To the Edge and Back [The Royal Wolves] (Siren Publishing Allure) (31 page)

Mina smiled as she watched Katherine pull off her clothes and held her hand while the little girl stepped into the small pile of bubbles. Picking up the clothes, Mina frowned and shook her head. “We will wash these, Katherine, love. Hopefully the things that you and Janos ordered will be here soon, and in the meantime you can wear Janos’s shirts or we will send him out to get you some new clothes, love.” She wanted to burn the clothes, but she would leave that for Katherine to decide.

“Okay,” Katherine said and looked up at Mina. “Can you help me wif my hair?”

“Of course, darling,” Mina told her and began to help Katherine with her bath. The dirt on the child was a surprise, and when she finally got out, Mina said, “Go ahead and get dressed, love. Head on to the kitchen while I clean up in here.”

Katherine nodded and turned to walk from the room. Seeing Janos, she smiled. “I’m clean now, Daddy ’Anos.”

Turning, he smiled. “So you are,” he said with a grin. “Come here, honey, and let’s do the inspection.” He winked, picking up her fingers when she was close as he crouched down. “Nails are clean, check.” He nodded and then tweaked her ears. “Behind the ears are clean, double check. Good job,” he told her, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “You ready for a snack before bed, honey?” he asked her as he kept an ear open to what Mina was doing.

Mina took the hand-held shower sprayer in hand and cleaned out the now filthy tub. She couldn’t believe there was so much dirt on the small child. She didn’t look that dirty, but she certainly was.

Finally standing, she moved slowly to the door and leaned against it as she watched Janos with Katherine. “I love you both,” she said simply and then told him, “Go ahead and take our little girl for a snack. I am going to curl up in bed. Katherine, you can either sleep in the middle or on the outside.” Mina was hoping for middle so they could keep her safe, but for the outside so she could be held by Janos all night.

Straightening, Janos took her hand in his and guided her to the bed. “In you get, darling,” he said, lifting the blankets for her. “When we come back, we’ll get you all changed, but you need to rest a little, darling. You look exhausted.” Stepping back, he gently ran a finger down her cheek. “We’ll be back soon, love,” he murmured softly.

Mina smiled and nodded, her hand capturing his as she looked into the eyes of the man she loved. “Later we will discuss me becoming as you are.” Because she realized if she had been a bit stronger, a bit faster, she wouldn’t be in the shape she was now. Plus, as a Wolf she would heal faster, so that would be all the better.

Turning, he took Katherine’s hand in his and led her to the kitchen before scooping her up and settling her on a stool before the counter. “All right, miss, we have fruits, veggies with dips, some meats with crackers, and a fine selection of cheeses from…” He looked at the packages. “North America and Europe apparently.” Shaking his head, he set the package aside. “Dig in, sweets. Did you want some milk or water to go with the spread?”

“Can I have bof pweeze?” Katherine asked and watched Janos, and then turned her eyes to the cheeses, and picking one up, she sounded it out. “Goo-dah,” she whispered. “I want to try this one, okay?” she asked even as she began to peel the wrapping from the cheese and grabbed a piece of ham and an apple slice. “Oh, Daddy ’Anos, I wike this Goo-dah cheese.”

“So noted, darling.” He grinned as he poured her a glass of milk and then a glass of water and carried both back to the counter to sit at her side. “Keep trying other things, too, honey, so that when I go shopping with Mina and yourself, we can get your favorite items.”

Reaching over, he lightly stroked back her damp hair and smiled slightly at her happy look to him, the shadows not nearly as clear in her eyes but still there. Time, Janos, he reminded himself.
She needs time to fully trust and to believe that Mina and I will always be there for her.

She sat on her stool, bouncing and eating as only a four-year-old could before she finally pushed the plate away from herself and took the last sip of milk in her glass. Setting it on the counter, she grinned up with a milk mustache and said, “I’m weady for bed now, Daddy ’Anos.” Her arms held out to him, waiting on him to pick her up and carry her.

Chuckling at her, he picked up her napkin before scooping her into his arms. Gently he wiped her face and kissed her cheek. “Let’s get you into bed with Mina and then I’ll come back and clean up before I rejoin you both.” Walking to the bedroom, he paused and smiled at how spread out his mate was. “We’ll have to remind her to share,” he whispered in Katherine’s ear as he moved to the bathroom.

Setting her on her feet, Janos pulled the stool over and then lifted her up onto it so she’d be able to reach to sink. Passing her a new toothbrush, he gave her a bit of toothpaste and patiently waited as she did her teeth. “We’ll have to pick you up your own toothbrush, I think. That one’s a tad too big for you, sweets.”

She grinned around the toothbrush. “It’s okay, Daddy ’Anos. I wike just being able to bwush my teeth, Daddy ’Anos.” She spit out the contents of her mouth and then took the small glass of water he held out and rinsed her mouth and then her toothbrush. Grinning unabashedly up at him, she nodded. “Awrite, I’m ready.” She held her skinny little arms up, waiting on him.

Picking her up once more, he held her to him for a moment, just enjoying the feel of her little body holding onto him so trustingly. Closing his eyes for a moment, he breathed her in and prayed that he never disappointed her or made her lose that trust. Releasing a breath, he moved toward the bed and set her down at Mina’s side even as he stroked his mate’s face.

“Come on, darling, you need to wake up enough to clean up and get changed, darling,” he said softly. “It’s time for bed and, as much as I know you want to sleep, you need to get out of all those clothes and into something more comfortable.” 

Mina moved slowly and sat up with a smile on her face. Reaching out, she sleepily touched Janos’s face and then Katherine’s. “Right, Janos, can you bring me something to wear into the bathroom?” She wasn’t sure she would make the closet and then bathroom all in one trip. “And next time”—she looked serious—“no drugs please? I can’t shake this feeling of tiredness. I would rather hurt, okay?”

“Wasn’t my call, the guy with the giant needle was calling the shots,” he told her even as he chuckled at his own double entendre. Helping her to her feet, he kissed her nose. “Go and clean up, love. I’ll grab you a shirt,” he promised, pointing her the right way when she was actually aiming for a wall.

Shaking his head as she just missed bouncing off the doorjamb, he looked to Katherine. “She’s actually pretty amusing when she’s like this,” he commented, shaking his head again and moving to the closet. Grabbing one of his T-shirts, he took it to the bathroom and peeked in. “No sleeping on the toilet, woman,” he reprimanded as she sat on the seat, her head propped against the vanity.

Mina took the shirt and stuck her tongue out at him. “If I stand, I fall, so here I sit until I have teeth brushed. And then I will hopefully make the bed.” She reached for, and thankfully grabbed, her toothbrush and the toothpaste.

Shaking his head, he left her to do her business, his lips curled up in a grin. Moving to the closet, he stepped in out of Katherine’s view and changed into a pair of shorts and a ratty shirt. Padding back out, he moved around the room adjusting the heavy curtains and checking the windows as he waited on his mate.

Not even bothering with water, she stuck the brush in her mouth and began to scrub her teeth clean. She had to stand to spit and did so, using the vanity to keep herself upright while she rinsed her mouth and toothbrush.

Finally she began to tug at her clothes, and got stuck. “Janos.” She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t do this alone. She needed him, damn it all.

Looking up at her call, Janos went back to the bathroom and burst out laughing. Her one arm was stuck half out of the armhole, and the way it was twisted, he knew her goose was cooked.

Moving closer, he got her realigned and her arm through even with the dirty looks she shot him. Pulling the shirt down to cover her, he held onto her as she pushed at her slacks and kept her from plummeting headfirst to the floor. “All right, love,” he said once she’d kicked the last leg free, much frustration included. “Time for you to go to bed.” He’d have to remember to keep her off any type of painkillers. She was downright cranky on the blasted things.

Mina nodded, and when he picked her up, simply lay her head on his shoulder and was sound asleep before they even made it out of the bathroom. Katherine looked up from where she was sitting waiting on the bed and grinned. “Mommy Mina doesn’t do the druggies weelie well do she?” Which made her little heart very happy. Because if she didn’t do drugs very well that a doctor gave her, she likely wouldn’t like street drugs, so she wouldn’t turn into a crack whore like so many people she had seen. “Come on, Daddy ’Anos, put mommy Mina down aso we cen get sweep.”

“No she doesn’t,” he murmured, hearing more in that little girl voice than should have been there. Easing to a knee, he laid Mina down on the bed next to Katherine. “Why don’t you cuddle up with her and I’ll be back once I tidy up, honey,” he suggested, stroking a hand down her hair.

He went to the kitchen and cleaned up within moments before moving through the house to lock it down, his eyes sweeping out over his land briefly but with intent. His steps silent, he walked back toward the bedroom and slid through the door. Smiling when Katherine lifted her head, he went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and then, shutting the door partially with the light still on, he slid into the bed behind Mina. Turning off the light on the side table, he lay down with sudden exhaustion hitting him.

She was on fire. There was no other explanation for how hot she was as she lay there in bed. Then she heard it, the whisper-light sounds coming from the little child that had wrapped herself tightly around Mina. Her hands moved over Katherine’s back and she smiled. This was worth being a little warm over.

Shifting slightly, Janos ran his lips over Mina’s shoulder as he pushed the covers down slightly. “Warm, love?” he asked with a grin. He could feel the heat radiating from Katherine and then from Mina. Because of it he’d shifted the heavy blankets all toward the foot of the bed, leaving one partially covering Katherine while he kept the sheet over him and his mate.

She pushed his hand lower on her belly. “Yes, hot.” She was suddenly very, very hot. “I need you, Janos,” she whispered and wiggled against the evident need he had of her. “I bet we can do this, if we are quiet.” God, she needed him, badly.

“Mina. What kind of example are you planning on setting for her?” Janos asked even as he nipped at her throat. Nibbling over her flesh, he breathed her in, pressing his hard cock against her thigh as he did so.

God help her, she hated it when he was right, but he was right. “I’m sorry.” Her hands moved to his thighs, squeezing tightly as she bit her lip while he nibbled her neck. “I just, I ache.” She was in need, needed him. “Bathroom?” she asked suddenly. “Or should we not at all?”

“Honey, I ache, too,” he murmured against her skin. “We could grab a quick shower, help cool you off,” he added with a slow smile before he licked at the slightly salty flesh. “We’ll turn on a light in here so she won’t be afraid if she wakes, and we will bathe.” That was said with a wicked look on his face as he looked down into hers.

“Have I told you just how lucky I am to have you?” she asked as the excitement leapt into her eyes. “We need to slide out of bed. Are you ready?” Because she was. Her body was aching and just the touch of his hands on her skin was nearly enough to make her come there and then.

Kissing her cheek lightly, he eased from the bed and held the blankets up for her to follow. As she slid out, he tucked Katherine back in and turned on a side lamp to the lowest setting before taking her hand. Tugging her along behind him, he shut the bathroom door and moved to the center of the room before he tugged at the shirt covering her from his gaze and touch.

She wrapped her arms around him and began to kiss him once he had her free of the shirt and panties. She was desperate for him, for her love. “We are never going to make the shower.” She honestly didn’t care. “Vanity. I want to watch you take me from behind, please?”

Growling softly at her, he pulled his own clothing off with more need than finesse and nipped at her mark. “Whatever you want,” he told her in a needy tone as he turned her to face the mirror. Sliding his hands over her belly, he moved them up to cup her breasts, kneading them slowly, his fingers shifting to flick at her nipples as he stared at her in the reflective surface.

“God, that feels good,” she whispered huskily. “Bite the mating mark again, please?” It sent a shaft of pleasure through her body that she couldn’t explain. Just the simple touch of his mouth to the mark that he gave her caused her body to tremble at the precipice of orgasm.

Shifting slightly, Janos moved his head to the other side and did as she asked, keeping his eyes on her as he licked at the mark. Smiling at her shiver, he nibbled gently on the mark as he teased her nipples.

“Stop teasing.” She gasped with breathy sounds as she fought off her orgasm. “Please, Janos, I need you inside of me.” It seemed as if their teasing went on and on, his hands on her breasts tweaking and tugging her nipples to make her eyes cross in sheer pleasure.

“I love it when you get all bossy,” he whispered before shifting their stance and spreading her legs. Sliding one hand between her legs, he gently stroked her pussy before, with one swift movement, he drove himself deep as he bit her mating mark.

She had to bite her tongue to stop from screaming out in pleasure when he bit into her mating mark. “Janos,” she cried out softly as her hands curled into fists on the marble vanity. Her eyes locked onto his in the mirror, watching him as he drove into her.

Growling in a soft tone, he speared his one hand through her soft curls and found her swollen nub of flesh. Pinching it gently, he pulled on it lightly as he flicked it with a nail, his other hand plumping and massaging her breast as he took her in a variation of their first time.