Primal Desires (2 page)

San Diego, Spring, Present Day

S
idonie Wolf took a sip of orange juice and looked across the restaurant terrace at the sun sparkling on the calm water. The fresh breeze that ruffled her short blond hair was scented with salt from the ocean and jasmine from the pots of flowers lining the edge of the terrace.

On the other side of the table, Tony Crowe was drinking tomato juice. His dark eyes held a twinkle that said he knew exactly how ironic the sight of a vampire drinking blood-colored liquid looked in this setting. “Hey, I like the flavor,” he said when he put his glass down.

“Did I say a word, Daddy?” she asked.

Tony took a quick look around, but no one was sitting near enough to overhear. “Daddy?” He raised an eyebrow. “Sid, darling, what are you up to?”

To any mortal watching, they certainly wouldn't look like father and daughter, but that was what they were. Both looked to be in their twenties. He was dark, handsome in a sharp-boned, Central European, how-Dracula-should-have-looked-if-he'd-really-been-a-vampire way. She had the blue eyes and blond hair of her mother's side, but had inherited Tony's elegant cheekbones.

Sid smiled enigmatically and ate a few bites of omelet. Then she waved a finger at him. “Paranoia from the male parental unit? I'm hurt. How was the drive down from Los Angeles?”

“The drive was fine. Why are you calling me Daddy?”

They were Clan vampires, meaning that their culture was both matriarchal and matrilineal. Sid was a female of the Wolf Clan, the daughter of House Antonia. Tony was a Prime of the Corvus Clan, son of House Berenice. Technically, since Tony and Antonia were not a bonded pair, their child had no reason to call him “Daddy.” But Sid was quite close to the Prime who had sired her and frequently referred to him in mortal terms.

“Okay, maybe
Daddy
is a bit much,” she conceded. “How are you doing, Pop?”

He grimaced. “Let's just go with Dad, okay? I'm fine.”

“Good.” Sid sat back in her chair. She was finding this far harder than she'd thought it would be. “Are you still running security for the clinic? How's Dr. Casmerek? I suppose he's busy doing important research to help the diurnally challenged.”

“I suppose he is,” Tony answered. He looked very suspicious, but at least he wasn't trying any telepathic probing for her ulterior motives. “What are you up to, girl? Your daylight drugs don't need adjusting so soon, do they?”

She shook her head. “I was just wondering if he'd come up with any new wonder drugs lately. Or if he might be interested in other medical problems we have.”

“He and his teams better be, with all the money the Clans and Families invest in their projects.”

“Good. David Berus is in town, did you know that?”

“Is he?” Tony asked.

“Lady Juanita asked me to come to dinner tonight,” she rushed on. “David Berus is going to be there.”

The Clan Matri actually didn't ask, she commanded. Sidonie Wolf hated being ordered around. Even for something as ostensibly pleasant as being a guest at a dinner party for a respected Prime of the Snake Clan. Sidonie was not like other Clan daughters. At least she wasn't going to be if she could help it. Open rebellion was not an option, but guile…now, guile could work wonders.

As ever, Tony was quick on the uptake. “Lady J. wants you to mate with David. Congratulations. I look forward to being a grandfather soon.”

“Oh, please!” she complained. “Not that I object to having a baby,” she went on. “Or even several babies. I'll do my duty to the Clan. But I want the choices to be mine, without attachments and emotional complications.”

“Then what's wrong with David? He's still heartsore from having lost his bondmate, so he's not likely to want emotional complications, either. Genetically—”

“He and I are first cousins,” she pointed out. “His sire's Wolf Clan.”

“I forgot that.”

“The Clans need fresh blood.”

He gave her a stern look. “Yeah, but the fresh blood you're interested in sprouts fur and a tail at least once a month.”

“How's Rose?” she snapped back.

There was fire in his eyes when he answered. “She's eighty and just moved into a nursing home.”

Sid hated herself for reacting so unkindly to his having touched a sore spot. “I'm sorry,” she told her father. “But I think we just made the point that because of duty to the Clans, neither of us can have the ones we really want.”

He looked thoughtful. “You have a plan. You always have a plan. You, my dearest, would make Machiavelli look like an amateur, and old Nick was one hell of a Family Prime.”

“We females are always the smarter ones,” she said, grinning.

Tony smiled back. “You want me to approach Dr. Casmerek about something, don't you?”

Sid decided she might as well be blunt and hope that the storm would pass quickly. “Artificial insemination. My egg, a donor's sperm—”

Tony shot to his feet. “Are you out of your mind?”

Everyone on the terrace was staring at them.

“Calm down.” She gestured. “Sit down. Hear me ou—”

The cell phone in her purse rang before she could finish. Frustrated by the interruption, Sid flipped it open and demanded, “What?”

The answer from her partner at the Bleythin detective agency sent all her own problems right out the window.

“I'll be in as soon as I can, Joe,” she said, and hung up. “Sorry, Dad,” she told Tony. “We're going to have to have this argument later.”

“What's the matter?” he asked.

“Cathy's gone missing. She's our office manager,” she added.

“This sounds more serious than just calling a temp agency to cover the phones.”

“Oh, yes.” She nodded. “It's extremely serious when a werewolf who can't control the change goes missing so close to a full moon.”

Hollenbeck, Los Angeles, Summer 1991

T
he scrambling of sharp claws on hot concrete was louder in Sofia's ears than the sound of her own ragged breathing.

They were right behind her.

She could feel the heavy bulk of furred bodies close behind her.

They were faster than she was.

Why didn't they catch up with her?

Were they enjoying the chase?

Her heart pounded as she ran as fast as she could. Her feet slipped in the flimsy flip-flops, but they'd surely bring her down if she stopped to kick the shoes off. She dug her toes into the soft plastic and kept going. Traffic slid past on the street, people loitered on stoops and at storefronts as she ran by, but no one seemed to notice that she was being chased by three enormous dogs. The sun hadn't quite set yet. Why didn't they see?

She didn't have the breath to call for help.

She did cry out when one of the dogs moved up to nip her bare leg, and a warm trickle rolled down her calf.

The animals smelled the blood and began to howl.

She spotted an alley and remembered that there was a fence at the end of it that she could climb, and the dogs couldn't. One of her shoes slipped off when she made the skidding turn and she stepped on a shard of broken glass, but she kept running.

She was nearly at the end of the alley when she saw that she'd made a wrong turn. There was a wall where she'd thought there'd be a fence.

She slammed into the brick wall before she could stop herself, scraping her palms and jarring her arms from wrists to shoulders. She turned around and fell to her knees, putting her at eyelevel with the dogs.

They had big heads, and huge teeth. Their eyes glowed, cruel and fierce, and full of hunger.

Their eyes
glowed!

She grabbed a broken bottle from the ground.

They formed a half circle around her and stared at her for a while.

They wanted her to drop her weapon, but she wouldn't!

Then the largest one growled as if to say
very well,
and all three of them began to move in for the kill.

Northeast of San Diego, Spring, Present Day

“She's not with us,” the old man said.

Jason put his hands on her shoulders and saw a nightmare in the woman's dark eyes. “You think?”

She was trembling and her heart was racing faster and faster. The woman needed help, but none of the mortals were going to step in to halt their stupid
tests.

Jason tried gently shaking her, then calling to her, but he knew he'd have to go where she was—even though interfering with mortal thoughts was dangerous.

For him.

“You're having a panic attack. It'll be over in a minute,” he reassured her.

But tears welled from her big brown eyes. What was a Prime to do? He pulled her closer and into a tight embrace. Then he kissed her.

Fire shot through him, and their minds joined at the moment their lips touched. There was a moment of urgent passion, then…

The tangy scent of the blood of a terrified child assaulted his senses.

Anger overrode desire, and he was filled with an overwhelming sense of protectiveness. She was
his!
She needed help.

The shape of the world shifted, and Jason stood at the entrance of an alley. It was like looking down a long tunnel. At the end of it was a trio of beasts. Facing them was
his
Sofia on her knees.

He moved forward until he was in among the beasts. They turned claws and fangs on him, and he answered them in kind, keeping himself between them and the girl as he fought her attackers. After he turned them into bloody piles of fur at his feet, he turned and helped Sofia to stand.

When his hands touched her, she wasn't a little girl anymore and she came into his arms, warm and trembling.

And their lips touched…

• • •

Sofia was aware of the mouth pressed demandingly against hers and the sensual heat rushing through her, threatening to melt her bones. Her kiss was equally demanding; she wanted to taste all of him. His palm splayed across the small of her back, pulling them close, hip to hip. He was all hard muscle, and she melded to it. His other hand cupped the back of her head, possessive and protective at once. His thumb stroked down the back of her neck, sending a shiver through her. Her hands fiercely clasped his shoulders, never wanting to let go. He permeated her senses. He smelled male, and tasted male, and
felt
so male, it drove her mad with need. She had no idea how anything could feel so right so fast, yet their bodies fit perfectly together.

She'd never believed in perfection, and skepticism rose to pull her out of the nonsense of believing in this perfect kiss.

“What the hell are you doing?” she demanded as she pushed the man away.

She tasted copper and wiped the back of her hand across her sensitized lips. A drop of blood smeared across her hand and she stared at it. Hers or his? Hers, she thought, remembering that her tongue had touched one of his very sharp teeth. Some of her annoyance faded with the realization that she'd been as much involved in the kiss as he'd been.

His eyes twinkled. They were very blue. “You can't tell me you didn't enjoy it.”

Oh, he was a cocky one. She had to fight not to be charmed by his insolence. “You started it. Why?”

He shrugged. “Seemed like a good idea.”

Vague memories and nightmare images swirled around her. She had no interest in remembering the details. “I saw a dog. I hate dogs. I must've overreacted.”

A flash of annoyance crossed his features, but all he said was, “Yes.”

From his sudden coldness, Sofia sensed he was a dog lover. Well, that doomed any possible relationship. Which brought her back to…

“
Why
did you kiss me?”

“To calm you down.”

“Aren't you supposed to slap someone when they get hysterical?”

“That's not my style.” He cocked an eyebrow and crossed his arms.

A stern voice spoke from behind them. “Jason Cage, Sofia Hunyara, you have been summoned. It is time for you to learn why. Come.”