Ulrich smiled, leaned close, and kissed Tia’s cheek. “I’ve got a meeting in Burlingame, so I’ll catch a cab. Luc will get you settled and then I want him to bring you over for dinner this evening. Is that okay with you?”
Tia nodded, blinking nervously. Like she had a choice? Why did this feel planned, as though the two men followed a script? She glanced once more at her father and realized he was looking steadily at Luc. If she didn’t know better, Tia would have thought Ulrich and Luc communicated without speaking. She turned to Luc, noticed his slight nod, and when she looked back at her father it was to see his broad shoulders and back as he walked purposefully out of the parking garage without another word.
A memory intruded, faint and far away, more a dream than reality. Her mother’s voice, soft words of comfort whispering in Tia’s mind as she fell asleep at night. Wishing her well as she worried about starting school, ordering Tia to behave when she wasn’t minding. Her mother had communicated with her without audible speech.
Exactly as she imagined Luc and her father had just done. Frowning again, mind and body overwhelmed, Tia settled into the soft leather seat and fastened her safety belt. Luc was much too close for comfort. Her head ached, her heart pounded in her chest, and the skin on her forearms crawled and twitched, the feeling as unsettling as the odd interchange she’d just witnessed between Luc and her father.
Why? What had passed between the two men? Even more confusing, why did she feel the sensual clench of her womb as if an orgasm waited, just beyond reach? What was it about Lucien Stone that affected her on such an elemental level? Was it Luc’s scent? Her teenage fantasies suddenly come to life? Why would this man, at least fifteen years her senior, have such a strong, physical impact on her?
Tia willed her raging libido to find peace, settled back into her seat, and concentrated on the road ahead, determined to keep a very close eye on how Luc and her father interacted.
Her gut told her something strange was going on.
Tia’s heart warned her to let well enough alone and her damned brain just wanted her to get settled in her new home. Head reeling with more input than answers, Tia watched as Luc checked his rearview mirror, accelerated, and pulled away from the airport. He skillfully merged the sporty Mercedes with the heavy traffic heading north on the freeway.
From this angle he was even more attractive than she’d first thought. He wore his hair longer than she remembered. Thick and so dark it was almost black, it curled over his collar and covered his ears. He had a lean, sharp profile, dark, heavy brows over eyes hidden behind thick lashes.
There was a feral intensity about him, a perception of strength, the potential for violence. Awareness of him held Tia on edge, the feeling that she sensed more of Luc than he allowed the world to see.
Visions of her latest dream lingered in the back of Tia’s consciousness, reinforced by the strong profile of the man beside her. She rubbed the crawling skin on her forearms and wondered at the powerful attraction to a man she hadn’t seen in ten years.
Luc hoped like hell the woman sitting so close wouldn’t notice how tightly he clenched his teeth. Damn, Tia was no more a gangly teenager than…well, there really was no comparison.
Not when he could smell her arousal, so close and inviting, not when he knew she was hot and wet and ready for him—even if she didn’t realize it herself. He’d been hard since the first glance he’d gotten of her. She’d looked like a tall, slim, native princess, riding down the escalator with her head held high, scanning the crowd in the claims area as she searched for her father.
She still wore her unruly hair long, fastened in a clip at the base of her neck, the thick tangle of dark blond curls falling midway down her back. Her skin glowed a rich, golden brown against her turquoise blouse and casual denim skirt.
Thank goodness she’d been looking for Ulrich, not him, or Luc would have been caught staring like a horny adolescent, eyes wide, mouth open, cock hard and thrusting against his slacks. He’d almost growled when he hugged her, verging, as he was, so close to the shift from man to beast.
He checked the traffic lane to his left and then chanced a quick glance in Tia’s direction. She stared back at him, eyes wide, lips parted. Taking a chance, Luc searched her thoughts quickly.
Blocked? But how? He smiled at her.
She blinked. Her dark lashes hid her beautiful eyes for a brief instant, and then she smiled back and he knew she was waiting for him to say something.
Anything.
Conversation. Shit…when all he really wanted to do was rip off her clothes. Had Ulrich had any idea when he’d proposed his bloody scheme? Luc cleared his throat, swallowed…cleared his thoughts as well. “So, your, ah, dad gave me the address where you’ll be living.” He named the spot, just off Sunset Boulevard.
She looked transparently grateful that he’d said something so innocuous.
“That’s right. I’ll be teaching in a private school. The salary isn’t much, but they provide an apartment. I haven’t seen it yet. Only pictures. It’s not much…definitely small.”
“In San Francisco any kind of apartment is something.” Luc glanced Tia’s way once more, then turned his attention back to the highway and let out a relieved sigh.
Okay, this was easier. Talking about the high cost of rent would take any guy’s mind off a beautiful, ripe, absolutely mind-blowing woman sitting just inches away.
Maybe.
“Do you still work for my father?”
Luc risked a quick look. Did Tia have any idea what Ulrich did for a living?
She answered his question. “He’s never said what he does…. I guess I just figured it was some sort of detective agency. Pack Dynamics or something like that?”
“Something like that and, yes, to answer your question. I’ve been with Ulrich for twenty years now.”
“Longer than some marriages.” Tia smiled at him.
“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never married.” Luc glanced once more in Tia’s direction. Was that a satisfied smile quirking the corner of her mouth as she turned her attention back to the road?
Once more his pants felt a bit too tight. He slowly repositioned himself in the bucket seat and took a deep breath.
Big mistake. Her scent filled the interior of the car, a rich, spicy aroma that told Luc exactly where she was in her menstrual cycle, let him know she was ripe and ready for breeding, that her body was every bit as aroused as his. He’d never been this close to a Chanku female before, even one unaware of her nature, never understood the depth of need her proximity would awaken.
For a brief moment, Luc allowed himself the luxury of absorbing the scents and sounds of Tia’s body.
Bigger mistake.
Deeply aroused, body skirting the need to shift, Luc’s Chanku senses locked on the equally aroused female so close beside him. He heard the rapid beat of her heart, the soft catch in her breath. Smelled the scent of her heat, more human than wolf, but with Chanku genes so strongly a part of Tia’s DNA, the wolf was not that deeply buried.
He slammed on the brakes as the car in front of them slowed, and then sped up again. Damn. He really had to pay closer attention.
Tia smiled at him. “Traffic’s worse here than in Boston.”
“I dunno. Boston’s pretty bad. Last time I was there, it was all torn up.”
“That was the Big Dig. A lot of the freeways are underground now. It’s better…some of the time.”
Traffic slowed to a crawl. Tia chatted on about Boston and the Big Dig and life in the North End. Luc watched her lips move, vaguely responded to her chatter, but he felt the sensual impact of her Chanku presence all the way to his bones.
She doesn’t