Terry Spear’s Wolf Bundle (43 page)

No, no, she wanted to read his lips. “Say something,” she implored, but he took one of her fingers and sucked.

Her skin heated with desire, but she shook her head, pulled her finger free, and tried again. Pressing his fingers to her lips this time, she said her family name, “Wildhaven.”

But he didn’t repeat the word.

“What…is…your…name?” she asked. Could he see her face when she couldn’t see his?

He kissed her lips, licked them, pressed his tongue into the seam, but she was determined to learn who he was. She pushed at his chest. “No. Tell me. Who are you?”

He shook his head. Not understanding? Or not willing to tell her? Did he already have a mate?

Oh, this was so ridiculous. He was just a fantasy lover.

She turned away from him, wanting him to be real, not some made-up illusion. He ran his hand over her shoulder with a tender caress, tickling her. She closed her eye
s
. He melted her annoyance, stirring a flicker of flame deep inside her. He licked her shoulder, touching her bare hip, not pressuring, using the most sensuous of tactile explorations. Trying not to give in to the lust, she clenched her teeth, lifted his hand from her hip, and moved it to her mouth.

“No,” she mouthed against his hand.

She wanted him to communicate to her. But instead of helping, he pulled away…and vanished.

“No!” She felt the soft bed in the guest bedroom beneath her, and saw Tom sitting in a chair watching her, his look startled. She sat up taller in bed and frowned at him. “Are you all right?”

Although she felt remiss in not saying something earlier, it was the first time she’d even thought about asking him about his injuries. Then again, she hadn’t been herself with all of the medication she’d been on. For the first time since the incident, she felt clearheaded, without any chest pains, just some strange prickling where her healing properties were busily taking care of the injured areas. Maybe by morning, she’d look and feel as good as new. Then again, maybe not.

Tom smiled at her finally, and she imagined he’d been half-asleep, he was so slow to react. He touched his temple where the bandage was gone. “Just a scratch and it’s nearly healed. Head wounds bleed a lot, so I had to get a little blood. Jake wouldn’t give me any. Said he’d used all he could spare on you.” He winked, the most
devilish twinkle in his light brown eyes. “Pretends he doesn’t like you, but his actions tell another story.”

Pulling her covers higher, she gave a ladylike snort. “Right. Nurse Grey forced him to give blood the second time. Probably the same the first time around, too.”

“He’s all show.”

She didn’t believe it for a minute. “He didn’t like my sister, did he?”

“He didn’t like that Darien was upset about what to do concerning her. She was deeply troubled, but she wouldn’t let anyone close enough to find out what was wrong. Jake doesn’t like the silent suffering type. Get it out in the open and deal with it. That’s his motto. I figured whatever nightmare she was living, she couldn’t handle on her own, but she didn’t feel confident enough in herself even to tell Darien. Considering how she was mated to a red, and someone was blackmailing her to keep quiet about it…” He shrugged. “She hadn’t known Darien that long. Probably was afraid he’d want to kill her for what she’d done.”

The thought sent a shiver sliding down Lelandi’s spine. “Would he have?”

Tom raised his brows.

She wasn’t sure how to respond to his reaction. What if Darien knew she had a lover? Would Tom tell his brother she asked? Her whole body warmed with mortification. Tom didn’t seem to mind her being here, and now she’d blown it big-time. But the truth of the matter was, what her sister had done could push some
lupus garous
over the edge. Being that Darien was the leader of his pack and could get pretty angry—

“I should be asking if you’re all right. You’ve been talking a lot in your sleep. Nightmares?” Tom asked, consoling.

“What…what did I say?”

Sheesh, Larissa never wanted to stay in the same bedroom with her because Lelandi walked and talked in her sleep when she was overly tired and stressed out. But she hadn’t done that in a long time…that she knew of. Of course, after Larissa had moved in with Crassus, no one would have known of Lelandi’s clandestine nighttime activities, although her father scolded her for finding him in the den late one night watching an X-rated movie. She wouldn’t have known if he hadn’t yelled at her and woken her up. From then on, she guessed he knew better and sent her back to her room without waking her, or else he made sure she didn’t catch him watching the movies in the den anymore.

Tom shook his head. “You didn’t say much that made sense.”

Thank god. She looked at her hands clenched into fists and let go, smoothing the comforter to release the tension filling every muscle fiber, while she listened to the voices downstairs, some heated, some calmly speaking, but none of which she could make out clearly.

Tom eased out of the chair and handed her the card from his roses. “From me.”

She read the card.

You saved my life and I owe you mine. Love, Tom.

“You’re…you’re welcome. But it was all my fault that the gunman came after me. If you hadn’t been with me, he wouldn’t have shot you. Heck, if you hadn’t
been there, you wouldn’t have called for help, and no one would have known what had become of me. So you saved my life.”

Tom leaned over and kissed her forehead. “Then it means you owe me.” He
glanced toward the door. Someone was coming. “Looks like my relief.”

Despite saying he felt fine, he looked weary.

The door opened slowly and Darien stepped in, first looking at Tom, who gave him a lopsided grin, then at Lelandi. Surprise reflected in his expression to see her awake. “Feeling pain?” A frown collected across his brow.

“No. Just woke up.”

Darien turned back to Tom. “Are you doing okay?”

“Yep, fine as can be. I’ll join the ruckus downstairs, and then retire.”

Darien listened to the noise drifting upstairs. “Tell them to keep it down.”

“Yeah, will do.”

Secrets? She was certain whatever the grays wanted to discuss was not to be shared with the rest of the grays in the pack, and certainly not with her unless Darien said so.

“See you in the morning, Tom.” Darien waited for him to leave.

Tom gave Lelandi a nod and a smile. “’Night, Lelandi.”

“Good night, and thanks for watching over me,” she said, with a hint of sarcasm.

She knew damned well they were not only making sure Ural didn’t get to her again, but she had a sneaking suspicion they didn’t trust her to stay put either.

Tom’s smile broadened, then he closed the door behind him.

Darien opened his mouth to speak, but paused when Tom hollered halfway down the stairs, “Keep it quiet down there!”

To her surprise, Darien crossed the floor and touched her forehead, then used the back of his hand to feel her cheek. “No fever.” He seemed somewhat relieved, yet the wrinkle in his brow didn’t fade.

“I’ll be ready to run laps by tomorrow morning.”

A trace of a smile formed. “Wouldn’t surprise me.” He remained in place, hovering over her, and she wondered what he wanted now. He glanced at her water cup, still full. His gaze returned to hers. “Need anything?”

“Nope, thank you.”

“All right.” He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it.

Whatever was bothering him was starting to bother her. He seemed glued to the patch of carpet next to the bed, and she assumed he wanted to interrogate her.

Glancing down at the comforter pulled up to her chin, he said, “Doc’s orders, we have to change your bandages every four hours.”

Lupus garous
were not shy around others. So why did she feel nervous? Her skin grew a faint coating of goose bumps. Maybe because
he
was acting anxious. Silva had already changed her bandages twice earlier in the day, no big deal. Yet, it seemed a big deal when the male gray leader wanted to change them. Maybe it was because he was waiting for her to say it was all right, when Silva charged in like she’d been trained as a nurse before she began waitressing, knew what she was
doing, and had no qualms about it. Or maybe because every time Darien got near Lelandi, she felt the sexual tension in the air between them sizzling like exposed live electric wires, smelled the scent of his sex, could nearly taste the craving he had for her.

“Doesn’t need changing.”

Folding his arms, he lifted a brow. “Doc said the wounds weep until everything’s healed. If the bandage gets too wet, you could get chilled again. That’s what Doc said. Change it every four hours to keep it dry and free of infection.” He glanced at the clock on the bedside table to emphasize the time. “Been four hours.” He looked back at her, waiting for her to agree.

“I’ll take care of it.” She pulled the comforter away so she could get out of bed and go to the bathroom where she could use the mirror to see what she was doing. Big mistake.

The flannel shirt Silva had helped her into earlier that night had ridden up to her navel, exposing her nakedness all the way to her toes. She was sure her skin had turned as red as her short curly hairs, especially when she saw him taking in his fill.

She jerked down the shirt, and his gaze shifted from her bare legs to her eyes. He shook his head tightly, but she noticed that he shifted in his stance then. A glance at his crotch gave her the reason. Hard as a rock.

“Why don’t you let me help you?”

“I don’t need your help.”

He pulled the comforter up to her waist. “Might as well get this over.”

He began to unbutton her shirt,
his
shirt, but it felt too much like he was getting her ready for sex, and she quickly brushed his hands away. “I can do it.”

“Just trying to be helpful.”

She frowned when he watched. This was worse than if he unbuttoned the shirt. Problem was, his touching her was making her way too hot. But his watching her had the same damned effect. “Can you do something else? Read a book or something?”

“Just pretend I’m the doctor.”

Oh, god, yeah, playing doctor and patient. She gave him a dirty look while he attempted to hide a saucy smirk.

When she finished unbuttoning the shirt, she grumpily said, “It’s done.”

He rubbed his hands together like he was excited to get started, and she frowned at him.

“Getting my hands warmed up. They’re cold.” Gingerly, he peeled back her shirt, exposing her left breast and the bandaged wounds. “Tell me if anything is sore or hurts.” His demeanor was professional, well, maybe a little anxious.

She cringed, afraid it would hurt as much as it had before.

He pulled off the tape around the pads, and considered the wounds with considerable scrutiny. “How does it feel?”

“Itching, burning some.”

He nodded and dumped the used bandages in the wastepaper basket. He applied some salve on the bullet holes with such a light touch that it tickled. She couldn’t help smiling, although she fought it. No way did she want to show she wasn’t mad at him.

He caught her look and his mouth curved up. “Guess it’s not hurting.”

She pursed her lips. “Tickling.”

“Be done in a minute.” He situated the new pad over the wounds, brushing her already taut nipple with the edge of his hand, and taped the pad in place.

“It’s getting cold,” she said, tersely.

“Looks like you’re healing well. After Jake pulls guard duty, I’ll change it again.”

She pulled the shirt closed and began buttoning it. “Maybe Silva will be up by then.”

“She’s a late sleeper. Used to staying up late at the bar. And Jake doesn’t have an ounce of doctoring sense. Tom will probably be asleep still, but even if he isn’t, he’d probably forget what he came in here to do. Doc said you might be getting edgy about not healing faster. He wanted you to know it’s because of the severity of the injuries. If you’d been human, you’d be dead. And if by some miracle you’d lived, Doc said it would take several months to heal. He said you might be feeling all right by the end of the week.”

She gave him a disparaging look. “I’ll be up and about tomorrow.”

Darien shook his head. “You’re not anything like your sister. Need anything? Something to eat?”

“No, thank you.” She closed her eyes, hoping he’d go away, but he took a seat in the recliner and leaned back, making it squeak.

She tried hearing what was being said downstairs, but the conversation was too low. She was too keyed up to sleep while Darien watched her. The image of his bandaging her, the way he looked at her, the feel of his hand against her nipple made her ache for his touch again. She ground her teeth, willing her mind to crush the thought so she could sleep.

Darien could tell from the way she licked her lips and swallowed hard, then ground her teeth, she wasn’t sleeping. He squirmed to get comfortable, his erection springing to life again, just from visualizing her naked supple body under the covers. He hadn’t expected to get an eyeful when she pulled her covers aside. The problem was he had to see for himself she was healing adequately. He didn’t just want Silva’s word for it. Not when he had to prove to Lelandi she was the one meant for him.

But being more than just a
lupus garou
with a raging hard-on, he was a pack leader that needed some damned answers if he was to take her for his mate.

“We found your bag.” Darien’s voice sounded harsher than he intended.

Lelandi’s eyes popped open.

He motioned to the tapestry bag sitting by the dresser. “It looked like you planned to stay for a while. That guy in the copper coat had taken it. Had his scent all over it, inside and out.”

Her eyes grew big.

“Which means the guy
had
broken into your room when Uncle Sheridan and I were trying to get in. What kind of a pack leader would allow two of his females to run off? First your sister, now you? At least now I know his name is Bruin. Or maybe that’s your cover. Maybe his name is really Leidolf.”

Her mouth gaped, but she quickly clamped it shut.