Similar in ways to Lou Gehrig’s disease, the lucani wasting disease had no cure and no one had ever been able to discover who would be affected or how it worked.
Dane had been studying the disease for years. Since before his father had died of it.
Which explained a hell of lot about Dane, Ryan had always thought.
“Hello again, Alex.”
“Hey, Dr. Dane. I just saw you this morning.” The boy smiled, genuinely happy to see Dane. Ryan didn’t know if he was more surprised by that or by the open affection on Dane’s face for the boy.
“I know, but I wanted you to meet a friend of mine. Alex, this is Evie Simmons. Evie, meet Alex Bell.”
Evie smiled at the boy, but Ryan could see her discomfort in the stiff lines of her body. “Hello, Alex. It’s nice to meet you.”
The boy’s smile dimmed just a little as he picked up on Evie’s nerves. At that moment, he looked even younger than his ten years. “Hi,” he said tentatively. “Are you sick too? Is Dr. Dane your doctor?”
Evie shook her head, a short, sharp motion. Maybe Evie hadn’t been ready for this meeting after all.
“No, I’m not sick.” With a visible effort, Evie took a deep breath then sat at the table across from Alex. “I’m sorry to hear you are.”
The little boy shrugged his thin shoulders. “It’s okay. Mostly. Dr. Dane’s been trying to help me get better. My mom says if anyone can, he can do it.”
Ryan saw surprise cross Dane’s face before he controlled it. Amazingly, Evie barely flinched at the mention of Grace Bell.
“Dr. Dane’s very good at what he does.” Evie pointed at Alex’s chair. “Do you like the Hardy Boys? I used to read them too. I liked them even better than Nancy Drew.”
The boy’s face lit up again and Evie’s posture softened enough to allow her smile to become more natural. “They’re the best. Dane and Tam bring me all sorts of books. I used to read a lot more with my teacher but…” Alex’s gaze slid away. “I haven’t seen her for a while.”
Since Alex and Grace had been confined here at the den. Christ, what a mess for this poor little boy to be stuck in.
“Miss Terri taught me math too and science. My mom’s good at science but she doesn’t teach me much about that now. She said I need a new book anyway so…”
“You don’t have a teacher here?” Evie asked as she shot a look at Dane.
The boy shook his head, dropping his gaze so he couldn’t see Dane. As if he was afraid Dane would be angry with him. “No, but that’s okay. Mom’s good at math and English too.”
“You know.” Evie laid her arms on the table, her smile softening even more. “I went to school to be a teacher. I never finished but I plan to go back some time and get my degree. Do you think you’d be willing to help me, Alex? Would you be willing to let me practice my teaching skills on you?”
Damn, the girl had a heart a mile wide.
Ryan realized he was grinning about the same time he noticed the exact same look on Dane’s face. Dane covered his faster.
Alex’s eyes widened. “Could we really do that? I mean, would it be okay, Dr. Dane?”
Alex and Evie both turned to Dane at the same time, Alex’s expression hopeful, Evie’s determined. As if she expected Dane to say no.
But if Ryan knew Dane at all, then he knew Dane had probably orchestrated this. The guy was scary smart like that.
Ryan ragged on Dane constantly about his penchant for manipulating events to his own satisfaction. But damn, the guy surprised him sometimes.
As if thinking about it, Dane finally nodded. “I think we can arrange that, Alex. If you’re sure that’s what you want.”
Alex nodded so hard, Ryan worried the kid might hurt himself. “That would be awesome. Can we start tomorrow?” He looked back to Evie, almost as if he was afraid she’d changed her mind. “I mean, if it’s okay with you, Miss Evie?”
Evie reached out to lay her hand over Alex’s, her smile brilliant. “Absolutely. Thank you, Alex. You’re doing me a big favor.”
* * * * *
“You want to what?”
Kyle Rossini looked between Evie and Dane with utter confusion. Not much threw the lucani king’s lead assassin. The last time Dane had seen the guy poleaxed, he’d been watching his mate, Tam, pledge herself to him and the lucani at their mating ceremony.
Otherwise, the guy was solid as a hundred-year-old oak.
Evie took a deep breath and repeated her last statement. “I’d like to become Alex’s tutor. After high school— After I got out of rehab, I attended Kutztown University with the intent of getting my degree in elementary education. I don’t have my degree, yet,” and in that statement, Dane heard the promise she’d made to herself, “but before I was kidnapped, I worked at a preschool. I believe I can handle all of Alex’s subjects if we have the right books. The boy needs to continue his schooling. He’s actually looking forward to it.”
Kyle’s brows lifted above topaz eyes, his surprise evident as Evie stood in Kyle’s living room to plead her case. “And you’d be okay with this?”
Evie actually smiled for a few brief seconds. “I wouldn’t be standing here if I didn’t want to.”
Kyle turned to Dane. “And the boy’s physically fit for this?”
Dane nodded. “He will be once we start the treatments. I’ve already started processing Evie’s blood.”
Kyle’s eyes narrowed on Evie’s again, looking for her response.
She didn’t flinch.
Warmth spread through Dane’s blood, not the heat of passion but something softer. He realized he was proud of her.
As if he had a right to be proud of her.
As if she was his.
And don’t you think she is?
Dane felt his heart skip a beat at that.
“You honestly think you’ll be able to duplicate Grace’s serum?” Kyle’s question forced Dane to get his head back in the conversation.
“I know I can. She’s given me all her notes. Whatever else the woman is, she loves her son. She’d never knowingly harm him.”
Kyle leaned back into the wooden dining room chair then looked at his mate who’d been sitting quietly by his side. Dane had never known Kyle to ask for advice from anyone before Tam. He’d been the proverbial lone wolf.
Now the love Dane saw in Kyle’s eyes every time he looked at his younger mate was evident.
“You think this is a good thing, don’t you?”
Tam nodded. “I think it’s too long in coming. The boy’s been here six months. He needs to have some kind of schooling. He also needs to socialize with kids his own age.” Tam smiled at Evie. “And, if it’s okay with Evie, I’d like to suggest she be allowed to get Alex together with Michael and Jason for a few classes. I know Michael’s mom, Miki, would love the break every now and then. And Jason is only seven but the boy is scary smart. His mom told me he’s reading on a fifth-grade level and she’s afraid she won’t be able to keep up with him.”
Kyle sighed, shaking his head. “We used to employ a full-time teacher for the den, a lucani the pack put through college, but she got too old to teach a few years ago and there were so few kids living here, we figured homeschooling would be fine. We don’t send our kids to public schools for obvious reasons.”
Dane had turned to watch Evie as Kyle spoke. She’d sucked in her lower lip and had her teeth lodged there now. She wanted this but she tried to hide it, as if because she wanted it, it’d be taken away.
Gods damn, he’d make sure Kyle agreed and if he didn’t, Dane would go to Cole himself.
There was absolutely no harm in allowing her to teach the children. Alex couldn’t— No, Alex wouldn’t hurt anyone. Dane would stake his medical degree on that. Kyle had to—
“So when do you want to start?”
Evie’s smile broke free for exactly two seconds before she reined it in. “Whenever it’s convenient for everyone else. I don’t exactly have a regular job.”
Kyle nodded. “Y
ou’ll need supplies. I’ll get your brother to—”
“Ryan can take her for whatever she needs,” Dane said. “I need him to pick up a few things for me too.”
Kyle’s gaze slid from Dane to Evie for a brief second before he nodded again. Dane’s back stiffened as he saw the slight smile Kyle didn’t bother to hide.
“Absolutely. Ryan it is. I’ll have the old school room in the common building set aside for you. Thanks for offering your time, Evie.”
Now her smile widened and Dane felt his cock harden and throb. “I can’t wait to get started.”
Chapter Four
Ryan sipped a Coke, sprawled on a chair watching Evie sleep on the couch in Dane’s living room.
She’d been on her feet most of the day as they’d run around getting the supplies she wanted for teaching and the more “specialized” equipment Dane had wanted.
Ryan didn’t mind being the errand boy. Especially since he’d gotten to spend the time with Evie. And her tentative flirting.
Which had been more damn arousing than outright seduction.
She’d practiced on him and he’d loved it.
The more time he spent with her, the more he fell under her spell.
She was…sweet. Softhearted. Beautiful.
A little lost.
She made a man want to put his body in front of hers and protect her from the cold, cruel world.
He didn’t mean to make her sound like a stray but, in a way, that’s exactly what she was.
And Ryan had a huge, fucking soft spot for strays.
At his practice in Philadelphia, people dropped off their unwanted pets on the doorstep all the time. Between him and the other vets in his practice, they managed to find homes for most of them.
Ryan had never had time for a pet, not between his twelve-hour days at the practice and his teaching gig at Penn.
He’d taken this semester off, though, because he’d felt burnout creeping up on him. His fuse had been shorter, his attention slipping. As if he’d been waiting for something to happen.
And when Dane had called to ask him to come, he’d told his partners he needed a couple of weeks. They’d agreed without a fight. Obviously, they thought he needed a break too.
What had he been waiting for?
Evie sighed and shifted on the couch, one hand curled under her pale cheek, eyes tightly closed.
Had he been waiting for her?
What the hell was he doing here?
Dane snapped his fingers and Ryan came running. Wasn’t that how it always worked?
Although to be fair, Ryan knew if he needed Dane for anything, Dane would be there, no questions asked.
Friends did that for each other. And he and Dane had a friendship forged in blood. Dane’s blood.
When the door opened minutes, or maybe it was hours, later, Evie still slept.
Ryan transferred his gaze to Dane as he slipped silently into his own house. As if he knew Evie was sleeping.
And he probably did.
Dane looked almost as worn out as Evie did as he walked over to the couch, stared down at her for several seconds, then looked at Ryan and jerked his head toward his study, the closest room with a door.
Dane had already slumped into the chair behind his desk when Ryan got there. One hand rubbed at his temples while the other rooted around the desk drawer for something. Probably aspirin for a headache.
Ryan closed the door but left enough of a gap that they could hear her if she woke. Then he sat in the chair on the other side of the desk, watching Dane dry-swallow two pills.
“I’ve gotta be back in the lab in an hour to see how the serum’s progressing but I needed some fresh air and something to eat. Is Evie okay?”
And Dane had wanted to see Evie, though he wouldn’t admit it. “She’s tired. I’m pretty sure she’s not getting much sleep at night.”
Dane’s gaze narrowed on him. “You don’t think she’s up for this?”
Ryan shook his head. “I didn’t say that. I don’t know her as well as you do, Dane. Do you think she’s up for this?”
“I wouldn’t let her do it if I didn’t think she was.”
Ryan had to laugh at that, if only silently. There was Dane the almighty again, so fucking sure he knew the right solution to every problem.
“She’s not a child, Dane. And she’s not your possession to order around.”
Dane didn’t rise to the bait. Instead, he shut his eyes and let his head fall back against the chair. “I never said she was. I just don’t want her to get hurt.”
“How the hell can tutoring three children hurt her? You’re the one who’s going to hurt her.”
That got a response. “Fuck off, Ryan,” Dane practically growled. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I see the way she stares at you, Dane. And I see the way you look at her when you think no one’s watching. Why can’t you just admit you want her?”
“Of course I want her. Vaffanculo, why the fuck do you think I’m jumping through fucking hoops for her?”
“Then why do you keep pushing me away?”
Dane froze, his gaze cutting behind Ryan to the door. And Evie.
Ryan turned, and his first instinct was to go to her. To wrap his arms around her, put his mouth on hers and kiss her.
She looked like a woman on a mission. Confused but determined.
And Ryan could only hope that meant the ache in his gut and the stiffness of his cock were about to be relieved.
If Dane didn’t manage to fuck this up.
“Evie…”
She walked into the room as she did every place she entered. Slowly, as if entering a minefield.
And maybe she felt this was. Hell, Ryan felt his own muscles tense.
“I really thought you hated me, Dane, after I called your wolf that first time.” Her expression held so much regret, mixed with a tentative longing. “I know how much you hate losing control.”
Stress made Dane’s voice lower than normal. “I don’t hate you, Evie. Nothing could be further from the truth.”
“Then why do you act like I’m a leper? Like you can’t wait to be away from me? Why did you call your best friend to come babysit me?”
“Ryan’s not here to babysit you. Gods damn it, Evie, I don’t think you need a babysitter.”
“Then why?” She turned to Ryan with an apologetic look, pleading with him to understand. Ryan gave her what she wanted. He nodded, encouraging her to go on. And when she smiled at him before turning back to Dane, his blood began to heat. “Why did you bring another man here to sleep with me?”
Brave Evie.
And smart too. She was getting to Dane. Ryan could see his composure begin to slip, his frustration and his lust combining to bring down all those nice walls he used to keep everyone at a distance.
“Because I knew you’d connect with him.” Dane practically spit out the words. “I knew he’d be good for you in a way I can’t be. Make no mistake. I want you, Evie. So does Ryan. But if you don’t want to get involved with both of us, if that’s not what you want, then say so now and I’ll walk out the door.”
“You could do that? Just leave like there’s nothing between us?”
Dane’s lips twisted into a frown. “No. Vaffanculo, Evie, you don’t know me as well as you think you do. I can’t be what you need. Yes, I want you. But this is the only way this will work.”
“With Ryan as a buffer?”
“Yes.”
She shook her head, hands on her hips, her mouth a stubborn line that made Ryan’s smile widen. “Why?”
Dane shot out of his chair with a speed that defied logic. Evie barely had time to be frightened, much less cringe.
And Ryan wasn’t sure she would have. Her chin tilted up so she could look Dane in the eyes, her feet planted.
“Because I don’t trust myself not to scare you!”
Well, shit. She’d pushed Dane to the edge of his limit because that was the secret Dane held clos
est. The one he’d confided to Ryan one night after a few too many beers and just as many shots.
Ryan watched Evie process that, think it through then come to her conclusion.
“Then I guess you better be glad I’m not afraid of you.”
Without waiting for him to respond, she fisted his shirt and pulled him down, close enough that she could reach his mouth if she stood on her toes.
Dane closed his eyes and let her kiss him. Ryan saw the control he tried to exert over himself, the way his hands fisted at his sides for a brief second before grabbing her hips and lifting her against him.
Her feet left the floor as Dane pulled her up his body, his mouth slanting over hers with a growl Ryan heard loud and clear.
He’d surrendered.
Ryan’s own desire spiked like a fever as he watched Dane kiss Evie, watched Dane cup the back of her head and move her so he could get deeper into her mouth.
He watched Evie succumb, her body melting into Dane’s.
His cock throbbed and filled, anticipation building.
Ryan liked to watch before joining in. And this promised to be a hell of a show.
Evie opened her mouth to Dane and let the desire she tasted in his kiss blow through her.
It felt like a bomb blast, a concussion of sensation. It should terrify her. Only, she felt no fear.
Heat boiled through her body, spreading from between her legs to her breasts, where her nipples tightened into diamond-hard tips, aching to be touched.
She arched, rubbing them against Dane’s hard chest, and felt as well as heard his low groan rumble through him.
If she were standing, her knees would have buckled at the hungry, almost desperate sound he made.
His mouth ate at hers, hard and demanding. He held nothing back and, if she let him, he’d completely consume her. He’d kiss her and bend her to his will. He’d demand she give everything to him.
Not that he wouldn’t give to her in return. She had no doubt he’d make her come.
But he wanted her complete acquiescence so he could control his reaction.
And behind her, Ryan watched.
She swore she felt his gaze on them, hot, hungry. Stoking the desire.
Moonlight Temptation Page 7
