Mating the Red Wolf: (Book 10, Grey Wolf Pack Romance Novellas) (9 page)

Instead, she sighed and started picking up the broken bits of cracker.  Kim stilled as she heard more shuffling footsteps.  She sniffed and almost considered hiding under the kitchen table when she scented Ed’s grandmother, Marie coming her way.  Her wolf snorted and Kim relented and stood up.  Yeah, yeah, she had to be brave. 
Whatever
.

The old woman looked at her in confusion.  “Who are you?  What are you doing in my house?”

“It’s Kim; we met a couple of days ago.  I was invited here by…”

Marie waved her hand.  “Oh, yes, Kim.  I remember.”

She made her way over to a chair; her cane clacked on the tiled floor.  Heavily, she sank onto the seat.

“Do you want me to get you something to eat?” asked Kim, unsure of what else to do or say.

Marie looked around the kitchen in surprise.  “Oh, no thank you.  Did you say your name was Kim?”

“Umm, yes.”

Marie nodded and sniffed.  “You’re a wolf shifter, too.”

“Yep.”

“Hmmm, you seem so nice, just the sort of woman my grandson, Ed should be with.”

Kim smiled and was about to set Marie straight when the older she-wolf continued talking.

“He’s gotten himself engaged to someone who isn’t right for him, a completely inappropriate woman.  She’s just a bit of fun, but the fool’s fancying himself in love.”

Kim’s eyes bulged as she surveyed the woman in front of her.  Was she kidding?  Was she trying to get a rise out of Kim by pretending she didn’t remember?  Or did she really not know that Kim was Ed’s ‘bit of fun’ as she so succinctly put it?  Kim watched her carefully, but all she could see was a slightly confused, elderly wolf shifter.

“Of course, I’ve told him that he’ll be cut out of my will if he continues with this idiotic idea of marrying her…”

Oh, god.  Should she tell her?  Yes, she probably should before Marie really said something bad. 
Or at least, something worse.
“Well, actually…”

“There you are!”

Judy bustled into the room, and Marie growled at her, baring her fangs.  Kim was a little taken aback, but Judy merely clucked her tongue.  Judy started trying to get Marie to her feet, and she in turn slapped at Judy’s hands.

“Is everything okay?” asked Kim uncertainly.

Judy beamed at her.  “Of course, she’s just very forgetful.  Makes her a bit woolly-headed.”

Kim looked down at Marie; she hadn’t reacted at all to being called ‘woolly-headed.’  “She seemed okay when we first met…”

Judy bobbed her head quickly, making her look like her neck was on springs.  “She’s mostly okay, but every now and then she gets confused and forgets where she is, and forgets new people she just met.”

“What’s wrong with her?”

Judy chuckled.  “It’s called old age; it comes to us all.  Of course, things have been bad since the accident.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, everyone told her she shouldn’t be driving, but she insisted, and she crashed her car.  Thankfully, no one else was injured, but she took a bump to the head and now she forgets things more often.”

Kim rubbed her arms.  “Gee, I’m sorry to hear that.”

Judy shrugged.  “She has her good and bad days.  Come on now, time for your pills.”

Judy pulled an irritated Marie to her feet and herded her out the kitchen.  Kim sighed, she really needed to get out of that kitchen.  Who else was going to pop through the freaking door?

She scooped up the remnants of crackers and almost yelped as warm arms encircled her waist.  Her wolf yapped like a puppy, and her whole body softened into the embrace. 
Ed.

“Hey, gorgeous,” he murmured into her ear before kissing her neck.

She twisted in his arms, so they were facing each other.  “Thank god it’s you.”

“Expecting someone else?”

Kim shivered.  “No, just dreading that it might have been someone else.”

Ed huffed.  “Not Jonathan?  He hasn’t tried anything with you, has he?”  Ed’s face started to turn purple with anger.  “Because if he has…”

Kim shushed him by pressing her fingers to his lips.  “No, absolutely not.”

Ed relaxed, slightly mollified.  He had nothing to worry about.  Kim actually had a horrible suspicion that there was already something going on between Jonathan and his other brother’s wife, Jennifer.

She ran her hands over his chest, and in spite of all the worry she had, her wolf yipped and her sex throbbed at feeling his tight muscles. 
Ed wasn’t the only one keen to be with his mate.

“I already had a charming run in with Helena and your grandmother; I was just panicking about who was next.”

Ed let out a small snarl and Kim hugged him close to her.  His anger evaporated as he felt her lissome body crushed against him.  She rubbed her erect nipples over his chest and he felt himself growing painfully hard.

Her animal whimpered and, god help her, she started nibbling his earlobe.  She’d been fully prepared to abide by his family’s rules about no sex between unmarried partners, but darn it, she was having a bad day. 
And Ed just smelled so fine…

Ed clutched at her body with more urgency.  “Where’s Jamie?”

“Playing with Christine and your nephews,” she whispered seductively before tracing his ear with her tongue.

Ed let out a rumble.  “You feel so good.  Come to my room?”

Kim was torn between being good and doing what she really wanted.  Oh, who was she kidding?  Her wolf growled throatily.  She was just going to do what she wanted.  “Meet you there in five minutes, I’m just going to slip into something a little less comfortable.” 
Code for I’m going to brush my teeth and shave my legs.

Ed’s face lit up in excitement.  “Hurry.”  He took her hand and pressed it to his lips before running out of the room, almost tripping over his feet in his haste.  He ignored her giggles and rushed to his bedroom.  He had just enough time to pick up his dirty clothes, rip off all his current clothes and arrange himself into a seductive pose.

His beast roared in delight but howled in frustration as Ed burst into his room and found Helena lying on his bed.

“There you are!”

Ed stared at her in shock. 
Was he hallucinating?
  Had he hit his head and this was his twisted brain dreaming up the worst possible scenario he could think of?

Helena smiled at him.  “Are you just going to stand there?”

Ed looked outside his room to make sure no one else was about and quickly shut the door.  “What the hell are you doing here?” he hissed, something his braying wolf was also keen to find out.

Helena stretched out in what Ed was sure was supposed to be a sexy move, but it just left him cold.  He supposed it was just a small mercy that she was actually wearing clothes, even if it was a slip of a tiny dress that showed off far too much flesh.  It could always have been worse… 
Although, he imagined Kim would look absolutely glorious in the same outfit.

“I just wanted to talk to you,” she purred.

“Now isn’t a good time, you should leave.” 

Helena pouted.  “Well, when would be a good time?”

How about the first Thursday after hell froze over?  Ed tapped his foot impatiently.  “We can talk later, and whatever you have to say can be said in front of Kim, my fiancée.”

She scooted to the edge of the bed.  “So you’re actually serious about her, then?”

His wolf snapped his jaws, and Ed folded his arms.  “Yes, of course, I am,” he ground out.

“I think you’re making a mistake…”

“I don’t care what you think,” he snapped.

“Do you honestly think she’ll be accepted by your family?”

“I don’t care what they think either.”

Her bottom lip started trembling theatrically.  “Did I really mean so little to you that you can talk to me this way?”

Ed grunted.  His wolf was all for telling the vapid she-wolf where to stick it, but Ed was a little more patient than his beast. 
Although, not by much.

“We had a few good times, but…”

Her eyes blazed amber.  “A few! You proposed to me!”

“I was not in my right mind.”

Helena got off the bed and threw up her hands in disgust.  “Ugh, I’ve told you over and over that there was nothing in your drink other than alcohol.  Don’t blame me because you can’t hold your drink.”

Ed scoffed – a couple of glasses of wine never caused him amnesia before that night!  His wolf prowled, mindful that any second their mate was about to turn up.  The last thing either of them wanted was for her to find his erstwhile ex-fiancée hanging around his room in an obscenely short mini dress.  “It doesn’t matter anyway; you slept with my brother.”

Helena bared her teeth.  “He threw himself at me!”

“Well, you should have ducked,” he sneered.

Helena scowled and strode past him to the door; she opened it and hesitated.  “If you want my advice…”

“I definitely don’t.”

“Keep Kim away from Jonathan.  I mean, it’s really cute how hard you try in bed, but you just can’t compare to your brother.  One night with him and she probably won’t be able to settle for his little brother.”  She creased her brow and gave him a mock look of sympathy.

His wolf roared, but Ed continued to stare at her blankly.  He wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of letting her see just how much her vicious remarks had bothered him.  He could care less about her own assessment of his ability, but he certainly didn’t like the insinuation that he couldn’t satisfy his mate, or that she would jump into bed with his brother. 
Kim was his!

A look of pure joy passed over Helena’s face.  “Oh, hi, Kim!  I was just leaving; we’ll talk later, Ed.”

Helena shimmied away, hips swaying.  Ed felt a sharp stab in his chest as his lovely but very confused looking mate came into his room.

“Ed?”

Fuck.

Chapter Nine

Jonathan and Ed stared at the chess set in front of them.  They were ostensibly playing, but really Ed was trying to avoid talking to any of his family, and Jonathan was nursing a ferocious hangover.

Kim had understood about finding Helena in his room.  Of course she had, it was just that her ardor had dimmed considerably on finding her fiancée’s ex in his room.  Kim had opted instead to go find Jamie.  After a cold shower, Ed had ventured out and was trying not to take out his anger out on anyone who happened to cross his path.

They both looked up as their grandmother growled and hissed.  They watched as Judy was trying to push a cup and saucer at Marie, and their grandmother was stubbornly refusing to take it.

“Do you think the old hag even knows it’s her birthday?” asked Jonathan nonchalantly.

Jonathan hadn’t been able to forgive his grandmother ever since she was instrumental in sending away the supposed love of his life.

Ed sighed.  “Maybe, she seemed pretty coherent when she was yelling at me, but after she couldn’t even remember who Kim was.”  Even though she didn’t know who Kim was she still managed to insult her though, for which he was furious.

“Lucky Kim.”

“You don’t think marrying Kim is a mistake, do you?”

Jonathan smirked and then a pained look crossed his face.  Probably best not to move his face too much.  “Would it matter if I did?”

Ed gave him a wry smile.  “No, not at all, I just want to know where I stand with all my loving family members.”

“I say marry her quickly before she changes her mind.  You need her married and mated to you before she wakes up and asks herself what a beautiful creature like her is doing carrying on with a shrimp like you.  Presumably she has some kind of amnesia, so she’s forgotten how hot she is, and you need to take advantage of that before her memory comes back.”

Ed narrowed his eyes.  “Gee, thanks; I’m so glad you’re on my side.”

“No problem, happy to help.”

They watched as their grandmother tried to bat Judy away with her cane.

“It’s kind of sad that she’s not doing anything more for her birthday.”

Jonathan snorted.  “Not doing anything?  She dragged us all out to this damn island just to prove that she can still snap her fingers and control us, didn’t she?  That kind of power trip is enough for her.  Besides, since when did you care about birthdays, you told me you spent yours working.”

Ed smiled, and his wolf panted as he thought back to his birthday.  “That wasn’t entirely accurate.”

Jonathan looked at him curiously.  “Why?  What did you do on your last birthday?”

“Ummm…”

*

20
th
October

Ed groaned and stared at the paperwork on his desk.  Why had he agreed to help out with this case?  It was his brother’s case; he should be here doing the work.  God only knows where Arthur was at that moment;
Ed had a bad feeling it wasn’t with his wife…

This was definitely not how he wanted to spend his birthday.  Yep, he was celebrating turning 26 by drowning himself in a mountain of uninteresting contracts.

His wolf whimpered at him.  It had been over a week since he’d last seen Kim, and his beast was alternately upset and furious at him for staying away.  It wasn’t intentional, but he just had such a heavy workload.  But the time he got home at night, he was too tired to even drive to Rose never mind bring his mate to the dizzying heights of sexual pleasure she deserved.

They hadn’t made any great plans, just in case he had to cancel them. 
Which he had
.  They were just going to watch a movie, and he was going to spend the night. 
He wished that was what he was doing. 

Ed had half a mind just to walk out of the firm altogether.  He was becoming less and less interested with his work every day, and more and more desperate to be with Kim.  But, two things held him back, he didn’t want to come on too strong with her and scare her off, and he didn’t want to leave the firm until he was sure Arthur would be able to cope without Ed backing him up.  Whatever was happening with Arthur, he hoped it resolved itself soon.

The outer office was deathly quiet; even the cleaners had finished and gone home.  No one else was dumb enough to be working up here at this hour.

Ed switched on his music player and hummed along to a violin concerto.  He sniffed the air and sighed at the glorious scent of lavender. 
Hmmm, Kim.  Wait, Kim?!

His wolf snapped to attention, and Ed was pleasantly shocked to find the voluptuous she-wolf leaning against his doorframe.  She was wearing killer four-inch heels and a fairly short trench coat. 
He had a very good feeling about what was going on under there…

“Happy birthday, babe,” she purred.

“Kim, how did you…?”

Her lips curled upwards wickedly.  “The guard on the front desk let me up here.  I felt so bad about you being on your own for your birthday that I wanted to surprise you.  Do you like your surprise?”

Ed nodded his head and almost panted at her like a puppy.

Kim strode into his office and firmly shut the door behind her.  Ed watched in excited anticipation as she locked the door and then closed the window blinds.  His wolf howled as she slithered out of her coat to reveal a set of very skimpy, tantalizing black underwear.  The flimsy material barely covered her curvy assets.

His arousal surged, and his rock-hard sex raged to be freed.  Luckily, he wouldn’t have to wait long. 

Kim kicked off her heels and, with a devilish smile on her face, got on her knees and crawled between his legs, her bountiful breasts jiggling beneath her.  Ed gripped the arms of his chair, his claws pushing forward and digging into the leather.

Kim licked her lips suggestively and carefully undid his pants.  He groaned as his hard erection sprang free.  She giggled and took him in her hands, gently stroking him and flourishing kisses on the mushroom head. 

He growled as she unexpectedly engulfed him in her mouth and took as much of him as she could.  She sucked him wildly before releasing him and kissing and licking the tip, lapping at the beads of pre-cum, before she bobbed her head up and down his length.

Ed watched her, marveling at the beautiful woman performing this intimate act on him, and delighting in the feel of her warm mouth.  His wolf howled in glee as his burgeoning need for release caused him to jerk his hips toward her.

He tangled a hand in her silken hair, and she flicked her amber eyes to him.  Seeing her take him like this was too much.  He couldn’t hang on any longer.  “Kim… I’m going to…”

She clamped her red lips around him and sped up her movements until his release struck.  He roared in time with his wolf as he stiffened and came in her mouth.

She continued her motions, sucking his seed and milking every last drop.  He collapsed back into the chair and tried to regain his breath.

Kim slowly pulled away from him to sit back on her haunches.  She was delighted to find he was still hard.  She stood up and unhurriedly stripped out of her underwear, reveling in the hungry look on Ed’s face.

Her wolf yipped in happiness, as she always did when she was about to be with their mate.  She took hold of his manhood and lowered herself onto him slowly; her silken walls eagerly accepted his long length.  She was so slick with honey that she took him in one.  Flush against him, his tip nudged her cervix almost painfully.  It was a pleasurable impalement.  She rolled her hips around him, adjusting to his size.

Ed gripped her hips as he quivered inside her, and she playfully tightened her muscles around him, making him groan.

Her lips found his, and she devoured his mouth passionately.  They sat together, enjoying each other’s kiss while joined so intimately for what felt like hours but was only a matter of minutes.

He pulled away and leaned down to suckle at her breasts nibbling and then laving before moving on to the other.  He alternated between each of them.

Languidly, she started rocking and rolling her hips over him, pushing her clit against him.  Gently he pushed his hips up to meet hers, eliciting small moans from her.  Gradually they got faster and faster until they were slamming into one another’s body.

Kim’s claws pushed forward and ripped through his shirt as she clung to his shoulders.  Ed growled as his own pressed into the flesh of her hips.  The twinge of pain pushed her over the edge, and she howled as her release struck her, sending waves of ecstasy through her sensitive body.  As she writhed in his arms her inner muscles clamped around him.  He roared as the exquisite tightness; it was too much for him, and he exploded.  He jerked his hips inside her, emptying himself until he had nothing more to give.  Their wolves growled in satisfaction. 

Kim leaned her forehead against his.  “Happy birthday, babe.”

“Best damn birthday I ever had,” he breathed.

She let out a soft giggle.  “Glad to hear it.”

*

Present day

“Well?  What did you do for your last birthday?”

Ed gave Jonathan a smug smile.  “Oh, nothing much.”

Jonathan looked at him curiously but decided it wasn’t worth the effort.  “Yeah, well wipe that dopey look off your face.  Lunch in twenty minutes.”

Ed groaned as his wolf growled. 
Good, another chance for some family togetherness.