by A C Warneke
Slowly he looked at his secretary, “She loves me.”
“Well, of course she does,” the woman scoffed. “Anyone with two eyes could see it. Miss Darling was a flirt but she never actively pursued anyone until you came along.” She chuckled at her memories, “That little girl was tenacious; it’s no wonder she quit when you broke up with her.”
“What makes you think I was the one doing the breaking?” he asked, aghast at his behavior yet powerless to stop. He needed to know everything about Lexi – about Alexandra.
“Pshaw,” Mrs. Reynolds rolled her eyes. “As if that girl would do the breaking. I swear men are so oblivious.”
“Mrs. Reynolds,” Duncan murmured firmly. “I’d like to remind you that I sign your paychecks. Now if you please, find me the information I requested because as you may have realized, I am not oblivious any longer.”
She beamed up at him and then frowned, “Um, Mr. Tremain, you have… something on your shirt. You may want to take care of that.”
Duncan looked down and swore when he saw the viscous fluid on the front of his shirt; it was obvious to anyone with eyes what it was. Acting like it wasn’t there, he nodded his head in his secretary’s direction, “Very well. Now, about those phone numbers….”
He disappeared back into his den to the sound of Mrs. Reynolds’s laughter. Swearing yet again, he tore the shirt from his body and threw it across the room. Irritated, he put on a clean shirt as he made a mental list of things he needed to accomplish: kill the wolf, learn everything he could about Sirens, pay a visit to Ashley, find Lexi. And as he let thoughts of Lexi fill his head, he felt the familiar rush of sensation as his penis thickened and grew and he amended his list: discover anything about Sirens; his brother had dated a Siren, he might know something. Otherwise he could hunt down one of the Rudnar women and pry the information from them. Then, once he knew something, he'd pay a visit to Ashley and then he'd kill the wolf.
And then there would be nothing preventing him from hunting Lexi down and claiming her for his own; the wolf couldn't have her.
*****
Ashley had just stepped out of the shower when there was a furious knocking at her front door. Wrapping a towel around her body, she left the humid heat of the bathroom and answered it, surprised to see her Alpha standing there looking worse for the wear. His cropped black hair was slightly longer than usual and standing on end; his silver eyes were red-rimmed, his clothes were wrinkled and he looked like death. “You look like hell, Duncan.”
Without a word, he clasped her head and smashed his mouth against hers in the least finessed kiss he had ever given her. There was desperation in his kiss as he thrust his tongue into her mouth and tugged at the towel. As the towel fell, he guided her backwards against the wall, his lips growing more desperate and frantic with each heartbeat.
Grabbing her wrist, he guided her hand to the front of his pants, holding it over the flaccid penis as he frantically humped her palm, his hips thrusting almost violently. He growled against her lips, “Tell me she isn’t my mate.”
Trailing kisses along her neck, cupping a breast in his hand, he rasped, “Tell me.”
Before she could tell him what he wanted to hear, his face was pressed against the curve of her neck and his arms were wrapped around her damp and naked body. He pulled her into him and held on to her as if he were a man drowning and he had nothing else to hold onto. Awkwardly, she patted the shuddering back, “Duncan, what is it?”
“My wolf claimed her,” his voice shook with strong emotion. “My fucking wolf claimed a Siren for a mate; she's mine and he claimed her!”
Ashley gasped; how could Duncan be surprised by his wolf’s actions? Weren’t they bonded? “I see; does Lexi know she’s your mate?”
“No,” he ground out, abruptly letting her go and stepping away from her. His cheeks colored as he saw her standing there, naked. Shrugging out of his coat, he handed it to her as he turned around, giving her some privacy which was ridiculous since he had seen her naked plenty of times. Dragging his fingers through his wildly messy hair, he spat, “She probably thinks I don’t remember her because in her fucking selflessness she gave me the Siren’s good-bye kiss.”
“What’s that?” Ashley asked, clumsily putting the proffered jacket on, breathing in the wild, musky scent of Duncan and loving it, even though she was in a relationship and unexpectedly madly in love with the man.
“A Siren can return a person’s memories, or rather, erase a person’s memories, with a kiss,” he bit out, pacing relentlessly back and forth across Ashley’s carpet. “In their fucked up heads, it’s their way of letting a person go and I suppose it is kinder than simply banishing them but, damn it, she kissed me good-bye.”
“How do you know this?” Fascinated by Duncan’s aberrant behavior, she sat down on the edge of the seat and continued watching him wear a path in her floor.
“I’m an Alpha,” he said simply, arrogantly, not quite meeting her eyes. “It is my business to know these things.”
“Why would she kiss you good-bye?” she asked slowly, her mind struggling to catch up to everything her Alpha was dumping on her.
He snorted, “Sirens believe in love and all of that nonsense.”
“And you don’t love her.” It was a statement but Duncan didn’t know how to respond to it. He already liked Lexi; she had a quick mind and a thousand watt smile that fried his brain, but love? She was… Lexi; it had been easy to say the words to her when he had thought their time together was limited but he didn’t love her, not in a sunshine and roses and rainbows way; his feelings for her were far too tempestuous. In time he supposed he could love her but it didn’t matter because she was his mate; he really had no choice.
The fucking wolf took that away from him when he claimed her.
“If she’s your mate, why didn’t you know?” Ashley’s simple question interrupted his musings before he could reach a satisfactory answer because when he was with Lexi the only organ doing any thinking was his dick.
“Because I didn’t allow myself the luxury of thinking about her,” he muttered through tight lips. “Because I hadn’t realized it had been two weeks since I’ve had an erection until the moment I thought about her. Because she's mine, not his; he shouldn't have claimed her.”
Ashley bit her lips to prevent a giggle but it didn’t help; a burble of laughter escaped and she looked at Duncan with sympathy, “Poor Duncan; two weeks without an erection is a lifetime for a wolf.”
“Only if the wolf is unmated,” he grumbled.
“So, what happens now?”
The question was deceptively hard to answer because he didn’t know if Sirens had the same physiology as humans, if they work react as negatively as humans did to the wolf’s venom. Or would they have a worse reaction? Once, his brother had come close to taking a Siren for a wife but then Stacey had come along and the Siren married some other poor sap.
Since Lexi was his mate, whether he wished it or not, he would discover a way to keep her safe. Otherwise he would never have sex again, which was, quite frankly, the most depressing thought he had ever had. Of the two extremes: sex with Lexi or sex never again, he knew which one he preferred. But first he had to find Lexi. And if she didn’t love him, despite Mrs. Reynolds’s belief that she did, he hoped that in time she may grow fond of him. He’d keep her so sexually sated she wouldn’t be able to even think about leaving him. Also, he could try wining and dining her, or whatever it took to win her heart. Maybe he would take her tandem jumping from an airplane; that seemed like something she’d appreciate.
“Look, if you see her or her roommates, let her know I’m looking for her,” he sighed in resignation; he was a mated wolf. “And, um, I’m sorry about…” he motioned with his hand to her state of undress. “All of this. Thank you, Ashley.”
“No problem,” she said with a soft smile, watching him as he let himself out of her house.
The door to her bedroom opened and Dima was standing there with a da
rk scowl on her gorgeous face. Crossing his arms over his scrumptiously naked chest, he glared at her, “You were going to let that prick fuck you just because he wanted to prove something to himself?”
Absurdly pleased by the acid jealousy eating away at him, she shrugged her slender shoulders and stood up, letting Duncan’s coat slide to the floor and not caring about the wrinkles. Running her hands over Dima’s muscled chest, she purred, “It wouldn’t have been the first time, love; he is, after all, the Alpha, or he will be.”
A low growl emanated from the back of his throat as he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder, “You’re mine, Ash; you bit me and made me a wolf and you’re fucking mine.”
She squealed her delight, knowing that eventually, she was going to have to tell the pack, tell Duncan, the secret to a successful human transition. Powerful antibiotics. They were only needed to get them over the hump and then everything seemed to go smoothly. It was such a simple solution that nobody had considered because wolves never got sick. And because so few attempts were made at converting humans. Dima had been a wolf for almost two weeks and the transition had been painless. “Take me to bed, my lover.”
“Your mate.”
Her eyes lit up at the words and what they implied. “Really? You’ll claim me?”
“Hell, Ash, I should have done it as soon as you turned me,” he growled.
“Are you ever going to tell your roommates about us? About you?”
“When Lexi comes clean about being a Siren,” he said, kicking the door shut behind him. Tossing Ashley onto the bed, he said, “When she admits to being in love with a wolf.”
Flinging himself onto the bed so that he covered Ashley’s body with his own, he growled, “After I’ve fucked you fifty ways from Sunday and you scream my name and howl at the moon then I might think about it.”
Chapter 19 (Saturday)
Uncomfortable with knocking on the Rudnar’s door and demanding to know where the youngest Rudnar daughter was, Duncan decided to track her down through her roommates. His first stop had been to Skin, since Dima was a member of his pack now. Despite the early hour, both Dima and Ashley were inside, Dima’s arm firmly around Ashley as he glared at the Alpha.
“You’re not going to try to fuck my mate again,” Dima growled and Duncan had to give him credit for his foolish bravery for standing up to the Alpha. “I claimed her after you left last night with your limp dick between your legs.”
Okay, there was a line between foolish bravery and just plain dumb foolishness; Dima had taken a giant leap over it. But Duncan didn’t come to put the new puppy in his place…. Narrowing his eyes, he looked at Dima, letting his wolf out for a moment to confirm his suspicion. “When did that happen?”
With furious rage, Dima bit out, “I was there at the apartment….”
Duncan turned his burning eyes on Ashley, “When did you turn him?”
“About two weeks ago,” Ashley replied meekly, though her eyes were defiant.
“Are you insane?” he asked, his tone deceptively soft. “If you had killed him it would have devastated Lexi.”
“It was a chance I was willing to take,” Dima said boldly, putting his arm around Ashley. “To be with Ashley I would risk anything.”
Duncan laughed without humor and shook his head, “You’re a fool. But I didn’t come here to discuss your… recklessness; I want to know where Lexi is.”
Dima smiled cruelly, “I don’t have to tell you that.”
“You’re a member of my pack,” Duncan reminded him firmly. “Your loyalty is to me.”
“My loyalty is to her,” Dima retorted. “But I’ll be sure to let her know you’re looking for her. By the way, does she know what you are?”
Duncan ground his molars together; the puppy’s loyalty to Lexi was admirable but it made his life that much more difficult. Looking at Ashley, he bit out, “Keep an eye on your new dog; make sure he doesn’t leave a mess on the carpet.”
With that, he stormed out of the bar and decided to make his way to the other roommate’s haunt: Cole’s studio, hoping to extract the information he needed from the artist.
Within a few minutes, Duncan stood in the studio looking at some of Cole’s more recent work. The set of incredibly erotic body photos of Lexi caught his attention and he stopped to stare at the woman who had captured his imagination. With the artful arrangement of limbs, what could have been pornographic was art; exquisite in their lines and illumination. Cole truly was a talented artist, even if Lexi’s photos had jealousy eating at Duncan’s stomach and hunger burning his gut. His cock responded with eagerness, despite the fact that Lexi wasn’t near.
“They’re my favorite photos, too,” a familiar voice murmured behind him.
Without turning around, Duncan knew that it was Cole. “They’re beautiful.”
“I have a beautiful subject to work with.” Duncan could hear the smile in the other man’s voice. “Lexi is… well, Lexi. But, of course, you know that.”
“I do,” Duncan murmured, turning his head and looking at Cole in his vibrant orange shirt, unbuttoned to reveal his naked chest. Duncan cleared his throat and looked back at the pictures, “Where is she?”
Cole actually chuckled, “She’s where she needs to be.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Duncan snarled, turning around and glaring at the man.
Cole’s smile widened, infuriating Duncan to no end; this man knew where she was and he wasn’t going to tell him. “Mr. Tremain, I’m sure you understand; my loyalties are to her, not you.”
“Just tell me where she is, damn it.”
“I can’t do that, not until I know you’re worthy of her and, quite honestly, you’ll never be worthy,” Cole grinned, obviously enjoying having all of the power.
Duncan’s molars ground together and his nostrils flared; he just wanted to find Lexi, to hold her in his arms once more. To breathe her in. “I simply want to know where I can find her.”
“I’m afraid I’m not at liberty to tell you,” Cole said, almost apologetically. “However, I am willing to… trade.”
Duncan did not particularly care for the way Cole was looking at him; as if seeing him naked and imagining the possibilities. Glaring at the other man, he ground out, “What kind of trade?”
Cole bit back a laugh at the guarded expression on Duncan’s face; the man should be concerned. But what Cole did, he did for Lexi. “I’ll throw you a bone if you let me photograph you.”
“What’s the catch?” Duncan asked skeptically.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Cole grinned, nodding his head towards his photos. “I want you naked.”
Duncan closed his eyes and swallowed. He wasn’t uncomfortable with his body, but posing nude was not something he ever considered doing. And the fact that he was even entertaining the idea proved just how tied up he was. He could almost hear his wolf laughing at him. “What guarantee do I have that the information you give me will be… useful?”
“None,” Cole beamed. “However, it’s something Lexi wants and since you seem so eager to find her, I figure any scrap of information would be… desirable.”
“Fine,” Duncan agreed through clenched teeth since Cole said those magic words It’s something Lexi wants. Duncan knew he would do anything for her, even pose naked for her best friend. But he didn’t have to be happy about it. “When do you want to do it?”
“Right now,” Cole laughed, already heading towards the studio. Talking over his shoulder, assuming (correctly) that Duncan was following him, he said, “I’ve been dying to take your picture; your lines are just incredible.”
“Great,” Duncan grumbled, not sounding very happy about it, which made Cole laugh even harder.
Surprisingly, or perhaps not, Cole was a complete professional and Duncan was impressed with the man’s ability to see beauty in what appeared to be ordinary muscles and sinew. Within moments of the first picture being taken, Duncan was more or less comfortable. Well, as comfortabl
e as possible considering he was naked in front of another man taking pictures. He just kept reminding himself that it was for Lexi and that the man on the other side of the camera did this for a living. And his private parts were carefully concealed.
“There,” Cole said calmly, putting his equipment away afterwards; nearly an hour later. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”
“Fuck you,” Duncan growled, buttoning his shirt back up. Of course, Cole laughed. With a sigh, Duncan smiled, too, “It wasn’t the end of the world.”
“You are a photographer’s dream,” Cole grinned.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Duncan asked as Cole went about his business. When Cole lifted his head and cocked his head to the side in feigned confusion, Duncan’s raised an eyebrow, “Our bargain?”
“I haven’t forgotten,” Cole grinned, disappearing into another room for a long moment before coming back with a large portfolio. Handing it to Duncan, he shrugged his shoulders, the orange shirt gaping open. “Here.”
Cautiously he took it from Cole, asking, “What’s this?”
“An early wedding present.”
Carefully, Duncan opened it and his breath caught in his throat. Inside was a series of photos of Lexi – Alexandra – looking beautiful, a balm to his broken soul. The color pictures showed her with her big, hazel-green eyes and long, gleaming brown hair, wearing a simple dress and looking so damn young and innocent. Only her eyes spoke of wisdom beyond her years: an old soul that he hadn’t seen before because she hid it behind laughter and sensuality. Duncan’s heart squeezed in his chest and he had to swallow a few times before he was able to speak. “Thank you.”
Cole put a hand on Duncan’s shoulder in a show of support, “Good luck, my friend.”
He tried to tell himself that it wasn’t love but he knew he would be lying. He had loved her almost from the very beginning and he hadn’t known. But his wolf had.
Fuck; he was going to have to deal with the bastard once and for all if he had any hope of being with Lexi. Of being whole.
