Chapter 14
Chapter fourteen
Luna
Irun the ultrasound wand over Ricky’s belly, my eyes glued to the screen. Under anesthesia, he is the least active he’s ever been. My boobs are safe as I try to see what is going on inside him.
I let my mind drift to Saturday night. Daylight has a way of making the impossible seem foolish, like childhood fears that dissolve with the sunrise.
In this bright examination room, I can push down the wild theories and convince myself I’m seeing connections that don’t exist. There is no way Damien and my wolf are the same man.
I’m just seeing things I want to see. Things I wish were true.
I frown as I see the issue inside Ricky’s belly just as Maren walks up behind me.
“What’s the verdict, doc?”
I point to the screen. “It looks like he’s got a kidney stone.”
“Shit. Where the heck would he get that? Can raccoons get kidney stones?”
“It’s not common, but yes, they can. It’s not very large, but I can see why it’s bothering him, especially when he pees.”
“Poor perv.”
“Shit!” I sit back in my chair. “I don’t have a lithotripter.”
“That’s the machine that uses shock waves to break it apart?”
“Yeah.”
I rack my brain, thinking about what I can do.
The surprise anonymous donation we received for Titus is gone.
I used most of it for the new enclosure, but I also had some unexpected expenses, including having to replace the barn roof after part of it caved in during a nasty thunder and lightning storm two weeks ago.
It was a miraculous gift that came at the perfect moment.
“CSU has one, right? Call them and see if they’ll let you use it.”
“It won’t be free, Maren. I can’t afford this.”
“Can’t afford what?” A deep voice cuts through our conversation. My gaze jerks to the doorway. Damien stands there, bouquet gripped in one hand. His eyes lock onto mine, questioning.
My lips curve into a smile. “Hey, what are you doing here?”
“Just wanted to stop by. I have some unexpected business that’s come up out of town. I have to leave this evening, but I wanted to see you. What can’t you afford?”
I turn my chair to face him. “Ricky has a kidney stone. And I don’t have the equipment here to treat it.”
“And CSU has it?”
I nod. “They’ll give me a discount because I’m an alum, but it’s still an incredibly expensive treatment.”
“I know several people on the Board of Regents. I can make a call.”
Maren shoos me from my chair, taking over the task of wiping the gel from Ricky’s belly. I walk over to Damien.
“I can’t ask you to do that.”
“You’re not asking.”
“Are you sure?”
Ricky needs this treatment, and pride won’t get it for him. I’ll take help from anyone, even the man who had his face buried between my thighs two nights ago.
“Of course. I couldn’t live with myself if your favorite resident raccoon suffered when I can do something to help.”
“I don’t have favorites. I love both Ricky and Zorro.”
A slow smile spreads across Damien’s face, and he shakes his head. His eyes crinkle, and warmth melts into his expression, like he finds my defensive response endearing rather than convincing.
“I’ll call today before I leave.”
“Thank you, Damien. I don’t know how I can ever repay you for this.”
He closes the distance between us and leans down, his breath ghosting across my lips. I breathe him in—that clean, masculine vanilla and amber scent that triggers the same visceral response I get from my wolf’s nearness. My belly clenches, and want coils tight inside me.
“I’ll take another kiss.”
I shoot a quick look at Maren, who’s ignoring us, and a smile curves my lips. Damien’s face carries such naked hope that my chest tightens. The combination of his usual commanding presence with this moment of vulnerability makes him impossible to resist.
I stretch up and press my lips to his in the briefest contact, barely more than a breath.
“Thank you, Mr. Wolfe.”
When I step away, Damien’s head jerks, his eyelids fluttering like he’s been jolted awake. His irises have disappeared into black pools that pin me in place with their intensity.
Okay, you two, pervy raccoon coming through.” Maren approaches with a groggy Ricky in her arms. “I’ll put him back in his cage to rest.”
I guide Damien out of the way with my hand on his arm so Maren can get by. His muscles jump under my touch.
“Thanks, Maren. I’ll come check on him in a little bit.”
The moment she disappears around the corner, Damien’s composure shatters.
The flowers slip from his hand and hit the floor, petals scattering in every direction as he spins me around and presses me against the door.
His hands lock onto my hips and lift, hauling me upward until my feet leave the ground.
The wood behind me is solid and cool against my spine, while his body radiates heat in front, pinning me in place.
He takes my mouth like he’s been starving for it. His tongue slides past my lips with maddening slowness, each movement calculated to drive me insane. My heartbeat turns chaotic, thundering in my ears. The scent of him overwhelms my senses—expensive cologne mixed with something darker, more primal.
I whimper in his mouth as my hands fist in his hair. The kiss shifts from desperate to reverent, so gentle it makes my throat tight with emotion. He’s worshipping me with his mouth, and the tenderness threatens to break me apart.
His moan vibrates against my lips, and he deepens the kiss until the world narrows to this moment, this man, this perfect collision of want and need. He tilts his head and claims me deeper, until I’m drowning in him, until my lungs scream for air I can’t spare. I wrench my mouth away, gasping.
“My god, Damien.” The words scrape out of me between harsh breaths. My chest rises and falls as I try to anchor myself back in reality.
“I’ve been dying to do that again since Saturday night.” His voice comes out rough, and he clears his throat as my fingers drift to my swollen lips.
He kisses me like he’s drowning, like I’m oxygen and salvation wrapped into one. This is the kind of kiss I crave. The kind that devours and claims and leaves nothing untouched.
My wolf owns my body with his touch, his possession, and his relentless hunger.
But there are parts of me he’s never claimed.
My heart, my soul, and the pieces that exist beyond flesh and bone.
I ache for him to consume those too, to kiss me like his very existence depends on the connection between our mouths.
But Damien just kissed me with that exact desperation, and the knowledge crushes my chest, pressing against my lungs until breathing hurts.
He eases me down the door, his hands steady on my waist as my feet find solid ground. My legs feel like water—without his touch grounding me, I’d end up in a puddle on the floor.
“I want you, Luna. In case that wasn’t clear before, I hope I’ve left no doubt in your mind.”
“Jesus, Damien. Message received.”
His mouth curves in satisfaction, and he leans down to capture my lips again. This kiss carries the same devastating tenderness as the last, and I melt into it with the same desperate hunger, giving him everything I have to offer.
He releases my lips but doesn’t pull away, his breath still warm against my mouth. “Can I call you?”
My head moves up and down because words have abandoned me. My throat feels too tight, my brain too scrambled to form coherent speech.
“And can I take you out again when I get back?”
Another nod is all I can manage. His expression shifts from hopeful to radiant, and the smile that takes over his face should be illegal. All I can think about is hauling him next door, shoving him onto my bed, and spending hours exploring every inch of his body.
Oh shit! I’m totally fucked!
The morning light streams through the window over the kitchen sink as I crack eggs into a bowl. Like every morning, my body is sore in all the right places. My wolf was relentless last night. I don’t know how the man does it. He must pop Viagra like candy.
Even now, hours later, I can still feel the touch of his hands, the way he whispered my name in that gravelly voice that makes my core clench.
But it’s Damien’s kisses that keep creeping into my thoughts, no matter how hard I try to push them away. The memory of his mouth on mine, tender and consuming all at once, makes my heart race in a completely different way than my wolf’s brutal possession does.
I roll my neck, trying to shake the headache blooming. It’s been there since yesterday morning, a dull throb behind my eyes that won’t quit. I’m probably just tired. Since my wolf came into my life, exhaustion is my body's new normal.
The girls wander into the kitchen, meowing and demanding breakfast.
“Morning, babies.”
I pour their kibble into three separate bowls, and they dive in as Shadow waits at his spot beside the island. He’s always so patient, letting me feed them first.
I grab his bowl and fill it with the raw meat mixture I prepare for him, setting it down near the door. He needs to be fed apart from them, or they’ll try to steal some bites.
“There you go, handsome.” I scratch behind his ears as he begins to eat.
I go back to my eggs, but my mind won’t shut up this morning. After those soul-stealing kisses with Damien three days ago, I again expected punishment from my wolf. I know he hacks into the sanctuary’s cameras, so I braced myself for the brutal fucking he delivers when his jealousy flares.
Instead, he surprised me. The last few days, yes, he was rough and relentless as always, but now, even when he’s brutal, he touches me like I'm something beloved and breakable all at once.
This is the problem. In the darkness, with my wolf’s hands on my body, I can think of nothing else.
He drives away every rational thought, every doubt, every longing for something more.
But in the light of day, Damien creeps back into my mind with his intense eyes and devastating kisses, and I’m torn between two different kinds of need.