by T. F. Walsh
A serious look crossed her face for a split second, then vanished. “I’d like that,” she said. “Though I think you owe me a month’s worth of pastries to make up for this past week.”
My pulse stormed through me. This felt right. Us being together, sharing our time, flirting, and not wishing to be anywhere else.
“Done.” Reaching across, I folded my arms around her waist, drawing her close.
She lifted her chin and raised herself on tippy toes, her lips brushing mine. “Let’s start over.”
Hearing her say it made me smile like crazy. I kissed her with the hunger of someone starved for too long. Daciana’s body softened against me. Her hands slid under my shirt, her touch sizzling hot against my back.
She broke our kiss. “Remember our time in the car?” Her needy words were breathy and drove me insane.
“Yeah.”
“I want to continue from there.”
“Are you sure?”
“Shit yeah. I haven’t gotten you out of my head since you ravaged me in your car.” The lust in her voice had me burning up and suddenly my pants were two sizes too small. Yep, I was all for moving fast because I wasn’t sure I’d be able to hold back much longer anyway.
“You got it.” I lifted her off her feet, and in quick response, her legs snapped around my hips. Her mouth captured mine. The fire between her thighs was electrifying, and I doubted we’d make it to the bedroom.
CHAPTER NINE
DACIANA
Connell edged his Audi into the parking lot of the institute while I waited near the entrance, rubbing the cold out of my arms. A buzz zipped through me. Only hours earlier I’d woken up in his bed, bundled in his arms, on the nine-month anniversary of our first kiss, which ended in the best morning sex ever.
I climbed into the car, and the sweet aroma of pastries caressed the back of my throat. Connell shot me a devilish smirk. Before he could say a word, I leaned over, and he rewarded me with a kiss, the kind that did nothing to ease the magical excitement already dancing in my belly. His mouth captured my lower lip, and if we weren’t parked near work, I would have climbed across his lap and ridden him rodeo style.
He broke our embrace, and I laid a hand on his thigh, loving the heat radiating from him. “Got caught up at the station, so I’m running a bit late.”
“No problem.”
“Ready for this?” he asked.
“Yep. Vasile gave me the lowdown. Sheep were slaughtered overnight on a farm outside Braşov.” I slouched into my seat as Connell reversed out of the parking lot. “But I don’t believe only one wolf was responsible.”
He shrugged. “The farmer only saw one. I guess if a wolf got hungry enough—”
“One wolf would never kill half a flock. Maybe several, but it’s rare. And wolves mostly hunt in packs.”
“What about the story of those two wolves who killed over a 170 sheep?”
I sighed, having read about that freak incident in Hungary. “Actually, they only bit ten sheep, one was consumed, and the rest died from being trampled or asphyxiated by huddling tightly in a large mass. And from what Vasile told me about today’s case, all these dead sheep were ripped apart.”
“Well, my little animal expert, this is why I requested you to help us on the case.” He smirked.
“I like it—animal expert.”
Connell winked. “You sure are. Anyway, the farmer said this was no ordinary wolf, but disfigured and massive. He shot at it several times when it got close to the house, but it ran away.”
Surely, the farmer had been wrong. “I bet the dark played with his imagination.”
But why would wolves go after so many sheep? It didn’t make sense. A knot formed in my throat.
“I suspect you’re right.” He reached into the back seat and slightly swerved off the dirt trail. “I got you a gift.” He set a Tortured Torts brown paper bag into my lap. My stomach grumbled. Digging into the bag, I retrieved a tart and bit into it—flaky pastry melted on my tongue, and the sweet creaminess of custard had me sinking in my seat.
“I’m getting jealous of that pastry.” Connell glanced over as he drove deeper into the woods and away from the institute.
Stuffing the rest of the morsel into my mouth, I searched the bag. One left. We had a problem.
“It’s yours.”
I glanced up. “Are you sure?”
“Yep. Already had two.” He cut me a sultry look with his hypnotizing mocha eyes. “Are you free tonight for dinner at Flora’s?”
I chewed on my lower lip. Tomorrow was the full moon. Every month since I’d started dating Connell, I’d had a set of excuses as to why I couldn’t be with him on those nights. From work projects, to catching up with friends, to traveling for work. Each time I lied to Connell, a part of me died, but I somehow doubted he’d be okay with dating a werewolf. Especially since he didn’t even know our kind existed. As much as I yearned to tell him, to unleash the burden of my lies, I couldn’t draw him into my problems. If Sandulf found out I’d told a human about our existence, he’d not only target me, but Connell too, with his deathblow. So, for Connell’s own safety, I had to keep him in the dark. Though finally coming clean one day would be a dream come true.
“Can we do dinner tomorrow night instead, please? I’ve got something on.”
He turned his attention to the road. “Already got plans?” His tone lowered.
An uncomfortable itch formed at the base of my neck. “I’m really sorry. Vasile has several members from the Environmental European Society in town and asked me to join them for dinner.”
And it was true. I had spent all of yesterday helping Vasile with a presentation, but I had turned down my boss’s dinner invitation, too. It wasn’t as if I could tell any of them the truth. Sorry, tonight’s the full moon so I’ll be turning into a wolf and running wild in the Carpathian woods.
I reached over and touched his forearm, his muscles tense beneath my fingers. “Well, it only means I’ll have to make it up to you tomorrow.”
His sensual smile pushed past his frown as he gazed across at me. “I’ll take it,” he said.
Sunlight shone on the dirt track ahead, and my mind sprinted through the busy day Vasile had planned for me: help the police in the morning, then visit a vet, and return a healed lynx into the woods. Vasile insisted that ever since his mistake with the bear cubs, he felt compelled to give the police anything they wanted … Mostly my help on cases. Naturally, I didn’t mind if it meant spending time with Connell. Especially since my stay in the city was running out.
Thoughts of my rohang streamed through my head. It was one month until my stay here ended, so, hell yeah, I’d been counting down to the dreaded time when my alpha expected me home. Dating a human was forbidden by my kind, but I wasn’t ready to give up my freedom, my job, or the man who’d won my heart. Heaviness sat on my shoulders, and each breath was a struggle.
The track ahead of us carved through the woods, reminding me of the pack house deep in the forest. If I continued to stay in the city, the alpha would track me down and force my return, especially since the blood moon rose in less than two months. I’d transform into a wulfkin, meaning I controlled my own changes, not the moon. I’d been looking forward to it for as long as I could remember, but no wulfkin was allowed to live away from a pack. Death would be delivered by the Varlac—the alpha clan overseeing all packs—to any member who did.
Shivers sprouted down my arms. How was I supposed to deal with that?
I yearned to see my pack family again, spend long hours by the fire at night telling stories, and run wild in the woods together. My happiest memories were with them. But now … Now the idea of leaving Connell ached in my stomach, and bile hit the back of my throat as I considered parting from him.
Connell drove out of the forest and across town to the farm.
Suddenly, the busy day ahead of me lacked luster and its usual excitement. Curling up in Connell’s arms forever might help. I hugged myself.
“You all right?” His knuckles gently caressed my cheek. My next breath hitched, and I couldn’t swallow past the expanding boulder in my throat.
“Yeah.” I kissed his hand. Sitting around and waiting for a miracle wouldn’t help my case. I’d pay Radu, my best friend from the pack, a visit. He’d read every book on our kind, so if anyone had heard of a loophole to allow me to leave the pack, he’d know about it.
“Need to make a quick detour,” Connell said. “I forgot my folder with the case information at home.”
I nodded but couldn’t bring myself to say a word until we reached his townhouse, where I climbed out into the chilly morning breeze, desperate to inhale fresh air.
Connell held the front door open for me, and I strolled inside the familiar home where I’d spent nights for the past nine months. It reminded me of my apartment in many ways, from the minimalistic furnishing and bare white walls to the wooden floorboards.
Inside his bedroom, I searched for my coat and retrieved it from his wardrobe. Behind me, his bed lay disheveled from last night, and the faint tingle of sex hung in the air. Footfalls fell behind me. Connell’s arms slid around my stomach, his chest pressed tightly against my back.
“Is something wrong?” He kissed the top of my head.
Melting back against him, I closed my eyes, inhaling his soft, musky scent. Goddess, I didn’t want to give this up.
“What would you think if I left town?” I asked, keeping my back to him as I threw my coat on the bed.
Connell spun me by my shoulders to face him. Dread built up behind his hooded eyes. “Are you planning on leaving?”
I shook my head. “No. Just saying, if I had to leave, would you come with me?”
“Yes.”
I laughed. “You’re not even going to think about it?”
The pack would never allow a human to live with us. They’d kill him before they agreed. So Connell and I would have to leave Braşov, maybe the country. But I wasn’t sure if an inspector could pick up and transfer to another location easily.
He brushed hair from my face. “I love you, Daci. No need to think about it.”
“I love you, too.” The uneasiness tightening in my soul reminded me it wasn’t just my heart I’d shred if I returned to the pack, but Connell’s too.
His hand slid to the back of my head, and he closed in, his lips pressed against mine.
The heat emanating from him wrapped around me. My pulse spiked from just one kiss. Forget the future and enjoy the present. Slowly, my fingers inched up his neck, and I parted his lips with my tongue, offering him all of me.
His hands slid under my blouse, pressing into my flesh, his skin alight, and the hardness in his pants pressed against my belly. I slipped my hand down and stroked him. He moaned as his mouth devoured mine.
Breaking our kiss, he left a peck on my nose and spun me around with his hands on my hips. Before I could catch my breath, his hands roamed down the sides of my legs and curled under the hem of my A-line skirt before peeling it up to my waist in slow motion.
I gasped with pleasure.
His hands cupped the curves of my butt and squeezed. With one smooth move, he slid my panties down, and I stepped out of them.
“Damn, you’re hot,” he said.
“Well, what are you waiting for?”
The sound of his belt unbuckling spiked my pulse. Next thing I knew, his cock was hard and scorching hot, pressed up against my butt. One of his hands curved around under my blouse, which he tugged up over my head, along with my bra. A hand cupped one breast, waiting for the other to join in kneading, his fingers squeezing my beaded nipples.
Moans poured from within, and the apex between my thighs was ablaze.
“Please, Connell. Stop teasing.”
Releasing my breasts, he guided me to bend over the bed with my butt perched high in the air. Gently, he parted my legs wider. His breaths danced across my opening, hot and teasing. I glanced over my shoulder to find him kneeling behind me, fitting on a condom.
Soon his tongue was on me, licking my silkiness. I mewled louder, my legs quivering as he inserted his tongue inside me repeatedly. With his fingers rubbing my hot spot, the first ripples of pleasure rode with me.
“Not yet, babe.” Connell pulled free and blew a warm breath across my heat.
“Tease.”
Up on his feet, the tip of his cock slid along my wetness and pressed into me, slowly at first. He gripped my hips and plunged into me, over and over, rocking his hips, faster, harder. My screams of pleasure intensified, hands fisting the bed sheets, and a rapid orgasm vibrated through me. He pushed inside me again.
When he withdrew, I collapsed on the bed, adoring the ecstasy rolling and swelling through me. Turning onto my back, I marveled at the desire in Connell’s eyes, the hardness of his cock.
“Why don’t we do this all day?” Raising myself on my elbows, I drew my knees up and parted them wide, inviting him. “I’m not quite sure I’ve had my fill yet.”
“Oh fuck. Me neither.” His gaze stayed between my thighs. He fell to his knees, grasped my hips, and hauled me to the edge of the bed. With my legs draped over his shoulders, he dove in, mouth first. My body vibrated with excitement.
Yep, we’d get to the animal case soon, but first, I intended to scratch the itch that refused to leave me every time I was in Connell’s company.
The shrill ringtone of Connell’s cell phone shattered our perfect moment, the one where another orgasm was escalating. He broke his hold, easing my lower back onto the bed.
I sighed, rolled over, and sat up in bed.
“Hold on.” He reached across to his pants, snatched his phone, and frowned as he glanced at the screen before answering it. “Chief.”
A faint voice from the earpiece reached me, but I couldn’t decipher the words. Connell didn’t move or nod, but stared at the wall behind me. “We’re on our way.” Another pause while he listened. “Be there in fifteen minutes.”
Connell shook his head and hung up. His gaze found me. “We’ve got to leave. They’re waiting for us at the ranch so we can start our investigation.” Then his attention dipped lower, and a provocative grin widened his lips. “We’ll go soon.” He returned me to my former position, leaned in between my legs, and kissed me, then his tongue licked ferociously.
I groaned with fervor, and my hips rocked from desire surging through me.
Connell’s finger found my entrance and glided inside, quick and intense.
My screams resonated in the room, and I didn’t care who heard us. Every part of me rippled as Connell’s tongue and fingers worked their enchantment.
An orgasm tore free, and quivers spread inside me. My thighs tightened against Connell’s head. He wasn’t releasing me either and rode my wave of delectable pleasure.
My legs parted, every muscle tingling from the euphoric sensation.
Connell stood, his shirt crinkled, cock hard, and lips glistening. “We’ll return to this later.”
“You bet.”
He left the room, and the door to the bathroom creaked open.
Within a few minutes, we were presentable, dressed, and back in Connell’s car, driving toward the crime scene. I couldn’t ask for anything else. In that moment, my life was perfect.
We drove through Braşov, gorgeous Renaissance buildings everywhere, and in no time, we reached the other side of the city. The farming district.
Connell parked behind a squad car, and we climbed out. The typical morning winds thrashed the long grasses in the field around us, and the trees in the distance swayed. To our right lay a simple farmhouse—one story, white walls, with a brick-red roof. Nothing unusual. Bare branches lined the trees standing in the front yard like a skeletal fence, and behind the building lay several barnyards.
I crossed the road, trailing behind Connell and past several police officers at the front of the property. Behind the house, we passed a garden and a truck shed and reached a fenced-off section dotted with dozens of blo
ody sheep carcasses.
My insides curdled at the sight of the butchering. What would do such damage? At least fifty sheep were slaughtered. A gust of air infused with the stink of rotting entrails knocked me backward, and I held my breath, cringing as we entered through an open gate. Grass stained with blood stuck to my boots.
We wove alongside the bodies toward a group of people gathering in the center of the massacre. The sheep’s stomachs had been ripped open, intestines missing or lying alongside the bodies. I halted near one animal with its throat torn out. The rest of the body remained intact.
“Are you all right?” Connell stopped next to me.
“This wasn’t a senseless killing or a feeding by a pack of wolves.” I pointed to the dead sheep around us. “It’s calculated and classic territorial behavior.”
“What sort of animal?”
“Wolves might behave this way to mark new territory … ” I paused and glanced at the scatterings of remains. “But never on this scale.”
I breathed in a fresh breath of air, the heavy scent of blood and decay cloying at the back of my throat. Then something stirred deep in my gut, heavy and guttural. My wolf.
I froze. Couldn’t be. The full moon was tonight, not now. Must be in my head—the dead animals were getting to me.
Ahead of us, a young woman snapped photos of the carnage, while three men stood talking. I recognized the chief of police when he turned to greet us. A scowl marred his face.
While Connell approached him, I knelt next to another gutted animal. At the edges of the torn belly, I noted several score lines marking the flesh. There was a bite mark on the hind leg, which lay broken and bent in the wrong direction. Leaning closer, I took a long sniff, and the faint smell of wolf lay there, buried beneath the heavy reek of festering flesh and death. Well, we were dealing with wolves, all right, but I had no explanation for their behavior. Had a new wolf pack moved into the Carpathian woods?
Straightening up, I sensed the warmth of my inner wolf once again, stronger this time, prodding at my insides for release. My skin rippled. Panic encased me as I backed away. Fuck. Was I about to change? Maybe this close to the full moon, the blood was affecting my inner wolf. But this had never happened to me before.