Primal Desires (13 page)

S
ofia looked at the wolves that had jumped up on the bed. “He's a vampire. Did you know about this?”

Not that the wolves answered. They were, after all, just plain fierce, huge Arctic wolves, not vicious telepathic mean werewolf scum. One of them yawned at her.

She turned away from George and Gracie, unable to muster any fear of natural canines anymore.

Sofia began to pace around the small room, seething. She had to get rid of all the pent-up frustration and confusion somehow.

Not to mention anger.
I've got quite a few things to say to that man. Vampire.

“What does he
mean,
he's a vampire?”

The wolves refrained from commenting.

Why did she believe him? And where was he? Why wasn't he back yet?

Oh, please, it's only been about thirty seconds.

Her back was to the door when the wolves began to howl. As she turned, they jumped down to cower beside the bed.

“Just what the hell do you think you're doing?” Sofia shouted at the three black werewolves that rushed through the doorway.

For the first time in her life, she was too angry to know any fear. “I am
not
putting up with this anymore!”

She swept them with a glare. All three beasts had bright blue eyes, full of intelligence. Sofia's were full of determined fury when she took them on. They surrounded her in an arc and began to stalk slowly forward.

She stomped her foot. “Oh, no you don't.” She pointed to them one at a time. “Stay right where you are.”

She repeated the order as a thought, a firm mental command spoken directly into their minds.

They froze.

Two of them looked surprised. The third growled and bared his fangs at her.

She felt him trying to change, and she stopped him. She wasn't sure how she did it, but the control came as naturally as breathing. They fought her, pushing at her mental control, and she pushed back. She smiled as the tug-of-war accelerated.

• • •

She was utterly and completely pissed off, and that was a good thing. Jason paused outside the door to savor the triumphant fierceness of his soul's equal. Her power and strength filled him with a pride and love he'd never experienced before. What a woman!

And she was his.

Every possessive fiber of his being insisted on the truth of their bonding.

But right now, police officers were going from room to room looking for the owner of the squashed vehicle in the street. A small crowd was gathered in the parking lot. Jason had already had an encounter with a female officer whom he'd telepathically convinced hadn't seen him, and that the room where Sofia waited had already been searched.

They needed to deal with the latest batch of werewolves, get back to the prisoner, and get out of here. He tucked her suitcase and laptop under one arm, and eased into the room.

Sofia didn't glance around when he entered, but all three werewolves growled. George and Gracie whimpered from the far side of the bed.

“Wimps,” Jason told his wolves. He looked at the big, black werewolves and spoke to the snarling one in the center. “Hi, Mike.”

Mike Bleythin snapped his jaws angrily.

“We haven't been introduced, but I assume you two are Harry and Joe,” Jason went on.

“Do you know these creatures?” Sofia asked without taking her attention off her captives.

“This is Sofia Hunyara,” he told the Bleythins. “She's Cathy Carter's cousin, and I just now realized who Cathy must be.”

“What do you mean?” Sofia asked.

Two of the wolves tilted their heads curiously, as well.

“I'll explain when we can all have a civil discussion.”

He put Sofia's stuff down by the door and came up to put his arm around her slender waist. Her head barely came up to his shoulder, but her newfound strength of will filled the room.

“She's mine,” he informed the Bleythins, who knew better than to mess with a vampire. “You can let them go, sweetheart,” he told Sofia. “These are the good guys.”

Sofia was trembling enough for him to feel it even as she showed a brave front to the werewolves.

“Good guys?” she questioned. “They're werewolves! They broke in!”

“Which was quite rude of them,” he agreed. “I'm sure they'll apologize if you let them turn back into humans.”

It's all right,
he whispered into her mind.
It truly is all right. They're Cathy's friends.

She hesitated, but decided to trust him.

He held on to her when she let go of the mental leash. The rush of released energy would have knocked her to her knees if he hadn't been there to hold her. She closed her eyes and leaned her head against his shoulder, spent and breathing heavily.

It was too bad her eyes were closed, because she missed the quick transformation of Mike, Harry, and Joe, and the looks of shocked outrage they turned on the woman who'd held them at bay.

Jason smiled proudly. “Yep, she's good. Her people would call her a Wolf Tamer.”

J
ason's words were a soothing balm to her soul. She had a family. She had a place in the world. A purpose. And it was Jason who had brought her to this place.

But it was a stranger's angry shout of “What the hell is going on here?” that brought Sofia's attention back to the situation.

When she opened her eyes she saw three naked men. Large, well-made, black-haired men with the blue eyes she'd stared into when they were in wolf shape a few moments before. Two of the men looked so much alike they had to be twins. The third was younger and more slender, but enough alike the twins that he had to be their brother.

The one who'd shouted was standing right in front of her, body tense, fists clenched. His fury was barely held in check, and for a moment she wanted to slink behind Jason.

She lifted her chin and asked the werewolf, “Are you really Cathy's friend?”

“I'm Mike Bleythin,” he said. His next words were low and threatening. “I've never heard of a Tamer, but perhaps you've heard of the Tracker?”

Jason's embrace tightened protectively, but it wasn't the reassurance of his being there that kept her calm. Though she did appreciate having him beside her.

“No, I haven't heard of any Tracker. I just found out about werewolves, actually. I take it Tracker is a werewolf title,” she said to Mike. “You haven't answered my question.”

“What was your question?” Mike's twin asked. He shouldered his threatening brother aside. “I'm Harrison, the sane member of the family. Let's talk.”

“We're looking for our friend,” the youngest werewolf said. “So far, following the trail to you has been all we've been able to do.”

“My lady was attacked by a werewolf before you arrived,” Jason said.

“One of the Hunyara pack?” Mike asked.

“I seriously doubt it. A Hunyara would recognize a vampire's scent, but this feral had no clue I was around. Don't tell me you didn't pick up his scent? It must be all over the neighborhood.”

All three Bleythins looked shocked. Harry shook his head. “Not a whiff.”

“You're kidding.”

“I wish we were. That's why we haven't been able to find Cathy. There's no fresh scent of her anywhere.”

“What happened to this invisible werewolf?” Mike asked.

“I have him locked up in my Denali,” Jason said.

The brothers exchanged looks. Harry spoke to Sofia again. “To answer your question, all of us are friends of Cathy's. More than that, we're her pack brothers. May I now ask you some questions?”

Sofia wanted more explanations, but nodded.

“Do you know why you were attacked?”

After thinking about it for a moment Sofia came to a dreadful conclusion. “He wanted to turn me into a werewolf.” She looked at Jason. “Why would he do that?”

“I think I'll go ask him,” Mike said, and suddenly the big naked man turned into a huge black wolf.

“Mi—” Harry began, but Mike was out the door before he could finish.

“He's the Tracker,” Joe said. “Let him do his job.”

Sofia waited for an explanation, but all Jason said was, “I hope he doesn't leave any blood in my truck.”

Sofia decided she didn't want any more information. If she thought about it she might be sick, which she did not want to do in front of the werewolves.

Harry reclaimed her attention when he asked Jason, “What did you mean about knowing who Cathy must be?”

“I just remembered that the name of the woman Mike brought to my cousin's wedding was Cathy. I hadn't associated her with the woman Sofia is looking for, until the three of you showed up. To tell you the truth, I've been thinking so hard about not getting Mike involved in Hunyara business that I forgot he's based in San Diego.”

Sofia's head spun with confusion once more. “Vampires have cousins? Werewolves go to weddings?” She looked into Jason's amused gaze and telepathically said
I don't know anything about your world.

And now isn't the time to discuss it,
he answered as the door burst open again.

• • •

Sid would not let Daniel drive.

“Becasue I've seen you do it with your eyes closed,” she told him when he protested that he knew where they had to go.

Daniel gave directions while Sid sped her sleek black Mercedes skillfully through heavy traffic. He did it with his eyes closed.

“I hate having one more thing to worry about,” Eden said from the backseat.

Sid gave a quick glance back at Eden's worried face. “I'm sure we can get the boys out of whatever trouble Dan's seeing.”

Eden sighed. “I was talking about finding out my daughter's going to be a vampire.”

Sid couldn't see this as anything but an occasion for rejoicing, but she tried to get a mortal mother's perspective on it. Especially a mortal who'd been trained to hunt vampires. She couldn't do it.

“You object to a miracle?” she asked after making a quick left turn at Daniel's direction. Tires squealed and horns blared in her wake.

“I can't object to biological fact,” Eden said. “But I need some time to wrap my mind around it.”

“We all do,” Sid said. “As soon as we get Cathy home.”

“Right,” Eden agreed. “But Laurent and I aren't your average vampire couple, and if Lady Juanita thinks we're going to raise our kid as a proper little vampire princess—no offense—”

“None taken.”

“—she's got another thing coming.”

“Spoken like a true hunter.” Another turn. More offended drivers. At least no cops had noticed yet. “I'll do what I can to help. So will Antonia.”

Eden reached forward to pat Sid's shoulder. “Thanks—we'll take all the help we can get. Speaking of Lady Antonia,” she added, “I approve of that bit of matchmaking you pulled on her and that dishy Berus Prime, even if you did use my daughter as your excuse. Your mom could use someone nice.”

Sid drove in flabbergasted silence. She'd only been trying to duck out on a date with destiny with David Berus herself. She hadn't been trying to dangle her own mother as bait to attract the Prime's attention away from herself.

Though come to think of it, that wasn't a bad idea.

No, no, no! Sidonie Wolf, you will not think like that!

Daniel broke in, “Traffic will be blocked up ahead. Turn right at the next light. We'll come around from the back.” After a couple of minutes he said, “Left here. Stop.”

She barely had the car parked behind a long, one-story structure when Daniel jumped out and ran toward the front of the building.

“I think his eyes are still closed,” Sid said as she and Eden followed him.

She overtook him in a couple of steps, being faster and stronger and far more dangerous than her mortal relative. She felt Joe and the others' presence and she was the first one through the door, ready for any danger waiting inside.

Instead, the first person she saw was Jason Cage. She came to a quick halt and cheerfully said, “Hi!”

A
new trio of people rushed in, led by a gorgeous blonde woman.

Somehow, Sofia was certain none of this trio were werewolves. She expected them to attack, but instead the blonde's eyes brightened at the sight of Jason and she looked like she wanted to eat him up.

Jealousy boiled through Sofia, but the woman took no notice of her.

Instead the blonde put her hands on curvy hips and looked at the naked men. “So, Harry, do you need rescuing, or is this about to turn into an embarrassing situation?”

“We needed rescuing about ten minutes ago,” Harry answered.

“See, Dan's getting better,” said the other woman who'd come in. “He's up to seeing ten minutes into the past, instead of two hundred years.”

When she heard the name Dan, Sofia looked hard at the blond young man wearing glasses and the striking woman with dark curls next to the tall blonde. Realization dawned at last.

She pointed at the dark-haired woman. “You're Eden.” To the blonde. “And you're Sid. And Mike and Harry and Joe—I should have remembered about you when you told me your names. But having three more werewolves come at me scared me to death.”

“You didn't act scared,” Joe said.

“Oh, God, I'm sorry!” Sofia told her cousin's coworkers. “Cathy's told me all about you—except for the werewolf stuff.”

“That's understandable,” Sid said. “Except Cathy never told us about you.”

“I'm sorry about what I did to your brains,” Sofia said to Joe and Harry, carefully not looking below chin level.

Sofia wondered if she was the only one who cared that there were a couple of naked men in the room.

Not men,
Jason thought at her,
werewolves. And I'd rather you didn't look at anyone but me.

Right,
she thought back.

She wouldn't mind looking at him naked. She didn't think Sid would mind, either. And why the devil couldn't she get her mind off having sex with Jason, when there were more important things to deal with?

This reminds me of a scene in
A Night at the Opera, Jason continued in her head as the newcomers and naked men began talking among themselves.
More and more people and luggage and things keep piling into this tiny ship stateroom, until eventually no one can move, and finally it's so crowded people start falling out the door.

A Night at the Opera? she asked.

“It's a Marx Brothers movie,” Jason explained. “It's a comedy from the 1930s.”

“Oh.”
I want to have sex with you,
she thought.

I know.

I can't help it, and I don't like that I can't help it.

You don't like the sex?

She very much liked the sex. She craved the sex. She wanted him covering her and inside her, and her body was burning just because his arm was around her. Why didn't these people go
away
?

I don't like this—compulsion. Is it because you're a vampire and drank my blood that I want you constantly?
Anger sizzled through her, but the need for him didn't abate any.
Are you forcing me to feel like this?

Sweetheart, I feel the same way you do.

While the others talked, Jason whirled her around into the bathroom and closed the door.

• • •

“I'm not going to kiss you,” he said, though he held her close and she automatically pressed her body against his. He could feel the hard swell of her nipples through the fabric of her shirt. “Stop tempting me for a moment.”

“How?”

“I don't know.” He lifted her chin to look into her eyes even while the sweetness of her lips beckoned to him. “Although I very much want to kiss you, instead I'm going to tell you some things, and I want you to listen to me without any argument. Promise me that you'll listen and think about everything, and we'll discuss it or argue later.”

“You're a vampire. A vampire ex-con. But everything you've told me so far has turned out to be true, so all right,” she said. “I promise to keep my mouth shut and listen.”

“I am a Prime, which means I am an adult male vampire. Vampires are people,” he said. “Some vampires are good, some are bad, most are somewhere in between. We have our own cultures and history and problems. We aren't the dead brought back to life; we're born vampires. We don't turn people into vampires when we bite them.”

“Only werewolves do that?”

“Right, but I'm explaining my own people now. We can't fly without airplanes, or change shape like the werefolk can. We do suffer from some of the problems you see in the movies—allergies to sunlight and garlic and silver and certain types of wood, but we take medicines for these allergies.

“We don't fear religious symbols. Or sleep in coffins, or need to rest in the earth of our homeland, or have trouble crossing running water.

“We are telepathic, we are faster and stronger and longer-lived than mortals. We do need to drink blood, for nourishment and for psychic reasons, and especially to enhance sexual gratification—but we don't have to kill when we taste mortals.

“I'm not saying we don't have tendencies for fierceness and violence, but we channel those tendencies—at least most of us do, most of the time—into acceptable pursuits. I control tigers for a living, for example.

“We're highly sexed and we love making love, to our own females and with mortal women. If we're very lucky, we find the one woman that is destined to be our bondmate. A bondmate is our perfect sexual and psychic partner, and we are the perfect partner for our bonded. The mortal term is probably soul mate.

“You are my soul mate, Sofia, and I am yours. You can deny it and fight it, but it is the truth. You want me, I want you, and every issue that stands in between is just bullshit. Normally we could and would work it out. But right now we have the complication of your being needed by your people, and my giving you up if I have to in order to fulfill my obligation to your people, and I have no idea of how we're going to get around that.”

He paused. “You can talk now.”

As she opened her mouth to say something, a knock sounded on the bathroom door.

“Come along, you two,” Harry called. “It's time we got back to hunting for Cathy.”