Primal Desires (5 page)

T
he wolves snapped and poked their long, hard noses against her skin. They pushed her this way and that between them, playing an evil game. She knew it was a game by the way they grinned, showing huge, glistening fangs. She whimpered, blinded by tears. Deep down under the fear, she was furious for showing the weakness she knew they wanted from her. Sofia hated the animals as much as she feared them, but she hated the helplessness even more. Finally she got up the courage to beat against one's flank, but it took no notice of the blows. The fur was warm and soft, but she was more aware of the hard muscle underneath. These creatures could easily tear her to shreds.

Then a shadow materialized at the head of the alley, and Jason was there and…

• • •

Sofia shook her head and the drab motel room came back into focus. They were just dogs, she told her child's memory. Don't be so melodramatic.

And it had been her great-grandfather who appeared at the head of the alley, not some stranger she'd only met today.

The old man had saved her, and he'd died the same night. The exertion had killed him. She still blamed herself.

She didn't blame herself for what happened after that. Oh, no, only her crazy father was responsible for the next tragedy of that horrible day.

• • •

Stay,
Jason ordered the wolves when he parked in the lot behind the small motel.
I know it's hard to teach a wolf tamer her trade without having the real thing to work with, but this has to be handled delicately. You want her to like you, don't you?

He
wanted Sofia to like them, even if that wasn't really necessary to the training. He wanted his wolf companions to accept the mortal woman as an alpha member of their pack, and the realization that he wanted these emotional commitments shook him. He was fulfilling an obligation with Sofia Hunyara, not looking for permanence, right?

He must be having some sort of weird reaction to the Matri's reading his mind. Maybe Lady Juanita had even put the notion of finding a mortal bondmate into his head to keep his attention away from the Clan female who'd been eyeing him. Whether it was obligation or sexual interest, he was anxious to see Sofia again.

He was all too aware of her presence calling out to him from inside a nearby ground-floor room. Heat raced through him, fueling the urge to be near her.

Gracie gave a jealous snarl and George glared when Jason got out of the SUV, but the wolves settled down as he left them.

He was nearly at the door when once more he found her memories flowing easily into him.

• • •

“Go to the hospital. Grigor needs you,” Daddy said. He continued loading the gun she hadn't known he had, while Grandpa stood in the middle of the living room, staring at him.

They both stared at him, Grandpa's dark skin pale with worry, she barely aware of the aches of the cuts and bruises covering her face and body. She was so cold her teeth chattered. She didn't understand why she was freezing on such a hot day. Her muscles were tense with dread. The things she forced herself to focus on were crystal clear, but everything outside that small circle of reality was fuzzy and full of shadows.

“Why do you have a gun?” she asked.

“What are you going to do?” Grandpa asked.

“Protect my daughter.”

Grandpa gestured at the weapon. “You know that isn't our way.”

“Those bastards aren't our people. The old ways don't mean a damn thing to me. Go to the hospital,” he ordered Grandpa. “Take Sofia with you.”

She wasn't going anywhere with Grandpa. Her father was so intent on his own business, he didn't notice when she followed him out of the house.

He went to the motorcycle shop two blocks from their house. Even the local gangbangers had learned to steer clear of the bikers who'd recently started hanging out there. But her father showed no fear when he turned down the back alley and walked into the open garage in the back.

Shaking with dread, Sofia crept along the back of the building and peered cautiously inside the doorway just as the first shot filled the air with noise and the smell of sprayed blood.

She watched three men die, one after another. Then her father took out a knife—

“By the Goddess of the Moon, you are one messed-up woman.”

Sofia heard the words, felt the warm strength of the arms surrounding her, and realized she'd been sobbing against Jason's shoulder long enough to get his shirt wet. “I'm not this bad normally,” she answered between sniffles. “I've just had a rough day and—”

She pulled away from Jason. For a moment she was totally disoriented. Nothing looked right. The only thing that felt right was…him.

Then she realized they were seated on the bed in the room she'd rented for the night. Strangers, in a strange town, at the end of a very, very strange day. It seemed to have somehow gotten stranger still.

“How did you get in here?” she demanded. Somehow, she couldn't question how he'd found her. Having him with her was too disturbingly natural.

“I'm a professional magician. I always carry lock picks.” This answer seemed too smooth and pat. She started to protest, but he added, “Can I buy you a cup of coffee?”

She didn't want coffee, but the walls of the room closed in on her like a prison. And the thought of a prison cell conjured up an image she never wanted to think about. Jason Cage's presence was reassuring, steadying, though she didn't understand why. The man claimed to believe in werewolves, for God's sake. And he'd broken into her room. Yet she trusted him.

If anyone was crazy here, it probably wasn't him.

She rose to her feet and held out her hand. “Let's get out of here.”

He touched her fingers, and the contact was electric. Heat raced through her when he stood close to her.

“Lust is definitely clouding my judgment.”

Had she really said that out loud? His smile was all the answer she needed.

“Let's save the coffee for later,” he said, and kissed her.

She'd never needed anything as much as his mouth pressed against hers, devastating and demanding. The need that blazed in her burned away all doubts; sensation took her.

She clutched at him, ran a hand through his thick brown hair.
Such beautiful hair.

His laughter flowed through her like champagne.
Shouldn't I be saying that to you?

Your hair's prettier than mine.

His fingers tangled in her thick curls.
Eye of the beholder, darling.

She wasn't so sure about this
darling
thing, but it sounded good coming from him.

Sound? What sound? Their lips were locked together and their tongues were busily twined around each other.

You're thinking too much. Don't.

The thought was commanding and cajoling at the same time. Then his clever fingers and lips worked magic on her skin.

It was only a step back to the bed, and they fell onto it in a frantic rush to pull off each other's clothes, eager for the touch of skin to skin. She'd never wanted anything as much as to touch and taste every solidly muscled inch of his body. She needed his claiming touch on every inch of her. Nothing had ever felt so right or real, and her body came to life like it never had before.

“I've never thirsted like this before.” He spoke in a rough whisper, his lips brushing her ear. The heat of his breath sent shudders through her, as did the touch of his tongue gliding down her throat a moment later.

She suddenly felt sharp teeth pressing against tender skin and closed her eyes, waiting breathlessly. The urgency of his need pounded against her senses. This moment was important, imperative, though she didn't know why or how. Instinct urged her to flee or to submit, and submission was really the only choice. What would come next would be terrifying or wonderful, or both, but she didn't want to run.

You're braver than you think. Braver than I knew. Be mine.

Not a question but a demand.

She opened her eyes and stared into his, saw a soul as lost as her own, on fire with consuming hunger. Then she saw the sharp, bright fangs. Arousal ran through her, far stronger than the instant of fear.

She held on tight. “Yes.”

J
ason hadn't meant for this to happen, hadn't known he needed it to happen. Of course he'd intended to make love to Sofia from the first moment he saw her, but this…

I've found you at last.

He hadn't known he'd been searching for a bondmate, but here she was in his arms, his body covering hers, his mouth pressed against her warm, yielding flesh, her heartbeat matching his. Her need matching his.

It terrified him, but it seduced him even more. He couldn't pull back. He couldn't stop. She belonged to him.

And he took her, fangs sinking deep to draw the sweetest blood he'd ever tasted, heaven and honey and fire. Her life filled him, her soul sang in him.

Orgasms rushed through her as he took her blood and slammed through Jason with the force of lightning strikes. Soon his body was demanding more than the taste of her. He needed to be inside her.

He gave her one swift, fierce kiss, sharing the last drop of blood on his tongue with her. Then he knelt over her and she lifted her hips, urging the deep, hard thrust that took him into her. He gasped at the sweet, surrounding heat and moved in a slow building rhythm that brought them both to a long, shattering climax.

• • •

Jason rolled onto his back and flung an arm over his eyes.

Oh, Goddess, what have I done?

He had never been more satiated, or hungrier for more of the same. The woman slept beside him, curled against his side. He was all too aware of the pleasure and peace he had brought her.

It made him happy—and worried the hell out of him.

Had this been a normal sexual encounter with a normal mortal, he would be content with the mutual satisfaction they'd shared. The Families weren't out to protect mortals the way their Clan cousins were, but they did believe in fair exchange in all their mortal dealings.

If Lady Juanita was correct—and Matris always were in these matters—Sofia Hunyara was his fated bondmate. Not that he needed the Matri's opinion. He knew in his gut, in his groin, and most of all in his soul that Sofia was his destiny, his completion.

“Damn it all to hell,” he complained to the ceiling. “Why now? Why her?”

She belonged to her own people. They needed her whether she knew it or wanted it. It was his duty to make her accept her gift, to train her and—

Let her go.

“You belong to me,” he whispered, turning to her and kissing her on the cheek. “Always and forev—”

“What?” She sat up and groggily ran a hand across her face. A flash of fear went through her, and she stared at him for a moment as if she didn't recognize him. Then she said, “Oh, it's you.” And yawned.

Jason had never felt more deflated in his life. Here he'd been making a declaration of his undying devotion and she—

“Oh, it's
you,
” he repeated sarcastically. “We just had the best sex of our lives and you act as if—”

“How do you know it was the best sex of my life?”

“Believe me, I know.”

“Arrogant, aren't you?” She pushed her heavy curls out of her face and grinned at him. “Arrogant with good reason. It
was
the best.”

He gave her an acknowledging nod. No Prime could ever be accused of false modesty.

• • •

Sofia still didn't know what Jason Cage was doing in her motel room, but she supposed it made about as much sense as everything else that had happened today. Though she wasn't in the habit of going to bed with someone on such short acquaintance, getting all huffy after the fact would be hypocritical. She'd wanted him from the first instant she saw him.

And now she wanted him again. But the question was, now that she'd had him, what was she going to do with him?

Had he actually said something like ‘You belong to me' when she'd woken up? If he had, what did he mean by it?

Something in her gut and the back of her brain told her she knew very well what he meant, and that she liked it, but she told it to shut up. She'd lost too many people already to expect any permanence in her life. Giving in to the faint hope of connection was what had begun this whole crazy day in the first place.

She got up and went into the bathroom. The first thing she noticed when she glanced in the mirror was the love bite on the side of her throat. She touched it, remembering the delicious pleasure that ran through her along with the slight pain when he bit her.

What an interesting man, and what interesting reactions she had to him. Interest like that could be dangerous—probably
was
dangerous. Maybe she should tell him to get dressed and get out.

Instead, when she came back into the bedroom she said, “Didn't you offer to buy me a cup of coffee?”

• • •

“Don't scream.”

Sofia froze a step away from Jason's SUV. As his hand tightened on her arm, a stray breeze enhanced the shiver that went up her spine. She was alone in an empty parking lot with a stranger.

Oh, God, what had she gotten herself into!

What was he going to do to her? What did he…?

“Don't show any weakness if you want them to respect you.”

“What?”

“They always need to know who's the boss. They'll keep testing you. It's the pack mentality.”

“I have no idea what you're—”

Then she saw the malamutes in the backseat.

“Oh.”

They raised their huge heads to regard her.

“George and Gracie,” Jason said. “Meet Sofia.”

She looked back at the animals for a moment, then she glared at the man beside her.

“I do not panic at the mere sight of dogs,” she informed him. “What kind of wuss do you take me for? Slavering beasts attacking me tend to put me on edge, but I'm perfectly capable of sharing the planet with man's best friend. Most of the time.” She looked at the animals again. Their steady regard wasn't hostile, but it was disturbing. “Let's take my car,” she suggested.

“Wuss.”

She wasn't going to let this man think she was a coward. “Fine,” she grumbled, and let him open the door for her. A cold nose touched the back of her neck as she fastened the seat belt, but she refused to flinch.

Cage noticed. “A point to the lady, Gracie,” he said to the animal. “Oh, and they aren't malamutes,” he added to Sofia as he put the car in gear. “They're Arctic wolves.”