Wolf Tales VI (6 page)

Body jerking, muscles tight, Oliver grasped Adam’s hips and buried himself as deep as he could. It seemed to last forever, this mind-blowing, life-shattering orgasm, his first ever while buried in the clenching, spasming body of the man he loved. Gasping, lungs dragging in huge draughts of air, Oliver leaned forward and rested his cheek against Adam’s back.

His hips still pumped, a feeble last blast of the waning spasms of what had to be the most wonderful climax any man had ever felt. He laughed, and even that sounded weak. “Holy shit.”

Adam turned his head and grinned. “That all you can say?”

Oliver nodded, still numb.

Adam laughed out loud. “Works for me. Damn it all, Ollie. I didn’t know you had it in you.”

Oliver grabbed the base of his cock and held onto the condom as he withdrew from Adam’s body and then rolled limply to the ground to lay beside him. “Actually, my friend,” he said, “I had it in you.”

“That you did, Oliver. That you did.”

Mei handed her bags to Eve and climbed into the backseat of the cab to sit beside her. “Sheesh. Ya think we bought enough stuff?” Laughing, she moved bags and shoe boxes out of the way, fastened her seat belt and leaned back in the seat.

Eve punched her lightly on the arm. “C’mon, now. Do you know any woman who ever has enough clothes? Or shoes?”

“Yeah, but hiking boots? In Florida? Where am I going to need those?”

Eve turned away and shrugged.

“What’s up, Eve? What’s going on?”

“I was…I’m hoping you’ll come to Montana with me.”

Montana? Mei hadn’t allowed herself to think beyond the here and now for so long, it took a moment for Eve’s comment to register. “I don’t know. I…”

Eve held up one hand. “No. Don’t give me an answer now. There’s no rush. Adam should be here soon. Wait until you meet him. He can tell you more about it, about our friends. I never realized how much I would miss them, but now I’ve found you, I don’t want to let you go, either.”

Mei nodded, speechless, and stared straight ahead. She couldn’t think about the bags and boxes piled around her, of Eve’s quiet declaration. She couldn’t think of leaving all that was familiar and moving to a state that might as well be a foreign country for all she knew about it. It was all so much. Too much, too soon. She’d never had so many beautiful things in her life, never had anyone spend money on her the way Eve had today.

Never had anyone care about her before.

They’d had a late lunch in a fancy restaurant with real china on the table and crystal glasses for drinks. She’d worn one of her new outfits right out of the store and felt perfectly dressed in a pale blue cotton skirt and a gauzy yellow top. The food was amazing. She’d had salmon and quiche and things she’d never heard of before, all perfectly prepared and served by an immaculately dressed waiter.

She might have been too nervous to eat, but Eve put her at ease, asking about her life, her goals, her dreams. It wasn’t easy, admitting her goals of college and a family of her own were long forgotten and her dreams so strange she couldn’t discuss them.

Dreams of running through thick forests and climbing steep cliffs and mountains, hearing the cry of night creatures, tasting fresh blood, thick and intoxicating on her tongue. She’d long ago given up trying to find an explanation for the strange places her mind took her at night. In some perverted way she actually looked forward to her dreams, to the escape they gave her from such a desolate reality.

Mei felt Eve’s fingers wrap around her hand. She squeezed a silent reply as the cab took them back to the motel. Eve paid the cabby while Mei grabbed up all the packages. “I’ve got everything,” she said. “Eve, I…” She stopped. Stared.

The hood on the black pickup was raised. There was a man, his broad back glistening with sweat as he fiddled with something on the engine. His perfect ass was covered in worn jeans that fit him like a second skin and from this angle, at least, he was gorgeous. Standing next to him, though, was the most beautiful man Mei had ever seen.

About her height and slightly built, with smooth, dark skin and a perfectly proportioned body, he stared intently into the bowels of the truck. He wore an immaculate white sleeveless tank top and khaki shorts with sandals. His hair was cropped close, his face a blend of many races. A very pleasing blend. As Mei stared at him, she could have sworn she felt a connection, an unseen link that reminded her of the sensation she’d felt the first time she and Eve were together.

The packages slipped out of her fingers and fell to the sidewalk with a rustle of plastic and the solid plop of boxes hitting asphalt. Spellbound, she let them go.

“Adam! You’re here. I didn’t expect you so soon!” Eve raced past Mei, as the man working on the truck turned around and stood up. He had a smear of grease across his left cheek, but it didn’t take away from the perfection of his face.

Damn. Mei shook herself free of whatever spell seemed to hold her, suddenly aware the one she’d been watching had turned and now studied her. She glanced away, at the other one. The one Eve ran to. Both men were gorgeous. Totally different from one another and absolutely beautiful.

“Ah, so I was right. You were expecting me! I wondered about that phone call to Keisha.” He held his arms out and Eve practically leapt into his embrace.

She was crying and laughing all at the same time, obviously thrilled to see this guy. Mei stood there, grinning stupidly with all the good feelings pouring out of the two of them.

“I’m Oliver. And you are…?”

She jerked her head around and realized the other man had crossed the short distance between them. He held his hand out, but he was obviously sizing her up. She wondered if he liked what he saw. He certainly got her nod of approval.

“Mei. Mei Chen. I knew Eve years ago. When we were kids.” She took his hand and saw his eyes widen almost imperceptibly.

Did he feel the same jolt she did, the same amazing current that seemed to arc between them when they touched? Mei held on to his hand, well aware his grip hadn’t relaxed, either.

“Wow,” he said. Softly, almost reverently. He glanced down at their hands, at their fingers still entwined. Then he raised his head and smiled at Mei. “And wow, again. Like I said, who are you?”

Mei smiled and shrugged and slipped her hand free of his grasp. Little tingles of current continued to race along her arm, but she chose to ignore them for now. She nodded in the direction of Eve and her friend. They still hugged, Eve still cried, even Adam’s face looked suspiciously damp. “I guess they missed each other, eh?”

“I guess so. Here, let me help you with these.” Oliver picked up the packages Mei had dropped. She pulled the extra room key from her purse and opened the door. Oliver set the packages on the bed.

“Should we, like, disappear for a while and give them time together?” Mei glanced at Eve and her man. Their arms were still wrapped around one another and they appeared to be having a fairly intense conversation.

“Not a bad idea. We can take the Jeep.” Oliver grabbed Mei’s hand and led her back outside. “Hey guys. Mei, this is Adam. Adam, Mei Chen. I’ve missed you, Eve.” He leaned close and kissed Eve on the lips. It was obvious she kissed him back. With feeling. Before Mei could figure out the dynamics among these three, and well before Adam could shake her hand, Oliver was dragging her away. “Mei and I are going to take a ride. She’s taking me on a tour of Tampa. Figured you two could use some quiet time…”

“Oh, that’s not necessary,” Eve said.

“Yes, it is. Thanks, Ollie.” Adam grinned and tossed the set of keys. Oliver snagged them out of the air.

They were in the car and on the road before Mei had her seat belt fastened.

Adam shrugged into his shirt as he watched the Jeep disappear down the highway. When he turned to Eve, there was a speculative look in his eyes. “She’s Chanku, isn’t she? How did you find her?”

“I’m not sure. I found her this morning. There’s something about her…”

“I know. I sense it. Does she know?”

Eve shook her head. “No. I’ve told her the pills help with telepathy. I had to say something. She knew I was reading her mind. Her thoughts are so…” Eve waved her hands helplessly. “I’m pretty new at this myself. I’m not sure what to look for.”

Adam took her hand and tugged her toward the open door to the room. “We’ll worry about Mei later. Right now, you’re the only one I want to think about.”

“Oh, Adam.” Eve wrapped her hands around his upper arm and leaned close as they walked to the room. “I feel like such an idiot for leaving the way I did. I just…I…”

“It’s okay. Now. You had your reasons and they were important ones.” He leaned down and kissed her, then closed the door behind them. “It was pretty intense. When you shifted ahead of me, I was so afraid I’d lose you, and then you were gone.”

“I couldn’t stay. Something seemed to draw me back here.”

“Mei?”

“I don’t know. I think so. I’m not sure. At first I thought it was just me, needing to understand myself, my independence. Now that I’ve met Mei…I imagine Anton will have a field day with whatever is going on.”

Adam laughed. “Yeah, well, Stefan won’t like it. One more instance where his coincidence argument goes down the drain.” He brushed her hair back from her face and slowly, thoroughly, kissed her once again.

Eve drew his breath into her lungs, his scent, the hard feel of his body against hers. She’d been so stupid, leaving this amazing man, but she’d had no choice. Something stronger than desire had drawn her back to Florida. “How was it?” She pulled away from his lips. “The first time you shifted. Was it absolutely amazing?”

“It still is. Every time. The hardest part has been shifting back, being human and so damned horny I ache. And you’re not there.”

Eve felt her smile spread, felt the warmth of his soft words like a caress across her heart. “I’m here now. So are you. Both of us here and very needy. Make love to me, Adam. I’ve missed you so much.”

He took a huge breath and his chest rose and fell with it. She felt his confusion, his desire, but his thoughts were blocked, hidden from her searching mind. He suddenly turned and walked away from her, toward the small bathroom. Eve followed and watched while Adam carefully washed the grease from his big, battered hands and used the damp towel to take the smudge off his cheek. He led her back out into the room and stood with her beside the bed.

It was freshly made. Eve thought of the rumpled and sweaty sheets she and Mei had left this morning, but housekeeping had obviously come while they were gone. She wasn’t sure how Adam might feel about her morning with Mei. There was so little she really knew about him. What they’d had was intense, but still very new. Swallowing back a million questions, Eve carefully put her own shields in place and blocked her thoughts.

Adam slowly raised his hands to cup the sides of her face in his callused palms and all thoughts of Mei fled.

Gentle yet so very strong, he held her immobile while his lips touched hers with a sense of reverence she’d never experienced. His mouth was soft and searching and he kissed her thoroughly, licking and nipping at her mouth and then carefully tracing the seam between her lips with the tip of his tongue.

She parted for him, sighing with a sense of expectation. The arousal he built inside made her ache for more. His muscular thigh slipped forward between her legs and he pressed against her pubes, a gentle pressure that merely hinted at his strength.

Moaning, Eve tilted her hips and rode his thigh. Her short skirt slipped higher up her legs and her sex throbbed with each scrape of worn denim over damp panties and needy clit. She wrapped her arms around his waist and sucked his tongue inside her mouth.

Adam’s body trembled, yet he still moved slowly, carefully, as if she were made of crystal. She wanted more. Wanted the long, lean naked strength of him pressed against her, wanted the thick length of his cock buried deep inside her sex, but he kept the pace slow, almost languorous as he carefully made love to her mouth.

She felt the slide of his palm against her throat, over her shoulder, on her breast. His hands were scarred from years of working on cars and other mechanical things, and the rough calluses and ridged flesh added another layer of sensation to her already sensitized skin.

Her nipple tightened immediately and he rubbed his hand over the hard nub. She wanted the feel of his hand on her skin, not through layers of fabric, through bra and cotton blouse. As if reading her mind, Adam flipped the top button free, then the next. He kissed her and the pressure between her legs grew.

His left hand pressed the back of her head, holding her still while he plundered her mouth. She remembered him as a careful, thorough lover, but this was taking careful to new heights. Eve tilted her hips forward, bringing more pressure against her clit. Adam laughed and pulled his mouth away. “Slow down, sweetie. I’ve waited too long to rush this.”

Eve laughed and rested her head against his chest. Her breath huffed out of her lungs and she rolled her forehead against him. “How about we rush this first time and take the next one slower?” She raised her head and laughed again at the expression on his face.

“You’re telling me you want it hard and fast?”

“Oh…yeah. Definitely. The harder the better. I am so ready.” She walked her fingers down his chest, paused a moment over his heart and felt it thundering against her palm. She reached his waistband with both hands, tugged his shirt free and slipped her hands inside against the warmth of his belly. “Why’d you put this back on? I want skin. Yours against mine. You inside me. Now.”

“Oh, yeah. Right now.” He kicked his shoes off, slipped out of his jeans and ripped off his shirt. Buttons skittered across the floor. Eve watched, slowly unbuttoning her blouse and sliding her skirt down her legs. When Adam turned to her, his thick erection curving up and out of its nest of dark hair made her mouth go dry.

She reached for his thoughts and found only need and want and a powerful longing—every bit as powerful as her own. Overlying everything was an edge of fear. She wasn’t certain why or what, but it unnerved her, to know this powerful, intelligent man feared something about her…or for her.