Blayne Edwards

by Caine

  He was still too stoned to answer even if she was.

  “Yes, I checked him over thoroughly. Temp’s normal. No. No worms, no fleas. Nothing.”

  Temp? Worms?

  I didn’t score.

  Lee let out a long doggy breath and rode the wave of teenage sexual energy and frustration that seemed to be very adept at getting him into trouble. Had he not been so enamored by her smile and voice when she’d spoken to him, he’d be at home in his bed right now. Looking at his nudie magazines with two good, clear, human teenager eyes. He could have transformed back into a boy, er…a man again and whacked off under the covers while he thought about her.

  And his ass would most likely feel much less violated.

  He grumbled and tried to raise his head.

  “Yeah, he’s coming out of it now. I know. It pisses me off, too. I hate when people try and make them into pets. But at least they didn’t have him destroyed.”

  Lee’s ears perked up and he managed to raise his head and look at her. That smile came back to him and he felt his fucking tail begin to wag.

  There was no hope for him or his raging hormones.

  “I don’t know where they came from. The collar on this one just says Barklee.”

  Lee started to smile at the sound of his name in her voice, but then he remembered that she thought that he was a wolf.

  And wolves don’t smile.

  And wolves don’t whistle at pretty women or flirt with ladies almost old enough to be his mom no matter how damned good they smell or look or sound. And smart wolves especially don’t try once again to see up the robe of the woman his twenty-nine year old brother had fallen in love with just seconds after Lee himself had.

  But of course, Lee had never been known for his intelligence. Or his impulse control.

  His alpha brother, Damon Alexander Caine, Caine to his family and friends, was a horror writer. A brilliant author of fiction who had been on the best seller lists time and again without anyone ever knowing his true identity. His stories of werewolves and shapeshifters had been hailed as some of the greatest works of modern fiction ever produced with their mixture of erotic content and subtle natural explanations for situations that could have been made lurid. A fact that their entire family had always laughed about since Caine was simply writing down his family’s history and selling it to the public.

  Caine was the alpha because he was smart like that. And cunning. And the most levelheaded, got-it-together man who had ever lived other than their father. Well, that and he was also the toughest son of a bitch who had ever lived. The only one who had ever come close to whipping him had been Lee’s oldest brother.

  Lucius Bartholomew Caine.

  Luke.

  Psychopath by nature.

  Cop by profession.

  Best goddamned detective the police force had ever known. Could sniff out the week old trail of a child molester and then swear to Holy God that the guy’s neck was already in that shape when he found him.

  For some reason, no one ever argued with his claim that child molesters were by nature self mutilators.

  Meaner than a bag full of premenstrual rattlesnakes. And even less friendly to anyone other than one person as far as Lee could ever remember. A full blood, believe it or not. And the only human, full or mixed blood, he had ever loved.

  His brother’s wife.

  Lee sighed again as he thought about Meagan. Luke had loved her as much as Caine had. Hell, they’d all loved her.

  Just like they would all end up loving this one, he suspected.

  “No, I’ll just keep him here with me for now. I’m not going back into the city for another month or so.”

  Lee smiled despite his telling his mouth not to. The bitch looked down at his expression and smiled back questioningly.

  His tailed thumped in drunken appreciation against the hardwood floor.

  “No, I’m not teaching this summer either. I have to be here when the wolf cubs are born so I can tag them and make sure they’re healthy.”

  Cubs?

  Lee watched her move to lean against the table behind her. He rolled over to his back and managed to get his head below the tail of her robe.

  Bingo!

  But then her foot. Oh God her foot! It came up and rubbed his belly…right…oh God!

  Right there!

  Lee couldn’t keep his eyes open to look. He was too busy feeling the happy spot on his belly that she teased with her toes as she stood talking on the phone.

  Wolves don’t smile and wolves don’t whistle at pretty women.

  But what nineteen-year-old human boy gets to do this?

  Lee let his eyes roll back in his head and thought about all of the lectures he was going to get when Caine found out that he had allowed this to go on. It was worse than whacking off under the covers. It was more vile than sniffing Anita Jameson’s chair after third period English class.

  This was the heroin of a dog’s world. The catnip of canines.

  And Lee was acting like a total crack whore.

  With his brother’s future bitch, no less.

  He could see the scar across his boyishly gorgeous face now. Caine was going to be furious with him. And he would most likely put a beating on his poor, already violated ass like never before. Luke would even join in on this thrashing. It would most likely be worse than it had been when he’d announced his professional plans to his over-achieving, brilliant beyond any IQ test brothers.

  William Barklee Caine was a drummer. In a rock band, of course. The Doggy Styles. Lee himself had come up with the name.

  And he had finally managed to stop chewing up his drumsticks. Although Caine did still throw one occasionally to catch him off guard. Lee hated when the urge to fetch came out without his wanting it to. It was more embarrassing than morning wood at band camp.

  But her toes made him forget about embarrassment or past pain suffered at the teeth and hands of his brothers. As well as the pain he would suffer at the end of his pleasure. Lee let her rub his belly as he listened to her conversation. And as he fought the urge to lean over and lick himself.

  “No, we can’t use him. Even for stud.”

  Yes you can! I’m a stud!

  “No, we can’t. I don’t care how hard up we get. I’m not passing this defect along.”

  Hey? What the…

  “Yes, it will show up again. It’s genetic.”

  Lee rolled over to his stomach, surprising even himself with the control he was learning over his pleasure urges. But his manhood or doghood or something to do with his sexual prowess was being questioned. And Caine would beat him even more severely for letting that go unchallenged.

  “I may just take him home with me.”

  Oh please, God! Oh yes!

  “I’ll have to housebreak him though.”

  Not a problem, babe.

  “And he’ll have to have shots.”

  Just stay away from my ass and we’re good. Okay?

  And I’ll definitely have to have him neutered.”

  Neu…

  Her smile turned into a laugh.

  “Maybe I’ll get it half price since there’s only one to cut off.”

  Lee swallowed hard enough to pass a hairball.

  “I know. An ascended testicle in a wolf is rare. Weird, isn’t it?”

  No, it’s not weird! It’s huge! I didn’t need two of them! Dad told me that’s how I was supposed to be and that there was nothing for me to be ashamed of.

  Her hand came down and scratched. Behind the ears. Lee knew that his wounded wolfish pride should have made him bite her fingers, but goddamn, this woman was good. And she knew so many great places to rub!

  But now, she also knew things that Lee had never wanted anyone other than his family and his future wife to know.

  He could see the Rolling Stone cover now.

  Barklee Caine: Two Grammys, One Nut.

  He lay down and whined at the thought. And then shivered in disgusted excitement when her fing
ers ran down his ribs and patted his rump.

  Chapter Three

  Chloe stared at the man in front of her with a mixture of awe and intrigue.

  “…so he got away from me and we’ve been looking…”

  “What did you say your name was?”

  The man rolled his eyes and reached into his back pocket. Chloe eyed the badge and the identification.

  L. B. Caine.

  Homicide.

  “So your name is L.B.?” Chloe smiled at the man and felt the wet nuzzle of wolf nose against the back of her bare leg. She reached down to scratch Barklee behind his ears before absently tightening her robe around her.

  The man shook his head and then nodded. Nervously. Chloe smiled at his state.

  “My name is Luke,” he said almost reluctantly. “The L stands for Lucius.”

  “That’s a beautiful name.”

  The man looked stunned at her words. Chloe watched him look around the front porch of the cabin and then down at Barklee.

  “Is he all right?”

  Chloe nodded and then patted the dog’s head. “As a matter of fact, he’s perfectly healthy, Mister…”

  “Luke.”

  She smiled at him and then patted the dog again. “All right, Mr. Luke.”

  He almost smiled. Chloe wished he had.

  “It’s just Luke.”

  “Okay.”

  The silence between them was loud enough that it hurt Chloe’s ears. She felt Barklee nudge against her leg when she stopped rubbing.

  “He’s spoiled,” she chuckled.

  “You have no idea.”

  The statement caused her to laugh and the man in front of her let the smile she’d almost seen show this time.

  Goddamn, he was gorgeous.

  Especially with that scar.

  Chloe watched the man lean over and motion for the wolf to come to him. Barklee whimpered and nudged the back of her leg again.

  “I don’t think he wants to go,” she laughed.

  “Wonder why.”

  She almost smiled at the comment but the tone he had used stopped her. Chloe was hesitant to pose her next question to the man after hearing his voice. There was an edge to it that made her uncomfortable. And not in a good way. Evidently the runt felt the same way.

  “So is he a police dog?”

  The man shook his head and stared down at the cowering animal. Chloe felt her anger grow even more as she felt the wolf push against her again and heard his whimper.

  “So he’s a pet?”

  “You could say that,” the man nodded and then crouched down to try and coax the wolf to him. “He’s more like a member of the family.” He nodded again and Chloe thought she heard him try to force compassion into the statement. “You know how that is, I’m sure.”

  Chloe nodded her agreement and stepped back and stooped to try and reach down for the wolf’s collar. The brush of the man’s hand against her hair drew her attention back to him.

  Their faces were mere inches apart and although he had already pulled his hand away from her, she could still smell where it had touched her. His scent was strong and woodsy. Masculine. Like warmth feels. With him this close to her, Chloe could see the dark pink scar even more clearly now. Without her mind even knowing that she was going to do it, she reached out and traced down the puckered skin with her fingertips.

  “They can be dangerous animals.” Chloe couldn’t help but notice how low and seductive her tone had been when she’d spoken to him as she examined the scar. Nor could she help but notice that her fingers paused at the bottom of the scar but didn’t leave his face. “Did he do this?”

  The man shook his head slowly. As if not to disturb her touch on his flesh. Chloe watched his pupils dilate as he looked at her with eyes that reminded her of flames. Intense. Consuming. The blue of fire when it burns hottest. He drew in a ragged breath before speaking.

  “His brother did.”

  She felt her fingers slide down the rest of his face and away from his skin. “How many do you have, Luke?”

  He shook his head at her question. She almost smiled at the look on his face.

  A look that said he too wished they didn’t feel so wrong together.

  “How many wolves do you keep?”

  “Oh.” He looked a bit surprised at his own voice coming from him. Chloe watched him stand up in front of her and she fought to keep the smile from her face as she noticed the very pronounced bulge in his jeans. “I don’t really keep any,” he said slowly.

  “But this one has a collar…”

  “This one’s special.”

  Chloe nodded an understanding. And then reached around to find the wolf again.

  “Come on, Lee.”

  “Is that what you call him?”

  The man nodded without taking his eyes off of the dog behind her. Chloe felt the animal cower again at the man’s now impatient gaze.

  The man blew out in irritation and put a huge hand on his hip. “Lee!”

  Chloe watched the way the man’s fingers dug into his own side as he spoke to the wolf. At the sight of his lack of patience with such a beautiful animal, she felt an anger rise up in her that only came out when a four-legged friend was being mistreated.

  “Sir, maybe we should let him stay here for a couple of days,” she suggested calmly as she stood up in front of the wolf. “I think he’s a little traumatized by what’s happened to him.”

  She watched the man grind his teeth together and his hand flex as he continued to stare at the poor animal behind her. Barklee’s nose had grown warm against her calf.

  “He’s going to think traumatized when he gets home,” the man stated with a low, vibrating growl in his voice that made Chloe have to wrap her arms around her to hide her hardened nipples.

  “Mr. Caine, if you think…”

  “My name is Luke!”

  Chloe clicked her tongue against her teeth and tightened her arms. “Well then, Luke,” she spat out, “if that’s how you speak to this poor animal at home, no wonder he doesn’t want to go home with you!”

  She watched a rage grow in the man’s eyes that frightened her more than even she enjoyed. Chloe immediately either pitied or respected this man’s wife. She just wasn’t sure which.

  “He can stay here for a while,” she stated and nudged Barklee back with her foot.

  “He can not stay here…”

  Chloe watched the man run his hand down his face in irritation. The scar on his cheek reddened and then smoothed out when he relaxed his face again.

  “He can’t stay here, Miss…”

  “Doctor.”

  “What?”

  Chloe held back a chuckle at his confusion. She was used to it though. Dr. Evans had never been a title that fit her physically. And she damned sure didn’t look like a zoologist.

  Plus sized model, maybe. Stunning, redheaded, large-breasted, size fourteen woman definitely. But not a jungle hopping, outback exploring, PhD in zoology.

  She had always found that her brains freaked most men out. Especially since they were sitting above tits the size of a man’s head and covered with enough red hair to stuff a couch.

  “My name is Dr. Chloe Evans,” she stated proudly as the man resituated his stance.

  Chloe grinned at the obvious discomfort he felt in his jeans and at the thought that perhaps in L.B. Caine, she had found one of those rare men who thought intelligence to be a much bigger turn on than silicone breast implants.

  “Doctor of what?” he asked with a slightly flirtatious tone to his voice. A tone that made Chloe wish so badly that the chemistry between them wasn’t so wrong. He could have been great fun tied down in her uncle’s four-poster bed, she bet.

  “Zoological studies,” she said absently, eyeing the way his pants had stretched even tighter at the crotch.

  He smiled and Chloe saw his scar pucker with the motion. “So animals are your passion.”

  Chloe felt her pussy immediately moisten at the way he had spoken th
ose words. And at the definite inference he had added silently with his eyes roaming up and down her frame. She returned the smile and tightened her robe again before moving back to allow the man to enter the cabin.

  At the least.

  He shook his head. Reluctantly, Chloe thought.

  Married. Two kids. A mortgage the size of the national debt.

  But an awesome lay.

  “Sure you don’t want to come in?”

  He smiled again and nodded. “I just need my dog.”

  He’d made the statement without any conviction whatsoever. Chloe watched him look over her shoulder and out the glass doors at the back of the house. As he focused past her she wanted to keep her eyes on the mouth watering man in front of her, but when she turned to reach for Barkley and found nothing there, she was forced to turn her head and search for the wolf. Her own gaze caught a glimpse of the dog scampering across her back yard and into the woods.

  “How did he get out there so fast?”

  Chloe turned back just in time to see Luke moving closer to her. Once again, Chloe smelled the warm, musty odor on him that she knew was created by nature only to drive normal, sane, respectable women into acting like shameless hussies at one whiff. She shook her head to disperse the smell. Luke closed the gap between them even more.

  “Barklee?” Chloe called over her shoulder without taking her eyes off of the man in front of her. She knew the wolf was far out of hearing range, but calling for him again, if only to try and ignore the tension in the room, seemed like the right thing to do.

  The man stepped just within reaching distance of her and then stopped before pushing her front door closed with the toe of his boot. Chloe watched him fix his gaze on her without any interest at all for his dog now.

  “Do you think he’ll find his way home?”

  Luke nodded sharply without speaking. Without caring one way or the other whether or not his pet made it home, Chloe thought as she continued to stare into the hypnotic blue eyes that this man had locked onto her.

  L.B. Caine was physically the closest thing she had ever found to the embodiment of her fantasy. But they would never be a couple. He was not the man she was supposed to fall in love with or spend her life with. Even as she stood in front of him and felt her body grow wet simply by looking at him, Chloe also felt the twinge of knowing that something was very wrong between them.