Werewulf Journals 4: Sated Pleasures (11 page)

The howl coming out of his half-changed wulven throat throbbed with agony.

Enri, that groundskeeper who had only just started hanging with them, stood way back, watching the scene with a nervous look on his face, nostrils quivering. “Who are you trying to impress?”

Who did he think he was, that short wulf, to turn his nose up at him? Brandon wanted to tear the little wulf’s throat out. In fact, he felt like taking on all the wulves surrounding him. They were too close to her, too rutting ignorant to know enough to back the hell away from his bitch.

“He’s usually not like this.”

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“Hey, Bran’s not stuck up or anything…”

“No, no, that’s not what I mean. Can’t you smell him? He’s giving off bonding spoor!”

“Who the hell is around here for him to bond with?”

“Oh shit! This is deep trouble if it’s who I think it is!”

“You mean the director’s bitch?”

“Let’s hope not!”

“Back away from him, slowly. Give him some space.”

“Oh man, I’m glad you’re here. Let Travis through,” Ruff ordered.

“Travis, see what you can do. Talk to him.”

Their words buzzed around him, came at him whizzing fast as bullets, striking from everywhere, the impact hard and painful, confusing. He huddled down, threw quick, measuring glances at the wulves weaving about him. He could take two or three. If he hamstringed one, it would take a while for him to heal. He’d buy some time to go back later and deal with the injured one. How could he stop the others from overwhelming him?

“Brandon…Brand, I need you to listen to me.”

The familiar voice snagged his attention.

“Brandon, I’m Travis, your pack brother.”

His head whipped around, eyes finding and focusing on Travis. The big burly wulf stood directly in front of him, hands on his hips, his body stance screaming dominance.

Habit had him whimpering in submission, going lower, dropping to his knees to show throat… No, wait! That was wrong. He wouldn’t show throat this time, couldn’t. No wulf would take his bitch!

“No!” He came up, surprising the larger wulf, tackling him at the knees and bringing him down to earth. Snapping his jaws, he tried for the exposed throat beneath him. Travis backhanded him, the ringing blow strong enough to rattle his ears. It snapped his neck back, sent him tumbling away. He was back on his feet in a second, charging at Travis in maddened rage.

“Brandon!”

The terror inhabiting that feminine cry froze him in place. Sight returned in a rush as his eyes bled back to skin-normal. Reason followed soon after. Brandon scanned the room, worried -- now he was back in his right mind -- at the damage he might have caused…and not to the furniture.

Taking inventory, he relaxed when he saw that Rosemary was the only human left in the dining room. He had no idea when the wulves had escorted the others out to prevent them seeing the staff in their true guise, but even in his agitated state, he wondered why they hadn’t taken Rosemary away with the rest. At least he hadn’t blown the spa’s cover totally. He was sure he could talk her into keeping quiet about what she’d seen.

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His next observation almost destroyed his newfound calm. Screaming hysterically, Rosemary was fighting her way toward him, her eyes lit with anguish, aging face hard with resolve.

“Stop hitting him! Get your filthy hands off him! Let me get to him! Get back!” She paired each shrill command with a punch or a slap, working her way through the wall of wulves with grim determination. The wave parted until she stood, sobbing, breasts heaving, over him.

Wordlessly, Brandon opened his arms and she fell into them. Peace flowed into him as she snuggled into his embrace, holding on for dear life. He held her just as hard, his heart still thundering in his chest. He sat up, dragged her across his lap and rocked her in his arms, crooning, “Oh, honey, we’re okay…we’re fine…we’re gonna be okay.”

“Well, I’ll be damned! She’s a breed!”

“And a damned loyal one, from the feel of it,” Trey added, smiling. He rubbed at the fading scratch on his arm.

Enri sniffed. “I told you he’d impressed someone. I am a French wulf. We can smell passion a mile away!”

Catching Travis’s eye, Brandon offered a contrite apology. “Man, I don’t understand what just happened. One minute, I was normal, the next I felt like a moon-mad lunatic.” He made eye contact with each of the other wulves. “Guys, I’m really sorry. Did I hurt anyone?”

“The day a cub like you hurts me, I’ll be ready for neutering. Nah” -- Ruff smiled --

“you didn’t do any damage. Besides, if you had, we’d let it slide. It’s not every day a wulf finds a mate. Congrats.”

Shock had him glancing back down at Rosemary. She gazed up at him, trust and love shining in her watery hazel eyes. He drew her closer to his chest, dropped a chaste kiss on her forehead.

She was a breed…and his?

The possibility numbed his mind. “How is that possible? I’ve been around her all this time and never noticed.” He slanted a pointed glance at the rest. “And neither did any of you.”

“She hadn’t been activated, of course. Now, of course, you’ve taken care of that, Brandon.”

“But he fucked her weeks ago. Shouldn’t we have scented her once the cub tapped her?” A wulf named Curt swiped his tongue over a bite mark on his hand.

Brandon straightened with alacrity, grumbled a warning snarl to the group. “Watch your mouths! My bitch is right here!”

Enri tipped an invisible hat while executing a courtly bow. “Je vous demande pardon, cheri.”

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“Sorry, Rosie.” Ruff winked at her. “We don’t mean any harm. We’re just having a little male talk.”

She didn’t answer, just tucked her head under Brandon’s shoulder and curled her left hand around his waist. He wondered what she was making of all this. They’d have a lot to talk about when they could gain a moment’s privacy. For now, he needed more information.

“How could this have happened, though? How could a breed fly so far under our radar, so to speak?”

Enri scratched his head. “It seems this is a new development, mon ami. So, why not tell us what is different. What did you do, perhaps this morning, to bring about these events, hmm?”

Brandon stiffened, on the verge of taking offense. He thought better of it when Rosemary patted his back, wordlessly telling him she wanted him to cooperate. He leaned down, whispered in her ear, “You realize I’ll be sharing your private information, our private relations.”

She nodded, meeting his eyes for a small moment, long enough to let him see she understood he’d be revealing the details of their intimate lovemaking. He smiled at her and she gave him a wobbly little grin before going back to hiding her face in his chest.

He sat up, squared his shoulders and took a deep breath, trying to pull his thoughts together. “All right, I’ll tell you what happened this morning. First, though, I think most of you know that Rosemary and I both felt drawn to each other, especially after her punishment. Our liking solidified when she chose me as her first reward.”

He gazed around the circle, met each wulf’s gaze. “What you don’t know is that for the last week, we’ve been sharing a den. We’re sleeping together in her room. I sneak out in the early hours so I can return before breakfast and the other clients can see me arriving.”

A couple of the wulves gave him disapproving glares.

“I didn’t know she was breed, and thinking she was human, I still fell in love with her.

If you have a problem with that, it’s your tough luck. I don’t give a shit. If you want to hear my story, you’ll wipe those judgmental expressions off your faces.”

Most of the outraged looks disappeared.

“Earlier today, I was late because of the meeting we had last night.” He paused to make sure they all knew what he was speaking of.

Travis cut in. “More like this morning, you mean!”

Brandon nodded. “When I opened her door, I found Rosemary standing in the middle of her room, buck naked, holding my belt and crying. She had learned of Anita’s death. She asked me to spank her, to punish her because she’d been nasty and unpleasant to her, and now had no way of asking her for forgiveness.”

In his lap, Rosemary stirred, gave a hiccupping sigh, and he stroked her hair, quieting her.

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“She was so upset. I gave in, even though I know we aren’t to administer punishment anywhere but the special suite. Still, she hadn’t broken any spa rules and this was private, between her and me. So I took her over my lap and spanked her, walloping her good.” He shrugged. “I kinda got into it.”

A few of the listeners snickered. They subsided under his fierce glare.

“When I had her cheeks good and hot, shining red and swollen, I started licking her, using my saliva to sooth the welts on that cute little butt of hers. One thing led to another and soon I was fucking her from behind. Instinct took over and…”

“You bit her.” Travis’s clipped words fell into the silence.

Brandon groaned, nodded his head in shamed agreement. “I bit her, broke the skin.”

Curt sniffed the air. “I still can’t catch a good whiff of breed…not with all that talcum powder and old age smell it’s buried under.”

Trey kicked him in the shins. “Shut up, stupid cur.”

“Ow, that smarts!” Curt whined, rubbing the sore spot on his leg. “What’d I say?”

Ruff rolled his eyes. “Ignore him. He’s not worth getting upset over.” He laid his hand on Brandon’s shoulder. “What you need to do now is talk to Pavel. Lay all this out before him. Better do it before you tell Rosemary anything else she doesn’t already know.”

Brandon bristled. “She has the right to know everything.”

Ruff nodded. “Ain’t arguing that, but you gave throat oath to Pavel. He’s your Alpha.

You gonna mate without his permission?”

Brandon deflated. Draping his arms around Rosemary in a protective hug, he gave a jerky nod. “I’ll talk to him but it won’t matter what he says. I’ll never give Rosemary up.”

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Rosemary Tarts

“Rosemary, is it true you’re going to marry Brandon?”

“Rosemary, what’s this I hear about you nagging the youngest trainer? Must be something in the strawberry tarts, huh?”

“Rosemary, two…ahem…thumbs way up!”

“Work that thang, girl!”

“Don’t mind them, Rosemary,” Kaila urged, turning back from glaring at the last speaker. “Since gossip is calorie free, you have to expect them to indulge. Just ignore them and they’ll eventually find interest in something else and go away.”

In desperation, Rosemary leaned toward her companion, hissing, “For heaven’s sake, Kaila, I can’t take much more of this!”

“Oh, hon, I hear you. But think…isn’t Brandon’s love worth putting up with the salacious comments?”

If someone had suggested two weeks ago that she’d become friends with Kaila, Rosemary would have spat in their face…figuratively speaking. Today, it was almost natural to find them with their heads together, sharing a whispered conversation.

Both women knew of the acute hearing of the trainers and kept their communication to a level too low to be overheard. They couldn’t hide their scent, though, and their table constantly attracted an inordinate amount of wulf traffic.

She sighed now, taking a sip of her black coffee. “Those trainers are actually worse gossips than the women. Some of them must have gone straight from the cafeteria yesterday and shared what happened with their clients. I just don’t understand why everyone is focusing on Brandon’s relationship with me only two days after finding poor Anita dead.

You’d think they’d spare some thought for that.”

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“That’s just it,” Kaila pointed out. “They’re looking for something to take their minds off that tragedy. Give it another day are two. Things will go back to normal; you’ll see.”

“What’s not normal is an old biddy trying to recapture her youth by hanging onto a handsome buck young enough to be her grandson,” Lucinda said.

Anger, mixed with a rising sense of shame, stalled her tongue. Before Rosemary could think of a rebuttal for the newcomer, Kaila leapt into the fray.

“Lucinda, we’re trying to have a private talk here. In fact,” Kaila added, “it’s an A and B

conversation so why don’t you C your way out?”

“I think that’s an excellent suggestion, Lucinda. Let’s take it. In fact, let’s take you away.” Sara grabbed her erstwhile friend’s arm and dragged her away from the table, looking over her shoulder to add, “It’s not you, Rosemary. She’s this nasty to everyone.”

“Stop mauling me, Sara!” Lucinda batted the shorter woman’s hand away, marching back to plant herself in front of Rosemary. “I’m only saying what everyone is thinking. I mean, come on, shall we do a reality check? Who here honestly believes Buff Surfer Boy is in love with Dried-Up Senior Citizen?”

She looked around, soliciting the input of the other women, before addressing Rosemary again. “What are you going to do, live here for the rest of your life? Did you really think this fairytale would fly in the real world? You probably won’t believe me when I say this, but I’m not trying to hurt you, Rosemary.”

She shuffled closer, bent down, and lowered her voice. “We’re all pretending not to know each other while here at the spa, and that’s fine as far as it goes. I, however, am very well aware of who you are and what your financial situation is. If you go back to civilization wearing that boy on your arm, you’ll be playing right into your nephew’s hands. He’ll have you locked in a sanitarium faster than you can say, ‘I like fucking Brandon.’”

“That’s enough, Lucinda.” Kaila stood to her feet, placed a hand on Rosemary’s shoulder and squeezed, offering comfort. “Whatever her situation, Rosemary is a grown woman, capable of handling her own affairs. She neither asked for, nor appreciates your interference.”

“That’s not exactly correct, Kaila. I do appreciate what she said. In fact I’d like to thank you, Lucinda, for that dose of reality.” Rosemary quirked an eyebrow, adding, “I did need it, though perhaps not in that strength.”