Dual Embrace: 3 (Shadowpeak Wolves) (12 page)

Kneeling, he nudged her entrance with his cock, sliding into her.

“Oohh.”

“That’s it, let yourself go. I’ll catch you.”

She knew he would. He drove deep. Every nerve ending sung. Each thrust was harder than the one before, faster.

“I love being inside you, baby. I swear every time I take you I become more addicted.”

“Cain, let me come. I need it so bad.”

“Get ready. Come now,” he ordered. He arched, his roar of release filling the room. It pushed her over the edge, sent her soaring. She came hard, clamping down on his cock.

Cain rolled to her side as she lay dazed, panting heavily, sweat coating her body. She barely stirred as he dragged her into his arms. Resting her head against his chest, she snuggled closer.

“That was incredible.”

“That it was,” he replied.

A sharp smack landed on her bottom.

“Hey, what was that for?” she asked, rubbing her offended butt cheek. His hand was as hard as a wooden paddle.

“For not answering me.”

“What? When?” she asked, feigning ignorance.

“You know what I’m talking about.”

“You weren’t playing fair.”

He sighed. “No, I wasn’t. But I still want an answer. Well?”

She sat up, looking down at him. “I’ll consider it.”

He stared at her solemnly. “Okay. I can deal with that.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. So long as you’re sleeping in my bed while you’re thinking.”

“Really?” She raised her eyebrows. “I’m surprised.”

He frowned. “Why?”

“Because the last thing I want to do in your bed is think. But if you insist…”

She grinned as he mock-growled and punished her neck with little nips of his teeth.

“No, no, no,” she laughed. “No touching, I can’t think when you touch me.”

She let out a shout as he pulled her over his chest and kissed her deep.

* * * * *

Dusty awoke in the early hours of the morning, horny as hell and hungry for Cain.

She watched him sleep. She should let him rest. He’d been pulling some long shifts.

But where was the fun in that?

She ran her hand over his back, feeling him tense as he woke.

Cain rolled to face her, his hand cupping her hip. Immediately, a slow burn infused her skin, lighting her insides.

He kissed her, his mouth hard and urgent.

They both groaned as Cain’s cell rang.

“You have to go in to headquarters?” Dusty asked when he’d ended the call.

“Yeah. Shouldn’t be long though. You stay where you are.” He grinned when she threw a pillow at him.

“Can you drop me off at my place?” she asked.

He paused, standing with one leg in his jeans.

“Why?” he asked warily as she stood and grabbed some pants.

“I need to do some stuff.” And to think. To work out how to tell him about her wolf.

“Why don’t I take you tomorrow?” he asked.

Dusty peered at him. “Because you’re going that way now and I need some more underwear.”

“No you don’t.”

“Cain. Drop me off at my place.”

“All right, all right,” he said with gruff impatience.

* * * * *

Dusty stared at the forest from the porch of her small cabin. She let the crisp, cool scent of the woods soothe her. She longed to shed her human skin and race through the trees in wolf form.

At times, she’d actually thought about giving over to her wolf completely. It would be a simpler, easier life. But when had she ever taken the easier route?

If anything, she usually found the most difficult path and took it, full speed ahead.

She knew Cain would keep his word. He would never do anything to betray her trust. It had taken her awhile, but the more time she spent with him, the more right it felt. Tonight, she was going to tell him she loved him. That she wanted to be his mate.

First, though, she had to tell him about her wolf.

She breathed in deep and swore she caught a scent of smoke and chili. Damn, would she never get that blond-haired devil out of her head?

This wasn’t the first time she thought she’d caught his scent. There were times she could’ve sworn she’d caught a glimpse of him—but when she turned there was no one there. It was driving her crazy. Other times she’d swear something had brushed against her skin, a touch that was intimate, arousing. She couldn’t seem to wipe his face from her memory.

Damn him.

Here she was, packing up her belongings so she could live with an extremely sexy werewolf and she was still daydreaming about another man.

“I am being ridiculous.” She slammed her fist against the porch railing.

“What are you being ridiculous about?”

Startled, she grabbed the rail to keep upright. Algernon walked from the forest. He made no noise as he moved gracefully, a slight smile on his face.

“What are you doing here? How did you find me? You’re not welcome here so stop following me around like a puppy dog and just get.” She made a shooing motion, being deliberately rude. Turning, she stalked into the cabin. He followed her, peering around.

“Why? Lover boy isn’t here. I waited until you were alone. Quite restrained of me, really.”

“You’ve been watching me?”

“Oh yes, and very interesting it’s been too.”

“You perverted, sick—”

“Yes, yes, I’m horrible, shocking.” He waved her words away unapologetically. He slowly stepped closer.

“Stay back.” This was stupid. She was a werewolf, she was deadly, she could tear him apart.

Only she couldn’t, could she?

Because her wolf was gone. Because he had powers she couldn’t fight against.

And because she’d rather jump his bones than break them.

My God, what was wrong with her?

“What are you doing here, Algernon? What do you want?”

He shuddered. “That really is an awful name.”

“Well, I don’t know your real name, do I?”

“Ahh, well, let me fix that. My name is Brynn.”

She frowned. “Brynn? Wait, why does that sound— Oh my God, Brynn? You’re Cassie’s brother.”

He bowed. “I’m glad my reputation precedes me. And I’m here because I’ve decided to take what you offered me the other night.”

“I never offered you anything.”

Shit, she was in trouble. They’d been searching for Brynn for weeks, since Cassie had first told Jay about him. Brynn claimed to be her half brother. Cassie was the only one who had seen him. Until now.

Shit. And she’d been keeping him a secret because she’d been worried everyone would think her insane. What a mess.

“Why didn’t you show yourself at the hospital? What were you doing at Samson’s? Did you know I was a Shadowpeak wolf? That I knew Cassie?”

“I’ve been here about a week, checking up on Cassie.”

“You’ve been watching the pack?” Fury lashed at her, mixing insidiously with worry. How could they protect the pack if they couldn’t even sense a threat?

“Yes. And you intrigued me. I wanted to meet you. That’s why I was at Samson’s. I had the urge to talk to you. I try never to deny myself. Makes life much more interesting.”

She cocked her head, wondering how much of what he said was a lie. There was more to it, she was sure.

“How come I’m so special?”

He looked a bit puzzled. “I’m not sure. You just are. I didn’t bother to show myself at the hospital because your packmates would have persisted in plying me with a lot of boring questions. I do not like to be bored.”

Now that she believed. A sudden thought occurred to her.

“So you’ve been watching me since that night at Samson’s? Have you— Have you been touching me?”

He grinned. “Why yes, I have. I couldn’t resist. You have lovely skin, hellcat. I enjoy running my hand over it, hearing the way your breath catches in your throat when you are aroused.”

“Y-you bastard!”

“Well, yes, technically my parents weren’t married.”

“That’s not what I mean and you know it. I want you to leave me alone. Go away. Cassie’s fine, she has a mate. She doesn’t need you.”

He frowned. “Someone hurt her. I cannot let that go unpunished.”

“It won’t. We will find these bastards and make them suffer. Come on, you can’t actually tell me you care about her.”

Cassie hadn’t even known of his existence until recently.

“Cassie’s pack now. We’ll take care of whoever hurt her.”

A hint of temper shone in his eyes and Dusty fought back a shiver. She had the feeling he didn’t lose his cool much, but that she didn’t want to be around when he did.

“Actually, I do care about her. A lot. It’s for her own good that I’ve stayed away from her up until now. From what I have seen, your pack has no idea who hurt her. Incompetent. No, I am going to stick around, catch whoever hurt my sister and make them pay.”

Dusty’s hackles rose at his contempt for the pack. “You can’t spy on us.”

“Are you trying to say you didn’t enjoy my stolen little touches? The way I caressed your skin? I bet you’ve been thinking about me, haven’t you? Dreaming of me. Wanting me.”

“I don’t want you.”

“Liar. Ahh, but here comes Prince Charming, riding to your rescue.”

“What?” She strained but she couldn’t hear a thing. “Cain’s here?”

“Yes.”

“Get out,” she demanded desperately. What the hell would she do if he didn’t leave?

He grinned wickedly. “I’ll be around.” He disappeared.

“Dusty?” Cain called.

“In here.”

Cain appeared in the doorway. “Everything okay?”

“Ah-huh, why wouldn’t it be?” Her head throbbed viciously.

“Got your underwear?” His lips twitched.

“Yes, let’s go.”

“You sure?” He grabbed her bag.

“Yep.”

Dusty limped along behind him, peering around suspiciously, half expecting Brynn to appear suddenly.

“Dusty?”

“What?” Her gaze snapped back to where Cain stood, holding her door open.

“You sure everything’s okay?”

“I have something to tell you,” she admitted, knowing she couldn’t keep this secret. Pack safety was at stake. “But at home, okay?”

Some of the tension left his body as he nodded and helped her into the cab.

Silence filled the truck as Cain drove them home. When they arrived, he carried her bag into the house before turning to her.

“Well?” he asked. She headed toward the whiskey and poured them both a drink.

“You know that guy I told you about, the one I met that night at Samson’s?”

Looking cautious now, he took the drink with a quiet, “Yes, I remember.”

“Well, there are some things I need to tell you. He’s not normal, I mean, God, how do I say this? Only I could see him.”

“What?”

She looked up as he sat in the chair across from her.

“I know. Crazy, huh? But I swear it’s true. I pointed him out to one of the waitresses and she looked at me like I was insane. When I woke up the next morning at Wild Oaks, I thought maybe it had all been a strange dream, a hallucination. But then he turned up again at the hospital. He helped Cassie heal. I don’t know how, but I saw him do it. He was there in that room. He saved her life.”

Cain was silent, watchful.

“That’s not all. Cain, he reappeared tonight, at my place. He got through pack security because they couldn’t see him.” She took a deep breath. “I didn’t know his name until now. It’s Brynn. Cassie’s brother.”

Cain stared at her with narrowed eyes, his body tense. “Why didn’t you say there was something strange about him before now? When you first met him or after he’d helped Cassie?”

She took another sip of her drink. “I don’t know. It wasn’t as though he was hurting Cassie, he was helping her. I don’t know, it’s weird, but I didn’t really think about him being a threat to the pack.”

“That wasn’t your call to make, Dusty,” he scolded. “You should have told me, told Cooper about this guy, no matter who he was, straight away. Didn’t you at least wonder why he was helping Cassie?”

She gulped and dropped her gaze. Truthfully, she hadn’t really thought about it. Which was so unlike her that she was shocked. Why hadn’t she thought it over, put the pieces together? She was smart, and pack meant everything. Yet she’d risked pack safety by keeping this to herself.

“Dusty, this isn’t like you,” Cain verbalized her thoughts. “We don’t know enough about Brynn to know whether he’s a threat or not.”

“All of you would have thought I’d gone insane. Everyone already feels sorry for me. How would they have reacted if I’d told them—hey, I can see a guy none of the rest of you can see. Oh yeah, and he worked a miracle and saved Cassie. They wouldn’t be looking at me with pity then. Oh no, they’d bring in the straitjackets.”