Keva’s phone rang before anyone could reply to him.
She answered it with a frown. “Hello? Kelly?” What could she want? Keva was clear the last time they talked.
“Keva, it’s Kelly. Thanks for picking up the phone. I know you told me you were going to take some downtime no girlfriends allowed. You know I wouldn’t call you unless the need was dire. You know how we talked about if you did a special show for me, I’d tear up your contract for the rest of the year, even though I’d miss seeing you?”
No, Kelly, I don’t remember that, but I’m listening. Keva stayed silent letting Kelly prattle on.
“Well, I have some special people who are insisting they need to see your show, a private viewing if you will. They are like the Godfather on speed if you get my meaning,” she said cheerfully.
“Tear up my contract for the rest of the year?”
“Yes!” She jumped on it. “Anything to make you happy.”
“You know I always need four or five days to prepare for a show.”
“Take as long as you need, but sooner is better.”
Kayden held up four fingers.
“Kelly, I’ll need four days as well as certain items I left there since I was not planning on doing a show anytime soon. You’ll need to bring them to me.” There was silence on the other end of the line.
“I can have my assistant bring them out to you.”
“The deals off. I’m not doing this show for your assistant I’m doing it for you. I thought we were friends.”
“We are,” she sobbed on the phone.
“Then bring me my items as well as your adorable son since you will be staying with me. Heck make that your husband and your mother, this way I know you’re not planning to take the money and run. Just our usual agreement when I do a special show for the money men.”
“I will bring them they will be happy to see you.” Keva gave her the address before getting off the phone.
“What was that all about?” Kayden rubbed her hands helping her blood flow to start up.
“I’d be willing to throw my ATM card into the game backed up by my healthy bank account that that was the opening curtain to the final scene in the war the Shadows have been waging,” Keva told them.
“I’ll add mine,” Mira told them.
“Don’t forget about mine,” Ava added.
“The Shadows have Kelly and her family. I rescued them or gave them a reprieve, now I have to show up in four days.”
“Does it feel like the OK Corral to anyone besides me?” Ava made to go for her gun.
“You’re not showing up alone Keva, we will all be there,” Cade assured her. They were family they fought together, win or lose they would be together.
Keva got up and took Kayden’s hand. Tomorrow wasn’t a given. She led him out the kitchen, today she’d remind him how much she loved him in case tomorrow never came.
Chapter Twenty-one
The house was noisy when Kelly and her family came. The minute she saw Keva she started crying. “They were going to kill me. I could see it in their eyes, even though I did what they asked me too. You saved my life and the lives of my family.”
“You’re right they are the Godfather on drugs. You made the right call to get in touch with me. There was no doubt that I would save you or your family.”
“I want to say thank you. I’ve tried to use you in the past, I was jealous of you. Still, you saved me and my family. I’ll never be able to say thank you enough or make up for my past behavior.”
“Why don’t we let the past be just that and start anew today?” Kelly hugged Keva getting her wet with her tears of thanks.
“This is Ven he’s going to show you where your family and you can spend the next few days. You’ll love it here, there is a lake and a lookout. The guys like to play games.”
“Is there any place we can’t go besides your bedrooms?”
“Nope, if you get there then you can go there.”
They followed Ven out of the room.
“Why didn’t you tell her about the cabin?” Key asked.
“Human nature, the minute you tell us not to do it. We want to do it. Also, I placed a barrier around the cabin that will act as an electric barrier to anyone trying to get in that’s not on the permission list.”
“You’ll have to show me how you did that later.”
“I will,” Keva gave him a light kiss.
“Incoming,” Mira told them. “Detective Smith and Jones are coming our way. They are about a mile out.”
“How did you detect them that far away?” Ava asked.
“They are broadcasting.”
“The next four days should be fun-filled,” Cade rolled his eyes at his dry words. “Key go make sure Ven knows and that our guests are cared for and stay out the way. We don’t want a spotlight shined on them.”
“The spotlight is all mine,” Keva laughed like a villain in a B movie.
When the knock on the door came, they were all seated in the living room watching a drama unfold on Keva’s favorite soap opera.
“Stop complaining Ava, I know you love this as much as I do.”
“Who’s going to believe that she came back from the dead? She was gone for two years they gave her a funeral and everything.”
“My money is on the boyfriend holding her hostage.”
“I can see that, but that’s on her she shouldn’t have cheated on her husband.”
“Detective Smith and Jones what a surprise.” Mira’s voice was loud to carry over Keva and Ava.
“We have company,” Keva turned her curious face to the door.
“Keva you weren’t here the last time they came by. Did you bring that warrant?”
“No,” they pressed forward enough to get Mira to retreat. “We wanted to make sure none of you skipped town.” Detective Jones gave them all a smile.
“We’re all here, not that I’m sure why our whereabout should concern you?” Tristan told him drawing Mira back to his side.
“You’re new, I’m detective Smith. You are?”
“Keva Hall,” she ignored his outstretched hand. It would feel creepy to shake hands with a dead man.
“I feel like I’ve seen you before.”
“Maybe you caught one of my shows. They call me the pretender at other times the imposter, but no one can catch me in the act.”
“I don’t think I’ve seen a show, but I want to.”
“Well, I’ll be doing one in four days. You should try to catch it I think it will be my last.” She told him where and gave him the time if he was interested in coming. “Wait one second.”
She left the room when she came back, she had two tickets. “These things are like gold.” She gave each detective one. This will allow you into the show. I don’t know what the tickets will cost to this performance. I think the entrance fee maybe your life, but you can bypass that with those tickets.
“There is no way we can pass the show up now. Thank you we’ll be there,” detective Jones headed for the door followed by his partner.
“You invited them to the show?”
She ran her hand over Kayden’s thigh. “If they are a threat, I want to be able to keep an eye on them. If they are helping, then they’ll be in the right place. If they are neutral, they could provide a helpful distraction.”
“That’s what you do when the deck is stacked against you,” Ava told them. She rose with Locke following her.
“Has it occurred to anyone that if all we do is make love, we’ll be too tired to fight?”
“Good point Tristan and I are going to discuss that very thing,” Mira walked out with Tristan behind her.
“Do you know what they say, love?” Kayden shook his head. “If you can’t beat them, join them.” They walked out leaving everyone else to their own devices.
Kayden straddled Keva when they got back to their room. He pressed his thumbs into the base of her neck and then into her shoulders slowly working out kinks.
“You’re tense.”
“I dream walked. I thought only Native American’s can do that. Obviously, I’m behind on my lore and my spirituality. Still, how did I dream walk? I thought in order to do it you needed to smoke or ingest peyote. Do not quote me on that. It’s simply something I heard or read in passing.”
“If one group of your people do it, then others probably do it too even if they call it a different name.”
She moaned when he untangled one tough knot.
“That makes sense and dead people walking make as much sense as Shadows walking.”
“We know the Shadows are a combination of humans and aliens.”
“How can you be sure?”
“I remember fighting them once.”
Keva turned over with Kayden still on her. “Tell me.”
“Every Kur’ik can go to ground, but special forces like Enigma One excel at it. The makers sent us on a fact finding mission away from our division. We each had a different mission. Mine was to go to ground where I would stay for two years before resurfacing. They wanted the planet to appear empty and possibly uninhabitable.”
“Wasn’t that lonely?”
“A little. I turn off most of my higher brain function as well as my ability to breathe. There is enough for me to tell the passage of time but not much else. When I woke I thought the planet was empty, it wasn’t. There was this black fog that seemed to move along the ground.”
“That would have been my cue to leave.” She pulled his head kissing him several times before he continued.
“I watched them for three months. They seemed like they were not sentient until a ship landed on the planet.”
She didn’t like where this story was about to go. Thoughts of the Shadow that approached her reached her. He was still trying to get into contact with her after trying to kill her. Thoughts of her being an abomination ran through her mind before she raised her shields.
“Keva?” Kayden ran his hand down her throat and then her arm.
“I’m here, the Shadow that tried to kill me is still trying to talk to me.” He nodded, not surprised.
“They took over most of the people that got off the ship. It was a transport vessel that carried people from the ship orbiting the planet to the surface below.”
“Were they Kur’iks?”
“No, my people aren’t big explorers. I had never encountered this race before. It became obvious that the Shadows wanted to take over the main ship. Maybe with the thought of possessing the rest of the crew.”
“Did they?”
“There were two men who were not affected. I’m not sure what kept them safe, but they were willing to fight the rest of the crew. I joined with them. The thought of them getting off the planet was horrifying. Together we defeated them. I’m not sure it wasn’t some form of luck. They promised to mark the planet as off-limits. I activated a beacon before going back to ground. I didn’t wake until they came for me.”
She ran her hands over his pecs loving how he made them jump for her.
“Kayden if I don’t make it, I want you to go on to fall in love with someone else.”
“Keva, I don’t think you understand. When we mated, it was like swearing that one person wouldn’t exist without the other. Our life forces were tied together. That’s why your heart synced with mine. We live together or we die together, whatever we do it will be together.”
She squeezed her eyes shut. Had it been selfish on her part to mate with him? He wanted it as badly as she did. No regret assailed her she was as much at risk as he was That didn’t bother her at all. Would you die for me, the line of some book came back to her? Yes, my sweet prince my life for yours in a heartbeat. The prince betrayed her, stuck a knife in the heart she offered willingly. There would be no betrayal from Kayden they were linked by death and maybe beyond.
“I feel the same, there will be no betrayal. We will live and die together, then we will explore what comes after death.”
She drew him down to her kissing him. This was the male she loved. It meant embracing another culture, but her heart was big enough to understand more than one way of living.
Her hands pinched at his nipples loving the way they hardened under her touch. She leaned forward to take one in her mouth. He tasted good and smelled even better.
Her teeth scraped over one nipple before she took the other in her mouth. Touching him did it for her. Her pussy was already pulsing. When he moved down on her body, taking her nipple in his mouth she wanted to cum in a gush. She would have but her pussy was a greedy little hussy, and it wanted more. Her fingers walked down his chest until she got to that intriguing patch of skin that led to his thick dick. She played there for a while before she let her fingers slide all the way down.
Her hand went around his erection holding him as she ran her other hand up and down his shaft.
“My pussy wants this buried deep inside.”
“I want to be so deep that you wonder if my balls are inside.”
“I want that. Spoil me, then remind me that only you can satisfy me.” A groan of need left her mouth as she opened wide wanting it to be filled. He stuck his tongue in giving her something to suck on.
“I love when you do that,” he told her when he could finally breathe.
“This is just the beginning, wait until I teach you the pleasure to be had in numbers.”
“Numbers?”
“Oh yeah,” a moan came out. “We’ll start with sixty-nine, but we won’t stop there.”
Kayden rubbed his dick against her pussy lips until she was begging for him to put it in.
Her eyes dilated before he finally settled himself over her thrusting his hips to make his dick slide into her slick, tight passage.
He loved the way her pussy greeted him. This wasn’t nice and fast like this morning. It was slow and worshipful. He enjoyed her femininity and wanted her to know it. His fingers caressed her curves wondering how this planet could have made someone as delightful as his mate. She was soft and pleasing in bed, but a badass out of it. Women especially his were a mystery. Her moans took him higher. The way she clenched around him.
“I know you like it when I do that. I knew my pussy was talented, but I never realized the extent until I met you. You make me want to be my best in all things.”
“I know what you like,” he whispered in her ear. “You like when the head of my dick hits you right here.”
“Again,” she cried out.
He increased his speed hitting that spot repeatedly.
“There is an ocean of color in my eyes.” Her body was singing with pleasure that went through her blood and played over her muscles. That rolling feeling that overwhelmed her raced up her back crashing over her like a wave. Her pussy spasmed from the orgasm that swept over her. Kayden kept hitting that same spot taking her higher.
She clung to him as he joined her in the waves. Together they finally came to rest on the shore. She sunned herself in the sun of his love. No matter what happened she didn’t regret loving or mating Kayden.
Chapter Twenty-two
Tomorrow was the big day. As much as she hated it, she spent the last two days working on her mental shields as well as shaping and honing her energy. Right now, she was sure she could use them with the finesse of the best surgeon. That didn’t make things easy. Everyone was walking around on eggshells not wanting to slip up with Kelly and her family staying with them. The Kur’iks took long walks each day. It gave them a chance to change while staying away from them.
She didn’t think they needed to change forms every day. Kayden told her it was an extra precaution they took to keep the humans safe.
“Where’s Kelley?” It was lunchtime when Keva walked into the kitchen.
“They took a picnic basket and went to the lake. Kelly said she can’t remember the last time they had a vacation. Her son was excited, they are going to make an afternoon of it,” Ava told her.
“I used to hate Kelly. Now that she’s here I understand he
r better. Not saying we will be fast friends, but she’s not as bad as I thought. All she does is look out for her family I get that.”
“Sometimes we don’t understand other people’s family dynamics or even our own. While Ven’s away I’m playing with his panini maker. Do you want one?”
“You know I do. I’ll keep your secret if you make me one.”
“You’re so evil,” Ava glared over her shoulder. She made two panini’s before she cored to apples and made their plates.
“I wanted chips,” Keva pouted.
“Bad girls will eat their fruit and enjoy it,” Ava acted like she had a ruler in her hand.
“Yes, mistress Ava.” Keva almost choked on her laugh.
“And don’t you forget it.”
Kayden and Locke walked in to find them laughing so hard they couldn’t eat. Kayden looked shook his head and decided not to ask.
“Ven let you play with his panini maker?” Kayden looked at their lunch.
“Hush,” Ava said, her finger going to her lips.
“Kayden you know better. We think Ven has a mic in the kitchen that turns on when we say that word.” Mira whispered.
“What word would be that be?” Ven walked into the kitchen.
Keva and Mira took big bites of their sandwich as they got interested in the grain of the table.
“Panini's? Where did you order those from?” He walked over to his panini maker turning it on. “I’ll make one for you the two of you since they didn’t order enough.” He glared at the women before he winked at Kayden and Locke.
“You make the best panini’s I’m sure it’s better than what they are eating,” Kayden told him as he leaned against the table. Locke chimed in with his agreement.
Keva gave him the death stare as she continued to eat. Then she noticed they got chips. Kayden kept trying to hit her hands as she stole several from his plate.
“Do you have plans for the afternoon?” Ava asked after the kitchen was clean.
“Kayden and I are going into town. I don’t know how tomorrow will end. Today may be our last day to spend together in peace.”
The Wolf & The Pretender Page 13
