Doms of Dark Haven 2: Western Night (21 page)

He’d had plenty of practice at doing that.

He licked his dry lips. “How are you?”

Such a huge question in those few words. Holly dragged her head up to look at him, her black hair straggled over her face. He reached up to smooth it away, noting with wonderment that she didn’t flinch.

“Right now? High.” Her head dropped as though she hadn’t the strength to hold it up. “Melty. Empty, but full.”

She lay quietly for a moment, and he remembered the man they’d found earlier. Tex had told him the man was cooling down, that he’d reached a mental state called “subspace.” Judging by the expression on Tex’s face tonight, he’d gone to a similar place in his head as well. Hunter glanced over and could barely see him though the silvery curtain around the bed.

“Overall, I’m doing good.” Her voice was sleepy. She almost sounded drunk. “I thought you guys would have found me sooner. Some tracker you are!” She gave an indignant snort.

“Would you have been ready for this if we’d come sooner?”

She sighed gently. “No. No, I wouldn’t have. Still, why didn’t you come?”

“You left no clues for me. No scent trail. Nothing.”

Her hand crept up to his chest, and she played with the edge of his shirt. “I thought…I thought you could track without a trail.”

“I don’t know… It was like I was head-blind. I needed something. And your trail… It just stopped. You got into a car.” He huffed out a breath, his ego still a bit tender regarding that failure. If he could sense the movement of a vampire over a mile away, why had he been unable to follow Holly?

“Chase.”

He glanced over at her.

“Nobody seems to be able to keep a secret from Chase. When I ran, he was at the road, waiting for me. He told me I was on my own but never alone. I guess maybe he blocked you.”

Hunter frowned. Could their alpha do that? Hell, except for the normal, original pack members, they all had something a little extra. So if Ethan and Kurt could tag team on emotions, maybe Chase had been able to suppress Hunter’s skills long enough to let Holly have her time away from the pack.

He should be royally pissed, but looking at her, he simply couldn’t find the anger. If he’d found her and dragged her home, she’d probably still be a wolf sleeping at Tex’s feet.

“What do you think of all this? The club and all?”

He looked around, catching glances of movement, finally paying attention to the moans of the subs, the slapping of leather against skin. In the corner, Xavier stood swathed in shadows, surveying the room.

“I’m not sure what I think, but I get it. My wolf gets it.” He flushed with the confession. His wolf was a near stranger now. Tonight it had come forth as it hadn’t in years. He thought he’d mastered it—broken it and stored it away. When the damn thing had roared back to life tonight, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so alive. But still, the animal was a killer. He couldn’t expose Holly to it. And if they had children someday, would they even be safe?

“I’m not a sub, Hunter.”

“You’re submissive to me.” He glared at her for a moment, satisfied as her gaze dropped. He clasped her chin and forced her to look at him again. “You’ll do what I—what
we
—tell you.”

“Here, maybe,” she conceded. She wasn’t coy. She didn’t play games with her words.

He slid a hand into her hair and tugged till her head tilted back. Her blue eyes burned with anger and arousal. “Tonight. After we’re finished here, we’re going home.”

She sat up in alarm. “No… Hunter, I have a job and roommates! I’m finally learning to be myself!”

He loosened her hand from his arm, looking pointedly at the slightly tapered nails. Tiny spots of red blood began to rise on his skin.

“Chase didn’t send you for me, did he?” There was a tinge of fear to her voice. If Chase called her back, she’d be unable to say no. Seeing her consternation, Hunter took a breath, forcing himself to calm down. She’d left home to learn to be independent and find herself. Under normal circumstances, he’d be willing to move slower, to let her make the decision. Unfortunately times were changing, and not for the better.

“No, we came for another reason. Xavier—”

“Master Xavier,” she interrupted.

“
Master
Xavier called Chase. A kid kinda manifested in his office. He thought we might know something about it.”

True alarm showed on her face. “Abraxas?”

“Don’t know for sure, but we can’t take the risk. You need to come home. Tonight.” His skin prickled, and he looked up, then shivered as Master Xavier stared directly at them. To his mortification, Hunter looked away first. Holly noticed.

“Don’t feel bad. He’s a dominant. A true master. It’s a trait not many humans possess. I certainly can’t stare him down.” She looked over at Xavier, who smiled and nodded, then turned away. He’d been checking up on her.

They were both sitting up now, and Hunter gazed down at her body. She was lithe and beautiful, as comfortable in her skin as she’d been in her pelt. His hard-on hadn’t completely gone away since he’d first stepped into this place, and now arousal slammed into him once again. He swallowed, forced it back.

“If he was a shifter, he’d be an alpha.”

She nodded. “Not like most alphas, though. Like Chase. Someone who masters the other dominants.” Her gaze followed Xavier as he moved through the room in Tex’s direction. She slid back down on the bed and rested her head on Hunter’s thigh.

“So, here’s the big question. How are
you
?” She looked up at him, her eyes dark and intense. “You were close there for a while.”

“Yeah, I was… I am turned on. But that was for you.”

She smiled and reached up to stroke his face. “No, not close to orgasm. Your wolf. He was closer than I’ve sensed in years.”

Hunter moved away abruptly, letting her head slip from his thigh. “It won’t happen again. I promise.”

She reached out and clasped his arm, stopping him from leaving their temporary lair.

“That’s not right, Hunter. You need your wolf. You need to…” She sighed as he turned away. Hunter stared out at the room, seeing nothing.

“I need to stay in control. You know what I did, Holly.” He wanted to sound firm, maybe even angry. Instead he sounded small and pathetic.

“I
saw
what you did. You fought until you passed out.”

He flinched.

“You did what the rest of us wanted to do if we’d been free. Those people… They hurt me. They hurt all of us, Hunter.”

“They didn’t stand a chance.”

“No. They didn’t. But they knew what we were. And you know, we didn’t stand a chance against them. Not when they used control collars and drugs. Not when they killed us casually as though we were…rodents or bugs.”

Hunter sighed and rolled away to lie on his side. When she came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his body, he remained motionless, torn between the peace of the moment and the confusion of emotions that raced through his mind. He couldn’t let the issue die. He didn’t turn to look at her as he spoke.

“Did they rape you?”

She was quiet for a long moment, her hand falling still on his chest.

“Not the same way they did some of the men. They’d come for me, knock me unconscious, and then I’d wake up back in my cage. A few weeks later, they’d test me. If I was pregnant, they’d leave me alone. If I wasn’t…” He understood what she wasn’t saying. Fury raced along his spine, but relief came over him as well. She’d been spared the humiliation of the sort of violation he’d endured.

As though he was unable to refrain from touching a sore spot, he forged on to the next fear that had been preying on him.

“Do you love him?”

“Tex?”

He nodded. He already knew the answer, already knew she’d chosen, and much as he might wish otherwise, she’d chosen them both.

“I initially ran when I realized I loved both of you. My wolf… She’d been growing…possessive. And when he’d come back from a town, I’d scent his lovers. I was furious. I was angry with you too.”

“Me? I wasn’t doing anything.”

“Exactly.” She gave a little chuckle. “You weren’t doing anything to connect with me. You watched and brooded. When Tex would come home, you’d be angry too, but you’d just turn away like it was none of your business.”

He rolled to his back, and his defensive anger faded in the face of her nudity. “It
wasn’t
my business, Holly.”

She lay there on her side, and the curves of her body mesmerized him. She stretched and then sat up, her face just inches from his.

“Tex was—and is—your business. He’s not your mate, and I know that being lovers with him isn’t on the table for you. But he’s your partner in this. Do you realize that every time he touches you, you flinch away?”

Hunter’s cheeks grew hot with embarrassment. Anger. He looked away.

“Don’t be angry at me, Hunter.”

Mutely he shook his head. Swallowed. He simply had no words to address this issue. He hadn’t realized he’d been so obvious. When the chain curtain parted, Tex lightly hopped on the bed, grinning as it swayed. Hunter wondered if he’d overheard.

“Kinda like being in a tree house. In the wind.” He lowered himself to sit Indian style. He’d kicked off his boots and socks. Hunter glanced down at his own black cowboy boots. All thoughts of play had fled.

“You two look a bit long in the face.”

Neither volunteered an answer, and as he watched, Tex’s bright eyes dimmed just a bit.

“Had me a nice conversation with that girl from the front. Desiree.”

“Destiny,” Holly corrected.

“Yeah, her. She’s a real nice girl; seems real fond of you, Holly.” He winked at Hunter. “Threatened to take off my balls with a grapefruit spoon if I messed with you.”

“Ow!” Hunter winced, bringing a laugh from both of them.

“So, little miss. She’s waiting over there for you to come tell her we’re the loves of your life…your knights in black leather. In your own words, of course.”

Holly smiled, leaned forward, and kissed him—once on the forehead, once on the lips. She turned to Hunter and gave him the same embrace. Without so much as a blush, she slipped from the platform.

“Be quick. And don’t forget to bring your clothes back,” Tex reminded her.

Holly ducked her head back through the chains. “Yes, Master.”

He chuckled as she left. When he turned to Hunter, the smile slowly faded. For a few heartbeats, he studied Hunter, and Hunter grew uncomfortable as the moment stretched out. His wolf…his wolf stirred, whined, and settled back down, leaving him with the uneasy feeling of abandonment.

“Hunter, my solemn vow to you: I will never, ever push you into anything you don’t want. I will do my best not to make you uncomfortable, but the reality is, if she shares her bed with us, there will be contact. I won’t initiate anything or do it on purpose, but it will happen.”

Hunter’s eyes stung. He looked away and watched Holly talk to the girl at the other end of the room.

“Do you trust me?”

Hunter looked down; his fingers were entwined. He was completely unaware he’d been wringing his hands.

“I do, Tex. I do. Since we came to your pack, you’ve been there for me…for all of us, but mostly for me.”

Tex nodded in agreement. He propped his arms on his knees, and his hands dangled down. They were tough hands, hardened by countless hours of hard work. Hunter rubbed his fingers together, feeling similar calluses on his own skin. When he’d first come to Truckee, he’d been wild still, shy and fearful. Frankly, he’d been pretty much good for nothing. Unlike Chase’s men, he hadn’t been trained for battle. He knew how to fight…he knew how to take orders. He’d fought his way up to become one of the pack’s betas. He’d fought equally hard to earn his place on one of Tex’s construction crews.

Why? To help the pack, or to bond with the other man?

“You’re bi. You like men.” He kept his gaze low, unwilling to see the expression on Tex’s face.

“I am, and I do like men. But being mated… That’s a big change in the game.”

“How?”

Tex sighed. “Hunter, my entire sexual focus is on her. If you were bi, we might eventually go there, but you aren’t.”

“And it doesn’t bother you?”

“Are you able to have my baby?”

Hunter looked at him in confusion.

“We aren’t human, my friend. At our core, we’re animals. We’re driven by the need to hunt, to stay warm and dry, and to reproduce. Everything else we are springs from that. Sex with you could be fun, but it’s not an issue of survival. To survive as a species, we need food, shelter, and we need to reproduce. My wolf can’t see past Holly. She’s my sexual focus, and you’re my partner.”

He made it sound so logical. And slowly, Hunter began to believe him.

“Are we friends?”

Tex laughed at his question. “Yes, we are friends, Hunter. Maybe not the way Ethan and Kurt are friends, but still, you’re my friend. Given the circumstances, I guess we’d better be, eh? We seem to be in it for life.”

Life. This was all about life and surviving and the next generations of the pack. He looked at Tex. The cowboy leaned back now, braced on his elbows. His eyes were closed. He appeared relaxed, but was undoubtedly in tune with the entire building.

That was when it hit him: Tex made him stronger. And he did the same for Tex. During Holly’s absence, they’d formed a powerful bond. It was something Hunter hadn’t anticipated, and yet it was precious.

“She told me she left because of us. She left because she loved us both.”

“And the two of us weren’t gettin’ with the program, were we?” He didn’t open his eyes as he spoke. “I was out fucking around, trying to figure out how to scratch the itch. You were lost in anger and confusion, and our darlin’ Holly was too afraid to risk taking her human form and claiming us as her mates.”

Hunter gnawed on his lip. “It wasn’t a bad thing, was it? We all came a long way this past year.”

“That we have.” Tex flopped onto his back. “What’s taking that girl? I think it’s time to move this party along.”

Hunter closed his eyes, remembering Holly’s orgasmic cries, and within seconds, blood was filling his shaft. He replayed the interlude, hearing her cries, tasting the salty sweetness of her skin and fluid. Those images segued into things that hadn’t yet happened: plowing deep into her pussy, her arms bound… Holly pinned beneath his weight. He imagined a bed… Four posters with stout leather bindings for her hands and feet… His skin went warm—and not completely out of embarrassment.