
sure this is such a good idea. Don’t give me that look. I like
Simon a lot too, but I’m worried about you.”

Raven started to hop out the jeep and turned
to give Layla a brilliant smile. “You look beautiful!”

Simon couldn’t agree more about Layla looking
beautiful, but Raven was wrong about him being with Layla. They
still had things to work out, but they belonged together. Now that
he’d been with her, there was no way he could ever let her go.

Layla appeared to be having the time of her
life running through the woods. Simon was truly captivated with his
lynx. It’s not like he didn’t have feelings for her before. On the
contrary, he’d always been attracted to Layla. That had been one of
the things that bothered him most about her. No, it was more than
that. Simple attraction, he could have written off and ignored.
What he couldn’t ignore was how much he genuinely liked her. For
the last six months, he’d worked hard to ignore everything he felt
for her.

If he was honest, it wasn’t even all about
his hang up with humans. Jack had been willing to take the risk of
turning Muriel. Simon had thought about it one time. That was back
when Layla had first arrived, and he’d caught her looking at him
like he was something special. Plenty of women looked at him with
lust. Layla did that too, but mostly she looked past his exterior.
She saw him as something more, and he liked that. That was why he’d
thought maybe things could work. Then he’d realized he couldn’t
stomach the idea of infecting her with the Moon virus. If something
went wrong, was he man enough to kill her? The answer had been a
no brainer. He wouldn’t kill Layla. Better to have her as a
friend for years than risk her life. So, he’d buried his
feelings.

Then he’d tried to forget about his feelings
for Layla with Narissa, which had been an asshole move on his part.
There was part of him had hoped Narissa would be like Raven, but
he’d known that wasn’t going to be the case pretty early on. He’d
been honest with Narissa up front, telling her he was just looking
for casual sex. At first, things had been fine. It had seemed like
she was looking for the same thing he was. Then she’d started
talking about her fertile time being close. It only came twice a
year for nymphs. Once she’d made it clear she wanted a baby with
him, he’d ended things.

Actually, he’d tried to end things twice and
ended up letting her back into his bed. This last time she’d caught
him in a moment of weakness and brought a friend with her. That had
been a big mistake. At least he’d remembered to use a condom.
Narissa had looked like she was considering killing him when he
insisted on putting the condom on. That pretty much proved she was
trying to set him up. Still, he couldn’t blame her for everything.
It’s not like he hadn’t been a willing participant. The truth was,
he’d been the idiot who kept encouraging her.

It was funny that he’d reacted so differently
to the idea of Layla having his baby. There was this large part of
him that wanted to see her belly swollen with his child. That had
never happened before.

Simon was so caught up in his own thoughts
that he nearly smacked into a tree branch while he was chasing
after Layla. She heard his curse and turned to stare at him.

“Are you laughing at me?” he asked and was
pretty sure she was.

She prowled toward him and nudged his legs to
try to get him moving. “I need a little rest. I’m an old man,” he
complained.

Layla gave a delicate growl and began
stalking a mouse that was scurrying across the ground. He wondered
if she was really planning to eat that mouse.

Simon leaned against a tree and crossed his
arms in front of his chest. He couldn’t wait to get her back home.
In fact, if she shifted back to human form, he might just take her
in the woods. That was an insane thought and a serious security
risk, but he still might do it. Now that he’d had her, he was never
going to give her up, even knowing he might have to watch her grow
old and die. That would still be better than living without
her.

The sight of Narissa walking out of the woods
pulled Simon from his musings. She walked up to him, hips swaying
and a seductive smile playing on her lips.

“Did you come looking for me, sexy?” she
purred and ran her fingernails along Simon’s forearm.

Behind her, Layla let out a rumbling growl.
“You might want to back up,” Simon said in warning, keeping his
eyes on Layla.

Narissa cast a disdainful stare Layla’s way.
“Don’t worry about the shifter. I’m sure she’ll be on her way soon.
They don’t attack unless provoked, no matter how nasty their
disposition may be.” She leaned into Simon brushing her breasts
against his arm this time.

“Narissa, this isn’t a good time,” Simon said
and pushed her back. “Like I said, I’m not interested. Letting
things continue for so long was wrong. I’m sorry if I hurt you, but
there is no future for us.”

Narissa ignored him and wrapped her arms
around his waist.

Simon was amazed by Layla’s change. The air
shifted and electricity rippled from the spot where she stood. A
hazy mist swirled around. After it cleared, there stood Layla,
completely naked and still looking like she’d been well loved
the night before. Her eyes slowly changed from blue to their usual
brown.

“Get your hands off of him,” Layla said
somewhere between the catlike growl and her usual voice.

Narissa spun around and stared at Layla in
open mouthed shock. “I know you! You’re the one who always
watches Simon when he’s with me. I always thought you were just a
pitiful little stray human.”

“Back off, Narissa,” Simon hissed.

“You aren’t seriously with this mangy little
shifter, are you?” Narissa asked indignantly.

“Don’t insult her,” Simon said and pushed
away from the tree.

Raven and Connor picked that moment to join
them. Simon tossed the shirt he’d brought for Layla at her. She
caught it but didn’t put it on. Layla seemed just as comfortable
naked as Narissa was.

“You should probably leave, Narissa,” Raven
said in a friendly tone. “Layla is a little on edge. She’s in her
heat cycle, and Simon is her mate. There’s no telling how she’ll
react if you keep touching him.”

“I don’t need advice from a freak,” Narissa
snapped and turned on Layla with a snarl. “Simon will never be
yours. He is going to be my mate, so you’d better stay away from
him.” She made the mistake of taking a swing at Layla. While Layla
was smaller, she was a more experienced fighter. Layla quickly
ducked the punch and slammed her fist into Narissa’s diaphragm.
Narissa went down, gasping for air.

“Simon is mine,” Layla said, standing between
Narissa and Simon. “You will never touch him again.”

Simon caught Layla around the waist before
she attacked Narissa, “Easy, hell cat,” he said against her neck.
“Just let her go. Narissa gets your point.”

Narissa stood and glared at them all. “You’ll
regret this."

When Simon released Layla, she stepped away
and watched Narissa disappear into the woods.

Raven and Connor did nothing to hide their
appraisal of Layla. Simon expected to feel jealous about his friend
seeing Layla naked. Instead, he felt a great swelling of pride.
This was his woman, and she wasn’t embarrassed by her state of
undress. There was this sense of satisfaction in having the world
know that she’d been well and truly fucked by him.

Raven handed Layla the discarded shirt, and
Connor wrinkled his nose.

“Is it the pheromones?” Simon asked,
wondering if he needed to get Layla away from Connor. It hadn’t
been a problem in lynx form, but now something was bugging Con.

“Nope,” Connor said. “All I can smell is you.
Christ Si, what did you do to the girl?”

Layla blushed and slipped the shirt over her
head. “I forgot how bad I look,” she mumbled and turned her back on
them.

Connor let out a bark of laughter. “Is that
you hand print on her ass?”

Layla groaned and pulled the shirt down over
her ass. Raven smacked Connor in the back of the head.

“Well, at least she can be around the other
male vampires now without them attacking her.” Simon said.

Connor laughed. “She might be safe from other
male vampires, but what about you? You look like you’re ready to
jump her right now.”

Simon decided to ignore Connor’s comment.
“I’m glad her pheromones are under control. You have no idea what I
was dealing with while you were gone.”

“After being around her yesterday, I have a
pretty good idea.” Connor said, and then he smirked at Simon.
“Damn, Si! Is there any part of her body you haven’t marked in some
way?”

“Don’t embarrass her,” Simon said in
warning.

Raven stared out into the woods. “Maybe I
should go after Narissa to make sure she’s okay.”

“After what she called you?” Connor asked in
disbelief.

“She’ll get over it,” Simon said. “Narissa
has been after me to get her pregnant. I kept telling her it wasn’t
going to happen. Hopefully now that I’m with Layla she’ll stop
showing up.”

“She’d better stop showing up,” Layla said
with a snarl.

“When did you get so ruthless?” Simon asked
and gave her ass a firm smack.

Raven snorted. “Have you never paid attention
to Layla in training?”

Simon had always tried to avoid training with
Layla because seeing her fight made him want her more. Still, he
had been seeing her in training the last couple of weeks, and she
was an impressive fighter. “You’ve always moved a little fast for a
human. Nothing like you do now,” he said.

Layla looked a little uncomfortable under his
appraisal. She shrugged and shifted away. “I’ve always been strong
and fast.”

“Shifters usually are,” Raven explained.
“You’ll be stronger and faster now that you’ve had your first
change. It’s never been tested, but I think you’ll be nearly as
strong as the vampires and probably as fast.”

“How long will she live?” Simon asked, not
sure he wanted to know. There was no way he was letting her go now,
even if all he had was a human lifetime with her. It was too late
to walk away.

Raven shrugged. “She’s at least half human,
so it’s hard to say. I’m not really sure if her mother was a full
shifter or not. The only way to find out would be to locate her
mother, and I’m not sure that’s even possible. Layla’s not really
aging fast, so she probably inherited the long lifespan. Shifters
tend to be more volatile, so if they die it’s usually in a fight.
In more populated areas, hunters can be a problem. I think that’s
why the lynx moved here.”

Connor kissed her cheek and smiled. “You
still haven’t answered Simon’s question, and he looks like he’s
about to say something that’ll make me beat the hell out of
him.”

Simon snorted. “You could try.”

Raven flushed. “Well, I don’t actually know.
I don’t know many shifters because they aren’t friendly. I’ve met
some that were a few hundred years old and looked like they were in
their forties by human standards.”