by Nancy Gideon
He got up quickly and started across the room, banging into the coffee table as if he hadn’t seen it. After adjusting his path around it, he left the room. She could hear him rummaging through the closet, then the bathroom door shut.
She sat paralyzed with fright. What wasn’t he telling her?
She rushed into the bedroom to dress. There was no way she was letting him out of her sight. Was it his father? Was he afraid to let her see his grief? Her emotions twisted tight at the thought of him isolated by a sorrow he couldn’t share.
Cale emerged from the bathroom wearing get-down-to-business black, from the tight T-shirt exposing his tattoo to jeans tucked into shit-kicker boots. His dark blond hair was as bristly as the unflinching mood he projected, as if going to war rather than to a designer-suits-required family meeting. Purposefully, he crossed the room to where she stood, his fingers spearing into her hair, pulling her to him for a deep, ravenous, tongue-thrusting kiss that completely blanked her mind to everything else.
While she was gasping, struggling to recover her balance, he began kissing, licking, biting her ear until the slightest encouragement would have sent her rocketing over the edge.
A knock at the door had Cale stepping back as abruptly as he’d approached her, heading into the other room while she swayed on knees like jelly.
Oh, my, her man could kiss!
Surprised to hear Silas’s voice, Kendra pulled together her frayed edges and went to join the men. She paused in the doorway to ask, “Any news from the lodge?”
“He’s better this morning. Gathering his sons now, then the clan at noon,” Silas told her after darting a quick glance at Cale.
“Something important?” she ventured.
“That would be my guess.”
Cale was avoiding her gaze. “I’d better get up there.”
Silas assessed his clothing with a wry “Kinda casual for meeting with your king, don’t you think?”
“Better armor than a double-breasted Prada” was Cale’s cryptic reply. He went to get a coat, coming back in a Gucci black leather bomber jacket with a thick shearling collar and his wraparound sunglasses. He looked sleek, lethal, and unbearably hot as he said, “Gimme a hug for luck, baby.”
He bent to snatch a quick squeeze, but Kendra whipped her arms about his neck, corralling him for a long, lusty kiss that had Silas looking rather grim. She palmed Cale’s lean cheeks, smiling as she confided, “We have things to finish, my prince. My king. Come back soon.”
Cale straightened without comment and turned to Silas, challenging flatly, “Keep your word.”
Silas responded with a brief nod, and Kendra was on him the second Cale shut the door.“What’s going on?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing, my ass!” At Silas’s surprised look, she railed, “You and Cale sharing a civilized moment? Please!”
“We’re trying to keep a war from blowing up in our faces. A little civility isn’t too high a price to pay.” A small, tight smile. “Besides, I can afford to be pleasant after whipping the holy hell out of him yesterday. Damn, that felt good. Little sucker’s tough. He can take a punch.”
“Silas, answer me!”
After a big exhale, he turned to her, features solemn and intractable. “You’ve got about a half hour to pack. Get to it.”
“Pack? I’m not going anywhere.”
“We’re leaving, and we’re leaving in a hurry. Take everything, because you’re not coming back.”
Kendra took a staggering step away from him, her shaking hands going up to brush the hair from her face. Everything came to a standstill as she touched her earlobe.
Her Terriot diamond was gone.
With the door closed upon all his dreams, Cale leaned back against it and let his knees give way, sinking down onto his heels. His breath expelled in a tight gust as his features twisted. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t walk away from her.
What are you made of, boy?
He could hear Bull’s goading words, but they weren’t as strong as his sorrow. His nails became claws, tearing into the sleeves of his coat.
My mate. My queen. My love! I can’t lose you! Those tortured cries wailed through his soul.
“Cale?” Tony hovered over him. “Your brothers are up at the lodge. You all right? Do you want me to get—”
“No,” he growled, then scrubbed his palms over his face before rising slowly to his feet. “No. I’m fine.” He took a breath, deep and full, as his expression set in stony lines.
I’m Cale Terriot, a prince of the House of Terriot, and I will be their king.
“Cale wants me gone?” Kendra’s voice trembled and broke.
“It was his idea. To keep the peace and satisfy our family’s supporters. We need to hurry. All hell’s going to be breaking loose.”
Something wasn’t right. When Silas took her arm, she set her heels to demand, “Why would he think I’d leave with you?”
Her cousin sighed in exasperation. “Because he has some notion that you’re in love with me. And I’m supposed to encourage you to believe that it’s reciprocal. You know I’d do anything for you, Kendra. You should also know that the woman I love is waiting for me in New Orleans.”
When her eyes welled up with tears, he cursed under his breath and wrapped her in his arms. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t not tell you. Nica and I are bonded, and we even did the human marriage thing when we found out she was pregnant. I didn’t want to upset you, but I couldn’t lie to you. Don’t cry.”
“Why wouldn’t I be happy for you?” she said as she sobbed into his shirtfront. “It’s wonderful news. Cale asked you to lie to me?”
As he stroked her hair, Silas murmured gently, “You got over him before. You will again.”
She shook her head violently. “I never did. I never got over him, and I never will. I love him, Silas. He’s everything I ever wanted.”
Silas’s chest rose and fell with tremendous resignation. “Oh, hell. He’s doing it to protect you and his family.”
To the sacrifices we’ve made.
Kendra pushed away, her stare fixing on Silas’s, narrowing determinedly. “Tell me what you know. The abbreviated version.”
As she listened, her features paled, but she didn’t stop him until she’d heard it all.
Cale, why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you trust me?
Finally, she asked for Silas’s phone and placed a quick call, prefacing it with a curt “Don’t you dare hang up on me.”
Brigit said nothing but remained on the line.
“What did you see that would make James want you dead?”
“James? Nothing. I hardly ever saw him. Except—”
“Except what, Bree?”
Brigit laughed. “It was nothing. Just a romantic tryst I thought was a little . . . odd.”
“With whom?”
Then everything made sense.
Cale stopped in the foyer to shed his heavy coat and shake the ice from his hair. It was a near blizzard outside, heavy, biting flakes that piled up quickly. Hopefully, Silas had Kendra in the car and was on the way down the mountain. That was one extra worry Cale didn’t need on his mind. He wanted them out of his family’s reach, the sooner, the better.
Kip trotted over like a welcoming pup in Armani the minute Cale entered the hall. The boy eyed his attire and lifted his brows. “If you’re looking to piss the old man off, that’ll do it.” His grin faded as he stared at the second diamond in Cale’s bloodied, freshly re-pierced ear.
Before his brother could jump in with questions, Cale asked, “Would you walk with me? Here on this side. I’m having trouble navigating after yesterday’s go-round with MacCreedy.”
“Sure.” Kip reached out to lift the dark glasses and winced. “That looks bad. You must be seeing double.”
He wasn’t seeing at all. That was the problem. His left eye was completely blind. He couldn’t afford to have the others guess his weakness, or they’d never go along with his plan.
<
br /> Cale felt the hair go up at his nape when James broke off a conversation with Stephen to grin at him. “Tell us, brother,” he called out with seeming good nature, “after pounding all of us into the ground, how does it feel to be the one on the floor?”
Cale smiled and even laughed, saying lightly, “I’ll have more sympathy for you the next time we mix it up. My bells are still ringing.”
James’s expression hardened from pleasant to mocking. “That’s twice now that you’ve let an outsider put you down. Must be kind of embarrassing.”
Cale shrugged it off. “Naw. We’ve been beating on each other since we were kids. It was his turn to get the upper hand and to my advantage to let him take it.” He watched James recalculating. Let him wonder and worry about what he’d meant.
With Kip sticking to his side like a Seeing Eye dog, Cale went to pour coffee. Wesley joined them. “What do you think the old man wants?”
“Don’t know. What do you think?”
“I think after that spell he had yesterday, he’s gonna be passing the crown.”
Cale shrugged at his speculation. “Maybe. Whose head do you want to see it on? Yours, mine, James’s?”
“If not mine, better yours than Jamie’s. If you want it to be you, you might want to change your clothes.”
That surprised him. Cale had thought his brother was firmly on the noncommittal fence. “Why not James?”
“No reason.” Then Wesley stared. “You’re wearing both diamonds.”
Cale smiled thinly. “They looked good with the outfit.”
Wes was looking over Cale’s shoulder, grinning. “Trouble coming with your name on it.”
Cale turned to see Kendra at the door, where Tony was trying to restrain her. She looked windburned, out of breath, vulnerable. And furious. “Back in a minute,” he murmured.
Wesley laughed and called after him, “Still enjoying that monogamy thing, brother?”
As Cale strode across the hall, shoring up an impassive front, he saw Silas enter to offer an apologetic shrug.
Kendra’s stare bored into his. “I’d like a word. Now.”
“This isn’t the time, Kendra. Perhaps later—”
“What later would that be, my prince? I don’t believe your plans included any later. I want my diamond and an explanation. Then we can discuss later.” She never raised her voice or appeared other than respectful, but her tone was raw, and her eyes glistened with hurt and anger.
“We can’t talk here,” he began stoically.
“Fine.” She turned to go into the foyer, Cale following. He growled as he walked by Silas, “Thanks for nothing.”
Silas spread his hands wide. “Happy to help.”
The only privacy offered was the mounting storm, the open coat room, or the bathroom. Kendra chose the bathroom, locking the door after he followed her inside. It was nothing like the industrially tiled restroom at the Shifter club. The elegant room boasted ultra-modern fixtures, cut stone, and a plush carpet before the vanity mirrors. It smelled of pine, reminding Cale of the forest where he’d taken her virginity. She rounded on him, her dark eyes welling miserably.
“I thought you wanted me with you. I thought we were going to have a life together. If you wanted to be rid of me, you should have told me yourself instead of leaving that to Silas.”
He couldn’t lie, so he hedged with bits and pieces of the truth to hopefully convince her that leaving was the better option. “James is getting the crown. I’m going to have to fight and struggle just to survive. I don’t want you here for that. You’ll be in my way. Unless you want to be his queen, go with Silas. That’s what I want.”
“So you can die alone? Is that what you want? You said you could be a better man with me beside you. I’m not letting anything come between us again, not our families, not our fears, not our failings. I’m a better, stronger woman with you beside me, and I don’t want to lose that or you. I don’t want anyone or anything to take me away from you. If you don’t feel the same, tell me. I’ll leave with Silas without another word. Tell me!”
“Kendra, I can’t give you the things you need.”
“What things? What things do you think I need?”
“Security. Protection. Happiness. Freedom. Family. Children. You’ll never have them here with me.”
“It doesn’t matter where I am. If I’m with you, I have everything I need.”
“Stop being so naive!” He raked his fingers through his hair. “What if I can’t give you children, Katy?” His words fractured and chipped away.
Her eyes glittered, reflecting his pain and worry. “Because of that poison Sylvia gave you?” She swallowed hard and took his hands in hers, squeezing them tightly. “I’m not going to throw everything away on what might happen. That’s not naïveté. That’s a fact. And if it’s just you and me, I will never have regrets. Not ever. What about you, Cale? Will I be enough if there’s no crown, no heirs, just the two of us?”
Would she be enough? What an absurd question.
“Fuck yes.”
His hands scooped her tear-damp face between them, drawing her up for a deep, urgent kiss. Once he’d tasted her, Cale knew there’d be no letting her go again. “I love you, Katy.” The words tore his soul.
“Claim me,” she moaned against his mouth. “I want you to. I want us to belong to each other.”
She was tugging off his sunglasses and T-shirt, reaching between their bodies for the fastening of his jeans, pushing them off his lean hips. After a slight hesitation, he gripped the bottom of her soft winter-white sweater and pulled it over her head. Then he went to his knees, tugging down her slacks and panties. His palms were warm as they firmly caressed her hips, pressing her to him. His cheek was smooth, his breath hot and fast against her belly, as he whispered roughly, “I love you, Kendra. Be with me. Bond to me.”
She tipped back his head, straddling him, easing down to take him inside her, kissing him with a fierce possessiveness while he groaned and shuddered as he filled her. His mouth moved over hers with a wild, hungry passion before he positioned her head against his shoulder to nuzzle and lick the tender curve of her throat. His body began to shake and shiver, his skin burning, quivering beneath her palms, as it shifted in texture to that luxurious pelt of rich gold and fiery red, as soft and thick as Brigit’s coat beneath her cheek.
Kendra clung to him, trembling with eagerness instead of fright while his proportions grew, lengthening, impossibly thickening. Stretching, straining, creating the harsh friction that excited all her nerve endings as she began to ride him.
His mouth scorched at her neck as he placed quick, savage kisses along the slope of her throat and shoulder. A low, fearsome growl vibrated through his chest when his muscles tensed and began to quake.
“Make me yours,” Kendra urged. “Make me your queen.”
The cut of his teeth was swift and exquisitely painful, but only for an instant. Even as she cried out, her senses flooded with a shattering new awareness of her mate. Cale, my love, my prince, my king. Like a powerful aphrodisiac, his scent enveloped her, hot, rich, seductive. She drew it in as if her body had been starving for it, frantic for it to feed her desire the way oxygen fueled her blood. His pulse thundered against her, within her, primal, fierce, demanding. Hers mirrored that compelling rhythm until it raced through her body to center, pool, and throb at her core.
Though he hadn’t relinquished his bite, Kendra no longer felt the discomfort. There was only heat and the quickening of desperate need. Building a suspenseful tension until her legs shook and her body bowed.
Then the hard, explosive punch of her orgasm, stealing her breath away. Making her world reel and expand with dizzying force as his hips continued those pounding, claiming thrusts, keeping her at that frantic peak. Her head fell back when her body convulsed, squeezing about him until he gasped and growled against the burning flesh of her shoulder, unwilling to release her. Finally, his powerful body seized up, and with a mighty shout, he emptied into h
er in great, pumping waves.
They held on to each other, panting raggedly as Cale’s form changed beneath the stroke of her hands into warm, wonderfully contoured muscle and flesh. He remained firm and full inside her, still moving within her, slowly, as if with satisfaction, while licking, kissing, applying an exquisitely stimulating suction to the wounds he’d made. She was so drained that she could do little more than hang on and whisper, “Oh. My.”
“I’ll never let you go again.”
“We’re in this together now,” she murmured, deliciously sated and wishing she could fall asleep in his arms.
“The thought of you in the middle of all this is scaring me to death. The thought of not having you at all was just plain killing me. I don’t know what to do, how to keep you safe.”
“I don’t know how to keep you safe.”
He chuckled, amused and moved, and gently kissed the savage tears he’d made in her shoulder.
“We could leave here, Cale. We could go to New Orleans or any place else you want to go. We could live anywhere in the world and be happy and safe. Or we can stay and rule together. I don’t need a crown, but I’m not afraid to be your queen.”
“I want to rule,” he said softly. “I want to rule with you beside me. Together, we can strengthen our clan and restore their pride. There’s nothing I fear except not being the man you want me to be.”
It took effort, but Kendra lifted up from his shoulder so she could meet his somber gaze. “Do you know why I chose you over Silas?” When he shook his head, she explained, “Silas never needed me, never saw strength in me, never looked at me as if I were his sun, moon, and stars. I loved him the way a child worships a hero, not the way a woman loves the man she wants to live with for the rest of her life. That’s the way I’ve always loved you. I’ve always wanted to be a part of you.” She smiled and touched a kiss to his lips. “And now we’re a part of each other.”
A brisk knock on the door pulled them apart.
“Cale,” Silas called. “Your father’s here.”
