The Shifter's Choice (15 page)

Sonia.

She’d come back to him at last. Over the days and nights of searching for some trace of the vampire his mind kept wandering back to that kiss in front of headquarters. Johnny closed the door and retreated into the house flicking off the overhead lights, leaving only the lamps on the end table illuminated and the lights beneath the cupboards in the kitchen. He didn’t want to meet her in the driveway or the stairs or his porch. He wanted to meet her in his bedroom. He might not manage that, but he could at least greet her in his living room beside the couch that had always been too small for him—until now. Now, it was just the right size for two with one stretched out on top of the other. His skin tingled as the sound of her footfalls upon the stairs reached him.

She rapped on the door and he came to her. The breeze carried no hint of danger as he opened his arms. Thankfully she stepped into his embrace kissing him quickly on the cheek before stepping inside. Not what he’d been hoping for, he thought, but better than nothing.

He glanced past her to the hillside. His night vision was still good and he scanned the yard in twilight wondering if he were still strong enough to kill a vampire if one appeared.

Johnny inhaled once more and, finding nothing unusual, he followed her inside. He managed to hold his smile, trying to pretend that he wasn’t already burning for her. She’d asked him to wait and he had waited. Was the longing now too much for her, as well? Did she want him, but only for one night?

Sonia shifted restlessly before him, rocking from side to side as she stood in a pair of tight-fitting jeans and a pretty pink sleeveless top. The cut of the garment showed her toned arms and the pale brown perfection of her skin.

“How are you?” she asked, peeking at him from beneath thick lowered lashes.

He breathed deeply. She’d put on a light body spray at her throat and her stomach. He smiled and inclined his chin. “Better now that you’re here. I’ve been missing you.”

He watched her swallow as if nervous. She rubbed her hands together absently and glanced around the living room.

“Have you?” Her eyes met his in an expression that he thought was hopeful. Then she cast a look toward the door as she pressed her lips together. He grasped her elbow and guided her farther into the house, farther from the front door.

“Come sit down,” he said, bringing her attention back to him.

“Oh, I can’t stay.”

He moved back, giving her space and hoping to bring her farther into the room. He’d never seen her so nervous before and it made him wonder if she was here for what he hoped or for what he feared.

“I’m making you some tea. Iced green oolong with ginseng.”

He thumbed over his shoulder toward the kitchen and she nodded, following him. She perched on one of the stools that faced the counter and watched him work. He set the kettle on the gas burner. Tea was a ritual, a comfort and an art form. He set out a small ceramic teapot and threw the dried leaves in with the crushed ginseng powder. He had made her tea before, many times. Now he felt her eyes upon him as he worked. The silence buzzed between them louder than the peepers outside.

He waited for her to speak first.

She cleared her throat. “You’ll be able to see your mother and sister again soon. Won’t you?”

He smiled imagining that reunion and then thinking of bringing Sonia to meet his mother. What would these two women think of one another?

“I guess I can.”

“And you can fly on an airplane and go out in public.” Something about her tone drew his complete attention because it was flat, lacking the usual passion her words so often conveyed. Where was she going with this?

She stared at the teapot and blew out a long breath. “Talk on the telephone. Have dinner in the mess hall. All the normal things you’ve missed.”

He missed seeing her sign as she spoke.

“Yes. Sonia what are you saying?”

“You can do all those things now and more. You can talk Johnny. You can date anyone you want. You can get that assignment you’ve wanted. Make that higher pay grade.”

He met her gaze and saw the sorrow reflected in her light brown eyes. She was trying to say goodbye. Well, he’d be damned if he’d let her. He was keeping Sonia, one way or another. She was the one who took the time to get to know him, to cheer him and to understand him. Yes, he’d had to play hardball at first, but he wasn’t letting her go before they finished this. He needed to know. She needed to know what it was like to be with someone you cared about, someone who knew you like nobody else.

His hands stilled on the bag of dried leaves. He set it carefully on the counter and continued his deliberate movements, lifting the boiling kettle and pouring water into the small ceramic teapot. He filled two tall glasses with ice as the tea steeped in the little pot. Then he brought the glasses and teapot to her, setting them on the counter between them.

“This isn’t because of that kiss,” he asked.

Her denial was quick. “Of course not.”

He’d shaken her. And she’d shaken him. Only he wanted more and she was turning tail. Well, he wasn’t going to let her run until she knew good and well what she was leaving behind. Then if she wanted to run, he’d let her.

“Maybe against your best efforts you’ve grown attached to me. Maybe that kiss scared you because it was so damn good. So now you want to go.”

Her eyes widened and she pushed back from the counter so that her hands gripped the lip of the marble surface and her arms were stiff before her.

“I did my job but it’s over, John.”

He signed to her.
And you did it well.
“Are you afraid of me?” he asked.

“I wasn’t before. Now I am.”

He nodded. “Ah, I see. Then you’re afraid of us.”

“I liked it the way it was, when we could talk and just...” She shrugged one shoulder.

“So you came up here at night, alone to tell me that you wish I was still a werewolf.”

She absently ran her index finger along the smooth edge of the counter. He watched the rhythmic stroking, tracking each tiny movement like a cat watching a water bug. Her finger stilled and he lifted his gaze to find her motionless as a paused image on his television, except for the widening of her eyes and the pulse that pounded at her throat.

“I don’t want you to still be a werewolf. But I don’t want this, either. I didn’t want to come here. Now I don’t want to leave.”

“I don’t want you to leave, either.”

She made a fist and pounded it on the counter. “But I will be leaving. Any day now.” She lowered her head. “I’m sorry. Is the tea ready?”

He opened the lid of the teapot to allow the steam to escape.

“Are you always this nervous around men?” he asked, trying to make the question casual as he reminded her that he was now a man.

“I never was before. But that was because they only touched me here.” She pressed a hand over one breast cupping herself and he watched riveted as her fingers sank into soft flesh.

He gripped the handle of the ceramic teapot and he realized he was dangerously close to snapping the clay handle like a piece of chalk.

“I never let them in here.” Her hand shifted so that it lay flat over her heart.

Did she know he could hear it beating in her chest, the throb of blood surging and the valves snapping shut?

“You’re trying to shut me out again.”

She nodded, not trying to deny it. “You’re a marine trying for combat duty. I’m a marine trying for a nice safe spot on the sidelines until I’m discharged. I don’t see a whole lot of options for us.”

He poured the hot tea over the ice cubes in each glass. They cracked and hissed as they dissolved. He stirred the fluid in each container with a long necked spoon until the glasses and Sonia both began to sweat. Then he added more ice to each glass and handed one to her, being certain that their fingers brushed. Here they had no escorts, no prying eyes to watch them together. They were not parked before headquarters. She was right to be nervous because her words of caution did not mesh with the gleam in her eyes or the flush of her cheeks.

He watched her as he lifted his tea and downed the contents in three long gulps. Then he wiped the remaining moisture from his lips with the back of his hand. Her mouth dropped open as she clutched her own glass.

“Aren’t you thirsty?” he asked.

She lifted the glass and took a sip. Her hand was shaking, but not from fear. Arousal, he realized, scenting her desire. His pulse jumped and his body hardened, ready for her.

“The way I see it, you have two choices. You can cast off and run, which I know you are damn good at doing, or...” He lifted a brow as he plucked the glass from her fingers with one hand and captured hers with the other. He gave her a lazy grin.

“Or?” she asked, leaning toward him.

“Or you can get the answers to all those questions.”

She cocked her head and her brow knit. “What questions?”

“Would we be good together? What would it be like? Will he be gentle or rough, fast or slow? And then there is the kicker, if you don’t will you live to regret it?”

The tip of her pink tongue peeked out to run the width of her lower lip. Witnessing that tiny action sent a lightning bolt of desire streaking to his groin. He thought he’d been hard before, but now he pulsed for her with each heartbeat. He felt the hunger and thirst for her in his gut as the need beating through him with his blood, hot, burning hot and so strong that his shoulders ached as he held himself back. He wanted her to come to him. No, he needed her to come.

He leaned toward her. “You can still run away in the morning, but at least you’ll have your answers.”

Her eyes gleamed. Her mouth glistened and her head inclined in a barely perceptible nod.

He blew out a breath at the mingling of relief and desire. He’d have her in his bed tonight. Now all he needed was a way to keep her there. But how could he? She was right. She was going or he was going.

But they still had tonight.

He lifted one hand over his head and grasped his cotton T-shirt at the spot just between his shoulder blades, dragged it off and tossed the shirt aside. The gauntlet had been dropped. Her gaze dipped, raking his chest. He felt his skin pucker and tighten. She reached with both hands as her eyes flashed hungry as a tigress. He opened his arms wide.

Chapter 12

J
ohnny lowered his mouth to Sonia’s in a hard, demanding kiss. He dragged his fingers through the thick satin of her hair and then gripped her, controlling her head as his tongue glided against hers. Her yielding mouth and hot tongue drove him crazy. He needed to get her to that bed, needed a moment to regroup. The fragrance of her skin and the softness of her body pressed to his, filled his mind with crazy thoughts, Sonia on the counter, legs splayed. He planned to go slow, but she was rubbing against him and he wanted her so badly.

It was Sonia who broke the kiss, but not to reconsider. No, judging from what her nimble fingers were doing to his zipper, she wanted him naked. He worked the buttons free on her blouse and offered a prayer of thanks at the sight of the black lace bra that cupped her breasts in a way that made him jealous.

He drew her in, needing to feel her soft skin pressed to his. He kissed her neck and the shell of her ear, taking the lobe into his mouth to suck the sweet morsel. She gasped and clung, lifting a leg and locking a heel behind his back. Sweet mercy, they’d never make it to his big empty bed.

“Bedroom?” he whispered.

She shook her head against him. “I can’t wait. Here.”

He reached behind her back and unfastened her bra, then pushed off the blouse. She rounded her shoulders and the lacy scrap of fabric fell away. He stopped to stare at the wonder of Sonia topless in his kitchen. He’d seen her in her cammies, a bathing suit and in that red dress. He’d imagined her this way, and now she stood still for his appraisal. Her breasts were larger than he’d realized. Everything she wore until this evening downplayed her lovely cleavage. Sports bras and cammies all flattened her glorious curves. Her nipples where budded tight and a dusty rose color. He reached. Her head dropped back and her eyes shut instantly before he touched her. She leaned forward, eager for him. He splayed his hands over her plump flesh and a moan rumbled deep and feral in her throat. He kissed and licked his way from one plump breast to the next as she arched against him. Johnny moved north, back along the lovely column of her neck, the enticing hollow of her throat and the secret recesses of her mouth.

He wanted to touch her everywhere. He knew that she wanted his body, but she wanted to keep him at arm’s length. He wouldn’t allow it. Just like all those days and weeks ago when she had tried and failed to shut him out of what really mattered, out of what made her who and what she was. Tonight he would allow no holding back. He would do whatever it took to make her open not just her body, but herself. He needed to be inside her. But he also needed to be inside her thoughts and her dreams and hopes. Sonia was the only woman he’d ever met who completely captivated him.

He lifted her up onto the breakfast bar. She gasped as her bottom hit the hard marble surface and her eyes popped open. They shared a wicked smile. Then she reached and dragged his trousers and boxers along his thighs. She glanced down, measuring him first with her eyes and then reaching, taking him in her hands, stroking the underside of his erection. He set his teeth together and inhaled through his nose, clenching his jaw to fight the need to take her, giving her a chance to explore his body as he explored hers.

She lifted one hand to her mouth and licked her palm, then used that moist surface to stroke him again. Slick fingers wrapped him tightly and he gasped and groaned at the pounding beat of desire. When the fire burned too hot he drew her hands away and tugged at the waistband of her blue jeans.

“Take them off,” he ordered and she did.

A moment later she sat there on his breakfast counter like a bounty, creamy mocha flesh light against the black marble. He memorized the sight of her, treasuring the gift she gave him and vowing to be certain she never regretted one single minute of this night. Regret. It made that small still-functioning portion of his brain reengage. Something he needed.

He groaned. The condoms were all the way in his bedside table. They might as well be on the moon. She kissed his neck now, her hands traveling down his back and over his hips, then she used her nails to graze his skin on the return trip. He closed his eyes and groaned in pleasure and frustration.

“Bed,” he said and scooped her up against him. She clasped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, riding high on his hips as he carried her deeper into the house. The fragrance of her filled him like nectar. He breathed deep, drunk with the scent of her skin and the scent of her arousal. As he moved she pressed tight to his torso, giving him the unbelievably arousing pressure of her breasts hot, soft and heavy against his needy flesh. The light from the hall spilled across the floor of his bedroom in a bright rectangle. Johnny cradled her against him and he reached the bed and lowered her to his coverlet. She stretched out before him like a lithe cat. Reclining now, waiting. He took a good long look at Sonia naked and aroused. He found the sight the strongest of aphrodisiacs. And he hadn’t even tasted her yet. But he could smell her need and see the slick pink flesh as she lifted her knees and splayed her legs.

He dropped to the carpet before her as her gaze wandered over him, pausing at his chest, his stomach and finally his engorged sex. A sensual smile broke across her face and he returned it. He’d been afraid to break the mood. But that was nonsense. The look in her eyes said she wanted this, longed for it, just like him. This ache great like a monsoon. Neither of them could turn back now.

He eased himself onto his outstretched arms and then lowered himself to kiss her sweet mouth. She arched to press her chest to his and he made his way south, taking his time, exploring every nook and hollow, every succulent bud of flesh and each long flat plain. At last he reached her core, savoring how she stilled when he took her in his mouth. Loving the soft panting and tiny quavering cries she made when his tongue dipped inside her. As he sucked and licked and petted her, she arched, pressing to his mouth. He slipped his hands to her bottom, splaying his fingers and he lifted her, rocked her, drove her mad.

She gasped and bucked, rubbing against the friction he lavished. Sonia seemed to stop breathing as he continued to kiss and suck and taste. She was the sweetest thing that had ever come into his life and he wanted so badly for this to be perfect for her. He wanted—no needed to give her this release. He would do anything for her. Did she know that?

Sonia’s breathing told him she was close. She came in a rushing sound, a long extended moan that went on and on as her release rolled and her fingers curled into fists in his hair. Then, by slow degrees her fingers slackened and fell away as her body went limp in his hands. She stretched as she made a humming sound of female satisfaction. He rubbed his slick mouth on her thighs and then moved back up her body, dropping a hundred tiny kisses along the way. When he neared her head, she lifted an arm, moving with a clumsy lethargy he knew well, as she stroked her fingers through the tangle of his hair.

“I’ve never felt anything like this, oh, Johnny, it was so delicious.”

“More where that came from.” And he knew he wanted her coming back for more, needed her to come back. No more one-nighters with a stranger for her, he vowed, no, never again.

She groaned and closed her eyes. “So tired.”

He kissed her neck and her ear. Slowly she rose to his gentle stroking. Reluctant, playful and then aggressive, reaching for what she wanted. Well, he was happy to give it to her. This time, when she came he planned to be looking at her lovely face.

He let her fondle him, even though he was approaching the point where need grew too raw, too mindless to be controlled. Then she slipped from his embrace and lowered her mouth to take him. It was too much. The pressure of her hand as it gripped him and her tongue moving over his wanting flesh drove him wild. He pulled her back to his arms and she smiled up at him with swollen pink lips, slick with moisture. And he could see it all with just the light from the hall. Bless his werewolf sight, he thought, wondering if she could see him at all.

“You’re driving me crazy,” he whispered.

She chuckled and straddled his hips. He stilled her by grasping her at the waist. She lifted her brows in a silent question. A moment later he had the silver foil packet out of the drawer. She plucked it from him and tore into the foil. Then she unrolled the sheath over his aroused flesh.

“I’ve imagined doing that,” she said, smiling down in satisfaction. She rocked her hips over him, sliding her slick folds along the length of him.

He held her hips and pulled her down beneath him in a quick take down that would have made his high school wrestling coach proud. She smiled up at him, with her eyes hooded and her pupils large and black.

He rocked against her once and then drew back, slipping into position. She spread her legs, lifting her heels to his hips to encourage this last joining. He stared down into her eyes and dropped until their hips locked, sheathing himself within her body. He watched her as he began to move. The sight of her flushed face and parted lips made his stomach twitch. He wanted to bring her pleasure again, wanted them both to fall into that madness together. But she was so hot and so wet and it had been so long. He growled as the need gripped him, rocking harder, deeper into her body.

Sonia cried out in pitiful little moans that grew louder and more frenzied. She raked his back with her nails and tossed her head from side to side.

Go ahead,
he wanted to say.
Go ahead. I’ll follow.
But he could not say anything because he was so close. He gritted his teeth and held back, closing his eyes for a moment to try to retain the control that slipped away like water in his hands.

She arched and howled, crying out his name as the contractions beat inside her. He felt them grip him and cast him into mindlessness. He came in a mad rush of heat and power, the pleasure pulsing out from his core and burning along his nerves like fire.

Sonia went slack and her eyes dropped closed. Johnny fell to his hands, holding his weight off her before collapsing down at her side. He had just enough strength in his trembling arms to drag her against him. She nestled, one leg sprawling over him like a boneless cat.

“That...was...wonderful.” She sighed.

He brushed the hair from her face, kissed her mouth and wondered what he had ever done to deserve a night with Sonia Touma.

When her skin grew chilled, he dragged the comforter over them before drifting to sleep. He woke as the moonlight stole across their bed, leaving her to walk to the window and stare up at the silver orb ringed in a yellow haze. When he returned it was to find her half awake and reaching for him again. They made love more slowly this time as he explored her body from toe to fingertip, becoming familiar with each curve and the arousing cocktail of her body spray mixed with her desire. Late in the night, long after the moon had set, she woke him again, pressing the third condom into his palm.

The woman was trying to kill him. But as they say, what a way to die. Werewolves had great stamina. He just never knew that included sexual stamina.

He dozed with Sonia tucked close to his side and dreamed of running in the woods after vampires. The scent of them was heavy in his nostrils. He growled and felt Sonia stir beside him.

“Johnny!”

The panic in her voice brought him instantly awake. One deep breath told him there were no vampires here. But she was shaking him and calling his name.

“Johnny!”

Why was she so little? He reached out to stroke her face and ask her what was wrong. But his voice failed him. He froze at the sight of his own hand covered with black hair and tipped with thick curling claws. He startled and fell out of bed then scrambled to his feet, staring down at himself. It was morning and he was once again a werewolf.

She was crying now, her voice bereft and full of pain. “Was it because of what we did? Strong emotions, they said. Johnny, did I do this to you?”

* * *

Sonia’s heart thudded painfully against her ribs as she scrambled out of bed, taking the bedsheet along with her. She clutched it to her body as she stared at Johnny who was now covered in black fur and his face had distended into the elongated shape that was neither man nor wolf.

“What happened?” she cried, the tears already welling so his image swam before her. Guilt lashed through her stomach, tearing her apart inside.
Oh, God, was this my fault?

His feet slapped the floor as he staggered back against the wall and patted his own hairy chest as his mouth gaped showing long, dangerous teeth. The strangled sound he made left no doubt that he attempted speech, but that ability was gone with his handsome face and form. He stared at her, his brow wrinkled in confusion. Then he started signing.

Don’t know. Why didn’t I feel it?

“Maybe you’re learning to change. Maybe you just don’t have control over it yet.” But in her heart, she knew something was very wrong. This wasn’t supposed to happen. The change had to be called. That was what the captain said. Deep inside herself the panic began creeping up into her body, clouding her mind. It threaded through her like the roots of some invasive plant. She had not felt this panic since her childhood, but she recognized the darkness growing stronger. Johnny stood before her, his nostrils flaring as he waited. For his sake, she reined herself in. He needed her. She couldn’t fall apart. But she wanted to scream, “What is happening?”

I dreamed of vampires,
he signed.
Could that cause the change?

“I don’t know. Maybe.” Sonia reached for the phone. “I have to call the captain.”

He lifted a hand and waved it.

Give me a minute.

Johnny sank to the bed and cradled his forehead in his hands. Sonia wound the sheet tight about her and rolled the top as she would with a bath towel and then she sat beside him. She wrapped one arm around his waist and rested her head on his shaggy side and whispered into his pointed ear.

“They’ll figure it out.”

He lifted his head slowly as if it were suddenly too heavy to bear. His yellow eyes were bloodshot and red rimmed. He moved his hands and she read his words.