Ellie's Wolf (27 page)

He lowered his voice. “Not too tired to break in our new bed?”

She could feel the heat of a blush wash over her cheeks. “Not too tired for that,” she said with a giggle.

The wolves, in wolf form and man form, raised a jubilant howl, which was answered from inside the den. Ellie rode through the opened gate and into a mob of people rushing forward to welcome her. Carla was there, just inside the door of the den, with a pink bundle in her arms and tears on her cheeks. Rose stood beside her with a huge grin on her face and each hand on the shoulder of a boy.

“Connor!” Ellie shrieked, not even waiting for her horse to stop to fling herself out of the saddle.

Quill was already there to catch her before she tumbled to the ground. “Careful, darlin’,” he chided her. “Don’t hurt yourself.”

But he was smiling when he set her on her feet and ran with almost no limp at all with her to the boys.

As Ellie dropped to her knees to clutch Connor to her chest, she heard Tommy yell, “Dad! You’re better!”

“Almost as good as new.” Quill laughed as he picked Tommy up to throw him in the air.

Ellie watched her husband with joy and relief overflowing in tears. Connor patted her cheeks with plump little hands. “Don’t cry, Mama,” he said in a scolding tone. “Be happy.”

“Mama is happy, baby. So happy.”

He put up with her fierce hug for only a minute before squirming away. “I have cousins! See? Here is Colby. He’s my boy cousin. And that is Patia. She’s my girl cousin. I don’t play with her yet.” His nose wrinkled. “She’s too little, and she smells bad.”

The boy he threw his arm around was several inches taller, although they were only a few months apart in age. Colby looked just like his father, right down to the dimple in his cheek.

“Hi, Aunt Ellie, next time bad men steal you, I’ll come rescue you.”

“Thank you, Colby,” she began to say, but Connor interrupted.

“She’s my mama! I rescue her, not you!”

“We can go together,” Colby generously allowed, but spoiled it by adding, “But I’m in charge so you have to do what I say.”

At that moment Carla met Ellie’s gaze and rolled her eyes. But she was smiling when she did it and went back into Taye’s embrace. Ellie’s eyes filled again at the sight of the proud awe on Taye’s face when he looked down at his daughter.

“Mama?” Tommy’s small voice said uncertainly.

She turned on her knees to look at the five-year-old. “Tommy! Come here so I can hug you!”

He went into her arms with the force of a crying hurricane. She held him tightly while he wept. In a few minutes she felt Quill’s hand on her shoulder and looked up. He was right there, with Connor on one side of him and Colby on the other.

“Tommy,” he said, rumpling the boy’s hair. “She’s all right. The chief and the others came and rescued her. Your mother is well.”

Tommy’s face was blotched with tears, but he smiled widely. “I’m so glad! I’m glad you’re okay too!”

“Yes,” Quill agreed, his gaze on Ellie’s face. “I’m okay too.”

“Let’s go help with the horses,” Colby shouted.

The boys jumped up and ran after him toward the stable behind the den. Quill chuckled and helped Ellie to her feet. “I’m going to look after the horses too. Will you be okay without me for a little while?”

Ellie could see Rose standing a few yards away. “Of course.”

He kissed her lips with sweet gentleness. “Okay. I’ll find you later.”

Rose politely waited until he left to seize Ellie in a rib-bruising hug. When Ellie squeaked, she immediately let go. “Oh, crap! Did I hurt you? I’m so sorry!”

Ellie ignored that to hug her back. “I have some bruises, but they’re getting better. Oh, Rose, I’m so glad to see you! I’ve missed you so much.”

“Me too. I have so much to tell you. Let’s go inside. I’ll show you your room.”

Ellie followed her into the den, reflecting that Rose must have saved all her confidences up because they came out in a jumbled, breathless rush.

“I love Connor. And Tommy is the sweetest boy! Have you held Patia yet? No, of course not, you just got here. She is the darlingest little baby! I want one of my own, but flying to the moon is more likely. Every time a guy even smiles at me, one of these stupid wolves threatens to cut his throat. Mostly, I just ignore the men in Kearney, so they think I’m stuck up. They call me ‘the Princess of the Wolves’!” Her voice soared with mockery over the title then soured. “That’s how they thank me for trying to save their lives.”

Ellie cringed a little at the almost bitter laugh Rose gave. They passed the rec room on one side and the dining hall on the other and then proceeded down the long hallway with rooms opening on either side.

“But what else can I do?” Rose went on. “I want babies, but that rotten Sky claimed me for his mate and then left me alone here for the past six years. The wolves think I’m his mate, so of course I have no chance to marry anyone else. It’s enough to drive me crazy. I’m twenty-two! Whoever heard of a twenty-two-year-old virgin?”

“Back in the Times Before, wasn’t that pretty common?” Ellie asked.

Rose paused in front of a door with black metal numbers identifying it as 139. “Not really. Plenty of women were still single at that age, but that didn’t mean they were virgins.”

Ellie blinked at that. If a woman wasn’t married, she had to be a virgin, didn’t she? If a man and woman slept together, they were married whether a ceremony was performed or not. Ellie suppressed a shudder, glad she hadn’t lived in the Times Before.

“Well, here’s your room.” Rose opened the door and waved her in. “It’s pretty bare, but you can get more stuff.”

There was a very small table with two wooden chairs in a corner of the room, one rag rug in front of the window and another beside the bed, and a small chest of drawers at the foot of the bed. The blanket-wrapped bundle of her mother’s spinning wheel leaned against the far wall.

“My things got here!” she cried with relief.

Rose went to open the top drawer of the chest to show Ellie’s clothes neatly folded inside. “It’s all here, safe and sound.”

“Where are Connor and Tommy sleeping?”

“In my room. Don’t protest. I’m glad to have them. Since the Grandmother passed last winter I’ve been alone.”

Ellie jerked in a breath, realizing she hadn’t seen the elderly lady on her arrival. “The Grandmother died? I didn’t know.”

“We wrote to tell you.”

When did Mr. Moore begin to intercept her mail? “I didn’t get the news. The last letter I got from you or anyone was the letter you sent in October, thanking me for your birthday present.”

“We wrote you every month. Taye was planning to send someone to Moore’s Mill after Patia was born to check on you if we hadn’t heard by then.”

Ellie sank onto the bed with its cheery green and pink quilt, weariness crashing over her. “I’ve missed so much. Taye must have been devastated when the Grandmother died. How did it happen?”

Her friend sat beside her, blinking back tears. “Around Thanksgiving she caught a cold. It went down to her lungs, and she died a few days before Christmas. It was her time. She was in her eighties. Glory took it really hard. It was hard for all of us, but I’ve never seen Glory like that.”

“She’s married to Taye’s cousin Wolf’s Shadow, right?”

“Yeah.” Rose dug through her pants pockets for a hanky. “She was on the plane with me when it crashed. She knew The Grandmother in the Times Before. They were best friends. It was a heck of a fluke of fate they found each other again. I knew her only five years, but I still miss her.”

Ellie hugged the blonde. “I’m so sorry. I wish I could have been here.”

Rose wiped the heel of her hand over her eyes. Like those of many fair-skinned people when they wept, her face was blotched red, but the blue of her blue-gray eyes was more vivid. “You’re here now. Sky got Taye’s letter, but he didn’t come for the funeral.”

Resentment edged Rose’s voice. Ellie tried to find the right words. “Did you want him to come? Do you want to marry him?”

“No! Yes! Oh, Lord, I don’t know.” Rose sprang up from the bed to pace. “Six years ago I’d rather have married a tarantula. But I want a baby, and unless there’s a miracle, I won’t have one if Sky doesn’t show up.”

“Can’t you repudiate him and marry someone else?”

Rose kicked one of chairs at the little table, glaring at the wrapped spinning wheel. “Maybe. I don’t know. I’ll have to talk to Taye. Now that Patia is here and you’re safe maybe he’ll listen to me.” She blew out a breath and shoved a hank of shoulder-length blond hair behind her ear with an attempt at a smile. “That’s enough about me for now. I’ll have plenty of chances to whine to you about my non-existent love life. There’s hot water for a shower.”

A hot shower sounded pretty much like heaven. “Where is the bathroom? I remember the den had the most amazing lavatories.”

Rose walked across the room and opened the door to a second room. “Here. You take a shower. Relax. Spend some time with your mate. I’ll see you tomorrow. Welcome home, Ellie.”

The shower was heavenly, and the ease of using a toilet that flushed was wonderful. Living at the den was going to be good. She dried her hair with a towel and finger combed it in the slightly wavy reflection in the mirror. The conveniences of indoor plumbing would make living with a few dozen over-protective men worthwhile. And, of course, anywhere Quill was happy would make her happy.

When she came out of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel, her husband was there, sitting at the table, eating a sandwich. The curtain over the window was open a few inches, showing the fading light of sunset. He rose, his smile warm and loving.

“Hungry?” he asked. “I brought you some beef left over from supper and some bread.”

He was wearing only denim trousers, and she found she was hungry, but not for beef and bread. His widening smile told her he knew what she was thinking.

“Eat first, darlin’. You’ll need your strength.”

“Is that a threat?” she wondered, sitting down carefully to keep the towel from sliding off. “Or a promise?”

“Eat, and when you’re finished, you’ll find out.”

She ate quickly but with care to not choke on too-big bites. Quill’s green eyes watched her every move. They flicked down to watch a bead of water run down her chest into the towel. The weight of his gaze was almost tangible. Heat pooled low in her belly. “Would you close the curtain, husband?”

He lifted one brow but went to the window and drew the curtain fully closed. When he turned back to her, she stood, took the edge of the towel to loosen it and let it fall to the floor. His eyes brightened to unearthly green.

“Beautiful,” he murmured.

He unbuttoned his pants and stepped out of them.

“Beautiful,” she echoed, examining his brown, leanly muscled body. “Come here, husband.”

He didn’t move. “Mate. I’m your mate.”

She considered that. “Yes, I know.” He hadn’t moved, though going by the erectness of his penis and the dark color of its head, he must want to. “Come here, mate.”

He came to her so quickly she hadn’t time to even draw in a breath before he lifted her in his arms and carried her to the bed. A week ago he couldn’t have done that. A sudden thought came to her.

“Tommy and Connor?” she asked.

“With Rose,” he replied, nuzzling against her neck and licking a few stray drops of water.

“Oh, good.” She tilted her head to give him better access to the tender flesh in the hollow of her throat. There was something about Rose she wanted to say. Something about Sky…Quill nipped at her breast, driving all thought of Sky out of her mind.

“Oh.” Her gasp was throaty. “Do that again!”

His teeth closed with aching gentleness over her nipple. “I love the little noises you make,” he growled.

“Keep doing that, and I’ll keep making noises.”

They made love leisurely at first, touching and stroking each other tenderly, and later with increasing urgency. Ellie’s cheeks were wet with tears she didn’t know she was shedding when she exploded into ecstasy. The orgasm was intense, and the cuddling after was soothing and satisfying.

Quill’s thumb wiped the tears from her cheeks. “Why are you crying?” he whispered.

“I think it’s the reason you cried on our wedding night. Because everything is so perfect that words can’t come close to explaining how I feel.”

“Let me try: you’re safe, in the den, with your children nearby. You’ve just made love with your mate, and you’re happy.” Quill pressed a kiss to her temple. “How is that?”

“That’s part of it.” She cuddled closer to him. “I have a place here. We have a private place to live, here in this room. It’s not big or fancy, but it’s ours. And I am part of a family. The Pack is my family now. And, best of all, I also have a mate who loves me. I feel like I’ve come home.”

He kissed her lips, a gentle, lingering act of love. “Welcome home, darlin’.”

Home. Yes, she was home. Ellie Burnet Overdahl Wolfe returned her mate’s kiss and fell asleep with a smile on her face.

The End

Maddy Barone has always had an overactive imagination. As a child she got in trouble for telling stories. Now people
want
her to tell stories, which she thinks is pretty darn cool. When she’s not writing, she’s probably reading, knitting, or spinning—the making-yarn kind, not the exercise kind! The long, cold, dark winters at her home in North Dakota are perfect for snuggling up under a hand-knit afghan with a good book and a cup of tea. Learn more about Maddy at www.maddybarone.com