Taken by Moonlight (70 page)

Zahira
noticed her instantly. It took Eli a few more seconds. Once he did however, he
looked back to Zahira, then to her, before giving them both a smile and
leaving.

Vivienne
took the seat he’d vacated.

“You feel
wonderful, don’t you?” Zahira asked knowingly, placing the remote on the stand
beside her after locating the Discovery Channel. They were doing an episode on
big cats.

“Amazing,”
Vivienne agreed.

The Elder
chuckled. “It will last for at least two days, longer if you’re breeding.”

She knew
what breeding meant, but her eyes still widened as she looked at the Elder.

“Did Conall
explain anything to you?” Zahira enquired, even as her eyes narrowed as it did
when she was sure of the answer. “No?”

“Some of it
but it,
erm
, happened very quickly,” Vivienne said defensively.

Zahira
lifted a brow and chuckled. “Our females experience heat primarily to
procreate. It is normal for a
were
female, which I’m assuming you are
after your change last week, to experience heat at least once a year after
entering puberty—”

“This
happens more than once?”

“Yes.” When
Vivienne swallowed, Zahira added with a wink, “A newly mated female can go into
heat as many as five times in the course of five months.”

Closing her
eyes, Vivienne leaned back in the chair and murmured, “It’s like another
period.”

“Much more
fun,” Zahira reminded her, and Vivienne found herself grinning. She knew what
Zahira meant. In a way, heat was painful. Her entire body had felt hot to the
point of combustion, but when Conall had given her release, she’d felt such
pleasure that it was worth it. If she went back into heat after mating Conall,
she wouldn’t mind it, especially as she knew what the outcome would be.

“You
mentioned…conceiving?” Vivienne asked, clearing her throat.

Zahira
nodded.

“How likely
is it?”

It was
Zahira’s turn to grin. “The time of your heat coincides with your most fertile
time in the month. Conception is very likely.”

Vivienne
crossed her feet. “Hm.” That thought made her a bit giddy. She could be
carrying Conall’s child. And then another thought occurred to her.

“Babies,
right? Not pups?”

Zahira
looked confused for a small instance before she understood. “It depends.”

“On?”
Vivienne prodded, grimacing as an image of her human body giving birth to wolf
pups popped into her mind. These wolves were huge. She could only imagine how
big the pups were.

“Many
things, but one is more dominant than the rest. If you conceive in your human
form, more than likely, you will birth babies. But if you conceive as a wolf…”

“Oh.”

“So my
human body can’t have puppies?”

The Elder
grimaced before shaking her head. “That would be cruel and our goddess is not.”

“How many?”
When Zahira looked confused, Vivienne elaborated. “If I were pregnant, how many
would I have?”

She
shrugged. “Some have one, some have more.” She smiled and added, “I’ve seen a
litter of eight once.”

Vivienne
shuddered, and Zahira laughed. “For your first, I don’t believe it will be so
large.”

They didn’t
speak for long moments as Vivienne processed everything Zahira had said. When
she finally spoke, it was a slight change of subject. “Thank you for fixing the
bedroom.”

“It was not
a difficult task,” Zahira replied with a smile before adding, “You’re welcome,
Vivienne.”

A few more
minutes of silence passed between them before Vivienne asked, “Do you need me
to do anything for the ceremony?”

“All of the
preparations have been made, Vivienne,” Zahira said. “All you have to do is
show up, and trust your mate completely.” She paused, and her eyes grew serious
as she studied Vivienne. “Will you do that?”

Her answer
was immediate. “Yes.”

“I thought
so,” Zahira confided. Her eyes went back to the television in time to see a
cheetah chasing a deer. “Magnificent creatures. An old friend of mine controls
a
were-cat
pack that consists only of cheetahs….”

“Why do you
keep doing that?” Vivienne asked softly. From the moment he’d arrived home,
Conall had been sniffing at her. At first, she’d thought it affectionate, but
now she’d begun to wonder if she were giving off an odor. Her shower had been
hours ago, but still. She’d checked…very quickly…but that wasn’t it.

Conall
lifted his head, and blinked. They were seated on the couch in his living room,
Vivienne on his lap with her body pressed against his back as he reclined
against the chair arm. The television was on, and some Lifetime movie was
showing. They hadn’t been paying attention.

“What?”

“Sniffing
me,” she murmured, turning in his arms. “Why do you keep sniffing me?”

His eyes
narrowed briefly, and then he smiled, a slow smile that made her want to do
wicked things to him. The slight soreness between her legs had faded so she was
quite ready for any debauched activity he might…desire.

“Because I
love your smell,” he replied, pulling her forward until her lips were inches
from his. “And I love smelling myself on you.”

Her brows
lifted and she sniffed at her skin. She smelled herself, the body wash, and a
faint aroma of spice. She sniffed again, and he chuckled, pulling her up so
that he could kiss her lips.

“You can’t
smell it as much,
alainn
,” he said when his lips finally released hers.

A bit
breathless, she replied, “Why not?”

“Because
you are not male,” he said, smiling once more. He seemed awfully proud of
himself. “Every male who comes into contact with you will know you are mine.”

They
shouldn’t have, especially as he had been inside her countless times yesterday,
but his words made her tingly and wet. She tried to act like they didn’t, by
frowning at him, but he only winked at her, and ran his hands under the shirt
and up her back.

“What about
females?” she inquired, trying to ignore the feelings his warm hands were
bringing about.

“There’s no
threat from females,” he replied, licking at her neck.

“Th—that’s
not what I meant,” she said, clearing her throat. “Does it work both ways? Will
they smell me on you?”

He nodded
once, pulling back to stare at her.

“I don’t
want another female,
alainn
,” he said seriously, and she felt him brush
her mind to see if she were thinking that. She wasn’t. Seeing that wasn’t the
case, he continued, “There are some males who take other females in addition to
the ones they select as mates….” Vivienne’s scowl was vicious. “But I don’t
want any other females.”

“That’s good
because you’re not getting any other female.” She kissed him quick before
curiosity reared its head. “And what of the females? Do they take other males
after they are mated?”

The glare
he sent her was so full of hostility that she laughed, which only seemed to
anger him more.

“Are you
serious?” Vivienne finally managed after gathering her breath. “Males are
allowed to have a mate, and any other female, but the females can’t do the same
thing?”

“Only a
weakling would allow another male to take his female,” Conall said testily. She
saw his eyes narrow and sent up a mental guard. “Why have you blocked me from
your mind?”

His grip on
her back tightened and his eyes flashed yellow. “Do you want another male?”

Vivienne
knew she was treading testy waters. In fact, she was smart enough to know what
she said would either placate him or send him into a furious fit. She wasn’t
trying to anger him. She was just curious, and a bit angered at the obvious
male dominance in the pack. What happened to equal opportunities for females?

“No,” she
said slowly. “Only you.” His eyes shifted back to blue but he was tense beneath
her.

“Then why
did you ask?”

Sighing,
she replied, “Don’t you think it’s unfair? That a male can have a mate and
whomever else, but that a mated female can’t?”

“No.”

“Conall!”
She tried to move but he held her still.

“It has
been the way of our people for generations,
alainn
. Males can only take
one mate at a time, but some packs are small, and there are females who are
left without. So, in many of these packs, the males couple with those females
as well. It’s mostly for reproduction of the species, and the continuation of
the pack.”

“And what
of these females, the ones who remained unmated? Are they allowed to take
whomever they want?”

He nodded
once as his eyes grew hooded. “An unattached female may do as she pleases, much
like an unattached male.”

“So,”
Vivienne began, “hypothetically speaking, if I wanted—”

“No!”

She hid a
grin. Conall didn’t know how attractive he was when jealous, but she did. His
eyes grew hard, lips taut, and his eyebrows drew down as if he would pounce at
any moment. “But you didn’t even hear me out.”

“I will
never share you, Vivienne.”

“I wasn’t
going to say that,” she murmured.

“You were
thinking it,” he replied.

“How would
you know?” she asked with a grin, tapping the side of her head. “You’re not in
here.”

He growled
at her. She smiled, and then blinked rapidly at finding herself beneath him,
with his body pressed into hers. Even angry, he was hard for her.

“Are you
teasing me?” he asked quietly, his face mere inches from hers.

She
considered lying, saying that she wasn’t, but decided against it. She wanted
him jealous, and possessive. She didn’t want him angry. “Yes.” She dropped the
shield she’d put up against him. It took only seconds before he was probing her
mind again, and then his body relaxed and he glared at her.

“You like
when I’m jealous?” he asked in a low, slightly menacing tone. His hand slipped
under her shirt, quickly moving to her breasts.

“You’re an
attractive man,” she replied breathlessly, pushing her chest upward for his
touch. His fingertips pinched at her nipples, before he roughly palmed them.
Vivienne moaned and sighed, smiling up at him. “Extremely attractive.”

She heard a
rip and looked down to find her shirt torn down to the middle. Vivienne shook
her head and threw him an amused glance.

“You’re
going to have to stop doing that,” she said softly, watching as his hand parted
the shirt to reveal the swollen and peaked tips of her nipples.

“You like
it,” he threw back at her, moments before his mouth lowered to one of her
breasts, tongue swirling around her nipple before his mouth closed over it.

She moaned,
and her thighs clutched him tighter.

Yes. Yes
I do.

His eyes
lifted to hers and held them as he went to her other nipple, sucking at it
until she cried out. He released her nipple with a soft pop, and then proceeded
to leave her.

Pushing
onto her arms, Vivienne glared at his broad back.

What are
you doing?

With a smug
smile, he replied, “I can be a tease too,
alainn
.”

Blinking,
her mind still clouded by her lust for him, Vivienne watched him leave the
room. She fell back against the couch, and shook her head, still confused.
Without him robbing her of her thoughts, she was able to formulate a plan.
Instead of following him, which she was sure he expected, she pushed herself up
and stepped out of the torn shirt and sweats. She stared down at her pink
cotton panties, one of her newer pairs, and decided to remove them as well. As
it was, she happened to be running low on underwear. There was no need to
another one to the torn pile.

She
reclined back on the couch, facing the entrance of the living room as she did
so.

Conall?

He didn’t
reply immediately. It was many seconds before his voice touched her mind.

Yes?

You’ve
left me in a very
…
vulnerable
state, and I’m confused as to what to do.

Come
upstairs.

She
squeezed her legs together at the command and willed her body to disobey. It
was a game. They were playing a game, and he’d won round one.

That’s
too far. As I’ve said, you’ve left me in a very vulnerable state. I’m extremely
horny and naked, in your living room.

Naked?

She smiled.
Yes. My clothes were stifling me, so I took them off.

Come
upstairs, Vivienne.

She shook
her head and grinned.
As I said, it’s too far. Plus, I’m sure if I wait here
long enough, someone will come. I do live in house with four male werewo—