Rock The Wolfe (5 page)

His leg began to twitch and jerk in nervous response. Closing his eyes, he willed back the anxiety that moved through him. He couldn’t bolt. Not again. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason for the onset of the symptoms. Maybe it was a defense mechanism from him feeling too much.
Interesting
. Swallowing down the lead ball of tension that had wedged in his throat, he cracked open his eyes and gave her one of his best smiles.

“Cool. Boiled hot dogs and steamed buns. Tomorrow?”

She nodded. “I’ll have to head into town later to get what we need.”

“I’ll come with you.”

She arched an eyebrow. “Really? You can go out in public?”

He barked out a laugh. “I’m not that famous. Besides, I wear dark glasses. Pull back the hair and tuck it under a ball cap, I look like everyone else.”

Kerri gave him a seductive smile that had the twitch in his leg move higher and settle in his crotch.

“Hon, you do not look like everyone else. Not even close.”

The anxiety pulled back. He exhaled in relief.

“Your parents live around here?”

Kerri continued chopping. “They did. They’ve lived outside Ottawa now for a couple of years. Dad took a contract job with the government. They hope to move back next year when he retires.”

“You didn’t go visit them on your break?”

Kerri stopped. Turning, she leaned against the counter and crossed her arms.

“They’re vacationing in Nova Scotia right now. They invited me and I would’ve loved to have gone as I’ve never been to the east coast, but…. well…. It’s been a rough year. So many outside distractions. If only they would leave teachers alone to do what we do best: teach. All these rules. Paperwork, reports, conferences, and curriculum policies…. it’s enough to fry your nerves.” She frowned. “This year, more than ever, I needed down time. You mentioned you have issues. So do I. Toward the end of this term, anxiety ruled my life. I haven’t been to the doctor because I don’t really feel depressed.”

“You’re under a shitload of stress.”

“Yes. Exactly. I wanted to take this summer and see if relaxation and quiet time could pull me back from the cliff’s edge. I probably unloaded too much information, didn’t I?”

What she described paralleled his thoughts and feelings. He could confess his own disquiet and angst, but now didn’t seem the time to go into gory detail.

“No, you didn’t. I get what you said, more than you know. I find it hard to talk about.”

“Then let’s change the subject.” She smiled warmly.

“Nova Scotia. I had a concert in Halifax five years ago. Great city. Had fantastic lobster tails there.”

That wasn’t the only tail he had in Halifax. Before his marriage to Janice, he’d made the rounds, especially on tour. He’d had a lot of women while on the road, a real smorgasbord. After the concert, two ladies had joined him in his suite. Sex in multiple positions for hours on end. Kevin even joined in. Absolutely wild. There had been no sexual interaction between himself and Kevin, but it showed the depth of the trust and love they had for each other that they could participate in such an intimate act. He shook the recollection from his mind. Those days were over, and in more ways than one.

Kerri placed the salad plate in front of him, grabbed her own, and took a seat next to him.

“Remembering the good old days?” she teased.

Eerie that she seemed tuned in to his moods, unless he’d revealed more on his face than he wanted to.

“There were a few, but not as many as you think. Being on the road is damned monotonous and exhausting, but being on stage in front of a crowd makes it all worth it.” He took a bite of chicken.

“You miss it.”

Again, she nailed his thoughts and emotions.

“I do, to a point. Dad suggested I look into producing. The idea has merit.”

He watched as Kerri meticulously cut her food into pieces.

“After you left last night, I surfed the net and watched a lot of your videos. You are…charismatic, talented, and I wish to hell I’d given your music a chance before now. I think my favorite is ‘Into the Dark Night.’”

“That ballad was a big hit for us. Thanks.”

Her heartfelt words pleased him. How pathetic he needed reaffirmation of his talent. He’d doubted himself as of late. What existed between them seemed to solidify as they sat and ate their lunch. Invisible threads stitched them tighter together with each shared confidence. Life could be hard enough. In this day and age, stress seemed to cover the planet in a thick fog, affecting everyone at various levels. He knew deep down he was not a weak person. He had the feeling the same could be said about Kerri. Could they help each other heal? Did he even want to go there?

Too late.

As a rule, he didn’t fall hard and fast. Passionate as he could be, he kept a tight rein on his emotions with regards to women, even with his own wife. Kerri had already broken through a few barriers. If he wasn’t careful, she would smash down the whole damned wall.

And that, he couldn’t have.

***

Kerri padded barefoot down the stairs to do a last-minute check before retiring for the night. She had downloaded a couple of free romance reads to her iPod and planned to spend the rest of the night curled up in bed, lost in a fictional world.

Glancing at the clock on the wall, she walked into the kitchen, opened the fridge, and reached for a small bottle of her guilty pleasure, Pepsi Max. She’d parted ways with the other guilty pleasure around four o’clock that afternoon. After she and Wolfe drove into Peterborough and did a little grocery shopping, they’d taken a bit of a drive, talked, laughed, and stopped for an ice cream. They’d agreed to meet for lunch the next day. A strange sort of sadness settled over her when they’d said good-bye. She had enjoyed his company very much and didn’t want to leave his side. How disturbing.

No one recognized him, as he’d said. The ease with which they seemed to converse had her fantasizing about the possibility of more between them. But she could not go there; she had to keep this casual and brief. Even Wolfe said so. Right, great job so far.

Kerri tugged on the oversize T-shirt she used as a nightie. Slamming the door of the refrigerator with her foot, she cracked open the bottle top and took a long swig of the ice-cold soda.

A pounding sounded at the front door.
Who in hell could that be this time of night?
She placed the drink on the counter and then scampered into the living room to peer through the curtains to see who it was.

Wolfe.

She ran into the hall and opened the door. Wolfe barreled in and backed her against the wall. He caught her by surprise, and for a split second, the intense look on his face, as if he were in pain, had her nerves sparking to attention. Grasping her wrists, he held them above her head as he leaned in. Under the T-shirt that barely covered her ass, she wore a pair of skimpy panties, and Wolfe’s erection seared her skin as he fitted his hips between her legs. He thrust in a slow and sensual motion while he nibbled on her neck. His breath, hot and ragged, ignited her entire body.

“I need you. Now.”

He wore sweatpants, but she could feel every long inch of him, hard and throbbing against her pelvis. Her insides dipped and rolled. Wolfe let go of her wrists and moved his large, capable hands under her shirt, cupping her breasts, lightly pinching the nipples. A low, rasping moan slipped from her.

“Are you wet?” he whispered.

Yeah, as soon as she’d seen him at the door. She nodded. Wolfe trailed one hand downward, slipping it under the waistband of her underwear. As he teased her curls, his other hand caressed her breast.

“Oh, Jesus, you’re so wet. So responsive. Tell me you want me. Inside you. Here. Deep.”

“I do. I want you.”

She could hear the desperation in her own voice, seconds away from begging. He pulled down her panties and she stepped out of them, kicking them aside. Wolfe reached in and pulled out his erect cock. Already sheathed.

“Wow, you came prepared.”

Wolfe laughed. “Thought I would save a little time. I put it on before I left the house.”

Grasping her leg, he laid it across his slim, muscular hip, bent his legs slightly, and entered her high and deep.

Kerri’s breath seized in her throat.

She’d never been taken like this before. Wolfe buried his face in her neck, groaning with each thrust. Her back hit the wall with each forceful plunge. This had such a desperate, fierce feel to it. She became caught up in the emotions swirling all around them, sensations she could not put a name to. She clutched his broad shoulders and held on. He was skilled, knowing the right angle, the right amount of force, and how deep to burrow inside her. And did he. He filled and stretched her in a passionate possession. She could stay pinned like this forever.

Wolfe laid hot, insistent kisses on her neck, moving to her jaw, and then captured her lips. His tongue swirled inside her mouth, matching the pummeling of his hips. The slant of his thrusts gave enough friction to her clit that she cried out in a shattering release. Her nails dug into his back so deep she must have drawn blood.

With a ragged moan, Wolfe reached his climax. For a moment they stayed joined, frozen, as if they both could not believe what had happened. The hallway was eerily quiet and dark; the only illumination came from the light in the kitchen. Shadows played across Wolfe’s tense face. Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead. He stepped back, his cock slipping out of her. He quickly tucked it back in his sweats.

Every muscle and nerve ending snapped with life. Her legs were about to give out.

“Jesus, I’m sorry,” he rasped.

***

What had he done? He had almost kicked Kerri’s door in, he wanted to get at her so desperately. Wolfe had spent an hour pacing in his room. His sex drive had all but disappeared the last several months, but it seemed to have returned with a vengeance. His hard-on would not go away. He’d even jerked off, to no avail. Just stayed hard. When he couldn’t stand it any longer, he’d run all the way to her door.

His hands shook from the intensity of his climax. Damn it, his whole body thrummed with awareness.

Kerri stayed leaning against the wall, her gaze questioning.

“Sorry about the against-the-wall wild sex?”

“Yes. No. Definitely no. I never…it has never been like this. Ever. In all my many…. shit.”

Kerri touched his arm, and he calmed a little.

“Why don’t you freshen up? Then we can talk.”

He stepped back. “I should go.”

His flight instinct kicked into high gear. He didn’t want to face this. Admit that something was going on between them, something he’d never experienced before. Christ, they had just met. How could this be possible? Was he that needy and vulnerable that he’d latch on to the first woman he’d been around in months? The timing sucked. Why, now, would he meet the one woman who might turn out to be what his heart had longed for? He couldn’t deal. Not tonight.

Kerri tightened the grip on his arm. “Please don’t run off. Meet me in the living room.”

Again, she seemed hardwired to his thoughts and emotions.

“Yeah. Okay.”

He slipped into the half bath at end of the hall, closing and locking the door behind him. Wolfe splayed his hands on either side of the sink and exhaled.
Get a grip
. He turned on the tap and splashed cold water on his face and then dried off. His nerve endings sizzled and popped with an electric pulse. After taking another deep, cleansing breath, he reached in under his waistband and tore off the condom, tossing it in the wastebasket.

After washing his hands, he glanced at his reflection in the mirror above the sink. How could someone feel flushed but look pale? He did.

Wolfe stepped into the hall. He hesitated at the entrance of the living room. Her scent still filled his nostrils; he could still feel the warm, welcoming lushness of her body embracing him.

He walked out the front door and slammed it behind him.

Sitting at the kitchen table the next morning drinking her tea, Kerri still could not believe Wolfe had walked out without a word.

For a man she’d only became acquainted with, he’d managed to tunnel his way into her heart and it made her uneasy. Would he even show up for their planned lunch? Did she care? Unfortunately, she did. Perhaps too much.

He had issues. Obviously. Did she really want to get into his shit? He was the reason WolfePak disbanded. He understood her frayed nerves. Could he have had a breakdown of some sort, could that be why that why he stayed at his parents’, to recover? His marriage had fallen apart in the last several months. Was he that devastated by the bust-up? Or were more issues in play here?

Kerri hadn’t gotten much sleep. After that wild encounter against the wall, her body throbbed and shuddered all night. She wanted more. She still did. An addiction. That was it. She craved him like a double hot fudge sundae.

Thinking on his few words, she realized that perhaps he’d felt overwhelmed as well by what they’d shared. Really? In all his experiences—and he’d been with many women, she assumed—it had never been like this for him. He’d said those words out loud; she hadn’t imagined it.

What to do with that information? Kerri didn’t have a vast sexual background upon which to reflect, and the few times she’d been involved in a relationship, the sex had come later. Much later.

Anyway, if he did show up, she resolved not to act pissed off at his sudden departure. Her gut instinct told her that would not be the way to handle Wolfe Phelan. Even though she had lain awake for hours vibrating in anger at his hasty exit.

The cell phone hummed and bounced around on the table. Unknown caller. She answered.

“Hello?”

“Yeah. It’s Wolfe. You’re awake? Mind if I come up for a minute? Just to talk, nothing else.”

Why did the “nothing else” crush her in disappointment? She took a deep breath.

“I have a pot of tea on. Come on up. Unless you don’t drink it.”