by Brenna Lyons
“Well, don’t use the name Steven. Ty doesn’t like it.”
* * *
Keith stepped through the door and dropped his bag in exhaustion. “Katie?” he called as he headed for the kitchen. She wasn’t there, but a delicious smell heralded that dinner was waiting for him.
He made his way up the stairs. The bedroom door was standing open, and lit candles were placed over every flat surface. Keith smiled as he stepped into the bedroom and crossed to the bed.
Katie was lying on top of the covers, dressed in a black silk nightgown that barely reached her knees. Her hair was a black cloud fanned out from her head on the sky-blue sheets, and her chest rose and fell in the comfortable cadence of sleep. She must have fallen asleep waiting for him.
He took in the soft curve of her breast beneath the fabric then down the length of her stomach to her hip to the thigh peeking from beneath the silk. Katie was beautiful, perfect, and she was letting him claim her.
Keith started pulling off his clothing. She may look defenseless, but Katie would never be prey. She was capable of— Well, Keith wasn’t sure what she was capable of—not completely, but she said they were evenly matched, and what she claimed Kyle had done under Ty’s control was chilling.
If she ever was defenseless, Keith would protect her himself, however he could. Tigers might be solitary, but the male would protect his borders and the female within them—and I’m not a tiger! A wolf. Wolves mated for life and were all the stronger for the pack mentality. That was Keith, mated for life.
His clothing removed, he lay down next to Katie and planted a lingering kiss above the bodice of her gown, drinking in the smell of greenmint soap and Obsession perfume. Katie murmured and ran her hand up his chest. Keith captured it and ran his lips from her palm to the pulse point at her wrist slowly. She moaned and opened her eyes to watch his progress.
“Good morning,” Keith whispered as he kissed her shoulder and moved toward her cleavage, already hardening in anticipation.
“I’m sorry,” she yawned. “I was going for a sexy welcome, and I fell asleep.” Katie stretched, arching against his mouth.
“You made it,” he assured her. “Try it again sometime. Only next time, be naked for me. Seeing you naked, sleeping in my bed is wonderful.” Keith ran a hand under the silk and shivered as he encountered nothing else. “Take it off for me,” he breathed.
Katie arched her back and drew the silk over her head. She tried to toss it aside, but he snatched it from her hand. “Why—”
Keith cupped her head and kissed her urgently, cutting of the question before Katie could voice it. “Don’t ask. Just let me,” he requested.
She drew his hand down from her neck to her chest, and he nodded in understanding. Katie enjoyed it when he claimed her like this, giving her raw pleasure without reason or discussion.
He set out to do just that. His hands roamed her, using the silk to wreck an exquisite torture over every inch of her body while his other hand was stroking and cupping breast, her buttocks, the depths of her, her thighs, her lips over and over, no rhyme or reason to where he would play next. Keith’s mouth captured hers again and again, leaving to lightly bruise the sensitive skin of her neck and chest only to reclaim her earnestly as she sank into the sensations of his possession.
When her patience wore thin, Katie reached down to stroke him. His attention momentarily shattered, Keith watched her hands as she removed the silk from his own and pulled it over him, gently tugging at him while he balled his fists in the sheets. Finally, he shuddered in pleasure. She tossed away the silk and started to guide him toward her.
“No. There’s something I want,” he managed.
Katie nodded and started to release him. Then a smile touched her lips. She brushed a drop of his precome off the tip of him with her thumb and brought it to her mouth. His breathing hitched as she met his eyes and licked the drop off her thumb.
Keith groaned in the pleasure the sight gave him. Over the years, he intended to try everything with her at least once, if once would ever be enough. But for now, he wanted something specific from Katie, and that wasn’t it.
“Let me rub your back,” he requested. Keith captured her mouth as he saw the question rising. “Don’t ask. Just let me.”
Katie nodded and settled onto her stomach. She stretched beneath his hands as he massaged her.
“I’ve dreamed of this ever since the drive-in,” he breathed. “It was the halter that did it.”
“A massage?” she teased.
He lowered one hand to play at the slick, waiting core of her. Katie moaned in understanding and need as she pushed herself up on her knees and spread her legs wide for him. Keith replaced his fingers with the tip of his erection, teasing her while she squirmed against him, trying to capture him within her. He pulled back slightly, and she groaned in her need.
“I’ve dreamed of this,” he whispered. “Do you want to know what I’ve dreamed?”
“Yes. Please, don’t make me wait.”
“Waiting is part of what I want. You’ll be aching for me.”
“I am aching for you,” she corrected him.
“You’ll see. Promise me. Let me lead.”
“Promise,” she managed.
“Good. I intend to test it.”
His hands returned to the task of massaging her back. Just as Katie started to relax, he pushed the head at her gently. Keith leaned over her to rub her neck and shoulders, seating just inside her while she cried out. A warm wash of her personal musk lubricated him and he locked down on his self-control painfully.
Unable to pull away, Keith stayed curled around her as one hand teased her breasts. He locked his other hand around her hip and moved slowly in and out of her, just barely past the engorged head.
Katie strained against his hand. “More,” she pleaded with him.
“When I’m done with you,” he assured her.
His hand moved from her chest down over her stomach to her curls. With a groan, Katie stopped straining back onto him and tried to move forward to his fingers. Still, Keith’s hand held her in place. He drew his fingers in circles at the base of her curls.
“Is this what you want?” he teased her.
“Lower,” she panted.
Keith dipped his fingertips into the well of her lubricant around the shaft of him, still anchored in her, and drew it up to make her clitoris slick for his slow caresses. As he refreshed the slick coating again and again, Katie’s panting turned to cries of hopeless longing. Keith knew he could finish her off that way, but it wasn’t what either of them really wanted.
“I’m proud of your determination,” he mused, “but I liked your determination on our first date better.”
He moved the hand playing at Katie to her hip and guided her to him as she slid around him fully. Keith rose high onto his knees to open her to him further and started guiding her back and forth as he matched the rhythm with his hips. Katie cried out her release almost immediately, and Keith wasn’t far behind. He curled around her and rolled to the mattress with her spooned to his chest.
“Did it meet your expectations?” she asked, running her hand down his thigh and setting off aftershocks that made him groan deep in his chest.
“As always, it exceeded them. When you licked that drop off your thumb—” Keith planted a kiss on her shoulder and seated himself further inside her, at a loss to explain his arousal any better than that.
“You almost ditched what you had planned and let me go for it, didn’t you?” Katie snuggled back into his arms and he jerked inside her in response.
“The urge to lay back and let you finish the job almost did me in,” he admitted.
“Good. Dream about that for awhile, and next time, don’t stop yourself.”
He ran a hand down her possessively, but she stopped it just shy of her damp curls.
“We’ll come back to that after dinner,” she promised. “For now, I want to feed your other appetites.”
“W
hat other appetites?” Keith crooned, trying to slide his other hand past her blockade playfully.
“There’s more to giving life than planting a seed,” she reminded him. “You have to feed and water it, too.”
“Dirty pool,” he decided, “but you won your reprieve. Let’s get dressed.”
“Let’s not,” she invited.
Chapter Sixteen
“The problems of the world cannot possibly be solved by skeptics or cynics whose horizons are limited by the obvious realities. We need men who can dream of things that never were.” John F. Kennedy
“If the dream affords the dreamer some light on himself, it is not the person with closed eyes who makes the discovery but the person with open eyes lucid enough to fit thoughts together.” Michael Leiris
"That’s cheating,” Keith complained.
Katheryn laughed in amusement. “This is just protecting the body you enjoy so much,” she countered. “It’s coming off. I promise.”
“Why my robe?”
“I thought you liked seeing me in your robe,” she teased as she pulled the roasting pan out of the oven.
“I do. Mmm. That smells wonderful. What are we eating?”
“Roast chicken stuffed with saffron rice and a side of baby carrots in fresh herb butter. Home baked wheat bread with honey butter.”
“You did all this?”
“Of course. Cooking is my specialty.” She gave him a hard look for his laughter. “Okay. I’ll leave it up to you to decide which I’m better at, thank you.”
“Don’t count on me changing my opinion.”
“You haven’t tasted my bread, yet. It’s award winning,” she tempted him.
“Better than sex?” he asked in disbelief.
“So I’ve been told.”
“By who?” His eyebrow shot up and his eyes narrowed.
She faltered as she set the bowl of carrots on the table. “No one who has me for comparison,” she replied in understanding.
“Well, that explains it,” he decided.
She chuckled as she brought glasses of wine to the table. “Are you insinuating that I’m the best you’ve had, Dr. Randall?”
He pulled her into his lap before she could move away. “I’m saying it outright.” His hand moved to the tie on the front of the robe.
“You’ll never be able to form an opinion if everything is stone cold,” she managed breathlessly.
“Just helping you get undressed. It will only take a minute.” True to his word, he peeled the robe away and lifted her back to her feet.
“I’m surprised,” she admitted with a smile.
“Self preservation, more or less. If I touched you, dinner would be stone cold.”
Katheryn settled into her chair, crossing one knee over the other comfortably. “Good answer.”
Keith loaded his plate in his usual fashion. She settled back and buttered a slice of the bread while he dug in. “It’s good,” he complimented her as he tried the chicken and rice. “Very good,” he upgraded as he tried the herbed carrots.
Katheryn took a bite of her bread and nodded her thanks. Keith raised an eyebrow at her, and she smiled wider.
“Now, try this.” She leaned across the edge of the table and offered him a bite of her bread.
He took a huge portion and started to chew. His eyes widened as the flavors sank in. Keith swallowed slowly, and she reached the slice toward him again. He shook his head, looking stunned. “No.”
“What’s the matter?”
Keith leaned toward her. “Comparison time,” he informed her as he kissed her. The honey left a sweet aftertaste in his mouth that reminded her of the mints from Bolan’s.
When he pulled away, she met his eyes. “Survey says?” Katheryn managed, wishing suddenly that she hadn’t suggested this nude dinner. The urge to make sure the rest was ice cold before he tasted it was almost overwhelming.
“Close call, but sex wins.” He sat back and smiled as he started eating again.
Katheryn returned to her plate more slowly, shaking her head that she was so much more affected than he was.
“So, when are you marrying me?” he asked before taking another bite of his carrots.
“Umm. Tentatively, the eighteenth. I can confirm that tomorrow if it’s okay with you.”
“You are unbelievable.”
“Is that good or bad?” she asked nervously.
“You’re amazing. You’re fantastic, and I don’t just mean in bed. Does that answer it?”
Katheryn smiled. “Got that list for me?” she asked.
“Almost. I’ll have it tomorrow night. How’s your list?”
“Done. Between Carol and I, I finished it up pretty quickly.”
“What’s up with the reception?”
“Mama Toni’s brother owns a club on the flats. It’s his off season until proms and graduations start rolling in next month, so he does private parties to get his staff rolling until then. He has a kitchen crew that he’s already booked for our use. The cake will be from Greb’s. I can finalize it all tomorrow.”
“You really do plan everything,” Keith mused.
“Would you like more input? I thought you just wanted a wedding ASAP.”
“I don’t mind. I’m just surprised that you’ve organized all of this in a day.”
“I work at home. Every time I take a break to eat or stretch my back, I stick a phone in my ear.”
“What’s with Greb’s?” he asked. “You seem to buy a lot of baked goods there.”
“Years of birthday cakes can’t be wrong.” She smiled. “Great cakes. You’ll see.”
“More decadence?”
“Not quite decadent but really, really good.”
“Make those arrangements. I’m marrying you on the eighteenth. You’ve done your part. Now, it’s my turn.”
“What is?” Katheryn asked around another mouthful of bread.
“I’ll take care of rings, flowers, and pictures. Okay with you?”
“Great. You’re planning something, aren’t you?”
He smiled secretively. “I just need to know what color your dress is for the flowers.”
“Ah. Well, my dress is white, so just about anything will match.”
He snickered and coughed on a mouthful of rice.
“If you say it, I’m canceling everything,” she warned.
“Not a word,” he promised. “You know, if we have a positive pregnancy test, your flowers may be pink and blue.”
Katheryn glared at him, and he laughed heartily.
“I’m kidding. I won’t. I promise.”
“Go ahead and do it, but don’t threaten me with it.” She smiled in challenge. “After all, if you want a general announcement to my uncles that you’ve been playing house with me, that’s your call.”
He looked uncertain for a moment, probably picturing police brutality and bogus parking tickets. “Is that a problem?”
It was her turn to snicker. “Are you kidding? First of all, I made it clear that I was living my own life in high school. Second—You think the whole force doesn’t know already? Have you had any problems?”
“Are you saying there’s someone keeping tabs on us?” he asked in disbelief.
“On you? Maybe, but only because I’m here. On me? I guarantee Mac knew the first twenty-four hour period I was out of Mom’s house. He probably knew exactly where I was within another twelve, without consulting Carol. He knew Carol would rip him apart for his interference if he did, I’m sure.”
Keith’s face darkened. “That’s ridiculous.”
“That’s my life. Old habits die hard for these guys. They were always protective, but after Dad died— Mac said it best. He does things he thinks Dad would as a favor to him. Since I won’t confide in them like I did with Dad—” She shrugged.
“They spy to get the information they think he would have?”
Katheryn nodded her agreement.
“That has to stop.”
She giggled.
“Why bother fighting them? I say we just make lots of noise and make them jealous.”
His face paled. “They wouldn’t—”
Katheryn dropped her fork on her plate and laughed heartily at his reaction. “I’m kidding. I’m sure Mac wouldn’t go that far.” She sobered. “If he ever did, I’d have a lot more to worry about than his opinion of our love life. He’d be making me reservations in a rubber room.”
Keith pulled her into his lap and wrapped his arms around her. “Not as long as I’m around,” he promised. “I have a little say in who belongs in rubber rooms, and you’re not one of them.”
“Well, as long as I’ve grounded myself anyway, how did it go with Kyle today?”
He hugged her tighter but didn’t respond.
“Keith?”
She pulled her head back to try to get a look at him. His jaw was tight, and he was trying to avoid her eyes.
“Keith?” She turned his face to hers. “Tell me, please.”
“For starters, he knows we’re trying to have a baby.”
“Oh, Christ. What did he say?”
Keith laughed nervously. “Ty hates the name Steven.”
“All the more reason to use it,” she commented acidly.
“Oh, and we’re doing it wrong.”
“Feels pretty right to me.”
“Not technique. Location.”
Katheryn looked at him in confusion. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m supposed to go to you, to your range.”
He hesitated, and her mouth went dry. Forming a question was exceedingly difficult.
Keith nodded. “According to Ty, you’re a Bengal.”
“There’s more, isn’t there?”
He nodded and swallowed before meeting her eyes again. “He’s raised the stakes.”
“How?”
“He doesn’t just want you to free him. He wants you to let him finish what he started when you were five. He wants you to let him take your powers away. He doesn’t want you capable of interfering with him.”
“What makes him think I’ll agree to that?” she demanded.
“He says it would be in your best interests since you’re so weak and unwilling to hunt that you’ve made yourself prey,” he answered cynically.
