by Liza Street
Marius: Then tutor me in your ways, insult master.
Hayley: You should be so lucky.
Her hand hovered over the screen as she thought about Marius, and the other night with him. Fuckballs, she couldn’t resist this guy. What are you up to? I’m getting ready to binge-watch Stranger Things. Wanna join me?
He didn’t respond right away, and she cursed. Then he wrote, Are you asking me to watch Netflix and chill?
Hayley: Would you say yes if I was?
Marius: Hell yes. But I’m out of town on work. That last job of the season.
Hayley muttered a curse and frowned at her phone. Just when she’d started feeling frisky. Just thinking about him already had wetness gathering between her legs. While she tried to think of something to say back to him, another message popped up on the screen.
Marius: Are you thinking about Tuesday night? Because I can’t stop thinking about it.
She didn’t want to admit it, but she wrote, Yes.
Marius: You were so hot, the way you held me with your legs.
She giggled to herself even as tendrils of lust spread through her body. Were they really doing this? She wrote, Where are you right now?
Marius: In my tent. We won’t be in range tomorrow, too far out in the wilderness.
Hayley: Are you alone in your tent?
Marius: Yeah. Are you alone at home?
Hayley: Uh huh.
Marius: Touch yourself, and imagine it’s me.
He’d never know if she didn’t do it. Except she wanted to do it. She reached into her sweatpants and touched herself. Wetness gathered around her finger. If that were Marius’s hand, hell, she’d be coming already.
Marius: Did you do it?
She took her hand out of her pants and wiped it on a tissue.
Hayley: Hard to do that and text at the same time.
Her phone rang a second later.
Chapter Twelve
Her voice was breathless when she answered the call, and Marius grinned.
“Put it on speaker phone,” he said, lying back on his sleeping bag.
“Aren’t you afraid people will hear you?” she asked.
His tent was fairly far away from the others. This trip was a company retreat for a Seattle start-up, and they were doing their own activities. Trust-building stuff. Soul-baring. Drinking. Marius didn’t need to be a part of any of that. While he talked, he got his cock out of his pants and gave it a stroke. “I’m not putting you on speaker phone, because I know how loud you get. Unlike some people, I can keep my voice down.”
She made a noise of frustration.
He chuckled. “Now, where were we?”
“I think you know exactly where we were.”
“Do you want to come?” he asked.
“Yes,” she breathed.
His dick twitched in his hand. “Touch your tits.”
Fabric rustled on her end of the line. The thought of her touching herself at his direction made his cock even harder.
“Did you like it better when I tugged on your nipples,” he asked quietly, “or when I pinched them?”
“Mmm, both.”
“Pinch one. Pull the other.”
She gasped. He wasn’t going to last long if she kept gasping and making those breathy little noises.
“I’m right behind you,” he whispered. “Breathing on your neck, kissing your shoulder. Touch your clit for me while I pound into you from behind.”
“Oh, my—Marius!” she cried.
He couldn’t wait anymore. He pumped his cock rapidly and thought of Hayley, held fast in his arms while she came apart. He came with a groan.
“Did you have fun?” he asked.
“Yeah.” Her voice was still unsteady, and he could imagine her there in her apartment, nestling into her bed or sofa.
“Good.” Fun—that was all she thought she wanted out of this. He kept that thought to himself, because the more “fun” they had, the less like fun it felt. It was starting to feel pretty fucking real.
And Marius didn’t deserve that.
*
The next morning, Marius and the start-up company packed up their gear to hike to the next campsite. It was far off the beaten path, but for the first time, he would be turning off his phone with regret instead of relief. There’d be no way to contact Hayley until they came back down on Monday.
He hadn’t turned his phone off yet, though, and when it rang in his pocket, he scrambled to grab it.
“Girlfriend calling?” one of the clients teased, probably because Marius looked ridiculous fighting with his pocket.
When he finally got the phone, though, it was his dad’s number listed on the caller ID. Last thing he needed. Ever.
“Not a girlfriend,” he said to the client.
He ignored the call. He started to turn off his phone, but sent a brief text to Hayley instead. I’ll be back in town on Monday. I hope we can get together. Then he turned off the phone. He might not deserve Hayley Jaynes, but for some reason, he couldn’t stop trying.
He led the way up the trail, and the clients did their thing, chanting songs and ribbing each other good-naturedly. It wasn’t a bad crowd, as far as these things went. While he hiked, he thought more about Hayley.
The call from his dad was an unpleasant reminder of what had brought him to Huntwood to begin with. And Hayley still didn’t know the worst of his crimes. If she hated him so much for what he’d done to Summer, she’d never be able to forgive him if she knew the full truth of his past.
Chapter Thirteen
Hayley cut her run short, and this time, she didn’t even try to fool herself that it had nothing to do with Marius. It had everything to do with Marius. He’d be coming back from that work trip today, and she wanted to be home when he got back to town.
She thrummed her fingers on the steering wheel as she drove to her apartment. What Jackson had said last week, about Marius not being a bad guy…well, Jackson was right. And if he and Summer could forgive what Marius had done, the least Hayley could do was listen to Marius’s side of the story and put it in the past.
Tonight, she’d do just that. She already had it planned. They’d go to that diner off of Main Street, get some dinner, and then come back to her place and fool around. Or go to his place to fool around, she didn’t care. She just knew that she needed his hands on her body.
She pulled into her driveway. Her landlord, who lived in the house on the other side of the detached garage, was on vacation, and it helped Hayley feel like she had even more privacy. She loved these old houses in Huntwood. Each was a work of art, and there was always plenty of property on either side. This house had the added benefit of a long driveway and a line of trees which hid the property from the road. She couldn’t wait to start building her new place in the spring, but in the meantime, this was the next best location.
An unfamiliar car pulled up the drive behind her. A white van. She didn’t know anyone with a white van.
She scowled at the driver as she parked and got out of her car.
He climbed out of the van, hands held up in a “no harm” gesture. “I have a delivery here,” he said.
Truth—her shifter senses told her. She gestured toward the house. “The Moffats are out of town right now, but I can sign for it.”
“It’s not for a Moffat,” he said, going around to the rear of the van. He called from behind it, “It’s for Hayley Jaynes.”
“I haven’t ordered anything,” she said, taking a step to the stairs before deciding that if she really needed a quick getaway, she could just run to the woods and shift into her lion.
“Someone sent you flowers.”
He came around, an arrangement of roses—pink, red, yellow, and white—in one hand, and pointed to the side of the van. Crechetti’s Florist. Hayley nearly laughed. Marius had sent her flowers? She hadn’t pegged him for a flowers guy.
The delivery guy pulled a crumpled form and a pen from his pocket and asked Hayley to sign. Then he hand
ed over the roses.
“Thanks,” Hayley said, waving as he drove off.
She breathed in the fragrant scent of the roses. Gorgeous. Had she ever been sent flowers? She struggled to remember. No boys in high school would have dared—Jackson had been right because she had actively tried to scare them off.
Her sixteenth birthday. Her brothers had gotten her a bouquet of sunflowers, which, in February, had been completely out of season and must have cost a fortune. But this was the first time someone like Marius had sent her anything.
She inhaled again, and then spotted the card. Knowing she was grinning like a fool and hardly caring, she maneuvered the small piece of cardstock out of the envelope. A pastel floral print made up the background, and the writing was equally flowery. Delicate strokes of cursive with swirling curlicues. She nearly laughed. Marius’s handwriting?
But then she read the note. The message was short. It took her a moment to fully comprehend what she was reading, because it was so far out of the realm of her expectations, she hardly knew what to make of it.
We look forward to you joining our family.
Sincerely, Mabel Lockman
Mabel Lockman—the Spokane alpha’s wife. Alec’s mother.
The scent of the roses suddenly made her feel ill.
Instead of going up the stairs to her apartment, Hayley marched around the rear of the house to the bear-proof trash cans. She maneuvered the lid open and dumped the flowers.
How had the Lockmans known where she lived? Bad enough that Alec Lockman had somehow found her phone number, although that wasn’t as much of a stretch—she was friendly with several shifter prides, packs, and clans throughout North America after her travels, and had exchanged numbers with several people. But her address?
There was only one conclusion to draw—the Lockmans were watching her. Alec had found her at the bar. They knew where she lived. A shudder rolled through her.
Maybe it was just Alec watching her. She could handle him. But the whole Spokane Pride? They were strong, thriving. Their strength had been the reason Hayley’s parents had reached out to them before the war with the Clausens.
Her phone rang and she answered without looking at the caller ID.
“Hayley. The florist informed us that you received my mother’s gift.”
“Alec, I told you—I’m with someone.”
Silence on the other end of the line. Then he said, “That wasn’t true the other night. But it’s true, or at least partially true, now.”
“See?” she said, knowing her voice sounded desperate and frightened, but not really caring. Shit had just gotten real. “I can’t be with you, not when I’m with someone else.”
“You really believe that,” he said. “But you’re wrong. Who is this guy, anyway?”
Like hell she would tell him. She couldn’t explain it, but some instinct told her that the Lockmans were hellbent on Hayley marrying Alec, and she wouldn’t put it past them to remove Marius from the picture.
The thought of Marius, harmed or killed, made her sick with fear.
She hung up.
Alec called again, but Hayley ignored the call and blocked his number. Then she went straight to her text message app and pulled up Marius’s name.
When you get back in town, come over to my place. We need to talk.
Chapter Fourteen
Marius had to stop for gas a few miles out of Huntwood, just before darkness fell. A message glowed on his phone, from Hayley.
She was asking him to come over? A slow grin spread across his face. She was coming around—she wanted to see him.
Hayley Jaynes was voluntarily asking to see Marius.
He tried not to speed all the way back to Huntwood, but it was hard. He hadn’t had anything more substantial than a sun shower in four days. As much as he wanted to drive straight to Hayley’s and kiss her senseless, he had a feeling she’d appreciate it more if he put some time into his personal hygiene.
What she’d think of him if she knew the truth—he couldn’t let himself worry about that right now. Let her fall for him as much as he’d fallen for her, and maybe it wouldn’t matter. She’d understand. She had to.
Pushing it from his mind, he parked in front of his house, jumped out, and took a quick shower. Because he hadn’t shaved in a while, the beginning of a beard was back on his face, but he ignored it. No time—he had to see her, the sooner the better. Quickly, he brushed his teeth, threw on some clean clothes, and was back in his truck, speeding to Hayley’s.
Darkness had fallen completely by the time he reached her place. The chilly November air didn’t bother him, but he’d thrown on a coat out of habit. As he climbed out of his truck, he shrugged it off and tossed it over the seats.
When he straightened, still facing the interior of his truck, he paused. Something wasn’t right.
No time. He yanked off his pants at the same time he shifted. The sound of his shirt ripping filled the air and his shoes split down the centers.
Now a grizzly, Marius turned to face the massive mountain lion that had been barreling in his direction. It was practically on top of him.
Marius didn’t have time to think of defense. Instinctively, he crouched down, his foreleg flexed and ready to swipe. The lion leaped, and Marius knocked it aside. He kept his back to his truck and listened for more attackers, but it seemed the lion was alone.
The lion yowled in rage and pain and stood up. Ears back, it growled at Marius.
Marius’s nose told him this lion wasn’t Hayley—it was male. It wasn’t Jackson, either. Hayley’s other brother, Will? Murder was written on the beast’s face, its jaw open in a permanent snarl.
“Marius!” Hayley’s door banged open and she stood at the top of the stairs.
The distraction cost him, because the lion took that moment to pounce. It locked its massive jaws over Marius’s shoulder. The fangs punctured through fur and skin. Pain. The lion’s claws ripped down his arm and leg, shredding Marius’s limbs. Marius roared again and bashed into the side of his truck, pinning the lion. He put more pressure on his attacker, pressing him into the front fender. He heard the creak of denting metal.
Marius let go of his opponent and watched him slump to the ground. His shoulder was burning. Waves of pain rocked through him with every beat of his heart. He had to be losing a lot of blood. He swayed on his hind feet, then fell to all fours, nearly crumpling because his foreleg wouldn’t hold any weight.
A second mountain lion joined the fray, speeding forward in a golden brown shot from Hayley’s apartment.
The first mountain lion scrambled to all fours slowly. Its gaze locked on the other lion—Hayley—before it turned around and ran off.
The danger was gone. Marius sighed. He could smell blood in the air and he froze in alarm. Hayley? Was she hurt? No, she seemed to be nudging Marius with her nose, trying to get him to stand. Standing hardly seemed important. Somebody was hurt—Marius and Hayley had to help them.
The sleek lion next to him shimmered momentarily before transforming back into Hayley. She was so beautiful, in either form. He opened his mouth to tell her so, but a faint groan sounded. Had he made that pathetic noise?
She was talking to him, and tugging on one of his arms. Her words were fuzzy. Something about Alec. Was she calling Alec an asscabbage, or Marius? He couldn’t be sure.
“Up,” she said. And then she said it again, as if he couldn’t understand. “Up, dammit.”
She got him to his feet, and he watched her through half-closed eyes as she evaluated him in his grizzly form, and then checked out the stairs leading to her door.
“Okay, back into your human form. Shift back, Marius.”
She sounded worried, and Marius felt bad for her, so he did what she said.
The pain was excruciating. All the wounds that had been torn felt as if they were tearing again. A strange moaning sound escaped him. Odd. He looked down to see that yes, he was standing on his human legs. He shivered. “Cold,” he said.
“Shit.” She sounded worried again. “You’ve lost too much blood.”
He let her lead him over to the stairs, and then up. The scent of blood followed them, coppery and sweet. Not as sweet as Hayley’s scent, though. How was it possible to smell so good?
“Love your smell,” he said to her as she opened her door and collected the clothes she’d shed on the landing. “Love you.”
Chapter Fifteen
Now Hayley was really worried. Bad enough Marius had said he was cold. But then he’d become delirious with the blood loss and was professing his love for her.
On the bright side, he was standing on his own two feet and letting her lead him around. She was thankful for the cheap linoleum flooring in her studio. Her rugs, she could take to the laundromat and wash the blood out, no problem. Bloodstains all over the carpets might have been too hard to explain to the landlords.
She put one of Marius’s arms over her shoulders and led him to the bathroom, where she helped him sit on the toilet lid. He looked pale and miserable. She grabbed some towels and held them to his shoulder and thigh. “You’re gonna be just fine,” she said.
Marius focused on her face. “It’s true,” he said.
“Yes. I know it for a fact. These are some bad gashes, but you’re a champ. That was Alec you met, and he’s not a clean fighter. Sorry I distracted you.”
“No,” he said. “What I said before. I love you.”
She felt her cheeks heat up. “Let’s just get you cleaned up.”
Thankfully, Marius was quiet after that. She bandaged his shoulder and thigh, grateful for speedy shifter healing. Tomorrow, the worst of these would be scabbing over, and the others would be nothing more than scars. The initial blood loss had scared her the most.
Once he was wrapped up, she led him to her bed and helped him lean back against the pillows. She got a glass of water from the tap and handed it to him.
“Thanks.” He gulped it down.
“Of course.” Realizing that she was still naked after her shift, she found an old pair of flannel pants and a t-shirt in her dresser, and put them on. Nudity hadn’t seemed important in the slightest when he’d been bleeding out.