Saint Ives Whelan Chronicles Ch. 04

With Adam and Bron left behind in the VIP room, the others made their way to the dance floor. Nick didn't let go of Fran's hand for a second, his brothers accompanying her two friends, for once acting more like gentlemen. He was pretty confident part of it was an act to stay in his good books and to get to know the woman who was the completion to his soul and his wolf.

It didn't take long before the six of them got into the groove, dancing the night away. The girls went crazy with the more upbeat tempo songs while the men were happy when they could squeeze in some slow shuffle dancing.

His two younger brothers were joking a lot and even with the loud music they managed to keep some sort of conversation going. Nick noticed his youngest brother, Chris, leaning a lot into Mia and more than once Mia gave him some angry stares, which never lasted long before she burst out in laughter. Even Ed seemed to loosen up a bit around Lis.

Chris had always been the jouster out of the three of them. Cracking jokes whenever he could and to whomever, getting him into more than one hazardous situation in their pack, especially when he'd just reached adulthood.

Nick let out a light chuckle when he remembered a few of those occasions and thanked god that by then he was already the Alpha of their own pack, which at that time made it possible to prevent him from causing more trouble then he already did.

He was glad Chris had toned down his jousting act considerably over the years, however he was still the first in line to crack a joke. It lightened up many of their pack meetings, making them less dull. It was only since Nick had to take over the leadership in his territory and became the Alpha Alpha, that he had to rely on his brothers more for guiding their own pack.

It was only since meeting Francesca that he was starting to second guess the time he put into everything. Being a werewolf was the biggest secret he still had to reveal to her, but there was one other little detail he hadn't told her. She was aware he was well off and lived in luxury.

If he really wanted to he didn't have to work, his company brought in more then enough funding to help the pack, but most kept a regular job or had their own businesses as well. He had to tell her he was also part of the St Ives – Whelan family. A family well known to be very reclusive, which isn't really a surprise seeing their other natural form.

As old as the family was and no matter how much they wanted their kind to stay hidden from the masses, they also realized due to their prolonged lives they needed a bit of mystery as well. So at one point about 250 years ago Nick's dad founded SIW Inc. He started out small, providing job for most of his pack members.

Bit by bit the company grew, his father weaving an elaborate myth about the owner of SIW Inc. After a few years people knew the company and the myth itself died a bit, but they got used to the fact they never saw the owner of the company. It was told he lived like a recluse, not wanting outside contact, doing most his work by mail or errand boys.

Little did they know he came to work every single day, dressed the same way as his employees, working from early morning until late at night. He still came in to check on things but since Nick took over about fifty years ago, his visits were limited to once a week. Nick worked for the company the same way his dad had, he went in every day. A suit would be a waste on him so he instead opted for easy jeans and a t–shirt, also keeping up the reclusive behavior as president of SIW Inc.

Sure times have changed, so did their resources, but for the sake of his pack Dominic St Ives – Whelan shied away from every little bit of publicity. The only one that more or less had a public life was Ed, born Eamonn, but even he tried to hide his heritage. This wasn't always easy when you own your own nightclub, which was one of the more popular ones.

Looking at Ed and Lis, he saw they got along fine as well. Taking another look towards Chris and Mia, he saw they were still up to their usual bantering, yet he seemed to notice a very cautious glance in Mia's eyes. He stored that little fact in the back of his mind as he did with all his other worries because he didn't want them to ruin the night.

Focusing back on the slender brunette in front of him he just wanted to grab hold of her and ravish her until she didn't know anymore who she was. Twirling her around, he gave her some more than appreciative looks at how the red dress moved around her. The bare back lured his hands to it every single time she was near, loving the feel of her smooth, delicate skin.

"Think we can sneak out of here?" he asked in her ear after he spun her around, straight into his embrace.

"You got plans?" she replied with a mischievous look in her eyes.

"Not plans really, just not in a sharing mood. I want you alone," he let her know.

"What did you have in mind then?"

"It's not that late, maybe we could go to my place and watch a movie. If you want, that is."

"We could. I have to admit, going out two nights in a row is more than enough for me." Chuckling lightly she added, "That makes me sound so old now."

"No, it doesn't, just means you prefer to relax as well, which is what I'm offering, a movie with a nice glass of wine," he countered her statement. "Let's go then, we'll go and say goodbye to the others."

"Ok, don't forget, we have to go back as well, Adam and Bron are still up there," she reminded him.

Holding hands, they made their way over to his brothers and her two friends and said their goodbyes. As Fran promised Mia and Lis to call them the next day, Nick told his brothers he'd see them at their next meeting.

In the VIP room they were greeted with the sight of two people so wrapped up in their conversations they didn't even notice the couple entering the room.

Nick cleared his throat, hoping to get their attention. Only after he mentally poked Adam did he turn towards them. Bron leaned to one side so she could see past Adam, finding Fran and Nick just inside the room. A blush swiftly crept up her face and she quickly untangled her hands from Adam's.

"Just came up to get my coat and purse, we're heading home. We already said our goodbyes to the party animals, who knows when they'll quit tonight," Fran explained. "You think you can get home easily?"

"Yeah should be ok, I'm the one that drove tonight, so once I'm tired of it I'll just drag them with me, willingly or not," Bron answered.

"No worries Nick, I'll make sure the ladies will get home safely, even if it means I have to follow them by bike," Adam interjected with a wink towards Bron.

"That's good to know. Means we're free to go home now, let's go," Nick said, ushering Fran outside, down the stairs and then out of the club to his car parked in the alley next to the building.

Following the steady flow of traffic they made their way out of the city, towards Nick's home. The ride over was spent in enjoyable silence, Nick holding her hand and gently stroking the inside like he had done before.

She kept gazing at their intertwined hands and still couldn't believe how fast things were going. But it all felt so good and she considered herself crazy if she would back away from it. During the evening she had decided to throw away all her reservations and anxieties and just go with how things developed.

The last two days proved to be eye openers for her and she had that gorgeous man sitting next to her to thank for it. He never pushed for anything, staying calm, instinctively knowing what she wanted or what he had to say. And damn that man could kiss, if what happened that afternoon was a sign of how passionate he could be, she was convinced she would have a hard time keeping up with him then.

In the dark the mansion, where he lived at the ground floor, looked amazing, the moon reflecting in the windows of one side of it. She took in the surroundings and again had to admit it was all a little piece of heaven on earth, not a single soul in sight, or so she thought.

From the surrounding bushes they did have quite a few onlookers, mostly unmated pack bitches who wanted to check out the woman their Alpha had brought into their territory. They could smell she wasn't a were like them, a fact which had them all a bit startled. Would their leader bring in a complete stranger?

With very low whimpers and barks they communicated their surprise. For them it was unacceptable, each one of them hoped he would choose one of them eventually. The heritage of their bloodline had to be secured at one point, bringing in an outsider would taint it, or so they convinced themselves.

Stopping in front of the mansion Nick and Fran got out of the car. He immediately picked up the restless movements and whispering talks in the nearby bushes. Letting out a mental sigh, he silently cursed himself for coming over, he wanted to relax, not set the females straight.

Not inclined to show much patience towards them he blasted them with a firm and no nonsense mental shake up Make yourselves scarce, I don't want to deal with your petty squabbles tonight. If any of you have issues you can bring them up at the next pack gathering. Now go! Much to his relief they departed silently and without arguments. Saying a silent prayer, he then guided Fran indoors.

Taking her coat, he draped it over one of the couches in the living room.

"Why don't you have a look and pick a movie, I'll go grab us a bottle of wine. Do you prefer white, red or a sweet rose?" Nick asked.

"Hmmm, a white wine would be lovely, thanks. What kind of movie you want to see?" she replied.

"Just take your pick, it only holds those I like to see, though Chris managed to sneak in a few of his favorites, that would be the comedies," he answered and then made a trip to his kitchen to sort the wine. Raiding his cupboards and fridge, he managed to get a little plate together with crackers and some cheese to accompany the whine.

Back in his living room he saw that Fran picked a movie and was busy figuring out how to get his DVD-player to work.

"Come, give me the remote, I'll get it started, just turn on the TV first, then come and sit down." Nick helped her out.

Fran handed him the remote when she came back, deciding her pumps had tortured her enough for that evening. She took them off and took a seat, her legs propped up under her, her red dress covering everything. Without any effort Nick started the movie, noticing she'd picked one out titled Gone in 60 second. It wasn't really a surprise, seeing her fascination for fast wheels.

Taking a seat next to her he started up the rest of the movie. While the piracy warnings rolled over the screen, he filled up their glasses and handed one to Fran, grabbing one himself and then settled back, putting up his feet on the coffee table.

"I see you picked a good one," he spoke up while nodding towards the TV screen.

"I know, I know, I'm a sucker for Eleanor. Given the chance I will most likely pick this one over everything else," she confessed. "It's a damn nice car, isn't much different from the one you got in your barn back there."

"Yeah, they're very much alike. If you want, we could use Eleanor's coloring on this Mustang?" he offered.

"Ooh, that would be brilliant," she answered excitedly. "But we got a movie to watch now, so focus," she replied, pointing towards the screen, hinting to him the movie just started.

Halfway during the move he slipped a hand under her dress, gently grabbing her upper leg and tugging it. Looking over she looked at him to see what he wanted. He patted his lap with his other hand, letting her know it was ok to stretch out her legs on his lap. Nick had noticed she started to wobble then, not finding a more comforting position.

Relieved, she stretched out her legs, his one hand never leaving her leg. Once she was comfortable again his other hand joined the first, tenderly moving up and down her calves in a circular motion while he kept watching the movie.

She found the little movements soothing, relaxing and enjoyable. Focusing back on the movie, his tender ministrations soothed her so much it didn't take her long to drift to sleep.

Bending over her legs, Nick reached out a little to grab the remote and turned off the DVD-player once the movie was finished. Not getting any response from Fran, he turned and noticed she was sound asleep. Very carefully he lifted her legs a little so he could get up.

Standing in front of her he scratched his head, trying to figure out what to do now. If he let her sleep there, it was a sure bet she would wake up with a sore back and neck. He could wake her, but seeing her so peacefully and fast asleep, he disregarded that thought in a heartbeat.

The only option left was to bring her to his bed, at least she would be comfortable. Crouching in front of her he studied her image once more, he couldn't get enough of it. Lightly brushing a strand of hair out of her face he was tempted to kiss her, but something told him she needed the sleep.

"Fran, you have no idea what you do to me, love. I just hope once you know everything you'll able to accept me for me, for what I am." Knowing his next confession would be heard by him alone, he added, "I love you, Francesca Ontario, with all my heart, body and both souls. I hope soon you'll be fully mine."

He scooped her up in his arms, waited a second and then made his way to his bedroom. The sheets on his side of the bed were already pulled back and he gently laid her down, draping the sheets over her. Moving to the other side of the bed, he removed his shoes and socks, then took off his shirt, but he kept his pants on.

Like that he got into bed as well, moving up behind her he spooned her, enjoying the feel of her naked back to his bare chest. With his arms tightly around her he drifted off to sleep.