Burning Ice: 6 (Werewolf Sentinels)

by Chenery, Marisa

  “You’re exaggerating.”

  “No, I’m not. I think you’re going to need a crowbar to peel my hands off the dash.”

  Edensaw reached over and took hold of one of Cassidy’s hands. “See, you’re exaggerating again.”

  “Maybe that time I was, but when it comes to your driving that isn’t the case. I’ve also come to the decision that you won’t be using my crossover until you cool it on the speeding. This is effectively immediately, so we’re trading places.”

  “That’s going a little extreme, don’t you think?” Edensaw asked.

  “No, I don’t. Now get your butt out of that seat and come around to the passenger side.” Cassidy looked at Capac. “You get in the backseat.”

  Capac gave her a nod and did as she said. Cassidy’s tone of voice told him she meant business. After he climbed into the backseat and stowed his fishing gear in the very back of the crossover, he looked at his alpha, who still remained behind the wheel. Either Edensaw figured Cassidy would change her mind if he ignored her request, or he thought he could sweet talk his way out of it. Capac didn’t think Edensaw had a chance in hell with either of those things.

  Cassidy got out of the passenger side and walked around the front of the vehicle to the driver’s. She pulled open the door. “Get out, Edensaw.”

  “You can’t be serious,” her mate said.

  “Dead serious.”

  Edensaw sighed. “I’ll drive slower. Will that be good enough?”

  “No. If I have to suffer through another trip like the one here, I’m liable to suffer a miscarriage.”

  Capac sucked in a breath once what Cassidy said registered. Edensaw’s head snapped in his mate’s direction. His alpha wore an expression of surprise.

  “Are you telling me you’re pregnant?” Edensaw asked Cassidy.

  She gave her mate a sheepish smile. “Yes. I had planned to tell you later tonight while we were alone. It sort of slipped out. I took a pregnancy test this morning and it ended up positive.”

  Edensaw got out of the car and tugged Cassidy into his arms. He held her tight and tucked her head under his chin. “I won’t drive anymore. I don’t want to take the risk of you losing the baby.”

  Cassidy rubbed his back. “I was exaggerating again. You can drive but not as if you’re a racecar driver. Okay?”

  Edensaw leaned back enough for Cassidy to look at him. “I promise. I wouldn’t want to put you in any kind of danger, nor our unborn child.”

  Capac watched Edensaw lower his head and take Cassidy’s lips in a deep kiss. The seconds stretched on with their embrace not seeming to come to an end. Capac could see the couple would want to celebrate this happy occasion in each other’s arms, but he didn’t need them to forget he was there and take things a little too far. With his newly awakened mating urge, Capac was worked up enough without the reminder of what he would have with Riya.

  He finally cleared his throat loudly. “Congratulations and all, but I’d very much like to get home.”

  The couple broke apart. “Are you really in such a hurry?” Edensaw asked.

  Capac smiled. “As a matter of fact, I am. I met my mate and I invited her over to our place for dinner tonight. That way she can get to know everyone right from the start.”

  Cassidy returned his smile. “I guess we have two things to celebrate. We’ll invite Durlach and Meadow. Maybe he and Jaren can cook us a big, fancy meal.”

  “I don’t think you’d have to twist either of their arms very hard to get them to do it,” Capac said with a laugh. “We can have our celebration, but there can’t be any mention of what Riya means to me. We’ll tell her it’s for you and Edensaw.”

  “Agreed,” his alpha said. “We’d better get home.” He looked at Cassidy. “I promise to go slower so I’ll drive.”

  “All right, but if the speed demon returns you’re pulling over and I’ll take your place.”

  Once Edensaw and Cassidy got into the crossover, Edensaw drove out of the parking area. As promised, he never went over the speed limit. If anything, at times he went under it.

  Capac chuckled to himself. The speed demon was gone forever. This new baby would be the first one born who had the blood of a sentinel in ten thousand years, and Edensaw’s second child. All of them had made sure their new of race of man would continue before they’d gone into their long slumber.

  This new addition to their pack would be something they would all look forward to. It made Capac think of his future with Riya as his mate and the children who would come into their lives.

  Chapter Two

  Riya arrived at her apartment to find her roommate sitting on the couch, watching television. She said hi to Wren, who didn’t bother to look at Riya and only grunted a response back, which was normal. Riya had answered Wren’s ad for someone to share the rent a year ago. As roommates went, Wren was okay, but to this day Riya didn’t know much about the girl. Only that Wren was twenty-three, six years younger than Riya, and went to the University of Alaska Southeast where she was studying to get her masters in English.

  After stowing her fishing pole in the entranceway closet, Riya went to the kitchen to clean the salmon she’d caught before she froze it. She also wanted something to drink. Once she was done she’d head to the bathroom for a shower. She didn’t need to stink like fish when she saw Capac again later.

  Riya reached into the fridge and took out a bottle of water. After she shut the door, she turned around to find Wren standing directly behind her. Riya jumped and almost dropped the bottle she held.

  “Wren, I didn’t hear you come into the kitchen.”

  The younger woman leaned in and sniffed. “You smell of fish.”

  “Well, I did catch a couple of salmon.” Riya motioned to the wicker basket she’d put on the counter.

  Wren gave another sniff. “You also smell like a…man.”

  Riya had to stop from giving herself a sniff to see if she actually did smell like Capac. All she could smell was fish and creek water. Leave it to her roommate to say something strange like that. “Ah, okay. I did meet someone new while I was fishing. I’m going over to his place this evening for supper with him and his roommates.”

  “You have to take me there sometime and introduce me. I need to meet them myself.”

  “I’ll think about it. I just met Capac and I’m not sure if we’ll last beyond this dinner together. So I’m not going to promise you anything.”

  Wren got a faraway look on her face for a few seconds before she nodded. “I’m pretty sure you won’t have to worry about that. He’ll definitely want to see you again. I could be interested in one of his friends.”

  “We’ll see.”

  Riya couldn’t be more surprised by how Wren acted. Her roommate was supermodel gorgeous but she never went out on dates and stayed home most of the time. And this was the first time Wren had actually shown any kind of interest in what Riya did.

  Wren nodded and stepped back. “Good. You better clean those salmon before they stink up the entire apartment.”

  Riya shook her head as Wren turned and walked out of the kitchen. That was a strange conversation. She’d gotten used to the other woman basically ignoring her the majority of the time. Riya wasn’t sure how she felt about Wren’s newfound interest.

  She set to work cleaning the salmon and soon had them packaged and placed in the freezer. Once she got rid of her mess, Riya took a shower, then put on her best pair of jeans and short-sleeved blouse. She had an argument with herself about whether or not to wear her high-heeled boots. She didn’t wear heels that often for two reasons. One being she was liable to trip in the damn things. And two, at five-foot-eight, she towered over a lot of guys when she wore them. But with Capac that wouldn’t be an issue since he was a few inches over six foot. In the end, she decided to wear the boots.

  After she finished dressing, Riya still had some time to wait before she had to leave for Capac’s place. She took out the piece of paper she’d written his address on,
then sat on the bed with her laptop to look up the directions on the internet. It was pretty straightforward, which was good since she hated getting lost. It was actually one of her biggest fears. She had no idea where she got it from. It was just something she’d always had.

  Riya also checked her email. There was one from her mother. Her parents were on one of their yearly cruises. They had been able to retire early and set out to go on trips they hadn’t had time to indulge in when they’d been busy with their careers. She was a bit of a disappointment to them when it came to her occupation. She hadn’t wanted to be a lawyer as they had been. She was quite happy working at her bank teller job.

  Having filled in the rest of the time surfing the internet, Riya shut down her laptop before she left her room. Wren was still in the living room. The other woman stood and came to stand in front of Riya, appearing to study her.

  Wren nodded. “You look good. And you didn’t wear too much perfume, which is good. You don’t want to mask much of your natural scent. He wouldn’t like that.”

  “Ah…thanks.”

  “Good luck with your date, but I know you don’t need it. He’s as good as yours already.”

  Riya thanked Wren again, deciding not to get into the last part the other woman had said. She pulled on a jacket, then left the apartment and headed down to the parking lot. Once she was on the road to Capac’s place her stomach filled with butterflies. She hoped like hell she didn’t do anything else really stupid when she was with him again. She was very attracted to him and wanted to get past the first date.

  She only managed to make one wrong turn—without having to backtrack very far—before she arrived at Capac’s house. Riya parked behind another car in the driveway, then walked to the front door. She took a deep breath and rang the doorbell as the butterflies in her tummy increased in number.

  Capac answered the door. “You made it.”

  Riya smiled. “Yes. It wasn’t hard to find your place.”

  “Good. Come on in and I’ll introduce you to everyone.”

  She stepped into the front hallway and a delicious scent hit her nose. Her stomach growled despite the butterflies dancing around inside it. “Something smells really good.”

  Capac shut the door behind her. “I can’t take credit for that. Durlach and Jaren are the chefs around here. They’re cooking up a big meal.”

  “I hope they haven’t gone to all that work on my account.”

  “Maybe a little, but it mostly has to do with the fact that two of my roommates, who happen to be married, found out today they’re expecting their first child.”

  “That is something worth celebrating.”

  “We’re all pretty excited about it. Everyone is in the living room, except for the two chefs, who are still busy in the kitchen.”

  Capac’s hand settled on the small of Riya’s back as he guided her toward the living room. Same as when he’d touched her earlier, a jolt of awareness shot through her. She resisted the urge to lean in a little closer so their sides touched. He may have kissed her on the bank of the creek, but that didn’t mean she felt sure enough to go beyond what he did now.

  Riya stumbled a bit when she saw how many people were inside the room as Capac walked her through the entrance. He’d said he had quite a few roommates but she’d forgotten it was this many. There were ten people, who were spread out on the couch, two armchairs and on the floor.

  Capac made the introductions and Riya learned that Durlach and Meadow lived on the property next to this one and that Carson, who was Eryn’s brother, had his own apartment. But that still made it one full house.

  Since all the seats were taken, Riya wasn’t sure where she should sit. Capac soon took control of the matter. He guided her farther into the room, then sat on the floor, taking her with him. He positioned her so she was seated between his spread legs with her back resting against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her waist to hold her.

  Riya settled into Capac’s embrace, having no problem with his seating arrangement. It felt good to be held in his strong arms. She listened to the conversation going on around her, but found it hard to really concentrate on it. Capac’s body heat enveloped her, and the scent of the aftershave he wore filled her nose. When he spoke, the rumble of his deep voice went right through her, bringing sensitive places achingly alive.

  She became even more distracted as Capac tightened his arms around her. His thumbs stroked back and forth just under her breasts, lightly grazing the underside of them. It was then she noticed the hard length of his erection pressing against her lower back. Her pussy clenched, wetness pooling deep inside.

  “So, Riya, we heard about your little run-in with a bear,” Carson said. “And that my man Capac chased it off.”

  It took a few seconds for Riya to focus on what had been said to her through the haze of arousal taking hold of her. She cleared her throat before she answered. “Yeah, I did. It was my fault. I shouldn’t have run. I’ve never seen anything like it. Capac blocked the bear’s path and did his best impression of a wolf or some kind of wild creature as he growled at it. I don’t think the animal knew what to make of it and turned around and ran off.”

  “Capac can get pretty wolfy when he wants to.” Carson winked.

  Riya didn’t know what to say in regard to that comment so she just nodded. Capac stepped into the conversation.

  “I’m glad I was there to help,” he said.

  She shuddered at the thought of what could have happened if Capac hadn’t chased the bear away. “So am I. I doubt I would have remembered the salmon I had caught, which was in a basket at my side, was what he wanted. I would have kept on running.”

  Capac nudged Riya’s hair away from her ear and kissed the skin below it. She shivered in response. “We averted disaster and you still were able to keep your fish. I, on the other hand, didn’t catch a thing.”

  “And I had been looking forward to cooking some salmon for dinner too,” said a woman as she walked into the room with another man.

  Riya assumed they had to be Jaren and Durlach. She was soon proven correct when the woman came to stand in front of Riya and Capac.

  “I’m Jaren, in case they haven’t told you.”

  “Capac told me you and Durlach were busy in the kitchen.”

  Jaren smiled. “We were, but we’re done now. Dinner is ready.” She spoke to the room at large. “Since there are so many of us I set up the food buffet-style on the kitchen table. I figured we can grab what we want and eat in here.”

  Kajakti stood and walked over to his wife’s side. He gave her a quick kiss. “My stomach has been growling for an hour now at the smells coming out of the kitchen. I can’t wait to dig in. There is something to be said about having a trained chef as a wife. I get fed great meals.”

  Jaren chuckled. “It’s a good thing I don’t have to worry about you getting fat. If I did, I’d have to cut back on the calorie-heavy foods.”

  Kajakti patted his taut stomach. “Definitely no danger of that, thank goodness. I would hate if you did start cooking that way. Let’s go eat.”

  The others headed out of the living room. Capac stood and helped Riya to her feet. Instead of taking her to the kitchen he tugged her closer and took her lips in a heated kiss. She was soon swept up in it, forgetting what they were supposed to be doing. His tongue pushed past her lips and gave her a thorough tasting. She couldn’t hold back the quiet moan that left her. His hands pressed against the small of her back, bringing her hips closer to his. She gasped at the feel of his hard cock along her belly.

  “You two had better hurry and get some food before there is nothing left for you.”

  Riya jerked away from Capac and found Ryder looking at them with a smile. He held a heaping plate.

  “Then we’d better get to the kitchen,” she said as she did her best to act as if she hadn’t been caught necking.

  Ryder walked past them and sat on the couch. Capac took hold of Riya’s hand and walked her out of the room. She
gave him a quick look to see how he’d felt about being seen in a passionate embrace with her, but if anything, he appeared as if it had been no big deal. She guessed with so many married couples living there it probably was a frequent occurrence to stumble across one of them sharing a kiss.

  Inside the kitchen, Riya saw the large table weighed down with numerous platters of food. And it was quite a mix. There was a pan of lasagna that smelled delicious with a combination of tomato sauce, cheese and Italian spices. Next her gaze settled on some thick steaks that had perfect diamond-shaped grill marks on them. Add to those fluffy mashed potatoes and what looked like stir-fry vegetables there seemed to be more than enough for everyone. She didn’t know where to start first.

  Capac grabbed them each a plate from the end of the table and handed her one. Riya took some of everything. She had her doubts about whether or not she could finish it all, but it smelled so good she couldn’t pass any of it up.

  Back in the living room, she and Capac once again sat on the floor, this time side by side. Riya looked toward Carson, Eryn and Wachei. Eryn was giving her brother crap for something he did, which caused him to laugh.

  “Never mind them,” Capac said with a grin. “Carson likes to drive Eryn nuts whenever he can. He, along with their older brother Noah, has perfected it into an art.”

  “I always wanted a brother, but having to put up with being bugged by one even in adulthood, I guess it’s a good thing I never got one.”

  “Do you have any sisters?”

  “No. I was a mistake.”

  Capac gave her a questioning look. “A what?”

  Riya smiled. “My parents had never planned to have children. They are, were, lawyers and very career focused. I was an accident. My mom made sure after I was born that there would be no more of those.”

  She took her first mouthful of lasagna and had a flavor explosion on her tongue. It was the best she’d ever eaten, same with the steak and the rest of the food. She turned her head to find Capac watching her.

  Riya swallowed, then said, “The food is really good.”