Sondrae Bennett - Alpine Woods Shifters 4 (10 page)

“The bedroom,” she managed to gasp as he slipped his hands under her shirt. Everywhere he touched fired nerve endings, leaving a trail of sensation in their wake. His hands stopped and he lifted his lips away from the top of her breasts, making her groan in frustration. When he straightened, she opened her eyes to stare warily into his as he studied her.

She tried to put every bit of certainty into her eyes, willing him to continue what he’d started. She knew she’d won when the roguish smile curled his lips before he leaned down and ravished her mouth once again. Her head spun from the intensity as he turned them around and backed her toward the bedroom. She closed her eyes, trusting him to keep her from tripping. Trusting him to not let her fall.

As they turned into the bedroom, Cody broke the kiss. Hearing his growl, Misty opened her eyes and followed his gaze to the boxes sitting on her floor. Guess she’d have to cancel the move now. But there was plenty of time to worry about that later. Right now, she had her man right where she wanted him.

Taking control, Misty grabbed his hands and backed up until her legs hit the bed. She fell backward, pulling him down with her. The feel of his chest pressed against her distracted her. It must have done the same for him, since his lips captured hers with renewed ferocity.

Her body quaked as she opened her legs and bent her knees, allowing him to slide in between and press against her through their jeans. She bucked into him, thrilled with the purely male groan the movement pulled from him.

Something tickled her thigh a second before a piano riff ripped through the air. She groaned against his mouth, recognizing the ring.

“I’ll ignore it.” He shook his head and deepened the kiss.

“What if it’s something important?” she asked.

“Nothing is more important than this.”

Happiness bubbled inside her and she tightened her legs around him. He always knew the perfect thing to say. Well, except this morning, but she wasn’t going to think about that anymore. It didn’t deserve another moment of consideration. This was the Cody she knew. Right now, she had everything she’d ever desired.

Seconds after the cell stopped ringing, it started again. Misty groaned, knowing he couldn’t ignore it again. Breaking the kiss, he growled in frustration and reached down.

“Give me a minute to get rid of whoever it is,” he said before flipping open the phone and putting it to his ear with a curt, “hello.”

Trying to give him some privacy–hard considering he still lay between her thighs–Misty turned her head to the side. He must have had his phone volume really low, because all she caught were snippets.

“Was anybody hurt?”

Her head snapped back to Cody’s face.

Anger lined every angle of his body as he stood, pulling her up with him. Gone was her gentle lover. “Okay, I’ll be right over.” He threw her an apologetic look as he closed the phone. “There was a fire at the edge of town. No one hurt, but I need to go check it out.” He leaned down and placed a brief kiss against her lips. “I’m sorry. The job of a Premier…”

“I understand,” she broke in. He didn’t need to explain his job to her. It was part of him. Part of what she loved about him was his sense of responsibility. “Why don’t you come back over when you’re done, and we can pick this up then?”

His smile flashed, but she knew his brain was already on his duties. Even so, he leaned down to nibble on her ear and whispered, “Something to look forward to,” before backing away and leaving.

Misty stood without moving until she heard the front door close behind him. Then she turned around, fell on the bed, and screamed in glee into her pillow. She lay there for a full minute, savoring the sensations rioting through her system.

The box on the floor caught her eye and propelled her into action. While Cody was gone, she might as well get to work canceling her move. If she hurried, maybe she’d have time to set up something romantic before he got back. With that resolve in mind, she jumped up and got to work.

Chapter 7

What a mess. Cody sat in his car and stared at the burnt shell of a building in front of him. He’d come back to stare at the wreckage after his emergency meeting with the town elders. They’d all agreed on the need for a town meeting about the building that had caught fire. No, not caught fire.
Set on fire
. Deliberately, according to the evidence left at the scene.

Rubbing a hand over his face, Cody let his frustration out in a scream, grateful no one was around to see how close he was to losing control. This was his town. His skulk.

No matter how he studied the facts, for the life of him he couldn’t find any logic here. Vulpes Creek was fairly cut off from the rest of the world, but he doubted anyone from town would do this. Too much risk, not only of the fire spreading but also of getting caught. Everyone knew Cody would be forced to punish the criminal. Besides, the location of the building on the edge of town made it a prime target for outsiders. But who?

According to the fire chief, the front door had been barricaded. If they hadn’t gotten here so quickly, it might have been too late for Widow Carlson. Even so, she’d been rushed to the emergency room for smoke inhalation. He’d gone to visit her before coming back here and was grateful to find her relatively unharmed. Sure, she was a bit of a meddler and overly chatty at times, but he couldn’t imagine her driving someone to this.

It had to be a strike against the skulk. Which still left the question of why. A warning, maybe. But of what? There’d been no note, no clue, just the remnants of the building.

No point in dwelling on it any more tonight, although he doubted he’d get much sleep. The neon clock on his dashboard read one AM. Hard to believe he’d been at this for hours and was no closer to understanding it than when he’d first arrived.

Still, his presence had been necessary. In times of crisis, his skulk looked to him for guidance and reassurance. As much as he wished he could have stayed with Misty, his work here had been important.

Misty…

Cody glanced at the clock again. Hopefully, she hadn’t waited up for him too long. Too late to head over now. No matter how much he might want to. A bout of hot sex would suit his restless spirit, but wouldn’t be fair to her. Tomorrow would be soon enough to pick up where they’d left off. And he could do better than a hasty screw in the bedroom. Misty deserved roses and candlelight. She would never ask for it. But she needed it, whether she knew it or not. Despite their rocky start, he was just the man to give it to her.

* * * *

Sunlight pierced her closed eyelids, waking her from a sound sleep. Why hadn’t she closed the curtains before going to bed?

Using her hand to shield the worst of the light, Misty opened her eyes and peered around. That explained the curtain question. And the crick in her neck. Ouch.

Misty sat up on the couch and tried to stretch out her muscles. Of course, this afternoon would be the day of her advanced yoga class. Stumbling to the kitchen, Misty grabbed a cup and staggered to the coffee pot. Sending up a silent thanks for automatic timers, she poured her first cup and sniffed the rich aroma before adding in her sugar and cream.

It wasn’t until the cup was half empty that she realized she still wore the lacy black babydoll lingerie. Not surprising that it had taken her so long. She was completely useless before her first cup of coffee. God’s nectar.

She bit her lip in indecision. There were a lot of reasons why Cody might have flaked on coming by. She didn’t know how bad the fire had been. When he’d been on the phone, he’d asked if anybody had gotten hurt. Whatever had happened must have been pretty bad. He might have simply forgotten in all the hoopla.

Or he could have changed his mind….

Misty pushed the thought out of her head. Doubts didn’t deserve her time or energy. Whatever was supposed to come would come whether she worried about it or not, so her motto was
let it be
. Okay, she’d stolen it from the Beatles, but it worked.

Besides, he wouldn’t have changed his mind. She closed her eyes and touched her fingertips against her lips. There had been too much intensity in his kiss. Such passion. Emotion like that didn’t just disappear. Right?

There she went. Questioning herself again. She shook her head, exasperated with herself. No matter how much she lectured, it was impossible to completely dispel the doubts.

Misty looked at the wrist, then rolled her eyes and glanced at the wall clock, groaning at the early time. Despite the fact that most yoga classes were taught in the morning, no one had ever accused her of being a morning person. As a rule, she didn’t teach her first class until seven AM, and then only twice a week. Because of the size of the town, she was able to set her own schedule. Anyone who decided to start their day before six in the morning needed their head examined. It wasn’t normal. On Sundays, she didn’t have to be in until one. Thank God today was Sunday.

Still, now that she was up, she might as well get her day started. She had no hope of going back to sleep. Looking out the window into the backyard, she saw Oscar chasing his tail in his pen. Foxes were not supposed to chase their tails. Clearly, she was not letting him out enough. According to all the online articles she’d read about raising foxes, they needed plenty of exercise. And to be kept in a large pen outside, not inside like a dog. Cody had been right, damn him. Not that she had any intention of telling him as much.

Deciding it was past time both she and Oscar got a good run through the woods, Misty stripped out of her lingerie, carefully placed it on the counter, and shifted. And realized belatedly as she stared up at the knob she needed thumbs to open the door…and the fox pen. Honestly, she’d lose her head if it wasn’t attached.

* * * *

This was Misty’s favorite part of any class. Everyone lay curled forward on the floor with eyes closed, concentrating on breathing, and Misty got to examine them unobtrusively. She studied the evenness of their breathing, how long it took them to release tension, and how much sweat had gathered on their clothing. All the factors told her whether or not she’d pushed hard enough, or too hard. Today the class had gotten their money’s worth and she had earned her paycheck.

“When you’re ready, slowly curl into child’s pose, remembering to breathe.”

The door in the back of the studio cracked open, the cool air a welcome relief from the stuffy room. Cody stuck his head in, his eyes zeroing in on her. She held up a finger, asking him to wait a moment. With a nod, he eased the door shut.

“Okay, now push yourself into a seated position with your hands at heart center, then to your third eye. Namaste.” She waited until everyone opened their eyes as they eased out of their meditation. “Thank you for coming today, everyone. I’ll see you all next week.”

The class began to file out, many of them stopping Cody to ask questions as he tried to slip past. Foolish man. He wasn’t nearly as invisible as he liked to think. Whenever Cody entered a room, everyone stopped to stare. The women out of attraction, and the men because his mere presence commanded it.

Misty shook her head and rolled up her mat, stuffing her extra clothes and water bottles into her bag. On Sundays she only had the one class, which allowed her to go home, shower, and be lazy the rest of the day. Maybe she’d take Oscar out for another hunt, even though they’d gone out that morning. He’d been driving her crazy with his surplus energy lately.

“Hey,” Cody said, reaching down to help her off the floor. He leaned in and kissed her cheek. The casual way he did it might have been in friendship or between lovers, but he lingered a second more than necessary.

A smile bloomed on her face. Lovers it was. Her doubts this morning had been unfounded. Too much passion raged between them to ignore.

“Hi. Busy day?” she asked. Because she couldn’t resist touching him, she ran her hand down his arm, feeling the bulge of muscles underneath his clothing.

“You have no idea,” he groaned. “I brought you something.” He reached into the backpack he carried with him.

“What’s this for?” she asked as he held out a small gift-wrapped present.

“An apology. For the way I acted yesterday. And for not showing up last night. I got a bit held up. I’m hoping you’ll let me make it up to you tonight and come over for dinner. Maybe even stay the night?”

She let the yes shine from her eyes, but didn’t let that stop her from teasing him a bit. “I don’t think I should make any decisions until I see what’s in the package.”

“Well, that’s forward. But I guess if you need to see my package first…” Cody reached for his fly, but Misty grabbed his hand to stop him.

“Not that package.” She giggled, happiness filling her.

“Oh. That one. Well, okay, I guess you should open it then.”

With gusto, she tore into the wrapping and flipped open the box within. Her breath caught in her throat as she stared down at the gift. It was perfect. Absolutely perfect.

“You keep looking at your wrist. Now you’ll actually have something to look at.” He reached over and removed the watch from the box. Taking her left hand, he fastened the watch around her wrist. She stared at the top of his head as he worked. Tingles of pleasure radiated up her arm from where he held her hand, but a greater pleasure came from inside as she realized what he’d revealed. He’d seen her constantly looking at her wrists. All this time, she’d watched him, convinced he didn’t return her feelings, but he must have watched her, too.