Moore, Gigi - Desiree's Lone Wolves [The Double R, Book 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Gigi Moore

  Over the years, the chase had thrilled him, but lately he’d become complacent, doing things by rote, bored.

  He’d needed that earlier fight to show him of what he was still capable, to prove that he remained a vital, relevant being, a powerful alpha that should not be questioned.

  Of course he hadn’t missed the dissent back in Louisiana, the murmurs of doubt at his ability to lead the pack. They had started after Duane’s death, along with the questions of how he had handled the Guidry family. The noise of opposition, however, had gotten louder over the years, several whelps in the ranks ready to make their mark. He could feel it.

  Gossip was an unavoidable evil, especially in so tight a pack as Remy’s. When Carson’s initial accusation had surfaced and spread through the lower rank and file, doubt in Remy’s innocence also spread. The pack had seen this lapse as a way to usurp his command, as if he slipped in his advanced years and his mistakes could no longer be tolerated.

  He would show them that he wasn’t an alpha with whom to be toyed. He would show them all once he’d handled the Guidry brothers once and for all, the way he should have handled them from the beginning.

  Admittedly he had been easy on them, more out of deference to their mother than anything else, and a latent respect for the man who had been their father. His complacence and deference had reached an end.

  Remy leaned forward and glanced through the windshield at the sunrise as it gradually turned the horizon into a salmon-hued burst of color, signaling the beginning of a new day.

  Gingerly, he got out of his vehicle, engaging the power locks and alarm with his remote control.

  He straightened his posture, tilting his head back just slightly, strutting toward the entrance like the proud alpha that he remained.

  “Morning, Mr. Bastien,” the security guard greeted as Remy entered the lobby.

  Albert Roberts, Remy thought, a friendly enough sort, but not overly nosey or terribly observant, which was a good thing for both of them.

  Though all the men who manned the desk seemed interchangeable, especially in their uniforms, Remy made it his business to know the name and a little bit more personal background information for each man who worked every shift. One didn’t get to where he was in business without paying attention to everyone—underlings and equals alike.

  He wondered what Albert would do if he knew his sweet, ginger-haired wife stepped out on him with the next man every other night when she was supposed to be attending Pilates classes at the health club. Remy knew shifters who had killed their mates for less.

  “Busy evening, I take it.”

  “Oh you know how it is, Albert. Money never sleeps.”

  “I got ya.” Albert smiled. “You have a good day now, Mr. Bastien.”

  “I intend to.” He had a lot to get done today, starting with mending his body and mind in preparation for the next battle. He wouldn’t be taken off guard again.

  However, he had given as good as he got. He knew for a fact that the younger whelp was severely injured and would take a day or two, if not more, to recover, even with his accelerated shifter metabolism.

  As soon as Remy entered his penthouse apartment he dialed one of his trusted lieutenants back in Louisiana. It was time now to put the other part of his plans in motion and make the final arrangements for the Guidry boys and their mama.

  * * * *

  Desiree sat by Sam’s side for the next twenty-four hours, changing his bandages, monitoring his fluctuating temperature, and forcing as much food down him as he could tolerate.

  Helena had reported to the cookhouse for work and Carson had reported to his duties as night wrangler, both vaguely explaining Sam’s absence due to an illness.

  Jesse and Jax had accepted the explanation without much question, as had Tamara when Desiree called in sick herself. She suspected part of Tamara’s acquiescence was due to Maia putting a bug in Jesse and Jax’s ear. Not to mention Remy had called Tamara bright and early, stating that he had to cancel due to an “unforeseen family emergency” and to please extend his apologies to Desiree.

  Life went on, but Sam had yet to shift.

  With each passing hour, Desiree wondered if he ever would or if he would die in this form without Desiree ever having witnessed the awesome sight of him changing from wolf to man.

  She had been deprived of the spectacle when Carson had limped a good distance away from her to shift under the cover of the forest. When he returned, unabashedly naked with bloody scrapes that were already healing, it only solidified what she already knew. Except it wasn’t the same. She hadn’t seen Carson change.

  Desiree glanced down now at the wolf Sam, patting down his body with a cool, damp rag as he shuddered and perspired on his large four-poster bed.

  The bleeding had stopped long ago, only to be replaced with spiking temperatures and night sweats. She should have taken comfort in the idea that he had a fever, which meant his body obviously fought off whatever infection he had gotten from his wounds. She worried even more than Helena and Carson, both of whom knew so much more about shifter anatomy and rebounding than she did.

  Still, Sam hung on as a wolf, much longer than either Helena or Carson had ever heard of happening, much longer than they expected.

  How long could he stay in his wolf form so badly injured and not succumb to his wounds? Desiree wondered. Maybe they should have taken him to a vet. Who knew what kind of permanent damage had been done to his physiology? Who knew what condition he would be in even once he shifted?

  She had so many questions but no answers.

  It drove Desiree mad sitting around and doing practically nothing except watch someone she loved suffer. She felt helpless, and she really didn’t like not being in control, not being able to do something useful.

  When Maia had dropped by earlier to see how Sam was doing, Desiree had asked her sister about the doctor who had treated her at the emergency room—T. Malloy—wondering aloud if they could trust him with their secret and take Sam in for treatment. Just as quickly, she’d shaken her head, discounting the idea as pure lunacy.

  Maia, on the other hand, remained neutral, not showing shock or disapproval and simply said, “I know I was only in with him a short time, but there’s something about him that makes me think we probably could trust him. He wears an exquisite crystal pendant around his neck.”

  Desiree gaped at the non sequitur, wondering at her sister’s logic. Leave it to Maia to notice something like a piece of jewelry and deduce some significant sign of an individual’s personality and moral code in it. Must have been a psychic, Wiccan thing.

  “It’s up to you, Desiree,” Maia had finally added. “Whatever you think is best.”

  Why did everyone seem to think she knew what was best in this? Even Helena, who, once she had decided she could trust Desiree to stay with and nurse Sam until she and Carson returned, seemed to think that Desiree had an answer to Sam’s inability to shift.

  Well, she didn’t, dammit! She didn’t know what she was doing or how to make him come out of this semi-comatose, one-foot-in-the-grave, the-other-on-a-banana-peel state of existence.

  Sam took a trembling breath beside her and whimpered.

  Was that a whimper of pain or a whimper of frustration?

  Desiree planted a hand on each side of his furry face and stared him in his golden-honey eyes. She knew she shouldn’t stare an animal in the eyes like this, especially a predator. She knew that it was a sign of aggression. Sam wasn’t just any “animal,” though. He was one of the men she loved, and he was trapped. There had to be some way to reach him, to get him out.

  “What are you trying to tell me, honey? Are you hurting, or are you angry? Because I have to tell you something, I sure am—hurting and angry that you feel the need to hide from me and that you won’t come out to be with me.”

  Sam growled deep in his throat and tried to wriggle his head free from her grasp, but Desiree held firm, held his gaze.

  “Personally, I think someon
e here is just being a lazy wimp, and it ain’t me.”

  Sam snarled, snapping his jaws at her.

  Oh-ho, she’d hit a nerve. Not to mention he’d just missed nipping her, but that was all right if it got him to shift. “Oh, did I hurt the big, bad wolf’s feelings? You want to fight, huh? Let me tell you something. You. Don’t. Scare. Me.”

  Sam jerked his face free of her hands, tilted his head back, and howled. He lowered his head several seconds later to glare at her.

  “So what? Was that supposed to impress me?”

  Sam barked and struggled to his feet.

  That’s it, baby, fight. Come back to us.

  Desiree had her doubts that he could, however, when she saw the way his weak legs trembled with his efforts to stay on his feet. Something phenomenal, however, happened. The muscles along Sam’s back rippled beneath his skin and fur, elongating and transforming as she watched.

  Sam groaned and collapsed back onto his side, panting.

  “C’mon, baby, you can do this. Don’t give up.”

  He whined and Desiree knew now that it was more out of exasperation than pain and that he wouldn’t give up until he’d completely changed. Just to give him a little incentive and to get her feelings out there, Desiree said, “I love you and I need you, baby. So come back to me. Please.”

  Sam stood up on his shaky legs and started the process again, his entire body shuddering with his labors. This time the undulating muscles were accompanied by the sound of bones popping out of and back into place.

  God, the process was agonizing to witness and something Desiree could only imagine took much less blood, sweat, and tears to accomplish when the shifter was healthy.

  Sam collapsed back onto his side again, but not in defeat this time.

  Desiree watched as the fur receded from his body, gradually replaced with clammy, smooth, lightly-tanned skin. His muzzle retracted and facial muscles rearranged as his four legs turned into two arms and two legs before her eyes.

  She clamped a hand over her mouth, tears suddenly streaming down her cheeks at the finished product, Sam finally, fully human and lying supine beside her on the bed. “Oh my God, it really is you!” Desiree flung her arm around his neck and held tight. It took her several seconds to realize that he trembled still. She drew back to look at the cold sweat covering his body. She quickly grabbed one of the towels from the bedside table and patted his face and torso dry before pulling the comforter at the foot of the bed up to cover his chest.

  “Th–th–thanks.”

  “My poor baby.”

  “I thought I was a lazy wimp.”

  Desiree grinned. “That, too.”

  “Say it again, Desiree.”

  She didn’t hesitate or play coy. “I love you,” she whispered before leaning in to gently kiss his lips. She felt him smile against her mouth as his arms came up to embrace her.

  When he pulled back she stared at his much-welcomed grin and couldn’t help but return it.

  Sam pushed a stray strand of hair away from her face, neatly tucking it behind her ear, and Desiree’s heart sped at the familiarity of the act, at how the simple deed made her heart beat so wildly. “I love you, too, bebe. I always have.”

  “Well, I must say, this is a sight for sore eyes!”

  Desiree turned her head toward the door where Helena stood watching them, eyes shimmering with tears.

  Desiree plumped a pillow up behind Sam and he sat up, leaning back against the headboard as he let the comforter fall to his waist.

  For the first time since he had shifted, she noticed how much weight he had lost, and it was not an insignificant amount. She resolved to fatten him up with some of her home cooking. That is, if Helena proved amenable.

  “Had I known you were going to leave me with Nurse Ratched I would have come back much sooner.”

  Desiree gasped and punched him in his arm. “Take that back, you ungrateful wolf!”

  Sam laughed and circled both arms around her waist, drawing her close. “Okay, okay. You know I only meant that with the deepest of affection.”

  “Better had.” She pouted and let him kiss her in front of his mother, only mildly embarrassed. Six months ago, she wouldn’t have dreamed of this moment, but now she couldn’t imagine being anywhere else and with anyone else, besides Carson, of course.

  Desiree heard Helena clear her throat just as Sam coaxed open her mouth and dipped his tongue inside to better taste her. She drew away a little, face hot and expecting to see disapproval as she glanced at Helena standing on the threshold.

  Helena looked at them with a pleased smile and said, “Well, since you two already have a room, I’m going to make myself scarce and go rustle up some dinner.” She turned to leave then paused and glanced at Desiree over her shoulder. “Thanks for bringing him back to us.”

  Speechless, Desiree watched Helena leave and wondered if she knew, really knew, what was going on between Desiree and her sons. She couldn’t imagine what her own mother’s reaction would be once she found out and didn’t even want to face the possibility that Helena might think she was some kind of slut, not good enough for her boys.

  “Stop,” Sam murmured.

  “Stop what?”

  “Stop seeing roadblocks where there are none.”

  “Do you think your mother knows? About all of us, I mean?”

  “I know she does.”

  “And you don’t think she disapproves?”

  “Did it look like she disapproved?”

  “Well, no, not really,” Desiree admitted.

  “That’s because she doesn’t.” Sam drew her closer. “Bebe, we’re shifters. And the quicker you get used to that, the better. Things that faze full humans or aren’t acceptable in the full-human world are perfectly natural for us.”

  Desiree grinned and slid a hand down Sam’s body under the covers until she found what she searched for. “Things like nudity?” She cupped his springy balls then stroked his burgeoning cock. He may have been weak from his injuries and just this side of emaciated, but there was absolutely nothing wrong with his libido.

  “Yeah, that’s one thing.” Sam moaned when she wrapped her fingers around his shaft and squeezed. He flipped her onto her back and planted a knee between her denim-clad thighs. Catching her wrists, he drew her arms up over her head, holding her captive with his body as he stared down at her with those golden-honey eyes and instantly made her hot and wet.

  “Starting the party without me again?”

  Chapter 18

  “We wouldn’t dream of it.” Sam glanced at Carson over his shoulder and patted the bed beside Desiree. “There’s plenty of room for you.”

  Carson closed and locked the door behind him before crossing the room. A heavy feeling of déjà vu permeated his senses.

  He stood at Sam’s bedside, taking a moment to gather himself while he admired the sight of Sam and Desiree entangled together under the bedcovers. Sam’s muscled back shimmered with perspiration beneath the overhead lights of the room. Desiree lay beneath him, lush breasts straining the buttons of her Western shirt as she panted, face flushed from arousal.

  He stared at her, searching for some signs of disgust or other form of distress, but saw nothing like either of those.

  Carson knew she must have witnessed Sam’s change. She hadn’t left his bedside since they’d carried him upstairs from the living room a day and a half ago.

  Was she okay with this, with them being…not exactly human?

  As if in answer to his silent question, Desiree reached a hand out to him. “I’m okay with this. All of it,” she whispered.

  Carson didn’t think he could love her any more than he did in that moment.

  Sam slid off of Desiree to make room for Carson.

  Carson grinned and put his hand in Desiree’s as he put a knee on the bed. He leaned in to kiss her lips, losing himself in the fullness of her mouth, the sweet taste of her when he plunged his tongue deep to meet hers.

  When he finally,
reluctantly, pulled away, he cupped Desiree’s face with both hands. He searched her gaze for the love she’d expressed back in the forest and saw it shining out of her whiskey eyes, plain as day for anyone to see.

  “I love you, cher.”

  She smiled, took one of his hands from her face, and brought it to her mouth. She kissed his palm before nuzzling it with her cheek. “I was so afraid back at the forest, so afraid I’d lose you both.”

  “I know.”

  “I didn’t say ‘I love you’ then because I was afraid, Carson. I said it because I meant it.”

  “I know.”

  She pulled back to smile at him. “Oh you do, do you?”

  “Your eyes tell it all.” He drew her close for another kiss and pulled away to stare at her again. It was too late to play the aloof alpha now, and he didn’t want to. It felt too good saying the words out loud, so he said them again. “I love you.”

  “I love you,” she murmured.

  Sam moved toward the edge of the bed.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Desiree asked.

  “I’ve got a head start on both of you.” He glanced at her and Carson, both still fully clothed. “Why don’t you two work on catching up?”

  “I’ve got a better idea.” Carson took his knee off the bed and stood up to unbuckle his gun belt and place it across the back of the room’s rocker.

  Both Sam and Desiree arched a brow and waited as Carson smiled.

  He liked the game, liked taking control this way. “I need to freshen up after a day out on the range.” Carson paused again for effect, unbuttoning his shirt as he crossed the carpeted floor to Sam’s full bathroom. He glanced at them over his shoulder. “Why don’t you two join me?”

  He caught their smiles and a flash of pleasure as Desiree leaped across the bed and reached for the top drawer of the bedside table.

  When Carson and Sam looked at her, she released a sheepish laugh. “Maia dropped some stuff off she thought I’d need once Sam…” She shrugged and pulled out a tube of lubricant and condoms. “You know how she likes to make sure I’m prepared for all contingencies.”