Someone close. Darinda glanced at Roderick. He still wouldn’t look at her. “We need names,” she said. “Start with the wolf, if that’s easier for you. Is it someone we know? A member of Roderick’s pack?”
Alfie shuddered all over. Then abruptly Alfie was gone. A scrawny coyote crouched on the bed with a towel draped over his hindquarters. His gold eyes darted back and forth between the two of them. His tail was tucked firmly to his belly.
“As if that’s going to help you,” Roderick snarled.
“Actually, it does,” Darinda said. “He can’t talk in that form.”
“He can bark. One for yes, two for no.”
“Yes, there’s that.” She took a step toward the coyote. “Okay, we’ll just go down the list. Who ordered this? Was it Ellis Duquesne?”
Alfie uttered two barks, the second clipped. He whined and shrank away from her. Roderick loomed on his other side. “Was it Bernadette Chase?”
Wait a minute, Darinda thought. He’s not cringing. He’s gathering himself—
Alfie sprang off the bed like a shot and leaped out the open window. The wards caught him briefly, but his momentum and the conflicting magics laid on him weakened their efforts. The wards snapped, spilling Alfie onto the ground two stories below. Darinda darted to the window in time to see Alfie climb groggily to his feet, shake himself, and stumble off through the garden, gathering speed as he moved.
“Crap,” she said. “Roderick—”
She found herself addressing his jacket, pooled on the floor by the door. A trail of shed clothing led into the hall and down the stairs. Darinda hit the kitchen just as the doggy door swung shut.
For all he’d been through in the last half hour, Alfie was certainly covering a lot of ground. He’d found a thin track through the trees around Meadowlands and barreled down it like a hound of Hell was after him. Which, to judge from Roderick’s hunting howl, wasn’t too far off the mark.
Trailing them proved frighteningly easy. Her whole body had become a compass, magnetized to Roderick. Their heartbeats thudded in unison, his thoughts echoed in the back of her brain. Alpha mates had to be this way in order to guide the pack, he’d explained to her once.
But I’m not a wolf, she thought. Did that even matter, she wondered, when souls were determined to unite?
She had a better idea of where the trail was headed. If it stayed straight they’d come out on Kelly Drive, just above the river. No telling where Alfie’d go from there. Any populated area would work for him, since he could pass for a dog. Explaining the wolf would be harder.
She heard yelps from up ahead. Roderick had caught up with him. Then a scream, and the shriek of brakes, and a hideous thump, followed by nothing.
Roderick! She batted branches aside and ran faster.
She broke out of the trees at the edge of Kelly Drive. The black wolf stood frozen at the curb. Up and down the Drive cars came to sudden screeching stops. A Camaro straddled the center line off to her right, trailing glass from a shattered headlight and with a huge dent in its grill. Beyond lay a crushed russet lump that until recently had been Alfie.
“It ran right in front of me,” the Camaro’s driver wailed to the other stopped drivers emerging from their vehicles. “Goddammit, my car! Will insurance cover this? Does anybody know?”
Among the deadlocked traffic Darinda spotted a police car. The officer strode purposefully toward the Camaro. She sank her hand into the thick fur of Roderick’s ruff and tugged gently. Unnoticed, they slipped away.
Chapter 17
“That’s it, then,” Roderick said. “Our only lead a dead end. So to speak.”
Darinda peered into her teacup. Roderick had a bracing mug of broth. Upon their return to the Meadowlands kitchen he had pulled on his slacks, but remained shirtless and shoeless. She absently rubbed a scratch on her cheek, where a twig had protested her blunder through the trees.
“We’ve made some progress,” she pointed out. “We’ve eliminated Ellis Duquesne from the suspect list. We might as well eliminate Coraline. She had her reasons for wanting to marry you, and they included keeping you alive. I wouldn’t have wished that fate on Alfie, but with him gone the attacks may stop.”
“Doubtful. He gave the impression they’d keep coming no matter how many coyotes we went through.” He batted his mug between his hands, like a cat with a ball of yarn. “I’ve only one move left. Return to England.”
She looked up. Dismay pierced her sharply. “You can’t.”
“Why not? My only reason for being here was to marry Coraline, and that’s off. Unless you can think of a good reason for me to stay.”
“Yes, I can. You heard Alfie. There are two of them after you, and one is a full-blood wolf. The cards said the killer was someone close to you. We’ve eliminated all the wolves you know in Philadelphia. The only ones left are your immediate family. If you go home now, you’ll be walking right into a death trap.”
“All the more reason to take the fight to them. Go for the throat. It’s what we Chases are best at.”
“I can’t let you do that. Alfie never gave us a gender. It could be any one of them. Your mother, your siblings, who knows how many other relatives you’ve got. I won’t let you throw your life away in some foolish frontal assault. You don’t even know who the enemy is.”
“It won’t come to that if you’re with me.”
“We need some kind of—what?”
“Come with me. Best we present a united front. Make them think twice about a strike.”
She blinked, unsure she’d heard him right. “You mean, to England?”
“Right through the front door of Chase Manor. That’s sure to provoke an attack.” His canines showed. “Then we’ve got them.”
Darinda put her head in her hands. “Please don’t do this to me. It’s been too long of a day.”
“I don’t see any problem. You’re my bodyguard as well as my mate. You belong at my side.”
“I’m not your mate.”
“You could be. You need merely say yes. Did I propose? I’m not entirely sure.”
“That doesn’t count. You were under a spell.”
“A truth spell. I meant every word of what I said up there.”
“Even the bit about being a cowboy?”
“Don’t get off the subject. You want me. Why else would you still be here?”
Because I’m an idiot, she thought. Aloud, she said, “I swore to keep you safe. I intend to honor that regardless of my personal feelings.”
“Your reading promised me love and happiness. When do I get that?” He leaned across the table. “And from whom?”
“Not from me,” she said, too quickly. “We barely know each other.”
“I was ready to marry a woman I’d never met. At least I like you most of the time.”
“Way to flatter a girl, Mr. Romance. No. I might consider a trip to England in order to solve this case. I might even consider going to bed with you now, if only to get you off my back. But I won’t be your mate. I’m a witch, you’re a werewolf. It would never work.”
“I don’t see any reason why not.”
“I can see plenty. I’m a vegetarian, for starters.”
He shrugged. “We all have our little faults.”
“And you’re a pompous jerk.”
He shrugged again. “You’re snooty and repressed.”
“I am not!”
“You most certainly are. All that yapping about oaths and vows is just a smokescreen. An excuse to avoid involving yourself with the inferior masses. Witches aren’t solitary by nature. They’re snobs.”
“That is so not true.”
“I beg to differ. You can lie to yourself or even to me, but not to this.” He tapped his nose. “I annoy you and upset you. I have from the first. Yet here you sit. I also frighten you, in a way you’ve shown with no other wolf. What is it about me personally that frightens you so?”
“I’m not afraid of you,” she snarled, and to prove it lunged
across the table, grabbed him by the hair, and dragged his mouth onto hers.
She poured everything she had into the kiss. She was going to show this puffed-up son of a werebitch the price of insulting a witch. She thrust her tongue inside his mouth without asking permission. Submit to this, dog boy, she thought.
He did. His mouth relaxed against hers and he all too willingly accepted everything she could dish out. This definitely wasn’t going according to plan, but she’d committed to it now and wouldn’t break it off.
The kiss went on. And on. Darinda lost track of the seconds. At some point she surrendered to his return assault on her tongue without even a whimper of protest. The taste of him thrilled her, like the savor of forbidden sin.
When the air finally ran out and they broke apart, Darinda had all but lost track of where she was. She was surprised to find her upper half sprawled across Letty’s kitchen table, with Roderick’s hands fisted in her hair. He grinned into her eyes, completely unrepentant. Smug, beautiful jerk.
She tried to wriggle back onto her chair, but he caught her by the shoulders and wouldn’t let her escape. “I believe you mentioned sleeping with me earlier,” he said.
“Yes, I did, didn’t I?” Now that he was no longer promised to Coraline, the prospect held appeal. Quite a bit of appeal. Why not indulge herself, just this once? She’d put up with him for days. She deserved something. “All right. I’ll go to bed with you.”
“Not good enough.”
“What?”
“I want more than an empty romp from you. I want what I was promised. Love and happiness. You’re not the only one who wants the fairy-tale ending.”
“You need to brush up on your fairy tales. We’re the bad guys. The wicked witch and the big bad wolf. We don’t get the happy endings.”
“You’ve been reading the wrong stories.” He kissed her doubts away. “In mine you climb up onto my saddle and we ride off into the sunset.”
She grinned gently against his lips. “You don’t ask for much, do you?” she murmured. “Just everything.”
“We won’t settle for less. That’s a were’s nature.” His smile echoed hers, but with a rakish edge. “And a witch’s too, I’d wager.”
He eased her off the table and into his arms. He eyed the kitchen floor, then shook his head. “No, let’s do this right.” He took two steps and stopped. Alarm flared up in his eyes. “You’re not going to change your mind halfway through again, are you? Or fling me into a wall?”
“No.” She twined her arms around his neck. “I swear.”
“All right, then.” He carried her up the stairs.
* * * *
Only when Roderick had laid her down on his bed did Darinda feel a stir of trepidation. In spite of his accusations, Darinda wasn’t a virgin. Roderick, however, fell far outside her experience.
Human males she could handle. They were almost pathetically easy to manipulate, even without her magic. The one vampire she’d gone out with had proved petulant and demanding, not to mention bitey. None of those experiences had provided much satisfaction. As for werewolves…
She’d heard the stories, mostly from Peri. They included tales of excessive roughness and brutal attacks from the rear with biting and scarring as side effects. She couldn’t stop a nervous little shiver when Roderick slid in beside her. “I might need protection,” she muttered.
He sat up, concerned. “Are you in heat?”
“No, not that. I’m spelled for that and for diseases. I’m worried about…” She waved her hands vaguely, indicating his teeth. “I’m not as strong as a were female. I’m not sure I can measure up physically.”
“Ah.” He kissed her forehead. “You’ll be fine. I’ve been with human shes before. I promise to leave you relatively intact.”
“Wait a minute. Relatively?”
He stopped her with a werewolf’s kiss, the tip of his tongue skimming over her lips. From that he slid effortlessly into the human version, lips to lips, tongue teasing hers. He nipped lightly on her lower lip. “So far so good?” he murmured.
She nodded, unwilling to trust her voice. He had a stiff, wiry pelt on his chest, his arms, his back. His back hair yielded to her caresses, but she wanted to feel that chest hair on her skin. She reached for her blouse. Roderick stopped her. He opened the buttons one by one, then nosed the fabric aside and first sniffed, then licked, between her breasts. Darinda couldn’t help giggling.
Thank Hecate her bra had a front clasp. Roderick took his time undoing it. He repeated the process with each breast in turn. Sniff. Get the scent. Then a leisurely taste. His warm tongue rasped against her skin, triggering every sensitive nerve ending it washed over. At this rate she’d be half insane before he even made it to her waist.
He was hunting her, she realized. Stalking his prey. She ran her hands up and down his back and read the truth of him in his own quivering skin. It was her heart he was after. His own was hers for the taking. Her determination to remain apart wavered before his relentless attack.
He’d reached her waist. Sniff. Snuffle. His tongue explored her belly button. Darinda clutched his butt and pressed him down hard against her hips. The wolf crouched behind his fly, stiff with excitement and eager to leap.
She dragged at his waistband but he stopped her again, capturing her wrists in his hand and pinning her arms over her head. “Not so fast,” he said against her belly. “I waited a long time for this. I intend to savor every second of it.”
“Roderick.” Darinda barely recognized her own voice. It sounded as ragged with hunger as any wolf’s growl. “Hurry. Please.”
“All in good time.”
Since his one hand was now occupied, he used his teeth as well as his other hand to work her slacks down below her thighs. Her most vulnerable spot lay exposed. The wolf poised over her then leaned in. Sniff. She shuddered. Lick.
She rocked against him, crying out, held by his hand on her wrists and his arm on her chest and the rough hot tongue that insisted on learning the outs and especially the ins of her. Helpless and reveling in it, her senses exploded in a sudden burst that left her limp. Roderick released her wrists.
“Are we having fun yet?” he asked.
Darinda sighed out a moan. “When do I get a turn?”
“The alpha male feeds first. It’s tradition.”
Well, traditions were made to be broken. She fumbled at his fly and reached inside. Now it was his turn to gasp and growl. Following his lead, she didn’t withdraw it for a look, but instead indulged herself through touch. Her fingers measured the length of him, prodded his steely hardness, tugged. He made a noise between a growl and croon and closed his teeth on her shoulder. She let go and so did he. He licked the bitten skin in distracted apology.
“Roderick,” she breathed. “I want you in me. All the way.”
“We’re getting to that,” he said unsteadily. “Be patient.”
She couldn’t be patient. She’d kept herself apart too long already. Solitude was not strength. To open herself to another, one whose trust in her and need for her pounded in her soul, there lay the true test of strength. The individual was strongest when acting as part of a whole.
She cupped her hands around his face and dropped the last of her shields. The truth of her emotions, her self, passed from her into him like a slide of a fine wine into a goblet.
He lurched upright at the contact, but didn’t let her go. They’d already enjoyed a casual link, so the shock of her revelation was not as abrupt as it might have been. He rolled with it and came up eager to grasp this new prey in his jaws. What’s this?
Magic. The heart of the witch.
It tastes delightful.
You like it? Her surprise quivered between them. Most men run away screaming at this point. Too much honesty.
You’ll find I’m not some weak, skittery ape. What power! It’s delicious!
It’s why we make oaths, and are strict about keeping them. If we let it loose, there’s no telling what could hap
pen. I’m not hurting you, am I?
Are you joking? Quite the opposite. The wolf charged in for the kill.
Somewhere back in the physical world his hands tore away the rest of her clothing. Hers dragged at his pants until she’d exposed what she wanted most. He surged full tilt against her, physically and otherwise. As he plunged into her, her mind twined about his, bringing both to the happy ending they’d craved for so long.
* * * *
Afterwards Darinda languidly stretched aching muscles and groaned slightly through a smile that showed no signs of diminishing. She tugged on her arm. Roderick hitched his body to free it without relinquishing his hold on her. “It’s still there,” he assured her.
“I wasn’t sure. You bite hard.” She checked her arm, found it whole, and nodded. She draped it around his neck. “So how do I measure up?”
“To what?”
“To wolves. I’ve never been with a wolf before.”
“Neither have I.”
She would have sat bolt upright if he hadn’t been holding her. She jerked in his arms instead. “You what?”
“I’ve never been with a wolf,” Roderick said mildly. “Too much risk of the mate bond. Mother considered me more valuable to the pack as unmated and available. Good for trade.” His lip lifted briefly. “It’s what turned me to humans. Well, I wasn’t about to stay celibate.”
“No, of course not,” she said tartly.
“It could be worse. Tamra and Diane have to be locked up during their heats. No loose litters in our family. The Queen Mum won’t tolerate the competition. Tamra’s still virgin, as far as I know. That explains her delightful temperament.” He grinned down at Darinda. “At least you didn’t have that failing.”
Darinda giggled. “Told you.”
“As long as there are no bats in your past.”
“Just the one, and he couldn’t. A lot of them can’t. Dead, y’know.”
“As I suspected. I just can’t understand the human attraction to them.”
He leaned back with a contented sigh and stretched his full length on the bed, pressing himself comfortably against her. Darinda climbed half atop him and rubbed her breast against his prickly chest fur. It felt even better on her skin than she had imagined it would.
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