Her hips pumped in time with his, and her cream was coating his cock. He placed his lips on her shoulder and sucked her flesh there into his mouth, needing to mark her as his. When he couldn’t wait a moment longer Raleigh pinched her clit, and to his delight she shattered around him as he poured his cum into her. Even when he had nothing left he kept fucking her until his dick began to soften. Only then did he pull her over his body, turn her face to his and kiss her mouth. Her lips were soft and sweet and she was everything he’d ever wanted in a mate. She was his now and nothing could change that. All he had to do was force Kingston to face the truth and they could claim her together.
* * * *
Kingston had to admit that spending time with Andorra had been good. It’d been inevitable that they’d fuck. He couldn’t see her lush body without his dick getting harder than the rocky mountain they stood on. But he knew he’d been a fraction hard on her. Just because he was so focused on what he did he’d go all day without eating was no excuse for him neglecting to feed and care for his slave.
He really needed to talk more with Raleigh and get Bronx here to plan what he wanted Bronx to do, but first he should be a good Master and arrange to care for her. He pulled his cell phone out of his jeans and called Nevis.
“Hi, Nevis. I’m going to be busy tonight and tomorrow. Can you please look after Andorra for me? Feed her and entertain her?”
“We’ll do some girl stuff together. I’m in my apartment. Bring her here when you’re ready.”
“Thanks.”
“She says you’re going to do girl stuff. I don’t think I want to know what that is,” Kingston told Andorra. He supposed they’d talk about clothes and shoes or something. The women he’d known didn’t seem to talk about anything much else, really, unless they were pumping him for information about the company.
“Can we go back to the hot spring in your building? I really loved it there,” Andorra asked.
He hadn’t expected her to say that. “Of course. If the curtain is drawn stay away from that end of the pool. It means a Master is there with his slave, but apart from that, the pool is never out-of-bounds.”
She nodded thoughtfully but her lips were still tilted at the ends. He got dressed and the three of them moved back up the slope and around the building to the main entry. Nevis’s apartment, like Raleigh’s, was on the second floor. He dropped her off at Nevis’s door and then headed back up his own apartment.
He grabbed two steaks from the freezer and dropped them into a pan and placed them on the stove. He sprinkled garlic salt on them then poured a little red wine over them and considered that was a good enough marinade.
Raleigh had already opened his refrigerator and was pulling out vegetables to make a salad.
“Okay, tell me the kinds of things you want Bronx to look out for. Tomorrow we’ll send the chopper for him and get him started on it.” Kingston enjoyed working with Raleigh. The man was not only a good friend, but he also thought fast and usually had some damn good ideas.
They continued the conversation while they cooked and ate their meal, and then he made a list and sent it off in an email to Bronx. Less than an hour later Bronx had replied very positively. A phone call to the helicopter pilot, and they were all set for tomorrow.
It was late when Raleigh left the apartment, but Kingston knew it’d been a good day. He’d needed the time and space with Andorra, he could see that now, and everything was set to ensure the pack business remained successful and viable.
The next day went really well, too. Bronx was a little older, forty to his thirty, but he had a very good grasp of business and his own branch was doing extremely well. Likely it was time to move him to a bigger branch. Or perhaps put him in charge of a new branch and give him the freedom to set it up and grow it in any way he chose. Hmm, likely the new branch was a better idea. The freedom from structure would allow the man to move and shape the future of that branch office as he chose.
Meanwhile they made a list of some branches that had not been as productive as Kingston wished them to be and the three of them planned a series of unannounced visits to those offices to see what was going on there. “I want to know what really goes on all day. Are the sale representatives really out there drumming up business or just buying lunch for all their friends on my dime?” he asked.
“The atmosphere in the office is important, too. Some of the managers are so anal and controlling anyone who has a good idea soon leaves, because he knows it’ll never get past the manager,” added Bronx.
Kingston nodded. That was a good point. He was anal and controlling, too, he knew. It was part of being a Dom. But if a boss didn’t trust a worker, why hire them in the first place? That made him think about Andorra again. Did he trust her? Being cold and logical, he had absolutely no reason not to trust her. Everything she’d said and done had been the truth. It was just that past experience made him wary of opening himself up to any woman—or the man who might be her puppet master.
* * * *
The more time Andorra spent with Nevis the more she liked her. They had similar thoughts and ideas and got along really well together. They’d worked together to bake and decorate a decadent double-chocolate fudge brownie cake, then they’d spent an hour in the gym exercising to make sure they’d burned enough calories off to enjoy a large piece each. The next day they’d gone back to the gym, then soaked in the hot spring, and Nevis had introduced her to several other women.
When they were alone in Nevis’s apartment, she said, “So, how do you feel about Kingston and Raleigh.”
Andorra knew she was blushing. “I like them both very much, but I keep thinking I shouldn’t let myself get too involved as I’ll soon be leaving here and never see them again.”
“Why not stay? Don’t you like it here?”
“Oh I do. I really do. But I have to get a job and an apartment to support myself. Once winter comes and the snow begins falling, I can’t just backpack around like I’ve been doing all summer.”
“Yes, but you could get a job here. Work for the company.”
“The problem is, I don’t have any skills or qualifications. I’ve actually been thinking maybe I could learn to drive a B-Train. You know, get a commercial driver’s license to operate a tractor trailer, then maybe get work with this company or another one. That way I could still be traveling and seeing new places but earning money and looking after myself as well.”
“But won’t you miss the men? I know if I found my Master I wouldn’t be able to leave him.”
“I really hope you find your Master soon. What if Kingston isn’t my Master, though? What if I’m just a temporary entertainment for him and Raleigh. Neither of them has said anything about me staying here.”
Nevis gave her a firm look. “Likely they’re waiting for you to decide. If you want to stay, if you want a job, ask for it.”
Andorra nodded but she wasn’t convinced. She rather thought Kingston was the one who’d make all the decisions. Possibly in alliance with Raleigh, but either way it wouldn’t be her doing it.
“What about you, Nevis? What do you plan to do next? You said you came up here for a rest from being a speech therapist?”
“First I hoped to find a new Master, but that hasn’t happened. I think in a few weeks—as you were saying, before it starts snowing—I’ll go somewhere new and different and join a practice that only deals with kids. Or, at any rate, I’ll only deal with kids. That means coping with their parents, but I think I’m ready to face them again.”
They ate salad for dinner along with another slice of the cake they’d made and talked for another hour. Then Nevis said, “Okay, it’s time to go to the Scumbags and Warlords game.”
Obediently Andorra stood up but she was confused. “The Scumbags are playing the Warlords? In what sport? Football? Baseball? I don’t know either of those teams.”
“No, silly, it’s a card game. Haven’t you ever played it before?”
Andorra shook her head.
/> “Have you heard of President and Asshole? Or Rich Man, Poor Man?”
Andorra kept shaking her head as she followed Nevis down the hallway, down the stairs, and into the communal living room.
“Don’t worry. It’s really easy to learn. I’ll help you.”
Andorra watched bemused as six other people jostled for position around a table. The chairs they sat on were very mismatched. There was a luxurious armchair, an executive office chair, a couple of regular office chairs and a wooden box.
“Hey, Nevis. I’m so glad you brought a friend. Katie couldn’t come tonight and an even number of players is way better than an odd number,” said a man smiling at her.
“This is Andorra. She’s never played before but I’ll be watching out for her to make sure you don’t lie to her,” said Nevis, before telling Andorra each person’s name.
York, the man who’d first smiled at her, dealt each person a card face up. “Lowest deals this first round. That’s you, Carson.”
A blond man, presumably Carson, dealt all the cards out. It seemed to be a double pack as there were a lot of cards. Beside her Nevis said, “Suits don’t matter. Just pairs, triples, and so on. Two is the highest card, then ace, then court cards. Three is the lowest card.”
Andorra sorted her hands into pairs and triples and reminded herself that two was high. So far so good.
“We play that if you pass you can’t go in the next round, so if you have a better card you either have to play it now or wait for another hand,” said York.
That made sense. She’d played games with that rule before, besides, a good card would only ever take one trick so why wait? Nevis had already told her the aim was to get rid of all her cards, so the more times she could put her cards down the better.
Soon Andorra was involved in the game enjoying the hand very much. The first person had started out with a single five, so the game went around the table several times before someone took the trick with a two. The next person led with two cards and she had to decide whether or not to split up her three jacks and play, but decided to hold onto them. She didn’t know whether she had beginner’s luck or not, but when Savannah announced herself the winner after playing the last card in her hand, Andorra only had one card left, which made her fourth out of the eight people playing.
“I’m the president. Get out of my chair, you scumbag,” Savannah yelled, jumping up and poking York, who was sitting in the armchair.
“And I’m vice president,” said Nevis, moving to the executive office chair on the left of the armchair.
When Carson sighed and groaned, “Asshole,” and sat on the wooden box on the president’s right, suddenly all the odd chairs began to make sense to Andorra. She moved to the fourth chair and rested her hand on the back of it hesitantly, but the others all nodded at her so she settled into her new seat. Carson, as asshole, had to give his two best cards to the president and the second lowest player had to give his best card to the vice president. These two powerful people could give back any card they chose, typically one that was no use to them.
The game continued for another two hours, by which time Andorra was still sitting happily in the middle of the pack and enjoying herself very much. Nevis had been president briefly, but ended up third. At the end of the night, when Savannah had reached the magical eleven points which made her the winner, Andorra felt she not only had conquered the game but also made some friends.
“If the person who comes first is the president, and the person who comes last is the asshole, why is it called Scumbags and Warlords?” she asked.
“Who the hell knows. Maybe because it came from China originally. But that’s the name of the game. The titles of president and so on seem to vary among groups of players. Some people say rich man, boss, worker, and so on, down to poor man, bum.”
“Thank you for spending today with me. I’ve really enjoyed it,” Andorra said as they reached Nevis’s apartment.
“I have, too. I’m glad you’re here,” replied Nevis.
* * * *
Between Andorra and supporting Kingston, Raleigh’s own work had been neglected lately. Although he was actually a mathematician, his job was halfway between that and an accountant. He crunched the numbers to see whether their plans were viable or not. So while Kingston had the final say on whatever the pack chose to do, and the accountants had to do the costings, his job was all about finding out if it was logical to continue pursuing ideas. Plans in a given direction might become economically viable in a few years’ time and it could be worthwhile getting some frameworks in place now so they could jump on the opportunity later when it opened up.
He smiled to himself as he tapped away at his keyboard. Talking about his job was usually a good way to send his listeners to sleep. Kingston had even joked about hiring Raleigh out as a cure for insomnia. Well, too bad. He found his job quite fascinating, and answers weren’t always clear-cut and foreseeable. Sometimes the damndest, craziest things really worked. Like, for example, a woman deciding to walk up a mountain and turning out to be their mate.
Raleigh couldn’t get Andorra out of his head. They’d checked her out upside and down, inside and out, and she was what she said she was. He wanted to tell her about them being werewolf shape-shifters. Dammit they owed her that much at least.
He worked all through lunch, munching a burger at his desk and dripping ketchup on his keyboard to his great annoyance. But by six he was all caught up on work again, and free to do what he had been wanting to do all day—go talk to Kingston and convince him to tell Andorra who they really were so they could put the relationship on an honest footing and find out if she really was their mate.
Knowing Kingston would neither have stopped for a meal, nor thought to order anything, Raleigh first headed downstairs to the kiosk and picked up a pizza and a couple of bottles of beer. He knocked on the door and as soon as Kingston opened it, said, “Shit, man. The pizza’s almost cold. It takes too long to climb all these stairs. When are you installing the elevator?”
“We’re wolves. We need the exercise.”
It was one of his standard responses to Raleigh’s regular complaints. But they really ought to install an elevator. It was stupid to have to carry furniture and food up and down the stairs all the time.
Kingston grabbed a roll of paper towel, two plates, and two glasses, then sat at the table. “What kind of pizza is it?”
“Since I was buying I got my favorite. Cheese, sausage, and tomato over a butter crust base.”
“Deep dish is pie, not pizza,” grumbled Kingston. But Raleigh noticed it didn’t stop him from filling his mouth with a huge bite. He took time to breathe in the delicious scent before biting into his own slice. Ah, bliss.
Kingston took a second mouthful of pizza then got up and walked across the living room to his computer and came back with a map and a couple of sharpies. He turned the map to face Raleigh and said, “I’m thinking of establishing new branches here and here. What do you think?”
Raleigh looked at the circles Kingston had drawn on the map. Both towns were at crossroads of major interstate highways heading north-south and east-west. It was inevitable there’d be transportation needs in both directions, although not necessarily from each town. “Are any logistics companies based there already?” he asked.
They talked pack business for another hour, Kingston picking up the last crumbs of pizza from the box, and Raleigh sipping his beer thoughtfully. Finally he said, “Both places are ideal to investigate. Have you sent Bronx there?”
“Not yet. He’s still working through the list we already gave him. I’ll add these two tomorrow.”
“About tomorrow.” Raleigh took a deep breath. He knew Kingston wasn’t going to like what he was about to say, but he felt it was time to speak, and that he was right. “Another thing we need to do tomorrow is tell Andorra who and what we really are. We need to show her we’re shape-shifters, transform for her, explain about the pack, and then tell her about mates. If she’
s to be our mate we have to be completely honest with her so she can make an informed choice. We can’t really know if she’s the one for us until she’s aware of the true facts. Only then can we deepen the relationship and be sure she’s ours.”
“I can’t expose the pack to such a huge risk. What if she goes back to the outside world and denounces us in the press all over the country? Our business would be bankrupt in the blink of an eye and then how would the pack survive?”
“That’s not going to happen and you know it. For a start, I don’t believe she’d do anything like that. But secondly, we’ve checked her background and she hasn’t got the power or connections to expose us even if she wanted to. Any newspaper journalist or television reporter would come to us for our side of the story and we’d be able to stop the program in its tracks. People who know who we are have as much to lose as we do by any wild rumors getting out into the world,” said Raleigh.
Kingston jumped to his feet. “What if that’s been her plan all along? To get us to expose ourselves so she can milk us for hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep the secret. Shit, we’d be paying blackmail to shut her up for the rest of our lives. She might be equally happy to marry me, or to be bribed to go away. Either way she still makes a shitload of money. Our money.”
“Fuck it, Kingston, get over yourself will you? You’re sounding even more paranoid than you usually are. Yes, the pack has money, and yes, you’re an eligible bachelor, but you’re acting like you’re Obama’s firstborn son, or a fucking prince of the royal blood or something.”
“Barack Obama has two daughters, not a son, and Prince William is already married with a kid, not a bachelor.”
“Don’t be so anal and legalistic. The other prince then. Whatever his name is. You know what I’m saying. You put your pants on one leg at a time every day just like the rest of us. The whole world is not trying to marry you or rip off the pack. Take a chill pill. We will never know if she’s our mate if we don’t trust her and tell her the truth.”
Naked for Her Two Masters [The Wolf Masters 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) Page 7