Authors: Raven Monet
The look on his face was one of pure ecstasy. And just seeing the way his face twisted with pleasure and hearing the sounds of pleasure escaping him – it overwhelmed me and sent me into another shuddering orgasm. Together, we rode this one out. Our hearts beating as one.
Our bodies truly united in the way you only can be if you've been marked.
And I had to admit, it was truly fucking amazing. More so than the first time I'd been marked. And I never, in my wildest dreams, would have thought was even possible.
Chapter Five
I was still in his lap, staring into his eyes when the other side of my neck – the side he hadn't marked – started burning. My heart raced as the blood stopped in my veins. I had hoped that Micah's marking would break my ties to his brother, but it obviously hadn't.
Micah must have seen something in my eyes. “What is it, Lucy? Are you okay?”
I couldn't breathe, much less talk. It felt like someone had hold of my throat and was squeezing the life from me. It could only mean one thing.
“Deacon,” I managed to choke out as the air rushed into my lungs at last.
Coughing and choking, I nearly fell from Micah's lap, but he held onto me, held me close, watched me and tried to figure out what he could do.
“Lucy. Oh God, Lucy. Lucy,” he said over and over again, holding my face in his hands. “What about Deac – ”
But he never finished his question. He didn't have to.
The front door splintered and cracked at the hinges as it burst inward. Whether it was locked or not, it didn't matter. He could get through any door, come into any house he wanted.
I jumped up as soon as I heard the sounds, pulled myself away from Micah's lap as quickly as possible. Not that there was any way to cover up what we'd just been doing anyway – we were both still buck naked after all. I grabbed a blanket on the couch, covering my body with it as if that might do some good.
Micah was standing, growling, his eyes red and fierce.
Deacon stood in the doorway, fists balled up at his side, ready to smash someone's face in. The only thing that stopped him was a surprise. There was a look of hurt in his eyes. He looked shocked and for a moment, I felt horrible. Until I remembered who he was – and what he was capable of.
“Deacon, no,” I said, rushing toward him as if I could stop a fight from breaking out.
Micah grabbed me, held me back in his arms. I fought against his hold, but Micah was worried about me, not knowing that Deacon would never, ever hurt me.
“Please,” I begged him. “I can't let him hurt you.”
“He's not going to hurt me, Lucy,” Micah whispered into my ear, his gaze still on his brother. “He's still my brother.”
“We were brothers, you mean,” Deacon shouted, shaking his head. “But that was before you made your choice to abandon your family.”
“I'm no lion, Deacon. We both know that. I'm not cut out for your life. Never was, never will be.”
“But you're cut out to be a fucking teddy bear?” Deacon spat. “A fucking bear, Lucy. Really? My own brother at that?”
“There's a lot you don't know about my tribe, Deacon,” Micah whispered. “There's a reason I joined them rather than stay human. It's where I belong.”
“You joined because you're a pansy, man,” Deacon said, cracking his knuckles.
Looking between Deacon and Micah was like night and day. It was hard to believe they once shared a womb, that their mother used to dress them in identical little outfits for church. If I hadn't seen the pictures myself,saw two little boys with identical faces wearing matching overalls, I might not have believed it. But I'd seen the pictures. We had the photos in an album somewhere n the house, so we could show our child the family he'd never get to know.
“I'm not a pansy. Just because I don't like the pride bullshit, the killing, the violence, the crime – that doesn't make me a fucking pansy. It makes me human like you once were too.”
“You're no human,” Deacon said, walking toward us but stopping to look at a photo that hung on the wall. It was a picture of Micah and me, taken at a Sears Portrait Gallery. Deacon laughed, shaking his head in disgust. “You just like to pretend to be human. But you have the Walker blood in ya, man. You proved it to me the last time we fought. Took a chunk out of my face here.”
“And I'll do it again,” Micah said, finally letting me go, but holding onto my hand. “Leave so I don't have to hurt you again.”
“Oh, I'll leave all right,” he said, closing his eyes. I could feel my feet moving even before I even knew what was going on. The scar on my neck, from where he'd marked me years ago, began to burn, searing my flesh and commanding me to go to him. He was calling me. “After I take what's rightfully mine, that is. My woman. My child. And my soon to be, Lioness.”
“No,” I muttered, looking back at Micah as he held onto my hand, trying to grab me and stop me from walking.
His mark was also burning on the other side of my neck. I stopped moving, feeling the push and pull between the two men. It was like I was literally being pulled apart, torn into two halves. The left side wanted to go to Deacon, the right to Micah, and my heart was stuck between the two.
“No, Deacon. Please. Leave me be.”
“You want me still, Lucy. Face it. You want me.”
I couldn't outright lie. Not when he had control over me like this. He could tell when I was lying, he could force me to tell the truth. And to do so in front of Micah, the man I loved – it would destroy him. I couldn't do this.
“I don't know what I want right now, Deacon. I'm being torn apart her,” I said, crying out as my body burned, tugging me in two different directions. “It hurts. It hurts so badly.”
I fell to my knees, covering my face and reached for the marks on my flesh, literally trying to scratch them from my skin just to regain some sort of sanity.
“You want me or I wouldn't have this effect on you, let's face it,” Deacon said.
“She's not going to you, is she, asshole? But you're hurting her anyway,” Micah said, dropping to his knees beside me, rubbing my neck and for the first time, coming across the other mark. The one his brother gave me years ago. His eyes grew dark for a moment and I thought I lost my Micah as the realization hit him hard.
“I'm sorry,” I whispered to him between cries. “I was young and stupid and thought I loved him. But I don't, Micah. I love you.”
Deacon was walking toward us but stopped as I said those words to his brother.
“I love you too, Lucy,” Micah said, stroking my hair back and kissing my forehead.
“Isn't this fucking sweet,” Deacon said. “So you let him claim you too, huh? What did you think would happen when we got together? Thought it would be a peachy family reunion? Nah, Lucy. I don't give up what's mine, not that easily.”
“Even if it means tearing her apart, Deacon?” Micah said, staring up at his brother. “Because that's what you're doing to her. Now, I didn't know about your mark on her, or else I might have reconsidered, knowing what could become of her. But it's clear she doesn't want to go with you. Leave her be and stop hurting her. Haven't you hurt her enough?”
“She likes it rough, though, don't you Lucy?” Deacon said, kneeling down beside me.
With on finger, he lifted my head up and forced me to stare into his eyes. I was transported to another time, a time when I'd loved the drama and the trouble Deacon brought into my life. It was exciting. The sex was fantastic and rough and he was everything I'd always wanted in life.
Or so I'd thought.
“I do,” I said, the words coming out before I could stop them. “But I love what I have with Micah even more.”
“But he can't give you what I can. Can he baby?” Deacon asked, stroking my chin.
I let out a soft whimper as I remembered Deacon bending me over tables, recalled him pulling my hair and fucking me rough and hard. And all the while, I'd enjoyed every moment of it. Yes, I loved it. No, Micah couldn't give me that. But some things were worth more than a few minutes – or even hours – of raw, hardcore sex.
Deacon pressed his lips to me, holding my face in his rough, calloused hand, pushing his tongue into my mouth. His breath was rank with whisky. He was plastered and I couldn't pull away. Blame the marks on my body, blame my desire to fuck him again, blame me for being a horrible person – whatever is was, I couldn't pull away from him. I couldn't stop the kiss from happening, and even worse, I couldn't stop kissing him back.
He pulled my head back, grabbing my hair and yanking it back so he could kiss my neck. All the while poor Micah had to witness the whole thing. I looked over at him, saw the pain in his eyes, and that's what gave me the strength to push Deacon away.
“STOP,” I shouted.
Deacon had never been turned down by me. Never before had I fought off his advances. But this was different. Things were different. I was different.
I was still in pain, and the more I resisted him, the more it hurt me. But I fought back, pushing him away, biting him and kicking him hard in the groin.
“I love Micah,” I said firmly. “I don't love you, Deacon. You had your chance and you missed it.”
Micah stood up, hovering over us. “You heard what the lady said, Deacon. She made her choice. Now get the hell out before I make you leave.”
Deacon stood too, looking green and holding his balls. And for a moment, I thought it was over. Deacon turned, limping toward the doorway in silence. But he turned back at the last minute, eyes red.
“Real men don't need their ladies to do the talking, Micah,” Deacon growled. “Real men take it outside.”
And Micah turned to me, his eyes red as his brother's, and I knew it was too late to stop them.
Micah let out a sound that sounded part human, part animal as he growled and screamed, his bones breaking and reforming, hair growing in places that had once only been flesh. His hands turned to paws with long, dangerous claws. His perfect face transformed to that of a beast.
“Let's go, brother,” Micah growled. “Let's take this outside and find out once and for all, who the superior brother really is.”
Chapter Six
“No, please,” I said, grabbing Micah by the fur now growing from his body. “Don't do this.”
“I have to, Lucy,” he growled. “I have to protect our family, and to prove to everyone I can do it.”
“You don't need to prove it to anyone,” I said, stroking his face. “I love you because you aren't big, bad and scary. When I was younger, I thought I wanted that type of life because it was exciting. But now that there's a child at risk too, I see how much I just want to settle down, say goodbye to all of this trouble. Please don't do this for me.”
Tears threatened to fall from my eyes. It was the truth. Yes, sometimes I missed the rough sex with Deacon, but what I had with Micah was special. It was what I wanted. I didn't want him to get into fights or to kill others due to pride, that's what the Walker clan expected of him. That's what Deacon wanted him to do. He wanted his brother to realize he was a lion, that he'd made a mistake by joining with the gentler bear tribes in our area.
But it wasn't a mistake.
And it's exactly why I loved him.
“Please, baby. You don't need to do this,” I said.
But as I spoke, the pain shooting from Deacon's mark caused me to cry out in pain.
“Yes, I do, Lucy. He's not going to stop until he either has you or you're dead,” Micah said, rushing out the door where Deacon was waiting. “And I won't let that happen. No matter what.”
I ran out too, my eyes truly shocked at what I was seeing. Not often in rural America do you see a massive lion and a grizzly bear in the same place, at the same time. Luckily my neighbors weren't nearby – the one good part about living in the country. I couldn't call the cops, there's no way they'd believe me. And even if they did show up, they'd probably shoot both Micah and Deacon, assuming they were the beasts they appeared to be.
But while they were part beast, they were still part human too.
And I prayed I could get through to that human part somehow before it was too late.
Deacon swiped at the ground with his paws, throwing up dust as he let out a massive roar that shook the earth under my feet. Micah stood outside my door, teeth bared and saliva dripping down his jowls as he growled loudly in return.
Before either could charge the other, I ran in between them, standing there. If either one rushed toward the other, they risked taking me out in the process. Something neither of them truly wanted. Even Deacon wouldn't risk my life, I knew that.
I stared at him, meeting his gaze. I decided to appeal to him, first. Walking up to Deacon, I placed my hand on his face, the face that was no longer his, but that of a beast. But still, I could see him in there, looking back at me.
“Deacon, baby, let's face it,” I said, stroking his fur. “You're not cut out to be a husband and father.”
The words stung, I could see it in his face. But he knew the truth too.
“And we both know there's no way to be sure this baby is yours anyway. It very well could be Micah's. The night you left town, I was distraught, hurting, afraid – I turned to the only person I knew would understand how it felt to lose you – your brother. We had too much too drink, stuff happened that night, and for a while, I regretted it. But then you never came back. Months went by, and I spent more time with him. Eventually, I fell in love with him. No one did this to you, baby. You did this to yourself. You left me high and dry and I found happiness for the first time in my life.”
“What if it is mine?” he asked, though the words came out rough and disjointed thanks to him not speaking with a human mouth.
“What if it is? Micah has agreed to care for it like his own, it doesn't matter to him – ”
“It doesn't matter to me either,” he said.
“Yes, but let's face it – is the road any place to raise a baby? Are you going to remember to pick up diapers in the middle of a drug run? What if you're in prison – or worse? Who would care for the baby then? And what kind of life would that be for a child?”
Footsteps behind me caused me to turn, to see Micah standing behind me. I knew that he missed his brother, the bond they used to have before Deacon turned into such a jackass. Still, they were brothers. There had to be some compassion, some empathy inside of him somewhere? There was no way Micah managed to get it all, right?
“Let's face it since you're identical twins, we may never know who the real father is. But it doesn't matter. I have to decide what's best for my baby, what's best for me.”
“I'll give it all up, Lucy,” Deacon said. “I'll be a father in more than a name.”
I laughed, not because it was funny, but because I knew he meant it. At least for now.
“Deacon, sweetie, we both know that wouldn't last long. You're an outlaw. That's what you do. This type of life would bore you to tears, darling. And you'd resent me before long. We both know that.”
Deacon looked past me at his brother, and I stepped in between the two of them. Just in case he thought about attacking after all. Micah wasn't prepared anymore, he wouldn't expect it. It would be the perfect time for Deacon to attack and he could rip his brother's throat out before we knew what had happened.
Which is why I had to stay between them.
I trusted Micah, but I wasn't sure about Deacon. I felt like I knew him, but did I really? He never really let me get to know him past the sex and the fun times together.
“Now why don't you do me a favor – both of you – and turn back into your human form. I'm sure we can make an arrangement that works for everyone. Don't you think?”
“An arrangement?” Deacon and Micah asked at the same time.
“Yes, an arrangement,” I said. “Micah and I will be together, raise the child. But Deacon will be allowed to visit, of course.”
That seemed reasonable, something I knew Micah would agree to. The next part, I wasn't so sure about. But it was possibly the only way to get Deacon to agree to it as well.
“And Deacon, when you are in town, you can have me to yourself for one night.”
Micah snuffed behind me, and I turned and shot him a look from the corner of my eye. He wasn't the usual petty, jealous type. But this was his brother. I knew what he feared. But truth was, I'd never love Deacon the way I loved Micah. And I'd never love Micah the way I loved Deacon. Didn't mean I loved one more than the other. I just loved them differently, that's all.
“Micah, I'm sorry, baby. But he has marked me too. And as you know, there's no way to reverse that I thought having you mark me would sort or override his mark – but it didn't.. And if I'm kept away from him when he's in town, the pain will be unbearable like it was tonight. But we'll lay down some ground rules first.”
Neither one looked too pleased, but they also weren't trying to tear each other's throat out. So that was a plus. Maybe we'd get out of this without me cleaning up someone's blood tonight. And if so, I called that a win.
“Let's talk? Like civilized human beings?”
Micah was the first one to shift back into human form, his bones cracking and popping as he went from four legs to standing on two, still naked as a jaybird. Once he was standing tall, we both looked at Deacon, afraid of what he might do. If Deacon decided to lunge and attack, Micah wouldn't be able to shift back into his bear form in time. He took a chance by shifting back, and I loved him for it. I knew what it cost him to do this, to turn down a fight with his brother. But he knew that no matter what, if they fought, he'd lose either way.
“Deacon?” I said, trying not to let my nerves get the best of me. “Come on now, you know you still love your brother. Even, after all, you've been through.”
Deacon moved forward, and instead of me standing in front of Micah, Micah stood in front of me, protecting me, shielding me from his brother even though it could have meant certain death.
Deacon let out a low roar that slowly turned into a human groan as the fur receded from his body and his skin shifted and changed him back into a human. He was also stark naked now since shifting destroyed his clothing.
“Fine,” he snarled, his dark hair covering his face from view. “Let's talk.”