Cara was so angry she wanted to yell at him and storm out of the cabin, but she knew it was unrealistic. It was dark and late. She had never been stupid and didn’t see any reason to start now, and that meant letting Jericho know she was no pushover.
“Just give me a ride into town in the morning. I’ll find a place to stay. I don’t need your help.”
“Now you’re just being plain silly. You’re letting your hurt pride get the better of you.”
“Don’t speak to me as if I’m a child. I’ll have you know that I am quite a bit older than you.”
“How much older?”
Cara had boxed herself in on that one, but she had every intention of being honest... kind of. “That would be hard to describe as time passes differently for immortals.”
“Cut the bullshit.”
Cara tried one more time to hold on to her temper, but his coldness was making it hard. He had stopped, gave her the choice and had made not one promise. The whole time they’d had sex, Jericho had never lost control. Even when he had climaxed, his facial expression never changed. It was her who had wanted and expected more from him. It was not Jericho’s fault, but she was still pissed. Her body was still achy as if she had missed something.
“Run away, Jericho. I haven’t asked one thing from you, other than maybe a repeat performance and even that was too much for you.” She stood, glaring at his arrogant face.
A cruel laugh left his lips. “Like all women, if you don’t want to answer a question, you strike out. You think my not wanting you again means you frighten me? In fact, you don’t scare me at all, baby, whatever your real age. You simply don’t interest me. I was horny and you were better than a hand job.”
“You’re crude.”
He continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “I’m tired and I am finished with this conversation. If you mean what you say, then you need to get to bed. I prefer you leave early in the morning.” Jericho left without another word.
Cara swallowed around the lump lodged in her throat. She didn’t want him to hear her crying. Instead, she went to her room and took off her clothes then cried in the shower where the running water prevented him from hearing her.
She was angry she had pushed him, but had been unable to stop herself. She had wanted him again and instead of tempting him, she had pushed him away. She had seen his past through Grimm’s eyes and knew she must pull back, however she had never been one to run from a challenge.
How many arguments had she and Grimm had over souls? Each of those times that they had both been called, she had fought for the soul to have a second chance while Grimm disagreed. The soul would look at them in fear, knowing who they wanted to win, but more often than not, Grimm had won. That did not keep her from trying, though. If she could stand up to Grimm, she certainly could stand up to Jericho. However, for some reason, something inside Cara told her Jericho was the more dangerous adversary.
After Cara showered, she stood in her room. She wasn’t tired. Seeing a television in the corner, she walked over to it and played with it until it turned on. Finding a control similar to the one Jericho had, she lay on the bed and fiddled with it until she successfully changed the channels. She was looking for another comedy, she needed a good laugh. She flipped another channel and a scene appeared on the screen.
Cara’s mouth dropped open. Jericho had not shown her a movie like this earlier, thank goodness. Her face turned a bright red. The man and woman twisted around the bed. The woman was groaning in excitement, holding the man close, gripping his hips between impossibly long legs. It wasn’t the woman who had Cara’s attention, though, it was the man.
He wasn’t as good looking as Jericho and his body definitely didn’t compare, but what drew her attention were his movements. This man’s face was tense with a sheen of sweat that covered his body and he trembled as much as the ecstatic woman. This man exhibited no control, just complete enjoyment in the woman he was thrusting within.
Jericho had never, at any time, looked like this while they’d had sex. Just the opposite, he never lost control once. Even when he had come inside her, she would never have known by his facial expression if she hadn’t felt him stiffening beneath her. She meant no more to him than any other woman he had sex with.
Disheartened, Cara was about to turn the television off when the woman took control and really gave Cara an education in how to turn a man into a trembling mess. Cara grinned and made herself more comfortable on the bed. After all, a little education never hurt anyone.
***
Destiny stood gaping at her sister. “I can’t believe you just did that.”
Fate shrugged. “It’s not as if I put the program on, I just gave her a nudge to turn the channel.”
Destiny’s eyes rounded even more as she watched Cara’s movements before turning back to her sister.
“Oh, close your mouth Destiny. I just realized I may have protected Cara a little too much for her own good.”
“So you put on porn for her.” Her strangled voice was filled with laughter.
“Not porn, erotica, and I didn’t put it on. As I said, it was already on.”
Destiny nodded dumbly at her sister, “Yes, I can see the difference.”
Fate gave a sinister smile. “I bet the next time he touches her, he won’t walk away so easily.”
Shocked, Destiny could only stare at Fate, realizing that even after all these centuries, her sister could still do the unexpected.
“If he’s able to walk at all.” Destiny burst out laughing, and for the first time since her daughter’s disappearances, Fate smiled. She didn’t laugh, but she came close.
Chapter Nine
Cara dressed as soon as the sun rose in the morning. It had been a long night and Cara had tossed and turned for most of it. When she heard Jericho leave his room, she opened her door and met him in the hallway.
He turned towards her, noticing that she looked like she hadn’t slept. Jericho hardened himself against her. Obviously, he had made the right choice not to take her up on her offer of a second go around when she had trouble dealing with the first. Her feelings were hurt and he saw no reason to prolong her pain.
“Give me a couple of minutes to get my boots on. I’ll meet you at the truck.”
Cara nodded. Without a word and with her nose stuck in the air, she brushed passed him in the small hallway, put her coat on and went outside into the cool morning. The door clicked softly behind her with a click that said a thousand words.
Jericho gritted his teeth. He wanted to shake her silly. He was getting fed up with the injured, innocent act. She was damn lucky she hadn’t provoked the side of him that she was tempting or she would have trouble sitting for a couple of days. The sooner he got rid of Cara, the better.
Cara walked over to the truck to wait, wishing she had thought to ask for the keys because she was beginning to shiver in the early morning air. Her body still hadn’t acclimated to the change in environment. Out of the corner of her eye, Cara noticed a movement at the tree line surrounding the house. Curious, she turned, thinking it was her imagination, when she spotted a huge wolf running straight for her. Frightened, Cara turned to run, however the wolf was faster. Cara had the breath knocked from her when the wolf took a running jump at her and connected with her back.
The wolf lay on top of her as Cara heard loud explosions and glass shattering. When it moved to stand next to her, she rolled over on her back only to see the wolf running to the tree line, turning to growl back at her. Confused, Cara couldn’t understand what was going on and sat up.
When she then turned toward the cabin, trying to get her shaky legs underneath her, Jericho flung the door open. He had obviously heard the commotion outside. Before he could move from the doorway, the wood frame next to his head shattered into pieces as a bullet struck it, which was when it finally dawned on Cara’s dumbfounded mind that they were being shot at. She looked around to find the best cover she could and realized she was out in the open.
> She scrambled to her feet and started to run towards Jericho, but when another shot burst out his front window, she realized she was only endangering him. Another growl let Cara know that the wolf had remained nearby, next to the trees. Instinct had her turning toward the animal as the shots now turned on her. The bullets shot dirt up as she ran for the trees.
She dimly heard Jericho yelling, but Cara didn’t hesitate, she had to draw the shooter away from him. She didn’t want him hurt because of her.
She ran harder towards the waiting wolf. When she reached him, he turned, running deeper into the woods, and Cara followed as fast as she could. The animal moved quickly, but her fear gave her speed, so it was several minutes before her body began to tire. As she slowed, barely able to keep up with the fast wolf, it turned to growl at her.
Gasping to catch her breath, she got a good look at the animal. It was huge with a dark brown coat.
It walked back to her and took the bottom of her jacket into his mouth and tugged at her. Given no choice, Cara once again started following the animal as he led her to a concealed cave. It was so overgrown with brush she would never have seen it, even from just a few feet away, if she hadn’t seen with her own eyes when the animal disappeared behind the foliage.
It was dark inside and Cara began to doubt the wisdom of hiding with the wolf. The wolf began whining and Cara moved to stand next to it and then felt him take her coat in his jaws again, tugging her downward until she was sitting on her knees.
“I guess you want me to sit?” Cara asked, knowing the wolf would be unable to answer.
She felt the hard ground beneath her and put out a hand to find a more comfortable position. When she did, her hand brushed something. Blindly reaching out her fingertips, she found what she thought might be a lamp and her searching fingers soon found the matches lying next to it. It took a few minutes, but soon the cave was filled with a soft light.
It was a small cave, though tall. She had been able to stand without the roof of the cave coming near her head. There were boxes near the back of the cave and even sleeping bags. This was definitely someone’s hideout with provisions for them to live awhile from what Cara could gather.
“Well what do we do now? Wait, or try to head back to the cabin? Should I try to make it to town?”
The wolf only stared back at her.
Cara began shaking, the adrenaline rush was beginning to wear off and the cold ground was draining her energy. When her teeth began chattering, the wolf looked at her curiously before walking over to the sleeping bags, taking one in his jaws and dragging it closer to her side.
“You’re a smart wolf.” Cara unfolded the bag and wrapped it around herself. The warmth was instantaneous and she felt like crying in relief. It wasn’t long before her eyes began to droop and she yawned several times, attempting to catch herself from falling asleep. She soon lost the battle and slid sideways, burrowing further into the warm bag. The wolf knew she had fallen asleep and moved to adjust the bag so that she was better covered. Then he sat back to wait.
He was curious as to how long it would take the human male Cara was staying with to find her. He had hidden her well. Only an extremely good tracker would find them and the man, Jericho, was no experienced tracker, however he did have a couple of advantages. One was his heritage, the other was his feelings for the woman. He had seen the man’s face when he had discovered Cara was being shot at. The man hadn’t liked it one bit. He had stormed from the porch before he saw Cara was running from him instead of to him. Fury had been in his face.
The girl was in deep trouble regardless of who found her.
He padded over to the sleeping woman, who bore no resemblance to her stubborn aunt, which was a good thing in his book. The wolf made a smile, if such was possible, and lay down close to the sleeping woman. After all, he wanted to provide her with all the warmth he could. How he wished he could see Destiny’s face at this turn of events. He would bet she was furious and even now seeking to rectify this situation. The wolf laid his head on his front paws and closed his eyes. He was sure he wouldn’t have to wait long.
***
Jericho moved silently through the quiet woods.
When he had come back out from the cabin with a rifle, he had caught a glimpse of a SUV driving from the cover of the trees. Hopefully the shooter had decided to leave, if not, then the maniac better stay out of his range. He wouldn’t hesitate to use the rifle if Cara was in danger.
Jericho’s mind still saw her running hell bent toward the trees. At first he couldn’t understand why she had not run to the safety of the cabin. After thinking further, though, he knew why; he had seen her expression when the gunshot had almost hit him and that was when she had changed directions.
As he walked, he looked for signs of her passing through. Her trail wasn’t hard to find. Her headlong flight had left several signs even he had no trouble reading. It took a good half-hour before all signs of her disappeared. He searched, but it was as if she had disappeared into thin air.
As he said the words to himself, a sudden, unnamed fear filled his stomach. What if the shooter had doubled back? What if her family had come for her? She had been unbelievably angry at him; would she leave without telling him, hoping a guilty conscience would bother him? The stupid woman must not have figured out that he didn’t have a conscience.
He would continue to search until either he found her or there was evidence that she was no longer in the woods. He didn’t know what time it was, but the sun was high in the sky; by his best guess, he had been there a couple of hours. He had gone quite a way from where he had lost her trail.
Jericho was about to search further down a slope, thinking maybe she had lost her balance, when a sudden wind pushed him back. The strength of the wind pulled at his clothes. When he tried to go forward against the wind, it picked up strength, tugging harder. It was as if a storm was blowing with a clear sky. Knowing the abilities of Cara’s family, he decided to follow his intuition, so he turned in the direction the wind was tugging. As he felt the wind pushing him forward, he was sure he had made the right decision.
The wind led him deeper into the woods until a huge rock-covered hill blocked his path. One part was heavily covered with brush as the wind tore at the foliage. Frowning, he hunched down and saw that the brush pulled away from the rock and that there was an opening to a cave. The cave was on his property, but he had been unaware of its existence.
He crawled through the opening and sat back on his haunches in shock. Cara lay in a sleeping bag with a wolf standing beside her, who, when he saw Jericho raise the rifle to his shoulder, padded softly passed him and out of the cave. Jericho didn’t know why he didn’t pull the trigger other than he had felt no sense of danger from the animal. Still, relief flowed through his veins when he left without any trouble. He hadn’t wanted to fire the rifle in the small confines of the cave.
He sat down next to the sleeping woman and noticed the dark circles under her eyes. With a shaking hand, he reached out to wake Cara, who immediately awoke with an expression of fear on her lovely face. The whole time Jericho had spent searching for her, he had not allowed his mind to focus on the feelings he was developing for this mysterious beauty, yet staring down into her face, he was struck by a tidal wave of fury and lust. Fury that she had run away to protect him and lust at the remembrance of the sex they had shared last night.
He had held back last night, knowing she had no experience, allowing her to set the pace. Today, Jericho realized that he wanted her again, except this time, her innocence wouldn’t hold him back. She had wanted to have sex with him again last night and he had walked away. Now, walking away was the last thing on his mind.
Jericho stood up and pulled his jacket off, laying the rifle within easy reach. Then he proceeded to remove his boots. He saw the drowsiness leave her eyes and desire replace it within their blue depths. He bent down and opened the sleeping bag, noticing she was still wearing her jacket. Roughly he removed it then her sh
irt and bra followed.
Cara felt like she was dealing with a different Jericho. Last night, everything about Jericho had been slow and gentle, almost detached. Today, it was as if he couldn’t rid her of her clothes fast enough and there was nothing gentle about him. His normal, stoic expression was gone; his features drawn tight and fierce. Cara could see his Indian heritage and imagined that his ancestors were once feared. If Jericho was anything like them, then Cara could understand the terror that they had inspired.
He made her heart beat faster even knowing that he would never hurt her. She had a feeling his kid gloves were off, though. Thank goodness, Cara was tougher than she looked and she was more than his match. She came from a line of strong women who had never feared anything; in fact, it was others who feared them.
“You’re not a virgin anymore.” Jericho pulled off his shirt. Staring down into her eyes as he unbuttoned his jeans.
“No, I’m not.” Cara raised her chin, refusing to be embarrassed.
“I won’t be as easy on you as I was last night, even though I know you’re still sore.”
“I wanted you again last night. I still want you, Jericho.”
He had removed his jeans and stood in front of her completely naked. Cara’s breath caught in her throat. He was glorious. His bronze skin was highlighted by the dim light, giving him a pagan appearance.
“I want you to know that I don’t have any diseases and I can’t get you pregnant. I had a vasectomy when I was nineteen.”
Cara guessed that this conversation was a protocol between mortals before having sex.
“I don’t have any diseases either. Now, are we through talking?” Cara hid her sadness that Jericho had voluntary destroyed any chance he had of becoming a father.
Cara let Jericho lay her down on the sleeping bag after sliding her jeans down her shaking thighs. She couldn’t stop herself from trembling. The cave was cold and made goosebumps rise on her sensitized flesh, but Jericho did not let her feel the cold long. His body covered hers, his legs sliding intimately between her own, startling her as he immediately began making her ready for him.