by Beverly Rae
“No. Leave those on. And I think we’ll add a pair of high heels, too.”
A pair of four-inch silver heels appeared on cue, tossed at George’s feet.
Once dressed, the chubby man shivered before them. The strippers jeered and clapped their approval. The tight bra pinched into his man-breasts while the thong showed what little package he had to offer.
“Hmm. He sure doesn’t fill out my thong much. Maybe we should pad his crotch.”
Tala helped him slip on the silky robe and wrap the feathery boa around his neck. “Maybe some makeup would do the trick?”
Three girls hurried to get their cosmetics. While one added rouge to his cheeks, another added eye shadow, and the third applied an apple-red lipstick to his lips.
After letting the women have their way, Tala crossed her arms and admired their work. “Okay, Georgie. It’s show time.”
Tala pushed George out of the dressing room, leading the giggling group of women down a dimly lit hall and onto the stage area behind the red velvet curtains.
The loud raunchy music ended. A stripper broke through the curtains and stared at the man standing before her. “What the shit?”
“Don’t ask, Barbie. Just go out there and announce a very special act.” Maggie studied George for a moment before adding, “This is Gorgeous Georgina, the Gal Pal of the West.”
Barbie paused for a moment, then flinging the curtains aside, swayed onto the stage.
“Please, Tala. Don’t make me do this.” Surprisingly, George once again gathered his courage to oppose her. “I won’t do this.”
“Lookie, lookie. He speaks again.”
Tala ignored the ladies’ taunting remarks. “Do this or I’ll finish what I started in the restroom.”
Maggie’s mouth fell open. “You two? In the bathroom?” Her surprise morphed to dismay. “Oh, honey, you can do so much better.”
Yuck! Does she think…? Oh, hell no. Tala shook her head, vehemently denying the woman’s assumption. “No way. It’s not what you’re thinking. Trust me.”
Barbie’s voice rang out, drawing the attention of the audience. “Gentlemen! Listen up!”
George turned white and struggled against Tala’s hold. “No, please!”
“We have a very special treat for you tonight. Straight—or maybe not so straight—from his life in the closet, The Lucky Lady proudly presents for your amusement Gorgeous Georgina, the Gal Pal of the West.”
A generous applause filled the air and Maggie drew the curtains out of the way. Stepping behind George, Tala placed her hands on his shoulders and pushed him on stage.
Pandemonium broke out with catcalls, insults and boos erupting from the male audience. The disc jockey, catching on to the joke, broke off the fast-beat music he was playing, substituting it with the stereotypical bump-and-grind stripper music.
Tala peeked through the split in the curtain and hissed at George. “You better start dancing or they’re liable to get really mad. Not to mention how mad I’ll get.”
A forlorn George glanced at Tala, then scanned over the audience. Slowly, in gawky, awkward movements, he moved his hips to the rhythm of the song. Soon the men surrounding the stage got involved in the joke and took up a chant.
“Take it off. Take it off.”
George baby-stepped to the middle of the runway, stopped and clutched the boa close to his chest. Yet, although he cowered in front of the boisterous crowd, his hips continued to bump to the left and right, keeping with the beat of the music.
The strippers gathered around Tala to sneak glimpses of the show. Soon George loosened up, growing bolder with each second. Tossing the feather scarf in a flamboyant gesture, he twirled around, executing a perfect pirouette.
The move surprised Tala, but his expression surprised her the most. “Oh, my God. I think he’s actually enjoying this.”
“Looks like Georgina may have started a whole new career tonight.” Maggie guffawed and slapped Tala on the arm.
ƒ
He needed to learn to drive. Before he did anything else, he’d learn how. Jogging down the streets, even in wolf form, was slower than traveling in a car. But at least as a wolf, he could cut through yards. The full moon above beckoned him, calling him to hunt, but he couldn’t let anything keep him from finding Tala.
Devlin had searched the club, but couldn’t find her, getting no help from the closed-mouthed strippers. Hell, he hadn’t even been able to catch her scent because of all the smoke and grime in the place. Then a fruitless search outside the strip club had led to no leads. No smells. No tracks. Nothing. It wasn’t until he discovered the car was gone that he decided to pray she’d gotten away and gone back to her apartment.
He left Conrad at the club to keep looking and headed home. With luck, she’d either get in touch with him or return safely. If she didn’t, then he’d find one ex-zoo employee and tear him apart, inch by agonizing inch.
Her scent hit him and the relief coursing through him invigorated him. She’s alive. Rounding the corner, he glanced at the one lamppost shedding a hazy yellow glow over the area behind her apartment. Another light shone from the second story window of her apartment, highlighting a shapely shadow on the blinds. He inhaled, caught the spicy, tantalizing fragrance of her, and smiled.
Her form played across the blinds, gliding back and forth, arms outstretched as if in flight. The enticing shape, alluring in silhouette, dipped and weaved, dancing in time with the familiar, sensual music. Her movements entreated him, flaring the desire within his soul to a fever pitch. Grinning, he flew up the stairs and burst inside.
The music, seductive and sultry, played over him and his mouth fell open at the sight of her naked body dancing around the room. She slid her hands along her body, skimming over her firm, round breasts, and his shaft responded. She flicked her tongue over her top lip and moved her hands up and through her hair.
She was more beautiful than ever. His shaft throbbed for her, but it was his heart that swelled with love.
Spinning again, she performed a perfect twirl and landed with her arms outstretched, welcoming him home. “What took you so long?”
His hand slid over her breast, tweaking her nipple. Tala laughed, locking her hand behind his neck. “I missed you.”
“Yeah?” He cupped both breasts in his hands. “I’m not the one who disappeared. You scared the hell outta me.”
“I knew you’d figure out where I went.” Gyrating her hips, she swayed with the music, rubbing against the rough denim material of his jeans. “And I didn’t disappear. I was just busy having some fun with the ladies.”
His gaze jerked up from devouring her body, eyebrows dipping in confusion. “You mean the strippers? What the hell were you doing with them?”
“Oh, nothing much.” She pushed her tits against his palms. “Just helping someone start a new career.” When he looked at her quizzically, she quipped, “I guess you were busy looking for me and missed the special show. But don’t worry. I’ll tell you about it later. After all, don’t we have better things to do right now than talk?”
He favored her with one of his lazy smiles. “When you’re right, you’re right.”
“Good. Then let’s get busy.” She stretched to her tiptoes and brushed her tongue lightly across his lips. He groaned and slipped his hands to her waist, possessing her body as he’d possessed her soul.
His nostrils flared, a sure sign that he was turned on and ready to play. She loved how well she knew him now. How the glint of amber in his eyes told her his animal was near the surface. And all she had to do was let him out.
“Do you want to move to the bedroom?” His tone was husky, filled with desire.
“No.” Tugging him down, she knelt. Knee to knee, she ran her hands up to his neck, taking a firm hold on him. “I want you to take me where you first saw me.”
He buried his face in her neck and his words warmed her skin as they warmed her heart. “I loved you from the first second I saw you.”
&nb
sp; She sighed and kissed him. Not only with lust, but with every ounce of love she had for him. He met her tongue as it skimmed over her lips and they played together, teasingly, lovingly, savoring each other’s taste. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on the texture of his mouth, the curve of his lips, the nip of his teeth. Although familiar, his flavors were intoxicatingly new.
At last, he pressed his mouth to hers, dragging her tongue into his mouth. He gripped her hips and his fingers traveled toward the middle of her ass to meet at the valley. Downward he continued until he could take both her cheeks in his hands. He spread her, cupping her forcefully, sucking on her tongue. She pressed against him, flattening her breasts against his rock-like chest. Rubbing against him, she arched, wanting him impossibly closer.
Devlin moved his fingers deeper, moving them into her, exciting her, making her tighten around him. He broke the kiss to lick his way down her neck, along the scar left from his mark to nibble at the roundness of her shoulder. He was all to her, everything she’d ever yearned for.
Needing to catch her breath, she pulled away. Amber eyes met hers and she thrilled at the power lying within them. “Devlin.”
He answered exactly the way she’d wanted him to. Tenderly, he lowered her to the carpet and slid beside her. His gaze ran the length of her, taking in every inch. She rejoiced, happy that she had put that look of heat in his eyes.
“I have to have you, but I want to take this slowly.” His tongue sneaked out to tickle her tit. “But I’m not sure how long I can last.”
“Take me any way you want.” She took his face in her hands, needing him to see the sincerity on her face. “I’m yours and you’re mine.”
He growled deep in his throat and buried his face in her hair. He smelled her, drawing in her scent. Slowly, he trekked his fingers over her breast, making an easy circle around her areola. She arched, urging him to take her nipple, but he was true to his word and took his time, making her happy and irritated all at the same time.
He traced his fingers around her tit several more times, moving his fingers closer and closer in smaller circles, nuzzling her neck and murmuring soft words of endearment. Finally, his fingers tripped over her nipple and the muscles between her legs tightened. “Devlin, you’re torturing me.”
He chuckled wickedly. “You ain’t seen nothing yet…babe.”
“Babe?” Yet before she could admonish him, he took her tit in his mouth and rubbed the other between his finger and thumb. She inhaled, forgot what she’d wanted to say, and stared down at him. The wicked gleam was still in his eyes, sending a turmoil of unreleased desire swirling in her abdomen.
Pushing her breasts together, he suckled on both tits at once. She bit her lower lip and reached out to run her hands over his broad shoulders. Muscles rippled and she couldn’t decide which sight she liked better: the sight of him pulling on her taut buds or the expanse of his shoulders above her.
“Devlin, I’m not sure I can last very long either.”
He let her nipples pop out of his mouth and studied her. “You can if I can. And you will.”
Suddenly, he reared up, pulling his body upward until his cock hung over her face. She grinned and reached up for him, but he jerked his body away from her. “Uh-uh. This is my time to play. Besides, if you blow me, I’m a goner.”
She started to argue. He was probably right, but that didn’t mean she liked it—especially when the large mushroom cap was so temptingly close that she could reach out and flick it with her tongue.
She’d decided to do just that when he moved away, dragging his cock over her chin to bounce on her chest. He swayed his hips, swiping his shaft under her chin, skimming it into the hollow at her throat. She groaned and he chuckled at her. “Feeling a bit frustrated?” She narrowed her eyes and reached up to take him in her hand, but he was too quick for her. “Uh-uh-uh. No touchie for you. Not yet anyway.”
Brushing her hands away, he continued to draw his shaft over her, in between her breasts, down the cleft between her ribcage and over the quivering muscles of her stomach. She watched him and decided turnabout was fair play. Gripping her breasts, she brought them to her mouth and slid her tongue over the tops of them. Then she pushed them together and sucked her tits into her mouth. She jiggled them, keeping her tongue playing over the tender nubs.
He paused, his eyes growing glassy, and ran his tongue over his lips. But her payback didn’t work as planned. The lustful glint in his eyes was soon replaced with a gleeful glint. “Good try, Tala. But since I’ve already tasted your tits, I can handle the teasing.”
She hid her surprised reaction and made a soft yearning sound deep in her throat. Her reward, the rush of desire, spread across his face. He gritted his teeth and scowled. “Damn, but you sound sexy. Okay, you got me. Let’s quit tempting each other.”
When he slipped a little lower, running the tip of his engorged cock over her curly mound, she nodded once and wrapped her legs around his waist. He bent to kiss her ribcage and tracked his lips along the curve of her side. But still he didn’t enter her.
“Devlin, please.” She couldn’t help the whine in her voice and didn’t care. All she wanted was him inside her. “I thought we were getting serious now.”
He looked up at her and the heat in his eyes nearly scorched her with its intensity. Together, they paused, each waiting for that moment when they would join.
“Mates forever.”
She nodded. “Forever.”
Keeping his gaze on hers, he slid into her and, although she was oh-so-ready for him, she gasped, her body instantly electrified with the feel of him. He rocked against her, into her, at first slow and easy. But then she could see him losing his control, his features taking on a strained expression, his jaw moving and he began to move faster, deeper, shoving into her. She clung to his arms, locking her feet behind him, and held on.
She tried to keep pace, thrusting her hips against him, but he moved too quickly for her to keep up. At best she could only match one buck for every two of his, their stomachs meeting in sweaty slaps. Fucking Devlin was like riding a bronco. The best she could do was to hang on and enjoy the ride.
When he left her, taking his cock abruptly from her, she cried out, then tried to arch higher as though she could force him back inside. Instead, he took her legs, making her unlock her feet, then pushed her knees toward her chest. With a flick of his tongue, he dove lower and sank his head between her legs. She held her breath and waited, anticipating the feel of his kiss against her pulsating clit. Still, she was unprepared for the shock.
“Oh, shit!”
She could swear she could feel him smile against her.
“Devlin, please, oh, please, oh—”
He lashed at her, pressing the fullness of his tongue against her and dragging it over the top of her mound, down over her clit, along the slit and then up again. She grabbed her knees, holding her legs for him, and closed her eyes. Oh, please, oh, please, oh, please. What she was begging for was unclear since he was doing everything she wanted and more.
Soul-shaking shudder after shudder ripped through her. She thrashed her head back and forth while her body trembled from her release. She cried out, this time not in frustration, but in joy.
The darkness behind her eyelids swirled, lights flickering with each stroke of his tongue. She tried to follow his movements—suck, flick, bite—but soon became lost in the sheer ecstasy of his attack. He groaned, the hot air striking her clit and sending shivers of another orgasm from her pussy to spread across her abdomen. Her muscles clenched as though trying to catch his tongue. The sounds he made lapping up her wetness nearly drove her insane.
When his fingers slid into her, she knew she’d never think clearly again. He moved his fingers, stroking, pushing into her, while his tongue continued to lash at her clit. She shrieked, shaking under his hold.
“Damn it, Devlin. Are you trying to kill me?”
He stopped—don’t stop!—to answer. “If I am, then what better way t
o die?” He lowered his head, propping his chin on her patch of curly hair. “Tell me what you want, Tala. I want to please you.”
She glanced down at him, waiting a moment to let her lust-fogged eyes focus and grinned at him. “Anything?”
He raised his eyebrows in wonder. “Yeah, anything.”
“I want you to dance with me.” She giggled at his surprised expression.
“Are you kidding me?” He flicked his gaze downward, then back to hers. “You want me to stop doing what I’m doing—to dance?”
With her breathing almost back to normal, she let her legs fall to his sides. “Yeah, I want to dance. I want us to dance while you make love to me.”
He took a second to think about what she’d said. Then in one easy movement, he rose, taking her with him. Yet before she was barely on her feet again, he reached behind to grasp her buttocks and yanked her upward. She laughed, draped her legs around him and twined her hands behind his neck.
He smiled at her, lowered his head to nuzzle her neck and began to sway with the music. His cock tickled the inside of her legs, reminding her of how he’d felt inside her, and she leaned back, thrusting her lower half against him. He growled with a rumble against her neck and sank into her.
Rocking with the music, he held onto her as she rode him, bending her body to better move along his shaft. He lifted her higher, shoving his cock deeper into her until she was sure he’d push all the way to her throat. Together they danced.
She tightened her muscles around him, imagining holding his cock inside her forever. When he pulled out, the deliriously hot friction drove her own hunger higher until she was certain she’d pass out.
“Oh, damn, Devlin. Fuck me. Ooh. Please, please, please—” She sucked in a breath and held it as yet another orgasm tore her apart. She clung to him, her arms shaking along with the rest of her.
Soon, however, Devlin picked up speed, moving at twice the tempo of the music. “I don’t think you’re dancing to the music any more.”
“What music?” he murmured against her skin.
She smiled and closed her eyes, wanting all her other senses to tell her about him.