by Viola Rivard
The truth of the matter was that Cain did not want to complicate things further. He had grown far too attached to Sarah, to the point where he considered her to be his mate, a part of his family. But with the upheaval facing his pack, as well as a young son to raise, he could not afford to be crippled by the loss of her, and that was precisely where he was headed if he continued to be near her, to touch her, to share his bed with her.
“I hope I’m not intruding,” she said, scooting over to make room for him.
Having shifted just before entering the den, Cain had not bothered putting on any clothes as he made his way to his room. He joined her in bed, if only to hide his growing erection beneath the heavy furs.
“I thought you would be watching over Snow,” he said, leaving a small space between them.
She gave him a wicked grin. “I figured out a foolproof way to make sure that Lotus and Clover don’t leave her side all day.”
“Oh?” he asked, settling down onto the bed. He propped himself up on his elbow and regarded her with suppressed amusement.
“I told each of them, privately, that I thought they were the most responsible juvenile in the pack, and asked them to look after Snow for me while I got some sleep.”
Cain arched a brow. “And you think that will motivate them to be more responsible?”
She shook her head. “No way, let me finish. After that, I told them each that I thought the other girl would probably try to slack off, and that they should report back to me if that happened.”
She stared at him expectantly. Cain scratched his jaw. “And?”
“And? It’s the perfect plan. Instead of relying on them to be responsible, I’m pitting them against each other. It’s like a competition to see who can be the most responsible!”
Sarah looked very satisfied with herself. Cain was hesitant to dash her pride, but couldn’t resist. “Unless, of course, they both see through your ruse and decide to double-cross you. They may both slack off all day and simply agree to lie for one another.”
She gaped at him. “Ugh, I didn’t think of that. You know, you’re pretty good at this whole parenting thing.”
“It has nothing to do with being a parent,” he said, though he was nonetheless pleased by the compliment. “I had many, many siblings.”
Growing comfortable with their easy conversation, his hands developed a mind of their own. Unburdened by inconvenient morals, they sought out the warm, soft body of the female in his bed. It was only when she did not reply that Cain realized he was thumbing her nipple.
In an impressive feat of restraint, he pulled his hand back. “We should get some rest,” he said, laying his head down on the furs. “I have to be up to hunt in a few hours.”
Undaunted by his cool attitude, Sarah pushed herself up into a sitting position. “Of course. I’ve just been thinking that you’ve seemed really stressed lately. I wanted to rub your back.”
Before he could object—assuming he would have objected at all—Sarah climbed to sit astride him, straddling his hips. With no small amount of grief, he found that it was not only her torso that was bare.
Cain braced himself for the agonizing arousal he would have to endure. What he did not expect was that Sarah gave an incredible backrub.
Rather than stewing in tension, he found himself experiencing a release almost comparable to climaxing. Starting at the small of his back and working their way up to his shoulders, her skilled hands sought out each knotted muscle and strained tendon, assuaging his every ache and pain.
By the time she was working on the muscles of his neck, Cain was groaning beneath her. In those few, quiet moments, he felt more at peace than he had in a long time.
When Sarah leaned down to press a kiss between his shoulder blades, his sense of tranquility burned into a feeling that was more urgent, but no less pleasurable. Desire arrowed down his spine, making blood course into his already swollen cock.
She trailed kisses down his back, both the feel of her lips and her stiffened nipples pushing him to the edge. Telling her to stop would be the sensible thing, but Cain was never sensible when it came to her. Instead, he clutched at the furs and let out another groan, though this time it was not in relief.
It wasn’t the first flick of her tongue on his back that undid him. It was when she immediately licked him again—as if she had enjoyed the taste of his flesh—and let out a soft sound of exaltation.
In one fluid motion, Cain reared up, turning and grabbing Sarah before pinning her face down on the bed. His hand gripping the slender column of her neck, he lowered his head to the pad of her ear, giving her a hard nip. She moaned in response, grinding her rear up against his erection.
Cain felt his wolf, that hungry and primitive part of him, rising to the surface. He wanted to play with her.
His voice low and rumbling, he said, “You take too many liberties, human.”
Her voice muffled by the furs, she said, “I wish you would take some liberties with me.”
Spurred by her boldness, Cain moved a hand between her thighs. He ran a finger along the seam of her sex, pleased to find her already wet for him.
As he took in the pink-tinged skin of her back, listened to the quickened tempo of her heartbeat, and smelled her arousal, mingled with his own, Cain became momentarily paralyzed by a grim realization. Though there was a part of him that wanted to toy with her and then rut as if she were nothing more than a casual bedmate, that desire was nothing compared to a much deeper need. Carefully, he turned her onto her back. Ignoring the confusion in her eyes, he leaned down, capturing her lips.
Cain kissed her for a long time, memorizing the shape of her plump lips and the taste of her sweet mouth. When he could not wait any longer, he pushed his aching length inside of her, reveling in the familiar feel of the soft, wet passage that seemed to have been made for him alone.
As he began to move inside of her, she gripped at his shoulders, blunt nails biting into his skin. Cain increased his pace, giving her more of him as if it would give him even a part of her. He did not want to go to sleep without her, and he did not want to wake up without her. He did not want to take her back to her kind, beyond his reach and never to return.
Cain could not tell her any of this, so he kept it inside, even as he poured himself into her. His body spent, he held Sarah, who was still trembling from the force of her own climax.
When he was able to speak, Cain asked, “Do you remember the first time I tried to couple with you?”
Holding her back against his chest as he was, Cain was unable to see Sarah’s face, though he could tell from the uneven cadence of her breathing that she had not yet fallen asleep.
“You mean one of the most embarrassing moments of my recent life? Yep.”
Cain idly stroked her hair, isolating one of the lighter locks and twisting it around his finger.
“You told me that you did not know how to separate love and sex.”
In a quiet voice, she asked, “Yeah, so?”
“How did you manage to do it?”
She shifted uneasily, drawing the furs up around her shoulders.
“If I figure that out, I’ll let you know.”
Chapter 24
Sarah spent the next few days puzzling over what Grace had told her. Initially, Sarah had planned on approaching Cain with it, but it seemed like every time they were alone, they were “coupling.”
Since she’d broken the ice with one of her legendary backrubs, things between them had heated up considerably. Nearly every time they were alone together, Sarah could hardly get a word in edgewise before he was inside of her. She had a feeling that there was more to the resurgence of his libido than just a great massage, but she was afraid to question it. If she started pulling at threads, the whole thing might unravel.
Although Cain kept her preoccupied in the mornings, when she watched the children in the afternoon, Sarah was always reminded of her torrent of questions. How could Cain’s mate have a child with his brother? Had
they had some sort of relationship? And perhaps most curious—and infuriating—of all, was how could Hale seem so completely disinterested in his daughter?
In the nearly two weeks since he had returned to the den, she had only seen Hale in passing, and always in his wolf form. He was responsible for patrolling the territory during the daytime while his older brother slept. During the night, he could usually be found passed out in the moon room, oblivious to the raucous voices of the females. Never once did he approach her and ask how Snow was doing, and never once did she ever see him do more than give the child a sidelong glance.
If Snow knew that Hale was her father, it didn’t show. The little girl spent her days plastered to Sarah’s side, politely acknowledging others, but never seeking out anyone else’s attention. It was unsettling to Sarah how quickly Snow had bonded with her, though she was starting to understand why.
Though the other females in the pack were, for the most part, patient with the pups, none of them were particularly maternal. Fern and Jewel were more for playing with the pups than caring for them, and Clover tried to disassociate herself from the pups whenever possible, as she was struggling to establish herself as an adult. Meadow flat-out didn’t like children, and Grace, the only other pack member with any nurturing potential, was always monopolized by the needy Sable.
While Sarah was happy to take on the mantle of responsibility, she worried about what would happen once she was gone. Who was going to take care of Snow, not just physically, but emotionally?
Early one morning, just as the sun was rising, Sarah dragged a sleepy-eyed Clover to the moon room. All of the children having just been put down to rest, she decided that it was the perfect opportunity to wash some of the furs that were scattered around the den.
“I don’t understand why we have to do this now,” Clover muttered.
The gangly teen was in one of her moods, which always seemed to arise whenever there were chores to be done.
“Because,” Sarah said, snatching a deer pelt from the floor, “if we wash them now, they’ll have all day to dry in the sun.” She tossed the pelt into the growing pile in Clover’s arms. “By the time we wake up, we’ll have plenty of fresh, dry furs.”
Face petulant, Clover said, “I don’t think Cain will want us leaving the den on our own.”
Sarah gave her a flat look. “You leave the den on your own all the time, and besides, Cain’s not here right now and I’m not waiting around to ask him if I can walk ten minutes to the stream and back.”
“You’re not the one he’ll be mad at if he finds out.” When Sarah’s resolve didn’t shake, Clover whined, “Why don’t we just have Meadow do it? She never does anything.”
Sarah jumped as a deep voice came from behind her. “And neither do you, runt.”
She turned to find Hale standing there, arms folded over his bare chest. Only a few feet away, Sarah realized that this was the first time she had seen him up close. Unlike Clover, who looked very little like Cain, Hale could have been a younger, fairer version of his brother. His wavy blonde hair was neatly cropped at his shoulders, brushing against bronze skin. Although he was speaking to his sister, Hale’s mesmerizing eyes, one gold and one blue, were trained on Sarah.
She heard Clover growl behind her. “Don’t call me that. I’m almost as tall as you are.”
Ignoring his sister, Hale said to Sarah, “She’s right, little sister. Cain will be pissed if you leave the den with just turkey legs here to watch out for you.” He walked past Sarah, grabbing the furs from Clover. “I’ll take you down to the stream.”
“Okay,” Sarah said, still feeling a little dazed by his sudden appearance. “Do you think you could put some pants on first?”
Predictably, Clover managed to slip away as soon as Hale offered to take on her chore, muttering that she would be right back—but, of course, she didn’t reappear before they were ready to leave. Sarah didn’t mind that Clover had ditched them, mainly because she was much more interested in getting to know Hale. She wanted to know what kind of man could screw his brother’s woman and take zero responsibility for their child.
The answer was, a pretty charming one.
He made polite conversation with her as they walked, asking her where she was from and expressing how impressed he was that she was getting along so well in their pack. While they walked, he brushed branches out of her way and helped her over high rocks, all while insisting on carrying the heavy furs.
By the time they arrived at the stream, Sarah was starting to wonder if maybe she had heard wrong. Was it the other brother, Alder, who had sired Snow? Because Hale was a total gentleman.
Having gotten used to the icy water from her evenings spent cleaning game with the women, Sarah set to cleaning the furs with minimal discomfort. Without having to be asked, Hale took one of the furs from the pile and crouched beside her, dipping it into the water.
“These don’t look that dirty,” he remarked as he began lathering it up with an unscented soap.
“Maybe to a wolf,” she replied playfully. “But they’re dusty and full of dander.” Watching him from the corner of her eye, she added, “It’s bad for Snow’s asthma.”
Hale caught her pointed gaze. He paused in his scrubbing. “What is it, little sister?”
It was the second time he’d called her that, and she was briefly distracted from her mission. “My name’s Sarah.”
He gave her a handsome grin. “I know your name.”
She smiled back at him despite herself. “Then why don’t you use it?”
“I like to remind myself that you’re off limits.”
There was no confusing the salacious look in his eyes, and Sarah turned away, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. “I don’t know what I did to give you the wrong impression,” she said, her eyes focused on the fur she was washing. She grabbed a bar of soap. “I’m not interested.”
He gave a good-natured laugh. “Don’t worry. I wouldn’t touch my brother’s mate.”
There were a lot of ways she could have answered that, but she decided to go with, “I’m not Cain’s mate.” Deciding that that didn’t really serve her purpose, she went on, “I’m just here to help Snow. You know, your daughter.”
When she glanced back at him, Hale was smiling again, but his eyes were flat. In an equally dispassionate tone, he said, “You came to help my daughter, yet you spent a week holed up in a cave two hours from our den, rutting with my brother.”
The soap slipped from her hands. She watched it begin to float downstream, frozen with mortification. Hale caught the soap, holding the dripping bar out to her.
Swallowing her pride, she took the soap and asked, “Cain told you?”
“He didn’t have to. I caught his scent not long after I left the den. I followed it back to the cave.” He leaned down to rinse his hands off in the water. “When I smelled you, I backed off. I’m not stupid enough to cross an alpha while he’s claiming his mate.”
Snapping out of her embarrassment, she said, “I’m so tired of everyone assuming we’re mates. Yes, we had sex, and yes, we’re still having sex. But where I come from, people can have sex without making a life-long commitment to each other.”
“I know what casual sex is,” he said dryly. “But that’s not what’s happening between you and my brother. If he says he’s letting you go, he’s either lying to you or he’s lying to himself.”
Without thinking, she shot back, “Who says I want him to let me go?”
The words had been bottled up inside of her for days, maybe longer, and it felt good to finally get them out. So good, that once she started, she couldn’t stop. “I like it here, and I think Cain likes having me here. I feel like I belong here, I feel like this is my home and”—her voice cracked—“I don’t want to go back. There’s nothing there for me. Just a bunch of cousins I don’t get along with, a job I hate, and a future I don’t want.”
Tears rolled down her face, and she didn’t bother wiping them away. It had been a long tim
e since she’d cried, and even longer since she’d been honest with herself.
It would have been shortsighted of her to throw her life away and go all-in with Cain two weeks ago, but now that she had spent time with his pack and gotten a glimpse of the life she could have, there was no use pretending that she could just walk away. She couldn’t go back to Florida, back to her tiny apartment, her diner job, and her night classes and act like it was enough.
Hale patted her head, and when she was able to blink away her tears, Sarah saw genuine affection in his eyes. “Calm down, little sister.”
“I don’t want to go,” she said, shaking her head emphatically.
“I believe you,” he said soothingly. “Though I think you’re crazy.”
She sniffled. “What do I do?”
He gently flicked her forehead. “You already know the answer. Just make sure that it’s what you want.” His expression grew serious. “If you decide you want to leave, I will take you to the nearest town, no questions asked. I don’t want you staying if you’re unhappy.”
Sarah nodded, but didn’t need to give his words much consideration. The past month had been amazing, and while she wasn’t sure if it would last, she remembered what her life had been like before Cain: empty and shallow. Even if things weren’t always easy, at least when she was with him, Sarah felt whole.
They finished washing the furs in a companionable silence. Hale wrung them out and Sarah helped him hang them over low tree branches. The sky had brightened considerably by the time they headed back, and she was eager to retire to Cain’s dark room for some sleep.
As they neared the den, Sarah remembered why she had wanted to go with Hale in the first place. She looked up at him until he was forced to return her gaze.
“What is it?”
“Were you in love with her?”
He didn’t pretend not to know whom she was referring to. “She wasn’t my type. Too weak and whiney.”
Her brow furrowed. “Then why?”
Hale shrugged. “I’ll tell you what I told my brother.” His mouth twisted into another humorless smile. “I was there and she was willing. Simple as that.”