Wolf Tales VI (16 page)

She nodded.

“Okay, then link with me this time. We’ve gotten pretty good at this mindtalking thing, haven’t we?”

Mei nodded again. Oliver swept his hands up and down her back, comforting her. “Link with me.”

Eve and Adam stepped back. Oliver was obviously conversing with Mei telepathically. She nodded, at one point she even smiled. Oliver moved away from her, the air around him shimmered. A wolf sat where Oliver had stood, staring up at Mei.

She cried even harder. “Why can’t I do it?”

Oliver shifted back and took Mei in his arms once again. He shook his head. “I don’t know, sweetheart. I think that’s enough for tonight, though. We’ll see Anton tomorrow. We’re heading home as soon as Adam gets a new thermostat for the Jeep. Anton will know exactly what to do.”

He turned to Adam and Eve, but he kept his arm wrapped tightly around Mei’s waist. “Why don’t you two go ahead and get in a good run? I’m going to walk Mei back down to the room and fix her a glass of brandy, and then we’re going to bed. As close as she is right now, tomorrow I’m sure she’ll be ready.”

“Sounds good.” Adam leaned close and kissed Mei on her tear-dampened cheek. He backed away and shifted. Oliver and Mei slowly put their clothes back on while Adam waited patiently nearby. Mei hugged Eve and turned slowly away. Her shoulders slumped and dejection hung about her. Eve watched them walk down the hill. Mei’s pain was a tangible thing, something that lingered even as she and Oliver disappeared from view.

Finally Eve turned away, and became the wolf once more. The moon was rising, sending a silvery glow over the hillside. It would have been a perfect night for Mei’s first shift. A perfect time to run beneath a moon that was almost full.

She should have been able to do it. Even Eve could sense the heart of Chanku beating strongly in Mei’s chest.

Chanku, and yet not exactly the same. Racing after Adam, Eve wondered what it was about Mei that didn’t quite ring true. She thought about it long into their run, until the moon was high in the sky and her sides heaved with exhaustion. But there were no answers. None she could find in her small knowledge of their kind. Finally putting the question aside, she raced after Adam, following her mate through the moonlight.

Mei had stopped crying by the time they walked down the hill and reached their motel room. Oliver didn’t expect to see the other two for at least a couple hours. Truth be told, he’d rather be up there on the mountain, racing beneath clear moonlight than down here with questions he couldn’t answer.

Of course, he’d rather be running with Mei, both of them on four legs. Why in the hell hadn’t she shifted? She had all the signs, she’d taken the nutrients long enough. He’d seen enough new Chanku brought into the fold, so to speak. Jealous, all those years, knowing it was something he’d never do. Woman rarely took more than three or four days. Mei’d been taking the pills for four days now.

He unlocked the door. Head down, Mei stepped into the room. Oliver closed and locked the door behind them. When he turned around, Mei raised her head. He held his arms wide. Sobbing, she ran into his embrace.

“What’s wrong with me? Everything you said was going to happen is happening, but I couldn’t do it. I linked with Eve and I saw her start the process, but my body just locked up. The same thing happened when I tried it with you. Am I some kind of freak?”

He couldn’t help himself. Oliver burst out laughing. Mei shoved him away and glared at him. She knotted her hands on her hips, her tears disappeared and Oliver fell even more in love with her.

“Sweetheart, listen to yourself.” He took a deep breath and tried to swallow back what sounded too much like a case of the giggles. It was almost impossible. “You’re standing here complaining because you can’t turn into a wolf, and asking me if you’re some kind of freak? Sweetie, we’re all freaks. You, me, Adam, Eve…every one of us. We’re impossible. We shouldn’t exist, but we do. Relax. You’ll be able to shift. Be patient. I had to wait for many years, from the time I first realized I had the potential to become Chanku, until Adam found a way for me to actually cross that barrier.”

Mei nodded and hung her head. “Okay, but it better not take me years. I’ll try and be patient.” She turned and walked away from him when he would have hugged her as tight as he could. “I’m going to go take a shower now. By myself.”

Okay. So she was still a little upset. He could handle that. “I’ll get mine when you’re done.” Oliver reached for a beer out of the cold case they’d left in the room, but it hurt that she hadn’t wanted him. He let his thoughts drift her way.

And realized he should have been paying better attention. The door had shut behind her, but her mental self-recrimination rang in his mind, clear as a bell.

Why isn’t he insisting? Any other time, Oliver would be right behind me, whether I said I wanted him or not. Maybe he doesn’t love me anymore because I’m not really like them.

Oliver put the unopened beer back in the case. He tugged his shirt off, slipped out of his shoes and stripped his pants over his legs. Then he followed Mei into the bathroom.

She turned on the water and stepped beneath the spray and wondered if she should leave in the morning and try and find a way back to Tampa. Her body ached and her heart felt like lead in her chest. What a fiasco. She should know better than to believe things were finally going to work. Hadn’t her life always been totally fucked?

Tears welled in her eyes again, but it didn’t matter. Not while she stood under the cleansing spray where even she couldn’t tell she was crying. Hardly. Then a tingle ran up her spine and she sensed him before she saw him.

Oliver. When he pulled the curtain back and stepped into the shower behind her, Eve couldn’t have stopped her silly grin if she’d tried. When he put his arms around her from behind and drew her close against him, she wanted to cry for joy. Instead, she turned around and kissed him, and felt his heat and strength and the love she never should have doubted.

“I love you, Mei. Not because you can or can’t shift into a wolf, not because the sex is fantastic or because you’re so beautiful you make me ache. I love you because of who you are. The woman inside who says she loves me back. Everything will be fine. I promise you. Don’t ever give up on yourself. And please, don’t ever give up on me.”

She raised her head and stared at him, knowing Oliver would never lie to her. He looked so damned serious, even with the water beading in his short hair and the sparkle in his gorgeous eyes. She knew her lips still trembled, but she finally managed a smile. “I promise.”

And she hoped like hell she was strong enough to keep it.

They’d actually taken a shower without having sex. Oliver hadn’t thought that was possible, but Mei hadn’t done anything more than kiss him. Then she’d turned around and washed herself, rinsed the soap and conditioner out of her hair and stepped out of the shower before Oliver realized she was going. He managed to rinse the soap off himself and follow her just seconds later, but he needn’t have worried.

She’d thrown the blankets back and lay on her side on the clean sheets, propped up on one elbow with her chin resting in her palm. Her bottom leg stretched long and straight, but she’d bent the other at the knee, posing with all her feminine attributes on display.

Her long, black hair hung in tangles over her breasts and curled across one hip, spilling onto the sheets. She licked her lips when she saw him, a slow, sensual sweep of her tongue that moved across her lower lip, then the upper.

Oliver stopped, midstep. The towel he was wrapping around his hips fell to the floor from useless fingers. He made a conscious effort to close his mouth, and was proud of himself for thinking of it. He stood perfectly still while his cock swelled out of its nest of hair and slowly, all on its own, rose up to brush his belly.

Mei’s studied, sultry look slipped and she grinned. She looked like a kid checking out the latest candies in the store window, only she was obviously focusing on his only moving part. Then she held up one finger and crooked it, urging him closer, and the child was replaced by the seductress.

As if she pulled an invisible thread, Oliver crossed the short expanse between the bathroom door and the bed. He leaned over her and drew in a breath, absorbing her scent, the rich flavors of her arousal, the tangy fragrance of Chanku. It was different with Mei, an unusual bouquet of aromas that were seductive, addictive…entirely Mei.

And they owned him. Controlled him. Stoked his arousal, led him like an addict to his drug. He needed her. Needed the touch and feel, the taste and scent, the flavors unique to Mei. Oliver crawled slowly up on the bed. He kissed her knee, the smooth flesh of her inner thigh and laved her with his tongue. He traced the line along her hip, leaving kisses on the bony line of her pelvis, the smooth flesh along her flank. Her navel got his attention, a quick swirl of his tongue and a gentle nip beside the neat little indentation. He moved along her ribcage, nipping and kissing each raised line of bone.

She moaned and arched into this mouth when he reached her breast. He took her nipple, the one on the left, and dragged it between his teeth, tugging to the point of pain. He knew when he reached it, knew because she cried out with a sharp little “ah” that stopped him. He licked her then, swirling his tongue around the tip, easing her distress, licking and sucking with as much gentleness as he could.

He found her mouth, licked long the soft swell of her lower lip, nipped at it and dragged a groan from her. Then he found the seam between her lips and traced it with his tongue. At the same time, Oliver opened his mind. Opened to her thoughts, her desires, her physical reactions to his touch. He found her needy and wanting, her sex swelling with arousal, her fluids thick and streaming between her legs.

Smiling to himself, Oliver slipped back along her lean length, positioned himself between her thighs, and prepared to feast. He nipped her inner thigh, traced the seam between leg and groin. Nuzzling the soft flesh between her legs, he spread her legs wide, cupped her buttocks in his palms and lifted her to his mouth.

She was ambrosia to him, her flavors sweet and succulent, her tiny moans and gasps of pleasure the added spice to his meal. He made a feast of her tastes and textures, suckling thickened labia into his mouth, lapping at the salty fluids escaping from her sex.

He ignored her clit and knew it was making her nuts, but he spent an inordinate amount of time lapping at her creamy center, running his fingers along the dark cleft between her buttocks. He found the sensitive tissues of her perineum and traced a line to her ass, ringing the tiny puckered opening with his fingertip.

She groaned and pressed against him and he pushed harder, then retreated. Press, retreat. Press, retreat. Press…and he gained a bit of an entrance. Pressing harder, his finger slipped through the tight ring of muscle into the slick passage beyond.

Mei groaned, but she didn’t pull away. Instead she pushed against him, her body begging for more. He forced his middle finger deeper and used his thumb to tease her clit. She gasped, cried out and clenched down on him, but he kept up his steady thrust and retreat.

He leaned back down, closer, his tongue working around his own fingers, finding her sweet creamy center, lapping up her juices as if she were a buffet for him alone. She moaned and arched into his mouth. Oliver opened his thoughts, shared her tastes and the ripe texture of her swollen folds. The way she felt against his tongue and lips.

She cried out, then merely cried, her sobs choking her breath, her body shuddering in the throes of climax. Oliver brought her down, slowly, his hands and mouth touching, tasting, tantalizing every nerve ending, every sensitive spot she had.

When her sobs abated and her breathing slowed, Oliver crawled over her body. He kissed her gently, thoroughly. Then he rolled over and lay beside her. She’d found release. He still throbbed, hot and heavy, his cock begging for her warmth. But she’d rolled to her side and curled into a ball, her body shuddering with her tears, her sense of loss.

She had no idea what she hadn’t achieved, tonight. But she felt its loss just the same. Ignoring his own needs, Oliver rolled over and pulled her up against his chest. Warm and sated, she clung to him, her tears dampening his shoulder, her fingers clutching at his arms. He felt her smooth belly against his cock and willed that part of him into quiescence. Another time he would love her. For now, he would hold her. Comfort her. Convince her he loved her because she was Mei, not because she could run like the wind on four legs.

Hours later, Adam slipped through the door with Eve close behind him. Oliver was just coming out of the bathroom when they entered the room. He glanced up at Adam and caught his thoughts.

Is she okay?

I think so. We’ll know more after we meet with Anton.

Agreed.

Eve went into the shower. Adam followed her.

Oliver took his place in the chair beside Mei’s bed. She slept soundly, almost as if she’d been drugged. He hoped the pills, the nutrients they’d given her without any concern for her health, hadn’t harmed her. Hoped she would be okay in the morning. For now, though, he knew he wouldn’t sleep. The arousal he’d experienced with Mei had grown. He needed relief, if only by his own hand, but now Eve and Adam were here and privacy was lacking.

There were some things he just didn’t do with an audience.

He decided to wait it out. Eventually his erection would go away and he’d be able to catch at least a little sleep.

Eve came out of the shower first, glowing with the tremendous level of need that followed a good run. Adam was right behind her and his libido was obviously in an even higher gear than Eve’s, though Oliver knew they’d already had sex at least once in the shower.

Adam glanced at Oliver, sitting quietly beside Mei. Come with us, my friend. There’s no reason to be alone.

Oliver’s cock twitched and he felt a dull ache in his balls. They were certainly interested in Adam’s offer. Are you sure?

Adam nodded. Would I ask if I wasn’t?