When the Wolves Cry (Twin Flames Duet #1)

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

TALA

My palms are so sweaty they’re sticking to my steering wheel. Anxiously, I roll my top lip over the tiny hoop in my septum. I sometimes forget it’s there because it’s so small. But it’s a really good fidget for when I’m teetering on the edge of ripping my clothes off from anxiety.

I don’t know why my body is panicking over parking in front of his house. He rearranged my organs in public yesterday.

The women working were livid. It didn’t help that Jax passed a wad of cash over to one and said, “For the rug.”

I can’t think about it.

I’m still feeling the walk of shame and the walk of pain.

While turning my SUV off, my phone buzzes in the little cubby I put it in while I’m driving, popping up my dad’s caller ID.

I answer it, wedging it in between my ear and shoulder while grabbing my shaggy bag from the passenger seat. “Hi, Dad.”

“Hey, sweetheart. You out stirrin’ up trouble?”

Heat floods my chest and rises to my face, thinking someone told him about the mall. “Uh, what? No? Why would I be?”

Good job, Tala. You work well under pressure.

“I’m just teasin’ you, Tala. Sheesh.”

My door opens, inviting in the whiskey traveling with the cold air. Listening to my dad ramble on about how he always makes silly comments like that, I frown, holding a finger up to Satan. I know his nosy ass wants to know who I’m talking to, so I flash my screen and point to my back seat with a smile.

His brows knit, but he quickly catches on and opens the rear door.

“Anywho, kiddo. I was just calling because Mom and I are gonna sit this year’s gala out,” Dad says cautiously.

“Oh. Why don’t you guys want to go?” I question, slipping out of my seat and making kisses at Sirohi. I yank my bag up to my shoulder so I can pet him, catching a glimpse of Jax’s quizzical eyes over the mountain of bags in my back seat.

“Well.” He pauses for a beat, so I put him on speaker to get my sweaty face off my phone. “To avoid any conflict really. I don’t think I can see Pyro, or Brutus, whatever his nuts are called, without shooting him.”

I purse my lips in fairness, nodding like he can see. I almost choke on saliva, ogling the back muscles in front of me. Jax is hauling my bags to the front door, meanwhile I’m traipsing leisurely behind him.

“Are you upset with me?” Dad asks.

Oh, shit. He’s still on the phone.

“What? Why would I be upset? I think that’s valid, Dad. Even if you just didn’t feel like going, I’d have no reason to be upset with you.”

Taking the wide concrete steps, I pan up to the tight ass in gray sweatpants and almost fucking roll right back down. I have to force myself to look at my Chucks, so I don’t start slobbering like a thirsty dog in the heat.

“We always take you girls and stop for ice cream after. I don’t know. I guess I’m justfeelin’ bad to break the tradition over animosity,” Dad says grimly.

Jax gives me a sharp smile over his shoulder. “I’ll make sure she gets ice cream, sir.”

Why? So he can suck it from my tongue?

I want to punch myself for putting that image in my head. Not only is my vagina sore, now she’s thrumming like she wasn’t fed twelve hours ago.

“Jax!” Dad shouts excitedly. “You were my next call, son.”

Getting inside his house, I go ahead and pass my phone to him.

I know that my dad’s undivided attention is on him now. Which is fine. I’m learning to love it rather than get upset.

His voice makes me shudder as I walk around his black couches, over to the fireplace. I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to the rich deepness that rumbles from him.

I sit down on the ground, crisscrossing my legs, and Sirohi comes running around the couch with his nub tail wiggling. “Hi, baby,” I coo, cupping his sweet face in both hands.

While they finish talking about cameras, I give Sirohi love and smatter him with kisses. He plops down next to me, resting his big head in my lap. I can’t help but linger on his ears, his story resurfacing in my mind and burning my eyes.

I blink it away, and tenderly pet his soft head. “I’m so sorry that happened to you, Sirohi.” I pause for a sorrowful sigh. “Unfortunate shit gets put in our path. Sometimes for no reason, but sometimes to present something better for us. That’s no excuse for what you had to go through. But I’m really glad it brought you to Jax,” I whisper languidly.

His glassy eyes roam my face, almost lovingly.

I’ll tell myself that he understood everything, just so I feel a little better about having a heart to heart with a dog.

The behemoth of a man crouches in front of me. Flashing his hypnotically sharp smile, he passes my phone back with a new lock screen of Sirohi and I. “Were you talking to him?” he asks warmly.

Curling my arms around Sirohi, I gasp sarcastically “That was a private moment.”

His face falls wolfish. “You don’t have privacy anymore, Tala.” He tilts his head, raking down my braids.

“You’re so obsessed with me,” I whisper teasingly.

He nods, glancing at my lips before running his fingers over one of my braids. His knuckles brush over my nipple in passing, and the tingles that flower over my breast make my breath hitch.

He traces the woven pattern down to my hip, looking too intrigued for what it is. “I like your hair like this,” he confesses.

I pet Sirohi, ignoring the recurring pressure in between my thighs. “Well, I’ll teach you how to braid my hair then. My arms end up hurting halfway through and I usually give up.”

His fingertips draw over my throat, spreading out to gently wrap his hand around my entire neck. He inches closer to my face, barely brushing his lips against mine. “You’re going to teach me something? That’s hot,” he finishes with a low whisper.

If his breath doesn’t smell like warm tobacco, it smells sweet. Regardless, it always makes my head foggy like I’m breathing innitrousoxide.

Stuck in the haze, I say nothing. I’m not capable of spitting out words without stammering.

Myflustrationmakes him smile, seemingly eerie from the proximity. “Come on, baby. I made you lunch. You need to fuel up before I make you sweat your body weight.”

He better be talking about training.

My vagina needs a few days of rest.

My fry has been submerged in a puddle of ranch for five minutes because I cannot tear my eyes away from the food porn happening before me.

I’m watching him eat in slow motion, with a few cuts that speed up little moments to make it that much more sexually appetizing.

His hunter eyes lock on mine, the dim lighting casting down on him raising the dripping burger to his mouth. He takes a bite that crunches from the lettuce, and a little bit of his homemade vinegar sauce drips onto his scruff.

Without thinking, I reach over my plate and wipe it up with my forefinger, holding it up to his lips while his sharp jaws work down the bite.

The dragon head on his Adam’s apple bobs, and he takes my finger into his mouth, curling his silky, wet tongue around it to clean his mess off. Before letting it go, he bites at my long, sharp nail, giving me thin eyes that entice me to crawl over the table.

“You’re messy,” I hum, sitting back in my chair.

“Hm,” he growls amusedly. “What can I say? I’m a man with an appetite .” His words hang in the air, thickening the tension.

I grab my glass of water with a shaky hand, keeping my eyes over the glass as I take a drink to wash the butterflies down. “How’d you learn to cook so well?” I ask, trying to reroute the conversation.

“My father, mostly. Every Saturday he’d use his grill or smoker. He used to use these hickory wood chips when he smoked meat. I haven’t been able to find them here.” He stares at me in thought for a beat. “I think we might need to make a trip to Savannah to hunt them down.”

A twinge of excitement waves over my chest. “I’ve never been anywhere in the lower forty-eight.”

“You’ve never left Alaska?”

“Nope.”

“Oh, baby,” he shakes his head. “I have so many places to show you.”

His strong arms come around my arms and chest, brutally squeezing as he lifts me up from the mat. “Come on, Tala, stop letting me get you off the ground,” he says irritably.

Sweating profusely, I use my limited mobility to splay my hands in the air, looking at the demon in the mirror. “What do you expect? You’re massive in comparison,” I bite out.

He sets me down, removing his fucking pythons. “That doesn’t matter. So, try the fuck again. Center your weight and punch out before I even have the chance to get you up.”

I growl in annoyance, quickly wiping the sweat from my forehead. He wraps around me again, and this time I drop my weight and punch out to loosen his grip. With the frustration fueling me, I swoop my arms up through the gap, turn around and shove my hands into his stupidly perfect face to break free.

“Attagirl,” he snarls through gritted teeth, then smacks my ass in encouragement.

I drop my arms and fall straight down to the mat.

We’ve been going over different locks for like four hours and I am spent. My muscles feel like fucking pudding and my heart is thrumming in my temples.

“Get up. You’re not done for the day,” he says sharply, grabbing my hands to drag me up.

I scrunch my face and whine, but the footsteps thundering down the hall make me get my shit together and latch onto his sweaty shirt like a human shield.

“I’m so sorry, man. I know you hate it when I barge in. But a fight just popped up for tonight and I tried calling you eight times,” Leon rushes.

I peek around the behemoth shielding me, and Leon’s thin, brown eyes locate me, darting right back to Satan.

“What time, Leon?” Jax asks abrasively.

“Ten. I’ll start setting my stuff up for the stream.” He quickly turns around and disappears down the dark hallway.

An aggravated breath jets over my face. I look up to the obsidian that’s glaring down at me, rubbing over his firm chest. “I can head home and just come back in the morning.”

I doubt he wants me in his house with another man. Not because he doesn’t trust me.

Because he’s crazy.

He collects his thoughts for a moment, playing with my braids behind me. “If this is something you’re wanting to do with me, I think it would be best for you to sit by Leon and watch the stream. That way you can turn around if it becomes too much. If you’re out there with me, you don’t have the option to look away. You have to have your eyes peeled and head on a swivel.”

It takes me a second, but I lightly nod in agreement.

I don’t want to see that shit. But if I’m going to take this seriously and be his partner—I have to see what I’m getting myself into.