Two days later, Andorra crested a hill and looked down at a bubbling pool of water. Water, not lava. Cautiously she slid down the inside of the slope, stopping at a rocky ledge just above the steaming water. Andorra sat on the ledge entranced by the steam, then rolled up the sleeve of her sweatshirt and dipped the tips of her fingers in the water, wondering whether it would be caustic or burning. Instead it felt like regular hot water out of a faucet. She leaned farther over, dipping her entire hand in the water and leaving it there for several minutes. But still the water seemed perfectly harmless. She flicked her tongue over one finger tasting the wetness. Yep, it tasted normal. Just like regular warm water.
“Oh wow. A hot tub. A natural hot tub.” Andorra shrugged her pack off her back, then unlaced her boots and removed them before stripping out of her filthy jeans and grimy sweatshirt. She stepped into the hot pool, standing with the water only just above her ankles to ensure the pool didn’t suddenly drop away under her feet or get burning hot, then took a few more paces into the water. The bottom of the pool was rock and curved gradually into the center, rather like a bowl. She kneeled down a few times, finally settling in a place where the water came up to her neck.
“This’s so good. I’m so glad I came here.”
The hot water relaxed all her muscles, soothing scrapes and pains Andorra hadn’t even realized she’d had. After a while she explored the entire hollow sitting in various places and finally stopping again where she could stretch her entire body right out, her neck leaning on a rock and the rest of her floating gently in the water.
Her hunger, her lack of home and family, her need for a job before winter arrived, all dropped away from her and she dozed and floated peacefully in this heavenly place.
* * * *
As Alpha of the Hot Springs Wolves, Kingston was used to women pursuing him and begging him to be their Master. Of course, ninety percent of them weren’t really interested in the BDSM lifestyle. What they wanted was half a dozen light spanks to their ass and a thousand-dollar diamond ring on their finger. Five years ago he’d moved the management of the pack transportation business from the city to the mountains where he didn’t have to meet up with anyone other than pack members unless he chose to. It was the best decision of his life, even though it meant he’d had to put off finding his mate indefinitely.
But even that had been a good decision. He and Raleigh had agreed to share a human woman when they found one prepared to be a true sub to them both. Although so far, the gold diggers who wanted him weren’t interested in being involved in a ménage. Well that was fine. He needed a sub who would obey his every command without complaining or attempting to think or argue. A woman who could trust him with every aspect of her life. Not some party girl who only wanted to spend his money and was prepared to let him tie her up occasionally as long as she kept hold of his credit card.
Yeah, maybe he was a little bitter and too hard on some of the women, but fucking hell. He’d had zero success at finding one he thought even worth taking up into the mountains. And now that he was living at the hot springs again, only visiting the city when he had to for pack business, he was even less likely to find a woman. Maybe it was time to send Raleigh out for a few weeks. Let him tour a couple states, drum up some more business for the company, wine and dine some fat cats, and check out the available females while he did that.
Kingston stretched his back, standing up from his computer and wiggling his shoulders then doing some knee bends as he looked out the floor-to-ceiling, triple-glazed window. When he said the pack lived in the caves at the hot springs, party princesses stared at him in horror, obviously picturing rough rock walls and dirt floors. Well, maybe the caves had been like that a couple hundred years ago, but not in his lifetime. The dungeons did indeed have the original rock walls, although the floor was stone, not dirt.
But the pack lived in a three-story building at the top of the mountain, with solid stone walls and every modern convenience, including central heating and cooling, the Internet, and some of the hot springs themselves in the basement next to the dungeons. On the roof of the building was the helipad and the helicopter they used for fast travel to the major towns in this and the three neighboring states where the pack companies did their business.
An added bonus to living here was not having to guard his tongue all the time. Out in the world the pack never admitted they were werewolf shape-shifters. Hell, mostly they didn’t even mention BDSM or ménages either. But the biggest secret was their shape-shifter status. The real world was full of people who either didn’t believe shape-shifters existed or else feared them and were disgusted by them. Neither response was good for business. So they used the term company instead of pack, and CEO instead of Alpha. But nothing changed who and what they were. He was Master Kingston, BDSM Dom, and Alpha of the Hot Springs Wolf Pack.