“Yeah. Why are you up?”
“It’s six thirty, I’ve been up an hour already.”
I shook my head again. “I’m going to milk the cows and let them out into the pasture, collect the eggs and feed the chickens, and then I’m going back to bed. I don’t wake up until nine or ten on days I work, and sometimes noon or later on the weekends.” Thank goodness Maggie had shown me how to use the milking machine and taught me the routine.
“You stayed human last night.”
I smiled as I realized he was right. “Two nights in a row. Maybe I can keep the streak going.”
“Let’s take care of the animals and then feed you.”
“I don’t think you heard me. It’s too early for breakfast. I’m going back to sleep after I take care of the morning farm chores. Breakfast comes when I wake up for real.”
He shook his head. “It’s been nine hours since you ate. Breakfast, then sleep.”
* * *
I’d loaded my Kindle with reading material before coming to Maggie’s to be bitten, but I hadn’t been able to read the first week because it was all I could do to speak, at times. Reading had been out of the question.
Now, though, I was beginning to feel almost normal. I even wore underwear with my dress, assuming I’d be able to get out of it as well as the dress before the wolf could take me over.
Having Patrick around was odd. He was always looking around, always aware of our surroundings, but he talked to me at times, too. He helped cook and clean, he walked with me when I needed to move, and yet when I wanted to just chill out and read, it felt as if I had an audience, which was damned creepy.
“Your clients don’t read a lot, do they?”
“Come to think of it, you’re correct. How did you know?”
“Because it’s the only time you’ve made me feel unnerved. It’s like you’ve had practice in how to make me feel comfortable around you for the other activities, but not this one.”
“Most human bodyguards refuse any kind of conversation. As a wolf, I can pay attention to our surroundings while we talk, but the downside is that you notice the difference when we aren’t conversing.”
“I’m thinking if you were really here to be sure my wolf and I are okay through the full moon and a little beyond, then Randall would want us fucking so you could be sure I can maintain my humanity through an orgasm. However, you’re fully in bodyguard mode, which means there’s an active threat.”
He looked away without saying anything, and I nodded. At least one of the men had likely run into the woods and evaded capture.
Three hours later, I was tired of reading and there wasn’t anything else I wanted to do. I was restless and wanted to exchange my skin for fur and run, but I was supposed to be getting used to staying human.
“I clean for seven wolves. I’m thinking I’ll try to take care of a handful of them next week and see how I do. I’ll offer Maggie twenty percent of what I earn if she’ll escort me.”
“You’re supposed to still be struggling with control so it’s too soon to take you out in public, and yet you aren’t going to know how your wolf will react until you’re there. I know it’s frustrating, but stay human until you change for your full moon run, and then we’ll see about a few short trips.” He glanced around, listened, and continued. “You’re going to have to relearn how to drive. Your muscle memory will be off. If you’re paid up on your insurance, I’ll ride with you on the back roads.”
Chapter 8
Briana
When we’d cleaned the kitchen after dinner, I was back to wondering what to do with myself. It hadn’t been so bad with Evie and Maggie here. I’d helped Evie with her wolf, worked with her on some of her homeschooling projects, and when I’d been chilled out while reading, she was doing the same beside me.
I was attracted to Patrick, and yet it felt as if he were keeping me at arm’s length. He was friendly, sure, but he’d made it clear he was here on business and wasn’t interested in anything fun.
I took care of the farm animals before getting my bunny out of the rabbit hutch. I put the two of us back under the chicken wire frame, with me all curled up on my side in human form, and waited for her to come to me.
Within moments, she was leaned against my stomach as I ran my hands through her fur. My wolf let me know the rabbit smelled good, but she wasn’t trying to force a change, nor was she pushing for us to eat again. She was content.
I ignored Patrick as he stood guard about twenty yards away, and even baby talked with my bunny as I told her how pretty and sweet she was. Her ears flopped as she moved her head, and I christened her Flopsy. It’s possible I may have even called her my little Flopsy Wopsy — though I’ll deny it if asked.
I don’t know which of my senses realized danger was near first, but I pulled the bunny to me as I stood and knocked the wire frame out of the way with Flopsy in my arms. Would I have run towards the danger without the bunny, or is my wolf going to be the type to run from danger? I didn’t know, but in the split second I had to make a decision, I saw Patrick pulling his gun up with his finger on the trigger, and I ran into the basement with the bunny in my arms.
Flopsy freaked a little when I ran, but I managed to hold onto her. However, once I stopped and made little soothing noises at her — she snuggled in as I peeked around the doorframe. Patrick had already fired his gun twice while I ran, and now he stood over a dying wolf while it tried to change to human, and Patrick sank his knife into the shifting neck. I walked Flopsy back to the hutch, locked her in, and stepped to within about ten feet of Patrick as he sawed the mostly-wolf’s head the rest of the way off.
“Junior bit his girlfriend without asking her. She didn’t know werewolves existed until she woke up as one. Randall has her and will take care of her, but Junior had to die.”
“You’re sure it’s Junior?”
He nodded. “Dozer gave me a description of the wolf they saw running away.” He looked towards the back legs. “One back leg russet, the other grey, and the hips nearly black. Besides, he’s the only one not accounted for.”
“I’ve never disposed of a body before. Do you need help?”
“I’ll get all of my bullets out to make sure no one traces anything back to me,” he said with a small shake of his head. “We smelled what I’m sure is a coyote den when we came for you in the forest. I’ll take the body nearby and they’ll scavenge it and spread the bones. It’s easier to get rid of a wolf carcass than a human one.”
Two hours later we’d disposed of the body and built a bonfire over the ground where he’d died because Patrick didn’t want to have to explain anything to Maggie and Evie.
“So, you aren’t in bodyguard mode anymore?” I asked.
“No. Randall asked me to stay until Maggie returns, but the threat should be gone so I’m just here to help you control your wolf now.”
I’d kept a tight rein on my libido after he told me nothing would happen, but now I imagined what he’d be like in bed over the top of me with those strong muscles taking me and making me his.
He gave me a sideways look. “I thought you and Dozer were a thing?”
“Ummm, no. Not at all.”
“C’mon Briana — the room smelled like you’d had sex dozens of times. Changing the sheets didn’t get rid of the smell.”
“Yeah, we had sex, but we aren’t a thing. We just fuck sometimes. There’s no feelings, no relationship.”
“How many of the bikers do you fuck?”
“I’m not in a relationship, and I’m a werewolf so I can’t catch diseases. You don’t need to know more than that.”
He sighed. “If you and I are going to continue this conversation, I do.”
“How many girls have you fucked in the last three months?”
“Fucked? Five. No, six.” He grinned. “If you ask me how many I’ve whipped, flogged, paddled, waxed, or done a variety of other things to, I’m not sure I’d be able to give you a number, though.”
My
libido shot through the roof at the idea of him spanking me the way Bud had, and his raised eyebrow told me he liked the idea of me being turned on by the kinky stuff.
Still, he’d wanted to know how many bikers I’d fucked, and I sighed. “It’s okay for guys to fuck anything that moves, but not girls! It’s a double standard and it pisses me off.”
“You fuck anything that moves?”
His voice wasn’t judgy, more inquisitive, so I gave him an honest answer. “No, but I like sex and the guys in the MC don’t get rougher than I can handle, and they don’t ask for a relationship.”
“You don’t want a relationship?”
“I’m nineteen and I want to have lots of experiences before I find my true love and become monogamous.”
“You’ve been spanked and liked it?”
I nodded and he looked back at the fire long enough I thought the conversation was over, but he finally said, “I don’t do vanilla sex, and I have a specific set of rules all my play partners follow. I can be flexible on some things, but if we’re going to play then you’ll have to agree to the rules as well as the consequences should you break them.”
My voice sounded a little pathetic even to my own ears as I asked, “What are the rules?”
“Has anyone given you rules before?”
“Kind of.” No way was I going to tell him someone had punished me for gagging on his cock.
“There are either rules or there aren’t, and if we’re going to do this we’ll have to be able to talk to each other about it.”
“Sometimes I’m not allowed to orgasm.”
When I didn’t say anything else, he asked, “Can you keep from it? How do you feel about being denied?”
“I hate it when I can’t, but then later, when I’m alone and can do what I want, I masturbate to the memory of it and…” Fuck, I couldn’t believe I was admitting this. “It’s hot.”
“Any other rules?”
“Yeah, but I’ve never been the type to kiss and tell, and it doesn’t feel right telling you details.”
“Let’s play it this way — has there ever been a rule you didn’t like? Something that was a turn-off instead of a turn-on?”
“No.”
“What rule turned you on the most?”
“I don’t think it was the rule as much as the challenge of it? He didn’t want me gagging when he deep-throated me.” My wolf growled for both of us, and I told him, “This feels too much like an interview. Either you want to give it a go or you don’t. I’m intrigued, but I think I might be done answering questions until you answer a few.”
“You talk to your bikers like that?”
Well, no, but I’d just told him I wasn’t answering any more questions, so I stood and grabbed our fire stick, and moved a few logs around in the bonfire. “I haven’t craved junk food since my first change, but this makes me want s’mores.”
“How long until you turn twenty?”
“I think I’m going to go raid the kitchen for junk food. I brought a hundred pounds of beef when I came, and I haven’t had much besides it and the eggs. You want anything while I’m in there?”
I didn’t find ingredients for s’mores, but I found some hotdogs in the fridge and I grabbed two packages and two wire coat hangers.
“You were raised to learn to control your urges, so you’d be able to control your wolf when she came,” Patrick said when I returned. “My guess is you left home within a week of your eighteenth birthday and have been making it on your own since. You’ve grown up fast, which is why you don’t act like a normal nineteen-year-old.”
I hung a coat hanger on the arm of his chair and straightened mine as I stood facing the fire, far enough away the heat was comfortable. “I may like being dominated in the bedroom, but I’m not into it for the rest of my life. We aren’t in the bedroom right now, and unless you open up about yourself a little, we’re done with this conversation.” I shrugged. “I’m attracted to you and thought you’d be fun, but I think I’ve changed my mind.”
What is it about guys when they think we aren’t interested anymore? Damn if he wasn’t up and beside me in a heartbeat, his palm at my cheek so his fingers could hold my head in place, his other arm wrapped around me holding me to him as he said, “I’m thirty-one and much too old for you but my wolf doesn’t seem to give a shit at the moment. Tell me to back off and I will, but if you don’t say anything we’re going to kiss you.”
I was still wearing a simple summer dress, and my bare right leg slid up his jeans-clad one, and that was all the invitation he needed.
He’d said they were going to kiss me, and he hadn’t been kidding. Somehow, Patrick managed to engage both my wolf and me at the same time until I could feel her fur bristling under and almost through my skin — and yet I was in no danger of changing.
His lips were both aggressive and gentle as they claimed me, and all I could do was hold on and be kissed by this strong, powerful man who reeked of control and dominance.
When he finally backed away, he did so slowly, and stopped with his face six inches from mine. “I want you. We want you. I also don’t want to give you the same rules everyone else is required to follow — I want to customize them for you, and that means I need to learn more about you.” He kissed my forehead. “How about we cook and eat some hotdogs, and when the fire burns down and we’ve put it out, we can figure out what happens next?”
I finally managed to fill my lungs with air, and I let my breath out slowly before nodding. “Yeah.”
He smiled and kissed my forehead again before letting me go. “Yeah.”
Chapter 9
Patrick
I think I may have fallen for her a little when she crawled out from under the brush and faced Randall. She was scared but she wasn’t cowed, and she earned my respect before I ever heard a word come out of her mouth.
I’m serious about staying focused on my job while someone’s in danger, so it’d been easy enough to keep my distance while I was protecting her.
Now, though, with the danger gone, my wolf wasn’t backing off in the least.
There were some things I needed to know about her, though, and I hoped she’d answer my questions.
“I understand you feel jilted by Randall and don’t want to oath to him, but if there were another Pack, or another Alpha, would you consider losing your status as lone wolf?”
She looked at her hot dog a second before holding it above the flames again. “I don’t plan to leave Chattanooga, so it doesn’t matter. Randall’s strong and no one’s going to take his position anytime soon.”
“I was worried you’d be pissed or disgusted or… something, when I killed Junior.”
“I grew up in the Pack. I know the realities of our world.”
“Knowing them and seeing them aren’t the same. Have you seen someone killed before?” I pulled my hot dog off my coat hanger and ate half in one bite.
“Yeah, but I don’t want to talk about it. I can also tell that wasn’t the first person you’ve killed, but I’m not going to ask you about the others.”
“Fair enough. Have you shifted during any of your orgasms?’
“No. I came close once but he talked me down from it.” She took a bite of her hotdog and scrunched her nose. “Ewww. This is a sucky substitute for s’mores. I’m going to go look for something to dress these up.”
* * *
By the time we went inside, it was late and she was tired. I told her to grab a shower while I put everything away.
She was in bed when I looked in on her, and I leaned against the doorframe as she gave me a lazy smile.
“I have a cage in my bedroom. Partly because I’m not the trusting sort and if I bring someone home I don’t know well, I can’t sleep with them in the house unless they’re locked up.” She smiled as she realized I was finally giving her details about my sex life. “But even people I know well spend a good bit of time in my cage. They’re never in there clothed, but tonight, watching you with Flopsy in
side the wire frame — I was a little more distracted than I should’ve been when Junior finally showed up.”
“Why does that turn me on? It shouldn’t. I know it shouldn’t, but it does.”
“There’s nothing wrong with being turned on. I hope it means I’ve earned a little of your trust. I need a shower and I know you’re tired. Don’t try to stay awake for me. I think we’re just going to sleep tonight, and we’ll see what tomorrow brings.”
“Maggie texted me. She’s going to run with the Pack on the full moon and come home the next day. I guess she must’ve let Angelica know, because Angelica offered to come get me to take me to their full moon run.”
“I’d like us to run here, together. I know it’s your decision — well, something you and your wolf have to agree on — but I hope you’ll consider it.”
I didn’t need an answer right away, so I turned and headed down the hallway for my shower. The farmhouse was ancient, and the bathroom looked like it hadn’t been remodeled since it was originally built in the forties or fifties. Everything was clean, but the faucet fixtures had some rust spots and the porcelain finish on the tub was worn through. Someone had recently installed a new showerhead, though, and I suppressed a groan as hot water rained down on me. I’d made Briana sit in the bathroom while I’d taken two minute showers during the time I’d been responsible for her safety, and it was nice to relax under the water.
When I’m bodyguarding for Drake, we work in teams so the little things like eating, taking a dump, and showering can be done in peace because you know a team member is taking care of your charge. I hadn’t had this luxury for days, and I stood in the shower until the hot water cooled.
Bodyguards have a number of mental exercises to help us stay focused. When we first arrive in a location we spend time mapping out escape routes and hiding places. We imagine we’re attacking the location and figure out how we’d do it alone, then how we’d do it with two people, five people, ten people. We consider what we know about the person we’re protecting, and how they’re likely to react. When there are a lot of people around we stay busy analyzing facial expressions and body language, but it can be especially challenging to stay alert when in the middle of nowhere.
Careful What You Ask For Page 5