“This isn’t a rash decision or something I just decided on a whim Senka.” He began, as if reading her mind. “This is a desire that has been plaguing me for years. All those days spent alone hunting together, all those hours spent lying side by side beneath the stars, all I have ever wanted to do was find a way to tell you how I feel. To let you know that I care for you more than you can imagine and that I want to make you mine in every possible way.”
Senka gasped.
“I know you don’t return my feelings.” Duncan continued as he released her and moved away. Feeling the loss of his warmth, Senka immediately longed to have it back. “And I understand. Hell, I’m old enough to be your father.”
Running a hand through his hair he sighed. “Trust me, I have tried everything in my power to ignore these feelings, praying they would go away. But they’re not.” He smiled sadly as he raised his gaze to meet hers. “I was just hoping that maybe if we kiss, I can prove to me and you both that they aren’t real and I can finally let go of this foolishness once and for all.”
Senka dropped her gaze to the floor, stunned by his honesty. No one in her life had ever been this open with her, not even her own father. And his words had touched her soul. But as Duncan stood before her, pouring out his heart to her, all she could think about was how, if she did this, she would be risking the only real friendship she had ever had.
Still she couldn’t deny his words had moved her. Years after being abandoned by her family, he had managed to reach inside her and bring back to life the part of her that believed she was worthy of the love. And as she stared up at Duncan, into the fearful look in his eyes as he awaited her decision, Senka knew, she needed to know the truth just as much as he did, because to her own disbelief, she wanted it to be.
Afraid if she waited any longer she would chicken out, Senka bit her lip and looked up at Duncan. “Then try.” She whispered, meeting his hungry gaze with one of her own.
Duncan growled low, his expression primal. Without hesitation, he moved his hand to cup the back of her neck, then lowered his mouth to her ear. “If I do something you don’t like, just tell me to stop.”
Senka’s breath caught, the warmth of his mouth near her skin, sending all kinds of electrical currents through her body. Suddenly incapable of forming coherent words, Senka nodded her head.
With no other warning, he leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers. Still stunned that this was really happening, Senka hesitated. But Duncan wasn’t giving up. Instead, he tightened his hold on her and deepened his kiss, his movements becoming more and more demanding. No one had ever kissed her so passionately and her pleasure was immediate. Heat building in her core, Senka had no choice but to respond.
Relaxing into his hold, she threaded her hand into the back of his hair and kissed him back. Together they gave as much as they took, each matching the others movements in perfect harmony, as if they had kissed a thousand times before. It felt perfect, if felt familiar, it felt right. And as Duncan’s hands moved from her hair, down to massage her bare shoulders, Senka’s need for more grew.
Lowering her hands, she ran them beneath the hem of his shirt and over the rippling muscles of his abdomen. Duncan groaned, breaking their kiss. “Senka…” he panted, his breathing labored. “If we go any further… I don’t know if I will be able to stop.”
“Then don’t.”
Without waiting for his reaction, she untucked the corner of the towel and dropped it to the floor. Duncan froze, his hooded gaze slowly taking in all she had revealed. “Fuck…” Wrapping his arm around her waist he pulled her close and crashed his lips against hers once more. There was no gentleness in this kiss. Instead this kiss was ravenous, as if he was starved for something only she could give him. And by the heavens, did she want to give it to him. Need burning through her body, she reached again for the bottom of his shirt. This time Duncan submitted and broke their kiss just long enough to free himself of the obstructive material.
Running her hands over the rippling muscles of his chest and back she had admired from afar so many times, Senka groaned as his hands lowered down and grabbed her thighs right beneath her ass. In one swift move, he lifted her off the floor and set her gently down on the bed just a few steps behind them.
He stood over her, looking almost hesitant to touch her, so Senka decided to help him along a bit. Rising to her knees, she licked her lips, drawing his attention to her mouth. With a mischievous grin, she then leaned forward and ran her tongue from the center of his abdomen, up to his chest, and over the curve of his neck until she reached his mouth. Moaning low, Duncan reached up and fisted her hair as their mouths collided. Together their hands explored every angle of each of others bodies. It was wonderful, it was beautiful, and Senka thought for sure she was in heaven. With her body tingling with sensations the likes of which she had never experienced before, Senka just knew things could not possibly get any better than this. But just as the thought occurred to her, Duncan pulled back on her hair and forced her to look at him.
“My turn.” he growled, his voice low. Moving forward, he forced her onto her back and immediately dropped his head to her breast where he worked and kneaded the tender flesh, flooding her body with desire. Distracted by the torturous movements of his mouth, Senka gasped when Duncan’s hand suddenly dropped between her thighs. One finger covering that sensitive spot between her legs, he massaged her mercilessly as she writhed pinned underneath his tremendous weight. He continued his torturous onslaught until her desperation reached an unparalleled level. Needing relief, Senka blindly searched between their bodies until she found the snap of his pants and released him.
“I need you Duncan.” She panted as she grabbed his chin and forced him back up to her. “I need you now.”
“As you wish my love.”
Crashing his lips against hers, Duncan shoved his pants to the floor and lowered himself between her legs. Seconds later, their two bodies united in a dance of passion that left no doubt that the relationship they had once had, would be changed forever.
Around dusk, Senka awoke to find Duncan, half-dressed, sitting on the side of the bed. Elbows resting on his knees, he clutched his head in his hands.
“Duncan?”
Running his hand down his face, his shoulders rose and fell with an exaggerated sigh, as he stood and faced her. Unable to muster enough courage to even look at her, he dropped his furrowed gaze to the floor and raked his hand through his shaggy salt and pepper hair. Unsettled by his behavior, she tucked the sheet tightly around her body and silently watched as the man who had only hours ago spilled his heart out to her without hesitation or remorse, now opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water, unable to vocalize a single word.
Senka’s heart sank as her mind came to the only conclusion his behavior would allow her too. Duncan regretted sleeping with her.
I guess now he has the answer he was looking for.
Ignoring the crushing pain in her chest, Senka hardened her expression and swung her legs off the bed.
“Senka…”
He began. But before he could utter another word, a voice from downstairs cut him off.
“Duncan, you and Senka come down here and get something to eat!” Andria called. “Me and Bruce have something we need to discuss with the two of you.”
Appearing torn, Duncan shifted his gaze from the door back to Senka.
Plastering on her best fake smile, she rose to her feet and quickly gathered her clothing. Without looking back, she strolled across the room toward the bathroom, calling back to him over her shoulder. “Go ahead, I’ll be down in a second. Just give me a chance to straighten up.”
As she pulled the door shut behind her, Senka noted Duncan’s furrowed brow watching her from across the room. He looked as if he wanted to say something and the thought filled her with hope. Hesitating before she closed the door the rest of the way, she prayed he had come to his senses and realized that what had just transpired between them was no mis
take. Instead, Duncan smashed her heart beneath his heavy boots as he picked up his shirt and exited the room without so much as a glance back.
Senka stayed just inside the bathroom, waiting until she was certain he was gone before collapsing to the floor. “What have I done?”
Wrapping her hands around her head, she buried her face in her knees, and cried. She just had sex with her best friend… her only friend if she had to be honest with herself. Together they had not only crossed the line of friendship, but they had obliterated it completely.
For a few moments of passion, she had allowed all the trust it had taken them years to build together to be destroyed… and there would be no getting it back. Because there was no possible way she was ever going to forget what just transpired between them, and even if she could, she didn’t want to. For the first time in her life she got to experience what she was certain was love. Unbiased and raw, Duncan had made her feel as if she were no different than any other girl out there and that despite her race, she was still worthy of being touched and held.
Or at least that was what she had thought. Unfortunately, based on Duncan’s reaction, it didn’t seem he felt the same about their experience. Shame, regret, embarrassment, those were the emotions he revealed to her in those few fleeting seconds just before he left. And it hurt… a lot.
“Idiot!” She yelled a little louder than she intended. Pounding her fists onto the floor, she allowed the tears to flow freely. “Why, why would you do that? Now you’ve ruined everything.”
Curling into a ball on the floor, Senka lay there wishing she could somehow just disappear. Well she could sort of, but that wasn’t going to fix anything. And it wasn’t like she could avoid Duncan forever either. Because, like it or not, she still needed his help to get her sister back.
Realizing she had no other choice but to face him and his family, Senka heaved a heavy sigh and rose to her feet. Working her hair back into her ponytail, she secured it with the tie, then threw on her fresh clothes. After taking a few minutes to fix the bed and tidy up the mess they had made, Senka ran out of reasons to stall, and begrudgingly headed downstairs.
Maybe with his sister and her husband in the room things won’t get too awkward.
Approaching the last step, she could hear voices chatting quietly in the next room. But the second she rounded the corner and entered the kitchen, the talking came to an abrupt halt and all three sets of eyes snapped her direction.
Well, so much for that idea.
Dawning her fake smile once again, she slowly backed her way out of the room. “Ummm… sorry for interrupting you guys. If you want I can come back in a few minutes…” Out of the corner of her eye she watched as Duncan dropped his gaze to his folded hands resting on the table top.
“No Senka, wait.” Andria called. Rising from her chair, she motioned her into the room. “Come in, we were just talking about you.”
“Me?”
Taking note of the way Senka’s eyes narrowed on Duncan, Andria frowned. “Is everything alright dear?”
Not really. I just experienced the best sex I’ve ever had in my life with your brother, my best friend, and now he can’t even be bothered to make eye contact with me. “I’m just anxious to find my sister.”
At least it was a partial truth. But there was no way she was about to confess to Andria she just got busy with her older brother in their bedroom upstairs. Blushing just thinking about it, Senka cleared her throat, “So what were you talking about?”
“Your sister actually.” Looking slightly uncomfortable, Andria pulled out a chair for her to sit in.
“My sister? What about her?”
Settling directly across from Duncan at the long wooden table, she watched Andria pile venison and vegetables onto an empty dish. Once finished, the matronly lady set the mouthwatering plate down in front of her. “Go ahead dear, we already ate.” Famished, Senka didn’t have to be told twice.
Shoveling food into her mouth, she groaned in pleasure as the three of them watched her quietly. “Oh my goodness! This is so good!” she managed between bites. “Thank you Andria.”
“My pleasure dear, glad you like it.” A wide smile spread across Andria’s face before once again turning very serious. “Now let’s discuss your sister.”
“I guess this means Duncan explained to you why we are here?”
“Yes he did, which is why we need to talk.” Anxiously glancing to the guys for support, Andria turned her attention back to Senka with a saddened expression. “Dear, I think your sister was here.”
‘Idiot’
The word haunted him as he made his way down the stairs toward the kitchen where his sister and her husband, who he had since learned was named Bruce, sat around the kitchen table casually chatting. Nodding a greeting to Bruce, he raked his hand through his hair and joined them at the table.
Without so much a break in her chattering, Andria rose to her feet and went about making him a plate. Not really feeling up to eating, he adamantly tried to decline, and was rewarded for his efforts with a plate piled high with her home cooking. Resuming her seat across from him, Andria glared at him over the table, daring him to refuse her offer. Knowing this was a battle he wouldn’t win, Duncan ignored the amused smirk on Bruce’s face as he surrendered to his sister’s will and slowly began to take a few bites.
Appearing satisfied once more, Andria began to fill him in on the events and changes that had occurred during his twenty year absence. He tried to pay as much attention as possible, knowing this was all information they would need in the hours to come, but his mind kept replaying the look of disappointment on Senka’s face when she turned and walked away from him.
By the stars she must hate me.
The thought pulled him further away from the conversation and even deeper into his pit of self-loathing. Shit, I should have said something… anything. She had looked to him for reassurance and what had he done? Stood there like a fool and allowed her to think he regretted what had come to pass between them, when in fact, the total opposite was true.
Never had Duncan ever felt as certain about anything as he did Senka. She was his missing piece, his light in the darkness, and he couldn’t imagine spending another second of his life without her in it.
Only thing was, he didn’t deserve her. There was still so much about him she didn’t know. And once she found out… she would leave him forever. It was this thought that had plagued him when he awoke. The reason he had sat for over an hour just watching her in her peaceful slumber. And the reason he left her behind without saying so much as a word.
For in a few hours, Senka would know the horrible truth. She would see him as the monster he really was and there was a real good possibility when she learned of all the things he had done, she would try to kill him. He would if he was her.
“Duncan? Did you hear anything we just told you?” Andria’s perturbed voice broke through his moment of self-loathing and pulled his attention back to the present.
“Enough to know things haven’t changed much in twenty years.” He huffed, shoving a piece of bread in his mouth. “The Horde still runs the town and the police are in their pocket. Did I miss anything?”
“Just the part about them taking up a new business venture recently. One which has them very interested in getting their hands on this property again.”
“They wouldn’t dare.” He growled.
“Why wouldn’t they? You have been gone twenty years and are presumed dead. So who exactly is going to stop them?”
“I will…” He paused, hearing what sounded like Senka banging on the floor above them. Looking up Andria frowned.
“Just let me find her sister and I will come back and straighten all this out, I promise.” He continued, trying to distract her from the banging.
“Actually, you may be able to do both.” Heaving a heavy sigh, Andria turned to her husband. “Tell him Bruce.”
Confused, Duncan shifted his attention to the fair-haired man sitting at th
e end of the table with a toothpick dangling precariously from his mouth.
Switching the thin stick from one side of his mouth to the other, Bruce leaned forward. “About five days before you showed up I caught three men hiding in our barn out back. At first I didn’t think much of it. With us being so close to the border, we occasionally will find a rogue or outcast, using our barn to rest in. But these guys were different.”
“Different how?”
“Well for one thing they weren’t dressed like normal rogues. Instead these guys were dressed in those nice suits you see the Horde wear from time to time.” Switching his tooth pick to the other side of his mouth, Bruce leaned back in his chair, fixing Duncan with his gaze. “And then there was the issue of the women with them.”
Now very interested in this conversation, Duncan leaned over the table. “What women?”
“The women who were very obviously not Shifters.”
Jumping to his feet, it was all Duncan could do not to grab a hold of his sister’s husband and shake the information out of him faster. “Was one of them a really pretty blond girl with blue eyes? Maybe smelled like a Seer?”
“I don’t know about the Seer part, wouldn’t know one if I smelled one. But as for the pretty blond, yeah there was one that looked like that.”
“Chloe.” Exhaling, Duncan fell back into his chair about the same time Senka rounded the corner and came into the kitchen.
With her hair pulled back into her standard ponytail, she looked sexy as hell dressed in a form fitting black tank, along with her usual black combat pants. Just the sight of her in the doorway immediately had Duncan’s heart racing in his chest as his desire for her reawakened.
“Ummm… sorry for interrupting you guys. If you want I can come back in a few minutes…”
He could hear the uncertainty and aggravation in her voice. Figuring she was most likely still angry with him for screwing things up between them, he dropped his gaze to the table. And there it remained as Andria ushered her into the chair across from him and fixed her a plate. They resumed chatting and for the most part she remained quiet, that is until Andria mentioned that they might have an idea of where her sister was.
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