And again she ran her hands over his erection straining against his briefs. “Hmm,” she said and began stroking.
He quickly slipped his hand inside her panties and began to rub her sweet spot, which made her melt against him. It was time. He slipped off her panties and she did the same with his briefs, admiring his cock as it sprang forward. Smiling, he pulled her onto the bed and began to stroke her in earnest.
Enough foreplay; he was ready for the whole, sweet deal. Her mouth opened to his, their breaths mingling, before he pressed his lips against hers. Deepening the kiss, he continued to stroke her, enjoying the way she moaned at his touch, arching her back and pressing against his fingers. She was so tense, so wet and ready for him.
“Oh, CeeeJaay,” she said in a half groan, half whisper.
He pushed his cock into her wetness, deep, plunging, pulling out nearly to the end and lunging in again. Her hands ran over his arms, his waist, her body supple and soft and welcoming.
He was glad they had this time together, to love as mated wolves loved each other. They needed this. He needed this.
She jacked him up, made him crave her touch, and sent him rocketing to the ends of the earth, and then he released deep inside of her and felt his wolf half collide with the moon, his human side sizzling in the sun.
He continued to pump into her until he was spent, drained, and so happily satiated. Collapsing on top of her to give her a hot embrace, he said, “You’re everything to me.”
She wrapped her arms and legs around him, kept him seated to her, and smiled up at him in a dreamy, sexy way. “Do…you think your brother will mind if we take a little longer?”
CJ smiled at her, loving her.
After a nap and another quick bout of lovemaking—they were “newlyweds,” after all—they finally dressed and headed downstairs to the kitchen.
“Okay. Do…you want me to make us lunch and you can work on the pan soaking in the cold water?” she asked, her hand on his.
“Sure, I can do that.” They shared another blissful tongue-tingling kiss, and then he began to scrub the burned crepe off the pan from the morning’s breakfast disaster.
She made them tuna sandwiches and pulled out of a jar of pickles. “I was so disappointed that we didn’t find any hidden niches in my aunt’s furniture.” She paused as she forked some pickles onto their plates. “I wonder if we could find the cabinetmaker.”
CJ finished scrubbing the pan and rinsed it. “Possibly someone else in the pack would know who the initials belonged to. Maybe he made furniture for some others.”
“I’ll have one of my sisters take a picture of it and send it to Darien, Peter, and you.”
CJ smiled a little at her.
She knew what he was thinking. This was the first time she was asking the pack to search for clues. She had finally accepted that she was part of the pack. Though she thought that had been obvious when she had mated CJ. Still, contacting Darien and not doing everything on her own definitely signaled a change.
CJ set the pan on a board to dry, then poured some chips onto their plates.
She sighed, wrapped her arms around him, and kissed him. “Okay, let me get this done, then we can eat.” As soon as she texted her sisters, Meghan sent back a picture of the cabinet that Laurel then forwarded to Darien, Peter, and CJ.
Before CJ could pull out his phone and look, Darien called her.“Thanks, Laurel. I believe that belongs to Elroy Summers.”
“Is he related to Jacob Summers, the electrician?” She was about ready to tell Darien how Jacob had already looked over the furniture and hadn’t located anything.
“His father, yes. That’s why Jacob knows how to create furniture, but he really didn’t care to do it and instead went into the electrical business, to his father’s dismay.”
“Okay, so can we speak with Elroy?”
“He’s deceased, I’m afraid.”
Figured. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. If you come up with any other ideas, feel free to run them past me.”
She ended the call and she down to eat with CJ.
“No luck?” CJ asked.
“Darien said it was Jacob’s father’s work. But that he’s deceased.”
CJ rose from his chair, surprising her, then pulled her from her chair and hugged her tight, and she loved him for it. “We’ll learn the truth sooner or later.”
* * *
For hours, Laurel, CJ, and his brothers combed through all their dad’s stuff in the boxes—piles of clothes and knickknacks, books, kitchen stuff—all sitting around the basement, each sorting carefully through everything.
Laurel so appreciated them for it, for taking the time and caring when they could very well find something that implicated their father in her aunt’s disappearance.
Eric was sifting through every article of clothing, checking all the pockets and folding the clothes neatly in another stack in one corner of the basement after he’d finished with them. “If no one objects, I’m donating all his clothing to charity once we’re through with it.”
“Agreed,” Sarandon said.
Brett and CJ concurred.
Brett was sorting through kitchen items and stacking them in another pile. “I suggest we dispose of all this stuff in the same way.”
Everyone agreed.
“I wonder if Dad’s old furniture had any secret compartments,” Brett added.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at him.
“Probably not. Just a thought,” Brett said.
“We sold all of Dad’s furniture at auction because none of us had room for it or any interest in hanging on to it,” Eric said. “Besides, it was new stuff. I doubt any of it would have had secret compartments.”
“Except for that old chest with all the drawers that belonged to our grandfather. I kept that,” CJ said. “I’ll check it out tonight.”
Laurel found a picture of what looked like the boys with their mother and father. They were all smiling, and that made her smile. She set it aside and had begun sifting through men’s jewelry—tie tacks, an old pocket watch, and cuff links—when she came across a locket. At once, a chill raced up her spine.
What were the odds that Sheridan’s mother, or maybe his wife, had owned a locket just like the ones her mother and aunt owned, with a tree of life etched into the metal? Though most wolves didn’t wear jewelry because they didn’t want to lose it if they had to shift and leave their clothes behind, her mother and aunt had always kept the pictures of each other close to their hearts. She realized then that CJ had never talked about his mother. Nor had she discussed hers with him.
Barely breathing, her fingers trembling, she prayed it wasn’t her aunt’s locket as she opened it. And saw what she feared she’d see—her mother and aunt’s pictures when they were sixteen. Suddenly Laurel felt light-headed. She gasped. The room had been quiet, so the brothers must have heard her. CJ was on his feet in an instant and headed for her. Tears filling her eyes, she stared at the picture of her mother and aunt. Though they were twins, they looked so different. She couldn’t believe Sheridan would have her aunt’s locket, and she felt sick to her stomach.
“Laurel.” CJ rubbed her back as he saw the color completely drain from her face and knew she’d found something that belonged to her aunt. But when he looked down at the pictures in the locket, Laurel’s hand trembling, he was confused. “Ellie?” The one woman was the spitting image of her.
“Clarinda and my mother, her twin sister, Sadie,” she whispered. “Ellie looked just like Mom when she was that age.” She looked up at CJ with tears in her eyes, and his heart went out to her. She was worried how they would feel about going through their father’s things. And now this. “Why would your father have this? My aunt always wore it. My mother had a matching one, and when she died, she was wearing it when we buried her.”
CJ swore under his breath. If his dad had anything to do with Laurel’s aunt’s disappearance, he’d have wanted to kill the bastard himself, if he’d still been alive.