“Why didn’t you wait in the house? You have a key. How long have you been sitting out here?”
“Not long. It’s a nice day so it was no hardship. Besides, I no longer live here. I couldn’t just walk in, even if I do still have a key.” Rory sat down beside her on the swing. “Shannon, this will always be your home, no matter where you live.”
“Do you mean that? Really?” She brought her foot up on the swing and turned to look at him, resting her chin on her knee.
“Little bit, you’re my baby sister, and I love you. Never, ever doubt that. And never doubt the things that I would do to see you safe and happy.” He ruffled her hair.
Shannon slid closer to him and laid her head on his shoulder, the way she used to when she was younger. Rory dropped his arm around her, held her close, and started the swing to swaying. They sat quietly in the gathering twilight, enjoying the weather and each other.
“I love him, Rory.” Shannon spoke softly.
“I know.” Rory’s answer was equally low, as though he was reluctant to disturb the peaceful atmosphere.
“I want to mate with him, but my wolf…it wants nothing to do with Nikolai. It’s the only thing standing in my way.”
“What about me?”
“You’re my brother and your opinion means a lot to me, but I love Nikolai. He completes me. I hope that you can accept him. Even if you can’t, I still want him. I’d still go to him.”
120
Zena Wynn
“And the pack? What if they ostracize you? Are you willing to risk losing the support of the pack to have Nikolai as your mate?”
Shannon took a deep, shuddering breath. “Yes, even if it means separation from the pack. I want Nikolai as my mate.”
She felt it when Rory released the breath he was holding and squeezed her close in a one-armed hug. “Now I know that you really love him, and it’s not just the sex.” Shannon lifted her chin until she could see Rory’s face. He looked down and met her gaze. “Did you really believe that sex was all there was between us?”
“There was always the possibility. He is your first lover. You wouldn’t be the first to confuse love with sexual pleasure.”
“And now that you know that it’s love?”
“I’ll help you claim your mate.”
“Just like that? No argument?”
Rory cupped her face with his free hand and bent to rub his nose against hers. The action brought tears to her eyes. He hadn’t given her a “nosey” since she came out of elementary school. “I want you to be happy. If this vamp makes you happy, then I’m okay with it. I know what it’s like to love someone and not be with them.” A haunted look entered his eyes before he blinked it away. “As far as your wolf goes, you need to treat Nikolai like he’s a shifter.”
“What do you mean?”
“Fight him. Make him prove his dominance over you.”
“Fight him,” she echoed, not certain she’d heard right.
“Shannon, if Nikolai were a shifter and tried to claim you, what would you do?”
“Make him prove he was strong enough to keep me,” she said without any hesitation.
“By…”
A light went off in her head. She abruptly sat up, jarring the swing to a halt. “Making him fight me. That’s it! It’s so simple, it’s brilliant. You’re a genius. Why didn’t I think of it?”
“Because you’re not me. That’s why.” His voice was extremely smug.
Shannon threw her arms around him and hugged him tight. “Thank you. Thank you so very much.”
“You’re welcome,” Rory said as he held her close.
“You’re the best big brother in the world,” Shannon said as she kissed his cheek.
Keeping her arms around him, she drew back a little until she could see his face. “She’ll come back, Rory. You’ll see. Don’t lose faith. She’s running from herself, not you.”
“You know?”
“I didn’t at first. It didn’t seem possible, given your reaction to each other. Then I realized that your bickering was to hide the attraction you were feeling. Am I right?” Nikolai’s Wolf
121
Rory nodded. “You know I didn’t want a mate and pups.”
“And now you have one, and not just any mate -- a true mate. The Creator has smiled on you.”
“You’re sure that it’s a smile? It feels more like I’m the butt of a joke.”
“Don’t feel that way, Rory. Shayla’s perfect for you. She’ll be back. You’ll see, and all will be well. The Creator is never wrong.” She hugged him again and then stood up. “I’ve got to go talk with Nikolai.”
“Tell the bloodsucker I said hello, and that if he doesn’t treat you right, my pack and I will play a little game of ‘hunt the vampire.’”
“Rory.”
“What?” he asked innocently. “Doesn’t he suck blood?” Shannon just shook her head and walked to where her truck was parked. As she climbed inside, Rory called out, “Maybe the bloodsucker can talk you into buying a new truck.”
Her laughter rang out as she backed out of the driveway. With one last wave, she drove off down the street.
Rory watched her leave with a heavy heart. Shannon had always been more like his daughter than his younger sister. Now he was no longer going to be the most important man in her life. She’d have someone else to turn to. Someone else to run to when she was in trouble. It was hard letting her go, but he knew he had to do it. His little bit had a mate of her own now, but she’d always love her big brother. He consoled himself with that thought.
122
Zena Wynn
Chapter Thirteen
As Shannon drove back toward Refuge, she reached deep inside herself to the place in her psyche where she was linked with Nikolai and did something she’d never done before.
She called out to him.
“Nikolai.”
She felt his surprise and then his pleasure a second before the warmth of his presence engulfed her. So strong was his presence that she felt goose bumps rise on her body and she had to force herself to concentrate on her driving, lest she kill herself and all this be for naught.
“Yes, my love. To what do I owe this pleasure? Whatever you want, it is yours for the asking.”
“Brave words to give to any woman. What if I want something you don’t want to give?”
“For the joy you give to me by reaching out to me heart to heart, in the manner of chosen mates, anything I have is yours for the giving.”
“I need to see you, as soon as possible. I have something to te l l you. And don’t read my
mind and spoil my surprise. Wait until you see me and let me tell you face-to-face.”
“Where are you now?”
“I’m on my way back to Refuge. I should be there in another half an hour.”
“Meet me in the clearing.” He sent her a mental image so she’d know which one.
“I know the place. See you soon.”
Though he stayed silent, she was aware that Nikolai remained linked with her. She couldn’t wait to be with him. For a second she worried, wondering if she was doing the right thing. Then she pushed her worries aside. This was the only way. It had to be done. If she Nikolai’s Wolf
123
didn’t have faith in Nikolai’s ability to dominate and be stronger than her wolf, then she didn’t need to be with him. If he couldn’t dominate her wolf, then he wasn’t worthy of being her mate.
When she got to the house, she got out of the truck and stripped. This close to the full moon, it was always dicey calling on her wolf, but she did it anyway. She shifted and ran to the clearing where Nikolai was already waiting.
When she saw him, she shifted back into her human form and ran into his arms.
Shannon ground her mouth against his and thrust her tongue into his mouth, the intensity of her passion causing her to lose all sense of self. She rubbed herself against his erection and tried to climb his body. “Make love to me,” she commanded, unwilling to separate her mouth from his, even to speak.
Nikolai grabbed her by her hips and lifted her body so that she could wrap her legs around his waist. Suddenly, they were skin to skin as his clothes disappeared, and his erection prodded her opening.
“Please,” she whimpered, trying to impale herself on his shaft.
She held on to him tightly as he sank to his knees, cupped her hips in his hands, and pulled down as he thrust up, embedding himself deeply. He immediately began a driving rhythm, shafting her deeply with each thrust. Shannon kissed her way down to his throat and then bit him hard, causing him to cry out and his fangs to explode in his mouth.
“Bite me,” she demanded and then fell back, trusting him to catch her.
Nikolai caught her by the waist and lowered her back to the ground, still thrusting deep, his gaze focused on her quivering breasts. Shannon brought her hands up and cupped them in an offering to him. “Bite me,” she begged, “please bite me.” Nikolai’s eyes blazed red just before he surged forward and locked his mouth around her nipple. His fangs sliced into her body, and he began to draw deeply, sucking her blood and her nipple at the same time. The pace of his thrusts increased until he was jackhammering into her and her body convulsed around him, the dual pleasure of his cock and his feeding too much for her to bear.
He withdrew his fangs and licked the wound closed as his body shook in the unmistakable sign of orgasm. When the last tremor left his body, he slumped on top of her.
Shannon smiled as she held him, his size restricting her ability to breathe properly, but she didn’t care. She was too euphoric at being able to reduce her big, strong vampire to this quivering mass of weakness.
“I heard that,” he said and rolled so that Shannon lay on his chest and he on the hard ground.
Shannon giggled, something only he had the power to make her do. “If you don’t like what you hear, stay out of my head.”
124
Zena Wynn
“Never. Your vampire, hmm? Does this mean what I think it does?” Nikolai asked as he stroked her back.
Shannon pushed up off his chest and straddled his body. Reaching her hand between her legs, she opened the folds of her sex and settled on top of Nikolai’s semierect cock. As the moisture from her sheath lubricated his shaft, she slid back and forth, tilting her pelvis at the end of each glide so that the head of his penis rubbed against her clit. “Yes, my vampire. I’ve decided to claim you, but there’s something you have to do first.”
“What might that be?” Nikolai asked through gritted teeth.
Shannon reached down and grabbed hold of his rapidly hardening penis, lifted it, and impaled herself, almost within the same motion. Slowly, she began to ride him. Lost in the pleasure of his body, she took her time answering.
“Shannon?”
“Yes, love?” She lowered her head to his chest and began to nibble delicately at his nipple. Her action caused her hips to rise until only the tip of his penis remained embedded inside. She moaned and dug her nails into his side as this position caused his cock to rub against the G-spot located on the front wall of her vagina.
Nikolai reached up and dug his fingers into her hips, trying to force her to take more of him. “Answer the question. What do you need me to do?” Shannon called on her power and allowed her fangs to grow. “Fight me,” she responded, right before she sank her fangs into his chest, marking him as her mate.
Nikolai hissed his pleasure as his fangs dropped into place. His hips arched up off the ground, and he began pumping violently into her sheath. Shannon withdrew her canines from his chest, locked her knees against his sides, and held on for the ride. Her back arched sharply, and she howled as her release roared through her.
Nikolai flipped her onto her back and lifted her legs until her ankles were on his shoulders. Pushing forward until her knees were level with her chest, he hammered her as he locked his teeth into her shoulder in the manner of a shifter male, marking his mate. The bite caused Shannon to cry out as another release roared through her body. Her vagina clamped down on his cock, milking it of its seed.
When Nikolai could think again, he remembered what she had said. “What do you mean ‘fight you’?”
When he didn’t get a response, he lifted his body off hers and looked down into her face. Shannon lay there, barely conscious, a goofy smile on her face. Nikolai couldn’t help but smile at the knowledge that he’d literally fucked his mate silly. Still, he didn’t have time to wait for her to snap out of it.
Nikolai’s Wolf
125
He rose to his knees, straddled her body, and lifted her shoulders off the ground. He shook her slightly as he demanded, “Come on, love. Tell me what you meant. If you don’t tell me, I’ll look and see for myself.”
“S’okay,” she slurred, “need a nap.” Her head lolled back as her eyes closed.
Knowing she was in no condition to answer, he searched her memories for the information. When he found what he needed, Nikolai lay Shannon back down and sank back on his knees. He thought about what he’d learned. In order for Shannon’s wolf to accept him, he was going to have to subdue it and mate with it. He wasn’t too keen on the idea of mating in wolf form, but if that was what his mate needed to accept him as her chosen, he’d do what he must.
He allowed Shannon to sleep for an hour while he prepared himself for what he needed to do. When he was ready, he woke her. “It’s time, love. Allow your wolf out to play.”
Shannon searched his face and must have found whatever it was she was looking for.
She kissed him lightly on the lips before motioning him away from her. Glancing at him one last time, she turned her gaze to the moon, which was almost full. He felt her reach deep inside and unlock the cage in which her beast resided, giving it complete control.
She shifted in a dizzying rush. Nikolai could find no trace of his mate. She’d buried herself deep within the red she-wolf. Nikolai shifted into the form of the large black wolf he’d assumed on prior occasions.
He knew the minute the she-wolf had spotted him. It snarled deep in its throat and assumed the attack position. Nikolai mirrored the she-wolf, growling in a command for it to submit and recognize him as dominant. The she-wolf bared its teeth in reply and launched itself at him.
Nikolai leaped out of the way and turned quickly to face it. To gain respect, he had to defeat her as a wolf and not use any of his vampire powers against her. It put him in a difficult position. The she-wolf would try to kill him; however, he could not forget that the wolf was his mate, whom he was sworn to protect. It went against his instincts to harm Shannon, no matter what form she was in.