Terry Spear’s Wolf Bundle (44 page)

That got a response. Although he wasn’t sure what her response meant. “And your parents are alive.”

Darien wanted to send word to her pack concerning her whereabouts, and he wanted to set things straight
with her sister’s mate—the honorable thing to do. Plus, this time he was getting the father’s permission to take the woman for his mate. But he still didn’t know who her pack leader really was, and he couldn’t be sure that her pack was innocent when it came to the harm done to either Lelandi or her sister.

He folded his arms and leaned back into the recliner. “Why don’t you tell me the truth now?”

H
OW
IN
THE
WORLD
HAD
D
ARIEN
LEARNED
HER
BROTHER
’
S
name? Lelandi was dying to ask, but she couldn’t. Better to leave Darien confused about who her pack leader was. Did he know where Leidolf was living now? Maybe Silva would, if Lelandi could ask casually without arousing suspicion.
Right.

Ignoring Darien, Lelandi pretended to sleep. More than ever, she had to avenge her sister’s murder and leave. The longer she stayed, the higher the risk Bruin would locate her. Probably Darien would want to contact the leader and tell him what happened to her sister and Lelandi.
Sense of honor.
Then Bruin would force her to return home.

After a couple of hours, Darien left the room and thank god, for a change, he didn’t post a guard inside. She climbed out of bed and paced. She had to discover if her parents were alive. But how was she going to do anything when he had her guarded always?

Footsteps raced up the stairs. “Are you staying with her for a couple of hours?” Trevor asked.

“Yeah. Darien went with Jake and Tom to question the hospital staff,” Sam said.

She slipped back into bed and pulled the covers to her chin.

Sam walked into the room, smiled at her, and shut the door. “Still awake?”

“Going to sleep.” At least she hoped so. After all the time she’d spent lying on her back, the urge to run in her wolf form made her restless and irritable. She wanted to stretch her legs and take a run on the wild side, soon.

Darien finally went to bed, but was too angry to sleep. Unable to learn anything about who drugged the coffee at the hospital, he racked his brain for alternative solutions. At nearly two in the morning, he had to get some sleep, but he couldn’t stop thinking of Lelandi. The way her nipple had firmed when his hand had brushed it. The way she barely breathed when he was removing the soiled bandages. The way she smiled when the salve tickled her skin, but tried to hide that she wasn’t scowling at him even for a second. He
could
have woken Silva to have her change the bandages, but he had to see for himself that Lelandi’s wounds were healing properly.

He shoved his arm underneath his head, his body craving the change. He wanted to take a run in the woods, the urge growing as the moon’s appearance neared. A jaunt through the forest, hunting alone or with a few members of his pack, racing each other, the wind ruffling their fur, enjoying nature at its best.

He closed his eyes. Unable to visualize anything but Lelandi’s gaze challenging him in his mind’s eye, he tossed his covers aside and grabbed his jeans. The woman tormented his every waking hour no matter how much he tried to ignore his cravings.

He stalked into the guest bedroom, not sure what he
had in mind, but when he saw the empty bed, he gave Jake a questioning glance. His brother motioned to the bathroom. The toilet flushed and the sink water ran for a few seconds, then shut off. When she appeared, she looked like the redheaded goddess of his dreams. The startled look on her face when she saw him standing in the bedroom, gaping at her, endeared him all the more.

Jake wore an amused expression and shrugged.

“Leave us, Jake,” Darien said, without taking his eyes off her.

His brother cleared his throat and walked over to the door. “’Night all.” He closed the door on his hasty retreat.

His shoulders straight, his bare chest muscles taut, Darien crossed the carpeted floor and joined Lelandi standing like a statue. She couldn’t move from the spot, knowing he wanted her. She couldn’t draw on the courage to shove him away, to stop the yearning she had for him.

He cupped her face and raised her lips to his. The flecks of gold in his dark brown eyes disappeared as they darkened to black. He leaned in, his eyes closed, and he pressed his lips against hers. Lightly, like the flutter of an eyelash against a cheek. She’d never expected such a gentle touch to shatter her composure, but it did. His whisper-soft touch sent a message straight from her brain coursing to every part of her body. Take me, it shouted.

The only men she’d ever allowed to kiss her were her family members, in a strictly family way. Yet she lusted for Darien like she never had for any man
except for her fantasy lover. She wanted to strip off her clothes and ravish him. Every inch of her warmed, and if she’d been wearing panties, they’d be soaking wet now, guaranteed.

No, no, this is wrong.
His tongue probed her mouth with a murmur of a touch. No, she couldn’t let him in. If she did, she’d give herself to him completely. She couldn’t, not after what her sister had meant to him.

She opened her mouth to tell him no, her hands gripping his arms to push him away, but she gave him the wrong signal. His tongue parted her lips further, penetrating her deeper. He pressed his body firmly against her, his erection hard against her waist, her back against the wall. His heart pounded with a thunderous beat as fast as hers, lulling her under his spell with a soothing rhythm, encouraging her to take part in the mating dance. She should have shoved him away, stopped this nonsense, made him realize she didn’t want this. Not from him. Not from a gray. Her dead sister’s mate.

So why the hell was she touching his tongue tentatively with her own? Bringing a smile to his smug lips? To his heavily lidded, lust-filled eyes? He hesitated for an instant, then delved deeper, intensifying the kiss, and she let him! Kissed him back even. Pressed her body harder against his erection, wanting to feel what she had done to him.

No, no, damn it! He was feeling Larissa in his grasp, and Lelandi served as her sister reincarnated. Nothing more.

Despite the streaks of pleasure rifling her body, his hands shifting from her arms to her breasts, feeling the change in her nipples as they begged for more, the way
her core ached for his penetration, she knew he didn’t feel the same for her. She was not Larissa. She was Lelandi and not his to be had.

With the utmost reluctance, she pushed him away.

He looked chagrined, his lips parting, his dark brows furrowing. Then he swore under his breath, shook his head, and guided her back to bed. Covering her with the comforter, he used a tender touch. He hesitated to leave, his eyes still clouded with desire, and then he turned and retired from the room. Left her unguarded. Well, sure there was a guard at the door, but…

Footsteps drew close. The door opened, and Jake gave her a smug smile while he buttoned his shirt. “I’m back. Thought I had the rest of the night off, but…” He shrugged. “Darien will be hell to live with in the morning.”

She
would be hell to live with in the morning if she couldn’t quit thinking about what she wanted with her sister’s mate and couldn’t have it.

Darien couldn’t believe how Lelandi stirred him up. How could he have given in to her so quickly, so completely?
She-devil.

For an hour he tossed and turned, furious with himself for losing control. He should never have kissed her. But he couldn’t get the kiss he’d shared with her out of his mind either. Everything inside him felt alive again with her touch, and he craved having her, no matter how many times he told himself he couldn’t until she was ready.

He ran his hands through his hair, more frustrated than ever. Until two pairs of footsteps headed in the direction of his bedroom, and he lifted his head off the pillow. Slow footsteps, deliberate, not hurried. If anyone wished to disturb him at this hour, it would have to be an emergency, and yet the footfall indicated otherwise. Like an assassin’s sneaky attempt at slipping in undetected. He reached for his bedside drawer, opened it, and pulled out the gun.

The footsteps stopped at his door. Forever it seemed, as whoever they were contemplated what to do. He considered telling them to get on with whatever they were there for so he could take care of them. Then a slight tap sounded at the door. Before he could respond, the doorknob twisted, and Jake slowly pushed the door open. Lelandi stood in the doorway in Darien’s flannel shirt, her red hair dangling past her hips, her eyes fixed, staring straight through him.

“Sleepwalking, like Tom when he’s overly tired. Tom said she was talking in her sleep earlier. I wondered where she was going,” Jake’s voice was hushed. “So I allowed her to leave the guest room.”

Darien slipped the gun back in the drawer. Lelandi walked slowly to the bed. The side he always slept on. All the moisture in his mouth evaporated. She lifted the covers.

He looked back at Jake, who shrugged. “Doc said never to startle Tom when he’s sleepwalking. Guess the same goes for Lelandi.”

Darien slid over so Lelandi could climb into bed. He pulled the covers to her chin, and she closed her eyes.

“Guess you have guard duty the rest of the morning.”
A coy smile fixed to Jake’s lips, and he shut the door on his way out.

Lelandi didn’t remember much except jumping on Crassus’s back when he readied his fist for Larissa’s face again. And the pain when Crassus hit Lelandi in the head, and more pain when he jerked her arm behind her back. But she hadn’t saved her sister and now she was dead. Tears rolled down her cheeks.

But then
he
came as a wolf, distinguished, beautiful, his amber eyes studying her, his ears perked up. Her dream lover. Her silver knight. Her fantasy. Why could she see the whole of him as a wolf, but not as a human?

Changing from the wolf into his human form, he wrapped his arms around her, held her close, chased away the night terrors. Crassus’s and Bruin’s cruel, hard faces faded in the mist. The pain and suffering vanishing.

Her lover kissed her head, caressed her arm, her face, made her feel safe, protected, loved, but he didn’t initiate anything deeper. He moved his lips lower, kissing her cheek and sweeping across to her mouth. She opened her lips to him, felt his body harden, pressing against hers, his tongue slipping inside her mouth, the feel of his heart pounding furiously against her chest, his hands stroking her hair, and she wanted him deep inside her, thrusting, claiming her. But he wouldn’t make a move to take her.

“Sleep,” he whispered against her mouth, his voice husky.

She moaned, separated her legs for him, and he slipped between them, his erection pressing at her mound. But still, he would not take her. His lips smiled against hers, but he slid out of her grasp and pulled her back against his chest.

“Sleep, vixen,” he said, his voice hushed, his arms tightening around her in a bear hug of an embrace. And in the warmth of the cocoon he provided, the woodland world faded away.

Later that morning, Darien woke with his arms around Lelandi, her head on his chest, her breathing shallow, her silky red hair caressing his bare skin. God of thunder, how he wanted her, but not like this. Not when she didn’t know what she’d gotten herself into. Hell, he’d have to let everyone know now she walked in her sleep, if Jake hadn’t warned them already.

Not wanting her to wake and find herself in his room, in his bed, and most of all, in his tight embrace, he carried her back to the guest bedroom, and nodded to Peter who would watch over her until she woke. Peter’s brows rose so slightly, if Darien hadn’t been observing him closely, he would have missed the subtle change in his expression.

At least the deputy wouldn’t tell the world which bed Lelandi had slept in last night, although before long, she’d be in his bed every night once he had his way. He kissed her cheek, then covered her with the eyelet comforter. Still not believing she was a sleepwalker like Tom, he headed down to the kitchen and greeted his brothers. “Morning, Jake, Tom.”

His beard even scruffier this morning, Jake flipped sausages and bacon in the frying pan and casually said, “Morning, Darien. Trevor mentioned something about dream mating.”

Tom glanced up from the toaster. “Morning, Darien. Good sleep last night?” He gave Jake a conspirator’s look.

Darien grabbed the pot of coffee and poured himself a mug. “Slept well enough.” He would not rise to his brother’s inquisitive nature. “What does Trevor know about dream mating?”

“He overheard Silva talking to Lelandi. She told her you were convinced Lelandi was your dream mate.”

Serving up a plate of toast, Tom’s mouth curved up. “Hot damn. The trait is inherited. Why didn’t you tell us?”

Jake snorted. “What next?”

Darien plucked toast from the plate. “Maybe.”

“No maybe about it. Dad had the ability and so did Granddad and two of our uncles.” Tom beamed. “Means Jake and I have a good chance at having the ability.”

Jake set the platter of sausages and bacon on the kitchen table. “Don’t believe in soul mates.”

“Our distant cousin, Devlyn, found his soul mate,” Tom reminded him, lifting his refilled mug. “And Bella’s a red, too.”

Darien would definitely have a word with Trevor. He’d never said a thing to Darien last night about “that” part of the conversation Silva and Lelandi had.

“What else did Trevor say?”

Jake gave Darien a small smile. Yeah, he knew Darien would give Trevor hell soon.

“Nothing else. In other news, that Chester McKinley wants a word with you when you can spare a moment.”

Darien looked up from his eggs. “Who?”

“The assistant mayor of Green Valley, checking out our town so he can go back to his own and recommend changes.”

“What does he need to speak to me about? You know I don’t have time to micromanage every little thing that goes on in Silver Town.”

Jake poured himself another cup of coffee. “He says he runs a first-rate private eye operation and thought you might like to hear his advice.”

“About what, Jake? Quit beating around the bush.”

“About Larissa and Lelandi.”

Darien frowned. “What does he think he knows?”

“He wouldn’t say.” Jake took his seat and speared a slice of bacon. “Said he’d talk to you about it though.”

Tom grabbed three pieces of toast. “Uncle Sheridan said the guy is legit. He checked with the mayor of Green Valley already.”