Take Me, page 9
“But imagine what things would be like if we could. We’d probably edge into overpopulation rather than under.” Shifting uncomfortably, her belly rippled under her hand. “You know there are two non-shifters who live here now, right?”
“Wh-what?” That dragged Andrea’s full attention away from contemplating her marathon sex with Miguel. Non-shifters were incredibly rare, which was probably for the best considering how most of the Panther world treated them. She hadn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary about any Panther she’d run into here, but non-shifters looked and smelled like other Panthers in their human shape. They just couldn’t assume animal form. Now she wondered which of the Pride members they were.
“After Antonio mated with me, one of our Pride members dragged home a half-starved teenaged non-shifter who’d been abandoned by his Pride. When we accepted him, we were contacted by an adult male who asked to join us as well.” Solana grinned and wrinkled her nose. “So, we have all the non-shifters—and former non-shifters—on the planet in our Pride.”
“Wow.” That was a courageous step forward for her brother. If anything could prove to her that her brother would never be like her father, it was this. It warmed her to know all her brothers had turned out well and that the Pride was in good hands. She sniffed the air, but didn’t scent either of the twins or Miguel. As far as she knew only Antonio had gone out. “Where is everyone?”
“At the airport. The guys decided to make a showing together.” Her sister-in-law yawned, her foot bouncing restlessly against the hardwood floor. “Carmen is flying in today with her mate.”
“Carmen left the Pride?” Her eyebrows arched. She never would have guessed that Carmen might leave North America unless she mated to someone in a ruling family from another Pride and had no choice. Carmen was the type to cling tightly to her roots, not seek out adventure…they’d known each other all their lives, but they’d never been close because Andrea was mouthy and rebellious and it had shocked Carmen to her traditionalist soul. She’d never have spoken to her Pride leader the way Andrea had.
Solana rolled her head against the plush leather chair she sat in until she looked Andrea in the eyes. “She didn’t have a choice. Her mate was a human.”
“Holy shit.” That would mean he couldn’t change forms and most Prides would treat Carmen no better than a non-shifter. A human mate meant no children for Carmen. Poor girl. She’d always been about hearth and home—or as much as any oversexed Panther could be. Thinking of sex made her think of Miguel. She sighed, leaning back and wincing a little when her sore skin slid against leather.
“Antonio didn’t make her an outcast.”
“Good.” It made sense that if he’d take in non-shifters, he’d let a Panther mated to a human stay in the Pride.
“She needs to take the loyalty oath to the new heir as well.” Solana patted her belly and crooned gently to the child inside her. “Isn’t that right, baby?”
Andrea grinned at the unexpected softness on her sister-in-law’s face. “Are you hoping for a boy or a girl? And don’t say, ‘either as long as it’s healthy.’”
“Either as long as it’s healthy.” Solana pulled a face. “Though, I’m rooting for a girl just because we need more estrogen in this family. The twins, Antonio, and Miguel are a ton of combined testosterone. I need backup.”
Andrea laughed. “So, you don’t assume I’m staying when the baby is born?”
“I try not to assume anything. I leave that up to the political strategists. I’m just a businesswoman.”
“And a successful one at that.” She stretched her arms over her head, enjoying the sweet twinge in her muscles. As much as she’d resisted, she was starting to assume she’d stay in San Francisco as well. It was still too new, too terrifying to talk about it with anyone—especially not Miguel. What if she couldn’t do it? She wasn’t cruel enough to get his hopes up. And if she stayed, there would be definite pressure for her to mate with him. She wasn’t ready for that. Not to bind herself to any man forever.
“You’re not doing so bad yourself. I love your clothes. Though I can’t fit into any of them just now.” Solana poked at her stomach, a look of exaggerated sorrow on her face.
Andrea blinked and narrowed her gaze on her sister-in-law. She’d never even considered a maternity line. And wouldn’t that be an entertaining fashion show—pregnant models. A wicked grin crossed her face. Maybe Solana would strut down the runway for her. The need to sketch raced through her. Her fingers twitched as images flashed through her head, different ways to highlight the beauty of the female form during pregnancy rushing through her mind.
It would be an interesting branching out for her company. She’d done women’s and men’s wear. Why not maternity? It would certainly be controversial in high fashion. And she did like to take a risk every now and then, just to shake things up a bit. She tilted her head, considering.
A hand waved in front of her face, making her jolt and sit up. “What?”
“Earth to Andrea.” Solana smiled. “Did I lose you?”
“I’m here. Sorry. Just had an idea for a new Pantheras line.”
She tilted her head to the side. “You’ll have to show me when you sketch it. Sorry it has to wait. Antonio expects us to be here for Carmen’s arrival. And frankly, I think having women around might scare her human less—especially women who’ve spent a great deal of time with humans.”
The image of four large, muscled Panther males greeting a terrified human made Andrea laugh. “Poor guy.”
“Seriously.” Her sister-in-law dissolved into giggles with her.
Andrea wiped tears of mirth from her eyes, trying to regain her composure. “Does he know?”
“If he does—”
She nodded. “He shouldn’t. Yeah, we have rules about it…but could you keep it from your mate? I mean, really keep it from your mate?”
“No.” A worried frown creased Solana’s forehead. Security was a constant issue for Panthers. No one could ever know about their kind. They’d be hunted to extinction or turned into lab rats. Andrea shuddered at the possibility.
She pulled in a deep breath and tried to ignore the serious breach Carmen had potentially caused. “So, he knows.”
“I’m guessing yes…or else she wouldn’t be bringing him with her, would she?”
“Good point.”
Solana shrugged, a wry grin pulling at her mouth. “Then again, would I go that long without my mate? The bed would get really lonely.”
“I don’t want to know.”
She laughed. “Oh, please. Your brothers are more open about their sex lives than any three men I have ever met. And that includes the drunk ones who patronize my bar.”
“Yikes.” Andrea rolled her eyes. “Yeah, Antonio was always pretty out of the closet with his stuff. And the twins were already doing things men twice their age shouldn’t when I left. Bad boys.”
“They’d take that as a compliment.”
“I’m so surprised,” she replied, sotto voce.
Solana burst into laughter, her chocolate eyes twinkling. “Exactly. They aren’t very subtle.”
“Except about the fact that they’re smart.” Andrea crossed her legs, the insides of her thighs stinging from Miguel’s whipping. The reminder made her sex throb with want. Would she ever get enough of him? She didn’t think so, and it terrified her to think of being so dependent on anyone. What if he turned on her the way other men had in her life? She tried to reassure herself that Miguel wasn’t like that—he was her mate—but reason and fear didn’t often match up.
Solana drew her attention back to the here and now. “Yeah, the twins weren’t a threat to your father if they were stupid…until they were suddenly useful behind the scenes. Either way, they never challenged his authority.”
“Unlike Antonio and me.” Andrea grinned. It was too true. She and Antonio had been very public about their disagreements with their father. In many ways, it was why they’d been unable to stay. Their father had shipped Antonio off to be Second in South America for almost ten years longer than was considered acceptable by Panther standards…and Andrea had just left the Panther world completely. She wasn’t sure if the twins’ strategy hadn’t been smarter.
“Yeah. All of you have your own strengths.”
“And weaknesses.”
The front door opened and the sound of male voices and laughter trickled in to the study. Andrea rose to her feet and reached for Solana when she struggled. Concern swamped her that her sister-in-law seemed to be having a difficult pregnancy. Then again, what did she know about pregnancy? The modeling world was dominated by bony, flat-chested teenagers. She hadn’t exactly paid attention to the normal course of Panther pregnancies when she was a bony, flat-chested teen herself. Of course, she was still on the skinny side.
A tall, wiry man walked in with Antonio and Miguel flanking him. Human, by the smell of him. This had to be Carmen’s mate. The three men were in animated conversation, gesturing widely. Carmen followed a few steps behind with a half-panicked, half-dumbfounded look on her face. Not that Andrea blamed her for the terror at returning to the Pride. She’d done enough freaking out when she’d had to come back, and Carmen’s reception was much less certain than her own.
Carmen’s mate pushed a hand through his hair, still addressing Antonio. “The thing is, sir, you have a top-of-the-line security system, but it was designed to keep out unwanted humans. A Panther can move a hell of a lot faster than a normal person. You’ll need to modify the whole system for your specific needs.”
“Hard to explain those needs to a human security contractor.” Miguel quirked a brow up.
Antonio smacked a hand on the man’s shoulder. “Excellent, let’s discuss how you’re going to handle it for us.”
The man blinked and then flashed a brilliant smile. “Okay, then.”
“I love it when he talks all nerdy. It gets me hot.” Carmen gave her a surreptitious wink as she sidled up to stand beside Andrea. She gave Solana a quick nod.
Andrea snorted on a laugh. “With the legion of ‘all brawn no brains’ boys you shagged…I love that you ended up with a geeky one.”
“Your brothers have brains and brawn.” Carmen arched a brow and smirked.
“I was going on your entire track record. At least the part I know about. And, please, who hasn’t had one or two of my brothers?”
“Or all three. I think I might be one of the few who can claim that.”
“That’s probably for the best.” Especially considering the twin’s predilection for tag teaming women, it could happen all in one setting. Solana was right about them being very, very open about their sexuality. Then again, it wasn’t as if she was shy about her own past. It was just Miguel who wanted to push her further than she was comfortable going. Now. If he had been her father’s Second back then, things would have turned out so differently. Her whole career wouldn’t have happened. It was an unsettling thought.
“Not that it matters now. I have Landon. And as hot as the Cruzes are…they can’t compare to a mate.”
“Even a human?”
Carmen’s shoulder lifted in a delicate shrug. “It’s a magic connection, Andrea. It’s not about species.”
“I wouldn’t know.”
“Antonio mentioned that you and Miguel—”
“Yeah.”
“You don’t seem happy.” She slid one hand into her jacket pocket.
“All you wanted was to stay in the Pride. All I wanted was to stay out.”
She rocked her free hand back and forth through the air. “That’s what I thought I wanted. Obviously, I changed my mind. Though I do miss the Pride a great deal.”
“I don’t think Antonio’s going to let you leave any more than he’ll let me.” Andrea sighed. “He’s got non-shifters here…why not a human mated to a Panther?”
“He’s very different from your father. Your mother had a lot of influence there.”
“True.” She wasn’t old enough to remember much about her mother’s political influence on the Pride, but she knew things had changed drastically after her death. Their father had gone from doting husband to rigid Pride leader with no room for his growing children. Meeting Miguel made her realize just how…lost…her father must have been when his mate died. An unwelcome pang of empathy went through her.
There was so much he had said and done that she couldn’t forgive. So much damage he had done to her and her brothers. So much intolerance he had encouraged to flourish in their Pride. But…they had all survived. Whether the experience had left them stronger was yet to be seen, but the reality of having a mate and the depth of connection she felt for him without marking him or being marked by him shook her. What would it be like to bite him, to mark him, be mated to him for decades and just lose him? Alone for the rest of her life. It made her more sympathetic to her father when she considered how it must have affected him.
She was also grateful it hadn’t driven him completely insane. Though rare, such a thing wasn’t unheard of in the Prides. As much as she despised some of his choices and actions, she had a new respect for the strength he had had in simply surviving.
A sigh slid past her throat. Everything was so jumbled up. When she’d arrived here, she’d known exactly who she was and where her life was going. Now? She was just working to keep her head above water in the sea of change her life had become. And she was pretty sure she was swimming against the tide.
She jerked when her cell phone rang in her pocket. She tugged it out and read the main office line for Pantheras Designs on the display. Cocking her wrist, she checked her watch. It was well after midnight in New York. While everyone knew she kept late hours, it was unusual for anyone to call this late. Why were they even still in the office?
She frowned and glanced up to see everyone had returned to the room and they all stared at her questioningly. Carmen raced forward to embrace her mate, contentment shining on her face. Miguel’s expression was a mixture of expectation, disappointment, and sadness. It was a look that was all too familiar. She gave a weak smile. “I have to take this. Work. Excuse me.”
Turning on her heel, she fled the room. If she was relieved to take the call and not have to hear Carmen coo over Landon or regale Miguel with the wonders of mating, it was no one’s business but hers.
His grandfather had died in his sleep the night before. Miguel crossed his arms over his chest, reclined against the mantle of the big fireplace in Antonio’s study and closed his eyes. A voicemail had been waiting for him in his office when he and Andrea had hauled themselves out of the bed they’d done everything but sleep in.
A bittersweet pang hit him. His grandfather had lived a long, full life. One any Panther would be proud of. But it meant Miguel had to leave to take the loyalty oath to his Uncle Pedro, the new South American Pride leader.
With Carmen and her mate’s arrival, he’d put off telling the Cruzes—Andrea—as long as possible, but he was running out of time.
The truth was he didn’t want to leave. He wanted to remain, but as a member of the ruling family of South America, he could never stay here without it causing a political problem for Antonio. And yet…his uncle and cousins would rule now that his grandfather passed away. Andrea outranked him in her Pride…if she lived here after her brother’s heir was born and if they mated, he could remain forever. The solution was so simple and too complicated for words.
He opened his mouth to tell them, when Andrea came back into the room and said the same sentence that had been on the tip of his tongue.
“I have to go.” Her words fell like an anvil over the crowd gathered in Antonio’s study. Miguel straightened from his position against the mantle.
He arched a brow, instantly concerned by the worry on her face. “Go where?”
“To New York. There’s a problem with the new line and I have to take care of it.”
“Can’t someone else do it?” Ric set his hands on his hips. “Or why can’t they e-mail the information to you like they’ve been doing for the last few weeks?”
“Look, some things I have to take care of in person. I have clients to make nice with. They pay a lot of money to meet with the CEO, not some stand-in. I have to leave. I’ve already booked myself a seat on the red-eye out of SFO tonight, and I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Ric shoved a hand through his shaggy dark hair and turned to Miguel. “Solana could pop any day now and she has to be here. You can’t let her leave, man.”
“I won’t.” If there was a touch of irony to his voice, he doubted the younger man heard it. He honestly thought Miguel could snap his fingers and Andrea would obey. Right. Of course. That had worked so well for every other man who’d known her, he was sure.
Andrea’s mouth fell open, her face paled, and a look of betrayal flashed through her ebony eyes. “What makes you think you have any say in where I go or what I do?”
“I was teasing.” Shit. Of all the times for her not to hear his sarcasm. He lifted his hands in supplication. “Don’t you think you’re overreacting?”
She snarled, spun on her heel, and stomped out. Antonio, Diego, Ric, and even the human, Landon, favored him with looks of sympathetic pity. Solana made a scornful noise. “As long as I’ve known you, I’ve considered you a pretty smart man. That, my friend, was a really stupid thing to say.”
His eyes met hers and then moved to his best friend. “My grandfather is dead. I leave for Buenos Aires in the morning. Forgive me if I was tactless.”
“I-I’m sorry.” Solana stepped forward and hugged him. He had to lean over her stomach to return her embrace. She whispered in his ear, “I don’t want you to go.”
“But I have to.” Yes, he did. Andrea’s reaction was one more reminder that she would never really give in and belong to him. Her body? Yes. Her heart and soul…her love? No. She’d been honest with him from the very first. She gave no more than she was willing to part with. He was the fool who craved her like a drug. Something painful broke inside him, and his hope fled. He was so tired he couldn’t even think anymore. He just…hurt in a way he’d never imagined possible.
