“I’ve always been that way. It was a nightmare in school.” Teagan twisted her broken ankle around. “It was the reason I had to be homeschooled in the end. Being so clumsy I was constantly breaking bones. It was difficult to explain why I was fixed with no problems the next day.”
“That must have been hard being home all the time. I loved being at school and playing with all the friends I made, both human and shifter.”
“It was lonely at first, but my pack had a large community so we all ended up being home schooled. They even built a house to school us all. Wild dogs are all known for being clumsy. It’s the long legs. Doesn’t help with the co-ordination. Why fate decreed that I have long legs as a dog but short as a human is beyond me.” She rolled her eyes.
“When I was growing into my wolf legs I was all over the place. They are so springy compared to human legs. At least as a little short ass you are close to the ground when you fall.”
“Hey!” She slapped him. It didn’t hurt but a fission of heat ran through his body. The chemistry between them was obvious. It sizzled when they were in a room together. They’d only known each other a few months but already he felt her in every aspect of his life. He sought her out first thing in the morning because her infectious smile brightened his day. It gave him joy to be in her presence. She’d impacted on the rest of the pack as well. After what had happened with Selene and Emma, and with Jane, Brayden’s mother, having to move back for protection, everything surrounding them had become serious. Teagan brought back the fun. She allowed them to laugh again. It was magical.
“Sorry, I couldn’t resist it.” He responded to her teasing play with a fake punch to her shoulder.
“I’ll have you know that being short has more advantages than just being closer to the ground when you fall. I can shop in the kid’s section at clothes shops. I never have problems with leg room on flights, and I find that men are extra protective of short women.” She stuck her tongue out at him when she’d finished her lecture.
“I definitely agree with the last. In the last three months it’s been all work and no play for me, watching what calamity you might get up to next.”
“It has not!”
“Has so.” They were flirting again. He could feel his cock getting hard within his pants. That seemed to be a pretty permanent state at the moment.
“Well then, I think I need to show you a little bit of fun!” She licked her lips, and his cock became hard enough to pound nails.
“What do you have in mind?” His brain was singing, sex, sex, sex, please.
“Dancing.” Er? No, that was not what he was thinking. He twisted his lip up.
“Dancing. Horizontal type.” He winked.
“Nope, I’m talking foxtrot or quickstep. I quite like the American Smooth, but the last time I did that I put my partner’s back out and ended up smashing through a table.” She pouted.
“Um. I er…look at the time. I need to start dinner.” He backed away from her slowly.
“I thought you said you were all work and no play. I was just trying to give us something interesting to do.” She pouted even more this time, her eyes pooling with water. Was she crying? They had to be fake tears, hadn’t they? No, they weren’t. He’d made her cry and he felt awful.
“I’m sorry.” He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his chest. She inhaled his scent deeply. “I’ll dance with you.”
“Sucker!” She pushed away from him and grabbed his hand. All traces of tears gone. “We’ll start with the quick step. You place your hands here, and here.” Before he could even protest she had one of his hands on her hip and the other on her shoulder. “Move your head to the side like this.” She yanked his head so that it was at a very funny angle. “Stay like that.”
“Ok.” He didn’t protest and didn’t dare move, despite the uncomfortable position.
“Right, move this.” She grabbed his right hand in hers and jutted it out in front of them. “That’s it. Up on your toes and chasse.”
He went up on his toes but then thought......
“What the hell is a chasse?”
“You’re useless,” Teagan huffed. “Don’t you ever watch ‘Dancing with the Stars’ with all the others?”
“I think you mean with all the other women in the pack. No, I don’t. I’m usually with the guys doing man stuff like arm wrestling and pool.”
Teagan stopped.
“We have a pool table?”
“Yeah. In the playroom downstairs next to the dungeon.”
“Oh, by playroom I thought you meant some kinky room where you guys took ladies to tie them up a-la Fifty Shades-style. Seriously, if anyone tried to spank me I’d kick their ass. I don’t do whips!” It was as if she suddenly realized what she was talking about when she clamped her mouth tightly shut.
“No darling, the dungeon is where we tie people up, but not for fun.” He was struggling to keep the humor out of his voice. “And when I fuck I don’t need ropes to get my lady off.”
The scent of her arousal hit him again. He wanted to taste it, but she pulled away.
“Chasse, yes, chasse. It’s side, together, side. You do it.”
“Teagan?” Why did she seem so embarrassed by her obvious attraction to him?
“Chasse.” she repeated and started to skip around the room. He watched her for a few seconds. For someone who was naturally uncoordinated she had a beautiful grace about her. She was dressed in a pair of leggings and a long jumper. He could see her curves even in the baggy clothing. Her vibrant red hair was pulled back in a long French braid which reached almost down to her bottom. He wanted to wrap his hands around it and tug. It was a natural reaction, of his most basic instinct, to make her his. He’d never had these feelings before. Sure he’d had loads of women in his youth. What male wolf didn’t like the scent of a woman ripe for a good fucking? This animalistic trait was never far away from them all. However, after he’d left his birth pack he’d not really been that interested in women anymore. He’d scent when a woman liked the look of him, but he didn’t have the same urge to throw her on her back and stick his cock in her until they both found a blissful release. In fact, he was more likely to hand the women over to one of the other pack members and disappear home to play around on his computer. And by that he didn’t mean watch porn. He meant trying to hack into some remote website, like the FBI, and see what information he could find on potential shifter sightings. He’d completely lost his sex drive! But watching this angelic vision skipping around the room had him ready to fuck. He wanted to know what she felt like inside. He wanted to taste her and feast on her undoubtedly decadent pussy forever. It was as though her arrival at the mansion had woven him into a spell of lustful urgency. She twirled over to him, and he grabbed her into the position that she had put them in before. Slowly at first he started to dance: side, step together, side. They quickened the pace and were soon flying around the room in a dazzling ballroom dance. He twirled her around on the spot and they stood, side by side, to do a little skip sequence together. He tried to keep the straight face that all the dancers seemed to have plastered on. However, the 1920’s music he had playing in his head meant that he probably had a really cheesy grin on his face instead. He was happy and relaxed. He was enjoying himself. They jumped off around the room together again, but ground to a halt when shouts and wolf whistles sounded behind them. He turned and glared at the brown bear, tigress, and two lions watching them.
“Don’t stop on our account!” Scott had his arm around Emma’s waist and rested his hand protectively on her pregnant stomach. “I didn’t know you were such a twinkle toes, Tyler.”
He snarled out a low growl of warning at the lion not to continue the teasing. It didn’t work.
“I think we should get you one of those full suits that the men wear on the dancing show. Enter you into competitions.”
He was about to tell Scott to fuck off when Teagan stepped in front of him and pointed her finger at the lion.
“Tyler, I thought you looked amazing dancing up there,” the lioness purred. “Scott. I like the sound of a rumba. I think we need to go and practice it in the bedroom.”
“Are you going to let her call me lazy and fat?” Scott pouted at his lover.
“Yes, because you are. Bedroom, now!” Emma disappeared, and Scott winked at him before joining her. They were obsessed with each other. It was magnificent to see. He suddenly wanted to be holding Teagan again. He strode forward and pulled her flush against his body. He thought she’d pull away, but instead she melted against him.
“Let’s put some music on and all dance.” Katia pulled out her phone from her pocket and brought up the internal music system that they had around the house. She swiped her finger over the screen, and a lively jazz number flooded through the room. “Zain?” She put her phone down and held her hand out to the brown bear who stood there looking a little awkward.
“I’ve two left feet,” he stuttered nervously.
“You’ll be fine,” Tyler responded. “Even Teagan didn’t fall over when we were dancing.”
Everyone in the room laughed.
“True.” Teagan joined in. “Come on, Zain.”
“Okay.” The bear lumbered into the middle of the room with Katia, and they started to spin. Tyler took Teagan’s hand again, and they started to dance as well. He was looking down at her this time. All thoughts of head positioning gone out of the window. This was about fun now: the art of seduction. The song changed to a slow number, and they lingered on the steps of a waltz. Teagan licked her lips. He wanted to kiss them. They were just the subtle pink that he liked, and they looked so soft and inviting. He leaned forward, and she looked up at him. This would be the time that they admitted their feelings for each other. He went in closer, but something in the corner of the room caught his eye. The girl from his nightmares stood there. She mouthed, “You killed me.” And he ran from the room without another word or a look back to see the devastation on the face of the woman, he’d been about to kiss.
CHAPTER FIVE
“Teagan?” Kas’ voice entered her head. “There’s someone here to see you. I’ve put them in the greeting room.” She’d been sitting in the lounge of the mansion reading a book about the different types of wildlife that could be found in the Glacial National Park. It had been three days since she’d fallen down the hole, and Kas still refused to let her go back out on the mountain until he was a hundred percent certain that she’d healed. Brayden, who was the other park ranger, was doing double duty and being assisted by Selene. She felt guilty because she knew that she was healed, but not so guilty as to break her alpha’s orders. Kas was one scary polar bear when he told people off. She was pretty certain it was because he was around six feet five which meant he towered over her like a giant.
She placed the book down on a French lacquered table and stood up. She wondered who was here? She didn’t really have many friends and doubted that anybody from her old pack would come and see her. Skipping, as she normally did, she bumped into the table on her way out of the room. That would be another bruise.
The greeting room was by the front door. It was used to entertain people who were not part of the inner sanctum of the Glacial Blood. Kas, until he knew all about the people visiting, wouldn’t allow them any further into the house. It was completely understandable, especially with Nuka being a right pain in the ass. She opened the door and was greeted by the loud squeal of the wolf-shifter who, for the short time she was at a mainstream school, had been her friend.
“Teagan.” Ebony, named after the jet black fur that she had, threw herself into her arms. Teagan hadn’t been prepared for such an enthusiastic greeting and stumbled back into the door frame. She whacked her elbow and let out a curse of expletives. Ebony gave a girlish chuckle that reminded Teagan of her friend’s silver spoon upbringing and stuck up accent. “I see you’ve not lost any of your accident prone nature, darling.” Her friend was originally from England and had moved here as part of some betrothal to wolf nobility in Kansas. Evidently she was part of a royal family in England. Teagan was sure that it wasn’t the main royal family as everyone knew they were related to Corgis. It was the reason that the Queen was always surrounded by them. They were her shifter cousins who chose to spend most of their time as dogs.
“Hi-ya,” she responded to her friend, while she was rubbing her elbow. She was pretty certain from the tingling traveling down her arm that she’d hit the funny bone. “Why are you here?”
“Is that anyway to talk to your oldest friend?” Ebony shook her head. The perfect black curls bobbling around. The wolf wore a tailored skirt suit that would have been made to measure. It was paired with a delicate pearl necklace, bracelet, and earrings set. Teagan tucked a wayward strand of her hair behind her ear. She’d only just remembered to brush her hair this morning and had twisted it up into a clip. In contrast, to the fashionably dressed woman before her, Teagan wore tatty jeans and a sweater that had seen better days. Still it was her favorite and it kept her warm. It wasn’t as though she had anyone to impress here. Tyler had made that pretty clear when he ran off from her. She shook the thought away. Having avoided him for the last few days, she wasn’t going to let him make her sad again.
“Sorry, I just didn’t expect to see you here. I thought you would be busy being wife to Hunter.” She’d gone to their wedding a few years ago. It was the sort of lavish affair that made her feel completely out of place. Especially with the horrendous lime green bridesmaid dress that Ebony had put her in. It had clashed with her red hair so badly. She looked a fright.
“He has business with your alpha, so I insisted on coming with him to see you. How are you? You’ve put on weight.” Ebony’s brows furrowed when she looked her up and down and settled on her stomach. Teagan placed a hand on her flat stomach. She’d been eating a bit more since she’d moved here because Tyler was such a fantastic cook, but she thought she’d worked it off with all the time she’d spent working out in the park. Maybe she didn’t and should cut down on her meals. If Ebony stated she was getting bigger, then the fashion conscious wolf would be correct and she was fat. It wasn’t something the fashion conscious friend would miss. She wouldn’t have any dessert tonight and would defy Kas and get back out in the park again tomorrow. She needed the exercise.
“They have a good chef here. I like his food a lot. Plus, I hurt myself a few days ago so haven’t been doing a lot of physical activity,” she mumbled trying to excuse the extra pounds.
“I’m sure you’ll lose it soon. You spend all your time outside being far too energetic as it is. That’s probably why Mr. Lincoln gave you the job. You’re better off up the top of a mountain, away from where he’s doing all his important business. We wouldn’t want you to cause a calamity that jeopardizes his business deals, now would we?” Ebony fluffed her perfectly coiffed hair.
“No.” Teagan lowered her head and shuffled her foot on the floor. Ebony was always better than her. She was a sought after breed and married to the alpha of an important pack. She knew how to carry herself with poise and grace and didn’t lose her tangent of thought at the drop of a hat or wander off on a completely unrelated topic. No, she was what a female shifter should be. She was well bred, dutiful, and sought after by men. She was the perfect wife. Teagan would probably never marry because she wasn’t what men wanted. That would be why Tyler had run, almost screaming from the room, at the thought of kissing her. She le
t out an exasperated breath in a long sigh.
“Who’s your friend, Teagan?” Tyler’s deep voice flooded through the room. She turned to where he stood in the doorway with a tray full of cups, saucers, and a teapot. She screwed up her nose at the stench of green tea coming from the spout. Why anyone would pollute their bodies with such stuff was beyond her.
“This is Ebony Windsor. We grew up together. She’s married to Hunter Windsor, Kas’ business associate.” Tyler placed the tea set next to where Ebony had resumed her seat on a wooden dining chair. She crossed her dainty feet at the ankles, such was the royal way of doing things. She looked so graceful and petite. Teagan could only ever dream about being like that.
“Pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Windsor. I’m Tyler Quinn. I’ve just dropped some drinks into your husband and Kas. They suggested you would like a green tea.” He extended his hand out to Ebony and she took it. The female wolf pushed her hand up towards his mouth. Tyler looked at Teagan before realizing that Ebony meant him to kiss her hand. He did so very quickly and then attempted to withdraw back to the door.
“Mr. Quinn, leaving so soon?” Ebony purred. What the hell! She was a wolf not a cat. Teagan wanted to turn part cat herself and claw her friend’s eyes out. “I thought maybe you could take some tea with us. I’d love to hear all about what Teagan’s doing while she’s here.”
Tyler looked over to her. She tried to keep her face placid, but he frowned. His brows knitted together in the middle.
“I’ll join you, but I won’t partake in the tea, thank you. I like my drinks more on the coffee side. And please, call me Tyler.” He took a seat leaving Teagan as the only one still standing. She looked longingly at the door.
“Disgusting stuff. Hunter, the dear, drinks it all the time. I can’t even stand the smell. I dread to think what will happen when I carry his child as I know it’s supposed to be one of the triggers. I’m sure it’s an American thing to drink so much coffee. British tradition is tea only.” Ebony took a mouthful of her tea. Her pinky finger stuck out when holding the delicate tea cup. Teagan had seen pictures in magazines of the Queen drinking like this.
Fallen For Shame Page 3