by Ranae Rose
“How?”
“Shot with a silver bullet. If a hunter can manage that, he’ll have a wolf carcass to mount. If he doesn’t, he’ll have a human body to either hide or explain to the police.”
Mandy shuddered at the thought of being killed and preserved like a trophy animal. “That’s barbaric. What kind of sick freak—”
“Trust me, shifter hunters are more animal than their prey.” He tapped the side of his head with a finger. “Crazy with hate, if you ask me.”
Mandy sighed, her breath streaming over Jack’s chest. “All of this is crazy, you know.”
“I reckon it is.” He pressed his lips against hers, hot and soft.
She leaned into the kiss, aware again of the renewed hardness in Jack’s lap. He rocked his hips beneath her, causing the tip of his cock to grind against the seam of her sex. She gasped, her nails biting into his shoulders as she clung to him. They were already pressed as tightly together as two people could be, but she tried to get closer anyway. If they were going to risk their lives hunting down a psychotic killer, she wasn’t going to deny Jack or herself this. Slowly, she reached below with her newly healed hand, wrapping her fingers around his shaft.
“No,” he said, stopping his rocking. “Not this time.”
“What?” She was still clutching his cock when he lifted her out of his lap, setting her aside on the floor of packed earth.
“You got your way last time,” he said, “but I’m not hurt anymore.” His wicked grin was illuminated by the moonlight that spilled through the den’s entrance.
Her hand slipped from his groin and before she could respond, he lowered his head into her lap. When he’d lifted her off of him she’d landed halfway sprawled in surprise. He pressed his mouth between her thighs as he gripped her hips, raising them.
That was how she found herself lying on her shoulders, her hair spread around her face in disarray as Jack’s lips poured hot and soft over her slick, tingling skin. There was nothing but air and Jack’s hands between the lower half of her body and the ground. Remembering that they were in danger, Mandy stifled a cry as he buried his tongue in her sex, tasting her. A low moan rose from his chest, just quiet enough not to be careless, as a tremor shot through the insides of her thighs, forcing her to writhe.
He held her steady, finding her clit and stroking it with his tongue. “Jack!” Her cry was whispered, strangled, and even she wasn’t sure whether it was a request for more or less. She already felt as if she might burst with sensation. He seemed to know it and didn’t hesitate to take advantage of the fact, making slow, merciless love to her with his mouth. She could just make out his bright hazel eyes gleaming with what looked like satisfaction as she breathed deeply, trying to gain some sense of control, however fragile, over her body.
She couldn’t. Jack was touching her, licking her, tasting her in all the right places. Even the feel of his hands on her hips made her weak. It was all she could do to keep her mouth shut when she came, her pussy heating and tightening against his mouth. The pleasure he brought her started in her belly and rolled all the way to her toes, making them curl. The cry she held back became a low moan.
Finally he relented, lowering her hips so that she lay before him. The intermission was short-lived. Within a moment he was on top of her, cupping her breasts as he kissed his way over her belly. When his lips brushed the lower curve of one breast, her entire body warmed.
“So many things I wanted to do to you back at the cabin,” he murmured. “So much of you I haven’t tasted.”
He touched the tip of his tongue to her nipple, which had long since gone hard. Teasing, he traced a half-circle around its edge, then drew it into his mouth.
She moaned as the two days’ worth of stubble on his jaw rasped against the soft swell of her breast. He did the same, teasing her other nipple with his fingertips. Having his hands and mouth on her body at the same time was heaven, and his cock was pressing against the inside of her thigh, firm and hot. She reached down and gripped it, stroking him.
He lifted his head from her chest and kissed her, their tongues entwining as he flexed his hips, positioning himself to enter her as he’d wanted to the first time, back in his bed. She caressed the length of his erection one last time, her fingers skimming over the shaft and her thumb dragging over the rounded tip. He was still as she touched him, reaching below to cradle the warm weight of his balls in her palm. They were drawn up, tight and ready. She released him and laid her hand on his back instead, digging her nails in just a little as she anticipated his cock pushing past her slick folds and sinking into her body.
He took her slowly, drawing out the first thrust until she wanted to squirm with impatience. Instead she arched her hips just a little, angling them so when he finally did enter her fully, his body teased her clit with exquisite pressure. She ground against him, drawing out the sensation.
“Mandy,” he whispered her name, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tight. “You feel so good.” He rocked into her again and her channel tightened in response as a bolt of sensation shot through her middle.
“So do you,” she gasped, as quietly as she could. He – this – felt much better than good. Sex the first time had been great. It was even better now that she could feel his arms around her without worrying that the embrace would hurt him.
A fear that was perhaps irrational struck her, causing her to run a hand down his side. It was obvious from the way he moved that he was no longer hurt, but she had to feel for herself. Her fingers swept over the places where his bullet wounds had been, and beneath a light film of dried blood, there was nothing but smooth scar tissue. She breathed a sigh of relief.
He thrust into her, deeper than before, as if to prove he was well again.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close. For a little while, as he made love to her, she all but forgot about their hunter and the danger they were in. It was easy to get lost in Jack – the sight and smell and feel of him. When he held her, he made everything else seem faraway and inconsequential. And when he thrust into her…it was impossible to care about anything else. Every bit of her body tingled and tightened, from her nipples to her stomach to her pussy, as her pleasure mounted. Jack rocked into her, and she bit down on her inner lip, vaguely remembering that she wasn’t supposed to cry out. Mercifully, he kissed her as she began to come.
His hot lips muffled her cry as her channel shrunk around his cock, tightening arrhythmically as waves of intensity swept through her middle. Having him inside her as she came was even better than feeling his mouth against her sex. She dug her nails into his back, but he didn’t seem to care. If anything, it seemed to encourage him – he thrust harder, finally ending their kiss.
She stopped clawing him and loosened her embrace as her climax faded, leaving her feeling fulfilled in a way the first one hadn’t. It was almost – but not quite – time to start thinking about the ordeal that lay before them. She squeezed her eyes shut, slipping into oblivion for a few last moments as Jack moved faster. The muscles in his back became tense under her hands. It was almost over. She didn’t want their lovemaking to end, but it had to, of course, and she wanted it to be as good for him as possible. She tightened her channel purposely, causing it to shrink around his cock.
A low ghost of a growl rumbled deep in his chest, more felt than heard. His breath hit her face in a rush as he thrust into her, hard, holding her tighter than ever between his arms. She took a deep breath, filling her lungs with the richness of his woodsy scent. If things went badly tonight, she would want to remember this moment. Hopefully the thought would prove melodramatic, but just in case… She pressed a kiss against his jaw as he stilled, relishing the way his stubble tickled her lips. She’d always considered herself a fan of the clean-shaven look, but Jack had managed to change that.
“Well, Mandy…” He withdrew from between her thighs and settled at her side. “I wish we could do that all over again, but we can’t.” He cupped her cheek an
d pulled her into a final kiss that lasted longer than she’d expected. “Time to go,” he said when it was over. “You can stay here while I track him if you want, and I’ll come back for you when it’s over.”
“What?” she demanded, rising onto her elbow and fixing Jack with a betrayed stare. “I though you meant for me to come with you.”
“Do you want to?”
She nodded without hesitation. Tracking the hunter would be dangerous, but waiting here by herself while Jack went after him alone…well, that would be downright agonizing.
One corner of his mouth tilted in a half-grin. “Yeah, I thought so. Never did meet any shifter, male or female, who would stand for staying behind while their mate went on a dangerous hunt, if they could help it.”
Well, she’d walked right into that one. But they’d already said all they had time to on the subject of mates. “Let’s go.”
He nodded. “And don’t worry; I’ll protect you. Just follow my lead.”
Within a moment, she found herself looking into the eyes of a wolf. She shifted too – the unity and sense of purpose she shared with Jack made it easy. To her surprise, he paused to lick her muzzle, then flashed her a wolfy grin before he slipped out of the den.
She followed, delighted to see that his gait was smooth and easy, a far cry from the limping shuffle he’d used to enter the den. The moon had worked its magic on him, as it had on her. She felt no pain as she walked at his flank, stopping when he did to sniff the ground, searching for the scent of their hunter.
Jack nudged her shoulder with his muzzle and looked pointedly down at his feet. Taking his cue, she lowered her head until her nose hovered a mere inch above the ground and inhaled deeply.
This man’s scent was nothing like Jack’s. It was vaguely sour, with traces of soap that failed to completely mask his natural body odor and a thin veneer of the outdoors that spoke of hours spent stalking through the woods. She nodded, signaling that she’d caught the scent. Now that she had it in her head, she suspected that she’d be able to remember it easily. It seemed that tracking would come naturally to her in her lupine form.
Jack led the way, pausing frequently to confirm the scent trail. They wove deeper into the woods, and it was all unfamiliar territory to Mandy. She trusted that Jack knew the way though, and felt surprisingly secure at his side as night fell in earnest, cloaking the forest in darkness. That was another advantage they had over their hunter. In this form, they had night vision superior to that of humans. A crescent moon hung in the sky, and though its light was faint to human eyes, it illuminated the forest generously for them.
The hunter’s trail was long and curving, and eventually it turned back in the direction of Jack’s cabin. Had the hunter gone to wait for them there, assuming they’d eventually return? They’d been smarter than that. Perhaps they could turn the tables on him.
Just what kind of psychotic man must this hunter be? When Mandy thought of big game hunters, ridiculous images of British men with monocles wearing khaki short sets flooded her mind, perhaps a product of the cartoons she’d watched as a kid. That stereotype contrasted sharply with the Tennessee mountains though, so her mind was left blank, and a prickle of curiosity ran down her spine as they drew closer and closer to the cabin. When it was clearly visible beyond the trees, Jack stopped.
The cabin was dark and still, looking just as they’d left it. The hunter’s scent trail was leading directly to it though, and when Jack raised his muzzle and scented the air, a low growl rumbled in his chest. Clearly, the hunter was nearby. Jack simply watched, a statue-still sentinel, and Mandy did the same, eyes searching for any sign of their enemy.
They didn’t have to wait long. A flash of movement caught Mandy’s attention, and she knew by the way Jack tensed beside her that he’d seen it too. As they watched, a figure rounded the corner of the cabin, emerging from behind the building. The barrel of his rifle glinted unmistakably in the moonlight. Was he watching, just as they were, waiting for them to approach so he could sniper them off as they tried to make it home? The hair on Mandy’s hackles stood up, and a growl threatened to escape her at the thought. The evil bastard hunkered down in front of the porch this time, his gun held at the ready. Jack turned his attention to Mandy, a hard golden gleam in his eyes. She could smell his anger, his determination.
She followed him silently as he paced a wide half-circle around the cabin, moving to the woods behind it. From here, they’d be able to emerge from the forest unseen and sneak up on the man from behind. She was ready to follow Jack, but he gave her another one of those meaningful looks, this one unmistakably stern.
She shook her head, taking a deliberate step forward to stand by his side. He exhaled in what might have been a canine version of a sigh, then shifted.
The wolf was gone and it its place was a heavenly vision: Jack’s thoroughly human body, all muscle and hair and sharp, chiseled features. And all naked. “Mandy, baby, stay here.”
She shifted too – seeing him this way made her want to be human so badly that she hardly had a choice. “I want to go with you,” she said, placing her hands on his chest and meeting his eyes with a firm stare of her own.
“No. You’d do more harm than good – I’d be too worried about you to think straight. Just watch from here. I’ll be sneaking up from behind, and I’ll be on him before he even has a chance to fire a shot.” He smoothed a stray wisp of hair off of her face – her blond locks always seemed to be especially crazy after she shifted back to her human form. “It’ll be safer for both of us if you stay.”
“Jack…” She wrapped her arms around his waist and embraced him tightly. It was all too easy to remember the sight and smell of his blood. “What if something happens to you?”
“I’ll come back to you. I promise.”
The next thing she knew, she was hugging a big, shaggy wolf. His thick fur was warm and soft against her skin as he stood on his back legs, taller than her as his paws rested on her shoulders. He touched his nose to her cheek and then he was gone, sneaking soundlessly out of the woods, toward the cabin. Mandy shifted back into her wolf form and reluctantly resigned herself to watching.
Jack stalked silently toward the oblivious hunter, his steps careful and measured, yet eager at the same time. With each pace he moved closer, and Mandy’s heart beat faster. By the time he was within a few yards of the hunter, she was a bundle of nerves. If she’d been in her human form, she would have been doused in cold sweat. She watched intently, never taking her eyes off Jack and the hunter-turned-hunted. She had to stifle a yelp of dread when the hunter whirled.
Whether he’d heard or only sensed something, it was impossible to tell, but he definitely knew Jack was there. He leveled his gun as he pivoted, aiming the barrel of the high-powered rifle right at Jack’s chest.
Jack was too quick for him. Just as the gun fired with a resounding boom loud enough to hurt Mandy’s sensitive canine ears, he weaved to the side, dodging the bullet and leaping under the gun, his jaws snapping. A furious growl drowned out the echoing gun shot, and Jack sunk his teeth into the man’s lower leg. Mandy vaguely remembered reading somewhere that a wolf’s bite was powerful enough to crush bone. It must have been true, because the man roared, his cry ringing with pain. With a quick jerk of his head, Jack pulled the man’s foot out from under him, yanking him to the ground.
The man rolled, but that only made it easier for Jack to bite down on the meatier part of his calf. The scent of his blood drifted all the way to Mandy’s vantage point in the woods. She didn’t even have time to be repulsed – she was just glad it wasn’t Jack’s.
Her gratitude was short-lived. The hunter had retained enough sense to defend himself, and while trying to shoot Jack might have resulted in him blowing his own foot off, the butt of the rifle still made an effective weapon. He brought it down onto the top of Jack’s head, and the resounding crack could be heard all the way from the woods. Mandy winced, her veins flooding with worry. She had to help him. As that tho
ught crushed her mind with all the force of a falling anvil, a blur of motion flared in the corner of her eye.
She shifted her focus from Jack for the fleetingest of seconds, eyeing the pick-up truck that had just rolled out from behind a screen of pines and into the open area of Jack’s driveway. A logo and words emblazoned on its side marked it as a state vehicle – a park ranger’s truck. Had someone finally noticed the fallen trees, or perhaps heard the nighttime gunfire and come to investigate? The vehicle was moving fast, and it skidded to a halt, the door flying open. A huge bear of a man jumped out, a rifle cocked and ready in his thick arms. He began to raise it, and Mandy panicked. The scene had to look like an innocent human being attacked by a wild animal. The ranger would shoot Jack. She launched herself from her hiding place, dirt flying under her paws as she bounded over the half-wild, moonlit lawn.
The blow over the head had apparently stunned Jack, and though he’d managed to rise to his feet again, so had the hunter. The ranger was only yards away, his gun raised. Any second now, a potentially deadly bullet would fly from its barrel. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the hunter had also leveled his rifle at Jack. Both men were poised to shoot. Mandy growled with rage and frustration and ran as fast as her four long legs could carry her. Her heart was beating so fast it seemed in imminent danger of bursting. It was easy to imagine sinking her teeth into the hunter and tearing him apart, as Jack had begun to. But she never got the chance.
The hunter’s head snapped in her direction, and in the moonlight, she could make out dark eyes staring from a face that might have belonged to any man. A cruel smile tilted his mouth, and he hurried to train his rifle on her. Jack leapt, snarling, teeth snapping, but the hunter pulled the trigger first.
The bullet pierced Mandy’s chest, stopping her as effectively as a brick wall. Her legs stopped moving and she was airborne, flying through the moonlit night. She tumbled through the grass, her body surely bruising as it met the hard ground, but that didn’t compare to the fire that had begun to spread through her chest. She gasped for air, but the pain was so intense that she couldn’t seem to make her lungs work. A howl of pure horror pierced the night, followed quickly by a second shot. Blackness was threatening to invade her vision, and she let it, not wanting to see Jack lying on the ground as she was, bleeding. She committed her last seconds of lucidity to remembering the moment she’d impressed upon her mind in the den, when she and Jack had been making love. The sensuality stood in sharp contrast to the visceral grip of impending death, but in a way it was much the same; she was losing herself, fast.