Heat Rising: A KinKaid Wolf Pack Story (4 page)

Rosa twisted the knobs on her shower, shutting off the spray. After tugging the curtain aside, she stepped out onto her bathmat. With a towel plucked from the rack, she massaged her damp hair, then moved to her back and shoulders. Rolling her head, she kneaded her fingers through the plush cotton into her flesh. The hot water had felt great on her neck.

Standing in front of the bathroom counter, she turned and lifted her locks. Between her shoulder blades and above, her skin tingled like the marching of ants heading north. She swiveled her head and glanced into the mirror. Her breath hitched. The dark line, the thermometer that gauged the progression of heat, began as a smudge in the middle of her back and darkened as it rose. It had now crossed the threshold of her neck. Rosa reached around, smoothing the pad of her finger over the brown line as if she could wipe the evidence away. Once it reached her hairline, she would be in full heat. From what she’d heard, her body and mind would be wracked with the need for any man willing to ease her flesh from the insane craving for sex—to mate—and form an inseparable bond.

And to breed.

She groaned.
God help me.
Rosa spun and gripped the edge of her sink, her knuckles blanching. Lifting her head, she reached for her toothbrush. A wave of dizziness swamped her, and her vision clouded. She grasped the counter for balance and steadied her feet.
Oh, God.
Her stomach soured in apprehension.

“Rosa!” The sound of her brother’s cry filled her head, weakening her knees. Her rear slammed onto the tile floor, rattling her teeth. Then her sight was Evin’s.

Yet, he was no longer in human form. His perception was too sharp, the level of focus too low to the ground. He ran through the trees, claws digging into the mulch beneath his pads. Howls rent the night air around him. His heart raced, fueled by rage and adrenalin. The duel effect popped beads of sweat like rain over Rosa’s flesh, and she shivered. Evin stopped before several males dressed in black. Loud snaps rang out and a section of fence behind them tumbled inward.

Evin reared his head back, and a howl ricocheted inside her skull, chilling her blood. Her brother charged, leaping over the fallen cyclone…and was gone. Like a puff of smoke dispersed by a breeze, the vision faded away with him.

Hot tears crested and trailed down her cheeks. Rosa pushed up from the hard surface.
Damn, damn, damn
. Evin had called her name, which meant the prophecy had been about her. Something had gone terribly wrong, and Evin was prepared to kill or destroy whatever or whoever was involved.

The location in her vision—the fence—it had to be the Gregorson border. What the hell had they done? And what did it have to with her?

She reached down and snagged her towel from the tile, her hand trembling. Quickly, she wrapped it around her, sniffed, and snatched her toothbrush from its holder. On autopilot, Rosa finished her morning routine. She would give anything to know how far in the future the events would occur. That was the suckiest part of her gift. What visions did invade her brain could be happening now or months in the future. And sometimes there were no images at all, only feelings—a sense of wrongness.

Not that knowing when and where would do a damn bit of good. What was to come would come. At least that was how it had always been in the past no matter how hard she’d tried to change the future. Her mind rolled back to the precious little black puppy she’d found wandering the grounds behind her family home when she was twelve. White spots had dotted each of his floppy ears. He’d felt so soft and warm curled up in her arms beneath her covers. She couldn’t keep the corners of her mouth from lifting at the memory. Then the distant sound of brake’s squealing punched through from the recesses of her mind and battered away her smile.

Rosa had tried to stop it. She’d seen his lifeless body more than once in her dreams, and because of those night terrors, every day when she’d left for school, Rosa had secured Pebbles in a small kennel. He was safe. Protected from the wheels of any vehicle. She’d been certain there was no way her nightmare would come true.

But one afternoon she’d been late arriving home from class. Rosa had run to her family’s house, a sense of dread swelling behind her breastbone only to find it was too late. Her mother, concerned for Pebbles, had released him from his cage to relieve himself. Excited, Pebbles had run away and directly into the path of a truck.

Even now, grief welled, a hard knot in the back of her throat, and Rosa’s chin shook under its demand for release.
No!
She spun and cried out into the emptiness of her bedroom, helpless rage forcing sadness to retreat. A walk down memory lane wasn’t going to do her any good. Action. That was her only hope. No matter what the past had taught her, she had to do something—anything other than sitting back and allowing some imminent horror overtake her. An impotent damsel in distress was a title she would never wear.

***

Kaleb cupped his hands under the running water and splashed his face once more with the frigid liquid. “Shit!” he hissed. Even at the end of summer, the water in the Pacific Northwest never lost its chilly edge. He shoved his hair back and stared at the dark shadow of whiskers along his jaw. Yeah. He really should shave, but his head throbbed, the nasty aftereffect of tossing one too many back the night before. “The hell with it.” Kaleb grabbed the hand towel from the ring by the sink, flipped the light switch off, and shuffled toward his room.

After pulling on a pair of low-riding sweats, socks, and a T-shirt, Kaleb headed to his closet for a pair of sneakers. He yanked on the handle but noticed his boots were blocking the doorway. When had he left those there? Kaleb palmed the black pair when the image of Landry’s face flashed before his mind’s eye. Not just the kind of mental snapshot of his mug beside him at a bar or next to him in Kaleb’s car, but an up close and personal sort of visual as if they were about to…

He dropped his boots, the thick soles resonating a solid
thud
against the wood—the sound matching the one inside his head with every beat of his heart.

It was all coming back to him. Not in a flood of details, but flashes of the night before were emerging at full speed.

Landry had followed Kaleb inside. He’d been drunk on his ass, and his partner had made sure he’d gotten in the house…and into bed. Kaleb sank onto the edge of the mattress and groaned. He’d been in his underwear when he’d woke this morning, and there was no way Kaleb had managed that alone.

Closing his eyes, Kaleb searched his memory, his pulse roaring in his ears. How had he reacted when Landry had taken his clothes off? When the other male had touched his chest, his fly? More precisely, how had his dick responded? His cock stirred at the thought, flexing behind his briefs.

Shit.
If a daydream about what
could have been
had his shaft half-hard, there was no telling how much of a fool he might have made of himself last night. Then once more, the mental image of Landry’s face loomed inside his head. Kaleb had grabbed onto the shifter, holding the other male over him, their gazes locked. Kaleb had wanted to desperately tell him something…

“I love you, man,” he repeated the words echoing against the walls of his skull. His eyelids popped open. “Fuck!” He’d told Landry he loved him, but then…
Yes!
Thank God. He was pretty sure he’d passed out afterward.

Kaleb lunged to his feet. If he hadn’t though, would he have kissed Landry? His gut tightened at the prospect. Absently, his fingers went to his lips, and he could almost feel the other male’s against his. Landry’s mouth was so damn perfect—full, with a deep vee carved in the center of the top lip. What would that have been like, stealing one forbidden kiss?

Soft and easy?

Hard and desperate?

A ragged exhale escaped his lungs. They’d been so close. Kaleb could almost swear he still smelled the lingering barley and hops on his partner’s breath. A
ding-dong
rang out, yanking him back to the present.
The front door.

Kaleb shook his head, shoving all the images and thoughts back into the recesses of his mind where they belonged. Landry was his partner—his best friend. He could never cross that line and risk ruining everything between them. They’d been through so much together. Kaleb couldn’t remember a time when Landry hadn’t been there for him.

He sighed.

Over the years, Landry had never made it a secret that he was bisexual, but they’d never crossed that line with each other. Kaleb had never given Landry any indication he’d wanted to be anything more than his friend.

Hell, Kaleb wasn’t gay. He’d never had any interest in other men. It was only Landry who had him questioning who and what he wanted in his bed for the past few years. So what did that make him? He wasn’t quite gay, but there was a part of him that wasn’t completely straight either.

Christ.
That was fucked up.

He was completely sure, though, that his family would go ballistic if their only son decided to hook-up, or heaven forbid, mate another male.

In his stocking feet, Kaleb headed toward the front of the house. He needed to keep his daydreams—and his hands—to himself. That was a no-brainer. Kaleb reached for the doorknob. The idea of he and Landry getting busy was about as close to the realm of possibility as Kaleb and Rosa KinKaid.

Not. Gonna. Happen.

He pulled the door open. And his heart stuttered.
Damn!
Kaleb swallowed, searching for his voice.

“Good morning,” Rosa said, standing there with the morning sun bouncing off her blonde locks, the rays turning the strands into luminescent crystal. It wasn’t possible anything else on Earth existed more gorgeous than the female on his porch.

Kaleb cleared his throat, hoping the act jarred his vocal chords back into action. “Hey, there.” He quirked a smile and leaned onto the narrow wood frame of the door. “What brings you out here? Not that I’m complaining,” he quickly added.

“Umm…” Rosa’s nose crinkled. “I kind of need to ask a favor.”

She wanted a favor from him? When the hell did that four-leaf clover find its way up his ass? “Sure.” He straightened, squaring his shoulders. “What do you need?”

“Do you mind if I come in first?” Her brows lifted in a delicate arch and she peered around him.

Shit.
Where was his head? Kaleb stepped back, making room for her to pass. “Of course.” Rosa eased over the threshold, the sweet scent of summer jasmine and pine finding its way into his nostrils. His skin tingled under the onslaught. Palms itched to reach out, pull her against his chest, and bury his face into the curve of her neck and just…breathe. Kaleb curled his fists, putting a chokehold on his control. God help him, the female made him nuts.

“The place looks nice,” she said, pivoting around. “You’ve added some more furniture since I was last here.”

“Yeah?” He closed the door and ran his fingers through his hair, pushing it back over his head. “Thanks. I picked up a couple more chairs, lamps, that kind of stuff.” He shoved his hands into the pockets of his sweats, not sure what else to do with them.
Awkward much, Dalton?

“You still like it out here? It must be really quiet so far away from the rest of the pack.”

“I love it.” He nodded. And he did. Having grown up the youngest of three by more than five years, he’d always been kind of a loner. He liked his privacy, especially after living with two older sisters. It had been like growing up with three mothers.

Rosa smiled, her hands going for the deep pocket of her red hoodie. She looked as if she’d been out for a run or had recently left the gym in her soft white yoga pants.

“You want something to drink?” Kaleb headed toward the kitchen. “Water, coffee?”

“No. I’m good.” Rosa followed behind him but stopped short at the bar separating the breakfast area from the main galley. She leaned onto the faux stone surface, lacing her fingers.

Pressing the button on the automatic drip, Kaleb watched as Rosa dug her teeth into her lower lip, her telltale sign when she was worried about something.

“So, what’s going on?” Kaleb snagged a mug from the cupboard as the coffee pot gurgled. With all the crap going down with the Gregorsons, she had good reason to be preoccupied.

“Not one much for chit-chat anymore, huh, Kaleb?” She grinned.

Kaleb swapped out the pot for his mug, catching some of the fresh brew. A few seconds later, he yanked the cup free and replaced it with the glass carafe. Coffee in hand, he sauntered over to the alpha’s twin.

“You know I’ve always been the quiet one.” At least, that was the case when he wasn’t drinking. He leaned over, curling one corner of his mouth up and slid his forearms onto the cool surface, facing Rosa. “Tell me, what sort of favor do you want from me, angel?”

“Not the kind you’re thinking.” She smirked.

“A guy can always dream, right?” He winked. “We’re not in middle school anymore.” Kaleb eased further forward until his knuckles brushed her fingertips.

Rosa’s gaze drifted to where they touched. “No, you’re right. We’re not in school any longer. We’re all grown up, and I want you to teach me how to fight.” She looked up, her bright blue eyes locking with Kaleb’s.