Primal Desires (16 page)

S
ofia continued thrusting her consciousness into her cousin's trapped mind.

Talk to me. Come on, I know you're in here somewhere. I'm getting tired of telepathically stomping around in a head filled with insanity and vicious cravings. I refuse to believe you really prefer dripping entrails to chocolate cheesecake.

Stop snarling at me, Catherine Sigornie Carter, or you'll have to put up with my rant about
Great Expectations
again. Even worse, I'll start dissecting
The DaVinci Code.
When I posted about it on my blog, we argued about it for a month. Come on—wake up and argue with me again. Help me find your brain. Once you find your brain, you can find your way back to your human body. You made yourself into a wolf. Now take the next step—come back to yourself. Come back to me.

All right, I'm going to say it, even if I really don't like the guy—come back to Mike. Come back
for
Mike. The two of you need to have a long talk. Maybe what you need is a good fight. Or to screw. But you can't do anything with him until you show him you're just as much a werewolf as he is. He may be the Tracker, but you're Hunyara, and that's just as good. Maybe even better.
Definitely
better. He doesn't deserve you.

Does…

You said something!
Sofia responded to the faint, faraway whispered word.
Thank God! Do you know how sick I am of hearing my own voice, even if it is all in your head? Say something else.

Sofia was answered by the usual snarl and growl from the beast dominating Cathy's mind. Well, if you have a weapon, use it.

Mike sucks,
Sofia stated.

Does not,
Cathy countered, the thought faint but adamant from behind the beast's fury.

Cathy, come back,
Sofia called.
Come back…

To Mike? For Mike?

A faint trace of hope reached Sofia.

For you. You have to do it for you. Face Mike as an equal. Love him as all you are.

“Good point,” Cathy said with a human voice, a human woman once more.

Sofia sighed in utter weariness. Her shoulders rested against the padded wall, and Cathy's head rested heavily on her shoulder. It took all of Sofia's energy to raise her hand and stroke her cousin's cheek, which was wet with tears. Sofia realized that her cheeks were wet, as well. Tears, or sweat?

“I'm human,” Cathy said. “How did you do that?”

“We did it together. From now on, you can do it on your own. Right?”

“Yeah,” Cathy said after a long pause. “I think I can.”

“Good. I need to sleep now.”

“Me, too. Does your head hurt, too?”

“God, yes.”

“Try meditating.”

Sofia thought a bottle of aspirin might work better, but she didn't have the strength to move. “How does one meditate?”

“Open your mind,” Cathy said. “Don't think.”

That sounded easy enough. Go blank. Go to silence.

Jason…

Jason dreaded whatever was coming, but he had to ask, “Why are you
really
telling me about this?”

“I owe my Clan children,” Sid answered. “My Matri wanted me to have a child with David Berus, but I wasn't interested. Imagine my relief when he and my mother hooked up.”

He knew Sidonie Wolf was different than other vampire females, but her attitude shocked him deeply. “You don't want to have children?”

“Of course I do!”

Her outrage pleased him. “But—”

“I accept my duty to my Clan and to my species. More than that, I very much look forward to being a mother. But I have a very big problem when it comes to the biological mechanism required for getting pregnant.”

“You're infertile?”

“No. I simply can't bear the thought of having sex with a Prime. It would be wrong.”

“So you're bonded to Joe.”

“Only a little, and that's not the point. It's really very simple,” Sid said. “I want you to father my child.”

“But—you said you couldn't have sex with a Prime. I'm a Prime.”

“Sex is not necessary for what I have in mind.”

T
he door across the hall flew open before Jason could say another word. He didn't know how to react to Sid's outrageous proposal, anyway.

“Jason?”

Sofia staggered out into the hall and he forgot all about Sid, scooping Sofia up in his arms. He kissed her forehead, then gently touched his lips to hers.

“You look terrible,” he told her.

Her arms came around his neck. “I smell, too.”

“I wasn't going to mention that. Come on, sweetheart, let me take you away from all this.”

“Somewhere with a bed, I hope.”

“Excuse me.” Sid eased past them and went into Cathy's den. Jason ignored the look she gave him before she closed the door.

• • •

The mattress was wonderfully comfortable. The sheets were smooth and soft, and smelled of vanilla and lavender. The blanket felt like velvet. She had to be dreaming, because this couldn't be the bed in her motel room. A warm body lay along the length of her back and thighs, making her feel safe and comforted. She'd had lots of dreams. The shadows of dark and fantastical images still spun inside her brain, but all was well while they were side by side.

Sofia sighed and came fully awake. She didn't recognize the room when she opened her eyes, but she'd never been anywhere so luxurious before.

“Jason?”

When she sat up and looked at the body beside her, she was disappointed to discover that George and Gracie were the ones keeping her company in the king-size bed.

“Jason?” she called again, and heard the sound of running water from a nearby bathroom. Naked, she got up and padded through the ankle-deep carpet toward the bathroom door.

The door opened before she reached it and Jason stood there wearing a plush black robe. He looked good in black, and she liked the way the robe gapped open to show his ripped chest and abdomen.

“Hello, beautiful,” he said.

She was too aware of aches and pains all over to feel beautiful, but her body still reacted to his burning gaze. Heat flooded her insides and her nipples stiffened. He stepped forward to brush his thumbs across the hard peaks.

“What you do to me,” she murmured.

“Just wait,” Jason said. Then he glanced over her shoulder. “Excuse me.” He crossed the room and opened a patio door that faced a courtyard garden. “Out,” he ordered the wolves. “And don't do anything to embarrass me,” he added as the animals ran outside. Jason closed the door and drew a curtain across it. “Alone at last,” he said, turning back to her.

“Where are we?” she asked. “And how'd we get here? Vampire magic?”

“I drove,” he said. “You fell asleep on the way over.”

She blinked. “Yeah. I sort of remember that.”

“We are guests of Lady Juanita at the Citadel of the Wolf Clan. Actually, it's a mansion in La Jolla.”

“Lady Juanita's the vampire queen?”

“Not mine,” he answered. “She's the head of the Wolf Clan. I'm a Family Prime. She isn't my Matri, but I do have to defer to her in her territory.”

Sofia listened to this and rubbed her forehead. “I guess I have a lot to learn about vampire and werewolf social structures.”

“You'll have a chance to learn this evening. We've been invited to the Council of Elrond after supper.”

“The book or movie version?” she asked. “The council is actually my favorite part of
The Lord of the Rings.
”

“Mine, too,” he answered. “I was never fond of Tolkien's antitechnology stance, but I love his world-building and the history and mythology—”

“Keep talking sexy to me like that, and I'm going to throw you on the bed and have my way with you.” She grinned.

“I'm all in favor of ravishing and being ravished.” Jason gestured toward the bathroom. “But first I've run you a hot bath.”

She sighed gratefully. “I can certainly use one.”

Jason took her hand and led her into the huge bathroom, which was bigger than her entire apartment. It was all pale marble and glass bricks, highlighted with indirectly lit mirrors and matte chrome, and furnished with stacks of thick, royal blue towels.

She stared at the bathtub. “Does this thing come with a lifeguard?”

“I'm your lifeguard.” He lifted her and eased her into the wonderful warm water. She leaned her head back against the marble rim and watched appreciatively as Jason shed his robe. What a magnificent body the man had!

“Yes, I'm hot,” he said with an ironic smile. When he climbed into the water with her he added, “It's a wonder it doesn't sizzle and steam.”

Sofia held her arms out to him. “I think I'm in charge of doing that.” But even as he came close and their lips touched, her concerns began to surface.

Take this time for yourself,
he whispered in her mind.
For us.
His hands moved through the water and over her.

His thoughts eased her and his touch stimulated; the combination sent her into a blissful haze. “I can't remember how many days it's been since we met,” she said.

“Does it matter?” he asked.

His mouth came down on hers and nothing mattered but sensation for a long time after that. At some point her tongue brushed across the sharp points of his teeth, and they shared the heady taste of a drop of blood.

He drew away from her then, even though she whimpered and tried to pull him back.

He chuckled and said, “I like you this way, Wolf Tamer, all needy and hungry.” She bared her teeth and Jason laughed. He picked up a sponge and a bottle of bath gel. “Lean back and relax. If I can bathe tigers, I think I can manage one grubby wolf tamer.”

“Grubby?” She splashed water at him, even though it was true. “How hard can it be to give tigers a bath? They like water.”

“But they don't like soap.”

“I like both.”

She relaxed in the deep, warm water as Jason's deft hands worked magic on her with sensual touches and creamy, flower-scented lather from her toes to the top of her head. His fingers skimmed along her skin and kneaded away all the soreness in her muscles. His gentle care both soothed and stimulated. When his fingers moved between her thighs, and then inside her, she shuddered with an orgasm at this first intimate touch.

He kissed her throat, nibbled on her ear, and whispered, “If I make love to you now, I'll just have to wash you all over again.”

She pressed against him. “I can live with that.” She closed her hand around the cock pressing against her belly, stroked the length of it, then guided him inside her. She wrapped her legs around his hips in the buoyant water and he positioned her against the side of the tub.

He made love to her then in long, slow strokes that took her up and over the edge many times, before he joined her in a final explosive orgasm.

W
hen she first stepped into the courtyard and saw Mike playing with the wolves, Cathy paused and smiled. He was a pain in the ass, but she couldn't help but like the big man when she caught him not acting all dour and dangerous.

The moment didn't last long, of course. He sensed her presence and waved the animals away. Turning a frown on her, he said, “You shouldn't be here.”

“We're living under vampire rules right now.” She snorted. “I now understand what you meant when you said being around vampires plugs up your psychic nose. I don't exactly have a headache, but I don't exactly not have one, either. And our hosts won't let me see my cousin. I was informed that ‘the bonding pair needs privacy'—as if we don't have more important things to deal with than Sofia's sex life! Since I couldn't see her, I decided to work things out with you.”

“We have nothing to work out.” His look dared her to approach.

She took the dare.

The wolves, being sensible creatures, slunk away from a confrontation of two werewolves.

When they were standing toe to toe in front of the garden's central fountain, Cathy pointed up at the clear blue sky. “There's a full moon hidden up there,” she told him. “You will note that I'm not wearing a fur coat.”

He said nothing.

“Come with me,” she said.

She turned around and walked to the entrance of the room she'd been given. She knew he tried hard not to follow her, to be stern and unbending. She also didn't doubt for a moment that he would give in. When he grudgingly came inside, she closed the patio door and drew the curtains.

“Now that we're alone…” Cathy pulled her dress over her head. She wasn't wearing anything underneath.

Mike stared.

He was looking at her as a man, which pleased her, but that wasn't what she aimed for at the moment.

“I've been practicing this all day,” she told him, and changed into a wolf.

Mike tensed as though he expected her to attack. It took all of her newfound control not to snarl at the insult. She took a step back and sat, carefully not looking into his eyes. She wasn't here to play dominance games, at least not of the traditional kind. She didn't want to be more alpha than Mike Bleythin.

“I'm trying to prove a point,” she told him when she turned back to human, and he continued to stare.

“Prove whatever it is to the council,” he answered, his voice rough.

“Don't you want to know?”

“It won't matter.”

She wanted to grow claws and rake them across the stubborn fool's chest. But full moon or not, she was in control of her volatile werewolf emotions. She stomped one bare foot into the thick carpet to vent her frustration. “This is between you and me, and it matters.”

“There isn't anything betw—”

“Then why are you looking at me like that?”

“You're gorgeous, and you're naked. What else am I supposed to do?”

She put her hands on her hips and thrust her breasts out. “You could make love to me. It's all I've wanted since the day we met. You've never told me you love me or that you even care, but I know you do.”

“I can't,” he said. “I won't.”

He started to turn toward the door but Cathy grabbed his hand and pulled him closer. He gasped as their thighs brushed together.

“It's just lust,” he said. “Ordinary, healthy lust. It doesn't mean anything.”

“It could. It will. We can be together now, Mike.” His eyes closed when she pressed her body against his. “I feel how hard you are. I can smell how much you want me. Stop fighting what you want, what you need. You're a lonely man, Michael Bleythin, but I'm here for you.”

“I'm not a man,” he ground out. “And you're a feral.” His hands grasped her shoulders; she could feel them shaking. “I will not mate with someone I may have to kill.”

“You won't have to kill me.”

“Are you trying to seduce me to go against the council?”

“Oh, screw the council! This is about
you
. I know you, and I know exactly what will happen if you kill me.”

“What?”

“The guilt and grief will drive you crazy. And when you go crazy, you fall off the wagon. There's nothing more dangerous than a drunken werewolf. This time, you won't make it into rehab—you'll go feral. Then your poor brothers will have to hunt you down and kill you. Since I am very fond of your brothers, I intend to spare them that.”

“How kind.”

“Not to mention the fact that I have too much to do to let you kill me.” She grinned. “Oh, yeah—and I love you.”

He stroked the back of his hand across her cheek. She grabbed it and kissed his palm, then placed his hand on her breast.

“Woman…” he growled.

“Mate,” she answered. “I'm no feral. I'm no danger to werefolk. I am what you want and who you need, and it's time you faced up to it and took me to bed.”

She put her hand behind his head and brought his mouth down to hers. The kiss they shared was eager, fierce, and hungry, just the way it should be between alpha mates.

I love you, I love you, I love you,
he told her.

I know.

He drew away to look at her. “What about the council? What about what happened to you? What about your fam—”

“Later.” She began to unbutton his shirt. “I'll explain everything and take care of the council later. Right now, let us take care of each other.”

All the fight went out of him; only the desire remained. “All right.”

Cathy whooped with joy when he finally picked her up and carried her to the bed.