Full Moon Rising (Riley Jenson Guardian 1)

"Just worried about Rhoan." Liander hadn't yet phoned, and that couldn't be a good sign. If he didn't ring in the next half hour, I was calling him

"You found him."

It wasn't a question, more a statement, which was odd. I nodded. "He wasn't well, so I've a friend at home watching him." I might trust Talon with my body, but I wasn't about to trust him with my twin's safety

"He's a wolf. We're strong by nature. He'll be okay."

I nodded again. I knew that, but the worry was, what had Moneisha been doing to him? Just because there'd been no visible cuts or bruising didn't mean there weren't any. Didn't mean deeper damage hadn't been done

"Champagne?" Talon asked, reaching for the half-empty bottle near the steps

I shook my head. "No. It doesn't seem to agree with me."

He poured himself a glass and drank it down in one gulp. It seemed he liked the bubbly stuff the way he preferred his sex. And as much as it was physically satisfying, part of me was beginning to hunger for more. Though what that more was, I couldn't really say

My gaze drifted back to the gray-clad sky. What would it be like to make love with Quinn? It would surely be good - after all, with a thousand years behind him, he'd have had the time to sharpen and refine his technique. Something I doubted Talon would ever do

"Have you ever thought about the future, little wolf?" Talon poured himself another glass of champagne, then leaned against the wall again

I slanted him a curious glance and wondered where he was headed with a question like that. "No, not really. Why?"

"So you have no idea where you want to be in ten, or twenty years' time?"

"No." Mainly because no one seemed to know how much time I actually had. Werewolves generally lived somewhere between one hundred fifty and two hundred years. But vampires were eternal, unless killed. No one knew which side of the fence I would fall on. So far, my development was slower than a wolf's normally would be; but, by the same token, I wasn't years behind the norm

I tended to treat the longevity problem the same way I treated the whole fertility problem - by not really thinking about it. When it became a problem, then I'd worry

"So you've had no yearning for children or marriage or anything like that?" he asked

"Of course I have - but the time isn't right yet for such things."

He reached out as I drifted near to him, snagging my hand and tugging me closer. As I settled on his lap, he said, "And if it was?"

"Then yeah, kids and marriage would definitely be on the agenda." I could feel the rising force of his erection, but for the moment, he made no attempt to enter. "What about you? Do all these questions mean the lone wolf is actually thinking about settling down sometime in the near future?"

He laughed. "No. But I do want a son. I want my name carried on in the next generation."

I grinned. "All males want a son, but sometimes they get daughters."

"There are ways to ensure gender."

"I prefer to rely on nature." Although if I relied on nature, I'd never get pregnant

"So you do want to have kids sometime in the future?"

I frowned. Hadn't I just answered that question? "As I said, yes. If I meet the right man."

"And if you don't?"

"I don't know. I'll worry about it when the time comes."

His hands slid down to my hips, shifting me, then holding me still as he slid his cock deep inside. And while the lingering moon heat had me half-ready to take him, his continuing avoidance of any form of foreplay was beginning to annoy

And I said as much

He merely grinned. "When the moon rises high, sex is what matters, not foreplay."

"It may not matter to you, but it does to me." I pried his hands off my hips and pushed away from him, kicking water in his face as I floated back to the center of the spa