She turned. “Then why does he rule them with an iron fist? When he says jump, they ask how high, instead of why should I.”
“Leopold was the gentlest, most patient father when they were young. As Joe grew into a teen he became rebellious. I think Leo grew tough because he worried that if he didn’t, the boys—and Joe in particular—might get soft.”
“What’s wrong with soft?”
“Perhaps soft is the wrong word. All three are very bright and talented. Things come easily to them. Leo felt they needed to work for their success. To strive. Otherwise, they might settle for what was easiest.”
Mandy handed Maria a goblet and went back to washing as she processed what she’d been told.
“Joe would never have settled and rock music is a harsh business. Crowds love you or hate you. It’s easy for people to cheat you unless you’re careful. Joe didn’t choose the easy road and I don’t think he would have, even if Leopold would have been more supportive of his choice.”
“Perhaps not, but Leo worried.” Maria put a goblet in the cupboard and reached for the next to dry. “My mate had a difficult youth. Living in Nazi-occupied Austria took its toll on him. He saw horrible things and I believe he wanted to raise his sons to be strong and capable.”
“I don’t doubt that he did what he thought was best for them, but doesn’t he also have a certain snobbish view against rock music?”
Maria laughed. “Oh, certainly. He has always felt classical music is superior to popular music. Classical music challenges the performer and the listener and other music doesn’t, or so Leo believes.”
Mandy shook her head. “What about the blues and jazz music? It speaks to its listeners about their lives. And sixties protest music? It changed the world.”
“I agree, my dear. I’m merely explaining Leo to you as best as I can. He feels that rock and roll did little but introduce sex and drugs to music.”
“I think sex and drugs were always part of music,” Mandy responded dryly.
“Perhaps so. Leo did his best for Joe when he bought him the vintage Les Paul.”
“The Gibson guitar he has?”
“Yes. Leo gave it to him when Joe went out with his first band to tour.”
“Wow. Those are top of the line.”
“Yes, I know.” Maria patted her shoulder. “Come, let’s join the males in the music room. They should have had time to tune by now.”
Mandy grabbed her camera case then followed Maria back to the entry then down a hallway to the back of the house. The hallway opened into a large arched room with southern-facing windows and warmth. The room housed both a grand piano and a harpsichord.
In the area near the piano Joseph sat with his guitar in his lap, his brothers and father seated like an audience before him.
“Maria, my dear. Please join me. Joseph has volunteered to begin. Amanda, you may be seated to our right.”
Jeez, he really did sound like a king commanding his subjects. Mandy sat down where indicated. An empty chair was to her right where she assumed Joe would sit when he completed his solos.
“So what’s the program?” Mandy queried her father-in-law.
“Joseph will play three pieces, then Jacob, then Julian. Finally, I shall play. Maria shall accompany Jacob and Julian and myself. Then my lovely bride shall grace us with her exceptional voice.”
“Oh no, Leo. I’ll not follow you, my heart. I shall sing before you play.”
Leo chuckled. “Very well, liebling. It shall be as you wish.”
Mandy looked at Joe, trying to catch his gaze to give him a wink, but he focused solely on his guitar. She longed to give him some mental encouragement, but stayed out of his mind because he didn’t look as if her thoughts would be welcome right then. Mandy licked her lips in sympathy. Joe’s mouth was tight, and if she didn’t know better, she’d think he was in pain.
Joe looked up briefly, but met only his father’s gaze. “I’ll begin with Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring by Johann Sebastian Bach.”
He lowered his head and his hands settled on his guitar and at the first notes, Mandy held her breath. If she walked up to the Pearly Gates, this is what she’d expect to hear. Not only this song, but she’d expect to hear it played just like this. Delicate, melodic…simply beautiful. Slowly she released her breath in relief. Joe didn’t miss a note. Not a single fingering, despite his earlier worries. Mandy felt her throat tighten with emotion and awe. She blinked her eyes to keep her tears from leaking out. God, he was so gifted.
As the last note echoed, Mandy stayed silent for just a moment then she started to clap. No one else did, so her applause died. She glanced over at her father-in-law. He looked annoyed, but then Joe lifted his gaze from his guitar and smiled at her. A beautiful performance should be acknowledged.
“Please continue, Joseph.”
“Next, I’ll play Canon in D by Johann Pachelbel. For Mother.”
“Thank you, son,” Maria murmured.
Joe began to play and it sounded like angels singing again. Mandy held her breath for a moment, overwhelmed by his playing. In the back of her mind, she could imagine him playing this song while she rocked their pup to sleep. She swallowed hard, blinking her eyes. Joe’s hands were sure on the instrument, and his eyes closed as he became one with the guitar. He cocked his head listening to the purity of the tones as he played. Mandy surreptitiously wiped a tear away.
As he finished, there was silence, but again Mandy broke it with her applause. She wasn’t going to stay quiet just to please Leo. She was happy when Maria, Jake and Julian joined in. Joe met her gaze again—his relief palpable. He looked so much more relaxed now than he had when she’d walked into the music room.
“Finally, I will play Malagueña by Ernesto Lecuona.”
She blinked when Joe ripped into the heart of the Spanish tune by the Cuban composer. Mandy couldn’t stay still, rocking with the beat as she got into the fiery tune. She’d heard recordings of so many different guitar players who tackled this piece, from Jose Feliciano to Roy Clark to Carlos Montoya, but she’d never heard anyone play it quite like this. Driving…forceful. Fast fingers. Guitar shredder to the nth degree. She so wanted to take him to bed right this minute. He was just so hot. By the end of the song, she was gasping and with the final chord she clapped and cheered. Joe laughed out loud, bowing to her so she blew him a kiss.
Leo cleared his throat and Mandy quit clapping to frown at her father-in-law. Joe tensed as he waited for his father’s reaction. In fact, everyone turned to Leopold to await his pronouncement. Damn, it pissed Mandy off. Joe was amazing, he shouldn’t be on pins and needles from what one person had to say…but he was.
“Adequate, Joseph. Quite adequate.”
Joe sighed in relief, but Mandy saw red. “Adequate? Are you kidding me? That was outstanding. Excellent. Superlative.”
“It was adequate, Amanda,” Leo countered. His brows were flat and his blue eyes narrowed, but his mouth quirked as if he fought a smile.
“Bull—”
“Mandy,” Joe growled in warning.
She whipped around to glare at Joe. “No way. I will not be quiet. If you played Malagueña like thatat a concert you’d bring down the house. I mean it. Whitewolf’s finest would drive by just to see if Zach’s place was hosting a riot.”
Joe grinned. “You think?”
“Oh my God, yes! And if you did a Malmsteen with it, the screams from the audience would be deafening.”
Joe blinked. “You know who Malmsteen is?”
Mandy chuckled. “Of course I know who Yngwie Malmsteen is, I’m Eddie Goldwolf’s daughter!”
“I should have known,” Joe laughed.
“Yes, you should have. If you shred that song with your Les Paul, the place would rampage.”
“Huh. I’ll think about it.” He tapped the body of his guitar while he rubbed his jaw, lost in thought. “I’ve never played it on the Gibson before, but I could.”
“Yeah, and it would be awesome.”
/>
“Thanks, angel. I’ll practice it.”
“Have you two finished this conversation?” Leo’s tone of voice suggested they’d been talking about dog shit and Mandy turned to let him have it.
Angel, just let it rest.
But—
Pick your battles.
All right. This time.
Thank you.
You let him walk all over you. Adequate, my ass.
Angel, coming from him, adequate was high praise.
That’s crap.
That’s Leopold Schwarzerwulf.
Do you realize you just equated your father with crap?
Um…I didn’t mean to. Joe’s face reddened.
Sure about that? she teased.
Mandy’s lips twitched as she fought full-out laughter while he put his guitar back in the case and then he came over to sit beside her.
Just shut up, Mandy, he warned.
Anything you say, sweetie. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye as he rubbed his twitching lips. Mandy grinned and Joe snickered.
Stop it, he growled.
What? I’m not doing anything. Mandy leaned into Joe and took his hand.
“Jacob, you’re next,” Leo ordered.
Chapter Eleven
The rest of the family was as impressive as Joe had been. Jake possessed a fluid, lyric tenor that wrapped around a listener like a warm, wool blanket. Julian’s trumpet performance was as bright and crisp as fine linen. Maria’s clear coloratura floated like a bird on the wing.
But Leo topped all of them. He played like a violin god. He opened with The Swan by Camille Saint-Saen, followed by Air on the G String by Johann Sebastian Bach. Mandy didn’t think it could get any better until Leopold closed with the Theme from Schindler’s List. Mandy hadn’t expected how deeply it would affect her, but as he played the contemporary classical piece by John Williams, she finally understood what Joe meant. Leo made the violin sing with hope and sob with grief. It moved her so deeply she couldn’t keep tears from falling unchecked down her cheeks.
When he finished, Leo smiled at her. “Tears are indeed the highest form of praise because it means I touched you. Thank you, my dear.”
Mandy wiped tears away and nodded wordlessly. Her throat was so tight she couldn’t speak. This entire family was so very talented she felt overwhelmed. How could she possibly fit in here and what could she ever contribute?
You contribute your joy and your love of music, Mandy.
I just can’t believe how much talent is in just one family.
Talent yes, but we’re as dysfunctional as they come.
Joe wiped away the rest of her tears. “You look like a raccoon,” he teased gently.
“Thanks.” She slugged him lightly in the shoulder.
“Joseph, why don’t you show Amanda to the restroom so she can wash her face,” Leo suggested kindly.
“And you might show her your bedroom while you’re upstairs, dear.” Maria turned to Mandy, “It still looks as it did when he was twenty.” Maria seemed to sense that Mandy needed to chill for a couple of minutes and she appreciated her mother-in-law’s sensitivity.
“Excellent idea, Mother,” Joe took Mandy by the hand and led her out of the music room and toward the stairs. “You okay, angel?” he murmured, taking her into his arms.
Mandy nodded. “Yeah, but I feel so out of place.”
“Just remember you’re my True Mate, so you’re needed here. True Mates always happen for a reason. We come into each other’s lives in order to provide needed lessons—to ourselves and sometimes to our families.”
“Kinda mystical, aren’t you?”
Joe chuckled, color running along his cheekbones. “Maybe, but I believe it. I’ve seen too many True Mated couples not to.”
“And have you figured out what the couples have taught each other?”
“Sometimes. But most of the time, I think the only ones who really know are those most intimately involved…the couple themselves.”
“So what are we supposed to teach each other?”
“No clue. But you know, the ride is half the fun!”
Mandy laughed, running her fingers along his strong arms. “I’m glad I finally found you.”
“I am too.” He grabbed her hand. “Come on. Let me show you how I used to sneak out of the house.”
Mandy followed, laughing as Joe ran lightly up the stairs and led the way to the last bedroom along the front of the house. He opened the door and she looked into the early 1990s. A very guy kind of room—navy-blue bedding on a full-size bed. A big old desk with a comfortable chair. In one corner was a navy-blue leather recliner with an ancient TV. What surprised Mandy the most was the “art” on the walls.
“Your father let you have posters of guitar gods on the walls?”
Joe grinned as he fell back onto the bed as if he was still a twenty-year-old. “Nope. During most of my teens all the posters of Eddie Van Halen, Yngwie Malmsteen, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck were carefully hidden by posters of Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Segovia and Paganini.”
“Paganini? He was a violinist.”
“Yeah, but he was great.” Joe shrugged. He turned and looked at the windows above the bed. “I’d open this window,” he pointed to the one on the right, “climb out and ease onto the gabled roof below then slide down it to drop onto the ground.”
“That’s a long way to fall.” Mandy gazed out the window and shuddered.
“I never fell. I almost did once, right after the old wolf and I had a fight but I caught myself.”
“When we have pups, we’re nailing their windows shut.”
“On that big old vic you’ve got, that would probably be smart. If they take after us, they’re gonna like thrills.” Joe slid his arms around her waist and pulled her back onto the bed.
Mandy ran her hands through his hair. “Speaking of thrills…did you ever sneak a girlfriend in here for a wild time?”
“My parents would have smelled sex and there would have been hell to pay.”
“Not even when they were away? No big party here with ‘rents gone?”
He laughed. “They were way too smart to leave us on our own.”
Mandy pushed him onto his back, straddling him. “So this bed has never been the site of hot sex?”
“Does jacking off count?”
“Nope, sorry.”
“Then, no.”
“Well, there’s no time like the present.”
Joe’s gaze traveled from her face down to where she sat on him, then he licked his lips. “I want to, but Father—”
“We’re True Mates and you aren’t sixteen. Fuck me, stud.” He growled as she rocked her hips on him. “It’s all hard under here,” she teased. “I guess wolves find raccoons sexy.”
“Wolves eat raccoons and angel I want to eat you so bad.”
“Nothing’s stopping you.”
Joe slid his fingers along her thighs and up under her dress. He caught her by her legs and flipped her onto her back before sliding her panties off and tossing them into the recliner in the corner.
Mandy laughed. “Are you sure you haven’t done that before? Your throw was pretty damn good.”
“Long practice throwing my own clothes there.”
Mandy loosened his tie and tossed it across the room. They both watched it fly and Joe chuckled when it fell short of the chair.
“You’ve got the right idea, but you need to throw harder.”
“It was my off hand.”
“Sure it was. Like that matters.” He sat up, pulled his jacket off and sent it into the chair with his left hand.
“You use both hands to play guitar. You don’t have an off hand.”
Mandy argued while she unbuttoned Joe’s shirt to the waist, sighing with pleasure as she revealed his tanned skin. She stroked her fingers through the hair, seeking out his tight nipples. She flicked them with her thumbs, smiling when he groaned and thrust his hips forward.
“Shit
, angel. You’re gonna kill me.”
“But in a good way.”
He laughed. “Maybe, but our time up here is limited and I have got to eat your pussy or die in the attempt.”
“Death isn’t required. Eat your fill.”
Mandy hiked her skirt up to her waist and bent her knees, tilting her hips invitingly. Joe groaned and sank down between her legs. She closed her eyes as she felt his warm breath against her pussy lips. His hands caressed her thighs, lifting her legs onto his shoulders.
She grasped his hair in her hands as he pressed gentle kisses on her mound but she jumped when his tongue slipped between her pussy lips to flick at her clit. She sighed happily as he tongued her, but then he lifted his head and she wanted to scream.
“Why did you stop?” she asked, glaring down at him.
“Just checking to see if you were paying attention,” Joe teased.
“I am. Now, you said something about eating pussy, didn’t you?”
He chuckled. “Could be.” She gave his hair a tug, pulling him back into place. “You seem a little eager, angel.”
“Eat me, Seymour.”
“You mean feed me, Seymour.” He laughed.
“Whatever. Suck my clit.”
She opened her legs wider and raised her hips, all but waving her pussy in his face. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
“You smell amazing. I love the musk rising from you.”
“Then feel free to take a closer look. Or closer sniff. Before I smack you into next week for teasing me.”
“Hey, isn’t that the guy’s line?”
She shook her head at him, and decided if he was going to be all talk and no action, she’d take action herself. She let go of his hair. With one hand she parted her labia and with the other she stroked her clit, groaning with pleasure. He groaned too. She glanced down and smiled as his eyes glazed over and he licked his lips. She reached down and slid her fingers inside, stroking deep. He tugged her fingers out of her pussy and sucked the dampness into his mouth.
“You taste like heaven, angel.”
“Then feel free to taste some more.”
“Hell, yeah.”
He parted her gently and buried his face against her. His tongue snaking out. Flicking at her swollen flesh. She leaned back and closed her eyes. He licked her clit, sweeping around the hard nub. Hitting the spot over and over. Alternating between fast light taps and long, intense arcs.
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