by JJ King
“So, I was thinking that you should jump in a car right now and come out here so I can wrap my legs around you until you cry uncle.”
The words were out of her mouth before her brain could stop them. Immediately she saw the problems that arose with the suggestion, the least of which was her well-reciprocated interest in Keme. Besides that little issue was the fact that the summit was a family business and that by inviting her new sexually charged love interest to her family home she was ultimately inviting him to meet her parents.
His deep intake of breath sounded loudly over the line. “Naughty girl. You know as well as I do that I can’t come out there until the summit is over. You’re just trying to see if you can tempt me into disobeying all the rules. Don’t tempt me too much, darling, or you might be surprised with how far I’ll go to be with you.”
The blood in Katherine’s veins practically caught on fire. Against the rules or not, now that the idea was in her head, she wanted nothing more than to have Quinn in her arms right now. The image of his chiseled face filled her mind and she bit her lip in frustration. Other parts of her body clenched in anticipation.
“God I wish you were here.” She poured herself the last remnants of wine and threw it back.
“Me too,” he murmured and then he cursed “Fuck it, Katherine, I’ll be there the moment the summit ends. Where can we meet?”
Katherine’s heart started to beat frantically in her chest, racing with excitement and anticipation. She felt overwhelmed at his reaction to her but wanted to come off as cool and collected. Saucy even.
“There’s a hotel not far from here, maybe twenty minutes’ drive. Le Dauphin. I’ll be there as soon as I can get away. Oh, and Quinn?”
“Yeah?”
“There’s an elevator.” She was grinning like the Cheshire Cat as she said goodnight and hung up the phone.
The water in her tub had gone cold and her wine was all gone, but Katherine felt good. She got out of the tub, letting the water run down the drain while she brushed her hair out and braided it down her back. She slipped into a short black silk nightie and climbed into her bed, her mind buzzing with ideas about what would happen when she saw Quinn.
She lay back in bed, closed her eyes, and fell asleep thinking about amber eyes and soft lips.
Chapter Twelve
The second day of the summit dawned bright and warm.
Katherine dressed in a designer summer dress that accentuated her long legs and tanned skin. As she laced up the blood red espadrilles she’d chosen, she tried to convince herself that she’d chosen her outfit because it was going to be a warm day and not because she felt the need to impress anyone in particular. Especially not after spending so long with a completely different man on the phone last night.
Screw it, she thought. She might not be accustomed to having two romantic interests at the same time but she wasn’t going to act like she had to choose right now, settle down, and become a dutiful wife. There was nothing wrong with thoroughly examining her options. Her tall, tanned, gorgeous options.
The one with the shoulders, which was what she was calling him in her mind, sat down in the chair next to her own at the breakfast table, his plate piled high with sausages, bacon, pancakes, eggs, and every other sort of food that her mother had thought to provide for a bunch of ravenous wolves.
He reached for the maple syrup and drenched his entire plate with the warm, gooey, golden liquid and smiled at her when she tilted her head towards his plate.
“When in Rome.” He poured a bit more for effect and she laughed out loud.
“Well, you should thank the Old Ones your wolf metabolism will allow you to be in Rome and not get diabetes from all that sugar.”
“Amen,” he whispered and bowed his head. She laughed again.
His eyes were bright with laughter when he looked up and caught her eye. Katherine smiled back at him, her eyes flicking from his infectious grin to his eyes, and noticed the tiny flecks of moss green in his deeply hooded eyes. Seconds ticked by and Katherine felt the smile fall slowly from her face. Heat began to build in her neck then took a sudden and drastic shift southward.
They were surrounded by family and friends but the room and the world faded just a bit. Keme’s eyes turned dark, the green flecks all by eradicated with arousal. They darted quickly down to her mouth and back to her eyes, so fast that she might not have noticed if she wasn’t so tuned into his body.
Feeling suddenly powerful, Katherine smiled sensually and reached for her glass of orange juice. Not taking her eyes off his, she sipped from the glass and then ran her tongue along her lower lip, licking the tiny drop of juice that had fallen there.
She practically felt his body contract and it fueled her devilish nature.
Keme reached for his own glass of juice then, not to replicate her sensual drink, but to tame the coughing fit he had fallen into. She reached over and patted his back maternally, her face innocent of any and all guilt in causing his breathing problems.
“Keme,” Sylvie looked at him anxiously from further down the long banquet table, “are you alright? Would you like some water?” She poured him a tall glass and passed it along the table until it reached his hands. He nodded his thanks to her and took deep gulps.
He finished the glass and regained his breathing, “I’m fine, sorry for the drama.” He smiled at Sylvie and the other members of the summit then reached for another slice of toast and took a bite, relieving himself of their watchful eyes. He swallowed, took another sip of orange juice, and then leaned over and whispered in Katherine’s ear “I’ll get you back for that. Later.”
She tried to hold back her grin but failed spectacularly. It was so much fun to flirt like this with someone she found so appealing. “I assure you, Mr. Little Foot, I can handle anything you throw at me.” She was careful to keep her voice low too. You could never tell whose wolf ears were tuning into private conversations.
♀♀♀
“The Newfoundland wolves are finally coming into their own and I think it’s important that they have a representative that fights for their rights within the pack.” Daphne addressed the room with a confident and knowledgeable air that made it easy to see why she had been chosen as part of Little Foot’s delegation and their official mediator. She was presenting the notion of creating a panel of representatives from each province and territory in Canada to stand and fight for their local pack members in official circumstances. It wasn’t a new idea since there was already a council in place to advise her father on various issues across the country, but her fight was to include a wolf from every single province, since the less populated provinces like hers weren’t often represented directly.
“The Mi’kmaq people have been reclaiming their ancestry. The vast majority of our pack members are among the new Qalipu tribe and there are a number of very strong individuals who would be amazing as members of the council.”
Pierre nodded his head at the young woman, “And are you among that list of individuals Ms. Dru?”
If anyone had expected a shy, demure answer they were denied that when Daphne looked Pierre straight in the eye and inclined her head. “Yes, Alpha, I am.”
Katherine’s approval of the young Mi’kmaq woman was cemented. She looked to her father and noted the way he was nodding in approval of Daphne’s character. It looked like another member of Little Foot’s entourage had passed snuff.
Sylvie stood then and clapped her hands together, announcing that, “Supper will be ready in half an hour,” and that their guests could take this time to freshen up before the meal.
Katherine stood and stretched her back, feeling a bit cooped up after hours of discussion and presentations by various wolves at the table. There would be no more official talk after supper so they had agreed to have a late meal followed by an even later bonfire and social.
As she moved with the group towards the door, she felt a large hand slide over the small of her back and linger for a moment. Keme’s scent filled
her nostrils and she slowed, pressing her back into his hand ever so slightly, feeling the heat of it burn through the thin material of her dress. Wings fluttered in her stomach and a wave of excitement ran through her. When she moved forward the hand fell away but the heat remained. A physical reminder of the promise Keme had made to her that morning.
She didn’t see him again until they all sat down to supper but this time, he was seated down the table from her. Instead, on either side of her sat the two tall, deeply bronzed Cree men from the Prairie Provinces. Katherine took the opportunity to strike up a conversation between the three of them that was, not surprisingly, fascinating. It turned out that Stephen, the taller of the two, was a spiritual leader among his people while Kokama was an environmental scientist who led conservation efforts in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. There was no flirting involved, but she enjoyed the meal and the conversation.
Every so often, despite her interest in the conversation, she felt the urge to cast a glance down the table to see if Keme were watching her, as though she were an adolescent girl sitting in some cafeteria in any high school in the world. She refused to give in, however and schooled herself to stay attentive to her conversation partners, which only fueled her body’s awareness of the gorgeous Manganiello look alike in the room.
She wondered if Keme was feeling the same tension or if it were all in her mind. Either way, it was seriously sexy.
By the time the meal ended, Katherine was ready to burst with sexual anticipation. It was crazy, she knew, to have gotten excited without even looking at the man, but her imagination had gone into overdrive at the lack of contact and her body was begging for satisfaction.
She hurried ahead of the crowd and walked straight up the stairs to her bedroom, needing to touch herself to relieve some of the tension. She hadn’t thought to bring any of her toys with her so fingers would have to do.
She was closing the door to her bedroom behind her when it stopped dead and she looked down to a shoe blocking its path. With what seemed like no effort at all, Keme threw the door open and stepped inside her room, slamming it shut behind him. He stood there in front of her, eyes lidded, breathing heavily, and she felt her body surge with hunger. She stepped forward, pressing her body against his, and slowly, her eyes never leaving his, reached past him and turned the lock on the door.
His mouth was on hers in a split second, his tongue finding hers immediately. They pulled and groped at each other, desperate to feel skin on skin, all the while never breaking their mouths apart. Katherine nipped at Keme’s lips and vibrated when he growled.
He spun her around so that her back was to the door and hoisted her up into his arms, pressing her against the heavy wood. His chest crushed her and she loved it, burying her head in his shoulder and taking deep bites and licks of his, now sweaty, beautiful skin.
His clever hands reached down and pulled her dress up to her waist, then hooked into her panties and ripped them straight from her body. She gasped into his neck and growled back at him
His fingers plunged inside her, sliding deeply into her wetness. She threw back her head and moaned loudly, forgetting her surroundings. Keme covered her mouth with his large hand and groaned into her ear, “Shhhhh,” then started moving his fingers in and out of her.
“Oh God, yes!” She moaned into his hand, turned on even more by the hand that held her captive and quiet. His long, thick fingers filled her to bursting and she rode every push higher and higher until he ground his thumb into her clit and she exploded.
She lay there, draped in his arms, pressed against the door to her bedroom, and struggled to catch her breath. Fused to her, Keme’s chest moved in syncopation with her own, as he, too, tried to calm his body.
“Is that all you’ve got?” she mumbled into his neck.
A rumble of mirth came from deep inside his bare chest and Keme answered her with a kiss to her shoulder. He lowered her until her feet touched the floor then bent down and retrieved something from the floor.
“I believe these are yours, Ms. LaFlamme.”
Katherine held up her shredded panties and scowled in mock consternation. “This is unacceptable Mr. Little Foot. You’ve damaged my property and I’m afraid you’re going to have to pay reparations.”
He smoothed the skirt of her dress down around her legs then tipped her face up to look into her eyes. “And what do you suggest those reparations be?”
She smiled at him. “Oh, I think I’ll leave that decision in your capable…” she threaded her fingers through his, “hands.”
“You can count on that, Counsellor.” He raised their joined hands and laid a kiss on her wrist, then glanced at the slim gold watch she wore and frowned. “I have to go. I told my father I would meet him and I think I’m going to need a shower to get your wicked scent off my body.”
Smiling up at him, Katherine gently scraped the nails of her uncaptured hand down his chest, ending at the hard ridges of his lower abdomen. “You should probably go quickly then, or else you’ll miss your father altogether and there will be questions.” She inched a bit lower and felt his muscles clench.
“Devil woman,” he let go of her hand and reached to cup her face, lowering his mouth to hers and kissing her lightly. “I’ll see you later. With reparations.”
When the door closed behind him, Katherine leaned back against it and smiled, imagining that she could still feel the heat of her body pressed hard against the wood. She thanked the Old Ones that her bedroom was at the end of a long hallway and far away from other, currently occupied, bedrooms. The thickness of the door was a blessing, too.
Following Keme’s lead, Katherine took a quick shower, and scrubbed the scent of her arousal off, a bit reluctant to lose the scent of the masculine sweat he’d rubbed all over her. Still, she didn’t want the entire house to be discussing her extracurricular activities or assuming that anything serious was happening between her and Keme. Not that it wasn’t serious, or couldn’t be. Maybe it was.
She thought about Quinn and frowned. When she was with Keme, he was all she thought about. But when she was alone, even moments after Keme’s fingers had been buried deep inside her body, her thoughts turned to Quinn.
Her choice in clothes was limited to the dozen or so outfits she’d quickly packed. After a quick perusal, she decided on a pair of broken-in jeans that she’d folded into her bag just in case. They’d make her fit right in at the bonfire later that evening.
Since she didn’t even own a pair of sneakers, Katherine slipped on a pair of leopard print ballet flats and a black tank top then took the back stairs out of the house, leaving through a door that led directly into the vast back yard.
A sense of peace filled her chest, leaving her full of memories and deep rooted emotions. The scent of the pine trees and the expanse of grass reminded her of growing up in this perfect, magical place. She hadn’t been born here, but it was definitely where she had become a woman and where she felt the most at home out of all the places in the world that she’d visited or lived in.
She veered right at the far end of the grounds and followed a well-beaten path into the woods. The forest was teeming with local flora and fauna, filling the air with deep, heady, aromas. She breathed deeply, trying to identify the individual scents.
Blackberries. Deer. Tree sap. Hummingbirds. Poison Ivy.
She sidestepped the ivy and continued on the path.
After a few minutes, she came to a small clearing that had a small stream running through the thick trees. The canopy overhead provided shade but allowed enough light in to cloak the space in shadows. When they were much younger, she and her brothers had taken to the stream and trees with shovels and brush saws. After a long day’s work they had cleared out the thick woods and deepened the stream into a swimming pool. It didn’t matter that the property had its own swimming pools. Plural. Indoor and outdoor.
That self-made pool had been their hideaway from parents and duties for many a summer. The four of them were never far from home
so Pierre and Sylvie could hear them if trouble ever came their way. They were far enough, however, that they felt a little more grown-up, a little more independent while lying under the sun on hot grass or cannonballing into the ever deepening water.
The grass was long now and the trees thick, as it had been when they’d first taken their youthful energy out on the place. The stream was still narrow with a widened and deepened spot that had never filled up with ground.
Katherine sat down on the same rock she’d sat on hundreds of times and relaxed.
Her mind turned to the issue of the two men in her life at present. She couldn’t believe she’d fallen into the same triangle that she always teased her brothers about. In all her long life she had never seriously dated any man or wolf while seeing other people. She’d dated tons of people; men, women, and wolves. But when she was serious about someone, anyone, she didn’t stray.
She believed in monogamy and knew what a strong relationship and marriage looked like. Her parent’s marriage was everything she wanted in the long term for her life. The years she’d spent in Vancouver and various other cities learning and practicing law had been part of her personal goals and part of bettering her mind while she found herself outside of the pack. But when it came down to it, she’d always wanted what she’d grown up knowing. The love of a strong man and a life with security and family.