by Sway Jones
After sucking his fingers clean, he ran a hand across the bottom half of his face to wipe it off too. He stood in order to see her face. Her eyes were closed and she lay boneless on the table. He smiled with happiness at being the one to have put her into this state.
He called to her softly not wanting to take her away from the after effects but he knew she would be cold soon enough, lying half naked on his kitchen table.
When he eyelids fluttered open, he leaned down so that he was face to face with her. She could probably smell herself on his breath like a fine scotch. He chuckled when she immediately blushed as her eyes focused on his.
“Hank,” she said her voice still thick with gratification. “That was – incredible. Thank you.”
“No thank you for letting me in so close. I know that must have been hard. But I do appreciate it. Unfortunately perhaps for you, but not for me, I took your virginity with my fingers. I hope that isn’t too much of a disappointment for you.”
“You did? I didn’t feel anything. Wow. I – that’s fine. As long as it was you, I don’t care how you took it.”
“I just can’t believe a beautiful woman like you has remained innocent this long. You are so damn sexy and gorgeous.”
Her blush heightened. “Thank you,” she accepted his compliments graciously. “I think Waverly and I were the oldest living virgins in Montana at least.”
“Well my bear is one who is very glad for your innocence. He likes that we’re the only lover you’ll ever have.”
“He is?”
“Yep. Why don’t you get back into bed and rest a little more while I call my council member friends?”
“Ok,” she agreed without contention. “Hank! I’m too heavy for you to be carrying me!”
“You barely weigh anything. Come on give me some credit for having these muscles.”
She laughed and he felt so good about getting her to make such a delightful sound. She hadn’t laughed enough since he had met her. Once this feud was over with he would make it his life’s ambition to make her laugh every day.
“To bed with you little girl,” he drawled, setting her down on top of the bed. “You rest up and I will come back later and we will explore each other a little bit more.”
“You promise?” she asked slipping under the bedspread, pulling it up to her neck and taking off her t-shirt and bra underneath it. She held her bra out to him. Taking it from her, he brought it up to his face and snuggled into it enjoying her scent.
“I promise,” he said taking a deep breath from her clothing. “I’ll get through these phone calls quickly.”
“Please hurry,” she said shyly.
“You can count on it.”
Chapter 14
The council set an emergency meeting for the next day. When Hank came to tell Delilah she became anxious about having to appear before the council. She got dressed and the thought of sex flew from her mind and body. Hank enlisted Waverly’s help to try and calm her since he couldn’t seem to make her stop pacing and wringing her hands.
“Delilah, sit down,” Waverly commanded gently and patted a spot on the couch next to her. “Come on girl. You know you can do this.”
Delilah continued to pace in front of the TV. Hank sat in an easy chair facing her. His brothers had given him the day off to get ready for the meeting. More specifically to help Delilah get ready for the meeting. She would be questioned and she needed to relax and be honest.
“I don’t want to but I have to,” she said honestly. “I hate talking to complete strangers you know that. I push myself so hard to do it at the shop and it takes so much out of me. I don’t know if I can with such high stakes on the line.”
“Sure you can,” Hank reassured. “I know you wouldn’t let anyone down, least of all your friends and family, which is what we are.”
She stopped to look at him when he said that. She smiled sadly at him. “You’re probably wondering whatever possessed you to get involved with me in the first place.”
“Oh I know. My bear claimed you the moment he saw you. As did I. There was no going back for us. There is no going back for us.”
“But what if the council decides that mating with humans can’t happen?” Her voice going shrill at the horror of that possibly happening.
“Then I will sell my share of the farm to Jai and Jonathan and move us away from here.”
“You would do that?” she implored dumbstruck by such an unselfish act.
“Yes, to be with you.”
“Ryan would do the same,” Waverly interjected. “The four brothers discussed it already. But that isn’t going to happen because the council will be sensible and not let prejudice and anti-human sentiment rule.”
“I hope you’re right,” Delilah whispered desperation tingeing her tone. “What do you want me to do?”
“Just answer their questions truthfully unless you feel uncomfortable answering them. They don’t have the right to pry into your life without your consent. This isn’t a criminal trial. No matter what their decision, we are going to be mated together, forever.”
“I want that,” she rushed out. “I really, really want that Hank. I was hesitant at first but I – I feel like you’re my home now. I don’t want to leave my home.”
Hank’s heart expanded even more in his chest. He wasn’t aware that it could until Delilah came into his life. She came and made a home in his heart and he was able to accommodate her easily there. “You don’t have to. Like I said no matter what happens tomorrow, we are together for life.”
Hank stood and she quickly made her way to his outstretched arms. She burrowed into his chest and wrapped her arms around him. When he wrapped himself around her, she knew that she was safe from everything that would even think about harming her. This man loved her and that was all that mattered.
Chapter 15
Delilah felt every eye on her as she entered the meeting room in the back of the Bitten House restaurant. She huddled closer to Hank, holding onto his hand tightly.
“It’s ok,” he said softly to her. “I’m here.” He placed an arm around her waist and pulled her into his side.
He led her to a table at the front of the room with three chairs. Pulling out a seat for her to sit in, he sat down next to her. As much as he wanted to have her on the inside chair away from the crowds, he wouldn’t risk putting her next to Jeremy, who would sit in the remaining chair.
His hand grabbed hers and held on to it, trying to comfort her as best he could. She was trembling hard. He wished he could take this from her but she had to make her case herself. Her word would carry more weight with the council and the crowd.
When Jeremy arrived he sneered at the couple. Pulling his chair out he sat down heavily as if he hated being there. He sat stonily not saying a word to Hank as the room began to fill to overcapacity with people. Ryan and Waverly sat right behind Hank and Delilah. Jai and Jonathan sat next to them.
Delilah looked back at Waverly and got a reassuring smile and a thumbs-up. She returned the smile albeit a little less reassuringly. When she turned back to Hank, he picked up her hand he was holding and brought it to his lips. He felt her quaking beneath them.
“It’s going to be ok,” he bent over and said in her ear. “I got your back. We all do.”
She nodded her head erratically not at all confident about her ability to convince the council not to forbid her relationship with Hank. If only she could save Waverly from having to leave Ryan she’d be happy with the outcome.
Soon enough the council members filed in and sat at a long table in front of the witness table. They looked like normal middle-aged men and women. Hank told her what each one was as they introduced themselves. There were three bear shifters, two elk shifters, two wolf shifters and one deer shifter.
“Order,” one of the wolf shifters called out. “Let’s get started.”
“Hank, since you brought the initial complaint let’s start with you. Please present your case.”
“Th
ank you for this time to bring you my concerns,” Hank began. He then proceeded to tell them what had happened until that day.
“My first question to you Jeremy,” the deer shifter began after Hank was finished. “Did you order your pack member to attack Hank?”
“No I did not. He took that upon himself to do,” Jeremy answered honestly.
“What did you tell him to do?” one of the bear shifters asked.
“I told him that Hank had exposed our world to a human threat and that something needed to be done about it,” Jeremy reported hotly. “That was all I said.”
“But as alpha your words hold a lot of sway with your pack members, especially the young ones,” a wolf shifter offered up. “You had to know your words would cause them to act.”
“As alpha if I say to do something, my pack does it,” Jeremy conceded. “But I did not tell them to do anything to Hank or his property.”
“Only that something needed to be done,” the other wolf shifter supplied.
“Yes. I can’t be held liable for what people do with that open ended statement.”
“Yes you can,” the wolf shifter disagreed. “You are alpha. While that gives you much power it also confers upon you great responsibility. For each of your pack member’s actions.”
“I accept that,” Jeremy capitulated easily enough. “But my main point needs a decision from this council as well. Hank Garrison is exposing our way of life to extinction. He is marrying outside our species and as head of his clan approved of his brothers also marrying humans. His lands, which span nearly two counties, are in danger of being inherited outside of shifters’ hands. His human wife will be unable to propagate the shifter species. His clan dies with their human spouses. This is unacceptable if we are to continue being a vital presence in Montana and the world.”
“Miss who are you?” a bear shifter asked Delilah before Hank could say anything. “Are you an involved party?”
“Uh – yes, yes ma’am,” Delilah stuttered despite the whispering she heard all around her from the crowd. “I’m Delilah, Hank’s – fiancée.”
“Ah, said human,” the deer shifter commented. “Did you have something you wanted to say?”
“Yes ma’am,” Delilah said, finding her voice. “I do. I – uh don’t know much about shifter – society, other than what I have heard from gossip and what little I’ve learned being with Hank and his brothers this past – not even a week.
“But what I have learned in that time is that – love doesn’t care about what species you are. As long as two consenting adults who are in love, choose to make a life together, who is anybody to say they can’t.
“I love Hank. He loves me. We are both going into this relationship with our eyes wide open. I don’t know if I can have shifter children. I’d like to think it would work out since shifters don’t have their first shift until puberty. But I know that Jeremy has had an experience where he had trouble conceiving with his wife. We may have the same issues but I’d like to try and see what happens.
“If we can’t conceive then we can reassess our relationship if Hank wants to. But at least give us a chance at attempting to have a relationship and children.
“Hank tells me that the Goddess is who brought us together. If she did this then how can any man or shifter pass judgment on our love.”
Delilah took a deep breath to calm her nerves now that she had said her peace. Please don’t ask me any questions, she prayed.
“Thank you Delilah, for those heartfelt words,” the deer shifter said graciously. “I too feel the same way. The Goddess brought my human husband and me together and what the Goddess has brought together, no man or shifter should tear apart.”
“I agree,” one bear shifter said with the second one nodding her head in agreement.
“Do any of you disagree with this woman’s heartfelt words?” the wolf shifter who had opened the meeting asked.
No one raised his or her hand.
“Very well then we are in agreement, humans marrying shifters is not something that we as shifters can stop from happening. The Goddess has chosen our mates and sometimes humans will fall into that category. The Goddess in Her infinite wisdom has decreed human and shifter life compatible. Who are we to argue with Her?”
“Wait a minute!” Jeremy cried out, jumping to his feet. “You can’t really believe the Goddess set this in motion? They are choosing of their own accord to be in relationship with one another.”
“That may be true but it was the Goddess who put the need for each other in their hearts,” the deer shifter refuted. “Jeremy were you not married to a human?”
“Yes but it was a mistake and both she and our child paid for that mistake. The Goddess hadn’t brought us together only our own infatuation with one another. Do not sanction that kind of heartache ladies and gentlemen.”
“Who are we to decide that for anyone?” the female bear shifter asked. “Is every instance of interspecies dating an abomination? A blessing? No, each one has to be taken on its own merits.”
“Given that it was your pack members who killed the Garrison brothers’ property – their cows – you must make full restitution for that property,” a wolf shifter continued. “I take it the two of you can come to a satisfactory agreement on what that compensation must be.”
“Yes sir,” Hank agreed.
Jeremy stared angrily at the council for a long moment before finally nodding his head.
“Good. This meeting is now over. Good evening.”
Jeremy quickly turned and left, pushing his way through the crowd of people.
Hank looked over at Delilah and smiled brightly. She wore a relieved smile. He hugged her. “You did great sweetheart,” he told her. “I’m so proud of you.”
“Thank you.”
“You were so composed!” Waverly said coming up to them. “We couldn’t tell you were nervous.”
“No we couldn’t,” Ryan agreed.
Delilah and Hank both stood up. Jai and Jonathan gave their congratulations too and hugged the two of them. The deer shifter came over to introduce herself and applauded them on their impending nuptials. Hank knew both bear shifters and one of the wolf shifters, who also came over to meet his soon to be bride.
Eventually they were able to get out of the back and into the restaurant. They decided to stay and have dinner. Jai and Jonathan had to get back to the farm though so they took their meals to go.
The two couples stayed and had a leisurely meal with many well-wishers stopping by and giving their congratulations to the soon to be newlyweds and the newlyweds Ryan and Waverly. It was good to know they had support in the community.
It was late by the time they got home. Given that Delilah had to work the next day, Hank dropped her off at her home, saying good night with a deep, slow kiss. They made plans to see each other in two days. They had a lot of discuss about their upcoming wedding.
“I love you Delilah,” Hank told her quietly. “I’ll always love you. No matter what.”
“I love you too Hank. Not matter what.”
He smiled at hearing the words.
“I don’t think I’ll ever tire of hearing those words,” he told her.
“Me neither. Me neither.”
Chapter 16
“Good night Delilah,” the last beautician to leave told her.
“See ya Susan,” Delilah replied tired but happy. As she swept up the floor, she hummed a Toni Braxton love song. She was thinking about how lucky she was to have a man like Hank in her life. He had texted and called her throughout this day they had been away from each other. It was like he couldn’t stand being apart from her.
She knew she hated being apart from him. It was like a part of her was missing. She had never felt like this with anyone. It scared her a little. If he decided not to be with her she didn’t think she could survive.
“We’re closed,” she called out when she heard the bell over the front door tinkled. “Sorry.”
“I’m not h
ere for a cut.”
Delilah went absolutely still at the sound of that predator’s voice. Her eyes dilated and her breathing sped up. The adrenaline began coursing through her body to either flee or fight. She knew which one she should do but since he blocked her way out the front and the back door was far away, she would have to fight.
Plastering a fake smile to her face she turned to face Jeremy. He looked angry despite his own bogus smile. “Good evening Jeremy,” she managed to get out. “What can I do for you?”
“You can leave Hank,” he said bluntly.
“I can’t do that Jeremy,” she told him equally directly. “I love him.”
“You can love me.”
The whispered words and the sudden pain she saw on his face surprised Delilah. What the hell, she thought?
“You can love me and I can love you. I do love you.”
“What?” she asked her voice going shrill at the sudden realization that this was more than personal.
“You can do much better than Hank,” he continued quietly moving toward her so as not to scare her any more than necessary. “I can give you the world, not only a farm in the middle of nowhere Montana.”
“Jeremy you hate humans,” she tried to stifle her fear and reason with the man. Reaching for her purse he suddenly grabbed her arm and brought her in close to him.
“I love you,” he repeated heatedly. “I have loved you since you moved to town but I – I didn’t do anything because you’re human and my last human wife I lost but you, you are so much better than her. You could handle my love for you.”
“Jeremy I don’t love you. I love Hank. Please let me go.”
“No Delilah. I’m going to prove my love to you. I’ll show you how much and then you’ll see.”
Before she could move, Jeremy hit her in the head with a fist, knocking her out. He placed her over his shoulder and carried her to his car.
Thankfully despite the late hour, another storeowner who was also a bear shifter saw him and Delilah, who was clearly unconscious leave. The shifter called Hank and reported what he saw.