Shifting the Night Away (53 page)

Baron rolled his eyes and gave a very puppyish whimper. “But she’s ruining our wedding.”

Their laughter sent running the last tendrils of tension. Bless him. He was more magician than wolf. This could have gone so horribly wrong, but he’d gone beyond what was required to smooth things down between them. Maybe he was a keeper.

Might was well stop lying to herself. She’d known that for a while now. It was more a concern of whether he wanted to keep her. But to go through the crucible he’d just survived, said a lot. She’d always thought wolf love was weird. It happened too fast for her liking. Every wolf fairy tale started with a sniff. She’d counted it all as a mix of luck and lust. Now, though…

“You’re thinking about her. Stop it.”

“I was thinking about you.”

“Oh, keep going. My legendary good looks? Unstoppable charm? My…” His voice trailed off as he flicked his tongue.

“Loyalty, dummy. Your loyalty. You’ve shown it over and over again when you had no reason to.”

“I like you. I like having you around. But, as I recall, you only want me to discuss business,” he said, shoulders dropping. A shaking finger wiped away nonexistent tears. The acting industry missed out on Baron Wyatt.

She poured another glass and winked over the top of it. “Actually, that was your idea. I don’t necessarily want…”

Something changed. A lot of somethings and all at once.

Baron’s scent deepened to a heavy musk. She sniffed her own changing with his. Dangerous territory. Baron’s eyebrows thickened, his nose lengthened and his eyes took on the glow of the sun at daybreak.
 

Raw power ran unfettered through her veins. It’d been years since she
needed
to change. Her wolf longed to be free with his.
 

Her mate.
 

Friend!

Her den.

Apartment!

Aww, hell. Mate. Den. Screw it. She jumped on him, ripping his shirt with one hand and tugging at his belt with the other. She ached to be against him again, skin to skin.
 

Baron kicked off his boots and dropped to his knees to worship her as he had so brilliantly done in the woods before. The shaved legs she’d wrapped around his back darkened with fur.

He whispered filthy things against her womb and she wanted each one of them to happen. “My bedroom.”

Baron tossed her over his shoulder and stomped down the hall, loudly sniffing his way to their destination.
 

“The no sex agreement’s off,” he said.
 

And really, that suited her just fine.

Chapter Eight

He could get used to this. Her.

They spent the next two days doing nothing but each other. There wasn’t a crack or crevice on her body that he hadn’t dipped his finger, tongue or prick into. He tried to take his time making love to her, apologizing when he couldn’t. There were times she took the helm and while being on the bottom wasn’t his favorite thing in the world, it for damned sure wasn’t the worst. He’d give her whatever power over him she needed.

It wasn’t until Day Three that they stayed mostly upright. It’d made neither of them happy, but he had to get to work. Not being successful here wasn’t an option. Especially now.

He would make a good life here with her in it. He considered himself a generous man, but when it came to Johanna, he wouldn’t share her and he wouldn’t give her back. Not willingly. It would take time, but his best option was to wait it out until her wolf realized what his already accepted – that they belonged together.
 

He’d left her at the apartment unpacking boxes while he’d put in time at the restaurant. He emailed financials for her to analyze around noon. Still, it hadn’t been entirely productive. He spent as much time thinking about her as his menu. Twice he’d been tempted to go and bring her back or just leave and crawl into bed with her.

By Day Four they had a system worked out. He got up first to make coffee, followed by Johanna biting her pillow while he worked her from behind as the brew went cold. Then, as painful as it was to untangle himself from her, he’d go put their mugs in the microwave, fetch the paper and slink back into bed. Not a bad life. He didn’t know what this was – none of the labels quite fit. But he liked it.

The one thing he couldn’t handle was her pantry. It was a downright sin what she’d done. The woman had rows of ramen, stacks of frozen pizza and every box of macaroni & cheese in the county. Her response to his jaw on the floor had only been, ‘I like them.’

Now she lay wrapped up in blankets, the perfect vision of lazy happiness. Getting her away from that job had been the best decision they’d made together. She cuddled into the sheets, though one foot dangled over the edge. He fought the urge to wiggle her big toe.
 

And lost.

Johanna hooked her finger and he followed like the whipped dog that he was.

“What are you smirking about,” she asked, propping up on her elbows.

“Just thinking about how much it’s going to cost to outfit your place with real food.”

“Again with this?” She raised a brow.

“It’s a big deal. I’m hungry.” Johanna perused the newspaper while he sipped his re-warmed coffee at the foot of the bed. “They have e-readers for that.”

“The old tenants must have had a subscription, I think. So, umm, while you were at work yesterday, Kate came over.”

“Did you let her in?”

“Of course.”

“On purpose?”

“Just listen, okay? She’s a realtor and has some design contacts through a staging company she uses. They might be able to help us with some décor at the restaurant.”

“Us?”

“I meant…”

“Us is fine.” He rolled onto his back and threw his arm over his eyes. “Us is good. I’ve been living in a long-term hotel for a while. My plan was to stay in or near whichever restaurant I closed on. I lucked out. That small side door on the way to the roof? It leads to a loft. No kitchen, of course, but it has the basics. Once I get it settled, we could take turns staying over.”

“You move fast.”

“I pinch and bite too. Anyway, something to think about while I’m gone.”

“More painting?”

He got up, cracked his neck and examined the still healing scars on his biceps from their earlier lovemaking. “Nah. Phone calls have been coming in for the front of house job listings. Sounds like most of the workers of the previous owner want to come back.”

“Cool. If Kate and I finish early, we’ll stop by.”

Baron shivered at the thought of The Dark Lord and slipped into the bathroom.

***

Kate started in on her as soon as Johanna buckled her seatbelt.

“You look…”

“What, Kate?”

“Fucked.”
 

That’s new. She waited for Kate to say something more, but her sister only reapplied her lipstick in the rearview mirror.

 
“Sorry you don’t approve, but at least I’m happy.”

“Who said I wasn’t happy?” Kate swerved into traffic, cutting off and swearing at a group of elderly pedestrians. “I approve of anything that leaves you looking like that. You could have bathed though.”

“I did.”

Kate inhaled audibly. “Did he get it in your hair?”

“You’re as bad as he is.”

“Look at you, grinning like a lunatic. Must be good.” Her honking horn punctuated this, along with a middle finger toward a shocked school bus driver. The children inside pressed little noses to the window and slapped their hands over their mouths.
 

Johanna sunk low into the seat and put on her sunglasses.

“I know I’m tough, but I’ve always looked after you. Any man who hangs around after meeting me is worth checking out. I can be a bit much.”

“Say it ain’t so, Kathryn.”

Kate dragged her sunglasses down her nose and looked over the rim. “I know me. I’m fine with me. I don’t mind him so much either. That’s a lie. I do, but you’re happy. So, whatever.”

“That means a lot.”

Her sister shrugged and ran a No Turn on Red sign. “He’s a wolf with a job and you like him. You could do worse.”

“He has a great sense of humor too.”

“Debatable. But he’s good in bed, isn’t he?”

“If I say yes, can we leave it at that?”

“Only if you love me. I don’t need to know how far up your leg he humps.”

After another middle finger and two yellow lights sped through later, miraculously they arrived at their destination without police choppers flying overhead.

She had prepared herself for drama, but despite the bickering that came from breathing the same air as Kate, they had a good time. Maybe she was less stressed or who knows, perhaps Kate had finally come to accept her independence. Either way, Johanna was grateful.
 

She tried to hold on to that goodwill throughout the shopping process. The longer they stayed, however, the more Kate became…well…Kate. She pushed Johanna to the tables and chairs she thought best. Every time Johanna reminded her that it was neither her money, her restaurant nor her call, her sister waved her off and zipped over to another part of the warehouse. It got old.

“And over here they have—”

“We’re not shopping for you, Kate.”

Her sister stopped in her patent leather tracks. Arms crossed, Kate’s eyes flittered from her to the wall and back again. “Fine then. I’ll just sit over there next to those wretched chairs you insist on buying. Don’t mind me.”

In the past, she’d have apologized to Kate. Today, in a post-Baron world, she shrugged it off. And what happened? No stomach flipping. No heart skipping. She felt just fine and not at all like someone who’d disobeyed a higher ranked wolf.

Johanna smiled, added a stack of vases to her list and moved on to the next aisle, leaving her sister mumbling in the corner.

With Kate not hovering over her shoulder, she finished early, but didn’t want to go to the restaurant. Baron would be doing interviews for some time to go. Instead, she convinced a still sulking Kate to go for ice cream. It was the woman’s one weakness and had smoothed over many a fight. They sat on a bench under a sky almost as dark blue as Baron’s eyes.

Kate’s eyebrow shot up. “What?”

“We did it in the park.”

“This one?” Kate drew in her arms close to her chest, as if afraid of touching the air around them.

“No, no, the protected lands outside of town.”

“That’s a little out of character.”

“On the second day we met.”

“You’re full of it.”

“I know. It’s strange. He makes me…”

“Wolfy?”

She nodded and licked at her cone where the vanilla trailed off into sugary rivulets. “When I’m with him, I want him to take me. I love him on top of me and behind me. He lets me take control sometimes, but I love it when he grabs my hair and bites my neck. He’s very good at shifting too. Certain parts, if you know what I mean. I want…I can’t even think about him without…”

“Got it. Down, girl.”

“Sorry. Don’t laugh at me.”

“I’m not. I’m just not used to seeing my little baby grown up. I’m proud of you, Sis.”

“Sometimes he takes his fingers and—”

Kate threw her napkin on the table and straightened her pearl necklace. “That’s enough sharing for today.”

“Kate—”

“I said—”

“Thank you for listening.”

She wouldn’t quite call what Kate did a smile, but Lord it was beautiful to see. This was the type of relationship she’d longed to have with her sister. As equals. As friends.
 

Kate pulled out a moist wipe and dabbed around her mouth. Then she reached over the table, but pulled back before actually touching Johanna’s face. “Whatever. All right, you little hot box. Let’s get moving.”

“I love you.”

“I’m aware.”
 

Kate didn’t swear half as much on the drive back and threw up her middle finger only once. She even used a non-screeching voice for most of the trip. Why hadn’t it always been this way between them?