Her Billionaire Werewolf Stepbrother (19 page)

The next morning I wake and watch
the sunrise. The sky is pink, gold, and gorgeous. The clouds rippling across
the sky are dense with silver under them in the bright morning light. It’s
amazing. Not as amazing as her though. It pales in comparison.

She’s asleep and nestled in the
crook of my shoulder. I slide my finger from her forehead down to the tip of
her nose. She sighs and I can’t help the smile that spreads over my face. I
love that sound. I kiss her forehead. She called that brotherly yesterday. I
don’t get it. Why is that brotherly? I don’t see brothers kissing their sisters
at all much less on the forehead. Maybe if he’s twenty and she’s six then I can
see it but not at our age. I do it again just for spite and grin at her when
her eyes flutter open.

“Hi.” She murmurs. I kiss her
mouth. She prefers that. “I haven’t brushed my teeth yet.” She turns away and I
pull her back. “Jake.” She’s exasperated with me. I chuckle and let her go. I
roll off my side of the bed and go to the bathroom. We need to get moving, I
let her sleep late. I wanted to be on the road by six and it’s past six. I
smell bacon and possibly pancakes. Jocelyn is cooking and she probably has it
ready for us. I gave her the rest of the holiday weekend off but she wants to
see us off. I think she was bored at her sister’s house. I flush and go to find
Jane.

“Come on, shower.” She’s still in
bed. “We’re behind schedule.” She sticks her tongue out at me. I should make
her use it on me again. I thought my brain was going to shatter when she put
her mouth on me yesterday. I hope she does that again and I hope I can last
through it to the end. I doubt it though. When she looked up at me with those
beautiful blue eyes, I had to be inside of her. I couldn’t make it another
second. I’ve never had that problem before. I’ve had dozens of women look up at
me from that same position and not one had that effect on me. Ever. I’m leaning
in the door watching her fuss over the bed. I have a housekeeper. “Jane, let
Jocelyn do that. Come on.” I clap my hands together sharply and she stops. She
puts her hands on her hips and raises a brow. God I love it when she’s
indignant. And naked.

“Don’t you clap at me Jake
Williams!” Dad does that and she probably hates it, I always did. I hold out my
hand and wait. She comes, unwillingly I think. I twine my fingers in hers and
lead her to the shower. I turn it on while she uses the bathroom. I look at her
and her face goes crimson. “Don’t watch.” She’s stopped midstream. I turn back
around with a grin splitting my face and she finishes. I admire the control.
Stopping a morning pee is no easy feat. She flushes and follows me inside the
stall.

I love to shower with Jane. She
stands in the water while I get the shampoo. When she leans back, I scrub her
hair. We don’t have time for this every day but I think we should make time.
She likes it and so do I. She steps back under the water and I shampoo my own
hair. When I get the body gel, she steps around me. I lather myself instead and
rinse. She’s got a fluffy net in her hand. I don’t understand the purpose of
that thing. I get out and leave her inside to do whatever it is that takes her
so much longer. I brush my teeth and hair then go to the bedroom. I have a
text. Breakfast is ready. I dress then go back to the bathroom. Jane is drying
her hair.

“Breakfast.” I say and she nods.

When I get to the kitchen, Jocelyn
is busy at the stove. “Put all of this on a tray. Jane likes to watch the news
while she eats.” Jocelyn nods and finds a tray to load down. I’m coming out of
the kitchen with it and almost run Jane over. “Come on.” I take it to the media
room and put it down on one of the seats. She sits on the floor and puts her
plate in her lap. “You can sit in a chair.” I tell her but she shakes her head.

I sit down beside her. Barney will
install a TV in the kitchen over the weekend. I hate sitting on the floor but
I’d do anything for Jane. The weather man with the funny ties is on and has
Jane’s full attention. What does it matter, we’ll be at Dad’s cooking, eating
and cleaning. Who cares that it is going to be sunny on Friday? Jane. Only
Jane. I shovel pancakes, scrambled egg, and bacon in my mouth while she picks
at her food. They’re talking about the war again. I change the channel and she
perks up.

There are women talking about
current events. I check my cell. It chirped. She looks over at me. She’s
watching TV but I still feel guilty. It’s Barney asking if Saturday is okay. I
tell him it is then send a text to the security team to let him in. Jane’s
finally finished eating and is sipping her coffee now. I should have Jocelyn
put that in a travel mug. “Are you ready?” I ask shoving the phone in my
pocket. She nods. “We can take the coffee to go, if you want.”

“I’d like that.” I let her put
everything on the tray then I stand and pick it up. “How do I turn it off?” She
has the remote.

“Red button.” She pushes it and the
system shuts down. “I reprogrammed it for you. If you push the red button, it
will turn it on or off.”

“How?” She’s looking at the remote
in her hands. Her forehead’s wrinkled with concentration. Adorable.

“I fixed it. Let’s go.” I tell her
and she drops it in a chair. I carry the dishes back to the kitchen and ask for
two mugs to go. Jocelyn is more than happy to fill two travel cups with coffee
and cream. I take them out to the foyer and Jane is bringing both suitcases.
They have wheels but she’s careful not to hit the walls. She trades me a
suitcase for a cup. My laptop is waiting by the door in its case and I load it
onto the suitcase then secure it with the strap. I jostle and open the door to
the foyer. Derek is waiting by the elevator.

“Sir.” He pushes the button and it
opens then he waits for us to get inside. Jane gives me a look. Crap. She
doesn’t want him along. We go down in silence and I can feel the anger rolling
off her.

“Derek, change of plans. Take the
weekend off, go see your family.” I tell him when we get to the garage. I feel
Jane’s spirit lighten immediately. I was right.

“Are you sure sir, your safety is
very important.” He’s looking at Jane with disapproval and I don’t like it. He
doesn’t trust her. Why? 

“I’m sure.” I open the key box and
get the keys for the SUV then hand them to Jane. She takes them and her things
across the garage. “Have a good weekend Derek.” He nods but watches her put her
suitcase in the back. I go to help and put mine beside hers. She climbs into
the driver’s seat and adjusts the mirrors. I see her eyes drift to Derek. Her
head cocks to one side.

“Why is he watching me?” Jane asks.

“He doesn’t trust you.” She
recoils.

“Like I could hurt you.” She shakes
her head. I don’t know if she thinks she is physically unable or mentally
unable. She could hurt me, she could devastate me with a word and we both know
it. Jane starts the monster. I secure our travel cups in the cup holders and
plug in my laptop. She gives it the evil eye.

“You know the way to Dad’s?” I have
to ask and she scoffs. “Okay.” I stick the Bluetooth device in my ear and put
my cell on the console. My computer is ready and I stick the thumb drive in the
side. This app I’m working on is simple but I have to finish the coding for it
then I will turn it over to the software guys for polishing. They’re better at
making everything
pretty
. My phone chirps and she looks at it. That is
going to distract her so I silence it and touch my ear.

“Williams.” It’s security, Mack is
not happy that I left without Derek. He wants to follow us to Dads.

“We’re fine. See you Sunday.” I
tell him and disconnect. Jane pulls out onto the street and nearly gets
sideswiped by a dump truck. “Don’t make me a liar Janie.” She rolls her eyes
and keeps driving. I start coding and Jane is singing along to the radio. I
join in when I know the words and she grins. When I look up after a while, I see
that we aren’t far from Dads. I always lose time when I’m coding. I just get
lost in it. The app isn’t done but I decide to put it away for now and check my
email. I gave everyone the day off but there are still people in the office
with last minute projects and things that won’t wait.

I have a report on Edmund. He
didn’t take it well when I fired him. He threatened to sue. Tough. As far as
I’m concerned, he was insubordinate and he was using sexually offensive
language in my building. I was right and I don’t need Carol from HR to tell me
that. It’s covered in the hiring package. Jane would have ripped his throat out
eventually anyway. I did him a favor. She’s never liked the ‘C’ word. What
woman wants to be called that? Not one that I’ve met. I don’t really care for
it either.

 Jane is turning down the road that
will eventually take us to pack territory. She doesn’t know it but the land we
are passing on the right belongs to me and her. It was the first thing I bought
when I hit it big. There’s a cabin out there somewhere. I found it once. I plan
for us to retire there once we’re very old. The cabin has to go. Right now,
it’s one room with a dirt floor. There are holes in the roof and the walls. I
would be surprised if it’s still standing because I haven’t been there in close
to ten years. It looked as if a gust would blow it down back then. I plan to
build a one level rancher with stone walls for Jane, one with bathrooms and
marble floors.

Jane is taking it easy because the
road is unpaved now. The pack designed it this way. It looks like you may end
up at a farm or dead end eventually. There are four ways out of pack territory
so there isn’t much traffic seen entering and exiting. I go through more email.
Mack is pissed and says that he’s sent Derek home as requested but would like
to make the trip out himself. I respond with a resounding ‘NO.’ Jeez, what does
he think is going to happen at Dads? I’ll be surrounded by a pack of wolves and
my mate. Nothing is getting past her. Jane can be vicious when she wants. I
slip a glance at her and she is concentrating on the road, that little wrinkle
has formed over her brows. So far, she’s driven like a champion but this skinny
gravel road is trying her, I can tell. I want to drive but I don’t want to make
her angry.

“Are you done with what you were
doing?” She asks when she notices that I’m just sitting there doing nothing. I
nod. “Do you want to drive?” I smile.

“I’ll take it off your hands Jane.”
I can see the relief roll through her shoulders. We should’ve kept the driver.
I don’t say that aloud because it will flip her bitch switch. Jane eases the
big SUV to the side as if she were on a busy highway and puts it in park. I
open the door and get out. I stretch and walk around the vehicle.

I kiss Jane as she passes me then I
smack her ass. She jumps and squeals. I can’t wait to get her home. I’m going
to take her in her bed. I can’t do it in my old room, too many memories for
both of us in there. If I had a choice I would burn it out of the house and
never open the door on the charred remains again. Not one of those she-wolves
eased the ache of Jane being across the hall.

I get in and start the truck. Jane
is buckled and waiting. I sip my coffee but it’s cold now because I forgot
about it. I ease back onto the gravel road and continue. We are there in less
than thirty minutes. Dad comes out onto the porch when I pull into the driveway.
It’s weird not seeing his truck there. He smiles and Jane launches herself out
of the passenger side then into his bear hug. I don’t want him touching her. I
growl low in my throat. He’s Dad to her though, me too but he’s also an
eligible male.

A woman comes out of the house and
hugs Jane next. Shit. He’s done it already. This will crush Jane. The woman
waves at me then starts walking across the yard. I recognize her now. She’s the
Alpha’s mate. Good. I didn’t want to wipe tears all weekend. I unload the
luggage and my computer then drag them up the driveway. It’s bumpy because of
the gravel. “Jake.” Dad wraps me in his arms and I let him hug me. He’s getting
fatherly in his old age. “Come inside.” I have you guys all set up in Jane’s
room.”

“Oh yeah?” I ask.

“Yes, I hope you don’t mind but
I’ve turned your room into a studio.”

“Why do you need a studio?” I raise
my eyebrows.

“I’ve taken up painting again. I
hope the smell doesn’t bother you guys, it bothers me so I put the paints
upstairs.”

“I want to see Dad!” Jane is
excited. She went to school to study art. I don’t get it but I don’t have an
artistic bone in my body. Jane used to sketch and watercolor but I haven’t seen
her do it in a long time. I vaguely remember Dad doing it when Mom was alive.
He painted in oils. I got it on my hands once and it was a few days wearing
off. He was angry that I ruined his painting too. I think it was the last time
I saw him paint. I remember them fighting about it and I never went near the
paints again.

Jane is following him upstairs and
they’re chatting. I follow behind and take our things into the bedroom then
unpack them while Jane and Dad are across the hall. She likes whatever he is
showing her. I get my computer out and check email again. I hear Jane and Dad
descend the stairs, now they are talking about the menu. I think I’ve been
ditched. I grin. It’s good to hear her sound so chipper. I don’t want to bother
her because she is going to start cooking. I hear her banging around down
there. Dad comes back upstairs.

“How’ve you been?” He says from the
doorway.

“Okay.” I answer without looking
up.

“And Jane?” I smirk.

“She’s fine.”

“Is she?” I nod.

“She’s pregnant.” My heart leaps
and I swallow. “You didn’t know?” I shake my head.

“How? She hasn’t been in heat.”

“Of course she was Jake. How could
you not know that?” How is right. I never scented…anything. “I assumed that you
knew when you left after the funeral.”