The adorable duo ran out the door just then, making a beeline for the swing set and calling for Jim as they went.

“Energetic,” she added with a laugh.

With ice cream, slushies, and popcorn in their systems, they probably needed real food to counteract their obvious sugar jag.

“I better go and make them some lunch,” I said to excuse myself.

Emmitt didn’t relinquish my hand.

“I’ll come with,” he said.

Jim walked out the door.  Two boys close to my age trailed behind him.  They grinned at me, said hi, and followed Jim to the swing set, standing back to watch him interact with my brothers.  I hadn’t expected the sons to be so young.  None of Blake’s associates had been my age.  Still not sure what I dealt with, human vs. werewolf, I hesitated to leave my brothers outside.

Emmitt seemed to read my concern.

“Jim, can you send them up in a few minutes to eat?”

Jim waved acknowledgement, and I let Emmitt lead me inside.

Our company stayed downstairs when Jim came up several minutes later.  He took a huge bite from Aden’s proffered sandwich, and I shook my head, guessing at the reason for his personal escort.

I tried to talk the boys into games upstairs, but they wouldn’t hear of it and tore back downstairs as soon as they finished.  Food gone, Jim followed them.  Emmitt helped with the cleanup.

“My parents sent Gregory and Mary down,” he said as he wiped down the counter.

I paused putting away the lunchmeat, giving him my full attention.

“They can’t leave the Compound themselves and were curious about the girl who has captured their son’s attention.”

“Why couldn’t you tell me that before?” I asked in mild exasperation.

He didn’t answer right away, so I tossed the jar in the fridge and turned to him with my arms crossed.

“I didn’t want you to worry about meeting them.”

“When Nana said people were coming, bringing their sons, I thought it was going to be like Blake’s all over again.”  I swallowed hard and looked away from him.

“No,” he growled.  “How many times do I have to tell you?”  He backed me against the counter.

“You.  Are.  Mine.”

His knuckles brushed my neck as he moved my hair aside, and he leaned forward, lips running along my jaw.

At first contact, my heart thundered painfully and heat burst in my chest, radiating outward.  I reached up, fisting my hands in his short hair.  It was just long enough to grip.

I wanted to pull him closer, to move beyond this limbo stage.  Instead, I tugged him back by his hair.  He didn’t move at first.

“Emmitt, stop.  I can’t think like this.”

He pulled back.  The pupils of his eyes swallowed the midnight blue of his irises.  The tips of two sharp teeth poked out from under his upper lip, drawing my attention to his mouth.  I’d stared at his chest plenty, but never really his lips.  I blinked slowly.  What would it feel like to have them pressed against mine?  I wanted...

“Do it,” he whispered.

“What?” I breathed out the word, my gaze flying to his.  Blood rushed to my face, and I nudged him back.  He sighed and gave me room.  Not much, but I could think again.

“Nothing.”  He gently brushed his fingertips along my collarbone.  “I’m going to check on the boys.”

I nodded and watched him leave, wondering how long Gregory and Mary would be staying and what kind of report they would take back to Emmitt’s parents.

I spent the rest of the afternoon hiding in my apartment, too chicken to find out the answer to either of those questions.

Emmitt came back hours later and convinced me to join everyone for a picnic dinner.  Liam and Aden sat near Paul and Henry, a new sheen of hero worship in their eyes.  We lingered at the table after they ran off to play.

Mary asked me how I liked living at the house.  The innocent enough question felt like a graded essay.  Did his parents disapprove of me living in the same house?  Should I say it made me uncomfortable?  No.  They would sense the lie.  I weighed my choices and finally settled on admitting the truth; I felt safe there.  She smiled kindly and asked if I’d given any thought to the future.  I looked at Emmitt helplessly.

“We should probably go up and get everything ready for tonight,” he said, standing and rescuing me.  I followed his lead and started gathering plates to help clean up.  “Paul and Henry can crash at Jim’s,” he continued.  “You’re welcome to use my place.”

Mary nodded her thanks as I made my escape inside.

Emmitt and I worked together, quietly putting condiments away in Jim’s fridge, then headed upstairs.

Sensing my mood, Emmitt put in a movie and steered me to the couch with a stern order to relax.  He came in once during the middle of the movie with a pillow and a light blanket, which he set on the couch in anticipation of his overnight stay.

*    *    *    *

I woke in the middle of the night, heart hammering from my vivid dream.  The man from town had tracked us, and I’d watched as he had scaled the outside of the house to reach the third floor.  He’d had vicious, sharp teeth.  Not just his canines, but all of them.  As he’d walked around the porch, he had dragged his nails along the siding, making a terrible screeching noise.

Throwing off the covers, I got up to close the window.  The cool night air felt nice, but a mere screen separating me from the outside world didn’t feel very safe.  I tiptoed to the boys’ room and closed their windows, too.  It was cool enough in the house, anyway, because of the recent rain.

When I reached the living room, I paused.  I’d forgotten about Emmitt.  His dark form sprawled on the couch.  In the dim light, I caught the glint of his eyes and knew he was awake and watching me.

“Bad dream,” I said quietly.

He sat up and opened his arms in invitation.

Still shivering from the image of the man scaling the porches, I quickly went to him.  I sat on the couch and leaned into his side, resting my head on his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around me.

“Go to sleep.”

I liked that he didn’t ask me to share the dream.  Talking about it would make it too real and harder to sleep again.  His warmth eventually relaxed me, and I curled into him, getting more comfortable.

Werewolves made comfy beds, I thought sleepily.  He kissed the top of my head, and I slept.

Chapter 15

The boys stood on the porch, sadly waving goodbye to their new friends.  Since Jim had already left for work, they were stuck with just Emmitt, Nana, and me.  We were obviously nowhere near as exciting as Paul and Henry.  Mary gave me a final wave as they pulled away from the house.

Emmitt stood beside me.  I was relieved he hadn’t said anything about my dream the night before or the way we’d woken up. A blush rose at the memory of waking practically on top of him.  When I’d lifted my head to see if he still slept, I had found him studying me.  My mad scramble to get off of him had seemed to cause a moment of pain, but I hadn’t stopped to apologize.  I’d flown to my bedroom and closed myself in until he’d left.

“Now what are we going to do?” Aden said softly to Liam.

Emmitt laughed.  “How about a baseball game?”

The boys perked up and started planning teams.  They called Nana out to join in.  Since I didn’t run as fast as the other two adults, the boys decided I should pitch.  Liam wisely chose Nana for his partner.

When Jim got home from work, he found us still playing outside.  Everyone agreed it was time to eat, and we had another picnic dinner on the porch.

Afterwards, the boys talked Jim into a movie at Nana’s place and raced off to pick what they would watch and get ready for bed.  Nana followed, leaving me alone with Emmitt for the first time since that morning.