“See, there you go. Off the hook. Now let’s go make out like teenagers in your truck.” Tess kept touching him no matter how many times he took her hands off of him. He wanted to talk to Heather and explain the situation, but she was turning the lights off and walking through the kitchen doors. She seemed to have him figured out pretty well right now, which infuriated him. Heather knew exactly how he felt about her and for her to be so quick to doubt him made him feel like shit. Her past was making it easy for the shadow of doubt to creep in; he knew that, but it still felt pretty shitty for her to look at him that way.
“Fine Tess, let’s go.” The sooner he got this date over with the better. His bear was furious over what he saw as a betrayal to their mate. One thing about his bear half was there were no gray areas to life; it was all black or white. Obviously Tess was pretty high up his bear’s shit list.
SIXTEEN
MICHELLE WAS WAITING for Heather at the main cabin when she got home. Heather tried not to let her bad mood show through since Michelle was already super intuitive.
“What’s eating at you? You’ve barely touched your wine, and you keep staring off into space.”
“Ugh. The one thing I hate about having a Shifter for a best friend is there’s absolutely no hiding anything from you.”
Michelle smiled at her and Heather couldn’t help but smile back. Michelle had such a contagious personality. Heather wished she was more like that. As far she knew, she didn’t really have any good qualities like that. Just plain old Heather. That was probably why Trent was out with Miss Boobs. Tess had been popping into the diner for the past week hoping to catch Trent. Heather usually shrugged her off and she’d leave. Tonight though Tess had come in with her tight red dress that didn’t keep her boobs contained at all and her fuck me heels. It was disgusting the way she threw herself at Trent. Apparently enough Trent was into that kind of thing since Tess said they had a date planned.
“What does the whole mate thing mean?”
“Trent finally spilled the beans, huh?”
“I don’t know. I mean yes, he did say something about it, but I don’t think he really meant it.”
“There is no, not really meaning it, to the mate bond. If it’s there, it’s there for life and that’s it. If it’s not, then there’s no point in even wasting your time. Dave and I knew immediately that we were mates. We danced around each other for a while of course because we were young. It didn’t take long to realize it was pointless though.”
“Trent is on a date with Tess tonight.”
“Tess?!” Michelle’s look of horror made Heather bust out laughing.
“He absolutely, positively despises Tess. He always has. She’s been after him for years, and he constantly turns her down. If he went on a date with her tonight there must be a very good reason for it.”
“I don’t know, Tess is a pretty package really. Especially tonight. I think if he hits a pothole, her boobs are going to come the rest of the way out of her dress.”
“Oh honey, don’t worry about Tess. Everybody in Acer has seen those boobs. She’s nothing special and Trent knows that. There’s a reason, just let him explain. If he told you that you’re his mate, then he meant it.”
“Okay. Sorry to unload on you. My life is just so crazy right now.”
“Is it crazy or is it settling down? I don’t know everything about your past, but maybe you’re just finding your place in life. Get some rest, Heather, and give Trent a chance. He’ll be different than your ex, I guarantee it.”
“Thanks, Michelle. Good night.”
“Good night.”
Heather decided the only way to keep her mind off of Trent and Tess would be to read more of the mysterious journal.
I confronted Ray tonight about cheating on me. It didn’t go well. At first we were just yelling, and I thought maybe Ray wouldn’t get physical with me. That didn’t last long though. I’m glad I have all of that concealer otherwise I wouldn’t be going anywhere for a while. The worst part is I still don’t know if he is cheating. He didn’t deny it really, but he never confirmed it. I’ve never smelled another woman on him or found any other telltale signs.
After tonight’s fight, I decided the only way to figure out what he’s up to is to follow him. I can’t go out tonight because I’m just too tired. My eye’s pretty swelled as well so I guess he’ll get a small reprieve of time to continue on his trysts. Once I’m better though I’ll figure out once and for all what he’s up to.
Heather drifted off to sleep wondering how this poor woman was still dealing with this man. Heather didn’t know if she could stomach the rest of the journal if it continually got worse. Eventually the woman drives herself over a cliff, so things must get pretty bad. Heather couldn’t imagine her life getting to the point where she felt her only option was to take her own life.
Trent burst into her room hours later. Heather jolted out of bed and sent the journal flying.
“My God, Trent, you scared the hell out of me. What’s your problem?”
“I had a shitty night. There’s nobody I hate more than Tess. She’s a sleazy woman. I needed to see you though.”
“Well, I’d say your night didn’t go too bad. Your shirt’s on inside out.” Heather wished the journal hadn’t flown across the room. She would use it to beat Trent upside the head right now.
“Oh. I just changed my shirt, I wasn’t paying attention. She had enough perfume on to kill a horse. It was all I could smell and I hate it.” Trent immediately shrugged his shirt off and turned it right side out. Heather grabbed her bottle of water next to the bed and began to chug it. Trent’s body was even more beautiful than she imagined without his clothes on. Every last inch of his chest was muscle. Then there was a delicious trail of hair on his abdomen that led straight down into his low hanging jeans. She wanted to rip it all off.
First though she wanted to rip Tess’s arms off and beat her with them for touching Trent. Heather didn’t understand the mate bond, but Trent was hers for as long as she was here. He must have caught on to her trail of thought because he had that stupid, sexy grin plastered on his face.
“Shut up, Trent.”
“I didn’t say anything. Is there something you’d like to share with me though?”
She threw back the covers and stalked over to him. Without any shoes on, she barely cleared his chest. She craned her neck back so she was looking up at him and poked him in the chest.
“If you’re going to kiss me senseless and tell me I’m your mate, you cannot go on dates with hussies. It’s not fair. It also makes me feel quite homicidal as well, and Acer already has enough homicide to go around without me adding to them.”
Trent just kept grinning at her like a fool. It made her want to hit him. He was driving her absolutely crazy. Before she could say anything else stupid, Trent gathered her up and kissed her senseless.
His mouth took complete possession of her and she was Jell-O in his hands within seconds. She wrapped her arms around his waist and clung to him. Eventually her hands found their way up the back of his shirt to explore his muscular back. Heather didn’t think she could take their passion much longer without acting on it further.
Trent must have felt the same because he picked her up and laid her underneath of him on her bed. Careful not to crush her with his weight, he began planting kisses down her neck. His hands were everywhere. They caressed her legs and squeezed her backside as he pulled her closer to him. She could feel his erection through his pants. Her body reacted instinctively, and she began to rub her core against him.
They continued their foreplay until Trent discovered Heather didn’t have anything on under her giant shirt. His hand met her bare breast and his groan was long and husky.
“Jesus, Heather, you could have warned me.” His hand was frozen on her breast, but his body was starting to roll away.
“Don’t stop, Trent. Please.” Heather arched her back into his touch.
“Heather, I warned you. When I touch
you, when I take you for mine completely that will be it. I don’t know if you’re ready for that. It’s very intense….. it’s not just sex. Our mate bond will close around us and our souls will forever be bonded. If I die, you die too.”
Heather tried to clear her sex fogged brain and digest what he was saying to her. Her body’s libido was on overdrive and dying for release that only Trent could give her. Her brain was desperately trying to chip away at that fog and fill it with reasoning.
Trent pulled his hand from her shirt and scooted across the bed. Heather quickly sat up and pulled her legs to her chest. She tried to steady her breathing. She could hear Trent doing the same thing.
“Maybe if we just sleep together, then we’ll get rid of some of this sexual tension,” Heather said so matter of fact.
“Baby, it’s going to feel this way for us for life. There will be no diminishing our fire.”
“Oh boy,” she whispered.
SEVENTEEN
THE NEED to kill was coming more and more often. When she had been alive, he didn’t need to kill as often. He could hunt and torment without the killing. She was gone now, and he needed that high all the time. He was desperate for revenge as well. Trent Cipher had found his mate. The young cub was barely old enough to have endured true hardship, true desire for a mate.
He was afraid the human girl was Trent’s mate, but he confirmed it when Trent refused the busty blonde. Now his jaguar was, even more, angst. He watched the blonde fix herself in her car mirror. She was about to walk into the local bar. She had been denied tonight, but she wasn’t ready to go home alone. How convenient.
He tapped on her car mirror.
“Hello. Can I help you, honey?” Her voice purred, but it did nothing for him.
“I couldn’t help but notice you. You look beautiful tonight. May I buy you a drink?”
“Well, aren’t you a gentleman. I’m in need of a gentleman. I’ve been mistreated tonight.” Her lips formed a pouty face. His dick twitched looking at the bright red lips. She was a whore, but she’d help him fulfill several things tonight.
“I couldn’t imagine a lady as fine as you being mistreated. I’ve actually got a place down by the river if you’d like a nice view with your drink.”
“Lead the way, honey.”
He jumped in his truck and headed down towards the camper spaces by the river. He didn’t actually have a place down there, but he knew of one that was usually vacant and unlocked. When he pulled up, he was glad to see that the cold and rainy night had kept everyone away.
Once he led her inside the camper, he went about looking for something to drink out of. He knew from experience that the fridge was usually stocked with alcohol of all kinds.
“Red wine for my lady in red?”
She giggled flirtatiously and nodded. He couldn’t believe how easy the woman was. No wonder Trent didn’t want anything to do with her. Most Shifters found loose women repulsive since they were looking for their lifelong mate.
She shifted her legs so that he could see up her skirt just a little bit. He decided to not wait any longer. He pushed her back onto the pulled out bed and muffled her cries with his hand.
EIGHTEEN
TRENT WOKE up to find Heather sprawled out on top of his chest. Her wild and curly hair was tickling his face. He stroked her back as he watched her sleep. He wished he could speed the process up and make her his mate. With everything going on with the murders and Heather still considering leaving, he didn’t want to push it.
His body had other plans though because his groin instantly started throbbing against her stomach. Waiting was going to be hell. They had decided to stay together last night but not touch. She read him the latest diary entries. They had bothered him more than he let her know.
The man was battling something more than just human demons. Being gone all night, but not having an affair. The woman hadn’t mentioned yet that maybe her husband was a Shifter, but Trent had a gut feeling he was. Surely the woman would know she was married to a Shifter. The golden eyes gave it away every time. Some humans may have bright enough hazel eyes to pass, but he’d never seen any.
Heather started to stir on top of him.
“Sorry, I must have been cold.” She tried to roll off of him, but he held her in place. His hands were still exploring her back.
“It’s okay. I like it.”
“I noticed.” She blushed when she said it.
Trent couldn’t help but kiss her. It was a lazy morning kiss, but the heat was still there. She moved restlessly on top of him.
“Heather, have you seen Trent?” Michelle said seconds before she busted in the door.
“Shit! Michelle, don’t you knock?”
“No, there’s been another murder. It’s not good.”
“What do you mean? Who was it?”
“Tess and she was sexually assaulted, too.”
“Oh my God!” Heather looked at Trent with wide scared eyes. He knew she was scared for him more than she was of him. It was only human nature to let the doubt creep in though. That was two people that had last been seen with Trent that were now dead.
“Why do you they think it was the same guy? He never sexually assaulted anybody before, right?”
“Well, he also never killed women. Her body is scattered throughout the woods. A rabbit hunter’s dog found her arm early this morning. We were all freaking out since you had been with her last night, but I see you really were with Heather this time.”
“I don’t know what time he got here, but he never left after.”
“They have the time of death around midnight.”
“I got here at 1:30.”
Heather and Michelle both looked at him. He knew he should have just lied and said that he had been with Heather, but he had stopped and got gas at 12:30. That meant there was a timeline out there that the police would put together. A timeline that could easily give him time to kill Tess, scatter her body and end up in bed with Heather.
“Damnit, Trent! Why can’t you make shit easy?” Michelle turned around and slammed the door after her.
“Trent, why is this happening? It’s like somebody’s trying to set you up.”
“I don’t know. I’m not the one behind these murders, Heather. I just want to say it out loud for you.”
“I know you’re not.”
Trent kissed her again. He meant for it to be a quick peck on the lips, but she immediately softened into him. He growled deep and pulled her onto his lap. She instinctively straddled him and rocked her hips. If he was ever going to do anything to ensure he didn’t end up dead, he needed to get away from Heather. He couldn’t see past his raging hormones with her near.
Maybe she was right, maybe they just needed to be together once to kill some heat. He ran his hands inside of her shirt and up to cup her breast. She moaned into his mouth. He flicked his thumbs over her nipples to bring them to life. It didn’t take long. Heather tugged her shirt over her head so that she was naked from the waist up.
Trent knew there was no turning back from her now. His mouth found one of her nipples while his hand continued to tease the other. Heather’s hands were wrapped in his hair pulling him tight to her chest. Her hips continued to rock back and forth. They were all moans, growls, and wet hot kisses. Trent thought he was going to explode.
He turned her over onto her back and immediately covered her. She pulled at his shirt until it ended up next to hers on the floor. He slipped out of his jeans and yanked her shorts off to find her pantiless as well.
“Do you wear clothes to bed at all?” he groaned as he ran his finger over her moist core.
“I don’t remember.” Her hands were gripping the bed sheets as she arched herself closer to his touch. She craved him like he craved her. He was on fire for her. His mouth took over where his finger had been which set free a moan from Heather. She chanted his name. When he sunk a finger inside of her, he felt her tighten immediately around him, and he knew she was close to her release. He
used his other hand to reach up and find a nipple. With a few more flicks of his tongue and the same from his finger on her sensitive nipple, she gave into her climax.
His name on her lips with such passion made him blind with lust. He pushed her legs apart and sunk down inside of her. He tried desperately to keep the pace slow and enjoy their union. He felt his soul call to hers and her soul immediately responded. Heather’s eyes flew open at the connection.
“It’s okay, baby. We’re one now.”
She nodded her response and then sunk her fingers into his back. He fought hard to be gentle, but she matched his strokes with equal fever and force. He finally slammed into her the way he had been wanting to for months. He did it again and again until she was all but screaming his name and tightened around him again. He touched his finger in just the right place that sent them both over the edge together.
After they caught their breath, he pulled her head to him for a hard possessive kiss.
“Do not forget that you are mine. Forever.”
With that he quickly dressed and left.
NINETEEN
HEATHER WASN’T sure if she wanted to kill him or drag him back in her bed so they could do that over and over and over again. He walked out the door like what had just happened hadn’t been mind-blowingly, life-alteringly amazing.
She was still naked in bed trying to figure out why he would leave like that. Maybe it wasn’t what he thought it would be. She had known when the mate bond had solidified and he had acknowledged it, too. It had to be real then.
Was anything ever real with men? Did they constantly have to raise a woman up just to drop her on her ass? Heather had worked herself into a small fury by the time she got dressed. She should have showered so she couldn’t smell him still on her. She wasn’t ready to deny that it had happened just yet.
The sex wasn’t like any sex she had ever had. It was so much more. She felt so much more for Trent than she had with any other man. It seemed to go farther than just love. She hadn’t let herself realize it before, but she did love him. He had found her in the most vulnerable part of her life and had brought her back to life. He had been her friend, her savior and now, lover.
Shadows and Stars Page 6