Looking up and up and up, Hope swallowed thickly. Before her stood the most handsome man she had ever seen. In his late twenties to early thirties, he wore his blond hair cut to what appeared to be a military cut, though not a high and tight like her brother had worn before he lost his life in Iraq.
Moss-green eyes stared down at her as though he thought he was dreaming, or maybe having a nightmare, considering how she looked. Large hands gently held her shoulders, thumbs stroking almost absently over her collarbone as he stared down into her eyes.
At that moment, everything else seemed to fall away. It didn’t matter that she stood on the sidewalk still a quarter of a mile from her apartment with the cold rain pouring down over her. It didn’t matter that the water drenched her hair, plastering it to her head until she was certain she must look like a drowned rat.
All that mattered in that moment was that she felt caught in a snare. The heat from his gaze warmed her in the cold downpour. Her panties grew damp with more than rainwater as she nervously licked her lips.
Hope couldn’t look away. She tried, but something about the man held her immobilized. It could have been the way his hands tightened on her shoulders, holding her in place. It also could have been the way he started to draw her near him before he seemed to come to his senses and let her go.
“Excuse me, Miss…”
Hope knew he was fishing, but she didn’t give a damn. It had been a long time since a man flirted with her and even longer since one as handsome as this one even looked her way with anything even resembling interest.
“Hope,” she said, unsure as to why she was standing here in the rain telling him anything about herself in the first place. She should have pulled from his grip and run for her apartment before she did something stupid, like jump his bones, but she couldn’t for some reason. It must have been the shock of seeing another incredibly handsome man standing just behind him. Hope had always been a sucker for tall men with dark hair and blue eyes. Backing away, she almost cried when he backed up too, but she was nothing if not a realist. What would a man like him want from her anyway?
“Does Hope have a last name that’s as beautiful as her first?”
Holy cow! Not only was the devil tall, dark, and handsome, but he was a charmer to boot. Hope shook her head. “Not hardly. Ackerman is my ex-husband’s name. I haven’t gotten around to changing it back to my maiden name.” In truth, she wasn’t sure she wanted to go through the hassle.
It didn’t seem possible, but the two men seemed to get better looking when they smiled. Hope swallowed thickly. Why did those smiles look more predatory than humorous?
“Ex-husband?” The blond’s smile got bigger as he held out his hand. “I’m Braxton and this is my best friend, Joran. It’s good to meet a friendly face.”
She wasn’t sure why, but his smile reminded her of Little Red Riding Hood. Maybe it was his strangely pronounced incisors and inordinately large smile. Oh, what a big smile you have, Braxton.
“It’s nice to meet you two as well. Are you new in the neighborhood?”
They shook their heads, their faces still split with their strange, wolfish grins. After a moment, they glanced at each other, their expressions becoming intense, and they moved to flank her. “No, beautiful Hope. We came here for you.”
Fearing that they had something nefarious in mind, Hope jerked free and tried to run to her apartment building. She heard an odd humming sound come from behind her just before everything went black.
Chapter Four
Joran stared down at their beautiful mate. “She’s going to hate us, you know.” Though he knew they had no choice, he had hoped to stem her fears, but how did one do that with a woman they had just met? Nothing could have convinced her to trust them this early in their relationship.
“She started to run. We had no choice.”
Deep down, Joran knew Brax was right. She’d been running from them because she thought they were going to hurt her. Hell, harming her was the farthest thing from their minds. They wanted nothing more than to care for her, love her and make her theirs in every way.
Taking a deep breath, he drew in her scent. Already he loved the way she smelled. The mixture of perfumed soap and the delicate scent of her arousal made his cock throb with the need to sink into her moist heat. Just scenting her as they made themselves known was enough to tell them she was the one they were here for. Her sweet scent called to them. It was an enticing aroma he found he couldn’t ignore.
He took another deep breath. His wolf snarled to get free. It wanted to bury its snout deep into her aromatic pussy and drink the sweet cream he could smell drenching her hot slit.
“I hope Carella can bring us back from here.” He looked around at their surroundings. “They seem more advanced, but they are still not advanced enough to travel far into space.”
“Or to protect themselves from attack.”
That much was easy to tell. They had automobiles and airplanes, but by the looks of it, they were still far from having any type of flying automobiles or ion cannons.
He looked toward the sky and wondered if Carella was still out there in the cold black of space protecting this world from an alien attack. It was only a matter of time before the enemies of all humanity found them and tried to annihilate them.
Holding her close, Joran leaned down and scooped her up in his arms. He looked down at her closed eyes, wanting to kiss each dark-red crescent. He’d never seen a woman with such fiery red hair and dark-blue eyes that rivaled the beauty of the sky during the midnight sun in the Alaskan Territory.
Checking his timepiece, Braxton led the way to an empty alley. They hid behind a large bin full of trash. The smell left a lot to be desired, but at least they were out of sight of prying eyes. “We have approximately five minutes before Carella retrieves us.”
“Then I will hold her until Carella transports us back.” He glanced around. “Let me know when to shift for transport.”
The form they must transport in was much hated by their people. It was their weakest form, leaving them open to attack as they awaited the beaming technology to move them from one place to another.
Half wolf, half man, they looked like the monsters of human legend, only they were weaker than when in their human form and definitely not as strong as when they were in their wolf form.
He could only imagine Hopeful Ackerman’s terror had they appeared to her looking like the monsters in her legends. Luckily, Carella had dropped them down two hundred feet away as she’d promised. She couldn’t have known that Hope would stop and stare at herself in the store window for several minutes before continuing to her apartment.
It was a good thing she had. If she had headed straight home, she would have passed this alley and seen them as they shifted back into their human forms and straightened the clothing that had gone askew during transportation.
“Two minutes,” Braxton warned, looking at his watch.
Joran changed to his transport form. “I hope she stays out for a while. I had the stunner on low. I didn’t want to inadvertently hurt her.” He looked down at her as he shifted shape. He hated that he had to change, just to get her back to the ship, but he couldn’t transport in human form. It would kill him. Even with the wolven level of technology, their scientists still couldn’t build a transporter that would allow them to transport as a wolf or human.
He closed his eyes as a breeze carried her sweet scent to his nostrils. I don’t know what it is about our mate, Braxton, but whatever it is I find I cannot resist her scent. Hell, his cock already throbbed with the need for him to bury himself balls-deep inside her tight channel, between her full, pink lips or deep in her ass.
His wolf didn’t give a damn which hole he fucked, just so long as he made her his true mate as soon as possible. My cock aches with the need to ride her hard. He shook his head. I should be thinking about how gentle we should be with her, not how badly my beast wants to pound into her tight pussy.
Bright li
ght surrounded them as Carella transported them back to their ship and he almost sighed with relief. He could shift shape again before she regained consciousness. They would remain on the ship until they fully mated. Carella still had the only bonding chamber around, and they needed the facilities to complete the union between them. Nothing on Earth could replace the ritual bathing chamber that Carella could provide.
“Welcome back, gentlemen.” There was a short pause as she no doubt assessed their mate’s health and the condition of their clothing. “I have taken the opportunity to provide dry clothing for all of you in your suite.”
Joran shifted back to his human form before Hope could wake up and start screaming at his monstrous appearance.
“Let me take her before you drop her,” Braxton said as he pulled her from his arms.
“Unfortunately, gentlemen, you cannot stay here with your female. However, you may return when you are prepared to use the bonding chamber.”
That was a surprise. Joran had been sure she would have wanted them to stay aboard until they bonded. He wanted to tell Carella they were ready to bond with the woman now, but even though his senses and his body told them she was their true mate he knew that, in the end, it was her choice and it was too soon for her.
Whether to bond or not was always up to the female. They couldn’t force her to fully mate with them. No matter how much in love the males were, or how desperate, they could never capture a female and force her to their will.
“We understand, Carella, though we would love another hot meal before we go back.”
“I’m sorry, gentlemen, but I must conserve my energy in case of an altercation. As it is, I can barely collect enough energy from my solar collectors for minimal operations. I must save the extra energy I have in case of attack or for bondings. I have radioed Taos for new energy stores, but they have not arrived as yet.”
Carella didn’t add that when she received the energy stores from the home world that more warriors would arrive with them, looking for mates. She didn’t have to.
“Then you should just transport us to the surface now instead of wasting energy on clothing for us.” Braxton leaned down and sniffed their mate, no doubt taking advantage of his position holding her to wallow in her scent. The lucky bastard.
“You should at least take the clothing set out for the female. She is not dressed appropriately for Serenity Falls.”
Braxton grinned. “Serenity Falls? So the alpha has finally settled on a name?”
“He did, and I approve.”
If Joran didn’t know better, he would have sworn there was an edge of pride to the computer’s voice.
A dress appeared before them on the floor. “I will recycle the clothing you gentlemen left and transport you from here. Wait one, while I make the calculations. You may want to change back into your transport forms.” It didn’t take long to shift for transport. Joran glanced at Braxton and noticed that Hope had begun to stir.
“Oh, shit.”
Chapter Five
Hope awoke to a strange tingling sensation. Bright light surrounded her as she looked around. She felt suspended for a long moment before the strong arms holding her to a warm chest shifted and she realized someone held her.
What happened? Had she fainted? She continued to look around, but the bright light was too much. Closing her eyes, she rubbed them. Maybe the light would be gone by the time she tried to see again.
Dropping her hand from her face, she attempted to assess her surroundings. She could see again, however, she saw nothing but a farm house, barn and a chicken coop. With a frown, she looked at the person who held her, saw a monster, and screamed.
Fighting to get away from the beast that held her, Hope clawed and scratched, trying to get the creature to let her go. When the other stepped up and changed into one of the handsome men she’d met on the street, before her eyes, it was too much. Hope closed her eyes and prayed for the comfort of unconsciousness. It never came.
The creature handed her off to the other. “I know this is a bit overwhelming, Hope, but give us a chance. We’re really not all that bad,” he said as he turned and carried her into the large house.
“Put me down.”
He shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
“What”—she paused to lick her lips—“what do you want from me?” Did they plan to kill her? She thought of their monstrous forms and shuddered. “Are you going to eat me?”
The one who had introduced himself as Braxton chuckled. “Not in the way you imagine, I’m sure.”
Frowning again, Hope wondered exactly what he meant by that. He couldn’t mean anything sexual. She was almost old enough to be his mother, for God’s sake.
“How about I give you a short history of our people?” He set her down on a large rocking chair and moved away.
Hope looked around the barren room and shivered. Was she going into shock? “A short history?”
“Yes,” Braxton said with a nod and moved to lean against the mantel of the large fireplace that stood on the far wall. “Our people come from outer space.”
Hope barked a laugh then immediately covered her mouth. Did they really expect her to believe that? “I should have known aliens would fit into this somehow.”
Joran just stared at her for a moment then raised one perfectly arched, inky brow. “Tell us where on Earth we come from, Hope.”
Hope felt her mouth open and close a few times before she scowled. “Just go on with your story.”
“We are a dying race. We came here to Earth to try to repopulate our species through procreation with humans.” Pausing, he rubbed the bridge of his nose with his forefinger. “Several years ago, a few of us set out to find a world that had a species that was genetically compatible to ours. We found Earth.
“Truthfully, we were ecstatic. Humans have been the species of choice for our people to mate with for thousands of years, but we thought all humans were extinct.” Joran paused then looked at his friend as though asking for help, or perhaps offering the other a chance to add to the fantastic tale. He moved to stand on the other side of the mantel.
“Over the years we have discovered that human males tend to posture and take what they want. There is no pleasing them. Sooner or later, they always pick a fight with a country, planet, or species with whom they cannot win.”
Hope snorted. “Isn’t that the truth?” She waved her arm. “Anyway…would you mind continuing, Braxton? Why can’t you mate with your own kind?”
“Because we are a dying species. The families who produce female offspring are few and scattered throughout the universe. We can’t all breed with the same females, not that there are even close to being enough of them.”
“So you look for humans to breed with to keep from inbreeding?” Good grief, these two could spin a fantastic tale. Maybe they should write it down and sell it.
Joran nodded. “Yes. It’s that simple. If we keep breeding with the only available females, sooner or later we will all be too closely related to procreate with each other. A few of our scientists discovered that inbreeding causes birth defects and mental disabilities.”
“Then that must be a universal constant. Inbreeding does the same thing here. Um…” She looked around the room with a frown. “We’re no longer on Earth?” This was all too fantastic. Hope rubbed her eyes, trying to remember what she’d seen before they brought her in here and set her down.
In her hysteria, her gaze had darted around, barely seeing the green grass and blue skies. She also saw what she could have sworn were chickens in a coop, next to the barn.
“Of course we’re still on Earth.” Braxton pointed toward the door on her right. “Did you not see the barn, the cows…the chickens?”
She looked back at the men and narrowed her eyes. “Okay. What did you give me?”
“I’m not certain I know what you mean.” Braxton frowned down at her, his green eyes seeming to bore into hers. “We gave you nothing.”
Joran reached
into one of the strange packs they had carried and pulled out a dress. “We do have this to give you.” He held it up. “Did you mean this?”
“Drugs, damn it. What kind of drugs have you given me?” Geez, for a couple of men who claimed to be from some far-advanced world, they could be dense.
“We have given you no drugs, Hope.” Braxton pushed away from the mantle and moved to go look out the window.
“We admit that we stunned you with a weapon provided by the ship’s computer, but we have administered no drugs.”
“Baloney.” She licked her lips, wishing she had something to drink, but she wouldn’t dare ask them for a thing. They would probably drug her again. “Don’t give me that crap. I know you must have given me something to knock me out.”
“As Braxton said, we stunned you.” Joran moved to squat in front of her.
If the man thought he was going to get around her by squatting there, his muscles bulging while he batted those beautiful blue eyes at her, he was mistaken…At least she hoped he was mistaken. Surely she wouldn’t let good looks sway her, would she? If she did, she was no better than her ex-husband. The bastard.
There was no way she was giving in to the man just because he looked good. She clamped her mouth shut to keep herself from saying something stupid then closed her eyes when she inhaled his spicy scent. Did he have to smell as delicious as he looked?
Hope sat up straight, steeled her resolve and alternately looked them square in the eyes. “Then prove it.” Her gaze darted between them. “Show me this magical stun gun of yours.”
“We can’t. It’s still on the ship.”
“Then how did we get here?” Hope glanced around, making a note where the door and every shutter-covered window was at.
“Carella, the ship’s computer deposited us here after we took you from your world.”
“Ha!” She pointed at Braxton. “I caught you. You’re telling so many lies you’re already having a hard time keeping them straight.”
Where There is Hope [Taos Wolven Mates 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 2
