In Heat (In Heat Shapeshifter Romance Series #1) (24 page)

Pulling her mobile phone out of her bag, she called Erik, her heart racing as she struggled to breathe. The phone at the other end rang and rang, but no one answered it. It went to voicemail.

“Erik. Stay away from Alistair. He killed your parents and now he wants you dead. He wants everything. I'm going to the house. I can't find you and I need to know you're safe.”

She flipped her phone shut and shoved her pass through the machines at the entrance to the tube station. Thundering down the steps, she sprinted onto the train that was about to leave. She panted hard as she leaned against the pole behind her. She had to reach him before it was too late.

He'd said he was going back to the mansion.

She hoped to God she could catch him there.

* * * *

Kim slammed the door to her Clio and looked around her. The heat coming off the golden gravel drive was unbearable. After the stifling heat of her car journey, it was the last thing she needed. Her heart hadn't slowed down once during her trip here. The traffic was insane and, without the relief of air conditioning, being stuck in her car had driven her crazy. She'd tried to call Erik no less then fifteen times, but each time there was no answer. She'd left a voicemail each time, and each one had been more and more panicked.

She looked around her and frowned when she couldn't see Erik's car. Parked near the house was a dark blue sports car. Instinct told her it wasn't Erik's. She doubted it was the housekeeper's. Nerves made her tremble.

She walked to the door of the house and knocked. The door creaked open. She peered inside, unsure whether to go in, or wait and see if someone had heard her. After a few minutes, it became clear that no one was coming to answer the door.

Pushing it open as slowly and quietly as possible, she slipped inside and listened hard. If she could find the housekeeper, then maybe she could find out the other places Erik might be.

She tiptoed across the hall, desperate not to make too much noise. If the car in the drive belonged to Alistair, she didn't want him to know she was here. She didn't like the way he looked at her and she certainly didn't want to be alone with him.

She crept up the stairs, heading for the bedrooms. They'd only left this morning. Maybe the housekeeper was tidying the rooms.

Her heart jumped into her throat when her phone rang, the jaunty tune echoing badly off the thick stone walls of the house. She fumbled in her bag for it, cursing it as she tried to get her finger over the speaker to dampen the noise. Her heart was leaping about all over the place in her chest. She pulled the phone out and flicked it open when she saw it was Erik.

“Kim? Kim?” he sounded panicked.

She clutched the phone to her ear and whispered, “It's me.”

“Where are you?” His voice came back loud and she turned the volume of her phone down so it couldn't be heard in the expansive room.

“Your house. Erik...Alistair...I heard him...he's going to—” She cut herself off when she reached the top of the stairs and felt something. The hairs on the back of her neck rose.

“Kim? I got your messages. I'm on my way. I'll be there soon.” Erik's voice sounded distant as she stared at the wall in front of her.

She felt sick. Her whole body was shaking and her throat was so tight that she couldn't breathe.

She turned very slowly to face the stairs.

Alistair grinned at her, standing only a step below her.

“Erik!” she shouted down the phone before Alistair knocked it flying.

It smashed into pieces on the hall floor below her. She almost tripped over the step as she backed away from Alistair, fear overwhelming her.

“I heard you outside the meeting room...sneaky little bitch, aren't you?”

She shook her head and struggled to keep on her feet as her knees threatened to buckle beneath her.

Her eyes darted to the corridor on her right. Before she'd even moved a foot to run down it, Alistair's hand was around her throat and he'd slammed her into the wall. He pressed her into it. It was cold against her back. Her hands came up, nails digging into Alistair's arms in an attempt to make him let go.

He squeezed her throat harder.

Tears filled her eyes and she choked. Her brows furrowed and she prayed that he wouldn't hurt her.

“I want everything from him, and until I heard you in the hall, I thought that killing him would achieve that.” Alistair stepped up to her, his body pressing against hers.

She wriggled, trying to get away from him. Her body shook and her heart trembled. She kept telling herself that this wasn't happening. Any minute now, she'd wake up, or Erik would rescue her.

“I realised something...you're his too.” Alistair grinned, exposing canines to her, and she gasped when his hand rubbed against her crotch. “You stink like him. I think I'll take you from him too.”

She shook her head. “Please, no...”

He laughed at her. “What was that? Please?”

She leaned her head away from him when he went to kiss her. Closing her eyes as he licked her neck, she pushed against his chest, trying to force him off her. It only made him shove her harder against the wall. His mouth was on hers before she could do anything. It sickened her and she felt the tears streak down her face as she continued to struggle against him.

“You taste so fucking good,” he breathed the words against her lips and kissed her again, his tongue forcing its way into her mouth.

She frowned and bit down on his tongue at the same time as kneeing him hard in the balls.

He dropped her and clutched at himself, growling in fury and pain. She didn't stop to check him or even think. She ran the moment he released her, sprinting as fast as she could down the stairs and out into the garden. She could feel him coming after her, had known when she'd attacked him that she'd only have a few seconds to get away. She looked around as she hit the open air and saw the maze.

Running for it, she pushed herself past her limit, desperate to survive and get away from Alistair. She had to buy herself time. Erik would be here soon.

Behind her, Alistair roared.

* * * *

The car skidded on the gravel as Erik slammed his foot down on the brakes. He was out of the door in a split second, not stopping to turn the engine off or even put the handbrake on. He growled when he saw Alistair change as he chased Kim into the maze. Stripping his jacket off and unbuttoning his shirt as he ran, he focused on getting to Kim before it was too late.

He should've known that his brother was up to something.

Killing him?

Alistair was about to find out that that wasn't as easy as it sounded.

After all, he was the one that was going to die for killing their parents and laying a finger on Kim.

Changing into a panther as he entered the maze, he roared as he left his clothes behind and sprinted after Alistair. He used his senses to guide him towards his brother and Kim. He could smell her more clearly than this brother would be able to.

He turned each corner sharply, growling the whole time, knowing that Alistair would be able to hear him.

He was closing in.

A sharp cry of pain left him as he was tackled hard and fell into the hedge. He kicked back immediately, grappling with his brother and trying to bite him. His brother evaded him, managing to bite down on his front leg. He growled and threw Alistair off him.

Pouncing, he leapt on Alistair's back and bit down hard on his ear, tearing a chunk out of it. Alistair whimpered and rolled, trying to get him off his back. He dug his claws in and kicked his back legs, ripping into Alistair's back and biting the back of his neck.

He shook his head, tossing Alistair around. He could sense Kim nearby and hoped to God she wasn't watching. He threw Alistair and glanced around. They were at the centre of the maze. Kim was nowhere to be seen. He reached out again with his senses and found her further away. She was probably still running.

He cried again when Alistair scratched across his face, hissing as he flattened his ears against his head. Blood was streaming from his torn ear, turning his fur red. Erik hit back, slashing along his back and then leaping on him. He grappled Alistair to the ground, biting him repeatedly and not letting go when Alistair kicked at him.

His brother was weakening.

Pressing his back feet into Alistair's stomach, Erik managed to bite the underside of his throat. He locked his jaw tight as Alistair struggled, his claws slashing down Erik's chest and stomach. Erik clawed at him, his teeth firmly gripping Alistair's throat and strangling him. He bit down again, trying to get a better grip, and blood flooded his mouth. He choked on it but kept hold of Alistair, kicking at his stomach until his brother had gone still.

He released him and shook his head, retching up all of the blood he'd swallowed.

Collapsing to the floor, he shifted out of this panther form and breathed deeply. Everywhere hurt. There was so much pain and the taste of blood made him feel sick. He tried to sit up but found he didn't have the strength.

Lying on his back, his head rolled to one side and he looked at his brother. Tears filled his eyes when he saw that he was still in his puma form, blood covering him and seeping into the gravel. Alistair had given him no choice. He'd forced him to fight. He'd had to defend Kim and avenge his parents.

Unable to look at his dead brother any longer, he got to his knees and slowly stood. He wiped his mouth on the back of his hand and looked down at his nude body and the cuts covering it. There was blood everywhere, and his stomach and arm were killing him. He was going to take time to heal, longer than he and Kim had before she was no longer in heat.

He couldn't change her if he wasn't at full strength. He wouldn't have enough energy for the mating or enough power for her transformation.

Stumbling through the maze, he was surprised when Kim appeared around one of the corners. She was carrying his clothes and apparently running blind since she nearly ran straight into him. She smiled when she stopped, but it disappeared when she saw the wounds all over him. He smiled through the pain at her, trying to reassure her that he was going to be fine.

“Alistair?” she said.

He shook his head.

Kim didn't say anything. She handed him his trousers and waited for him to slowly slip into them before she used his shirt to wipe away some of the blood on his arms, back and front. Tears spilt onto her cheeks as she cleaned him up. He'd killed his brother and she knew that in a way he'd done it to protect her.

When she had worked her way back around to his front, she used a clean patch of his shirt to tend to the scratch across his cheek.

She frowned when the sun disappeared and then hunched her shoulders up when rain began to pour down, warm against her skin. She looked at Erik, straight into his eyes.

“Erik?” she said, leading him back towards the house at a slow pace.

“Yes?”

She stopped and looked at him again. They were standing at the entrance to the maze, rain soaking them through. It was still warm out, but she heard thunder in the distance.

“I'll do it,” she said.

He just stared at her, disbelief visible in his eyes.

“I think I'm ready. Today made me realise that I can't lose you.”

“Kim,” he said and cupped her cheek. “I can't.”

She frowned again. “What do you mean?”

“You're not ready and I can't, not with the injuries. But I'm not going anywhere, Kim. I love you.” He smiled and her frown melted away.

He was right. She wasn't ready really. The events of today had panicked her and forced her to make a decision, but she still thought it was the right one.

“I love you.” She held his gaze and stroked his cheek, hoping he could see down into her soul the way she felt she could see into his.

She blinked through the rain as it trickled down her face. It was washing all the blood from Erik's body. She slipped his shirt onto him, protecting his wounds until she could get him into the house.

His house.

She looked at it and then back at him.

She wanted to be his too, just like Alistair had said she was.

“When?” she said.

He looked confused.

“When will I be in heat again?” She stepped up to him, drawing the shirt closed over his chest.

“A year, maybe two. Who knows? Whenever the dreams begin again. Until then, you'll have to settle for the reality.”

She wrapped her arms about his neck as he kissed her, falling into his embrace and losing herself in the way he made her feel—happy, loved, and safe. It was a passionate kiss that stirred the fire inside of her just like she knew it always would. She'd never stop loving him. Never. It would always be like this—consuming and intense. She moaned against his mouth, tackling his tongue with her own and feeling the rain running down her back. A smile broke onto her lips as he kissed down her chest and she held him there, clinging to him as she threw her head back and surrendered to their heat.

Thunder rolled overhead and the rain came down harder, but she didn't care.

Erik shifted her in his arms, wrapping her up in them and holding her tight. She giggled and kissed him, pouring out her feelings so he knew how much she loved him and hoping that he wasn't hurting himself too much.

He'd once told her that the best was yet to come and what they'd shared were only dreams. While those fantasies had been powerful, it had been the reality that had made her fall in love with him.

It was that love that made her want to be with him always, to surrender her normal life and become like him. It was only a matter of time before she was in heat again and when she was, she was going through with the change so this new dream of theirs would be complete.

For now, they had one half of their dream—they had each other.

But soon, they'd have the other half.

They'd have forever.

The End

E
rik closed his eyes and let out a long sigh as soft lips teased the bare flesh of his torso. It was torture, but a pleasant kind. He tensed for her, eliciting a moan as his muscles bunched, revealing his strength. She gave a little faux-purr and licked along the valley between his abdominals, crawling her way up him. This time it was him purring, deep and low, contented to the core.