SavageLust (9 page)

Maybe she’s asleep and won’t hear me.

When there was no response right away, he thought he was
right about that. Then the door opened a crack and Regan’s face peered out. Her
eyes widened when she saw him.

“Dante?” The expression on her face was half hopeful, half
fearful. “Is—is something wrong?”

“No. I don’t think so.” He held up the book. “I wanted to
talk to you about this but…” He looked at his watch. “Oops. Should have checked
the time first.”

“It’s okay. I wasn’t sleeping anyway.” She pulled the door
wider. “Come on in.”

What was he doing here at this hour? Was he so freaked about
what he’d read, he couldn’t wait until morning to tell her the episode at her
house had been a mistake? That they needed to forget it, not let it happen
again while she was here? Tension vibrated through every inch of her body.

“Would you like me to get you some tea from the kitchen?” he
asked. “Or wine?”

“No.” She didn’t want tea or wine or anything else. She just
wanted him to tell her what was going on in his head.

“Just…” She waved at the couch. “Come on in and sit down.”

He sat on the couch, obviously leaving the invitation to sit
next to him.

Instead she chose the armchair opposite. Curling her legs
under her, she tugged the nightshirt down over her knees. She felt ridiculously
exposed. “I wish I had a robe or something.”

“You’re fine, Regan. Really.”

“Am I?” She tried to tamp down the insecurity rushing
through her.

The corners of his mouth kicked up in a smile. “Let me start
off by telling you there’s nothing in this book that shocks me, frightens me or
makes me think you’re a lunatic.”

Her mouth dropped open. “You must be kidding. Are you sure
you know what you read?”

“I’m not a dummy. But I think
you’re
the one who’ll
be shocked when you hear what I have to say.”

She said nothing, just watched him steadily. The panic
receded slightly, replaced by surging curiosity. What was going on here?

“I told you about the genesis of Night Seekers, right? How
and why it began?”

Regan nodded.

“What I didn’t explain is the makeup of the group. And let
me tell you, it was a big gap for me to bridge at the time when Craig Stafford
approached me and laid it all out for me. He’d done his research, and he knew
who—and what—he wanted on this team.” He held up her book. “I wish I’d had this
book to read then.”

She nervously twisted the hem of the nightshirt. “Why? What
does the book have to do with it?”

The look in his eyes was intense as he focused on her face.
“Because six of the original Night Seekers are shifters. Wolf shifters. As well
as some of the newer additions to our group.”

Shock swept through her, freezing her body. What was he
talking about? Had she even heard him correctly? This was the
last
thing
she’d expected him to say.

“Let me get this straight.” She did her best to tamp down
the mixture of emotions bubbling up inside her—disbelief, hope, shock. “Are you
telling me you live in a house with shifters and you don’t think anything of
it? Don’t consider it weird?”

Impossible. Just impossible. She could hardly believe what
she was hearing now. She and Reed had guarded their secret so closely. Were so
very careful with their choices of friends.

“Craig pulled no punches when he told me about it. He gave
me material to read, including studies by scientists, and answered all of my
questions. Even had Jonah Grey give me a demonstration.” His mouth turned up in
a wry grin. “I wasn’t used to men showing up at my place and taking off their
clothes.”

“And you just accepted it?” she asked, still processing what
he was saying.

“Not at first. I thought he was nuts. But he was persistent.
And logical, I might say, if anything about this is logical. He pointed out
that I had accepted the Chupacabra without question. That had to be far more
unbelievable than shifters. He made a lot of sense. And after Jonah’s visit and
a long discussion with some of the others already on board, I realized it wasn’t
so odd after all. So either we’re all crazy or we’re the only sane ones
around.” His grin turned rueful. “I’m not sure I want to know which, either.”

She scrubbed her face with both hands. “So what you’re
telling me is,
six
of the team are shifters. Did I hear that right? And
what about the others?”

Dante smiled. “It gets even more interesting. The shifters
are Jonah, Mark, Logan, Chelsea, Sam Brody—who was pretty quiet tonight—and
Ric. Our team leader.”

She blinked. “The Texas Ranger?”

“Uh-huh. Mark’s wife, Chloe, is also a shifter. But as of
right now, they’re the only mated shifters. All the others are human-wolf
couples. Oh, and just so you know, Sophia’s husband Clint, and the newest team
member, Ben Crater, are also shifters.”

“Holy crap.”

She didn’t know what else to say. She couldn’t shake the
feeling she was in an alternate universe and any moment would wake up to
reality. This was so far beyond anything she’d expected him to say.

“Indeed.” He smoothed his hand over the worn leather on the
book. “I was fascinated to read about the history of your pack. I assume that,
like the others here, you and Reed were orphans. That your pack was decimated
and you were left without any connection to other wolves.”

“Yes. There was an older couple that survived the raid on
our small village. They brought us to San Antonio and raised us here, teaching
us everything they thought we’d need to know. After they died, we were
basically alone.” She bit her lower lip. “You have to be careful about making
friends when you’re like us.”

“I understand. What about Lisa, Reed’s fiancée?”

“She’s pure human, but somehow she and Reed connected and
she was able to accept him.”

They sat in silence for what Regan thought were some of the
longest minutes of her life as she waited for Dante to say something about the
two of
them
. He might have an intellectual understanding of what she
was, but emotionally? Just because others on the team had mated, didn’t mean he
wanted anything to do with her beyond finding and killing this beast. And
finding Lisa.

Finally, unable to stand it any longer, she broke the quiet.

“If you’ve decided you don’t want to have anything to do
with me, I can certainly understand.” She pulled nervously on the nightshirt.
“I would still appreciate any help with finding the devil beast and—”

Her words were cut off as he set the book aside, swooped her
out of her chair and sat down with her on his lap.

“Enough. We are what we are, each of us. This doesn’t change
at all how I feel about you.”

“You’re kidding, right?” She shook her head. “If you’re not
insane then that makes you a very extraordinary man.”

He grinned. “I’ve always thought that myself.” He stroked
her cheek with fingers that were so gentle, his touch nearly brought tears to
her eyes. “And you will definitely be a part of this process. Ric will have to
clear it with Craig but I don’t see a problem. We want this creature as much as
you do. Maybe more. As for the two of us?” His dark eyes looked like bottomless
pools of black as they locked with hers. “We’ll see how it goes.”

“Yes, I can see—”

He touched the tip of one finger to her lips. “Let me
finish.” Pain flashed across his face. “Since the beast killed Felicia, I’ve
been…I don’t know what. Emotionally isolated, I guess, for so long I’m not sure
how to fix it. Fix
myself
.” He stroked the line of her jaw, studying her
closely. “But even if I wanted to, I can’t deny there’s something very
explosive going on between us. Maybe you were sent by fate to help me heal. I
don’t know, but whatever it is, I’m not walking away from it. We’ll just take
it slow, okay? That work for you?”

Relief coursed through her. “I’m good with that. Yes. Slow.
Slow is good.”

She’d take it any way he wanted. Dante Martello was the
first man to touch that place inside of her she’d deliberately kept locked
away. She’d do whatever he wanted not to lose him.

“I might make a lot of mistakes here, Regan,” he warned. “I’m
out of practice where relationships are concerned and I haven’t…I don’t—”

“Ssh. It’s okay. We’ll stumble around together.”

They sat silently for a long moment. The warmth of his
strong body seeped into hers and she could feel the slow and steady beat of his
heart.

“Something you might want to consider,” he said at last.

She pushed away from him slightly, frowning. “What? You aren’t
changing your mind already, are you?”

“No.” He gave her a crooked smile. “But you might want to
make yourself known to the other shifters in the complex. They run a lot at
night. It would give you someone to…I don’t know, enjoy some recreation with?”

She just stared at him, momentarily speechless. “You really
are one of a kind. You know that?”

His laugh was ragged. “I don’t know about that. But I think
we were brought together for a reason and I want to make you as comfortable as
possible.”

She tucked her head into the crook of his neck. “Let’s talk
about it tomorrow. I’d like to get to know everyone a little better first.”

“I think you’ll find a strong bond of friendship here,
Regan. We all share tragic situations and we were all pretty much loners.” He
threaded his fingers through her hair and turned her head so her lips were
barely a breath from his. “But a lot of the team members have found someone to
share their lives with. Maybe that will work for us.”

His mouth coasted over hers with a whisper of a touch, his
fingers splayed on her scalp, holding her head firmly in place. The brush of
his tongue against the seam of her lips was like a whisk of fire, inflaming
her. Heat surged through her body, her nipples hardened and moisture gathered
heavily in her cunt.

She desperately wanted him to take the kiss deeper but he
seemed intent on merely teasing her, drawing out the sensation, coaxing her
body to respond. Not that it took much tempting. This man set her on fire with
a simple touch, a brief kiss, even the hungry look in his eyes.

He licked the surface of her lips as if tasting a rich
treat, absorbing it in small doses and savoring each drop. When she opened for
him, his tongue glided inside rather than sweeping fiercely, lapping at her
teeth and the inner walls of her cheeks. He took gentle nips of her mouth along
her lower lip and across the top, then soothed them with that incendiary
tongue.

One of his strong hands cradled her head while the other
stole beneath the fabric of the nightshirt. He glided along her skin, over
thigh and hip, until he reached her breasts. Cupping one in his palm, he rasped
the stiffened nipple with his thumb. Regan moaned into his mouth as lust blazed
through her. The pulse in her womb beat heavily and she had to squeeze her
thighs together.

Beneath the cheeks of her ass, his thick cock pressed
against her body, hot and hard. She squirmed as she tried to work herself back
and forth over it but he held her still.

“Uh-uh,” he cautioned. “Last time was too fast, too intense.
Almost as if we were caught up in a whirlwind. I wondered if maybe it was just
the intensity of the moment but it wasn’t. I thought about it while I was
reading the book you gave me. Now I want to make love to you again, but
slowly.” His mouth hovered over hers, his breath a faint breeze on her skin.
“It’s been so long for me.” Pain flashed in his eyes. “Felicia was—” His voice
broke.

Regan placed her hands on his cheeks. “Dante, we don’t have to
do this. I can’t know exactly the pain you’re feeling. Felicia was your wife.
The other half of you. But I can come close. This…whatever it is between us,
was so fast and furious, just like you said. We agreed to take it slow so maybe
it’s better if we just back off a bit.”

Another soft whisper of his mouth on hers. “And maybe I’m
getting a message that this is just what I need. I don’t want to turn away from
you. Just be patient with me, okay? And this time we won’t rush things.” He
teased the corner of her mouth. “What we had this afternoon was blazing-hot
sex. I can’t get it out of my mind. Now, this time, I want us to taste every
moment.”

“A-all right. If you’re sure.” She swallowed the lump rising
in her throat, aware that this was a huge step forward for him. That the walls
of his self-imposed prison were cracking. She just didn’t want that to destroy
him. “I don’t want you to have any regrets.”

“I won’t. I promise.”

Please let him mean that.

The kiss this time was a little hotter, a little deeper. His
hand kneaded her breast and, through the denim of his jeans, she again felt the
swollen hardness of his cock. When she tried once more to rub her ass against
it he stood up, mouth still locked to hers, and carried her to the bed.

He placed her carefully on the covers, lightly stroking her
cheek before slowly pulling off his clothes. Without the frantic pace of their
first mating, she was able to take her time looking at him, enjoy the sight of
his body as he peeled off each item of clothing. Well-defined muscles flexed
beneath his skin and dark nipples peeked out from the soft dusting of hair that
covered his chest. His stomach was flat, his hips narrow, his legs lean and
muscular. Runner’s legs, she thought.

And his cock. Regan’s mouth watered at the sight of it and
moisture flooded her cunt. The large shaft stood tall and thick against his
stomach, the head a deep purple, the sac holding his balls hanging heavily
between his thighs. He wrapped his fingers around the swollen rod and stroked
himself once. A bead of fluid appeared at the top of the head, right on the
slit. She licked her lips and tried to reach for him, wanting to lick that soft
skin all over. To taste him. His essence. The flavor of him.