Authors: Maddy Barone
“Tony Askup. You had one warning. I guess it didn’t get through, did it?”
The other man raised his hands and gave a small laugh. Rose thought it sounded slightly forced. “Sky,” he said jovially. “I haven’t seen you in two months. How have you been?”
Sky’s stare remained on him, steady and cold, the kind of cold that meant something was burning right below the surface. “I’ve been married. You put your hands on my wife.”
“And a sweet little thing she is. Congratulations on putting on the old ball and chain.”
Rose wasn’t sure if Sky was furious or disbelieving. Or pleased? Why would he be pleased?
Sky curled a fist in Askup’s shirt and gave him a fierce smile. “You had one warning. That’s all I ever give anyone. Get out. Get out of my house.”
“Sky…” Askup opened his hands as if to show he was unarmed and helpless. “You don’t really mean that. My uncle wouldn’t like it.”
“I don’t give a rat’s ass what your uncle would or would not like.” Sky’s voice had dropped to a purr. It promised violence. “Are you going to walk out of here, or would you rather be carried? Personally, I’d like to see you carried out.”
“Uncle Terry—” the man began, but Sky’s fist jerked on his shirt. It tore with a tiny sound.
Rose realized the only reason she could hear that sound was because all the people around them had gone silent and were staring at them. She shifted her weight and glanced around at the circle of gaping faces. She saw White Horse push his way through them, and huffed out a breath of relief. Thank God.
“You want me to take him out, Sky?”
After a long moment, Sky opened his fist and let the crumpled cotton go. “Yes,” he said crisply. “Please escort Mr. Askup out the front door. Pass the word along that he is no longer welcome at The Limit.”
Rose watched White Horse seize Askup’s arm and pulled him away. Her shoulders slumped as tension fled. “Sky, you didn’t have to do that. He wasn’t really bothering me.”
“He was touching you.”
“I had it under control,” she retorted. She glanced around and saw that a few people had gone back to chatting or whatever, but most were still staring at them. “I better get back to work.”
Her so-called husband took a step that put him in the exact spot Tony Askup had occupied a moment ago. “Work? You don’t work here.”
It shouldn’t have hurt. So why did her chest feel like he had just stabbed her? She lowered her voice to the barest whisper. “No, I don’t do anything here. I’m just baggage to you, right? A waste of time and a waste of space.” She lifted her chin. “I never should have come to Omaha.”
A shadow of something terrible crossed his face, but it disappeared, leaving his features smooth. “Go upstairs, Rose. We’ll talk in the morning.”
“Will we? You keep saying we’ll talk, but we never do. We hardly even see each other.” Tears, weak and weary, burned her eyes. Anger forced them back. “You were right all along. I should’ve stayed at the den.”
A glare from Sky sent the avidly watching guests scurrying to pretend they hadn’t been listening. “Go upstairs, Rose. I’ll be right behind you. We’ll talk this out now, since you insist.”
Rose stood straight and stiff for a minute, staring at his cold mask of a face. Then, head held high, she walked through the reception room to the kitchen. She set the empty tray down on the counter and met Katelyn’s wide eyes for a moment before going out to the mudroom to the narrow staircase that led up to their rooms. She lifted the lamp and lit the wick to show the way. She hadn’t thanked him for it yet. As she climbed the stairs, the weariness morphed into homesickness. She wanted to be at the den, where she knew everyone and was valued by them. There she had her friends, and her garden, and her knitting and spinning. It wasn’t the career in law she’d planned before the plane crash, but it was her life. Maybe the Pack didn’t have cars or electric light, but they loved her. How was Carla doing with Little Feather? She should be there to help with the children. The den was her home, not Omaha.
Rose stopped in the hallway and turned to face Sky. The rage that had fired his eyes a few minutes ago was gone now. She stared at him in the light of the lamp, not recognizing the impetuous boy whose wolf had claimed her in this slick, handsome stranger dressed in a city business suit. “I don’t know you,” she whispered. Loss and bewilderment made her eyes smart with fresh tears. “You dragged me away from home and brought me here so we could get to know each other, but it’s been days and I’ve barely seen you, much less talked to you. I want to go home.”
He smoothed the lapel of his silk suit with that condescending expression she loathed. “The world doesn’t revolve around you, princess. I’m in the middle of some very delicate negotiations right now, and having to go and fetch you has put me out of the loop. By next weekend I should have some time free for you.”
“Really.” Her lips felt stiff. “Next weekend? So generous of you to squeeze me into your schedule. You know what? Don’t bother. I’m going home. I repudiate your claim.”
“I reject your repudiation.” Now those cool, cobalt eyes sparked with honest emotion. “You want to see more of me? Fine. The only free time I have is at night. Let’s move your things to my room.”
He pushed past her to open her door. She stayed where she was, glaring at his back. “No,” she flung at him. “I repudiate you. You can’t reject that. Tomorrow I’m buying a ticket for the next train and I’m going home.”
He snapped the electric light on and stood in its glare like a sophisticated dark angel lit by the fires of hell. “No. You’re staying with me for a month. You promised. And you’re staying in my room from now on.”
She took a wobbly step back. “I promised a month for you to court me, not touchy-feely extracurricular activities. You can’t make me stay in your room.”
“Yes, I can. Come on, let’s get your stuff moved.”
She folded her arms over her chest and stuck out her chin. “No. And you can’t make me.”
“No?” He walked back to her in long, smooth steps, and she found herself backed up against the hallway wall. He raised his hands and put one on either side of her head against the wall. “No?” he asked again. “I think you’re forgetting whose house this is.”
She shouldn’t be thinking about his scent now, but with him standing close enough for their chests to brush, his scent couldn’t be ignored. If only he didn’t smell so good. “I’m not forgetting anything. You are forgetting that I am your mate, not your employee—”
The press of his mouth against hers shocked her. The back of her head slammed into the wall in an effort to escape the kiss, but it took only a split second for her to melt against him. Kissing Sky was overwhelming, and tremor-inducing, and amazingly delightful. His lips were warm until they went hot, and his tongue was magic. It was like throwing herself off a cliff and being caught in a thick warm cloud. She lost herself in the sensation of his tongue moving ardently with hers. Her hands itched to caress him but she pressed them flat against the wall at her sides. It took everything she had to turn her head aside and free her lips to speak.
“Sky,” she panted. “You can’t—I mean, we shouldn’t kiss. I haven’t accepted your mate claim.”
“Yet.” He took a step back and she was pleased to see that his eyes were glazed and his face was flushed. “You haven’t accepted my mate claim
yet
. But I’ll do everything in my power to convince you to accept me.” He shoved a hand through his hair. “I know you think I’ve been an ass, and maybe you’re right. I haven’t spoken with you about anything of any importance since we’ve come to Omaha, but I haven’t been avoiding you on purpose. You know how important the vote is. We’ve talked about that, at least. I’ve been spending every minute talking to the council members to influence them to vote to change the laws. The only time I have alone is when I’m in bed.”
Rose knew where this was going and she clenched her teeth. “Then before you go to bed, come into my room and we can talk for a while.”
He shook his head. “That’s not good enough. I want you with me. The way the Lupa was with the Chief before she accepted him. Just sleeping in the same bed. God, I dream of having you beside me.”
The passion in his voice made her blink. “You do?”
“I’ve dreamed of you from time to time since I came to Omaha, but these last few days I never
stop
dreaming of you. It’s not easy, having you so close and not being able to spend time with you.”
“I don’t know.” She studied him, still feeling his kiss on her mouth. She couldn’t be sure, since she had nothing to compare him to, but he seemed to be an expert kisser. Maybe he practiced with someone like Zoe or Tanya. That thought narrowed her eyes.
Sky spread his hands. “I won’t push you to give me anything that you don’t want to, but this way we can start to feel comfortable with each other. I want to court you, Rose. I know there’s lots we still don’t know about each other. I want to spend hours with you, but I just don’t have the time right now. But if we have a little time each night to talk, we can get to know each other. I want to hear you breathing beside me in the dark. Please, Rose, come stay in my room.”
“No more kissing?” Rose swallowed and pushed away from the wall. “You can’t keep kissing me without my permission. You did it that night in the mayor’s car and you did it again tonight. It makes me nervous, like I can’t trust you.” She privately admitted she didn’t trust herself either. “It reminds me of the way you scared me back at the den all those years ago.”
His eyes flicked down, then up, the briefest flash of some sharp emotion showing before his face went smooth again. Shame? “Okay, no more kissing until you ask me to kiss you.”
“You won’t grab me in my sleep?”
His lip worked as if suppressing a smile. “Not intentionally. I can’t be responsible for what I do in my sleep, but I won’t touch you unless you ask.”
Rose thought about it, weighing the chance to get to know him better and spending time with him against her fear that sleeping beside him would push her into making a decision before she was ready. She compared the lovely pink room behind them to his stark masculine one on the other side of the hall. In her room she had privacy and a pretty bed to herself. Could she sleep next to him without escalating their relationship? She slanted a glance at Sky’s waiting face. Was he a blanket hog? She blew out a long breath. She would find out.
“Okay, we’ll try it. But the first time you do something I don’t like, I’m moving back across the hall.”
“Good,” he said. “I’ll go clean out a few dresser drawers and you can bring your things into my room.”
It didn’t take many trips for Rose to empty her dresser and closet. She stood in Sky’s room looking at her blouses hanging next to his dress shirts. She didn’t know if it was the fact that she wasn’t used to seeing men’s dress shirts since none of the men at the den wore shirts at all, or if it was the intimacy of seeing her clothing hanging next to Sky’s, but it gave her a strange thrill. Sky stood beside her practically oozing male satisfaction as he looked at the closet, too.
“I need to go back downstairs and mingle with our guests,” he said, reluctance plain on his face.
She nodded briskly. “I guess I’ll read for a little bit. That’s what I usually do before bed. What time do you think you’ll be up?”
When he turned to her there was a hint of honest happiness in his expression. “About three hours,” he said softly. Happiness was joined by tenderness. “You don’t need to wait up for me. I’ll wake you if you’re asleep so we can talk for a bit tonight.” He leaned toward her as if to kiss her, but he must have remembered his promise because he straightened, gave her a smile, and walked to the door. “Good night for now.”
Rose looked from the closed door to sweep her gaze around the room. Her stomach quivered. She was in Sky’s room. This was his personal space and she felt like an invader. No, she wasn’t an invader. She was an invited guest. Or maybe something more than a guest. Her hands twisted around each other as she looked at the bed. It wasn’t as wide as the one in the pink room, but two people would fit in it.
What would they talk about? She still hadn’t thanked him for the lamp, and she should tell him about what the mayor had said that afternoon. Did he know that Paint was drawn to Katelyn? He should tell her how his efforts for the vote were going.
Feeling horribly like a nervous bride on her wedding night, she pulled a clean nightgown out of the dresser drawer and carried it across the hall to the bathroom. She needed a shower to get rid of the scent of smoke and booze from the reception rooms that saturated her hair. Then she would plump up a pillow and start one of the books she’d picked up that morning at the library. That would keep her awake until Sky returned. She didn’t want him to find her asleep and vulnerable.
*
It was nearly four hours later when Sky went upstairs to join his mate. Instead of the usual weary frustration dragging his feet when he climbed the stairs, tonight he bounced up the steps, eager to see his mate in his bed. Her scent would be on his sheets and pillows. She would be there to welcome him. He would inhale the scent of her hair and savor the warmth of her body beside his.
A thin line of light showed under the closed door. He took a deep breath and turned the knob. When he stepped inside his bedroom he looked immediately at the bed. The glow of the lamp made Rose’s blonde hair look more yellow. She was curled on her side, propped up by pillows in pink cases which she must have brought from the other room. Her head was bent over an open book and it took him a moment to realize she had fallen asleep while reading.
“Rose,” he whispered.
She didn’t stir. He approached the bed and put light fingers on her hair. The book slid out of her limp grasp and fluttered shut on the bed beside her, but she didn’t waken. Some of his excitement ebbed away, but seeing her sleeping so soundly in his bed gave him a sense of satisfaction. He could shake her awake, but he didn’t want to. She was so beautiful, so infinitely precious, that the heat of tears stung his eyes. He blinked them back, drinking in the lovely sight of her in his bed. He wished he could make her understand how much he wanted her. Not just sexually, although the sight of her in his bed was doing interesting things to his body. No, just having her close made his wolf happy. And it made him happy, too.