Wild Hearts 2: Wild by Night Read online

  WILD BY NIGHT

  An Ellora’s Cave Publication, November 2004

  Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.

  1337 Commerce Drive, #13

  Stow, OH 44224

  ISBN MS Reader (LIT) ISBN # 1-4199-0045-5

  Other available formats (no ISBNs are assigned):

  Adobe (PDF), Rocketbook (RB), Mobipocket (PRC) & HTML

  WILD BY NIGHT © 2004 JODI LYNN COPELAND

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part without permission.

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. They are productions of the authors’ imagination and used fictitiously.

  Edited by Briana St. James.

  Cover art by Syneca.

  Warning:

  The following material contains graphic sexual content meant for mature readers. Wild By Night has been rated E–rotic by a minimum of three independent reviewers.

  Ellora’s Cave Publishing offers three levels of Romantica™ reading entertainment: S (S-ensuous), E (E-rotic), and X (X-treme).

  S-ensuous love scenes are explicit and leave nothing to the imagination.

  E-rotic love scenes are explicit, leave nothing to the imagination, and are high in volume per the overall word count. In addition, some E-rated titles might contain fantasy material that some readers find objectionable, such as bondage, submission, same sex encounters, forced seductions, and so forth. E-rated titles are the most graphic titles we carry; it is common, for instance, for an author to use words such as “fucking”, “cock”, “pussy”, and such within their work of literature.

  X-treme titles differ from E-rated titles only in plot premise and storyline execution. Unlike E-rated titles, stories designated with the letter X tend to contain controversial subject matter not for the faint of heart.

  Wild By Night

  Jodi Lynn Copeland

  Dedication

  To the five little angels that tiptoed through my life during the writing of this story. Four of you were only here for a very short while but I loved you all the same and still think of you every day of my life. Every one of you touched my life and my heart in a very special way and, for that, I will never forget you.

  To Paige Burns, Wicked West and Valentine Dorr, because, no matter how much I complain or go for days without having the time to say so much as hello, you’re still there for me and I know you will be forever. Thank you. I love you all.

  To the vixens. Every day you brighten my life with your smiles and happy thoughts or broaden it with your sorrows and times of trouble. I am blessed to have you all in my life and I hope to keep you there always.

  And last, but never least, to my husband Bill. Though it doesn’t seem possible when I already love you so much, each day I spend with you, whether in times of happiness or those of sorrow, I love you even more. Thank you for being you. I can’t imagine what my life would be like without you in it and pray that I never have to find out.

  Trademarks Acknowledgement

  The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

  Technicolor: Technicolor Videocassette B.V.

  The Clapper: JOSEPH ENTERPRISES, INC

  Chapter One

  “You’ve got to be kidding me!” Candace Anderson glared at her older brother from across his kitchen table. “How could you do this to me, Nate?”

  Leaning against the low counter several feet away, he shrugged. “How could I not? I’ve been asking you for damned near a year now what’s going on between you and Duane. Every time, you say nothing. If that’s the case, I don’t see why your being paired up with him in the wedding is such a big deal.”

  And she couldn’t tell him either. She couldn’t tell another living soul why it was she went out of her way to avoid the man who’d been like a part of her family nearly all of his thirty-three years. Even if she could tell someone why she avoided Duane, they wouldn’t believe her. Why should they, when most days she still refused to accept the truth?

  “I just want to be with someone else. Including yourselves, you and Kelsey are having five stand up on each side. Why can’t I be with one of the other four men?”

  “Because they’re either married and standing up with their wives or content with the person we placed them with. The plans are firm, Candy. And even if they weren’t, there’s no way in hell we’d make changes this late in the game. The rehearsal is tomorrow night.”

  Like he needed to tell her that!

  Candace’s belly tightened with the idea she’d be seeing Duane tomorrow. She couldn’t get around it this time any more than she could get around being close to him. She’d be expected to stand centimeters away, arms intertwined much the same way she’d once foolishly allowed their bodies to be.

  It hadn’t seemed foolish at the time.

  Duane had been living in Braxton, positioning his newest sport equipment rental store amidst the bustling city’s main strip. Candy had visited Braxton three times in the year, plus he had called the place home and it seemed that the third time really was a charm.

  The night before she was set to return to Clarion Heights, she’d chanced upon Duane in one of the area’s upscale bars. He’d been there with a handful of other men and, by the time she’d spotted him, she’d had more than enough liquid courage worked up to approach him. Whether it was the fact that they were several hours from their hometown and her overly well-meaning family and friends or just that the time for action had finally come, Candy hadn’t held herself back that night.

  She’d grabbed his hand, led him onto the dance floor and made known what she wanted in seconds. She’d relished the fact Duane clearly wanted that same thing by the intensity of the hunger in his smoldering dark eyes and the impressive erection that rubbed against her belly and flamed her arousal a notch higher each time they moved.

  It had been a night of dreams and decade-old fantasies come to life in wild, magical, breathtaking Technicolor. And then it had all changed. Duane had changed, become something she never could have imagined. And her dreams, her fantasies, the foolish desires she’d harbored for the two of them for years had morphed into a stinging awareness that was caught somewhere between fiction and reality.

  The memory of the time Candace had spent in Duane’s arms raced through her mind and brought an icy shiver coursing down her spine. She wasn’t one to be easily shaken, had seen just about everything there was to see through her nursing position with the emergency care section of Mount Mercy Hospital. Yet, he’d managed to scare the hell out of her that night. Terrified her and hurt her in a way she could never forget.

  Shaking off the unwelcome thoughts, Candace stood and grabbed her car keys from the table. She passed Nate a last glare as she moved to the kitchen door. She wished to God she hadn’t stopped by his house on her way home from work. Not that the news could have been delayed forever but even a few more hours would’ve been nice.

  Since it hadn’t been delayed… “I’d be careful if I were you. If this thing turns out half as bad as I think it will, you’re going to regret ever having me for a sister.”

  His gaze narrowed, curiosity clear in the vivid auburn eyes shared by all five of the Anderson siblings, and then he let go a boisterous laugh. “Just imagine if there actually was something going on between you two. I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night for fear my life was in jeopardy.”

  Candy laughed dryly while her insides tightened further into painful knots. If the words she’d spoken only half in jest did keep her brother awake at night out of phobia, then at least he would be in good compan
y. Because that’s exactly what she’d been dealing with for almost a year now, since Duane’s return to their hometown. More, since he’d made it clear he wasn’t ready to put to rest what happened that night in Braxton. Regardless of the way things had ended, he still wanted her. Deep down, she still wanted him as well and that’s what made sleep damned near impossible.

  Every night she lay awake for hours, staring at the ceiling, fearing if she closed her eyes for so much as a second, she’d wake to find him prowling through her room, rounding her bedside, then throwing himself over her and latching onto her flesh. If he did that, she’d never be able to resist. Duane and the changes that had come over him during the time he’d spent in Braxton frightened her, but he also held something over her. Some kind of power, a magical pull. One she knew she couldn’t deny.

  The moment he laid his hands—or possibly his paws—on her she would lose the battle she’d waged for over ten months. She would succumb to the demanding strength of his arms, the hard, lean lines of his body, the drugging sting of his bites. And she couldn’t do that. She wouldn’t risk him hurting her again, wouldn’t risk suffering any more injuries like those that remained as faded scars on her breasts.

  She’d cared about Duane once, had believed that he felt the same way. But that had been before she’d learned the truth about him, long before he turned violent on her. And sure as hell before he shifted into his half-human/half-wolf form and barked out demands that were anything but tender.

  “See you tomorrow, sis.”

  In the process of exiting through the kitchen door, Candace broke from her reverie and glanced back at Nate. As much as she wanted to stay angry with him, and likely would in at least some part of her mind, she couldn’t leave him with a glare. She flashed a smile and said with as much as levity as she could muster, “If you’re lucky.”

  And if she was lucky, the ground would open up and swallow her whole. She’d much prefer falling straight to Hell and having to endure the Devil’s wrath, than find out if she had the strength to contend with the warring needs that filled her whenever Duane came within thirty feet. The need to run, the need to fight and, most disconcerting of all, the need to fling herself into his arms and never let go.

  * * * * *

  The citrusy smell of orange blossoms wrapped around Duane Livery’s heightened senses and brought his body jerking to attention. The blood surged through his veins and his heartbeat stampeded, while his cock responded with an anxious twitch and lengthening that spoke to both his human half and his wilder side. He didn’t have to turn from his conversation with his long-time friend Nathan Anderson and the man’s father, Tom, to know who the owner of that baiting scent was. There was only one person who could affect him this way. Only one woman. His woman.

  Candy.

  He turned toward the chapel entrance and locked gazes with Candace. As the owner of a handful of “Sporties” outdoor rental stores, which catered to winter and summer sports enthusiasts, Duane typically had the off seasons to relax and enjoy life. This year hadn’t been typical. He’d been forced to spend the better half of March and the first week of April back in Braxton, overseeing the design completion of his most recent store. More specifically, he’d been forced to spend it away from Candace and his goal of making her see what they were meant to be.

  The last time he’d even been able to think about that cause and see the woman herself had been three Sundays ago when he’d been invited to share dinner with Tom and Darla Anderson and their grown children. Candace hadn’t found out about his taking part until it was too late for her to bow out. She’d spent the night snarling across the table at him, her nostrils flaring in open hostility. They were doing the same thing now and, between that and her short denim skirt and breast-hugging gold sweater, his blood pitched toward the boiling point while his cock thickened further yet.

  Did she have any idea how appealing it was when she twitched her nose that way? How animalistic a move, like she was scenting him the same way he was her. Like she knew how badly he ached to bound across this room, toss her to the floor and fuck her here and now, for all to see.

  Okay, so maybe that was a bit drastic but he still wanted it. The werewolf in him demanded it. The human half grabbed firmly to control. He had waited months for her to come around and accept that they were meant to be, that she was his intended mate and no other female—human or otherwise—could ever fill that role. If he counted the time before he’d changed, back when he’d cared about her far more than as a friend or sibling figure, then he’d been waiting for her to come around and accept his attraction to her for years. A few more days wouldn’t hurt anything. If his body behaved, it wouldn’t.

  Before the change, he’d wanted her, cared for her, but after the change, now, his hunger for her was like a living thing. An animal that silently yelped to be freed and take what was rightfully his. The woman who would give him the one thing he’d never known. A real family and not just one he pretended was his.

  Duane excused himself from the conversation with the two men and started toward Candy. The remainder of the wedding party had yet to arrive for rehearsal and she stood alone at the back of the church. For her sake, he was glad. As much as he liked the Anderson family and felt gratitude for everything they had given him through the years, his need for Candace still overshadowed it. He wasn’t above making a scene to prove she was his. She hadn’t yet reached that level of understanding and would have no qualms about overtly rejecting him in the hopes it would dissuade him.

  It wouldn’t, of course.

  It had taken some time to adjust to the lifestyle that had been set upon him one night last year, when he’d been too shit-faced drunk to acknowledge that the woman who’d picked him up and proceeded to take him home and make him her late night snack wasn’t exactly normal. But he had adjusted and he knew what was meant to be.

  Duane came to a standstill two feet from Candace and reached out a hand to sweep a strand of long, golden blonde hair behind her ear. She flinched at his touch and his body responded with a pang of raw hunger. “You look incredible. Good enough to eat.”

  Pulling away from his hand, Candy rolled her eyes and snorted. “I bet you wouldn’t have any reservations about doing just that either, would you? Or are four-legged animals more your choice of entrée these days?”

  He was surprised she’d spoken so candidly, even if they were beyond her father and brother’s hearing range. Not that Candace wasn’t frank. She was to the extreme, but in the past that frankness never extended to comments on his wilder side. Did that mean she was ready to face the truth between them? That she was at least ready to talk about it? “I wouldn’t turn down a nice juicy steak but you know my favorite will always be extra-thick-crust pizza from Angelou’s. Have you eaten yet? We could go there after this is over and talk.”

  She flashed a “yeah, right” look and took a step back. “Damn. I’ll have to take a rain check. I promised Nate and Kelsey I would go over the last minute details with them. You know how stressed out the bride and groom get the night before the wedding.”

  He didn’t doubt that some couples did but he’d spoken with both Nate and Kelsey several times today and neither appeared the least bit frazzled. Which meant Candace was digging for a way out. Why? Normally she would tell him, point-blank, no or possibly to go to hell.

  Could it be his closeness bothered her? Was she as aware of the electric heat that sizzled between them as he was and doing her damnedest to deny it?

  Warming to the thought and the many ways he might bother her further until she owned up to the way he affected her, Duane closed the short distance she’d put between them. Candace’s eyes widened and the breath left her mouth as sharp pants as he reached for her once again.

  “Actually, you didn’t say anything like that, Candy.”

  The sound of Nate’s voice just behind him had Duane taking a step back and his hand dropping away before it could make contact.

  The alarm left Candace’s ex
pression and she looked at her brother tight-lipped. “Yes. I did,” she grated out. “Remember yesterday when I was at your house? Remember what I said right before I left? I meant what I said then. Every word of it.”

  Nate came to a stop next to Duane and looked thoughtful for a few seconds before nodding. “Come to think of it, I do remember you saying something. That still doesn’t change the fact we don’t need help. Mom and Dad are watching over things so closely not so much as a hymn book is out of place.”

  Malice filled her eyes as she mouthed an, “Oh,” then turned her attention back on Duane. “I still can’t have dinner with you. I already said no to dinner with my family because I have too much to do to get myself ready for tomorrow.”

  “Yeah, and I still don’t get that.” Nate cut into the conversation once more. “The dresses have been ready for weeks, your hair appointments are all set and you’re having your nails and makeup done at the salon. You took four days off from the hospital, Candace. Take advantage of that time for a change. If you don’t want to have dinner with the family, then have it with Duane. It won’t kill you.”

  “It might even be fun,” Duane put in, relieved to have Nate on his side. Up until last summer, they’d been best friends—Nate had been the one to bring him into the Anderson home and make him feel welcome in the first place—and in most ways they still were. Just lately, Nate was asking questions, acting as though he wasn’t sure if he trusted him any more.

  Nate glanced over and his brow furrowed. “I said she should go out with you. That’s all I said she should do.”

  And that backed up Duane’s theory that Nate didn’t trust him any longer. “What the hell do you think I’m going to do her, man? Get her drunk and convince her to come home with me?”