Chapter 20 #2
"Your bed?" his finger stopped, and she thrashed in rebellion. "I'm the one with apartments, though I think you'll be moving out of yours as soon as we get back."
"I won't be moving anywhere if you don't start... Yesss."
His finger returned, but every time she got close, he would stop again, letting her fall just far enough to curse him for making her wait.
His superior hearing allowed him to hear her heartbeat and know when she fell just outside the boundary of where she wanted to be, then bring her back to the edge one more time.
Was it even affecting him? She couldn't tell because she'd closed her eyes to revel in the friction when he gave it. She kept them closed so she wouldn't see the head tilt that would make her forgive him for the delicious torment he was inflicting on her body.
"One more time."
"No, now. Please, I want you now." She would have said more, but her words were stolen by the hiss that escaped her throat as his damned finger returned one last time.
"Just remember," she said, but had to stop again as she almost got there. Almost, but not quite. "Turn...turn..."
"Turn what?" His voice sounded sugary sweet and innocent.
"Turnabout is fair play. Just you wait until I..."
Her promise was cut short when he removed his finger again, only to reposition and slide inside of her.
But the movement was too slow to finish what he started.
Once again she tried to get out of his grip so she could grab his backside and push him in faster.
His grip stayed firm, though, and he made her wait.
"Kell..en. Move. I need you to move faster."
He nipped her left breast instead. "Just you wait. I promise you, you will get what you want, but not yet."
She stopped struggling because she needed to catch her breath, but every gasp made it so much worse. When he finally pushed as far inside her as he could, much farther than she expected, he started to rock back and forth, that damned friction driving her crazy. This time he didn't stop.
Grinning, he let go of her wrists and reached under her backside to bring her even closer to him. With a push, he spread her legs and thrust as she joined him. Hearing herself moan made her even more desperate. She tried to pull at his shoulders, speeding him toward the end.
He kept his promise. Her orgasm hit with such ferocity it did make her scream, then repeat his name over and over as she rode the waves of pleasure.
He cried out her name as he spilled inside her, making her body clench around him tighter.
Together they rocked until the wave slowed and brought them back to the bed.
They lay together, still interlocked for a long time. She wanted to remember this moment forever, but forever did have to come to an end. As tough as she thought she was, Kellen was a big guy, and her body was starting to feel the weight.
"Kellen, I need you to—"
Before she could finish, he pulled out of her, making her groan, then made her start laughing.
"I'm glad you enjoyed that, but this wasn't the reaction I was expecting."
Her laugh turned into a giggle. He honestly had no clue. "You pulled out before I finished my sentence."
He frowned. "I didn't want to hurt you, and you sounded as if my weight was
becoming too much."
"Yes...no. That's not it. You and your brothers finish each other's sentences all the time.
It's funny watching the three of you talk to each other because you never have to complete what you're saying before the other two know exactly what you're talking about.
Even Grace has noticed that you and your brothers have a bond like none other.
Now you and I are doing the same thing."
"I never noticed." His brow furrowed as if he were reviewing every conversation he'd ever had with Stephen and Leo.
"It's not a bad thing." She turned onto her side, so she could talk to him face-to-face. "It just takes some getting used to, that's all."
He smiled and tucked a tendril of her hair behind her ear.
"Thanks. What should we do now?"
He wrinkled his nose. "I was going to say take a shower then find the others, but I don't know if I want to find the others."
"Good." She gave him a solid nose boop. "Because I think I'd like some more alone time with you. Just the two of us."
"I like that plan."
Kellen leaned forward to kiss her, but in a sly move, she outmaneuvered him so she could slide out of bed. "I get the shower first!"
When she closed the door, she noticed a delicious look of revenge in his eyes. By the time she walked out, wrapped in the hotel robe and a towel on her head, there was another pot of coffee on and lunch was ready. Kellen had taken the liberty of using the shower in the other bedroom.
He stole another kiss before loading up her plate with a turkey sandwich, potato salad, fruit, and a slice of strawberry cake. "You're spoiling me."
"You're worth it."
She paused with her spoon filled with potato salad halfway to her mouth. "We're good then? You'll stay with me no matter how this turns out. No matter how much it may hurt if things don't exactly go our way?"
"Yes." Kellen slid onto the bar stool next to hers.
"In the shower, I had time to think about what was holding me back.
You're right. I've been protecting my heart for so long, it's hard to just let myself feel what I want in the spur of the moment.
That might be why my wolf shadow has been pushing me at you.
The shadow knows what's best for me in this case. "
"It's stopping you from doing something boneheaded, you mean."
He laughed a little before taking a swig of coffee. "Yes. Letting you go out of fear of what might happen is definitely one of the bonier of all of the boneheaded things I've tried to do."
"Is bonier even a word?"
"It is now."
They finished their lunch in silence, just enjoying being close to each other. When they started dessert, however, Kellen cleared his throat.
"The thing is, even though we've found our bliss, our plans can't change. We need to leave Winterbourne."
"Oh."
"Does that bother you?"
"I'll miss Carlie," she said, immediately feeling a small twinge at the thought of never seeing her again. "And George's cooking. Other than that, I never thought I would be there for longer than a month at best. You're going to miss it more than I would."
His eyes grew dark and misty. "Yeah. In fact, I'm thinking of giving the restaurant to Carlie and George."
"Give it to them?"
"I don't need the money. The brotherhood lives frugally, and we pool our resources. If anyone deserves it, it's them. Even if they hire someone to manage it, while they keep doing what they're doing, they'll keep the spirit of my work alive."
"They'll treat their staff just like you did. That's a good thing."
"And you don't have to worry about money. We have plenty, especially if Stephen sells his gym."
"Good to know since you'll have another mouth to feed," she joked.
Kellen gave her a sly look. "True, but we'll also have an extra source of income. I love you, but I'll have no lazybones for a wife. You're going to have to work, my girl."
"Well, if we use fake IDs, I might be able to get a job as a paramedic. It's not the same salary level as a surgeon, but it's something." Only then did she realize something. "I...wish my parents were here to meet you. You would have liked them."
Kellen put down his fork and reached for her hand. "I'm sure I would have. If we can ever get Riverstone off of our backs, you can return to Helena."
"I'm sure someone contacted my station and let them know about my grandfather.
The station chief would have put me on indefinite leave when I failed to show up for work.
He's a good hearted guy, and he's seen how people react to grief.
" Not wanting to kill her good mood entirely, she switched topics.
"Do you have any idea of where we're going to put down new roots? "
"Leo keeps a list of possibilities. We'll all discuss the details and vote on it."
"Have you seen the list? Anything that stands out to you as a possibility?"
Pushing back his plate, Kellen folded his arms on the table.
"I don't remember the exact list, but it might be time to leave the Rockies.
Traveling long distances and resettling is not half as difficult as it used to be.
There were a few small towns in the Northeast—Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.
We'll have to avoid any wolf shifter packs already there.
We'll pick a place like this one and plant our seeds there. "
"Fall in New England sounds lovely."
He tucked that same rebellious hair strand behind her ear again. "Yes it does, just like you."
His gesture might have led to more if his phone hadn't buzzed. "It's Leo."
Samara collected the empty plates and brought them over to the sink and turned on the faucet. While she washed, she heard Kellen's half of the conversation. "Really? That's interesting. Do you think it'll work? Can you get what you need locally?"
He was quiet for a minute while Leo talked. "It'll be her decision. Come back up here and we can discuss it. I won't force this on her if she doesn't want it." Another pause, then, "Yeah, yeah, we're fine. Get those thoughts out of your head, you pervert."
She heard Leo's laugh even over the running water. Placing the last dish in the dish rack, she asked, "What was that all about?"
He motioned for her to join him on the sofa. This time they sat together, and Kellen took her hand into his. "Leo says that they think they know a way to get your wolf shadows active again."
Her stomach tightened with doubt. "How?"
"Let's just sit tight for now. They're coming back up and will explain things when they get here."
Samara couldn't respond with her mouth as dry as sandpaper. Did she want to do this? To her shame, she couldn't even answer herself.