Wolf’s Princess (28 page)

Was that her idea of an apology for nearly crippling him? Her hair was dark with water from her shower, combed back from a face that blazed with a blush. Her eyes seemed incapable of looking directly at him. If she didn’t look so miserably embarrassed he might have held on to his anger, but her embarrassment made her look so adorable he had to forgive her.

“It’s a bit tender,” he said. A major understatement. “I’m a wolf warrior. I’ll be fine in a few hours.”

Her eyes widened and she actually looked at him. “Did Mitzi really hurt you?”

The scratches on his ankle were still bleeding when he put his socks on, but they would be gone in a few hours. “No, not really.”

“Then…” Her gaze looked him up and down, her fair brows pulled together in a slight frown. “Why do you sound like that? And why are you standing so funny?”

“Not my ankle! I’m talking about your knee in my balls.”

Impossibly, her face went from rosy pink to sheet white. “What?” Her gaze dropped to the front of his pants, and the flush came back, somehow twice as bright as before. “I-I—” She jerked her stare back to his face. “Did I really? Oh, God! I’m so sorry! Are you okay?”

Her horrified remorse was making him feel better all the time. “I’ll be fine.”

“I’m so sorry,” she said again. She walked a few steps closer, her hands reaching for his shoulders before she jerked them back. “It was an accident. I never meant to, uh, knee you.” She glanced around the room, as if reluctant to meet his gaze, but she set her chin and looked directly at him. “I liked kissing you this morning. I’m not ready for more yet, so it’s a good thing we stopped. Not the way we ended up stopping,” she hurried to assure him. “But until then, I really liked it. I wanted you to know that.”

Her words brought an honest smile to his face. “I liked it too. I look forward to next time.”

Her gaze dropped, flicking over the front of his pants, and then rose to meet his again. “Are you really okay? Should I get you something? Ice?”

“I really am okay,” he said firmly.
At least, I will be eventually
.

“Oh. Good.”

Her blush was back. It made his smile widen. “Why don’t you go downstairs? I’ll brush my teeth and join you in a few minutes.”

After he heard her go down the stairs, he stepped into the hall. That damn cat sat in the single feeble sunbeam that lit the floor. Mitzi yawned insultingly, showing a row of jagged white teeth. Sky lowered himself gingerly to his haunches in front of the cat and pinned her with his fiercest alpha stare.

“Listen, you stupid cat,” he said, putting every ounce of menace he could in his tone. “I am the alpha of this house. I’m a wolf, and cats and wolves don’t mix. You live here because I allow it. Rose belongs to me. The next time you interrupt us is the last time you draw breath. You understand me?”

Golden eyes stared at him, unimpressed. The cat stretched one hind leg up in the air and began lazily washing her private parts. Sky felt his control of the situation dissolve. Control? That damn cat had never been under his control. He sneered into the feline eyes and took himself off to brush his teeth.

Chapter 17

In the chair she had appropriated for herself yesterday morning, Rose pretended to concentrate on her bacon and eggs. Neither Zoe nor Tanya were at the table, but Jocelyn was there with Savedra and Jes. Ms. Mary presided at the foot, chatting with Snow and Stone. Paint who was usually beside Snow, was absent. Sky’s chair was empty.

Rose felt the heat of a blush creep up her face. How could she have done that to him? Taye was very thorough in his training and of course she had been taught how to use her knee to disable an attacker. She had been taught that a knee in the groin could be a literally life-changing injury. Even a glancing blow could cause enough pain to enable her to escape an attacker, but a direct blow with great force behind it could rupture a testicle.

Oh God, she hadn’t done that to him, had she? Her blush doubled in intensity when Sky came into the dining room. He wore a casual smile but she noticed his gait was slightly stiff.

“Good morning,” he said in a cheerful voice.

Everyone looked up and smiled or nodded. Rose wasn’t the only one to notice how carefully he moved while filling a plate with breakfast from the buffet. Stone stood up and went to stand close beside Sky. They spoke in low tones for a minute, and when Stone shot a glance at her with one eyebrow raised she felt like crawling under the table.

Sky seated himself with care and smiled at her. “Don’t look so worried, princess,” he said. “I’m fine.”

“I’m really sorry,” she mumbled to the eggs getting cold on her plate.

His hand covered hers. “I know.” His voice was as gentle as the squeeze he gave her hand. “The Limit is closed to visitors today and tomorrow. Most of the girls go home to spend a few days with their families and return on Tuesday. I have paperwork this morning, and I go to the mayor’s house for a poker game every Sunday night, but this afternoon I’m free. Shall we stroll in the botanical gardens after lunch? They’re only a few blocks away.”

No one from the den spoke such elegant English. Especially after his mate had smashed his privates into screaming pancakes. She almost pointed that out in snarky tones, but shame kept the words back. “I’d like that. I think Amanda mentioned the gardens.”

“Yes, she enjoyed them,” he said.

As they spoke about Amanda and Sand, Rose relaxed. Sky was either a very good actor, or he really had forgiven her for the accident. Talking with him was comfortable this morning. He seemed to like talking to her. He really listened to what she had to say. And now that she was starting to get over her horrified embarrassment, her mind went back to what had happened before she jammed her knee into his groin.

His mouth pursed and then curved in a grin as he tossed some teasing comment at Paint, who came into the dining room at that moment. That mouth had been on hers. His hand, holding his fork with elegant, long, brown fingers, had touched her in places no man had ever touched. Maybe remembering should have made her shy, but it didn’t. It made her want more. Maybe tonight. Had she hurt him too badly for him to…

Sky broke off his conversation with Paint to lean close to her and inhale deeply. His eyes, so blue between thick black lashes, looked deeply into hers. He opened his mouth to speak, but the dining room door banged open and a stranger came in. Sky stood up quickly, almost hiding his wince, and angled his body protectively in front of her. He spoke like an elegant educated city man, but this evidence that he was still a wolf warrior at heart soothed her.

The stranger was a boy in his early teens. He nodded nervously at Sky and handed him a folded square of paper. Rose watched Sky open it. His face didn’t show any emotion, but she knew he was unhappy by the slight stiffening in his shoulders. He held out a hand and the boy gave him a pencil. He wrote something on the paper and gave it back to the boy. The kid trotted out.

Sky turned and met her gaze with a small shake of his head. Frustration and something like rage, forced to a mere smolder, showed in the set of his jaw and the straight line of his brows.

“I’m sorry, Rose, I might not be able to take you to the gardens today.”

Ms. Mary lifted a silvery brow. “Sky?”

He drew in a hard, controlled breath. “Ms. Mary, Rose, come back to my office. Paint, Snow, Stone? You come too.”

Rose abandoned the last of her eggs and allowed Sky to steer her to his office. Ms. Mary and the men followed them in. She flinched inwardly when she saw Mitzi jump down from his chair and saunter out just as he closed the door. Thankfully, he didn’t do more than cast the cat a half-hearted glare. He turned to face them all.

“That message was from Angel Glass. She’s Gabe Benson’s head businesswoman,” he added for Rose and the men’s benefit. “You know about Odell?”

Rose nodded, remembering him telling her about the girl who tried to escape from Gabe’s Girls and the fight that resulted.

“Gabe has her back and last night he gave her to one of his roughest customers. She tried to fight him off. It didn’t go well for her.”

Stone, Paint, and Snow growled. Sky’s face was hard and flat, and in spite of his slacks and polo shirt he looked as feral as any wolf warrior. “I’m going to Gabe’s place to take her off his hands. I think I can buy her with enough gold, but there could be trouble.” He looked at his cousins. “I’d like to avoid a fight, but if that’s the only way to get this girl away from Gabe, then that’s the way we do it. Right?”

There was a low, threatening rumble of agreement from the men. Sky looked at Ms. Mary. “We’ll make a bunk up in the women’s dormitory for her. You’ll see to that?”

Ms. Mary agreed. “Katelyn doesn’t have a roommate. We’ll put her in there.”

Sky turned to Rose next. “I’m sorry that I won’t be able to take you to the gardens this afternoon.”

She was ashamed of her twinge of disappointment. “That’s okay. This is more important. How long will you be gone?”

He lifted his shoulders. “Maybe an hour. Maybe half the day. We’ll be back when we’re back.”

Rose glanced at Stone. Would he miss seeing his mate? She was sure he and Sara had planned to spend time together today.

Ms. Mary nodded and walked out. Sky put his arms around Rose. She found her cheek resting on his shoulder. She’d been hugged by the men of the Pack, but this was strangely different. Comforting. A little arousing. It came to her that he couldn’t be acting for the benefit of any spectators. There was no one here but Stone, Snow, and Paint.

“I really am sorry,” he whispered.

“I know.” She eased back and tried a smile. “Do you rescue girls often?”

He didn’t smile back. In fact, his face was grim. “Not often enough. I brought Katelyn here from a similar situation a few months ago.”

Paint twitched beside her, but said nothing.

Sky noticed, but didn’t remark. “Men like Gabe Benson like having power over women. This girl is only nineteen. She didn’t want to be a businesswoman, but Gabe auctioned off her virginity like it was a prize, highest bidder take all. I scraped together every gold bit I could lay my hands on, but it wasn’t enough for the winning bid. I heard the next morning she was bruised and hysterical. They had to drug her to get her calmed down. I told Miss Angel I would do anything I could to help. I don’t know how badly she’s hurt, or even if she is hurt, but it can’t be good.”

“Do you need more money? I have a gold strip Taye gave me.”

He hesitated. “No,” he decided. “Taye gave that to you.”

She stepped back and gave him an encouraging smile. “If you need it, it’s yours.”

“Thank you.” He cupped her cheek before dipping his head to kiss her. “We’ll be back as soon as we can.”

She was actually starting to enjoy his casual kisses. Sort of. Maybe. She waited until the men left, and then touched her lips. The Pack at the den were a tactile bunch. They often touched her shoulder or her arm, gave her hugs, and tugged playfully on her hair, but they didn’t kiss her. Like his hugs, his kisses gave her a strange sense of comfort. Except…she remembered this morning. Those kisses hadn’t been casual pecks. Not as savage or ruthless as the one he had forced on her eight years ago, but intense. Hot. She gave herself a mental shake to prevent day dreams about kissing.

She went out to find Ms. Mary, and was put to work helping Katelyn add a bed to her room in the dorm. There wasn’t a great deal to do to get the room ready, except carry in a narrow bed and make it up with fresh sheets. It appeared Katelyn kept her room immaculate.

“You don’t mind sharing your room?” she asked the maid of all work.

Katelyn shook her head. “Everyone shares,” she said softly.

Rose tried to keep busy for the rest of the afternoon so she wouldn’t have time to wonder what was happening with Sky’s rescue mission. At Ms. Mary’s advice, she went to Joe Sullivan, Sky’s accountant, with the gold strip Taye had given her.

“Could I get this changed to smaller currency?” she asked. “I don’t want to walk around downtown with it in my purse while I’m shopping.”

Joe’s office was the size of a broom closet. He smiled at her. “Normally I’d be able to exchange it for you, but Sky’s cleaned us out. He took nearly all our money with him to Gabe’s place.”

“So he can
buy
a woman.” Rose shook her head in disbelief. “He should have taken my money too.”

Joe’s narrow face wore an expression of regret. “In a few days we’ll have cash in the safe again. Come back on Wednesday.”

“Well, you may as well put it in the safe.”

He took the gold strip from her and she watched while he opened the small floor safe and put it inside. After that, she went to find Mitzi. Her kitty was hiding under a small couch in the foyer. Poor Mitzi had been terribly neglected since they’d left the den. She must be jealous of the attention she was giving Sky. That’s why she scratched him this morning. Rose tried to mend fences with her pet by spending most of an hour petting her and flicking a small crumpled piece of paper around the floor for her to chase.

There were only a few people at lunch, since most of the women had left. Tasha and Cayla were there, but the other businesswomen had gone to their homes. Just as they sat down, a man Rose didn’t know burst into the dining room. “Sky’s just come through the gate. He’s got that girl with him. He’ll be at the ladies’ dorm in a few minutes.”

Ms. Mary took control. “Rose, Katelyn, you come with me to the dorm. Everyone else, please eat and carry on as normal.”

Rose stood up, abandoning her meatloaf. Katelyn continued to stare at the man in the doorway. “Katelyn?” Rose asked. When the other woman didn’t move she touched her hand to get her attention. “Katelyn! Come on.”

Katelyn jumped in her chair. “Sorry,” she muttered.

Ms. Mary sent Katelyn and Rose into Katelyn’s room in the dormitory and went out to meet Sky. Katelyn went to the bathroom at the end of the dorm and filled a basin with cold water and brought it back to her room. She went back to a linen closet by the bathroom and got a stack of washcloths out. Rose, standing in the hallway, watched Katelyn in confusion until Snow came in, carrying a bundle of bloody clothes.