Werewolf Upstairs (23 page)

He nudged her legs open with one knee and crawled up between them. “Are you ready for me, angel?”

She could have offered to give him some oral too, but not only was she still spent, she also
wanted
to let him show her the best sex of her life. Hey, that was his goal, after all. Who was she to get in the way of a man’s goal?

She bent her knees so she could lift her hips to meet him and then remembered something. “Didn’t you want to take me doggie style?”

“You look tired.” He cocked his head, “Of course I could let you lie back and relax while I make love to you now and then flip you onto your knees and do it all over again later.”

She giggled. “Pretty sure of your endurance, aren’t you?”

He hung his head. “Yeah, maybe I’m being overconfident. It’s been quite a while, and I can’t wait to get inside you.”

“Then don’t.”

His gaze shot to her eyes. “What? Don’t? What do you mean,
don’t?
”

“I meant don’t wait. Fuck me now.”

He exhaled audibly. “Thank God.”

Without waiting for anything to happen that might change her mind, Konrad positioned himself at her entrance, and in one smooth motion, plunged inside her. He let out a low moan of satisfaction and stayed fully seated, as if savoring the moment.

Roz welcomed his heat as he stretched and filled her. How she’d missed him. The long hiatus between lovers in the past hadn’t bothered her nearly as much as how she’d been longing for Konrad.

He’d said it to her first.
You’re the one, Roz. I’ll never look elsewhere.
Could she say it to him too? She felt it. She’d felt it ever since they’d confessed their love for each other. She wanted no one else…just him, for the rest of her life.

Konrad began his slow, rhythmic thrusts. She answered each one. Their building desire increased the tempo naturally. Her heart knew the truth and her head could no longer deny it, so she let herself go and threw herself into the moment. Before long he was hammering into her, and she clung desperately to his neck while she welcomed each lunge.

A subtle sensation began building, but there was something different about it. The only direct pressure reaching inside of her apex was Konrad’s cock. He must have been stimulating her G-spot. While she concentrated on the sensation, waves of heat flowed into her face and perspiration broke out on her forehead; meanwhile, something else yielded inside her. Somehow deeper, richer, a new feeling shook her to the core. Tears filled her eyes, yet she didn’t know why.

Konrad let out a soft grunt, and the pistoning gave way to a few jerky motions. At last, he stilled and collapsed.

“Oh, God,” he groaned.

When she didn’t answer, he levered himself up on his elbows and gazed at her face. Shock registered in his eyes. “What’s wrong, angel?”

“Nothing.” She sniffed. “Not a damn thing. Everything’s right…except you’re a werewolf.”

He inhaled deeply. “We’re back to that again, are we?”

She chuckled, realizing that she must be confusing the hell out of him. “No, it’s not like that. I just… I don’t know. Maybe you could call it a breakthrough or something. I just realized that…well, like you said to me before. You’re the one, Konrad. I won’t look elsewhere.”

He dove for her mouth, kissing her deeply. When she thought she was going die if she didn’t take a breath, she pushed against his chest lightly, and he broke the kiss.

“Whew,” she said and panted.

He smiled. “I know.”

She ran her fingers through his hair. “God knows how we wound up together…the werewolf and the human.”

“The lawyer and the thief…”

“But we belong together.”

“Thank God.” He laid his head next to hers and whispered, “You’ll never regret loving me. I’ll be good to you. I promise.”

Roz walked through the purple door of the beauty school and salon where she and Morgaine had gone before. Beverly, the head instructor, stood next to a student working on a haircut and glanced over her shoulder.

“Back again so soon? Is there a problem with your color?”

Roz said, “Not the color. Look.” She turned around to show off her singed ends.

The woman in the student’s chair gasped.

“Oh, no! That damage isn’t from the student,” Beverly was quick to point out. She rushed over. “What happened?”

“Uh, it was a cooking accident.”

“Holy smokes!”

Roz chuckled. “You can say that again. Is there any way it can be fixed?”

“We’ll have to try. My best student is just finishing up. Caroline, are you happy with your hair?”

“Very, considering I didn’t come out looking like that.” She pointed to Roz.

“I don’t want to bump any of your scheduled clients. I just wanted to show it to you, first to see if you can fix it, and second, so you could figure out how much time you’ll need.”

“I can’t let you walk out of here looking like that. I trust the girls to finish what they’re doing without my hovering over them. I’ll take care of you myself.” She spoke to the student. “Anna, take your client to the front desk, please.”

“Okay, but as soon as I do that, can I watch what you’re doing?”

“Sure, fixing things like this would be good for you to see. In fact, all my students should see it. Do you mind, Roz?”

“I guess not.”
Hmmm…I’m a guinea pig after all.

The client got out of the chair and gestured to it. “Here. You need this more than I do.”

Roz thanked the tactless woman and got comfortable in the black leather chair. Beverly walked around the salon and gathered students who weren’t in the middle of anything time sensitive.

Anna walked her client to the front desk and returned. “That’s a shame. You’re lucky it was in the back, though. You could have singed off your eyebrows.”

“Yeah, and have to draw them on again every morning.”
At least I still look all right lying on my back. I’m glad Konrad can wait for doggie style a little longer.
“You’re right. It could be worse.”

“You know, you could always go for the Victoria Beckham look. It’s very chic.”

“That would be great, if my hair will cooperate.”

Beverly chimed in as she made her way back with three more students. “I was just thinking of doing that. A wedge in the back and longer in front. Anything shorter, and you’d look like a boy.”

Roz sat up straight and raised her eyebrows.

“Oh, no. I didn’t mean that you’re not feminine. You’re beautiful! Really.”

Okay, she still earns a tip.

“So, what happened?” Anna asked.

Roz smiled despite herself. “I was taking a cooking class with my boyfriend. If we’d been paying nearly as much attention to the stove as we were to each other, this wouldn’t have happened.”

The girls laughed.

“Love,” said Beverly. “It can be hazardous to your health.”

Despite her embarrassment, Roz liked the idea of helping students learn, which is why she’d come to the school instead of an upscale Newbury Street salon in the first place. Well, that and the three-hundred-dollar difference.

“Okay, girls. For singed hair like this, what do you think you should do? Dry cut it, or wash and cut?”

The students sounded as if they were split about evenly on the answer.

“Well, I’d cut it dry first, just to get the hair all of the same integrity, then wash it and cut it again.”

I’m bound to be here all day.
The girls looked so interested, though. Roz decided,
What the heck.
“Go for it.”

Beverly looked excited too. She probably hadn’t had the chance to show off her skills for a while. She combed out the parts that weren’t burned first, blunt cut the extra length off, and then pulled the back of the hair out straight.

“Ugh, what a mess,” one of the students said.

Roz saw Beverly squint at her in the mirror. “Is that the way to talk to clients?”

“No, ma’am.”

She’s right. My hair is ugly.

Beverly continued teaching, “If you were going to do a layered look, you’d start from here and work toward here, but in this case—”

Roz tuned her out for a while. All she knew was she wanted to come out looking good. Good for Konrad? Good for court? She was happy when she realized she just wanted to look good for herself. She was ready for a change. “It must be fulfilling to take someone from icky to beautiful.”

“Oh, it is,” Beverly said. “When you know someone leaves your chair ten times happier than they came in, it’s the best feeling in the world. Isn’t it, girls?”

They all nodded and murmured agreement.

Roz had an epiphany. “How long does it take to complete a hairdressing course?”

“It depends. Most programs are under a year, and then you have to pass an exam to get your license. For young beginners, I recommend a vocational school or junior college for formal training. Some with experience can go to an advanced program and learn salon ownership and management.

“This is a good time to get into hairdressing, especially in the city. Predictions are for steady employment growth, especially in upscale urban salons.”

“Seriously? So what if I wanted to wind up in one of those really high-end salons on Newbury Street? What training would you suggest for someone like me?”
How cool would that be? Konrad and I could own a trendy salon, and I wouldn’t have to worry about women hitting on him, because they’d all assume he was gay. Wait a minute, I don’t have to worry about that anyway, because he’s monogamous.

“You? I thought you were a lawyer.”

“Yeah, but I’m tired of cutting people off at the knees. I think I might like cutting their hair and making them feel better instead of worse.”

Beverly grinned. “I’d like to recommend this school, but if you can afford it, there are a couple of places with names you’d recognize.”

“Like?”

Beverly glanced at her students. “I’ll write down the information for you later.”

***

Morgaine explained to Roz that she couldn’t just drive Chad to the museum. Spirit energy wasn’t like occupying a corporeal body. If he sat in the backseat, as soon as Roz rolled out of the alley and onto the street, the car would take off, and Chad wouldn’t. Apparently it made Roz picture an episode of
Casper the Friendly Ghost
in her brain, and she laughed. Chad wasn’t amused.

The trio strolled up Brookline Avenue with the intention of walking Chad to the Gardner Museum. It was only a couple of miles, but for Morgaine it was a big deal. Agoraphobia meant fear of open spaces. Riding in a car could still be problematic, but walking outside, in public, made her chest tighten and her pulse race.
Remember,
she told herself,
millions of dollars in reward money
.

After that, their plans were fuzzy. Morgaine would try to summon Reginald and let the two spirits communicate while she listened in.

“Morgaine, thanks for speaking to Chad. Is he still with us?”

“Chad?”

“
I’m here,
”
he communicated halfheartedly.

“Don’t sulk. You agreed to help Konrad, remember?”

“
I’m not sulking. I’m looking at that big-ass bridge over the highway.
”

Morgaine came to a halt. “B…bridge?”

Roz’s hand covered her mouth. “Oh, no. I read about agoraphobia. Fear of bridges was mentioned specifically.”

“Yeah. I feel pretty exposed on bridges. But I think Chad sounded nervous about it too. She took a deep breath and grounded herself. “Are you saying you might have trouble crossing the bridge, Chad?”

“
It’s the wind.
”

“What wind?”

“
From the traffic below. If it kicks up at the wrong moment, I’ll be blown halfway to Brighton. If memory serves, the turnpike is always busy, so this bridge is almost always windy. It’s been nice knowin’ ya.
”

Her jaw dropped. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”

Roz cocked her head. “What’s wrong?”

A young woman wearing jeans and a sweater approached from the other side of the bridge. Her long, sandy hair suddenly lifted in the wind and wrapped around her face. She grasped it, twirled it into a ponytail, and knotted it behind her head.

Morgaine whispered furiously behind her hand to Roz. “Even if I manage to cross this thing, Chad says he could be blown off course by the wind from the highway below.”

Morgaine and Roz turned to each other and at the same time uttered a worried, “Oh, no.”

Roz looked crestfallen. “How are we going to manage this?”

Morgaine wrung her hands. “I guess it wasn’t such a good idea.”

“
Hey, kids. Don’t give up so easily. I can try to use the two of you as a shield. If that doesn’t work, I’ll simply make my way back as soon as I can.
”

Morgaine waited for the woman to pass them before she answered. The woman hung her head and didn’t make eye contact, so there was no need to say hello. When it was just the two—or three—of them again, Morgaine said, “Chad, that’s really decent of you. I didn’t realize you cared about Konrad so much.”

“
I don’t, but you said something that made me think.
”

“Really? What was that?”

“
You said he’d do the same for me. And you were right. In fact, recently, Joe and Gwyneth were making whoopee over his head, and something made him think the noise was me trying to get someone’s attention. He actually got off his butt and came upstairs to see if there was anything he could do.
”

“Even though he can’t communicate with you?”

“What’s he saying?” Roz asked.

“He said he realized Konrad would do the same for him. Come to think of it, Konrad’s the one guy in the building
everyone
counts on for help if they need it.”