Page 17 of Haunted By the Shadow of Death

“I had one thing I wanted to talk to you about,” I said, stopping him. “I know I said I want to keep this as a business relationship, but I’d like to keep the status of our situation private.” I already knew what it was like to have an entire pack watch me get slighted, and I wasn’t looking to be the fool again, publicly kicked to the curb even if I’d never technically been off the curb in the first place.

“I wasn’t planning on broadcasting our details,” Kicks said softly.

“Thanks. It’s just that I’m on unsteady ground as it is. How many women here have you slept with?” The second I said it, I almost choked. I sounded jealous, and I was not. This was purely strategic. “Just so I know how many feathers I might be ruffling, is all.”

He was good. He only froze up for a second before he said, “I wouldn’t worry about it.”

He walked back into the living room, and this time I followed him.

“Am I safe in assuming that number is more than you want to fess up to?” I asked, wondering how many more girlfriends I might be tripping over.

He sighed and then turned around. “I’m not a kid. I’ve been around for a while, and I enjoy sex. Have I slept with some of the women here? Yes. Of course I have.”

“From what I’m seeing, you’ve had a lot of takers.” There was no way that list was short. I didn’t know how long it went, and I didn’t want to anymore.

“I’ve had takers.”

“You know some of them probably thought they’d win you over, right?” I asked, guessing the names of at least two of them.

“If everyone was a willing party and interested, that’s where it ended. Is there a reason you want to discuss this?” he asked, because he was clearly done with the conversation.

“Do you plan on seeing any of them now? Here?”

Kicks shook his head. “I told you, I’m not planning on being celibate for the rest of my life, but I don’t want to give the pack a bad impression, either.”

There was one question I couldn’t purge from my brain, still waiting to be asked. Nothing else to do but spit it out. “Can humans have children with shifters?”

“As far as I know, it’s happened a handful of times, but only when the offspring somehow doesn’t have the shifting gene and the baby is, for all intents and purposes, a human baby. Shifter gestation times are about twice the length of humans’.”

I bit my lower lip, contemplating the implications. He’d wanted a guide badly enough to forgo having kids? Even though this was a business arrangement, I hadn’t quite thought out that aspect until Louise.

“Did you want kids?” he asked gently, his eyes searching mine.

“I’ve already got one. I might not have birthed him, but he’s as mine as it gets. I was thinking more about you. Did you want to have kids?”

“I thought I’d be sharing Charlie, unless you’re planning on hogging him?” Kicks replied, a faint smile touching his lips.

“I just thought you’d want one who was…you know, more yours?”

“I’m going to protect him, feed him, shelter him. How much more mine could he get?”

“It’s just that maybe this situation isn’t right for you. I can still stay on as the guide here, but maybe you…” My words trailed off as he stepped closer.

“Oh no, we aren’t going there again,” he said firmly.

“Is that why you never mated before? You didn’t care if you had a child?” I asked, finding that I couldn’t seem to shut myself up all of a sudden. It was like I’d broken the seal on uncomfortable questions and now couldn’t stop myself.

“I did have a mate. She passed away only a few months after we were mated.” The way he spoke, it was as if every word of that sentence hurt to speak.

“Oh. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.” The weight of his words hung in the air, and I suddenly found myself silent again. I wasn’t sure why, but I’d assumed I was his first. Maybe it was what I’d wanted to believe.

“You’re not. You should probably know these things,” he said.

“Thanks.” For a business partner, I wasn’t sure I was entitled to know much of anything about his private life. The way he was staring at me right now, though, didn’t feel very businesslike.

Kicks nodded toward the door. “The mill isn’t working right, so I have to head over there and help them fix it. I’ll be back around sunset with dinner.”

“Sounds good,” I replied, trying to sound more removed and aloof.

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