Taken by Moonlight (71 page)

She heard
him before she saw him. There was a commotion on the staircase, and then he
stood in the entryway to the living room, completely naked with a harsh scowl
on his face. His gaze scanned the room briefly, as if searching another male,
before coming to land on her. The scowl only grew larger.

Vivienne
smiled and parted her legs, lifting her hips off the couch as she did so.

He strode
over to her and mounted her, pulling one of her legs onto his shoulder.
Vivienne slipped her hand behind his back, right above his buttocks, and held
tight.

His entry
was punishing, and she cried out in pleasure-mixed pain as he bumped against
her cervix. Conall withdrew and thrust again, watching her face as he did so.
Her vision clouded, lips parted on a gasp. With every thrust, she undulated
against him, hips lifting to meet his as he stroked at her tight sex. He leaned
more of his weight onto her, pushing her leg closer to her chest as he seemed
to go even deeper.

“Ooh,” she
cried out, lowering her hands to squeeze his toned ass.

He growled
above her, and pulled out. For a brief moment, Vivienne feared he would leave
again, but he only sat back against the couch and lifted her onto him. She
kissed him immediately, spreading her legs and waiting for his invasion. As he
filled her again, she whimpered and moaned. Conall waited, gently massaging her
hips, as she began to move. Her thrusts soon became frantic, and he leaned
forward and took her nipple into his mouth. As it usually was with him, her
orgasm was intense, blinding her as it washed over her body. She screamed,
uncaring of who heard, and fell against him, shuddering violently.

He gripped
her hips and continued to move, grinning when she began grinding herself
against his swelling sex as she did so. They didn’t last long after that.
Conall pushed fully into her, and she cried out, pushing down to take all of
him. Moments later, her muscles seized around him, clasping tightly as she
climaxed. With a hoarse grunt, he came.

They
remained like that for a few seconds before Conall used his powers to flash
them into his bedroom. Vivienne had closed her eyes, so she was surprised to
find them on the bed.

“Convenient
powers,” she said tiredly when he explained what had happened.

He grunted
in acknowledgement, and Vivienne relaxed against his chest, closing her eyes.
She enjoyed having him inside her minutes after they’d finished. His hand began
to lovingly stroke her back, and she moaned. She was going into a light doze
when his hand trailed down her back, and landed on her buttocks. He delivered a
light, but stinging slap to it and she yelped. His other hand held her steady,
prepared for the reaction.

Sputtering,
Vivienne glared down at him. “What was that for?”

“Being a
tease. Making me jealous,” he growled softly.

She settled
down and kissed his chest. “I’m sorry.”

His body
eased of tension, and she waited for him to relax. When he did, she bit him.

“Vivienne,”
he began, surprise and confusion warring in his voice.

She licked
at the angry red mark before kissing it lightly. “Now we’re even, Conall.” He
slipped from her and she moaned and moved up until she could look down into his
eyes. She kissed his lips lightly before burying her face in his shoulder. “I
don’t want any other male but you.”

Laughter
greeted her declaration, as he rolled to his side with her. “Go to sleep,
alainn
.”

She buried
her face in his chest and inhaled, grinning as her scent touched her nose.
She’d always assumed she smelled herself, but it was her, inside him. She was
inside him. “I also love smelling myself on you. It’s a great scent.”

Conall
caught her lips again. “Yes, it is.”

With the mating
ceremony only a day away, Vivienne grew nervous. It was like a wedding, only
instead of a white dress, she was going to be naked, and instead of exchanging
rings, well, they were going to be screwing like bunnies—
wolves
. She
blushed hard and stood, running a hand over her wild hair. She’d been tugging
it this way and that for about an hour.

She’d
called Cassie, but her sister had seemed a bit sad, so Vivienne had tried to
pry the reason for the sadness from her, and had in the process forgotten about
her own issues. And now, she was remembering. She could always talk to Drew and
Max about these things. Unconsciously, a smile tugged at her lips before she
frowned. She hadn’t spoken to Drew in weeks. Granted, she’d been busy, but they
had each other’s contact information. She wondered if Drew still wanted nothing
to do with them, and the whole non-human thing. If not, she was sure her friend
would like Cedar Creek. Maybe not the mating ceremony, that was a bit much, but
a day or two? Conall wouldn’t deny her that. Plus, she had information about
Max. She wouldn’t tell Drew everything, just that he was alive.

Reaching
into her pocket, she removed her cell phone and found her friend’s number.
Within moments, she was listening to the phone ring. It went to voicemail, but
instead of Drew’s voice, she heard the automated machine say that the voicemail
box was full. Furrowing her eyebrows, she ended the call. Drew was meticulous.
She checked and emptied the voicemail box everyday. She’d done the same with
their home phone, writing down messages as she cleared the inbox. It was one of
the things Max had nagged her about. That she’d let her inbox get full was
strange.

Vivienne
called her again in an hour, but received the same message. It was Saturday, so
she wasn’t at work, unless there was an art showing. With that thought in mind,
she called the gallery. A woman picked up. When she inquired about her friend,
she was put on hold before the manager took the call. He told her Drew hadn’t
shown up for work in almost two weeks, and he was concerned. Confused, Vivienne
asked if she’d taken her vacation, or if there had been an issue, but the
manager was adamant that nothing had happened. He said she was there one day,
and hadn’t shown up the next. As she spoke to the manager, who asked her to let
him know any developments and pass onto Drew that her job was still there if
she wanted it, Vivienne’s body grew cold as her thoughts swirled with the
possibilities.

What-ifs
began to plague her. Had something happened to Drew? Was her friend in danger?
Should she have called to check on her sooner?

A full
voicemail box was one thing, but disappearing from work, that was something
Drew would never do. Drew would never skip work, especially not without notice.
Something had happened to her friend, and Vivienne was determined to find out
what.

A call to
her mother gave her the last location to which they’d taken Drew. An hour
later, Conall took her there. The woman, Drew’s aunt, gave them another
address, telling them that when they found her, to tell Drew she still owed
rent. It had taken Conall restraining her to keep Vivienne from attacking the
woman. Her niece could very well be missing and she was only thinking of money?
It was no wonder Drew hadn’t mentioned them before. Her aunt was a bitch.

They
arrived at the building and piggybacked off of someone entering to get to
Drew’s apartment. Vivienne knocked a few times before Conall “opened” the door.
From the moment she entered, Vivienne’s fears were confirmed.

Something
bad had happened to Drew. It was obvious from the sparseness of the rooms, and
the tons of unopened boxes lying around, that Drew had not been here in a long
time. There was a note attached to one of the boxes.

Waited
for you for thirty minutes. Placed box inside and closed door.—Ikea guys.

It was
dated as well. Almost two weeks ago.

“Oh my
God,” Vivienne whispered. “The door was open when they got here.”

Conall took
the note from her, and read it. He nodded once and went through the other
rooms, finding out what Vivienne knew in her heart. Empty. They were all empty.
He emerged from the bathroom with her handbag, and Vivienne went through it,
finding Drew’s Blackberry. Over forty missed calls, as many voicemails and text
messages.

“I should
have called sooner,” Vivienne said, shaking her head and looking at the phone.
“I should have called.”

Conall
caught her in his arms and held her tightly against his body. “We’ll find her,
Vivienne.”

Tears
welled in her eyes and she pulled away, rummaging through her friend’s purse
for her wallet. It was there as well. Credit cards, Social Security card,
passport, driver’s license. Someone had taken her from this apartment. Drew
wouldn’t go anywhere without her driver’s license. While Vivienne was likely to
run out to the grocery store with no form of ID, Drew was adamant about having
hers with her.

“She could
be dead, Conall,” Vivienne whispered, holding the purse tightly as tears fell
from her eyes. “Drew didn’t have enemies. It was Cronin. It had to be him.”

Conall
pulled her into his arms again. “If she’s alive, I promise you, we’ll find
her.”

The better
part of Sunday was spent tracking Drew’s scent. Conall had taken a box filled
with her clothing back to Cedar Creek, and had given an article to each of his
hunters. He’d done so knowing it would likely be futile. The city was huge, and
Drew could be anywhere, if she was even in the city. He did it to appease
Vivienne, who looked so forlorn he would try anything. When they’d arrived home
last night, she’d gone into the bathroom, locked the door, and cried. He’d
wanted to comfort her, had contemplated flashing himself into the bathroom, but
had let her be. She’d come out after and he’d hugged her as she stared at him
with sad eyes.

Zahira came
to him just after dusk, dressed in a flowing red and black robe. She presented
him with the two robes, white in color with various Celtic symbols adorning
them, and told him the pack was waiting. The mating ceremony. With Drew
missing, and Vivienne hysterical, he’d forgotten.

Running a
hand over his face, Conall replied, “I think we’ll have to push it back,
Zahira.”

The Elder’s
brows crinkled. “Why, Conall? The next full moon is a month away. You won’t
last until then.”

He
wouldn’t. With Vivienne unattached, it was likely he would snap, and probably
kill someone.

“She’s not
ready—”

“I’ve seen
her. She’s more than ready,” Zahira countered.

“Zahira,
you don’t understand—” He stopped abruptly when Vivienne entered his office and
moved over to the plastic-covered robes. Conall and Zahira both eyed her
warily.

“Which
one’s mine?” she finally asked, looking to Zahira.

A relived
sigh came from the Elder as she walked over and handed her the smaller one.

“Thank
you.” Vivienne gave her a smile. Zahira looked at her curiously before she
nodded and turned to Conall.

“We’ll be
waiting outside,” she said before she left them alone.

“
Alainn
,
you don’t have to—”

“I know,”
Vivienne cut in, lifting her eyes to his. She smiled. “I want to.”

He stepped
around his desk and approached her. “Are you sure?”

“I’ve never
been so sure,” she replied. As he watched, full to bursting with love for her,
she stripped out of her clothes and put on the robe, tying the binding at the
front.

Stepping
onto her toes, she kissed his lips. “Your turn.”

After
changing into the male version of her robe, Conall led Vivienne into the
backyard, and then to the very clearing where she’d fought Samia. There was a
stillness among the
weres
gathered, one that hadn’t been there last
Saturday. Many of them were partially undressed, some already in wolf form. A
slight murmur went through the crowd as he led Vivienne to the open space at
the center, where Zahira waited. Upon seeing them, she smiled briefly before
looking up to the bright, full moon already making an appearance.

“Luna, your
children gather before you to beg your blessing in the joining of our alpha to
his chosen,” she began loudly, her voice carrying to the large gathering. There
were people everywhere. Vivienne looked up and noticed some of them were even
in trees.

“Conall
Athelwulf, who is this female you take to mate?”

He squeezed
her hand lightly and replied in a clear voice, “Vivienne Bordeaux.”

“Will
anyone challenge Conall Athelwulf’s right to mate this female?”

Tensing,
his eyes flashed yellow as they swept the gathered crowd. There was no
challenge.

“Vivienne
Bordeaux, who is this male you take to mate?”

“Conall
Athelwulf,” she replied.

“Will
anyone challenge Vivienne Bordeaux’s right to this male?”

She
mimicked Conall, and looked around. No challenge was issued.