Silence of the Wolves (21 page)

‘Would you mind if I undressed you?’

‘Not at all.’ She gave him a cheeky grin, shifting her weight so he could slide his heavy, wet jacket from her shoulders, exposing her bare skin.

She shied away as he looked at her body, trying to cover the ugly scars that littered her body. He batted her hand away. Just taking it slow, slow and steady, he reminded himself, over and over again.

Gently, he gathered her into his arms and lifted her off the duvet. He walked her into the bathroom and carefully settled her in the warm, soapy water.

As he turned to leave, she thrust a hand out. ‘Please don’t leave me.’ She looked so innocent, so lost, as she stretched her hand out towards him.

God she looked beautiful with her black and red streaked hair fanned out around the edge of the bath.

‘I should go,’ he said gruffly, kicking himself as soon as he said it.

‘Please,’ she whispered. He turned to face her and, damn, as hard as he might try, he just couldn’t leave her. He just couldn’t tear his eyes away from that green stare of hers.

Slowly he walked over, stripping off his jacket as he went. Carefully he lifted the sponge from the water and ran it across her collarbone, spreading soapy bubbles in its wake. She leant back to give him further access, breasts peeking out of the water. She was so stupidly beautiful.

He stroked a finger down her neck, then he gently pushed her forward, so he could wash her back.

Hell, he thought maybe not seeing her breasts would make this easier, but every part of her made him hard, his manhood punching into his fly as she moved, the water lapping gently at her beautifully pale skin.

Brushing her hair aside, he stroked her, gently washing away the dirt and blood she was covered in.

Once he was done, he tugged her backwards, carefully rinsing water through that long hair of hers. He massaged shampoo into it, trying to avoid looking at her very naked figure beneath the water. Once he’d washed the soap out, it thankfully covered the top of the water in a layer of bubbles, hiding her from view. Though part of him mourned the loss.

‘Leyth.’

‘Yeah?’ His voice was soft. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Instead she reached out and slid a hand across his face, pulling him gently forward. As their lips met, his soul sang. She was so soft, so sweet.

He eased into her, slowly wrapping a hand around her neck, stroking her hair. Her hands found his T-shirt, tugging gently. He let her slide it off, breaking away from her only briefly to let her slip it over his head.

Then he was back on her again, more frantic this time. Urgency heated him from his core, but he was careful to take it slowly, he didn’t want to hurt her.

No chance of that though, she was as anxious as he, her hands wrapping around his broad shoulders, pulling him further forward.

‘Hang on,’ he murmured against her lips, shoving his combats down but leaving his boxers on for good measure. ‘Mind if I join you?’

‘Not at all.’ Her voice was husky, and she moved over as he slipped into the warm water. For the first time, he was truly grateful for Julian’s oversized tubs. Even so, his size made the water swell and spill over the edges of the bath. She chuckled against his lips, her throaty laugh making him want to take her, right there and then. He restrained himself though, not wanting to spoil the moment.

He was going to do this right. Remember every second of this. No matter what happened between them, even if it didn’t work out and he ended up spending the next eternity alone, he wanted to have this one memory to see him through it. It might be selfish, but he needed this.

Grabbing the sponge again, he broke free of her lips, regretting the decision the instant he made it. He soaped the thing up and carefully ran it across her collarbone once again. She leant back and
maaaaan
did he get an eyeful; her heavy breasts floating in the water. He couldn’t help himself, he ran the sponge over them, her nipples tightening under his touch.

A quiet moan left her lips as she arched into him. Carefully he washed the suds away, and moved further down still. He washed her stomach, brushing past her hips and onto her legs, taking care to avoid the nasty-looking gash on her thigh. Bringing her feet up to his chest, he slowly massaged her soles; the cuts had healed well, it had only been a day or so, but all that was left of them were pink, raw-looking scars.

She tugged her feet away and, leaning forward, took the sponge from him. Gingerly she lifted the soapy thing to his chest, washing away the day’s wear and tear. As she reached his own variety of wounds, she carefully cleaned them, kissing her way across his skin.

Finally she settled herself on his lap, leaning into him. She kissed her way up his neck, nipping his chin and moving onto his mouth. As her tongue met his, she groaned. It was just a bit too much.

He wound his hands around her, gripping her thighs, pressing her into him, she gasped and moaned his name against his lips, and pushed herself further onto his bulging, throbbing crotch. Finally he let himself go, standing up and lifting the two of them out of the water. He stepped over the edge of the bath and carried her into his bedroom.

Settling her wet, naked body in his bed, he ditched his soaked boxers and slid in beside her. She was all over him, kissing, nipping, running her hands down his broad chest, exploring him. He did some exploring of his own, running his fingertips across her back, feeling his way up her stomach to her breasts.

‘I need you,’ she hissed, leaning backwards and climbing on top of him. Wrapping her fingers around his cock, he roared, bucking into her touch. Looking up at her face, as she grinned down at him, slowly stroking the length of him. He arched into her again, he just couldn’t help it.

Then he hauled her on top of him in one strong movement and found her core, glistening and ready for him.

She clearly didn’t want to waste any time as she leant into him, dominating him even though she was but a fraction of his size.

Leyth could barely control himself; he thrust a hand into her hair and urged her downwards. He needed her. As she bent down to kiss him, she slowly ground herself against him, making him grit his teeth against a moan. The alpha inside him came raging to the surface, making him ache right to his very core with the need to be in her, marking her. Making her his. And his alone.

As their lips met, he couldn’t help the groan that escaped his lips; her foresty scent filled his nose, her hazelnutty sweetness filled his mouth, her skin covered his. The wolf in him surged through his veins, making him roar in sheer ecstasy and utter frustration. He was a male who’d found the most amazing female on the planet and he needed to be in her, he needed to be all over her, covering her with himself, his scent. He needed to mark her.

To hell with slow and steady.

Yet Tamriel was such a strong, determined female, she was the one in control; she was the one calling the shots. And, hell, if that wasn’t even more of a turn on.

As Leyth ran his fingers up her spine, biting down on his roaring need to be inside her, she deepened the kiss, bringing back the earth-shattering heat they’d both felt last night and, as fire seared between them, his world completely disappeared, replaced with his female, and she alone. She slowly slid her way down the length of him, the heat at her core welcoming him into her.

He barked out a curse as she groaned and started to move, slowly at first, stroking him gently. She leant further down, putting her hands on his chest as she kissed his lips, the tips of her breasts gently swaying against him.

Leyth slid his hands down her back and cupped her perfectly formed rear, stroking her smooth skin.

As her movements became more frantic, so did his; his need to fill every part of her with himself became a constant roar. He flipped her over, unable to take the tension any more. With her safely on her back beneath him, he plunged deeply inside her, as far as he could go. And she took him in, every inch of him.

Together they rode out the wave of heat and ecstasy in frantic, mind-blowing movements. She screamed his name as he groaned and roared.

As he felt himself reach the edge, he dove straight off without hesitation, his orgasm hitting him hard. As he came, so did she, his name leaving her lips in a hiss.

When the storm was over, she leant her forehead against his, panting hard. He rolled over, letting her rest her head on his arm, brushing her hair from her face. He kissed her gently, and slowly stroked his fingers across her soft skin, holding her close as she closed her eyes and drifted off.

‘Thank you,’ she whispered. ‘You really are amazing.’

‘Where the
hell
have you two been?’ Julian thundered, storming towards them as they wandered downstairs, several long hours later.

‘Sorry, man, we had to sort some things out.’

‘Don’t talk to me like that. I’m
not
your buddy, I am your alpha. You will treat me with respect. And
you
,’ he snapped, glancing at Tamriel, ‘my office. NOW.’

The two of them scuttled through the large doors as Julian strode in behind them, slamming the doors behind him. Then he slipped a finger over his lips in a ‘shh’ motion, and waved them behind his desk.

No wonder the thing was so outrageously big; there was a crawl space underneath it. Bending down, Julian hit a button and, silently, the floor beneath the crawl space slid apart, revealing concrete steps that dipped down into the dark room below. Julian waved them forward, closing the hatch as he went.

Once in the room, he clicked the light on and slouched on a shaggy green sofa leaning against the plain brick wall.

The overhead light revealed a concrete floor covered in a variety of ugly rugs, two sofas and little else, bar a fridge. Julian grabbed a beer from the thing, then threw one to both Tam and Leyth.

‘Sorry about that, guys. A lot happened while you were gone.’

Tamriel shot him a confused glance, fiddling with the sleeve of Leyth’s baggy T-shirt, the only bit of material she was wearing. They were only planning on coming downstairs to grab some food and they hadn’t planned on, well, this.

‘The Council are
here
,’ Julian said by way of explanation. ‘They’re demanding to take control of you, Tamriel.’

‘What?’ the two of them said in unison.

‘I don’t know how, I don’t know why. But they know about you escaping the Circle’s base already.’

‘Well that’s not a bad thing, what she did was good!’ Leyth looked relieved.

‘No. They also know about what happened with Alison.’

‘Oh shit.’

‘Yeah. They want to take her to be put on trial, to be bound and buried.’

‘What?’

‘No.’ Leyth stomped his foot. ‘NO.’

‘What?’ Tamriel repeated, glancing between the two males.

‘They want to bind you to your skin and bury you. So you can die a slow and painful death. It’s their way of punishing supernaturals that hide their talents.’

‘But I didn’t even
know
I could do it. I still don’t know how.’

‘I know. Look. We’ve got to hide you. Leyth, I need you here, we need to come up with a plan and fast.’

‘How are we going to do this? If we don’t hand her over, they will put a kill order on her head and shut our pack down.’

‘I know. We’ll figure it out as we go. We need to act quickly though, otherwise they’ll know something is up.’

Leaving Tamriel inside Julian’s secret hideout, the two men left, pulling the desk over the hatch for good measure.

Julian whispered to Leyth, ‘Break a window, fast.’

Leyth hurled a chair in fury.

Julian then walked over to the huge double doors, throwing them wide. ‘
Everyone in here now!
’ he hollered into the body of the mansion. One by one, they all piled in; the wolves, the shifters, the djinns, minotaurs and the Council members.

Everyone but Alison.

The pale-skinned, bony leader known as High Lord strode across the room, his purple eyes locking onto Leyth’s as he went. The guy’s thinning white hair stuck to his forehead, slick with sweat. It was if the pure act of walking was an effort, sapping his strength.

The male settled himself in Julian’s chair; an act of such disrespect Leyth couldn’t hide the shock on his face. The second Council member, known as the thane, or right-hand man to the High Lord, had much more colour to his skin, his shoulders filled out his robe, and his hair was long and thick, though still as white as his companions. He strode over to stand at the right-hand side of the Magi. Leyth was sure he’d never seen these magi before; even so, a sting of recognition hit him in the gut as the thane met his eyes.

He shoved the confusion on the back-burner as the rest of the household stood to attention in front of Julian, even the half-breeds were there, Leyth noticed.

‘We have a situation,’ Julian announced. ‘Tamriel has escaped. Following the news of the Council’s decision to… detain her, she made a run for it, escaping through the window.’ He waved a hand at the broken glass.

‘
Are you telling me that the two of you couldn’t contain one little wolf?
’ the ugly magi snarled.

‘She is small and nimble. Her actions were fast. We could not react in time and we thought it best to alert you, my highness, before taking further action.’

‘
And so you have told us. Take the necessary action
.’

Julian turned to address the rest of the group. ‘I want all of you out in the woods, searching for her. Wolves, I want you shifted and hunting by scent. Shifters, I want you in the skies. Scour these woods, do you hear me? She can’t have gotten far, do whatever is necessary to detain her; I want her back here…
Alive or dead
.’

Each of his subjects nodded, no one daring to argue with their alpha, not in front of the Council. They slowly headed out of the door, and quiet chatter began on the other side.

‘Sarah,’ Julian called the female in. ‘Take some of the remaining females and prepare the guest quarters for our honoured guests.’

‘Thank you, Julian. We shall retire to our quarters and await your news.’ The thane bowed his head, holding a hand out for his High Lord.