Authors: Lauren Dane
Deeply touched, Kari’s vision blurred as she blinked back tears. “Anna, it’s gorgeous. It must have taken you hours to do this. You’re amazing.” Without thinking, she reached out and ran her face along Anna’s cheek.
“Oh,
reine
. I’m honored you like it.” Anna’s voice was choked with emotion as she fell to her knees.
Kari knelt before the other woman and brought her face up with her hands. “I’m the one who’s honored, Anna. You do this Pack proud with your gifts—your kindness and your artistry. Do not kneel to me.” She stood and held her hand out to Anna, who took it and let Kari pull her to her feet.
After the cake, Kari went into the great room with her brothers-in-law-to-be and Perri, while Andreas stayed back to talk golf with some of the others.
Kari excused herself briefly to go upstairs and change into jeans and wool socks while Phillip waited outside.
Once back downstairs she joined Sean, Devon and Perri on the couch. Skye came and sat on the floor, leaning his head back on her legs, and she threaded her fingers through his hair absentmindedly. Perri leaned close on one side and Sean on the other. All around the room she could see small groupings just like theirs, where everyone was touching.
From her spot on the couch she could see Andreas talk and laugh with the others in the dining room. They clearly loved him and it made her proud. He looked up then and met her gaze, and the heat of it scalded her from across the room.
With a narrowing of her eyes, she also noticed that Johanna had insinuated herself into his group. Snorting derisively, she glanced back at Skye, who’d been speaking to her. His eyes went up to see what she’d been looking at and he gave a snort of his own. “Don’t sweat it. She’s nothing to him.”
Perri agreed. “I don’t know why she just didn’t leave the Pack last year.”
“Last year?”
“Oh, she dated Andreas a few times and he put the brakes on that. She actually sniffed around Devon for a bit and then she went out with Sean. Once it was clear the Phinney brothers weren’t interested, she moved on. Skye wouldn’t get near her, and Laurent and Phillip hate her so she went for Ryan. Sweet and wonderful Ryan, who really tried. He reached out to her but she broke his heart. Caused a huge fight between Ryan and Neil. Many of us felt she should have been exiled to another Clan but she begged to stay and Andreas relented. He felt sorry for her.” Disgust was plain on Perri’s face.
“Neil? I don’t think I’ve met him.”
“He’s dead. Ryan killed him. In my opinion—and this is just gossip, mind you—but in my opinion, Johanna set Neil up to try to make Andreas jealous. She led Neil on, and when he took the bait and mounted her, she yelped, making it seem like he’d tried to rape her. Ryan intervened, still thinking Johanna was his girlfriend, and he and Neil got into a fight, a really bad one. Ryan is high in the Pack hierarchy for a reason. Neil was stupid to forget that. He challenged and wouldn’t back down. He kept coming back at Ryan and it got him killed. Johanna never showed an ounce of remorse or even kindness toward Ryan, who was obviously upset afterward.”
“Oh,” Kari said, distressed suddenly. Turning to face her, Skye put his chin on her knees, rubbing his hands along her calves.
Sean leaned into her side and put his head on her shoulder. “Don’t worry, peaches, it’s all okay,” he murmured. The wolves nearby reached out in some way to touch or caress her. It was almost funny but it did calm her down.
She noticed movement out of the corner of her eye and turned to see Andreas rise and come toward her, sensing her distress. Perri got up and moved to Devon’s lap as Andreas sat beside her, pulling Kari into the curve of his body. “Are you well?” he murmured into her ear.
“Fine. I’m okay. Really. Just getting a history lesson.” She didn’t want to get anyone in trouble with Andreas and didn’t know how he’d feel about them telling her about Neil.
“We told her about Neil,” Sean said, resettling, moving closer to her again.
“Ah. And you’re distressed?”
“I was but superwolf here and his gang of sidekicks seemed to calm me down with a bunch of petting,” she said drowsily. Andreas’s warmth enveloped her, lulling her into a deeper calm.
“Superwolf? Gang of sidekicks?” Andreas asked, eyebrow rising.
“Well, yes. Sean has this way of reading my mind. And everyone with their petting and stroking—it was magic. Like the furry version of the Super Friends.”
Perri giggled then. “You’ll fit into this family just fine.”
“Yes,” Andreas said, hugging her to his side tightly. He was so big he dwarfed her but she didn’t feel threatened in any way, just blanketed. It was a nice girly feeling. She’d never been out with such a big man before, it was a bit overwhelming. Well, that was an understatement. Still, not scary.
They all sat there, lounging and talking and laughing. She felt them burrow into her heart as they shared funny stories about each other.
Just after 1 a.m. Johanna came in. “Shall we run?” She stood in the doorway with eyes only for Andreas. “Andreas? It’s a beautiful night for it. Your last one before your queen joins you.”
Several people got up and headed out. Their small group all stayed on the couch. Kari looked bored while the other woman actually thrust out her chest in Andreas’s direction.
“I’m too tired to run tonight. And I most definitely don’t plan to leave my little wolf’s side. Don’t let that stop any of you, though,” he added without taking his eyes from Kari.
“Go. Run if you want to. Just because I can’t doesn’t mean you can’t,” Kari said quietly once Johanna left the room.
“I
don’t
want to. You’re so close. Less than twenty-four hours and you’ll be running at my side. I can wait. I like being here with you.” He looked down at her, so small compared to him. The warmth of protective feelings spread through him when he thought about her and how strong and yet vulnerable she was.
Skye got up and stretched. “I think I’m going to go. I didn’t run last night or the night before. Tomorrow is a big day so I need to get back into practice.” He grinned at them and headed for the door. Perri and Devon had gone back to their room, lust seeping from their pores.
Kari noticed that she could smell emotions now. She mentioned it and Sean answered, “Part of your new superpowers,” as he got up. “I’m off too. A run sounds like just what the doctor ordered. See you two tomorrow.” He bent down and rubbed his cheek along Andreas’s and kissed the top of Kari’s head.
Phillip and Laurent played chess on the other side of the room. The smoky peat of the expensive Scotch they drank seduced her senses. The room was empty except for the four of them.
“You did a great job tonight.” Kari pulled away to face Andreas when he said it but he brought her to his body again, needing to touch her.
Sighing with satisfaction, she snuggled into him. “Why do you say so?”
“I’ve spent my life being groomed for leadership but you just do it and make it look effortless.”
Turning her head, she stared at his mouth. He noticed, a smile curving his lips. Reaching up, she ran her pinkie along the outer edge of his bottom lip. The vibration of his heart, of the rise and fall of his chest, drew her in like a spell. She was mesmerized.
“Andreas?”
“Hmmm?”
“So, um, several people have mentioned bonding or joining. I’m guessing that me being turned into the werewolf queen isn’t some kind of big church, white dress, flowers and a crown sort of deal.”
“You’ll be declared my Mate tomorrow night. Under the moon at around nine, your wolf will surface. We’ll run and end up at a lake about three miles from here. There we’ll complete the ritual. I’ll love you in wolf form.”
“‘Love,’ as in a nice euphemism for ‘hot monkey sex’—or should I say ‘hot werewolf sex’?”
He laughed. “Yes, it’s a euphemism. I’m going to fuck you. Does that frighten you?” He looked concerned but suddenly all she could think about was his cock thrusting into her body.
It took her a few moments to clear her head. “Does it frighten me that you’re going to fuck me in general? Oh hell no! I want you to fuck me right now. Does it frighten me that we’ll do it in public? It should. All of this should. I mean, a week ago I was writing software. I worked twelve-hour days. I ate frozen dinners and watched too much television. I am so
not
the sex-in-front-of-a-crowd-with-a-guy-I-met-two-days-before kind of girl.”
“Yes, the Pack will be there and we’ll be fucking in front of them. And I know you aren’t a casual-sex kind of woman. Correct me if I’m wrong, but you know this—this between you and I, between Alphas of the Cherchez Clan—you know this isn’t casual?”
She reached out and ran her hands through his long hair, coming back to trace her thumbs over his brow bones, his cheeks, his lips. Her fingertips tingled with the touch of his skin.
“I don’t know much. I’m just feeling right now. I seem to have turned off the little voice that’s kept me out of trouble for the last twenty-four years. Now I’m going to have sex with you—as a wolf—in front of nearly thirty other people and I can’t seem to be bothered by it.”
“There’s a relaxed sexuality in a Pack. There’ll be times when wolves will couple in the presence of other wolves. It’s a way of seeking comfort as well as meeting a sexual need. In any case, tomorrow will bind you to our Clan. You’ll become Pack.”
“Okay.” She breathed out slowly. “I know I should be really mad that you made me into a werewolf without permission and kidnapped me and turned my life inside out but I’m not. When I saw Skye turn this morning, when you kissed me at the lake, it all just felt right. This feels like what I’m supposed to be doing. It must be the lust that’s made me insane.”
He chuckled. “I’m relieved you aren’t mad at me, and yes, you deserve to be.” Pausing a moment, he glanced at his watch. “It’s very late.”
She looked at the grandfather clock. It was after two, coming up on three. “Yes.”
“Laurent and Phillip are probably very tired. I’ll put Drew and Carey on to let them sleep.”
“Or...”
“Or what?”
“Or we could just have one guard. You know, conserve by sleeping in only one bed.” It surprised her when her voice came out in a throaty purr but she liked it. Letting the feeling take over, she rubbed her cheek along his chest and up his neck. Slowly she stroked his body with her own, stopping at his thundering pulse where neck met shoulder and breathing him in. Letting her desire go, she ran her tongue over his skin, gently biting down, taking his flesh and tendons between her teeth. Waves of pleasure rolled through her. Her eyes slid shut and her body ached to be filled by him.
He growled then, deep and sensual. “I’d like that but we can’t do anything more than cuddle and kiss. We have to save it for tomorrow night.” His voice broke and he cleared his throat.
Kneeling between his thighs, she whispered in his ear, “All of it? Or just
it
it? You took such good care of me earlier today. I’d love to return the favor.” Licking along his earlobe, she inhaled. She could smell his lust for her rising from his skin in waves.
He chuckled, low and sexy, and put his hands around her waist. Literally. And it wasn’t like her waist was teeny, it was that his hands were that large.
“Well, I’m sure we can work something out.” The grin he sent her was wicked and promised naughty, naked things. She only barely stopped herself from giggling.
He called over her shoulder, “Phillip, you sleep. Laurent can take first watch. Laurent, do you need Drew to step in for a while?”
Laurent got up and stretched, looking at the two of them with amusement. “Oh, I think I’ll be okay for a four-hour shift. Phillip can take over then. He slept while Kari did earlier.”
“Fine.” Without any further preamble, Andreas picked Kari up and carried her into his bedroom, kicking the door closed behind them.
“We can redecorate it any way you like. It’s our room,” he said, putting her down gently before pulling off his shirt.
“Yeah, whatever. Get naked and do me.”
Standing there watching him, Kari gasped at the sight. His chest was wide and muscled, covered with a smattering of blond hair. His biceps were gargantuan. Not in a bulked-up way, more like the marble muscles of a statue. “Oh, Grandmother, what big pecs you have.”
He laughed, deeper and huskier than he had before. Oh, how the sound did things to her! She’d backed up to the bed but she wasn’t trying to escape him. She just couldn’t hold herself up in the face of his incredible appeal.
He approached with eyes only for her. Being the object of such intense focus made her feel like a goddess. Her heart thundered in her chest.
Reaching out, he pulled her shirt over her head. Some of the pins holding her hair up cascaded to the ground with a
ping
ing sound. She stood there in the silk camisole she’d left on, breath heaving.
Eyes widening, he leaned back so he could get the full view. “Nice. I didn’t get the chance to get a good look at these earlier at nap time.” A smile rested on those carnal lips as he ran his palms over the soft material, sliding up her ribs, her back and finally around to her breasts. She bit back a moan as his fingertips lightly played over her nipples.
Taking a deep breath, he pulled the camisole off and tossed it to the side. It fluttered to the floor in a pool of pretty red silk. “You aren’t wearing a bra, little wolf.”
She shook her head. He left her speechless standing there shirtless, the testosterone pouring off him in waves.
“I’m glad I didn’t know that. I’m not sure I’d have lasted down there all those hours knowing these beautiful breasts were free under that sweater and a scrap of silk.”
A bit of turnabout was necessary or she’d be a damned puddle before anything got started. She tipped her head to look into his face. “So, um, about this,
it
. What exactly are our constraints? Because I’d very much like to find out just where that—” she pushed him back a bit and then trailed a fingertip down his lower abdomen, hooking her finger in the waistband of his pants “—honey-colored trail of hair leading south ends up.” Looking up into his eyes through her lashes, she smiled a moment. “With my tongue.” Triumph spread through her as his eyes widened and then slid halfway closed and his chest heaved a few times.