“I want ‘us’ to work, too.” She whispered back, pressing a soft kiss to his hand, before wrapping her other arm around him and resting her cheek on his chest.
*****
Elise skipped down the stairs the next morning. It was a beautiful day, even if the sky was grey and overcast. Last night had been incredible and its afterglow was transferring to her whole day. Kane had made love to her, not just had sex. It had been slow and sweet, everything she had ever imagined. Skilfully, he’d made her come over and over, gently stroking and caressing every inch of her, all the while whispering tender words into her ear. While he hadn’t initiated a blood-bond, she was sure he was close. His teeth had grazed her neck several times and he’d seemed on the verge of saying something, only to draw back. At one point, she’d considered mentioning it, but then he’d used his wickedly talented fingers to distract her...
Never mind, it would be soon she consoled herself. She could tell. A secret smile played over her lips; her heat would likely start tomorrow or the next day. Surely then Kane would lose his reserve. Already she was feeling so much closer to him. What would it be like to be blood-bonded and to be privileged to have a sense of his actual thoughts and feelings? An excited shiver ran through her at the very idea.
Impulsively, she turned towards his office instead of the kitchen, which had been her original destination. She rapped lightly on the door and popped her head in. He was just hanging up the phone and looked more than a little frustrated. The smile left her face and she walked over resting her hands on his shoulders. “You look like you lost your last best friend. What’s wrong?”
He leaned back against her and sighed. “You know the environmental report I was telling you about? The one I thought I’d misplaced yesterday? Well, I found it this morning and read it over, but it’s not nearly as positive as I’d been led to believe it would be.”
“You mean the land isn’t environmentally significant?”
“No, the report doesn’t negate the fact the area is of interest, but it doesn’t say anything about it being endangered if the oil drilling were to occur.” Kane rubbed his eyes. “I don’t get it. Chloe and the people at the university knew what we needed in the report and had sounded so positive when we’d met, but this reads like a whole section has been left out.”
“Could someone have forgotten to print out part of the report?”
“I suppose it’s possible. Maybe I’ll give Chloe a call and ask her about it.” He shrugged his shoulders as if trying to ease the tension and she began to knead the tight muscles. “To top things off, I just finished talking with our lawyers. Apparently, Northern Oil has already gotten wind of our having a study done. Now they want their own people to do another assessment because they question the validity of our experts.”
“But how did they find out so fast?”
“I don’t know. Only a few of us in the Alpha house knew about it. Maybe someone at the university let it slip.”
“Does it really matter? I mean, won’t another assessment show the same thing? It could even help if their own people come up with similar findings.”
“That’s not how these companies work. Their ‘experts’ will make sure the report is favourable to the company that hired them. Studies and statistics can always be reworded and twisted around so they seem to support whatever point of view you want.”
“So it comes down to our word against theirs.”
“Pretty much—the courts will have to look at the qualifications of the ‘experts’, check previous work done by them, their educational background, even how much they will profit by the report. It’s a long drawn out process and can get really petty.” Kane turned in his chair and pulled her down into his lap, nuzzling her neck. “But enough of that. Your incredibly talented fingers have managed to transfer the tension in my shoulders to an entirely different location.”
“After last night, I don’t know how you could possibly need—”
“Elise, when I’m around you I always need.” He laughed seductively and his hands crept up from her hips to cup her breasts, caressing the soft flesh until her nipples peaked. She could feel his desire pressing against her through the denim material of his pants and wiggled slightly, eliciting a low growl from him. He picked her up and moved her so that she was straddling him and his hands pushed their way under her shirt, while his mouth locked onto hers. Their tongues battled for dominance as Elise raked her fingers across his scalp. How could he make her so hot, so fast? Finally, she had to pull back, gasping for air and that was when she noticed the phone was ringing.