Wolf Born (Underground Heat, Book 2)

by Ann Gimpel

  Max grinned back. “Maybe the rest of our lives.”

  “But we can’t just leave,” she protested. “The office is open. One of us needs to be here. There’re probably people piling up downstairs.”

  “Ah, the voice of reason.” Max’s arms tightened around her. “How about a compromise? We’ll work until noon, leave for lunch, and just not come back.”

  “Good plan,” Johannes said.

  Both the men looked at her, waiting for her assent. Heat crept from her chest to her face. “Guess since it was my idea to keep the office manned, I’ll have to agree. First thing I’m going to do is call Personnel and see if they can send a temp in at noon.” She peeked at her wrist computer and felt her blush deepen. “It’s going to be the longest three and a half hours of my life.”

  Johannes laughed. “Speak for yourself. I’ll be the one babysitting your prospective mate, er, lover.”

  “Babysitting?” Max let go of Audrey, socked Johannes in the arm, and laughed right along with him.

  “Before I go downstairs,” Audrey looked at Max, “a little while ago you said something about the shifters blaming you and the underground for how bad things are.” Concerned they might be overheard, she switched to telepathic speech. “Are you connected to the shifter underground?”

  “Perceptive of you, Miss Westen. I’m the head of it.”

  Chapter 10

  Max danced a small jig around his office. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been truly happy. Maybe he’d never been happy like this, where joy spilled from every pore and made the air in the room glow. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked his wolf.

  “Audrey’s wolf and I discussed it. In the end, we decided it would be best to stay out of things unless we absolutely had to intervene. We couldn’t imagine a mated pair walking away from one another.”

  “You could have said something.”

  “Your electronic in-basket is filling up judging from all those dings,” Johannes noted, mercifully not mentioning that Max and his wolf had broken the shifter covenant. Of course, it was possible the wolf had shielded his words.

  “Oh, who gives a fuck?” Max loped over to where Johannes stood next to a window and grabbed his arms. He lowered his voice to a whisper. “Once I’m positive we’re mates—and I’ll know when we shift spontaneously once we start to make love—you’ll perform the ritual mating ceremony. Maybe even later tonight.”

  “It would be my pleasure.” A soft smile illuminated Johannes’ face as he whispered back. “More than a pleasure, an honor. It’s been over a hundred years since I’ve joined a mated shifter pair.”

  Max nodded, gave Johannes a quick hug, and stepped back, but not so far he couldn’t keep his voice soft. “I know. I felt the same way when I joined Kate and Devon. It gave me hope our kind wouldn’t die out.”

  The smile disappeared. “We won’t. I don’t care if we have to kill every last one of those bastards who hung us out to dry when they penned that edict. Plus the shifters who’ve turned into Benedict Arnolds.”

  “We can’t kill all of them. It’s not practical. We need to make them see reason, repeal the damned thing, and talk sense into our own kind. Not just here but around the world.”

  Johannes rolled his eyes. “You’ve turned into quite the politician. Maybe you’ve overstayed your welcome here.”

  “I don’t know about that. Feels like I’m just hitting my stride.”

  “Spoken like a man with a perpetual hard-on.”

  Max patted the front of his trousers and rearranged himself. “Okay. Fine. I’m going to try to make a dent in whatever Audrey’s sent up here. I can’t wait until it’s time to leave. Once we get home—”

  “You don’t have to tell me. I’ll ward everything and try not to jack off too many times while the smell of your heat permeates the whole house.”

  “Maybe you could wash your hands in between times and make us a special dinner.”

  Johannes laughed. “That could probably be arranged.”

  The rest of the morning actually went far quicker than Max imagined it would. A group of teachers, concerned over escalating violence on campus, took up over an hour. Johannes ushered them out and said, “It’s time.”

  Max shrugged into his jacket, stuffed a few things into his briefcase, and powered down the vid feed. “When I took this job, I told myself I was doing it to,” he lowered his voice, “help us. Maybe it’s an illusion, but I think I’m improving the quality of life for everyone in the state, at least in some small ways.”

  “You’ve always been a man of integrity. How could you bring less than your best to anything? Come on, let’s go get your mate.”

  Max floated down the stairs and pushed through the door into the reception area. Audrey smiled shyly. A spot of color bloomed on each cheek. “Just let me close things down here. Human Resources is sending a gal to hold down the fort. She’ll be here after lunch.”

  “Anything I can help with?” Max asked. Heart hammering against his ribs, he felt like a nervous adolescent about to embark on his first date.

  Audrey shook her head and rose from her seat. She was lovely. Today she wore a dark green wool suit and a black blouse that looked like silk. Her long, shapely legs were encased in nylon stockings; shiny, black high-heeled pumps made her calves look divine. She cocked her head to one side. “Should I follow you with my car?”

  “I’ll drive with you,” Max said.

  Her smile broadened. “I was hoping you’d say that. I’ve been more than a little distracted.” She laughed. “Not that having you inches from me is going to help.”

  Johannes called the elevator. The door opened, and Max gestured all of them through. She thinks she’s been distracted. It will be a blooming miracle if we make it home in one piece. They did the same thing they’d done the previous night and drove to her car a couple of levels deeper in the garage. She tossed her things in the trunk, and he helped her in, hands lingering on her arm and shoulder before he moved around to his side of the car.

  “I was thinking about how we could use this time,” she said once they were underway.

  “I love your efficiency, but I’m not sure we need it right now.”

  “Of course we do. You can tell me some basic things I need to know about being a shifter.”

  “Sure.” Max loosened his tie and laid a proprietary hand on her leg. “You feel so good. I can’t wait to get you out of those clothes.”

  She slapped his hand playfully away. “See. This is why I thought we needed something to focus on. I won’t be much of a driver if all I’m thinking about is dragging you onto a bed and fucking your brains out.”

  “You don’t need to be much of a driver,” he pointed out, placing his hand higher. “The car does most of the thinking for you.”

  “Yes, but it can’t avoid accidents. The newer ones have sensors, but this one doesn’t.” She wriggled beneath his touch. “I need a basic primer on shifters. Consider it something like Shifter 101.”

  “Anything in particular?”

  She tossed her hands in the air, palms up. “I don’t know squat. You could begin anywhere.”

  Max thought about it. “Let’s talk about mating and what it means if you’re my mated one and I’m yours.”

  “My wolf thinks we are. How will we know?” Her brows drew together, giving her a studious look. Max loved looking at her. He drank in every aspect of her face, from hair to chin line and then moved his gaze downward. Full breasts pushed against the filmy fabric of her top. Her nipples were clearly visible. His cock reacted violently, pressing against the front of his trousers with a vengeance. She moved his hand off her thigh and giggled. “You’re not answering me, and you’re practically panting over there.”

  “Observant, Miss Westen. It’s one of the many things I appreciate about you. I’m having a hard time thinking.” He flicked at the bulge of his erection. “Men are like that. If one head’s working, the other one isn’t.” He sucked in a steadying breath.
“We will know because once we begin to make love, we’ll shift spontaneously.”

  Her eyes widened. “Really? What happens to our lovemaking then?”

  Heat roared through him. It took all his willpower not to tell the nav system to pull over to the curb. “We make love as wolves. Then we shift back and make love as humans. Coupling in both our forms cements our bond.”

  “Tell me more about what it means to be mated. Is it like being married?”

  “Yes, but ever so much more. Our kind mates for life—and we live for a very long time. It’s a binding of souls that lasts through this life and all lives to come.”

  Her eyes filled with tears. “I love how that sounds. How much farther to your house?”

  Max glanced out the windshield. He hadn’t been paying attention to anything but Audrey. “Not far. Another half mile or so.”

  “Is there a ceremony?”

  “Yes. Johannes will perform it once we’re certain.” Max started to tell her the ritual involved Johannes standing by while they coupled as wolves but decided to wait on that detail. He didn’t want to scare her off. Once they’d had sex, they’d both be so entranced with one another, caught up in the mate bond, she wouldn’t care if the entire state of California stood by and watched while they fucked.

  “You know,” she dropped her gaze, “I’ve been half in love with you since the first time I saw you on the vid feed before you took office. I voted for you because I wanted you close to me.”

  A warm glow began in his belly and radiated outward. Max wanted her to love him as much as he’d ever wanted anything. “Now you tell me. Why’d you wait so long? What’s it been? Eighteen months?”

  A blush spread upward from the open neck of her black blouse. She shrugged. “I was still married. I needed to get out of that entanglement. More than that, though, I respect the work you’ve done. Maybe more than almost anyone else, I know what a hard worker you are and how seriously you take your oath of office. You needed my help. I guess I thought I’d wait until your term was up—or something.”

  “Turn in here.” Max pointed and worked his wrist computer to open the gates. She ferried her car through. “What if I’d been reelected?”

  “I don’t know if I could have waited another four years. Where do you want me to park?”

  “In front of the house is fine. Johannes will take care of putting your car away.”

  “Should I leave my wrist computer?”

  “He’s a wizard. He’ll figure things out. Don’t worry about your bag or briefcase, either.” Max got out of the car and went around to open her door. “Come here.” He held out his hands. “We’ve waited long enough.”

  She took his hands and let him tug her gently from the car. He closed his arms around her and bent his head. “Darling,” he murmured, just before he kissed her. Max reveled in the feel of her mouth beneath his. Her lips were full and firm, and she opened her mouth under his almost instantly. When he sank his tongue into her mouth, she sucked hungrily on it. He felt her nipples, hard where they pressed against his chest. And something else, too.

  He broke away from the kiss and patted the front of her blouse. “What’s this?”

  She grinned rakishly. “A wad of black market cash. I was planning a getaway, remember?”

  “Good, you know how to finesse these things. We use the black market for a lot of things.” Johannes pulled up behind Audrey’s car. He flashed Max a thumbs up sign. “Ready to go inside?” Max asked.

  “If I were any readier, I’d bend over one of those planters.”

  “Nice visual. I’ll bet you have a great ass. In fact I know you do. I’ve felt it.” He tucked her hand under his elbow and led her up the stairs. The door clicked open. Max assumed Johannes had taken care of it from his vantage point in the driveway. “After you, my dear.”

  Audrey walked into the house. “Oh my God,” she breathed. “I had no idea you lived in a museum.”

  *

  The polished mahogany floor of the foyer opened into a great room decorated with plush hand-woven carpets, Louis the Fourteenth furniture, and overstuffed leather easy chairs. An ornate marble fireplace took up one end of the huge room. Audrey shook her head. “I can look at all this later. The only thing I really want to look at now is you.”

  “That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me. Come on upstairs. Unless you’d like to bring some food or refreshments up with us.”

  She shook her head. “No. I’m feeling nervous as it is. This shifter stuff is still really, really new.”

  He kissed her and took her hand. “I’ll take care of you, Audrey. I’ll never let anyone hurt you or anything bad happen to you.” Max’s voice vibrated with emotion as he led her up a carpeted stairway that hugged a wainscoted wall.

  “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” Her throat was so thick, it was hard to talk. Love coursed through her, so rich with promise it made every other emotion pale by comparison.

  “I won’t. One more flight. Okay, all the way to the end of the hall.” He moved in front of her, opened the door, and scooped her into his arms.

  “What? You’re carrying me across the threshold? I thought you were supposed to do that at the front door.”

  “I was afraid once I got my hands on so much of you, we’d never make it all the way up here.” He set her back on her feet. His hands shook slightly as he pushed her jacket off her shoulders. He started on the buttons of her blouse.

  “Wait. Let me get out of these heels.” She toed first one shoe off, then the other. “Better. I’m shaky enough.” She held out her arms. He wrapped her in his and kissed her. Unlike his earlier kisses, this one held heat and need. For the first time, she caught a glimpse of the emotional depth he kept under wraps.

  She slid her hands down his back and cupped his high, firm ass, pulling him as close to her as she could. He groaned and deepened their kiss. She felt his erection sandwiched between them. It jerked against her body. Her breasts ached. Her thighs were awash in fluid. She told herself to slow down, that they had all the time they’d ever need, but her body didn’t see it that way.

  She broke away from their kiss, breathless. “We can get fancy with this later. Right now, there are way too many clothes in the way.” She reached for the buttons on his shirt, barely able to make her fingers obey her they shook so badly. He shrugged out of his suit coat and then the shirt she’d managed to unbutton. Audrey sucked in a breath. She ran fingertips down his bronze skin. He had perfectly muscled arms and shoulders and a hard, flat stomach with planes of muscle disappearing into the waistband of his trousers. Fine blond hairs sprinkled around his nipples. She moved in and licked one, gratified by his sudden intake of breath.

  “Fair’s fair.” He found the buttons of her blouse again and pushed it off her shoulders. It slithered to the floor. He plucked the black market cash from between her breasts. “Hey, a tip!” He tossed the money on a table.

  She laughed. “Hold up there, sweetie. You need to earn it first.”

  He unhooked her bra and tugged it off her shoulders; it fell to the floor atop her blouse. A look of wonder washed over his face, and he filled his hands with her breasts, growling low in the back of his throat. “Beautiful. You’re exquisite.” He bent his head and traded his hands for his mouth, kissing and suckling her just like in her fantasy. Streams of sensation made her legs weak.

  Audrey wriggled and pressed her thighs together. They were slick with her fluids. “I’m not sure how much longer I’ll be able to stand up.” She undid his belt and started on the fastenings of his pants. “I hope you have condoms,” she panted, “because I don’t.”

  He let go of the nipple he’d been tonguing. “We don’t need them.”

  “Huh?” She ran her hands up his torso. His skin was amazing; silky and electric, it sent bolts of desire from her fingertips to her pussy.

  “Shifters don’t get human diseases, and I control when my seed impregnates. Enough discussion. I need to get my shoes off,”
he said thickly, voice raspy with need.

  She glanced down. Wingtips. “Here, let me.” She kneeled before him and untied both shoes; he balanced with a hand on her shoulder while she worked them off one at a time. When she raised her head, she closed her mouth over the bulge in his pants, breathing heat and desire through the fabric.

  A feral sound escaped him. Max plunged his hands into her hair, scattering pins and clips. She finished undoing his trousers, gave a tug, and they pooled on the floor. The outline of his cock through cream-colored silk shorts made her heart beat so fast, she was afraid she might pass out. He let go of her hair long enough to push his underwear out of the way.

  His cock was huge and amazing. Wonderfully shaped, it curved toward her invitingly. A single drop of fluid glistened on the glans. She rubbed it around the sensitive head with a fingertip and then took him into her mouth, nibbling and sucking. Her own climax was so close, she thought she might come just from sucking on him.

  “Audrey, sweetheart.” Arms pulled her upright. “I’ll come if you keep doing that, and I want to come inside your pussy—at least this first time.” His eyes gleamed with hunger. His breath came fast. He fumbled with her skirt. It slid down her hips. “Help me with your stockings.”

  She pushed ineffectually at them and then walked to the bed. Perched on the edge, she shinnied out of her nylons. The only thing left was a lacy, pink thong. With a roar, Max dove across the room, landing practically on top of her. He covered her body with his and kissed her with a vengeance. The feel of his skin against hers was incredible and thrilling. Wherever he touched her came alive with desperate, aching need. She ground her body against him. Release was close, so close.

  He reached between them and ripped the thong out of the way. “Sorry, sorry,” he murmured. “I can’t wait any longer. I have to be inside you.”

  Audrey wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his shoulders and hung on. His cock slid into her in a long, delicious heave. That was all it took. As he hit bottom, she convulsed around him. To keep from screaming, she bit his shoulder and then kissed him.