Wolf's Desire (9 page)

“I can’t let you do that, Keira.”

His voice sounded strained, and when she looked over at him, he was clutching at his side.

“What? Why?” she demanded, frantically trying to change lanes on the busy freeway. “Are you okay?”

“I can’t let you go anywhere because you are my mate.”

Mate? What the hell was he talking about?

Her feet nearly slipped from the pedal when he slumped over in his seat and passed out cold.

Like hell she wasn’t going to take him to the hospital. There was no way she was going to let this man die because he refused professional help.

Keira slammed the pedal to the floor and high-tailed it to the nearest hospital.

A hospital sign posted up next to the side of the highway came into view after Keira had driven for fifteen minutes.

She swerved across three lanes and made it just in time to execute the merge, receiving more than a few protests from angry commuters blowing their horn. She’d been going way over the speed limit but by sheer luck no police cruisers seemed to be out on the interstate. Even if they had pulled her over for speeding, any sane person could see that there was a wounded, huge, six feet four, over two hundred pound man slumped over in the passenger seat. And likewise, they’d be able to tell just by looking at them that they had obviously been involved in some shootout or wild rampage.

Keira held the steering wheel tightly and glanced over at Aiden. Even in his state—blood smudged across his face and arm and clothes spotted with asphalt dust and gun powder—he was still exceptionally good looking. Rough around the edges. Lethal with a gun, but still handsome. It was almost too good to be true
, and she wondered if by chance she’d magically swapped roles with one of the romance heroine’s she read about on a daily basis in her steamy novels.

What had Aiden meant by she was his mate? Had his ability to reason been reduced by the injuries he’d sustained during the gun battle?

Suddenly, a warning light started flashing on the dashboard and something beeped loudly and persistently. The red light blinked on under the speed dial, indicating that the van was out of gas.

“Dammit!” She pounded the steering wheel and pushed the gas pedal harder hoping she’d make it on the fumes or what little drop was left in the tank.

The van sputtered and chugged and the engine failed.

“No.” She panicked, turning the key in the ignition as it rolled at a snail’s pace down the freeway. This time commuters were furious and horns blared behind her and others whizzed right passed her.
She fought the urge to flip each one of them the bird. What ever happened to southern hospitality? Wasn’t it obvious that she was stuck? When she turned the key, the engine refused to turn over, but made clicking noises instead.

She managed to roll safely to the side of the road before putting the gear in park.
“Who the hell drives a moving van and doesn’t put any gas in it? Unbelievable!” She bit her tongue just before delivering any more insults. Those movers had died while packing her belongings and it was all her fault.

Keira reached down for her purse, but realized that she’d left it on a stand near the foyer. Her photo ID, money, credit cards, migraine pills, and other essentials had been the least of her worries
when pack of Jonathan’s mobsters had attempted to gun her down. As if nothing could get any worse, her head began pounding in what felt like the beginnings of a headache.

She took several deep breaths in and out, as several cars whizzed by them on the freeway almost as if they didn’t have a care in the world. The time was inch
ing close to six in the evening. Stuck on the side of the road as night descended was not a place she wanted to be.

Keira contemplated two choices: Ge
t out, leave Aiden unconscious, and walk to the nearest gas station. Or get out and flag down a car.

She leaned over and grabbed Aiden’s hand. His wrist felt limp as she checked for his pulse. He was definitely alive. The vein pulsed furiously against her fingertips. His skin was also scorching hot. He could have been running a fever or gotten sick from infection
from the bullet holes. Maybe he was hyperventilating—even dying.

There wasn’t much time. She had to get help fast.

She settled for the quickest option. Get out and flag down a car.

Keira unbuckled her seatbelt and had her hands on the door knob when a cell phone rang.

The ring was more like a tune. The sound was coming from Aiden’s jacket.

She stood up in the middle clearing between the passenger’s and driver’s seat, reached into his pocket, and retrieved the phone. The LCD screen flashed with a name.

Devin.

She hit the talk button, listened briefly to the eerie silence on the other end, and swallowed. “Hello?”

“Who is this?” The voice was raspy and demanding.

His angry tone immediately struck fear in her heart. “I…I…,” she stuttered. “I’m Keira.”

“What are you doing with this phone?”

“I’m with Aiden. He’s right here, but…” She glanced at Aiden, who was still slumped over in the seat.

“But what?” the man called Devin blared.

“He’s in trouble.”

“Where are you? Who are you?” There was rustling on the other end. “Put Aiden on the phone right now.”

“I told you my name already. Aiden’s in trouble. He’s been shot, and I’m taking him to the hospital.”

“Don’t do that,” the man warned. “Give me your location.”

Strange. Why did both of them insist on not taking Aiden to the hospital for medical attention after being shot?
Was Aiden a criminal? What was he afraid of?

“Sandy Forks. Just a few miles north of the hospital. It’s close. I can make it and they can help him before it’s too late. Who are you?”

“I’m a friend. I’ll send help, but whatever you do, stay put.”

“Are you crazy?
” she exclaimed. “By the time you get here, Aiden will be dead. This man saved my life. I’m not letting him die by waiting around.”

“Keira. Wait! Keira, right?” There was a pause on the line. “You can do him more harm than good by taking him to this hospital.”

“This is nonsense,” she whispered.

“What is nonsense?”
This time the voice was one she recognized. It was Aiden. He was wide awake and looking straight at her. “And who are you talking to?”

Shocked, the phone slipped from her hand and dropped to the
floor. Her gaze skimmed across Aiden’s smudged face, and then dropped to observe his wounded side.

W
hen she saw that new skin had closed over the holes, her hand went to her mouth in shock.
Impossible.
The bullets that were once there—all three of them—lie on the floor beside his seat.

What the heck? What kind of dream was she having?

Her gaze roamed slowly back up to his face. His eyes had turned feral and swirled in a myriad of muted colors. His teeth were…

Her screamed hitched in her throat and she made a dash for it.

In only seconds, she lay sandwiched between some duffle bags and rock hard male. Her heart pounded and heat from his body blended into hers causing an inferno amid them. Blood rushed through her feverishly, but she was frozen beneath him. She focused on the face of the man who’d protected her. He’d saved her life.

His manhood, just as hard as the man himself,
pressed up against her stomach. He dipped his head low so that his lips swept over her face. The canines that she’d spotted between his lips felt cold against her neck, but she lifted her chin as if it were the most natural thing in the world for her to do.

“Where were you taking me?”
‘Keira.’
His voice was in her head. It caressed her body. It was inside her.

She panted. “To the hospital.”

“I told you not to do that,” he whispered against her throat. His fingers slid down her hips, then gripped her backside, lifting her up closer to him. “A hard head makes a soft ass.” A growl rumbled in his throat sending shivers down her back.

Keira cried out
when the heat of his erection pushed at her center. Even through clothes, she could literally feel him pulsing against her. She wanted him inside her, filling her where she most needed it.

“I didn’t want you to die,” she said, then slid her fingers across his abdomen to his side. “What happened
to the wound? What are you?”

When he didn’t answer, she traced the curves and indentat
ions of his chest up to his chin. He was definitely a man. The erection pressing against her hips confirmed this. But what ordinary man could dispel bullets in less than hour with no medical intervention?

Aiden
turned his face into her palm and inhaled. She outlined his profile, touching her fingertips to his eyebrows, nose, cheeks, and jaw. Everything seemed normal...on the outside.

She should have been afraid, but instead she was aroused.

Her digits rested on his mouth, right where she’d seen the canine-type teeth. They weren’t there anymore, but it was probably because he had his mouth closed. She pressed lightly at the seam of his lips and he parted them.

When he took her fingers into his mouth, her pussy clenched in intense need.
He slid his tongue up her finger, like licking an ice cream cone as it melted, and gently sucked. Her clit throbbed, ready to be teased to satisfaction.

Keira felt like
the ice cream cone. Like she was melting under his heat.

He took her hand and placed it back against the side of his face, and she pulled him down bringing him in for a kiss.

Aiden’s lips felt like heaven against hers. He demanded entry and their tongues united in dance. He sipped at her lips gently and slowly. Then he took her mouth hard and deeply. Her palm had moved from his cheek to the top of his head. Her fingers wound tightly in his hair. She wanted much more. She craved something she had not desired in a very long time.

He grabbed her at the thighs,
opening her legs wider to fit his body. The ends of her dress were bunched above her hips, and she was bared to him. Bare legs, panties, and all.

Keira
couldn’t get enough of him. Her body trembled for more of his touch. She could smell their arousal in the air, mingling together.

He moved to kiss her over her face,
her temples, the place behind her ears, the sensitive column of her neck, all the while leaving a trail of icy hot flames against her skin.

Yes, this was a dream. It definitely had to be.

Someone pounded on the driver side door of the van and they parted swiftly. Coldness gripped her when Aiden left her. When she looked up toward the front, she saw the flashing blue lights through the window.

The police.
They’d been caught.

Aiden moved to the front of the van. “Yes, Officer?”

“You need some help?”

“We ran out of gas, Officer. I just located my cell phone and we were in the process of calling roadside service.”

“Your van looks like it’s been through hell and back.”

Keira’s heart dropped.

“We bought it from the junk yard.” Aiden’s reply was quick. “It was all we could afford. Is there something you need to see…Officer?”

Keira heard some voices blaring from the police radio.

“10-23,” the police said into the radio. He aimed the flashlight inside the van, and it landed on Keira’s face.

“Are you okay, ma’am?”

“Yes. Now that we
’ve found the phone, I am.”

“10-17.” There was scratching on the other end of t
he police radio. “Roadside service has dispatched. They’re on the way with enough gas to get you to the nearest station.”

Aiden nodded. “Thank you.”

The police tipped his hat, and returned to his vehicle.

Keira’s heartbeats were still frantic
and uneven, but it wasn’t because she feared the police would discover what they’d done, it was because of what Aiden had done to her.

She ran her tongue across her bottom lip, still tasting him.
He tasted like the forest after a rain storm and she never wanted to leave.

Aiden
reached for the cell phone that had fallen on the floor and punched in some numbers. “Devin, it’s me. I’m alright. Don’t send anyone. I’ll come to you.”

There was mo
re quick exchanges between him and this man, Devin. Aiden talked in circles making it hard for her to comprehend what was being discussed.

Finally, Aiden’s eyes trained on Keira and he said,
“I can’t talk now, but I have something of value. I’ll bring it to you.”

For Aiden, having dinner at ten at night wasn’t all that odd. To Keira, it probably was. He was used to eating his last meal well into the night when his job had ended, well mostly ended, for the day and his clients were sleeping. This job was different. Although, it wasn’t really a job anymore. The moment he scented Keira Ellis, this had turned into something personal.