Must Love Dogs

by Lena Austin

  “I’m more than ready! Gimme or I’ll kill you!”

  The strains of an old opera filtered through the wall speakers. Ana had apparently been wise enough to recognize no one was in any danger and had turned on the house stereo system. Carmina Burana had enough beat to help them along and still mask the sounds of their play.

  He didn’t waste any more time. Corbin plunged in before Roni turned into full lup — er, canine — and went for his throat. Were-bitches weren’t known for patience during mating. He’d better deliver the goods.

  She was more than ready for him. Hot, slick, and wet didn’t begin to describe her pussy. The vibrator hummed and doubled both her pleasure and his. The thin membrane separating them was no barrier at all.

  His heart and cock were hers until they both came. She’d submitted to him, and now he was at her mercy and a slave to his own body’s need for release. He couldn’t stop thrusting if he wanted to, and he would have rather died than try.

  Roni reached up and clasped him to her. “Fill me! Please! Now!”

  Corbin helplessly obliged. The axiom “The claiming of a mate means more than mere jewels” now became clear to him. The ring in his jeans pocket was nothing more than a symbol. Enclosed in his heart was a hot fire only Roni could ignite, just as the diamond held within it fiery lights.

  Locked together, they lay panting until Corbin’s cock relaxed and softened. He pulled the vibrator from her ass, rolled away to place it on the nightstand. Then he cuddled her next to him, unable to bear one moment without her. His guilt for disobeying his father gave one last dying gasp.

  He didn’t care. He loved lying there next to her. Gloriously naked, hot, sweaty. He plunged in heart first. “Roni, will you marry me?” He’d just asked a mutt to marry him and there was no turning back now. The words were out. He should have thought about this a little bit more. Corbin had thought about it, though. He loved her. She loved him. Didn’t she?

  Roni sat up and stared at him intensely with those deep brown eyes. She looked conflicted, like she wanted to answer but didn’t know if she should. “Before I answer you I have to know one thing.”

  The smell of lavender overwhelmed his senses. Roni’s soft naked body called to him once more, and he was instantly hard for her again.

  “Did you propose because you love me or to defy your father?”

  Chapter Seven

  Roni curled up on the sofa, admiring the bright pink toenail polish she’d just applied. “…After I asked him whether or not he wanted to marry me for love or rebellion, he hesitated so long I told him to think about it while we shopped at the grocery store. Ana, he rarely spoke after that and seemed lost in thought all afternoon. I was ready to scream to break the silence when you finally woke up.”

  Ana listened intently and nodded occasionally while she painted her nails a soft peach.

  What was it with folks taking three years to respond to her today? Roni squirmed and drummed her unpainted fingernails on the end table. “He never answered the question. What does that mean? Did I force him to have second thoughts?”

  The aroma of steak seeped in from the back deck. She ignored the urge to walk outside and supervise. From her position on the sofa, she could crane her neck and look through the kitchen sliding glass doors to the deck. Corbin and Jon looked deep in their own serious conversation.

  “I don’t know what to think, honey. I’m in the same boat with Jon.” Ana studied her newly painted nails. “I don’t know Corbin very well. I didn’t hear the conversation between him and his father.” Ana turned her blue eyes to Roni. “What do your instincts tell you?” Ana looked pale and wan.

  Roni stood up and walked to the kitchen, reached into the refrigerator and pulled out a pitcher of blood. She poured her best friend a glass and handed it to her.

  Ana mouthed the words “Thank you.” Then she drank deeply and winced. “It’s disgusting cold, but better than wasting blood by letting it get warm and rancid. Blech.”

  Roni poured a glass of wine for herself. She closed her eyes and drowned in the aroma of the potatoes baking in the oven. “My instincts are telling me to run far and fast. He only wants to marry me because his father is so against it. My brain is telling me that his hesitation to answer the question is not a good sign.” Roni looked down at her wineglass, put her nose to the rim, and inhaled the scent of the Merlot. “My heart tells me to go out there, throw my arms around his neck, and tell him I’ll marry him.”

  Ana pressed her lips together and clearly struggled with whether or not to speak. She mimicked Roni’s action and inhaled the scent of the blood. “What about the fact that he lied to you about being human?”

  Roni sighed heavily. “I could get past that. I completely understand why he lied. With a father like his I would have done the same thing.” Tears burned her eyes. “I just can’t get myself past the possibility that he asked me to marry him just to piss his father off. Is this some repressed leftover teenage rebellion?”

  Ana pushed herself from the counter and headed out of the kitchen. She turned at the door, love in her eyes. “Talk to him, honey. He may have hesitated because he didn’t want to say the wrong thing.”

  Roni knew Ana was right, but she didn’t have to like it. The doorbell rang and she walked out of the kitchen to the front door. She opened the door and her arms dropped heavily to her sides. “Mom? Dad? What are you doing here?” The hesitant smile on Katriena’s face rubbed her already raw nerves.

  Katriena held up a tin of cookies. “Your father and I came over to have dinner with you and apologize.” Katriena looked to her husband and growled softly at the angry look on his face.

  Eduardo looked over Roni’s shoulder, and his lip curled.

  Roni looked behind her. Corbin stood there with a plate full of steaks. Jon and Ana stood next to him. Roni turned back to her mother.

  Katriena looked down at the cookie tin in her hands. “I see we’re interrupting. We’ll go.” Her parents turned and started down the porch steps.

  Roni wanted to stop her but she didn’t want to deal with guilt. Ana’s elbow connected with her ribs. She looked up at Ana and pleaded silently for her just to let them go.

  Ana looked from Roni to her parents and back again. She nudged Roni again, who planted her feet. “Katriena! Eduardo! Please, won’t you join us for dinner?” Ana stepped forward toward the door. Roni grabbed her elbow and pulled Ana back toward her.

  “What are you doing?” Roni quietly hissed.

  “Saving what is left of the relationship between you and your parents.” Ana smiled and repeated her invitation. “Please, won’t you stay for dinner?”

  Katriena fiddled with the cookie tin. “I don’t know. You folks seem busy.” Katriena’s words tumbled out of her mouth — it might have been the first time that Roni had ever heard her mother lose her aplomb.

  “Katriena, I insist that you stay for dinner and get to know our men.” Ana looked at Roni over her shoulder and smiled.

  Roni put on the best fake smile she could. “Yes, please stay.” She spoke through clenched teeth.

  “If you insist.” Her parents hesitantly came back up the steps.

  Roni turned and gave Corbin an apologetic look.

  “I see where Roni gets her grace and her big brown eyes. I’ll put on two more steaks.” Corbin handed the plate to Roni.

  Katriena favored him with a weak smile and clutched the metal tin like it was a life preserver.

  Corbin peeked around the kitchen door. He gestured with the plate of raw meat. “Mr. Englemann, would you care to join the men on the deck?” His eyebrow raised in a silent dare.

  Eduardo bounced on his toes, and smiled back at the challenge to meet and understand his daughter’s choice. “I’d love to.” He thrust his coat at Roni. “We’ll see about this.”

  After a quick conference between the females, they changed the location from the too-small dining room to the informality of the deck. The steaks of course didn’t take long, since Katriena
and Eduardo preferred their meat very rare. Jon quietly consumed his salad in the corner, cuddled up with Ana on a lounger.

  “So, Corbin, what’s it like being a human?” Katriena broke the silence and looked at Corbin over her wineglass.

  “Mother! What the hell?” Roni screeched in shock. She stood up and walked to the kitchen. Her parents followed, just as she’d half-expected they might. Roni glared at Katriena with contempt.

  Katriena, calm and in control, looked at Roni in confusion. “Roni, what is your problem?”

  Roni stared at her mother in shock. She couldn’t believe her mother was this dumb. “What is my problem? My problem?” Roni couldn’t speak, she was so mad. “What the hell was with the human question? Could you be any more rude?” She crossed her arms over her chest and waited for her mother to answer her.

  Eduardo beat her to it, and he was furious. “It was a legitimate question. We want to know what kind of human wants to be with a shifter,” Eduardo snarled.

  “What exactly is that supposed to mean? Am I not good enough for him or something?” Roni was so angry a thin layer of brown fur formed on her arms.

  “No, he is not good enough for you. Nobody but another shifter, preferably one from our own pack, is good enough for a long-term relationship.” Katriena’s calm, icy tone cut right through the anger in the room. “A fling is one thing. Mating is another.”

  “I don’t care!” Roni yelled and stomped her foot. “I don’t care what you think, I love him and I’m going to marry him.” Roni turned and stormed out of the kitchen to her room and slammed the door.

  Ana was instantly at Roni’s door. She looked over her shoulder at Katriena. “Allow me to handle this, my queen and friend.” Ana turned to smoke and slid underneath the door.

  Katriena smiled despite her broken heart. “That’s why you’re the guardian of the pack.”

  * * *

  Corbin watched Roni run from the kitchen. He wasn’t the kind of wolf to come between family but something had to be done. He turned to the kitchen door.

  Katriena was in Eduardo’s arms with her head hung low. Her shoulders shook.

  Corbin walked into the kitchen. “Excuse me, Mr. and Mrs. Englemann, I don’t mean to interrupt.” He looked down at his feet and vowed to remain polite. He could solve their concerns, if they’d listen. “If I may speak with you for a moment?”

  “Corbin, I am sorry you had to hear all that. Our question may have seemed rude, but we are only looking after our daughter.” Katriena looked at him, and tears clouded her ice blue eyes to the color of frost.

  “It’s quite all right. My father Duke is the same way — no one but someone from the pack is good enough for me.” Corbin saw recognition in their eyes.

  “Your father is Duke Thornburn?” Like any good pairing, they spoke in stereo.

  Corbin smiled as his tail split through the back of his pants. He shifted to half humanoid form. He grimaced when his face changed but other than that it was easy. Corbin stood there slightly hunched and smiled at Katriena and Eduardo. “I am who you say.” Corbin shifted back to human. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think I need to talk with your daughter and my future wife.” He turned and walked out of the kitchen.

  Corbin knocked lightly on Roni’s bedroom door and opened it. His heart sank. Roni was sobbing into Ana’s arms. Not a coherent word could be heard.

  Ana looked up and saw Corbin. She patted the bed next to her with one hand and winked over Roni’s head.

  As soon as Corbin was seated, Ana smoothly transferred Roni’s weeping body to Corbin’s shoulder. As quick and quiet as the predator she could be, she was gone.

  Corbin lifted Roni’s face to look at him. “Honey, I know you’re upset. But you have to understand where your parents are coming from.”

  Roni’s eyes shifted to her lap. “I do understand where they are coming from, and it still pisses me off.” Roni choked the words out. “I don’t understand why they just can’t accept the fact that I don’t want to be with anybody in the pack. I want to be with you.” Roni paused and took a deep breath. “But you never answered my question. Did you propose to me because you love me or to piss off your father?”

  Corbin looked into her brown eyes and fell in love all over again. “I didn’t ask you to marry me to piss off my father. I asked you to marry me because I am so deeply in love with you I can’t stand it.” He stroked her soft hair. “You’re the first thing I think about in the morning, the last thing I think about before I close my eyes, and you are a constant mental distraction all day.”

  Roni smiled through her tears. “Really?”

  “Truly, and I hate to ask this but did you accept my proposal because you feel the same way or to strike back at your parents?” Corbin grinned, knowing the answer. At least he hoped.

  Roni’s leap into his arms was all the answer he needed, but she whispered with a glance toward the kitchen. “Would you mind if I put on the ring after my folks leave?”

  Corbin chuckled and squeezed her against him. “Yeah. I don’t want your father developing rabid squirrel syndrome and gnawing my ankles off to bring me down to his size, at least not tonight.”

  His little Chuskie buried her face in his chest. “First we have to confront your father. I’m not sure who is more dangerous — the rabid Chihuahua or the pissed off wolf, but I personally would rather face down the wolf.”

  Chapter Eight

  Corbin and Roni sat in his car out in front of a Victorian mansion. Tall white columns stood out over the lush green grass. The glass paneled front door sparkled in the afternoon sun.

  Roni turned to Corbin. His hands gripped the steering wheel. He was at war with his emotions, and there wasn’t a thing she could do to help. “What are we doing here, Corbin?”

  Corbin stared past her at the house. “I want to introduce you to my father. It’s customary.” He pondered why he even cared. Family customs always won out with Corbin. He could never turn away from tradition.

  “We don’t have to be customary. What’s the point?” she snarled without intention. “He has already formed his opinion of me.” Roni’s eyes narrowed. “Remember? I’m the fucking mutt.”

  Corbin focused on Roni and sighed heavily. “I have a little hope left.”

  She reached over and caressed his biceps. “Hope of what, darling?”

  He closed his eyes and leaned into the comforting touch. “Hope that if he sees how happy I am with you he’ll change his mind.”

  Roni leaned in and placed a kiss on his nose. “I don’t even know the man and know you’re just fishing for a broken heart.”

  Another heavy sigh, and he looked into her eyes. “Bear with me, honey, please. It’s something I have to do for my sake.”

  Roni turned back to the house. A shiver passed over her in anticipation of a fight. The animal side of Roni urged her out of the car. A good battle always meant steak and potatoes afterward. The human side of Roni urged her to force Corbin to put the car in drive and leave. She hated the conflict of emotions and the loss of control. It always made her nervous. She turned back to Corbin. “Let’s get this Romeo and Juliet rule change over with.” She opened the car door and stepped out, her knee high boots clicking on the pavement. Roni’s skirt flapped around her knees in the slight breeze.

  Corbin was out of the car and at her side in the blink of an eye. She looked up at him, and for the first time he looked scared. It broke her heart to know it was her fault that he and his father were at odds. He grabbed her hand gently and walked toward the front door.

  They were met at the door by the butler, a short elderly man with white hair and a slight hunch. He stood to the side to let them over the threshold. The butler closed the door behind them and led them up a mahogany spiral staircase to a second floor office and left them at the door.

  Corbin and Roni clasped hands in front of the great cherry wood door. Their palms were slippery with nervous sweat. They looked at each other. Both their backbones stiffened.
r />   Roni squeezed Corbin’s hand in reassurance. “Let’s do this.”

  Corbin looked down at his bitch. “When this is over how about ice cream?”

  She grinned in mischief. “You know you owe me more than ice cream for this.”

  “I know, honey, and I am fully prepared to accept any punishment you deem fit.” He leaned over and kissed her neck.

  He knocked on the door, and they jumped at the thunderous voice that came from the other side instructing them to enter. They opened the door and walked in.

  Duke’s baritone voice seemed to rattle the windows. “What the hell are you doing here?” His glare could have frozen the Pacific Ocean. He wore black satin pants and a ruby red smoking jacket like a lord out of a history book and looked perfectly normal doing so. Roni saw instantly that Corbin had inherited his good looks and black hair from his father, and she sincerely hoped Corbin developed the gorgeous silver streaks gracing Duke’s temples. If this was what a wolf pack leader looked like, she could understand why the wolf bitches submitted to this man. Power pulsed out of him like a hydroelectric plant.

  Corbin stood firm even though Lake Michigan was forming in the palms of their hands. “I came here to introduce you to Roni.”

  Duke turned his gaze to her. “How special. Do you mind if I ask a few questions?”

  She put her chin in the air and stared back at him. “Not at all.”

  He smiled, and it was an evil grin. Roni would have run out the door but pride and Corbin’s slippery hand kept her rooted in place.

  The disgust dripped from Duke’s words. “Do you like being a mutt?”

  She stared Duke down. She knew his kind — he made it a point to find a weakness and exploit it. “I don’t consider myself a mutt, sir.”

  Duke snickered in amusement. “What, then, would you consider yourself?”

  Roni held fast to Corbin’s hand, and her other hand cupped his biceps. “I consider myself a different breed of canine, and I am proud of who I am.”