THOMAS: Le Beau Brothers - New Orleans Billionaire Wolf Shifters with plus sized BBW for mates (Le Beau Series Book 4) (18 page)

Grabbing both of her hips, he pulled her forward as he thrust to the hilt. Julia moaned into his mouth as she continued to explore every nook and cranny. Gripping her ass he pounded into her as she clutched his shoulders and let her head drop back.

Moans and rumbles filled the room as they crested the summit together, Julia shouting his name as he shouted hers.

Ragged panting broke the silence as the scent of their lovemaking swirled in the air. Leaning his forehead against hers; they caught their breaths, crisp wintery snow and rich dark spices mingled and intertwined.

Once he was able to breathe fairly normally and stand on his noodlefied legs, he pulled his jeans over his hips and handed her the shirt from the floor. They were both exhausted and would have another busy day tomorrow. The rest of the evening’s agenda was a quick dinner and sleep. Lots and lots of sleep.

*****

Dawn was sneaking in through the seams of the shade like a seasoned cat burglar. He was exhausted; last night’s dreams had been bad, really bad. One dream after another of Julia disappearing or just out of reach, he was never able to reach quite far enough to pull her back to him.

But the last one, the one that woke him up in a cold sweat, was the worst. He had dreamt that none of the past days with her were real, and she didn’t even know who he was.

Trembling, he kept his eyes closed, terrified if he opened them, the nightmare would be real. Tentatively he stretched his arm across the bed, feeling for a warm, soft body.

EMPTY! 

His heart stopped beating.

No God, no. It can’t be real!

When his head began to swim, he was forced to take a breath. He inhaled a lung full of her wintery scent.

Thank God!
He sighed and opened his eyes.

You okay in there? Do you need me?

I’m perfect now. Why aren’t you in my bed where you belong?

Goofball. I’m fixing your coffee.

You’re too good for me.

Realizing what he said, he quickly added.

Ignore the man behind the curtain. Don’t listen to him.

Her soft laughter tinkled like tiny bells in his mind.
I think you watched The Wizard of Oz too many times as a child.

He grabbed the pillow beside him and inhaled Julia’s scent until he was drunk with it. Throwing off the covers, he stretched his stress–stiffened muscles before padding barefoot to join her.

She was setting two mugs of fresh coffee on the table when he stepped through the door. The aroma blending with her scent was utter perfection, he couldn’t think of a better aroma to start every day for the rest of his life. He knew he was grinning like an idiot, but he didn’t care.

“You’re so beautiful in the morning.”

“Thank you. I think you’re rather handsome, too. I better drink this while I dress. We ladies are going back to the bar to give it a good cleaning.”

“I better get dressed too. I’m going with the men swamper hunting.”

Thomas had grabbed a fresh pair of jeans from his drawer and now leaned on his dresser sipping his coffee and watching his woman intently.

His robe slipped from her shoulders, revealing the intricate tattoo on her back of some beautiful bird he couldn’t name. The long tail feathers curled around her hip and back in, under the curve of her left buttock. He wanted to trail his tongue along that tail and see where it ended.

“Tell me about your tattoo,” he said, tracing a finger along the realistic feathers.

“A few years ago, when I first decided to fight back against my mother’s controlling ways, I had this tattoo done. It’s both a ‘fuck you’ to her and a symbol for myself. It reminds me that I can rise up like the phoenix from the ashes and be a completely new woman. When I’m feeling depressed, I look at it with a mirror and remind myself all I need is the willpower, and I can do anything. Even defy her. Plus, wearing a revealing shirt to show it off around her friends is an added bonus.”

“Please let me be there the next time you do that,” he begged like a little boy.

“It’s a date,” she grinned and kissed him. “Now, let me get dressed.”

She stepped away from him to pick out a t-shirt and jeans. She was cleaning today, so nothing fancy.

When she bent to step into her lace panties, he nearly spit his coffee across the room. She shimmied the scrap up her legs, the elastic molding her ass like a lover while a single lacy string disappeared from sight between her rounded cheeks.

“Dammit, Julia. I’m going to have a raging hard–on all day, thanks to you, and you know I can’t shift well yet,” he accused.

She glanced slyly over her shoulder, batting her long lashes. “Perfect. I want you imagining me naked all day while you’re out doing manly stuff. That way, you’ll be looking forward to seeing me tonight instead of thinking about any old girlfriends.”

“I don’t have old girlfriends, and Stefan is going to have a field day with this,” he whined, indicating his pelvis.

“I’m sure you’ll live.”

Thomas dropped his head back, praying for strength. Blood pulsed in his groin as the memory of their encounter in the kitchen played in his mind like a movie. He struggled to swallow on a dry throat. Well, hell if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.

Stepping up behind her, he nuzzled her inviting neck before kissing his way to her earlobe. His palms skimmed down her arms and up to cup the weight of her breasts. Stroking his thumbs back and forth across her hardened nipples. Julia moaned, her soft body leaning against him, rubbing like a cat in heat.

I am imagining you at my feet, with your luscious lips stretched around my cock. 

Really?
Her arm came up around his neck to draw him to her lips. She drew his tongue into her mouth, sucking it like it was his dick.

All you had to do was ask.

Julia stepped from his arms and turned. Without breaking eye contact, she dropped to her knees and stripped his jeans to his ankles. His breath left his lungs in a rush as her warm wet mouth engulfed him. His eyes fluttered shut as she cupped his balls, rolling and squeezing gently as she bobbed up and down his length.

She took her time, her tongue circling the sensitive velvet head, lapping up the pearly drops seeping out. Thomas steadied his rubbery legs with a hand on her shoulder. Lord in heaven, her mouth was hot and wet, and–his eyes rolled back in his head– so damn tight.

Her tongue danced around the head of his cock like nothing he had ever experienced before. A fire raged in his groin, roaring for release.

“Baby, I’m going to cum.”

He tried to pull her to her feet, but she only sucked harder insisting on finishing him. His balls pulled up tight readying for his release before he exploded into her.

Thomas’s knees threatened to give out. He stood quivering, waiting for his brain to function again. Before he could jump-start the section of his brain that controlled speech, she stood and finished dressing with a knowing smile playing on her lips.

With still unsteady hands, he pulled his jeans over his hips again and fastened the button.

When he was finally able to form words, all he could say was, “Wow!”

“I’m glad you liked it. Plan on round two later,” she said and licked her lips suggestively while staring at his cock.

“Dang it, woman, stop doing that!”

The roar of outboard motors was loud in the still morning air as a parade of boats sped toward The Backwater bar. The women were armed with brooms, buckets, and mops while the men carried no weapons at all. Once they shifted to wolf form, they were the weapons. And besides, they would have no way to carry one except in their jaws.

Thomas offered his hand to Julia and helped her from their boat. Secretly, he prayed the electric tingle he got each time he touched her would never fade away.

One by one, each man who was mated helped his woman from the boat and held her close for a sweet goodbye.

Julia pressed closer to Thomas breathing warm air across his neck and whispered, “Don’t forget, I have plans for you tonight.” She gave his ear a long slow lick, smiling to herself as she felt him grow hard against her hip.

“You’re an evil woman,” Thomas growled, bunching a fist full of hair in his right hand and dragging her lips to his.

“I try,” she breathed between kisses.

Lucas walked past and waved for them to join the group gathering on the yard behind the bar.

Thomas let Julia precede him and promptly gave her a swat on the butt for her naughty behavior.

She threw her head back and laughed. Goddess she loved teasing this man.

As the men talked quietly in smaller groups, Julia moved to the edge of the trees. One of the faeries was waving her arms to get her attention.

“Good morning, Princess Julia,” the faeries said and curtsied. “Are the men going after the bad shifters today?”

“Yes, they are.”

The little faerie stood a little taller, pride radiating from her tiny body. “We kept watch on your establishment all night. No one has come near it.”

“Thank you, Petunia. I appreciate the care and concern you have shown to both me and Tommy.”

Petunia blushed and whispered, “Prince Tommy is so handsome.” The little bit of a faerie dragged out the word ‘so’ like a giddy teenager with a crush.

*****

Lucas looked over the crowd of volunteers and mentally chose teams. Then he considered the women, should he leave protection behind at The Backwater or not?

“Before I put you into teams, I’m wondering, does anyone feel we should leave a protection detail behind for the women?”

All the mated men immediately voiced their opinion, not wanting their mates alone at the bar, but the women felt differently.

El raised her voice first. “I think as shifters ourselves, we’re able to handle anything that arises. Between myself, Rose, Emma, Julia, and Krystal, we can keep Anna safe and out of trouble.”

Nods and murmurs of agreement were heard from all the women.

Isaac turned to Emma. “I don’t like it, but it’s your call.”

Emma gave the women a good, hard look. “I think we will be fine. Besides in about six hours Jack and Michael will be here.”

Cade squeezed Anna’s hand. “I will abide by your decision; please make sure it’s a safe one.”

“I agree with El, we’re more than capable of taking care of ourselves for a few hours.”

It was plain as day which men were mated with women staying behind by the scowls on their faces. But the king and queen along with their future queen had made a decision, and they had to live by it.

“All right, I’m going to split you into three teams. Isaac, Marcus, Charles, Logan, and myself are team one. Cade, Simon, John, and Etienne, you are team two. Thomas, Stefan, Quin, Rémi, and René, you are team three.”

The women kissed their mates goodbye while the men reassembled with their teammates to await further instructions.

“We will spread out from the water’s edge near the bar and work our way into the forest. Keep in mind, these backward-thinking swampers are experts at hiding. Isaac, would you like to tell everyone about your meeting with Queen Lilli?”

Isaac stepped to the front of the group next to Lucas. “Lilli has asked to be present at the swampers’ executions. She has every right to locate and kill these animals herself, and I was more than happy to agree with her request. As such, once the swampers are apprehended, I will call Lilli to join us before I mete out the justice they deserve.”

All of the men agreed, Lilli was being more than fair and should be in attendance.

“Go to your positions and shift, Isaac will signal for us to begin.”

Thomas led his group to the far right of the line; Isaac was center, and Cade was on the left.

In the blink of an eye, Thomas found himself surrounded by wolves as he attempted to shift for a second time. Stefan chuffed at his naked, very erect condition, earning a growl from Thomas and a smack on the head from Isaac’s paw. Three times the charm and Thomas was ready to kick swamper ass.

Wolves of every color slipped into the trees sniffing, searching for a trail to follow.

*****

Julia ushered the women into The Backwater. The reaction of gaping mouths and wide eyes was universal as the women saw the empty space for the first time.

“Damn, they really did a number on the place,” El grumbled.

“You should have seen it yesterday,” Julia sighed as she held back tears.

Emma put an arm around her shoulders. “We’ll have it better than new in a jiffy.”

“I know,” she shrugged. “The one bonus is Logan can decorate any way he wants now.”

“Why is he decorating your bar?” Rose asked.

“I’m selling out to him and living with Tommy at the plantation. It’s too far to travel by boat each day to continue operating it myself.”

Squeals of excitement echoed in the empty space as the women welcomed Julia and started cleaning. Well, all except Anna. Seated on the only chair, that was still in one piece, she acted as lookout in case of trouble.

Sweat poured off Julia as she scrubbed the back bar prep area. Every surface needed to be wiped and sanitized before it could be restocked with bottles and glassware.

Standing straight to stretch her back, Julia arched to relief the ache. She took this little stretch break to check on the others. Everyone worked diligently, talking little. The chatter had died off two hours ago.

As she reached for her spray bottle, Anna shouted an alarm.

“What are you doing here?” she yelled at whoever was docking a boat. “You can’t be here!”

Emma stopped sweeping. “Who’s out there, cher?” she called.

Anna was shaking like a leaf. “Tim,” she squeaked before she disappeared from their view.

*****

The men had been systematically searching in a grid pattern for the past four hours when Logan caught a trace of lingering trail. All fourteen men took turns learning the scent and searching for the path the swampers had taken. As Thomas stepped forward to give it a sniff, Petunia and Tulip hovered before him, waving their arms to get his attention.

“We know where they are,” Tulip whispered.

Thomas couldn’t speak to them in wolf form, so he shifted back to human. “Where?” he whispered back.

Petunia waved for him to follow her into thick cover hiding a game trail. He stayed in human form while the others followed as wolves. They worked their way through alternating heavy cover and soggy ground for over a mile until she stopped at the base of a large cypress.

“Why are we stopping?” Thomas wondered.

“They are here,” Petunia whispered, pointing at the tree.

Thomas looked left and right, then leaned closer to the tiny faerie. “Where?”

“Here,” Tulip pointed as she landed on the huge trunk.

When Thomas continued to look confused, Petunia landed next to Tulip with her hands on her hips. “Can’t you see the door?”

That’s when he noticed a thread-thin crack in the trunk that, when followed, was shaped like an arch.

“Do you know how to open it?” he asked the faeries.

Petunia giggled while Tulip rolled her eyes. “Of course.”

She tapped a dark patch on the trunk, and the arch fell open.

“Damn,” Thomas breathed. “We would have never found that.”

The space would never accommodate a human, so he shifted back to wolf while the others began to file through the hole and into a tunnel.

Etienne crossed his arms and glanced at Isaac. “Call me when you either find the little bastards or reach the other end and I will join you.”

Isaac’s wolf nodded and slipped through the opening behind the last wolf.

The tunnel ran just under the surface for a city block or so before it exited another cypress. Isaac lifted his nose to the breeze to locate Etienne’s direction, and then sent Rémi to fetch the vampire. The others spread out in teams again to locate the swampers trail. By the time Etienne rejoined the search, a fresh scent had been discovered. And based on the strength of the scent trail, the swampers had just passed this way.

The wolves silently crept along a well–established game trail until voices broke the serene atmosphere.

“I would have paid good money to see the look on that bitch's face when she saw her house,” one man bragged.

“Yeah. Me, too. Dumb skank should have accepted what I had to offer. Having the Benevolent Sovereign order the strike right after she attacked us was perfect timing. Not that I wouldn’t have retaliated, but this way it was sanctioned,” Blade agreed.

Lucas signaled for the teams to fan out for the attack; they needed to take them alive if possible for Queen Lilli.

The five swampers sat around what looked like a makeshift camp, unaware danger lurked in every direction.

Isaac used his ability to communicate with all of his subjects to issue the command to attack.

Surprised shouts and squeals were heard as thirteen wolves, and one very pissed off vampire leapt into the camp. Immediately the swampers shifted, ready to fight to the death.

Isaac allowed the shift, more for the men to have a chance to avenge the attack on their family than anything else. He would let them fight it out for a bit before he forced the swampers to human form.

One swamper was spinning circles as Lucas attacked its head and Marcus its flank. Lucas slashed the swamper’s muzzle with his razor sharp fangs, sending a stream of blood down its chest and filling the air with its coppery scent. Before the wolf could recover, Marcus leapt on its back, latching onto its neck with his powerful jaws.

The rest of Team One – Isaac, Charles, and Logan had another mangy wolf on defense. Isaac crouched ready to pounce, and Charles and Logan took turns snapping at its hind legs. The second the swamper lifted its jaw high enough, Isaac latched onto its neck, immobilizing the beast.

Team Two looked almost bored with their target. Four on one didn’t offer much sport. While Etienne shot stinging energy at the wolf’s ass every chance he got, Cade, Simon, and John took a bit of fur here and there with each lunging attack. Taking the wolf down would end the fight, and they weren’t ready for that to happen.

Quin, Rémi, and René kept their swamper busy and increasingly bloody while Thomas and Stefan took on Blade.

Blade lunged for Thomas’s left forepaw, snapping air when Thomas jumped out of reach at the last second. While Blade concentrated on Thomas, Stefan latched onto his right hind leg with a grip so tight the sound of bones cracking resounded in the air. When Blade reached around to rip at Stefan, Thomas clamped his jaws down on Blade’s neck. Blade tried to struggle free, but quickly learned that that, only caused the wolf at his neck to rip his flesh further. Growling and snarling, Blade stilled, waiting for Thomas to either finish him off or make a mistake.

All the swampers were subdued except Cade’s group. They were still toying with theirs.

Charles, take charge of this idiot. I’m going to force them to shift so be ready,
Isaac commanded. Then he warned the rest of the crew that the swampers were being forced to human form.

Lucas shifted, ready to grab their swamper as Marcus released the wolf in order to shift himself. The instant Marcus let go, and the shifter became human, the swamper tried to make a run for it. Lucas swept the swamper’s legs out from under him as Marcus leapt on his back and followed him to the ground landing with an “ummph” as the air was forced from his lungs.

Isaac waited for Charles and Logan to shift, before he released their swamper and forced the shift on the mangy wolf. An instant later, Isaac, too, stood in human form as Charles and Logan held the swamper securely between them.

Etienne was frustrated; he wanted a fight, and this was not satisfying his need to avenge the attack on his friends. The instant the wolves stepped away to shift, he flicked a finger toward the swamper, shooting a strong bolt of energy at the man’s chest as he took human form and knocking him out cold.

Quin waited for his brothers to shift before releasing their target and taking human form. Rémi
and René grabbed the swamper before he could make a dash for freedom, and stood waiting for Isaac’s next command.

The only wolves remaining were Thomas, Stefan, and Blade. Stefan shifted first and then crouched in a ready stance to allow Thomas to release Blade’s neck. The instant Blade felt Thomas’s jaws loosen he tried to attack but found himself flattened to the ground unable to move.