by Lacey Thorn
“But if not for me, you’d still be in that bar. And none of this would be happening.”
“Which means I wouldn’t be lying here with the woman I love tucked beside me. I’ll take the unknown over the past any day as long as I have you.”
“What can I do to help you, Tah? How do I help you?”
He pulled her tighter and buried his face in her hair. “Just love me, Abby. No matter what comes at us. Just love me.”
“Always.” It was a promise she knew she’d keep.
She lay awake long after Tah finally fell asleep. She had too many things on her mind. Memories of her parents. Would she ever get the answers to what had really happened that day? Harlan was the only one who knew for sure, but his story of the lion going crazy and attacking her wasn’t true. The lion hadn’t been attacking her. So how was she to believe Harlan’s tale of how it killed her parents?
And Professor Mueller… How did she forgive herself for pulling him into this? Had Harlan killed him? If he’d followed her in Africa, then he would know how close she’d become to the Professor and his daughter.
Oh, God! Was Jess safe? Was she already at the cabin? Or was Harlan even now hunting her down to get to Abby? What had she done?
She looked down at Tah, brushing his hair softly from his forehead. What would she do if anything happened to him? She’d survived the loss of so much already in her life, but she didn’t think she’d survive losing him. God, please don’t let her lose him.
She lay awake, finding comfort in the simple act of watching him breathe. He was so warm, like a big electric blanket warding off the night chill. So strong and powerful. She was blown away that he loved her.
It startled her a bit when his eyes just popped open. Brown with a swirl of yellow around the pupil.
“You’re awake,” she whispered.
“I need you.” He moved against her, and she felt the brush of his arousal.
“I’m right here,” she whispered.
It took some maneuvering, but they managed to strip without leaving the sleeping bag. Tah rolled her over and used his knees to spread her legs wide. One hand dipped down between her thighs, touching just the way she needed him to, while his mouth claimed hers in a heated kiss that caused more liquid to spill and coat his fingers.
“You’re so wet,” he moaned as he slid his lips over her jaw and up to nip at her earlobe. “So tight and hot. I can’t get enough of you, Abby. I want you all the time. Always.”
She moaned and arched up into his touch, rubbing her nipples against his chest as she rode his fingers.
“I want you too, Tah,” she promised, slipping her hand down to curl around his cock. “Now. Take me now.”
She heard the deep rumble of his sexy purr just before he moved his hand, wrapping it around hers where she griped him. Together, they rubbed him along the seam of her sex before pressing the head against her opening.
“Yours, Tah,” she swore. “I’m yours.”
“Mine,” he growled, his teeth flashing, as he thrust deep.
“Yes,” she agreed, trying to muffle her cries against his chest as he moved inside her.
“Feel me,” he crooned. “Feel me, Abby.”
“Yes,” she cried out again. All she could do was feel him. Then his earlier comment tickled her memory.
Pay closer attention when we have sex later, and tell me if you think it will work for me to use a condom.
She did her best to fight back the waves of pleasure that sought to steal her thoughts. It was hard to focus on the feel of his cock without losing herself in the sensations drowning her. God, he felt so good, rubbing along her walls. He was stroking every nerve to life, and her pussy was rippling and clenching around him. God, what was he doing?
“Tah?” She couldn’t keep the slight rasp of fear out of her voice. What was happening to his cock?
“Feel it? Feel how my cock is changing inside you?”
“Yes,” she whimpered as she felt her orgasm fast approaching. “I need to see,” she forced the words out, though the last thing she wanted was for him to withdraw.
“Can’t stop,” he growled, fucking her faster, his cock surging deeper with each thrust. “Abby.” Her name was a moan of pleasure on his lips.
“Tah!” There was no way to smother her cry. It was too much. The small swellings along his cock were growing even bigger. They rubbed her walls, increasing the friction and sending her into a cataclysm. Pleasure crashed over her, ripped through her, and sent her flying into an abyss.
“Feels so good,” he growled. “Too good.”
He lowered his head, and she felt the stroke of his tongue over the bite mark. Just that little touch had the power to throw her higher. Then he bit, his teeth piercing her skin again and sinking in to hold her in place as she felt the first heated splash of his cum. She shuddered and shook as tremors coursed through her. She couldn’t focus on his cock, on the changes in it. She could only hold tight to Tah in an attempt to keep from flying apart.
She was still trembling when he pulled his teeth free and licked over the bite.
“It’ll never heal with my constantly biting you there,” he whispered against her skin.
“It doesn’t hurt,” she assured him. “It feels…like nothing I’ve ever known. The pleasure increases when you bite me. I can’t explain it.”
A throat cleared outside the tent.
“We’ve got another hour before we should hit the road again.” Reno’s voice was soft as he spoke.
“We’ll be ready,” Tah answered just as softly.
Abby lay beneath him, his cock still inside her, and tried to sort through what she’d felt. He was still changing.
“I didn’t notice that the first time we were together,” she whispered.
He lifted his hips from her, pulling free and rolling to his back beside her. She turned to her side, lifting up on her elbow to look down at him as she waited for him to talk.
“It didn’t happen the first time.” He began to run the fingers of one hand through her hair, whether to soothe her or him, she wasn’t sure. “I noticed it the second time. Hell, if I didn’t know better I would have sworn I’d put on a ribbed condom. I don’t know what’s happening to me.”
She could hear the fear in his voice, and her heart almost broke. He should never be afraid of himself. “The lion has these things called barbs or penile spines that are thought to be a means of stimulating the female into ovulation. They scrape the walls during sex and are thought to be painful for the female when the lion pulls free of her body. It’s all about forcing her body into conception.”
“You said it didn’t hurt you?”
“No, it’s pleasurable,” she assured him.
“So far,” he growled. “But who knows how it will keep changing. I could feel each spot swelling more this time. And I can feel them along my entire shaft now. The first time I only felt them along the top of my shaft, just beneath the head.”
He was worried. She could feel it rolling off of him like a heated wave.
“Well, aren’t I just a lucky girl,” she purred, running her fingers up and down his chest.
“How do you figure that?”
“I’m the only one with a man whose cock is built completely for my pleasure.” She leaned in and kissed him softly on the lips. “And it is, you know,” she whispered as she licked along his jaw. “Pure pleasure.”
He groaned and pulled her lips back to his, thrusting his tongue in and winding it around hers. Both of his hands cupped her head and held her close. She speared her fingers through his hair just as possessive in her desire to keep him near. Her lungs were burning for oxygen by the time he broke away.
“If it ever hurts, you’ll tell me,” he commanded. “I won’t hurt you. Ever.”
She nodded her head.
“Say it, Abby. Promise me.”
“I promise, Tah.”
“I feel like there’s a war going on inside me. Sometimes I don’t feel like I’m
in control. I’m afraid to sleep or let my guard down, in case something happens and I don’t make it back. It feels like I’m ripping apart on the inside, like my body can’t contain whatever is happening to it.”
“We’ll get help. We’ll find answers.” No matter what it took, she would do anything to help him.
“All I know is the only time I feel like me is when I’m with you. As long as I can smell you, touch you, I can breathe. The only time I’m not battling is when I’m inside you, feeling you grip my flesh with yours.”
“I’m here for you. Anything you need,” she promised.
“I can’t keep from touching you,” he growled.
“I love your touch.”
He shook his head. “It’s more than that. I take you, and I just want you again. I feel your skin and my cock grows so hard I’m afraid it will burst before I get inside you. I ache and only you can soothe me. I hunger and only you can satisfy me. I burn and only you can douse the flames. I need you in ways that terrify me. I know that losing you would make me go insane, and I have no idea what would happen then.”
“You’re not going to lose me. I swear.”
“And if Harlan comes back? With more men?”
“I’ll do as you say. I’ll hide or stay wherever you need me to. I won’t put myself at risk. I love you.”
He shuddered underneath her, and she tumbled onto his chest when he tugged her closer, wrapping his arms around her.
“There may come a time when you fear me, Abby.”
“Never!”
He placed a finger against her lips. “Neither of us can be sure of how all this is affecting me. I’m changing in more ways than just the ones you can see and feel.”
“I’ve already told you, Tah. If it’s fear you see in me, then it’s fear for you and what you’re going through. It’s not fear of you.”
“We can be at the cabin today,” he told her. “Do you still want to go there now?”
Now? Because Professor Mueller wouldn’t be meeting them there. Because he was dead. She locked the pain away. She’d already cried. She had to stay strong for Tah. He needed her.
“Yes,” she answered. “He’d already contacted his daughter Jess and her husband to meet us there. She’ll be able to help us figure out what’s going on with you.”
“Will she still help?”
“Of course she will,” Abby assured him. “Jess won’t blame either of us for what happened. It’s not who she is.”
He nodded. “Then we need to get going. I can feel…” His shook his head, letting his words linger unfinished. “I can’t shake the feeling I’m running out of time.”
Fear curled in her belly as every prayer she could think of went through her head. She closed her eyes and thought of the Great Creator, the god of the paka watu, and she prayed. She prayed for guidance and for protection.
Please don’t take him from me. Please don’t take him from me.
It become a litany in her head, a prayer she couldn’t quiet.
Please don’t take him from me.
Chapter Nine
From the journal of Abby Lane
I tried to force myself to stay away today, but I failed. It was late when I walked in. The first thing I noticed was that Utah wasn’t behind the bar. I must have looked scared because one of his friends came up to me and walked me to my table. He said he would get my nachos and coke right out to me.
I wanted to ask where Utah was, but part of me was afraid to hear. Did I want to know he was out with a woman, so I could torture myself with those thoughts all night? But I tortured myself with them anyway. I kept imagining his strong hands stroking over some faceless woman’s body. His touch would feel like heaven.
I stayed for an hour but couldn’t bring myself to touch the food. Somehow I knew it wouldn’t taste the same without Utah there. He just made everything better.
Why do I torture myself like this? Who am I fooling? Even if Utah is the descendent of the great Tau, it’s evident he has no clue. The beast has slept for so long, for so many generations, I’m not sure if it can be reached. His animal spirit would be hidden so deeply inside him that it would take something incredible to awaken it. And how would Utah handle that awakening? How would it change his life?
I’m selfish enough to hope it happens. Vain enough to believe I could help him work through it and embrace the lion. And then what? Where do I turn when he has all the help and information I can give him and he walks away? I can’t imagine a day without seeing him and doesn’t that make me the most pathetic of creatures alive…
* * * *
“We’re almost to the turn off Abby mentioned,” Reno stated as he drove the truck down the highway.
They’d hit Colorado an hour ago. Abby was lying in the back seat again, while Tah sat up front with one hand dangling over his seat, lazily rubbing her arm. His fingers were warm and seemed to leave a trail of heat across her skin.
“How long?” Tah asked, as he tilted his head and let his gaze meet Abby’s. She could see the need in his eyes and tried not to squeeze her thighs together as her pussy clenched with desire.
What was going on? His sex drive was going through the roof. He wanted her constantly, and she was just as bad. Whatever those bumps on his cock were, they had her wet and screaming for more within a few strokes. Hell, they had her wet and ready at the mere thought of feeling them again. But this couldn’t be normal. Tah was still hard after he came, ready and willing to take her again and again.
“Looks like another sixty miles,” Reno said, his head turning as if glancing toward a road sign on the right.
“I need to stop before then,” Tah stated.
“Jesus, Tah!” Reno exclaimed. “Again?”
That rumble started in Tah’s chest as he gave a low warning growl.
“Fine. Fuck. Whatever.” Reno grumbled.
Abby blushed and for the first time was glad she was hidden in the backseat. Tah had made them stop twice already. The first time Abby had been worried when he’d grabbed her hand and tugged her after him. She hadn’t even blinked when he pulled her into the men’s room. She’d been worried right up to the point he turned her around to face the wall, jerked her pants and panties down, and began fucking her. She’d been boneless when they returned to the truck, and there was no hiding what they’d done.
The second time they’d stopped she’d questioned if he was okay. He’d had to carry her back to the truck after that encounter. Her throat was still sore from the screams of pleasure he’d drawn from her. No matter how great his need was, he seemed to settle as soon as he was buried inside her. Then it was all about her. He only let himself go once she was lost in her orgasm. Then his teeth would lock into the bite mark and his cock, with all those wonderful protrusions, would swell further as he came.
“Tah?” The question was in her voice as she called his name. She didn’t want to discuss whatever was going on in front of Reno, but she was concerned enough to try discreetly.
“I need you.”
Her face flamed red as Reno snorted as he drove.
“Are you okay?” she whispered the question, even though there was no way Reno couldn’t hear it.
“It’s an itch I can’t scratch enough. I’m burning up.”
“They make stuff for that,” Reno offered. “Creams. Antibiotics.”
Tah growled again, this one not so low.
“Sorry. Bad joke. There’s a roadside park a half-mile up the road. Says no facilities though.”
“Stop there,” Tah ordered.
“Tah?”
“Unless you want me to come over the back of this seat and fuck you while Reno listens, we need to stop.”
Abby almost sat up to look at him. His breath was coming hard and fast, as if he were panting. She should be embarrassed, but she wasn’t. Not yet. Not now. That might come later. Right now, her only concern was for Tah.
“Turning off now. Hold on there, buddy.”
She could hear the concer
n in Reno’s voice as well.
The truck stopped and Tah threw open his door, jerking the seat forward enough to pull her out after him.
“Just a sec,” she whispered. “I don’t have shoes on.” She hadn’t seen the point of keeping them on when she was just lying down.
Tah tossed her over his shoulder in a fireman’s hold and took off walking.
“What the fuck? Again?”
She buried her head in Tah’s back as Logan’s words reached her. She swore her senses were getting better too. She was almost certain her vision was better than 20/20 now. She could hear things she shouldn’t be able to pick up on because of the distance. Her sense of smell was off the charts, which wasn’t always a good thing. What worried her a little was the sensitivity of her skin. She was only soothed when Tah was touching her. Logan had brushed by her earlier, and she’d jerked away from him so quickly she almost fell.
It didn’t hurt. Not really. But there was a nausea inducing feeling that left her a bit clammy and shaken. It had disappeared as soon as Tah held her close. He had sensed something but hadn’t pressed when she told him nothing was wrong. The last thing she needed to do was upset him with the changes taking place in her. He had enough to deal with.
He stopped so suddenly she almost squeaked when he eased her off his shoulder and her feet hit the ground. She let herself keep going until she was on her knees in front of him. He’d walked them off into a wooded area, but she didn’t glance around. Her focus was completely on him.
“Abby,” he moaned her name.
“Shhh,” she soothed him. “Let me take care of you.”
She reached up and popped the button free then tugged the zipper down slowly over his erection. He wasn’t wearing underwear, and his cock thrust out as soon as she parted the material. She’d commented on it earlier, and he’d said his skin was sensitive. If he could be naked, he would be. She didn’t think Reno would be okay with that one.
All thought left her mind as her palm wrapped around him and drew the mushroomed head toward her mouth. A drop of pre-cum glistened there and she ran her tongue across him, tasting it before opening wide and sucking the head in. He groaned as she sucked, her palm rubbing up and down the shaft while her other hand slipped lower to caress the taut sac beneath.