Werewolf in Denver (11 page)

His breathing roughened. “Look up,” he said, panting.

She’d forgotten the mirror. Gazing above their heads, she watched in fascination as the muscles of his back, buttocks, and thighs propelled him forward again and again. They were both covered in rainbows, but he more than her. Seeing him ravish her so thoroughly while she felt each powerful thrust brought her quickly to the brink of total surrender.

Arching up against him, she cried out his name as her world shattered into a million pieces of rainbow-colored crystal. Through eyes glazed with pleasure, she watched him rock forward once more before he groaned and his big body shuddered in the grip of his own orgasm. His spasms rippled within her as he filled her with liquid warmth.

Gasping for breath, she continued to gaze upward. She made herself concentrate on the image of their bodies locked together while colored light caressed their skin. So beautiful. This moment would never come again, and when she relived it in the years ahead, she wanted to remember every detail.

Duncan remembered little after experiencing a climax so outstanding that it nearly left him unconscious with the pleasure of it. When he woke up, he stretched as happily as any Were would who’d had great sex the night before. Then he sat up with a start.

He was alone in the bed. Light spilling in the doorway from the other room, the smell of coffee brewing, and a slit of gray light showing under the bedroom window blinds told him morning had arrived, but he had no sense of what time it was. There was no clock in the room, which was logical because the Stewarts wouldn’t want to worry about the time as they frolicked in their red-draped bed.

Guilt hit him as he realized that Kate must have gotten up to turn out the light sometime after he’d fallen asleep. He sure as hell hadn’t done it. He only hoped she hadn’t had to shove his nearly lifeless body off her in order to climb out of bed.

Although he thought the lovemaking had gone well, he wasn’t proud of his follow-up performance. A good lover, especially when in human form, needed to stay awake after the event. He should cuddle, murmur sweet nothings, and then get up to turn out the bloody light if necessary.

He should not become comatose, and he certainly shouldn’t become comatose while still lying on top of the
poor female whose lungs were being crushed by his weight. Duncan was very afraid he might have done exactly that. In addition, he’d probably snored like a chain saw.

With a groan of remorse, he swung his feet to the floor, where he expected to find his clothes lying scattered about. They weren’t there. Apparently she’d tidied up after him, too. He had some apologies to make.

“Good morning, sunshine.” Kate appeared in the doorway wearing a white bathrobe that was way too big for her. Her hair was piled on top of her head in a fetching way, and with the light behind her, she looked very much like an angel with a halo. She held a mug in both hands, and from the scent of it, she was bringing coffee.

A rush of warmth in the area of his heart told him she’d begun carving out a place there. He was ridiculously glad to see her. Images came back to him, of Kate with the covers pulled up to her chin and a nervous light in her eyes. He smiled as he remembered how her expression had changed as he took off his clothes.

And then…then she’d flung back the blankets to reveal a blond goddess even more stunning than he’d expected, and he’d expected quite a bit. But he’d rewarded her by going right to sleep after the sex. “Good morning, Kate. Listen, I’m sorry about—”

“I can’t imagine what you have to be sorry about. Are you a coffee drinker or a tea drinker?”

“Either, but coffee’s my preference.”

“How do you like it?”

“Delivered by a bonnie lass in a gigantic white bathrobe.”

Although her face was in shadow, there was a smile in her voice. “Then this is your lucky day. But I meant, do
you like it black or with sugar? If you want cream, there’s only the powdered stuff, and personally I don’t think that’s worth the bother.”

“Black will do nicely.”

“Then here you go.” She walked over and handed him the warm mug.

“Perfect. Thanks.” He took a sip. “Ah, that helps. By the way, do you happen to know where my clothes are?”

“Everything except your slacks is in the dryer. I found a little stackable unit behind some folding doors in the bathroom. I’ve already run everything through the washer.”

“I slept through all that?”

“You were very tired. Oh, and don’t worry. I checked the label on your sweater before I threw it in, but those slacks need to be dry-cleaned.”

“And so my slacks are where?” They might be slightly uncomfortable without his boxers, but he wanted to put something on. He’d never been a fan of walking around the house naked.

“Hanging up, but you don’t want those yet. They’ll be scratchy without the boxers. There’s another bathrobe in the closet. Let me get it.” Crossing the room, she opened a closet door and pulled out a robe identical to hers.

“They must belong to the Stewarts.”

“I’m sure they do, but no worries. We can wash these after our clothes are dry. I’m planning to do the sheets, too.” She handed him the robe. “Go ahead and put this on. I’ve found instant oatmeal we can eat for breakfast.” She started out of the room.

“Kate, hold on a minute.”

She turned back to him. “Yes?”

“I behaved like a clod last night. You were wonderful, and instead of staying awake to tell you so, I conked out. Did I…did I fall asleep while I was still…”

“Over, around, and inside me? Yes, you did.”

He winced. “Did I snore?”

“Horrendously.”

“Damn, that’s unforgivable.”

“No, it’s extremely forgivable.” She walked back over and laid her hand on his chest. “I lay there looking up at the mirror while you slept. And snored. I felt your steady heartbeat and I…I was simply glad to be there.”

He covered her hand with his and pressed it close. “But I weigh twice as much as you.”

“At least. So eventually I couldn’t breathe and I had to wiggle out from under you. But the feeling of closeness was nice while it lasted.”

Curling his fingers around her hand, he raised it to his lips. “Thank you for putting a romantic gloss on my sorry lack of consideration.” Her sweet description reminded him of the joy of loving her, which produced a predictable response in his nether regions. “Perhaps I can make it up to you this morning.”

“I wish you could.” She sighed. “And don’t think I haven’t thought of it, because I kept hoping you’d wake up sooner so that maybe…”

“I wish you’d woken me.”

“I did shake you once, but you just moaned and rolled over.”

“Damn it. You should have banged a couple of pans together beside my ear. I would have been glad to wake up so I could make love to you again.”

She shook her head. “I couldn’t do it. You needed your sleep. That was my whole point last night, so forcing
you to wake up so you could have sex with me wouldn’t reflect very well on my character, now, would it?”

“There’s such a thing as being too conscientious.” But he respected her values, all the same. “What time is it, anyway?”

“It’s nearly seven. The snow has stopped, and the plows will be here before you know it.”

“Seven? Really? The conference starts in two hours!”

“That’s right, and in order to get this place cleaned up, we’ll have to be late, but maybe not too late.”

“So that’s it.” He hadn’t expected to feel such deep disappointment that their private interlude was over.

“That’s it.” She stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. “And I’ll never forget this time we’ve had. Now drink your coffee and grab a shower. I found an electric razor and left it on the counter for you. We have to get moving.” Slipping her hand from his, she hurried out of the bedroom.

Although her tone had been brisk and businesslike, he suspected from her earlier description of how she’d felt last night that she was as sad about leaving the cabin as he was. But neither of them could let the world know their private feelings for each other. He’d be the most help to her if he adopted her brisk manner from here on out.

He would bloody well do that, even if it killed him. Hurrying through a shave and shower, he put on the robe. The other robe had been huge on Kate and this one was small on him. He wondered if she’d put on the large size in her haste.

No matter. He turned on the light and began stripping the bed. She might think because he lived in a castle and had servants that he didn’t know how. He could strip a
bed with the best of them. He wasn’t sure how good he’d be at making it back up again, but she’d be around to help with that.

After he pulled off the sheets, he held them to his nose and inhaled the sweet scent of making love to Kate. He couldn’t seem to accept that it would never happen again. Surely there would be some way that they could—

“Duncan, can I turn on your phone and call the lodge?”

“Sure, go ahead.” He dumped the sheets in the bathroom and walked out into the main area of the cabin.

She was talking on his phone while she stirred something in a pan, no doubt the oatmeal. He guessed she’d called her grandmother. “Sure, we’ll be ready in about an hour if you can spare…Okay. We’ll be watching for them. See you soon.” She disconnected. “She’s sending a couple of snowmobiles down to get us. She tried to call my cell earlier, but of course it’s dead.”

“Is there enough battery on mine to check Sniffer? We might as well get briefed on what’s being said so we don’t get blindsided when we head into the conference.”

“Good idea. Let’s at least try.” She tapped on the phone and gazed at the screen. When she glanced up at him, her expression was bleak. “I can’t blame you for this, because you didn’t start it, but your Woofers have decided to play hardball.”

“Kate, I can’t believe they sabotaged your dating site. I know it looks bad, but—”

“It’s not about the site. They want to know if you used this time while we were trapped together to get all the dirt on my sister.”

He gazed at her with a sinking sensation in his gut. He’d avoided this topic on his blog, and he’d been
criticized for doing so. In his view, no one should have to answer for the actions of family members. “I’m sorry, Kate. I’ve never encouraged that discussion.”

“I know.” She faced him, her expression resolute. “But maybe we needed this to come up to remind us that the battle could get ugly, and we’re on different sides.”

“I don’t feel that way, now.”

“You should, Duncan. It’s still true, regardless of what happened between us.”

He swallowed. “It may be true, but it doesn’t have to ruin what we’ve shared.”

“I’ll try my best not to let that happen.” She handed him the phone.

“Me, too, lass.” But as he read the posts, he wondered if they could possibly hold on to the fragile connection they’d forged in that mirrored bed.

Chapter 7

Sniffer Update: @newshound—
What’s the story on Penelope Stillman, Kate’s older sister? Kate’s not talking. #skeletoninthecloset

Kate and Duncan didn’t bring up the subject of Penny again, but it hung between them as they ate a quick breakfast, finished up the laundry, and put the cabin and themselves into some semblance of order. The snowmobiles arrived to carry Kate and Duncan separately to the resort.

The staff members driving them agreed to come back for Duncan’s suitcase and arrange to have Kate’s SUV towed out of the snowbank. Kate used a staffer’s phone to call a reputable window company, and the Stillman name got her an appointment for that afternoon. She wasn’t sure whether she’d be able to get away from the conference, but the spare key was in her purse if she had to delegate that job.

As the two snowmobiles skimmed over the unblemished snow left behind by the blizzard, the clouds moved
off to display a sky so blue it hurt Kate’s eyes to look at it. She thought of all the times she and her sister had ridden like this after a storm. Penny, being ten years older, had always been the driver, while Kate was the passenger hanging on for dear life. She hadn’t minded at all.

She’d felt privileged that her big sister, glamorous and daring in all things, had wanted her along. Everyone knew that Grandma Elizabeth was grooming Penny to be the next Stillman pack alpha. Their father, Woodruff, sweet though he was, didn’t suit, so Grandma Elizabeth was looking to the next generation for a Were to inherit her position. Penny, magnificent Penny, had been the obvious choice.

And then, when Kate was seventeen, Penny had fallen in love…with a human. She’d given up everything for him—her family, her position as leader in training, and any hope of inheriting the Stillman millions. But saddest of all, she’d given up her close tie with Kate, the sister who’d idolized her from childhood.

Penny had explained that frequent contact with her Were family would increase the chances that her human husband would stumble upon the truth. Then, assuming he didn’t reject her in horror, he would be responsible for keeping the volatile secret. The human community in which she lived had no idea that Weres existed, and they might react violently if they found out.

At first Kate had grieved along with the other members of her family and her pack. But eventually she’d dried her tears and dedicated her life to preventing such tragedies from happening in the future. She’d created her Web site, Furthebest.com, designed to promote the value of Were-Were matchups. She’d founded Honoring Our Werewolf Legacy, and she’d written her book.

Because Penny had dropped out of the Were community entirely, some Weres didn’t even remember that she existed. She and her human mate, Tom Rivers, had adopted two human children. Penny had claimed that she had a blood disorder and Tom had apparently accepted that as reason enough to adopt. But Penny was only making sure that she had no biological offspring who might turn out to be Were, which would expose her and them.

As far as the pack was concerned, Penny might as well be dead. Except she wasn’t, and somebody in the Woofer movement had decided to make an issue of the fact that Kate Stillman, founder of HOWL, had a sister who’d mated with a human. Kate had dreaded the possibility that someday Penny’s name would be mentioned in connection with the Howler movement, but until now, it hadn’t been.