by Maddy Barone
“Carla,” Taye interrupted. “Did I torture you last night? Truly?”
Carla shook her head. “Not truly. But I want to be able to touch you too. You belong to me just as much as I belong to you.”
Taye remembered the promise he made to his wolf last night. “We can take turns being in charge.”
“Does someone always have to be in charge? Can’t we just—er—play?”
“I don’t know.” Taye was honestly troubled. Even as a teenager before his father had died he had automatically taken charge of things. “I’ll try. You take charge tonight.” To lighten his own tension he smiled. “Be gentle with me, sweetheart.”
Carla tugged his face down for a gentle kiss. “It’s the least I can do,” she teased, “considering how gentle you’ve always been with me.”
She had thought about undressing him slowly, but he was already naked. So she stroked her fingers over his shoulders to his chest and down his flat belly to his already erect penis. It was hard and thick in her hand. Apparently Taye didn’t require foreplay to be fully ready to make love. Carla smiled at him. Last night she hadn’t really gotten a good look at his body. Now she took her time to explore him, those taut chest and belly muscles, those strong thighs, and finally, that thick maleness. Taye stood still except for a barely noticeable tremor that went through him when she went to her knees and caressed his penis with her lips and teeth and tongue.
“Sweetheart!” he gasped.
“My turn,” she growled, almost like a wolf. “Remember what they say about payback?”
She had barely begun teasing him when he lost his stillness. He pulled her mouth away from him and jerked her to her feet.
“If you don’t want these clothes ruined you should take them off right now.”
His growl was much better than hers. It sent a shudder of delight right through her. She took her clothes off and left them where they fell. Taye was staring at her like she was a steak and he hadn’t just eaten a huge meal. Carla knew her body wasn’t perfect. Her legs were long and slender, but her breasts were small, her hips narrow, and she had collected a layer of fat around her middle. Taye’s expression was a feral mix of hunger and reverence. He picked her up and carried her to the bed. He dropped her onto her back and climbed over her, trying to nudge her knees open with his own. She smiled tauntingly at him and resisted. Perhaps a foolish thing to do when her lover was an alpha wolf used to getting his way. When he ordered her to open her legs wide, she surrendered and let him enter her in a slow, steady drive that dragged a guttural sigh from her. He moved gently inside her with half-closed eyes. The gentleness dissolved into almost violent urgency. The fingers of the hand not supporting his weight moved over her clit, and in only a few seconds, she came in a rush of heat that forced a keening moan from her. Taye followed a second later. The whole thing, from the time Taye had closed the door had taken only a few minutes. She had to admit she didn’t really mind, since she’d gotten what she really wanted. Taye made a big thing about making sure she orgasmed before he did, which suited her just fine. Still, she wanted to torture him for an hour next time.
“That was too quick,” he announced raggedly, lying beside her getting his breath back, “Next time I am in charge, and that is final!” Then he sighed. “I didn’t let you be in charge. I tried but…”
Carla hid her smile against his shoulder. “It was a good try. We’ll keep practicing until you get the hang it.”
The lamps were almost out, but he let her see his teeth. “Practice makes perfect?”
Carla tickled him, and he retaliated by pinning her wrists to the bed above her head and kissing her. And it started again, but this time it was slow and tender, and he let her caress him almost as much as he caressed her. Afterwards he held her and whispered, “Was that better, sweetheart?”
“Better,” she agreed, stroking his chest. “I think we need to practice every night, don’t you?”
“Maybe occasionally during the day, too.” He let his lips brush over her ear. “I love you, sweetheart.”
“Taye,” she said seriously. “I couldn’t have found a man I to love more than I love you even if I’d stayed in 2014.”
He kissed her hair tenderly.
His heart pounded under her ear, a steady beat, like the soft rhythm of a love song. That sound was, Carla decided as she snuggled against him, the very best sound to fall asleep to.
Chapter Nine
This was concert day. Carla spent most of the morning with her new horse, grooming her and letting her get used to being handled by her new owner. Wind in the Grass was a good horse, but had a bad habit of head-butting the groomer. Carla would work on that. Taye came for her in the late morning, telling her she should eat lunch and change now, so they could leave for town. Carla put on the new clothes Taye had given her. They weren’t stylish by early 21st-century fashion standards, but they were comfortable, and best of all, they didn’t have bloodstains on them. She wore her short, fringed jacket because her new coat would be too warm for the Indian summer day. Two dozen wolves were in the rec room, each wearing a shirt and pants, and even shoes. Taye arranged the men in a military-like formation with her in the center carrying her guitar case. She also saw a few of the Pack in wolf form on guard in front and behind them. Obviously Taye was taking no chances with her safety. It made her smile even as she rolled her eyes at his over-protectiveness.
The last time she had passed through these streets she had been almost numb from exhaustion and fear. Now she looked around with interest, although there wasn’t much to see with tall wolves surrounding her. For the first few blocks people came out of their houses to stare at the wolf parade. The next mile was pretty desolate, just empty buildings crumbling into jumbles of concrete. But the last mile or so showed a well-maintained town. Carla wondered how it had looked fifty years before. Probably like other small towns in rural America. A couple of schools, a few small parks, some small businesses with a couple of chain fast-food places, maybe a population of 25,000. Carla could see that the buildings and roads here had been taken care of. People peeked out of their houses at them while they passed, and Carla could hear some low growls when some young men came too close.
“Hey, guys.” Carla’s voice was not loud, since she knew the wolves could hear her fine. “I want this to be a fun day, okay? We don’t want any trouble. No fighting, right? No growling, no biting.” She almost added no peeing on the furniture, but kept that to herself. “Just behave yourselves.”
Jay was walking close to her, and he didn’t bother to keep his voice down. In fact, he seemed to speak to the dozen men watching them pass. “As long as no one gets too close to you we won’t have to kill anybody.”
Carla almost growled herself. “Honestly!”
Taye dropped back from his position at point to walk with her. “We’ll do only what is necessary to keep you safe,” he promised.
Carla didn’t think their ideas of what was necessary for her safety quite matched her own. She resolved to be very careful about getting too close to anyone today.
The library was a stately stone building constructed, according to the cornerstone, in 1962. Carla waited outside in a circle of wolves while a few men went inside to check for any traps. “Overkill,” Carla muttered to Taye.
He raised a cool eyebrow. “If you want to be able to go places and play your music for strangers, you better get used to overkill.”
She almost tripped. “Really? You’ll let me?”
Taye kept his face cool and watchful of their surroundings, but tenderness hummed in his voice. “How can I deny you something that gives you so much happiness? But no arguments about security will be allowed.”
She smiled like the sun. “Got it. No arguments.”
There was a small entryway and then a large open area with a skylight. The floor was bare polished granite tiles in contrasting colors laid out in geometric designs. At the center of one design stood Mr. Gray and a woman with short, graying brown hair and a
tight smile. Wooden chairs were lined up in rows behind him, and six-foot-tall bookcases stood in neat rows on the other side. Carla’s escort peeled away to stand in groups of two or three along the wall by the door to let Taye greet Mr. Gray, and maybe that was what made the woman’s smile relax. Even fully dressed the wolves looked feral and dangerous. Carla hadn’t thought of them as dangerous for some time now. After watching them sob over a sad love song it was hard to see them as scary.
“Mrs. Wolfe,” Mr. Gray said warmly. “I’m so glad you were able to come. Thank you for bringing her, Taye.”
Taye nodded formally, almost a bow. “I am in your debt. It gives me joy seeing Carla light up when she plays her new guitar.” He looked sideways at the woman with Mr. Gray, too polite to look directly at her.
“This is my daughter-in-law, Annie Drummond Gray. Doug’s mother.”
Carla thought the woman was way too young to have a son in his twenties. “Nice to meet you.”
Mrs. Gray turned her head to the bookcases lining the nearby wall. She crooked her finger. “Come out, Ellie, and meet your cousin.”
Carla felt Taye stiffen beside her, like a bird dog fixed on a pheasant in the grass. A small, slender teenager with smooth, glossy mahogany hair flowing down to her waist and a plain gray-blue dress that covered almost all of her quietly stepped out from between two bookcases. Her eyes were large and a little frightened, moving from the wolves by the wall, to Taye, to Carla, and back to Taye. Mr. Gray put a hand on her shoulder.
“Ellie, this is your cousin Taye Wolfe and his wife, Carla Wolfe.”
Ellie bobbed a curtsy. Carla had never seen anyone curtsy before. But then poor Ellie had grown up in that weird farming community where women were second-class citizens. They probably had a lot of weird habits. Carla waited, but Taye didn’t speak. So she did.
“We’re very glad to meet you, Ellie. Taye has been looking forward to it.”
The girl’s big brown eyes peeked up at Taye. Carla realized she was roughly five feet tall. Taye was more than a foot taller. “I am pleased to meet you, too. I’ve always wanted to know my cousin Taye.”
Taye leaned forward and inhaled. “You smell a little like my mother.”
Ellie swallowed nervously. Carla wanted to hit Taye and tell him to cut that out. The girl didn’t know what he was doing, and she was looking kind of scared now.
“That’s a compliment,” she told the girl hastily. “Wolves have a really good sense of smell. Don’t be—uh—” Freaked out? “—worried. Taye would never hurt you.”
“Never,” he agreed emphatically. “We’re family.”
Ellie smiled brilliantly at him. “I’m so glad. Can I hug you? Or do wolves not hug?”
Taye pounced on her, and she was so small she practically disappeared in his careful embrace. “Wolves hug, cousin.”
Ellie’s thin arms held him tight for a moment. As soon as she let go, Taye gave one more pat on her back and stepped back. “May I call you Cousin Taye? Cousin Taye, I am so glad to know you. I wish I could have known you sooner. My father…” She hesitated. “I’m sorry that…” Her hands fluttered helplessly. “I’m sorry.”
“You aren’t your father, cousin.”
Ellie smiled more comfortably and turned to Carla. “I’m glad to know you too, Cousin Carla. Have you been married to my cousin long?”
Carla thought and was shocked by how short a time she had known Taye. “No, only a few days actually. He won me in a Bride Fight.”
Ellie’s wide eyes got wider. “Oooh, how romantic!”
That was not the word Carla would have used. “How old are you, Ellie?”
“I’ve turned seventeen.”
She looked even younger, Carla thought, and as delicate as a porcelain doll. “And you’re getting married soon?”
“Not until next summer. Grandpa Gray says a woman shouldn’t get married until she’s at least eighteen.” She flipped a pert smile over her shoulder at Mr. Gray. “I’d be glad to marry Neal right now though.”
“So you want to marry Neal Overdahl?” asked Taye quickly.
“Oh, yes! He’s so handsome and sweet, and not too old. I hope you don’t mind we invited him to come today.”
“No,” said Taye a little grimly. “I’d like to have a few words with him.”
Carla felt a spurt of pity for the young man. Mr. Gray’s wrinkled face creased with poorly hidden amusement. “Mrs. Wolfe, Lisa and Eddie Madison are in my office. Maybe you’d like to see her before you start singing? Most of the guests won’t arrive for another hour.”
Taye saw the excitement in Carla’s face. “You would like to see your friend, wouldn’t you, sweetheart. I’ll take you.”
Ellie looked disappointed but smoothed her face immediately. Carla patted Taye’s arm. “That’s okay. You should stay here and spend more time with Ellie. I’m pretty sure I’m not going to be kidnapped in a library.”
Ellie perked up and Taye hesitated. Mr. Gray stepped in. “Taye, I know Ellie will be safe with you. Perhaps you would take her to the refreshments table and chat with her while she gets the cookies and tea ready. Some of your Pack could escort Mrs. Wolfe to my office.”
Taye nodded and flicked his fingers at Jay. Jay and two other men detached themselves from the wall. Carla muttered, “Overkill,” under her breath, but Taye’s expression reminded her she had promised to not argue over security, so she let the wolves surround her. One was Quill, and he was staring at Ellie with his green eyes for once unhidden by his hair. His sweet smile was nowhere to be seen now. Was he angry at Ellie? Why? But in a second Quill shook his hair over his eyes and turned his back on Ellie to join the other wolves taking her down a narrow corridor to a closed door. Jay pulled Carla to a stop and went in first, just in case, Carla assumed, some woman stealers had a death wish and were hiding in there. He froze in the door, and Carla shoved to make him move aside.
Oops. Carla snapped her eyes away from Eddie bending Lisa over one arm to nibble at her collarbone. Jay and the wolves were completely silent, mesmerized by this display of passion. Carla must have made some small noise, though, because with one lithe movement Eddie raised Lisa, thrust her behind him, and spun to face them in a half crouch. Right then he looked as feral as any of the wolves.
Carla cleared her throat. “Sorry to—uh—interrupt.”
Eddie stood up and came to her with an outstretched hand and a warm smile. For a split second Carla admired his perfect, masculine beauty before she remembered to step away. All three of her escort were bristling and growling, trying to put her behind them.
“Shut up!” she told them. “Remember what I said about behaving?” She smiled apologetically at Eddie. “Let’s just pretend we shook hands, okay?” She had always thought Eddie was a decent guy, even when his dad was her jailor. He had been friendly and respectful, and since he had been fixated on Lisa she had felt safe with him. She tried to look around him. “Lisa?”
The blonde model was wearing a plain cotton dress that would have looked like a feed sack on anyone else. On her the simplicity was elegant. “Carla!” She hurried forward, but Eddie caught her wrist and gave what looked like a gentle tug but all five feet ten inches and one hundred twenty-five pounds of Lisa lifted off the floor and landed neatly behind him. Eddie was glaring at the wolves, who were glaring right back.
“Good lord,” Carla muttered. “I thought it was just the wolves who acted like that.”
Since they were about the same height, Lisa peered easily over Eddie’s shoulder and said clearly, “No, Eddie thinks he’s a caveman sometimes.”
Eddie’s glare deepened to a scowl.
“I know exactly what you mean. Sounds just like Taye if a man gets too close to me.”
It took some quick talking from Carla and Lisa both to get the men out of the office. With extreme reluctance they agreed to wait out in the hall. Carla said firmly, “Don’t hurt him,” at the same moment Lisa told Eddie, “Don’t hurt them.”
The women looked
at each other and laughed. The first time Carla had seen Lisa was when she had boarded the plane. She had been flawless, from the tips of her high-heeled boots to the top of her perfectly styled hair, in jeans and a tailored jacket that cost as much as some people’s cars, with expert makeup rendering her delicate face radiant. Today she wore a homemade dress, her blond hair in a ponytail and no makeup, and she still looked beautiful.
“Lisa, you look fantastic. How are you?” She did look fantastic, but there were shadows in her eyes. “You and Eddie doing okay?”
“Thanks. We’re doing okay. We’ve sort of been…” She shrugged. “It’s a different world here. I don’t always act the way Eddie thinks I should. But we’re working it out. I know it sounds crazy, but I love him. I think even if someone could wave a magic wand and take me back to the world we came from I wouldn’t go. Not without Eddie.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “And Taye? I heard—” Her voice sank. “—he’s a werewolf?”
“Not a werewolf.” Carla remembered his explanation that first night. “Just a guy who can turn into a wolf when he wants. Talk about crazy, huh? It takes a little getting used to.”
“Does he bite you? Are you okay?”
Carla clearly remembered where Taye’s teeth had been so gently last night and blushed.
“Ohhh,” said Lisa knowingly.
“We’re okay,” said Carla quickly. “He treated me like a princess from the first. None of my boyfriends ever treated me half as good as Taye does. Except for the growling and the overkill guards. But that’s only because he wants me safe. He’s bossy. But we’re working on that. I love him too. Back home how many marriages last forever? Here, the question is, how many marriages break up?” Carla searched the model’s face, looking for signs of contentment but not finding them. “ Lisa, are you happy?”
Lisa nodded slowly as she sank down on the narrow couch by the fireplace and made room for Carla. “I think Eddie loves me. He’s the jealous type, though. I don’t know why. Except that he saw a copy of an old magazine. Did you read it? The article that talked about me fooling around on Brent? Eddie believes it! And he thinks I’m really like that.” She clenched her fists in her lap. ”It’s not like I’m running around town seeing other men. Back home a lot of men said they loved me because I’m rich or I’m famous or even because I’m beautiful. I’m too skinny to be considered beautiful here. Eddie keeps trying to make me eat more. If he only knew what my hips will look like in a few years…!”
