Opal (Rare Gems Series Book 4) (16 page)

“
What do you suppose she needs a field of chick weed for?” No one answered her and she moved back to the table. “I need to see about displays. I’ve been thinking about going to some estate sales and picking up something like that. Maybe even selling a few antiques too.”

“
I have some old furniture if you want to use that.” She looked up at Sloan and her body reacted to his closeness. His low growl had her smile and he looked at her sisters to continue with what he was saying. “I never throw anything out. It has been…let me just say that I have accumulated a great deal of things over my lifetime. And if you can unload it for me, it might go a long way in recouping some of my loss, since my mate thinks that this is a lost cause.” Sloan winked at her and she flushed hotly.

“
What sort of furniture?” Opal smiled at her sister. Diamond had a thing for old stuff. Even Emerald perked up at the words “old furniture.” “I mean, are we talking about things you made or purchased? Either one will be cool, but I like the crafted stuff better. And how old do you mean?”

“
I do not craft. I will leave that to my mate. But really old. And some of it might be rotted by now. It’s been a while since I’ve taken a look at it.” He looked at her with such intensity that she stood up. “Would you like to see it?”

Nodding
, she locked up her building when her sisters started gathering their things. An adventure was afoot, she thought with a laugh. As they headed toward a long sleek limo, she looked up at him. She was in love with Sloan Crane and she was still shy about it, but it was becoming easier and easier for her to say to herself. Smiling down at her, he helped her into the limo and then slid in beside her. As they rode to the warehouse, she thought of how she was supposed to do this. And when he took her hand in his, everything, all of it, seemed to be okay.

Chapter
9

Do you have any idea how much I would like to lay you over this table and feast upon your body? Then take you hard and quickly while you scream out my name?
Sloan had been teasing Opal like this since they’d gotten into the car. He’d expected to find her deep in depression about spending what she considered his money, but she’d been laughing with her sisters. He decided that he’d have to make sure she had some time with them while he rested.

Behave yourself. I think they know what you
’re saying to me.
He was pretty sure they did as well and nearly laughed.
What do you think they’re thinking right now? That I’m some sort of femme fatal? I’m not, you know.

Why on earth would you think that?
Good heavens. I left a very important meeting with my council just to come to you and have an evening of unbridled sex. But I find you with several woman having a grand time as if you never thought of me.
She looked so stricken that he pulled her into his arms.
I was teasing you. I’m very happy you and your sisters get together and that they’re helping you get your shop ready. It’s going to be wonderfully successful. And so are you.

You might not think so after you see the bill. I never knew that start
-up could be so expensive.
He did but said nothing. It mattered little to him if she spent every penny he had. He’d just like to see her happy. As she moved across the warehouse to see something that Ruby had found, he sat on the large desk that he’d forgotten about. Sapphire came toward him and sat on the corner as well. She was late in her pregnancy and seemed to glow with it. But whatever she had on her mind was making him think he was in deep shit.

“
I think she’s happy with you.” Sloan nodded. “She’s blooming. I’ve never thought of that word to describe someone that was happy, but she is.”

“
She has made me very happy.” He looked over at her. “Are you still upset with me about changing her?”

“
No. I know…I saw the pictures.” Sloan had figured that the big wolf would share with his mate. “The man that is trying to take her, do you have any leads on him?”

“
The house that we burnt to the ground was filled with several bodies. Twenty-three. We took this information to the council and they have said that just because he owns the house, it does not mean that he murdered the people inside.” He glanced at Sapphire when she huffed. “I agree. But they don’t want anything to come back and bite them in their asses. I don’t blame them, but I have made it very clear that if he touches any of you, and I mean
any
, I will tear him apart without thought to seeing if he had harmed you.”

Diamond called them over to a large bed. The
mattress was there as well, but it was the big bed that had him thinking things better left for their home. When Opal ran her fingers over the carved headboard, he wondered if she’d let him tie her to it while he had his way with her. He could see by the look on her face that she was thinking along the same lines that he was. Making love in the huge bed was going to be something he looked forward to.

“
I want this.” He nodded, not caring now who was there, and took a step toward her. “I mean at our house. I’d really like to see if you’d mind if we brought this to your house. I’d like to put it into your room if you don’t mind.”

“
Consider it done.” She smiled at him and he felt as if the sun were out and he was privy to it. “There are other pieces that match this. A dresser and a few odds and ends. Would you like those as well?”

“
Are you going to sell this stuff?” He tore his eyes from Opal, who was blushing, to look at Emerald. “The reason I ask is that if you put this stuff out in the store, she’s going to have people asking about it all the time. It would be good to establish up front that you are or not going to sell it. Me? I’d make a killing off this stuff, but I don’t think that I could do as good a job as Opal and her store front.”

Sloan looked around the warehouse. There were decades of things here
, from small kitchen items to larger than this bed pieces of furniture. And all of it was well crafted and well cared for. He moved toward another line of things and saw things he’d not thought of for years, more likely hundreds of years. He ran his hand over an oak table that he remembered taking a few wenches on when he’d first been made. He winked at Emerald, and she grinned. The girl was way smarter about the ways of the world than anyone thought, he was sure.

“
It seems a shame to have these things just wasting away here.” Emerald nodded. “If I sell them, do you know how to price them? Some of these things are as old as, if not older than, most of the buildings in this part of town.”

“
Grandmother would know. She loves this sort of thing too.” Sloan watched them sort through the rest of the room and he looked at Opal. She was glowing with happiness, and when she threw back her head and laughed at something that her sisters said, he smiled as well.

Suddenly
, Rufus was standing in front of him, and Sloan felt the tension almost as soon as he told him there was a problem.

“
Fleming is around.” Sloan looked around the room, wondering if he meant right there, and was afraid for the family. “I’d say that he’s going to have to go to ground soon or he’s going to be hurting. That faerie that we knows? Well, her and Ursula, they’d be on the war path for his ass.”

“
What happened?” Rufus looked at the women, then back at him. “Rufus, what the hell did you do?”

“
They helped me out. Not knowing, of course, but they…did you know that purslane can render a vampire sick? Kill him if he takes in enough of it?” Sloan nodded. “I didn’t. She…Ursula and Ysane sent me down on some mission of theirs and had me bring them all kinds of that stuff. Didn’t tell me that I ought not touch it. I’m glad now that I had me some gloves. But that one there, the Gem that runs that posy shop, she had a shit load of the weed and sold it to me.”

As if she knew they were talking about her, Jade turned to them and waved.
He had a thought she knew that purslane could kill his kind if enough of it was ingested or handled, and that Rufus had gloves because she’d provided them. Sloan smiled. This family was getting better and better all the time.

“
Do you know where he is?” Rufus looked like he might bust. “Christ, what now? Have I told you lately that you’re a pain in my ass?”

“
That I am. But this here? This is good.” He sat down on a Chippendale settee that Sloan thought he’d gotten as a gift from one of his many lovers over the years, and decided it was going to be sold. “That wolf buddy, Henson? Did you know that he and that Fleming feller had a history? I don’t mean the kind of history you and that Thad boy have, but one of enemies. They purt’near hate each other. But Henson, he didn’t know who he was at first.”

“
No. I didn’t know he had met him.” Sloan started to reach for Blair when something occurred to him. “Do you mean Allen, the older Henson, or the son, Blair?”

“
Both, actually. The older ran him off his land some time ago. He was poaching off’n his land, it seemed. Not animals mind you, but chasing one of his female pack. He had his sons with him, and when Fleming made some noise about him being this all mightily powerful being or some shit, that boy of his told him he weren’t that old. Told him to the month how hold he was.”

Sloan looked at Opal
, then back at Rufus. He knew that few knew how old he was, how old he really was. He’d not even told his own mate exactly how long he’d been on earth. But to have a being that could pinpoint your age…well, hell. That would be useful in all sorts of situations.

“
You do know if he can do that, we’re going to have to protect him?” Rufus nodded. “If a vampire finds out that Blair has that ability, one that can tell not just their age, but more than likely their powers too, they’ll kill him or capture him for their own use, and none of it will be good. We’ll have to talk to him now.”

“
I done figured that. I invited him here. He thinks you’re gonna need him to move some shit for you, but I figured you’d be more apt to get the information from him all casual like than I’d be about it. I won’t be as savvy as you.” Rufus grinned. “Plus, I got me a bead on Fleming. Them faeries is working with me now that I showed them how resourceful I can be. And so’s you know, Ursula is gonna visit you soon too. She’s got a bee in her bonnet that she owes them Gems something.”

Sloan nodded.
He knew that telling her she didn’t was as useful as telling Rufus he needed to update his clothing. The man was still wearing the garb he’d found him in. Sloan was sure it wasn’t the same exact outfit, but it was the same swashbuckling style that he’d been wearing the day he’d changed him.

He heard Blair and Allen before he saw them. And both men looked like they wanted to be anywhere but
there. Or maybe it was together. They were very tense today.

~~~

Blair looked around the huge warehouse. He had known that someone of money had owned this place, but never figured he’d know him. The building had been built around the turn of the century, and looked as good now as it probably had back then. Even the windows, usually boarded up and broken out by now, were as crystal clear as if he’d had them cleaned daily. When he took Sloan’s hand in a shake, he looked at his dad.

“
You going to stay?” His father had been tagging after him for two days. He’d asked him several hundred times what was wrong, but all he’d gotten for his effort was the man pissed at him. He had noticed just this morning that he’d been avoiding Annabelle too. It occurred to him then that they’d had a fight. “What did you do to her?”

His dad looked like he wasn
’t going to answer. But then he looked relieved that he knew. Blair walked around the room, staring at the things without seeing them as his dad spoke.

“
I asked her out. She said…I never wanted to go out with a woman since your mom, but I thought we’d have a nice dinner and a few laughs when she didn’t have to cook for us all. She ‘bout tore me a new butt. What the hell is wrong with a man asking a beautiful woman out?”

“
Nothing.” Blair had to look away from his dad or laugh. “Just how did the savvy Allen Henson ask her out?”

His dad mumbled something and he
turned to ask him to repeat himself. “I said I told her that we could bump pelvis’s too if she wanted. I think that made her really mad.”

“
You think?” His dad flushed. “What the hell is wrong with you? She’s…Christ, Dad, she’s my in-law. It would be…I don’t know, but damn it all to hell and back. You have to fix this.”

“
I been trying.” His dad looked around after shouting and lowered his voice. “I’ve been trying, but Sapphire hasn’t got a thing on stubbornness like her grandmother does. And she told me in no uncertain terms that I’m not welcome there any more either. What the hell do I do now?”

A million and one things popped into his head
, but Blair didn’t say anything. He looked at Sloan when he walked toward them. The man looked like…he looked like he was afraid of him, and Blair wasn’t sure what had happened.

“
I have to talk to you.” Blair nodded, his wolf shifting along his skin like he wanted to protect him. “I’m not…I don’t beat about the bush when I have something to say or ask. And this is one of those times. Can you can tell how old I am?”