“Now you know how I feel. Neither do I.”
He sounded so angry she felt like crying. Didn’t he care strange werewolves wanted to mate with her? “I don’t want them. Besides, I won’t just get pregnant—I’ll whelp! I could have a whole litter of puppies.” That thought led to another more horrifying. “Oh God, does that mean I’ll grow a row of breasts?”
They reached the corner and turned right onto the busy thoroughfare, blending with the strolling crowd.
“You think that’s a problem?” Joe asked, his voice purring close to her ear.
Cream trickled down to soak another panty liner. That’s all it took. One sexy rumble from this man and she was ready to shuck her pants in the nearest alley and have a go. She was insatiable. No. She was in heat!
“Shouldn’t you be eager to get home and start taking notes?” he asked. “You’ve obviously been studying the wrong breed.”
She dug in her heels. “Stop it!” She rounded on him, her hands clenched. “There’s no need to be snide.”
The hard set of Joe’s jaw indicated he wasn’t ready to let go of his anger.
Lily wondered if he even knew why he was angry. “You can’t just give me over to them.”
Joe stepped close, crowding her against a wall. “Course not,” he said. His head lowered until his face was inches from hers. His eyes glittered dangerously. “I thought you’d bake them up a bunch of doggie treats and invite them over.”
Ignoring the amused stares from passersby, she grabbed a fistful of his shirt and pulled him closer. “I don’t want them. I want you.”
He planted his hands against the wall on either side of her shoulders, trapping her inside his embrace. “Well, that’s too bad. I told you, I’m not staying.”
Lily licked her lips, enjoying a little thrill of power when his smoldering gaze followed the motion. “You could take me with you.”
A muscle in his jaw rippled. “Not possible.”
Her hands swept up to caress the hills of his chest. “You didn’t seem so averse to that thought when Leveque first mentioned it.”
“That was before I knew my interest was chemically induced. You’re not any more human than I am.”
Lily flinched as though he’d slapped her. “What? You think this thing we have going is all about werewolf pheromones?”
“Isn’t it?” The muscle along his jaw rippled again and his nostrils flared. He ground his crotch against her belly. “Baby, it makes me as crazy as it does you. You wouldn’t care if I dry-humped you right here, would you?” He slid his knee between her legs and raised it to grind against her pussy. “Would I have followed you to your apartment if I hadn’t already been snared by your scent?”
“Silly me,” Lily said around a gasp, her body already climbing the peak. “I actually thought my irresistible personality might have had something to do with it.” The tips of her breasts swelled and she rubbed herself shamelessly against his chest while she rode his thigh.
His mouth slammed down on hers, his tongue stabbing between her lips.
Lily kissed him back with all the love she had. He thought this was just chemistry—an artificially induced arousal. She knew better. She’d fought her urges for months until this man presented himself on her balcony.
Joe groaned into her mouth and lifted his knee higher.
It was just enough to send her over the edge. Her whole body stiffened. Wide-eyed with shock, her body convulsed—her thighs clamping around his leg as waves of shuddering contractions gripped her empty vagina.
Slowly, the tight coil of desire in her belly unraveled. Spent, her body and mouth slackened. If not for Joe’s knee still rammed between her legs, she would have melted to the ground.
Joe gave her a final sliding kiss and lowered his knee. His gaze smoldered darkly. “See what I mean? You’d let me take you anywhere.”
Suddenly tired and near tears, Lily let go of his shirt and leaned back against the wall. “Why don’t you just go now? You’re wasting nighttime.”
He stepped back a pace so their bodies no longer touched. “I’ll see you home, first.”
“You don’t need to do that. I’m not in any danger, remember? They just want to fuck me. Something I want, right?”
“I’ll see you home.”
Lily felt like screaming. Any moment now she was going to break into a million pieces. “Joe, they won’t harm me, but they’ll kill you.”
“They’ll try.”
“Only because you stand between them and me. I don’t want you hurt because of me. You should just go.”
“For all we know, there’s only the one wolf. Even odds. What are the chances of a pack existing here in New Orleans?” His face tilted and suspicion twisted his mouth. “Or would you like that? A half dozen wolves nosing around your pussy?”
Lily stared, her heart breaking. He hadn’t a clue how she felt—and he wouldn’t care if he did. She turned on her heels and walked away from him.
“You’re going the wrong way,” he called after her.
She ignored him and walked faster.
“Dammit! Lily stop!”
She was running now, blinded by the tears streaming down her face.
Heavy hands landed on her shoulders, bringing her to a screeching halt. Lily didn’t bother to turn. Instead, she drew ragged breaths and fought against more tears that burned the back of her throat.
“Baby, I’m sorry,” Joe said. “I was out of line.” His body pressed against her back.
Lily blinked rapidly. This was too humiliating. She’d thrown herself at him and been turned down cold. His pity was the last thing she wanted now.
“You sure don’t run like a wolf,” he said, next to her ear.
“I’m not,” she said, hating that her voice sounded clogged with tears. “Not yet.”
“That’s right.” His hands slid down her arms and encircled her middle.
Lily accepted his embrace, letting her head fall back against his chest. “But I’m a breeder. That’s what she called it, right? I’m just a bite away from being canine. Sooner or later they’ll find me—just like you did. By scenting me.”
His hands closed around her shoulders and he shook her once. “You can fight it. You aren’t turned yet.”
“What am I supposed to do? Lock myself in my apartment every time I come into heat? Avoid anyone whose nose twitches when they draw near me?”
“Yes.”
“What good will that do? I have to survive—I have to work. I’ll meet some good-looking guy squeezing Charmin in the grocery store and my desire will overpower me. I’ll let him take me home.” She sniffed and rolled her head on his chest. “I won’t be able to help it. One bite and it’ll be finished.”
Joe nuzzled her neck. “You’re sure you don’t want that? It might be easier to just go with the flow.”
“You’re not the one who’s going four-legged.” She scraped tears from her face. “I have no desire to run on all fours and smell other dog’s butts. And think of the expense of all that waxing!”
Joe’s shoulders shook. He turned her around, but she stubbornly kept her gaze on his oversized feet. He put a finger under her chin and brought her face up. By his crooked grin, she could tell he was exasperated.
Lily shrugged. “Think about it. No Remington razor will do the trick.”
Joe drew his T-shirt over his head and used it to mop her face, ignoring the whistles from several grinning women as they walked by.
Lily scowled at every one of them.
“Let’s get back to the car. We’ve got plans to make.”
“Plans?”
“Like flight plans. And you need to pack.”
Lily brought her gaze slowly up, hoping her heart wasn’t shining in her eyes. She was so pathetic. “Don’t say that unless you really want me with you.”
Joe’s eyes burned her like a four-alarm blaze. “Don’t want you?” He pulled her hand down and forced her palm to follow the curve of his erection. His face was stil
l hard. Still angry. But the remorse in his expression said the anger was for himself.
“Let’s get back to my place quick,” she said, her heart thrumming.
He grabbed her hand and pulled her back down Bourbon Street.
“Wait, put your shirt back on!”
He laughed and pulled her faster behind him.
She’d parked on another side street, but as soon as she turned the corner she knew something was wrong. She didn’t need to have all her werewolf powers to know eyes followed her progress. “Joe?”
He slowed his pace and his head lifted. He sniffed at the air. “Yes. I know. They’re here.”
“What do we do now?” Her hand clutched at his like a lifeline.
“Make your choice, Lily.”
What choice? A blood-drinking vampire or a pack of horny dogs? “I’m afraid.”
“You can be what you were born to be, or you can come with me. But choose now.”
“Damn, they followed my scent, didn’t they? I should have bought that strawberry douche.”
“What’s it going to be?” he repeated.
“I think—” A low growl sounded from the far side of the street. “ Run!”
Joe didn’t need to hear her say it twice, he ducked down and his shoulder hit her belly. She draped over him like a rucksack, and he took off in the direction they’d just come.
Lily was glad for his strength and his speed. His feet ate up the pavement. She’d never have kept up. She leaned up and caught sight of a man straightening from his hiding place beside her car. The man from the diaper aisle! He leapt to the sidewalk and ran after them, tearing away his T-shirt and ripping open his pants.
What the hell was he doing?
He stopped for a second and pushed his jeans down his legs, and then he was running after them, again. Lily had a glimpse of his powerful, nude body as his legs stretched to increase their pace. Then he was changing, morphing, his face growing longer, fur sprouting all over his body. He lunged and he was running on all fours, his transformation complete. A werewolf!
She would have told Joe, but she hadn’t the wind to scream with her body bobbing on his shoulder. Faster! Run faster, she wanted to say. The wolf was closing in on them.
Then there was a second wolf, loping into view from another side street—and another. They drew closer—so close she could see their eyes glowing like flat, gold disks in the light from the street lamps, their tongues lolling from the sides of their mouths.
At that moment, she was sure she didn’t want to be a werewolf. A lolling tongue was not something she ever wanted to aspire to. Faster, Joe!
Joe turned onto Bourbon Street, but didn’t slow his pace. She heard screams and lifted her head again to see the wolves loping around the corner. Exposure to the crowds didn’t seem to be a deterrent. Her pheromones must indeed be a powerful thing.
Lily heard the squeal of brakes and a loud horn.
“Mister! This way! Get in the car!”
Lily found herself tossed onto the vinyl back seat of a taxi. Joe jumped on top of her. Heedless of the fact they were only half inside the car, the driver hit the gas.
Joe hauled her the rest of the way inside and slammed the door. Lily pushed Joe to the floor of the cab and scrambled on the seat to look out the rear window. The taxi was pulling away from the wolves. One by one, they stopped, their heads low to the ground, chests billowing, as they watched the taxi leave them in the dust.
Lily turned to Joe and for the first time realized the screams she’d heard could just as well have been for him. His wore his monster face.
He’d collapsed against the back of the seat, dragging lungfuls of air into his chest.
“Joe!” she hissed.
His eyes shone like the wolves in the dim light when he turned toward her.
“Your face!” She tilted her head toward the driver.
Joe took several deep breaths and his face reformed into the handsome one she preferred.
“Holy shit! Did you see that?” the taxi driver said, excitement in his voice. “What did you two do to piss those dogs off? Steal their bone?”
* * * * *
They booked a redeye flight from New Orleans to Orlando. From there they would rent a car. They’d be in Vero Beach by early morning.
The tickets would just about clean out Joe’s account. He slid the card across the counter.
Lily put her hand over it and presented the ticket agent her American Express card. Joe’s face burned.
“Don’t be mad,” Lily said. She chewed her bottom lip. “This is my fight. You wouldn’t be going back there now if I weren’t in danger. Let me do this.”
Joe let go of his pride. He’d been on unpaid leave of absence since January. He didn’t even know if he still had a job. His stuff was in storage. The suitcase he’d retrieved from his hotel room with all his clothing was still behind Lily’s couch. What the hell did he have to be proud about?
As they headed to the gate, her small hand slipped inside his, and he gave it a squeeze, reassuring her he wasn’t angry.
Even while he dreaded returning to the place where life as he’d known it had ended, he was glad he wasn’t going there alone.
* * * * *
“Can I get something for you sir?” the pretty flight attendant asked.
“A blanket?” Joe asked, smiling at the woman. “My girlfriend’s cold.”
“I’m not cold,” Lily said flatly.
Joe dropped his gaze to the flight attendant’s chest and raised an eyebrow. “She’s cold.”
The woman gave him a grin and opened an overhead bin. The blanket was thin, but would be enough of a screen for what he intended. He raised the armrest that separated their seats and spread the blanket over them both.
“Oh,” Lily grumbled. “You’re just too macho to admit you’re the one who’s cold.”
“Vamps don’t hold the heat very well,” he replied, with glib amusement.
“I wonder if that’s how you got your cold-blooded reputation.”
Under the blanket, he slid his hand over her thigh.
Lily’s eyes widened. “You’re not thinking—”
“Open your pants,” he whispered.
“You’re not going to—”
The rasp of his zipper alarmed her and she stared at his movements beneath the blanket.
“There’s no one around us—the plane’s nearly empty.” He reached for her hand and brought it to his aching cock. “Let’s play.”
Lily gave her fellow passengers, most of who were already settling down to sleep, a guilty glance, and then Joe heard the slow slide of her zipper. When she looked back, she leaned back against her seat, her eyes begging him to take her.
Joe reached for her tummy, pulled her blouse out of the way, and tunneled his hand into her underwear. Sliding past her belly, he raked his fingers through the soft curls covering her sex. Lily’s eyes scrunched closed and her face turned bright pink. If anyone looked their way they’d know exactly what he was doing.
That was just fine with him. It had been too many hours since he’s last been inside her. He didn’t care who watched. His fingers parted her folds and speared inside her juicy cunt.
Lily’s hand gripped his cock like a gearshift.
“Lily,” he whispered.
Her eyes fluttered open. “Yes?” she asked, her voice high and thin.
“Move your hand.”
She took her hand away from his cock.
“No. Jerk me off.”
“Oh!” Her hand encircled him, but she moved with excruciating slowness up and down his shaft.
“You’re killing me, baby. Faster.”
“They’ll see us,” she hissed.
“If you don’t do it faster, I’ll turn you over the seat and fuck you now.”
Shock widened her eyes, but her cunt gushed around his fingers.
Sitting side by side, their hands in each other’s pants, Joe couldn’t care less who saw the frantic rustling beneath t
he blanket.
“It’s not enough,” Lily panted.
“Speak for yourself,” he mumbled, enjoying the friction from the coarse blanket and her hand pumping on his sex.
“There has to be a better way.”
He gave her a sideways glance. “Meet me in the restroom?”
“Are you crazy? We can’t both go in there. Someone will see us.”
“Who’ll notice? Everyone else is sleeping.”
“There’s no room—”
“I promise I’ll make it fit,” he purred.
Lily pulled her hand away. He swirled his finger inside her sex once and drew a wet trail up her belly, before he took his hand away. They both struggled with clothing and zippers, grinning at each other like children filching cookies from the cookie jar.
He leaned across her and gave her a smacking kiss. “Take the stall on the left, but don’t lock the door. I’ll be right behind you.”
Lily hurried down the aisle, sure that anyone looking at her flushed face and mussed appearance would guess what she’d been doing—but she didn’t care. Her pussy ached to glove Joe’s cock again. With a quick glance to assure herself no one followed her progress, she entered the small restroom and quickly stepped out of her shoes, pushed her slacks and panties down her legs, then looked around for somewhere to hang them. The small overhead cabinet would have to do.
Just as she draped her clothing over the corner of the cabinet, the door swung open and Joe stepped inside, crowding her back against the toilet. “Glad to see you didn’t waste any time.” His hands were already unbuttoning his jeans. He slid them just past his hips. His cock bounded out of confinement, poking her in the belly.
She couldn’t resist its invitation and sat on the cold metal toilet to take his thick cock inside her mouth.
“Christ! You catch on fast.” His fingers tugged bobby pins from her bun and speared through her hair, encouraging her to take him deeper into her mouth.
Lily rocked back and forth, sliding her lips over his cock, sucking hard, and reveling in his gasps and the jerk of his hips as he glided in and out of her mouth. She cupped his balls and tugged gently.
“Baby, stop!” He pulled her hair.
With a last swirl of her tongue along his shaft and around his plump head, Lily lifted her face. “Fuck me?”
Delilah Devlin - My Immortal Knight 03 Page 9
