As she materialized in the kitchen, she felt an odd sense of relief to be back, which was hella strange because she’d never really been all that attached to the place. It was just somewhere to crash when she needed some breathing room. She exhaled and headed into the bedroom. And wouldn’t you know. As soon as she walked in the room, the male sat up and looked at her like he’d just found his long lost friend.
Huh.
“I got a lot of stuff. I wasn’t sure what you’d like.” She rolled her eyes. Because it’s so freakin’ important to make sure the enemy is well fed.
He reached out. “Awesome. I’ll take whatever.”
She carefully handed him a coffee and one of the bags she’d brought back.
SE barely had the bag open before he was biting into a cinnamon roll. “Sorry. Starving.”
“Clearly.”
Death by carbohydrate. That had possibilities. Ana sat down in the chair, sipped her coffee and watched Soaring Eagle tear in. Which was probably totally rude, but she just couldn’t seem to stop looking at him. Finally it hit her. He had unbraided his hair. It hung in long, loose, dark waves to the top of his chest. Ana let her gaze move to his face and the high cheekbones that sat just below the most incredible soft brown eyes. And then to his full lips—
“Hello? Ana?”
“Huh?”
“Aren’t you hungry?” he asked, starting on his bagel.
Ah, hell. She pulled out a piece of coffee cake and started to pick at it as if she had some interest.
SE took another swig of his coffee, savoring every drop like he was in a fucking Folgers commercial. It felt like years since he had any. Maybe it had been.
“How’s your memory coming?” Ana asked.
He shook his head. “The same. I remember a lot of things, but everything gets all foggy when I try to remember anything recent.”
He knew stressing about it wasn’t going to help, but it was so goddamn frustrating.
SE suddenly jolted out of his thoughts when he realized the female was approaching him.
She was standing by the end of the bed when he started to feel the power coming off of her like little sparks of electricity all over his skin. And the closer she got, the stronger they got.
Holy shit.
The female suddenly made like she was going to touch him.
He swallowed hard. “What are you doing?”
“What does it look like? I’m taking a look at your ribs.”
“Ah, I’m pretty sure the tape is still holding,” he mumbled.
Did she feel it too, or was he losing his ever-loving mind?
CHAPTER TWO
Ana took a step toward SE. As she did, she caught his scent. Oh…God. What she was feeling was wrong on so many levels, but even as the thought crossed her mind, her breathing increased and her pulse quickened. In an instant of mind-blowing panic, she gleamed out and materialized back at the end of the bed. She stared wide-eyed at the male. She had never imagined, never given a moment’s thought to the mating call.
Ever.
It just wasn’t who she was. The thought of that kind of closeness had never been part of her life. And it never would be. The end.
SE winced a bit, but then sat straight up. He’s healing already, she thought. But her mind wasn’t on his health. All she could focus on were his abs as they rippled with his movement. She closed her eyes and tried to block him out. Her heartbeat banged in her ears. She sucked in her breath. It was his heartbeat she was feeling, and it was pounding every bit as fast as hers was. Holy...
“Ana, look at me.”
“Back the fuck off!” She swallowed hard. Every last inch of her was crying out for him, but why? Why was this happening? If she opened her eyes…
“Ana…”
When her eyelids fluttered open, he was standing right in front of her.
And then it happened.
He tilted her chin, leaned down, and gently captured her lips with his own.
As SE kissed Ana, a satisfied sigh escaped her throat, sending shockwaves of heat through his system. He breathed in deeply as he ran his lips along her soft cheek. Something about her smell had his shifter senses off the grid. It reminded him of something. Suddenly, he wanted nothing more than to taste her. He ran his tongue along her curvy lips, coaxing her to open to him. As her lips parted and their tongues met, she ran her hands up his chest and around his neck, trying to pull him tighter against her.
He was more than happy to oblige. He picked her up and laid her on the bed. He was pissing off his ribs again, but he couldn’t give a shit. Ana kicked her boots off and slid out of her leather jacket, leaving just a black tank underneath. SE leaned over her and kissed her newly exposed flesh. God, she was so soft. He lifted the bottom of her shirt and brushed his lips across her stomach, greedy to explore all of her.
Ana’s hips came up as she undulated beneath him.
“More,” she moaned.
With a growl, SE grabbed the bottom of her shirt and split it right up the middle, his body landing on top of her. When her breasts hit the wall of his chest, he nearly lost it. He pushed himself up and tore the tape from his ribs, so nothing was between them. He looked down at her, half-bared beneath him.
Jesus.
This female was the sexiest thing he’d ever seen. He laid his hand on the side of her throat, drawing it between her breasts and along her tight abs in one long stroke. Her body rolled with his caress. Leaning down again, he paused and looked up at her to be sure she was watching as he teased her nipple with his tongue and then took it into his mouth. As her hands twisted in his long hair, she called his name. SE slid up, lightly sucking at her skin all the way until he at last met her mouth again. Man, her lips fit so perfectly to his. This time he went in deep, taking her taste into him, letting it slide down the back of his throat. He suddenly realized what she smelled like – La dama de noche, the ‘Lady of the Night’ jasmine that grew at home in Mexico. Home. She smelled like home.
In that moment the urgency ramped up. He slid down, unzipped her skintight leathers, and pulled them off. Ana sat up and wrapped her long legs around him, taking him by the back of the neck and pulling him into another searing kiss.
By some force of will, SE pulled back and took her by the arms. “Ana, wait. If we take this any further, I won’t be able to stop.” His breath came in hard pants, taking in her jasmine scent every time he inhaled. As it mingled with the sweet smell of her arousal, his vision grayed out on him momentarily. The protective instinct deep inside him flared. He could already hear his second soul, that of his nagual, telling him this was right. She was the one.
Ilah. It whispered the ancient Maya word.
Mine.
As Ana looked into SE’s soft brown eyes, a ring of brilliant gold glowed around the pupils. A New Breed’s eyes. They brightened with high emotion and they were alight for her. God, she wanted him. She wanted him to claim her, to take her as his own. The female she was would cease to exist. She would be a mated shifter, and somehow she was so okay with that. It made no sense, but there it was.
She grabbed the front of his shorts and pulled them past his erection.
“I want you inside me,” she hissed, her nagual making itself heard.
SE laid her back down on the bed. His weight crushed her into the hard mattress, but she bore it all, her curves fitting perfectly against him, soft meeting hard in all the right places. The tip of his tongue brushed the plump curve of her lower lip before his warm, wet mouth opened and pulled the tender skin of her throat against his teeth with gentle, yet insistent suction. Then he pressed his lips to her breast, her stomach, suckling her. Ana ran her hands into his long, soft hair, pushing him lower, demanding more. She heard a snap, and her core was suddenly bombarded with cool air.
SE had to stop and pull himself together. The sight of her core glistening for him made him tremble with need. He wanted to take her right then, but he just had to touch her slick heat. He ran his hand along her cente
r, and she arched into his palm with a groan. He dipped his middle finger inside her, his thumb lightly massaging her in little circles. She flew into an orgasm, eyes closed, chest heaving.
Jesus, she was beautiful.
“Now, do it now,” she moaned, breathless, arching for him.
Ilah.
It was two against one, and he wasn’t about to argue.
SE rose above her, setting his palms by her head. She felt the tip of him against her sex, opening her slightly. As he pushed into her, a sharp pain in her side caused her to suck in her breath and she felt him pull back a little.
“Easy, Ana,” SE whispered. “Call on your nagual.”
She closed her eyes and the warmth of her guiding spirit filled her. Instantly, her body responded, becoming totally relaxed as her mind was able to let go of the pain. She had communed with her nagual many times, but it had never been so powerful. When she opened her eyes, she saw SE’s eyes were closed. All at once, Ana cried out in shock as she felt a second spirit enter her. It hit her like a drug as she was touched by a sudden sense of euphoria. Only then did he push into her, gently stretching her until he was all the way home.
Ana didn’t think she could take any more. Sanity and reason were completely out of reach. She tried to move under him, but he took the side of her hip with one hand, and held her still.
“What are you doing?” she groaned.
“Lie still.” He closed his eyes and she felt him recall his nagual from her. Then he dropped down onto his forearms and kissed her deeply.
Ana became hyper aware of him inside of her. She could feel her deepest muscles grab his length. As they did, SE moaned, so she did it again, letting her body’s pulses caress him. Sweat covered their bodies as they held onto one another for dear life.
Oh. God. She dug her nails into his back and he flexed against her hands.
“Move,” she groaned.
At last, SE moved just the tiniest bit, jetting them both off into orgasm, leaving her spinning off into infinity as wave after wave rocked her body.
SE looked down at her with concern in his eyes.
Ana smiled and put her hand on his cheek. “Hey, no, I’m fine.”
He swept her hair away from her forehead and kissed her gently.
“How did you learn to do that?” she asked.
“Which?” He grinned.
That smile.
“Funny. Share your nagual with another shifter. I thought that was an old legend.”
“It’s rare,” he said, “but there are those who’ve been taught, mostly Native Americans. It was something I learned growing up on the Kikapu rez in Mexico. It comes in handy.”
When Ana flushed pink, the male in him felt so goddamn fulfilled, like keeping her happy and safe was his new mission in life. She ran her hand lightly across his torso. God, he loved the feel of her hands on his bare skin.
“How’re your ribs?” Her eyebrows knitted together in a little worried wrinkle.
SE smoothed the wrinkle with a gentle finger. “I’ll be fine. Come here.”
Ana leaned down onto his chest, and he planted another kiss in her hair, closed his eyes, and let himself take in her scent in a long, deep breath. The picture of her beautiful face beneath him came into his mind.
Heaven.
Being inside her, body and soul, was pure heaven. At least now he had some idea who he was.
He was hers.
Ana lay with her head on SE’s chest and listened to the quiet, even sound of his breathing. Without moving her head, she could see the moon out her bedroom window. Jesus. It was totally unbelievable to her how shit could go so wrong so fast. That morning, she’d freaked the fuck out because she was harboring a wounded New Breed in her old apartment. Now they were mated. If she could let go of him for more than five seconds at a time, she’d run to the kitchen and stick a fork in her eye.
On top of everything else, she had the not-so-envious job of telling her mate that even though he had no idea who he was, she knew. Oh, this was bad. This was so bad. If they tried to stay together, one or both of them would most likely end up dead. No. She had to get him out of there. She needed to find a way to get in contact with the Order. Of course, the only two shifters she knew on the other side hated her guts. Actually, that was probably an understatement. Was it possible to hate someone’s DNA? It didn't matter. SE would never feel the same way about her when his memory returned and he realized they were enemies.
Then she’d be kicked to the curb.
Again.
Cast aside like the worthless female she was. Ana sighed. From the beauty of his face to the strength of his body to the integrity in his eyes, he was the same as when she’d known him as a kid. He must have been, what, twenty-five when she first met him? A little older than she was now. He hadn’t changed at all.
But she had. And not for the better.
Damn. It wasn't like she’d planned on keeping what she knew from him. Everything just got all hot and heavy, and the next thing she knew... well…She looked up at his face and lightly ran the back of her hand along his short growth of beard. He would leave her. When he realized who she was, he would leave her. Whatever, she told herself. She was used to being alone. But the thought of being without him made her heart squeeze painfully in her chest.
CHAPTER THREE
Ana opened her eyes. As the dingy walls of her old apartment slowly registered, she groaned and blinked, trying to shake off the far-away feeling that came with too little sleep. Slowly, she realized that she was clamped onto something like a vise. A thought crept into her mind, penetrating her gray matter until it hit home.
Holy shit. She was mated!
She looked at her male and realized she was hooked onto him like a goddamn octopus. When she looked up, her eyes met his and heat hit her cheeks. He was awake. Ever so slowly, Ana started to unwind herself.
“Hey, where do you think you’re going?”
Busted.
“I just thought maybe you’d like your body back.” She found herself smiling somehow.
“You thought wrong, female.”
SE pulled her back in close. God, she loved his size, the way his body took all five feet ten inches of her and could still have taken more if she’d had it. Wrapping a leg around one of his, she could feel the muscle in his calf as it flexed. As her thoughts lingered on the night before, her body responded with an intense heat. Then she remembered their full situation and bile rose in her throat. Panic hit her in sickening waves. Desperate to get away, she started to untangle herself and push away from her mate’s body.
“I gotta pee.” The one catcha later no one could argue with.
SE let go of her and she practically leapt into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her a little too forcefully. As she stood against it and stared at the peeling paint and grimy tile, it hit her. The protective instinct. The vicious bastard flared in her gut, causing her to pant. She could lose him if he went back to the Order. He could find out who she really was, or they could try to keep him away from her. But none of that mattered, because if he stayed here with her, he would die. He almost certainly would. A low growl worked its way up through her body. She had to get him the hell out of there. Fast. She walked over and flushed the toilet, took a deep breath, and focused on what needed to be done.
When she opened the door, her mate was standing there naked. Her breath caught in her throat. Damn, her male was fine. So long focus, been real. But then she noticed the look on his face. Like a little bird, she cocked her head to the side, trying to figure out why her mate was looking at her all what the fuck?
“The shorts I was wearing,” he finally said. “They don’t fit.”
“What?” Ana looked down at the tattered denim shorts she had found him in only the day before. They looked like they were stuck at his upper thighs. But how could that…Oh. My. God. The Order hadn’t left him in that alley. He’d just been marked. They didn’t even know he existed yet. He had just received the ca
ll!
And the shit just kept on comin’.
“Ah, why don’t you leave those in the bathroom? I think we need to talk.” That’s the understatement of the motherfucking year. As SE climbed back into bed with her, Ana propped up a couple of pillows for him and frantically tried to find a place to start.
“What’s the last thing you remember?”
“Being a kid on the rez, I guess.”
“Do you remember anything about being an adult shifter?”
“No, not really. I remember phasing for the first time. Everything else is just a blank.”
“The shifters are at war, SE.” Why mince words?
“War?”
She nodded. “They’re basically fighting an urban guerilla war. There’s a group of shifters who want shifter domination. Toltec. They’ve always been at war in some way with the shifters who don’t believe we’re superior. In the last few months, since the Transition at Chichen Itzá, a group of male shifters called the Order have received a divine calling to stop the shifters who want to take over. Their bodies have been transformed by the k’ul released during the Transition. They’ve gotten bigger physically. Like you. Their shifter senses and instincts are expanded. They’re also marked a second time. The Mayan tribal mark on your right shoulder means you’ve been called to serve. I think you were on your way to answer that calling when something happened to you.”
Forbidden Call (New Breed Novels, Book 1) Page 2