Wolfen Secrets (The Western Werewolf Legend #3) (8 page)

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There he was, coming down the board walkway
at his usual disjointed stroll. All man and easy in his skin, when
the wolf was upon him, he didn’t realize how much of himself he
carried into the shift. Self-assured and agile, Ty made a powerful
figure to deal with. When the shift was complete, he became a
warrior in his own right.

Hurrying down the stairs to the lobby, she
rushed to the front door. With a warm smile, she took his arm.
Leaning in close, she beamed. “I’ve been waiting for you.” The
smile widened. Mischief danced in her tawny eyes. Unable to help
the celebratory feeling she always got whenever he came back, even
if he’d been gone only a short time, Sonja tried desperately to
calm. The news was positive.

“You’ve been up to something, Nymph. I can
see it in your face. Your eyes are bright with tomfoolery. Spill
it,” he growled good-naturedly.

“Hortence came up with a spell which would
keep the vampires at bay, even in the dead of night.” Her smile
widened as she shared the news. Her hands took his, clasping both
to her bosom.

“That’s terrific, Nymph. Why didn’t you share
this with me before?” A bit pricked at being left out of the old
woman’s confidences again, Ty intentionally paused, waiting. “You
know if it involves both of us, don’t you think I should know?”

Sonja’s face slipped a minute before
returning to all smiles. “Yes, we wanted to make sure the spell
worked before we told you.”

“How do you know it works?” Irritated the
accusation slid into his voice, Ty turned for the stairs. “The
vampire from the other night – the one you wanted for yourself –
you kept him? Where?”

“Hortence has him. Yes, we tested the spell
on him. It was a success. He can’t leave his crib!” Her beaming
face was both breath taking as well as frustrating.

“I’m afraid to ask. What does the spell
entail?”

“They’re immobilized - unable to get out of
their beds.” Her smile widened. “Isn’t it wonderful news?” Unable
to contain her delight, she leaned into him, running a finger
slowly up his vested chest. “I was waiting for you to return.”
Batting eyelashes was so female. She was feeling female at the
moment. “I missed you.” Taken aback at her admission, Sonja
blushed.

“Did you now? Well, tell me more about your
little scheme.” His wide hand ran lightly over her back, sending a
shiver up her spine. With a firm hold of her butt through the dress
she wore, Ty squeezed.

If he’d lowered his mouth to suck her breast
on the spot, she wouldn’t have been more mortified. “Sir, please
control yourself.” She took a step, finding her progress hampered
by his big hand, which shot out and took her arm.

His soft chuckle didn’t set well with her but
still aroused her.

“Would you like to discuss this matter
further, my dear? Perhaps upstairs in our room?” The gleam in his
eyes told her they weren’t going to remain in the lobby much
longer.

“An excellent idea, Lieutenant. Follow me.”
With a swish of skirts, Sonja headed for the stairs. Giving her
hips a bit more sway than was proper made her feel wickedly wanton.
She imagined she was a songstress about to entertain a besotted fan
in her private quarters. The idea took shape quickly. Suddenly, Ty
was escorting her over the threshold. He slammed the door behind
them. Her body tingled with anticipation.

“I never want to pass up the opportunity to
make love to you, Nymph. Now, our secret love affair is public
knowledge. Doesn’t that bother you?”

The wry grin he sent her proved most
unsettling for Sonja’s frame of mind. “Are you holding our
abstinence against me, Lieutenant? Surely you could see why we had
to keep our relationship a secret. Or, are you suddenly concerned
for my reputation?”

“Oh, on the contrary, my love, I find the
torture most valuable now. With the lesson learned, I shall never
let you go long without feeling me inside you. You will never want
for my attentions. As for your reputation, though you may consider
the time of day to be vulgar, I warrant, you will appreciate the
consideration I’m about to bestow upon you.” With those last words,
Ty turned, pulling the heavy velvet drapes across the daylight
streaming into the room.

“Tyler, I must object. This is unseemly. What
will everyone think?”

“They’ll think I’ve grown horns. That I’ve
turned into a dreadful demon lusting for his woman no matter what
the cost. Who cares what they think, Nymph? We’re two adults who
want to make love to one another. What is the basis for such a
natural accuracy?” With his sultry eyes on her, he held up one
finger, pointing to a spot directly in front of where he stood.
“Now come here.” He reached for her hand. When she pressed
willingly against his chest, Ty nudged her earlobe, nipping the
tip. “Um, you smell like lilacs, Nymph. I never get enough of your
scent. Whenever the wolf is upon you, I still smell the
lilacs.”

With his hands unfastening her buttons one by
one, Sonja sank into Ty’s hold. He had his own distinct scent as
well, one she always recognized even when he was the warrior wolf.
“My mate knows me well. I am enamored with his words.” Feathering
tiny kisses she left a trail of desire as she opened his
shirt-front to run her hands along the strong muscles of his bronze
chest. Silently enjoying the smooth role-play coupled with the
touch of flesh under her fingers, Sonja marveled at how she always
reveled in his body as if she were seeing him for the first time.
The buckle of his belt clinked as the cool metal fell away. She
worked his trousers open. His inadvertent inhale of air continued
to arouse the primal need exploding inside her. The sensation of
empowerment grew as she slid along his lower abdomen in search of
the hard shaft she sought.

“Ah, I never tire of your touch, my love.
You’re my one weakness. Whatever you want, I will get. Whatever you
need, I will find. Whenever you reach for me, I will be ready.” As
he kissed her neck, tracing the swell of one breast with his
tongue, Sonja wrapped her hand around his manhood, stroking the
smooth, silky length in long strokes.

“If I asked you to stand to let me view you
naked, would you indulge me, sir?”

“On one condition.” His eyes gleamed feral.
“You must return the pleasure.”

Heat rushed to her core. This man was as much
a god as any there was. He was her god who she worshiped
completely. Stroking his erection with one hand, she shoved his
pants over his trim, tight buttocks. The scars of past battles
puckered flesh in several places along his leg. None more
remembered than the one she’d healed with her blood. The werewolf’s
gift of healing diminished the scar’s appearance, yet the memory of
the life-threatening wound burned in her mind’s eye still. “You
first.” Her giggle, throaty and filled with sex floated on the air.
Her body hummed with anticipation. Yet, she drew pleasure in
watching him stand before her naked and hard. His body cast of the
finest bronze for all eternity in tribute to his power. “When I
look at you, I see all I’ve ever dreamed of holding in my arms. I
am truly a lucky woman.”

“The luck is all mine.” He took a step toward
her, pushing the dress off her shoulders. Soon, the corset came
lose. Before she could blink, he was tugging the shift over her
head as well. “I will never forget the angel walking toward me in
the mist on the night I lay dying in the swamp.” He lowered his
mouth to taste her shoulder. His breath came hot and molten on her
skin. “I was sure I was dead, because I’d never seen such a vision
on earth.”

Reaching out, Sonja wrapped an arm around his
neck, drawing him down to suck the taught peak of her swollen
breast. “You’ve made me into a deity, though I’m merely a woman,
Lieutenant, made of flesh and blood.”

He drew a lazy line with his tongue over her
skin, finding the other nipple taught. “Indeed, you are all woman,
my love. Of that, there is no doubt. Yet, I would argue you are so
much more than mere flesh and blood.”

She caught his chin in her fingertips,
guiding his parted mouth up to look into his eyes. “I promise I am
no more than the person you see before you, Lieutenant. I bleed, I
hurt, I love and I cherish you above all others.”

“As do I, for you are my breath, my spirit,
my end. I long to hold you always.”

Sonja smiled into Ty’s face, watching the
ardent warmth glow in his features.

Taking her face in both his strong hands, he
captured her mouth with his. The kiss grew insistent, full of
longing. Parting her lips with his tongue, Ty tasted, running his
tongue along hers. Turning with her in his arms, Ty fell back on
the soft bed. The welcome luxury of the feather-filled mattress,
such a comfort, Sonja swore she’d never forget.

Beneath her Ty grew hard. She burned to have
him fill her. “Ty?”

When she used his given name, the strength in
her limbs went lax. He did something to her sensibility with the
flick of a glance. The world grew brighter with his presence. “Oh,
I could lay right here with you all day. Can we?”

The laugh came from deep in his chest. She
could feel the tremor vibrate under her hand. “What would people
say?” With smooth fluidity, Ty rolled to pin Sonja beneath him.

Her eyes fluttered shut as she breathed him
in. “I don’t care.”

“I think the time for talk is past.” The
words came out ragged. Sonja could hear the hunger in his voice.
She opened her eyes to meet his dark stare. He lowered his mouth to
hers. Their tongues mated in a frenzied coupling born of need.

“Oh, Ty.” Her heart beat wildly as his hands
roamed her body. The heat between their flesh melded in a scorching
inferno. Ty reared up with his pride and drove deep. Sonja arched
in response like a bow pulled taught. His head found her breast,
warm and pliant as he suckled.

His dark hair fell around them curtaining
their world. He kissed her with his whole body, surrounding her as
they made love. Groans of pleasure coupled with growls of need
erupted from the man-wolf. Wrapping her legs around his back, she
pulled him in before moaning his name aloud.

“I crave you like breath. You’re mine,
Nymph.” He reared up, nipping her breast. “Torture me.”

She grinned wickedly before dragging her
nails down his chest. His skin, so taught, smelled of man mixed
with sandalwood. Small areas of skin broke as blood seeped free.
Her eyes never left his. “Do you want me to beguile you or torture
you, Lieutenant?”

“Both.” He squeezed his eyelids shut on the
tiny fingers of agony as her mouth bit and sucked his nipples. “You
hold the power to torment as well as pleasure me.” His head fell
back before the growl erupted from deep inside him. When his eyes
met hers, they were the ice blue of the wolf.

“Come, lover. Draw from me the satisfaction
you crave.” Sonja reared up, crawling atop Ty. In tempting
invitation, she ground into his flesh, drawing a groan from the
lieutenant, which in turn, sent a pulse through Sonja’s body. Wet
with desire, she straddled his length, taking him deep and fisting
around his hard length. The sensation of control whipped her demand
for him to a lofty height. Breathless, almost mindless, she
pleasured her lover until he matched her stroke for deepening
stroke.

Unable to control the desire swimming like
hot molten lava through her body, she rode his strength to a new
zenith, basking in its rays. His urgent growl of satisfaction
erupted as he did, spilling his seed deep in her womb.

Sonja fell boneless atop him. Each labored
breath brought her slowly back to earth, present an awaking of
knowledge in the cardinal. Wishing the lovemaking didn’t have to
end, she traced a sensitive line down his thigh. Blood continued to
throb in his loins. “You still desire pleasure, my lord. I am yours
for the need I see in your eyes. Throwing her head back, she
reveled in the tiny zings of sensation his teeth grazing her skin
awakened. The excitement rippled along her spine. No man had ever
enthralled her like Tyler Loflin did. She craved him like breath.
Another wolf may try to scale the fortress. Failure was his
destiny. No wolf could ever come between them, for he was her mate.
It was written: wolves mated for life.

“You’re my one and only hunger, Sonja. I find
myself seeking you out like none before or none after. There will
be no one to follow you.”

“Lieutenant, you stretch the truth in the
throes of passion.” Sonja spoke to lighten the mood as an unnamed
worry constricted her heart. He couldn’t have spoken truer words.
Her own desire raced like molten lava through her body. Glad she
faced away from his eyes, she fought the tears swelling in hers as
she listened to his heartbeat in his chest.

“You make light of my words? I speak only the
truth. You are mine! I will be only yours.” Ty whispered incoherent
words as he blazed a path along her flesh.

Giving his chest a squeeze, Sonja rose to
peer into his bronze features. “I don’t doubt your words,
Lieutenant, for I feel them here.” She placed his hand over her
breast. Do you feel my heart beating? You are the reason it
continues to beat. Without you, I would be no more.”

Reaching up to fist a hand in her hair, Ty
took her mouth in a kiss to seal the commitment. “A pack we’ve
made, like my grandfather’s with his tribe. To live and die for
them as the Great Spirit saw fit.”

“Please, did you have to speak of dying?
Positive thoughts, Lieutenant, all right?” Her brow furrowed
despite her will to the contrary.

“What is death if not a part of living? Don’t
you see, Sonja? You and I are bound by a bond stronger than
anything of this world. Destiny has a place for both of us.” He
gathered her close, running his hand down her back. Releasing a
deep sigh, he traced the outline of her hip before massaging the
skin covering her backside. “I am half Choctaw. I understand the
ways of the passage. From this life, we’ll travel to discover our
next existence waiting on the other side. Many nights I’ve sat at
my grandfather’s knee as he recited the story of the journey all
creatures make when they leave this world.” Soon a smile creased
his lips before warming his eyes.