Wolf-Bound: Unfamiliar Territory (15 page)

He nodded.

“And then came to find Tara. To help her raise them. And continuing to confuse your trail so you could be sure they hadn’t followed you.”

He nodded again.

“I don’t know what happened to the baby, Jacob, but I know it wasn’t your fault.”

“I know that.” His face contorted. “It’s not…” He rubbed his face in his hands. “I guess I felt like, as long as the babies were alive, there was still a piece of Johnathan. Here with me, you know what I mean? When I found out one of the babies was gone --” He shook his head, breathing fast and shallow, fists clenched.

“Jacob.” Jenny longed to go to him, but forced herself stay put. “Please don’t change.

We just got you dressed.”

For a moment, his eyes narrowed and he glared at her. Maybe humor hadn’t been the best tack to take to try and calm him. Then he laughed. A wild, aching kind of laugh, but it seemed to settle him down. “Fair enough.”

“I-I’m sorry.” She ran a hand through her hair. “I don’t know what the hell I’m doing. I have no idea why I imagined I could do this.”

“Hey, don’t give up on me.” Jacob stepped forward, his hands half-reaching for her.

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She almost went to him. The strength of her desire to do exactly that scared her. She tightened her fingers on the arms of the chair, jaw clenched.

He noticed. Frowning, he let his hands drop to his sides. “I know I keep getting upset, and you want to keep me lucid so I can get through this.” He took a deep breath, let it out. “I can do it.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “With your help.”

Jenny’s heart ached for him, but still she gripped the chair arms. I will not go to him.

“You know, Jacob, there is still a piece of Johnathan left on this earth.” She raised a hand to stall his protest. “I know you think that because he died and the baby…well, I know you think they’re related. But the two events happened at different times.” She shook her head.

“Goddess. I’m probably the worst person in the world to talk to, because I wasn’t raised weyr. I don’t really know how everything works. But don’t you think there’s some of you in both the babies?”

Jacob frowned. “I…yes, I…I’m sure there is.” He paused thoughtfully. “It was just such a shock, I didn’t stop to think.”

The room wavered, and Jenny put a hand to her forehead.

“Are you okay?” Jacob walked to the limit of his chains and squatted.

She was glad to see he had taken off the neck chain and was only using the leg shackles. It made her feel better about the situation, however little sense that made.

She hadn’t answered, and his expression of concern deepened. “Jen? Are you okay? You went pale all of the sudden.”

She hugged her abdomen, fighting off another woozy spell. Goddess, is something wrong with the babies?

Her stomach rumbled, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Of course. She hadn’t eaten lunch yet. She glanced at her watch -- nearly two o’clock. “Would you mind if we stopped now? I haven’t eaten yet.”

“Definitely, go.” He tilted his head and smiled a little. “Those babies need feeding.”

She smiled back, then called Devlin in. He helped her up from the chair and walked her back to the house.

“How’d it go?”

“Well, he’s still human.” Jen dropped tiredly into a kitchen chair. Devlin grabbed a plate and fixed her a sandwich.

He set it before her, and she took a huge bite. “Mmmm.” Turkey, lettuce, and lots of onion, with just a dash of pepper and salt, some mayo and a couple of sprinkles of vinegar and oil. Her favorite, and she wolfed it down in a matter of seconds. “That hits the spot. I was starving.”

He moved behind her and started rubbing her shoulders. “Are you sure you’re up to this, babe?” He pressed his thumbs into the hollow beneath her shoulder blades. “Collin and Cale are due next week. Are you sure this isn’t too much stress for you?”

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Jen leaned into his ministrations. “Mmm. Right there. No, I’d be even more stressed if I knew he was still out there. If I felt like we weren’t doing everything we could to make sure he and Tara’s baby are all right.”

“Have you talked to him about the adoption?”

She shook her head. “I think that’s too much for him to take in right now. To be honest, if I can bring him back like I thought, I don’t believe he’ll be willing to give up custody. And I guess that’s fine, as long as he’s back to normal.” She sighed. “That’s an issue that will have to wait.”

“What about this Dark Guard? Are they going to come up here making trouble?”

“I don’t know.” She bowed her head and rubbed at her temples. “I don’t know. We’re just going to have to play this one by ear.”

His hands glided past her neck, slipping beneath her shirt and bra. Jen smiled. “Dev, what are you doing?”

He caught a chair leg with one foot and swung her around to face him. “I’m thirsty.”

He grinned, pushing her loose top with its oversized neck down past her shoulders and beneath her bra, exposing her breasts and trapping her arms against her sides. “I think some warm milk might help.”

Jen giggled as he unfastened the flaps to the maternity bra she was wearing, revealing her plump globes and the red-purple nipples that were tightening as he watched. “I know you’re tired. You just sit there, baby. I’ll do all the work,” he promised.

His mouth closed on her left nipple. Still horny from the encounter with Jacob, she responded immediately, moaning and parting her legs eagerly. Heat rippled from her nipple to deep inside her pussy.

Dev brought a hand up, rubbing her clit through her jeans. Jen trembled and sighed, bucking her hips just a little.

His other hand came up, wrapping around her breast, milking. She felt that tingling sensation of release that she knew from her baby books was called “letdown,” and Dev groaned, sucking in earnest as her breasts began to leak.

Jen pushed him back and stood, tugging off her shirt and bra, pushing down her jeans.

She turned her back to the table and raised her arms. As Dev lifted her to the tabletop, she grabbed his hair and pulled him in for a deep, hungry kiss. His fingers found her pussy, dancing just inside the rim. She envisioned Jacob’s hot lips pressed to hers again, imagined his fingers sliding into her pussy. Her muscles clenched around Dev’s fingers, and she gasped, tightening her grip on his hair, pressing her rounded belly against the rigid cock trapped inside his shorts.

He grabbed her hands and pulled them down, hanging on to them while his mouth traveled her jawline, nipped her neck. He planted tiny kisses across the curve of her breast, then nibbled the tip.

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Jen gasped, arching. Dev grinned. Drops of liquid squeezed from her nipple, dripping onto the curve of her belly, trickling down into her bush. Dev’s tongue traced the meandering route.

Moaning, Jen spread her legs wide, gasping repeatedly, her clit tingling with each lap of his tongue. “Devlin,” she breathed.

His mouth found her clit. He pinched it softly with his lips. “Oh, Goddess.” His tongue wriggled, gliding down. Jen waited breathlessly. “Oh, yes!” She dug her nails into the backs of his hands as his tongue slid inside her weeping slit. “Goddess, yes,” she sobbed.

He freed his hands and pushed her legs wide, forcing his tongue deeper and deeper. Jen trembled, pussy clenching. “Dev, yes!”

Sucking and slurping. Teeth nibbling her sensitive tissues. “Oh, Dev, Dev. Yes. Yes!”

Jen’s hands clenched the edges of the table. She arched, screaming, hips bucking as she came.

When it was over, she collapsed onto the tabletop, panting. Dev wrapped an arm around her, pulling her up into his embrace. “I love you, Jenny.”

To her horror, she started crying. “I…I l-love you, t-too.”

“Baby? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. It’s stress.” But that wasn’t it, and no matter how much she wanted to, she couldn’t lie to him. “No. That’s not true. It’s…” But she couldn’t say it.

He held her for a long time, letting her sob it out. Then he helped her gather her clothes and get dressed, and made her cuddle up with him on the couch. “It’s Jacob, isn’t it?”

Jen nodded, not trusting herself to speak, for fear she’d start crying again.

“Did he do something?”

She took a deep, hitching breath. “Yes.” Then she shook her head. “No.”

He flashed his devilish grin. “Um, could you be a little more ambiguous?”

Jen chuckled in spite of herself. “I’m sorry.” Her anxious fingers twisted the hem of her top. “He kissed me. No, that’s not true. It was sort of…mutual. I mean, he did the actual touching of the lips to mine, but --” Tears threatened to drop again, making her voice thick and husky. “I…I think I wanted him to.”

Dev sighed, closing his eyes. “I had a feeling.”

“Oh, Dev.” Jen threw her arms around him, burying her face in his neck. “I love you. I love you and Damien both so much. I can’t live without you. I can’t. I don’t know what happened back there.”

“Hey.” His hands closed on her upper arms, pushing her back a little. He captured her gaze with his bright blue eyes. “Hey. It’s not the end of the world. I promise.”

Jen shook her head. “It is. How can you ever forgive me?”

Dev sighed again. “Look.” He paused, staring into the distance while he gathered his thoughts. “You know weyr are way more aware of their bodies and other people’s bodies

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than a normal human. Even you, as a half-weyr, have that enhanced ability, but not quite like a full weyr.”

She nodded, not sure where this was going.

“Well, some of us have other kinds of enhanced awareness. You know how Damien and I are pretty opposite. Well, that’s common in most all weyr twins. You’ll have one that’s more dominant, more sensible, and one that’s a little flighty, maybe, a dreamer -- the

‘sensitive’ one. I guess that’s nature’s way of making it easier for us to live our lives together.

It wouldn’t work if we both wanted to be in charge, or if neither could take charge. Each sort of complements the other.”

Just like she’d been thinking the other day. She searched his eyes. His beautiful blue gaze was open, loving, without a hint of hurt or recrimination. She started to relax a little.

He smiled. “That’s better.” He wrapped an arm around her and leaned back into the couch with her cheek nestled against his chest. “Anyway, the one that’s ‘sensitive,’ he usually has a bit of precognizance. Not like a true seer, but occasional premonitions. Of course, the strength and accuracy varies; some are more sensitive than others.”

“Are you trying to say you knew I’d kiss him?”

“Not that specific. No, I just had this feeling, from the moment we first sensed him on our land, that --” He sighed. “Damien doesn’t like it. Doesn’t want to hear it, but Jacob’s going to join our pack. He’s not leaving, Jen. I don’t know if he or Damien is going to end up being pack leader, but they will fight for it.” He tilted her chin up so that she could see him.

“For you.”

Jen gasped. “No.”

“It has to happen. I feel it in my bones.”

“No.” Jen pushed herself up, sat on the edge of the couch shaking her head. “No. I won’t let it.”

“Jen.” He reached out, caressing her arm with the back of his hand. “It’s normal.” He sat up himself. “You know how your Uncle Frank and Uncle Fred have those big houses, with all that land, and how the properties abut one another, and how those three other couples have homes on the farm? You’ve seen how they’re all so close, always having dinner together, parties, sometimes spending the night at each other’s houses? That’s Frank’s pack.

He’s the alpha, but the other ones, at least the ones in each couple that are weyr or half-weyr, are part of the pack, too.” He took a deep breath. “Damien and I suspected it wouldn’t be just the three of us forever; we just didn’t think anything would happen so soon, and it never occurred to either one of us that he might not end up being the alpha. Packs grow, love.” He blew out a frustrated breath. “Most weyr don’t go lone wolf like your mom, even the ones that marry humans. They choose their human carefully, and either tell them of their true nature, or bond with one whose own nature, even though they’re human, is a pack-oriented type of personality. I sure wish your mom would have explained all this to you.”

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“So do I.” She rubbed her arms, riddled with goose bumps. “Of course, you guys could have mentioned it.”

Dev made a face. “I think we were trying to ignore the possibility. Keep you to ourselves for as long as possible.” He nuzzled her neck. “Can you blame us?”

Jen pushed him away. “How can my uncles do that? Isn’t it risky to be so open about it?”

Dev shrugged. “They’re not advertising the exact relationships. As far as outsiders are concerned, they probably just look like really good friends, rich folks that like to party. At most, people might suspect they swing. No one’s thinking weyr, though. I can tell you that.”

“I guess not.” Jen tilted her head thoughtfully. “Probably your best protection is today’s human skepticism about anything paranormal.”

He nodded.

“So, I’m not totally horrible for…” She could hardly bring herself to say it, but Devlin deserved the truth, so she forced it out. “For wanting Jacob?”

He shook his head. “It was unrealistic to think that we would never find others we’d want to add to the pack.” He nudged her shoulder. “But, like I said, we’re selfish, so we were kind of hoping to keep you to ourselves.”

Jen rubbed her aching neck, right at the nape where tension gathered. “I can’t believe you’re okay with this.” She looked him in the eye. “Are you? Really?”

He shrugged. “I’ve always known there would be others. I don’t get a lot of premonitions, but the ones I do experience are never wrong. Besides, I trust my instincts.

Jacob’s a good guy, deep down. I feel it. My gut tells me he’s important somehow, not just to his son, but to us as well. In time, we’ll figure it all out, but meanwhile, Damien’s the one I’m worried about.”

Jen shuddered. “Me, too.”

“I can’t tell you what to do, baby. I don’t know if it would be better to give him some idea what you’re feeling now, so it won’t be such a shock later, or if it would be better to just wait and let things run their course.”