“Yes, well, I might have been gone with Reed, if your old girlfriend hadn’t gotten her panties in a wad about the two of us. Now I don’t think I can drive until this headache passes. The trip is going to have a wait a day. In case you didn’t get to hear the argument, some of the females in your pack think I’m not purebred enough to be your current friend-with-benefits. By the way, how do you say ‘go to hell’ in werewolf? The deceitful she-wolf didn’t seem to respond to any of my human threats.”
Matt looked at the black powder covering both their shirts now. He peeled his off, then peeled off Ariel’s. The powder covered clothing was no longer safe to wear and would have to be burned. And the ground where it happened would have to be cleansed.
“My head is spinning like crazy. Why are we getting naked? After today, I’m all about making our relationship public, but I don’t think I have it in me to do you in the middle of the street in broad daylight. Plus, I just threw up. I’d really like to go somewhere and brush my teeth.”
Chuckling, Matt lifted a weak Ariel in his arms and stood with her clutched to his chest. He couldn’t imagine what he would have suffered if she had died. Those few minutes of fear still had his insides quaking.
“When you come back from visiting the Black Wolf pack, we’re going to have a little talk about you moving in with me as my full time friend-with-benefits…or something.”
“Because I’m better in bed than the she-wolf?” Ariel asked.
Matt laughed. “That’s not the reason I want you in my life, but it is a perk. I’ve decided I like you more than any female I’ve ever known. I’d like you to live with me and keep me company. I’ve never felt that way about anyone before you.”
Ariel laughed. “Two weeks ago I was a dowdy divorced scientist who thought her love life was over. Now the hottest guy I’ve ever met wants me to live with him. This werewolf thing might be okay after all. And I like you too, Matt.”
“Brandi? Tell Reed the trip has to be postponed. Explain what happened. I’m going to get Eva to check her.”
“We’ll take care of everything else. You just take care of Ariel,” Brandi replied.
“Count on it,” Matt vowed, carrying Ariel to the passenger side of his truck.
***
Eva was waiting at the house when they got there and held the door open to let him carry Ariel inside. She had the microscope and the blood-drawing kit laid out on his kitchen table.
“Ariel still has some of the dust on her. We need to shower it off first,” Matt explained, as he continued walking Ariel slowly up the stairs.
In his tiled walk-in shower, he stripped the clothes from both of them and tossed them into a pile to be burned. Ariel didn’t fight him when he washed her completely, including her growing mane of hair. He shampooed it several times and then poured a healthy dose of conditioner into it.
“I can’t remember the last time I was this relaxed. It’s a bit like being drunk. I feel like I could sleep for hours and hours,” Ariel said.
“No sleep yet, babe. We have a little bit of work to do first,” Matt said. “Eva is waiting downstairs to help.”
Ariel nodded. “Okay. But don’t be taking my complete obedience tonight the wrong way.”
“I’m not challenging you—I’m just taking care of you,” Matt whispered, toweling her off and kissing little trails down her clean face and throat.
Every flutter of her pulse sent alarm skittering through his cells again. He couldn’t seem to forget how close he’d come to losing her.
“Dr. Jones the scientist needs to let Eva the healer make sure she’s doing as well as we think she is. I know how important it is for you to know all the facts.”
Ariel patted Matt’s jaw. “Listen to you. You’re being all scientific. That’s so cute. Okay, I’ll behave while Eva looks at me.”
“Good. Now before I start kissing you in ways I’m not going to want to stop doing, let’s wrap you up in the butt-ugly robe Mother Gray Wolf gave you.”
“Nanuka gave me a robe?”
“Yes. It’s hideous,” Matt declared. “I didn’t tell you because it’s ugly and far too big.”
“I think it was very thoughtful of her to give me a robe,” Ariel declared, holding out her arms.
Sighing, Matt wrapped the miles of fluffy, furry, white fabric around Ariel’s supple body. He crossed the massive front flaps and tied the belt to hold it closed.
Ariel looked down at herself. “Even as out of it as I am, I can see why you didn’t mention it now. This is a real libido killer, isn’t it?”
“Not really,” Matt said, grinning at her concern. “I just hate covering up the best parts of you. I’d rather see you wearing my old pajamas or sweats.”
“I think I’d rather be wearing them too, but I have to admit the robe is keeping me warm.”
Holding his hand for support, Ariel padded down the stairs a step behind Matt.
Eva was washing her hands at the kitchen sink in preparation to work on her. Ariel slid into a chair at the table, fighting the dizziness that just wouldn’t go away.
“I don’t know how she’s even so alert,” Eva said, her mouth tight with unhappiness over what had happened. “Tell me again how she was…saved.”
“Heidi released her wolf and bounced on Ariel’s chest. She coughed out a black cloud of the stuff, and then threw up the rest. She’s been lucid every since she stopped retching.”
“How long was the mixture in her system?” Eva asked.
Matt shook his head. “I don’t know. When Brandi told me what it was, and I saw her lying in the street, I just assumed the worst, Eva. She was nearly lifeless.”
Eva nodded. “These women are all special. A normal werewolf would not have survived such an attack. There are good reasons your great-grandfather outlawed the wolfsbane punishment. Its effects are irreversible.”
She efficiently drew a half-vial of blood, then tapped a sleepy Ariel on the cheek. “Dr. Jones, we need you to be a scientist for a few minutes. You need to look at your blood under the microscope and tell us if you are doing okay. Once you do this small thing, I promise we’ll let you sleep this off.”
Pulling her sluggish body upright in the chair, Ariel pulled her microscope closer. They hadn’t thought to bring more clean smear slides. She took the one from the microscope and handed it to Eva. “Wash this off with just cold water. Then clean it with alcohol.”
While she waited, she felt Matt’s hands slip down inside the wide collar of her giant robe. They went to work gently kneading the tension from her shoulders. “I might have to seriously consider your live-in girlfriend offer. You’re going to make someone a great boyfriend one day.”
Eva handed back the now clean slide, her gaze moving between her brother and Ariel as she lifted a brow. “I didn’t know you two had advanced to labeling yet. Mother didn’t tell me that information.”
Ariel giggled. “Oh, that’s right. Nanuka is your real mother,” she said, patting Matt’s hand to get him to stop rubbing so she could work.
She borrowed the alcohol swab, smeared the slide, then added a drop of her blood. Peering at it under the microscope, she had to adjust the magnification several times to make sure she was seeing correctly.
“Something has hit my little nano guys pretty hard. Some seem confused and disoriented. Others are scrambling fast like someone slipped them cocaine. I’ll need to keep an eye out for mutations. What was in the black dust again?”
Eva looked at Matt, who nodded it was okay to tell her.
“Wolfsbane, mountain ash, and mistletoe. All are extremely poisonous to werewolves. Mistletoe causes paralysis, but the other two can kill. Madness comes first and you lose your sense of self. Then death follows closely behind the amnesia.”
Ariel pushed away from the microscope. “Even when I watched Brandi and Heidi being injected at the lab, some instinct told me none of us were going to die. I knew Crane wanted us alive. Today is the first time I’ve had to confront the fact that ther
e are people in the world who will kill me if they get the chance. Today wasn’t even about anything important. Your old girlfriend just thought I had taken her man.”
“Old girlfriend?” Eva asked, surprised because Matt didn’t have any.
“She’s referring to Cheryl,” Matt said, his tone severe.
Eva snorted. “She was never your girlfriend. You never even slept with her for a trial.”
Matt shrugged. “Of course I didn’t. What would I want with someone who feeds on drama? The pack’s real problems are enough for me.”
Ariel held up a hand. “Wait a minute. Are you telling me the woman who tried to kill me today has no idea how good you are in bed?”
Matt crossed his arms, trying not to smile at Ariel’s compliment.
“No. She does not. But once upon a time I was working my way through all eligible females in my pack, hoping I could find one I could tolerate for a more permanent bond. I stopped trying out females twenty years ago. Now I just look for women with calm minds who can make pleasant conversation.”
Ariel snorted. “If that were true, you’d never put up with me. You demand to be respected, but secretly you just want to be liked for you. There’s nothing wrong with holding out for a woman who gives you exactly what you want, Matt. You’re a good man and you deserve to be wanted for yourself.”
“A matter we agree on completely,” Matt declared. He looked at Eva. “Are we done for tonight? I would like to take my nano wolf to bed and make her happy before she sleeps.”
“Wow Matt…that wasn’t even innuendo. You’re really rude to all your family members, aren’t you? You need to work on your manners before your family starts to hate me as much as your old girlfriends do,” Ariel said, shaking her head in shock.
Eva smiled and patted Ariel’s shoulder as she walked by her. All of Reed’s wolves were nice women. “Be careful with her, Matt. Ariel is not as strong tonight as her teasing words make her seem.”
“I know,” Matt said softly, smiling at his sister’s concern. “Thank you for coming, Eva.”
He walked her to the door and hugged her goodbye. Eva’s giggle into his shoulder had him pulling away and looking at his sister curiously.
“What?” he asked.
“Your nano wolf?” Eva repeated, the term sounding funny still.
Matt sighed. “I called Ariel that only because it doesn’t matter to me what label anyone puts on her or me or us. The only important reality is what I felt when I saw her nearly lifeless on the ground. Everything I thought I knew about my life changed in an instant. Ariel is the female I want in my bed—permanently.”
“Then I am happy for you, brother. It is not easy to find the right mate. Do the parents know?” Eva asked in a whisper.
“Nanuka probably thinks she does, because she has seen us together,” Matt snorted, whispering back. “But I did not know myself until today.”
Eva held her beloved brother’s face in her hands and whispered a blessing in her mother’s native tongue. She reached up and kissed his cheek before saying goodnight.
***
Matt walked Ariel up the stairs, pausing in the hallway to untie the belt of the giant robe and let it fall to the floor. He kissed her deeply, his tongue tasting the rising desire in her.
Growling at her response, he lifted her into his arms and carried her the rest of the way to his bed.
“You always make me feel so yummy. Being drugged just heightens the effect. Are we really having sex tonight while I’m high on whatever it was I ingested?” Ariel asked.
“Yes, but I will be gentle. We are having the kind of sex which will make us both feel glad to be alive,” Matt said, spreading her thighs with his hands and burying his face between them. He shook at her moan. Her arching against his tongue had him nipping the tender skin he was torturing.
Then he suddenly couldn’t stand not being in her. He crawled up her body and eased himself inside, stroking gently but firmly as she climaxed around him. He never tired of pleasuring her.
“Ariel—you are never allowed to die,” he ordered, only to hear the woman beneath him laugh.
“Matthew, we all die sometime. I don’t think even an alpha can stop it from happening eventually,” she answered, stroking his shoulders.
“Well, today was not your time, and tomorrow will not be your time either. You will go with Reed and come back to me in one piece. My pack will never harm you again. There is no room for argument here. I am ordering you to live.”
“I must be really out of it. Your bossiness sounds sexy as hell to me right now,” she whispered.
Ariel laughed as he whispered his intentions to meld them together permanently in her ear, but it was still a truth borne out by the way Matt’s body dominated hers. There was no fire burning in her at the moment other than the one Matt built with his endless kissing and possessive stroking. She felt a desperate edge to his every surge inside her which had never ceased since he’d climbed on top of her. She sleepily decided it was nice someone so amazing might miss her so much if she died.
“After I broke up with my ex, I wondered if the chance for this kind of relationship had passed me by. Sometimes when I’m with you, I still wonder if I’m going to wake up and find none of this has even happened. Other times I think it was almost worth the pain of becoming a werewolf just to have this chance.”
“The words I want to say back to your declaration would probably scare you, Dr. Jones. How about you just give yourself to me and be mine completely tonight? I need you more than air right now. And I need to prove to myself you really are alive.”
At her nod, his lips slid possessively against hers. His tongue kept rhythm as he softly pounded her surrendered flesh with proof of his great need. When Ariel gripped him in orgasm again, her straining thighs triggered his willing response to flood her receptive body with part of himself. He wanted to be bound to her in every way he could. The fierceness of the need for once didn’t surprise him, but the ideas it gave him probably should have.
While the woman beneath him languished in climax, calling his name in her lingering bliss, he did what he had vowed to himself never to do to a female without permission. Holding Ariel on the edge of her pleasure, he put his mouth to her sweet neck and raked his teeth down until they sharpened instinctively and slashed the tender skin just above her collar bone.
It was not a mating bite, not in the truest sense. He was careful not to draw more than a few droplets of blood, which he licked away to seal the small wound. But the rakings were a mark of possession. If the nanos she worried about removed his bite tomorrow, he would just do it again until they finally accepted his right to mark her as his.
Now if Ariel Jones ever died, the world would know someone would mourn her. They would know he would. And next time a competitive female questioned her relationship to him, Ariel could show her his mark. His pack would know on sight what it meant.
When she whimpered in protest, he ran his lips over the rapidly healing scars, fighting all the other rising urges in his body. Ariel needed to sleep. He needed to let her.
“Matt? Did you really just bite me? Wow, my head hurts bad. I think I really need to sleep now. We’re going to talk about this in the morning.”
Her sharp tap on his cheek had him reflexively growling at her chastisement, then he ended up chuckling at all the reactions Ariel caused in him that he could never seem to control. One day—when she was healed completely—he was going to turn his emotions loose on Ariel Jones and not stop until his sexy cerebral scientist conceded to feeling equally possessive about him.
“I love you,” Matt whispered aloud, knowing his declaration went unheard by Ariel’s deeply sleeping form.
He rolled off her body reluctantly, but stayed close enough to hold her while she slept, which he knew emotionally meant a lot to her. His reward for meeting her unspoken need was Ariel snuggling deeper into his arms and humming in contentment. The jaded male he’d become in seventy-five years was figuring out wha
t his wolf had known from the first moment he’d laid eyes on the naked Dr. Ariel Jones and handed her back her shredded lab coat.
Sighing at the dilemma he hadn’t seen coming, Matt realized he had no choice but to accept that he’d finally found the only female he’d ever considered mating.
Chapter 13
“Thank you for driving. I can do it, but my mind wanders too much. I am not safe behind the wheel. But I feel guilty since you are still recuperating from your latest ordeal.”
Ariel nodded without smiling. “It’s okay, Reed. I don’t mind driving. I usually find it relaxing. That’s not the case today, but I’m doing alright.”
Reed turned his face to give her his full attention. “I could tell something was wrong. You’ve been silent and fuming for two hours now. When are you going to vent your complaints and just get them out of your system?”
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