Wolf's Ascension (29 page)

The cool silk of his hair seduced her skin, the sensitive flesh of her nipples. She brought her hands up his arms and he turned.

His kiss was so different from Andreas’s. Andreas devastated with his kisses. He owned her. He possessed her and seduced her. It was always overwhelming to give herself to Andreas’s mouth. Phillip’s kiss was soft and reverent. He
needed
her. Needed comfort and sex at the same time. To assure himself he was still alive and that someone cared about him deeply.

Andreas kissed down Kari’s spine and back up to her neck. Her head fell back as she leaned against him. Phillip’s mouth moved down to her breasts and he licked her nipples, teasing them into aching points. His mouth was hot and wet, his hands stayed at her waist.

She reached and grabbed Andreas’s cock with one hand and Phillip’s with the other—both men arched into her with sounds of desire. She ached, needing to be filled. Her pussy was so wet and desire-swollen she felt her honey on her thighs.

One of Andreas’s hands slid down her belly and questing fingertips slid between slicked labia. With a gasp, she ground herself into his touch.

“Just a quick one to get the ball rolling,” Andreas said in her ear and he slid his middle finger from side to side over her clit. Pleasure boiled up from her gut as she began to come almost immediately.

Phillip’s cock throbbed in her fist, pre-come moistening her fingers. “I’ve never seen anything so sexy in my life,” he said over her shoulder to Andreas.

“Wait.” Andreas’s other hand came from behind and two fingers thrust up into her.

With a sharp cry, climax overtook her as he continued to work his hands over her. Phillip’s mouth went back to her nipples as she rode the waves of pleasure that buffeted her time and time again.

And suddenly Andreas moved his fingers and replaced them with his cock. “Bend forward over Phillip, little wolf.”

Kari looked up at Phillip and pushed him back to the bed. He straightened his legs around them both and she got to all fours as Andreas slowly began to fuck her, his hand holding her hair.

Phillip’s skin was pale as moonlight and stretched taut over hard muscle. Unable to resist, she flicked her tongue over one nipple and then the other. He put his hands on her shoulders and she moved down, pushing Andreas back.

Phillip’s cock was right there and it seemed only natural to take it into her mouth. Both men gasped at the sight. She rode his cock with her mouth, making him wet, sliding tongue and lips and the slight edge of teeth over him as Andreas continued to thrust deep into her pussy.

Phillip watched her take him into her mouth over and over, her hair tickling his groin and thighs. Andreas had eyes for her and only her. It was so clear, even in a moment when his Mate had another man’s cock in her mouth, that he adored her. Each touch he made was filled with emotion and Phillip only hoped that one day he’d have that with his woman too.

The sharp edge of climax cut through his senses and he looked up at Andreas, not knowing where the line was and not wanting to cross it unknowingly. “Kari, oh god, I’m so close,” he gasped.

Andreas pulled back on the hair in his fist. “Not in your mouth.”

Licking her lips and locking her gaze with Phillip, she took him back between her hands and began to stroke. “Oh yeah. That’s the way.” He arched up into her grasp, still wet from her mouth, and let go of the climax he’d been holding back to have her just a few moments longer.

His seed, hot and silky, spread over them both and she gasped as Andreas’s thrusts increased in intensity and he reached around to her clit. Cleaning up quickly, Phillip moved his body so he could reach her clit too. His fingers played against Andreas’s, feeling the skin of her cunt tighten each time Andreas pistoned into her body.

Andreas pressed forward, hard, as he began to come and Phillip continued to work her clit. Phillip’s hand was so close to Andreas’s cock he could feel the spasms as he came deep inside Kari.

With a soft exhalation Kari climaxed, writhing back against Andreas. Phillip took her lips softly for a moment, wanting that sweet reminder of a brief moment of comfort.

The three of them went to shower off and came back to bed, sated and exhausted. Kari pressed back into Andreas, her head against his biceps with a soft sigh.

“I love you, Andreas,” she whispered, not wanting to wake Phillip.

“I love you too, little wolf.”

* * *

Despite the exhaustion of the events of the last day and the intensity of their sex with Phillip, Andreas couldn’t sleep. Giving in, he got up and went into the kitchen for a cup of tea and soon Skye joined him.

“Can’t sleep?”

Andreas turned and took a sip of his tea. “Damn it, Skye, this has to stop! My children are in danger. My wife is in danger. You’re all in danger. I can’t have them living like this. I’ll step aside and let Sean be Alpha if I have to.”

Skye tensed at that. “He wouldn’t take it. Moreover, I don’t know if he could do it. Devon sure can’t. Who does that leave? Michael?” He snorted at the idea. “We both know what
his
leadership would do. His whole branch of the family tree is poison.”

“You think I’d choose this over my family?” Anger rolled from Andreas in waves.

“No, of course not, but you don’t have to choose. We’ll find out who did this. Kari’d never let you step down over this. You must know that,” Skye said.

“How? How are we going to find out who did this, Skye? It’s been months. Tonight was the second time someone tried to kill her, if you don’t count Johanna. We get threat calls once a month. She’s unhappy, Skye. I can’t deal with that. I didn’t bring her over to have her terrorized and miserable.”

“We need to draw them out. We know it’s Pack. We know who
didn’t
do it. Let’s use them to set up a trap and then reel the responsible person in.”

“Using Kari as bait? Unacceptable!” Andreas tossed his cup into the sink.

“No, realistic,” Kari said, stepping into the room. Skye and Andreas turned to face her. “Andreas, this has gone on long enough. I’m telling you that we’ve got to find this person and deal with them. I can’t live like this anymore and I can’t bear endangering the twins. It’s either this or I go to live with the twins in Paris. I mean it. I love you more than life itself but this is about our children now and I have to put them first.”

“You’d leave me?”

“No. I’d move away with our children so you could lead your Clan in peace and so our children wouldn’t live in a place where silver bullets fly. I’d still be your Mate. I’d still be your wife. It just can’t continue like this. I realized tonight that I hadn’t actually done anything
alone
in nearly a year. None of us is living a normal life. The males who guard me have no life! You can’t run your businesses properly because your right-hand men are having to babysit me. We’re always on guard. That isn’t natural.”

Walking to him, she slid her arms around his waist and looked up into his eyes. “I’m intensely unhappy. Not with you. Not with our family. But with the situation. I don’t want to live this way anymore.”

Andreas looked anguished. Skye was being very still and trying not to hear what was being said.

“Let’s work on the plan. I won’t lose you. I’ll step down as Alpha and we’ll all go to Paris.”

“You won’t. But yes, let’s work on the trap.”

* * *

Jade and Tomas met Andreas and Kari in Portland to take the twins to the condo in New York City and keep them out of harm’s way. Against her judgment, Emma had gone with them. She hadn’t wanted to leave her practice, but after Sean had thought about it all night and had seen the bullet hole in the house in the cold light of day, he’d insisted for the sake of the baby she was carrying. Jack tagged along too. He and Alyssa were going to meet up in Boston after the trap was set and the twins were safe. Andreas and Kari wanted to keep all the plans low-key and quiet. The human staff weren’t even alerted.

The Inner Circle knew for sure that Ryan, Skye, Phillip, Sean, Laurent, Gregory, Anna, Elaine, Perri, Devon and Sean were safe to involve with the trap. Kari had argued successfully to keep Perri out of it, as she’d just gone in for the first IVF treatment the day before and needed to be at home resting.

A Gathering was called and the planners decided to set up a few situations where Kari would be left alone—truly alone, because another wolf could smell if anyone was nearby. Andreas was most difficult to persuade on this point. But finally, knowing that he’d lose his wife and children or the leadership of his Pack, he agreed. Kari argued that she was a strong wolf so she’d be able to fight until someone heard. For her safety, while she was in human form she’d wear a small microphone and be monitored by Ryan at all times.

The decision was made to have Kari and Andreas be extremely physical with each other. It seemed that the culprit was incensed by Kari’s connection to Andreas and so they’d do what they could to drive the attacker to act and expose their identity.

The cherry on the sundae was to announce that Kari was pregnant again. Although the exact reasoning behind the attempts wasn’t clear, it was pretty obvious that her presence was threatening. Whether it was because of her tie to Andreas and the creation of children to lead or in her continued ability to please the Alpha and keep her place they didn’t know.

When they arrived back at the lodge on Thursday, things were calm. Anna and Gregory had made the cabins and extra rooms ready. Sean was missing Emma already but determined to find out who was responsible for terrorizing Kari and Andreas.

They’d created a cover for Emma, saying that she was off at a medical symposium in Chicago, and that Jade had to work and Jack had gone back to Boston to try to work things out with Alyssa. Perri, of course, had a legitimate excuse. Devon had decided to come to the lodge, leaving Perri ensconced at the condo in Portland, surrounded with state-of-the-art security. Kari and Andreas had wanted him to stay with Perri but she wouldn’t have it. “You need him there, he’ll just bug the hell out of me here. Plus, I can’t have you leaving. Who would I gossip with!”

* * *

Friday evening they had a full house. Henry pointedly ignored Luna now that Andreas had allowed their separation. Although Carey showed mild interest in her charms, Luna had noticed Perri’s absence and hadn’t taken her eyes off Devon all evening. This despite the obvious rebuffs he was giving her. Kari was ready to step in and kick her butt if she so much as touched her brother-in-law. Several people had asked about the twins but Kari told them they were with their grandpapa having a fun sleepover while the adults got to play at the Gathering.

Kari and Andreas were all over each other. He really couldn’t complain about that. With the twins gone it was nice to have uninterrupted time with her. They had gotten “caught” several times with hands up skirt or down pants. Everyone had acted amused so far, including Andreas’s number-one suspect, Alex.

At dinner, Andreas stood up and asked everyone for their attention. With a grin, he raised his glass. “I’m pleased to announce to you all that Kari is pregnant again!”

Skye lazily looked around the table to see how people were reacting. For the most part they looked like a happy bunch. He saw concern on a few faces and noted them to himself.

“Let’s go on a run before I get too big!” Kari laughed and they all went to the edge of the forest to disrobe.

Andreas let her change first and caressed her fur and whispered, “Careful, little wolf,” in her ear and then changed, as well, his large body against her small one.

They ran for several miles, past the small lake they usually stopped at. Despite the danger Kari hadn’t felt this free since her first run. She veered off to the left and Andreas came around to the right. She knew she should lead off alone just to see if anyone would take the bait. Ellen, James, Michael and Henry all went left when she did. She hunted a rabbit and felt her wolf joy at the thrill of being a predator. They rolled in the underbrush and jumped over each other, knocking into one another with utter abandon.

After several hours of hide-and-seek, Kari headed back to the lodge. Andreas came around a bend in the trail and rammed into her, bowling her over, giving her a wolfish grin. She transformed and ran back toward the lodge naked, the moon gleaming off her skin, and a human Andreas scooped her off her feet and rolled in the grass until he ended up with her on top, straddling him. She laughed as Andreas reached up and caressed her breasts, bringing a moan to her lips. She hesitated. Coupling in wolf form in the presence of the Pack was one thing. Having sex wearing a human skin on the lawn outside of the lodge was another. She leaned down and captured his lips with her own and felt him harden in the vee of her thighs, nudging into her.

“Kari,” Andreas whispered hesitantly when she pulled back from the kiss. He moved his hips up tentatively, in question. He’d wanted to love her under the moon, out in the air, since he first brought her here. For him it answered a primal need to mark her as his own, not just as a wolf but as his human wife. The danger of the situation only added to the sexual tension building between them.

She sat up and lifted slightly, grabbing his cock in her hand and guiding him into her body. She sat there with him just barely inside of her warmth and looked down at him, smiling. She bit her lip and he moaned at the erotic gesture. At his moan she slid down another inch, her thighs tense, holding herself in place.

“More,” he gasped and she slid down another inch and then another, her body stretching to accommodate him. His hands grasped her hips to pull her down on him but she shook her head.

“No. Let me. I’m in charge this time,” she said softly. The night air cloaked her skin. The bit of dew beginning to collect on the grass scented sticky in the air. The humidity of the night wet against the flesh of her back and arms.

She slowly, incrementally moved on him, taking in more and more of him until he was seated inside of her completely.

He pulled his knees up and she rested her back against them. Their gazes locked. “God, I love you so much. You’re my entire world,” she said to him.