The Sweetest Mercy (Sexy Shifter Shorts) (6 page)

A guttural sound rumbled up from Carter’s chest and with his good leg, he propelled himself over to his stomach. Kiera waited, placing a tentative hand on his shoulder as he took a few cleansing breaths. He pushed himself up on all fours, and then to his knees. Swaying a little like a ship at sea, Kiera steadied him and bore his weight as he stood. “You’re amazing, you know that?” His eyes flashed gold and Kiera smiled. “Let’s get me to the house.”

Together, they walked to Carter’s cabin in silence. Kiera marveled at how quickly he healed, already his limp had become less pronounced and he used her less for support. They took the stairs slowly, Carter wincing as he put weight on his injured leg. Once inside, Kiera helped him to the living room, for the first time actually taking in her surroundings.

A man lived here, no doubt about that. Warm earth tones and leather furniture accented the flagstone and hardwood floors. Rough-hewn logs stood in columns to support the vaulted ceilings and a loft—presumably the location of Carter’s bedroom—looked over a river-rock chimney that stretched from a wide fireplace to the second floor ceiling.

“I don’t think I’m ready to tackle the stairs,” he remarked as he jutted his chin toward one of the couches. “I’ll just crash right here for now.”

Kiera eased him onto the couch and her eyes traveled the length of his sleek form as he stretched himself out. Her cheeks flushed as she recalled what it had felt like to straddle that powerful body, to feel his hard length thrusting inside of her. “I should get you cleaned up,” she murmured. “Where do you keep the washcloths?”

“Top drawer next to the sink.” Carter sighed as he laid his head back on a throw pillow. “You don’t have to, you know. I’ll be fine in an hour or so.”

An hour? Kiera couldn’t believe he’d be as good as new in such a short time after seeing him so close to death only moments before. Truth be told, she didn’t know any shifters and her curiosity got the better of her. “Do you always heal so fast?” She turned on the kitchen faucet and retrieved a couple of washcloths while she waited for the water to heat.

“Faster,” Carter replied. “It’ll take a while for my body to reject any residual silver particles that might have lingered in the wound. Kiera, how did you find me?”

Kiera soaked the cloths under the hot water and wrung them out. “I heard you swearing and shouting,” she said as she walked back to the couch. “You sounded hurt. I couldn’t just leave you there.”

“You ran from me.” His eyes delved into hers as though he wished he could climb right into her thoughts.

“I was afraid.” She focused her attention on his leg, pulling up his shredded, blood stained pant leg so she could clean the wounds. “I thought you were an illusion at first.” This wasn’t exactly a subject she wanted to broach, but it was too late to turn back now. “And then… after we… well, then I realized that I wasn’t crazy and you were real. And you told me you were a shifter. Like Reece. I thought you were playing a cruel trick, convincing me that you were there to help me and I sort of freaked out. I had to run.”

“I’m sorry,” Carter said. He sat up but Kiera refused to look anywhere but his leg. “You threw me off my game. I should have realized you’d be suspicious and scared.”

As if she wasn’t already chagrined over her behavior. “No. I’m sorry. I can only imagine what you must think of me.”

“I think you’re the strongest, bravest, most sensual woman I’ve ever met.”

Kiera turned to look at him, her jaw slack. Definitely
not
the response she’d expected.

Chapter Eight

CARTER LOST HIMSELF in Kiera’s endless lilac eyes. She seemed so shocked at his confession and it tore at his heart to think that no one had ever uttered words like those to her before. Any man who passed up such a treasure was indeed a fool. Carter had to admit he was glad for the foolishness of those men. Their loss was his gain. And he’d make sure that Kiera knew it.

“Kiera, what happened in the cave, it was the most
real
moment I’ve experienced in a good many years.”

“I have to have it,” she said, returning her attention to his leg. “Sex. During the week of the full moon my need becomes consuming. It’s mating instinct, I guess. If I abstain during that time…”

“You lose your mind?” Carter ventured.

“Yes.” Kiera cringed. “More or less.”

“And when I showed up in that cave,” Carter said with a rueful laugh, “you thought you’d finally lost your mind entirely.”

“Yes.”

Well, wasn’t that just a kick to the nuts. The most meaningful moment of the past seven decades had been nothing more than a moment of necessity for Kiera. Had another man walked into that cave, he’d have gotten the same treatment. Carter’s beast rumbled in the back of his mind. They’d kill any male cavalier enough to lay a finger on their female. Apparently Carter’s lion hadn’t gotten the memo: Kiera wasn’t theirs.

“Carter…” Kiera rolled her lip between her teeth as she wiped his leg with the cloth. As if steeling herself for something, she turned to look at him. “No matter what I thought at the time, I want you to know that what happened between us was the most real moment I’ve
ever
experienced.”

His chest swelled with pride and his lion purred in his psyche, content yet smug. He’d given her something no male ever had and that pleased Carter to no end. Her words came back to him, whispered against his skin in the aftermath of their intimate moment:
I’m yours
. She’d spoken in the heat of passion and he wasn’t such a fool to believe that love and a relationship was as simple as two little words. But maybe this was the start of something and he enjoyed the prospect of this newfound hope.

“Who’s Aurielle?” Kiera asked as she discarded one bloodied washcloth in exchange for a clean one. Carter’s heart sank into his gut. How did she know that name? She gave him a sad smile and returned her focus to his injured leg. “You called me Aurielle earlier tonight. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. I was just curious.”

In his fevered state, he’d called Kiera by his dead mate’s name? Gods, if Carter could sink through the floorboards, he’d do it right now. “Aurielle was my mate,” he answered. No use beating around the bush. “I’ve been without her for almost a century. Fragile, even for a human, she fell ill and died in 1943. I apologize if my words hurt you, Kiera. Had I been in my right mind, it never would have happened.”

Her expression brightened and she gave him a sweet smile that made his heart pound against his ribcage. “I guess we’ve both been a little out of it tonight.”

Carter reached out and combed his fingers through the wild tangles of Kiera’s hair. He wondered how she’d react if he took her into the shower and painstakingly washed every inch of her body.

“I’m sure I look awful.” Kiera laughed, and as if she’d read his mind said, “I could probably use a shower.”

His decision made, Carter grabbed her hands and pulled her close. Screw his leg, it was healed enough and he’d be damned if he let something like a bone deep gash get in the way of seeing Kiera naked and wet. He took her face in his hands and traced her bottom lip with his thumb before replacing it with his mouth. As his lips met hers, the moment rang with familiarity, as if he’d done this before. Kiera’s fingers twined in his hair and her tongue met his, tentative at first, but then bolder, deeper, her urgency as great as his.

A memory flashed in his mind, of kissing Kiera, his fingers spreading her silky folds as he found the swollen knot of nerves at her core. A name on his lips: Aurielle. As if he didn’t feel bad enough already, now that he had context, it was even worse. He might have uttered his dead mate’s name while delirious and not in his right mind, but he’d prove to Kiera that she had nothing to fear from a ghost.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE the removal of a bear trap made. Kiera was amazed at how quickly Carter was healing, and even more amazed at how damned good it felt to be in his arms. He kissed her with fervor, his passion matching her own. But this time, Kiera would make sure it was her name on his lips, not Aurielle’s. He swept her up in his arms as though she weighed no more than a feather and wound his way through the living room, taking the stairs to the loft two at a time. Carter carried her through the bedroom and into the bathroom, never breaking their kiss. Teeth nipped at her bottom lip and his tongue darted out to soothe the delicious sting. He reached out behind her and the sound of water spraying from a shower head piqued her curiosity. She pulled away to find herself inside a luxurious bathroom of slate stone with a shower built for two waiting as steam boiled out from the open glass door.

She arched a brow and Carter whispered against her mouth, “I want to wash every inch of you. Is that all right?’

All right?
Just the thought of Carter’s soap-slicked hands on her skin brought her close to orgasm. “Only if I can return the favor,” she murmured.

Carter smiled and gently set Kiera down on her feet. She’d yet to see him smile, and she loved the way it transformed his face, turning his cold, deadly countenance into something light and carefree. She tugged at his t-shirt, lifting it up and off his body. Slowly, she slid her hands down his bare chest acquainting herself with every ridge and swell of his torso before she reached for the button on his jeans and worked the zipper down tooth by tooth. Carter’s dark eyes smoldered as she pushed his jeans down over his ass. Taking her hand in his, he kissed her palm and then swept her shirt off in one fluid motion and tossed it to the floor.

As she pushed her skirt down over her hips, Carter’s eyes followed every movement. Bare to his gaze, his eyes lingered on her thighs, belly, and breasts before dragging up to meet her eyes. “You’re so beautiful,” he said.

Kiera’s stomach fluttered at his words. No man had ever said anything so wonderful to her. Oh, there’d been words like, “Damn, you’ve got a fine ass, girl!” or “Babe, your tits make me so hot.” But never in all of her life had a man called her beautiful and Kiera had to swallow a little more than usual to quell the sweet emotion swelling in her chest. “You’re beautiful, too,” she whispered, her voice unsure. She doubted men liked to be called beautiful, but she had no other word to describe Carter. Everything about him was wondrous and beautiful from his thick hair, to his wide, muscular chest and sculpted thighs. He was every bit as beautiful as a precisely chiseled sculpture.

Kiera stepped under the spray and sighed as the warm water cascaded down her body. Carter stepped in after her and simply watched, his eyes blazing a path across her skin. He could drive her crazy with a look and the rakish grin that spread across his face let her know that he was fully aware of his effect on her. He grabbed a bottle of shampoo from one of the stone shelves and squeezed some in his palm. “Can I wash your hair?”

Holy shit. Kiera turned her back to him, more so he wouldn’t see her ridiculous girlish swoon. He worked his fingers through her hair, massaging her scalp as he lathered her hair and chills broke out all over Kiera’s body from the contact. He eased her under the water and while she rinsed out the shampoo, he lathered his hands with a bar of soap. He passed his sudsy palms over every inch of her body, lingering on her breasts as he teased her nipples to achingly stiff points and then moved slowly down her stomach and over her hips to her ass. She held her breath as his palms came back around and slipped between her thighs. Water sluiced down her body in sudsy rivulets as his artful fingers caressed her delicate flesh. When he found her clit, Kiera’s sex clenched with need. He circled her swollen bud with his finger, applying the perfect amount of pressure. Gripping his shoulders for support, Kiera moaned as his mouth descended on her breast and he took her nipple into his mouth.

“I want you, Carter.”

He lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist. The head of his erection brushed her clit and Kiera gasped, desperate to have him inside of her. Cool stone met her back as Carter braced her up against the shower wall and he gripped her hips tight in his grasp as he eased into her. Carter took his time with her, so the opposite of their first encounter. Rather than hard and urgent, this time he was torturously careful with her, each languid stroke a sweet torture that had Kiera digging her heels into Carter’s ass as she thrust herself on him.

“Kiera,” Carter rasped against her ear. “You feel so good.” He shuddered. “So damned wet and tight. Tell me you feel good, too.”

“Yes, Carter,” Kiera moaned, resting her head against the stone tile. She arched her back against him to take him deeper. “I can’t get enough of you.”

He thrust into her once. Hard. And Kiera gasped. “Do you like that, Kiera?”

“Yes!”

Carter pulled out until just his swollen head filled her and then thrust hard, as deep as he could go. “And that?”

“Gods, yes!”

As though the effort of restraining his lust was too much, Carter fucked into her harder, his pace quickening and his breath ragged in her ear. This was what she wanted from him, just like that first time: total and complete abandon.