Darlings of Paranormal Romance (Anthology) (51 page)

He grinned that wolfish grin of his.
Every nerve in her body went on high alert. Her attraction to this
man couldn’t be ignored, nor could she deny how much she cared for
him and wanted desperately to protect him. Even if his male pride
wouldn’t recognize her efforts. After making love at night, Sonja
would lie awake as her exhausted brain tried desperately to devise
a way to keep him safe. He may have feelings for her, but this mess
wasn’t of his making. He didn’t deserve to endure the hardships
dumped upon him.

Ty lowered his head and captured her
lips, bringing her back to focus on the man.

“
My woman is thinking
again, I see.” He nipped her bottom lip before switching his
attention to her earlobe followed by the tender skin along her
neck.

“
Of late, I think a lot.
Still, I can’t find the answers.” She dropped her head back as his
tongue lingered near her collarbone. His teeth found the taste of
her enticing. Before she could object, he’d taken her mouth again
in a kiss more forceful than the first. Scorching her with its
intensity, branding her with its fire, the kiss drove Sonja to
simply stand, unable to move in the sizzling heat of his
embrace.

“
You needed worry about
answers. They will come.” Ty’s breath, warm and moist on her skin,
shoved rational thoughts to the back of the line as he traced the
swell of one wet breast to the taut peak. The sensation of his
mouth on her flesh, nursing her nipple tugged at her coherency.
Soon the pull on her womb from his attention brought a creamy
warmth to pool between her legs. Lax with desire, Sonja held on
with everything she had left. “Have you finished your bath, my
lady?”

The question seemed rhetorical to
Sonja. “If I wasn’t, would it matter?” she chided. Wanting to prick
his conscience, she ran a slip, damp finger along the bridge of his
perfectly straight Choctaw nose. “You sir, aren’t behaving like a
gentleman. What’s a poor defenseless girl to do?”

“
Well, since you ask, I can
think of a thing or two she could do.” Without another word, he
scooped her up and sloshed out of the water. Sonja considered he
would deposit her on the bank and allow her to get
dressed.

She was wrong. Instead, Ty carried her
farther from the water’s edge before gently laying her back on a
blanket. Under the cover of a great old oak tree, he stretched out
beside her and used his shirt to dry her limbs before throwing the
Sonja’s discarded voluminous dress over them both as protection
from anyone who should happen upon them.

Her body hummed with anticipation as
he ran his long, lean hand slowly down her slight curves to the
crisp hair of her mound. Unable to take her eyes off his profile,
Sonja’s breath caught in a surge of yearning so abrupt and intense
it was painful.

“
Ah, my woman wants me, I
wager. You’ve missed me while I was gone?” His voice went low with
desire. Slipping two fingers inside the heat of her need, Ty
stroked steadily.

Sonja could’ve floated on such a
whisper thin cloud of sensation forever. No one ever made her feel
like this man did. Certainly not her first husband, Robert, rest
his dead soul. Sex was merely a means to an end with him, nothing
to compare to this dissent into paradise with Ty.

“
Tell me, Sonja, did you
miss me? I want to hear the words.” The thinly veiled passion in
his eyes stirred her longing to new heights as he worked a third
finger inside her. Sonja’s muscles tightened as desire warmed her
to the core.

“
Yes, I missed you so
much.” Reaching up, she sank her hand into his long dark hair,
which was still damp from the stream. “Please, Ty. I want you
inside me.”

“
Soon, Sonja, soon. But
first, I want to taste you. I want to capture your need and drink
you in like wine.” His mouth grazed her nipple as his fingers
continued their onslaught.

Sonja arched with the contact of his
mouth on her breast. The tug of his mouth sent her spiraling down
into a world where only need and desire reigned supreme. Any other
thoughts vanished into oblivion.

Grazing his jaw against her stomach as
he traveled lower, he growled low in his throat. “Um, this is what
a man wants to come home to.” Parting her legs, he slid between her
thighs. With hot, whispers of breath, he feathered his mouth along
the silken skin in a path to her core.

Sonja arched with a groan from deep
inside her depths. This man wanted her like she could never have
imagined and she would give herself to him completely. No question
of holding back surfaced in the assault on her senses. He was her
mate and she would give herself freely to him now and
forever.

With a sound akin to a howl, Ty rose
up and thrust himself inside Sonja, burying himself to the hilt.
Slowly at first, he moved, setting a steady pace. His thrusts spoke
of procession as he captured her eyes with desire lighting his.
Forcefully he plunged again and again as he rode the wave of
passion’s fury.

It was like looking into his soul for
Sonja. Her hunger for him drove her on. Furthering the fever of her
need with the exhilaration of seeing his so ripe and ample. With
release upon him, he forced his head back and growled at the moon
overhead as he filled her with his seed.

In the quiet of love’s aftermath,
Sonja stroked the lines of her lover’s muscled chest. His slow,
steady breathing spoke of contentment. Marveling at the complete
sensation of fulfillment, Sonja rested her head on his shoulder,
closing her eyes in the twilight of their mating. What will we do
now, Ty?” Her question came from the pent up emotions she kept
under lock and key. No real purpose in them, except to plan for the
morrow. His attention shifted from the groggy state of
semi-consciousness to fully awake and with him spooned behind her,
his mind wasn’t the only thing fully awake.

“
We’ll make plans to leave
tomorrow,” he said.

She sighed and a small smile crept
over her face. So glad they were leaving the dreaded area, which
she’d called home only a little over a week before. Now the mention
of the area put her on high alert.

Ty let his hands roam freely over her
with backside, molding his hands to her behind. “I needed to do
this. You understand, Sonja.”

He seldom used her proper name,
choosing to call her by his pet name instead. Where he’d gotten
‘Nymph’ from she couldn’t be sure. Still, the endearment warmed her
like the man did. His breath was on her neck, as he tasted her
nape, lingering over her shoulder to enjoy the sweet flavor he
assured her only she processed. The warmth of his attentions urged
her to forget all the troubles, which never left her conscious
person. In this man’s arms, she enjoyed sex like never before. His
readiness to please her, his stamina and above all, his inherent
talent for giving her exactly what she needed made Tyler Loflin
unique among men. He’d called her his woman and she couldn’t think
of him in any other frame but her man. Hortence and the Guardian
referred to him as her mate. The term agreed with her despite its
relationship to her being a werewolf, to both of them being
werewolves.

Ty nudged closer to her bottom, giving
her cheek a good rub with his arousal. Hard as granite, he plied
her for what they both wanted, which was more. Finding it
impossible to get enough of each other, soon, Sonja would find
herself with child. The idea didn’t alarm her as it once did. No,
in fact, having Tyler’s baby was something she daydreamed. A gush
of feminine awareness brought her back as his magical hands
followed a familiar path between her legs. The distinct warmth
flooding the area between her legs didn’t ebb though she attempted
to concentrate on something else.

It was as if a primitive force inside
him demanded he reach for her. Somehow, she recognized the call.
Sonja turned to him and nuzzled the warm skin along the strong
column of his neck. There his heart beat strong and solid against
her lips. With one hand on his chest and the other fisted in his
long mane of dark hair, she moved in capturing his bottom lip,
giving him a hard nip. With the taste of her still on his mouth,
the kiss managed to arouse and tantalize her further. The call grew
stronger. Wanton need swelled in them both. The flames of passion
fanned out and caught them up in the fireball. While the stars
sparkled overhead and the old oak sheltered the two, Ty and Sonja
succumbed to the desire burning beyond their control.

Chapter 4 the Journey
Begins

Ty woke to the old familiar sounds of men in camp.
Shifting, he gently eased his arm from under Sonja’s weight and
with cat like agility, rose to stand before slipping into his
pants. With the buttons of his shirt almost secured, he glanced
around for his boots. They need to see to his men and plans made
his search a bit more urgent.

“
Ty?”

Her drowsy voice held a rare sexual
aura for him. No woman ever aroused him like she did. “It’s all
right. Get a little more sleep. I’ll send Hortence to you with some
coffee.” He glanced toward the camp where the group began to stir
and take care of the things men usually took care of when they
first woke. Hunkering down, he grinned when she rubbed at her eyes
and yawned wide, obviously unaffected by his presence. “I’ll be
back once we come to an agreement on a plan. Will you be okay
here?”

She nodded before peering at him with
a sleepy expression. It’s not like I can’t watch out for myself.
Her little rendezvous with Perkins reincarnate wasn’t kids
play.

His gut clinched with one of those
intuitions of his. Funny how nothing good ever followed. “What
rendezvous?” Ty didn’t try to hide the softer, more menacing tone
to his voice. She’d been up to something while he’d been gone and
he damn well wanted to know what it was. Slowly rising to stand, he
waited.

She rose on one elbow, clutching the
gown to her breasts. The one word, “Wait,” and a simple shrug and
she pulled her legs up to a crouch as she used the billows of
material as a cover from the men’s eyes. Throwing the gown over her
head, she wiggled her hands into the sleeves of the gown. In a few
seconds, two slender hands appeared. Shimming the bodice over her
breasts and settling garment in place, Sonja pulled back her curls
and presented her back to him so he could do up her
buttons.

Ty’d already noted, after he
understood what happened with the change, merely becoming angry
could bring about a shift. So to forestall any such occurrence, he
focused instead on breathing deeply with his eyes ever on her
request for assistance.

“
You weren’t here. I
concluded you must’ve taken your pistol from the armoire where I’d
hide the weapon. I’d loaded the colt with wooden bullets to use in
case of an attack.” She ran slender fingers through her hair as she
spoke of the incident as if the fact she survived and healed, all
while he was about other matters should be of no consequence to
him. She’d handled things she said.

Her matter of fact description of the
events stroked a smoldering irritation at the chances she took with
no more concern for her well-being than if she washed clothes on a
rock in the nearby stream. “Hell’s on fire, woman. You could have
been maimed or worse – you could’ve been captured.”

“
True,” Sonja admitted,
though the response came out stilted. “But everything turned out
for the best.”

Her flippant attitude did queer things
to his backbone. A flush raced up his throat, engulfing him in a
wave of sickening reality. “What ifs” began to invade his control,
eliminating the little guard he held tightly within his weakening
grasp. In the flash of an eye, he reached out, snatching her close
by both arms.

Immediately regretting the move, Ty
tried to remain calm. “Sonja baby, you don’t seem to understand how
important it is that you remain safe.” Hating the coddling sound
creeping into his voice, he closed his eyes for a moment to
regroup.

Sonja’s calm snapped in the brief span
of time. “Who do you think you’re talking to?” she charged. Tugging
free of his iron grip, she wheeled away, gathering steam as she
went.

With fire leaping in the depth of
those whiskey colored eyes of hers, she unleashed her version of
hell’s-own-fury at him when she turned once more to look him dead
in the eyes. Her chest rose and fell with the effort. Her hands
clenched in fists at her sides. The fact the early morning air
caused a rise in her nipples to erect points under her meager
attire did nothing to appease his frustrations.

“
Don’t make this about the
wolf. You know what I’m talking about.” Ty glanced past her to see
the faces of several of the men peering covertly from under hats,
behind kerchiefs and collars to absorb their words. “We’ll talk
about this later,” he snapped.

His voice low and grave should have
done the trick, but she remained where she was and continued to
glare at him with mutiny riding high in her face.

Snorting out a laugh, Sonja’s fists
landed on her hips. “Oh, you can be sure of it, sir.”

The fact he wanted to take her across
his knee and paddle her behind for confronting him in front of the
men warred with how fool hearty it was to argue with her when she
had a head of mad on. “Gather your things. I have to see to
business.” With temper smoldering to the boiling point, Ty cut a
cold shoulder around her and headed for the group.