Forbidden Attraction (14 page)

“Shouldn’t I be in my car so I can brake it when needed?” Heidi had knelt facing the back window so she could watch Nicolo work and twisted around as he adjusted himself behind the wheel.

“Nope. This time I have it on a tow dolly. I want you next to me.” He put the truck into gear and then slipped his arm over her shoulders, pulling her across the seat.

His body heat almost made her break into a sweat. She rested her hand on his thigh and gently rubbed roped muscle that flexed under her touch. She hated the pain that stabbed at her heart when she wondered when she’d be able to touch him again after tonight.

“What will you do after you return me to my pack?” She wouldn’t allow herself to dwell on how desperately she wished they could stay together. She had her pack and he had his—that wouldn’t change, as much as she wished it would.

“A good, hard run might be in order.” He glanced down at her for a moment, letting his warm gaze swoop over her body. “Then I plan on sniffing around the 71

Lorie O’Clare

mountain for a bit and see if I can find anything Dimitri might have overlooked with that dead werewolf.”

“Is he not a good pack leader?”

“He’s perfect for the job.” Nicolo wouldn’t insult his littermate or his leader. His answer didn’t surprise her at all.

She stretched her fingers over the top of his leg, her hand barely able to cover the width of his thigh. All that hard muscle made her ache to rub her body over it, feel him pressed against every inch of her. She wanted to tell him to drive slowly, to allow her time to enjoy their moments together.

“Dimitri is a hardheaded werewolf,” Nicolo added, brushing his fingers over the top of her shoulder. It took just that slight movement to send her heart pounding at a dangerous speed. She wanted to know everything about him as desperately as she wanted him inside her again. He continued, “Malta werewolves were scattered without a pack for five years. Now that we’re united again, it’s just a matter of time and some hard convincing to show other packs how truly strong we are.”

“I don’t think anyone doubts your strength.” She sure as hell didn’t. “Members of my pack didn’t want you here because they feared you, although none of them would admit that. And our pack resents you taking the mountain you’re on. Although to be honest, we have plenty of land in our territory.”

“You would speak against your pack?”

She shook her head quickly, smelling his disapproval. “I’m proud to be
lunewulf
and nothing will change that. What I mean is, if your pack would open up and not hide on the mountain, we would see you aren’t anything to fear.”

“Maybe we are a pack to fear.” He didn’t move his hand from her shoulder, but his muscles got even harder and his scent changed.

Her heart raced almost too fast for her to speak, but his sudden defensiveness wouldn’t intimidate her. She shifted, turning in his embrace so she could study his hard-set profile. Nicolo kept his attention on the road.

“There’s a difference between demanding respect and being a bully.” She placed her hand on his chest and the slow, steady beat of his heart challenged her while hers raced a mile a minute. She wouldn’t back down here. “Malta werewolves possess some strange power that they won’t open up about. To many of us, that seems suspicious.”

“And we should demand that
lunewulfs
share all their secrets? You are known for your speed. And since we’ve arrived here, your pack has done little to make our pack welcome, unlike the American werewolves. One might think that your pack has something to hide.”

“We’re just like you,” she countered, now defending who she was. She fisted her hand, punching him in the chest, although she doubted that would break the stubborn streak that she now saw ran deep inside him. “Listen here, wolf man. You aren’t the only breed who’s entered this country and been shit on.
Lunewulfs
have fought tooth 72

Forbidden Attraction

and claw ever since we came down here just to gain respect. It’s not easy, but we don’t give up.”

“We have no intention of giving up either. Finally we’re united as a pack. That terrifies many, but they will learn to respect us or get out of the way.”

“So you’re bullies.”

“We are fighters.”

Heidi chewed her lip. Nicolo needed to see—and to convince his pack leader—that approaching her pack as they obviously had the Americans would be to his benefit.

Because beyond a shadow of a doubt, Bob wouldn’t belly up and kiss any Malta werewolf’s ass.

“So are
lunewulfs
. And we already have the respect of many. But we got it by making it clear to all around us who we were and what we would and wouldn’t tolerate.”

She braced herself, straightening in the seat quickly when Nicolo pulled the truck off the road. Outside it was dark and quiet, white snow contrasting to the blackness of the sky. He shoved the truck into park and then turned, grabbing her arms so that he almost dragged her to face him, eye to eye. His scent bordered on something dangerous. She tensed, instinct preparing her to fight if needed. Not that she stood a chance in such close quarters against a male werewolf almost twice her size.

“Before I return you to your den, we will understand something about each other.”

His quiet baritone gave her chills, which was silly. In spite of the intense way he stared at her and his large body crowding her in the cab of the truck, his scent affected her the most. She wanted this, needed to hear what was in his heart. “You and I are not at war.

But if you are chewing on something when it comes to Malta werewolves, I’ll hear it now.”

“Are you always this bullheaded?” She held on to that scent that she inhaled from him, determination and desire. Nicolo wouldn’t hurt her. “I just told you what Malta werewolves need to do.”

“Little bitch,” he growled, his dark features adding to his deadly appearance.

“Malta werewolves are making it clear right now what we will and won’t tolerate. We don’t seek out others, nor have we ever. Those who wish an alliance with us come to us.”

“I heard one of your kind went to the American pack leader. He offered the mountain your pack is on now. So you did approach them. Why can’t you do the same to our pack leader?” She filled her lungs with him, daring to lean closer and run her hand up his chest. Heat from him burned her palm, even through his clothes. She licked her suddenly dry lips. “It will help you and me. Please tell me that you want that.”

She wasn’t sure if he grumbled out of irritation or consent. He dragged her over his large body.

“You and I will see each other again. I’ve promised you that already.”

73

Lorie O’Clare

Heidi collapsed on top of him, his damned stubbornness bringing out something raw and untamed inside her.

“I don’t want a werewolf who sneaks into my den and fucks me when the mood hits him. And if I did, I could find that in my own pack without risking my hide.”

“You will not find someone in your own pack,” he snarled, curling his lip. White, extended teeth flashed against his dark skin.

“Then show me that you want me, wolf man,” she whispered while fighting the sudden urge to let her claws grow, to tear at his clothes while she demanded he fuck her. “Prove you are more than just a good fuck. You said you’d fight for me—then do it.

You know as well as anyone what ranking a single bitch has in a pack. But you’re a single male, and the littermate to the pack leader. Your growl—your fighting—will gain attention and other werewolves will pay heed.”

74

Forbidden Attraction

Nicolo fought the energy that flowed inside his veins. Heidi challenged him, brought out the beast inside him, more so than any bitch had before. She wouldn’t be able to handle the strength that he ached to exert—the raw, primal desire that she drew out of him.

“Don’t make demands unless you’re ready for the repercussions,” he warned her.

Her breath singed the flesh on his chin. She stared up at him with blue eyes so filled with emotion they darkened. Silver laced the blue, giving clue as to how strongly emotions rushed through her. Not that he couldn’t smell them—desire, intrigue, curiosity and the slightest rush of fear. Her heart pounded furiously while her breasts pressed against his chest. But when she put her arms around his neck, swallowing her hesitation, his blood boiled. A bitch who would stand up and speak her mind, but at the same time fight to win his approval, would be the catch of a lifetime. He’d battle her entire pack to lay his kill at her feet for all to see.

“I’ll take you on anytime, wolf man,” she whispered, her tone turning sultry. “But if you’re going to see me, I won’t have you sneaking around. And in order not to sneak, you need to talk to my pack leader.”

He held her chin and tilted her head, gripping her so she’d have to fight him to move, and devoured her mouth. Heidi let out a cry and opened to him while her nails dug through his shirt and pressed into his shoulders. She dragged her fingers down his arms, moving slightly in the confines of the truck so that she edged closer. He wrapped his arms around her, keeping her from trying to climb onto him while he controlled the kiss.

He could tell her she would submit to him, allow him to handle how things would happen, and she’d argue with him. But showing her, letting her see who controlled matters, would get better results.

His clothes and jacket suddenly were too tight and the air in the cab clogged with their mounting lust. Worse yet, the metal of the truck seemed to close in around them.

Even when Heidi discovered she couldn’t move and relaxed against him, there wasn’t enough room to run his hands down her body.

His muscles hurt from the change warring in his system. Already the darkness around them had turned into shades of gray. His vision had altered. And his teeth pressed against his lips. He nipped at her lip and instantly tasted blood.

Heidi yelped and then struggled in his arms. She scraped her nails up his shoulders and then grabbed his neck, skin against skin. When he wouldn’t release her, the sigh that escaped her almost undid him.

75

Lorie O’Clare

Nicolo broke off the kiss and then gently ran his tongue over her lip where he’d nipped at her. “I will see to it that you and I see each other. No one will prevent that.

But I need your trust, your acceptance that I can handle matters. Do I have that?”

Her lashes fluttered over her eyes. And when she opened them, they were almost completely silver. He loved how her short blonde hair almost stood on end, as if she had gelled it and tried for some New Wave spiked hairdo. The change battled inside her too, and when her lips parted, her teeth were sharp and pointed, almost poking her lower lip.

“I’m scared, Nicolo,” she whispered, her voice husky and rough from the slight physical change in her mouth. “This seems so perfect, yet how can it be?”

The truth almost fell out of his mouth, but he hesitated. His heart swelled so much in his chest that it hurt, and finally he accepted that all he could do was explain what he already knew in his soul to be the truth.

“It feels perfect because we were meant to be together.”

She didn’t blink. He swore she didn’t breathe. Heidi stared at him, her silver eyes almost almond-shaped while her creamy white skin looked flushed even in the hazy darkness surrounding them. Nicolo held his breath, waiting out the silence until his heart threatened to explode. When he finally inhaled, he filled his lungs with the sweetest, most wonderful scent he’d ever experienced.

“I think you might be right,” she whispered.

The lone highway leading from his mountain to hers would remain quiet through the night. Very few cars would travel this way. Nonetheless, he knew the idea that occurred to him might be risky. He sat parked on the side of the road with her car hitched to his truck. If anyone were to drive by and see him parked, they would definitely stop. And he’d bet money they wouldn’t be human.

“Change with me.” He voiced his idea before any doubt could outweigh what he knew had to happen. “I want you in your fur.”

“Nicolo.” She said his name on an exhale.

“Would you give me that commitment?” Taking her in her fur, by tradition, would mate them. He wouldn’t ask her for that—not yet. But he would demand knowledge that she viewed herself as his bitch.

Many may think him a bit of a traditionalist, and he had no problem with that. The ways of their kind, of all werewolves no matter their breed, existed because they worked. Werewolves didn’t marry—there was no need to create a piece of paper between them. But fucking each other while in their purest form, with their most basic emotions guiding them, would create a union that would bring them closer, tie them together in a way that no pack could undo.

“I won’t follow you blindly. If you’re wrong about something, you’ll hear about it.

And when I know I’m right, you will listen to me. I’m not some bitch who will be led around on a leash. You better know now that I’m stubborn and plan on staying that way.”

76

Forbidden Attraction

“I hadn’t noticed,” he growled, his cock throbbing while he watched her chin stick out, that stubbornness she’d just claimed to have making her even more beautiful.

She licked her lips, her extended teeth preventing her from doing much more than sticking out her tongue and stroking her upper lip. “Get out of the truck,” she growled, and he knew she fought a smile. “I have no problem giving the orders until you do notice.”

He opened his door and almost welcomed the cold air that attacked them and released the growing heat that they’d created.

Stepping out, he shrugged out of his coat, keeping his gaze locked on hers while he tossed it onto the driver’s seat. He kept her trapped in the cab, forcing her to watch while he stripped out of his shirt.

“Hell of a view you’re offering me, wolf man,” she teased, taking her coat off as well and then kicking her shoes off onto the floor of the cab.

The cold air added to their desire to strip quickly. The second his veins hardened, allowing blood to rush faster inside him than his human body could handle, the change hit him with eager excitement.