by Kim Fox
“Settle down?” He exhaled long and hard. “I have to get this ranch in order first. I don’t have time to focus on anything else.”
“You should make time,” she said as she watched him.
“What makes you say that?”
“You have a lot to offer a girl, and I’m not just talking about the ranch. You’re sweet, Grant. You’d make a great husband and a terrific father. It would be a shame to waste that.”
“You do realize I’m holding you prisoner, don’t you?” he asked with a chuckle.
“Only because I tried to kill you,” she said with a smile. “I kind of had it coming.”
They each took a sip of their beers, letting the silence linger between them.
“You’ve been nothing but nice to me even when you didn’t have to be,” she whispered, suddenly ashamed of her actions. “It was sweet when you brought me breakfast on our first morning. I’m sorry I kicked it into your face.”
He smiled as he watched her with a gentle softness in his eyes. “Don’t worry about it,” he said with a grin. “Who knew that egg yolk is a surprisingly good facial cleanser?”
“You know…” Amélie whispered as she looked down at her lap. “I’m not normally like this.”
“Like what?”
“Like this,” she said, snapping her eyes back up. “Like a feral animal trying to kill everything in sight.”
“Oh,” he said with a grin. “Like that.”
“It’s just… this is not me. I’m not like this.”
“Amélie,” he said softly as he took her hand in his. “What’s going on? You can tell me.”
Maybe it was the alcohol or the soft music or the comforting feel of his hand or just the warmth of his presence, but before she knew it there were tears spilling out of her eyes as long held-in words spilled out of her mouth.
“General Hunt has my family,” she said as she sobbed. “My mother and sister are imprisoned and unless I get that wand, they’re going to die. He’s going to kill them.”
“Whoa,” he said, his face dropping. “Start at the beginning.”
She took a deep breath and told him about her family’s trip to Las Vegas. Her father had gotten a big bonus at work and as a little celebration, he brought the four of them to Vegas for a week. They were having a great time until they got tickets to a magic show and the magician brought a tiger onto the stage. Amélie’s panther didn’t respond well and was fighting to get out. She had burst through the emergency exit just in time for her panther to explode out of her in the alley.
Nobody had seen—at least that’s what she had thought—but the next day while visiting the Grand Canyon, General Hunt and his men pulled up beside them in a military vehicle and took all four of them.
“He wanted me to do things,” Amélie said, squeezing her eyes shut as the horrible memories replayed in her head. “He wanted me to go places and kill people I never even met. I refused at first, but General Hunt can be very persuasive. They don’t call him The Angel of Death for nothing.”
“What happened?”
“He wanted me to fly to Sri Lanka and murder some chieftain, but I refused.” Her heart was pounding in her chest as every horrific detail came flooding back. “So, he brought my father into the room… and he shot him in the back of the head. Just like that, the man who raised me and taught me half of what I know, was dead.”
Grant had his big strong arms wrapped around her, comforting her as she sobbed on his chest. After a minute, she pulled away, took a deep breath and composed herself.
“He said that my mother and sister were next if I didn’t obey his every word. And I believed him. He didn’t even hesitate with my father. He was nothing to him. Just a pawn to be used in his game.”
“How long has this been going on?” Grant said as he held her hand tight.
“About a year and a half,” she said, wiping her eyes. “He wants that red wand. That’s why I’m here. That’s why I tried to hurt you. He told us that the person who brings him that wand will be able to go free. Them and their family.”
“That’s why you were fighting so hard,” Grant whispered. “You were fighting for them.”
“I was,” she said, feeling her stomach drop. “But I was fighting on the wrong side. I’m ashamed of myself. It kills me to think that I could have hurt one of you. You’ve all been so nice when you didn’t have to be.”
“Don’t worry about that,” he said, cupping her cheek with his hand. Amélie let out a faint moan as she leaned into it. “Why does he want the wand?”
“It’s magic. Who wouldn’t want that? General Hunt is obsessed with gaining power, and he is completely corrupted by it. He’ll get it in any way that he can and he’s probably looking at that magic wand as another tool to get more of it.”
“Can you tell me anything else about him?” Grant asked. “It’s not our first run-in with the General.”
“He collects shifters,” she said, remembering the time she walked through the experimental facility. There were shifters in prison, hooked up to machines, being tortured in the name of science. “He experiments on them and turns them into monsters. He takes the ones they kill during their experiments and brings them back as cyborgs. He torments the animals and turns them into crazed killers. All-around nice guy as you can imagine.”
The song ended and another started as they both stared into the darkness, lost in thought.
Finally, Grant took her hand and looked into her eyes. “We can help you, Amélie.”
She pulled her hand away and dropped her eyes. “Nobody can help me.”
“I can,” Grant said. “My crew will help. I know it. We can save your family.”
“You don’t know this guy,” she said, shaking her head. “You’ll go in to fight him and you’ll come out as just another pawn in his plans. He’ll kidnap your mother, he’ll burn the whole town of Redemption Creek down if he has to, just to get you to bend his knee to him.”
“You don’t know what we’re capable of,” Grant said, desperate to help. It was sweet to offer, but Amélie knew that she was the only one who could look out for her family. It was all on her. Après moi, le déluge.
“I can’t risk it,” she said, shaking her head as fresh tears came to her eyes.
“So, what?” he asked. “You’re just going to be his slave for the rest of your life? You’ll just kill anyone he points a finger at?”
Amélie swallowed hard as she dropped her eyes. “As long as he has my family, yes.”
“Then let’s get your family,” he said, straightening his back. “Do you know where they are?”
“It’s no use,” she said, trying to make him see. “It will never work.”
“So, what now?” he said, shrugging his round shoulders.
“I’m your prisoner. You tell me.”
“Not anymore,” he said with a sigh. “You’re free to leave.”
“I am?”
He took a deep breath and ran his hand over his shaved head. “The keys are in that pink Hornet over there. You’re welcome to take it.”
“I can’t take your car.”
“Trust me, you’d be doing me a favor,” he said with a sad laugh. “Just be careful, the brakes are shit. If you’re trying to stop while rolling down a hill… well, good luck.”
Grant downed the rest of his beer and stood up.
“I hope that you’ll stay,” he said as he cupped her cheek one last time. “I can help you. We can help you. The shifters of Redemption Creek stick together and we’re capable of some pretty amazing things too.”
He leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips.
“I’ll get the wand from Tempest,” he said as he looked at her for the last time. “I’ll leave it on my porch if you decide to go. But if General Hunt is as ruthless as you say he is, he probably won’t ever let your family go. You’re too valuable to him, and it’s too much of a risk to release any of you at this point.”
Amélie licked her tingling lips a
s she wondered how she could go through her life without another one of those beautiful kisses.
He turned to leave, but then stopped.
“If you leave,” he whispered in a soft voice. “Know that I don’t blame you and I won’t hold it against you. I just want you to know that I’ve never met anyone as lovely as you.”
He gave her one last sad look and then walked away, leaving her thoughts spinning.
Chapter Ten
Grant
Grant was lying in bed with his head on the pillow, but there was no way he was going to sleep. Not tonight.
How could he when it was the last night that he might see Amélie?
As he promised, he retrieved the wand from Tempest and placed it on his porch. Tempest would be furious when she found out in the morning, but he would try with everything he had to get it back for the newest bounty hunter. Amélie and her family were just much more important than any object.
The beautiful girl was still sitting on the bar, staring up at the stars when he went inside, closed the door, and slipped into bed.
His stomach was in knots as he imagined what her life must have been like these last few years. Watching her family lose their freedom, watching her father lose his life. The things she was forced to do, the pure heart full of goodness she was forced to harden. It was all so sad, and it made Grant want to find General Hunt so he could introduce him to his lion.
The waiting was torture. He hoped that Amélie would make the right decision and come to him—let him help her and her family—but he wouldn’t blame her if she took the wand and left. Her mother and sister’s lives were at stake. It was a lot to gamble on a promise from a half bankrupt bounty hunter who ran a pack of misfits.
He twisted around in bed and sighed as he stared up at the ceiling, wondering what she was doing, what she was thinking now. Was she already gone?
It was a full moon tonight and the light was shining in through the window lighting up his cracked ceiling.
She was a true panther shifter and was able to move without making a sound. He learned that the first night with her when he woke up and she was already in his room. She had broken the lamp over his head, but tonight, if she left, she was going to break something more tender inside him.
He was remembering how good she felt in his arms on the day of the racetrack when he heard the creaking of the steps that led to his wooden porch. She was outside of his door, but what was she going to do?
Was she there for the wand or was she there for him?
He laid there with his chest tightening as he waited. And waited.
Finally, the front door slowly opened. He turned and stared at the wall, keeping his back to the door as she walked in and leaned against the doorframe.
He took a few slow breaths before speaking. “Is this a goodbye call?
His restless body filled with dread as he waited for her answer.
“Would you be disappointed in me if it was?”
“No. But I’d be heartbroken.”
“Then you better turn around.”
Grant took a deep breath and slowly turned around. Amélie looked like a goddess in the moonlight, standing there in her beautiful summer dress. Her hands were empty. No wand.
But what did that mean?
“Are you staying?” Grant asked, feeling a hopefulness bottle up in his chest.
Amélie didn’t answer. She just slowly reached behind her back and unzipped her dress. Grant pushed up onto an elbow and watched with hungry eyes as she took one strap down, then the other. He swallowed hard as she let the dress drop down to the floor.
Grant could feel his heartbeat practically pounding out of his chest as he watched her step out of the dress. She was wearing nothing but a pair of lacy panties.
His cock hardened to the point of pain as he tore his eyes off of her beautiful face and gazed down at her pert breasts with her hard pink nipples.
Without a word, she walked over to the bed, stopping at the foot of it as she looked down at him with a seductive look. He wanted to reach for and bring her into his embrace. He wanted to do all of the dirty things to her that were racing through his mind. But instead, he just watched with hungry eyes as she slid her fingers into the waistband of her panties and pushed them down her long slender legs.
His eyes roamed down her body to the sexy strip of hair that led to her glistening pussy. His cock was so hard it felt like it was going to explode as she climbed onto the bed and crawled toward him.
She looked gorgeous in the moonlight with her wavy blonde hair draped over her shoulders. Grant inhaled deep as she approached. She smelled as delicious as she looked.
“You’re staying?” he whispered as her mouth came close to his.
She didn’t answer. She just pressed her soft wet lips to his, kissing him long and hard in a passionate kiss.
He parted his lips and felt the tip of her silky tongue brush against his. She moaned into his mouth as his wandering hands slid up her ribs to cup her perky breasts.
“You better be staying,” he moaned as her hand slid under the blanket and over his throbbing shaft. “It will kill me if you leave.”
“I’ll stay,” she said as she stroked his hard length up and down. “If you’ll take me.”
He grinned as he grabbed her by the waist with his strong hands, picked her up and brought her onto him until she was straddling his hard cock. “I’ll take you,” he said in a growl.
She grinned, looking excited for it.
Grant’s eyes slowly closed as she began grinding her hips, pressing her pussy onto his cock. He moaned as he felt her wetness soaking through his boxer briefs.
“Mmmm,” he groaned as she picked up the pace.
Her skin was so smooth and he was enjoying every inch of it as he slid his palms up her stomach and onto her breasts. He cupped them, making her perfect little nipples get as hard as two little diamonds.
His long thick shaft was parting her wet folds as she slid up and down his length. Grant sat up and wrapped his arms around her as he buried his face between her breasts. He cupped one as he kissed the other, traveling along the exquisite curve with his tongue until he circled up to the tip. Amélie moaned and ran her hands over his shaved head as he took her nipple into his mouth and swirled his tongue around it, teasing her and making her breathless.
He switched to the other breast and then laid back down, wanting to taste the rest of her.
Amélie’s eyes were clouded over with lust as she pressed her palms on his abs and rocked back and forth on his cock.
He gently grabbed under her thighs and lifted her up. She whimpered in shock and despair at losing her new toy, but the whimpers quickly turned to moans as Grant lowered her pussy onto his face.
She was so wet and her juices poured down over his mouth and chin as he buried his tongue deep inside her.
“Oh, comme ça,” she moaned. “Continue comme ça.”
Grant didn’t know what the hell she was saying, but listening to her speak French was driving him even crazier. He slid his tongue up her warm slit and then swirled it around her opening before dragging it back up to her clit.
Grant slid a finger inside and groaned at her tightness as she squeezed her breasts and pinched her nipples.
Every flick of his tongue sent her body shaking with convulsions. She gasped and moaned at every long slow lick of his tongue, every kiss of his lips.
He wrapped his lips around her clit and sucked as her deep moans began to turn into light cries. She was close to coming and Grant was determined to get her there.
“Oui,” she gasped as he licked her harder, faster, increasing the pace with every sweep of his tongue. “Oui! Oui!”
Her back arched as she grabbed onto his headboard and shook with a violent intensity. She was coming. Hard.
Grant slowed his pace as she rode the warm wave, slowly rocking her hips on his face as she closed her eyes and breathed in nice and deep.
When the last of it was over, she
swung her leg back from over his head and dropped her head on the pillow.
“Wow,” she said as she placed a hand over her eyes. “Wow.”
Grant wasn’t about to quit just yet. He was just getting started.
He leaned over her and kissed a trail from her earlobe, down her neck, and onto her chest. Her nipples hardened once again as he kissed every inch of them while he gave her a second to recover.
When he waited long enough, he slid a hand over her inner thigh, spread her legs, and then climbed between them.
“Yes,” she moaned as he grabbed his hard cock and pressed it to her warm tunnel. “Je veux te sentir profondément.”
Grant slowly slid inside, grimacing when he felt how tight she was. She felt like pure heaven as he filled her with one slow, agonizing stroke.
Amélie clawed at his shoulders and gritted her teeth as he pushed all the way in until his hard pelvis was pressing against her engorged clit.
This girl had really got to him over the past couple of days. At first, he had been confused as to why she had such an intense effect on him, but it was beginning to make sense. She was incredible in every way. Why wouldn’t he be falling for her?
He grabbed under her knees and brought her legs up as he pumped deeper into her with every stroke. Her beautiful face was all twisted up in a mix of pleasure and agony as he drove his hard cock deep inside her.
He watched her writhing on the bed, hoping that she’d never leave. He wanted her to stay with him forever so they could do this every night and every morning. How could he ever go to sleep alone again? How could he ever lay down in this bed without her by his side?
Grant didn’t want to think about any of that now. He just wanted to focus on every inch of the perfect girl under him so he pushed the questions out of his mind and thrust his hips even harder.
Amélie was arching her back and gripping the sheets with every deep pump of his hips. “Continuer,” she gasped as he wrapped his arms around her and thrust with everything that he had.
Grant felt it building inside of him. The tightness was growing stronger and more powerful as it surged forward, threatening to overtake his body in a crushing orgasm.