Chris came to a sudden stop before they even reached the gates. “What is it?” Dolf asked as he too came to a standstill and turned to look at the other man.
“I think I feel something.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m pretty sure I sense another werewolf.”
Dolf snorted. “Ah, I am standing beside you.”
Chris gave him an exasperated stare. “Don’t be a wanker. This is different. It’s almost as if I recognize it. As if it’s echoing something inside me.”
“I suppose. I haven’t picked up a werewolf’s scent, but that doesn’t mean one isn’t in the park. Let’s go test it and see if you’re right.”
They cautiously walked through the entrance. Dolf willed his sword onto his back before he drew it as he and Chris silently went farther inside. He kept his senses alert, scanning the darkness for any sign of his prey.
A split second after Chris pointed to a spot to the left of them, Dolf picked up the scent of what he hunted. He shifted into his werewolf form on the fly as he went to intercept the beast as it rushed him.
Unlike Chris, this one acted like a true werewolf sired by Fenris the wolf. It tried to rip into Dolf with its teeth and claws while it snarled and growled. He sidestepped it and got in a couple of good strikes with his sword, causing its flesh to sizzle wherever the blade sliced into skin.
Dolf smacked the werewolf in the side of the head with his sharp claws and moved in for the kill. The tip of his weapon slid into the beast’s chest and straight through the heart. It dropped dead to the ground after Dolf pulled his sword free.
“Another one coming behind you!” Chris shouted.
Sure enough, Dolf spun around to find a werewolf springing toward him. This one had been downwind, and so, he hadn’t been able to scent it. He soon dispatched the second as quickly as he had the first.
Remaining in his werewolf form, just in case there was more prey around, Dolf called out to the Anglo-Saxon god. “Tiw, I have need of your fire.”
Blue god-fire instantly engulfed the bodies of the dead werewolves. As it burned brighter, turning the beasts to ash, Dolf took a step back. Once the flames disappeared, an unnatural wind blew what was left of the werewolves away, and not even a scorch mark marred the grass to give testament of their existence.
“Very cool,” Chris said as Dolf came to stand beside him.
“We can’t leave the bodies for mortals to find, so Tiw takes care of them. Do you sense any more prey?”
“No. I think that’s it.”
Dolf shifted back to his human form. He sheathed his sword, then willed it away. “Let’s go see how many we can find elsewhere with your built-in werewolf radar.”
* * *
Maggie waved to her father as he drove down the long drive to the street. Once he disappeared, she turned to face the large mansion in front of her. She hoped like hell she hadn’t made a mistake by agreeing to come here for a sleepover. The last time she’d set foot in this place had been the night the warriors had rescued her.
She hefted the strap of the athletic bag she’d packed with a change of clothes, pajamas and some other items she needed, higher up on her shoulder. She couldn’t turn back now. Besides, if she did, she knew Cydney would be disappointed in her.
Forcing her feet to move, Maggie walked to the front door and knocked. Her friend opened it and smiled. “About time you showed up. I thought you might chicken out.” Cydney stepped aside for Maggie to go inside.
“I told you I’d come. I’m not one for breaking my word.”
“I’m glad you didn’t change your mind. You can leave your bag near the stairs. The other girls are in the living room. We have a romantic movie loaded into the Blu-ray player and plenty of wine and snack food to go along with it.”
“In other words, a perfect girls’ night,” Maggie said with a chuckle as she followed Cydney into the spacious room.
“Exactly,” her friend replied. Once they were past the threshold, Cydney said, “Maggie’s here. We can start the movie now.”
Maggie remembered the other women from the last time she’d been here. They smiled at her. Kamryn poured a glass of wine and handed it to Maggie after she’d taken a seat on the couch.
“Drink up,” Kamryn said. “There’s plenty more where that came from. And with Lexi and Nika not able to drink, that leaves more for the rest of us.”
Maggie saw the noticeable baby bump under Nika’s longish t-shirt. Maggie took a sip from the wineglass she held just as Cydney sat next to her with a glass of her own.
The movie was the type of romance that if you were married, or in a relationship, it made you want to hunt out your man and have your way with him. Being the only single woman in the room, she thought it sucked that she’d go to sleep alone. A wicked, little voice whispered in her head that that didn’t have to be the case. She knew Dolf would gladly fill the empty side of the bed. Maggie squashed that thought soon after it had popped into her mind.
The Blu-ray over, Lexi and Nika excused themselves, saying they needed to get some sleep. That left Maggie, Cydney and Kamryn to finish off the second bottle of wine they’d opened.
After Kamryn refilled Maggie’s glass, she said, “I hear you received your dose of
Brand
therapy.”
“My what?” she asked with a giggle. She’d already had enough wine, was actually feeling it, but that didn’t stop Maggie from taking another sip from her glass.
“You know—Brand’s idea of what’s the best way to get a would-be mate over her fear of what the warriors are.”
“Ah, now I understand. And yes, I did.” Maggie looked at Cydney. “Only because someone helped him.”
“Hey, he would’ve found another way to do it if I hadn’t,” Cydney replied. “And I doubt it would’ve been as tame as what he did today.”
Kamryn snorted. “That’s for sure. After Algar had shown me what he was—by shifting into his werewolf form without giving me any kind of warning—I freaked out and vowed to never see him again. Brand gave me two weeks before he barged into my hotel room and told me point-blank I belonged with Algar, and that he was taking me to him. He literally picked me up and carried me out the door.” Kamryn smiled. “But in the end, Brand did both Algar and me a favor by doing it. I don’t know if I would’ve otherwise had the courage to go back to Algar.”
Maggie took another sip of wine, not knowing how to respond to what Kamryn had said. She didn’t want to tell the other woman that Brand’s interference wouldn’t work this time with her. Maggie still couldn’t see herself spending all of eternity as Dolf’s mate. There would always be that one aspect of his life that would scare the hell out of her. She didn’t know if she’d ever be able to overcome it. No matter how much she found herself attracted to him.
After the three of them had emptied the bottle of wine, they decided it was late and they should go to bed. Kamryn went upstairs ahead of Maggie and Cydney while they took the dirty things to the kitchen. That task completed, Cydney showed her to the room she’d be sleeping in.
Maggie eyed the masculine looking furniture and décor. “This is the guest bedroom?”
Cydney gave her a little shove into the room. “Remember, it was a house full of men before the mates came into the picture. Get some sleep and I’ll see you in the morning.”
She thought she saw a devious look flash across her best friend’s face for a split second, but Cydney walked out of the room, closing the door behind her, before she could question her about it. Maggie crossed over to the king-sized bed. She put her bag on the floor near it and fished out her pajamas.
After using the en suite bathroom, Maggie turned down the covers on one side of the bed and climbed in. She’d had enough wine that finding sleep wouldn’t be a problem. Her eyes closed as a wave of tiredness washed over her. Even though she hadn’t been sure how the night would go, she’d enjoyed being around Cydney and the other women who lived here.
Just before Maggie was pulled into a deep sleep, she thought about the fact that she’d see Dolf at some point in the morning. Cydney had said she’d take care of him, and Maggie had no doubt her friend wouldn’t do anything to put her in a situation she didn’t want.
* * *
Dolf let Chris walk into the mansion ahead of him. He had to say his night of hunting had been very productive, thanks to Chris. The other man’s werewolf radar had worked twice more, leading them to a couple of prey, which Dolf took down. It looked as if Chris were their new secret weapon.
So much so, Dolf had high hopes Chris could eventually lead him straight to Stephen, the pack leader of the werewolves. Dolf badly wanted to make that piece of shit pay, slowly and painfully, for what he’d done to Maggie. Once he had his hands on Stephen, he’d make sure the werewolf wouldn’t have a quick death.
“I think I’ll head up for bed,” Chris said.
“Mine sounds good right about now too.”
Dolf crossed the foyer with the other man behind him and started up the stairs. He’d reached the halfway point when the one scent he never expected to smell in his home again hit him. He came to a stop so suddenly Chris ran into his back.
“What’s the matter, Dolf?”
He only said one word. “Maggie.”
Chris sniffed the air around them, then smiled. “She’s here.” But his face soon took on a worried expression. “Maggie doesn’t know about me. She’s going to wonder why I’m staying at the mansion.”
“We’ll worry about that in the morning. Go to bed, Chris.”
Not waiting for the other man’s response, Dolf climbed the rest of the stairs and followed Maggie’s scent directly to his closed bedroom door. He quietly opened it and slipped inside the room, closing it once again. He stood in the dark, staring at the figure lying on his mattress. How had Maggie ended up here, in his bed?
He made no sound as he crossed over to where she lay and looked down at her. She was on her back, a hand curled at the side of her face. Finding her here made his cock hard. It jerked as he ran his gaze over her covered body. The noble thing for him to do would be to wake her and ask her why she was in his bed. But he wasn’t feeling particularly noble at the moment. Not when he’d dreamed about her being exactly where she was now.
Dolf reached out, and with care not to awaken Maggie, he pulled the blankets down to the foot of the bed, uncovering her. He took in the oversized t-shirt and loose pajama bottoms she wore. They weren’t sexy, by any means, but they still turned him on. The urge to touch her, learn every inch of her body, beat inside him. He tried to resist, but in the end, she was just too tempting. And he didn’t know if he’d ever get this opportunity again. She was in his bed, after all.
He toed off his shoes and yanked his t-shirt over his head and off. Dolf climbed into bed beside her, lying on his side. He looked at Maggie, but she didn’t stir. Emboldened, he took the next step. He ran a caressing hand down from her collarbone to her breast and circled the nipple with the tip of his finger. Maggie sighed, but continued to sleep.
Shifting a little lower on the mattress, he slowly lifted the bottom of Maggie’s t-shirt until he bared her breasts. They were perfect, topped with rosy nipples he wanted to taste. His cock strained against the front of his jeans as he bent his head and flicked one of the tight peaks with the tip of his tongue. A soft moan escaped her.
Another quick check found her still lost in slumber. Bending his head for a second time, Dolf laved her nipple before he sucked it into his mouth. He ran a hand down Maggie’s side to the top of her pajama bottoms. Her hips lifted as her breathing increased to a rapid pace. He gave her other breast the same attention, sucking it deep.
The scent of Maggie’s arousal filled his nose, making his cock throb painfully. He released her breast and watched for her reaction as he ran a finger under the waistband of her bottoms. Her hips rose off the mattress again, this time angled toward him. Returning to suckle at her breast, he pushed his hand lower, fingertips gliding over the smooth skin of her stomach, then inside her pants.
Dolf couldn’t stop himself from palming her sex. Slipping a digit between her legs, he found her more than wet. He bit back a growl of need as the tips of his fingers throbbed in time with his cock, his claws threatening to break through his skin.
He wanted more, so much more, but knew it wouldn’t be right to go any further with Maggie still deep asleep. She responded to his caresses, her wet pussy proved that. That didn’t mean he had the right to touch her anywhere else than he already had. But then, Maggie sank her fingers into his hair to hold him to her breast and whispered his name. Dolf found himself lost. He had to have more of her.
Maggie felt washed away on a tide of desire. Her pussy was wet, demanding to be filled. She was having one hell of a dream. In it, Dolf touched her in the most intimate of places. Her nipples were taut, the sensation of a warm mouth sucking on them was almost too real to deny. Same with the thick strands of hair she currently clutched.
Then a finger slipped between the lips of her pussy, stroking her. She tried to spread her legs wider, but a hard body was pressed up against one. Maggie lifted her hips in invitation, craving a deeper touch. Needing it.
Her body seemed to go up in flames as another digit came into play, joining the first. They slid inside her core, moving in and out. She couldn’t resist riding them, wanting a deeper penetration. The mouth at her breast sucked harder while the fingers pumped faster. At the rate her arousal grew, it wouldn’t take much to send her into release. She moaned as her pussy became even wetter.