Rescuing Their Virgin Mate[Pack Wars-Book 3] (11 page)

He picked up the ill girl and
carried her outside. The first girl shielded her eyes against the bright light.
After he placed her on the seat and fastened her seatbelt, he motioned for the
first one to climb in.

Once they were set, he took
off, keeping an eye out for any sudden movement in the parking lot. He asked
their names, but neither one was Elena’s other two friends. As he left the port
district, he dialed the general and told him of his find.

“We’ll send over a team and
deal with the guard.”

“What should I do with the
girls?” Headquarters wasn’t set up to deal with this.

“Drive them to my house. My
wife is a nurse. She’ll know what to do.”

He was relieved the general had
offered his home. Other than the brunette soothing the other girl, she said
nothing. It took him close to twenty minutes to reach the general’s house. No
sooner had he pulled in the drive, the general’s wife came out of her house and
rushed to the car.

“Are you okay?” Worry laced
her face.

He nodded. “It’s mostly the
other guy’s blood.”

She peeked in the back, but
with the tinted window, she wouldn’t see much. “Are the girls back there?”

“Yes.” He opened the door.
“Ladies, it’s time for you to return home.”

#

Elena couldn’t take her gaze
off Clay as he undressed. While he was taller and thinner than Dirk, his
muscles were more defined. He dropped his clothes on the floor and much of the
blood stayed on the material and not on his body—and what a nice
body
it was, too.

You’re
here to help not ogle
.

“I can’t have sex with you.”
That felt good to get off her chest.

The left half of his lips
turned upward. “I’m just asking for help, nothing more.”

Heat raced up her body. Here
she assumed he wanted to make love with her, too. As long as they got that out
of the way, she was willing to believe him. With as much confidence as she could
muster, she peeled off the rest of her clothes. Her fingers trembled as she
lowered the strap on her bra, and her stomach clenched when she tugged down her
panties. Clay stepped into the shower and acted as if it didn’t matter she’d
just stripped in front of him.

He peeked out of the glass
door. “You coming?”

Her hands automatically
covered her chest with both hands. With her mound bare, she didn’t succeed at
hiding her nakedness.

“Yes.”
You can do this
.

He stood under the shower,
and she stepped behind him to wash his back. Pink tinged the water for a few
seconds then ran clear. When she reached around him to get the soap, he leaned
back and their bodies touched. Bolts of need slammed into her.

She jumped back at the charge
that arced between them. “Did you do that?”

He turned around and grinned.
“Do what?”

Could she say there’d been
such a strong connection between them her body had lit up? “Nothing. Turn
around.”

I
don’t need to see your hard-on and wonder if your erection would feel as good
as Dirk’s.

Despite the sound of water
pounding on the floor, she thought he chuckled. As she rubbed his back, she
searched his neck for the wounds she’d seen inflicted. “I thought that wolf bit
you.”

“He did.”

His comment made no sense.
“Then where is the bite mark?”

He faced her again and placed
his hands on her hips. “Werewolves have a lot of talents. One of them is
healing fast.”

“How?”

He shrugged. “How do you get
over a cold? How does one of your cuts heal? It just does. Only ours does it
faster.”

“You should donate your body
to science so humans can study you.”

He laughed. “Can I live a
little first?”

She palmed his chest. “I
meant after you die.”

“You want to get rid of me
that fast?”

“No.” She swatted his chest.
“You know what I mean.”

He faced the water again.
“Finish washing my back. I like having your hands on me.”

She liked touching his skin,
too. Until a few days ago, she never would have believed she was capable of
liking two men, let alone enjoy them so much. But here she was. Chalk it up to
trauma or her biological clock ticking.

Clay shut off the water. “I
think I’m clean enough.” He stepped out, grabbed a towel, and handed one to
her.

She stayed in the warm shower
enclosure while she dried. He whipped his towel around his body so fast he
seemed to be beating himself. As soon as she finished drying, he tossed the
towel over the glass door and waved.

“Meet you in the living
room.”

Her shoulders drooped. Here
she thought he’d invited her into the shower to maybe touch her breasts or rub
her naked ass. Dirk would have. Her mouth watered at the thought of sucking on his
penis. Now that she’d lost her virginity, her moral compass had tilted.

Maybe he was mad because with
her around, his life was in danger, too.
Men
.
She’d never understand them.

#

As soon as Clay returned to
his room, he plastered his back against the door. What the fuck had he been
thinking asking her to help him wash his back? His wounds had healed, and he didn’t
need Elena’s help. But did that stop him from making up this lame excuse to gaze
at her naked body?

No.

You’re
a jerk.

Seeing her standing before
him so willing and vulnerable only made his chronic problem worse. Did he
expect her to say, “Fuck me,
Clay.
I can’t wait to be
with two men at once?”

You’re
an idiot
.

He should have volunteered to
find the warehouse and have Dirk take her shopping, but his friend’s plea had
gotten to him. Dirk, too, feared he’d want to make love to her again. They were
both basket cases. Perhaps he should seek counsel from one of the other men
who’d gone through this with their mate. In that last month alone, Trax and
Dante, along with Kurt and Drake had found the woman for them. They’d all
survived.

Maybe men responded
differently. He must have it worse than anyone else. He shook his head and
wrenched open his dresser to find something to wear. On top of the dresser sat
his phone. He was surprised Dirk hadn’t checked in. Maybe he planned on
watching the warehouse all night.

He quickly dressed then
dialed Dirk’s number. He didn’t answer and his gut soured.

A knock sounded at the door a
second later and the tension released. Dirk was here.

He opened the door, and the
hole in Dirk’s shirt, along with the blood told him the observation had gone
terribly wrong.

“Tell me.”

“I need to take a shower.”

“Use mine.” He wasn’t ready
to tell Dirk, he and Elena had just shared his.

“Grab some clothes for me,
will
ya
?”

“Sure. Does Elena know you’re
here?”

“No. I want to clean up
first. I don’t want her to worry.”

Unlike
himself who foolishly desired her sympathy by pretending to be wounded.
Maybe he should move in with Brandon and
Sam, two other pack members, for a while.

Clay went in search of clean
clothes for Dirk, happy to note Elena was still in her room. The urge to check
if she was all right nearly made him give in, but he stayed strong and remained
focused on his task. He expected to think about her when she was near. Would he
succumb to daydreaming when he was hunting Colters? If so, the distraction
could prove deadly.

He gathered the clean clothes
for Dirk and returned. His friend was already in the shower. Not wanting to
barge in, he set the clothes on the bed.

With his back to the closed
door, he telepathed his question to Dirk.
You ready to tell me what happened?

It took a second for Dirk to
respond.
After I found the warehouse, the
Russian guard took my photo and was about to send it. I made sure he never made
another call.

The situation was already out
of control. The Feds must be close. No one could keep a human trafficking
scheme quiet for long.
You see anything
inside the warehouse?
Could they get lucky a second time?

Yeah.
That made taking the knife in the gut worthwhile. Found two girls.

Satisfaction and elation
spiked his blood.
Was one Elena’s friend,
Cheryl?

No
.

The water in the bathroom
stopped, and he decided to wait until Dirk came out to finish the conversation
face-to-face. The man wasn’t always forthcoming with information and facial
clues helped.

The door opened. Dirk strode
over to the pile of clothes Clay left on the bed and pulled them on. The skin
around the knife wound was red, but the swelling would be gone within an hour.

“You tell the general?” Clay
asked.

Dirk threw on his T-shirt.
“Yes. In fact, he had me drop the girls off at his house.”

“Good.” The general’s wife
would know how to deal with them. She’d been the one to buy Elena’s new
clothes.

Once dressed, Dirk sat on the
bed, looking tired. “So, now what?”

Clay wasn’t sure if he was
referring to their handling of Elena or Hood’s operation. “Damned if I know.”

Before Dirk spoke with Elena,
Clay wanted to clear the air. “By the way, Elena showered with me right before
you arrived.”

His friend stared at him.
“And you’re not nestled in her pussy? Why?”

“Jesus. She needs to rest.”
He lowered his voice. “She had sex with you yesterday.”

“Tell me how you two ended up
showering. If I recall, shoe shopping was never a turn on.”

He explained about the fight with
the two wolves in the mall parking lot. “Since I needed to wash off the blood,
I thought I’d take advantage of the situation.”

“You conveniently suggested
Elena help?”

“Yes, and she did. Then she
stated she didn’t want to have sex with me, so I didn’t push it.”

Dirk held up his index
finger. “When did you become such a woos?”

“A woos?” That hurt.

“Let me see.” Dirk scratched
his chin. “Between the two of us, who is the dominant one in the bedroom?”

“I’ll play along. Me.”

“And which one likes to tie a
woman up and spank her ass?”

He didn’t like the way this
conversation was headed. “Under normal circumstances if I see something I want,
I take it. But, Elena is different. She’s our mate.”

Dirk stood and moved close.
Too close.
“If you believe that then why did you reject
her?”

Dirk was close to crossing
the line of friendship. “I never rejected her.”

He stepped back. “Did you
touch her tits?”

“No.”

Waving a hand, Dirk dropped back
on the bed, crossed his ankles, and folded his hands behind his head. “What do
you think she’s telling herself right now?” He held up a palm. “You were in the
shower with a hot woman, make that a hot
naked
woman, and you did nothing.”

“She said no sex.”

Dirk shook his head. “I don’t
know who you are. I agree it was too soon to actually have sex with her, but
you could have shown her you liked her.”

“You’re right. I fucked up.”

“You can say that again.”

He leaned against his
dresser. “I honestly thought she wasn’t ready for another man in her life.”

“Let her decide. Take her
out. Have a good time. I’m betting with a little encouragement, she’ll take the
initiative.”

His style wasn’t to let a
woman lead, but with her it could work. At least he wouldn’t feel guilty if she
asked him to make love to her. “I will.”

“Just make sure you don’t
waste the opportunity the next time you get her naked.”

Chapter Eight

Elena paced the living room.
It shouldn’t take Clay that long to dress. She decided to knock on his door to
see if something had happened. Her hand was in mid-air when she heard voices.
One sounded like Dirk’s, and she let out a breath, relieved he’d returned.

Not wanting to disturb them,
she retreated to the living room and waited on the sofa. Now that Dirk was
home, it was going to be more difficult than ever to be in the same room with
both men. Clay said there were no secrets between them. A twinge of guilt
sliced through her for almost seducing him.

Too bad
.
Loving Dirk had not been wrong. Lusting after Clay? Now that might have been a
different matter.

She closed her eyes to
remember what it was like with each man. Her body reacted to them in different
ways. With Dirk, it was a safe relationship, one that could grow with each
passing month. Clay was the volatile one. She could almost see him being the
type to hold her hands in one of his. His need for her would be so great he’d
be unable to take his time.