Abby's Call Read online

  Chapter 1

  A soft haze blurred the edges of his vision causing the whitewash walls around him to mist as he waked on into eternity. He’d come such a long way, but he couldn’t seem to get any closer to…wherever he was going.

  Maybe I should just head back, he thought and stopped. Yeah, he nodded. I should go back. But his heart sank when he turned. The hall stretched endlessly, not leading anywhere. This was nowhere, he was nowhere.

  He sighed. Why aren’t there any doors? He wondered. Hallways were supposed to have doors. Doors that went to rooms or outside or somewhere…anywhere.

  Resigned to his walk down the empty hall, he turned back around to continue on his way. His foot lifting automatically to take the first of many more steps. He stilled, frowning.

  Where’d that come from? He asked studying the new addition to the hall.

  Stone slabs with door handles spanned the breadth of the hall and stretched up well above his head. Doors. There were images chiseled from top to bottom. It reminded him of a picture he’d seen on a different set of stone doors crafted during the Renaissance in Italy, but the images here weren’t angels and demons, heaven, hell, and purgatory like those doors. The artist for these doors had chiseled images of men and women.

  His eyes wandered over the scenes. The further down his eyes went the more graphic and lewd the images became until, at the bottom, the artist depicted a full orgy. The limbs intertwined until he couldn’t even count the people in the work.

  Shocked and more than a little disturbed by the imagery and the sudden appearance of the door; he tried to step back. Nothing happened, he couldn’t move back. His heart sped. Why couldn’t he move?

  He put everything he had into moving, to taking at least one step. Finally, his feet got with the program and took a step, but not as he’d intended. He fought against it as his hand gripped the handle of the door. He tried to stop himself, but his thumb touched the tongue latch, he wanted to yell. The tongue gave under his thumb.

  Click. Unlocked. His heart slammed against his chest until he thought he’d bruise his ribs from the inside and still he couldn’t stop himself from pushing the door inward. White light blinded him as he stepped through. He closed his eyes against the brightness, then everything went dark, starbursts flashing behind his lids.

  When the flashes faded he blinked his eyes open and took in his new surroundings. The room was a complete contrast to the hall. The hall had been narrow, the walls bleach white, the tile under his feet cold. It had felt…sterile, like a hospital. But this room…this room was open, the walls painted some dark color. Burgundy, maybe. The warmth that seeped into his skin calmed him, eased his racing heart. Under his bare feet carpet, softer than any other he’d set foot on, gave and tickled.

  The only light in the room shown from a sliver candelabra, its five lit candles throwing shadows across the room. In the center of the room, raised slightly on a platform, sat a large wooden four-posted bed. Red silken sheets lay twisted and bunched across it. The flickering light and the twist of the sheets seemed to be hiding something; he could feel it and the need to step closer to the bed overwhelmed him.

  Pale skin began to peek out from the sheets as he moved closer. A set of shapely legs, the knees slightly bent, were the first thing he noticed. Female. He had to see more, needed to see more of her.

  As he made it to the lighted side of the bed, he gazed down at her. Her breathing was slow and even, sleeping. One hand held the sheets in place across her chest, the other rested beside her head on the pillow. Ash blonde hair spilled across her face hiding the detail he desired to see. The movement of the shadows the candlelight created gave assistance to the cause.

  I need wake her, he thought and reached to touch her shoulder. I need to see her, to touch her…this time. His fingers were so close. Maybe…maybe…

  Brrriinnng, brrriinng. He looked around confused. There wasn’t a phone in the room a minute ago. Brrriinnng, brrinng. The world shattered. The picture in his head fell to pieces around him and the darkness around him was dotted with colorful stars.

  He groaned as the shrill scream sounded again. Same dream…again? He questioned. It was the third time this week and probably the thousandth time he’d had it in the last six years. He couldn’t understand it, why did he need this female so badly in the dream and why couldn’t he touch her. Any of the psychology professors on campus would have a field day with him.

  He forced his eyes open and immediately regretted it; sunlight flooded the room through the blinds. Squinting, he sat up and grabbed for his cell, his hand hit the bare wood of the nightstand. He groaned at his stupidity. He’d left it off the charger…again? He searched the bed for it, sending papers and even a book flying to the floor in his quest.

  “Where is the damn—aha.” He pulled the device from hell out of a binder near the foot of the bed and flipped it open. “Hello?” He asked.

  “Kyle…were you still asleep?” Came a familiar female voice.

  Kyle eased back on the mound of pillows and rubbed the heel of his hand against his left eye and stretched.

  “Not anymore. What’s up Taylor?” Kyle asked as he surveyed the scattered papers. Lord, he thought, must have fallen asleep again while I was studying...

  “Class is starting in fifteen minutes.”

  “What! No,” Kyle glanced over at the alarm clock. “Holy shit!” He hadn’t set the alarm, either? What papers hadn’t scattered to the winds in his search for the phone went flying in a wave as he threw back the covers. “Thanks Tay.” He pulled the phone away from his ear.

  “Hey wait…” He hit the end button and dropped the phone to the bed. Kyle ran for his closet and jerked the shirt he was wearing over his head. Pulling a new one from its hanger, he threw it on and glanced down at his jeans. He shrugged, they can wait till after class, he thought and threw on his socks and shoes. The notes for class he could find, he stuffed in a binder then grabbed up his book. Making it out the door with ten minutes to spare.

  A run across campus was nothing new for him; he seemed to always be running a few minutes behind. After seven years of running across this campus, he knew every shortcut and what would have taken a freshmen eighteen minutes took Kyle every second of the ten minutes as a grad student.

  Dr. Praxton had his hand on the doorknob ready to shut the door when Kyle skidded passed him into the lecture room. The doctor turned to him, frowning. He gave Kyle an offended look as he started at him.

  “Nice of you to join us today Mr. East,” Dr. Praxton said in his normal sarcastic tone. Kyle opened his mouth, but Praxton held up his hand. “Don’t apologize. At least today, you made it before I shut the door.” He raised an eyebrow. “It’s been a while Mr. East; do you think you can find a seat on your own?”

  Kyle felt his checks tingle a bit as giggles and quiet chuckles erupted from some of the students in the class. He decided to ignore the tone. Trying for a comeback would just get him thrown out into the hall. Kyle turned and made for the seat beside Taylor a few rows up.

  Dr. Praxton shut the door, locking it to keep out any student that might be late, like Kyle. “Now today we are picking up where we left off; the mating habits of Panthera tigris altaica. I have a video for you to watch before we get into a more intense discussion on the subject so let’s get started.” The lights dimmed and the projector started up.

  “Glad you made it today,” Taylor whispered. The corner of Kyle’s mouth curled into a half smile.

  “Thanks again for the wakeup call. I was up late again trying to catch up on my research,” he whispered back, his eyes staying on the screen. Taylor shook her head, smiling. Dr. Praxton was the one overseeing Kyle’s dissertation and he wasn’t kind about it. Though it was probably a good thing, Kyle would have
preferred someone more encouraging and less, well, bitchy, but he had to admit that Praxton’s dislike of him had spurned him into a heavy obsession with his dissertation just to prove Praxton was an ass.

  “You’re welcome,” Taylor said, nudging him.

  Was she finally flirting with him again? Kyle smirked and looked over at her, but instead of a flirty look or smile, she was worrying her bottom lip. What did Jason do to her now? I swear that brother of mine is fucking stupid. His younger brother was a senior at the same college. Kyle had introduced them almost a year ago at a Halloween party and he’d hated himself ever since.

  He and Taylor had a history together. It was years in the past and they’d never been exclusive, but he’d never lost that pull to her. Something inside his head kept telling him he needed to stay close to her. Kyle had hoped that after they finished their doctorates that they’d get back together, but then Jason had asked her out. She wasn’t his type, in Jason’s words, too nerdy; at least that’s what he’d said to begin with. Jason East was a superficial guy, the minute he found a flaw he ran. How they’d made it ten months, was anyone’s guess.

  “What’s going on?” he asked, leaning closer so the other students wouldn’t hear them.

  “It’s about me and Jason. Are you sure you want to hear it?” She asked.

  Kyle nodded. “What’d he do now?”

  Taylor glanced at the screen and huffed. “Can we talk about it after class? I can’t think right now.”

  “Sure,” Kyle told her.

  Kyle finally turned to the video playing, but he was too worried about what Taylor was going to tell him to pay much attention to the details. When Praxton’s lecture started it was little more than background noise.

  Was Jason cheating on her? It didn’t seem like it. Jason’s time card was nearly full, just having one girlfriend and playing football for the college. Did he dump her? No, Jason was a talker, if he’d even thought about it, Kyle would have already known and he would’ve warned Tay that it was coming. He turned his head to her. Was she cheating? Did she want out of the relationship? He shook his head. It would make sense for her to come to him about it, if she was going to cheat…they’d been causal lovers for years, if she was going to cheat on Jason it was more likely to be with him than anyone else. Then again, they hadn’t had sex together in three years; maybe she’d had another causal lover since then.

  His mind was fried with the possibilities by the time he followed her out of the class and to her car. Taylor pulled her jacket closed around her and leaned against the car. It wasn’t until then that he realized how cold it was getting and he had a short-sleeved shirt on.

  “So…” he said coming to rest beside her and folding his arms over his chest. “What’s going on with you and my little brother?”

  Taylor looked away. Sighed and reached in her purse. “I…umm. Took this last night,” she told him.

  Kyle frowned until she brought it around in front of her. A plastic stick with a digital window on it and the word ‘pregnant’ stamped in the window. His jaw fell open. Taylor and Jason were… He didn’t say anything as her face went red.

  “Are…you’re…” Kyle ran his fingers through his hair. “You’re sure it’s right?”

  Taylor nodded. “I took three tests. They all came back positive. I’m going to the doctor now to get everything confirmed.” She looked up at him. “How do you feel—about being an uncle?”

  “Have you told Jason yet?” Kyle asked ignoring her question. Please let him have reacted well to this, he prayed silently.

  “I’m going to tell him tonight, after the doctor says I am. We’re having dinner at my house perfect time to drop this bomb,” Taylor said and gave a mock laugh.

  Kyle nodded, but couldn’t look at her anymore. His best girl friend, the girl he’d slept with on and off for four years, was now pregnant…with his younger brother’s kid. His mind betrayed him in that minute, flashing an image he knew too well, Tay’s large chest bouncing as they had sex. But instead of him being under her it was Jason…Kyle shook his head again and ran a frustrated hand through his hair.

  “Say something…please,” Taylor’s voice sounded strained.

  He turned his attention back to her. A tear worked its way down her cheek and he folded. Kyle pulled her to him, hugging her. “I’m going to love being an uncle,” he smiled down at her, lying his ass off.

  Tay smiled, laughter breaking through, and hugged him back.

  Chapter 2

  Abigail huffed and sat up in her bed, her thick comforter folding back as she did, allowing cool air to slide across her bare chest. She’d dreamed about him again, her mystery man. In the dreams, she was always laying on that bed when he opened the door. She pretended to be asleep at first, afraid of who it might be, which was ridiculous since it was always the same male. Her tall, dark haired intruder. Every time Abigail would watch him come closer to the bed and every time her breath would catch in surprise when she realized he was naked before her. His frame was slight, but she believed his height had a lot to do with that and the slightness took nothing away from his muscle tone; a swimmer or runner’s body rather than one a football or hockey player might have. Then there the small scar on the left side of his chest right over his heart. She could never see it clear enough to tell what it was from, but she could see the difference in the color of his skin.

  The high mattress she lay on in the dream hid the more tantalizing bits of his anatomy and when that didn’t…the shadows did. Those blasted candles and their shadows. Then he would stand beside the bed, she wanted to move toward him each time, but he’d reach his hand out to touch her, stilling her from completing the action. Abigail’s heart would race and just before he would touch her, something would stop him and he would disappear, leaving her alone in that huge bed.

  She sighed. She’d really wanted last night’s dream to go differently. Ever since he’d disappeared from her, she’d tried to go back to sleep, hoping to catch him. The mating dream only worked when both were asleep, but it hadn’t worked again…yet.

  A knock at her door brought her attention around. Abigail scrambled to pull the covers up to her neck as the door swung open without invitation. Her oldest sister, Taylor.

  “Are you still in bed?” Taylor looked at her watch. “It’s after one,” she chastised.

  Abby pulled the covers over her head and threw herself back onto the bed, groaning. Why did Taylor always have to be the one to find her in the most embarrassing situations? “Go away,” Abigail said from under the sheets. The covers lifted away from her and she grabbed handfuls to keep herself covered, but Taylor was stronger. The covers jerked away sending a chill over Abigail’s naked body, the light sheen of sweat covering her adding to the coolness of the room.

  “I’m not going anyway. I told you Jason and I have something planned tonight and I need all of you out… of…the…house…” Taylor’s words slowed and she tilted her head. She sniffed then frowned for a moment. “Oh, Abby,” Taylor said her softer. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

  She smells it, Abby thought. I really am in Heat. She wanted to cry. Taylor had just gone through a mild Heat a few months back. Abby had to listen to Jason and her in the next room for a whole twelve hours. She shook her head. “Because you would have told me it was too soon and that I was imagining it,” Abigail answered her. Taylor sat down on the bed beside her.

  “It’s a little soon, but Vivian went through it early too,” Taylor told her and rubbed her shoulder. Her other hand going protectively to her belly.

  “Did she really?” Abigail asked skeptically trying to remember when Vivian had gone through it.

  Taylor smiled. “Yeah, her first Heat she was barely legal,” Taylor informed her. “I think it was less than a week after her eighteenth birthday.”

  Abigail smiled, but looked away; at least she was twenty.

  “It doesn’t seem like you’re fully into your Heat yet; it’s probably the beginning stages, though by to
morrow night…” Taylor offered when Abby didn’t say anything.

  Abigail stayed silent. She was right. The sensitivity to touch and smell along with the fever like temp she had had started right after she woke from her dream. All signs of her Heat was starting.

  “You knew this was a possibility Abigail. All of us were younger than normal during our first Heats and from what our aunts have said their generation did too. Did you think it was something else?” Taylor asked.

  She folded her arms and glanced back at Taylor. “No…”

  “Then why hide it? We would have smelt it tomorrow anyway and known what was happening, even if you’d stayed locked up here in your room,” Taylor told her.

  Abby didn’t keep many secrets, all five of the sisters were close, but the fact that she was having the dream about her mate at only twenty wasn’t something she really wanted the brood of females knowing. It would get out and the next thing she’d know her aunts would try to fix her up with their friends’ sons, try to force a meeting. Then again that might not be a bad idea at this point.

  Abby sighed and sat up, if there was any information to be had it was going to come from Taylor. She was going to have to tell her. “I’ve been having the same dream a lot,” she said quietly. Taylor visibly stilled at the words. “There’s this male,” Abby explained, her checks flaming. “And he comes over to this bed with red satin sheets on it.”

  Taylor nodded and held up a hand for her to stop. Of their siblings, Taylor was the only one who’d found their mate, the only one to have the dream that signaled the coming meeting. It took her and Jason a month to find each other once the dreams started and a week to realize they were both tiger shifters.

  Taylor had told her that she thought she was mated to a human at first because Taylor knew her mate’s older brother. Abby hadn’t gotten all the details on that one, but for some reason the older brother couldn’t shift.

  “How do you want to handle this?” Taylor finally asked. “Are we— “