A Wolf's Heart (Harlequin Nocturne)

by Vivi Anna

  He ran full out to the next building, and as he did he forced the shift through his body. By the time he reached the main door he was all wolf. Grabbing the door handle in his powerful jaws, he tore it off its hinges and charged into the building.

  The expansive warehouse was separated into various rooms. Gabriel raced down one corridor to the very back of the building. He didn’t even hesitate before he was crashing through a closed wooden door. Splinters of wood pierced his paws and forelegs, but he didn’t feel it as he bounded into the room, savage fury turning his vision red.

  She was there in the room, his woman. She was on the floor and the vampire was on top of her, clawing at her head. Blood soaked them both, but he couldn’t be absolutely sure whom it belonged to.

  Without another thought he sprang into action. He leaped over the sofa and hooked Rory around the midsection. He brought the vampire down to the floor, his claws sunk deep into his stomach.

  The vampire stared up at him, wide-eyed, surprised obviously by his arrival. His face was a bloody mess, and it was then Gabriel noticed that his lips had been torn open. Movement stirred in his peripheral vision and Gabriel turned his head.

  Elise was there at his side, on her hands and knees, blood staining her mouth and hands. Tears streaked her cheeks as she crawled over to where he had Rory pinned to the floor. The vampire wasn’t moving much. He couldn’t, not with Gabriel’s vicious claws dug into his flesh. If he moved, he’d be gutted in seconds. Not even the most powerful of vampires could survive that type of injury for long.

  “Gabriel,” she breathed. “Oh, Gabriel.”

  He whined at her to let her know that he understood, that he was here. That he loved her with everything he was or ever would be.

  She ran a hand over his body, tangling her fingers into his fur. “I thought I’d never see you again.”

  He snuffled her cheek once, and then when Rory moved beneath him, he growled and lowered his muzzle to the vampire’s throat. He stopped moving.

  Gabriel wanted to rip his throat out. Already he could taste the tang of blood on his tongue. This kill would be the most satisfying he’d ever had.

  Elise gripped his fur. “Don’t kill him.”

  Gabriel growled again and opened his jaw, scraping the tips of his razor-sharp teeth along the vampire’s neck. Rory closed his eyes and whimpered like a coward.

  “Don’t,” she murmured. “I want him to be alive to know that he will never have me. That I am and always have been yours.”

  Gabriel pulled his head back and closed his jaw. Turning toward her, he nuzzled her cheek again. He inhaled her scent. It relaxed him, and he was able to retract his claws from Rory’s gut. He stepped off the vampire and moved to one side, his gaze still alert in case Rory decided to do something stupid—like move.

  Elise wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face into his fur. She was sobbing now, and in between sobs he heard her words. “I was so scared. I didn’t think you’d find me.”

  He wanted to console her, to wrap his arms around her and rock her in his lap until the tears stopped. But he couldn’t, not in his wolf form. Closing his eyes, he focused on shifting back. He desperately needed to hold her close.

  At the first shift of his bones, Gabriel felt movement next to him. He opened his eyes to see Rory rolling over to gain his feet. He was fast, this vampire, but the fact that he had to hold his guts in slowed him down. Enough, that Gabriel was able to bound after him. The pain was immense but he pushed past it. He couldn’t let Rory get away, not after all he’d done. Especially with what he’d done to Elise.

  Rory was almost at the broken door. Gabriel pushed off with his twisted back legs, half in and half out of his wolf form. He reached for the vampire. Reached and managed to snag a piece of him. Right across the face.

  Howling, Rory slapped his hands over his eyes but still was gaining momentum out the door. But he ran right into two hundred and fifty pounds of lycan security guard. Chuck had his Taser out and he let it rip at Rory.

  The electrical jolt dropped the vampire to the ground. He twitched on the floor as the current zipped through him like lightning.

  Gabriel collapsed to the ground beside the vampire and finished his shift. It took him a little longer than usual but eventually he was back in his human form. He struggled to his feet. Elise was there helping him up, and she wrapped her arms around him. He could feel her tear-soaked cheek on his shoulder.

  He hugged her close, stroking a hand over her hair, reveling in her, in her smell, in the feel of her body pressed close to his. Squeezing his eyes shut against the tears he wanted to shed, Gabriel breathed her in, heart and soul.

  Words couldn’t express the emotions hammering through him. So he remained silent and just held her, soothing her, consoling himself that he’d gotten to her in time. That he hadn’t failed her. That he hadn’t lost her. She was here, in his arms, safe.

  Finally, movement behind him caused him to stir, and he turned to see Chuck and Sophie and an EMT milling about in the room. Rory was strapped to a gurney and was about to be wheeled out. Gabriel glanced at him one last time, and then he pushed the vampire out of his mind.

  Sophie smiled at him and handed him his coat. “Here you go, boss.”

  He took one arm from around Elise long enough to slip the coat on. “When did you get here?”

  “Five minutes ago.” She nodded toward Chuck, who was busy putting his Taser gun back into his belt. “He called to let us know what the hell was going on.”

  “Thank you, Chuck,” Gabriel said.

  The big lycan shrugged. “I was just following your orders, sir.”

  “Ever thought of a job in law enforcement or crime-scene investigation?”

  Chuck went wide-eyed.

  “I think you’d be a good addition to the team.”

  “Thank you, sir.” He puffed out his chest.

  Gabriel squeezed Elise into his side. She hadn’t yet let go of him. “Elise, this is Chuck. He’s a big fan of yours.”

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Chuck.”

  The big lycan blushed. “The pleasure’s all mine, Ms. Leroy.”

  His arm around her, Gabriel moved toward the exit. “I’m taking Elise home.”

  Sophie nodded. “Okay, boss. I’ll take care of things here.”

  Together they walked through the door and neither one of them looked back.

  Chapter 37

  Elise shielded her eyes from the sun as she stood out on the patio and looked across the field toward the woods. It was a gorgeous day and she never got bored of the view. For the rest of her life, she could stare out at the vegetation, the flowers and the trees.

  Which was exactly the plan.

  It had been three weeks since that night on the old movie set where she had thought she was going to die or, at least, lose the most important part of her life. But she still thought about it, still had nightmares.

  She hadn’t gone back to work. Reginald had been gracious and understanding about it and promised her that he would finish the film as is and it would be something she would be proud of. He’d called her yesterday to tell her it was done, but she hadn’t had any desire to go into the city to see it. She probably never would.

  The Nouveau Monde police had charged Rory with two counts of murder, her driver and Constable Ron Sharpe, one count of kidnapping and imprisonment, assault, harassment and vandalism. They had enough evidence to put him away for the rest of his long life.

  Gabriel’s last attempt to stop Rory from fleeing had taken his eyes, and ultimately his power. He was nothing now, just an empty shell of a man. Elise wasn’t sure if he had ever really been a man. At least not a good one.

  Sometimes she berated herself for not seeing it sooner. But according to Gabriel, Rory had one of the oldest and most powerful vampiric powers. Glamour. It had been used thousands of years ago to subdue a vampire’s victim. Rory had used it to manipulate his way through his life. He had damaged many people along the w
ay.

  Lily had been a mess when Gabriel had brought Elise home. The girl slept in the chair in the hall just outside Elise’s bedroom for three nights straight. Then Elise had told her she could move into the guest bedroom. Permanently.

  Despite the Lily’s lack of judgment with Diego, Elise trusted her. Enough that she left her affairs with her when she moved out to the cottage. Lily told her she’d hold down the fort until Elise came back.

  She didn’t have the heart to tell her that she wouldn’t be back.

  It was too hard. And those nightmares were still too raw and real. During the nighttime terrors, she would call out his name, thinking she’d lost him again, but he was always there for her, soothing her back to sleep, brushing away her tears. Gabriel had not left her side since that night and she knew he never would.

  She turned to go back into the house. And there he was at the stove in the kitchen, stirring their dinner and talking on the phone.

  When she moved into the room, he looked up and saw her, and a beautiful, slow, sensual grin spread across his handsome face. It made the butterflies in her stomach flutter something fierce. She put a hand to her belly and wondered if it would always be this way with him. Would he always stir something deep and primal inside her?

  She certainly hoped so.

  He flipped his cell phone closed and set it on the counter. “Dinner’s just about done. Are you hungry?”

  “Starving.”

  She moved into the kitchen and came up behind him to wrap her arms around him. He settled one of his hands on top of hers as he continued to stir the food.

  “Was that Olena again?” she asked.

  “Yeah. She couldn’t find some form in the filing cabinet. She thinks my filing system sucks.”

  Elise laughed.

  “So I told her to change it, since it’s her office now and not mine.”

  He set the spoon onto the counter and turned around in her arms. Running his hands into her hair, he brought her head forward and covered her mouth with his. He tasted of wildness and nature and the spice he’d put into the tomato sauce he had concocted.

  Soon kissing turned into caressing and the licking of her neck. She didn’t mind. Gabriel could lick whatever part of her body he wanted. He was skilled with that appendage. And others, as well.

  “Are you going to miss it, do you think?” she asked as he nibbled on her right earlobe.

  “Miss what?”

  “The job. Saving people.”

  He pulled back and looked at her, his fingers stroking her cheek and her chin. He shook his head. “I saved the most important person to me. As far as I’m concerned, my job is done.”

  She buried her hands in his hair and pulled him to her, brushing her lips against his. He smiled, then deepened the kiss. A flush of heat started at her head and went all the way down to her toes. The man could kiss, that was for sure.

  She peppered his jaw with kisses, as she made her way to his neck and up to his ear. She licked his lobe and nibbled on the sensitive flesh there. “Turn off the stove,” she whispered into his ear.

  “I thought you were starving?”

  She pulled back and smiled, lifting one eyebrow. “I am.”

  Gabriel whipped his arm around and turned off the stove, and then he came back around and picked Elise up, slinging her over his shoulder. He walked as fast as he could down the hallway to the master bedroom, where he tossed her onto the bed.

  She laughed. “I didn’t know you were so wild.”

  He stripped off his T-shirt and flung it over his shoulder. His fingers went to the button of his pants and had them undone and down his legs in mere seconds.

  “I have a wolf’s heart, sugar.” Gloriously naked, he crawled onto the mattress toward her. “And it’s all yours.”

  She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close. “Forever?”

  He grinned. “Absolutely.”

  There had never been a happier moment in her life than this one. She possessed everything she’d ever wanted in life. And he was all hers for the rest of it.

  * * * * *

  ISBN: 9781459227538

  Copyright © 2012 by Vivi Anna

  All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

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  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37