Marisa Chenery (6 page)

“It’s a deal,” she said with a small laugh. “I guess that means we’re going steady now.”

“Or I’m courting you with the hopes of marriage down the road.” He wiggled his brows.

Alexis chuckled. “Now that sounds really old-fashioned. I thought ‘going steady’ was bad enough since it makes me think of us as a pair of teenagers.”

“Well, we most definitely aren’t that. I can assure you, you come across as an adult woman, in all ways.” He reached down and grabbed her ass.

“I’m glad you think so. I know you’re no teenage boy. If you had been, the sex would have been over before it had even started.”

Konner laughed. “No, I promise you I haven’t had that happen to me in a very long time.”

Alexis propped herself up on her bent elbow and looked down at him. “Lunchtime was a while ago and it’s getting close to dinner. Why don’t I make us something to eat since you already brought me food?”

“Okay. I’m not exactly a good cook so having someone else make a meal for me is a treat.”

“Then I’d better get started.”

Alexis pushed away, then slid off the bed. Konner followed her with his gaze as she picked up her clothes and then headed out of the room. He heard a door shut down the hall and figured she’d gone to use the bathroom.

Shortly after the toilet flushed, Alexis returned to the room and threw his clothes on the bed. “I thought you’d want these from the living room,” she said with a wink.

Then she left again.

Konner took his time getting dressed as he listened to Alexis clanging around in the kitchen. He was going to have to tell her very soon what she meant to him. At least he didn’t have to worry about her thinking about dating other men.

* * * * *

The next morning Alexis woke up before Konner. He lay on his side facing her with an arm under his pillow and the other around her waist. He quietly snored in her ear. She smiled. It hadn’t taken much to get him to stay overnight. And she really liked waking up next to him.

After she’d made them an easy dinner of barbequed steaks done on the gas grill outside on her back deck and French fries cooked in the oven, they’d gone into the living room to watch some TV. They’d also talked. She’d told him a lot about her life. He’d kept much of the conversation on her by asking questions. He’d told her some of his life in Australia but not in a whole lot of detail. She got the sense he really didn’t want to talk much about it. Thinking he must have a good reason why, she didn’t push.

They eventually ended up in bed again. Each time she made love to Konner, Alexis fell for him harder. And now that they were going to date exclusively, she really did hope their relationship would progress to the point where marriage could be a good possibility.

Alexis slowly turned onto her side so she faced Konner. He didn’t awaken. She reached out and touched the tattoo on his chest. It was so very ancient-Egyptian-looking. She shifted her gaze to the rest of his upper body. She could spend hours learning it with her lips and tongue, along with every inch of him.

She lifted the sheets a little and stared at the lower half of him. Yup, Konner was definitely drool-worthy.

Alexis dropped her gaze to his cock and took her bottom lip between her teeth when she saw it twitch and harden a bit. She lifted her gaze to find Konner awake and watching her.

He took hold of the sheets and flung them off both of them. “No need to have these in the way,” he said with a crooked grin.

Alexis titled her head up as he gave her a kiss. Once he pulled away, she said, “Good morning. Did you have a good sleep?”

“Yes, I did.”

Konner leaned against her until she rolled onto her back. He settled on top of her with his hips between her spread thighs. His fully engorged cock pressed against her pussy. She lifted a leg and rubbed her foot up and down the back of one of his thighs. She grew wet, wanting his erection deep inside her.

She wrapped a hand around the back of his neck and exerted some pressure to have him bring his lips to hers.

He kissed her thoroughly, his tongue dueling with hers.

It didn’t take long to have passion flaring hotly between them. She had a feeling it would always be like this. She craved his touch, needed it almost as much as the air she breathed.

“Oh my goodness.”

Alexis stiffened and her eyes snapped open at the sound of the feminine voice filled with surprised shock.

It couldn’t be. Not now. Not while she was in such an intimate embrace. She pushed at Konner until he rolled off her. Alexis quickly yanked the covers over them both.

“Mother?” Alexis asked as she sat up with a sheet held to her breasts. “What are you doing here?” Her mom stood in the open doorway, a hand partially covering her eyes. “Your father and I thought we’d surprise you for your birthday.”

“But it isn’t until next week.”

“I know. We’re staying in Chicago for two weeks. As I said, we wanted to surprise you. When we found the door locked, we let ourselves in since we still have a key.

I thought you might be sleeping so I left your father in the living room and came here to wake you. Never in a million years would I have done it if I hadn’t thought you’d be alone or that I’d find you in the middle of… ” Her mom’s words trailed away. “Every time we’ve talked you said you weren’t seeing anyone.”

“What’s taking so long in here?” her father asked as he came to stand next to her mother. Once he took in the scene, he said, “Oh.”

Alexis groaned. “Dad, can you please take Mom and go back to the living room?”

“Ah, sure. I guess this whole surprise thing wasn’t such a great idea, after all.” He looked at her mom. “Let’s go.” He tugged his wife away from the doorway as he backed up.

“You could at least shut the door,” Alexis called.

Her father returned and did as she’d requested. Once they were safely closed inside the room, Alexis turned to Konner. “I’m sorry. I had no idea they were coming.” Konner grinned. “No need to apologize. I know you weren’t expecting them. Your mom said it was supposed to be a surprise.”

Alexis put her head in her hand and shook it. “God, it’s embarrassing.” Never in a million years did she think something like this would happen.

Konner sat up and laughed. “At least we weren’t close to the end and had to stop.”

She smacked his arm. “I’m glad you find this amusing because I don’t. I know my mom got a good eyeful, especially of you. She might have had her hand covering her eyes a little, but I know for a fact she looked. And I really wanted my mother to see my boyfriend’s bare ass.” She said the last part in a sarcastic tone.

“Being married and all, I’m sure she has seen a male backside many times.”

Alexis hit him again. “I don’t need the reminder that my parents have sex, thank you very much. We’d better get dressed and go to them before my mom comes back to see what’s taking so long.” She let the sheet go and slid off the bed before she went to her dresser to get some clothes.

Konner stayed on the bed. “So it’s your birthday next week?”

“Yes. A week from this Wednesday I’ll turn twenty-seven,” she said absently as she put on a pair of panties and a bra. “Konner, please get out of bed.” He chuckled. “All right, I’m moving.”

Konner slid off the mattress and stood in all his naked glory. Alexis had a hard time keeping her gaze off him as she finished dressing. She could understand why her mom would look—Konner had a body any woman would dream about—but the idea of her mother checking him out just made Alexis feel weirded out.

“I’d better do something special for your birthday then,” Konner continued as he gathered his clothes.

“If you do, it’ll have to be before or after the actual day. My mom claims my birthday as her right to be with me since it’s a milestone for her as much as me, her having to go through the birthing process to bring me into the world. And believe me, there will be no budging her from any plans she has then.”

“Okay, I’ll keep that in mind.”

Seeing Konner was now dressed, Alexis sighed.

“Time to go face my parents. This should be fun,” she said with sarcasm in her voice.

Konner followed Alexis out of the bedroom. Having her mother walking in on them wasn’t as big a deal to him as it was to Alexis. In some ways, he thought it was kind of funny, especially how Alexis had reacted. She’d acted like a teenager getting caught having sex for the first time. And it really didn’t bother him if her mother had looked at him. Considering his age, he
was
the elder of the two of them so it wasn’t an older woman checking out a much younger man.

Alexis’ parents weren’t in the living room but in the kitchen. Her mother moved around the room, making what looked like breakfast. Her father stood at the coffeemaker getting it ready to brew. It made sense that they’d make themselves at home since the house had been theirs for so many years before they’d moved to Florida. Konner looked at Alexis to see what her reaction was to her parents taking over her kitchen. She seemed to take in the scene and sighed. Konner followed her to the round table when she sat on one of the chairs.

Her mom turned from the stove and smiled at them.

“Good, you’re here. I’m going to make pancakes from scratch, not that awful stuff in a box.” She came to stand next to the table, closer to Konner. “As you probably already figured out, we’re Alexis’ parents. I’m Claudia and my husband is Dean.”

“I’m Konner,” he said in return.

“Oh, you’re Australian. It’s nice to meet you, Konner.

Alexis never told us she was seeing someone.” He heard Alexis quietly groan beside him. “Yes, I am. We recently started dating,” he replied.

“So I guess that expensive-looking car outside in the driveway is yours?”

Alexis broke into the conversation before he could answer. “Yes, it is, Mom. I would have thought seeing it would have clued you in to the fact that I wasn’t alone.” Claudia shrugged. “I thought maybe you had it as a loaner or something. I never would have guessed it belonged to your new boyfriend. That would be the last thing I thought of.”

“Gee, thanks. Make me sound as if I’m a loser when it comes to men.”

Her mother shook her head. “I didn’t mean it that way. It’s just been a while since you’ve really dated.”

“Don’t forget about the pancakes,” Dean said as he joined them at the table.

“Oh yes,” Claudia said as she went back to the stove.

“Konner.” Alexis’ dad held out his hand.

Konner shook it. “Dean.”

Dean sat in the chair on the other side of Alexis at the table. He looked at his daughter. “I promise no more surprises like this. I wasn’t thrilled with the idea, but your mother insisted. You know what she can be like when it comes to your birthday.”

“It’s okay, Dad,” Alexis said.

“I heard that,” Claudia said. “And I’m not
that
bad when it comes to Alexis’ birthday.”

Both Alexis and her father shared a look that said otherwise. Konner smiled. This was what he’d been missing since he’d become one of Anubis’ warriors, having a family to share inside jokes with. To have a mother to fuss over him when it was his birthday. His parents and two siblings were a long time in their graves.

They’d all been very close. It had hit his mother the hardest when Konner had made the decision to sign up to fight in the war. She’d been so afraid she’d lose him. In the end, she had, but not to death as she would have figured. He sometimes still wondered what his family thought had happened to him. To them, it would have seemed as if he had just dropped off the face of the earth to never be heard from again.

But now he had Alexis to consider as his family since she was his mate. Each time they’d made love the night before, he’d found it more than a struggle not to bite her.

The urge rode him hard, but it was his conscience he had to fight with more. He
wanted
to take that step that would permanently tie her to him. In some ways, he wanted to take the choice from Alexis and just make her his. But he wouldn’t do that. He was a man of his word and he’d promised Anubis he wouldn’t force her to accept Konner as her mate.

It wasn’t long before Claudia had what looked close to a mountain of pancakes piled on a serving plate set in the middle of the table. She sat next to her husband and they all helped themselves to the food. The conversation flowed easily as they ate. There was no mistaking that Alexis was close to her parents. Konner found he liked the couple. They reminded him a lot of his parents.

Once breakfast was over, Alexis helped her mom with the washing up while Konner went into the living room with her father. They sat on the couch. Dean picked up the TV’s remote and turned it on. He switched channels until he stopped on a documentary that compared the First to the Second World War. Konner stiffened as memories of his time during the First World War rose to the surface of his mind. For the first couple of years after becoming a warrior of Anubis, he’d woken up every night with nightmares of what he’d gone through. They now called it post-traumatic stress disorder and soldiers were treated for it, but back in his day, men like him had no name for it and suffered through it alone.

The documentary came to a section about Gallipoli.

Konner couldn’t hold back a little growl as they showed pictures of the men in the trenches. He remembered all too well what it was like living in them. The filth, the stench of disease and the wounded and dying, who weren’t cleared away as they should have been.

Dean turned to look at him. “Are you all right?”

“Yeah. It’s the subject matter that bothers me,” he said, barely holding back another growl as he motioned to the television. “Gallipoli was a bloody useless eight months. It turned out to be a disaster. A lot of Australian and New Zealand troops either lost their lives or were wounded. Their British officers were the ones to send most of them out of the trenches against the Turks to their deaths. It was a complete waste of time and men.

The officers were incompetent and had disregard for the wounded from poorly planned attacks.” Konner’s lip snarled as he said the last words.

“You’re pretty passionate about it. Someone would think you were there and lived through it.” Konner reined back the emotions that surged through him. He had to remember Dean didn’t know Konner
had
barely survived it. He cleared his throat.

“More than quite a few of my countrymen lost their lives there. I’ve done a lot of research into Gallipoli and the First World War.”

“So you’re a bit of a history buff, huh?”

“In some ways. It can be a touchy subject for me.”

“Then I’ll turn the channel,” Dean said with a smile.

“No point getting you all worked up. Besides, I think the girls will be finished in the kitchen soon.” No longer confronted with the images from his past, Konner felt the tension drain from his body. Alexis’

father had settled on a sports channel and watched all the updated scores for various teams. Konner barely paid it any attention. He wasn’t a sports fan.

Alexis and her mother came into the living room shortly after. Claudia sat in the armchair kitty-corner to the couch while Alexis took a seat on the sofa beside Konner. He had hoped to see her again in the latter part of the day after she finished working and before he had to go out on a night of hunting. But he didn’t think that would happen with her parents here.

Making the decision that it would be the best thing to leave so Alexis could visit with her parents without him hanging around, Konner stood. “I should go,” he said, then looked at Claudia. “Thanks for making me breakfast. And it was nice meeting you both.” He turned to Alexis. “Will you walk me out?”

“Sure,” she said.

Once they were out of sight of her parents, Konner tugged Alexis into his arms and kissed her. They were both breathing hard when he pulled away. “I guess I won’t be seeing you later.”

She gave him a look that confirmed it. “Sorry. It’s not as if I don’t want to. My mom will expect me to stick around.”

“I know,” he said, enjoying the feel of Alexis still pressed against him as her fingers played with the back of his hair.

“It might be a couple of days.”

“I understand. I’ll miss you, though.”

“And I’ll miss you.” Alexis brushed her lips across his. “I promise I’ll be able to get away from them in a few days. I know I’ll need a break by then. But you can still call me, and you have my cell phone number so you can text too.”

He grinned. “I’ll call and text.”

Konner gave Alexis one last kiss, then let himself out of the house. He had to walk by the living room window to get to his car. He looked at it and found Claudia standing there waving at him. He waved back with a chuckle. He kind of had his doubts that Alexis would be able to get away from her mom anytime soon.

* * * * *

Her mother was driving Alexis nuts. She hadn’t lived under the same roof with her parents for quite some time. In the two days since they’d arrived from Florida, her mom had cleaned the house from top to bottom, rearranged all the things in the kitchen cupboards so Alexis could no longer find anything and had gone food shopping for her. Alexis was starting to feel like a little kid again and didn’t like it at all.

Then there was the fact that she missed Konner dreadfully. He was never far from her mind. If absence made the heart grow fonder, it sure as hell was the case with her. She felt as if she were a girl with her first crush.

Or a woman who’d fallen in love for the very first time.

Alexis had the feeling it was the latter of the two. Her feelings had never been this strong for a guy before.

Already she couldn’t picture what her life would be like without Konner in it. And she was pretty sure he felt the same way about her. He called her at least three times a day and texted her about five. Some of those texts were so naughty she had to go to her bedroom to read them so her mother wouldn’t look over her shoulder, asking her what Konner had said.

He even called her when he was doing his job. Once he cut the conversation short to go after one of the bad guys. Alexis had been worried he’d gotten hurt since he’d hissed in what sounded like pain before he’d said he had to go. But Konner had put her mind to rest an hour later when he called back and assured her he was fine.

Alexis blinked and realized she’d been lost in thought again when she was supposed to be doing work on her computer. She’d been working on the same line of code for at least a half hour and really hadn’t done much of anything at that. God, she had it bad for Konner.

At the sound of her mother clearing her throat, Alexis spun her steno chair around to see she stood in the open doorway of her office. “Is there something you wanted, Mom?”

Her mother nodded and walked over to Alexis. “Yes, there is. I want you to go pack an overnight bag and leave.”

She scowled. “What?”

“You heard me. It hasn’t escaped my notice that you’ve been walking around here moping. I can tell you miss Konner, and that it’s your father and I who are keeping you from him. So I want you to go pack a change of clothes and spend the night over at his place. I know he works nights, but it’s not quite lunchtime now so you should have plenty of time to be with him before he does have to go.”

“Are you sure?” Alexis asked. “You and Dad came here to visit me. I feel as if I should spend my free time with the both of you. And I really should get some work done.”

Her mom arched a brow. “Each time I’ve walked by this room this morning, I’ve seen you staring off into space. I doubt you’re getting much accomplished.” Alexis grinned. “I guess I’m a little distracted. I can’t seem to stop thinking about Konner.” Her mother stepped closer and kissed Alexis on the forehead. “What was that for?” she asked.

“My little girl has finally fallen in love.”

“I don’t know, Mom. It’s still so soon.”

“Nonsense. Your father and I knew we loved each other very early on in our relationship. We hadn’t been dating a year when we were married. When it’s right, it’s right. There’s no point in fighting it. And the way I saw Konner when he was with you, he feels it too. Plus, the man has a very fine ass. Don’t tell your father I said that,” her mom said with a wink.

“Mom!” Alexis said as she laughed. “You weren’t supposed to be checking out my boyfriend’s butt.”

“I only looked a little. It was just out there. What do you expect?”

Alexis laughed even harder. Once she brought herself back under control, she said, “I really shouldn’t find this funny. I should be embarrassed as all hell.” Her mom smiled. “It’s not as if you’re a child. We’re both adults. Now go to Konner. I’m officially kicking you out of the house until tomorrow.”

out of the house until tomorrow.”

Alexis stood, then kissed her mother on the cheek.

“Thanks, Mom. I love you.”

“I know you do. And I love you. Tell Konner I expect him to come over for the day of your birthday to celebrate with us.”

“I will.”

Alexis saved what she’d been trying to work on before she shut down her computer. Not wanting to take the time to call Konner to tell him she was on her way, she quickly threw a change of clothes into an athletic bag.

Before she left she gave her dad and mom a kiss and told them she’d see them tomorrow.

During the drive to Konner’s place, Alexis hoped he’d be at home. She hadn’t spoken to him yet today.

Given how late he worked at night, she’d made it a habit not to call before noontime in case he was still sleeping.

By the time she’d reach his house, it would be close to that.

Her heart beat faster as she pulled into his driveway, then parked in front of the detached garage. She hauled the athletic bag out of the passenger seat and walked at a fast clip to Konner’s front door. Alexis rang the bell and impatiently waited for him to answer.