Blood of Eden: A wolf shifter romantic suspense (The Guardians Book 1)

by JJ King

  Enya was playing quietly over the speakers and Katherine could feel herself relaxing. She was really looking forward to this massage, even if she was being forced to have it in a room with her mother.

  Like Monica on “Friends,” she tended to get a little vocal during a good massage. She doubted that her mother would keep any masseur on staff if they weren’t spectacular, so she expected to do some world class moaning.

  Considering her level of sexual frustration, she would be lucky if she didn’t go a little overboard. Having her mother hear her happy moan wasn’t exactly her idea of fun. Then again, she really didn’t want to hear her mother’s happy moan either.

  She turned her head to the side to speak. “Mom?”

  “Yes, my darling?”

  “I’ve missed you.”

  “I know baby. I missed you, too.”

  They both fell silent when the door opened and two strapping young Swedish men walked into the room.

  A few minutes later she no longer cared if her mother heard her sing the entire chorus of La Traviata in her happy voice. Her cares floated away with each knot her masseur managed to work from her poor overworked back.

  She drifted off to sleep while her masseur was finishing up, slowly rolling his big fingers along her back and down her legs. The dreams she had were all of Quinn.

  ♀♀♀

  When she finally awoke half an hour later, Katherine almost killed herself by rolling to the side and falling off the massage table.

  As she landed on all fours, still wrapped in the sheet and nothing else, she thanked the Old Ones for her natural athleticism. She lowered herself and also gave silent thanks to her mother who had foreseen this unfortunate incident and had laid out giant pillows on either side of the table to break her fall. Mother’s really did know best.

  Her clothes were folded neatly just as she’d left them on a chair in the corner. She rooted in her jeans pocket for her cell and was shocked to see that it was almost 8:00 pm She got dressed in a near panic and rushed back to the main part of the house to see how Quinn and her father had gotten along.

  They’d been alone now for almost three hours thanks to her impromptu nap; long enough for all the major points to be hit, she thought, and definitely long enough for the two men to be alone. Her father would have wanted to ask the routine, “what are your intentions with my daughter?” questions, as well as the more situational “what does your cousin really want” hardcore questions. She knew that Quinn would handle himself honorably through the interrogation but still, it was definitely time for her to rescue him.

  The door to her father’s study was closed when she arrived back at the main house. She double checked her cell and saw that her original assessment of their time together had been right. She knew that the door was only ever closed when her father was speaking with someone privately but surely he wouldn’t still be cross-examining Quinn.

  She felt like a child who would get caught and punished as she approached the door on tip toes to listen for voices. Even with her acute hearing it would be hard to catch any words through the well-insulated walls and the thick door. Her father’s study was his sanctuary and fortress when it was necessary.

  She was just about to fall full tilt into childhood and press her ear against the door when she heard heavy footsteps approaching from the other side. She danced back away from the door and casually assumed a polite and non-eavesdropping stance.

  This being her first experience in introducing a man to her parents, Katherine had no idea what to expect when the door swung open. She knew that Quinn would be able to hold his own but that still didn’t mean that he wouldn’t emerge from his little meeting with abject fear in his eyes. She knew just how fearsome her father could be at times.

  One thing was for sure, she wanted to know what they had talked about, in detail.

  The very last thing she expected to see when the door opened was her father and Quinn laughing and clasping hands like old friends who have just reunited after years of separation. Far from being filled with fear, Quinn was laughing with what looked like a true delight.

  If she were a sullen teenager this would definitely mean that she could no longer be “into” Quinn. Luckily she was a grown woman and the sight of two of her favorite men getting along filled her heart near to bursting.

  “What? You mean your little chat didn’t come to fisticuffs papa?” She cuddled into Quinn’s side and smiled up at him. His arm casually came around her shoulders and squeezed.

  “Pierre?” Sylvie called out from the kitchen for her husband to join her. Katherine suspected that her mother was just creating a private moment for them and she once again silently thanked her for understanding.

  There was nothing casual about the look Quinn gave her in the moment that Pierre turned away from them.

  “I missed you.” He leaned down to place a kiss on her nose, followed by another on the corner of her mouth. He nibbled his way along her jaw for a moment, long enough to have her heart racing, before he claimed her mouth and set her mind whirling as well.

  It took a few moments after he ended the kiss for Katherine’s head to clear but when it did she found herself clinging to his arms and breathing heavily. “Behave yourself, Mr. Deschains or else I’ll sic my daddy on you and then you’ll be sorry.”

  Quinn shot her a wry smile and shrugged his shoulders, “Yeah, I’m pretty sure your dad likes me more than he likes you so I don’t think that’s going to work.”

  He moved quickly when he wanted to and apparently he wanted to now because he easily evaded Katherine’s light-hearted attack and ran off just fast enough for Katherine to catch him.

  By the time she caught up to him she had completely forgotten to ask what the two men had spent hours talking about.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Katherine woke the next morning wondering where she was. The light from the window refracted through a multitude of both small and large hanging crystals making the bedroom a wild cornucopia of color. She was in her childhood room again, she remembered, and her family was safe and happy.

  There was also a man in the next room who she was more than happy to wake with kisses.

  Katherine couldn’t remember the last time her life had been so full of absolute joy. Living the life of a dedicated lawyer in a thriving city was time-consuming at best and soul consuming at times. She spent most of her days at the office working on briefs not wondering what kind of briefs the sexy man in the guest room was wearing.

  Those days of paper pushing seemed far in the past. Right now, she felt carefree and happy, despite the fact that there was a psychotic rogue wolf still gunning for some female member of her family.

  She climbed out of the large bed and went to the adjoining restroom to tame her wild hair and brush her teeth. Pajamas were ok when one was about to surprise a man, they were cute, but crazy hair and smelly breath were not.

  She scrubbed her face with a cloth and caught herself one split second before she began humming the song from Cinderella, “So this is love.”

  A constant smile plastered on her face, she opened her bedroom door and wandered down the hall to the next door. She had played in every room of the house as a child, including this one, so she knew that the masculine vibe of the décor would suit Quinn. Her intimate knowledge of the room would also help the stealthy attack she had planned.

  With the soundtrack to Mission Impossible playing in her head, Katherine twisted the doorknob and quietly let herself into the room. She could see Quinn still lying in bed, surrounded by layers and layers of downy comforters.

  She kept her back close to the wall and slowly inched her way closer to the bed frame. She would need a running start if she had any hope of landing solidly on top of his sleeping form.

  So far he hadn’t moved an inch. It was time to make her move.

  She took a deep breath and ran as fast as she could towards the giant bed, leaping into the air as she neared. Her conditioned body easily cleared the
wooden frame and landed dead center on her target.

  Except the target was compromised, it wasn’t Quinn. She riffled through the layers and realized that she’d been had.

  The Mission Impossible theme got louder in her head as she rolled off the bed and into a crouching position. The blood pumped through her body now as she waited for the attack.

  The room was silent except for her breathing. Despite the dark, Katherine’s eyes could easily see all the contours of the walls as well as all the furniture that could possibly hide a Quinn sized man.

  She threw her body forward into a full tuck roll then knelt before the large cabinet with her hands laced together in front of her face like a gun. The dark wood was solid and big enough to accommodate her boyfriend. She couldn’t count the times that Anthony or Ronan had hidden in this exact cabinet.

  With one hand she grasped the knob and swung it open, mindful to keep her “gun” pointed at the contents of the cabinet.

  Empty.

  She sensed a slight movement to her left and spun to meet the quick moving dark mass just as it plowed into her and brought her down to the floor.

  Never one to give up, she rolled as they landed and managed to position herself on top of the man whose body was now convulsing with laughter.

  She leaned down, putting a hand on each side of his head and glared, “Who warned you? Was it Ronan? That bastard!”

  A moment later she found herself on the bottom but she couldn’t find it in herself to fight back. Quinn’s body pressing against hers was satisfaction enough. The fact that he was suddenly springing into action in the southern regions didn’t hurt either.

  He leaned in and took her mouth violently, all traces of laughter gone. She felt a surge of passion overtake her and she gave into it.

  Their bodies fit together perfectly as they rolled together, the upper position changing constantly.

  Their mouths met with ferocity and their teeth made long red scores against each other’s skin. Katherine bit into Quinn’s shoulder so hard that blood rose to the surface and his only reaction was to moan and pull her head back by her hair and lick her exposed throat.

  They were acting like animals, wild, predatory animals and she loved it. Never before had she ever been able to really unleash on any man. Humans were too vulnerable, too fragile. Then again, she’d never needed like this before. She’d never wanted to need like this before.

  She never wanted to stop.

  When the alarm began Katherine could have cried.

  Quinn leaped up from the floor, ready to fight, his boxers standing tall over his raging erection which, she couldn’t help but notice, was very impressive.

  Katherine would have laughed if it weren’t so sad that they’d been interrupted, again.

  She jumped up and grabbed her clothes, pulling on the top that Quinn had pulled off her as they’d rolled together.

  “Emergency, we have to join the family.” She watched as he pulled on pants, heavy jeans to disguise his arousal, and she felt her chest grow heavy and full.

  “I’m falling in love with you.” She whispered the words but he heard her clearly.

  His head whipped up and his eyes went wide. A slow smiled tugged at his lips and he opened his arms to her. She raced over and buried her head in his chest, breathing in his fragrance.

  “I’m right there with you.”

  The alarm was still ringing loudly overhead through the speakers that ran throughout the house but they ignored them for a moment longer and just held each other close.

  Katherine moved first. The alarm was serious business; her father didn’t sound it for any reason. She looked toward Quinn who was now fully dressed and following her out the door.

  “Raphael?”

  “I hope not.”

  ♀♀♀

  The news was bad.

  One of her young cousins, Victoria, was missing and hadn’t been seen for over an hour and there was no trace of her on the grounds.

  The women of the family, including the children, were still being preoccupied with planned events. The spa treatments couldn’t last forever so Sylvie had arranged any number of events that the women could do together.

  The group was large but they were protected by no less than five guards at all times so no one had any idea how a seven-year-old girl could have gotten through security by herself. Everyone feared the worst, she had been the one that Raphael had been looking for and now he had her.

  Pierre was in full form. Even as they made their way down the long staircase Katherine could hear him giving strict orders to the guards and male members of the family.

  “No one goes out alone, do you hear me? Ronan, you’re in charge of the north sector of the property. Take George, Jason, and Daniel with you. Justine, you’re in charge of the eastern sector. Tanner, David, and Sam go with her. Katherine, there you are. Get dressed properly and take Quinn into town with you. You’ll take the town proper and Jake and Jared will take the outskirts.”

  Katherine grabbed one of Victoria’s shirts from the pile and ran for the staircase with Quinn following her. She spoke to him over her shoulder in a loud voice, the alarm was still ringing. “Go get your things, and make sure you have a few weapons. If he’s out there then we’re going to find him and get Victoria back.”

  He remained silent and did as she asked, meeting her outside her bedroom door with his leather jacket on. She couldn’t see his weapons but she knew without a doubt that he was armed. Raphael wouldn’t fight fair so neither would they.

  She led him towards a different, less elegant staircase at the back of the house that led them directly to the massive garage. Dozens of high-end cars sat covered by cloths that hid their true origins and Katherine knew that Quinn would love to see them when the timing was right.

  Right now they needed durability rather than beauty and speed. She opened the door of a beaten up Jeep Wrangler and jumped behind the steering wheel. It never even occurred to her to let Quinn drive. She wasn’t exactly that kind of girl.

  Quinn followed suit and they took off down the driveway, careful to stay out of the way of Ronan’s group who were just setting off for the North.

  Katherine raised her fist in the air as a signal to her brother to stay safe and kick ass. She saw him raise his back in the rearview mirror.

  They drove in silence for about ten minutes before Quinn spoke up. “You ok?”

  Her face remained grim and focused on the road and on her assignment. “I’ll be great when I find her safe.”

  She almost jumped when his large warm hand landed on her thigh and squeezed gently. There was no sexual intent in the touch despite the fact that they’d recently been interrupted from an extremely hot wrestling match.

  She remained tense for a second then the warmth from his hand seeped into her skin and somehow soothed her. It was as though the tightness in her mind and the tenseness in her body were released by his touch, leaving her better able to think and deal with the situation.

  Without taking her eyes off the road she placed her hand over his and squeezed back.

  ♀♀♀

  When they reached town Katherine parked the jeep and got out with Quinn. She handed him the shirt after taking a long deep breath of its scent and then started loping down the main street. Quinn veered off and ran the outskirts as she’d asked him to.

  The town wasn’t overly large so the search didn’t take longer than half an hour. Katherine was getting ready to call her father with the news that she’d found nothing in town when her phone began to ring. She picked it up without checking the display.

  “Dad?”

  “No, Quinn. You might want to join me. I’m on the corner of Vancouver and 3rd. There’s a little convenience store right across from where I am. She’s here and she’s ok.”

  A huge weight lifted from Katherine’s chest as she shot forward, running as quickly as possible to Quinn’s location. She didn’t doubt that Quinn had found her but she just wanted to make absolutely su
re before she called back home with the news.

  The little girl was sitting on an old rusted bench outside the convenience store licking away at a steadily melting ice cream cone.

  Quinn was standing casually across the road from the store, obviously alert. She laid her hand on his shoulder and raised an eyebrow. He shook his head and breathed again, searching for any trace of Raphael, but there was none. Katherine breathed deep as well and confirmed that Raphael hadn’t come anywhere near the girl or this place.

  She loped across the road, barely taking the time to check for oncoming traffic, and knelt down in front of the girl.

  “Vicky sweetie, are you ok? How did you get here? Everyone’s been real worried about you.”