A Walk After Dark Read online

  Darius felt his cheeks flush in unaccustomed shame, but he held Pantheros’s stare. “She is the half sister of Ammon, the leader of the ravers. She is also an aristocrat and used her position to help him. She even conceived the idea of kidnapping Cassandra and helped in the actual deed.” Darius paused. Pantheros flinched slightly at the mention of Cassandra’s kidnapping, but didn’t otherwise react.

  “I used the scent only to get information about her brother’s forces. I did not take advantage of the arousal… It was the only way to get information we could trust without harming her.”

  “Instead you left her aching.”

  “She is our enemy!”

  “She is mine!” Pantheros stopped. His dark eyes widened, and his mouth dropped.

  Darius grabbed Pantheros’s shoulders. “Lana and Luna! Her? She calls you? Pantheros, she is deceitful as a snake ‑‑ unworthy to be your chosen. Perhaps it’s just the level of her arousal that calls to you?”

  “No, that is not all.” For a moment Pantheros looked confused, as if he might back away from the recklessly quick statement, then the confusion melted away. His mouth firmed into a straight line. “You owe me, Darius. I want her.”

  Darius sighed. Damn. I, and in fact, all the brethren do owe Pantheros, although I am the only one who knows it. “Her name is Melisande. She has two half brothers, Ammon and the king. She has already betrayed the king for Ammon. You cannot forget that, nor trust her. She also saw Cyn change during Cassandra’s rescue. We cannot allow her to speak with anyone not of the brethren. Do you want this burden?”

  Pantheros didn’t budge. “She is mine. I can’t turn away.” Then he offered Darius a half smile. “Easy has never been my choice.”

  Darius sighed heavily. “Very well, then. I know the call of your chosen is difficult to deny.”

  Pantheros raised his brows in question. Darius just shook his head, declining to answer. “Another time.”

  “Since Cyn is most directly affected by what she saw, perhaps he will have a suggestion as to what you can do with her until, if ever, you find her trustworthy.”

  While they talked, Darius watched the way Pantheros’s eyes kept flitting over to the woman whose moans were gradually fading. Finally, the sounds stopped, although a quick glance of his own showed she still twisted restlessly in her bonds.

  “If you are done with me for now?” Pantheros looked at the figure on the bed with hunger.

  “Yes. You may go to her, for a short time, but I expect you to be with us later. Do not forget, she must be tied and gagged against speech when you leave.”

  Pantheros looked strained, but nodded.

  Darius heard the bedroom door shut as he hurried down the stairs.

  * * * * *

  Ty raced to the healer’s cottage, following the combined scents of Cassandra and Cyn. Closing in, he heard Cyn’s voice.

  “Miranda, stand back! Raphael is not himself.”

  Ty changed and tore open the door. Inside, Cyn knelt, holding a shaking Raphael. Cassandra stood behind Cyn, her hands resting lightly on his shoulders. Miranda froze in midstep when the cottage door slammed against the outer wall, but Ty ignored her to advance on Cassandra. His beast drove him to touch her, to reclaim his chosen.

  Cassandra’s eyes widened, watching Ty’s purposeful advance. “Ty, how much of you is there?” The knuckles of her hand gripping Cyn turned white. “I am here for you. I do not run.”

  He paused, struggled to force words through the fire that filled him. “Need you.”

  She raised a hand, calling him to her side. In a heartbeat, he held her in one arm, the other on Cyn’s shoulder. When he was connected to them, the fog eased back from his mind.

  Miranda remained where she stood, although she swayed on her feet as if pulled by an invisible force toward Raphael. Her voice wavered. “Cassandra’s cure for the scent addiction works, but look at the result.”

  “For the ravers, this will not matter. They are not in a chosen bond with the women.” Cyn ground the words out. Ty could feel a cold sweat coating Cyn’s body. He is holding onto his control by the skin of his teeth. “The only result will be the women freed of the scent ‑‑ freed from their slavery.”

  Miranda nodded her understanding. “I’m coming to him, Cyn. Even without the bond, I…I love him. He needs me as Ty needed Cassandra’s touch.”

  She took a step closer to her lover when Raphael gave a jerk and jumped to his feet, pulling free from Cyn’s hold. Ty’s muscles bunched, as did Cyn’s beneath his fingers, but Raphael only swooped Miranda up in his arms and buried his face against her neck.

  “Gods, it was as if you cut my heart out.” His voice came out muffled by her hair. “Miranda.” He made her name into a plea. A plea Ty well understood.

  “Through that door, to the bedroom,” she muttered. Raphael disappeared behind the door with Miranda still in his arms.

  Cyn turned on his knees to bury his face against Cassandra’s womb while Ty pressed the back of his head with one hand and put his other arm around Cassandra. She leaned back against him, soothing him with her presence and her acceptance of him. He needed to re-form the bond, to feel that link with her once again. He spotted a bed through the pulled-back curtains of an alcove by the fireplace and tugged Cyn’s hair to get him to rise.

  Cyn’s voice took on the gravelly sound of his beast. “Cassandra, now?” He took Ty’s hands in his and rubbed them over her breasts and down her torso.

  Ty felt a catch in his throat at the sensation. He held his breath, waiting for her answer. Don’t. Don’t make us wait. He pressed small, fierce kisses along the side of her neck, shaking with the effort to hold back until she answered.

  “Yes, gods, yes. I felt the loss as well. Bring me back to you, to you both.” Ty grabbed her hair to tilt back her head. He took her mouth, wanting to take her words into him. There was the rustle of clothing. He pulled back, pleased with the dazed look on her face. Yes! This is what he needed, to see her as hungry as he was. He felt Cyn tugging her away, and a growl rumbled up from his chest. He saw Cyn, now naked, before him. The pressure building in his chest eased. He let Cyn pull Cassandra to the bed and noticed he had removed Cassandra’s pants while the kiss distracted Ty.

  The sight of his two lovers tumbling to the bed brought an overwhelming feeling of possessiveness. He rushed to join them.

  Cassandra’s beautifully rounded bottom was just visible beneath the hem of her shirt. He wanted to see it all. He sat on the bed behind her prone body and pulled her shirt over her head forcing Cassandra and Cyn’s kiss to break off.

  They looked up at him with heat. Remembering the first time all three of them were together, Ty pulled Cassandra back up and between his legs. First, he settled her head against his shoulder and brushed his hands along the inside of her legs, savoring the texture of her skin while pulling and spreading her thighs over his own.

  “Hands here.” He put her hands on her thighs, forcing her to participate in the display of her body. Then he ran his hands over her slim figure before Cyn’s watching eyes. Her breathing deepened with his touch.

  He palmed her breasts, circling and squeezing the nipples so they stood out like an offering for Cyn, whose own breathing grew deeper with each movement of Ty’s hands. Ty’s own hunger burned brighter with each touch. He pressed his hard cock against the hollow of Cassandra’s back. Cyn watched them, one hand supporting his head and the other squeezing and stroking his own rigid length.

  Next, Ty slid one hand lower over her body to cup her mound. Cassandra bucked against him. Her breath stuttered. Her body was hot in his hands, but he wasn’t ready for her to come, not yet. He stretched his legs apart, spreading hers further also, drawing attention to her open cunt. Ty rubbed two fingers along her wet inner lips, circling and teasing the clit without allowing her release.

  Cyn licked his lips in a gesture of longing. He pulled up onto his hands and knees. Ty knew he was about to break.

  “Cyn, a little taste onl
y.” Cyn’s arms bent as he dipped down. Ty held open Cassandra’s pussy lips and felt the brush of Cyn’s hot tongue lapping against her. Cyn’s face pressed in closer, his tongue reaching inside. Ty massaged her clit and felt her jerk in his arms, moaning loudly with her first release.

  Cyn slurped up the liquid soaking Ty’s hand. He could wait no more.

  “Now!”

  He pulled Cassandra up to her knees. At first Cyn wouldn’t give up his place at her cunt, his mouth following her up, then he quickly rose, Cassandra grabbing onto his shoulders. Cyn’s hands were at Cassandra’s waist, and he lifted her until Ty could see the length of Cyn’s cock between Cassandra’s legs. Then Cyn pushed her down. Cassandra gasped, and her body arched.

  There was a flash of heat from Cyn and a moan from Cassandra. Cyn’s half-man, half-beast shape looked at him from over Cassandra’s shoulder. Ty knew the larger cock of this form would stretch Cassandra tightly, and he hungered to join them.

  Careful to control his strength, he pushed Cassandra and Cyn back so her ass was exposed to him. He went through a partial transformation that left him coated in the change oil. He rose to his knees behind her and rubbed the tip of his cock around her anus, then pushed in. She pushed back against him, easing the way. Her body held him tightly. The pleasure shot through his body. After a few careful thrusts, the grip of her body, and the feeling of Cyn just a thin membrane away, was too much. Ty let the change take him as well. He went to his midform, loving the sounds of her moans of pleasure.

  His eyes met Cyn’s, and both let their scent flow into the air. Cyn’s lust-inducing aroma drove him mad with need, as he knew his would affect Cyn, as he knew both were affecting Cassandra. He fought for the concentration to actively force more of the scent from his body, to drench his chosen with it. It was as if they swam in a river of lust.

  “Pleasure her. Make her ours again.”

  He didn’t know if the words came from himself or Cyn. They began to thrust in counterpoint to each other, each stroke taking them deeper into the feeling, to where they would gladly drown.

  Cassandra twisted and moaned inarticulate cries between them. She reached one arm over her shoulder to pull Ty down to her mouth. Her body gripped down on him, and she shouted her release, her face a mask of ecstasy.

  He reached the moment of crisis, every muscle in his legs and hips clenching, seeking to bury himself further in her. Fierce joy shot through his body as he pumped himself into her.

  An animal roar came from Cyn, and Ty felt him too pumping his release into Cassandra.

  As one, they each leaned down to one of her shoulders and bit her, marking her as their own.

  At that moment, Ty felt something snap into place. The chosen bond returned, and more, he could feel Cassandra’s orgasm with his own and Cyn’s as well, and he knew they felt his. For an endless moment, rapture held the three of them in a single grip, then they fell back into themselves.

  They leaned together in a panting tangle. Random bolts of pleasure still sung through Ty’s body for a long minute after, and then finally, he pulled free. While Cyn helped Cassandra free of his cock. Ty rose on shaky feet to find a bath area and some water to wash Cassandra. He smelled soap, water, lavender, and other welcoming aromas coming through a partially open door. He quickly changed to full wolf and back to clean his own body, then found water and cloths for his chosen.

  She lay panting softly, held in the bend of Cyn’s once again human arm. She offered him a tender smile, although her first words were businesslike. “The solution worked. The fox’s blood dissolved the bond, so we can help those women, but I am so glad it easily re-formed. I cherish you both and the tie between us.”

  Ty bent, loving how she left her limbs slack in his grip, open and trusting to whatever he would do. He washed her delicate flesh, and unable to resist, placed a few gentle kisses on her soft pussy. Even after washing her, his wolven senses could smell the combined scents of Cassandra, Cyn, and him. It smelled like home, and her soft cries at his touch were his welcome.

  Cyn stroked his hair, drawing his attention back to the moment. His brow furrowed as he looked from Ty to Cassandra. “Did you both feel…more? It seemed as though I were actually feeling being inside you.” Cyn had the grace to smile wryly at the unintended pun while Cassandra’s smirk mocked his humor. “I mean it was as though I shared your emotions and the actual sensations of each of you. You perceived it, too, yes?”

  Ty felt like pleading ignorance to tease Cyn a while longer, but Cassandra apparently felt more mercy. “Yes, I felt it, too. It was wonderful, almost worth the short time we lost the bond to have it re-form so tightly. Now, I only feel my own skin, my own sensations again. Is it the same for you?” Her look took in both Ty and Cyn.

  Ty placed a fond kiss against her belly before sliding up to recline, leaning on one arm, while the other joined with Cyn’s on Cassandra. “Yes, it was the same for me also. It’ll be interesting to see if it was only this once or if we’ll share that more in the future.”

  “Or even to see if it only occurs during intimate moments.” Miranda was stepping out of the now-opened bedroom door with a very happy Raphael behind her. She was wrapped only in a sheet, and from what Ty could see, Raphael wore nothing.

  Quickly he pulled their sheet up over Cassandra, who batted it back from her face with irritation. “I need to breathe, you know! And a naked brethren is nothing I haven’t seen before.”

  “You don’t need to see any males but your chosen naked again, and he doesn’t need to see you!” Cassandra just rolled her eyes at Ty’s pronouncement, while Cyn ignored the byplay altogether to address the young healer.

  “So you and Raphael experienced the same sharing of feeling and sensation?”

  Her eyes sparkled, and she spoke with unbound enthusiasm. “Yes! So this is something new? I can’t wait to study it and…” Her voice trailed off as she watched Cyn’s expression turn to a frown.

  “You can’t tell anyone of this.”

  “But why not? Who knows what we would learn.”

  “What would happen if someone like Ammon learned about this? How many women would he use to form a bond, break it, and re-form to try to repeat the results. The unscrupulous, like him, would be tempted to try to work it for their own pleasure, or if the sharing could be extended to sharing thoughts, they could even use it to gain spies. You may study it in secret with Raphael or even question us” ‑‑he gestured to Ty and Cassandra ‑‑ “but no one else must hear even a word about it. Understood?”

  Miranda bit her lip, clearly frustrated, but Ty saw the understanding pass over her face and a reluctant acceptance of Cyn’s authority.

  Still shielded by her body, Raphael wrapped his arms around her. She relaxed back against his body. “At least we know the fox’s blood solution works. We can help those women the ravers took.”

  “Yes,” Cyn agreed. “We will do that, and you will be of great help to them afterward as well. They will need someone to help them understand what has happened. It is also important that those women and their countrymen understand clearly that these were the actions of ravers. Although they call themselves the ‘true brethren,’ they are not. If this is not made clear, then Ibsen may decide to attack, and we would have the war Ammon plotted after all.”

  Ty judged that Cyn had finished and gave into his own wishes. “Raphael, get dressed! We have much to do today.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  The end is never such. It is a new beginning.

  -- A common farewell among the Chema mountain people

  Raphael crept through the undergrowth. He avoided dry twigs and rustling leaves with the ease of long practice. There was no sign of the ravers yet, but stealth when hunting was both habit for the man and instinct for his beast. He wore his midform of man-beast and bothered with neither shirt nor shoes. Instead, he wore dark woolen pants, easily shed if he took wolf form. He also had a bow and a quiver of arrows, each tipped with Cassandra’s potion that knocked
out changers.

  Logically, he knew it would be better to take out as many of the enemy as possible without endangering themselves, but his wolf wanted blood. He knew the urge was the same for the others. They called themselves brethren and held tightly to their sanity. However, the lure to go wild was always there, much more so for the unmated. It was rare for them to face more than one or two ravers at a time. The anticipation of being able to fight full out, with the intention of killing all of their foes, was an almost palpable force among the Brother Wolves.

  He passed brethren in wolf form and others high in trees. They waited for some sight of the ravers. Either they would use polished metal to signal one another, or if they thought the ravers might see their signals, they could chance using special bird whistles to alert the brethren on the ground to attack. They would ignore the bite of the cold air and stay in place all day, all night, and longer without moving, if needed. Raphael suspected the wait would be much shorter.

  Just a short time ago, the brethren found a second entrance to the tunnel Darius had blocked. Raphael was going to wait with the lookouts posted there. He wanted to see the ravers when they came out.

  Although that was where they expected ravers, the brethren did not mass there. They spread out in small groups at lookout points in the woods, along the river and further back. At a signal from one, they would gather to surround and attack the ravers ‑‑ hopefully before they knew they had been seen.

  A signal flashed over Raphael’s head. The ravers were already here! He sped toward the river, other brethren already in wolf form joining him. Even running, they moved in near silence.

  He reached the steep rock wall a short distance downstream from the tunnel opening. Ravers spilled out from a narrow opening between two boulders along the river wall and then carefully scrambled down the jagged rocks to reach the riverbank. The place they stood would have been under water just a few days ago in the worst of the flooding. Now the icy waters had retreated sufficiently to allow a long, narrow gathering spot.