The Last of His Kind (5 page)

To
her delight he'd allowed her touch in the slow, languorous lovemaking that
followed, and she'd reveled in the freedom to explore the hard contours of his
body. She'd licked the tight pectorals, and run her tongue along the peaks and
dips of his abdominals, trailed her fingers through his chest hair and cupped
his huge erection. She'd reveled in his reaction when she'd run her tongue
along his cock head, cupping his balls and taking him as deep as she could
without gagging. The salty taste of him had proved addictive. Penelope had
never liked giving head before, but with Doric, this, too, was a feast of the
senses. His spunk had burnt a fiery trail down her throat, yet she'd reveled in
the odd sensation and milked every last drop from him.

Doric,
being Doric, had taken his revenge by wrenching orgasm after orgasm from her
using his tongue and fingers before he'd taken her in another fast ride seeking
his own pleasure. She'd fallen asleep in his arms, with him murmuring words in
that strange language again.
 

She
stretched, feeling like the cat that got the cream and smiled at the sunshine.
Not often you woke up to such a beautiful day in
Scotland
. It was almost as though
nature itself rejoiced with her this morning. Her smile froze, and she grabbed
the sheet to cover herself instinctively, when her eyes connected with the
small beady ones watching her intently through the pane of her window. The same
eagle she'd spotted several times before sat on her window ledge, watching her
with an unsettling intensity. Penelope was no birds of prey expert, but she
knew enough to be puzzled by this eagle's behavior.

She
was pretty sure they didn't normally come so close to humans, nor fixed them
with such a disapproving stare.
There you go again, girl. Your stories are
going to your head. He's a bird that's all.
She forced herself to let go of
the sheet and turning her back on the eagle, climbed out of bed on the opposite
side. When she risked a peek over her shoulder, the huge bird had left, and she
breathed a sigh of relief.

Before
she had even made it as far as the door to the bathroom, loud hammering on her
front door disturbed the early morning peace. Come to think of it, why was it
so peaceful? Surely Doric hadn’t left without saying good bye? Her heart missed
a beat at the thought.

Get
a hold of yourself, girl. He didn't promise you anything. You had a wild night
of hot sex to last you a life time. Stop reading more into it.

She
grabbed the bathrobe of the hook at the door, and made her way downstairs, just
as yet more hammering sounded on her door.

"Okay,
hold your horses. I'm coming. There is no need to bash my front door
down!"

She
could see Euan's big frame filling the space though the frosted glass of her
door.
Great, just fucking great.
What did the local cop want from her
now? Dread filled her at the thought of Doric. Had she been fooled into having
sex with a criminal? Did Euan somehow know? Doric had said he was under some sort
of house arrest, and he'd never explained the specifics.
Stupid, stupid
girl!
Her mum would have a fit, were she still alive, knowing that Penelope
had not only taken in a complete stranger, but spent the night having wild sex
with him, too, without any real thought to her safety. And some of the things
they'd done…

Her
clit clenched in remembered pleasure, and her juices trickled down her thigh.
Fine state she was in to greet the man who'd tried his darndest to get into her
knickers ever since she'd arrived at the cottage.

"Penny,
are you in there? Open the door right now. There have been reports of break-ins
in the area. I need to make sure you're ok."

"I'm
fine. You can go away. There was no break-in here." Annoyance made her
voice shrill. She
hated
being called Penny, and that nuisance of a man
knew that. Yet still he insisted on calling her that at every opportunity, his
beady black eyes mentally undressing her. It gave her the creeps, and she
pulled her bathrobe a bit tighter around herself.

"Penny,
love, I'm not going anywhere until you've opened this door and I've made sure
you and the cottage are safe."

Blasted,
insufferable oaf, she was no one's
love.

Penelope
wrenched the door open, just as Euan raised his fist to hammer against it
again. The momentum carried him on through. Penelope neatly side stepped his
advancing bulk and smirked when the beef-cake of a man stumbled onto the bottom
of the stairs. Unfortunately he didn't fall, but caught himself in time,
swinging around with a speed and grace that made her feel quite dizzy.

Penelope
stepped a bit closer to the open door, a shiver of unease going down her spine
at the murderous expression on his hawk-like face, before he twisted his cruel
mouth into the semblance of a smile that didn't reach his eyes. His nostrils
flared, and his eyes narrowed, as he raked his gaze over her form. She pulled
her bathrobe tighter still around her and crossed her arms.

"As
you can see, I'm perfectly fine, so I really do not see what all the fuss is
about." She was talking to his retreating back. "Oi, what do you
think you're doing? You have no right to come snooping into my…oh."

Penelope
stopped dead at the entrance to her living room. It was scene of devastation.
Her mother's favorite grandfather chair was split in half as though it had been
sliced by a giant hacksaw. The lamp she'd knocked over only last night in her
haste to get away from Doric lay in tatters, the plaster of the wall she had
been fucked against until she couldn't see straight bore deep marks that looked
like giant claws had left it. Even the pictures on the walls hung askew. It was
as though an earthquake had happened, all confined to that particular
corner.
 
Penelope had to hold onto the
door frame for support, a vision of Doric's golden eyes swimming in front of
her eyes. It wasn't possible. It wasn't. The blood rushed in her ears, and her
breaths caught, as she remembered that day so many years ago when the huge,
black, cold being from the deep had carried her back to shore on his long neck,
propelling himself along with his long tail. That being had had golden eyes –
Doric's eyes.

Before
her befuddled brain could fully take in that fact, another pair of eyes
commanded her attention. Euan yanked her into the room with such force she
stumbled. His beady eyes bored into hers, and sheer fury emanated off him in
shimmering waves. Her mother would have no doubt called his aura the deepest of
black, and Penelope swallowed past the rising tide of panic clogging her
throat.

"You
refuse me, and you spread your legs for
him?
" He yanked her
bathrobe down and pulled her head sideways with a sharp tug to her hair. Bile
rose in her throat when he leaned in close and sniffed her. She shoved against
him with all her might and achieved absolutely nothing. He smirked and cocked
his head sideways in curiously jerky movements.

"I
mean, if I'd known you like a bit of rough, I would have happily obliged."
He leant in and licked down her throat. He blocked her raised knee easily and
bit her shoulder, his suddenly taloned hands digging in into her hips. Feathers
tickled her nose, and Penelope held her breath as the truth dawned on her. Oh
she had been such a fool. He was the fucking eagle who'd been watching her for
days.

"Let
me go, you jerk. How dare you spy on me? You had no right to invade my privacy
like that."

His
laugh vibrated through her, and she screwed her eyes shut, willing herself not
to cry. Shifters were her living for fuck's sake, yet not once had she thought
that the stories she created in her head would become so sickeningly real. And
the eagle shifter pinning her against the wall so effectively was no handsome
and honorable hero, but a man intent on doing her harm. He forced his hand
between her legs, and Penelope screamed right inside his ear.

He
winced and pulled away shaking his head. It gave her a chance to make a dash
for it, but before she made it out of the front door he was on top of her.
Penelope fell heavily, grazing her hands and knees, and she screamed again. The
answering roar from the
Loch
shook the ground,
and Euan rolled off her.

"Oh,
this is just perfect. You, slut," he hoisted her up by her hair, "are
coming with me. I've been after lover-boy for ages, and you will be just the
perfect bait."

"I'll
do no such thing, you freak."

The
force of his punch threw her sideways, and she tasted blood. She scrambled to
get away, her movements too clumsy and uncoordinated after the blow to the
head.
 
Before she could even blink and
get air into her lungs, Euan grabbed her and dumped her over his shoulder. He
took off at a run. The last image penetrating her consciousness before she
blacked out was the huge sleek dinosaur type creature rising from the
Loch
.

****

A
steady drip, drip, drip brought Penelope round with a start. She coughed and
splattered and spat the foul tasting liquid out with a curse. Her heart leaped
in her throat when she realized what it was. Arms and feet bound to a pole, she
seemed to be in some sort of cave. It was illuminated by candles, and daylight
was just about visible at the far end. The drip came from a huge expanse of
water that filled the inside of her damp prison. Liquid trickled down her back
from her wet robe, and she blew the sodden strands of her hair off her face.
The stench of petrol surrounded her, and she eyed the flickering candles
warily. Where in the world was she? And what did they want with her? Doric
would not come for her. Why should he? She'd been a mere plaything to him. If
he cared for her at all, he wouldn’t have left like he did, without an
explanation and having trashed her cottage.

Damn it.
She
would have to renovate again, if she ever made it out of here alive that was.
The pain in her heart matched the pain in her wrists and ankles, where the
ropes cut cruelly into her tender flesh. She had been such a goddamn fool.

She
blinked several times to get her eyes to focus. It was gloomy inside the cave.
Her eyes burned like crazy from the petrol fumes, and without her glasses she
struggled to see much at all. Rats scurried underfoot, and Penelope bit back a
scream when several of the rodents brushed across her bare feet.

"Hey,
boss, the bitch is awake."

Penelope
whipped her head round in the direction of the American drawl. The voice
belonged to the shaven headed and heavily-tattooed bear of a man she'd spotted
the other day circling on the
Loch
. He came
close enough for her to see the whites of his eyes, and she jumped when he
flicked open his lighter and played with the flame. He held a petrol can in his
other hand, and she flinched when he tipped it upside down, laying a trail of
petrol along the ground. Two more heavily armed men backed up his rear.

Oh
dear God, did they intend on burning her alive?

"So
she is." Euan's harsh tones settled in the pit of her stomach. Damn the
bastard, he was behind all of this. He, too, stepped out of the shadows and so
close to her that his hot breath fanned across her face. He trailed one clawed
hand down the V of exposed skin visible through the gap in her bathrobe and
pinched one of her nipples. "We could have had such fun together you and
me, but this is way better. The perfect trap for our monster and his hide will
bring me a nice fat paycheck from our American friends."

He
trailed his clawed finger lower, leaving a trail of blood on her skin, and
Penelope bit her lip to stop herself from reacting. When he reached her pussy
and sank two fingers inside her, Penelope spat in his face.

"Don't
you dare touch me!"

The
punch to her face made her see stars, and Euan's hollow laughter rang in her
ears.

"Brave
words for a little human tied to a stake. Think they're going to save
you?" He circled round her, licking his fingers and grinning at her.
"Sweet, I can see why our monster chose you. Not that he had much choice
in the matter. Fate is a bitch, is it not? He finally finds the woman with the
ancestry he needs to break his little curse, and what happens? She is burned at
the stake."

The
man was stark raving mad. Panic rose again, and she ruthlessly squashed it
down. She needed to keep a clear head. Maybe if she kept him talking…

"I
have no idea what you’re talking about. I'm no witch, and neither was my
mother. You should know better than to listen to idle gossip."

"It
seems I know your history better than you do yourself, Penny. Your mother may
not have had the full gifts, but she knew of your destiny. That's why she kept
you away from the
Loch
as much as she could. I
was there that day, when you fell in. I couldn't believe my eyes when he showed
up and carried you out."

He
smirked and shrugged his shoulders at her sharp intake of breath.

"I
thought he was just a myth, this distant cousin of mine. So imagine my surprise
when he turns up in the flesh. Naturally I dug out the old family history. It
took me years, and I bided my time. You kept coming back, drawn to the
Loch
. All my Christmases came at once when you returned
to stay for good. Of course I had plans of my own, but no, I wasn't good enough
for the monster-loving little whore, was I? So now it's payback time, and you,
sweet thing, are my meal ticket."