Chapter 12 – *Shifter Romance*

Kaitlin awoke early the next morning and slid out of bed, trying not to wake Rhys who was spooned around her. She slipped out of his arms and heard him mutter in his sleep as he reached out to pull her back against him but she quickly rolled from the bed to her feet and paused, watching him. He shifted restlessly for a second before stilling, soft snores leaving him.

She smiled and snatched up the clothes she’d arrived in yesterday realising she hadn’t grabbed anything else before they’d left her parents’ house.

She’d have to shop. She couldn’t wear the same things all the time. Kaitlin grimaced at the thought as she pulled the t-shirt over her head before tugging the jeans on too.

Creeping on silent feet across the room she let herself out into the hallway and headed to the far door. Listening at the door, she didn’t hear anything and crept inside, her bladder ready to burst as she hurried to the toilet.

Flushing the toilet she washed her hands and then headed back out to the corridor, stopping halfway through the door when she saw Brent heading her way.

A slightly silly grin curved his lips as he gave her a respectful nod, “Morning.”

“Morning,” she replied.

“I heard you had a good time last night,” he teased, his grin turning into a full-fledged smile. Kaitlin’s cheeks flamed and she pressed one warm cheek to the cool wood of the door. “Both of you actually, judging from the noises I heard.” She groaned audibly and dropped her head forward, then heard his light chuckle as he grew closer. “Don’t be embarrassed, Kaitlin. It’s great to see him happy again; you’re obviously good for him.”

The bedroom door opened and Rhys stepped out in nothing but some hastily pulled on jeans that were almost indecently low on his hips. He relaxed when he saw her, “Breakfast?”

She nodded and followed after him down the corridor to the kitchen while Brent slipped into the bathroom.

Her gaze swept from side to side as she tried to take in everything at once in the ultra-modern, state of the art kitchen. It was huge with a black marble countertop running in a U shape with a large island in the middle where there was a six ring stove.

Rhys opened cupboards pulling out two skillets which he placed on the counter top. Then he bent and pulled open another door and grabbed a carton of eggs and several packets of bacon and sausages.

Ten minutes later, the three of them were sat at the breakfast bar, talking as they ate.

“So what’s our next move going to be?” Brent asked as he forked up a whole sausage and brought it to his mouth.

Kaitlin smiled despite herself as she glanced at the food piled on their plates. The guys each had eight sausages, twelve rashers of bacon and five fried eggs. She hadn’t wanted so much food and had the remaining four sausages, six rashers of bacon and two eggs with a good squirt of brown sauce.

“We should talk to the council members. See what they all think of their esteemed leader. If they seem derogatory we ask for their help if not we leave them alone. All we really need is a majority vote.”

“My father likely has something on each of them,” she cautioned, cutting her bacon in half. Kaitlin felt both of their gazes on her and glanced up. “What?”

“You have a point,” Rhys said.

She rolled her eyes. Of course she did.

“So what do we do instead?” Brent asked.

Tilting her head, she thought about it. “I imagine my father has pissed off a lot of people over the years. Why don’t we find them; band together?”

The two men shared a look and then Brent nodded slightly. Then he turned back to her. They must have been having a silent conversation; something unique to the wolf shifters. “It’s not a bad plan. Can you think of anyone in particular?”

Several names ran through her mind and she dismissed most of them but one in particular stood out.

Malachi.

He was a cat shifter, a jaguar like her father. They’d been close when she was younger; one of the few boys not scared of her father. It had been him who had taken her virginity at the age of seventeen and for that he’d been made an outcast of the clan at the hands of her dad. It had basically happened overnight and no-one really understood why but they’d never questioned the ruling. That had been over six years ago and he’d never caused any trouble since then; or before he’d been exiled if she remembered correctly.

“Malachi Dawson. My father exiled him from the clan several years ago.”

“On what grounds?”

Blood rushed to her cheeks and she dropped her gaze to her plate as she answered to avoid Rhys’ probing gaze. “Deflowering his daughter.”

A tense silence fell at the table and she chanced a glance up to see Rhys’ jaw was clenched tight and his hands were fisted around the knife and fork he was holding, the metal beginning to bend in his grip. His eyes were glowing fierce amber and she could have sworn he was growling low in his throat.

Brent was watching him carefully. “Mentioning your ex’s might not be such a good idea after last night, Kaitlin.”

She nodded, her gaze intent on Rhys’ face. It must have been the marking that was bringing out the baser instinct in him.

Almost without thought she reached up to the bite mark just visible at the neckline of her t-shirt. Rhys’ gaze shot to her fingers and the mark he’d left there this morning, almost like he’d felt the touch of her fingers. His eyes flared hot, reminding her that she belonged to him now and she nodded in agreement.

It took a few minutes before his fingers began to uncurl from the metal cutlery and then the rest of him followed, deflating like a balloon. He let out a shuddering breath, “I agree.”

“Do you know where to find M—him?” He asked, avoiding mentioning Malachi’s name.

Kaitlin nudged the food around on her plate with her knife, “The last I heard he was hanging out at The Iron Pit a lot but I’ve never seen him there.”

“The shifter bar?”

She nodded and chanced another glance up.

Rhys had calmed down considerably and had resumed eating his breakfast, though it seemed difficult with his bent cutlery.

“We’ll head out later and see if we can find him,” Rhys said calmly.

Brent glanced across at him, “Just us three or should I call in some of the pack?”

“The fewer the better, I think.”

After that they finished their meal in silence. Brent got up and left the room for some task, while Kaitlin picked up the plates and put them in the sink to wash. For some reason, she needed to be doing something, anything. Turning on the tap she filled the sink with hot water.

Warm breath tickled her neck as Rhys sighed. “I know I messed up earlier, Cat. And I’m sorry. But like Brent said, it probably wasn’t the best time to mention ex-lovers when we marked each other last night.” His fingers lightly grazed the mark at the base of her neck and she shivered.

“I’m sorry, too,” she whispered.

He sighed and she felt the press of his lips to her shoulder. “So, what shall we do this morning?”

Reaching out she turned off the tap and then spun to wrap her arms around his neck. “I could actually do with some clothes, since I ran away without any.”

Rhys smiled at her indulgently. “You can have whatever you want. Where would you like to go?”

Kaitlin thought for a few seconds and then shrugged. “Wherever’s closest. Clothes are clothes after all.”

A puff of air left him as he laughed. “You really are one of a kind, aren’t you?”

“I’d like to think so,” she teased.

Shaking his head, he led her from the room. “Brent? We’re heading out to shop. Alone!” And with that, he slammed out of the suite and hurried her to the lift.

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Kaitlin giggled as Rhys attempted to shove her jeans down her thighs in the small confines of the changing room cubicle. His fingers slid off the denim as he tugged and his elbow hit the cubicle wall with a bang. He swore heatedly under his breath and she giggled even louder.

“Rhys, this is impossible,” she whispered through her laughter.

“No it isn’t. We are having sex in here,” he vowed.

This was only the third shop she’d entered and he’d been asking her to model the clothes for him since the first. She had done, giving it her all, and it had turned him on, big time. Kaitlin hadn’t even picked up anything to try on in this shop before he’d dragged her into the changing rooms and started undressing her.

Grabbing her waist, he spun her around until her back was to him and then roughly shoved the jeans down to her knees. He moved in behind her and ran his hands up and down her sides lightly. Her breath hitched and she reached out to steady herself against the mirror. From her position she could see the way his eyes smouldered as he took in her body. His index finger ran down her spine and her skin erupted in goose bumps.

“You are so beautiful,” he whispered.

His hands left her and she glanced over her shoulder to see him undoing the buttons on his jeans. Greedily she watched as he freed his erection from the denim. Rhys foot nudged her legs wider and she readily spread them.

Then she felt his fingers run up the inside of her thighs and her legs trembled, going weak. When they reached the apex of her thighs he let out an appreciative noise to find her wet and didn’t wait any time, thrusting into her. A gasp left her lips and she braced her hands better against the mirror as he began to move inside her.

It was impossible to smother her moans of pleasure and Rhys didn’t even try as he picked up the pace.

Minutes later they came and Kaitlin covered her mouth to try and smother her scream while Rhys growled into her throat.

Someone knocked on the door, “Hello? There best only be one person in there!” The matronly voice sounded scandalized and Kaitlin bit her lip to stop her laughter.

Rhys tucked himself back in his trousers and then gently tugged her jeans back up her thighs. Spinning her to face him, he lightly brushed her hair into place and then unlocked the door.

The shop assistant’s mouth dropped open when she saw them leave the room and then opened and closed like a fish out of water as Rhys led them past her and out to the main shop.

Surely they weren’t the first couple to get amorous in the changing rooms? Or maybe just the first she’d caught?

Kaitlin laughed as she linked her fingers with Rhys’.