Bishop

by Susan Bliler

  “Bishop, don’t!”

  The panic in Jenny’s voice almost had him throwing the towel against the wall. Almost. He needed this. He needed her with a lack of control, and under his so she’d know what she’d done to him. Her body tensed and he knew she was considering fighting him. Mind made up though, he lifted his eyes to hers. “If you run now, there’ll be no saving this, Doc.”

  It was a terrifying thing to say because honestly, he wasn’t convinced that she was even interested in being his. It’d certainly explain why she’d hidden all of this from him.

  Jenny held his gaze, and he watched the slender column of her throat convulse as she swallowed. Every beast inside of him tensed as they awaited her response, even knowing how much she hated this. She was a notorious control freak. Too bad!

  When Jenny didn’t offer any response, Bishop grabbed the rope and looped it once over the towel now covering the bandages on her wrists.

  She didn’t fight him. Her body went lax, and a reluctant sigh escaped her as she let him tie her up.

  “Please! Why are you doing this?”

  There were tears in his Angel’s voice now. They were a weapon she had yet to use on him, and he had to work quickly because even as pissed as he was, her tears would be his undoing.

  In seconds, the rope was secured and knotted. He could feel Jenny’s imploring gaze on him, and he avoided it.

  “Bishop, I said I was sorry. I screwed up!”

  Abruptly, he stood and turned for the door. He was to it in two long strides, but it wasn’t fast enough.

  “Please!” she begged. “Please forgive me and let’s move on. We can move on from this. Give it a chance. Give us a chance.”

  Us. Her words rocked him with a jumble of mixed emotions. He didn’t know if she wanted them to work or not. Her actions certainly spoke to the latter.

  Stopping at the door, he shot her a lethal look over his shoulder. “Like you gave us a chance?” He didn’t wait for a response. He didn’t need one. Like he’d said, her actions spoke volumes. She’d tried to break what bound them, and while it stung like a motherfucker, it was also eye-opening. All her effort to sever their bond had him itching to find out two things. One, why, and two, he needed to see if their bond could, in fact, be severed because he had no intentions of claiming a woman who clearly didn’t want to be his.

  He double-timed it down the stairs and then out the front door, slamming it behind him. The second his booted foot was off the porch, he shifted into mountain lion form. In the space of two strides, he was in a full-on run and hurtling through the forest at a breakneck pace. His animals needed to be away from the scent of Jenny’s blood, and the man needed to be away from the knowledge that he’d caused it.

  As his padded paws pounded across the spongy wet soil, his heart clenched painfully.

  She doesn’t want me. I’m not good enough, so my Angel doesn’t want me. It was humiliating and painful. Worse, it had him second guessing himself. Was he substandard? He was a good Sentry, strong. He knew that. But, what was it about him that had put Jenny off so much that she’d gone to such great lengths to find a cure for their affliction? His mind reeled as he thought of all his shortcomings. There were many, but nothing that he assumed would ever cost him the most important thing to a Walker.

  Angel. He rolled the word around in his head. It made sense now because even though Jenny’s actions were devilish, she was still the most angelic looking thing he’d ever seen. Hell, she even smelled like heaven. Even now her scent clung to him and had him inadvertently leaning down to brush his nose against his shoulder where her head had rested earlier. She smelled like Montana October nights, all night cloaked bewitching beauties, crisp autumn leaves, and the sweetest of treats. His balls drew up tight causing him to stumble. He slowed to a walk and finally had to stop. He sniffed at his shoulder again.

  Fuck! He wanted her so damn bad that it actually stole his breath. Stole. His. Fucking. Breath! Worse, it made him hate himself with a loathing so sharp and fierce that he was nearly overcome with humiliation. She’d done this. She’d turned him into this fucking being that couldn’t control himself. She’d made him take her like some sick twisted animal that had no conscience.

  His lips peeled back in a feral hiss as he berated himself for trying to pin his actions on Jenny. Sure, she knew what was happening to him and hid it from him. Still, no argument he made could justify how she could have forced his actions.

  I’m a Skin Walker, damn it!

  The Grandfathers had gifted him with rare and sacred abilities. Abilities he currently felt ashamed to possess. He couldn’t even control his manly needs, so how in the fuck was he supposed to feel worthy of being a shifter?

  Shifting into human form deep in the forest, he didn’t bother regenerating clothing. Tilting his head back, he let the cold wind lash his overheated flesh as he pinched his eyes and swayed in rhythm with the mighty pines surrounding him.

  Not your fault, not your fault, he chanted in his head trying to convince himself that he was still a good man.

  Lowering his head, he turned and faced back toward the cabin, regenerating his clothing in the space of one blink. A good man, he snorted incredulously. Right now, his mate was bound and bleeding in a cabin. He’d kidnapped her and then dumped her off. He shuddered with the knowledge that he should go and untie her. The problem was, he was afraid to right now. He didn’t trust himself around her, and after what had already happened, it was for a good reason.

  No wonder she didn’t want him. He was a fucking monster.

  Chapter 6

  Laying bound on the bed, Jenny swallowed tightly. She wanted to cry and scream at the same time. She hated herself so much right now that she wished she could wake up two years from now and have all of this behind her. Her chest ached with regret, and it was torture on top of everything else that was wrong with her. While Bishop had claimed her, he hadn’t collared or bound her, which meant their affliction was still in full effect.

  It was a three-part process. She needed to be collared, which meant the gifting of the male Skin Walkers halo to his Angel. When gifted his halo, she would be rendered unconscious. Physiological mutation began transforming the mate instantly. For non-Walkers the ‘transition’ could last up to days, often leaving the individual with flu-like symptoms for weeks after they finally woke from the collaring. For Walkers collared by fellow Walkers, the transition wasn’t as severe. The physiological transformation—or binding—was less intrusive, so the period of transition was shortened. Walkers claimed by Walkers were rendered unconscious, but the state typically only lasted several hours.

  After being collared and bound, being claimed followed. It typically referred to sex, but Jenny wasn’t so sure that sex without some type of bond would be enough. No, an Angel needed to be collared, bound, and claimed for the affliction to abate, but what she pushed Bishop into doing had been a Walker acting in desperation. There had been no sweet words, no vows of fidelity, no mutual adoration. He’d claimed her body, but there had been no bond. He still hadn’t given her his halo either, which meant she couldn’t be sure whether sex without commitment mattered or not.

  Staring at the door and willing Bishop to come back had her eyes flooding with tears. She’d ruined everything for the both of them, and even now they suffered. There’d be no eating, no sleeping, only wanting…needing! And right now, she needed like a motherfucker! Her breasts were so swollen they felt like they’d pop and the ache in her womb was matched only by the incessant throbbing of her clit. She needed relief in the worst way.

  “Why?” she bellowed into the empty room. Why hadn’t she just confronted Bishop and asked for his aid instead of deceiving him and using him? She would have never thought this is where she’d end up. Hell, yesterday she’d even tried to come clean. Sure, it’d only been because Monroe was getting close to discovering her secret, but still, she had intended on coming clean.

  ***

  Jenny punched Lilly’s number into
her cell phone.

  Monroe’s personal secretary and one of the few humans employed at the Estate answered on the second ring. “StoneCrow Estates. Lilly Worthington speaking.”

  “Hey Lilly, it’s Doctor Houlton.”

  “Oh hey Jenny, what can I do for you?”

  “Is Monroe in?”

  “He sure is. One sec and I’ll put you through.”

  “NO! I mean…that’s alright. I just wanted to leave a message.”

  “O-kay,” Lilly’s tone was laced with suspicion. “What’s the message?”

  “Can you let him know that I can meet with him today at noon regarding the results of the lab tests he was concerned with yesterday? Let him know I’ll be in the second-floor lab, and please ask him to come alone.”

  “Okay. Come alone,” Lilly repeated as she jotted down the message. “I’ll see that he gets it, Jenny. Anything else?”

  “No. Have a good day.”

  Jenny stood on her balcony staring longingly at her untouched cup of coffee. She’d purchased the penthouse condo as a means of escape from her tedious existence at StoneCrow. While she spent the majority of her days at the suite provided to her by Monroe at StoneCrow Manor, she often relished in leaving the Estate and hiding here in her quiet and some-what normal existence. Her neighbors thought her to be a well-traveled surgeon who simply liked to keep to herself. For the most part, it was true, minus the well-traveled part. Jenny rarely left StoneCrow, let alone the state. She didn’t have time. She’d poured herself into the research she was conducting at StoneCrow. Not only did she not have time to travel, she also lacked any desire for it. What Monroe was creating at StoneCrow was Jenny’s once in a lifetime opportunity. Having so many Skin Walkers at her disposal was something she’d dreamed of for years.

  Jenny sighed heavily before reaching back through the balcony doors and setting her full cup of coffee on a table just inside the doors. She rolled her shoulders and dropped her head from side to side to relieve some of the tension in her tight muscles before reaching in and locking the balcony doors before pulling them tightly shut.

  Standing behind the sheer curtains that encircled her balcony, Jenny shifted then flew through the curtains and dropped the eight floors before she spread her wings and caught an updraft that shot her sailing high into the sky. For the first time in her life, she cursed the short flight to the infirmary at StoneCrow. She was terrified of facing the trouble she had created for herself, and she wished for more time to ready herself.

  She hadn’t had a natural sleep cycle in months because of the affliction, but even if she could, she doubted her worry would have permitted it. She was afraid of what she’d done to Bishop and the trust she’d created with Monroe, but she was also afraid of the potential damage to her reputation. If word got out that she’d been experimenting on Walkers without their knowledge, she could be banished at the very least. Such acts were punishable by death, even if the party perpetrating the experiments had a personal stake. She was fucked, and she knew it.

  As she soared over the small Montana town of Great Falls, she once again contemplated running. She could do it. She might even stay ahead of Monroe for months. But, while she was confident that Monroe might find her, Bishop definitely would. She’d have to face him, and what she’d done. The charade was over.

  Sadly, a part of her had always known it wouldn’t last. She had hoped for success with her experimental manipulation of her and Bishop’s systems, but over the past few months, she’d realized that she couldn’t fend off their body’s natural pre-dispositions. She’d fought a hard battle and lost, and to compound matters, she’d been caught in the act of her treachery.

  At quarter to noon, she swooped down to the roof of StoneCrow Manor and shifted a few feet above the roof, dropping down in human form. She straightened her lab coat and buttoned it down the middle before pulling long black hair up and twisting it into a sloppy bun at the base of her neck. Today was all business, and she’d need to look the part.

  She found the door that led down to the main floors, and she made haste until she was seated behind her desk in her medical office in the first-floor infirmary.

  She held a pen in her hand, tapping it nervously as she watched the door. Her heart was pounding in her chest as the seconds ticked by.

  After a few minutes, she lifted a hand to swipe a few wisps of stray hair from her eyes when she noticed her fingers were trembling. Her poor system was a mess from all her experimenting, and now her body was having some adverse reaction to the withdrawal of the self-prescribed antibody she’d created and had been injecting. Her need for actual food certainly hadn’t helped.

  At ten after, Jenny pushed back from the desk and crossed to the door before she jerked it open and peered down the hall. Monroe was never late, and he hadn’t forgotten. This was a power play, meant to set her on edge, and Jenny gritted her teeth in frustration because it was working.

  Fuck!

  Her muscles whined for relief from the tension and stress they’d been under. Meanwhile, her fear was sending nervous energy shooting through her. The combination mixed with her antibody withdrawals left her nauseated. She needed relief, even the slightest respite.

  Jenny stalked back to her desk and grabbed a vial of the designer antibody she’d created. It was specifically designed to compliment her DNA; it would work on no other Walker but her. She’d been taking it for months, and while it seemed to provide some relief, it didn’t come without cost. She’d grown increasingly edgy and fatigued. It was no wonder Monroe had finally caught on. She’d been sloppy the past few weeks, she’d known it but couldn’t bring herself out of her crappy mood long enough to give a shit.

  Vial in hand she left her office and found the nearest empty exam room. She rummaged through a drawer and pulled out a sterile syringe before she ripped it out of its protective wrapping and inserted the needle into the vial drawing the antibody into the syringe.

  She’d grown to despise the antibody. What had started as a weekly injection had quickly escalated. Now, she needed the shot three to four times a day, and even then there were still signs that either the antibody was weakening or her system was assimilating. Either way, the antibody wasn’t as effective as it once had been. She felt like an addict that needed more and more of the drug just to get by, and to make matters worse, she was having a hard time hiding the tracks in her arms. Before she’d started the treatment she’d worn her lab coat only when she knew the lab was expecting visitors, now she wasn’t seen without it.

  Jenny flicked a finger against the syringe before rolling up her sleeve and wrapping an elastic band around her arm. She searched for a vein and when she found one she inserted the needle into her arm just as the door crashed open. Startled, she jerked the needle free as her wide-eyes landed on Bishop.

  He was enraged. Face a mask of feral intent, his blown out eyes locked on the needle in her hand and the blood racing down her arm where she’d inadvertently yanked the needle out and torn her flesh.

  “Bishop! Wh-what are you doing here?” They hadn’t ever formally met. She shouldn’t know his name. Silently, she cursed her familiarity.

  Her eyes darted to the door behind him, hoping to find Monroe, but he was alone.

  Bishop’s eyes narrowed on the needle as he inhaled deeply. He was scenting the drug. When his head jerked up, and his eyes thinned to cruel slits, Jenny back up a step.

  Fuck! He knows! “Bishop if you need something,” Jenny winced at the quiver in her voice, “I can have one of the Nurses...”

  “Did you think I wouldn’t find out?” His teeth gnashed under the power of his jaw as he raised his eyes to her face and slowly approached her.

  Jenny dropped the needle, and it fell to the floor with a slight ping as she held up her hands and slowly backed away. Her eyes transitioned from their normal gray to a dull black as she partially shifted. Wolf. She’d need cunning, speed, and strength to get herself out of this.

  With the partial shift, she could
scent his anger and…need! Both scents though were secondary to the overwhelming power of the resentment wafting from him. A Walker that felt betrayed was the most dangerous type. If she’d thought he knew what she’d done before, she was certain of it now.

  As he steadily approached, Jenny back stepped, her lab coat catching between the metal rail of the infirmary bed and its footboard. When she dropped her eyes to jerk her coat free, he sprang.

  Bishop’s hand wrapped around her throat and forced her back onto the bed. She tried to punch at his face as a whine left her throat, but Bishop caught her fist and pinned her arm to the bed in his vice-like grip.

  It was so strange. Finally, his hands were on her, his skin making contact with hers but the elation she thought she’d feel was absent. His rage overpowered everything, and she couldn’t even blame him.

  “How long?” He demanded through gritted teeth.

  Jenny bucked and kicked, but Bishop used his body to force her legs apart, and he held her down with his weight centered at the cradle of her hips.

  Jenny struggled, but with Bishop leaning into her and one arm pinned to the table while he held her down with a hand clamped around her throat, she had only one free hand to defend herself. Too bad that hand was occupied trying to pry Bishops fingers from around her throat.

  He leaned into her harder, the blue in his eyes dulling to a matte black. “How. Long?”

  “Six…six months,” she croaked, beyond lying to him now.

  Bishop leaned in until his nose was touching hers, his lips pulled back revealing elongated incisors. He was barely controlling the shift she could see his beasts were trying to force.