by Celeste Raye
She swallowed hard. It felt like the mere suggestion of the two being together was enough to end their whole race. Claire knew that he wasn’t saying that exactly, but her heart was not feeling well from it.
“Got it; big no-no.”
He chuckled, but she didn’t find it all that funny. All she could think about was how badly she wanted it to be another way. Why was she so sad at the idea that they could never be together? Claire knew that she shouldn’t care, but she did, and somehow, that made it worse when he told her that there was no way that it could happen.
The picnic lunch got wrapped up pretty quickly after that and she climbed on the back of him, ignoring where he rubbed against her as he ran. The muscles in his shoulders, neck, and back all pressed against the most sensitive parts of her body, and Claire was the one calling a break mere mile from where they were supposed to stop for the night. He had another clan to see and make deals with. She was just along for the ride.
She slid off of him as quickly as she could. He shifted to his human form, but either way, she couldn’t meet his gaze. She had too much on her mind, things that she couldn’t say out loud, and it bothered her in a way Claire wasn’t willing to admit. What pull did he have on her, and why? Why was it so hard to ignore the man that was clear they couldn’t be together? It wasn’t even an option, and she needed to get that through her head.
“Are you okay, Claire?”
“Yeah, I just need a minute.”
Chapter Ten
Donovan could tell that everything wasn’t okay. He knew that she was feeling a certain way, and he was trying hard not to let it bother him all that much. It was impossible, though. Every time he breathed in, his nostrils picked up the scent of her need, and it was enough to drive him crazy. Donovan was sure that it wasn’t her intention; she didn’t even know that he knew. But that just made it even worse.
She was shaking, and his own need tried to push in. Donovan had to push it back down, just like he’d had to when she was asking such intimate questions earlier. He knew that he had to resist it, but that didn’t mean that it was going to be an easy thing to do. It certainly didn’t feel like it at the moment.
“Why don’t we walk for a while?”
Relief flooded her face. “That is a great idea. It would probably be better than having to drag me around.”
“It’s nothing. You’re very light.”
“Yeah?”
He grinned and agreed with a shake of his head. “Yeah.”
“Well, that’s good to know.”
Silence came over them, and Donovan was drawn to her scent. It was like she was in heat. He wanted her so damn badly at that moment. Bad enough that he thought he was going to lose himself. He was close enough now, all he had to do was lean in just a little and he would be kissing her. The moment arrived, and he did just that, letting his lips touch against hers softly. He’d never kissed a human before, but he hadn’t imagined that it could be any sweeter.
She made a moaning sound when he pulled her in, deepening the kiss. It was the sound that drove him absolutely crazy, and it was also the one that made him realize what he was doing. Donovan knew better. He was making things worse.
No matter how good she felt or how much he wanted to continue kissing her even more, he moved away and apologized to her.
He didn't know what to say. Maybe that it had just gotten away from him. Something like that.
“I am sorry, Claire, really, I am. I don't know what came over me.”
She smiled his way, but there was an uncertainty in her face. It was clear that she had not been anticipating it, just like he had not.
“It's okay. I think it was just the moment.”
It wasn't just the moment at all. It was the fact that she was wrapped in the smell of sex and she didn't even know it. She was turned on, and her body was getting wet. That's what made him kiss her, and that's what made him want to kiss her even more.
He had to pull himself together, reminding himself everything that he had told her. It just wasn't to be. He almost wanted to tell her to take a dip in the nearby lake or something, anything to get the smell of need off of her. He couldn't come out right and say it, though. Donovan knew that. He also knew that if he walked into the next village with her like that, it was going to cause problems.
As much as it was unseemly to be with a human, it was also risqué, and men always liked things that they couldn't have. When the unreachable looked like Claire, it was rather hard to see the differences. She was a woman that they couldn’t have but smelled like she wanted it.
He had certainly been in the same situation before, although it wasn't with a human. It was with another woman that he wasn't supposed to have. When his father had gotten rid of her, at the time, he thought that he had just sent her away, but in reality, he had actually sold her. He only found out later from one of the many women that they had saved from slavery.
“Why don't we rinse off in the water before we get there? I know that I am ready for a quick wash; aren’t you?”
She didn't look so sure for a moment, and he finally had to tell her that she was safe: no one was going to mess with her.
“It's just the kiss…”
She didn't have to say anything more because he would wave her off and tell her that it was fine. She was acting like he couldn't control himself, but he could. He was going to have to.
“It was a one-time thing, and I am sorry about that. Like I told you before, it is unseemly even to consider it.”
“You didn't seem to have that problem when you were kissing me.”
He chuckled and looked at her a little guilty. She was right, of course. When they were kissing, he had not cared what she was. He certainly didn't care now.
“I didn't. But I assure you that I will not touch you and I will not try to make a move on you or anything. Your virtue is safe with me.”
That made her laugh, and Donovan liked the sound of it. He was still trying to figure out how this was all going to work, but he was starting to realize how he wanted it to.
“Is there a reason why you want to cover me up?”
He had suggested that she put on some extra clothing as well. There hadn't been a way for him to say it any better than that, and now he was finding it hard to explain himself. If only she realized what she was doing to his mental state. Then maybe she would understand that he was just trying to help all involved. Maybe he was trying to help himself as well.
“I just think it would be better for all involved if you weren't so irresistible.”
“You were very clear that humans are less than, so why does it matter what I look like or even what I smell like? You guys are all going to look at me like I am beneath you anyway.”
“I hope you don't feel like I have done that to you.”
She quickly agreed that he had not, although she did mention how easily he had turned against her when the chips were down. He had thrown her under the bus, and she wasn’t going to forget that. He didn’t know how to explain how bad it would have looked if he would have said anything different. It was a prejudice that was ingrained through life.
“I am just saying that you are irresistible no matter if you're human or not. I would imagine that many men would be more than happy to forget the rules for you. A lot of men.”
“What about you?”
The question actually threw him off guard, and it took him a minute to answer.
“You’re irresistible to me as well, but as you can see, it will do us no good.”
“And that's why you want to change the way I look before we go?”
He agreed that was the reason, and she chuckled. Donovan was obviously not getting through to her regarding the seriousness of the situation.
“How about I just continue the way I've been? I’m sure that you are not as correct as you think you are. As much as I am flattered by how you see me, I don't think that other people see me that way at all.”
He sighed loudly; he was g
oing to have to say more than he wanted to. He didn't want to upset her, but he couldn't let it go. She had to understand how they were going to respond to her and what she was going to do to them. Donovan was hopeful that she would finally see his side of things.
“Look, Claire, I didn't want to get into this with you, but I don't think you're quite getting what I’m saying. Right now, I can tell that you're turned on.”
She looked offended for a moment, and he just shook his head.
“What?”
“You know; you’re ready. Wet.”
Donovan knew what he knew and he was willing to slide a finger up her dress to prove it. He didn't think she was ready for such a thing, though.
“You could never know such a thing! How could you even say that?”
“So, you're telling me that you're not wet right now?”
That got an uncomfortable look from Claire, and if he hadn’t known about her desires, he certainly would have then.
“Let's just say that I can smell it, and everyone in this place is going to be able to smell it as well. It is going to tell them that you are ripe for the taking. In the end, it will make it hard for us to do business with them. Really hard, because it smells amazing.”
He could see it on her face, that she wanted to deny his words. It was probably hard for her to hear, but he had tried to tell her in a more delicate manner, without embarrassing her. She had been the one that had wanted it spelled out plainly.
“I am not going to dignify that with an answer.”
“You don't have to give me an answer. Like I said, I already know.”
She asked him again how he would know such a thing, and he gave her the simplest answer that he could.
“As you can imagine, we have increased senses, and one of them is smell. I could smell it as soon as you got off me. When we were riding, I hadn't noticed, because the wind messes with me when I go too fast. But now it’s clear as day.”
He smiled and tried to hold the rest in.
“Trust me when I tell you, Claire, you don’t want other guys feeling like this. All I want to do is rip your clothes off and bury myself inside of you. They will as well.”
That made her face turn white and he almost wished that he hadn't said anything at all. She certainly had not taken it well. Was it that bad, what he wanted to do to her?
“I'm sorry if that disturbed you, but it is the truth. I just wanted you to see how other guys would be feeling as well.”
“That is probably more than I needed to know.”
He chuckled and touched the side of her face. “I am sorry if I made you uncomfortable. That wasn't my intention at all.”
It wasn’t helping.
“I really am sorry. I just wanted you to see that I wasn’t taking advantage of you in the suggestion of paddling around in the water.”
“I think I would have rather that been it.”
Claire’s face was beet red, and Donovan looked down at the ground for a while as they walked. The pond or creek would be ahead of them soon enough, and he was nervous.
Donovan was never nervous, but again, he was going far outside of the norm. He was having feelings for a human, and not just the lustful kind that were understandable. It was more than that, much more.
That terrified Donovan.
Chapter Eleven
“What is a Silk?”
“Silks are just shifters that have a curse on them. They were water-bound, and then someone pissed somebody off. Next thing they knew, they are only able to shift halfway. It is what many people call mermaids, but they are really just cursed shifters that can’t shift properly.”
“So, a mermaid is a shifter that can only shift halfway and is cursed? What?”
She smiled at Donovan because Claire was sure that he was just making it up. There was no way that it was possible. Witches, sure. Werewolves, okay. But mermaids?
“Basically.”
“That can't be true. There is no way.”
“Do you think I am lying to you?”
Claire nodded her head in agreement. There was no way that what he was saying was true. How could it be?
“Aren't you?”
“Actually, I’m not. They are real, and you're about to find out.”
Claire looked around, and even though they were a couple hundred miles away from their last stop, and she could see ocean all around her, there was no way that she could believe the words that he was saying. She was about to meet mermaids?
There was a bit of excitement in her. Werewolves were one thing, but mermaids were something else altogether. She had always liked them when she was a little girl, and now she anticipated it more than she probably should have. There was still the fact that this was all real, and she was in the middle of it. That was in the back of her mind the whole time. Something that she couldn't stop thinking about, and maybe she didn't want to.
As they walked upon another small village of shifters, she was starting to see that there were a lot of commonalities with the Bennigans. They had the same row of bikes out front, and she turned to Donovan and asked why they didn't ride around.
“While the bikes are a nice touch, I have always preferred to travel the natural way.”
She preferred the natural way as well, but she wasn't going to say it out loud. For one reason or another, it did seem natural to climb on top of the back of a bear and let him take her where she wanted to be. It was fast, and went through territory that car would never be able to go through. He could get to a place as the crow flies, instead of how the roads were built to get them there.
“But you guys do ride, right?”
“Yeah, I got the leather jacket and everything.”
“I think I would like to see you in that way one day.”
Claire stopped because she was still acting like they were going to be together that long. She wasn't supposed to be with him that long. She could have already left, but for some reason, she was tagging along. Claire wasn't going to regret the decision right now. Not when she was about to meet mermaids.
The mermaids looked like regular people, and if Claire hadn't already seen what she had seen, she wouldn't have believed Donovan. They had blue rings in their eyes.
They were also a little weathered in the skin and their hair was streaked by the sun. It was clear to Claire that they were in the sun a lot, and she was sure that it was out in the ocean. They were in the Gulf of Mexico by then, and it was a beautiful sight. People were also nicer, and Claire was able to relax a little bit. Mermaids were nicer than other shifters she’d met.
They were quickly ready to agree to terms that made it easier for both of them to coexist. They also had many boats and connections that could bring in products to be sold on their side of the territory. With the Rebel Bear infrastructure, the Silks will be able to increase revenue for both gangs.
As had been the same with the Bennigans, they insisted that Donovan and Claire stay and have a bite to eat. Peace was at the forefront of their minds, and to Claire at least, it seemed genuine. It had not been genuine the last place they were at. The Bennigans were not looking for peace. They were looking for an angle.
Another difference was Donovan asked her what she wanted to do.
“We don't have to stay if you don't want to. We can go on to the next place, and that will be that.”
“They seem really nice, and they haven't stared at me like I am a monster. I don’t mind staying for a while, Donovan.”
He mentioned something about at least they weren’t jumping all over her and how he had seen a few people looking her way.
Claire tried to picture it, but it was hard. There were a couple of guys that were certainly easy on the eyes, but she only had attention for one. It was because of a kiss that it came out of nowhere, or at least she had thought so.
“I don't think that having sex with a merman is on my agenda. Although I am trying to picture it.”
He looked bothered by her comment but recovered quickly and a
sked her if she wanted to see a couple of them.
Immediately, Claire's mind went to the dirty side of things; her face got pretty red, and she could feel the heat coming off of it. Of course, that was not what she was supposed to be thinking about, but it was the most immediate thing on her mind. Mermen, manhood, muscles, yum.
“Do I even want to know why you have that look on your face?”
She shook her head quickly and told him that he probably didn't.
“I would imagine that you might take it offensively.”
“You know that that just makes me want to know even more, right?”
“Well, I was just wondering, you know, what's going on down there.”
Donovan looked at her like she’d lost her mind and it occurred to her that he did not realize what she was talking about. That made it worse because she’d have to explain it. She couldn't believe that she’d said it.
“Down there?”
“Never mind.”
“Come on, tell me. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Yeah, you know, is it the same as a human?”
Then it occurred to her that she didn't even know if he was the same. All of a sudden, she was very interested in the answer, and he just looked at her like she had lost her mind.
“Are you asking me what my manhood looks like?”
Claire laughed at the words and what he was calling it.
“If that's what it is. I guess I am.”
He looked shocked, but he finally just shrugged his shoulders. “I guess that we are much the same. It all works the same. We are bigger, though, much bigger. It would be difficult to mate with a human, I suppose.”
She looked away, again learning more than she needed to. “Is that so?” Her face was burning with embarrassment at the thoughts racing in her mind.
There was a glint in his eyes that wasn't there before, and it was a look that would have made anyone nervous. It certainly messed with her head a little bit.