Anchor

by Jorrie Spencer

  He kissed the underside of her breast and looked up, seeing her come down. An orgasm, though not a long one, and she wore a slightly sheepish expression, maybe even wary.

  He smiled. “Well.”

  “I come fairly easily.”

  “I’ll be sure not to take the credit.”

  The corner of her mouth curved up. “That’s not what I meant.”

  As he slid another finger in her and cupped her mons with his palm, she sucked in a breath.

  “I meant that I want you inside me.”

  “So that’s what you coming means?”

  That, or maybe his hand inside her, banished any wariness. “No. I just mean I like coming.”

  “Good.” His cock, he’d been ignoring—or trying to—but her body and those words were making it painfully hard.

  “Why aren’t you undressed?”

  In answer, Angus moved down in front of her. “Why not indeed?” He undid his zipper, but before going further, he leaned over to lap at her opening, tasting her juices then exploring her clit. He sucked it in his mouth, heard her slam the bed with her hand. With his thumb he rubbed against the bottom of her opening, collecting her come, then slid his thumb down to her nether hole and pushed in.

  She cried out, much louder this time, her back rising, her body shaking as he sucked and stroked the sensitive skin below.

  He didn’t let her come down right away. Only once her body seemed to collapse did he kiss her clit goodbye and slide his thumb out.

  She was flushed, her dark skin rich with blood, her full breasts proudly displaying erect brown nipples. As she lay there panting, he cupped her head and kissed her deeply. Receptive though not passive, she accepted him.

  “I’ll be right back.” For good measure, he pulled a nipple into his mouth and sucked hard twice, listening to her sigh as he released her, then padded off to the bathroom. Eden stocked the bathrooms with condoms, and he washed his hands while he was at it.

  When he returned, she pushed herself up on shaky arms. Despite the tremor there, she insisted on taking off his jeans and briefs. And smiled at what she saw, his more-than-ready cock jutting out towards her.

  “Hi, there,” she murmured before caressing his balls and wrapping a hand around his erection.

  “I am putting on the condom.” His voice sounded almost guttural.

  The look she gave him, beneath her lids, said she understood. “Okay.”

  As he ripped the packaging open and slid on the latex, he told her, “I’m glad you’ve waited for me. I’m feeling very possessive at the moment, I think I should warn you about that. But three years is too long.”

  She lay back, as if sitting up after his ministrations had taxed her, and simply opened her legs. It felt like the moment of truth as he climbed over her, positioned himself at her entrance.

  “Over two years,” he said.

  She didn’t smile then. She seemed to recognize it wasn’t easy for him to admit that though she couldn’t know why. Instead she slid her palm against his cheek and reached up for kiss. “Come inside me.”

  The latex wasn’t his favorite way to make love, but with Mala he barely minded, she was so tight, her muscles hugging him close. He entered slowly and settled deep inside her, trying to savor the moment. If he was right, she’d come again, and at that point, it would be all over for him.

  She molded up against him, consciously or not, seeking as much skin contact as possible. She was wolf-like in this, he thought dimly, or maybe it was just Mala herself. She moved when he didn’t, encouraging him with her body and the noises coming from her throat. He didn’t have it in him to explain he was trying to hold on.

  “Christ,” he said, letting go, forgetting about restraint. They were so close to the end it didn’t matter if he lost it. He pulled out and pistoned in, gritting his teeth against the sensation that he was about to blow. One more time.

  “One more time,” she echoed, and he realized he’d said it aloud. “Harder,” she encouraged, just how he wanted it, and he stroked into her hard and strong, reaching a rhythm right when she broke under him, a keening sound in her cry. His body seized and he slid home, emptying into the condom as her muscles pulsed around him, her arms and legs holding tight, like she didn’t want to let him go.

  He managed to keep his full weight off her, not crushing her into the soft bedding, while her body turned lax beneath his. She pressed kisses to his face.

  Stroking his side, she made a soothing noise. He was trembling in the aftermath and she probably didn’t know how to interpret that. As he softened inside her, he pulled out and stood beside the bed, taking care of the condom.

  She protested, sliding a hand around his leg, and he nodded, unable to find words. He discarded the condom, returned to the bed and she curled into him. By the time he was ready to speak, she was fast asleep.

  He had to smile, despite the shock of how their lovemaking had gone when he hadn’t even been sure he should kiss her tonight. Quite simply he’d expected shyness and uncertainty, everything she’d shown him and the town over the week. He’d expected that she would need to be coaxed, that she would require a long road to seduction. Instead, she’d shed everything for him, no coyness, no hesitation—and very physical. His hunger had been matched by hers.

  Rather like a wolf, he mused, and decided his stereotypes were long past their due date.

  Also stereotypes about the sexes, because he was thinking she slept like a guy after sex. With that he closed his eyes and did the same.

  Mala woke in what she thought was the middle of the night, only to see from a glance at the clock that it was early morning. Angus’s arm lay across her stomach and she liked the warm weight of it. Like an anchor. She could imagine he’d kept the nightmares at bay, had allowed her to sleep deeply and calmly.

  She shifted, trying to slide out from under his arm, and the lax muscles tensed, banded around her to hold her in place. He grunted softly against her shoulder but didn’t wake. Instead of insisting, she lay still and drifted off to sleep again.

  She floated down, and this time she stayed aware, recognized the horizon where beacons flared. Until recently she would have jolted awake or fallen into deeper sleep if she was exhausted. But for the first time she lingered, explored the potential of this dreamworld. She skimmed over this surface of mist. The tension within her ebbed as she could find no disturbance, could detect no one’s presence. It’s peaceful, she managed to think before easing into deeper sleep.

  By the time Mala truly awoke, the bed was empty. Not cold, because she’d burrowed over to where Angus had slept and somehow kept all his warmth.

  It was midmorning and Mala sat up, shocked at how long she’d slept. She’d thought that she’d already caught up on her sleep, but evidently not. Her bones felt relaxed, if that made any sense. Her body felt happy. Her mind, well, her mind wasn’t sure. Morning-afters could be awkward.

  She scrubbed her face, trying to waken more fully. If Angus would give her a bit of time to get herself together… She hadn’t anticipated the sex, but she’d be okay. This usual tug-of-war within herself—the desire to cling, the desire to run away—neither option was viable, and perhaps more importantly, neither option was attractive. And she wanted to be attractive to Angus.

  A shower would help her get hold of herself.

  Before she dragged herself out of bed she burrowed into the sheets where he’d lain and pulled in a long breath, as if breathing him in, keeping their time together alive just a bit longer.

  Well, she thought, as she stood up, muscles slightly sore in the most desirable way possible, Angus wanted her to stay. So it wasn’t going to be her fault if she lingered in Wolf Town.

  With a sharp nod to herself on that, she walked into the bathroom.

  Chapter Seventeen

  As planned, he traded off with Aileen at eight that morning. Anyone else might have acknowledged he was coming straight out of Mala’s room, but not Aileen. She barely noticed. He’d once asked Jancis
to have The Talk with Aileen, since the teacher claimed Aileen had slept through sex ed, and Jancis had shaken her head.

  “Can’t go there with her, Dad.”

  A piece of stone had lodged in his chest. “Trauma?”

  Jancis had shrugged. “I don’t even know.”

  But now Aileen simply said, “I’ll stay here for the day.” She shot him a smile. “I’m getting more and more used to this human thing. I don’t think I’ve been human this often, ever.”

  “Why the change?”

  “I like talking to Mala.”

  He searched for deeper meaning but couldn’t find it. Though when Aileen watched over Sally, she tended to stay wolf, and stay outdoors.

  “We’re like sisters,” she added, and while he liked hearing that, Angus wondered where Aileen got her idea of sisters from. She tipped her head towards the stairway. “Go on. I know you’ve got work to do.”

  He walked down those stairs, regretting there hadn’t been more sex or some cuddling in the morning. Mala had been sleeping deeply and he hadn’t the heart to wake her when sleep was such a precious commodity to a wraith.

  He would have woken if she’d had a nightmare or a terror. Though he didn’t know how he’d feel about that—reluctant to rouse her in case she was seeing something important or saving someone, yet knowing she was frightened.

  One thing at a time, he told himself as he headed home in the cold. She’d wanted him last night, and her directness had surprised him. He grinned, letting the physical memories wash over him. Tonight, he reminded his body that wanted more now. Today he had to work. But he’d phone Mala later and catch her voice on the line.

  Tell her he was falling… He stopped himself on his front porch. Wolves sometimes moved too quickly for humans.

  Nevertheless, he could tell her she was beautiful.

  Once in the house, he exchanged good-mornings with Jancis and Caleb, then sat with Caleb for breakfast and walked him over to the school. It was a safety measure, though he didn’t present it as such, and Caleb was still at the point where he was happy in Angus’s company. Once Caleb was under Harrison’s eye, Angus returned home and went to his landline for phone messages. These were the ones for the alpha, usually from out of town and often from the government.

  He’d rather avoid government until after the Davies situation got resolved, so his finger hovered over the Message button. But avoidance wasn’t a useful strategy when Davies might be around for days or weeks. God help him if it was months.

  He jabbed the flashing circle.

  “Hi, Angus?” He didn’t recognize the female voice at first, and the intonation seemed off, like the speaker was stressed. “It’s Pamela. We met a little while ago. You came to my house asking about John? Well”—her voice caught—“I need your help. Call me.” She gave out her ten-digit number haltingly.

  In the background a male voice rumbled and the message cut out.

  Angus shut his eyes. But the Message button continued to flash, and a second voice came on.

  “Hi, Angus. It’s Tony Rizzi from the Ministry of Public Safety. You didn’t make our weekly conference call…” The words washed over Angus as he opened his eyes and stared at the phone talking to him. He liked Tony fine. He didn’t like werewolves being slotted in to the Ministry of Public Safety but hadn’t thought that a battle worth fighting. Yet.

  “Call me back. Thanks!”

  Angus wouldn’t call Tony back. Not today. He pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes, then dialed Pamela’s number.

  She picked up on the third ring. “Hello?” she whispered, fear in her voice.

  Not good.

  He sat back and spoke as calmly as possible. “Pamela. Hi. It’s Angus.”

  “Oh God.” She let out a shaky breath, near tears.

  He tensed in his chair and tried not to grip the phone too tight. “What’s happened?”

  “Come to 142 Pinetree Lane, North Bay. Alone. Now.”

  More rumbling and she seemed to be balking until she gave a short cry of pain and choked out, “If you don’t do this in two hours, John’s going to kill me.”

  “John, talk to me,” he roared so the asshole could hear him through the line—to no avail. The dial tone was his only answer. He hit redial, but no one picked up so he threw the phone down on the table.

  He had a sick feeling in his gut that after delivering her message to him Pamela was as good as dead, that Davies had no intention of letting her live now that she’d done what he needed of her—set the trap for Angus. Angus should never have called her back.

  Fuck. He slammed his fist through the table and Jancis flew into the room.

  “Dad?” she asked, her eyes growing wide.

  He pulled his fist out of the particle board, shaking bits off his hand. Trying to regroup, he blew out a breath, hands now on his hips. The evening that he’d rung Pamela’s doorbell and questioned her about Davies, he should have done more—warned Pamela to go into hiding, explained how dangerous Davies was. Never mind that she’d been convinced John had lost interest in her—Angus had bought into that. Once Davies discovered that Angus had talked to Pamela, she hadn’t been safe.

  “Dad.” This time a demand from Jancis who was getting in his face, insisting he pay attention to her. She wanted to help. “What is going on?”

  He scrubbed his jaw, a part of him wishing his daughter need know nothing more, know nothing at all. But Jancis was capable and he required her assistance. “John Davies is luring me out of Wolf Town by threatening a woman’s life. I believe he wants Caleb, Sally and Mala left unguarded.”

  “Since you’re not falling for that, what’s the catch?”

  “He’s going to kill that woman, and I can’t sit by and let it happen.”

  “Dad,” Jancis warned. “He may know you react to the damsel-in-distress scenario in this way. Don’t let him manipulate you.”

  Damsel in distress. If he hadn’t been so furious by the turn of events, he’d think harder on what his daughter meant. But he kept focused. “I have to try, Jancis. She, the woman, her name is Pamela…” He’d liked her well enough. She sure as hell didn’t deserve this. “…was just talking to me. She’s not dead yet. When I met her, she smelled honest, in a selfish way, but honest.”

  Jancis nodded once, accepting he was going to attempt to save Pamela. “Who are you taking with you?”

  “He wants me to come alone.” Which could mean Davies intended that Angus walk into a death trap.

  “Right. So who are you taking with you?” Jancis said between gritted teeth.

  “Rory. That’ll leave most of the town here to be on guard. Phone everyone, get them on high alert. Phone Trey and let him know what’s going on.”

  A shy expression flitted across his daughter’s face, and Angus knew that her infatuation with Trey might never completely fade.

  “I’m counting on you, Jancis.”

  She complied while Angus dialed his son. He hated that he was taking Rory into a dangerous situation. But he had no choice. This was his affable, generous, easygoing child, yes. However, Rory knew, better than anyone else in this town, how to kill.

  Well, except for Angus himself.

  “Two hours isn’t a lot of time,” Rory said mildly while he took apart and put together his Barrett in the backseat of the car. “And I don’t want you going in alone.”

  Angus kept his eyes on the road and told his son, “I have you, with a sniper rifle.”

  “I’m not convinced that’s the best strategy.” An edge had entered Rory’s voice. “Though if you’re trying to protect me, it will accomplish that.”

  Angus gripped the steering wheel more tightly. “If you and I go in as wolves, they can pick us off, no problem. We’ll be like sitting ducks.”

  “They can still pick you off.”

  “I’m sure Davies wants to talk to me,” Angus argued. His gaze was drawn to the rearview mirror again. The silver car that had tailed them from five kilometers ago hadn’t done
a good job of hiding their intentions. As he took a sharp corner on to a county road, it followed.

  “Excellent,” deadpanned Rory. “That’s the type of reassurance I like to hear. The psycho wants to talk to you before he kills you. You know he’s already killed the woman—unless she’s in on it.”

  “She’s not in on it. I wish to God she were.” Then he wouldn’t have this guilt hanging around his neck like a millstone. It was going to slow him down if he wasn’t careful.

  In answer to that, Rory chambered a round.

  “For God’s sake, we have an hour to drive. What the hell are you doing that for?”

  “I’ve been watching that car too, Dad. Clearly someone is following us and needs to be dissuaded.”

  Angus had planned to lose them, but they didn’t have a lot of time, and Rory’s choice was faster, if more risky. Rory opened the window to take aim behind them. Wolf reflexes were good, including those involved with guns, shooting and driving cars. And the county road was empty apart from the two of them.

  Rory fired the shot, a tire blew and the vehicle careened off the road as it lost control.

  His son pulled back in. “I think you should try that woman’s number again, in case Davies wants to pick up the phone now and have a chat.”

  Once Angus hit Pamela’s number—he’d put it in his cell before he left—he threw his phone into the backseat, and Rory caught it to listen to the phone ring.

  After no one picked up, Rory dropped the phone beside him. “Great. No answer. How much backup do you think Davies has?”

  “Honestly, not much.” Angus trusted Trey’s ability to ferret out information, and he’d made little headway with Davies. Rumors would have started if the number of wolves involved was more than a handful. “Or I wouldn’t have dragged you into this.”

  Rory snorted in exasperation. “What would you have done? Gone in by yourself? Left this Pamela to their tender mercies?”

  “I don’t know,” Angus said roughly. “I’m not dealing with what-ifs today.”