by Susan Laine
Crow looked at Jim. “Your call.”
Jim nodded hesitantly. “Sure, I guess.”
Together with his abductor, Jim walked out of the hangar, the night dark with the stars as bright pinpricks in the black fabric of the sky. A cool wind rustled his hair and his clothes, but he felt confident enough not to get goose bumps of fear.
“You have sharp eyes, human,” Aethelwulf said so low it was barely a whisper. The sound was halfway threatening, and Jim understood his need to keep a secret.
Jim shrugged. “Luck and timing.”
Aethelwulf stopped and locked gazes with Jim. “No.” He shook his head adamantly. “You are a good man, Mr. Faulkner. I may have underestimated you.”
Jim dared a minor chuckle. “Happens a lot. I’m getting old.”
Quirking his eyebrow, Aethelwulf glanced back to the hangar. “With Dak, that can be avoided.”
Admittedly, Jim hadn’t had the chance to really ponder the consequences of being with Dak. Living with his mate out in the boondocks was one thing. Immortality was quite another, and he hadn’t really given it much thought since it had seemed that Dak would forever be disinclined to pursue a relationship with Jim.
Now he was forced to seriously consider it. Would Dak offer to bite him, to make him a wolf too? To live forever, young and strong?
Aethelwulf seemed to sense Jim’s thoughts. “There’s nothing to fear with the change. It is natural. Any human can become more than they were before, to transcend their limitations if they so choose. Nothing magical or paranormal about it. Few realize this fundamental truth, though, and always take the easy way out. Laziness of the species, I think.”
Jim had to laugh at that. “I admit I’m just a dumb ape, but I think you just insulted me. Or… at least tried to get a rise out of me.”
Aethelwulf actually chuckled then. “I was right. I did underestimate you.”
Jim grew serious, glancing over Aethelwulf’s shoulder at Denver. “In all this time, why haven’t you, um… you know?”
Aethelwulf’s jaw ticked again, and his expression grew stony. “No two progenitors have ever had a relationship with each other.” When Aethelwulf spoke, Jim could barely hear him. Jim suspected it was so the others couldn’t hear the exchange.
Jim wasn’t willing to accept that as an answer written in stone. “So… it’s forbidden?”
“It….” Aethelwulf sounded uncertain, hesitant. “It has never happened. No one knows what the results would be.”
“That’s hardly reason to—”
“You’ve done enough. I’ll handle the rest.”
“Okay. As long as you don’t cower from the—”
“Were you anyone else, little man, I would have torn you limb from limb already for speaking to me with such disrespect,” Aethelwulf growled, intimidating with his mere presence.
All of a sudden Dak was there, in between Jim and Aethelwulf, and his snarl echoed in the night. “Try it, and tonight the winds shall sing your eulogy.”
Jim’s hands reached for Dak’s back, his skin hotter than a normal human’s. Dak wore no shirt or jacket anymore, and Jim felt the man’s muscles jump under his touch. “It’s all right, Dak. He didn’t mean it. Or if he did, he wouldn’t have done it. He likes me.” Jim lifted his chin with playfulness and grinned.
Aethelwulf matched the gesture with one of his own. “This one’s a keeper, Dak. Don’t be an idiot and let him slip through your fingers again. Someone will snatch him up.” He snapped his fingers to illustrate his meaning.
Jim blushed. He’d never been wanted by this many men before, and these men were among the most powerful supernatural beings on the planet. He didn’t know whether to be elated and excited or nervous about the whole thing.
Dak grunted. “Time to go, Aethelwulf. You only get one chance, or it’s the Rite of the Blood Moon for you. None of us wants that.”
Whatever that ominous fate entailed, Aethelwulf seemed unconcerned. “Thank you for your unsolicited advice, Dakotah.”
“Don’t be a bitch,” Jim said, smiling to take the edge off his words. “Things could have fared a lot worse for you tonight.”
Aethelwulf shook his head, his lips pursed with mock admonishment. “You’ve got your hands full with this one, Dakotah. Suddenly I’m not so envious of you anymore.”
“Hey!” Jim protested sharply, and Aethelwulf smiled.
Then four armed Taurs flanked Aethelwulf and escorted him toward the huge black SUVs near the hangar entrance. Jim assumed Dak, Crow, Denver, and their cohorts must have arrived in them.
As he watched the rebellious Aethelwulf disappearing from view, Jim wondered if he was ever going to see him again. He sure hoped so. If the man was capable of feeling any kind of love for Denver, there was redemption in his future.
Jim turned to Dak. “Now what?”
Dak looked at him softly, though he still didn’t smile. “Now we go home.”
Chapter 13
“HOW DID you track us down so fast? And where the hell did Crow come from?” Jim was bubbling with questions that needed answers.
Jim and Dak sat in chairs by the fire in Dak’s cabin. The flames burned lively in the fireplace. Birds sang in the woods outside, and the wind rustled in the trees. The summer night was serene, lending its peace to the two occupants.
Dak stared stonily at the flames, unmoving, like a statue. “When I dropped down in the middle of the skirmish between Denver and three of Aethelwulf’s alphas, it didn’t take long at all to take them down. And… I don’t think Aethelwulf really wanted to hurt Denver. It was a diversion tactic, nothing more.”
Jim nodded. That was his impression too. Not just because it seemed Aethelwulf had feelings for Denver, but because he believed in the supremacy of his kind. Killing another wolf, let alone a progenitor, would have been unethical from his point of view.
Dak shrugged, but then his expression grew darker. “The moment the fight was done, I felt something bad had happened to you. By then, Crow had arrived with his Taurs and four alphas. Crow always keeps his ear to the ground. He’d heard talk about Aethelwulf leaving New York after an unknown prize, and he wisely put two and two together. He’s a very powerful lycanthrope, far stronger than even Aethelwulf.”
Jim frowned. “I thought Aethelwulf was the prime of the progenitors, your, um, king, kind of. He said as much.”
Dak snorted. “He always was one for embellishment. All the progenitors are equal. No one is superior to another. Once, many millennia ago, there was a rudimentary hierarchy, but that was discarded even before humans built their first civilizations. Instead of a society of rulers and servants, we developed a territorial system. Few progenitors cross these boundaries even if their alphas do. Crow is the exception, being a public figure, a politician, the spokesman of the lycan breed.”
“Why was he chosen for that job?”
“It’s not a cushy assignment. And… he volunteered when no one else did,” Dak added with a lopsided smirk. The gesture was as close to a smile as Jim had ever seen, and he liked it.
Laughing at the image of Crow proudly taking on a challenge, Jim was glad he had met the man and was now able to consider him a friend. “Crow’s a pretty awesome guy.”
Dak nodded, his gaze dropping to the ground. “Yes, he is.”
The time had come to move on to the two of them. “Are you going to bite me?”
Dak cringed for reasons Jim could only guess. “A mating bite or an immortality bite?”
Jim frowned. Dak was being awfully evasive. “If you wish me to be your mate, you’ll have to bite me, right?” Slowly, Dak nodded. “I mean the… other kind of bite.”
Dak sighed, closing his eyes. “Do you wish to live forever?” Jim was about to speak, but Dak suddenly continued, his tone bitter and resigned. “Will you choose an irascible old dog of war like me over your work and career, your home in Portland, your friends and family? Not the best tradeoff, in my honest opinion.”
“Which of us are you
trying to talk out of this?” Jim reminded, a sharpness rising to his tone. “Must I remind you that you claimed me in front of everyone? Or have you had a change of heart?”
Dak toyed with the rim of his mug for a long time, his expression stony again. “It is a lot to give up, Jim. Won’t you miss those things? There’s still so much you don’t know about me.”
Jim leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he held his own coffee cup, the liquid having turned cold already. “We’ll learn. That’s what a relationship is all about, right?” He let out a nervous breath. “As for the rest, about me giving things up for you….” He smiled shortly. “I’m not a young man anymore. I write travel and nature pieces for magazines and online. There are younger men, athletic and sporty and daring, all doing what I do, only better and faster. My only asset is my superior knowledge of nature, biology, geography, the science stuff, you know. I’m not a thrill seeker. At least, not anymore.”
“Didn’t you come out here to the wild to find an exciting adventure?” Dak sounded almost amused.
Jim smiled, staring at the depths of his half-filled coffee cup. “Maybe. The thing is, Dak, I’ve already seen the world, much of it, anyway. I’ve written hundreds of stories in my twenty-five years of doing this line of work. I’m forty-four. It’s time for me to try out new things, and I have some savings. I want to write a real book. I don’t know what about yet, but that’s what I want.”
Dak shifted on his chair, the wood creaking under his weight. “How can you possibly do that here? There’s no electricity, not even a proper bathroom, just an outhouse.”
“And a bathtub that’s gonna see some action pretty soon,” Jim teased, locking gazes with Dak, whose lips twitched with humor at that. “But you’re right. There are gonna have to be a few changes. Like an indoor toilet. I don’t mind outhouses. God knows I’ve seen thousands in my travels across the globe. But indoor plumbing would be sweet. And I have a sneaky suspicion you’re quite handy with a hammer and nails, let alone laying some piping.” Jim wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
Dak bowed his head, but from the way his massive shoulders were shimmying, it was clear he was laughing silently. “Laying some piping…? By the gods.”
Jim chuckled. “We can get Wi-Fi, no problem. Enough towers around, I think. I can work with a laptop, and that can fit anywhere. I can even write lying in bed next to you.” A low purr emanated from Dak, and Jim felt his heart start beating faster. But he held himself in check, and focused on what he wished to convey to Dak. “As for my family…. My parents live north, in Seattle. I see them a couple of times a year. We’re pretty close. But being their child and all, I knew they’d precede me to the grave. So the thought of outliving them isn’t exactly new to me.”
“And your friends?” Dak’s gaze was once again cast down.
“I have a couple. Chums from high school. No one close. My best friend, Brian, he moved to Chicago after a job a couple of years back, and he’s got a new family now. We call and e-mail from time to time.” Jim chuckled low, somewhat unenergetically, mirthless. “So you see, my social life isn’t really an obstacle, seeing as I have none.” When Dak only nodded but said nothing, Jim asked, “Do you want me here, Dak?”
At that, Dak raised his gaze from the floor and locked eyes with Jim. Determination shone from his hazel eyes. “Yes. I want that.”
Jim worried his lower lip, wanting to believe what Dak said, but uncertainties bloomed in his heart. “I don’t know which worries you more. Making a commitment with a stranger or the possibility of losing me.”
“So, either I have commitment or abandonment issues, is that it?” Dak still sounded cool, not a trace of anger or defensiveness in his voice.
“Something like that.” Jim shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant, as if this subject wasn’t ripping his heart apart from not knowing.
Dak relaxed, leaning back in the chair, and a soft smile appeared on his lips. “Back at your apartment, I tried telling you about what finally made me see you as a good thing. I mean, I’ve been here, living alone for so long. And then, as if by a miracle or will of the divines, a mate drops out of the sky into my life. Literally. I believe that was Mother Nature’s way of telling me without a shred of doubt that there’s nowhere a man or a beast can hide from life—and love.”
Grinning, Jim felt light as a feather, tension and doubts leaving him. “Mother Nature’s a smart woman.”
Dak nodded, a ghost of a smile gracing his lips. “Yes, she is. An undeniable force. And you’re right. Despite the possibility of losing you one day, I don’t want to be alone forever. And… I have feelings for you. I tried to fight them, but when I tossed you out, I revealed a part of myself that I didn’t know I had. A bitterness, resentment, a coldness of heart I don’t want.” He looked up at Jim. “I do want you, Jim. Very much so. I can’t promise it’ll be easy with me. I am a wolf, after all. I can be hard to live with. A beast.”
“Good God, stop the presses.” Jim rolled his eyes.
Dak smirked. “Smartass.”
“I am,” Jim admitted shamelessly, winking, but then he grew serious. “Speaking of forever, though….”
Dak inhaled deeply, nodding. “Yes. Once we are mated, I can turn you into a lycan. If that is your wish.”
The possibility of immortality had never been as close as it was now. Jim should have felt apprehensive and even afraid, but all he felt was confidence. “I wish it.”
Dak straightened up, his demeanor solemn and proud. “You must be 100 percent certain, Jim. Once done, it cannot be undone. You will be a werewolf forever.”
“Well, for a long time anyway, but forever hasn’t happened yet,” Jim said, aiming for levity.
“There will be practically nothing that can kill or destroy you.” Dak sounded grave, his tone reverent, as if in awe of the truth of his nature. “Lycanthropes are the very essence of nature’s regeneration. The energy within us could relight a dead star.”
Chills ran up and down Jim’s spine. He wondered briefly if he really had it in him at the tender age of forty-four to start his life again as someone completely new and different. But surprisingly the only answer that came to him was the willingness to try. He had seen the world, and he’d had a successful career as a journalist. He was ready for new challenges and new experiences.
And most of all, Jim wanted these things with Dak.
“Before, back home, you told me not to promise you anything. And perhaps I can’t give you any guarantees. But… I wish to be your mate—and a wolf.” He chuckled suddenly at his own surprise. “All my life I’ve written about nature, animals, birds, sights, and life. And here I am, presented with the opportunity to be truly a part of it.” He looked at Dak with some amusement. “I wanted to be a biologist once. But I wasn’t as into serious research as I was into seeing and experiencing it all first hand. Traveling and then writing about it. I believe I made the right choice back then. And I think this is the right choice for me now. All I need to know… are you sure?”
Dak blinked and then shrugged, but there was an underlying playfulness about him now. “We’ll argue about indoor plumbing some more.” Jim laughed at that. “We have a lot to learn about each other, Jim. But yes, I do want this.” A slightly haunted look appeared on his face as he swallowed hard. “When we were in the hangar and I heard you calling to me…. I scarcely remember feeling so much fear. I was afraid you’d be dead before I could get to you.”
Jim watched Dak’s eyes glisten with unshed tears, and it tore at his heartstrings. “I’m alive, Dak, and I’m yours.”
Suddenly, Dak’s golden wolf eyes burned, and he growled. “Then I’ll take you to my bed now.”
Chapter 14
SINCE THEY were only a few short steps away from the bed, Jim and Dak came crashing together, chest to chest, in the blink of an eye. Where Jim’s mouth had felt dry and his belly had been all aflutter before, now he had his mouth full of Dak’s hot, slick tongue, and the heat pooling in his groi
n distracted him from his clenching gut. He trembled with lust, winding his arms around Dak’s shoulders.
Suddenly, he was lifted off the ground as two huge palms cupped his asscheeks, held him up, and had him grinding wantonly against Dak’s fabric-covered erection. Jim clung tightly to Dak and tilted his head to deepen the kiss, to ensure their lip-lock was unbreakable. Dak kneaded the fleshy mounds of Jim’s buttocks, and Jim needed their clothes gone.
“Please…,” he murmured heatedly into the kiss. He was so ready to let this big, rough creature of the woods have his way with him, to simply throw him to the ground and fuck him senseless. He was all but mad with pent-up desire. He’d never thought he could feel a fever like this for anyone. Sex had always been nice, and he’d gotten off, but the afterglow had dispersed all too soon, and he was left with nothing concrete, just a temporarily placated libido.
Now he wanted this man in the worst way, heat boiling within his veins, and his heart hammering like thunder.
Dak carried him to the bed and laid him down gently. The soft cotton welcomed Jim in. Infuriatingly slowly, Dak unbuttoned Jim’s shirt and then his fly, shoving all his clothes aside and finally off. Jim accommodated the movements of the man’s deft hands by lifting any body part Dak wished until he lay naked on the wolf’s bed.
When Dak straightened up and just stared down at him, Jim felt self-conscious, the blush heating his cheeks and neck. He knew he was at least ten pounds overweight; he had a soft paunch where there should have been a washboard stomach; his furry chest hair was more gray than blond these days; and he had neglected the trimming of his scruffy beard for the past week due to his depression.
He couldn’t help wishing the lights were turned off. Then he realized that other than the lively fire and the sun through the windows, there were no lights. Guess he just had to endure the inspection Dak gave him. His erection, which had been about to erupt like a volcano, had wilted a bit, unfortunately.
He also wasn’t a stud with a nine-inch cock made for sex. He was thicker than most men, he supposed, but his uncut, ruddy cock was too veiny to be sexy smooth. He wondered what Dak saw in him.