Authors: Astrid Lee Donovan
Chapter Six
“So, like, how does no one know that you guys exist?” Corinne asked as she dug her fork into the last morsel of General Tso’s Chicken that lingered at the bottom of the take-out container. Deck had resumed his human form, and after calming Corinne down from her immediate panic, had ordered food for them. He’d found Corinne pleasantly open to trying to understand this thing that she had moments before considered outside the realm of human possibility.
“I guess I’ve had to be pretty open-minded,” she’d said, still clutching her knees to her chest, her eyes studying Deck like he was about to change again any moment. He hadn’t missed, when he shifted back, the way her eyes had fallen to his manhood – she seemed almost impressed with it as she did his bear. “You know, weird stuff happens when you’re on your own. Seen plenty of people on the boardwalk I could barely believe existed, too.”
He bit back the urge to ask her how she came to be on her own. She would tell him in time, if she wanted to. He wouldn’t press her - on anything. Even if it ruined him…
“Actually, the government is very aware of us,” Deck said, picking at the remnants of his own sesame chicken. “They don’t let the public in on it for…somewhat obvious reasons.”
“Like aliens,” Corinne said, nodding knowingly. He arched an eyebrow and bit back a smile. “What? You don’t believe in aliens? Dude, there are aliens. I know enough people who have been abducted to not doubt it anymore. All their stories are the same. It’s too uncanny.”
“Okay,” Deck said, not sounding very convinced. When she kicked him in the thigh, giving him a serious look, he had to laugh.
“You can’t expect me to believe in animal-human hybrids and not trust me when I say there are aliens,” she said with a pout.
“Okay, we’re not animal-human hybrids, and I just showed you that we exist. Show me an alien.”
She set her Chinese food on the nightstand. She still hadn’t moved from her position under the covers. Now, she studied him.
“So what happens now?” she asked in a quiet voice. He set his own container down and looked down at his lap.
“What do you mean?” he asked, knowing exactly what she meant.
“I mean, now I know the big secret. What happens? Do I get picked up by the CIA and brought to a dark room and get tortured or something?”
“No,” he said, shaking his head. When he looked back at her, his eyes were flashing sad and longing. He reached out, tentatively, and brushed an errant strand of hair from her cheek. His touch was electrifying – so much so that Corinne sighed when he brought his hand away, felt her body leaning in, as though to follow his fingers.
“What do you feel, Corinne?” he asked, and with his eyes holding hers captive, she found herself unable to do anything but answer truthfully.
“Safe,” she said. “And…a little crazy. And…mostly…I guess…I don’t know. I feel like…like something is in here…”
She placed one hand over her heart. Reaching out, her other hand landed on his chest, above his heart. The contact made them both stiffen.
“…and that it’s answering to something in there,” she said softly, overwhelmed by the soft waves of…something as they washed over her. He nodded.
“That’s our hearts calling,” he said, seeming patient but really experiencing a whirlwind of fear and desire. “A bear only meets so many true mates in his life. Lots of women can mate with a bear, but only one or two are…”
He mimicked her actions, pressing one hand to her chest and the other to his heart. Corinne moaned, surprising both of them, when his hand covered her breast, and her back arched. He pulled his hand away like she was fire.
“Holy shit,” she breathed, panting. He nodded. “So I’m like…fated to you?”
He looked away, his eyes growing distant. After a moment, he shook his head.
“Not really,” he admitted. “Sort of, but not really; because you have a choice, Corinne. You can choose me; choose to spend your life with me. Or you can leave. It’s all…it’s all up to you.”
She collapsed backward against the headboard. She couldn’t deny that there was something between them - something beautiful and strange and yearning. But it was a lot to take in. As though reading her thoughts, Deck leaned towards her and grabbed her hand in his. He had to stop doing that. Every time they touched, it was like being swept up in an undertow.
“Just stay for a while,” he asked, eyes pleading. “A few days – a week. Just…don’t leave right away?”
How could I, she thought. She nodded. He smiled, so big and earnest she had to return it. She wondered when the last time she smiled like that had been.
Chapter Seven
For three days she lived in his house. Eating his meals. Taking his charity, which was bountiful. He bought her clothes to wear. And each night, she dreamt of him. And each day, the idea that she might someday have to leave plagued her more. Corinne had made a career of not trusting anyone. But when Deck looked at her with his brown eyes, all soft and chocolate-sweet, she couldn’t do anything but trust him. And she could tell he needed her to trust him.
And she liked him, to boot, though it was hard to tell what was true and what was the effect of those odd, rare, once-in-a-lifetime feelings that seemed to possess her heart like a lovesick – and horny – ghost. But he was kind of funny, in an oblivious way. And he was a good cook. He liked to read, and had a huge collection of books on every subject from romance to physics to art. He had interesting things to say about TV when they watched it. He had weird taste in movies that made Corinne laugh. He loved Legally Blonde. Said he liked how gutsy the lead character was.
He’d said to take as much time as she needed. But she didn’t know how she was supposed to make a decision this big in any amount of time. She was standing on a ledge. She could fall onto a trampoline that would lift her back up, endlessly, never to hurt again. Or she could fall onto her face and break every bone in her body.
Or she could turn around, and not jump at all.
Go back to living on the run; under boardwalks and in alleys and in public bathrooms.
She chose to jump.
On the third night, she found Deck alone in his bedroom after dinner. He was staring at the door when she entered, as though he was waiting for her. His whole body tensed at her approach. She hadn’t come to him in the nighttime yet. He had to know…
“I want to tell you,” she said in a whisper. “I’ve never told anyone. Why I was where I was when I was kidnapped. Can I tell you?”
He nodded, patting the bed next to him. She took the seat, wanted to grab his hand, but held back. Would he still even want her after she told him the truth? She was damaged goods, after all. Who wanted damaged goods?
“My father died when I was two,” she began with a sigh, keeping her eyes lowered to her fidgeting hands. “My mother….well, it really ruined her. Afterwards, she had two more daughters, with different men. None of them stuck around, until I was ten, and John came around. We thought he might be good – my sisters and I. He seemed nice. Brought presents. He stuck around, at least. That was saying something.”
“And they got married and, you know, I was happy - for her. She’d been lost. For a while, he seemed like he’d found her, so she wouldn’t be lost anymore. But then he started…he started hitting her. Not bad, but not…you know, not good, either. It’s never good, I guess. And she didn’t tell us – we just would hear it, or see her after. Red marks on her cheeks and neck, couple of black eyes. We should have said something but…we were kids. And he was still so nice most of the time.”
“But then I turned 16. And he started…well; he started looking at me - and not in a good way - in a really, really bad way. When he started coming around my room at night…”
She buried her face in her hands, her brown hair hiding her further. Deck growled low in his chest, the vibrations rumbling the bed underneath them. His bear raged. Someone had hurt her. Someone had hurt his mate. The thought made him angry – murderously angry. Using all his will to tamp down his violent response, he reached out and grabbed her thigh. Her body went rigid, then relaxed. Sighing, she raised her head and swept a hand through her hair.
“He never got all the way. No one has,” she said, meaningfully, now looking up at him. “Ever. I’ve never let anyone…you know. Do that. But he…he tried to. A few times he tried hard. I tried to tell my mother but – she was already so broken. She just cried, and it didn’t get better. She didn’t want to believe it. She didn’t think she could do anything about it. She…she loved him, I guess, or whatever.”
Corinne shrugged and Deck knew that this hurt just as much; that the one person who should have died to protect her…didn’t.
“That was three years ago. I left when I was just about to turn 17. Been living on my own ever since. Went back to my mother’s name. Never looked back. But I miss my sisters, and my mother, even. And I’m worried…worried about what he’ll do to them…”
A tear rolled down her cheek. Deck’s hand closed into a fist, but he forced himself to release it, wiping the tear away instead of punching the wall. She rolled her face into his hand, letting him cup her cheek.
“Thank you,” he said, forcing her eyes to meet his. “For telling me.”
“Do you…do you still…still want me?” Corinne asked in halting breaths. That broke his heart more than anything, almost. That she would think that what some asshole had once done to her made her less desirable to him.
“More than anything,” he said, the words a low growl as they escaped his check.
“Then why don’t you take me?” she asked, quietly.
“I am not in the habit of forcing myself onto humans,” Deck growled.
“But what if…what if I want you to?” Corinne asked. She let her hands trace the back of his neck, felt the way her sex responded immediately to their flesh touching.
“Then it wouldn’t be forcing,” Deck growled.
“No,” Corinne agreed, her voice no more than a murmur as white-hot need flashed through her. “No, it wouldn’t.”
“I don’t know if I can do this slow,” he said, drawing in his breath sharply as his body loomed closer over hers. “Want you too much…”
“Then do it however you can,” she said. “But do it.”
He breathed deeply, eyes closed, and when he opened them again it was to see her own eyes gently lowering as his lips found hers. The moment they met, it was like the spark that set a wildfire blazing, and he pressed his tongue against her lips, pushing crazily, angrily, into her mouth. She surrendered to him with a moan, feeling his tongue laying siege to her mouth, exploring, probing, seeming to find every sensitive place inside her until he pulled away, her bottom lip between his teeth.
A steady growl began in his chest and erupted through his body as he pushed her down onto her back. Corinne’s whole body was alight with want, her breasts heaving and her mind spinning. Deck rose, positioning himself between her legs, ripping away the dress she’d worn like it was paper, her panties tearing easily in his superhuman grip. The growl increased as her whole long, lithe young body, untouched and perfect, was laid bare for him and he could smell her arousal in the air, see the way her hips squirmed against the mattress, her eyes pleading for him.
It took all he had not to rip into her immediately, but she wasn’t ready, and he wanted to taste her first. Lowering his body down atop her, his mouth nipped and bit at the flesh on her neck, making her moan louder as he lowered down to her breasts, taking one in his hand while his mouth teased and then devoured the other.
Corinne could feel the way his hard cock pressed against her through his jeans. She’d never felt so open, so needy, so dumb for pleasure. She’d kept her virginity…and now she felt it was just for this moment, when passion was threatening to rip her apart.
Deck’s fingers twisted at her stiff nipple, then he switched, lapping at the other breast while his hand travelled downward, finding her hot and warm and ready – but not yet. As the scent of her filled his nostrils, his mouth watered to taste her, to taste every drop of her nectar. He let his teeth graze her nipple as he lowered himself down further, making her spine go rigid.
“Fuck, Deck,” she moaned, looking down as his eyes watched her from between her legs. He crouched down, bringing his hands to her hips and lifting slightly. A glistening drop of arousal teased her pussy lips, and he couldn’t stop himself from leaning forward and licking it up with a single, long stroke that teased a cry from her lips. His tongue rose to her clit and she groaned, her body slumping as a pleasure she’d only dreamed of washed over her. Her hands instinctively found his hair and she buried her fingers into his scalp, drawing him forward, harder against her.
She could hear her own heart beating in her chest, and his licks seemed tuned to the rhythm, torturing her with sweet pleasure as she writhed in desperate ecstasy. His smell, deep and earthy, filled the room. His tongue lapped again and again at her now-throbbing clit, first circling it, then flicking over it, then pressing against it in broad stroked.
When her arousal heightened, he dipped down, stroking his tongue just inside her slit, drinking her up like water in a desert, before returning to the swollen nub. He growled against her and the sensation was heaven; he lifted her hips in his strong hands, giving him more access to her center, her hands raking through his hair as she struggled to contain herself. Her body tensed and strained, and her thighs clenched around his ears. He felt her climax approaching and went rabid on her sweet cunt, sucking her clit between his lips as she let out a series of cries.
“Oh shit, please don’t stop, please don’t stop, Deck, please, I’m gonna…I’m…shit,” she said, her head rolling back and forth as her toes curled underneath her and a buzzing, white hot ball of tension formed just beneath her stomach.
He gripped her hips harder and let his teeth fall, just grazing her clit, and she shot straight upright, hands clutching his face to her sex as her nerves split and shook with release. The ball of tension exploded, her body flaming up as she came against his tongue, her cunt dripping into his mouth, her fingers twined in the sheets and body rigid with bliss. His tongue was unrelenting, stroking her through her pleasure, adding to each wave of sensation until it was too much, and she pushed him away, her clit buzzing from stimulation.
But it wasn’t enough.
She needed more.
“I need you inside me,” she panted, trying to raise herself to her elbows to look at him. He pushed her down, covering her body with his in a single lithe movement. His lips fell onto hers and she could taste herself on his tongue as his hand came to her breast once more, kneading hungrily now while his other hand made quick work of his pants.
When their hips aligned, he pulled away, and Corinne saw agony ripping through his face.
“Shit!” he cried, tearing himself away from her. Confused and alarmed, she rose, and watched his hand furiously pumping along his cock, stroking it so quickly it was like a blur. His chest was rising and falling heavily, his eyes focused on hers, his mouth in a snarl.
“What are you…”
“Just come here,” he growled, reaching out and grabbing her neck, pulling her close. “Please…”
When the first burst of cum left his cock, it fell on her breasts, warm and thick. Desperate to feel more of him, she lowered her head and opened her mouth, accepting each spurt into her throat and swallowing as he pressed the head of his cock past her lips. His breathing was ragged, his hand on her neck heavy.
“Why didn’t you…”
“Not ready to mate you,” he growled, releasing her and collapsing beside her on the bed. His eyes studied her and she felt compelled to lay beside him, curling on her side so that they faced each other. “Just…not yet.”
“I said it’s alright,” she protested feebly, tiredness beginning to wash over her.
“I know you did, babe,” he growled, pulling her in for a long, leisurely kiss. “I just need it to be…perfect. Perfectly right.”
She sighed but didn’t argue. Didn’t have the strength to. Her eyelids were growing heavy as she basked in the radiating, comforting warmth of him. Sleep came quickly, and she had no dreams.