by Laina Kenney
“Maressa agreed to contact him. I guess she talked it over with Bliss this afternoon and then she called me. I gave her Ron’s number. He was in his car and halfway here when he called me.”
Egan snarled softly and John smacked a hand on his chest and got in his face.
“You got a death wish, fox?”
“Stand down, for fuck’s sake. Fucking twitchy wolves. This Detective is a good guy, got two teenage kids of his own. He’s been working this case on his own time for years. He was choked up talking about the girls being alive, about not giving up on them and trying to find them all these years to be sure they were safe. He’s been going over and over it, whether they were murdered or kidnapped or sold into some Mexican brothel. He needs to see them alive and healthy. The man wades through shit every day, he deserves a moment’s peace.”
Egan took a step back and held up both hands in the universal gesture of surrender. He was big enough to admit when he was in the wrong.
He could understand John’s point of view, and he would show some respect for the suffering of another protector who must have felt as though he had failed the girls. It was clear the man had never given up his hope that they were alive. Egan respected that.
“Does he have any idea who might have murdered their father?”
“He does have a suspect,” John said surprisingly. “He says the method is very characteristic of one specific hitman who was killed in prison a few months ago. But he doesn’t know why, and that’s the shitty end. No motive. Their father was universally well-liked and it was no secret that his daughters adored him. Ron said until someone can figure out why, then we won’t know if the girls are safe.”
Egan’s instincts were on edge, and had been from the moment he had scented Bliss. The gifts of his bloodline screamed in his veins that his mate was in danger. He had never before ignored his deepest instinct, and he didn’t intend to start with something so important as the safety and well-being of his precious mate.
Even if everyone else thought she was safe, he knew at a level beyond thought that she was still in danger, and it tore him up inside.
“Money?” Egan knew that money was one of the most popular motives for crime.
He heard Balke’s, “You did what?!” from somewhere off to the side, but his attention was all on John Commander.
“Yeah, we always say follow the money.” John sighed. “But it doesn’t lead anywhere this time. At least, not anywhere that would indicate a possible motive for murder. And the sister, the girls’ aunt in Chicago, has run herself into the ground keeping the stores open and profitable, but she hasn’t taken any more than the salary she was getting as general manager when her brother was killed. No raises, nothing. Everything else has been saved for Bliss and Maressa.”
Egan paused. “The aunt has kept her hope alive, also.”
John nodded. “We haven’t reached out to her, yet. Maressa didn’t know her very well as a young woman and a stepchild in the family. The father accepted and loved her like his own, but the rest of his family wasn’t quite as welcoming, at least not at first. Maressa said she didn’t care for the aunt’s husband, now the ex, and wasn’t willing to risk Bliss for any reason.”
Egan admired Maressa more than ever for what she had done at such a young age. And now that he had met Bliss and discovered that the sweet-tempered young woman was his destined mate, he understood her driving need to protect the girl. There was something so beautiful and innocent about Bliss, even discounting her astonishing healing ability and the fear lingering in her life. Under incredible pressure, Maressa had done well.
“I will come and meet this Detective,” Egan said.
John’s shoulders relaxed a fraction and Egan elbowed him.
“Sorry for being such a bastard about it.”
“Yeah,” John said, “I guess I expected it. If I found my mate, and she was in danger from some scumbag, I can’t promise you I’d be any better. Might even be worse.”
Egan felt his lips twitch up into a genuine smile and shook his head.
He didn’t say it, but he knew John would be just as bad or worse than any vulfen warrior if his woman was threatened. He schooled his features back into a bland mask, but inside he was grinning. He could hardly wait to see his friend in that circumstance, with some sweet little thing who would listen to all his lectures then do whatever the hell she wanted anyway.
Chapter 12
Egan sat on the couch in his mate’s apartment, waiting for Bliss to finish her studying and reading the human science magazine Discover. He enjoyed reading it, was fascinated by some of the articles, but always there was a hint of relief when he made it through another issue without reading about some scientist discovering the vulfen people. Even the article about the nocturnal habits of vampires had alarmed him at first, until he realized the writer was talking about actual bats. That would be a little too close to home.
Suddenly a hand closed over his and pushed the magazine to one side.
His mate’s sweet face filled his view as she leaned in and kissed his mouth. She was still shy with him, so he didn’t push, just let her set the pace. And it was no hardship. If his mate required him to sit for an hour daily and submit to her kisses, he was more than willing.
She pulled back a little and her eyes lowered to his belly and back up to his. The curiosity in her gaze electrified him and his cock hardened in a powerful rush that left a buzzing in his ears.
What did she mean to do?
Slowly, slowly, she pushed his jacket off his shoulders and tossed it on the floor behind her.
Still holding his eyes, she raised the bottom of his T-shirt a bare two inches. Her head lowered and his heart banged in his chest.
When her sweet lips touched his skin, a shiver moved over him and his iron control slipped just a fraction. He dug his claw tips into the couch and waited. She nipped the skin over his abs and soothed the tiny sting with a swirl of her tongue.
The anticipation was killing him as she moved further and further down.
She looked up at him and the sight of that pouty mouth hovering over the fly of his jeans sent a punch of heat straight up his spine.
She looked down at his straining cock and then back up into his eyes, and the tip of her tongue touched her lips.
“Egan.”
His name had never sounded better.
“Anything you want.” He couldn’t say more, or he would be reduced to begging.
Her small hands were resting, one on his flat belly and one on his thigh. The sight of those delicate hands so close to his scorching erection burned into his memory. Power pumped in his blood. She made him feel like the king of the jungle. At the same time, he was her servant. She had only to speak and he was her willing slave.
She dipped her head, and her hot breath on him made him arch his back and groan.
She unbuttoned his fly with care, and each brush of her fingers sent heat slamming through his body. She was killing him.
Her fingers curled around his stiff penis and freed it from the confinement of his jeans. She squeezed gently, Egan groaned, and a bead of fluid appeared at the darkened tip.
She swiped her tongue across the head of his cock, gathering his taste. Her mouth closed over him and slid down to encompass the rounded knob, eyes heavy-lidded so that only a sliver of brilliant blue was visible.
“Hmm.”
The vibration of her hum of approval shot up his spine in a wave of red heat. He couldn’t look away from her, the sweet absorbed expression on her face, her generous pink lips pulled tight around his cock.
She lowered again and swiveled somehow as she raised her head, leaving moisture behind. Watching Bliss lick her lips, Egan grappled with control. He bit his lip and tasted blood when she performed the move again. The third time, he grabbed her and pulled her up to fasten his mouth on hers.
The disappointment in her cry made him vow to please her.
When he slid his hand down and tested her, she was hot a
nd wet with welcome. He used his claws and had her out of her clothes in seconds.
“Thank you,” was all he could think, and then as she settled over his stiff cock like a tight silken glove, he couldn’t think at all.
“Bliss.”
He braced her with one hand on her hip and kept the other anchored on the couch. The rise and fall of her body mesmerized him. The gentle movements of her breasts on each shallow dip lured him and his hands lifted with a will of their own to squeeze and caress.
Bliss gasped and arched in his arms and he felt the secret rain of her pleasure all around the hot flesh of his cock. Her pace quickened until it was all he could to stay still and accept what she would give without taking over and demanding more. Her movements worked the tip of his penis ceaselessly, but never took him fully inside. It was enough to drive him mad.
He leaned forward to pull one ruby red nipple into his mouth, and it shoved his cock in deeper.
Bliss’s voice rose in a ragged plea. He didn’t understand the words, only the tone, but he pushed up on her next down thrust, prolonging each vigorous stroke until it jarred his bones and made Bliss’s pretty breasts jiggle in his hands and mouth.
She dropped her head back with a sigh, exposing the long white column of her throat as she rode his hard body.
His fangs tingled at the irresistible temptation. His hands at her back pulled her in close and tight, and he fastened his lips over the appealing sweet spot where he had given her his mating bite.
When he nipped her, she writhed and rippled around him with a sharp cry of pleasure. She bucked and lost her rhythm. He took over, gripping her hips and raising and lowering her to extend the brilliant fire consuming her as long as he could.
He would have howled out his own blazing release, but his mouth was well occupied renewing the mating bite that gave them both such burning joy.
The moment when her head dropped onto his shoulder and her body relaxed sweetly in his arms was as seductive to him as anything that had gone before. His mate was safe and well-pleasured, resting against his heart. His eyes burned and he blinked rapidly.
It was the perfect moment for a vulfen warrior, and if the gratitude overcame him, no mated warrior would scorn him for it.
Chapter 13
Bliss opened the door and Maressa came rushing up, garment bag bunched in her arms.
“I’m late, I know,” Maressa huffed as she pushed past Bliss and ran up the stairs. “Don’t get on me about it.”
Bliss smiled at the startled face of the beautiful pregnant woman behind Maressa. The Vulfen Queen looked just like a regular woman, small and generously curved. The woman pushed her heavy black curls away from her radiant face, and Bliss held out her hand.
“You must be Ellie. May I call you Ellie?” When the woman nodded, Bliss ushered her in. “Please come in and be welcome. Maressa is running just a little late, but that’s totally normal. And she never says ‘hello’ like a normal person. We just work around it.”
Ellie grinned at her as they walked into the kitchen.
“Thank you for the warm welcome. You must be Bliss. I’ve heard so much about you.”
Bliss never knew quite what to say to that remark, so she asked, “Tea?”
Ellie nodded. “Oh, yes, thanks.”
“Aunt Belle is upstairs already. Please come with me, but take your time.”
Bliss led the way up the narrow stairs. She knew Ellie was pregnant, she could see that, but she had never understood why people treated pregnant women like invalids. It was perfectly fine for a woman to climb a set of stairs, for example, but so many people treated the woman like the infant she was soon going to deliver.
And in her nurse’s judgment, Ellie wasn’t much more than six months along, maybe seven if the baby was small.
Still, Ellie was breathing hard by the time she reached the top step. Bliss didn’t let on that she noticed.
“I didn’t see anyone else. Is the Alpha with you?”
Ellie snorted, then looked sideways at Bliss.
“Luckily, the Cadre has him outside helping with Ives’s car,” she said. “I couldn’t leave him at home, because instead of being protective as normal, the baby is making him super-extra protective. I’m a healer, and Grace’s grandmother is a healer, too. I keep telling him that there’s nothing wrong with me, and it’s true, but he is going overboard trying to control every little thing. If a fly landed on me, he would annihilate it. I tell you, I live in fear of catching a cold. At this point, I think he’d pay a doctor to put me on bed rest.”
The two women shared a laugh.
“Is this your first?” Bliss asked.
“Yes.” Ellie stroked her rounded belly fondly. “A little boy, Day Lily says.”
“Well, maybe Rylek will be calmer for the second child.”
Ellie seemed to brighten for a moment, then shook her head and grinned at Bliss. “I’m not counting on it. He’s a protector through and through. I only worry that he’ll watch our son too closely.” Ellie sighed. “I think we’ll have to have at least one more so that his attention is divided between them.”
“Good plan. Give your son a built-in accomplice, or two. Although, being pranked may not make the Alpha relax.”
Ellie groaned.
“I didn’t think of that.”
Bliss plugged in the kettle just as Aunt Belle came out of the bedroom where Maressa was changing into the wedding gown for the big showing.
“She’ll need another minute,” Aunt Belle said.
“Is she crying?” Bliss asked.
Aunt Belle laughed her wheezy laugh.
“No, she’s swearing.”
Bliss felt a stirring of alarm.
“Is something wrong with the dress?”
“Is it too tight?” Ellie asked.
“Is it too long?” Bliss asked at the same time.
“Ladies, ladies”—Aunt Belle laughed—“calm yourselves. The dress is—well, I can hardly begin to say—no, the dress is lovely. Quite lovely. And Maressa will be a radiant bride. Ives doesn’t really understand, I think, but when he sees her in that dress for the first time, he will.”
“Then what?” Bliss asked. The wedding was so important to Maressa. She wasn’t a girly girl, but she had planned the ceremony and the dress and the flowers so carefully and she deserved to have some happiness.
“It’s the shoes,” Aunt Belle said, smoothing her skirt and sitting down on the sofa.
“What about the shoes?” Ellie and Bliss asked in unison.
Aunt Belle looked from one to the other.
“The shoes are a size too small. Maressa is certain that she ordered the right size, but the size that arrived isn’t an eight. And the hem of the dress is too long in bare feet, and too short wearing her boots. So, she won’t come out.”
“I don’t care about the shoes,” Ellie said just as Bliss said, “I want to see the dress.”
They looked at each other, in perfect agreement.
“I’ll go in,” Bliss said.
“I’ll make the tea,” Ellie responded.
Bliss tapped on Maressa’s door and opened it slowly. She wasn’t sure quite what she might find, but Maressa was standing on a chair trying to see her feet in the mirror, but the froth of her gorgeous full skirt was obscuring them.
“Oh,” Bliss breathed, and Maressa turned.
“I got the wrong size of shoes,” Maressa began, waving the offending shoes in the air, but when she saw Bliss’s face hers crumpled. “I got the wrong size shoes.” It came out as a wail and Bliss ran to her sister’s side.
She helped Maressa down from the chair and hugged her. Maressa had been her rock all her life, the one constant that made losing everything else almost okay. It was a rare moment when she could give comfort to her older sister.
“You’ve got another whole month,” Bliss said, rubbing circles on Maressa’s back. “Hush. If they can’t get the shoes here by then, we’ll take a trip to New York City. If the perfect sh
oe exists in the world, it’s living somewhere in New York.”
Maressa laughed and sniffed. She hugged tighter for a second before letting go.
“New York City. Trust you to want to take me shoe shopping in New York.”
Bliss shrugged.
“Well, I wouldn’t make you shop alone.”
“You wouldn’t make me buy alone, either,” Maressa said drily.
“Nope, I wouldn’t,” Bliss said cheerfully. She was happy to see her sister’s lips curve upward. “I would make sure I found some little thing, just to keep you company, you understand.”
“I understand.”
Bliss took Maressa’s hand.
“Come out. Let Ellie see the dress. She loves weddings. You’re beautiful and she’s pregnant, so she’ll probably cry. And then we’ll all cry, and Aunt Belle will scold us, but she’ll be teary, too. It’s exactly what you need. It’ll be great.”
The sisters laughed.
Maressa nodded and took a deep breath.
“Okay,” she said. “Let’s go.”
Bliss walked out while Ellie was pouring the tea and made a sweeping introduction presenting the Christmas Bride. And, sure enough, when Maressa walked out, there wasn’t a dry eye in the apartment.
Maressa obligingly walked back and forth, modeling the lovely princess gown from all angles over and over for the appreciative women. Finally, after it was universally decided that the bride was beautiful and the dress was perfect, Maressa went to change.
When she returned, she seemed a little less nervous, and Bliss was glad.
“I hear you’re studying to be a nurse,” Ellie said.
Bliss laughingly nodded toward the stack of textbooks piled in the corner by her desk.
“I just finished mid-term exams and in six more weeks I’ll be writing finals, and I’m at the top of my class. Maressa has helped me so much. Since I’ve done my required placement hours on weekends, I just do my application and exam for licensing.” Her face glowed with excitement. “And then I’ll be a real nurse, specializing in geriatrics. I’ll be helping people every day.”