Thomas (13 page)

No, he didn’t like this one bit. And
when she started laughing, Rider hoped it meant she was kidding;
but with her, it was hard to tell. Rider just hoped that someday
she’d sit down and explain it to him what she really
meant.

Chapter 7

Thomas looked around the room again.
He wasn’t sure what he was looking at until Mike came in with a
laundry basket loaded with towels and clothes. Thomas looked around
the room again and that’s when it hit him. It was
spotless.

“
You did this?” Mike shook
his head and put the towels on the made bed. “So you called in a
service? Someone to clean up after her.”

“
No, sir. I came up here
to get the laundry basket this morning and it was like this. I just
assumed you did it.” Thomas smiled and looked around the room. “I
take it you did not.”

“
No. Maybe she’s going to
work out after all.” He turned to look at Mike when he inhaled
sharply. “You have to admit, this is much nicer than the mess she
left daily. Or is this room the only one that she picked up
in?”

“
I have not…no, sir.” Mike
continued to put things away, then left the room. Thomas had a
feeling he was pissed about something, but was too happy with the
results of the room to care overly much. He reached for Linyah to
thank her, but she was blocking him. Not really concerned, he
unpacked his clothing and put things away. After a quick shower, he
went to the kitchen to get something to eat before going to the
office again. Mike was not there so he made his own breakfast,
cleaned up, and left.

At around ten-thirty he felt Linyah
reach for him. It made him nervous, of course, not being used to
someone other than his immediately family touching his mind after
all this time. But when she spoke, not sounding stressed at all, he
relaxed as well.

I’m working here and won’t
be home.
He asked her where here
was.
At my family home. My sister has two
murders on her hands, and I’m going to help her find the killer. I
may be gone for several days. I just thought I’d let you
know.

Can’t you come home
nightly? I thought that with that popping in and out thing, you
could come and go as you please. How hard can it be for you to come
here to be in the bed with me?
She didn’t
say anything, so he continued. He knew that he’d sounded whiney and
he hated it. It flared his temper just a little
. We’re mated now, so it would be nice if we could spend some
time together once in a while.

Still nothing. He wondered
if she’d closed the connection between them, but when he said her
name, she spoke
. I’m going to work. I
can’t just sit around the house all day waiting for you to return
when you finish with something you and your brothers do. I told you
the other day that I was going to work. What do you expect me to
do? Sit around your house while you continue with your life? I had
one before you barged into mine. And I plan on doing as I
please.

Being gone all night for
several days is not acceptable to me. I know that you told me you
were going to maybe go and work for your family, but I never
assumed you’d actually do it.
He could
feel her anger, and in turn, it pissed him off as well.
Maybe you should think of finding something
closer to home. That way you can be home when I get there. It’s not
that hard to find a job if you look.

I see. What is fair for
you isn’t for me, is that how it is? Well, Thomas, should I put on
a little apron for you too? Cook you a meal? Or would you just
prefer me to be naked in your bed?
His
cock stretched at the thought of her being naked anywhere.
I’m not little Susan Homemaker. I do not play at
house for any man. You should have left me alone if that was what
you wanted.

I’m not asking you to be
my cook. I want you home at night. I have no idea why you think
that’s such a horrible thing to want.
He
realized he was screaming at her. He was also standing up at his
desk clenching his fists. When he sat down, Thomas tried his best
to get a hold of his temper, but she spoke before he
could.

I cleaned up after myself.
I wear the clothing you want. I eat what you eat. I cannot give you
any more of myself. I need me. If you keep trying to make me into
something that I’m not, I’m going to be someone that I hate. Unless
that’s your plan. Is it?
He had no idea
what she was talking about and said so.
Of
course you don’t. You’re the mighty Thomas Lanning. The cleanest,
neatest person on the earth. And you want everyone, me included, to
do just what you say when you say it.

The connection closed. It sounded to
Thomas like she’d slammed a phone down and it rang in his ears. He
sat there in his chair for nearly twenty minutes before he picked
up a mug to throw it across the room. But thinking of the mess he’d
make, he sat it down. Rider came into the office just as he was
thinking all women were insane.

“
Want some advice about
women? It’s free and very true I think.” Rider nodded and smiled.
“Don’t find your mate. You will regret it for a very, very long
time if you do. Find a cave, hide deep within it, and never come
out. Because I have news for you, it’s not worth it. Not even the
mind blowing sex is worth the insanity that they bring to
you.”

Rider sat there for several seconds,
then threw back his head in a loud laugh. He looked at him twice
more and did the same again and again. Thomas wanted to order him
to get away from him—he had better things to do than to be made fun
of. When he seemed to have some control over himself, Rider leaned
back in his chair and smiled.

“
I take it she’s not
working out as well as you thought.” Thomas snorted. “I see. Well,
did you know that I don’t think you’re a peach to live with either?
You’re mostly a pain in the ass. And I don’t have to put up with
you twenty-four seven. She, on the other hand, has stayed with you
a great deal longer than the ten minutes I thought she would. I
actually feel sorry for the poor girl.”

Thomas didn’t say anything. He’d
already had one fight today and he didn’t feel like getting into
another one just yet. Instead of saying what was on the tip of his
tongue about his habits, Thomas changed the subject.

“
I’ve been working out the
budget we have. I think we need to start charging more for local
jobs. As it is right now, we’re losing money on them more than we
do when a project goes over.” Rider only nodded but continued to
smile. “Do you think that if we charged the local municipals for
mileage, Misha would go for it?”

“
No. He wouldn’t charge
them at all if he had his way. But we need to do something or
they’ll use us for everything like they have been. And I mean
everything. Every time a dog or cat comes up missing, they’ll be
calling us in. It would be a waste of all our time.” Thomas nodded.
“She’s not coming home, is she?”

“
No.” He looked around the
room. It was as neat as his house. “She cleaned up my room before
she left. Then she tells me that she’s going to be working and gone
for a few days. And then she blows up because I asked her to come
home every night. What the hell is she working for? To prove to me
that she can?”

“
I’ll bet you didn’t ask
her at all, did you?” Rider stood up. He looked like he was going
to start laughing again but only shook his head. “Tell me
something, Thomas. When you left the other day, to work I mean, did
you ask her if she wanted to go or just leave her? Did you even
tell her that you’d be gone for a few days, or did you assume that
she’d simply deal with it? And then when you got back, who did you
call first? Her or Mike?”

“
What difference does that
make?” Rider didn’t say anything and that pissed him off more. “You
think that because I do it, it’s okay for her to just take off too?
I’m her mate. I’m supposed to protect her. And she’s all pissed off
about me wanting her to cook for me. I never asked her to cook
anything at all. What the hell is she talking about?”

“
Yeah, hell of a job
you’re doing, too, in protecting her. Did you know that she’s hurt
again?” Thomas stood up and reached for her. The wall he hit hurt
his head. “I’m guessing that’s a no. And also, are you aware that
her parents are at Misha’s house? They’ve been there for a couple
of days. They didn’t want to bother the two of you. As for her
working…well, jackass, you should really think before you open your
mouth from now on. She was hurt protecting the Genjar citizens from
a guy who decided to rob what we call a bank and took several
people hostage. He ended up killing a few of them before she was
able to go in and subdue him. Kill him, I guess. I just found out
that only royalty are the ones with all the power. The other Genjar
can heal but they can also be killed. He managed to kill four of
them before she was able to stop him. She’s also out looking for
Timmer. If you ask me, I think you’re one fuck up from losing the
best thing that ever happened to you. Over what? A few clothes on
the floor?”

He wanted to argue, but he had a
feeling that Rider was right. He was fucking up big time. Then
there was Timmer, the guy her sister had promised her to. He
started to ask him who had hurt her and he remembered she’d said
something about the murders but nothing more. Thomas tried to reach
her again and had to sit down. The pain in his head was making him
sick. He had to hold up his hand when Rider came around his desk
asking him if he was all right.

“
She’s blocking me.” He
heard his brother laugh again and decided that he was going to
bring every woman he knew around just to help him find his own
mate. “It fucking hurts, damn it. I thought she couldn’t hurt me as
my mate.”

“
We
can’t hurt our mate. It’s hard to tell what she can or can’t
do. I would think from the look of you that she can do whatever she
wants.” He felt Rider back up. “I don’t suppose you tried to
contact her brother? He might be able to help you.”

“
No. Christ, I have to
rest a minute.” He did hurt and wiped at his nose. Blood smeared
over his fingers and he closed his eyes. “She’s really blocking
me.”

He heard the door open then close. He
figured that either Rider had left him or he’d invited his brothers
in to see his humiliation. Damn her for putting him into this kind
of situation. But he lifted his head, he was surprised to see
Linyah’s father sitting across from him. And Rider was
gone.

“
Your brother thought you
could use some help.” Thomas nodded. “Linyah can be…she gets her
stubbornness from me. Well, most of it. Her mother can be a little
stubborn as well. But Linyah has it down to a science. Rider said
that she’s upset with you about cooking you something. You should
know that I don’t think she knows how. To cook, I mean.”

“
She’s blocking me.” He
nodded. “And she is hurt. Do you know how badly? And I thought that
when she gave me this power, that she’d not be hurt
either.”

“
What do you know of our
kind?” Thomas told him not very much. “Most don’t. Most think, as
you did, that we were all dead. And it looked like we might have
been headed in that direction too. For a very long time. But then
we banded together and found that while our numbers were low, we
were a fairly young group.”

“
You’re thousands of years
old.” Nildale nodded and smiled. “I take it that means while young,
you don’t mean in your mid-twenties or later, do you?”

“
No, we’re all thousands
of years old. A few that are older. And I’m going to tell you
something else, we’re not from this planet. Kendra and Nic were
born in our world, but Linyah wasn’t. She’s been here her whole
life. And we have been having children to repopulate our kind. We
can have children for as long as we want. And most do, as a matter
of fact. But when Linyah was born, we knew that was enough for us.”
He leaned back as he continued. “Many years ago we were hunted…like
animals, as a matter of fact. Even though we kept to ourselves
mostly and didn’t cause harm to those that came to seek our help,
we were still regarded as something of an oddity. People knew, you
see, that we were a species that could heal and create.”

“
Create?” Nildale nodded.
“I don’t understand. You could create other beings? Or do you mean
something else?”

“
Magic. We were the
creators of most of the magic that humans as well as a few others
use. It was something that we were glad to help with. But then
humans decided that we were too powerful, too…I guess rich in our
knowledge of what we could do. And they set out to destroy what
they did not understand. Because unlike them, ours came to us when
we took our first breath and only grew stronger as we used it.
Humans…sadly humans used it up, destroyed what little they might
have had for no good, and then killed for more. When we refused to
help them, the ones that were abusing the power we gave them, they
decided to end us. And they nearly won.”

“
So you went into hiding.
Taking care of your own when necessary and leaving us…all of us…to
wonder where you’d gone.” Nildale nodded and smiled sadly. Thomas
sat there wondering what, if any, help this was in dealing with his
mate. When he started to ask him, Nildale stood up and moved to the
door. “What about Linyah? What do I do about her?”