Tangle of Need

Chapter 50

ADRIA FINISHED WRINGING out her hair and considered whether or not to use her T-shirt to blot her body dry. She could always shift and return home in wolf form. It might be best if she did, because she wasn’t sure she could hide the painful depth of her disappointment otherwise.

The chase had been a test, a game put in motion by the wolf that lived within her, wary and hopeful and with the courage to roll the dice. She’d needed to know Riaz cared enough to be pissed off, enough to follow. Changeling males who’d claimed a female were touchy about the kind of challenge she’d handed down, never simply allowed one to pass. That he had made it clear that though he’d called her “his” woman, it was only the shallowest of commitme—

“I like what you’re wearing.”

She was hauled back against a hard male body, one of his hands splayed possessively on her navel, the other cupping her breast to pluck at her nipple before the import of that deep male voice registered. Her pulse turned into a hammer, her breath coming in soft gasps.

“Sorry I’m a little late,” he murmured in a way she knew meant trouble. “Pup emergency.”

Relief and exhilaration threatened to make her melt against him … but she was a dominant female wolf. Slicing out her claws, she went to break his hold, but he’d read her intent—she found herself being spun around, her wrists imprisoned behind her back. He was using only one hand, but his hold was unbreakable.

“That wasn’t nice.” He gripped her jaw hard enough that she couldn’t use her teeth against him, and bent to take a bite out of the side of her breast.

“That hurt!” She clenched her thighs, the delicate folds between her legs slick with a moisture that made lie of her attempt at a snarl. “Riaz.”

Hot, wet laps of his tongue. “You liked it.” He squeezed her jaw in warning when she growled low in her throat, eyes of wolf gold looking into her own. “Behave.”

She might not have been a lieutenant, but neither was she a submissive. Not telegraphing her actions in any way, she brought up her knee at the same time that she snapped forward her head.

Rearing away, Riaz blocked the groin strike, but the dual attack distracted him enough that she was able to free herself. Slashing out with her claws before he could regain his balance, she scored four perfect lines across his chest, shredding his tee. Red seeped into the edges of the white fabric, but the cuts weren’t deep. Only enough to remind him that he was playing with a strong, dangerous woman, not an untried girl.

Tugging off the torn T-shirt, he threw it aside. “Now,” he said, stalking her with slow, prowling steps and an unblinking stare, “I’ll have to do more than just bite you.”

Oh, God. Seeing his nostrils flare, the tang of her arousal thick in the air, she fought the primal urge to pin him to the earth skin to skin, and shot him a deliberately provocative smile. “I don’t see you anywhere near me.”

He laughed … right before he lunged at her. The solitary reason she got away was because she danced left and into the deep pool created by the convergence of two streams. Coming up a second later, she saw him crouched on the verge, watching her, his head angled in a very wolfish way. “I don’t want to get wet.”

“Good, I’ll stay in here then.”

Thick black lashes lowered to hood his eyes. “I just saw an eel swim past.”

She jerked. “No you didn’t.” Except what was that brushing her leg? Yelping, she jumped a fraction to the right, glared at him when he chuckled. “You’re making it up.”

A grin that was all teeth. “Come out and I’ll only bite you a little.”

She shuddered against the impact of him so playful and more than a tiny bit dangerous. That was it, she was a goner. Dead and buried. Don’t give in. It was a command from her wolf—who understood that the male stalking her was having fun. So was she.

Treading water, she shook her head. “Thanks for the offer, but I don’t think so.”

Shrugging, he dug his now-bare feet into the grass and settled in, watching her with that same unwavering and unquestionably predatory focus. “It’s right behind you,” he said a minute later, the tension between them a thrumming bowstring. “With a friend.”

She spun around, backed up. “Lia—”

“Gotcha.” He hauled her out of the water and pinned her to the soft grass in a single powerful move.

Nipples rubbing against the exquisite friction of his chest hair, she wrapped her legs around the possessive intrusion of his hips. “You just wanted me close enough to grab.” She scratched lightly at his shoulders with the very tips of her claws.

Arching into the caress, he said, “I’m a wolf. What did you expect?” He slid his hand between her thighs with a boldness that intoxicated. “Let’s play a different game now.” Thumb and forefinger slick with the creamy evidence of her welcome, he rubbed the taut bundle of nerves that was her clit.

Shuddering, she said, “Yes,” and tugged his head down for a kiss that ended with his tongue in her mouth and his fingers pushing inside her in hard male demand. “Let’s.”

AN hour later, Riaz’s hand trembled as he stroked it over the damp silk of Adria’s hair, her face peaceful in sleep. His beautiful, prickly, wounded Adria had fallen asleep in his arms after the playful dance of their loving. He understood what that meant, knew he’d reached a part of her most people didn’t even realize existed.

It was only fair.

Because she’d reached deep into his soul, too, to places he’d thought would remain forever barren. Quite simply, he was happy. Cautious eyes, claws and all, Adria made him happy. He’d worried his wolf would fight him, fight how hard he’d fallen for her, but the predator in him was delighted with the lover who had become a friend … and who now owned a great big chunk of his heart. It nuzzled against her as he indulged his bone-deep need for skin privileges by caressing the sweep of her back.

“You’re mine, Adria Morgan.”

It was a punch to the throat, the discovery that he was still capable of such a visceral depth of emotion. Finding then losing Lisette hadn’t withered away the part of him that felt a wild possessive tenderness toward the long-limbed goddess in his arms, and where once he would’ve seen his feelings for Adria as a betrayal, he now saw them as a gift. He’d been given a second chance.

Her lashes fluttered up at that instant, sleepy eyes of mountain-sky blue streaked with veins of precious metals, looking up at him. “Was I sleeping?”

It was instinct to play with her. “You snore adorably.”

Laughing, her voice even huskier with sleep, she pretended to pull his nose. “You don’t.”

“Snore?”

“Snore adorably.”

He bared his teeth at her. She bared hers back. Filled with affectionate joy, the brick that had been a crushing weight on his soul crumbling away to nothing, he drew a line in the sand. Never again would he look back.

Lisette was his past, Adria his future.

RILEY finished his cell phone conversation with Kenji in relation to the BlackSea meet and glanced over to where his mate stood at Nate and Tammy’s kitchen window, her eyes trained on something outside. They’d driven down because he’d needed to return some tools he’d borrowed from Nathan, and since she’d been off shift, Mercy had come along to catch up with Tamsyn—and take the opportunity to “dress like a girl.”

Having chosen a strappy dress patterned with bright yellow sunflowers, she’d pulled her red hair back in a high ponytail and slipped her feet into simple white flip-flops decorated with a single daisy at the toes. She looked sunny and pretty and girly—and he knew damn well she’d worn those shoes because she could kick them off in a second and haul ass, should it be necessary for the protection of the pack.

Smile widening, he walked over to slide his arm around her waist and nuzzle a kiss to the creamy slope of her neck. “What’s so interesting?” he murmured in a sub-vocal whisper, conscious of Nate and Tamsyn teasing one another at the table on the other side of the kitchen bench.

“Faith is having hysterics.”

Wolf immediately on alert, he followed her line of sight to see the spectacle of tranquil, graceful Faith NightStar doubled over in the DarkRiver healer’s backyard, laughing too hard to reply to whatever it was her bemused mate was saying. She and Vaughn had swung by fifteen minutes earlier to drop off a box of medical supplies they’d picked up for Tamsyn, had ended up staying for coffee.

Now, the F-Psy finally stopped giggling long enough to say something to Vaughn. The jaguar’s grin could best be described as shit-eating.

Mercy’s claws hissed out.

Riley squeezed her waist. “Do you want to know?” His wolf paced in excitement—man and wolf both liked knowing things in advance, but Riley was aware Mercy preferred surprises. He’d go with her choice on this, since it was highly unlikely he’d be able to keep his mouth shut if Faith had foreseen what he thought she had.

Because right before Kenji’s call distracted him, Riley had caught Faith staring at Mercy, cardinal eyes huge. A second later, the F-Psy had developed a sudden cough, strong enough that she’d had to step outside. Clearly, Mercy had already connected the same dots he just had.

“I love surprises,” she whispered, retracting her claws and placing her hand on the as yet flat curve of her abdomen, “but I think this time, for our sanity, we’d better find out what she’s seen in our future.”

Riley rubbed her lower back. “Probably a hellion redhead.”

“Or perhaps a stubborn wolf pup who likes to get his own way.”

Grinning at one another, they turned to Nate and Tamsyn. “We’ll be back in a second,” Mercy said, tugging him toward the door.

It took them only seconds to reach Faith and Vaughn. “Spill it,” Mercy ordered the instant they were close enough.

The F-Psy wiped tears from her eyes, her smile the sweetest innocence. “What?”

“Don’t make me beat it out of you, Faith NightStar. Just tell us—is our child going to drive us that insane?”

For some reason, the question set Faith off again. She laughed so hard she ended up sitting on the ground, Vaughn crouched beside her. Rubbing her back, the jaguar attempted to look solemn. He failed miserably, his cheeks creased in a rare grin. “You know,” he said, “the future is mutable, subject to change.”

“I’m guessing from Faith’s response that this particular aspect of it is pretty much set in stone.” Folding her arms, Mercy tried to breathe past the bubbles of incipient delight in her bloodstream. “Our baby’s going to shift into a wolf, isn’t he?” Adorable, she thought, their pup would be downright adorable, his cute face a miniature copy of Riley’s.

“Hmm.” Faith pursed her lips together.

“Into a leopard?” Riley’s delight was transparent. “With Mercy’s pattern of spots?”

A spurt of laughter before Faith said, “Hmm,” again.

“Faith.” It was a shared growl.

Sharing a cagey look with her mate, the F-Psy said, “I think Tammy handles her boys real well, don’t you?” in a musing tone of voice.

Mercy’s legs collapsed under her. “Nu-huh,” she said, aware of Riley coming down beside her. “I am not having twins.”

“No, I’m sure you’re not.” Faith’s immediate response was strangely disappointing when the idea of twins had been such a shock. “You know how foresight works—things are never crystal clear, and multiple births are rare.” Rising to her feet, she held out a hand to Vaughn. “Let’s go drink that coffee.”

Mercy’s head was so turned around, it took her brain until after the other couple had left the yard to process what Faith had actually said. “Multiple births.” Her no-doubt punch-drunk eyes slammed into Riley’s. “Multiples.”

“But she’s sure we’re not having twins.” Riley looked alternately ecstatic and dazed. “Changelings have a lower birth rate than Psy or humans, but within that, we do have a higher rate of multiple births than the other races.”

Mercy stared at him. “How can you be so calm?”

“Because I can’t wait to kiss the babies you give me, kitty cat.” Taking her into his arms, he nipped her affectionately on the jaw. “One or three or five, I hope they all have their mama’s spirit.”

“My mother always said my punishment for giving her countless gray hairs before she was thirty would be little terrors of my own.” Stealing a kiss from those firm lips, she said, “Hopefully, your genes will balance mine out and we’ll get gorgeous, well-behaved auburn-haired babies who listen to their mother.”

Riley stared at her … and then they were laughing and kissing and holding on to one another, happy and scared and nervous all at once.