Kodiak's Heart

by Lacey Thorn

  Laughing, Jaeda grabbed her sister’s hand and pulled Sidia along as she chased after Ruby. Matheus trailed after them and just like that, Emersyn was alone with Laramie.

  “I should go after them,” she said, pushing from the table and carrying her plate and cup to the sink. A hard body pressed along her back, and Ruby’s dishes were placed beside hers.

  “Stay for a minute,” Laramie whispered at her ear.

  She turned her head, and he used the motion to move aside her hair and trail his lips up her neck to her ear.

  “Stay with me for a minute,” he crooned, rephrasing his request.

  “Laramie.”

  “Did you dream of me last night?” he asked. “I dreamed of you. I tasted you on my tongue all night.”

  She moaned and turned to face him. His hands gripped her hips, pulling her into him. His mouth brushed the side of her mouth. He nibbled her bottom lip then slipped his tongue inside when she opened her mouth on a sigh. His kiss took her under, making her nipples pebble and her sex grow damp. The man’s kiss was lethal.

  His thigh pressed between her legs, and it was all she could do not to grind her pussy against him. Instead, she forced her hands to his chest and pushed as she pulled her mouth away.

  “I don’t even know you,” she whispered.

  “We can remedy that,” he offered. “Later.”

  She smiled. “After we take Ruby on a walk.”

  “We need to finish talking first,” he said.

  “I can’t tell you where Malachi is or what he’s checking into.”

  “Can’t or won’t?” Laramie questioned.

  “Can’t,” she said. “Malachi didn’t go into detail on his plans with me. Only that he’d call when he could and to bring Ruby here. I spoke with him early yesterday. He’ll call again in two days. I’ll let him know you want to speak with him. That’s the best I can do, Laramie.”

  “I’d like to speak with him when he calls.”

  “If it’s possible,” she offered, but she had no idea where she might be when Malachi called. Plus, Malachi would want to speak to Ruby, and Emersyn knew Ruby was excited to hear from her dad. Malachi’s time might be limited, and Ruby needed to come first. She wouldn’t make Laramie any false promises.

  He nodded and stepped back. “Let’s go find the others.” He held out his hand, and it seemed the most natural thing in the world for her to take it. He twined his fingers with hers and tugged her beside him as he led the way to the front door.

  The rightness of being with him hit her hard. She was in deep trouble. She said a silent prayer for Malachi’s safety and a plea for him to call soon. Before she did something incredibly stupid. Like fall in love.

  Chapter Seven

  Laramie kept them outside until late-afternoon. They grilled a late lunch, and everyone spilled into the yard as the smell of food enticed them. Jaeda, Sidia, Xandra and Emersyn took turns playing with Ruby. The tiny girl seemed to have boundless energy. Laramie considered it time well spent. By the time Ruby started winding down, she’d decided she liked all three of her aunts and would keep them.

  “I think someone is getting sleepy,” Emersyn announced when Ruby yawned and rubbed her eyes.

  “I not seepy,” Ruby argued around another yawn.

  “Hmm, I thought maybe someone would like a bubble bath followed by a movie and popcorn,” Emersyn suggested.

  “Yay!” Ruby jumped up and down with excitement. “I yikes boobbles and poppy cown.”

  “I have a huge tub in my room,” Jaeda offered. “And Sidia has some bubble bath.”

  “Why don’t we have a slumber party?” Xandra offered.

  “I yikes pawties.” Ruby clapped her hands together. “What’s a sumba pawty?”

  “A slumber party means we all sleep in one room with lots of junk food and movies,” Xandra answered.

  “We did it a lot when we were younger,” Sidia added.

  “Yike me?” Ruby asked.

  “Yes,” Jaeda agreed. “Want to hang out with your aunts tonight?”

  Ruby glanced at Emersyn, eyes big and round and pleading.

  “I think we could do that,” Emersyn offered.

  Ruby turned to Sidia and grabbed her hand. “I has boobbles now, peas. Yots of bubbles.”

  The look on Sidia’s face made any discomfort Emersyn might have during the night worth it. These were Malachi’s sisters, Ruby’s aunts, and they deserved the chance to get to know each other, for Ruby to get better acquainted with them and feel more comfortable around them. If there was a tiny bit of jealousy at the thought of sharing Ruby, then Emersyn would deal with it.

  “Em.” Laramie stood beside her, hand at her back. “Why don’t you walk with me while they get things set up?”

  “I—”

  “We still need to talk,” he reminded her. “You and Ruby needed today to settle in. So did Sidia, Jaeda, and Xandra. I understand that, but we still need to discuss everything.”

  Emersyn had been hoping to put that off until after she spoke with Malachi. Knowing his sisters were alive, that they were here with the Holloways, made Emersyn think she might be able to leave Ruby with them and go help Malachi. Her father deserved justice, and as his only child, she wanted to give it to him. Blood for blood. That was the way of the Kodiak. She wanted to spill the blood of the person responsible for taking her father from her.

  The one thing holding her back was Ruby. Even watching her little girl warm up to the new family she’d discovered didn’t ease the ache Em felt at the thought of leaving her. Maybe, love was stronger than vengeance. Or maybe, she was trying to focus on the living instead of the dead. Either way, a decision would need to be made soon.

  “We’ll take care of her,” Jaeda assured Emersyn, and she realized she’d been lost in thought too long.

  “And we’ll talk later,” Xandra said, her voice firm and unyielding.

  “In the morning,” Laramie suggested. “Spend tonight with your niece, Xandra.”

  She opened her mouth as if she were going to argue with Laramie, then Ruby’s giggles carried their way. Jaeda had joined Sidia, and the twins each held one of Ruby’s hands, swinging her between them.

  “In the morning,” Xandra agreed and turned to follow her sisters.

  “Come with me,” Laramie urged and grasped Em’s hand again, tugging her in the opposite direction Ruby had gone.

  She watched his brothers, Koby and Jensen, cast looks of censure their way, but Laramie never broke stride. His thumb rubbed over the back of her hand where he held it, and it drove her crazy.

  She tugged it away and strode quickly ahead of him, trying to think, to figure out what to say to him. She’d tell him about the attacks, about Titus, and ask him what had happened with his den. Was Malachi correct in assuming they were related?

  Laramie’s hand fell on her shoulder, and he spun her around. Before she could ask what the hell he was doing, he had her back against a tree with him plastered against her chest. Her mouth opened in surprise, and he leaned close and claimed it. His tongue licked inside, flicking against hers then exploring, claiming. She swore her hands lifted without her consent to grip his hair and hold him close. Need consumed her with a desire she’d never known. For him. Laramie.

  “What…about…talking?” she panted in between kisses.

  “I need this,” he rasped, moving his lips down to suck at her neck.

  “Yes,” she moaned. God, she needed it, too.

  With a growl, he swooped her up against his chest, holding her high as he strode quickly through the trees. He paused at a cabin door and juggled her in his arms while he got the entry open. He shut the door with his foot then placed her on her feet before turning to flip the lock and throw the bolt. She had time to take one breath, maybe two, before he was on her again, his mouth robbing her oxygen while he backed her across the room.

  Her knees hit the mattress, then she and Laramie were horizontal. He loome
d over her, his big body caging her in. She felt the press of his hard sex between her thighs and damned the clothes separating them. She reached for him, jerking his shirt from his jeans and tunneling her hands underneath to feel his skin. His abs rippled at her touch as she trailed up toward his chest. She spread her fingers wide, running them through the coarse hair with a moan of pleasure.

  He pulled away long enough to tug the shirt over his head and toss it aside. God, he was beautiful. The sexiest man she’d ever seen. The only man she’d ever wanted.

  “Say yes,” he whispered, his gaze locking on hers.

  She held her breath for a moment. She should say no. She should walk away. Being with him, having sex with him, had the potential to change her whole life.

  “Yes.”

  No sooner than the word left her lips, and his kiss took her under again. His hands stroked and caressed while his lips and tongue mated with hers. One moment, she cursed the layers between them, then they were gone and his fingers were plucking her swollen nipples. His mouth moved lower, trailing along her neck and collarbone while his hands plumped and shaped her breasts.

  “Please,” she begged, and his lips wrapped around her nipple, sucking with hard pulls that seemed to tug all the way to her womb. She thrashed beneath him, torn between wanting more and feeling as if it were too much.

  Then he was on the move again, his lips trailing across her ribs before stopping to flick his tongue inside her bellybutton on his way lower. His nose tickled her sex as he inhaled her scent with a groan.

  “Cinnamon and honey,” he growled. “I could eat you all night.”

  Her moan turned into a gasp as he bit her inner thigh then nuzzled her pussy, spreading her lips with one hand before rubbing his tongue over her clitoris. She thrust up against him, both hands falling to cradle his head and hold him to her. He devoured her, working her quickly into a frenzy that had cries of pleasure spilling from her lips as she flew higher and higher toward orgasm.

  “Don’t stop,” she begged, and he growled against her clit, sending her over with a low, keening moan of his name.

  He didn’t stop. He worked her higher, drawing out her release until she thought she’d die from the pleasure. She tugged at his hair as shudders worked through her. It was too much. He turned to her thigh again and bit down hard. She jerked against him, her knee catching him on the jaw. He glanced up, and she saw the blood on his lip.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered then caught her breath at the glow of his eyes. She knew that look, understood the significance of it. His beast was at the surface, pressing hard against the man for control.

  His gaze narrowed for a moment as his tongue swiped the drop of blood away. He turned his head, as if searching her for something he couldn’t quite figure out. Then she moved, her body rubbing against him, and he rose between her thighs. He must have shed his clothes as well as hers. His shaft fell heavy along her thigh, leaving a smear of precum as he moved into position. Between one breath and the next he reached down to guide his cock to her entrance, then holding her gaze, he thrust deep.

  His cock speared her virgin flesh, forcing it wide at the foreign invasion and making her cry out at the sudden burst of pain. Her eyes were wide, her teeth nipping into her bottom lip when he stilled above her. His sex throbbed inside her, and all her senses focused on that one part of him.

  Something primal moved beneath his skin, settled into his gaze, and seemed to reach for her. She struggled for control, barely keeping her bear in check as it fought to reach back to him. As if he were aware she was holding back, he leaned over her, letting his chest brush hers as their breaths mingled.

  “You were a virgin,” he whispered. He’d known it, but that wasn’t the same as feeling it.

  “Not anymore,” she snapped back and closed her eyes. “Move.”

  “Look at me,” he commanded.

  She tried to deny him, needing the distance.

  “Look at me,” he crooned, planting a kiss along her jaw.

  Slowly, languorously, her eyes flicked open. As soon as their gazes met, he eased his hips away, the weight and thickness of his shaft tugging along her inner walls until he was no longer inside her. Before she could bemoan the loss, he shoved deep again, filling her with him. And it wasn’t only her sex. He filled all of her, as if he were settling inside her very soul. If she wasn’t careful, she could lose herself to Laramie Holloway.

  “Em,” he groaned, dropping a hand to cup her hip while his other arm braced his weight off her. She wrapped her legs around his waist, heels digging into his back while he rode her hard. His mouth was everywhere he could reach, enticing her to surrender. She took his kiss, seizing control from him, plundering and exploring the same way his body did hers.

  She came with a scream, and still, he fucked her, hard and deep, as if he wanted her to feel him there even after he came. He urged her into a second orgasm, then a third, until she was nearly boneless beneath him.

  “Laramie,” she slurred.

  “You’re mine,” he whispered, dropping so his mouth was at her ear. He gathered her close against him, cupping her ass in his hands, his weight like a blanket over her as he worked toward release. “Mine.” The word was growled against her throat as his entire body seemed to tighten. She swore his cock swelled larger inside her. She felt the heated splash of his seed, felt the warmth spread as he continued to fill her, to overflow her until his cum dripped from her entrance down into the crack of her ass.

  His chest vibrated with a growl, the crisp hair rasping her nipples and sending shivers coursing through her, triggering a series of mini-orgasms. She was barely coherent when he slipped away, pulling his cock free of the tight grip she had on him. She blinked tired eyes at him, sleep desperately trying to suck her under. His fingers grazed her thighs. She thought she saw him lift them to his mouth, but that made no sense. Why would he do that?

  “Sleep, mate,” he whispered. “I’ve got you.”

  “Mmm,” she agreed, letting her eyes drift shut. Something niggled at the back of her mind as she slipped under. Had he called her mate? No. He couldn’t have. He was the alpha of his den, and as far as he knew, she was human. Which meant he couldn’t claim her. Unless she stopped hiding what she was, which she couldn’t do. Not if she were going to protect those who meant the most to her. A group that now included Laramie Holloway.

  Chapter Eight

  Laramie licked his lips as he watched Emersyn sleep. There was more to her than she let on. His senses had been reeling since she’d charged onto Holloway land. He’d wanted her immediately, had felt she belonged to him, with him. He’d never felt conviction that strong before. Never felt the primal press of his bear when it came to a woman. Three times now, he’d tasted her blood. Each time, something about it had his bear growling, wanting more, wanting to stake a permanent claim.

  There was something there. Something elusive that called to him on every level. Something that urged him not to let her walk away. It was also what had him up watching her while he waited for Jensen to get his ass to the cabin. His brother seemed to be taking his own sweet time.

  Laramie was out the door, easing it shut behind him before Jensen cleared the porch.

  “This had better be important,” Jensen grumbled as he stepped closer.

  Laramie held up the washcloth he’d used to clean Emersyn after she’d passed out on him. “I need you to analyze this.”

  “It’s a washcloth,” Jensen told him. “Smells like sex and…” He paused, gaze flying to Laramie’s. “Blood. Jesus Christ! What did you do?”

  “Took her virginity,” Laramie answered.

  “Christ. Why would you do that? It’s one thing to mess around with a human who knows the score. But a virgin? I thought better of you than that,” Jensen rebuked him.

  Laramie growled, reaching for his brother’s shirt and wrapping his fist in the cloth. “I’m not messing around.”

  Jensen stared at him fo
r a long moment, saying nothing until Laramie released him. “I know you don’t want to mate any of the four women at the house. But be logical. You’re the alpha. You can’t mate a human. Not when the choice exists to take a bear shifter as your mate.”

  Laramie shook his head. “Emersyn’s my mate. I know it.”

  “Your dick knows it,” Jensen snapped then stepped back when Laramie reached for him again.

  “Watch what you say,” Laramie snarled.

  “Okay. Sorry. What the hell’s gotten into you? This isn’t like you. Did she do anything to you? You haven’t been drugged in any way have you?” Jensen did a visual scan of Laramie. “No pinches you ignored or passed off as bug bites? No unusual tastes in your food or drink? Did she scratch you? Bite you? Christ, Laramie, we don’t even know for sure she’s who she says she is.”

  Laramie growled a warning. “She didn’t fucking drug me. Unless you count lust as a drug.”

  “One that leads to stupidity it seems,” Jensen muttered.

  “Just take the damn cloth and check out the blood,” Laramie ordered.

  “This isn’t exactly a pure sample here,” Jensen rebuked.

  “Fuck, Jensen! Just do your best.”

  Jensen wrinkled his nose but took the washcloth. “What exactly am I looking for?”

  “I don’t know,” Laramie admitted.

  “Well, that narrows it down.”

  “There’s something off,” Laramie offered.

  “Like a drug? You think she’s been drugged?” It said a lot about what they’d gone through that Jensen’s first thought was always that someone had been drugged.

  “I don’t know. There’s something about her that makes me crazy.” He paced a few feet away then turned and headed back. “Any other person and I would have had them in my office talking until I knew everything I wanted to know.” He shook his head. “Not her. I have this desire to take care of her. To see to her needs before she even voices them. Hell, maybe before she even realizes they’re needs. I want to protect her. To never let her out of my sight. It’s all I can do to keep my hands off her when others are around.”