His cock swelled in my hand, and I swept my thumb over the tip every time I came up from a pump. I wanted him in my mouth. I wanted him inside me.
Oh fuck.
I came in a wave of heat and slick cream, and then Leif tensed, his moan tickling my ear as his seed decorated my hand in hot spurts.
I continued to pump him, reveling in the shudder of his body and the tight arch of his spine as he rode the orgasm.
He collapsed on top of me, his head buried in the crook of my neck.
We lay in panting silence for long, aching seconds, and then Leif chuckled, soft and sexy.
“I don’t know how we come back into friend zone after that.”
I lay beneath him, heart pounding, body tingling and throbbing. “I don’t know if we can.”
This changed everything. We were going to have to reassess our boundaries and—
A phone buzzed angrily.
“Shit.” Leif extricated himself and fumbled for his cell. “Hey.” His eyes grew wide. “Fuck. I’m on my way.” He cut the call and climbed off me, tucking himself away and buttoning his jeans.
“What happened?”
He reached between the front seats, popped open the dash, and handed me a box of tissues. “The female shifters have gone missing.” He wiped my hand clean. “We need to find them. Now.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Lauter was shutting down the bar, ushering everyone out. We’d searched the premises and found no trace of Astrid, Selena, or the other wolves. Eight female shifters gone.
“So they went to the restroom?” Leif asked Trenton again.
“Yeah, and they were ages, so Danny went to check on them. No one came back.”
Sloane joined us. “The hotel says they haven’t come back.”
“They wouldn’t just leave,” Trenton said.
A cold gust of air blew in from the entrance and Jessie stood framed in the doorway. “Guys. We found… something.”
Her eyes were huge, dark pits in her pale face.
My gut twisted.
We followed her out of the bar and down the street. Poppy stood at the mouth of an alley up ahead, bubble-gum hair billowing in the breeze. Her hands were fisted at her sides, gaze fixed straight ahead on whatever was hidden from us. Leif sniffed the air and then broke into a jog with Trenton close behind. The rest of us followed. We came to a halt at the foot of the alley where the coppery scent of blood hit me.
Shit, this must be what Leif had…Oh fuck. What was that?
A shadowy lump lay in the middle of the alley. I took a step forward and Leif grabbed my arm.
“Stay back.”
He and Trent walked into the alley, cautiously approached the form, and crouched to examine it.
“Fuck. No, man. No.” Trent’s words drifted out to us.
Poppy looked at me and shook her head, her eyes brimming.
The moon chose that moment to peek out from behind the clouds, lighting up the scene. The lump morphed into a man, torn and bloody, bottom half of his body twisted at an odd angle.
I couldn’t see his face. Leif was in the way. I couldn’t see, but I knew, and when Leif shifted position my suspicions were confirmed and my breath whooshed out of my lungs.
Danny stared at me from dead eyes.
Dead Danny. Torn to shreds.
Several creatures could do this kind of damage, but only one we knew of had anything to gain by it.
The varga had our women.
“They tore him up,” Poppy sobbed. “He’s dead. Danny…Oh, God, sweet Danny.” She covered her face with her hands as wretched sobs wracked her frame.
We’d returned to Outliers where Lauter poured a round of whiskeys and left the bottle on the table. The place was shrouded in darkness, the main lights and neon sign turned off.
Jessie sat beside Poppy, an arm around her friend’s shoulders, face a mask of suppressed rage. “What’s the play, Leif?”
Leif stood with his chin tucked in, his eyes dark with rage. “There are no rifts open. Tor and Rune both checked in. The patrols have scoped everywhere and no rifts.”
“They came into town,” Sloane said. “There could be a rift in town.”
Trenton shook his head. “They’ve never opened a rift in town. They can’t. Their world meets ours in specific areas, and we have those covered.”
“You’re sure about that?”
“Positive, but I had some wolves do a sweep of the surrounding area anyway. Nothing.”
“What will you do?” Jessie asked again.
Leif’s jaw ticked. “If they’ve taken the women through a rift, there’s nothing we can do.”
“What?” Poppy raised her head and glared at him. “What the fuck do you mean?”
“We aren’t permitted to go through the rifts,” Leif said. “Our ancestors took an oath never to cross over.”
“And you’ve already broken that oath, because the female dire wolves have crossed over,” Sloane pointed out. “So fuck the rules.”
She was right. “Leif, we have to go after them.”
He closed his eyes. “We can’t. The oath prevents us from passing through willingly. The varga will have physically forced the wolves to pass, but unless we’re captured and forcefully taken through, there is no way for us to get through. We’ll be repelled.” His mouth twisted. “Trust me, I’ve tried chasing after the fuckers.”
Fuck. There had to be a way… “What about witches?”
Leif frowned at me.
“Can we get through?”
“It’s too dangerous.”
“So that’s a yes.” I looked at Sloane, who nodded.
“Dammit, Cora,” Leif snapped. “It’s unknown territory. If you get bitten or scratched, you’re fucked, not to mention you can’t fight them with magic. They can null you.”
“Not if I’m around.” Jasper stepped out of the gloom, and my heart leaped
