He was so hard for her, it was painful.
But this time, there were definitely no pheromones messing with him. More scared about this development than he’d ever been over anything, he lowered his head into his hands.
They lived in a dangerous world and it was all he could do to keep his family safe, never mind those of the shifter community that couldn’t help themselves. Being attracted to Elianna just didn’t fit in. He couldn’t afford to lose sight of what he was fighting for, or the fact that someone new was attacking them. If he did, his family could die, and he couldn’t handle losing anyone else. Plus, on top of it all, they seemed to have a serial killer on the loose.
Yet for once, Enyowas wanted something for himself. Someone.
Mate! His cat screamed inside of him.
No. He didn’t dare. All it would take was a single distraction—his mind on this sweet female and not his job, and he could get himself killed. Then who’d protect his family? No, he didn’t want to be this attracted to Elianna or anyone.
It didn’t matter how good the sex was.
Yet the more he tried not to think of what they’d done in bed, the more he was reminded of how amazing it had been. There had been a connection between them, and it wasn’t all magic. In fact, it had grown stronger after the pheromone stopped urging them on.
Never before had he lost himself so completely with a woman.
You’d think he’d have learned his lesson long ago.
Confused and beyond weary, he let out a deep breath.
“You came back.”
Enyowas looked into a mesmerizing pair of warm golden eyes. The blood started to pound in his body as he grew even harder. He drew in a shaky breath. Why did he come back here?
She watched him for a long moment. “Are you all right?”
“Yes.” No. Not even a little bit.
“You don’t look it,” she said, her gaze unreadable.
“I’m just tired.”
After a long moment, Elianna lifted the covers and scooted back. “Come lie down.”
Enyowas fought to breathe normally at the sight of her naked body, and lost.
He quickly undressed and slid into bed to lie facing her. “What are you doing to me?”
Eyes wide in fear, Elianna blanched. “I didn’t do anything, I promise.”
She thought he was accusing her of trying to bond with him. “No, it’s okay, I wasn’t accusing you of anything. Really.”
“No?”
“No, it’s just, I seem to be really attracted to you, and not because of your heat,” he admitted.
“Oh.” Elianna licked her lips, nervously, and it was all Enyowas could do not to claim them. “I … am to you as well.”
So it wasn’t one-sided. Things were suddenly awkward between them, whereas before the heat had overcome any of that.
“Can I … touch you?” she asked.
That was so not a good idea—no, tell her no. “I’d like that.”
Elianna moved close, then her fingers brushed his chest. They trailed lightly over him, a gentle soothing caress.
Enyowas closed his eyes at how good it felt. But he couldn’t keep them closed. He opened them and watched the light in her own eyes flare with emotion. She met his gaze. “Where did you go? I sense more … sadness—darkness in you than I did before.”
She sensed what he was feeling? Yet it was the sincerity, the caring in her question that undid him. “I needed to clear my head, and then got a call I had to go deal with.”
Elianna waited for him to go on, her fingers sending heat shivering through his body, waking his desire to a slow, hungry burn once more.
Without knowing why he bothered to elaborate, especially since she didn’t need to know, he told her. “One of our clan mates was killed.”
Her hand stopped moving, then resumed. “I’m sorry.”
He shrugged, trying to fight his craving for her. “It wasn’t a huge surprise.”
Enyowas was shocked when she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight. The only ones to ever hug him had been his sisters, when they were little. Moisture stung his eyes.
Elianna eased her grip and moved back, suddenly tense with uncertainty. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me, I not very good at this… I mean, I don’t usually … hug.”
He smiled. “Especially people you hardly know?”
“No, I mean, I don’t hug. Ever.”
“I’d like to do more than that with you,” he whispered, tucking her hair back behind her ear, then trailing his fingers over the porcelain skin of her cheek.
“I’d like that as well,” she whispered.
Enyowas claimed her lips, groaning at the sweetness, a taste he’d been craving since he left. “I want you.”
“Yes.”
For the first time in his life, Enyowas lay on his back, and lifted Elianna until she was straddling him.
She looked surprised at first, then smiled, and it transformed her from beautiful into a stunning woman. She leaned down and met his lips again, her tongue tentative in its perusal of him.
Enyowas fought the urge to take her, and instead let her take her time in exploring him, though he throbbed with hunger.
Finally, Elianna took his rock-hard cock into her body. She felt like heaven. Like home.
Every nerve ending in his body tingled as she encased him in her warmth, and it was all he could do to let her take the lead and set the pace.
Enyowas caressed Elianna’s smooth skin, fingers traveling up to her prefect breasts as she settled into a rhythm.
A heated burn scorched him, liquid fire that demanded he thrust into her harder, faster. He ignored the pressure and enjoyed the slow building of hunger. “You feel so good.” So wonderful and right. Enyowas watched Elianna, enjoying the different expressions of passion that crossed her face.
Golden eyes held him captive. “You do as well.” Then Elianna increased the pace, riding him as if she couldn’t get enough.
The sheer beauty, the feeling of being inside of her, it was all Enyowas could do to keep from coming. “You’re stunning.”
Elianna cried out. Head titled back and breasts thrust out, she began to shudder as she climaxed.
Her sheath walls clenched him, and Enyowas grew even harder. He couldn’t wait any longer. He pulled her against his chest, then gently rolled them over and began to thrust into her, deep and hard. “I can’t seem to get enough of you.”
He held Elianna’s gaze, and once again, that sense of connection they shared left him feeling vulnerable in a way he’d never thought to experience.
Elianna held on and with a quick lick up his neck that scorched him, whispered into his ear. “I want to feel you come inside of me.”
Her words sent him over the edge.
His toes tingled, his balls tightened, and a bolt of lightning sizzled down his spine. With a cry, his body exploded. Shudders racked him as he emptied his seed into her once more.
Enyowas held her gaze, mesmerized, awed, and confused as his orgasm rocked him in nonstop waves.
When finally sated, Enyowas rolled them back over but didn’t release her. He couldn’t. He wanted her close. Elianna didn’t protest.
“Is sex always this good?” she finally asked once they had both caught their breath.
“It’s good, but this …” He paused, trying to find the words. “I can honestly say that I’ve never felt like this with anyone.”
Chapter 12
Elianna didn’t say anything—she was still trying to process it all. Enyowas—the utter bliss, the passion he made her feel, it all blew her mind. She never in her life thought she’d feel this way, and while it was amazing, it also scared her. He scared her, because she could feel her heart expanding to include her dark-haired lover.
He came back.
She hadn’t expected him to, but he had, and the fact he did warmed her inside and out.
She’d shocked herself even more when she invited him back into the
bed. Then she’d been the one to initiate touch, and that was something she normally had a hard time doing with anyone. Even when she’d set Thaniel up, she’d had a hard time with it.
No, getting close to anyone usually sent her into a panic. But for some reason, with Enyowas it didn’t. It felt right. Good. Natural. As if she’d been with him all her life. She felt so utterly drawn to him, which didn’t make any sense. Why should she trust him? What was different about him that she seemed to forget to be on guard?
Whatever it was, Elianna couldn’t deny the need she had to touch him, to be close to him. There was an insatiable hunger inside of her to feel him buried deep within her.
And that blew her mind more than anything. She couldn’t believe that she had uttered the words, telling him she wanted to feel him come inside of her.
Elianna tried to convince herself that she’d been afraid he’d leave again, unless she gave him a reason not to.
But if she were honest with herself, that wasn’t it at all.
Nope. She’d been sleeping, dreaming of having sex with him, and then she felt his presence and woke up.
He sat in the chair beside the bed looking so completely lost.
A strange impulse to hold him close had gripped her and wouldn’t let go. It was so intense that she’d reacted. Though why, she really didn’t know. The need to comfort certainly wasn’t something she’d grown up with, or had been shown any during her life.
But … she liked Enyowas. So did her cat, and the she-beast was a prickly thing, even more so than her human side.
Elianna wondered how long he’d stay this time, but didn’t ask. Instead she closed her eyes and savored having him with her now.
They made love again early the next morning, slowly, learning each other’s bodies, and Elianna knew this was heaven, and likely as close as she’d ever get. She’d savor these last few days, because all too soon, they’d end.
Chapter 13
Enyowas went to talk to Hellfire and Sami. He wanted to see if they could stay a bit longer before he brought Elianna home to his clan.
Various scents of the different shifters hit Enyowas as he walked into the great room. But the one that gave him pause was a thin, young man coming toward him. A male of twenty or so, with long pale-blond hair that partially hid his face, he looked really familiar.
Then a little blond-haired human girl raced through the room.
The young male stiffened in a primal instinct to protect and a sharp tang of fear emanated from him.
Enyowas held perfectly still, but it was too late.
The male shifted into a small white-and-black-spotted leopard.
“Whoa, easy, buddy,” Enyowas said, and as the cat advanced on him, the fur along his back spiked in threat, his own beast rose up. It was more than ready to show the leopard who was more dominant, but Enyowas held him back.
This had to be Kitty, the one Elianna changed against his will.
“Thaniel?” Sami said, joining them.
Thaniel? Enyowas narrowed his gaze on the leopard.
At the sound of Sami’s voice, Thaniel turned away from Enyowas and gently nudged and guided the little girl away.
Hellfire and a few other people came into the room, but Enyowas continued to watch Thaniel. A snow leopard.
“This is my brother, Jax, and his mate, Tierney,” Sami said.
Enyowas greeted the pair. They both had black hair, Tierney’s long and Jax’s short, and while Jax had impossibly brilliant-blue eyes, Tierney’s were an interesting purple. They both held the same strange shifter signature that Sami did—one that Enyowas didn’t recognize. “Good to meet you both. Thank you for letting us use the cabin.”
“Are you and Elianna leaving?” Jax asked.
“I was hoping you wouldn’t mind if we stayed another day or so? I want to make sure her heat is over before I bring her into my clan,” he said, though the truth was, for the first time in his life, he was being selfish. He wanted more time with Elianna, and the fresh mountain air didn’t hurt either.
“I guess that’s fine.”
Thaniel finally shifted back into his human form, and eyes lowered, came over to stand beside Jax and Tierney.
Sami introduced them and a familiar pair of light-blue eyes timidly rose to meet Enyowas’s.
Startled, Enyowas stared. Who would have thought he’d find Garret’s son here? And there was no doubt. Though much younger looking, Thaniel was the spitting image of the leopard shifter who’d been searching for his missing boy.
Thaniel apologized for how he’d reacted.
“You did well,” Enyowas said, giving encouragement like he did with all the young in his clan. It was something neither his father nor mother had ever done for him, but he felt it was important for those learning to control the beast inside themselves to know when they’d done good. “You sensed a threat and wanted to protect the vulnerable.” It was uncanny how much Thaniel looked like his father.
“Is everything all right?” Sami asked, a bite to his tone as if he noticed Enyowas’s interest.
“Yes,” Enyowas said and then addressed Thaniel again. “Nice to meet you. Sorry for staring, you just really remind me of someone.”
“I know. I look just like my father.” As sense of deep sadness, quickly followed by anger filled Thaniel’s eyes.
Tierney and Jax put their arms around him, and Enyowas realized they were a mated threesome.
“Your father?” Enyowas asked. Last he heard Garret was still looking for his son.
“Yeah, the Tomlee of Elianna’s leopard clan,” Thaniel said.
Jax cursed under his breath.
What? Thaniel believed that his uncle was his father?
“Come on, sweetie,” Tierney said, pulling Thaniel into the kitchen. “Let’s get something to eat, I’m starved.”
After everyone drifted away, Enyowas looked at Jax. “Is there somewhere we can speak in private?”
Jax led him into an office. “What do you need?”
“How well do you know Thaniel?”
Jax tensed up.
“I mean no offense,” Enyowas said. “It’s just that I have a man back at the EfPP who’s been held in captivity for the last seventeen years. He managed to get free six months ago and has been looking for his boy ever since.”
“You looking to hire us to find his son?”
“What? Hire you, no,” Enyowas said, confused.
“We’re private investigators.”
“Oh. Good to know, but no. I’m telling you because Thaniel is Garret’s missing son.”
“Right.”
“I’m serious,” Enyowas said.
“You’re mistaken, Thaniel’s father is the fuckhead Tomlee of his clan. Besides, I’m sure there are other Thaniels out there,” Jax said.
“Possibly. But what are the odds of there being another Thaniel, of the same age, who happens to look exactly like this man?” Enyowas pulled a file up on his phone and scrolled through, then showed Garret’s picture.
“What the fuck? He looks just like Thaniel, only older.” Jax raked a hand through his hair.
“Garret has a twin brother who stole his rightful position as Tomlee of their clan.” Bloody twins.
A wealth of emotions flickered in Jax’s blue eyes. “Shit. I need to talk to Tierney. Can we meet this Garret guy, talk to him before we reunite him and Thaniel?”
“Let me give him a call,” Enyowas said, then when he hung up the phone, he nodded. “He’ll meet us.”
Jax closed his eyes for a moment, and then opened them with a deep sigh. Sadness radiated off the male, and Enyowas was about to ask if he needed a moment, when Jax started to speak.
“Thaniel’s mother abused the shit outta him, then died. He went into foster care, but then ended up on the streets. After Elianna bit him, his friend took care of him, but he was having trouble with his leopard. So this same friend took Thaniel to someone named Justin, alpha of the Spokane were-wolf pack. Only then Justin was murdere
d by his pack.”
“Shit,” Enyowas said, knowing where this was going. “The new alpha got a hold of him.”
“Yeah,” Jax said and started to pace. “The bastard had Thaniel chained up in their basement. They tortured him … if we hadn’t found Thaniel when we did …” Jax shuddered, and Enyowas didn’t ask how they’d found him. “Then Thaniel found out about his father being Tomlee of his clan and went to try and get answers. As you can guess, that didn’t go well, and now you’re telling me that the man he confronted isn’t even his father, but his uncle.”
“I am.”
Jax blinked and shook his head. “We’ll go meet his real father, but I’m telling you now, if I think the guy is going to cause Thaniel more pain, that’s the end of it. I don’t know how much more Thaniel can take.”
“I understand,” Enyowas said.
***
After Tierney and Jax deemed that Garret was indeed Thaniel’s father, and that he was a good, worthy male who wouldn’t harm Thaniel, they agreed to the meeting.
Enyowas led Garret into Jax and Tierney’s home, and the look on Thaniel’s face, the emotions that erupted from both father and son, felt like a blow to Enyowas’s gut.
Distrust and anger quickly led to tears.
“I’m your father,” Garret said, pulling his son into his arms.
It was a brutal reunion to watch, and brought up memories of family and brothers that Enyowas would rather not think about.
Tierney and Jax sat beside Thaniel, while Garret explained where he’d been for the last seventeen years—locked up and held captive by his brother Garner.
When he heard how his twin had been treating everyone, his own son included, Garret stood up, anger wafting from him. “I’m taking my clan back.”
Thaniel stood, panic in his pale-blue eyes. “No.”
“If you plan to do this, I’ll have a team there waiting to take out any of Garner’s cohorts,” Enyowas said to his friend.
“I don’t know if that’s needed,” Garret said. “I don’t want Thaniel any more upset or scared than he already is.” And after Jax said he’d go help Garret, Thaniel decided he was going as well.
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