Kari had chosen a bouquet of white roses, a midnight-blue ribbon holding them together. She breathed in their heady scent to center herself and her emotions.
Jade stood behind her. “I’m proud to have you as a daughter. I have something for you. A bridal gift.” She reached up and Kari felt the weight of each dangling pear-shaped diamond earring as Jade placed them in each ear.
“Oh my goodness. They’re beautiful.” She leaned back into her mother-in-law.
“Perri has a pair too. Hers have pearls.” Jade nodded at Perri, who showed that she was wearing them. “The pearls belonged to my mother and the diamonds to Tomas’s mother. I wanted to keep them in the family.”
“Okay, all of this has to stop or I’ll cry and smudge the makeup job Perri worked on for an hour,” Kari said, laughing. “Let’s rock. Can someone get Jack for me?”
The ceremony itself was going to be held in the great room. It seemed a shame not to be able to come down that dramatic staircase. Then they’d move to the tent in the yard for the reception.
“Ready? Oh, wow, honey, you look breathtaking,” Jack said as he walked inside the room.
Jack liked Andreas’s family. Despite himself, he was charmed by them and their obvious love for his sister. His sister, who looked wicked beautiful.
“Thanks. You too. You’re made for wearing tuxedos, babe.”
Jade, Perri and Anna filed out and Kari could hear the music start as they went downstairs on the arms of Tomas, Sean and Devon.
“Ready?”
“You betcha. Thanks for being here.”
“Wouldn’t be anywhere else.” They walked out onto the landing. Phillip saw them and gave the signal to the string quartet to play the bridal march. Giving her a thumbs-up, he grinned one last time before scrambling downstairs quickly.
When Kari and Jack reached the top of the stairs, the assembled guests stood and turned to take her in. She smiled at a few overheard gasps and looked to Andreas, whose mouth hung open in shock. They took the stairs regally and carefully—she was wearing some pretty high heels, after all.
Jack announced to the crowd that he was happy to share his sister with a man like Andreas and went to sit down. Kari joined Andreas before the judge who was officiating. The ceremony was quick, simple and over far too soon.
“I would like to present Kari and Andreas Phinney,” the judge said to the crowd, who stood up and whooped, howled—although, thank god, not so wolflike—and cheered.
The reception was a dream. Tiny white lights lit up all the trees that bordered the lake. The tent was nice and warm inside. There was dancing and a band and the food and drink were delicious.
At nearly two, Kari and Andreas finally escaped back into the house. Many of the Pack had gone on a run with the visiting wolves but knew that there were humans about and had gone a few miles into the forest before shifting and had promised not to come back naked.
On the way into the house, Henry and Luna approached and gave hugs and kisses to them both. Kari was a bit taken aback to see Luna’s more-than-friendly kiss right on Andreas’s lips. She shook it off, thinking it was some Pack thing.
Once inside the house, Andreas practically picked her up and ran up the stairs to their room. When the door closed behind him, Andreas leaned back against it, sighing in exhaustion. He locked it and looked his wife over, giving her a slow, sexy perusal.
Heat flared inside her as it always did when she became the object of his attention in such a way. Her heart began to pound and a flush worked its way up her body.
“I’ve wanted to jump you all night. That dress is sinfully gorgeous. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more beautiful and sexy woman,” he whispered as he reached back to unzip her.
“Drew outdid himself. I heard at least fifteen people ask him for his card. He’s an artist.” Her voice was breathy as Andreas’s fingertips brushed her spine.
“You make a fine canvas then.” Warm hands skimmed up her shoulders and reversed and the dress slid off and pooled at her feet. She was wearing a silk thong in the same color as the dress. He circled her like the predator he was. “Mmmm.”
She quirked up a corner of her mouth and swallowed past the lump of desire. “Who’d have thought they made tuxedos in big-bad-wolf size. If we’re passing out compliments I must tell you that all of your golden hair falling down on those wide shoulders encased in that black tuxedo jacket—very sexy.” Bending over to give him the nicest view, she picked up her dress and gently placed it over the back of a chair before turning back to face him. Something about being nearly naked while he was still dressed drove a wave of sharp heat through her. Hunger for him.
The click, click, click of her heels on the hardwood floors echoed in the room against their breathing and the muted sounds of celebration outside and all over the property.
Reaching him, she pushed the jacket from his wide shoulders, tossing it alongside the dress. “I have to tell you I was distracted all night, every time you took the jacket off, because I could see that spectacular ass, not to mention the hard-on. Were you hard all night, Andreas?”
“Each time I scented you, touched you, heard you or thought about you.” His scent rose from his skin as he heated. Leaning in to take a deep breath, she untucked his shirt and began to unbutton it slowly. Her lips brushed over each new inch of flesh exposed as she unmoored each button.
She took her time. The night was theirs. No one would bother them. It was just about the two of them and no one else. The shirt followed the jacket and she paused to look at his bare upper body. He stood there, proud and a bit arrogant as she took him in, and she grinned at him. “Cocky.”
“You like what you see, little wolf?”
“Oh yes. Yes, I do, Andreas. Your body is beautiful and hard and very, very masculine.” She dragged her nails lightly down his chest and he hissed as she abraded his nipples and lower abdomen the way she’d come to discover he liked so much.
Reaching down, she skimmed her fingertips just beneath the waistband of his pants. “Now this is the part I like best,” she murmured as she unbuckled, unbuttoned and unzipped, then gave a hearty “ooh!” when his cock sprang into her hands.
“It would seem I have a bounty of blessings this day,” she said as his pants fell down his legs and he stepped out of them, pulling off his socks so that he stood there gloriously naked to her gaze. Nope, no complaints there.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get over the shock of...well, of you. I mean, my god, Andreas, you’re every woman’s dream.” She quirked up a smile. “It’s hard to believe you’re mine.”
“Well, I am. And the feeling is more than mutual.” His words were playful but what passed between them was powerful.
His lips found hers and took them in a way only he knew how to do. His kiss seared her, his lips dominated and possessed her, even as they celebrated and cherished. His taste rushed through her as his tongue slid against hers seductively. The way he kissed her left her no place to hide. She was exposed completely to him, and he took every bit she had to offer and gave as much in return.
When he broke away, her hand went to her lips, still tingling from his taste, swollen from their kiss. “You’re so good at that.”
He chuckled. “Among other things, I hope.”
She still had her shoes, a spiky pair of strappy heels that showed off her pretty red painted toenails, and the thong on. “Off or on?” she asked with a saucy smile.
“Shoes on. Thong... Well, I’ll get that,” he said, going to his knees in front of her. He rubbed his face along her belly. His hands caressed her sides, her thighs, her breasts, coming to rest on her hips. He pressed his face to her pussy and breathed in deeply before hooking his thumbs around the waist of the thong and slowly pulling it down. She put her hand on his shoulder and felt the muscles ripple as he helped her to step out of it.
Looking up at her, he growled, low and sex-laden. “My god, you look like sex in heels.”
Backing her up against the door, h
e used his shoulders to nudge her thighs wider. “Mmm. You’re ready for me.” His fingers parted her to his gaze. Drawing a fingertip through the folds of her pussy, he pulled her honey up and around her clit, bringing a gasp of pleasure from her lips. Followed by a moan when he brought that finger to his mouth and tasted her, eyes closing as if she were divine.
Those amber eyes opened and looked up into hers. “You. Taste. So. Good. I want more, Kari. I’m going to take it. But you’re going to put your arms above your head and hold them there. If you move I’ll stop and we don’t want that, do we?”
She had no words as he looked back to her pussy again, still open to him. She reached up and grabbed the top of the doorjamb.
He knelt there for several long moments just looking at her. “So beautiful here. Glistening, swollen.” Fingertips traced through warm, wet flesh, causing her to moan and arch into him.
Bringing one of her thighs up onto his shoulder, he leaned in to taste her. Slowly and single-mindedly, he ran his tongue over her sensitive pussy. The wet slide against her slick folds was so good it was almost too much. His mouth loved her gentle and then rough, hard and then soft. Bringing her to the very edge, he’d then back off, only to start over once she’d stepped back from climax.
Her hands gripped the door. In desperation she whimpered so he looked up at her. “If you don’t let me come right now, I’m going to explode,” she pleaded through gritted teeth.
He chuckled, his warm breath teasing her exposed flesh. “I want you to remember that only I can make you feel this way. Do you know how much I love going down on you? How much I love your taste on my tongue, your honey scalding my lips? Your scent all around me? If I ate you ten times a day, it wouldn’t be enough. You’re mine, Kari.”
She sighed. “You do say the best things. Now shut up and get back to work,” she said, teasing him.
And he did, leaning in and finishing her, using his fingers, lips, teeth and tongue to push her over not once but twice, until she trembled so badly that only his strength kept her from sliding into a puddle on the floor.
He stood up, her thigh moving to the crook of his arm as he lifted her off her feet, plunging into her in one hard stroke. Arching to receive more of him, she knocked the back of her head into the door, hard. She gasped out his name and he moved, one hand holding her ass for leverage as she wrapped her free leg around his waist. He moved the other leg to join it and she locked ankles at his back.
“Oh fuck,” he gasped, stilling for a moment. She felt the throb, throb, throb of his cock seated deep inside her. “Just a minute.”
Her hands burrowed through his hair and she rained small kisses over his face until he pushed orgasm back enough to begin to fuck her in deep, feral digs.
With each thrust into her body she cried out. He moaned as her nails dug into his shoulders.
“More, oh god, more. Andreas, fuck me deeper. Harder. I need to feel you as deep as possible. I need it.”
“Little wolf, I’d climb into your pussy if I could, you feel so fucking good around me. I love the way your inner walls clutch at me, hold me like you can’t bear to let me go. I love to see you wild for my cock. My sweet woman, all wild and begging for it. God, watching you cock-drunk is the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.”
They made so much noise at the door that Laurent knocked, asking if everyone was okay.
“Go away!” Andreas yelled, continuing to thrust into her.
She heard Laurent’s laughter as he went back into his room next door.
“Oh. Yes. Right there. That’s it. My god.” His onslaught brought a string of sounds deep from her gut. She said things she was pretty sure she’d never even thought before, much less said aloud to a lover. He brought out her deepest, darkest passions and unleashed her every whim.
He fucked her like a man possessed as she writhed in his arms, begging for more, demanding it. Her back against the door made her feel submissive, caged by him, controlled. It thrilled her.
“You’re so hot, so tight. You. Feel. So. Good. I’m so very close. I want you to come with me.”
Adjusting herself in his arms, she ground her clit over his cock each time he pressed himself into her body. The friction began to build. Electric shocks of her climax began to spark through her body as they began to race toward orgasm.
His name tore from her throat as she came, and seconds later he snarled. He pinned her then to the door and she felt each jerk of his cock as he came within her. Finally they collapsed onto the floor, laughing, muscles twitching.
* * *
Breakfast the next morning was almost as fun as the reception. There were still a lot of people there at the lodge. Anna happily catered to Jack, who quite easily pulled her under his spell. Sean was there with his new girlfriend, Emma, who seemed to like him a heck of a lot. Children ran around, playing with cars and trains and balls until James and Ryan set up an obstacle course on the front lawn and the kids all ran out to try it.
When Kari and Andreas came down, Laurent saw them and his face broke into a gigantic grin. Kari, of course, didn’t have the time to do anything herself before Anna had set a cup of coffee and a heaping plate of pancakes before her.
“I didn’t get much sleep last night,” Laurent said, smiling into his cup and Kari groaned.
“Why’s that?” Skye asked, a hint of amusement in his eyes.
“From all the groaning, screaming and thumping next door. I wish I’d had earplugs. I did, however, learn what Andreas’s name sounds like when screamed, moaned and being ordered around.”
Kari put her face down on the table and her hands up over her head. She’d never hear the end of it.
“Ordered around? Do tell,” Skye said, laughing.
Laurent proceeded, in detail, to describe just what she’d ordered Andreas to do.
Andreas tried not to laugh but Kari really was vocal in bed and Laurent was quite an accurate mimic.
The conversation went on for at least twenty minutes until even Jack was laughing, though he’d clapped his hands over his ears a few times and begged them to stop talking about his sister.
“Okay, okay, enough!” she ordered, trying not to laugh herself. “I’d like to finish eating but before I do I have a few words for you, Laurent Cole. Paybacks are a bitch.” She cut into her pancakes as they all made I’m so scared noises.
Later, Jack and Kari took a walk around the lake. He wanted to give her his thumbs-up over Andreas and his family but also to get her to tell him whatever it was that was being left unsaid.
“Well, you know I hate to admit I’m wrong. But in this case, I’m happy to. Andreas is a great guy and it’s pretty clear he worships you.”
Relief lit Kari’s face. “I’m so glad you like him! He’s a good man, Jack.”
“Not just him but his whole family. They all seem really nice. A bit touchy-feely but you know, whatever floats your boat.”
“Why don’t you tell me about what’s going on with Alyssa?”
He took a deep breath and exhaled. “It’s complicated. I’m ready to either move on to marriage or break it off. I don’t see myself dating her for the next however many years. I want to be married, Kari. I’m twenty-seven, almost twenty-eight, and I want a family. On the other hand, she doesn’t know what she wants. I understand she’s got a kid to worry about, but you know, I’ve proven to her time and again that I’ll put him first. I’m reliable with him. I want to make a life with them both. Love them both. Be their family.”
“So what’s her problem then?”
“She says she’s not ready to be serious right now. She doesn’t want to break up but she doesn’t want to move to the next level, either. We’ve been dating for a year now. I asked her to marry me and she balked. I asked her to move in and she balked. I don’t know—I think at this stage that she likes the way things are and I don’t see that changing. I care about her deeply. No—I love her. But I’m not willing to wait around for god knows how long when she doesn’t even know if she w
ants me.”
Kari squeezed his hand. “I’m sorry, Jack. She’s a fool if she can’t see how great you are.”
“Kari, how would you feel if I moved out west? To Seattle or even to Star Lake?”
Kari stopped and grabbed both of his hands. “Are you serious? I’d love it. I miss you like crazy.”
“When I was here when you were in the hospital, I talked with a few folks I know at the Seattle PD. And one of my commanders at the Boston PD knows some people here in Star Lake. Small world, huh? Anyway, I talked to Carey last night and he seems to think that I could come on here or in one of the surrounding towns. The only thing holding me in Boston was Alyssa, and since that looks like a bust, I’d like to be near you again.”
She hugged him. “That would be so great.” Kari wanted to tell him about her new life, about her new family but she had no idea how to broach the subject, so she remained silent. Thing was, she wasn’t just a Pack member, she was an Alpha and their house was werewolf central. If Jack did move out west, she’d have to find a way to tell him.
“I’ll start the ball rolling once I get back home. I thought I’d give it one last try with Alyssa and if she says no, I’ll give notice.”
Even as joy at the idea of Jack moving west swamped her, Kari felt a wave of dizziness hit. Overwhelmed, she staggered to the bushes and threw up.
Phillip ran over. “Kari? Are you all right?” Alarm sharpened his voice.
“Must be something she ate,” Jack said, sounding puzzled at Phillip’s strong reaction.
“I feel nauseated,” she mumbled.
Phillip picked her up and carried her quickly toward the house. “Get Elaine. Now,” he barked at Skye, who’d come running toward them.
“What the hell is going on? She just threw up. What aren’t you telling me, Kari?”
Phillip looked down at him. “She was poisoned last week. It started like this.”