Outcast BoxSet

by Emilia Hartley

  A word fluttered through her mind. She brushed it away. This was only infatuation, she reminded herself. Gage was the first person she’d connected with after chaos struck. This wasn’t that.

  “Help me with this, will you?”

  She looked up to see a padlocked shed before them. She cast Gage a confused look, but he only smiled and gestured to the door. With a resigned sigh, she lifted the crowbar. The padlock gave with a satisfying pop, much easier than she’d expected. Looking down at her hands, she marveled at the extra strength now flowing through her body.

  “Before we found you, I stopped by and took the tires of old man Faulkner’s truck. I managed to hook each of them into a different tree around the property. Watching him try to get them out was the show of a lifetime.”

  “Why would you do such a thing?”

  Gage shrugged. “Because he deserves it. Here, take those chairs.”

  He handed her a pair of chairs and she didn’t have a moment to argue before he dove back into the dark mess inside the shed. Once he reappeared, he directed her toward the front lawn, sparing a moment to hold a finger up to his lips for the universal quiet sign. Still confused, she nodded and followed him.

  It took a few hours and by the time they were done, Kaylee was tired to her bones, but she was surprisingly proud of their creation. Using a combination of old lawn chairs, paint cans, and anything else they could find, they’d created a strange tea party sculpture in the man’s front yard. Gage stood back, looping his arm around her shoulders as he admired their work.

  “That’s actually kind of pretty. Maybe I should have been an artist.”

  Kaylee almost said she could help him with that, but clamped her mouth shut. After tonight, they would never see each other again. That was how it should be. It would protect them both.

  They lingered under the stars, within each other’s embrace, for too long. Gage admitted that he wasn’t ready to go back. Come morning, it would no longer be the home he’d seen it as. Something about the moment pulled her closer to him.

  “We could go back to the car, at least.”

  Gage nodded, face far too somber for her liking. The weight of tomorrow cast lines in his face, ones that carved deep. She wished she could reach up and smooth them away. Her suggestion to go back to the car held more than she’d voiced. Her body thrummed with a deep desire.

  It pulsed somewhere deep inside her, resonating with the pulse in her chest. Kaylee looked away. She wanted to shove aside her heart, to tell it not to be so stupid, but she couldn’t find it in her. Gage stepped around his creation and into her space. His arm wrapped around her waist, as if the movement was instinctual at this point. She should have leaned away, should have pulled out of his grasp, but she found herself leaning into him.

  What could it hurt? It was their last night together and she wanted nothing more than to know the feeling of him inside her. If she left without at least that memory, without knowing what it felt like to settle her soul close to his, she would forever wonder what it would have been like.

  Kaylee didn’t think about how it might pull her back to Stonefall, how it might hurt in the morning when she would have to leave. She only knew what she wanted and that she was going to get it the moment they were back at his car. She didn’t want to return to Vancourt house. There were too many people always wandering through the house, too many sharp ears when she wanted this moment to be about nothing more than the two of them.

  ***

  Gage knew a part of him would die in the morning. It was all right. He would adjust to the feeling as long as he knew she was safe. The way she laughed while they arranged the contents of Old Man Jenkin’s shed had created light in his heart. The light glowed and pulsed like a beacon at the edge of a storm. He knew he was the storm and she would have been his light were things different.

  As they walked back to the car, he wondered if they would have had this connection had she still been human. If Killian’s feral shifters hadn’t bitten and changed her, would they have run into one another and bonded over something else? Or, would they have passed one another in the street and barely paused to spare a glance in the other’s direction?

  His shoulders drooped. If it meant she was safe, he would have traded everything they experienced together to take it all back. He would have wished her a life as a human, but a selfish part of him was happy to know she would live an even longer life as a shifter.

  As long as he could keep her safe.

  If they gave her to Killian’s goons like they demanded, they would tear her to pieces. She was a shifter, but she was untrained. They would enjoy her torment, like a cat playing with a mouse. He couldn’t let that happen. His hand tightened on her shoulder at the thought of it and she looked up at him.

  He offered her a smile, hiding the panic that had shot through his mind. She, in turn, let a demure smile slip over her lips. It heated her eyes and turned him inside out. He was starting to understand why she wanted to go back to the car.

  “I don’t know if there’s enough room for my big ass in that thing,” Gage warned her.

  She made a scoffing noise. “Don’t worry. I should be flexible enough for the both of us.”

  She broke away from his hold and threw a smirk and a wink over her shoulder. Gage’s stomach clenched. The bear roared in his ears.

  Mine. Ours.

  He watched her hips sway in the night, caught by the rhythm of it. His body heated, cock rising in heady appreciation. The blood rushed from his body, leaving his head light.

  “Are you coming?”

  Somehow, Gage found enough mental power to let out a quip. “I’m sure I will soon.”

  She laughed, and it was everything good in the world in a single sound. The bronze glimmer of her skin in the moonlight, the nearly electric colors of her bright tattoos, and the thick lines of her body mesmerized him.

  All they had was this one, single moment together. The bear shoved him forward, afraid they were going to miss their opportunity to sink deep inside of Kaylee. He closed the space between them and pinned her to the car. He grasped her hands and pulled them over her head, stretching the length of her body and forcing her breasts to rise.

  He lowered his head and placed his face between her perky breasts, shaking back and forth. She laughed and pushed into his touch. His hand rose up the length of her waist to sit beneath her breast.

  “You aren’t wearing a bra,” he growled.

  “Why should I?” Her voice was heady, nearly breathless.

  “You really shouldn’t,” he agreed. Thoughts of other men, when he wouldn’t be there, seeing her bra-less sent a sharp flare of anger through him, but he shoved it back. All they had was right here, right now. He was not going to screw it up.

  He told himself that over and over until the heat receded into the burning fire he reserved for her. He let it flood his eyes. When he looked up at her, he felt her breath catch in her throat. The bear growled with appreciation. He demanded more.

  Gage gripped her hips and spun her around. She let out a cry of surprise, but before she could move, he grabbed her and pulled her ass into his groin. Rocking his hips, he rubbed the length of his cock against her. She groaned into the crook of her arm, arching her back to press her ass into him.

  He growled. He couldn’t take it anymore. Reaching, he ripped the elastic band and tore the fabric down her legs. He wanted her, needed her. Holding her, he jerked down his own pants to free his cock. It bounced free, slapping against her ass. She let out a small growl and writhed in his grip.

  With a smile, Gage grabbed her and slammed her back against the car. His cock slipped between her legs. He rubbed it against her, teasing. She growled and moaned in his grip.

  “Tease,” she grumbled. Her fingers curled against the car, nails scratching the paint. She bucked and tried to shove herself into him, but he pushed her back down.

  Gage leaned so that his lips were close to her ear. “How bad do you want it?”

  S
he said nothing, only growled. Kaylee wriggled her hips and tried to inch closer to him. He could smell her musky desire and feel the way it dampened his cock when he rubbed it between her legs. It made him want to hold onto her forever. Only he would ever make her like this.

  “That isn’t going to work. Use your words.”

  She pressed her forehead against the cold metal of the car and struggled to find her breath. Gage’s hands slipped around the front of her. His fingers parted her folds to rub lazy circles over her bead of pleasure. They both already knew he could bring her to climax without needing to be inside her.

  “Not. Fair.”

  “Who ever said I played fair?” Gage laughed behind her. He let his teeth leave trails down the back of her neck. She shuddered in his grasp and let her head fall back.

  His fingers quickened. He reached and wrapped his hand in her hair. When he tugged, she let out a sound between a growl and a moan.

  “Say it,” he said, his voice lowering into a rumble. “Say how bad you want it.”

  Chapter Eleven

  She could barely hold onto reality. The glowing pressure of the pleasure pooling in her core radiated with heat. It made her head light and her knees tremble. It wouldn’t be long before she came, and he wasn’t even inside her yet. She tried to hold on, to wait, but she couldn’t stop it.

  Gage whispered in her ear and she lost it. The pleasure bomb exploded and her grip on reality was lost as she fell into the aftershocks. It pulsed through her until she was barely aware of her own name, let alone her body.

  “Kaylee,” a voice whispered, pulling her back down to earth. “Kaylee, tell me what you want.”

  She whimpered and let her head touch the cool metal of the car beneath her. “You. I want you.”

  Gage didn’t understand the full intent of her words in that moment. He reared back and slammed home inside her. She cried out. His cock filled her from one end to another, almost too big, yet simultaneously perfect. As if they’d always fit together.

  Kaylee rocked her hips, taking him as deep as she could before pulling away. Behind her, Gage moaned. His fingertips danced along her spine and she shuddered at the touch. Again and again, she took him deep. Each time, he hit a spot she’d never felt before. It sent jolts of pleasure to her toes, making them curl.

  She needed Gage. He was everything in that moment, from his cock to his boyish smirk. She wanted to wake to that spark in his eyes every morning. But, she couldn’t say any of these things, not when he hit that spot deep inside her and all thoughts were smashed to pieces.

  “I can’t…” Kaylee shuddered, her knees threatening to buckle beneath her. Pleasure pulsed through her, riding her limbs.

  Gage chuckled, and his hands gripped her hips. He held her steady while he pumped. Her lips parted, and a groan slipped out of her. With precision and rhythm, he thrust inside her. The heavy weight of another orgasm built. It sat inside her core, clenching around his cock. He tightened his grip on her, as if he, too, were close to his climax.

  Words touched her lips, but before she could say them, the orgasm rocked through her. Gage grunted and shuddered. The pulse of his cock inside her sent another wave of pleasure through her until she thought her legs would become gelatin.

  As the waves began to recede, Gage slipped out of her. She trembled and held onto the car. A smile touched her lips as she laid her face against the car.

  “I, uh, think I have something to help you clean up.”

  She could hear Gage fumble with his pants before stumbling toward the trunk of his car. He returned with a roll of paper towels. They were thick, not at all like the kind used in homes, but she accepted them with a tired smile. After a quick moment, she pulled up her pants and was left with a dirty paper towel.

  “Just throw it in the truck. I need to clean it out anyway.”

  She laughed, but did as he asked. As if pulled together, she gravitated into his arms. He pulled her close and rested his chin atop her head.

  “We should get back to the house. Archer will think something’s happened to us if we don’t.”

  She let out her breath. This was it, she realized. She knew the finality of it, but every minute, every second, brought them closer to the end of whatever this was. She pulled back to look at him. His beard was flattened where he’d rested his chin atop her head and a few strands of her hair clung to it. She laughed and pulled the hair away.

  “Velcro beard,” he said with a laugh, touching his chin to her head a few more times.

  Laughter warmed her heart, but it couldn’t chase away the feeling that she was doing something wrong. She knew she would be safe if she went home. Not only that, there were things she had to do, a life she had to pick up. The idea of leaving Stonefall shouldn’t have filled her with such a sense of dread, but it was hard to shake.

  After a long while, lingering in each other’s arms, they got back into his car. Back at the house, neither of them were quite ready to give up the bubble of peace they found. Gage climbed into the back seat and patted his stomach, as if asking her to lay atop him.

  She assured him she would crush him, but he wanted to hear none of it. Once she found a comfortable position, laying across his chest, he smiled and nuzzled her.

  “Do you have a tattoo parlor back home?”

  Kaylee stilled. The sweet moment was blasted by her bitter memories. “I, uh…”

  “If I offended you…” His brows were furrowed with confusion and concern as he pulled back and tried to look at her.

  She shook her head. She laid her head on his chest, listening to the thump of his heart while she pulled the story together. “I’m not a very lucky person, if you couldn’t tell already. The worst always happens whenever I’m happiest.”

  She didn’t say like now, but they both heard it. Neither of them mentioned the feeling weighing them down, the dread for the morning that would inevitably come.

  “I used to have my own shop. It was beautiful. I painted the walls with a huge mural and painted the store logo on the front window. I was so proud of it.”

  “Was?”

  She closed her eyes, pushing back the hot tears in the corners. “So, I had a business partner. We were the only tattoo artists in town, so we thought, why not? We pooled our money to buy the place and the supplies like cleansers and ink.”

  “Sounds okay so far.”

  She shook her head. “He thought my part of the cooperation involved giving head whenever he wanted it. When I said no, he reached out to his lawyer friend and pulled the whole business out from under me.”

  Gage grew still, very still. The only thing that moved were his gold eyes when they met hers. The bear moved in them, snarling and fighting to be free. But, her old business partner was nowhere near. Gage couldn’t hurt him the way he wanted, so Kaylee just rested her head atop him and let her hands roam across his chest.

  “You know…” Gage began, his voice hoarse. “I once got my nipples pierced. I thought it would be so freaking cool. I’d be the sexiest beast anyone had ever seen.”

  Kaylee smiled, but said nothing.

  “But I let the idiot do it the wrong way. He pierced it vertically instead of horizontally and I was so ashamed, I couldn’t take my shirt off for weeks.”

  Kaylee couldn’t help but laugh. She hid her face in Gage’s shirt and let it muffle the laughter bubbling through her.

  “Thankfully, they fell out after about four shifts. The bear didn’t exactly agree with my choice of fashion.”

  She tried to imagine the big and burly man with vertically pierced nipples, hiding them in embarrassed shame, and laughed even harder. The bear was smarter than him, it seemed. Just thinking about his animal made her rise with curiosity.

  “What was it like growing up knowing?”

  He understood what she meant. His head fell back, and he let out a long breath that made her sink into his chest.

  “It’s hard to tell. Everything about my past is shadowed by our father. If you can’t tel
l, we’re avoiding him even though he’s clearly dying. I don’t think any of us know how to approach the situation.”

  Gage paused. She glanced out the window to the room where his father probably slept.

  “What should have been a time where I thought everything about my life was cool and exciting, was filled with training exercises and a rigorous schedule.”

  “So, what you’re saying is both of our lives sucked up until this point. That’s pretty fair,” Kaylee said.

  “I highly doubt your life sucked as much as mine.”

  She snorted. “Is this a competition?”

  “I didn’t mean it that way,” he fumbled.

  “It’s alright,” she said with a smile, her hand rubbing over his nipples. “You’re right. I want to go home because I have a family waiting for me. My parents love me and support me. Even my step-father loves me like his own. I don’t know what your life would feel like.”

  But, there was a pain in her chest that she couldn’t ignore. It threatened to tear her apart, much worse than when she lost her shop. This would forever cut her in half and she knew it.

  Then why did she agree to it?

  ***

  Gage could tell he’d fucked up. Kaylee’s head dropped, and her eyes moved elsewhere. His heart thumped double-time. How did he fix this? How could he make her smile again? It was all he wanted, to see Kaylee smile. Seeing that light on her face drove away the shadows in his mind. It cleared out the bitterness that haunted him over the years, something he’d never been able to achieve on his own.

  Why did this woman, a stray who fell into his lap, affect him so? His hands roamed up and down her back, enjoying the planes of muscle and rise of her ass. From day one, when he plucked her out of that alley, she’d had his heart in a twist and he wasn’t sure he was ready to let go.

  He could leave with her, if she allowed. The idea zinged through him, electric. His fingers curled against her skin in response. No one in Stonefall cared about him, no one would miss him if he left. Maybe then, he would find a small amount of happiness.