“There might be a reason for our attraction to one another…”

She leaned over and shook her head. “I spent a lot of time with Flame when she was so sick with the cancer. She talked, some in her sleep, and some when she thought she was goin’ to die. I know all about Whitney and how he pairs his soldiers.”

“Nonny, you can’ talk about that.”

She laughed. “I don’ expect he’s got him a listenin’ device planted somewhere in my home and if I talk to you about this he’ll send someone blastin’ at me with a gun. I’m old, Wyatt, and I’m not afraid of very much. Life is to be lived. It doesn’t really matter the how and why of things. It matters how you choose to live. I taught you to live life large. Tha’s all, Wyatt. Love when you can. Laugh. Sing. And take care of your family and friends and then your community. It’s not always easy, but it’s good and at the end of it all, you’ll be satisfied.”

“You know I’m a rescuer.” He sighed. He hadn’t ever voiced the one concern nagging at him. He was certain of Pepper. He wasn’t going to give her up, even if what he was doing was playing the knight in shining armor. “This feeling I have for her, it could be wrapped up in my need to rescue someone.”

Nonny smiled at him. “Or you have it all wrong, boy, and she’s the one rescuin’ you. It’s possible you need her every bit as much as she needs you. Let things be, Wyatt. Don’ question them so much and just let things happen.”

He smiled down at the baby’s face and lifted her little fingers to his mouth. “Actually, Nonny, it’s important to me that you like Pepper. I’ve never felt more alive, or more content and passionate in my life. I know what’s comin’, the battle to get the children back, but I know we’re goin’ to succeed. I’m lookin’ forward to every morning the moment I open my eyes. I look forward to nighttime. She’s the one. I know she is. If I find somethin’ different when we get to the laboratory…”

Nonny held up her hand. “Don’, Wyatt, don’ even say it. She’s loyal to those she cares about. She isn’ about to betray you, no matter what your friends think.”

“Trap’s a good man, Nonny. He’s different, but he’s a good man.”

“I’m a good judge of character, Wyatt. I see him. He’s a driven man and his mind won’ let him rest. It’s good he has such good friends.”

“He’s goin’ to help me work on an antivenom so that anyone around the children will be safe. I don’ want anythin’ to happen to you or anyone else. Flame isn’ goin’ to stay away once she knows we’ve got them here, and I have to know I can keep her safe.”

“I have no doubts you’ll both do what it takes to keep everyone safe, Wyatt. I don’ worry about such things because I know you do.”

Her gaze dropped to the baby in his arms. Her face softened and for a moment he thought he caught the sheen of tears. He didn’t blame her. Sometimes when he looked at his little girl, he felt a little like crying himself. She was a beautiful, intelligent child and far too sober. All of them were working hard to make her relax and laugh. To be a child.

“I’m grateful we have them, Wyatt. I need them.”

His heart clenched. Nonny didn’t say things like that. She seemed invincible. Ageless. He was aware of her hair, white now with age, and the laugh lines around her eyes. She moved slower, but she still felt powerful. He couldn’t imagine losing her.

He swallowed down emotion. Nonny wouldn’t appreciate him plying her with questions on her health. “Then I’m glad we have them.” He glanced down at Ginger’s little face, the sweep of her lashes. He smiled at the baby. “I need them too. All of them.”

Ginger reacted by pushing the bottle away. It was mostly empty anyway. She nodded her head vigorously. She was eager to see her sisters again.

“We’ll bring them home, sweetheart,” he whispered to his daughter. “I’ll need your help once they’re here. You can show them everythin’ and help us teach them they’re safe.”

Ginger wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him close. He looked over her head to his grandmother.

“I don’ know if I ever told you how grateful I am to you. My childhood was happy, Nonny, thanks to you. I loved growin’ up here. I always knew I could count on you. I always felt safe and loved. I want that for my children. And for Pepper. She never had that either. My daughters don’ know what havin’ someone like you in their lives is like. My heart aches for them.” He wouldn’t have said that to anyone but his grandmother.

“Mine too, Wyatt, but you’ll sort it out, and we’ll make it right,” Nonny assured.

Chapter 14

Standing in the doorway of the kitchen, Wyatt closed his eyes and simply savored the sound of Pepper’s voice as she explained things quietly to the team. Soft. Sultry. Ultrafeminine. She had a way of speaking that got inside a man and just refused to leave him alone. He loved the sound of her voice and her perfect little ass that her jeans clung so lovingly to as she bent over the kitchen table to point to various things on the blueprints.

The team surrounded the table and they were good-sized men. Pepper looked tiny beside them. Small and feminine. The thing in him he despised, the mindless black jealousy, stretched and clawed in the pit of his belly. For the first time he realized the unworthy trait was fed by his cat DNA. His woman was always close to the heat cycle and he naturally wanted to protect what was his.