lightly at her inner thighs to hold her still, his long tongue speared deep inside her sex, curled against her sensitive channel and managed to find her swollen clit with every sweep and lick.
Suddenly he was human once again. Manda hung there on the edge, aware that one more long, hot sweep of wolven tongue would take her over. Her body quivered and her vaginal muscles pulsed in time to the rapid beating of her heart.
I like this part too much because I know it makes you crazy. Bay’s warm breath tickled her throbbing sex.
Manda whimpered, hanging by a single thread, hovering over her impending climax.
Bay’s fingers thrust deep inside her vagina just as his lips compressed her clitoris. He suckled her, squeezing the tiny bundle of nerves between warm, wet lips and moist, soft, tongue.
Screaming, Manda arched against his mouth. Her inner muscles grabbed his fingers, her entire body clenched in a powerful spasm and held it forever. Finally she tumbled headlong into another screaming orgasm.
Bay’s silent laughter followed her into oblivion.
She opened her eyes and watched as he licked his fingers clean of her cream. Her sex still pulsed and her nipples tingled. Her toes and fingers felt numb. When Bay finally stretched out beside her, Manda closed her eyes and wallowed in the magnificent afterglow of yet another mind-blowing orgasm.
She awoke some time later to a sense of something not right, as if things were out of sync or a little off kilter. Still wrapped in Bay’s arms, Manda nuzzled her cheek against the dark mat of hair on his chest and filled her nostrils with his familiar scent. Then she turned her head, sniffed the air, and caught the slightest whiff of something that didn’t belong.
Bay, do you smell something different? Out of place? Is there someone else here?
Bay rolled over slowly and rose up on his elbows as if to kiss her, but he took a deep breath and tested the air currents. Get up slowly, like nothing’s wrong. We’re going back to the house.
Should we shift?
No. There are intruders. In the woods near the rocks. I smell two, maybe three men.
She forced a smile when Bay stood up and grabbed her hand. She gazed up at him a moment, at the perfect body of the man who was her mate. Powerful and dark with the lean muscles of an athlete, he might have been a professional model except for the feral gleam in his eyes. Looking at him, standing so tall and powerful in front of her, so perfect, it was hard to believe anyone would be foolish enough to threaten them.
Bay pulled her to her feet. He wrapped an arm about her waist, holding her close. Then he took her hand. His long fingers tangled with hers and she squeezed him tight.
Together, they walked back to the house, two naked lovers holding hands and gazing into one another’s eyes as if nothing but the two of them existed in all the world. And while it might appear to anyone watching that nothing was wrong, Manda felt the heat of strange eyes on her and knew someone watched them walk away.
She wondered if the intruders had watched them making love. A cold chill coursed through her, thinking of their lovemaking, so personal and perfect, and the fact it might have been observed. She didn’t want to consider an even worse scenario. What if the intruders had been there long enough, hiding close enough to see everything?
Had they been there, watching, when she and Baylor shifted?
When they reached the front porch, Bay pulled Manda in through the door as if he intended to make love to her again. Damn, he couldn’t believe they’d been so careless, but the property was posted and fenced, and his senses so sharp he thought he’d have known there were intruders.
But no, it had been Manda who’d saved his sorry ass. Manda’s sharper senses and awareness.
Thank the Goddess.
He grabbed his jeans from the living room floor where they’d ended up a couple days ago. Manda had already slipped into a pair of sweats. She was using Jake’s powerful binoculars to study the area where they’d both scented the intruders.
Baylor loaded the rifle and stuck extra shells in his pants pocket. Neither of them said a word, yet they worked together as a perfect unit.
Until Manda gasped and the binoculars dropped from her hands. He heard them clatter on the wood floor.
“What the hell? Manda? Sweetie, what’s wrong?”
“I know them. Two of them, anyway.” She was shaking like a leaf. “I saw a third man, but I don’t recognize him.” She turned to Baylor, looking as if she’d seen a ghost…or worse.
“Who…?” Bay touched her shoulder and tried to touch her thoughts as well, but her mind was blocked and the walls she’d thrown up were impenetrable.
When she finally spoke, her voice was barely above a whisper. Bay grasped her hand to steady her.
“One of them is the man who raped me. The other helped tie me for him. He put the muzzle on me so I couldn’t bite.” Manda turned and stared at Bay, trembling so hard she could barely talk. “They’re from the lab. The one where I was held the longest. Where I was tested and examined and experimented on for all those years.”
Her voice was rising, her eyes blinking rapidly. Bay touched Manda’s shoulder. She had to stay in control, no matter how frightened she was. “Sweetheart, I won’t let them get—”
She interrupted him. Her voice trembled. “What are they doing here, Bay? Why are they coming after me?”
“Shit.” Bay leaned down and grabbed the binoculars off the floor, but when he straightened up, he realized he didn’t need them. The three men walked across the yard, evenly spaced and watchful, as if they had military training. They came directly toward the house, and while there were no guns visible, Bay had no doubt they were armed.
He grabbed the rifle and cradled it against his chest. At the same time, he sent out a silent call to Jake. He and Shannon were due home later today. With any luck they might be close enough to hear.
Nothing. Shit.
“Manda, you answer the door if they knock. Don’t open it for anything. Remember, even if they saw you, they can’t possibly recognize you. You don’t look anything like you used to. You’re not half wolf and they’ve never seen you as a woman. Your voice is completely different.” He touched her cheek with his fingertips and gently kissed her mouth. “You’re different. And you’re mine. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
She nodded, a sharp jerk of her head that couldn’t hide the way her body was shaking. Her thoughts were still blocked and Bay could only imagine what she was thinking.
What she remembered.
He knew exactly what had happened to her so long ago.
He’d been there, in those dark recesses of her memories when they’d finally mated as wolves for the first time, when they’d bonded as life mates. He’d seen more ugliness than any one person should have to endure. Manda had not only lived it, she’d persevered and survived it with bravery and grace—and she’d come out stronger.
There was a sharp rap on the door. Manda jumped. She glanced at Bay and took a deep breath. Then she called out, “Who’s there?”
“Name’s Ted, ma’am. Me’n my buddies need to use the phone.”
Wide-eyed, Manda glanced at Bay and shook her head. His name is Allen. I recognize his voice. “I’m sorry,” she said, glancing toward the telephone on the table. “We don’t have a phone. You’ll have to go somewhere else.”
Bay heard quiet footsteps as if someone moved carefully across the deck and along the side of the house. He aimed the gun at the back door.
“That won’t work, ma’am. Ya see, we’re looking for someone. A friend of ours. She’s lost. Name’s Manda. You know her? We heard she might be out this way.”
“There’s