Wolf Rain (Psy-Changeling Trinity #3)(78)

Delighted at the return of her fire, Alexei bent down until his nose brushed hers, her eyes locked with his. And he growled.

Glaring, she shoved at his chest without force. “Are all wolves so aggravating?” she asked, shining tracks on her cheeks but no new tears falling from her eyes.

Rising back to his full height, Alexei crowded her against the railing. “That’s my E.” The words sang inside him, a key sliding into a lock.

When a chill threatened to invade his veins, he shrugged it off. His fucking demons could go howl in the dark tonight. This was about Memory and about making sure she wasn’t hurting. “If you’re beating yourself up because a psychopath is doing psychopathic things,” he growled, “then you need your head examined.”

Though she had her arms tight around him, she growled back at him, doing such a good job of it that his wolf opened its mouth in a pleased grin inside him. Leaning down, he rubbed his jaw against her hair, her curls tickling his nose.

“I’m just one life,” Memory said, so much anguish inside her that it hurt him. “Is my freedom worth the horror suffered by innocents like Vashti?”

Alexei wanted to shake her. Gritting his teeth, he told himself to think this through, to be the rational strategist and not the infuriated wolf. Which was why he bent his head and, tugging her curls aside, nipped sharply at the tip of one ear.

“Ow!” Her hand flew up to her ear, and she tilted back her head to send him a glare of epic proportions. “If you’re not careful, I’ll bite you back again.”

“Do it,” Alexei dared, his wolf in charge.

Dropping her hand from her ear, Memory poked at his chest. “I’m talking sense. If I go back to Renault—” She cut herself off. “If I go back to him, I make him a more efficient murderer.” Her shoulders sagged again. “And if I stay out in the world, he’s going to keep hurting others to get to me.”

Alexei couldn’t stand it any longer, couldn’t stand that she saw value in everyone else and kept forgetting herself. Shoving his hands into her hair, he tugged back her head, intending to yell at her . . . but got caught by the pain in her dark eyes.

Right then, all he wanted was for her to know pleasure, know that the world could be better than horror and darkness and a cage.

Dropping his head, he kissed her.





Chapter 37


Wolves and intimate skin privileges? fans face Hold on . . . and watch out for teeth.

—From the November 2071 issue of Wild Woman magazine: “Skin Privileges, Style & Primal Sophistication”


MEMORY CLUTCHED AT the sides of Alexei’s T-shirt, the jolt racing through her an electric thing that threatened to short-circuit her senses. Whimpering low in her throat, she rose on tiptoe, wanting more of this wonderful, delicious contact.

Alexei nipped at her lower lip.

Used to wolf behavior by now, she parted her lips and he swept inside, stroking her tongue with his in an erotic seduction that had her thighs pressing together and her breasts suddenly tender. “Alexei,” she whispered against his lips when he gave her a second to catch her breath.

Eyes of wolf amber looking into hers before he captured her mouth again.

Pressed up against him as close as she could get, Memory responded without restraint, a lifetime of need coalescing into this one moment with a wild golden wolf. He nipped her lower lip again, this time tugging gently before releasing her. His chest rose and fell against her own, his mouth wet from her kiss.

She traced the outline of his lips with a trembling fingertip. “I’ve never felt so alive.” Every cell in her body vibrated. “Let’s do it again.” And again.

Groaning, he nuzzled a kiss to her temple. “Not here. My erection’s already threatening to poke a hole in my pants.”

Able to feel the hard protrusion against her body, Memory rubbed against him. That got her another nip on the ear as punishment. She smiled. Alexei wasn’t in any way distant tonight; he and his wolf were very much here with her. And those bites he kept giving her? Despite her earlier complaint, they startled more than hurt.

Her wolf was very careful with his strength.

Nuzzling her face against his chest, his scent delicious, she said, “What do we do now?”

“Renault isn’t going to come back tonight.” Growled words, but the hand he ran down her back was gentle. “Telekinetic resources aside, fucker’s a coward and we scared him.”

Memory’s eyes narrowed. “He tried to grab my mind, but I punched him back. Hard enough that it must’ve hurt.”

“Next time, kick him in the nuts, too.”

A laugh snorted out of her before she sobered. “Vashti?”

“Fine. Cats have taken charge of her security, though I think she’s safe from Renault—he didn’t want her specifically. She was bait.” A rumble in his chest that felt familiar now, the sound of Alexei being Alexei.

“Anytime you start wondering about the value of your freedom,” he added in a growly tone, “think about the young girls he would’ve stolen and hurt once he wore you out. Your ability is rare—he would’ve killed E after E trying to find another.”

Memory’s heart kicked. Alexei was right. Renault had been on the verge of overusing her to death; if she hadn’t escaped, if she hadn’t exposed his evil, he would’ve continued on with impunity.