Kane Read online

  They burst onto the street and she struggled to look around. It had been dusk when she’d been trapped in the alley, but now it was dark, the night black with no moon out. Boom! The ground shook. Kane staggered, nearly falling before he righted himself. Her heart thundered in her chest and her ears rang. Lifting her head, she opened her mouth to speak, but he shook his head. His expression was grim enough to make her pause, the demand for answers sticking to her tongue.

  After several blocks, his pace slowed to a fast walk, and he began navigating his way back around to the other side of the city where her house was.

  “You can let me down now,” she grumbled against his chest.

  He grunted, making no move to release her. When he responded his voice was so low she was unsure of his words. “Not yet. That was too close.”

  They came around a corner and right into a waiting crowd. She recognized New Peachtree and Gardenia under the dim gaslights, then heard the rumble of an approaching steam car. Kane lowered her until her feet hit the ground, but he kept a tight grip on her hand, pulling her farther into the crowd. The car zoomed past, and she craned her head to see. The contraptions were new enough to still be a novelty, and the crowd oohed and ahhed over its passing. Calista was amazed there were people wealthy enough in New Atlanta for such an extravagance, but the habits and expenditures of the very rich had always confounded her. Her work kept them comfortable, but far from rich, very or otherwise.

  After several more blocks, they entered the residential area she lived in with her sisters. Kane led her in the back way, and they entered through the garden gate. The house was brightly lit, and she heard her sisters calling to each other inside, though she couldn’t make out the words. She tugged her hand free and opened the backdoor before he could, planning on putting him off and saying goodbye as quickly as possible.

  She’d forgotten how fast he was. Spinning her around, he wrapped an arm around her waist and backed them through the open door, kicking it shut behind them with his boot heel. She hoped it didn’t scuff. Rheana would give her hell.

  “Not so fast, sweetheart,” he whispered, leaning forward and scraping his teeth along the pulse pounding in her neck. “Don’t I get a kiss for my trouble? Dinner at least?”

  His tongue soothed away the sting where he’d just bitten her. “How ‘bout dessert? I’d love to stay for dessert.” His voice dropped even lower, taking on the seductive timbre she well remembered.

  He lifted his head, his lips inches from hers, and she knew he was going to kiss her. And she wasn’t going to stop him, wasn’t going to free herself, even though she knew she should. She shouldn’t go down this road again. His eyes flared with knowledge as her body tuned itself to his, subtly turning, pushing, her pelvis pressed against the erection straining against the front of his pants. The first touch was feather soft, so light as to be negligible. She waited for more. More pressure, more passion. But he stopped; releasing her so abruptly she almost fell. He steadied her, turned her around and pulled her in front on him just as her sisters came down the hall.

  “There you are.” Rheana’s exasperated tone combined with hands thrown in the air made it clear Calista was late. Damn. She’d forgotten all about the party.

  “I’m sorry, Rheana,” she said, in an effort to avoid the kind of scene her middle sister was no doubt working up to. Even Isadora had managed to drag herself from her lab to prepare in time. “I’ll be quick.”

  She eased past Rheana, feeling her glare as she hurried down the hall to the front stairs and winked as she walked by Izzie. Grabbing the bottom post on the staircase, she spun the corner and sprinted up, then down the hall to her room. She let the door bang open, wincing at the tirade soon to come for that, and unbuckled her pistol belt, dropping it to the bed.

  She stripped off her clothes, dropping them to the floor in her haste, and wrapped a robe around her body before hurrying down the hall to the newly installed washroom. She stepped into the small space and reached behind the curtain to turn on the water spigots, twisting the hot and cold the same amount and praying the contraption actually worked this time. The walls groaned as water rushed through them, and she dropped the robe, stepping over the lip of the big tub and under the spray. She sighed in relief. Soothing warmth, not scorching heat or frigid cold. Modern inventions would be much more convenient if they worked consistently.

  The door creaked open and she ignored it, certain Rheana was lying in wait for her. She untwisted her hair, letting it fall down her back, and reached for the lavender soap sitting on a nearby shelf. The curtain opened behind her and a solid, hard body brushed against hers. She jumped, but was unable to twist around in the confined space.

  “Let me help,” Kane whispered, taking the soap from her hands.

  She sputtered in protest, but couldn’t find the words or will to kick him out. She felt him behind her, naked, his body hard and pulsing in need, and she fought down a sigh, fought down a sense of contentment that didn’t belong to her. He doesn’t belong to me, she reminded herself. Not really.

  He rubbed the lather through her hair, his fingers massaging her scalp as he went, dragging it through the long length. She stopped fighting and relaxed back against him. A deep sound of satisfaction rumbled from his chest, almost like a purr.

  “I like it when you go all soft and relaxed and pliant. You should try it more often.”

  She snorted her response but didn’t budge. He felt too good, and her pleasures in life were few and far between. She might as well enjoy him while she could.

  CHAPTER TWO

  When Calista went soft against him, leaning into his embrace, Kane thought his heart would explode from his chest. She felt perfect, so right sharing the small shower. He spun her around so she could tilt her head back into the spray to rinse her hair. The action thrust her breasts up, and he took advantage of the position, catching one small, hard nipple between his lips and sucking lightly. She groaned, a sound like soft musical notes to his ears. He wanted to hear more. Wrapping one bracing arm around her lower back, he pulled her closer, leaned lower, sucking her nipple between his teeth and nipping. Her groan this time was loud under the roar of the pipes, and he ground his cock against her belly.

  Shifting her feet, she spread her legs enough to allow him a small place to slip through. He thrust back and forth experimentally, enjoying the feel of her thighs clasping his erection. He could feel her honey dripping down onto his length, knew he could slide into her cunt with ease right now. But he held back, intending to draw out the enjoyment for both of them.

  Never one to hold back, Calista wasn’t starting now. She raised one leg, hooking her ankle around his ass and drawing his cock closer. She ground her hips against him and it was his turn to groan. He looped his arm under her other thigh, lifting her up and she reached between them to guide his cock into her. He thrust deep and they both froze when a loud banging came from the door.

  “Fuck,” he muttered.

  A giggle escaped her, something he’d never heard from her, never would have imagined possible. It was enchanting and intriguing, a side of her he’d never glimpsed but she was quick to clamp her teeth down on her lower lip, smothering the sound.

  “Calista!” Rheana called from the other side of the door. “Hurry up or I’m coming in! We’re going to be late. Again.”

  Calista tried to lower her legs, but he held tight until she punched his arm. He let her slide loose with reluctance and determination to get her back in the same position soon. Very soon.

  He watched as she reached behind her and turned the water off, then opened the curtain and stepped out onto the marble floor. There were towels on a nearby shelf and she tossed one to him before covering her body with another. He sighed—damn Rheana for the intrusion—but wrapped it loosely around his hips. Calista reached for the doorknob, but paused before turning it, looking at him and placing a silencing finger over her lips.

  Huffing, he crossed his arms over his chest and stepped back out of vi
ew when she opened the door. It wasn’t like her sisters didn’t know what they were up to in the bathroom or any other time he visited the house. Was it modesty or did she just not want to acknowledge anything between them? He growled softly. The hell with that. If that was what she was up to, she’d better get over it quick.

  Spurred to action, he dried quickly and reached for the clothes he’d left on the floor. When he was redressed, he exited the room and walked down the hall. She’d left her door open, and he heard her cursing softly as he approached. He understood why when he reached the room and stood transfixed in the open doorway.

  She held the back of a chair while her sister pulled the stays of a corset, cinching her already small waist into a tiny line. He was used to seeing her in loose trousers and shirts, clothes easy to maneuver in. He searched his mind for a memory of her dressed in the kind of finery common to the ball-going-set and came up blank.

  Leaning against the doorframe, he crossed his arms over his chest and didn’t bother to hide his grin when she looked over and met his gaze with a glare. Rheana tied off the stays, and Calista straightened, turning to face him with clenched fists on her hips. He sucked in a deep breath when he got a look at the cleavage created by the corset.

  “Not one word,” she said through gritted teeth.

  Rheana frowned at him, but didn’t speak. Instead she picked up a deep red-colored dress and dropped it over Calista’s head. She pushed her arms through the sleeves and it fell in a swirl around her feet. Her sister stepped behind her and began to button it up. The top of the dress just covered the white of the undergarment. He groaned when he saw the finished effect, his still-hard cock now throbbing in anticipation.

  Isadora joined him in the doorway, and her eyes grew wide as she looked in. “Wow.”

  He nodded his agreement. While they watched silently, Rheana combed Calista’s long, dark hair and patted it as dry as possible with a towel. Then she twisted into an intricate knot and pinned it in place. Long tendrils fell along the sides of Calista’s face, and he knew the look was artifice. He’d never seen her hair fall free before, even under the worst circumstances.

  Rheana turned to the cosmetics spread over the vanity table.

  “No,” Calista muttered firmly.

  It took him a minute to recognize the emotion he felt at the statement as relief. She was beautiful, with her pale, creamy skin glowing against the dark red dress and the bodice dipping low, barely clinging to her shoulders, the short sleeves showing off her shapely arms, but he didn’t know this woman.

  She pulled away from her sister and walked to the bed, lifting one foot to its edge and pulling the skirt of the dress high up her thigh. His mouth went dry at the view as he remembered where that thigh had been just minutes ago. She turned her head to watch him, the corners of her mouth lifting in a saucy grin. She picked up a small revolver he hadn’t noticed and strapped it high on her inner thigh. Then she switched legs and strapped on a wicked-looking knife. He laughed. Now he recognized the lady in red as his Calista. Her sisters seemed unaware of the silent byplay between them.

  “Good,” Rheana said in a breathy voice, almost a sigh. “Let’s get going.”

  Calista set her foot on the floor and smoothed the front of her skirts. She moved toward him, hips swaying in the way that drove him out of his mind. The swell of her breasts pushed up in the tight corset mesmerized him and it took a minute for his brain to reengage. Go. They were going out. He snapped to attention, forcing himself to focus on the job.

  “Where are you going?” he demanded, using the tone he employed as Alpha.

  Calista’s eyebrows arched high at the commanding arrogance.

  “The Fordham’s ball,” Rheana responded haughtily, before Calista could jump his ass for the command.

  Even though he knew Rheana’s arrogance was a defense mechanism, her holier-than-thou attitude made his skin itch and he had to remind himself that these women weren’t part of his pack. He couldn’t forbid them from going, couldn’t insist they allow him to protect them, and Calista would be downright tricky to work around. Calista and Rheana united against him were an unmovable force.

  He studied them both and tried to come up with an excuse to keep them home. Rheana cocked one eyebrow high in question at the scrutiny, but kept her own counsel. Instead, she ushered everyone out into the hall and down the stairs. He had an irrational urge to dig in his heels. At the door she paused, looking him over and he felt like a chastised boy. “I believe Marie said you’d been invited. You’ll have to meet us there; you certainly can’t go like that.”

  Hell. He’d gone from the road to the meeting to here. When had he had time to stop and clean up? He’d forgotten about that damned ball as soon as he got the invitation anyway. He opened his mouth to say something but from the edge of his vision caught Calista biting her lip. Holding back a laugh. Then the coach pulled around and the women prepared to leave. He helped Rheana and Isadora in but held Calista back a moment, forcing his expression to be serious instead of lust-filled when he pulled her into his arms. Her brows drew together in a frown, and she lifted her hand to rub his shoulder.

  “What is it?”

  How to caution her without telling her everything? How to put her on her guard long enough for him to arrive to back her up if necessary?

  “Be very careful tonight.”

  He paused, the enormity of how close he’d come to losing her earlier finally weighing on him. He’d never worried for her safety before—not from her work and not from his kind. She was a hell of a bounty hunter and no shifter in New Atlanta would ever lay a finger on her. Today might have been a fluke, but this new situation? These outsiders? They were a different story and he’d obviously been too complacent with her before.

  “I’m always careful.”

  “Extra careful then. You were too slow this evening…” He let the thought trail off and shook his head, forcing the terror of losing her away. “I’ll be right behind you. Calista, we have to talk later.”

  Her expression closed and she clenched her jaw, but she nodded in acknowledgment, her eyes wary, before turning back to the carriage. He saw her safely off, then melted back into the shadows around the house. He walked back to the garden, stripped his clothes off and set them inside the back door. Then he walked back into the yard, lifted his head to the sky and called on the change.

  He fixed the image of the wolf in his mind and concentrated. His bones and muscles contorted, reshaped themselves. Claws grew from the tips of his fingers, and his hands curled. Joints popped and realigned. Bones shrunk. After mere seconds, he dropped to his paws, smaller than the large man he was but huge for a wolf.

  He didn’t fight the need to howl and the night air filled with responses, those out in animal form answering to the call of their Alpha. He fought the urge to run, to become one with the wolf, instead padding softly out the back gate. He picked up the pace a bit in the alley, setting an easy lope for the few blocks to his own home.

  He wasn’t surprised to find the house lit when he arrived or people waiting for him inside after he shifted back into the form of a man. Word would have spread quickly when he was spotted on the streets in the afternoon that the Alpha had returned. His man handed him clothes as he entered the door, and he pulled them on with swift, efficient motion before walking into the study, where he found Nico and a couple of his hunters waiting. The werepanther grinned at him from a perch on the edge of his desk.

  “Announcing your return home?”

  Kane grinned. “Maybe.” He looked around the room, meeting the eyes of him most trusted men—his brother Mathias, Nico, and Sebastian. “Doesn’t look like it was necessary though.”

  Sebastian’s answering smile was small and forced, but Kane considered it progress. After the death of the weretiger’s mate a few years ago, Kane had been afraid they’d lose him too. Recalling the were’s struggle through the first two years was the only thing that really gave him pause about claiming Calista. He wouldn�
�t wish that kind of agony on anyone. He silently repeated his vow to control the depth of his feelings. It was one thing to want her, another entirely to love her.

  His brother approached and clasped his forearms in greeting, a show of respect to his Alpha as the gesture left him exposed. The move shocked Kane. When their father died, the mantle of responsibility fell to Kane. He’d always felt Mathias was the better choice, younger or not, but his brother had refused the position. He claimed he’d be put to better use in the background, and Kane knew his brother was disappointed in him. Kane sighed and went to take the chair behind his desk.

  He’d gone to work for Special Branch when he was young; looking for adventure and an escape from the heavy burden of responsibilities he knew lay in his future. He’d had that burden for five years, but he’d mostly avoided it. The pack was disorganized and lacked any kind of cohesiveness. He’d heard whispers of a challenge while on his last mission and knew he’d have to resign from Special Branch, had come home intending to do so, but got blindsided with Alec’s news before he could.

  All of the men in the room were also in the unit and he wondered what their reactions would be, if they would follow him into retirement and what he expected to be a thirty-six hour a day job. Too bad he only had twenty-four. But first he had to see to the security of the Nichols sisters.

  “I’ll be leaving Special Branch soon,” he started, figuring if he said the words out loud he wouldn’t be so disappointed.

  He was surprised that he didn’t feel anything, not even regret for leaving a simpler life for one that would be much more complicated. He was more taken aback by their reactions.

  “It’s about damned time,” Mathis muttered.

  “Thank God.” Nico’s echo sounded heartfelt.

  Maybe he’d done a worse disservice to the pack than he’d realized if its strongest members felt that way.