Love in the Shadows (10 page)

“Of course, silly. You’re my destined
mate. Shadow marked me to prove it.” She let him place the ring on
her finger. “Oh, it’s lovely, Derek. I love it and I love you.”
Derek enfolded her in a hug.

“There’s something else I need to do
today. I need to visit Quiet Thunder. Will you come with me to his
ranch?”

“Of course. I want to see how he is
doing now that Gwen has gone to London.”

§

After a quick trip through Shadow,
Derek and Katherine stood on the porch of Isanti Quiet Thunder’s
ranch house. Derek ran his hand through his hair. Katherine patted
him on the arm. Gathering his strength, Derek knocked on the door.
It was opened immediately by his foster sister, Tatiana, a woman
with long blond hair and blue eyes.

“Derek, I heard you were shot. What are
you doing out of bed?” Tatiana grabbed his arm and pulled him into
a hug.

“I missed you, too, little sister. You
remember my fiancée, Katherine?”

“So you finally popped the question?
Good, and not so little, you have me by only a few months. Hi,
Kathy. Gwen and Lindy have told me so much about you. I hated
missing Raven and Cara’s wedding. I was on assignment.”

“It’s nice to meet you. Gwen and Lindy
told me a lot about you, too. You work as an embassy attaché?”
Katherine asked.

“Yes, as a security officer. Come in.
Derek, you’re looking a little pale. Sit down, before you fall
down.” Tatiana led them into the front room and over to the
couch.

Derek sat down, glad to take a moment
to rest. He hated feeling so weak. Katherine sat down next to him,
and he pulled her close.

“Dad is out in his workshop. I’ll call
him in. Can I get you something to drink?”

“No need to wait on us, Ana. How is
Quiet Thunder?”

“Well, he’s not as young as he used to
be. I’m actually here only for a little while. I’m being assigned
to the Chinese embassy. I leave in two days. Gwen suggested I come
home for a visit. She’s taken a job in London. I think she worries
about Isanti, even though any one of us can shadow-walk home in an
instant. Let me call him in. He’ll be glad to see you.” Tatiana got
up and left the room.

“She doesn’t look like a Shadow
Walker,” Katherine commented.

“She has her mother’s coloring. All of
Isanti’s children are adopted or foster children, like Raven and
me. Tatiana’s father was a member of the tribe. When she was
orphaned suddenly, Isanti took her in. She can shadow-walk like the
other members of the tribe.”

“That was a generous thing Quiet
Thunder did, taking the orphaned children into his
home.”

“He is the tribal shaman and felt it
was his duty. Don’t get me wrong. Isanti loves his
children.”

“You’re afraid he is going to be angry
at you?”

“I know he’s angry. I don’t know if he
will forgive me.”

“He’s your father. He will forgive
you.”

Just then the door opened, and Isanti
Quiet Thunder entered. He looked like a nineteenth-century warrior
with his long silver hair in two braids that hung almost to his
waist. His bronzed skin was wrinkled, his eyes sparkled with
vitality. He wasn’t young, but Derek was glad to see Quiet Thunder
so vigorous.

Tatiana entered behind him. She smiled
and went toward the kitchen in the back of the house. Derek’s
foster father stood in the living room, looking at him. Derek began
to stand, but the old man gestured to him to stop.

“So, the prodigal son returns. You look
like hell.”

§

Five Days Later

Katherine opened her eyes to the early
morning light spilling into the bedroom of their log home. Derek
lay on his side facing her on their king-sized bed. His long black
eyelashes rested on his cheeks. His color looked good, and she
smiled. His injury had taken a lot out of him, though his healing
was quicker than expected, probably because of the healing draughts
he had been taking every day while on assignment. His metabolism
seemed to have speeded up, and he tired easily if he didn’t eat
well. Dr. Rick wanted him to rest a couple more days, and then they
would run some tests.

Derek had some other strange side
effects from taking the healing potions that worried her.
Yesterday, a glass balanced on the edge of the counter started to
fall. Derek was across the room unpacking another box of kitchen
supplies. Before Katherine could move to stop the accident, Derek
held the glass in his hand. How was that possible? Nobody could
move that quickly.

Katherine glanced at her watch. She
would return to work today. There was a little time before she
needed to get out of bed. She scooted closer to Derek and kissed
each eyelid, his nose, and lightly his mouth. He sighed and reached
for her, pulling her close. She nibbled on his chin, then kissed
his neck.

“Wake up, and make love to me,” she
murmured against his skin.

Derek rolled over on top of her, a
smile on his face, his eyes dancing merrily. “Good morning,
beautiful.” Derek’s fingers began to explore her breasts under her
pajama top, tugging on one nipple and rolling it before moving to
the other side.

Katherine felt herself dampen. God, how
she loved this man. One smile, one kiss ignited a fire inside her.
“Good morning. Don’t play around. I have to get ready for
work.”

“But I like to play. Are you wet for
me, baby?” Derek slipped one finger beneath her pajama bottoms and
into her core. “Oh, yeah, so wet and hot.”

He took his finger out and showed her
the moisture glistening on its surface before he put it into his
mouth and sucked it dry. Katherine shuddered and felt another gush
of moisture.

“What you do to me,” she said, her
voice breathy.

Derek smiled and tugged her pajama
pants down and off before he came back to play. He dipped his
finger inside her core, then rubbed the moisture against her clit.
Katherine squirmed, unable to hold still under his
ministrations.

“Feel what you do to me, beautiful.”
Derek took her hand and placed it on the bulge in his pajamas.
Katherine ran her fingers up and down before slipping her hand
under the waistband of the pants. He was velvet over steel. His
breath whooshed out when she gripped him hard, her fingers wrapped
around his length. She tightened her fist, then released. Derek
shuddered.

“It feels like you want me,” she
teased.

“I always want you,” Derek growled. He
removed his pajamas and came back down between her
thighs.

“I always want you, too.” Katherine
reached for him and guided his shaft into her. She wanted him
inside her, wanted to be filled.

§

She was hot and wet and gripped him
tightly. Derek pushed in as deep as he could go before pulling out.
He teased her clit before plunging in again. He wanted her pleasure
above anything else.

Katherine gasped, and Derek felt the
prick of her nails on his back. He plunged again, needing to feel
connected with her. He wasn’t going to last much longer.

He opened his thoughts and pulled
Katherine’s mind into a link. Her pleasure swamped him as her need
built. His desire fueled the fire until they were both
panting.

He pulled his body out and sank in
again, building the tension for both of them. In and out,
connecting their minds and bodies.

Katherine moaned and wrapped her legs
around his waist. “Please, Derek.”

Her desire was his. Her need filled
him. Derek reached down and squeezed the little bundle of nerves
between her legs. He plunged in again and felt Katherine’s spasm.
She called out his name.

He followed her into the ether, their
spirits combining. Mind, body and spirit. They were connected. They
were one. He continued to hold her close, kissing her and
whispering graphic suggestions about what they could do the next
time they made love.

Katherine laughed and kissed him back.
He was in heaven. If only they could stay here forever.

Later that morning, Derek wandered into
the kitchen of their log home and reached for the coffeemaker. He
smiled at the red appliances, then turned in satisfaction to survey
the rest of the room. He and Kate had used his convalescence leave
to go shopping and purchase everything they needed to make the
house a home.

As he reached for a pan to cook some
eggs for breakfast, he heard the shower turn off upstairs. Katie
would be down soon. Today was her first day back to work since
returning from the Amazon.

He hated to let her go. He would miss
the easy way they came together. One look and they were in each
other’s arms, making love wherever they found
themselves.

He walked over to get the eggs and
cheese out of the refrigerator. As he whipped up two omelets,
Katherine walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. She wandered
up behind him and slipped her arms around his waist as he stood at
the stove.

“I’m going to miss you today. Will you
come to the office and have lunch with me?”

“
Of course,
tehila
. Wild horses couldn’t keep me
away. I have another lesson with Quiet Thunder this morning. I can
meet you at your office.”

The back door opened with a slam.
“Honey, I’m home …”

Derek whirled around and pulled Katie
behind him. That door had been locked. Then, he looked closely at
the person invading his home and sighed. Katherine peeked over his
shoulder at the blond-haired woman standing in the
doorway.

“You always know how to
make an entrance, Stacey.”
She works for
General Holland
, Derek sent to Katherine
telepathically. He heard the click of the stove being turned
off.

“Send your playmate home, Derek. I need
to talk to you.”

Katherine stiffened behind him. Derek
ran his fingers down her arm and linked their hands. “This woman is
my fiancée, Katherine Sloane. Katherine, this is Stacey
Johnson.”

“Ah, I see you haven’t told her about
me. Tell me, Katherine. Did Derek tell you that we screwed like
rabbits on that table under the window?”

Katherine moved up beside Derek and
glared at Stacey. “Trying to shock me, Miss Johnson? That would be
hard to do since we bought that table two days ago. You can stop
trying to break us up with your lies. I’m not going
anywhere.”

Stacey glanced back and forth between
the two of them. “I guess you finally found a keeper, Derek. I do
need to talk to you, in private.”

“Whatever you want, I’m not available.
I’ve decided to retire from General Holland’s service.” Katherine
squeezed his hand.

“Well, it’s not really what you can do
for the general. It’s what we can do for you.”

Hugh slipped out of Shadow behind
Stacey. He held a crossbow aimed at Stacey’s head. “Go on, Miss
Johnson, what do you think you can do for us?” Hugh
asked.

Stacey stiffened and looked back over
her shoulder. “I should have known you would have back up, Derek.
Silent alarm? Hugh, long time no see.”

Hugh and Stacey had done several jobs
together for the general. They were an excellent team. That had
been at least five years ago. Hugh had come home injured pretty
badly from their last assignment and retired from working special
ops. He had taken over the technological department of Isanti, Inc.
Derek had asked him once what happened. Hugh refused to discuss
it.

“Five years, Stacey. What kind of
trouble are you in now?” Hugh asked.

“I’m not the one in trouble. Isanti,
Inc., is being targeted again, specifically Derek. We are pretty
sure you have a mole in the organization.”

“Why didn’t you go to Raven about
this?” Derek asked. “Why did you come here?”

“Because if I went to Raven at your
offices, the mole might have heard me. Are you sure about your
girlfriend there, because she is high on my list of
suspects?”

Katherine gasped. “How dare you. Why
would you think I would hurt Isanti?”

“Your position at the firm.” Stacey
glanced back at Hugh. “Are you going to stand there with that
crossbow trained on me, or are we going to discuss this rationally?
I made sure you got home on our last assignment, Hugh. Why won’t
you trust me?”

Hugh lowered the crossbow.
He walked up to Stacey and wrapped his arm around her waist from
behind. Then, he jerked her back against him and buried his face in
her blond hair. “Five years, and not one word, Stace. Not
one
damn
word.
You owe me an explanation.”

Stacey trembled. Derek glanced at
Katherine. Their eyes met and they both smiled. It looked as if
Hugh might have found his destined mate. Cara needed to see
this.

Raven and Cara hurried into the kitchen
from the front room as if thinking about them made them
appear.

What are you doing
here?
Derek asked his brother
telepathically.