Freedom in the Smokies Read online

  “The woman is a horse whisperer, I tell you. Go…” Sergius pointed toward the back door. “See for yourself. If you don’t like her, we can readdress the issue. We told her the position was temporary, pending your approval. And, yes, it’s a dangerous time. But hell, she was determined to take a job in this area. How could she possibly be safer than with us?”

  “What did you tell her about the danger?” Micah leaned toward his brother and grasped the edge of the kitchen island.

  “Nothing.” Sergius shook his head. “Not a word.”

  Micah looked at Juliana, who smiled at him. “She’s impressive. You won’t be disappointed. I guarantee it.” She went back to chopping. “It’s like she cast a spell on us. We fell in love with her on sight.” She chuckled.

  She wasn’t kidding. She and Sergius seemed to be under the woman’s spell. “What about McKinney? Have you all gone mad? That bastard kidnapped Juliana with the intent to kill her just last year. And even more recently, he captured Jaxon with the same intentions. Why the hell would you hire a human right now?” Micah narrowed his gaze at Sergius.

  “Dude, the vampire hasn’t bothered us for eight months. Maybe he gave up. We know he’s out there. We’ve seen the signs. But he hasn’t approached any of us and hasn’t been scented anywhere near our farm.”

  “Are you crazy? Gave up? McKinney?” Micah shook his head. “McKinney will never give up. I’m betting it took him this long to heal and regroup after Jaxon staked him. He’s fucking pissed and biding his time before he strikes again.”

  “Maybe. Maybe not.” Sergius stepped closer. “But it still doesn’t belie the fact that Kaitlyn Winston wanted a job in the area. If I hadn’t hired her, someone else would’ve and then she’d be in even more danger. We can protect her better than anyone.”

  Micah snorted. “Sure, except for the fact McKinney derives great pleasure in torturing anybody who comes near us. Did you think of that?”

  Sergius nodded and leaned his elbows on the counter. “Of course I did. But her determination and qualifications trumped the negatives. She’s a godsend. You’ll see.”

  “Where’s she staying?” It wasn’t safe for someone—anyone, man or woman—to travel back and forth from town to the farm.

  Sergius glanced at the floor, as did Juliana. Shit.

  “We put her in the guest room in your wing,” she whispered. “We didn’t think you’d mind.”

  “What?” he shouted. “Just because I’m the only one not mated, you thought it would be okay to bunk some strange woman in my wing?” Blood flooded his neck and climbed up to flush his face.

  What the hell? The entire family was possessed.

  “We didn’t mean—” Juliana’s voice rose as she tried to defend their actions.

  Sergius stepped forward and cut his mate off. “Calm down, little brother. We can always move her. We thought she’d like some privacy last night, and no one was in your wing. It doesn’t matter whose wing she lives in.”

  Sure. What Sergius meant was neither he nor Jaxon could be bothered to keep their hands off their mates and the sounds of their fucking to a low roar last night, so they’d put this Kaitlyn woman in Micah’s wing.

  Great. Just great. How the hell was he supposed to undo that?

  Wait…

  “Did you say, live? She’s planning to live with us?” Why hadn’t that idea occurred to him earlier? Of course she would live here because of McKinney.

  But in this house?

  In his wing?

  Because he was single and the others weren’t?

  Fuck.

  What the hell was he supposed to do when he became…unsingle?

  Micah had been tired, grouchy and achy when he’d arrived home. Now he was fuming.

  Turning on his heel, he grumbled as he retraced his steps to the front door. He grabbed his overnight bag in a huff and stomped down the hall toward his wing. At the very least, he needed to tighten the rein on his emotions before he headed to the barn. Just because his family had lost their minds didn’t mean he had to take it out on this flaming-green-loving Kaitlyn person. What color do you suppose her hair is? Pink?

  Micah passed the closed door of his guest room. A stronger whiff of the floral perfume he’d scented earlier made him scrunch his nose. It wasn’t unpleasant; it simply reminded him he was now practically rooming with a girl.

  The next door led into his suite of rooms. He entered and kicked the door shut behind him. After dropping his pack by the entrance, he headed straight for his giant bed and flung himself down on his back to regroup.

  It wasn’t that the house wasn’t big enough for one extra person. Hell, he and his brothers had spent months designing it for their future needs. The idea to add guest rooms to each brother’s wing had been Jaxon’s. Just in case. Sure. Just in case a decade down the road, an eccentric woman might show up in a tiny green car and need a place to live.

  Micah wasn’t being fair. He took a deep breath and stretched his body to work out the kinks.

  Hell, he hadn’t even met the woman yet.

  Under normal circumstances, his brothers and their women were sharp as tacks. He could only pray they hadn’t made a mistake this time.

  Chapter Two

  Kaitlyn couldn’t wipe the smile off her face. She was currently the luckiest person alive. What were the odds? When she’d seen the tiny ad for this job in the bottom corner of an out-of-date news article, she’d had little hope it was still available.

  Her world couldn’t be more perfect. A job on a small family farm in her beloved Smokies.

  She leaned into the gorgeous mare and laid her cheek against the lean neck. “Aren’t you a pretty one?”

  The mare’s ears twitched in answer, and she eagerly took the carrot from Kaitlyn’s outstretched hand. Kaitlyn had managed to spend time with six of the marvelous thoroughbreds so far this morning. She wanted each horse to have a chance to get to know her before she started working with them. Trust was a key part of their training.

  As Kaitlyn brushed the horse’s mane, she mumbled soft words of encouragement. When she came around front, she made eye contact and gazed into the deep brown eyes that would soon come to know and respect her. Warmth spread through her body. Nothing could compare to the love affair she had with horses. Unconditional. They were even better than dogs. They would stand still and truly appear to listen to her when she spoke to them. Hell, they even nodded sometimes.

  Kaitlyn smiled.

  A throat clearing to her left made her whip her head around.

  “Sorry. I…” The man in the doorway had to be the missing brother, Micah.

  Kaitlyn swallowed hard. The man was so sexy. His bronzed arms bulged with muscles. Even though it was chilly, he wore no jacket, just a T-shirt that showed off his firm pecs. She licked her lips. He leaned casually against the frame of the stall, one leg crossed over the other.

  She couldn’t take her gaze off him. He looked similar enough to his two older brothers to be obviously of the same family, but something about him was different—and that something made her clench her legs together. She gripped the brush in her hand and leaned into the mare for support. A tightening in the pit of her stomach made her aware of the instantaneous attraction she had for this man. She struggled on wobbly legs to remain upright and gather her wits.

  What the hell was the matter with her? She never swooned over anyone. She so didn’t need this. A man was not in her plans. Ever.

  His lips moved again, but no sounds came out. He glanced at the ground and then back at Kaitlyn. “You were so engrossed. I couldn’t bring myself to interrupt.”

  His eyes were a more penetrating deep brown than Jaxon’s or Sergius’s. They bored into her as he spoke. His brow furrowed in concentration. A chill went up her spine as something from her past niggled in the back of her mind—like déjà vu. The look he gave her reminded her of something.

  He propped one shoulder against the gatepost, and yet…something was off. As if his stance were
forced. One leg was bent and crossed over the other, but rigid.

  She rose to her full height and stepped around the mare to greet her third boss. After wiping her sweaty palm on her jeans, she reached out toward him with a shaky hand. “Kaitlyn Winston.”

  Micah stared at her hand for several seconds as though unsure what the gesture meant. She didn’t know what to do, so she waited while her hand shook harder. Nerves sent a shiver through her body.

  Maybe no one had told Micah she was here? His brothers had mentioned the possibility the man wouldn’t be super fond of the idea of hiring her without his permission. In fact, they’d said her appointment to the job was provisionary, pending Micah’s approval. However, she hadn’t really expected it to be a problem.

  Now she doubted her assumption.

  In slow motion, Micah removed his right hand from his jeans pocket and reached for hers. His gaze never lifted. He hesitated at the last second, making Kaitlyn squint her eyes toward her hand.

  “Micah Durham,” he mumbled as he latched onto her firmly.

  Kaitlyn gasped when he touched her. Holy hell. His grip alone made her pussy grow wet with need. She instantly wanted to feel that hand on the rest of her body. Good grief. She shook the thought from her mind. Surely it had been a shock of static electricity that raced up her arm. The man must have shuffled across the barn to get to her. He put off enough of a charge to make her jolt. Geez.

  His hand was extraordinarily warm. He gave a quick shake before tugging back almost prematurely.

  How rude.

  Kaitlyn let her hand drop as she glanced toward the youngest Durham brother’s chiseled face. The single brother.

  Heat rose to flush her cheeks. Her bra suddenly felt too tight and her nipples abraded the lace. All this from a handshake? What would happen if he kissed her? The flush spread down her chest. She’d probably orgasm on the spot.

  Get a grip. You can’t have this man. You work for him. You don’t want a man, remember?

  If she’d learned one thing in her twenty-two years, it had been never to mix business with pleasure.

  She’d seen the results time and again in her grandmother’s barn. Hired hands who flirted with each other, screwed behind the hay bales and then had to deal with the effects of working together after a break-up.

  Micah stared at her until the silence between them grew uncomfortable. What’s with this guy? He could stop traffic with his looks and yet his social skills were severely lacking.

  Perhaps he was mentally challenged? She had enough experience working with disabled children to handle him. But she hadn’t been expecting this turn of events. Maybe the others hadn’t prepared her because they wanted to test her to see how she would handle him.

  Shaking off her initial shock, Kaitlyn broke the ice. “I was just introducing myself to your horses. This mare and I seem to have hit it off.”

  Micah blinked. His gaze wandered from her head to her toes and back up while she waited. He definitely seemed to be challenged in some way. She’d been in this situation hundreds of times. As with children, and coincidentally, horses, she would need to earn this man’s trust.

  “Do you have a favorite?”

  Micah tipped his head to one side with a quizzical look on his face. “A favorite what?”

  “Horse.” She leaned toward him a few inches and then stopped to give him time to get used to her nearness. She resumed stroking the mare’s neck, but let her gaze glance back and forth between the mare and the man.

  The confusion disappeared from Micah’s face and he straightened from his slouch against the post. “You can’t stay here. This’ll never work. It’s not safe.” Turning on his heel, Micah stomped away.

  Kaitlyn heard him mutter, “God almighty,” under his breath.

  She watched his quick escape. He never looked back.

  For several minutes, she stood and trembled in the aftermath of one of the strangest and, in a way, the most frightening encounters she’d ever had with a man.

  That didn’t go well. And what the hell did he mean? What danger? From him? Or from something or someone else?

  “Kaitlyn?” The voice behind her caused her to spin around so fast she almost tripped over her own boots. “You okay? You look like you saw a ghost.” Jaxon chuckled as he came toward her.

  “I, um…I met your brother Micah.” Why didn’t you tell me he was so…

  “Oh.” He grabbed a shovel from against the wall. “Was there a problem?”

  Not unless you consider being a flat-out sex god without enough brain cells to hold normal conversation a problem. No.

  “I don’t think he was too pleased with my presence.” That was putting it mildly.

  “Really?” Jaxon leaned back and cocked his head. “What did he say? I knew he’d be shocked we’d hired someone, but…”

  She wasn’t about to tell Jaxon what his brother had said. It still gave her chills. You can’t stay here. This’ll never work. It’s not safe.

  “Not much. But he didn’t seem happy.”

  “I’ll go talk to him. That’s strange.”

  She didn’t want to get Micah in trouble, especially if he was mentally challenged in some way. That was no way to make friends. And she wanted this job more than anything. She could overcome this obstacle…in time. She just needed to get to know Micah. Eventually everyone liked her. “No, Jaxon, please, don’t worry. He was probably shocked to find me here.”

  God, I hope he doesn’t have violent tendencies. Maybe that’s why he said it wasn’t safe.

  “Okay. Don’t worry. He’ll come around. You almost done?” He let the subject drop and nodded to the stall she’d left open behind her. The one with the mare who’d inched toward her and stuck her head out for more of the attention she’d been getting.

  “Oh, yeah. Just finishing up.” Kaitlyn guided the mare back into the stall. Now she needed to work up enough courage to return to the house. She couldn’t very well hide in the barn forever. Supper would be ready soon, and the Durhams expected her to join them—well, except the newly returned Micah.

  Keeton McKinney leaned against the tree at his back and smiled. Finally, all the wolves were home. As a bonus, they’d added another woman to the mix. The brunette was as fine as the other two women at the Durham cabin. Perhaps she was the final piece of the puzzle and mated to Micah. He would so enjoy the tasty treat the three would provide after he destroyed the men.

  It had taken him eight months to recover from the staking through the chest he’d received at the hands of Jaxon. That bastard had set him back. The time was not wasted though. Keeton was back and he was stronger and more powerful than ever.

  He chuckled to himself. Hell, he barely needed the binoculars he held anymore. He’d crept so close to the Durham farm, he could practically see their mouths moving with his naked eye.

  Concentration and practice had given him the skills he needed not only to block the Durhams from communicating with each other, but to block the three wolves from sensing his presence.

  First, he intended to toy with his prey a while. Put them on high alert. And then, when they were sufficiently worn out and confused from his antics, he’d move in for the final blow. Kill the wolves and drain the women.

  Hell, he might even decide to keep one or two—or all three—of the beauties as his own. There was no law of nature in the vampire world that said he couldn’t mate with the women after killing their wolf partners. It would be quite entertaining to watch them succumb to his will. With a hint of his saliva running through their veins all the time, he could control them indefinitely.

  Yep, it was almost time to put his final plan into action. A few finishing touches and he’d be ready to roll.

  Chapter Three

  “Micah?” Sergius spoke to Micah’s back as he let the screen door slam shut and continued plodding through the kitchen. “What’d you think? Isn’t she fantastic?”

  Micah didn’t turn around. He headed directly for his wing. He needed to think.<
br />
  Fuck. What were the odds?

  Juliana caught him in the living room. “What happened?”

  What happened? What happened? He shouted the question of the day in his own mind. Well, he might’ve leaked a bit of it. In his current state, he doubted he could keep his thoughts to himself.

  In fact, if the sound of footsteps following him was any indication, he was in for a lot of questions.

  Micah didn’t even bother to shut the door to his suite after he entered, but the distinct snick told him Sergius had closed the door behind him.

  Micah paced the wide room, running his fingers through his hair. What a clusterfuck.

  “Dude, I know her hiring was unexpected. And we should’ve checked with you, but I didn’t expect you to be quite this upset. If you’d give her a chance, I think—”

  “Shut. Up.” Micah turned his attention toward Sergius, who stopped rambling, his mouth ajar. “Give me a second. Please.” Micah resumed pacing.

  What the fuck was he supposed to do now? That sweet, sexy woman with long, silky, black hair that hung down her back and mesmerized him with its texture wouldn’t be in danger—if he hadn’t walked into the barn this afternoon and taken a long whiff of her… If his feet hadn’t propelled him toward the stall where she’d been greeting the mare… If he’d stayed away. If if if…

  “Mic?”

  Micah flung himself across the room and dropped onto a love seat. He threw an arm over his face and leaned back. His legs wouldn’t have held up much longer.

  “What…aren’t you telling me?” Sergius asked.

  “Read my mind.” Micah used their telepathic link. Perhaps, if he didn’t say what was wrong out loud, it wouldn’t be true.

  “Damn.” Sergius dragged that one word out for an eternity. After a few seconds of silence, his older brother giggled like a girl. His laughter turned into full-fledged hysterical chuckling.

  Micah jerked his arm down from his eyes and turned to stare at his brother. “This is so not funny.”

  “Oh, but it is. It’s the funniest thing I’ve ever seen.” Sergius wiped his eyes and continued to laugh. Clutching his stomach, he walked toward the chair across from Micah and plopped down. “The big, bad, hold-out brother has fallen.”