Untethered (Shifter Night Book 1)

by Charlene Hartnady

  Ana laughed. “I can’t believe you just did that.”

  “I can’t believe you thought I was going to kill that fish. That you jumped in to save it.” He wrapped his arms around her, rubbing her back. She felt good in his arms.

  She suddenly tensed. Shit! Had he overstepped the mark? “Are you okay?” Winston asked as he pulled back, keeping his hands on her upper arms.

  “I’m fine.”

  She was not fine. He could see that her mind was working. “You sure?” He let her go completely.

  Ana nodded. “It’s just, you asked me earlier about what my therapist said when I told her about our kiss.”

  Winston folded his arms. “Yeah, and what did she say?”

  “She said that it was good for me. She even prescribed more kisses.” She looked somewhere over his shoulder as she said it. “And, not just small ones,” she mumbled that last, her gaze moved to the ground.

  “She did, did she?”

  Ana made a sound of agreement. Despite the cold, her cheeks looked flushed.

  “What do you think about it?”

  It took some effort for her to look him in the eyes. “I’m of two minds. I enjoyed the kiss, but we’re friends. Friends don’t kiss friends like that.”

  “It’s just kissing though.” No biggie. He shrugged.

  He could see she was thinking it over, water still dripped down her face. Her hair was plastered to her scalp. “Yeah, I guess.” Then she smiled. “We may not kiss like friends but we are ‒ just friends that is.”

  “Definitely.” He had a thought. “By the way, we’re supposed to be fake dating right?”

  “Yes, role-playing.” She nodded.

  “We shouldn’t really mention that if we’re trying to be authentic. We agreed last time remember? I’m pretty sure your therapist would agree.” He wiped some water off of his face and raked his fingers through his dripping hair.

  She looked thoughtful.

  “We should be all in about it. Not mentioning that we’re friends and that it’s fake. We need to try to believe it’s real, even though we know it’s not. You can ask your therapist but I don’t think she would approve of us talking about being just friends all the time.”

  “You’re probably right. No more mention of it then. We’ll pretend we’re dating for real?”

  He nodded. Ana looked at him and he looked at her, another flush of red crept up her neck, spilling over onto her cheeks.

  “Maybe we should dive into that picnic basket,” he finally said, even though the last thing he wanted right now was food.

  “Good idea.” She seemed relieved.

  Ana wasn’t wrong. Friends didn’t kiss like they had. He wasn’t wrong either though, it had just been a kiss, nothing more and nothing less. For whatever reason, Ana trusted him, she felt comfortable with him and he wasn’t about to take advantage of that. He had said he would help her through her fears. Having said that, he could not cross that invisible line. It was not going to be easy though. That was for fucking sure.

  14

  One month later …

  “No fair,” Ana yelped as she lost her footing … again. She’d lost count of how many times she’d lost her balance in the last hour and a half. Too many to count on one hand, maybe even both hands. It was slippery, dammit. Very slippery. She put her arms out, trying hard to regain her balance. Why the hell did she bother? Ana was about to fall so darned hard. It seemed like the ice was rushing up to meet her, but in slow motion.

  Strong arms banded around her, just as she was about to hit, they whipped her upright. Once she caught her breath, she looked up. Winston was grinning broadly. He was loving every minute of this. The bastard! She had to smile back. He had caught her after all.

  She couldn’t help noticing that his arms were like steel around her, only much warmer than any metal could be. “Got you.” He raised his brows, a wicked glint in his eyes.

  “You lied to me. You are a terrible … horrible person.” Her smile grew wider.

  “What did I lie about?” There was a huskiness to his voice. She noticed he hadn’t tried to let her go.

  “You lied about never having skated before. You’re like a pro or something.” She was gripping his biceps for all she was worth, both hands full. Oh so very full of hard muscle. Ana could scent his woodsy, masculine smell. Her eyes dropped to his lips. She remembered how good they had felt against hers. So soft. The guy could kiss. It wasn’t just that she had been kiss-starved or that her ‘kiss-odar’ was functioning at lower than normal levels. The guy could really kiss. She didn’t have to be a frequent flyer of the Kissing Club to know that.

  True to his word, he hadn’t tried to kiss her after that toe-curling first kiss though, not so much as a peck on the cheek since. Even though she had told him that her therapist had okayed it. She found herself wishing she’d been more assertive when he had asked her if more kissing was what she had wanted as well. She had played that moment through her mind several times.

  Yeah, I guess.

  That’s what she’d said when he asked how she felt about them kissing for real. There was nothing confident and assertive about the answer she had given. If he tried to kiss her, she was jumping right in. It was a big ‘if’ though. They had to try it again. Just to prove that they could do it without her having an attack. That was the only reason … and maybe because she missed it. She was kiss-starved. That much was true. Winston had been right, it was just a stupid kiss. She’d totally over reacted when she’d told him it couldn’t happen again.

  “I most definitely did not lie. This is my first time on the ice.” He shrugged his big shoulders. “I can’t help it that I’m good at most things.” He winked at her.

  Ana stopped herself from rolling her eyes but only because she could just imagine all the things that Winston would be good at. Lifting heavy things … and … running … maybe even handling a vehicle or … lots of things … so, so many things. Not hot and steamy things though. No. She hadn’t been having sexual thoughts, just then. Not at all.

  He carefully released her. She was reluctant to let him go. Her jeans were already soaked through from all the falling. She was sure to have a good couple of bruises come morning. Ana pulled in a deep breath and slowly let him go. First one arm and then the other. “You’ve got this,” Winston said. “You can’t try to walk though. Ice doesn’t allow that. You’ll just land on that sexy ass.”

  Sexy.

  Ass.

  Her.

  Winston had noticed her ass. Had liked it. No, you fool! It was just a saying. He was just being nice. Shit! He was talking … best she pay attention. Ana nodded her head.

  “…and that’s why you have to slide your feet from side to side like this.” He demonstrated, making it look easy.

  “Let’s go ice-skating,” she mimicked Winston. “It’ll be fun. I should have known you would choose something like this for your turn at picking what we do.”

  “It is fun.”

  “It is for you. I’m wetter than wet.” She pointed at her jeans. “I’m pretty sure my ass is black and blue.

  His brow creased. “You are really wet.” His eyes seemed to darken. He skated backwards a few feet.

  Wet.

  There was that word again. Why did it make her feel dirty and naughty? Her mind should not tumble straight into the gutter every time he said it. Mind on the task at hand. Ana battled to keep from falling even when she wasn’t moving. Going forwards was almost impossible and here he was skating backwards. Backwards! “Show off!” she mumbled.

  “Come to me.” He gestured for her to move towards him using two fingers of one hand. His eyes were on her. “Like I showed you … slow and easy.”

  Ana licked her lips. “Okay—” One tiny step and she was falling again. This sucked. She yelped, bracing for impact.

  Winston caught her before she could land. He moved so quickly that she barely registered his movement. She was breathing hard, Ana clenched his shirt with one hand and grip
ped his … Oh god! She was holding his ass. His really hard, oh so fine ass. “Sorry,” her voice was shrill.

  Winston chuckled.

  “I’m so very sorry.” Her eyes were wide, her feet splayed too far apart. She was hunched over, her face level with his belly … abs … Winston did not have a belly. He had abs, a washboard, like the old-fashioned metal ones. Hard and ribbed. His ass was meaty and so firm it was obscene. “I wish I could let go but I’m scared I’ll fall. In fact, don’t move or we’ve both had it.”

  He chuckled again. “I think you may have fallen, just then, on purpose.”

  “What?” Her voice was shrill.

  “You wanted to grab my ass … get your hands all over me, so,” he grinned, “you faked a fall. You may as well just admit it.”

  She swallowed thickly. “That’s not true! I would never—”

  “You do realize,” his voice was deep, “this means that I’m allowed to get my hands on you right back.”

  “You can’t be—” She squealed when he gripped her hips and pulled her upright. Her hand left his butt and moved upwards to his back. Shit! Even his back was muscular. How did a person get themselves a muscular back? Wow! She looked up. Winston was grinning. His dimples were all over the place. So darned sexy. The asshole. He was mocking her. Her hand still felt warm from where it had been just moments ago. Oh god!

  “I’m so sorry,” Ana blurted. Her cheeks were so hot that she was surprised the ice beneath them wasn’t melting.

  He narrowed his eyes. “Maybe I should get myself a little off-balance.” He wobbled, his skates slipping out from underneath him. Ana gave a yell as he scrambled to get himself … the both of them … back under control. At this rate, they were about to become a tangled heap on the cold, very wet ice.

  A hand gripped her ass and she sucked in a breath, even made a little whimpering noise. His grip was firm. His hand hot through her wet jeans. Big and hot.

  “There!” That grin of his was back. “Much better.” The grin morphed into a smirk.

  A laugh was pulled from her. “You’re too damned much. I didn’t grab your ass on purpose.”

  Winston seemed to think on it for a few seconds. “I don’t know … I think you did. It felt like you did. Even if it was a … ‘mistake’ …” He said it like he didn’t believe it. “I know you liked it.”

  Ana gasped. “Take that back. We’re friends, I would never—”

  “Friends don’t date friends.” He winked at her. They had agreed that when they were together they wouldn’t talk about the whole fake dating thing, or about being just friends. Doctor Brenner had agreed that role-playing worked best when both parties committed themselves. When the pretense was as real as possible.

  Then she remembered what he had said earlier. The nerve!

  Ana gave a small nod of acknowledgement about the friend thing. After that, it was game on. “I didn’t grab your ass on purpose. It was to keep from falling, but,” she licked her lips, “since you totally grabbed mine on purpose—”

  “You’d better believe it.” He winked.

  Ana shook her head, trying not to laugh. “I feel the need to make things even.” Using a resolve she didn’t even know she possessed, Ana gripped his ass. One butt cheek in each hand.

  Winston’s jaw tightened and for a second she thought that he might be angry. Maybe she had taken things a little too far. Then his mouth twitched like he was fighting a laugh. “Two hands? You’re using two. That’s not really fair now is it?”

  His hand on her hip relaxed.

  “I figure that two of my hands equal one of yours,” she threw back at him.

  He nodded. “I guess you might be right.” Winston looked at her mouth and she realized how close they were. Her chest was flush against his.

  His eyes moved back to hers. “I’m going to kiss you now, Ana.”

  “I’m struggling to breathe.” It felt like the air had thinned. “My heart is racing as well.” Shit! Was she about to have an attack … right now?

  “Yeah, and your cheeks are flushed.” His eyes glinted.

  “I know, what if—?”

  “It’s perfectly normal though.” Winston leaned forward, slanting his mouth across hers. Soft, warm … so good. He pulled away. “My heart is racing as well.” Come to think of it, his breathing was also a little labored.

  The hand on her ass tightened its hold, squeezing her flesh. She felt his touch right between her legs, in the form of a zing of lust. Ana moaned. To her horror, the sound was laced with need. Oh shit! Oh no! She sounded like a desperate hussy.

  “Oh …” She felt her eyes widen. She let go of his butt. What the hell had she been thinking? “That didn’t come out right. I didn’t mean it to sound like that, I …”

  “It’s perfectly normal.”

  “It is?” What was Winston talking about?

  “You’re a female and I’m a male.” He shrugged like it was no biggie. “I’m attracted to you and you’re attracted to me.”

  “Yeah, no, I …”

  Winston rolled his eyes, somehow managing to make that look sexy. He nodded. “Yes, you are. It doesn’t mean we’re going to act on it ‒ I mean really act on it. We’re having fun and enjoying each other’s company.”

  She nodded. “It’s not a big deal if we’re attracted to one another? It doesn’t mean anything?”

  “That’s what I said.”

  “Yeah.” She nodded.

  “It’s not even weird that I’m going to go back to my room later and …” He bit down on his bottom lip. Then he huffed out a breath. “Never mind.”

  “What?” she asked. There was something about the look in his eyes, the way he bit down on his lip that had her blood rushing through her veins. “What are you going to do when you go back to your room?” Although she could guess, like a sadistic maniac, she needed to hear him say it.

  “You don’t want to know.” His eyes seemed to darken. He pushed his lips together and breathed out of his nose.

  “Oh, but I do.” She sounded all breathless. She shouldn’t be pushing this but she wanted to know. Had to know.

  He leaned in close, his mouth right next to her ear. “I’m going to make myself come so damned hard just thinking about that moan.”

  She tried to hold back the gasp and failed. Even that sounded desperate and horny.

  “I have needs,” Winston went on. “Just because I’m not having sex doesn’t mean I’m not getting off … getting myself off.”

  “I’ve become an expert in that.” Oh flip! What the hell was wrong with her? She hadn’t just said that! Ana squeezed her eyes shut. Maybe he had shared with her, but that didn’t automatically mean that she needed to share with him as well.

  “Four years is a long time.”

  “Very long. Infinitely long. So long that I’ve become somewhat of an expert in making myself come,” she expanded on her earlier statement, her eyes were still shut. She cracked them open. What was wrong with her? What possessed her to say that as well? There was sharing and then there was oversharing.

  Winston’s nostrils were flared. He was breathing deeply. “You need to tell me … I really need to know, do you use one of those human vibrating devices or,” his voice was low and deep, “do you use your hand?”

  Flip! She was breathing deeply as well. “My hand,” she whispered. She’d said so much already, may as well go the whole damned hog.

  He groaned. “I knew it.”

  “We shouldn’t be talking about this. It … it doesn’t seem right.” She was still holding his ass with both her hands. He was still squeezing her left butt cheek in his.

  “You’re probably right.” He sounded disappointed. “Although, masturbation is a perfectly normal thing. You know that, don’t you?”

  Ana made a sound of acknowledgment as she slid her hands onto his hips. There, that was better.

  Winston let go of her ass as well. Then he released her completely. She made herself do the same and she nearly fell, scramb
ling to stay upright. He chuckled, grabbing hold of her again … this time, he held her arms. “I’m going to let go of you and you’re going to skate to me again.”

  “I think that maybe I’m done.”

  “I’m going to teach you how to skate, even if it’s the last thing I do.”

  “Why?” she wailed, “it’s not like it’s a skill I’m ever going to need.”

  “You never know.” He let go of her and she managed to somehow keep her balance.

  Winston skated backwards. He gave a ‘come hither’ hand gesture. This time, Ana skated two whole steps before losing her balance.

  Just as before, Winston was there in an instant, only this time, she was too far gone. Her boobs even brushed the ice. Winston growled as he hoisted her, his skates going out from under him as well. Not only was she going to fall but he was going to fall on top of her. She was about to be really cold and really squashed. Like a frozen pancake.

  Instead of landing on the ice, face down, she experienced a moment of suspension, her stomach gave a lurch as it felt like it was being pulled from her body. Ana landed on something warm. Unyielding, although not nearly as hard as the ice.

  Her face was right next to his, their breath mingled. She was chest-to-chest and cheek-to-cheek with Winston. She was straddling his big body. Her body reacted. Ana reminded herself Winston was a guy and that she was a woman. It was perfectly normal.

  “Your heart is racing.” Winston’s chest rumbled against hers as he spoke.

  “Yup,” a whisper.

  “Your breathing is faster,” another deep rumble.

  “Yes.”

  He clasped her upper arms and pulled her away slightly, making them almost nose-to-nose. “Just as I thought.” A sexy half-smile appeared on his lips. His beautiful lips. “Your cheeks are flushed.”

  “They are?”

  He nodded. “Are you having a panic attack?”

  She gave the smallest shake of the head, unable to take her eyes off of his. “I don’t think so.”