“Yeah.” He reached out with his functioning hand and pulled her toward him. “Thank you.” Somehow, saying it to her was easier. When she stepped closer and pressed her lips to his, that strange joy crept over him again. He must have been losing his mind. That was the only explanation.
She stepped back. “I’ll get changed. There’s a bathroom, at least?”
Kell laughed. “Yeah, the one modern amenity.” Well, not all that modern, but functional.
She grabbed her backpack from inside the door and went into the small room set off in one corner. Kell hobbled to his desk and saw his MP3 player where he’d left it the day after the Zemurray bombing, just before the orders from the colonel had arrived. It seemed like a lifetime ago.
He stuck in the earbuds and pressed the PLAY button, not remembering what he’d been listening to. Anything would beat the eerie wildcat whistle of wind moaning around the edge of the cabin. They’d be hearing enough of that in the next day or so.
Slaid Cleaves’s voice erased the sound of the wind, but Kell froze as the lyrics to “Borderline” sank in with a different meaning than they’d had the last time he heard the song. The message of its chorus rang true: “When love is stronger than fear, no line is uncrossable. No sin is too great.”
A chill stole across Kell’s shoulders, and he turned off the music.
He’d told himself in Galveston that murder was a line he couldn’t cross. He’d even taken comfort in it, congratulating himself for his moral uprightness. But he’d been wrong. Those surprising moments of joy tonight — when it had come down to just him and Mori and the storm raging around them — had drilled themselves deep into his heart.
And he knew now that if pushed hard enough, there was no line he wouldn’t cross to protect that feeling. Not one.
CHAPTER 32
Mori folded the towel she’d used to dry off, and hung it over the rack. She turned around, studying the tiny bathroom. A square shower stall not much bigger than a phone booth. A low toilet. An undersized pedestal sink with a mirror above it and a wire rack beside it holding guy stuff.
She smiled as she fingered the shaving cream and razor. She wasn’t surprised that he used an old-fashioned stainless steel razor instead of one that ran on batteries. Kell had a simplicity about him that Mori loved. Not simple as in stupid or resistant to change — well, maybe a little resistant to change — but simple as in real. He was what he was, and you could take it or not.
He’d shown her what a good man looked like and, by comparison to Michael, what a bad man looked like. They had to make plans to deal with Michael once and for all. It probably meant killing him, and maybe Kell was right that it wasn’t her nature to commit murder. Maybe he was right that she’d find it hard to live with herself if she killed her alpha. But she was the only one strong enough to do it. She’d fought against him now, wolf to wolf, and knew she could stand up to him.
Maybe he was stronger physically, but he wasn’t as motivated. Greed and plain old crazy didn’t propel a person to act the way love did — love for her people, who deserved better than Michael to lead them, and love for Jack Kellison.
She stared at her reflection in the mirror, half expecting to see a different Mori looking back at her after that self-revelation. But she still had the same hair. Same eyes. Same annoying freckles scattered across her nose.
Kell’s voice had begun a steady drone in the main room of the cabin, so she smoothed down the T-shirt she’d pulled on with the khaki shorts and went to join him.
He sat at his desk with his cell phone stuck to his ear, the computer open to a satellite image of Hurricane Geneva. Mori looked over his shoulder at the projected landfall track and groaned when she saw it was supposed to hit just east of Galveston, on the western end of the Bolivar Peninsula. Galveston might be spared the worst of it if it kept to that path, but if it moved into Galveston Bay, Houston would be hit hard. And God help everything between Houston and Baton Rouge, including Cote Blanche.
Kell ended his call and plugged the charger into his laptop. “Don’t know how long we’ll have cell service and Internet. The storm’s sped up and is going to make landfall early tomorrow morning. See where it’s going?”
“Yeah, it’ll be bad for Houston if it goes in the bay.”
“Storms always take a last-second curve to the north right before landfall, plus maybe it’ll lose some strength before it goes ashore. They seem to do that a lot.”
She sat on the edge of the bed, a double with an old patchwork quilt and a rough oak headboard. “Were you talking to Robin?”
Kell rolled his head from side to side, and Mori could hear the tendons pop. “Yeah. She followed Benedict back to River Oaks and hung around for a while, but he seems to be staying put. She had to leave so the doctor could set her broken arm — wing.”
Mori laughed. Poor guy was trying. “Who told you about us — about shifters and other things that are supposed to be fairy-tale monsters?”
“The colonel. He’d started a mixed-species Omega Force team in Alabama, and it seemed to be working, so he pulled in some people he thought could deal with it to form new teams. Nik and I both served a couple of tours under him, and we brought in Gadget.”
“How’d he find Robin and the big cats?” She liked the kind of work they did and the way they’d all blended their skills to get her out of Michael’s house. It was impressive.
Kell stood up and flexed his back, not able to keep the wince of pain from showing in his eyes. “I think they were recommended by their respective alphas, or whatever it’s called in their worlds. But I have to be honest. I’ve spent a lot of my time with them feeling threatened, which I now realize was stupid. They’re good people…birds…cats…whatever.”
Mori watched him move around the desk, walking to keep his back from getting stiff and freezing up. She’d seen him do the same thing back at the Co-Op. “What can I do to help your back? Massage?”
He stopped and grinned. “I don’t think it would help my back, but it would do wonders for my spirit. No, what I wish I could have is a hot shower, but we need to conserve the clean water supply in case we run out of drinking water.”
A strong gust of wind hit the side of the cabin, rattling the windows and giving Mori an idea.
“Why do we need to use the water supply?”
Kell frowned at her. “What?”
She walked to the cabin door and pulled it open. The warm rain was falling at a slant from the south, and with the door open, the lanterns sent out a shaft of light that illuminated the dock perfectly. She pulled her T-shirt off and turned to look at Kell.
His gaze dropped to her breasts for a few seconds, his smile growing wider, then he looked back up. “Are you thinking what I think you’re thinking?”
She couldn’t believe she was being this brazen, but it felt right. She unbuttoned her shorts and shimmied out of them, as well as her panties, with deliberate slowness.
“Uh…” Kell’s lips parted slightly, and she recognized the “guy glaze” in his eyes, that moment when all the blood rushed south and the brain ceased proper functioning.
“See you in the shower.” She laughed and ran out the door, relishing the feel of the rain as it pounded into her skin. Better than a shower massager. She turned back and saw that Kell had ditched his shirt and was fumbling with his belt, not an easy task with that mangled left hand.
Brilliant, Mori. They deserved some time to enjoy each other. Reality would come crashing back soon enough. She’d tend to his wounds, the wind would force them inside, and they’d have to talk about the nightmare named Michael. But they had right now. She turned her back to the cabin and waited for his touch, knowing he’d be moving up behind her at any moment. Imagining the water running over his long muscles and taut skin, her growing anticipation revved up her heart rate and sent her own blood supply south.
When his hands slipped around her from behind and cupped her breasts, she shivered. He slid his right hand down and pressed bet
ween her thighs with…
She looked down and laughed. “You brought soap?”
She tried to turn and face him, but he held her in place with his left arm while his right hand used a bar of Ivory — probably the one she’d seen next to the bathroom sink — in a way that wasn’t the least bit pure.
He said something, but between the wind and the rain and the fingers he slid inside her, she couldn’t understand the words. He reached around with his left hand and took the soap while his right hand continued to stroke her inside and his thumb kept a steady motion on her clit.
Again, she tried to turn, but he held her in place. His mouth worried at her neck, sucking hard on the sensitive skin beneath her ear and nipping it with his teeth, all while his left hand circled her nipples with the bar of soap.
Finally, she couldn’t help but give herself over to it. She threw her head back and let the rain pound her face while the pressure inside her built, Kell’s hands working her until the heat between her thighs exploded and she felt her knees sag. Her cries were absorbed into the storm, drowned out by the wind.
Finally, he let her turn and tugged her against him, letting her feel the hard heat of him as he pressed against her belly. She wanted to pull him down to the dock, to feel him inside her as it rained bullets on their skin, and she knew he’d do it without a second thought.
But she wasn’t going to risk making his back worse. And he might have temporarily forgotten his broken fingers, but they’d remind him soon enough. She’d had her hurricane orgasm. Now it was time to play Nurse Mori.
Edging around Kell, she grabbed his right wrist and pulled him along the dock toward the cabin, the soap falling to the wood and falling between the planks. He protested, shouting what might have been “Wait,” until she let go of his arm and made a dash for the cabin door.
He hobbled up a few seconds behind her and followed her inside. “Hey, what’s the big idea? I thought — oh shit.”
His breath hitched as she squeezed his cock, just enough to get his attention.
“You don’t need to think. Just stand there.” She waggled a finger at him in one of Robin’s favorite moves. “Perfectly still.”
She went into the bathroom and dried herself off quickly, then pulled another towel from the shelf and returned to the main room. He hadn’t moved. Except, maybe his breathing had grown a little unsteady. That she planned to make worse.
She unfolded the towel and walked behind him, loving the way the skin under his shoulder blades rippled as she rubbed the terry cloth across his back. She gave proper attention to that fine ass and grinned at his hissed breath when she reached between his legs from behind and stroked.
“Just had to make sure nothing else needed drying down there.” She ran the towel down one muscular thigh and calf, then the other.
“You might need to check again.” Kell’s voice sounded strained.
“Oh, don’t worry, I’ll be very thorough. I think you need to lie down for the rest, though.” Mori walked to the bed and pulled the pillows from beneath the quilt. She’d leave the quilt in place since, despite her best efforts, they were both still half-soaked.
He followed her, his mouth finding hers as soon as she turned around. His lips were insistent and possessive, his tongue mimicking what she wished he could do with his body. But not tonight.
She pulled away, trying to catch her breath.
“I think I still need a little drying off.” His lips traced her jawline, leaving only when she pressed on his chest and pushed him toward the bed.
“Then assume the position, Marine.”
He smiled and settled back on the bed, not quite able to hide the relief on his face as his back muscles finally caught a break. She started by using the towel to massage his feet, only learning he was ticklish when he almost kicked her in the head.
He was still chuckling as she smoothed the towel up one calf, then the other, but the laugh turned to a satisfied groan when she reached his thighs. She finally tossed the towel aside and wriggled her shoulders between his legs, forcing his thighs apart.
And then she feasted, each lick, each stroke of her tongue trying to convey how much she wanted him and how much pleasure she wanted to give him. It could never be enough to make the pain he’d already suffered worthwhile, but it was all she had to give him now.
As she took him into her mouth — or at least as far as she could — he began a gentle thrusting movement. She lifted her head and used her sternest tone. “That isn’t a prescribed activity for the privates, Private. Keep the hips on the bed.”
“You’re a sadist.” Kell mumbled, then gasped as she began to do the work for him. He grabbed a fistful of her hair, but didn’t force her to take him deeper than she could.
He pulsed against her lips and shuddered as he came. She gave him one final lick in exchange for one final groan, then took the towel and cleaned them both up.
“C’mere.” Kell’s words slurred a little, and the smile he gave her when she climbed up beside him and nestled in the crook of his arm was lazy and satisfied. Their one time together, he’d been called away before they had time to just lie in each other’s arms, holding and being held.
She leaned over and kissed him. “Nurse Mori has a few things left to minister to.”
“Oh no.” He laughed and tried to grab her as she slipped away from him. “I’m not sure I could live through more, although I’m game to try.”
She slipped back into her T-shirt and panties and brought him a pair of loose jogging pants from his duffel, easing them over his feet and up his legs. It was warm in the cabin now, but it would cool down soon enough. “Hips up.” When he raised his hips, she tugged the pants up and patted his belly. “You follow orders pretty well.”
“Don’t get used to it.” She glanced up to see if she’d pushed him too far with the order bit, but those clear blue-green eyes were far from serious.
She lifted his left hand and studied the swollen fingers. She wasn’t sure if it would be worse to wrap them or leave them. Finally, she decided to leave them. “Think there’s any cold packs in Trey’s ice chests? You need something for this swelling.”
“Not yet. Come here and settle down. Let’s just stay like this for a while.” She wedged herself back into the cradle of his arm and rested her head on his shoulder. His heart kept up a steady, gentle rhythm beneath her hand, gradually slowing as his breath grew deeper. Finally, for the first time in at least a rough couple of days, he slept.
Mori thought about getting one of the sheets she’d seen folded on a corner shelf to cover them up, but her own muscles had grown lax and comfortable, plus the cabin was still a bit toasty.
She closed her eyes, lulled by the rain and the rhythm of Kell’s breathing, occasionally jolted from a half doze by an eerie shriek of wind. Funny how that wind could sound like a human cry, or the yowl of a wildcat, or a moan worthy of a ghost in a bad B-movie.
Once, just before she drifted off, Mori even thought it sounded like the howl of a wolf.
EPISODE 9
CHAPTER 33
It was technically daytime when Kell stirred, although most of the light in the cabin still came from the fluorescent lanterns they’d left on while they slept. He’d been dreaming of his mom. She’d been ironing one of his uniforms, crying because he was leaving again. He’d reached to comfort her but instead had clamped his hand onto the hot iron.
Only, when he awoke, the burning didn’t stop.
Mori nestled in the crook of his left arm. Kell lifted his head and tried to look over her to see his hand without waking her. But those brown eyes popped open before he’d gotten a glimpse of even one mangled finger.
She sat up so he could pull his arm back, then they both studied the hand. It looked even worse than last night. The swollen, purple fingers had taken on an angry reddish hue, and they felt as if they were covered in hot coals.
“I don’t like this,” Mori said, turning the hand over to study his palm. “You bring those
antibiotics with you?”
“In the duffel.” He hadn’t thought to take one since early yesterday, before the disastrous meeting in Galveston.
Mori went to retrieve the pills and a bottle of water. He watched the way her hips swayed as she walked, even in rumpled khaki shorts. Her total comfort with her body and her sensuality was a serious turn-on, and he was glad to note that his pain level hadn’t entirely slaughtered his libido.
She smiled. “Get your mind out of the gutter, Kellison — at least until you’ve taken these.” She piled up the pillows so he could lean against them and handed him the antibiotics, a glass of water, the huge ibuprofen bottle, and a protein bar. “May I present you with our finest room service gourmet breakfast? It’s guaranteed to keep all those pills from eating a hole in your stomach.”
Yeah, it was the same gourmet breakfast he ate most mornings.
“What about you?” Kell asked.
She held up another protein bar as she crawled back onto the bed, sitting next to him. “I’m good.”
“Yes, you are.” He leaned into her for a kiss — soft, warm, and sweet. He ignored the tightening in his balls; they could be ready for action all they wanted, but his back and hand had other ideas. He kissed her again, with deep regret.
They ate in silence, the wind moaning and crying like a living thing, which in a way it was. The storm had a life span and a force that had to play itself out. So far, the little cabin hadn’t moved. The cypress pilings it had been built on went deep and had been repeatedly reinforced over the years.
But if he felt the floor so much as vibrate beneath them, it would be time to put on the orange life jackets lying on the floor inside the door.
“You think this is the worst of it?” Mori settled next to him, her right shoulder touching his left. He rested his mangled hand on her thigh, palm side up. Maybe the heat from her body would ease some of the pain — or at least he told himself so.
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