Tall Dark Handsome Lycan, Book 4

by Anastasia Maltezos

  Matt lifted her in his arms. “I cannot wait,” he growled as he turned and placed her on the couch.

  He covered her body with his, his mouth closing over one of her breasts and she gasped as pleasure ignited her senses. Maddy arched her neck and cried out as he took her other breast in his mouth.

  His strong, powerful member found the hot, moist place between her legs and Maddy tensed in anticipation as she clutched his shoulders. With one hard, searing thrust he filled her and she cried out. He began to move inside of her and she gasped in delight at the sheer ecstasy flowing through her veins. She looked into his face and saw a mixture of pleasure and pain darkening his features. She grabbed his face and pulled it down to hers.

  His kiss was hard and passionate as he moved his mouth hungrily over hers. An escalating heat rose in her limbs, the hot ache between her legs intensifying, and she arched her neck and cried out. Wave after wave of ecstasy washed over her body and Maddy splintered into a million pieces.

  With one final, hard thrust, Matt stiffened, his expression taut with desire, and he groaned as he released himself into her warmth. He collapsed over her body, his elbows bracing him above her on the couch, and he released a long, ragged breath.

  They lay entwined, their breathing laboured, as they allowed their racing hearts to subside.

  Maddy tensed, knowing what was coming.

  Matt inhaled sharply and raised his head, his dark eyes boring down on hers. “You’ve always known, haven’t you?”

  She nodded as his dark eyes changed to amber. She knew he was involuntarily shifting into his lycan form, the only time a lycan shifted against his will when he mated with his one. “My sister told me that night she saw everything else in her crystal ball.”

  His face and body began to stretch and grow. Matt rose and towered before her as his body expanded. “And you never thought it wise to let me know?” He asked, his voice already changing. It sounded gravelly, low.

  He was completely transformed in his lycan form now, but Maddy wasn’t afraid. “You would not have believed me.”

  “I’ve suspected for a while you were my one, Maddy. This,” he added, pointing down at his body, “only confirms what I’ve suspected.”

  He knew? Maddy was startled by the news. As quickly as he transformed into his beast, he shifted back into his human. “We have to talk.”

  Maddy rose and grabbed her clothes strewn on the floor. “We have to hurry and get dressed before Wendy returns with Effy.” She put on her clothes, refusing to glance his way.

  “Maddy, look at me,” he said, a thread of frustration deepening his tone.

  She dragged her gaze to him and was surprised to see him clothed. “We have nothing to talk about, Matt.”

  His mouth tightened. “You are my one,” he ground out. “A lycan does not walk away from his true love.”

  Her heart was heavy. “Matt, a man cannot love two women.”

  “What the devil are you talking about?”

  “I don’t want you to stay with me because you know I’m your one. Your involuntary shift only proves I’m your one. Your feelings for me should be the reason you want to be with me.”

  “What makes you think the legend is the only reason I want to be with you?” He asked with grave deliberation.

  He was angry, but Maddy didn’t care. “You still love your ex.”

  “That was two hundred years ago, dammit!” His face turned to a dark shade of red. “I know I’m not the same man today I was then. What I feel for you surpasses any feelings I have ever had for anyone.”

  “You’re attracted to me. That’s not enough.”

  “What are you saying? All I want from you is sex?”

  “No. Not really. I know you’re kind and compassionate. I know you do genuinely care for Effy and me, but I can’t be with someone while a ghost’s memory hovers between us.”

  “You’re forgetting on the next full moon tomorrow, you will transform into a lycan. Maddy, look in the mirror. The red on your jaw is already gone. The beast within you has already awakened and your healing abilities have already kicked in.”

  “I haven’t forgotten what I’m going to turn into. I knew what I was doing when we made love.” She paused, her eyes filling with tears. “I’m sorry, but I want my true love. I want my happily ever after. I want you to love me as much as I love you,” she said in a broken voice. “I’ve waited too long to meet you only to end up being second best.”

  Matt growled with frustration. “Haven’t you heard a word I said?” His mouth worked with emotion and his nostrils flared. “I love you, Mad. I love you so much, when I sensed you were in danger, I thought my chest was going to explode. Since I’ve met you, I haven’t stopped thinking about you. I dream about you, I feel you around me even when we’re apart.” He paused at her gasp. “I love you.”

  “I thought—”

  “You thought wrong,” he said, his tone softening as his anger evaporated. “You couldn’t believe something good could happen to you. You’ve lost so much, you were afraid to believe what was happening before your eyes. Our souls found each other.” He swallowed hard. “Maddy, I was afraid, too, when I realised what I believed for two hundred years was a lie. You turned my whole world around from the moment I met you. I started falling in love with you the moment you walked into my office and demanded the wand.” He grabbed her by the shoulders and gazed deeply into her eyes. “I do not want to be that man again who cannot feel. You touched my soul. You made me live again.” He paused, his eyes growing curiously bright. “Marry me. I want my life to mean something. Marry me and put me out of my misery,” he said hoarsely.

  Maddy’s heart soared. If there was ever any doubt his declaration was true, his beautiful, dark eyes confirmed his sincerity. Love and warmth poured from his gaze, making her spirit sing with joy. “I will marry you,” she said simply.

  He groaned and dragged her against his chest, his hand clasping the back of her head. “My brave, beautiful Maddy.” He released her with a regrettable look on his face. “I’m afraid we don’t have time to celebrate our union. After Wendy drops off Effy, I’m taking you two to our safe house for an hour. I need to see James.”

  “Safe house?”

  “It’s an underground facility here in New York, a hideout for lycans and vampires. It’s surrounded by lead so Garos’s army cannot detect us.”

  “Lead is impenetrable?”

  “Yes. No vampire or lycan can sense anything beyond lead.”

  “How long will you be gone?”

  “Not more than an hour.”

  “I don’t know, Matt,” she said, worried. “Being underground with Effy in a closed environment filled with vampires and lycans. She reads minds. It may be too much for her.”

  “Can’t you make certain she turns her button off?”

  Maddy sighed. “I can, but she doesn’t always listen. Why don’t we wait for you here?” She asked.

  “I don’t want to risk it. Garos may send other men while I’m gone. Maddy, Effy won’t be frightened of the safe house. Think of the facility as a recreation center. It has all the amenities you would find on any street in New York. It was designed with comfort and safety in mind. I am sure it’s no different from your coven.”

  She smiled in spite of the serious tone of their conversation. “Our coven has a sky, the sun, birds.” His brows rose. “Magic. Some witches reside there and the mistress wanted to create the illusion of the real world.”

  “I would like to visit your coven. I confess our safe house, although pleasing in its comforts, does not possess a sky.”

  Maddy smiled, her attention drawn to the door as the doorbell rang. “That’s Wendy and Effy.”

  Maddy spent a few minutes chatting with Wendy before she closed the door behind her. She smiled down at her niece. “Did you have fun at the park, honey?”

  Effy nodded, her eyes bright with excitement. “There was a dog and I was petting it. He was really cute. Auntie Mad, can you please
buy me a dog?”

  “Maddy, we need to get going,” Matt said quietly.

  She tossed him a quick nod before she drew her attention back to her niece. “Honey, we’ll discuss getting a dog another time. Right now we’re going on an adventure. We’re going to visit a special place.” Her niece’s eyes lit with interest. “Do you remember when we visited the coven last year?” Effy nodded. “Well, this place we’re going to visit is kind of like the coven, but you have to promise me to close your mind and try really hard not to read anyone’s thoughts.”

  “Okay,” Effy said simply.

  Maddy looked at Matt and shrugged her shoulder. She’d been worried for nothing, she thought. Matt nodded his understanding and glanced at his watch. “Maddy, we have to go.”

  She turned to the hall table and saw her keys. “Where’s my purse? I left it on the table when I came in. It was right next to my keys.”

  “It may have fallen somewhere when I was busy with your uninvited visitor,” Matt said.

  Maddy knew he wasn’t speaking freely because Effy was there. She flashed him a grateful look and peered under the table. “There it is.”

  “Leave it. All you need are your keys.”

  She could tell by the look on his face he was tense. She nodded, grabbed her keys, and took Effy’s hand. “Come, honey. Let’s go visit that special place.”

  She locked the door behind them and they walked down her porch. Once they were all settled in the car, Maddy gave Matt a careful look. “Effy,” she said, looking over her shoulder. “Matt and I have some good news to share with you.” She caught his expression softening. “How would you like to be a flower girl?”

  Chapter Eight

  A half hour later, after Matt parked the car, Maddy took Effy’s hand and they followed him into an ice cream shop. Maddy gave him a questioning look, but Matt wasn’t paying attention to her. His attention was on the young girl wearing a pink and white striped outfit behind the counter.

  “I want ice cream, Auntie Mad.”

  Maddy smiled down at her niece and looked around the parlour. It was empty. She looked back at the girl behind the counter and watched her nod knowingly at Matt before she reached beneath the counter. Maddy heard a resounding click and the entire wall on the left slid open.

  “Thanks, Alissa,” Matt said.

  Maddy glanced down at Effy. “Honey, I don’t think we’re going to get ice cream here,” she said slowly. She shot another gaze around the parlour. It certainly looked like it was ready for business with tables and chairs, a black and white tiled floor, and ice cream buckets brimming with different flavours beneath the glass topped counter.

  Alissa peered over the counter at Effy. “Sure she can have ice cream. What flavour, luv?”

  Effy smiled. “Chocolate fudge.”

  “Coming right up.”

  Maddy watched Alissa grab a napkin and place it around a cone. She leaned into the counter and scooped the chocolate ice cream into the cone. With a smile, she reached over the counter and handed it to Effy.

  “Here you go.”

  Maddy smiled at the girl. “How much do I owe you?”

  Alissa grinned at Effy. “It’s on the house.”

  Maddy thanked her as Matt placed his hand on the small of her back. “This way,” he said.

  He led them to the opened section of the wall and Maddy halted her steps. It was a small entry with light emanating from the inside. Maddy was being silly, but she was afraid to walk through it. She glanced down at Effy and saw that her niece was unfazed, enjoying her ice cream cone, as though walking through a wall was an everyday occurrence for her.

  “Ready?” Matt asked.

  She nodded at him and took Effy’s free hand. As soon as they walked through the entryway, the sliding wall closed behind them.

  “The stairwell before us is a few flights,” Matt explained. “Be careful. It’s a little narrow.”

  Slowly, they made their way down and reached a bend. As they cleared the curve, Maddy saw the candelabras lining the walls along the narrow stairwell. They continued their descend slowly, with Matt leading the way as Maddy stayed close behind him with Effy at her side. At the bottom, they reached a massive metal door. Maddy saw the lit panel on the left and watched with interest as Matt punched in a string of numbers. The door whirred and swung open.

  He stood aside, motioning with his hand for Maddy and Effy to enter. “After you two.”

  Maddy held her breath as she walked passed Matt. Voices and soft music filtered in the air and she looked around with interest.

  The facility was huge with a high ceiling and people milling about everywhere. Every corner had a theme. She saw a seating area with sofas and chairs, a dining area with tuxedo clad waiters carrying trays of food, a small dance area in the far corner where couples moved slowly to the soft music, and an area in a glass room where children played. Was that some kind of daycare, she thought, staring at the children. They all looked perfectly normal, but on closer look, she noticed a few of them had eerily pale complexions. Her senses flared and she tensed as her gaze rested on some of the other children playing on an elaborate swing set. She sensed the lycan in them. Maddy gasped and darted Matt a surprised look.

  “Those children are vampires and lycans?”

  “Yes, and human. Some of our kind bear human children,” he replied with ease. “Your ability to sense our kind is developing. I am pleased.” He paused, his gaze going from Effy and back to Maddy. “So how would you two like to spend your time here? You can spend the hour in the children’s play room or have something to eat in the dining area.”

  “I want to play,” Effy piped up.

  Matt smiled down at her. “As I suspected. I see you finished your ice cream. Did you enjoy it?”

  Effy grinned at him and nodded. Matt patted her gently on the top of her head and directed his gaze back to Maddy. She was so happy Matt and Effy got along. She was happier when they’d told Effy they were getting married, her niece had taken the news very well.

  “Viktor is on his way here. He manages this place,” Matt said, glancing over Maddy’s shoulder. “I want to introduce you to him. He will make sure you and Effy are well cared for until I return.”

  Before she had time to turn around, a tall, bald man, wearing a black suit and red tie, approached them.

  “Matt, what a pleasure it is to see you,” he said.

  “Viktor, this is Madison O’Reilly and her niece, Effy. I want you to make sure they’re taken care of while I’m gone. I’ll return in one hour.”

  The man smiled at Maddy. “Of course. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Madison.”

  “Please call me Maddy,” she said, taking his hand in a brief shake. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, too.”

  Viktor glanced down at Effy. “Hello, young lady. Ah, you are interested in the play area, aren’t you?” He asked.

  Effy was staring at the children playing. Maddy placed a gentle hand on her niece’s shoulder. “Honey?”

  Effy gave her a beseeching look. “Auntie Mad, I want to go play, please.”

  Viktor laughed. “If your aunt permits, I can take you there.”

  Effy looked at Viktor for the first time and nodded, her eyes bubbling with excitement. Maddy smiled. “That would be fine.”

  She felt Matt’s hand on her arm. “Maddy, I have to go.”

  As she smiled at him, her insides coiled with tension. He must have caught something on her face because he placed a gentle hand on her face and his eyes warmed. “You’re in good hands,” he said quietly.

  She nodded, her gaze locked with his and he lowered his head and kissed her firmly on the mouth. “I’ll be back before you know it,” he said as he withdrew. He turned his gaze on Viktor. “Take care of them,” he said and turned on his heels.

  She watched him stride back to the entrance and pull a lever beside the door. The door opened and Matt disappeared into the candelabra lit stairwell as the door closed behind him. Maddy turned to Viktor who
was regarding her with a friendly look. She smiled nervously at him.

  “You have no reason to feel out of place here,” he said. “We are all family.”

  “Of course. Thank you.”

  “Good,” he said, cupping his hands before him. “Now, let’s bring your niece to the play area.”

  He directed them through the different sections of the facility and Maddy watched with fascination as nearly everyone greeted him with short nods or smiles. “This place is a haven for our kind,” he explained. “I like to call it our sanctuary.”

  Maddy was impressed. “It’s an interesting place. I expected something different.”

  “Most people do when they arrive here for the first time. Originally it started off as a safe house, and still is, but it gained in popularity and now it is also a place where the creatures of the night come here to relax and enjoy themselves. There are no threats here, only good company, good food, and good times. I am sure Matt told you the walls are made of lead so no outsider can detect our presence here.” Maddy nodded. “We have these sanctuaries all over the world.” They stopped at the entrance of the play room. “Here we are. Come, I will introduce you to Jenny, the caretaker who looks after the children and Gabriel, the guard who protects them.”

  He held the door open for Maddy and Effy and they entered the spacious, colourful room. The children were remarkably well behaved. Maddy expected a cacophony of screams and cries in the room, not the respectable level of chatter and giggles. A young, blonde woman approached them.

  “Hi, I’m Jenny,” she said, extending her hand.

  “Hi, I’m Maddy and this is my niece, Effy.”

  “Welcome,” Jenny said. She glanced down at Effy. “You’re here to play, aren’t you?” Effy nodded shyly. “Great. Well, come with me. I’ll introduce you to some of the other kids.”

  Maddy smiled as she watched Jenny lead Effy to a cluster of children who played on the slide. She turned to Viktor and her heart tripped as she stared at a ridiculously handsome man standing next to him. Clad in a black shirt and black pants, he was tall, well built and dark haired. That’s where her description of him ended in the normal variety. She couldn’t take her gaze off his beautiful face. His eyes were so dark, black really, they almost looked opaque. His mouth was a sculpture in perfection with a sensual lower lip and well defined upper lip. And his skin! His skin looked like satin, pale, with an almost ethereal glow radiating around him.