Clay's Instinct (BBW Paranormal Romance) (Wolf Call) Read online

  The sounds became recognizable as liquid being poured into mugs and a spoon stirring, ringing out a metallic song as it hit the edge of the mug. It sounded better to Lucinda than the bird song because she associated that stirring sound with hot drinks, and hot drinks were comforting when you were hurt, when you had just fallen and banged your head.

  She tried to move and groaned as pain lanced through her skull.

  'Try not to move,' came Clay Adams' voice through the blackness.

  She opened her eyes slowly and realized she was in the log cabin. The smell of coffee was joined by the smell of age and an underlying scent of pine. She was lying on a bed, still fully clothed, with a bandage wrapped around her head and a cold wet compress applied to the back of her skull. As her senses returned, she felt a dull throbbing in the place the compress had been applied.

  The only other furnishing in the small room was a nightstand. Beyond the doorway, in the main part of the cabin, Clay stood by a stove and kettle. He was looking at her with concern.

  'How are you feeling?' he asked.

  'Not too bad considering I fell off a mountain.'

  He brought her a mug of steaming black coffee and handed it to her. 'Don't drink it yet, it's too hot.'

  She accepted it gratefully and sat up against the carved pine headboard. 'I guess you rescued me,' she observed. 'Thanks.'

  He shrugged. 'I got to you before you went too far but you hit your head pretty bad.'

  She knew he had only managed to get to her in time because of his powers, because he was one of them. A shifter. A killer.

  'So what now?' she asked. 'You have me where you want me. I'm helpless and we're in the middle of nowhere. What happens now?'

  'Now you rest,' he said, reaching behind her head to check the compress. 'You have a bump back there. You haven't vomited so I assume you don't have a concussion.' He looked at her eyes. 'No black eye. I think you'll recover quickly.'

  'And what about you?' she nodded at his side. 'You took a bullet.' She almost added, 'for me' but stopped herself.

  'I heal quickly,' he said. 'Now drink some coffee.'

  She took a sip of the hot bitter liquid and felt it warm her inside. 'God that tastes good!' She looked around the room. 'What is this place?'

  'It's an old hunter's cabin. I used to come up here all the time when I was a kid.'

  'So it belongs to your parents?' Her reporter's curiosity was returning full force.

  Clay looked at the walls as if recalling old memories. 'My adopted parents, yes.'

  'You're adopted?'

  He nodded. 'My parents found me out here by the cabin one day. I was four years old. The authorities reckoned I'd been wandering in the woods for days. Somehow I'd survived. Apart from scratches and cuts, the only other mark on me was a bite. Of unknown origin, was the official description of that bite.'

  'If you were four, your real parents must have been missing you.'

  'The police put out appeals on TV and in the local newspapers to find my parents but nobody came forward to claim me as their child.' He looked at the window and the trees beyond. 'I think the thing that bit me killed my parents. Their bodies are out there somewhere in the woods.'

  'That's horrible!' she said.

  'I had a good life with my adopted parents. They raised me well. And when they found out about my secret, they kept it hidden from the rest of the community. They researched lycanthropy and helped me control it. That's why I wear this.' He reached beneath his shirt and pulled out a leather cord with a small silver amulet in the shape of a wolf's claw. 'Wearing this keeps me from turning uncontrollably during a full moon.' He let the amulet drop back against his skin. 'My parents' research also turned up some information on the Temple of Thul.' He looked at Lucinda accusingly. 'I assume that's who you work for.'

  She took another sip of coffee, gathering her thoughts. 'I don't work for them. Ten years ago, I was in a bad place. My parents had been killed by a monster. We were out in the woods having a family picnic and this thing came out of the trees, snarling and growling.' She felt a fear rising within her, the same ear she had felt on that day ten years ago as a young girl. 'I watched it kill my parents and waited for my turn. But my turn never came. It turned tail and went back into the trees, leaving me unharmed. I was found four miles away, wandering along the road in a state of shock. No one believed my story. I was just fourteen and they thought I was making the whole thing up. The official line was that my parents had been murdered and I had run away. I was sent to psychologists and psychiatrists and doctors and they all thought my mind had concocted the monster story as a kind of protective device. The police asked me to identify the killer but all I could tell them was that it was a monster. Half man, half...'

  'Wolf,' Clay finished for her.

  She nodded. 'I was put into foster care but it never really worked out. Then one day I was contacted by an Englishman named Nigel Killingsworth. He had seen my story in the newspapers and he told me that he believed me. He explained that werewolves are real and so are vampires. The organisation he worked for, called The Temple of Thul, hunted all these monsters and made the world safe for humans. He kept in contact as I was growing up and when I became a journalist, he asked me to run a story about a werewolf sighting in Oklahoma. He gave me leads and sent me information. His only stipulation was that I could never mention his organisation in my stories.'

  'So he fed you the stories he wanted to be published.'

  'He helped me. He promised to find the monster that killed my parents.'

  'And has he delivered on that promise?'

  She fell silent, recalling Killingsworth's promise to her all those years ago and the lack of results since. 'No.'

  'What else do you know about the Temple of Thul?'

  'Nothing. I did a lot of digging but all I came up with was a cult that was started in Medieval England and thought to have died out a thousand years ago. They're a secret society and they do a good job of maintaining the secret part.'

  Clay nodded slowly. 'You need to get some rest.'

  'I've rested enough. I need to get out of this bed.'

  'Rest,' he said, taking the half-empty coffee mug from her. 'I'll get us some food.' He left the room.

  Despite her desire to get out of bed, Lucinda felt weariness overtake her. She settled back down on the pillow and started to close her eyes. On the wall of the room beyond the bedroom, she could make out Clay's shadow. He was taking off his shirt. Through half-closed eyes, she saw the shadow shift suddenly and become that of a large wolf.

  As she let sleep take her, she realized with some surprise that she wasn't afraid.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Curves

  She woke up to find the bedroom filled with dark shadows. Sitting up quickly, she reached around the back of her head and removed the compress, feeling the bump beneath and wincing at the tenderness she found there. Still, she felt a lot better than she had earlier. Swinging her legs over the edge of the bed, she listened. There was no sound from the room beyond the doorway. The stove and kettle and wall were illuminated with silver moonlight. Had she slept the day away?

  Standing up, she supported herself by leaning against the log wall and stretched her stiff limbs. Clay had removed her boots and placed them neatly next to the bed. She slipped them on and went out of the room to the main part of the cabin.

  The living area consisted of a large room furnished with an old sofa and armchair and a pine coffee table. The kitchen area was simple but seemed to be stocked with cans of beans and vegetables in a cupboard which had no door. A door in the opposite wall led to what she assumed was the bathroom and she realized she needed to use the facilities. The room was small and contained a toilet, bath and sink. There was a mirrored cabinet above the sink and when Lucinda had finished what she came in here to do, she checked herself out in the mirror.

  Considering she had fallen down a rocky slope, she didn't look too bad. Her hair was mussed up and her make up needed fixing but a
ll things taken into account, she looked pretty good. Why was she bothered? There was no one to see her out here in the middle of nowhere except Clay Adams.

  Maybe that's why she was bothered.

  Ridiculous.

  Although she had to admit that the shifter sheriff affected her in ways she didn't think any man could affect her. She spent a lot of her evenings watching romance movies and she longed for a relationship like those she saw on the screen but inside she knew it was all fantasy. Her dealings with men in real life had made her cynical. She could allow herself to dream while watching movies but those dreams were shattered by reality. Something about Clay Adams made the dreamer inside her dare to dream again. And finding that he had the same loss in his past as she had made her feel close to him.

  She went back into the main room and wondered where he had gone to. He left hours ago, when there was still daylight outside. She looked out of the window at the lake and woods. The silver moonlight gave everything a ghostly glow. The scene looked unreal, like an illusion. Beautiful yet forbidding.

  She opened the door and went out onto the porch. The night air smelled of pine and earth and felt warm on Lucinda's face. The lake shimmered silver and reflected the surrounding trees and mountains. Lucinda walked to the water's edge and stooped down to trail her hand in the cool water. It felt so good after being cooped up in the cabin all day. She looked around. No sign of Clay. If he had gone roaming in the woods, she guessed he could be miles away.

  While she was in the bathroom, she had considered taking a bath but now she was out in the warm night, the lake looked so inviting. Wanting to feel the night breeze on more of her skin, she removed her turtle necked sweater and stood in the moonlight in her pink bra and black jeans and boots. She took off the boots and jeans and folded them neatly, placing them on a rock near the water's edge. She bit her lip and looked around at the dark shadows between the trees. There was no one around to see her. She quickly removed her panties and bra and waded into the water naked.

  As the cool lake reached her waist, she felt her skin rise in little goose bumps. Her nipples stiffened and tightened and she shivered. Steeling herself, she dived under the water came up gasping. It felt cold but so refreshing. Treading water, she swept her wet hair back away from her face and enjoyed the sensation of cool water against her skin. Every nerve ending seemed to come alive in her body. She swam into deeper water and the reflection of the moonlight on the surface made it seem like she was swimming through liquid silver.

  Floating on her back, she looked up at the stars in the clear sky and the three-quarter full moon. It looked so clear out here in the wilderness where there were no streetlights causing light pollution. The only artificial light around was the light coming through the cabin window. It illuminated a patch of grass but nothing more.

  Lucinda enjoyed the lake until she felt too cold to stand it any longer and swam toward the shore. As she got closer to the rocks where her clothes waited, she froze.

  Clay stood on the grass near her clothes. He was as naked as she was. He looked like he had been hunting. Scratches and cuts criss-crossed on his torso and legs as if he had been moving fast through the undergrowth. The moonlight lit his hard chiselled physique in a way that made his muscles stand out. The broad powerful shoulders, the strong biceps, the defined pectoral muscles and the symmetrical six pack visible on his flat stomach. His cock hung thick and long between his strong thighs. Lucinda gasped at the sight of him.

  He said nothing but stood watching her intently. He knew she was naked, knew her clothes were on the rock next to him. He was waiting for her to come out of the lake. He wanted to see her. She sensed it. His intentions seemed to radiate from him like a strong aura of lust.

  Lucinda felt a desire for this man who had saved her life, who had suffered a loss the same as hers, and who was the embodiment of the perfect alpha male. She found the soft bottom of the lake with her feet and waded toward him. The water surrounding her and hiding her body from him fell away as she stepped closer to shore. When her breasts were revealed, full and aching for him and topped with hard excited nipples, his cock twitched and hardened. She had never felt so wanted in all her life. Her curves had made her modest in the past, as if her body were a hidden secret she kept to herself. But now she wanted to share herself with him, curves and all. She wanted to show him the thing she had kept from the sight of all men.

  As the water dropped to below her waist and her womanhood was displayed to Clay in the moonlight, he came forward to her, fully hard. With his arms around her back, he pulled her to him and kissed her fiercely. Lucinda whimpered and returned the kiss, their mouths moving together and tongues exploring each other.

  Her hands went to his strong hips, the muscles there feeling hard and strong beneath her fingers. She wanted to touch the hard length that pressed against the soft flesh of her thigh but she resisted for now, wanting to take this slow for as long as she could bear it. She wanted to enjoy him for as long as possible.

  His kisses moved to her cheek then down her neck and she groaned with pleasure and let her hand drop to his cock. Her fingers encircled the thick shaft and Clay grunted, nipping and sucking at her neck. His own hands slid down her back to the soft swell of her buttocks and he stroked the soft wet flesh, making Lucinda shiver.

  'You're cold,' he said, moving his mouth from her neck and looking into her eyes.

  'It doesn't matter. I need you.'

  Scooping her up on his arms, he took her into the cabin and straight to the bedroom, laying her on the bed and letting his eyes prowl over her naked body. 'It's warmer in here,' he said huskily, his excitement evident in his voice as well as in the stiff cock that rose proudly from his groin.

  She nodded. She needed him. Now. The sensations radiating from her pussy made her squirm. Her flesh might be cold from the lake but her core was hot and wet.

  He climbed onto the bed above her and looked down at her. The lust seemed to smolder in his eyes. Lucinda lay beneath him panting with desire.

  Clay lowered his mouth to her breast and took her hard nipples between his lips, flicking at it with his hot tongue and sucking it gently. Lucinda arched her back and put one hand on the back of his head, pulling him against her sensitive puckered flesh. Her other hand stroked his hard chest and stomach until she found the shaft of his penis again and fondled it lovingly. He let out a groan as she stroked him and he sucked her nipples with more force as his desire grew. This rough treatment of her sensitive nipples made Lucinda moan and wriggle beneath him.

  Clay directed his kisses down over the swell of her soft belly to the juncture between her thighs. She panted with need and parted her legs for him. He put his face to her womanhood and she cried out as she felt his tongue touch her lips, sliding past them in search of her pleasure center. He licked up along her slit, tasting her, until he found the hard bud of her clit and teased it with the tip of his tongue. Lucinda felt like she was going to explode with bliss. Closing her eyes and writhing against Clay's expert tongue, she moaned and whispered, 'Yes!' over and over as he pleasured her to the point where she thought she might die of joy. Biting her lip, she came strong and hard, her hips spasming and her thighs locking around Clay's head, holding him against her sex.

  He lapped at her more gently as she let the orgasm take her in its ecstatic grip. She lost all sense of time and space and reality and her entire being became a single organ of pleasure.

  When it subsided, it left her a gasping mess of a woman who still needed a man inside her. She lay helpless on the bed, her breasts rising and falling rapidly with her ragged breathing, drained and sated and wanting more all at the same time.

  Clay turned her over and pulled up her hips, exposing her sex. She waited for him to mount her, needing it more than anything else in the world. She had never wanted a man as much as she wanted Clay Adams right now.

  When he finally mounted her, he slid into her heat in one deep thrust. Lucinda cried out and gripped the bed sheets tightly, c
losing her eyes and concentrating on the feeling of having that big thick cock inside her tight pussy. Clay's hands were on her hips, pulling her back and forth while he impaled her on his manhood, sliding himself in and out of her.

  Her self-consciousness, her natural timidity and fear of what her lovers would think of her curves were all gone. She felt no fear with Clay and simply enjoyed the pleasure he was giving her. She had never felt so full of a man on all her life. Clay fitted her perfectly. Oh God, it felt so good!

  As the speed of his thrusts increased and his muscular abdomen slapped against her curvy buttocks, he growled with pleasure. She knew he was close. Looking over her shoulder at him, she whispered, 'Give it to me, Clay. You feel so good in there!'

  He looked like he was enjoying himself so much, his eyes locked on her ass, his breaths coming in excited pants. Every muscle in his body seemed tight and hard. And with every thrust forward of his muscular hips, Lucinda felt his thick manhood delve deep inside her body.

  Suddenly he shouted, 'I'm going to come!' and he roared out loudly and slammed himself deep inside Lucinda. She felt him twitch in there and a delicious warmth spread inside her sex.

  Clay gasped and grunted and groaned and emptied himself into her, holding her hips tight and burying himself as deep as he could inside her pussy.

  When he finally pulled out of her, she was filled with his seed. She rolled over to face him and he collapsed next to her, one arm across her belly as he lay beside her breathing hard.

  Lucinda stroked his hair and closed her eyes, enjoying the moment.

  What they had just done had felt like more than just sex.