Shifter Starter Set

by Candace Ayers

  17

  Sky

  Flying through the night sky at what felt like a hundred miles per hour, I laughed into Beast’s neck. The gulf was below us and it was the wildest thing, knowing that in a matter of minutes, Beast had flown me to the ocean. The stars shown overhead like millions of sparking diamonds, with no light that far out to distract from them. Everything about the night felt like some stolen adventure that belonged to some fairytale princess, or at least someone much less normal and regular than me.

  My body pulsed against Beast’s. Something about him shifting turned my blood to fire and all I wanted to do was feel him inside of me easing the ache between my thighs. Some carnal hunger spiked in me until I was helplessly forced to surrender to it. It didn’t matter if I was sore or tired. I needed him to quench my longing.

  “Beast, where are we going?” I didn’t think I could stand waiting much longer.

  He dove low and dipped his claws into the water, splashing it up at us. The chilled water did nothing to cool my overheated libido. He changed directions and a few seconds later, he dipped low again. That time, he descended on a strip of land that I hadn’t been able to see.

  Not much bigger than my backyard, the tiny island held nothing more than sand and a lone piece of driftwood. Until Beast shifted back, his dragon took up practically the entire space. Under the moon, I could just make out enough to know what was around me. Beast shifted and then the man was in front of me, his eyes glowing and his face a contrast of shadows and moon glow.

  “What is this place?”

  He grabbed the hem of the shirt I wore and yanked it over my head. “It’s an island. We did not have these in my world. Like your blow jobs, they’re a wondrous addition to this new world that I greatly appreciate.”

  My core fluttered and I shoved the boxers down my thighs. Stepping out of them, I closed the distance between us and pressed my body against his. His chest hair teased my nipples causing me to moan at the sensation of his erection trapped between us.

  “Are you going to make love to me, or are you going to fuck me?” I couldn’t help teasing him.

  “Tell me, little one, what you want. Do you want me to make love to you?” He leaned down and trailed his tongue along my throat. “Or do you want me to fuck you?”

  Lava. I was lava encased in nerve endings. I felt alive with so much power coursing through my body that I thought I might instantaneously combust. Under the moon, in the wide open, the ocean lapping at the sand a few feet away, I wanted everything from him. When I walked away, I wanted no regrets, nothing left undone.

  “Fuck me.”

  Beast

  I would’ve done anything for Sky. She was my world. My one true mate for life. Being asked to fuck her was hardly a chore. I didn’t want to hurt her, though and losing all control with her could do just that. She was small and soft and delicate and perfect. I was none of those things.

  “I want you to fuck me, Beast. I want to feel you, all of you, without any holding back She stroked her hands up my chest and moaned. “Please.”

  “Are you begging me, little one?” My cock hardened even more, so much it hurt.

  She dropped to her knees in the sand and stared up at me through those long eyelashes. Her eyes held mine as her tongue stroked over her lips. “Does it make you harder to know that I would beg?”

  I cursed. “Yes.”

  That pink tongue flicked out again and she licked the tip of my cock. Then, she opened her mouth and took in nearly half of my length, closing her lips over my shaft and sucking hard as she pulled off. “Please, Beast. I need you. I need you to fuck me and use me however you want. Pleeease. Make me scream for you.”

  I felt more beast than man in that moment. Hearing those words from her sweet lips and feeling her tongue stroking the underside of my cock, was like being tortured by exquisite pleasure. My body coiled up with the need to fuck her rough and hard, but my mind told me to be easy. I would die if I hurt my mate.

  She must have seen my hesitation, my slight reluctance. “If you won’t fuck me, maybe there’s another big dragon out there that will…” Her teasing voice was followed by a deep suck, but then she squealed, her teeth raking against my cock, as I hauled her up and pushed her over the big piece of sun bleached drift wood.

  I grabbed the hair on the back of her head and pulled her head up as I dug my cock against her crack. I scraped my teeth up her neck and then held the front of her throat in my hand and whispered gruffly against her ear. “I don’t like that joke, little one.”

  She arched her back and rolled her hips, trailing my pre-cum over the plump flesh of her ass. “Begging wasn’t working fast enough, and I need…I need—”

  “This?” I found her core dripping wet and thrust my cock into her fully in one sharp movement. “Or this?” I flicked my thumb over her little bundle of nerves.

  She cried out, her small hand grasping at the hand I still held over her throat. Her nails bit into my skin as her tight little pussy squeezed me hard. “Beast! Yes!”

  I pulled all the way out and sucked hard on her shoulder. “Like this, Sky?”

  She arched her back even more, trying to get me back into her, but I stayed just out of reach. “You want me to say it again? You didn’t like the joke, but I don’t like being teased. If you can’t do it, I’ll find another dragon. Maybe Cezar?”

  I rammed into her so hard that she would’ve been dumped on the other side of the log had it not been for my hand holding her throat. The beast in me wanted her to know that I was in charge. I was the boss, the one who made the rules and I pounded her with a thunderous frenzy. Her bouncing breasts were riveting. I dropped my hands to them and held them, squeezing the tantalizing flesh while I continued the brutal pace.

  Sky screamed my name and clawed at my arms while I fucked her brutally. Her core pulsed around me hard and fast, like her body couldn’t catch up to what was happening. When I raised one of my hands and slapped her on the ass, she reached back and tugged at my hair. “Yes, don’t stop. Don’t fucking stop.”

  I growled in her ear as I thrust in and out of her. Pulling almost all the way out and then ramming back in, I felt myself bottoming out in her, touching the depths of her. I wanted to spill my seed there, mark the deepest recesses of her as mine. “I’m going to come in you, Sky. I’m going to release my seed deep in you. You are mine. You will never be with anyone else. I won’t let it happen.”

  Her body tightened, squeezing me so hard it was almost painful. Her hand in my hair yanked harder. “I’m going to come, Beast.” I stopped.

  “Not until you tell me that you’re mine.” I rammed into her once and withdrew, my hand raining more slaps on her ass. Her skin was bright red and I loved the look of my handprint on her pale ass. I wanted my marks to be everywhere.

  “Beast!” She hung her head, but I held her throat again and forced her head up. Looking at me over her shoulder, she bit her lip, struggling with what to do.

  “Tell me that you’re mine, Sky.” I pumped into her once, very slowly, and again withdrew and waited.

  Her lips stayed closed, but I could see the neediness in her eyes, begging me to let her come. One more slap on her ass.

  “Say the words.” I dropped my hand to her bud and lightly tapped just above it. “Say them and I’ll let you come.”

  “I’m yours!” Her scream only went higher when I thrust into her and circled her bud before pressing down on it. Her orgasm shattered me and I came hard with her, sinking my teeth into her shoulder, marking her again and again.

  “Mine.”

  18

  Sky

  I woke up the next morning in Beast’s cloud bed, unsure of how I’d gotten there. I felt like I’d been run over, but as I stretched, there was a warm pleasantness to the aches that made me smile. I looked over at the clock and groaned. I had to get to work.

  I could hear Beast in the shower, humming some old fashioned sounding song that I didn’t quite recognize. I wanted to join
him, but I knew what would happen and my body couldn’t handle it. Instead, I slipped out of the room and into the guest bathroom. I took a record short shower and dried off while staring at my body in the mirror.

  I was covered in bruises. My hips were bruised from Beast’s fingers digging into me. My thighs had bite mark shaped bruises, along with my neck and shoulders. My ass was still an irate shade of pink from his slaps. My thighs had finger shaped bruises, too.

  I swallowed and wrapped the towel tightly around me. Something about the bruises scared me. My normal, boring life was slipping away. They didn’t hurt, the opposite actually. Looking at them turned me on. I wanted more of the sex that had left them. Even the rough sex from the night before… I wanted it all. That wasn’t me, though. At least, I didn’t think so. The night before was a woman who was obsessed with getting as much of a man as she possibly could. She was hungry for him. I wasn’t her.

  I couldn’t lead a normal life covered in bruises from fucking like an animal with a dragon. I’d have to make sure no one saw the marks and assumed that I was some kind of kinky sex enthusiast. I wasn’t. Okay, maybe I was, but just with Beast.

  “Hey. What are you doing in here?” Speaking of the man, he stood in the doorway, wearing low slung jeans and looking like the cover of a romance novel.

  “I didn’t want to start anything. I’m feeling a little sore.”

  He came over and stood behind me, his eyes trailing over me in the mirror. “Are you okay?”

  I could hear the remorse in his voice and I hated it. I turned to face him and nodded. “I’m fine. Just sore. It was…good. You know that.”

  He forced a smile. “I was too rough, though. I should’ve held back more. I should’ve—”

  “Should’ve nothing. You did exactly what I asked you to.”

  “I can feel your mood. It doesn’t feel okay.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “We’re mates. You are marked as mine. We’re synced, now. For life. Eventually, soon maybe, we’ll be able to communicate to each other through our minds, when I’m in my dragon form, especially. I can already feel some of your emotions. They aren’t good right now.”

  I stepped back. “What?”

  “You’re wet for me, like you always are, but you’re sad.” He sighed. “You’re still thinking that you can walk away.”

  “What do you mean, Beast? You can read my mind? What the fuck?” I ran my hands through my wet hair and shook my head. “This is all too much.”

  “I can’t read your mind, yet. I can just read your emotions, Sky. It’s a built in response to mating. It helps me cater to your needs so I can always keep you happy.”

  “Too fucking much.” I stepped away from him. “I have to get ready for work.”

  “We’ll talk about this later, then.” A command, instead of a request.

  I kept my mouth shut and went to find my work clothes. I just needed to get to work and clear my head. I could zone out while serving and maybe sneak in a talk with Amie. I needed time to figure out what to do about Beast. I needed time to make up my own mind, instead of having him tell me what was going to happen.

  Things progressively went downhill, though. As if sensing my pulling back, Beast was even more bossy than usual. He was cranky, too, and I didn’t need to be able to read his mind to know that.

  At the café, he sulked in his booth and picked at his three plates of pancakes. Beast never picked at food. He watched me with a dark look on his face and I could tell that we were in for a doozy of a fight. He wanted things the way he wanted them and I wasn’t going to give in to him. Certainly not because he pointed and demanded. Not because he told me that we were mates.

  Amie was through the roof happy because she’d gotten great news about her prospects of having a baby, so she stayed away from our darkness. I didn’t blame her.

  When my tips suffered and I started getting snide remarks from customers, my mood soured even more. Having at least a tiny bit of space away from Beast gave me the ability to think, and think I did. I was furious. He was being a controlling asshole and he had been from the start. I’d just been too blinded by lust to care.

  I didn’t want that, though. I didn’t want him following me to work and telling me what I could or couldn’t do. It didn’t matter that the sex was explosive or that I actually liked him when he was being calm with me. Between his attitude and the fact that I existed in the very real world, where magic was for kids’ birthday parties and TV shows, it just didn’t make sense to continue with him. No matter what he said about mates, we obviously weren’t meant to be.

  Why did admitting that feel like a sledgehammer had landed on my chest. I’d only known him for a few days for goodness sakes. I’d be fine.

  I was feeling darker than ever when a hand snaked out from a table I was passing and pulled me to a stop. I glared down at the hand and then into the face of a man I didn’t know.

  “Whoa, calm down, sweetheart. I just wanted to talk for a second. You look like you could use some cheering up.” He talked to my chest and grinned like a slime ball. “Can I buy you a coffee?”

  I shook my head. “No, thanks. I’m working.”

  “How ‘bout a drink later, then?” He winked and shrugged. “I’m sure you could use a little something to relax after a long day. Maybe a shoulder massage?”

  I was about to tell him how much I didn’t need drink or a shoulder massage if they were coming from him when a big arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me away. Looking back, I saw Beast glaring down at the man.

  “Touch her again and I’ll rip your fucking arms off.”

  Beast’s deep, ominous threat drew the attention of the entire café and I felt my face burn bright red. I grabbed his arm and tried to pull him away.

  “Dude, chill out. I just asked her out for a drink. If she didn’t want to go, all she had to do was say no.”

  “She’s mine. You touch her or talk to her like that again and you will not have to worry about anyone saying no ever again. There will be nothing left of you to say no to.”

  In response to the sudden hush that had descended over the café, Marcus emerged from the back. He took in the situation with a scowl. Marching over to us, he looked from me to Beast and pointed to the door. “Out. This isn’t happening in here.”

  “Marcus, I’m sorry. It won’t happen again. I just—”

  “Out, Sky. Don’t come back until you get this sorted out. This doesn’t fly here. You know that.” He looked at Beast and jerked his arm towards the door again. “Did you hear me? I said get out.”

  Beast growled at him, too. He was on the verge of losing control and I pulled him as hard as I could. He finally wrapped an arm around me and stalked towards the door. “You’re better than this place, anyway.”

  Amie appeared at the door with my purse and a frown on her face. “Call me, Sky.”

  I just nodded, angry tears threatening to fall if I opened my mouth to speak. Leaving the café, I knew what had to be done.

  19

  Beast

  Furious didn’t begin to describe what I was feeling. Murderous was closer. The human male got off easy. My blood boiled and I wanted to go back into the café and rip the puny loser’s limbs from his torso. At least Sky didn’t have to return there anymore. She was free to stay at home and spend her time with me.

  “Fucking asshole. Thinking he can just touch you and make advances on you. You are mine. He is lucky to be breathing.” I shook my head.

  Sky didn’t say much and I could feel that she was angry, but I assumed her anger was directed at the man in the café. I shifted and she climbed on like always. I felt her heartrate increase and smelled her arousal, but she didn’t cling to me like she normally did. She felt cold and removed.

  By the time we landed at my house, I’d figured out that she was angry with me. When I shifted back, she pushed away from me and stormed into the house.

  “What are you doing?”

  She grabbed the few
things that she had in my room and then stormed back outside. “I’m going home.”

  “What?”

  She stormed down the dock and tossed her things in her boat that was still tied up where the young males had left it that first night. “I’m not doing this with you.”

  I laughed. “This? Sky, come inside and we’ll talk.”

  “No. I’m going home. You’re not going to snap your fingers and command me inside like I’m a dog.” She climbed into the boat and went to untie it, but I grabbed the rope.

  “What is wrong with you, mate?”

  “You’re a controlling, self-centered asshole. You’re bossy. You’re pushy. And you’re condescending! I’m done.” She glared at me. “You’ve done nothing but boss me around. You tell me how it is and how it’s going to be. You didn’t even stop to explain to me what being a mate meant or what would happen, or why it was special. You just came up, demanding that I was yours and that it was fucking great. Well, I’m on the other side and it’s not great!

  “You may have just cost me my job. It may be nothing to you, oh high and mighty one, but it meant a whole lot to me. I don’t have a degree, I don’t have any other useful skills. I waitress. That’s what I’m good at and that’s how I make money to take care of myself and the boys. You just showed your ass in there, for nothing, and threw a huge wrench into my life.

  “I don’t need any more difficulties. Things are challenging enough for me right now. This is one straw too many. I’m not cut out for this. I just want a normal life, Beast. A normal life where the man I’m with talks to me and we have conversations. He doesn’t just bark orders and expect me to follow them. You just tell me to jump and are shocked when I don’t ask how high. That’s not a relationship. This isn’t a relationship.”

  I yanked the rope tighter and growled. “Stop it, Sky. This is a relationship. So, I am bossy. I take charge. It is my way. I’m not used to everyone talking and coming to decisions together. Your mate is an old school fucking dragon. You have to deal with it.”