Once again she wished for claws, if only to rake them across Shider’s face for insulting Zan, and the whole wolf species in general. But she’d make due with what she knew. The male side of her family made sure she could.
“Neither will you,” she whispered under her breath just as she went limp in his arms, her weight exaggerated by the vest she wore. Either Shider hadn’t realized what she had on, or hadn’t cared. Either way, her move threw him off balance. With all her enhanced strength, thank you shifter DNA, she shot her elbow into the soft tissue of his liver, pushing his hand and ducking under the knife at the same time.
Once she was free and clear, Zan let out a roar of fury so loud her ears rang long after the sound subsided. She stepped hastily to the side and stumbled over the discarded backpack, landing hard on her butt. Two wolves shot from the trees to circle her, protecting her as Zan made short work of Shider. One powerful and lethal swipe of his hand and Shider flew back several feet, falling lifeless to the ground. Zan prowled to the still form and sniffed. Then his face shot to hers.
“I suggest you move calmly and slowly to the house.” Russell’s voice came from her right. She didn’t even look his way, pinned in place as she was by Zan’s fierce stare. She understood Russell’s comment. No sudden movements and definitely no running. Otherwise she might find herself pinned by Zan, not just by his look, but by his body as he claimed her in front of God, beasts and human alike. While the thought sent a dark thrill through her—perverse creature that she was—she had no intention of being taken among dead bodies.
Under his unwavering stare, Jackie stood cautiously and, as if only taking a midnight stroll, sidled up to Zan. She laid a hand on his hard chest, instinctively knowing he needed her touch. “I’m fine, Zan. I’m going back to the house while you finish what you need to here.” Her calm demeanor seemed to ease the tenseness of his muscles. Reaching up with his own hand, careful of his claws, he moved hers to the side of his face, breathing in and then nuzzling her palm.
With each heartbeat she relaxed a fraction, her ease triggering an answering one in Zan. The mating bond in full force.
Zan drew in a heavy sigh and dropped his hands, stepping away from her at the same time. His eyes were nearly back to normal. “Go back to the house. I have work to finish here and then I’ll be in.” He turned her words into a demand, and a promise. She knew what would happen once he returned to the house. And though the woman part of her wanted to snap a response at his attitude, her wolf knew now was not the time. So she kept her mouth shut and picked her way through the trees, and into the house.
Chapter Twenty-One
Hours later, Jackie lay in the middle of her bed, fretting about Zan, and wondering just where the hell he was. He should have been in her room by now. They would have had sex, argued—she already knew what she was going to say—and she would have kicked him out, stalked to the internet, and booked passage on the next plane to Denver.
Only he wasn’t there, hadn’t followed the script in her head. Which threw her off kilter. Granted, she could still get up and book a ticket on the next plane out, but she didn’t. Couldn’t. Not yet. Once she did that, then it really would be over. And she just wasn’t ready to say good-bye to the man she loved.
The storm had passed and she now stared out the window, the drawn curtain revealing the full moon. Though seemingly not as intense as from home, the glow brightened the bedroom, throwing shadows to the far corners.
A familiar scent, the unmistakable sound of footsteps. As Zan could move as stealthy as the beast he carried, this was on purpose. He wanted Jackie to hear him coming for her. Anticipation flared from the determined sound.
When the door opened on silent hinges she caught a glimpse of bare feet, low-slung jeans, and a bare chest before raising her gaze higher. One look at his face and that anticipation turned to alarm. She hopped out on the far side of the bed, holding out her hands in defense. “Now wait a minute.”
“I’ve been waiting, Jackie.” He closed the door and the soft snick of the lock engaged. “I’ve forced myself to stay away from you. Try to calm down. But I’m not getting any calmer.” His voice rose loud and she winced. And went on the attack.
“That’s hardly my fault. You’re the one who wanted to go out and fight. Don’t expect me to believe anything else. The shear hunger for it was pouring off you in such thick waves of energy it was suffocating me!”
The muscles in his jaw twitched, molars grinding. Obviously barely leashing his temper. He pointed one finger at her. “You.” His voice thick, the single word the only one he could get out.
She braced her hands on her hips, defiant. “Me what? I didn’t ask you to go out in the pouring rain and subdue an intruder. You did that all on your own.”
“I did it so we would be safe. So we could move on with our lives.”
“You did it because you enjoy it!”
“I sure as hell didn’t enjoy seeing that asshole shoving a knife to your throat. Why don’t you tell me what that was all about?”
Her hands locked into fists and she shook them at him. “I already told you. The generator blew. We couldn’t see you, we couldn’t tell where Shider was, we didn’t know what was happening, and I sure as hell didn’t want you to die!”
Her declaration was all the more startling as it bounced off the walls in the thick silence. Zan lifted his gaze to the ceiling and took several deep breaths. “So you went out there, blind, where people had guns, and were ready to use them at the slightest provocation to try and save me?”
Why were they rehashing this? “Yeah.”
His head tilted down until green eyes locked on hers. “Do you have any idea what I went through at that moment? When I smelled your blood, saw that knife at your throat? Knew I’d never reach you in time before that asshole sliced you ear to ear. Do you have any idea how crazed that made me?”
She had an idea. “Probably as crazed as it made me stuck in that stupid little room with Russell and Marion where I could only watch helplessly as you dropped to the ground.”
The look of sorrow that crossed his features nearly undid her, but she couldn’t give in. At one time she’d thought of a possible way for them to be together. Only running out in that rain, praying for Zan’s safety while terrified for her own, she knew she just couldn’t do it. “I can’t live like this, Zan. I don’t know what would be worse, the imagining what you were going through during a mission or the reality of being there.”
His head cocked in confusion. “God,” Jackie said, squeezing her eyes closed. “I can’t believe I’m telling you this.” A deep breath. “I briefly thought about going with you on your assignments.” She peeked at him. “I’ve told you too many times that I’m not one to twiddle my thumbs while someone close to me is in danger.”
His shock was priceless. “Never.” A harsh growl.
“I know.” A sad whisper. “For me, the reality would be worse.”
All expression faded from his face. No heat, no gleam of lust, no nothing. It was not a good look for him. “But you thought about it?”
She pressed her lips together. “But I can’t do it. I’m sorry, Zan. No matter how much I...care for you, I’m too selfish. Too needy. I want my mate at home with me. Safe.”
His Adam’s apple moved under the thick cords in his neck. “People work dangerous jobs all the time, angel, outside the military. Firefighters, oil rig workers, fishermen. Cops.”
All the fight melted out of her and she sank onto the bed, twisting so she faced the dominant male shifter she’d lost her heart to. “I know that, Zan. But for most of them it’s a job, not an addiction. They don’t want to face guns and knives and death and destruction on a daily basis. Avoiding it all rather than running smack into the middle of it.”
Ever so slowly he moved forward, as if wanting to assure prey of his innocuous nature. As if that were possible. “But could you handle your mate doing something like that?”
She frowned at his question, wary o
f the slow glide of his body. “Like what?”
With predatory grace he eased onto the mattress. “Your mate holding a dangerous job.”
Jackie was already shaking her head. “I’ve already told you...”
“As long as he came home to you every night,” he slid over the sheets, “and did his best to avoid any and all guns, knives, blood, and death?”
His hand skimmed up her arm, over her shoulder and up to cup her cheek. Her eyes fluttered at the sweet sensuality of his touch, breathed in his oh so familiar scent. “What do you want from me, Zan?”
Finally he grinned. A wicked grin full of carnal thoughts and insatiable desires. “That’s a loaded question, angel, and one you know the answer to.”
“I’m not talking about sex.” Maybe some sex. Okay. A lot of sex.
“Neither am I.” His head descended and he nuzzled her neck.
She tilted her head to give him better access. She would have purred if she could. Instead she reached up and ran her hand over his short hair. “Feels like sex to me.”
A nip in reproach. “This is love. I want you to make love with me.”
Liquid heat swirled in her belly. “What’s the difference?” She stammered, her heart taking on tap dancing lessons in her chest.
He picked Jackie up and set her in his lap, arranging her until she straddled his thighs. “You are.”
Soft, male lips brushed against her forehead, her temple, and finally over her own, making her sigh. It wasn’t a rush of need or an explosion of greedy lust, it was a seduction of the sensations. A slow, slumberous heat waking, flaring, then burning fervent arrows of desire to parts south.
Wrapping her arms around his neck, she wedged herself tight against his body, angling her head, slanting her lips over his. Teasing, she nipped his bottom lip, then danced her tongue over the little hurt.
Zan growled in approval and she took the sound into her mouth, loving the way his hands stroked down her back, over her hips, and along the outside of her thighs. On the upstroke, his hands caught the hem of her sleep tank and gently eased it off her. Bending, he kissed one shoulder then the other. Trailing open-mouthed kisses along her throat, jaw, and back to her mouth.
She drew in a sharp breath as her breasts rubbed against his bare chest, full and aching. More than aware of the pulsing length of his erection, she wantonly rubbed the hot, swollen flesh between her legs over him.
A shudder shook his powerful frame. “God, angel.” Zan hissed out. “I’m desperately trying to go slow here. You keep that up and you’ll find yourself flat on your back in no time.”
“I don’t want slow,” she licked the sensitive spot just behind his ear.
His hands clenched on her ass. “First you say we’re gong too fast, now you say I’m too slow?”
Pulling slightly back, she cradled his face in her hands, watching him with all the tenderness he’d just showed her. Something was happening here, something monumental, and she was going to grasp this moment with two enthusiastic hands. Grinning, eyes sparkling with love and wicked mischief she said, “Yep.”
With a mock snarl Zan rose on his knees and tumbled her on her back, his mouth on her breast a nanosecond later, sucking and licking her nipple to a hard peak. Once satisfied, he turned his attention to her other breast, and was driving her insane.
She wound her legs around his waist but he pulled away with a tsking sound of his tongue. Then he flipped her onto her stomach. More open-mouthed kisses along her nape. One particular spot caused intense shivers to race down her spine. Her naughty shifter exploited it until she threatened to kill him.
A husky masculine chuckled, his lips and tongue dancing over each shockingly erotic vertebra. Once he reached her bottom he bit her lightly through the thin, cotton shorts. Knowing she was baiting him, Jackie lifted her rump in clear invitation, and suddenly found cool air caressing her bare ass.
“Lift up on your knees,” he demanded. While it might have been a submissive position, Jackie was feeling far from passive when she heard his ragged breathing. “Good girl.”
His hands petted her thighs, then her ass before moving behind her. Expecting him to undo his fly and thrust into her, she was shocked when, instead, his mouth touched her sex. She let out a startled gasp. He was lying beneath her, her knees spread over his face, his hands on her ass, holding her to him. She couldn’t move if she tried. The continual, dominant thrusting of his tongue in the moist heat of her body was making her mindless. Insane.
“Please,” she panted out.
He drew out his tongue, replaced it with a finger. “Please what?” he rumbled, shifting slightly to rasp her clit with rough swipes of his tongue. Her body clenched around him. She was one huge coil on the verge of bursting free.
“I need,” she choked out.
“Me.” His tongue danced fast, so impossibly fast over the hot nub nestled in her wet folds it was akin to a vibrator set to high. It was too much. With a scream she came, head thrown back, eyes blind. The ecstasy swept over her, leaving a broken mass of limp bones in its wake.
The mattress shook as Zan got up. He then shucked off his jeans. She heard a tearing sound and then he was on his knees behind her, lifting her hips. Unable to get her arms to cooperate, she bent her elbows, and put her head on the sheet.
A guttural sound erupted from Zan’s throat. “That’s it. Oh, fuck yeah, angel. That’s perfect.” Behind her again, his hands were rough and impatient on her tilted ass. “I’ve dreamed of taking you like this.” He leaned over her, hips rocking, gliding his cock through her juices. Hot breaths blew against her neck as he kissed her pulse. “Mine, Jackie. You’re mine.”
She whimpered in need, feeling empty. Despite her orgasm she didn’t feel complete. She needed Zan. Inside her body, her heart, her soul. Then he was nudging her entrance, easing the engorged head of his shaft into her.
He was wrapped so tightly around her she could feel him shaking. One hand covered hers, fingers tangled, on the mattress by her head, the muscles in his arm bulging, supporting his weight. His other hand was around her waist, merciless fingers dancing with unerring ease over her sensitized clit.
His hips bucked against hers, plunging him deeper. Stretching her. Filling her. Completing her. The sensual friction gained speed, each thrust more forceful than the last. It was hard, hot, and dominant.
Exactly what she would expect from her shifter. Her mate.
Thoughts dimmed as pleasure increased. She turned her head and bit his wrist just over the rapid pulse. Staking her own claim.
Zan snarled against her skin, driving into her with frenzied thrusts. Razor sharp teeth grazed over her shoulder, only this time she welcomed it. Craved his mark. She tossed her damp hair off her neck, letting him know by that simple gesture that she was his, and she accepted him completely.
Fangs pierced her flesh for the third time, and sent her into an unexpected and volatile release, her inner muscles reflexively squeezing tight around the thick length of him. Seconds later Zan stiffened and, throwing his head back, roared in possessive victory.
Later, Jackie would be amazed the windows hadn’t blown out. For now, all she could do was collapse onto the sheets, half-smothered by a sweaty shifter. She didn’t know how long they lay in a tangled heap when Zan groaned and flopped over onto his back.
Jackie lay there in the moonlight, headed twisted to one side, watching through admiring eyes as Zan caught his breath. With her body sated and relaxed, her mind wondered. “Why were you asking me about other dangerous jobs?”
She saw a glimmer of green as he peered at her through one slitted eye. “Hold that thought.” Another groan escaped him as he stumbled from the bed to dispose of the spent condom. In seconds, he returned and crawled back in the bed. He rolled to his side, head resting on his hand, the other caressing her back.
“Zan?” She asked, trying to ignore how arousing his light touch was.
“Jackie?” She bared her teeth and he grinned. “So it seems that a c
ertain town is looking for a police officer.”
Her heart stopped dead. “What?”
Pretending nonchalance, his hand continued to draw lazy circles on her back. “Yeah. And since I have some pull in that town, I’m pretty much guaranteed the job after I take a six-week accelerated cop course in Denver.”
Jackie flowed out from under his reach to sit up. “What?”
Zan frowned at her and flopped onto his back. “Really, angel. I thought you were smarter than that.”
She picked up a pillow and swatted him. “Are you saying,” another swat, “that you’re going to leave,” on the third swat feathers drifted in the air, “LunaWatch?”
Laughing, Zan snatched the mangled pillow and tossed it across the room. Then he too sat up. He wrapped a hand around the nape of her neck and pulled her close. “I’m saying that I love you, Jackie. I would do anything to be with you. Even give up my job for you.”
Indignant, Jackie glowered. “That’s not fair. You can’t just....”
He hushed her. “Think about it, angel. What exactly am I giving up? As much as I care for my team, I have no true home to call my own, no real possessions, other than you of course.” At her snarl he rubbed his nose on hers. “You were right. My job was coming close to an addiction and I knew it. I just didn’t know what to do about it. Without you, I may not have broken free. Not completely. You’ve saved me, made me feel alive again.” He planted a soft kiss on her shocked lips. “I love you, Doctor Jackie Chavez. I want you for my mate, for my wife, for the rest of my life. Do you think you can take on a washed out military soldier soon-to-be cop?”
Far from washed out, this man was in his prime. Strong, masculine. Dominant. A cop’s life wasn’t all that much easier, and in many ways much more difficult. But Jackie had Tess to talk with, commiserate with. It helped. It gave her hope.
Though she’d never stop worrying for Zan’s safety, no matter what he did, she would never want him tamed. His wild abandon exhilarated her. His naughty humor a sensual delight. She wanted to share his good times and bad days. Because for Jackie, only Zan would do. Grabbing his face, she kissed the breath right out of him. “Only if it’s you, Zan. You’re all I want.” She pushed him onto his back, draped herself over his chest. Whispered in his ear. “Does this mean I don’t get my vibrator back?”
What This Wolf Wants Page 18
