Rome’s Pride: Chapter Eight

Rome watched her retreating back. He’d planted the seed. Now he needed to give it time to germinate. Being no fool, he hadn’t expected to be welcomed with opened arms. At least she hadn’t come at him, tooth and claw. Probably due to the injuries she’d denied having, as though he couldn’t smell the blood.

He followed her, not bothering to hide either his presence or his intentions. His mate needed him, whether she’d admit it or not. He’d be damned if he denied either one of them the comfort of his nearness.

As soon as Zuri had walked out, he’d ordered Bull to handle his gear, leapt over the counter to the shock and dismay of Zuri’s employee, and followed. Through the closing door he’d heard Logan and Sam assuring an agitated Abby he meant Zuri no harm. Since no one came running to stop him—for all the good it would have done them—they must have been successful.

They ventured deeper into the forest. The solar lights lining the walkway cast a dim glow, but thanks to his cat Rome could see perfectly fine. Around them the frogs, crickets, and insects sang their lullabies. In the distance he heard the flow of rushing water, and the occasional roar of a jaguar, warning others away from its territory. The light of the full moon barely penetrated the towering canopy above their heads.

Zuri’s gait slowed more and more the longer they walked. He could tell she was in pain. His cat could smell it. It raked his insides with its claws in a demand he do something.

“Tell me where we’re going, and I’ll carry you,” he offered.

“Go…to…hell,” she gasped. She once more held her stomach and curled forward at the waist as she walked.

“I’ve been. Didn’t enjoy it so I don’t plan to return. I’d rather stay here with you,” he said, closing the distance between them so he was almost on her heels.

Finally they arrived at her treehouse. The thing had to be at least three stories up in the air. Zuri braced one hand on the handrail and swayed. Cursing the stubbornness of females in general and Zuri in particular, Rome swept her up in his arms.

“Put me down, Rome. I can do it.”

“You could, but why should you when I’m right here to do it for you. Now shut up and hold on. I’d hate to drop you.” There was no way he’d drop Zuri after finally having her in his arms again, but the threat had the intended result. She wrapped an arm around his waist and stopped wriggling.

“Why are you really here, Rome? It’s been fifteen years. You didn’t want me then. You don’t really expect me to believe you’ve had a change of heart?” she said.

He stopped on the circular staircase and looked down at her. “Is that what you think? That I didn’t want you? I would have given my left nut to be with you, Zuri. I came really close to taking you that night, or have you forgotten?”

She turned her face away from him. “What I remember is you leaving.”

Rome closed his eyes and prayed for patience. “Zuri, you’d just turned seventeen and still had a year of high school left. I was twenty, a man. Why do you think I avoided you that week I was home? I couldn’t see or smell you without getting hard.”

Attention caught, Zuri frowned up at him. “That’s not true.”

“It’s the truth,” he said flatly, and continued climbing the stairs. The scent of blood grew stronger. He needed to get her wounds tended. “After I kissed you, I realized you were going into heat. I couldn’t be certain it was me you wanted. The thought occurred it could be your cat targeted me because I was feline and available.”

“That’s not what happened,” she denied hotly. “My lioness picked you because you were our mate.”

He climbed the final level and came out on a platform. Rome glanced around. The whole thing was open, including the windows, which had netting that could be raised or lowered as needed to keep the insects out. No lights had been left on. Only the glow of the moon illuminated the interior.

“Regardless, your father took me in and raised me when my mother all but abandoned me. I couldn’t repay him by taking his daughter, impregnating her, and then leaving her to fend for herself the way I’d been left.” He crossed over to the couch and lowered her onto it. “Where’s your first aid kit?”

“In the bathroom on the second level.” Zuri reached out and turned on one of the floor lamps. It cast a soft, golden glow.

He quickly scaled the stair ladder, located the bathroom and the large medical box, and returned to Zuri’s side. Blood had seeped through the bandage and stained her shirt. “You need to shift into your cat form.”

“I’ve already shifted three times today. If I shift again, I’ll have to stay in cat form for hours.” Her words were sluggish.

Frowning, Rome studied her. He didn’t like how wan and listless she suddenly appeared. How much blood had she lost? “So you’ll stay in shifted form. What’s the big deal?”

“Manny doesn’t need to come home and find a strange male in our quarters after what happened today, and me not able to communicate with him to explain. He has enough stress in his life,” she said.

“Manny is your nephew?” Rome knew Zuri had taken over raising the child after her sister died. Logan’s reports had not mentioned a man in Zuri’s life.

She wrapped her arms around herself as though she were cold. “Manny’s my son. How did you—? Never mind. Your spy, Logan, told you. I should have known.”

Rome opened the first aid kit and found it impressively stocked. “Logan isn’t a spy. He’s your protector.”

Moving restlessly as though agitated, Zuri rubbed her arms. A self-protective gesture, or was she heading into shock from blood loss?

“You’re paying him to watch me, aren’t you?” she muttered.

“I’m paying him to watch out for you. There’s a difference—”

“Not much.”

“—and I wasn’t the one who hired him. Josiah found him first. I just continued the payments after your father died.”

That stopped her cold. She looked up at him with wide eyes and her hands fell to her sides. “My father?”

“Yes. You didn’t think Josiah was going to allow you to simply leave the country, as young as you were, without some type of assurance of your safety, did you? Be still.” He released a claw and sliced through her top. The sides fell open, revealing Zuri’s bountiful breasts. The dark brown nipples immediately perked up. Ignoring them became easy once he got a glimpse of her wounds. “These are claw marks, Zuri. What the hell happened here?”

She pulled the edges of her shirt together and gazed over his shoulder. “You mean your spy didn’t tell you?”

“Zuri.”

“It’s over. I handled it.”

He simply stared at her and waited. As an interrogation tactic, it was particularly effective. It worked this time, too.

She heaved a deep sigh. “This Leo thought a pride full of women and children would be easy pickings. He was wrong.”

Saying nothing, Rome continued to shred her clothes until she sat totally bare before him. Anger, deep and vicious, stirred in him. “You should have had these stitched together, to speed healing and minimize scarring.”

“There wasn’t time. The police in Golfito are human. I had to get clean and bandaged as soon as possible.”

Fury kept him silent as he treated her gashes. The more severe ones he held together with butterfly strips and wrapped gauze around them to protect the sites. “These would heal faster if you’d shift.”

Teeth clenched against the pain he unwillingly caused, she simply shook her head. “Manny,” she gritted out.

“Where is he? Why did he leave you here alone?” Rome asked.

“He and Diego took a small group river rafting. They’ll spend the night at one of our camps and hike back in the morning.”

“Zuri, if you don’t expect Manny until the morning, there’s no reason for you not to shape-shift.” Her eyes were glassy. He felt her forehead. “You’re running a fever. One of your wounds must be infected.”

Zuri began to shiver. “Don’t let him see me like this. He’s lost so much already.”

“I won’t,” Rome promised.