Chapter Five
Tarl and Grady were waiting for her within the darkness of a large overhanging tree.
“Now what?” she asked quietly.
“Your place?” Tarl said. “You’ll need a few things to take with you.”
“Yeah, lets get the hell out of this city.” Grady’s voice was deep and rasping. “I hate the damn place.” He frowned.
“How will we travel?” Sienna asked, feeling slightly nervous of Grady. He had a wild look about him, his eyes and hair, and he was a fraction taller than Tarl.
“Train,” Tarl said. “North.”
“I’m never fucking going back to Montana,” Grady said, beginning to walk toward the tunnel. “Where the fuck did that ranger come from?”
“No idea.” Tarl grabbed Sienna’s hand, gave her a reassuring smile, and they caught up with Grady. “But forget that now. We need to look forward, concentrate on getting to Eastern Canada. Keep Sienna safe.”
“Why isn’t she safe?” Grady threw her a glance as he strode along.
“Man, she just busted you out of the zoo, and keeping animals in the zoo is her main responsibility.”
“Fine profession.” Grady huffed.
“Hey, you want to go back in there?” Sienna snapped. “Could be arranged.”
Tarl squeezed her hand. “He’ll come around, it’s raw right now.”
She pouted into the darkness. “Eastern Canada. Sounds cold.”
“Real cold, honey, pack your warmest.” Grady grunted.
After a few minutes she let them into her apartment.
Grady looked around. “You got a bed in here?”
“Yes, behind that curtain.” She showed him.
“Any food?” He opened the fridge.
“Er, not really? I tend to eat on the run. But what do you want? Pizza? There’s a pizza place at the end of the block, twenty-four seven, I could go get some.”
He studied her. “You would do that for me?”
“You haven’t eaten for days despite my best efforts, it would be really great to see you eat.”
His shoulders relaxed a little and he nodded. “Pizza would be good. Thanks.”
“Cool, I’ll be back soon. Make yourselves at home.” She pointed at the bathroom. “Take a shower if you want.”
“Might just do that.”
Sienna slipped back out to the street and hurried to Pizza Perfect. She ordered three large, all-meat toppings.
After ten minutes she was paying and stacking the warm boxes on top of each other. “Thanks.”
“You’re real hungry, Doll.” The pizza guy raised his eyebrows. “Or are you having a late-night party?”
“Something like that.”
She hurried back to her apartment. The less people who saw her the better. Her face would probably be all over the news in twenty-four hours and everyone on her block would be questioned by NYPD.
With the scent of oregano, cheese, and spice wafting upward she let herself back into her home. After setting down the pizza, she paused and listened. The small living area was empty but the shower was running.
The bathroom door was slightly open, and both Tarl and Grady were in there together.
Her breath hitched as she peeked in. They were naked, their big wet bodies filling her shower cubicle. Grady was standing facing the wall and Tarl was soaping his back. He was doing a thorough job and as Sienna took in the whole scene, she saw he had an erection.
Her pussy fluttered as a pleasant memory of showering with him the night before blustered into her mind. He’d been damn good at pinning her against that very wall and driving them both to orgasm. Hell, yeah.
Grady turned around and stared at Tarl. He was older, she could see that now, he had none of Tarl’s youthful roundness to his jawline or shoulders, he was more rugged, sharper, darker. He was a beautiful man, that couldn’t be denied.
Without saying a word Grady took Tarl’s hand in his. He set it on his own chest and trailed it downward, over his wet skin, taut abs, and to his stiff cock. “Do it.”
Sienna had only just heard the instruction but her breath became shallow. She should step away, stop watching, she knew that. She didn’t. It was as if something magnetic was holding her there.
It was more than curiosity, more than the erotic scene, it was also part indignation. If Tarl and Grady were an item, what had last night meant between her and Tarl? He’d acted as though he were young, free, and single for goodness sake.
Tarl took Grady’s big cock in his hand.
Grady closed his eyes and tipped his head back so his crown rested on the wall. Water sluiced over his chin, his neck, and down his tense body.
Tarl began to jerk him off. Firm, steady movements as though he knew from practice just how Grady liked it.
“Fuck, yeah,” Grady grunted, his fists clenching at his sides. “That’s it, but be quick.”
Tarl sped up, watching Grady’s face closely as he worked him.
Grady locked his knees. Each time Tarl rubbed him to the root, the tip of his cock protruded from Tarl’s fist. It was very domed with a thickly flared glans.
Sienna felt her nipples tingle as a shot of desire went through her body. Damn, Grady had been impressive as a direwolf but he was incredible as a man. She rubbed her fingers over her palms wondering what his hard cock would feel like at this moment, just before he came.
“Fuck…” Grady gasped. “Yeah … more…”
Tarl didn’t reply, he was also breathing fast, his breath hitching and his teeth gritted.
“Ah! Yeah.” Grady snapped his hand out and gripped Tarl’s shoulder. “Fuck…”
Pearly fluid burst from his cock and instantly became washed away by the stream of water.
“Fuck … I needed that.” Grady was gasping for breath as he continued to come. His entire body trembled and he let out a long groan.
And then he reached for Tarl, dragged him close, and set his mouth over his in a ravenous kiss.
Sienna stepped back and swallowed, her mouth dry. She shouldn’t have seen that. But hell, they were in her shower and hadn’t closed the bathroom door. This was her place.
She turned and dropped her keys in a ceramic bowl. “I’m home. I’ve got pizza,” she called loudly and probably overly jovial.
The shower went off, and by the time she’d reached the refrigerator and poured a glass of wine, Tarl was behind her with a white towel wrapped around his waist. It did nothing to cover the fact he still had an erection.
“Smells incredible,” he said.
“Yeah, they’re pretty reliable down there.” She avoided staring at his groin or glancing in the direction of the bathroom. “Want a beer?”
“Sure, thanks. Grady will have one too.”
She didn’t reply and set the drinks on the table before lifting the lid on a pepperoni and taking a slice.
Tarl turned his back to her and dropped the towel.
As she bit into melty cheese she admired his high tight ass cheeks with little dimples on the sides. He pulled on sweats and turned to her with a knowing glint in his eyes.
He knew she’d ogled him. But thank goodness he didn’t know she’d watched him jerking off Grady.
A needle of irritation poked her again. How could he have flirted, seduced her, made love to her when he was in a relationship? Because he clearly was. Why else would he have been prepared to take such risks to save Grady?
Grady wandered into the room fully dressed and scrubbing his wet hair with a small blue towel. “Looks good. What do we owe you?”
“Nothing.” She shrugged and carried on eating.
A siren wailed on the street outside.
“Looking for me?” Grady said as he held both beer and pizza.
“If Ted has spotted you’re missing, then maybe.” The pizza suddenly seemed heavy on its way to her stomach. “But he probably won’t have, he’ll presume you’re sleeping in the shadows. It will be morning before the alarm goes out.”
“And we need to be gone.” Tarl frowned. “What time is the first train north? We should get to the border as soon as possible.”
Sienna set down her pizza and reached for her phone.
“We can go from Penn to Montreal in the morning, six a.m.”
“That’ll do but I don’t want you going through any border control,” Tarl said.
“Why not?”
“Honey.” Grady leaned forward with a new softness to his face. “You need to be untraceable. You’re a fugitive now, they just don’t know it yet.”
She gulped.
“So we’ll get off near the border and run.” Tarl nodded.
“Run.” She downturned her mouth. “Not really my thing.”
“No, but it’s ours.” Grady bit into his pizza. “And I’m sure you’ll enjoy riding us.”
“Riding you?” She looked between them.
Tarl chuckled as he continued to demolish pizza.
“And do they do private rooms on the train?” Grady said nodding at the phone. “The less people see you, the better.”
Sienna looked at the screen. “Yes, first-class bedroom, it’s expensive.”
“Book it, money is no object,” Grady said. “We’ll pay you back.”
“How can money be no object? Money is always relevant.”
“We’ve inherited over the years,” Tarl said. “Ancestors who’ve been good with money, invested, worked hard. We don’t need it really, wolves don’t, no animal does. It’s a human concept and since we are only half human we don’t think about it until a moment like this and then we find we have plenty.”
“Oh, I see.” She paused. “And where we’re going, we don’t need money?”
“Not much, a few groceries for the humans, the odd medical bill. But if we’re hungry, we go out and hunt. If our cabin leaks, we sleep in the forest. Do you see where I’m coming from?” Grady leaned forward studying her.
“Yes, I think so.” She bit on her bottom lip.
He watched her intently.
“And so,” she asked, questions mounting in her mind. “Where we’re going, this place with cabins, there are other humans there, not just direwolves?”
“We’re going to Kochi and I think you’ll like it. And yes, some of the direwolves have mated with humans, bred with them. Soon you’ll meet them all.”
“Our babies are stronger if they are half shifter and half human,” Tarl said. “It’s preferable, in fact, and we do everything that is preferable to continue the species. It’s a priority.”
“Interesting.” She nodded, the scientist in her storing away this fact about babies with a plan to delve deeper at some point. “But won’t these humans turn me in to the authorities? There’s bound to be a bounty on my head, a reward.”
“What? No!” Tarl said loudly. “We’re a pack, we look out for each other. They would never turn you in, once you’re part of the pack you’ll be protected at all costs. Nothing will change that.”
“Loyalty is unwavering,” Grady went on. “When I’ve spoken, ordered something, it will happen without dispute, and they will all know from the beginning that you are a very special woman, Sienna, that you have risked everything for direwolves. You will be safe, I promise you that with everything I am.”
She nodded and felt reassured. It certainly sounded like a fascinating social structure to be part of. It was also clear that Grady was alpha male, or considered himself to be. The gray wolves had an alpha male who dominated the group and held top position with fierce determination.
“The bedroom, on the train.” Tarl nodded at the phone.
“Oh, yes, I’ll do that now.” She booked the room for three. One way. “We need to be out at first light, in fact before that.”
“What time does the security at the zoo change shift?” Tarl asked.
“Seven.”
“Then we leave at five. Get to the station and board the moment we can.” He nodded at her floor-to-ceiling cupboard. “Pack warm and pack anything that can’t be replaced, but remember you’ll have to carry it in a rucksack.”
She nodded and racked her brain. She’d take the jewelry her adoptive mother had left her and some photographs from childhood. There was a Zoology magazine she’d had a report published in, that was precious, but other than that there wasn’t much. She didn’t hold sentiment to inanimate objects, she was more interested in the living.
Grady rubbed his belly and let out a sigh. “That pizza was good. Thanks.” He nodded at the bedroom area with the curtain hanging in front of it. “You mind if I lie down? Haven’t been sleeping so well.”
“Go for it,” she said. “I have to pack.”
“Yeah, I’ll help Sienna,” Tarl said. “Get some sleep, Grady, you need to recover from your starvation.”
“That was self-inflicted, I might add.” Sienna raised her eyebrows at him. “You had top quality chicken and beef you could have eaten.”
“And break a direwolf oath?” Grady stood and huffed. “Never.” He wandered to the curtain, looking far too big for her small apartment, and pushed the curtain back. The bed creaked when he dropped onto it.
Sienna set about organizing a rucksack to take what would be her worldly possessions in her new life.
Tarl cleared away the pizza boxes and bottles then stood at the window peering into the darkness.
A while later Grady’s steady, slightly rough breathing could be heard. He was sleeping soundly.
“He always sleeps better if he knows I’m awake,” Tarl said as looked out the window.
Sienna put her bag by the door. She didn’t reply.
“And he needs this rest before we travel,” Tarl added.
She studied his long back, his long legs, and the way he held himself as though ready to spring into action, attack or defend. He was a man of strength and beauty, yet he’d deceived her.
“What’s wrong?” he said, suddenly turning.
She scowled, how had he known her irritation was rising?
“Tell me.” He didn’t move from the window.
So she went and stood next to him, stared out at the Empire State Building, which was lit up with the image of a wolf as a nod to the direwolf being in New York City.
“You had me believe you were single,” she said quietly, even though the words were big. “You lied to me.”
“What?”
“It’s clear you and Grady are an item.”
“Sienna, it’s not what you think … really.”