Red Satin Lips Read online

  Appearing in the small cabin, Lars looked around and nodded. “I like it. It’s simple and quaint. Lydia, why don’t you go pack your belongings? You can take the bedroom upstairs on the right. Gage is also calling in the team. We’ll be staying here, but making trips back to my parents’ house when we need to.” He looked over at Lydia as Gage appeared in the room. “Oh, and Lydia, no one is to know where this place is located.”

  She nodded and disappeared from the room.

  “Would you like to go for a walk?” Lars asked Tamara. “I know you like the snow and I see you have a few acres here.” Lars held out his hand as he and Gage waited.

  “You’re not going to yell at me?” Tamara asked as she stepped up between the both of them.

  He leaned down and kissed her lips, softly. “No. We knew about this place and it’s secure enough. Plus, you needed to get away. I’m just sorry this had to happen. I won’t make excuses for my father, but I want to apologize for not stopping him. I was just so shocked he did that…” Lars looked over at Gage.

  “Lars is right, his father has never hurt anyone. This is so unlike him.” He leaned down and kissed the side of her neck. “I would like to apologize too. No matter what, I should have stopped him and I didn’t. I won’t let you down again, I promise.”

  Looking down at the ground, Tamara sighed. “Have I been a total bitch at your folks’ house? I mean, do you think I’ve been rude to people there?: She looked at him and then at Gage.

  “Why would you even say that? Of course you haven’t.” Lars lifted her hand up and kissed the top of it, sensing her insecurity.

  “I’ve just heard a few people saying things. I’m really trying, Lars. It’s just hard to be around so many people when it’s only been mom and me.” She covered herself in a winter coat, boots, gloves and hat.

  “Sweetheart, believe me, you’ve done nothing wrong. You have to understand that these men are old, very old and set in their ways, I’m afraid.” He took her hand as Gage took the other one, stepping out into the frosty air.

  “I haven’t done this in a while. I’ve forgotten how cold it can get.” He shook and changed his clothes to jeans, boots, and a winter coat as did Gage.

  “Wow, you are actually wearing jeans?” She teased and bumped his shoulder and he laughed.

  “Yes, I wear jeans and you know it.” He squeezed her hand as they stepped into the woods following a path. Behind them three of their team were following them while the rest of the team scoped out their surroundings and the house.

  “So tell us what happened this morning?” Gage asked as he pushed a branch out of the way so she could walk through.

  “I wanted to explore the tunnels I found the other day, so I finished my breakfast and I didn’t have anything else to do, so I grabbed the flashlight and took off. It’s amazing in there. I didn’t even get through half of the tunnels. The one I was going though was going down though, so I have no idea where it was, but I did mark my way so I could get back.”

  With each step they took, Lars and Gage touched her, keeping her focus on what she had been doing that morning. “Remember you have both Gage and me inside you now. Stop, take a look around you. What do you see, smell, and hear?” Lars halted their movement. “Close your eyes and visualize yourself there. We want you to remember everything. Nothing is too small.:

  She took a deep breath, nodded and closed her eyes. “I’m in the closet.” Tamara smiled. “I was thinking of what a good place to hide my dress from you two as I grabbed the flashlight I put there yesterday. After making sure it worked, I reached up and turned the latch to open the door.”

  “What does it smell like when you first open the door?” Gage encouraged her.

  Flicking her wrist, Tamara frowned. “I see spider webs all on the walls, but none are across the path where you walk. There is a musty scent, but not like you would smell if the tunnels hadn’t been opened.” She sucked in her breath and looked up at him. “I don’t know why I didn’t notice this, but on the floor there should have been dust on the black tar paper, but there was nothing, as if it had been cleaned away.”

  “That’s good, but keep going,” Lars encouraged her to continue. The thought of someone watching her dress and undress had his inner demon pressing to get out. He knew for a fact that Gage was having the same thought as Lars watched his hands turn to weapons and back.

  “I have a glow –in-the-dark marker in my pocket to mark the walls so I know my way back. So before I start off, I close my door and mark it.” She frowns and looks down at her hand. “There is no dust on the switch out there, but that could have been from me finding it the day before, but I didn’t close it from outside…Anyway, I traveled for about five minutes until I came to an intersection. I could go straight, right or left.” Tamara frowned and cocked her head to the side.

  “On the left path, there is a fine sheet of dust, but if I was to go straight there was no dust, to the right no dust. Others have been in the tunnels. I turn to the right, wanting to start there first. I mark the wall in both sections and proceed. I can feel I’m going down slowly, I smell food. Chili I think and I hear the whispers of the staff talking.” Tamara looked up at Gage.

  “It seems you have an admirer among the cooking team. The girl is going on and on about how hot you looked this morning when you and Lars left.” She peaked at him and he grinned.

  “I have only one woman and I love her dearly.” Gage kissed the top of her head and she snorted. “I think I need to talk to the kitchen staff and my feet are getting cold. Maybe we should go back to the house and finish this.” She stuffed her hands into her pockets and he nodded.

  He lifted her into his arms. “We’ll be there in a minute.” Lars put on the speed, knowing Gage was right beside them.

  “You know I could have walked.” She snuggled closer to him and kissed his chest.

  “Then I wouldn’t get to feel your body against mine. Where would the fun be in that?” Lars laughed almost slipping on the ice when Gage caught him from behind.

  She laughed and screamed, holding on tighter. “Watch what you’re doing, crazy man. You’re lucky Gage was here with us or you’d be on your ass right now.” She teased and he loved every minute of it, but stopped before entering the cabin.

  Lowering her to the ground, Lars placed her behind him. “Gage, do you smell that?”

  “Run!” Gage yelled, grabbing onto Tamara and tearing back towards the woods when seconds later her little house blew up sending all three of them to the ground with the force of the explosion.

  Her small cry had him lifting his head. A piece of wood stuck out of the back of Tamara’s shoulder and her leg was torn open from what looked like glass. The demon inside him burst forward and released a scream that he knew could be heard for miles.

  Chapter Two

  Once more pain radiated through her body. She was so tired of being attacked, but that was all forgotten when she heard the horrifying snarl behind her.

  Her ears hurt as whatever it was screamed so loud it shook some snow off the trees around them. Turning her head to glance over her shoulder, Tamara couldn’t believe what she was seeing. It was Lars, but it wasn’t. “Umm, someone care to tell me what’s going on? Other than the fact my house is gone and I have a piece of wood sticking out of my back?”

  Crawling slowly towards her, the thing that had been Lars looked over her body growling and snapping. “This is part of Lars. He explained to me yesterday that he was having a real difficult time controlling his beast, especially with all of the unmated men around the house. I think this newest threat broke the last of his resistance,” Gage said into her ear on her other side.

  “Great, Lars sweetie, I need you to help me here. That piece of wood needs to come out if I’m going to heal. Do you think you can yank it out of me?” Tamara asked shaking her head as his team started to rush forward.

  “Stand back, give us some room!” Gage yelled, halting their movements and causing Lars to lift his head and
slowly turn towards them, snarling.

  “Lars, I really need your help here. There is glass in my leg too.” Tamara was in awe of the creature that lived inside of her man. The outside of his skin looked to be rock hard and had a gray tint to it, but the two horns on the top of his head and his tail were a draw to her and she didn’t know why.

  All Tamara wanted to do was reach over and run her hands over him. “Okay, Lars, whatever you are doing, stop it! I can’t make love to you right now with things sticking out of my body.” She grumbled and Tamara could have sworn he grunted as he turned back to her with a grin on his face.

  Slowly, Lars started to shift back to the man Tamara loved. “I’m sorry, Love,” he said, his voice still a little rough. “I can’t believe you controlled the demon inside me. Hold on to her Gage, this is going to hurt,” Lars said and pulled out the wood without waiting.

  “Son of a bitch!” Tamara screamed, shoving her face into the snow trying to take the pain away somehow.

  “If there are any splinters your body should force them out now that the big piece is gone. Let’s take a look at this leg.” He looked up at Gage. “See if everyone is accounted for. As soon as I get this glass out, we’ll have to decide what to do. Somehow this person found out about this place and I want to know how!” Lars voice deepened, and she knew he was still close to shifting back.

  With her face frozen, Tamara took a deep breath. “Tell me about the demon inside you, Lars. Anything to distract me while you work on my leg. I have to say he was handsome and I don’t know why, but his horns and tail, well, they drew me to him,” she spit out through clenched teeth as he lifted her leg and put it on his thigh.

  “Our family is very old, and back in the day, I can’t remember who it was, but one of my ancestors was mated to a demon. Ever since that some of our males are born with another side to them. He can come in handy at certain time as you may remember on the beach, but other times it can be a hindrance.” He looked up at her. “Right now he’s furious someone is trying to kill his mate and you are his mate as much as mine. He wants to protect and mate with you.” He held her gaze for a minute then looked down at her leg.

  “I sense you don’t want me to mate with him. Why?” Tamara flinched as he started to pull the glass out of her leg.

  “I can’t control him when the shift happens. What if you get hurt?” Lars pulled a few smaller pieces out of her leg.

  “Lars, he is part of you and I’m sure we’d be fine. Question, why aren’t you two hurt? There’s not a scratch on you.” She looked at Gage’s backside as he talked with their unit.

  Feeling eyes on him, he looked over his shoulder and winked at her. She rolled her eyes and tried to sit up. It was slow going, but with Lars helping her, she was able to sit. “Back feels a little better.”

  “Gage and I worked on a spell together. It’s like a shield around our body when we are in heightened states. We should have done it for you, but we never thought…” He sighed and sat back.

  “Lars, you have to stop beating yourself up. You and Gage couldn’t have known about this threat, but it’s here and we’ll deal with it. Now, help me up.” She reached for him. “I know we are supposed to meet my father and your Grandfather. We also need to discuss where we are going to stay, and after all that you two get to take me shopping.” She grinned and they both moaned as Gage stood beside her.

  “Shopping, are you crazy?" Gage asked, wrapping his arm around her as did Lars.

  “No, everything I have is gone now. I need clothes,” Tamara said just as they flashed to his parents’ house inside her old room.

  Everything had been straightened up, the bed fixed and the mirror cleaned. She stepped into the closet and smiled. Her dress was still there. Or at least she hoped so. Frowning, Tamara went to open the garment bag, but Gage grabbed her arms and pulled her away from in.

  “No, Let Lars do it, Sweetie. We don’t know what’s in the bag,” Gage lifted her in his arms and moved out of the closet, but chose a place where they could see what was happening.

  “If you need to call to him, do it. He won’t hurt me or Gage,” Tamara said and he nodded as he slowly unzipped the bag.

  In an instant, Lars demon form came bursting through as hundreds of poisonous spiders started to fall out of the bag, onto his arms, and over the closet.

  She tried to draw closer to Gage. “Oh my God! I hate spiders! Gage, get me out of here,” she yelled, her hands clutching at his shirt as she buried her face into his neck.

  “They’re gone, Tamara,” her father said next to her as he placed his hand onto her shoulder and squeezed. “You’re man incinerated them all, but I’m afraid your dress is ruined.”

  Shaking, Tamara peeked out at the shredded dress as it was held up by Lars' demon. He snarled and looked at her. “I’m okay, Lars.” Tamara smiled, trying to bring back Lars. “We’ll just have to pick up another dress while we’re shopping later.”

  If it were possible, Tamara could have sworn even the demon cringed when she mentioned shopping. She watched as Lars came back into himself, laughing. “I do believe you have actually scared the demon away for now.” He teased, and she laughed.

  “That’s fine, but you better make sure there isn’t one spider left or you’re going to find how girly, girly I can get.” Tamara looked around the room as Alton stepped into the room, followed by Lars father.

  Her gaze met his and she shivered, huddling into Gage again. “If you want to go into the tunnels. Let’s do this and get it over with. I have an appointment to keep with Lars’ mom.”

  Without a word, Gage stepped into the closet. The smell of burnt spiders was gone. He lowered her to the floor and moved in front of her as he reached up, sliding the panel open.

  Hating that she was acting like a baby, Tamara took a look around, hoping no spiders had gotten free as she stepped into the tunnel. “See, this is where I marked. Do you have a flashlight?”

  Reaching around Gage, Lars handed her one. “I think Gage should go first, Tamara,“ Lars said, coming up behind her as Gage took the lead.

  “We go straight till we come to the first intersection.” She held onto the back of Gage’s pants as they made their way down the tunnel. “You’ve never been in the tunnels, Lars?” She looked over at her shoulder at him and he smiled.

  “I used to play in them as a child, but it’s been a long time.” He looked over his shoulder at his father. “Dad use to get furious at me when I come in here, because there were so many ways to get lost. If I’m not mistaken, one leads out and away from the house itself?”

  His father nodded. “It opens up to a storm vent in the park. I had it sealed when he was small.”

  She stopped and turned. “Has anyone checked to make sure that it wasn’t opened up again? It sure would make it easy for someone to slip in and out of here.” At once Lars’ father, snarled.

  “Don’t you think I would have made sure that this access was well taken care of before everyone came for the gathering?” His words had an edge to them and had her stepping back into Gage’s chest.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say you hadn’t. I’m just going through all possibilities.” She started to turn around, but Trevor reached around Lars and grabbed onto her arm.

  “Don’t please,” her voice came out in a whisper, but they all heard her.

  “Sir, please slowly release her arm. She’s afraid and right now Lars is fighting with the demon so he won’t hurt you.” Gage said each word through his teeth, while his other hand had wrapped around her waist.

  “I’m sorry. I wanted to apologize. I’ve hurt you and I have no excuse. My father was right. This will be the last year for one of these parties here. It’s just too much pressure, but it’s still no excuse for what I did, so please forgive me,” Trevor released her arm and bowed his head.

  She nodded. “That’s okay.” Tamara turned and pushed Gage back. “Move, I want to get this done.” Tamara was still nervous, but she was bound to see this thro
ugh.

  The air in the tunnels grew cooler and Tamara knew they were getting closer to the intersection. Gage stopped in front of her and she looked around him, nodding. “See, what I was talking about. There is dust on that path, but not here or here.” She flashed the light so he could see.

  “Where does that lead to?” Gage asked Lars about the other section.

  “The one that hasn’t been used is for the upstairs attic I believe. The other is the basement, while this one where she’s marked leads to the other side of the house and down to the exit.” Lars leaned in and nipped her shoulder.

  “You were smart to mark your way, but the thought of you down here by yourself has me wanting to pull you over my knee and spanking that cute ass. What were you thinking, Tamara?” he rubbed his hand over her ass.

  “What? I thought I would be safe. We have a house full of ancients and your team, plus not many should have even known about these tunnels.” She pointed her flash light down the way she had gone as they started to move again.

  The smell of food cooking made her smile. “Better cover your ears Gage…” She giggled and he snarled.

  “Keep it up, little lady, and I’ll have you over my knee,” he grumbled as the one cook in question cussed.

  “Can you believe it? He’s gone just because someone cut up her precious clothes. Now I’ll never get a chance with him. He’s an Alpha .What the hell is he doing with that wimp bitch anyway?” The woman stormed on and on.

  “You were saying all-mighty Alpha?” she snapped and tried to push past him, but he wrapped his arms around her and bit her shoulder.

  “Mine! I will prove it soon,” Gage snarled before pushing her back and taking the flashlight out of her hands and moving on.

  “Humph, not today you won’t be. We have plans,” she stopped and frowned, looking around. “Something’s not right. I know I came down further, but I marked right after the kitchen.” She looked up at the walls, but there was no mark.