by Kimber White
Bas nodded. “You’re a natural. It takes most people a long time to sort out who’s who.”
“Well, he’s kind of hard to miss.”
Alec broke into a run and I marveled at the powerful muscles rippling through his haunches as he covered the ground between us. A few yards away, he slowed to a walk, holding his huge head high, his ears pricked back. He stood directly in front of us, his white teeth gleaming and fearsome.
The others flanked Alec and sat back on their haunches. Bas rubbed my arms then stepped around me, putting himself half a step in front of me as he looked at the wolves. He reminded me of a military officer inspecting his troops. The moment I thought it, I realized that probably wasn’t too far off an assessment.
Bas looked back at me and gave me a quick wink. Then, he turned back to his pack and gave them a nod. In unison, they all stretched forward on their front paws. The air crackled with energy as they summoned whatever primal magic it took to shift from wolf to man. Bones crunched, muscles rolled. Fur became flesh, and all eight of them rose together, rounded backs becoming straight and proud. Then, where a moment before eight wolves stood before me, now I faced eight naked men.
I gasped, shocked at what I saw, but only for an instant. Hearty laughter came from the porch as Eli and Connor whistled and shouted. All eyes were on me, even Bas’s. Suddenly, I realized I was wrong. This wasn’t about Bas inspecting his troops. It was about them measuring me. Heat flushed my face and I tried not to stare. But, to a man, they were all beautiful specimens of the male form. All well-muscled. Some stocky. Some tall and lean like Curtis. This was life with a pack of shifters. Their change was raw, brutal, but also beautiful. This is who they were. Could I handle it?
I put a hand on my hip and answered Bas with an arched eyebrow. “You better let them head up to the lodge, Alpha Dog. They look cold.”
Dead silence for a fraction of a second, then Bas’s face split into a wide grin and his rich laughter sent a chill up my spine. The rest of them broke ranks and laughed along with him. They went ahead of us and I got a view of their supple, white asses as they filed up the porch steps into the lodge.
Bas put his arm around my shoulder and kissed the top of my head. “You hungry? I’ve got enough to feed a small army.”
I spread my fingers across his chest leaned into him as we walked up to the lodge together. “I’m starving.”
The lodge became a different world when Bas and I walked up the steps together. The last time I was here, he’d kept the pack away. The place had been warm, inviting, cavernous, and quiet. Now, with the bustle of a dozen hungry werewolves, it became a mess hall. A frat house. Their rich laughter filled the great room as they clanged plates, muscled each other aside, and helped themselves to the heaping pots of food. Bas had turned the place into a Chinese food buffet. My stomach growled in protest, and for an instant I felt more animal myself as Eli handed me a plate and shot me a wink.
“Better hurry,” he said. “Once Alec gets through here, there might not be anything left.”
Alec had at least four inches and twenty pounds on Eli. He reached over Connor’s shoulder and swatted Eli in the ear. Then he palmed the egg roll Eli had just put on his plate. The two of them disappeared into the crowd of men, swearing as they went.
Bas had a hand at the small of my back. He leaned down and whispered in my ear, sending a skitter of warmth across my skin. “Sorry. It’s a lot to take in when you get us all in a room like this.”
I laughed and reached up to touch his face. It really was. They’d all covered themselves in various states of dress. Mostly low hung drawstring sweat pants or jeans. A few of them had even taken the time to throw shirts on. But, the room swam in brotherly insults and testosterone. I did a mental count. Including Bas, there were twelve of them.
“Are all the packs like yours?”
Bas reached over me and landed a dollop of white rice on my plate. He licked his thumb and held up the metal lid on a pot of almond chicken. I took the serving spoon and plopped a heap of it on top of the rice. Bas gave me an approving nod. Though I wouldn’t win any eating contests with this bunch, I had a big appetite for my size.
Bas took a seat at the head of the long granite bar. I sat at his right. Eli sat on my right and Connor took the chair directly across from me. The room filled with a cacophony of clanging forks and laughter. All Bas had to do was clear his throat and everyone fell silent.
“Guys, thanks for heading up here on short notice. I wanted to formally introduce you to Abby. Abby Winslow, this is, well, everyone.”
I lifted a hand and nodded. Connor gave me a lopsided smile, his mouth filled with wonton. A few whistles and cheers rose from the other end of the table and I lifted a fork and waved down there. Then Bas attempted to introduce me to all of them.
There was Connor, Eli, Curtis, and Alec. I’d half met them already. Finn, Davis, and Toby sat further down from Connor. Callum sat on the other side of Eli and reached over him to give me a proper handshake. His warm grip sent gooseflesh up my arm. It wasn’t a shockwave like I felt when Bas touched me, but on an elemental level, I understood the sensation now. My body seemed tuned to weres. Callum had thick, dark hair and bushy brows, but his eyes were the most striking feature about him. One was palest blue, the other dark sable.
Beyond Callum sat Aaron and Ben. They were the youngest of the group, I guessed in their teens. Eli filled in some of it, whispering in my ear that they were twin brothers. At the far end of the table sat the oldest of the group. Seth. He had long, wiry gray hair and a grizzled countenance with wisdom in his deep-set, blue eyes. I put him at sixty, maybe older. He too waved a fork at me, and I gave him a mock salute which made him smile as he chewed.
The table discussion stayed light. They talked about business at the store, a recent hunt Seth took Aaron and Ben on. They asked me questions about my life, my family. And I told them, holding nothing back. Something happened that evening that I didn’t expect and was hard pressed to explain. From the moment I sat down at the table, it felt like I belonged there. Each and every member of Bas’s pack seemed to accept me as though I’d been part of this group all along as they included me in jokes, offered me seconds, and patted me on the back if I cracked a joke myself. Connor reached across the table and forked a piece of chicken from my plate he saw I wasn’t eating. It seemed familiar, brotherly, still, I felt obliged to lob a clump of rice at him in protest. He laughed and caught it neatly in his hand.
And then there was Bas. As the men talked and joked, he sat back a bit, surveying the group and the conversation. His eyes twinkled in the light when they caught mine. He pressed his foot against mine under the table then rubbed my leg. As much as I enjoyed the company at the table, I wanted it to be just the two of us as well.
He didn’t say anything to the others, but they seemed able to communicate on some preternatural level. The instant Bas’s eyes caught mine, the conversation began to wind down and Aaron and Ben stood. It seemed they had drawn cleanup duty, so they began clearing plates as the others excused themselves. Some went back outside. Others started to head down to the basement where Bas told me he kept a game room. Each of them nodded and smiled, politely asking for leave and wishing me a good evening. Eli rose and actually gave me a kiss on the top of the head as he excused himself.
Then, it was just Bas and me with the younger guys in the kitchen. He threaded his fingers through mine and warmth flooded my chest. I felt a little coltish at first. Bas’s eyes changed as he managed to somehow transmit his arousal through his fingers even. If the rest of the pack could sense his desire to clear the room, surely they understood his other pressing needs as well. And my own.
Bas leaned across the table and placed a chaste kiss on my forehead. “Why don’t you head on up? I’ll join you in a few minutes. I’ve got a couple of things to talk over with the boys.”
I reached up and clasped Bas’s hand to my chest. “Don’t take too long, you. You give me all of this good food and
excitement and I can’t promise I won’t just fall asleep on you.”
“Oh, I think I know how to help you get your second wind, baby.” He shot me a wicked wink that sent a thrill through me, then he headed out onto the porch where Alec and Seth had congregated.
Aaron and Ben gave me good-natured smiles from the kitchen where one of them washed dishes while the other dried. Be still, my heart.
I went into the master bedroom at the top of the stairs and waited for Bas. He’d already turned down the sheets and warm, honey-scented candles were lit throughout the room. I walked into the bathroom and turned on the bathtub faucet. I planned to sink beneath the warm water to wait for him.
It had happened so quickly. Just a few weeks ago, I didn’t know this man. Now, I seemed to feel most at home when he was nearby. I suppose I should have been scared of this. I’d spent my whole life watching my mother jump feet first into relationship after relationship. She’d upended our lives more times than I could count, all because of her flavor of the month guy. But with Bas, it just didn’t feel like that. Even as I thought it, I realized maybe that’s exactly what my mother always thought too. Still, my body called out to his. Even this place had started to feel more like home than anywhere else I’d ever been.
I peeled off my clothes and folded them neatly on the bench against the bathroom wall. The water had just reached the top of the tub. He had a bottle of scented bath oil against the ledge and I poured that into the steaming water. Then, I stepped into heaven, sinking beneath the water.
I might have fallen asleep. The water soothed me, wrapping my body in warm silk, the flickering candlelight hypnotizing me. Then, brighter light flooded the room as Bas opened the door and stepped in.
“Mmm,” was all the speech I could muster.
Bas shot that dazzling smile at me as he peeled off his own jeans and shed his t-shirt. Wordlessly, he stepped into the tub, facing me. I ran my hands across his chest, letting the tiny auburn hairs tickle my fingertips as he sank down beneath the water. A tiny wave sloshed over the side of the tub, snuffing out two of the candles. Bas leaned forward and kissed me, tasting like salt and honey himself.
I knew what he needed, because I needed it too. He slid his legs beneath mine and I rose up, spreading my legs and curling them around his waist. As he held me steady, he slid me down, sheathing himself deep inside me as I straddled him. Water sluiced off his arm as he raised a hand and gently smoothed back my hair.
We fit.
He throbbed inside of me as the warmth of the bathwater joined with the heated juices between my legs, enveloping us both.
“Abby,” he whispered my name against my forehead as he held me close.
This. Just this. Bas impaled deep inside me. There was no urgency. Not yet. Just absolute intimacy as our bodies joined and locked together. He kissed me and placed his hands on the top of my head, smoothing down my hair and gently pulling it away from my face. I tilted my head up toward his, and his eyes shone with desire and affection.
I loved him.
The thought came unbidden, sending a new wave of heat through me. I turned it over in my mind, weighing it, considering. It was simple with Bas when it shouldn’t have been. But, there it was. I felt his absence as a physical loss, like a craving. And when he was here, with me, our bodies locked, desire and calm seemed to flood through me. He affected my mood, my pulse, my very being. I brought my hands up, wiping away tiny droplets of water that beaded his forehead. Fully drenched, his hair hung long past his shoulders in thick auburn waves.
I loved him. Simple. Pure. Impossible.
It was on my lips to say it, but something stopped me. Maybe it was the years of drama and upheaval growing up with my mother’s bad decisions. Maybe it was the growing conflict between Bas’s interests and what I might need for the future I’d worked so hard for. I could say it was common sense, but that wasn’t it. Not even close. Because in spite of everything, Bas made sense. He was for me. He was mine. And I felt like his.
Bas’s eyes grew inquisitive, he cocked his head. I knew he saw something in my eyes as he held me. But, he didn’t ask the question. If he had, I wouldn’t have lied. Connected as we were, I think he knew I wasn’t ready to tell him. Not yet. So, he lowered his chin and caught my bottom lip between his teeth. Then, slowly, all questions went out of his head and mine as I swayed beneath the water and thrust my hips.
Bas let me set the pace. He held me in place with his broad hands spanning my hips. I began my slow undulation, splashing water over the sides of the tub. The pleasure point deep within me grew, until every cell, every pore cried out for the release only Bas could give me. He let me take it. As he held me steady and kissed me. A starburst of pleasure speared through me as my orgasm hit. Bas was strong and hard and filled me deep. I felt the first jerking tremors inside me as Bas’s own crescendo began. But, he had tremendous self-control. He held me as I threw back my head and let the orgasm ripple through me.
As I crested down, he shifted, getting his legs under him. He kept me locked around him as he went up on his knees. I tried to wrap my legs around his hips; my muscles seemed like rubber. Instead, he held me spread wide with one leg over the side of the tub, the other balanced on his hip. From this angle, he could penetrate me even deeper. I clung to him, folding myself around the core of his need. And he spent himself. Hard and hot, spreading me, filling me, completing me as I cried out his name.
Chapter Nineteen
I slept in longer than I had in years. My head was clouded and groggy as I finally rolled over and looked at my phone on the bedside table. It was nearly ten o’clock.
“Good morning, sleepy head,” Bas said. He looked like he’d been up for hours. I peeked at him through a vee in my fingers, shielding my eyes against the morning light stabbing through the window blinds. I laid on my stomach, my ass high in the air, the blankets twisted around my legs. We’d made a wreck of them
“It’s your fault,” I said, my voice scratchy and deep. It was. The bathtub had just been the start. We’d made love over and over, long into the night until early morning. Impossibly, I rose to it each and every time. As my heart began to belong to Bas, so did my body. And he took every opportunity to claim it.
He leaned forward and gave me a playful swat on the ass that sent a wave of stinging pleasure shooting through me. God. If he wanted, I knew I could rise to him yet again. I’d lost count of how many times we’d fucked already.
“You game for an adventure?” he asked, wagging his eyebrow playfully.
“Are you kidding? How much more adventuresome do I have to be? We tried things last night I think would make a porn star blush.”
Color flashed in Bas’s cheeks. “Hmm. And here I thought I was just getting you warmed up.”
He sat on the bed with enough force to make me bounce a little. Leaning down, he kissed the back of my neck. With great effort and aching muscles, I managed to turn to my back. Bas ran a hand up my thigh and reached out to tweak my nipple. Just that tiny touch, a claiming that sent a thrill of excitement through me once again.
“Sort of a road trip, actually. Except, without the roads.”
“Huh?”
“The pack needs to move. For a few days at least. Deeper into Wild Lake lands. I’ve got some business to handle. You up for it?”
I sat up. “Are you kidding? You mean travel with the pack? How does that work? Dogsled?”
Bas narrowed his eyes and gave my nipple a pinch in response to my sarcasm. I squealed and swatted his hand away. He leaned down to kiss me, and all was forgiven.
“Not quite. We’ll travel on all fours. You’ll have wings . . . er . . . blades, anyway. Ever taken a chopper ride?”
“Uh. No.”
“It’s a short trip. You’ll go up with Callum. You’ll literally be up and down. I bet you’ve never seen Wild Lake from the air.”
“Actually, I haven’t. But, what’s up? Is there trouble?” I didn’t want to pry, but I knew something was brewing. Bas w
asn’t stupid, and Foster was a threat. I felt like an ass keeping quiet about what little I knew, but Bas seemed at peace with it for now.
“Nothing immediate,” he said. “Can you be ready in ten minutes? You can take your breakfast to go.”
Then, Bas was up. I found the strength to move my stiff muscles and padded to the bathroom. It was still a wreck from last night’s adventures with melted candle wax and towels wadded on the floor where we tried to dry everything. I had just a few minutes to scrape the fuzz off my teeth and throw on a pair of jeans and a Wild Lake Outfitters t-shirt before Bas bellowed from downstairs.
It was time to go.
We drove out to a small helicopter pad on the north edge of the property. Callum already had the bird fired up. My blood hummed with excitement. Part of it was the promise of the adventure of the copter ride. But, something else brewed as well. The pack assembled, and I sensed the thrum of anticipation bleeding through them. Bas was anxious to be on the move. He helped me into the waiting helicopter and gave a wave to Callum.
“It’s an easy ride,” Callum yelled over the roar of the motor. “Strap in and enjoy it. I’m about to show you something special.”
Then we rose slowly, leaving Bas and the others below. Callum hovered over the tree line. Bas and the rest of the pack shifted in unison, making me gasp at the violent speed at which they managed it. Callum grinned from ear to ear beside me and I saw the strain on his own muscles as the pack’s movements seemed to affect him. A flash of panic went through me as I hoped he could control himself. If he went wolfish in midair, we’d be fucked.
But Callum kept his composure and skillfully maneuvered the copter over the trees, hovering low enough that I could follow the movement of the pack. And then I understood. It wasn’t just the novelty of seeing Wild Lake from the air. I was awestruck watching the pack in formation. They moved in a way I didn’t expect.