Page 14

Garth followed behind Nicolette down the sidewalk, in the direction of the preschool she worked at. Already there were cars pulling up in front of the building to drop children off, even though Nicolette assured him they weren’t late. He held the box of cupcakes as they walked.

The fake baked goods had taken some doing, but he’d finally tracked down the personal number of the woman who owned the specialty bakery. He’d texted her in the middle of the night, explaining what had happened and that he’d be willing to make it worth her while, but he’d told her that Nicolette was his fiancée, not a woman he’d only just met. He still wasn’t totally sure why he’d given her the label. It had just sort of happened, and he didn’t regret it.

In fact, he’d spent the rest of the night bouncing the idea around his head of her actually being the woman he was going to marry.

At the thought of forever with her, he tensed. He was immortal. She wasn’t. Setting aside the fact she was human, and therefore could not be his mate, she’d age. She’d die. He’d go on like he always did.

Alone.

He clutched the box of cupcakes tighter, needing it to keep from swaying at the very idea of losing Nicolette. He hadn’t planned on her, on how he’d feel for her, but he wouldn’t change it for anything.

Though he’d have made her a supernatural if possible, and mate material.

He’d always thought the notion of settling down was insane. The idea of being with just one woman the rest of his life was something that had horrified him. Now, he wanted nothing more than the skies to open and Odin to descend and alert him that Nicolette was truly his mate. His chosen one. And that for the remainder of his days, Garth could have her with him. That they could start a family even.

A family.

“Ingersson?”

Garth paused at the sound of his surname.

A tall man with shoulder-length wavy hair that ran the gamut from light brown underneath to white-blond on the top was near the entrance of the facility, looking in Garth’s direction. The man’s blue gaze was wide.

“Livingston?”

asked Garth as he balanced the box of cupcakes.

Cody Livingston was dressed like he was about to head to the beach and hang out for the day. The T-shirt he was in had a graphic of a shark taking a bite out of a surfboard on it, and was faded. He had on shorts and sandals as well. Everything about the guy screamed surfer bum. That was ironic, since the government had used him as a test dummy while attempting to make the Immortal Ops.

Cody was what the government liked to term an Outcast. Garth didn’t care for the name. He also didn’t like the fact the government had tried to dispose of their supposed failures decades ago, causing nearly all of the men who had been part of the program to go to ground. They’d had a resurgence in the last few months, and one by one they were starting to show themselves again.

It had been decades since Garth had seen Cody. It was no surprise the man hadn’t aged a day. He was now immortal, after all, thanks to the government testing. Garth smiled even though he was confused as to what Cody was doing at a preschool, of all places—especially the very one Nicolette worked at.

Nicolette stopped walking and faced Garth and Cody. “You two know each other?”

Cody drew closer and, to Garth’s shock and horror, the man he’d always thought of as a friend reached out, slipped an arm around Nicolette, drew her against him, and then had the audacity to kiss her cheek.

Did Cody have a death wish?

Garth’s wolf came alive and a vicious snarl broke free from him. It was the same sound an alpha-male shifter made when he wanted other males to stay away from his mate. That didn’t even freak Garth out. His wolf wanted the other male shifter to back the fuck up and stop touching Nicolette.

Cody eased his body in front of Nicolette’s in a protective manner, as if he thought Garth was going to harm her. Garth stiffened and began to squeeze the box of cupcakes.

Nicolette gasped and shot around Cody, taking the box from Garth. “Easy there, big guy, or you’ll be the death of these, too. And I’m guessing you went to a lot of trouble to make these a reality. No turning them into pulp—again. Ernie has got to be sick of making them by now.”

Garth dipped his head and caught Nicolette’s chin lightly, directing her gaze upwards. He captured her mouth with his and gave her a scorching kiss. It was as much out of desire as it was to still his restless wolf. The beast liked knowing the other shifter could see it staking its claim.

When Garth was done kissing her, he eased back slightly. “Look at that. The cupcake-y things managed to survive me after all.”

She smiled and turned slightly. “How do you two know one another?”

“Uh, work,”

said Cody, staring hard at Garth. “You’ll want to get those inside and out of the humidity, Nicolette.”

“Good thinking,”

said Nicolette. She smiled up at Garth. “Thanks for the ride to work. Will I see you later?”

“Why is he here?”

demanded Garth, looking at Cody but speaking to Nicolette. He wasn’t about to stand around and let Cody take her.

Cody flashed a pearly white smile. “I’m giving a water-safety presentation to the three-year-old classes today. It’s never too early to stress the need for life jackets. And I’m perfect to teach them about the dangers of open water. Nicolette asked me to do it a while back. Since I did it last year, I agreed.”

The irony of a shark-shifter giving water-safety lessons was not lost on Garth. Neither was the fact that Cody had eased close to Nicolette again. Friend or not, Garth would kill the man if he touched his woman again.

My woman?

Why in the hell did he keep thinking in terms of “his”? When he’d called James in the middle of the night from the local Paranormal Regulator’s office, telling him he thought his drug concoction was total shit, he’d forgotten to mention the burning-need-to-claim-a-human side effect. He should have probably led with that. James had ended the conversation by telling Garth he couldn’t wait any longer, that he had to at least try it with Gram.

It was best everyone knew that if the serum was a success on Gram, the guy would wake up and want to claim the first human he spotted.

“I’m glad you remembered,”

said Nicolette to Cody. “I haven’t talked to you in weeks. How long have you been back in town? And is there a reason you didn’t call me?”

It was then Garth put together that Cody was the same Cody who had slept on the pull-out sofa at Nicolette’s. The friend who had left clothing at Nicolette’s home. Another growl came from Garth at the thought. A sinking feeling came over him. Had Cody bedded Nicolette?

Garth would tear the man limb from limb. Fuck the fact Cody was a fellow shifter and a man he’d once called friend.

Suddenly, Garth’s eyes burned, and he knew they were shifting colors. It normally never hurt and the fact that it did now should have helped him to snap out of the rage. It didn’t. Thoughts of Cody knowing what Nicolette looked like beneath her dress sent Garth tumbling into the abyss.

Cody sucked in a large breath, wrapped an arm around Nicolette, and shooed her in the direction of the school. “Hurry. The cupcakes are looking like they might melt. Why do they smell funny? Never mind. Go on in. I’ll stop by your class before I leave today.”

Like hell!

Garth growled more.

“But I have to say good-bye to Garth,”

protested Nicolette.

“I’ll bring him to see you here in a second,”

said Cody, a certain note of desperation clinging to his every word.

Nicolette accepted the response and hurried into the school with her fake cupcakes in hand.

Cody pointed in the direction of the side of the building, and Garth followed as they walked quickly. Cody twisted and shoved Garth into a small alleyway and out of view of the public. “What the hell, Viking? You’re about to do a full shift out in the open.”

Garth advanced on the man, thrusting him back and against the wall of a building. “Keep your hands off my woman, shark!”

“Your woman?”

asked Cody, punching Garth back from him and straightening his T-shirt. “Nicolette is not…oh shit…is she your woman?”

Coming to his senses, Garth backed away slightly and looked down at his hands. It was then he saw they had started to shift forms. “W-what?”

“Dude, what’s up? You’ve always been weird, but even for you this is out of the norm. Tell me you’re not armed to the teeth. Your love of weapons is beyond weird,”

said Cody, shaking his head. “Why are you with Nicolette?”

Garth had to take several deep breaths to get his body to calm enough to permit him to return fully to human form. “I spent the night with her.”

“With her, with her? Or on-the-pull-out-sofa-that’s-apparently-for-wayward-shifters kind of with her?”

asked Cody, his voice rising a touch.

“Have you been with her, with her?”

questioned Garth, teetering on the brink of losing control once more.

Cody put his hands up slowly. “Take it easy. I have not slept with Nicolette. We’re friends. Good friends. And she’s never mentioned you before. I’d have remembered.”

He touched his chin. “Hold up. Was it you with her last night near some bakery or something?”

“Yes,”

replied Garth evenly.

Cody laughed. “My buddy Wheeler Summerbee does me a solid and keeps an eye on Nicolette and Clara for me when he can. He called me up, worried about some big-ass shifter dude who was near Nicolette. I tried Nicolette’s cell phone, but she didn’t answer. I tried Clara’s then, and she told me Nicolette had a Viking popping out of a cake or something. I don’t know. I didn’t catch all of it. All I got was not to worry. Nicolette was fine. Did you jump out of a cake for her?”

Garth latched on to part of what Cody had said. “You’ve not bedded her?”

“Christ, Viking, you have a one-track mind. No. I’ve not boned her,”

stated Cody. “But from the way you’re acting, you have.”

Garth grinned. “Yes. And I plan to do so again.”

Cody rolled his eyes. “Too much information, man. Just be cool about your exit strategy. She’s my friend. I don’t want to see her hurt.”

“Exit strategy?”

“Yes, as in when you leave to go back to your life, which isn’t here because I know all the PSI guys in Savannah. You’re not one of them.”

Garth wiped a hand over his face. Leave Nicolette? He couldn’t simply walk away from her. The very idea of it made his body tense and his pulse race. He turned in a half-circle, nervous energy filling him quickly.

“Okay, let’s not lose our shit, Viking. I’m sorry I asked. For now, how about we go with you needing to keep a handle on your wolf side. Nicolette doesn’t know about us.”

Garth paused, thinking about Nicolette asking if he could turn into a wolf. Had she been joking, then? “She doesn’t know about PSI and the I-Ops or supernaturals in general?”

“All of the above,”

supplied Cody. “Clara does, but only because she stumbled into it all when she got mixed up with the Para-Regs without realizing as much. Been hip to it for about a year now. She’s convinced Nicolette will freak if she finds out. I’m inclined to agree with her.”

“Clara knows of us?”

asked Garth, feeling like his brain was swimming in thick soup. Things were registering but far later than they should for him. “Does she know of your history?”

“You mean does she know I’m a reject?”

asked Cody with a snort. “Yeah. She’s cool with it though. Made me shift back and forth a bunch when she first found out. She thought it was neat. I humored her, until she asked if my man parts changed size too. I stopped show-and-tell there. Seemed best. I was with her when she figured out that she and—”

Nicolette appeared at the end of the alley, causing Cody to stop in mid-sentence. “There you are. I thought I’d make sure everything was okay out here. There was testosterone leaking all over the place a bit ago.”

Cody grinned. “We’re good. Catching up. Haven’t talked in a bit.”

“Uh-huh,”

she said, giving them a look that said she didn’t believe them. “Garth, would you like to come in too?”

“Can I?”

he asked, sounding like a child requesting permission to do something he greatly wanted to do.

Cody snorted and mumbled the words “pussy whipped”

under his breath.

Garth rammed his elbow into the man, making him grunt.

Nicolette blinked at them. “Boys?”

Cody motioned to her. “We’re fine. I swear. We go way back. He’s good people, Nicolette. We’ll be inside in a few minutes. I promise.”

She eyed them, and then touched her cheek. “Cody, do you know a man named Wheeler?”

“I do. He told me he bumped into you and encouraged you to head straight home. He was worried about you. He doesn’t know Garth, so I can see why he’d want to be sure you were okay.”

Cody smiled.

“Nice of you to tell me you had someone spying on me,”

she said, her gaze never leaving the shark-shifter.

Cody cleared his throat and tugged at the collar of his T-shirt. “Spying? What? No. It’s not like that. I just, uh, worry.”

“Sure. Don’t be out here too long, and if you start wrestling or anything, get me so I can take pictures to show Clara. She won’t want to miss out on hunky-guy wrestling.”

“You think he’s hunky?”

demanded Garth, his wolf stirring once more.

Cody touched his forehead. “Viking, I’m close to tranqing you.”

“What?”

Garth asked, swinging an annoyed look at Cody. “She said she thinks you’re a hunk. Don’t make me kill you.”

“No killing Cody,”

said Nicolette sternly. “And yes, of course I think he’s attractive. You both are. Now stop acting like an idiot.”

Garth opened his mouth to protest, and then closed it quickly, making Cody laugh more.

Nicolette headed back in the direction of the preschool and Garth tossed an arm out, knocking Cody back and onto his ass. He then stared down at the man before extending a hand to help him up. “You’re to stop being a hunk this instant!”

Cody took his hand, yanked himself up and huffed. “I’ll see what I can do. Going to start shouting about her being yours again?”

Garth stared off in the direction Nicolette had gone. “I wish she was mine.”

“She might very well be,”

supplied Cody.

“Huh?”

“Nothing. Let’s head inside before she comes out to check on us again,”

said Cody, clasping a hand on Garth’s shoulder. “Besides, I’m dying to see you around preschoolers.”

Garth stiffened. “I’m not a fan of children.”

“Yeah. I know.”

Cody led Garth to the school and in the side entrance. It was clear Cody knew his way around the place. Garth resisted asking just how many times Cody had been there. The shark-shifter pointed to a classroom door. “That one is the four-year-old room. Nicolette’s class. I’ll catch up with you later. I’m off to teach kids to wear a life jacket and to not look like a sea turtle in the water or risk being gobbled up by a great white.”

Garth rolled his eyes at the man.

Cody laughed and hurried away.

Garth entered the classroom and glanced around the room, noting all of the small pieces of furniture. While he wasn’t great with children, and had never thought he wanted any, he had to admit the thought was growing on him. He wanted them with Nicolette. His gaze swept to her. She was busy preparing for the arrival of the children.

She looked so sweet and innocent that it was hard to believe it was the same woman who had screamed out in pleasure throughout the night when they’d joined. The same woman who had artfully sucked him off.

His cell buzzed, indicating he had a text. He withdrew it from his back pocket and read it. The prisoner transport was called off. He didn’t know the hows or whys, and he didn’t care. All he knew was that it meant he could spend more time with Nicolette before he had to head back to PSI.

He didn’t want to leave her.

Hell, he’d been thinking of ways to talk her into joining him. Nothing he could think of sounded good, and tossing her over his shoulder and running off with her was frowned on in most circles.

His phone buzzed again. With a sigh, he checked to see if he was being recalled to home office. He wasn’t. What he saw made him smile.

Gram was awake, and so far, doing much better than expected.

Good.

Very good.

The serum had worked.

“Ms. Henebury!”

exclaimed a little boy as he ran into the room and right for Nicolette. He hugged her thigh, and then stepped back, taking off his tiny backpack. “Today is our celebration!”

“It is,”

she said, smiling wide before ruffling the boy’s hair. “Put your backpack in your cubby, okay?”

“Yes, ma’am,”

he said, rushing over and doing as instructed.

One by one, additional children arrived, all happy to see Nicolette and all excited about the party they were to have. Their joy would wane the minute they tasted the cupcakes.

Garth knew he should leave, but he found himself leaning against the cabinet, watching Nicolette as she interacted with the children, getting them ready for their day of fun activities. She was amazing with them. Clearly, she had a gift for dealing with children, and it was easy to see she loved her job.

The students loved her too.

A little girl with dark pigtails came to a stop in front of Garth and looked up, and up, and up before her eyes widened. “You’re tall like a tree.”

He grinned. “I suppose I am.”

“You have pretty hair,” she said.

Nicolette approached and grinned. “She’s right. You do have very pretty hair. I like it down but it’s nice back in a full braid too.”

Garth lifted a brow, wondering how she knew what his hair would look like fully braided.

The little girl laughed. “Only girls braid their hair, silly.”

Garth looked down at her. “That’s not entirely true. Some boys do as well.”

She tipped her head. “Like some girls have short hair?”

He nodded.

She seemed to think on it. “Okay. Come on.”

Before Garth could protest, the little girl had ahold of his pinkie finger and was tugging on him to follow her. He cast Nicolette a desperate look. She was too busy helping a little boy with his backpack to notice.

“You can sit here,”

said the little girl, pointing to a spot on a large rug that had a map of the world on it. He took a seat on part of Asia and followed the children’s lead, assuming the lotus position. It was easier said than done with as long as his legs were.

“He has girl hair,”

said a little boy, giggling and leaning towards another small boy.

The girl who had insisted Garth join in gave the boy a hard look. “Boys can have long hair too, and they can braid it!”

Nicolette neared them. “Are we using our inside voices?”

The children shook their heads.

“Sorry, Ms. Henebury,”

said the girl.

The boys apologized next.

Nicolette led the children in several songs, and Garth made an attempt to sneak away. That didn’t go as planned. The children had all begun to creep closer and closer to him, effectively pinning him in the center of them all. Asia was a very crowded spot on the map. He didn’t dare move, fearful he’d bump a child and break them or something. He wasn’t sure how easy they were to break and didn’t want to find out.

Nicolette’s gaze moved to him several times throughout the songs. Each time she smiled at him it made his heart melt, and he found himself grinning back at her. It took him a minute to realize the children were all giggling and whispering to one another.

“I think that’s her boyfriend,”

said one little girl to another. “He likes her a lot. You can tell.”

“She’s gonna be my girlfriend,”

protested a boy with a head of dark hair. He crossed his arms over his stomach and proceeded to pout.

Another boy laughed. “She can’t be your girlfriend. She’s too old.”

Garth wasn’t aware he had competition for Nicolette’s affection. He nearly laughed as the little boy gave him the stink-eye. He then remembered the last time he’d held a boy. That one had bitten him.

He hoped this one had all his shots.

“Time for our special treat,”

said Nicolette, going and getting the box of cupcakes. She assigned helpers, who eagerly set napkins on the round tables in the room and then helped to place a cupcake on each one.

The children dispersed, all going to wash their hands.

Garth seized the moment to stand and stretch his legs. He started for the door to leave, with the intent of returning when the school day was over, only to have several children head him off, forming a mini-adult road block.

“You have to stay for the treat,”

said one of them.

The others nodded.

He had to wonder if the tiny humans had figured out a way to mind-link because they acted like a well-trained unit. “I should be on my way now. You go on and have your celebration.”

“You talk funny,”

said a different boy. “How come?”

“That’s rude,”

added another, giving the first boy a hard look. “Ms. Henebury says we’re not allowed to be rude. It’s not nice. Do you want to get your name moved to red?”

The boy’s eyes widened, and he shook his head. “I just got off it this week.”

“We know,”

said a little girl.

Garth laughed softly at them. “I talk funny because I’m not originally from here.”

The little boy nodded. “I’m from Kentucky. You from there too?”

Garth smiled. “Ah, no. Have you ever heard of the Vikings?”

The children all nodded.

The boy who had asked where Garth was from stepped back a little. “Are you a Viking?”

“I am,”

responded Garth.

“Neat. Do you have a sword?”

asked the boy.

“All Vikings have swords,”

returned the little girl with an exasperated sigh. “Boys. Really. Who doesn’t know that all Vikings have swords?”

Garth gave her a sideways look. “You’re a very smart three-year-old.”

She put her hands on her hips and gave him a hard look. “I’m four.”

“Noted,”

said Garth with a nod.

She stopped glaring at him.

Nicolette clapped her hands. “Children, take your seats, please.”

They did, but not before grabbing Garth and dragging him in the direction of a table.

There was no way he was going to fit in one of those chairs.

He didn’t even bother to try. Instead, he stood there as the children began to eat their cupcakes.

Some ate happily.

Others made funny faces to indicate they weren’t so sure about what they were eating, and a few outright stopped chewing and spit the cupcakes out.

The boy nearest Garth turned around, a desperate look on his little face, his cheeks puffed.

Garth bent and put his hand out, permitting the boy to spit the chewed cupcake into his hand. He nodded to the boy. “I understand, and don’t blame you in the least. Want to go rinse your mouth out with water now?”

The boy nodded.

“Off with you, then,”

he said, standing to find Nicolette watching him.

Garth tried to hide the chewed cupcake from her line of sight but since it was in his hand, that didn’t exactly go as planned, either. He blushed. “You can’t blame the boy. They’re not exactly cupcakes.”

She laughed. “That’s two days in a row you’ve gotten cupcake all over you.”

He winked, and then headed for the lower-than-normal sink. He had to bend to wash his hands.

Nicolette pulled fruit from a small refrigerator in the room and the children all picked at it, laughing and singing more songs.

Garth found himself leaning partially against the low counter, putting his feet out, crossing one leg over the other, and watching the festivities. The longer it went on, the more he thought about possibly having his own children.

His sights set on Nicolette.

She’d make an amazing mother and mate.

He pulled his cell out and texted James back, wanting to know how long the drugs he’d been given would remain in his system. It felt like forever before James responded. The answer surprised Garth.

Apparently, the drugs should have already been out of his system, with the low dose he’d been given.

Strange.

They didn’t feel like they were out of his system.