Devil Hills: #2 Luna & Lydia

by Diroll-Nichols, Karen

  “I don’t mind. But I don’t want you spending the day…I’ll work on being a little neater,” he offered, his palm moving to the side of her face. He knew he was lost the instant her lashes closed and her face rubbed against his palm. He closed the distance between them, his mouth hot and hungry on hers, drinking the taste she willingly gave him with a thrust of her own tongue.

  Her palms pressed over his chest and around his neck, holding onto him and sinking into him. She wanted his kiss and wouldn’t shy from it. There was a life, a thrilling excitement coursing through her that said she belonged in his arms. Suddenly she couldn’t get enough. Couldn’t get close enough and groaned into the kiss, mewling in protest when his mouth traveled over her jaw and onto her throat.

  She felt the heat of his tongue on the mark he’d made on her throat, hot and promising. Her body pressed closer, the scent of her searing moisture tempting him and pulling a low groan from her.

  Sage gave his hands free reign, both traveling over hips that thrust against him and to her back, sliding down and cupping her behind. He held her closer, their bodies rotating and twisting, each finding the right place, the perfect pressure to ignite that spark of pleasure. He wasn’t sure how much more his body could handle. Each time she thrust, each time her body lifted and stroked he felt himself harden more until he was positive he’d burst from the confines of his jeans.

  Lights flickered across the room. The hard pounding on the side door several minutes later making his hand tighten possessively.

  “Just ignore it,” he whispered before covering her mouth again, savagely parting her lips and drinking deeply, sweeping his tongue over and around hers. His groan was thick when she challenged with thrusts of her own, small teeth nibbling his lips and along his jaw.

  “Sage? I know you’re in there!”

  “Who is it?” Luna dragged in a ragged breath, the female voice firm and familiar. “Oh, god, your mother! She called and said she would come see you this evening!” She pushed on his shoulders, glaring up at him. “You kiss me and I forget everything!”

  “And this is my fault?” Sage growled, wincing at the painful cock stretched beneath his jeans. “Tell her I’ll be down in a minute,” he told her, long strides taking him from the room and up the stairs.

  “Me?” Luna looked after him and then at the door, the shadow outside making her breathe deeply. “Very well.”

  “Well, it’s about…” Elaine Terrence stopped at the appearance of the unfamiliar woman standing in the doorway.

  “Please, come inside. It is very cold tonight,” Luna stepped back and smiled. “I’m Luna St. Germaine.”

  “Elaine Terrence. I was looking for my son,” she took in the room, the table cloth, the dinner laid out and then back to the woman, small and slight.

  “He said he’d be down in a minute,” Luna told her. “Are you hungry? I made extra.” She wanted to chatter. She wanted to run when she saw the woman’s nostril flare and realized this was Sage’s mother. And she could smell them. Heat filled her cheeks.

  “I left messages for him, but I know he never returns those,” she pulled her gloves free and stuffed them into the pocket of her short jacket. “I would love to have dinner with you, Luna. I’m most glad to meet you. I’ve heard so many stories since yesterday.”

  “Oh, stories,” Luna went to the cabinets and prepared another place, putting pasta on all the plates and ladling sauce over top before carrying them to the table. She fixed another salad and added it with the silver by the time Sage came down the hall.

  “Ignoring my calls, son?” Elaine went to her toes and hugged her son before taking a seat at the table.

  “As always, mom,” Sage kissed her cheek and sighed. “I’m guessing curiosity and gossip got the best of you. How’s dad?”

  “Busy telling me to mind my own business,” she shrugged and began eating. One bite and then another. “Delicious, Luna. I love the garlic and seasoning blend you have in this.”

  “Thank you. I love cooking and I found the most interesting little spice market this morning when I was out,” she relaxed and began eating.

  “I must have missed the call from dad warning me,” Sage murmured, digging into his food hungrily. One appetite at time.

  “He said he’d be in touch this weekend. He’s curious about your activities, but pretends not to be,” Elaine poured dressing over her salad.

  “You’d think at my age, my activities wouldn’t interest anyone but me,” Sage teased with a laugh at the face his mother made.

  “I’ve heard the most frightening stories about you, Luna. Not to mention the lout of a father and his henchmen that arrived in town yesterday,” she watched the younger woman flush and study her plate. “I don’t mean to upset you,” her palm covered the slender hand on the table top. “I’m sorry. Don’t mind me. Sometimes I tend to run off at the mouth when I should think first.”

  “I knew my being here would bring trouble, but no one would listen to me.”

  “You aren’t trouble,” Sage said firmly, standing up and moving to open the fridge. “Something to drink, mom? Luna?”

  “I’m fine, thank you,” Luna ate some pasta. “My father believes I belong to him.”

  “It’s a little more complex than that,” Sage corrected, fixing a couple glasses of iced water and delivering them before resuming his meal.

  “I didn’t know you were considering a mate,” Elaine asked casually, knowing she’d be told the story in time. When it didn’t hurt the woman her son was protecting. She could see his possession in his eyes, the way he watched her, gently touched her hand or her hair. She met the arched brow and sighed. “Fine. You’re too old to talk to your mother about such things.”

  Luna giggled and bit her lip when color hit his cheeks.

  “I know the whole town is talking about me,” she said quietly, looking from one to the other with a little shrug. “And they stare. Some of the women were a little surly. Lily said they are jealous, though, so I shouldn’t be concerned.”

  “Since I know Lily, I also know she’s absolutely right and if anyone gives you a difficult time, you contact me,” Elaine told her firmly, pulling a small phone from the purse she had hooked on the chair. “I’ll write my number down for you. You do have a phone?”

  “Oh, yes! I found a really nice one today while we were out shopping,” Luna was up and digging into the pocket of a sweater she had hanging in the laundry room.

  “She’s adorable, Sage!” Elaine whispered honestly. “And she can cook.”

  “Is that what the visit is for, mom? Approval?” He teased, taking a bite and watching Luna come down the hall, frowning down at the phone in her hands. “Did you have a phone before, Luna?”

  “Oh, yes, of course. My father wanted to be able to reach me no matter where I was. Sometimes we went overseas with just an hours notice,” she answered absently. “I have three numbers now.”

  Elaine lifted a note pad from the other end of the table and wrote her number on it. “Now you’ll have four, dear. We’ll have to have lunch so I can tell you all the things I’m sorry I wasn’t able to fix once he grew up,” she grinned at the giggle from Luna. “And she is nothing like some of the girls you’ve brought around, Sage Alexander.”

  “Did you know some of his girlfriends?” Luna asked curiously.

  “And this is not a conversation we are having,” Sage informed them both, taking up the pen and writing his number over the paper. “Now you’ll have five, Luna. Eat now, you can play with the phone later.” He laughed at the crinkled face she gave him.

  “It’s been a long time since he’s had a girlfriend,” Elaine said with a thoughtful little frown, ignoring the glare from her son. “At least one he’s allowed anyone to see. I’m not sure if he had one when he was off with the Navy or not.”

  “You were in the military?” Luna asked softly, eating absently. “I saw the tattoo on your shoulder. It’s very good art.”

  “He was with a secret SEAL te
am overseas,” Elaine answered when Sage went silent. “He doesn’t talk about it much.”

  “And he’s not deaf,” Sage drained the water he’d brought to the table and wished it had been a beer. “Don’t you have other kids to worry about? Younger ones,” he added.

  “I worry about all three of my children,” she informed him, winking at Luna. “You’re just the most difficult one.”

  “He is uncomfortable being teased,” Luna said easily. “But I can tell he loves you very much,” she rose and carried the half-eaten plate of food into the kitchen. She had containers out to fill and freeze, quickly emptying the sauce and beginning to clean up.

  “You didn’t eat much,” Sage commented, catching the concerned look in his mother’s eyes.

  “Sometimes I’m not very hungry,” she shrugged. “I put far too much on my plate.”

  “It’s been nice meeting you, Luna,” Elaine looked at her son with a puzzled frown, carrying her plates into the kitchen and hugging the younger woman. “I’ll take you to lunch, Luna. Call me, alright?”

  “I’d like that,” she said honestly, swallowing and rubbing her palms over her hips. “Thank you.”

  “I’ll be back, Luna,” Sage stopped her when she finished setting the containers into the freezer. “Go back to your magazine. You cooked, I’ll clean up.”

  She almost protested but just nodded and quickly left the room. He heard her footsteps on the stairs and frowned a little more.

  “What happened, Sage?”

  “I honestly don’t know. But I know she’ll answer if I ask.”

  “I spoke with Connie…mostly…others have opinions,” Elaine shrugged into her jacket. “Most seem to want to protect her. The confrontation with her father is all the latest news around town. I take it he isn’t a pleasant man.”

  “He isn’t a pleasant man,” was all Sage would trust himself to respond, his jaw tightened at the memory. “I don’t think he’s given up trying to get her back. Scarlet and Lily are doing some background checking on the doctor he brought with him.”

  “Then the rumors are true,” Elaine looked worriedly at her son. “She was being used for experimental drugs?”

  “Jess thinks so. A drug that completely submerged her cougar. Kept it completely from her conscious thought. But it could also have been the sedatives they were giving her under the guise of allergy shots,” Sage brought both hands up on the open door when she moved to the driveway. “At this point, without a lot more information, Jess is only making guesses from things she remembers.”

  “Good thing you’re a law abiding sort,” she said softly, her palm up and on his face before she kissed his cheek. “If you need me, call, alright?”

  “Thanks. I’ll give you a call when I find out more,” he promised, closing the door when she climbed into her little car.

  Chapter Fourteen

  He reset the alarms before cleaning up the kitchen and going in search of Luna. He didn’t know what the drugs had done to her. He didn’t know if the moods were part of it or something triggered something completely different. But he did believe she’d want to talk. At least he hoped she would. He’d always been lousy when it came to figuring out women and he’d long ago flunked mind-reading.

  He had the lights shut down and the kitchen, hopefully, cleaned before going to the second floor. She wasn’t reading her magazine or listening to the little music player she had that now laid on the bureau. She wasn’t in his bedroom or either bathroom. He followed the intoxicating scent of her, frowning when it led back downstairs.

  Then he noticed the carefully folded pile of clothing near the garage door.

  “Shit,” Sage went out into the cold, ignoring the light mist falling around him.

  He quickly shed his clothing and shifted, waiting only long enough to catch her scent and setting off at a run. He had no idea what made her shift, let alone leave the house on her own. It was only the second time she’d shifted. Jess had given him warnings, signs to watch out for because she wasn’t used to what her body could become, what she could do and what she would experience.

  The tree line behind his house led to a scattered, more spread out collection of homes. He followed his nose, skirting the edges of the streets and keeping to the ferns, shrubs and thick pine trees. A few hundred yards into a large cluster of trees, his body came to a sharp halt, ears cocked and nose raised.

  Then he looked up.

  Gold eyes sparkled from above him, blinking and returning his stare. He watched the long tail twitching and curving behind her. And she looked incredibly at home stretched out along the thick branch.

  Sage let loose with the low snarl, his lips curled to show the canines he knew she’d ignore, but he felt better letting it loose before he settled beneath the thick overhanging branches with a huff of air that would have been a sigh if he were human. They couldn’t talk like this and if he shifted to talk to her, he’d not only be naked but freezing.

  Luna stared down at him. He was a very handsome wolf, she thought.

  She hadn’t known how to voice the feelings that attacked her.

  She was jealous. Envious.

  She’d felt a rough surge of sadness watching him with his mother.

  A sadness that had been kept at bay for too many years because of her father and his idea of what was best for her. She just needed some time, she told herself, closing her eyes and wishing it would pass more quickly.

  Pass and take the pain with it. But she knew it wouldn’t. She stood up on the wide branch, fascinated by the dexterity and abilities she had as such a large animal. Luna made a leap to the ground. She met the dark eyes studying her and leaned against him, rubbing her face next to his before turning and taking off at a run toward the house.

  Sage knew their speed would be fairly evenly matched, once she became more accustomed to her form and what it was capable of. For now, he’d content himself to pace just behind her, keeping his senses open as they skirted homes and stuck to the underbrush of the tree line.

  She seemed to be enjoying the leaping part of being a cat, he realized, watching as she easily cleared anything in her path. On that, she definitely had the form more adept than the wolf form.

  He slowed as he approached the half door where he could go and change. He paused only long enough to see her shift on the doormat, deliciously naked, she tapped in the code and quickly slipped inside the house.

  He watched a delectable heart shaped ass that was in for a severe chewing.

  He was pulling the tee shirt over his head with one hand and slamming the door with the other, quickly resetting the alarm and taking the stairs two at a time.

  “Luna!” The sound left his lips a cross between a growl and a snarl.

  His feet skid to a stop outside the bedroom in time to see his oversized shirt falling over her head. The neckline was stretched, the hem touching the middle of her thighs and on her feet, his way too big socks. She looked like a little girl playing dress up.

  “I’m right here, Sage, no shouting necessary,” she said with a sigh, turning to face him, she moved toward the door he now blocked.

  “Why do you believe it’s suddenly okay to go off on your own out there?” He watched his words dawn in her eyes.

  And she shrugged.

  “I forgot. I’m sorry. I’m going to get some tea, would you like something?”

  “You forgot?”

  “Sage, I am sorry. It will not happen again,” she patted his chest and moved into the hall. “You don’t make a very convincing big bad wolf, Sage.”

  He stood transfixed. If she heard the low warning growl, she ignored it and kept moving, the light tapping of her feet on the stairs echoing in his mind.

  Big bad wolf.

  That he knew how to handle.

  Luna filled the kettle and set it to high. The microwave would be faster, but she liked the wait for some odd reason, liked the low whistle announcing it was time. Time. How funny the words flowed from one thought to another, she mus
ed, preparing the large mug and turning. She was ready to sink to the floor and wait when the scent struck her.

  She knew it was Sage. But not as human. Luna moved to the left archway, the back door and entrance to the laundry room. She’d turned from the laundry room, looking around curiously and froze in place.

  She didn’t know where he’d come from but he stood in the hall now, feet firmly planted and head bent. The sides of his mouth were curled up, his ears twitching and the sound? Far, far less than a happy wolf sound, she realized with a puzzled frown.

  “Sage? What are you doing?” She took a step forward, only to take it back when his growl became louder and he inched closer, his stance challenging, menacing. She glanced at the floor, at his paws and then back to his face as she tried sidling along the wall to the kitchen.

  Another snarl had her freezing.

  Luna stared, confused. She knew he wouldn’t hurt her. She knew it!

  “What do you want?” She whispered feverishly, trying to understand as she pulled deep drafts of air into her lungs. “Why are you doing this? Is it about going outside? I said I was sorry. I forgot! For a…I just wanted to forget it all!”

  Sage didn’t move.

  Luna leaned against the wall, her eyes locked on his.

  “I’m not afraid of you. I think I’m afraid of disappointing you. You forget I’ve seen a monster from the closet,” her head shook slightly. Pale lashes closing against everything. “The good thing about the drugs…whatever they were…I didn’t feel anything. I wasn’t afraid because I knew it would happen, regardless and I didn’t care. Brief…very brief slivers of lucidity and I wished he would miscalculate. I didn’t care most of the time. It was like I was watching my life, not in the middle of it.”

  Sage watched her sink to the floor, mentally kicking himself. It might have worked on someone else, but not with Luna. How could she be afraid enough to listen when she had no fear inside her for him? He moved into the laundry room, hastily pulling on a pair of jeans before sinking in front of her.