by Lynn Lorenz
“Sam, I’m sorry. I’m not mad at you.” He pulled her into his arms and she slid down his body until her feet touched the ground. He took her face in his hands, leaned in, and kissed her. “I want you, Sam. I need you.”
“I know, Duke.” Her head swam each time his lips touched hers. She rose up on her toes and kissed him, feeling a surge of arousal that made her open her lips and invite him in.
Duke flicked his tongue against her lips, then darted inside. He tasted of Chinese food, wine, and something else. Her core throbbed as she recognized his taste. Addicted to it, she needed another hit.
Wrapping her arms around his neck, Sam pushed her tongue past his and entered his mouth. His moan vibrated in her chest, then sank lower to lodge in her belly, making her core drip like a leaky faucet.
Good Lord, she wanted him. And if she could just let herself be wild and reckless again, and admit to herself that it was hopeless to fight it, she’d take the leap right now. She’d be his mate, now and forever.
No matter how much she wanted him, she still wasn’t ready to call it love. Lust. Oh, yeah, lust for sure. But love?
She pulled away from him and sucked in a breath of air to clear her head.
“Where to now?”
Duke frowned, then stepped back. After she climbed into the truck, he shut the door, and went around and got in. After belting up, he turned to her.
“Ready to meet my folks?”
Chapter Nine
“You’re joking, right?” Sam choked out.
“No. If you’re going even to consider this, you need to know it all. See what you’re getting yourself into. My parents are part of that.”
She could see the sincerity in his eyes. In-laws could make or break a marriage; she’d realized that with Robert’s family. Luckily, they’d all been happy, if not relieved, that he’d asked her to marry him. And they’d been crushed when she’d called off the wedding.
“Right now?” What was happening to her voice? It squeaked like a mouse caught in a trap.
“I thought we’d take a drive out to see them. The park is at the northern end of the county, so it’ll take about an hour to get there. We could talk more on the way.” He started the engine, not giving her a chance to say anything.
Sam shifted in her seat and leaned against the door. “Wait.” She held her head in her hands. “I’m sorry. This is moving too fast.” She looked up to see the dismay and hurt on his face.
He was fighting for his life and she wanted to take a breather from the battle.
“I know, Sam. I don’t want to rush you, really. I just—”
“Don’t know how much time you have,” she finished his sentence. “Can we talk for a bit here?”
He gave her a nod and a quick smile. “Go ahead.”
She sat back and blew out the big breath she’d been holding. “Okay. For one, you just assume that I’m going to move here, but I have a job, friends, and family in Louisiana.” She ticked off a finger. “Second, we really don’t know anything about each other. Not enough to make a decision about spending the rest of our lives together, despite last night.”
“Which was incredible,” he reminded her.
“Which was incredible,” she replied. No sense in denying it, after all, he’d been there, done it to her, sent her rocketing into space.
He took in what she was saying. “You’re right. I did make some assumptions. There’s no reason why I couldn’t move to Baton Rouge. Big cities always need cops.” He shrugged. “I’m not sure about running loose in the swamp, though.”
“Not all of Louisiana is swamp, you know. There are beautiful woods and state parks there, too. Just like here.” Touched by his concession, she took his hand in hers. Good Lord, he was so strong, she could feel his power in the heat and grip of his hand.
“And you’re also right about getting to know each other. This is fast. Maybe even too fast for me, too,” he said.
She looked up into his eyes and saw … indecision, no, concern. “You’re worried?”
He nodded. “When I met Grace, I knew right away she was the one. We spent every free moment of time together for about six months before we couldn’t stand it and got married. She told me she knew the first moment she’d laid eyes on me I was the one for her.” He leaned back, her hand still clutched in his. “I’d be a fool to think lightning would strike twice.” Bringing it to his lips, he kissed her knuckles as he spoke, “Call me a fool, ‘cause I’ve been struck again.”
Good Lord, the man had the sweetest way with words. He could probably talk her into anything. Probably. Like sex? Definitely. But marriage?
“But you don’t have six months, do you?”
“No,” he whispered, his soft warm breath tickling her hand. “I’m not sure how much time I have, Sam. And I know that’s a lot of pressure to put on you. But the real question is, how do you feel about me? Has lightning hit twice for you?”
“Lightning?” she asked. “Oh, you mean Robert? I don’t think I ever really loved Robert. It’s hard to admit, but I think I got scared and settled. Does that make sense? I wanted to be married, start a family and we’d been dating for a while. It was easy to take it up a step and before he knew it, he’d proposed.” She sat back and sighed. “Now that I think about it, getting that vasectomy was probably his way of getting out of the whole thing.”
“So you’ve never been in love?”
She leaned toward him, their eyes never breaking contact. Her lips found their home against his and she kissed him. “If how I feel about you and how you make me feel is love, then, no, I’ve never been in love.”
He gave her that goofy lop-sided grin. “Good to know. But that wasn’t exactly a declaration of undying love, you know.”
“I know.” She smiled back at him. “It’s as close as I can get right now.”
“Then I’ll take it.” He pulled her into his arms as he slid across the narrow space that separated them.
Tilting back her head, she accepted his kiss. He was so delicious, like no man she’d ever been with. There was some scent about him that went straight to the button in her body that said, Press Here to Turn On. Every time he touched her, she struggled with her self-control.
His tongue played across her bottom lip and she opened for him. Their tongues touched. She thought she moaned, but it could have been him. She ran her tongue over his in a caress. Definitely him doing the moaning. She loved that she could press his turn on button, too.
The lump in his jeans grew and pressed against her belly. She arched into it before she realized what she was doing. He made her crazy. Made her forget herself. Made her want him like she’d never wanted another man in her entire life.
That was a good thing, right?
Her head swam as her level of arousal ramped up. Her hands moved as if on their own, seeking out his skin beneath his shirt. This had to stop before they went too far.
Didn’t it?
Yes, it did. She made an effort to pull herself back from him, emotionally and physically, but it was hard, painful almost. They parted. He moaned and she almost returned to him. Instead, she put her hands in her lap.
Damn, why did it hurt so bad?
Duke sat across from her, his pupils dark and wide, his hair wild, his lips still wet from their kisses. His fists rested on his thighs. He’d been restraining himself, too.
That just turned her on again.
Sam blurted out, “Maybe we should take that drive.”
If they didn’t get going right now, they’d be prone and making love in the cab of his truck before she could count to ten. Make that five.
Hell, three.
Duke moved back to his seat and shifted into reverse. “Good idea,” he groaned, giving her a sheepish grin, and looked down at his noticeable bulge. “Might not control myself around you much longer.”
She grinned. “Me, too. Did you want to call them to let them know we’re coming?” she asked as he pulled onto the road.
He shook his head. “No.
They’re usually there on Saturday. In the fall, the weekends get busy.”
She rested her head against the back of the seat, took his hand, and placed it on her thigh. They rode for a long time in a silence Sam felt no need to fill with words.
At last he spoke, “How much do you know about werewolves?”
“Nothing. Except the stuff from movies.”
“Okay. First, not much in movies is correct.”
“You can change at will, so obviously the whole “full moon” thing is wrong. What else?”
“We are really solitary creatures. Even though most wolves live in packs, werewolves are more man than wolf. Some guys, when they’re young, can live in groups, like a frat house, but I’ve never been able to. Too alpha.” He shrugged, but it wasn’t really an apologetic gesture. “Having too many alphas is not a good thing. There has to be a leader, just like anywhere.”
“Like at work, someone has to be the boss, right?”
“That’s it. On the force, I have to be a sub to my lieutenant, and my captain, right up the line to the sheriff. Our force is small. I’m one of four detectives and we have a lot of county to cover, so we work on our own most of the time. It’s not like I can’t work with them, I do, but I prefer working alone.”
“So, do you have, what, more testosterone?”
“If you’re asking what causes it, I have no idea. It’s not a curse. It runs in families, so genetics, I suppose.”
“You can’t bite someone and…” She faded out, not sure how to put her question into words.
“Infect them? Not that I know of, but I’ve never bitten anyone in my life. Dad would’ve had my hide.” He laughed. “I’ve never used my wolf in anger. That’s just too far out of control for me.”
“But that guy last night?”
“That was all me. A threat and a hard grip on the guy’s nuts,” he confessed.
“That explains it.” She nodded. “So you don’t go around the woods, fighting the bad guys as a wolf?”
“No. That wouldn’t be very smart. A wolf can’t use a gun, bad guys do, and they don’t need silver bullets to kill a wolf.”
“Oh.” A flutter of fear beat in her stomach, like some wounded bird. She hadn’t thought about what life married to a cop would be like.
He must have read her fear. “Look, I know being married to a cop is rough. Grace shared her concerns with me and I understand. My dad was a cop and I grew up worried that he wouldn’t come home one night. That never happened. Like clockwork, he’d walk through that door at the same time each day, showed up at my football games, even took my scout troop camping. I learned from him to put family first, career second.”
His words reassured her.
“So, is there anything wrong with you? Anything I need to know?” she asked.
“Like do I leave the toilet seat down? Watch football all weekend? Hang out at bars and get wasted?” he replied.
“Do you?”
“Between my mom and Grace, they did a good job with me, I’m completely housebroken.”
She stared at him, eyebrows raised and he laughed. Housebroken, maybe, but she couldn’t see Duke as a whipped dog. He was all man and all wolf.
“Well, I do have one confession to make.”
She held her breath and waited.
“I’m a hopeless romantic.” He brought her hand to his lips, turned her palm out, and kissed it. Shivers of desire raced through her and sent her toes curling.
“If that’s it, I suppose I could put up with that.” She pulled his hand to her and gave him a kiss on his palm. He put his arm around her and pulled her a little closer on the seat.
“Good. I’m not sure I can change.” He settled back in his seat, a ghost of a smile on his face. “We’ll be at my parents’ in about fifteen minutes.”
All the warm feelings she’d had vanished, replaced by stone cold dread.
Chapter Ten
They pulled into the park and were waved through the gate by the park ranger.
“I have a yearly pass for the state parks,” Duke explained.
Coming to the first fork in the road, a rustic wooden sign pointed in two directions. Right to the lake, left to the campgrounds. Duke steered left and pulled into one of the first camping sites. A large RV sat in the space, a blue and white striped awning extended. Four chairs clustered around a table beneath it.
Duke gave a gentle tap on the horn as he parked. Sam got out, waited for him to meet her at the front of the pickup and take her hand. She clung to him like a nervous child, her stomach in a knot.
The door of the RV opened and a woman in her late fifties stepped out.
“Duke! What a nice surprise!” she called.
“Hi, Mom. Where’s Dad?” Duke’s hand held Sam’s tight. Good to know he was just as nervous about this as she.
“Making the rounds at the sites. It’s Halloween tonight. You know how crazy that can get.” Her tanned face, set off by brilliant blue eyes, was framed with short salt and pepper gray hair. She smiled at Sam. “Who’s this?” One eyebrow arched.
“This is Samantha Waters.” He left anymore unsaid.
“Welcome, Samantha.” The woman extended her hand and shook it. “I’m Duke’s mother, Bobby Stevens.”
“Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Stevens.”
“It’s Bobby.” Duke’s mom smiled.
“Well, call me Sam. Everyone does.” Sam returned the woman’s smile. It was contagious, it seemed. Even Duke was smiling.
Everyone stood there grinning at each other and unspoken questions crackled in the air. Bobby gave her son a look and cleared her throat.
“Is she the one?” she asked quietly.
“I hope so.” Duke gazed into Sam’s eyes.
She felt the grip of pressure around her stomach return. “We haven’t decided anything. Yet. I haven’t… I’m not sure…” She sighed and looked at Duke.
He held up her hand in his. “I’m sure, but it’s going to take some time for Sam to adjust, find her heart.”
“I completely understand. Came as a bit of a shock for me too, honey.” She chuckled and motioned to the chairs. “Have a seat and I’ll get some refreshments.” Before Sam could protest, she’d slipped inside the RV.
Sam blew out her breath. “She’s nice.”
“What until you meet my dad. He’s an old bear.” He frowned.
She put out her hand and caught his arm. “Wait. I thought you said he was a wolf.”
“He is. I meant his personality. Rough and gruff, but underneath…” He shook his head and laughed. “Play your cards right and he’ll be eating out of your hand before you know it.”
“Tame two wolves?”
“If anyone can do it, it’s you.” He leaned in and nuzzled her neck. Her knees wobbled as her control wavered.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence. I don’t feel that confident.” She bit her bottom lip. Duke kissed his way to her lips, stole a kiss and she melted into him.
“Unhand that woman, young man!” A booming voice came from the side of the RV.
They jumped apart, breaking their lip-lock. Her heart pounded.
“Dad! Christ, don’t do that!”
His father laughed. “Used to catch you all the time when you were younger.”
“I’m not a teenager anymore.” Duke rolled his eyes. “He still thinks I’m sixteen.”
Her heart steadied and she smiled at the elder Stevens.
“That’s because it makes me only forty-five.”
Duke’s father was as tall as Duke, but lankier in build, with dark hair and silver at his temples. She could see that most of Duke’s good looks came from his dad.
She stood and extended her hand. “Samantha Waters, Mr. Stevens.”
He wiped his hand off on his jeans and then shook hers. “Call me Wilson.”
“I’m Sam,” she replied.
Just then, Bobby came out carrying a tray with a pitcher of iced tea and four glasses. Wilson stepped up to her, took it
from her, and gave her a peck on her cheek. He placed it on the table and she poured.
They sat around the table and took first sips of tea. It was ice cold and sweet enough to satisfy a honeybee.
“Where’ve you been hiding her, Duke?” his father said.
“We just met. Last night, as a matter of fact,” Sam explained. “I was visiting my sister. I live in Baton Rouge.” Right now, she didn’t want to go into the details of how they’d met or what they’d done last night. She’d die of mortification if his parents knew that.
“Baton Rouge, huh?” Wilson frowned. “That’s kind of far away.” He shot his eyes to Duke and something passed between them. Wolf code, no doubt.
“Yes.” She smiled at him over her next sip of tea.
“You have a job in Baton Rouge?” he asked gruffly.
“I do. I’m a loan officer.”
“That’s lovely, Sam,” Duke’s mother said.
“Are there woods around Baton Rouge?” Wilson frowned. Old bear, indeed.
Duke grimaced. “Yes, Dad. Lots of woods.”
Sam leaned forward. “I suppose I should be perfectly clear right up front. I haven’t made any decisions about being with Duke and I don’t think this is going to happen overnight, either. It’s a lot to take in and I’m going to need some time.”
Bobby reached out and placed her hand over Sam’s. “Of course, dear. We understand.”
“I don’t.” Wilson got to his feet, towering over the table. “How long?”
Sam took a deep breath and faced him. “As long as it takes to be sure this is right for me and for Duke.” The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as she recognized a soft growl coming from Duke’s father. Wolf or no wolf, she wasn’t going to be stampeded into this.
Wilson turned to his son. “You haven’t got time. Did you tell her that?”
Duke’s voice lowered. “I told her I’d give her as much time as she needed, and I meant it.”
The hair on her arms stood up as Duke and his father faced off. He hadn’t been joking about that aggression between alphas. She glanced at Bobby. Her eyes flicked between her son and husband, but she appeared calm.
Sure, Bobby had lived with this for a long time and she was probably used to it.