Tall Dark Handsome Lycan, Book 2 Read online

  “Why is there blood on your T-shirt?”

  He turned his attention to the worried tone of Sam’s voice. She was staring up at him with a mixture of fear and frustration on her face and he released a long, drawn out breath.

  “You had me worried half to death,” he said. “I thought you were in trouble, but it appears it was the little boy who was in danger and you saved him.”

  She pursed her lips, pushing herself out of his grasp. “Yes. Thankfully I move faster than a speeding bullet in my human form, otherwise he would have died. Leo, why didn’t you mention I would have super speed, not to mention super hearing?”

  He frowned. “So your abilities are already developing. That is very quick for a fledgling. Their powers usually start to show after two weeks of turning.”

  “You could have warned me, Leo. Imagine how I felt when I realised I could fly?” She paused, her mouth tensing. “I would like to know in advance what to expect. Are there other things you haven’t told me? Why do I get the feeling you haven’t filled me in on everything?”

  “Sam, I did not know your speed would develop so soon. Although not unusual, it is rare for a fledgling to begin maturing so quickly.” He frowned. It was extremely rare, he thought. “Perhaps there is a connection with your gift, your psychic abilities that makes you different.”

  “Is there anything else you need to tell me?”

  “For now, no.” He took her hand. “Come. Let us return to the house.” She pulled her hand from his grasp and pointed to his chest.

  “What about that? Why do you have a blood stain on your T-shirt?”

  He knew she wasn’t budging until he gave her some clear answers. He flicked his gaze over her determined chin, her mutinous scowl, her soft and sensual lips tensing with annoyance. God, he loved her. She was as strong minded as she was beautiful with her riotous, red mane clipped into a messy bun at the back of her head, a few silky stands framing her face. Her green eyes darkened with frustration and he immediately felt a stab of compassion for her. It must not have been easy for her the past couple of days.

  He reached out and drew his arms around her, holding her close against his chest. She didn’t struggle and he lowered his head, kissing the top of her head. Leo felt her tension ease as Sam sighed and tightened her arms around him.

  “What about the blood,” she said in a muffled voice from his chest. “Or are you going to tell me it’s ketchup? You can’t keep protecting me from the truth, Leo.”

  “It is blood. I poured myself a glass of water and was about to drink it when I sensed danger around you. I must have gripped it too tightly and it shattered in my hand. I cut my hand and wiped it on my T-shirt.”

  She pulled away from him and grabbed his hands, searching his palms. “Where did you get hurt?”

  “Sam, the cut closed.”

  She froze, letting go of his hands. “Oh, right,” she said quietly. “I forgot. Lycans heal instantly. Only silver through the heart can kill us.” She paused, bending to pick up her bag. “And the danger you sensed I was in? What did you mean by that?”

  “A lycan can sense their one even when they are not in close proximity. Our connection is intensified when our emotions are heightened by fear, grief, sadness, any emotion that elevates our heart rate and makes our blood rush through our veins.” He could tell she struggled with this information.

  “And I can sense you, too, if you were in danger?”

  “Yes.”

  She pursed her lips. “Can…can you read my mind?”

  “No. Only a vampire has that ability.”

  “Good. I don’t know how I’d feel having my thoughts monitored.” Her gaze went to the boy’s house and she inhaled slowly. “Do you know I flew through the air with that little boy and no one will believe him?”

  “Did anyone see you?”

  She shook her head. “The boy was the only witness, which doesn’t make it any better because no one will believe him. The woman driver didn’t even see me because I moved so fast.”

  “I cannot say I do not understand your misgivings, Sam. I do, but you must realise the importance of our anonymity.”

  “I do understand. We would be embraced as monsters, feared, and armies would brace themselves with silver and shoot anyone they thought was a lycan.”

  He nodded. “Precisely. It would be the human race against us. Fear would never allow them to accept us. Mankind’s history depicts what would happen to us, the Salem witch trials being one example.”

  “That’s moot now. Weren’t the men and women who were hanged for witchcraft exonerated about ten years ago?”

  “Yes they were, however, I fear it will take humankind a lot longer to accept us, perhaps in the next century.” He took her bag from her hands and slung it over his shoulder. “Come on, my love. Let us go back to the house.”

  She nodded solemnly, slipping her hand into his as they made their way back.

  ****

  “Would you like something to drink?” He asked as soon as they walked through the front door.

  She followed him from the main hall into his spacious kitchen. “I’d love a glass of orange juice.”

  He gave her a brief look, his gaze flickering over her face before he turned abruptly to the fridge. “The sun is very strong here. Make sure you always wear sunscreen.”

  Sam hid a smile. “Don’t worry. I use the highest sun block.” There were times he made her feel she was the most desirable woman in the world, and other times he treated her as if she was a helpless child.

  After a few moments, he turned to her and handed her a glass, nodding. “Good. I do not want that lovely skin of yours to burn.” He turned and strode to a corner cupboard and pulled out a dust pan and broom. With quick, efficient moves, he proceeded to sweep the broken glass from the floor.

  Something didn’t make sense. “How can I burn if I heal instantly?”

  “The sun is not as dangerous to us as it is to our counterparts, the vampires, but it is powerful, nonetheless. It is the one thing we cannot avoid. It affects us as though we were human. Ergo, we are susceptible to sunburns.”

  “Why?”

  “I honestly do not know. No one does. Some think it has something to do with the sun’s opposition to the moon.”

  The more she learned about lycans, the more fascinated she became. Sam took a sip of her juice. “Where’s Maria?”

  “She went to visit her daughter. She should be back shortly. It appears Maria is already turning into a doting grandmother. The baby is doing fine.”

  His handsome face softened with a hint of a smile, and Sam’s insides warmed as they always did when he displayed the softer, more tender side of himself. She watched him empty the glass from the dust pan into the garbage can beneath the sink. Her gaze travelled over his broad back, his long tapered legs, and back up to his head. A brief image of her running her fingers through his dark hair this morning flashed through her mind and a blanket of happiness settled over her. She could have stayed in bed with him all day, safe and warm in his arms. Her romantic reverie stopped as Leo straightened and turned around to face her. Their gazes met and held.

  “I’ll miss Maria when I leave,” she said.

  “You will see her again and I am sure she will miss you, too. She has come to love you as one of her own.”

  “I can’t remember if you’ve already mentioned it to me, but how long has Maria been your housekeeper?”

  “Most of her adult life. Her parents looked after this house before she was born. When they were killed in a car accident, she stayed on and took over.”

  Sam remembered what happened a few days ago. “And…and she’s always accepted your lycan heritage.”

  He nodded. “She gave her oath to protect our identity. Maria has known about my family since she was a little girl. Her parents were very open with her. I have found children are more accepting than adults when we reveal our true identities. I remember when my parents had to tell Toni when she was very young abo
ut our true nature. My sister took it very well.”

  “That’s right. Toni was born human.”

  “Yes, another one of life’s little mysteries.”

  “Perhaps children are more accepting because they have innocence, and that innocence makes them fearless,” she murmured.

  He gave her an understanding look. “I agree.”

  She took another sip of her juice, unable to shake the vivid, dark image of what had happened this week. “How’s…how’s Katina?”

  His face turned grim. “She is still under house arrest. Her parents are keeping a close eye on her. They have hired someone to supervise her rehabilitation. They hope they will be able to take her off the mercury by the winter.”

  Sam recalled his ex shifting into her lycan form, trying to kill him soon after he’d announced he had found his one. Sam supposed if a woman had waited around for more than one hundred years for a man to propose to her, and that man ended up choosing another woman, it could send her into an insane, jealous rage. Still, that didn’t justify Katina attempting to kill Leo.

  Sam shivered in spite of the warmth in the air as she recalled another fact he had explained to her. “If she had killed you, she would have remained in her lycan form forever.” The thought left her chilled as she imagined a woman so fraught with jealousy and hatred that she didn’t care if she lived out an eternity as a monster.

  “At that point, she did not care. She was so consumed with envy of you, she was not thinking straight.” Leo’s mouth tensed. “Sam, I want to make it clear I never made Katina any promises. I never gave her any indication that she and I would marry.”

  “I know.” She paused, pushing that episode at the back of her mind. That was in the past and she didn’t want to relive that terrifying moment when she thought Leo was going to die. Sam focused on something else. “How does the mercury work? You had mentioned the other day it prevents a lycan from turning, essentially trapping it in its human form.” She raised a hand. “And bear in mind, I’m not a chemist, so you’ll have to curb your response in laymen’s terms.”

  “Mercury is a chemical that was discovered in Egyptian tombs during the middle ages. It is commonly known as quicksilver. Someone discovered over the centuries once it penetrates a lycan’s skin, it immobilizes them and prevents them from turning. Katina’s parents have been injecting her with daily doses to prevent her from shifting again until the rehabilitator has deemed her cured and ready for society.”

  “Rehabilitator?”

  “They are the lycan equivalent of your human psychiatrist.”

  “I see.” Her head was starting to spin. What else didn’t she know about being a lycan?

  “Sam, I understand your need to know everything all at once, but it is virtually impossible to explain my entire way of life to you in a day. It is comparable to a life form visiting from another galaxy, asking us to tell them in one day how humans live.”

  Putting it that way, he was right, she reasoned. “I suppose the motto, one day at a time, applies in my situation.”

  “Yes, it does. All you need to know now is that I love you and I would never do anything to hurt you.” In two strides, he stood before her and took the glass out of her hand. After he placed it on the table, he took her in his arms and held her. “I am trying to make this as easy as possible for you, Sam. I want you to accept and embrace your new life with me. Being a lycan is not as bad as you think.”

  “Actually, that same thought went through my mind earlier when I saved the young boy. If I wasn’t a lycan, that woman would have killed him.” A cold shiver ran up her spine.

  He withdrew and took her face in his hands. He stared deeply into her eyes and her breath caught as his gaze darkened with emotion. “You were very brave, Sam, and I suspect once all your abilities develop, you will be a courageous and formidable lycan.”

  She laughed softly. “Not so fast. Maybe I will choose to avoid turning at all costs.”

  “I would never force you into doing something you do not want to do.”

  “I know you wouldn’t, Leo.”

  He remained silent as his gaze slipped to her mouth. Sighing, she raised her hand and cupped his face. Leo growled softly and held her gaze as he lowered his head and kissed her.

  The warm, sensual pressure of his mouth melted her limbs. His kiss was slow and tender and she slid her arms up to his shoulders and clasped him at the back of his neck. Leo groaned against her mouth, pressing her lower body against his, and she was startled to discover how quickly he was aroused.

  Sam opened her mouth and his tongue meshed and mingled with hers, his sensual exploration melting her bones. A heat rose in her limbs as he deepened his kiss. Sam moaned. Leo released a groan and his kiss changed. It was no longer soft and tender. It was hard and passionate. Her mind began spinning out of control as her limbs flared with intense need. His kiss was wild and hot and Sam welcomed it.

  Everything fled from her mind, every worry, every fear, every doubt as the passion mounted between them. He ran his hands up and down her back, pausing on her bottom to squeeze and lift her against his erection straining against his jeans. She inhaled sharply through her nose, her hands running over his strong back. Sam was in heaven.

  Hell on earth, but heaven in his arms. She was lightheaded and weak and wanted to lose herself in his arms.

  “I love you,” he said hoarsely as he dragged his mouth from hers.

  Sam caught her breath as she looked up into his aroused face. His eyes glowed like two back jewels, amber flames dancing in their black depths. He covered her mouth with his and continued the passionate onslaught of his kiss.

  Leo brought one hand between them and cupped her breast, squeezing and kneading her tender mound. A spasm of heat rushed through her veins as he plundered her mouth with his tongue, her limbs growing weaker by the second.

  With quick, rough movements, he slid one hand between them and felt for the hem of her top. He lifted it over her breasts. In one deft move, he slipped her bikini’s cup aside, releasing her breast, and with a ragged breath, he dragged his mouth from hers and lowered it over her nipple.

  Sam cried out at the exquisite pleasure, his mouth sending shivers of delight throughout her body.

  “Leo,” she whispered hoarsely.

  The spot between her legs throbbed and she whimpered as she lifted one leg and drew it around his thigh.

  With an almost inhuman sound coming from his throat, he bent and lifted her in his arms, his expression taut and strained with desire. Sam closed her eyes as he carried her out of the kitchen. She heard him kick a door open. Within moments, he laid her down on a soft surface. She opened her eyes and saw she was on the couch in the living room.

  His dark eyes gleamed with desire and she shivered under the intensity of his aroused expression. He lowered his body overs hers, bracing his weight with his elbows, and his mouth crashed over hers. Sam’s ache for him grew and she wrapped her legs around the back of his thighs. Leo growled.

  He drew back sharply, his breathing laboured.

  “You bewitch me,” he growled.

  He grabbed her face in both hands and kissed her hard before he rose abruptly and grabbed her hand, helping her rise.

  With quick, urgent movements, he slipped her top over her head, dropping it on the floor beside him. Her bikini top went next and his inhaled sharply through his nose as he stared at her bare breasts. For a split second, his black eyes changed colour to a deep amber. Sam knew his inner beast was as aroused as his human and she wished Leo wouldn’t lose control and release his animal. There were certain things she wasn’t ready for.

  Sam reached for his zipper and the air grew thick and heavy around them. Their heated gazes locked, and he cupped her breasts as she fumbled with his belt. His hands were like liquid fire on her skin, and she arched her back, releasing another soft moan. A satisfied gleam entered his dark gaze and he dropped his hands to his T-shirt and dragged it roughly over his head. Quickly, he disrobed, and Sam
ran a heated gaze over his naked body, her gaze captivated by his enormous penis.

  “Your turn,” he murmured, and reached for her shorts.

  As a lycan for three hundred years, he must have had a lot of experience undressing women because within moments she was standing naked in front of him. Sam pushed away the stab of jealousy invading her bliss. So what if he had hundreds of lovers? Leo was with her now and that was all that mattered.

  She ran her hands over his chest and moaned at the sheer pleasure she derived by touching his strong, velvety skin. A low, deep growl rose from his throat and she pressed her mouth against his chest.

  He gripped her shoulders and gently pushed her back on the couch.

  He covered her body with his, and she spread her legs to embrace him.

  “I…love you,” he ground out, his strong, powerful erection finding the hot, moist place between her legs.

  Sam tensed in anticipation, squeezing her eyes, as she dug her nails into his shoulders and arched her neck.

  With one hard, searing thrust he stretched and filled her. Sam stiffened violently. He paused for a moment before he began to move inside of her. Sam’s initial stab of hot, piercing pain ebbed as she gasped with sheer pleasure.

  She cupped his face and pulled it down to hers, his hot kiss making her heart soar. Her body was close to that pinnacle it wanted to reach and suddenly, wave upon wave of ecstasy washed over her, spasms shaking her core. Sam gasped for breath, waiting for her orgasm to subside as Leo stiffened, and with one final thrust, he released an inhuman sound from deep within his throat and spent himself in her sheath. He shuddered and grimaced, his strong frame taut from his powerful release. He lowered himself to her side, gathering her in his arms.

  They lay entwined, their bodies glistening with sweat, and Sam turned her face and kissed his chest.

  “That was a surprise considering we’ve already spent the entire morning in bed,” she murmured, looking up into his face.

  He gave her a dark, sexy look. “If you give me a minute, we can do that all over again.” His mouth glimmered with a smile.