“Really?” She raised her eyebrows. “I’m surprised.”
He frowned. “Why?”
“Because the last thing I want to do in your bed is think. But if you insist…”
She grinned as he mock-growled and punished her neck with little nips of his teeth.
“No, no, no,” she laughed. “No touching, I can’t think when you touch me.”
She let out a shout as he pulled her over his chest and kissed her deep.
*
Dusty awoke in the early hours of the morning, horny as hell and hungry for Cain.
She watched him sleep. She should let him rest. He’d been pulling some long shifts.
But where was the fun in that?
She ran her hand over his back, feeling him tense as he woke.
Cain rolled to face her, his hand cupping her hip. Immediately, a slow burn infused her skin, lighting her insides.
He kissed her, his mouth hard and urgent.
They both groaned as Cain’s cell rang.
“You have to go in to headquarters?” Dusty asked when he’d ended the call.
“Yeah. Shouldn’t be long though. You stay where you are.” He grinned when she threw a pillow at him.
“Can you drop me off at my place?” she asked.
He paused, standing with one leg in his jeans.
“Why?” he asked warily as she stood and grabbed some pants.
“I need to do some stuff.” And to think. To work out how to tell him about her wolf.
“Why don’t I take you tomorrow?” he asked.
Dusty peered at him. “Because you’re going that way now and I need some more underwear.”
“No you don’t.”
“Cain. Drop me off at my place.”
“All right, all right,” he said with gruff impatience.
*
Dusty stared at the forest from the porch of her small cabin. She let the crisp, cool scent of the woods soothe her. She longed to shed her human skin and race through the trees in wolf form.
At times, she’d actually thought about giving over to her wolf completely. It would be a simpler, easier life. But when had she ever taken the easier route?
If anything, she usually found the most difficult path and took it, full speed ahead.
She knew Cain would keep his word. He would never do anything to betray her trust. It had taken her awhile, but the more time she spent with him, the more right it felt. Tonight, she was going to tell him she loved him. That she wanted to be his mate.
First, though, she had to tell him about her wolf.
She breathed in deep and swore she caught a scent of smoke and chili. Damn, would she never get that blond-haired devil out of her head?
This wasn’t the first time she thought she’d caught his scent. There were times she could’ve sworn she’d caught a glimpse of him—but when she turned there was no one there. It was driving her crazy. Other times she’d swear something had brushed against her skin, a touch that was intimate, arousing. She couldn’t seem to wipe his face from her memory.
Damn him.
Here she was, packing up her belongings so she could live with an extremely sexy werewolf and she was still daydreaming about another man.
“I am being ridiculous.” She slammed her fist against the porch railing.
“What are you being ridiculous about?”
Startled, she grabbed the rail to keep upright. Algernon walked from the forest. He made no noise as he moved gracefully, a slight smile on his face.
“What are you doing here? How did you find me? You’re not welcome here so stop following me around like a puppy dog and just get.” She made a shooing motion, being deliberately rude. Turning, she stalked into the cabin. He followed her, peering around.
“Why? Lover boy isn’t here. I waited until you were alone. Quite restrained of me, really.”
“You’ve been watching me?”
“Oh yes, and very interesting it’s been too.”
“You perverted, sick—”
“Yes, yes, I’m horrible, shocking.” He waved her words away unapologetically. He slowly stepped closer.
“Stay back.” This was stupid. She was a werewolf, she was deadly, she could tear him apart.
Only she couldn’t, could she?
Because her wolf was gone. Because he had powers she couldn’t fight against.
And because she’d rather jump his bones than break them.
My God, what was wrong with her?
“What are you doing here, Algernon? What do you want?”
He shuddered. “That really is an awful name.”
“Well, I don’t know your real name, do I?”
“Ahh, well, let me fix that. My name is Brynn.”
She frowned. “Brynn? Wait, why does that sound— Oh my God, Brynn? You’re Cassie’s brother.”
He bowed. “I’m glad my reputation precedes me. And I’m here because I’ve decided to take what you offered me the other night.”
“I never offered you anything.”
Shit, she was in trouble. They’d been searching for Brynn for weeks, since Cassie had first told Jay about him. Brynn claimed to be her half brother. Cassie was the only one who had seen him. Until now.
Shit. And she’d been keeping him a secret because she’d been worried everyone would think her insane. What a mess.
“Why didn’t you show yourself at the hospital? What were you doing at Samson’s? Did you know I was a Shadowpeak wolf? That I knew Cassie?”
“I’ve been here about a week, checking up on Cassie.”
“You’ve been watching the pack?” Fury lashed at her, mixing insidiously with worry. How could they protect the pack if they couldn’t even sense a threat?
“Yes. And you intrigued me. I wanted to meet you. That’s why I was at Samson’s. I had the urge to talk to you. I try never to deny myself. Makes life much more interesting.”
She cocked her head, wondering how much of what he said was a lie. There was more to it, she was sure.
“How come I’m so special?”
He looked a bit puzzled. “I’m not sure. You just are. I didn’t bother to show myself at the hospital because your packmates would have persisted in plying me with a lot of boring questions. I do not like to be bored.”
Now that she believed. A sudden thought occurred to her.
“So you’ve been watching me since that night at Samson’s? Have you— Have you been touching me?”
He grinned. “Why yes, I have. I couldn’t resist. You have lovely skin, hellcat. I enjoy running my hand over it, hearing the way your breath catches in your throat when you are aroused.”
“Y-you bastard!”
“Well, yes, technically my parents weren’t married.”
“That’s not what I mean and you know it. I want you to leave me alone. Go away. Cassie’s fine, she has a mate. She doesn’t need you.”
He frowned. “Someone hurt her. I cannot let that go unpunished.”
“It won’t. We will find these bastards and make them suffer. Come on, you can’t actually tell me you care about her.”
Cassie hadn’t even known of his existence until recently.
“Cassie’s pack now. We’ll take care of whoever hurt her.”
A hint of temper shone in his eyes and Dusty fought back a shiver. She had the feeling he didn’t lose his cool much, but that she didn’t want to be around when he did.
“Actually, I do care about her. A lot. It’s for her own good that I’ve stayed away from her up until now. From what I have seen, your pack has no idea who hurt her. Incompetent. No, I am going to stick around, catch whoever hurt my sister and make them pay.”
Dusty’s hackles rose at his contempt for the pack. “You can’t spy on us.”
“Are you trying to say you didn’t enjoy my stolen little touches? The way I caressed your skin? I bet you’ve been thinking about me, haven’t you? Dreaming of me. Wanting me.”
“I don’t want you.”
<
br /> “Liar. Ahh, but here comes Prince Charming, riding to your rescue.”
“What?” She strained but she couldn’t hear a thing. “Cain’s here?”
“Yes.”
“Get out,” she demanded desperately. What the hell would she do if he didn’t leave?
He grinned wickedly. “I’ll be around.” He disappeared.
“Dusty?” Cain called.
“In here.”
Cain appeared in the doorway. “Everything okay?”
“Ah-huh, why wouldn’t it be?” Her head throbbed viciously.
“Got your underwear?” His lips twitched.
“Yes, let’s go.”
“You sure?” He grabbed her bag.
“Yep.”
Dusty limped along behind him, peering around suspiciously, half expecting Brynn to appear suddenly.
“Dusty?”
“What?” Her gaze snapped back to where Cain stood, holding her door open.
“You sure everything’s okay?”
“I have something to tell you,” she admitted, knowing she couldn’t keep this secret. Pack safety was at stake. “But at home, okay?”
Some of the tension left his body as he nodded and helped her into the cab.
Silence filled the truck as Cain drove them home. When they arrived, he carried her bag into the house before turning to her.
“Well?” he asked. She headed toward the whiskey and poured them both a drink.
“You know that guy I told you about, the one I met that night at Samson’s?”
Looking cautious now, he took the drink with a quiet, “Yes, I remember.”
“Well, there are some things I need to tell you. He’s not normal, I mean, God, how do I say this? Only I could see him.”
“What?”
She looked up as he sat in the chair across from her.
“I know. Crazy, huh? But I swear it’s true. I pointed him out to one of the waitresses and she looked at me like I was insane. When I woke up the next morning at Wild Oaks, I thought maybe it had all been a strange dream, a hallucination. But then he turned up again at the hospital. He helped Cassie heal. I don’t know how, but I saw him do it. He was there in that room. He saved her life.”
Cain was silent, watchful.
“That’s not all. Cain, he reappeared tonight, at my place. He got through pack security because they couldn’t see him.” She took a deep breath. “I didn’t know his name until now. It’s Brynn. Cassie’s brother.”
Cain stared at her with narrowed eyes, his body tense. “Why didn’t you say there was something strange about him before now? When you first met him or after he’d helped Cassie?”
She took another sip of her drink. “I don’t know. It wasn’t as though he was hurting Cassie, he was helping her. I don’t know, it’s weird, but I didn’t really think about him being a threat to the pack.”
“That wasn’t your call to make, Dusty,” he scolded. “You should have told me, told Cooper about this guy, no matter who he was, straight away. Didn’t you at least wonder why he was helping Cassie?”
She gulped and dropped her gaze. Truthfully, she hadn’t really thought about it. Which was so unlike her that she was shocked. Why hadn’t she thought it over, put the pieces together? She was smart, and pack meant everything. Yet she’d risked pack safety by keeping this to herself.
“Dusty, this isn’t like you,” Cain verbalized her thoughts. “We don’t know enough about Brynn to know whether he’s a threat or not.”
“All of you would have thought I’d gone insane. Everyone already feels sorry for me. How would they have reacted if I’d told them—hey, I can see a guy none of the rest of you can see. Oh yeah, and he worked a miracle and saved Cassie. They wouldn’t be looking at me with pity then. Oh no, they’d bring in the straitjackets.”
Cain loomed over her, his face calm. But his eyes displayed his anger. “Have I ever looked at you with anything resembling pity, Dusty? You had no right to second-guess how I would react. You should have trusted me. Did we tell Cassie she was crazy when she told us about Brynn? No. How could you think we’d treat you, one of the best enforcers this pack has, with any less respect?”
She shook her head. She couldn’t explain it.
“I’m trusting you now. Isn’t that enough?”
He paced silently.
Pain pierced her. “Fine, I’ll tell you the rest and then I’ll leave.”
He whirled at that. “You’ll go nowhere,” he growled. “I’m not going to let you run because you’re afraid.”
“I’m not afraid,” she protested hotly.
“Aren’t you? Why didn’t you tell me about Brynn? Because you were scared you’d lose the respect of the pack, of the other enforcers, isn’t that right? Being an enforcer means everything to you, doesn’t it, Dusty?”
She stared at him, stricken.
“And now that’s been taken away from you and you’re floundering, lost. But I am still here, Dusty. I love and respect you. They love and respect you. It’s you that has the problem with you. You’ve got to pull yourself out of this funk. And for God’s sake, stop keeping things from me. Trust me.”
Her head was whirling at his words. He was right. She straightened her shoulders.
“Did he say anything to you tonight?”
“Ahh, yes, that he’s been watching us, all of us, for a while. That he’s going to hunt down whoever hurt Cassie.”
“Cassie’s due home tomorrow. Maybe we should move her somewhere else.”
“He’s not just here for Cassie. Even if we moved her, I think he’d still hang around.”
“Why? What makes you say that?”
“Because he also wants me.”
Chapter Six
“So? What did Jay say?” she asked Cain impatiently as he ended his call.
Cain blew out a breath, his eyes dark and cold. “He wants to take Cassie away. But she’s insisting on coming back to the estate. She wants to see Brynn.”
Dusty was still surprised that everyone believed her. Obviously, she hadn’t been thinking clearly since her accident. If she had been, she’d have told someone the first time she’d seen Brynn. Instead, she’d possibly endangered the pack out of fear of being ridiculed.
“You going to call Cooper now?” she asked.
As soon as she’d told him everything, Cain had called Jay to warn him.
“No.” He didn’t look at her as he handed her the phone. “You are.”
He turned to look out the window as she dialed Cooper’s number with trepidation.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Laney,” she greeted her friend.
“Dusty,” Laney replied happily. “Is everything okay?”
“Umm yeah, but I need to speak to Cooper.”
“Oh, okay, I’ll go get him.”
Dusty took a deep breath as Cooper came to the phone. “Alpha, I have something to tell you.”
Ten minutes later she hung up the phone, her cheeks burning.
“Got your ass chewed out.” It wasn’t a question. She knew Cain had heard every word.
“Yeah,” she muttered, actually feeling better for it.
“I’m going for a run.”
“Cain.” Dusty stood, alarmed by the calm coolness in his voice. “Don’t you want to talk about this?”
“What?” He turned and she flinched at the fury in his eyes. “About the fact you want someone else?”
“I said he wants to fuck me, I didn’t say I reciprocated the feeling.”
“Don’t you? You wanted to fuck him in that motel room,” he accused, his voice dangerously quiet.
“You said you were okay with that.”
“And I was. Because that was the past. But now he’s back and you’re still attracted to him, aren’t you?”
She swallowed, alarmed.
“It’s not fair to get angry with me about this. All right, yes, I’m attracted to him. But that does not mean I will act on it. It isn’t right for you to get
so mad at something I haven’t done.”
He was silent for a long moment, clearly thinking.
“You’re right.”
“I am?” she asked in amazement before she quickly recovered. “I am,” she said more firmly. “Cain, you are who I choose to be with. I would never do anything to betray you. Never do anything to lose you.”
She took a deep breath. “I love you. I’d made the decision to tell you tonight. I want to be your mate. I’ve wanted you for a long time. But it wasn’t until after I was injured that I realized how much I’d foolishly thrown away.”
“So why didn’t you come and tell me that?”
“Because I really didn’t think I deserved you. I’ve been so stupid. Life is too short to be without you, Cain. This time I’m not letting you go. Not without a fight. No matter who tries to get in our way.”
He strode toward her, drawing her against his chest, his arms bands of steel around her body, merging the two of them together. His mouth ravaged hers, an act of possession.
“You’re mine. My mate,” he growled.
“Yes, yes I am,” she whispered, kissing along his jaw. His mate. It settled over her with a sense of rightness.
“I need you. I can’t hold back.”
She knew he was warning her, giving her the chance to pull back. She didn’t intend to take it.
“So take me. I need you too.”
Cain ripped her clothes, his hands rough. When she was naked he picked her up, placing her over the back of the sofa on her stomach. He spread her legs wide, forcing her to catch her balance with her hands.
He brushed his fingers through her folds, circling in on her clit to strum it demandingly.
“Cain,” she moaned, “I want you inside me.”
“Not yet, you’re going to come first.”
“I want to come with you.”
“Oh you will.” His hand left her pussy as a heavy slap landed on her ass.
“Ow, what the hell?” She looked over her shoulder, one hand drifting back to cover the offended spot. “Did you just spank me?”
“Keep your hands in front of you unless you want me to tie them.”
Her jaw dropped. But she turned around, resuming her former position. She heard him rustling around, covering himself with a condom. He cupped her mound, the heat of his palm branding her. Cain returned his fingers to her clit, tapping fiercely. Pleasure quickly overwhelmed her. As the first tremors of orgasm hit her, Cain drove his cock inside her. His hands gripped her hips as he bucked his hips wildly, entering her with hard, quick thrusts, his cock driving over her G-spot until she was swamped with overwhelming sensations.
Dual Embrace: 3 (Shadowpeak Wolves) Page 9
