Wolf Tales VI Read Free Page A

connection. She’d loved him, linked minds with him, but not bonded. Even so, she’d given Oliver his first sexual experience. She’d given Adam even more.
    A sense of the future, of possibilities and promises, without ever saying the words. Then she’d moved on to deal with her own inner demons. The wolf was only a small part of Eve Reynolds. She still had to come to terms with the woman.
    The very complicated woman.
    And so she’d gone. She’d taken Adam’s heart with her, but he’d known he would find her again. Still, the connection now seemed almost dreamlike, too amazing to be real. Sometimes it was almost too much to comprehend.
    Oliver made it real. For all the pain in his life, Oliver was a survivor. Castrated when he was still very young, sold into slavery, denied his rights not only as a man, but as Chanku, he’d still maintained an unwavering optimism, a hope for the future that Adam envied. When Adam managed to find a way to help Oliver gain the manhood he’d never known, it had seemed only right the two of them would feel a special bond, but it went beyond the fact Adam had been able to fix what was wrong in Oliver’s life.
    Oliver, in some inexplicable way, completed him. Adam couldn’t explain the feeling, but he needed it. Needed Oliver, almost as much as he needed Eve.
    When Oliver turned, almost shyly, and pressed his lips against Adam’s throat, there was no hesitation. They weren’t planning to leave until morning. There was no reason not to share a bit of passion tonight, especially after running.
    Shifting definitely had an amazing affect on a man’s libido. Arousal thrummed in Adam’s veins. It was always this way after racing through the forest, two wolves on the hunt, sharing a kill. A connection unlike anything else, that sharing of warm meat and fresh blood.
    It would be so much more powerful with Eve, once they bonded. He was sure of it, though they’d never even run together as wolves. She’d made the change a day ahead of Adam, shifted and run with the others, and then she’d packed her bags and run away. He thought he understood. He’d certainly wanted to believe Anton when the wizard said it wasn’t Adam that Eve was running from.
    It was her own life she was running to.
    Whatever it was that left Eve incomplete would have to be fixed before she could give herself over to another. Anton had cautioned patience. He’d given Eve the vehicle, the money, and the blessing to figure out what she needed, and he’d given her a reason to return.
    There had been no doubt in Anton’s mind that Eve would come back to Montana. Until she did, until she was able to bond freely to him, Adam wouldn’t experience the mind and body connection of two wolves as one, their every move and thought in sync. He wanted that feeling, that connection. He wanted it with Eve. Sighing, thinking longingly of the woman he already thought of as his, Adam kissed Oliver and lowered him gently to the bed.

    The second day after her assault, she was still every bit as sore as she’d expected, but at least the bruises were fading, thanks to her Chanku genetics. Eve crawled out of bed before seven and showered before throwing on shorts and a tank top. She stepped out of her motel room into the suffocating heat, and stared at the truck. Then she walked across the parking lot and headed to the closest store. She couldn’t take the truck. No way was it going to work after she’d stripped so many wires out from under the hood.
    There was a little convenience store half a block from her motel and the coffee was good. She’d even grown accustomed to the egg and sausage sandwiches she could stick in the small microwave she’d bought for her motel room.
    The clerk behind the counter waved and smiled, proof Eve had been staying in the same place much too long. She grabbed a newspaper and poured a cup of coffee, then studied the various sandwiches wrapped in plastic.
    Staring at the selection of croissants and