Immortal Wolf - By Bonnie Vanak Page 0,28

her to the ground, but his mouth was moving over hers. Open for me, he murmured into her mind. Let me inside.

Her lips instinctively parted, and his tongue slipped inside. He stroked the moist cavern of her mouth, nipped playfully at her lower lip. Emily wriggled beneath him, the empty space between her legs growing moist and throbbing. She wanted to wind her hands around his neck.

Her hands.

She writhed, turning her mouth to one side, and broke the kiss. “Stop it,” she said sharply.

Raphael stopped and rolled off. Freed, she sprang up, heat flushing her face. She’d almost touched him. Her stomach twisted into knots.

Hugging herself, she walked away from him, and following the river’s course, Raphael accompanied her. As if he sensed her confusion and wanted to put her at ease once more, he talked about the river and the difference between the clear water and the dark waters of the bayou he called home. Gradually she relaxed.

Raphael pointed to the river when she stopped. “Ever go swimming?”

“There are too many rapids.”

“Looks nice and cool. In the bayou, we go swimming with the alligators and the snakes.” He offered a cocky, charming grin.

She gave a little sigh. “I don’t know how to swim. Father never taught me. I think he was overprotective, afraid I’d get into trouble.”

He gave her a long, thoughtful look. “Most parents teach their children to swim, so in case they fall in, they can care for themselves until someone rescues them. What about your mother?”

“I never knew my mother. She gave birth to me but left us shortly after.”

“Odd,” he mused. “I can’t imagine a woman leaving her beloved child. It must have been very difficult for her.”

Emily felt a small desolation. “He never told me why, just that she couldn’t stay with us. He told me that she loved me, but if she did, why would she leave me?”

“Maybe she felt she would not fit in with your pack. Emily, your mother wasn’t pack, was she? She was an outsider,” he pointed out gently. “All the rest are barren. You are the only youngling, and have been for a long while. Your father had an affair outside the pack.”

“You’re probably right. Especially if my mother was of mixed blood, and not a purebred, my pack wouldn’t welcome her,” she mused.

Raphael was silent, staring at the water. She tried to touch his mind but instead found a wall of granite.

Distress filled her. She had probably hurt him with her words. He was of mixed blood.

So upset was she at unintentionally insulting him that she moved closer to the edge, not realizing how close.

“Emily, watch it,” Raphael warned.

The words barely fled his mouth when she slipped on a loose rock and lost her footing. A scream tore from her throat as she tumbled down the bank, straight into the roiling river.

Chapter 5

R aphael waved his hand, dispensing his clothing, and shifted. He plunged into the fast-moving current as wolf, swimming with the current. In his human form, he was a strong swimmer, but he couldn’t risk the shock of the cold water slowing him for one minute.

Emily was swept downstream, and he had to reach her before she drowned.

Raphael lowered all his mental barriers, called out to her using their mind link. Emily, where are you?

A terrified scream rang in his head. He swam faster, paddling with the current, and saw her red head bobbing up and down. Still alive, still managing the wicked torrent. He allowed himself a flash of relief when he saw she wasn’t fighting the current but letting herself drift with it. Still, she could not swim.

Raphael reached out with his mind as he treaded water in her direction.

Good girl. Keep letting the current take you, keep your head above water. Use your arms and legs and piston them, like you’re making circles.

Suddenly they rounded a curve and came to a small raging waterfall. Raphael’s heart stopped as he saw her head bob and then vanish beneath the water.

He swam to her faster, feeling her screams inside his head. Damn it, where was she, how long was she down?

Emily, put your hands over your head. Keep it from getting hit.

He finally reached her and dove beneath the lacy white froth. Paddling toward her, using all his strength, his front paws touched solid flesh. Emily. Raphael shifted instantly, his arms lacing about her midsection. He pulled her free.

They surfaced, Emily limp in his arms. Not breathing. Terror stabbed him. She’d been down at