A Family Portrait Read online

  “You’re insatiable, woman!” he growled, unbuttoning and unzipping his pants and stepping out of them.

  “It’s your fault. I’m never like this.” He turned and lifted her into his arms once again, stepping under the steamy spray with her. “I love it when you get all he-man on me,” she mumbled against him as he let her slide down his body.

  “Oops,” he whispered, moving both of them around under the warm stream. “I forgot to get a wash cloth.”

  “No you didn’t.” She cut a look over at him and grabbed the soap.

  Before she let him guess what she had in mind, she soaped him from toes to chest and then began rubbing her body all over him.

  With a rumbling growl, Tav lifted her and ordered, “Put your legs around me.”

  She did and he lowered her down his belly and onto the bulbous tip of his shaft. She felt herself opening for his hard length as she slid down onto him. Soon he was deeply inside her and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders barely able to catch her breath.

  He began to move in a slow steady rhythm, the warm water cascading over them. He pressed her against the tile wall, cupping her bottom and thrusting up into her as she clung to him, gasping and mewling with pleasure.

  She felt him getting bigger, longer and wider as she clutched at him feeling her release grip her and squeeze. Her entire body seemed to clench and fly apart as she screamed his name. He pumped himself into her rapidly and he too, found his climax.

  He held her there for long minutes, not moving. Finally, he carefully lifted her off of him and held her against him as he soaped her body and her hair, then rinsed her off.

  Without a word, Tav carried her into the bedroom and dressed her for bed.

  More than bemused, Tracey was confused. Tav made her feel so wanton and sexy that she didn’t even know herself with him. She wanted to put it down to her brain injury but she knew she was in love with Tavist Darke.

  Chapter 9

  Tracey had fallen asleep almost immediately upon crawling into bed the night before. When Ashley came in to kiss her goodbye, Tav was, of course, busy helping the little girl get ready for school.

  Tracey couldn’t be certain if he’d spent the night in her bed or not. She wasn’t sure why that should bother her but it did. If she was honest with herself, she was looking for a reason to be angry at Tav.

  She hadn’t asked him to sleep in her bed last night so it would be presumptuous if he had. On the other hand, he’d had sex with her twice. Wasn’t she good enough to sleep beside? She was so confused.

  When she forced herself to get up and go into the kitchen, she found the house empty. Looking out the window, she saw the boys playing at the edge of the woods. The mail was on the table and she flipped through it. Tav came into the kitchen from the back porch and took her into his arms.

  “Good morning, Tracey,” he greeted her, kissing her mouth.

  She grumbled something but it made no sense to her so she knew he couldn’t understand her. He rumbled a laugh at her and left her alone. She began flipping through the mail and stopped short.

  Most of her correspondence was bills and junk mail but one letter was personally addressed and had been forwarded from her old home. With shaking hands, she opened it.

  Scanning the page, she felt the blood drain from her face. Tav was just coming in the door so Tracey bolted into the bathroom with her letter and the envelope it came in.

  Seating herself on the edge of the tub, Tracey turned the shower on and reread the letter. Hey Babe, Jack had written, The waiting is almost over. Daddy’s coming home!

  Boy do I have a surprise for you. Make sure you dress up pretty for me. You’d better be alone. If there’s anyone else besides you and my kids, I won’t like it. I won’t like it at all.

  I’m afraid I might act ugly. We don’t want that, do we?

  He’d signed the letter, Your ever lovin’ husband, Jack It wasn’t hard for Tracey to read between the lines. He was going to find a way out of prison and he would find her. He would find the kids. He expected her to come along quietly or there’d be hell to pay. If there was a man in the picture, Jack would kill him.

  Tracey began to tear the letter and the envelope into little pieces. One at a time, she let the shreds of paper wash down the drain of the tub. At first, she stared at them, mesmerized.

  When she released the last torn scrap and saw it swirl down the drain, she snapped back to reality. Tavist! Jack would kill him. She had to outrun Jack. She had to take the kids and get away. It was her job to keep them safe. It was also her job to keep Tavist safe.

  Stepping out of her robe, Tracey took a quick shower. Finished, she pulled the robe back on and hurried back into her bedroom to think. As the day wore on, she acted crankier and crankier. By the time Ashley came home that afternoon, everybody was avoiding her.

  She’d come to her decision and she knew it was the right thing to do. She couldn’t take a chance on Tav suffering at Jack’s hands. She and the kids would have to sneak off alone. Her heart was breaking but she forced herself to be strong.

  What doesn’t kill; only makes you stronger. Tracey had learned this over the last few years and believed it wholeheartedly. She knew that her children were counting on her to be strong and protect them. She’d do whatever it took to make sure they were safe, no matter what she had to sacrifice for herself—and of herself.

  Throughout the day, Tav had bravely made a few conversational gambits. By the time supper was over and the sky was darkening, even he was taking the long way around her.

  Ashley and Jacob were sitting side by side on the back porch while Christopher played near the edge of the woods with his toy trucks. Tav had seated himself in the kitchen facing Tracey. I hope I can do what I need to do here. He had just opened his mouth to speak when he suddenly jerked his head around.

  Shooting to his feet, he ripped his shirt off running out the back door as he went.

  Following him, she heard it, too. The sound was somewhere between a woman’s angry scream and the sound of a saw blade whipping back and forth. She thought she’d faint when she saw the mountain lion crouched to attack Jacob and Christopher.

  Tracey barely had time to register alarm as she saw Tav leap into the air a half-naked man and land on the ground as a large, black wolf. He began barking at the huge cat as it pounced and he leaped forward and met it in the air, knocking it sideways, away from the boys.

  The large wolf, Tracey couldn’t think of it as Tav, rolled over with the mountain lion, jumping away and back again. Continuously barking, snarling, and snapping the lupine herded the lion away from the boys and into the woods.

  Jacob had rushed forward to help his brother when the strange animal first appeared.

  Now he wrapped his arms around the stunned two-year-old and tried to pull him away.

  Ashley ran forward and added her strength. Before they could get far, Tracey darted from the porch and grabbed all three of her children, pushing and pulling them toward the safety of her house.

  Suddenly they all froze as a pain filled yelp was heard, followed by another eerie scream. The scream seemed to be moving away from them. Less then a minute later, the large black wolf emerged from the woods.

  Ashley and Jacob broke away from Tracey and ran to the animal, babbling and kissing it while it licked them. Christopher struggled to be set on his feet but Tracey wasn’t letting go of her baby boy.

  “Get in the house Jacob! Ashley!” she barked. “Right now!” If I don’t do this now while I’m high on adrenalin, I never will.

  Bewildered, brother and sister reluctantly left Tav and headed for the door. “Take Christopher,” she ordered, placing the crying little boy on the porch. Ashley picked him up and took him inside.

  Once the kids were in the house, Tracey grabbed Tav’s jeans and threw them at him.

  “Don’t come back here,” she growled.

  He looked at her, confused. As she watched, his form wobbled and he changed from the wolf back
into the man she’d made love with, twice.

  “Tracey? What?” He pulled his pants on and rose to his feet, taking a step toward her.

  “Don’t come any closer,” she warned.

  “I told you I was a werewolf. You said you didn’t care,” he sounded stunned.

  “I didn’t believe you. I thought it was part of my injury.” She looked at him, fighting back tears. Don’t lose it now Tracey. You’re almost home. “I didn’t know you were a freak of nature.”

  Tav shook his head hard as if she’d hit him. He appeared to be struggling to breathe.

  Somehow, Tracey held her head up and managed to walk up the stairs to the porch and into the house. She made it into the bathroom and turned the water on before she fell apart.

  *

  Tav staggered backward into Myles. Myles had heard his friend barking and the lion’s scream and had launched himself toward Ashley’s house.

  When he realized that the children were safe and the mountain lion was gone, he’d turned to leave. When he heard Tracey tell Tav not to come back, he froze. He turned back toward the little house.

  When he heard what his mate’s mother said to the most selfless Were he’d ever met, Myles found himself fighting to breathe. He caught Tav as the other man stumbled backward.

  At first, Myles thought Tav’s weakness stemmed entirely from the words Tracey had flung at him. No doubt those words were the reason why he didn’t begin to heal right away, but they weren’t the only cause of his stumbling.

  Myles realized, looping an arm around Tav that he was bleeding from a gaping wound in his side. The big cat had come close to gutting him.

  Deciding that his sports car would be too uncomfortable, Myles carried Tav to his own vehicle, a ramshackle pickup truck. He realized too late that his reclining bucket seats would have been better for Tav than the bench seat of the twenty-year-old truck.

  Blood was still oozing from Tav’s gaping wound, dark and thick, when Myles squealed to a stop in front of the emergency room doors. It was the same hospital that Tracey had spent a week in, leaving only two weeks prior.

  Everything seemed to screech to a halt when he carried Tav through the sliding double doors. When an orderly ran up to him Myles refused to put Tav down.

  “Dr. Montgomery!” he growled. The orderly stood frozen. Myles bent toward him.

  “Where?” he snarled. “Dr. Montgomery!”

  “Right this way, sir.” The frightened orderly had probably decided Myles should be the problem of someone who made more money than he did.

  Myles didn’t care what the young man had in mind as long as he found a Montgomery doctor or someone who could help Tav. He knew he was losing the battle against his emerging beast.

  “What’s going on here? Oh, dear Lord!” A man slightly older than Myles came rushing in. “Put him right here, sir,” he directed Myles.

  Myles was glad to cede responsibility for his friend—his brother—to someone who seemed to know what to do for him. He gently laid Tav down on the hard examining table.

  The doctor immediately began issuing orders and asking questions of Myles.

  “Where’s his mate?” the man asked, not looking at Myles.

  “She’s human,” he barked.

  “He got family?” the doctor looked at him and looked away.

  “I’m his brother,” Myles growled.

  “He’s a Montgomery?” the man asked.

  Myles snarled at him menacingly. “I’m about to call my dad. You want to hear it from him?”

  “Mik?” he squeaked. Clearing his throat, he asked again, “Mik Montgomery?”

  Myles leaned forward and plucked the cell phone from the doctor’s shirt pocket. He quickly jabbed in the telephone number and waited. He began speaking as soon as he heard the voice on the other end.

  “Riker, I’m at the Dahlonega hospital with Tav. Mountain Lion. Bring Dad, he needs blood.” Myles hung up the phone and dropped it back into the man’s pocket.

  The doctor began shaking and turned away from Myles. “Take some blood from Mr. Montgomery for his brother. Tape up the wound enough to get him into surgery.”

  Chapter 10

  Ashley helped Jacob and Christopher get ready for bed. She knew her mother would need the help since she’d sent Tav away. She was mad at her mother but she loved her.

  She wanted her to be okay. She went into the living room to check on her.

  Tracey’s swollen eyes widened when she saw her daughter. “Ashley!” she shrieked.

  “You’re bleeding!”

  “That’s not my blood, Mama,” Ashley said gently. “It’s Tav’s blood.”

  Immediately, Tracey began heaving in great gulping sobs. “I had to do it, I had to… Oh my God, Ashley…”

  At first her mother’s hysteria scared her. Ashley wasn’t sure what to do. Under other circumstances, she’d call Tav or maybe even Myles. That was probably not a good idea right now. She didn’t even know if Tav was alive.

  That thought scared her as much as her mother’s hysteria so she shook her head, forcing her mind away from it. She considered calling Sue but remembered that Sue was away on a big boat for a whole month.

  Ashley put her arms around her mother and said, “I’m sure it’ll all be okay.” Isn’t that what grown-ups always say when they don’t really know? “Let’s get you to bed. A goodnight’s sleep is what you need.” What else? Oh yeah! “Everything will be much better in the morning, just wait and see.” She kept her voice soothing and low the way her mother always did when she was upset.

  Tracey followed the little girl to the master bedroom and crawled under the blankets.

  She was asleep before Ashley left the room.

  Ashley had every intention of taking a bath but she decided to sit down on the couch for a minute to think about things. Jacob shook her awake in the small hours of the morning.

  “Ashley, we have to go check on Tav. Ash! Wake up!” he shook her again.

  “I’m awake, for peep’s sake!” Ashley pushed her long hair out of her eyes and sat up. “Are you dressed? I wish I knew how to make coffee. Grown-ups really like it when they’re tired.”

  “I got your shoes, Ash. You shouldn’t drink coffee. I heard it’d stump your growth. Mama drinks it.” Jacob had begun putting Ashley’s shoes on her feet. He obviously didn’t have the patience for her to wake up.

  Once the two got outside, they turned toward the path between their house and Tav’s. Ashley was almost at the path when she realized that Jacob wasn’t with her any longer. Looking back she saw him hesitate a few feet away.

  “Ash, what if that great big jaguar is still there?” Jacob hated revealing weakness but Ashley knew he needed help.

  “Don’t worry, Jacob.” She walked back to him and took his hand in hers. Once again she reached for the grownup within. “Tav scared it real good. And if it made Tav bleed, I bet Tav made it bleed too.” Jacob still seemed nervous. “We can’t let one single jaguar keep us from going on our business, can we?”

  “No, of course not. Let’s go!” He squeezed her hand in a thank you and they took the short walk to Tav’s house.

  The light was on when they got there and that made Ashley feel better. Maybe Tav wasn’t hurt at all.

  Brother and sister stood at the porch steps debating whether to call out or knock when the door opened. They whipped around.

  “Tav? Myles?” They called.

  “You must be Tracey’s pups. Jacob and Ashley?” a deep rumbling voice answered.

  *

  “Umm, we just wanted to check on Tav. Is he okay?” That trembling little feminine voice had to be Ashley.

  “Why don’t you two come on in here, hmm? It’s really early to be out. I bet you were afraid of finding another mountain lion, weren’t you?”

  Mik stepped away from the door and the two children trooped in. The smell of Tav’s blood was strong on the little girl.

  “Ash wasn’t but I was. Wow, you’re really big. How big are y
ou when you’re not a wolf?” Jacob stared at him and Mik thought he was wonderful.

  “I’m always a wolf. I don’t change,” Mik explained.

  “That must be really imcon… that must be a real pain, huh?” Ashley asked him.

  “Yeah, it has its down sides,” he agreed.

  “I bet you wish someone would make you some coffee? I will if you tell me how,” Ashley bargained.

  Mik began to smile. Before he could answer her, the boy, Jacob spoke up.

  “Ash, it’s gonna stump your growth! You’ll be as short as Mama when you grow up!”

  “I’m really tired, Jacob. Leave me alone before I get all crabbly like Mama, too!” she snapped.

  Mik couldn’t help it and he threw back his head and laughed. “I’d love some coffee young lady. Don’t worry, Ashley, short women make men feel big and manly. You’ll be fine.”

  Walking with him into the kitchen, she turned to him. “Myles already likes me. He’ll like me even if I’m not that tall.”

  “Fill that thing with water,” he said nosing the glass carafe. “What difference does it make if Myles likes you, sweetheart?”

  She looked at him and rolled her eyes turning to fill the container with water. “I’m supposed to marry Myles when I grow up. Now what do I do with it?”

  “Dump it in there,” Mik told her indicating the coffeemaker. He nudged the can of coffee over and picked up a stack of filters with his teeth, dropping them in front of the coffeemaker. “Did Myles tell you that?” he asked.

  She took a filter and found the basket to fit it into. “How many scoops? No, I just know.”

  He looked at her for a minute, unblinking.

  “How many scoops?” she asked again.

  “Four or five,” he answered her. “How do you just know, honey?”

  She looked at him for a long time as if considering. Finishing her task, she pushed the button and turned. Jacob came in and sat at the table. Ashley moved to stand behind him and kissed the back of his head in a very adult fashion. She slid into the chair next to his.

  “When I was real little, up until I was seven my dad used to hit me. He hit Jacob and he hit Mama, too. He even tried to hit baby Christopher.”