ShiftinDirty-ElizaGayle (11 page)

“Aren’t we all on the same side when it comes to solving the mysteries around our population problems?”

“I only care about my pack. The rest of you shifters can go to hell and die off for all I care. Especially your half-breed friends.”

“Oh really? Because shifter/human children won’t also be cross species?”

“Shut up about that and tell me about your experiments.”

“You just got done telling me that shifters can go to hell and you expect me to talk about my research? That’s rich.”

Luke growled at him. “It’s probably worthless anyway. Your setup here is primitive. I have no idea how you can be ahead of our research.”

Simon lifted a brow. “Primitive? We may not be state of the art, but I’ve got good solid equipment. It’s more than enough to get the job done.”

“Then why don’t you have any answers?”

“I didn’t say I didn’t have any. I just don’t have them for you.”

The door creaked open and Simon scented the other wolves entering the room. He had a bad feeling things were about to get a lot worse.

“We could torture the information out of you if you’d like. These boys haven’t had much fun lately.”

“You could try.”

“Tough talk for a doctor with no back up. However, this is your lucky day. It just so happens we have an opening in our lab.”

Simon started to reject his bizarre offer when a burst of pain exploded at the back of his head.
 

Fucking A
.

Chapter Eleven

When they were almost back to Dark Moon, Gage turned a sharp right and Sienna had to hold on tight to keep from throwing them off balance.
 

“Where are we going?” She yelled into the wind.

“A surprise.”

Her stomach clenched. She wasn’t really good with surprises. They rode for a few more miles before they turned off the paved road to a small dirt trail that looked more like a walking trail than a vehicle road. They continued until the trail ended before Gage stopped his bike and turned it off.
 

“Far as we can go on the bike”

Sienna looked around. Other than some brush crushed to the ground, the area around them looked impassable without a machete. “You wanted to take me down a dirt road to nowhere?” she asked.

“No, babe. But this as far as the bike can go. The rest we take on foot.” He climbed off and pulled her with him. For a few extra beats he held her in his arms with their bodies pressed together. Despite the slight chill in the air he radiated heat and it felt damn good.

After a few moments of her wondering what he would do next, he set her down beside him. “How far are we going?” She glanced down at her impractical shoes. “I forgot to pack hiking boots.”

“C’mon smart ass. Your paradise awaits and if your delicate feet begin to hurt I will happily carry you the rest of the way.” He grinned down at me, his gorgeous smile making my stomach drop.

“I’m the smart ass? Really?” She started following him. “I don’t need to be carried. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”

He stopped, turning back. His eyes were narrowed but heated. “I know you can. It’s one of the first things I learned about you.”

Again, her belly swooshed and all she wanted to do was get closer and soak in all his warmth. She wasn’t supposed to be getting all soft and squishy around him. In less than forty eight hours her life had exploded into something she no longer recognized. That meant she should be pissed off and trying to find a way to get back.

That thought sobered her.

Get back to what exactly?

Her best friend’s couch?

A job as a waitress she probably no longer had?

“Sienna, what’s wrong?” He shook her shoulders.

“Sorry, I was just thinking.”

He stepped close and touched her jaw. “Well, stay with me a little longer and then you can spend the rest of the day dreaming.”

“I said I was thinking, not dreaming. Jeez. Just go. I’m following.” She shoved at his chest, but he didn’t budge.

He leaned forward giving her a quick kiss on the lips before turning to lead the way.

They walked in silence for a few minutes as the trail wound through the woods. Since moving away to the city and not visiting her family cabin, she’d forgotten how much she loved being out in the country. There was a time she though she hated this world and it was only now, as the followed Gage, she realized how much she missed it. She had to admit it was gorgeous out here too.

“What’s it like for you?” Being a shifter I mean?”

He didn’t stop walking, but she noticed his spine stiffen slightly.
 

“Please don’t tell me I shouldn’t ask. You insist I’m your mate. Everyone keeps talking to me about what’s going to happen when we breed and to keep my head from exploding I just need to know more about you. I don’t think at this point that’s too much to ask.”

He moved so fast she barely saw it until she crashed into his chest. “You are my mate and I realize that isn’t an easy concept to grasp. But, babe. I need you to try. A male shifter with a mate is protective, possessive and a little unreasonable.”

“A little?”

He ignored her smart ass comment. “But one thing I am not is indecisive or uncertain. I was hooked the minute I saw you, even before I scented something more. And I will do anything necessary to keep you alive and happy. Anything, Sienna.”

His conviction startled her. She’d never met a man like him and she didn’t know what to do with him at all. Part of her wanted to wrap her body around his and hang on for dear life and the other wanted to knee him in the nuts and tell him she wasn’t ready for his brand of crazy.

“You want to know what it’s like to be a shifter? I’ll go one step farther and show you.”

Right there in the woods he tugged his black t-shirt over his head and dropped it to the ground. Greeted by smooth, tanned skin with abs that made her nearly swallow her tongue, she had no idea what to say. However, when he reached for the button on his jeans and proceeded to remove the rest of his clothes she groaned.
 

“Don’t be scared.” He assured her.
 

Sienna shook her head, unable to speak as she stood transfixed staring at his glorious body including a massive semi hard—

She jerked her head up, forcing her eyes away from what she was certain would lead her down the rabbit hole again and maybe this time for good.

Her gaze slid to Gage’s face where a uniquely male smile sat on his face, making it clear he’d seen her checking out his package. Sienna rolled her eyes, trying to play it off but she doubted that he fell for it.

“I’m going to shift now so you can see exactly what it’s like to be a shifter.”
 

He gave her no chance to respond before his body began to change. If it was possible it happened in both warp speed and slow motion. Hair pushed through his skin so fast it was not there one moment and then there the next. The horrific sound of bones popping yanked her attention from the hair on his body to his face that while stoic, couldn’t quite hide the fact what he was going through wasn’t exactly a day in the park.

His body pitched forward so he supported his weight on his hands and feet and then in another blink her sexy biker became a huge tan wolf.
 

Sienna started to take a step back and stopped herself. She’d asked for this and she had to remember this wasn’t a wild wolf. This was Gage. A man she hadn’t known very long but one she felt closer to than she did her ex who she spent years with.

Instead of running away she took a deep breath and made a conscious effort to relax her muscles and calm her mind. Once chilled, the first thing she thought was that his coat of fur was a breathtaking collection of cream, tan, brown and even some orange in places. The second thing she thought was how much wanted to touch it.
 

Not sure how to handle this she held out her hand as Gage tilted his head and rubbed against her palm. Thick and soft just as she imagined. Since she’d never before come across any real wolves in the woods, she’d never seen one except on television. To her they seemed like mythical scary creatures.
 

Not Gage.

He was so beautiful.

He stood still while she stroked his coat several times until eventually he must have gotten bored. His cool nose pushed at her hand and then he turned and walked further into the woods. She followed. He had mentioned a surprise.

The forest they were walking through was dense with the evergreens the area was known for and she wondered just where they could be going. She didn’t wait long.
 

Less than five minutes later the gap between trees opened up and they stepped into what she thought was a clearing until she looked past the wolf to the sparkling pool complete with a small waterfall in front of him.
 

“What is this?” she asked.

The wolf snorted and stepped away from her before it began to change. More bone popping, but it happened even faster this time. She was no longer standing beside the gorgeous animal, but instead the sleek naked form of the large male who wanted to be her mate.
 

A title she wanted to embrace at the moment.
 

“This is your surprise. These woods are where I spend most of my time as wolf and this spring is my favorite place to spend a sunny afternoon.”

Her insides quivered and it wasn’t all because she couldn’t stop looking at his body. He brought her here to share a slice of his life as she’d done with him by taking him to the cabin on the lake.

“Here.” She tried to hand him the clothes he discarded and she picked up thinking he might need them wherever they ended up.
 

“I don’t need them yet. I’m going for a swim.”

She swallowed. “Like that? Out here? But the water is going to be cold.” The nights had started cooling down weeks ago and she imagined the spring below far too icy for a late autumn swim.

“Hot spring. You can swim here year round.”

That explained the faint shimmer of steam hovering over the water she’d incorrectly thought was some sort of mountain fog.
 

“I didn’t bring a swimsuit.”

He stared at her for a moment before throwing his head back to laugh. “Thank God. I’ve been trying to get you naked for two days, a swimsuit was definitely not in my plans.”

Her body tingled at the idea of getting naked with him. Although he’d pretty much accomplished that back at her parent’s cabin when he used his mouth and fingers… “This was all about getting me naked?”
 

“Not really. But I think you forget how easily I can scent arousal and yours is already driving me crazy and making my dick hard.”

She tried not to look, she really did. But her body seemed to have a mind of its own when her gaze slid down the hard planes of his stomach to find his—Oh. My. God.

What she saw normally would have taken her breath away and probably had her throwing herself on him. But the sound of a snicker snagged her attention before she lost her mind and instantly sobered her.

“Are you laughing at me?”

“Babe. If you saw your face you’d laugh too. I will say I’m flattered though.”

Incorrigible.
 

“I’m not going swimming or getting naked with you.”

He stepped closer, well into her personal space and wrapped his fingers behind her neck. “Sienna, I want you. More than I’ve ever wanted anything. But I’m not forcing you to do anything you aren’t ready for.”

She tried to jerk free from his hold because his touch was causing a riot inside her body as her hormones stood up and screamed for his attention. Unfortunately, he did not release her.
 

“You are forcing me—to stay here. I had a life before I met you, you know.” Not one worth mourning but it was hers nonetheless and she’d been working hard to make it better.

“I can’t help that you ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time, babe. Although in a way I’m grateful for it. If you had stayed inside and minded your own business, I wouldn’t be standing on the bank of my favorite swimming hole with the most gorgeous woman I know, trying to seduce her with my many charms. Under different circumstances I might have wasted time trying to deny nature and what it intended.”

She tilted her head back and gazed up at him. “You really think I’m gorgeous?”

“What the hell kind of question is that? Of course I do, isn’t it obvious?”

She bit her lip. It kinda was, but it was still hard to believe. “I thought it was just my birthing hips you were attracted to. They seem to be a shifter obsession.”

“It is. Our animal instincts are always close to the surface and the drive to procreate is part of that. So the lack of shifter children being born is a serious crisis. And I’m not even going to try and deny that seeing you with my child inside of you would be one of the most amazing miracles. But it’s not all I see when I look at you. That’s just one piece of Sienna as I know her. I see beauty on the outside as well on the inside and that’s not easy to find. Shifters are by nature sneaky and secretive, especially outside their family unit. And don’t get me started on the humans I’ve met. They may not all be malicious but they love manipulation.”