Wild Love [Werewolves of Forever, Texas 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read online

  Had she seen the tips of fangs? Had his eyes flashed with a glowing amber color?

  He closed his eyes, lowered his head, and added two fingers to her pussy again. He clamped his mouth over her clit and dragged her to him, his tongue flicking quickly over her until she couldn’t stand another minute of delicious torture.

  She screamed, the orgasm shuddering through her.

  He feathered kisses along her inner thigh, over the swell of her mons, and across her flat stomach to her belly button. He paused in his ascent to caress her breast. He nibbled her nipple then flicked his tongue over the other one.

  Her pussy tightened, ready for more. Placing his body on top of hers, he held his weight off her and studied her face. The small smile on his lips shot more lust through her.

  His amber eyes were gone, the dark brown lightened with only flecks of amber. When had his eyes changed? Had the light tricked her into seeing more amber than was really there? Or could she blame her disease? She shoved the black thoughts away, determined to keep her mind on what might happen next.

  “That’s just a taste of what’s to come. No pun intended.”

  Shock rushed through her as her mind slowly reawakened and logic came back. What had she done? She’d just met him minutes earlier, and she’d allowed him to strip her of her jeans and feast on her juices. Who knew what he was capable of? Who knew what she was capable of?

  Yet although she tried to comprehend how it had happened, she found that she wasn’t ashamed. Surprised, yes, but glad she’d given in to her desire. She wanted to live her life to the fullest, in every sense of the word, without worrying that she might make a mistake. Life, her life especially, was too short for regrets.

  He lay beside her, stroking her arm as her breathing leveled out. He was considerate, tender caresses mixing with his soft voice. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

  “Nothing’s wrong. I mean, I should be ashamed.” She searched his face. “But I’m not. Still, what in the world must you think of me? I don’t even know you, yet I let you…you know.”

  His features scrunched into a bemused expression. “You know? Come on, Emma. We didn’t do anything except a little harmless fooling around.” He lifted onto his elbow, his gaze zeroing in on her. “But that’s not what I’m asking. I want to know what’s really wrong. I can sense you’re hiding something, and I can tell it’s a big problem. Tell me. I can help.”

  How could he have known? She didn’t look sick, and she certainly hadn’t acted ill. But how had her past managed to catch up with her? No one except her ex-boyfriend, Brian, along with one very close friend and a handful of doctors, knew. She scrambled to the edge of the bed, put her back to him, and gathered her clothes. She tugged on her shirt and pulled up her jeans.

  A tear welled at the corner of her eye. Why couldn’t she have had a few minutes without that terrible fate hanging over her head? She wiped away the tear before it could fall.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Everything’s fine.”

  “You’re a lousy liar, Emma. You can trust me.”

  He sat up and reached for her, but she edged away. Anger and fear took over. She twisted around and glared at him. “Don’t accuse me of lying. Why don’t you mind your own business? No matter what we just did, we’re just landlord and renter. Nothing more.”

  She stood and paced to stand at the window then gazed into the backyard. She wanted to tell him to leave, yet another part of her didn’t want him to go. His horse nickered and pawed at the ground, tugging on the reins he’d tied around the hitching post. She closed her eyes, remembering the touch of his hands, the stroke of his tongue.

  “Emma, you don’t need to be afraid. We can handle it together. Me, you, and my brothers.”

  She was stunned. How much had she wanted Brian to say the same thing? But he never had. Yet Jacob, a stranger, had offered her more than her boyfriend of two years. Another tear welled in her eye, but she was determined not to let him see. She wouldn’t cry in front of him or anyone. Crying wouldn’t help a damn thing.

  “If there’s nothing else we need to do about the rental, would you please leave? I–I’d like to unpack and settle in.” Her thoughts, however, fought against her reason.

  Please stay. If only for one night. Please stay.

  He said nothing for far too long. At last, she heard the bed creak as he rose and stepped toward the door. She had to fight to keep from whirling around and running to him.

  “I realize you don’t understand this right now, Emma. But if you need anything, all you have to do is call. My brothers and I are here for you. Now and forever.”

  She pressed the back of her hand against her mouth to keep the sobs at bay until she heard him close the front door. What kind of man promised to support her after only a few minutes together? She wished she could believe him. She wished she could believe someone could help her.

  Her heart broke apart the barrier that had formed around it. Pivoting on her heel, she took a step forward, wanting to call him back, then stopped. She fisted her hands at her sides. “Damn it. Haven’t you learned your lesson yet? You’re on your own. Like it or not.”

  * * * *

  Two hours later Emma still sat on the sofa staring at the empty fireplace. How many times had she started toward the front door, ready to drive around the fenced outskirts of the ranch in search of the Carr brothers’ home? She wasn’t sure how large the ranch was, but if she couldn’t find the entrance leading to his house on her own, she’d go into town and ask for directions

  The emotions raging inside her didn’t make sense, but the one sensation she couldn’t shake was that she was right where she needed to be. Jacob had stirred feelings in her that she hadn’t felt in a long time. Certainly not since that horrible day when she’d told Brian about her condition. She wanted to trust Jacob and everything he’d told her, but she was still too raw to let herself believe.

  She lay down on the sofa and rested her forearm over her eyes. As happened so often, the headache came back, along with the memories.

  “You’re not serious. Are they sure? Who did the scan?”

  Emma watched Brian as he stalked from one side of her apartment to the other. Maybe she shouldn’t have told him. Maybe the best thing she could’ve done was to keep it a secret, break up with Brian, and leave town. At least that way he wouldn’t feel obligated to stay with her, nursing her through the horrors to come, only to lose her in the end. But she’d given in to her need for comfort, for someone to lie and tell her everything would be all right.

  “I’m sorry, Brian. And yes, they’re sure. They repeated all the tests.”

  Brian stopped and stared at her. He frowned as though not liking what he saw, and not for the first time, she feared he would never look at her in the same way he had before she’d told him.

  He raked a hand through his hair. “I never thought…I mean, I know you’ve had bad headaches, but I never imagined…this.” He waved his arm, motioning at her. His scowl oozed disgust and anger.

  Was he angry at her for getting sick? Did he think she had any control over a disease? Or did he think she’d tricked him somehow?

  “Brian, why are you looking at me like that? I can’t help what happened or what’s going to happen. As someone involved in medical research, you should understand that better than most people.”

  “I just can’t believe it.” He let his body fall onto the oversized easy chair across from her. “How am I supposed to have a girlfriend with…Holy hell, Emma, how could you do this to me?”

  To him? Where was the comfort she needed so badly? Where was the sympathy she’d expected? Yet instead, he was thinking only of himself.

  “Brian, it’s not like I asked for this. But with your help, there’s a chance I could make it. A slim chance, but it’s better than nothing.”

  His eyes grew wider as he realized what she’d said. “With my help? What do you think I’m going to do? Spend my days taking you to doctor appointments? Or hold you
r hair back while you upchuck from your treatments? I won’t let you ruin my life that way.”

  Pain ripped her heart apart while her stomach flipped over in a sickening twist. “Your life? I’m ruining your life?”

  They were on their feet and standing toe to toe before she realized she’d moved. His expression reflected the anger she felt.

  “Emma, you can’t expect me to tolerate this.”

  Why she’d thought she’d get anything else from him was beyond her. “Tolerate? My health isn’t something you have to tolerate. For God’s sake, Brian, you told me you loved me only a few days ago. Has that changed? Or was your love conditional on my health?”

  “I do love you.” He blew out a breath and slid his gaze down her body. “But this is too much. This isn’t the life we talked about. I have plans. Big plans. But with a sick girlfriend, those plans go up in smoke.”

  She kept her fisted hands to her sides to keep from slapping him. “So much for the ‘in sickness and in health’ part of our future wedding vows. I guess it’s a good thing we never made it that far, huh?”

  Brian appeared to mellow. Maybe he realized how awful he sounded, or maybe he simply couldn’t handle her anger.

  “Look, Emma, I’ll be glad to help you. Within reason, of course. We’ll still be friends.”

  She laughed, a sound that held no mirth. “Wow. I’ve gone from future fiancée to girlfriend then all the way back to friend. What next? If I start showing signs of my condition, will you take us back to acquaintances?”

  “Em.” He tried to say more, his mouth working, but nothing came out.

  Instead, the man she loved stood in front of her and nodded. She swallowed an ache that threatened to close off her throat. “Get out, Brian. Get out and never come back.”

  A week later with no word from Brian, she packed her bags and drove to Forever, Texas.

  Emma jolted out of the memory, a sob racking her body. She reached for the satchel by the sofa then dug around for her medication bottle. Finding it, she popped the lid off to pour two pills into the palm of her hand. She tossed them back, swallowing them without water.

  Her cell phone rang, playing the tune that identified the caller. “Brian?” She cursed, vowing to block his calls from now on. She reached for her phone then stopped. Why was he calling her after all this time? Had he changed his mind about them? If so, did she care?

  A flash of Jacob’s face hit her almost as hard as the pain searing through her head. Yet the image of Jacob along with the promise of his brothers seemed to take the edge off the agony. The ringtone announced Brian’s attempt to reach her again. She glared at the phone, once more asking herself if she cared that he wanted to talk to her. Amazing herself, the answer came fast and hard.

  No.

  Yet anger combined with curiosity had her grabbing the phone and punching the button to connect her to the caller.

  “What do you want, Brian?” More than likely he was calling to ask her if she had taken his favorite CD.

  “Em, is that you?”

  “Of course it’s me.” She gritted her teeth against the voice she used to love.

  “You didn’t sound like yourself.”

  How was she supposed to sound? “What do you want?”

  “Em, I’m calling with great news. Dr. Harding—he’s the leading man in his field—has done monumental work that’s led to a breakthrough with a radical form of surgery, and he thinks he may have the answer to your…problem.”

  She couldn’t help but let the flicker of hope spark to life. Yet the reality of their breakup and his lack of support were greater. “It’s not just a problem. I can’t call a think tank and get their ideas for solving my situation. It’s cancer. The Big C.”

  She heard the irritation in his tone even though she realized he was trying his best to cover it. “I know. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. But, Em, he believes his treatment can save your life.”

  “Why didn’t I hear about this before now?”

  “It’s experimental, so only a few trusted people know it exists. That’s why he needs volunteers. So he can prove it then show the world what he’s accomplished.”

  Something didn’t seem right, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. “So I’m a guinea pig, is that it? Is this procedure legal? Has it gone through the necessary channels? And how did you meet Dr. Harding, anyway? I doubt you two run in the same social or professional circles.”

  The silence before he spoke set off warning bells in her head. “Dr. Harding has spent a lot of time searching medical records for the perfect candidate. That’s how he came onto your name. He tried reaching you, but when you didn’t answer, someone gave him my name. Then when we met, he explained everything. I told him I’d call you. Em, I said you’d go for it. I mean, how could you turn down a chance like this? How could you turn down any chance to live?”

  The tickle at the back of her head got stronger. “It’s experimental. What makes me think he’s bypassing a lot of safety protocols? Does his hospital support him in this? Or is he working on the fringes? And what’s in it for you, Brian?”

  As much as she’d once loved Brian, she’d known and accepted his flaws. One of which was self-promotion. He never did anything if he didn’t benefit from it.

  “What’s in it for me? Are you kidding? You’ll get well and we can go back to the life we had. We can go on with our plans. Don’t you want that, baby?”

  He wanted to go back to the way things were before she’d found out. Before he’d left her alone to face her awful future. “You must have taken something, Brian, if you think we can just pick up where we left off. You dumped me, remember? No. I don’t buy it. There’s got to be more to this than you’re telling me.”

  “I want my girl back. What more could I want? Come on. No matter how you feel about me right now, you’ve got to take this chance. Do it for us. Do it for yourself.”

  She had to take the only chance she had, didn’t she? Then why was she hesitating? “I don’t know.”

  “Let me come to where you are. We’ll talk it over and weigh the pros and the cons together. How about that? You’re in a small Texas town, aren’t you?”

  “How did you find out where I am?”

  “I haven’t yet. Not exactly. I gave your old lady landlord a bullshit tale about finding you so I could propose, and she fell for it. She even showed me a letter from some bank in Shatland confirming that you’d paid six months’ in advance for a rental house. Too bad it didn’t give me the address or I’d be there by now.”

  Wasn’t it bad enough that he’d torn her heart out? Now he’d taken to lying to sweet old Mrs. Roberts and reading her mail? “You lied to Mrs. Roberts? Damn it, Brian. You really are a shit.”

  “I’m not sorry I did it. How else could I have found out where you’d gone? If you’d only answered my calls…Never mind. Just tell me what town you’re staying in and I’ll come get you.”

  Her first inclination was to tell him about Forever, Texas. Maybe if she saw him again, she could finally be rid of him. Yet as soon as she opened her mouth to do so, she saw Jacob’s face again. Two shadowy figures, both as strong looking as Jacob, stood behind him. She couldn’t tell Brian anything. Not yet.

  “No. I–I don’t want to see you.”

  “Forget about me for the moment. What about the surgery?”

  “I need time to think about it.”

  “Em, you don’t have time to waste.”

  She bit her lower lip to keep the retort on the end of her tongue from flying out. “I know. But I’m still going to think about this first. If I want to hear more, I’ll call you. Until then, don’t call me again.”

  “Don’t be a fool. Just because you’re upset with me—”

  She ended the conversation, cutting off his attempt to change her mind. Pacing to the other side of the room, she stared out the window and tried to understand the blur of emotions raging inside her.

  She didn’t want to see Brian. Through the di
fficult time after he’d broken up with her, she’d realized that she’d been lucky he’d left her. If she’d gotten ill after they’d married, things would have been even worse. She would’ve had to struggle with an unsupportive husband and a probable divorce. At least the way it happened had made it a clean and swift break. But that didn’t mean seeing him wouldn’t bring up old feelings she’d put to rest.

  On the other hand, what if the treatment he was offering worked? What if she could return to her old life? What if she could escape the death sentence hanging over her? Shouldn’t she take the chance and hear him out?

  Yet she couldn’t help it. She couldn’t get past the impression that Brian was holding back information. An experimental treatment should’ve taken years of research, testing, and documentation before letting patients opt in for the procedure. Why hadn’t she heard about the treatment from her doctors instead of her ex-boyfriend?

  Something just wasn’t right.

  Chapter Three

  “What’s she like?” Jackson tore off a chunk of bread and slathered it with butter. Jackson and Jayden sat opposite Jacob at the rustic kitchen table.

  Their home, located on the other side of the ranch from the house Emma had rented, sat on a small rise overlooking their land. From the huge window in the back of the cozy four-bedroom frame house, Jackson could see cattle and horses grazing in the fields. A red barn was on the next acre, close enough to their home for easy access but far enough away not to pick up any smells unless the wind blew hard. He scanned the horizon and remembered walking the fields as a young boy with his mother and his brothers.

  “She’s everything we hoped for and more.” Jacob cut off a large piece of his rare steak and shoved it in his mouth.

  “Yeah? But how exactly? Come on, bro, give us some details.” Jayden rose to gather three more beers from the refrigerator. “Is she tall? Is she skinny? Does she have a great rack? Maybe a bodacious booty?”

  “Is she intelligent?” Jackson ignored Jayden’s hand raised in the air for a high-five. As the oldest, he tried to maintain a serious demeanor, a counterpoint to Jayden’s playfulness and Jacob’s jokes.