After the Moon Rises (6 page)

The damn bitch best go for the idea. Tom held his breath seeing as it wasn’t doing much good going in and out of his mouth.

He watched as her head tilted to the side. Emotions played across her face as her eyes drifted to various pack members.

Tom heard what sounded like thousands of bees buzzing in his skull. He shook his head, but the sound didn’t go away. Vonda’s head turned as she looked around the pack with the alpha.

No way. But after everything else that happened tonight, why not? He focused on the noise in his head, turning the cacophony into a single strand of conversation. Check him out, eavesdropping on a private conversation.

He should have remained ignorant. Because who wants to know what the gossip is saying about you?

Seems like there was some debate on who the lucky wolf that got to visit Elizabeth was. More debate on if Vonda’s idea should even happen, which took longer than he’d like. Back to the wolf who got to visit Elizabeth—of course it was the brown-haired woman. And, whoa Nelly, were they now deciding who he slept with?

Like hell if they thought they could decide that. The only one he wanted was Vonda.

The buzzing stopped as most of the pack, including Vonda, turned to stare at him.

Oh shit. Looked like telepathy wasn’t his thing. They all heard who he’d like to sleep with.

The pack leader smiled. “That can be arranged.”

Excuse me?

“Huh?” Wasn’t he full of intelligent remarks tonight?

The pack leader tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “You,” she pointed at Tom, “can mate with her,” the finger turned to Vonda, “and we can let you keep Elizabeth. Of course, that’s dependent on the bitch there,” the finger returned to Vonda, “joining our pack. You have five minutes to decide.”

With that declaration, she marched to the other side of the clearing, the pack following. Tom felt the wolves’ eyes on him, staring, watching, daring him to make a run for it. If he hadn’t seen one of the creatures change before his eyes, he’d think it was all a nightmare from the blow to the head.

But small things in his life, little things he had stuck in the back of his mind over the years, whispered to him, made him know that what the alpha said was true. Werewolves existed and he carried their genetics.

Made him wonder what other secrets Mom had neglected to mention.

“Daddy, if I’m a wolf and they wanted me to join them, why didn’t they just ask?” Elizabeth’s amber eyes turned toward him, her head resting on his arm.

“Um...”

Because their momma never taught them any manners. I swear, thinking there’s nothing wrong with kidnapping little girls, these folks are nuts.

****

But she’d still like to get to know them. And with the mating heat upon her, sleeping with Tom sounded like a wonderful idea. Best idea she’d heard all night.

Of course, she’d have to wait until morning when her human body returned to engage in any of the fun.

Permanent
, slid across her mind. Yeah, it would be a permanent type of thing. Would she be able to handle permanence? To move in with Tom? Staying with him when the mating heat vanished?

At least he wouldn’t call her a dog.

And he was way ahead of her ex on the attractive scale, the nice scale and the family man scale. All in all she wouldn’t mind a bit of horizontal time.

“I’m sorry to drag you into this.”

Vonda gave Tom a wolfish shrug, wishing she had her human features so he could read on her face how much she wanted him. Not all of the desire came from the mating heat. Sure, her core pulsed and she wanted nothing more than his staff thrusting into her, filling her, but a part of the desire throbbing in her veins was for Tom. Just Tom.

Something within him spoke to her on a base level.

And she wanted that in a permanent way.

You didn’t exactly drag me, you know. I saw them taking her first.

Tom nodded and swallowed, his hand stroking Elizabeth’s back, his eyes refusing to meet Vonda’s.

A shaky hand shoved through his hair. “Are you willing?”

He spoke the words to the trees, but turned to face her before the sound died.

She didn’t hesitate. If he was willing to have her, knowing she turned furry once a month, she would take him. And she got a hot body in the bargain.

Yep. If you don’t mind me looking like this monthly.

He shook his head, opening his mouth to speak, but the alpha chose that moment to return.

“So, what’s the decision?”

“She’ll move in with me. And you won’t be taking my daughter,” Tom growled the last words.

Damn, if that wasn’t the sexiest thing Vonda had heard.

The alpha nodded. “That is acceptable. We will check on you monthly to see how Elizabeth is.” Her eyes moved to Vonda. “And to see if you have questions about us. You need a pack.”

Thank you. I would like that.

“Now since you’ve decided to mate, we will need to make sure you consummate the relationship.”

“And just how do you suggest you do that?” Tom’s lips pulled back, exposing his teeth.

“I’ll follow you back to your house and ensure the mating is consummated. I’ll return later to talk more to Vonda about the pack. Are you ready to go?”

Vonda exchanged a glance with Tom. PL was going to watch them? Eww. She didn’t get into starring on sex tapes. Talk about performance anxiety.

Elizabeth lifted her head from Tom’s shoulder. “Hey, Dad, what’s consummated mean?”

Chapter 6

Vonda touched the silver picture frame containing a photo of a black-haired woman in a white, strapless wedding dress and a younger looking Tom. Husband and wife. Until death do us part.

They’d looked so happy, so in love. How could Vonda hope to achieve that with Tom?

First things first. They needed to consummate this agreement, something Tom looked rather hesitant to do. He paced the room, running fingers through his short hair until it stood like captured soldiers, nervous and trembling.

“Elizabeth will be okay. She’ll sleep for awhile. Margie put her under and promised she’d stay asleep.” The alpha, Margie, had claimed she had the ability to make Elizabeth catch eight hours of zzzs, and set about proving it with a wave of her hand.

Tom stopped his pacing and stared at her. “I should be up there with her, not down here with you.” He ran his hand through his hair again, making matters up top worse. “Dammit, that didn’t come out right.”

“I know what you mean.” And she did. Tom should be with his daughter, not trying to have sex with Vonda.

Although sex sounded great at the moment. And how screwed up was that? Mating heat was a bitch.

“Did it hurt?” Tom gestured at her.

Vonda looked down her body from Tom’s t-shirt around her torso to his sweat pants on her legs and wondered what the hell he was talking about.

“Did what hurt?” Having his shirt rub against her sensitive nipples or his pants rest against her already wet core? Somehow she didn’t think that was what he wanted to know.

“The change back.”

Oh, yeah. That. “Well, it wasn’t the best feeling I’ve ever had.” The only thing she could imagine worse would be having her tonsils ripped out through her nose. “But it doesn’t seem to have any lingering effects. I didn’t realize changing back to a human while the moon was still out was even possible.”

Margie was one powerful bitch. Holding her hand toward Vonda, she had forced Vonda’s wolf back to its hiding place, bringing out the human half to writhe in agony on the cold linoleum floor of Tom’s kitchen. For the first time since she hit puberty, Vonda saw the moon out of her human eyes.

It was worth every bit of pain.

“Maybe she’ll show me how to do that. She’s going to teach me what it means to be a pack member.” Vonda couldn’t wait. After all these years alone, she would learn what it meant to be a werewolf. There had to be more to it than getting furry once a month.

“That’s good. That’s real good.” More with the hand through the hair routine. “I need to go check on Elizabeth.”

Tom headed for the door, but Vonda beat him to it.

“You can’t go anywhere until we, um, until we mate.”

Her hand on his arm sparked heat, a tangible arc crossing the air to Tom, stilling him. He took a deep breath, turning to face Vonda. His green eyes smoked with desire, firing the blood in her veins, whipping it into a frenzy being with her ex had never produced.

It was callous of her to want sex after all that had happened tonight, knowing a ten-year-old frightened girl lay upstairs. But with the mating heat firing her blood, she couldn’t help it. All she wanted was Tom. His arms around her, his body pressed to her, his thick staff inside her.

Her imagination kicked into overdrive as she pictured him pumping into her, in and out, his big body slamming into her over and over again. She felt wetness between her legs as her core wept, wanting him in her, needing him to complete her.

His nostrils flared. “You smell good,” he said, his voice a low growl that distorted the words.

She didn’t think she could get wetter, but that growling thing sent her core into overdrive.

Holding his gaze, she started working the buttons on his shirt. His breath sawed in and out of his lungs as her hands crept down his torso. Once the shirt was unbuttoned, she pushed the sleeves down his arms, dropping it onto the floor. She ran her hands up his arms, feeling the muscles tense at her touch. Damn, but the man was strong. She loved the feel of his pecs under her palms, the way the springy hair dusted his chest.

She needed her skin against his. Now.

Working quickly, Vonda yanked her shirt over her head and smiled at a transfixed Tom. Once she dropped the shirt onto the ground, he snapped out of his trance.

His hands shoved her pants over her hips and Vonda kicked them off. A wave of embarrassment passed through her. What if he didn’t like the way she looked? Her sexual experiences were limited to fumbles in the dark and a man who called her a dog.

If that growl meant anything, she shouldn’t have worried. Tom brushed a hand over her collarbone, across her breasts, down her stomach to her core, the feather-light touch scorching like fire.

“You’re beautiful.”

Vonda felt her muscles relax at his words.

“You’re pretty good looking yourself.”

He bent his head, his lips pressing against hers. The tip of his tongue traced the crease between her lips and she opened for him, letting the strokes of his tongue against hers carry her into that place where nothing mattered but the two of them.

Tom held her head with one hand, while his other teased her nipple into a hard point. Vonda stopped thinking, her body pure instinct, wanting him, needing him in her. She fumbled with the button on his Levi’s, while his fingers flicked against her nipple. A moan escaped her and she finally freed the darn button, which allowed her to yank the zipper down. She shoved the jeans over his hips then pulled the waistband of his tighty-whities out and over his staff, freeing him for her feeling pleasure.

Vonda ran her hand up the length of him, loving the velvety skin, the thick head, the swollen sac. Damn, but he was huge. She’d be sore tomorrow.

She could hardly wait.

Tom moaned in her mouth as she stroked up the thick length. His thumb rubbed against her swollen nipple as his other hand stroked from her waist to her hip, each pass drawing closer to the place between her legs that ached for him.

He kissed her until her surroundings dimmed, until the only thing that mattered was his lips on hers, his skin against hers, the feel of his staff in her hand as she drew it through her grasp. She circled the broad head, once, twice, feeling wetness seep out of the slit. Rubbing the moisture into his skin, she continued her lazy strokes, up and down, up and circled around, while Tom’s hand moved closer to her mound.

He touched her core, his fingers sliding in the wetness he found there. She felt his staff kick in her hand, spurts of cum coating her stomach.

“Shit!” Tom exploded as his hips bucked against her hand, while she milked him dry.

Well, that didn’t take long. What about her?

He dropped his head to her shoulder, breathing deeply. “I’m so sorry. It’s been awhile since I’ve...yeah.” He tried to take a step and tripped over his jeans, falling into her. “God, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. This just isn’t going to work. Not now anyway. I just...” He ran his hand through his hair.

Vonda blinked. “But what about Margie?”

“Fuck. I don’t know.”

Vonda looked down and saw cum running down her stomach. She wiped it off, smearing onto her core and the insides of her legs.

“Hey, Margie! It’s finished!”

Hopefully the alpha would smell him on her and leave before this night got any worse.

Vonda heard Margie on the other side of the door, breathing deeply.

“Ah, good. The mating is complete. Is Tom...okay?”

“Yeah, I’m good.” His hand did another run through the hair.

“Oh. Well, then. That’s great. Great.” Why did she sound so disappointed? “I’ll let myself out and leave you two lovebirds alone. I’ll be back tomorrow afternoon to talk to Vonda.”

Vonda and Tom listened as Margie’s steps echoed down the hall, the sound of the front door shutting propelling Tom into action.

“God, I’m sorry.” He reached for his underwear and jeans, drawing them up in one motion while he talked. “We can...yeah...maybe later, right? I’m going upstairs with Elizabeth. You can have the bed in here.”

He yanked his shirt off the floor and closed the door behind him, never once looking her in the eye.

What was it with her and men? She slid one finger inside her while circling her clit with another. Two strokes later and her hips bucked, the orgasm rippling through her. Her body relieved, she wished she could say the same about her heart.

She walked into the bathroom and started cleaning herself with a wet washcloth. How would she face Tom tomorrow? She understood his need to be with his daughter and it was just plain weird to even try to have sex under the circumstances, but still. He could have stuck around long enough get her off too.

Although that wasn’t fair, was it? Yes, yes it was. Even if he was embarrassed. Everyone knows men can’t always control those things. Vonda pitched the washcloth onto the rim of the bathtub. Still. The mating heat hadn’t abated. She could do with a dose of Tom right about now.