Allister, J. Rose - Discarded Cowboys [Lone Wolves of Shay Falls 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (5 page)

Somehow she managed to find a rather hoarse version of her voice. “Not for mine,” she said. “I like you caged up in there just fine. And I wasn’t staring.”

“Like hell. Do you have any idea how hot and free your scent flows when you’re aroused? Maybe you’re waitin’ for your dreams to come true. You have had the dreams about me, haven’t you? ”

Her eyes widened. “How would you know what I dream?”

“Mates dream of each other, though some remember dreams more clearly than others. I saw it in your eyes out in those woods. You recognized me.”

She shrugged. “I recognized that you were a werewolf.”

His knowing smile did all sorts of wild things to her insides. “I sure as hell have had some unbelievable dreams about you. If only you’d let me out so I could show you.”

“Why
do
you have us shut up in here, anyway?” Drew asked. “To force our shifts whenever you want, as some sick entertainment?” He joined Russell at the front of the bars. “I guarantee you, Tal, that if you let us go, we can find much better ways to entertain you.”

She ignored the flip-flop in her stomach. “It’s not for our personal amusement. It’s for the entertainment of gadjes who will pay good money to see it.”

Russell’s smile vanished, and his hand fell away from his cock to grab the bars. “You can’t possibly be thinkin’ of showin’ other people what we are.”

“You’ll be a prime attraction,” she said, watching both their eyes flare in wilder yellow tones. “We should make enough with you two in our lineup to see us through winter.”

Russell stared at her. “So, my sexy, innocent-lookin’ mate turns out to be a hard-drivin’ business opportunist. Even at the expense of men’s lives.”

She folded her arms over her front, wishing she’d brought the blanket to throw across her shoulders. “Except you’re not really men. You’re animals.”

Drew’s eyes narrowed. “Let us out and I’ll show you just how much of an animal I can be.”

Russell’s hand shot out across Drew’s chest, pushing him back. “Easy, cowboy. That ain’t exactly gonna convince her to open this cage.”

Drew glared at Russell, then at her. She shook her head. “Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t open the cage. I don’t have the key.” She lifted her chin. “Which doesn’t mean I
want
to release you, before you get the wrong idea.”

Drew let out a disgusted growl and turned his back, leaning on the cage so his ass was right at her eye level.

“You don’t want to let us go because you like havin’ us around,” Russell said, the teasing back in his voice. “You’re afraid we’d take off and you’d never see us again.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she snapped.

“You can’t reveal our secret to the public,” Drew said, whipping around again. “Surely you can see how bad that would be for our kind?”

She cocked her head. “And exactly why should I have a care for your kind? Considering what your kind have done to mine.”

Gold began spreading over the blue in his irises. “So this is some bullshit revenge that has nothin’ to do with us? You best hope you don’t find out what I can do to your kind if you keep me caged.”

Russell rose and shoved Drew back. “Shut the fuck up. Seems the full moon makes your mouth run in all sorts of bad directions, don’t it? Looks like we need to settle some matters between us before we can deal with this.”

Drew’s jaw tightened. “Stop orderin’ me around like you’re my alpha.
I’m
in charge of my fate.”

“Yeah, and look where that got you.”

“Right alongside
you
, who marched in here willingly ’cuz you’re dyin’ to shove that fat dick in her tight pussy.”

She felt her stomach somersault at Drew’s crude words.

“Seems like you really want to be the wolf in charge.” Russell’s mocking tone was back. “Good. That oughta make this interestin’.”

The men’s chatter suddenly ceased, and though they began circling each other again as men, both dropped into wolf form in almost perfect time. The growls and raised hackles of fur stunned Talaitha, and she jerked back farther from the cage. She lifted her eyes to see the full moon climbing overhead, as if directing the display of animal aggression.

Even in the dim light of the rising moon, it was a simple matter to tell the wolves apart by Russell’s reddish tone and Drew’s creamy, almost-white fur. Drew snapped powerful jaws very near Russell’s muzzle, but Russell jumped back. He lunged for Drew’s throat, but the other wolf made a tight circle and bit into Russell’s flank. Talaitha literally felt a jolt of sympathy pain when Russell yelped, and she considered grabbing her blanket and fleeing. Yet she couldn’t move another step, glued to the hard-packed dirt while the wolves danced and snapped, lunged and retreated. She was bizarrely riveted, awaiting fate’s decision on which wolf would be leader.

Long, white fangs dripped with saliva and menace, and she shivered as she tried not to imagine what those teeth would feel like buried in her throat. Russell swung his powerful body around parallel with Drew’s, biting down on a pale ear while he tried to climb on the other wolf’s back. With a vicious snarl, Drew whipped around, blood marring his blond fur as he took hold of Russell’s muzzle and tried to force it down near the cage floor. Russell’s head shook back and forth as he strained to keep upright, though Drew pushed him back until his tail was sticking through the rear bars. Talaitha realized she had stopped breathing, and her fists were clenched at her sides while she watched Drew maneuver Russell literally into a corner. With one loud growl and a toss of his head, Russell freed himself from Drew’s jaws, but the other wolf mounted his back and sank his jaws into the raised fur around Russell’s neck. Russell gave a loud yelp, and Drew reared back, howling at the moon. He was still paying homage to the moon’s power when he shifted, his fur disappearing into sleek, tanned flesh, and the keening sound turning from a wolf howl to a human bellow of triumph. He was still hunched over Russell’s back as he grabbed hanks of fur around the wolf’s neck.

“You’re defeated,” he growled into Russell’s ear. “Shift back.”

The Russell wolf refused to still beneath Drew, instead trying to spring out from under his grip. But Drew held him fast.

“Change back,” he commanded, but Russell didn’t respond. “The full moon don’t matter. You shifted earlier, right out from under a Gypsy spell. You can do it again now. And you will.”

Three more tries to escape Drew’s straining muscles failed. Finally, the wolf’s body relaxed, then began to quiver. The shift was slow and exaggerated, but Russell’s fur retracted as he stretched longer. At last, he was naked and panting on all fours, with Drew still mounted on his back.

“That’s right,” Drew said with a tight smile as he yanked Russell’s hair back to expose his throat. “I’m your alpha now.” Drew’s eyes, which still blazed hot and yellow like Russell’s, lifted to find Talaitha’s. “And you are mine.”

Goose bumps erupted over her flesh while Drew’s determined face unlocked, sliding into an unnatural length. As she watched in horror, his jaw seemed to detach and grow until needle-like fangs protruded. Without warning, he dropped his head to sink those teeth into Russell’s shoulder. He gave a loud, anguished-sounding yell.

“No!” Talaitha shouted, sinking to the ground and covering her eyes. Her heart stuttered and pounded as she pictured the man she’d dreamed of for nearly a decade lying dead on the cage floor. It was all her fault. She never should have led him into this trap.

Russell’s shouts turned to a series of guttural moans, and Drew’s growls joined in greedily. Her stomach lurched at his death throes. Keeping her eyes squeezed shut failed to block her tears or mental imagery of the man she was destined to love. She finally slapped her hands over her ears, which did little to muffle the noise.

“Stop it!” she called out, her voice shaking with sobs. “Stop hurting him, Drew.
Please.
”

The men’s noises stopped instantly. “Talaitha?” Drew’s voice.

She shook her head, refusing to open her eyes.

“Tal, honey, it’s okay. I’m okay.”

The voice was loving, tender, and convincingly calm. And more importantly, it was Russell’s.

She risked a peek, her cramped, quaking shoulders relaxing when she saw him. He was still kneeling, staring at her with obvious concern. Silver rays of moon spotlighted drops of blood trailing down his chest, but he didn’t appear to be in any pain. On the contrary, as she took in their positions and the way Drew had his hips pressed to Russell’s buttocks while he gripped his hips, it looked as though they were doing something altogether different.

“I thought he was trying to kill you,” she said in a shaky whisper.

Russell shook his head. “No, darlin’. We just bonded as pack mates, is all.”

“Yeah, just a wolf thing,” Drew added. “Didn’t mean to scare you none.” His smug grin, however, made her wonder.

She heaved a sigh, shaking with more than just the chill of mountain air. Russell raised one arm and reached it through the bars. “Hey. Come here.”

Talaitha sniffed back tears and shook her head.

“Please. You’ll see that everythin’s all right.”

“Forget it.” She stood and brushed dirt and leaves from her skirt, but made no move toward him. “I’m not getting near you.”

“Just take my hand,” Russell said, stretching until his shoulder was pressed to the bars. “I need to feel you.”

What was it about the smooth, rich lilt of his voice? It slid through her toughest attempt at resistance, warming her insides like the homemade wine served at her wedding. It intoxicated her just as fast, too, until her head felt too light and fuzzy to think properly. “Stop that,” she said.

Russell blinked. “Stop what?”

“Stop using your magic on me. I can feel the pull of it. Put your hand down.”

His arm lowered, but the smile he flashed at her cast a stronger spell than his outstretched fingers. “I’m no magician, sweetheart. The only magic I’ve got in me is the magic I don’t want.”

She glanced at him, her nerves twisting in complicated spirals when she met his eyes. “Well, you’re doing
something
to try and compel me to come to you. Don’t try to deny it. I’ve grown up around magic my entire life.”

“That’s no spell at work. It’s just fate pullin’ you into my arms. You know that’s where you belong.”

“No.” She clutched her elbows tight. “You’re just trying to get me within reach so you can threaten me, use me as leverage for getting out of here.”

“Use you as leverage?” Drew asked in a mock-surprised tone. “Now, that sounds like a right dirty, low-down trick. Like somethin’ a naughty Gypsy might pull on her mate.”

She flashed him a look, and Russell grunted. “But her mate might forgive her,” he said, “if she let him hold her hand while he and his alpha finish their business.”

Drew gave her a lopsided, but no less dangerous, grin. “What do you say, beauty? Make up for lockin’ us in here by bringin’ your erotic scent closer. Let Russell stroke that silken skin while I make him come.”

Her heart skipped two beats at the fire in his eyes, but she curled her lip. “I would never be part of that. I won’t even watch you do such a sordid thing.”

“Oh, you’ll watch.” Drew let the hand closest to her wander over the curve of Russell’s ass, and something began to hum low in her pelvis. “You won’t be able to help yourself. You’ll stare while your mate gets claimed by his alpha—and wish to God you were on the other side of these bars.”

His hips pulled slowly away from Russell, and both men’s eyes fluttered. From where she was standing she couldn’t see Drew’s cock, but she knew it was rigid, like the one that was red and throbbing beneath Russell. He eased out of Russell’s hole, and a quick thrust shoved his hips back against Russell’s ass. His motions were hard enough for her to see Russell’s balls bouncing beneath him. Russell’s unrelenting gaze finally released her as Drew’s motions appeared to sweep him off to somewhere distant. Somewhere Talaitha could not go.