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had his
animal’s scent. If he ever changed back into his boar again and
Jarrod was around, he would know and he would pursue it.
    No one threatened his mate without
suffering the consequences. Animal instinct was one thing.
Attacking as a shifter was another matter entirely.
    Turning his attention back to their
mate, he watched nearly mesmerized as she reached over and patted
the chair next to her. “Sit down. I’m starved. I can’t wait to eat.
The fish smells wonderful.” She looked at Duncan and smiled. “It’s
a good thing he didn’t cook it all the way before you guys went to
get me. Otherwise it wouldn’t be fit to eat.”
    “ It wouldn’t have mattered
as long as you had something for yourself.”
    “ But what about you
two?”
    He exchanged a knowing look with Duncan
then turned his attention back to her. “I would have found
something even more delicious to eat.” He lowered his eyelids and
gave her a practiced look. “Perhaps I would have found something
that would serve as a nice, creamy dessert.”

Chapter Nine
     
     
    Pearl stared at him for a
moment, her face heating up once again. Holy crap! He can’t be talking about me. Yet she knew he was. What else could he mean by that
statement?
    “ You—” She paused to clear
her throat. “I’m going to pretend you don’t mean what I think you
mean.” She took a drink from the glass of water in front of her.
“You don’t even know my name, for heaven’s sake.”
    “ That’s where you’re wrong.”
Jarrod looked at Duncan who merely nodded his head. “Your name, if
I’m not mistaken, is Pearl June Alexander. Your older sister is
Gemma and your little sister is Crystal.”
    “ How did you—”
    “ We guessed,” he interrupted
with a shrug. “We were relatively certain you were one of Gemma’s
sisters because you disappeared right around the same time her
sisters did. Plus, you were the only one of the two old enough to
want to spy on two old shifters who sunbathed nude.”
    Duncan chuckled. “She thought we always
did that.”
    “ You’re kidding,” Jarrod
said with a chuckle. “I’m glad we did it right then.”
    Pearl wanted to throttle them both.
They’d played her all of those years ago. They had purposely got
her all hot and bothered knowing full well they wouldn’t touch her
until she was over eighteen.
    “ I don’t believe you two.”
She stood and began to pace, choosing to ignore the fact that
Duncan had to dance out of her way before she ran into the hot pan
he carried. “How could you do that to me?”
    “ Do what?”
    Pearl suspected that Duncan knew
exactly what she was talking about. Turning to glare at him, she
practically snarled. “You two jerks got me all hot and bothered
when you knew damned good and well you wouldn’t touch me until I
was eighteen. Didn’t you?”
    “ Don’t ask questions that
you know you don’t want the answer to, darlin’.”
    “ Who said I didn’t want the
answer?” God, she was angry. She hadn’t been so pissed since she’d
had her breakthrough in therapy. She was so mad, she wanted to hurt
someone.
    “ Sit down and eat. You can
be mad at us later.” Jarrod turned her chair so the seat faced
her.
    “ Eat? What makes you think I
can eat now?”
    “ You can eat, because we
tell you to eat.” Duncan set the pan of potatoes on the table and
moved toward her. “You may have gotten here first, and by the rules
of Paradise this cabin is yours as long as you want to stay, but
you invited us in and therefore, into your life and you will listen
to your mates.”
    “ Mates? Ha! I don’t know you
well enough to want you as mates.” She tried her best to sneer at
them. “And from what I’ve learned of you two so far, I’m not sure I
want any more to do with you.”
    “ Sit down and eat or I’ll
spank your little ass.”
    Pearl almost didn’t believe
her ears. “You wouldn’t dare!” She glared at Duncan. Had he lost
his mind? Spank her. Really ?
    “ Don’t count