Part 18 (1/2)
Shaking her head at that stubborn male expression, Tamsyn moved to sit slightly behind him. Then she threw her arms around his neck and leaned down to press her cheek against his. ”San-kyu, that's the third level, isn't it?” With the dominant males-or with the young ones who would one day be dominant-you had to tread carefully. Demanding would get her nothing from Dorian.
He softened a little. ”Yep. I'm going for black next month.”
”Impressive. When I left for New York, you were still on the first level of brown.”
He let her tug him further into her embrace. Touch was at the heart of a healthy pack. It was what bound them together, what gave them their strength. Smiling, she raised her hand and began to brush her fingers through his incongruously silky blond hair as he lay against her.
”I'm going to be past Juanita's level soon.” It was a small boast and it was perfectly normal. Whatever had happened to break his arm, it hadn't bruised his pride too much.
She grinned. ”Then who are you going to beat up?”
He actually smiled. ”You want I should do Nate for you?”
It seemed the whole pack knew how things were between her and Nathan. ”Brat.”
”Yeah, but you like me.”
Laughing, she pressed a kiss to his cheek before rising. He followed, his bones showing the promise of a height that would top hers by several inches at least. ”Look after yourself, Dorian. If I see you one more time this year, I'm going to do something nasty like pull healer rank and ground you.”
”Like you wish you could ground Nate-maybe in your bedroom?”
”Dorian!”
Mischief in his grin, he backed away from her before turning to run off through the trees. She kept her smile hidden until he was gone. Then she bent down and began to gather up her supplies and equipment. She was pleased. Her medical training had come in very handy today. Otherwise she'd have used up healing energy to no useful purpose. What she did came from inside her-she had to conserve her strength for the worst injuries...as had happened with Carlos.
Leaves rustled to her left and she looked up to see Juanita step out. ”Did you see my-ah, there it is.” Nita picked a slender black timepiece off the ground. ”Took it off while we were sparring. That boy is dangerous when he gets going.”
Nodding, Tamsyn continued to put away her things. Nita was the last person she wanted to chat to, especially after the horrible realization she'd had that morning. Then the other woman went down on her haunches beside Tamsyn.
”Hey, Tammy. I need some advice.”
Her healer core came to the surface, consigning the sick ugliness of jealousy to one tiny corner. ”Is something the matter?” She looked into that sensual, exotic face and no longer saw a rival, but a packmate who might need help.
”You could say that.” Dark eyes twinkled. ”I'm wondering how to bring up Nate without putting my foot in it.”
Six.
TAMSYN FROZE. ”WHAT ABOUT NATE?” SHE FORCED HERSELF to say.
”Look”-Juanita tapped a finger against her knee-”he's a wonderful guy and we had some fun together-”
Tamsyn shut her bag and prepared to get up.
Juanita stopped her by holding onto her upper arm. ”But that's all it was. Fun. We were friends then and we're friends now. Nothing more.”
”Okay. I have to go.” She was so hungry for Nate's touch that even the idea of him with another woman bruised her raw.
Juanita didn't release her. ”You're not listening, Tammy. I'm telling you that that man never looked at me with the kind of wild heat with which he looks at you. He never craved me, not like he craves you.”
Tamsyn stared at the other woman. ”He left me,” she found herself saying. ”I was all but offering myself to him on a silver platter and he left me. He doesn't crave me.”
Juanita laughed. ”The man wants you so much, he's driving all the juveniles crazy. You know how sensitive they are to s.e.xual hunger, and right now, Nate is a six-feet-plus shot of pure animal need. And he's not interested in anyone but you.”
”But-”
”But nothing.” Juanita stood and waited until Tamsyn, too, was up before continuing. ”Don't take this the wrong way but you're young.”
How else could she take it? ”I'm more mature than people years older.”
”Yes, you are. I wouldn't hesitate to come to you for advice on a thousand things.” Juanita's matter-of-fact words took the wind out of Tamsyn's sails. ”But there's one area in which you are a babe in the woods.”
”Men,” Tamsyn whispered, embarra.s.sment a blaze across her cheeks.
”Yep. You were one of the lucky ones-you found your mate early, but that came with a price.” Juanita didn't need to spell it out. ”So trust me when I tell you the man is dying for a taste of you.”
Tamsyn ached to believe. ”He's very good at hiding it.”
”Of course he is. He's stubborn and he's dominant. He wants to do this his way. It's up to you to change his mind. Please do it before he drives everyone insane.”
Taking a deep breath, Tamsyn swallowed her pride and put her faith in the bonds of Pack. ”You have experience. Teach me what I need to know.”
Juanita grinned. ”I thought you'd never ask.”
A DAY AFTER HE'D LEFT TAMMY SLEEPING BY THE FIRE, NATE returned from a meeting with Lachlan to find the area around her home crawling with children. Not all of them were exactly underage. ”What are you doing?” he asked Cian, who was sitting on what looked like a bench and table set stolen from their alpha's backyard.
The older man grinned. ”Making Christmas decorations, what does it look like?” He returned to painting the small gla.s.s ball in his hand.
”Why?” Nate insisted.
Cian scowled at him. ”Because Tamsyn said I had to.”
”She's less than half your age.”
”Have you tried to argue with her when she wants to get her own way?” Shaking his head, Cian returned to his task. ”Besides, it's kind of fun. And she's got the juveniles interested in something other than raising h.e.l.l, which makes our job easier.”
Now that Cian had mentioned it, Nate realized just how many of the older kids were present. Even arm-cast-laden Dorian appeared to be having fun. Nate watched as the boy bent down to help a five-year-old paint something on her globe. When she smiled, so did Dorian.
Turning his head, Nate found Lucas sitting with another group of young ones. Several cubs were trying to use his body as a climbing frame, but from the sharp grin on his face, he didn't seem to be worried. He called out to someone else and Nate's eyes followed his gaze to locate another unexpected addition to Tamsyn's gathering. Vaughn. He was even worse a loner than Dorian. But there he was, patiently helping several of the three-year-olds.
”They're happy,” a feminine voice said from beside him.
He looked down. ”You did good.”
Astonishment was open on her face. ”Oh.” A pause. ”Thank you.”
He scowled. ”What's wrong with me complimenting you?”