Jeb was waiting on him in the shadows of yet another great paddle wheeler, the Mississippi Star. “Lieutenant, I presume yours is a good reason for getting a man to postpone his rest.”
Ty grinned wolfishly at the undead general’s wry humor. “Your presumption is accurate, general.” He strode up, planting his boots wide. Sinking his hands into vest pockets, he nodded in greeting. The cheroot’s tip glowed red as he cast a glance around him. “It would appear you’re not the only vampire who’s missing his shut-eye.” With a keen eye for the undead, Ty referred to those lurking in the shadows of the wharf. “They should be abed, yet they watch for us to make a move, I’d wager.”
“I’d wager my dead life on that, Lieutenant.” Jeb shifted to keep a close eye on the shadow walkers. “The stench contains more than fish today. What’s this about, Ty? I’ve been instructed to share all you tell me with Briann. She would be here if it weren’t for all the people. Hampers her concentration.”
His reference to Sonja’s sister reminded Ty he had more to consider than only their plight. Sonja’s family, as well as the lives of his men, were at stake. Nodding, he flicked the ashes from his smoke. The tug he gave his Stetson set the tone for his next words. “Remind Briann I have a great deal to lose as well…” He cut his sentence short. “That wasn’t fair.” He paused to regroup. “Let Briann know, I’m aware of the danger. Reassure her I’m dedicated to eliminating the cause.”
Jeb’s darkly whiskered chin dipped as he absorbed the information. He cut a dry grin at Ty before answering. “I will pass that along.” As if his train of thought shifted, Jeb sobered, peering out over the water with a serious gleam to his eye. “You can rest assured nothing will happen to Sonja or her sister and boys as long as I walk still.”
Noting, the general hadn’t finished the acronym with “as long as he was alive”, a subdued fact to be sure. Still having a hard time getting used to the idea that Jeb Stewart, Major General in the Confederate Army was a vampire, he managed to lay a grateful hand on Jeb’s shoulder. Glad Briann wasn’t there to read his mind, he shoved his questions into a dark corner. Steering Jeb toward the shade of the great paddle wheeler, Ty explained. “I have a plan which should see us safely to the other side, far from the claws of those who’d love to get their hands on Sonja’s blood.”
“All right, I’m listening.” Jeb’s brow knitted as Ty explained the details. His face filled with a guarded uneasiness as Ty finished. “You’re sure this is safe? You’ve seen this done before? You’re talking about bringing someone near death and then yanking them back again, Lieutenant.”
“I understand your incredulous tone, General. I had the same tendency when the witch explained the stunt to me. Timing will be imperative. No one can know except the few in on the ploy.”
Jeb grew even quieter than his normal stoic self. Peering out at the sun-dappled water, he pursed his mouth over what Ty’d shared with him. “I know it works on my kind, but a werewolf? I’ve no clue.” With a heavy sigh, he faced his companion. “I’ll do my part. No need to worry about that. What if something goes wrong? Do you have a backup plan?” His tense features gleamed with hard angles in the meager light.
“No, I don’t, so nothing goes wrong, understood? It’s as simple as that.” He glanced out at the water where diamonds danced off the gentle ripples in the river. “How much you share with Briann is up to you, but if this gets back to the person involved, our plans are ruined. Do you understand?”
Jeb nodded. His eyes squinted as they followed Ty’s gaze to the glimmering river. The water did a mesmerizing dance as it swirled along in the current. “If she finds out, you’ll be ruined, Lieutenant.” Cutting a hard eye at Ty, the general blew out a deep breath when Ty only nodded. “Things are about to get interesting, I’d wager.”
***
There he was, coming down the board walkway at his usual disjointed stroll. All man and easy in his skin, when the wolf was upon him, he didn’t realize how much of himself he carried into the shift. Self-assured and agile, Ty made a powerful figure to deal with. When the shift was complete, he became a warrior in his own right.
Hurrying down the stairs to the lobby, she rushed to the front door. With a warm smile, she took his arm. Leaning in close, she beamed. “I’ve been waiting for you.” The smile widened. Mischief danced in her tawny eyes. Unable to help the celebratory feeling she always got whenever he came back, even if he’d been gone only a short time, Sonja tried desperately to calm. The news was positive.
“You’ve been up to something, Nymph. I can see it in your face. Your eyes are bright with tomfoolery. Spill it,” he growled good-naturedly.
“Hortence came up with a spell which would keep the vampires at bay, even in the dead of night.” Her smile widened as she shared the news. Her hands took his, clasping both to her bosom.
“That’s terrific, Nymph. Why didn’t you share this with me before?” A bit pricked at being left out of the old woman’s confidences again, Ty intentionally paused, waiting. “You know if it involves both of us, don’t you think I should know?”
Sonja’s face slipped a minute before returning to all smiles. “Yes, we wanted to make sure the spell worked before we told you.”
“How do you know it works?” Irritated the accusation slid into his voice, Ty turned for the stairs. “The vampire from the other night – the one you wanted for yourself – you kept him? Where?”
“Hortence has him. Yes, we tested the spell on him. It was a success. He can’t leave his crib!” Her beaming face was both breath taking as well as frustrating.
“I’m afraid to ask. What does the spell entail?”
“They’re immobilized - unable to get out of their beds.” Her smile widened. “Isn’t it wonderful news?” Unable to contain her delight, she leaned into him, running a finger slowly up his vested chest. “I was waiting for you to return.” Batting eyelashes was so female. She was feeling female at the moment. “I missed you.” Taken aback at her admission, Sonja blushed.
“Did you now? Well, tell me more about your little scheme.” His wide hand ran lightly over her back, sending a shiver up her spine. With a firm hold of her butt through the dress she wore, Ty squeezed.
If he’d lowered his mouth to suck her breast on the spot, she wouldn’t have been more mortified. “Sir, please control yourself.” She took a step, finding her progress hampered by his big hand, which shot out and took her arm.
His soft chuckle didn’t set well with her but still aroused her.
“Would you like to discuss this matter further, my dear? Perhaps upstairs in our room?” The gleam in his eyes told her they weren’t going to remain in the lobby much longer.
“An excellent idea, Lieutenant. Follow me.” With a swish of skirts, Sonja headed for the stairs. Giving her hips a bit more sway than was proper made her feel wickedly wanton. She imagined she was a songstress about to entertain a besotted fan in her private quarters. The idea took shape quickly. Suddenly, Ty was escorting her over the threshold. He slammed the door behind them. Her body tingled with anticipation.
“I never want to pass up the opportunity to make love to you, Nymph. Now, our secret love affair is public knowledge. Doesn’t that bother you?”
The wry grin he sent her proved most unsettling for Sonja’s frame of mind. “Are you holding our abstinence against me, Lieutenant? Surely you could see why we had to keep our relationship a secret. Or, are you suddenly concerned for my reputation?”
“Oh, on the contrary, my love, I find the torture most valuable now. With the lesson learned, I shall never let you go long without feeling me inside you. You will never want for my attentions. As for your reputation, though you may consider the time of day to be vulgar, I warrant, you will appreciate the consideration I’m about to bestow upon you.” With those last words, Ty turned, pulling the heavy velvet drapes across the daylight streaming into the room.
“Tyler, I must object. This is unseemly. What will everyone think?”
&nbs
p; “They’ll think I’ve grown horns. That I’ve turned into a dreadful demon lusting for his woman no matter what the cost. Who cares what they think, Nymph? We’re two adults who want to make love to one another. What is the basis for such a natural accuracy?” With his sultry eyes on her, he held up one finger, pointing to a spot directly in front of where he stood. “Now come here.” He reached for her hand. When she pressed willingly against his chest, Ty nudged her earlobe, nipping the tip. “Um, you smell like lilacs, Nymph. I never get enough of your scent. Whenever the wolf is upon you, I still smell the lilacs.”
With his hands unfastening her buttons one by one, Sonja sank into Ty’s hold. He had his own distinct scent as well, one she always recognized even when he was the warrior wolf. “My mate knows me well. I am enamored with his words.” Feathering tiny kisses she left a trail of desire as she opened his shirt-front to run her hands along the strong muscles of his bronze chest. Silently enjoying the smooth role-play coupled with the touch of flesh under her fingers, Sonja marveled at how she always reveled in his body as if she were seeing him for the first time. The buckle of his belt clinked as the cool metal fell away. She worked his trousers open. His inadvertent inhale of air continued to arouse the primal need exploding inside her. The sensation of empowerment grew as she slid along his lower abdomen in search of the hard shaft she sought.
“Ah, I never tire of your touch, my love. You’re my one weakness. Whatever you want, I will get. Whatever you need, I will find. Whenever you reach for me, I will be ready.” As he kissed her neck, tracing the swell of one breast with his tongue, Sonja wrapped her hand around his manhood, stroking the smooth, silky length in long strokes.
“If I asked you to stand to let me view you naked, would you indulge me, sir?”
“On one condition.” His eyes gleamed feral. “You must return the pleasure.”
Heat rushed to her core. This man was as much a god as any there was. He was her god who she worshiped completely. Stroking his erection with one hand, she shoved his pants over his trim, tight buttocks. The scars of past battles puckered flesh in several places along his leg. None more remembered than the one she’d healed with her blood. The werewolf’s gift of healing diminished the scar’s appearance, yet the memory of the life-threatening wound burned in her mind’s eye still. “You first.” Her giggle, throaty and filled with sex floated on the air. Her body hummed with anticipation. Yet, she drew pleasure in watching him stand before her naked and hard. His body cast of the finest bronze for all eternity in tribute to his power. “When I look at you, I see all I’ve ever dreamed of holding in my arms. I am truly a lucky woman.”
“The luck is all mine.” He took a step toward her, pushing the dress off her shoulders. Soon, the corset came lose. Before she could blink, he was tugging the shift over her head as well. “I will never forget the angel walking toward me in the mist on the night I lay dying in the swamp.” He lowered his mouth to taste her shoulder. His breath came hot and molten on her skin. “I was sure I was dead, because I’d never seen such a vision on earth.”
Reaching out, Sonja wrapped an arm around his neck, drawing him down to suck the taught peak of her swollen breast. “You’ve made me into a deity, though I’m merely a woman, Lieutenant, made of flesh and blood.”
He drew a lazy line with his tongue over her skin, finding the other nipple taught. “Indeed, you are all woman, my love. Of that, there is no doubt. Yet, I would argue you are so much more than mere flesh and blood.”
She caught his chin in her fingertips, guiding his parted mouth up to look into his eyes. “I promise I am no more than the person you see before you, Lieutenant. I bleed, I hurt, I love and I cherish you above all others.”
“As do I, for you are my breath, my spirit, my end. I long to hold you always.”
Sonja smiled into Ty’s face, watching the ardent warmth glow in his features.
Taking her face in both his strong hands, he captured her mouth with his. The kiss grew insistent, full of longing. Parting her lips with his tongue, Ty tasted, running his tongue along hers. Turning with her in his arms, Ty fell back on the soft bed. The welcome luxury of the feather-filled mattress, such a comfort, Sonja swore she’d never forget.
Beneath her Ty grew hard. She burned to have him fill her. “Ty?”
When she used his given name, the strength in her limbs went lax. He did something to her sensibility with the flick of a glance. The world grew brighter with his presence. “Oh, I could lay right here with you all day. Can we?”
The laugh came from deep in his chest. She could feel the tremor vibrate under her hand. “What would people say?” With smooth fluidity, Ty rolled to pin Sonja beneath him.
Her eyes fluttered shut as she breathed him in. “I don’t care.”
“I think the time for talk is past.” The words came out ragged. Sonja could hear the hunger in his voice. She opened her eyes to meet his dark stare. He lowered his mouth to hers. Their tongues mated in a frenzied coupling born of need.
“Oh, Ty.” Her heart beat wildly as his hands roamed her body. The heat between their flesh melded in a scorching inferno. Ty reared up with his pride and drove deep. Sonja arched in response like a bow pulled taught. His head found her breast, warm and pliant as he suckled.
His dark hair fell around them curtaining their world. He kissed her with his whole body, surrounding her as they made love. Groans of pleasure coupled with growls of need erupted from the man-wolf. Wrapping her legs around his back, she pulled him in before moaning his name aloud.
“I crave you like breath. You’re mine, Nymph.” He reared up, nipping her breast. “Torture me.”
She grinned wickedly before dragging her nails down his chest. His skin, so taught, smelled of man mixed with sandalwood. Small areas of skin broke as blood seeped free. Her eyes never left his. “Do you want me to beguile you or torture you, Lieutenant?”
“Both.” He squeezed his eyelids shut on the tiny fingers of agony as her mouth bit and sucked his nipples. “You hold the power to torment as well as pleasure me.” His head fell back before the growl erupted from deep inside him. When his eyes met hers, they were the ice blue of the wolf.
“Come, lover. Draw from me the satisfaction you crave.” Sonja reared up, crawling atop Ty. In tempting invitation, she ground into his flesh, drawing a groan from the lieutenant, which in turn, sent a pulse through Sonja’s body. Wet with desire, she straddled his length, taking him deep and fisting around his hard length. The sensation of control whipped her demand for him to a lofty height. Breathless, almost mindless, she pleasured her lover until he matched her stroke for deepening stroke.
Unable to control the desire swimming like hot molten lava through her body, she rode his strength to a new zenith, basking in its rays. His urgent growl of satisfaction erupted as he did, spilling his seed deep in her womb.
Sonja fell boneless atop him. Each labored breath brought her slowly back to earth, present an awaking of knowledge in the cardinal. Wishing the lovemaking didn’t have to end, she traced a sensitive line down his thigh. Blood continued to throb in his loins. “You still desire pleasure, my lord. I am yours for the need I see in your eyes. Throwing her head back, she reveled in the tiny zings of sensation his teeth grazing her skin awakened. The excitement rippled along her spine. No man had ever enthralled her like Tyler Loflin did. She craved him like breath. Another wolf may try to scale the fortress. Failure was his destiny. No wolf could ever come between them, for he was her mate. It was written: wolves mated for life.
“You’re my one and only hunger, Sonja. I find myself seeking you out like none before or none after. There will be no one to follow you.”
“Lieutenant, you stretch the truth in the throes of passion.” Sonja spoke to lighten the mood as an unnamed worry constricted her heart. He couldn’t have spoken truer words. Her own desire raced like molten lava through her body. Glad she faced away from his eyes, she fought the tears swelling in hers as she listened to his heartbeat in his
chest.
“You make light of my words? I speak only the truth. You are mine! I will be only yours.” Ty whispered incoherent words as he blazed a path along her flesh.
Giving his chest a squeeze, Sonja rose to peer into his bronze features. “I don’t doubt your words, Lieutenant, for I feel them here.” She placed his hand over her breast. Do you feel my heart beating? You are the reason it continues to beat. Without you, I would be no more.”
Reaching up to fist a hand in her hair, Ty took her mouth in a kiss to seal the commitment. “A pack we’ve made, like my grandfather’s with his tribe. To live and die for them as the Great Spirit saw fit.”
“Please, did you have to speak of dying? Positive thoughts, Lieutenant, all right?” Her brow furrowed despite her will to the contrary.
“What is death if not a part of living? Don’t you see, Sonja? You and I are bound by a bond stronger than anything of this world. Destiny has a place for both of us.” He gathered her close, running his hand down her back. Releasing a deep sigh, he traced the outline of her hip before massaging the skin covering her backside. “I am half Choctaw. I understand the ways of the passage. From this life, we’ll travel to discover our next existence waiting on the other side. Many nights I’ve sat at my grandfather’s knee as he recited the story of the journey all creatures make when they leave this world.” Soon a smile creased his lips before warming his eyes.
“I find the description of life after death or when we leave this world fascinating. Somehow, coming from you, I accept the inevitable better than I have before. Your peace with the whole concept of death and dying is amazing. I want to understand.”
“You will, my love. I’ll help you. In the meantime, though, we should stop lounging the day away.” He grinned her way before rising. “Why, it’s still daylight outside. We have shopping to do – there’s a dance coming up on Saturday.”
Wolfen Secrets (The Western Werewolf Legend #3) Page 6
