Taming the Moon

by Sherrill Quinn

  He laughed, a short, sharp burst of sound from a throat tight with need. With a hard flex of his hips, he buried his cock deeper. It had been a long time since he’d felt such ecstasy, perhaps never. Lowering his head, his tongue flicked the taut peaks of her breasts. The action tightened her body around him even more.

  “I feel full,” she whispered. “But I want more. I want all of you.” She tightened her grip on his buttocks.

  “Me, too.” Sully surged forward. Her sheath was slick, hot, velvet soft, and so tight it was just about to kill him. He buried himself deep, withdrew, thrust hard again. He watched her face for signs of discomfort, but her expression held only a look of passion, her eyes glazed and glowing amber, her breath coming in fast pants.

  Satisfied she felt the same pleasure as he, Sully began to move, gliding in and out of her, deeper with each stroke. He tilted her hips so he could thrust even deeper, wanting her to accept every last inch of him.

  Accept his soul.

  He buried himself to the hilt, shoving so deep he felt her womb, felt the spasms of her climax beginning. His rhythm became faster, harder, his hips surging forward, beyond any pretense of control. Olivia cried out and stiffened, and Sully felt the strength of her inner muscles gripping him in the intensity of her orgasm. He pumped into her frantically, the explosion ripping through him from his balls to the top of his head. Helpless against the raging beast his hunger had awakened, he bent and sank his teeth into the meat of her shoulder.

  He shuddered against her when another orgasm rippled through her. Her hips slammed against his, her mewling cries echoing in the small room.

  Sully let loose of her shoulder and threw his head back, her name a muffled shout as his cock pulsed, flooding her with hot seed. The small explosions jetted from him again and again until, finally spent, he exhaled and slumped against her, resting his head against her heaving breasts.

  Olivia wrapped her arms around him, holding him close. Her hands stroked over the moist skin of his back. He flicked his tongue against her nipple, a languid back-and-forth motion that sent renewed shock waves through her body. Her pussy rippled and tightened around his still-hard shaft.

  And the primal dance began anew.

  Chapter 9

  Olivia rested her cheek against Sully’s shoulder and sifted her fingers idly through the dark hair on his chest. It felt good to be in his arms, feeling the warmth of his skin, the bulk of his solid body against hers.

  She’d missed this. Being with a man in the aftermath of sex, listening to his heartbeat, the sound of his breathing. Any sex she’d had since becoming part of Eddy’s pack had always been fast and furious, animalistic in the truest sense of the word, with very little tenderness in the coupling. But with Sully, it was like…before. Before she’d become a werewolf. Before her life had turned into a nightmare.

  Too bad it couldn’t last. Once he found out she was the one who’d attacked him, had been the one to turn him into a werewolf, well, he’d hate her. They all would.

  She pushed that thought aside. There would be time enough later for regrets. She’d enjoy what she had at this moment. She’d hold on to this, hard, so she’d have something to remember in all the lonely nights ahead.

  The time had come for planning. She rubbed her palm over his ribs. “So, you think if your friend Ryder comes to Tucson that will bring Eddy running?”

  He squirmed and clamped a hand over hers. “Yes, I do.”

  She rose up on one elbow and looked down at him. Pursing her lips, she wiggled her fingers and managed to skitter over his ribs again.

  He grimaced and jerked.

  She laughed. “You’re ticklish.” How delightful.

  “Just a bit.” He quirked his eyebrow. “Don’t be getting any ideas, you hear? Because I’m bigger than you are.”

  Olivia grinned. “Yes, you are.” Her smile faded as her thoughts turned once again to her sweet little Zoe. “It will take Ryder a day or two to make arrangements and get here, Sully. I don’t have much time left.”

  “How long do you have?”

  She shook her head and sighed. “Eddy gave me a week. I’ve already lost three days. I’m afraid that”—she bit her lip—“when I check in with him later, if I tell him I’m still working on it, he’s not gonna be happy.” She blinked back tears. “He wanted Declan dead and that didn’t happen; he wanted you dead, and it didn’t happen. He’s running out of patience.”

  “You said he loves your little girl. How can you be so sure he’d hurt her?” Sully reached out and stroked his hand down the side of her face, leaving a sparking trail of warmth in his wake.

  God, she wanted to stay in his arms forever, be comforted and encouraged by this man for the rest of her life. However long that might be—and it wouldn’t be long if Eddy had his way, she knew. A six-year-old orphan would be much easier to mold without her pesky mother getting in the way.

  “He’s done it before to other children.” At Sully’s shocked expression Olivia went on. “Just after I joined the pack, one of his lieutenants failed at turning a councilman that Eddy wanted in his back pocket. The councilman ended up dying.” She pressed her lips together.

  Remembering her horror at witnessing what followed that failure, she could hardly believe she’d been so naïve, so ill-prepared for the terrible new world she’d found herself in. “He brought the werewolf and his family—he had four children—in before a ‘tribunal’ as Eddy called it. A tribunal where Eddy was the judge, jury, and executioner.”

  Olivia paused, swallowing back the bile that rose even now, two years removed from that horrendous scene. “He made Calvin—his lieutenant—choose which of his children would pay for his failure.” She shook her head and stared down into Sully’s compassionate gaze. “How can a parent choose which life to end?” She swiped at her eyes. “Eddy’s a monster. When Calvin said he couldn’t choose—that he wouldn’t choose—Eddy killed them all.” She drew in a deep breath and held it a moment, then exhaled in a loud puff. “He killed them all without breaking a sweat, even though he used to treat the youngest just like he does my daughter—like a doting uncle. That’s just how much of a monster he is. And that’s how I know he would kill Zoe in a heartbeat.”

  “Goddamn.” Sully put his arms around her and drew her down to his chest, pressing her face against his shoulder. “Sweetheart, the life you’ve had to lead…” His sigh ruffled her hair. “I wish…”

  When he didn’t finish, she prompted, “You wish?” She tilted her head to look up into his face.

  He bent his head and placed a soft kiss on the end of her nose. “I wish I’d been there for you. That you didn’t have to go it alone.”

  Oh, God. It was too much. He was too much. And he wouldn’t want to be anywhere near her once he found out she was the one who’d turned him.

  Olivia pasted a smile on her face. “We should get with Declan and make plans, don’t you think?” She pulled away from him and got off the bed. “I’ll just take a quick shower.” She grabbed her clothing and headed toward the bathroom.

  Without waiting for a reply, she closed the bathroom door behind her and leaned against it for a moment. Hot tears burned beneath her eyelids, finally escaping to roll down her cheeks.

  This thing had gone sideways from day one. She’d dillydallied when she’d first started trailing Sully back in the Isles of Scilly. She’d had more than one opportunity to attack him, to do what needed to be done in order to save her precious baby.

  But he’d been so caring of Pelicia—a woman he didn’t even know—out of loyalty to his friend. Add to that the face and body of a god, and it had made it even harder.

  Maybe if she’d been a stone-cold killer it wouldn’t have mattered. But she wasn’t, and it had.

  She’d been able to attack him, all right. She just hadn’t been able to kill him.

  Now…now she’d gotten to know him even more, and she was very much afraid she was falling in love with him. Even knowing that another plan was in the making
, or soon would be, she couldn’t shake the thought that the option of killing him was also still on the table.

  To try to cover up the sounds of the sobs she could no longer contain, Olivia twisted the faucet to the shower and didn’t wait for the water to warm up. She stepped into the stall and stood underneath the stream, the water making her skin as chilled as her soul.

  As the water quickly heated, she wished it could warm her on the inside as well.

  Sully stayed on the bed a moment, his keen hearing picking up the sounds of Olivia’s distress. He’d seen the tears that brightened her eyes and could now hear the soft sobs over the sound of the water running in the shower.

  He rubbed his forehead. He hated feeling helpless. He wanted to do something—take away her pain and fear.

  He guessed that killing the fucker who’d taken her daughter would work.

  He rolled off the bed and pulled on his clothes. She was right—they needed to nail down a plan, and the first thing that had to happen was a phone call to Ryder.

  But she was also right that it would take Ryder at least a day to make travel arrangements and get there from the Isles of Scilly. So, what to do in the meantime?

  He paced in the confines of the small bedroom, his thoughts racing. He and Declan could go to New York, at the very least get a scope of the situation—see just how many bodyguards this Eddy fellow had and suss out a way to get the girl.

  And if they were seen? If Eddy—who most likely was Ryder’s cousin Miles—was the one behind this, he knew what both Declan and Sully looked like. Sully had met the man once—at the memorial service for Ryder’s parents.

  Even though he and Miles had both been eighteen at the time, Miles had seemed much younger. He’d been silent and sullen, even pouting. Not grieving, at least not that Sully had seen. He’d wondered about that reaction then, but in the intervening years—and especially in light of the most recent events—he had to wonder if Miles had instigated the elder Merricks’ murder/suicide.

  Given the fact that Ryder’s cousin was so desperate to make Ryder pay for whatever imagined slight he’d given him, it made more and more sense. At any rate, the fact that they’d met—that each knew what the other looked like—made a trip to New York less and less feasible. Because if they were seen, Eddy would know that Olivia had confessed the plan to kill them.

  So…scrap that idea.

  They could call the New York police, even though Olivia had said no. While he didn’t have any contacts there, he wouldn’t be surprised if Declan did. If he didn’t, well, the cops in New York could make a call upon Eddy out of courtesy to a fellow officer, even if he was from across the pond.

  When they got there and asked questions…

  Sully sighed. As violent as Eddy seemed to be, what Olivia had predicted might happen would very likely be the outcome. A couple of New York City’s finest would find themselves becoming furry once a month.

  That wasn’t a secret you told. Because who in the ordinary world would believe it?

  So, scratch that idea, too.

  He paced over to the doorway and stared into the living room. While his eyes looked ahead, he trained his ears toward the bathroom, waiting for any sign that Olivia was done with her shower. He hated that she was in there crying. Alone. Hated that she felt the need to hide her tears, her grief, and fear from him when all he wanted to do was comfort her, care for her.

  Did she believe he’d think less of her if she wasn’t strong one hundred percent of the time?

  He snorted. That sounded like him. He’d always believed any sign of weakness was unacceptable. That to show a momentary chink in the armor he presented to the world would somehow decrease him in the eyes of his friends, his subordinates. His boss.

  The irony of the situation didn’t elude him. Now that he was as much animal as man he realized he couldn’t always be strong. That sometimes he had to lean on somebody else.

  Needing someone—and being needed in return—was one aspect of what made him part of the human family. With the wolf always lurking just below the surface, Sully was finding he needed that connection more than ever.

  Which was yet another reason he wanted to save Olivia and her daughter from Eddy. Not just because the little girl was an innocent—although that was enough. But because he cared for Olivia more than he would have thought possible after such a short time. He was old enough to know it was more than mere physical attraction, even if they had that in spades.

  The attraction went much deeper. On some level he felt he recognized her. He wasn’t enough of a romantic to say they shared the same soul or any such nonsense as that. But there was something….

  Something that compelled him to help her.

  He focused his thoughts back on the problem at hand. After casting off another couple of idiotic ideas, he finally lit upon one that he couldn’t shake.

  Eddy wanted him dead? Then he’d have to die.

  Or, at least, make it look that way.

  He and his squad had faked a witness’s death once in order to keep her safe until she could testify. It would be a simple matter of placing an obituary in the local paper, maybe even create a bit of sensation around his “death” by having Declan or Pelicia talk to a reporter about the “dog” attack that killed him.

  They’d have to go with a dog, because Eddy would no doubt expect Olivia to kill him while in her wolf form and, as far as he knew, there were no wolves in southern Arizona. Just the smaller, scrawnier coyotes. He couldn’t see a small animal like that being able to take down a man as big as him.

  When they got Ryder on the phone, he’d talk to Taite about the idea. As a former investigator with the local County Attorney’s Office, she had to have contacts they could use if needed.

  He gave a wince and rubbed the back of his neck. He didn’t imagine she’d be too happy with the idea of them asking her husband to fly thousands of miles just to put himself in harm’s way. For a woman he didn’t even know.

  But though Sully didn’t know Taite well, she struck him as a compassionate sort, one who wouldn’t keep her husband from doing what needed to be done in order to save an innocent child.

  Not to mention his friends and family.

  Sully glanced toward the bathroom door. Olivia had stopped crying, for which he was glad. He usually didn’t have a problem with weeping women. He dealt with them all the time as crime victims. It was part of the job. But there was always a sense of detachment in those cases.

  A detachment he sure as hell didn’t have with Olivia.

  He scowled. How had this woman gotten under his skin so quickly? He sat on the edge of the bed and waited for her to come out of the bathroom. Was it just because he felt a bit vulnerable, trying to deal with being a werewolf and all? Or was it—could it be—something deeper?

  The bathroom door opened, allowing steam to come billowing out of the room.

  Sully turned to see Olivia walk out, her dark hair, still wet from her shower, tucked behind her ears. Her face was scrubbed clean, her skin clear and soft-looking. She looked…young. Even more defenseless than before.

  As if she, too, had shed her armor.

  “Are you feeling better, love?” Sully took a few steps toward her.

  Before she could reply, the phone in the living room rang.

  Sully turned and walked into the other room, and picked up the receiver. “Hullo?”

  He was aware of Olivia padding quietly into the room. She stood just behind him, and he glanced over his shoulder to give her a reassuring smile.

  She didn’t return it.

  “Come up to the main house,” Declan said without any preliminary niceties. To the point, that was Dec. “We’ve work to do.”

  Without breaking eye contact with Olivia, Sully said, “Aye, aye, Captain.” As he put the receiver down, he clearly heard Declan’s muttered, “That’s Major to you, smartass.”

  Sully couldn’t deny that having werewolf hearing was a good thing. He certainly would not have been able t
o hear that muttered comment before. Imagine the kinds of intel he could pick up from suspects without the aid of electronic listening devices.

  His lips tightened. If he kept on like this he’d be as excited about being a werewolf as Declan was. He reminded himself that he had been ready to rip out a suspect’s throat and that was why he was here in the States.

  You don’t like being an animal, remember?

  Though he had to admit he did enjoy having more…stamina.

  He turned and pulled Olivia into his arms. She stood as rigid as a board for a few seconds and then relaxed against him with a small sigh.

  “Declan wants us up at the main house,” he murmured, “to put a plan together.” Rubbing his hands up and down her back, he tried to bestow comfort as best he could. “Are you up for this right now?”

  “Do I have a choice?” She pulled back enough to look up into his face. “I’m sorry.”

  “For what?”

  “For…everything. For complicating your life. I sense you’re the kind of man who likes to keep things simple.”

  “You’re not the one who complicated it, love.” He leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. “The bastard who attacked me and turned me into a werewolf did. And if I ever find out who he is…” He bit off the rest, clamping down on his anger. Now wasn’t the time. He needed to focus on the problem at hand. The bastard who’d turned him could wait.

  After all, revenge was a dish best served cold.

  Olivia’s throat moved with her swallow, and she dropped her gaze to his chest. Bringing her hands up between them, she fiddled with one of the buttons on his shirt. “Yes, well. I haven’t exactly helped to make things any simpler, have I?”

  Sully cupped her chin. “Look at me.” When she kept her eyes downcast, he repeated, “Look at me.” As soon as her gaze lifted, he said, “You were doing what you felt you had to do in order to protect your little girl. I can’t fault you for that.” He didn’t like the shadow that moved through her eyes. There was something more going on than she was telling him. But that was all right. He’d ferret the entire truth from her sooner or later. “Let’s focus right now on getting your daughter back, all right?”