Shifters of Silver Peak: A Very Shifty Christmas (7 page)

The sun was climbing in the sky. Morgan had dug out a clearing near the igloo and made a bonfire for Valerie. After a breakfast of chocolate bar and roast rabbit, she was pleasantly full.

She held her hands out in front of the fire as Morgan paced back and forth in the snow, a frown creasing his forehead.

“Stop pacing,” Valerie said. “You’re making me tired just watching you.”

He walked over and sat down next to her, still scowling.

“Why are you looking so stressed?” she asked.

“I’ve never been away from work so long before. There’s a million things I should be doing.” Morgan stared off into the distance, seeing nothing.

“Arthur has been working for your company for twenty years. You’ve left things in good hands. Or paws.”

Morgan continued as if he hadn’t heard her. “I have expense reports to review, city planning officials to meet with, I need to read over the appeal of that zoning decision on the new wing...”

“Morgan,” she said sharply, and he focused on her again as if seeing her for the first time.

“Yes?”

“Obviously I’m terrible company and not interesting enough to hold your attention, but I’d still rather see you focus on something besides work. Even if it’s just for a few minutes.”

“You’re not terrible company,” he said with a puzzled frown. “If you weren’t interesting, why would I call you up after you’ve gone home from work?”

“Because you can’t stop thinking about work, even for a minute.”

“It’s not work I think of when I call you,” he muttered, or at least it sounded like that was what he was saying.

“What?” Valerie said, startled.

“Nothing.” He shook his head and looked away. “I have to keep my focus on work, Valerie. My pack depends on me. My family depends on me. The reason I’ve achieved the level of success that I have is because I devote all my time and energy to the success of the company.”

“No.” she shook her head insistently. “You’ve reached the level of success that you have because you have very good instincts. You always pick the right place to build your hotels; you anticipate where the crowd will be before anyone else can. You’re known for being tough but fair, and scrupulously honest in your dealings. You have an exquisite eye for design and you stay on top of all the latest trends in the hotel business.”

“Well, gawrsh, Valerie.” Morgan affected a gee-shucks tone and pretended to look bashful. “You’re about to turn my head with all that pretty talk.”

“Hold on, I’m not done yet.”

“Of course not.”

“Sometimes, you really get in your own way.”

“How?”

She gave him an annoyed look.

“You know how. You’ve driven off some very talented contractors by being too much of a hardass. You’re frequently rude to people, and you don’t show your appreciation for a job well done.” She let out an exasperated groan. “Oh, for God’s sake, Morgan, you’ve got me doing it. You’ve got me talking about work.”

“What else would we talk about?”

“Really? Out here in the middle of this beautiful wilderness?” She seized his hand. “We don’t even need to talk, just relax. And appreciate. Look around you. Look at that stand of fir trees over there. Do you see the bird on the branch, that beautiful, tiny drop of red? It’s like a ruby. The colors are so clear and intense out here.”

He looked at the bird. “Hadn’t noticed that.” He nodded slowly, and his tension seemed to fade a little.

She pointed off at the mountain range in the distance, wreathed in white clouds, jagged and majestic against an ocean-blue sky.

“The sky is so clear that you can see forever.”

He followed the direction that she was pointing, and nodded. ”It’s beautiful. We live in a beautiful place.”

“Close your eyes.”

He closed his eyes.

“What do you hear?” she asked.

“I hear the wind rushing through the trees. I hear squirrels chasing each other through the branches. I hear the pileated woodpecker tapping on a dead fir. I hear your heartbeat. I hear each breath you take.”

Her heartbeat. He was listening to her heartbeat.

She felt herself trembling.

“I can hear you shivering,” he said. “I should stoke up the fire.”

“No,” she said. “Not yet. What do you smell?”

“I smell woodsmoke. I smell ice and snow. I smell juniper berries. I smell you. The trace of your perfume, with citrus. And the sweet scent of your arousal.”

He opened his eyes. “And now we’re going to go into the igloo and talk about what I can feel and taste.”

As she crawled into the igloo, her heart was thumping and her mind was a whirl of conflicting thoughts and emotions. She remembered Morgan pumping inside her and her pussy clenched with want. She could almost feel the touch of his lips on her skin, his big hands cupping her breasts, the radiant heat of his strong body.

She reminded herself that was what it had all been about. A way to keep warm and fend off the arctic chill of the night. Morgan sharing the fierce heat of his shifter metabolism with her, sheltering her from the cold with his big body. Once this whole farce was over and Morgan had found a mate his family approved of, she’d be out of his life. If she hadn’t already been planning on quitting, she knew she wouldn’t be able to work with Morgan day and in and day out as his secretary anymore.

Not when she knew what it was like to be his lover.

On the other hand, this was the only time she’d ever have the chance to experience that again.

One brief window in which she could hold him close and make believe that he was really hers.

She shook her head to clear it and pushed her doubts aside as Morgan crawled into the domed space after her and drew her into his arms.

Their kisses started off slow and sweet. Morgan’s lips were gentle against hers and she opened to him, allowing him to stroke her tongue with his. She slipped out of her coat and he ran his hand over her breasts and down her sides before pulling away and pressing his forehead against hers, his eyes closed and his hands resting on her hips.

He gave a shuddering breath and pulled away. She felt momentarily bereft until she realized he was spreading her coat out on the floor to make a comfortable place for them to lie.

They undressed each other, taking their time, stopping after each discarded item of clothing for more kisses. He swept his hands over her curves and buried his face against the swell of her breast; she played her fingers over the hard planes of his stomach and teased his flat nipples with her tongue.

Valerie’s inner thighs were slick with her own juices by the time he knelt over her where she lay on the floor, gazing down with an expression she couldn’t quite place. She squirmed impatiently and reached for him, but he grasped her wrists and pushed her hands down to either side of her head.

“I said I’m going to tell you what I can feel,” he said, his voice hoarse. “What I can taste.”

A delicious shiver ran through her as he lowered his head and kissed her lips. “You taste of granola bars,” he murmured. “Sweet and nutty.”

He moved down to her throat and licked her pulse point. “I can taste the salt on your skin. I can feel your pulse against my tongue.”

He scraped his teeth over her collarbone before cupping her breasts and kissing the pillowy mounds, teasing her nipples, his breath hot against her skin. “You’re so warm and soft. I want to sink into you.”

As he said that, he ran his hand over her belly and down to the triangle of curls at the juncture of her thighs. He worked his finger between the slick lips of her pussy, pushing slowly inside her, testing and teasing.

He groaned. “I can feel how wet you are for me,” he growled. “I can feel how much you want me. Valerie wordlessly moaned her assent, flexing her hips to push her mound against his palm in invitation.

Then she gasped as he moved further down her body and parted her thighs with his hands, hovering with his face a scant inch away from her most intimate flesh. He inhaled deeply, and murmured, “You smell musky and sweet. I can feel the heat of your pussy on my lips.” He gave her a long, slow lick, dipping into her entrance and lapping over her clit with a firm little flick that made her moan and arch her back. “This is what I wanted to taste,” he growled.

Then he was kissing her intimately, playing his tongue in quick, clever circles around that exquisitely sensitive bud before taking it between his lips and suckling, sending quicksilver threads of sensation through her body.

She gasped and writhed against him, balling her hands into fists, her thighs trembling with tension against the sides of his face.

Her internal muscles clenched and quivered as his clever mouth worked her toward ecstasy, sensation building upon sensation, Morgan’s lips and tongue unrelenting even as she all but shrieked her release and ground her pussy against his mouth. Every muscle in her body went rigid as her orgasm crested and climbed again, sending her tumbling into a maelstrom of pleasure that went on and on.

She was still moaning with the aftershocks when Morgan covered her with his body and thrust inside her with a single, powerful motion.

Even though she was soaking wet and more aroused than she’d ever been in her life, he stretched and filled her to the limit. With each clench of her core, she tightened around him, and she could feel the urgent throbbing of his engorged cock. He muttered a low curse, circling his hips almost imperceptibly, each tiny movement seeming unbearably magnified.

Morgan rolled over onto his back, carrying her with him. He grasped her hips, lifting her slightly, encouraging her to ride him.

Valerie obliged, putting her palms flat on the floor on the ice by his head for leverage, her generous breasts bouncing as she worked herself up and down on his thick cock. She was vaguely aware that her hands and her shins ached with cold, and realized that Morgan must have rolled off the coat and onto the packed-snow floor of the igloo, but she could tell his moans were of sheer pleasure, not of discomfort, and she wasn’t sure she could have stopped even if she’d wanted to.

She raised and lowered herself, moaning as he flexed his hips, thrusting to meet her. He gripped her waist, breathing hard, and she flattened her hands on his chest, enjoying the searing heat of his honed muscles making the lingering chill flee from her fingers.

Morgan groaned helplessly. “Valerie, please… I don’t think I can hold on much longer…”

She could see the strain in his jaw and the tendons standing out like cords in his neck. His fingers dug into the soft flesh of her waist and his breathing was uneven, a hectic pattern of harsh gasps and shuddering exhalations.

In response, she sat upright and threw back her head, riding him harder, drawing her tight flesh over his shaft from root to tip then driving back down, rocking her hips, sending them both flying toward release.

As her whole being was overcome by blissful shudders that rolled and tumbled through her, Morgan arched beneath her and gave an impassioned shout as he spasmed into her tight, wet, heat. He cried out harshly again, shuddering as the sound turned into a low, helpless moan.

Valerie collapsed against him, fighting for breath, laying her head on his chest and listening to his heart hammering beneath. Morgan growled happily and wrapped his arms around her, still half-hard inside her.

Valerie didn’t feel cold at all. She only wondered that they hadn’t melted the igloo.

“Yes, I will have a third cup of coffee, thank you,” Valerie said to Morgan’s maid DeeDee, taking an enormous gulp. Deedee, a short, rotund wolf shifter, was a member of Morgan’s pack. She and the rest of the household staff travelled around the country with him every time he relocated.

“You’re on your first cup,” DeeDee pointed out.

“I’m planning ahead.” Valerie drained the last of the coffee and held out her mug. DeeDee poured in more coffee from a carafe.

They’d gotten back an hour earlier, having fulfilled the three-day requirement. It was eleven a.m., and they were gathered in the formal dining room at Morgan’s house. There were plates of food laid out along the white lace table runner.

Warmth had never felt so good. That and food. Forget about sex, today Valerie was fantasizing about eating an enormous dinner and five desserts, then passing out in a soft feather bed under twenty comforters.

Boothe had declared that they’d fulfilled the requirements, and he was headed back to California to be with his family.

Eileen had come to make sure that her friend had gotten home safely and was still in one piece. Morgan’s family members had gathered at the other end of the long table, and they were eating food served by their own servants and muttering among themselves.

Morgan walked up to the table, tucking his cell phone into his pocket. “I just talked to the fire marshal,” he said. “They checked the cabin, and at this point it appears as if the fire may have been accidental. They have no evidence of it being intentional.”

DeeDee handed him a cup of coffee and he sucked it down thirstily.

“I can’t believe you slept in an igloo,” Eileen said. “What was that like?”

“Chilly.” Valerie shook her head and gave a dramatic shudder, then drank half her coffee in one gulp. She grabbed a hot cheese Danish off a sterling silver platter. “I love you, baby,” she said to the Danish. “You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” She glanced at Morgan, broad-shouldered and gorgeous. He was stuffing a biscuit into his mouth, gravy was dribbling down his chin, and somehow he even managed to make that look sexy. “Second most beautiful,” she amended.

She took a bite of the Danish and looked at it again. “First most beautiful,” she whispered to the pastry,
sotto voce
.

“Oh, for heaven’s sake, you two think you had a hard time?” Nelda said irritably. “I had to go back to that dreadful shanty town twice to finish up the decorating, or they would have utterly botched it. I simply couldn’t sleep, thinking of what it would look like.” She glanced over at Arthur.

“Arthur, don’t those people just have the worst decorating taste you ever saw?”

Arthur was drinking coffee and reading the newspaper. “Yes, ma’am,” he said without looking up.

Nelda resumed her diatribe. “It took us hours and hours to make decent decorations, and all those human ladies kept
talking
to me. And that Teddy child kept following me around and asking annoying questions. I had to give her food to make her go away. And then she’d come back for more food.”

“It’s almost like she’s hungry or something,” Valerie observed drily.

“Well, then why doesn’t her family take her to a restaurant, or have their chef fix her something?” Nelda said, looking annoyed. “I swear, these people have no practical decision-making skills. Are all humans like that? Why do they insist on living in such tiny houses? Why do they drive old cars that are always breaking down? And the food those so-called Benevolent Society ladies were serving them, if you could even call it food. What’s benevolent about hot dogs? I was so sick of their swill that I ordered catering for everyone, and you’ve never seen such dreadful table manners. Forget about knowing which fork to use; those people use
one fork
for their entire meal. For every dish.”

At the other end of the table, CoraBelle and Hud looked up, appearing suitably shocked and scandalized. They exchanged a glance that spoke of their horror and disdain.
One fork?

Nelda glanced over at Arthur for support. “And to think, the humans call us animals.” She made a
tsk
ing sound. “They don’t even use finger bowls. Can you imagine?”

He looked up from his newspaper. “No. Yes. What were you talking about?”

“That must have been so hard for you.” Valerie said it with a straight face. Eileen kicked her under the table and snickered into her hand.

“Thank you. I’m glad someone appreciates what I went through,” Nelda said with wounded dignity, pushing her chair back from the table. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go plan tonight’s meal.”

Morgan grabbed a blueberry muffin from the plate. “I’ll be upstairs in my office,” he said to nobody in particular, and headed upstairs without glancing back at Valerie. Valerie felt as if he’d been avoiding contact with her from the moment they’d walked back into the house. What was his problem, all of a sudden?

Honoria glanced down at the other end of the table at the other pack members, and she stood up. Homer followed suit. “We’re going to go study,” she said to Valerie. “Glad you made it back in one piece.” She and Homer left the room, after shooting a look of dislike at the other pack members.

CoraBelle fixed Valerie with an unwelcoming stare and bit savagely into a cherry Danish. The red oozing from her mouth looked like blood.

“DeeDee, everything was delicious,” Valerie said. She grabbed a muffin and she and Eileen left the breakfast table and went into the living room. They settled onto a big brown leather sofa, facing a crackling fire in a flagstone fireplace. Like the rest of the house, the room was decorated with top-of-the-line furniture but no personal touches. Morgan had left most of the work to a decorator.

Valerie looked around the room. There were hand-carved statues on the fireplace mantel. There should be family photos mixed in there, and childhood knick-knacks made by Homer and Honoria. Maybe some plants. The room needed some softness, some signs of life.

Well, she wasn’t going to have to look at it much longer anyway.

She turned her attention back to Eileen.

“So you’re sure Teddy’s okay?” she said.

“Yes, I went to humanville to check on her.” Eileen didn’t look entirely thrilled. “Her mother still isn’t making any improvement, apparently. Nobody even knows where she is half the time. And Teddy’s aunt is overwhelmed with her own kids and her job. She keeps saying that she’ll keep an eye on Teddy, but she really doesn’t. Nelda was there the whole weekend, though, bossing everyone around. Poor Teddy kept following her around trying to hang on her coat.”

Valerie winced. “Was Nelda horrible?”

“Fairly horrible, yes. Although the humans were very gracious about it.” Eileen frowned, shaking her head. Then she lowered her voice and leaned in closer to Valerie. “Listen, the cabin catching on fire like that while Morgan was out hunting…it seems awfully coincidental, don’t you think?” She glanced in the direction of the kitchen, where Nelda had just gone.

Valerie felt a chill wash over her, even in the warmth of the living room. “Surely you don’t think Nelda had something to do with it?”

“Well, if anyone started that fire, my money would be on Nelda.”

“Why her?”

“Because the attacker only went after you, not Morgan. From what you’ve told me, if you or Morgan chose to leave, that would cost Morgan his position as Alpha. But if you died, then Morgan could just get another mate before his thirtieth birthday. I mean, he’d really have to hustle, but he could do it.”

“Ouch,” Valerie said, wincing at the thought. Morgan with another woman…she already knew it was inevitable, but she didn’t like picturing it.

She thought about Nelda, her cutting remarks, her dirty looks.

Was Morgan’s mother capable of cold-blooded murder? Did she want Valerie out of his life that badly?

“Well,” she said, “it’s also possible that someone started the fire thinking that Morgan was still in the cabin with me. Assuming the fire was set on purpose. It could have just been an accident.”

“Just watch yourself,” Eileen said, shaking her head. “There’s a lot at stake here, and a bunch of people who’d do just about anything for that Alpha position.”

“Even murder?”

“For control of the pack, and the pack’s finances, and a company which is worth hundreds of millions?” Eileen raised an eyebrow.

Then she shrugged and leaned back on the couch. “So how was it being out there with Morgan?”

“A couple of days of magic, and now…” Valerie shook her head unhappily. “As soon as we got back to the house, he seemed to withdraw. I can’t tell if it’s my imagination or not, but I really feel like he’s being weird. Is he ashamed of me?”

“No way, no how,” Eileen said fervently. “I’ve seen how he is about you. When you’re not around, he’s always talking you up and bragging about you. I mean, there’s also the complaining about what a hard time you give him, but it’s an affectionate kind of complaining. He’s crazy about you.”

“So why is he suddenly being weird?”

“Whatever has made him hard and closed off like this isn’t going to heal overnight. You remember how Marcus was when I first met him. He alternated between being a sweetheart and an ass. Be patient. Give it a little time,” Eileen said. She glanced around. “While watching your back.”

“What, exactly, would I be watching for?”

“Attempts on your life.” Eileen’s brow puckered in a frown. “I could stay here with you, if you want.”

“No, your mate needs you.” Marcus was a grumpy, antisocial shifter who really depended on Eileen to keep him from going feral. Literally. He’d been well on his way to giving in to his inner beast when he met Eileen, and without her, odds were he would have been the subject of a kill order by the Council for Shifter Affairs, sooner rather than later. “And Morgan is here. I’ll be fine.”

Honoria poked her head through the doorway. “Are you guys deaf? Camden and Festus are beating each other up on the front lawn,” she called out. “Does anyone care?’

“I certainly don’t,” Eileen said. She glanced at Valerie and shrugged. “What? I’ve just met them today and I can already tell they’re a couple of big stupid asshats.”

“I’ll go get Morgan,” Honoria said, and she dashed upstairs.

“Let’s go see what the asshats are up to,” Valerie said. She went to the coat closet, grabbed her coat and headed out the front door, with Eileen following her.

Camden and Festus were in wolf form, and they were lunging and viciously tearing into each other.

Their mother stood on the front steps, watching with a small smile of satisfaction curling her lips. Hud and CoraBelle and Boothe were there as well, looking bored and sipping cocktails. One of their servants was standing next to them holding a cocktail tray.

“You should stop them. They’re bleeding,” Valerie said to Elmira with alarm.

She shrugged. “Nonsense. That’s just how wolf shifters tussle.”

“Not really,” Eileen said, shaking her head. “Speaking as a wolf shifter, that isn’t a casual play-fight. That’s pretty serious.”

Festus’ flank was dark with matted blood, and he was hanging on to his brother’s leg with vicious determination, jaws clamped shut. Drops of blood spattered red on the white snowy ground.

“Why are they fighting?” Valerie asked.

Elmira shrugged. “Not really your concern,” she said dismissively. “You don’t understand our ways.”

“Your Alpha’s mate asked you a question. Show her some respect,” Eileen snapped at Elmira. As a shifter, she was more aware of pack politics than Valerie – and Elmira knew that.

A flash of petulant anger crossed Elmira’s face, but it was instantly replaced by obsequious fawning.

“Of course,” she said in a wheedling voice. “It’s
simply
that Camden has been insulting Festus and saying that he could never be Alpha even if Morgan were disqualified, and I
simply
pointed out to Festus that a real wolf would never tolerate that kind of talk.”

Nelda walked down the steps as Elmira was speaking, accompanied by Honoria and Homer.

“You started the fight?” Valerie was shocked. Why would a mother want to see her sons bleeding? The two literally looked as if they might kill each other.

“There is no place in the pack for weaklings. This is how they stay sharp,” Elmira said. “Only the strong and worthy survive.” She shot a smug glance at Nelda, who let out a low growl of anger. Homer and Honoria blinked and looked away; Valerie could have sworn she saw tears in their eyes.

“Watch yourself,” Nelda snarled.

“I’m just being honest.” Elmira smirked and turned her attention back to her two sons.

Hud and CoraBelle exchanged glances of lofty superiority. “How
common
,” Hud said to CoraBelle.

“Yes, you’d never allow that kind of behavior,” she agreed, shooting a look of contempt at the battling brothers.

They were interrupted by a snarl of fury. Morgan came barreling through the door out into the snow in wolf form, big as a pony. He shot past them all, hurling himself into the fray, and knocked the two of them apart.