Wolf Tales IV

by Kate Douglas

  The first car pulled into sight. An older man got out, dressed in a state trooper’s uniform. Other vehicles pulled in behind. More men got out, some dressed all in black, others in various agency uniforms. One of the guards grabbed his radio and made a call. The other tried to stop the sheriff from raising the gate, but three men with rifles stepped up, and the guard lowered his gun and moved aside.

  Someone went into the guardhouse and flipped off the power to the electric fence. Another took both guards back to a van waiting off to one side, cuffed them with plastic ties, and helped them into the van. The small caravan rumbled through the gate.

  They left it open. Lisa was one of four dark wolves that slipped through the gate and dove into the forest on the other side. Dark shadows among darker shadows. They’d made it. She’d left behind the senator and his hunting dogs, Charles Dunlop, and all his horrible deeds.

  It seemed almost anticlimactic to be trotting down the edge of the gravel road while all hell broke loose behind them. Lisa heard a commanding voice over a bullhorn, giving orders to someone to drop their guns. The chaotic sounds of dogs barking and men shouting. Gunshots.

  Luc and Tia trotted ahead. Both of them glanced back toward Lisa, as if acknowledging the success of their mission. A feeling of warmth spread throughout her body. The trembling had long since disappeared, replaced instead by a sense of belonging, of camaraderie. Of family.

  They reached the car in less than ten minutes, and all of them shifted. Lisa leaned back against the side of the car while Tia sorted through the pile of clothing in the backseat. Tinker flashed a grin at Lisa and held out his hand.

  She frowned, then realized what he wanted. She spit the little plastic disk out of her mouth and handed it to him. “You thought I’d lose it, didn’t you?”

  “Never doubted you. Not once.” Tinker’s fingers closed around the disk, and he handed it to Luc. “She’s a natural if she can carry a transmitter through that many shifts. I think the Pack’s got a new operative.”

  Luc took the transmitter as he leaned over and kissed Lisa very gently on the mouth. “I agree. One of these days you might want to ask Tinker how many of these things he’s lost.”

  The taste of his mouth on hers lingered. Lisa touched her fingertips to her lips and looked at Tinker. He smiled warmly at her, but, then, he knew exactly what Luc’s kiss felt like.

  Tia crawled out of the backseat and handed each of them their clothing. After they’d dressed and Luc took the wheel, Lisa finally felt the tension ebb.

  It was replaced by absolute exhaustion.

  “I can’t wait to get home.” She tied her tangled hair into a loose knot on top of her head and then snuggled close to Tinker in the backseat.

  “Me neither,” he said, “but as late as it is, I think we’ll get a room for the night. That okay with you?”

  She nodded. “As long as there’s a bed and a shower, I’m fine.”

  “A bed,” Tinker muttered. “There most definitely will be a bed.”

  “One big enough for the four of us.”

  Lisa raised her head when she heard Luc’s quiet statement. He sounded deadly serious. She glanced at Tinker. He wasn’t smiling either. There was an unusual intensity about him, a steady determination that changed his entire appearance from the handsome sexy man she loved to someone powerful, focused. And relieved. Tinker looked very, very relieved.

  She loved him so much she ached. Wanted him so badly she burned for him. Lisa pressed her face against his solid chest, inhaled his familiar scent, and realized she had never felt so certain about anything before as she did about her love for Tinker McClintock. Feelings so powerful they frightened her.

  Her life would never be the same again. She’d known that from the first time Tinker shifted and showed her what was possible. Still, she felt even more change was coming, sensed the need from both Tia and Luc and knew she returned that same need.

  These were her packmates. Strangers to her just hours ago, now as much a part of her life as the man she clung to. Lisa raised her head and realized Tia had turned around in the front seat. She was smiling. That okay with you?

  The image Tia shared with her, of Luc and Tinker together, both of them lost in passion, took the wind from Lisa’s lungs.

  Things were definitely not the same. Oh yeah. It’s great with me.

  Tia turned around in her seat and faced forward. Lisa snuggled close to Tinker and let her thoughts float free. After all the shifting back and forth, the adrenaline and the tension of the past twenty-four hours, she felt as if she’d left her own reality behind.

  Nothing was really settled yet. Dunlop would be arrested, but what about Seth? Was Hal Anderson involved? Was everyone at High Mountain part of the scheme? If so, how had she remained so oblivious?

  “Let it rest, sweetie. We can’t solve everything tonight.”

  She tilted her chin up to look at Tinker. “You’re in my head, aren’t you?”

  He chuckled. The sound came from deep in his chest, and she loved the way it made her feel. “I don’t have to be. You’re broadcasting anxiety all over the place. Relax. We’ll figure things out in the morning.”

  “I’m sorry.” Damn, there was so much she needed to learn. “Sounds good in theory. I wonder if I’ll ever figure anything out at all.” Lisa yawned. “I’m exhausted.”

  Tinker kissed the top of her head and knocked her loose knot of hair askew. She felt his fingers tangling in the mess, separating the long strands, rubbing her scalp in a gentle, sensual massage. “Don’t plan on getting all that much sleep,” he whispered. “We have other plans.”

  Lisa’s exhaustion fled. It was replaced by a warm bubble of expectation, a steady flow of desire that grew stronger with each moment. Smiling, recalling the memories she’d found in Tinker’s mind and the ones Tia had just shared, Lisa settled back against his warmth and let her imagination run free.

  “This okay with you, girls?” Luc held the door open to the room in the small motel he’d spotted just a few miles southwest of the hunting preserve. Tia walked in ahead of Lisa, then opened the door to the adjoining room, a mirror image of the first.

  “They’re clean, the beds are big, and the bathrooms have all the stuff I need. Works for me.” Tia headed straight for the shower.

  “What about you?” Tinker lifted Lisa’s chin with his finger and kissed her.

  She kissed him back, even as she swayed with exhaustion. Tinker swept her up in his arms and set her very gently on the king-size bed. Lisa trailed her fingers along his muscular arm as he sat beside her. “I’m fine,” she said. “I’ll feel a lot better after a shower.”

  He kissed her again. “Good. Luc’s going across the street to that little deli he spotted. He’ll pick up something for all of us. I’m going to help you with your shower.”

  Lisa looked at him and blinked. He wasn’t kidding. Tinker slowly tugged her T-shirt over her head, slipped her shoes off her feet, tugged her jeans down, and helped her step out of them. There was nothing remotely sexy about his undressing her, but it was terribly sensual. He lifted Lisa up like a child, cradled her against his chest, and carried her into the bathroom.

  There was nothing special about it, just a regular-size shower with a plastic curtain, a sink, and a toilet, but the water was hot, and there was plenty of pressure when Tinker stood behind Lisa, underneath the spray. She leaned against him as he soaped her breasts and belly.

  His hands left behind trails of pure sensation as he washed her, going down on his knees to bathe her legs, her butt, her sex. Then he leaned her forehead against the back wall of the shower and poured shampoo into his palm. The gentle massage of her scalp almost left Lisa whimpering.

  Tinker rinsed and conditioned her hair, then rinsed it again. He ran his fingers through the long strands, working the tangles out, then moving lower across her spine, trailing his fingers over the globes of her butt, tracing the valley between her cheeks.

  Lisa shivered, but not from cold. The water
pounded against her body, her heart pounded in her chest, and she felt each fingertip wherever Tinker touched her. He left her there with the water flowing over her back and took a moment to wash himself.

  Lisa rolled slowly around to watch him. He was turned partly away from her, his face lifted to the warm spray, the sheets of water cascading over his broad shoulders. His skin looked darker than the darkest coffee against the white-tiled shower. Lisa looked carefully for bruises from the beating he’d gotten, but his skin was virtually unmarked.

  She reached out and touched his side, trailing her fingers over his ribs. “I’m so sorry he hurt you. I’m sorry I couldn’t help.”

  Tinker leaned down and kissed her very gently. “I’m fine. Chanku heal fast. He pissed me off more than he hurt me, but he’s dead now. Not our problem anymore.”

  “Will there be repercussions? The authorities know wolves were there. It’s going to be obvious he was killed by a wolf.”

  Tinker finished rinsing the soap off his back and chest. He turned then and smoothed her wet hair back from her forehead. The look in his eyes was gentle and yet, at the same time, fierce. No one would harm her so long as Tinker breathed. Lisa knew that. Felt it with every beat of her heart.

  “Dunlop will have to deal with the repercussions. No one in law enforcement will mention Pack Dynamics. That’s sort of an unwritten rule. They know we show up with our wolves when there’s a problem, so long as word doesn’t make it into the media.” He leaned close and kissed her. His lips moved over her mouth, gliding on the beads of water covering both of them. He ended the kiss and sighed. “So far,” he said, “we’ve been lucky. C’mon.”

  Tinker turned off the water and grabbed a thick white towel. Lisa stood there like a child while he dried her off and wrapped the damp towel around her hair. There was nothing childish, though, about the look he gave her when he finished drying himself and hung his towel over the shower rod.

  There was pure, unadulterated hunger in his gaze. Lisa realized she wasn’t nearly as tired as she’d thought. Her nipples tingled in expectation, as if a current ran from Tinker’s amber eyes directly to her breasts.

  She felt the rush of moisture between her legs, the hot shaft of heat that signaled her own rising need. The towel slipped off her head and slid to the floor. She hardly noticed.

  Tinker lifted her as if she weighed nothing at all, and set her on the counter next to the sink. The tile felt cool beneath her buttocks, but Lisa leaned back against the mirror and spread her legs wide.

  There was no need for foreplay, no need to raise her level of arousal in search of that elusive orgasm. Her body trembled on the cusp of climax, aroused to a feverish peak by the need in Tinker’s eyes. It grew in her with the hunger in each breath he took, grew with the solid weight of his erection pressing now against her inner thighs.

  Tinker grabbed Lisa’s hips and pulled her forward, impaling her perfectly on his cock, sliding all the way inside in one smooth thrust of his hips. She clasped her ankles around the small of his back and pressed her breasts against his chest. He filled her, burying himself entirely on the second thrust. Lisa imagined the moist tissues of her sex parting gladly for his entry. Her rippling muscles clasped his cock, holding him even as he tried to withdraw for yet another thrust.

  Once more, and then again, and that was all it took to carry her screaming over the edge. Lisa’s climax didn’t build; it exploded in a rush of heat and light, flashing behind closed lids. Shaking like a leaf, she clung to Tinker as he let go of all vestige of control, his hips pumping in and out as he climbed his own peak.

  Sobbing against his chest, Lisa felt the anxieties and tension of the past hours drain away with each pulse of her sex, each deep penetration her lover made. Tinker finally tensed in her arms, threw back his head, and groaned. His hips continued pumping as if of their own accord, slower now as he filled Lisa with his seed.

  Finally, Tinker leaned forward and draped his arms over her shoulders. He rested his forehead against hers and kissed the tip of her nose. “I love you. I’ve never been more frightened for anyone in my life as I was for you tonight. Nor have I felt more proud. Don’t you ever put me through anything like this again!”

  Lisa would have laughed if she’d had the energy. “I felt the same about you. It’s not going to be easy to watch you go off on your missions. I’ll have to go with you.”

  Tinker nodded in agreement as he slowly withdrew, leaving her feeling somewhat replete and only partly satisfied. Her sex still clenched with the last traces of her climax. She glanced up at him and wondered how she could possibly want more.

  “You are Chanku. You’ve been in and out of your wolven self today without any sexual release. This is normal. Get used to it.” Laughing at her, Tinker grabbed a washcloth, rinsed it under warm water, and proceeded to bathe her between her legs. Embarrassed, Lisa reached out to grab his wrist and stop him.

  Tinker pulled the cloth away. “Uh-uh. I like to do this. Besides, I hear Luc and Tia in the other room. You want to be nice and ready when we crawl into bed with them, don’t you?”

  Stunned, Lisa raised her head and looked into Tinker’s glittering eyes. He might sound as if he was teasing, but it was obvious he was serious. Whatever fantasies Lisa might have held close to her heart were about to come to life.

  Chapter 12

  Tia and Luc were stretched out on the bed in Lisa and Tinker’s room when the two of them stepped out of the bathroom. Tia lay on her back with the sheet pulled up to her waist. Luc leaned over her. He was propped on one elbow and twirled a tendril of her long blond hair around her left nipple. They both looked up and smiled when Lisa and Tinker entered the room.

  “We’re trying to figure out a fair way to do this,” Luc said.

  “He wants to watch us make love, but I told him you want to watch the guys.” Tia scooted up on the bed and shoved a pillow behind herself. “I figure, you’re the new kid on the block, so it should really be up to you.”

  “She gets her way too much.” Tinker wrapped his arms around Lisa’s waist to take the sting out of his words. He kissed her on the back of the neck, raising shivers along her spine. “I really think it would be inspirational for Luc and me to watch you girls.”

  Lisa slipped right into their teasing banter. “You need inspiration? I thought that was inspiration poking me in the behind.” She wriggled her hips against the solid length of his cock. “I imagine Tia and I can give you lots of inspiration.” Once more, Lisa rubbed her fanny against Tinker’s growing erection. He pressed back. She moved out of his reach.

  Tia winked. “Well, if that’s the way you want it. I guess we can oblige.”

  Lisa shrugged. Did it really matter? She felt light, freer than she’d ever felt in her life. As if some long-imprisoned part of her were suddenly flying. Flying high and free with the three beautiful, perfect entities in this room. Not only perfect to look at, but also brave and loving friends…soon to be lovers. “What I really want is all of you.”

  Tia grinned. “I think we can manage that.” She rolled off the side of the bed and reached for Lisa’s hand. “That is, if you’re willing to give up a little control.”

  Lisa wrapped her fingers around Tia’s and nodded. With Tia’s firm grasp in hers, all of this suddenly felt very real to Lisa, as if everything leapt into focus. She swallowed, and the sound echoed in her own ears. Tia led her to the bed and helped her lie down. Luc moved to the upper corner and took her right hand. Tinker held on to her left, all of them moving as if this had been choreographed. Tia slipped down between her ankles and spread Lisa’s legs wide, then knelt and propped her calf against Lisa’s left leg, holding it there.

  The room seemed so quiet. Lisa closed her eyes and listened to the sound of Luc and Tinker breathing, heard the springs in the bed groan as someone shifted position. Her own heartbeat thudded in her chest, and she waited.

  Nothing happened. No change in air currents to signify movement, no squeaking springs in the bed, nothin
g beyond the growing tension in Lisa’s body. Then, light as the brush of a butterfly’s wing, Tia’s fingers touched the tops of her thighs. Lisa smiled and felt her body relax. She’d been waiting for something, anything to happen. Now that it had, her nervous energy settled into a warming sense of expectation. She kept her eyes closed, concentrating on the silence, on the slow movement of fingers from her knees to the crease between thigh and groin.

  The mattress dipped as Tia moved closer. She pushed Lisa’s legs farther apart with her knees while she used her thumbs to rub deep into the muscles of Lisa’s inner thighs, touching the sides of her labia on each downward stroke. Teasing, touching lightly, and then moving back to massage her legs.

  Tia slid her thumbs closer. She touched the stretchy hood protecting Lisa’s clit, then slid the skin down, exposing the moist bundle of nerves to the air. Lisa fought a strong need to raise her hips when a small gust of hot breath washed over her clit. The lightest touch of Tia’s tongue.

  The pace of the breathing behind her picked up. Lisa wanted to open her eyes, but the fantasy behind her closed lids was too lush, the feelings too powerful. Luc’s grip tightened on her wrist, as did Tinker’s. Lisa could only imagine the looks on their faces. She wished she could see their cocks, but she didn’t open her eyes. Couldn’t.

  She’d moved beyond reality, into a place of pure fantasy, a place where only her pleasure mattered. Tia’s palms slid under her buttocks, lifted her high enough that someone—Luc? Tinker?—slipped a couple of pillows beneath her. They’d raised her very high, exposed her, and her legs fell limply to the sides.

  Tia’s fingers continued to massage her buttocks, slipping occasionally between her cheeks to touch her ultra-sensitive ass. Lisa loved the sensation. She’d always loved sex-play with dildos and such when she’d been with women, though she’d never taken a man that way.

  Tonight? Later? She wanted only to think about now, about Tia and the wonderful, lazy, loving things she was doing to Lisa’s body. There was an odd shift to the bed. Lisa heard the cadence of the men’s breathing change, as if they revved up a notch or two, sensed Tia moving closer between her legs.