He pulled his shirt off and dropped it onto the floor, reaching out and pulling her shirt off of her, too. She paused what she was doing long enough to let him, then went back to licking and sucking him.
He cupped her head in his hands as he slowly fucked her mouth, his fingers threaded through her hair.
This was one of the best parts of their mate bond—feeling his emotions, having no doubts about his love for her and knowing he could feel that from her, too.
May our children know this kind of happiness.
Before long they were both naked and Ken had rolled her on top of him in a sixty-nine so he could reciprocate. As Dewi lost herself in what she was doing, and in what he was doing to her, the pleasure building between them, she realized maybe this was what true happiness felt like.
Not just the sex, duh.
The trust.
The love.
The feeling that her soul was complete, and dreams were within her grasp.
She came first, pleasure spiraling through her, winding and twisting until it snapped free and every nerve ending echoed with her climax. He rolled her over and changed positions, turning, smiling down at her as he entered her.
“My turn,” he said, his voice tinged with that deep, sexy rumble she’d learned meant he was tapping into that dominant thread within him.
She shivered with pleasure, moving with him, thrusting her hips in time with his. Ken took his time, a very patient man, obviously wanting to make her come again before he finally got his.
It didn’t take her long, her body squeezing his cock as he sped up, pounding into her and filling her, finally falling still and kissing her.
She inhaled, deeply. Licking his shoulder, she could taste the hints of salt spray from their walk, and to her soul, it tasted like perfection.
For tonight, she shoved her paranoia and worries to the side and opted to bask in the knowledge that maybe, just maybe, it would be possible for her to have it all.
Chapter Eleven
Dewi awoke Sunday morning, took a deep breath, and slowly let it out. The cool morning air washing through the condo’s open windows bore the sweet tang of Gulf waters, mixed with the scent of their lovemaking from the night before.
I could really get used to this.
They’d spent most of Saturday either in bed sleeping, in bed having sexytime, in the shower, walking the beach…or eating.
Lots and lots of eating.
Which, at this stage of her pregnancy, felt nearly as orgasmic as sex.
Most importantly…
Waking up next to her mate and not having to climb out of bed and hurry somewhere for a meeting or to set someone straight was an unexpectedly blissful feeling she hadn’t expected to savor nearly as much as she was.
Taking time to refresh her soul. Enjoying time with Ken.
Not having to deal with petty bullshit and settling family squabbles.
Not having to deal with psychotic corgi shifters. Or Mexican drug cartel leaders and their men.
It was a nice, relaxing weekend. One she was a little surprised to realize she’d be sad to see end. Normally, she’d be chomping at the bit to return to work, afraid everything would go to hell while she was gone. Not that she hadn’t trusted Badger and Beck, but it’d been just the three of them.
But with Duncan and all the others…
Yeah. She could see how trying to take time for her wasn’t just a good idea.
It’d be necessary for her health, and the health of their baby.
Ken was still asleep, his body spooned along hers, his arm draped around her.
She took another slow, deep breath and held it for a moment. Within her lungs, the scent of her mate and sweet, salty air swirled before she finally blew it out again. At home, while she spent a lot of time outside, they usually kept the house windows closed. The house wasn’t near the coast, and as close as they were to the interstate, it was common for them—the wolves—to be able to smell car exhaust.
It didn’t bother Ken, because he couldn’t even smell it. But she and Badger and the other wolves could. If she left the windows open too frequently, that scent would embed itself in the carpet and furniture.
That was one thing about Idaho she missed. That there were plenty of days of open-window weather, bringing the aroma of pine into the house.
Sure, there were a few days a year when the perfect confluence of breeze and temperature and humidity made it a perfect open-window day in Florida, but those were rare.
“Your mind is sooo noisy for this early in the morning, sweetheart,” Ken mumbled against the nape of her neck. “We’re supposed to be taking time off this weekend. No worky.”
Dewi felt the smile on her face.
Honestly? A year ago, that wasn’t something she could have even thought about before.
Happiness.
Before, she was into surviving, doing her job, ignoring her own needs beyond what it took to stay in top condition to do her job.
She rolled over to face Ken. He cracked an eye open to look at her as a sleepy smile curved his lips. “Does this mean I’m getting morning sex? Because that looks like a morning sex smile you’re wearing.”
“Maaaaybe.” She kissed him, nuzzling him.
He quickly rolled her onto her back, kissing her as he easily slid inside her.
Mmmm, yeah.
This absolutely was the life.
She kept her eyes open, wanting to watch him, memorize every line on his face, the sweetly sexy smile he wore as he fucked her. She hooked her legs around him and met him thrust for thrust, her body quickly responding and climbing as pleasure took over.
He nipped her lower lip. “Give it to me, baby,” he whispered. “I want it.”
Her nails raked down his back as her body responded, unable to refuse him anything. Especially this. As her orgasm hit her, he slanted his lips over hers and swallowed every moan, every gasp, before adding his to it and he fell still.
Ken rested his forehead against hers, his eyes closed. “We could run away together forever,” he softly suggested. A wave of melancholy need washed over her from him. This weekend meant far more to him than it had for her, and that was saying something. She hadn’t realized just how much he’d needed this alone time with her. It was easy to forget, being together pretty much every day, that there was more than one way to be absent from a partner’s life.
She knew he wasn’t serious about running away, but she had another idea she suspected he’d love nearly as much. “How about when we check out, we ask them about vacancies and make a couple more reservations for us before the baby arrives?”
His eyes popped opened. “Really?”
“Yeah.” Her hands settled on his ass. “This has been great,” she quietly admitted. “You all were right. I really needed this. Way more than I realized.”
* * * *
Ken didn’t take that admission for granted. Not at all.
He knew how damned hard that was for Dewi. Not admitting they were right but admitting this was what they’d been right about.
“Self-care is not selfish,” he reminded her. “You can’t perform your job to the best of your abilities if you’re too tightly wound to process anything. You are your work. You’ll burn out if you don’t get away from it once in a while. Plus, this is good for us.”
“I know.” She kissed him. “Shower, pack our stuff, and then breakfast?”
He nuzzled noses with her. “Yeah.”
After she climbed out of bed first to go use the bathroom, he breathed a sigh of relief. So far, he thought he’d managed to deliver the day to Peyton and Trent as they’d requested.
Although, after driving back home, he was a little concerned when they pulled up outside the house at three o’clock and didn’t see any vehicles parked there.
Dewi scowled, her nose twitching. “What’s going on?”
“What?”
“Why are you…worried?” Her gaze narrowed. “No, not worried. Concerned. You didn’t
expect something. What’s going on?”
He pulled his SUV into the garage and shut off the engine. “I’m wondering how much work I’ll have waiting for me tomorrow, and what new updates there are about the Faegan Lewis stuff.” None of that was a lie.
“Ah.”
He grabbed their bags from the SUV and headed toward the door leading into the house, Dewi in the lead. But when she pulled up short he nearly ran into her.
“What?” he asked.
She turned, with one eyebrow arched skyward and an all-too-familiar lopsided smirk on her face.
“Really?” she silently asked through their mate bond.
He felt heat fill his face, because he knew exactly what she meant by that one word.
He also had no answer for her.
“How many?” she asked.
He sighed. “Everyone.”
She rolled her eyes. “Goddammit.” Then she glared at him. “I should get in the car and leave.”
“Honey, please, pretend to be surprised, okay? This means a lot to Trent, Asia, Gillian, and Peyton.”
She pointed to her face and circled a finger. “They’ll be able to tell. Well, Peyton will. Prime, remember?”
Of course she was right. He sighed, motioning with the bags for her to go first.
She opened the door and the cheers and cries of, “Surprise!” nearly bowled Ken over.
“Wow!” Dewi said, almost sounding surprised. “This is…wow!”
Ken followed her inside but, even as everyone swooped in to hug Dewi, Peyton stood to the side, smirking at Ken with the identical smirk his little sister had just given Ken in the garage.
He walked over to Ken and took one of the bags from him. “When’d she figure it out?”
“Just now, out in the garage,” Dewi said. “I smelled Asia and Gillian out there by the freezer when I passed.”
“Goddammit,” her sister-in-law grumbled. She turned and swatted Trent on the shoulder. “Told you she’d smell us.”
“So we did actually make it to almost the minute the party happened before she figured it out?” Trent asked. “Excellent. I consider that a win and a job well done, my friend.” He offered Ken a fist-bump, which he returned.
“I’ll be right back,” Ken said. “Need to put these away.” He indicated their bags.
But Peyton insisted on following him upstairs with the other bag.
Once in the bedroom, Ken happily tucked his gun into the lock box in the closet. He was glad to be rid of it for a while.
“You did good,” Peyton said. “I’m impressed.”
“Sorry about her figuring it out. We were so close.”
“No, seriously. You did good.” He then held out a hand, and Ken realized it wasn’t to shake with him.
When he took Peyton’s hand, the wolf silently spoke to him. “I had an ulterior motive.”
Fear curled through Ken. “What?”
“Remember how you did this. How you kept it from her.”
“Why?”
“Because I heard a few more disquieting rumors. Not about Faegan Lewis.”
“That someone might try contacting the government?” Ken asked.
“Yeah. And I don’t necessarily want Dewi trying to run the info down. But there will be times I need to talk to you to pass messages to other Enforcers, or even go on assignments with them.”
“Me?”
“Yeah. And I won’t necessarily want Dewi knowing about it. Not all the details. Especially not while she’s pregnant.”
Ken swallowed hard. “Okay.”
Peyton gently squeezed his hand but offered him a smile. “Nothing dangerous, more that we’d need your tech skills.” Then he spoke aloud. “Again, good job. I’m impressed.”
Ken blinked as the realization hit him. “You honestly didn’t think I would be able to keep it a secret from her, did you?”
Peyton patted him on the shoulder. “See? That right there is another reason why you’re perfect for Dewi. You’re brilliant, and quick on the uptake.” He dropped Ken a wink.
* * * *
Dewi wasn’t sure if she was happy or irritated about this development.
Although she supposed the two emotions weren’t necessarily mutually exclusive.
Was it a sign of personal growth that she was genuinely touched everyone had gathered here for her baby shower?
The best thing of all, there was food. Lots and lots of food, and a huge cake. Plenty to go around and leave Dewi lots of leftovers.
And Nami, who apparently was the lead co-conspirator with Gillian and Asia, didn’t even force Dewi to play any silly baby shower games.
But as Dewi sat there in the living room and unwrapped presents with Ken looking on and wrangling the wrapping paper…
Yeah. Shit was…getting real.
They were having a fricking baby.
She also didn’t miss how, if she got up, someone not pregnant was usually jumping in to ask what she needed, offering to get it for her.
All of them treating her like she’d suddenly become weak.
“Guys,” she finally said as they were working on the cake. “You realize I’m not dying, right? I’m just pregnant.”
Peyton laughed. “Can you humor your big brothers, please? Not as pack Alpha, but as Peyton and Trent? We know you’re not fragile. This is for us as much as for you.”
“Yer mother woulda been over the moon,” Badger added, his tone shaded with sadness. “Chelsea woulda been beaming wi’ pride. Yer father, too.”
“I know I am,” Duncan added.
His pained tone knifed through her soul, his grief still sharp and keen.
She set her cake aside and stood so she could go hug him where he sat. “I love you, Da. Thanks for coming home.”
He nodded toward Ken. “Thank him. He talked me into it.”
“He sure did,” Nami piped up, smiling. “You shoulda heard him, Dewi. You’d have been proud of that boy.”
She surveyed the assembled crowd. “Thank you, everyone, for coming today. I really appreciate it. We appreciate it.” She walked over to Ken and hugged him. “You did good,” she said. “I never caught on.”
“Well, until it was too late.” He grinned.
She nuzzled noses with him. “For once, this is a surprise I really don’t mind at all.”
Chapter Twelve
Ken gently closed the bedroom door when he realized Dewi looked like she was sound asleep. He headed toward the bathroom, pulling off his shirt.
“I’m not asleep,” she mumbled.
He immediately changed direction and headed for the bed, leaning in to kiss her. “How are you feeling, sweetheart?”
“Pregnant,” she groused. “I’m feeling pregnant.”
Smiling, he sat on the edge of the bed. “Ready to neuter me yet?”
She pouted. “No. That’d only punish me, too.” She brushed her fingers down his treasure trail, stopping at the waistband of his jeans. “I just…” She met his gaze. “I hate being treated like I’m fragile,” she said. “I’m not fragile.”
“We’re not treating you like you’re fragile. We’re pampering you. You’ve earned it.”
“I don’t want to be pampered. I want to work!”
With the back of his fingers, he caressed her jaw. “You’re going to be a mom,” he said. “I’m going to be a dad. I’m terrified. As Trent, Asia, and Nami all keep reminding me, it’s okay to feel terrified. You have to admit you didn’t have a normal childhood, even for a shifter. If everyone didn’t love you, they wouldn’t be so focused on you now.”
“I feel like I’m an animal in a damn zoo.” Her hand fell still on his thigh. “You have the next baby.”
He couldn’t help laughing. “The next one? I figured you’d be ordering me to get a vasectomy before she even arrives.”
Dewi was working on a pretty impressive pouty boo-boo lip. “No. I just…” She sighed. “I’d want Mom and Dad to be proud of me for what I’ve done. Not think I’m rolling over a
nd giving up on what I do.”
“Oh, sweetheart.” He stretched out next to her and pulled her into his arms. “Your brothers, Beck, and Badger all said your parents would have been over-the-moon proud of you. They’d have been happy for us. No one expects you to stop being Head Enforcer. But everyone deserves a vacation. If it helps you to think of it like that, then do that. I just need you to be as safe as possible once you go back to work. And it’s not like you have to stop working right now. Work up until you feel labor start, if you want to.”
She tucked her head in the crook of his arm and slung an arm across his chest. “Does it make me a horrible mom to want to return to work as soon as possible?”
“No, honey. Forget the ‘have it all’ bullshit. We’re lucky that I can stay home with our baby and work from here. If it means anything, you’ve made my dreams come true.”
She tipped her head back to meet his gaze. “Really?”
“Really. You know I can’t lie to you. You once told me a wolf’s priority was to keep their mate safe and happy. Well, congratulations, sweetheart. I feel safe, and I damn sure feel happy. I’ve got an extended family I never dreamed possible, I have you, and we’re about to have a baby. I am literally happier than I’ve ever been in my life. I mean, have you met you? You’re fricking amazing.”
That finally coaxed a smile out of her.
“There’s my beautiful wife.”
She rolled over, onto his chest, so she could nuzzle noses with him. “I’m fat, and cranky, and growly, and hungry all the damn time.”
“Well, the last three are business as usual for you, and the first is our daughter. Therefore, I’m not complaining about any of that.” He laughed as she poked him in the side, tickling him.
“I’m also horny all the fricking time now,” she muttered.
“I’m not complaining about that, either.” He nuzzled her nose again. “I know once she arrives you’ll want to cut my dick off.”
She smiled. “Only for a little while.” She kissed him again, brushing her lips over his and doing what she always did to him.
Especially since he could read her emotions especially well right now.
Geek-Speak (Bleacke Shifters Book 6) Page 10
