“Please come back,” Sarah begged quietly.
Lee watched in silence, waiting to see if our pleading worked. I didn’t really want to know what he would try if it failed. It didn’t matter because I felt the change start under my fingertips, a little sizzle that let me know Neil was trying. It was slow and painful, utterly different from what usually happened. Normally Neil just was. One minute he was Neil and the next he was the beautiful snow-white wolf I’d seen so often at my side. On the flip side, he changed as quickly from that wolf to my little club boy with curly blonde hair and a male-model body to die for. Now the transition was hesitant. He seemed to get stuck in places, and Sarah and I were both terrified at what would happen if he couldn’t get back to the boy we knew and loved. If he was incapable of returning to form, he would fade and die and there was nothing we could do about it.
“Neil Roberts, you change now!” Lee’s voice boomed through the space, filling it with his will. He crossed his arms over his burly chest and yelled in his best drill sergeant voice. “Get up off your fucking lazy ass and change.”
Sarah turned on the lone wolf, fury plain in her eyes. “Don’t you talk to him like that!”
Lee growled at her, either not caring or completely ignorant that she could hex his privates. “Talking sweet ain’t working, darling. He needs to follow orders. It’s in his blood.” He focused his attention back on the wolf. “You’ll change or I’ll take you right back out to those woods and give you back to that brother of yours. I’ll let him put you out of your misery if you don’t have the guts to change now. That girl risked everything for your sorry ass and you can’t be bothered to change form? Hell, I’ll take you out myself. Change!”
That last bit was said in a roar that might have blown my hair back if I’d been in front of Lee. It startled me, and I was just about to have it out with my bodyguard when Neil growled stubbornly and forced himself into human form.
I sighed as I looked over his body. If I thought his wolf was thin, the gaunt human who lay miserable and shaking in the middle of the big, comfy bed shocked me. His whole body shook, and his eyes were pale and sunken as they stared up at me, pleading.
Lee sighed, satisfied he’d been able to get him to this point. His gaze went from me to Sarah. “He needs contact even more than he needs food.”
Lee walked toward the door. Sarah and I knew exactly what Neil needed and we didn’t hesitate. We shucked our clothes off as quickly as possible. I kicked off my sneakers, dropped my shorts, tossed my T-shirt aside and unclasped my bra because warm, naked skin was needed. Sarah did the same. In quick time we were down to nothing but warm skin.
Lee turned, speaking again. “I’ll go and find some wolves who won’t mind getting naked with…whoa!” Lee turned quickly, startled at the sight of Sarah and me naked and starting to pull back the covers. “I did not need to see that, Zoey. You are two married ladies. You shouldn’t be all undressed and stuff.”
I was slightly amused because I’d never known a wolf to be hesitant when it came to nudity. It was normal and natural for the wolf. In most cases, they didn’t even see it as sexual. Lee was prudish for a wolf.
“I saw you naked. Well, I saw your butt,” I pointed out as I climbed into bed with Neil and Sarah.
“That was different.” Lee didn’t turn around, probably because he was afraid he would catch a glimpse of something he didn’t want to see. “I don’t have boobs. I can see the two of you have the body-contact thing down, so I’ll go help the big red guy hustle up some grub. Please don’t get naked around me again.”
Lee left the room and Sarah and I shook our heads. It was a little insulting, but I would make sure I was always covered around Lee. I pulled the quilt over us and sank down beside Neil.
“How long?” Neil’s voice came out in a little croak as he shivered and shifted toward me. The wolf sometimes lost track of time, especially when in animal form for long periods. He’d wandered, not caring about the turning of the clock or paying attention to what month it was.
I opened my arms to him and pulled him into the heat of my body. Sarah wrapped herself around his back, and I felt a great shudder of relief go through him. He buried his head against my chest and we held him close.
“It’s been seven months,” I replied, letting him nuzzle my neck affectionately.
He nodded. “Is that all? It felt like longer. It felt like forever.”
Sarah rested her head against the back of his neck. “You’ve been gone too long. You missed a lot. I got married.”
“Really? To the hot angel guy?” Neil asked, though his throat sounded like he had gravel in it.
“Yep,” Sarah replied.
“That’s good.” Neil took a deep inhale through his nose, letting the scents of the place wash over him. “Zoey’s still having sex with Dev. I can smell him all over you. It’s good to know some things never change.” Neil laughed a little, and there was that light in his eyes he always had when he teased me.
Sarah chuckled. “He doesn’t know about that, Z. He really is out of the loop.”
“Well, for god’s sake, Sarah, fill him in. It might give him the will to live knowing he can watch the strange soap opera that is my life,” I replied good-naturedly because I’d been waiting to fill him in on my love life for seven long months.
“Z’s living with Dev and Daniel,” Sarah said, her voice taking on the tone of salacious gossip.
Neil managed to lift his head to show me his shocked face. “Like Vegas living together?”
Neil had been the first one to find out the boys and I had been experimenting sexually.
“I’m afraid so but it’s kind of going to hell,” I admitted. “Danny’s going to leave us.”
Neil’s face fell, and he sank his head back to my heart, placing his ear right over the sound of it beating. “Like I said, some things never change.” He was quiet now. “Is he still mad at me?”
“I don’t know.” I lied just a little. “I didn’t ask him his opinion.”
“He doesn’t know I’m here?”
I petted his curly head, trying to calm him. “It doesn’t matter. Devinshea knows and while I think he’s planning on giving you a stern talking to, he also said it would be good to have you home. Crap, we don’t have a home anymore.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Neil had lived with me in my house in the country before I moved to the penthouse with the boys.
Sarah answered for me. “Her house got blown up. Halfer torched the place, and Daniel lost one of his baby vamps. Zoey was busy hijacking a truck.”
I frowned. “Halfer showed up there, too. He took my prize and shoved me out of a car going seventy miles an hour. I broke three bones. Dev had to set them. It was really heinous. Don’t worry about it. There’s plenty of room in the penthouse.”
Neil shook his head. “No wonder you came looking for me, honey. You’ve been working with amateurs. Well, I’m back now. You just set up some jobs. I think I’ll like living in the penthouse. It’ll look good on me. God, I want to go shopping. I missed seven months of TV.”
Albert walked in, a plate filled with a savory brisket balanced in his hands. It made my mouth water. Neil sat straight up in bed, and I could hear his tummy rumbling.
“I had been preparing this for our non-vegetarian friends, but I can always find another. It’s not as done as I believe it should be,” Albert said with the frown of a chef who likes things to be perfect.
“Oh, it’s fine, Al.” Neil’s eyes glazed a little as Albert passed the plate to him. “Hello, meat I didn’t have to hunt down. I missed you. I missed you so much.” Neil turned his light eyes back up to the butler. “This is a good start. If you have anything sweet, I would be so grateful. They don’t have cupcakes you can chase down and eat in the woods. It’s a real oversight.”