“You’ll be safe until morning. By then we’ll know if Víga-Feilan will…” He stopped and looked at her over his shoulder.
“Survive?”
“I wouldn’t worry too much. He looks…well, really strong. And the fever has already taken hold.”
“Fever?”
“It’s how our bodies fight. The fever can last up to twenty-four hours. And you never know what will happen when you’re going through it. Sometimes nothing. Sometimes you shift a thousand times in twenty minutes. And sometimes you start flipping out. It’s a crapshoot.”
“I should be with him.”
“After you eat.” Van Holtz dumped some sautéed pasta onto a dish, added some extra cheese, grabbed a fork, and plopped it down in front of Miki. “You have to eat it. I usually charge fifteen bucks for that dish in my restaurant.”
It smelled great and her stomach suddenly roared to life. Taking a deep breath, she took the fork he held out to her and sampled the food. It tasted as good as it smelled.
“Thank you.”
He patted her on the shoulder then walked away. She ate while he cleaned up his kitchen. An obsessive-compulsive wolf. Odd.
As Miki took the last bite she could manage, a girl walked into the kitchen in shorts and a T-shirt, a soccer ball under her arm. “I’m back from practice, Papa.”
The girl reached up on tiptoe to kiss her father.
“How did you do?” he asked.
“Fine. But the rest of the team is holding me back.” The girl turned and looked at Miki. “Hello.”
“Hi.”
“Who are you?”
“I’m Miki.”
“Kendrick?”
Miki blinked. “Yeah.”
“I read your dissertation.” Suddenly the girl looked just like her mother. “I found flaws.” The girl walked out of the room.
Miki stared at Van Holtz and he shrugged in answer. “She takes after her mother.”
Conridge pushed the kitchen door open, but she was yelling over her shoulder. “I said do your homework this minute, mister. And don’t you dare bare your fangs at me!” She came in with a pair of sweatpants and a long-sleeved tee. “Damn wolf children.”
Conridge handed Miki the clothes. Without even thinking about the fact that Van Holtz stood right there, she changed into them.
Just as she finished pulling the tee over her head, Billy Dunwich stuck his head in to the kitchen. “Miki, we need you.”
Miki moved. Ignoring the pain in her leg, she followed after Dunwich who was now wearing only a pair of jeans. He took her up the stairs and to a door. She could hear snarling and snapping, so she pushed past him and threw the door open. Conall as wolf was out of control. She could see the whites of his eyes as he spun in a circle and snapped at anyone who got too close to him. The one she assumed was the Pack doctor had a needle out and stood behind several Van Holtz wolves. The other wolves seemed at a loss on what to do.
She walked into the room. “Conall!” The wolf spun around at the sound of her voice. She sat down on the floor Indian style. “Come here, baby.” He ran to her. His shoulder had started bleeding again and he had a pronounced limp. He came to her and dropped in front of her, his head in her lap. He whined and then shuddered. “It’s okay, baby. I won’t let anyone hurt you.” She petted his head and waited until he’d calmed down. She looked up at the doctor. “All right. Do it.”
The doctor walked over, crouched down beside them, and quickly shot Conall up with whatever was in the needle. She glanced up at Dunwich. “Get him up on the bed.” Conall’s Pack lifted him up and placed him back on the bed.
“Everybody out.”
“Are you sure?”
She nodded at Dunwich’s question. “Yeah. I’ll be fine.”
The wolves left. The doctor, the last to go. “You’ll have to clean off that wound again, but that shot should keep him calm. He’ll probably wake up, though, while in the throes of the fever. I’ll be taking care of the other wolves who were injured tonight, so I’ll be here if you need me.”
“Thanks.”
The doctor walked out, closing the door behind him.
Miki glanced around the room. It was a huge bedroom with an adjoining bathroom. She was thankful for that. She didn’t want to leave Conall at all. She never wanted to leave Conall. And that thought absolutely terrified her.
Chapter Twenty
Conall felt cold. Freezing cold. He pried his eyes open and looked around the room. He had no idea where he was. But even worse, he didn’t see Miki. Where was Miki? He needed to make sure she was okay.
“Miki?” He tried to sit up but his head was pounding.
“Hey. Hey. No, you don’t, Viking.” He felt her warm hands on his chest, pushing him back down on to the mattress. “You’re not going anywhere yet.”
“Safe? Are you safe?”
“We’re both safe, baby. Everything’s cool. Just sleep.”
He grabbed her hand and pulled her close. “Stay with me, Mik.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
He smiled, his eyes closing. “Promise?”
She chuckled. “Yeah. I promise.”
He settled back down into the bed, but he still wouldn’t release her hand.
“You’re not going to let me go, are you, Viking?”
“I’m never letting you go, Mik. Besides, I’m cold. I need you to warm me up.”
She sighed and he felt the bed dip slightly as she got in next to him. “Okay. Okay. Come here.”
She pulled him close, laying his head against her chest. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. She kissed the top of his head as her arms wrapped around his shoulders.
“You smell good,” he rasped. “You’re in heat.”
She laughed softly. “Christ, Conall, get some sleep.”
Knowing she was safe, he allowed himself to relax. She smelled so good and he felt incredibly soothed by the heat coming off her body. The last thing he remembered was her hands running through his hair.
Miki brushed Conall’s hair out of his face. He slept again. For hours he’d been waking up, worried about whether she was safe or not. It almost overwhelmed her, his constant concern for her. She’d always had the love and protection of women. Her mother and grandmother. Sara and Angelina. But never of men. Most men found her either overwhelming or a little scary. Even Craig and the guys seemed to have a healthy fear of her.
But Conall. Conall was different. Did he actually care about her or was it just the fever? How the hell was she supposed to know? She knew science. Math. And some history. She knew how to make an amazing martini and she had a decent roundhouse kick. That was it. Anything to do with people and actual emotions, she was totally at a loss.
Miki kissed Conall’s forehead again and settled down next to him. She was so tired. Not surprising with everything that had happened in the past few hours. But with a little nap, just a few minutes, she’d be right as rain.
She closed her eyes and let sleep take her.
He was having the best dream. One of those hot dreams with Miki that he’d been having since he met her. He was enjoying this dream too because she smelled so good. She was in heat.
He was behind her, his arms wrapped tight around her waist. He nuzzled her neck and licked it. She sighed softly and snuggled back into him. “My wolf.”
“All yours, baby.”
Her hand gripped his thigh. “Make me come, wolf.”
Oh, yeah. What a great dream. He slid his hand down her stomach and under her panties, easing his fingers between her thighs and over her clit. Her body jerked and she gave a little moan as two of his fingers entered her pussy. She was already wet. Wet and hot. She gripped his hand and pushed his fingers deeper.
He smiled and he slowly finger fucked her. She moaned again, her tight ass writhing against his cock. It had already been hard, now it was on fire. It wanted to be deep inside her. As deep as his fingers were. Deeper. He ran his thumb over her clit and she gasped, her head falling back against his shoulder. “God, Conall.” He loved when she said his name with that sexy voice of hers. He felt her voice all over his body.