Starr, Ellen - Wolf's Passion [The Joined] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) (2 page)

Chapter Two:

Running

Cora pulled into the parking lot of the Sunset Mini Mart, screeching to a stop. Two days of pleasant, uneventful travel, then a header into the twilight zone.
I should have stayed home
.
I could have spent the week in bed with Jean-Paul, watching movies and
...
What the hell were those things
? Hysteria threatened to overwhelm her. She squeezed her eyes shut for a few seconds, fighting back her panic before she got out of the car. Inside, she stopped at the counter. The place looked deserted.

“Restroom?” she called out in a breathless voice.

A woman poked her head out of the tiny room behind the counter, waving toward the back. “In the storeroom, second door on the left.”

Cora hurried through the storeroom of the little combination convenience store-gas station into the tiny bathroom. She turned on the water, splashing cold water in her face as she tried to think what to do. No way could she report what she saw to the police. No one would believe her. Hell, she didn’t believe it, and she’d
seen
it.
Them
. Besides, the men, or
whatever
they were that she escaped from, might be walking in the door any minute. This could not be happening. What she saw could not be real.

It hit her suddenly. Leaving her car had
not
been a bright move. She had reacted without thought, her subconscious sending her scurrying for somewhere to hide.
How could I have been so stupid?
She rubbed her temples, imagining what Jean-Paul would say when she told him about this. He was already unhappy over her taking this trip by herself. She needed to get out of there, back on the road into civilization before it got dark. Taking a deep breath, she glanced around for her purse. She would call Jean-Paul...
Damn!
Could I get any more stupid?
Her purse with her phone inside still sat in the car, on the front seat right where she had left it. She reached out to open the bathroom door. The bell on the store’s door chimed as her fingertips touched the knob. Cora froze, holding her breath, listening to the silence. A strong feeling of foreboding swept over her. The place was too quiet. The sudden blood-curdling screams from the front of the store shocked her into action.
Oh no, they’re here. Those things have attacked the girl at the counter
.

She had to get out of there right now. Looking around herself in panic, her gaze fell on the tall, battered metal trashcan beside the door. It wouldn’t hold for long, but maybe it would buy her enough time to get away. She wedged it under the doorknob. The window looked small, but she thought she could squeeze through. She put the lid down on the toilet, stepping up onto it. The window pushed outward without any trouble. She climbed out, glad she’d worn jeans instead of shorts that day. Now if she could reach the overhang of the roof, she thought she could swing down, lessening the drop to the ground.

Cora made a grab for the edge of the roof. She missed, falling to the ground with a bone-jarring jolt. She scrambled up, ignoring the pain, running across the pavement toward an opening in the fence behind the store. She heard the bathroom door crashing open followed by shouts of rage as she reached the open desert behind the gas station. She knew she couldn’t make it back to her car when she saw more pickup trucks carrying more of the creatures pulling into the parking lot. Leaving her car was not good, but it could not be helped. Those things would be on her trail in minutes. Seconds if she tried to get her car. She didn’t kid herself that they hadn’t seen her. She refused to look back to confirm it. What she needed was a miracle.

* * * *

Wolf leaned against the fender of their battered old red truck with a deep sigh.
What a day
. This promised to be one of the longest days he could remember. They still needed to deal with Dale, too. He wasn’t happy over the sale of the stock. It didn’t help either that the man interested in buying their ranch would be there tomorrow. Wolf wasn’t happy about uprooting them, but it would give them the money they needed for a new start elsewhere, far from Dolores and her Pack. Damn Dolores anyway. A good, hard fuck was just what they needed to relieve the tension. His crumpled jeans rested around his ankles along with his blue plaid boxers. The hot desert breeze cooled the sweat on his naked body, making him shiver. He didn’t know where his shirt had disappeared to. Wolf lowered his head, glancing behind himself at Raphael Wilson. “You fuck pretty good for an old man.”

Rafe sighed, shaking his head. Wolf watched him strip off the condom. Rafe tossed it into the rest stop trashcan. “Old man? I’ll
old man
your
ass
,
kid. Show some respect for your elders.” He hitched up his jeans, tucking his cock in. For a brief second Wolf wished he was brave enough to go commando the way Rafe did. He gave himself a mental kick. With all the things he had done to survive, going without underwear was a hell of a thing to be shy about. The wind ruffled Rafe’s collar-length, raven black hair, making Rafe push it back with an impatient gesture. Wolf’s stomach fluttered with lust.

“Thought you just did that.” Wolf reached down to pull his pants back up. He loved teasing Rafe about his age, though forty was not old. Rafe was in better shape than most men were at his age, part of his heritage. Finding Rafe was his miracle. He didn’t intend to let go. Wolf smiled. Meeting Rafe was the best thing ever to happen to him.

A hot, large hand in the middle of his back surprised him. Rafe shoved him against the truck again. He shoved Wolf’s jeans down his legs once more. Wolf heard the foil on another condom ripping. Wolf’s dick came to attention. Rafe manhandled him into position, kicking his legs apart, wrapping one arm around Wolf’s waist and his other hand around Wolf’s dick. Wolf managed to brace himself, his hands against the fender again. He arched his ass back toward his lover with a low moan of pleasure.

Rafe slid into him, rubbing over places still sensitive from their first fuck. “Uhn, gods, Rafe.” Wolf closed his eyes, concentrating on the tightness building in his groin and his lover’s dick in his ass. He never got enough of Rafe. Wolf loved his Beta, though he never said it aloud.

“You need some manners, kid,” Rafe’s lust-thick voice purred in Wolf’s ear.

“You going to teach me, old man?” Wolf gasped. Rafe slid out slow, waiting a few seconds before he shoved hard into Wolf’s body.

“Yeah, when we get home.” Rafe broke off with a groan as Wolf bucked against him. Wolf got the reaction he wanted. Rafe dug his fingers into Wolf’s hips as he moved faster. “You need a switch on this ass.”

“Promises,” Wolf gasped. “Oh gods, that’s good, Rafe.”

“You’re...incorrigible.” Rafe’s chuckle turned into a deep moan.

“Uhm, yeah, sorry about that.” Wolf reached back with one hand, caressing Rafe’s hip. Rafe slid his hand over Wolf’s dick in time with his thrusts. Wolf let the exquisite tension flow through him, rocking back against his lover with a groan.

Rafe kissed his shoulder, grinding into Wolf, tightening his grip on Wolf’s dick at last. “Oh shit, please, I need to come,” Wolf begged in a breathless voice. Rafe moved harder, as if he wanted to climb into Wolf’s body with him. Wolf’s balls drew up. His dick throbbed once then again as his thick, white semen erupted into the evening air. Wolf came with a hoarse cry seconds before Rafe groaned with his own orgasm.

Rafe held him, rubbing Wolf’s belly as he rode out the aftershocks of their fucking. When Rafe disengaged, Wolf couldn’t speak for a while. At last, they pulled themselves together in companionable silence, getting back in the truck for the drive home.

* * * *

Rafe enjoyed being close to Wolf. He’d never had a man before meeting Wolf at a truck stop outside El Paso. Rafe figured the skinny half-starved kid hanging around the trucks for early twenties. When the kid walked over and offered to “do” him for a ride to the next city, Rafe’s insides knotted up. Rafe wasn’t sure whether it was the gleam of defiance in the kid’s eyes or the stubborn set of his shoulders, but something about him told Rafe the kid was special. “You got a name, kid?”

“My friends call me Wolf.” The kid lifted his chin in a way that dared Rafe to comment.

Rafe raised an eyebrow and tossed the kid his keys. “The black rig, I’ll be right out.” Wolf’s expression was priceless. He guessed no one had ever trusted the kid before. When he came back out of the truck stop with a bag of groceries, he found Wolf asleep in his bunk.

That night at a nearly deserted rest stop, he discovered the kid had turned twenty-one that day. The next thing he found out about his new friend was he actually wanted Wolf to fuck him. Surprised since he had never been attracted to men, Rafe let this oddly compelling kid take charge.

They crawled into the bunk in his truck where Wolf fucked him into exhaustion. The kid turned out to be the best lover he’d ever been with, filling some long dormant need. With Wolf lying against him, spent, snoring softly, Rafe felt like he’d finally found what he had looked for all his life.

“So you want to stop at the store and get some beer before we head home?” Wolf asked, snapping Rafe out of his thoughts. Rafe pulled out onto the highway again.

Rafe smiled. “We have exactly three dollars and nineteen cents, not including the money from selling the cattle. Besides, it’s Dolores’s night to work the store.”

“Shit. Right, home then.” Wolf relaxed into the comfortable quiet, listening to the sound of the tires on the asphalt. He did not want to deal with the kind of shit Dolores would hand out if they stopped in when she was behind the counter.
Soon though we won’t have to worry about her. We’ll be out of her reach
.
We can make a new start
.

He had almost dozed off when Rafe’s shocked “what the hell?” startled him fully awake. Wolf sat up straighter. “What?”

“There, in the brush.” Rafe pointed.

Wolf stared in disbelief at the woman running toward the highway from the desert. She appeared to be shouting something as she waved her arms over her head. Another movement caught his eye. He blinked a few times before what he saw registered. Creatures straight out of a nightmare chased the woman. The sight of their dark man-like bodies with wolfish heads and claws sent a shiver through him. The things were gaining on her.

“I’m stopping. We have to help her!” Rafe applied the brakes.

“Are you out of your mind? Don’t we have enough trouble?” Wolf shouted as Rafe began slowing down.

“No. When we get ahead of her, open the door. When I slow down, you pull her in.” Rafe swerved around the woman. Then he stood on the brakes. The truck skidded, leaving rubber on the road for several feet.
This is nuts
. He didn’t argue with his friend. Rafe never did anything without a solid reason. Wolf got ready. When Rafe shouted “
Now
!” he opened the passenger door, reaching for the woman.

Chapter Three:

Surprise Attack

Jean-Paul followed Marie and Andre as they looked over the empty townhouse. He stayed a discreet three steps behind them. Jean-Paul sighed. He missed Cora dreadfully. Clearly the dominant in the pair, Marie reached back to pat Andre’s ass. Jean-Paul suppressed a smile. Andre possessed one of the nicest asses he had seen on a man in quite some time.

He allowed himself a faint frown. Cora should have returned his call over an hour ago. Worry clawed at the back of his mind. Jean-Paul had traveled through west Texas when he was younger. There was little in the desert to look at back then other than cactus. He was sure it had not changed much at all. A quick glance at his clients let him know he could spare a moment to check his messages. They ignored him, engrossed in conversation, their heads close together. Probably discussing the décor of the kitchen, he thought as he reached into his pocket for his phone.
If Cora has answered, I will relax
. Marie suddenly turned toward him. “Jean-Paul, I believe we have made a decision.”

He stopped in mid-dial. “Yes? You will make an offer on the townhouse?” Jean-Paul’s eyebrows rose in surprise. He watched as Andre drew something from the inside pocket of his jacket. For several seconds Jean-Paul’s brain refused to process what he saw.

Light from the dining room’s crystal chandelier glinted off the polished blade of the knife in Andre’s hand. “I think it will suit our needs quite well.” Marie gave him a cold little smile. Her eyes glittered.