by Sophie Stern
Something about his clipped tone makes me listen to him. I’m not going to say I’m obeying him because, well, I don’t like the idea of obeying someone I’ve just met, but I’d like to think my protective instincts are kicking in. At least my self-preservation instincts are.
I’m silent as he walks into the castle lobby, looks around, and goes up a big staircase. He turns down a hallway and goes to the very last door. He pushes it open, steps inside, and locks it behind him. I remain silent until he sets me down on the bed. Then I leap up, throw myself at him, and start kissing him.
Fast.
Hard.
Needy.
He doesn’t resist – although, I didn’t really expect him to – and instead, he pulls me into his arms and kisses me back. It’s a horrible idea to make out with a stranger, especially one who just a few hours ago kidnapped me, but I’ve never claimed to be a saint. If anything, my instincts have always been a bit strange and unpredictable, and oh, I can’t believe that Flynn is kissing me.
“Stop thinking,” he commands. He fists my hair and tugs my head back as he starts kissing my neck.
“I’m not,” I lie, and he swats me on the ass while kissing me. Oh, so he likes to play a little rough. Is that it? I don’t even mind. In fact, I rather like it.
“When you’re with me, I want all of you here with me,” he pulls away and looks at me. “Heather, just close your eyes and stop thinking. You have nothing to worry about. You’re safe.”
Safe.
The idea is laughable to someone like me, but then again, I’m not exactly running away. That’s because the reality is that I do feel strangely safe with Flynn. Sure, I’ve run away from him a few times so far and I’m sure I’ll try to run away again in the future, but there’s something about him that makes me feel like he’s not going to hurt me.
Not just yet.
And no in any way I don’t want.
He bites at my neck, licking and teasing me. His hands are...everywhere. They’re in my hair and on my breasts and on my ass and between my thighs.
And the problem is that I fucking love it.
I’m eating this up with every breath I’ve got, and I don’t want him to ever stop. In fact, part of me is just silently begging him to do this forever. If he could just quit all of his responsibilities and spend the rest of his life physically pleasuring me, then I’d die a happy woman.
“Flynn, this is crazy,” I murmur, but he silences me with his mouth, and he kisses me over and over. I reach down between us and place my hand over his jeans: right on his cock. He’s hard. Fuck, this guy is hard, and I start to rub him over the jeans.
The groan that escapes his lips just makes me even more wet and excited, and it’s all I can do to keep from pushing him onto the bed and just climbing on him and...and...
What the hell am I doing?
Suddenly, I pull back, and I look up at him. He’s a little bit surprised. I can tell. Still, he doesn’t react poorly. He doesn’t seem mad or angry, and he doesn’t push me.
“Heather?”
“I’m sorry,” I blurt out.
“Why?”
“This is wrong.”
“Kissing is wrong?” Now he seems a little bit confused.
“No, I mean...” I gesture between us wildly, frustrated that he doesn’t get what I’m trying to say. This isn’t about kissing, is it? I mean, the kissing was hot as hell, but I want more, and I’d guess judging by his huge boner that he does, too.
“What’s the problem, Heather?”
Flynn’s voice is smooth and sultry, and somehow, it calms me. I walk over to his dresser and touch it. I run my hands over the top and then I turn around and look at him.
“I don’t want to have sex right now.”
“Okay,” he shrugs. Then he sits down on the bed and just looks at me.
“That’s it?”
“I’m not sure what else you want from me, Heather. I said okay.”
“You aren’t going to fight me on this?”
Is it just me, or did his nostrils just flare a little?
“Heather, I don’t know what kind of men you’re used to hanging out with, but I would never force a woman to sleep with me who wasn’t begging me for it. Okay?”
He’s a good guy, I realize. I’ve screwed up in a lot of ways, I know. My life hasn’t been perfect. I mean, I haven’t gone as far as kidnapping someone, but I’ve made plenty of mistakes. Kissing Flynn wasn’t one of them. No matter what happens next in my life, I’m never going to regret sliding my lips over his or throwing myself into his arms.
I can tell.
“Most guys aren’t like you,” I finally say.
“That’s unfortunate,” he smiles, but it’s sort of a half-sneer. Finally, he sighs and goes to the door. He locks it and comes back to me. “We have to talk,” he tells me.
“About?”
“About what you know. About all of this.”
“About you kidnapping me?”
“Look,” he ignores my question and instead gestures to his bed. It looks big and comfortable. It’s covered with a light blue comforter and more pillows than I can count. Honestly, it looks kind of like a nest, and I’m very tired. I want to climb into it.
“Yes, it’s your bed.”
It’s his bed that we aren’t having sex in.
I shouldn’t have sex with him.
Even if he’s very handsome.
Even if he’s very sexy.
“Heather, you look exhausted. It’s time to take a nap.”
“What?” I look at him sharply. “You can’t just send me to bed.”
At that, he laughs.
“Try me,” he shrugs.
“You’re seriously going to make me take a nap? I’m a grown woman.”
“And you spent the day traveling,” he points out the obvious. “You’ve hardly slept at all. I’d try to force you to eat, but I don’t think you would.”
“What time is it?” I ask.
“That’s not important.”
Somehow, I think it’s the middle of the day.
Maybe noon.
“Get into the bed, Heather.”
“I, um...”
“What?”
“I need to pee,” I blurt out.
He chuckles and gestures to a little door next to the bed. It’s kind of strange that he lives in this tiny little room and not in a suite or an apartment, but whatever. It’s cozy, and I like it. It smells like him, too. I can feel his eyes on me as I move quickly across the room, into the bathroom, and do my business. When I come back out, he gestures at the bed again.
“I want to see my cats.”
“No more demands, writer. Get in bed.”
I sigh and listen. I stand next to the bed, but I can’t get over the idea of sleeping in my clothes and I’m not about to ask him for any. Quickly, before I can talk myself out of it, I pull my clothing off and toss it on the floor. I take off my bra, too, but I leave my panties on. I cover myself before he can get a glimpse of my breasts, and then I slide under the covers.
I don’t want to tempt him, but I also don’t want to be sleeping in uncomfortable clothing.
“What are you doing to me?” He mutters, but he covers me with a blanket and kisses me on the forehead.
“Flynn?”
“Yes?”
“What’s going to happen to me?”
“We need to know what you know, writer. Then you’re going to attend classes while the rest of us sort this stuff out.”
“I don’t want to be a student.”
“You don’t have a choice right now.”
“I want to go home,” I whisper.
“You can’t.”
“Why do I have to go to shifter school?”
“It’ll give you a good chance to learn about my world,” he says. Then he turns off the light and sits in a chair in the corner. So he’s just going to sit there and watch me sleep? It should be creepy and horrifying, but like with everything else inv
olving Flynn, this just makes me feel conflicted.
I like the idea of him watching over me.
I like knowing that he’s here to take care of me.
I like all of it.
Closing my eyes, I hold very still until I drift off to sleep.
The man is holding my hands, and we’re running together in the woods.
“Stay close,” he says. “Keep going.”
“How much farther?” I yell to the man. My feet hurt, and I’m tired. It seems like I’ve been running for an eternity.
“Not much. It’s up ahead. I see it!”
He pulls me, and we run together, but we aren’t fast enough. Soon I feel a sharp pain in my leg, and I look down to see I’ve cut myself on something sharp. It’s bleeding, and it hurts terribly.
The man looks down at me and picks me up, pulling me into his arms.
“Heather, it’s going to be okay,” he murmurs, and when he looks at me, I get a perfectly clear view of his face.
To my surprise and horror, it’s Flynn.
Chapter Ten
Flynn
Questioning Heather doesn’t really get us anywhere. It seems like she doesn’t know who is after the wolves, or why, but more importantly, it seems like she’s not going to run away.
Not that I can keep her as a prisoner.
My father wants me to keep her locked up in the castle, but I think attending the academy will be good for her. The day after she arrives, I collect her cats and bring them into my chambers for her. She gives me a list of things they need – their own litter boxes, food dishes, and a special brand of cat food. There are no classes that particular Monday, so I go to the store and collect everything she wants, and I bring it all back, along with a couple of uniforms.
Honestly, I’m worried that Heather is going to protest when it comes to dressing in academy clothing, but she doesn’t.
“Could be worse,” is all she says.
On Tuesday morning, there’s a knock on the door. Heather looks at me, surprised.
“Who is it?” She calls out.
I just shake my head, laughing.
“Come on in, Lily.”
I can smell Gaston’s wife easily. We grew up together, after all. It’s not like her scent is surprising to me in any way, but sometimes it’s pretty obvious that I’m still not used to being around humans.
Lily pushes open the door and doesn’t even look at me. As soon as her eyes are on Heather, they light up.
“So it is true!” She says, and she runs to Heather and wraps her arms around her. “I’m so happy you’re her! Well, aside from the assholes of the pack kidnapping you,” she shakes her head.
“Hey! I’m right here!”
“You know what you did,” she snaps at me.
“It’s okay,” Heather says gently.
“No, it’s not,” Lily says. “But I did get to play with your cats and hold them on the first day you arrived. You know, before Flynn brought them over here.”
“What’s your name?” Heather asks.
“I’m Lily. I’m Gaston’s wife. We live across the hall.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Heather.”
“Oh, I know exactly who you are, Heather Smith,” Lily grins.
“You do?”
“Yep. Big fan. In fact, I’ve got first editions of all of your books and I even have a signed copy of The Bad Boy Wizard’s Secret Baby.”
“Oh! You won my online giveaway!”
“That was me!” Lily squeals and jumps up and down. “Oh, I can’t believe you’re here!” She says. “I have so many questions for you.”
“Those will have to wait for another time,” I tell Lily. “Right now, Heather has to get to her first class.”
“Class?”
Suddenly, Lily seems to notice that Heather is dressed entirely in uniform. She’s got on the blouse and the skirt and the matching shoes. We haven’t fooled around at all since that first day – we’ve both been keeping a polite distance – but if she were interested in me, oh, I’d be tearing that uniform off in a heartbeat.
“No!” Lily says. Then she turns to me. “You can’t be serious.”
“What?”
“Wolf school? For a human?”
I shrug. It’s not really Lily’s decision to make, is it? There’s a lot about what’s happening here that she doesn’t know or understand, and I don’t remember needing her permission to get Heather into some classes.
“It’ll be good for her.”
“How could it possibly be good for her? You’re basically sending her to high school with a bunch of shifter kids, and she’s not a shifter. Not at all.”
“She needs an education,” I snap. “She doesn’t know anything about our ways.”
“So? It’s not like she’s going to stay.”
I’m silent, and Lily stares at me for a second.
“What am I missing?” She asks.
“Flynn thinks I’m his destined mate,” Heather offers helpfully. “We both have mating dreams about each other, but he’s conflicted because I’m not a shifter like ya’ll.”
“Heather!”
“What?” She shrugs. “You were really going to make her guess?” Heather shakes her head. “Come on, Flynn. Secrets are useless here.”
“They’re definitely not useless.”
“Well, it sounds like they don’t have a place here.” Heather turns back to Lily. “Flynn told me some people are missing. He thought I was involved, but now he just thinks I might have some insight. Apparently, my books reveal a lot of information about the pack.”
“There are some similarities,” Lily comments, looking over at me.
“Similarities?” I growl.
“Just a few,” Lily shrugged. “But I mean, those are just coincidences.” She seems to think about it for a second, and then she says, “You know, like the layout of the school. It’s pretty similar to ours.”
Perfect.
Just perfect.
If Lily knows this, then it’s possible that other people know this. Has someone been using Heather’s books to track down members from our pack? Are her books related to the disappearances? Perhaps more importantly, do her books hold any clues as to how we can find our missing pack members?
We’ve lost three people: one each month for the last three months. There’s another full moon next week. There has been a full moon each time someone’s disappeared, which means we don’t have a lot of time. There doesn’t seem to be a rhyme or reason as to who is being stolen away. Not having much of a lead to go on is probably the hardest thing right now.
While I’m completely relieved that Heather isn’t responsible for the shifters vanishing, part of me feels anxious about it. Her being the villain would have been very neat and tidy.
Now?
Well, now we’re starting from scratch once more.
When I look at Heather, I see a brave woman who seems strong and kind. Her cats are moving around her legs, rubbing against her ankles. Even they trust her to take care of them in every way. I know she’ll never truly be my mate, not if she gets her way, but in moments like this, I really, really want her to be.
Thinking like that isn’t good for anyone, though.
Least of all me.
“Lily, it’s time for you to leave,” I tell the wolf shifter.
“But we haven’t even gotten to hang out yet, and I want her to sign my books. Besides, Flynn, how often does a girl like me have a chance to hang out with her favorite author in the world?”
“I’m sure there will be plenty of chances.”
“Flynn!”
Without another word, I move in front of Lily and start moving closer to her. She automatically backs up one step at a time until she’s in the hallway, and then I close the door and turn back to Heather.
“Not a fan of Lily, huh?”
“It’s not that.”
“Then why’d you boot her out of here?”
There’s no judgment in Heather’s vo
ice: only curiosity. That sort of attitude only makes me like her more, which is terrible because I don’t think I should like her. I want to so very badly. I want her to be my mate. My inner-wolf is clawing at me from the insane, begging for me to let him loose, but I can’t. I have to hold back around Heather because she’s the only person who can help us solve this thing.
“Because it’s time for you to go to class.”
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” She asks. She steps forward and looks at me nervously. “I mean, I know you’re only sending me to two classes. It’s not like I’ve got a full day of school or anything,” she laughs uncomfortably. “But wouldn’t my time be better spent, you know, trying to help you find clues or something.”
“Trust me,” I tell her. “I want to spend every waking moment trying to find out where my friends went and what happened to them, but there are other pack responsibilities I have to deal with, too. The safest place for you while I’m occupied is in class.”
“Flynn?”
“Yes?”
“You still haven’t really told me, you know.”
“What?”
“What happened.”
So she wants to know what happened to my friends who were stolen away. She probably has a lot of questions, actually. I would, if I was her. I mean, it’s a natural sort of curiosity. She’s here because people are missing. It’s probably fair that I explain what went down.
“A few months ago, during a full moon, some of us went for a run.”
“Do you usually do that?”
“During a full moon? Pretty much always. Despite what the movies would have you believe, wolf shifters don’t have to go out during a full moon. We aren’t forced to shift in any way, but we like to. Being beneath the full moon is probably the human equivalent of a nice bubble bath. We don’t need it, but it’s wonderful.”
She smiles and nods.
“Now you’re speaking my language.”
I smile and look at her. Okay, I can do this. Talking and communicating openly isn’t exactly my thing, but I remind myself that this is for a good reason. It’s because I’m trying to find my friend and this girl might have exactly the information I need to find them. If she’s been mate dreaming, then she might have had visions of the academy that I haven’t. More importantly, she has knowledge of the outside world that she might be able to share.