Starr, Ellen - Wolf's Passion [The Joined] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) (11 page)

Jake was a good man just doing his job. Rafe kept telling himself that as he rode toward the ranch house. I’m just making sure the deck is stacked in our favor, he told himself. He snorted, grinning.
Yeah, right. You just want to fuck her
.

At the house he tied his horse to the front hitching post. He went inside to the desk. “Hey, Annie.”

“Rafe, how’s everyone? How’s the ranch?” Annie smiled and leaned over the counter to hug him.

“Things are looking up.” He hugged her back.

“What can I do for you?”

Rafe sighed. “You have a guest, a woman named Cora.”

“First time I’ve ever heard you ask for a woman. Something wrong at the ranch?”

Rafe couldn’t help the grin at the concern in Annie’s question. Annie Lee was one of the few in town who knew about Werewolves. She was half Fae herself and no friend of Dolores’s. He shook his head. “She’s the one, Annie. But she hasn’t accepted it yet.”

“Is she crazy?”

“No, just scared I think. There are complications. Doesn’t help that those idiots that hang with Dolores chased her.”

“I still say someone should kill that bitch.” Annie could be downright militant where her friends were concerned.

Rafe shook his head. “You should see it, Annie. Dale sits by her feet docile as a puppy. And Wolf has matured a hell of a lot just since we rescued her from Dolores’s Pack.”

“Well, damn. So you’re here to talk some sense into her?”

“Something like that.” Rafe smiled.

Annie looked him over, thoughtful for a long moment, then got a key card from the drawer. “Room 117.”

“Thanks, I owe you. We owe you if this works.” Rafe took the card. Annie caught his hand.

“She booked a double occupancy. Just so you know.”

Rafe nodded then went back out to take his horse to the stable.

* * * *

A bath would be wonderful, Cora thought, unlocking her room door then stepping inside. She froze for several heartbeats when she saw Rafe sitting on the bed. The expression of longing on his face nearly broke her heart.

Cora went to him, some deep instinct telling her words weren’t necessary. She knew what he needed, what they both needed. The chaos in her thoughts stilled. Everything became clear. Without hesitation she began to undress.

Rafe stood, taking over, dropping her clothes to the floor as he removed each piece. His touch sent shivers of need through her. His mouth on hers stilled every fear. She wanted him filling her. She was ready for him, wet even without foreplay.

He moved back onto the bed, drawing her with him. She climbed over him, straddling his hips, poised above his hard, erect, cock. Slowly she lowered herself onto his shaft. He made a low growling sound deep in his throat as he slid inside her.

Cora gasped when he traced over the line where their bodies joined. He settled his hands on her hips then lifted her, drawing her back down with agonizing slowness. His hands, strong but gentle, repeated the motion over and over.

He swelled inside her. He was close to coming, and the strain of holding back showed on his face, but he never made a sound. She pressed her hands against his sweat-slick belly. With a soft gasp she looked deep into his dark eyes. “Come,” she whispered.

A deep groan escaped him. He pulsed deep inside her pussy once, then again. Her body tightened around him. She moaned, her pussy milking everything it could from him.

When she could breathe again, she leaned forward, resting her forehead against his. He stroked her back until she lifted her head. Gently, he lifted her off himself, moving her to lay her beside him. “I should go now.”

She nodded.

He dressed in silence. Before he left he kissed her once more and pulled out his cell phone. “When you decide, just hit one. It will connect to Wolf.” He laid the phone on the bed beside her then walked out.

Cora stared at the phone for what felt like hours. Unable to deny it anymore, she knew what she had to do.
Why can’t things be less complicated?
She stood at last, slipping on her robe. Her mind made up, she dug her own phone out of her purse and dialed. Jean-Paul’s voice mail picked up. For once she was relieved she wouldn’t have to say this to him directly. She took a deep breath and let it out.

“Jean-Paul, something unexpected has happened. I have mated three Werewolves. When you get this message please call me. I love you.” She disconnected. He would be confused and hurt, but they never lied to each other. He would listen to her. She put her phone down and glanced at the clock. It surprised her that only an hour had passed since Rafe left her room.

Cora reached for the other phone. Her finger hovered over the one key. She took another deep breath and pushed it. After two rings a tired-sounding Wolf answered.

“Wolf? Can we talk?” she asked.

“Cora! Of course we can talk. Anything you want, baby.” Wolf’s voice no longer sounded tired. Now he sounded wary. It made her heart hurt.

“I’ve made my decision. Can you meet me for dinner?”

“Come out to the ranch—”

“No. We need to do this somewhere neutral. There’s a lot we need to discuss.”

She caught the reservation in his voice, but he agreed. She hung up then went to the shower to get ready.

Chapter Sixteen:

Rules

Wolf walked into the steak house at the Dead Man Dude Ranch followed by Rafe and Dale. He searched the dimly lit dining room, looking for Cora. His stomach fluttered with nerves. She’d given them no hint of her decision.

“Hi, table for three?”

“Four. We’re meeting someone.” Wolf spared a second to glance at the waitress. “Unless she’s already here?”

“Um, there is a lady in the bar. She said she was waiting for someone.”

“Okay, thanks.” Wolf headed toward the entrance, scanning the patrons he could see.

“In the corner.” Dale’s voice came from just over his shoulder. Wolf smiled faintly.
Trust Dale to zero right in on his quarry
. He spotted her a second later. They made their way through the crowd to her.

At the table Wolf stopped, resting his hands on the back of a chair. Rafe and Dale waited half a step behind him. Pack protocol kept them standing until he sat, and then they would take up flanking positions where they could watch everything around them. They went into protection mode. She hadn’t even said she was interested yet. If the situation hadn’t been so serious, he’d have laughed.

“Cora, you wanted to see us?”

“Please, sit down. Thank you for agreeing to see me.” Her words and tone were so formal Wolf’s hopes disappeared.

“There was never any question.” Wolf took the center chair at the little table. His small Pack sat on either side of him. He gave them a quick glance. Rafe looked calm, as if he did this every day. Dale’s expression was shuttered, wary. Wolf knew the young Werewolf was steeling himself for rejection.

“There is always a choice. In everything.” Cora stared at her drink, turning the glass with fingers that trembled slightly.

“Not for us.” Wolf paused as the waiter walked up to take their order. When he left to get three beers, Wolf turned his attention back to Cora.

She sighed. “I have a lover back home in New Orleans. He is a good man. A special man. I can’t just throw everything we have away.”

“Dale mentioned it. Cora—” He stopped speaking when she held her hand up.

“I’ve been with Jean-Paul a long time. I belong to him.” Cora looked up into Wolf’s eyes. “I love him. I won’t leave him.”

Wolf nodded, pushing himself back from the table. “You could have told us this over the phone.”

“No, I couldn’t have. This needed to be said face-to-face.” She caught his hand, stopping him from standing. “And I’m not finished.”

Wolf stared at her for several seconds.

“Please.”

He relaxed, waiting, wary.

“Thank you.” Cora kept her eyes on his. She took a deep breath. “Jean-Paul sent me to Dead Man to look into buying a ranch he heard was on the market. With everything that happened these last few days I didn’t realize it is your ranch he sent me to check out. I liked what I saw. I’m going to tell him to go ahead and make an offer on the ranch.”

“Fuck.” He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. She wasn’t going to accept them, and now she was telling them she was going to be living on their ranch with some man. “Fine, I think we’ve heard what we need to.”

“No, you haven’t.” Cora tightened her grip on his hand. “I have a special relationship with Jean-Paul. Very open. I don’t expect any trouble from him about my mating with you.”

Wolf froze. “You’re going to stay?”

“I am.”

“But what about Jean-Paul?” Dale’s soft voice broke the tension.

“That doesn’t change. I can’t let him go. Can you accept that? Accept him?” She looked at each of them in turn.

“I don’t know. I don’t think anything like this has ever been done before. Rafe?” Wolf turned to look at his friend.

Rafe shook his head. “Not that I know of. But then I don’t know everything.”

“We’ll find a way to make it work.” Wolf squeezed Cora’s hand. He controlled the urge to jump up and howl. Annie frowned on people making a ruckus in her place.

Cora smiled at them. “Now, let’s have dinner.”

Chapter Seventeen:

Werewolves?

Jean-Paul listened to Cora’s message for the thousandth time. He suppressed the hysteria that threatened to engulf him.
Mon Dieu, Cora. Werewolves?
What has happened out there in Texas, mon amour
. Of course he knew there were Werewolves. One didn’t get to be his age with his experience in the circles he moved in and not be aware of them. He grimaced. This would only get worse.

He rubbed his eyes and sighed. A muffled sound came from the corner of the old mausoleum. Jean-Paul glanced at the man and woman tied there. The woman glared at him. She made the effort to say something once more. “No, I will not remove the gag. You have nothing of interest to say.”

A glance at his watch informed him that it was barely 10:00 p.m. Best to get on with things. He still needed to pack. Then he needed to destroy anything that could lead another pair such as these to him. The house was old. It would burn quickly. Still, he would not be able to get away for at least another day.

Jean-Paul walked over to where his captives struggled against their bonds. “I do not understand why you have come here to kill me. I have done nothing to you.”

The woman, Marie, struggled harder, making more sounds.

“Or to the ones who have sent you.” He knelt beside them to look into their eyes. With a smile he tilted the Andre’s head to one side, exposing the vein in his neck. It took only a few moments to dispatch the one who had tried to stab him.

Marie made a low sound of despair. Jean-Paul gave her his full attention. Her muffled voice rose as she tried to scream at him.

“What’s that you say? I am an unnatural monster? Spawn of hell? But there I am afraid you are quite wrong. I am perfectly natural. I am simply not of your world.” He leaned forward and bit.

When he finished, he inspected his clothes before leaving the mausoleum. There would be no trace of him for the authorities to find, no DNA or prints. If anyone found the bodies, they’d think the pair were victims of some cult or other.
In a way, they are
. He chuckled at the idea. If these two had not joined the Reapers, they never would have met him. Jean-Paul walked through the cemetery to his car. He shuddered and spat when he was a few feet from where he’d parked. The agents of the Reapers tasted sour. It made him long for Cora’s sweetness even more. He got in the car and started it. He had too much to do to waste time pining over Cora. The sooner he finished, the sooner he would be with her in Dead Man.
With her Werewolves
. He really needed to call her back soon.