Chapter 124: Jude's Moods

Jude POV

"Headache any better?" Ravyn asked.

Since dwarves from an opera were hammering behind his eyes, Jude shook his head. He pressed his fingers to his temples, feeling the throbbing. 

The coolness of her healing energy washed over him. How did she do that?

"How did you do that? I had a headache. Most of the time, shifters don't get them."

She tsked-tsked, her hands kneading his muscles, feeling like a balm after the horror they'd endured. "You just entered a nightmare realm where pain rules," she reminded him. "I need to cleanse you. And me. Everyone that went with us needs cleansing."

He growled. "Stop worrying about the world for once."

He adored her compassion, but Moon Goddess, it could be a bit much sometimes. Why did she always have to think of everyone else before the two of them? Even her ex-husband…

He blinked and shook his head. His wolf Arcturus growled at him for his surliness.

"You're right."

He blinked.

Had he heard correctly?

Ravyn rubbed his shoulders. "The others can take care of themselves. Tulaska will cleanse them." She pressed a kiss to his shoulder, and he felt her gratitude. "I promised to submit to you earlier tonight, and I don't think I'm quite finished. In fact, we were interrupted."

Jude slowly smiled.

It might seem bizarre to think about claiming her again when they'd just escaped death and witnessed such darkness, but his wolf was going crazy at the idea.

Pulling her down on the bed that they shared in Cresta House, he turned her onto her back. "You were d*mn sexy as a wolf," he said huskily. "I know my hand was forced … but I don't regret it."

Ravyn smiled.

God, she was gorgeous. And HIS.

"I love that you're a wolf," he growled. "I love being a wolf. Use your wolf senses … your smell. Tell me what you smell."

Delicately, she sniffed him.

"Not like that. Not like a HUMAN. Sniff me like a wolf sniffs her mate. Like he's hers."

She snorted with laughter and smelled him. After a moment, her eyes widened, and her mouth formed an "O" of surprise. "You smell wolfy."

"I hope so. And what does smelling wolfy smell like?"

"Musky … woodsy … also a hint of spice."

He huffed, pleased, sniffing her, inhaling her scent. In addition to the evergreen scent that drew him to her, he smelled that wolf musk. "You smell like you, with wolf added."

Shyly, she sniffed him further. "I can smell so much more. I can smell all the scents in the house, even the paint. Is that usual?"

"Yes. Especially for a new wolf." 

"Oh. I never knew. I never knew any of this. Even after being the grandmother to pups and the mother-in-law to several wolves. You've made it possible for me to understand them in a way that I never could have."

His chest puffed up at hearing that he had introduced her to the majesty, the magic, and the joy of being a wolf. "Do you know your wolf's name?"

Ravyn paused. Clearly, that hadn't occurred to her. 

"Listen," he said, tapping her heart. "She'll talk to you. Close your eyes and listen to her."

Ravyn shut her eyes, her breathing slow and even. He felt her heart, and heard the steady rhythm of her heartbeat while she concentrated. He felt her wolf energy.

"Aradia," she whispered.

Jude smiled, enchanted. "That isn't one I've ever heard before."

"What's amazing is that it's also the name of an ancient sorceress that we all revere," Ravyn murmured, opening her purple eyes, like the night sky. "Aradia Nightskye. A gifted witch who set down the practices that we as witches still follow today."

He pulled her into his arms. "Then … I was wrong." The words came out as a growl. "I shouldn't have kept you from discovering your wolf. I was an idiot. You're meant to be a wolf. My she-wolf. Magic and wolves combined."

Such a surge of euphoria, as if he were floating. He couldn't believe he'd stupidly resisted her desire to be a wolf. For what? Some stupid political statement about cooperation and tolerance? Idiotic!

Ravyn drew back, her eyes searching his. "Jude… what's wrong?"

"Nothing." His lips stretched in a huge, wolfy grin. "Nothing at all. I just wish I'd made you a wolf sooner … when you asked me the first time."

Before she could question him further, his lips slammed into hers, and he felt her body jerk in shock. She wasn't used to him taking what he wanted, certainly not overwhelming her with lust. But he couldn't resist her. 

* * * * *

Ravyn POV

The force of his passion and his mouth … It felt like the spirit of the wolf.

But she had the wolf inside her now, too.

Her arms wound around him and she kissed him back, smelling the wolfy, woodsy musk of him. Like wandering in the forest primeval. Like being one with the forest, the way wood elves were.

"Ravyn," he moaned. "I've never been like this … not with anyone. It's primal, what you do to me. You being a wolf may be the death of me."

Her lips quirked, and she wound herself around him. "As we said, I think you'll be fine."

A growl rose from his lips, and the answering growl from hers had her reeling.

"D*mn right," he purred. "I'm going to claim you again. Claim you like nobody's business. Take you over and over and over again, all night long, until you can't even remember your own name, much less … much less that nightmare world we entered."

The less said about that dark dimension, the better for tonight, in Ravyn's mind.

Her mouth and hands blazed a trail of passion over his skin. They'd shed their clothes as wolves, and good riddance. 

"You know, you shifters are sensible, running around the way witches used to all the time."

Jude grinned sensually. "Really? Witches used to go about without a stitch of clothing on?"

"We're very free with our bodies, even though we've learned to be particular about who we share them with," Ravyn murmured, using her mouth and hands to taste his skin anew. 

Would it be different exploring him when they were both wolves?

Could they mate in wolf form with the same devotion as in their human forms?

Would she go into heat like a female wolf?

She should have considered all these questions. Ravyn Rolfe Houdini Faolan was not the impulsive type. That was something Luna Ravyn of the Silverpaw Pack would have to uphold, wolf or not.

But at the same time, it felt right, becoming a she-wolf. 

"Your pack … will they accept me? As a witch turned wolf?"

He growled. "You ask too many questions."

He set about distracting her, his hand slipping between her legs.

The sudden, and welcome, intimate invasion made her gasp as his clever fingers stroked this part of her that craved him, thirsted for him. "You're wet for me," he grunted. 

Shivering, she acknowledged the truth of his words, the evidence of her desire, her need for him. "Yes," she said breathlessly. "Feel me."

"You're just overflowing with love juices," he whispered in her ear, his hands probing her in ways that made her tremble and quake deliciously.

His fingers inside her lit up every pleasure node she had, making her head fall back. Slowly, she sank down on the bed. Grinning lustily, his handsome face lit up by his desire and making him look even more primal yet elegant, he crouched at the apex of her thighs and fastened those wicked lips on the sensitive nub.

"OHHHHH."

Her eyes met his, smoldering and wolf gold. He knew exactly what he was doing to her and for her, how every muscle in her body instantly turned to liquid when he caressed her with his mouth. He knew, not just because of the bond and his wolf senses, but from years of experience and two children. Now, she reaped the benefits of all that past passion and his skill at satisfying a woman. She felt loved, wanted, cherished … 

It felt different than before, even when he demanded her surrender.

Maybe she shouldn't be indulging right now, after what they'd just endured, and the loss of Hades … but Jude deserved the sweet oblivion their lovemaking could provide. So did she.

When he moved back, she let out a groan of protest. "JUDE!"

Suddenly, a length of silk slipped between her thighs and rubbed sensually.

Heat exploded inside her. "Jude … what are you doing?"