by T. S. Joyce
“Great. Well, it was special talking to you, Barret. I’m gonna go clean up.”
“Why? You look fine, and Anson’s weird as fuck and filthy. Mud will only make him want to touch your boobies.”
She shook her head and murmured, “inappropriate,” as she walked away.
“Why? I’m being helpful,” he called after her as she made her way toward the cream-colored trailer set at a diagonal at the beginning of the row of cabins. “I’m getting you laid! You’re welcome! Again!” Barret snorted, then muttered, “Ungrateful she-human. I hate you.”
She passed Ben and Jenny’s cabin, and waved to them as they swung on their porch swing, all cuddle up.
“He probably doesn’t really hate you,” Benson said.
“False, Alpha. I hate everything. Especially ungrateful she-humans!” Barret yelled. And then he stomped up the stairs to his cabin and slammed the door behind him.
Benson’s nostrils flared slightly as he inhaled deeply. He looked tired, and beside him, Jenny had her lips pursed trying to hide a smile. “For the record,” Anson’s sister said, “I don’t hate you.”
Well, that stopped Kaylee in her tracks. “Really?”
“Tonight I saw my brother smile and look at you the way Ben looks at me. I was so mad at you for taking that away from him, and I was madder when you came back. I thought you would do it all over again. Leave him. But then I watched you, and you look at him the same way. Stick around this time, Kaylee. Anson will be good for you and Bentley.” A wicked smile stretched across Jenny’s pretty face. “Plus, you annoy Barret, and that amuses me.”
Kaylee giggled in surprise and nodded. “I’ll do my best to offend him then.” She made to leave but stopped herself and gathered her courage. “Hey, Jenny?”
“Yeah?”
“I love him, you know. I always have. I missed everything about your brother. I was hurting when we were apart, too.”
With a slight frown, Jenny canted her head and studied Kaylee’s face. “Truth. Stay here tonight, and tomorrow me, you, and Annalise will have a girls’ lunch. You can catch me up on the years we missed.”
Kaylee wanted to cry and laugh and grin and whoop and hug Jenny, but all those emotions would just make her turn this moment into a very uncool one, so she forced herself to say, “I’d like that,” at normal volume. Then she gave a little wave, said, “Night-night stalactites,” like a weirdo, and made her way to the trailer in a happy yet semi-embarrassed daze.
Today had given her a better buzz than six shots of tequila.
The trailer looked new on the outside, but the forest green shutters were old and scratched, and the number was nailed on crooked. The last zero on 1010 was hanging on by a bent, rusty nail. Strange.
Kaylee pushed open the red door and flipped on the light switch. She paused at the strange sensation that crept over her. It was like déjà vu, but she’d never been in this place in her life. It was completely unfamiliar. But not. The wood floors were refurbished, but some were a little squishy as she made her way inside. The walls were white, and the cabinets of the kitchen to her left were accented with little country flourishes. The couches in the living room were pine-needle green, and on the back wall there was an embroidered picture that said money can build a house, but love builds a home. She wanted to get mushy over that, but there was a giant, hideous painting of an earthworm under a rainbow right next to it signed by an artist named Willa Motherfuckin’ Barns. To the right of the living room was a small bedroom with a twin-size bed and navy comforter, but through the kitchen was the master bedroom and bathroom. That’s what she needed, a hot shower.
Anson had clearly been living here because the built-in drawers were full of men’s clothes that smelled like him. She pulled out an oversize T-shirt and turned on the hot tap, then she scrubbed her skin until it shone like the shell of an egg.
“Kaylee?” Anson asked quietly.
She wasn’t even startled. Instead, she smiled. “Is Bentley okay?” she asked, already knowing the answer.
“He was exhausted after that Change.” The rustle of clothes sounded over the soft running water. “He’s asleep in the little bedroom on the other side of ten-ten. Did you know he smiles in his sleep?” Anson pushed the curtain aside and stepped into the shower with her, just like she’d hoped he would.
“Yeah. When he’s happy, he does that.”
Anson wore a slight frown and a faraway look as he scrubbed the bar of soap all over his body.
His mood had changed and confused her, so she asked, “What’s going on in that head of yours?”
Anson inhaled sharply and pulled her under the jets, turned her around, poured shampoo into his hand, and began to gently massage it into her hair. He was stalling, but she could be patient.
Finally, as he played with the ends of her rinsed hair, he admitted, “I think it would hurt if you changed your mind and went away. I would miss you, but now I would miss Bentley, too. I would miss the easy moments, like this.”
She rested her back against his strong chest and let the feeling of safety Anson always gave off envelope her. “We’re not going anywhere, Anson. This feels like where we’re supposed to be.”
“In a shitty trailer in the middle of the wilderness with a C-Team crew of psychopaths? Woman, your instincts are broken.”
“No, silly. I mean you feel like that song the Beck Brothers sing.”
“Which one?”
“The one about home.”
He huffed a shocked-sounding breath. “Kaylee,” he rumbled in that deep, sexy voice of his. “Did you just call me home?”
“I think maybe you always were home. It just took me a long time to figure that out.”
Anson slid his hand down her belly and kissed her neck as the warm water ran over them. Down, down he brushed his fingertips until he touched her sex. She gasped and bucked against him as he teased her entrance. His erection was hard against her back, and she was desperate for more of him. He dipped his finger into her up to the first knuckle, but it wasn’t nearly enough. “Anson,” she pleaded, arching her backside against his dick.
He let off a soft groan and pushed his finger into her a little deeper, then added another and buried them inside her, drawing a deep breath from her at how good it felt. His other hand was gentle on her throat, holding her in place as he writhed against her back in rhythm to her rolling hips.
She was getting too close, and she wanted to finish with him, finish with him inside of her, finish together, pulsing and lost in each other. As if he could read her desires, Anson pulled his fingers from her and spun her around, his hands strong on her so she didn’t slip. He eased her backward, eyes locked on hers in the moment before his lips crashed onto hers. She thought he would take her right here. Just…lose control and fuck her relentlessly until he was sated. The hunger in his eyes said he would, but his touch was gentle as he kissed her. Instead of terrorizing her body in the shower, he shoved the curtain to the side, picked her up gently in his arms, and then kissed her the entire way to the bed in the next room.
As Anson settled her under the covers with him and pushed her knees apart slowly with his, it struck her that they’d never done this gently.
He was changing everything. He had taken the shovel from her hands, and now Anson was the one digging up the bond, strengthening it, making the moment he slid into her everything. And it was. He was so big, but he’d prepared her. Soaking wet bodies slipping against each other, he pushed the head of his cock into her and filled her slowly, sucking gently on her bottom lip as she arched her back and held back her pleas for him to give it to her harder.
Anson had no interest in fucking her tonight. He was making love to her instead. Kaylee moaned his name as he pulled out and pushed into her again. They fit so perfectly. He laid the weight of his body over hers, but it wasn’t suffocating. It didn’t trap her. He was a comfort as he held her close and kissed her like she was everything. He slid into her over and over, his dick hard as he stretched
her.
His eyes were still gold, and the snarl in his throat was soft, but as she clawed her hands along his back and bowed against the bed in ecstasy, he bucked into her hard. Hard in, slow out. Torture. Beautiful torture only the way Anson could. He was teaching her patience, drawing it out, withholding her climax, but it wasn’t a tease. Not to him. She could tell because he was serious, no hint of a smile. He was just enjoying her body.
“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered against her lips, right before he dragged his kisses down her throat to her collar bone and back up to her mouth. Hard in, slow out. His body was so powerful on hers, and she was helpless to do anything other than lay there and let him tell her what he needed with his body.
He moved to her neck again, his body straining as he set his teeth against her skin. This was the tease, a bite he gave her that wasn’t quite enough to break the skin. He pushed into her faster and teased with another shallow bite. It was just enough to get her thinking about a claiming mark.
With Arden, it would’ve been a business arrangement.
With Anson, it was a declaration that they belonged to each other—body and soul.
She was there, crying out with each thrust until her release pulsed through her. Anson didn’t go easy on her now. Instead, he bucked into her smoothly and grunted, pushed her farther up the bed with how hard he slammed into her. Deep inside, he was throbbing and filling her with a flood of heat. Perfect Anson, giving her exactly what she needed after the emotional, beautiful day. He slowed, drawing their release out, taking care of her needs, loving her as he kissed her mouth, cheeks, neck, breasts, mouth again. She’d never been coveted like this. How did this man make her feel so beautiful and whole without even saying a word?
Perhaps he was magic.
Perhaps shifters had abilities to bind people to them.
Or maybe, just maybe, she’d gone through that ten years of hell and had been stripped down to nothing so that she could rebuild herself little by little and truly appreciate what Anson had to offer.
When he rolled them over and hugged her up tight, the outside world didn’t exist anymore. It was just her and Anson—her mate, whatever that meant and all it entailed.
Lifting her hand in the air, he scratched his blunt nails outward from the center of her palm to her fingers. It tingled a little, but she loved it. More adoring her, more memorizing her body.
“I’m gonna make that cabin a home for you, Kaylee. I’m gonna take care of you.”
She smiled at him in the dark and snuggled closer. “You’ve already taken care of me in more ways than you know. I think I’ve been running this whole time.”
“From what?” he murmured in a deep, rumbling voice.
“Not from anything. I think all the decisions I’ve made led me right back here. I think this whole time I didn’t realize it, but I was running back to you.”
His smile was slow and easy. “Kaylee?”
“Mmm?” she asked, her eyes growing heavy as she relaxed fully against his strong, warm body.
Anson pushed her damp hair from her cheek and whispered in her ear, “You’re my home, too.”
Chapter Fourteen
“It’s still dripping,” Kaylee called at normal volume. Even outside and in the rain, Anson would hear her. Over the last week, she’d grown used to how sensitive his hearing was. It was even better than Bentley’s.
The sound of hammering echoed through the house. “Now?” he called.
Kaylee narrowed her eyes at the water stain right beside the exposed beam. Drip. “Yep, you missed.”
“Mother of all fuckers, I just want to redo the whole damn thing,” Anson griped. He’d been at war with the roof for two straight days in the downpours. The leaks were getting bad enough that the floors would rot straight through if they didn’t fix it as soon as possible.
“How much would it cost to get all new shingles?” she called.
“Two more paychecks, and I can cover it,” he called. I just need to patch the leaks until I can order all the materials.”
Kaylee sighed in frustration. She didn’t have much after spending almost everything she had to come back to Covington. She’d filled out job applications at a few places in town and was hopeful, but she hadn’t got the call-backs yet. Over the past week while fixing up the cabin with Anson, she fell hard for the place. He had let Bentley help, teaching him how to build, saw, measure, and hammer. Her protective instincts over this little home was surprising. She and Anson didn’t have much, but someday this place would be cute, homey, and special because they fixed it up together. Ten-ten was a good temporary shelter and one that made her heart happy, but this place would be where she and Anson grew together.
“Now?” he asked.
She waited for the drip, but a small droplet of rainwater just hung there, not growing. Victory.
Excitedly, she called, “I think we got it!”
Out the open front door, Anson jumped gracefully from the roof. His white T-shirt was drenched through, and his old, holy jeans clung to his legs. He looked exhausted. It was late after all. But he still had that sexy smile for her—the one that lit up his whole face and made her heart do flip-flops. This past week with him had been the best of her entire existence. Bentley was happy, Anson was obviously happy too, and she could say without question, she’d never been happier in her whole life.
Anson dropped the hammer on the floor by the door, rushed her, and plucked her off the ladder like she weighed nothing. Arms wrapped tightly around her ass, he held her to his chest, looking up at her, shaking his head like he’d done a hundred times since she’d come back to Covington. “I can’t fuckin’ believe you’re mine.”
She giggled and rested her palms on his cheeks. “I knew you were going to say something like that.”
“How?”
“I can feel when you get mushy now. I can feel it in my chest.”
“Mmmm, you turning big cat on me, Kaylee? You feelin’ that bond like me?”
“Maybe. Meow.”
He pulled her close and nipped her neck until his two-day scruff tickled her and she giggled.
Anson went rigid and jerked his gaze to the door. The hunter’s look in his eyes scared her. They’d been blue a second ago, but now they were the gold of his panther.
“What is it?” she asked, sliding down his body until her feet were on the ground.
Anson’s attention was still on the open door as he lifted his chin. His nostrils flared slightly as though scenting the air. “Stay here,” he murmured. He kissed her temple absently and stalked gracefully to the door, then made his way outside.
Bentley was out there though, so she couldn’t just stay frozen in the middle of the living room. Quietly, she padded out onto the porch. Two cabins down, Ben was outside on his porch too, leaning against the railing on locked arms, his eyes on the woods. “I think it’s the rain fuckin’ with our senses,” he said without looking at them. It gets like this for me ever since we had Raif. My instincts are hard to control. I’m always ready to fight.” Ben arched his gaze to Anson. “You have a cub to protect now, too. It’ll be just as bad for you.”
Anson’s triceps were hard as stone as she ran her hand up them comfortingly. “He’s fine,” she murmured. “Look there, Jenny is with Bentley and Raif.”
Perched on a tree branch, Jenny’s massive panther sat, tail twitching, watching the two cubs playing below. The wind was kicked up, making a lot of noise through the trees, creaking limbs and the rustle of leaves. In the distance, a panther screamed and a grizzly bear roared in answer. She-Devil was haunting the Red Havoc Woods, like she did every night, and her mate Jaxon was keeping her company.
All was well. All was as it was supposed to be.
****
All was not well in Red Havoc Woods.
Anson couldn’t sleep. He’d tried for hours, but kept waking up with the feeling that something was off. Like something was wrong. It was that odd feeling of being watched that had the fine hair
s on the back of his neck standing up all night and the growl in his throat constant.
Kaylee had worried over him. He could tell because she smelled scared, but she didn’t understand the instincts. She was human. How could he explain that tiny, confident voice in his head that said something bad was coming?
Time and time again he got up to pace ten-ten restlessly, stuck between the decision to stay human and watch over Bentley and Kaylee’s sleeping bodies or give the cat his body and go find some small animal in the woods for prey. If his animal could just hunt and bleed something, he would be okay. And nope, he didn’t give a shit about what that said about him. He’d accepted the animal side of himself long ago.
This storm was brutal. It was pouring, and against the metal roof of ten-ten, it sounded like a damn tornado outside. The trailer rocked in the wind, creaking with the movement. Anson squatted down in the middle of the living room, grabbed the back of his head, and snarled at the awful feeling in the pit of his stomach. He was possibly going to Change against his will.
Settle, cat.
He’d checked on Bentley five times already, but a sixth wouldn’t hurt. When he stood to make his way to the other side of the trailer to Bentley’s little bedroom, his cell phone rang from where it was plugged into the charger in the kitchen. Shit. It was up at the highest volume and would wake everyone.
He bolted for it, pissed at whoever would dare to call him at two in the fuckin’ morning.
Unknown Number.
Narrowing his eyes at the glowing screen, Anson connected the call. “What?”
“The Dunn lion has to be raised in a good pride.” The voice on the other line was scratchy and deep, tired.