Part 20 (2/2)

”She behaved like one of our kind. I found her trail and followed it to a creek, but then she lost me. And believe me, no female wolf that had been in the area that recently would have evaded me. Except for a lupus garou like you. It was as though she had human thought processes, that she knew just how I'd look for her, and she did the unexpected.”

An odd sensation tingled through her spine. Long ago, her sister and her cousin would evade each other using the water trick. Not that the ploy would be exclusively known to work for them, but still it gave her a ghostly chill of recognition. That she and her sister, Rhoda, and cousin, Aimee, had used the same device in games of escape and evasion.

Trying to ignore the eerie sensation slipping through her bones, Ca.s.sie thought about the times they had chased each other across the river, had made up spooky stories, and--she took a deep breath--talked about the kind of mate they wanted when they were older.

It didn't feel right that she would be the only one of the three girls to ever have a mate. She clenched and unclenched her teeth, then reiterated, ”The female I encountered has pups.”

”All right,” he said, but he didn't sound like he agreed with her. ”What if two of them are out there? One, a lupus with pups, and the other, a lupus garou.”

Despite hating herself for it, tears collected in her eyes. She quickly blinked them away, but he took notice, like he seemed to about everything she did or said. ”Maybe.” She didn't think it could be possible that another lupus garou was running around the woods who wasn't part of Leidolf's pack already.

”Unless you're brand new at this business, you have to know that protecting our own kind takes priority over taking care of a feral wolf.” His voice had an edge to it, and he was back to being his domineering, rather than his accommodating self.

She narrowed her eyes at him. ”Not just a feral wolf, d.a.m.n it.” She was unable to see how he couldn't realize how important this was to her. ”A mother and her pups.”

”Feral wolves still. What were you thinking?”

She fisted her hands against his chest. ”Of saving them! What do you think?”

Leidolf let out his breath in exasperation. She laughed at herself. Here she was thinking that being with one of her kind, with his pack, too, might even be vaguely viable, if he agreed to her conditions. Now she figured he'd just laugh at what she'd propose, and so she wasn't about to mention it.

And then he said the unexpected. ”You do realize that your need to save the wolf and her pups has to do with a deeper desire to have babies of your own.”

Surprised as h.e.l.l that he would think that, she sat back for a second. Sure, she'd thought about having her own babies. All of which she attributed to spring and the she-wolf and her litter and Leidolf's pheromones triggering her own, but she didn't need some alpha male reminding her of it, d.a.m.n it. She didn't even want to think along those lines. Ever. Babies meant settling down permanently. And she really wasn't ready for that.

She rose, her knees on the pine-needle bed, straddling him in a provocative way, her head above the king's, and if she had been sporting a tail about now, she'd have it raised high, too, showing her dominance rather than subordination to the mighty pack leader.

He took his fill of her, his gaze settling on her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, the way she had her legs spread over him as if inviting him in, and she felt her skin blush again. He smiled and then folded his arms behind his head. ”Another problem though that I wasn't thinking of. No moon for a while.”

”New moon,” she said under her breath. h.e.l.l, if he saw her s.h.i.+ft when the new moon was out, he'd realize at once she was a royal since only they could s.h.i.+ft during that phase of the moon. Then he would want her all the more.

She never paid any attention to the cycles of the moon--since, as a royal, she wasn't affected by them one way or another--so she hadn't realized it was that time already. ”Fine. Then you look for the lupus garou and mate with her. I'll take care of the other wolf and her pups in the meantime.”

”Without any clothes to wear?” He shook his head.

”Okay, then I'll stay here while you find the wolves. Just remember to come back for me within a reasonable amount of time with a set of clothes for me.”

”As tenacious as you are, I wouldn't put it past you to run off as a naked woman in search of the wolf and her pups.” He reached forward and put his hands on her thighs and stroked her skin.

His touch made her wet for him, and she fought lining herself up over his erection and just plain giving in to her s.e.xual needs. ”If the other wolf is a lupus garou, she's going to be changing back to her human form, too. I mean, she probably already has. Then she will be freezing and need our help.”

”If she's not a royal.” His hands stopped at the juncture of her thighs, his thumbs seductively caressing her inner thighs.

”See? If she is, your problem is solved. She'd be a royal. You're one, too. Perfect match.” Then she thought of another sticking point. ”Oh, except for one problem. You already have another female red lined up.” She shrugged, attempting at nonchalance when it really ticked her off in a jealous sort of way. ”If this new one you're going to search for doesn't work out, you'll have the other choice.”

She meant to climb off him, but he grabbed her wrist and frowned. ”What other female?”

”The romance writer? Julia Wildthorn?” Ca.s.sie rolled her eyes. ”Don't tell me you've already forgotten your date with her.”

”Julia...” Leidolf's brows lifted in recognition. ”h.e.l.l, that's Laney and Elgin's doing. Matchmakers, the both of them. How would you...” He gave an evil little grin. ”You were snooping at my desk?”

She felt her face heat with embarra.s.sment and tried to recover without showing too much annoyance. ”I had to go by your desk when I escaped your bedroom and just happened to see her book open to her very photogenic picture and the note on your calendar. And you had no other books in sight. So what do you think I made of it?”

As soon as she spoke the words, she was mad at herself for explaining any of her actions to him, even if what she said was in part a fabrication. Then she asked the question she was dying to know the answer to and immediately could have kicked herself for asking. ”What do you think of her romance books?” She sure as h.e.l.l didn't want him thinking she cared. Even if she did.

A brief flash of amus.e.m.e.nt crossed his face.

Then he grew serious. ”I don't agree with her that she should be writing them. Too easy to accidentally give real clues about us away. And you never know when people might think she's basing them on real lupus garous. That we truly exist.”

Ca.s.sie smiled, glad he didn't think much of Julia's occupation. Then she frowned. He probably didn't think much of hers, either. ”Let me go, Leidolf. I'm not in your pack, and I'm not looking for a mate.”

”I'm not searching for any other woman. Not when I've already found my mate.” Then he released her, and she quickly moved off him.

He was on his feet so swiftly that he reminded her of a wolf getting ready to take down its prey. ”You know what I like about you, Ca.s.sie?”

”No, but I suspect you're going to tell me,” she said, stepping away from him as he stalked toward her. She suddenly realized he was backing her into a corner of the cabin.

”You're quick on your feet, compa.s.sionate about a cause--despite my not agreeing with it, sensitive to my needs...” He smiled when she did.

He was sooo arrogant.

”I love how you challenge me with those sensual green eyes of yours, never backing down, not even when you're embarra.s.sed, not even when you know you'll lose.”

”You think I'll lose if I become your mate?” she asked, as her back b.u.mped against the wall.

He smiled slyly. ”We'll both be winners then.” He caged her in, his hands against the wall beside her head, his gaze focused on hers, his body close, the woodsy outdoors smell of him tantalizing her, the feel of his body heat welcome. ”No, I'm talking about losing... as in arguments. I'll always win.”

”Always?”

He threaded his fingers through her hair and then grabbed handfuls as he lowered his face to meet hers. ”Always,” he whispered, and she thought she would melt right under him, agreeing to anything.

He was going to kiss her, and even as much as she knew she shouldn't allow it, that nothing good would come of it, she closed her eyes and tilted her head up, antic.i.p.ating his kiss, the hunger, the drive, the fierceness of it. When nothing happened, she looked up at him, a little surprised and a lot disappointed.

He wore the same bigheaded smirk he'd worn before, and she shoved the palms of her hands flat against his chest, meaning to push him out of her way. As muscular as he was, she couldn't budge him. He smiled a little more, though. Was he amused that she had revealed how much she wanted him when she had been saying no all along?

And then he cradled her face between his hands and kissed her. A whisper of a kiss, so light it was like the feathery touch of b.u.t.terfly wings fluttering against her sensitive lips, but it was enough to start a slow burn building inside her. Making her want so much more.

That's when she curled her hands around his muscular arms and reached up to kiss him harder. Not really hard, but just enough to remember him by until she had a chance to meet a cute human guy and have a fling for a night. Because after being with Mister Totally Hot and Tempting, she'd have to have her needs met somehow or she was going to burst into flames with unfulfilled desire.

Her kiss against his lips went unanswered. And she felt a little more than disappointment again. Although she figured he was holding back unless she agreed to be his mate. Ransoming his affection. Still, she only wanted a kiss. So she reached her hands up quickly and rested them at the back of his head, holding him just where she wanted him. This time, she kissed him. Only he responded way too much, slipping his arms behind her back between her and the wall, and pressing her against his arousal, throbbing with need.

His lips were still noncommittal, even if the rest of him advocated wanting a whole lot more. And then as she touched her tongue to his lips, he devoured her as if the dam holding back the storm waters broke. Fierce and determined, hot and demanding. And she shamelessly responded, falling under the alpha leader's spell, her tongue tasting, touching, and teasing his, her fingers winding through his satiny hair, her body melting against his--awakened, alive, wanting.

But suddenly Leidolf pulled away, his eyes darkened and clouded with l.u.s.t. ”h.e.l.l, woman. If you're not ready to accept me as a mate, don't kiss me like that.”

She nearly groaned when he gave her up. ”I just wondered what it would feel like to be kissed by someone like you.”

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