Costin’s smile widened. “No, I imagine it would not be very enjoyable for either of us.”
He leaned closer until his lips were so close that they touched hers as he spoke. She could feel his warm breath blow across her face and closed her eyes, enjoying the sensation.
“Sally,” he whispered.
“Mm-hmm,” she moaned out.
“I’m going to kiss you now.”
“Please,” she pleaded.
Costin chuckled as he closed the rest of the distance and pressed his lips firmly to hers. They both let out groans as they gave into the tension that had been building.
Sally reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him tightly to her. She felt him smile against her lips and nipped his bottom lip at his smugness.
He pulled back and rubbed his nose against hers. “Feeling feisty?”
“You always make me act out of character.”
Costin laughed. “Oh no, you can’t blame me for your sudden desire to ravish me.”
Now Sally’s face was as bright as ripe tomato.
“I guess now that I have thoroughly embarrassed you maybe we should call it a night. We can work on mixing the drinks tomorrow.” He tugged her close to him and leaned down and buried his face in her neck. After several minutes of him breathing her in, he bit gently on her neck just below her ear. She gasped and then moaned when his lips gently kissed away the pain of his bite.
“Soon, my love,” he whispered in her ear, “you will bear my mark.”
Sally tried to respond but she had yet to regain the ability to speak. Costin stepped back and grinned, his dimple appearing on his handsome face.
“I better take you back to your room before I talk you into letting me bite you now.”
That snapped Sally out of her stupor. She let him pull her behind him as he led her from the room.
When he dropped her off at her door he kissed her gently on the neck where he had bitten her. As he turned to walk away she grabbed his arm.
“Wait,” she said a little desperately. She looked up into his eyes and told him with all the sincerity she could, “I’m so glad it’s you.”
Costin understood what she meant and took her face in his hands and kissed her fiercely. When he pulled back they were both breathing heavily.
“Let me stay,” he whispered, nearly as desperate as she had sounded. Sally’s eyes widened.
Costin’s lips lifted in a crooked smile. “Just to sleep, Sally mine.” He ran his fingers through her hair and then down her back. “I just want to hold you. I’m not ready to say goodnight.”
“Me either,” she admitted.
He grinned wickedly. “Excellent.” He grabbed her hand and tugged her into the room, shutting the door behind him.
Sally’s brain was going ninety to nothing as she tried to process what she had just agreed to. She had never slept with a guy.
“Don’t overthink this, beautiful. I promise to be a perfect gentleman.” Sally heard him through the bond and had to admit she loved the intimacy in it, that she was the only one he could do that with.
“I trust you. It’s just weird,” she told him as she grabbed her pajamas and head into the bathroom to change.
When she came out of the bathroom she froze. Costin was lying on his back in her bed, arms behind his head, legs crossed. He was attempting to look as innocent as one could on his girlfriend’s bed…shirtless. She took slow breaths as she approached her bed, unable to keep from noticing his defined chest and arms, and flat, washboard abs. She closed her eyes as she climbed into bed next to him. Her only thought was how she could ever compete with such perfection. She wasn’t athletic in any way – in fact, the only exercise she ever got was when Jacque and her had to run for their lives because of some stunt Jen had pulled.
She didn’t have washboard abs, she didn’t have defined arms, but she had a defined chest, just not in the same way his was.
“Hush now, quit your worrying,” Costin told her as he rolled over and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her back against him. “I assure you, your body is perfect for me. And I’m quite glad that your chest isn’t defined like mine. To be honest, that would be a little disappointing.”
Sally couldn’t stop the giggle that bubbled up at the picture he had in his mind. She slapped his arm. “You said you were going to behave.”
“I have been. You’re the one who brought up your chest. I mean, really, Sally, how is a man supposed to ignore that topic?”
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t think about how it would affect you,” she told him bashfully.
“Go to sleep, beautiful. One day I will show you just how perfect you are for me.”
Sally snuggled closer against him and smiled to herself. She believed Costin. After the things she had seen and felt in his mind, she knew he would never lie to her. If he said she was beautiful, then he meant it. If he said her body was perfect for him, then she would stop worrying about it.
~
“What do you ladies want to do tonight?” Fane asked Jacque and Jen as he and Decebel led them out of the meeting room.
Jen looked at Jacque and grinned. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”
“I’m feeling the need to get furry.” Jacque winked at Fane.
Fane and Decebel grinned.
“I’m always up for a good chase.” Decebel smiled at Jen wickedly, his canines sharpening and his eyes glowing.
Fane crossed his arms and looked at both girls. “Tell you what. We’ll give you guys a three minute head start.” He turned to Decebel. “You cool with that?”
“Oh, I’m cool. It doesn’t matter how far ahead my girl gets in front of me, I will always find her.”
Jen shivered under his intense gaze.
“Okay, you two, save it for the chase.” Jacque rolled her eyes. She leaned into Fane and kissed him deeply, drawing out a low growl. “That’s some incentive for you to not dawdle.”
“Dawdle,” Fane scoffed. “Woman, I've got plans for you. So no worries, there will be no dawdling of any sort.”
Jen and Jacque both walked backward toward the exit, to the freedom where they could be who and what they were. They each blew kisses to their mates and then turned, taking off at a sprint.
“How far do you give them?” Fane asked Decebel, still staring at the door his mate had just fled through.
“Half a mile tops. And that’s being generous,” Decebel answered. His focus was firmly on his mate, who was studiously attempting to block him. She was learning that the longer they were mated, and the more intense and intimate their relationship became, it became much harder to hide things from him. It wasn’t impossible, but it was difficult.
Jen hopped in place as she tried to pull her pants off.
“Jen, your shoes, ding bat. You aren’t going to get those pants off without taking off your shoes.”
“Oh, crap, my bad. I just want to hurry. I want to give him a run for his money, which is very hard to do.”
Both girls focused on undressing as quickly as possible and then dug deep inside themselves, calling on their wolves. Every change became easier and easier. Jen had told Jacque that she could almost feel her wolf just beneath her skin.
Once in wolf form they nuzzled each other briefly, Jacque keeping her head lower than Jen’s since she was the Alpha female of the Serbian pack. With a quick yip from Jen they took off in a flash.
The cold night air rippled through their fur as they darted into the surrounding forest. There was still snow on the ground but it was sporadic now and what was left was slushy. They attempted to avoid it so as not to leave paw prints. They were getting pretty good at dodging bushes and branches in order not to disturb the foliage around them, giving away the trail they had run. Suddenly Jacque broke away from Jen and Jen took that as her cue to go the opposite direction. They'd decided earlier to crisscross each other's trails. They started out in large sweeps, Jacque running left, then making an arch heading right, back toward Jen, who
was coming in the exact same figure from the left.
Gradually their sweeps became tighter and tighter. They both faltered in their steps when they heard two loud howls go up into the clear night. Then they both doubled their efforts and, as discussed, continued their crisscrosses for the duration of the run.
“How’s it going, baby?” Jen heard Decebel’s voice in her mind.
She tried to reach out with her acute hearing to get an idea of how far ahead of him she was, but he was much quieter than she was when he ran. Which really got on her nerves.
She decided not to answer and make him sweat a little by putting up a wall between them. That was sure to make him run faster, but it would also drive him insane – which was what she lived for. She could feel him pushing against her mind, and the effort of blocking him was causing her to run more slowly. Deciding speed was more important, she let him push in.
“Not cool, Jennifer.”
“What’s not fair is that you can run faster than me, are quieter than me, and know how to use your sniffer. So suck on that lolly pop and try not to choke.” She heard his laughter and it made her smile. She loved it when Decebel laughed.
Suddenly she was bowled over by a large, furry being.
“Gotcha”
“Damn,” Jen muttered.
Decebel jumped back, letting her up, and lowered his front half down on the ground, his tail wagging. He wanted to play. Jen walked around him with her muzzle in the air, appearing to be indifferent to his actions. Decebel let out a small whine. As soon as Jen was close enough she nipped quickly at one of his four white paws and darted off into the brush.
“You do like the chase don’t you, Jennifer?” Decebel teased.
“Foreplay, baby. Foreplay.” She was repeating the words he had once spoken to her. Being in wolf form didn't deny them any pleasure.
Decebel let out a low growl and doubled his speed.
After running as fast and as hard as she could, Jacque decided to switch from defense to offense. She thought it might be fun to turn the tables on the wolf-man with a well-placed ambush. She hid in a thick grove of trees just off the path. As the minutes ticked by and Fane got closer, her heart beat more quickly in her chest. She crouched low, ready to pounce.
“I know you are here, little female.” She felt the caress of his words in her mind. He was trying to distract her. She didn’t respond.
When she finally saw him come into view she was momentarily confused when he simply sat on his haunches and looked around, looking more like a large farm dog taking a break than a fierce wolf. Once she collected herself she took two large steps and pushed hard with her legs, launching herself into the air. Just before she would have landed on his back, Fane, in a very experienced move, dropped to the ground and rolled her. Jacque landed with an “oomph” sound. She stood up, shaking herself.
“How did you know where I was coming from?” She turned to look at the once again calm Fane.
“I could hear your heartbeat, and smell you.”
“Damn, I was upwind. Amateur mistake,” she muttered.
“You actually got much farther than I anticipated, and that whole zig-zag thing you and Jen did was brilliant.”
Jacque preened under his praise and walked over to him, rubbing against his side. He licked her muzzle and she instinctively lowered her head.
“I’m so glad that I can share this with you,” Fane told her as they lay down next to each other, their bodies pressed close.
“Me too.” Jacque’s voice was a contented sigh.
“Can I ask you something?” Fane's tone was cautious.
“Anything,” Jacque answered.
“Do you miss your home? Are you happy here with me, with my family?”
Jacque heard the worry in Fane’s voice. He could be in her mind anytime he wanted and seek the reassurance he needed. But instead he asked her.
“I miss my mom. But I get to talk to her anytime I want.” She turned her face to his. “Do I really miss my life back in the States? No. My home is wherever you are.”
“Do you ever wonder what your life would be like had you never met me? Where you might be, who you might be with?”
“If you mean do I think Trent and I would have gotten back together, then the answer is no.” Jacque felt Fane tense.
“What’s up, wolf-man? Are you still jealous of him?”
When he didn’t answer right away she sat up to look at him and immediately lowered herself back to the ground at his low growl.
“My father found out something about Trent. About why he ended your relationship so abruptly.”
“Oh?” Jacque sounded surprised. She was a little put out that he hadn’t told her a long time ago.
“Lucas threatened him if he didn’t stop seeing you. Trent actually stood up to him, but then Lucas threatened his family.”
“How did you find this out?”
“Simple,” Fane told her. “We asked him.”
“Did he not find that a little odd?”
“I explained to him that you and I had hit it off and gone on a couple of dates. I told him that you were honest with me about your relationship and the sudden break up. He looked genuinely sorry,” Fane added begrudgingly. “So when I told him that I saw some strange guys hanging around your place and wanted to know if he knew anything, he told me about Lucas.”
Jacque looked off into the forest, lost in thought at the information Fane had just told her. It was weird to realize that Trent hadn’t really wanted to break up with her. What would have happened? Would they have continued to date through their senior year? She heard a low growl from Fane.
“Sorry, I’m not saying that's what I wish had happened. It’s just weird to think that what I thought wasn’t reality at all. Why didn’t you tell me?”
Fane looked away. She nudged his head gently, encouraging him to tell her.
He let out a loud huff.
“I didn’t want to know if you wished that it hadn’t happened, that you might have wanted to continue a relationship with Trent,” Fane admitted.
“That’s absurd.” Jacque laughed. “Even if I had still been with Trent when you showed up, I would have left him. The pull I felt to you was like two magnets. The closer we got to each other the stronger the pull became. No one could have kept me from you, Fane. Surely you know this.”
Fane sent her an image of him caressing her face. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the physical sensation she was able to feel even through the bond. She nudged him to get up and stood. She was tired of the depressing conversation.
“Race ya back.” Before the words had registered in his mind she took off as fast as she could.
Jacque heard a low bark from Fane and pushed even harder. The entire time they ran, Jacque was constantly sending him reassurances that he was the only one she could ever want or love. They made it back to the mansion and saw that Jen’s clothes were already gone.
Jacque phased back into her human form and began to dress as Fane phased as well. He looked up at her and grinned.
“That was fun.
“I agree.” She smiled and tugged his hand to go inside. “So what now?”
“How about I run a hot bath?” Fane asked.
“Aw, that would be great, babe.”
“I didn’t say it was for you,” he teased and jumped out of her reach when she swatted at him.
“Tell you what,” Fane told her, walking backward while he spoke, “whoever makes it to the room first gets the hot bath.”
Jacque didn’t respond, she just took off running. Fane smacked her backside as she ran past him, causing a sound that was curiously close to the yip of a wolf to emit from her.
Chapter 10
On the road again. Like a band of gypsies we go down the highway
We're the best of friends, insisting that the world keep turning our way
And our way…is on the road again
“Who knew that Willie was writing a song just for our occasion? We even
have a gypsy. Now, if we could only get the world to turn our way. Yeah, no. That's not gonna happen.” ~ Jen
After spending the previous day packing and preparing for the journey ahead of them, Jen, Jacque, and Sally spent the morning talking over hot chocolate. Nerves were on edge and the atmosphere of the mansion was tense.
“So...Pixies, huh, Jac?” Jen waggled her eyebrows.
“Knowing my luck they'll be like the little blue demons in Harry Potter and I’ll find myself hung from a tree by my clothes like Neville did.”