He pulled his coat off the large nail in the wall, hammered in there in lieu of the coat rack that he parted with when Erin wanted it for her den. He stuffed his arms in the sleeves and pulled open his front door.
“It’s colder than fucking hell out there.” Bruno Tangaree strolled into his den with his own coat unbuttoned and his relaxed state making him appear anything but cold. “Probably be best to let that truck of yours run for a while. I’ll get the fire going.”
Bruno walked past him to the fireplace and stared at it while the lid to the wood box opened and several logs floated through the air and into the fireplace. Dimitri reached for his doorknob several times before grabbing it. He definitely needed more coffee.
“Bruno,” he managed, his mouth suddenly incredibly dry while his heart pounded a mile a minute in his chest. “What are you doing here?”
Bruno waved his hand in the air without turning around. “Listen to you. Back in my day a den knew how to be hospitable. Go start your truck.”
A lot of snow melted the day before and the slush froze overnight. Dimitri fell on his ass the minute he stepped out of his den. Served him right. Maybe slamming his body against the hard ground would shake everything back into place in his fogged brain.
The truck started right up and he managed to keep from falling like a clumsy idiot as he made it back inside.
“Bruno.” Dimitri shrugged out of his coat and then dropped it on the side of his couch. He needed to understand what the hell was going on here. “You’re supposed to be dead. I need to know. Are you or aren’t you?”
A wonderfully large fire burned furiously in his fireplace. Bruno made himself comfortable in the overstuffed reclining chair next to the fire. His white hair was brushed straight back and his smooth, shiny cheeks implied he had shaved this morning. Dimitri couldn’t smell anything from Bruno though, not even aftershave. If he didn’t see him sitting there, he wouldn’t know he was in the room.
The old werewolf had slipped out of his coat, and it lay on the floor next to the chair. For a werewolf his age, he still looked large and threatening, even as he reclined easily in Dimitri’s favorite chair.
“Now that’s a question I can handle.” The old werewolf chuckled easily, appearing very much at ease although something in his expression suggested he could still manage to rough up a room if need be. “Renee and I burned with most of our pack. The gift offers many blessings in life. And since we’re obviously still needed, we’re here.”
It was on the tip of Dimitri’s tongue to ask why Bruno thought he was still needed. The question would be insulting, and he forgot about it anyway when Renee walked into the living room from his kitchen.
“Look at you, Dimitri. No wonder she is so desperate to have you. Last time I saw you, you were barely grown.” Renee clasped her hands together, looking as proud as if she had whelped him herself.
“And you don’t look any different than from when I saw you last.” When he was a cub, there was no prettier bitch in the pack than Renee—well, other than his own mother.
Renee still possessed the grace and elegance that a queen bitch should have, kind of like Rosa. He stiffened, unsure of the direction of his thoughts.
Renee smiled and he swore her face glowed. She walked past him and stopped behind Bruno, resting her hands on his shoulders and staring at the fire. Even the flames seemed to dance more, trying to keep her attention. Just as Bruno looked fit and capable of putting in a good fight, Renee’s figure still looked slim and shapely. She didn’t wear a coat, and her long-sleeved sweater ended at her waistline. The jeans she wore hugged her firm ass and showed off long, slender legs. It amazed the hell out of him how youthful both of them appeared.
“Bruno thought it would help if I visited with you,” Renee began, looking over at him. “You’re trying so hard to better our pack. We both see that.”
“Thank you,” he mumbled, shocked actually that they thought he was doing a good job. Certainly they would appear before him only if he were fucking things up.
Renee laughed quietly, an incredibly melodic sound. He didn’t smell humor on her—in fact, now that he thought about it, he didn’t smell emotions of any kind on either one of them at all.
“We mean that. You are a very good pack leader. That isn’t why we’re here. The matter is more personal. And that always was my area of expertise.”
“She’s trying to say I’d just chew your ass and be done with it,” Bruno grumbled.
Dimitri stiffened. Chew his ass about what? He didn’t dare ask.
“You plan on going down to that government office again today. Now you and I both know you’re going to end up in a fight. That isn’t going to help, Dimitri.”
He stared at Renee, unsure what to say.
“You’ve got the gift willing to help you. Don’t be too stubborn to accept it. That always was your problem. Just like my Bruno, you have to be in charge.” Again Renee laughed. This time she let go of Bruno and walked up to him. “Accept things how they are. Don’t throw away the greatest asset you can offer your pack. You can do that, can’t you, Dimitri?”
“Sure,” he told her, not having a damned clue what she was talking about.
Renee smiled. Again her face looked like it glowed, and he actually caught himself returning the smile. Her grin broadened and she touched his arm. Her fingers were so soft, so warm. It made him think of Rosa, with her hands on him the other day. He wouldn’t dwell on her and let his dick get hard in front of these two. Bruno might take it wrong, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to find out if he could battle a dead werewolf.
The two of them seemed satisfied that he had answered the way they wanted. Renee helped Bruno with his coat and then hugged Dimitri. Again warmth spread inside him that was hard to describe. It was almost like when he was a cub and just got his ass kicked, or fell and broke a bone. His mother’s hugs always made everything okay with the world.
Renee and Bruno walked out the front door, closing it behind them. He turned, staring at the dancing fire. It was his only proof that they actually were in his den. It bugged him that their visit pulled suppressed visions of his life back on Malta. It was a life best not thought about. Every memory from that time simply cut him like a knife. Never would life be as wonderful and fulfilling as it had been when he lived with his den on that island.
“Damn it.” What the hell was their visit about, anyway? “Like any of that made sense.”
He yanked the door open. They wouldn’t leave him like this. His mood turned foul, memories of Malta the one thing he knew could crush him. And they intentionally talked to him in riddles.
“Don’t just leave,” he yelled, but then stopped.
Rosa stood in his doorway, her hand raised in a fist as if she were going to knock.
“What?” She narrowed her brows, and her fresh scent wrapped around him like soothing medicine on a recently torn open wound.
“Nothing,” he said too harshly. “What are you doing here?”
Her eyes darted back and forth and her frown deepened as she studied his face. She waited a moment too long to answer, and he knew she probed his thoughts. Growling, he backed away from the doorway. If he were smart, he wouldn’t let her in. But damn it. Bruno and Renee had just visited him and the conversation left him so frazzled he wasn’t sure what he was doing at the moment.
“Dimitri?” Her soft voice stroked his tortured nerves.
He realized he glared at the floor with the door to his den still open. Rosa stood in the middle of this living room, her small hands clasped together in front of her. Her frown was gone, but deep concern made her scent smell even muskier. When he looked in her direction, he caught her gaze traveling down him. She shot her attention to his face and slowly licked her lips.
“Why are you here?” he asked her again.
She straightened, which forced her jacket open. She wore a snug, knit turtleneck sweater—and no bra. Her nipples were hard little pebbles, poking against the material. His mouth w
ent dry staring at them.
“I want to go to the WA office with you.” She tilted her head slightly, lifting her chin as she did so. The way she pressed her lips together, giving him a look like her word was final, made her appear even more beautiful.
There was a passion about Rosa, more than just sexually, that glowed in her eyes, in her defiant expression and triggered something deep inside him that grew the longer he stared at her.
“Why would you want to go with me?”
She bit her lip, studied him, then turned her back to him and approached his fire. It must be his imagination. Certainly the flames didn’t dance to life as she neared.
“I heard yesterday that you almost got in a fight while there.” She spoke softly, slowly, definitely choosing her words carefully. “Maybe if I went with you, dealt with these werewolves who are chained to desks for you…”
She paused, keeping her back to him. A sudden strong smell of apprehension, nervousness, made her usual rich, sweet scent stir around with something salty. And then she lowered her head. Long black hair streamed over her back, falling in strands where her waist narrowed. Dimitri focused lower, enjoying the hell out of the view. Her blue jeans could have been painted on her perfectly shaped ass.
“Are you implying I’m not capable of handling the situation?” He already knew he wasn’t the best candidate.
Renee’s words hit him at that moment. You’ve got the gift, willing to help you. Don’t be too stubborn to accept it.
Rosa turned around, her pale eyes still reflecting the glow from the fireplace. “Please don’t get pissed. I swear I really am trying to stay out of your head. Someday I would love to hear about your experience with Renee and Bruno,” she whispered.
She didn’t want him pissed that she was just in his head. Dimitri moved closer, reaching her and then taking a strand of hair in his hand. Rosa closed her eyes, sucking in her breath. She would take his wrath or his love. Damn it.
Renee’s words suddenly made sense. So much damned sense it terrified him. The only queen bitch he ever knew in his life wanted him to have Rosa. Don’t throw away the greatest asset you can offer your pack. Rosa was definitely one hell of a catch. In fact, way too damned good for him.
“There’s nothing to tell.” Not when he barely understood the conversation himself. She looked disappointed, but nodded once. He preferred they discuss something a bit more grounded. “Do members of my pack think me incapable of gathering funds on my own?”
“No. God. No.” She seriously looked stunned. “No one sent me here, Dimitri.”
That much he believed. “Who knows you’re here?”
That stubborn look returned. “I don’t answer to anyone.”
“That could be changed.” He wasn’t sure why that just fell out of his mouth, but wariness passed through him when her expression relaxed, her eyes glowed and she closed the distance between them.
“I’ve spent twenty-seven years being my own boss,” she whispered and ran her fingernails up his arms to his shoulders. “I don’t want a leash and collar.”
“No bitch is going to put a collar on me either.”
She laughed, the sound melodic. Her look turned mischievous when she traced lines over his flesh and then attempted to wrap her fingers around his neck. “I’m not sure I could find one that fits.”
He growled and grabbed her wrists, pulling her against him and then devoured her mouth.
What was it about this woman?
No matter how much he told his brain that now wasn’t the time to have a bitch in his life, she continually ended up in his arms.
“Dimitri,” she whispered, her lips so soft and wet when they moved against his. “I need you, now.”
He wasn’t submitting to her. That was the last thing that would ever happen. But when she spoke those four little words, his cock sprang to life with enough energy that he swore he heard threads tear. His jeans were suddenly an annoying nuisance. And ripping her clothes from that hot little body of hers sounded damned appealing.
He pushed her to arm’s length. “Undress,” he ordered.
She stared at him with those compelling tan eyes, draped with long silky lashes, and began removing her clothing.
Her actions were so graceful, her body lithe and sensual. She shrugged out of her coat, letting it fall to the floor, and never once pulled her gaze from his. Next came her sweater. Rosa stretched as she dragged it up her body, and then her face disappeared momentarily. She held it bundled in her hands above her head as long, thick black hair tumbled over her shoulders and down her front and back.
Dimitri loved the shade of her flesh, so dark, yet with a golden hue to it that matched the radiance sparkling in her eyes. He tugged his own clothes from his body, feeling like a royal klutz while watching her undo her jeans, kick off her shoes and then push the denim down her narrow thighs.
Crap. She didn’t have underwear on either.
“Did you come over here with an agenda, little bitch?” he asked, his tongue almost too thick to mouth the words.
“I had hopes,” she confessed, and her cheeks turned an enticing shade of pink.
Rosa stepped out of her jeans and then stood before him, naked. There wasn’t a more beautiful sight anywhere, he was sure of it. Moving toward her, he brushed his finger over her nipple, loving how the dark flesh puckered. His mouth watered at the sight of her full, round breasts. Taking her in his arms, he leaned forward, sucking and nibbling on one nipple and then the other.
“Dimitri,” she cried out, clawing his back with her fingernails.
Her head fell back and she went limp. Long black hair flowed toward the floor, and although Rosa’s feet were on the floor, he held her in his arms. She relaxed, allowing him to position her as he would, surrendering completely.
Again the flames seemed to dance with a life of their own when he laid her down on the throw carpet in the middle of his living room. She spread her legs, dragging her fingers through her hair and then blinking as she stared up at him.
“Don’t think you can make a habit of coming over whenever you want and demanding sex from me.” He fought a smile, trying to sound serious when his words, and the suggestion behind it, sounded like one hell of a good idea.
“I won’t,” she answered seriously, and then lifted her legs, wrapping them around his torso and attempting to pull him closer. “But if you could just fuck me hard and fast… I’m sure that will take care of things.”
He saw her mouth twitch, knew she played along, keeping the situation light.
“So that’s all you want? My dick inside you until you have your release?”
“No.” The glow returned to her eyes, and the flames behind her roared with a ferocity that almost unnerved him.
The light glowed off her caramel-colored skin. Her breathing increased while he hovered over her, drowning in her gaze. What he saw there scared the crap out of him. No bitch ever looked at him like they couldn’t live without him, like he meant everything to her, as if her world would end if he weren’t there to share it with her.
Deciding to give her just what she asked for, he adjusted his body, grabbing her thighs, lifting and stretching her. Dimitri positioned his cock at her entrance, surprised with how soaked she was, and breathed in her thick, ripe scent before diving deep into her heat.
Chapter Seven
Rosa screamed. She reached for Dimitri, but he grabbed her wrists, pinning her hands to either side of her, and plunged so far inside her that he nearly split her in two.
God. He filled her completely past her bellybutton. She was sure of it.
His body leaned over hers far enough that she couldn’t move her legs, could barely adjust herself. He dove into her again, impaling her with his thick, long cock, and her world turned sideways. For a moment everything sparked before her eyes, then went black.
It was all she could do to capture her breath. And when she did suck in enough air to fill her lungs, she smelled Dimitri. His harsh nature, his unwill
ingness to open up to her. Everything about him that made him a werewolf, characteristics that were almost impossible to crack, appealed to her in a way she never thought it would.
He was stubborn, willful and arrogant. But more than that, he was vulnerable, unsure of things and so full of pent-up love and compassion that it ripped her heart wide open. She fought to focus on his face. His expression twisted with determination and lust. She loved that combination in him.
The muscles in his chest and arms bulged and flexed when he slid deep inside her. His cock stretched her wide open, caressed the many tiny muscles inside her pussy and pressed against that one spot where she craved him the most.
“Yes. Dimitri!” she said on an exhale. Twisting her wrists against his hands, she fought to break free of his hold.
More than anything she wanted to run her fingertips over those bulging muscles, feel the heat from his body and the smoothness of his skin. She breathed in his rich, musky scent and it brought out her more primal side. Her teeth grew as her pussy convulsed and clamped down on his cock. If she could hold him deep inside her, prevent him from pulling back out, she would do it.
“Is that what you wanted?” he asked, his voice deep and raspy.
“Oh yes,” she sighed.
And then he quit moving. His cock pulsed inside her and he closed his eyes, not staring down at her but focusing on how she felt.
Perfect. Absolutely fucking perfect. His thoughts were in turmoil, just as hers were, but the few words that leapt out at her warmed her heart until it reached a boiling point along with the rest of her.
He began a slow, deliberate rhythm and Rosa realized her eyes were closed. She blinked, fighting to focus on him, and then lost herself in the intensity of his gaze.
'Til Death Page 8