Seducing Their Wayfaring Souls [3xtasy Lake 7] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 5

  “Ya think?” Boyd sauntered over. “That boy is going to have the ability to shape-shift when he reaches puberty and she has no idea.”

  That was the least of Cris’s worries. He fully believed Fate had orchestrated everything that happened today and he wasn’t going to fight it. Tara was meant to be here, in his arms, and he was going to do everything in his power to convince her to stay. But maybe he wouldn’t have to convince her on his own. He’d fucked up unintentionally, but it didn’t matter. Tara might not trust him now, but he’d change her mind.

  “Jelani, Lars was at the clinic today?”

  “Yes, and I think the two of you need to talk about a few things.”

  “Good, then this might work out. I’m going to go in and talk to her for a moment. If you all could avoid mentioning her car for the time being, I’d appreciate it. I don’t want to lie to her, but I really hope we can keep her here a day or two. Enough time to try to convince her to stay for a while longer.”

  Marcario nodded. “This is a thin line you’re walking. We’ll help, but don’t let it get too blown out of proportion.”

  “Thank you.” He tilted the bottle up and swallowed down the last of the contents. “I’m going to talk to her and find out why she’s terrified of me. I don’t want to leave, but I want her to relax tonight and she might not with me here.”

  With the initial shock wearing off, Cris was planning out the best way to seduce his Mate. Keeping her in town was going to be easier than he thought, but he didn’t want her feeling trapped or coerced in any way. His inner animal wouldn’t accept that. He took a deep breath and started for the back door, thankful the rest of the guys stayed outside. Tara’s comfort was his priority at the moment.

  As soon as he stepped through the sliding door and into the living room, the ladies stopped talking. Zack sat quietly next to his mom and kept darting concerned looks up at her. The kid might not understand what was going on, but he’d naturally have good instincts and know she was upset. Tearing his gaze away from his son was difficult because Cris wanted to sit next to him and get to know him.

  “Zack was telling about how he was a better soccer player than Jelani and Marcario, but do you think he can beat my guys, Cris?” River asked.

  “I bet he could run circles around and under them.” Cris smiled at the young boy, who beamed up at him. The two missing teeth made him look younger. Cris felt a kick to his solar plexus. This was his child.

  “Come on, buddy.” Jessica stood up and held out her hand to Zack. “If it’s okay with your mom, how about we go outside and you can school the grown-ups in soccer?”

  “Can I, Mom, pleath?”

  Cris was impressed with Zack’s manners. Even though the little boy was practically vibrating with energy, he wouldn’t leave until he had permission. Tara looked terrified and her fear tainted the air in the room, setting his inner animal on edge again.

  “I swear, Tara, we’ll just be in the backyard.” Jessica patted Tara’s hand. “He won’t leave my sight for a moment.”

  Tara nodded and Zack took off, towing Jessica behind him. River gave him a pointed look before walking past them and patting him on the shoulder. He appreciated them giving him and Tara some privacy, but as the silence settled over the two of them, he found himself at a loss for words.

  Tara wouldn’t meet his eyes. She looked down at the floor, pressing her fingers against the back of her neck. She was chewing on the side of her thumbnail and was tucked back into the corner of the couch as far away from him as she could be.

  “How’s your neck feeling?”

  She blinked up at him and then quickly dropped her gaze and her hand to clasp the other in her lap. “Fine. It’s fine.”

  Tension vibrated off of her she’d wound herself so tight. Cris wasn’t entirely certain why she was so upset, unless it was because she’d never wanted him to know he’d fathered a child. Anger bubbled up inside him, but he took a deep breath and tried to look at it from her point of view. He really had no idea what the last six years would’ve been like for her, but he wanted to.

  “Would you have told me?” He didn’t plan on being so blunt, but the idea that she’d hidden his child from him…he had to know.

  “If I’d known you or where you were? Yes, of course.” Tara’s hand shook as she wiped at her cheek. “Do you want to take him away from me?”

  “No, never.” He watched as a layer of tension melted off of her. That’s why she was so afraid. “But, Tara, I would like an opportunity to get to know him.”

  “I guess that’s fair.” She rubbed the back of her neck and then pinched the bridge of her nose. Cris knew there was more than simply getting to know his son. She was his Mate and he needed to be very careful so he didn’t lose her again. There were shadows under her eyes and he knew she was thinner than she’d been years before. He’d be willing to bet that she’d taken care of the two of them on her own. Didn’t she have a family to care for her? He remembered the hesitant way she had touched him, her innocent grins and awed expression as he taught her what her body could feel. His heart kicked hard behind his ribs and the coywolf inside of him demanded contact. Sitting in the same room as her and not touching her was a painful deprivation.

  “Where did you go that morning?”

  Tara glanced up at him, and frowned slightly. “I didn’t go anywhere. I woke up and you were gone. I might’ve been naive, but I wasn’t a dummy. I took the hint.” He heard the hurt behind her words and it sat on his heart like a weight.

  “I swear I didn’t mean to make you feel that way, Tara. I had to do something, but I never meant for you to wake up alone. I did come back, but you were gone.”

  She darted a look at him that spoke volumes. She didn’t believe a word he was saying, and could he blame her? “I swear I looked for you. I asked everyone, but it was like you vanished.”

  “I wasn’t from around there. It was a spur-of-the-moment adventure.”

  “That turned into a hell of an adventure.” A pregnancy from a single night that should’ve stretched into a lifetime.

  “Yeah, it was a roller coaster for a while but we’re good. I have a job waiting for me in Manitoba and as soon as I know how my car’s doing then I can head out.”

  Cris wasn’t planning on telling her anything about her car. He knew he wasn’t doing the right thing by holding back information, but he had to believe the accident happened outside of his town for a reason.

  “Lars said he would call me as soon as he knew anything.” Cris watched her as she picked at the rough edge of her nail.

  “He made sure Zack and I were okay.”

  Cris felt an unexpected wave of bitterness hammer his thoughts. He should’ve been there for her, for his son, and instead his friend was the one to take care of her. But that’s what friends do…“Lars is a great person to have in your corner.”

  She flicked her gaze up at him again and Cris wondered if his friend had a greater impact on her than he first assumed. What he wanted to do was bundle her and her…their son up and take them home, but he knew he was going to have to earn that right. Tara had a past and he wanted to learn everything about her, including her reaction to his friend.

  “Tara, would you consider getting to know me before you leave?”

  “Because of Zack.” She nodded. “It’s only fair, I guess.”

  Cris reached out and placed a hand on her arm. She jumped at the contact, but he couldn’t back away. His inner animal had the contact it wanted and wasn’t finished feeling her skin. “Not only because of Zack. I want to get to know you, Tara. We have a hell of a connection for two people who don’t know anything about each other.” If you only understood the connection.

  “I don’t want to tell him about you being his father. Not right away. It’ll confuse him.”

  Cris almost howled his happiness. A chance, all he needed was a chance. “I promise I’ll abide by your decisions about Zack. I know I don’t have a right to force my opinions on you after al
l this time. All I’m asking for is the opportunity to get to know you both and tell you a bit about me as well.”

  “All right.” She nodded and met his gaze. She had the brightest green eyes and he remembered being enchanted by the colour. Those beautiful eyes had haunted his dreams for the last six years. “Maybe once we get settled in Manitoba, I’ll see about getting the Internet and we can Skype or Facebook or something.”

  “Why don’t we worry about it when the time comes?” And I’ll try my best to make sure it never does. “You’ve been rubbing your neck as we sit here. I can go get River to see if she can work on any knots you might have in your muscles.”

  The patio door slid open and Marcario stepped in. “Tara, your son’s going to play professional soccer by his next birthday he’s so good.”

  Zack giggled and ran past him carrying a soccer ball to his mom. “I kicked ath, Mom.”

  Cris covered his mouth with his hand and tried not to laugh. Tara’s eyes brightened and her expression softened as she looked at her son. “Zack Brewer, that’s not a polite word.”

  “Sorry, my bad,” Marcario confessed. “It slipped out when we were playing. Cris, I’m going to fire up the barbeque. Are you staying for dinner?”

  Cris wanted to with every fiber of his being, but he didn’t want to make Tara any more uncomfortable. “Thanks, man, but I have plans with Lars.”

  Marcario nodded. “Tara, is it okay if Zack helps me cook?”

  “Really?” Zack bounced on the balls of his feet. “Pleath, Mom.”

  “Are you sure?” she asked Marcario, who assured her he would love the help.

  “Jelani always burns the food and we don’t let Jessica touch the barbeque ever since she set it on fire.”

  “I heard that!” Jessica’s voice travelled from the backyard as Zack ran for the door.

  “Well, I better get going.” Cris walked over to the kitchen counter and grabbed a pen and a pad of paper sitting by the phone. He flipped past a couple pages of messages and what looked like love notes until he got to a fresh page. He felt a kick of envy toward the people who lived here. This was what he wanted, little notes left for each other over mundane things highlighted with sensual promises and doodled hearts. He wrote down his cell phone number and address. After a second of deliberation he wrote down a second number. “If you need anything at any time then I want you to call me, okay?” He handed the sheet to Tara. “I wrote Lars’s phone number on there, too. I know he wouldn’t mind.”

  She glanced down at the number and folded the paper and put it in her pocket and nodded. “Sure, um, I’m staying at the hotel for the next day or two at the most. Maybe we can meet for a coffee or something.”

  “I work at the radio station across the street from The Shack. It’s a couple of doors down from the hotel. We could meet there tomorrow, say about noon?” This way he could buy her and Zack lunch. Jelani’s earlier comment about Tara needing a good meal haunted his thoughts. “I’ll call Lars and see if he wants to meet us, too.”

  Colour rushed into Tara’s cheeks and she fidgeted, avoiding his gaze. “No it’s okay. I don’t want to bother him or anything.”

  Interesting reaction. Cris was looking forward to seeing Lars’s reaction when Tara’s name came up. “We’ll see then.”

  She was back to not looking him in the eye, so he cupped his hand under her jaw and leaned forward, pressing his lips against her cheek, near her temple. He inhaled slowly, taking her scent into his lungs, which went a long way to settling down the animal restlessly pacing inside of him. He wasn’t dumb enough to push the issue right now, but he had no intention of letting her run away from him.

  “I’m very happy you found me, Tara,” he whispered against her skin. “You might not believe this, but I’ve thought about you every day wondering what happened.” Before she could voice what was no doubt disbelief, he swooped down and pressed his lips against hers. Gently and softly, he tasted her skin and fought back the urge to seduce her mouth open so he could deepen the kiss.

  She gazed up at him with a slightly unfocused look, and lifted her fingers against her lips as if to hold the memory of his kiss there. I hope that’s what she’s thinking. “The universe has given me a chance to get to know you again and if the accident hadn’t happened, you would’ve driven past and we might never have crossed paths. Think about it. I’ll see you both tomorrow, Tara.”

  Walking away from her was one of the biggest challenges he’d ever faced. He lifted his arm and waved at the group playing soccer on the back lawn, but didn’t stop. If he had, he wouldn’t have left and right now he wanted Tara to be comfortable and relaxed. He knew his presence wasn’t conducive to that at the moment.

  He pulled on his helmet and straddled the bike. It rumbled underneath him. The sound should’ve drowned out Zack’s laughter, but Cris heard him. He looked up in time to see Zack run around the corner, jumping up and down and waving.

  Cris laughed and waved to him. Tara stood in the front window, her fingers still resting against her lips. He blew her a kiss and winked. A ghost of a smile curled her lips and he counted that as a step forward. There were so many challenges to face if he was going to convince her to stay there. The greatest of all would be getting her to accept that her son wasn’t completely human.

  Chapter Five

  Lars sat in a Muskoka chair at the end of a long dock, looking out over the shimmering surface of his lake. The stars glinted on the water like diamonds and the crescent moon rippled every time he tossed another stone out in front of him. He loved swimming deep on nights like this and looking up at the reflections from underneath and then diving down deeper and deeper until he couldn’t see the sky, only the still perfection of the deep. The pressure of the water on his skin was a comfort to his senses. So much happened up on the surface, he relished the deprivation the bottom of the lake offered.

  The rumble of Cris’s bike disrupted his memories and pulled him back to the present. He took a sip from his beer before resting the bottle on the arm of the wooden chair. He could sense the emotions vibrating off Cris as he practically ran down the dock.

  Lars reached into the small cooler beside him and twisted the cap off a cold bottle. He raised his arm and Cris lifted the bottle from his fingers. He took a long swallow and looked out over the lake before he spoke. “I found out tonight I’m a father.”

  “Zack?” Lars nodded. He had wondered about the boy’s resemblance to Cris when he looked at him earlier today. Lars fought the urge to hit the water and hide from the truth. Tara was the other half of his soul. He could never ask his friend to give her up. Nor would he ask Cris to share her. He’d had his chance.

  “Please tell me you felt something toward her.”

  Lars looked up at Cris, hoping he understood correctly what he was asking. “She’s your Mate, the mother to your child. Why would you want me to feel anything toward her?”

  “Because, you’re my best friend, Lars. We’ve shared everything with each other since the day I arrived here. I can’t imagine not sharing Tara with you as well.”

  Lars felt a large weight lift from his chest and he took another draw out of the bottle in his hand. “She might not want to be shared.” He played the devil’s advocate. “We might both lose her by trying to claim her together.”

  Cris gave him an amazed look. “Then we convince her.” He flopped down on the chair next to Lars’s. “Do you remember the day I came here?”

  “To Ecstasy? Yes.” Lars laughed at the memory. “You almost ran over Poppy McGuigan and then when you got out of your car to apologize, she hit you with her umbrella.”

  Cris laughed along with him at the memory. “If I hadn’t stopped that day, I don’t know where I would’ve ended up.”

  Lars remembered what Cris had told him about his past. He’d lost his Mate and had decided to wander around the country until he found her. Poppy McGuigan had hit him with her umbrella and then told him the best way to be found was to stay in one spot. At the time
, he didn’t have a clue what the cryptic comment meant.

  “Do you know what she said to me last week?” Cris pulled a small knitted toque out of his pocket and held it up. It was in bright primary colours with a fluffy pompom at the top. “She gave me this and said I was going to need it. At first I thought perhaps she was confused because it’s way too small for my head. How much to you want to bet it fits Zack perfectly?”

  “Never underestimate the McGuigan sisters.” Lars laughed. “Lavender cornered me today and told me to stay out of the lake for a while.”

  “Why would she say that?”

  Because she knew I was thinking about hiding away again. Lars had hid in the lake for years when he lost his family the last time. He’d lived with the residents of Ecstasy for a few decades now and the loneliness was getting to him again. With River safely ensconced in the love of her Mates, Lars didn’t feel as needed anymore.

  “Maybe because she wanted me to keep my eyes on dry land?” he replied.

  “Do you think we’ll ever learn their secrets?”

  Lars had his suspicions, but he wasn’t going to voice them. “No, they’ll never tell us and we’re better off not knowing. Ecstasy has to keep some of its magic secret.”

  He and Cris sat in the dark looking over the lake, each of them lost to their own thoughts for a moment. Never would he have imagined when he woke this morning that today would mark such a drastic change in his life.

  “Tara was a virgin when I met her,” Cris blurted out. “I told her tonight I wanted to have a chance to get to know her and Zack. I wasn’t certain why it flustered her so much. I didn’t smell another man on her. She isn’t married or in a relationship.”

  “When I held her today, she felt as if she was made to be in my arms. I felt a peace I haven’t known in a long time,” Lars replied. He wondered if she felt the connection earlier today. That might be why she was so flustered tonight. “Hopefully, it didn’t damage our chances.”