Kiss of Moonlight (10 page)

“Thanks.
No, but thanks.”

Dan nodded. “Then I’m going to get two of the women out of your hair. What you do with the third, that’s up to you. Bottle’s all yours. But I don’t think it’s
gonna
give you any answers.”

* * * * *

Cat’s mother, Margie, must have been a carbon copy of her daughter at the same age.

Today, Margie’s hair was dark auburn instead of strawberry gold and she carried a few more pounds in all the right places. But otherwise, the resemblance was amazing. Right down to the aquamarine eyes brimming with compassion.

When they’d arrived, Margie had hugged her daughter, introduced herself to Tam with a firm handshake and proceeded to make Tam feel like she’d been a lifelong friend.

Dan had smiled at her but he’d let Margie do all the talking.
Which was probably a good choice because Dan was flat-out, movie-star handsome.

And he made her uncomfortable as all get-out.

It made no sense at all, but Margie must have caught on right away. She sent Dan outside to “check the perimeter”.

Now sitting at the breakfast bar separating the kitchen from the dining area, Tam sipped the herbal tea Margie had made her, wondering if it had some magical property she didn’t know about. And trying not to think about how badly she wanted Kyle to return.

Margie and Cat sat on the other side, talking about normal mom and daughter stuff.
At least, normal for two
streghe
.
The TV show they’d watched last night, the weeding they needed to do in their garden, which herbs were ready for harvesting. The spells Cat needed to work on.

Okay, maybe
not
so normal mother-daughter stuff.

They didn’t exclude her from the conversation but they didn’t pressure her to engage either.

As if they knew she wouldn’t be able to string two coherent words together.

She wanted Kyle to come back, needed to talk to him. She had this weird sense that if he put his arms around her and held onto her, maybe some of this would start to make sense.

Like why anyone would be after her.
How exactly a human girl became a small black wolf.
What army Kyle belonged to.

And a rational explanation for the seemingly irrational attraction she had for him.

“
Tamra
.”

Kyle’s voice made her shiver and she turned to find him standing in the French doors between the kitchen and the patio. She hadn’t heard him return.

Immediately, the sense of doom weighing on her lightened, just a little, as those topaz eyes bored into hers.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

When she didn’t answer right away, because she wasn’t quite sure what she should say, Margie huffed as she stood.

“Of course she’s okay. But I’m sure she’s tired so we’re
gonna
get going. Come on,
Catene
. Say good night to Tam.”

Cat gave her a hug, which she returned, maybe holding on a little too long. When she finally forced herself to release the girl, Margie gave her a pat on the shoulder and a smile.

“You need anything,
hon,
Kyle knows where to find me.”

Tam had never had many friends. She didn’t make them easily, probably due to the fact she and her mom had moved around so much when she was a kid. She hadn’t stayed anywhere long enough to maintain lasting friendships. Even in college, she’d kept to herself.

Margie and Cat made her feel like a friend.

She smiled, not at all forced, and thanked them. And then they were gone.
Leaving her alone with Kyle.

Warmth began to filter through her body.

She didn’t say anything as he walked over to the stool next to hers and eased onto the seat. Almost as if he were afraid to scare her if he moved to fast.

She didn’t want him to treat her like she was going to break. She wanted more of that kiss they’d shared earlier.
Wanted more of him.

And she was going to stay here tonight.

She realized she should be scared or, at the very least, nervous. This man transformed his body into a wolf. That alone should have made her run screaming to the nearest city, where the roads were paved, streetlights blazed and people ignored you when they passed you on the streets.

Out here in the country someone had trashed her home looking for her. She’d met werewolves.

And for the first time since her attack, she wanted to have sex with a man.
This man.

At the rate they were moving now, though, she’d be lucky if he kissed her again.

So what should she do?

“I like Margie,” she said. “She’s very kind. She explained what the
streghe
are and how they help people.”

Kyle
nodded,
his gaze somber. “Luckily, Cat takes after Margie more than her fathers.”

Okay, maybe not a good idea to talk about his former lover.
Time to shake things up.
“What about the men in my house, Kyle? What do I do about them?”

His mouth tightened as if he didn’t want to answer her question. “I’ll handle that.”

His non-answer rankled and her gaze narrowed. “They were in my house, looking for me. I want to know why.”

“I’ll find that information. I’ll find out who they were working for. You don’t have to worry about—”

“Yes, actually, I do. A few kisses do not give you the right to control my life, Kyle.”

He opened his mouth and wisely shut it again before he said whatever he was thinking, which probably would have been more along the lines of “I’ll take care of it”. Then he took a deep breath. “I don’t want to control your life.”

“Glad to hear it.”

“I want you to be safe.”

And that was where she was having trouble coming to grips with everything that had happened. She’d taken one look at him and fallen in lust. Had the same thing happened to him? Was that why he’d suddenly become a caveman?

Well, if that kiss was anything to go by then, yeah, the man was seriously hot for her. But now, she couldn’t read him. And that really pissed her off. “Why?”

He wanted to say
something,
she saw it in his eyes. Something he thought she wouldn’t want to hear. He was treating her like a child and it was time to clear up that misconception.

“You know, I’ve had kind of a difficult day,” she said. “I didn’t sleep well last night. Then this guy drives up to my house this morning and I think, ‘Holy shit, he’s hot’.” She slid off the bar stool and closed the few feet separating them. She put her hands on his knees and leaned closer until all she could see were his eyes, narrowed down to slits of bright gold. “And then I think, ‘Holy shit, my libido still works.’ How awesome is that?”

“
Tamra
—”

“But here you sit, looking at me like I’m broken.”

His mouth pulled into a grimace as he shook his head. “That’s not what I’m thinking.”

“Then
tell
me. I hate guessing games. I’m not a child. I’m a grown woman and I can handle whatever you have to say.”

“Tam—”

“Look, if I’m reading you wrong and you don’t want to have anything to do with me, fine. No harm, no foul. I’ll sleep in Cat’s room. You can lock your door so you don’t have to worry about me slipping into your bed tonight. Just don’t—”

He moved then, rising to his feet faster than she could track him. He grabbed her arms and dragged her against his upper body. Her breasts smashed against his hard chest, their lips separated by centimeters.

“You think I don’t want you?” His voice rumbled like the engine of his muscle car. “You think I’ve got a hard-on
only
because I’m worried about you?
That I…what?
Get off on the danger? Do you really want me to show you just how much I want you? Because if I do, I’m afraid I’ll scare you and that would fucking cut my heart
out.
”

The depth of emotion in his voice made her shiver. She’d never heard that tone in anyone’s voice directed at her. To say it made her hot would be an understatement.

“I’m not afraid of you.” She looked straight into his eyes. “How many times do I have to say it? I want you to kiss me. I’m not going to break.”

He took her at her word. His lips fell on hers like a man starved, like he’d longed for her for years. And this time, he didn’t hold back. He overloaded her system like an invading virus and made her shudder with desire.

When he released her to wrap his arms around her, she practically threw herself against him, sliding her hands across his shoulders and locking him to her.

They generated so much
heat,
she was surprised the kitchen didn’t catch fire around them.

Grabbing her beneath her arms, Kyle lifted her off her feet until her toes dangled several inches above the floor. Now her mouth was level with his and when she arched against him, she felt the hard ridge of his erection press against her mound.

Hot and hard, he felt huge. And she didn’t have so much as a twinge of fear.

Probably due to the fact that her brain had short-circuited with lust.

The little voice of reason had a brief burst of sanity, questioning why she wasn’t freaking out.

But just as fast, it was gone and she couldn’t care less. All she could do was
feel
. And be thankful for it.

Heat sizzled in her blood, pooled low in her belly and between her legs. More sensation than she’d ever experienced made her lightheaded.

Her hips tilted into him, seeking the relief promised by that hard rod.

Kyle responded with a groan and eased back on the intensity of the kiss. After a few seconds, he pulled back completely and set her back on her feet, staring down at her.

He raised one hand and wrapped his fingers around her neck, his thumb brushing against the hollow where her pulse beat out of control. His gaze, molten gold visible in the darkening shadows, pinned her in place as his hand slid around to massage her nape. Her muscles felt like liquid as she relaxed beneath his hand.

Her eyes began to drift closed but his thumb tapped her chin. “Don’t look away,
Tamra
. I need to see your eyes. I need to make sure you’re with me here.”

She had no desire to disobey the command in his voice. And the sentiment behind his words made her heart flutter.

“Then don’t treat me like a porcelain doll.”

His eyes narrowed. “You reminded me of one, the first time I saw you.” His voice brushed against her, raising goose bumps.
“So pretty, so pale.
So breakable.”

Sliding her hands from his shoulders into his hair, she scraped her nails against his nape then tugged, hard. “I’m not fragile.”

His smile reminded her of a predatory animal’s, one ready to take a bite out of her. “And you can’t hurt me, hon. I want to devour you, but any time you want to stop, you say the word.”

Instead of answering, she tugged on his hair again. “Shut up and kiss me again.”

“I want more than your mouth, Tam.”

And so did
she
. “Then take it. I won’t break.”

When his mouth descended this time, she tasted the difference. In the heat of his mouth, in the way his hand cupped her head and forced her to bend to his will.

She followed his every lead, more than happy to give
herself
over to him because he made her feel alive.

With his mouth still on hers, he picked her up again and began to move as her legs wrapped around his waist. The house fell into shadow the farther away from the kitchen they got, and when he opened the door to what she assumed was his bedroom then closed it behind him, darkness settled around them.

Kyle set her on the bed and moved away, making her draw in a sharp breath when she realized she couldn’t see a thing.

“Hey, babe, it’s okay,” His voice soothed from the dark. “Just give me a sec.”

A rustle sounded and then moonlight spilled into the room, revealing Kyle’s outline on the other side of the bed.

He looked tall and broad and he should have been menacing. But all Tam felt was a fierce and raging desire.

Rising onto her knees, she moved across the bed to him, grabbed his t-shirt by the hem and began pulling it up and off his body. He had to bend slightly for her to pull it over his head and when she did, he stole a quick kiss before straightening.

Her lips curved in a smile at the electric pleasure of that small touch. But her heart raced at her first glance at his hard, muscled chest, lightly covered with dark hair. Her hands lifted to his
pecs
and rested there, drawing in the extreme heat of his body.

She felt his chest rise and fall in an ever-increasing pattern. She loved knowing she affected him just as much as he affected her. And wondered how much it was going to take to push him away from the restraint she felt in his tight muscles.

She didn’t want him thinking about what had happened to her before. She wanted him to want her so badly he couldn’t help but surrender to her.

Leaning closer, she put her lips around one flat male nipple, just below the stylized tattoo of a sun, and drew the little nub into her mouth. Kyle sucked in a deep breath as she flicked her tongue against his flesh before lightly scraping it between her teeth.

One of his hands threaded through her hair, holding her to him and she felt a slight burn on her scalp when she moved her lips to work the other nipple.

Her hands slid down his hot, silky skin to his waist where her fingers slid along his waistband before forcing the button through its hole and releasing the zipper.

His cock practically fought free of his shorts and she felt the heat coming off that thick stalk of flesh against her stomach. As his shorts fell to the floor, her hands hesitated for seconds before finally wrapping around him.

Tam had been with a couple other guys before but none had been as impressively built as Kyle.

His cock wasn’t obscenely large but felt thicker than she’d ever had. She pulled away from her ministrations to his nipples so she could look down and see it.