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Conan
“What in the world is she doing?” Janine inquires as I drive the gondola down the dark Venice canals in the night. She’s staring at Cinzia, the ‘intruder witch’, as she’s spraying the air with one of her self-brewed perfumes.
“The scent will mask your natural smell,” the woman explains. “Because otherwise the werewolves would track you both by your scent.”
Janine clutches the black wool cape around herself, her breath misting the air. Her natural scent reaches me, and I have to fight myself not to react. The need to look at her all the time pools in the pit of my stomach, and her scent only makes it worse.
I feel her gaze moving slowly from me to Cinzia and back again as the gondola glides along the narrow canals, sending ripples toward the old walls. I can feel she’s still struggling to wrap her mind around things, but I told her it was better to keep quiet until we got to the sanctuary, where she would get answers. Piovra’s werewolves could pick up the sound of our voices, and track us down.
With focus and stealthy methods we reach the sanctuary safely, namely the old prison under the Doge’s palace.
“You gotta be kidding me,” Janine whispers as we enter what used to be the chief prison ward’s office back in the day.
“You want me to send for them now?” Cinzia inquires.
“No, wait until further notice from me.”
“But my lord—”
“Do as I tell you.”
With a final glance from Janine to me she closes the door, and I pull the heavy iron latch after her.
“So,” Janine’s voice is small and shaky. “This is the famous sanctuary. Are you going to take me again, without waiting for my consent?”
I turn to her, allowing my eyes to roam all over her the way I’ve been craving to do since we stepped into the gondola. She looks confused and ravished. I tower over her as she stares up at me.
It’s no secret that I imprinted on her. She’s now my mate, she belongs to me. She saw me in my wolf form, and came for me in that shape, which means she accepted my imprinting fully. That’s a very special thing to happen, most mated couples don’t get that for a while.
“You hungered for me as much as I did for you,” I drawl. I know her legs are trembling under the wool cape, and not because of the chill but because of our wild love-making. They give in, and she takes a seat on the cot by the far wall, exhausted.
“Arousal is not consent, Conan,” she manages, her voice shaky. She looks away from me, to the shelves of books along the walls, books that haven’t been touched in many years.
“You didn’t protest either, because you knew I would have stopped. I wouldn’t have taken you against your will, no matter what.”
“You used our bargain from Nice against me.”
“And then you took me happily between your thighs.”
She stares up at me, her blonde hair and her pale face shimmering in the moonlight.
“Janine.” I hunker down in front of her, placing my hands gently on her knees. “I need you to understand something. I didn’t imprint on you in order to prove a point. I did it because I felt irresistibly drawn to you, like a moth to a flame, and because I couldn’t bear the thought of you ever belonging to someone else. I would have killed anyone you would have fallen for, out of jealousy and unhealthy infatuation. I didn’t need to imprint on you in order to feel that.
“It’s true that I only made the decision to take you after you said that you didn’t want Piovra, that you hated him. But I don’t think he would have really forced you to prostitute yourself for him. The idea alone would have destroyed his soul. Imprinting gives us werewolves feelings that...” I wet my lips, searching for a way to explain. “They’re overwhelming.”
Pain furrows the white, almost translucent skin on her forehead. She looks down at my hands on her knees. “He knows what imprinting would feel like,” she whispers. “And he doesn’t care.”
“Please, Janine, believe me when I tell you he doesn’t have a clue. I knew more or less what to expect because I have a link to my two brothers who experienced it already. Lorenzo can’t possibly imagine, because none of the werewolves in his pack have ever imprinted. But trust me, he would have felt as protective of you as I do. And most probably as possessive, as mad, as jealous.”
Her cobalt blue eyes fill with a mysterious feeling. “I can’t forget the pictures of you and that woman under the red light. Her naked breasts were brushing against your body while I was alone at Lorenzo’s palazzo, completely at his mercy.”
“I can explain.”
“Then you better start talking.”
I kind of like the tone of her voice. “Are you jealous?”
“It’s not a good thing, Conan, and it’s not doing me any favors. My rational mind understands that these women know about werewolves, that they’re witches and they must be some kind of allies, but—”
“They are allies that have been here for hundreds of years, laying low so that the Piovras wouldn’t track them down. Their connection to the Wolf pack is secret, and it must stay that way, which is why they use prostitution as their cover.” I take Janine’s small cold hands between mine. “Which brings us to the reason why I brought you here, to the old prison under the Doge’s palace. This, Janine, is the Wolf pack’s old Venice headquarters.”
I get up to my feet and head to the shelves, picking a book so old that the pages stick together, caked by humidity. I separate the pages with careful fingers, walking back to Janine.
“Two centuries ago the Wolf pack and the Piovras became allies. It was Nero’s decision, but I had doubts. I didn’t trust Lorenzo and his pack. But we had to work together, fight together against the serpents. On the one hand we needed them, but on the other hand we knew they were dangerous, and we had to watch our backs. Especially as Lorenzo, being a power-monger, wanted nothing more than to get his hands on The Reaper’s secret weapon. He’d been searching for it for a long time.”
I lose myself in memory, my eyes stuck to the sacred geometry spreading over the pages.
“What is this famous secret weapon, Conan? And why is it so important to Lorenzo?”
“Because it’s immensely powerful.”
“Why don’t you just tell me what it is? I am your bonded mate, I can never betray you.”
“I can’t tell you or anyone because its power can corrupt. Even the most pious, pure and selfless can come to desire it for themselves. But the problem with the weapon is that it can destroy its holder. It takes a powerful carrier to wield it.” I shake my head. “Please, don’t ask any more questions about this.”
Janine comes to my side and looks down into the book at the beautiful, symmetrical drawings. Her eyes brighten, and her intelligent face comes light.
“Is this Sacred Geometry?” She moves her hand over the book, but doesn’t touch the paper. Her fingers tremble as they hover above the pages, as if she respects them too much to touch them.
I take her hand and guide it to the old page, tracing the raven eye on the heading. “The Witch Eyed Sisters. The order to which the women from the brothel belong.”
“An order of witches. Why in the world do they work as hookers?”
“How else would they keep track of everything that happens in this town, from the mafia to politicians?”
“Of course,” she whispers. “The best-informed people everywhere in the world—hookers, drug dealers, the homeless guy on the busiest street. But does that mean you didn’t sleep with that woman?”
I place my hands on her shoulders, pulling her close. “I admit that was my intention when I first left the palazzo, but only because I couldn’t stop thinking about you, wanting you like a madman. I became possessive of you, I felt things I didn’t understand, and I wanted to lose those feelings because they hurt. But then I saw Cinzia and my focus shifted. I recognized the Witch Eyed Sister.”
Janine presses her lips together, forming a thin line. “So your feelings for me weren’t strong enough to keep you interested only in me.”
“On the contrary. That was exactly the reason I needed to find release with another woman. But I don’t think I could have gone through with it. I would have seen your face all the while.”
I caress her cheek, my eyes roaming hungrily all over her face. She closes her eyes as my lips touch hers, at first gently, but then I lose control. I pull her in my arms, pressing her delicate body to my battle-hardened chest.
“Ah, Janine, I want you so much I don’t know how to handle it.”
“I guess we’re both new to this,” she whispers, her breath hot on my lips as we kiss.
We undress each other, our bodies full of fire. I lay her down on the cot, my rough hands sliding appreciatively over her naked body as her eager hands move down my hips.
I claim her mouth with hot, needy lips, as she grabs my cock in her small white hand. I wince at the slight discomfort. It’s a greedy, clumsy grab, but it’s her, and therefore it feels like heaven. I raise myself on my arms, my muscles turning to ropes under my skin. She strokes my triceps with her fingertips, hissing as if it delights her. The pleasure she gives me stroking my cock up and down, fully naked and sweaty with desire under me, while I still have my pants on, makes me want her like a beast.
“I never thought I could want a woman like this, Janine.” I breathe hard, barely still controlling myself. There’s that prickle under my skin, like a thousand marching ants as my muscles grow and the fur starts sprouting.
“That’s it, shift for me, lover.” Her gaze is fluid with desire, as if having me inside her in my wolf form is her favorite brand of kink, her hand wrapped tightly around my big ribbed cock.
“Janine,” I breathe, claiming her mouth in a possessive kiss, positioning myself between her legs and entering her in one long, slow push.
“Oh, God, Conan,” she cries, arching her back as I fill her, her fingernails scratching my shoulders, and I love it.
I pump into her slowly, the fur sinking back into my skin.
“I won’t take you as a wolf tonight,” I tell her, watching her face as I fuck her, freely, not caring about the consequences. “I want to feel your touch on me, your fingernails scratching my skin. Do it harder.”
She hesitates.
“Do it Janine.” I cup the crown of her head with my huge palm, pushing my chest into hers. “Claw at me until you draw blood.”
She tries, but my skin is too thick. I consciously lessen the density, allowing her to pierce me. She hisses with pleasure.
“Tell me the truth, my sweet lover—do you enjoy hurting me?”
Her face is red with the exertion, her chocolate eyebrows furrowed as she takes in the pleasure and ache from my thrusts, but she bites her lip to keep the answer in, probably wanting to deny her dark desire.
“Don’t even try. We’re bonded mates now, we cannot lie to each other. Whenever I, your bonded lover, will ask you a question, you’ll be compelled to answer me with the truth. And I will respond with the same honesty.”
“I want to punish you, Conan,” she pants. “Because you ignored me in the beginning. Because you didn’t fall in love with me at first sight.”
That’s not true, I felt compelled to stare at her from the beginning, but that’s beside the point. My head swims with hot desire, and I want her to hurt me nonetheless. “Give me your punishment, woman.”
Her nails pierce deeper, biting past my skin into my flesh. I cum hard inside of her as little streams of hot blood trickle down my back, Janine splaying her hands over my shoulder blades, smearing the blood over them. Moments later, as I lie face down on the cot with my hands under my chin and she lies on my back, caressing my shoulders, she says,
“They look like wings of an angel.”
“I’m afraid I’m no angel, Janine. Perhaps a fallen one, in the best case scenario,” I whisper with my eyes half closed, high on our love making, and enjoying the fulfillment inside. It’s an exquisite feeling that I wish would last forever.
I turn on my back and pull her to my chest, cupping her small delicate jaw with my hand.
“I’d stay here with you forever,” she whispers sweetly, drawing gentle circles on my chest with her fingertips. “I’d spend my entire life in your arms. But I don’t know about the neck pain.” She taps my chest. “Your body feels like a rock.”
I smile, closing my eyes as I enjoy the warmth of her body on mine, her voice and her scent of ocean and woman. “If only I could do something about it.”
“I mean it, Conan.” She touches my chin, making me look down at her. Every time I do she’s more beautiful, and I swear my soul is melting into hers.
“I want to spend every second of my life with you, even if that means staying here, in this prison cell forever.”
“It’s not a cell, it’s the old office of the chief prison ward.”
“It doesn’t make any difference.” Her cobalt blue eyes melt into loving velvet, her voice caressing me. “I say it with all my heart, I wouldn’t mind if it were years, if it’s forever. Even though I must admit these feelings inside scare me. They’re so intense they can’t possibly be healthy. Normal people need their little freedoms, and I more than anyone. I didn’t even think myself capable of falling in love, and yet look at me, completely at the mercy of your attention.”
I smile lovingly. “I suppose we’re both hard people who’ve become each other’s soft spot.” But then a particular thought sends a blade through my heart. My body turns rigid, and Janine notices.
“What is it?”
“Nothing.”
“You try to smile, but your cheek twitches.” She sits up, her palms splayed on my pectorals. The sight of her sitting up like a naked queen looking down at me sends a rush to my cock. I’m ready to take her again, but her face is much too serious for me to try. “You can’t lie to me you say, now that our mates’ bond is fully forged. Very well then. What made you tighten up like that? What crossed your mind?”
My jaw sets, but Janine stares demandingly into my face, waiting for an answer.
“I was thinking about your one night stands. I was wondering how many men there were in your life.” My heart cringes as I expect her to lash out at me.
Janine lifts her chin, looking like a nymph made of ivory in the moonlight, the shadows of the barred window above our heads falling on her face that has become guarded.
“Five,” she says. “It was five one night stands. Before that I had two more-or-less long-time boyfriends, both from Darkwood Falls. Bur I never really expected much from those relationships.”
“Fuck,” I grunt. “I thought it would do me good to know, but it feels like shit.”
“Then why don’t you drop the subject?”
“Because I can’t.”
“Well, then I hope you’re in for one hell of a fight.”
“All right.” I sit up on my elbows, staring into her addictively beautiful face. Deep down I know that the more I’ll look at this face, the more I’ll want to see it, but now the ball is rolling, and there’s no turning back. “Then answer me this—have you ever been in love before?”
“I have. But not as intensely as I am with you.”
“That’s normal, because no human bond can compare to imprinting, but still.” I take her face in my hands, letting them slide through her silky hair to the back of her head. “The way I feel about you is out of this world, Janine, ripped from the hottest depths of hell. I need to know if you feel the same about me, or I’m gonna go insane.”
“Conan, I just told you I’d spend every second of my life with you, and I meant that literally, isn’t that declaration of love enough?”
“It does feel like a shot of adrenaline, but I can’t help the jealousy. Thinking that you’ve had other men, enjoyed their touch, the feel of their cocks inside you, I—” I bite my lip, drawing blood. I expect Janine to fight back with a counter-argument but what she does is press her lips to mine, her tongue licking the blood off of my lip.
“I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist,” she says, staring at me as if she doesn’t quite understand what’s happening. But I do.
“Our bond deepens by the second,” I explain. “It urges us to become one with each other. Your instincts scream to take the fluids of my body inside your own, and for me to take yours.”
Janine crushes her lips to mine, her arms winding around my neck as if she’s abandoning herself to this love that takes us both in a whirlwind. We fall together back on the cot and I plunge into her, roaring and grinding until the iron frame gives in under us.
***
Janine
CONAN’S ARMS WIND AROUND me, keeping me close and warm on the lovers’ bridge.
“Isn’t this dangerous,” I whisper, my breath turning to mist in the night.
“It is,” he whispers back. “But I wanted you to enjoy Venice, at least a little bit. And especially the full moon.”
I turn in his arms and look up at his hard warrior face, tracing the scar running down his cheek. If once it made him look dangerous, now it speaks to me of pain. I want to talk to him about it, but we have to keep verbal communication to a minimum. We’ve got Cinzia’s special perfume to mask our scent from Lorenzo’s hounds, but they can track our voices, too.
Conan’s big hand puts slight pressure on my hip, the signal that we better return to our hideout. We’ve been here in Venice for a few weeks already, making love in the old prison as if not doing it would starve us, Conan telling me about the werewolf lore and history as I lay in his arms on the mattress. But we’re still not even close to getting enough of each other. In fact, if anything, we want each other more with every hour we spend together.
“Does it ever get warm and comfortable,” I say as I take off the wool cape back at the sanctuary, before we even enter the old prison ward’s office. “This need we have for each other?” I reach up as he lifts me in his arms. I wind my legs around his waist, kissing him hungrily as he walks into the room and pushes the door shut, but something’s off about the place.
We find Cinzia in a black cape in the place where we should see an old wooden bookcase. She has a hood over her head, and a dark tunnel stretches out behind her. I realize it must be a secret exit from the sanctuary.
“Apologies for intruding, my lord,” she says. Her eyes move from Conan to me under her hood. “But you need to leave. Now. The Piovras are raiding the entire city for you. They could discover the hidden tunnels. If you’re planning on using them, now’s the time.”
This isn’t a surprise to either of us. Conan and I have been talking about this, and we’re ready. Conan lights the torch, sprays oil over the bookshelves, and looks at them one last time before he sets them on fire. The Piovras can never get their hands on the Wolves’ secrets and, while we take along the most important scrolls and manuscripts, the rest needs to be either protected or destroyed.
The fire roars behind us as Conan rushes with me down the narrow dark corridors that smell dank and old, Cinzia trailing behind us. We slide into a gondola that Cinzia’s got ready deep down, and Conan pushes us off the dock.
But as we glide silently on the water ripples with only the sound of our hearts pounding in our ears, I get a strange feeling. Something about Cinzia just isn’t right. The way her eyes dart around as she sits in the gondola in front of me, both of us bracing ourselves under our capes against the chill and the mist, it’s suspicious. She searches the area not as if she were looking for threats, but like she’s waiting for them.
Then I spot something in the night as it flies at Conan.
“Watch out!” I cry out, pointing at it. But it’s too late.
A large wolf materializes from the darkness like a spreading net, falling on Conan’s back. He doesn’t manage to throw the large Conan overboard, but the impact sends the gondola rocking on the canal like on a raging sea. Both Cinzia and I fall to the side, grabbing the edges of the gondola and staring up at the struggling men.
Conan roars and throws the attacker off of him, water splashing onto the gondola as the wolf sinks like a bomb into the canal. Conan reaches out to help us up, but two more werewolves attack him. They fail to throw him down, but the gondola sways dangerously, both Cinzia and I screaming. I’m flat on my stomach, holding tightly to the edge of the gondola, a veil of water hanging on my lashes, but I can still see Conan. He balances the gondola with his muscular legs while tearing the wolves off of him, but more of them jump from the darkness, overwhelming him. They bury him in a heap of fur, their deadly roars tearing through the night.
The gondola tips over, and a vacuum pulls at my ears, water invading my nostrils. Then it all goes black.
***
Conan
I FURROW MY BROW, STRUGGLING to clear the fog in my head. What the hell happened? I look up to the only source of light in this chilly darkness, a pain in the back of my neck. It’s just an opening above my head, sending a cone of light down to where I’m standing, naked and in chains.
Something sharp slides across my wrists like blades. Heavy iron cuffs are restraining my arms to the side, and I’m clearly in a dungeon. My muscles hurt with every move, maybe because of the weight I’ve had on me—all those wolves with their battle-hardened bodies.
“Why did you have to fall for her, my lord,” Cinzia’s voice with its thick accent reaches me from the darkness.
“Witch Eyed Sister.” I sound hoarse, as if my vocal cords were rusty. “What did you do?”
“Why, I betrayed you, of course.” She steps into the light, wearing a fresh cape, a dark-red one. She pushes the hood off her head, revealing rich dark hair and shimmering dark eyes.
“But please don’t think it was my intention from the start, because it wasn’t. It is true, however, that when Lorenzo stormed the establishment with his people I didn’t take a lot of convincing to tell him where you were. It was your life or mine. And why should I give up breath for you?”
She steps closer, letting me see the fury and frustration in her face.
“You and I can never be,” I say. “And you know why.”
“Long ago you said you didn’t want to imprint on any woman, ever, and that you wouldn’t do it even if you met a Fated Female.”
“And you took that as a personal promise I made to you?”
“Maybe I did. I was even prepared to be with you without asking for your love. I was determined to love enough for the both of us. All because you said the more people a werewolf loved, the weaker he was. And I took you seriously, even when you said that the love for a Fated Female could be deadly.” She snorts. “Look at you now. I guess you were right.”
She paces around me, inspecting my battered, bloody body from all angles. “Do you know what it felt like to find you fucking her with so much gusto in my whoring room? Do you have any idea how much I dreamt about you fucking me like that, in your wolf form?”
“Cinzia...”
“Why, my lord? Why didn’t you ever do it? Damn it, I would have done the dirtiest things with you, I would have been your whore.”
“What happened with Janine, it was beyond my control. What she and I feel for each other, it was never up to us.”
“Lies!” She cries. “You lied on that first night you came to me, saying you needed to rescue her for wholly other reasons than your feelings. You said you wouldn’t imprint on her for the world.”
“And I meant it.” I glare at her out of red-hot eyes. “I couldn’t let Lorenzo imprint on her, it would have been a disaster. Janine has a superpower, Cinzia, and Lorenzo could take over the entire world using it, fuck, rescuing her probably stopped the apocalypse.”
“Damn it, even the way you pronounce her name betrays your passion for the woman!”
“Passion, yes.” My arms strain against the chains, clattering them powerfully from the walls. Cinzia takes a step back. “Passion beyond rhyme or reason, and beyond my control. Since the day I met Janine feelings started to bubble up inside of me, and there was nothing I could do to stop them. I didn’t understand those feelings at first, because I’d never experienced them before, but after Nice they became unbearable. I couldn’t look at her without wanting her, and God knows I tried to. It’s the reason I was looking for a hooker that night. I was desperate for release, for a way to stop obsessing about Janine Kovesi. But then I ran into you, and a plan started to take shape in my head.”
Cinzia’s lips draw in a straight, angry line. “In my mind, we had a deal the two of us—I would accept your lack of love for me, as long as you didn’t give that love to someone else. But then you went ahead and fucked Janine Kovesi, giving her your heart in the process.”
“I did,” I hiss. “And you know what? I’d let myself be tortured just to have her one more time.”
She stares at me full of revenge. “Be careful what you wish for, my lord.”
***
Conan
“TORTURE,” LORENZO SAYS, staring at me out of pale blue eyes. “You would take torture just to be with Janine one last time?”
“I’d let you skin me alive if you want.”
“I won’t let you out of those chains, just so you know. So if you want to fuck your personal little hooker Janine, it will have to be here, in this dungeon, with you in those chains.”
“Call her a hooker again, and I’ll rip your tongue out of your filthy mouth, if it’s the last thing I do.”
Lorenzo folds his arms across his chest, planting his feet apart. He’s tall and lean, leaner than the two wolves with sleek black fur flanking him, but I know he’s stronger than both.
“You know what I did after you hi-jacked my imprinting ceremony with Janine by stealing her away? I ordered my men to kill her on sight.”
I jerk against the chains, spitting menacingly through my teeth. “If you as much as think that again—”
“Oh no, I only thought it once. I have new plans now, let me tell you about them.” He leans forward from his waist. “And let me start with the beginning. When you stole Janine away, I was devastated. I cried like a groom left at the altar—in the end, that’s sort of what I was.”
“No, it isn’t, because you hadn’t lost a woman you loved. You’d lost a woman you needed.”
“Does that really make a difference? I hung on her, just as you did. I needed her to create an army of werewolves, while you needed her because you were desperate to dip your cock inside of her. But it was need for both of us.”
My knuckles show white as I ball my fists. “I could punch your pretty face till there was nothing left of it. But you’re not stupid enough to face me in a fair fight, are you?”
“You thought I wouldn’t be clever enough to find you,” he says. “But guess what—I was clever enough to seek out the whore you hooked up with. I caught your scent inside that filthy establishment, but then surprise—further trails joined it. The scent of Janine Kovesi, and the smell of the two of you fucking.” He roars the last word, his cheeks alight with fury.
“As I stared at that ravished bed stained with both of your pleasure I wanted to kill her,” he spits. “Even more than I wanted to kill you. But I wouldn’t lay a hand on her, not while you still have what I want most in the world.”
“The Reaper’s weapon. You’ll bargain for that?”
“There will be no bargain. You will cede it to me, or Janine dies.”
“And what guarantee do I have that you’ll keep her alive after I turn over the weapon.”
“You’re in my power, Conan, and so is the woman you love. You don’t get to set terms.”
“I want to have her again,” I say, loud and clear so that the werewolves in the shadows hear it, too. I catch Cinzia’s scent, so I guess she’s here somewhere in here as well. “I want to make love to her.”
“And then you’ll give it over to me without further ado?”
“Then I want a guarantee that you’ll send her safely to my brother Nero. Then I will give it over.”
A vicious thought crosses his pale blue eyes. “No further requests? This is all you want?”
“All I want.”
“What about all the damage you cost me by imprinting on the woman I needed to create my army? Who’s gonna pay for that loss, and how?”
“I tried to resist the need to be with her, but I just couldn’t. She threatened that she would find another werewolf and let him, a stranger, imprint on her before either of us could, and I just... I lost it. I couldn’t imagine her with another man, I wanted to smash faces and break necks. Believe it or not, it wasn’t personal.” My arms strain so hard the chains rattle, and Lorenzo’s wolves stand to attention.
“Bring the girl,” Lorenzo commands.
***
Janine
TEARS STREAM DOWN MY face as I’m forced to look at the man I love hanging from heavy chains, blood and bruises crisscrossing his muscular body.
“Ever thought you’d see the powerful Conan Wolf in such a situation, Janine?” Lorenzo whispers in my ear, brushing my hair away. My skin crawls at the touch of his breath on my skin. “These chains, they’re made of special iron, imbued with sacred chemistry by the Witch Eyed Sisters. When Cinzia, their leader, betrayed the Wolf pack, the entire Order did. The chains keep the wolf in check, so he won’t be able to shift and defend himself no matter what we do to him.”
I glance over at Cinzia, who’s staring at me from under her red hood. “The things that a scorned woman would do, isn’t it?” I manage, but look away from her immediately, as if she’s not worthy of another glance.
I focus on Conan’s reddish eyes. Strange. He’s much too still, too quiet for a man in trouble, almost as if he has a plan to save us both. My brain must be playing tricks on me, clawing to a hope of salvation that I know we don’t have.
“At least I know you’ll never get your army,” I defy Lorenzo, feeling his presence behind me. “I’m Conan’s bonded mate. If I ever make werewolves, they will answer to him, and not you.”
“Never say never, Janine. It hurt to lose you, it’s true, but maybe I’ll meet someone like you again someday. But you know what, it doesn’t matter, because that’s not why I brought you here.”
He winds an arm around my shoulders. I try to shake it off, but he pushes me closer to Conan until the rusty scent of his blood crawls up my nostrils. I can’t keep back the tears as I look up into his face. His hard features, his dangerous stare, and the scar that runs down his cheek used to turn me on, but now that I love the man behind all that, my heart breaks. There was so much pain in his life, and now this.
“Conan and I have reached an arrangement, Janine,” Lorenzo says. “He agreed to cede The Reaper’s weapon to me, if I granted him two wishes—he wants to make love to you one last time before he dies, and see you safely back under his brother Nero’s protection.”
“Die,” I repeat, hot tears rolling down my cheeks. I press my lips together, tasting the salt as they touch my mouth.
“It’s the reason I had you take a bath of milk and roses just before. So he can enjoy your skin at its softest.”
“So kind of you,” I hiss.
“Contrary to what you might think, I’m not a monster.”
“No. You’re a worthless piece of shit.”
I can feel his anger stabbing my back, but I don’t move an inch, keeping my eyes on Conan and making myself a promise. If Lorenzo kills Conan, I’ll be left with only one reason to go on living—I’ll build the army of werewolves that Lorenzo so ardently desires, I’ll sleep with a thousand men if I have to, but I’ll build it for Nero. So that he can take down the Piovra pack once and for all.
“Now,” Lorenzo says, running his hand over the side of the red lace negligee he’s had me wear. “You’ll go to your lover, drop to your knees and suck his cock. Right here, in front of us all.”
“Say what?!”
“Son of a bitch,” Conan roars, the chains rattling as he pulls at them. Dust and stones break away from the walls, and the werewolves stand to attention, ready to step in if he manages to break free.
“I don’t have to watch this,” Cinzia says and makes to leave, but Lorenzo stops her with a hand on her elbow.
“Oh, you will watch, witch sister. Didn’t you say you wanted to see the human humiliated?”
“Yes, but he loves her,” she spits through her teeth, jerking her head in Conan’s direction. “I don’t want to witness their love again. Because it will be love making, even under these circumstances.”
“You. Will. Watch,” Lorenzo decrees.
All the werewolves’ eyes switch to me from the darkness as I stand in front of Conan in the cone of moonlight from the opening above our heads. I look up into the moonlight, and realize that it’s full moon, the third one, and maybe I can help him set his wolf free. If what he told me is true, then his wolf has full power on the night of the third full moon, and he might be able to save himself if I manage to help him.
“I’ll do it.” My whisper bounces off the walls in the hungry silence. “But first, let me make you a promise, Lorenzo. I will see your pack wiped out from the face of the earth if it’s the last thing I do.”
“And how do you plan to do that?” he mocks as a ripple of laughter travels among the gathered werewolves in the darkness.
“The same way you would—by going as low as I have to.”
“I’m proud of you, Janine. You just made the first good decision since you and I met.”
“I suppose that’s what revenge requires.”
“It’s what intelligence requires. And, if anything, you’re one brilliant woman. I love myself a brilliant woman. Maybe, one day, after you’ve grieved enough from the death of your lover, you’ll consider going out with me?”
“Be careful what you wish for.” I glare at him with the promise of death.
He snaps his fingers, and two wolves bring chairs from the back. He takes a seat on one, pulling Cinzia’s hand and forcing her to take a seat on the other.
“Begin,” he commands. “On your knees, and take him in your mouth.”
I turn my back to him, slowly, hearing my own breath inside my head. I try to focus on Conan, and forget about the spectators behind me. His loving gaze set on my face helps. He whispers, very low,
“Trust me.” He leans his beautiful face closer. “I love you.”
He leans to me as low as he can as I stand on my tiptoes, craning my neck to press my hot lips to his. God, they feel hard and cold like rock. I cup his strong jaw with my trembling hands, caressing my way to the back of his neck, needing him like air, my tongue sliding between his lips.
He opens his mouth, his tongue meeting mine. My blood starts to boil, and I forget my surroundings, caressing him all over. My hands glide down his shoulders to his pectorals, my fingers splayed to feel all of him, but then I feel crusty crevices under my palms. I break the deep kiss, looking down at cuts with dry blood.
“Don’t stop,” he whispers with his eyes half-closed. “Your touch is healing me.”
The blood no longer pours out of his wounds, the cuts healing right before my eyes.
“On your knees,” Lorenzo commands angrily from behind. He’s losing his patience—in the end, I imagine he didn’t come here to watch tender love-making, but dirty fuckery. I glance back to see him bent forward, pale blue eyes glinting like glass.
I bend down slowly until I feel the cold stone under my knees, the chains rattling as Conan moves. His naked cock is already engorged, ribbed and ready for me. I wrap my hand gently around it, making Conan pull at the chains, hissing with emotion. I move my head to the side just enough for Lorenzo to see the mighty member between Conan’s legs.
“I love how big you are,” I tell Conan, loud enough for Lorenzo and Cinzia to hear. “When you fucked me, I could feel you so deep.”
With my head still to the side I lick slowly around the engorged purple head, causing Conan to push his hips forward, taking in the pleasure and searching for the heat of my mouth. Hisses of excitement run through the gathered werewolves. One of them howls, but I know Lorenzo wouldn’t let any of them take me, because he fears a change of allegiance. I know I’m safe from rape, all they can do is watch and suffer because they can never have me.
I open my mouth and take the head of Conan’s dick inside, then lick it like it’s a lollipop, keeping my head in a position that allows the spectators to see everything.
Lorenzo intended to humiliate me by having me fucked in front of all his people, but his plan backfired deliciously, and I will make it even more delicious. Keeping one hand firmly on the root of Conan’s cock I move my mouth to his balls, sticking my tongue out to lick them.
I take my free hand to my butt, and hook one finger into the red lace thong, moving it aside and pushing my butt back to expose both my crack and my asshole. Wolves howl, starting to lose control, and forcing Lorenzo to call, “Quiet!” They obey, but I won’t make this easy on Lorenzo. I wrap my lips around Conan’s huge cock, slowly working my jaw wider and sliding down to the root. At the same time I sink my index finger inside my pussy, exposed in such a way that they can all see.
The wolves make noise, forcing Lorenzo to demand silence again, but then I take it up a notch and stick my thumb inside my ass. The wolves lose it, forcing Lorenzo to stand and shout orders at them. I can’t see what’s happening behind me, but I hear the commotion, the punches, the thuds, the cracking. Lorenzo and his most trusted wolves must be fighting to keep the others away from me, which gives me the chance to try and free Conan. But when I try to get up he says,
“Don’t stop.” He looks down at me with eyes that could eat me alive, a muscular god with encrusted blood all over him, in chains, waiting to be pleasured by me as if it can free him. “Trust me, I know what I’m doing, and it will save both of us. Just don’t stop.”
I glance behind only when I hear Cinzia moan, and discover her being fucked by two wolves in their shifted forms, and enjoying it. One is taking her mouth, claws in her dark hair, while the other slams into her pussy like there’s no tomorrow. A third one comes into the picture, ripping her red hood to pieces, and grabbing her breasts. She’s enjoying it like a nympho right now, but I have a feeling she’ll be hating herself tomorrow, which is the best revenge I can think of.
I look up at the man I’m serving on my knees, a god in chains. I rise up to my feet and practically climb up him, lowering my pussy down on his cock. I’m so wet that I can take him all in, my walls slick but tight around him. I hold on to the boulder-like muscles of his shoulders, sliding slowly up and down his length, our eyes locked with each other.
We must be quite a sight from behind, a little blonde with only a red lace bra around her tits riding a beast chained by his wrists and his ankles. A dirty show they can watch, but never touch, because it could mean that the little blonde fucking the beast becomes their new master. I hear Lorenzo screaming at them like a primadonna with hysteria, and I feel an urge to see him, to enjoy his despair, while taking my orgasm from my lover.
“Will you take me from behind,” I whisper to Conan, my face hot.
“Yes,” he whispers, completely taken with me. I kiss him deeply and climb down his firm body. I turn around, facing a mess of wolves and men.
The first thing that jumps out at me is Cinzia, completely naked and sweaty being roughly used by a man in leather who rubs his balls on her mouth.
Conan bends his knees to bring himself to the level of my naked buttocks. I bend forward and reach between my legs, guiding his mighty cock to my pussy. I’m sore from riding him, but also wet to my thighs, and needing to climax.
I push back on him until his god-like cock fills me, screaming with pain and pleasure. The wolves have stopped doing what they were doing and are now watching. I open my bra, letting my breasts bounce freely as I pump myself hard against Conan. Lorenzo watches with an open mouth and, the moment my eyes rest on his, I feel it.
Conan’s throbbing cock parts my walls, causing me an explosive orgasm. He spills his seed inside of me, but it’s more than that—it’s power, pure white, bright light shooting through every little vein in my body. I feel it prickling underneath the skin of my scalp, stretching the skin on my fingers, my bones, my fingernails.
“I. Will. You. My. Power.” With those words Conan pours all of his essence inside of me, growling his orgasm like a beast in a rage.
“No,” Lorenzo cries, stretching out his hand as if he wants to grab me. That’s the last thing I see before the bright white light penetrates every cell of my body, shutting down my brain.
***
Janine
WHEN I COME BACK TO myself, the place is bathed in complete silence. And darkness, at first. The room has tilted with me, and now I’m lying naked on my side on the cold stone floor, Conan’s seed trickling from between my folds onto my thigh. The moon has disappeared, as if the night swallowed it whole.
I push myself up onto my hands, trying to kick-start my brain, but the first organs that react are my ears. They adjust like the ears of a wolf, picking up on the breathing around. Then I catch scents, singling out wet dog fur, sweat, arousal, and a whole lot of fucking. And Lorenzo.
My nose curls as I sniff for his location. I get up to my feet—it’s much easier and smoother than I expected it to be after the wild way I fucked my lover. My sight clears as I follow the trail of Lorenzo’s scent, finding him on his knees, head down. I stare down at him in his black robe that makes him look so much like a raven.
“You should probably check on your lover,” he grunts without looking up at me. I can smell his body chemistry, and I translate it on some strange level—this isn’t a resigned man, it’s an angry one.
“Conan is fine.” I can feel him as if he’s part of my body. I know he’s behind me, and that he’s broken his chains. The power of his orgasm fueled him, and he shattered them with a roar just before I collapsed, and the hall went dark. Now he stands still behind me in the same spot, breathing steadily.
“You, on the other hand.” I start pacing around Lorenzo, my moves as sleek as a panther’s. Everything I do comes from some new and strange instinct. “You seem troubled.”
He laughs like a mad man, coming up on his knees and leaning his head back. I can see his face as if there were light in the hall, even though it’s pitch black. Another very strange new ability?
“The Reaper’s weapon,” Lorenzo grunts through his teeth. “It can only be earned or given. And he gave it to you. That’s what he’d planned all along, the fffffffucker. In the Witch Eyed Sisters’ chains he couldn’t shift or use the power, but he could transfer it to you. Then he used the momentum to break the chains. All of a sudden, there were two wielders of the secret weapon in the room.”
Before I can wrap my mind around this Conan takes over.
“You thought yourself the big strategist,” he says in his deep, sexy voice that fills the stone hall. “When in truth you were being a fool.”
“You played me like a fucking idiot,” Lorenzo growls. “You asked to make love to her one last time so that you could give her your power. And since she is your bonded mate, she shares it with you.” His whole body shakes with the nervous laugh of a madman. “Now she can suck the strength from every werewolf in this room. We could kill her, if she were alone, but with you to back her up....”
I look down at myself as I become aware of what happened. Jesus! I have long, wolfish fingers and claws, my skin like taut, smooth leather. Fuck, I’m a beast! I turn around swiftly and see myself reflected in Conan’s eyes—a nymph made of black leather, only her hair shining white. The long dark claws seem made of sharp bone.
“Jesus Christ,” I whisper.
Conan caresses my face, staring at me full of love. There are tears in his eyes.
“You’re so beautiful, Janine Kovesi,” he drawls. “Queen of the Werewolves.”
A rustle goes through the entire hall, and werewolves fall to their knees.
“The Reaper’s secret weapon,” Conan explains, taking my hand and lacing his fingers with mine, “is the ability to suck the power out of werewolves. He left it in a chalice in his abandoned hideout two hundred years ago, and I think he did it on purpose—to sow discord between the two leaders hunting him down, Lorenzo and me.”
“But,” I mutter. “That means that he, The Reaper, also has this power.”
“No, because The Reaper is a serpent. Only werewolves can make use of this ability.” He smiles at me. “Or a werewolf’s bonded mate.”
I look at myself again, staggered. I barely even dare to ask, “Am I now a werewolf now?” My voice is a mere whisper.
“Not exactly, but.... The Old Lore that I studied after I got the power said that in the very unlikely case a Fated Female received this ability, she would become a shape-shifter, but that she would shift only on full-moon nights.” He looks at Lorenzo. “That’s why I asked to have Janine again tonight.”
A nasty growl breaks out of Lorenzo’s chest. Something has changed about him, but I can’t put my finger on what until he bares his teeth that morph into fangs. His eyes start glowing, and dark thorns push out of his skin until I realize it’s thick, bristly black fur. He grows bigger while he’s in the air, throwing himself at me.
In a split second the wolf form of Conan springs to life, as if rolling out of his skin, scattering it in the process. The two big wolves meet midair, slamming into each other, then falling to the ground like a huge clump of fur.
“Conan,” I cry as they break apart but span to attack again, fangs bared and claws curved. They’re ready to slice each other’s throats.
“She may have the ability to drain the wolves of their power,” Lorenzo hisses, his words barely understandable if it weren’t for my new shape-shifter senses. “But I will take you down with me, Conan Wolf, if it’s the last thing I do.” He addresses his men. “Take her down!”
But none of them reacts.
“They just witnessed the birth of a queen,” Cinzia says. “They won’t attack her, at least not until you win this fight, Lorenzo.”
She hovers in a corner with some guy’s jacket around her. Her hair is messy, but her cheeks are bright, and you know what? She seems satisfied, and even smiles when she looks at me.
A thud against the wall makes my head snap in its direction, the ground shaking under us. Lorenzo has thrown Conan against the wall. I move toward them, but Conan shoots back to his feet so fast a gust of air hits my face.
“No, my queen.” He advances on Lorenzo. “This one’s mine.”
They move around each other in a circle, focused, not even blinking as they take one smooth step at a time.
“I could have gotten over anything you might have done to me,” Conan says. “But you wanted to humiliate Janine and break her spirit by using her in the dirtiest ways. For that I’ll make your death particularly careful.”
I can sense their power radiating off their devil-like bodies, Conan a huge muscular brown beast, and Lorenzo a long, lean animal with black spiked fur. He loses the stare-down and his patience, launching himself at Conan, who sidesteps his punch, sending an upper cut right under his chin.
Lorenzo’s jaw cracks, and he growls in excruciating pain. He stumbles forward, Conan moving out of his way. He flashes behind Lorenzo, grabs his furry neck and drives him full-force into the wall. I wince at the bang, chunks of bare stone smashing against the ground, Lorenzo’s limp body falling over them. There’s a hole in the wall where his head drilled through. Fuck, Conan is one hell of a beast.
He lifts Lorenzo off the ground, displaying him like a hanging rag to his own men.
“This is what is left of your leader.” He morphs back into a human as he speaks out loud. “A semi-unconscious stray dog with blood dripping out of his split mouth. If you choose to follow him regardless, you’re free to join him in the dungeons under the Doge’s palace, because we’re retaking them, and that’s where he’s going. But if you wish to replace your loyalties, this is the time to do it.”
Wolves exchange glances with each other, but decide to step forward and kneel down one by one. Just as the last and most hesitant-looking shifter steps forward to bend the knee, Lorenzo snaps out of his lethargy and slashes his claws at Conan’s throat with a war cry.
Time stands still, and the blood freezes in my veins. My mouth opens slowly as the moment stretches into an eternity, and I’m certain this is it. No one will have the time to intervene before those rough black claws slide across my lover’s throat. I watch those claws as they pierce skin and muscle, blood swelling out, coating them.
But something doesn’t fit. It’s not the amount of bleeding you would expect from a sliced throat. I focus on the wound—it’s not Conan’s throat, but his forearm. He’s blocked Lorenzo’s attack, and now he glares at him with bloodlust in his red eyes.
I can see the decision in his stare before he makes it. He throws Lorenzo to the wall, pins him there with a knee on his stomach, then grabs his head in both of his huge hands, and pulls.
My head snaps away from the carnage as blood squirts out of the black wolf’s throat, where his head used to be—Conan ripped it off his shoulders. Gasps and hisses ring out among the gathered wolves, some of them shifting and howling. Slowly, the moon creeps back in through the opening above the place where Conan had been hanging in chains. The eclipse is over.