Moonlight Heart: A Reverse Harem Shifter Romance (The Witch and the Wolf Pack Book 4)

by K. R. Alexander

  “Got your classroom in order?” he asked.

  “No. We’re one step better than chaos.”

  “At least not one step worse.”

  I laughed, turning my head away from him.

  Kage slid closer, arm around my back, his lips on my lips, my chin, nose, eyelids.

  “Kage—”

  “Just friendly. Sorry about what I said before. Jay was right: Nothing special about a female shopping around. Only hard on the male who’s having to watch from the side sometimes. Wasn’t feeling my best last night. Sorry…” He kissed and caressed my lips with the tip of his tongue, sending all those nerves vibrating again.

  “It’s easy to say all that with some distance and when I’m with you, isn’t it? Until next time you lash out in the heat of—”

  “Know why it’s easy?” Another kiss. “Being with you. Living and loving and being in this Moon are easier when—”

  “What you mean to say is it’s easier to be nice about the other guys when you’re the one in bed with me?”

  “Yeah.” He chuckled, running powerful hands up my arms to hold my face, kissing my nose. “Thought you’d be cross if you savvied that was it, though.” Nibbling at my lips, easing closer—muscles tight, reining himself in, forcing the slowness as if sneaking up on prey. “Could be … extra special friends maybe?”

  “Are you referring to friends with benefits?”

  “What’s that?”

  I had turned my face to speak but he followed, still hanging back as far as any real force—more weaseling his way against me.

  I finally opened my mouth for his tongue and Kage pushed, inching ever closer.

  The removal of choice?

  He was doing and being everything for me. Everything he could, all he knew. Would I be a monster to block him now?

  We shouldn’t. I meant to say the words out loud.

  You must be joking. You’ve been sleeping with him. Have a little perspective.

  We can’t be this involved. Someone will get hurt later on.

  What else is new? Did you think life was meant to be pain-free? Or even that it would be worth the journey if it were?

  Instead, I leaned in as well, also reaching to touch, feeling tight muscles up his arm, scars on his neck, vibrations in his throat as he kissed me and his jaw worked.

  He cupped my breast against a palm, only the cotton shirt between us, while I bit his tongue and he pushed up on an elbow.

  The front door banged shut. I hadn’t heard it open. Jason must have left it wide when he’d departed, now nosing it closed.

  His claws clicked over battered linoleum.

  Kage pulled his face away and I rolled to my back, breaths fast.

  “Hey, princess,” Kage said, looking around. “What’d she give you?”

  Jason, in his sleek fur, appeared in the bedroom doorway. He pranced up to the bed with his head high. The marrow bone in his jaws was so large it forced his teeth wide apart.

  “It’s a looker,” Kage told him. “Congratulations.”

  Jason lashed his tail.

  “I’m sorry, Jason,” I said. “I meant to get a second one for you.”

  “I told her to forget it,” Kage said. “That’s plenty for one day and you don’t want them cold anyway.”

  Jason wagged his tail at me and trotted back to the living room where we heard him flop onto the hard floor and begin to gnaw. His teeth made sharp grating sounds over the thick, damp beef bone.

  Kage leaned over me, pressing his whole body against mine from feet to lips.

  For a couple minutes it was all faces: fingers, tongues, and lips exploring, caressing, as if never having touched before, feeling and tasting all we could. Then Kage pulled my shirt up, myself lifting weight off the fabric so he could tug the hem to my neck. He slid down to shroud my breasts in kisses while I twined my fingers into his hair, holding his head against me.

  My pulse sped, sweat starting again when he moved back up, pushing down his shorts at the same time. He rocked his hips to force his growing erection between my thighs, his tongue once more in my mouth. From both hands on his face, feeling over every inch of bone structure, hair, stubble, back to ears and neck, I plunged my right down his chest, reaching for his groin.

  The feel of him, heat and size, left me more urgent, ready to slip down, throwing aside covers to see and taste him. But he was pushing, trying to get me onto my back, so strong it was like being held by a bus. Instead, I massaged his foreskin while he thrust into my hand.

  Even against that power, I resisted. He was too much. I pushed back, getting an elbow under me for leverage, but staying low against him to keep him from having any. I worked down my own underwear at the same time, struggling to get my right foot out so I could drape my leg over his. I lifted my knee against his thigh to show him as I squirmed out of the underwear.

  Someone shouted outside. More? It could wait for our attention.

  Kage got the idea and stopped with the on your back nonsense. He thrust between my legs again, teeth on my neck, until the head of his penis found the wet heat he wanted. He pushed forward, eager against me, but didn’t have the angle. I got my right foot loose and drew my knee up to his hip, then reached again, this time to guide his thrusts—burning for him, wet and hungry for him to be inside me.

  Shouting. My name. Approaching open windows.

  “Cassia? Are you still over here?” It was Andrew.

  Kage didn’t seem to hear, still pushing, kissing me.

  I held him, whispering, “Shhh, what’s he want?”

  “Cassia?” The front door opened.

  Jason’s claws scraped as he stood up in the living room and snarled.

  “Don’t growl at me, meat-head,” Andrew snapped. “Been to see Merab this morning? That’s a fine specimen.”

  The growling subsided.

  “Where’s Cassia?”

  “I’m in bed, Andrew,” I called. “Sleeping in. For once. Leave me alone.”

  “What the hell are you doing in bed? Sun’s a mile high.”

  Was it? I hadn’t checked the clock. But hadn’t Jason been up early for the bone?

  “What do you want?” I asked, shivering with Kage biting my throat, my hand still on his erection.

  “To tell you that lady-hair is in a twist about having to work—and hyperventilating about his brother. Other brother, that is. Are you and I going to London today or not?”

  “Oh … yes. What … time is it?”

  “After ten.”

  “No.” Horrified, I sat up—Kage grabbing me.

  “Sorry to burst your beauty sleep, darling.” I could just about hear Andrew roll his eyes.

  No wonder Zar was hyperventilating. Now so was I.

  “I’ll be right there. Atarah’s first. Half an hour, okay? No more. Then I’ll meet you at the workshop and we’ll figure out what we’re doing.”

  “Whatever you say, Cassiopeia.”

  A sudden snarl and snap from Jason’s teeth.

  Andrew laughed. I suspected he’d made a false lunge to snatch the bone. Or had he made a move to walk over to the bedroom? Jason standing between?

  “See you later, ‘princess.’” Andrew shut the door.

  Shoving Kage back, I twisted to see the clock on the other side of the bed. “Goddess. He’s right. I didn’t realize how late it was.”

  Kage didn’t seem to have any plans for letting me go. “We have a minute—”

  “Kage—”

  “You’re mental. Just one—”

  “I’m sorry.” Struggling away, I twisted my arms out of his hands against his thumbs—the weak spot. “I’ve got to run and clean up and get dressed. Really, Kage—”

  “You can’t just—”

  But my heart was hammering in a totally different way, mortified that I’d made promises to Zar about staying on top of something this time-sensitive only to vanish all morning. I almost fell on the floor prying myself away from Kage.

  “What the fuck?�
� Kage snapped behind me. “You’re already in the middle of something!”

  Yes, he was right. Two wrongs… But I couldn’t.

  “Come with us to London?” Fighting to get my underwear back up, then grabbing my jeans from the floor while he swore in Lucannis. “Sorry, Kage, I’m—”

  “Like hell.”

  “Then stay here and clean out gutters all day.” Still yanking at the filthy jeans, I pushed my shoes on in the bedroom doorway. “I’m truly sorry. Later. I had commitments today and I wasn’t paying attention. This is my fault—”

  I stepped around Jason on the floor—who watched me as he chewed—grabbed my bag, ran a brush through my hair, then, holding the bag against my chest, called, “I can find her place in daylight. Jason, I’ll bring your shirt back.” I met his golden eyes for a moment. “Thank you.”

  Jason thumped his tail on the floor.

  Kage was cursing as I fled.

  Chapter 30

  Frustration.

  We took the train up to London: Andrew, Kage, Jason, and myself. While Zar, Jed, and Isaac were all working through the weekend due to being so behind. Andrew also usually worked weekends, but he had only a few days next week to finish with the Seastar Hotel before his day job was at an end.

  With the four of us on the train, we should have taken a double row with a table. Instead, Kage flopped into a normal window seat, I took the one across from it, and Jason and Andrew took the aisles beside each of us.

  Kage stared out the window all the way there, not answering anything Jason said.

  I’d felt bad about how I’d treated Kage on our first train journey together. Now I felt absolutely horrible. For him and everyone involved—whether the others knew the details or not.

  My own frustration, which I’d been able to ignore previously, now became an oppressive force almost as toxic as the energetic waves drifting off Kage.

  Isaac had said it was intelligence. That smart people over-thought and ended up over-stressed by all the complex decisions and possible mistakes they could make.

  So why was this all feeling so idiotic?

  Instead of making lists, being stubborn in my stance about my own choices, and thinking I could save us all from pain and suffering when August 24th rolled around, if I’d really been smart, I wouldn’t have gone back to the airport at all. I’d have stayed that night of our goodbyes with Isaac, gone back to Zar the next day, and probably ended up with Kage by night. That would have been smart. Not as if it would have somehow prevented me from helping them investigate. It simply would have made the investigation more enjoyable.

  But stop it. You’re leaving. Eighteen days. Not eighteen dates. Help and go. That’s all you can do. This is not your future. If you really love them, save their lives and let them get on with those lives and futures.

  Moron. What the hell were you thinking? Did you actually believe you could come back here and “keep your distance” for one second? What lengths will you attempt to blind yourself to your own heart?

  That’s enough.

  I was not prone to abusive self-talk.

  Nana and her power of thoughts lectures. If one made a mistake it meant learning and reflecting how to correct. Not beating oneself up or name-calling.

  Frustration.

  Plus Andrew beside me. Andrew was far more interested in Kage’s silence than he needed to be. And in me.

  I’d shared Andrew’s bike for the trip into Brighton, where we’d parked at the rail station. This was a moot point conversationally. Now, though, Andrew seemed to think I’d been feeling him up or we’d in some other way been extra intimate because I’d had to hold onto him on the bike. He’d taken my hand in the station, bought my ticket, and now was doing it again: sliding his fingers into my left while I woke up my phone with my right.

  He asked if I wanted coffee from the on-board “café”—actually little more than a very elaborate vending machine.

  I pulled away. “I haven’t had time to check emails since yesterday evening. Give me a minute. I bet I have something from the translator. We’ll be at the hotel soon and I’ll get a real latte.”

  “Didn’t mean to offend, darling.” He purred his words, voice a breath in my ear. “Like you seem to have done to corpse-nose. Not the mood I was expecting from our crab king this morning. Your ‘sleeping in’ with him didn’t go well?”

  “Our what?” I waited for emails to load. I would nevermore take a fast connection for granted.

  “The crab? You know, I’ve never heard Aries and Cancer are a good match. Aries and Aquarius, on the other hand—”

  “Kage is a Leo and I’m a Libra. A combination I happen to think can be a strong one.” I still watched my phone while Andrew nearly had his nose in my ear.

  “Of course. You fancy going by Sun. Well, I always heard a Gemini and a Libra were an unstoppable twosome.”

  “Did you?” I sighed. No new message from the mage.

  Gavin was his name. Gavin and Gabriel. Our elusive Gs today. But I’d really thought I’d have an answer from Gavin in twenty-four hours.

  “Looks like you’re going for threesomes, though,” Andrew continued in my ear. “Am I boring you alone? How many wolves does it take to keep one witch’s interest?”

  I drummed my fingers on the blue phone case. Time to go back to the pink: a little cheer. I enjoyed updates. Never one of those people to resist change. How could you weigh your options if you’d only ever ordered one thing on the menu?

  I looked sharply at Andrew, meaning I also had to lean back so our faces did not touch. “I’m sorry I wasn’t out early this morning. I really did sleep in. Much more than I should have. Zar’s right that we should move quickly if we’re going to have any chance with the hotel lead.”

  “You know as well as I do you’re not compatible with water signs,” Andrew went right on as if I’d said nothing. “Air was never meant to be with water. Hurricanes, darling.”

  I scrolled to the top of emails again, watching as if a new message would load that had been misplaced before.

  “What do fire and air enjoy?” He kissed my ear. “More air. My best friend is an air Sun with a fire Moon. You’re an air Sun with a fire Moon. Destiny? I think so. And that crab…” With a dismissive noise in his throat. “It just cramps our style, Cassiopeia. We’re movers and innovators, experimenters and rule-breakers. What’s the crab do? Sit in his sandbox, clacking his claws and crying crocodile tears when he gets burned? Look after his young? They’re good for that.”

  I frowned at Andrew. “But he’s not a Cancer. He’s a Leo.”

  “Sure he is. When you meet him. When you don’t know him well and the echo of his roar and that puffed out chest and ‘look at me’ swagger dazzles you into thinking you’ve met a king. But it’s a sideways gait and tender feelings that give away his Moon. One of those confused souls who doesn’t mesh with his own planets. Unlike you—”

  “I should get some work done before the city.”

  He watched me open the forecast in Portland so I could tell Melanie what it was like. Yet I couldn’t send Melanie an email now. I was supposed to be on Pacific Standard Time again.

  “Are you afraid of me?” Andrew asked in a breath.

  “What?” Another glance up.

  “I’ve asked you before what’s wrong. You’ll flirt, then edge away. I would think it was you: that you need a couple candlelit dinners behind us before you’d take me seriously. But you’re sleeping with Jason, for Moon’s sake. Isaac was competition from the start. Now our male-favoring dark star? And lady-hair? I admit, I didn’t see it coming. The only time you let your guard down was when you thought you were saying goodbye—nothing to lose. Do I intimidate you? Don’t like my style? What is it?”

  This time I looked back into his amber eyes from close range. “I’m not afraid of you. But … you’re right. I suppose … I don’t trust you. I’ve known men like you before. Or … well, the type…”

  “There are no men like me, darling.” Arch
ing an eyebrow.

  “No. But some of your brand of flirting, I suppose. And that’s all it is. If I’d met you five years ago, things would have been different. You caught me once I’d already had my long looking in the mirror conversation: ‘Where am I going, what am I doing, who do I want to be with?’ It’s hard not to pay attention to you. Honestly, though … yes, a couple candlelit dinners would have been a better approach. Which is to say sincerity. For me anyway. But that’s just me. I’m surprised the young females in your pack aren’t queuing up for you.”

  I at once regretted that last part, remembering Andrew’s loss that we’d never talked about. But he didn’t miss a beat.

  “I’m sure you’d see the dust cloud around my door if we even had many eligible females in the pack,” Andrew said dryly, then dropped his gaze. He pressed his fingers tighter around mine. “How about it? That dinner? Tonight?”

  “We can’t go out to dinner.” I laughed a little. “Not now. Unless you want Kage and Jason to stay with us.”

  “We’d be in a pair of two, we can chaperone each other. But … all right. A picnic? You and I. This evening. In the orchard. Our neighbor’s don’t mind if we borrow it, and we’re in shouting and visual range of our guards.”

  “What would you—?”

  “I’ll bring dinner and the candles.”

  “Candles in a field?”

  “You need only bring the perfect accompaniment to the evening: yourself.”

  “I… Andrew, dinners … in the pack…”

  “Don’t be afraid, darling. I’ll cook for you myself.”

  “Is it going to be two inches thick? Because—”

  “Human food. Remember who you’re dealing with here.”

  “You’re going to cook a human meal? And set out a picnic?”

  “I would cook a star and chew it for you if that’s what you asked.”

  “I … we still have today to get through. But … okay. If we’re done in the city at a normal time and home for the evening… What if we have to take a room here? Though I’m not sure how that would work out… Maybe Kage and Jason can stay and Jason can sneak around the halls in the middle of the night?”