All Foxed Up

by Emma Dean

  Ash was complicated, but he wanted her. He wanted her right now. But in that way he had. Ash was always quietly waiting for her to give him permission, or for her to reject him. Kenzie loved that even though these guys were totally crazy and weird by any definition of the words, they were the most respectful bastards she’d ever met in her life.

  It made her feel safe.

  It made her feel…respected.

  Hopping up on the counter she didn’t dare blink at the predator currently hunting her. “Are you hungry?” she asked him, her words quiet in the thick silence of the dark house. Kenzie spread her legs to make room for him – if he wanted.

  “Ravenous.” Those hands gripped her knees hard. “You don’t think we should wait until after our date?” Ash asked.

  Kenzie put her hands on his shoulders and studied that strong jaw and the black hair. She couldn’t resist sliding her fingers through it. Why did he always smell so good? “I’ve never been very proper.”

  And Ash made her want to leave all sense of what was right or wrong at the door and just give in to whatever it was they had between them. He was always there for her…silent, immovable, but trustworthy and respectful. He pushed her, but it was a game. Ash never crossed that line.

  He cursed and closed his eyes when she continued to play with his hair. “You sure I’m the one you want?”

  Ash.

  The one who saw everything but never said anything.

  And yet, he’d opened up to her. He’d told her what he could. He was willing to consider a memory charm – not that she cared if he used it or not, but he’d listened to her and hadn’t laughed her off or told her to mind her own fucking business.

  Running her hands down his neck she slipped them under the collar of his shirt so she could feel that silky skin of his.

  She really liked how he pushed her, but always held back just enough to give her a choice.

  “Yes. You’re who I want right now,” she murmured, slowly unbuttoning his shirt. Why was a guy so fucking hot with rolled up sleeves? “Is that all right with you?”

  His grip on her knees tightened enough to bruise as she slid down to the next button, fingers grazing his chest. “I’ve never been opposed to sharing,” Ash gritted out. “But I want to make sure when I take you the first time, it’s me you’re thinking about.”

  Kenzie looked up into his eyes and undid the last button. Sliding her hands across his chest she removed the shirt. “Just because I want to fuck Hunter doesn’t mean I don’t want you.” She shrugged and kissed his collarbone. “Isn’t that how it’s always going to be if we all decide we want this?”

  His hands were warm as he slid them along the inside of her waistband. “Well yeah, I suppose that’s true. Would you ever want…more than one of us at a time?” he asked, tilting his head to consider her.

  Did she?

  Wait, did he?

  Ash flicked the top button of her pants and slid the zipper down.

  Kenzie gasped and clutched onto his arms as he slid a hand inside her pants, fingers brushing against her swollen clit. “Would that be something you want?” she asked, barely breathing as that impenetrable gaze held her own.

  What if she could have two or three of them at the same time? Could she even handle that? Would they get weird? Dudes got so weird about stuff like that sometimes.

  His fingers maneuvered around her panties until his bare hand held her pussy and Kenzie squirmed against him, slightly embarrassed about how wet she already was.

  “I want to do whatever you want,” Ash confessed, leaning down to smell her neck. “I’ll never get tired of your scent. Thank you for getting that charm tweaked.” Then he slid a finger inside her.

  Kenzie groaned as she threw her head back when his thumb rubbed little circles against her clit. Fates it was good, but she wanted more.

  She kicked off her shoes and pulled Ash’s hand out. “I don’t want this,” she told him. “I want this.” Kenzie yanked Ash’s pants down and then her own, kicking off her jeans before leaning back to see what he would do.

  His cock was hard as a rock and massive. Kenzie liked how it looked. She liked that she affected Ash like that and she wanted him bad.

  Fates, he was beautiful.

  Then Ash grabbed her legs and pulled, but he knelt down and wrapped her legs around his shoulders.

  Kenzie gasped in shock when his hot mouth covered her and then his tongue slid inside. Her hands gripped his hair on instinct and then they were moving. Ash stood with her on his shoulders, burying his face in her as those strong hands held her back.

  Fuck, she was gonna fall if he kept that up.

  Somehow Ash managed to walk a few steps, sucking her clit as he did so. She groaned again, trying not to ride his face. “Ash, please.” Despite how good it felt, that wasn’t what Kenzie was hungry for. It wasn’t what she needed.

  Gently he set her on the dining room table, laying her down on her back. Then Ash kneaded her thighs and finally came up for air when she yelled his name. “Please what?” he asked.

  “I need you inside me,” she told him, trying to pull him up, but the bastard was so much stronger than she was.

  He stared at her, waiting for the answer he wanted to hear – he needed to hear from her.

  “I need to feel surrounded,” she confessed. “Possessed by you.”

  His answering growl was exactly what she wanted to hear. Ash spread her and pressed the head of his cock to her entrance. Then slowly, excruciatingly, he pushed inside – stretching her nearly to the breaking point.

  Kenzie cried out and reached for him when he filled her to the hilt. Ash lifted her again – she would never get used to how strong they all were – and wrapped his arms around her body so they were upright.

  When he turned and pressed her up against the wall she sighed. His entire body covered hers as he thrust into her. Yes, this was exactly what she’d wanted.

  Raking her fingers over his shoulders she urged him on, meeting him thrust for thrust. His face was in her throat and she trailed her fingers over the back of his neck. Breathing hard she grabbed his face and kissed him.

  Kissing Ash was like…like a drink of cool water on a hot day. He didn’t try to dominate her like Hunter and he wasn’t playful like Finnick.

  But he did possess her. He possessed her mouth, filling it with his tongue when she parted her lips, filling her pussy just like she’d asked. Each stroke filled her completely before he pulled out to do it all over again.

  Somehow the rhythm of his kiss matched the pace of his hips and she gripped him hard as the sensation built on all the teasing over the last few days until she was ready to lose her fucking mind.

  Kenzie pulled back and stared into Ash’s blue eyes.

  He only blinked once, but when she held his gaze there was a strange shift between them.

  For a split second it felt like she could feel the clench of her pussy on his dick as if it were her own. She could feel the emotions swirling inside him despite the way he just stared at her – no smile, no nothing.

  Just those endless blue eyes that were a reflection of her own.

  So many emotions and she drowned in them.

  The way he felt about her made her heart ache. The way she made him feel – like he’d finally found a permanent home…

  “Ash,” she gasped, holding on tight as he thrust inside again and it sent her right over the edge. “Oh Ash.”

  She could feel how his name on her lips made him want to hold her forever as he growled, fingers rough and digging into her hips – just to keep from biting her hard enough to draw blood.

  “Kenzie,” he breathed. Then he kissed her, pressing into her one last time.

  She shuddered when he came, feeling her legs shake as the aftershocks of the orgasm rippled through her with every movement.

  Yes, that was exactly what she’d needed.

  Breathing hard and trying to catch her breath, she ran her hand over Ash’s hair again and again in a s
oothing rhythm. It was as much for her as it was for him. Her other arm wrapped around his neck tight, holding on and helping with her weight as much as she could.

  “Ash,” she murmured.

  This was how she could comfort him, how she could show him what she felt. All those words became unnecessary when it was so much easier to show him with her body while the mate bond opened her heart and soul to him as it did for her.

  Ash carried them both to the bathroom and stepped into the shower, still deep inside her and with their clothes on. She hissed as the cold water hit her back and then it was gloriously hot.

  “Thank you, Ash.”

  “What do you have to thank me for?” he asked, holding her under the spray as it soaked her clothes and her hair until it stuck to her skin.

  “Everything,” she whispered.

  He didn’t press for more of an explanation. Ash just held her until he was soft enough to slide out. The fox never used unnecessary words and Kenzie appreciated that.

  “Is that your phone?” he finally asked after a few moments of blissful silence.

  “Hm?” she asked, almost asleep in his arms.

  “Is that obnoxious ring tone yours?”

  “Barbie Girl isn’t obnoxious.”

  Ash laughed and set her down before leaving the shower.

  She stripped off her wet clothes and started cleaning up. Between the hot water and Ash, she felt more relaxed than she could ever remember feeling before.

  “Kenzie!”

  The urgency in Ash’s voice instantly sent a shot of adrenaline straight into her bloodstream. Kenzie’s eyes snapped open and she dropped the bar of soap, nearly slipping and smashing her face on everything in the bathroom.

  “Finnick and Hunter need back up. A group of ravens have them pinned. The girl is still alive. For now.”

  She was already running to her room. Clothes, she needed dry clothes.

  Her heart pounded as she got dressed in a rush.

  Those two better fucking stay alive until she could get there.

  “Let’s go!” Kenzie grabbed her gun on the way out, charms on her bracelet clicking together as she rattled them for peace of mind.

  She couldn’t lose Finnick and Hunter.

  She wouldn’t.

  Kenzie refused.

  Chapter Ten

  Hunter

  Hunter was fucking sick and tired of these goddamn ravens.

  On a normal day he’d offer one a cold drink. Scavengers had to stick together after all.

  But they were making his life fucking difficult and Hunter hated difficult.

  “How much longer until they get here?” Finnick asked.

  “Oh my god, are we going to die?” the girl whined, holding on to Hunter like he would pick her up and fly her out of there.

  He was no one’s hero.

  Annoyed he shoved her toward Finnick and peered around the van. Damn assassins had slit all his tires. “We might if you don’t shut up,” Hunter muttered, straining to listen for any movement at all.

  On a professional level he gave the birds kudos. They worked well as a team and all of them managed to stay absolutely silent, unlike this woman who was giving the assassins their location at every opportunity.

  “Ash sent a text that they were a few minutes out,” Hunter whispered, too quiet for the girl or the ravens to hear.

  “Why do they never live in the city?” Finnick muttered.

  Hunter didn’t bother to respond when the answer was obvious.

  Bullets sprayed the van and Hunter ducked while Finnick shielded the girl with his body.

  This was why he hadn’t wanted to split everyone up. You never split up the group. Four people in one location meant two cars which meant more than one option for escape. Two people could guard the girl and each other while the other two took out the assassins.

  But no.

  Kenzie had suggested they split up in pairs so they could save more of them.

  And he had agreed. Despite the fact that he knew, he knew separating would make them all weaker and potentially put them in danger. This was his fuck up, but Kenzie had sway over his common sense and that pissed him off. He hadn’t given her permission to fuck with his mind like that.

  When had he even started conceding to her every whim?

  Fuck, she was making him stupid.

  Hunter gave Finnick a look and the other fox gave him a nod. Then Hunter shifted into a fox while the girl buried her face into Finnick’s shoulder.

  He crawled under the van in his fox form so he could get a better vantage point, his clothes slipping off into a pile. Hunter slunk from shadow to shadow, furious that this simple mission had gone sideways. He was furious he’d given in to Kenzie.

  But she was his mate and apparently that made his brain dumber than a box of hair.

  Then this annoying female they were supposed to save was fucking useless, making everything a thousand times more difficult than it needed to be.

  Did they really need to save this one?

  Without even having Kenzie anywhere near him he could picture that judgy little face that made him hard as a rock. He snorted his annoyance. Of course he had to save this one even though she was somehow worse than people who eat with their mouth open.

  There was one of the ravens.

  Hunter pounced, teeth sliding into the raven’s neck before the assassin could set off any kind of alarm. Three more by his count, maybe more.

  More bullets sprayed the van and he heard Finnick’s bark of pain.

  Hunter swallowed his snarl. His pack mate was injured.

  Weaving through the trees he found the second raven, nothing but vengeance and payback on his mind.

  It was nothing to shift into a human just long enough to snap their neck before shifting back into his fox form.

  “Kevin?” a female voice asked over the dead raven’s watch.

  Hunter’s ears perked up and he tilted his head as he studied the device. A female?

  Interesting.

  He shifted back into a human. “Kevin is dead,” he said flatly.

  Silence.

  He could smell Finnick’s blood from where he was and Hunter bared his teeth in a silent snarl. Shifter healing would keep him alive and Finnick was decent at first aid, but the kit was in the car. Hunter needed to handle things. Now.

  “Who is this?” the female raven finally asked.

  Hm, so she was curious about him as well. “I’m the monster they called to protect these women from an even bigger monster.”

  He could practically sense her hesitation, even over the walkie-talkie function. Maybe he could use her.

  “Tell me why.”

  Her voice was just as dead as his. It made Hunter smile to find another like him.

  “My mate asked me to,” he muttered in annoyance. Given a choice Hunter would have left her for dead the second things went sideways. Only Finnick mattered to him, but there was a tug on something deep inside. He’d say it was a conscience if he had one.

  Hunter hated that Kenzie had this kind of control over him, even when she wasn’t here. He didn’t understand it.

  His sensitive ears picked up the raven’s location, but there was no sound of her reloading her weapon.

  “Why do they need protection?” she asked.

  Did the ravens not know why they were hired? How idiotic.

  “Bradley Davis sexually assaulted or raped them. Now he wants to kill them to keep them from talking.”

  “Not my problem,” she said.

  There she was. Hunter ripped the watch off the dead raven. “Then why ask about it at all?”

  Shifting into his fox form he heard a car approaching at breakneck speed. Kenzie must be driving.

  Slinking through the trees, Hunter kept silent until he was right behind the raven. Her long brown hair was tied back and she was staring at the destroyed van.

  “Maybe you should ask next time before taking a job.”

  She whipped around with a b
lade in her hand. It was against his neck so fast even Hunter couldn’t have stopped her. But she didn’t move, just studied him.

  “I did ask. I was lied to.”

  Hunter shrugged. “You injured my pack mate. I should kill you.”

  Flipping the knife she slid it back into place and smiled wide. He tilted his head again and narrowed his eyes. This one was dangerous and unpredictable. He grinned back, showing his canines – challenging her.

  “I’d like to see you try,” she said. “But I’ll tell my flock and get them to cancel the agreement. The other flocks though? It’s a lot of money. Good luck with your little hero act.”

  He still wanted to kill her, but…not as much. “You injured my pack mate,” he repeated.

  She slipped her hand into a pocket and every muscle in Hunter’s body tensed. “Here’s a token. Ask for Emily. Once you cash it in the debt’s repaid.”

  A blood token. Hunter took it and rolled it over his knuckles. They were extremely rare and ravens always settled debts. She’d basically handed him a carte blanche request. He could call in any favor and she would do it. An assassin owing him was extremely valuable.

  “You should ask your Guardian why you’re taking jobs like this…unless you really don’t care,” Hunter told her.

  “I’m an assassin,” Emily scoffed. “You think I have feelings? That’s adorable. Now get your mate before the others take them out.”

  Then she disappeared and Hunter was already in his fox form, token in his mouth. He sprinted through the small bit of woods near the girl’s house toward Kenzie and Finnick. Blood on the night air raised his hackles.

  Skidding around the van he snarled around the token, taking everything in. Ash was already moving Finnick and Kenzie had the girl in the car.

  Good. If he never had to talk to that woman again it would be too soon.

  Then he was back in his human form and pulling on his pants, ready to give Kenzie a piece of his mind. All this was her fault. She was the reason he’d made the idiotic decision to split up their team. The other ravens meant it had to wait, but…

  “Are you okay?” Kenzie asked, rushing up to him. She ran her hands over his skin and instantly Hunter froze.