Juneau Heat (5 page)

“That is so
not funny.” She rolled her eyes at him, but he smiled and leaned down to kiss
her.

They waited
their turn to get on the tram along with a large group of other people. Shiya
found a spot at the back to look out the window, and Kotori stood behind her.
He towered so high above her head, he would have no trouble seeing, and she
grabbed his hand to put on her waist. He gave her a light squeeze as the tram
began to climb Roberts Mountain.

Over an
intercom, a woman shared interesting facts about the wildlife, the city, and
the tram. Shiya half listened while focusing on how close the tops of trees
appeared. When they were high enough, she marveled over the city, clinging to
the shoreline as if the mountains crowded it out. The sight took her breath
away.

“Across the
bridge, is that still Juneau?” she asked Kotori.

“This side
of the Gastineau Channel is Juneau, which includes the downtown area. On that
side is West Juneau.” He moved his finger left of the bridge. “Down that way is
Douglas Island.”

When the
ride ended, they wandered along the trails, enjoying the tropical forest–type vegetation.
When Shiya spotted bears some distance from where they stood, she grabbed
Kotori’s hand and froze.

“Bears! I
didn’t realize there are bears here.”

Kotori
hugged her. “It’s okay. They have platforms where you can view them closer in a
safe location, but don’t worry, I will protect you. Sometimes they come down to
the city. They smell the garbage. Everyone is supposed to have bear-safe lids,
but things happen.” He shrugged.

From his
casual stance, she figured this was a standard way of life for him, and it was
no big deal. She’d never seen anything bigger than a raccoon or a possum that
wasn’t closed off in a zoo.

“Do you not
like bears?”

Her answer
to his question appeared to be important to him, and she turned away. She’d
forgotten for an instant what she believed him to be—a polar bear shifter. The
bears she spotted were black.

“I like
bears just fine,” she said. They continued walking. “Kotori?”

“Yes?”

“You’re
Native American, aren’t you?”

“I am.”

“What
tribe?”

“Tlingit.”

Her blank
stare brought a smile to his handsome face that made her forget everything but
him. He traced a finger over her nose, staring into her eyes. Between them, she
felt his hard-on pressed into her stomach, and she wondered if it was
perpetual, or did she just turn him on all the time? The latter pleased her to
think.

“I bet you
thought I would say something like Cherokee?” His eyes flashed amusement.

“Please,
I’m not that ignorant,” she asserted and spun away. “Tell me about your
people.”

He didn’t
hesitate, which made her think he shared what was common knowledge, stuff to be
found on the Internet. He would not, for example, tell her what percentage of
them were shifters, and what kind of animals. For a minute, she wished they
were close enough for that level of honesty, having nothing to do with her
family or his.

“We call
ourselves Lingit, which means ‘people of the tides.’”

Shiya
pounced on this information. Polar bears were animals that loved being in or
near the water. The correlation interested her.

“We’re
traditionally hunter-gatherers, and extend mostly in Southeast Alaska and
Western Canada.”

“Cold
areas?”

He nodded.
“You heard me speak my language to my grandmother. There aren’t that many
native speakers of it here in the United States, less in Canada. It’s a shame,
but because of it, I made sure to learn and keep it fresh in my memory.
Interacting more with English speakers makes that difficult. Except, of course,
when talking with my grandmother.”

Shiya
flinched. “Your grandmother doesn’t like me. I think I offended her when I
didn’t want the potion.”

“Devil’s
club juice,” he corrected. “Don’t worry about it. She is set in her ways and is
very traditional. Unlike me, she has no need to integrate with society and
lives on the mountain. She comes down only to sell her wares.”

Shiya
thought she saw frustration in his expression. She patted his arm. “I know how
that is. My mother had her ways too. It drove my dad nuts.”

“Had?”

She kicked
herself for mentioning her mother, not only because it hurt to remember and she
still missed her after five years, but also because of the way her mother died.
“She died when I was twenty-five.”

“I won’t
push. I can tell it hurts.” He tucked her into his embrace, and her eyes grew
moist at the unexpected sensitivity. She let him hold her a heartbeat and then
pulled away. Puffy red eyes weren’t sexy.

“So what
about your parents? Still alive? Do you have any siblings?” She started walking
again, and he followed.

“Yes, my
parents are alive. They, like my grandmother, don’t come into the city or the
borough often. I have many brothers and sisters.”

“Many?”

“A few.”

“What’s a
borough?”

He seemed
to search his mind for the answer. “The county.”

“Ah, okay.”

He took her
hand, and they continued down the trail. Someone had laid out planks to walk in
the damper areas, and in a few flatter spots, patches of snow surprised her.

“So what
about you?”

She looked
up at him. “Me?”

“Yes, do
you have family?”

“Oh, I keep
forgetting Birk knows all this about me, but you and I are just getting to know
each other. I have two sisters and a brother. My sisters are one year older and
two. I guess you could say we’re stepladder kids. My brother is five years
older than Sakura.”

His brows
rose. “Sakura?”

“Yes.” She
rolled her eyes. “My mother was into the whole Japanese thing at the time
Sakura was born. The word means ‘cherry blossoms.’ Do you know about sakura
trees?”

“I can’t
say I do.”

“They’re
beautiful, and so is my sister.”

He tugged a
lock of her hair, sending chills racing down her spine. “She’s not the only
one.”

Shiya
turned away. “You’re flattering me.”

He stopped
her from walking and pulled her back to face him, trapping her hands between
them. Kotori leaned toward her until their lips were less than an inch apart.
“Is it flattery if it’s true? Or are you questioning my motives?”

“I wouldn’t
presume, sir.”

She stuck
out her tongue, and he met it with his own. For a while, they danced that way,
tongues swiping across each other, curling together without their lips
touching. Kotori seemed to grow tired of that game, though, because he reached
behind her head and drove her nearer. His mouth crushed hers in a desperate
kiss, forcing her to tilt it back farther. When his hand came up her side and
he pinched hard at her nipple, she cried out in ecstasy. His roughness turned
her on like she never imagined such a thing would. He rolled the tiny bud
between his fingers and tugged at it. A flood of cream wet her panties, and he
growled low in his throat. Shiya was ready right there to take off her clothes
and let him have it all, but Kotori pushed her away.

She stared
at him, his big chest rising and falling with his harsh breathing. He ran a
hand through the midnight curls, disordering them in the sexiest way she’d ever
seen. She tucked her hands into her jacket pockets.

“We should
keep moving, or you’ll get cold,” he said.

The words
were almost angry, and she wondered what had gone wrong.

After some
time, they fell into conversation again.

“What’s
your other sister’s name? Is she also named after a tree?”

Shiya laughed.
“No, but my mother kept the
S
theme.
My middle sister’s name is Shae.”

“And your
brother has an
S
name?”

“No, he was
before the crazy naming scheme took hold.” She laughed. “He’s Kasen, and I
can’t imagine him soft enough to fall in line with matching names.”

After she’d
blurted out all their names, she wondered if it was wise. If Kotori had heard
of the Keith hunters, he might put two and two together. Kasen was her father’s
name, and her brother a junior. Kasen Keith wasn’t a common moniker by any means.
While she worried over it, Kotori walked behind her in silence. She stumbled
over a plank, and he caught her around the waist.

“I think
we’ve gone far enough,” he said. “The hike down the mountain is two hours. It
might be better for you to take the tram back.”

From the
look of Kotori’s powerful legs, she knew he would have no trouble, but as a
city girl, hiking wasn’t normally her thing, not in chilly weather anyway. She
had enjoyed herself and told him so.

“You miss
Birk?”

She smiled.
“A little. Hey, can we visit his clinic and see him at work?”

Kotori
hesitated, and she wondered if they had something to hide there. That might be
good to look into. The correct procedure was to pass the info on to her brother
or one of the other leaders if he wasn’t available, but she hesitated. Things
were going well between her and the guys, and that had nothing to do with her
job. Maybe she needed to face the reality of the situation, but not yet.

“Okay, why
not?” he agreed, and they started back.

When they
were in the Bronco, Kotori called Birk, and left a message when he didn’t
answer. She noted the crease between his brows, but he didn’t deny her. Tempted
to tell him never mind since they didn’t get the okay from Birk, she clamped
her lips together. Her dad and Kasen would rake her over the coals if she let
this opportunity pass her by.
Just think,
what would Shae do?
Her confident and capable sister would reach over and
put a hand on Kotori’s thigh, giving him ideas of future pleasure, and the guy
would let her lead him around by the nose, without her giving up the goodies.
How the heck did one do that? Not that she wanted to hold the goodies back, of
course.

The small
building at the end of a side street seemed unassuming, yet cute, when they
arrived. Where the slanted blue tiled roof met the eggshell wall, a sign read
Rider Veterinary Hospital.

She turned
to Kotori. “Wow, I thought it was a clinic, and he owns it?”

Kotori
shrugged, and they walked inside. A receptionist greeted them with a smile, but
when she saw Kotori, her face almost glowed. “Good morning, Kotori. Good to see
you.”

“Shannon,”
he murmured without enthusiasm. Shiya wondered if there was history there, but
didn’t say anything.

“We’re here
to see Dr. Rider. Is he in?”

Shannon’s
inquisitive gaze turned to her, but it swung back to Kotori as if she looked
for an explanation from him. Before Kotori could say anything further, a door
beside the desk opened, and a beautiful blonde stepped through. Behind her Birk
appeared. The woman laid a hand on Birk’s arm, talking to him in a low tone.
From her flustered and eager bearing, she wanted Birk, and nothing in his
reaction told Shiya the feeling wasn’t mutual.

Shiya was
too pissed off. She forgot to look around to see if she could pick up clues.
She forced her gaze off Birk and scanned the room. Several people waited with
pets in the reception area—dogs, cats, even birds, but no unusual animals.
Maybe there was another location for the more exotic creatures native to
Alaska.

Birk ended
his conversation with the woman when a technician walked up with a caged cat.
Birk escorted the woman closer to where they stood. “Let’s try to avoid any
more fights with porcupines, okay?”

Shiya
winced. Poor kitty.

“Thanks,
Dr. Rider.” The woman pushed a card into his hand. “Give me a call anytime.”

No the bitch didn’t.

Shiya
realized she must have stepped forward, when Kotori’s hand flattened on her
belly. His lips touched her ear. “Easy, little tigress. You can punish him
later.”

She smacked
his hand away, but his words calmed her and had her trying to suppress a smile.
Oh yeah, she would. Then she considered the ridiculousness of the situation.
Birk would freely share her with Kotori, but she got an attitude when he
considered another woman. Still,
he
agreed to share. She didn’t, and they hadn’t even slept together yet.

“Shiya,”
Birk said when he walked over to her, and she saw genuine pleasure in his gaze.
He kissed her cheek and invited them to the back.

Shiya
peered into every room as they headed to Birk’s office. The small hospital
included two examination rooms, a lab area, a pharmacy, a treatment area, and a
surgical suite with several cages for the animals after an operation. They
passed equipment in a small closet-sized room that looked like an X-ray
machine, and Birk confirmed her thoughts.

In his
office with the door shut, Birk perched on the side of his desk and held out
his arms. Shiya hesitated.