Hope Awakened by Charlene Hartnady

Chapter 6

Hope dipped her toes into the cool crystal water. It was perfect. The weather was lovely and hot. She’d sat in the sun for half an hour soaking up the rays, and now it was time for a refreshing swim. She made sure that her towel was nearby, then she peeled off her sarong and dove into the water.

It took her breath away for a couple of seconds before her body became accustomed to the temperature. She swam a number of lengths before going to the edge and admiring the view. There were mountains in the background as far as the eye could see.

Sure, there were dangers and definite cultural differences, but this felt right somehow. She’d wanted a change in her life. Something new…an adventure. This was an adventure alright. Hope chuckled to herself as she dipped under the water for a few seconds before coming back up. A smile was still firmly plastered to her lips.

“Do you always laugh so much, and for no reason?”

Hope squealed as she turned towards the voice. She clasped a hand to her chest when she saw Reece standing there. “Oh…hi. You shouldn’t sneak up on a person.” She wiped the water off her face.

He was in the same pair of jeans as before. His eyes dipped down to her chest. She looked down as well. Oops! The water was a little cold. Her nipples had taken center stage through the thin fabric of her bikini. She’d ended up going with a bright green number with black trim. It worked well with her dark hair and light complexion. In hindsight, perhaps a darker color would have been more practical. If she’d known she’d have to share a house, she might have chosen differently. The good news was that the Ferals were used to nudity. She didn’t need to be modest.

Reece frowned, looking anything but interested. Not that she thought he would be. That was the thing, though. She was average-looking, even though she had striking blue eyes and dark hair. She was a little on the short side, maybe even slightly dumpy, but she had good boobs…no, great boobs. They were her best asset, aside from her hair. You would never say so, judging from his disapproving look. “I’m not sure that’s appropriate work attire.” His golden eyes locked with hers.

“I’m not on the clock right now. I start tomorrow morning. The trip here was long and noisy. I thought I would have a snack and something to drink, followed by a quick swim before unpacking.” She gestured to an empty plate and glass on the table. “I was sure I had the afternoon to myself. I thought I was alone.” Why was she having to explain all of this?

He held her gaze for a few long seconds before nodding once. “That is a suitable explanation.” He still didn’t look happy.

Hope couldn’t believe how serious he was. She wondered to herself if he ever had fun. If he ever let his hair down and relaxed – smiled even – once in a while. She somehow doubted it. He pulled in a lungful of air. His chest expanded, making her look down. What a chest it was. Broad and muscular. No hair except for a light smattering on his garden path… that was it. Reece cleared his throat.

Shit!

She needed to stop checking him out already.

“My colleague, Locke, will be here soon. It might be better if you put more clothing on. Just a suggestion.”

“Oh? Who is Locke and why is he coming here?” She waded over to the steps and got out of the water, grabbing her towel.

“He is on the second shift responsible for overseeing the royal safety, and your safety too.” His voice was gravelly.

Hope continued to dry her body and moved on to her hair.

“Locke will share this house with you. It will be up to him to keep you safe at night.”

“Oh…” Hope looked up at Reece, who was staring at the view ahead. “I thought you were going to be the one to do that.”

“Locke has more experience with humans. He has a better understanding of your kind.” He looked back at her. “I think you will be more comfortable with him.” His eyes dipped down, and he frowned before looking back up at her face. “You will need to put some clothes on.” His voice was gruff. He sounded angry. “He will be here shortly.”

“I thought that Ferals were comfortable with nudity. You warned me earlier about having to accept that.”

“You are not a Feral.” He definitely sounded angry.

“Why does that make any difference?” She shrugged.

“It just does.” Reece pressed the tips of two of his fingers to the corners of his eyes for a second or two before releasing. He sighed. “Feral males are highly attracted to human females.”

“You are?” she gasped. It was hard to believe, since they were larger than life. Like movie stars and linebackers rolled into one. Humans were…dull in comparison.

“Not me!” he all but snarled. “I find you all too small and too weak. I’m not sure how human females withstand mounting. You do not appeal to me.”

Mounting? She could guess exactly what that was. Funny how hearing him say that gave her a strange feeling in her lower belly. Hope wasn’t sure why, since he was referring to hardcore sex. Sex hectic enough to break a human. Hope had always been into slow and tender…into making sweet love. Maybe she’d been wrong on that count all these years. Her husband had gone looking for it elsewhere. Then again, affairs weren’t always about sex. Thinking about that made her feel worse. She pushed thoughts of her failed marriage aside.

“It’s sad somehow that you don’t like humans…in that way.” She frowned. “Doesn’t that mean you won’t ever mate or have kids? I mean that’s fine if you enjoy being on your own.” She couldn’t help but think how all of that gorgeousness was going to waste. Then again, he was a big grouch. Although, if he took sex half as seriously as he did everything else, he’d be amazing in bed. Okay…her thoughts had taken a turn back into murky territory.

“That is none of your business, Dr. Bristol.” He folded his arms.

Oops!He was right. “My apologies. I was just wondering…that’s all.”

There was a flapping sound. She saw a griffin shifter descend behind the house. It had to be Locke.

Reece’s throat worked; his eyes were aimed in that direction. “Get dressed,” he snapped, looking at her.

He was obviously used to giving orders. The only thing she had nearby was the sarong. Although Hope felt like arguing on principle, she complied, tying it around her hips. Since they had to work together for the foreseeable future, she would play nice. Just this once. If he thought he could boss her around about everything, particularly in her own time, he was mistaken.

Instead of looking placated, as she expected, Reece gave her a dirty look. “You need to conceal your mammary glands, Doctor. They are large, and that covering is hardly sufficient. You will need to cover up in front of my males at all times. No skimpy outfits. No parading around half-naked.” He shook his head, looking disappointed in her.

Firstly, mammary glands?

And secondly, what was his problem?

And thirdly, asshole! He was starting to irritate the hell out of her.

This was her home for the foreseeable future, and she was off duty. Not only that, Hope was with a species who spent half their life in their animal form and almost all of the rest of the time naked or practically naked. What the hell! “I will wear what I want in the comfort of my home.” She pointed at the house. “It’s not my fault I need a guard. Not my fault that this crazy king is fixated on stealing the babies. My breasts are covered sufficiently.” She pointed at her boobs. Thankfully, her nipples were back under control. The bikini was sexy, but the right size for her. “I won’t walk around naked…only because that’s not how I roll, but guess what, if I change my mind, I’ll do what I want whenever I am off duty. I don’t report to you. Whatever this ego trip is that you have going on, I suggest you stop right now, or there’s going to be serious friction between us.”

Friction.

Her belly tightened.

Stop!

What the hell?

He pulled in a deep breath, his eyes still blazing. “Walk around like that in front of Feral males and you will attract unwanted attention, I can promise you that,” he said in an even voice. “We are a base species, Dr. Bristol. You have been warned. I didn’t mean to offend you in any way.” His jaw was tight. “I made it clear to my team that they may not mount…have sexual relations with you. If you choose to stay on at a later stage, once the threat has been terminated, then you may take as many males to your furs…um…to your bed as you wish. You can take all the time you want choosing a mate, if that is what you wish to do. But I would ask you to refrain, for the time being, from testing compatibility with any males… most especially those from my team. We all need to be focused on the task at hand. The queen and her unborn chicks are the main focus. Not you, Doctor!”

“Your team? You told your whole team that I’m off-limits? Did you think that just because I’m single, I might want to have sex with everyone?” What was wrong with this guy? She’d done nothing to warrant this attitude. Did he actually think that she wanted to sleep with his entire team and then some? Test compatibility? What did that even mean? She didn’t want to know. No, thank you! “And also, I know I’m not the main focus. I’m good with that.”

“My point is that you are young…in your prime and unmated…” He nodded a few times. “So yes, I do think that. And it would normally be perfectly acceptable to have relations with whomever you wanted.” He shrugged.

She made a squeaking noise because she didn’t know what to say. Quite frankly, she had been rendered speechless.

“I’m going to tell you what I told them…refrain. Please don’t! Don’t tempt my males with your sizable mammary glands and soft skin. Don’t give them mounting signals, because they will have a hard time turning you down.”

“A hard time turning me down?” she snorted. Hope still couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Not you, though?” She wasn’t sure why she said that. It wasn’t like she wanted anything to do with this asshole.

“No!” He shook his head. “Not me.” He actually looked afraid at the prospect. Afraid that he would break her? Huh! What he didn’t understand was that she was made from tougher stuff. Not that she was interested in him, though. Forget that. “I can’t ban you, Dr. Bristol, but I can come down on them hard. I’m talking fifty lashes with a silver-tipped whip and a week in the cage.”

“Silver-tipped whip?” Hope half-whispered, but only because she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. How barbaric!

“You’re scaring the human, Reece.” An ultra-tall guy walked onto the wooden deck. His footfalls were soundless since he wasn’t wearing any shoes. Like Reece, he only had pants on. A pair of gray sweats, to be exact. It was clear from the considerable outline that he was ‘commando’ underneath the sweats. Hope felt her cheeks heat; she kept her eyes on the guy’s face. “You must be Dr. Bristol,” he said, smiling broadly. “I’m Locke.” He held out his hand.

She took his hand and shook it. “Call me Hope.” They let go of each other’s hands.

“Hope?” He shook his head. “I can’t call you that, not if I want to avoid that silver-tipped whip.” He winked at her. “Thanks, though, Dr. Bristol. I appreciate the sentiment.”

“Locke will stay here with you,” Reece said. “He will stay out of your way and keep you safe.”

“By staying focused on the job at hand,” she said.

“Exactly,” Reece said.

Locke rolled his eyes. “I can see that you got the full speech too.”

“This is serious,” Reece grumbled.

“Of course.” Locke nodded. “You were right.” He smiled. “Dr. Bristol is very beautiful.”

Reece had said that about her? Really?

Reece’s jaw tightened, so maybe it was true. Maybe he had said it. “You are taking my words out of context,” he muttered. Now that made sense.

“Stop while you are ahead, my friend.” Locke touched Reece on the back. “I am sure you are very busy. I am here now, Dr. Bristol is safe.”

“I should show you the sleeping arrangements,” Reece said, looking from Locke to Hope and back again.

“You’re in the room right next to the bathroom, and I’m one up from that,” Hope said to Locke.

“I think we’re good,” Locke said to Reece, who visibly bristled.

His jaw tightened up further, and his eyes narrowed. “You’re sure?” It came out in a bit of a growl, reminding her that they weren’t human. Humans didn’t sound like that.

Reece turned his golden eyes onto her. He was sizing her up, as if trying to decide if he could trust her. Holy freaking shit! Reece didn’t want to leave because he was sure that she would jump Locke the second he did. This guy was too much!

“Yes, I’m sure. I’m going to unpack and hang out in my room. I will stay out of your way, Dr. Bristol.”

“I’m going to shower quickly,” she held up a hand, “if that’s okay with you? Apparently, we’re sharing a bathroom.”

“Absolutely fine. I’ll shower later, before bed.”

Hope pushed out a breath. “I’ll go and shower, then. I still need to unpack. I see that there’s a ton of easy meals in the refrigerator. I’ll probably grab one of those and hit the sack early.”

“Why would you hit a sack?” Reece was frowning heavily. “Is that how you humans work out?”

Hope rubbed her lips together to stop herself from laughing. She knew she would piss Reece off if she so much as smiled.

“It means to go to bed,” Locke said. “Sack, furs, bed; they’re all the same thing.” Locke shrugged.

Reece did not look happy at all. His mouth was pressed into a tight white line. She could see that he was clenching his teeth. “Fine.” He nodded. “I will leave you to it. I look forward to your debriefing at shift changeover tomorrow,” he told Locke.

Locke nodded once.

“I’ll see you both later,” Hope said, then headed to her room. It was clear that Reece wasn’t going to be the first person to leave. That he had something to say to Locke. He probably wanted to threaten the poor guy. To tell him that even though he lived with a temptress, that he needed to ignore all of her – what had he called them? Mounting signals? It was absurd. Completely ridiculous.

Hope unpacked a few things, then grabbed a pair of sweats and a t-shirt out of her bag, together with her toiletry bag, and went back into the hallway.

Locke was there. He was about to go into his bedroom. He smiled when he saw her. “You good?” he asked.

She nodded. “For the record, I promise I won’t throw myself at you. I’m not here to meet men…to sleep with as many guys as I can.” Her face felt flushed. She hadn’t realized how upset she was until right then. “You’re safe with me.” She tried to laugh, wanting to ease the tension building inside her. It came out sounding even more tense.

Locke gave a soft laugh. “I must apologize on behalf of Reece. I know he comes across as…as a—”

“An asshole?” she pushed out.

He nodded and smiled. “Yes, somewhat of an ass, but he’s a good guy. He hasn’t had it easy. He has no experience with humans…none whatsoever. His job is his life. Even though he comes across as an asshole, I promise you he isn’t one. You’ll have to take it from me until you get to know him.”

“So, he just acts like one? He seems to think that I’m some sort of seductress hellbent on sleeping with everyone on his team and then some.”

“I don’t think he knows what to think. Reece is so far out of his depth with you – a female – a human female at that…” He paused for a moment. She could see that he was gathering his thoughts. “He has no idea what to think or how to manage the situation. He’s flying blind, and Reece doesn’t cope well unless everything is ordered and neatly in a box.”

“He should educate himself and not take his own insecurities out on me. How is it that you have experience with human women when he doesn’t?”

“Many of our males, myself included, have spent time on human soil, interacting with and learning about humans. I have been several times. In fact, I met someone on my last trip, we have been texting back and forth for a while.”

“That’s great,” Hope said. “So, I’m assuming that Reece hasn’t interacted with humans? Crossed over into our lands, even once?”

“No.” Locke shook his head. “He’s always too busy. Like I said, work has become Reece’s life. All work and no play has made that particular male dull indeed.” He laughed.

She joined in. “You’re telling me.”

“He will lighten up when he gets to know you.” Locke looked at her strangely. He had something resembling a smirk on his face.

“What is it?” she asked, cocking her head.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but I think he’s attracted to you.”

“Reece, attracted to me?” She pointed at herself, frowning. “I think you have that wrong. He doesn’t even like me. He said that humans are weak and unattractive.”

“He likes you just fine, Doctor.”

“You can call me Hope.”

“I can’t.” Locke grinned. “Orders. He’s seriously attracted to you and doesn’t know what to do with that attraction.”

“Nothing! That’s what he can do with it, unless he wants a punch to the throat.”

Locke choked out a laugh. “I like you, Doc. I like you very much. It’s such a pity you’re meeting Reece under these circumstances. I think you could have—”

“Don’t even go there.” She held up a hand.

“That’s the thing. Reece won’t do anything about it. He might drive everyone around him mad, but he won’t lay so much as a finger on you or show the least bit of interest. He’s too professional for that.”

“That suits me just fine. I’m not here for love…or even sex, for that matter. I came for a change of scenery. I just got out of a long-term relationship. I don’t want anything to do with men.”

“Good thing Reece isn’t a man…he’s a keythong.” Locke winked at her. “The highest-ranking non-royal. He is a catch.”

“You are a fabulous wingman, but I’m not interested. Not even a little bit.”

Locke frowned. “That’s perfect, since the situation doesn’t warrant it right now. Things will settle down…you’ll see. Reece will calm down. You won’t see him much, since he is working at night and asleep during the day. Maybe five minutes here or there.”

“I’m happy to hear it.” She wasn’t sure why, but that wasn’t entirely true. She felt a little disappointed hearing Locke say it. “Suits me just fine,” she mumbled anyway.

“Give him a chance, Doc. First impressions are not always correct.”

She nodded once. “Thanks for clearing a few things up for me.”

“Anytime. Call if you need anything. I will leave my door slightly ajar.”

She nodded once. Hope wasn’t buying it. Not for a second. Reece wasn’t attracted to her. Surely she would have seen something in his eyes or on his face…something? She did agree that he was a driven workaholic who took things far too seriously. Also, he didn’t have a clue as far as humans were concerned. Their species were very different. Some of the reasons for the clash between them had stemmed from that. It got her thinking.

“One last thing,” she asked Locke before he could leave. “Why would he think that I would want to have sex with every guy around? Were Feral women quite promiscuous? It’s not a bad thing if they were.” She didn’t want it to seem like she was putting their species down. She just wanted to understand them better. Particularly men like Reece, who weren’t very familiar with humans.

Locke kept his eyes on hers. “That’s a very good question. There were far more males to females and so females would spend time with several keythongs before finally deciding on a mate. You could definitely say that our females were highly promiscuous.”

“So, a Feral woman would date different guys, one after the other?”

Locke shook his head. “No, a female would test compatibility with several males at the same time.”

“Compatibility?” she murmured. There was that word again.

“Compatibility in bed, Doc. So, whether a person was a good fuck or not. I don’t mean to be crude, but that’s how our species tests whether they are a good match. It is an important aspect of a relationship. In fact, unlike humans, it’s one of the first steps taken before starting a relationship. If a female is attracted to a male, then compatibility would be tested. A female would fuck various males before spending time with any or all of them.”

“Bed hop?” Her mouth fell open.

“Yes.” Locke nodded. “It was perfectly normal for a female Feral to have four or five males at the same time. Sometimes even more than one male in her furs at once.”

“Okay, well, that makes sense as to why he would be so worried. Humans don’t do things like that. Well, not as a rule. Not me!” She widened her eyes. “Not that I’m judging. I know that the royal couple comprises two men and a woman and that’s perfectly fine. It wouldn’t be for me, though…that’s all.” She shrugged.

“Relax. I know what you mean, Doc. And Reece will realize it soon, as well.”

She nodded once. “Okay, then. I understand Reece a little more. I’m glad we had this chat. I will make an effort to get along with him and to cut him some slack.” She just had to hang in there until he realized as much. No problem! She’d faced worse challenges in recent months.