She’d never been shy with him, and she didn’t inhibit herself now. Tamsin’s reaction was natural, unfeigned. She moved in his arms, seeking more, curving her body to drive him deeper into her.
Tamsin cried his name, her head banging once into the cabinet as absolute pleasure hit her. Angus shouted at the same time, unable to stifle it. His own release was building, tightening inside him, ready to rob him of this ongoing joy of being inside his mate.
Angus lifted her, sliding her from his now-slick cock. Tamsin gasped as they came apart, her eyes flying open.
He held her against him, kicking off his ensnaring jeans, and staggered with her down the trailer to the bed at the end.
Tamsin fell onto the mattress, laughing up at him as she reached for him, arms welcoming. Angus came down over her, finding it easy to slide back inside where he’d been happy. He was so hard he ached, but she soothed the ache with her astonishing warmth.
The glare of the carnival flashed and glowed against the thin curtains, light chasing shadow over Tamsin’s face. Angus kissed her and gave in to the frenzy.
He drove into her, she came up to him, the two matching in need and strength. Shifters could make love for a long time—hours, days—but Angus’s desperation for her was too strong for that.
His need built high, a hot wave that swept him up and erased all existence but Tamsin, her softness, her body squeezing him until he was lost. He shouted her name as he came and came, kissing her face. “Tamsin. My mate. My heart.”
The words ended in another groan as he gave up to her everything he was.
Tamsin moved against him, her climax as intense, her face beautiful as she released herself into it. She pulled him close, the two hard against each other, seeking, needing.
Tamsin kissed Angus frantically as he collapsed onto her. He surrendered into the soft strength of his mate, who caught him and held him, secure against the world.
* * *
• • •
Tamsin had never been anywhere she liked better than lying under Angus’s warm weight. He pressed hot, openmouthed kisses to her neck and breasts, his fingers gentle as he moved his hand up her arm.
Beyond the trailer’s walls, music thumped and bells rang as rides shot screaming humans through the air.
“Better than the Zipper,” Tamsin whispered.
Angus let out a soft grunt. “Goddess, I hope so. Never getting on that thing again.”
Tamsin threaded her fingers through his mussed hair. “Big bad wolf, afraid of a carnival ride, and he blushes about the mating frenzy.”
Angus raised his head. He wasn’t blushing now, and his eyes held confidence and warmth. “Mating frenzy isn’t so bad.”
“You’re right, it’s not.” She traced his cheek. “Not with the right Shifter.”
Angus kissed her breast, then licked his way down to her nipple. He brought it to life with his tongue, then drew it into his mouth.
He suckled her slowly, then raised his head, finishing with a little nip. “You’re the right Shifter for me.” His brows came down. “Am I for you?”
“I think we already had this discussion. On the ride that had you screaming like a cub.”
“That was heat of the moment,” Angus said. “You were being tossed around until you were dizzy. Maybe it shook up your brain.”
“Yeah, that was it.” Tamsin gave him a sage nod. “That’s why I said I’d be your mate.”
Angus darted his tongue over her throat. “I’m finished arguing. We need a clan leader to do the ceremonies. My clan is scattered to the four winds, so it will have to be a Shiftertown leader.”
“I’d like my mom to be there,” Tamsin said softly, her heart squeezing with a familiar ache. “But it’s impossible.”
“Maybe not. If we can convince Shifters you don’t have anything they want, they’ll help us. We can retreat to Kendrick’s and have Dylan keep Shifter Bureau off our backs.”
He made it sound so easy. “There are one or two things I need to tell you about your brother,” she said.
Angus’s sudden snarl shook the bed. “I do not want to talk about my fucking brother while I’m in bed with you.” He let out a heavy sigh. “Oh, go ahead—get it over with. You were his lover?”
“No!” The word burst out indignantly. Tamsin struggled to sit up, but Angus held her down. She’d never once touched Gavan, nor he her. “Not my type. I prefer males with sanity, thank you. And it’s not about your former mate. Well, mostly not.”
Angus’s scowl was fierce. “I don’t want to talk about her either.”
“Neither do I, really.” Tamsin couldn’t imagine a woman preferring Gavan to Angus. She must have flushed her sanity as well. Gavan had been charming and charismatic, but so were most megalomaniacs.
“They’re gone. They were my family, but they’re gone.” Angus’s voice went hard, the walls he surrounded himself with rising once more. “I want now. Here. With you.”
“So do I.” On this mattress in an old trailer in the middle of a carnival packed with humans, Tamsin was more content than she’d been in a very, very long time.
“Good,” Angus said. “So no more talking.”
He growled again, the sound low and unceasing. He continued to growl as he kissed her, only easing off as he slid inside her again, nowhere near sated.
His hardness opened her, filled her, chasing away all troubling thoughts. Tamsin happily pulled him to her and lost herself in him once more.
* * *
• • •
At breakfast in the morning, Dante’s grin was knowing. “Feel better?” he asked Angus.
Angus’s face heated—what he did with his mate was none of the bear’s damned business. Angus had made himself leave Tamsin later last night to walk over and fetch Ciaran home. She’d been asleep when he’d returned, and he’d put Ciaran to bed, gone outside into the dark park, shifted to wolf, and exploded into a run.
Sprinting over fields and up and down low hills hadn’t calmed him. He’d seen a fox, and he’d pulled up to a dust-raising halt, but it had been a wild creature, as surprised to see him as he was to see it. The way it had vanished reminded him of Tamsin and how fast she could move.
That made him remember how she’d smiled sleepily at him after their third round of lovemaking, softly touching his face before he’d risen and left her.
He could make love to her all night and all day for weeks and still not have enough.
This was why Shifters took mates. So they could lose themselves in frenzy and not come out until the female was heavy with a cub. Not that Shifter females held back when they were pregnant. No, he and Tamsin were fated to have wild sex together constantly, for the rest of their lives.
The thought made Angus spread his mouth in a wolf grin, as did the idea of having a cute little girl cub who looked like Tamsin. Would she be fox or wolf? Mixed breed Shifters were born human and first shifted to the animal form of one of their parents when they were about three. It would be fun to find out which way their daughter or son would go.
Now to convince Shifter Bureau, Dylan, and everyone else tracking them to back off and let them live their lives.
Angus had let out a sigh as he’d trotted back to the carnival. He was now as much of a fugitive as Tamsin, having missed curfew by a week or so, left his state without permission, and harbored a rogue Shifter. The Bureau wouldn’t let all that go anytime soon.
At the moment, Tamsin was serenely chatting with Celene on the other side of the tent, her cleaned breakfast plate in front of her. Ciaran had sought Brina immediately when he’d entered the tent, and now the two were bent over another gaming device, the remains of their breakfast around them.
Dante laughed. “You have it bad, my friend. But congratulations. Nothing like finding the right one.” He sent Celene a glance that left no doubt that the two had formed the mate bo
nd.
“How did you know she was for you?” Angus asked him curiously. “When she’s a half Fae? Shifters rarely jump to that conclusion.”
Dante shrugged. “You didn’t see her in skintight leather dancing all over a tightrope. She was amazing. I couldn’t keep my eyes off her. I stalked her for a while and asked her out. You know, as one does.”
Angus huffed. “If one is a nutjob. She was happy with a Shifter bear drooling after her?”
“No.” Dante chuckled. “She ran like hell. I had to convince her I wasn’t going to kill her, or even hold the fact that she was part Fae against her. Took her a while to not hold the fact I was Shifter against me.”
“I’m glad it worked out for you,” Angus answered with sincerity.
“So am I. Match made in paradise. You never know, do you? When the mate bond will strike.”
“Sun and moon?” Angus couldn’t imagine Dante coming out of hiding to find his clan leader to preside over the rites, or a Fae readily agreeing to it.
Dante shook his head. “Didn’t need one. The sun and moon ceremony is just words to show the rest of Shifter-kind what you already know.”
He spoke with conviction, but Angus heard a tinge of regret. Dante wanted to be part of the Shifter world as much as Angus did, but without the captivity, Collars, and the like. Maybe someday it would happen.
Dante turned away, clapping on his feathered hat, his striped velvet coat swirling. “Okay, ladies and gentlemen, let’s give the good people of Wichita Falls a memorable day.”
Tamsin left her table and made her way to Angus. “Celene will be watching Ciaran and Brina this morning, and then we’ll do some training. Have time to talk?”
“I’m helping fix the swing ride this morning.” Angus had volunteered to make sure another accident with it didn’t happen. “What’s up?”
He made his inquiry nonchalant, but his heartbeat quickened. Tamsin had a look in her eye that meant what she wanted to talk about wouldn’t make him happy.
He wasn’t sure he could take revelations about her life with his brother this morning. Angus had believed her when she’d denied she’d been Gavan’s lover—the surprise and disgust in her voice hadn’t been feigned, and Angus hadn’t scented a lie. Even so, he didn’t want Gavan to ruin his happiness again.
Tamsin glanced around. “Someplace private.”
“Things I need to do,” Angus said, scowling.
“The carnival got along fine without you for a long time—they can give you another hour.”
Angus heaved an irritated sigh. “Is it that important?”
Tamsin widened her eyes and nodded. “Oh, I’d say so.”
Shit. Angus slid his arm around her waist and started to guide her out of the tent.
As soon as he touched her, he longed to sweep her up and run off with her to bury himself inside her once more. He’d kept himself under control while Ciaran had been in the trailer with them, but he wasn’t sure he could keep himself from Tamsin if he retreated someplace private with her.
He stopped her, scooped her to him, and gave her a full kiss.
Tamsin readily melted into it. Angus tasted the sweetness of syrup and behind that, her need, the edge of frenzy that neither of them had sated.
Angus heard hoots and comments from the humans going back to work, but he didn’t care. Tamsin was worth their mocking.
“Sure you want to be alone with me?” he asked in a warning tone as Tamsin hung in his arms.
“Have to risk it. Really important.”
Angus didn’t like the sound of that. He took her hand and walked with her, not to the trailer, but out to the fields beyond the edge of the fairgrounds.
Tamsin didn’t question his choice. Trailers could be bugged—if Dante or one of his employees had been listening last night, they would have heard an earful. Their own fault for being nosy.
Angus had begun to trust Dante and Celene—no way would he leave Ciaran anywhere near them if he didn’t—but the trailer could have been bugged by others for other reasons. Any of the tents might also conceal a listener, and the grounds were now flowing with families as kids dragged their parents in for a day of sticky fun.
The middle of a field was the most likely place not to be overheard. They’d be surrounded by nothing but dirt, grass, mud, water, and furry animals that weren’t Shifters.
Angus and Tamsin walked about fifty yards into the wet grass before Angus turned her to him. Anyone watching would decide they wanted to be alone to canoodle.
“All right, what’s so important? Am I going to regret the mate-claim?” He spoke lightly, but everything inside him was uneasy.
Please say no. I’ve already lost part of myself in you. I don’t want to live with the hole your absence would make.
“Maybe.” Tamsin’s smiles and banter fell away, and her eyes took on a sadness and a worry that sent dread into Angus’s heart. “I need to tell you about Gavan, and what he was up to. I wasn’t his lover—I didn’t lie—but he wanted me to be. So he showed me things. What he showed me is why I ran away from him, why Shifter Bureau is chasing me, and why Dylan wants to catch me and squeeze every drop of knowledge from my brain. And why I can’t let any of them do it.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
“Stop.” Angus put his hands on her shoulders, gripping hard. “Stop—I don’t want to know this.”
Dylan had wanted Angus—expected him—to pry secrets from Tamsin’s head, but Angus had deliberately put the command out of his mind. He wasn’t about to do Dylan’s dirty work for him.
Angus didn’t want to hear secrets that would change things between him and Tamsin. What they had—what they’d begun—was good. Better than good. Since Tamsin had come into his life, Angus had woken from the half awareness in which he’d existed, and he’d do anything to never lose that.
“Yes, you do.” The sadness in Tamsin’s voice pierced his heart. “You need to know what you’re getting into with me, so that when Shifter Bureau is filling the syringe to tranq you to death, you know why. Or maybe you can trade the knowledge for your life.” She let out a breath. “I also want to tell you to ask you what to do. I thought this was all over and done with, but I guess it’s not.”
She trailed off, the lingering pain in her eyes enough to make the wolf in Angus want to kill whoever had hurt her.
“Son of a bitch, Tamsin, what the hell did my brother do to you?”
“To me?” Tamsin blinked. “Nothing. What he planned to do to the world was pretty horrible.”
“What?” Angus allowed himself a minuscule amount of relief. “Gavan wasn’t overly gifted with brains. What was he going to do—shed until humanity begged him to stop?”
“I wish it could be funny.” Tamsin swallowed, then she looked at him fully, as though knowing her next words could unmake all they’d found together. “He was building up an arsenal.”
The relief ebbed. “What kind of arsenal?”
Tamsin spread her hands. “How many kinds are there? Gavan was collecting and storing weapons. All kinds of weapons, from small handguns to grenades. Machine guns. Serious shit.”
Gavan had collected this? The man who couldn’t find his own pants without a map? “You’re sure? Did you see this arsenal?”
“Very sure. He showed it to me to brag about it. Gavan wanted to be a super-dominant Shifter, making all humans and Shifters submit to him. I guess he thought my seeing his guns would make me fall in love with him, want to be his mate. But it only told me he was crazy enough to kill—to kill a lot of people.”
“Shifters don’t use weapons.” Angus’s hands balled as he spoke. Shifters disdained them, because the Shifter him- or herself was a weapon. Why use a knife when your claws are sharper? Or a gun when you can launch yourself like a ballistic missile?
“I know that,” Tamsin said impatiently. “I couldn’t believe what
I was seeing. So when we got back to the hideout, I thanked Gavan sweetly, and then took off the first chance I could.”
Emotions churned through Angus’s brain, rising and falling like ocean waves. “What about April? I can’t imagine her stepping aside so Gavan could mate-claim you.”
“She didn’t. Gavan wanted to take more than one mate, as Shifters did in the old days. He had other females in his sights as well. April was fine with it. Younger women, she said, could give him more cubs. There was enough of Gavan to go around, in her opinion.” Tamsin rolled her eyes. “I was so out of there.”
The emotion that burst to the top of Angus’s brain, surfacing through the others, was rage. He’d damped down that rage to a simmer after Gavan’s death, in order to forget what his brother had done and get on with his life. Anger at the dead didn’t accomplish anything.
But Gavan had been a first-class dickhead. In spite of his proclamations that he would free the Shifters, all he did was rain down trouble on them. Angus had barely escaped being executed as his accessory. What had saved Angus was Gavan’s vehement denials that Angus had anything to do with his plots—not in compassion for Angus but because Gavan didn’t want to share the limelight. Gavan had considered Angus a rival from the moment of Angus’s birth.
Now Angus was learning that Gavan had wanted to build a harem, one that included not only April, but Tamsin. Gavan had always liked the idea that Shifter males should be leaders of their own packs, that producing offspring through several Shifter females would strengthen them. Apparently he’d been putting theory into practice.
But then, if Gavan wanted to spread around his own sperm, why had he insisted that April bring Ciaran with her? Scared he couldn’t produce his own offspring? He’d fought against Angus taking Ciaran back, and only stopped when Angus threatened to sic Shifter Bureau on him.
Angus dropped to the ground and dug his hands into his hair, strangled noises coming from his throat. He stretched out flat on his back and yelled to the sky.
“Goddess, I hate that asshole!”
Midnight Wolf Page 21
