Mythe: A Fairy Tale (39 page)

There was a rustle by the door and Manda guessed lazily that Josh was removing his coat. He must have just come in from outside.

“You’re sure it was just a normal lion?” he asked.

Richard sighed. “Yes. Positive. He was scarred, lame, and half-starved, not to mention very old. I’m sure that’s what made him so bold. Nothing more menacing than hunger and the inability to hunt effectively anymore.”

Manda heard Josh’s footsteps approach the sofa and stop suddenly near her feet, followed by a sharp intake of breath.

“Richard, you didn’t...” Josh’s shocked, disapproving voice trailed away uncertainly.

The steady rise and fall of Richard’s chest stilled. His body tensed under her and his response came in a low growl. “No! Give me a little credit, would you. You know me better than that. Besides, if I
were
going to have a complete lapse in self-control it wouldn’t be when she can barely move and is high on painkillers.”

“Sorry! Sorry! My mistake,” Josh said quickly. “You just look so...never mind. How did this happen anyway? When I went to bed she was sleeping in the bedroom and you were sleeping out here alone.”

“Bad dreams,” Richard explained succinctly.

“Yours or hers?”

“Both.”

“You look so happy lying there with her, Richie. It looks so... right.”

“That’s how it feels,” Richard answered in a contented voice. “Right.”

“It does feel nice,” Manda murmured, half opening her eyes and smiling sleepily. “And I’m not high on painkillers. Just a little fuzzy.”

Richard started slightly when she spoke, then chuckled and kissed the top of her head.

“Good morning, beautiful,” he greeted her.

Josh glared at her good-humoredly. “That was sneaky! I didn’t know you were so good at playing possum. I’ll have to remember that.”

“Not as good as you I’ll bet...or haven’t you collected that one yet?” Manda retorted with an impish grin. “Besides, I wasn’t playing possum, just waking up slowly, and I can’t help it if you make assumptions.” Manda was referring to both men’s assumption that she was asleep but realized he’d taken it another way when he blushed and looked uncomfortable.

“I went for a run this morning. I think I’ll go take a shower.” He disappeared quickly into his room.

Richard laughed softly. “Serves him right.” He tipped his head to one side in order to see Manda’s face. “How are you feeling this morning? Did you sleep well?”

“I feel okay.” Manda stretched, testing her muscles. “A little stiff and sore, but manageable so far. And I slept very well, thank you. Did you?”

“I slept wonderfully, thank you for asking,” he replied with a satisfied smile. “I slept much better with you sleeping peacefully here next to me than I could with you tossing and turning in the other room. It was a win-win situation.”

Manda was relieved. She’d been afraid he‘d stayed up all night babysitting her. With that worry dispelled, her mind returned to Josh’s comments. She fidgeted and finally worked up enough courage to ask about them.

“Did Josh think we...” she started, but Richard cut her off.

“Don’t worry about what he thought,” he said dismissively. “He was out of line.”

“Oh, okay,” Manda said in a small voice. After a long silence, Richard spoke again.

“Manda, can I ask you something personal? Something that’s absolutely none of my business?”

“You can ask me anything,” she assured him without hesitation.

“You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to,” Richard began tentatively, “but, have you ever...been with anyone?”

His emphasis made it clear what he was talking about and Manda blushed. She was about to respond when she remembered Richard’s middle-of-the-night revelation.

“Can Josh hear us?” she asked in an embarrassed whisper.

Richard tilted his head, listening. “No, he’s in the shower already. He can’t hear us over the sound of the water.” He paused and then asked again. “Have you?”

“No,” she answered softly.

“Really?” Richard sounded surprised.

“Really,” Manda replied, a tiny bit offended by his surprise. “Is that a problem?”

“No! Far from it,” came Richard’s quick response. “In fact, I’m very, very...pleased. Why would you think it would be a problem?”

“Because you’re probably used to women with more experience,” she mumbled self-consciously.

Richard’s laughter startled her, and she pulled away from him as humiliation reddened her cheeks even further. He pulled her back quickly and his voice was contrite.

“I’m sorry. Please don’t be angry. It’s just that you’re way off base. I’ve never been with anyone either.”

It was Manda’s turn to be surprised and before she could stop herself, she blurted the same startled exclamation that Richard had. “Really?”

“Really. Is that a problem?” Richard retorted in amusement, echoing her previous response.

“Of course not,” Manda answered, smiling. “It’s just surprising.”

“It’s surprising that I have a sense of honor and personal conviction?” he challenged with raised eyebrows.

“No,” Manda rushed to clarify, “but I know you haven’t exactly lacked for opportunity, and 68 years is a long time.”

“It’s not
that
long,” he protested. ”And honestly, I’ve never even been seriously tempted before you, Manda. Our parents brought us up to believe that sex should wait for marriage. It’s not a casual thing—at least it shouldn’t be.” He paused, as if collecting his thoughts, then continued meaningfully. “That’s even truer for us than for other people.”

Wincing, Manda struggled into a sitting position. “Explain, please,” she requested, shivering in the cool air of the room.

Richard sighed indulgently and tucked the blanket around her again. “Your wish is my command, but first things first. It’s time for you to take some more pills. Will you please do that for me before the pain gets bad again?”

“Yes, thank you,” Manda replied politely, suppressing the urge to stick her tongue out at this obvious response to her midnight rebellion. She didn’t fool him though, and he was grinning as he retrieved the bottle of pills from the bedroom. He returned with a fresh glass of water as well.

“If you’re going to be taking these you should probably eat. Shall I order some breakfast?” Richard suggested, handing her the glass and shaking two of the small pills into her palm.

“Should we wait for Josh?” Manda asked, feeling guilty about making him uncomfortable earlier, unintentional though it had been.

“No problem,” Richard assured her. He raised his voice slightly—not yelling, merely speaking loudly. “Josh, do you want some breakfast?” He cocked his head slightly and listened for a minute, then winked at Manda. “Steak and eggs.”

Manda hadn’t heard anything at all. “Show off!” she laughed, and swallowed the pills one at a time.

“You’re finally getting to see the real me, that’s all,” he retorted. “Now, what do you want?” He opened a drawer in the writing desk near the window and offered her the menu that was inside.

“I already know what I want,” Manda informed him, refusing the leather folder. “I’ll have French toast with strawberries and some hot chocolate.” Manda pulled the blanket up tighter around her chin, wishing she already had the hot chocolate.

Richard ordered breakfast for the three of them, and then brought another blanket from the bedroom for Manda. “Cuddle up under this while I get the fire going again. Josh turned the thermostat down when he lit it and when it went out it got chilly in here.”

“You don’t even have a shirt on. Aren’t you freezing?”

“No,” he answered simply and proceeded to rekindle the fire. By the time Josh emerged from his bedroom, Richard had it burning merrily. Josh sat down next to Manda on the sofa. His shoulder length hair was wet and his expression was troubled.

“I want to apologize for jumping to the wrong conclusion earlier, Manda. It was rude and thoughtless and I want you to know I hold you in the highest regard,” he said formally. Then he looked at her with an anxious, pleading expression. “Please forgive me?”

“Forget about it, Josh,” she said, leaning against him affectionately. “No harm done.”

He relaxed and put his arm around her in a brotherly embrace. “Thanks, M,” he said, adopting David’s shorthand for her name.

“Thank you, Josh,” Richard said quietly from where he knelt in front of the fireplace. Josh shrugged and then flashed his stunning smile at Manda.

“When’s breakfast?” he asked, and Manda thought once again that he was easily the most attractive man she’d ever met aside from Richard.

“It’ll be here soon,” Richard answered as he stood. He stared down at his hands for a second and for a fraction of a second—so fast that Manda wasn’t absolutely sure she really did see anything—his hands blurred. Then he casually brushed them off and made a shooing gesture at Josh. “Now move. You’re in my spot. Go flash your smile at someone else’s girlfriend. Maybe Stacey’s around somewhere.”

Josh laughed. “Actually, if I remember correctly, Stacey prefers your smile, big brother. Isn’t that right, Manda?”

Manda pushed away the younger man—who hadn’t shown any inclination to move despite Richard’s directive—and glared at him.

“Stacey has David. She’s not interested in anyone else’s smile,” she stated decisively as Josh relocated to the chair nearest the fire. Richard quickly occupied the vacated spot beside Manda and she fixed her glare on him. “But don’t go smiling at her anyway. It’s not fair to David.” Richard turned the smile in question on Manda, and her playful glare quickly melted into a distracted gaze. “A girl doesn’t stand a chance,” she breathed.

Richard laughed and propped his bare feet up on the coffee table. “Shall I go on with the explanation you wanted?” he asked casually.

“Um…,” Manda faltered, taken aback. She didn’t really want to talk about sex in front of Josh.

“What are we explaining now?” Josh inquired, intrigued by Manda’s obvious discomfort.

“I was going to explain to her about being born a shapeshifter, like us, and becoming a shapeshifter, like mom,” Richard informed him matter-of-factly.

Manda blinked in surprise. How did that tie in with their previous conversation?

Josh was obviously disappointed. “Oh, is that all?”

“Yes. That’s all. I was about to tell Manda all about it when we got sidetracked.”

“Um, yeah. Please explain the part about ‘becoming’ a shapeshifter,” Manda requested. There was still so much she didn’t know! She shifted away from Richard and turned slightly so she could see his face more easily. The fire was warming the room and she let one of the blankets that he had wrapped around her fall into her lap. Richard adopted an aggrieved expression, unhappy with the increased space between them, then sighed and launched into his explanation.

“Josh and I were born shapeshifters. Our parents were shapeshifters, so we were born with the ability, even though it doesn’t manifest until we come of age. All children of shapeshifters will always be shapeshifters. Even if only the mother is, the children will be.”

“What if the father is but the mother isn’t?” Manda interrupted. That scenario seemed much more relevant.

“That can’t happen,” Josh supplied. “A child can have a therianthrope mother and a normal father, but it can never happen the other way around. It’s just not possible.”

Manda’s face clouded and she looked at Richard in dismay. “But....”

“Calm down, you’re getting ahead of yourself,” Richard soothed, patting her blanketed leg. For some reason Manda couldn’t fathom, he looked inordinately pleased. “A woman who wasn’t
born
a shapeshifter can have children with a man who is a shapeshifter, but she
will
be a shapeshifter by the time the child is born. That’s how this ties in to our earlier conversation.”

“Oh!” Josh exclaimed with sudden understanding. “So that’s what this is about,” he said matter-of-factly. “We probably should have covered this right off the bat. It’s pretty important.”

Manda was rescued from her embarrassment by a knock on the door. Josh jumped up immediately to answer it.

“That’s breakfast. It smells great and I’m starving,” he announced eagerly.

While Josh was occupied with room service, Richard leaned in close to Manda and captured both of her hands in his. “We don’t have to talk about this now if it makes you uncomfortable, but it really isn’t anything intimate. It’s just sort of Therianthropy 101. I promise.”

“No, it’s fine,” Manda sighed. Richard looked at her skeptically and she put on a more convincing smile. “Really.”

Josh ushered in the room service waiter, who quickly and efficiently transferred the breakfast dishes onto the coffee table. A pitcher of orange juice, two thermal carafes, a bowl of sliced fruit, and an assortment of pastries accompanied the three plates of food.

“This is coffee,” the server informed them, indicating one carafe, “and this is hot chocolate.” He gestured to the other one. “Can I get you anything else?”

“This will be fine, thank you,” Josh said, slipping him several bills.