Werewolf Upstairs (17 page)

“Hi, Morgaine.” Konrad stepped away.

Morgaine folded her arms. “I hardly recognized you without your hair. If I didn’t know better, I’d have thought Roz was kissing another guy.”

“Ha. She’d better not.”

That was a little presumptuous.

“
I just meant that you’d break my heart.
”

Oh, you heard that?

“
Yup.
” Konrad faced Morgaine. “I understand you’re going out for some pampering?”

He may have been changing the subject, but the girls had to get going anyway. She could talk to him about it later. It seemed like they had
a lot
to talk about later.

“Yes, I made an appointment at a beauty school. It’s cheaper, since the students get a chance to practice on real volunteers.”

“In other words, you’re guinea pigs?” Konrad scrunched his eyes shut. “Sorry. That didn’t come out right.”

Roz and Morgaine laughed.

“Don’t worry.” Roz patted his arm. “I knew what you meant. It’ll be okay, though. Their instructors are right there, so they can’t screw up. Besides, I can’t look much worse.”

“Hey, cut that out. You’re always beautiful.”

“You don’t have to pretend. I know I’m a little bedraggled. Nathan told me I looked like I’d been hit by a truck.”

“Sounds like something he’d say. What’s going on? Bad day at the courtroom?”

“Yeah, but I’d rather just put that behind me and get to my massage.”

“If all you wanted was a massage…”

Roz held up her hand. “Too much information! Quick, let’s go, Morgaine, before he says something I’ll regret.”

***

Later that evening, Konrad lay in bed reading. He was using his clip-on reading light so his apartment would appear dark. He hated to deceive Roz and avoid her, but he still didn’t know how to tell her what she deserved to know.
She’s dating a werewolf.

He hoped she’d still be dating him after he dropped his bombshell, but something else had him worried. What if she didn’t believe him? How could he prove it to her?

She had laughed at the possibility of vampires and werewolves.
But legends don’t evolve out of nothing.

He could shift, but that would scare her to death. Hell, it scared him the first several times he witnessed it. Maybe he could demonstrate his super-human strength. But what if she didn’t know werewolves had that kind of strength? She might only think he was freakishly strong, and
that
would reopen the memory of his arrest. If he was capable of, say, lifting his upright piano by himself, perhaps she’d realize he could also lift a freezer.

A knock at the door snapped him into high alert.

“Konrad?”

Roz’s voice seemed excited…expectant.

He froze, not daring to move a muscle. A few seconds ticked by.

Maybe she’d gotten all dolled up just for him. How could he leave her standing out there?

She knocked again. “Konrad? Are you home?”

Crap.
He couldn’t ignore her.

“Hang on a minute,” he called out. Jumping out of bed, he messed up his already tousled hair as if he’d been asleep. Then he tossed on his velour robe and plodded to the door. As he opened it, he stretched and yawned.

“Oh, I must have woken you up. I’m sorry. I thought you were expecting me.”

“I was…I mean, I am. I must have dozed off. Come in.”

She walked past him, and Konrad did a double take.

“You look different.”

“Yeah, while Morgaine was getting her makeover, I had my hair highlighted.” She turned side to side so he could admire the results.

He almost growled his approval, and his robe began tenting. “It looks good. What’s Morgaine look like now?”

“She’s a blonde.”

Konrad took a step back. “You’re kidding! How the heck did they take her from black to blonde?”

“It was quite an ordeal. They had to strip out all the color, put in one overall color, then add highlights and lowlights. That’s what took so long. The instructors were thrilled to get such a challenge, and the students did a really great job.”

Konrad laughed. “I’ll have to see it to believe it.”

“They left it long and just trimmed the ends. After all the chemicals, I was afraid her hair might fall out. I found out how to send yours to Locks of Love. It has to be at least ten inches long.”

“Mmm. I have ten inches for you.”

She laughed. “Are we still talking about hair?”

He reached out and touched her hair. “I’m glad you left yours long.”

“You call this long?”

“Longish.” He slid his hand behind her neck and leaned down to kiss her.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back.
Good.
Maybe she’d decided to love him regardless of his secret. Could he have been given a reprieve by some giant miracle?

Without waiting to find out, he tossed her over his shoulder and hastened to the bedroom as she laughed. He remembered her ankle, so he gently placed her on his unmade bed and asked, “Are you sure your ankle is healed enough for some bedroom aerobics?”

She shot him an impish grin. “We can always try it and see what happens.”

That time he did growl, but it was low and came from the back of his throat. He crawled over her like the predator he was. Her grin suggested she wasn’t afraid of him one whit. Thank God. He wanted her to trust him as much or more than he wanted to have sex with her. Almost.

Bending down, he kissed her deep and slow. He held himself up with one hand and unbuttoned her blouse with the other. Roz’s cooperation had calmed the urgency he experienced in the beginning of their sexual relationship. Knowing he would be rewarded in the end made going slower tolerable.

She threaded her fingers through his hair. Now that she could do that without getting caught in a snarl along the way, he was glad he cut it. The scalp massage felt incredibly pleasant.

He popped open her bra, captured her plump breast in his hand, and squeezed it gently. She moaned.

Konrad backed down the bed until his mouth was level with her breast, and suckled. She arched and moaned some more. Her responsiveness turned him on every bit as much as her beauty.

I can’t believe how much I love her. Why do I have to tell her what I really am? I don’t want this to end.

Roz suddenly retracted her fingers from his hair. “What do you mean?”

Konrad looked up into her expectant eyes. Something like fear brewed behind them.

“Tell me what you heard.”

“Why? Can’t you just tell me what this big secret is?”

He hung his head. Realizing he’d have to tell her something, he decided to divulge the less frightening of the secrets he’d been keeping. She’d probably be angry, but he’d prefer anger to her being frightened of him.

He scooted up beside her and pulled her into his arms. “You’re apt to be disappointed with me. Are you sure you want to know?”

After a long pause, she finally said, “Yes.” He’d hoped she might change her mind, at least until after they’d made love. Oh well. It seemed like that ship had sailed for the moment. He hoped it was only temporary.

“Roz, I don’t know how to say this without…well, hear me out before you get angry, all right?”

She took a deep breath. “I’ll try.”

She broke out of his embrace and sat up, leaning against the headboard. The loss of her warmth made his job that much harder, but she was expecting an explanation, so he had to press on.

“Okay, you know I have a brother, right?”

“Yes, your twin.”

“Nicholas.” He sat up and scooted next to her.

She nodded.

“We tried to start our own business together, selling alarm systems.”

“Tried to? I thought you still did.”

“Yes, we do. But it’s a tough time for any small business, and unless people feel security is absolutely necessary, they won’t pay for an expensive alarm system.” He dragged a hand over his face.

She nodded. “Go on.”

“You could say my job was to drum up business.”

She frowned and shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

He took a deep breath. “I’m a thief, Roz. Well, not a real thief. I don’t actually steal anything of value. I just jimmy a lock or break a window, something to make business owners realize they need to be better protected. In a way I’m doing them a service.”

She snorted. “Is that what you tell yourself so you can sleep at night?”

He hung his head. “Kind of, yeah.”

“So that night you were arrested, you weren’t just taking a walk, were you?”

“No. I—”

“Shhh.” She hurriedly put her finger against his lips. “Don’t say any more.”

He figured she might have to turn him in. There might be some kind of lawyer’s pledge or something, but he was willing to go to jail if she did. By stopping him, maybe she didn’t want to hear the details and wouldn’t have to take any action.

“Are you still…taking late night walks?” she asked.

“No. I haven’t taken any walks like that since, and I don’t plan to. I really do want to…change my career.”

She remained quiet.

“You’re not upset?”

“I didn’t say that. Look…” She sighed. “I understand desperation. The cost of living in this city is one of the highest in the country. Plenty of people I defend are pushed to do things they wouldn’t have attempted ordinarily.”

“But you’re disappointed.”

“Sad, disappointed, but not angry. I get it. You probably left teaching to make more money, and as soon as you started your business, the economy tanked.”

He nodded. He didn’t exactly leave teaching. He was the dean of students—and a disgraced alpha, run out of town.

Roz was right. He would never have started down his path otherwise, but when business had started to flounder, he and Nick had to resort to desperate measures.

“Was your brother a cop all along? Or did he get into it as a result of the business failing?”

“The latter. He knew a couple of guys on the force, and they thought he might be well suited to the job.”

“How about you? Did you ever think about going into law enforcement?”

“No, that’s not for me. Or, as my brother would say, I’m too much of a softie.”

Roz stroked his erection and said, “You don’t feel very soft to me.” She finally smiled and reached for him.

He practically dove into her arms and held her tight. “Do you forgive me?”

“As long as it’s all in the past…”

“It is. I swear on every book in my library.”

She grinned. “That’s a lot of swearing.”

He let out a deep breath. “I can’t tell you how relieved I am.”

“I guess I am too. When I heard you telepathically worrying about telling me what you really
were
…well, I didn’t know what to think, but I assumed it was something really terrible.”

Before they went too far down that road, he tackled her and set out to finish what they’d started.

Roz was glad he’d finally told her his secret, without exactly telling her. She still had her values to maintain. Was associating with a known thief a problem? She hadn’t witnessed him stealing anything, right?

Konrad nibbled her ear, and she moaned.

Problem? What problem?
Had she just been puzzled about something?

He swirled his tongue in her ear and whispered, “I love you so much. I love you more than my life. I mean it, Roz. You’re everything to me.”

The combination of his hot breath and tender words made her quiver.

He kissed her neck, nipped her jaw, and licked her collarbone. “Can you say it back yet?”

“Yes,” she murmured. “I love you too.”

“You don’t know how much I’ve wanted to hear that.”

He stopped to deliver a masterful kiss. Deep and meaningful. When he drew away, he kissed her forehead, her checks, her nose, and her chin.

He makes me feel like he cherishes every inch of me.

“
I do.
”
He slid down and cupped her breast. “Do you trust me now?” He found her nipple and sucked.

“I…ohhh.” She arched as the pleasurable sensation shot straight to her womb.

He suckled the other breast thoroughly then asked, “Well?”

“What?”
What did he say?
“Did you ask me something?”

“I asked if you trusted me.” He kissed his way down her middle and swirled his tongue in her belly button.

“Y-yes, I trust you.”

“Good. Because there’s something I’d like to try.”

“What’s that?”

“You’ll see.” He made quick work of her skirt and underwear and flung them across the room. Sliding down, he licked her slit, and then he slid his tongue down over one ridge and up the other.

“Ohhh…” She moaned. “But you’ve already done that. Why would you need to ask if I trust you?”

“Because of this…” He jumped out of bed and stripped out of his clothes quickly, crossed to his closet, and came back with two neckties.

Roz blinked. “What exactly do you plan to do with those?”

“Bind you to my bedposts, so I can do whatever I want to you.”

Holy moly.
“I see where the trust comes in.”

He sat beside her on the bed. “So can you allow me to do that?”

She bit her bottom lip and thought it over. “Can I ask
why
you want to? Will it turn you on to know I’m helpless?”

“Of course not. I thought it might turn
you
on, though.” He grinned at her. “I’ll untie you the minute you ask me to.”

“I…I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t trust you, Konrad. I don’t have to prove it to you, do I?”

He tipped his head toward the ceiling and slapped his forehead. “Damn! I forgot about your history. Of course you don’t. I’m sorry.”