Climbing the Ladder (8 page)

Maybe the Rockies.

God, her head hurt.

She grabbed her panties, dropping half of them. She would just go. She didn’t have to

feel bad. Kody was the one who’d let her down. Kody had cheated. Kidnapped her. She grabbed

her keys, took her passport and cash out of the safe. She had to move. It would be maybe a day before they could catch up. She’d left the big guy’s satellite phone.

She left the truck in the garage; she’d take her car. She slipped on a pair of sneakers,

stumbled into the bathroom to take a handful of Tylenol. She took them dry, listening to the

sound of her own swallow. Her head was going to explode.

“Why did you do this to me, Kody? Why did you have to use me?” The words tore out of

her, followed by harsh sobs. She sank to the floor, her knees on the cold tile, her head against the base of the sink.

Okay. Okay. Stand up. Get moving.

The sound of the back door opening made her hiccup, her sobs ending as if they’d never

been.

Oh, God. Oh, God. She locked the bedroom door, as quietly as she could. She’d go out

the window. The sound of something clicking on the floors made her shiver. It sounded like

Jurassic Park, with the raptors.

Out the window.

She could do this.

She opened the one by her dresser, grabbed her backpack, her bag. Something heavy hit

the bedroom door, heavy enough that it popped open. Fuck! Fuck.

She scrambled, pulling herself up and almost out. The biggest wolf she’d ever seen was

outside her window. Oh, God. A wolf.

Her eyes rolled, her feet kicking.

No.

No way.

Something touched her foot from inside, cold and wet. She squealed, the headache

leaving her so fast that she went boneless. In fact, every bit of tension fled, replaced by a flood of love and pride.

“Oh…Kody.” She shivered, moaned low.

Yes. Yes, love.
She heard it in her head, just as she had every day for the last two years.

The tears came again, and she slumped, half in and half out the window.

The wolf who had broken in her door came and sat next to her legs, leaning on them.

Fuzzy.

She’d lost her mind.

Lost it.

Completely.

There was no way Kody was the wolf. No way.

“I have to go. I don’t know what to do. Maybe I have a brain tumor. My Kody wouldn’t

have cheated on me. Maybe it’s a brain tumor.”

Kody nuzzled her. The big wolf jumped up against the side of the house and woofed.

“Hush. Shoo. I’m crazy, don’t you get it? Eventually they’re going to send the men in the

white coats.” It actually felt better, to just be crazy.

Kody whined behind her, and she could swear the big wolf laughed, tongue lolling.

She pushed herself back into the room, pushed away from the window, because she was

getting light-headed. “I’m going to check myself into the hospital. If you’re Kody, and I’m

hallucinating, make sure you bring my medical history. If you’re a wolf and not Kody, please

don’t poop on the floor. I don’t know when I’ll be back.”

There.

That worked.

She was doing really well, going to get her bag and all, when a naked man appeared

inside her bedroom.

“I’m choosing to believe that you’re another figment of my imagination. I’m taking

myself to the hospital.”

“No, honey.” Mesa, because it was Kody’s lover, smiled. “You’re not crazy.”

“It could be a brain tumor.” That would be okay, she guessed.

“It could, I guess. Thing is, I’m not a figment.”

She shook her head, her fingers moving through the soft, soft fur of her dear Kody. “You

have to be.” God, he was built like an Adonis, and Sammy sort of wanted to rub all over him.

“I’m not.” He moved closer, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“Are…” Her eyes crossed, a wave of pure lust hitting her.

“Not.” He rubbed her shoulder, his thumb massaging.

“Uh…God, what’s happening to me?”

“We told you. You just didn’t listen.” Mesa leaned down, kissing her lightly.

Heat built inside her, and she moaned. Oh, God. Oh, God, she needed. Crazy. She was

crazy.

“Please, just listen to your body, honey.” She heard Kody’s voice, echoing inside her,

encouraging her to step closer, touch.

Feel.

“The Tylenols are working. I had such a headache.” Her fingers slid up Mesa’s belly.

“Mmm. Because you left us.” He touched her cheek, her mouth.

“You kidnapped me. I’m going to take myself to the doctor.” Her tongue flicked out,

tasted Mesa’s fingers.

“Uh-huh. And say what? When he tries to take blood and you wolf out?” He licked his

lips.

“That’s a hallucination I have. I’ve always said Kody was like a beast in bed.”

Kody was real again, even though he was naked, pressing against her hip.

“He is. So are you.” Mesa grinned a little, his eyes sparkling.

She shook her head, and Kody pushed her closer to Mesa, their bodies meeting full on.

“This isn’t real.”

“What’s real, then?” Mesa nuzzled under her ear, and her thighs tensed.

“I…” Her chin lifted, and Kody tugged her scrunchie out of her hair.

“Shh.” Kody kissed her neck. “Feel.”

“I…” Maybe one more time.

Just once. Even if it was a hallucination.

“Yes. Just feel.” Mesa kissed her again, lips on hers warm and firm.

All her pain, all her worries—they all disappeared. Her lips parted, tongue sliding in to

taste Mesa. He was hot. Almost peppery. Not like Kody, who tasted like cinnamon and cloves.

Kody tugged at her tank top, pulled it up over her breasts so that she touched Mesa’s

chest. She shivered, her nipples so hard. Mesa bent to lick at the top of one breast. A weird sound bubbled up out of her, a deep growling noise.

He bit down a tiny bit, testing her skin.

The sting made her shake, her fingers in Mesa’s heavy hair. “Please.”

More.

Harder.

Now.

He rubbed his cheek against her breast, his heavy beard stinging. He moaned for her, his

lips sliding down to her nipple. She could feel Kody behind her, stripping away her shorts, but her focus was on Mesa, on the promise of that mouth. He licked her nipple, pushing it back and forth, before sucking it between his lips.

“Yes.” She went up on tiptoe, her hips rocking as if they were fucking her.

“Sweet lady.” His lips moved on her skin when he talked, which was…wow.

“Please.”

Kody chuffed softly and knelt, hands warm on her ankles as he pulled her shoes off.

“We got you. Right, baby?” Mesa was talking to Kody with the baby. It was weirdly hot.

“We do. Our lady. We’ll love you.”

“You…” This didn’t make sense. “How did you get here so fast?”

“We ran.” Mesa chuckled, which vibrated against her. “We didn’t have to use the road.”

That didn’t make sense. It didn’t.

Kody pushed between them, head pushing between her legs. “Hush, Sammy. It doesn’t

have to make sense.” Then his tongue touched her folds, hot and slick, and she arched, pushing her nipple back into Mesa’s mouth.

They were going to make her crazy, licking and sucking with perfect timing.

She pulled the top off, the fabric offensive to her skin.

Her pulled-down underwear went next, the strings snapping under Kody’s fingers. Mesa

murmured something that sounded like approval.

Her head fell back, these weird sounds pouring out of her. She needed them.

They took her to the bed, moving her between them, never letting her think too much.

Kody slid behind her, cock hot on her thigh. It was Mesa who pushed against her, though, hands dragging over her skin. Mesa took her, his prick pushing inside her.

Yes!

It felt like she screamed it, but she didn’t, couldn’t, because she didn’t have any breath.

Kody answered for her, though. “Yes. Yes. Mesa. Yes.” Kody rubbed against her from

behind, his cock so hot against her, as hot as the one inside her. Mesa pushed, his hands on her ass, pulling.

Kody’s fingers found her nipples, pinched them hard, and she howled.

Mesa kissed her, then, his mouth taking hers. His tongue pushed inside, tasting her.

That was when things sort of got…odd. They all started slamming together, biting and

scratching, fucking. Rutting. Like animals. Kody was growling. Her Kody.

She could feel his teeth on her shoulder, close to her neck, and then it was Mesa that

growled, the sound vibrating through her. Mesa pulled her up, slamming into her, and his teeth found her skin, sinking in. He made her see stars. Sammy came hard, her entire body shaking

with it, desperate for it.

“That’s it.” The low, raspy words shivered through her, Mesa pushing deep for two, three

more thrusts before he came. She felt Kody thrusting behind her, the motions of his hips restless as heat sprayed up her back.

“Good, baby. So good.” She wasn’t sure if Mesa was talking to her or Kody.

She was so tired, and she had to move. To get up. But they were warm. She could lay her

head down and let Kody pet her, let Mesa kiss the sweat off her brow.

Kody was whispering to her, telling her secrets that she couldn’t quite understand.

She wasn’t sure she wanted to.

Mesa rolled his head on his neck. It had been a long day of driving. They’d gotten his

truck back, and Kody had packed some random stuff—although, damn, that girl had gotten shit

done in a couple of hours—and they’d hit the road. He’d called his brother, Canyon, when they

stopped at their former campsite to pick up the gear. He’d had to charge the satellite phone, but it worked.

“You on your way home?” Canyon had asked.

“Yeah. Yeah, I got Kody.” Among other things. “You got anything new about the shit

going down with the North Peak Clan?”

Canyon was his second, his security advisor, and the biggest wolf in the pack who wasn’t

Mesa. He was keeping an eye on a situation in a sister pack in Wyoming. There was something

hinky there, something to do with Ben and Susan, how they’d been murdered. He knew it, like

he knew his own name, but he’d be damned if he could prove a thing. Canyon had spent a shit-

load of time training with fellow Guardian, Granite, over there, had introduced the man to his fiancée, even, and Granite was getting worried about Markus, his Alpha.

Just what he needed, a problem with an established Alpha just one territory over. The

universe had a vicious sense of humor and having a war in his first year of being Alpha would

surely amuse someone.

“Heating up, maybe. Talked to Granite, there’s…shit, man. He’s saying they’re caging

wolves over there, keeping them in
cages
. White wolves.”

“Shit.” White wolves? Really? He’d heard the rumors of the Pair his whole life, they all

had, but they were just stories for children, right? With his luck, they were a pair of albino wolves that Markus was trying to keep safe from predators. “I’ll be home as soon as I can.”

He’d hung up with Canyon, growly as all fuck, and he’d been driving forever. Sammy

had slept, mostly. She’d been snuggled up in the back with Kody, who was drowsy and a little

grumpy. They needed to get home, but he had to stop, so he started looking for a place, a

campsite or a cabin.

He wasn’t sure exactly what Kody was doing to her, how he kept her calm, but Mesa was

incredibly grateful it was working.

Hell, maybe Kody was telling her they were taking her to the hospital.

Kody’s laughter chuffed softly in his mind.
Butthead
. Fuck, Kody was getting better at that.

“Gonna have to stop, baby.” He said it softly, not wanting to wake Sammy.

Kody nodded. “We need to eat. Sleep. Touch.”

“Yeah.” Maybe pee in there somewhere.

“I can keep her calm.”

“Good.” He grinned in the rear view. “How are you holding up?”

“Good.” Kody offered him a smile, a wink.

“That’s what I want to hear, baby.” There. A sign advertised off-highway cabins. They

had supplies—lots of them. Kody had had a well-stocked kitchen, and they’d stopped for the

packs and tent as well.

They could rest. Eat. Sleep.

All Kody had to do was keep Sammy calm.

Sammy had fallen deeply asleep after their little bout of mating frenzy and had been that

way for hours. The quiet helped ease Mesa’s headache.

He pulled into the campgrounds and went to pay, leaving Kody to hold Sammy.

Then he got the supplies and filled the kitchen. “Okay, baby.”

Kody scooped Sammy up, carrying her into the cabin, then standing there. “If you want

me to cook, you’ll have to take her.”

“I can do that.” He could, right? God, he was tired.

“Sit, then.” Kody pushed him toward the sofa, put Sammy in his arms. Mesa sat, feeling

useless as tits on a boar hog. He just didn’t know what else to do. His fingers moved over her body, loving on her. Her skin was so soft, so smooth. Fascinating.

She was fascinating.

He dozed off, fingers wrapped around her soft breast, thumb idly rubbing her nipple

through her top.

Kody cooked bacon and eggs, waking them both up, plates in hand.

“Oh, thank you, baby.” He smiled, foot reaching out, rubbing Kody’s leg.

Sammy blinked, sat up. “That smells good. I…Where are we?”

“Vacation. Eat, honey.” Kody handed plates over and headed back to the kitchen.

“Okay.” She blinked some more, but she dutifully took the plate and ate eggs.

Mesa tore into the bacon. God, he’d missed Kody’s cooking. The man was made for him.

“He does a good job. He always does the eggs right.”

“He does.” Look at her, picking up the non-verbals.