Scene 8
"If this is you, Kevin," Jo called out, "You're really annoying me."
The low howl sounded again.
Jo had been following the wolf without catching sight of it all night long. If Andy had been here, she could have found out from him exactly how fast a wolf could travel, but even without Andy she knew that the answer should have been 'fast enough to get away from a human being on foot with ease.' But this wolf always stayed just out of reach and just out of sight. Every time she stopped and thought about giving up, though, it would howl again, the sound mournful and lonely in the night.
"Hey," the voice came from right behind her. Jo whirled around, startled. "Zane?" she pulled her night vision goggles off. The sky was starting to get light in the east, and she could just see his face in the breaking dawn. "What are you doing here?"
"Looking for you," he answered, eyes dark, face serious.
"Okay," said Jo, confused. She glanced at her watch," It's seven in the morning. Did you need something?"
"Yeah," he nodded. "I—," he shook his head, as if trying to decide whether to speak, and then continued, his voice almost annoyed. "I just wanted you to know I didn't like that."
Jo bit her lip, "Didn't like…?" she started.
"Hearing about you and Taggart. I didn't like that at all," Zane took a step closer, and almost involuntarily, Jo's gaze dropped to his lips. Without hesitation, Zane reached for her, sliding his hand around to the back of her neck, and pulling her to him, his other hand dropping to the small of her back.
Her mouth opened under his and her hands slid up his chest to his shoulders and then encircled his neck as she brought him even closer. They feasted on each other's mouths, lips clinging, shifting, nibbling. Jo arched, head falling back under the passion and strength of his kiss, the warmth of his mouth. He slid his mouth down the line of her neck and then paused.
With one finger, he traced the line of the gold chain around from the back of her neck and down, and then looped his finger under it, and pulled it out from where it was hidden under her jacket and sweater. The diamond ring dangled at the end of the chain, sparkling in the first rays of the sun. "You're wearing it," he said, voice husky.
"I—you gave it back to me the other day," Jo shrugged defensively. "I didn't want to leave it lying around." The interruption was bringing her back to herself. What was she doing?
"Don't ruin it," he shook his head and then took her mouth again with even greater intensity, running his hands along the lines of her body, and then sliding them around to her back, pulling her into him. For a second, she thought, I need to stop this and then she fell into his kiss, losing herself in the sensations of his touch.
His hands were fumbling at the fasteners of her jacket, and impatiently he pushed the sleeves off her shoulders. She let it fall to the ground, as she pulled his shirt free from his pants, and slid her hands up into the warmth of his skin. For a moment, two, three, there was nothing but feelings, nothing but fast panting breaths between kisses, and the lovely liquid heat rising within her, but he was tugging at her sweater, pulling it over her head, she raising her arms to make it easier, and the cool air on her bare skin brought her back to herself.
"Zane, we can't—," she started, only to pause as he groaned.
"Black lace? Really? Knowing that is going to kill me every day," he whispered into her mouth, as one hand rose to cup her breast and the other slid down her back to pull her firmly into his hardness. She couldn't help a breathy chuckle, but it was quickly followed by a whimper as his thumb stroked against her sensitive skin.
"Zane, we—Zane!" Jo screamed his name as the wolf slammed into Zane's side, carrying him ten feet across the leafy ground, and landing on top of him. The wolf was growling and snapping, and Zane was trying to roll, while Jo quickly dropped to the ground and scrambled for her tranq gun. She'd slipped it into the pocket of her jacket earlier, and it had fallen to the ground when Zane had slipped the jacket off her. A part of her cursed her own carelessness even as she fumbled for the pocket.
As the gun slid into her hand, she stood and whirled back to face the wolf, but there were two wolves now, one a brownish gray and one white, both snarling. She snapped off a quick shot at the closer of the two, the brown one, and then reloaded, hands now steady and competent. Zane and the white wolf were rolling, Zane trying to force the canine's head away from him with his hands, while trying to get his legs up so that he could shove the wolf's body away with the strength of his legs. They were moving so quickly that she couldn't get a clear shot.
The brown wolf had twisted, and was biting at the dart on its flank. Abruptly, it stopped, gave a whimper, and then collapsed. The white wolf leapt off of Zane and turned, seeing what had happened. Jo took careful aim, and fired, but the wolf flattened itself to the ground and the dart flew over its head.
The white wolf looked at Jo with the equivalent of a doggie grin, mouth open and tongue hanging out, and then rose from the ground, turned, and raced away as Jo was sliding a third dart into the gun.
"I missed," Jo stared at her gun in disbelief. "I missed," she said again. "I have the most marksmanship titles in special forces history. I never miss."
"You got one of them," Zane pushed himself up off the ground, wincing.
"Are you okay?" Jo let go of her shock—although she knew she'd be rethinking that shot every night before falling asleep for years—and rushed to his side. "Are you hurt?"
"Not really, no," he said, shaking his head and staring after the wolf. "I mean a little banged up and bruised, but that thing was huge. If it had wanted to hurt me, I'd be seriously hurt."
"Your hand's bleeding," Jo realized.
Zane glanced at it. "It's nothing," he said. "I was trying to get its teeth away. But it really wasn't trying to hurt me." He gazed in the direction the wolf had gone. "Okay, that was just weird. What the hell is going on, Lupo? What are you doing out here?"