AMelodyinParadise Read online

  “I don’t give a damn what she considers it. All I care about is keeping her safe, which is something that her employer obviously can’t do.”

  “But she can’t leave.” Carmen had to practically run to keep up with the pace Mitch set while he carried the woman from the building. “She has contractual obligations. The symphony can’t just replace her at the drop of a hat, you know. They’ll sue her if she doesn’t show up for the next performance unless she’s got a whopper of an excuse.”

  “Somehow, I think that someone trying to kill her after a performance is excuse enough.” He stopped and turned to her. He cupped her jaw and ran his thumb over her cheekbone. “Stop worrying, sweetheart. Mitch and I will buy her contract if we have to.”

  “I don’t think even you two have that much money,” she said with a snort, then stared at him with wide eyes as he did no more than raise a brow. “Do you?”

  “How much money we have is of no importance, Carmen. What it can do for us is.” He started moving again and they caught up just as Mitch reached the car with Melody.

  “You know we can’t let her go back to work as long as there is someone out to harm her.” Mitch bent to set Melody in the car as Wyatt held the door for him.

  “I was just telling Carmen that very thing.” He moved out of the way as Mitch straightened and carefully shut the door. “She seems to think there’s going to be a problem getting the girl out of her contractual obligation. She’s afraid the Philharmonic will give us trouble.”

  Mitch snorted. “The only problem that’s going to give us trouble is trying to figure out which bank account we’ll use to write the check that buys them off.”

  “I don’t believe you guys are standing there talking about getting her out of her contract. She just signed it. She has to perform for the entire season, if she doesn’t, they’ll sue.” She rested her hands on her hips, her violin case hanging haphazardly from her fingers, and I know you two aren’t filthy rich like you would have me believe.” She waited a moment for them to answer. “Well?” she asked when neither of them said anything to confirm nor deny their financial status.

  “She looks like her mother when she does that, doesn’t she?” Mitch asked, a grin on his face. “I can’t believe how much she looks like Rosa.” He shook his head, tossed Wyatt the keys and got into the back with Melody. “You drive. I’ll sit in the back with Melody.”

  Wyatt turned to Carmen. “Obviously we’d rather you came with us, but since no one is fixating on you…yet, we’ll give you the choice. Would you like to stay here and work out your contract, or would you like Mitch and me to buy yours out as well.”

  Carmen’s jaw dropped at his question. “I don’t believe that you’re standing there calmly talking about buying out the two lead violin chair contracts.” She leaned closer and lowered her voice. “Do you have any idea how much that’s going to cost?”

  “It doesn’t matter how much it costs, sweetheart. When we’re dealing with your safety and the safety of our mate, we won’t take any chances.”

  Wyatt wanted to grin at her gasp when he’d said mate, but kept his face schooled into a mask of indifference. He wanted her to choose to come with them, but he also knew his niece and the choice must be hers or they would never hear the end of it.

  “I’ll stay, but you might want to send a few guys to watch out for me.” She grinned and waggled her brows. “Just make sure they’re cute, will you? As a matter of fact, I have a couple of specific men in mind.” She got into the passenger front seat when Wyatt held the door open for her. “You can drop me off at our apartment. Besides, Mel is going to need some clothes.”

  Chapter Four

  Melody woke on a huge bed. Rolling over, she looked around the room and sat up. Her heart pounded in her chest. She had no idea where she was, or whose home she was in and she panicked. Standing, she ran to the nearest phone and picked it up. It worked! She bit her lip and looked around again. She remembered one of the huge spotlights crashing down on her, but that was where everything became murky, real murky.

  The room was huge, almost as large as her and Carmen’s apartment in the village. Moving to the large window, she looked out and could see central park in the distance. A gray haze rose over the city, a thick gray-white layer between the horizon and the sky. Wherever she was, she knew she was in an apartment in one of those buildings that employed a doorman to call cabs and open doors for the inhabitants.

  She heard voices on the other side of the door and turned to face it. The door was very dark, a stark contrast to the snow white walls and gleaming marble floors. She looked around for some sort of weapon, just in case, but couldn’t find anything more than an expensive-looking vase. Melody stood facing the door, waiting for whomever it was on the other side to make their appearance. She fisted her hands at her sides in an attempt to prepare herself for anything.

  When the door opened, Melody almost collapsed with relief. She probably would have hit the floor in an inglorious heap had it not been for the long, low dresser at her back. She rested her hands against it and her body sagged. “Carmen!” Gathering her wits, she ran to her friend. “Where are we?’ Melody checked out the richly appointed room again and came to the only conclusion. She bit her lip, suddenly nervous. “We’re at your uncles’ house, aren’t we?” She wasn’t sure how she knew that. She just knew.

  Carmen nodded. “Yes. You were unconscious so we brought you back here. They were afraid to let us stay at the apartment so they brought us back here with Mozart.” Carmen leaned forward with a little giggle. “You know, I don’t think they’ve ever had a pet before. They keep watching your cat like it’s going to do tricks or something.”

  Melody moved to sit on the bed. “Then having him here will do them some good.” She grinned. “Everyone should have a pet in their life for at least a little while.”

  “Maybe, but…” she glanced back toward the door. “We have to talk.” Carmen sat next to her and turned to look her in the eyes. “What happened at the theater was no accident. Uncle Mitch called in a team of investigators and they said that someone had tampered with the lines and chains holding that fixture in place.”

  “But…” Melody couldn’t finish what she’d been about to say. It was just too horrible to put into words, too bizarre. “This can’t possibly be happening to me.” She watched as her friend became blurry and wavered in front of her. She didn’t even realize it was tears blurring her vision until they began to run down her face. She swiped them away.

  “I know, Mel. It means your hate mail guy is more than your hate mail guy now.” Carmen wrapped her arm around Melody and drew her close. “You can’t go back to the Philharmonic. Whoever is trying to hurt you will surely try again and I would rather they didn’t” She grinned. “I’ve kind of gotten used to your slobby ways and want to keep you in my life a bit longer.”

  “Hey!” Melody gave Carmen a shove. Reaching down, she rubbed her tummy. She didn’t feel good. Something was wrong. A strange warmth settled low in her middle and began a slow burn deep inside her. “I’m not a slob.”

  What was wrong with her? A minute ago she was fine. Now, all of a sudden, she felt as though she was coming down with the flu or something. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath. Maybe it was just nerves and she could breathe through it.

  “What’s the matter?” Carmen rubbed her back and it felt as though someone stuck her with thousands of little needles.

  “Don’t!” She jumped up to get away from her friend. She knew Carmen meant well, but the pressure of the other woman’s hand brushing over her skin felt like the worst kind of torture.

  Standing, Carmen ran from the room. “Uncle Mitch, Uncle Wyatt, come quick! Something’s wrong with Melody.”

  Intellectually, Melody knew that it wasn’t more than a few seconds later that the men ran into the room to see what was the matter, but it felt like an eternity with a blowtorch in her belly. Melody fought the urge to curl up into a little ball and cry. She didn’t
know what was wrong, but whatever it was, didn’t seem like it was going to go away anytime soon.

  “I was afraid of this.” Mitch turned to leave the room. “I’ll be right back. Try to keep her from hurting herself until I return.”

  “Where’s he going?” Carmen asked, her face filled with worry.

  “He’s going to get the experimental drug that the doctor gave us to hold the el calor at bay. Doc Parker said he thought it would work on humans and if we saw a need to experiment because the heat was hitting our mate too hard, we should use it. It definitely won’t hurt her, but it could help.”

  “Work on humans? What? Mate? What is he talking about?” Melody clenched her teeth against another wave of heat as it washed through her, burning her from the inside out. Her teeth chattered either from the pain or fear, she wasn’t sure which. “I think I caught something. The flu, maybe.” She frowned. “I don’t want some drug meant for animals. Don’t let him give it to me, Carmen.”

  Carmen bit her lips and shook her head as she backed away.

  Wyatt settled down next to her on the bed and stroked her hair. Melody flinched at first, thinking it would hurt the way it did when Carmen touched her, but it didn’t. His touch felt almost soothing.

  The burning subsided to the strange heat she felt when she first came down with whatever this was and her stomach no longer cramped with pain. Instead, a different kind of heat settled in her middle, billowing out from inside her as Wyatt continued to stroke her hair.

  Her womb clenched as he continued to touch her. She shouldn’t allow this. Melody knew there was no way she could ever choose between the two men and she was afraid she was in love with them both already. She had heard too much about them from Carmen. Tears ran down her face as he continued to stroke her hair. She couldn’t fight the feelings that his touch invoked. The more he touched her, the more she craved his touch and she didn’t know why. Melody knew that her infatuation was nothing more than the leftovers of a schoolgirl crush. Still, it didn’t stop her from wanting more and needing more.

  Mitch came back into the room, moving with the silence and grace of a jungle cat. If anyone had asked, Melody would have sworn that she had felt him come into the room. Somehow, she had known he was back before she saw or heard him. As ridiculous as it seemed, it was as thought she felt him enter the room. Wyatt moved out of the way and Mitch sat down beside her. He swiped her arm with an antiseptic wipe.

  “I’m going to inject you with something our doctor gave us, Melody. I hope it will help you.” It certainly can’t hurt.

  She heard that last in her mind, but she could swear his lips hadn’t moved. What was going on? Was she feverish, delirious? Whatever this was she had, it wasn’t something she ever wanted to catch again.

  Under normal circumstances, Melody never would have let someone who wasn’t her physician inject her with something, but at the moment, she couldn’t think of anything but stopping the horrible pain that twisted her insides like a limp dishrag.

  The pinch of the needle piercing her skin was nothing compared to the pain searing her insides and burning through her blood. She wasn’t sure how, but somehow, she felt desire for these two men through the pain of her illness. It clawed at her just as surely as the pain that caused her to curl up into a little ball on the bed.

  “It isn’t an illness, Melody. This is something our people get when we meet the person who is right for us. The person we are destined to spend the rest of our lives with.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I have the flu.” Her teeth began to chatter all over again. “See? I have a fever or something.”

  “You don’t have a fever. You have the heat. El calor.”

  “Of course I’m hot. I have a fever.” Melody glared up at them and wondered what it was she ever saw in these two. Geeze, the two of them were as dumb as a box of rocks!

  Chapter Five

  Mitch watched as the injection moved through her system. He could actually see it working. Her muscles grew less tense, her breathing slowed from short, quick pants to something closer to normal and her heart rate slowed to a more sedate pace.

  “It worked!” He felt himself relax. The last thing he wanted to do was mate her here in front of their niece. Carmen may be a shifter and she knew how things worked, but it didn’t mean that he and Wyatt wanted to be under the same roof with her when they first took their mate.

  “Is she okay?” Carmen moved closer. Tears streaked down her face as she watched her friend gather more and more control over her body.

  “I think so.” Mitch set the syringe aside and scrubbed at his face with his hands. “That was close.” He looked over at Wyatt who wore a strange expression. “What’s the matter with you?”

  “I think I need a dose of that as well.” He met Mitch’s gaze. “Do we have enough of that to hold us together until we can get to Paradise?”

  He didn’t mention that they might not need much more of it if they could convince Melody to mate with them.

  “I have no idea.” He glanced at Carmen. “Will you stay here until your guards arrive?”

  “I have rehearsals and a show tomorrow.” She looked at Melody. “How are we going to explain her disappearance?”

  “She can play tomorrow’s performance. Your guards won’t be here until Sunday as it is.” Mitch sighed. “We can manage to stay here another day. We’ll just have to draw out our doses a bit. Perhaps we can manage to hold out for a few hours more between injections.”

  “What are you three talking about?” Melody sat up, brushed her hair back and stared up at them looking so sexy Mitch wasn’t sure if he could hold out for much longer.

  Wyatt groaned behind him, letting him know that he felt the same. “This is going to be the longest few days of our lives.”

  Carmen knelt on the floor in front of Melody and smiled. “Remember how you’ve felt over the last few years?”

  A little wrinkle formed between Melody’s eyes as she watched her friend. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “Um…” Carmen wiped her hands on her jean-clad legs. “Well…you know these are my uncles, Wyatt and Mitch.” She waved her hand and smiled. “We…we aren’t quite human and you’re their mate.”

  “Get off it, Carmen. You’ve always tried to get me to believe some nonsense about what you really are because you get those strange feelings about people.” She turned to Mitch and Wyatt in turn. “She knows when you’re near, you know.” She shrugged when she got no reaction from them. “Good. She told you. I told her that secrets could only be a bad thing.”

  “Which is why I’m telling you this now.” Carmen stood up and began to pace. “I know you remember that night in our freshman year. You thought you saw a big cat prowling around outside our window. Well…” she paused. “That was me.”

  In the blink of an eye, Carmen changed from a beautiful young woman with dark hair and an olive complexion to a large jaguar, with dark swirling rosettes covering its body. She stared at Melody with wide, unblinking eyes, then lifted her lip and gave a low snarl.

  “Oh, my God! Where’s Carmen?” She looked around, her actions frantic as she pulled her feet up onto the bed as though that would stop the large animal from attacking her.

  Mitch grabbed her by the ankle. “She won’t hurt you. She’s the same girl you’ve shared your room with all these years. She’s just taken a different shape.”

  “I’m not seeing this, I’m not seeing this.” Melody chanted the words over and over as though saying them would somehow change the way things were. She shook off Mitch’s hand and danced around on the bed, shaking them as she moved around, obviously trying to find an escape route.

  “Carmen, you’re scaring Melody. I think she gets the picture. Change back to your human form a little slower, would you?”

  Mitch watched Melody’s reaction as Carmen changed back into her human form, slower this time so Melody could watch the transformation. Her legs and arms changed shape. They
elongated, loss muscle mass and grew slender while they watched. Her muzzle lost its hair and reshaped into the face of the beautiful woman she had become.

  Her flat chest blossomed outward, growing large bosoms any shifter male would love to rest his head upon. Thankfully, she’d had the forethought to dress herself as she changed. Mitch shook his head. When had Carmen grown into such a beautiful woman?

  “Carmen! How can you do that?” she jumped from the bed and pushed at Carmen’s shoulder. “All of these years and you never told me? Why?” Tears ran down her face and she reached up to swipe them away with the back of her hand.

  “You know how cool I think stuff like that is. You know what kind of books I read. Dammit, Carmen. You were supposed to be my friend. How could you hide this from me?”

  “We’re not allowed to tell outsiders.” Carmen moved around as Melody crossed her arms and turned away. “Don’t do this, Mel. I wanted to tell you. I really did. Why do you think I kept trying to fix you up with my uncles? I want you to be a permanent part of our lives. Nothing would make me happier than if you mated with my uncles.”

  “What?” Melody threw her hands up in the air. “Do you even hear what you’re saying?” Her face grew so red Mitch wondered if she was going to have a heart attack, or perhaps explode. He didn’t think he’d ever seen a woman so embarrassed, or was she angry?

  “Yes. I do.” Carmen turned to glare at him, then at Wyatt. “You two could help me, you know.” She crossed her arms and scowled. “Tell her. Tell her why she felt so horrible just a few minutes ago and tell her why she feels better now.” She paced the room for a minute before continuing. “Better yet, tell her how you can fix it permanently because from where I’m standing, this whole situation sucks."

  “I’ve been trying to get you three together for the last five years.” She turned to face both Mitch and Wyatt. “Yes, she’s my best friend. Yes, she’s a year younger than me.” She stomped her foot. “But she’s an adult. Mating with her will not mean you’re pedophiles. I am an adult and so is she. And,” she paused to take a deep breath. “She’s obviously your mate, or she wouldn’t have had her first bout of el calor attacks, or whatever they are.”