Jason was nowhere to be seen. She was starting to look around for him when she heard the elevator engage, rumbling upward. She turned to look, and several seconds later Jason emerged with two of her suitcases in hand.
“Good morning!” he said, a little more relaxed than the night before. She blinked in surprise as he walked over and set them down in front of her. “I drove your moving truck over from Dennis's, and retrieved some of your clothing. Is this sufficient for now?”
“Um, yes, this will do for now, thank you.” She grabbed the handle of one suitcase and went to put it in her room; he followed with the second. She set the suitcase on the huge bed and went through it looking for a blouse. She finally settled on a long-sleeved shirt of heather purple cotton, and retrieved it before latching her suitcase and setting it aside again. “I'm surprised they didn't haul the truck to the impound.”
He said nothing, and she wondered if SFPD actually had, and he had gone by and paid the fee to get it out. That would mean it hadn't been close enough to become an incidental part of the crime scene. Poor Dennis and Carl. Just thinking about their shooting now made her sick and angry, but at least... at least... the men who had shot them would never hurt anyone again. Thanks to the angry dragon in disguise who was their friend too.
Jason was still standing there, a little closely behind her, watching her with that intent, fascinated, slightly hungry gaze that made her toes curl in her shoes. She turned to face him, and deliberately moved a touch closer.
His gaze dipped shyly, but his eyes hooded, and she saw a tremor go through him.
He struggled for a moment for words, and then said, “I um... I brought home breakfast as well. Come, you must be hungry.”
She was, a little. She retired to the bathroom to freshen up and change her shirt, and was still tucking it into her waistband as she walked out to see the far end of the dining room table covered with plates and containers of food. He had gone for fried chicken, waffles and fruit — heavy on the fried chicken. She watched him sit there happily chewing down piece after piece of it, bones and all, a slightly blissful look on his face. Meanwhile she mostly demolished the strawberries, along with a few chicken wings and a waffle. When the edge was off both their hunger enough for them to slow down, he sighed a little, and looked up at her.
“Tell me about yourself?” he asked softly. “I have told you my story, but I have not heard your own.”
She nodded, though really, she had no idea where to begin.
“It's a pretty boring story compared to yours.”
“Not to me,” he replied with a faint smile, his gaze locked on her.
She smiled back, warmed by his attentiveness. Another thing that put him at complete opposites from Billy. Billy had expected her to listen while he talked, always. His smothery ways had been at once a way to police her and a constant demand for attention, one that had left her trapped, drained and bitter underneath her constant pasted-on smile. Jason meanwhile, sat attentively munching while she stumbled through the start of her story.
“I was... a foster child. I was abandoned as a baby by my birth parents. There's no real record of them. I became part of a foster family when I was two. But they had their own child when I was six and put me back in... rotation. I got bounced around a lot after that. I wasn't a bad kid, but I was really shy and didn't talk much. Easy to dismiss, I guess.” She offered a wan little smile, and his smile faded slightly. She quickly ate a few more strawberries to buy herself time to think. “I aged out of the foster system at eighteen, and got a scholarship to UC Santa Cruz. I became an art major. I painted a lot, but when you're shy you can't stand up for your work very well, or do shows to market it. Still, now and again I will sell something on-line. But usually, I end up juggling a full time and a part time or two thirty hour a week jobs, to make ends meet. It's tough, but... I like San Francisco.”
“So, you... you have never had any real family either.” He tilted his head slightly. “Less even than I. I at least had the Walters family, the ones who took me in.” He blinked at her. “No wonder you... understand so well what it is to be alone.”
She swallowed hard.
“Yes.”
“How did you get involved with that... man?” his mouth worked distastefully as he mentioned Billy.
She sighed.
“I've had a string of bad relationships since my teens. It took me a long time to learn to stand up for myself, and meanwhile I still look like a fragile little pushover, so I have tended to attract a certain... type of guy. Most of them were just losers and jerks, or cheated. When Billy found me, I was coming off another bad breakup. My self-esteem had taken a hit, and he made me feel better by treating me like a princess. Later I found out that that's how some abusers draw their victims in: they act kind and thoughtful, like the great protector, but it quickly turns into control games. I... tried to leave as soon as I realized he was going to just keep beating me, and that there was nothing I could do to stop or change what was happening.” He had gone silent; she looked up, and found him staring at her, blinking slowly, a mournful look on his face. “Jason?” she asked softly.
“You don't... fear that I'm going to do something like that, do you?”
He sounded so worried that she laughed softly, and shook her head — but deep inside, that note of worry in his tone silenced that tiny, nagging voice in the back of her head that suggested that he might be a potential abuser. It was all part of the damage Billy had done to her, and completely illogical to attach to Jason. But she could still understand why he might worry that she would worry about his using his power and talent for violence on her.
She sighed and got up, walking around the end of the table and coming up to him. He turned in his seat to look at her, wiping his mouth nervously, and she smiled softly at him.
“I'm not worried about that from you. If you were that kind of guy, you would have either killed or dumped me when you realized that I'm actually human.” He swallowed and looked down... and she laid her hand on his shoulder. He peeked up at her, and then looked up with a slightly shocked expression as he saw her bending down over him. She slid her hand back along his cheekbone. “Don't worry about it. This may not be very normal for me, but if there's one thing I can be sure of, it's that you're nothing like Billy.”
He tilted his head back slightly, and she felt the shiver in his breath as it blew against her lips. She smiled down at him, and saw his eyes hood slightly. He leaned up just a fraction toward her, a hazy mix of longing and confusion filling his eyes, as if he craved something and didn't know what exactly it was. Her stomach tightened with a need of her own, and she leaned down and gently kissed him.
He froze, a tiny grunt escaping him, and his hands trembled as they settled on her upper arms. His mouth was very warm, almost hot, and held still for a while as she kissed and nibbled at his lips and teased them a little with the tip of her tongue. Drawing him out. A few moments later, he let out a pained sound against her lips and deepened the kiss as he caught her in his arms.
She ended up sideways on his lap as he held her, waves of tremors running through his whole body as he kissed back clumsily and tentatively, then with increasing confidence and skill. She started to tremble herself after a little while, her breath stolen and tingles running through her body.
Mmm, oh wow... he's a fast learner.
His hands slid off her arms and went up and down her back instead, while she kept her arms as far around his broad chest as they would go.
When they resurfaced and leaned back enough to make eye contact, they both stared at each other, stunned. Somewhere in their intensity she had turned on his lap and straddled him; now, she felt the strain in her stiff limbs, and some of her bruises had started to assert themselves, throbbing hard enough to cut even through the soft haze of first-kiss passion. She didn't really care. The pain was superficial; it couldn't ruin the moment.
He stared down at her, chest heaving, still cradling her in his arms, and she smiled a sl
ightly wobbly smile back up at him. Time to check in.
“Are you okay with this?” she asked very gently. “I can stop if you — mmmmf....”
His mouth covered hers, his kiss rougher and more desperate, and she pressed against him harder, feeling his firm, fiercely warm body moving sinuously against hers.
“I want this,” he whispered against her lips.
But his eyes stayed stunned, as if it were a need more than a want — and something he still didn't fully understand. She smiled against his mouth, and then brushed her lips across his cheekbone and down to his ear.
“Then we'll be wanting a bed.”
He carried her back to her room, still cradling her as if she were made of gossamer, long tremors running through him as he half-stumbled along. Her stomach tightened in anticipation, half lust and half a sort of sexual stage-fright that she was used to with new partners. This time, though, the encounter was much more in her hands; she had many things to show him, and though it would be a delight, right now she was mostly worried about doing right by his very first time with a woman.
He got both their shoes off, laid her on the bed and bent over her, his eyes feverish but also still shy, the slight awkwardness in his hands as he slid them through her hair and down the sides of her neck melting some of her apprehension. How could one being be so imposing and yet so sweet and vulnerable at the same time? His fingertips brushed over her face, her throat, down her collarbones. The slightest hesitation before he reverently cupped her breasts through the fabric of her blouse, his huge hands each engulfing one gently. She sighed, a gentle moan escaping her as his palms slid the fabric over her nipples. His eyes squinted closed with delight as he stroked and kneaded them, and she felt herself go a little dizzy with desire.
“Here....” she murmured.
He backed off slightly, and she sat up enough to pull off her blouse. The effort aggravated her sore shoulders, and she knew that lovemaking would jar some of her bruises. In the back of her head she realized that she should be waiting for sex until she at least wasn't stuck wincing her way through the encounter. But the rest of her was so ridiculously on board with the idea of showing Jason a good first time that it quickly drowned that tiny, sensible voice out.
He stared in happy astonishment as she unhooked the bra and slipped out of it, her nipples tightening slightly in the cool air. Then he let out a sigh, his eyes squinting closed in contentment as he bent down and slid his hands over her bare flesh.
He spent long minutes exploring her breasts with his hands and mouth, eyes closed and a blissful expression on his face. He got more and more confident as time went on, and when it came to adoring this part of her, he needed no prompting at all. She loved breast play, and trembled under him, starting to pant from his slow caresses.
When he finally closed his mouth over one of them and suckled softly, she let out a sharp cry, startling him into stopping.
“Did I hurt you?” he gasped out, his eyes wild but still concerned.
“No... no. It was good. Please, don't stop...” she panted, squirming slightly with frustration. A slow smile crept over his lips... and then he lowered his mouth over her nipple again and sucked until her breath came in short whimpers. She could feel her sex ache, pleasure and need mixing in ways that drove her wild.
He had to pause a minute to tear off and toss aside his own shirt and jacket, and unbuckle the belt on his leather trousers. She could see the bulge at his groin distending the leather, and took advantage of the brief break to unzip her own jeans and shove them down, revealing the points of her hips and the first little baby hairs that covered her sex. When he was done partly stripping, he climbed onto the bed and lay over her, taking some of his weight on his arms as he started kissing her again - her mouth now, hungry, his powerful chest against her tingling, sensitive breasts, their legs tangled together as they kissed and ran their hands over each other.
He had to learn the map of her bruises, avoiding each one gently; he had to learn as well those parts of her that craved his touch. The skin of her back and neck had their own sensitivities; he kissed and nipped at them, rolling her over and holding her up as he needed while she gasped for air and clung to him. Too eager to simply hold still and let her please him, he was all over her instead, demonstrative, affectionate and determined to explore and experiment. Her body ached in a different way now thanks to his attentions, so close to climax that only a little of the right stimulation could have brought her right there. Her whimper took on a note of frustrated longing as her hips lifted reflexively, and he raised his head to look up at her. “Do you... need something?” he asked gently.
“Yes.”
She lifted her hips a bit further and pushed the jeans down, kicking them off onto the floor. He stared down at her now fully nude body, eyes wide, the bruises apparently doing nothing to cool his ardor. He reached down and brushed his fingers over the soft mound of her sex; she whimpered, and he did it again with a little smile on his face. His fingertips gently explored her, slipping up between her lips and exploring every fold and crevice; sometimes she jolted and gasped under his hand, leaving him hesitant, until she whispered, “More. Don't stop.”
He started caressing her more eagerly, rubbing and kneading, while she took his hand and guided him a little.
“Soft,” she whispered. “Slow... there... ah!”
Her hips bucked under his hand, and he smiled, more of the confusion leaving his eyes as he saw what he could do to her just by rubbing her the right way.
She rolled her hips against his hand as his explorations drew her to the very edge. Her tightening muscles sent fresh jolts of pain through her from her injuries, but she was past caring. She moaned and slid her hands down his rippled belly, teasing her fingers under the edge of his waistband. Her breath came in tiny sips now, and she barely managed a breathless, “I need you....”
His eyes widened... and then he reached down and unzipped the leather pants, and hesitantly pulled them down. He squirmed out of them, and for a moment she glimpsed his magnificent, nude form bent over her, the faint light from the doorway gleaming on his skin, his eyes lambent, and his flesh so aroused that for a moment she wondered how he was going to fit it all into her.
She put her hand on his sex, sliding her fingers lightly over his smoothest skin, and he froze, a hard groan slipping out between his teeth as his hand paused between her thighs.
“I....” he panted, peeking at the hand that stroked him and then staring at her wide-eyed.
She had to check in with him, no matter how hungry she was.
“Do you want this?” she asked softly.
“Y... yes... Yes, I just... I'm afraid to hurt you.”
“Just be careful with your strength and I'll be all right. I promise.” She kissed his lips lightly, and then tugged very gently at his erection. “Here, I'll guide it.”
She did so as he bent down over her, his eyes slits of pleasure and anticipation as she fit the first inch inside of herself.
“...Oh!” he cried out, and pushed forward, his eyes going huge and his jaw dropping as he sank into her. His tremors became a full body shudder as he sank home inside of her, the corners of his mouth turning up slightly as pure delight filled his eyes. “Oh yes!”
She couldn't help but smile as she saw the amazed pleasure suffusing his face. He held himself there, trembling, as if afraid he would finish in the first seconds.
Then he kissed her intensely and drew out a little, lips parting against hers.
He moaned against her mouth as he sank in again... and then he was off, rocking against her rhythmically.
To his credit, he managed to push the heel of his hand against the top of her sex as he started to thrust, the extra pressure right there mixing deliciously with the movements of his body against and inside her. Her tremors intensified as well; she clung to him, fingernails digging into his back. They moved together, their harsh pants filling the quiet until she found herself rising toward her peak again.<
br />
“So good...” he whispered hoarsely, and then his voice broke up into a moan as he sped up again.
Tears sprang to the corners of her eyes from the joy of seeing him finally understand this pleasure that drove humans wild. She tried to focus on him, wanting to see his face when he felt his first climax. But her body betrayed her, and she suddenly felt herself tighten around him until it almost hurt. He was still kneading her in time to each thrust, and she ground against his hand and groin as her cries echoed off the ceiling.
She came back to herself, trembling through aftershocks, to feel him bucking against her hard enough to push her into the featherbed and make the mattress springs groan.
His wide eyes stared at nothing and then clenched shut, his look of bliss igniting carnally. His muscles locked.
“What — I — oh — oh yes....” he stammered out, and then his back arched hard as his voice crescendoed in a long roar. He held still for several heartbeats, then settled over her, panting, his whole body going limp. She held him, even as his weight pushed her down a little uncomfortably. “Oh, Laurel,” he groaned into her neck, his voice astonished and thick with exhaustion. “So good. So, so good.”
She stroked his hair, a smile curving her lips.
“Rest. I'm not done with you yet.”
He gasped slightly, and let out another soft, contented moan before rolling over to lay his head on the pillow beside hers. He gathered her in against his pounding heart, and as she dozed off, she heard him whisper something strange, yet heart-melting.
“That's it, then. That's why. I belong to you.”
Chapter 6: His Mate
She didn't understand what had happened in his mind during their lovemaking, but his declaration hadn't alarmed her. It had moved her, like the adoration in his eyes, leaving her warm and blissful. This was as close to a whirlwind romance as she had ever come, and as weird as it was to lie there entwined with him and remember his towering, inhuman true form, she found herself content.
Bound to Change: A Limited Edition Spring Shifter Romance Collection Page 64