SavageLust (19 page)

“I know you must be exhausted but I don’t think I can sleep
without a taste of you, my sexy wolf. Come here.”

She shook her head, her lips curved in a mysterious smile.
“I have something else in mind.”

He lifted an eyebrow. “Something else? Uh-uh. I think it’s
time for
me
to take care of
you
. You did all the hard work
tonight.”

“Then I should get what I want,” she pointed out. “When I
shift and run, it’s…it’s a thrill. It’s energizing. I want to share that energy
with you.”

“Then let me—”

“No. This time let
me
.” She wet her lips with the tip
of her tongue, the sight making every one of his nerve endings fire. Her eyes
glittered with residual excitement, energy, lust and need. Dante felt heat
flash over him so intense he was sure he’d burn up.

Regan pushed against his chest and backed him up until he
was sitting in one of the large armchairs. Kneeling gracefully before him, she
reached out, lifted his t-shirt and unsnapped his jeans. Slowly pulling down
his zipper, the rasp sounding loudly in his ears, she slid her hand into his
boxer briefs and drew out his cock.

Dante closed his eyes as she rubbed her thumb gently over
the sensitive skin of the head. She bent forward, the blonde silk of her hair
falling like a curtain. He reached out with one hand and twisted it around his
fingers, exposing the sleek line of her neck and the curve of her cheek and
jaw.

She lapped the surface of the crown and dipped the tip of
her tongue into the slit, capturing the moisture there. His breath caught in
his throat and he was sure his heart would stop beating. Her tongue was like an
electric wire everywhere she touched him, her caresses so light and feathery he
wanted to scream. When he used his palms to try to pull her head closer, she
gripped his wrists and pulled them away.

“My show this time,” she told him, a look at once both
hungry and mischievous in her eyes.

He sat back in the chair, looking down on her from beneath
half-closed lids. Her mouth was hot and liquid as she took most of his cock
into it, the head brushing against the scorching roof of her mouth. She slipped
a slim hand into the briefs to find and cup his balls, squeezing them
rhythmically as she licked and sucked and drew him in as deep as she could.

He wanted to tell her to hurry. No, he wanted her to go
slowly.

Shit!

He wanted to fuck her mouth and every other opening in her
body all at the same time. He could tell she was as aroused as he was, the
scent of her rich musk heavy in the air. Finally he just closed his eyes and
let the arousal build. Her fingers were as magical as her tongue, working his
shaft in steady strokes as she tightened her lips around it and sucked harder.

He lost himself in the erotic fog, charged heat sizzling
through him everywhere, his heart racing, his mouth dry. Every nerve in his
body responded to the electricity of her touch. His pulse beat so loudly it
echoed in his ears and he focused only on her sensual touch, her hot mouth, her
talented fingers. He forgot where he was, spinning in the vortex of the
whirlwind she created inside him. And low in his belly, he felt the beginning
of a gargantuan orgasm building, gathering strength.

When the familiar tightening began in his balls and the
muscles of his lower back, he jerked his hips, his cock thrusting so deeply
into her throat she had to tilt her head to accommodate him.

A harsh cry burst from his throat as he erupted, hot spurts
of his come filling her mouth. She never stopped her rhythm, continuing to suck
and squeeze as spasm after spasm gripped him. He was sure she had sucked every
bit of liquid not just from his balls but from his entire body. It was the most
intense orgasm in his memory. She kept her lips wrapped around him until the
last ripple left his body, giving the head of his dick one final lap before
sitting back on her heels, her lips curved in a smile of satisfaction.

When he could catch his breath again, when he was sure his
heart had settled into something approaching a normal rhythm, he leaned
forward, cupped her head and licked her lips, tasting himself on her. Then he
slowly slid his tongue inside the warm cavern of her mouth, trying with one
kiss to show her the intensity of his feelings.

They were both breathless when he lifted his head, finding
his voice at last.

“Thank you.”

A puzzled look swept over her face. “For what?”

“For…” He let out a breath. “For being you.”

“Then I have to thank you for the same thing.”

“And now I think it’s time we went to bed.” His voice was
still low and thick. “We’ve all had a big night.” He grinned. “And a very big
one for us.”

He rose, lifting her and carried her into the bedroom. He
watched as she carefully took off her clothes, unable to drag his eyes away
from the swell of her breasts and the hardened peach-colored nipples that
crowned them. If he didn’t know how tired she was, and wasn’t so exhausted
himself, he would have thrown her down on the bed and driven them both to
orgasm. But it had been a long day and they’d have many more nights.

She slid beneath the covers, waiting while he stripped off
his clothes and slid in beside her. As he spooned his body around hers, his
last thought as he fell asleep, sated, was how much his life had changed in a
few short days. And how important this woman was to him.

* * * * *

Dante hated to do it but he decided he needed to talk to the
Hammonds. He knew they were grieving, even as they tried to absorb the
unbelievable circumstance of Harley Shaw’s death. But if they could help him
warn any of their neighbors, he’d try to convince them to do it. He took Regan
with him, figuring she could help him over the rough spots. After Felicia’s
death, he was so consumed with rage he had lost his ability to relate to people
on any level. Regan landed in his life with the sudden force of a hurricane,
turning him upside down, but he wouldn’t change it now for anything.

Dan Hammond answered the door when they rang the bell.

“Damn it,” he growled. “What now? Can’t you give us some
peace here?”

Regan moved in front of Dante. “We are so sorry to intrude
on your grief this way, Mr. Hammond.” Like yesterday she pitched her voice low
and soothing. “Believe me, we wouldn’t do it if we didn’t need your help.”

“With what?” he demanded.

A tall woman suddenly appeared behind him, sadness evident
on her face. “Are these the people from yesterday, Dan? For heaven’s sake,
invite them in.”

“But—”

“Invite them in,” she insisted.

With obvious reluctance, he backed away from the doorway.

“I’m Tina Hammond,” the woman said. “You’ll have to forgive
my husband. This is a terrible time for us.”

“I truly understand,” Regan said. “We won’t stay long, I
promise.”

Tina led them into the kitchen, where she insisted on
serving them coffee.

“That really isn’t necessary,” Dante protested.

“Please.” Tina sat down at the table with them. “It gives me
something to do instead of thinking of yesterday’s nightmare.”

“Okay.” Dan glared at them. “What do you need? I can’t
believe you’re even bothering us now.”

Dante nudged Regan beneath the table, indicating she should
take the lead.

She took her tablet from her handbag and brought up the
latest version of the map with target sites and placed it in the center of the
table.

“I won’t go over again everything we discussed yesterday but
I hope you’ll at least give enough credence to what I have to say now.” She
pointed to each of the green dots. “Based on past experience, we know the beast
hunts in a specific area. Wherever it kills first, it will hunt other victims
within a fairly close geographic area. We’ve generated—”

“Wait a minute,” Dan interrupted. “Yesterday you told me
about all its victims spread over several states. You also told me you’ve
killed it before. So how is it possible it keeps returning to hunt? I can
swallow a lot of this if I have to, but you’ll never get me to believe it keeps
coming back from the dead.”

“We’d never suggest it,” Dante broke in. He didn’t think
Regan would go into the breeding theory but he thought it best to be safe.
“According to studies done at some of the universities in Texas, the belief is
that the creature breeds like other animals, just not as prolifically. And it
travels. It seems to keep coming back to Texas, though, and we’ve been looking
into that.”

Tina shuddered. “The boys wouldn’t let me see Harley’s body
but just the description is enough to give me nightmares. I told Dan last night
I remember hearing the legend of the Chupacabra when I was a kid visiting West
Texas. I’d just forgotten all about it until now. And of course, never in the
world did I believe there was any truth to it. Tell us what we can do?”

“As I was explaining,” Regan went on smoothly, “based on our
research and experience, these are the places we’ve identified as possible next
targets. If you know any of these people, we’d appreciate it if you could help
us warn them of danger.”

Dan’s eyebrows nearly disappeared into his hairline. “From a
creature that’s like something out of a horror movie?”

“No. Not at all.” Regan looked at him directly. “But there
are things they can do. “Tell them there’s some kind of wild boar or something
that’s gotten into the area. Whatever it takes. But please tell them to keep
all their outside lights on at night until we give the all clear. Not to open
their doors unless they know who it is. Tell them whatever you have to in order
to get them to listen.”

“For how long?” he demanded.

“If the beast holds true to form, this should hopefully all
be over in the next twenty-four hours. That’s the pattern of behavior it
follows.”

“And what will you be doing?” Dan Hammond demanded.

Dante really couldn’t blame the man for his disbelieving
attitude. And he was still grieving for his friend. “We’re going to contact
them also, but it always helps if someone they know warns them. They trust a
friendly face.”

“That’s it? With this big organization you say you have?”

Dante held on to the edges of his patience. “We’ll also have
our people out tracking in the target areas tonight, and I’ll be in a
helicopter, checking from the air. One of my team will be riding with me,
toting a heavy-duty rifle. We know what it takes to stop the beast. We’ve done
it before. We want to do it now before there’s another victim.”

No one said anything for a long moment. Then Tina looked at
her husband.

“It won’t take much time for us to touch base with
everyone.” She looked at Dante and Regan. “A couple of them we can call. The
other two we’ll visit personally. We’ll do our best.”

“I know you will,” Regan assured her. She pushed back from
the table. “We’ve imposed on you enough. Again, thank you for agreeing to help.
And for the coffee.”

“I hope they do what they said they would,” she told Dante
when they were back in the SUV.

“I plan on notifying the targets also,” he said. “I just
figured their warning would carry more weight.”

“So now what?”

“I’ll call the ranch. We’ll hit a couple of places and Ric
can send a team out to the others. And we’ll plan tonight’s trek.”

“You think it will attack tonight?” she asked.

“Maybe. Most likely tomorrow night but we need to keep an
eye out anyway. Just to be sure.”

They were quiet as they drove to the first target site.

“Dante?” Regan’s voice broke the silence.

“Yes?”

“I— Nothing. I just…”

He reached over and took one of her hands in his. At the
connection, some of the tension drained from his body.

It’s okay if I do this. Feel this. I have mourned Felicia
and in some way always will. But the beast that took her away from me also
brought Regan into my life now.

“That conversation we had yesterday in the car?”

“Yes?” A tiny tremor ran through her voice.

“I meant it. About the healing. About us. About everything.
And when this episode is over, I’m going to show you just how much. Seeing the
latest victims reminded me how quickly life can be taken away. I think I’m
through hiding from it.”

Regan linked her fingers through his. “I know this all
happened so fast, and that Felicia will always be a part of you. I’d never want
you to forget her. But I’ve been worried that everything between us is just
sex. Nothing more.”

“It’s a lot more than that,” he assured her. “I just need
the time to prove it properly.” He lifted their joined hands and kissed her
knuckles. “Okay?”

“Very okay.” He could hear the smile in her voice.

“Now that we’ve got that settled, how about some
directions?” he asked.

Regan slipped her hand from his and grabbed her tablet from
her tote bag. “The Lamars. They have a cutting horse ranch. About five hundred
acres, it says here. Because they don’t need a lot of pasture for grazing. The
notes say except for a few acres right around the house and barns, most of the
land is pretty hilly and forested.”

“Great hiding places for the beast. What about right around
the house itself?”

“Let me pull up their place on Google Earth. Okay, it looks
like beyond the barns it’s pretty open for a couple of acres but they’ve kept a
lot of the big old oak trees right around the house.”

Dante said nothing. He didn’t have to. They both knew the
trees made good cover for the Chupacabra to approach.

“Well, let’s get to it,” he said finally. “And hope Dan
Hammond really does come in behind us and support what we say.”

“Garth is going to contact all of them too,” Regan reminded
him. “Hopefully the Texas Rangers will have enough clout to get them to
listen.”

By the time they had visited all four spots, taken their own
pictures and driven around to get a sense of the landscape, most of the day had
passed. They arrived back at the ranch to find Clint had left his part-time
bartender in charge of The Black Wolf and had come home with barbecue for
everyone. Once sated, everyone got down to plot out the evening’s activities.