The evening passed in a blur. Drake and Roman kept out of my way, just as I’d told them to, but I could sense their presence as if they were right in front of me. I was no shifter, I didn’t have the strong sense of smell or keen sense of hearing. But my body was in tune to the guards like we had known each other on a very personal level. As if Drake and I had finished what we’d started in the hall last night, and Roman had been there right alongside us.
As I fixed countless appletinis for a bachelorette party, I made a decision. I had to get out of here. Wren had been taken, sure, but nobody would want me. Not even Charlize Geard, now, after I’d told that bitch what was what. Ha, a job, working as a Seer? She had no idea how inept I was.
Halfway into my shift, the bachelorette party homed in on Drake and Roman. Four scantily-clad members of their party approached them. One of the women asked, her voice soft from alcohol, “Why aren’t you dancing?”
Drake gave her a brusque response, but she was already moving on to Roman. His face expressed no mirth as he told her he was working, and a part of me rejoiced at that. Easygoing, always-about-to-laugh Roman was stone-cold sober in the presence of other women.
I wanted to march over there and tell those women that these were my bodyguards and nobody should touch them.
What was coming over me, though? Confusion swirled in my mind, like the fog from the machines Mack brought out on eighties theme nights. I didn’t want to care about these guys. I didn’t want to check in every few minutes to make sure their eyes were on me, tracking my every movement. I didn’t want to put a sway in my hips, or bend over and hope they were checking out my ass.
Fuck this shit—I wanted out.
William, the third bartender for the night, had already arrived. Other than the bachelorette party, not a whole lot was going on. I found Mack switching out one of the kegs, so I cleared my throat until he looked up.
“I’m heading out early,” I said.
His eyes narrowed. “You know how I feel about you hooking up on the job.”
“Don’t be a douche, Mack, it isn’t that. I just need to get out of here.”
“All right, I guess we’re fine for tonight. Don’t forget to tell your minions where you’re going.”
Minions, ha. I tried to picture Drake and Roman and the other guys with yellow faces and denim overalls. It didn’t really translate.
Hoping the noise and scents of the club would hide my lie, I walked over to them and pointed to the hallway where Drake and I had made out yesterday. “I’m heading over to storage.”
Yep, over to storage and right on past it. But I’d learned, when dealing with shifters, it was best to sprinkle some truth in with every lie.
Before they could answer, I walked as confidently as possible to the hall. The emergency exit was close to the end, so they wouldn’t be able to see me leave. I estimated I had a five-minute head start.
The night air was cool and welcoming after the stuffiness of the bar. As I got farther from the exit, I picked up my pace. I had no plan, no idea where I was going. It didn’t really matter. Wren’s vision had foretold that I was safe. All I had to do was stay on the compound or in Arbonwood and I’d be fine. Wren said so, and Wren was never wrong. For the first time in twenty-four hours, nobody was monitoring me, and even if David would be pissed, and even if it only lasted five minutes, that freedom was so fucking worth it.
My combat boots were quiet on the pavement, even as I rushed to the end of the alley. I had no car, no way to get home. Maybe what I needed right now wasn’t to go back to my place, but a walk through the town. Alone.
I turned the corner, heading for the river. A paved path ran alongside it, and if I could just get there and run, everything would seem better afterward.
I entered the parking lot behind the club and rounded the corner of Mack’s giant van. Suddenly, I smacked right into something. The warm sandalwood scent of Drake enveloped me, along with his arms. He spun me around until my back was flush against the van.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he asked, his voice gruff.
“Getting the hell out of there,” I said.
A tall shape came from the shadows behind the club. Roman, his eyes narrowed as he looked at me struggling against Drake. I squirmed, but Drake blocked me in with his arms.
It was too much like last night, being in the hall with him. My core ached with want and need. His nostrils flared, and I felt him grow hard where he crowded against my hips. My eyes closed halfway without my permission, and I tilted my head as if inviting a kiss.
“Fuck,” he muttered, stepping back.
I felt cold with the abrupt loss. Cold, and rejected. This was the worst. He wanted me, I could tell. So why was he turning me down, twice now?
Roman strode over, his sapphire eyes blazing in the darkness. He herded me toward David’s Land Rover, his movements abrupt. Gone was the playful guy who’d danced with me outside my bedroom window.
“Not cool, Sparrow,” he said.
I jerked away from him, but he caught me and pulled me tight against his side. His scent of sage enveloped me and I inhaled, feeling a spear of pure lust shoot through me before I remembered I was supposed to be angry at him.
Something about these guys made me lose all sense.
“You’re not my dad,” I said, trying to step away. He held me tighter, and I tried not to like it. “You don’t get to scold me.”
“How the fuck are we supposed to do our job if you’re sneaking away from us?” Drake demanded, climbing into the front seat while Roman not-so-gently helped me into the back.
I didn’t answer him. It didn’t sound like he wanted an answer, and I owed him nothing.
We drove home in silence. I stared out my window the whole way, but I could feel Roman’s heavy gaze. It was as powerful as their arms had been around me in the parking lot.
Chapter Four
I lay on top of my covers and flipped from side to side. I couldn’t sleep. I still wanted the river. I highly doubted my holier-than-thou Judgy McJudgerson bodyguards would be down with a field trip, and right now, I didn’t give a fuck. I was frustrated, and not just with the constant restrictions. The feel of Drake and Roman’s hands, the intoxication of being so close to them in the parking lot clung to me, and I needed to shake it.
Climbing silently from my bed, I swapped my sleep cami for a sports bra and pulled on some running shorts. I slipped on my shoes and opened the door to the basement.
Putting a foot on the first step, I hesitated. Roman and Drake were likely at the front of my cottage, being all glarey and mad. What hurt the most about it was that Roman would probably never again want to dance with me like we’d done this afternoon. I hated that idea, and I hated that the thought of it hurt.
And that’s why I needed to move. I needed to run until the only thing I could hear was the pounding of my heart and the thud of my feet falling on the path. Everything in my mind would be obliterated by the rhythm of it, and to hell with these bodyguards who thought, like David, that they knew what was best for me.
Before I could overthink anything else, I went down the stairs to the storm basement, through the tunnel, and out of my house through the cellar doors twenty feet from the cottage. It was the only way to get away from my guards without them noticing. All was quiet on the compound, everyone sluggish from a pack run they’d done earlier in the evening.
Although I didn’t believe for a second that I was actually in danger, it didn’t mean I had to be an idiot. So instead of sneaking off the compound, I decided to run along the river where it bordered our land.
I was safe here. Wren’s premonition had said so, and my sister was never wrong. Even if it was possible, the compound had over forty shifters with their super smell and hearing and all. Help, also known as supervision, was never far.
Motion. It was the greatest thing in the world. It only took a few steps before my blood started pumping in anticipation. Running was so much like dancing, wher
e I could forget everything else in music so loud I couldn’t hear myself think, in the heat of male bodies so hot everything else melted away. But sometimes I craved being lost in the sounds of solitude and nature, in the cool breeze spraying fine mist from the rushing river. That’s when I ran.
The ground was even along the sloped path that went from my cottage down to the trees. I didn’t need shifter sight to know the footing was solid. Wren and I had run this path since we were teenagers. If we raced, she always won. Her shifter metabolism gave her an edge.
As sisters were meant to be, we were the best of friends, even when we fought like mortal enemies. To everyone else I was the outcast, but not to her. When everyone else looked at her, they saw my mother’s coloring. They saw their alpha’s daughter. Half wolf, half witch, one hundred percent one of them. When they looked at me, they saw a knock-off of Wren. An oracle without sight, a girl with darker skin, black hair, and no shifter blood in her veins. Then, once I got older and started seeking acceptance (and thrills) by messing around with the single guys in the pack, they started to see the girl who would try just about anything if it involved sex, dancing, and/or alcohol. And I knew their opinion of me would never waver. I wasn’t looking to change their minds; I was looking for a way out.
I wished Wren was here with me now. She’d get it. But she was away because I’d told her it was safer. Because I’d Seen her safe away from the compound. Yep, one of the few times my power actually worked, I had sent away one of the only people here who actually liked me.
The path curved as I reached the trees, and the moonlight was shielded by long branches and wide leaves. I blinked hard to adjust, letting my muscle memory lead the way. Sounds of rushing water filled my ears above the rustling of leaves from the trees and bushes.
Cool air blew off of the river, and I inhaled it deeply. My legs burned as a light sweat beaded on my brow. Damn, it felt good to run. This was exactly what I’d needed.
But that lightness, that contentment, didn’t last.
Silhouettes came into focus, movement between the thick oak and maple trunks.
I’d been found.
A single shadow raced between the trees, keeping pace. Sure, I could say hi. Or I could run for it, but I couldn’t outrun a shifter. Stupid human legs. For any chance of being left alone, my best bet was to hide. A patch of bushes lay up ahead. This was my chance. Maybe he didn’t see me. I threw my back against a tree, hoping that I was right. My pulse thrummed, and my chest heaved from exertion. I couldn’t hear anything else beyond the sounds of the water. Was there really someone else here? Had I been mistaken?
“I can smell your sweet scent, Sparrow.”
His voice was deep and unfamiliar. It wasn’t scolding, it was more playful than that.
“I can see you, too,” he added.
Maybe it was a trick. Maybe he was hoping I’d come out and reveal my position.
I could hear his smile as he said, “In the thick of the bushes, behind the oak tree.”
Damn. Maybe not.
I stood slowly and turned toward his voice. The shadowy figure approached slowly, silently. I stood tall and tried to make out his features.
He circled the bushes and stopped in the path. It was too dark to make out his coloring, but I didn’t need to see colors to recognize him—it was Zak Bryant. Hair curled out from behind his ears and the stubble on his face was a little longer than it had been when I’d seen him in my parents’ living room. He’d ditched the business attire for a t-shirt and athletic shorts. The form-fitting fabric showcased thick biceps, ripped abs, and an ample package I wouldn’t mind taking for a ride.
When my eyes fluttered shut, I still felt Drake nibbling my neck, his palm on my waist. I still felt his cock hard in my hand. Just like in the hall the night before.
“D’you like what you see?” A playful smile teased the corners of Zak’s lips and his eyes sparkled.
“Depends,” I said. “Did you chase me down to drag me back?”
“I’m off duty,” he said in that sexy, smoky voice.
“Is that so?” I asked, imagining all the things I could do to him, just the two of us alone in the woods. “Do you like what you see?”
“Yes.”
“That’s the right answer.” I smiled and took a step closer.
He was a mountain lion shifter if I remembered correctly, the security guard from the Pine Hills Pack. I was still high on the closeness to Drake and Roman, and I was ready to expend some energy. If Zak wasn’t here to lay down the law, he was exactly what I needed.
“But if we don’t head back that way, someone else is bound to come looking, aren’t they?” he asked.
“Perhaps they are,” I said. “Would you mind if they watch?”
I closed the distance between us and ran my fingers along his jaw, feeling the sharp stubble I’d been dying to touch since I’d first seen him. Sparks of excitement carried down through my arms, straight to my core.
He grinned. “No, I don’t mind.”
I tilted my chin up and pressed my body to his. His cock pressed hard against my hip.
He encased me in his arms, and a glint of mischief sparkled in his deep green eyes.
“Kiss me,” I said.
He stole my breath as his lips crashed against mine. He tasted like mint and sweet release.
I palmed his cock through the soft fabric of his shorts, and a deep rumble echoed through him, caught in our kiss.
His tongue was hot as he delved into my mouth. His hands were slow, deliberate, as he caressed my back and cupped my ass. I wasn’t in the mood for slow. I squeezed his cock, and he rewarded me with a growl and a thick finger slipping up through the leg of my shorts.
He teased his fingers at the edge of my panties and held me close, showing me with his tongue exactly the way he wanted me. It was getting better, faster, rougher.
The pad of his finger reached my clit, and a shot of pleasure bolted through me. Yes.
He pulled back from my kiss, leaving me bereft, but his hands remained in place.
“Don’t stop,” I gasped as he circled my clit.
“Never,” he said.
Sharp hair scratched against my cheek, down my neck, with it a trail of hot, wet kisses.
The river sang in the background, the water rushing and pulsing in my ears in time with our heavy breathing.
Zak cupped my breast as his teeth grazed my collarbone.
Every prick, every flick brought me closer to the release I craved.
It had been too long. Everything that was happening, it was all too much. I needed this; I needed him.
I reached my hand down into his shorts and stroked his length. The bare skin was soft in my palm, his cock perfectly hard.
I could ride him all through the night, savor every inch of the glorious cock in my hand, but right now I needed a quick release. I needed to get back before someone else found me here, found us.
His eyes shut and his head tilted back as I yanked his shorts down enough that I could slide my fist up and down his length.
As I sped up my movement on his cock, he did the same on my clit.
I was so close, the pleasure was gathering into a ball that was so dense within me, the pressure and feeling behind it all was going to implode. My body tensed, anticipating the release even as the build-up was a form of torment. The movements of my hand on Zak’s cock became erratic and faster and I pressed my mouth to his, pulling kiss after kiss from him.
He kept his thumb against my clit while pushing a finger inside of me, and that was it. I came hard, gasping, still stroking him.
He came, too, sticky fluid jetting into the brush. With a groan of contentment, he rested his forehead against my neck.
“Wow,” he murmured. “That was a nice surprise.”
“That we won’t be talking about,” I said, pulling away slightly.
“Sure,” he said. “But damn, watching you come was the hottest thing ever.”
I bit my lip to kee
p from grinning.
He brushed a kiss against the side of my head. “Anyway, we should walk back.”
“I can agree to that.” Going back to my place didn’t sound so bad anymore. My jittery need to expend energy had passed.
“So what are we allowed to talk about, if we can’t talk about what we just did?” Zak bumped my shoulder gently with his. “Can I ask why you ditched your guards?”
“I stayed in the pack’s territory,” I said, a little more harshly than I’d intended.
“Not judging,” Zak said. His gentle smile reassured me. I believed him.
It’d been suffocating, feeling like everyone wanted to tell me what to do, tell me where to go or not go. I took a deep breath and relaxed. It wasn’t all that hard with him, and it didn’t hurt to have someone to talk to.
“I don’t stay still well,” I said.
“And you wanted to be alone,” he said. It wasn’t a question.
“Yeah,” I said. “You say that like someone who understands.”
“I have six siblings,” he said. “All brothers. I can appreciate the need to retreat.”
“I just have the one sibling,” I said. “I can’t imagine having six. Do you fight a lot, or did you when you were younger?”
“Oh yeah,” he said. “When there’s seven kids, there tends to be at least two or three fights happening all the time. I was the youngest, so I took the brunt of the bullying.”
I looked up at his thick arms and square shoulders, down to his ripped abs. “You don’t look like anyone could bully you.”
“Not now,” he said. “But I was scrawny when I was little.”
“So what’d you do to deal with your brothers?” I asked. “To survive under constant assault?”
“I overcompensated by working out,” he said. “I was determined to be as strong as possible. Which is what led me to security. A way to prove to myself that I wasn’t that scrawny kid anymore. Also, I turned to music.”
Shifters Gone Wild: A Shifter Romance Collection Page 57