“I’m famished,” he answered and they skated toward the edge of the rink. “We can stop somewhere on the way back to the hotel.”
“How about room service?”
“If that’s what you want, that’s what we’ll get.” Bodie helped her step off the ice and they made their way to a bench and sat down.
“I read the resort’s menu at the concierge’s desk while you checked in. They had a decent selection.” Ronni unlaced her skates. “I’d like to unwind a little. We’ve been going nonstop all day.” She looked over at him. “I’m not complaining, though. I can’t remember when I’ve had this much fun.”
“Me, either,” he said honestly. After dropping off their luggage in their suite, they had gone nonstop, visiting the wax museum, the mirror maze, the pottery gallery and the moonshine distillery, and browsed The Village Shops.
“After Willow was born, everything I’ve done has been for her. Even when I take her somewhere, I’m focused on whether or not she’s enjoying herself without giving thought to if I am.”
“This was a great idea.” Ronni bumped against his shoulder. “It’s nice to feel like a person again. Not just Alex’s mother.”
After they turned in their skates, they walked outside into the crisp night air. Although it was almost Halloween, holiday lights up and down the main street brightened the darkness.
“I can’t believe how busy it is here. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many people jammed into one place.”
“My parents used to bring me here when I was a kid.” Bodie tucked his arm around Ronni as they walked. “I used to think this place was magical, like some kind of fairy-tale place.”
“It sorta is, isn’t it? Look at all the happy people. And the smells, gingerbread and taffy and fudge.”
“Careful.” Bodie laughed. “It sounds like you’re describing the old witch’s house in Hansel and Gretel.”
“Good thing I prefer steak to sweets.” Ronni grinned.
“I knew you were my kind of woman,” he whispered against her ear before placing a light kiss against her temple.
As they walked hand in hand, Ronni turned toward each display they passed while he watched utter fascination flicker across her lovely face. He wasn’t pretending to enjoy her company; he really did. Hope grew that a life mated to this she-wolf would always be this enchanting.
Chapter 20
“You’re not getting cold feet, are you?” Despite her teasing, Ronni’s jumbled nerves converged in the pit of her stomach. She wasn’t hesitant about the sleeping arrangements; their trip was the first time she’d left Alex behind. She didn’t doubt he would be all right. It simply felt weird to not be in mom mode.
“There isn’t one spot on my body that’s cold right now.” Bodie finally got the card key to work and opened the door.
Their overnight bags tucked in the alcove had remained undisturbed during their absence, despite leaving the balcony French doors slightly ajar to allow the fresh air to draw out the artificial scents from the plug-in fresheners Ronni had pulled out earlier.
The sound of the lock clicking as Bodie secured the room caused a frisson of excitement to course through her body. His molten gaze touched her for a mere moment but it was long enough to melt the bones in her legs. She sank onto the edge of the bed.
“We should order room service before the kitchen closes.” Food, sex and then everything else. A male’s order of priorities seemed consistent across species.
Bodie picked up the menu on the writing desk. “Burgers, sandwiches, pizza or pasta?”
“Surprise me.” She kicked off her shoes and reclined on the bed.
After placing their order, Bodie hung up the phone. “They’re busy so it’ll be more than an hour before we get supper.”
Ronni patted the bed. “Come.”
He hesitated.
So cute—he was trying to be a gentleman—but as far as she was concerned, the entire day had been foreplay.
Bodie’s clean, masculine scent had teased and tormented her from the moment he’d picked her up from the house this morning. Every time he touched her, she had clenched with need.
Wanting him to soothe the ache before she lost all control, Ronni pulled off her sweater. “I won’t offer again.”
A lie, and a big fat one, too. Whenever they were in close proximity, Ronni became acutely aware of her feminine essence being drawn to his masculine energy like a supercharged magnet. The irresistible pull was too strong to overcome, even if she wanted to.
Shucking off his shirt, Bodie kicked out of his shoes and stepped out of his pants. Ronni shimmied out of her jeans, but she left on her newest lacy red lingerie. She might be a wolf, but she still liked feeling feminine.
Temptation beckoned from the devilish curve of Bodie’s mouth. He didn’t say anything, but his eyes worshipped every inch of her before lifting to meet her gaze.
She scooted on the mattress and he followed, stalking up her body, every bit as predatory as a wolfan male. His essence throbbed with strength, virility and possessiveness.
When his body covered the length of hers, he claimed her with a kiss so fierce and full of need it stole her breath. His heat intensified her own and her thoughts scattered. So much for keeping her head this time.
His roughened hands gently stroked her skin, heightening her senses. Each kiss branded her, leaving a blistering trail down her neck, between the valley of her lace-clad breasts, across the plane of her stomach and against her quivering inner thighs as he removed her panties.
Incoherent speech escaped her as his lips pressed against her folds and teased her with his hot, moist tongue, trapping her somewhere between ecstasy and agony.
The strokes against her sex were whisper-soft and unhurried. All the while, she ached for hard and fast so the pressure building in her core would be released.
She wiggled and sat up. Bodie tilted back his head until his lust-filled gaze met hers. Reaching behind her back, she unfastened her bra and slowly discarded it. “My turn.”
Bodie sat up, confusion settling on his features until Ronni urged him down on the mattress and straddled his hips. Kissing him hard as his hands slid over her ribs to cup and knead her breasts, she rubbed her mound against his hard cock. Unintelligible words fell from his lips and an indescribable groan rose from his throat.
“Now you know how I felt.”
Bodie’s arms tightened around Ronni a split second before she found herself flat on her back against the mattress with him crouched over her again.
He surged inside her. A sigh escaping her lips, she closed her eyes as he filled her body and soul. There was no other way to describe the completeness of Bodie’s essence blending with hers.
She danced her fingers over his broad shoulders and down his muscled back. The smooth warmth of his skin made her hands tingle and the slow, steady rhythm of his deep thrusts grounded her. His worship of her body made her feel cherished, comforted and safe.
Bodie’s breathing hitched. His thrusts came harder and faster and the gnawing ache in her core intensified until she shattered from the waves of pleasure. Nearly drowning in the sensation, she clutched at his undulating hips until he shuddered with his own release. As he stilled, she buried her face in the curve of his neck.
Loving his masculine scent and the saltiness of his skin against her lips as she nibbled the enticing spot where the neck and shoulder joined. The mate-claim spot where a wolfan male bit a female during sex, marking her as his life-mate. Once the claim was made, it was binding until death. There was no divorce under wolfan law.
Since Bodie wasn’t wolfan, if or when the time came, Ronni would have to claim him. Her insides fluttered and she realized she might not be as opposed to the idea as she should be.
* * *
Standing on the balcony, Bodie spoke to his daughter on the phone. His words were
a bare whisper on the wind, yet Ronni heard his side of the conversation as clearly as if he had whispered in her ear. She loved that he spoke to Willow in the same, soothing parental tone that she used with Alex.
Her heart thudded madly. Bodie was a triple threat: a doting father, loving son and fantastic lover. He was probably as near to perfect as a man could get.
There was a knock on the door. “Room service.”
Dressed in the clothes she’d worn earlier, Ronni got up from the small cozy couch in the sitting area to open the door. A resort employee pushed a cart into the room. He set the dishes on the kitchen bar counter and handed Ronni the service ticket for a signature.
“Thanks.” Closing the door, she plucked up a quill off the floor. She ran her fingers along the inky black feathers with silvery sheen. If not for the red streak of paint on the quill, Ronni would’ve thought her raven had followed them.
Maybe there were more of his kind in the area and one had flown in through the balcony doors left ajar while she and Bodie had been out playing tourist. He padded into the room.
“Everything okay at home?”
“Willow and my mother aren’t speaking to each other. So everything is normal.” The relaxed smile he wore tightened as his gaze fell to her hands. “What is that?”
“I found it on the floor.” Handing him the feather, she studied the tension creeping into his body. “Is something wrong?” She touched his arm.
Startled, he glanced at her. “It reminds me of a story my mother once told me.”
“It must not have been a happy one.”
“It wasn’t.” Bodie’s displeasure was clearly evident in his furrowed brow and tight jaw. He didn’t elaborate and Ronni didn’t ask, though she did expect that the time would come for them to discuss their respective heritages. If they were going to move forward in their relationship, everything had to be laid out on the table. Sooner rather than later, before the past uprooted their future.
Chapter 21
The soft, rhythmic sounds of Ronni’s peaceful breaths were a lullaby to Bodie’s soul. He hated sneaking out on her, but the Tribunal had summoned him with a Tlanuhwa feather, its tip dipped in red paint tainted with blood. Bodie’s father had received a similar message before his death.
If Bodie ignored their calling card, the sentries would come for him and might attempt to take Ronni as leverage. If threatened, Bodie had no doubt Ronni would shift into her wolf and expose her species to his people, ignorant of the knowledge other shifters existed. From there, the situation would only spiral into chaos.
Naked, he padded onto the dark balcony, stretched out his arms, triggering a biting current that traveled down his spine and across his shoulders. He launched into the air a raven. The wind filtered through his feathers as he soared upward.
He wasn’t alone.
Three ravens surrounded Bodie in a triangular formation. He didn’t bother to telepathically communicate with them, nor did they with him during the escort.
They landed deep within the forest, miles from the prying eyes of civilization. Large, golden-eyed, black birds littered the clearing. There was a legitimate reason a gathering of such was called a murder of crows.
Heart pounding, Bodie landed and immediately shifted into his human form to avoid any attempt at caging him and to better defend against a mass assault. “Why have you summoned me?”
The first raven to transform was a man with more silver than black in the hair that hung down his back. Weariness lidded his dark eyes.
Kane!
Bodie’s uneasiness morphed into anger. “Five minutes,” he snarled, sitting cross-legged on the leaf-covered ground in front of a fire. “Make this quick and meaningful.”
“Leave us!” Kane waved a dismissive hand.
The congregation took flight amid a flutter of wings and squawks of protest. When all were gone, the older man sat down in front of Bodie. “I’m glad you accepted my invitation.”
“I’ve accepted nothing, Kane. The clock is ticking.”
“Time hasn’t mellowed your temper toward me.”
“Neither has it lengthened my patience.”
“I seek forgiveness, Bodie.”
“That is something I cannot give.”
“I can’t undo the past.”
“I can’t forget.” Though Bodie had tried to move beyond it. “You were responsible for my father’s murder.”
“An unintentional consequence. Thaddeus was my friend. I did not wish him harm.”
“My father wanted to make things better for us all. He wasn’t trying to instigate an insurrection.”
“I warned him that the Tribunal was not ready to hear his ideas.”
“You did not stand up for him when he was accused of rebellion.” The long-simmering anger rooted in the dark recesses of Bodie’s heart began to bubble. No matter how often he tried to meditate hoping to expel the corrosive emotion, a piece always remained.
“If I had, his fate would not have changed, but mine would have, and I could not jeopardize my family.”
“You coward!” Bodie spat.
“I will carry that shame to the grave.”
“My father is already there. Carried on the shoulders of a friend’s betrayal.”
“In atonement, I have done what I could to protect you and your mother. Including matching you with my daughter.” Anguish shimmered in Kane’s eyes. “Linking your lineage with mine obliterates the blight. There is no need to continue your self-imposed banishment.”
“My father’s blood is not a blight. I am proud that it runs through me and my daughter.”
“My blood runs through her, too.” Kane’s straight shoulders sank. “Please, Bodie. Mara died in the spring. I have no other family except Willow.”
“How did you know where to find me?”
“I have always known my granddaughter’s whereabouts, and yours by extension.”
“My mother told you.” Bodie’s heart broke and froze simultaneously at her betrayal.
“She’s concerned about the path you’ve chosen.”
“What has she told you?”
“That you’re seeking a mate outside of our people. Mary is afraid of what the Tribunal’s response will be to your sacrilege.” The grim firm line of Kane’s mouth held. “She is right to be worried. The Tribunal overlooked your first offense, when you ended your ability to father children, because I convinced them that you had reacted in grief.”
“That wasn’t my reason. I didn’t want to be forced into another mateship, especially with someone who didn’t want to be mine.”
“Compatibility takes time.”
“No, it doesn’t. I’ve met a woman with whom I connected during our first encounter. It’s not hard to communicate with her. She understands me, my humor, what’s important to me. We share similar values.”
“You are violating the law. The Tribunal will learn of your affair with this human female if you continue down this path.”
“Are you threatening to inform the rest of the council if I don’t stop seeing her?”
“I’m not threatening, Bodie. Nor would I be the one to expose you. Right now, the Tribunal members are dealing with a growing unrest among your peers who want to challenge the old ways. An unsanctioned mateship with a human or even the appearance of such outright disregard for established traditions can put you in a dangerously vicarious position.
“Think of Willow, Bodie. She needs to be safe.”
“My daughter’s well-being is always my top priority,” Bodie snapped. “If you or the Tribunal come near my family—” An excruciating burning sensation erupted in Bodie’s fingertips and he saw long, sharp black nails emerging from beneath his natural ones.
“What the hell?” He vigorously shook his hands and the vision dissipated. “Is there a hallucinogen in the fire’s smok
e?”
“It is as Mary fears,” Kane said solemnly. His sorrowful eyes held Bodie’s gaze. “The Quickening for this woman has unchained your beast. I am too late to dissuade you from the destructive path you are traveling.”
“Destructive for whom?” Bodie focused on the calming breaths he hoped would diffuse his rising temper. “The Tribunal’s smothering hold on our people? Well, good riddance. I’m happy with Ronni, truly happy.”
“If that which is manifesting inside you continues to gain strength, it will destroy everything, Bodie. Including your happiness with her.”
“Now I know where my mother gets her ridiculous ideas. They come from you.” Bodie stood. “You and the Tribunal will stay away from my family, and that includes Ronni and her son. If you don’t, I will defend them. And if my peers decided to use that as a call to arms, so be it.”
Whatever hope Kane had for this meeting seemed to fade along with the light in his eyes. He launched into his raven, slicing through the curls of smoke rising from the fire, and disappeared into the night sky.
Bodie had the urge to follow, but the tiny sparks jumping from the fire kept him grounded. The last thing he wanted was to burn down the woods.
Once he put the fire out, he’d return to his beautiful she-wolf and lose himself in the comfort of her softness. Soon, he’d reveal his raven to her and take her as his life-mate.
He doubted the Tribunal would interfere once Kane advised its members to do so; that could make him a martyr and incite the very rebellion they hoped to quell. But if they did come, Bodie intended to greet them with a pack of wolves.
* * *
A shrill ringing decimated the silence. Ronni sat up, getting her bearings. “Bodie?”
Neither seeing or sensing him inside the suite, she reached over the empty side of the bed and answered his cell phone. Sobs instantly filled her ear.
“Willow?” Ronni’s mothering instinct kicked in. “What’s wrong, hon?”
“Enisi,” Willow said from between heaved breaths. “She fell on the steps and got hurt. The ambulance just took her to the hospital.”
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