Go Fetch

Chapter Three

Miki fell face first onto her bed. Huge and so soft, it would be like sleeping on clouds. And it smelled wonderful. She buried her nose into the comforter and breathed in deep. Okay. She’d admit it. A body could get used to living like this. Easily.

She’d spent the last four hours with Sara in the kitchen. They ate biscuits and drank buttermilk while playing with that amazingly sweet, but disturbing-to-look-at dog.

And not once had Conall stopped by. Which was good, dammit. No matter what Sara and Angelina thought, she wasn’t about to hook up with Conall Víga-Feilan, present-day Viking. No way. No day.

She’d learned the hard way that love and sex and all the rest of it was bullshit. A distraction from the bigger picture. Her mother had been planning on college in the hopes of going to medical school. Then she’d met Miki’s father. One illegitimate baby later and she was working herself to death to put food on the table while her own mother took care of Miki. But Miki had no intention of going down that road. So her bigger picture would be the next three days. Everything else would take a back seat to that.

At the moment, the Pack was downstairs ordering Chinese food and Miki had taken the opportunity to come up to her room and take a shower. She felt grungy after her day in the airport and on the plane, and she still had a full night planned. They were all going to one of the Pack’s clubs for some serious dancing and partying. She’d tried to back out of it, but Sara fought her hard, insisting that Miki needed to relax.

But Miki couldn’t relax until she was done. And since she would probably only get two or three hours of sleep anyway, killing some time at a club couldn’t hurt.

She thought about the Pack. They were all so sweet to her…except Zach. And they seemed to really love Sara…especially Zach. She got the feeling life with the old Alphas, Yates and Casey, was a little too stifling for the Pack. Zach tossed around the phrase “free choice” a lot, and Sara didn’t like to be bothered with what everybody was up to as long as the Pack remained protected.

Miki realized now she’d foolishly stayed away from her friend all these months. Being back with Sara, talking and bullshitting, was all she really needed to make her feel one hundred percent better. Now she felt ready to defend her dissertation and start her new life.

That, however was a concern for later. Right now Miki wasn’t ready to do too much of anything. So, still lying face down, she tried to kick off her shoes. Unfortunately, they were boots and she’d laced them up pretty tight. She grumbled in annoyance and for some idiotic reason kept trying to kick one off with the help of the other, feeling way too lazy to actually get up and take her shoes off like a civilized person.

But when she felt strong, firm hands wrap around her boot and begin to unlace it, she jerked in surprise. Pushing herself up on her hands, Miki looked over her shoulder. Conall was at the foot of the bed—on his knees—untying her laces. She had no idea how long he’d been standing there watching her, but her entire body got warm at the thought.

“Hey, Miki.” He didn’t look up, simply kept untying her laces. And, even though he couldn’t see the fronts of her boots, was probably taking a lot longer than actually necessary.

“Hey, Conall.”

“How’s it going? You have a good trip?”

Miki had to swallow to get the words out. “Yeah.” Okay. One word. Apparently she couldn’t manage any better at the moment. All the guy was doing was helping her off with her boots. Of course, he was on his knees doing it. She kind of liked him on his knees.

Get a grip, Kendrick.

She needed to start talking. Now. “How’s it going with you?”

He still didn’t look up; instead, watching his own big hands slowly remove one boot then start on the other. His hair, thick and almost white blonde, fell in front of his face. Like hers, it was longer than when she last saw him, just brushing across his shoulders. His hair reminded her of silk and she wondered if it would feel that way against her skin.

“Pretty good,” he murmured softly.

He slid the other boot off and placed it aside. Leaning back on his haunches, he ran his hands over her calves and feet while staring at her face. He had the lightest blue eyes she’d ever seen and they completely mesmerized her.

“Anything else you need help taking off?” he asked gruffly.

Miki almost said “everything” but caught herself. She pulled her feet away from Conall’s wonderful touch and pulled herself up to her knees. Smirking, she gave a little wave. “No. I’m fine. But thanks.” He slowly stood, his eyes never leaving her face. Still on her knees, she moved back away from him as his body kept rising. She’d forgotten exactly how tall he was. And exactly how big. In some respects, the man was a bear.

So busy staring and trying to stay away from him, Miki fell right off the bed.

“Miki?” She looked up to find him on the bed, hovering over her. “Are you okay?” He didn’t even try to stifle his laughter. Great. Now he could see exactly the level of her geekiness. It was off the charts, she knew. Well, that should convince him she was definitely not the woman for him. A guy like Conall should get some vacuous supermodel babe who couldn’t complete a full sentence or even spell sentence.

“I’m fine.” She sat up, but before she could struggle to her feet, Conall moved around the bed to stand behind her. His big hands slid under her arms and lifted her off the floor as if she weighed no more than a bag of chips.

“Uh…thanks,” she bit out as her feet touched solid ground. She tried to pull away from him, but he wasn’t letting her go. Instead, he pulled her back until he held her against his chest. His arms slid around her body and he leaned in close, gently trapping her arms against her sides. If this were anybody else, she would have completely flipped out. They’d be lucky if they had their eyes when she was done. But she couldn’t even concentrate when Conall had his hands on her.

Husky, against her ear. “I missed you, Mik.”

The man was killing her. “Conall?”

“Miki?” He nuzzled her neck as one of his—huge!—hands slid over her breast. Immediately, her nipples hardened. She blinked. When the hell did that start happening?

“I think you need to back off.” At least she was pretty sure she said that. She was having trouble concentrating. Especially with his tongue sliding up across her neck to her ear.

“You think?” His hand squeezed her breast and her back arched. “Or you know?”

Oh boy, he’s good. Miki bet that with very little effort, Conall could turn a nun into a whore. Of course, she wasn’t a nun.

She yanked her body away from his and it was as if her skin started to yell at the loss of him.

Miki backed away. “Conall. Don’t get the wrong idea.”

“And what idea is that?”

“I’m not going to sleep with you.”

He took a step toward her. “I am so not talking about sleeping.”

She backed up again. “You’re not going to make this easy on me, are you, Viking?”

He took another step forward. “Not on your life, Kendrick.”

She backed up once again and slammed into a dresser. She held her arm up as if to ward him off. “Stay!”

And he did.

“Look, you’re an unnaturally large, good-looking guy. I’m sure there are a plethora of women out there who would be perfect for you.”

“Personally, I like women who can successfully use ‘plethora’ in a sentence.”

Dammit, the bastard made her smile. She hated that. Especially when he smiled back. He was truly gorgeous. And as dangerous as they come.

Forcing her smile under control, “I’m going to take a shower. So you need to piss off.” She walked to the bathroom and as she stepped into the luxurious and huge room, she realized Conall stood behind her. Okay. Now this was just getting creepy.

She turned around. “Is there something else?”

“No. Not at all.”

“Okay. Well, I’m going to take a shower…by myself.”

“Great.” They stared at each other. She couldn’t understand what the fuck he was grinning at. Then, finally, with a low chuckle he asked, “You do know this is my bathroom?”

Miki closed her eyes. “What?”

“Yeah. In fact, this is my room.”

She gritted her teeth. Great. That wonderful smell on the neatly made bed had been Conall. And who the fuck made their bed these days anyway? Miki didn’t make her bed unless she was changing the sheets.

“She told me it was the second door on the right.”

“Actually, yours is third. Right next door.”

“Of course it is.” She would kill Sara.

“But, please, feel free to stay. Take all the showers you want. I can help with the soap.”

Images of that danced through her besotted brain and it felt as if someone squeezed her lungs because she was having a lot of trouble breathing.

“Well, that’s very neighborly of you, Viking. But I’ll just go to my own room.”

He wasn’t completely blocking her way, but she had to slide against him to get out of the bathroom and she felt that connection all the way down to her toes. She almost moaned.

“Well, see you at dinner,” she squeaked out.

Then she ran.

Conall didn’t care how his Alpha felt about it; he was going to give Sara the biggest kiss he could. Coming back to his room only to find his ultimate sexual fantasy spread eagle, face down on his bed was more than any man could ask for. Would dare hope for. And when she started smelling his comforter, he thought he might come in his jeans.

The woman did things to him without even trying. It seemed like he had no self-control around her. When he first saw her, he’d had no intention of touching her. In fact, he’d purposely stayed away when she arrived. Sara told him if he met Miki at the airport or greeted her at the door, she’d freak. So he wanted to give her a chance to relax before he pounced. But once he smelled her again, he just couldn’t keep his hands off her.

If this got any worse, he might start humping her leg.

He closed his bedroom door and took a deep breath. Just the scent of her got him hard. And it didn’t help she looked so good. It had only been six months, but he was positive she actually looked even hotter. Her curly hair a little longer, now reaching just above her shoulders, and her skin looked as soft if not softer than when he last saw her.

Miki simply looked…beautiful. And her body felt amazing. When he held her and when she brushed up against him on her way out the door—he kept imagining that body naked and in all sorts of positions with his.

And the thought of her in his shower. With him soaping those breasts, those legs, that ass.

Damn. Wrong thought, he growled to himself as he headed to his shower.

Miki had just pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt, pushing her wet hair out of her face, when Sara knocked on her door and stuck her head in.

“Hey. Dinner’s here.”

Miki grabbed Sara by her T-shirt, snatched her into the room, and slammed the door.

“What the hell?”

“You sent me to Conall’s room, you bitch!”

“Did I? Huh. How did I make that mistake?” Sara ducked as a bottle of shampoo flew at her head. “Jesus Christ, woman! Calm yourself!”

“Stop trying to set me up with him!”

“I’m just trying to get you laid… Put it down!” Miki debated whether to chuck the hairbrush in her hand at her best friend. After a good thirty seconds, she lowered her arm and Sara smiled. “So you went to his room. What’s the big deal?”

Miki glared. “He found me face down on his bed smelling his comforter.”

Sara choked then exploded into laughter. Miki raised her brush again. “Okay. Okay. I’m sorry. Dude, I’m so sorry. I didn’t think you’d get so…comfortable so quickly.”

“Bottom line is you and Angelina need to back off.”

Sara took a deep breath. “Darlin’, I don’t see the problem. He’s hot. He’s straight. He’s disease free. Next to my Zach he’s walking perfection. What is the deal?”

“The deal is guys like him suck you in, make you theirs, then fuck you over. It’s like in their DNA or something.”

“Now you’re talking about your father.”

“I prefer the term sperm donor. And I’m not going to end up like my mother.”

“Of course not. Especially ‘cause you’re not a sixteen-year-old virgin, screwed over by a rich townie, and left pregnant. So, already you’re ahead of the game.”

Miki glared at Sara’s sarcasm. “I already had this goddamn conversation with Angelina. And if you two whores want to have meaningless sex with some guy you just met—like getting head at a rave from a biker—that’s your choice.”

“Hey! That’s not fair. And it was hardly meaningless. I’m practically married to the guy.”

“Don’t care. Back off.”

Sara sighed. “Fine. Fine. I’ll back off.”

“Thank you.”

And Sara backed off for a total of fifteen seconds. “Although a vibrator does not a life partner make.”

Miki growled. “Why are you two obsessed with Mr. Happy?”

“Maybe because you actually named it.”

“Whatever.” Miki turned back to her suitcase, stopping when she saw something she knew she didn’t pack. She pulled out a brown paper bag. “Dude, I didn’t pack this.” Visions of international spies using her as a transporter flew through her mind. But the expression on Sara’s scarred face told a different story.

“You may not have packed it…”

Miki frowned and opened the bag. There were boxes of condoms inside. And a note lay right on top. Immediately, she recognized Angie’s perfect handwriting.

Really, isn’t it time you got laid? —Angie.

“I hate both of you.”

“Now. Now.” Sara backed up toward the door. “Angie and I only want you to be safe. You’re not on any birth control. Sometimes people get lost in the moment. Angie did it with the best of intentions. We care about you and want you to be happy.”

“Fuck her. Fuck you. And, for that matter, fuck your intentions.”

“See. Those are the tense cuss words of a woman who needs to get laid.”

Sara ducked the bag of condoms just in time, tore the door open and ran.

Miki sat on the edge of her bed and dropped her head in her hands. This was going to be a long, long trip.