"Bull. s.h.i.t." Quiet. Intense. "You've had lovers, but never one whom you've let in enough that you actually had to deal with the implications."

"What makes you think you're about to break the pattern?"

Water sloshed over the edge and onto the tile floor as Drew got into the tub, jeans and all, and knelt to straddle her. In spite of her shock, she was ready for him when he cupped her face in his hands and swept his tongue into her mouth. She tasted an earthy masculine sensuality, a hint of beer-smooth and dark-and something that licked at her senses like fire. Drew. His tongue stroked and licked, while his hands kept her in place for his delectation, his teeth biting on her lower lip, teasing her upper one.

Heat uncurled in her abdomen, though she recognized exactly what he was doing. It was another display of possession. Her wolf bared its fangs at the idea, giving her enough strength of will to break the kiss, push at his shoulders with her claws. He refused to move, but he put his hands on the edge of the bath behind her.

She was sucking in a breath to speak when he simply bent his head and kissed her again. All hot and warm and s.e.xy and demanding. s.e.x, she thought, wasn't going to solve anything . . . but then he slid one hand down to squeeze her breast and a surge of blinding pa.s.sion eclipsed every other thought. Biting down on his lower lip, she tugged up his head with a hand fisted in his hair. "Take off the T-shirt."

To her surprise, he didn't argue, reaching down and pulling the half-sodden material over his head. It landed soundlessly on the fluffy bath mat as he threw it over the side. She was stroking her hands up his chest, delighting in the heated silk of his body, when he kissed her again-and this time, there was no buildup. No, he just continued on from where he'd left off, fondling her breast with a proprietary touch that made her want to moan and to bite him at the same time.

His free hand, he stroked down to press against her abdomen.

As she went to reach for his erection, he angled that hand down, spearing his fingers through her curls to- She screamed into his mouth as he thrust two fingers inside her. "d.a.m.n it, Drew," she gasped, "that is not foreplay."

He bit at her neck, smoothing his other hand down her ribs, then back up to squeeze and caress her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, rubbing his thumb over one tightly furled nipple. "Yes, it is." Another kiss, another tangling of lips and teeth and tongue. "I can feel you all silky and luscious"-two fast thrusts that threw her shockingly close to o.r.g.a.s.m-"and ready, so hot and ready."

Groaning, she reached down to struggle with his soaked jeans. The stupid b.u.t.ton refused to come undone-and he refused to help, intent on driving her to madness-so she flicked out her claws and shredded the denim. Her hand met more sodden fabric, hiding the hot, throbbing ridge of his impressive arousal. "You decide to wear underwear today of all days," she muttered when he gave her a second to breathe.

Drew, she'd learned, liked to kiss. And she was becoming addicted to his brand of it.

"Touch me, Indy." A husky request against her mouth.

Oh, G.o.d, that voice.

She shivered in pure sensory pleasure. "I'm trying."

Squeezing and petting him through the fabric, she was gratified to feel his fingers lose their rhythm inside her body.

But he recovered fast, sliding his free hand up to clench in her hair so he could tug back her head and devour her mouth while his fingers began pumping harder, faster. Stars flickered at the corners of Indigo's vision, but she gritted her teeth and held on-she wanted the d.a.m.n wolf inside her. Shredding the underwear-with considerable care, because she so did not want to damage him-she shoved at his chest with all her strength.

He broke the kiss, removing his fingers from her with a lingering stroke, and let her push him back until she could straddle him. That was all the control he gave her. An instant later, his hands were on her hips and his erection was nudging at her, and he was thrusting into her with blunt promise.

Crying out, Indigo gripped the edges of the bath, her b.r.e.a.s.t.s damp and gleaming above him as their bodies danced slick and hot beneath the water. The joining was a little rough, all raw. And then he closed his teeth over the delicate flesh of her breast and her body went taut in an explosion of pleasure, her muscles squeezing him tight as he crushed her to him and came with a hard, explosive grunt.

CHAPTER 28.

Having received a call from Drew after he spoke to Max, Judd made a call of his own. "The Council split," he said, "how bad is it?"

"Bad. The Scotts are determined to get rid of Nikita for one. She's made some provocative statements against Silence-and acted on them."

Judd considered what he knew of Councilor Nikita Duncan, wondered what was in this for her. "You can't kill them all," he said, remembering the Ghost's statement the last time they'd spoken.

"They are a disease, a virus that feeds upon our people."

"Have you considered how close you are to the Net?" Dark patches, dead patches, that was the information he had about the sprawling psychic network that fed the minds of millions of Psy on the planet-as if part of its psychic fabric was rotting away. "The degeneration could be affecting you."

"No," the Ghost said. "I am quite sane."

Judd wasn't certain the Ghost had ever been truly sane-no one with that much power could be. But he'd always been logical. "The Council's collapse, with no new system in place, will destabilize the Net, kill hundreds of thousands of innocents."

"Do you think I have a heart?" the Ghost asked curiously. "To be affected by such a fact?"

Judd knew the Ghost was getting closer and closer to slipping over the edge-and he knew he couldn't let him. Not simply because of the rebel's lethal power, but because Judd considered him a friend. "One person," Judd said. "There must be one person who you do not want to die."

A long, long pause. "If there is?"

Judd's relief was crushing. "Consider that person each time you make a decision."

This time, the pause was longer, thicker, darker. "I will consider. For now."

CHAPTER 29.

Indigo wasn't entirely sure how they made it from the bath to the bed, but she surfaced to find herself warm, dry, and sprawled on her front on the bed, with an equally relaxed Andrew on his back beside her. Of course, one of his hands was on her b.u.t.t, stroking in a way that said "mine" more strongly than words ever could.

Finding strength from somewhere, she poked him in the arm. "What was that?"

He squeezed the globe he was caressing. "Really excellent s.e.x."

Her wolf growled, but it was all pretend. Drew had wrung the mean out of both of them. "You were trying to s.e.x me into submission."

"Did it work?" A lazy grin as he turned to look at her. "I was just being me."

It was very close to what he'd said at the start. "I'm not going to suddenly accept all the dominance bulls.h.i.t."

"Did I ask you to?" Blue eyes narrowing. "But if I'm learning how to deal with a lieutenant with a milewide streak of stubborn and a tendency to put up walls of ice, you better f.u.c.king learn to deal with a tracker who isn't about to let you walk all over him."

That made her roll her eyes. "The only steamroller I see around here is about six feet two and two-hundred-plus pounds of muscle."

Instead of adding fuel to the fire of his anger, that made his eyes turn warm. He shifted to throw one leg over her, petting her exposed body with an even more possessive hand. "You broke my heart when you said I didn't know about foreplay."

Her lips twitched. "Yes, you're terrible at s.e.x. Terrible." That was why she was lying here with melted bones and an inner wolf who was so dozy, she was sprawled out in complete abandon.

"Hmm." A kiss pressed to her shoulder. "I guess I should work on that."

She was about to reply when he moved so that he was braced over her, supporting himself with one arm bent at the elbow, while he reached down to part her thighs with the other. The heat of his chest burned, and she sighed at the pleasure of having him so close. "If you tell me you're ready again after that, I'll have to call you a liar."

"Well, now, Lieutenant, I take that as a challenge."

She jerked as she felt the hard, silken heat of him nudging at her. "Drew . . ." Exhaustion forgotten, she raised her bottom a little, wanting him inside her. She loved the way he felt, loved the way he touched and stroked and petted.

"Uh-huh." Still teasing her with the barest touch of his c.o.c.k, he kissed the back of her neck, the top of her spine, stroking a single maddening finger around the place that was damp and hot and ready for his penetration. "I need to regain my pride." More kisses down the line of her vertebrae, his hands gripping her hips. "Give you that foreplay."

She shivered as his unshaven chin brushed against her lower back, as his lips touched the dip of her spine, his tongue flicking out to wet the spot before he blew a hot breath on it. "Mmm." It was a sound of lazy pleasure as he shifted his body farther down the bed . . . and then he was gone.

Confused, she was about to turn when he gripped her ankles and tugged her until her hips were on the edge of the bed, her feet touching the floor. His hands moved again-to the backs of her thighs. Spreading them, he blew a breath against her. "What do you like, Indy? Licks"-quick, catlike flicks against her screamingly sensitive flesh-"nips"-the feel of teeth on her c.l.i.toris, her brain hazing over-"kisses?" Wet and hot and all consuming, his mouth claimed her, his tongue sliding into her in a teasing thrust before withdrawing.

She was trying to find air when he stopped, said, "So?"

"What?" she managed to gasp.

"You didn't tell me what you liked. I wouldn't want to get it wrong."

She could feel him laughing, the demon. "You have no idea who you're messing with."

He rubbed the roughness of his chin against the soft skin of her inner thighs, licking and nipping in a way that tormented without offering relief. "I think I like this kind of foreplay."

Indigo went to pull away, determined to grab him and ride him to exhaustion. But he felt the tenseness in her muscles and tightened his hold. Then his mouth delivered on the teasing. She hadn't thought he could wring more pleasure from her already sated flesh.

She was wrong.

He seduced her with that wicked, laughing mouth, licking and stroking and teasing until she was on the very edge.

When he pulled away this time, she arched her back, inviting his possession. His thighs met the backs of hers an instant later, his body entering hers in a tight, slow push. Biting back a cry at the intensity of the sensation, she clenched her fists on the sheets.

He pulled her up until she could brace herself with her palms flat on the bed. "Am I hurting you?"

"No." Never.

Then there was only the slick glide of flesh on flesh, heated, sensual murmurs, and the most searing pleasure.

Indigo came to wakefulness close to dawn, not the least surprised to find herself all but buried beneath heavy, warm male. Drew, she'd learned during the night, was a shameless bed hog-but he liked to keep her with him, so instead of being pushed off the bed, she was instead pulled under him, his thigh between hers, his hand on her breast, his face nuzzled into her neck.

She'd never had a lover attempt to claim her so totally. But, she thought, opening her heart a fraction, she could get used to this kind of affection. Because whatever he took, he gave back with staggering generosity.

Stroking her fingers into his hair, she thought over what he'd said. Because he wasn't just affection and laughter and play-as she'd understood for the first time on the mountain two days ago. He was the pack's tracker, with all that denoted. He was also a very, very strong dominant. He was absolutely right to demand that she learn to deal with him as he was learning to deal with her.

Her wolf growled, unhappy at the idea of bending for any man.

But was it really submitting, Indigo dared ask for the first time, if the man was bending toward you in return?

Having been wide awake since around three a.m., Hawke finished reading the latest draft of the proposed new building/ land agreement in which SnowDancer was to be a silent partner and was about to push away from the desk when his phone beeped. Seeing the caller ID, he reined in his impatience. "Lucas, what is it?"

"We got hit with the Pure Psy e-mail last night," the DarkRiver alpha said, "and a couple of our juveniles came to me with stories of being approached in online chat rooms."

Hawke's wolf peeled back its lips at the boldness of the group. "Juveniles okay?"

"Just insulted," Lucas said, a thread of pride in his tone.

"I've got Dorian watching the chat rooms in case they try again. We might be able to get something out of it. I'll keep you updated."

Hanging up after a few more words, Hawke fired off a quick note to Drew with the new information, then strode to the door. He enjoyed being inside less than even most changelings, but this work was as important to the health of the pack as his more physical protection. So-his lieutenants by his side-he'd learned to do it well.

But, having cleared his desk, and with Indigo more than capable of holding the fort-and Riaz in charge of the security/ search patrols in the mountains today-he surrendered to the wild hunger within and headed out for a run in wolf form. Several early risers among his pack saw him but none broke into his solitude. They all understood that, sometimes, a wolf needed to roam on its own.

However, he'd barely cleared the doorway when he caught a scent that instantly ruffled his fur the wrong way. She smelled like autumn fire and some rich, exotic spice. Far too potent a scent for someone so young, someone from whom he should keep his distance. Instead, he drew the spice-laced air into his lungs and ran at a ground-devouring lope that brought him to a small rise from where he could watch his prey.

Wearing a small pack and carrying what looked like a sleek holographic camera, she walked down the track that would eventually bring her to one of the midway areas in den territory, where he knew she'd parked the car she'd signed out of the garage for her trips to and from DarkRiver land. But it would still take her a couple of hours to reach that spot at her current pace.

When she stopped and raised her face to the dewy morning sunlight, releasing her breath in a long, slow exhale, he went motionless. Her unhidden joy at being in the stark, stunning beauty of the Sierra Nevada sang to him, and it was a dangerous pull. He should step back, should move in the opposite direction.

He should.

He turned and angled down through the trees until he appeared on the path beside her instead. Jerking back in surprise, Sienna stared at him with wide eyes. When he did nothing but wait for her, she continued on the trail, shooting him small looks filled with suspicion until it became clear he was intent only on keeping her company.

Then her stride relaxed, and they walked.

In silence.

It had been over a week since the day Andrew had ambushed Indigo in her bath, and he was feeling cautiously optimistic. The lieutenant wore his scent in her skin and, from what he could tell, wasn't worried about it. Aware how long it had taken his brother to gain the same concession from Mercy, Andrew allowed himself a little swagger-because that acceptance meant Indy's wolf was starting to get over its uncertainty when it came to him.

Of course, part of it likely had to do with the fact that the lieutenant was turning out to be as possessive as any male changeling. He wore her scent in his skin, too-along with more than a few marks. And he was very, very happy-no, delighted-with the whole state of affairs, he thought, grinning as he touched the love bite on his neck.

Their packmates, of course, found the whole situation highly entertaining, a welcome break from the constant vigilance of the security patrols in the mountains. The techs had found only three more transmitters after the main sweep, and it was looking like they might have unearthed most if not all of them, but SnowDancer wasn't about to lower its guard when the Council had dared invade the very heart of the pack's territory.

Of course, that didn't mean wolves stopped being wolves.

Andrew dealt with the ribbing with a grin and a shrug, while Indigo scowled. Neither response had any effect on the gossip-or the good-natured advice Andrew began receiving from the women in the pack.

"Give her her s.p.a.ce," a dominant female advised him, "but not too much."

"Whatever you do, for G.o.d's sake don't treat her like a girl. She's a woman."

"Andrew, I love you, but you're the most sneaky, cunning wolf I've ever known-use it."

After several days of this, Andrew cornered one of the ladies. "Not that I'm not grateful," he said, "but why are you all being so helpful?"

That got him a chuckle, the touch of warm, capable hands on his face, and a smacking kiss. "Silly boy. She's ours and we love her-and we've all worried at how hard she rides herself on behalf of the pack. You make her happy."

The simple words were a revelation.

So he was ready to handle the next stage in their courtship when Indigo invited him to an official family event.

"Dinner with my parents at their place," she said casually, as if it wasn't a major deal. "Evie isn't back yet, but my aunt, Adria, and her lover, Martin, will also be there. They're flying in from near the Oregon border."

Having a vague memory of Tarah's sibling being much younger, he asked, "Are you close to Adria?"