“Ellis,” I whispered, feeling that familiar tightening that made me almost want to cry.
“Shh, I can feel it. Come with me, Ruby. And then I promise we’ll get this all sorted out.”
His thumb pressed my clit and started slippery little circles with a firm pressure. I tried to raise up, get closer, move against him—anything. My body had no rhyme or reason. Simply need.
Ellis gave a final sigh and his body went taut and still and I came with a whoosh of air to meet his deep growl of release. Nothing made me happier than coming, except for coming with Ellis. It was something I treasured, as silly as it seemed.
“Now,” I gasped. “I think we need to go play Christmas host and hostess and move across the street.”
He looked less than happy.
“Yes,” Ellis said. “This should be fun.”
“I thought you said it was a good idea,” I said, trying to turn my jeans right side out.
“It is a good idea. I just didn’t say it would be easy.”
“Nothing that involves you and Tyler is ever easy,” I said.
He frowned at me and I shrugged. “What? I’m just speaking the truth. The only thing you two can ever agree on is what kind of accident prone ding-dong I am.”
“Not true. However…” He shook his head, smiling.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Tell me!” I demanded and then I found a cookie in the cabinet and ate it. And another. And then three more. Uh-oh. Sugar cravings. When I grabbed the box again, Ellis gently took it from my hand and dropped it in the trash.
“Hey!”
“Too much sugar is bad for you. And the baby. Plus you’re just eating because of nerves. Tell me I’m wrong and I’ll make you cookies.”
I stuck my tongue out at him. “So now tell me what your cryptic smile is for. And what you were about to say. It will distract me from my cookie lust.”
“Nothing. I just think Tyler has a fan is all.”
“Iris,” I said. It wasn’t a question.
“So you’ve noticed.”
“Yes,” I said, trying to keep my voice light.
Ellis laughed at me. Laughed. At. Me. “Look who’s jealous,” he said and touched my cheek.
“I am so not jealous. I am so totally fine. You are a crazy man.”
“Sure I am. Crazy man. Crazy man who doesn’t know his woman at all, right?”
I frowned at him. “Right,” I said and followed him into the living room.
* * * *
I woke to the most God awful noise and sat straight up. Ellis’s big warm shirt was cinched around me like a robe and my hair was tangled around my face. I had slept for shit, and yet I still had that moment of utter confusion where I could not figure out where the fuck I was.
I could smell Ellis on the bed and the dusty dry smell of a space that had not been used in a while.
“Iris’s uncle’s apartment,” I sighed.
I flopped back. Somewhere in the humongous apartment, that back home would have been marketed as a sizeable loft, my husband was with the gang. The gang who included a very scared and I was just now realizing, very shy and quiet young woman who had suddenly found herself in the middle of a group of supernaturals. One of them freshly knocked up and hornier than an elk in winter. Or was it summer? Well, whenever elks got horny.
“God,” I sighed. I ran my hand over my face as if to scrub my brain. I had to talk to Madeline today. I had to talk to her and see how she was and apologize to her about her being tangled up in this. Ellis’s friends had taken the O’Dells the night before. We’d all shared a tossed together dinner, somewhat tense, but still nice Christmas feast of goose, duck, turkey, venison , mashed potatoes and enough vegetables to sink a ship. Everyone from the neighborhood had brought a dish and by bed time, I felt like the stuffed goose.
I rolled to my belly and realized there was more belly to roll to. “My goodness, you are getting big,” I whispered, feeling silly but sacred. “You’re going to be a strapping big boy like your daddy, aren't you? And listen,” I said, my throat getting a little tight. “Don’t you ever feel bad about changing me. I’ll change for you. And for your daddy. Plus…” I laughed nervously even though the only one listening to me was my fetus. “I can’t stay young and sexy for your father if I don’t change. I’ll grow old and he’ll stay smoking hot.”
A ribbon of nervousness unwound in the pit of my stomach. I was scared all right, but determined. I would look out for Ellis and our son and Ellis would look out for me and our son. We would be fine. We would work out the pack issues and have a great life in Town.
I heard voices and smelled coffee and food and especially meat. Sausage. Which made me laugh because sausage was what started this whole love affair with me and Ellis.
“Let’s go, shall we, bean?”
I imagined him in there, a tiny bean of a baby like I’d seen on sonograms. But considering how fast my belly was growing and what Doc had told me, he was probably now more the size of a soft ball.
More nerves tingling in my body. I pulled on some socks because the apartment floor was cold and then found a pair of loose leggings in my bag. Then I padded out to find the voices. But all the voices I could find were below. Tyler’s door was shut and from below I heard men talking and the guffaw of none other than Peabody. There was no mistaking that big booming laugh and the occasional Scottish brogue that broke through despite his best efforts.
I almost knocked on Ty’s door but thought I heard noise. And then I wondered if I had the emotional fortitude to deal with him one on one yet. Or if he even was alone in there and how I’d deal with that. He’d been my best friend forever, but my intuition said he still hadn’t forgiven me entirely for running off with Ellis and getting married. Now I was pregnant. What would he say to that if he got me alone?
Samuel and Roberta’s door was open but the room was empty. Most likely they were at the diner—her working and him holding court as I’d heard her call it.
I poured a cup of coffee and doctored it with sugar and cream and then found my way down to the main floor.
Iris was barking orders to three big guys and Peabody was blowing his nose like a horn.
“Wow. Are you okay?”
“Ruby!” He grabbed me in a bear hug and squeezed me. “It’s all the travel and snow and whatnot, I guess. I’m a bit under the weather. Nothing some nasal spray, cough drops and rest can’t cure. Maybe some nice stout beers and a haggis.”
I laughed. “Can I help?” I asked Iris. I knew what she’d say but had to ask. I felt like me and mine had become a huge imposition overnight.
She smiled at me, her bright eyes shining in the light that only comes from clear morning bouncing off of fresh snow. “No. These big strong men are going to load all these books into the truck and be on their way, right, Mack?”
The man I assumed to be Mack nodded. “Right, Iris. No problem. Sorry for the confusion.”
She rolled her eyes at me. “His guys are brand new. Found one of them out back by the bay door and one of them ready to go upstairs looking for the office. It’s just been insane.”
“Where’s Ellis?” I asked, for some reason feeling suddenly small. It was weird. Hormones were apparently going to wreak havoc on me until the baby came. And women usually did nine months of this? Insane. They all deserved medals.
For a woman who did not even enjoy having to take an alternate route home in my own neighborhood, I’d had quite a bit of change in the last month and a half. I found myself holding my belly protectively.
She looked at my hands and smiled. I blushed. “Sorry.”
“I think it’s cute. Very mamma wolf. My mother always held her belly constantly when she was pregnant. Which was a lot. But anyway, Ellis went to talk to some of the men about the perimeter guards and to see if anyone had their hackles up about anything. If anyone had an inkling of our unwelcome visitors. Me and Peabody and Tyler—“ And here she blushed. “Well, we’re all keeping an eye and ear ou
t for you.”
I nodded. “Thanks. And by a lot what do you mean?”
Iris grinned. “I have eight brothers and sisters.”
“Dear God, that’s not…expected is it?”
She laughed out loud, eyes twinkling, even when the men dropped an entire crate of books. “Nope. My mom just liked babies, I think.”
“Thank God,” I sighed. My stomach rumbled.
I looked up in time to see one of the new guys—according to Iris—staring at me. His eyes were the oddest shade of amber I’d ever seen. His stare bordered on inappropriate and I couldn’t decide whether I wanted to glare at him or look away. I looked away.
I’d had enough confrontation already. Paranoia set in and I felt like eyes were on me as I turned and said to Iris, “I’m going to go eat then. The baby is craving French toast.”
“The baby?” she laughed.
“That’s my story and I’m sticking to it,” I said.
There was a crash way in the back of the warehouse and then Iris sighed. “Jesus, how hard is it to walk in a straight line?” she asked me. “He’s back by the bay door again. Why? Why!” Iris threw her hands up and rolled her eyes.
The guy seemed to be wandering and Iris yelled, “Mack! Hey! Little help with your men. Sorry, Ruby, I have to—”
I shooed her. “No worries, no worries. You do what you need to do. I’ll go and eat. Where did Peabody go?”
“I told him about the doughnut shop down the street. My guess is he went to get a few dozen.”
“Right,” I said and then headed for the steps.
At the last minute, I caught golden eyes looking at me again. Creepy Creeperson put my hackles up.
“Easy, mamma wolf,” I said to myself. “Not everyone knows you’re pregnant. Maybe he just thinks you’re cute.”
I looked down at my current ensemble.
“Or he’s nuts.”
Chapter 15
“What ya eating?”
I jumped and dropped a bite of French toast down the front of my shirt. The one that I had already spilled my coffee on. So, did being pregnant turn you into a slob?
“Jesus Christ on a cracker, Tyler! You need to hang a bell around your neck. You scared the shit out of me.”
“And the syrup,” he said softly, handing me a napkin.
“Thanks,” I sighed and set about cleaning myself up. “So, you talking to me?”
“I am.”
“Where’s Madeline? Did I hear you talking to her earlier?”
“Yeah, she’s asleep in my room. She came in with a nightmare. I talked her down and then put her to bed. I don’t need to sleep so she might as well.”
“Pretty nice of you.”
“Word is I can be a decent guy when I want to be.”
I smiled. “Do you want to be decent with me?”
He exhaled and dropped into the old kitchen chair. I’d say retro, but this was not on purpose. The old kitchen set had probably been in the warehouse apartment from the moment it was purchased. Stainless steel, Formica, red leatherette seats. The finest Sears and Roebuck had to offer no doubt.
“I do, Ruby Sue, I do.”
My heart softened and my eyes filled with tears.
“Really?”
“Now don’t go crying, Ruby.”
“I can’t help it,” I sniffled. “I’ve missed you.”
Tyler slid around to be next to me and he put his arm around me. “I’ve missed you, too, Rubes.”
I laughed. “Good! So, what changed your mind? You hooking up with Madeline?”
He laughed. “Hardly. She’s fragile, broken, angry and she loves Peabody.”
“What!” I yelped.
He grinned at me and I saw the fine points of his nearly hidden canines. “Yep.”
“Shut up!” I pushed him.
“True story,” he said.
“Oh my Go—” But then it dawned on me that he was being forgiving and seemed happy and damn near content and I whispered, “Iris…”
And a very rare thing happened. Tyler blushed. Which meant he had a) fed and b) had enough in him that it could rush to the surface because of a chemical reaction in his undead—yet fine—body.
“Ha!” I cheered victoriously and he turned away but laughed.
“Shut up, Ruby. No one likes a gloater.”
“But I am allowed to gloat because I. Am. Right. So, silence, you! Ha! Hahaha! I win.”
“What do you win, you ding-a-ling?”
“I don’t know, but I just do.”
“So have you…” I wiggled my fingers at him and took another bite of food. I was still ravenous.
“No, not yet, so you keep quiet.”
I mimicked locking my lips and throwing away a key.
“Thank you.” He put his hand over mine and squeezed. I felt a rush of love and affection for him that I hadn’t felt in a while. I had very much missed my best friend. “And I’m sorry, Ruby.”
“It’s okay.”
“No. It’s not. You fell in love. You were honest, you did everything right. But sometimes a person can’t help how he feels. But I am happy for you. I can look at you and see how happy you are. I can look at you and see that glow everyone talks about.” He kissed my temple. “And it’s not just that you’re alive, either.”
I snorted. “Good to know.”
“So we made nice, did we?”
I jumped for the second time and yelped. “Another man who needs a bell around his neck!”
Tyler chuckled and let me go. “I believe we have. Thanks for putting up with me, man.”
Ellis nodded. “Can’t blame a man for how he feels about a woman like Ruby.”
My heart sort of tilted sideways and I shivered. He was the best man in the world, I was pretty sure.
Tyler nodded. “Now I’m going to go and find a certain bear to come and talk to this poor woman we’ve uprooted and see if he can make her feel safe.”
Ellis’s eyes were on me. He waved as Tyler left.
“Anything weird happen while I was gone?”
I eyed him up, he looked calm but wary. “Nothing. I woke up, I went down to find you, you were gone, Peabody sneezed a million times and went for doughnuts he probably won’t share. Iris dealt with incompetent truck drivers on a pick-up, me and Tyler made up and…oh!” I displayed his once clean shirt. “I made a mess of myself.”
Ellis wrapped his fingers in the front of the shirt, tugged and bent to kiss me on the lips. “I like it. It suits you. You’re hotter than hot.”
“Notter than not,” I joked.
He put his hand on my belly and my body reacted in two ways—arousal and peace. At the gesture, I felt warmth spread through me that had nothing to do with sex. And on the flip side, I wanted to toss him on the kitchen table and climb aboard.
“Later,” he said, reading my face. “Right now, I have to go talk to a few more people about the patrol and the perimeter. Fights are breaking out here and there because tensions are high. I think some of our pack are wondering if they should have sided with Frank after all. The last thing we need is for infighting to start.”
“Something else is wrong,” I said, studying him.
“Not far away, outside town lines, someone killed a couple in their car. Shredded is more like it. Reporters are saying wild animal attack.”
“Oh,” I said.
“They’re making a point. We’re here. We’re coming. We’ll get you.”
My whole face went numb and my husband put his big hand on the crown of my head and gently pushed until I had my head between my knees. I heard him say, “Breathe, love.”
“I’m trying.”
I usually have issue with weak women. Women who need men to run in and save them. So I reminded myself that I was the one who beheaded Frank. Basically, since we met, Ellis and I have saved each other. Not so bad, right?
I sat that way until he had to get on his knees and rub my belly and talk to me. He suddenly sat back, pulling his palms away as if he�
�d been burned.
I tossed my head back and got a head rush for my efforts. “What?” I asked, eyeing him.
“Nothing.”
He was lying.
“What? Tell me right now, Ellis,” I hissed. I felt my eyes narrow. Ooh, spooky Ruby. That’s what Tyler used to call it when I got that look.
“I thought. I was just…I’m sure I was wrong.”
“Wrong about what? I was beyond annoyed. And nauseated. My French toast and my stress were not mixing well.
He got closer to me again and stroked my belly as he had been before. So this was why cats and dogs always looked happy. The petting. I hummed and let my eyes shut and then he jumped again. But this time I felt it to.
“Oh my God.”
“I know,” he whispered.
I put my hand on top of Ellis’s hand and pressed down. There it was. The flutter-jump-twitch of movement in me that wasn’t me.
“The baby,” I whispered. I was crying…when had that happened? And what was new, by the way? Jeesh. I’d be dehydrated by the time the baby came.
I looked at Ellis and he was crying. How did that happen…ever? His fingers splayed on the small, but growing, mound of my belly and it came again.
“Somebody knows his daddy’s here,” I said and was surprised to hear myself sob.
Ellis laughed and pulled me in as I started to bawl in earnest. “Oh, Ruby. Oh, honey.”
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” I blubbered. “I don’t know why I’m c-crying.”
“I know why I’m crying,” he said in my ear. “Because there’s a baby in there and he’s raring to go and he’s ours.”
I pulled back, grabbing his big head in my hands and kissing him like a fool. Little kisses all over his face. His eyelids, nose, cheeks and chin. He laughed more and then I froze. “Is it normal?” I asked.
Terror filled me. That fast. Somehow cold and metallic like rain water from a metal bucket.
“I don’t know. Like I said, no one…no human has had a wolf baby. I mean, that we know of. I can call Doc.”
I nodded. “Yes, let’s do that. Make sure. Because didn’t he say weeks? But to me, this seems even faster than that.”
Ellis ran a hand through his hair. “I have to agree with you, baby.” He put the kettle on the stove and found the phone.
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