Leader of the Pack (The Dogfather Book 3) Page 12

  His heart slammed against her chest, the steady, rapid beat of a man losing control as his blood and body took over.

  She lifted one more inch and closed the space, making their mouths touch. As if she’d flipped a switch, he gripped her harder, opening his mouth to kiss her so thoroughly, she literally felt the room spin.

  His lips were raw authority, taking ownership and the lead. The kiss seared, so much hotter than she’d expected, but tender, too. Loving, even. He moaned softly, the sound coming from his chest…from his heart.

  You stole my soul.

  The words echoed in her head, as powerful as the kiss, making her reel with what they meant.

  She didn’t want his soul. She wanted his body and this kiss and the promise of a night that would satisfy her every need. She wanted these hands that slowly threaded through her hair, then slid down her chest and over the thin top she wore. She wanted his help and his support and his patience and concern. She wanted Liam on her own terms.

  And that was the most unfair thing she could do.

  He whispered her name, lost now, dragging his mouth over her jaw and throat, his breath ragged and his body rock hard.

  “Liam.” She tried to say they should stop, but the word wouldn’t come to her lips. Instead, those silent lips opened and kissed him again, letting his tongue curl around hers, tickling the roof of her mouth and sending sparks to every nerve ending in her body.

  His hands roamed her back and hips, teased over her rear end, pressing their bodies even closer with nothing but thin cotton separating them.

  Need rolled through her, blinding her, silencing her when she knew…she knew like she knew her own name…that this would mean more to him than to her. So much more. Too much more.

  You stole my soul.

  She didn’t even know what to do with this man’s soul, and she had to stop this before they were tripping up the stairs and ripping these bits of clothes off.

  He eased his hand under her tank top, groaning as he palmed her skin and grazed her breast.

  She had to stop. Say it, Andi. Just say stop and everything would. Just say…

  “Zimmer,” she whispered.

  He instantly froze and grunted so softly, like she’d pulled the plug and all the power zinging through him went out. His head was down, his mouth nestled on her neck, his hands still claiming her waist and breast.

  “You heard the code word,” he said gruffly.

  “I can’t. Liam, I can’t.”

  Very slowly, he lifted his head to look at her. His eyes were black, fiery hot, and intense. He didn’t say a word.

  “I don’t want to steal your soul again.”

  He closed his eyes like he’d been shot. “I didn’t think that’s what we were doing.”

  “It’s where this will take us.”

  He let out a long, agonizing sigh and carefully removed his hands from under her top, tugging it back into place, his gaze averted. “Ah, yes. The Andi Rivers Relationship Progression chart. Should have checked it first.”

  “Liam.”

  “No.” His hands on her shoulders, he inched her to the side. “No talking necessary. This won’t happen again.”

  Without another word, he stepped away, out of the kitchen, up the stairs…gone.

  Andi stood stone-still, staring into the soft kitchen light, sexual vibrations still pulsing through her body like electric shockwaves.

  At the sound of a footstep, she turned to the doorway to see Jag studying her with that same intense silence she’d seen in his owner. He barked once and put his head down, taking a few steps closer. She reached to pet him, and he dipped a little, accepting affection and offering a little of his own.

  Like he totally understood what an enigma Liam Kilcannon was. Closing her fingers over his collar, she nudged him along with her so he followed her up to the third floor and spent the rest of the night on the landing outside her door.

  Guarding her from Liam…or making sure she stayed right where she should at night.

  Alone.

  Chapter Eleven

  Just to complicate his already complicated life, Liam had two new K-9 trainees who had arrived from the Baltimore PD. Both dogs were currently with Molly getting a routine check, so he headed into the small vet’s office, grabbing coffee in the reception area before wandering back to her examination room.

  “Hey, Doc,” he said, stepping through the open door. “Came to meet my new students.”

  “You’re going to love these two,” Molly said without looking up from the large black and tan Belgian Malinois on the exam table. “This is Fritz, who I can tell right now is going to be a dream to train. Good-hearted, eager, ready to please. And that’s his sister Zelda, who’s got nothing but attitude.”

  From the corner where she’d curled up, Zelda looked up without lifting her head, as if she couldn’t bear to show too much interest in the new guy. Fritz stood at attention, turning to Liam with his head raised like the eager two-year-old he was.

  “Hey, Fritz.” He gave the dog’s neck a scratch, instantly seeing an intelligence in the deep brown eyes that meant Molly was dead-on about training. His big tail swooshed as he lifted his head and offered more of his neck. “You’re a good boy, I can tell.”

  On the floor, Zelda picked up her head and turned it the other way, making Molly laugh softly. “There’s one in every family, right?”

  He set his coffee cup away from the action and crouched down to pet Zelda. She definitely got all the beauty in the litter, with a golden coat and black-tipped ears and a long, lean snout designed for sniffing out bad stuff. The whole package made for a dramatic-looking dog, and she appeared to have the diva attitude to go with it, not even flipping her tail once.

  He fluttered his fingers under her jaw, knowing it was a tender and responsive spot for this breed.

  He got a major dog sigh of disinterest in response.

  “Don’t worry,” Molly said, brushing back one of her wayward dark curls, humor sparking in eyes that hovered between brown and green, exactly the color of Mom’s. “She’ll be panting after you and doing whatever you ask in a week.”

  “If only that were true with two-legged creatures,” he mused under his breath.

  Molly didn’t answer right away, her concentration on the stethoscope she had against Fritz’s thick chest. Nodding, she flipped the device out of her ears and onto the shoulders of her white vet’s coat. “Andi?”

  He looked up, still rubbing Zelda’s head and neck. “Going right there, are you?”

  “If there’s one thing I know about you, Liam, it’s that you don’t make idle conversation. If you say something, it’s for a reason. So, spill it to your little sister and see if I can help.”

  For a moment, he eyed Molly, appreciating so much about this thirty-three-year-old woman who ran two veterinarian offices, raised a daughter alone, and somehow managed to be the sounding board and true friend to anyone in the family who needed one. She was closer than all of her brothers to their father, and as the older of the two Kilcannon girls, Molly had gracefully stepped into their departed mother’s shoes and filled a maternal role on holidays and at gatherings.

  And weddings.

  “There’s nothing to help with,” he said. “Except this shindig on Saturday.”

  She laughed, choking a little. “Shindig? It’s your wedding.”

  “It is not,” he fired back, a little more vehemently than necessary. “It’s a favor to a friend and absolutely nothing more, not a bit.”

  “Me thinks my brother doth protest too much.”

  He started to argue, but took a big gulp of hot coffee and fried his mouth. He smacked his tongue against the roof of his mouth like it deserved the punishment for being so damn out of control last night.

  “Not to mention that you look like hell.” Molly squinted at him the way she’d look at a very sick puppy. “You sleep last night?”

  “Not much. Jag and I stayed at Andi’s.”

  Both brows sh
ot up. “Oh, so those aren’t bags of agony under your eyes.”

  They sure as hell were. He put the coffee down, crossing his arms and pretending to study the dog on the table, but thinking about all the unanswered questions plaguing him today.

  Slowly, he pushed off the counter and shifted his attention to Molly. “Is it Pru that keeps you from getting involved with anyone?” he asked, referencing the now thirteen-year-old Molly was raising alone. Well, as alone as anyone could be in this huge family. She’d never married, and Pru’s father, whose identity was the world’s most closely guarded secret, was obviously not in the picture.

  Molly frowned as she carefully opened Fritz’s mouth and examined his teeth. “Having a child makes getting involved with a man pretty thorny, if that’s what you’re asking.”

  “But you would, right? If a decent guy came along.”

  “Decent being the most important word you used,” she said, peering at the back molars. “You better wear a thick bite sleeve with this one.”

  He nodded, appreciating the dog’s teeth, but much more interested in what his sister just said. “I’m decent.”

  She turned to him with a get real look. “You are so past decent, you’re in the ZIP code of perfection. That’s probably why she’s terrified.”

  One of the vet techs walked by, her sneakers squeaking on the tile floor outside the exam room. Liam reached to the door and closed it soundlessly, surprised at how much he really did want to have this conversation with Molly. “She’s terrified of this woman taking Christian,” he said. “That’s the only thing that matters to her.”

  “Can you blame her?”

  “Of course not. But for me, other things matter.” He exhaled noisily. “I’m confused.”

  Molly lifted Fritz’s left paw and turned it over to see the pad. “Confused, Fritz?” she whispered. “I think my brother is in love.”

  Dear God, was it that freaking obvious? Wasn’t he the king of hiding his feelings?

  “Molly. I dated the woman for a month, and she unceremoniously dumped me for an ex. I’ve seen her a handful of times in the past few years. You can’t be serious using that word.”

  “Oooh, that word,” she cooed, stroking the other paw before turning it. “I know she affects you unlike any other woman you’ve dated. Your whole body language changes at the mention of her name. You didn’t put up much of a fight when Dad married you off as the first and only solution to her problems.” She threw him a saucy smile. “Sounds like love to me.”

  “Sounds like stupidity to me,” he countered. “She says she can’t or won’t or doesn’t want a guy in her life because Christian got messed up when his dad came and went…permanently.”

  “He died,” she said. “Not like he had any control over that. Maybe you need to be more specific about what ‘a guy in her life’ means.”

  He considered that, watching Molly continue her examination with slender but capable hands that Fritz obviously trusted. He’d been pretty straight about what he meant a few months ago that night in the square.

  And she’d been pretty straight about what she wanted. Until…zimmer.

  “Molly, I don’t want…” He couldn’t come up with a word that didn’t sound ridiculous. “Just that. When I’m with Andi, I want more than that. You know, like what Garrett and Shane have with Jessie and Chloe. She knows it and it scares her.”

  “And yet she is marrying you on Saturday night.”

  He snorted. “She’s making a legal chess move.”

  A tap on her door stopped the conversation and made Fritz straighten to attention. Yep, a dream dog.

  “Molly, you have a minute?” Dad’s voice called from outside the door. “Because we need to talk about this wedding on Saturday.”

  The two siblings shared a look. Molly bit her lip. Liam looked skyward. Hell, even Zelda appeared to raise a mocking eyebrow.

  “The groom’s in here,” Molly called, and the door instantly popped open.

  “Why aren’t you with Andi?” he demanded.

  “And good morning to you, Dad,” Molly quipped, blowing a kiss as she zipped around the table to get to Fritz’s other side.

  “Andi’s at work,” Liam said.

  “You should stay with her.”

  “She’s not alone, and I was going to check on her after I get Fritz and Zelda started on some training. Duane’s going to help me, and I’ll go into town, visit Jag at her house, and check on Andi.”

  “Duane’s teaching a class on dog behavior, which is what we hired him to do,” Dad said. “You know, with all this going on, it may be time for us to look for another K-9 trainer, maybe as backup.”

  Liam scowled. “We don’t need another K-9 trainer.”

  Dad ran his fingers through his mostly gray hair, his dark brows furrowing. “Where’s Christian?”

  “At school. Andi met with the principal and his teacher and explained the situation, so he’s being closely watched and no strangers are allowed in without prior approval.” He leveled his gaze at his father, keeping his impatience in check in front of the man he loved and respected most in the world. Didn’t mean his father wasn’t capable of driving every Kilcannon crazy. “We got this, Dad.”

  “And the wedding plans?”

  Now Liam let out an exasperated puff of air. “It isn’t a wedding,” he said. “It’s an act that we will play in front of the people gathered here for two other unrelated relationships.”

  Dad choked. “Unrelated relationships? Your brothers are engaged to be married to wonderful women.”

  Molly elbowed Liam. “Get Fritz down for me. It’s Zelda’s turn.”

  He scooped the dog off the table and gently set him on the floor. “Whatever,” Liam said. “All I mean is we don’t need to pick songs for a cake-cutting dance or whatever the hell you do at a wedding.”

  “Oh, you’ll find out soon enough what you do,” Molly said. “’Cause there are going to be a lot of them around here.” She rounded the table and patted Dad’s cheek. “Thanks to the Dogfather.”

  “I didn’t do a thing,” Dad said. When they both shot him a look, he held up both hands. “A nudge here, a suggestion there. Those love affairs took off on their own. But yours…” He looked at Liam, who was trying to get Zelda, but she backed up an inch before relenting.

  “Dad. Can it.” With a grunt, he hoisted Zelda onto the table, and she held his gaze, assessing him. He stroked her long dark snout and stared into her ebony eyes. “I’ll find your soft spot,” he whispered to the dog. “You just watch.”

  She stared for two more seconds, then flicked her tongue at his wrist and instantly put her head down as if to deny she’d ever shown such affection.

  Man, he was on a roll with confused and conflicted females.

  “Do you have a plan for this event, Molly?” Dad asked, pointedly sending his questions to the person in the room who actually cared about the so-called wedding.

  “Darcy and Gramma and I have been talking about it, and I’d love to involve Chloe and Jessie, since we horned in on their engagement party. Of course, Pru is all over this, researching home weddings so that everything is done correctly down to the letter.” She smiled. “My little rule follower. But what we need is time with Andi and Liam for everything to go smoothly.”

  “I’m not helping,” Liam said. “I’ll show up, say whatever, and do my bit.”

  Dad whipped around, his blue eyes like gas flames on high. “You will not mess this up, Liam Kilcannon.”

  “Dad, I—”

  “You will take this as seriously as it needs to be taken.”

  “I am,” he shot back, unable to keep calm or quiet anymore. “I take it a hell of a lot more seriously than she does.”

  “She knows how serious this is,” Dad replied.

  “I don’t think you understand her, Dad. But then, who does?” He snorted in disdain. “She’s the most conflicted, complicated woman I’ve ever met. She’s hot, she’s cold, she’s ready, she’s scared, she’s foc
used, she’s lost, she’s…she’s…she’s…” Not mine. He closed his eyes, barely swallowing that last thought.

  Then he wanted to kick himself for revealing all that crap. What the hell was wrong with him? He’d never hear the end of it from Molly, and all he’d done was put a look of raw hope in Dad’s eyes.

  “I felt the same way about your mother, and she was all those things, too,” Dad said, making Liam think maybe that wasn’t hope, but a deep, dear memory.

  “But she isn’t Mom,” he said softly, respecting that his father, of course, still mourned the loss of his wife. “And I’m not you, Dad. And we’re not the couple of the century like you two were.” And maybe it was time Liam stopped seeking that. Or at least time he stopped seeking that in the form of Andi Rivers.

  His life wasn’t going to be like his father’s, not in that aspect of it anyway, and it was time he accepted that.

  He finally looked at Dad, surprised to see a bit of a smug smile. “What?” Liam asked.

  “What? I’m happy, is all.”

  He looked at Molly for an assist. She shrugged and went back to Zelda’s teeth, as if she wasn’t memorizing every moment of this exchange to share with Pru and Darcy and Gramma at the next Kilcannon coven.

  “Well, I’m not,” Liam countered. “I’m obviously in way too deep with a woman who has no room for a man in her life, except the six-year-old who is the center of it.”

  Dad took a slow, deep breath as if he was thinking very, very hard. That was never good.

  “Bring her to Wednesday night dinner tomorrow,” he said. “And Christian, too.”

  “Oh, great,” Molly chimed in. “We can plan the wedding.”

  Liam just shut his eyes and stayed quiet. That worked so much better than when he shot his mouth off and told his innermost feelings.

  “Molly, send me a text when these two are ready,” Liam said, itching for a trip to the cool kennels where the only creatures who could hear him wouldn’t know what stupidity was vomiting out of his mouth.

  “Oh, we’re done here,” Molly said. “They passed with flying colors.” She took a few steps closer, pressing the stethoscope bell on Liam’s chest. “Seems like the only one in this room with heart problems is you.”