Page 27

The relief I felt walking up the front steps to our house after another long meeting with the Dark Alphas group was palpable. It was another scorching hot summer day, and while the others were out on another mission, I had abstained from this one.

Missing out on the heat was just a bonus for me, though. This mission was all about taking new territory for the group—a task I had given up in recent months.

At first, they had been reluctant to allow me to abscond from any group activities, but after I explained that I was still ready and willing to go on missions that were about protection and safety—and had proven that willingness to them—they had ultimately relented.

All except Pack Desmond, that is. Gage was still furious with me over his perception that I had sided with Christa and Jenny over the Dark Alphas. He continued to take every opportunity to goad me and attempt to get me to go against the group so he would have a reason to declare a battle between us without incurring the wrath of the others, but his attempts had been fruitless. I saw no reason to risk life and limb for a cause that wasn’t noble. Not when Christa and Jenny were waiting for me at home.

Things might be different if it seemed as though Gage was planning another covert attack against us, but he seemed to have given up on that notion. The threat of retribution from the other packs had been enough to convince him to behave—at least for the time being.

I opened the front door and immediately heard music blaring from Jenny’s room. She had taken up the guitar recently and, unfortunately for our eardrums, had settled on the electric guitar as her preferred sound. The daily sound of imperfect chords blasted through the house on a regular basis now, but it was a small price to pay for our daughter’s happiness.

“I’m home!” I called out as I tossed my shoes into the front hall closet.

“In here!” Christa replied.

I followed the sound of her voice into the kitchen and saw my mate and a guest sitting at the table. The woman had long, raven-black hair tied back in a braid that went down to her waist and mahogany skin. She didn’t look familiar to me at all, and I struggled to think of how she had come to be sitting in our house.

“Col, this is my childhood friend, Renea,” Christa explained.

“It’s nice to meet you,” I said, reaching over to shake her hand.

“The pleasure is mine,” Renea replied.

Her brown eyes were wide and kind, and I could see that she was sincere in her greeting. A childhood friend of Christa’s meant that Renea was from Sparkle Hollow, though. Ever since we had accepted their terms, Christa’s old pack had left us alone. I was holding up my end of the bargain and had already paid two installments toward the debt we owed to them and the Moonstones.

“What brings you to Pack Marsden?” I asked.

“Just catching up with Christa,” she said with a smile. “I was passing through on my way to visit my brother up north and got permission from the alpha to make a pit stop here.”

“I’m glad he agreed to your request,” I said.

The admission that Alpha Lex was still keeping tabs on us wasn’t surprising, but it was a useful piece of information for us to have. As much as we wanted to believe that we would be allowed to continue living here peacefully, Christa and I had agreed that we needed to keep our guard up on all sides. There was no telling who might seek to hurt us, and we wouldn’t put Jenny at risk again.

“As am I,” Renea said. “But unfortunately, I need to head out. It’s been so good to see you, Christa.”

“You too,” Christa said, standing up to hug her friend. “You’re welcome to stop by any time you’re in the area.”

She walked her friend to the door and bid her goodbye before heading back in to give me a hug.

“I missed you,” Christa said.

“I missed you, too.”

The music from Jenny’s room stopped, and we heard her answer her phone. Although she was only ten, we had decided to get her a cell phone after the incident with Gage a few months ago. It was more for peace of mind than anything else, but it seemed to be helping. We all felt safer knowing that Jenny could reach us at any time if she needed to, and she had been using the phone to keep in touch with her new friends in the pack as well. Anything that helped her feel safer and more at home was a bonus in our eyes.

“Dad, are you home?” Jenny shouted from the hallway as she came out of her room.

“What’s up, Jenny-bug?” I replied.

She had only started calling me “Dad” a few months ago, and I had to admit that it was the most beautiful sound I had ever heard. She could have chosen to continue calling me “Colson” if she wanted to, but hearing the endearment from my daughter was a gift I never thought I would receive.

“Can I go over to Lizzie’s house? She said she got a new record that she wants to listen to with me,” Jenny said.

“Of course you can,” I said. “Just be back for dinner, okay? I’m making quesadillas.”

“I will,” she promised.

She grabbed her things and left the house, heading for Lizzie’s down the street. Jenny had almost completely recovered from her kidnapping and had felt comfortable leaving the house without us for a few weeks now. She might never have a sleepover again, which was understandable, and both Christa and I were fine with her taking as long as she needed to feel comfortable getting back into the routine of a regular kid.

Lizzie Spencer, on the other hand, had not seemed to recover as quickly as Jenny had. I suspected that was one of the reasons Jenny spent so much time with her friend. Nothing was better for healing trauma than sharing it with someone who understood what you had gone through. Jenny was turning out to be almost as strong and wise as her mother.

“She’s a good kid,” Christa said.

“The best,” I agreed.

“But… I’m glad we have some time without her home,” she added slyly.

“Oh, yeah?” I asked.

She pushed me backwards until my knees hit one of the kitchen chairs. Once I was seated, she straddled me and began kissing my neck seductively. I sighed, a faint smile playing at my lips, as her petal-soft lips traced patterns across my skin. Immediately I felt my cock harden in response to her advances. Her teeth nipped at my neck in response as she felt my member against her inner thighs.

“Eager today, are we?” I teased, grabbing her backside firmly in my palms and pressing her closer to me to make it clear that I shared the same desires and excitement as my mate.

“Is there something wrong with me wanting to take advantage of my mate during one of the few times we have the house to ourselves?” Christa whispered into my ear, nibbling at it again as she did. I had told her once that nothing turned me on more than that simple act. She had clearly taken that information to heart.

“I see nothing wrong with that plan,” I assured her.

I swept her hair away from her neck and placed kisses of my own under her earlobe, eliciting a moan of hers in turn. I pulled back to enjoy the look of pleasure that I knew the action would give rise to and was pleased to see her eyes had closed. Nothing gave me greater pleasure than to see how peaceful she looked in my arms. Almost nothing, that is.

She opened her eyes and stared deep into mine. Her gray eyes pierced me like silver asher hands deftly removed her top, revealing her full breasts. I took her nipple in my mouth and heard a low moan emanate from her as she tossed her head back, enjoying my attentions. Her hips began to grind on my pelvis as my hands encircled her waist, feeling the softness of her skin beneath my fingertips.

“Chris,” I whispered, “I think we have too many layers between us.”

“You read my mind,” she said.

She stood up, and I followed suit as we both made a mad dash to remove every article of clothing from us until we both stood naked in the kitchen. Christa’s eyes roved over my body ravenously, focusing on the fullness of my desire, which was on full display. She licked her lips, and I felt my loins quiver with anticipation.

Her breasts heaved as she took a deep steadying breath before striding towards me confidently, wrapping her slender arms around my neck and pressing her lithe body into mine. When our bodies collided in a frenzy of passion, I felt like my soul was complete.

“I love you,” she whispered. My hands searched her body greedily as I moved my lips from her lips to her neck. Unwrapping her hands from around me I continued the downward movement of my attentions toward her chest and stomach. She gasped as I placed a delicate kiss on her ribcage, looking up at her in adoration.

“I love you,” I murmured into her navel.

I knelt in front of her, placing my lips on the bud of her womanhood and kissing gently. She groaned as my tongue pressed against her, licking her clitoris tenderly. Within moments, her legs began to waver. My forearms supported her from behind, wrapping around her thighs as I continued. Her hands found a handhold in my hair, bracing herself against the waves of passion that rippled through her. As her knees began to shake, I retreated, standing up and pulling her along behind me as I walked toward the couch.

She laid down on her back, and I lifted her legs up, placing her ankles on my shoulders and positioning my erection between her legs. I began to enter her but pulled back at the last moment. Her hips wiggled closer as she tried to press me inside of her. I repeated the action again and could sense her growing frustration when a crease appeared between her eyebrows.

“Don’t tease,” she pouted.

“Very well.”

Nothing else needed to be said between us. I plunged myself deep inside her, feeling the warmth of her pussy around my cock. With each thrust, our breathing became more labored, until we finally reached the pinnacle of our release. With our energy spent, I untangled our bodies and laid down on the couch beside her, pulling her into my arms. Our bodies seemed to meld into one as we recovered, and our breathing slowed.

In spite of the rapture we had just experienced, my thoughts were far away from the current moment. The future was still untold, and I didn’t know how much longer I could put up with the duality of being a good husband and father while working with the Dark Alpha group.

“Are you going to tell me what’s bothering you, or am I going to have to pull it out of you?” Christa asked, breaking my reverie.

“I’m sorry, love,” I said, caressing her jaw tenderly. “I was just thinking about us and everything we’ve been through. After everything that happened, I hoped I would understand myself better, but sometimes I still feel like I’m a stranger to myself.”

“That sounds really hard,” Christa acknowledged.

“It can be. I want to be a good person, the kind of man that you and Jenny are proud of, but I’m still wrapped up with the Dark Alphas. I don’t always know if I can toe the line between being honorable and being loyal,” I admitted.

“I’m so proud of you, Col. I always have been, and I always will be,” she promised. “No matter what comes, I will be by your side.”

“Even if I don’t know who I am?”

“I know who you are,” Christa said. “You are both honest and loyal. You pay attention to the needs of those around you and work tirelessly to take care of those who need your help. You are handsome and loving. You are my mate and my best friend.”

After months of hearing Christa give me compliments, I still hadn’t gotten used to it. I wasn’t sure I ever would, so I deployed my go-to strategy: switching to humor to lighten the mood.

“You forgot about my nice ass,” I quipped.

“Oh no, I didn’t,” Christa responded, raising an eyebrow.

“Been thinking about it a lot, have you?” I asked.

“Here and there,” she admitted. “It’s hard to ignore when you leave the room. Honestly, every part of you is hard to ignore.”

“But only one part of me is hard,” I said.

“Already? We just finished,” Christa asked in surprise.

“I’ll never be finished with you,” I said.

*****

THE END