“I see.” Taryn was having a hard time staying mad at Wade. Now that they were alone and he was so very near, with his eyes glowing with what she now recognized as need, her body was going into overdrive. She leaned closer. “I’m sorry I overreacted earlier when I found out about your being a werewolf. I shouldn’t have called you a freak.”
Reaching up to place his hand on Taryn’s neck just below her ear, Wade closed the remaining distance between them so their bodies brushed up against each other. “Are you going to turn away from me because I am one, Taryn? I don’t want to lose you. I’ve waited a long time for you to come into my life.”
Taryn knew she wouldn’t. Even now, her body was craving his. “No,” she said, softly. “I won’t turn away from you. How could I hate the werewolf part of you when it’s also a part of me?”
“That’s all I needed to hear.”
Wade gently pressed his lips against hers. He nipped and sucked at them until Taryn couldn’t take anymore. She grabbed a handful of hair on either side of his head and ground her mouth against his. After all she had been through, she needed Wade, quick and hard. Right now she didn’t need him treating her as if she were glass.
Urging him backwards, she continued to kiss him, until she pushed him back onto her bed. He grunted as she fell on top of him. Releasing his hair, she skimmed her hands down his sides and pushed them under his t-shirt. The material bunched as she moved her hands up to the thick padding of muscle on his chest. With her fingertips, she traced the contours of it before moving lower again to outline his well defined abs.
Pulling free of Wade’s lips, Taryn sat up so she could straddle his hips. She then set to work on the button and zipper of his jeans. Once she had the front open, she pushed them down past his hips before wrapping her hand around his cock. Wade watched her stroke her hand up and down his erection. Taryn was more than ready to have him buried inside her. Wetness pooled between her legs. Sliding partly off him, she worked her own jeans off her body. Her panties quickly followed.
With her eyes never leaving Wade’s face, Taryn positioned herself above him, then pushed down until the full length of him was deep inside her pussy. Relishing the feel of him filling her, she leaned her hands on his chest and rocked her hips against him.
Wade reached up to cup her breasts. Taking her nipples between his thumb and forefinger, he tugged at them through her shirt. Taryn increased her pace as the pressure inside her grew. Grinding her hips against Wade’s pelvic bone, she squeezed his shaft as the first flutter of release hit her. A moan escaped her lips as she continued to slide up and down his hard length, pushing herself closer to orgasm. She soon crested as wave after wave of pleasure shot through her.
Before the last wave of pleasure ended, Wade rose up until he was sitting up on the bed. Taking her mouth in a passionate kiss, he took hold of her hips and arched, ramming himself into her. Taryn felt him growing harder as he neared his release. With her hands on his shoulders, she squeezed her inner walls around him.
Wade dragged his mouth away from hers and looked at her. “Put your mark on me, Taryn.”
Still lost in a haze of desire, Taryn at first didn’t understand what Wade wanted. “What?”
“Like you did before. I want you to bite me. I want your mark on me.” To make sure she knew exactly what he wanted her to do, Wade wrapped a hand around the back of her head and pushed her face toward the spot where his neck and shoulder met.
Wade’s body stiffened in anticipation. His fingers tightened in her hair, holding her to him. The thought of biting him, of leaving her mark on his skin, aroused something primitive in her. Continuing to move against him, she licked the spot with her tongue. Wade pushed her closer and gasped. His fingers dug into her hip as he urged her to increase her pace. At the feel of another orgasm building, Taryn dragged her teeth against his neck before she bit down on his skin.
Wade groaned as he instantly started to climax. Feeling him coming, pulsing deep inside her core sent Taryn into her own climax. After it was over, she settled against his chest. He was still hard.
Once she caught her breath, she pulled back to look at him and asked, “Really, how can you stay hard even after you have come? Is it a trick only you have, or are all male werewolves able to do it?”
Wade chuckled. “It’s something all male werewolves are gifted with.”
“Well, from this mortal woman’s point of view, it’s definitely a gift. It’s one that I could quite easily find myself craving more of.”
Wrapping his arms around her, Wade rolled until he had her pinned to the bed beneath him. “I’m more than ready to satisfy your cravings.” To emphasize his words, he pulled back his hips until only the tip of his cock remained inside her, then inch by slow inch, he sheathed himself in her wet heat.
Taryn’s eyes went wide. “Again?”
“Most definitely again. We’re just getting started.”
* * * *
It wasn’t until much later, when they lay cuddled together in her bed, did the subject of werewolves resurface in Taryn’s mind. There was a lot she didn’t know, and she was sure most of what she did know was inaccurate, considering a lot of it she had learned from movies. It was obvious that Hollywood had gotten it wrong when they had their werewolves only able to change when it was a night of a full moon. When Drake and Lars had changed into wolves, it had been early evening, and as far as she knew the full moon was still a week away.
She needed to learn all about werewolf society if she was to find her way in it. Unlike her mother, she would never run from something she didn’t understand. Even if Wade had waited until they’d had a child before telling her what he truly was, she wouldn’t have run. It would have been too painful to contemplate being separated from him. It made Taryn wonder if her mother had accepted her father into her soul, as well as her body, as a true mate would have. She had a feeling her mother hadn’t. That Drake had grieved for them both for almost thirty years told her he had loved her mother even after she had deserted him.
Wade stirred next to her. He gently ran a finger across her brow. “What is going on inside that head of yours, Taryn? You look to be a million miles away.”
Taryn lifted her head to look in his ice blue eyes. “I was just thinking about this whole werewolf business. I really don’t know what is expected of me, being the daughter of one and a mate to another.”
“It’s not going to make that much of a difference in your life, Taryn. You will still have your winery, only difference is you’re going to be stuck with me. I’d never dream of asking you to give up what you love. And I guess I’ll have to put up with having Drake around.”
“I hoped you would say you’d be happy to move here to be with me. But that isn’t what has me worried. What about my being mortal? You’re going to stay young for just about forever, whereas I’m going to get old and…”
Wade quickly pressed his lips to Taryn’s, stopping her from finishing that last sentence. “Don’t say it. I don’t want to even think about it.”
“There’s no getting around it, Wade. Unless there is a way to make me immortal like you, it’s inevitable.” Wade’s expression turned thoughtful. “What? There is a way to turn me immortal?”
“I’m not sure, but it may be something worth trying.”
Taryn had no idea what Wade was referring to. “Okay, you’ve lost me.”
“You know Roxie used to be a mortal like you, but now she is a werewolf.” When Taryn nodded, Wade continued. “It was always thought that a mortal couldn’t be turned into one of our kind. The ability to change is more of a magical gift than a physical one. Unlike the movies, it doesn’t hurt us and I don’t have to rip all my clothes off first to do it.”
“What a shame,” Taryn said with a chuckle.
Wade gave her a mock glare before he spoke once again. “Be that as it may, we can will the change to happen at any time because of the magic we have inside us. It’s something we’re born with. Because you’re half werew
olf you may have some of it as well. But it can’t be very strong or you wouldn’t be a mortal. Roxie was the same way. She had werewolf blood, but there were many generations between her and her grandfather, so it was much weaker than yours. What I’m getting at with all this is, Roxie was changed with a spell that had apparently been tried before and failed.”
“Obviously it worked when tried on Roxie.”
“Yes, it did. Roxie thinks it worked because she already had some werewolf blood to start with, that and the fact that she was injected with her grandfather’s blood when the spell was done. That the spell worked is something of a miracle considering who was doing the spell.”
“What do you mean?”
“Roxie didn’t volunteer to see if the spell would work or not. Gren pretty much didn’t give her a choice. At the time, Gren had taken both Royce, Roxie’s grandfather, and Roxie captive. It was just a fluke that Gren decided to use Royce’s blood and not his own.”
“I take it Gren is not a member of your pack?”
“You mean our pack. No, Gren isn’t. He’s from a pack that has never gotten along with ours. Beowulf has butted heads with Gren more than once since he became pack leader.”
Taryn nodded. Now it made sense that Beowulf could guarantee her the extra men she needed for the harvest. As pack leader, he could have easily arranged it. Then something else clicked. “Wait a minute here. You said the other guy’s name is Gren? Are you saying your brother Beowulf is the Beowulf, and Gren is actually Grendel?”
“Correct.”
“Holy crap, your brother is old. That story is fifteen hundred years old. Damn. He looks pretty hot for being an ancient relic.”
Wade scowled at her. “I will try and pretend I didn’t hear you call my brother hot. And I won’t be telling Beowulf you called him an ancient relic either. I’m sure Roxie would have something to say about that. We’re getting off topic here. As I was saying, the spell could have worked because Roxie already had some werewolf blood, and from having Royce’s blood injected into her system as well. We don’t know for sure because no one has attempted to try the spell again. If all it needed for the spell to actually work was a mortal who carried werewolf genes, and could be injected with the blood of the original werewolf of their bloodline, maybe it would work for you.”
Taryn was more than interested in trying that spell. She had a feeling it wouldn’t take much convincing on her part to get Drake to consent to give up some of his blood. She was pretty sure he would be more than happy to have her turned into a werewolf. “Okay, I’m game. How do we go about getting our hands on that spell?”
A large smile spread across Wade’s face. “I’ll talk to Roxie tomorrow. I know she remembers how the spell went.”
Chapter Twelve
Wade waited until the others were well occupied with the harvesting before he walked to the end of the vineyard and pulled his cell phone out of his pant’s pocket. Selecting one of the numbers saved in his cell’s phonebook, he pushed send and waited for Roxie to pick up on the other end.
Roxie sounded distracted. “Uh… hello?”
“Hey, Rox. Can you talk, or are you too busy doing your geeky computer stuff?” Wade stifled a laugh when she growled into the phone at him.
“Wade, if you don’t stop calling me a computer geek, I won’t be responsible for what I do to you the next time I see you. Now what do you want? I’m trying to work here, and obviously it’s me and not Beowulf you want to talk to since you called me on my cell.”
“Such threats, and from my sister-in-law no less. Fine I’ll make it quick. The spell Gren used to change you into a werewolf, do you remember it?”
Roxie grew silent for a few minutes before she answered him. “Yes, of course I remember it. I’ll probably never forget it. Why do you ask?”
“I want to try the spell on Taryn.”
“Did she agree to this?”
“Yes. If she hadn’t, I wouldn’t be calling you.”
“There’s one thing, though. You know my theory of why the spell worked on me and not on the others Gren tried it on. It may not work on Taryn with her not having any werewolf blood.”
“It so happens she does. Drake is her father, Roxie.”
“Now that sounds like a story I need to hear.”
“Well, if you come out to the winery, I’d be happy to tell you the whole story. Beowulf is still coming here this evening, right?”
“Yes. He mentioned that there was a lone wolf sniffing around Taryn’s winery, without going into much detail. The man tries to shield me too much. I had planned on coming with him anyway.”
“Thanks, Rox. I owe you one. And, Roxie, I wouldn’t mention the spell thing to Beowulf.”
“What do you take me for?” Roxie said, laughing. “Beowulf would balk at my coming to the winery if he knew I was going to discuss Gren’s spell with you. The overbearing wretch.”
“But you still love him anyway.”
“So true. Now let me get back to work. I’ll see you later.”
Satisfied with how his conversation had gone with Roxie, Wade returned to the section of the vineyard he had been working on. As he passed Taryn, he gave her the thumbs up sign. She gave him a quick nod of her head before focusing her attention back onto what she was doing.
* * * *
Beowulf and Roxie arrived shortly after they had called it quits for the day. Taryn was more than happy to see they had thoughtfully brought enough pizza to feed everyone. She was too worn out, and had been dreading having to cook a meal for such a large group of people after harvesting all day.
Once the men were all preoccupied with seeing how much pizza they could consume, Roxie grabbed a couple slices of pizza and motioned with her head for Taryn to follow her outside. They sat down on the porch steps and started to eat. Taryn waited for Roxie to start the conversation.
“I hear you and Wade want to try the spell.”
Taryn nodded as she swallowed her mouthful. “Yes. Now that I know what he is, and that we are mates, I don’t want to put him through having to watch me grow old and die.”
“I felt the same way when Beowulf finally got around to explaining the whole being mated business. I’m willing to pass on the spell to you both. But I have to warn you, it still may not work on you even though you’re half werewolf. I’m not your average everyday werewolf, and apparently I was born to be different.”
“Wade did mention that you rule over the packs. At first I thought it meant you were the werewolf queen.”
Roxie chuckled. “Nope, I’m no queen. Though, I do the like the idea of it, especially for Beowulf. If I was queen I’d make him get down on his knees and kiss my feet, among other things.” Roxie waggled her eyebrows at Taryn.
Taryn just about choked on her pizza, then started to laugh. “If you could get Beowulf to do that, I’d have to get you to order Wade to do the same for me.”
“Oh, you and I are going to get along famously, Taryn,” Roxie said with a laugh. “We’re going to have a lot of fun driving the Thorsson brothers crazy. As I was saying, I’m ‘special’.” Taking off the wide piece of tooled leather she wore around her left wrist, Roxie showed Taryn the markings there. “I usually keep this hidden when I go out. I still feel uncomfortable with the reaction I get when other werewolves see it.”
Putting down her plate, Taryn took Roxie’s wrist in her hands and took a closer look at the black Celtic knot work circling her wrist. It was beautiful. Taryn had always thought if she were to get a tattoo she’d get a Celtic styled one. “So how was it decided you were the one to get the tattoo that would mark you as the special one?”
Roxie snorted. “It didn’t work that way. This isn’t a tattoo. After Beowulf and I became … intimate … the markings just appeared on my wrist. At first it was just a rash, and a gross looking one at that. But once the rash started to heal, the Celtic knot work appeared underneath it. It’s a mark most werewolves know the meaning of. The prophecy that was told of the one werewolf
bearing this mark and ruling over all the packs was originally thought to be just a myth. I proved them wrong there.”
“Do you think you were singled out as special because of being turned into a werewolf, something that hadn’t been done before?”
“If you talk to Beowulf about it, he seems to think so. I don’t really. You see Royce, who is my grandfather many times removed, took a mortal for a mate. Even though she was mortal, she had powers of her own. She could do magic. And I inherited her abilities. Out of all her descendants, I’m the only one to have done so, which is another reason why I think I should be the one to say the spell. It may tilt the odds in your favor.”
“Thanks.” Taryn took a bite of her pizza and chewed it as she thought over how to word the next question she wanted to ask Roxie. “What’s it like being a werewolf? Do you ever wish you could go back to the way you once were?”
Roxie shook her head. “No, I would never want to go back. Besides being able to live for thousands of years, all your senses are better. You can see better, especially in the dark, and you can hear a lot better. Your sense of smell will be a whole lot better too, which would be a bonus for you since you’re a wine maker.”
“Ah, I get the whole smelling business now.” At Roxie’s questioning look, Taryn explained what she had meant with that comment. “Wade has been sniffing me since I first met him. I thought it was because he was attracted to me and it was his way of showing it. But when Braedan did it as well, I at first thought he had some kind of weird fetish. Then Drake did it when we first met, so I reasoned it must be something that ran in their family.”
Throwing back her head, Roxie laughed until tears started in her eyes. “A fetish? That’s a good one. All I can say is get used to being sniffed a lot. Werewolves can tell who is who just from smelling another’s scent. They don’t mean anything by it. It’s just what they do when they meet someone new.”
“I’ll have to remember that so I don’t haul back and smack the next male werewolf who tries to smell me. What about the whole shifting thing? Can werewolves shift into something else other than into wolf form? The movies always have werewolves shifting into big ugly half-man half-wolf forms.”
Taryn’s Wolf Page 10