Wild Ones: Prowl (3 page)

The wolves raced halfway to the house before the russet jumped the larger wolf and rolled him over. They leapt away and faced off, growling as playfully as puppies and cuter than they had any right to be -- and knowing it, too.

“Got tired of waiting, I expect. Now you’re trying to get me to come out and play, aren’t you?” Lainey murmured, stroking the smooth coolness of the window glass.

As if he’d heard, and understood, the larger of the wolves lifted his head and howled. He danced a few steps forward, then back. He couldn’t have invited her more clearly if he’d projected words clear into her head:
Yes, yes; come play with us. Run with us
.

Mate with us
.

Lainey stroked the heavy neckline of her crimson robe. The tips of her breasts strained against the softness that restrained them; the weight of the velvet molded itself along the warmth of her body, and an ache deepened between her legs that would have made Lainey’s mind up for her if she hadn’t already chosen her course.

She smiled broadly, savoring the sight of the wild wolves -- the men who’d claimed her -- cavorting on the land she’d claimed. These were wild wolves, to be sure, but they wouldn’t hurt her. She’d stake her life on it.

Afraid? No. Excited? Oh God, yes…

Lainey stepped away from the window, ready -- more than ready now -- to take pity on them, and on herself. She made it three steps toward the door before she heard something new -- the scream of a bobcat, not five feet from her porch. A true wild beast, enraged, and on the hunt…

Chapter Three

Pure instinct had Lainey dropping the robe and pulling the rifle down from the wall. She’d heard that bobcat before, and never without something living around her place suffering for his presence. Last time she’d shot at him, he’d nearly gone for her.

That bobcat made her uncomfortable, the way the men who’d been here before her were discomfited by the wolves. An icy chill tickled the back of her neck, but it was chased away right fast by anger.

Nothing came on her land without her say-so, damn it!

She’d practiced enough that the rifle felt natural in her grasp, and she could run without shooting herself or the walls. Not as good as a pistol. Why hadn’t she brought in her goods to keep them safe, or at least the sturdy shotgun she’d bought? Lainey swore at herself and pressed her shoulders flat to the wall by the side of the door. Open it and shoot --

A bark that made her ears hurt worse than a shotgun blast ripped apart the still of the night. Startled Lainey enough to pull her out of her stance and look head on out the door.

What she saw made her laugh. Then, made her proud. The shorter and stockier of her two wolves -- yes, she’d started thinking of them as hers -- stood foursquare in front of the steps, snarling in a low growl so deep it vibrated through Lainey’s bones. The taller, leaner wolf had come to a stop at the boundary where clear space ended and the overgrown wheat fields began. Through a trick of the moonlight, Lainey could see him clearly, his teeth bared and his ears flat.

That was a fine thing, but finer still was the sound of a bobcat’s retreat through tall grass. It stopped every now and again to voice a challenge, but by the Lords it kept going until Lainey could barely hear the rapid rustling of wheat stalks.

The russet wolf closer to Lainey sneezed and shook himself like an ordinary dog. It swung halfway about to check on her and stopped, cocking his head to eye her in her nakedness with an all too human-like -- and extremely male -- interest.

Lainey didn’t try to hide her amused smile -- or put down the gun, though she did point it away from her wolf. “Get this finished first,” she told her wolf. “Finish one thing before you start another.”

The russet wolf sneezed again and wagged his tail. He faced forward and barked, loud, short and sharp, aimed at the bigger wolf. Well. Lainey didn’t have to guess what he might be saying, and she didn’t feel inclined to waste time questioning how he understood her or they understood each other.

Nor did she think that bobcat would be bothering her again.

Out by the wheat fields, her tall wolf shook himself from shoulders to haunches. Lainey frowned. Was that a streak of blood on his foreleg? “That damn cat got a bite of him,” she said, thinking twice about putting down her rifle.

The russet wolf swung around to trot up the steps as free as he pleased; well, Lainey supposed he’d earned it. She rested her hand atop his head, finding his pelt to be both soft and scratchy at once. Reminded her of a man’s whiskers when he hadn’t shaved for two or three days. Neither beard nor stubble, kinder and more exciting against a lover’s skin.

“All right,” she murmured to her russet wolf, hanging the rifle back in its place. “I won’t shoot. You feel like telling me why? I wouldn’t hit him.”

The russet wolf wrinkled his muzzle. He took her hand in his mouth, so gently and so quickly she felt the light pressure of his teeth before she’d known he was moving at all.

Lainey held very still. “If you try it, I will shoot you.”

The russet wolf sighed. He let go of her hand and nudged her hip, guiding her to look out at the taller wolf. The taller wolf ignored them save for one quick peek back. He barked at the wheat fields. And stay out! Made Lainey laugh.

The taller wolf wagged his tail once, twice, three times, and took off running, making a full circuit of the perimeter, and around the house. If the bobcat had bitten him, he didn’t seem to be bothered, but Lainey could tell for sure he was marking his scent all around the boundaries of her home.

Well now. Lainey had to watch, and as she did her pleasure grew, as did her smile. Rosemary had been right. They’d protect her.

Lainey could take care of herself. She’d not been looking for someone to take any burdens off her shoulders and expect to be thanked for it. But when they gave her this gift because they wanted to…

The taller wolf finished his circuit and pranced up Lainey’s steps, looking so pleased with himself that Lainey had to laugh out loud. “You’re proud enough of yourself to pop, aren’t you?”

Both wolves butted their heads against her legs. Russ stole a sniff while he was in the vicinity, for which Lainey twisted his ear.

A tussle of any kind always did wonders for her mood, and here and now, bathed in moonlight as cool as water and satin on her skin, with the memory of two handsome men fresh in her mind, Lainey knew exactly what she wanted.

“Stand up,” she told them, soft as velvet and strong as steel. “Stand up as men and let me get a good look at you.”

The taller wolf cocked his head to a side. And then? he seemed to be asking.

Lainey hadn’t enjoyed herself this much in years. “To the victors go the spoils,” she said. She cupped her breasts. “Stand up as men and find out.”

Lainey couldn’t have told anyone what it was like to see the two wolves change. There weren’t words, at least not in any language she knew, and it was over as quick as a heartbeat. Wolves stood, unfolding into men, smooth and hard, as naked as she herself.

And -- she checked -- as happy to see her as if they were still wolves wagging their tails. Though truth be told, Lainey liked the looks of this excitement far more. “Aren’t you a treat,” she said, a deliberate echo of the first words she’d spoken to the pair, to tease them and to get another look at those broad, infectious grins of theirs.

That enjoyment made the taller wolf -- Asher -- bold. He reached for her, as smooth and graceful as he’d run in wolf shape. “Mine,” he told her, fingertips grazing her supple flesh. “Ours.”

“Is that a fact?” Lainey did enjoy teasing them. She folded her arms under her breasts to lift and present them, as well as to keep the ground rules straight. She gave herself; no one took unless she asked for it.

Not that these two had to do a lot of asking, for they’d already won her. But she had her ways, and she had a few desires of her own to satisfy. And, she thought, frowning briefly, she wanted a second to think about the way Asher had said ours.

The wolves leaned against each other, as comfortable with touching one another in this shape as they’d been in their other. Playful, affectionate, and with the kind of ease only lovers developed.

Now, now. Things had just gotten a bit more interesting. Again.

Lainey lifted her chin and raised her eyebrow. “All right, then. That’s how it is.”

Russ winked at her, so human an expression that it near about broke her faux-sternness. To punish him, she shook her finger at him. “Turn around, handsome. You too, Asher. I want to get a good look.”

Asher’s laugh still sounded a bit like a bark, but Lainey was growing to love the sound. Her body found it favorable too, the shiver the sound produced hardening her nipples and bringing fresh liquid heat to her cunt.

Asher stopped laughing, and quick, too. His nostrils flared. Looked like his sense of smell suffered not at all when he took on man shape. He licked his lips and took a step toward her. Stopped when Russ nudged him back and, with his face wreathed in mischief, turned around in a slow circle to show both of them what he had to offer.

Lainey was the one to lick her lips this time. A treat? Yes indeed. No woman could fail to appreciate the sleekness of Russ’s hips and the cut of muscle, the fine trail of hair that led down to his sturdy hard-on and that cock itself… lords, he might spoil her for other men.

If there ever were any other men, and Lainey had a suspicion there might not be.

Suited her fine.

Russ turned in a second circle, slower this time, giving Lainey a sideways look that told her he knew she liked what she saw. As did he. Tight ass, firm enough to bounce a gold coin off, long and sturdy legs, and supple muscles in calves and arms and chest. His hair tumbled too messily about his face, but Lainey liked it. She rubbed her nipples with the balls of her thumbs to satisfy enough of the ache to keep going.

“Asher,” she said, giving him a pointed nod. “You too, gorgeous.”

Asher’s grin was lazier and more satisfied. No, not satisfied. Well pleased.

“Conceited?” Lainey said, to poke at him and see how he’d take it.

Asher shrugged easily. He spread his arms and turned in a circle, but too fast for Lainey to enjoy the view. Another circle, one that brought him closer, and, by the end of his third circuit Lainey had only gotten a few glimpses of sleek skin and a cock that would make anyone’s mouth water. That didn’t so much matter, for at the end of that third circuit Asher had Lainey in his arms.

He moved with the confidence of the best lovers she’d ever had, but the way he held Lainey was so much better than any of them had ever managed. Confident, sure of himself, and sure of her -- but with a certain reverence and a wholehearted appreciation that only the likes of a wolf, with his simple desires, could manage.

Asher’s arms were long enough to encircle her waist and to rest his hands at the small of her back. His fine, fine cock, long and sturdy, rubbed against her belly. Not where she wanted it. Looked like her tall wolf was too tall by half.

Lainey frowned. Asher kissed the side of her mouth and licked beneath her ear, rubbing their cheeks together as he went. Surprising her with its tenderness, especially considering how stiff he was sliding so close but not close enough to her nether regions.

They were skilled, those wolves of hers. While Asher had Lainey good and distracted, moving in slow circles around her still, Russ padded to her on his hard bare feet and bent his face to her breasts, resting his head on her cleavage in a manner that made her want to stroke his hair and kiss him. Then, when he looked at her with all the wickedness of a devil’s gleam in his eye, made her want something much more.

Russ might have smelled her wants, or he and Asher might have had this planned all along. Who knew? But with Asher now behind her, his firmly corded arms wrapped around her waist and his chin resting on her shoulder to keep her anchored, she was open for Russ to end the first game and begin the second.

Yet he looked at her, once, asking, as a gentleman should. Lainey drew her tongue across her bottom lip, thinking she’d have to teach these wolves to kiss properly.

Later.

For now, with Asher holding her upright and not a damn thing in the world that she gave a flying fig for to tell her she shouldn’t, Lainey slid her bare feet further apart on the porch to give Russ the room he wanted and needed.

She slid her fingers through Russ’s hair and guided his head. Turned out he didn’t need the help. He gripped her by the hip and thigh, giving her a taste of his strength, and then he took a good taste of her, making Lainey more than glad she had Asher behind her to keep her on her feet.

Oh God, yes. Yes. Yes!

The soft rumbling of Asher behind her, chuckling against her skin -- well, Lainey might have been indignant any other time, for a man to laugh at her expense, but not now. Let any woman who could hold herself together against the loving assault of a tongue this sleek and nimble stand up to be counter, and Lainey would call her a liar to her face.

Rosemary had said if the wolves liked her, she should count it as a blessing. Rosemary seemed to have a gift for understatement.

Russ made a rumbling noise, as if he could sense he’d lost a fraction of her focus, and took steps to correct that situation. For which Lainey was properly appreciative -- and surprised. He began by taking one of her calves in his surprisingly gentle grasp and lifting; behind her, Asher helped by lifting and balancing until Russ could hook her knee over his shoulder.

Left her wide-open. Exposed. And wet, so wet the cool moonlit air kissed her as intimately as a lover. Lainey moaned, fast losing any trace of shame and not in the least bit bothered by it.

Russ teased her clit with the tip of his tongue. He nibbled the lips of her cunt so lightly it almost tickled; he caressed the slick insides of her thighs, thumbs skating through the trickling liquid heat.

Lainey leaned fully on Asher and dug her heel into Russ’s back. She couldn’t speak, but she could and did growl, her best impression of them. Russ perked up, then threw his head back to laugh. His lips shone with her juices.

A pretty sight, but no time to appreciate it in, for no sooner than Russ had started to laugh than he stopped, spread her legs wider still, and plunged his face between them.

Oh God. Not just his face, but his hands, got to work. She sensed he was gauging by the shaking of her thighs when he hit the right spot and lord, but he was a quick learner, wasn’t he? Zeroed in where she wanted him most and showed no mercy.

And backed off every time the delicious pressure began to rise toward a peak.

Lainey kicked him with her heel, not hard, and growled. Russ’s chuckles vibrated against her cunt, and whether he was a tease or not that almost did the job -- almost --