Authors: Maddy Barone
She peeked up at him. “What do you think will happen?”
He was silent for a long minute. “I think the fathers and brothers of Omaha will rebel. I talked to plenty of them today, and they’re set for a battle. They’ve been stockpiling illegal weapons for the past several months, along with food and water. I don’t know how much success they’ll have against the City Guard, but I bet McGrath will be caught by surprise. He has no idea how serious they are.”
Rose listened to the beat of his heart. “When do you think it will start?”
“I don’t know.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “Soon. The mayor ordered me to turn Odell over to Gabe. No,” he said when she jerked her head up. “I won’t turn her over to anyone. Even if she wasn’t Snow’s mate, I wouldn’t do that. But my refusal could be the excuse the mayor is looking for to start trouble on his own terms.”
She tilted her head to look up at him. “When you tell him no, what will he do?”
His lips flattened in a thin line. “It would be grounds for him to arrest me and take over the house.”
Her arm tightened almost convulsively over his waist. “But…”
“We’ll need to find a reason to keep people out.” He rubbed soothing circles over her hip. “A fire in the kitchen that causes damage to the house? No, that wouldn’t keep people out. Maybe a measles outbreak? I’ll think about it.”
She blinked. Lies and manipulation was something she’d never seen from any of the Pack or Clan, but her mate used them with ease. “I want to go home,” she said without thinking. She felt him look down at her. “I mean, the den. I miss it.”
He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I do too. I’m glad you’re here, but at the same time I wish you weren’t. I wish you were safe at the den. I could send you home,” he offered. “I’m not sure they would let you out of the gates, but White Horse and Mike can take you out by the river, the same way they brought Thomas in.”
She shook her head. “No, I won’t go without you.”
“I can’t go. What would happen to Cayla and Tasha and Ms. Mary? I can’t just abandon them or any of the other people who work here.”
She knew that. “Then we have to find a way to fix things here so we can leave.”
He kissed her forehead again. “We will,” he promised.
He reached an arm to turn off the lamp by the bed. “Good night, princess. Tomorrow’s going to be a long day and we need to rest.” Even in the dark, she could tell he was smiling by the roguish note in his voice when he said, “Besides, I think I’ll wake you up early to remind you how beautiful you are and how much I want you.”
A tremor of desire shimmered through her at the promise of more lovemaking. She kissed the taut swell of his pectoral muscle, which was about the only part of him she could easily reach. “Then you better get your rest. You’ll need your strength.”
She relaxed into slumber with his low chuckle of satisfaction in her ears.
*
Sky held his mate as she drifted into sleep. His heart twisted at the thought of her leaving him. If…no,
when
the mayor came against The Limit, she would be safer at the den. All of his ladies would be safer at the den. Maybe some could be sent via the river out of Omaha, but Odell was far too injured, and Ms. Mary far too old, for such an arduous journey. And there were simply too many women for them all to escape by the river. He toyed with the idea of using his cousins to storm the city gate and force their way through, but that was too dangerous. The Guards would shoot, and although any wolf warrior would be willing to stop a bullet to protect a woman, none of them would want to risk a woman being shot. That left him with few options. They would all have to stay here until matters were settled. Shortly after lunch tomorrow, the women who spent weekends with their families would be back, safe inside The Limit’s fence. He wanted them all here now, before any trouble started.
Dammit, why hadn’t he just killed the mayor eight years ago? All of this could have been avoided if he had just done what his wolf wanted. He searched inside himself for the wolf who’d ignored him for the past six years. He was there, alert and ready for action. Sky couldn’t talk to him, but he clearly felt the wolf’s willingness to find the mayor right now and kill him.
He couldn’t do that. He needed to talk to Ryan Thomas McGrath before any action could be taken against the mayor. If only the younger McGrath would show himself, Sky knew enough of the people in Omaha would be willing to follow him that the mayor would be forced to step aside. More than half of the lieutenants of the City Guard were childhood friends of Ryan’s. Sky had contacts in the Guard and they all agreed that if even a minority of the City Guard backed Ryan, the citizens of Omaha would easily win any rebellion. The problem was, the idiot thought he could sneak in and visit his mother, and then sneak out again without anyone knowing he was here. Sky set his teeth. He couldn’t allow that. Ryan had to step up. Lives would be saved if the citizens of Omaha had a leader everyone could follow. People remembered how the mayor’s son tried to stop the Women’s Acts. Everyone Sky spoke with today agreed Ryan McGrath would be an acceptable replacement for his father as mayor. Somehow, Sky had to find a way to convince Ryan his duty was here.
At least Taye and the others were here. Never in a million years had he expected to see them all in Omaha. A shadow of the relief he’d felt when he’d seen them washed over him again. It was good to know his house and his women would be well protected. It was one less thing for him to worry about.
From across the hall, he heard Stone and Sara talking. With her human ears, Rose wouldn’t have heard, but she would be glad to know Stone and Sara’s wedding night had gone well. At least, he believed it had gone well. Sara’s giggles said she was pleased with her mate’s attentions. Stone must have followed Taye’s directions. Smiling, Sky inhaled his mate’s precious scent.
What he had told Rose earlier was true. Tomorrow would be a very busy day. He couldn’t stop the grin from curving his lips. And the best part of the day would be when he woke up and made love to his mate.
Chapter 21
Something warm and wet touched the edge of Rose’s jaw. She pushed at it, complaining, “Mitzi, stop.”
“Damn,” said Sky’s voice. “If you think I’m your stupid cat, I’m doing something wrong here.”
Her eyes flew open. The level of sunlight in the room told her it was past sunrise, but not much past it. The disappointed look on Sky’s face made her laugh. Or maybe it was just the joy of waking up with him leaning over her that released her mirth. “Why, Mitzi, how you’ve grown,” she teased.
He pressed his penis against her in exactly the right spot. “Something has grown,” he said meaningfully.
Her breath caught as desire burst in her. “Oh, Sky. Do that again.”
“First I want to kiss you.” He held up a finger. “And don’t tell me you haven’t brushed your teeth, because neither have I. Do you care?”
She tapped her finger on her chin, pretending to considering it. “Nope,” she decided, and opened herself to his lovemaking. He was wild this morning, demanding and aggressive, and he gave her the most shattering orgasm she’d yet experienced.
When her orgasm had faded to merely a faint pulse, she rolled on top of him and kissed his lips very gently. “That was wonderful. I didn’t know it could be so different.”
“What could?” he asked, playing with the ends of her hair in front of her ear.
“Sex,” she said. “Sometimes it’s long and slow, and sometimes, like this morning, it’s wild and crazy.”
“Did I hurt you?”
The quick anxiety in his voice made her smile, almost wonderingly. He really cared. “No. Sex is great, whichever way we do it.”
He shook his head. “That was lovemaking.” He slid his hands over her cheeks, cradling her face between his palms. “I’ve been in this business long enough to know the difference. What we share is lovemaking, not sex.”
“Okay. I guess you do have more experience in that area.” To show him she was just teasing, she gave him another kiss. “It’s daylight. I guess we better get up. I can use a shower.”
He cocked his head. “Sara and Stone are in there right now.”
“In the shower? Together? You mean at the same time?”
“Yes, in the shower, together, at the same time.” He laughed and shook his head, probably reading her mind. “Someday we’ll shower together, but not this morning, princess.”
She nodded. Maybe tomorrow. She dipped her head in the direction of the bathroom. “Do they sound, um, happy?”
The quick glance he sent her was full of amazement. “You really can’t hear them?”
Even straining brought her only a faint hiss of the shower. “No. What are they saying?”
He arranged his expression into serious lines. “Well, Stone said,” he dropped his voice to a very bad imitation of Stone, “Dang it, quit squirming, Sara. You’re too soapy to hold on to.” He raised his voice to a scratchy soprano. “Put it in me, Stone. Hurry up. Oh, Stone. Oh, Stone!
Stone
!”
Rose convulsed with laughter, smothering it against Sky’s chest. “You’re making that up,” she accused when she regained control of herself.
“I’m not, I swear.” He wore an odd smile when he stroked her hair. “You are even more beautiful when you laugh.”
“When my face is beet red and my nose is running because I laugh so hard I’m crying?” she retorted, wiping her nose on the back of her wrist.
“Yes, then.” He leaned to open the drawer on the bedside table. He took out a handkerchief and handed it to her, all without tossing her off his chest. “Can Stone still smell lies?”
“Yeah, he can tell when someone is lying. Why?”
“And can you still find things just by thinking about them?”
She blew her nose. “Not always. Carla and Ellie ask me where the kids are all the time, and sometimes I know. But like when I knew where my suitcase was after the crash? I can’t do that anymore.”
“Ah. Where is the mayor right now?”
She gave him a doubtful look before closing her eyes and concentrating on Mayor McGrath. “No clue. Sorry. Why?”
“Just getting a count of any and all possible weapons in this fight.”
“You’re so sure there will be a fight? When will it start?”
“It could be any time from next week to next year, but I’m betting within the next few weeks.” He gave her a quick kiss. “The bathroom is open now. Do you want to shower first?”
War came sooner than he expected. When they finished showering—separately, to her disappointment—and went downstairs, they found Jocelyn sitting at the dining room table, her hair a curly tangle tipped with blood. Sara sat with her, a bowl of pinkish water on the table. Sky strode forward, concern and anger thinning his mouth.
“What happened? Jocelyn, are you okay?” he asked.
Rose glanced around the room. She could almost smell suppressed fury mingling with the scent of fried ham from the buffet. Seated around the table were Taye, Shadow, Tracker, Snake, and Quill on one side, and White Horse, Sand, Stone, and Rye Thomas on the other. Neil Marsolak, Sky’s head of security, stood against the wall, arms folded over his chest. Most of the men in the room were expressionless, but Rose knew them too well to accept that at face value. Shadow looked almost placid. Those who didn’t know him might think he was only mildly interested in what was going on, but that was the expression he wore when he was controlling his temper. Anyone who threatened his wife, his daughter, or any other woman he considered family would find out what kind of temper Shadow had. Jocelyn was a member of his little brother’s Pack, so that made her family. Tracker’s face was cold, which told Rose he was at his most dangerous. Taye had one elbow on the table leaning forward, his stare fixed on Sara and Jocelyn. He looked neither as cold as Tracker nor as mild as Shadow. The last time Rose had seen that expression on his face, he had been getting ready to leave to rescue his cousin Ellie. He killed half a dozen men during that rescue; nothing but blood would have satisfied Taye at that point. Rose wondered how many men’s deaths it would take to satisfy Taye now.
“I’m not badly hurt.” Jocelyn waved a hand at Sky. “Don’t make a fuss.”
Sky propped one hip on the edge of the table and folded his arms over his chest. “I’m not fussing,” he said gently. “Please tell me what happened to you.”
Jocelyn heaved a heavy sigh. “All right, I’ll tell the story again. I decided to come back to work early this morning, and about two blocks from my house I ran into some men. They were young, in their twenties I believe, and they were wearing what I thought were uniforms of the City Guard. When they called for me to stop, I obeyed. They asked if I was Jocelyn Worth who worked at The Limit, but I could tell they already knew who I was. I said yes, and then they started to beat me up. One of them grabbed my neck and slammed my forehead into the street pole.” She raised her hand to indicate the blood still slowly oozing from the cut at her hairline.
Sara batted her hand away. “Leave that alone. I’m still cleaning it.”
“You said you thought they were wearing City Guard uniforms.” Sky leaned forward. “Was that wrong?”
Jocelyn nodded and then winced. “Captain Erikson chased them off and escorted me here.”
“Erikson? When was this? I need to have a word with him.”
Taye jerked his chin in the direction of the front door. “He’s waiting to talk to you.”
Sky looked at Neil. “Will you go bring him in?”
Rye Thomas began to stand up. Sky waved him back down.
“You’re fine. Dean Erikson is no enemy of yours.”
The captain of the City Guard followed Neil into the dining room. Other than a slight widening of his eyes, he didn’t say anything about the men from the pack. When he saw Rye Thomas, he froze in mid-step, but he didn’t say anything about him either. He settled into a soldier’s stance of parade rest, feet spread and hands clasped behind his back.
“Mr. Wolfe, I’d hoped to have a few words with you this morning.”
Sky nodded. “What happened this morning? From what Jocelyn has said, this wasn’t a random attack.”
“No,” Erikson said. “I don’t believe it was. I can’t verify it, but I think someone is targeting your people in an effort to make you react. If you retaliate, some people might use that as an excuse to attack your house and kill you.”