Her pulse sped to the increasing rhythm of the tribal drums. “Sex isn’t part of the ritual.”
“Maybe it should be.” He held her gaze while he tore the edge of the foil wrapper with his teeth.
“I’m on the Pill,” she sputtered out, wondering how she’d plucked that little gem out of the churning maelstrom of thoughts in her head.
That stopped him for a moment, and his gaze hardened.
“It’s not like that,” she added quickly, eyeing the condom between his fingers. “My doctor recommended it for health reasons.”
He relaxed and rolled the rubber over his rapidly stiffening cock. “Then the more the merrier. A werewolf’s fertile phase can be quite effective.” He gave her a barely noticeable smile. “Open the way for me.”
Picturing a whole other meaning to the command, she picked up her wand with shaky hands and walked to the edge of the barrier. She cut a clockwise rectangle into the circle wall, creating a door of sorts. He stepped through, bringing in a whoosh of cool air and his enticing scent. She sealed him inside by drawing the door in reverse, and then she headed back to the center. On the way, she glanced at the window and noticed Sage had disappeared. Apparently, Zane’s intense mood made him more of an animal than the cat wanted to deal with. Maybe Lana shouldn’t be dealing with it, either.
“Don’t step on the salt,” she said, turning to face him.
He followed her footsteps and stopped just in front of her, looking at her with an anticipation that surrounded her like the magic-infused air.
“It’s hot in here,” he said. “Especially in the middle of the star.”
“Some believe the center of a pentagram represents love and sexual energy,” she found herself saying.
He drew closer. “And what do you believe?”
She couldn’t manage a swallow. Her throat was too tight. “I’m starting to see how that thought came about.”
Taking his hands sent a different kind of energy swirling into the magic around them. She pulled him down with her until they were on their knees facing one another.
“What next?” he asked, sitting on his heels.
“I’ve called upon the god. Now I must ask the goddess for protection to balance the ritual.”
“Then say the words.” He reached out and picked up a candle, correctly choosing the silver one representing the divine moon goddess. “I’ll pour the wax.”
She nodded and lifted the goblet of wine beside her. It quivered while she held it aloft, trying hard to focus on the goddess rather than the man whose presence was quickly overshadowing everything else. “By the womb of mother goddess, the chalice from which all life comes forth, I ask for protection. Lady of moonlight, bathe me in your pure white power. A sacrifice of pain I offer for your favor.”
Zane slid his free hand around her waist, and she leaned back, holding her breath to await the pain. He tipped the candle slowly, eyeing her all the while, and the splatter that hit her skin landed right on her nipple. Her mouth opened to a silent cry as the stab of fire shot pleasure straight down to her clit. She closed her eyes with a tiny whimper, and she immediately felt another hot dribble land on her other nipple. She arched over Zane’s arm and couldn’t help focusing on the tingles between her thighs.
The air thickened and sweat broke out on her brow. Images of spearing herself on Zane’s cock began derailing all thoughts of the ritual. She almost spilled the wine clutched in her hand, and she set it aside.
“I’m not sure that counted as a pain sacrifice,” she whispered.
“Why not?”
She opened her eyes. “Because I enjoyed it too much.”
His smile was decidedly mischievous. She took the candle from him and splashed more wax onto her breast, biting her lip as stinging pain seeped in and cleared her thoughts.
“There,” she said. “That’s better.”
Or maybe it wasn’t. The gold in Zane’s eyes was rapidly spreading outward, and lust flowed palpably between them. His cock stood straight out, bobbing stiffly in his lap and yet looking strangely separated from the moment with the condom covering it. She had a wicked urge to tear the rubber off before plunging her pussy down on him, but Zane was right. Two contraceptives were way better than one.
She trembled as she finished the invocation. “As I will and by the pleasure of the goddess, so mote it be.”
His hand skimmed lightly over her shoulder and down her arm. “By the pleasure of the goddess,” he echoed in a soft whisper.
Their eyes held, and Lana was barely aware of the silver candle flame elongating and waving in a snake-like motion. The goddess had acknowledged her call. Whether she would grant the request in light of Lana’s scattered attention was less clear.
“What else?” Zane prompted after several seconds ticked by.
Lana had to force herself to think. “That’s it, really. Now I end the ritual.”
She started to set the candle aside, but he stopped her and pulled it closer. “The ritual ain’t over yet,” he said in a thick, hoarse tone.
Keeping his hand closed over hers, he guided her to tip wax onto his chest. The pale stream splashed over his scar and onto his abdomen. She saw him gritting his teeth, but he didn’t flinch. His golden eyes brightened as he took the candle and put it aside.
Zane circled her with his arms and pulled her up onto his thighs. Her arms flew around his neck to steady herself. No words were required to know what he intended.
“Not lying down?” she asked, wondering why she was asking such a stupid thing.
“You said not to mess up the salt.”
His shoulders were rock hard and damp with sweat as she clutched them. Her heart pounded at his stare, which grew so feral she wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d lost the ability to speak. The animal grunt he let out when he pushed his cock against her cunt opening seemed to confirm this, and it prompted her to crush her lips against his.
He sat her down on his throbbing dick, and her body flamed. He wrapped his arms around her, fucking her mouth with his tongue while his erection bottomed out deep inside her. His grunts and growls continued in spurts, and all the candlelight around them flickered wildly, spurring her on. She found a balance point on her heels and started bouncing on his cock.
She’d never seen Zane so desperate, so out of control, and his lack of restraint fueled her own. The drums pounding through the air grew wilder, and so did they. Lana ground herself shamelessly against her mate’s lap, tossing her head back and pulling his mouth down to her breast. He no doubt got pieces of wax in his mouth when he bit through the hard coating, but he didn’t seem to care. He nipped and sucked on her like a starved predator.
“Ayóó ánííníshí, Lana,” he said in a pleading whisper that sent waves of emotion surging through her.
Her thighs strained with the effort she was putting into riding him. “What’s that mean?”
He hugged her to him and buried his face between her breasts. “Just feel it.”
She sensed their energies merging together until she couldn’t breathe anymore. She felt more for him than she could put into words, except for one overriding urge that she fought to quell.
“Your hair,” she said, the words coming with difficulty. “I want my hands in it.”
A nod and growl offered consent, and she threaded her fingers through his silken strands and tugged hard.
“Tse,” she whispered. “Ayóó ánííníshí.”
She botched the dialect, but Zane unhinged completely. He thrust himself wildly now, and his snarl shot her eyes open in time to see his jaw lengthening and a trail of saliva glistening along the side of his mouth. Fangs erupted as his eyes went red-gold, and she gasped when he pulled her head to one side and clamped down very near his bond mark.
As the final, rapid play of drumbeats sounded around them, they convulsed together violently. Lana screamed while the fleeting pain of Zane’s bite took her into ecstasy. She didn’t need to understand Navajo to grasp the meaning o
f their words to one another. Their bond drowned out everything else.
The power when their climaxes exploded burst the energy circle, although she wasn’t aware of it until the telltale chill of outside air settled over her. The music fell silent as they finished coming. They clung to each other’s sweat-coated bodies, panting heavily while the rhythm of the flickering candles around them stilled.
“We broke the barrier,” she said in between breaths.
He looked stricken for a moment, and he reached between them to extract himself. “I’m sorry,” he said, looking at the spent condom that was still in place.
“That wasn’t the barrier I meant.”
“I know. Looks like this tore, though, but just a little.”
She frowned. “Well, that shouldn’t be bad, right? I’m still on the Pill. No worries.”
When she tried to get off his lap, shaky, protesting muscles made her wince. Zane had to help her up. She glanced around, wondering whether she need bother with the usual process of reversing the circle and releasing the four elements. They seemed to have fled in the wake of her and Zane’s lovemaking.
When she looked back at Zane, he had his hands on his hips and his eyes shut. He was shaking visibly.
“Are you all right?” she asked.
“The change is comin’.” Every word seemed to pain him, and his eyes when they opened were still fiery gold. “Don’t think I can control it.”
Unnatural ripples brought his skin to life, and with a snarl he staggered out of the room to the kitchen. He managed to avoid stepping on the salt pentacle that no longer mattered. She heard the back door open and slam closed, and she stood there a moment.
She heaved a sigh and picked up her cloak. “Guess I’ll just clean up.”
A glimpse of her bare chest in the mirror drew her closer to the fireplace for a better look. “A cross,” she said, touching the design left by one of the wax trails.
Reading wax drippings was a divination practice she only knew a little about, but the meaning seemed clear. A cross was a good omen, meaning she’d been granted protection. A frown came, however, when she glanced at the other breast. The wax dripping there looked more like a snake.
“Beware,” she said. “So which one is right?”
An answer failed to materialize, so she shrugged her robe back on and tried not to obsess about it. She was sweeping the sea salt into a pile when she heard the howl, an eerie, beautiful bay she sensed was meant to honor the power of the moon goddess.
A smile crested her lips. “Zane.”
The smile slipped when she felt a jolt of shock coming at her from his direction. She slipped over to the back door on tiptoe, still carrying the broom. She peered out quietly, and her jaw fell open.
“Stay the hell away from this cabin,” Jayel was saying.
Her gun was pointed at the black wolf whose neck fur was standing straight up. Zane’s lip peeled back, and the snarl he let out sent a shiver through Lana.
“Fuck you too,” Jayel said, and she cocked the trigger.
Chapter Eight
“No, wait!” Lana exclaimed, flinging herself out the back door, broom still in hand, to put herself between Zane and Jayel’s gun. “I thought you said you can’t kill wolves?”
Jayel gaped at her. “Shut up, you idiot. It can understand you.” She tried to adjust her aim at the wolf, but Lana shifted her stance again to block it.
Jayel sighed and lowered the weapon. “Are you planning to ride that broom or hit something with it?”
“This isn’t a joke,” Lana said. “Put the gun away.”
“You’re not the animal preservation society. And for the record, werewolf,” Jayel added, injecting extra poison into the last, “the silver in this gun may not kill you at the moment, but it will most definitely fuck your shit up. Now move away slowly, Lana, and get back inside the cabin.”
She shook her head. “I thought you said you wouldn’t hurt a wolf unless it was one who attacked your family.”
“I just caught him sniffing around your back door. He was going to hurt you.”
“No, he wasn’t.”
“Step aside.”
She spread her arms. “I can’t do that. He’s with me.”
Lana’s cloak had fallen open with the motion, and Jayel’s eyes flicked over the bare skin beneath. Then they hardened.
“No, no, no, no,” Jayel said, snapping each one off more harshly than the last. “Tell me you weren’t stupid enough to get sucked into their werewolf games?”
Lana felt a warm energy swelling behind her, and she knew Zane was shifting. He took hold of her arm and tried to put himself in front of her.
Lana pulled out of his grip. “Don’t, Zane. Stay back.”
“Let her go, dog,” Jayel said.
“Lana,” Zane said sharply. “Get behind me.”
“No.” She squared her shoulders and struggled to shield him. “She’ll shoot you if I do. But she won’t hurt me.”
The gun came up again. “Don’t be so sure,” Jayel said. “How could you let one of them touch you knowing what they’re capable of? After telling you what they did to my family?”
“Zane didn’t hurt your family. He’s not even from around here.”
“Yet you let him sink his fangs and cock in you after you’ve been in town for what, two days?”
“Three.”
“Oh, pardon me.” Jayel shook her head. “I wouldn’t have pegged you as such an enormous slut.”
Lana’s mouth fell open. “I’ll have you know I was a virgin.”
Jayel let out a disdainful laugh. “Yeah? I’m a virgin too, but my definition doesn’t include spreading my legs for filth five minutes after meeting it.”
Zane growled and flinched forward. “Don’t talk to her that way.”
Lana cut him off by holding the broom out. “Stop it,” she said. “Let me handle this.”
Jayel shook her head. “You know, you did try to tell me you’ve got a thing for wolves. Guess I didn’t quite catch your meaning.”
“Jayel, please.”
She felt Zane stiffen behind her at the name.
“It’s all a lie, Lana, whatever he said to get into your pants,” Jayel said. “That’s what werewolves do, you know. Whether he takes you against your will or convinces you to give yourself to him, it’s the same either way. You’re a slave to a vicious, murdering animal.”
Lana shook her head. “You’re wrong. They aren’t like that.”
“They.” Jayel sneered. “That’s right. With wolves it’s always a dirty, twisted little trio, isn’t it? So where is it? Where’s the other thing you let between your legs?”
“Put the gun down, Jay,” came a voice from behind her. “You know you don’t want to hurt her.”
Given a thousand words to explain, Lana could never have described Jayel’s expression as she whipped around. “It’s you,” she whispered in obvious shock.
Jayson stepped out from between the trees, naked and half out of breath. “Yeah. It’s me.”
Lana felt a spike of jealousy at the way the pair stared at one another. Was Jayel the woman Jayson had spoken of to the tow driver? Was he in love with her?
“What are you doing here?” Jayel said, her voice shakier than Lana had ever heard.
He stepped closer. “After all this time, that’s what you’ve got to say to your only brother?”
“Brother?” Lana asked, shooting forward. “This is the brother you told me about the other day? The little boy who got kidnapped by wolves?”
“I never said he was a little boy.”
Jayson eyed the women. “You two know each other?”
Lana nodded. “We’re kind of friends, I guess.” Jayel shot her an odd glance at that. “I met her right after you and Zane.”
“Which is no doubt why he’s got his claws in you,” Jayel said. “To punish me.”
Jayson frowned. “Why would I want to punish you?”
“Because you’re one of the
m now.” She stiffened. “But if you ever cared about me at all, you’ll stay out of this, Jayson.”
“What do you mean, if I ever cared? I still do care. I’ve been lookin’ everywhere for you.”
Jayel snorted. “Yeah, I’ll bet. Quite a few of your kind have been trying to sniff me out.”
“And what about yours and my kind?”
“What kind is that? Surely you don’t mean human?”
“No. Family.”
Jayel’s expression went flat, and the gun wavered.
Lana just stared at the two of them. Without knowing Jayel was a Turk, she wouldn’t have guessed the relation. Both of them had red hair, true, but Jayson’s was a pale strawberry while Jayel’s shade was as fiery as her demeanor. His eyes were green, hers were dark. And Jayel’s acid tone lacked the cowboy twang of her brother. Still, both had a similar athleticism in their builds, and now that Lana really looked, their arched eyebrows and slender, slightly upturned noses were identical.
“We’re still family.” His tone was soft and soothing as he slowly inched forward. “Nothin’ can change that, not even the full moon. Give me the gun so we can talk.”
That seemed to snap her out of her indecisiveness. The barrel came up and pointed straight at his chest. She stepped away so she was no longer in the middle of the group. “I will shoot you, and regardless of Lana babbling about me not being able to kill wolves, you can bet a silver bullet will ruin your day. I’ve dropped friends of yours to the ground with this baby.”
“He ain’t your enemy,” Zane said. “He’s kin.”
“I don’t know you,” she said, turning the gun on him. “And I don’t even want to consider what the three of you are doing with one another. So don’t go preaching family values to me.”
“I know why you’re doin’ this,” Jayson said. “I know why you want revenge. But you’re takin’ it out on the wrong wolves. We ain’t all the same. And you ain’t a killer.”
“Shut up, Jay Jay,” she said, waving the gun as she backed off. She flicked a fuming glace at Lana. “Werewolf fast talk might work on lonely, desperate women, but not on me.”
“Hey!” Lana said. “I’m not lonely and desperate.”
Disorderly Cowboys [Lone Wolves of Shay Falls 6] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 15
