Rise

by Heather MacKinnon

   Without warning, my orgasm hit, and I screamed his name as I lost myself to the pleasure. His hands squeezed me tighter as he roared with his own release.

  When he’d emptied himself, he slid me off the desk and into his arms before lowering us to the floor. Our bodies were slick with sweat as we fought to catch our breath and come back down to earth.

  He reached up and ran his thick fingers through my hair. I closed my eyes. His heartbeat thumped against mine, syncing up and beating as one.

  I loved this time. These stolen moments after we made love. I felt so close to him. Like we were just two halves of the same whole and we were finally reunited. There was absolutely no place I’d rather be than on the floor of my new office in my fiancé’s arms.

  He leaned down and pressed a kiss against my forehead. “I was so scared today,” he said so softly I almost missed it.

  I pulled far enough away that I could see his face. His eyes were clouded with worry and the lines around them were deep.

  I reached up and cupped his face. “I’m okay, baby. Nothing’s gonna happen to me.”

  He sighed and kissed my hand. “I’m afraid that’s not true. I have a really bad feeling about this, El.”

  I sighed and pulled him closer, hoping I could infuse some of my calm into him. “I can defend myself, Abraham. I’m not the defenseless human I was before. I’m a strong, capable werewolf, just like you.”

  He sighed heavily, his breath blowing strands of my hair. “I’ll never stop worrying about you, El, because I’ll never stop loving you. Those two things go hand in hand.”

  My lips curled into a smile while my heart skipped a beat. “I love you too, baby. I promise I’ll be safe.”

  He kissed my head again for a long time. “Please take care of yourself and please don’t fight against having Wyatt with you. When you’re on pack lands, you don’t need to keep him around, but as soon as you leave, I need him to be with you. I can’t let anything happen to you.”

  I pursed my lips but nodded. I didn’t love the idea of having a babysitter again, but if it would put his mind at ease, if it could erase even just a few lines from his forehead, then I’d do it.

  “Okay. I won’t fight it. At least until we figure out who’s behind this and what they want.”

  He let out a deep breath and squeezed me tighter. “I think I know who this was.”

  I pulled away so I could look into his eyes again. “Who?”

  He looked away, his jaw ticking with how hard he was clenching it. “Conrad.”

  My heart dropped to the base of my stomach while the ramifications sped through my mind. Abraham’s uncle was behind this?

  “Why would he come after me? I didn’t do anything to him.”

  Abraham shook his head, his eyes so sad it made my heart ache. “He’s trying to use you to get to me. I’m who he’s really after.”

  I frowned while I thought through all that. “But what about the message? What could that mean?”

  Abraham shrugged beneath me. “I guess he’s trying to get you to leave me.”

  I snorted and shook my head. “He’ll have to try a lot harder than that.”

  Abraham’s arms tightened around me. “Don’t even joke about that.”

  I rolled my eyes, but a smile was tugging at my lips. Pulling away, I made sure to catch his eyes before speaking again. “Abraham, nothing could make me leave you. Absolutely nothing.”

  He watched me for a long time, his eyes darting between both of mine. I expected the worry lines in his forehead to lessen, but they didn’t. “Even if it was safer for you? Even if it meant you could live your life without all this bullshit?”

  I shook my head. How could he be so blind? How could he not know how crazy in love with him I was? How could he think anything could tear me away from him?

  I cupped his face between both my hands. “Nothing could ever make me want to spend even a single day without you. It doesn’t matter what Conrad throws at us because I’ll be by your side through it all. I love you and I need to be with you. Nothing can change that. Understand?”

  I needed to make sure he did. Needed to get that look off his face permanently. He was it for me in every way possible and I wouldn’t let him believe otherwise.

  He watched me for a long time and I simply stared back at him. I hoped my eyes showed him all the love I felt. I hoped he’d see in my face my determination to stick with him through anything. Elizabeth Montgomery didn’t hide when things got hard, she just got harder.

  Finally, he sighed and pressed a long kiss to my forehead. “Okay, baby. We’ll do this together.”

  Chapter 30

   We were still naked and lying on the floor when there was a knock on my office door. I jolted upright and turned wide eyes toward Abraham.

   “Shit! That’s probably Wyatt!”

   I scrambled to my feet and located my clothes, yanking them on as quickly as I could. I turned back to see Abraham was still lying on the floor, naked, and just watching me.

   “Get dressed, McCoy,” I hissed as I hopped on one foot while putting my shoes back on.

   He laughed but finally rose to his feet. If I wasn’t so worried about Wyatt being on the other side of my door, I’d have taken the time to admire his masculine beauty. But that would have to wait until later because my bodyguard was probably wondering what the hell was taking me so long to answer the door.

   I watched Abraham slowly shrug on his clothes and cursed him for taking his sweet time. When he was finally dressed, I swung the door open and found Wyatt there with his arm raised to knock again.

   “Hi, Wyatt. Sorry about that. We were… um… busy,” I finished lamely.

   He raised his nose in the air and gave a sniff before shooting Abraham a look. “Yeah, I can smell how busy you two were,” he said, a smile curling his lips.

   My face heated to atomic levels while I looked anywhere but directly at my pack mate. Despite the room smelling like sex, I invited him in, and he strolled inside.

   “Alpha,” he greeted Abraham. “What’s going on?”

   Abraham walked over and shook his hand before rehashing everything that happened this morning. Wyatt’s face hardened the longer Abraham talked, and I was thankful I wasn’t on the other end of that look.

   “Were there any scents left behind?” Wyatt asked.

   Scents? Why hadn’t I thought of that?

   Abraham nodded. “It smelled like a werewolf but none that I’m familiar with.”

   “So, there was just one of them?”

   Abraham shrugged. “Only one of them touched the cat or the door.”

   Wyatt nodded and shot a glance at me before looking at Abraham again. “What are your theories?”

   Now Abraham’s face turned to stone. “Conrad.”

   Wyatt sighed and shook his head. “I was afraid of that.”

   “So was I.”

   “What are we going to do about it?”

   “You know his pack far outnumbers ours, but with some help, I think we could take him. I have plans to meet with some other packs soon.”

   My stomach fell to the bottom of my feet. “Soon?” I cut in. “I thought you said you wouldn’t be leaving for a while.”

   Abraham turned to me with a sigh. “In light of what happened today, I think it would be best if I got this over with sooner rather than later.”

   I studied his face, reading the determination there clearly. I knew there was nothing I could say that would change his mind. And what would my argument be? Don’t go finding the pack allies for this fight you foresee because I’ll miss you?

   “When?” I asked softly.

   Abraham crossed the room and grasped my arms. Ducking his head, he met my eyes. “I’ll probably leave Monday.”

   I swallowed, my throat suddenly dry. “That’s only a few days away.”

   He nodded, his mouth a thin, grim line. “I know, baby. I don’t want to go, but
I need to.”

   I looked away and nodded. “I know.” I took a deep breath and met his eyes again. “How long will you be gone?”

   His eyes searched mine before he answered. “I’ll try to be back by Friday.”

   That was a blow I hadn’t expected. How was I going to go that long without him?

   I nodded slowly. “Okay.”

   He squeezed my arms and turned back to Wyatt. The two men talked out some more details, but my mind was spinning with thoughts of my own.

   I know I used to spend that much time away from Abraham before I moved here, but now it was inconceivable. I needed him like I needed the air in my lungs. He’d become essential to me on every level. I missed him already.

   “El?”

   I looked up to find both men staring at me. I shook my head and pasted a smile on my face, but even I could tell how frail it was. “Sorry. What’s up?”

   “I’m heading out now.”

   My stomach twisted and my heart fell. I knew I’d see him later, but any distance from him hurt right then. I wanted to spend every available minute with him until he left.

   I hurried over and wrapped my arms around his waist. Abraham sighed and pulled me in closer.

   “Wyatt, could you give us a minute?”

   The other man agreed, and his heavy footsteps crossed the office, heading toward the door. I kept my face buried in Abraham’s chest and my arms tightly wrapped around him.

    I heard the office door swing open and instantly smelled the overpowering scent of men’s cologne.

   “Um, hi. I’m here to see Ellie.”

   I ripped myself out of Abraham’s arms and turned to face the door. Matt was standing there, eyeing Wyatt suspiciously and holding two paper cups.

   “Hey, Matt. What’s up?”

   His eyes darted from Wyatt to Abraham and back again. “Am I interrupting something?”

   “Yes,” Abraham said.

   “No,” I countered at the same time.

   I shot a look at my fiancé, who only had eyes for Matt. But they were hard, unflinching, irritated eyes.

   I rushed over to the door and shoved Wyatt out of the way. “What’s up, Matt?” I asked again.

   His eyes were still wary when they finally met mine. “Well, since you never showed up at the coffee shop, I thought I’d bring you something back.”

   “Oh. Um. Yeah, the burst pipe didn’t affect my office, so I figured I’d get some work done.”

   Matt frowned. “Where did the pipe burst?”

   “The bathroom.”

   “The break room.”

   One of those answers was from me and one was from Abraham and it did nothing to clear up this situation.

   I laughed, but it was a little on the shrill side. “It was a pipe that led from the bathroom to the break room and they said they needed to replace the whole thing.” I winced at my lame excuse and could tell Matt was still suspicious.

   “And they’ve fixed it already?”

   I shrugged. “It helps to have friends in high places.”

   I didn’t know if that made sense and I hoped Matt didn’t push me on it. I didn’t actually know a single plumber, and if he dug deep enough, he’d figure that out.

   Matt’s shrewd eyes continued to watch me, and I did my best to look confident in the lies I’d just told. Finally, he shrugged. “Well, good thing it didn’t affect the lab.”

   I could feel that my smile was too wide but there was nothing I could do about it. “Yeah, your lab is all good thankfully.”

   He shot a look down the hall. “Was there a lot of damage to the other rooms?”

   “Oh, uh, not really. Just some water we had to clean up, but it’s all good now.” I needed to get rid of him before I ran out of lies. “What did you come here for again?”

   Matt shook his head and held out one of the paper cups in his hands. “I don’t know how you take your coffee yet, but I figured no one could turn down cream and sugar.”

   I took his offering and gave him a weak smile. “Thanks for thinking of me, Matt.”

   His smile was wide and genuine. “Of course, Ellie.”

   Abraham cleared his throat behind me, and I knew I needed to wrap this up. “Anyway, thanks for stopping by. I’ll see you at lunch.”

   His eyes widened. “You’re going to lunch with me?”

   “No,” Abraham growled from behind me, but I ignored him.

   “I figured we’d all get lunch together again,” I said, hand on the edge of my door, waiting to close it as soon as possible.

   The light in Matt’s eyes dimmed the slightest bit. “Oh. Yeah, that sounds good.” He sighed and shot a look at the other two men once more before meeting my gaze again. “Well, I’ll see you then.”

   “Great. Bye Matt,” I said and shut the door behind him.

   I stood there facing away, knowing the second I turned around I’d be staring down an angry werewolf.

   “I want you to keep an eye on him,” Abraham growled.

   I spun to find him looking at Wyatt, who also wore a grim expression.

   “No one needs to keep an eye on anyone,” I said.

   They both ignored me.

   “Is he always that… friendly?” Wyatt asked.

   Abraham grunted. “Yes.”

   Wyatt nodded. “He smelled desperate.”

   How did they know this stuff? Was there a handbook I could get that would explain what different emotions smelled like or something?

   I stomped toward them and got right in the middle. “I don’t need Wyatt watching over Matt. We’re worried about Conrad’s pack, not some human who decided to bring me a coffee.”

   Abraham’s jaw ticked. “That’s the second time he’s invited you out to lunch.”

   “He didn’t invite me, and even if he did, so what? We’re coworkers. That’s what you’re supposed to do.”

   He shook his head and looked over me to Wyatt. “Keep an eye on him.”

   I huffed. “You’re being ridiculous.”

   Abraham’s eyes met mine again and their blue depths were electric. “He wants what’s mine.”

   I rolled my eyes. “You don’t know that.”

   He shook his head. “El, I love you, but you’re oblivious to the effect you have on men. That one,” he pointed at my closed door, “is after more than being your friend. Trust me.”

   I sighed. “What does it matter, Abraham? Don’t you trust me?”

   His eyes widened, and he rocked backward on his heels. “Of course I do.”

   “Then why don’t you trust me to take care of him? I’m not leading him on. I’m not giving him the wrong idea. Eventually, he’ll just drop it.”

   Abraham’s eyes searched mine for a long time. Finally, he let out a deep breath and nodded. “Okay, El. I’ll let you handle this. But I want you to tell me if he tries anything.”

   I rolled my eyes again. “If he tries anything, I’ll break his hand. Happy?”

   His lips twitched, and his eyes lightened with humor. “Moderately.”

   I shook my head. The man was impossible.

   He reached out to pull me into his arms, and I went willingly. No matter how irritated I was at his high-handed alpha nonsense, there was still nowhere I’d rather have been.

   Wyatt cleared his throat. “I’ll just go wait in the hallway.”

   We both ignored him as Abraham gently rocked me side to side. When the door closed, he sighed and pulled away to catch my eye. “I’m sorry.”

   “I know you are. I just wish you trusted me more.”

   “It’s not you I don’t trust.”

   “But you’re not trusting me to handle the situation.”

   He sighed and looked away. “There’s just something about seeing another man look at you like that. It makes me crazy, El. Like I could snap his neck with my bare h
ands for just laying his eyes on you.”

   I shook my head and reached up to cup his face. “There’s no reason to feel like that. I’m yours.”

   His eyes softened. “That’s the only reason he’s still alive.”

   I chuckled and reached up to give him a kiss when I heard loud voices coming from the hallway. I shot Abraham a questioning look before disentangling myself and hurrying over to the door.

   When I opened it, I found a red-faced Callie staring down an unconcerned-looking Wyatt.

   “What’s going on?” I asked.

   Callie turned her fiery eyes toward me before they glanced toward Abraham. “What the hell is he doing here?”

   I frowned at my friend, but she still had her eyes pinned to her brother.

   “He’s here to watch over El,” Abraham explained.

   Her lips curled into a sneer. “Why wasn’t I informed of this?”

   I shot a look at Abraham who seemed just as confused as I was. “I didn’t know I needed to run it by you.”

   “This is my office, and everything needs to be run by me.”

   Abraham held up both hands. “Okay, Callie. I assigned Wyatt to guard El until we figure out what’s going on.”

   Her eyes glanced in Wyatt’s direction, then mine, and finally back to Abraham’s. “Assign someone else.”

   What the hell?

   I looked back at Abraham who looked even more confused than last time. “Excuse me?”

   She took a menacing step forward. “I said assign someone else. I don’t want him here.”

   “Callie, you’re being ridiculous.”

   “I am not,” she said, and I almost expected her to stomp her foot. “This is my company, and I get to say who comes in here and I say he can’t. I want him out of here right now.”

   Where was all the animosity coming from? I couldn’t imagine what Wyatt could have done to make the normally mild-mannered and soft-spoken Callie react that way.

   “Callie, El needs a guard.”

   “Then assign someone else.”

   “There is no one else.”

   She crossed her arms over her chest and stared him down. I’d have hated to be Abraham since her withering look was intimidating me and it wasn’t even pointed my way.