Shifters Hunt: Shifters Hunt Romance Boxset Books 1-4

by Selina Woods

  “Lay down, Ragnor,” he said.

  “I’m sorry,” I muttered thickly as I sat on the edge, my head bowed, my hair hanging over my eyes.

  “For what?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Skyler urged me to lie down, and once again pulled my boots off. “Papa, I’ll stay with him. You need to get home to Mama.”

  “She’s with her brother,” Jonas answered. “She’ll be safe there. I’ll sleep here, too.”

  Resting my head on the pillow, I tried to watch as they turned out lights, talking softly enough I couldn’t hear what they were saying. Jonas finally went to the front while Skyler pulled up a chair near me. Her fingers brushed my hair back, her eyes on mine.

  “Go to sleep, Ragnor,” she whispered.

  Then I did.

  “While I’m grateful those bastards are dead,” Kanata told me, pacing, “I need you. You have to quit getting hurt.”

  “Sorry.”

  I pulled my shirt down after showing him my wound, as I had come to his penthouse to ask for a little time off. “Right now, I couldn’t shake down a puppy.”

  He stared at me intently. “I suspected as much when I saw your face. Gray isn’t your usual color.”

  He continued to pace, his agitation more than the situation warranted. Or so I thought. “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  “My enforcers are reporting more families missing,” he growled. “They sneak away in the night, don’t use the roads, vanish from my territory faster than I can run them down.”

  I had no idea what to say. While I should probably say, “I’m sorry,” I wasn’t. They left to escape the violence, the taxes, and the bandits that preyed on them. There were safe towns within a few hundred miles from here, places where people were governed by councils and citizen militias kept the gangsters out.

  “What will you do?” I asked instead.

  “Have to catch some, make an example of them.”

  That will only force more to flee. Of course, I couldn’t say that, as it would be disloyal. I may have recently discovered how much I hated doing what I did, and wanted to change, but I certainly couldn’t tell Kanata that. I merely waited, hoping he would dismiss me soon. I was hungry, and my wound pained me more than I wanted to admit.

  “I have Lawson working on it,” Kanata went on. “He’ll hang the corpses around town, show the people what happens to those who try to leave.”

  “I know he enjoys his work.” I kept my voice bland, not revealing what I really thought of Kanata’s right-hand tiger. The beast loved to kill, and often hunted not just those who broke Kanata’s rules, but many who sinned by merely going through their lives. I often wondered if he ran with the marauding packs at night for the thrill of the hunt, to kill and eat their prey raw.

  Kanata didn’t notice anything in my voice. “I know. And he’s loyal. I need that in enforcers like him. And you.”

  “Um, would it be all right if I, you know, left now?” I asked, making a lame gesture toward the elevator. “I need to heal up so I can be back in a day or so.”

  Kanata waved his permission. “Yeah. Go on. Report back as soon as you can.”

  “I will. Thanks.”

  Lawson wasn’t at his desk as I left the building, crossing the entry hall under the watchful eyes of the bodyguards. Out in the heat again, I headed across town toward The Den, almost daring to think of the place as home. Jonas had told me he would be hiring carpenters to replace the door, and that Skyler would be returning home at night with him. With a friendly smile, he also told me I could stay there if I wanted.

  I reached The Den by midafternoon, hot, tired, in pain, and ravenously hungry. I entered through the newly repaired door and into the blessed, dim coolness of the interior. By habit, I glanced around to make certain no one planned a surprise attack on me and sat down at my usual place. Only then did I realize how quiet the bar was.

  The patrons stared at me, yet without their typical fear and caution. Rather, they met my eyes fully, many smiling, dipping their chins in friendly nods. A few females at a table whispered together, nudging one another, and watched me with speculation, even lust, in their expressions. If the customers’ reaction didn’t embarrass me, those ladies certainly did.

  “You’re a hero now,” Jonas told me, setting a beer on the mahogany in front of me. “You saved Johnson down the street, stood up for him. Then you saved my daughter. They need a hero.”

  I hunched my shoulders, knowing I blushed furiously, grumbling, “No, I’m not their frigging hero.” I swallowed almost half the beer in a gulp.

  “To them, you are. Are you embarrassed by that?”

  He leaned his arms on the bar, grinning faintly and clearly amused by my discomfort. I ducked my head, avoiding his eyes, wishing I hadn’t gone in there. “Can’t you tell them to quit it?” I hissed under my breath. “Go back to treating me like normal.”

  Jonas’s grin faded. “Go back to being terrified of you? You want that?”

  “No,” I snapped. “Can’t I just be a regular guy?”

  “Ragnor,” he said, straightening. “You never were a regular guy, and never will be.”

  He left, freeing the customers to observe me again, smile at me, wave, while the trio of females at a table continued to whisper and giggle, their eyes staring. At long last, when I prepared myself to creep out with my tail tucked, Skyler appeared with two plates in her hands. Her smile for me, her golden eyes on mine, made me instantly forget the need to flee.

  “I hope you’re hungry,” she said, setting them down.

  One contained a colossal hamburger complete with tomatoes and pickles, with onions on the side, and the other piled high with fries straight from the hot vat. They smelled delicious, and I almost kissed her out of gratitude right there in front of everyone. “I’m famished, thanks.”

  She leaned her elbows on the bar to watch me devour her cooking. “So you don’t have to go scare anyone into paying their taxes for a while?” she asked.

  I shook my head, my mouth full. “Not for a couple of days.”

  Her voice dropped. “Maybe there’s a way for you to give up that life.”

  Nearly gaping with chewed food in my mouth, I stared at her. I swallowed it quickly and drank beer to wash it down. “I won’t escape Kanata’s killing me again, Skyler.”

  “You can hide here,” she whispered, her expression tense. “You have friends now.”

  “I’m also known to hang out in this bar,” I replied, resting my hand on her arm. “I can’t risk bringing Kanata’s anger down on you and your father.”

  “There has to be a way for you to get out of that life.”

  There is. Leave in the night, head for a safe town. But unless Skyler came with me, I wouldn’t do that. “It’ll work out somehow.”

  Jonas wandered back with a fresh beer. “Look, Ragnor,” he said, “I have another meeting tonight after the bar closes. Can you stay with Skyler until I can come back?”

  Petulant, Skyler pouted slightly as though insulted that she couldn’t take perfectly good care of herself. Even so, she said nothing while I nodded. “Sure, Jonas. Kanata has given me some time off.”

  At the mention of the boss’s name, Jonas’s open expression closed, tightened, as though he had forgotten I still worked for the guy, even if I wished I didn’t. “Right,” he said stiffly. “I won’t be gone long.”

  He returned to tending the bar while Skyler headed back to the kitchen to cook for customers who came for the food as much as the booze. I continued to eat, avoiding looking at my fellow drinkers and diners, chugging the beer in a way that would have me drunk again if I continued.

  Toward closing time, the customers drifted toward the door, most pausing beside me to say hello, thanks, how are ya. Uncomfortable with the attention, I still tried to be friendly with them all the while wishing they would simply walk on past me. The three females, who I discovered were wolf shifters, stopped long enough to flirt.

  “Uh, sorry, ladies,�
� I stammered. “I’m seeing someone.”

  “So?” cooed the blonde, her lips pursed as though she were about to kiss me. “That shouldn’t stop you from having some fun.”

  Their entertainment halted sharply when Skyler stalked toward us, growling low in her throat, her golden eyes flat. The trio hastily abandoned me to rush to the door and out. I started to laugh until I caught the look in Skyler’s expression, and I gulped.

  “Hey, I didn’t encourage them. I told them I was seeing someone.”

  “Humpf,” she snorted, glaring at the now-closed door. “Maybe you should hang a sign around your neck that says, ‘I’m taken.’”

  I grinned. “Am I?”

  Her eyes suddenly widened, and a blush crawled up from her neck to set her cheeks aflame. Avoiding my eyes, Skyler crossed her arms over her chest. “Oh, well, I guess, I mean, you—”

  Grabbing her hand, I pulled her closer to me. “I am taken, baby. By you.”

  I kissed her, gently, sweetly, understanding that she was a skittish as a frightened deer and that I would need to take things slow with her to not scare her off permanently. After last night, her trust in me had taken a great leap forward, but I was still an enforcer who killed on command. When I sensed her stiffen slightly, I let her go but held onto her hand.

  Only then did I realize the reason for her stiffness was Jonas striding in. He had not seen us kiss, and from that angle, he couldn’t see our hands entwined. Offering a quick smile, he strode toward the door. “I’ll be back in a couple of hours,” he said, then was gone.

  Skyler followed after him and locked it, as there were no more patrons inside save for me. “You need anything else before I shut everything off?” she asked.

  “No, I’m good.”

  As she headed into the kitchen, she turned off all the lights except the usual small lamp, leaving me in near darkness to finish my beer. I listened to her scrubbing pots and the grill, rinsing them, rattling them together as she stacked them. “Grab another beer,” she called. “And would you pour one for me?”

  I rose lazily and went behind the bar to pour fresh beer into my glass, and another for her. “I didn’t know you drank.”

  “Sometimes.”

  I found her sitting in the backroom in an armchair, the place almost as dark at the bar itself. I handed her glass to her, then claimed another chair for myself. She took a sip, gazing around at the neat and tidy room. “Hard to believe that just last night I was attacked in here, and you saved me.”

  “Hard to believe you were attacked? Or hard to believe that I would save you?”

  Skyler laughed. “You know what I mean. I killed for the very first time.”

  I nodded. “It’s not easy to take another life. I was so upset the first time I killed someone, I couldn’t handle the guilt.”

  She tilted her head to the side, gazing at me. “I can see that in you.”

  “It got easier after that.” I stared at the floor. “Then my ego took control, and I liked the killing, liked how I terrified people. Now,” I laughed, but there was no humor in it. “Now I hate myself.”

  “I don’t hate you.”

  I smiled tightly. “Perhaps you should.”

  Rising, she came over to me and sat in my lap. “How could I hate you,” she said quietly, “when I’m falling in love with you?”

  I set my glass on the table as Skyler placed her arms around my neck, then put my hands on her trim waist. “I think I’ve been in love with you since the first moment I saw you.”

  “Yeah?”

  Nestling into my arms, she snuggled her face against my neck. “You were so handsome and tough and strong,” she murmured. “But I never imagined I’d ever be here in your arms.”

  “I want you to stay in my arms forever.”

  Turning my face, my mouth found hers, kissing her deeply. Her lips parted, accepting my tongue, and this time I did not check my rising passion. Holding her head at an angle permitted me to toy with her luscious mouth, to let her feel my emotions I could no longer control. Breaking our kiss, I looked long into her luminous eyes.

  “I want you,” I whispered.

  Chapter Five

  Skyler smiled, a mixture of shyness and seduction crossing her delicate features. “I want you, too. But I—”

  Blushing again, she tried to avert her face, but my finger under her chin prevented that. “You’ve never had sex before.”

  I had my answer in her heated flush and downcast eyes. “Are you sure you want this, Skyler?” I asked gently. “I will never push you into it.”

  “All my friends lost their virginity,” she murmured.

  “That doesn’t mean you have to. I would adore making love to you and being your first. This is your choice, baby. Remember, we don’t have to, even if I want it.”

  She met my eyes, smiling. “I want you to make love to me, Ragnor.”

  I kissed her again, our tongues dancing, entwined, the scent, the taste of her arousing me. Heat spread through my groin, my belly, my shaft beginning to throb in its tight confinement. Dragging my mouth from hers, I kissed her cheeks, her throat, my hand caressing her plump, rounded breast through her shirt.

  “We don’t have a bed.”

  Skyler broke into giggles. “The couch isn’t big enough for both of us.”

  “Any bright ideas? The floor looks too damn hard.”

  “I got it.”

  Lunging from my now aching lap, she rummaged through a closet off the bathroom and returned with a thick, heavy sheepskin. “We used to have this on the wall of the bar,” she said, spreading it out on the floor, “until a drunken wolf attacked it.”

  I laughed. “Maybe he didn’t have too many brains to begin with.”

  “What little he had was fried by opiates.”

  I sat on the rug with her, content for the moment to hold her hand and gaze into her beautiful face. “I love you, Skyler,” I murmured.

  “I’m falling hard for you, Ragnor.”

  Pulling her into my arms, I kissed her long, lovingly, her hands roaming up and down my back. Lifting my shirt, she lightly teased my flesh with her fingers, tantalizing me, making my erection strain against my zipper. They traced over the sutures she put into my side, but I felt only the tiniest whisper of pain from her touch.

  Breaking away from me, Skyler lifted her shirt over her head, then unhooked her bra and tossed it aside. Her breasts were small, perky, and fit perfectly into my hands. Leaning forward, I licked and kissed each one, feeling her breath quicken as my thumbs turned her nipples into hard little pebbles.

  An electric shock ripped through me as Skyler stroked my hard-on through my jeans. I gasped at her light brush over my crotch and heard her breathy giggle. “I want to see it,” she murmured.

  I stripped my shirt off, then knelt to unzip my jeans. I pushed them past my hips, freeing my shaft to her hands and inspection. Her huge eyes grew round as her hand grasped my long, thick length.

  “Oh, my,” she whispered.

  “I’ll be gentle. I promise.”

  I stood up to finish removing them, then helped her pull her jeans off, revealing her luscious naked body to my hands and eyes. I lay beside her, caressing her silken skin, kissing her mouth, her throat. I did not want to leave any marks for Jonas to find, thus I refrained from sucking on her pale, perfect flesh.

  Stroking my hand down her firm, flat belly to her mound, I dipped my fingers into the warm moist well. Skyler gasped, and for a moment I thought she wanted to back out. I glanced at her, pulling my hand away, only to have her drag it back.

  “Don’t you dare stop,” she growled.

  Chuckling, I teased her nib, rubbing, gently tugging, feeling her arousal in the wet that flowed over my fingers. Skyler spread her legs, her head thrown back at the pleasure I wrought from her body. Soft moans escaped her throat, and I recognized she was almost ready for me.

  “Are you still sure?” I asked, kissing her cheek.

  “Yes, yes, if you back off, I’
ll kill you.”

  My lips over hers, I murmured, “I’ll be gentle.”

  Rolling atop her, I stared down into her eyes as I spread her legs further with my knees. Probing the entrance to her wet mound with my rod, I pushed a little way inside. Skyler moaned, and not with pain, her arms around my neck holding me tight to her. Encouraged, I stretched her inner walls as I pushed in deeper, working my way in slowly, inch by inch.

  At last, I was all the way in. Relaxing on her, I kissed her lips. “You are mine.”

  I stroked slowly at first, wanting to build up her pleasure, holding back my desire to pump hard and fast. Under me, Skyler moaned and hissed, her eyes closed as I hoped I brought her to ecstasy and not agony. “Are you all right?”

  “Yes, don’t you dare stop.”

  I picked up the pace, now feeling my own intense pleasure rise. I knew her tight cave would bring me to climax soon, but I hoped to hold out long enough to have her orgasm. Within moments, Skyler shuddered under me, crying out, her back arched to push her breasts into my chest. Heat gushed over my plunging shaft, and I knew she had. As my explosion neared, I let it consume me.

  Blasting my seed deep inside her, my body shook under the wave of the sheer, wonderful orgasm, a long groan escaping my lips. I slowed my thrusts to better feel it, jamming my rod hard into her cave to prolong the pleasure. I relaxed at last, breathing hard, feeling her arms clasp me to her.

  “We belong to each other,” she whispered. “Now and forever.”

  I lay on the couch, pretending to sleep, as Skyler read a book in the armchair when Jonas entered hours later. We were both fully dressed, the sheepskin returned to the closet, and I hoped he couldn’t smell the odor of sex in the room. With the nearly overpowering odors of grilled meat and fries from the kitchen, I doubted he could.

  Exhausted, but happily so, I had laid down at Skyler’s order earlier, but contented myself with watching her through half-closed eyes as she read by the light of the lamp. I closed them and evened out my breathing when I heard the front door open and Jonas’s steps.