Between a Wolf and a Hard Place

by Terry Spear

  He felt the end coming and held on, keeping still, trying to delay it, but she was stroking his ass, and he couldn’t last.

  He thrust again and again and spilled his seed deep inside her, smiling to think he might be the next wolf with pups on the way. He hadn’t really given any thought to it before this.

  For a moment, he stayed inside her, resting against her, but then he kissed her. Before they fell asleep, he needed to help her out of her clothes. He didn’t want all that fabric between them—not when they cuddled, and certainly not the next time they made love tonight.

  “It was even better than our dream sex, more real. Not that it didn’t seem so real before.” She stood while he unfastened her gown.

  “I realized I’d never smelled our pheromones when we were dream mating.” Brett still had come, despite not having that added stimulation.

  “Agreed.” She stepped out of her gown, and he began to untie her corset, kissing more of her breasts the more he revealed. She was getting all hot and ready for him again. “It was more vivid, and yet the other seemed just as real, in a dreamy sort of way, when it was happening.”

  She eyed his long shirt and then removed his tie, careful to secure the diamond tie pin to it so it wouldn’t get lost in all the clothes. Then she began to unbutton his shirt, wanting to see all of him naked.

  He started to pull off her petticoats—three of them, which gave the gown fullness and kept her warm outside in the chillier air. The top petticoat had been on display beneath the open-fronted gown.

  “We have to move your clothes over here. I had thought about asking Laurel about moving some of your things, but I wanted to keep my proposal a secret.”

  “It’s still Victorian Days for four more days, so I’ll still be wearing Victorian gowns.” She opened his shirt and found his cock was beginning to stir.

  “Maybe you can wear fewer petticoats?”

  She laughed. “We’ll make dates, and I’ll be sure to start undressing a half hour beforehand.”

  He smiled and kissed her, his hard body pressed against hers, completely naked while she was still wearing her chemise. He ran his hands over her breasts in the semi-transparent gown.

  “This, I can handle. Though I don’t mind all the rest if I’m not in a hurry. For now, the chemise has to go.” He pulled it gently over her head and laid it with their other clothes on the maple chest.

  They snuggled in bed, the blankets covering them, and Ellie kissed his naked chest. “If I dream of having sex with you again in the middle of the night—”

  “It will be the real thing.” Brett kissed her cheek. “I wonder if, when Darien and Jake are apart from their mates for any length of time, they still have dream sex. Then again, I have no intention of testing that theory any time soon.”

  She smiled and closed her eyes, knowing she was right where she needed to be.

  * * *

  They were dozing when Ellie’s phone rang in the middle of the night, and she glanced at the caller ID. Meghan. She wouldn’t be calling Ellie at this late hour when she was newly mated to Brett unless there was real trouble.

  Chapter 19

  “You have to come help me do something. Anything. The piano is going crazy. Can Brett and his brothers get ahold of the movers or something and move it?” Meghan said frantically to Ellie over the phone. “Not only that, but then the howling began. You were right. One of the ghosts is howling. And running around the hotel as a wolf. I had three calls from human guests asking me to get ahold of the police or animal control.”

  “I’m getting dressed. I’ll tell Brett. We’ll be right over.” Ellie pulled her chemise over her head. “Are you at the inn right now?”

  “Yes. We passed out earplugs and told the human guests that animal control would take care of the wolf right away, but earplugs aren’t working for the wolves. Nor are the questions about why a baby grand piano is playing like it’s a player piano when that’s not possible. Or why a wolf is running around the lobby. I’ve tried to get ahold of Laurel, but she and CJ must have turned off their cell phones.”

  “So who is howling?”

  “Matilda. Can’t be Chrissy because the one playing the piano is doing a horrible job of it.”

  “We’ll be right over.” Ellie looked at the corset. No way was she going to get laced up in that and put on all the petticoats.

  Brett was already dressed in jeans and socks and calling his brothers. He paused to dig in a drawer, pulled out a pair of light-gray sweats, and handed them to Ellie. She smiled at him and yanked off her chemise, then slipped on the pants and pulled the sweatshirt over her head.

  “Okay. Hurry before we lose our guests,” Meghan said.

  “Will do. I’m staying on the line. Just hold on.” Ellie kept her sister on the phone to give her moral support but asked Brett, “Where do we move the piano to?” She started lacing up one of her boots. She’d have to move her clothes to Brett’s or at least grab an overnight bag for a few days.

  Brett had finished dressing and laced up her other boot, then they headed for the garage.

  “Your house. We can move it through the french patio doors. Otherwise, we need to get the professional movers to take it anywhere else. I can call them, but they’re not wolves and I doubt they move pianos in the middle of the night. Not to mention it could spook them if she started playing while they’re moving it. I could see them dropping it and running if Matilda decided she didn’t like that we’re moving it from the inn.”

  “Agreed.”

  Brett called his brother Sarandon and cousins Tom, Jake, and Darien. They all lived in the area. Eric lived four hours away, so Brett didn’t call him.

  “We’re on our way,” Darien said. “Congratulations to you and Ellie again. See you over there.”

  “Thanks, Darien.” Turning to Ellie, Brett said, “I’ll take my car and drop by CJ and Laurel’s house. I know she’ll want to be there to help calm the guests, if she needs to.”

  “Okay,” Ellie said to Brett, then she told Meghan on the phone, “I’m on my way. Be over in a few minutes. Brett’s running by CJ and Laurel’s place to alert them about what’s going on.”

  “All right. But hurry.” Meghan sounded completely frazzled.

  “We’ll take care of it. We should have already moved the piano.” Ellie gave Brett a kiss, then got into her car and drove off. He was right behind her.

  “Yeah, we should have.” Meghan paused. “Omigod. The Wernicke brothers just arrived.”

  “What?” Ellie was careful on the snowy roads, but she sped up a bit.

  “Who told them?” Meghan asked, irritated.

  Brett better not have, or he was in hot water.

  “Got to deal with this. Bye.” Meghan ended the call before Ellie had a chance to respond.

  As soon as Ellie arrived at the inn, she saw Chrissy peering out the attic window. Great. Ellie hoped she wasn’t bothering Rose, who was staying in that room. Then Ellie wondered if Matilda had been giving Chrissy lessons. When Meghan had said the piano was going crazy, Ellie thought that Matilda was trying to teach Chrissy how to play, and she was either having a difficult time mastering the right keys or she was angry and doing whatever she could to annoy Matilda.

  No music was playing. And no wolves were howling. Ellie didn’t trust that it wouldn’t start back up if they left the piano where it was. Or that Matilda wouldn’t start running around as a wolf again.

  “Who was playing?” Ellie asked as Meghan rushed outside to greet her. “I saw Chrissy in the attic window.”

  “Both of them at first. At least I think so. One was playing perfect notes, and the other was making lots of mistakes. So I figured Matilda was trying to teach Chrissy, and it wasn’t working out very well. Then the howling began. Maybe because Chrissy kept playing to annoy Matilda. Maybe because it was hurting her ears. And of course, our guests had
to see if a real wolf was in the lobby. And of course, they saw it. Or at least a couple of people did. Not everyone. You know how it goes.”

  “And the Wernickes?”

  “Yeah, they’re in there. Offering to help fix things.”

  Brett got out of his vehicle. “CJ and Laurel are getting dressed and will be over in a minute.”

  Sarandon parked, and Jake soon joined them. Ellie saw Darien’s car approaching.

  When he joined them, Darien asked, “Where are we moving the piano?”

  “To the house,” Ellie said. “Sorry, Meghan, but if you want to stay with us tonight, you can.”

  “I’ll be fine. I don’t think Chrissy will leave the inn. I can sleep through Matilda’s beautiful piano music.”

  Laurel and CJ arrived after that.

  All the Silver men went inside to move the piano, while Meghan stayed outside with Laurel to explain what had happened, including that the Wernicke brothers were there.

  When the Silver men began to move the piano, Ellie grabbed Stanton’s arm and hauled him aside. Speaking for his ears only as his brothers assisted with doors and the piano, she asked, “What are you doing here?”

  “I heard Brett and you agreed to become mated wolves. I wanted to congratulate you and pay Brett for the damages to the car. I thought you both would be over here.”

  “Right. In the middle of the night? I can’t believe you can’t come up with a better story than that.”

  “The inn’s open now. I figured someone would be over here.”

  “You wouldn’t be here just to check out Chrissy, would you?”

  “That wasn’t Chrissy playing,” Stanton said.

  “How would you know?”

  “She worked as a maid for years. Most likely she wouldn’t have had the money to pay for lessons or the time to indulge in practicing.” Stanton motioned to the framed memorial on the wall. “If I had to guess, I’d say Matilda was playing the piano. Yolan said he’d help you with the ghost for free. We all will.”

  Ellie wondered if Darien had read Stanton the riot act at the jailhouse over the hit-and-run incident, ghost or no ghost, and then decided to allow Stanton to help. Pack members’ safety was Darien and Lelandi’s main concern. Darien could have banned Stanton and his brothers from the Silver pack’s territory since none of them had reported the accident.

  “At the house then.” Ellie knew she should ask Laurel’s permission, but if the Wernicke brothers could help resolve this, then at this point, they had to try.

  “Okay. Good. Tonight?”

  “Be my guest. If you can do it, maybe Matilda will find some peace and Chrissy will be relieved she’s gone. But no TV show production.”

  “Right.”

  She and Stanton hurried after the men. Stanton actually helped to carry the piano, and Peter dropped by and helped Meghan move the piano bench to the house.

  “What was she playing?” Ellie asked Meghan.

  “Bach’s ‘Love Song.’ Beautiful piece. Do you think she’s trying to tell us something?” Meghan smiled at Ellie.

  Ellie sure hoped Matilda would be all right with the mating. Not that the ghost could do a whole lot about it. She wondered if Matilda knew Ellie and Brett were mated now. She frowned. Would Matilda stay with the piano or with Chrissy at the inn? What a mess. She turned to Laurel, who was directing where the piano would go. “Stanton offered to help us exorcise the ghost. I said he could. It’s free of charge.”

  “I thought Yolan was the only one who could do that,” Laurel said privately to Ellie.

  “Not sure now. I’m just worried that this is going to backfire. Chrissy says she didn’t want Matilda there, but what if she misses her?” Ellie ran her hand over the top of the piano, wondering if moving it here would help or cause more trouble. And what about Chrissy? Ellie hadn’t wanted to upset her.

  “I hadn’t thought of that,” Laurel said.

  After moving the piano to the MacTire sisters’ home, Yolan tried to communicate with Brett’s great-aunt. “Matilda, do you want to return to Brett’s home?”

  Everyone gathered around and watched the piano for any indication Matilda was there and intended to respond. Nothing happened.

  Brett didn’t believe Yolan would have any success at it. He truly believed that if anyone could, he would be the one to convince her. Besides his grandmother, whom he was really close to, Brett had been the closest to his great-aunt, though he’d been a kid when she died.

  “Is there someone else in the room that you’d like to speak through?” Yolan asked.

  That would be creepy, and Brett hoped Matilda wouldn’t decide to jump into his body and start talking. He’d seen a few stories on TV where that had happened, either with or without a séance. He glanced at Ellie who was watching him. Had that ever happened to her?

  “Anyone at all? Brett, maybe?” Yolan glanced in Brett’s direction.

  Brett stiffened. He couldn’t help it. The idea just didn’t appeal. It was two in the morning, and he wanted to return to bed with his new mate. Though he also wanted to help the sisters resolve the ghost issue, help his great-aunt find her way to her new home, and give Chrissy some peace. He hoped Meghan’s sleep wouldn’t be disturbed all night either.

  Everyone looked so serious, waiting for any indication that Matilda was present. What if she had stayed back at the inn with Chrissy?

  “Aunt Matilda,” Brett said, not wanting to prolong this any further, “I wanted to tell you that Ellie and I are mated wolves, if you didn’t know already. We’ll talk in the morning.”

  “Thank you for helping me with my piano lessons, Matilda.” Ellie slipped her arm around Brett’s waist. “I have to say this is the first time I’ve ever stuck with anything, and I’m thoroughly enjoying playing the piano with Brett.”

  “Hey, let’s clear out,” Darien said in the pack-leader voice that said he was in charge.

  Yolan looked disappointed that he hadn’t had any success. Everyone began to leave, all except for Darien, who motioned that he needed to speak with Brett and Ellie.

  Meghan was waiting for everyone to leave so she could return to bed, but Darien said to her, “I want you to come and stay with Lelandi and me for the night.”

  Even though Ellie had made the offer for Meghan to stay with her and Brett, and Laurel would have offered if she’d had the chance, Darien’s was not an offer. His was a pack-leader order. Brett knew Darien well enough to suspect what was coming next.

  “Just pack a bag and you can ride with me, unless you want to take your own car,” Darien said.

  “I’ll drive my own car so I can return tomorrow without inconveniencing you.” Meghan went up the stairs to her bedroom.

  “Okay, I want you and Ellie to stay here tonight. Alone,” Darien said.

  Brett had suspected as much. How were they going to get in some good loving if Matilda was staying where they were? But Darien knew how close Brett had been to Great-Aunt Matilda.

  “You’re the only one of us who plays the piano now. You’ve mated Ellie, and Matilda was working with her at the piano. So I think if anyone has a chance of reaching her, it’s going to be the two of you. Good luck.”

  Darien shook Brett’s hand and gave Ellie a hug. Then he and Meghan left, and Ellie and Brett were alone.

  “Well, what do you want to do?” Ellie asked.

  Go to bed with his mate and make love to her—naked this time. “Okay, she talked to us with the song sheets the one time.”

  “She played music to answer one of our questions, but Meghan’s the one who’s so good at knowing what the songs are. I might not know them.”

  “Let’s bring out the song sheets.” Brett started to set up one at a time. “Okay, why are you here, Matilda? Do you feel you have unfinished business?” He kept placing one sheet of music up after another, and each time, a puff of a
ir sent the sheets flying just like before.

  When he put “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor on the stand, it stayed put, as if Matilda was trying to tell them that was the clue.

  “I will survive,” Ellie said. “So is she saying she won’t leave? That whatever made her die won’t stop her from staying with her beloved piano?”

  “Aunt Matilda, you went out in the rowboat with Theodore. Correct?” Brett thought they might finally get somewhere with this.

  The piano started to play “She Loves You” by the Beatles.

  “‘She Loves You,’” Ellie said, “and it says yeah, yeah, yeah a number of times.”

  Brett felt chills race up his spine. “Did you fall overboard?”

  The Beatles’ song played again.

  “Yes,” Ellie whispered the word. She swallowed hard and reached over and squeezed Brett’s hand.

  He wrapped his arm around her waist and held her close, hating that Matilda had drowned and no one had known it. He suspected foul play, or why wouldn’t Theodore have told everyone what had happened?

  “Did you and Theodore have a fight?” Brett rubbed Ellie’s back.

  The Beatles song played.

  “Over Grandmom not marrying him?”

  She played the Zombies’ “Tell Her No.”

  “I don’t understand,” Brett said. “Do you mean Caroline wasn’t there? She should have been there? With Theodore instead of with you, Aunt Matilda?”

  The Beatles’ song played again. “Yes!” Ellie said. “Why would he have asked her out on the boat when he was seeing your grandmother?”

  “To make up to Matilda? Maybe he hadn’t been very nice to her because he wanted to marry Caroline, and he didn’t like that she was staying with Matilda instead. So he asked her out to make peace with her.”

  Yeah, yeah, yeah…

  “Okay, the part about the Zombies’ song “Tell Her No”… Did that mean Matilda thought Caroline shouldn’t marry him?” Brett asked.