Virgin Wolf II

by Lynde Lakes

  A quarter-moon threw silvery light and shadows across Rick’s stunned face and her bosom. For an instant, desire flared in his eyes. Good. She had him. Their heat and the scent of orange blossoms mingled with the lingering smoke from the fire added to her determination and escalating desperation to conquer.

  “No, damn it, Victoria! This is why we don’t work together. You want what you want with no respect for my vow to your dad. You think like a petulant child. When I make it, it will be with a woman who understands love and isn’t just a selfish taker who sees me as prey.”

  He grabbed her arms roughly and lifted her off of him as through she were a feather and tossed her aside. Victoria felt like he’d thrown ice water into her face. To her regret, he was right. She was treating him like prey to triumph over, not the hero and love of her heart. He slammed out of her room, leaving her feeling childish and rejected. Her plan to drive him crazy with desire had failed, and instead, she’d skyrocketed her own libido and, in the process, driven him away.

  * * * *

  Rick’s face flamed hot. Probably everyone in the mansion had heard their impassioned shouts. He was sure of it when Damon raced up the stairs like gangbusters, coming to the rescue of his precious daughter. “Is everything all right?” he asked.

  “Victoria’s virginity and my honor are in tact, sir. We just had a difference of opinion on how to say good-bye.”

  “She’ll get over it,” Damon said. “She’s had little experience dealing with the word no. And that’s my fault.” He shifted his weight. “Your yelling exchange isn’t why I’m here. You have experience with computers, right?”

  “Yes, sir. I learned to be a pretty skilled and efficient hacker while working as an investigator for my brother. What do you need?”

  “I need to get into Lazar’s computer and pinpoint where we are on the development of the serum.”

  Rick worked over thirty minutes before he found his way in to the data chambers. “It looks like Lazar believed he already found a cure. He was marketing it to other countries as his own.”

  “What about testing and FDA approvals?”

  “It appears he skipped that important process. It also appears he used his own lycanthrope cursed blood in the serum along with something called moon poppies and a property he called mud extract X.”

  “Extract X, dear God no. I was told early on that the mud extract had toxic properties that could maim and kill. I must warn his buyers that we don’t have FDA approval and the dangers of using unapproved serum.” Damon knew he needed someone he trusted on this. Angela was a top analyst and researcher for Derrick Simons and Associates before they married. “Angela can help me log all the data and analyze it so can go forward safely. Until all safety measures are in place, I don’t want to test it on our girls or anyone who doesn’t understand the dangers.” Damon’s face paled to a ghostly gray. He paused. “What time are you leaving in the morning?”

  “I’ve decided it’s safest to leave now, sir. I’ll just grab my backpack, say my good-byes to the others, and hit the road.”

  * * * *

  Twenty minutes later, Damon walked out to the driveway with Rick and shook his hand. “I’ll see you at the SD office in a week. Until then the office manager, Rochelle Mitchell, can get you settled in and bring you up to speed.”

  Damon felt a burning gaze searing through his soul. He looked up at Victoria’s bedroom window. She stood in a stiff stance that radiated resentment and glared down at him. He had never seen such hatred coming from one of his girls.

  Apparently, Rick felt the negative vibes, too. He looked up at Victoria, waved, then when she didn’t acknowledge his gesture, he mounted his bike angrily and roared down the driveway on his Harley without a backward glance. Damon felt her sadness as her shoulders slumped and she turned away.

  He had to go to her and try to make things right.

  * * * *

  Damon knocked on her door. “Go away, Dad,” she shouted.

  He opened the door and went in. He enfolded her unyielding body in his arms. “Honey, I had to send him away. You two were getting in over your heads. He wasn’t ready to be a husband and you’re still in high school and certainly not ready to be a wife.”

  “Why do you keep talking about marriage? I just wanted to get to know him better and allow him to know the real me.”

  “Look, sweetie, we need to solve the wolf issues before you get too chummy with anyone. And I’m working on that.”

  She lifted her chin defiantly. “You mean trusting others to do it for you. I believe in taking a more direct route. What did you do with the information I gave you from the Internet on lycanthropy and morphing?”

  Damon’s heart swelled with pride. Victoria was smart, analytical like her mother, and a doer. “I turned it over to Lazar for testing.”

  “Great move, Dad.”

  Damon could have cut the sarcasm with a knife and her censure struck a blow to his gut. She was right in doubting him. His desire to control everything had led him to trust the wrong people. Suddenly, he was second-guessing his other decisions. Had he made a mistake in sending Rick away as well? What if the Indian biker with a brain like a steel trap found a grown woman like the single San Diego office manager, Rochelle, to love? Damon knew Victoria would never forgive him if Rick lost interest in waiting for her to grow up. The best that Damon could hope for was that Victoria would find someone else, too, and then Rick would no longer be an issue.

  Why was he fooling around with the complex nature of the heart anyway? He had to get the serum problem solved. And he had to do it before his half-brother Reeves rose from the dead to once again reign terror on his family. Since Reeves could morph into any form, Damon knew his days of complete trust of those around him were over. He would look at everyone with suspicious eyes. Reeves could morph into anyone, including Hugh, Kyle Cooper, a police officer, or even take over Rick’s body.

  * * * *

  The years passed like a creeping glacier and left chucks of ice around Rick’s heart. He marked his calendar as each of Victoria’s birthdays passed. Keeping his mind from dwelling on the memory of those lupine eyes, the slinky movements of her incredible body, and her sleek mane of hair was becoming more difficult each night. The hardest, most sleepless night was when she turned eighteen.

  He recalled everything about her including her haunting gold-flecked brown eyes, the silky firmness of her virginal flesh and her overwhelming desire for passion before her time. He wanted to claim her now, but he wasn’t ready for marriage and with Damon in the picture, nothing less than marriage would do. Each birthday and holiday gift he sent grew more expensive and elaborate, but he stayed away. They’d exchanged emails, talked on the phone a couple of times. The conversation was stiff and mostly one sided. No promises were made.

  He was taking a chance. A little voice in his head constantly reminded him that she could fall in love with someone else.

  July came in on a silent breeze, but being the month of loud celebrations, and the long awaited month of Victoria’s twenty-first birthday, he expected not only fireworks in the sky, but in their hearts. He designed an engagement ring and a wedding ring set and had it special made with flawless diamonds and two tiny ruby hearts. He showed up at her party, expecting to pick up where they left off.

  When he stepped out of her dad’s chopper onto the perfectly manicured grounds of the mansion, his breath caught at the sight of her. She just stared back with a stunned expression that failed to mar how lovely she was. Maybe he should have warned her he was coming. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her. The years had only made Victoria more beautiful, more desirable. Her black sheath dress clung to remarkable curves that made him salivate. The single, narrow strand of gold around her neck reflected the golden flecks in her eyes. Her wary smile had a mixture of anticipation and stiff reserve, but when she moved forward to greet him, she carried herself with remarkable confidence. There was no doubt she was all woman now and so damned gorgeous. How could h
e have stayed away so long?

  He forced himself to meet her halfway, arms outstretched. Would she rebuff him?

  He ached to take her into his arms and feel her contours and heat tightly against his throbbing body. Instead, he merely gave her a light kiss on the lips and a sisterly hug.

  “Well, stranger,” she said. “Long time no see. Come, let me introduce you to my friends. The party is already in full swing.” At the entrance to the tented garden party, two huge American flags waved proudly, and red, white and blue ribbons were strung everywhere. Inside the tent, the decorations were a combination of bouquets of Larkspur flowers, a huge birthday cake decorated in Fourth of July symbols, and colors.

  The guests were loud, boisterous and having a great time. He forced a smile. Then he spied the family coming toward him with open arms. He’d been nervous, but maybe this wouldn’t be too bad after all. He shook hands and patted backs with Damon and Hugh, and hugged and kissed Angela. When he kissed Valerie, he handed the little blonde bombshell her wrapped gift.

  Without the slightest hesitation, she ripped off the paper and opened the box. Her face broke into a wide smile at the ruby tennis bracelet glinting up at her. “Oh, Rick,” she crooned. “You’re the best.”

  He smiled. “The ruby symbolizes fulfillment and power and I wish that for both you and your sister for life.”

  “Both of us?” Victoria asked. “So where is mine?”

  He laughed, but didn’t withdraw her gifts from his pocket. “Let’s finish greeting everyone first.”

  “You haven’t changed a bit,” she said. “But I have. I must warn you, I’ve given up on playing any waiting games.”

  Without further warning, Victoria drew him over to a muscle-bound giant standing off to the side. Rick’s heart sank when she introduced him to her boyfriend Rory, a college quarterback who was a least a foot taller than he was and outweighed him by at least fifty pounds of muscle. Rick burned inside every time Rory touched Victoria, and he felt the hotshot football hero touched her far more than appropriate at a family gathering.

  During the party, Rick watched Rory’s every move. Damon was watching him, too, with wary eyes. Something calculating in the big guy’s eyes reminded Rick of Lazar.

  He edged over to Victoria and took her arm firmly. “Is there some place we could talk? I’m a little shy about my gift and would appreciate if I could give it to you in private.” His voice cracked and his tongue felt thick.

  “We can take a walk in the rose garden. Just give me a second to let Rory know and get Valerie to talk to him for a few minutes. This is his first time to a family gathering and he might feel like a third thumb.”

  Rick felt relieved that the guy wasn’t yet a firm fixture around the place. He didn’t like the college boy’s easy good looks or his cold, calculating gaze.

  * * * *

  As Rick walked along beside Victoria, the sky above the rose garden was the bluest he’d ever seen. He felt a trickle of sweat slide down his spine. He ached to grab her and say what was in his heart. His mouth felt like it was filled with raw cotton.

  Finally, he got the nerve to slip his hand into hers. She didn’t pull away. They came to a vine covered Gazebo that screened them from the party and its guests. He swallowed. How the hell was he supposed to bridge the wide gap between them with the muscle-bound college boy in the picture? I have to at least try. He drew her down on the bench beside him. “Honey, not a day or night has gone by that I haven’t thought of you.”

  “You’d never know it. And what’s with that honey endearment?” The laugh that followed had always been a sultry tone, but now it was a bit huskier than those of her teen years. She looked up at him with those gold-flecked lupine eyes.

  He lowered his gaze to her lips. He ached to kiss her deeply, passionately, like the steamy way they’d kissed the last time they were together. Then he’d rejected her. It was pretty obvious that she hadn’t forgiven him. There was something too formal in the way she sat, spoke, and looked at him. She glanced toward the party as though eager to get back to the celebration.

  Damn. He’d better get right to it.

  He reached into his pocket and withdrew the unwrapped blue velvet box. Her expression looked stunned and she shook her head. Keep going, he told himself. He dropped to his knees and opened the box. The two diamond rings, one an engagement and one a wedding band, glinted up at them. Their facets took on an energy of their own and bolstered his courage. “Will you marry me? I know it’s been a long time coming, but—”

  She touched her fingers to his lips. “This is the birthday gift you were too shy to give me in front of others? Are you nuts? We’ve hardly talked and I have a boyfriend now. You can’t just pop in and out of my life and cause chaos when it suits you. It’s too late, Chief Tanner. I’ve moved on.”

  “No, please don’t say that. I wanted to come on your eighteenth birthday, but I couldn’t be the man you needed until now.” He was losing ground, losing hope. “It’s my fault this has been a long time coming, but I wanted it to be right and forever.”

  A spark of interest ignited in her eyes.

  Encouraged, he said, “Don’t you see? We both needed time.”

  She gave a humorless laugh. “Five years?”

  “I had a lot of growing up to do and you needed to experience and enjoy your teen years without complications.”

  “Are you kidding me? My teen years as a cursed wolf were totally complicated.”

  “I know. I’m sorry I wasn’t there to help you. But I wasn’t equipped to handle our raging desire or your dad.”

  “What’s different now?”

  “I want you, regardless of the cost. I know that now to the depth of my soul. The first moment I saw you shivering and hiding in the bushes, I felt protective toward you. Even when I learned the family secrets, I was still totally intrigued. Maybe even more so because of them. Then over the weeks, I fell head over heels in love with you. But there was always the vow to your father between us.” He held her gaze, fearing that if she looked away, it would be over. “Do you love that Rory guy…does he know your secrets…and love and accept exactly who you are?”

  “That’s none of your business.”

  “Okay, I’ll accept that, at this moment, it isn’t my business, but you haven’t answered me. Will you marry me?”

  Her eyes glossed over. “I hate you for assuming I’d wait forever and for taking my birthday to spring this on me.” Her shoulders began to shake uncontrollably. She pressed her lips tightly together as though trying to stop the pained sobs that escaped her lips and the flow of the tears sliding down her cheeks. Her lips trembled. “Did Dad tell you that a wolf still resides in me?”

  “Yes. He’s kept me abreast of the progress on the cure. He said FDA approval is still being withheld.” Rick put the velvet box back into his pocket and drew her into his arms.

  She looked up at him with glistening eyes. “You accept the wolf residing inside me, knowing I may never be completely cured?”

  “Didn’t anyone ever tell you that Indian braves and wolves are meant to be soul-mates? We all crave the wilds, the passion.” He kissed her forehead and held her a few minutes. “I got a slow start on this proposal, but from here on out, I’m ready to pour on the speed. I don’t want to wait to get married. As soon as your party is over, I want us to take the chopper to Las Vegas to be married. And while we enjoy married bliss in the weeks to come, you can plan exactly the wedding you want to please your family and friends. The sky is the limit. I just want to be your husband tonight and forever.”

  Mouth dry, he got down on his knees again, withdrew the velvet box, and slipped on the engagement ring. She didn’t pull her hand away.

  She gave a weak smile. “You realize you’ve made a sticky and unpleasant dilemma with Rory. He isn’t going to like this.”

  Rick’s heart sped up. He didn’t care a damn about Rory. “Then you accept?”

  She nodded. “I can’t help myself. I’m that wildly, i
rrevocably in love with you. I’ve tried to get you out of my system, but you’re a hard guy to forget.”

  He laughed. “And the best is yet to come.”

  * * * *

  Rick knew from his experience as Chief of Security for the Lamont Corporation that the best way to defuse a bad situation was to isolate the trouble and take the fight off premises. When he reached where Rory was standing, he said, “We need to talk. Let’s go behind those bushes so we won’t disturb the festivities.”

  Rory glanced down at Victoria’s engagement ring glinting up at him and curled his massive fists into a tight ball. He narrowed his eyes. “Did you put that rock on my girl?”

  Sweat trickled down Rick’s back. “Look, let’s not make this more difficult than it has to be. We don’t want to ruin the girls’ birthday party.”

  Valerie gasped and then put her hand on Rory’s arm.

  Rory looked down at Valerie’s hand and then laughed. “Valerie told me about the long history you and Victoria shared. I’m just the new kid on the block and since I’ve taken a shine to Valerie and her family, I see no benefit in smashing in your face.”

  Rick should have been relieved that Rory was taking the engagement so well. But he felt uncomfortable that his future sister-in-law might actually fall for a guy who was clearly hedging his bets to worm his way into a very wealthy family.

  * * * *

  Angela moved the cake cutting up so Victoria and Rick could get on their way while Damon tried to talk them into waiting another day. Victoria sent a thumbs up to Rick for holding his ground about their plans. After everyone sang happy birthday to her and her sister, Victoria disappeared upstairs to pack a bag. Her mother appeared at the bedroom door with a knee-high white lace dress covered in pearls and a short veil.