Rutledge Werewolves 1: Scent of Passion (13 page)

With her screams of pleasure filling the woods, Artemais tilted her hips. At the angle he chose, he could slide even more deeply into her core.

The friction between her tight, clamping walls and the velvet skin of his cock, made her shudder. She wanted to scratch him, to pull him closer, to make him go faster. Instead, she threw her head back against the tree and moaned. Artemais groaned and ground his hips deeper into hers. As his thrusts became stronger, longer, she knew he lay on the brink of explosion, about to snap and lose his control.

With a low growl, Artemais seemingly read her mind and began to pump wildly into her. He buried his face into her hair, scenting her and wallowing in her soft hair.

Sophie’s shirt and sweater stopped the rough abrasions of the bark from hurting her, and the pleasure from Artemais pumping into her and playing with her clit made all thoughts except that final peak fly from her head.

Suddenly, she saw stars, bright colors broke behind her closed eyes, and she couldn’t stop the scream from leaving her throat. A second later, she felt Artemais thrust once more, even deeper inside her, groan and start to pulse. She felt his hot seed shoot up inside her, drench and fill her.

Feeling weak-kneed for the first time in her life, Sophie rested between the solid strength of her man and the tree. Feeling dazed, she felt unsure which one of them exactly held her up.

After a moment, when their breathing had returned to normal, she chuckled and kissed Artemais once more.

“Whoever said you don’t know how to have fun?”

Grinning impishly at the slight flush that crept over his cheeks, Sophie watched as he hastily did his jeans up, and then returned a bit worriedly to her torn panties.

“I’m sorry, Sophie, I—”

“Don’t worry about them. There’s plenty more where they came from.”

Zipping up her own jeans, kissing him again because she simply couldn’t resist, she took his hand.

“Lead on MacDuff, your brothers are probably pacing, wondering what’s happened to us.”

Artemais turned to look at her, his eyes trailing hotly over her mussed hair and slight sexual glow. Sophie felt her face get a bit flushed and patted her curls in the vain attempt to make them sit back normally.

Artemais smiled a huge grin, pride and affection shining deeply in his blue eyes.

“I don’t think my brothers will be wondering what we were doing at all, hon.”

Slapping his shoulder, she tried to glare at him, but when he winked charmingly at her, she had to laugh.

“Fine, but I for one would like there to be a little mystery left. Let’s get back to the house.”

Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, Artemais led her back to his home.

Chapter Sixteen

Dinner that night was a curious affair. William and Dominic grilled steaks, while she, Samuel and Artemais made salads. When they all were lazing about on the back patio, looking out into the woods, Sophie realized she found the lush green trees more magical, more special than she had ever known a forest to be. She had always loved nature, loved walking in parks, but somehow these woods seemed particularly special.

The brothers talked and laughed, ribbed and jested with one another. Dominic had flirted shamelessly with her, much to Artemais’ disgust. In retaliation, Artemais had sat extremely close to her, one arm possessively draped over her shoulders, pulling her closer. Sophie could feel him vibrating with annoyance.

She had laughed at Dominic’s overtures, knowing them for the playful flirting they were. He had winked at her cheekily when Artemais had been discussing something else with William, his face safely averted.

Artemais had finally simmered down, but only after she had whispered in his ear “Dominic is teasing you, hon. The more you rise to his flirting, the more he will do it. He doesn’t mean anything by it, honest.”

Artemais had finally worked it out, much to Sophie’s relief, and wandered over to the grill to laugh and drink his beer with William and Samuel.

Dominic had pulled his chair up closer to hers, and laughed hugely.

“I’m sorry, Soph. I hope you don’t mind me playing with you. I just thought this is the perfect opportunity to show Brother Dear how to have a little fun and lighten up. He’s always been the responsible one, never letting loose. I hope you can teach him to relax.”

Sophie smiled back at Dominic.

“I find it hard to believe he’s never had any fun. He seems to know all the rules to me.”

Dominic had looked serious for a moment. Picking his words carefully, he toyed with a stray shoulder-length curl of his hair.

“It’s not that he hasn’t had fun, it’s more that he’s never
enjoyed
having fun. Never really cut loose and lost control, you know? He’s always held himself in check, always remembered his responsibilities to the Pack and to us. He’s effectively raised us from pups, and never let himself sit back and enjoy life. Do you see what I mean?”

Sophie smiled. It seemed incredible how much these brothers loved each other and how close they all were. She would have killed for even one sibling like this growing up. She had loved her Grandmother very, very much—but she had still been a very lonely little girl. She felt eternally grateful that her little girl would never know the sad loneliness she’d had while growing up. Her hand crept possessively and protectively over her still-flat abdomen in the age-old maternal gesture.

“Yeah. And now you think I’m here, there’s someone who can finally convince Artemais to let loose and have a bit of fun? I thought
you
were the authority on types of fun around here, Dom. Has your reputation been blown all out of proportion due to your ego?”

Dominic smiled, brightening his whole face and bringing back that irresistible twinkle into his eyes, deepening his dimples. He let his head fall back as the huge bouts of laughter rolled from deep in his chest. Sophie could easily see the magnetic attraction this man could hold for any and all women.

“Of course my reputation hasn’t been inflated. I’ve never needed to brag, the stories are only an inkling of what I can and will do for a lady.”

Wiggling his eyebrows comically, he lent forward and whispered a raunchy, risqué suggestion in her ear. Blushing, she sat back and slapped his thigh, hard.

“I’m sorry I asked. No way are you getting anywhere near my children, male
or
female, until you’re one hundred and ten and have a passel of your own children and grandchildren running around you keeping you tied down.”

Laughing silently, lost in her mental picture of the huge old house overrun with dozens of children, some her own, some the children of Artemais’ brothers, she didn’t notice her hand creep protectively over her belly, over her growing little baby. Sophie also didn’t notice Dominic eyeing her worriedly, lost as she was in her own romantic musings.

“Is my little nephew giving you problems?” he asked, concern clouding his features. Sophie blinked, startled. Looking down to her hand over her stomach for a moment, she looked back confused.

“No. Why?”

“Your hand is pressed into your stomach. Is he hurting?”

Sophie smiled.

“No. I was just thinking about how lucky my child would be with three uncles like you guys and such a great Daddy, even if you are all oversexed and overly hormonal. And this child could well be a girl. Why can’t you boys accept that?”

Dominic grinned again, obviously relieved.

“All children in our line are boys. And I for one can’t wait for the little man to grow up so I can show him a few things, teach him lessons I had to learn the hard way.”

Sophie laughed. “I doubt you’ve
ever
had to learn anything the hard way, Dom. And if you want someone to mold into a little mini-you, you should go out and find your own partner and start having your own kids.”

Dominic grinned mischievously.

“Now why would I want to tie myself down when you’re here, already pregnant? I can simply live through your kids. You realize Artemais wants six, don’t you?”

Sophie blinked, stunned.

“Six?”

Warm arms wrapped around her, along with Artemais’ scent. He smelled of the forest, of wild green things and damp rain. She loved his smell, she realized, inhaling deeply.

“You’d think Dominic would let me drop my own bombs, wouldn’t you?”

“But…
six
? Artemais, do you have any idea how much it will cost to feed, clothe and educate
SIX
children? I’m all for a large family, in fact, I insist on at least three. But I won’t have more than four children. This may come as a shock to you, but I have it on the best of authority that it
hurts
to have children!”

“Oooh, the first lovers’ quarrel,” came an amused voice from behind her. Samuel nabbed a chair and swung it backwards, straddling it and facing Sophie and Artemais. Sophie simply glared at each brother in turn, finishing with William as he brought the steaks across the patio on plates.

“I don’t see any of
you
offering to help bear these six mythical children.”

Sophie had to grin at each happy male face. William tossed his long ponytail, taking his own seat.

“It’s not our fault you women cornered the market on childbearing. You only have yourselves to blame for that.”

Sophie rolled her eyes and took a delicious bite of the tender steak.

Laughing and jeering with the four men, Sophie felt lighter and happier than she had in years. She would never be lonely in this boisterous group. As all four men affectionately teased her, and insisted on the gender of her baby, Sophie relaxed and snuggled into Artemais’ embrace.

She had no idea what the future held, but for now, her life felt full—complete. With a man obviously attracted to her, judging by the rocket he sported in his jeans, and enough laughter and love from these men to overflow a village, her world felt complete. She would never lack love and affection with these men, there was certainly enough for one woman and her baby.

Chapter Seventeen

Roland Matthews strained for a moment, then relaxed as the metallic
snap
of the wolf trap clicked into place. Gingerly inching back, he felt a strange mixture of guilt and hopeful satisfaction as he checked over the open trap.

As always whenever he wasn’t sure if what he planned to do was right, he felt a momentary whisper of softness and the long-held memory of the scent of his mother brush over him.

Suddenly
really
unsure, Roland felt guilt assault him. For as long as he could remember, Roland had tried to become more like the memory he had of his mother, and not become the crazy husk of a man his father had been. He scrunched his face, trying to force the images of his early childhood from his mind.

As far back as he could remember his father had walked the razor edge of insanity. It wasn’t until after he had died, being shot by a cop as he waved a huge cleaver around in a store, that the doctors and medical society had made the discovery of his brain literally being eaten away by syphilis.

His mother had been all the goodness and light, love and happiness in his life for his baby years. But she had deserted him; abandoned her crazed husband and her three-year-old son, and left him with a father who only knew brutal force and his own crazy, paranoid world. Even though he had only lived with his father for a little over the first thirteen years of his life, the man held a lasting impact on young Roland.

He had grown up perpetually fearful that he would share the same crazy fate of his father. In his late teens, as he had been passed around from foster home to foster home, he had always insisted on being tested, over and over, for syphilis. As his knowledge of the disease grew, and as he took utter control over his few sexual relationships, he had finally convinced himself he would not share his father’s delusions.

Over the years, he had been incredibly cautious with his sexual partners. He hadn’t been able to bear the thought of a child. Couldn’t conceive of the responsibility of bringing a little baby into this world, a child who might be hurt and lost as he had been. As his mind drifted to picture his own tiny little baby…
NO!
He wouldn’t think of him, of the woman whom he loved so dearly and, for her own safety, had left behind.

Forcing the mental pictures, the grief and huge aching hole of loss back into the darkest recesses of his mind, he reminded himself why he kept so far away from their perfection.

Losing his mother before his fourth birthday, and having police officers tell him before he turned fourteen of his father’s death, it had almost been a relief to move into foster homes. Now he could keep his emotional distance and try to forge a life of his own, try to repent for his own sins and those of his father’s.

His life wasn’t a bed of roses, but it hadn’t been complicated, until six years ago. At twenty-two, he had started having the dreams. The one thing his father’s paranoia had focused on had been wolves. Wolves were dirty, wolves were the animals of the devil, wolves were the essence of evil. Over and over his father had raged and spat out obscenities about wolves, back as far as Roland could remember.

Roland had been worried, but not surprised that he had dreamed of wolves. But these dreams were fantastic. He was free, he could do anything, be anything. As his wolf-dream self, he could scent things and see things in an entirely different light.