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  And then she was off and running.

  “Hey!” Hurriedly, he threw the car into park and jumped out. “Where the hell do you think you’re going?”

  But she was already halfway across the yard. He vaulted over the Crown Vic’s hood and shot after her. His longer strides helped him gain on her, but not quite before she made the woods.

  No sooner had she reached the concealment of the trees than he sensed the rise of magic as she Changed.

  All he saw then was the red flag of a wolf tail, rapidly pulling away.

  “Oh, no you don’t!” Lucas growled, and shifted himself. Magic poured over him as he ran, twisting muscle and bone until he was four-legged himself.

  Elena’s scent was even more powerful to him in this form, wrapping around his lupine balls, teasing him to desperate hunger. He lengthened his stride, fiercely determined to catch her.

  To prove to her she couldn’t outrun him.

  The long red blur that was Elena grew closer. Lucas gathered himself and leaped, meaning to take her down…

  Even as he flew toward her, she veered away, leaving him to hit the ground frustrated. With a soft, determined growl, he charged after her. He saw her fanged jaws gape in a canine grin as she ducked away. He spun. She zigzagged. He headed her off, then feinted one way. She changed direction—and ran right into him as he leaped in front of her. They tumbled together as he tried to pin her with his greater weight.

  For a moment he succeeded.

  Until Elena changed, shifting back to human. She started to leap to her feet, but he shifted himself, caught her by one slim ankle, and tumbled her to the leaves.

  “Got you!” he crowed, and pounced.

  “Dream on!” she panted, trying to squirm out of the arm he’d looped around her narrow waist.

  “Give it up, Elena!” He wrapped both legs around her thighs, pinning her.

  “Hey, let go, you big jerk!” She kicked and wiggled, but he had a good grip now, and no intention whatsoever of releasing her.

  At least, not until he had her naked.

  Grabbing the hem of her knit shirt, he tugged it up over her head, then attacked the front clasp of her bra.

  “Brute!” She aimed a mock swat at his hands as he flicked the cups aside, leaving her pretty breasts bare.

  “Yep, that’s me,” he purred in her ear, cupping one soft mound. “A big, nasty brute. You, on the other hand, are small, sweet and…” Gently, he pinched her hardening nipple. “…edible.”

  Toying with the little peak, Lucas reached for the snap of her jeans with his free hand.

  She jerked against his hold, though he could smell her arousal. “Cut that out!”

  “No.” Flicking the snap open, he unzipped her fly, then slid his hand down over her silken belly and under the waist-[ ]band of her panties. “I caught you, and you’re mine.” Lowering his head to one of the straining cords of her throat, he raked it gently with his teeth. “And I’m not letting you go.”

  Elena swallowed hard as Lucas’s broad, warm palm slid down between her thighs. A finger sought between softly furred lips. “Mmmmm,” he purred in her ear. “You’re wet.”

  And he was hard. She could feel that thick cock of his pressed against her ass. She shivered in anticipation, remembering how it had felt last night, driving into her.

  He was so damn big, so damn male. It occurred to her she’d never have another man like him….

  That exploring finger circled her hard clit, triggering a hot, clenching pleasure. Elena let her head fall back with a helpless moan.

  “Nice, huh?” Lucas rumbled, tugging her nipple as he simultaneously thrust that exploring finger deep in her clenching sex. “Just think how my cock is going to feel.”

  Oh, she was. The sensation of it pressed against her butt was maddening. If anything, the memory of last night’s impassioned lovemaking only intensified the need.

  Elena writhed, trying to break free again—but not to escape. She wanted to wrap her fingers around that thick cock, to taste him on her tongue, salty and hot.

  She wanted to hear him moan.

  He tightened the grip of his legs, suppressing her struggles with no particular effort. “Stop that.” Another milking squeeze of her nipple.

  “I want to touch you!”

  “Too bad.” He released his grip on her legs only to grab the waistband of her jeans. Before she could attempt another escape, he started dragging her pants and panties down over her legs.

  Finally, he tossed them aside, leaving her completely naked.

  He, on the other hand, was still dressed. Something about being nude while he wasn’t struck her as deliciously erotic.

  She tried to turn over and face him, but he grabbed both her wrists in one hand and pinned them to the ground. Elena yanked, trying to free herself, but Lucas just let his weight press down over her, flattening her in the dry leaves.

  “Lucas!”

  “Shhhh.” With his free hand, he explored her backside, kneading the firm flesh. “You know, you’ve got a really delicious ass.”

  She licked her dry lips, enjoying his wickedly skilled touch. “Yours isn’t so bad either.”

  “Thank you.” Two fingers found her opening and started working their way inside. “But since I’m the one on top, that’s a little irrelevant.”

  Elena shuttered her eyelids, savoring the sensation of his hot, slick strokes. Every entry sent a cascade of pleasure into her core.

  The sensation was intensified by the way Lucas’s big cock pressed eagerly against her ass. She found herself rolling her hips upward, silently demanding to be entered, to be filled by that huge shaft.

  God, he made her hotter than she’d ever been in her life.

  Lucas fought for control as Elena rolled her lush little body against his. His cock was aching, begging to bury itself in her tight, slick sex. Every breath he took carried her lusciously erotic scent.

  He withdrew his fingers and reached for his fly, liberating his aching cock. It sprang out, rock-hard at the prospect of hilting itself in her heat.

  No, not yet, Lucas decided. He needed to work her a little more, get her even hotter. He tumbled her onto her back and started to lower his head between her thighs.

  “No,” she gasped. “Let me do you, too.”

  That was not an offer any red-blooded male was likely to turn down. Releasing her, Lucas turned head-down along her body, so his cock jutted over her mouth as he dipped his own head between her thighs.

  Elena tasted delicious, all salt and slick femininity. But before he could settle in to enjoying her in earnest, she caught his cock and angled it down, then engulfed its plum head in her mouth.

  Lucas stiffened with a gasp as she swirled her pointed tongue over the head of his cock. A drop of pre-come appeared, and she lapped it up with a long, slow pass. He squirmed, feeling his lust spike.

  Then she sealed her lips over his shaft and sucked so hard he threw his head up with a shout of pleasure.

  Damn, he was never going to last if she kept that up. Carefully, he drew away from her.

  “Oh, no you don’t!” She grabbed for him again.

  “Oh, yes.” He grabbed her by the shoulders and flipped her over. “I do.”

  Then he grabbed his shaft, aimed it for her cream-slick opening, and started thrusting his way in from behind. Elena groaned as he slid into her inch by inch, her snug flesh gripping his shaft.

  Finally his balls rested on her butt, and he paused, reaching around to recapture her wrists in one hand. Lucas slid the other beneath her body to cup her breast again.

  Then, enjoying every thrust, he started fucking her. Despite his clawing hunger, he was determined to take it slow, so he clamped a chokehold on his libido.

  It wasn’t easy. Her sex welcomed him with tight, wet heat, and she groaned, rolling her backside up at him. “Take me, Lucas,” she gasped. “Harder!”

  Maddened, he braced his weight on his arms and began to fuck deep into her slick grasp, grinding h
is hips, giving her exactly what she wanted.

  He felt his orgasm gathering like a hot storm, ready to break at any instant.

  Every time Lucas slid inside her, it felt as if he was reaching halfway up her throat. And Elena loved it.

  As turned on as he’d had her last night, this was even more intense. The sensation of being pinned under him like this, the rasp of his blue-jeaned thighs against her bare legs, the grip of his fingers around her wrists—it was all so deliciously arousing. She felt completely overwhelmed by him, by the sheer, hard strength of his body and the ferocity of his demanding lust.

  Yet even as his body dominated hers, he caressed her nipple with one hand, using tender delicacy. Somehow the contrast made her even more hot. She groaned, throwing her head back against his shoulder, savoring the sensation of that big cock screwing its way deep.

  As if her cry of arousal was a signal, Lucas started pumping harder, faster, grinding mercilessly deep in her sex. Elena felt her interior muscles begin to pulse and clamp. She tossed her head and gritted her teeth at the stark, hot rise of her orgasm.

  “Yes,” he growled in her ear. “That’s it. Come for me. Come now!”

  “God!” Her climax exploded, heat and pleasure pumping through her veins until she writhed with it.

  As she convulsed, Lucas drove to the balls and stiffened with a roar, spilling deep within her.

  Dazed, Elena lay panting in the leaves, breathing in the smell of growing things and sex and Lucas. Her lips curled into a delighted smile at the combination.

  “Damn, girl,” he rasped in her ear. “You’re killing me.” Carefully, he drew free from her sex. “But I think I’ll die happy.”

  “Me, too.” She grinned and stretched, suspecting her expression was more than a little smug. “You are really…”

  He stiffened against her. “Shh! You smell that?”

  “What?” Alarmed, she looked around as he jerked away from her.

  “Somebody’s coming.” He grabbed her shirt and bra and tossed them at her. “Get dressed. Now!”

  Frantically, she started dragging on her clothes. Even as she fastened her bra and pulled her shirt down over her breasts, the breeze blew into her face. Oh, hell, she knew that scent!

  “It’s Stephen!” she gasped, and grabbed for her jeans. “But it’s only Saturday. I thought you said he wasn’t supposed to get out of jail until Monday?”

  “Apparently I was wrong.” Lucas was on his feet, staring in the direction of the scent. He sniffed, testing. “And he’s got company. There are at least five other men with him.”

  Elena jumped to her feet and zipped her pants. “And one of them is Daddy.”

  CHAPTER 9

  As Elena watched, Lucas Changed into his Direwolf form.

  “You going to shift?” he asked her, his voice deep and growling.

  She started to nod, then froze in horror as realization struck. “I can’t! I may be pregnant.”

  “Okay, I’ll handle it.”

  “But…”

  He flashed her a level gaze. “It’s what I’m here for, Elena.”

  But how could she just stand by while he fought for his life? She could get pregnant again, but if he died…

  Before Elena could decide what to do, five Direwolves emerged from the clearing. She recognized four of them as her father’s security team. One of them held her father cradled in his arms like a child, while another carried the old man’s wheeled walker.

  Stephen stalked along in the lead, his ice-pale eyes blazing with triumph and anticipation. He was already in Dire-[ ]wolf form.

  “What are you doing out of jail?” Lucas’s big hands curled into fists.

  Stephen’s jaws gaped in a vicious lupine grin. “Seems someone at the jail mislaid a little paperwork. I’m out on my own recognizance.”

  Elena swore. “You bribed them.”

  “I don’t play to lose, Elena.”

  “This was not…well done of you…Elena,” Richard Livingston panted as one of his guards unfolded his walker. The other sat him down in its seat. Richard wrapped his painfully thin hands around its handlebars and glowered at her. “I don’t appreciate…being forced to leave my sickbed to…reason with you.” Only a couple of years ago, he’d been a big, fit man, with a hawkishly handsome face and thick silver hair.

  Losing his magic to age had weakened him. Unable to Change, Richard’s body had grown vulnerable to illnesses it did not have the immune system to fight. He seemed to have aged in the three days since she’d last seen him, his skin grown translucent and yellow.

  Pain shot through Elena at the sight of his frailty, but she forced herself to glare. “And I don’t appreciate your betrothing me to this abusive creep, Dad.” She bared her teeth at Stephen, who was moving closer. “What’s more, I’m not marrying him.”

  Stephen sniffed the air. “Brave words, considering you don’t seem to be pregnant.”

  “Oh, she easily could be,” Lucas drawled, with a taunting display of teeth. “Considering what we just finished doing. I understand it takes a few hours for the scent to change.”

  Stephen growled in a vicious chainsaw snarl of warning. “I told you to keep your hands off her!”

  “I don’t take orders from you, Stevie.” Lucas flexed his claws. “But if you want that duel now, I’m ready to go.”

  Ice-blue eyes narrowed. “Duels are for equals, mongrel. And you’re certainly not my equal.”

  Lucas coiled into a crouch. “Well, we’re agreed on that, since you’re a gutless pussy.”

  “This is not necessary,” Richard husked, raising his voice over Stephen’s enraged growl. “Your attempt to help my daughter was laudable, Lieutenant.” He stopped to pant. “I’d hate for her…machinations to result in…something regrettable.”

  “Are you threatening me?”

  “I would…prefer not to involve my…security team in this.” Richard broke off and coughed into his fist. Blood flew in his spittle. He fumbled for a handkerchief and wiped his mouth. “You would be wise…to walk away.”

  “You go to…”

  Elena was concentrating so hard on the confrontation between her father and Lucas that she didn’t notice Stephen creeping closer until a blur of gold flashed out of nowhere. The impact staggered her.

  Agony exploded in her guts, tearing a shriek of shocked pain from her mouth.

  “Elena!” Lucas roared, whirling and grabbing for her as she bent double with a high, helpless shriek.

  Numbly, she stared at the blood streaming between her arms, which she’d instinctively wrapped around her middle.

  Stephen laughed. “So much for the mongrel’s theoretical brat.”

  From a great distance, she heard Lucas raging, “You gutted her, you bastard! I’m going to tear your fucking head off!”

  Pain ripped at her with crocodile teeth. Her magic rose before she knew what she was doing, flaring over her, reforming muscle and bone. Even as she shifted to Direwolf, she grieved. Now she’d never know whether she’d carried Lucas’s baby.

  The moment she was whole again, Lucas let her go and lunged for Stephen’s throat. Furious, she met her father’s horrified gaze over their roars of combat. “You listen to me, Richard,” she snarled, refusing to call him her father. “I will die before I marry Stephen Bradford.”

  Whirling, she charged toward the brawling Direwolves.

  Richard must have given some order. One of the bodyguards ran to help Stephen, while another grabbed for Elena. Cursing them all, she raked at him with her claws even as he smashed her to the ground.

  Lucas sank his fangs into Bradford’s forearms and clamped down hard, intent on breaking bone. The rich man howled and struck out with his claws. Lucas blocked the strike and ground down. Damn, but it felt good to finally cut loose against one of those abusive little pricks.

  “Get him off, get him off!” Bradford writhed and kicked, his clawed feet raking Lucas’s calves. Lucas didn’t care, too intent on doing damage. An image flashed
through his mind: the terror and agony on Elena’s face when Bradford had laid her open.

  Something crunched at last. Bradford yelped.

  Before Lucas could savor his triumph, something slammed into his head. His jaws loosened as stars shot behind his eyes. Somebody grabbed him from behind and hauled him off Bradford, spinning him into a right cross that filled his mouth with blood. Lucas staggered, distantly aware that Bradford had taken to his heels.

  A black-furred werewolf who must have been one of the bodyguards lunged for Lucas’s throat, intent on finishing him off. Lucas ducked the charge, planted a shoulder in the shifter’s gut, and let him roll over his back. The man hit the ground hard. In the moment he was stunned, Lucas buried his claws in the bodyguard’s belly, raking him mercilessly as he yowled in agony. Shifting into wolf form, the man scrambled away, narrowly avoiding having his throat ripped out.

  Elena howled in rage and frustration. Forgetting the bodyguard, Lucas whirled. She was struggling with another black-furred werewolf as her father watched. Lucas growled and started for them.

  Before he took another step, a blur of dark brown slammed into his side, tumbling him off his feet. Fangs sank into his shoulder, shooting fire through his flesh. Lucas twisted and managed to rake his claws across the other’s long muzzle, forcing him to release his hold. Growling, he jolted forward, a second swipe of his claws leaving the werewolf’s ears a bloody ruin. The bodyguard retreated with a yelp.

  Spotting another shifter lunging for him, Lucas scrambled to his feet. Blood matted the fur of his left arm from the bite in his shoulder, and his legs burned viciously from Bradford’s raking claws. Despite the pain, he bounced on the balls of his feet and decided he could afford to put off changing form a little longer. The transformation to wolf would heal his injuries, but it would also leave him smaller and more vulnerable against his Direwolf enemies.

  Besides, Changing too many times could make his power turn on him. He had no desire to burn to death in a pyre of out-of-control magic.

  “Give it up, cop,” one of the three bodyguards growled as they closed in on him again. To Lucas’s satisfaction, one was limping and another was almost as bloody as he was. “She’s not worth dying for.”