Bait This! (A 300 Moons Book) (5 page)

D
erek couldn’t distract her
.

She was going to see that he had already healed, impossibly quickly.

It was already too late. She was up on her knees, her hands reaching for his hair.

He would have to submit.

She was close enough that he could hear her heartbeat, scent the sweetness of her. The bear moaned, but Derek held him in with all he had, the mark burning his hip like a hot coal beneath his skin, his whole body teeming with energy that he held in by a thread.

He moved fully into the shelter, hunkering down to her level, and the feeling eased a bit.

Whatever was going on with him, it seemed to be worse in the moonlight.

He stilled as her fingers touched his hair.

Her hands were so gentle. It could have been her feather touch, but he felt a light prickle of electricity between them.

“It’s fine,” she breathed at last, sitting back on her heels.

He was drawn between the agony of aching for more of her touch and the relief of having passed the test of having her touch him without incident.

Her silence roused him.

He didn’t know what to say. He had been found out.

“You’re one of them, then,” she said.

“What do you mean?” he asked, not turning, afraid to look her in the eye.

“You’re a wolf,” she said.

The bear tossed his snout in the air indignantly at being confused with a canine. Darcy would have howled with laughter at the thought.

Derek turned to examine the woman’s expression.

She stared back at him, her lavender eyes clear and frank.

She knew about shifters.

He had never told a human he was a shifter before. But this was a different situation than he’d ever been in.

He considered his options and made a calculated decision within the time it took to blink.

He nodded and made a noncommittal grunt.

Willing to admit to being a shifter, but not exactly wanting to tell her he was a bear.

The way Derek saw it, women fantasized about guys who turned into wolves, he’d seen it in those sparkly vampire movies.

But most people were white-knuckled in terror at the grainy internet home videos of lumbering bears running rampant. They were forever vandalizing suburban backyards and killing deer, never standing confidently on the edge of a cliff or something, giving a poignant howl.

If you were going to be a shifter, the writing was on the wall. Wolves were the sexy, sympathetic kings.

And bears were… well, bumbling and brutish.

Hedda nodded matter-of-factly at his admission, not seeming to question his status as a wolf.

“I knew you were a shifter,” she said.

He let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. “How did you know?”

“The town where I used to live was all shifters - wolves,” she said.

“Not you,” he corrected her.

“You’re right, not me,” she smiled.

“But the
whole town
was shifters?” he asked.

She nodded again.

Derek thought about that.

“You grew up around people, I take it,” she said.

“Yeah. Well… not exactly, but yes,” he replied.

“Family of shifters, but out in the human world,” she nodded.

“Nope, I don’t know anything about my shifter family. I grew up in a home for shifters who were… early bloomers. We lived in a mostly human town,” he told her.

“Like an orphanage?” she asked.

Derek shifted uncomfortably. He didn’t like anyone talking about Harkness Farms like that. And he certainly did not consider himself an orphan. He had a mom. That she hadn’t given birth to him, and that she had twenty-six or so other kids didn’t change how he felt. Kate Harkness was his mom, plain and simple.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you talk about something uncomfortable,” she looked down, chastened.

“No, it’s not that at all,” he told her. “As a matter of fact, that’s where I was headed before the plane crash - back home.”

“So you still visit?” she asked, her head tilted slightly, dark hair slipping forward again.

He smiled.

“Oh yeah, I go back every year, more often if Mom needs me, though she’s pretty self-sufficient.”

“She’s older?” Hedda asked sympathetically.

Derek threw his head back and laughed.

“Maybe, but you’d never know it. She runs a farm, the kids help her. But if she’s got too many new kids and not enough older ones then harvest-time can get difficult. We get a lot of tourists from Halloween to Thanksgiving,” he explained. “I like being back there, the farm will always be home. And the little guys are hysterical.”

“Wow,” she said. “You’re right, that’s not what I pictured.”

He shrugged.

“So if you’re not a shifter, what were you doing out in the middle of nowhere before a storm? It seems like we’re pretty far from civilization.”

Suddenly, her heart-shaped face went pale and she looked away from him, into the fire.

“It’s a long story. But basically my sisters and I were living here to protect the town on the other side of this mountain.”

“What town?” he asked. Hadn’t they just come from over there? Was she leading him purposely away from town after all?

“There is no town anymore,” she said to the crackling fire, her voice steady but her shoulder drooping.

Derek stared at her, thunderstruck.

He took a deep breath through his nose.

There it was.

He could finally identify the other scent that had been bothering him all night. It was fire. And it was different than the smoke from the plane. Had the town burned down somehow? Was he smelling the remains?

The bear in his head prodded him unsubtly to think of how to help the woman.

Derek studied her small form. This human and her sisters were supposed to protect a mountain of wolves? That didn’t make sense. And now the town was gone. Something had gone very wrong. But he didn’t want to ask the wrong question.

“Where are your sisters?”

It seemed a good place to start.

She looked down at the blanket, trailing her fingers over the frayed edge.

“I messed up. I messed up so badly,” she shook her head. “The whole town was uprooted, the coal mine is still burning. Everyone left.”

That explained the smell. He remembered reading about a mine cave-in and a failed rescue effort setting the mine ablaze, in a small town in Pennsylvania. He’d had no idea the mine was still burning.

“They
left
you?” Derek asked incredulously. He couldn’t imagine turning his back on any of his brothers or sisters.

“Someone had to stay…” she trailed off.

He looked up at her again and was surprised to find her steadfast expression had folded into a mask of sadness. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

All his concerns and calculations went out the window, and Derek Harkness pulled the woman into his arms and held her close.

As soon as she was against his chest, he heard her heartbeat thrumming. She smelled like a wood fire, and chamomile tea. She was warm in his arms, and so soft.

Derek thought suddenly of his childhood blankie - a feather filled duvet of monstrous proportion that he had taken a liking to. Mom had cut it down and sewed it into manageable squares for little Derek to snuggle and carry around the farm.

The train of thought was gone as fleetingly as it hard arrived when she wound her arms around his neck and nuzzled into his chest.

Derek’s hip burned like it was on fire.

And her nearness took on a new meaning.

Her breasts were crushed against his chest, his hands tightened on the curve of her hip.

The air was suddenly charged with energy.

Did she feel it too?

He reached out with his senses and the bear roared with approval in his chest.

The woman’s breath was shallow and faster than before. A haze of desire haloed her. The small room was filled with the enchanting scent of her arousal.

Derek felt himself harden to the point of pain.

She wiggled on his lap, seemingly to find a more comfortable position.

But to Derek, it felt as if her every move was meant only to tantalize him.

H
edda was floating
.

The stranger surrounded her, his big body wrapped around hers. The cool of the air chilled one of her wet cheeks, while his feverish skin warmed the other.

The image of her tears turning to steam against his heated chest flitted through her mind.

But then his hands tightened on her hips and she forgot everything except her longing for him.

She had only just met him, and he was a mess. A great big gorgeous mess of a man who was following her haplessly through the woods like a gigantic sexy duckling.

So why did she feel so safe in his arms? Like he was in control and everything was going to be alright now.

A little voice in the back of her head scolded her. The Lane women didn’t submit to this sort of thing. They solved their own problems. And besides, he only liked her for the magical charisma that exuded from her.

Hedda wriggled on his lap, trying to convince herself to get up.

But she only succeeded in wrapping herself around him more tightly. And now she could feel the hard length of him, swelling against her behind.

Her own body responded instantly, surges of need lifting her in their wake, her sex swelling, unfurling like a flower for him.

She wanted this man, felt strangely as if she were already his, and all the admonitions her conscience wanted to give wouldn’t stem the tide.

Besides, it wasn’t like they were getting married or anything. It was a single moment of pleasure. She’d probably think of it fondly one day when she was a crazy old woman with five cats.

As if he could hear her thoughts, the man let go of her hips to cup her cheeks, turning her face toward his.

His hands were so enormous, Hedda felt like a doll sandwiched between them.

She closed her eyes to be kissed, but nothing happened.

So she opened them again.

He was staring down at her, his blue eyes flashing.

“What have you done to me?” he demanded.

She stared back at him helplessly. Oh no. He must feel the pull of her magic.

“N-nothing,” she whispered.

Her heart beat wildly and the pulse in his cock throbbed as if in response.

He leaned down, as if in defeat, and brushed her lips with his.

Hedda whimpered softly. Why hadn’t she told him the truth?

There was something about this man…

Derek growled and pulled away.

“This is your one chance. If you don’t want me to claim you, get off my lap
now
. When I lay you down, you’re not getting up again without belonging to me,” he told her, his calm tone belying the intensity of his words.

Hedda felt her whole body come to life at his words. She wanted to scream for him to take her, right now.

But the little voice in her head protested.

Letting him give in to his attraction without knowing why he wants you is wrong.

And besides, you saw the omen. Don’t trust him.

With every shred of will power she had, Hedda dragged herself out of Derek’s lap and curled her arms around her knees next to him, clasping her hands together to keep herself from crawling back into his lap.

Her whole body was trembling. Her breasts ached and her nipples were hard as pebbles. Her legs quivered and between them, her sex was swollen and throbbing with need.

She could feel him, frozen beside her. He hadn’t expected her to take the out. But she was grateful he had offered it.

“I don’t even know your name,” she said weakly.

“Derek. Derek Harkness,” he said.

“Hedda Lane,” she replied, offering him her hand, then thinking the better of it and locking it back around her knees.

Derek laughed a deep laugh and it seemed to Hedda that the fire burned a little warmer before them, and the moon shone a little brighter overhead.

A
s the sound
of their laughter faded, Hedda turned back to look at Derek.

His blue eyes were dancing, but they seemed to darken as she let herself study them.

He wanted her.

And Hedda wagered there wasn’t a woman alive who wouldn’t burn for him as she did. How long could she resist?

And if she was going to give in anyway, wouldn’t it be nice to do it
now…?

Suddenly, the fire went out.

It didn’t flicker. It went out flat, like a bucket of water had been dumped on it.

“No,” Hedda moaned.

But it was already too late.

She had let herself get distracted and miscalculated what she was up against.

A shadow demon. And it was close.

The warning wasn’t about Derek after all.

She was on her feet before her eyes adjusted to the darkness. Demons were dangerous anyway, but when they caught you off-guard you had no idea what would come next.

She’d never encountered one personally before, but she had done a lot of studying up here on the mountain.

They generally darted about unseen. Creatures of pure evil, like living, liquid shadows. A shadow demon could possess any living creature from the tiniest toad to a great white shark.

But their powers were limited. Possessing an animal took a lot of strength, so the larger the animal, the faster they would burn out and need to return to shadow form.

Hedda crouched and spun, trying to sight the thing.

“What the—” Derek began.

“Shh!” she cut him off.

The shelter was bathed in darkness. Above them, just outside the roof, the star-studded sky was still.

Hedda didn’t dare to move, or even breathe. Any clue she gave it could be the difference.

Derek panted beside her. He sounded like he was really going through something. It was probably shock after the day’s experiences and injuries. But she couldn’t let this be the straw that broke the camel’s back. She couldn’t deal with an unpredictable animal in the presence of a demon. That kind of vulnerability invited possession.

She grabbed Derek’s shoulder to calm him. The warmth of his skin under her hand had the effect of calming her too. He stilled under her hand just as he had stilled when she searched his scalp for the wound earlier.

Good boy
.

And then there was movement between the shelter and the stars.

The fluttering motion suggested a bat.

At least it wouldn’t take too much to knock it out.

“Get down,” she cautioned Derek.

Dark wings fluttered and flapped against the sky. The creature was coming closer, though Hedda couldn’t feel the displaced air against her skin yet.

“
Obtundo,
” she said, pressing a hand upward toward the demon. The magic slid from her fingers in a bright spark.

But the thing had moved away.

“
Obtundo
,” she tried again.

It was moving quickly, too quickly for her to hit.

“
Sile
,” she tried, gesturing over her head, leaving a mist of swirling light behind her hand.

The dark object still darted and dove, circling just overhead.

The thing was just too damn fast. From everything she’d read, demons usually had some awkwardness inhabiting their hosts. It shouldn’t be so easy for this one to escape her spells.

Just as she began to rack her brain in earnest for a solution to the slippery problem, it swooped toward her one last time, then veered right to fling itself out into the woods at the last possible second before a collision.

Hedda followed as quickly as she could, jumping over the shelter’s half door easily and sliding in the mud on the other side.

She searched the sky but saw nothing.

No, no, no, she couldn’t lose it.

What if it called to its brethren? What if it found a way into the mine?

She spun around, scanning the creek below, the trees, then back upward toward the top of the mountain.

There.

A single flicker of movement, but it was enough.

She took off after the thing, praying she wouldn’t lose sight of it, and that it would tire before she did.