The only hope she had was that the harder it was to get to her, the less shifters there would be making the attempt. Each delay would cause them to fight among themselves until only the strongest remained. That's when all of her security precautions were going to be put to the test.
Maybe she should call Rory for help. No matter what differences they may have, she knew he would come to her rescue if she asked. The question is, in the final analysis, would she be able to trust him? If he set up her safe room, how did she know that at her weakest moment, he wouldn't slip someone inside? Every room had weaknesses and no plan was foolproof. How did she know that he wouldn't use it his advantage? She didn't, and that was a risk she couldn't take.
She couldn't ask any shifter to help her. Well, not any wolf-shifter and she didn't know too many of the other types, but maybe she could hire a human. Someone who wasn't local. She'd pay enough to make it worth their while as long as the room was ready when she needed it.
She measured the doorjambs and the windows, calculating how much material she needed. This room was perfect. All the control panels and valves were located here, along with the furnace. They couldn't force her out. She needed another source of heat and light, just in case they knew something she didn't. The nights were cold and she didn't want to freeze and it was too risky to switch to wolf form just to keep warm.
There was no phone, but that was fine. Who would she call? Everyone would be out of his or her head with lust because of the blue moon. She was on her own. She just had to plan really well. She headed to Colbyville to get the things she needed.
Chapter Ten
Hugh pulled strings, offered overtime and got out of the diner early. It was six o'clock when he let himself into Mary Elizabeth's apartment. A soon as he opened the door, the scent of chocolate chip cookies with an underlying scent of fear hit his nose. Closing the door quietly behind him, he went looking for his mate. The fear was emanating from her.
She was in the kitchen. He would have smiled at the picture she presented if he wasn't so concerned. There was flour on her sweatshirt and pants and a streak of chocolate on her face. Hair escaped from her ponytail, leaving strands in disarray around her face. She was pulling a pan of cookies out of the oven.
"What's wrong?"
She jerked and the pan of cookies dropped onto the counter. Hmmm, must not have heard him enter.
"Damn it, Hugh! You scared me. What are you doing here? Why aren't you at work?” She was screeching. There was definitely something wrong.
"I left early. You didn't answer my question. What's wrong? You're tense."
Mary Elizabeth closed her eyes and visibly gathered her resolve before blurting out, “Hugh, I'm sorry, but this won't work. I know I agreed to your terms, but I simply don't have what it takes to handle an affair. I mean, look at me. I'm a nervous wreck. I have no idea what I'm doing, or how to proceed."
She had the most beseeching expression on her face. He widened his legs and crossed his arms over his chest, leveling a look on her. “Well, you did agree and I'm not letting you loose. I told you last night, this isn't a one-night stand.” He said nothing about her misconception that they were involved in an affair. If she was already panicking, she'd run scared if she knew what he really wanted—forever.
She transferred the cookies to a plate, avoiding his gaze. “We never discussed birth control, disease, and the like. You didn't use any last night and I didn't think to ask. How do you know I'm safe? How do I know you're safe? What if I'm pregnant?"
Her bashfulness amused him. He needed to put her at ease. That wasn't going to happen as long as she was in this kitchen. “You're right. We do need to talk, but we aren't doing it in here.” He took her hand and dragged her into the living room. He sat on the couch and pulled her onto his lap, locking his arms around her when she tried to squirm off.
"Be still. I'm not letting you up."
He waited until she settled before starting. She looked everywhere but at him. His mate had a definite problem with intimate conversation. “Now, first things, first. You are not pregnant."
This got her attention and made her look at him. “How do you know?"
"I know.” He didn't tell her he would be able to tell by the change in her scent. “Now on to your second issue. I'm clean. We're tested regularly in the military and I haven't been with anyone since I've been out. The few sexual encounters I have had, I used protection. What about you?” He didn't tell her that as a shape-shifter, he couldn't catch any disease. His body was resistant to them all.
She blushed and ducked her head. “There was only one,” she mumbled.
He placed a finger under her chin and lifted her head so he could see her face. “One what? Lover?"
"Yes, well, no. It was only that one time. I don't think that qualifies him as my lover."
"You've only had sex one time? I thought you were engaged?"
"You know about that? I'm surprised Kiesha told you. I never slept with Charles. I wasn't attracted to him in that way. In hindsight, I guess I shouldn't be surprised Babs stole him from me. We were more friends than anything else."
"You're engaged to your brother-in-law Charles?” He was missing something here. He planned to keep digging until he got to the bottom of the story.
"No."
She must have saw his confusion and elaborated. “I met Charles in college. For reasons I won't go into, I hadn't dated much growing up. We met in a study group and started hanging out. He was nice and everyone was pairing up. When he asked me to marry him, I said yes. Then he met Babs, and that was that."
He could see something in her eyes. Some information she was withholding. “So that was it? No harm? No foul?” There had to be more to the story than this.
He could see her debating whether to tell him the rest and held his breath, willing her to trust him. “No, that wasn't all. Babs followed me to the university. I introduced her to Charles after we were engaged. You know, the whole, ‘this is my family’ thing? It was time for end of semester finals and I had a heavy class load. There wasn't a lot of free time, so I didn't see much of Charles. He said he understood. He was studying, too. When the semester was over, he was coming home with me to meet my parents. I was going to surprise them with my engagement. When we got home, I was the one who was surprised.” She shrugged ruefully. “Babs and Charles announced their engagement to our parents. I had no idea they were seeing each other. I still had the ring Charles gave me in my purse so my parents wouldn't see it until after we made our announcement."
Hugh's hands were digging into her waist by the time she finished. “Son of a bitch! No wonder you didn't want to go into detail. Someone should have beaten the shit out of both of them. What happened then? Do you still have feelings for this chump?” What kind of man did something like that? And that sister. What kind of bitch must she have been?
"No, I don't have feelings for him anymore. I wouldn't have sex with him when we were together. I had this quaint notion of saving myself for marriage. I realize now if I really loved him, I wouldn't have waited. After they betrayed me, I took the ring he gave me and sold it. I used part of the money to finance a vacation for myself and banked the rest of it. I had to get away from all of them. That's when my little one-night stand happened. I was angry with Babs and Charles, but angrier with myself. I figured since there wasn't going to be a wedding, there was no need to hold onto my virginity. The experience was so awful that I didn't bother repeating it."
His mate wasn't a virgin, but she was close. He liked knowing he was her first, and if he had anything to do with it, only lover. The clown that took her virginity didn't count. He shifted slightly, repositioning her on his legs to increase the circulation. He thought over all he'd learned. “You said you hadn't dated much. Why was that?” He wanted to know everything about her that he could.