“Patience, my love,” he said as his lips kissed their way down her stomach and he pushed her legs wide and buried his head between them. His tongue swiped her and she arched off the bed but he held her firmly by the hips and took his fill of her.
“I could get drunk on your taste alone,” he said as he stood between her thighs and she urged him forward. He pulled her hips upwards and she wrapped her legs around his waist as he plunged deep inside her.
She bunched the sheet firmly in her hands as she tried to hold back but his rhythm was perfectly tuned to her and after only a few thrusts she was coming apart and calling out his name. He pulled her into his arms, still buried inside her and she wrapped her arms around his neck as he backed them against the wall and she gasped as he pounded her and a few moments later he stiffened as he came, his fangs biting down and she bit back, reaching another orgasm and clung to him as they spiraled up and down their rollercoaster ride together.
Liam carried her to their bed and they lay down facing each other, still joined and she moved her hips against him as she felt him swell inside her again. They made love slowly this time and when they came together again, she was so overwhelmed with emotion that her face was wet with her own tears. She snuggled into him and closed her eyes, more content and happier than she felt she had any right to be.
The smell of bacon and eggs was usually one of her favorite things, but this morning Kandis wasn’t feeling it. She felt slightly nauseous and had a nasty headache and took a hot shower before dressing quickly in shorts and a t-shirt and joining Liam for breakfast.
She ate some toast and tea but nothing else and thankfully Liam didn’t seem to notice. She quickly emptied her plate in the bin and stacked the dishwasher. Her head was pounding but she didn’t want to take anything for it, she was hoping that she may be pregnant and needed to see Rafe.
Liam was meeting with Seann and Garrett and she waited until he left before she called the doctor. She told him how she was feeling and he agreed to come to the cabin to see her. She didn’t want to alert Liam, no point in getting his hopes up until she knew for sure.
Hope was with him and she drew some blood to send to the lab and Rafe said he would do a complete physical while he was there and Hope was going to do a well woman check now that she was sexually active.
“I will send these to the lab and should get the results in a couple of days. I want you to come into the clinic next week when I have my ultrasound equipment and we will do the rest of your tests. On the surface, you look healthy and well. I will get the pregnancy test result back to you as soon as it comes in, I know you are anxious for them. I could do a urine test but there are a lot of false positives among shifters so best to be sure.” he smiled and she covered herself as Hope finished up.
“Are you having regular periods,” Hope asked as she wrote in her case notes.
“Not very, approximately every month but sometimes I miss altogether, I was due a week ago, that’s why I thought I may be pregnant.”
“Well, you can take acetaminophen for the headache, it won’t harm the baby if you are pregnant and get plenty of fluids inside you, you may be a little dehydrated. No shifting today but you can walk as much as you want.”
He closed his case and he and Hope waited in the living room while she dressed again.
‘Thanks for coming by, Rafe, Hope.”
She saw them out and closed the door and decided to take a walk to her mother’s before Liam came back home at lunchtime.
Faye was happy to see her and Kandis remembered that not so long ago her mother would have tried to cover her anxiety at spending any time in her daughter’s company. She had always made a brave effort but Kandis had known how much it hurt her Mom and she felt wretched for it now.
“I sorted and packed up more of your things, love.” Faye gestured to the boxes stacked by the door as she poured their coffee and Kandis opened the top one and took out a soft white baby shawl from the top.
“Grandma made that for you when you were born and I kept it all of these years hoping that one day you would want it for your own children.”
She held it to her face, the soft wool tickled her nose and it smelled of fabric softener.
“I washed everything, there are a few baby blankets and toys that were yours and some books and trinkets from your teens.”
Kandis closed the lid of the box. Her Mom meant well and she smiled as they took their drinks onto the porch and sat on the rockers.
She told her about their plans for a permanent move and was surprised when she said she would love to move to a place where they could put down roots and not have to move every generation. Kandis asked her to keep it to herself until their meeting the next evening. She had a lot of planning to do before then and Faye offered to organize some tables and chairs for the grill before the run.
“We are going to have it at the Den this time, the tables and chairs can be set up in the clearing out front, it’s going to be dry all day and night.”
“Lucas Green and his friends can do all the heavy lifting, that should keep him out of mischief,” she said and Kandis marveled at how her mother had already found out about Lucas biting Sophia. Wolves were notorious gossips!
“Who told you?”
“He did, he came to see your father early this morning and told him what he had done. If it’s any consolation I think Sophia was very persuasive and the boy is in love with her. Don’t be too hard on him, Kandis. Sophia is going to be alright and Lucas is young, we all do stupid things sometimes.”
She sighed as she stood up.
“It’s lucky for him that she will make it.” But the bite was already gone from her words and she knew she was being hard on him. She had done much worse not so long ago when she tried to hurt Imogen and she knew her mother was gently reminding her of the fact.
She walked home to meet Liam for lunch and her head was buzzing with things she had to do for the meeting and subsequently the move but thankfully her headache had eased. Liam’s truck was in the driveway and he was sitting on the porch steps watching her come toward him.
She could smell food and her stomach rumbled with hunger. He kissed her lightly on the lips and she followed him into the kitchen where the table was set and the smell coming from the grill was making her mouth water.
“Cheeseburgers.” she sniffed appreciatively.
“They’re ready,” Liam said.
He put a bowl of salad on the table and she put lettuce, onions and tomato onto two fat buns and a juicy hamburger on top of each. A little relish and she bit into the bun and savored the taste.
“I’m glad you’re such a good cook, the domestic goddess isn’t really my thing.” she grinned.
“You don’t do badly, Kandis, but I looked after myself for so long, I had to learn to cook or starve.”
“I take my hamburgers from the freezer, I wouldn’t know where to start making them from scratch.” she smiled. “I love them though and eat them at least twice a week.”
“Why was Rafe here this morning?” his intense gaze pinned her to the spot.
She was caught so off guard by his question she stammered,
“I... I wasn’t feeling very well and didn’t want to worry you so he and Hope came by and he examined me and took some blood to send to the lab.”
“Are you okay?”
“I feel better already, who told you?”
“I met him on the way home, he said to tell you his equipment is arriving tomorrow instead of next week and he wants you to go see him. I said you would call him for a time.”
“It’s just for more tests as I haven’t had a physical in years.” she shrugged.
“I’m coming with you, Kandis. We don’t do things on our own anymore.”
“It’s only some routine tests,” she argued.
“Then me being there won’t matter, will it?”
She knew by the stubborn set of his jaw that she wasn’t going to win this one and nodded.
“N
ow, I am all yours for the rest of the day, Seann spoke with Nate on the phone earlier and said I have to help you get this meeting together. He is fully on board and wants us to do everything we can to persuade the pack it’s a good move.”
He watched her with a smile and felt her excitement mount, there was nothing she liked more than a challenge and getting the entire pack on their side was nothing, if not a challenge!
CHAPTER TWENTY
Kandis
The clearing in front of the Den was packed with people and she was pleased that they had a full house this evening. She was standing on the front porch with India and Imogen and the long trestle tables were already groaning with the weight of the mountains of food and the coals on the grills were glowing red waiting on their fill of hot dogs and hamburgers.
“Well done, Kandis,” Garrett said behind her, “I have never seen a turnout for a meeting this big in a very long time.”
Her mouth was dry and she thought she might throw up as the sea of faces seemed to be looking directly at her waiting on the meeting to start. Nate had come out to the compound today to help her navigate this and she was extremely grateful. He stood on her right side and she could sense the crowd’s curiosity. He and Seann spoke on the phone for the first time a few days ago and in person only this morning but they seemed to hit it off and Seann welcomed him to join their pack. He probably wasn’t aware that India was monitoring their conversation but her lie detector senses picked up nothing untruthful from him and Seann had come to trust his mate’s sister and her abilities.
Liam came and stood on her other side and Seann came out to join them and she knew the other six people behind her on the porch had her back. Bree was on her way back from the city and had been held up but she already knew what they were going to say so they would start without her. She took a deep breath and forced herself to relax as Seann nodded for her to begin.
Showtime!
She thanked everyone for being here and began by giving them an outline of their trip, she introduced Nate and she felt the buzz in the crowd. A good-looking shifter always generated a little excitement with the younger females.
Her confidence grew as the crowd tuned in to her and she saw pride in Liam’s eyes as she laid out her ideas for a move to the new site. She talked for twenty minutes uninterrupted and when she finished, she asked if anyone had questions and a few hands went up. She answered what she could and Seann, Liam, Garrett and Nate filled in the blanks. When the questions dried up, she cleared her throat and her voice rang out clearly.
“I know what an undertaking this will be, especially for the folks who have had to do this numerous times already but imagine never having to do this, ever again. A place we can truly call home, never having to hide what we are and where no humans can trespass. Our children can go to school, even the little ones and there is plenty of land so we can build enough homes to last for generations. I would be happy to take any of you there to look around and there are many business opportunities as well, Nate has the details on all of that.”
She stood back as Seann stepped forward to address his pack and she saw her parents in the crowd. Her mother was crying and her father stood up and began to clap, they were proud of her. Other people stood up and clapped too and before long every member of the pack stood to applaud her.
Kandis swallowed back the tears and Liam gripped her hand and squeezed tight as they waited patiently on the pack settling down again.
Seann raised a hand and the place fell silent.
“This is Kandis and Liam’s baby but I haven’t been this excited in a project for the longest time. I know there are a lot of things to be ironed out but if everyone is on board, I can’t see why we can’t make this work. Any of us here can answer your questions or direct you to someone who can. For now, let's eat and get ready for our run.”
The noise level rose dramatically as everyone clamored to fill their plates and the teenager’s excitement rose as they prepared for the highlight of their month. For two of them, it was their first ever pack run and they had been waiting for this their entire lives. Their more experienced friends were teasing them but it was all good-natured and their laughter was infectious.
Sophia was sitting on the porch with Lucas, she was eating the plate Bethany had filled for her but she wasn’t strong enough to attempt a shift yet. She was still very pale and Rafe said it could be a couple of weeks yet before she should try. Lucas was her constant companion and despite being so pissed off with him for biting Sophia, Kandis actually liked the kid. He had the balls to endure Seann’s wrath to go to the Den every day to sit with his girlfriend while she recovered.
Rafe said he was expecting her lab results tomorrow morning and she was keen to find out if she was pregnant. She wasn’t going to get her hopes up, it was still early days but the fluttering of excitement she felt when she thought of carrying Liam’s child belied her conviction.
She finished eating and Imogen sat down beside her with little Everly in one arm and a plate of food in the other. She handed the baby to Kandis while she ate her hotdog and Everly settled happily on her lap as she watched the adults all around her goofing off. Shifter babies were used to an unusual level of noise and Everly was no exception. The little girl was beautiful, huge blue eyes and coal-black hair, she was her mother’s spitting image and the apple of her daddy’s eye.
She absentmindedly kissed the top of the baby’s head and a rush of affection caught her by surprise. She had never considered herself to be a baby person before but it seemed to be all she thought about the last few weeks. She knew Liam was more than ready to be a father and although not much scared her, being responsible for another life was terrifying.
Garrett’s daughter, Kali sat down on her other side to play with the baby and Kandis thought she was so sweet and gentle with Everly. She had settled in well with Garrett and India since India had discovered she was still alive and in foster care and the little girl adored her stepmom.
India waddled towards them, her hand on her back and sank into a chair on the opposite side of the table. She was due within the next week and her stomach was huge compared to her small frame. She and Garrett were going to stay home tonight as India was too far on to shift.
“You look like a ripe watermelon, princess.” Kandis teased her and India rolled her eyes.
“Don’t mock me Kandis, it will be your turn next.”
Her eyes scanned the area and she found Liam in conversation with Seann and Garrett.
“I hope so,” she whispered and India grinned as Kandis realized she had spoken her thoughts aloud.
Bree arrived at last and snatched a burger from Seann’s plate as she passed him and sat down at their table and took a bite, kicking off her heels under the table.
“I’m starving and the traffic coming out of the city was hell.” she complained, “How did the meeting go?”
“Kandis was awesome, she had everyone hanging on her words and I think she may just have sold it to the pack to make the move,” Imogen said with a smile.
“She was better than awesome,” India added and Kandis felt her face turn pink.
Praise always made her a little uncomfortable but she was also loving that her friends thought so much of her and she tried to accept their compliments as graciously as possible.
Bree took the uneaten hotdog from India’s plate and munched down on it and Kandis laughed, happy to turn the attention away from her.
“There is a ton of food over there on the tables, Bree, we haven’t resorted to eating other people’s leftovers just yet.”
“I know, but my feet are so sore wearing those damn heels all day, I don’t think I could make it over there. Hope insisted they made my legs look great, but give me a pair of flats any day.”
Despite being identical twins, Bree was more of a tomboy than her more girlie sister, Hope and much more at home in jeans than a designer suit.
“I will get you some dinner, Auntie Bree,” Kali said before she co
uld stop her and jumped down off her chair and went to the trestle tables to pick up a plate.
“India, that kid is just precious,” Bree said and India glowed.
“Yes, she is.” India’s eyes followed her and watched Nate help her put a cheeseburger and some potato salad on the plate.
Kali was animated as she talked to him and pointed to Bree who had her back to them and Nate straightened up and followed her, still carrying the loaded plate. He put it down in front of Bree who was mid-story about her trip into the city when she turned around to say thank you and her mouth hung open as she stared at the man who was standing with Kali.
He looked just as shocked as she did and the others looked at each other puzzled as they watched Bree open and close her mouth like a fish trying to get the words to come out. Bree Donovan was struck dumb for the very first time in her life.
“Hello, Bree.” he recovered first
“Nathaniel, what the hell are you doing here!” she gasped, her face as white as a sheet.
“I came to help Kandis and Liam smooth the path to a permanent move for the pack, but this is certainly an added bonus.”
“You need to leave, Nathaniel, you can’t be here!”
“Well that may be a problem, darlin, you see I already joined the pack and I’m not planning on going anywhere.
Bree jumped up from the table and turned to run but Nate snaked out an arm and caught her wrist before she could disappear.
“Not this time, Bree. You ran out on me once before and I spent months searching for you. I didn’t even know your last name and it’s not going to happen again.”
“No, it’s not because you are leaving now.” her eyes were blazing as she turned back to him and poked him hard on the chest with her finger. “Go back to wherever you came from and the fiancée you forgot to mention, Nathaniel.” she was yelling now and the pack had quieted down to watch the drama unfolding before them.
“If you had stuck around long enough, I would have explained about Renee,” he yelled exasperated with her.
Children of the Moon: Book Three Page 11