Chapter Eight
UNCOMFORTABLE SILENCE.
The country bar was small-town chic. Built on the edge of a mountain, gravel parking lot, low lighting, and wood interior. Not a lot to look at from the outside, mostly like a dilapidated wood cabin. But inside? It was hopping. At least, everywhere except their table.
Their party sat around and stared at each other.
“So,” the male with narrowed eyes said after their drinks were brought out. “How long have you and Penny been sisters?”
Penny snorted. “Joaquin!”
“Just ask her how old she is,” Noah said. “That’s what you really want to know.”
“Your sister said that’s rude,” Joaquin said. Then he looked at Misty accusingly, as if maybe she’d been feeding him a line.
Misty sighed. “It is! I don’t understand why that’s not intuitive for you.”
He scowled. “Why do you have to use words like intuitive?”
Amos smacked him upside the back of his head. “Because we have a guest we’re trying to impress, fool.”
And just like that, the uncomfortable silence was broken.
Next to her, Isaac turned toward her. “I’m sorry. So sorry. I don’t know why I ever said I wanted you to get to know my wolves.”
“Twice,” Caitlin said. “You said it twice. It seemed really important.” She was teasing, of course, and with the glimmer in his eyes, he got it.
“Aww,” Alex said. “See how much he loves us?” He laid his head on his twin brother’s shoulder and gave long, slow blinks.
Amos petted him like a dog, so Alex hung his tongue out and panted. Caitlin snorted. They were kind of funny.
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Isaac muttered.
He bent his head toward her, and then froze, slowly pulling away. He could probably still smell her.
Even worse, everyone noticed.
“Scrubbed your neck raw,” Alex said, his eyes glowing as he focused on the side of her neck that was aimed away from Isaac. She’d deliberately sat to his right so he wouldn’t have to see the mark as well as smell it.
“Yeah. I know it’ll be ripe for about a week but it seemed like a waste of my time here if you all can smell me. If I can shorten the stink a day or two, I’m good with a scraped-up neck.”
“Something else works too,” Alex said, looking at Isaac. But then Alex yelped when Amos smacked him.
“Not a single one of us wants to put our tongue where Rhett put his.”
“Huh? What do you mean?” Caitlin asked.
“They were suggesting one of us mix our scent with the mark. Kind of cover it up, or at least blend it. But honestly, no one here would have the strength to get that close without biting you instead,” Misty said.
Did her eyes shift to Isaac? Probably. It was probably just a silent apology that they brought up attempting to eat her.
“Hmmph,” Caitlin said, glaring around the table at the solemn faces. “You pussies.”
There was shocked surprise before they all erupted into laughter.
“Did she just—”
“Ohmigod, dude, she called you a pussy.”
“She called you one, fucker!”
“She’s as mean as her sister. Ouch!” That one was elbowed by Noah.
“Was he hitting you to defend Caitlin or Penny?” Amos mouthed.
Misty was grinning like a loon.
“Why are you happy?” Joaquin asked her.
“I’m so glad to have other girls in the pack.”
“Oh, dear St. Luna, do you think the smelly one is gonna join too?” Alex asked.
“Yup,” Joaquin drawled. “Sisters are two-for-one. Just a matter of time.”
“You guys have supersensitive sniffers, right?” Caitlin asked calmly.
“Yeah,” Alex drawled, his eyes narrowed like he was waiting for a zinger.
“Okay, well, I understand how offensive I must smell, so I picked up this little cheap bottle of super-fragrant economy cologne at the dollar store. And I know it’s potent, but I figure I’ll just rub it into the skin, let it dry, maybe douse the area twice for any missed spots—”
“No!” Nearly everyone at the table cringed. In fact, the only ones grinning broadly were her and Penny.
“Nicely done,” her sister complimented her.
“Thanks. You probably won’t think it’s funny once you’re changed, so I’ll refrain from joking about it around then.”
“I appreciate it. I’m not looking forward to throwing away all my favorite perfumes.”
“Wait. You haven’t thrown them out?” Noah asked.
“I can’t bear to. It’s a small fortune,” Penny said. “But I did seal them up in zipper baggies.”
“That’s fair,” Caitlin teased. “She spent more on those than my dollar store stuff.”
“Exactly,” Penny said. “I can’t even give them to my only sister. She’s seeing Isaac.”
A little growl rumbled up from Isaac’s chest, so she planted her palm there. She would have been worried if not for the goofy grin on his face and the glow of his wolf eyes peering back at her.
“Look at that,” he whispered for her ears only. “Your sister knows you’re seeing me.”
“Well, you bought me presents. Held my hand in the car. You’re crazy about me,” she teased.
“You have me and my wolf in agreement for once.”
The music changed to a fast, upbeat song, and she was barely aware of the others turning to each other and cheering.
“Misty!” Amos yelled. “Let’s go dance, sugar tits.”
Misty growled at the endearment, but she still went with him to the dance floor.
Alex followed and so with a shrug, Joaquin went after them. They all paired up for the line dance, passing Misty around. No one missed a beat, it was obvious that they did this often.
“Ooh, I want to go out there too,” Penny said to Noah. That was all it took and the big shifter was leading her out to the dance floor.
“My sister gets anything she wants, doesn’t she?” At least here, unlike home, she was taken care of.
“Yep,” he drawled.
“She’s spoiled.”
“She deserves to be.”
That made her smile. “Yeah, she does.” Then she leaned in to tell him a secret. “I’m so glad she’s back in my life. I was broken for a long time.”
And that amazing man leaned in to tell her one too. “So was she.”
When she blinked in surprise, he went on. “She talked about her little sister all the time. When we mentioned inviting you to visit, she went sad and told us it wasn’t possible.”
“I’m sure glad things worked out the way they did.”
“Me too.” He leaned his forehead to hers and maybe he held his breath a little, but he made a grand effort. “If I had known how pretty you were, I would have gotten her to get you here sooner.”
“You think I’m pretty?” she murmured, only half-way teasing.
“Yeah. I like you.” His tone. The gruff, whispered words that rang full of truth—naked, gritty truth—made her want to throw herself at him.
“I like you too.”
“Yeah?”
She nodded. “So much.”
With his left hand, he cupped the side of her injured neck. “I’m sorry I let you get hurt.”
“It wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t anyone’s fault but Rhett.”
“Sometimes I think I should leave you alone. Not like you so much.”
“Why?”
“The new law. We have to keep secret or I’d be asking you to put your life on the line for me.”
“There has to be some way to fight it. If Roe v. Wade can be overturned, anything can.”
“Until then, I want you safe. I don’t know how Noah’s going to keep sane when Penny has to go through it. But you and I? We can take it slow. People will think you’re just hanging out with your sister.”
“Unless the Blackmoors file a charge claiming I’m more.”
He froze. “Fuck. Cait, I didn’t think of that.”
“Let’s not worry about it. It hasn’t happened. Let’s just get to know each other and see what comes, okay?”
He nodded.
“What was everyone talking about as far as covering up my mark?”
“I’m the only one strong enough to lay my scent over someone else’s mark without wanting to bite.
But none of them realize… you’re my kryptonite, Caitlin.
You’re the one person my wolf wouldn’t hesitate to bite, no matter how much I beg him not to.
He doesn’t even understand the danger, since we were born, not bitten.
All he knows is he wants you to be ours. ”
“Whoa,” she breathed. “It’s way too soon—”
“I know. The man in me knows humans need more time. The wolf doesn’t understand and doesn’t care. He functions on instinct and his own needs.”
She twined her fingers with his because she just couldn’t keep from touching him. “One day at a time, okay? I have three weeks here. We’ll see what happens after that.”
He nodded and then, he leaned down and kissed her lips. It was a gentle peck, soft and sweet, and it left her aching for more.
With her free hand, she reached up and skimmed the line of his jaw, feeling the sharpness of his jawbone, the scruff of his shadow growing in.
His eyes were the shade of his wolf and he stared intently at her.
He was so masculine, so sexy. She didn’t think she’d ever come across a more beautiful male specimen in her life.
“I want to stay the night,” he said. “We don’t have to sleep together. I just want to make sure you’re safe. After what happened, I need this.”
“Maybe I’d be okay with you sleeping in my bed.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah,” she agreed softly.
And that gorgeous man, he twined his fingers with hers and held her hand the whole drive home.
She couldn’t help the smile that wouldn’t go away, the one that lingered when she peeked over at him.
It was a comfortable silence between them—she didn’t think she’d ever had this before.
Not at home with her parents, if they were together, it was definitely a tense silence if there was no conversation.
If she was one on one with either her mother or her father, they took the silence as an opportunity to…
well, groom her. Though in the past, she would have called it coaching. Teaching. Schooling.
Friends? Nope. Never a moment without chatter.
Dates? No, there was always music to fill the quiet. Conversations to get to know each other… or, her family’s position. Come to think of it, had any man ever dated her because he just wanted to know her?
Maybe that was odd that she’d never had a comfortable silence.
Isaac’s truck pulled up on the side of the cabin, right next to her car.
“Are you still staying?” Caitlin asked, this time her voice small and unsure.
His gaze sought hers, the eyes the ice-blue of his wolf. When he spoke, it was the growly, raspy tone that might be the animal closer to the surface than him.
“Do you still want me to stay?”
“Yes.”
He dipped his chin, just one small nod of acknowledgment.
She reached for the door handle at the same time he did and she scooted out of the car in the same amount of time it took him to race around the car to get to her side.
His nose twitched when they entered her cabin. His shoulders stiffened and a loud rumble moved up his chest. He shook his head hard, stifling the snarl. Suddenly it felt like there was a mile between them, like they hadn’t made strides in their relationship earlier.
“What is it?”
“Nothing. I can just smell your mark stronger in here. Maybe because it’s a closed-in space, it’s amplified. It’s making me crazy.”
Of course. When she’d gone to his house, the square footage was larger and open.
He’d had a hard time in the car, but she assumed that was because he was upset since the mark had been freshly done.
Maybe she just lost the shot at him sleeping in her bed.
Damn Rhett. But she wasn’t ready to let go.
“When I left your pack meeting last night, did you change?”
He nodded.
“Does that mean your wolf is sated for a while?”
He nodded again, his eyebrows knit in confusion.
“Maybe… instead of marking me, maybe you can wet my fingers and I’ll rub them on the spot? Think you’ll be able to tolerate me more?”
It took him a minute to answer. “I think it won’t be as effective. When we physically put our mouth on you to mark you, hormones freely mix with our saliva.”
“Hormones? Do you feel something? Is it sexual?”
He shrugged. “It can be.” But he looked slightly uncomfortable, like she’d openly asked him if he masturbated. It was adorable and yes, she knew the answer.
“Maybe we can try? Just something light? A kiss or something? Anything for me to wet my fingers?”
“Come here.”
He took her by the hand and sat on the sofa, then pulled her down next to him.
He leaned forward and gently kissed her lips.
His mouth was warm, and a tingle started at the first contact, disappearing as the fluttering began in her belly.
His breath was minty and he growled as he kissed her again, a little deeper.
His tongue flicked out, tasted her, and she moaned at how wonderful it felt.
How tingles swayed her belly, how her heart raced suddenly.
He pulled her onto his lap, rocking her gently.
The movement was smooth as if practiced and she couldn’t even imagine how much strength he had to cart her around, a full-grown woman.
He kept kissing her and slowly she began to melt into him. She caressed his chest, slid her hands underneath his shirt to feel the abs that rippled beneath her touch, buried her face against his throat and inhaled his scent. God, those ridges of muscles were so hard, so defined. So sexy.
He pulled away and took her hand, then brought her fingers up to his mouth and sucked. And whoo boy, no one ever mentioned how erotic that could feel. How the pull on a person’s fingers pulled something deeper inside, near her core, hot and grtty.
He released her fingers with a little smack and they tingled as she trailed them down his full bottom lip, then pressed them to her neck. She hoped this took, if even a little.
He angled his head, kissed her forehead, and waited—just waited—for her to offer her mouth again as she explored the planes of his chest.
It didn’t take her long to miss those kisses and she raised her lips to his to taste them again. They were slowly becoming familiar. His tongue twined with hers, danced with hers, and his lips left delicious smacking sounds.
She became aware of the hard ridge that had magnificently swelled under her bottom.
That, all that, was for her. He couldn’t hide how much he wanted her.
She twisted around, spread her legs on either side of his hips, and straddled him.
Now, her core touched the hard rod in his pants. Could feel the heat between them.
He hissed in a breath at the contact, and her lips curved. Slowly, she began to rock her hips back and forth.
“Vixen,” he growled, his hands coming around to cup her ass.
He pulled her against him harder, and thrust a little to keep them pressed against each other fully.
“Gonna feel good naked,” she whispered, between kisses.
“Woman, I’m trying to go slow with you. You’re not making it easy.”
She leaned in to whisper in his ear. “Fuck slow.” Then she nipped his earlobe gently. And whoa, what a reaction that got her.
His eyes glowed bright, the icy blue of his wolf, and a deep rumble broke from his chest. He stood suddenly, his hands still holding her butt, and strode to the bed.