by Maya Banks
Cal clapped a hand over his shoulder. “I’ve got to go. Pilot’s waiting on me. Call me if you need me.”
“Thanks, Cal. Will do.”
Duncan watched as the older man returned to the helicopter. As it lifted off, Duncan climbed into his truck to begin the drive back into town.
His mind was abuzz with what his next plan of action would be. It was getting dark, which prevented any further search today, but tomorrow he would resume. He could gather Nick, his deputies, call up Cal and some of his men and launch a ground search in the denser areas not able to be viewed from the air.
For now…he was going back to his cabin…and Aliyah.
First he stopped off at the small supply store on Main Street and chose sweats, a few shirts, and a pair of boots for her. The shopkeeper raised a brow but didn’t question Duncan’s purchases, a fact he was grateful for.
When the clothes were bagged and paid for, Duncan headed back out to his truck, ready to be home after another long day.
The eagerness with which he drove to his cabin was alien. It had been a while since he’d felt such intensity toward a woman, and never quite this way.
Tonight, there was no hesitation when he walked into the door. He looked for her and found her pacing the kitchen, naked, agitation radiating from her.
“Aliyah,” he said softly.
She whirled around, her eyes flickering, the pupils fluttering and changing shape. She rubbed her hands up and down her bare arms in a clear sign of distress, and then with a small cry, she launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her face in his chest.
He caught her against him and hugged her as he stroked his hand through her hair.
“Aliyah, honey, what’s wrong? Are you in pain?”
Unease prickled his neck. He pulled her away from him so he could look at her more closely.
She rubbed her hands up her arms again and shivered lightly. Tiny little goose bumps dotted her skin. “I need…I need to shift for a while. I can’t control it for much longer.”
He was shaking his head before she ever finished. “No way. Aliyah, that’s crazy and you know it. There is no way we can risk it. There are poachers after you, not to mention you could be seen by a number of other people. Everyone around here is already uneasy because of the strange animals being spotted.”
She closed her eyes then reopened them and locked her gaze to his. “I know it’s insane but if I don’t get out soon, I won’t be able to control when and how I shift. I was hoping you’d know somewhere we could go where the chance of me being spotted was small if we went late, after dark, and I’d be careful. It’s just that I’ve spent so long in shifted form that the cheetah is dominant. I’m growing weaker, and I need the rejuvenation that being in my cheetah form will bring.”
“Aliyah—” He was still shaking his head. He couldn’t even get his protest out fast enough.
“I don’t need your permission, Duncan,” she said softly. “But I would like your support. And your protection. But if you refuse me both, I have no choice but to seek out a place on my own. It’s not smart. I know that. I could place myself in a lot of danger. I know that too. But I cannot prevent a shift for much longer.”
“Can’t you do it here?” he asked, sweeping his hand across the interior of the cabin.
“I need to run. I need to be free in a manner I haven’t been free in six months. I need to regain my strength. I grow more unstable by the minute.”
Fuck. He didn’t like this. Even while she made sense, he didn’t like it one bit.
“I’ll be careful.”
He blew out his breath in a long whoosh. “You’ll stay in the truck out of sight until we get out of town. I don’t want you anywhere near here when you do your cheetah thing. We’ll go south an hour or so.”
She wrapped her arms around him again as she nestled back into his embrace.
“Thank you,” she said as she squeezed.
He let his hands fall down her back, and he rubbed up and down before he placed one hand behind her neck, the other arm around her waist and held her close.
“First you’re going to get dressed. I picked up some clothes for you from town. Then we’re going to make this quick,” he grumbled. “This whole thing seriously freaks me out.”
Chapter Eleven
Duncan drove slowly down the bumpy, winding ATV trail off one of the closed national forest roads. He’d picked the most obscure spot he could think of, but that didn’t guarantee they wouldn’t come across campers seeking a remote place to pitch their tents.
Every one of his instincts told him this was a bad idea. Not just a bad one, a stupid risk that Aliyah had no business taking. But he couldn’t let her go off alone without any form of protection.
He glanced over at her, and even in the darkness, he could see her tense with anticipation. She was edgy, almost wild, and he knew that she was hanging on by a thread.
“It’s not far now,” he said as they forded a small creek and rounded a sharp bend.
The road had narrowed considerably, and they wouldn’t get much further with his truck, four-wheel drive or not.
She didn’t reply but kept her gaze fixed ahead, as if waiting the opportunity to bolt from the truck. When he finally pulled to a halt, she gripped the door handle then finally looked over at him.
“Aliyah, how much of yourself do you retain when you…uhm…shift?”
She cocked her head in confusion. “I’m not sure I understand.”
“A wild animal has instincts. You’re free now.”
“Ohhh. You want to know if I’ll run and keep on running.”
He nodded slowly. “I guess I’m asking if you’ll be back.”
She stared at him, her gaze steady. “I’ll return, Duncan.”
“Okay.” He shrugged away his relief and opened his door. “Then let’s get this over with.”
They both got out and walked around to the front of the truck. To his surprise, she kicked off her boots then began to pull off her socks and then her pants, both of which he’d just purchased. She held them out to him even has her other hand began fumbling with the buttons on her shirt.
He took them from her, and in another minute she was standing naked in front of him, moonlight bathing her pale skin.
“I don’t want to ruin them,” she said with a grin. “Plus, I’ll need something to wear when I shift back.”
“You’re going to freeze your ass off,” he grumbled.
He watched in a mixture of horror and fascination as a shudder rippled over her body. She fell to her knees then braced her hands on the ground as her back arched.
Tawny fur prickled across her skin. Black spots shimmered into view. Her fingers that dug into the dirt and rock became paws, and her legs buckled then bolted upward as she rose on all fours.
Her long, golden hair raced upward to her scalp, disappearing and then falling lightly over her nape in a scruffy mane. When she turned her head to him, he found himself staring into the golden eyes of the cheetah.
She continued to regard him for a long moment, and then she simply loped away, disappearing into the surrounding forest.
Her paws pounded the earth, and her heart rejoiced in her freedom. She kept to the shadows, leaping behind rocks and keeping under the cover of the trees. She was whole.
Power pulsed through her veins. She was the guardian, charged with keeping her human safe. With each leap, each push forward, she could feel her strength returning. Just as transforming to human had rejuvenated the cheetah, shifting to cheetah was healing the human. Two halves that made up the whole. Each dependent on the other for survival.
The human part of her mind cautioned against going too far, warning her to return soon and shift back as soon as possible. The cheetah only wanted to run free, to exhaust herself and later succumb to a healing sleep.
Her lithe body stretched and coiled as she pushed herself harder. Her soul sang and rejoiced as she embraced the wind.
Reluctantly, she turned back, returning slower than she’d come. Fatigue rippled through her muscles, and she slowed to a walk. Her breath escaped in a light fog as she panted. Her energy was spent, but she felt lighter than she had in many months. Since she’d run along the African savannah with her cheetah kin.
By the time she neared the truck, the change was already working its way over her body. She fell to the ground, shivering with cold and exhaustion as the human regained control.
Mustering her strength, she pushed herself to her feet and made her way unsteadily back to where Duncan waited. When she stumbled onto the road, Duncan looked up and started for her. She collapsed into his arms as he gathered her shivering body close.
“Dear God, Aliyah, you’re like a freaking icicle.”
She burrowed into his warmth, absorbing his heat and his scent. He scooped her up and carried her back to the truck where the clothes still lay on the hood.
“I should have kept the truck running so it would stay heated,” he murmured as he began dressing her. “I just didn’t want to draw any attention to our location.”
“Duncan, I’m fine,” she said around chattering teeth. “I’m just tired.”
She sagged against him when he finished buttoning her shirt. Again, he simply plucked her up and deposited her into the passenger seat.
He retrieved her socks and boots and put them on her feet as she lay against the still-warm leather. He quickly shut her door and walked around to his side.
A brief burst of cold air blew in when he opened his door, but he got in quickly and started the engine. He flipped the heater on high and then reached over to touch her cheek.
“Are you all right?”
She nodded and closed her eyes, leaning further into his hand. She loved his touch. Found much comfort in his tender gestures.
“Come here,” he said and pulled her against him.
She curled her legs into the seat and snuggled into his side. He put his arm around her and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
“Let’s go home.”
He turned the truck around and headed back down the narrow road as she lay against him.
Home.
She was suddenly filled with a fierce longing. Not for her own home and her parents whom she hadn’t seen in so long. No, she was imagining what home would be like with Duncan. With this untamed warrior. Someone who knew what she was and accepted her. Who understood her and protected her. It was something she’d never dared hope for outside her own race.
She liked Duncan, and, she decided, she trusted him. Her time with him was limited, but she wanted to enjoy the attraction between them, wanted to share her body with him, and, she knew, a part of her soul. A part that would remain with him when she left. A part she wouldn’t want back, just as she would take a part of him to keep forever.
“Duncan?”
“Yes, honey.”
“In a few days…” She let her hand slide down his leg. “In a few days, I’ll have to go.”
He stiffened against her. “Why do you have to go?” he asked, surprising her with his bluntness. Was he asking her to stay?
But she couldn’t stay, even if he wanted her to. Her parents thought her dead, and they’d already lost one daughter. She risked discovery here with the poachers crawling over the mountains like vicious, hungry ants.
She couldn’t do that to her parents or to her people. Sadness clogged her throat. How telling was it that on the eve of her freedom she was reluctant to take it?
With a sigh, she turned her face up to Duncan.
“I like you. And I think you like me. I’d like…I’d like to make the most of our remaining time together.”
His hand tightened on her arm then relaxed, and he stroked his fingers up and down the flannel of her shirt.
“I’d like that too,” he finally said.
“I want you to make love to me again. All night long. I want to spend what time we have in your arms.”
“Then that’s where you’ll spend it,” he said simply.
Chapter Twelve
It was well past midnight when Duncan pulled up to his cabin. He glanced down at the sleeping Aliyah and gently shook her awake.
She opened her eyes and gave him that warm, sleepy look that made him want to take her straight to bed. She sat up then reached for her door, but he put a hand out to her arm.
“I’ll come around.”
He hurried out and walked around to her side to open the door. When he held out his arms, she climbed down into them and buried her face in his neck.
This was something he could get used to, he thought, as he walked toward the house, his arms full of a vibrant, beautiful woman. The fact that she was a cheetah would take a little more getting used to. But she was leaving soon, and he couldn’t give her a single reason to stay. And why should he?
She didn’t fit into his world any more than he fit into hers. But he wanted to, and that was the rub.
He set her down on the couch then knelt down to pull off her shoes and socks. When he was done, he ran a hand up her leg until his palm rested over her injury.
“How is your leg?” he asked. It had healed at a remarkable rate, and he wondered if by now it was even visible.
“Only a twinge now and then. By tomorrow, I won’t even know it was there. At any rate, it’s nothing you need to worry about tonight,” she said lightly.
He reached up and pulled a blanket over her. She’d made no secret of what she wanted, and he wasn’t going to dance around the issue.
“How do you feel about making love in front of the fire?”
She smiled and stretched sensuously. “Build it, but I doubt we’ll need the warmth.”
He kissed her, long and hot, until they were both breathing hard. Then he placed his finger over her lips. “Hold that thought. I’ll be right back.”
Aliyah watched as he went to the fireplace and stacked logs over kindling. Soon flames flickered over the dry wood, and the snap and pop echoed across the quiet cabin.
When he would have turned and come back to her, she stopped him. “Undress for me,” she said. “Right there. I want to watch.”
Something dark and arousing flickered in his eyes. He shrugged off his jacket and tossed it toward a nearby chair. Next he kicked off his boots and peeled away his socks. He stood there, staring at her, his gaze never wavering as he reached for the button of his fly.
He undid his pants, leaving them open as he worked the buttons free on his shirt. His broad chest came into view, and the muscles in his arms coiled and rippled as he slowly let his shirt fall to the floor.
He was beautiful. All male. Powerful.
Her breath caught in her throat when he began to pull his jeans downward, his underwear coming with them. He paused, giving her the barest glimpse of the dark hair at the top of his pelvis. Then he continued downward, and his cock, freed from constriction, bobbed upward.
Thick, hard. Her mouth watered with the need to taste him. She wanted to lick every inch, suck him deep into her throat, hear him moan with pleasure.
His jeans pooled at his feet, and he stepped out of them. He posed an impressive figure standing in front of the fireplace, naked, lean, power radiating from him in waves.
Her protector. She wanted to explore all her fantasies. Discover his and make them reality. She wanted to fit a lifetime into the few days they had, and she didn’t want to waste a minute.
She crooked her finger, and he gave her a cocky grin before he sauntered over to the couch, seemingly unabashed by his nudity. But with a body like his, he certainly had no reason to be ashamed.
He straddled her lap and eased down, careful to keep his full weight off her. Unable to resist a moment longer, she ran her hands over his chest, exploring each dip and curve, every outline of each muscle with her fingertips.
“I’m here, now what are you going to do with me?”
His seductive voice slid over her skin like suede. Her nipples beaded against her shirt, and her groin ached with need.
“What are your fantasies?” she asked huskily. “What are your deep, dark secrets?”
He laughed. “Now that’s a loaded question to ask a guy with a raging hard-on.”
Her hands slid lower, into the crisp hair surrounding his cock. She circled him with her fingers, testing his thickness, stroking the hard length with light caresses.
“I’ll be more specific,” she purred. “What are some things you’ve always wanted to try…but haven’t?”
He arched a brow, indecision flickering in his eyes. It was her turn to laugh.
“That juicy, huh? Come on, you won’t scare me away.”
She captured a single drop of moisture from the slit at the tip of his cock and slowly raised her finger to her lips. She sucked it into her mouth and watched his entire body tighten, his pupils dilate.
“I’d love those lips wrapped around my dick,” he said in a strained voice. “What guy wouldn’t love that?”
She gave him a patient stare. “I’m not interested in what every guy wants. I want to know what you like. What you’ve never tried but wanted to. If you could do anything you wanted to me, what would you do?”
“You really want to hear this?”
She continued to caress him intimately, cupping and massaging his balls, alternating it with firm strokes to his cock.
“I don’t want to just hear it,” she whispered. “I want to do it. All of it.”
“Christ.” He put his hand down to stop hers. “Let me catch up, baby. I’m so turned on right now that I’m not going to last for thirty more seconds, and if you’re offering yourself to me on a silver platter, I damn sure want to be capable of devouring you.”
She smiled but moved her hands up over his hips, behind to rest against his firm buttocks.
“I want to fuck your mouth. Hard, fast, down your throat. I want to come and for you to swallow every drop.”
“Mmmm, I’d like that too. What else?”
He shook his head. “Oh no, it’s your turn. I share, you share.”
She grinned. “Okay, that’s fair. I want you to fuck my ass. Hard, deep, relentless. I want you to own me. I want to feel you in every inch of my body.”
His eyes widened in shock. “You’re kidding right? Chicks don’t like anal sex.”
She shrugged. “Well, if you aren’t interested…”
He growled. “Honey, you bring that sweet little ass and I’ll fuck it. That’ll mark off fantasy number two on my list.”
“You’ve never?” she asked.
He let out a grunt. “I think most guys get off on the idea of trying it at least once. But if we value our balls, we don’t go around advertising that fact.”
She almost laughed at the hope in his voice.
“You like it?” he asked. “Really?”
She smoothed her hands up his back and gave him a lazy smile. “It’s exciting. Edgy. Forbidden. It’s downright naughty. I love that first thrust, the sudden pain, when my body tightens and bucks, like it doesn’t know how to react, and then the overwhelming pleasure that mixes with the bite. I like it hard while I touch myself. I can control my orgasm, taking as long as I want or as little time -->