hidden talents (29 page)

Ari"s heart gave a happy excited flutter, one she hadn"t quite expected. She"d known he wanted this, but the words were still precious. She made herself ask the question she had to. “What if I don"t ever feel ready? About the kid part, I mean.”

His eyes were the softest she"d ever seen, and the most compassionate. “I hope that doesn"t happen, but if it does, I"ll still be happy you"re my wife. You"re more than my mate. When people"s spirits are the other half of each other, werewolves call them twin flames. You"re that to me, Ari. No other woman could complete me the way you do.”

This was so hokey, she should have teased him. Instead, a tear slipped from the corner of her eye. “I feel the same way,” she confessed. “And also that ... that I didn"t just helplessly fall in love. My brain picked you right along with my body and my heart. You are the warmest, most trustworthy, funnest guy to have sex with in the world. If I am your other half, I"m very proud that"s true.”

“Those are good words,” he said solemnly. “Thank you for saying them.”

His eyes were shining as he kissed the track the tear had left on her cheek.

“I"m making love to you now,” he said.

She didn"t need to be coaxed. He scooted them all the way up onto the bed, holding her gaze and stroking back her hair as he pushed in and out so luxuriously she couldn"t help but arch with pleasure. Now and then his eyes closed with bliss, but mostly he looked at her.

“I love you,” she said.

His next thrust drove in noticeably harder.

“Hah!” she laughed. “You like
I love you
as much as dirty talk.”

His chuckle was sex bottled in a sound. He ducked his head to her earlobe. “I know what you like too,” he warned.

She liked him - everything he did and everything he was. Their pace picked up as they both grew more impatient. Adam shifted angles and strafed something really good.

“Oh God,” Ari gasped.

Adam hit the spot again. The sensation was like a mini-punch of orgasm.

“Squeeze your hand between us,” he panted. “I want you to rub my gland.”

After four orgasms, the thing was swollen up like a hot walnut. Maybe the moon being full made it more active. His interest certainly hadn"t flagged since they"d started.

“Yes,” he said as she rubbed it, doing her best not to interfere with his thrusts. His head flung back with enjoyment. “Mm. You could do that harder.”

When she did, his claws jerked longer against her bottom. Fortunately, they were hard but not sharp.

“Yes,” he said, flexing them like he enjoyed the sensation as much as she did.

“Yes, oh God -”

He yanked one hand from her bottom and wedged his thumb claw over her

clit. She had to bite his shoulder or she"d have screamed with pleasure. Sensing this perhaps, Adam grunted and latched onto her neck. His tongue worked her skin, his suction intense. His pre-climactic thrusts were so forceful she had to fling her second hand up to the headboard.

He wrenched his mouth free before he gave in to his instincts and bit her.

“Unh,” he said, really close now, driving into her with big slamming motions.

“
Unh
.”

His bulbus gland went hot and vibrated. Ari had never seen anyone come like Adam did then. His eyes rolled back and his muscles tightened until they were more steel than flesh. His bared teeth were completely beastly, his veins ropy everywhere. Best of all, his claw clamped on her very favorite spot on her clit.

Despite Adam"s orgasmic state, Ari didn"t think this was an accident. He"d been tongueing that very spot not too long ago. Waves of ecstasy jolted from the point of pressure, and from his cock, and her nipples, and pretty much every place his body was jammed to hers.

She might have forgotten to muffle her scream that time.

“Shh,” he murmured when the incredible assault on her nerves finally

spiraled down. “Shh, sweetheart, it"s all right.”

Luckily, she was only whimpering by then. “Don"t pull out yet,” she pleaded.

He was heavy enough, and she was out of breath enough, that he had to hold himself off her. When even his strong arms began to tremble, she knew she had to surrender.

“All right,” she said. “You can roll off me now and rest.”

He couldn"t roll very far on her narrow bed. To her delight, he laid his cheek sweetly on her breast. His hand covered her belly possessively, his claws slowly retracting. He didn"t fall asleep like a lot of men would have. Maybe he didn"t want this to be over. “I think your friend Maxwell might have some mojo,” he said.

“Really?” Ari squirmed a bit more toward him. She remembered what Grant had said about the concentration rune Max had designed for her hair. Though Max claimed he just made it up, maybe he was a bit psychic.

“I"m not an expert, but he might be a Level Three. His energy is very ...

buzzy.”

“Do you think he"d see the real Resurrection? Could he cross the border?”

“I think he might have enough juice to bring Sarah with him, if they wanted to visit you.”

“That would be so awesome!” she exclaimed. “Oh my God, I"d take them

straight to Evie"s. Do you think they"ll let us in? You did set the stage on fire.”

Adam smiled at her. “I expect Lord Grygir has explained about that by now. I did think, however, that attending our wedding might make a nice first trip for your friends.”

“Shit,” Ari said, embarrassed she hadn"t thought of that. “Sometimes I am so bad at being a girl.”

“You make up for it,” Adam teased. “Here and there.”

She scooted one of her legs between his long hard ones. “I"ll wear a dress,”

she offered. “In fact, I"ll ask Maria to help me pick it out.”

“That might be a good decision. I"m not sure what my relatives would think about you wearing your Yankees jacket down the aisle.”

Ari shoved the spot on Adam"s chest where his heart felt like it had swelled to ten times its normal size. This wasn"t how he"d pictured her accepting his proposal, but he enjoyed it all the same.

“I would
not
wear my Yankees jacket. I wouldn"t even wear sneakers.”

“Not even sneakers!”

Smiling, Ari wriggled closer and closed her eyes. Her apartment bedroom was ridiculously small, but right then - to him - it was heaven.

“Adam?” she said in a sleepy, surprisingly girlish voice.

“Mm,” he responded, running one hand down her warm silky back.

“Why didn"t you bite me tonight? I could tell you wanted to.”

He hadn"t bitten her because he wanted her to make up her mind about them with her wits perfectly intact. “Oh,” he said. “I thought we"d save that as a treat for our honeymoon.”

She snorted, evidently finding that amusing. She was quiet for so long he thought she"d fallen asleep. He stroked her newly dark hair, feeling utterly peaceful and unwilling to give up that pleasure for a little thing like rest.

He had no fears left. Not that she loved him. Not that she"d have any trouble accepting the differences in their natures. Whatever bumps they encountered in the future, he felt confident they"d get over them. He could trust her, he realized, not only in matters of life and death but in the simpler day to day issues. He wouldn"t have his parents" marriage, but what he"d have would be wonderful.

To his surprise, considering how long she"d been still, Ari squirmed against him. “Adam?” she asked. “I don"t know if this is the right time to bring it up, but before I have a kid, I"d like to adopt a kitten. You know, to see how responsible I can be.”

“A kitten.”

Her answer was suspiciously innocent. “I"ve always wanted one. My life

never seemed stable enough before.”

He glanced to where she"d tucked her head toward his chest. It was hard to tell from his angle, but he thought her lips were pressed together against a laugh.

Ari was yanking his canine chain. She probably didn"t know werewolves and cats got on fine - though cats were sometimes annoyingly good at ignoring silent commands. They pretended they couldn"t understand even when they did.

A way to tease her popped into his mind, one so mischievous he couldn"t resist it.

“All right,” Adam said agreeably. “Would you prefer to adopt an ordinary kitten or a were?”

The way her mouth fell open would entertain him for quite some time.

SIX MONTHS LATER

To Ari"s delight, Maxwell and Sarah enjoyed their trip to Resurrection for her wedding so much they decided to move down the street from her and Adam - into a unit in Nate"s building. Happily, the couple could afford the nice condo.

Maxwell"s comic series,
Evelyn’s Adventures in Elfland
, proved a hit with local teenagers. They loved its mix of inside and Outside jokes. Ari had heard the original Evie - on whom Evelyn was loosely based - had been miffed at first but got over it. Sarah had a job as well. She was working as a preschool teacher to the neighborhood wolf children.

When she"d heard, Ari had feared the werekids would eat her sweet friend for breakfast - God willing not literally. That had turned out not be the case. Sarah"s delicacy brought out even little wolves" protective streaks. The wereboys were forever trying to walk her home, and the girls considered it a fight-worthy honor to fetch her sweaters if she got cold. Sarah confessed she"d never expected to be coddled by four- and five-year-olds. Werekids who"d once been problems now behaved like relative angels. Since Sarah was the first fully human teacher the school had hired, the Board was now wondering if they should recruit more.

Sarah and Max were talking about getting married in the autumn.

Ari wasn"t snoozing her days away either. She"d gotten a part-time

waitressing position at an Italian restaurant close enough to her and Adam"s place that she could walk to it. Adam remained perplexed as to why she liked restaurant work, but Ari was never bored. How could she be when anyone or anything might sit down at her table? No one ever gave her any trouble. All the locals knew she was married to an alpha.

Adam liked the fact that she"d taken and passed her magical certification, reducing the chance that she"d be thrown in the pokey for violating local ordinance. Now that she had her license, twice a week, when she was off shift, she was tutored in medical manipulation by a curmudgeonly elf-practitioner. Ari didn"t know that she aspired to go into this as a profession, but she figured honing her gift this way would be useful.

Werewolf kids banged themselves up a lot. They were too rambunctious and too fearless not to. Smiling, Ari rested both her hands on her baby bump.

Warmth and contentment welled up in her. How right being pregnant felt was her biggest surprise of all. She might never make a model parent, but she couldn"t doubt she"d be a loving one. She adored their child already.

“Is it kicking?” Sarah asked, scooting around to face her on the park bench.

They were sharing a bag lunch at what they both considered the hilariously named Harry Potter Park, which was next to Sarah"s school. Many Resurrection natives were convinced the Boy Who Lived was real.

“Just flutters,” Ari answered, pressing Sarah"s palm over the place. “You should have seen Adam"s face the first time he felt the baby move. He lit up like Christmas, then immediately volunteered to run out for pickles and bacon.”

“Pickles and bacon?” Sarah"s nose wrinkled.

“I guess that"s what werewolf mothers crave. I told him I"d let him know if that started to appeal to me.”

“No biting!” Sarah turned to call to a pair of her students. Her class was enjoying the bright spring day by rampaging, more or less peacefully, around the monkey bars and sandpit.
No biting
was, not surprisingly, Sarah"s most frequent scold.

“Sorry, Miss Thompson!” piped two little girl voices. “We"ll try to

remember.”

Sarah covered her giggle behind her palm. “It"s like magic,” she whispered.

“Every night I pray my superpower won"t go away. Oh, I forgot to tell you.

Speaking of superpowers, Ethan changed the first time this morning.”

“He"s only four,” Ari gasped. “I thought werekids didn"t shift until they were five. And
yesterday
was the full moon.”

She knew this because Adam had gone for a run with his friends, then came home to make love to her really well. Being a dad-to-be seemed to make him even more creative in bed.

“I"m told that"s the way it happens sometimes,” Sarah said. “Plus Ethan is precocious. You wouldn"t believe how cute he was. He tore through his little outfit like a miniature Hulk, and then I had this out-of-control wolf puppy scampering between the desks. The other kids went nuts chasing him around. I had to call his mother to take him home. It made me wish I could have a werepup myself.”

Ari elbowed her. “You can babysit mine.”

“You won"t have to beg me.” Sarah smiled at Ari, so happy she was glowing.

“I wonder if they"ll throw a party for Ethan. Oh God, I wonder if they"ll expect us to bring a dish.”

“Err,” Ari agreed, attuned to Sarah"s dread. Then, “Take-out,” they both chimed in unison. They kept laughing until they sighed pleasurably.

“This is good,” Sarah said. “This is better than I ever dared dreamed my life would be.”

Ari"s eyes filled with shared tears of happiness, made even sweeter by the crazy hormones zooming inside her. Who"d have thought she"d enjoy getting weepy?

“I know,” she said before she got too choked up. “And you and Max being here is totally the cherry on the sundae.”

Sarah laughed and wiped Ari"s tears away with her thumbs. “Don"t let my kids see you crying. All the girls will run over here with Kleenex.”

A familiar scent had Ari"s hormones zinging in a new direction. She jumped up from the park bench and spun around before she could stop herself. Her very own alpha hero was striding toward her across the grass, grinning a mile wide, still excited to see her after half a year of marriage.

“There"s my girl,” Adam said, pulling her off her feet in a gentle hug.

Ari buried her nose in her favorite spot on his neck.

“Love you,” he whispered before he set her down.

“Love you back,” she said. He didn"t get tired of hearing that. His eyes glowed a little brighter than the sunlight could account for. “What are you doing here in the middle of the day?”