Malichai had a mouthful of food and chewed it slowly, his eyes studiously avoiding Pepper's face. "Might want to try to tone it down, Pepper," he muttered. "I'm sitting at Grand-mere's table and wouldn't want to embarrass myself and then have Wyatt stab me through the heart with that knife he's got his fist around."
Pepper's gaze dropped to Wyatt's other hand - the hand that wasn't pressing her palm tigh
t into his thigh. Sure enough, his fist really was wrapped around the hilt of a knife. She forgot all about the way her hand felt sandwiched between his thigh and palm. Burning. Hot. Now her cheeks were. Something heavy took hold of her heart and squeezed.
She gasped. "Oh, no. I'm sorry. I shouldn't be here. I can't control..." How absolutely utterly humiliating. Even Grand-mere would see what she was. "I told you I was a reject," she admitted in a low voice.
"Stop that," Wyatt ordered. "I mean it, Pepper. Don' you ever call yourself that again, and certainly not in front of one of the children. We all have to fight our natures, guard against natural instincts. Do you think it's easy for any one of us?"
"We're in this together," Ezekiel reminded. "We're a team, and we help one another. You need a reminder, we'll give it to you. Wyatt has to work on pushing down his instinct to shield you. I have to keep from hunting prey. Malichai has to work on... well... everything." He sent her a little grin.
He's right, honey. They're tryin' to help you. You're not flawed. Nothin's wrong with you. All of us have to keep on workin' to overcome some of the instincts and characteristics we don' want to show in polite, civilized company.
She didn't know what to do so she held very still. His voice could mesmerize her. The drawling sound of him could send flames racing through her body. That had never happened and truly, he had to be nearly as lethal as she was when it came to seduction.
Wyatt leaned close. When we're away from polite, civilized company, I have no problem with anythin' you might want to do or practice. I'm a willin' participant in all your exercises.
He made her want to laugh even at the worst of moments. She didn't know whether to believe that these men would include her in their camaraderie. She'd spent over ten years with several of the same teachers and guards and none of them had ever teased her or made her feel as if she was part of something.
Don' you cry. You'll break my heart, little darlin'. I'm serious here, woman. Blink until they go away. Ezekiel and Malichai want to help. We're a team. We can do this together, just the way we're goin' to raise those three little girls together.
How could she not cry? They didn't know her and yet they seemed so willing to accept her.
Malichai can' be too enamored, either that or you're losin' your touch. He's shovelin' food in faster than Grand-mere can make it.
She knew he was trying to save her, to make her laugh. His hand slid over hers, pressing harder. He leaned toward her, his lips against her ear, although he spoke telepathically, not aloud.
You've got this, Pepper. We're in it together. Just relax and go with the flow. I'll deal with it. They'll deal with it. If you cry, I'm goin' to pick you up and carry you back to bed. That will get us both in trouble eventually.
She'd never had anyone care whether or not she cried. She could feel his distress. It rolled off of him in waves. He detested that she was upset. She knew Wyatt Fontenot was a danger to her in ways she'd never even considered. Her heart could be in jeopardy and that was unacceptable - wasn't it?
Pepper glanced at Nonny. She didn't know anyone else she might be able to talk to about things she didn't understand. She was highly educated, but in this situation, she was educated in all the wrong things.
Wyatt threaded his fingers through hers and brought her hand to his mouth. The warmth of his breath sent a shudder through her body. He actually drove pain back for a moment with that simple movement. She was beginning to think he was the one trained in seduction.
She nodded her head. I'm all right, but fading fast. Let's keep going. She needed the distraction. Not from the pain, but from his presence. She'd never been in a setting like this one. She could feel the camaraderie surrounding her - the good will in the room. All three men and Nonny helped with Ginger's food, cutting it into small pieces and feeding her with a small spoon, almost without thinking.
Their kindness to the child was automatic. Several times Ezekiel brought a glass of warm milk to Ginger's lips and held it for her, talking quietly to her, encouraging her in learning to drink from a cup rather than a bottle. Wyatt reached out with a napkin and just as gently wiped her lips free of her milk mustache.
The sight of these men, so big and rough, being so caring and gentle to a baby - one that hadn't known any love or consideration other than from her - melted Pepper's heart. She wanted to draw her knees up and just watch them all. It was better than any movie she'd ever seen, which wasn't difficult. She'd only seen training films, including techniques on sex. None were about family or caring or love. She didn't know a thing about those topics, but she knew she was witnessing it right there.
Wyatt brought Pepper's hand to his mouth again, biting gently on the tips of her fingers to distract her from her thoughts. He could feel her confusion and knew tears were burning close. He had no real idea why it upset him so much that she felt the need to cry, that she didn't understand that all of them were flawed in some way. It wasn't only Pepper. She had to get over the notion that she wasn't as good as they were.
"Pepper, were they givin' you other venom as well?" Wyatt asked, keeping her knuckles against his mouth. "From various other snakes?"
She nodded. "I'm capable of killing just the way the children are, which is why the cobra venom doesn't affect me. The idea was to seduce the male and inject the snake venom and leave. No one would ever suspect I had anything to do with the death."
Wyatt ignored the fact that Ezekiel and Malichai both looked up from their dinner and then exchanged a long glance with each other. Pepper had obviously made an effort to tamp down the seductive quality of her voice, but it was almost physically impossible to do. Her voice was her own. When she spoke aloud, everything she said sounded like an invitation to hot sex.
"That doesn't make sense, Pepper," Wyatt said. "You can't possibly have been in vitro with a cocktail of snake."
"In vitro has been around since the first test tube baby was born in the late 1970s," Pepper pointed out.
"But not genetic altering. That's rather new and advanced. What are you, twenty-two, twenty-three?"
"Twenty-three. I trained with five other girls as a soldier from as far back as I can remember. I didn't have parents. Whether Braden created me or picked me up off the street, I have no idea, it's difficult to believe anything he said, but all of us were flown to various countries to learn how to survive in hostile terrain. We also went to school daily, no matter where we were, to continue our educations. I excelled in languages, but all the girls had to learn the same things."
Wyatt had to set his teeth against the temptation of her voice. He studiously avoided looking at his friends, hoping time might dull the impact. He had one hell of a hard-on and didn't want to know if they were struggling with the same effect.
He'd been right all along about a woman like Pepper. Sexy. Hot. Trouble with a capital "T." He had always known he was a Cajun through and through. He lived hard, loved hard, worked hard and played hard. When he fucked up, he did it royally, such as joining Whitney's GhostWalkers, although truthfully, he was beginning to think maybe he wasn't going to regret his decision so much. Why? Her beautiful ass was parked in his kitchen chair and one of his beautiful little viper daughters was laughing with Nonny at his kitchen table. What more could a man ask for?
His passions were intense, his temper, his love, his protective instincts, his jealousy. The thing was, none of those traits had been engaged until Pepper. He'd never been jealous around Joy and other men and that should have told him something right there. His brother Gator spent a great deal of time with his teeth clenched when his woman was in a bar with him. Wyatt should have known that was just part of their nature. Living and loving hard meant skating the edge of control or just plain losing it sometimes.
I'm sorry, Wyatt. I'm trying.
That voice spread through him like warm honey. So worth it, sugar. You're doin' fine. Just keep tonin' it down. You'll get there. Everythin' takes practice.
Malichai cleared his throat. "Did you always
have a lethal bite?"
Pepper glanced at Wyatt. He tightened his hand around hers to give her courage. He was grateful he'd connected the two of them somehow when he'd attempted to psychically heal her. He could feel fear and confusion beating at her, although he couldn't see it on her face. She didn't want to do anything to upset the balance in the room and she was feeling her way.
He found the fact that she knew nothing about family or friendship yet had taken on three children and was desperately feeling her way right now, trying to do everything right when she had no road map, absolutely valiant. His heart contracted and he pressed her hand to his chest, right over it.
Pepper took a breath and shook her head. "I don't think so. At least, to my knowledge, I never killed anyone by biting them, not as a child. We were training in India and I was bitten by a snake, a cobra. I was fifteen at the time. I got very, very sick. We were out in the country. They brought in a helicopter, and that's the last time I ever saw the other girls I trained with. I was taken back to France, but held in a different area, away from my unit."
That had been much better. She spoke a little slower, almost drawling, but it helped to alter her natural tone enough to take the sensual edge off a little. He smiled at her and nodded to let her know her technique worked.
"Were you treated for the bite?" he asked gently.
Now they had everyone's undivided attention. Both Malichai and Ezekiel propped their heads on their hands, elbows on the table, staring at her in some shock. Wyatt didn't warn them that they were in danger of Nonny's fork, although she was listening with rapt attention as well.
"I don't know. I don't remember very much. But I was operated on three times after that. All three times I was very ill. For weeks the first time."
"What are you thinkin', Wyatt?" Nonny asked. "Your first thought."
"It's preposterous," Wyatt answered slowly. "Totally impossible. Do you know your country of origin? Is it possible Whitney found you in India?"
Pepper frowned at him. "Yes. But Braden told me I couldn't possibly be a native even though I was supposedly in an orphanage there. He speculated that my parents were living there and either died in an accident or from some sickness."
"Do you have any scars from your childhood? Unexplained scars?" Wyatt persisted.