Wolf Tales II Read online

  “Those must have been some markers, boss. Tia’s going to hate me when she finds out.”

  “Then don’t tell her.” Ulrich stood up, grabbed Luc’s coat, and threw it at him. “I certainly don’t intend to. Go home. Get some sleep. Tomorrow my car will be unavailable and you’re taking me to the airport to pick up my daughter. It will give you a chance to get reacquainted.”

  “Still calling in those markers, boss?”

  “Do I have to?” Ulrich stared straight at Luc, one alpha wolf challenging another.

  Luc shook his head. “You know you don’t. What time?”

  “I’ll see you here at ten. Her flight’s due in at SFO just after eleven.”

  Chapter 2

  The hand cupping Tia’s breast was warm and rough, both palm and fingertips callused. Her nipple rose to a painful, unbelievably sensitive peak, pinched between a blunt thumb and forefinger. Her vagina actually pulsed with each beat of her heart as a moist tongue followed a line from her breastbone to her navel, then dipped inside and swirled. She shivered, caught in that sensual state between sleep and wakefulness, her arousal growing with each gentle caress.

  Lapping slowly, surely, the long, slick, and very mobile tongue now swept the crease of her buttocks then delved between her sensitive labia and licked deeply into her pussy. She caught back a cry as the fiery trail swept upward, barely teasing at her clit before sliding once more across her lower belly.

  Spreading her legs even wider, slipping lower in her seat, she raised one eyelid to get a better view of her lover.

  Time stood still—painfully, irrevocably still.

  A wolf stared back at her, amber eyes glowing, tongue still lapping slowly at her belly, his ivory canines curved like sharpened sabers. He looked up and slowly licked his muzzle, wrapping that long, rough tongue almost all the way around.

  The scream caught in her throat.

  A soothing voice clicked into Tia’s consciousness and shattered the image crouched between her knees.

  “We’ve started our descent into San Francisco International Airport and are currently flying at 27,500 feet. If you’re on the left side of the plane you should be able to look out your window and see Half Dome in Yosemite, sticking up like a…”

  Tia gasped. Her lungs pumped like a bellows and her skin flushed from hot to cold. She blinked rapidly, noted that the older man next to her still snored, blissfully asleep. Quickly scooting back in her seat, Tia sat upright and smoothed her wrinkled denim skirt. Her breath escaped in a long sigh. For extra measure, she fastened her seat belt, pulled it firmly across her middle, and prayed the moisture between her legs hadn’t soaked through the denim.

  Damn the dreams. Until last week, she hadn’t had any this explicit in almost three months. Why now? Tia glanced once more at the man sleeping next to her and flushed, her skin once again going hot and cold all over. What if he’d awakened? What if someone had seen her, sprawled out, legs spread wide, lips parted, and breasts heaving?

  She cupped her forehead in the palm of her hand and shuddered. Damn, this had better be the right choice, this move back to San Francisco. Somehow she needed to understand the dreams, the explicit, sensual dreams that had finally broken the link between her and Shannon, Tia’s dearest friend in the world.

  Her friend and her lover. She’d been with Shannon for ten years, ever since they were teenagers heading off to boarding school together, their hormones in high gear and their need for one another overwhelming. It had been so good then, so perfect, both emotionally and physically.

  Tia sighed. She missed the intensity of their teenage affair, the forbidden nature of love with another female, the heart-stopping, lung-bursting climaxes they’d managed to wring out of one another. So good at first. So fulfilling, for a time, at least; then slowly, surely, Tia had acknowledged something important was missing.

  So had Shannon. The last five years their relationship had merely been a safety net for both of them. A safety net held together by friendship and, only rarely, sexual love.

  Even Shannon admitted to occasional sex with a man, something Tia enjoyed as well, but it had never been enough. Not with one man, not even with multiple partners. The sense of something else, something more powerful, more sensual, lured her out of every relationship, away from any commitment.

  Away from Shannon.

  The dreams hadn’t helped. Explicit, arousing, forbidden dreams. Always the wolf, amber eyes glowing, teeth sharp and glistening, the rough, mobile tongue lapping, licking…Tia blinked away the image and scrubbed at her wrists and forearms. Why, when she remembered the dreams, did her skin crawl? She hated it, the itchy, agitating sense of something just beneath the surface. Sometimes she wondered if she were losing her mind, descending into some unexplainable madness.

  The plane jerked a bit as it descended. The FASTEN SEAT BELT sign blinked overhead. An attendant leaned close, awakened the man sleeping next to Tia, and asked him to fasten his belt. She smiled at Tia and moved on to the next sleeping passenger.

  Tia shook off the strange sensations, and her thoughts returned to Shannon. If her father had only known how close the girls were when they’d asked to go away to boarding school together, he might have forbidden it. Obviously, he didn’t have a clue. In fact, the poor man had been so relieved when Tia left, it was almost embarrassing.

  It couldn’t have been easy for him, raising a daughter without her mother there for guidance. Coping with hormones and emotions completely foreign to him, not to mention the issues that occasionally arose because of her biracial status. Maybe Tia and Shannon wouldn’t have become lovers if they’d had mothers, but Shannon’s mom had died of cancer when Shannon was only five. That shared loss had drawn the girls together.

  Tia’s mother had been murdered. To this day she didn’t know all the details, only that her father had never even talked of remarrying. He’d loved her mother beyond all women.

  He’d loved Tia as if she were a princess, put her on a pedestal. More like a perch, she thought, locked securely in a gilded cage. Rationally, she knew he’d wanted to protect her, but he’d merely driven Tia away.

  What would it be like now, to live in the same city, to see her father whenever she wanted, to finally learn more about his life? She’d have a chance, maybe, to learn the details of her mother’s murder. More important, she’d have the freedom her adult status now gave her to search for answers.

  Tia sighed. She wished she remembered her mother more clearly, but the image she carried of Camille’s smile was the face in the snapshots, the pictures both Tia and her father treasured.

  Ulrich had always had presence, as far as Tia was concerned. She wondered how he did now that he was partially retired. From his letters and calls and their infrequent visits, Tia knew he was still active and involved, busy with his detective agency. He’d always had a lot of friends.

  Lucien Stone’s image popped into Tia’s mind. Luc. She hadn’t seen him since the summer before she and Shannon went off to Briarwood, but he and her father had always been close. He was probably married by now with a couple of kids, but he’d filled her fantasies for years. When Shannon made love to her, it was Luc’s mouth tasting, licking, driving her over the edge. When Shannon had used a vibrator or dildo between Tia’s legs, Tia had been filled by Luc.

  She stared out the window, watching the multicolored squares in San Francisco Bay as they glided down over the salt beds, and tried to picture Lucien Stone with ten years added to his stern yet boyish good looks.

  By the time the plane landed and Tia unbuckled her seat belt, she had an image in her mind of a potbellied, middle-age man with thinning hair.

  When she reached for her carry-on luggage in the overhead rack, Tia added bad teeth and an earring. She was grinning as she walked down the enclosed ramp to the gate, the image of an older Lucien Stone taking on cartoon properties in her overactive imagination.

  She was still smiling when she arrived at the luggage carousel. Her father waited there, just
as overwhelming and handsome as when she’d last seen him, his skin ruddy from wind and sun, his hair a thick shock of white badly in need of a trim. Ulrich pulled her into a hug, his big arms and broad chest erasing every misgiving Tia had felt about coming home.

  He smelled just the same as always, a combination of Dial soap and Colgate shaving cream. Tia took deep breaths, just to absorb his beloved scent.

  “Sweetie, you are absolutely gorgeous.”

  Her father stood back for a better look, his big hands clasped tightly to her shoulders. “I’ve missed you. I’m glad you’re home.”

  Tia’s eyes filled with tears. She wanted nothing more than to throw herself back into her father’s arms and tell him how lonely she’d been, how much she’d wanted to come home. How terribly glad she was to be back. “It’s good to be here, Daddy.”

  “Was the trip okay?” He reached for the bag she grabbed off the carousel, set it on the floor, and then snatched another she pointed to.

  “Yeah. Just long. I…” No. It couldn’t be. Not Luc? A chill raced along her spine, a sense of awareness that left her weak-kneed and shivering.

  “Hello, Tia.”

  “Luc? Good lord! I haven’t seen you since…”

  “Since you were a skinny little sixteen-year-old with braces on your teeth.” Smiling, Luc stepped forward and drew her into a friendly, brotherly hug.

  At least, Tia assumed it was meant to be brotherly. Where her father’s hug had been home and comfort, Luc’s was bed and beyond. His big hands stroked her spine, the briefest of contacts that left her feeling naked and wanting. His lips brushed her cheek and she fought the urge to lean closer for more. She breathed deeply of his scent. He was spice and fresh air, deep woods and dark rivers…intoxicating and addictive.

  When he released her—was it only seconds later?—Tia clamped her jaws together to keep her teeth from chattering. “Luc, you look…you haven’t…” Her voice drifted off and she realized she was staring at him.

  He grinned, obviously aware of her discomfort. His teeth were perfectly straight and very white. His nose wasn’t nearly as straight, but the bump on the bridge where he’d probably broken it at some time during the past ten years only made him look stronger, more masculine.

  Tia blinked. The dream she’d had earlier on the plane materialized in all its sensual detail. Damn, Lucien Stone looked exactly like that hungry wolf with his deep-set amber eyes and feral grin. It was much too easy to picture him kneeling between her thighs, his tongue lapping away at her cream.

  Tia gulped, no ladylike swallow at all, but Luc ignored her faux pas and instead reached past her to pick up off the carousel the last two of her large bags. He slung one over his shoulder, gripped the other easily in his left hand, and then grabbed the two smaller ones in his right. Ulrich took Tia’s carry-on bag from her and led the way to the parking garage.

  Tia followed quietly, her inner thighs sliding moistly, one against the other, with each step. The two men were discussing something, but the words merely sailed past her without sense. Awareness of Luc screamed a steady beat inside her brain, echoed in the rhythmic clenching between her legs. Her chest felt tight and her skin itchy and she’d never been this aware of another human being in her life.

  Tia didn’t think to question how Luc had identified her mismatched set of bags out of all the others on the luggage carousel until he shoved them into the trunk and shut the lid.

  Somehow he’d found them without her help. But how? Tia turned to ask, but Luc opened the door and gestured with his hand. She smiled as he seated her in the front. Ulrich stepped back on the curb when Luc moved around to the driver’s side and climbed into the Mercedes.

  Frowning, Tia lowered the window. “Dad? Aren’t you coming with us?”

  Ulrich smiled, leaned close, and kissed Tia’s cheek. “I’ve got a meeting in Burlingame, so I’ll catch a cab. Luc will get you settled and then I want him to bring you over for dinner this evening. Is that okay with you?”

  Tia nodded, blinking nervously. Like she had a choice? Why did this feel planned, as though the two men followed a script? She glanced once more at her father and realized he was looking steadily at Luc. If she didn’t know better, Tia would have thought Ulrich and Luc communicated without speaking. She turned to Luc, noticed his slight nod, and when she looked back at her father it was to see his broad shoulders and back as he walked purposefully out of the parking garage without another word.

  A memory intruded, faint and far away, more a dream than reality. Her mother’s voice, soft words of comfort whispering in Tia’s mind as she fell asleep at night. Wishing her well as she worried about starting school, ordering Tia to behave when she wasn’t minding. Her mother had communicated with her without audible speech.

  Exactly as she imagined Luc and her father had just done. Frowning again, mind and body overwhelmed, Tia settled into the soft leather seat and fastened her safety belt. Luc was much too close for comfort. Her head ached, her heart pounded in her chest, and the skin on her forearms crawled and twitched, the feeling as unsettling as the odd interchange she’d just witnessed between Luc and her father.

  Why? What had passed between the two men? Even more confusing, why did she feel the sensual clench of her womb as if an orgasm waited, just beyond reach? What was it about Lucien Stone that affected her on such an elemental level? Was it Luc’s scent? Her teenage fantasies suddenly come to life? Why would this man, at least fifteen years her senior, have such a strong, physical impact on her?

  Tia willed her raging libido to find peace, settled back into her seat, and concentrated on the road ahead, determined to keep a very close eye on how Luc and her father interacted.

  Her gut told her something strange was going on.

  Tia’s heart warned her to let well enough alone and her damned brain just wanted her to get settled in her new home. Head reeling with more input than answers, Tia watched as Luc checked his rearview mirror, accelerated, and pulled away from the airport. He skillfully merged the sporty Mercedes with the heavy traffic heading north on the freeway.

  From this angle he was even more attractive than she’d first thought. He wore his hair longer than she remembered. Thick and so dark it was almost black, it curled over his collar and covered his ears. He had a lean, sharp profile, dark, heavy brows over eyes hidden behind thick lashes.

  There was a feral intensity about him, a perception of strength, the potential for violence. Awareness of him held Tia on edge, the feeling that she sensed more of Luc than he allowed the world to see.

  Visions of her latest dream lingered in the back of Tia’s consciousness, reinforced by the strong profile of the man beside her. She rubbed the crawling skin on her forearms and wondered at the powerful attraction to a man she hadn’t seen in ten years.

  Luc hoped like hell the woman sitting so close wouldn’t notice how tightly he clenched his teeth. Damn, Tia was no more a gangly teenager than…well, there really was no comparison.

  Not when he could smell her arousal, so close and inviting, not when he knew she was hot and wet and ready for him—even if she didn’t realize it herself. He’d been hard since the first glance he’d gotten of her. She’d looked like a tall, slim, native princess, riding down the escalator with her head held high, scanning the crowd in the claims area as she searched for her father.

  She still wore her unruly hair long, fastened in a clip at the base of her neck, the thick tangle of dark blond curls falling midway down her back. Her skin glowed a rich, golden brown against her turquoise blouse and casual denim skirt.

  Thank goodness she’d been looking for Ulrich, not him, or Luc would have been caught staring like a horny adolescent, eyes wide, mouth open, cock hard and thrusting against his slacks. He’d almost growled when he hugged her, verging, as he was, so close to the shift from man to beast.

  He checked the traffic lane to his left and then chanced a quick glance in Tia’s direction. She stared back at him, eyes wide, lips parted. Taking a chan
ce, Luc searched her thoughts quickly.

  Blocked? But how? He smiled at her.

  She blinked. Her dark lashes hid her beautiful eyes for a brief instant, and then she smiled back and he knew she was waiting for him to say something.

  Anything.

  Conversation. Shit…when all he really wanted to do was rip off her clothes. Had Ulrich had any idea when he’d proposed his bloody scheme? Luc cleared his throat, swallowed…cleared his thoughts as well. “So, your, ah, dad gave me the address where you’ll be living.” He named the spot, just off Sunset Boulevard.

  She looked transparently grateful that he’d said something so innocuous.

  “That’s right. I’ll be teaching in a private school. The salary isn’t much, but they provide an apartment. I haven’t seen it yet. Only pictures. It’s not much…definitely small.”

  “In San Francisco any kind of apartment is something.” Luc glanced Tia’s way once more, then turned his attention back to the highway and let out a relieved sigh.

  Okay, this was easier. Talking about the high cost of rent would take any guy’s mind off a beautiful, ripe, absolutely mind-blowing woman sitting just inches away.

  Maybe.

  “Do you still work for my father?”

  Luc risked a quick look. Did Tia have any idea what Ulrich did for a living?

  She answered his question. “He’s never said what he does…. I guess I just figured it was some sort of detective agency. Pack Dynamics or something like that?”

  “Something like that and, yes, to answer your question. I’ve been with Ulrich for twenty years now.”

  “Longer than some marriages.” Tia smiled at him.

  “I wouldn’t know. I’ve never married.” Luc glanced once more in Tia’s direction. Was that a satisfied smile quirking the corner of her mouth as she turned her attention back to the road?