Iron Kissed

"Gabriel goes to Ke

Jesse whipped the washcloth off her face and gave me a look that reminded me that she was her father's daughter. "I wouldn't give them the satisfaction," she said coldly. "But they won't take me by surprise again. I fought like a girl because I couldn't believe they were really going to hit me. I won't make that mistake again either."

"You'll have to start practicing aikido again, then," said Adam, his voice as quiet and calm as if he hadn't just thrown a hissy fit a few minutes ago. "You're three years out of practice, and if you are only half their weight, you'll have to do better than that."

He walked out of his bedroom, a dark blue washcloth in his hand. If his eyes had been darker, I'd have bought the calm facade. He'd managed somehow to stuff all that anger and Alpha energy down and out of sight. But I'd believe the cold yellow eyes before I believed the quiet voice. He handed me the washcloth, but his gaze was on Jesse.

"Yes," she said with grim determination.

"She hurt them," Gabriel said. "One of them had a bloody nose and the other was holding on to his side while he ran off." He gave her an assessing look, which I was glad Adam didn't see. "I bet they're more hurt than she is."

Darryl cleared his throat, and when Adam looked at him, he said, "Send her with an escort to and from school." Jesse was a general favorite. If Adam hadn't been so enraged, there would have been a lot more growls from the wolves. Darryl's eyes were lighter than they usually were, too. The gold was eerie in his dark face.

"Send her with a werewolf," I suggested, "in wolf form. For the first few days he can wait for her in front of the school, somewhere very visible."

"No," said Jesse. "I won't be a freak show."

Adam raised an eyebrow. "You'll do as you're told."

"It's a territorial thing," I told Jesse. "Even mundane people play those stupid games. They tried a power play and your father ca

"You should call the police and the school and warn them," said Honey. "So no one gets hurt."

"Do a show and tell," suggested Gabriel. "Call Jesse's biology teacher—or aren't you taking a course in Current Affairs? That would be better. You can take your class out and give them an up-close and personal with a werewolf. Same effect but less embarrassing for Jesse."

Adam smiled, showing lots of teeth. "I like that."

Jesse brightened a little. "Maybe I can get extra credit."

"The school will never go for it," Darryl said. "The liability is too great if something happened."

"I'll check into it," Adam said.

Jesse was a little pale, but she wasn't seriously injured. A hot shower would help with the soreness—and she needed to shower before her father calmed down enough to realize that she didn't need to tell him who had attacked her. If I could get their scent, so could he.

I made a dismissive gesture at the whole lot of them, Gabriel, Adam, and werewolves. "Go downstairs and work it out," I told them. "I want to get a better look at some of Jesse's bruises so I can make sure that she doesn't need Samuel to come check her out."

I took Jesse by the hand. "We'll use Adam's bathroom…" I couldn't actually remember if he had a bathroom, but I couldn't imagine that this house didn't have a master bedroom suite, and besides, he'd come out of it with a washcloth. "Since Adam has chosen to remodel this one." Sure my tone was a little snide—but if he was irritated with me, he wasn't going to be thinking about finding Jesse's assailants.

Jesse followed me through the crowded hallway and into Adam's bedroom. There was an open door on the far side that could only be a bathroom. I tugged her into it and shut the door.

Then I whispered, very, very quietly, "You need to shower and get rid of their scent before your father thinks of it—if he already hasn't."

Her eyes widened. "Clothes?" she mouthed.

"Everything," I said.

She gave her te

"I'll go get clean clothes," I told her.

Adam met me at the hall doorway. He jerked his chin toward the bathroom, where anyone could clearly hear that someone was showering. "Scent," he said.

"Her clothes were very dirty," I told him a little smugly. "Even her shoes."

"Sh—" He bit it off before he could complete the word. Adam was a little older than he looked. He'd been raised in the fifties, when a man didn't swear in front of women. "Shoot," he said, the word obviously not giving him the satisfaction to be gotten out of cruder terms.

"Cheeses crusty, got all musty, got damp on the stone of a peach," I agreed. He looked blank, so I repeated it with proper emphasis. "ChEEZ-zes crusty. Got Al-musty. Got DAMp on the StoneofapeaCH. My foster father used to say those around me all the time. He was an old-fashioned sort of wolf, too. He especially liked the Stoneofapeach. 'Stoneofapeach, Mercedes. You don't have the sense God gave little apples. "

Adam closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against the door frame.

"Go

He opened his eyes and looked at me.

I threw up my hands. "Fine. You want to support the Carpenters' Union, that's your business. Now move, I told Jesse I'd be back with clothes."

He stepped back with exaggerated courtesy. But when I walked past him, he swatted my rump. Hard enough to sting.

"You need to be more careful," he growled. "Keep interfering in my business and you might get hurt."

I said sweetly as I continued to Jesse's room, "The last man who swatted me like that is rotting in his grave."

"I have no doubt of it." His voice was more satisfied than contrite.

I turned to face him, yellow eyes and all.

"I'm thinking of picking up a parts car for the Syncro. I have plenty of room in the field."

Someone listening in might have thought my last comment was off topic, but Adam knew better. I'd been punishing him with my Rabbit parts car for several years. Clearly visible from his bedroom window, it now sat on three tires and had various pieces missing. The graffiti was Jesse's suggestion.

If Adam hadn't been as uptight, it wouldn't have worked—but he was one of those "everything in its place and a place for everything" kind of people. It bothered him—a lot.

Adam gri

I raised an eyebrow. "Why would I do that? Then instead of harassing Jesse, you'd be tormenting me."

One of them had been a stranger to me, but the other…there was something about his scent that was ringing a bell, but I'd wait until I was out of here before I tried to work it out.

He gave a bark of fierce laughter.

"Liar," he said.

He took two quick steps forward, wrapped a hand around the back of my neck, and held me for his kiss. I hadn't expected it—not while he was still so close to changing. I'm sure that's why I didn't pull out of his hold.

The first touch of his lips was soft, tentative, asking where his hands had demanded. The man was diabolical. I could have resisted force, but the question of his kiss was an entirely different matter.

I leaned into him because he asked with the light touch and the gentle withdrawal of his lips that begged me to follow where he led. The heat of his body, welcome in the overcooled house, rewarded me as I leaned closer to him, as did the hard planes of his body, so I was drawn to press even tighter against him.