A Love For Lera (Haikon) (10 page)

“Easy,
mo ghrá
. Let me tend your wounds.”

She shook her head. “No. I want to get out of
here. I want to go see for myself that Rissa is okay. I
need
to see it.”

“Okay.” Stepping back, he maneuvered his way to
the driver’s side and slid in, Lera still in his lap. “Sleep,
mo ghrá
.”

Kori readjusted her so he could still shift and
started the engine. His lips brushed against her head, and Lera burrowed closer
and let Kori’s scent comfort her. Then, she drifted to sleep.

Lera stirred and woke. Her heart pounded, and
with a gasp, she bolted up in bed, fear of Raymond and Murdock fresh in her
mind. The sight that met her was one she hadn’t seen in a while. Turning her
head to the right, she smiled at the stuffed wolf lying beside her. Tears
pricked her eyes as she curled against his black coat.

Daddy won this for me the first night I met
him.
Lera knew what this meant. She was back in Savoy Valley.
Why am I
here? I thought I told him to take me to see Rissa.

A light knock came to the door, and she tensed
before taking a deep breath. “I’m awake, Kori. Come on in.”

Her heart pounded harder when he stepped in
through the door, dressed in black and mouthwateringly fine.
Why am I not
thinking more about what just happened? Because it’s Kori.
And that one name
was the reason. She dug her fingers deeper into the plush coat of the wolf.

“I want to check your wounds again.”

She pushed up, and his gaze moved to her chest
and arm, danger flashing in them. “They’re fine. Where’s Rissa?”

Kori clenched his jaw and sighed. “Downstairs.”

On her feet in a mere second, she bolted
downstairs and saw Rissa on the couch. Her friend looked up and met her
halfway. Tears poured over as Lera held her tightly. No words needed to be
spoken.

I was almost too late. That filth touched her.

Kori stood between the kitchen and the great room
where Lera and Rissa were embracing one another. Their love for one another so
obvious it almost made him jealous. He wanted her in
his
arms. He wanted
the rest of the world to go away. He wanted to tell Lera she was his mate. Her
necklace sat in his pocket, and he longed to see it back around her neck. She’d
been sleeping for two days, and Rissa had only eaten because he’d compelled her
to do so. Otherwise, she sat there and watched the stairs.

Lera opened her eyes and met his. “Thank you,”
she mouthed without releasing her friend.

Kori inclined his head in response. In the next
second, Lera’s brown eyes hardened, and she closed them.
What was that
about?
He got his answer when a slim but strong arm slipped around his
waist.

“Thanks for everything, Cairenn.”

“No problem. Glad I could help. Sorry you needed
me to, but glad I could.”

His response was stopped by Lera breaking away
from her friend and meeting his gaze. She glanced at Cairenn and said, “Thank
you for protecting my friend. I’m sorry for taking up your time. I can get her
home from here so you two can go back to whatever you were doing.”

He growled.
Is she insane? Like I’m just going
to leave.

“Not happening,
mo ghrá
,” he rumbled
dangerously. Beside him, he could see Cairenn snap her green eyes to his face,
shock in them. “I’m not leaving.”

“Whatever, Kori. Daddy always said you were more
than welcome to stay here.” Lera shrugged. “You’re welcome to stay as well,
Cairenn. Come on, Rissa.”

“Lera,” he said.

“What?”

“You saw your friend. Come with me; we need to
talk.” He watched the defiance flare up in the depths of her eyes.
‘Don’t
argue with me, Lera
.
Come with me to the porch.’

“I’ll be right back, Rissa.” Lera met his gaze,
cut hers to Cairenn and spun on her heel, heading out the door to the porch.

Stepping away from Cairenn’s touch, he followed
her. Lera sat on the railing, her back against a pillar, and stretched her legs
out in front of her.

“What?” she said in a short tone.

“One, why are you mad at me?”

“I’m not mad at you, Kori. I’m grateful to you
for saving me and Rissa. I just need to get her home so I can decompress
myself.”

“Where does she live?”

“I don’t need you to see us home. I’m sure you
have things to do…with her.”

“Her? Cairenn?”

“Sorry, didn’t know you had so many women you
needed clarification. Yes, Cairenn.” Lera swung off the railing and moved to
the door. “I don’t have the energy for this, Kori. Like I said, you are more
than welcome to stay the night and for dinner but Rissa and I are leaving in
the morning.” She moved inside, her movements a bit stiff.

He clenched his hands so he wouldn’t grab her.
His wolf howled in anger, and Kori jumped up on the railing and off toward the
yard, shifting as he did so. He had to run, had to expend the pent-up energy
which flowed through him. Effortlessly, he covered the ground, and a bit later,
another wolf joined him, smaller and brown in color but just as fast.

When they returned to the house, it was dusk. He
and Cairenn shifted at the same time and continued on to the house. A flicker
of movement from a curtain on the second floor told him that Lera had seen
them.

“Are you going to tell her?” Cairenn asked him as
they headed up the porch steps.

“Tell her what?” He swung open the door.

“The truth about us.” Her hand stopped him at the
door and she forced an eye connection. “She deserves to know the truth,
Cormac.”

Looking past Cairenn, Kori spied Lera on the
stairs. Her brown eyes flickered between them before she finished descending.
Upon her face was the cool, detached, emotionless expression he knew well. And
hated.

“Food’s ready if you two didn’t eat while you
were out.” Lera stared at them both then headed into the dining room where
Rissa was finishing setting the table.

Kori glanced at Cairenn who arched a black brow
and pushed by him. Dinner was tense, and Kori was ready to roar in anger at the
end. Lera had spoken softly to Rissa, answered him or Cairenn with one word
responses and immediately put her attention back on her friend. He watched her
carry her plate to the kitchen, Rissa followed shortly after.

There was something going on between her and
Rissa for they shared pointed looks, and Lera kept shaking her head. Lifting
his cup to his lips, he continued to watch. Finally, it dawned on him what was
going on. They were signing to one another.
I didn’t know she could sign.
He couldn’t so he had no clue what they were going on about but it was heated.
Kori sat stunned when Rissa reached out and gripped Lera’s chin, turning her
face directly at him. Lera narrowed her eyes and spun around, leaving the
kitchen and heading out the back.

“That’s my cue,” he muttered, mostly to himself,
and rose to his feet.

Kori stood in the foyer off the kitchen and
looked through both doors leading to the porch. When he found where she went,
he pushed through the door and hopped the steps to pursue her across the grass.
Down by the lake, he found her. She sat on her knees, head bowed, and rocked
back as she tried unsuccessfully to keep her cries contained. The raw pain in
her tone tore at his gut. Her friend had been seen to, and now, she could allow
herself to be unguarded, he knew that. Didn’t make him feel any better though.

“Lera,” he said softly.

“Go away, Cormac.”

He bristled. The sound of his full name off her
lips made him mad. “No. Tell me what’s wrong.”

She jumped to her feet and ran off, heading
toward the trees. Kori followed, easily overtaking her. Grabbing her arm, he
spun her around and swore when she lashed out with a fist. The only reason she
didn’t connect was because of his reflexes.

“Leave me alone!” Her voice was high and totally
unLera.

Instead of releasing her, he pulled her in close.
“It’s over, Lera. You’re safe.”

“I wanted him to kill me. Damn you! Why’d you
stop him?!” She swung at him.

Kori was beyond shocked by her words. “Why would
you say such things, Lera?”

“It’s my fault. What happened to Rissa. The fact
I couldn’t save her. I’m weak and useless. You don’t understand. Everyone would
be better off if I were dead.”

 “No!” he growled. “Listen to me, Lera. That
isn’t true.”

“I’m used goods, Cormac. Not worth a damn to
anyone.” Her entire body sagged. “Let me go!” Her words ended on a high
ear-piercing scream.

He tightened his hold. “First, would you
stop
calling me Cormac. I’m Kori to you, Lera. Always have been, always will be.
Second, what did I tell you about putting yourself down? Trust me,
mo anam
,
you’re needed.”

She pushed against him. “Why wouldn’t I call you
Cormac? It’s your name, and I don’t think Cairenn would want you kissing me. So
that’s a moot point. Now, let me go.”

Possessiveness swarmed up within him. Biting back
the words on the tip of his tongue, he swallowed and fought to find the right
ones to speak. “You are
not
used goods, Valera. And worth a hell of a
lot to so many.”

He tipped her head back and stared at her in the
moonlight. With the pads of his thumbs, he wiped away the tears leaking from
her eyes. Her big eyes shone like diamonds as they stared up at him.

“I’m useless and weak,” she said, shaking her
head and trying to pull from his hold.

“No, Lera. For someone to have gone through what
you have, you can’t be weak. And you’re not useless.”

“You don’t understand,” she cried.

Stroking her cheek, he said, “Explain it to me.”

“Why? You won’t understand. You don’t know what
it’s like to not be able to shift.” Lera struggled again.

“Is that what this is about? You feel like this
because you can’t shift?”

“Coming from a man who’s never had to worry about
it, you don’t know what it’s like to want something so bad, to
need
it
so furiously you can taste it and not have it. To feel like you’re so empty and
being torn apart inside. ”

“That’s not true,
mo anam
. I know exactly
what it’s like.”

“Let me go, Cormac.”

He narrowed his eyes and closed the distance between
their faces. “Kori.”

“Go back to Cairenn.”

There was more pain in her words, and it dug into
his heart. “Listen to me,
mo anam
.”

“No, Cormac. Go. Now. Just leave me alone. I need
to think, and then I have to take Rissa home tomorrow.”

Kori growled and covered her mouth with his. He
thrust his tongue deep into her mouth, her flavor flooding him and making him
want to take her completely. Beneath him, Lera stiffened before responding. She
grabbed his shirt and drew on his tongue. His cock went from hard to
stone-like. He dropped his hands to cup her ass and pull her tighter against
him. Her whimper was like electricity jolted through him.

‘Stop calling me, Cormac, Lera.’

‘Stay outta my head.’

She jerked away and stared up at him, desire and
longing swirling for him in her gaze. “What are you doing?”

The wolf pushed determinedly, and Kori struggled
to keep him restrained. “Kissing you.” He stepped closer, eliminating the
distance she’d put between them.

“What about Cairenn? I don’t need some woman
coming after me because you felt like kissing someone else.”

“Lera, it’s not like that.”

“Of course not.” Her tone was packed with sorrow.

Capturing her face in his palms, Kori forced her
chin up so he could see into her eyes. “Listen to me,
mo ghrá
. Cairenn
is a lot of things to me, but someone I look at in that light, she’s not. She’s
my sister.”

“Your sister?”

“Yes,” he breathed along her cheek, inhaling the
scent that calmed his soul. “My sister.”

The fingers clenching his shirt relaxed a bit.
“Kori?”

“Yes,
mo ghrá
?”

She didn’t say anything else so he moved to look
in her eyes. Her jaw trembled, and the tears slid down her smooth skin.
Oh,
baby.
Shoving his lust and need to make her his in all ways to the back of
his mind, Kori gathered her close to his chest and held her.

“Let it go,” he murmured in her ear. “It’s okay
to cry, Lera.”

Her entire body sagged, and Kori lowered them to
be cradled by the earth. He remained silent as she crawled on him, as if she
longed to burrow beneath his skin. Swallowing back a moan, Kori wrapped his
arms around her and nuzzled the top of her head. Lera’s sobs tore at his heart,
and the call to fix everything for her roared through him. She shifted, and he
lay back among the thick blades of grass as Lera continued to cry against his
chest.

He rubbed her back and stared up at the sky. The
stars shone upon the black velvet of the night sky. There was a half-moon, and
a gentle warm wind caressed them. Eventually, her sobs lessened until they
became deep, ragged breaths. Kori continued to hold her close. Her body pressed
enticingly against him, her legs wedged between his. It took considerable
control to keep his wolf reined in for he raged deep within him, furious that
Lera was upset.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“You never have to apologize to me, Lera.”

“I’m just so tired of being weak.”

“You are one of the strongest people I know.” He
kissed the top of her head. “It takes one hell of a person to be willing to
give up everything for a friend,
mo anam
.”

She slid out of his embrace and lay beside him,
draping one leg up over his and resting her head against his shoulder. “What’s
it like, Kori? Being able to shift?”

Kori watched a star streak across the sky and
sighed. He’d realized finally how much she longed to be able to take another shape.
But to be able to describe it, that was difficult.