Savage Nature - Christine Feehan [134]
She smiled up at him without taking his help. “I think I’ll just sleep right here.”
Drake simply lifted her into his arms. “I can’t let you do that, honey. You’re shivering nonstop. Let’s get you into a hot shower.”
He cradled her close to his chest, nuzzling the top of her head. “If you prefer, I can go down without you. You can stay upstairs and go to sleep after we get you warm.”
“I’m not sure it’s possible to ever be warm again.” Saria rubbed her face against his soaked shirt. “But if you’re goin’ downstairs to face the firin’ squad, I’ll be there with you.”
“They can’t possibly know we were investigating them,” Drake said. “Not this fast.”
“What are you goin’ to tell them? They’ll know we were out in the swamp.”
“It’s always better to stick as close to the truth as possible,” he told her, setting her down in the bathroom. “They’re leopard. They’ll know we just came in. It was just easier to get warm before facing them. We’re going to tell them we spent the night in the swamp. I’m the new leader. My men are here with me and we’re familiarizing ourselves with the area, as well as taking care of the business Jake Bannaconni sent us to do in the first place.”
She regarded him shrewdly. “You like to use his name because he’s leasing most of the properties they use and they’re a little afraid to lose their lands.”
He smirked just before kissing her. His woman was smart and he liked that. He peeled the soaked shirt from her body while she stood there shivering almost uncontrollably. He had to crouch down to unlace her boots. He doubted if she could have done it, her fingers were like ice. Steam from the hot water filled the bathroom, helping to heat the room as he stripped off her wet jeans and underwear and helped her into the shower.
Only when he was certain she was leaning against the wall with the water pouring over her, warming her, did he strip off his own clothes and join her. The hot water felt like heaven. Drake just let it seep into their bodies, driving out the terrible cold. When Saria’s teeth quit chattering, he shampooed her hair. She was unusually quiet and that worried him a little.
“Are you afraid of Armande or Charisse?” he asked, hoping she was just chilled.
“Of course not. Now their mother is an entirely different proposition. Why do you think they’re so close? A woman like Iris Lafont-Mercier—and believe me that is a hyphenated last name—is never happy unless she’s tellin’ everyone else what to do. You can imagine what she thinks of me.”
Her voice changed to a very strident imitation of what he could only assume was Iris’s voice. “That child is runnin’ wild and we have a civic duty to do somethin’ about it. I’ve called the truant officer on her repeatedly and if she doesn’t show up for school it will be child services.”
“That bad, huh?”
“You have no idea. I think she drove her husband to an early grave. He left everything to Armande and Charisse. Iris wouldn’t have cared if it had only been Armande, the darlin’ of her world, but she had no use for Charisse.”
“Why? I thought you said her daughter was brilliant.”
“Oh yeah. She is, but she’s strange. A little off. Different. And all that ability garnered her a tremendous amount of attention in school and from her father. That sort of took the spotlight away from Armande, who is extremely handsome and charming, but without her brilliance. Mama leopard did not like that one bit.”
Drake whistled softly. “She’s nothing like Pauline.”
“No. She’s a force to be reckoned with. She’ll like you, though. She’s very partial to males. Don’t be surprised if she flirts.”
“Flirts?” he echoed faintly.
“She’s quite beautiful and she knows it.”
“And she works at the post office?”
“You get all the local gossip at the post office. She knows everyone’s business and she could really keep an ear out on what her children were up to. All the other women couldn’t wait to tell her if Charisse or Armande did one wrong thing. My brothers always have felt sorry for