by Terry Spear
That's when he took charge and gently moved Cassie onto her back. Her eyes were dark with desire, and she seemed embroiled in the passion of the moment, almost willing to capitulate. At least she appeared that way. Or it might have been a case of desperate "wishfulness" on his part.
But seeing her on her back, her knees bent, her legs parted for him, her gaze saying she wanted him as much as he wanted her, he hated not fulfilling his primal needs. Still, he settled between her legs and covered her mouth with his. His tongue swept around hers in an erotic, ravaging dance. His fingers molded around her breasts, while his thumbs stroked her swollen nipples, and his heavy arousal pressed against her opening. And then he separated her feminine lips with his fingers and pressed the length of his penis between them like a hot dog sandwiched in a slick bun, sliding against her nub, the eroticism of the friction between them fulfilling his raw need. Although he still wanted to be deep inside her.
Faster, more vigorously he moved, adding fuel to the fire already heating his blood. She gripped his hair and parted her lips. His mouth took advantage of her open invitation. Tempestuous kisses added to the building climax, until her lips wrapped around his tongue and she began sucking. Gently at first, then harder, more rapidly, and he couldn't hold out any longer, his breath coming rapidly, his heart beating at a frantic pace. Slipping his fingers to her nub, he stroked until she cried out, a sheen of light perspiration and a look of sinful wonderment on her face.
He felt the world explode all around him as he came, spilling his seed on top of her. The fault was her own for not allowing him to take the desperate plunge deep inside her where he belonged.
She gave him a wickedly delicious smile, her hands grasping his arms and pulling him down on top of her stomach. "Hmm, you're good."
"Could have been better." He kissed her lips, heard her heart still beating overtime, took a deep breath of the way she smelled fully aroused.
"Nothing could be better," she said, and wrapped her arms around him.
Because there was no commitment. But there would be. He sifted his fingers through her silky hair and kissed her cheek. He thought she'd say something more about searching for the she-wolf, but she didn't say anything else. Instead, she gave a broken sigh and closed her eyes.
"Ahh, Cassie, you are a wonder." He rolled off her and pulled her gently into his arms, still concerned about her shoulder. Another couple of hours of rest would do her a world of good. And him, too. Until the matter of two red female wolves running loose in the wilderness could be settled.
* * *
When they woke, Leidolf tightened his hold on Cassie. The fire was still blazing in the fireplace and the cabin still toasty warm. He kissed her forehead and she sighed, a sexy, well-satisfied sigh. He let out his own breath, not liking the options that faced them.
"I'd search for the pair of wolves on my own, but I don't want to leave you here alone."
She didn't say anything, just toyed with his nipple, stirring his compulsion to want her again. It was midday, not the best time for him to be out in his wolf coat searching for the other wolves anyway. And if she wanted to play again...
She slipped her hands behind his head and looked into his eyes. This wasn't about sex, he figured. Something deeper. Another secret?
He ran his hands down her back in a gentle motion, hoping she'd tell him what was on her mind. Then she laid her head back down on his chest, and he feared she'd decided not to talk about whatever was bothering her. With his pack members, he often let them speak to him when they were ready. But with Cassie, he worried that whatever was eating at her would come between them and she would never divulge her secret.
"Cassie?"
Cassie knew she shouldn't reveal the truth to Leidolf, but she had no choice. If she was to leave this place to search for the wolf and her pups, she had to be honest, since her previous plan of trying to locate them after Leidolf left her alone didn't seem to be in the works. She was afraid he'd want her even more than he did now. She lifted her head again and gazed into his worried eyes.
"I can change into a wolf despite there being a new moon out."
He stared at her for a minute as if he was trying to determine whether she was being honest with him this time. "You're not newly turned." He didn't ask a question, but he sounded incredulous.
She shrugged. "I figured you already had guessed that."
He smiled broadly and ran his hands through her hair again and nuzzled his face against the strands. "Hell, you're a royal. That's another thing I like about you. You're almost as devious as I am when it suits me."
"You left me no choice."
"Good. I would have discovered the truth before long, make no mistake about it. So we change and run together as long as you can manage all right with that shoulder of yours."
Sooo arrogant. "With two of us as a target? Wouldn't it be better if we split forces?" Part of her thought it was the best idea, although she really wanted him with her this time. And that scared her. Was she already relying too much on him to be her champion?
"No. I'm not letting you out of my sight. Remember what happened the last time you were out here on your own? It won't be dark for a couple of hours. I'll catch us some fish, and we can cook it over the fire. When it gets dark, we'll search for the wolves."
Which should have been a good thing. The one wolf, yes, with her pups and all. But already, Cassie didn't like that he wanted to find the other wolf so bad. And here she'd never been jealous in her life.
"What about your men? Won't they come looking for us?" she asked, licking his nipple. She swore he groaned a little in response.
"Not anytime soon."
She frowned at him. "You wanted me alone."
"You're the one who ran off. Couldn't have had the royals in my pack shifting, then swimming across the river, and running through the woods after you."
She smiled coyly. "You wanted me alone."
He smiled back and cupped her ass with his large, capable hands. "Any reason would do. Stay here while I catch some fish."
"I need to wash up."
He touched the skin below her wound. "You need to rest a little more before you shift again. You'll be overexerting yourself as is. So after you wash up, I want you to come straight back here and rest further."
Then he kissed her long and deep and hard, his hands on her waist, his body pressed lightly against hers, touching, questing for release. "Let's go." Yet, it took him longer than necessary to release her, as if he was trying to think of a way of convincing her to give in to him now. To become his mate. Then he cast her a devious smile, kissed her forehead, and rose from their bed of pine needles to help her to stand.
But something had changed in their relationship, despite her thinking it wouldn't with a hot morning of sex, strictly a one-night-stand kind of affair. He looked at her more tenderly now as he pulled a couple of pine needles from her hair. As if she'd become his mate even though they hadn't mated. As if the pressure was off.
"Afraid the water will be too cold?" He motioned to an old metal bucket. "I could fill it with water and warm it over the stove and you could wash up that way."
"Or I could shift."
Before he could say another word, she shape-shifted. His mouth dropped a little in surprise. No way was she going to bathe in the melting snow run-off in her human form.
He shook his head and opened the door. "No fortitude at all."
She had fortitude but brains, too. She dashed for the swiftly flowing creek and bounded in, splashing water all about her and snapping at the droplets with her powerful jaws, unable to control that part of her that came so naturally to wolves--the urge to play when no threat of danger existed.
Leidolf laughed from the shoreline, and she turned to see him watching her, his arms folded across his naked chest, his eyes sparkling with delight.
In that instant, she wondered again if somehow they could compromise. She could become his mate and experience the best sex she'd ever had as long as
he'd let her go to conduct her research unimpeded afterward.
Right. Once he mated her, he wouldn't allow her to leave him ever, just like he wouldn't let her out of his sight now, and they weren't even mated!
* * *
Leidolf watched the emotions play across Cassie's face as she stood as a wolf in the creek and wondered what they meant. She had an intense way of looking when she was thinking deeply, and he knew it had to be about the two of them. Was it his laughing at her while she played like she was a wolf pup on her first adventure that caught her attention?
He strode forth, the chilly breeze whipping across his heated skin. The woman would be the death of him if he couldn't mate her soon. He'd finally found his royal match, and yet that wasn't all that appealed to him. She could have been newly turned for all he cared.
All he knew was he wanted her like he'd wanted no other woman. His twin sister had been right. Lelandi had said someday he'd find the woman of his dreams and no other woman would do. Despite believing what she had said was utter nonsense, he could see now that Darien, the gray wolf she'd chosen for her mate, could have been her one and only choice.
He took a deep breath of the cold air.
Cassie was every bit of that to him. He wondered what Lelandi would say about it. His mother would be here in a heartbeat, welcoming Cassie to the family before the little red wolf even agreed to be his mate. His wheelchair-bound father would undoubtedly give him a stern look and command that he behave himself where Cassie was concerned or he'd lose her.
Leidolf shook his head. He didn't believe Cassie would want him to be any other way. The problem was more her past, how she'd been living as a loner for so long, certainly not anything to do with him not appealing to her.
He stalked into the creek headed straight for Cassie. For the moment, he planned to forget the fish. Her gaze remained locked on his, trying to figure him out, to determine what he was up to. He was ready to play with his little red wolf. That's what he was up to.
As soon as he dove for her, she darted away, splashing through the creek. He laughed as he ended up on his hands and knees, the icy water up to his whiskery chin. "You'll never get away from me, Cassie."
And that was a promise. He only had to devise a plan to convince her that what he already knew in his heart was true for both of them. They were destined to be mates.
Warily she came up behind him and poked him in the ass with her nose. He grinned. "You'll regret that, darlin'."
He swung around and grabbed for her furred neck, but she dashed out of his path again, and he took a nosedive into the cold water. The chase was half the fun. He scrambled to his feet and ran through the shallower water after her. She grinned at him as she stood waiting for him to close in.
Soon, he hoped, he'd catch his mate and win the game.
* * *
Near the river where Leidolf had crossed, Elgin and Fergus talked close by, while Satros sat down on a tree stump a hundred yards away, and Carver stared across the riverbank, watching for any signs of Leidolf's return. He hoped Leidolf would have Cassie under his control and bring her back to the pack soon. The woman was just what Leidolf needed. Too many times in the last several months that Leidolf had been leader, he had run off to take care of pack business miles away. But Carver knew Leidolf had done so in part hoping to discover a mate located somewhere else and return her to the pack to start a family.
Carver sighed. He knew the feeling, the longing, the wanting. He should have been satisfied to have had a mate he'd loved with all his heart who gave him two beautiful daughters. He craved what he'd had with her until the car accident, and he wanted the girls to have a mother.
He narrowed his eyes as he stared in the vicinity of where the red wolf had run through the forest across the river. He wanted to go after her in the worst way, to learn if she was a lupus garou also, and to bring her safely back to the pack if she was.
"What are you thinking?" Elgin asked, coming up beside Carver.
"I want to go after them. Leidolf, Cassie, the unknown red."
"The unknown red mostly," Elgin observed.
"All of them," Carver said, not caring if he sounded on edge.
"Leidolf wants to do this alone. He was a loner before he came to us to take over the pack. He needs time away from the pack sometimes to get his sense of balance. Not to mention the little lady is probably a loner also. He needs to be with the woman alone."
Carver walked over to the river, the tips of his boots poking at the water's edge. "What about the other?"
"She may just be a feral wolf."
"Or she might be a lupus garou. We won't know until we find her."
Elgin shook his head and folded his arms. "Leidolf wanted us to let the others know where he was. Nothing else. Fergus got that Alex wolf-biologist character off to a motel, two hours farther away than he needed to go, letting him think there were no other ones available due to an antique-car show in the area. So he's taken care of for the time being. We've taken Cassie's truck back to Leidolf's house."
Elgin looked out across the river at the forest on the other side. "The Jag's in the garage again where it will continue to collect more dust until Leidolf tells us to sell it. Evan's there, safe and sound. Sarge is under heavy guard. Not only are Pierce and Quincy watching him, but two other men are also, and they've left the sheriff's bracelets on him until Leidolf returns. So we've done what he asked us to do. And now we either return to the ranch and wait further word, or we stay here and wait for him."
Elgin let out his breath. "Another matter, too. Irving and Tynan returned. Irving said they'd speak only to Leidolf about what they had been doing."
Carver spared him a glance. "And you asked, of course."
"You know how they are. They could do no wrong where the former leader was concerned. They don't believe they owe anyone any explanations. I suspect they were up to no good, but I have no way to prove it. They seemed damned rattled that we'd had a wounded lupus garou female at the house, though."
"Why?"
"Hell if I know. They seemed even more concerned that she'd run away and that Leidolf went after her."
Carver frowned as he stared across the river. He'd never liked the two men, who were always breaking the rules Leidolf had established since he'd arrived. Both had been favorites of Alfred's, and anyone in his circle of friends was to be watched. But Leidolf wanted to give everyone from the old pack a chance if they hadn't done anything like Alfred and his thugs had.
"Hell. Leidolf's the best man we've got for the leadership position. Well, you and Fergus do an excellent job backing him up, but if this Tynan and Irving intend to stab Leidolf in the back, they'll have me to contend with."
"Ditto for us, Carver."
"What about Leidolf? If he needs our help, how can he get word to us?"
"He'll howl."
Carver rubbed his hand over his cheek. "All right, we wait. If he doesn't come back with her by first light, we're searching for them." He didn't care if he wasn't a sub-leader and not authorized to take charge of the situation. He hadn't wanted the responsibility because of raising his daughters on his own. But he wasn't waiting to search for his leader and the women any longer than he had said. Not when he finally had a decent pack to live with.
Chapter 21
Not being able to catch Cassie as a wolf in the icy creek and his skin half frozen, Leidolf shape-shifted. In wolf form, he eyed her with interest, his little red wolf. She stood panting, lifted her head, and snapped her jaws closed, her gaze commanding him to catch her now, as a wolf would.
He gave her his best big-bad-wolf smile back. Ready or not, here I come. He ran toward her, sending water splashing out of his path. As if playing chicken, she waited. He was afraid he'd plow right into her, and with his heftier size, he'd knock her over. Right or left, Cassie? Which way are you going to dodge?
He watched her eyes, the way she observed him, challenging, willing him to come for her, the subtle way she shifted her body, givin
g her plans away. Left, he figured. As soon as he anticipated her twisting her body that way in an attempt to escape, she turned to the right. And he missed her. He wanted to laugh. She was his... all his.
He nipped at her hindquarter as she dashed out of his path. If she'd been in her human form, he swore she'd be laughing her head off. Then she totally threw him off his stride as she swung around and pounced on him, feet up on his back, head turned to nip at his neck. Ah, Cassie, darling, you're mine.
He whirled around and planned a frontal assault, intending to place his forepaws around her neck and challenge her muzzle to muzzle. She dropped her front quarters down in a crouching position, wagged her tail, and smiled.
He smiled right back. Then he sat down in the creek. She had won... his heart, his pack, everything. She rose to stand and then trotted over to where he was sitting and nuzzled his face. He licked hers back. Even though she still might not be able to commit to him forever, he felt the subtle change in their relationship again. Before, he'd felt he no longer had to compete for her affections. She was his. But now, there was a stronger tie. She had enjoyed playing with him as part of the wolf courtship phase, and he didn't think she'd want to totally give him up.
Although he had thought she wanted him to get on with the business of catching fish, he wasn't quite ready to quit playing with her. He rose and she watched him, waiting for what he planned to do next. He walked over to the dry shore and lay down. She still observed him, probably wondering what he was up to. And then he rolled onto his back, feet up in the air, waiting for her to respond. She didn't at first. Maybe a little too intimate for her at this point? Maybe not willing to concede he was baring his throat and underbelly in a way that said he trusted her completely.
Then she dashed out of the water, and it took every nerve he possessed not to get up and ready himself for the onslaught. He wasn't used to baring his vulnerabilities to another wolf. Not as an alpha.