by L. A. Banks
“Yeah…sure. What do you have?” The scent and sight of her was giving him blue balls.
“What do you want?” She just stared at him for a moment.
He swallowed hard and didn’t immediately answer. “Whatever you’re offering.” He wanted to kick himself.
“I’ve never done this before,” she finally said in a quiet rush.
“I know,” he murmured and came closer to her. “You’re a beautiful, kind-hearted woman with a good soul…and this whole thing has been really messed up.” He brushed a stray wisp of hair behind her ear but kept enough distance between their bodies as not to crowd her too quickly. “I’m not a permanent solution, Sidney…but I can be a temporary fix, if you want that.”
She briefly closed her eyes as his hand slid against her ear. “I just want it to stop hurting for a little while.”
“I understand anesthesia,” he murmured, closing the gap between them and deeply inhaling her scent.
Two large tears welled in her eyes and spilled over her pretty lashes. She shook her head no. “I don’t need anesthesia…I need morphine, this hurts so badly.”
He wasn’t sure if it was the build-up of what he’d witnessed, the close proximity to her soft skin, her fragrant sex, the tears, or the wavering sound of her voice, but he lost it, then and there. His mouth covered hers, and the kiss she returned was so eager that his hands swept up her five foot seven frame to lift her against him, his mouth devouring hers.
The taste of her soft tongue made his eyes cross beneath his lids. The softest hands he’d ever felt brushed his cheek, and then graceful fingers raked his hair. A whimper escaped from her mouth into his, and he began walking, blind, following her house floor plan by memory, taking the stairs in three foolish bounds. He had to chill, not really freak her out…but, damn, she was all that. He could still smell her essence on her fingers as her hands petted his face. The warmth of her mound against his stomach made his shaft fill as he walked, the wetness seeping through her silk boxers, dampening his t-shirt, his hands kneading her supple ass. Her skin felt like butter. Her hair pure silk. Every gasp she released sliced at his reason. If Douglass’s stupid ass put a key in the door now, he’d be a dead man walking. There’d be no way to hide the canines.
He lowered her down onto her rumpled sheets, yanking off his jacket while she worked at his shoulder harness. As much as he hated to, he leaned away from her softness, and slid off the holster, carefully dropping the Glock nine on the floor before stripping off his T-shirt.
She stared at him and breathed out the words “Oh…my…God…” in a very tense whisper.
He almost closed his eyes as her gaze raked down his torso and she leaned forward to unbuckle his pants. Somewhere sanity kicked in and he managed to get his Timberlands off so he could take off his pants. She was even more beautiful in the moonlight up close. The way her hand slowly went to her mouth when he finally got out of the leather made him look away. But as she pulled the flimsy fabric over her head and allowed her petite breasts to bounce free, he had to return his gaze.
His semi-callused hands seemed huge as they covered her breasts and she held his wrists, her head dropping back as the moan worked its way up from her depths. That sound she made was his undoing. He had to taste her, had to pull the small, bittersweet chocolate kisses between his lips…had to make her arch for him the way she had only a half hour prior. It was pure madness, moonlight inspired—a skin against skin inferno, his weight making her cry out and clutch his shoulders.
Her skin was a salty, creamy confection, his jaw dragging across the surface, then under swollen lobes down her quivering belly to wash his face in her sweet cum. Damn…this woman was fine, he’d lost all reason. Slick, burning inner thighs clenched his jaw as though trying to break it. Her voice had become another layer of aphrodisiac. He had to put it in. Then he froze.
“Baby, tell me you’ve got—”
“Oh, no!”
Sidney scooted out of his hold so quickly that all he could do was watch her. Disbelief claimed him—a gorgeous, naked, ready woman began ransacking drawers and had then disappeared into a walk-in closet. She came out clutching a purse, dumping the contents before she attacked another one. The sight of her frenzy was driving him to the brink. He couldn’t stabilize his breathing. His voice was a ragged pant. Need carved at his testicles. The skin along his shaft and the head felt like it was splitting. It seemed as though the sound of his labored breaths was making her work harder. He tried to close his eyes against the sight of her to pull himself together, but couldn’t.
Her firm, smooth, wet ass glistened in the moonlight. Her small, cone-shaped breasts swayed as she worked, riffling through purses. Her eyes were wild, her hair a beautiful sweep of tussled auburn, her long legs calling him, the prospect of them being wrapped around his waist enough to cause tears to form in his eyes.
She raised her fist and dropped a purse to the floor like a woman who’d hit lotto. “Got one!”
“How old is it?’ he asked, still breathing hard.
“Oh, shit…”
He stood and went to her, and took her mouth in a hard kiss. “I’ll work with what you’ve got for now, but we’ll need more than one while the moon’s still up.”
She placed the foil packet in his hand. He studied it for a second and said a quick prayer.
“I’m sorry…I didn’t expect—”
He captured her mouth again to stop her awkward apology. In a strange way, he was pleased to know she hadn’t lied about the abstinence. “I didn’t expect this, either,” he said in a hot wash against her ear, and then began to open the foil packet with slightly trembling hands. The quiet chant in his mind begged for the latex not to have dry rotted.
“I went out with Leonora and crew to one of our friend’s bachelorette parties…they were throwing these at all of us and I kept one as a souvenir. Until now, I really forgot it was even in there.”
“Glad you have a good memory,” he said, struggling to fit it on.
“That was maybe eight months to a year ago.” She looked up at him anxiously. “You think it’s still good?”
Her breathy voice was kicking his ass as he worked to sheath himself. He was beyond answering her; she’d have to read his eyes, tell from the hard kiss, hear that it was okay in his breath and stop babbling apologies. “Baby, it’s all right,” he finally whispered, and gathered her into his arms to walk her back toward the bed while steadily kissing her.
“It only went halfway on, though,” she murmured, her breath hot against his neck as she broke the kiss when they fell against the duvet.
“Most of them do.” He looked down at her and gently spread her legs, loving the expression that washed over her face. “Towards the end, I’ll have to hold it.”
She closed her eyes. It was the sexiest thing he’d seen in a long time, the way she turned her head away from him and slid her eyelids shut as though the information was too much to bear, then she arched. He’d read her right, had heard her loud and clear, and positioned himself between her thighs, then entered her in one hard thrust. Her voice rent the room, his chasing it. She was so tight she’d left him twitching for a second.
Long, silky legs wrapped around his waist in a death grip. The need to move put him on all fours, her waist clutched in one massive forearm, the mattress leveraged by the other. He had to will himself not to shape-shift on her…but, damn, it was so good. She was human and it wasn’t even a full moon, yet the sensations tearing at his groin had almost put hair on his knuckles.
Common sense dictated that he had to get his hand between their bodies, feeling the pending pleasure seizure begin to dredge his sack. She was sobbing, cumming hard again, her nails digging into his shoulders—just the way he loved it. He had to drop his head back to breathe and to make sure he didn’t mess up and break her skin or cause a cut that could give her Lupine madness. His mind cried out what his mouth could never utter: Sidney, sweet Sidney, you have to stop up-thrusting and bucking, sen
ding slick spasms down my shaft!
He caught the slippery rim of the condom nearly two seconds past two late as his body convulsed hard in a shuddering gasp, her cry threading through it. He needed to sink deep within her, but couldn’t risk it with shaky latex. Instead he pulled out with a gasp, still heaving, his face buried in the crook of her neck, her sobs of pleasure making him want to throw caution to the wind.
Finally collapsing on his side, he pulled her to him and kissed her forehead, then sprawled out.
“You okay?” he asked through ragged breaths.
She nodded and laid her head on his chest, panting. “Yeah. Morphine…this was definitely morphine.”
He smiled with his eyes closed. “Good. Lemme run to the store and I’ll keep you anesthetized all night.”
She leaned up on one elbow. “Here?”
He chuckled. “Yeah. Why not?” He reached over and yanked several tissues out of the box on her nightstand, and removed the condom, balling it up in the soft wad and tossing it in the trash.
She sat up slowly. “What if…”
Brick sat up with effort and slung his legs over the edge of the bed. “He’s gotta prove it, just like you do. I hear real well and move real fast in the dark.” He grabbed up his boxers and pants, and slid them on, then found his T-shirt, donning his shoulder holster and Glock. “But if you’d feel better, we could make a quick run up to King of Prussia and find a nice hotel?”
She smiled as she watched him dress. “This was a good temporary solution, Brick. I’m glad you came back.”
“But…” He smiled and buckled his belt, knowing she wasn’t about to leave her house tonight, and him coming back to rock her world for the rest of the evening was out. Once the edge had been taken off, clarity had set in. Sidney Coleburn-West was not going to be caught wrong in her own home.
“I don’t want you to think—”
“It’s cool,” he said, sweeping her mouth with a gentle kiss. “Just don’t over-process what just happened, all right?” He stroked her hair. “Promise me that.”
She held his wrist and pressed a deep kiss into the center of his palm in a way that lowered his lids. “I won’t,” she breathed against his hand. “No guilt, no regret, just an awful lot of appreciation.”
He found himself sitting on the edge of the bed. “Sure I can’t coax you out for one more round?” he teased, kissing her bare shoulder.
She shook her head no and stroked his chest as she laid her head against it.
This woman was doing something weird to his normal love ’em and leave ’em philosophy. It felt very strange, indeed. “All right,” he finally said. “You need me, for anything—especially if he comes in here off the wall—you call me. You know my cell number.”
“I promise,” she said, and kissed his mouth fully, her tongue sliding over his teeth. She pulled back and cupped his cheek for a moment and then looked at the moon. “Maybe when I’m really free…once this is all over, one whole night—no pressure…if you want to?”
Wow…that was supposed to be his line. If he wanted to? He swallowed hard, feeling his body responding to her all over again. “Yeah. Then lemme get moving on that information.”
He stood, glimpsed the window, then remembered it would be better for him to not freak her out and simply slipped out the back door.
Chapter Three
* * *
The moment Brick walked into the private after-hours wolf club, Leonora spotted him. She removed her arm off the shoulders of the lovely redheaded female she’d been with, kissed her cheek, and issued him a sly smile. He watched his buddy slip her lithe, athletic frame off the bar stool, her chiseled features and her short, curly black hair catching glints from overhead lighting as she approached with her beer in hand. The amusement in Leonora’s large brown eyes almost made him head for the door.
Before Leonora had sauntered too close to him, he held up his palm to warn her not to start. It was all in the way she raised her nose just a tad, nostrils slightly flaring, and then laughed. He tried to focus on the back slap greetings from his fellow dawgs and to laugh with them, but his nerves were wire taut. Even though he smiled and seemed friendly enough, they sensed his unspoken tension, and backed off.
“Wow,” Leonora said, coming closer to him. “I’m jealous. If you weren’t the alpha male of the pack, I’d call you out for a challenge.”
“So you got jokes,” he muttered, one eyebrow raised, trying to get to his private table in the back. He could feel Leonora following him, her mirth making him jumpy. Sidney’s touch, and the need for more of it, rubbed his emotions raw…just like the need to protect her from any harm suddenly had.
“Who’s joking, brother?” Leonora flopped down beside him against the black leather cushioned booth with a wide grin, eyes beginning to glow with mischief. She plaintively ran her hands down her tawny suede lapels and brushed invisible lint off them. “I’ve been crazy about her for years, but she’s straight as an arrow and a living doll. So…? Divulge all.”
“C’mon, Leo. You know that’s not my style.” He accepted a Hennessey neat from the beaming waitress who brought it, and slid a twenty on her tray. “Thanks, baby.”
“Any time, Brick,” she crooned, and then made the international sign to call her with thumb and pinky extended next to her ear.
He just raised his glass to the over-friendly waitress without committing, glad for a distraction from Leonora’s probing. But Leonora would not be dissuaded, and she tugged on his jacket sleeve like an excited puppy.
“Didn’t I tell you she was all that?” Leonora leaned back in the booth and let out a sigh.
“She’s real good people, Leo. Gotta give you that.”
Leonora smiled. “And fine.”
“Okay,” he said, laughing. “And fine.” He took a swig of his drink to try to quell the smile that thinking about Sidney had produced.
Leonora waved her hands in front of her chest. “No, no, no, no, no. Not fine. Fiiiooonne,” she howled.
They both laughed hard.
“A’ight, so you want me to howl up in here, girl? Yeah, she’s real fine.”
“Now, I’m satisfied. Thank you.” Leonora shot him a sideline look. “But don’t mess over her, Brick. You might be the top dog, but I’ll die trying to rip your throat out if you—”
“Hey, hey,” he said, not offended in the least. “I said she’s good people. I didn’t say she was good tail.” He looked at Leonora hard. “There’s a difference.”
Leonora finally relaxed and nodded. “Sho’ you right,” she muttered. “I had to finally accept that she was oblivious, didn’t see me like that, but always had my back as a best friend…so…I just want the best for her. You feel me?”
“I feel you.” He clinked his short rocks tumbler against her beer pilsner. “Much obliged.”
“You owe me,” Leonora said with a wink.
“For the rest of my life,” he said, taking a deep swig of Hennessey.
“Whoa…that good?”
Brick just closed his eyes and set his glass down very precisely. “Talk me outta going back over there, Leo.”
“Oh, snap…” Leonora murmured. “If I’m not mistaken, am I hearing that ‘this is the one’ tone in your voice—the tone that I’ve never heard before? The Mitchell Brickland, felled by a human female? Stop, playin’!”
He opened his eyes. “Keep your voice down, and no, I haven’t been felled. She’s just real nice. I gave her back her money.”
“Damn, dawg. You’re a goner.” Leonora cocked her head to the side. “And it wasn’t even a full moon yet.”
“I know. But I’m cool. She just caught me by surprise—you didn’t say how nice she’d be, and you shoulda warned a brother, for real.” He could feel his hair beginning to bristle on the back of his neck the wider Leonora smiled. It made him testy. “You ain’t right, Leo. Now I’ve gotta hunt that bastard down, but she doesn’t want bloodshed. That ain’t our way, and you know it—once we go on the hunt,
shit, anything’s liable to kick off.” Brick dug into his back pocket and flung Douglass West’s old brush onto the table. “Got his scent in my nose, picked up his foul vibe from the house, but all she wants is pictures.”
Leonora looked at him very hard, her eyes meeting his. “Now you know why I asked for the pack alpha to check this out…why I’d begged you to look into this for years? I met him. Hated him from the start, but my girlfriend was in love, wanted to be married so badly she went deaf, dumb and blind for a minute.” Leonora leaned forward and covered Brick’s forearm with her hand. “I would have savaged that son of a bitch a long time ago, but you said no human kills in the territory so authorities wouldn’t get jumpy. But you see how he’s doing my girl?”
Brick polished off his drink and set it down hard. Thinking about Sidney still made his balls ache. “Yeah, I saw. But I feel like you set me up, Leo, ’cause you also understand why the rule is no domestic disputes. We settle the big shit. The domestic, we don’t touch because half the time the victim falls back in love with the perp and then would wanna start a wolf hunt for the so-called murder of the guy who was gonna put her in her grave, anyway.” He stood quickly, making Leonora bolt up with him.
“Yo, yo, yo partner,” Leonora said, landing a hand on his shoulder. “Easy, man. You okay? You’re showing canines and got half the bar bristling and ready to follow you out the door.”
Brick rubbed his palms down his face and let his breath out hard. “I’m cool. That’s why I came here, first, and didn’t go looking for him tonight.”
“Lemme buy you another Henny,” Leonora soothed. She looked Brick up and down. “I thought you got some and were chill?”
“I said I was all right,” he snapped, hailing the waitress to refill their drinks, and then sat down again with a thud.
Leonora chuckled softly and spun his empty rocks glass around on the table. “Yeah, I feel you. A little taste just left a brother hankerin’ for more.”
Falling asleep was next to impossible now. Sidney lay awake staring at the ceiling, her life in complete chaos. What had she just done? This was the craziest, most spontaneous, and possibly most dangerous thing she’d ever experienced. Leonora was out of her mind. No…she was out of her mind!
