“We could call him Mikey, what do you think?” suggested another wolf shifter called Crow.
“Oh no, that’s…” Carrie’s cheeks bloomed. “That’s what we call our baby.”
“I knew it!” crowed Mick. “I knew that had to be why Mal was pissed at the party. There was no way Mal would sock Riker in the mouth unless he’d done something crazy like knock up his sister.”
Carrie blinked at him and he shrugged, almost apologetically – almost, not quite.
“Damn, he’s a sly old dog,” said Mariska approvingly.
“Never knew he had it in him,” muttered Lucky.
“Never even seen him with a female before,” added Crow.
“I can’t believe all these years Mal said we weren’t allowed near his sister, and yet Riker was putting it to her!” snorted another bear named Bronco.
“It’s not quite like that,” said Carrie uncomfortably.
“What isn’t?” rumbled Riker handing Carrie her drink.
A ripple of unease threaded through all of the hunters, but as he appeared and placed an arm around her waist, her whole body just sang in relief. The hunters were fine – they certainly weren’t mean, or that rude, but she always felt relief when Riker returned to her.
He looked at them all questioningly but none seemed keen to answer.
“Nothing,” said Carrie and nestled against his body.
“Riker?” offered Mick, waving a pool cue at him. “Hundred bucks a game.”
“No.”
“Chicken?” slurred Lucky, who was clearly getting very drunk.
Everyone held their respective breath - apart from Jane who laughed in a braying way.
But Riker just stared at him indifferently. “I’ve got better uses of my time and money.”
Everyone looked relieved to hear it.
Mick wiggled his eyebrows. “Carrie?”
“Oh no, I’ve never played,” she protested.
“Oh well, allow me to teach you,” offered Mick with a bow.
“No, that’s okay,” she laughed.
“We can’t stay long,” rumbled Riker, his grip on Carrie tightening. “We need to get back for our pup.”
“We heard, you sly bastard!” snickered Mariska
“You’re a dark horse,” said Crow. “Or dark wolf.”
“Yeah, you didn’t seem to have a pup a week ago, and yet all of a sudden…” Bronco left the rest of his sentence unsaid.
“If it is his pup,” muttered Lucky darkly, and so quietly that not everyone appeared to hear him.
But Carrie heard him – her reindeer hooted in outrage, and Riker definitely heard him. Riker didn’t move, but the air around them changed. It suddenly felt heavy with anger – with Riker’s anger - and the hunters almost moved as one, jumping up, putting themselves between Riker and Lucky. They didn’t look very happy to be there, but they were there.
“Let’s all calm down,” said Bee peaceably, his handsome smile almost completely camouflaging his worry.
“He’s sorry, aren’t you?” snapped Mariska, giving Lucky a kick.
“I-I’m sorry,” stammered Lucky in confirmation.
Carrie glanced up at Riker. He was merely staring ahead of him. Everyone waited warily for him to do something, but Riker… well, she wasn’t sure what Riker was doing. But his palpable fury didn’t appear to be abating, and it was starting to worry her. Hoot!
Finally, Carrie patted his chest and he looked down at her. “You know, I’m a little tired, would you mind if we went home?”
Riker nodded.
“We’ll walk out with you,” said Bee.
Carrie handed her drink to Bronco, and Mariska, Bee, Crow and Mick followed them.
“Umm, nice to meet you all and congratulations,” said Carrie, who wasn’t feeling particularly sincere about either of those things, but her grandmother had insisted on good manners so she couldn’t help herself.
“Where’s everyone going?” complained Jane, apparently oblivious to her mate’s rudeness, and the fact that the comment had been a dig at her too.
When they were outside, Riker stopped and pulled Carrie in front of him. He held her arms and did nothing more than breathe in and out deeply.
“Michael?” she murmured. Her beast mewled in worry.
“I’m fine, babe,” he replied woodenly.
“Lucky’s a tool – you can’t take anything he says seriously,” said Mick.
“Just ignore him,” added Bee.
“He’s just pissed at his own situation and taking it out on everyone else,” growled Crow in disgust.
“You can’t hold it against him,” put in Mariska sternly.
“It’s fine,” murmured Carrie, “honestly, I don’t mind.”
She had been expecting something along those lines.
Mariska smiled. “No offense, honey, but we weren’t talking to you – it’s not your reaction that concerns us.”
Carrie blinked at her, and then looked back up at Riker, whose expression hadn’t changed, and realized something. They hadn’t followed them out of the bar because they were worried that Riker and Carrie’s feelings may have been hurt. They were there because they were worried Riker was going to go ballistic. They were making sure he didn’t go back into the bar, or wait outside for Lucky and pounce on him. They were scared about what Riker might do – they were actually pretty terrified of her wolf in shining armor! Her reindeer huffed in amusement.
Carrie shook her head and leaned up on the tips of her toes and just managed to reach his lips for a quick kiss.
“Let’s go home,” she said sweetly, “I get antsy when I’m far from Mikey, and I don’t like being away from him for long.”
Plus, she didn’t like leaving Tamra and Trini in her house alone. They got bored very easily and started dressing up in her and Ariel’s clothes. She didn’t mind that so much, but it was the shoes that bothered her – both Tamra and Trini’s feet were two sizes larger than hers.
Riker softened and rumbled. “Yes, let’s go home.”
He kissed her again and nodded at the hunters, who looked mightily relieved he was leaving. Carrie waved at them as Riker packed her into his truck.
Chapter Twenty-One
Riker hadn’t said much since they arrived home. Carrie had ushered Trini and Tamra out of the house in such a rush that she didn’t mind that both of them were wearing her maternity dresses – she didn’t want to know what they had been doing, she just told them they could keep them.
After checking on Mikey, they decided to go to bed.
“Are you… okay?” she asked as they both started undressing. Her reindeer mewled for him, wanting to help him, to make him feel better.
His lips curled slightly. “Fine.”
“You really don’t seem fine.”
Riker grunted. “Just had a little trouble controlling my beast. I’ll be fine.”
“He was very drunk,” said Carrie soothingly, “I’m sure he didn’t mean it.”
“If it had just been me, I wouldn’t have minded, but he insulted you, and my beast…”
His eyes swam with amber and his chest rippled.
“Those hunters seemed terrified of you,” she murmured.
“Humph. They’ve seen me lose my temper before.” He pinned her with a look. “You’re not scared of me, are you?”
Carrie chewed on her lip and gave him a worried look. “I have to be honest with you…” Riker looked stunned, until she finished her sentence. “No, not at all – I mean, not even a little bit, not even for a second. You’re my big wolf in shining armor and you’re just too cute to be scary.”
Riker barked with laughter. “Maybe you should tell the hunters that.”
“How cute you are?” she teased as she removed the last piece of clothing.
Riker stared at her in appreciation and she smiled naughtily. “I wonder what I can do to distract you from your bad mood?”
“I wonder,” he repeated faintly.
Carri
e sidled around the bed and sat on the edge in front of him. Her fingers plucked at the elastic of his boxers and she slid them down his legs. His manhood, hard, large and beautiful, sprang free and she grasped it with her hands.
She ran her hands up and down him, delighting in the heat, in the silkiness of his skin. Carrie was hardly practiced at what she was doing, but she knew what she wanted, and she wanted to taste him in the most intimate way possible. She took him into her mouth, her tongue swirling around the head.
Riker snarled sensually and reached out to touch her face, to caress her cheek. His fingers tangled loosely with her hair as she tried to pleasure him, to show him how much she wanted him, to return the ecstasy that he had shown her over and over again.
He was a little large for her to take much of him, but she tried her best, tried to show him what he meant to her. It had perhaps been an understatement when she told him she was falling in love with him. For she knew she already did. Heck, she had loved him since she met him in that seedy bar. From the first moment she saw him she knew there was something special about him, and oh, she desperately wanted him to see how much she adored him.
Carrie moaned around him, delighting in the feel and the taste of him, desperate to have as much of him as she could. She bobbed her head, her mouth gliding up and down him. She could feel him getting even harder and larger, could feel his body trembling slightly as his release gained momentum.
Her hand gently squeezed his length, the part of him she couldn’t fit in her mouth. His hips twitched, and she did it again.
“God, Carrie,” he hissed.
She suckled, clasped, licked, and stroked him over and over, getting more and more excited as she did it, exciting him more and more until finally, he couldn’t stand it any longer.
Riker pulled out of her grasp and pushed her back on the bed. She cried out in exquisite ecstasy as he drove himself inside her almost furiously. She was so turned on, so ready that she was already undone within a few moments, and within a few thrusts, Riker wasn’t far behind.
*
Riker smiled as he watched Carrie moving around the kitchen. She was making pancakes for breakfast, swinging her hips to a tune on the radio, in between diving in for kisses and tickles with Mikey. Their pup watched her almost as raptly as Riker did, eagerly waiting for the moment when she would swoop in to bestow affection on him. Was it any wonder Riker was so besotted with her?
He caught himself feeling happy and his beast growled. Damn, how long had it been since he was really happy? But, he had the most beautiful woman in the world, and the most adorable pup in the world – so why wouldn’t he be happy and smug as hell?
“The herd is having a New Year’s Eve party,” said Carrie as she dished some more pancakes onto his plate. “Do you want to go?”
“Sure.” He would go if Carrie wanted to, but honestly, more and more he didn’t like being away from Mikey, and surely the party would not be suitable for him.
Carrie snickered and hip-bumped him. “Don’t sound too enthusiastic. We don’t have to go. We could, instead, stay here and have a quiet little family celebration.”
She wiggled her eyebrows and wriggled her hips suggestively. Her New Year plan sounded much more appetizing. Rawr!
“Yeah, you’ve twisted my arm, let’s stay home.”
Carrie laughed at him and he swatted her ass as she moved away.
His wolf snarled at the knock on the front door, and he snarled again when he scented who was outside.
Carrie started moving to answer it and he stopped her.
“Don’t, it’s Mick and Mariska.”
Carrie frowned. “Were you expecting them?”
Riker’s eyes narrowed. “No.”
He stomped to the door and flung it open. Mick and Mariska stared back at him a little sheepishly.
“Why are you here?” he snarled, angry that they had dared interrupt a cozy, family breakfast.
He liked both the hunters in front of him, but his wolf was more than happy to take a bite out of them for ruining his morning.
“Lucas sent us,” admitted Mariska with an eye-roll.
“Why?” he snapped.
He sensed Carrie was behind him listening and his wolf urged him to slam the door in their faces. But…
“He says you’re needed for a hunt, and you’re not answering your phone.”
Riker grunted. No, he wasn’t, because if he had, he’d be listening to things like they were about to tell him, and he didn’t want to hear them.
“There’s a wolf shifter that needs hunting – a strong and violent wolf,” said Mick. “Lucas said he tried to force a female human into mating him, and when her boyfriend intervened the wolf attacked him.”
“Dead?”
“In intensive care; not sure if he will make a recovery.”
“Why me?” demanded Riker with hooded eyes.
The hunt didn’t sound particularly hard, and there were plenty of capable hunters who could do it. He was looking at two perfectly fine hunters who were probably wishing they were on the hunt right now, or maybe the other side of the planet given his mood.
Mariska shrugged. “Lucas said his pack was closing ranks and would refuse to give him up. We can’t just tear through the whole pack to get to him, and Lucas thinks you’ll be able to persuade the alpha to hand him over – or at least he thinks you’ll be dominant to him. Crow said he’d do it but Lucas shot him down. Look,” she fixed him with a glare, “we didn’t want to come here and horn in on your vacation. Lucas threatened to fire us from the hunters if we didn’t come.” Mariska screwed up her face and spat on the ground in disgust.
Mick nodded. “Yeah, do you think we want to be here with you staring at us like we’re breakfast sausage?”
Riker stared at them for a few beats until they were well and truly uncomfortable, and then he sighed, growled, and slammed the door.
“Are you leaving?” asked Carrie anxiously.
He placed his hands on her shoulders and pressed his lips to her hair, breathing in her scent and immediately calming.
“I have to.”
Carrie pressed her hand to his heart. “Do you?”
“Carrie,” he breathed.
“There are other hunters,” she argued weakly.
“They need me.”
“We need you. I’m so scared of something happening to you, and I just don’t want you to hunt. I’m sorry; I know I have no right to ask you to stop.”
She sniffled and he tilted her head to look at him. Her eyes glistened with tears, and his wolf whined at him. He wanted to stay, but what if he did, and that wolf hurt someone else? Or what if another hunter went after him and got hurt?
“You’re my mate, you have every right,” he crooned.
Huge, beseeching eyes glistened at him. “Am I?”
“Babe.” He kissed her cheeks. “I’m not good with fancy words, but I am coming back, I promise. I’ll try to be as fast as I can. I’ll try to be home for New Year's Eve.”
Carrie nodded and sniffed and he felt like a complete and utter idiot for leaving her. He kissed her, said goodbye to Mikey, kissed her again, grabbed his stuff, said another goodbye to Mikey, kissed her again, and then he was on his way, aware that every second away from her was far too long.
Chapter Twenty-Two
New Year’s Eve
Riker frog-marched the wolf shifter through the facility, ignoring the complaints of how he was going to be sick, how he didn’t deserve this, how his feet were barely touching the ground – blah, blah, blah. Yeah, he’d heard all these complaints a million times before and they were really starting to piss him off.
Riker checked his watch. It was still early. He still had an hour before his appointment. He had time to shower, shave, and change into his suit. He’d never really bothered with any of those things before when meeting with the council, but in doing so he’d probably impress upon them how serious he was. Though, if he were going to spend New Year in bed with his mate
, maybe he would forgo the shave. Riker rubbed his bristly chin. He rather liked the way Carrie squealed and wriggled in delight as she felt his stubble rubbing between her thighs…
The council wasn’t known for their fast decisions, which is why he had Bee set up an early meeting time. Hopefully, it would give them time to decide and he could make it back to Carrie and Mikey before midnight.
“Who do we got?” asked the guard in charge of the cages.
“Graham Wilson. Wolf.”
The guard checked through his list and looked up in surprise. His eyes flashed in admiration. “Fast work, we only sent out a bulletin on him two days ago.”
“Yeah, got lucky,” muttered Riker.
Truthfully, he was just highly motivated and hadn’t rested until he found the bastard. He might have been a little more forceful than he usually would be with witnesses. But he had told Carrie he would try to be home for New Year, and by his fuzzy tail, he was going to get home to her.
Though, when he thought about it, his wolf suspect hadn’t been that difficult to either find or apprehend. Reports of his prowess and violent temper had surely been highly exaggerated. The wolf had virtually handed himself over when Riker found him in a bar, half-drunk and completely depressed. The wolf’s pack hadn’t made any attempt to try and stop Riker from taking him. As for the crime he committed, according to the wolf, it was all just a big mistake. He had been dating a human, and her ex-boyfriend came after him, hoping to attack him and win her back, but the wolf had flattened him. The ex was only human, and had no idea wolf shifters even existed – hence his current stay in the hospital.
Usually, he wouldn’t believe a single word his suspects spouted, but given that the wolf’s girlfriend was in the bar complaining loudly about the unfairness of it all, Riker suspected there was some truth to it. When they were parted, she cried about how she would wait for him, and the wolf promised they would mate as soon as he was free. Riker didn’t like to admit it out loud, but she reminded him so much of Carrie that he almost changed his mind and let him go. He didn’t, obviously, but he had the urge to do it.
“Put him in cell three,” said the guard, “he can mingle with our other wolves.”
The Reindeer's New Year Love (Reindeer Holidays Book 7) Page 15
