by Lora Leigh
Dayan’s lips curled, and Callan nearly lost his control again.
“Get outside and patrol the house if you can’t contribute something to this conversation.” Callan stalked to the coffee pot, pouring a large mug and fighting for composure.
He heard a chair scrape eerily over the wood floor. Seconds later, the back door slammed with window rattling force.
“Anyone else?” he asked without turning around. Silence greeted the question.
He turned back to them, seeing the concern on their faces.
“Kane’s Special Forces,” Taber informed him quietly. “A higher quality than those buffoons the Council keeps sending out. His brothers aren’t slouches either. He’s trained them. They’ll find the house. They’ll come in loaded to hell and back to take her.”
“I figured that already,” Callan snarled.
He knew everything there was to find out about the family. Seven brothers and her father, each man confident, strong. They were arrogant and commanding forces to be reckoned with alone. Together, they would be a small army.
“If he takes her, or if he kills you, she’ll suffer,” Dr. Martin spoke up. “The withdrawal won’t go away according to my tests, Callan.”
“What about your theory on conception?” Callan quizzed him sharply.
Dr. Martin shrugged. “The hormone produced only during pregnancy slows it down, but little else. What worries me is the effect your hormones are having on her contraceptives. It counteracts them. And somehow, someway, a minute amount of your sperm has become perfectly normal. There’s a chance, albeit slim, that she could conceive at any time.”
Callan rubbed at his neck wearily. More complications, more test results that did little to help them.
“We need to meet with her brothers before this goes any further,” Taber said worriedly. “We can’t take a chance with you, Callan. Or with her.”
“Let her call them, Cal,” Sherra advised on the end of Taber’s statement. “They have to be terrified for her. She’s their baby sister. John’s child. Maria would have hated this.” The reminder of his surrogate mother and her devotion to John Tyler pierced at him.
“It wouldn’t hurt to let her call,” Taber agreed. “Let her arrange for them to meet with Doc before they come in like the damned Marines. Merinus won’t thank you if you hurt one of them.” She would likely try to kill him herself, he grimaced.
“Maybe you’re right,” he sighed. “Maybe it would calm her down some. She’s like a damned volcano ready to erupt.”
“And when she does, it’s your ass that’s gonna get burned,” Sherra told him with little sympathy. “Your attitude with her sucks.”
Callan frowned.
“It’s normal.” Doc grinned. “The mating ritual of all animals. The males fight for dominance over their females. Human males have lost the fight in the past generations with feminism and equal rights and getting in touch with their sensitive sides,” he snickered. “Callan’s DNA refuses to allow him the choice in dominating her. It’s part of his genetic code.”
Callan snarled. Just what he needed, a fucking scientific explanation of the problem.
“Great,” Taber muttered. “Just what we needed to know.”
And the need to dominate was growing worse. Callan’s fight with his needs, his sexual desires, was a constant battle now.
“I’ll need more samples from Merinus after your next, um, association.” The doctor cleared his throat, ignoring Callan’s look of amazement at his choice of words. “As her body reacts so violently to any touch but yours, I suggest you come with her.”
“I guess I’m here for the night again then,” Sherra yawned, stretching tiredly. “So I’m heading on to bed.”
“Me too.” Dawn, the most silent of the group, rose from her seat.
She carried her cup to the sink, rinsed it, then set it in the basin.
“Let’s go, Tanner.” Taber was on his feet, slapping Tanner on the back as he rose. “Time to go to work.”
“Yeah, work,” Tanner grumbled, but there was no hesitation in his movements. “Man, remind me when I get all dominant to find a woman that doesn’t argue. You could hear Merinus cursing Callan all through that forest.”
“Watch your mouth,” Callan ordered darkly.
Tanner grinned, lifted his hand in a friendly salute and followed Taber out the kitchen door. The house was silent now, emptied of the Pride and their worries, concerns and affections. It left Callan feeling tense, almost alone. The feeling left him longing for Merinus. Not just sexually, but for her companionship, the measure of understanding he had found in her, despite her anger.
He rose to his feet and paced into the living room. He turned the television on low, hoping to fill the silence that had never bothered him before. As he lowered himself wearily to the chair, a small vibration in his jeans had him frowning in surprise. Merinus’ cell phone. He pulled the device from his pocket, stared at it a moment, then flipped it open.
“Yeah?”
There was silence over the line.
“I want you to give this phone to Merinus.” The command in the male voice had Callan’s brows lowering, his possessive instincts towards Merinus flaring.
“And may I ask who’s calling?” Callan smirked. As though he didn’t know.
The silence again. The echo of quiet rage.
“Is she alive?” Had he been a lesser man, a shiver would have worked down his spine, Callan thought.
“Of course she’s alive,” he bit out. “Killing innocent young women is next year’s job. This year I’m just stalking asshole soldiers.”
“You have enough of them following after your ass,” the voice snapped. “I sent my sister there with an offer of help, not so you could abuse her.”
Callan came to his feet.
“I have not abused her,” he growled furiously. “If anything, that woman has, at every opportunity done her best to foil my best attempts to keep her from my problems. I blame you, Mr. Tyler, as her older brother, for her willfulness and her total disregard for authority. Your sister is a menace.” Frustration edged a deeper growl from his throat as he allowed his frustrations rein on the man who had most likely caused Merinus to develop such traits.
“Then you will have no problem giving her this phone so I can make arrangements to collect my willful sister,” Kane remarked smoothly, suspiciously. “I’ll be landing at the airport in a matter of hours. I expect her to be waiting for me.”
Callan stilled. “I don’t think that’s possible, Tyler.” He kept his voice smooth, calm. “Regrettably, your influence on her has been detrimental. She is a stubborn, determined woman, but she is now my woman.” Silence again. Callan imagined the man was fighting for control himself, a way to ease his sister from whatever danger he believed she was in.
“Don’t make me come in and take her,” Kane warned silkily. “You wouldn’t like it, Lyons.”
“And your sister would not survive it,” Callan answered him quietly. “Do not make that mistake.”
“Harm her—”
“I could no more harm her than I could harm myself,” Callan bit out. “Your sister is not in any danger from me. But she can’t leave me now, for her own safety, it’s out of the question.”
“She’s in more danger with you.” Kane bit out.
“She is tied to me now, Tyler, in ways you do not understand,” Callan sighed. “You may see your sister.
You may speak with her, but at a time that is of my choosing.”
“And you expect me to calmly accept your decision?”
“No, knowing Merinus must have learned her willfulness from somewhere, I would suspect I had better be watching over my shoulder for a while now.” Callan grimaced. “But never fear, Mr. Tyler, I have grown quite used to that habit anyway, so it will be no hardship.” Callan happened to glance up at that moment, Merinus’ scent drawing him, heating his blood. She stood in the doorway, her arms folded across her breasts, a frown marring her expression
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br /> “You’re wasting your time,” she told him patiently. “If that’s Kane on the phone, then you won’t convince him of anything.”
“Who says I wish to convince him at all?” he asked her, allowing a smug smile to tip his lips. “I merely grew bored with my own company.”
“Let me talk to her, Lyons.” Tyler’s voice was suddenly imperative, coldly furious at his ear.
Merinus stood patiently in front of him, her hazel eyes suspicious, hopeful. He sighed roughly. He should have never answered the damned phone.
He covered the mouthpiece carefully, watching her.
“I won’t mention the others,” she said softly. “But if you don’t let him talk to me, he’ll become dangerous, Callan. I don’t want you or my brothers hurt. And you can bet Kane’s not alone.” Callan snarled softly. A complication they of course did not need.
“Talk to him, but Merinus, remember. My Pride would give their life for yours. Don’t betray them.” He didn’t think she would, but they hadn’t survived this long on faith alone.
She came to him slowly, her slender arm reaching out for the small phone. Callan handed it to her, watching her, assessing her soft expression as she brought it to her ear.
He listened to her talk to her brother. He heard the tremble in her voice, her unwavering faith in Kane as she talked to him. Argued with him. Assured him.
“It’s not that simple, Kane. I can’t leave him,” she finally said softly. “I know you don’t understand, but I’ll explain it all when I understand it myself.”
Callan reached out, his fingers gripping her other arm lightly.
“Tell him we will meet with him. You and I and Dr. Martin. Alone, Merinus. I will not have your whole tribe breathing down my neck.”
She looked at him in surprise.
“As though I don’t know he has your whole family in that plane with him.” He grunted.
He listened to her relay the message. She was silent for long moments, sadness filling her eyes.
“You and Dad only, Kane,” she finally said firmly. “Or I can’t do it. You know I wouldn’t ask if there were any other way.” She was silent for long moments, then came back with a sharp edge to her voice.
“Listen, asshole, this isn’t your decision. Stop playing He-Man on me, you know it doesn’t work.” Callan winced. At least the brother didn’t have to deal with the Lion-O crack. Then she started arguing with Kane. Furiously, her tone steel hard, her smartass cracks causing him to wince in sympathy. Long moments later, it appeared she had won, though.
“You can set the details with Callan. If you two can manage to talk civilly?” She arched a dark brow at Callan.
“I am always civil,” he informed her archly.
She rolled her eyes, extending the phone to him. “Try to be a little more civil then. Because your version of it definitely leaves something to be desired.”
He accepted the phone from her, watching as she then turned her back on him and stalked into the kitchen.
“I see you are as successful in getting your way with her as I have been,” he said snidely into the receiver. “I hope you train your lovers better than you have trained your sister.”
“I’m going to kill you, Cat Boy,” Kane bit out, furious, no longer able to hide his ire. “Slowly. Painfully.”
“You may wish to,” Callan agreed, his tone pure sarcastic implication. “But I doubt she will give you her permission.”
He could hear teeth gnashing over the line. He knew his assumption that Merinus controlled the strong men of her family was correct. She was like a tiny general, directing their movements where she was concerned at all times.
“When you land, there will be a woman awaiting you. She has natural, pure white blond hair and light gray eyes. Her name is Sherra. She will know who you are, and approach you herself. She will give you the details of the meeting. Will you abide by this?”
A strange, tense silence filled the line. As though Kane were holding his breath, or his surprise.
* * * * *
“Sherra,” he whispered the name on a sigh that had Callan frowning in confusion. “I’ll watch for her.” Callan sighed. The brother was no easier to deal with than was the sister. “Be certain you do,” Callan sighed. “For the sake of your sister’s sanity, Tyler, hold your rage at a simmer long enough to hear the problems surrounding her. Perhaps you will draw a bit more sympathy for my position by then.”
The phone disconnected. Callan grinned mirthlessly. He well understood Kane’s problem. Just as Callan felt sympathy for his plight as Merinus’ brother, unwillingly of course, so too did Kane feel sympathy for Callan. Though Kane was furious at the suspicions he had regarding the relationship between Merinus and Callan.
“You two finish consoling yourselves?” The scent of her hit him like a fist to his loins.
She stood in the entrance way once again, a sandwich in one hand, a glass of milk in the other. She walked over to the couch, her movements graceful, her body tempting in the soft jersey shorts and light sleeveless T-shirt she wore. Her nipples were hard little points beneath the material; her eyes were dark with the lust building in her body. And she seemed determined to ignore it, and him as well.
She lifted the remote from the coffee table, scanned the channels quickly, then settled on a blood thirsty action adventure that set his teeth on edge. He sighed restlessly, dragged his fingers though his hair then stalked from the room. He would be damned if he would sit there, her scent making him crazy for her, while she watched television. If she wanted to ignore it, and him, then by God let her have her way. He would see which of them came crawling first.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Merinus watched Callan stalk the house as she ate. When she lay down on the couch, her thighs clenched tightly together to try to finish watching the movie, he growled and stalked back to the bedrooms. She sighed wearily. Her cunt was so hot it felt on fire. She could feel the dampness on her panties, the slick juices coating her bare cunt flesh.
She was miserable. Empty. So empty she wanted to scream at him to take her, to fill her, to ride her hard and deep like he had in the forest. That dominance, the rougher sex, the utter loss of control he displayed only spurred her lust higher. She shivered, remembering his teeth locking onto the sensitive skin between neck and shoulder, the sharp incisors barely piercing the skin, the sensual pain edging her pleasure higher. She hated that. Hated knowing that she was so depraved she would enjoy it; that she needed it again, only hours later.
She shifted her position on the couch, her head cushioned on the pillowed armrest, her thighs pulled up to her abdomen. Oh God, she hurt. The muscles of her vagina clenched, spasmed. It wept slowly in hot, pulsing arousal. She bit her lip, her eyes going to where Callan stomped into the kitchen. The refrigerator opened, a lid popped. He stalked back to the doorway, his gaze heavy lidded, dangerous as he watched her. He lifted the bottle to his lips and took a long drink.
“I can smell your scent all through this house,” he growled as he lowered the bottle, now only half full.
“What are you trying to prove by denying us both?”
Merinus felt drowsy, sensual as his eyes went over her. She wanted to roll to her back, spread her legs and plead. She fought the desire, her muscles tightening as she stared at him, denying herself and him.
He looked so damned sexy standing there. Tall and broad and aroused. His face was tense, his body taut. The muscles in his abdomen were tight, drawing her gaze to his thighs. Oh man, he was like a perfect sculpture of some sex god.
“I can’t take the chance,” she whispered, turning her gaze back to a show she had little interest in. “I won’t conceive—”
“There is little chance of that as of yet.” Callan shook his head. “You are grasping at excuses, Merinus.” She was, she knew. She was terrified, not of Callan, but of herself. She was terrified of the building needs, the utter lack of mercy her lust had on her emotions. She couldn’t separate emotional need from sexual need a
nymore. Not since this morning. Not since he had taken her, hard and dominating, controlling her body, her responses. Not since he had held her those minutes afterwards, his tongue rasping gently over the small wound on her neck.
The mark was still there. She could feel it throbbing, pulsing in time to her heartbeat, begging for his kiss, his caress. The sharp little pain of his teeth clenching it.
“I have to control it,” she whispered.
Her brothers would be here soon. They would have an answer. She knew them, but she would have to be careful. They would take her from Callan and she couldn’t allow that. She barely controlled her whimper of emotional pain, not just sexual. Her body ached for him, but her heart hurt. She didn’t want to leave. Not yet. She just wanted this ‘thing’ tormenting them to ease. She wanted to lie in his arms, without the sexual heat building. She wanted to be held by him, touched, cared for. And she was terribly afraid it was nothing but the chemical lust for him. He seemed to have none of these needs.
His cock was hard. It strained against the soft material of his sweat pants, tenting the cloth, drawing her gaze and holding it. She swallowed tightly, licking her dry lips as she wondered how he would taste. In the heat of the frenzy of lust in the last days, it was an experience she had not been given time for. She realized now that she wanted it. She wanted to run her tongue over the bulging head of his cock, feel it jerk against her lips, discover the difference in it that occurred as his orgasm neared.
She closed her eyes, fighting the need. Fighting not just his desire, but also her own.
“Merinus, this will not work,” he warned her, his voice hardening. The latent male dominance that lurked just beneath the soft growl had her trembling.
His voice was rough when he took her, too. When he climaxed, his chest rumbled with an animalistic grumble that made her shiver to think about it. He was the ultimate male animal, sexual, arrogant in his prowess and his abilities. Muscular, strong, every bone and muscle in his body in perfect shape. She wanted to taste the skin stretched over those hard planes and angles. She wanted to lick him, nibble at his flesh and hear him groan her name. She wanted to stretch over him, rub against him, find some relief for her aching nipples against his hot flesh.
She opened her eyes, focusing on the flames and explosions playing out on the television. It was safer than staring at the hard cock threatening to burst through Callan’s pants, but it provided little distraction from the flesh between her thighs pulsing and screaming out its demand.
“I can make it work. I’m incredibly stubborn, ask my brothers,” she told him, her voice sounding much more determined than she felt.
“I need to ask your brothers nothing,” he bit out forcefully, his voice beginning to rumble. Oh, she loved that sound. Even though it did feel as though the vibrations of it echoed in her womb. “You are the most aggravating female I’ve ever met in my life.”
Merinus shrugged. The movement caused her T-shirt to shift against her hard nipples. She almost groaned at the pleasure. Damn. She wished he would just go away. Go away or take the decision out of her hands and pound into her until she was screaming out her orgasm. That was what she wanted. She wanted what she had earlier, Callan’s hands rough on her body, in her hair, driving her to heights she had never known existed. And yet she didn’t want it. It equally drew her and terrified her.
“I could ease you in other ways, Merinus,” he bit out. He still hadn’t moved from the doorway.
She glanced up at him. He watched her intently, waiting for any sign of weakness. She steeled her resolve. She could do this. She could make her body do as she wanted it to. Not the other way around.
Merinus swallowed tightly. “No. I’d beg you to complete it, Callan. It doesn’t ease until you come inside me.”
The fiery wash of his seed, blasting hard and hot inside her cunt was the only relief from the building pressure. No matter how many times she climaxed, how many different ways, it was only that final action that allowed her body to cool down from a boil to a simmer.
“You risk my self control this way,” he told her softly. “As your need builds, so does mine. Just as it happened this morning. You tempt the beast taking you, rather than the man, Merinus.” She looked into his face. The beer bottle was empty, though he still gripped it tightly. His face was drawn in a mask of concern, of desire. His amber eyes almost glowed, hot and demanding. Her pussy heated further. Oh, she wanted him. She could fuck him for hours and never get enough.
“You aren’t a beast,” she told him, her voice soft as she glimpsed the regret in his eyes.
It bothered him, she knew, these needs, the domination he fought to keep from exerting over her, the control he fought to hang onto. He didn’t like the instincts raging at him, any more than she liked those raging at her.
“But I am, Merinus,” he sighed, looking down at the bottle he held for long moments. When he looked at her again, there was remorse, and acceptance. “I don’t deny what I am. To do so would risk my sanity. And you can’t either. You can never forget that the animal is there, lurking beneath the surface.
It’s dangerous to do otherwise.”
The problem was, the beast within him didn’t frighten her nearly as much as it seemed to bother him. She felt her inner muscles tighten, her womb clench with the heated memory of his loss of control. How much more dominant could he become, she wondered, then shivered at the thought.
“Merinus, don’t do this,” he told her, his voice tormented now. “You are denying yourself and me. I don’t want to hurt you.”
She heard the plea in his voice. She wanted to give in, she wanted to turn to him, to ease the fire ripping through her body, but she couldn’t. Not now. Not yet. It wasn’t a need to tempt him, or even her curiosity in the face of the lack of control he warned her about. She no longer controlled her own body, and she knew this was the root of her problem. She needed that control. She needed to dictate when she wanted to fuck and when she wanted to cuddle, not her body or this chemical reaction driving her insane.
“Not yet.” She closed her eyes, fighting her tears, fighting her body.
It was her body, dammit. It had a mind of its own lately and it was killing her.
Callan watched her a moment longer, then with a sizzling curse stalked from the room again. Merinus sighed, her breathing rough now that he was no longer in the room. She couldn’t control the soft whimper that escaped her lips. She was only thankful the television masked the sound.
She was breathing hard, fighting to draw air into her lungs as her inner flesh clenched, demanded relief.
Her clit actually throbbed and her nipples were torturously hard, aching for the warmth of his mouth. Her hand moved, her fingers running over the hard points lightly, her body trembling at the incredible pleasure the action brought her.
Her head ground into the pillowed headrest. She felt her juices pool between her thighs. Suppressing her groan, she sat up on the couch, bracing her elbows on her knees as she raked her fingers through her hair. Her fingers dug into her scalp. She shivered again. Even that tiny pain was exciting.
She could control this. She took a deep breath, reining in the madness that threatened to whip through her. She could make it. Self-control, that was all it took. If a person could get through drug withdrawal, surely she could get through Callan withdrawal. It was just a matter of controlling the urge. That was all.
She nodded firmly. The action shifted her shirt again, raking her sensitive nipples and she bit her lip to hold back her moan.
Something cold to drink. One of Callan’s beers. Hell, he had a whole fridge full. She stood to her feet, a shudder working over her body as her panties pressed against her clit. Oh Go