by Lena Austin
Roni knew that Jon was aware of Ana’s fears, being the half angel that he was. Jon would give her a lifetime to think if she needed it. “Ana, honey, are you sure those are the things he wants in life? What if he just wants you, and that will make him happy?”
“Are you fucking senile? Every man wants children to continue his bloodline. I can’t live without him, but what kind of a life would he have with me?” Ana plopped back down on the sofa and sobbed into the pillows.
Roni finally realized what Ana had said. She’d voiced exactly what Roni felt about Corbin. Ana was in the same situation. Corbin was human. Roni was a long-lived werewolf. What if he realized that he would die before her? Would he want children? How about a whole litter?
Ana’s voice cut through Roni’s thoughts. “When he dies, I will have someone stake me. I can’t live without him. I love him so much.” Tears streaked her face as she cried.
Roni pulled Ana into a hug and held her while she sobbed. Roni envisioned herself alone and heartbroken after Corbin died and found herself feeling the same way. “I know the feeling, honey. I couldn’t live without Corbin either.” Roni stroked Ana’s blonde hair, and decided to inject some humor into their situation. What was love but a comedy of errors? “How about this? Since our men will probably die about the same time, I’ll stake you as you shoot me with a silver bullet.”
Ana lifted her head from Roni’s shoulder, looked at her and smiled. “That’s probably the craziest double homicide plan ever, but you have a deal.” Ana and Roni shook hands and sealed the pact. They stared at one another in silence.
Roni snickered first. “How many times have we sworn we’d kill each other knowing you can’t shoot a gun and I can’t hammer without breaking a thumb?”
The toothy flash of Ana’s smile brightened the room. “More times than I care to count. No man is worth death, honey. Thanks for the reminder.”
“Men. Can’t live with ’em and can’t shoot ’em. If we could give birth without them, I say we kill them all off.” Roni shrugged and laughed. “I love Corbin and you love Jon. So, we’re stuck with the venereal testosterone injections.”
Ana sniggered. “I died once because of a man. It won’t happen again.”
Roni nodded and hugged Ana. “Let’s get a drink. You look pale, anyway. When are you going to answer Jon?”
“I’ll give him his answer when he comes over Sunday.” Ana stopped on her way to the kitchen and looked puzzled. “Didn’t you say you were going to see Corbin Sunday, too?”
He’d called her a sweet little Chuskie. Roni grinned and felt giddy. She didn’t even try to stop the stupid, besotted grin that spread across her lips. “Yeah. Let’s double. Everybody needs to meet, anyway.”
Ana snickered. “Oh, that could be fun. A human, a Nephylum surgeon, a werewolf and a vampire. What a fun meal that’s going to be. We should hold a buffet. The omnivore human can clean up what the carnivore and vegetarian don’t eat. At least I get all the blood for myself.”
Roni walked to her bedroom to retrieve the coffee she’d left on the nightstand. “I’ll call the local blood bank to see if they cater.”
Ana squealed in laughter.
Roni emerged from the room, cold coffee in hand. “However, honey, if you want to live long enough to answer Jon, you should probably go to bed.”
“You just had to go and bring that up, didn’t you? As if I didn’t have enough to worry about, you had to bring up the fact that he can only have a life with me after dark!” Ana stomped off to her room. The door slammed behind her.
Roni followed, wishing desperately for the manic vampire to go to her daytime rest. The need for coffee began to outweigh friendship. Roni’s brain and heart craved a morning to sort through everything going on. “Ana, he’s a surgeon. He hasn’t slept all night since before he was in med school.”
“So not the point!” Ana screamed through the wood. The thump-thump of two shoes hitting the bottom of the closet followed.
“Talk about a case of nerves. I’ll let her sleep it off today, and I’ll bring it back up tonight.” Roni spoke to the potted fern that sat in a niche in the wall between the two bedrooms. Coffee would come soon.
“I heard that.” Rustling announced Ana was undressing for bed.
“Jump in your coffin and shut up, or I’ll open the curtains.” Roni’s empty threat was another old game of theirs. Eventually they’d get around to silver jewelry and stakes for dinner jokes. What would good friendship be without threatening your best friend’s life at least once a day?
“I painted the windows,” Ana sang from behind the closed door. “And besides, my bed is much more comfy than a coffin.”
Roni snickered. “Beds are a coffin with no lid.”
“Don’t make me call your father!” Ana threatened. She always brought out that old warning when she was losing the verbal war and her battle with sleep.
Roni frowned at the thought of how mad her father was. She recovered quickly with a rebuttal. “How are you going to do that if you’re a big pile of dust?”
“Don’t confuse the issue with facts. I’m in crisis here.” A yawn interrupted her words. Soon Ana would crash into the coma-like state of a vampire’s rest.
“You’re blonde. You’re always in crisis.” All Roni wanted to do was draw a target on the wall and bash her head against it in an excess of emotion. “Where the hell is the red Sharpie?”
“I have it in here. I’m drawing the target first!” Ana yelled around her laughter.
“Well, fuck, now what am I supposed to do with my day?” Roni looked around the house and contemplated. “I think I’ll extend my day filled with headaches. Going to the grocery store ought to round things out nicely. How exciting.”
“Oh, the problems of a trust fund baby,” Ana sang. “The child of a pack leader. Poor pitiful were-bitch has to go to the grocery store.”
“At least I’m not masochistic enough to marry a surgeon.” Roni walked away before she heard Ana’s reply.
Roni slid her shoes on and walked down the hall. “What a buffet of personalities we’re having over for dinner.” She picked her purse up off the hall table. “This is going to be the mixer of all mixers. Now watch some bastard louse it up.”
Chapter Six
Corbin stepped up on the porch and rang the doorbell. It was a cool Sunday morning, and the sun had just peeked over the horizon when the door opened.
Ana, her eyes red and sleepy, peeked around the edge. She squinted in the light and hissed, moving quickly back into the shadows.
Corbin held the bakery box out in front of him. “I come bearing gifts of pastry for anybody I woke up or kept awake.”
“I’m up way too late. Please come in, Corbin.” Ana grabbed the bakery box out of his hand and shut the door behind him. “Roni is in the shower — I’m going to bed. I’ll see you tonight at dinner.”
“Oh, to be able to sleep all day.” Corbin followed her down the hallway. “Sleep well, Ana.”
Ana turned and looked at him, her eyes bleak. “It’s a curse, not a blessing.” Ana smiled sadly. She turned, walked to her room and closed the door behind her.
Corbin was left in the dark paneled short hallway alone. He didn’t know what to do. The Thornburn Construction inspector in him was tempted to take a look at the well-preserved architecture, including the huge open concept living room with dark ceiling beams and functioning track lights. He hadn’t gotten much of a peek around while Roni and he were behaving like rabbits whenever they met.
Speaking of rabbits and other furry things, it was time he revealed his true nature to Roni. Corbin rubbed his thumb and forefinger together nervously. He didn’t like lying, especially to Roni. He knew she’d react badly, but it was important to clear the air. Still, he was tempted to wait until after her shower and delay a few precious moments more.
He wanted to remain in this joyous state of new love and lust. Telling Roni could destroy everything, but he had to live with himself first and fore
most. Besides, it was becoming increasingly difficult to remain in human form when they made love.
Ana’s door creaked open across the living room. Ana had a powdered doughnut in her hand, her red lips covered in sugar. “As I said, Roni’s in the shower.” Ana looked absolutely evil as she tilted her head toward Roni’s room, only a few feet away from Ana’s own door. Then her door creaked closed.
“I understand.” Corbin crossed to Roni’s door. “Showtime, like it or not. The truth is more important.”
The first thing to hit him was the smell of lavender. The second was the words to an old sports arena song about letting dogs out. Roni’s off-key song, punctuated by barks at the appropriate points, was bad, so why did his heart flutter?
He took his clothes off and left them where they landed. The anticipation of Roni pressed up against him naked, wet, and soapy made his dick hard. Corbin opened the curtain and stepped in.
Roni spun around, loofah in hand. She looked like a deer in headlights, and she smelled heavenly. “Arf?”
Corbin smiled and let out a deep “Woof.”
Roni looked at him with shock in her eyes. She realized that he was dusted with dark brown fur. “You son-of-a-bitch! You lied to me!” Her teeth were sharp and clenched. “After all you’ve told me, all I’ve told you, and you’re a wolf!” Roni opened the shower curtain and attempted to step out.
Corbin reached around and cupped a luscious breast. He closed the shower curtain. “I didn’t lie so much as I didn’t tell the complete truth.”
Roni turned toward him and roughly pushed his hand away. “A lie is still a lie no matter how you dress it up.”
He slid his hands around her waist and pulled her to him. He rubbed his fingers up and down her spine. A thin layer of fur grew under his hands. He was getting to her. “I’m sorry.”
Roni didn’t move away, but she stood rigid. “Why would you lie to me?”
He continued to caress the soft fur of her back. The scent of wet hair, aroused female, and lavender mixed into a new perfume only a werewolf could appreciate fully. “I lied so that I could hide.”
She pushed away from him. “What the hell is that supposed to mean? Hide from what? From me?”
Corbin looked at his partially clawed feet. How could he put into words every humiliation involved with his past? “No. What can I do to show you how sorry I am?”
Roni opened the shower curtain, stepped out, and wrapped a big pink towel around her body. “You can explain yourself.”
Corbin stepped out, accepted another pink towel, and wrapped it around his own waist. He followed Roni into the bedroom and sat down next to her on the bed.
Roni was stone-faced with her arms crossed over her chest. The light dusting of fur remained on her body, giving him a small measure of hope. Still, the regal look on her face warned him she’d kick his ass to the curb without mercy if she felt it necessary. The ring carefully hidden in his jeans pocket might never make an appearance.
He sighed heavily. “I lied in the profile because I was tired of all types of women wanting me for my money and my title.” He looked down at his hands. “I wanted to find a woman who wanted me for me and only me. Then I thought I would find the right moment to tell her — you — the truth.” He stared at his jeans piled on the floor, the lump in one pocket a recrimination. He had fucked up and knew it.
Roni’s silence continued, but her eyes held wary confusion. “I’m sorry, but what the hell are you talking about?” Roni’s eyes flickered. Sorrow, fear, and lack of understanding battled for supremacy.
Corbin braced himself. “Are you familiar with the Thornburn pack?”
Roni looked to the ceiling in thought. “Yes, I am.” Her wary, light brown gaze returned to study Corbin’s face.
“I am the heir to the Thornburn pack. My father insisted most of my life that I needed to marry a bitch from the pack. They were pure and would make the perfect litter.” He looked back down at his hands and picked at a recently acquired scar. “I dated a few bitches and even slept with them. Then I realized that all they were after was my money and the title of Alpha Bitch. They never wanted me for me.”
Roni’s face held complete understanding and acceptance. She even had a wry smile on her face. “Are you familiar with the Englemann pack?”
Corbin looked up. His own words had been thrown back at him in a new light. “Somewhat. My father is always fighting with the pack leader Eduardo over territory.” He grinned and shrugged. “As you can imagine, we don’t socialize with the canine packs much.”
Roni cocked an eyebrow, her eyes alight with regal amusement. She bit her upper lip for a moment. “I’m the heir to the Englemann pack.”
Corbin blinked. Then he leaned back on the pillows and chuckled. The irony was too much. “Talk about your Romeo and Juliet.”
Her snigger reassured him she’d understood the nature of the cruel joke fate had played on them. “I certainly do not wish to commit suicide for you despite the similarity to the present situation.”
A thought struck him. Corbin sat back up and stared at Roni. “Why did you lie on your profile?”
Roni smiled and shrugged her shoulders. “Ana set it up. She also comes from money and has been a friend of the Englemann pack for as long as I can remember.”
Corbin leaned closer and caressed her cheek, noting for the first time the similarities between the female he loved and the scrappy Eduardo Engelmann. “So what do we do now?”
She slid closer to him. The friction between the towel and the sheets pulled the tucking loose and the towel fell around her hips. “I have a few ideas.” She pushed him down on the pillows, disarranging a few.
The pink satin pillow beneath his head started to vibrate. Corbin shot back up to a sitting position. “What the…” He grabbed the pillow, unzipped it, and removed a ten-inch long vibrator. He held it up with an evil sparkle in his eye.
Roni shrugged and blushed simultaneously. The morning sun mercilessly highlighted the red flush beneath her fur. “I’ve been a lonely girl.”
Corbin got up on his knees and loomed over her. His wolf side wanted to take dominance, but his human side wanted it to be equal. He pushed her back onto the bed and leaned over her. The dildo still vibrated on one side of her head. His hand held her hair on the other side. “As long as I am alive you will never be lonely again. You’ll only be naughty.” He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers.
Their tongues warred for dominance. Two Alphas would battle in bed because he had to prove he was worthy of an Alpha Bitch. Similarly, she had to eventually submit to her chosen Alpha Male if he’d won her well enough. Fortunately he had assistance and — temporarily, at least — the upper hand.
Lust surged through his body. His cock twitched in response. He sat back up on his knees and caressed her rosy clit with the dildo.
Roni sucked in a breath and moaned. Her nipples hardened and her skin flushed beneath the light dusting of fur. “I’m so glad you like your sex on the furry side of life.”
Corbin smiled. The lust in her honey eyes gave her away even if his nose hadn’t sniffed out her arousal. He’d won, at least for now. “Got any lube?”
Roni’s eyes shifted to the nightstand. She blushed, but stuck out her chin defiantly. “I have my own natural lube, you know.”
He leaned over her and opened the drawer. The red, helmet-shaped lid of the bottle lay right on top of a pile of romance novels and assorted feminine junk. He dug it out and brandished the red and white bottle at Roni. Deliberately he made his cock brush her pussy.
She wrapped her legs around his waist and tried to pull him into her wet slickness.
Corbin avoided entering Roni with a twist of his hips and mischievously read the bottle’s label as if he had all day. Well, as far as he was concerned, he did. “Cherry flavored? My, my.” He squeezed a glob into his hand and rubbed it over the dildo.
Roni shivered in clear anticipation. She ran her hands up and down his chiseled chest. “I want
to feel every part of you in me and on my body.”
He chuckled and moved the dildo’s vibrating head to caress her clit once more. Then, with an evil smile, he moved it lower to play with her wet opening.
She moaned and lifted her hips, begging for more.
Corbin gave more to her. He dove down to lick and suck on her clit while he worked the dildo inch by inch into her pussy.
Roni yelped and arched her back. Her fingernails became claws, dug into her comforter and shredded it. The silky fabric snarled like a beast as it tore. Her pussy flooded his chin in hot moisture.
The temporary victory over Roni sped up his heart and his arousal. He ground his erection into the edge of the bed to give him some relief from the ever-increasing need to plunge in and claim his Alpha Bitch as his own.
Roni stiffened and her back bowed. She shrieked loud enough to wake the dead and came like a fountain.
Corbin prayed her shriek wouldn’t cause Ana to rise and burst in on them. Dead girls joining the party could ruin the mood. He kept his tongue busy and begged whatever gods were listening that Ana stayed asleep, curled up with the pastry box.
His bitch — he knew that now — came until she jerked like a marionette in an earthquake. Her hand reached down, clawed his hair into a fist and pulled him away. She was halfway to all fur, strong, and half-growling. “Come up here and fuck me, damn you!”
He gritted his teeth and wondered if she’d pull out his hair before they were done. “One moment, my love.”
Roni panted but released his hair. “Hurry! Please hurry!”
Despite her pleas he refused to rush. He fumbled until he found the dildo still vibrating beneath her thigh. Carefully, he fed the dildo to her puckering pink ass.
Roni’s breath hitched, and the sheets joined the comforter as future recyclables. Still she lifted her butt off the bed to give him easier access. “That’s usually exit only.”
Corbin chuckled softly to himself. This would be a total surprise to her. “Then prepare for a new sensation, baby.” The dildo slid in a few more inches. He didn’t want to go too far. Good enough. He positioned himself between her knees.
