Dark Moon (14 page)

She watched as he buried his face between her legs and she felt his hot tongue licking at her clit again.  He sucked it into his mouth, rubbing it with his tongue while he pulled at the swollen nub with his lips, and her fingers twisted and tore at the fabric of her dress.

She was close to coming, her hips gyrating and twisting against his face as she fought to stay quiet.  His tongue caressed and danced across her hot and swollen flesh, and she realized that Kaden had been right.  She was going to scream.  She couldn’t keep it in, not with the way he was nuzzling and sucking on her clit with a firm, relentless pressure.

She arched her back and threw her arm over her mouth, muffling her loud scream as she climaxed explosively on his face.  She moaned into her arm as the last of her orgasm shuddered through her before she rolled to her side.  She collapsed on the bed with a soft groan as Kaden sat up and leaned over her.

His mouth and chin were dripping with wetness and she had a moment of embarrassment before his mouth was on hers.  He kissed her deeply, until the taste of the wine had been replaced by her own, and then pulled back.

She was sleepy.  The combination of her orgasm and the wine she had drunk was making her feel light-headed and weak.  She felt him kiss the tip of her nose, and then he tugged her dress down before pulling the covers out from under her. 

He tucked her into bed and she moaned softly when he couldn’t resist cupping one firm breast through her dress.  Her nipple was hard against his palm, and he made a soft noise of regret before tucking the covers around her.

“Kaden?”  She muttered.

“Aye?”

“Happy Birthday.”

“Thank you for the birthday present, Sophia.”  He kissed her mouth and crept silently from her room as she slipped into sleep.

Chapter 12

“Kaden?”

“Aye?”  He left the stall where he was brushing Samson and winced when Piper raced out from an empty stall and leaped at his leg.  He climbed his thigh, his razor sharp claws stabbing through his pants and into his skin.

“Gods be damned!”  He pulled the tiny kitten off his leg and glared at it before rubbing its head roughly and setting it on the ground.  It tore down the aisle of the barn and leaped on to its brother.  Hogan meowed loudly and the two kittens, rolling and tumbling on the ground, disappeared into another empty stall.

Kaden rubbed at his leg as Evan grinned.  “Still glad you bought the kittens for my sisters?”

“I’m starting to have my regrets.”

Evan laughed.  “Be glad you weren’t at the house when Leta brought Hogan in the other night.  Tia took one look at him and went nuts.  They went crazy in the common room.  They broke one of mama’s favourite bowls and Hogan climbed the wall and knocked a picture right off of it.  When Tia finally cornered him by the fireplace, Hogan scratched up her face something fierce before dad could get them apart.”

The boy’s face was lit with amusement.  “Then Leta started crying and having fits over Tia’s face.  Bree finally sent for James to come in from the barn and hold Tia until she healed.”

Kaden shook his head with amusement as Evan looked around.

“Have you seen Ian?”

“Aye, I believe he went ice fishing at the lake.”

Evan’s grin widened.  “Really?  I hope he catches something.  It’s been forever since we’ve had fish.”

“I was just going to go and see if he had caught anything.  Would you like to join me?”

“Aye, I could do that.”

As they walked towards the lake, Kaden glanced at Evan.  He was quiet and spent most of his time reading or drawing.  He wondered if the boy knew how lucky he was to have a ready supply of paper.  Paper was considered a luxury, and until he had started living with the Lycans he had never seen more than a scrap at a time.  He tucked away the wages that Tristan paid him weekly, but at least twice a week he would pull out the bills and just stare at them.  He would stroke the paper and marvel at the way the ink was pressed into it.

This morning when Maya had begun their lessons she not only had books to teach him with, but she also had a bound book of plain paper for him to practice his writing.  After she had left, he had spent quite a bit of time just touching the book of paper, flipping through its pages and smelling its good clean smell.

Evan glanced at him.  “I heard that Aunt Maya is teaching you to read.”

Kaden twitched in surprise and his face reddened.  “How do you know that?”

Evan shrugged.  “I’m quiet.  People forget I’m in the room and say things that are supposed to be a secret.  I overheard Sophia asking Aunt Maya how it went this morning.”

He gave Kaden a quick look.  “I won’t say anything.  Aunt Maya said you didn’t want anyone to know.  Why not?”

“It’s embarrassing.”  Kaden said simply.

“Not that embarrassing.  It’s not your fault you grew up without having someone to teach you.”

“Aye.”  Kaden cleared his throat and changed the subject.  “How was your sister feeling this morning?”

“What do you mean?”

“Both she and my sister had a bit too much wine last night.” 

Guilt flooded through him.  He had allowed his lust for Sophia to control him last night.  He had woken this morning and immediately felt ashamed of how he took advantage of her drunkenness.  He needed to apologize to her but he hadn’t quite worked up the nerve. 

Bullshit.  You’re avoiding the apology because you’re afraid you’ll take one look at her and be begging her to let you fuck her.  Or at the very least, give her a repeat performance of last night.

He drew in a shuddering breath of need as he remembered the way she had tasted.  She had been so wet and ready for him.  He had no trouble picturing how she would look with her legs spread wide as her warm, wet core eagerly accepted his cock. 

“Kaden?”

He cleared his throat roughly.  “Yeah?”

“Are you okay?”

“Yes.  What did you say?”

“I said Sophia is fine.  In fact, she’s in a better mood today than she has been in weeks.  She must have had fun last night.”

“What do you mean?”  Kaden asked with a startled, guilty look.

“I mean that she must have had fun at the party last night.”  Evan gave him a strange look.  “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Fine.”  He muttered.  They were at the lake now and he waved to Ian.  The old man was standing motionless at the large hole he had cut through the ice.  A fishing pole was in one hand, and he waved back as Evan and Kaden stood on the shore for a moment.

Evan stepped on to the ice.  “Let’s join him.”

Kaden hesitated.  He couldn’t swim, and the thought of crossing the ice with the cold water just below his feet made him nervous. 

“Why don’t we wait for Ian to come to shore?”  Kaden suggested.  He could see the man setting his fishing rod down and reaching for the bucket stowed carefully behind him.

“Are you scared?”  Evan asked without malice.

Kaden shrugged.  “I can’t swim.”

“Well, it’s not like you’re going to fall into the – “

The young boy shouted in alarm as there was a loud, sharp crack.  Kaden watched horrified, as the ice broke around Ian’s feet and he plunged into the water.

“IAN!”  Evan screamed.  He started to slide onto the ice and Kaden yanked him back.

“Go to the house!  Find your father and your brothers!  Go Evan!”

Evan, his face white, ran for the house.  Kaden, slipping and sliding on the slick ice, made his way towards the flailing Ian.

“Hang on Ian!  I’m coming!”  He shouted.

“Kaden!”  Ian gasped as he slipped under the surface of the water.  He popped back up a few seconds later, coughing and sputtering as he tried to heave himself up on to the ice.

Kaden fell to his knees.  He lay flat on his stomach and began to slide his way towards Ian.  All around him, the ice was creaking and groaning and he swallowed back his panic and moved grimly forward.

“Hold on Ian!  Hold on!”  He shouted. 

“I can’t!  Kaden, help me!”  Ian shouted.  The panic and fear in the old man’s voice gave Kaden a rush of adrenaline and he slid faster as, with a final desperate look of terror at him, Ian disappeared under the water.

“Ian!  No!”  Kaden screamed.  He slid to the edge of the broken ice and thrust his arm into the water.  The coldness turned his arm numb almost immediately and he waved it around frantically under the ice.  He was steeling himself to duck his head into the water when his hand brushed against something.  He grabbed it tightly and yanked hard as he squirmed and wiggled his body backwards. 

He gave a shout of surprise when the large black wolf surfaced.  Its eyes were closed and its tongue hung limply from its open mouth.  Kaden hesitated and then dug his cold fingers into the shaggy pelt of the wolf and heaved it on to the ice.

He shoved it as hard as he could and the wolf slid limply across the ice.  Kaden followed it, sliding like a snake on his belly, until he was a few feet from the icy water.  He staggered to his feet and stared in disbelief at the wolf lying at his feet. 

He was reaching for the beast when it suddenly coughed.  Water poured out of its mouth and it gagged and coughed again before opening its eyes.  They were a golden yellow and they stared wearily at Kaden.

“Ian?”  Kaden whispered in disbelief.  He backed up as the wolf whined lightly and tried to gain its feet.  “Ian, why didn’t you – “

There was another loud crack and Kaden shouted as the ice broke around his feet.  He dropped like a stone into the cold, black water and his breath whooshed out of his lungs in a hard rush.  Panic flowed through him and he grabbed on to the edge of the ice before he could sink.  It broke in his hands and he struggled and flailed to keep his head above the water. 

The water was so cold.  It was seeping into his bones, turning his arms and legs numb and stealing his breath from him.  He slipped under the water, swallowed a mouthful of it and struggled to the surface, coughing and gasping for breath.  His jacket was weighing him down and he tried to struggle out of it, but it clung to him wetly.  He was going under again, he could feel it, and he took one last deep breath before the water slipped over his head. 

He was tired now.  The cold and the heaviness of his clothes were working against him as he tried to thrash his way back towards the rapidly shrinking circle of light above him.  His lungs were burning and his limbs were suddenly, incredibly heavy.  He stopped fighting for the surface and watched with a numb disinterest as the light grew fainter. 

A figure appeared above him.  He watched as it dove into the water and swam towards him with long, powerful strokes.  Sophia’s face, pale and worried, floated in front of him and she grabbed the collar of his shirt and yanked him towards her.  Her hands grasped his face and her mouth descended onto his.  He parted his lips and she blew a hard breath of air into his burning lungs before wrapping her arm around his chest and shoulders.

She turned and yanked hard on the rope that was tied around her waist and then wrapped her legs around his hips, clinging tightly to him as they were pulled upwards.  In less than a minute they had been hauled out of the water and were sliding across the frozen lake.  Nicky, James and Tristan were standing a few feet from the shore and pulling on the rope that was tied around Sophia’s waist.

“Kaden!”  Sophia cupped his face as they were tugged across the cold ice.  “Take a breath honey.  Come on, one big breath for me.”

He opened his mouth and sucked in a whooping, gasping lungful of air.  His body was beginning to shake violently as Sophia, her lips blue and her face white, smiled at him.

“Good, honey.  Take another breath.  In through the nose, out through the mouth, remember?”

They were at the edge of the lake now and when Nicky reached for Sophia, Kaden forced his numb arms and legs around her.  He clutched her tightly, refusing to let her go, and James wrapped a blanket around the both of them. 

“Ian.”  Kaden rasped out.

“He’s okay.”  James said grimly.  “Uncle Marshall, Doran and Evan have taken him into the house.”

He pulled on Kaden’s shoulder.  “Kaden, let go of Sophia.”

“No.”  He shook his head and Sophia, her teeth chattering so hard she could barely speak, pressed her mouth against his. 

“It’s okay.”  She soothed.  “Let me go, honey.  My brothers cannot carry us both, and we need to get into the house where it’s warm.”

Bree knelt beside him and squeezed his shoulder.  “Let go, Kaden.”

He let go reluctantly and Avery wrapped her in a separate blanket.  Tristan picked her up and carried her towards the house as James and Nicky hauled him to his feet.

“Can you walk?”  Nicky asked.

He nodded yes, took a step forward and nearly fell before catching himself.

“Kaden, we can carry you.  Just – “

Evan appeared leading Bandit.  The horse neighed nervously as Evan pulled sharply on his halter.

“Here, I thought we could bring Kaden to the house on Bandit.”

“That was good thinking, Evan.”  Nicky clapped him on the back before turning and helping James hoist Kaden onto the horse.

Kaden closed his eyes, water dripping off of him in a steady stream, as Bree squeezed his shaking leg.  Nicky tugged on Bandit’s halter and led the horse towards the house.

* * *

He stood in the doorway and stared at the old man.  He was lying in bed with his eyes closed but after a moment he said, “Hello, Kaden.”

“Hello, Ian.  How are you feeling?”

Ian opened his eyes and sat up as Kaden sat in the chair beside the bed.

“Good.  The lady Avery was kind enough to lie down with me for a while.”  Ian gave him a tentative smile. 

“Why didn’t you tell me you were a Lycan?”

“You never asked.”

Kaden sighed and stared down at his hands.  “You should have told me.”

“I didn’t think it would make a difference.  We’re friends.  What does it matter if I’m a Lycan?”

“It matters because…”  Kaden stopped and gave him an angry look.

“Because why?”

“I thought you were human, and you let me believe that.”  Kaden rubbed his hand through his hair.