Asleep on his stomach, arms tucked under his pillow, Kyle faced away from her, affording her a view of his broad back. The deep dimples formed by his shoulder muscles mirrored the two narrower grooves above his buttocks, the latter peeking from under a swath of his white comforter. From the mess of his sleepy dark hair to the swell of his rounded ass, he was a perfect specimen of a man, and that was a problem. Were his extraordinary good looks authentic or the result of dark magic? Her wolf was salivating, begging her to cross the threshold and place a kiss between those shoulder blades. But if it was Jonah lying in that bed, she’d been a fool. He would relish taking her virtue as well as her life.
A daydream of running her tongue along his spine had hit her full force when Kyle cleared his throat and adjusted his head on the pillow to face her. His eyes opened, their pale sherry color staring blankly in her direction. He rolled his hips against his mattress.
“Laina?” he whispered, his voice all grit.
“Time to get up! Milo needs a walk,” she said brightly, internally wrestling back her wolf. After her conversation with Silas, it was more important than ever that she maintain control.
He groaned and rolled onto his back, the covers falling low across the front of his hips. A trail of dark hair descended from his navel and disappeared beneath the white duvet.
“Something you’d like to see?”
Her eyes snapped to his. “No!” she squawked. “I mean, yes! Yes, I would like to see you out of bed and downstairs, ready to walk your dog in five minutes.”
“You do realize I worked until three in the morning.”
“But Milo didn’t, and unless you want a mess on your hands, we need to go.”
With a look of defiance, he grabbed the corner of the blanket and tossed it back, revealing everything she’d imagined just moments ago. She inhaled sharply, infuriated by the smug grin he gave her when he caught her staring. She ducked out of the frame of the door and jogged silently down the stairs to the main floor, Milo at her side.
Kyle may have been well-endowed (ridiculously, unbelievably well-endowed) and beautifully built, but she would not allow herself to react like a horny schoolgirl. She was a grown, accomplished woman. Romantically experienced. A professional. Crossing her arms over her chest, she decided it would take more than a pretty face and an enormous, mind-blowingly large dick to win her over. At the prospect of her will trumping her desire, her wolf howled as if in pain and curled up at the back of her brain with a pronounced pout.
Thankfully, when Kyle joined her in the kitchen, he was fully dressed in jeans and a Hunt Club T-shirt, the latter sporting a tribal style lion on the breast. It reminded her a little of her pack tattoo.
She thrust Milo’s leash into Kyle’s hands. It was a sunny morning. Time for test number one. “I’m going to open the door. Try to be the first over the threshold. It’s a display of dominance.”
He shrugged. “Okay. Sounds easy enough.”
With a glance at Milo, she threw open the door.
Kyle’s feet left the tile floor and his head snapped back as Milo took off like a bullet. Laina snickered as he leapt over a padded chaise. “Miloooooo!”
“Milo stop!” Laina said when he’d reached a sunny patch of grass. The mastiff obeyed immediately, stopping abruptly and almost tripping Kyle. With both dog and owner in direct sunlight, her eyes raked over him from head to toe. Aside from a beautiful constriction of his pupils that brought out the multilayered hues of his hazel eyes, there was nothing unusual. Certainly no aura. Just a man holding his chest and resting his hands on his knees. Test one failed.
“Oww,” he said.
“Big dog,” she said.
Kyle was athletic, as tall and muscular as any werewolf, but she’d personally seen a mastiff slightly larger than Milo pull over 5,000 pounds on wheels. They were working dogs—all muscle and grit.
“Did you know he was going to do that?”
She repositioned the leash in his hands for optimal control. “In the future, Mr. Kingsley, I would hope you could keep your private parts private.”
“You were the one who came into my room. It’s not my fault you told me to get out of bed and I happened to be naked.”
She ignored him. “Stand tall and keep Milo at your side. If he starts to get ahead of you, correct him with a sharp snap of the leash. We’ll take him around the yard and work on control. Try to keep him behind your heel.”
“Can we talk about this?”
Laina ignored him. “He’ll have to relieve himself, so you can give him a little leash when he’s ready.”
With a cluck of her tongue, she urged Milo forward. Laina wasn’t angry about seeing Kyle naked. On the contrary, she’d enjoyed it. But anger became a shield she could hide behind until she knew for sure Kyle was human. Drop that shield and she’d be in his bed before the day was through.
“And what is with this Mr. Kingsley shit?” Kyle asked. “You didn’t mind calling me Kyle when you were kissing me last night.” He turned his attention to her. Immediately, the dog lunged ahead.
“Milo, heel,” she commanded. “Concentrate. He knows when you’re not paying attention.”
The muscles of his lips tightened faintly. “I’d prefer you call me Kyle.” He wrinkled his nose. “Actually, I insist you call me Kyle. And unless you want to answer for the stunt you pulled in my club, you’ll call me Kyle.”
“Fine. Kyle, your dog needs to poop.”
Kyle stopped abruptly, finally noticing that Milo had fallen behind slightly and was attempting to squat. He winced when nature took its course. “Ugh. Wow.”
Laina shrugged. “Big dog. This is what you signed up for. You can use one of the bags at the end of the leash for now, but you might want to invest in an in-ground disposal system.”
“In-ground…”
“A system to compost it underground. You could also flush it if you’re willing to carry it inside every day.”
“I’ll tell Gerty.”
Laina placed her hands on her hips. “No, Kyle. Gerty can’t always do this for you. This is your dog, and you are building trust. You need to take care of his needs.” She folded her arms and waited. Milo, now relieved, looked between the two of them. One thing was for sure: if Kyle was Jonah in disguise, his ego would be too big for him to pick up after Milo.
“Oh, for God’s sake you are a pain in the ass,” Kyle said, tearing a bag from the roll, and turning it inside out around his hand.
Laina held back a smile. It wasn’t proof, but she was more confident than ever Kyle was human. When he was done, he tied off the bag, looking positively disgusted.
“Happy?” he asked.
She nodded. “Just leave it here. We’ll pick it up on the way back to the house after one more time around the yard. You’re doing really well.”
He dropped it and wiped his perfectly clean hands on his pants. “What happened between last night and today, Laina?”
“Anna.”
“There’s no one out here but us.”
She sighed, walking quickly to keep up with Kyle and Milo’s pace. “I think the Scotch went to my head.”
“Are you saying you didn’t want to kiss me?”
Even then, with Milo between them and in the bright light of day, her desire for him felt like a neon badge she wore on her chest. How could he not see it on her? Lying would be futile.
“I did. I do,” she murmured.
“So why the icy attitude this morning. I thought we had something. Are you angry that I had leave to go to work last night?”
“No. I just think, with everything going on in your life and mine, the only responsible thing to do is keep a professional distance.”
“What about our date?”
“I think it’s a bad idea.”
They arrived back where they’d started and Kyle picked up the baggy without saying a word. He led the way back toward the house, tossing it in the garbage can near the pool. The tight set of his jaw told her he was more tha
n a little confused and frustrated.
“We should feed Milo,” Laina said, then thought to offer an olive branch. “Would you like to have breakfast?”
He shook his head. “I have a board meeting at ten. Another time.”
Her heart constricted at his emotionless tone and flat smile. He nodded, handing her the leash once they were inside the door. “Thanks for the lesson.” He scooped three cups of kibble into Milo’s bowl. “Milo, sit,” he said firmly. This time, the dog obeyed. Laina could feel why the mastiff had a change of heart; the energy coming off Kyle sizzled against her skin. He dropped the bowl into the stand and turned to leave.
“He’ll need another walk and to be fed tonight,” she said. The note of hope beneath the words was less about Milo and more about wanting to see him again. She hated herself for it, but she was already looking forward to their next training session.
He nodded once and headed for his room.
“You have to let me help,” Laina told Gerty, picking up a rag and loading it with wood polish.
“You’re Kyle’s guest, a dog trainer, not a maid. It’s not your job.”
“Milo is sleeping and I’m bored. I need something to do.”
“Why not explore the library?”
Laina shook her head. Not only did she feel useless sitting around, she wanted the company.
“If you help me, what will I do when I finish early?” Gerty quirked a brow.
Laina smiled at the old woman. “You’ll sit down in a chair and drink a glass of lemonade with me.”
Gerty made a noise deep in her throat and waved her hand in the air. Without hesitation, Laina started in on the woodwork in the dining room, without waiting for an invitation.
“How long have you worked for Kyle?” Laina asked.
“Since he was a baby. Herbert hired Arthur and me to look after him and his brother, Nate. I was the nanny and Arthur was the butler until the boys grew up and I became the housekeeper.”
“You never felt the urge to move on and do something else?”
“And trust my boys to a total stranger? Never!”
“Hmm. You think of them as your own.”
“Of course I do. Other than Arthur, I’m the only one Kyle allows in his private residence. There are eight other housekeepers in the west wing, but Kyle’s very private. He rarely allows anyone in here, aside from me and my husband.”
“He’s allowed me to stay here.”
Gerty gave her a side eye. “And isn’t that saying something?”
Laina polished in silence. Why would Kyle invite her here if he wasn’t Jonah? She wanted to believe he was human and that it was because he was drawn to her in the same way she was drawn to him. But what were the odds? Laina’s attraction to Kyle, though initially driven by her wolf, grew deeper the longer she was in his company. There was no such reason why Kyle would be attracted to her. The whole thing was a headfuck. Was it love or magic?
When they’d finished in the dining room, she followed Gerty upstairs to Kyle’s room. She was surprised to find the couch Milo had destroyed had already been removed and replaced as if Kyle had a room full of identical couches at the ready.
“When Kyle was six, Arthur and I took him and his brother to the beach,” Gerty said as she ran her duster over the antique dresser that perfectly fit the fairy-tale charm of Hunt Club Mansion. “Kyle’s brother, Nate, had no trouble making friends. He spent the rest of the day with a crowd of boys, body surfing and playing games along the shore. Kyle was always different. He was obsessed with the tide pools, the starfish, the tiny crabs. All he wanted to do was build sandcastles with Arthur, houses for those tiny ocean dwellers to enjoy. Such a quiet, introspective boy. Never wanted the limelight. Never cared to be part of a crowd. Completely different from his brother.”
“Far off from the media sweetheart he is today.” Laina laughed.
Gerty paused, becoming serious. “You know, an expensive education and high expectations go a long way toward conditioning behavior.” She nodded at Milo, who had followed them into the room and was curled on the floor. “You’ll train this one to sit when you say sit and heel when you say heel, but he’ll always be a dog. He’ll always want to run.”
“Are you saying Kyle is somehow a prisoner to expectations? He hardly seems like he’s suffering here.”
“No. Not suffering. But I sometimes wonder if he’s left behind a piece of himself to live this life.” She chuckled. “I’m an old woman. Don’t listen to my babbling.”
If there was anything that Gerty could have said to make her desire Kyle more, she couldn’t think of it. As the princess of her people, Laina understood the demands of external expectations and how they could easily extinguish the flicker of light someone carried in their soul.
Laina allowed her eyes to drift around the enormous room, noticing for the first time that there were no pictures or mementos. No family portraits. No snow globes from trips to Lake Tahoe. Kyle’s bedroom might have been staged for a photograph. “This home wasn’t built until recently when they built the club, right? Where was home before this?”
“We’ve followed Kyle and Nate from New York to LA, Wyoming, Minnesota, South Carolina. We move when they move. I think Kyle wants to stay here this time, though.”
“Why do you say that?”
There was a long pause and Gerty seemed to choose her words carefully. “Just a hunch. I sense he’s tired of being a rolling stone.” Laina helped her make the bed, closing her eyes when Kyle’s deep woods scent wafted up from the billowing sheets. “Plus, this is the first time he’s demanded separate living quarters from his brother.”
“Gerty,” Laina said, desperate to put aside the fear Silas had instilled in her, “have you noticed a change in Kyle the last couple of weeks?”
“What kind of change?”
“You know, not acting himself, wanting to eat things he previously disliked, doing things he normally wouldn’t do.”
“Only when it comes to you.”
Laina dropped her arms to her sides and stared at the old woman.
“I’ve never seen him so smitten.”
Opening her mouth to protest, her mind went blank, her wolf reveling in the idea that Kyle might be as interested in her as she was in him. She stood, speechless, as Gerty plugged in the vacuum cleaner but hesitated to turn it on.
“You should enjoy the magic of this moment, dear,” Gerty said softly. “Arthur and I had a similar courtship. Not everyone experiences love at first sight. Life is short, passion is fleeting, and love is a risk worth taking.”
Laina snorted. “I think it’s much too early to use the word love in the same sentence with Kyle and me.”
Gerty smiled until her rheumy eyes were lost in the folds of her face. “You’re probably right. Guarding your heart is the sensible thing to do. Like I said, I’m an old woman. Don’t listen to me.” She turned on the vacuum and got to work.
Fifteen
For the next week, Laina fell into a routine with Kyle. She’d wake him to work with Milo in the morning, then meet him again at the end of the day. To her wolf’s dismay, Kyle took her request to maintain a professional distance to heart. She found his door closed in the morning and his conversation, although open and friendly, completely appropriate for mixed company.
Milo thrived on the routine. Since she’d come to Hunt Club, the mastiff hadn’t destroyed anything but the daily chew toy Kyle gave him for that purpose. Laina would care for the dog during the day, in between helping Gerty with her chores. The housekeeper had become her good friend.
And reluctantly, she had to admit, so had Kyle. After walking Milo in the evening, it had become a habit for them to stay up until the wee hours of the morning talking about anything and everything. His favorite food was Korean barbecue. He’d played baseball until the tenth grade when he’d sprained his wrist. He spoke French and just enough Spanish to survive in an emergency. And he was completely addicted to HGTV.
She’d shared things
with him too, those things she could share. He knew she liked to drive fast and loved the beach but hated the sand. She’d rather eat a steak than a slice of chocolate cake and spent a summer in Europe with her parents before they were killed. He knew she was a sucker for animals and gave an unholy amount of money to the ASPCA each month. Only on this night, a storm had moved in, and the thunder and lightning had cut their usual walk and post-session talk short.
“Are you tired?” he asked. It was nine o’clock and she wasn’t eighty. Sherlock Holmes, she was not, but it was obvious he was giving her an out if she wasn’t interested in his company without the excuse of Milo.
“Not yet,” she said. With the full moon in her rearview mirror, her wolf’s voice had quieted, and she could be in Kyle’s presence without the aching need she’d felt before.
“Come on. I want to show you something.”
He led her to the back of the house, to a room with floor-to-ceiling books, saddle-brown leather furniture, gold fixtures, red tapestries, and a shiny black baby grand piano. “It’s a beautiful library.”
“What do you like to read? Let me guess…” He tapped his chin and studied her. “Jane Eyre.”
She snorted. “Why would you say that?”
“Jane breaks out on her own, would do anything for a friend, makes a life for herself. Seems like a character you could relate to.”
“I like your thinking, but I’m more of a Mary Shelley fan.”
“Oh, Frankenstein?” He knit his brows.
“She published it anonymously, you know, because no one in 1818 would read a book by a woman. But the entire tale is a work of feminism. It’s a warning about what would happen if a man tried to create life without a woman.”
“Hmm. I never thought of it that way. So that’s you, then, the feminist Frankenstein. A doctor no less.” He sat down on the piano bench and started playing a simple, plodding version of Bach’s Prelude in C.
“How about you? What do you read?” she asked.
“Financial reports, the Wall Street Journal, legal documents.”
Vice (Fireborn Wolves Book 1) Page 11
