Authors: Josie Walker
CHAPTER NINETEEN
H
e ran from one room to the next, flipping on lights as he went, wanting everything to be perfect when she saw the house for the first time. He made a quick call to Henry and he was relieved to hear that his second in command was safe and uninjured.
“I cleaned up the mess at the motel and I have Grace here with me,” Henry paused as if searching for the right words. “She knows what we are.”
“Just take her back to your place for now and keep her safe,” he ordered ending the call. He had a feeling that Michelle wouldn’t be happy about the fact that her friend was getting dragged into his world as well, but it was too late to do anything about it now.
He rushed back out to the truck, afraid that she’d change her mind if he left her alone much longer.
“What are you doing?” she giggled as he pulled her into his arms and began walking up the manicured lawn. He’d left the large front door open on his way out so that he could carry her in hands free.
“Isn’t it obvious? I’m carrying my bride over the threshold.”
“Does that mean you plan on marrying me too? I thought you shifters just mated like animals.”
“I’ll have you know my family is far more evolved than that. We can do the whole white wedding thing later if you want.”
“Oh… I want…” she murmured as he led her inside. She stared in wide mouthed fascination at the lavish red carpeted staircase that loomed in front of her. The thing looked as though it had been plucked right out of the set from Gone With The Wind. He began to mount the stairs with her still in his arms and she couldn’t resist asking, “So money isn’t really an issue for you is it?”
“I don’t want you to ever worry about finances again. I can only imagine how hard your life has been. But it doesn’t have to be like that anymore,” he assured her huskily.
He carried her into the master suite, and when he set her on her feet she didn’t know what to focus on first. Every piece of furniture appeared to be an antique of the highest quality. The bed was like something out of a painting. Rich burgundy draperies framed the bed, ensuring that no pesky sunlight would ever interfere with her sleep again.
The king sized bed was actually mounted on some sort of raised pedestal, which made the elaborate piece of furniture seem even more prominent in the room. Behind the bed was a floor-to-ceiling upholstered headboard that she wanted to run her hands over to see if it felt as soft as it looked.
That was when she noticed the blood and dirt caking her fingernails. She remembered just how gross she was and the filth made her feel even more out of place in this pristine room. She felt as though they’d snuck behind the ropes of a museum exhibit and that the guards would be along any minute now to haul them away. As if he could read her mind, Parker wrapped his arms around her and pressed his lips to her forehead.
“How would you like to come get cleaned up with me?”
“I call dibs on the shower,” she squealed as she took off running for the bathroom. “I may never leave this room again,” she gushed when she saw that there was nothing at all antique about the master bath. Everything in here was state of the art and top of the line, from the oversized jacuzzi tub to the towel warmers positioned on either side of the marble topped double vanity sink.
Parker started tugging off his clothes and as always she was riveted by the sight of his exquisite body. All of a sudden she began to feel self conscious. She still didn’t understand exactly what it was that he saw in her, but she didn’t think she could bear it if she happened to see disappointment in his eyes once she was stripped down to her birthday suit.
She was dirty, sweaty, and in need of fifteen minutes alone with a razor, and there was the added insult that she was still covered in poison ivy thanks to their tumble in the woods. All of this added to the fact that she’d never been comfortable with her pear shaped body made her loath to remove her clothing.
“What’s the matter?” he asked when he sensed her mounting unease.
“You look like an underwear model… and I’m… well you just might not like what you see when I take off these pants,” she finished lamely.
“You seem to have forgotten that I’ve already seen you naked.” Parker crossed the room and when he was standing directly before her he began to undo the buttons on her shirt one by one. “Your body is perfect. You are like the goddess Aphrodite. Each and every curve beckons me, demanding my touch.” He began to slide her pants down and his lips traced a path over her perkily rounded bottom and followed down along her thighs as he pushed the material down to pool at her feet.
He lifted first one foot and then the other and he didn’t stop praising her body with his warm words and his soft lips until she stood radiantly naked before him. He genuinely believed that she was beautiful, and as he turned her so that she could see their joint reflection in the mirror she tried to see herself through his eyes.
For the first time in her entire life she actually felt lovely, and completely at peace in her own skin. He’d started the shower in advance, so by the time he pulled her beneath the overhead stream the water was the perfect temperature.
“Your shower has two sprayers,” she pointed out as if the fact might somehow have escaped his notice.”
“I know,” he murmured as he began to soap her body with an expensive, hand crafted bar that smelled like jasmine.
“Grace always talked about wanting a shower with two nozzles so that no one would ever have to be cold if they shared a shower… Grace!” Michelle shouted, backing away so fast that she almost slipped. Parker caught her arm before she could fall. “Where’s Grace? I can’t believe I forgot about her. I’m so selfish. I’m literally the worst friend on the planet. We have to go find her right away,” Michelle explained, trying to step past Parker and reach for a towel.
“She’s fine,” Parker said.
“No she isn’t. My foster sister is a mess. If I’m not there to take care of her I honestly don’t know what will happen to her.”
“I said she’d fine and I meant it. She’s with Henry.”
“Who the hell is Henry?” she asked, exasperated.
“Henry is my second in command and he was with me tonight at the hotel. We’d both be dead if he hadn’t insisted on coming with me. I wasn’t exactly expecting to fight a streak of tigers tonight.”
“Oh,” she said, feeling both relieved and deflated now that the sense of urgency was gone.
“I told Henry to take care of her. I promise she’ll be fine. Now can you please come back into the shower before all the hot water is gone?” When she still hadn’t returned to him he asked softly. “Do you trust me?
CHAPTER TWENTY
A
nd those were the best words he could possibly have chosen, because she’d finally found someone worthy of her trust.
“I do trust you,” she said. She became overwhelmed by the truth of her declaration and she couldn’t stop the happy tears that started falling.
“Shsh… it’s okay,” he murmured as he pulled her into his arms and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead. “It’s okay to trust. I will NEVER leave you. You have my word as Itan.”
He lifted her into his arms and she gasped when he pressed her back against the cool marble and guided her legs around his waist so that his hands would be free to explore her slick wet body. She would have happily let him claim her right then and there, but apparently he had another destination in mind. Sophia had explained the ritual to her days ago, so she knew what to expect. She knew he had to bite her while they were joined, and she knew it was going to hurt. But after that he’d be hers forever.
Parker wrapped a warm towel loosely around her, but he didn’t bother with one for himself. He laid her down reverently on the bed, and when he knelt beside her and took her sensitive earlobe between his teeth she thought she’d melt right through the bed to the floor.
“I remembered that you liked that from before.” His warm breath brushed against her as he sighed into her ear. “I don’t know if I’ll ever forgive my sister for interrupting us the day you accidently stumbled naked into my room.”
“Mmm hmmm,” she replied groggily even though he hadn’t asked her a question.
“I’ve been dying to do this since we first met and you fainted into my arms.”
“That is so not the story we’re telling our children,” she muttered. “And for the record I don’t go about fainting like a damsel.”
He wisely refrained from arguing with her as he continued his delighted quest across her body. He felt like a kid in a candy store and he honestly didn’t know what he wanted to try next. His hands cupped the sloping curves of her breasts and he drew her taut nipple into his mouth with a contented sigh.
She arched blissfully beneath him, wanting more of his sweet touch. She trailed her fingers across the smooth expanse of his back. “You’re already healing,” she said in shock when she noticed how quickly he was recovering from the attack.
“It’s a shifter thing,” he bragged. “I’ve never even bought Band-Aids before.”
When his hands began to explore the lower regions of her body she couldn’t help her body’s reflexive move to slam her legs together. He trailed his fingers back and forth over the dark bunch of curls growing at the juncture between her thighs. His fingers teased the hair and then he slid his body down to where he was kneeling at the foot of the bed. Suddenly she understood what the platform was for as she felt him teasing apart her lower lips.
He slid his tongue tantalizingly along her slit and his bear let loose a satisfied grunting sound when he smelled the heady musk of her arousal being released. He gave into his inner animal and let his bear savor her unique flavors with his tongue. His bear chuffed greedily as it licked her, probing ever deeper until he located her sensitive nub.
She gasped excitedly when she felt first his tongue and then his fingers sliding in and out of her tight channel. He kept up his sweet torture until she was near the brink of release and then he backed away abruptly making her feel almost hysterical with need as she waited for the evasive fireworks to shoot through her body. He climbed up over her, straddling her silky hips with his own, and when he entered her the sensation was so incredible that she fell to pieces around him.
She’d already experienced a powerful orgasm, but he was a relentless lover and he was far from through with her. He kept teasing her body until he brought her to the throes of release for a second time. Only when her body started to jerk with the spasms that were so intense that she cried out did he allow his mouth to shift into a muzzle. His teeth lengthened and sharpened into his bear’s form and he leaned over her and bit her hard on the back of her neck. She cried out briefly in pain, but by then she could feel his hot seed spurting inside of her and she sighed contentedly, the positive sensations far outnumbering the brief moment of pain.
His tongue lapped over the edges of her torn flesh, smoothing them back down as he relished what for him was an entirely new sensation. She was his now. At last she was his mate. No longer would he have to worry about another shifter trying to take her away. All it would take was one look for them to know that she was his. Mating marks were far more sacred to shifters than wedding rings.
She pulled his head down, laying it across her breast as she savored the after effects of their love making. The old Michelle would have been totally freaking out about now, wondering about whether or not she’d made a huge mistake, or panicking about the possibility that she could already be pregnant. But she simply wasn’t that person anymore.
Lately she’d come to realize how foolish her old plans had been. She’d sought safety and security above all else, and because of that she’d been painfully alone, not to mention broke most of her life. Only in opening up herself to potential heartbreak had she been able to at last find happiness.
Did she have ironclad assurances that he’d never leave her? Nope. But there were no guarantees when it came to being a grown up. Life was messy. Shit happened and there was no telling what the future had in store for her. All she knew was that she wasn’t about to miss out on a second of the present worrying about what may or may not happen someday.
“So this is what it feels like to be happy,” she sighed as she stroked his back.
“You know if you keep doing that I’m going to have to make love to you all over again,” he warned her.
“I don’t think you have it in you,” she egged him on, secretly hoping she was wrong.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he murmured as he began to move within her once more.
“Oh,” she murmured. “Ohhh.”
His lips covered her own, but that didn’t silence her moans. If she could go back in time she’d tell herself to stop pushing Parker away. She had no idea what she’d been thinking at the time. They could have been making love all week if she hadn’t been so damned stubborn.
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CHAPTER ONE
J
essica flipped the sign over to the “closed” side and groaned, banging her head softly on the door. It had been a brutally long day due to the fact that it had been surprisingly busy. She worked part time at “Flicks & Fun.” Of course, part time was 36 hours, because the penny pinching owners refused to offer her health insurance. She was only 21 and healthy enough to thwart the law and live dangerously without the insurance she couldn’t begin to afford.
“Flicks & Fun” was a small mom and pop shop sporting several racks of DVDs, a few arcade games, and a depressingly small array of snack foods. She was the only employee on duty, although the owners dropped in whenever they felt like it to spy on her.
Having recently moved from the big bad city, living in rural southern nowhere was certainly a change of pace, one she was having a hard time adapting to. But she was sick to death of trying to make ends meet on a minimum wage salary. Her new apartment may be ugly, but it was twice the size of the one she’d had in the city and she didn’t have to worry about being shot on her walk home from work anymore.
She’d been raised in the modern world where cable TV and Redbox rentals reigned supreme, so she still couldn’t believe that such an archaic business model could survive. It wasn’t exactly her dream job, but they’d had a “We’re hiring” sign in the window when she’d first pulled into town and that had been enough for her.
“Anything is better than flipping burgers!” she reminded herself vehemently.
Jessica flipped the deadbolt to the side and dimmed the lights in the store. Her thick long blonde hair weighed a ton, especially since she was dripping sweat by this point. She pulled a hair tie from her pocket and wrapped it up high in a messy bun. Her neck felt instantly cooler even if the rest of her didn’t.
She could still feel rivulets of sweat dripping down her back and she grimaced in distaste pulling the uncomfortable polyester garment away from her trim little body. The owners were cheap and had a timer programmed so that the air shut off a full hour before close each night. This meant that by the time Jessica finished closing out her register and cleaning up she was soaked with perspiration.
“Gotta love the summer heat of the deep south,” Jessica muttered. She briefly contemplated stripping down to her lacy black bra and thong, but with her luck the owners would show up for a surprise visit. And then she wouldn’t be able to afford to keep her crappy window air conditioner going in her apartment.
She walked back to her register, hips swaying saucily like the runway models on her favorite reality show. Too bad she was far too short to ever be a model. High heels can only help so much when you’re only five foot two inches tall. The old model cash register dinged as she opened it. Her employers were so cheap that she’d been forced to bring her own pen and paper. She wasn’t supposed to have her phone out when she was working, but she pulled it out now to use the calculator.
When she’d finished closing out her register she sealed up the money bag with her receipt inside. Not for the first time she grumbled about how little they were paying her. “One day I’ll own my own store,” she promised herself.
The door rattled and she looked up startled. She figured it was probably just her boss coming to make sure she’d scrubbed the toilet just so, but she couldn’t shake the feeling of uneasiness. She was a city girl, so her first instinct was to run and hide, but that’s the type of thing that will get you laughed at in the country so she stayed put. Seconds later when the rock came crashing through the glass doors she wished she’d adhered to her city girl impulses. They might have kept her alive.
She turned to bolt, but she was too late. They’d already seen her. Of course it would have to be the Schmidt boys. The three brothers ranged from early to late thirties. They were all tall and had fought to retain the muscled bodies of their football glory days. And she could tell they were drunk even before she smelled the beer fumes rolling off of them.
It wasn’t that she really cared about her employers getting stiffed, but something made her tuck her hand behind her back. Her fingers gripped the money bag nervously, hoping they wouldn’t notice.
“OOOOOOH EYYYY! What have we here?” Ethan Schmidt hollered drunkenly.
His drunken leer made her wonder what aspects of her body he could possibly be appreciating given the unflattering polo shirt and khaki pants she was wearing. She’d never been more grateful for the unbecoming dress code.
She began slowly shuffling backwards towards the rear exit, hoping they wouldn’t notice.
“I don’t want any trouble,” she said softly with her head down, inching another foot back.
“I don’t want any trouble!” Leroy Schmidt mocked in a high pitched girly impression.
She knew better than to defend herself. Those boys were looking for a fight. She just wished they’d gone somewhere else to find it. There were only two police officers in the small rural town, and she wasn’t going to hold her breath that they’d miraculously patrol by and save her. From what she’d seen they didn’t leave the office unless someone called them to get a cat out of a tree.
Nathan was the oldest Schmidt boy and he still hadn’t spoken yet, but he was the one that made her the most uneasy. Since she’d first met him she’d instantly sensed there was something wrong with him… like he liked to torture small animals in the woods and belonged on the set of Criminal Minds or something. He gave her the major creeps and obviously her radar hadn’t been wrong.
“Where you goin’ Goldilocks?” Leroy taunted. He strode forward, closing the gap between them.
“Listen, my shift is over. So why don’t I just go and you guys have fun with the store?” she offered in a demure tone. Riling these boys up further was the last thing she wanted to do.
“But who we gonna play with if you leave?” Leroy asked.
“Pretty Bird,” Ethan chimed in as he moved to block her way to the rear exit.
Jessica started shaking when Nathan slipped behind the counter and opened the register. He wasn’t impressed by the fifty bucks in change she’d left behind to be able to make change when she opened in the morning.
Nathan didn’t speak, just dumped the measly pile of bills on the counter. Then he savagely ripped the plug from the wall and hurled the register angrily at the popcorn display to her right. Jessica screamed hysterically as she dodged to the left, narrowly avoiding being clocked by the heavy machine.
Leroy guffawed loudly, clapping his hands and stamping his feet like it was the best show in town. It didn’t matter that there was literally sweat dripping down her back, Jessica instantly felt cold. Had she really left the crime-filled city to die in the supposedly safe south? Her hand reached for the pocket she kept her cell phone in, but it was empty. Her heart thudded erratically in her chest. She’d left her phone on the counter. There would be no calling for help, and odds were she was about the be murdered, or worse.
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