Darius hadn’t expected it.
But that didn’t stop him. He pushed his fingers into her hair and loosened the band holding her ponytail. He slipped his other hand around her waist to her lower back to support her. She smelled like sweet wine. Her breasts pushed into his chest, small handfuls he wanted to hold and explore. Her lips parted. He tasted, but only a small test. His whole body tensed. He wanted her, and he hadn’t wanted a woman in this way since before. When their kiss slowed, he felt a painful disappointment welling inside him.
He needed a mate who was the same as him. A fully human woman wouldn’t understand. He breathed out a sad sigh, wishing what was wrong with him really was like in the movies. A bite wouldn’t turn her, though, not that he could have brought himself to do that. He was what he was—and she was what she was. There was no changing that.
“Well, goodnight.” He broke away before she could do something foolish like invite him in. If she did, he’d follow and let everything go wrong. He wanted that, had been more than curious about her when he was moving in. She hadn’t been discreet. Kendra had been spying on him from day one. He found it amusing.
She frowned, her eyes glassy. “Oh, yes, goodnight.” Her mouth hung open as if she might apologize.
He didn’t want that, so he set his hand against her cheek and brushed his thumb across her lips. “Thanks for the evening. I’m glad we met.”
He backed away, leaving her looking confused. When he turned, he heard her door click shut, and he felt her watching from the peephole. Something inside told him she was good at watching, that tonight had been a fluke. She didn’t strike him as a woman who went searching for men.
At the bushes, Darius reached for the tie on his pants. He unlaced them and waited to push them off after he bypassed the leafy wall that parted their houses. Matthew cried out for him a third time, his howl long and lonely. Kendra’s kiss had ignited a fire in Darius’s blood that needed quenching. He closed his eyes and leaned forward—falling, shifting. Bones transformed. Muscles changed. Tendons and organs took on the shape that had been his other half since his sixteenth year. Jet black fur erupted from his skin. His tail twitched when his forepaws hit the lawn. Darius bounded away from his house and into the night.
The moon illuminated the streets. Everything took on an unearthly glow. He heard the sounds of families in their homes, some watching TV, others settling into bed for the night. Darius darted along the sidewalk, staying close to the hedges that lined most of the neighborhood yards. He was silent as he ran, unwilling to wake any dogs that would bark out an announcement of his presence.
Pine needles didn’t sting the pads of his feet now that he was shifted. His nostrils flared as he sniffed the air for his pack. He was their leader. They needed his authority as much as he wanted to avoid it. Darius lowered his head to the ground and tested the usual scents. A rabbit had been by this way, and a cat. He lifted his head and narrowed his eyes. He smelled humans, too. He veered off the beaten path where people tended to ride their bicycles or walk their dogs.
A yip alerted him to Sam. Of the two other werewolves, Sam was the weakest, scrawny, ill-kempt, and, well, old. He had met Sam in the Alaska wilderness while tracking a pack in Denali Park. When Darius had returned to his cabin, Sam had followed and surprised him by shifting at the door. The only other person Darius had known before then who was like him was his mother. His brother didn’t have the touch of the wolf in his blood. His mother hid it well enough. His father never knew.
Three more yips and old Sam was at his side, keeping pace. They ran together through the bushes, the overgrowth becoming denser and concealing them in darkness. Matthew howled, but he was still far away. Then, one of the females howled, too. Sam paused and raised his head, letting out a mournful cry that attested to his loneliness. Darius felt his fellow’s pain. It was hard to walk as man and wolf and harder still to find a mate who could understand.
He knew that Sam favored one of the wolf females. They’d often hunt together and nuzzle each other affectionately. She was young for him, but he didn’t seem to care, and rare was the time he shifted to his human form. Darius knew the old one was mostly feral—fearful of appearing in human crowds as a man, more apt to wander in the woods than knock on Darius’s door for company like Matthew often did.
Lila leaped out of the ferns and skidded to a halt before the two males. Her gray face was cocked to one side while she stared at them. Being the alpha, Darius went forward and sniffed at her, giving her permission to take her place with Sam. He looked back as the two rubbed their faces together, and then their bodies, in a sensual animal dance of lust and companionship.
His heart ached. He turned away and sauntered along. They would catch up. They always did. Tonight he didn’t feel like watching them. He didn’t like the loneliness welling up inside him. It felt more powerful than before. He picked up the pace. He smelled deer now, and the stream that cut through the little slice of forest. A brush of warm fur against his side alerted him to Resha. He stopped so she could nose his face and nip at his ear. She favored him over Matthew. He let out a soft growl to warn her, and she backed away with a disappointed exhale.
They met Matthew at the stream, sitting on his haunches with a bored expression lit by the moon. His nose pointed to the deer thirty paces away, dipping their mouths to the water to drink. Resha stopped beside Matthew. He remained as still as a statue. The pack waited. The deer came closer. Lila broke away and ran through the trees, meaning to come upon the deer from behind. Samuel darted across the stream to attack from the side.
Darius and Matthew waited until the opportune moment before they bounded into the water. The chase was short-lived and well rewarded. He sank his teeth into the hot flesh and ate his fill, his packmates coming to join him with their ears flattened, their steps tentative. They feared him—as they should. He had kept them together so far. He had kept them safe. And he had kept Sam and Matthew sane.
Chapter Three
Kendra woke up and reached for the phone. It was ringing. She cracked open her eyes, thinking it was too early for anyone to be calling her. She picked up the wireless receiver and plastered it to her ear. “Hello?” she asked, groggy.
Silence.
“Hello?”
She waited. Someone inhaled on the other end, then let it out. Inhaled again. Exhaled. She muttered, “I can hear you breathing.”
Click.
She ground her teeth together and hung up. “Crank wake-up call. Just what I need.” Kendra pushed out of bed and padded to the bathroom. She started the hot water and stripped off her clothes. Her waking mind started in on her neighbor. Had she really kissed him last night? “God, what does he think of me?” She shoved the toothbrush into her mouth and stared at her reflection. She hadn’t tried to date anyone since Richard, a fellow teacher, when she lived in Indiana. But Jack had found her, and she had to move—again—that time to a completely different city. Her ex-husband had seemed like what she needed when they first met. He was domineering, always steering her in the right direction, keeping her on track. She’d been scatterbrained. Kendra knew it. Jack had kept her on the right path . . . until the one night she’d stayed late talking to a friend after class in college. No matter what excuse she gave, he kept accusing her of cheating on him.
The next morning she had woken up in the hospital, her face so badly beaten that she could only see through one swollen eye. He had a frightening jealous streak. After that, things kept getting worse. She tried to stay in the same small town where she’d been attending classes, tried to have a restraining order keep him away from her, but he was persistent. She belonged to him like property, in his point of view, and even after he was served with divorce papers, he continued to hold on to someone who only wanted to escape.
She rinsed her teeth and set her toothbrush back in the holder. By now, Jack must have given up. She hadn’t heard from him in two years. She needed to get moving on with her life. Kendra didn’t like being alone. Doing s
o had given her more strength than she thought possible, though. It had taught her to depend on herself, to be responsible. She stepped into the shower and tried to put him out of her mind.
Instead, she thought about Darius. Her stomach got all ticklish inside. She wondered what time he got up, or if he’d be in the front yard to water the lawn. He worked from home when he wasn’t in the field. That meant he would be there, nearby, at least until he left for the mountains. She smiled, remembering the kiss and how his fingers had curled over her face before he left. It felt good to be touched like that—to have a man be gentle.
She hurriedly got ready for work and made her way through the house. The papers from the night before still needed grading. Kendra scooped them up and put them in her bag. She’d work during lunch, as usual.
The sun was battling with clouds that morning when she stepped out of her house into the cool autumn air. More leaves had fallen across her lawn from the maple trees in her front yard. She made a mental note to rake when she got home. Kendra got into her car and pulled slowly out of the drive. Something between her house and Darius’s caught her eye—a cream-colored pile of fabric with leaves resting atop it. She squinted, wondering what it could be, but there wasn’t time. She needed to get to school.
The day started like any other. She met her class on the playground, lined them up straight, and did the Pledge of Allegiance. Johnny was late. He was always late, but she was just glad he showed up. She led her students to her classroom and oversaw them as they put away their backpacks and settled in for a day of learning.
“Miss Billings, I like your flowers.” It was Johnny, at her side and smiling brightly.
Kendra looked over at her desk. A vase of pink roses was standing in the midst of her folders and boxes of craft supplies. “Thank you,” she said, wondering if Darius had sent them. She wanted to run to the desk and search for a card, but now wasn’t the time. There was a spelling test and review for a math test the kids would take after lunch. Instead, she let herself enjoy the feeling that someone had thought enough about her to send her flowers.
When she finally did sit at her desk, she plucked the small handwritten note from the vase and unfolded it. The writing was all block print, like an architect’s.
I look forward to Saturday.
-D.
She couldn’t hide the smile that spread on her lips.
Chapter Four
Darius sat at his desk, writing up the last article he needed to submit to his employer. After he tapped in the final sentence, he leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. He hadn’t slept all night. His blood felt afire in his veins. He was tired, true, but he had a burning need to stay awake and was tempted to head over to his neighbor’s house to spy on her. That wasn’t like him—at all. With his problem, he had long since learned it was best to keep to himself. But he didn’t want to be alone today. He wanted to wait on Kendra’s doorstep. He wanted to drive down to the school and meet her for lunch.
He raked his hands over his hair and growled. Another cold shower might help.
He pushed up from his chair and paced to the back door. The screen was all that kept him from bounding outside. A cool breeze drifted into his house. Orange and red leaves lazily spun down from the trees. He felt restless. He felt tense and edgy. Kendra’s visit had done something to his wolf side—awakened it more than it ever had been. He kept envisioning her naked, spread across his bed, wanting him, her mocha skin flushed with arousal, her lips parted . . .
“Damn it.” He clenched his jaw and slid the screen door open. Normally, he shifted only at night when he was so close to civilization. When he was in the wilds, he shifted if it pleased him. Tearing away his clothes, he tried to put her out of his mind. She was his neighbor, a schoolteacher, a normal woman who had a crush on him—not his mate, not the one, if there even was such a thing. Sam told him there had to be, but Darius had been alone so long and never found another female . . . like him.
Naked, he stepped out into the waning sunlight. He heard her car pull up the drive, heard the door slap shut, her keys rattling. The beast inside him wanted out. It wanted her. He licked his lips and panted. The shift came upon him in a rush, manipulating his body and bones until he dropped to the porch on all fours. He sniffed and smelled the sweet perfume of the roses—his roses. She had them—had brought them home with her. His ears pricked. Kendra was humming as she tried to open the front door to her house. She was happy. He wagged his tail. He wanted to make her happier.
He shook his body to rid himself of the heat. It was so damn hot, but the breeze denied what he felt. He was hot, his blood boiling, his muscles twitchy, his mind filled with angst. Darius bounded through the backyard to the pile of leaves and rolled in them. The paper-thin castoffs scratched and crackled beneath his body. He used to do this with his mother—together—two wolves wild and free and secret in their backyard.
“There aren’t many like us left,” she used to tell him. It had made him happy to be like her then. But when he was older, in his twenties and still without a mate, it only made him lonely. A truly human woman would not understand this. Just as his father would never understand or accept that side of his mother.
He stopped rolling and sat back on his haunches, listening. Kendra’s phone was ringing. Sauntering to the wood fence, he wondered who was calling her. Darius picked up his pace until he was at a run. He leaped over the barrier and landed on her side. Her backyard was neat and orderly. She had a hedge of roses, bordered with snapdragons and daisies. There was a grill and a table-and-chair set for outdoor gatherings. He sniffed at the ground and smelled something strange. Man. Someone had been in her backyard. He glanced at the gate and saw that it was cracked open.
Darius flattened his ears and stalked toward the back fence to see if anyone was still back there. He couldn’t hear anything, other than the birds chirping in the maple trees high above. At the gate, he sniffed again and smelled the prickly scent. It was strange that Matthew had come into her backyard and not his the night before. And the man scent he was picking up was definitely not Matthew’s.
He nosed the gate shut and did a sweep around the backyard to be sure nothing was amiss. His body ached to go inside and see her, to peer through a window for a glimpse of her face. But what would she think if she saw a wolf looking in on her?
He whimpered and ran back the way he’d come, jumping the fence to return home.
He was restless.
Darius shifted back and snatched up his clothes from the lawn. He went inside and hurried to the shower—a cold one, cold enough to put the chill on his body even though his dick was already thick with desire. He had to make this stop. If he didn’t, when they met on Saturday, he was afraid he’d make a fool of himself.
He lathered his body with soap and rinsed it away, toying for a time at the curls of hair above his sex. He knew he shouldn’t, but it was as if he couldn’t help himself. He imagined what it would be like if she was in the shower with him. The taste of her lips sweetened with wine lingered in his thoughts. He delved lower to cradle his length.
“Damn it,” he grumbled again, cursing his urges.
Then he heard the knock at the door. He pulled his hand away and shut off the shower. The knock came again. “Darius?” It was her.
He slid open the shower curtain and grabbed for a towel. She had come to him, and now was really not a good time. He didn’t have himself under control. “Hang on!” he shouted. He dried off and swiped the towel around his waist, tucking the corner in. She probably just wants to thank me for the flowers. The wolf in him didn’t care about that. The wolf wanted him to open that front door and drag her inside like he had the night before. Had Matthew been chasing her? Was that why he was in her backyard last night? Jealousy bubbled up in his thoughts.
He groaned, frustrated with himself.
Darius strode through the hall and gripped the handle of the doorknob, promising himself not to do something foolish. He wrenched the handle open an
d half hid himself behind the door. “Sorry, I was in the shower.”
Her pretty brown eyes rounded. She stole a peek at his chest before she looked back at his face. “Oh. Oops.” Kendra let out a nervous laugh. “I can come back later.”
Grab her, he thought, staring at her mouth then. Pull her in here—into your bed. Show her how much you want her. He cleared his throat and forced a smile. “It’s all right.”
“I just wanted to say thank you. The roses really made my day.” She bit at her bottom lip and stole a second glance down. He could feel her heated gaze raking over his body.
“Would you like to come in?” He had asked. It was up to her now. If she came in knowing all he had on was a towel, well, then, it was her own fault. Wasn’t it?
“Oh, I don’t want to bother you. I need to rake the lawn today . . .”
But he could tell she did want to bother him. In fact, he was already bothered. He opened the door a little wider, smiling when she took the first step and then another.
“I’ll go put on some clothes.” He stepped aside, and she came in. Darius shut the door and turned the lock. Kendra didn’t seem to notice.
“Look, um about last night . . .” She clasped her hands together, fidgeting with her thumbs. “I don’t want you to think . . .” She looked down at the floor.
He shivered and bridged the distance between them. “Think what?” he asked, lifting her chin with his finger.
“Think that . . .” She stared at his mouth.
He dipped his lips to hers and pressed a kiss there. She tensed and then eased in his arms, her small hands reaching for his waist. The heat between them was undeniable—even for her.
Her soft, hot tongue slipped into his mouth. He knotted his fingers in her loose hair and held her to him. Darius guided her against his pelvis. He knew she could feel the hardness of his dick pushing into her body. He felt like he was wound so tight that, at any moment, he would lose control. He didn’t want that. And he did want it—so bad that he was acting like a horny animal, not a gentleman at all.
Wolf Next Door Page 2