Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX

RIVER

R iver spent four hours with Walt having him teach her how to wield the chainsaw to make the precise cuts needed for her design. She couldn't stop the joy that learning a new art form gave her.

To her surprise, she picked it up fast, and under Walt's tutelage, she was quite proud of how her sculpture was turning out.

For the entire four hours, Apollo watched her work. He drank his coffee, made a couple of phone calls, and talked to Silas for about five minutes at one point, but other than that, his eyes remained on her. The idea that Apollo had seen what she loved to do and had allowed her to do it turned her on.

But the longer he watched her, the more agitated her wolf became. She didn't just want Apollo's gaze on her. She wanted other parts of him as well. Strangely enough, River found herself doing things she'd never done before. She flirted with Apollo.

First, she'd taken off her shirt, tripping to her cami, exposing her arms and upper chest to him. Then she'd put her hair up, exposing her neck and throat. Finally, she'd made an effort to bend over in front of him to give him a perfect picture of her rear end.

After bending over, she'd stood to find him directly behind her. He pressed his body into hers. Her flirting ?worked. His lips fell close to her ear, and his warm breath tickled her neck.

"I think it's time we get back to the cabin."

He slid an arm around her waist, and she laced her fingers into his. "Could we do one more thing first?"

"I'm not sure I have the self-control for one more thing," he breathed, making her skin pebble.

"I want to go for a ride."

"In the car?"

She looked at him. "On your bike."

A smile crept across his face, and he kissed her forehead. "Kitten, how do you speak my language so well?"

She gripped his large hand. "How do you speak mine?"

They stared at each other for a heated moment, and River's wolf begged her to kiss him.

"I'll tell Silas to bring my bike. You finish up here." He squeezed her hip and then walked into Walt's store.

River watched him go, remembering what his tight, round rear looked like without being covered by his jeans. She wanted nothing more than to squeeze that rear as he settled between her thighs and made love to her.

"You two make a cute couple," Walt broke through her thoughts.

River whirled around and gave a nervous laugh.

"Even an old codger like me can see when two people are meant to be together. The way he looks at you… I used to look at my wife like that."

"I'm so sorry. Did she pass?"

Walt chuckled. "Nope. Left me for a trucker about fifteen years ago. Maybe it's because I stopped looking at her like that."

River wasn't sure what to say. "Thank you for teaching me, Walt. I really appreciate it."

"You are welcome to come back and finish anytime."

She nodded. "I have a few more days here. I would love to. Of course, I will pay you for the wood and your time."

"There's no need. It's a joy seeing someone love it as much as I do. Besides, when you weren't looking, your date slipped me another handful of bills."

Walt put on his goggles and started his chainsaw again, returning to his wood log.

River walked through the backroom to his store and then out front. She looked down the street and saw Apollo talking to Silas and the others. Lachlan looked her way and gave her a small wave before getting in the car with Silas and Bennett.

River sucked in a deep breath and looked around. Small shops dotted the main road, much like an old town she might see in a movie. A hardware store. A quilting store. An antique store. A real estate office. A bar. A diner. A beauty salon. Everything people could need without the feel of big business taking over. Surprisingly, she thought about how nice it might be to live such a life. In the woods. Working on her art. Simple. Calm. If she ended up with Apollo, she wondered if that might be possible.

She smiled. A scent hit her, and she looked around. Across the street, a man stared at her in front of a hardware store. The hairs raised on her arms, and she felt a sudden chill. Grabbing her shirt from around her waist, she pulled it over her head, covering herself. The man didn't move.

River's wolf growled, and River sniffed the air again. The man didn't smell like a shifter, but that didn't make her any less uneasy.

"Hey-"

River jumped and struck out at the newcomer.

Apollo grabbed her fist, amused for a second, but then his smile dropped. "What happened?"

She shook her head and looked across the street. The man was gone.

Apollo gripped her shoulders. "River?"

"It… It's nothing," she said, trying to calm herself. "There was a man across the street, staring at me."

"A shifter?"

"No, just a human. I'm sure it's because I stood here in my cami, but still… With everything that's happened, it creeped me out."

"Of course it did." Apollo scanned the street. "Go into Walt's and wait. I'll be back in a minute."

"Apollo-"

His gaze hardened, and he looked more like Ares than ever. "Inside, Kitten. I'll be right back."

His Alpha aura washed over her, and she knew better than to argue. He wasn't ordering her, yet her wolf was eager to comply.

She nodded and walked back into Walt's shop. Apollo took off across the street.

He sniffed the air, turned left, and tore down the sidewalk. She hugged herself, and her wolf paced. She wished Ares was there. River reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. She had only eight percent battery but two bars.

She went to her contacts, and her finger hovered over Ares's name. More than anything, she wanted to hear his voice.

She stopped.

If she called him, he would freak out and come to find her, but she didn't want that. Did she want that?

No. She didn't want to cause any more of a rift between the brothers. For the first time, she wondered if the twin she didn't choose would leave the estate. If she would never see them again. The idea made her gut twist. How would she possibly live without one of them?

The bell rang over the door, and River shoved her phone in her pocket.

"Hey. It's okay. I found the guy."

"Did you hurt him?" she blurted.

Apollo chuckled. "I'm Apollo, remember? Not Ares."

"So you didn't?"

"He was a human. A drunk human. But a human. If he'd been a shifter or a threat, I would have ripped his eyes out and fed them to him for looking at you and scaring you. Luckily, he wasn't."

River chuckled. "You're kidding, right?"

Apollo's grin spread across his face, and his eyes darkened. "Absolutely."

Her gut clenched. He wasn't kidding at all. River realized that as different as Apollo and Ares might be, they were the same in their desire and protection of her.

* * *

APOLLO

Ten minutes later, Silas returned with Apollo's bike, followed by Bennett in the car. They left Walt's store, and as River put on her helmet, Apollo talked to Silas.

"Do a sweep of the town."

"Did something happen?"

"I just want to be… cautious."

Silas's gaze flicked to River and then back to Apollo. "Of course."

"Oh, and Silas. Wait until we are out of sight before getting the drunk man in the alley to a hospital. I don't want River to see."

Silas sniffed the air. "Will do."

"We'll be back in a couple of hours. I'm taking her to the point."

Silas nodded.

Apollo hopped on the bike, and River slid behind him as he put on his helmet. This time, she didn't hesitate to wrap her body around his and hug him tight. The thought made Apollo smile.

He glanced over his shoulder to the alley where he'd left Chad, the drunk human, before pulling away from the curb. He hadn't been entirely truthful with River. He'd hurt Chad, but nothing permanent. He'd suggested somewhat physically that Chad not stare at women on the street. Chad had promised he wouldn't. Then Apollo suggested Chad get to a doctor to have his nose looked at so it didn't heal crooked.

They'd traveled for nearly fifteen minutes on the highway when River relaxed into him. She laid her head on his back and swirled her fingers over his belly. Her touch made his wolf chuff.

Easy boy. We still have a long way to go.

His wolf grumbled and then turned his attention back to River. They rode another twenty minutes, and Apollo pulled off the road onto a small dirt path. It'd been years since he'd been down the road, but he still knew every inch of it. He slowed the bike as they neared the clearing that led to the cliff's edge overlooking a canyon.

Ten feet from the edge, he stopped and cut off the engine. He pulled off his helmet, took his and River's, and sat them on the bike. Taking her hand, he pulled her closer to the edge. About five feet away, she stopped moving.

"Uh… I don't do heights," she confessed.

He pulled her chin so she looked at him and away from the edge. "I won't let anything happen to you."

Her eyes held uncertainty, but she nodded anyway.

He pulled her a few feet closer, and when he caught the scent of her fear, he stopped, and they sat.

Her hand stayed firmly clamped in his for several minutes before she relaxed. He could still hear the rapid beat of her heart, but she'd stopped sweating, and her fear diminished.

"It's beautiful."

Apollo nodded. "It's the best view of the canyon."

"How did you find it?"

"I used to come up to the cabins with my family when I was young. Back then, there were a lot of cousins and extended family who used the cabins when they got married or gave birth. They all sort of stopped, though, after my parents died. But when we came, I would explore everything I could, and one day, I stumbled onto this spot." He laughed. "My mom was so mad. I didn't realize how long I'd been gone, and we had to get my father to the airport. She was frantic when she found me. I wasn't quite sure if she'd hug me to death for not being dead or kill me for being alive."

River smiled. "I've been there. Though I'm pretty sure I was closer to death with my mom than you ever would have been with yours."

"Your mom's tough, huh?"

"The toughest. She's our pack enforcer for a reason. I've never met anyone who didn't back down from my mom except Ares. Even our pack Alpha gives into her on occasion."

"Wow. Is she an Omega?"

"Nope. Just one stubborn bitch."

"I think I'd like her."

River snorted. "Don't say that until you've met her. Maybe it's better if you don't meet her until after we are mated."

River stopped abruptly, and her gaze met his.

"I… I mean, if we are mated," she said softly.

Apollo's emotions went from ecstatic to deflated in two seconds. He pushed a smile onto his face anyway and fought for something to say.

"Thank you for today," said River. "I can't tell you how amazing it was, and the fact that you let me do it and just sat and watched… it was unbelievable."

"Well, you did give me a good show. It was hard to tear my eyes away."

She blushed and pushed at her hair. "Yeah… uh… I've never done that before."

"You mean a strip tease pole dance while holding a chainsaw?"

She snorted. "Flirt."

He smiled. "You were flirting with me?"

She shrugged.

His wolf howled.

"Don't look at me like that. You're making it weird." She let her long hair fall over her face, covering it.

"I am? I'm sorry. Here, how about this?"

Apollo reached over, brushed the hair from her face, and kissed her. The sensation of his lips brushing against hers made his wolf jump around like a rabbit in a frying pan.

He only let a soft kiss last a moment before breaking away. "Your flirting worked."

River's eyes flooded with emotion, and then her scent grew spicy. She leaned in and pressed her lips to his, and for a moment, he could do nothing more than breathe at the prospect that she was kissing him. But soon, his wolf caught up with him, and Apollo gripped her by the hair at the base of her neck and deepened the kiss. Her taste exploded on his tongue like an ice cream sundae.

River mewled like a kitten, and Apollo couldn't hold back the hungry growl that emanated from him.

He wanted her. Gods knew he wanted her. There on the ground. In the forest. Naked and beautiful and his.

He pressed River back with his body and covered her petite frame with his. Laying against her, his wolf flew into overdrive.

Mate. Omega. Mine. Take her. Bite her.

Apollo pushed his wolf's thoughts from his head. He settled his hips on hers and reveled in the curvy softness of her body.

Apollo kissed down the side of her neck, tasting every centimeter of her skin. He wanted to know everything about her. Every inch. Every dimple. Every curve. Everything. He wanted to memorize her with his mouth as well as every other part of his body.

He kissed down over her shirt to her belly and lifted the hem so he could swirl his tongue on her skin.

River bucked against him and raked her fingers through his hair. The stimulation to his scalp made him go hard in his jeans. He wanted her so much.

Apollo took his time swirling his tongue over her abdomen, and then a thought stopped him dead.

Had she slept with Ares?

"What?" She looked down at him.

Shit! He said that out loud.

"Uh…" He swallowed hard, willing himself not to ask. Thoughts of Ares having River pinned against the wall. In a luxury bed in that stupid penthouse hotel room. In the hot tub on the roof bombarded him.

"Did you have sex with Ares?" he finally asked.

River stared at him, and her eyes widened.

"I understand if you did, but I just need to know. Have you been with him already?"

River's features morphed, and her eyes flashed. She pushed Apollo off and sat up.

"I am here, with you, kissing you, and you want to know what Ares and I did?"

Guilt made his wolf's tail droop. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked, but-"

"But what?" she growled. Her eyes flashed a beautiful Omega gold, and the stare she gave him would have withered lesser Lycans.

Apollo sighed and looked out over the canyon. Thoughts swirled and jumbled as he fought for the right words.

"River, did you feel it when we first met? When you touched me for the first time in the hallway right before Ares, and I got into a fight? Did you feel like you'd found your other half, your missing piece?"

River chewed the inside of her cheek. "Yeah."

"Well, that's how I feel every minute since I've met you. My head and my heart and my wolf want nothing else besides you. But for you, you feel that for more than just me. You feel it for the one person I loathe most. And that drives me to the brink of needing to kill him. Not wanting to kill him, actually needing it. You have no idea how hard it is to hold back. To not bite you. To not make love to you. To not… Look, I'm not trying to make you feel bad or pity me or any of that manipulative crap. I want you to know how hard it is for me as a Lycan, an Alpha, and a mate not to have already made you mine. And I just need to know. I need to know if you have slept with Ares. It won't change how I feel about you. I don't think anything could do that, but I need you to tell me the truth."

River looked at him with determination set on her face. "You think this is easy for me? I want those things, too, but I'm torn. Torn in my head and my heart. I understand that you and your brother don't have a good relationship. But I will not be a pawn in either yours or his pissing match. What's between you two is between you two. Not me. And if you want any kind of relationship with me, I suggest you not ask stupid questions. Jealousy doesn't in dear me. But to answer you, no. I have not slept with Ares."

Relief flooded Apollo. At least Ares hadn't beaten him to that.

He reached for her, but River stood. "I'd like to go back to the cabin now."

Apollo dropped his hand. "Of course."

They walked back to the bike, and Apollo handed her a helmet. She reached to take it, but when he hung on to it, she looked at him.

"I'm sorry for ruining our moment together."

She scowled. "Me too."