He knew he was holding her too tight, but he was afraid if he relaxed, she would slip away again. “We could take a shower,” he said, but neither of them moved.

They lay locked in each other’s arms for minutes… hours, maybe it was eternity, not speaking, just feeling, until he heard her even breathing and knew she’d fallen asleep. He felt a sense of peace he hadn’t had in too many years. But peace was an illusion, until he got rid of whoever was after her. Then, he would convince her to give him another chance and hope to God she didn’t hate him when she found out what else he’d hidden.

***

Shay woke in the night. She heard a thumping sound downstairs. The noise didn’t concern her as much as the fact that she was draped over Cody and they were both naked. She lay for a minute, reliving what they had done, wondering how different things might have been if she had known he hadn’t ignored the letters. Would she have forgiven him for hiding her identity and moved on? Maybe to this? His life? His bed?

Cody nudged her shoulder. “Don’t follow me this time,” he said, untangling his limbs from hers and slipping out of bed.

She watched him pull on his boxers and pick up a gun from under a pillow on the sofa before easing out the door. Shay scrambled quietly for her clothes. She crept down the stairs, not far behind him. She couldn’t see his face, but she felt his glare. The front door was cracked. The chill of night air brushed her skin. As they slipped outside, busy little whispers met her ears, a grunt, and then another thump. Cody turned on a bright flashlight. She didn’t know where he got it. Shay saw a flash of red and heard a squeal as Matilda’s hands flew up in the air. The wheelbarrow dumped over, and Jamie rolled out like a sack of flour.

***

“We panicked,” Matilda said, between gulps from her water bottle. “So I thought if I gave him a little of my sleeping medicine—”

“A little?” Shay said, her voice shrill. “He’s out cold.”

Cody had carried Jamie back to bed and was with him, making sure Jamie was only drugged, not dying.

“Well, I may have given him too much. We didn’t want him to wake up in the car. He’s big, and he looks strong. That’s a nice, sturdy wheelbarrow. I need one of those to move rocks in my garden,” Matilda said.

“Where were you taking him?” Shay asked.

“Somewhere safe,” Nina said. “We didn’t want to hurt him. He seems like a nice boy. We just wanted him out of the way.”

“Out of the way of what?” Shay asked, exasperated.

“You and Cody,” Nina said.

“Cody and me?”

Nina clutched her robe tighter. “Here you are, after all these years, and we’re thinking you finally came to your senses, and this Adonis shows up to ruin it all.”

“He wants to marry you,” Matilda said. “We couldn’t have that.”

Oh heavens. “You think Cody and I are…?”

“But of course, dear,” Nina said. “We’ve always known. We were just waiting for you two to realize it.”

Matilda clutched her water bottle. “For a smart girl, you can be slow sometimes.”

“Jiminy Christmas.” She had lived in fear that someone would find out how she felt about Cody and think she was a pervert or had committed incest, and the whole time they were listening for wedding bells.

She assured Nina and Matilda that she had no plans for marriage to anyone and then went back to bed. Her head ached too much to worry that Cody might put a pillow over Jamie’s face and smother him.

The next time she woke, it was to whispers at the door. “That’s a good sign, don’t you think?” Matilda asked.

“Yes, but they really should be married first,” Nina answered.

Shay cracked one eye and saw fuzzy images of red and gray in the doorway. A snore erupted beside her. Shay turned her head and saw Cody sprawled next to her, one muscular arm flung across her stomach.

“Sorry to wake you, but we’re getting an early start,” Nina said. “We’ll call you from the road.”

“Tell Jeremy we’re sorry. It’s nothing against him, but he can’t marry you,” Matilda said. They waved and disappeared.

***

Shay had one toe on the floor when the door opened. “Nina and Matilda—” Lachlan stopped. “Uh… sorry. Guess I should’ve knocked. The door wasn’t closed.”

Shay jumped up, accidentally pulling the covers off Cody. Why couldn’t the man sleep in underwear? She threw the sheet back over him and stood, her face on fire. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

Lachlan’s eyebrows settled back into place. “Nina and Matilda are gone.”

“What?” Cody asked, sitting up.

“Nina and Matilda are gone,” Lachlan repeated.

“They left early this morning,” Shay said.

“I came to tell you breakfast is ready. The others arrived last night. We’ve got meat, eggs, and more meat. I’ll tell Jamie.”

“Don’t think he’ll want to eat,” Cody said, looking under the blanket. “Matilda drugged him last night.” He explained what happened.

“I’d better check on him,” Lachlan said. “I swear that woman’s a freak of nature.”

“I expect he’ll have a headache and a half.” Cody lifted a pillow and then peered at the floor.

Lachlan bent and picked something up. “Looking for these?” He tossed Cody’s underwear at his chest and left.

Shay gave Cody an awkward glance. He dropped the sheet and stood. Shay turned away until she heard the brush of fabric over skin. What had she done? What on earth had she done? He hadn’t gotten the letters, and he hadn’t abandoned her; still, there were a lot of unresolved issues.

Cody grabbed his jeans from the floor and slipped them on. He paused, hand on his zipper. “Do you need to… uh take a shower or something before we go eat?” His gaze dropped to the rumpled bed.

She nodded.

“I’m…” Several emotions stirred in his eyes. Some she recognized, some she didn’t. “I’ll shower in the bathroom down the hall. I’ll wait for you.”

“You don’t have to. I can walk over when I’m ready.”

“No.” He picked up his shirt, looking like he wanted to say something else, but he left the room.

Shay took a long shower, hoping he would give up and go home without her. Things were moving too fast. She had gone from hating him to having sex with him. Or nearly sex. Same thing. She went downstairs and found him staring out the window, waiting.

“Ready?” he asked.

She nodded. “We should check on Jamie.”

“I did. He’s still sleeping.”

Cody’s house smelled as delicious as it was loud. They followed the sounds and smells to the dining room. Most of the chairs were occupied with people talking and laughing as plates were loaded with food. It reminded her of all the holiday meals shared here.

“You can’t walk into a hospital with your weapon in plain sight,” a red-haired woman was saying. “Any idiot knows that.”

“Are you calling me an idiot?” the man beside her said. He had reddish hair himself, tied back in a leather strap. “Like you’ve never made a mistake.”

“Would you two shut up? You’re giving me a headache.” The dark-haired man who spoke looked as if he could be Faelan’s brother, but considering how old Faelan was, Shay didn’t think it possible, unless there were two time vaults.

“Whatever, Coz,” the red-haired woman said, passing a plate of biscuits to another woman who had long, dark hair and a face so beautiful Shay wished she had taken time to put on makeup.

Cody made introductions. The redhead and the beauty were Sorcha and Anna, the female warriors Bree had told Shay about. Duncan was the one who resembled Faelan, and was in fact his descendent, as they all were.

“We thought you were still at the hospital,” Duncan told Shay. “Brodie forgot to leave his knife in the car, and we got chased by a security guard.”

“We ended up in the maternity wing and had to drag Brodie away,” Sorcha said. “He wanted to see the babies.”

“I like babies. What’s wrong with that?” Brodie grumbled.

Bree and Shay exchanged a knowing glance.

Sorcha pulled out a chair next to her. “No one’s sitting here, Cody.”

Shay wasn’t sure if the look Cody gave her was a plea for help or understanding.

“Better get food while there’s some left,” Bree said. Her plate was loaded with enough for two men. “We have bacon, sausage, eggs, biscuits, pancakes, doughnuts, and orange juice. Ronan went grocery shopping this morning.”

“A man’s gotta have meat,” Ronan said, holding a heaping plate.

“You’ll make some woman a good husband,” Shay said, taking a seat between him and Lachlan, which didn’t seem to please Cody.

“You proposing?” Ronan asked, grinning, “I hope you like long engagements. I have two more years of duty.”

“So?” Shay asked.

“Warriors can’t marry until they’ve finished their duty, according to clan law,” he said.

“There are clan laws about marriage?” Shay asked.

“Who a warrior marries is important to the clan,” Lachlan said, unusually sober. “I’m surprised Cody didn’t tell you that too. He told you everything else. Our mates are destined long before we’re born.”

Chapter 8

Shay’s stomach felt like a bag of rocks. “Your mates are destined?”

“You gonna talk all day or pass the food?” Cody asked.

Ronan grinned. “Hey, I may be getting a proposal here.”

“Won’t that put a kink in your sleeping habits?” Cody asked, pouring a glass of orange juice.

Ronan threw a biscuit at Cody. He snagged it and added it to his plate.

“Destined mates?” Shay repeated.

“Kind of like love at first sight,” Bree said, her green eyes softening as she gazed at Faelan. “But usually it happens after a warrior retires.”

Like Cody.

“Sometimes it happens before, but it doesn’t make the Council happy,” Lachlan said.