Wolf Tales III

by Kate Douglas

  Luc handed the phone back to Tia and watched while she placed it on the table beside the bed. Tinker sucked Luc’s cock back between his lips. Luc glanced up and caught the twinkle in Tia’s eye. She dropped her robe to the floor, then crawled across Luc’s chest to take Tinker’s penis between her lips. With just a minor adjustment, Luc found Tia’s pussy with his mouth.

  Holding her buttocks steady with his palms, he slowly worked his tongue deep inside for a taste, then settled down to suckle gently on her clitoris while his fingers searched the cleft between her cheeks.

  Sighing, Luc centered his thoughts on the woman he loved, the man loving him.

  Jake was a big boy. Eventually he’d figure everything out.

  Jake set the phone back in the cradle and stared into the dark. Someone might still be after Shannon and he felt as if a noose were tightening around them. She’d had her first supplement on Sunday and already, after only two pills, she showed signs of something happening. Tia had told Jake many of the changes were subtle, internal things only a woman would understand.

  Shannon’s menses would alter from the typical heavy flow of blood to a mere staining once a month, accompanied by pheromones that were certain to drive Jake wild. Check one…he’d already experienced her pheromones.

  She’d develop an inherent knowledge of how to release an egg for fertilization, something Tia’s cousin, Keisha was supposedly considering. A knowledge of self so complete as to change a woman’s perception of not only herself, but her need for an alpha mate.

  Would Shannon find Jake alpha enough to suit her? Only time would tell. Sighing, Jake quietly joined Shannon in the big bed, but he lay awake beside her well into the night.

  Chapter 7

  The dream was clearer tonight. Shannon knew she dreamed, experienced the dream state as if she were just outside the wolf, running beside her then floating above, watching the animal search.

  Nose to the ground, the wolf raced back and forth across the meadow, her thick coat shining blue black beneath the moon.

  What did she look for? Why did the sense of something out of place feel so much more intense tonight? Hovering mere inches above the beast, Shannon tried to communicate with the gorgeous animal, opening her thoughts as she’d opened them to Jake.

  There was no warning, no sense of movement, nothing to indicate change. Shannon blinked. When her eyes opened, she was the wolf.

  Unlike her earlier dreams, she’d experienced the wolf as a metaphor, not reality. She’d sensed it was but a part of her mind, the dissatisfied, unfulfilled part of Shannon Murphy, forever searching for some nameless essence, remaining forever beyond her reach.

  Now, though, Shannon’s nose twitched at the sudden onslaught of scents, her ears perked this way and that with the sound of mice scampering in the grass, of crickets and cicadas and wind in the trees. Her left front foot hurt, enough that she stopped, sat back on her haunches and lifted the foot to inspect the source of the pain.

  A large thistle poked out between her toes. Without thinking, Shannon leaned forward and, with a careful nip of her teeth, pulled the thorn out. It stuck to her tongue for a moment, so she licked her furry shoulder and the thistle fell free.

  Then she lifted her paw again and licked the injury, tasting blood. After a couple of extra licks for good measure, the small wound closed and she once more put pressure on her paw.

  It hurt, but not nearly so bad as when the thorn was still lodged in her foot. This time when Shannon raced along the trail, it was with a sure knowledge she would find what she searched for. Just ahead. She sensed her goal, sensed it growing closer, felt her blood coursing in her veins, the air rushing in and out of her lungs.

  Alive. For the first time, Shannon Murphy knew what it felt like to be truly alive. Joyously alive, her heart pounding as much from emotion as the run, she lifted her nose to sniff the evening breeze. The air smelled lush, alive with a million new scents.

  There, amid the rich potpourri of humus and rotting wood, the tangy crush of wild herbs and the pungent stink of an angry skunk, Shannon recognized something familiar. She practically skidded to a halt and yipped sharply.

  Her wolf stepped out of the shadows. Thick coat glinting silver beneath the waning moon, he waited at the edge of the forest. Shannon’s womb clenched. Unfamiliar and bestial, she still understood its workings with a knowledge her human self had been denied. Understood how to release an egg for breeding, how to help the fetus endure the shift from human to beast and back again.

  Understood that all those parts of her that had been diseased and damaged were once again whole. In this body, as this creature, she was fertile and complete.

  Beneath all the layers of knowledge, Shannon understood the world of Chanku. A world changing, only now, from fairy tale to reality.

  Shannon’s reality. Why now? How? The answers were close. So very, very close. She almost…Oh! There.

  Ah. Such a simple little thing.

  Shannon tossed the covers back, crying out. The flickering light from a single small candle on the dresser cast her tortured expression in deep shadows. Jake had watched her long enough, tangled in the throes of what must have been a frightening nightmare, yet he’d been unwilling to wake her from her dreams.

  Now he brushed her tangled hair back from her face, leaned close and whispered kisses across her cheek to her lips. Shannon’s eyes flew open. Obviously disoriented, she stared at Jake as if he were a stranger. Then awareness slowly settled her rapid breathing. She blinked and shook her head.

  “So real. Such an amazing dream. It felt so real.”

  Jake kissed her full on the mouth. Tasted her lips, nipped at the lower one. “What did you dream?”

  Shannon scooted into a sitting position, shoved her pillows behind her, and leaned back on the headboard. “I’m not really sure. It was all tied up in some old fairy tales Tia used to tell. Stories about people who were really wolves. In my dream, I was a wolf. I was looking for something but I didn’t know what. Then the wolf I saw here at the house was in my dream. Just before I woke up, I had the strangest feeling he was the one I was searching for. Weird. Really, truly weird.”

  This was more than he’d hoped for. So much more. Jake took a deep breath to steady his racing heart. “You think so? Do you often have dreams that seem real?” He stroked her hair, comforting her. Still sleepy eyed, she called to him with a power that grew stronger each hour of the night, each minute of the day.

  Shannon turned and looked at him for the longest time. Jake felt as if she were judging him, reading something in the way he watched her, the questions he asked.

  “I rarely dream. In fact, until I started taking those big vitamins you’ve given me, I’ve never dreamed like this before. What’s in them? What am I taking?”

  Crap. This he didn’t need. Jake faked a calm he didn’t feel. “I told you. They’re herbs, extracts from plants. Nothing dangerous. I can’t imagine them giving you nightmares.”

  Shannon shook her head. “I never said they were nightmares. Merely vivid dreams. Have you ever taken illegal drugs?”

  Jake shook his head at the non sequitur. “No. I smoked some pot in high school, but that was it. It didn’t do much for me.”

  Shannon shrugged her shoulders. The blanket dropped away, revealing the upper swell of her right breast, the rosy shadow surrounding her nipple. Jake curled his fingers into tight fists to keep from touching her.

  “I have. I’m not even sure what the stuff was. I was out with Tia one night and we’d met a couple of guys. They ended up coming home with us. We took something they mixed in our drinks, and I remember dreams like nothing I’d ever experienced before.” She narrowed her gaze and pinned Jake with her green eyes. “It was also the most amazing sex I’d ever had with a total stranger. Until you. Jake, are you giving me some kind of drug for sex? Is that what those pills are?”

  He laughed. Damn, the way a woman’s mind worked. “You think I’d have to give you drugs for good sex? Give me a br
eak.” He leaned close, so close that his lips hovered directly over Shannon’s. Close enough to rub his nose against hers, which he did.

  “I’ve never resorted to drugs to make a woman come. It takes skill to bring a woman to climax. Not drugs. At least not the way I work.” He licked her upper lip with the very tip of his tongue.

  Shannon parted for him. Jake stroked his tongue along the soft flesh inside her lower lip, then nipped the sensitive skin between his teeth. He touched her tongue with his, suckled the tip between his lips.

  She moaned, then pulled away. “What if I were to stop taking your pills. Would that bother you?”

  Jake fought the ripe surge of panic. “Only because I’d worry about you. I want you healthy.” He kissed her mouth, then pulled back. “I want you strong. Ready for me.”

  She practically purred. “Oh, I’m definitely ready. And, very strong.” Slowly, Shannon rolled close to Jake. The covers made a soft barrier between them, teasing him with her partially hidden nudity. She rubbed her breasts over his chest, ran her hands along his arms, raised them up over his head.

  Kissing and nipping at his lips, his chin, the line of his jaw, she kept a tight grip on his forearms, pressing them solidly against the iron headboard. She crawled higher on his chest, rubbing Jake’s lips with her taut nipple. He felt his cock surge beneath the blankets, trapped under the cotton sheets and down comforter.

  She held his wrist now with one hand. He felt her other slip under the pillow and wondered what the hell she was up to. Then she rubbed her crotch over his belly and her scent rose, ripe and intoxicating, filling his nostrils, going straight to his cock and aching balls.

  Short-circuiting his brain.

  Groaning, Jake realized her little bondage games were officially over. It was time to take control—now. Except, he couldn’t. Tugging at his wrists, he looked up and groaned. “How the hell did you manage that?”

  She giggled and sat back, her knees clamped to either side of his chest, her scent surrounding him. “When I found the necktie in the closet, I couldn’t think of a better use for it. I just didn’t imagine it would happen so soon.”

  Jake twisted his arms. She hadn’t had enough time to tie it properly, had she?

  He couldn’t break free. Obviously, she had.

  “I was always good with knots.”

  “I see that. Okay…” He dragged the word out. “Now that I’m tied to the headboard, what do you plan to do with me?”

  Shannon raised off his body and pulled the blankets away. His cock popped up like a jack-in-the-box. “Anything I want.”

  He almost shot his load with the promise in her voice. “How’d we go from talking about your dreams to me tied to the bed? Inquiring minds want to know.”

  “It felt like a natural progression to the conversation. I think it has something to do with control…that, and your amazing ego.”

  Jake glanced down at his cock. It was standing proud, the foreskin forced back behind the broad, plum-shaped crown. “It is amazing, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah. Right.” Shannon lifted her body away from his, scooted over Jake and climbed off the bed.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Out.”

  “What do you mean, out? Out where?” This wasn’t going at all the way he’d expected. Jake yanked at the headboard, harder this time. The iron creaked but didn’t give. All he did was tighten the knots holding his wrists.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll be back. Soon.”

  Jake twisted around in the bed just in time to see Shannon’s naked butt as she went out the door. She closed it behind her. Left him alone with a single candle. A tiny stub that flickered brightly, then went out. Left him tied to the bed, his cock bouncing against his belly, his balls aching for release.

  Jake tugged once more at the necktie binding him to the headboard. He glanced at the closed bedroom door.

  Then he shifted.

  Shannon leaned over and rubbed her foot. It hurt, almost as if she’d stepped on something sharp. When she looked, though, there was no sign of injury. She picked the bottle of pills up off the kitchen table, opened the lid and sniffed. They smelled like dry grass. She palmed a few and stared at them. They had to be the answer. Something in the pills Jake was giving her must be causing everything weird that was happening. The dreams, the way her skin tingled so strangely. Hell, even her bones ached in an odd, expectant manner. As if the ache was a necessary part of…what?

  She didn’t know. Not for sure, but, damn it all, she was going to find out.

  Shannon glanced toward the closed bedroom door. She lit a kerosene lantern and carried it, along with the bottle of pills, toward the bedroom. She heard a loud thump and what sounded like an angry growl, and grinned. Jake was going to be really pissed, but at least she figured she’d get the answers she wanted.

  Shannon shoved the door open with her hip and, holding the lantern aloft, walked into the room. Jake lay on the bed, the blankets twisted beneath him, his hands still firmly bound. He glared at her. She practically felt the waves of frustration boiling off his naked body.

  He was no longer aroused. Shannon set the lantern on the dresser next to the remnants of the small candle, turned around and grinned. It was much more fun talking to him when his cock was straining against his belly. She held on to the bottle of pills and sat on the edge of the bed, the curve of her buttock against Jake’s hip.

  He didn’t say a word, but then he didn’t need to. His expression spoke volumes. Shannon was fully aware he wasn’t enjoying any of this. Jake was a man who needed control.

  Demanded it.

  Right now, he didn’t have it. He was not a happy man.

  Shannon needed control as well. Right now, she had it. She rolled the bottle of pills between her hands. Then, without warning, she leaned over, dragged her hair across Jake’s groin, drew his flaccid penis between her lips and sucked hard.

  Jake’s hips came off the mattress.

  “Shit! A little warning would be nice.”

  Sliding her lips up and down his rapidly enlarging cock, Shannon merely hummed her answer.

  Jake groaned in response.

  She worked steadily, slipping him in and out of her mouth, working the smooth flesh over the crown with her tongue, dipping lower to lick his sac and nibble at the wrinkled skin holding his balls. She listened to the rate of his breathing, sensed when he was about to come. Took him to the edge and held him there, then sat back and smiled.

  “Now, about those pills.” She held the bottle up so he could see it in her hand.

  Jake glared at her. “You’re just going to leave me like this?” Underscoring his complaint, Jake’s cock bobbed against his belly.

  “For now. Yep. Are you going to tell me the truth about what you’re giving me?”

  “I told you. They’re vitamins. Just herbs and stuff. There is nothing that will hurt you in those pills.”

  Shannon stared at him for a long, slow moment. There was an obvious tic in his jaw, his dark eyes seemed to be hiding something and she was absolutely positive he was lying.

  She stood up. “Okay. If there’s nothing in these pills that can hurt me, then there’s nothing all that important that will help, either. They’re going in the toilet.” She turned her back on Jake and marched toward the small bathroom off the master bedroom.

  A low, warning growl coming from the bed stopped her. Shannon felt the skin prickle along her backbone, knew with absolute certainty what she would see tied to the bed. Knew, and welcomed it. There was no need for fear, not even for surprise.

  Slowly, Shannon turned. Amazingly, she held on to her composure. She’d definitely tied him well. It appeared the wolf’s forelegs were larger around than Jake’s wrists, his paws too wide for the tightly knotted silken necktie to slip loose. Bound as the man had been, the wolf twisted its shimmering body and glared at her with every bit of frustration the man had shown.

  Of course, the wolf had much sharper teeth.

  Smiling, m
oving ahead without fear, Shannon grabbed a pair of scissors off the dresser and walked back to the bed. She stared down at the wolf, at Jake, for a long moment. He was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.

  And truly pissed. He snarled, curling one side of his lip back to reveal long, daggerlike canines. His ears lay back against his broad skull and his shimmering amber eyes bored into her. Shannon had a powerful urge to stroke the smooth fur between his ears, but shook it off. That might be pushing it.

  Later. This definitely wasn’t the time to pet him like a large dog.

  She took a deep breath, let it out. “I had a feeling that was you in the meadow. Especially when I realized you’d stuffed a bolster pillow into bed beside me.”

  The wolf merely glared at her.

  She carefully snipped away the necktie, freeing first one powerful leg, then the other. The wolf slipped down onto the bed, still staring at her out of angry, amber eyes.

  “I’m not the least bit afraid of you, you know. You’re Jake and you won’t hurt me. However, I imagine it’s a lot easier to carry on a conversation when you’re human. Is it hard to shift back?”

  I can talk to you in any manner I choose.

  Shannon was still trying to comprehend the clear sound of Jake’s voice in her head when the wolf rolled to its belly and rose up on its powerful haunches. By the time it was fully erect, Jake sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing his wrists. He tilted his head and stared at her.

  Shannon’s poise almost slipped. She’d proved her theory. Now what?

  “You play for keeps, don’t you?” Jake’s slow drawl didn’t sound angry. Anything but. In fact, if she weren’t mistaken, he was fighting a grin.

  Shannon wrapped her arms around her waist. She felt terribly naked, standing here in the soft glow of the lantern with a man who had just switched from human to wolf then back to human again.

  Impossible.

  “It’s my life we’re talking about.” She held up the bottle. “What do these have to do with…” Shannon waved her hand helplessly, “that.”