Chapter 24
Beck
No one could call me a romantic guy because I wasn’t. At least that’s what I continued telling myself.
I was a wolf after all.
However, I was protective, more so now that we’d mated.
I’d be damned if I hadn’t lost myself in Sloane, fucking her as if she was also a beast. Well, in a way she was, only in human form.
Now I also had the need to protect her as if there were animals in the wild ready to rip her luscious body to shreds.
There were. They were called humans.
What a fucking mess.
But walls had been smashed, the woman I’d craved night after night coming to find me. Hey, bragging rights. I grinned as I pushed away from the desk. You bet I was one thirsty man needing to taste her sweet lips again.
My life might be a freaking disaster, but Sloane had once again crashed into my world, refusing to be denied or ignored.
Who was I to deny such a beautiful woman?
Perhaps my eagerness to please was centered on being able to spend an entire afternoon and night in bed with her.
Now it was back to business. Why did I feel like some kid eager to ask my girl to the prom?
Because she was my mate. Refusing the truth wouldn’t solve the issues at hand or stop the madness on the internet. But the time by the river would continue to be a favorite memory of mine. Another sport altogether.
We’d remained locked together for almost thirty minutes, our bodies as one. All the anger I’d felt before had disappeared, replaced by a need to keep her safe.
And to take her as often as this red-blooded boy wanted.
The thought brought one too many grins.
Damn if I wasn’t on fire.
Still.
She had some crazy kind of control over me, even though I wanted to spank her all over again. And why? Because she was mine.
Although I’d yet to tell her that or explain those rules I’d mentioned to myself before.
While I had no clue what she was up to, whatever it was, she’d grabbed her laptop bright and early that morning and had sequestered my brother’s office as her own. Meanwhile, I’d headed to the sawmill office, finishing the work I’d started the other day.
However, my patience was now shot and I was eager to leave to resume where I’d left off. I grabbed my bottle of Coke and tried to keep images of Sloane’s naked body out of my mind.
“You’re different,” Samantha said as I grabbed my keys.
“What do you mean different?”
“Your skin is glowing.”
“Oh, bullshit.”
Her laugh was meant as a tease. “Maybe not, but you are smiling. You haven’t smiled since the incident at the arena.”
“Well, I might have a reason to hate the world.”
“Uh-huh. Confess. You and that sexy brunette finally hooked up.”
“Do you even know what that means, little sister?” I tweaked her nose playfully.
“I’m not your little sister any longer, big brother. You saved her life. You remained in the hospital overnight. You’re beaming. I know what that means. You’ve mated.”
“Shush.”
“Don’t tell me Sloane doesn’t know what that means, not only physically, but more important, with regard to your outrageous behavior. Which will be as if you’re on cocaine. You did tell her. Right? I mean you didn’t just take her against her will.”
“Let’s just say she… doesn’t know.”
“Beck!” She slapped her hands on her hips. “She has no idea you’ll now be frothing at the mouth for days on end, especially in the beginning?”
“I’m not going to be frothing at the mouth.”
“Yes, you will. And that’s just the beginning.”
Hearing Ford’s voice was a dig in my side. He was completely amused in overhearing the conversation. He strutted in with paperwork from the latest arrival of trees, grinning as if he’d just won the lottery.
“Bullshit,” I shot off, my entire body already aching to be with her. “You didn’t do that with Georgia.”
“I think you need to ask her. She’ll tell you how I chased her around the house for days on end.”
I cleared my throat, lifting my eyebrows at the same time. “Yeah, well, from what I understand, she likes to be chased in the woods.”
Come to think of it, so did Sloane.
“What are you doing here anyway?” I demanded. “You don’t get your house back.”
“I was hoping you might buy it.”
“Now?” His smile faded.
“Yeah, I guess,” Ford groaned. “We’re staying at Mom and Dad’s. Just for a couple days. Well, until after their big neighborhood party. You are coming. Right?”
“Shit. I forgot all about that. I’ll mention it to Sloane.”
“Just like a regular couple,” my sister chimed in with her happy voice. “You should buy Ford’s house now that you have a mate.”
Samantha was going to continue, the little wench. “Maybe after the dust storm settles. If it ever does.” You bet I was anxious about my career.
Ford snorted. “It will. Maybe after burying us, but that’s another conversation. So this mate of yours. You need to warn her what to expect, how to put a plan of action into place.”
“You make it sound like I’m a leper or something.”
“Or something. Is your skin crawling?” Ford asked.
“Yeah.”
He nodded to Samantha who acted as if she was taking notes.
“Are you hungry and it has nothing to do with food?”
“I’m always hungry.”
My brother cocked his head, his eyebrows lifted.
“Yeah, okay, fine. What of it?” I took a sip of my Coke while glaring at him.
“Just wait until tonight. You will either shift to keep your sanity or fuck.”
When I spit out the entire mouthful, he didn’t seem too happy at my reaction.
Meanwhile my sister was laughing her ass off.
“What?”
Ford wiped his face, shaking the remnants onto the floor. “I’m serious. Georgia had to lock me out of the house twice and I still broke in. It took three full weeks to calm Wolfman down.”
“That’s usual for you.”
We both gave each other the same stupid look we did when we were kids teasing each other. “Very funny. I am serious. Plus, she is supposed to be your partner now. A forever partner. Oh, you forgot that part too. Huh?”
“This isn’t marriage.”
The two of them looked at each other as if I had two heads. “It’s much more serious, Beck. Maybe you should stop by Mom and Dad’s house on your way back to the house so they can explain the birds and the bees to you once again.”
I shifted my glare to my sister, lifting my eyebrow. “Fine. I’ll have a talk with Sloane. She’s a little busy right now, trying to get us out of this mess. It would seem there was some conspiracy against us, but I was the winner of the brunt of it.”
Ford’s smile quickly faded. “Yeah, about that.”
“What? Did you hear something?”
“I got a call from Abbott while you were spending time in the hospital with Sloane. The coach and the owners want a meeting with us next week. He’ll be there.”
“Fuck.”
“That’s what I said. I tried to find out what they wanted to discuss over the phone, but they said it could wait. The bigwigs are flying in next week. Abbott did say we needed to lay low.”
Lay low, my ass. We were being fed for the slaughter. I could feel it in my bones and didn’t like being used for target practice. “He can be such a bastard.”
“Think of it this way, he’s a bulldog and on our side.” Ford tried to shrug it off.
“That’s not good,” Samantha breathed. “But Ford is right.”
“No. But you were right, sister of mine. This isn’t Sloane’s fault.”
She popped my arm after the two of them high fived. “Why is it you didn’t listen to me earlier? You could have saved yourself a lot of heartache.”
“What is she trying to do?” Ford asked. “I am a part of the freefall so I do kind of have a right to know.”
“She’s attempting to expose corruption with a couple of the team owners for one. She’s got something up her sleeve and nothing is going to stop her.”
“I knew I liked that girl.” Samantha was way too happy.
Ford whistled. “I’m not dissing her but she’s a sports reporter. Right?”
He had a gleam in his eyes. “She’s much more than that, dear brother. I’m learning that the hard way. She’s working on a plan as we speak.”
“Well, at least there was a nice piece on the family on the front page of the Portland Herald. Did you see it?” Samantha had pep in her step as she rushed to her desk, grabbing a physical copy and tossing it in my direction.
“You should send it to that agent of yours. Maybe he’ll get the stick out of his butt. ”
I snatched it in midair, glancing at the headline.
The Kendrick Brothers, Magic in the Making Both On and Off the Ice
“Not bad,” Ford said, reading over my shoulder. “I’ll send it to Abbott. Why not?”
Our sister’s sigh was the same one she used when she was holding something back.
“Spill it,” Ford told her.
“You’re not going to like it.” She glanced from one to the other of us.
I shrugged in response.
“Brent Parker? The Bronco? It’s all over social media that he has injuries that might keep him from playing hockey. Ever again.”
“That’s bullshit.” Ford shook his head. “Even I saw what happened. If you asked me, the entire scene was a setup.”
“It was,” I said quietly. “So what? Perceptions are everything.”
Now the three of us glanced back and forth. We’d weathered storms before. We’d get through this. Somehow. My wolf was itching to help with the situation. But his way would definitely place us front and center in the news.
“Do you mind if I keep this?” I asked my sister as I nodded toward the newspaper in my hand.
“I bought ten copies,” she admitted.
Ford and I laughed.
“Maybe you boys should remember how talented you are,” she added. “And do not let it go to your heads.”
“Why does every woman say that?” Ford huffed.
“Because we are the Kendrick brothers.” I folded the paper under my arm as a silence settled between us.
“Don’t worry about next week. Maybe the PR will do us some good.”
“I don’t trust that agent of yours.” Samantha huffed and flipped her hair as she did every time she was about to go off on someone.
“Be nice,” I told her. “We would like to continue playing hockey outside of Siberia.”
“Very funny. Go home to your mate. She needs you. Wait. Let me rephrase that.” Samantha was in her element, even pointing at my chest. “You need her.”
In a way, she was right.