Killian's Secret: The Lone Wolf Defenders Book 1 Read online

  A knock on the door made her head turn.

  “Ah, they’re here,” Killian said, as he let go of her and walked over to the front door to open it. “Thanks for coming.”

  “Sure thing, Boss,” Evie said as she walked in, followed by Meredith. “Wow, you do need help,” she observed, her eyes looking over the apartment. “Hi, Luna,” she said with a wave.

  “How was your date?” Meredith added, flashing Luna a wink.

  She blushed. “It went well.”

  “I bet.”

  “Evie’s dad owns a furniture store,” Killian explained. “I figured she’d be able to help you pick out some good stuff.”

  “And I’m here to help you spend my brother’s money,” Meredith cackled. “We’ll make a dent in his bank account.”

  Killian chuckled. “You can try. Just make sure you get good furniture. I want sturdy pieces that will last a long time.” He walked back to Luna and gave her a kiss. “I’ll be back tonight. See you then.”

  After he’d left, Meredith handed Luna more clothes from Jade. Some of them still had tags on, but the Lycan assured her that Jade had simply grown too large before she could wear them. She accepted them gratefully and went to the bedroom to change.

  ***

  Evie came prepared with a list of furniture shops, and soon they were making their way to the first one on her list.

  “Oh, this is nice,” Luna said as she sank into soft, buttery leather of one of the sectional sofas. They were at a high-end home theater store on the Upper East Side which Evie recommended as the best one in the city. She looked around trying to find a price tag and when she couldn’t find one, knew the store stocked only serious furniture.

  “Do you like it?” Evie asked.

  “Yes, but it must cost way too much.”

  “Killian wanted the best,” Meredith said, plopping down next to her. “Ohhhh…” she moaned, rubbing her hands over the leather. “Oh yeah, we’ll take this one.”

  Evie called the sales assistant over to help them and after a few words, the assistant took her to the back office to arrange the sale and delivery.

  “I don’t know why I’m the one making the decisions,” Luna said. “Killian should be doing this. Why is he sending us out to do his shopping for him?”

  Meredith gave her a knowing grin. “Seriously?”

  She frowned. “What? I know he’s busy. I mean, the decor in his place is pretty sad and I get that he hasn’t had time to do it himself. But surely he could pick stuff out from a website or something.”

  “Right.”

  The next store they went to were suppliers of upscale home décor. Luna had a lot of fun checking out the possibilities, reminding her of the time she was shopping for her apartment back in Portland. While a pang of sadness hit her at the loss of her old life, she somehow couldn’t muster up the anger and hate she used to feel towards Killian. Is this what being in love was like? She wouldn’t know, having never felt it before. In fact, she’d never had such intense feelings for anyone as she did for Killian.

  “Earth to Luna,” Meredith said, waving her hand.

  “Oh sorry,” she answered in a flustered voice. “I was thinking of something else.”

  “Thinking of last night?” Meredith said, wiggling her eyebrows. “Oh please. Spare me the details. I mean it—really. Don’t tell me anything because he’s my brother and that’s just gross.”

  Luna chuckled. “I won’t.”

  “Meredith, Luna,” Evie called. She had walked ahead to another section of the room but backtracked. “Come here.”

  The two women followed, moving into the other room. Luna gasped, her eyes scanning the room. It was the nursery section and it was filled with cribs, bassinets, changing tables, rocking chairs, and other baby furniture. Seeing it all made something in her break and she began to sob.

  “It’s okay, it’s okay,” Meredith soothed, putting an arm around her.

  “Oh my God, Luna, I’m sorry,” Evie cried. “Did I do something wrong? I just assumed—”

  “Pregnancy hormones,” Meredith assured the younger woman. “Could you give us a minute? Why don’t we meet you in the dining room section?”

  The brunette nodded and hurried away, leaving the two women alone.

  “What’s wrong, honey?” Meredith asked.

  “I…I…” Luna wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. What could she say? Her entire situation had suddenly hit her like an oncoming freight train. Her life was in shambles—no job, no home, baby on the way, and Killian? Well, that was a whole other mess. She shouldn’t have gone out with him last night, nor slept with him. That small bit of normalcy had been what she needed, but now she was more confused than ever. Aside from the baby and sex, what did Killian want with her? What did she want from him?

  Luna took a deep breath. “Like you said. Hormones.”

  Meredith looked at the nursery display. “It’s all a bit much if you ask me. C’mon, let’s get out of here.”

  ***

  Sebastian Creed frowned as Killian relayed what had happened when those men came for Luna. The former Marine-turned-CEO was obviously not happy that someone was able to breach one of his offices.

  “You need to find out what happened, Killian,” Sebastian said.

  “We will,” he vowed. “We can’t let any of our competitors know we were easily attacked like that.”

  “Yes, that too. But I mean you have to find out whoever’s trying to kidnap your mate,” Sebastian added. “If your woman and pup are in danger, you have to put a stop to it. Use whatever means necessary. You have the office’s resources at your disposal,” he said as he stood up. “I have to go back. I’ll make sure not to schedule you to go on longer trips until you have this thing sorted out.”

  “Thanks, Sebastian,” he said as he stood up. “I’ll see you around.”

  “Yeah, and Jade wants me to tell you that you guys are coming over for dinner some night. She and Meredith won’t stop talking about your Luna.” He grinned. “And I wanna see this girl who’s gotten you wound up tighter than a monkey’s nuts.”

  Killian chuckled. “Will do.” He walked Sebastian out, promising to set a date when they could all have dinner. Closing the door behind him, he leaned back and closed his eyes.

  “Killian, I need to show you something.”

  Killian’s eyes flew open. Quinn’s voice was serious, a rare occurrence. The expression on his face was grave, which made him even more edgy. Beside him, Connor looked grimmer than his usual self. “What is it?”

  “Let’s go to your office.”

  He followed his brothers down the hallway, and shut the door behind him. Quinn set up his pad on the table. “I found some footage. Of the hit and run on Luna.”

  Killian gritted his teeth. “Play it.”

  Quinn tapped the screen and a grainy video popped up. There weren’t any details, but he could see the figure in the dark coat crossing the street, and all of a sudden, a dark sedan came from nowhere and hit the figure, sending it flying to the sidewalk.

  “Turn it off!” His inner wolf was snarling and raking its claws at his insides. He could feel it want to escape again and tear everything in sight.

  “What the fuck were you thinking?” Connor growled.

  “It’s evidence,” Quinn said. “It was obvious it wasn’t an accident. That car meant to run into Luna. I have more footage of it waiting about a block down.”

  Killian let out a roar and slammed his palms on his desk so hard it left a dent. He took deep breaths, trying to keep the wolf at bay. We’ll get him, he promised the wolf. And when we do, you can do what you want.

  Heartbeats passed and finally, Killian felt calm enough to speak. “We need to find out who’s behind this.” He looked at Quinn. “I need to you to do a complete background check on Luna. We need to find out who’s trying to kidnap her.”

  “Consider it done,” he said.

  “Good.”

  “What do you want me to do?” C
onnor asked.

  “Nothing yet,” Killian said. “But when the time comes…”

  “I’ll be there,” the other Lycan replied as he stood up.

  “Where are you going?” Killian asked.

  “Out.” The door slammed with a loud bang as Connor left.

  “What the fuck is wrong with him?”

  Quinn shrugged. “What the fuck isn’t wrong with him?”

  He shook his head and stood up. “I’m going home. Lock up when you’re done, will ya?”

  “Sure thing. Say hi to Luna for me.”

  Killian grabbed his jacket and headed to the parking garage. He hated driving in Manhattan, but he supposed he should get used to it. It was the middle of winter and Killian didn’t want Luna to be taking the subway or cabs anywhere so from now on, he’d be driving her wherever she wanted to go. Plus, he got too antsy having to wait for public transport to get home. He wanted to be with Luna as soon as possible.

  The traffic going uptown wasn’t too bad and soon he arrived at his building. As he walked out of the elevator, his keen senses picked up some noise from his apartment, something he wasn’t used to. It immediately made his wolf go on alert, but when he heard feminine voices, he let his guard down. Another thing to get used to, he supposed, but coming home to a noisy apartment was something he was looking forward to. It was sneaky of him to keep Luna in his home and make her buy his furniture, but what was he supposed to do? The damned woman was stubborn and proud, so he had no other choice but to move her in by stealth.

  Killian unlocked the door and walked inside, listening to the woman chatting.

  “Just you wait until it’s your turn, Evie,” Meredith giggled.

  “Uh, no thanks,” his admin said. “I mean, not yet. Maybe someday. But I’m trying to focus on my career for now.”

  Luna, Meredith, and Evie were sitting around a new coffee table which was piled with takeout boxes from the Indian restaurant around the corner. The two pregnant women had demolished most of the food while Evie picked at the plate of salad in front of her. Meredith pushed a container of naan at her.

  “No thanks, I have to watch my figure,” she added, wrinkling her nose.

  “A certain someone didn’t have a problem with your figure the other day,” Luna giggled and Evie’s cheeks pinked.

  “What? Who?” Meredith’s eyes darted from Luna to Evie. “What did I miss?”

  “Don’t you say it!” Evie warned.

  “Well, I’m glad you’re enjoying yourselves,” Killian remarked as he entered the room.

  “Killian,” Luna greeted as she struggled to get up. He immediately went to her, placed his arms under hers and pulled her to her feet.

  “Luna,” he breathed, taking in her scent and pulling her close. It calmed him, calmed his wolf and holding her made the image of her body bouncing on the pavement disappear from his mind. Luna was here, she was alive.

  “Do you like your furniture? Evie made sure they all arrived today.”

  “It’s great. Thank you for getting that done.” He bit his lip to stop himself from saying it wasn’t just his furniture, but he buried his face in her hair instead. As he scanned the room, he saw that they had indeed gone to town, though he couldn’t help but observe how everything was so masculine, from the brown leather couch to the wood console table in the corner, down to the maroon striped carpet. It was nice to have furniture again, but it looked too much like a bachelor pad. He would have liked a splash of color, maybe some of those doilies or blankets or whatever the hell women used to make things homier. He supposed though, as soon as Luna realized she was here to stay, she could redecorate to her heart’s content.

  “Great job, Evie,” he said to his admin. He made a mental note to add a nice bonus to her next paycheck. Seeing Luna happy and laughing was worth it.

  “Thanks, Boss!” She got to her feet. “I’ll head out now. Thanks for the meal, guys,” she waved as she headed for the front door.

  “We definitely made a dent in your bank account,” Meredith said as she reached for another samosa. “Luna has great taste.”

  Killian let go of Luna and grabbed the savory pastry from his sister, raising it high above his head.

  “Hey, I was eating that!” She stood up and tried to grab it from him.

  “Mer, you’re my sister, and I love you,” Killian said, “but you need to leave Luna and me alone now.”

  “Fine,” she said when she snatched the samosa. She popped it into her mouth, chewed and swallowed it. “But I’m taking the naan with me.” Meredith grabbed the last unopened takeout box. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Luna.”

  “That was rude,” she said as Meredith left.

  “I needed to have you all to myself,” he said, the urgency in his voice surprising him. He hated leaving her, especially after last night. He’d asked Meredith to stick to her from now on and while he was glad for his sister’s help, he knew she would never leave if he didn’t kick her out.

  Luna let out a small yelp when he lifted her up into his arms. He sat down on the new sofa, sinking into the soft leather and positioning her so she straddled his lap. “Hmmmm…nice…”

  “I thought you’d like the couch.” She pushed aside a lock of dark hair that had fallen over his forehead.

  “Yeah, that’s nice too,” he said as he brought her head down, crushing her lips to his. She sighed against him, pressing her body to his. God, she was magnificent, and he had missed just being next to her all these months. Her body had changed, yes, but she was silly if she thought he was turned off. He’d never wanted her more and it seemed so natural to see her body change as she grew their baby inside of her. A wave of possessive urgency swept through him, thinking of her confession this morning. Not that he could blame her if she sought out other lovers, but knowing she was completely and only his pleased that primal part of him.

  “Killian,” she gasped when he grabbed the bottom of her sweater dress and pulled it over her head. She wasn’t wearing the lingerie from last night, but the pretty pink bra she had on now looked just as good. He unclasped the front hook, freeing her full breasts and sealed his mouth around a taut nipple. As his tongue lashed against the bud, she began to grind against him, sending all the blood from his brain to his cock. He could smell her arousal, the scent mixing with her delicious cinnamon pastry smell and he had to get inside her now.

  “Luna,” he said, putting his hands on her hips. “Slow down just a bit, sweetheart.”

  Her pouty pink lips parted and he thought of those times she had been on her knees, taking his cock in her wet mouth. One time, she blew him right in her office during lunchtime with all her coworkers just on the other side of her door. Killian groaned, his erection pressing against his jeans so hard it was painful. He quickly unbuckled his belt and popped the buttons on his jeans. His cock sprang free and Luna’s soft palm wrapped around his length.

  “Sweetheart,” he moaned as she began to stroke him. His head rolled back and he closed his eyes. He let her jerk him off for a while, but when he was getting close, he had to stop her. “I need to be inside you.”

  “Yes,” she moaned, and quickly discarded her leggings. When she tried to pull her panties down, he grabbed the scrap of lace and ripped them off then impaled her on his cock. She let out a soft cry as he began to fill her. He gritted his teeth as her slick passage wrapped around him, enveloping him. Gripping her waist, he pulled her down more and thrust up, making her yelp and dig her fingers into his scalp.

  “Fuck, you feel so good on me,” he gasped.

  Luna threw her head back unable to speak as he continued to fuck into her tight little pussy and bringing her down on his cock at the same time. Her arms wound around his head, as if holding on for dear life. Her hot and wet cunt sucked at him, but he was desperate to hang on until she had her pleasure.

  “Cum…for…me…sweetheart…”

  “Killian, oh,” Her body began to convulse, and her pussy fluttered around him, squeezing him tight. Hold on,
he told himself. Just a few seconds more.

  “Luna!” he called out as he pushed up as deep as he could go, emptying himself into her. He buried his face into her neck, nipping at her skin. That sent her shivering around him again, and her body shook with another orgasm.

  She relaxed against him, her ragged breathing slowly becoming even as the seconds ticked by. “That was…” she whispered against his shoulder.

  He smiled into her hair and then brought his hand between them, where their bodies were still joined. His fingers rubbed at her slick lips, still covered in her juices and his cum. “I know baby. And we’re not done yet.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Killian was once again reluctant to leave her the next day, but he had to. Meredith arrived early, bringing more “borrowed clothes from Jade” that he had instructed her to buy. He hated lying to Luna, but his hands were tied. She was too proud to take his money, but it was obvious that she was in need of clothes. The maternity outfits she had in her closet at her apartment were all too small and threadbare. Besides, he loved seeing her in those sexy sweater dresses that showed off her curves and baby bump.

  He kissed her goodbye and gave Meredith a playful scratch on the head like he used to do when she was little. As he drove to work, he vowed he would find whoever was trying to harm Luna and his child soon.

  “Are you sure you’re ready for this?” Quinn asked as they all sat around the small meeting room at the Lone Wolf offices.

  Killian paused. When he and Luna had first met, he had toyed with the idea of doing a background check on her, but resisted. He wasn’t out to use her to steal the tapestry at that time after all, plus he didn’t want to invade her privacy. But, he supposed this was for a good cause. “Yes. Go ahead.”

  “Luna Rhoades,” Quinn began as he pulled up the information on his tablet PC. “Twenty-five years old. Former place of employment, Portland Museum of Art. She was terminated four months ago following the theft of the famed Gastlava Tapestry.” His brother raised an eyebrow at him.