Hope digested this. It was true.
“I’ve got a million stupid questions,” she warned. Suddenly it was clear; she wanted to stick around and ask them all. And if each question took a day to ask and answer, that would be approximately twentyseven thousand years.
Jolie shrugged. “I got all the time in the world for you and your questions.”
“Okay.” Hope bit her lip. “Question one, will you stay the night?”
Jolie’s head jerked and she looked expectantly at Hope.
“Yes,” she replied a little breathlessly. “I’d love to stay.”
“Told you they were stupid.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Godfrey was so right. The thought ran through Hope’s mind as she clung to her headboard. If you turn ’em on, you better hang on. Her gaze fixed on the dark head nestling between her thighs, filling her body with such delicious, nerve-stretching sensations that she cried out, again, and again.
She had led Jolie to her small, neat bedroom. They’d tremulously kissed as clothes whispered to the floor, encircling their feet. Then, when they were both naked, flesh to flesh, Jolie cradled her in her arms, and laid her on the bed. Starting at Hope’s toes, she kissed every bare inch of her body, contentment singing in her croons and growls, and showing in small nips and tender sucking.
Jolie was happy to take her time, to explore, delighting in the goose bumped skin that heated and flushed under her lips, the muscles that quivered under her tongue. Hope’s scent filled her head and heart, rich, unique, and much loved. Hope’s pulse fluttered in the hollow of her throat, her inner wrist, the dent behind her knee; Jolie found and savored these satin points with the tip of her tongue. She rolled Hope over and kissed the nape of her neck, slowly trailing down along her spine. She lingered over the buttocks, covering them with gentle kisses until she felt Hope relax before continuing down the back of her thighs to finish at the toes again.
Carefully, she covered Hope with her own long body and bit gently where her neck met the shoulder. Jolie’s satisfied growl rumbled through both of them. She rolled onto her side, bringing Hope with her, spooning her from behind, and cupped her breasts, squeezing gently yet persistently. The tips hardened in her palm, and she rubbed them until they tightened even more. Hope was moaning loudly now, her buttocks rocking and jutting back into Jolie’s groin. One hand covered Jolie’s on her breast, the other reached round to rest on a tanned hip. Jolie’s fingertips trailed down Hope’s stomach and dipped into damp, dark curls and unerringly found her clitoris. Hope gasped as she was gently caressed. Her rhythm intensified as she pushed harder back into Jolie.
The fingers were quickly saturated and Hope’s scent rose high between them, exciting Jolie all the more. She moved down Hope’s body, turning her, opening her up for her mouth to explore every fold and crevice.
Her head swam with scent and sound. The moans she coaxed from her made her heart swell as Hope crested under her tongue.
Hope weakly dragged Jolie up along her body to lie beside her.
“Stupid question number two.” She brushed her damp hair from her flushed face. “How will you ever get enough sex from me? I’m not built to cope with this amount of attention.”
Jolie grinned and kissed the sweaty forehead. “It’s not the sex, it’s you, silly. If it was just about sexual fulfillment, I’d have played around all these years. I guess I was looking for a partner, someone special to bond with.”
“You weren’t looking, Jolie. We’d met before, remember, and you never even noticed me. So don’t go giving me the ‘you’re so special’ spiel, because I’m not.”
“I sure as hell noticed when you came into my den and rattled my bones—”
“Bought you cake, you mean.”
“No. My office was my special space. My city den. It kept me safe, gave me purpose. It sheltered me from the world outside, I suppose. You shook it all up. How could I not notice you? You made everything different. I had no idea what was happening until we went to Little Dip and I realized I wanted you for my mate.”
“Why was that different?”
“It made me see things clearer. What was happening to me, I mean. I was becoming possessive of you in the city. I didn’t want you to work for anyone else. I wanted to sit in your house all day and drink tea and watch you. I used to spy on you from the neighbor’s tree. Weird things like that confused me. I was acting so strangely around you. When I took you to Little Dip, it all fell into place. I wanted you, but I didn’t know how to claim you.” She nibbled lightly on Hope’s shoulder, nudging lower, slyly nuzzling into a pink-tipped breast. Hope grabbed her by the ears and dragged her head up.
“Oh no, you don’t, Garoul. Now I know how you all get those pointy ears. We’re going to talk right here, right now. Okay?”
“Can I ask a stupid question now?” Jolie asked.
“Yes, your turn.”
“Are we together? Can I tell people?”
Hope scrunched her brow in thought. “Tell them…Tell them we’ve started seeing each other. Is that okay for you?”
Jolie nodded fervently. “We’ll go slowly. I know you need time.”
She tapped Hope gently on her breastbone, near her heart. “And on the inside, too.”
Hope smiled at the insight. Her heart did need time. She needed a clear scan two months from now. And she needed to adjust to this dynamic woman in her life twenty-four/seven, not just nine to five.
She also needed to relax back into her own body and enjoy that she was whole again, and special…and loved. The future suddenly looked brighter, less fearful if she was brave enough to embrace it.
“You know something?” She traced her fingertip over Jolie’s lips.
“You’ve brought joy into my life. At work, in my home, everywhere. You’ve made me look forward to the future and stop worrying if I’ll have one. It’s funny, because Jolie means joy, doesn’t it…more or less?”
The lips under her fingertip stretched into a smile. “You gave me hope. I didn’t even know I had none,” Jolie said shyly.
Hope cuddled into her arms. “Let’s sleep and see what the morning brings.”
“What will we do?” Jolie asked, in wonder that she had a tomorrow with Hope. Hopefully many, many tomorrows.
“Grocery shop. Walk Tadpole. Clear the garden path. Those sort of things.”
“I love those sort of things when I get to do them with you.” She was rewarded with a soft kiss on the nose.
“Good, well-rehearsed answer. Keep it up and we’ll be married by June.”
Later that night Jolie woke up, overheated and cramped. A quick assessment found her sandwiched in the bed with Hope snuggled up on one side, exactly as she should be. On her other side, Tadpole stretched out blissfully, taking up most of Jolie’s side of the bed. Rather than sneak in beside Hope, he had chosen to bunk up next to his wolf buddy.
Jolie lay and contemplated the ceiling with a drowsy grin. It seemed she had found herself a new pack. A little family all of her own.
Deciding to put up with the cramped sleeping arrangements, she closed her eyes and fell back into a dream of forests and valleys, and a love that wound wider, and deeper, and farther than the Silverthread.
Keep reading for a special preview of INDIGO MOON,
the next book in Gill McKnight’s GAROUL Werewolf series.
CHAPTER ONE
The first buck sprinted from her right-hand side and bolted before her car. Isabelle braked and watched it cross the road.
It was a magnificent beast. She counted nine, maybe ten points on its antlers.
“Oh, so beautiful.”
It was followed almost immediately by another whitetail, nearly as big as the first. Eyes rolling with fright, the deer ran alongside the high snowbanks heaped on the edge of the freshly plowed road. They raced frantically up and down the man-made barrier until the larger animal lunged at the steep bank and began an ungainly scrabble over it. The other followed. Pushing and straining
with powerful hind legs, they flailed through snow and brush. Finally they topped the bank and disappeared into the woods on the far side. Isabelle watched until they had gone.
Poor things were spooked by the car. She scolded herself for not grabbing her camera. It was rare for a city dweller like her to get this close to such beautiful creatures. It would be some time before a photo opportunity like that came her way again.
With a tsk of self-reproach, she put the Toyota into gear and rolled forward just as a third deer darted out of the trees. Isabelle yanked on the brakes, thrilled at her unbelievable luck. She reached for her camera, then hesitated. The deer was limping. This buck was smaller than the last two and just as frightened. It stumbled and seemed confused. It hobbled over to the snowbank, following its companions. Isabelle noticed the dark, wet patch on its flank. The churned-up snow under its hooves spattered with drops of scarlet. It was injured, bleeding. A bloody gash ran across its rump down onto the hind leg. It limped to the escape route opened up by the others, and with an exhausted leap tried to follow, but the incline was too steep. It slipped and slithered back onto the roadside, lacking the strength to climb. It tried again and failed. It stood trembling, trapped by the wall of cleared snow and the wound on its leg.
Isabelle grasped the handle but didn’t open her car door. What could she do to help? She was in the middle of nowhere with an injured wild animal. Should she even approach a wounded—
A loud metallic crash made her jump. Her car rocked violently from side to side, the roof crunching and buckling over her head. She cried out in fright, but the cry choked in her throat. A huge black beast springboarded from the roof of her car onto the wounded deer, dragging it to the ground. It was massive and vicious and moved with frightening speed, ripping into the deer’s gaping wound with huge, curved claws.
The whitetail was torn to shreds in seconds. Innards lay steaming on the icy road; partially flayed limbs, strips of hide, its severed head were strewn in all directions. The snow all around was now a puddle of wet, melting crimson. The beast reared upright onto its hind legs, flung back its heavy head, and howled an unearthly, wavering cry. A howl filled with blood-curdling triumph. Then it fell back onto the deer’s remains and began to gorge.
Isabelle was horrified. She gripped the door handle, her other hand squeezed the steering wheel. She sat frozen, barely believing her eyes.
In less than a millisecond a…a…a rabid bear had just…had just… wrecked her car and…oh God, that poor deer.
A growl rumbled, long and low, and very threatening, right beside her ear. Slowly she turned her head to meet cold, yellow eyes filled with sly intelligence. A second creature crouched by her car, alongside the door, watching her. Its eyes pinned her with a look of calculated malice, as if weighing her strengths and many, many weaknesses.
Isabelle’s heart thumped in her throat, almost choking her.
Numbing ice water pumped through her veins, shutting down her brain, turning her guts to Jell-O, her limbs into heavy, useless stumps.
Isabelle couldn’t move, couldn’t think; she couldn’t even blink. The twisted leathery face was inches from hers with only the window glass between them. Thin black lips curled back in a mocking leer, revealing rows of long, pointed teeth. For a fractured moment in time Isabelle and the beast regarded each other, unmoving. Then it sprang. Fangs snapped against the glass, lathering it with saliva. Isabelle jerked out of her stupor. She screamed and slammed her foot on the accelerator.
This was no bear. This was a monster. A monster from her childhood nightmares.
The Toyota lurched, tires spinning on the icy surface searching for grip. The monster flung out a huge clawed hand and ripped off her sideview mirror. The driver’s window shattered, showering her in shards of glass. Isabelle screamed again and kept her foot pressed full on the gas. The tires bit and the car shot forward, its back end fishtailing wildly. She had no control of the vehicle, no thought other than fleeing. She struggled with the steering wheel as the car zigzagged across the compacted snow. It shot forward and rammed straight into the first beast, still crouched over its meal. With a hard, sickening thud she bowled it over onto the hood and off to the side of the road. She drove on, squelching the deer carcass into the slush and snow.
The impact slowed her down so much she nearly stalled. From the corner of her eye she saw the stricken beast writhing on the side of the road. It howled in anger and agony. The cold twilight was filled with unearthly howls answering back. Isabelle’s ears rang with the eerie chorus echoing through the forest surrounding her. These two monstrosities were not alone! There were more of them out there! She gunned the Toyota even harder.
A black blur hurtled from the tree line and flung itself onto the hood of her car. It crashed onto the windshield, cracking the glass into a million little webbed cubes. Her speed bounced the creature straight back off before it could gain leverage. It fell back onto the road and only just missed her wheels. Through the crazed windshield she saw another beast crouched along the road ahead of her, ready to spring at her car.
Another joined it, slinking out of the trees. She saw a third farther along.
They were everywhere. Ready to leap at her! Everywhere!
Isabelle’s mind went blank with terror. She swung wildly on the steering wheel, trying to swerve past the ambush. The agonized screams from the beast she had hit made her head hurt. A loud bang and her car rocked wildly. One was on the roof! Through her webbed windshield she could see two more racing directly toward her. She was surrounded.
Like lions hunting a lumbering wildebeest, they were surrounding her, dragging her down by sheer numbers.
She spun the wheel hard left. The next one to make the car hood would break straight through the weakened glass. She swerved sharply, avoiding the creatures rushing straight for her. She tried to dislodge the one on the roof by swinging hard from side to side. She locked the wheel to the left, but they kept coming. They were right on top of her.
The first one leapt. She closed her eyes and hit the gas hard. There was a sickening thud. The windshield popped, showering her with glass.
Isabelle opened her eyes. This one had hung on. It was less than two feet from her, massive and deadly and stinking of evil. She screamed and jerked the wheel violently to the right. The Toyota cannoned onto the snowbank, riding up the incline at full speed. It flipped over the top, and in a perfect pirouette landed upside down in a trench on the other side.
Isabelle blinked, waking into an icy world of fear and agony. She was squashed into a corner of her mangled car, curled up in a tight ball.
Snow and vegetation pressed through the windshield, burying her in freezing muck and debris. The sickening smell of gasoline hung in the air. She hurt everywhere. Carefully, she tried to assess her situation, twitching fingers and toes, stretching limbs slowly, gently. Everything moved, but the effort was torturous.
The car was upside down and the world seemed broken and disorientating. Her shoulder was pushed out through her driver’s window into a bank of snow. If the glass had still been there, her shoulder would have surely shattered. It was quiet, very quiet, as if the crash had stunned the forest into silence. Had she passed out? How long had she been there? She was freezing and in pain. There was blood everywhere, but she didn’t know where it was coming from. None of her bones were broken; she could move, but barely. Her body felt as shattered as the shards she was lying on. Isabelle moaned.
Huge, curled claws burst through the empty windshield and swiped around blindly, missing her face by inches. The wild slashing couldn’t locate her. Isabelle choked down her scream and shrank back as far as she could, careful not to give herself away.
With a loud, angry snarl the clawed hand inched further forward, reaching from side to side trying to catch her, to hook her and drag her out. Cowering in the corner, Isabelle became aware of more sounds from outside. Low growls and snarling surrounded her. And prowling, lots of prowling. The creatures had arrived at the crash s
ite. They were all around the wreck. Isabelle pressed deeper into her corner and shivered. Her nightmare was not over. It was just beginning.
The muscular, clawed arm withdrew as suddenly as it appeared.
Isabelle whimpered and clung onto the bent door frame, waiting for what came next. A second later the car began to shake violently. They were trying to right it, but the Toyota barely budged; it was wedged firmly upside down in the trench. Isabelle shrank into her small niche as the car creaked and shuddered. Small bits of plastic and metal rained down around her. The car groaned in protest but refused to move. After several minutes the shaking stopped. Isabelle waited with bated breath.
Would they go? There was a moment of silence, then a frustrated roar and the bodywork was fiercely pounded. It felt as if the car was being beaten into tiny pieces. Soon they would be able to reach in and pluck her out like a lump of crabmeat.
Metal screeched as any loose car parts were peeled away and tossed aside. Cold air blasted through as metal panels were ripped off.
Isabelle shivered in her corner. Her heart thumped and her chest hurt.
Her body screamed with pain and tension. Why hadn’t she died in the wreck? Why had she survived only for these hellhounds to rip her apart like that deer? There was a grinding snap from the rear and the whole vehicle jerked as the trunk lid was torn off. Another blast of cold air whistled through. She could hear frantic scratching as long claws shredded through the rear seat. They were getting in, creeping slowly closer. She cowered in terror, fixated on the rattling rear seat. It was disintegrating rapidly.
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