Riker canted his head and smiled wryly. “Will that be okay with Mal and Ariel? Specifically Mal, or will I need to check my food for broken glass every time we share a meal?”
Carrie pursed her lips to stop herself from laughing. “Would it stop you if it wasn’t okay with them?”
Riker grinned. “No, I was just wondering, and I’ve eaten worse things than glass. I’ll be there no matter what.”
Even if he got wind of Mal buying up a twenty-box of bear traps to set around Carrie’s bedroom door, he’d be there.
“Great.” She kissed him briefly and rested her head on his chest. “Can I ask you about something you said yesterday?”
Riker cocked his head in agreement.
“Mal asked whether it would have made a difference to you if you had known I was his sister, and you kind of didn’t answer. So, would it have stopped you if you had known?”
Riker snorted. “No.”
Carrie’s eyes widened in surprise. “Not at all?”
“No. Would have made things a lot easier if I had known. But, it wouldn’t have changed anything that night – hasn’t stopped us today, right? It hasn’t made a difference to you. I mean, you did bring the condoms so you could seduce me.”
He grinned smugly.
“Hmmm, I believe during my seduction I didn’t have to do much more than say hello before you were virtually ripping my clothes off, but yes, I brought the condoms - a pack of fifty.”
“Fifty, huh? Good job I’m going to be around for a few weeks then.”
*
“Hello again,” trilled Ariel as Carrie led Riker through the door.
He had packed up his bags and he was moving in… temporarily.
“What’s all that noise?” asked Carrie as they heard shouting and laughter and also the noise of something breaking coming from the kitchen.
Carrie could scent Tamra and her family, though, whether they were arguing or having a good time was a mystery – with Tamra’s family, the two things usually sounded the same.
“Last minute wedding planning,” said Ariel.
Teena and her boyfriend/victim, Burke were getting married on Christmas Eve – just a few days away. It was supposed to have been Ariel and Mal’s wedding, but when the wedding plans started rivaling a three ring circus, they opted for a smaller, much more intimate affair, and offered up their already planned wedding to Teena, who then forced Burke to propose. Honestly, Burke and Teena were made for each other, and given that Teena was the one planning the wedding – and had therefore planned all the things she wanted – it was a good fit.
“Riker has agreed to come and stay with us,” said Carrie.
She had told Ariel before she left that morning that she wanted to ask him to stay, and Ariel had agreed it was a good idea, though had been worried about Mal’s reaction.
Ariel smiled brightly, and honestly, Carrie almost completely missed the worried tinge. “That’s great. I texted Mal earlier to tell him you were going to ask him.”
“Did Mal reply?”
Ariel’s smile cracked a little more. “He did.” There was a pause while no one said anything. “So, Riker, why don’t you put your bags in the den.”
Riker cocked an eyebrow at Ariel. “The den?”
“Yes, we have a couch that folds out. I’ll get you some blankets and pillows later.”
Riker’s eyes swiveled in Carrie’s direction, and he had an, ‘is she kidding’ look.
“It’s a big couch,” said Carrie awkwardly.
He stared at her for a few beats. She knew he assumed he’d be sleeping in her bed, but it was hardly big enough for both of them, and she didn’t really want to talk about it in front of Ariel.
“Fine,” he grumbled, obviously annoyed.
Riker moved toward the den and Carrie licked her lips. “I take it Mal wasn’t pleased.”
Ariel smiled sincerely. “No, not going by the seventeen text messages he sent in reply, but he’s going to have to get over it. Riker was right, you aren’t a child, and you aren’t doing anything wrong. And Mal has double standards. Do you remember the weekend after Thanksgiving when I took him up to my family’s lake house?”
Carrie nodded.
“Well, when both my brothers found out we were going they turned up as well, and tried to insist that Mal and I have separate rooms. You should have heard the arguments they had. My brothers were insistent that we couldn’t sleep together since we weren’t mated, and Mal raged about how I was a grown woman. Honestly, they were all overreacting like a bunch of… of…”
“Reindeer bulls?” suggested Carrie wryly.
“Exactly!” exclaimed Ariel.
“What did you do?”
“Oh, I went food shopping with my brothers’ mates and left them to it,” she said airily. “They all seemed to have calmed down by the time we got back. Just bring that up if Mal tries to complain about you sleeping with Riker.”
“So why are you putting Riker in the den if you don’t mind us sleeping together?”
Ariel blushed slightly. “Riker’s rather large, isn’t he? Plus, your bed is tiny. I just wanted to make sure the two of you had plenty of room to… spread out.”
Carrie tried not to blush too – Riker was large all over, and quite enthusiastic in his lovemaking. No, her bed really wouldn’t have held up against a sexual encounter with Riker.
“Umm, thanks.”
There were squeals of laughter from the kitchen, and Mikey let out a grizzly noise.
“I better go save my calf before he’s smothered with kisses.”
“You mean pup?” asked Ariel carefully.
Carrie flushed. “Yes, pup. You can tell that he’s a wolf?”
Ariel shrugged. “It was a couple of weeks ago when we were hanging over at Teena’s house. Mikey was making that cute little rumbly noise, and Marion said that all her pups made that noise. I’ve babysat enough reindeers to know they don’t make that noise, but clearly pups do.”
“Yeah, he takes after his dad.” She thought of when they first met, of when Riker made that noise at her, and she quivered.
Ariel took her hand. “Come on, Trini was talking about smuggling Mikey home in her backpack – better grab him now while you can.”
Carrie walked into the kitchen to find the Hart family arguing over anything and everything. They all called out hellos, and asked her opinion on several things, and then started arguing again with each other without waiting for a response.
Mikey lit up when he saw her.
“There you are, oh I’ve missed you so much, did you miss me?” crooned Carrie soppily as she picked him up for a cuddle.
Oh, she didn’t know how she was going to cope when she had to go back to work. She worked for the herd as a secretary to one of the executives. It was hardly exciting but work was work. With Mal at home, she had opted to take a year of maternity leave to spend as much time with Mikey as possible, but that would end far too soon for her liking.
He giggled as she tickled him, but abruptly stopped as he spotted something over her shoulder. Everyone else in the room went silent too, and given who was in the room, that was almost unbelievable. Carrie didn’t need to turn around to see who had appeared in the doorway. She didn’t even need to scent him. The shiver of awareness told her it was Riker.
She turned and found him watching her intently. Mikey made a noise and waved a chubby arm in Riker’s direction.
“Umm, I don’t know if you were introduced last night, but this is Trini, Tamra, Teena, and their mom, Susan Hart. Oh, also, this is Burke – sorry Burke, I didn’t hear you there.”
Burke just shrugged, already used to never getting a word in edgeways, sideways – anyways really.
“Everyone, this is…”
“Oh, we know who that is,” said Tamra with relish.
“How’s your jaw?” asked Teena.
“Yes, that was quite a punch Mal gave you,” commented Susan.
“It was for putting a bun in Carr
ie’s oven, right?” said Trini.
Riker’s lips twitched in amusement as everyone watched him in interest, but he didn’t seem embarrassed. Carrie groaned completely mortified and Ariel tried not to giggle.
“My jaw is fine, thank you,” replied Riker and smiled at Carrie.
Riker moved to her, and settled a hand on Carrie’s back and the other on Mikey’s, and oh, she wanted to cry at how wonderful it was to have Riker with them – the three of them. Hoot! Plus, all the nosy reindeer cows and Burke who were staring at them keenly…
Carrie gave them all a death glare, but it did no good with these women. They were immune to death glares - it was like throwing ice cream at an erupting volcano to get it to stop.
“What an adorable family,” cooed Susan.
“So when are you having another baby?” demanded Teena.
“When you do, I call godmother,” put in Tamra.
“You can’t just call godmother!” yelled Trini.
“Clearly I can because I just did,” retorted Tamra smugly.
“You’re godmother to Mikey, so I get the next one,” huffed Teena.
“You asked Tamra to be his godmother?” asked Ariel, looking mildly hurt.
“No, I definitely didn’t ask her,” said Carrie in exasperation. “You would be godmother,” she added in a whisper to appease Ariel – who, given everything she did for Mikey and Carrie, really should be godmother.
Mikey started making more fussy noises and Riker’s hand on her back tensed. Both father and son were already bored by this conversation.
“We’ll take Mikey upstairs,” said Riker.
The female reindeer huffed in annoyance, but when Riker inclined his head, smiled slightly, and said, “Ladies,” they started tittering with girlish laughter. Burke looked annoyed and started trying to regain Teena’s attention.
Carrie blushed, wondering if she was such a pushover for Riker too. Given the baby in her arms she had to come to the conclusion that she definitely was.
With gentle pressure, Riker led her out of the room, rolling his eyes as he heard the comments from the reindeer – who never worried about lowering their voices.
“Damn, he’s cute,” said Tamra.
“I wouldn’t kick him out of bed,” agreed Teena.
“What?!” hooted Burke.
“I mean, if I was still single, I wouldn’t kick him out of bed. You know you’re the only one I want in my bed, and I would only kick you out if I wanted ice cream.”
“Be a first if you ever kicked a male out of bed – usually you’re dragging them in,” sniped Trini.
“Girls! Don’t be coarse,” admonished their mother, “though I won’t deny he has a gorgeous butt.”
“Mom! Obviously the sexiest part of him is his thighs,” added Teena.
“What?!” hooted Burke.
“You’re obsessed with thighs…” grumbled Tamra.
“So would you if you had Burke’s thighs to look at every day…”
This was followed by some masculine giggling from Burke, and Carrie didn’t really want to know what Teena was doing to him to elicit such sounds.
When they were in the nursery, Riker shut the door firmly, though they could still hear the muffled voices through the floor.
“Sorry about them,” said Carrie. “They have no filter.”
“Don’t worry, you should hear what the hunters say, that really would make you blush.”
She sat on the floor and popped Mikey onto his play mat. He was almost crawling but not quite. At that time, he had only mastered a commando-like movement where he dragged himself along with his arms, slithering along the ground – it was adorable. Carrie had about twelve videos of it.
Carrie giggled as he started moving around, and Riker watched wondrously. He kneeled on the floor next to her and just watched Mikey, who, under the rapt attention of both his parents was smiling and making the rumbling noise.
“He’s amazing,” murmured Riker.
“Yeah,” she agreed proudly – and not because he was her son, he truly was amazing!
Riker leaned over and kissed her neck. Carrie shivered as her inner animal sighed. He scooted a little closer and kissed her again. She placed a hand on his thigh, and Teena was right, they were amazing thighs.
“You’re not really going to make me sleep in the den, are you?” he rumbled in between kisses.
“Oh, well, ah,” she mumbled as her body heated. It was hardly fair to expect her to hold a rational conversation when he was doing that to her, and the sneaky wolf probably already knew that.
“My bed is just so tiny, we won’t fit on it. You’re just so… large.”
Riker chuckled against her skin and nipped her shoulder. He looked up as he heard a whirring noise, and chuckled as he saw that Mikey had found his toy fire engine and was engaged in pressing all the buttons that emitted various lights and sounds.
“I’m sure we could manage,” he cooed, returning to her flesh. “Plus, there is that fifty-size box of…” he glanced at Mikey, “things, we have to get through. So far, we’re down to forty-seven.”
It had been a productive morning.
Carrie squirmed, trying to control her rampant lust – which was already starting to soar in spite of getting through three ‘things’ earlier to try and quench it. “Didn’t you hear me earlier? I said it’s a big couch.”
“And?”
“And, as soon as Mal goes to bed, I’ll come down and join you on the couch. It’s a very comfortable couch – I’ve slept on it before when I was pregnant and Mal was redecorating my room and turning this into a nursery.”
Carrie mewled as he stopped what he was doing and looked up.
“You will?”
“Sure, why do you think I bought a box of fifty ‘things’?”
Riker placed his hand on her shoulder and ran his thumb over her skin, soothing the places he had just nipped.
“But you don’t want Mal to know we’re spending our nights together?”
Carrie rolled her eyes. “I can’t be with you in the den when he’s in the next room watching TV – I mean, he’ll hear you screaming my name and telling me I’m the most amazing female in the world.”
Riker chuckled. “Yeah, he probably would.”
“So, after he goes to bed, I’ll sneak down, and we can… use our ‘things,’ and then when Mikey wakes up, I’ll go back upstairs and pretend I slept up there.”
“Mal’s not an idiot, don’t you think he’ll know what’s going on?”
“Oh, he’ll know what’s going on, all right.” Shifter hearing made it impossible to get away with anything, and Mal was particularly attuned to listen out for anything out of the ordinary. “But this way he can pretend he doesn’t.”
Riker furrowed his eyebrows. “Why the sneaking around, why don’t we just say we’re sleeping in the den together?”
“Well…”
Carrie licked her lips as she watched Mikey trying to stuff a teddy bear into his mouth. It was a rather large teddy bear so she doubted he would get far.
“Mal knows we’ve had sex,” said Riker reasonably.
“Shh, don’t say that in front of Mikey, spell the word instead,” she chided with a quick glance at their pup, who was completely oblivious to what his parents were saying. “And yes, he knows because one of us blurted it out to him,” she groused.
Riker continued, not at all bothered by that. “And since he’s going to know we’re still having sex…”
“S-E-X,” interrupted Carrie.
“Then why not just tell him?”
“I guess…” she agreed reluctantly.
Yes, yes, she knew logically he was making sense. She wasn’t a child – there was nothing wrong with her spending the night with Riker, and even Ariel was on her side about that. But… but it just felt wrong admitting it to Mal. He was more like a dad to her than her actual dad had been. And well, could any woman walk up to their dad and say, by the way, me and my older boyfriend are going
to be having passionate, unbridled sex in the room where you do our taxes and pay our bills? You know my boyfriend, right? He’s your friend and mentor, and he’s also the guy who knocked me up!
Riker beamed and chuckled at Mikey as he appeared to have managed to get a whole leg in his mouth. “Alright, little guy, let’s leave the bear be.”
Riker leaned over, grabbed Mikey and freed the bear from his mouth. He hesitated a little before grasping hold of their pup, but not as much as the previous evening. He was probably just afraid to hurt him. Carrie had been the same when he was first born – she treated him like he was made of glass for weeks.
Mikey let out an annoyed sound as Riker pulled the bear away, and looked like he was working up to a full-on crying tantrum. But Riker just chuckled at him, settled him in the crook of his arm, and started making the rumbling noise. Mikey blinked up at him in surprise, and then he giggled and started making the noise too.
Carrie’s heart melted.
“Fine, I’ll tell Mal later, about us you know, sleeping in the den,” she said in defeat. How could she hold out against such an adorable display from her two guys? Though, she’d probably not mention the pack of fifty ‘things’ – well, forty-seven now.
Carrie tickled Mikey’s stomach and he giggled and wriggled in Riker’s arms.
“Did you ever want kids?” she asked slowly.
“Never thought about it when I was younger,” he admitted honestly. “Then when I got to forty, I figured it was too late. I just never thought I’d be able to settle down. Not sure how good I will be at it. But then, I’d never met a female I wanted to make the effort for.”
His eyes met hers and she marveled at the shimmering amber she saw there. His beast was close, and her reindeer hooted in response.
Carrie kissed him softly and quickly on the lips. He grunted as she moved back, but there would be plenty of time for that later, in the den, with their forty-seven ‘things.’
“I actually want to pick up a few more things for Christmas. Why don’t we go shopping together?”
Riker didn’t seem overly impressed by shopping, but a loud peal of laughter rippled through the house, and he agreed that shopping was probably the better option.
The Reindeer's New Year Love (Reindeer Holidays Book 7) Page 11
