The Shikari Box Set

by Dora Blume

  “We’ll need to wake her soon; we’re in the city.” Erik followed the navigator through the city. The large stone walled house was nestled into the side of the mountain. He pulled in front of one of the three garage stalls and parked. Cactus’ lined the red stone walkway. The mountain framed the back of the house.

  “This is amazing,” Jessie said as she walked in a circle taking in the view.

  Erik knocked on the door, and a petite redhead opened it. Her round face held a glowing smile. She held out her hand. “Erik, I presume.” She waited, hand outstretched.

  “Caroline,” he said taking her hand and shaking it.

  “Hi, I’m Jessie.” She reached out to take Caroline’s hand, as well. “We have a friend in the car who needs to rest can you show me to a room where she can sleep?”

  “Oh, of course, come on in. I’ll show you where the rooms are.” She spun and headed toward a large staircase, Jessie followed.

  “The room on the far-right side is mine. Otherwise, you guys can take whichever room you like.” Caroline said as she motioned down the hall. “The bathroom is the third door on the left.”

  “Thank you,” Jessie said as she went to the first room. She figured Mike and Sloane would want a room away from everyone else, or at least everyone else would want a room away from them, Jessie could hear Sloane down the stairs when she went to pack her things the last time. She knew Erik would want to be far away from that. Jessie opened the first door to a queen-sized bed and a large armoire. Perfect, she thought and headed to let Mike know where he could bring Sloane.

  Chapter 6

  Erik waited downstairs for Caroline. “So, what do you know about Colorado Springs Prep?”

  “It’s a world-renowned training school for Shikari members. Why?”

  “Some students are possessed by demons, and we think the headmaster is a part of it.”

  “Oh dear, that school is an institution here. They teach and train future Shikari that isn’t trained by their family. Come let’s continue this discussion over a drink or two.” She walked toward the kitchen not waiting for Erik.

  “What, a drink, really? We still have work to do. How is it, I don’t know about this school? Are there other schools like this one?” he asked shaking his head and following her into the kitchen.

  “Let’s not do this tonight. There’s plenty of time for your questions tomorrow. Besides, the school’s closed. You can’t go there, now. They would see your headlights before you even got up the road. We’ll visit them tomorrow.”

  Erik glanced out the window; it was early yet. Well, it was early evening, but he still figured it would be at least an hour before he would need to use headlights. He was sure they could make it to the school before then. He didn’t like that they weren’t moving on the school immediately. They were talking about kids; he wanted to take care of this problem as soon as possible.

  Caroline grabbed a beer from the fridge and shoved it in front of Erik. “I said, not tonight.” She scowled at him.

  “What the…” He stared at her. Usually, he was the one reading other thoughts. Suddenly, he realized he hadn’t heard anything from her. Usually, he would hear something, even though he tried very hard to tune out those around him, especially other hunters.

  “While it is nice of you not to try to hear those around you, the attempt is wasted. You wouldn’t be able to hear me. I can hear you just fine though.” She smiled and poured herself a glass of wine.

  “Okay, now I see why I might annoy some people. I take it you can hear others thoughts, too.” He looked to Caroline.

  “Something like that,” she responded and headed back into the living room.

  “What does that mean?” Erik questioned as he followed her.

  “It means that, right now, I can read your mind, and you can’t read mine. For now, that’s all you need to know.”

  “Wait a minute, so you get full access to my thoughts, but you’re not going to tell me how.”

  “That about sums it up,” she said. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some things to take care of.” She walked briskly up the stairs.

  Erik stood there dumbfounded for a few minutes. “What the hell was that?” he muttered.

  “What?” Jessie responded. Erik hadn’t heard her come in the room. He was preoccupied.

  “Our host can read minds, too. I can’t read her thoughts, though.” He pouted.

  “Oh, Caroline? Yeah, she’s interesting, isn’t she?” Jessie plopped down on the sofa.

  “Have you met her before?” Erik asked.

  “Oh yeah, a couple of times. My mom used to like to come to Colorado often. She said she always felt home near the mountains. I’m not sure why I always thought she was from Wisconsin, but I never knew for sure.” She glanced around the room then patted the spot next to her on the couch. “Why don’t you have a seat?” she asked. “I don’t bite, hard.” She smiled up at him.

  He smirked back and sat on the couch next to her. “So, I know I’m supposed to be researching the school, but I felt like just chilling before we race off into the next battle.” She scooted back on the couch and tucked her legs under her.

  “Yeah, I guess we’ve been going nonstop for a while,” Erik admitted.

  “It was also a long drive,” she said.

  “Oh yeah, I guess you’ve been in a car for quite a while, too.” He looked at her. “How are you not completely exhausted, right now?” he asked after thinking about how they had driven to Colorado. They stopped a few times on the way to get information. Then arrived in Denver only to hop in another car, and head to Colorado Springs. He shook his head after thinking about it.

  “I’m not sure, but I feel wired somehow. I know I have to keep going, but I just want to sit here for a minute. Just exist for one minute without everything else.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

  Erik moved closer to her, “Turn around.”

  Her eyes snapped open, and she looked to Erik, “What, why?”

  “Just do it,” he said

  She shrugged and turned, so her back was to Erik. He moved his hands to her shoulders and began massaging them. He moved his hands and rubbed down the length of her back, kneading the muscles as he went.

  “Oh my God, I love you,” she said.

  “I know.” He continued to work her muscles until she was relaxed.

  She turned around on him after he was finished. “What was that for?” she asked. She liked Erik, but he never did anything out of pure kindness before. She knew he was nice, but that was unexpected.

  “Nothing, I knew you needed to relax. After a few days in the car, you were very tense.” He shrugged.

  She smiled and stared into his eyes. He was genuine; he gave her a massage to be nice. That touched her. She didn’t know why, but she wanted to kiss him. She stared at him a minute more and leaned forward. She moved her knees under her, so she was on all fours and advanced her lips toward his. She met his mouth and kissed softly, letting her tongue slide along his lower lip until he opened his mouth to welcome her. She slipped her tongue inside his mouth and stroked his tongue with her own. She slid her tongue along his teeth and nipped his lip before beginning to pull away. He moved and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her into him. She moved her leg to straddle his waist.

  She hadn’t expected to like kissing him so much, or the way he responded. He nibbled her lips and deepened the kiss letting her know of his own need. She wanted to taste every inch of his mouth. He moved to kiss her chin, her throat and dipped his tongue between her breasts, visible through her tank. Her nipples hardened, and she pushed herself against him. She placed her hand on his chin and raised his head to meet her eyes. His lips touched hers gingerly, kissing lightly. Their kisses were playful at first but quickly turned to a need. He pulsed against her shorts, and she couldn’t help but wish they were both without the restricting clothes. He stopped and placed his forehead on her shoulder,

  “Jessie,” he breathed and buried h
is face in her hair inhaling deeply. She placed her hand on the side of his face and looked him in the eye.

  “I think we need to take this upstairs,” she said.

  Erik looked around the room forgetting entirely where they were. “Are you sure?” he breathed staring into her eyes, worry crossing his face. He tried hard to hide his emotions, but she saw it.

  “Yes, Erik. Let’s go upstairs.” She placed her hands on his chest and pushed herself up. She held her hand out for him. He took it and followed her up the stairs. When he closed the door, she stalked toward him, determination in her eyes.

  When they finished, he moved his hand to her hair and brushed a curl back from her face. He smiled and looked into her eyes. “I’ve wanted to do that for quite some time now.” He stroked his thumb over her temple.

  “Well if I would’ve known it was going to be that good, I would’ve jumped you sooner.” She relaxed back against the pillow. He moved to lay next to her. He still toyed with a curl in his hands. She turned her head to face him.

  “Why haven’t we done this sooner?” she asked.

  “You mean since we left Minnesota? I was at your house a few days ago. You deciding to drive with Bryant and Mike might have something to do with it.”

  “Oh yeah, there’s that. When we were together before we always found time for other things.”

  “By other things do you mean sex?"

  “Well, yes, of course, I mean sex. I know you haven’t gone without it.” She looked over to him again. “Weren’t you with Amy a few weeks ago?” she chided.

  “No, I wasn’t with Amy.”

  “Really? You sure had me fooled.” She stared up at the ceiling.

  “So what? You think I go around banging every girl I meet?” he accused.

  “Not every girl,” she said. “But you’ve changed in our time apart.”

  “Wow, Jess really?” he let go of her hand and moved to sit up in the bed.

  “What? You mean to tell me you haven’t slept with tons of girls?” She sat up on the bed, sliding to lean against the headboard. “You didn’t get that good without practice.”

  “Well, you better hope that’s not the case because you just fucked me without a condom.” He rose from the bed and grabbed his pants.

  “Oh shit,” she said. She hadn’t even thought of that at the time.

  “Yeah, oh shit. I guess you should think before you have sex with someone you think has had sex with tons of women.” He slid his legs through his pants and walked through the door, slamming it behind him.

  “Was it something I said?” she looked at the door and cursed.

  She knew she hurt him, but she honestly thought he’d been with a lot of girls. He certainly had flirted with plenty around her. She had assumed that when Amy was staying with them, he slept with her as he’d done with her. She didn’t think he would freak out. Why would a guy be offended that a girl thought he had “been around” so to speak? She shook her head to clear it. She slid off the bed to find her clothes. She figured she better figure out what the hell was wrong with Erik. She wanted a repeat performance, and if she didn’t find him, that was highly unlikely.

  She buttoned her shorts and pulled her tank over her head. She didn’t bother with the panties or bra; she hoped she wouldn’t be wearing them long. She took a deep breath. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t even thought about the condom. In her defense, she wasn’t thinking about it at the time. She usually counted on the guy to think about that sort of thing, and most were prepared. Now she questioned, why in the hell Erik hadn’t.

  She opened the door and headed down the hall to find him. She wasn’t sure which room he’d picked, and she certainly didn’t want to interrupt anything Sloane and Mike were doing. She walked to the end of the hall and listened. She thought maybe she could hear him cursing or something.

  “Ouch,” came from one of the rooms. She knew it was Erik and went for the door handle. She saw him shaking his hand and quickly shut the door behind her. He looked up and glared at her.

  “If I wanted to talk, I would’ve stayed in your room.” He turned to open his duffel bag.

  “Oh, I got that. What the hell was that back there?” she moved closer to him.

  “Apparently, I’m a whore,” he said and shuffled a few things around in his bag.

  “I never said you were a whore,” she crossed her arms over her chest.

  “Close enough,” he said and found what he was looking for and turned back to the dresser.

  “No, not close enough. I just thought you had slept with Amy. You were certainly flirting with her the whole time she was in your house. Sorry, I jumped to conclusions.”

  “Whatever, can we just go back to doing our jobs?” He looked at her, obvious hurt in his eyes.

  “No, not until you tell me what the hell that was all about?” she shifted her weight to one hip.

  He moved and sat on the bed. “I just don’t like it when people make assumptions that because I look like this.” He swept his hands from his head to his waist. “I’m sleeping with everybody. I’m not like that.” He stared at the floor.

  She sat next to him. “I’m sorry, but I’ve seen you flirt with other girls, lots of other girls. Are you telling me you haven’t been sleeping with any of them? All those times at the pub, when Mike was acting as your wingman, you mean to tell me you didn’t hook up with those girls?” she looked to him, he still stared at the floor.

  “Nope, not one of them.” He stilled realizing he may have admitted more than he wanted to.

  “What, you didn’t have sex with any of them?” she was shocked. She’d seen him be so smooth with girls, watched him leave with several after Mike’s whole, tell her how he saved the world routine. How in the hell had he not slept with them? They were putty in his hands.

  “Can I ask why?” she asked, after her few moments of contemplation.

  “I could never be myself with them; I always have to hide who I really am. It’s hard to be with someone when they don’t know you.” He looked over to see her face.

  She studied his face as he spoke. She couldn’t believe what he was saying. She understood this life was hard. You could never let outsiders know about the Shikari. It never bothered her to not tell her lovers; she was a hunter. She hadn’t let anyone get close enough to notice, either. She knew about that, the loneliness that accompanied who and what they were. She sat and thought for a few minutes, then the realization hit.

  “Wait, have you been with anyone since we separated?” Jess studied Erik as he continued to stare at the floor.

  “I’ve been with a few girls, but none of them were you, Jess. I haven’t had a connection with anyone but you.” He looked longingly into her eyes. She could accept him completely, and he could do the same.

  “Oh,” she said, unsure how to respond.

  He watched her face and slumped putting his head in his hands. “It’s okay; you can go get some sleep. I won’t tell anyone about what happened, and we can go back to the way it was before.”

  “You think that’s what I want?’ she asked.

  “Isn’t it?” he looked toward her, a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

  “No Erik, I don’t. I told you I care about you, too. It was hard after we broke up. I understood why you felt the need to end it, but it still hurt. I want to be your number one, not second to your duty to the Shikari. I’m scared you’ll do it again, and I can’t bear the heartbreak. I spent a year trying to get over you, and I never did.” Her voice came out in a choked whisper. She stared at the floor. She chanced a glance at his face. He’d lifted his head and was gazing at her like she was everything.

  “I’m sorry Jess, I don’t know what the hell I, was thinking. I should have never let you go.” He took her hand in his.

  “I’m sorry, too. I didn’t mean to assume you’ve been with a ton of girls. A part of me still wants to lash out at you for the hurt you caused me. Sometimes words just come out without me thinking about them. So, do you thi
nk we can try this again?” Her heart fluttered at the thought. She ran her fingers down the side of his cheek. She wanted to be with him again so bad it hurt.

  “If you’re willing to try, so am I. This time I’ll make sure you know how special you are.” He placed a kiss on her hand. He cupped her cheek. He bent, slowly moving his lips to hers. Gently, kissed her, running his tongue along her lip. He brushed a curl back from the side of her face as he drew back.

  “So, what do you want to do now?” she raised an eyebrow and licked her lips.

  “You.” His mouth crushed hers in a sudden, intense need. She opened her mouth welcoming his tongue into hers. She sighed with both relief and pleasure. She gripped him to her tighter in anticipation. She moved herself to straddle his waist. She devoured his mouth with hers. A rush of heat spread through her body, as she gripped her fingers in his hair. The things he could do with his tongue. She felt like every muscle in her body was on fire for him, as he stroked her bottom lip with his tongue. He smiled as he lifted her, turned, and pushed her down on the bed. He slid her shorts off and spread her legs and dipped his head between them.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  He looked up to her and said, “You wanted to see the things I could do with my tongue.” He dipped his head lower again.

  She stilled as the realization hit. She sat bolt upright moving away from Erik. “What the hell, Erik? You’ve been reading my thoughts!” she accused.

  “Oh shit,” he said, realizing his mistake. “Not intentionally,” he said hoping she wouldn’t be mad.

  “What does that mean?” she asked.

  “Sometimes when I’m preoccupied, I get glimmers. I can’t shut everyone out all the time. I have to work not to hear those around me. I don’t mean to, but sometimes when I’m concentrating on something else, I can hear your thoughts.” he shrugged, sliding closer to Jessie.

  “So, like when you’re having sex?” she asked.

  “Yeah, like when I’m having sex.”

  “Well that’s just…” she sighed. “I don’t know, weird I guess.”