“Going somewhere, my love?”
Shannon heard him clearly in her mind, but her lips were too occupied to answer. She tried mind-speaking with him, not sure if it would work. “I need to leave, Nikolai.”
“Soon, but not yet, love.” His mouth traveled to her breast. “Stay.”
“This won’t change anything. I still need to leave. I have people looking for me.” She arched and pressed her breast more firmly into his mouth.
“They can search for a little while longer.”
He pushed into her slowly, allowing her to savor each inch as it filled her sheath.
Thoughts ceased as the sounds of lovemaking filled the air. The slide of skin against skin. Hungry moans and gasps. Heavy breathing. The rocking of the bed as his thrusts became more vigorous. The slapping of flesh on flesh, cumulating in a high, keening moan of Nikolai’s Wolf
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completion that drowned out the minuscule sounds of Nikolai moaning while he fed. When Shannon came back to herself, she lay sprawled on top of Nikolai as he slowly stroked her from shoulder to hips.
“When you finish assuring everyone of your safety, come back to me.”
“I can’t. You know it will never work between us.” Nikolai cupped her head and lifted it up, forcing her to look at him. “What I know is that I will never let you go. You are mine, my chosen. You may leave to get your house in order, but return to me you will.” As he spoke, a flame lit deep within his eyes, causing the black to reflect red.
Shannon pushed on his chest and sat up, straddling him, his cock nestled against her moist slit. The red in his eyes deepened until they began to glow. She opened her mouth to argue.
Nikolai cut her off. “If you plan to leave, do so now before I change my mind.” She had the urge to test him, to see if he really thought he could keep her there. The feel of him hardening beneath her changed her mind, caused her to give heed to the cautioning voice telling her pushing him was not a good idea. She had no doubt that he would never hurt her or keep her against her will. The question was, would she want to leave? Already she was wavering, but staying would only delay the inevitable. Their ending had already been preordained.
She rose off him and left the bed. He waved a hand, causing the door to open and reveal the elevator. She walked toward it slowly, forcing herself to keep moving and not look back. Leaving was more difficult than she’d expected. As she waited for the elevator doors to close, she allowed herself one look back. He lay sprawled on the bed in all his naked glory, his cock standing proud and tall, still slick with the juices from her body.
The sight of him caused her sex to tighten. She forced herself to stand there as the doors slowly closed, blocking the sight of him. The elevator rose and deposited her into what could only be a library. It brought to mind old English manors with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves lining three of the four walls. If she had more time, she would explore the titles on the shelves. Many appeared to be first-edition hardbacks.
From the library, she entered into the foyer. To her left was the double-door entrance into the house. Directly ahead was a formal dining room with a table that must seat twenty, at least. To the right, a great room whose wall was nothing but glass doors opened out onto a terrace beyond. She was mighty tempted to go exploring, but she could feel Nikolai’s hunger in her mind. If she didn’t leave now, who knew when she would get the opportunity.
She stepped out the door and descended the steps until she stood in the courtyard in front of the house. The stone house was massive in the moonlight with an old-world flavor.
She shivered as the cool breeze blew over her body, reminding her that she was naked. She shifted into a wolf and made her way home, wondering what surprises waited.
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* * * * *
Rory got a grip and pulled himself together. His wolf might be mourning the loss of its mate, but he had things to do and plans to make. This was not the end. She would be back, of her own volition or by force. Either way, she would return to his side where she belonged.
Now that the mating fever had calmed, he was worried about Shannon. While he hoped her absence meant that she had found a mate, his more pessimistic side was apprehensive. With the combination of the heat and the blue moon, it was entirely possible her wolf had taken the decision out of her hands, leaving her to deal with the fallout.
It had happened before. The wolf sometimes made decisions the human found difficult to live with. Of course, the opposite also occurred. There were occasions that the human part found a mate that the wolf despised. Most of the time, the couple managed to live in harmony, despite the disparity. However, sometimes the beast did all it could to eliminate the mate. In those cases, the best a shifter could hope for was that the mate was stronger than the beast and could subdue it. Otherwise, one might find oneself in the grievous position of having to explain the untimely demise of one’s mate.
Rory found clothes that somehow managed to survive the destruction, took a shower, then headed over to Alex’s house. He could discover if Alex had heard from Shannon and hopefully get information on Shayla at the same time. While on the way, he thought back to the demolished area formerly known as Shannon’s panic room. He was going to have to bring in a crew to clean out the debris and start from scratch.
* * * * *
Alex lay in the quiet room watching his mate sleep. Kiesha reclined on the very edge of the bed, exhausted. Between her pregnancy, the business she was trying to open, and her new duties as alpha-fem of the Raven pack, he doubted a bomb detonating in this very room would wake her. That belief was quickly proven wrong when the doorbell rang. Its strident tones, immediately followed by heavy pounding, yanked her out of a sound sleep and onto the floor. Alex peered over the edge of the bed. “Are you all right?”
“I will be as soon as you kill whoever is at the door.” Feeling the same way, Alex pulled on a pair of jeans before helping Kiesha back onto the bed. “Stay here. I’ll go see who it is.”
Whoever it was, they’d better have a damn good reason for bothering him. He was so tired he couldn’t see straight. He made his way down the stairs, more by rote than by sight, crossed over to the door, then yanked it open.
Rory pushed past him and strode into the house. “’Bout damn time you came to the door. I’ve been knocking for over five minutes.” Nikolai’s Wolf
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Reminding himself that killing the Sparrowhawks’ alpha would cause a war he really didn’t have time to deal with, Alex closed the door and followed Rory into the living room.
He sprawled onto the couch with his head tilted toward the ceiling, mentally trying to calculate exactly how much sleep he’d had in the last seventy-two hours. Whatever the amount, it wasn’t nearly enough. “What can I do for you, Rory?”
“Have you heard any news of Shannon?” Rory paced the living room.
Alex raised his head. “What do you mean ‘have I heard any news of Shannon’? She’s home, isn’t she?”
“If she were, I wouldn’t be here bothering you, would I? She never made it back to the house the night she came over here.”
Alex shot to his feet. “Three days! She’s been missing for three days, and you’re just now telling me?”
“I’ve been a little busy. Shayla came running through the woods with two wolves chasing her. In the ensuing fight, I forgot to ask about Shannon.”
“What about later?” Alex was unable to understand. He knew how Rory was about his sister. This just didn’t make sense.
Rory gave him a look that spoke volumes. “Shayla’s my one. I had to fight for her. You figure it out.”
Alex winced in sympathy. The blue moon combined with the aggression of the fight would have brought out every possessive instinct Rory possessed. He wouldn’t have been able to function beyond the need to protect and stake his claim. Kiesha was not going to be happy with this development. “Where’s Shay?”
“She took off, which is the other reason I’m here. I need to know where she lives. I was hoping you could help me with that.”
“She left? You didn’t hurt her, did you?” Alex knew it was technically impossible for a male to hurt his mate because instinct required that you saw to her needs before your own, but he had to be sure. He had his own mate’s happiness to consider.
“She’s fine. We just had a bit of a disagreement. I said she was my mate. She didn’t agree.”
Alex groaned in commiseration, remembering how it was with Kiesha. “Must run in the family.”
“What must run in the family?” The question came from Kiesha, slowly making her way down the stairs.
“Go back to bed, honey. You need your rest.”
“I can’t sleep. I heard Rory’s voice, and I wanted to know how Shayla and Shannon were doing.”
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Alex cut in before Rory could answer. “Shayla’s fine. She left on that business trip she was telling you about. Rory wanted to know how to contact her.” He hoped Kiesha would get distracted and forget about Shannon. The last thing he wanted was another argument with his mate. She would blame him for Shannon’s predicament, and there would be nothing he could say in defense. Hoping Rory caught the hint, he gazed steadily at Kiesha.
She was just tired enough that the ploy worked. “Why do you need to contact Shay?” Rory glanced briefly at Alex. “I need some computer work for my business. Your cousin’s good. Better than anyone we have around here. I saw the system she set up for you when she installed it on Shannon’s computer and wondered if she could create something similar for my business. Unfortunately, she left before I could discuss it with her.”
“Oh! Well, I think she left one of her business cards around here somewhere. Or you could just wait until she comes back in town for my wedding.”
“Wedding?” Rory echoed. Alex quickly smothered a smile when Rory’s eyes gleamed in anticipation. “When is the wedding going to be?”
“About six weeks from now. My whole family’s coming in. Shay’s actually in it. So, do you want to wait? From what she said, I know she’s completely booked. She wouldn’t be able to look at your business anytime before then.”
“No. Give me her business card. If I wait until the wedding, it may take just that much longer before she becomes available.”
“I’ll be back in a sec.” Kiesha walked toward the kitchen, headed for her office.
Once she was out of hearing range, Rory arched an eyebrow at Alex. “What was that about?”
Alex sighed. “I didn’t want you reminding Kiesha I did something stupid and get her angry with me again.”
“What did you do?”
“I knew Shayla was going to be leaving so I invited a few of my men to come and meet her, to see if she might be a match. I didn’t know Shannon was going to show up as well.
Kiesha managed to get them out of here before the males arrived. She was still ripping into me about it when the effects of the blue moon hit us.” Before Rory could comment, Kiesha returned. Thankfully, she didn’t notice the look Rory gave him. “Here’s her business card. It has her e-mail address on it and her cell phone number.”
“Thank you, Kiesha. You don’t know how much I appreciate this.”
“No problem. Now if you gentlemen will excuse me, I’m going back to bed. I haven’t had nearly enough rest.” She nodded good-bye to Rory, gave Alex a kiss on the cheek, and trudged her way up the steps.
“I’ll bring some food up later.” Kiesha waved her hand in acknowledgment.
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Alex held up a hand, signaling Rory to wait until he heard the bedroom door close; then he motioned for him to continue.
“It’s partly your fault Shannon’s missing,” Rory said, “although I can’t get too upset. If you hadn’t done what you did, I probably still wouldn’t know that Shayla was my mate.”
“What happened that night? They should have had plenty of time to make it back to the house before my men arrived.” Alex heard the phone ring and ignored it. Whoever it was could call back later.
“They probably would have if Shannon’s truck hadn’t broke down. I passed it on my way here. They must have had to get out and make a run for it. Shannon probably ran off in one direction and sent Shayla to the house. It might have worked, if your guys hadn’t come chasing after my mate.”
“That doesn’t make sense. Why would they have chased Shayla when she’s human?
Especially when Shannon was there and in heat.”
“Shayla was also in heat. I didn’t realize it until I had shifted.”
“What are you going to do now?”
“Prepare for the return of my mate, of course.” Rory grinned devilishly at Alex. Alex suddenly felt sorry for Shayla.
* * * * *
Shannon approached the front of her house cautiously. The front door was open.
Rory’s and Shayla’s vehicles were missing. So was her truck. It must still be on the road.
Tomorrow she’d have to go and see if it would crank so she could bring it home. If it didn’t start, she hoped it was something easy to fix. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d worked on it.
She crept into the house on all fours. If someone was in there, she’d smell them. Rory’s scent was powerful, letting her know he’d left recently. Shayla’s scent was a bit fainter but still strong. She’d probably been gone a few hours. Shannon stepped lightly, sticking close to the walls and pausing before crossing into open spaces. She couldn’t detect anyone else in the house, but it never hurt to be cautious.
She followed Rory’s and Shayla’s scents to the basement, where they were strongest.
She stopped in the second doorway. Shock caused her to shift back to human form. Oh my God! What the hell happened in here? The room was destroyed. Totally and completely destroyed, and Rory’s scent was all over the wreckage.
She went back upstairs to check Shayla’s room, needing to see what condition it was in and hoping it would provide some clue as to what happened. From the looks of things, Shay left in a hurry. Worried, she went into her room and called Kiesha.
“Hello?” Kiesha croaked out the greeting in a groggy voice. Damn Alex for not answering the phone when he knew how tired she was.
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