Jules (Golden Streak Series Book 5) (16 page)

“Why?” He looked at her oddly. “Why didn’t you get up off your ass and take care of them yourself if you knew what they’d done to me and Mason
? Or for that matter, if you knew about Em’s brother’s activities, why didn’t you get out there and take care of his kids? You knew about them, didn’t you?”

“It is not our place to kill, my dear
. It’s to hire others to—”

“
You mean to hire hit-men. You’re not much different than the people I just killed.” He sputtered at her, and Jules squeezed her hand, but she was on a roll. “You sit up in your ivory tower and let things go for a long time before you get around to getting someone else to take them out. Then, when they do, you come and tell them what a wonderful job they did for you and pay them. You’re a hit man. You can pretty it up anyway you want, but that’s what you are.”

Her cat stirred along her skin when the man stood up. When he took several steps back
, she stood as well. He stared at her for several seconds before he smiled. She didn’t like that smile any more than she did the man whose face it was on.

“Would you shift for us?” She shook her head. “I assure you no harm will come to you
, but it would be very helpful to me if you did.”

“Helpful how?”

Ryland stood up and
walked to her. She wasn’t sure if it was to protect her or to beat her ass. He looked thunderous.

“She isn’t a trained animal.” The man nodded at Ryland
, then took another step or two back when the rest of the Goldens stood up and came to her. “She will not shift until you explain yourself. I’m male here, not you.”

“I understand
. I was…I saw her cat just now. She has great control over her for a newborn, do you not think so? But her color is…unusual, wouldn’t you say?”

“Lenny, what’s going on? How did these men see your cat?”
She looked at Jules. “You shifted to save me.”

She nodded at him
, then looked at the man. “You know what color I am. So what? You think you can change that to suit you as well?”

“No
, my lady, but if you are a white tiger, we will need to know. It will have to be marked in the books as such.” The man looked at Ryland. “Is she a white tiger?”

“No. She’s not a white tiger.” Lenny waited for him to say more
, but he simply crossed his arms over his chest
. Don’t shift unless I tell you or they harm you. I don’t trust these people any more than you do. And I didn’t lie. According to legend you’re not a white tiger to us, but a snow tiger. Big difference.

Really? How is that
, you moron? You don’t think when he finds out you’re lying to him he’s going to be pissed?
She felt his mental shrug and wanted to smack him.
I guess you’re thinking I’ll save your ass if he comes for you then. Don’t count on it, big boy. I don’t like you that much.

Yes you do.
He took a step forward, then stilled when Jules touched him. She watched the two men and knew that they were talking. When Jules looked at her, she knew that Ryland told him. Before he could say anything, Alistair stepped back to them.

“Boy
, are you going to be thrilled with this shit.” She took the file from him. “You are now richer than we are as a family. Congratulations, Lenny, you are a billionaire and a homeowner.”

She sat down hard and looked at the file without opening it.
Jules took it from her and as she stared at the floor, he flipped through the pages. When he took her hand, she felt him kiss the back of it, but was still reeling. She realized that Alistair was speaking to Jules.

“This house
, along with all the contents, is hers. As are houses in Paris, Spain, and Germany. She has stock, a great deal of it, in seven of the ten most profitable companies on earth, as well as several bank accounts. The reward that was offered as the bounty on the men and women that were taken out is enormous, not to mention the jewels, paintings, and other items that are in the vault in the basement. Hell, the wine cellar alone, according to this paperwork, is worth a hundred times more than Neal’s, and he’s been collecting for years.”

They talked
, and she zoned out. She heard Ryland talking, as well as Brock. There were loud voices, but she wasn’t really listening. All she could think about was that she had a great deal of money. She stood up and moved to the door and out of the room. If anyone said anything to her, she had no idea. She ended up in the kitchen, where there were several staff. They started to leave, but she asked them to stay.

“I’d like to…I just found out
that this house is mine.” The man from earlier nodded. “I’m sorry. Who are you?”

“I am
…I am called Butler, my lady; this is Cook, and these ladies are called whatever you wish.” She heard his hesitation there and wondered what her mother had called the three women. “Would you like something to eat?”

“I would
, but I’d like to know your names, not what she called you. And I’m sure that it will take me a bit to remember them….” She looked at them. “Were you here of your own free will?”

“No
, my lady, we were not.” The butler glared at the older woman when she spoke, and she glared right back at him. “We’ve been told to stay on to see if you wanted us, too. We’ve not anywhere else to go, but we’d try.”

Lenny sat down and nodded.
“She didn’t pay you, I take it. If you stay, I will. I don’t know anything about a big house…hell, I know nothing of a little one either, but I won’t treat you like she did. I’m not perfect and I have a foul mouth, but I won’t hurt you.”

They didn’t say anything for several seconds while she sipped her glass of water. The cook sat down across from her
. Then the others sat at the large table as well. He watched her and she let him. She knew he was a wolf.

“You’ll not feed from us?”
She shook her head no. “Then I’ll be a real cook and not a man who disposes of the bodies when she gets finished with them? I’d like that very much, I think. To cook I mean.”

“No.
I don’t…you’ll have to tell me where the bodies are so that their families can have closure. And before you ask, no one will ever know where the information came from.”

The butler refilled her glass just as Jules came in
to the room. He was offered a chair, and he sat next to her. Cook put out his hand and smiled at her.

“I am
Cecil Pugh. This is Duane Andrews, your butler. The younger maids are Jillian and Bridgette, and this is Mrs. Lane. She runs the place, as does Duane. Welcome to what we called the Hell. But I’m sure you can think of a better name for this pile of bricks.”

“I think I can. How about we call it Golden Abbey
?”

Chapter 16

Jules wanted her. Not just now
, but forever. He’d been walking with her and Duane for the past hour, just looking over the house and noting the improvements that it needed, when he’d had enough. Taking her hand into his, he cleared his throat.

“Duane, I’m sure you understand what needs to be done.
Why don’t you just do whatever it takes to get the house back up to par, and let us know of any costs over five grand? However, the roof needs repaired immediately, and I agree with whatever else you can think of.” The man nodded, then smiled. The man got what he wanted him to do before Lenny did.

“How are we supposed to know what gets done or not?”
Jules took her into what he thought was the room they’d been in earlier and was happy to see it was. It had been cleaned up, too. Too bad he was going to simply mess it up again.

“When it’s no longer broken
, he had it fixed.” He pressed her against the door that he’d just closed and locked. “I don’t really care about the house right now. I do care about you being naked and in that bed as soon as possible.”

She cupped his ass and brought him closer to her. “I didn’t think you’d ever get bored with this shit and simply toss
Duane back to the kitchen.”

“Why
, you brat.” He laughed. “I was bored to tears when he showed me that first bedroom and the next nine as well. How many bedrooms does this place have, anyway?” Not that he cared, but the taste of her throat was making him wild and he needed something to calm him. “I want you.”

“I want you as well
, but you made me a promise.” He lifted his head and looked at her. “You said you’d chase me through the woods and take me there.”

His body stiffened
, and he felt his cat snarl at him. He wanted her, too. Pulling away from her body, he took off his shirt. Then the pants he had on. She watched him, panting.

“I want you to shift for me first
. Then we’re going to walk through the house so that the servants can get used to seeing us. I would hate to have one of them shoot us while we’re playing in or out of the house.” She nodded and pulled off her shirt and dropped it to the floor. Next came her bra, and it fell from her fingers to join his clothes.

“You do know that I’m white, right? I mean
, no stripes at all. You think that will freak them out a little?” He didn’t really care and told her. “I don’t know what I look like either.”

“You didn’t see yourself?” She shook her head. “Why not? I remember going to the mirror to see me first thing.”

“I had a mate to save.” He flushed. “You’re a great deal more important than what I look like as a cat. Ryland told me what I looked like.”

He had told him as well
. He’d said she was pretty. In fact, Ryland told him he’d been impressed with her, too. That her ability to shift without much in the way of training had impressed Keith when he’d told her how. Jules pulled off his pants and stood before her, naked. She leaned over to pull off her pants and shoes, and he nearly whimpered. She was glorious.

“Shift for me.” She nodded and closed her eyes. He watched her as the cat took her.
And his brother was almost right: she was impressive, but she was also the most beautiful creature he’d ever seen.

Her cat
lay down and he moved toward her slowly. She wasn’t used to him and he didn’t want to startle her. When he was within a foot of her, she stood up and he knelt down to her. She was big for a female; as big as him when he was a tiger, he’d bet.

“You’re
lovelier than I’ve ever seen.” He scratched her head when she lowered it to him. “Christ, I’ve never seen a full white tiger before, not even in captivity. I think Ryland was right in not telling the Realm what you were.”

I’m a snow
, he said. A snow tiger.
He nodded at her.
Do you think you could shift now? I want to go out and play.

He laughed. “Yes. But two things you’ll have to remember while in the house.
One, you’re not going to have any traction like you would in the woods; and secondly—and this is important—you can’t chase the help. If they run, you’re going to want to run them down. But don’t. It’ll be hard enough getting anyone to work for us, but if you eat one of them, it will be impossible.”

He opened the door and let his cat take him.
He hoped someone in the kitchen would be there and they wouldn’t mind opening the door for them, or he’d have to shift again to do so. Leaving the bedroom, he moved down the hall with her, encountering one of the maids. She looked at them and pressed herself against the wall, but she neither screamed nor ran. He would have to talk to everyone once they were better settled.

The kitchen was full of people.
Duane and Cecil were there, along with several others that he’d not seen before. When one of the younger men started to dart out of the room, Duane barked an order for him to stay still.

“They are the mistress and master
, you fool. Would you like to be served up on a platter for them? Stand still, all of you.” Lenny moved toward Duane and rubbed her head on his leg. She marked him. When one of the others came toward her, she did the same to them. Jules sat back and watched. She was claiming them as her pack.

As Cecil moved
slowly toward the door and opened it, Lenny went out first. As soon as she was in the grass, she started to roll around in it like a kitten would. Someone stepped up beside him and spoke. He glanced up at Mrs. Lane as they watched Lenny.

“She is a beauty
, is she not, sire? So beautiful and child-like for something so large and deadly, I think.” Jules stood up when Lenny took off to the woods. “I’ll have a door put in for you, sire, if you wouldn’t mind. And some clothes, if you’d like, put out in the outer building just beyond.”

He looked up at her and nodded. When she smiled and went back into the house
, he wished he’d remembered to mark her as well. They would be able to communicate on a limited level, but he could thank her. When the door closed behind her, he wondered what would happen with all of them now and turned when he heard Lenny roar. He knew she wasn’t in trouble, but he took off after her anyway.

Mrs.
Lane said to tell you that she will leave us clothes on the stoop and if we’re a mind, she’d put us a nice chest out there and keep it stocked.
She laughed.
I think I like her.

I do as well.
He leapt over a large log and saw a flash of white. She’d be easy to spot, he realized, even in the dark. When he saw her again to his left, he took off after her. Soon he was standing in the middle of a grove with no idea where she was. He lifted his head to sniff the air.

You’re not finding me.
He growled low, and she laughed at him.
Can it be that the great and powerful Jules has lost his mate?

You have your scent everywhere and that of the people you touched in the house.
Then it occurred to him.
You weren’t just marking them; you were getting their scent on you so that I couldn’t find you. You’re going to pay for that.

Keith
told me that one. He said he does it when he wants to hide from you guys. I think it’s great.

Jules was going to kill his brother
the first chance he got. Then he smiled. No, he’d tell his mate that when he found her. He was going to tell her everything he knew about hiding. When he saw her dart past him again, he followed. She was proving to be hard to keep up with. When he found her near a tree, lying down, he moved up behind her and stood over her.

You’re going to pay for teasing me and marking a bunch of men.
She rubbed her head over his shoulder, and he licked her head.
I love you.

And I love you
, too.
When he moved off her, she stood up as well and rubbed her body all along the left side, then up the right. He’d been right about her being as tall as him; she was only an inch or two shorter than him, but probably just as muscular. He purred when she moved back down his body again.

When her shoulder was near his head
, he nipped at her. He wanted her. Badly. When she purred back at him, he bit her and watched as she tried her best to get away from him. He put his paw on her back and pushed her to the earthen floor. She didn’t go down easy.

I want you
, but I feel the need to fight you.
He growled at her.
Jules, please tell me what to do.

Lie
down and put your lovely ass in the air for me.
When she growled again, his cat snarled at her. She was pissing him off, and Jules thought she knew it.
He’s going to bite you.

I fucking hope he knows I have sharp teeth
, too.
Moving so that he was over her, he pressed her harder to the earth and felt her resistance like he knew his cat wanted. When he entered her, she snarled at him again, and he bit down on her shoulder hard.

She purred then. Surprisingly
, his cat let her go and licked the wound at her shoulder. The blood stood out in stark contrast to her white fur, and Jules felt badly for it. When she moved her ass again, his cock jerked to attention as if to say, “Hello? Well?” He moved in and out of her slowly.

You’re mine.
He felt her purr.
All of you. And when you go into heat in a few months, I’m going to fuck you hard and spill my seed in you.

Please.
He moved his head along hers, and he felt her tighten around him. She was close to coming, and that surprised him. He’d thought that cats, female cats, didn’t enjoy mating like humans. When she cried out, her sheath strangling his cock, he sank his teeth into her muscled shoulder and felt her come again.

Even as she tightened around him for the third time, making his cock hurt and moving difficult to do
, he came. Lifting his head from her shoulder, he roared out his release, knowing that anyone within a few miles would know and understand the sound. When she roared out as well, he bit her again just because he could.

He dropped over her
, panting. He lifted off her only when she moved beneath him. When he rolled to his side, he shifted when she did. Lying down on his chest, he held her.

“I’m not sure what to do about all that’s happened today.” He ran his fingers up and down her back as she continued. “I’ve never been one for material things
, and now I’m…well hell, Jules, that house is bigger than the block I lived on. And in answer to your earlier question, there are twenty-three bedrooms in the house, even if you don’t count the ones in the lower levels. What did she need that many rooms for when she couldn’t sleep in any of them?”

He told her he didn’t know. “I’m sure we’ll get used to it. If not
, we’ll get it fixed up and try to sell it. Though, I have to tell you, I doubt very much we’ll have many buyers for a house that big.”

“No kidding.
Duane said that in addition to the bedrooms, there are ten full baths, a dining hall that will seat one hundred and fifty guests, a second kitchen to feed an army, and a pantry that will supply most grocery stores, though he did say they’d not had anything in it other than for their own meals since the place was built. I told him to stock it up well.” She sat up over him, and his cock stretched a little. “But there is one advantage to having a house this big. We do have all those bedrooms to use.”

He leaned up and took her nipple in his mouth as he moved her up to where she was over his cock. When he lifted her up
, he took her mouth as he moved her over him. She took his cock in her hand, holding him as he lowered her over him. After she was seated, he helped her wrap her legs around him.

“This is the way I’d like to wake up with you every morning.
Naked in either our bed or out here. But most assuredly, you wrapped around me.” She rolled her hips, and he held her tightly to him. “That’s it, baby. Ride me.”

He held her
, sampling her flesh as she moaned and purred at him. When she pressed him back to the grass, he let her, rolling her to her back once they were there. He was kissing her deeply before she could say a word to him, because if she turned him down, he was going to be hurting.

“Come
, love. Come for me.” She tightened her legs around him as he moved in and out of her. She was wet and tight, and he wanted to taste her in the worst possible way. When she lifted her body up just enough to brace her hands on his shoulders, he leaned up and took her breast in his mouth. She came screaming out his name when he lifted her ass and tilted her so that she was taking him deeper.

“Jules, come
with me. Please, I need to feel you come now.” She licked along his shoulder, and he did the same to her. When she sank her teeth into him, he felt the sharp prick of her teeth and came roaring against her as he, too, came. Christ, he was dizzy from it. He closed his eyes from it and felt his body relax. He was asleep in seconds.

~~~

She found him in the office. Lenny had been on the upper levels when Duane had called them on the phone. The flipping house was so large that she’d made the staff use phones to call them rather than trying to hunt them down. So far it had worked out well. Jules was talking on the house phone when she sat in the chair across from him. When he hung up, he looked at her.