Billion Dollar Wolves: Boxset Bks 1-5

by Dee Bridgnorth

  Moments later both Zane and Jason were hanging off Devon’s shoulders like oversized teenagers. He loved his brothers. Mostly. But sometimes they acted like total children and it really got on his nerves. Right now though? He was willing to make a few concessions. He figured he was about to owe them so big-time that he would never be able to repay them for their kindness to his wife.

  “Kami is with Landry in the utility room,” Devon murmured to his brothers.

  Jason grunted. “Chicks and laundry, man. I think Skye would ditch me for any guy who could give her a better washer and dryer.”

  “You’re an idiot,” Zane decided. Then he shot a sly look in Devon’s direction. “The cleaning lady. You dog!”

  “Stop.” Devon’s quiet word was enough to convey the necessary severity of the situation to his brothers. Both of them backed off and frowned at him. Devon held up both hands. “Kami was worried in the foyer because she thinks it’s unfair for someone else to have to clean up after her. This is going to take some getting used to.”

  “Right.” Jason simply gave a nod as though that were the end of it.

  Zane was a bit harder because he was far more astute than their baby brother. So it was Zane who nudged Devon and asked the one thing that Devon didn’t want to think about. “So, where are you living now? Are we all going to be fielding phone calls from Mother about how you’ve deserted her and that Orion is the only son she loves anymore? Because I have to tell you that I’m totally ready to get your back on this. You should be living with your wife. That’s the end of it.”

  Devon had not decided that yet. He didn’t know what to do. There were too many worries going around in his mind to even begin to unpack the answer that Zane was looking for. “Mother is throwing a party tomorrow night. Did you know that?”

  “Yeah. Skye told me.” Jason did not sound amused. He folded his arms over his chest and made a face. “I’m ready to give Mother the social finger. I think we should all do it. I think we should just stop going to her stupid parties and let the whole world know that her family has shunned her because of what she did.”

  “There’s no proof,” Zane reminded Jason quietly. “You keep going on about that stuff, but there is literally no proof of wrongdoing. You’d just be smearing our mother’s name all over town. And while I don’t really care about that, it makes the rest of us look bad. She’s nothing but a freaking grieving widow!”

  The three of them were standing in the middle of the living room and it struck Devon how right it was that this should happen. This was his home. A home that he shared with his wife. He was standing with his brothers while their wives talked about chick stuff with his wife. That was—holy crap, it was normal! And for a family full of wolf shifters that regularly dealt with a bizarre array of problems ranging from canine vigilante behavior to potential embezzlement activity perpetuated by their mother, today right here right now was a bit of a necessary respite.

  “Mother is threatening to fire every single member of the support staff in our building if she finds out that I have started dating the help,” Devon suddenly told his brothers.

  They both went silent. Their gaping looks of shock and disgust were gratifying in that they at least reminded Devon that normal was not what Tisha Olivares-King claimed it was. Finally Jason was the first to react. Of course, his reaction was to cover his mouth and start cursing colorfully under his breath. In fact, his words were so outlandish that Devon was pretty sure that some of what he was suggesting was actually physically impossible.

  “Great. That’s totally helpful.” Devon rolled his eyes. “You sound like Orion actually. Not the cursing, of course, but the total unhelpfulness. His suggestion was that I should just go and escort Mother’s latest debutante disaster.”

  “Let me guess,” Zane grunted. “Tansy Dunlop.”

  “So you were the guy who passed her on to me?” Devon turned and made a face at his next youngest brother. “Thanks for that.”

  “Are you kidding me? You realize that Orion is next. You’re married. Mother can’t make you do anything. You could escort the girl all day long, but it’s not like there’s anywhere to go with it. So that means Mother will have to put pressure on Orion to marry the girl. Can you imagine” Zane shook his head and stared at the ceiling. “That would be like suggesting the Big Bad Wolf marry Little Red Riding Hood.”

  “Literally in this case,” Jason added rather unhelpfully. “Speaking of, have you told Kami about the King family curse?”

  Jason’s timing was absolutely impeccable as usual. Kami came walking into the living room with both Landry and Skye. She frowned at Jason and then looked at Devon. “What curse?”

  Jason’s mouth opened in a round O of surprise. Not that it was his business to be telling Kami anyway. Still it made for a very awkward moment. There was absolutely no reason for this to be brought up right now. There was no way of making any sort of comment that would not make it seem like the King family was actively hiding something very important.

  “What’s the King family curse?” Kami asked, looking at each member of the family before finally turning back to Landry whom she had obviously decided was trustworthy.

  Landry grinned. Then she grabbed hold of Zane’s arm. “It’s this thing that happens when they all try to say something intelligent and wind up saying something stupid instead.”

  “Hey!” Zane pointed at Jason. “He was the one who said it!”

  Landry rolled her eyes. “And was there something that you wanted to say to Kami?”

  “Oh right.” Zane’s dark eyes were dancing. Zane made a face at Devon then winked at Kami. “I just wanted to say that I have seen you around the office many times. But I would like to officially welcome you to the family. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you for real.”

  “Thank you.” Kami didn’t look so certain. “But I don’t think that’s the King family curse.”

  “Nope.” Skye grabbed Jason and started dragging him toward the front door. “But we are going to leave you newlyweds in your brand new home together and it will up to you and Devon how much you want to talk about some musty old family curse that’s really more urban legend than anything else.”

  Devon almost felt like he needed to plead with his relatives not to leave him there to answer all of the questions that they had just dragged out into the open. But the time for that was over and Devon was truly alone with Kami for what felt like the very first time.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Kami’s heart was fluttering so fast in her chest that she was pretty sure she was about to have either a panic attack or a full cardiac arrest. But before she totally lost her mind. She needed to make something very, very clear.

  So Kami cleared her throat and looked up at Devon. “I need to apologize to you.”

  “I’m sorry?”

  It wasn’t really that much of a surprise that he was confused by her words. In reality, they probably came totally out of left field for him. It wasn’t like he had much to go on other than what she was saying right this second. He had probably thought she was about to go off on him about that silly King family curse thing. But honestly, that was probably just some ridiculous thing about his father’s death and Kami was pretty sure she already knew more than she wanted to about that nonsense.

  “I need to apologize,” Kami said again. She spread her hands and turned a slow circle to indicate the apartment. It was beautiful. No. That wasn’t enough. The word wasn’t enough. She needed to express that there was more going on. More. Just more. “This place is incredible. I just—I’ve never had a place. You know? I didn’t realize how much it took to set up house. I didn’t think about towels and plates and cooking utensils and kitchen appliances. I didn’t even realize that apartments don’t come with furniture. I know that the furniture in my parents’ apartment was there when they moved in. It belongs to the landlord.” Kami swallowed. God, this was embarrassing. It was like admitting that she was totally naïve about what it took to support herself
in life. “I just demanded you find me a place to live, Devon. I didn’t think about how much money that would cost or how it would actually happen. That wasn’t fair.”

  She could not read his expression. She could not even begin to imagine what he was thinking right now. He was probably telling himself that he was sick and tired of her bitching and moaning at him all the time. Wasn’t that typically what most men said about women? It was certainly what her father constantly said about Kami, her sisters, and her mother.

  “I appreciate your apology.” Devon took her hands and lifted them to his lips. “I really do. And I understand. I’ve never set up house before either. It’s sad to say, but I’m practically a thirty year old living with his mother. It’s sort of embarrassing.”

  “But you did all of this!” She glanced around at the gleaming appliances and thought about the pretty towels hanging in the bathrooms and the paper products and other things stocking the cabinets. “You thought of everything!”

  “No. I asked for help. My sisters-in-law have been living on their own for a very long time. I can’t even begin to tell you how tough Landry has had it. But they’re smart women and I asked them to help me make up for the fact that I’m a total loser when it comes to being an independent person.” He ducked his head and pressed his lips to her clasped hands as though he were begging for her forgiveness. “So please don’t give me credit for all of this. They wanted to help. They wanted to welcome you to our family—such as it is.”

  Overwhelmed did not begin to cover how Kami felt right now. She had a family now that wanted to welcome her? It was a bit of a stretch. They were talking about brothers and their wives. Not Devon’s mother. That was going to be a whole other kettle of fish entirely.

  “We have some serious family problems, don’t we?” Kami murmured to herself.

  Devon tugged her toward a huge leather sofa. It was a pale mocha color that Kami loved. And when they sat down there was no doubt in Kami’s mind that she could happily curl up on this sofa and read or watch television every night for the rest of her life.

  Sitting there with her husband was so surreal that Kami almost giggled like a teenager in the throes of her first crush. She snuggled in close to Devon and closed her eyes. She knew that she reeked of coffee and probably orange oil and beeswax. She just didn’t care. She wanted to savor this moment and she didn’t want anything to spoil it. That was enough right now.

  “Kami, I have to tell you something.”

  She reached up, groping around his face for his lips. Then she pressed her fingers against them and shushed him. “Not right now. Please? Can you just hold me? It’s been so very long, Devon. Don’t you think?”

  He exhaled a sigh. “It has been a long time.”

  Then he wrapped his arms around her body and held her close. She could hear his heart beating in his chest. It was almost as though his heart rate were speeding up though. Maybe this wasn’t as relaxing for him as it was for her. And then she realized that maybe she was taking that all wrong. Maybe what was really happening was that Devon was actually enjoying this time with her far more than either one of them had anticipated.

  “You know that I love you, right?” Devon’s whispered words were like something warm that stole through her body and chased the chill away. “I know that things haven’t been good between us for a long time now. I know that I’ve been distracted and really hurting for time to spend with you.”

  Kami exhaled. She thought about her parents and the mess with her siblings and the recent threat that she present herself at what was supposed to be her wedding tomorrow afternoon at four o’clock. But none of that mattered right now. Nothing did. “I know you love me. I love you too. I hope you understand that. I do. I hope you can see that I do even when I’m angry. I just want so badly to have a real life with you. I’m impatient, I guess. It just feels like I’ve been waiting for so long. You know?”

  “You have been, Kami.” He swallowed. She could actually feel the movement of his throat and chest. “You’ve been waiting for too long. Any other woman would have given up on me, and I’m blessed that you haven’t. I just don’t know if the two of us are going to be able to really work through all of the stuff that’s happened. I want you to know that I’m willing to try if you are though. I don’t want to just walk away. I don’t.”

  It was odd. Kami could not help but think that he had been thinking pretty much everything that she had. There were things that they needed to discuss. Things that neither of them had realized would eventually become sticking points. Like kids. Like where their futures were going to be. Like her school and what it would mean when she graduated. All of that stuff was going to come into play soon enough and they needed to be ready to talk about it.

  “Kids,” Kami whispered.

  “What?”

  “We should talk about kids. You were talking about all the stuff we never talked about and should have. I feel like that’s a huge one.” Holy cow, her heart was now trying to claw its way right out of her chest! She was so scared that he was about to tell her that it was over because she wasn’t going to budge on this one.

  “You’re right,” he agreed. “We should talk about kids.”

  Shit. He was holding his breath now! She could feel it. This was bad. It was bad. What if this was the dealbreaker? Kami swallowed. It was now or never. “I don’t want any. Ever. I’ve been raising my brothers and sisters for years. I’m sick of kids.”

  There was a pause, and for a second she thought that he was actually going to get up and walk away. But he didn’t. He made a kind of strangled noise instead that she soon realized was utter shock. “I’m sorry. Did you say no kids?”

  “None.”

  “Thank God!”

  It was Kami’s turn to sit up and be shocked. “Wait.” She turned and stared at him. “You don’t want kids?”

  “Hell no!” He made a face. “I have four brothers. My family was huge and it was crowded. I never enjoyed that feeling of living in a house that was always packed to the rafters.” He paused and Kami got the feeling there was something else that he wasn’t saying. But she could leave that for right now. There was time. Especially since he did not want children!

  She flung herself into his arms and kissed him so thoroughly on the lips that she nearly forgot to come up for air. Kami was all but crawling into Devon’s lap. She was dressed in her stained coffee shop clothes, but she didn’t care. She straddled him and slipped her arms around his neck anyway.

  “Kami?” he breathed her name.

  She placed two fingers against his lips and then leaned in and kissed him once again. Letting her tongue skate lightly over the seam of his lips, Kami gently nipped the fullness of the lower one before coaxing him to open his mouth.

  He seemed to be holding back. Kami didn’t know why he would be doing that, but she was determined to remind him of the explosive chemistry that had always simmered between them. Sliding her tongue into his mouth, she let it mate playfully with his. Finally, he groaned and slid his arms around her body. He drew her closer and made love to her with his mouth. Kami pushed her fingers through his silky blond hair. She loved the way it felt to sift through that short hair. She loved the way he would growl and deepen their kisses when she did it. Kami wanted him wild and desperate. She wanted him to feel every bit of it like she did.

  Their pose on the sofa was plainly suggestive. He sat and she knelt astride his body. It left her feeling exposed and more than a little bit naughty. Moving her hands from his hair to his shoulders, she let her nails lightly scrape their way down his chest toward his waist. She wanted his shirt off. She missed that feeling. She missed those times when she had sat and explored his body while they hung out together in his office. Those were the days when everything had been new and exciting and she had felt as though the whole world was opening up in front of her.

  The stretchy cotton of his knit sweater gave way to her tugging. She pulled it up his belly. Devon broke away from her lips and drew
back as though he were surprised. Kami shook her head. She did not want to speak. She didn’t want this moment to be ruined by words. So she pulled his sweater up and tugged until he leaned forward and lifted his arms enough for her to get it off over his head.

  Feeling more than a little brave, Kami twirled that knit sweater over her head and then flung it across the living room. She grinned at Devon and felt a shot of excitement when he grinned right back at her. Then Kami began running her hands up and down his chest. She circled his nipples with her fingertips. She used her nails to pluck at each one until they grew hard and he was hissing at each and every touch.

  Finally, he lifted his hands and pressed them over hers, crushing her palms flat against his chest. The teasing apparently needed to stop. Kami licked her lips. It was now or never. Right? She wanted this. So it was time to show him just how much.

  Grabbing hold of the hem of her polo shirt, she pulled it up over her head and threw it aside. Her full breasts were barely constrained by her cheap bra. Someday she wanted to save up to get one of those sexy lace bras that could make breasts look like a television star’s. But for now this was what she had and Devon never seemed to complain.

  His exhaled groan of appreciation suggested that had not changed in the months since there had been this distance between them. Instead he leaned forward and cupped her breasts. He buried his face against the creamy tops and then reached behind her so that he could unfasten the clasp. Suddenly the straps were sliding down her arms and she was flinging the bra away to be rid of it.

  Her breasts hung free and Devon gathered up their heaviness in his hands. She placed her hands against his head as he sucked and licked at the fullness of her chest. The incredible sensation was almost more than she could stand. Closing her eyes, she gave herself over to the wonderful feeling of having Devon’s hands and mouth on her body. This was where she belonged. With her man. With her husband. And now that they had a home together they could make love together whenever they wanted. All of the constraints and rules were gone. It was just the two of them, and Kami could not wait to begin the rest of her life with this man.