Call of the Wilds (25 page)

His heart twisted, thinking about how fast she forgot him. Had he been wrong about their connection? He reminded himself he had been the one who ruined everything. But what could he have done differently? He made a commitment to take care of Sable, and he intended to keep it. He knew he couldn’t protect Sable and have Karin in his life too. As much as he hated the thought of Karin in Frank’s arms, he couldn’t change things.

Maybe this was the way it was supposed to be. He thought about Sable, home alone, waiting for him, trusting that he would always be there for her. Whatever he did now would affect both of them. He couldn’t put her in jeopardy. She might be his destiny, his chance to start over with someone like him and preserve their heritage. He’d always wanted children. His seed wouldn’t plant in a human female, but with Sable, he could have a family. Nothing was more important than family.

* * * *

Sable couldn’t understand Malcolm’s reluctance to cement their bond. She shouldn’t have to push so hard. He’d loved her sister. Why not her? She looked enough like Mia to be her twin. And she was Lycan, same as him. Their shared past connected them. No one understood him like she did.

When he belonged to Mia, she had a crush on him. Just a silly childish infatuation, but one she’d never gotten over. Wherever her travels took her, she’d looked for him, never really expecting to find him. Now that she had, she meant to keep him. She would never go back to the life she had before.

Malcolm rarely asked about that life, and she never volunteered anything. Some things were better off buried, like the hiker.

She lived wild and feral before that bitch trapped her. She’d enlarged an abandoned coyote den and made it her own. Remote enough to be overlooked by campers and close to water, it made a perfect hideout.

She bathed in the river, secure in her aloneness. The man appeared one day and surprised her. She lifted her head from the water and saw him walk out from a stand of pine trees. He watched her emerge from the river as if it were an everyday occurrence to find a naked woman on the river bank. Tall with a blond buzz cut and a hard body, he moved with a cocky swagger. As soon as she smelled him, she knew he meant trouble. The scent of his arousal stung her nose. He looked her up and down as if she’d stripped for his amusement. She didn’t want any part of him. It had been a long time since she had sex, but arrogant assholes made bad lovers.

His expression was priceless—a mixture of surprise, lust, and smug satisfaction, like he couldn’t believe his luck. He approached, confident in his sexual appeal.

“Are you okay?” He tried to sound calm and sympathetic, but she smelled his excitement.

“I’m fine.”

“Your clothes…”

“I’m sunning—alone.”

He didn’t seem to notice the hint of annoyance in her voice. “I don’t mean to interrupt, but maybe you can help me out.”

“I don’t think so.” She spoke with a weighty warning in her voice.

He dared to move closer. She stepped back.

“I’m lost, but I can’t be too far from camp. I haven’t been walking that long. You look like you know your way around. How about helping me out here?”

“No.”

“Well, maybe I’ll rest here for a while.” He threw off his backpack.

“Suit yourself. I’m leaving.” She started walking toward the trees.

He followed and grabbed her wrist. “Hey. You can’t just leave me here.”

She raised an eyebrow, and her gaze fixed on his hand. “Let me go.”

He tightened his hold. “Come on, baby. You know you want it, walking around out here like that.”

“You have no idea what I want.”

“You shouldn’t tease a man if you have no intention of following through.” With a quick jerk, he pulled her close, caught her chin, and forced her face to his. “Maybe I need to teach you a lesson.”

“I think a lesson is definitely in order,” she said silkily. “I don’t want you to get the wrong impression of me.” She grasped his neck and pulled him in for a kiss, biting his bottom lip and drawing blood.

He pulled back grinning. “So, you like it rough.”

“You have no idea.”

“I can handle it.” He grabbed her breasts and squeezed, playing with her nipples, pinching and pulling them. “I want to fuck you.” Desire glittered in his eyes.

She withstood his groping for a few seconds, then grasped the edges of his shirt and ripped it open. The buttons came flying off.

“Hey. I don’t have another shirt.” She ran her hands up and down his smooth, hairless chest to shut him up.

“I’ll be more careful with your pants.” But the zipper stuck, and when she yanked too hard, the tab broke off. Before he could complain, she pushed his jeans and boxers over his slim hips and grabbed his rock-hard cock. He kicked his pants away and was on her immediately, pushing her down on the ground, his hands roaming all over her body.

“Don’t be in such a big hurry,” she purred.

“I can’t wait.” With a loud groan, he pressed his muscular body against her. She let her rage take over, and she raked his back.

“Hey! What the fuck.” He tried to push himself off her. “You bitch.”

“Exactly.” Withdrawing her claws from his back, she exploded with unholy laughter. “Run.” She knocked him aside like a rag doll. “Run and I’ll show you exactly what kind of bitch I am.”

He climbed awkwardly to his feet. Fascinated, she watched her prey scramble into his pants. “Give me a good chase,” she whispered, showing a glimpse of her fangs.

His head jerked back as if he’d seen the devil himself, and he blanched under his tan. Backpack and shirt forgotten, he edged away.
    
Black hair darkened her body, and the muscles in her face elongated and turned her smile to a snarl. Astonished, he turned his back and ran. She watched, delighted. With impossible fluidity and grace, she launched herself into midair and knocked him off his feet with huge black paws.

He went down face-first, his strangled cry muffled against the earth. When he raised his head, tears made stripes through the dirt on his cheeks. He mumbled a prayer.

If she could talk, she’d tell him his God had nothing to do with her. Instead, she growled. He would be too easy, no fun at all. She sat back on her haunches and watched to see what he’d do next. Crawling like a snake, he used his elbows and knees to inch his way over the dirt. She allowed him to reach a pine tree in his path and watched, amused, as he stood and assessed the height. A mature white pine could reach a hundred and fifty feet. This one didn’t look that tall, but the lowest branch was easily thirty feet up. Terror could make a person do amazing things. Curiosity assailed her.

He looked at her over his shoulder, a pitcher checking a runner at first base. She looked back. A cat and mouse game, just the way she liked it.

He hugged the trunk, locked his hands behind it. Jumping up, he planted both feet on the tree. He pushed out and up, rested for a few seconds, then pushed with his feet and slid his hands up the tree. Slide and shimmy, slide and shimmy. His face turned beet red, his feet scraped raw. He might make the first branch after all. Admirable. A more worthy opponent than she first suspected.

He had one foot on a sound-looking limb. She could sense his relief. When he placed his other foot, she heard a crack and saw him lose his purchase. He fell like manna from heaven. She waited to see whether he would get up, but he cried with the pain of his broken legs. Too bad the game ended so quickly.

He got what he deserved but Malcolm wouldn’t see it that way. His lust for the human woman blinded him to their devious ways and his misplaced trust would be the death of him. She had to make him see the truth. His future lay with her.

Malcolm’s warning forgotten, she slipped off his shirt, shifted, and leaped through the window. Ralf growled but didn’t follow.

She pawed the ground in front of the house, leaving pheromones from the scent glands between her toes. Her message might be invisible to Karin, but it would broadcast loud and clear to Malcolm.

She approached an old oak and sniffed the gouges in the bark. Malcolm’s heavy musk filled her nostrils, a wild animal smell that warmed her blood and evoked images of mating. Aroused, her vulva grew swollen and slick, preparing for him. She imagined his rough hair abrading her back, his huge cock penetrating her. No question, she’d welcome him into her body as a wolf or a man—his choice. One a human woman could never offer him.

Placing her paws on the wide trunk, she stretched her limbs and scratched with alternate forepaws. Her marks next to his, her scent combined with his, just as it should be. He’d get the idea.

Satisfied, she looked around at her new home. She scented Malcolm’s approach and waited for his arrival. He stopped a few yards away. His ears stood erect and he curled his lip back to display his incisors. He was angry because she disobeyed.

When he came closer, she met him halfway. She pranced around and rubbed her body against his in greeting.

He tilted his head and studied her for a few seconds, then nuzzled her. She knew he wouldn’t stay mad at her for long. Encouraged, she showered him with affection, nibbling and licking his muzzle. When he pushed her away with his snout, the pain cut deep. Her anger flared hot as she watched him walk off.

She didn’t give up easily. With dogged determination, she ran in front of him and blocked his path. He stopped, stiff-legged and tall. She turned her back, lifted her tail, and brushed it over his muzzle, giving him a whiff of her heated sex. There was no mistaking the invitation. Her heart hammered. She looked over her shoulder and waited for his next move.

His penetrating stare pinned her while he bared his teeth and snarled.

She growled back. He ignored it and moved on. It would serve him right if she ran away and left him. He’d chase after her and beg her to come back—maybe. Unwilling to take the chance, she put her tail between her legs and followed him inside.

Chapter Twenty-seven

Karin drove toward Macon, calling her doctor on the way. She suspected Frank drugged her, and she wanted assurance her baby would suffer no ill effects. She breathed easier when Lyndale agreed to see her immediately.

The knots in her stomach began to unravel, and then her cell went off, and they twisted again. More angry than frightened, Karin looked at Frank’s name and debated whether or not to answer. He had some nerve calling her after what he’d done, and she sure as hell had no desire to talk to him. Rescues and good deeds wouldn’t cut it this time. He crossed the line. She wanted nothing more to do with him.

The phone stopped ringing, and she breathed easier, then it started right up again. This time curiosity won out over her anger. She wanted to know whose body had been found.

Frank apologized profusely, but not for drugging her or undressing her. She listened in disbelief while he told her how bad he felt about leaving her alone. Then he chastised her like an errant child. He went on and on about how she shouldn’t have gone out in her condition and how worried he was.

“You’re not well. You should have waited for me to drive you home.”

“Why didn’t you take me home yesterday?” she snapped.

“Karin, you were green and practically unconscious. How could I take you home and leave you alone? I offered to call a doctor, but you wouldn’t hear of it, so I figured I’d let you rest until you felt better. Then an emergency came up and I had to—”

“Frank, you took my clothes off.”

“I only wanted to put you to bed, but you were all over me.”

She gasped. “What are you talking about? That’s not true.”

“I wouldn’t lie to you,” he declared in deadly earnest. “You threw your arms around my neck and dragged my head down.” He cleared his throat. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m glad you decided to take the initiative. I’ve been ready to get physical for a long time, but after our talk, I made up my mind to wait until you were absolutely ready. When you came to me, all hot and passionate, I was glad I waited till you wanted it as much as I do.”