Rescue Me (Sawtooth Shifters, #2)

by Kristen Strassel

  After putting sheets and blankets on the inflatable mattress, I collapsed on it, laughing when I bounced back up. My head was full of beer bubbles. We needed to cook some of that food. Shadow fell beside me and I was airborne once again. He slung his arm over my stomach, settling me before he rose to all fours and crawled over to me.

  Shadow stayed like that as he settled over my body, caging me in. His hair fell into my face, but even obscured, those blue eyes still pierced my soul.

  “Everyone’s telling me to stay away from you.” Shadow’s voice was a deep rumble. “But I can’t.”

  My pulse quickened even more. “I don’t want you to.” We’d only been together like this for a few days, but I already knew I couldn’t go back to the way my life was without him. He’d filled my empty, aching soul and it would never recover from another massive injury. Like I’d joked, I might be a damsel in distress lately, but I wasn’t stupid. “Why are they saying that?”

  Shadow’s lips fell to my neck. His kisses calmed me, my heartbeat slowing to a less frenzied pace. I thought he might consume me whole until there was nothing left to do but lick the taste of me from his fingers. It should’ve scared me after what I saw him do last night. Instead I had to stop myself from begging him for more. “They think Ryker will hurt you to get to me.” He could barely catch his breath.

  “Ryker was after me before you shifted.” Blood ran like slush in my veins. “If they want you to stay away from me, it’s to hurt me.” Taking fistfuls of his hair, I pulled him back down to my body. Even that little bit of distance had caused me pain, the possibility of losing him too real.

  Shadow didn’t kiss me again. His heartbeat thundered against my belly. Anger danced in his eyes. “I never thought of it that way.” He shook his head at some imaginary enemy. They weren’t with us, but they were all too real. “I’ll never let that happen.”

  “I hate that asshole, but he brought you to me.” Everything inside me melted. “I should thank him. It will kill him to know that everything he’s trying to do to hurt us makes us stronger.”

  “Evil isn’t always smart,” Shadow said. “That’s what I keep trying to tell Major. That it can backfire.”

  “It can and it will.” It was nice to know that for once, the black fog that had taken over my life was going to lift. I just had to let it. It would’ve been easy to push Shadow away and wrap the darkness around me like a security blanket. Letting Shadow in was scary, but it was the smartest thing I could do. “You know what I think is evil right now?”

  “What?”

  “Your clothes.” I giggled, pushing up his sweatshirt. Who the hell was I? Giggling. I hadn’t giggled since...anyway, I liked it. Even more, I loved the way the hard plane of his stomach rippled under my fingers, more so when his breath caught and hitched as I ran my hand over his chest. He pulled the sweatshirt up over his head and lay back down, hands behind his head.

  I could get used to this.

  If those muscles felt good under my fingers, I bet my tongue would like them even more. It wasn’t much of a gamble. Shadow sucked in a sharp breath when I made contact, tracing the outline of each muscle. I knelt between his legs, my tongue had freed up my hands to stroke the solid outline of his erection. Shadow groaned, shifting underneath me, but he kept his hands to himself.

  My eyes flicked up, silently begging him to touch me, but nope, it was his turn to receive. Okay. My fingers trembled with need as I unzipped his jeans, my mouth falling to the opening before I took his cock out. Shadow bucked underneath me, his own plea for me to free his shaft, but two could play this game. Whatever I could reach in the small opening the zipper provided me, I licked and stroked while Shadow squirmed.

  I never saw him coming. He flipped me to my back, holding me down by my shoulders. His eyes smoldered with desire and need. They were like two twin full moons, glowing in the low light of the lanterns. “You play dirty, Trina.”

  “Do I?” I batted my eyelashes, fighting a grin. “What about you?”

  Shadow sat beside me, sliding his pants down his thighs, easing them away from his ankles. He pumped his shaft in his hand, the tip was already glistening. “I believe in playing fair.”

  “Show me.” I put my hands behind my head, assuming the position. Shadow ran his hand up the inside seam of my jeans, squeezing when he reached the apex of my thighs. I was already throbbing, ready for his touch as he rubbed against the denim, the friction hitting my clit and folds through the fabric. Turnabout was fair play as I shifted beneath his grip. His fingers swirled and pressed, stroking and curling. He had to know what he was doing to me. He already had me dripping, and my jeans would be soaking wet in no time.

  He couldn’t make me come like this. I groaned, burying my face in my shoulder to try to keep everything inside me. “Oh, no.” Shadow shook his head. “I don’t want you to hide from me. Any of you.” He stopped, his hand danced lightly on my thigh. It was more torturous than what he’d been doing to me.

  “You have me.” I tried to keep my cool, still fully dressed and trembling with need.

  “Strip for me, Trina.” A wicked grin spread across his face. “Show me what I’ve got.”

  I’d pictured a hasty discard of my clothes. Pushing them off and forgetting about them. But strip for me had a totally different connotation. Stripping was a show, an appetizer, an experience. It was addition by subtraction, and it required a layer of finesse I hadn’t considered since Ryan had asked me to marry him. I thought he’d taken that part of me with him to the grave, but those words made something stir inside me that I was so happy to welcome back. Like wanting to burst into tears happy to see it. But I wasn’t going to break down in front of Shadow. I’d never be able to convince him they were joyful tears. Instead, I was going to give the man the show he asked for.

  Wobbling as I stood on the mattress, I lifted my shirt up to the bottom of my bra, caressing my bare stomach, careful to ignore where it wasn’t smooth and flat. Shadow sat at my feet, watching me with hungry eyes. I couldn’t afford shame or shyness or I’d never sell this. Especially to myself. My own touch gave me shivers, and Shadow’s mouth moved, like he wanted to say something but didn’t want to break the spell. I pulled the shirt up slowly, dropping it down over his head, brushing his bare shoulder, his stomach, catching the tip of his cock on the way down. He moaned softly, but his eyes snapped right back up. It was heady, having his full attention like this, just dying to see more of me. Turning away from him, I looked over my shoulder and smiled. He couldn’t tell what I was doing at this angle. Shadow’s Adam’s apple bobbed as I bent over, my head down near my thigh as I unzipped my jeans, slowly rolling them down over my ass.

  Shadow groaned, his hands trailing down my bare thighs as I pushed the denim down. He took the jeans away from my feet as I stepped out of them, holding my hand so I didn’t fall. The look in his eyes made it hard to breathe. I knelt down in front of him, kissing him on the lips.

  “I want you to do the rest.” My words were little more than a breath against his cheek.

  Shadow kissed me in response. I moaned under his lips, letting him inside. Our tongues tangled, breathing became one as he slid my bra straps off my shoulders, unhooking the bra. My nipples hardened on contact against his chest. His kiss became more urgent as he hooked his thumbs in my underwear, sliding them down my legs.

  “Lay down, Trina.” I loved the way my name sounded when we were like this. The r came out as a growl, the a breathless. “It’s my turn now.”

  I did as I was told, letting his hungry eyes roam over my body for what seemed like forever before he touched me. Shadow’s hands were rough, callouses scraping the tender skin of my nipples. They pebbled at the divine sensation, he brushed back and forth, watching them with fascination as they swelled. His lips took care of that, taking one of them into his mouth as he continued to work my heavy breast in his other hand. The contrast, soft against sharp, sucking against scraping, sent liquid lightning through my veins. I writhed underne
ath him, wanton and so needy. His cock was hard against my hip as he matched my rhythm.

  Shadow’s hair tickled my stomach as he kissed his way lower. Those rough hands followed, stilling my hips when he reached the strip of hair that led to my sex. He licked the length of it, and holy crap it tickled. I’d never had anyone pay so much attention to that tiny area before, and I was going to lose my mind.

  “I think this is where I left off.” Shadow’s growl vibrated against my sex and I was pulsing, wet, and ready for him before his tongue touched my clit. He flicked it so softly I thought I was going to jump through the roof, but he still held me firm against the air mattress. No escape, even if I was fool enough to want it.

  His tongue swirled around my clit, capturing it, rolling it around, before giving me a second of relief. My hands tangled in his hair, pulling as a reward, stroking it for encouragement. This is how we were communicating now. Sensations. Feelings. Pure instinct.

  My body turned to jelly when he let go. Not that I was going anywhere. Those rough fingers played with the hair just above the spot his tongue had teased.

  “I’ve never wanted to be inside another person like I want to be inside you right now, Trina.” His fingers fell to my opening; two of them slipped deep inside. He curled them forward, thrusting, hitting the spot that was going to send me over the brink, massaging it as he moved. “I want to see through your eyes, hear your thoughts.”

  “No, you don’t.” I could barely speak as he lowered his mouth back to my clit. “It’s not what you think it is.”

  “I said I’d never let anyone hurt you.” Another finger went inside me, stretching me. After not being with anyone for so long, I welcomed the pain. “If I’m your eyes, your ears, they’ll never get to you. They can’t tear us apart. My heart will beat for you as long as you need it to.”

  The waves rolled through my body, his lips everywhere. I pulsed around his fingers, clamping down on him. I was going to make sure he made good on his promise. I never wanted to let him go.

  Shadow had never looked more like a wolf than when he crawled up my body. His skin was slicked with sweat. Those rough fingers landed on my lips, scraping against them as I opened my mouth. I wanted him inside me any way possible. The sweet, salty tang of my arousal greeted me. I sucked it off, taking it all back.

  “That’s the taste I’m addicted to,” Shadow murmured against my ear. “Because I did that to you. I want to be the only man who makes you feel this way.”

  I nodded, my mouth still working his fingers. Shadow kneeled, dragging his hand away from me. I was totally in his thrall; he wanted my body and it was his. If he could save me from the demons that had haunted me since the accident, dealing with werewolves would be nothing.

  He slammed his cock inside me as he fell forward, his face over mine. He couldn’t lie to me with his body and he slid out slowly, only to fill me completely again. I knew Shadow needed this as much as I did. He rocked back and forth, inch by glorious inch, his tempo bringing me to my next undoing. I pulled his face down—I needed to taste him again. Shadow’s lips crashed onto mine, just as needy as his cock. He was in total possession of me, and I wanted to stay in this place forever.

  Shadow kissed me so sweetly as I came again, much harder than the last time. He was still a part of me, body and soul. His shaft swelled and his body slumped. I pulled him up by the hair so I could see his eyes. “Please,” I whispered.

  He nodded, rolling off of me. I took his cock in my mouth immediately, coaxing every last drop of his orgasm from his body. He’d surrendered his body to me, but he was in complete possession of me. We owned each other. We saved each other.

  “Hey.” Shadow still hadn’t caught his breath as I nestled my head on his chest. “How are you doing?”

  “Amazing.” I rubbed my finger lightly over his nipple. “You?”

  “That’s a pretty good word for it.” He chuckled, pulling me in tighter. “And that’s what I hoped you’d say. I thought I scared you.”

  I picked my head up. “How?”

  Shadow’s eyes glazed over, a smile playing on his lips. “Your body makes me crazy, Trina. You make me crazy.” He chuckled, running a hand through my hair. “I meant every word I said. No one’s going to hurt you. Let me have your heart. I’ll protect it with my life.”

  I put my hand over his heart. It was beating wildly under my touch. “It’s already yours.”

  He kissed me on the lips. “Get dressed,” he said against my mouth. “Let’s go make those s'mores.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Shadow

  “Here’s my plan for Ryker,” I said to Major when I got back to the forest. Nothing had happened to Trina or the shelter during the day and I felt confident leaving the ladies on their own. Tonight we were going back to Trina’s house to get more clothes and her gun. We’d take every precaution. “We confront him next full moon, when we shift. We don’t have to worry about human law, and we can settle the score on an even playing field.”

  “Isn’t that cute, you have a plan for Ryker.” Major’s smile was floppy and fake, and I ignored the snickers of the men that sat behind him. “Who came up with it, you or your girlfriend? Is that what we’re calling her? How do dogs refer to their human owners?”

  “What the fuck is wrong with you?” My glare scanned the room, and everyone behind Major fell quiet. They might have fallen in line with him, but depending on how the next few weeks shook out, they’d be sorry they laughed at me. “Do you have a better idea? I haven’t heard anything from you.”

  “I’m handling it.” Major leaned forward. “I don’t have to consult you. Leaders act, followers ask. Remember that, Shadow. You might see it as keeping the peace, but you’re showing weakness. Everything you’ve done since we shifted is weak.”

  “Weak?” I was inches away from his face. Shea stood right behind Major, all rippling muscles and attitude, ready to pounce like a bitch if Major said to. I hoped Baron and Dallas looked the same behind me. “I put one of Ryker’s goons in the ground the other night. I wasn’t feeling very weak then.”

  Major laughed and my heart fell into my stomach. Anything I said in Sawtooth could and would be used against me. I didn’t flinch; it would show that he worried me. “No, but hopefully you were feeling stupid. You think Ryker’s not going to notice that one of his own didn’t come back from an assignment? Let me tell you something, Shadow, Ryker accounts for everything. If something’s missing, he’ll want it back.”

  Now it was my turn to laugh. “You totally contradict yourself.” Major’s eyes widened. “Leaders act. You said it yourself. Instead of dancing around what you’re doing to make Sawtooth yours, why don’t you just fucking tell me what you’ve done since we’ve been back.”

  Silence fell thick over the crowd that had gathered to watch our showdown. More like a slime that slid down our skin. No one challenged Major—successfully. All of our lives he and his brothers had beat anyone that questioned them back into the place he thought they belonged, or more recently he’d been giving me these bullshit answers. I saw that as an improvement, he might actually be taking me seriously. After six months in the trenches with this bastard, he knew that I was tenacious and that I believed in what was fair.

  I didn’t care what war I started between the packs. Ryker wasn’t going to hurt Trina.

  “I’m going traditional,” Major said with without his usual snark. “We’re smaller now, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing. We need to get back to basics. We need to take care of our own.”

  So he was still dancing around the answer. Fine. I had other ways of getting the information. I waited to see if he’d elaborate, but apparently a half an answer suited him fine. “Are you going to help me take care of Ryker on the full moon? Once he’s gone, we can get down to business here.”

  “Yeah.” He lifted his closed fist to me. I bumped mine against it. “It’s time to take care of him once and for all.”

  **

  “Sit down and
eat!” Mom looked like an air traffic controller trying to get the three of us to settle at the table. “You’re all so skinny. It breaks my heart, thinking about what you went through.” She hugged herself, a shudder rolling through her body. “I’d like to ring that bastard’s neck.”

  “We’re taking care of it,” I muttered as I dug into the casserole. Mom was the casserole queen. Raising four boys on her own since our old man passed away, she had to master quick, efficient, and cheap. Now that I was an adult, I realized how much she’d struggled, and I appreciated how effortless she made it look. If I needed inspiration in this new chapter of my life, I didn’t need to look any further than the tiny woman who stood at the head of the table with her hand on Baron’s back.

  “What’s your plan? Will you be able to save your business?” Mom rubbed Baron’s shoulder as she spoke.

  “Haven’t got that far yet,” I said after I swallowed a bite of turkey tetrazzini. Perfect, just as it always was. My brothers raised their eyes to me to see where I was going with this, but they continued eating. “The transition back to being human hasn’t been very smooth.”

  Mom raised an eyebrow. “What’s going on?”

  I shook my head. “Same crap as always. Just more of it.” There was no need to worry her. Ryker might be ruthless, but he’d never mess with my mom. They’d grown up together, and truth be told, my money would be on my mom to win the fight. “Nothing good comes easy.”

  “That’s for sure,” Dallas added. We didn’t talk about pack business in front of Mom, but from the look he gave me, I knew he’d want to talk. It was his night to come back to Granger with me and stay with the girls. It didn’t take long for my brothers to see the perks in this arrangement and they’d stopped fighting me on it.

  “I want to meet these ladies,” Mom called after us as we headed back to the truck. “Soon.” We stayed in Sawtooth until dusk. It felt damn good to be home. Mom sent us back with fresh baked oatmeal cookies for our hosts. She knew how to get on anyone’s good side.