Ember

Kane didn't make it to his room, he didn't even make it to the house.

We ended up in a section of the garden I'd never had the chance- or courage- to discover. Luckily, it was surrounded by tall plants and trees, although the coldness of the grass was uncomfortable. The warmth from Kane's body on top of mine made things better, but I couldn't care less about how cold it was by then.

"Why do you always have these things on you?" I asked Kane when he took out the protection.

"A guy can always hope," he said in the most sheepish way I'd ever seen him. "I'll move your things into our room later," he said, licking at my face like a cat.

"You said we were going to our room." I poked him in the stomach playfully. "If the garden is it, I don't think I want to move in with you anymore."

He bit my shoulder, hummed when I yelped (more in surprise than pain). "I'm going to bite you like this whenever you do something I don't like. In public too."

I ran my hands through his hair. "That better be a joke."

"You gave me free reign, remember?" I gasped when he began to nibble his way downwards.

I was going to ask if he wanted me to revoke that freedom, but the hungry brush of his lips reached that special spot and my arguments evaporated. He hadn't bothered undressing either of us, just moving the essential barriers out of the way and diving right in- overwhelming and mercilessly punishing as he unraveled me over and over again. And when I thought I could take no more, he enveloped me in his arms and started a rhythm that instantly had me moving with him, unable to resist the urge to give back the pleasure he was giving me.

"You'll kiss me whenever you see me and also whenever you're saying goodbye," he rasped at my ear, hands cupping and kneading under my shirt.

"Mmm."

"You'll come distract me while I'm working."

If this is what happens when I do, then yes. My head lolled back in the ground, eyes fluttering shut and opening again when he growled.

"Let me have you every day. Several times."

"Is it just me or are your demands getting bossier by the minute?" I asked.

"Kiss me," he said, not in his usual do-as-I-say-peasant way but in the I-might-die-if-you-don't way.

I obliged, partly because I couldn't refuse when he asked that way and partly because if his mouth was occupied he couldn't convince me to sell my soul to him.

The kiss started gently but quickly escalated, went on until the sparks had sizzled and went off like fireworks and finally tapered off.

I sighed, playing with the stray locks of hair at his forehead. "I love you."

He stiffened. Blinked. "What did you say?"

I smiled, lifted up to kiss his cheek. "I love you, Kane Wilder."

He studied my face, shivering in a way I had a feeling was in no way connected to the weather. Then he grabbed my face and kissed me desperately.

And the fireworks started all over again.

***

"You haven't explained the job blacklisting," I told Kane later. We were in his bed and I was drowsily watching him play with my hair.

Head propped against his hand, he curled a strand around his finger, smiled at me. "I told them not to give you a job because you already have a new one."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "If you tell me my new job involves sleeping with you and being a nice alpha female, I'm kicking your ass."

He lifted a brow. "You have the energy to kick my ass? I thought you were wiped out, in that case..." he playfully made a grab for the blanket covering me.

I bit his fingers. "Explain, Wilder."

He wriggled his fingers. "I gave a pack member some samples of the comics I found on your tablet. He said he'd like to work with you on getting it published-"

I jumped out from beneath the covers, grabbed his shoulders. "Really?!"

He placed his hands on my waist, gaze appraising. "You can expect a call from him soon, said he wants to discuss the contract and work schedule. Fiona will go with you, if she's back by then."

Fighting had been fun and teaching it had been great, but I'd never even thought I'd be able to make a job of my art this early on. I had my dream job. No more mindless labor, I could work and feed myself with money I earned doing something I loved and-

"Don't use your salary to move out," Kane said, pulling me over him so we were face-to-face. He wore the same expression as the one he had when he'd asked me to kiss him. I did that right now, peppering his face with them.

"I'm not going anywhere," I promised. "Thank you."

"Anything you want," he replied, smiling.

"I've been wondering about this for a while, who got my old teaching job?" I asked.

"My dad."

"Oh." Theo had given up his position as alpha abruptly and quietly, trusting his son to deal with a situation that was over both their heads. I wondered if he regretted handing in the towel earlier than was normal for alphas in general.

A phone ringing made me jump away from Kane, looking around for the source of the interruption. It was both of our phones in fact. I grabbed mine while Kane went for his, already pulling on his pants as he answered.

I wrapped the blanket around myself, answering the unknown caller and hoping it was Ian this time. "Hello?"

The man who answered wasn't Ian, but he did have a message from him. "No seaweed in sight, but he said they'd keep looking for a while longer," the man said in a gurgling voice that sounded like bubbles were coming out along with his words.

"No seaweed?" I asked, glancing at Kane. He had finished his own call and was standing over me, face void of the growing panic I could feel overtaking mine. "Are you serious?"

"As serious as a killer whale about to kill you," the man gurgled back. "The Autumn Lord demanded us sea fae get rid of it all for a few weeks. Without any payment either- sheesh these people and their abuse of power. The only thing you humans got right was that democracy thing."

"Right," I frowned. "Is there anything else?"

"Yes. Speaking of favors without payments, your friend said you were hot and single so I was wondering if we could get together on the surface sometime? What do you think?"

I think I was going to kill Ian.

The phone was snatched away. I looked up, winced when Kane put the call on speaker and roared so loud my screen cracked.

There was an answering scream on the other end, then a quick, "I won't bother you again." The line clicked dead.

Kane handed my phone back. "I'll buy you another phone when I get back."

"I'll buy one myself. Where are you going?" I asked.

He pulled on his shirt. "Jett said he felt Tyra's presence. She's back from Faerie but hasn't come back here and her mind is a mess of dark emotions, we're going looking for her."

"What about the seaweed?"

"Can't do anything until Ian and Fiona get back. We'll figure out our next course of action when they do, for now we'll concentrate on what we can control."

"I'll go with you."

He shook his head. "One of us should be around in case the werewolves need something. Stay."

He bent, bit my bottom lip then licked away the sting before pulling away. I watched him leave with growing horror. He'd left me in charge.

Shit.

No, don't freak out, Ember. It's not like the pack was a bunch of infants that needed constant looking-after, they rarely called even Kane for emergencies. There was nothing to worry about.

Except that tomorrow was a Saturday and the pack gathered together at the alpha's place every Saturday and Sunday, ate take-out, watched movies and socialized.

Socializing.

Shit.

I waved away the thought, there was no way finding Tyra could take that long. Kane and Jett would be back by then and my stress about hanging out with everyone will be abated by the assurance of having one or both of them with me.

All I had to worry about now was getting my stuff organized for my new job.

I could handle that much. Definitely.

Retrieving my clothes and phone, I went back to my old room to shower and change clothes. Then I went downstairs with my art supplies and drawing tablet, dumped all of the stuff on the dining room table and went to fix myself a cup of coffee.

I found Helen and Thomas in there. The latter was glowering up at Helen, ignoring the plate of food she was offering him.

"Do you expect me to be honored by your attention-" Thomas cut off when he spotted me. Gasped.

Helen followed his line of sight, caught sight of me and burst out laughing. "What's got you looking so red, Ember?"

I frowned. "What?"

She flipped back her hair, reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a mirror. She held it up for me to look at.

Good thing she hadn't given it to me too- I would've dropped it because what it showed was one of the worst things imaginable: my skin had turned rose red.

I screamed.