Wolf’s Princess (33 page)

His smile was feral as he pushed her onto her back and dove to her chest.

“You can kiss me anywhere you want,” she told him, running her hand over the velvet-soft short hair at his nape.

She loved the feel of his hand cupping her breast, the wet heat of his mouth closing over her nipple. When he shifted over her she opened her legs to welcome his weight. He settled into the cradle of her open thighs and unexpected pain dragged her breath between her teeth in a sharp hiss. Sky immediately lifted his weight off her. Holding himself above her on stiff arms, he looked down at her with concern.

“Are you okay?” He glanced down at her pelvis still covered by the rumpled sheet. “You’re sore from last night, aren’t you?”

She hated to admit it. “I guess. A little.”

He settled on the bed beside her. She searched his face for anger or disappointment, but saw neither. “Then we’ll wait until you feel better.”

She glanced at his lap and saw he was fully erect. She waved a hand at the evidence of his arousal. “But…Isn’t that uncomfortable?”

Sky’s lips quirked. “I guess. A little.”

Rose knew he was purposely repeating her own words back to her. It might have been mockery, but his hand was gentle when he brushed her hair back from her forehead and tucked it behind her ear.

“I’ll live. We don’t need to rush into sex. We have the rest of our lives to make love with each other.” His smile hinted that he felt the same wonder she did at the idea. “Besides, we haven’t had a chance to talk about anything yet. This is a good time for us to talk.”

Before she could say anything, there was a scratching at the door. A feline complaint said Mitzi wanted to come in. When she struggled to crawl over Sky, he caught her by the shoulders. “Hold on. Where are you going?”

“To let Mitzi in.”

“No.” Sky’s voice was very firm.

“But…”

Sky shook his head and set her carefully on the mattress beside him. “No. This is our room. That damn cat stays out.”

Rose considered arguing, but gave in with a sigh. She would play with her cat later. “Okay. Will you tell me about the mayor’s poker game last night? You were worried about what they would say about Odell. How did it go?”

Sky took his time plumping pillows against the headboard and pulling the sheet and blanket up. Rose stifled another giggle at the sad expression on his face when he tucked the blanket more firmly under her arms to hide her breasts. In spite of being sore, she wished he would go on kissing her breasts. Hearing about what happened last night was good, but not the same. She sighed.

Sky folded his arms over his chest and leaned back against the headboard. “No one mentioned it, but the atmosphere was tense,” he said quietly. “The vice-mayor Peter Vann was there, and Terry Askup and a couple more of the mayor’s buddies. That’s the usual crew for the Sunday night poker game. Sometimes a few of my allies are there too, but not last night. I could tell they’d been talking about me before I came. I’m an outsider to them. I’ve always known that. They make a show of welcoming me, but that’s only because I own a successful business. I’m not one of them, and it’s never been more obvious than it was last night.”

“That’s okay. You don’t want to be one of them.”

“No, that’s true. I pretend that I do, and they pretend that they believe it, but we all know the truth. In the last year, the pretense has worn thin. I’ve been open about wanting the laws to change. I say that with the economy stable, the city doesn’t have to have the income from the Women’s Acts. Any business with a woman working in it will bring more revenue to the city.”

“I remember you talking about that at the mayor’s house the night we had dinner there.” She ran a fingertip down the muscle of his upper arm. “You used the Eatery as an example.”

He caught her finger and kissed it. “It’s a valid business plan. Women can work wherever they want, and men will pay more, just for the chance to meet them. Especially if they don’t have to beggar themselves to be able to afford to marry a woman they meet at her place of employment.”

“You know, when I was growing up I planned to be a lawyer. In the Times Before, women could have any job they wanted. Men and women were equals. Mostly equals,” she amended. “Women didn’t have to stay home and run the house and raise the children.”

“It will be that way again,” he said, like it was a promise. “Someday. And I’m not sure that men and women are equals.” Rose jerked in a breath at this outrage, but he went on in a serious tone before she could speak. “From what I’ve seen, women are superior in some ways to men. You can take away their freedom, deny them their rights, and kick them when they’re down, but they just get back up. I’ve seen women put up with crap for themselves, but when someone mistreats their children, they turn into demons.”

Rose leaned her head against his shoulder in an unspoken apology. “So tell me about last night. What did you talk about while you played cards?”

“I didn’t say much of anything. They did all the talking and laughing.” He released her finger to scrub his hands over his face. “Rose, those fools are so blind that they believe Omaha wouldn’t dare rebel against them.”

“Even after what Odell’s family did?”

“Yes, even after the Grahams fought to keep Odell home.” He looked at her and his blue eyes were disbelieving. “It’s like they
want
trouble. If the vote to relax the Women’s Acts fails today, there
will
be trouble. The only question is how soon. Omaha could turn into a bloodbath.”

“Do you think that’s what they want?” she asked, watching his face. “Are they looking for an excuse to shoot some of the people who might give them trouble?”

He looked at her with horror on his face. “Fuck.” He sucked in a breath. “That just might be it, Rose. I hope you’re wrong.” He shook his head. “But it’s exactly something they would do.”

She watched him climb out of bed. “Where are you going?”

Magnificently naked, he leaned over the bed and kissed her lips gently. “I’m sorry. It’s the same old thing: I have to go and talk to people. I don’t want to leave you, but I have to warn the Grahams and the others who are likely to rise up. Maybe knowing the mayor would love an excuse to thin the ranks of the opposition will calm them down.”

“Sky.” She felt the blood drain from her head. “You are probably at the top of their list. They have to want to shut you up. When I had tea with Mrs. McGrath, I overheard the mayor say he should have gotten rid of you a long time ago.”

“I know. You told me.” He smiled when she blinked. “You were asleep when you told me.”

She waved that off. “You have to be careful. Please.”

He kissed her again. “I will. I have everything to live for, and it’s right here in my bed. I’ll be careful, I promise. I’m going to grab a quick shower and some breakfast, then head out.”

“Sky.” When he paused and looked at her with loving eyes, she fumbled for words. “I like you. I mean, I like the way you’re being now. So nice. You weren’t before.”

His eyelids fell, hiding his emotions, but she saw his lips tighten. “I know,” he said softly. “I was a jackass.” He looked directly into her eyes, appearing ruthlessly honest. “When I went to the den, I was angry to be called away just before the vote. I took it out on you. It set us off on the wrong foot. I’m sorry.”

Remorse made him even more handsome. “I should have been more patient.”

“No,” he disagreed. “You were more patient than I had any right to expect. Who could have blamed you if you had married that man I found you with at the train station? I would have killed him,” he added in a mild tone. “But I was an idiot to think you would wait for me forever.”

“I understand now why you wanted to stay in Omaha.” She smiled a little. A week ago she’d never have defended his actions. “You’re doing something important here.”

He sat on the edge of the bed and took her hand. “I think my wolf is ashamed of what I’ve done. He’s refused to have anything to do with me for years. When Taye’s letter came telling me he was going to allow other men to court you, the wolf finally communicated with me, and he wasn’t happy.” An expression of determination made Sky’s eyes electric blue. “Putting Omaha ahead of you was the biggest mistake I ever made. I knew my mate should always come first, but I was so busy being a big shot in Omaha that I forgot that. I swear I’ll never forget it again. If I ever start to act like I did before, punch me.”

Rose swallowed a hint of tears. A week ago he’d been an arrogant, impatient stranger who held her at arm’s length. This morning he was caring, loving, and repentant. Was it the sex that made him change or was sex the result of the change? “Maybe I’ll just sic Mitzi on you.”

He cringed theatrically. “That should put me in my place.” He turned serious. “I wonder if I should have just killed the mayor in the beginning. Maybe all of this could have been avoided.”

She squeezed his hand. “They might have executed you. Wouldn’t the city have gone crazy? Riots? Politicians fighting to be the next mayor?”

“Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? I only hope we can prevent that now. I still need to go talk to people to try to keep them safe.” His lips touched her knuckles lightly. “I promise we’re leaving Omaha as soon as this business is settled. Maybe even as early as Christmas, but by spring for sure.”

“Christmas?” She tried to smooth dismay out of her voice but it was too late. “That’s almost three months.”

“I know.” He kissed her cheek. “This could drag out for a while. You can understand that I can’t just leave in the middle of a revolution I helped to start, can’t you?”

“Yeah,” she agreed, making herself smile. She did understand. Sky was an alpha and this was his Pack. No alpha would abandon his Pack in dangerous times. It was only three months. She could do that.

He kissed her forehead. “If things aren’t settled by April, I’ll start making arrangements for my ladies’ safety, and we’ll be gone by May first. I promise.”

“Okay. Omaha can have you during the day, but your evenings are mine.”

Against her mouth his kiss turned into a smile. “Best deal I’ve ever gotten.”

After watching his perfect butt disappear into the bathroom, she got out of bed and dressed. Sex was just as good as she had hoped. She’d been told a woman’s first time was usually disappointing. Ha! It probably wasn’t possible for a wolf warrior to disappoint his mate in bed. She loved sex. The soreness was definitely there, but they could have had sex this morning. Maybe she should track Tasha down to get some pointers on how to surprise Sky tonight.

Rose headed downstairs before Sky came out of the shower. Just the thought of beads of water rolling down the slope of his pec made her want to lick them up. Better to leave before she was presented with temptation in the flesh. Maybe tonight she would do that. Or tomorrow morning they could shower together. They had thousands of mornings in their future to look forward to. She entered the kitchen with a bounce in her step.

“Good morning, Kim,” she told the cook at the stove cheerily.

Kim rounded on her, eyes burning with indignation. “It would have been nice if someone would have told me I’d need to serve breakfast to a dozen visitors two hours before noon.” Bacon sizzled angrily in the pan as the cook waved tongs at Rose. “And why am I bothering to cook the steak when they obviously prefer it raw?”

“What visitors?” Rose began to ask when a voice caught her ear. It sounded like…“Taye,” she whispered, and ran through the kitchen to the dining room.

She froze in the door, staring at what seemed like half the Pack crowded around the table. Her brother-in-law, Wolf’s Shadow, was the biggest of them, his hip-length hair confined in two braids. He was at the far end of the table, on Ms. Mary’s right. Rose looked around the faces at the table, overwhelmed with homesickness and joy. Quill’s golden brown waves of hair gleamed in the light from the window. Sand showed his chipped tooth in a smile. Paint, Snow, and Stone were talking in low, urgent voices with Tracker, who of course wasn’t speaking at all. Snake broke off his conversation with White Horse long enough to raise his cup at her. Mike sat next to a lanky man with brown ringlets. Rye Thomas. She almost stopped to ask what he was doing here, but she saw Taye calmly cutting an extremely rare steak.

“Taye,” she cried, and flung herself at him.

He stood up in time to catch her. “Rose,” he said, patting her back as if she were one of his children needing comfort. He inhaled. “You accepted Sky.”

It wasn’t a question. Sky had used a soapy washcloth to clean her up last night, but she hadn’t showered yet. Even if she had, wolf noses were sharp. “Yeah, I did.”

His dark eyes studied her carefully. “Are you glad you did?”

Shameless silence fell over the table. Rose imagined every wolf wanted to hear her answer. “Yeah, I’m glad.”

Taye nodded and waved a hand to clear a chair for her to sit in. “Get her something to eat, Stone.” He looked down at her with a half smile. “When you got on the train I had my doubts.”

“Me, too.” Rose sat. “I was sure I’d be back at the den ready to be courted by someone else in a few weeks.”

“Changed your mind?”

“Yeah. It took a while.” She remembered how snotty Sky had been at first. “But now I know why he stayed away. We’ve talked it out.”

“Good.”

Rose leaned back to let Stone put a plate in front of her. “What are you doing here?” She looked all around the table. “What are all of you doing here? When did you come? The train doesn’t arrive until later.”

Everybody began to answer at once, but all heads swiveled back to the door. Sky stood there, looking thunderstruck.

“Look, honey,” she said in bright, fake Southern accent. “The kinfolk have come to visit.”

“I see that.” His voice was thick and his eyes gleamed with moisture as he looked around the table. “I’ve never been happier to see anyone in my life.”

He was mobbed by cousins wanting to hug him and slap him on the back, but they stepped back to allow his older brother Wolf’s Shadow to be the first to greet him. It had been eight years since the brothers had seen one another. Rose watched them embrace, and noted the differences between them. Sky was tall at an inch or so over six feet, but Shadow was five inches taller. Shadow was a big man, broad shouldered and thickly-muscled; Sky was well-muscled—she had caressed those muscles last night, so she knew his build intimately—but he was leaner and slimmer than his brother. Shadow’s thick black braids hung to the curve of his butt, but Sky’s hair was short. Sky was dressed in what Rose thought of as Omaha-casual, dark gray slacks and a lighter gray polo shirt. Shadow wore lots of bare brown skin and a breech cloth.