lightning witch 02 - lightning legacy (19 page)

OH, GOD. MY
heart was about to beat out of my chest. I was losing control. I couldn’t even pull my lightning back into myself. I hated being in wolf form. I hated this side of myself and I was about to totally lose it. I couldn’t catch my breath. I’d never pulled so much lightning out of my core before and was growing increasingly more worried I couldn’t handle it. Not just the power, but this whole new life that was forced upon me. I could control nothing.

“Delaney.” It was a distant voice. A calming one.

“Delaney, love.” It was a voice breaking through the erratic thoughts. Even my vision began to clear. The bright white and back began to fade into normal colors and hues.

“Reid, I can’t do this. I need to change back,” I pleaded. Even my mental voice was shaken.

“No. Delaney, you need to come to terms with this.”

How? How can he ask that of me?

“You have no idea what this is like. You don’t understand.”

He could never understand.

"Don't I? Delaney, you were not the only one who lost everything when they were forcibly changed. I lost everything, Delaney. But, I gained so much more."

I felt my power slowly trickle back to my core. My heart rate began to slow with his words. I prayed he didn’t truly understand.

“Tell me.”

He did. He told me everything. He told me how he was attacked and changed. Then he told me about Beth. A woman who could never accept him or what he was.

“I would have denied this new part of myself to have her. I would have done anything. But she could never get past it.”

Wasn’t that what I was trying to do to myself? Deny this part of me? Ignore it was even there? All that I knew as a wolf was death and hunting. I seemed to only know pain and hurt.

We didn’t speak for a long time. We just sat there in the middle of a small clearing surrounded by trees. Finally, my power returned to my core and I was left with the burning. There was so much burning. Everything seemed to burn.

“I don’t know how to be okay with this.”

"Then let me show you, love. Let me put you back together, because I need you whole to heal myself."

“Show me how to heal.”

“Come, beautiful, let’s run.”

We ran. We didn’t hunt or chase anything. I let my beast out and together we ran so far and fast I thought for just a moment that all of my self-loathing issues and problems were forgotten. Reid showed me that being a wolf and having this type of form was about freedom, not power. We ran for hours. We ran over downed trees and across small streams. The colors were brighter and scents were stronger. Reid showed me it could be fun to be a wolf. We played. Reid loved me and now he was showing me how to love my new self.

I looked up to the sky and realized it had moved substantially. It was getting late. I was about to ask him if he wanted to go, but his posture stiffened. He growled for a moment, then returned his attention to me.
What was that about?

“Want to change and go back to Troy’s?” he asked, as though nothing had happened.

“It’s getting late, we should.”

He padded up to me and licked my nose. Everything I’d experienced until this point had been all bad and none of the good. Reid was showing me that being a wolf and having this beast did not have to be so awful. He told me that he would put me back together, now I felt a piece of me click into place. I think he was right. He was putting me back together one damaged part at a time.

I shifted and went to find my clothes. Reid's shift took about five minutes and looked utterly painful. The moment of the change for me has always been instant, but with Reid, it's a fight for control. His change seemed to be taking longer than normal. His mental change, that was. His physical form was him, but I could feel he wasn't settled. I finished slipping on my bra and my last pair of underwear then I walked over and went to place my hand on his cheek, but he caught my hand just before I could make contact. His eyes flickered from glowing green to caramel and back again. His grip was like steel and his gaze was a warning.

“Reid, you’re hurting ... uff.” I was cut off by the force at which I was shoved against the tree that stood directly behind me. My heart was beating wildly in my chest and I had to tamp down on the fear I was feeling. I knew from firsthand experience that fear would only make this situation worse. I was his mate. He couldn’t hurt me. Right? He pinned both of my hands above my head and buried his face in the crook of my neck. He breathed in a deep inhale of my scent. I was trembling. Oh God, this was the same position I’d been in before with Mitch. Tears flooded my eyes, but they refused to fall. I tried to gulp air with hopes it would calm my wild thoughts. I began to hyperventilate anyway. Every time I tried to close my eyes, I saw Mitch’s disgusting smile
.
I could scent my own fear despite my best effort to be calm.

I can’t do this. I can’t be the person I was before. I can’t be the person he needs me to be
.

I was having an internal struggle I couldn’t seem to quell. It was such a feeling of duality. I was fighting the fearful and broken person I was and trying to be the strong and independent person I wanted to be.

His frenzy ebbed slightly. I’m sure he felt my panic through our connection. That word connection meant something. It was one of the many important things that separated Reid from Mitch. I had to push my fear aside. I had to be strong and move past this. Reid shifted his iron grip from my hands and he laced his fingers with mine. It was such an intimate gesture. I calmed appreciably. This was Reid. This way the man I would fight all of my inner demons for. And I would win.

Reid was fighting his own beast. I relaxed to his sensual onslaught. I was growing wet and knew by his deep growling he knew it. He shifted his big body so that he was pressed more firmly against me. I sucked in a breath, then I felt him hard against me. He moved my wrists to one of his huge hands. His other hand trailed down my side and settled on my hip. All the while, he never took his eyes off mine. His gaze no longer flickered from his steady caramel. They were his wolf’s green.

“Reid, we need … oh goodness.” My train of thought had been completely derailed by his hand slipping to my wet heat.

He didn’t rip my panties off, he simply rubbed his thumb and finger along the drenched folds of my sex through them. I tried to stifle a whimper, but all of my control was slipping. With incredible speed Reid tore the scrap of cloth away and sank a finger deep inside of me. I cried out at the sudden intrusion. Oh God, it was more than welcome. He kept shaking his head as though he were trying to clear it.

"Mine," he growled next to my ear.

I tried to speak, but every time I tried to respond, his finger stirred inside me, causing my focus to break away completely. Finally, he slipped his finger from me. He then drew the wet coated digit to his mouth and sucked it. My jaw gaped, and my sex clenched in reaction. He dropped to his knees and threw one of my legs over his shoulder. I knew I should be stopping this. I knew when Reid finally did come back to himself he would … His tongue slipped between my folds and just like that my thoughts flew apart. He lapped at me with a hungry intensity that had me moaning. My hands slipped to his hair, and it took everything in me not to grab at him and pull him closer to me. His hands were pressed on my belly and thank God, because there was no way I could stand under his sensual assault.

His mouth settled until his lips covered my taut little bud. His eyes flicked up to mine. He sucked it in his mouth. I couldn't stop myself from screaming out and writhing against him. Building, the pressure was building, and this heat was nearing a fever pitch. I was only a few flicks of his wicked tongue from nearing my climax. I was thrusting to him with every pull. My body was aching for release. He slipped a finger inside of me as he flicked his tongue across my clit, and that was all it took. My world shattered, and my sex clenched around his finger, drawing him deeper. My fingers grasped his hair, drawing his face closer, and my vision blurred with the intensity of this orgasm. I was screaming and didn't even realize it until my throat grew raw. I looked down at Reid, who was not letting up one bit. Everything was getting too intense, and I tried to push him away; he snarled and nipped my inner thigh.

“Reid, please, I can’t.” My voice was a mere rasp. My voice seemed to jolt his awareness. He flew away from me. I all but crumpled to the ground, heaving for breath. I wasn’t sure what just happened. I wasn’t sure I was sorry it happened either. What exactly did he do to me? Lord help me, I wanted it to happen again.

“I’m sorry.” His voice was guttural.

Wait, he was apologizing? Hell if I would let him feel bad about what he just did to me.

“I’m not.”

His eyes flicked to me in question.

I gave him a shy smile and added, “You just devoured me.” I was nearly breathless.

"My beast wouldn’t go back in its cage without tasting you." He looked horrified.

I wanted to go to him, to reassure him that I loved him and that I was more than fine with what just happened. After being so devastated by him, my legs were little more than Jell-O.

“Reid, I’m sorry you had a struggle, but holy shit, man. There is nothing back there that I didn’t enjoy.” His features seemed to ease slightly with my words, so I didn’t mention my own internal issues.

His eyes widened and rushed over to help me up. I couldn’t help but giggle.

“Care to explain what exactly happened? Not that I’m complaining, mind you.”

He set me on my feet and ran a hand through his tawny hair. In a low, controlled tone, he answered, "My beast needed you. I mean, I did too, and I think that's why the upper hand shifted. I mean we are one in the same, but it needed its mate."

I thought about how Reid was changed, and the events that followed made him hate this part of himself. He may be trying to help me gain some control of myself, but I think he needed to accept this part of himself as well.

“Reid, I’m not at all sorry for what happened. You shouldn’t be either. This is part of who you are. I love you, wolf and all. I think it’s time you love every part of yourself.”

"Is it that obvious?"

For once, this male, my male, my alpha, wouldn't meet my eyes. If my heart weren't already his, it would have been. His expression was so defeated, and it nearly broke me.

"I know I'm not the authority on being what we are. But, Reid, hating yourself isn't helping your control. You're a lone wolf, I don't think that's what your beast wants. If you keep punishing yourself for what happened all those years ago, you'll never grow. I love every bit of you."

He seemed to be processing every word. Maybe he was looking for the lie in them. He wouldn't find it, because I truly believed every last word I spoke.

"I'll try, love." He kissed the tip of my nose. He then turned, saying, "We should dress and get back." He went to go dress, and I fumbled my way toward my clothes. I slipped my shirt on and then reached for my pants. I paused, looking for my underwear. I eyed the spot where Reid had, um, well, demolished me, and laying on the ground were what was left of my undergarment. I walked over and retrieved them. I held them up to inspect them.

“Reid?” I called.

“Yes?”

"Can we maybe take it easy on my underwear? This was my last pair." I slipped my pants on and just as I finished buttoning them I felt Reid's breath on my neck. I shivered in response. I couldn't help it. Damn him. He had a direct line to my hormones, and it bypassed everything else.
Lord, this man does things to me
.

"I like the idea of you wearing no panties."

His breath was warm on my neck, and it caused my pulse to flutter like the beating of a hummingbird's wing. My breaths grew shallow, and I couldn't seem to make a coherent thought.

"Um, shouldn't we ... I ... I mean we should …" What was I saying? Oh God, his nearness was already effecting me. I was so easy when it came to Reid. He laughed low in his chest and then drew me to him. He covered my mouth with his. This wasn't a tentative kiss, this was one of possession and passion. He was kissing his mate, and he knew it. When he broke the kiss, I was heavy-lidded and breathless.

“Come, love, let’s get back.”

Words were a little more than I was currently capable of, so I nodded, and we walked to the car. Just as the car came into view, he paused and grabbed me, pushing me behind his body. I’d not expected this move, so I nearly tripped over my own feet trying to keep up with the movements.

“What the hell?” I asked the large back blocking my view. I heard him snarling.

Just what the hell is going on over there?

"Look, I know this looks bad, but I came here to talk."

I had no idea whose voice I was hearing, and it was pissing me off. The voice was male and young. Not teenage, but early twenties for sure. I put my hands on Reid's shoulders trying to see, but it was no use. I tried again to see over and around Reid. Just as I was about to jump to get a glance, Reid rushed the man. My weight had been on him, so the momentum sent me flying toward the ground. And, just like that, I got a face full of dust and dirt. I got a lovely mouthful of the gritty substance. I scrambled to my feet to see Reid holding someone against the car. Once I got to my feet, I walked slowly toward him. I scented the air, something I should have been doing this whole time. I tried to sift through the thirteen thousand different scents. My eyes went wide; it was a were. I swallowed. It wasn't Mitch, but this did not bode well.