The Wolf's Mate Book 2: Linus & The Angel (20 page)

He explained that Brenda was going to be
staying overnight and that her friend had called her parents and
they were flying in to take care of her. The friend, Greta, had
been fired as soon as Trick confirmed on the computer what files
she had accessed. Brenda had been brutally raped for two days.
Although her job had left messages at her house, no one had
realized she had been kidnapped. Brenda told them that he was going
to kill her by morning and that Karly had managed to get free of
her bonds and escaped and that she hadn’t blamed her for leaving
her behind, since it was her fault in the first place.

She apparently asked to see Karly and Linus
to apologize in person but Peter and Tina told her that they would
extend her apologies for her and that they were certain that
neither would want to see her. And they were right. Linus would
have a hard time controlling his beast in the presence of the woman
who had nearly cost him everything he loved.

The local police tried to contact the owner
of the cabin and discovered he had passed away several years
earlier and had no next of kin. They searched the cabin and found
evidence of the kidnapping which corroborated the story that Brenda
told and what he had said. Brenda had not been witness to the
natural wolves or what Linus had done and believed the story they
had made up. They searched the immediate area but couldn’t find a
body. When they brought in dogs to try to find Phoenix, they had
balked at the scent of the wolves and wouldn’t search. Trick called
Peter just minutes earlier to say the police in Newport were ruling
him suspected of being dead by wolf attack and were closing the
case.

Linus thanked Peter for his help, and the
pack that was there, and joined his mother, grandmother,
grandfather, Tina, and Cadence at Karly's bedside. “Do you think,
uh, was she hurt very badly?” His mother asked him, looking about
as small and unsure as he’d ever seen her. She clearly already
thought of Karly as her daughter and seeing her unconscious in a
hospital bed was hard for her, too.

“The nurse said that the only question she
answered in x-ray was that she hadn’t been touched.” It wouldn’t
change the way he felt about her even if something had happened
while she was gone, but he was infinitely glad that she wouldn’t
have memories of that nature.

His mother hugged her own mother and breathed
out a thankful prayer. All night his family kept vigil with him,
and so did Jason, Cadence, Peter and Tina. Michael showed up in the
morning with breakfast for everyone, and brought in one of his and
Karly's suitcases.

As his sweetheart started to wake up from the
influence of the drugs, she blinked sleepy, drug hazed eyes at him
and reached for him with her free hand. “Oh, you look tired,
Linus.” She slurred.

“I’m good baby,” he kissed her fingers and
blinked against the happy tears that threatened. “How do you
feel?”

“Very nice.” She smiled and wrinkled her
nose.

Everyone laughed quietly and she said on a
loud whisper, “Why are they here?”

“Because they love you, too, baby.”

Her brow arched in confusion. “Okay. I
thought I was hurt or something.” She drifted off to sleep again
and he let out a relieved breath as his family and friends chuckled
over her drug-speak.

A few hours later, he was alone in the room
with her, and she woke up for real, aware of her surroundings and
in mild pain. After a meeting with the doctor and discharge
instructions, he helped her dress in loose clothes and walked next
to her as they wheeled her out of the hospital to his waiting
truck. She was speaking, not as much as he would have liked, but at
least she was talking. When she was safely buckled in and they
started on the long drive home to Allen, he picked up her free hand
and kissed it.

“Baby, I just wanted you to know that I’m so
sorry I let you down. I’m sorry you were hurt because I failed. I
keep misjudging my instincts and-“

“Just stop, okay? You already apologized like
a hundred times.” She was looking at him and he met her eyes for a
moment before having to watch the road again. “If there was
anything to forgive, I would have forgiven you already. You
couldn’t watch me every second for the rest of our lives; it would
have made us both insane. And if you’d tried to go into the
bathroom with me I would have thought you were off your
rocker.”

“I know, Karly, I just-“

“Stop, please. He didn’t rape me. He didn’t
do anything except tie me to the headboard and feed me a peanut
butter sandwich. I mean he scared me shitless, but, Brenda is the
one that got hurt. He was going to use a, uh, plain circular brand
to melt off my tattoo and the mating marks. Then he was going to
rape Brenda and kill her before he started our ‘honeymoon’. The
only thing I thought of when I tripped on that root and fell into
the tree was that I wasn’t going to get to say goodbye to you, and
tell you how much I loved you. I do love you. You came for me.”

“I will always come for you, Karly. I love
you more than anything in my life. It would have destroyed me if
I’d lost you.”

“But you didn’t. So don’t apologize anymore.
You found me. You made things safe for us in the future. Phoenix is
gone, and-” she broke off and started to cry. He pulled over as
soon as he could and undid both their seatbelts and gingerly held
her while she wept.

“Thank you for saving my life, Linus.” She
whispered with a raw voice.

“You knew I would come for you, didn’t you?”
He pulled away and cupped her face with his hands, swiping his
thumbs across her cheeks to catch the tears.

“I knew you wouldn’t give up on me. How did
you know where I was?”

“It was my wolf. I couldn’t smell you, but I
could feel you. I could sense your fear and it was like a beacon
for my beast and I let him loose enough to find you.”

“Why did those real wolves protect me like
that?”

“I’m not sure. When I talked to your mom this
morning after you fell asleep again, she said that maybe because
you’re a supernatural creature linked to wolves that they felt the
need to protect you. Whatever the reason, I’m glad they did. Their
intervention gave me the time to get to you.”

“Is Brenda going to be okay?”

He pressed a gentle kiss to her mouth. She
was so tenderhearted and caring. “Physically she’ll be okay.
Dehydrated, malnourished, and of course the physical abuse.
Mentally, once she told everyone what had happened she seemed to
withdraw. Her family is coming for her and they’re going to take
her back to Texas where she’s originally from. I can’t tell you how
much it hurts me that my past almost took you from me.”

“If you’re not holding me responsible for
Phoenix’s behavior then I can’t hold you responsible for Brenda’s.
Our pasts almost destroyed us, but we survived. I just want to put
this behind us and move forward.”

“Me, too, love.” He kissed her again, as
softly as he could.

He felt her smile against his mouth and when
he opened his eyes she said, “You get to play nurse to me for a few
weeks, right?”

Little minx. “I’m at your service, baby.”

She grinned devilishly and he gave her a
stern look and tried to tamp down the arousal that just seeing her
feeling feisty again brought out. “You’ll have to behave, young
lady. That shoulder of yours is going to need lots of care. And I’m
just the wolf to do it.”

“Can I get you into a nurse’s uniform
maybe?”

He barked out a laugh, “Baby, I would wear
anything to make you happy, but I draw the line at stockings and
miniskirts.” He momentarily flashed to seeing Michael in a French
maid's uniform, complete with stockings and heels. It had taken him
a long time before he could even look Michael in the eye after
that.

“Aw, spoilsport.”

Thinking it wise to get back on the road,
they began their journey again and after some careful adjustment
and wincing, she settled against his shoulder and drifted off to
sleep. Now that she was back with him, he felt like all was right
with the world again. Those tense hours when he hadn’t been able to
find her had been a torturous hell he didn’t wish to ever
repeat.

He could let go of this time and love her the
way she deserved. She was his sweet angel mate and he would spend
the rest of his life loving her to the best of his ability.

Chapter 15

After a week of Linus hovering over her and
not letting her lift a finger for herself, she was more than ready
to play. He took on the role of nurse very seriously, and although
his mom and grandma both brought meals over for them, and members
of the pack stopped by daily, Linus was very strict about her being
bothered. He was like a big muscular mother hen. And she told him
as much, when he was showering with her last night so she “didn’t
strain herself” but refused to actually touch anything fun for more
than a few swipes of the washcloth. “If you touch it more than
three times, you’re playing not cleaning,” he told her in all
seriousness and she just stared up at him in shock.

She rolled her shoulder tentatively as she
stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. She had two
appointments that morning, one to a new OB for a checkup and to get
her birth control shot, and one to the only doctor in town who also
happened to be a werewolf, to check out her shoulder. She really
wanted him to tell Linus that she was cleared for sex. She didn’t
think she could handle being in bed with him one more night and not
doing anything. She’d gone months before without having sex, but
since she met Linus, she didn’t want to play sex camel any longer
than necessary.

After getting her birth control shot and
being declared perfectly healthy from the waist down, they sat in
the empty doctor’s office and waited for her appointment. Tickling
her fingers up the inside of his jean covered thigh, he let her get
about two inches away from his cock before he grabbed her hand and
kept it still. “It doesn’t matter what he says, baby, the doctor at
the hospital said at least three weeks.”

“Three weeks for strenuous shoulder related
activity, Linus.” She felt like whining. “I’ll go totally crazy if
we don’t make love soon, I mean it.”

His blue eyes darkened slightly, and the
muscle under one ticked. And that was it. “You’ll live. I wouldn’t
risk hurting you if I got lost in the moment and grabbed you wrong.
If you want me to take care of you when we get home, I will, but we
won’t be making love for at least two more weeks.”

She swallowed the smart retort on her tongue
and pulled her hand from his leg. Damn him and his sensible
willpower!

As she expected, but Linus didn’t seem to
care, the doctor – a very charming older man named Vincent Mirelli
– said that she was cleared to resume some of her normal
activities, but nothing strenuous until after she came back in two
more weeks for another check up. Her smug smirk was lost on Linus,
so she decided to take matters into her own hands. Literally.

When they got home that Friday afternoon,
Linus offered to make them an early dinner and she just gave him a
small, half smile and said, “I’ll think about. I’ve got other
things on my mind right now.”

He smiled immediately but then scowled as if
he remembered what he’d said. “I haven’t changed my mind,
love.”

“I didn’t ask you to. In fact, I don’t think
I remember inviting you anyway.” She tapped her finger to her chin
thoughtfully and then walked away to the bedroom. She was not a
girl without options. If he wasn’t going to give her what she
wanted, or do it only half way, then she was going to take care of
herself. Period.

She wasn’t ashamed of her vibrator, but
hadn’t had an occasion to bring it out and Linus never asked if she
had one. She opened her seldom used second travel bag and pulled
out the velvet drawstring pouch that contained her toy.

She tossed it to the bed and began to strip.
“Just what the hell are you doing?” He demanded, looking between
her and the black bag.

“I’m taking care of myself.”

“I said I’d help you, Karly.” He frowned.

She shook her head, determination giving her
a little courage. “No thanks.”

He looked completely stunned. “You don’t want
me to touch you?”

“No, I don’t want you to touch me halfway. I
need to feel you inside me, Linus, and just your fingers or just
your mouth…it’s not enough. I’d rather play alone and try to take
the edge off this uncontrollable lust I’m feeling right now than
not really be satisfied.”

When she climbed on the bed and pulled the
toy from the bag he growled and snatched it from her hand. “Hey!”
She yelled.

“You are out of your mind if you think I’m
going to compete with an electronic toy. Nobody brings you pleasure
but me. You’re mine, Karly.” His eyes were dark and feral, just the
edge of his control coming loose like a flag in the wind.

“Either fuck me yourself or get out and leave
the toy.”

“I think…you’re not in control here, Karly.”
His mouth quirked up in the corner and her breath caught. “Now,
prop yourself up on pillows so your shoulder doesn’t have any
pressure on it, and spread your legs.”

Adjusting the pillows against the headboard,
she settled up into a nearly upright position and spread her legs,
bending her knees slightly and planting her heels.

“Naughty girl,” he narrowed his eyes, putting
her toy down and pulling his shirt off. “Look at how wet you are
already.”

Her toes curled into the comforter and her
temperature went up about twenty degrees. He dropped his pants to
the floor and her mouth watered at the sight of him, hard and
ready. It felt like a hundred years since she’d seen him naked with
a look of want and hunger in his eyes.

He climbed up between her legs and sat back
on his heels, looking at her vibrator and then at her. He clicked
the button on the bottom after inspecting it and began to draw
slow, swirling lines up the inside of her leg, starting at the top
of her foot. On low, it tickled and felt good. When he reached her
knee, he pushed the button again and it clicked up to medium speed.
Rounding the top of her thigh, he switched legs, drawing lazy
patterns all around her calf and the inside of her knee, switching
to the highest setting.