He smiled. “Better than I’ve ever been in my life.”
Chapter Sixteen
Dewi received a call from Peyton Sunday evening before dinner. When she emerged from the office and returned to the family room where the men were watching TV, Ken felt her irritation. “What’s wrong?”
“Peyton wants me to take on at least one other Enforcer for our area. Preferably two. His words, not mine.”
“Did he say why?” Beck asked.
She plopped down onto the couch next to Ken. “He said he’s worried about me being too stressed out.”
Ken didn’t understand why she would feel aggravated over that. “What’s the problem?”
Beck and Badger both laughed, which earned them a glare from Dewi.
“She’s a fairly independent wolf, if ye haven’t guessed yet,” Badger observed. “She doesn’t take kindly to others. Usually. Yerself excluded.”
“I don’t need help,” she grumped.
Beck laughed. “Dewi, it’s the three of us covering a lot of territory. This is a pretty big state. The closest help we have is Aaron up in Charleston.”
“I can be on the east coast in a couple of hours. And Atlanta is only six hours away.”
“Not the point,” Beck countered. “Peyton’s right. We do need an extra pair of hands, at the very least. Considering how many shifters are here now, we could use three or four more.”
“Well, you’ll get your wish. He’s sending six candidates down for me to interview.”
“Ye mean to put through the wringer?” Badger snarked.
She shot him another evil look. “One of them volunteered to drive the moving truck back for the Peckinghams.”
“Good. Saves me the trouble,” Badger said.
“I thought you were feeling helpful?” Dewi asked.
Badger shrugged. “That only goes so far. So when do the victims…eh, candidates arrive?”
She stuck her tongue out at him. “The first one gets here Tuesday afternoon, the rest sometime Wednesday. They’re supposed to call me when they get to Tampa and set up an appointment to meet with me.”
“Do they know they’re gonna get their asses kicked?” Badger asked.
Ken didn’t understand that question. “What?”
“Dewi,” Beck said, “has a bad reputation of being particularly hard on Enforcer candidates.”
“I still don’t get it.”
“If they can’t come close to holding their own against her, they don’t make the cut.”
“Hey, I go easy on them.”
Beck snorted. “Bullshit. If you don’t like a guy, you body slam him, threaten to neuter him with your bare hands, and send him packing. Out of the past fifty or so guys you’ve interviewed for Peyton and Trent, you’ve only allowed five to be confirmed.”
“Well, it’s not my fault they were wusses.”
“They weren’t wusses. They just weren’t Primes. Not everyone’s going to be a Prime.”
“I know that. I’m not stupid.”
Badger wanted in on this. “No, yer not stupid, yer just plain stubborn, lass.”
She blew a raspberry at him. “I have very high standards.”
“You have impossible standards,” Beck corrected. “Not everyone fights as well as you. Few people fight as well as you. Doesn’t mean they can’t kick most other people’s asses.”
“As Head Enforcer, I have an example to set. If I don’t, what does that say about me?”
Badger chimed in again. “That mebbe, for once, yer being reasonable.”
“Don’t you have dinner to cook?” Dewi shot back.
“Aye. But this is fun, too.”
Sensing her growing frustration at Beck and Badger, Ken stood and held out his hand for hers. “How about a swim lesson before dinner?”
She looked up at him, one eyebrow deliciously arched. “You? Want a swim lesson? Now?”
“Didn’t say I wanted it.” He waggled his fingers at her, encouraging her to take his hand.
She finally did, standing to follow him up to the bedroom.
“You aren’t exactly subtle sometimes, are you?” she snarked as she changed into her swimsuit.
“No. But you really should cut them some slack.”
She whirled on him. “Them? Why? They wouldn’t hesitate to nail me to the wall.”
“That’s just it.” He smoothed his hands down his arms to soothe her. “This isn’t some ‘get Dewi barefoot and pregnant’ conspiracy they have going on. They are concerned about you. And so am I. You can only go balls-out for so long before you burn out. They know you’re too good at what you do to see that happen.”
When she stuck her lower lip out a little in thought, he knew she was taking his words to heart. Then she leaned in for a hug. “Thank you,” she said in a tiny voice.
He kissed the top of her head. “For what?”
“For helping balance my life.”
* * * *
Dewi was proud of Ken for surviving his third swimming lesson. Now fairly comfortable with floating on his back, she’d progressed to teaching him how to doggy paddle.
“I don’t know if this is ironic or humiliating,” Ken quipped as they finished.
“What?”
“Seriously? Doggy paddle? You don’t get that?”
She smiled. “Ah. No, not humiliating. You’ve got to start somewhere. Not like you’re in a cone or anything.”
They grabbed a quick, sex-free shower and made it downstairs in time for Badger to bellow dinner was ready. As they took their seats, Dewi noticed once again Badger had taken Ken’s needs into consideration. A large salad with plenty of fixings, three different vegetables, and a side dish of pasta with pesto sauce accompanied the rare steaks the shifters eagerly tucked into.
“This looks delicious,” Ken said.
Badger offered him a perfunctory nod that couldn’t disguise the pleased smile he wore.
After dinner, Dewi couldn’t stand it. She tackled Ken onto their bed as soon as they walked through the bedroom door.
“Ready for dessert?” she asked.
He surprised her by rolling her onto her back. “You have no idea, baby.” She helped him rid her of her shorts. She had to pull a pillow over her face to muffle the happy moan she let out when he shouldered his way between her legs and swiped his tongue along her clit.
He brought her to three screaming orgasms before he finally let her push him away. “You’re going to kill me,” she gasped.
He sat up and yanked his shirt off. “But what a way to go.” He shoved his shorts off and knelt between her legs. His cock stood out rigid and ready. When she tried to sit up so she could suck it, he pushed her back down onto the bed. “Where do you think you’re going?” he teased.
“I want to suck you.”
“No, baby. I’m too ready. I’m dying to fuck you right now.” He fell onto her, kissing her and unerringly striking his target.
As his cock slid home, making her happily moan, she realized again sex with Beck had never been this fantastic, this right. Good, sure, but this was…
Heaven.
She nibbled on his earlobe. “Fuck me hard, baby.”
That had the desired effect. His happy moan reminded her of a sexy growl as his hips slammed into her, quickly driving her into another climax that had her muffling her cries against his shoulder.
“That’s what I love to hear,” he said before taking a few more hard thrusts. She felt his cock pulsing, filling her as they fell into a sweaty heap on the bed.
She closed her eyes with a smile as she stroked his back and kept her legs tightly wrapped around him.
After a few minutes, he mumbled against her neck. “Can I ask a stupid question?”
“I thought we already established there are no stupid questions.”
He lifted his head. “How do you not get pregnant?”
“It’s not the right time of the month. Female wolves can tell.”
“Oh. That’s handy.”
> “Yeah.”
He rolled to his side, snuggling her tightly against him. She felt a tendril of apprehension run through him. “Do you want kids?” he asked.
She kissed his shoulder. “I’d like to have kids one day. If you want them. Doesn’t have to be right this minute, though.”
After a few minutes, he spoke again. “You know, I never thought I’d ever have kids.”
“Why?”
He kissed the top of her head. “I never thought I’d find someone to love.”
Chapter Seventeen
Monday morning, Ken had to admit he enjoyed driving his new SUV to work. He wanted to stop by his old apartment after work to check his mail and get some more things. Plus he needed to empty the fridge. Badger had picked him up a batch of moving boxes and tape, which were in the back of the SUV.
During the day, he spoke to Dewi a couple of times on his new phone, which he had to admit rocked. The iPhone was a lot better than the cheap-ass phones he’d had before.
And as he climbed into his vehicle at the end of the day, he sat for a moment and enjoyed the new-car smell, along with the faint scent of Dewi.
He drove to his apartment with a smile on his face. He stopped by the office first to give them notice that he’d be moved out by the first and to arrange to get his deposit back.
It wasn’t until he unlocked his apartment door and stepped inside that his mood faltered.
A bad feeling coalesced at the base of his spine.
Shaking it off, he brought the boxes and tape inside and locked the door behind him. He headed for the kitchen first. He’d empty out the fridge and dump the stuff in the complex’s Dumpsters when he left.
But the bad feeling wouldn’t go away.
Putting his plans to empty the fridge on hold, he headed back to the bedroom. He thought everything looked as he’d left it. He didn’t remember leaving stuff on the floor, though. He thought he’d left it all on the bed.
Whatever.
In the bathroom, one of the towels had fallen on the floor. He picked it up and hung it over the shower curtain rod.
The creepy feeling built even though he was alone in the apartment. Back in the kitchen, he started dumping everything from the fridge and freezer. Everything from yogurt to leftovers, and even the two-liter bottle of Pepsi that he didn’t remember buying went into garbage bags. He set them in the foyer by the front door.
He started gathering other things, packing his books, CDs, and DVDs from the living room. He had a box reserved for photo albums and pictures of his mom and dad. As he started to put one picture of her in the box, he wistfully smiled.
“I think you would have liked her, Mom,” he said as he gently set the picture in the box. He didn’t really remember much about his father.
As far as he his step-father was concerned, Ken wanted nothing more than to forget him.
Ken was lost in thought when he felt the air move behind him. He turned and nearly screamed at the sight of Dave standing there.
“Where’s your piece of ass, huh?” He advanced on Ken, flexing his fists. “Don’t have your girl here to fight your battles for ya now.”
“Get out of here,” Ken ordered, rage building and replacing the nasty tingle at the base of his spine.
“Naw, you said you don’t need it. I’ll move in. You’re gonna pay for it, though.” He grabbed Ken by the shirt and pulled him close. “You’re gonna pay for it in more ways than one.”
One second, Ken was standing there looking up into Dave’s ugly mug.
The next, he felt pain blossom from his left fist, which he’d planted squarely in the center of Dave’s face.
Dave released him with a pained howl. Without thinking, Ken’s right foot shot out, catching the larger man squarely in the nuts.
Dave fell to the floor, clutching his groin and writhing in pain. Ken kicked him again, and again, pulling up short when he sickeningly realized he was coming close to beating the man to death and even more surprised to find out he reeaally wanted to do just that.
Ken stood over him, straddling him, and grabbed Dave by his shirt. “Listen, you stupid fucking piece of shit, and listen good. Dewi was nice to you the other day. I could easily slit your fucking throat right now and leave you in here to rot and no one would miss your slimy ass.”
He bashed Dave’s head back against the carpeted floor, getting another oof out of him, but no recognizable words. “So I’m going to drag your fucking ass outside my front door, and when I come out if you’re not gone, I’m going to fucking drag you back inside, dismember you in my bathtub after cutting your tongue out so you can’t scream, and start by chopping off your fingers, toes, and dick while you’re still alive.”
He dropped down with his right knee firmly planted on Dave’s chest, unable to believe the words were coming from his mouth. “Do you understand me?”
“You fucking—”
“Wrong answer.” He rained vicious punches onto Dave’s head, until the other man was sobbing and ineffectively trying to ward off the attack with his hands.
Ken felt a wave of blind rage wash over him as he remembered how Dave had called Dewi a pussy. “You get your fucking ass out of my apartment right now, or you’re dead.”
Half crawling, half stumbling, Dave managed to make it to the front door. Ken opened it and planted his foot on the larger man’s ass, kicking him out, literally.
Then he slammed the door shut behind him and locked it.
His body trembled, the shakes overwhelming him as he leaned against the door for support, then slid down it. He alternated between crying and laughing for a good twenty minutes, sure the cops would show up any second, but they never did.
When he finally got himself under control he realized how badly everything hurt, especially his fists from punching the bane of his existence. He stumbled into the kitchen and held his hands under cold water, wanting the feel of Dave’s blood completely washed away.
It wasn’t until he felt something approaching normal again that he made his way back to the bedroom.
The window stood open, the screen on the ground outside.
Fuck. Me.
He closed and locked it, as well as the other one in the bedroom, and followed suit with the ones in the living room. Since he’d never opened the windows, he could only guess Dave had left himself with a ready way to get in on one of his previous visits.
Which also explains how Dave knew I hadn’t been home in several days.
He wanted out, and he wanted out now. After looking through the front door’s viewfinder and not seeing Dave, he grabbed the box of pictures and opened the door. He shuffled the two garbage bags out and locked the door behind him.
Looking around, he didn’t see Dave lurking anywhere.
He’d snagged a parking spot right in front of his door and quickly got the box and garbage bags loaded. After dumping the trash, he swung past his mailbox and emptied it, too. Nervously looking in the rearview mirror, he sped out of the parking lot.
Dewi ran out to meet him as he pulled into the yard. Her beaming grin faded as she got a better look at him. And as he stepped out of the SUV Dewi frantically began checking him over for injuries. “What happened? Are you okay?”
“What?”
“You were in a fight. What happened?”
He grabbed her hands to still them and held them to his chest. “How can you tell that?”
“I can smell the blood. And it’s not your blood. Are you okay?”
Of course she can smell it. He closed his eyes and leaned against the driver’s door. With her pulled close and his forehead touching hers, he thought the events to her and hoped she could understand because he wasn’t sure he could retell it.
Hell, he wasn’t sure he even knew what the fuck had happened.
As the story unwound in his mind, she pressed closer and tighter to him. Freeing her hands, she wrapped her arms around him, holding him. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you,” she said, her voice sounding sad.
“It’s okay,” he finally said. “I kicked his ass. Not sure how, but I did.”
“I’m so proud of you.”
He let out a gruff laugh. “Yeah, it was like an episode of When Geeks Go Agro.”
“It’s all fun and games until someone ends up in a cone.”
He looked at her, confused.
“Sorry. Wolf joke.” Her expression turned sad again. “I should have given him an order to leave you alone the other day, but I was caught by surprise when I got there. I’m sorry.”
He shook his head. “No, don’t be. I’d rather you not go messing around in his mind anyway. He’s an asshole.”
She growled. “If he shows up again can I kill him?”
“No. Scare him, yes. Kill him, no.”
She stuck her lower lip out in a pout. “You’re no fun.”
She got him and his stuff inside and ushered him up to their bedroom. There, she helped him undress and pulled him into the shower with her.
“I wanted to kill him,” he said. “I didn’t tell you this before, but the other morning at work, Mark and Jason were waiting and rode the elevator up with me. I wanted to punch them for talking about you. I could tell what they were thinking. And today…today it’s like what I wanted to give to them I gave to Dave. In spades.”
“Not like he didn’t deserve it.”
“Yeah, but I’m better than that. I should be better than that.”
“We all have our weaknesses.” She pressed a tender kiss to his lips. “You are my weakness.”
* * * *
After dinner, she asked about the box while they were curled up together watching TV in the family room. He’d left it in the corner by the doorway, where no one would accidentally trip over it.
“It’s some photo albums and pictures. Only thing I really have left of my parents.”
She sat up. “Oh! May I look?”
He shrugged. “Sure.”
She brought the box back to the sofa and opened it, taking out the pictures and albums he’d packed earlier. “Is that your mom?” she asked as she pointed to one picture.
“Yeah.”
“She was beautiful.”
Bleacke's Geek Page 17