by T. S. Ryder
***
Oliver wouldn't let her out of his sight until he was certain that there weren't any other killers in the house, then he told her to lock herself into the theater while he took care of the bodies.
She shivered in the cool room, sitting on the sofa, trying to wrap her mind around what had just happened. Oliver could turn into a gorilla. She'd heard of werewolves, even werebears and weretigers, but weregorillas? Even during her brief stints reading paranormal romances, she hadn't come across that one before.
There was still the chance that she was dreaming, but Mack couldn't remember a time when she thought she was dreaming while she was actually dreaming. That left being high, but the only way that could have happened was if Oliver had slipped her something, and there was no way he would do that.
Mack almost laughed as she realized it was more believable that he could turn into a gorilla than that he would drug her.
I'm in over my head. I should be running and screaming, not wishing he was with me right now.
The door opened and Oliver hesitantly stepped in. "I told you to lock the door."
"I guess I forgot." She pulled herself up so that she was sitting, giving him room. Suddenly she remembered the gunshots and jumped to her feet, running to him. He stopped, eyes widening. Mack grasped his shoulders, looking him over.
"Did they shoot you?"
"No."
The relief was more powerful than her confusion and Mack threw her arms around him. His skin was hot against hers, his muscles tense, but she couldn't bring herself to let him go. "It was Gedge. He knows where I am. We have to call the marshals and have them move us."
"I can't go anywhere."
"Why?" Mack swallowed hard as Oliver tensed. "Because… you turn into a gorilla?"
Oliver's eyes closed and he nodded.
"So… you don't have control over it? But if it's not until now that I'm seeing your… other side…"
"Usually, I control it just fine. But when I feel threatened, I change without meaning to. And I told you, I'm bad with social aspects. I sometimes feel threatened when no threat is intended. When I'm… that, I can't control myself. I am in attack mode. If anything is vaguely threatening, I go for the kill."
Mack nodded, trying to wrap her mind around this. She took Oliver's hand in hers, squeezing gently. He needed the physical contact right now, she was certain of that. "When did it start?"
"When I hit puberty. Up until then, I was a normal, albeit socially awkward kid. And then all of a sudden I was stronger than anybody else. I hurt people, accidently, because I didn't know how strong I was. And then I changed. I hid it from my parents. They never found out. But that's why I wanted to know about my birth parents so badly. I thought that maybe they were like me… but I have never found any hint of where I come from or what I am."
His chin hit his chest. Mack's heart went out to him and she moved closer, putting a hand on his face. "You've never told anyone?"
A shake of his head answered her.
"Oh, Oliver…" She wanted to say something, anything, to make him feel better. But what was she supposed to say? "I'm sorry that you went through that."
He took a deep breath and glanced up, his eyes searching hers. "You're not going to run away from me?"
She shook her head silently. Some part of her brain said she really ought to–he was a shapeshifting gorilla, after all! But now that she knew, there was so much that made sense. The constant vegetarian grazing. His outburst on the anniversary of his parents' death. Even his build was gorilla-like.
"I'm not going to leave," she promised.
"But I'm a… a freak," Oliver whispered.
"You are the most wonderful man I have ever known. As for this… gorilla shifting stuff, it doesn't change who you are. You'd be the same man whether I knew about it or not." Even as she spoke, she wondered if she could believe her own words–and then realized that yes, she could. A smile broke across her face. Her feelings weren't going to change.
"You're smiling. Does that mean you're going to stay?"
"Yes," Mack replied. "I'm staying. As long as you want me, I'm here."
Oliver wrapped his hands around her head, leaning forward. Mack closed her eyes and raised her face to his, pulling him closer when he hesitated. Their lips met, and sparks exploded under Mack's skin.
Chapter Seven
Mack had never experienced a kiss that fired her blood and had her gripping at her lover's hair instantly the way Oliver's kiss did. She pressed herself tightly against him, everything about him drawing her in closer. The firmness of his body, the way his lips caressed hers, the sigh of breath that tasted of ripe mangos and bananas. Even his smell, slightly musky and all man, was better than anything she had experienced before.
Oliver's fingers trailed down her spine, making her shiver, then started back up–under her tank top. The heat of his skin on hers was too much to resist, and Mack moaned, supporting herself on one leg as she wrapped the other around his waist. She gripped his ass, surprised at how firm his muscles were.
She was suddenly grateful that they had both decided to live almost naturally–the thin fabrics between their bodies were more of a nuisance than a barrier. The contours of his muscle against her had her own temperature kicking up a few notches.
The cool theater felt overly warm now. Mack's heart pounded with excitement, every inch of her body eager to get to know every inch of Oliver's.
He pulled away suddenly. Mack tried to follow, but he put a finger on her lips to stop her. "Wait, wait."
She still clung to him, staring impatiently. "What's wrong?"
"I just need to make sure I can stay in control," he whispered. "It's… well, it hasn't been long since those men attacked and the… gorilla… is still strong in me. I don't want it coming out."
Mack didn't ease her grip on him, but she sucked her lower lip between her teeth. "You think you'll change and hurt me?"
"Not on purpose. The gorilla is still really pumped up with adrenaline, but it's… excited about what we're doing." He grinned suddenly. "It's been wanting this from the moment it saw you. You're just so perfect for me, Mack. Curves in all the right places. Strong body. Steady mind, firm determination. And you've got enough of a grown up mentality that you calm me down from my, um…"
"Childish notions?" Mack supplied.
"I suppose that's one way to put it. But even though you help keep that part of me in check, I don't need to suppress it when I'm around you. I can be myself with you… you have no idea how good it feels."
Mack stepped away, pulling him towards the sofa. "I think I do. It's hard always having to put on an outside face for the people around you. I think that's why I haven't had any temper problems since I've been here… I can be me, too. I don't worry about whether you'll judge me by my weight. I can be in my body and not be ashamed of it. I'm just me and I love it."
One of his huge hands squeezed her left butt cheek. "Why would you ever be ashamed of this gloriousness?"
Mack laughed. "It's not so glorious to a lot of people. Even the ones who love me."
"I just don't understand people."
"Me neither." She ran her fingers through his short curls. "Are you in control now?"
He paused a moment, considering, then nodded. Moving his hands to her shoulders, he pressed her down onto the sofa and lay over her, groaning with desire. Their kisses grew more heated as their hands roamed each other's bodies.
Oliver gripped her top in both hands. There was a tearing noise, and then the cold air hit her breasts. Mack gasped, but Oliver's mouth was already on them, making her back bow and her insides squirm and tighten. She clung to him. Oliver's muscles tensed and throbbed under Mack's fingertips.
"So beautiful," he murmured.
Mack ground herself against him, hating that she didn't have the strength to tear off his clothes the way he tore off hers. The effect of her actions was immediate. Sparks of heart erupted everywhere they touched, and Mack let herself get los
t in the sensations.
***
It was several hours later that Oliver abruptly stood and pulled his boxers back on. Mack, panting and confused, propped herself up on her elbows–sometime in their fevered lovemaking, they had abandoned the sofa to lay on the floor. Her whole body throbbed with pleasure as she stared up at her lover.
"What's wrong?"
"If those men were sent by Gedge to kill you, then he won't stop with them." Oliver ran a hand over his hair. "He'll send more. I have to get ready for them."
The flame of passion was drowned as cold fear doused her. Mack scrambled to her own feet, looking around her for underwear. "We have to call Tom Meyer. And leave. We can't stay here when there's a drug lord coming after us!"
Oliver's brow furrowed. "Once he realizes that I killed the men sent after you, he will want me dead as well, won't he?"
That only served to increase Mack's panic. She yanked on her new sports bra, disregarding the torn tank top, and grabbed Oliver's hand. "We have to get away from here. Meyer can protect us. He's a US marshal, he'll be able to find a new place for us to go and be safe."
"Until I turn into a gorilla in front of him and he shoots me." Oliver's mighty body trembled. "I can't leave here, Mack. This is my home. It's the only place I'm safe."
"But you're not safe!" How could she get him to understand the stakes here? "You're not safe because Gedge knows where you are, and eventually his men are either going to kill you, or they'll discover your secret and then the whole world will know."
Oliver's eyes widened. His chest stopped moving for a second.
"The only chance we have is to get out of here."
"We can't."
"Oliver—"
"I don’t have any cars."
Mack stopped, blinking.
"Everything I need comes to me," he admitted, digging his fingers into his hair. "I don't have any vehicles at all. We can call a chopper in, but they don't always get my messages right away. There have been times when it's up to a week later that they hear me and head over. I've never had a problem with it before… And it could take just as long for Meyer to get out here."
"So we head out on foot."
"The road is the only sure way to get back to civilization. I built this place in the middle of a swamp to keep people away… No. You call Meyer and the chopper, but in the meantime, I'm going to get this place ready for battle. I know everything about it. I'll protect you."
Mack bit her lip, trembling. Tears pooled in her eyes and she reached for Oliver. "Can't we just hide?"
"That's not in a gorilla's nature," Oliver whispered. "We fight for what's ours."
Mack knew that well enough–the gorillas were always peaceful in the zoo, but she had watched enough nature documentaries to know that gorillas were gentle creatures most of the time, but would fight to the death in defending each other. Especially silverbacks defending their mates. Her trembling increased.
"Oliver, please. This isn't how it's supposed to be. You can protect me by staying with me, finding a place to hide where they can't find us."
His eyes softened and he pulled her tight against him. "There isn't anywhere to hide except that one place in the atrium. I'm sorry, Mack. But you will go there, and I will take care of the intruders. Now go and call the marshal. With luck, we won't have to deal with them at all."
Mack knew it wasn't going to do any good to argue, and they were wasting precious time. Yanking on her panties, she ran to Oliver's office. She phoned the chopper first; she got voicemail, and briefly explained what was happening while pleading for them to come right away. Next, she phoned Meyer.
"Bertha?" His voice was incredulous when he answered. "Mack, I mean. I didn't expect—"
"Some of Gedge's men attacked us," she interrupted, her muscles bunched and tense. "We managed to fight them off, but we think there are more coming. You have to come get us."
Meyer was silent.
"Tom? Tom, did you hear me?"
"Yeah, I heard you. I was just about to phone you, Bertha."
Mack closed her eyes, praying for patience. "Whatever it is you want to tell me—"
"Your situation is worse than you think. I just got the word. Gedge escaped from prison."
Chapter Eight
A day passed, quiet and still. Oliver kept her by his side as he moved through the house, closing every window and door. He cranked the heat up so high that eventually Mack had to fill the little hidey-hole in the atrium with things from the freezer and stay there. Despite the temperatures, Oliver was never sweating whenever he came to check on her.
"They'll have a harder time than I will navigating the house with these temperatures," he explained when she asked about it. "But I need you to stay cool and hydrated. Do you have enough water?"
Mack nodded. Down in the hole with a flashlight, she was tense and anxious, but with all the frozen produce and water bottles, she was managing to stay quite cool. She grasped Oliver's hand in hers, refusing to cry–if there was running and fighting to do later, she couldn't waste any precious moisture now.
"Do you think Gedge will come himself?" Would he make her watch him kill Oliver, or would he put a bullet in her brain, like he did with her boss?
"I don't know. I hope so." Oliver curled his lips back; both upper and lower canines were huge in comparison to his incisors. "I'll kill him one way or another."
Mack shivered. "Oliver, please—"
"I'll do my best not to die, too." He brushed a finger along her jaw. "But you have to realize… you are the most important thing to me right now. Here," he shoved a gun into her hand before she could argue further. "Use it if you have to."
"Where—"
"I took it off one of the bodies. Now listen carefully. If you are discovered, shoot first. Don't hang around to see if they're going to do anything. Take them out and get outside. Use that window," he pointed, and Mack nodded when she saw the one he meant. "It's the only safe way out of the house at the moment, other than off the roof. Don't stick around inside. I have too many traps. Get out and run into the swamps. Head north. The alligators that way aren't as aggressive. I'll find you."
Mack nodded. She desperately wished that she could do something more, or that she was able to fight back side by side with Oliver rather than cower in her hole, waiting for something to happen.
"Don't come out until I get you. Not for anything."
Mack nodded, and Oliver lowered the trapdoor again, sealing her in with the frozen lentils and beans. Mack closed her eyes, trying to get a little rest before all hell broke loose.
***
She had not been expecting the explosions. When the deafening sounds shook her small hiding spot, Mack gasped and clutched the gun tighter. She turned the flashlight off, afraid that it was dark out and she'd give away her position, but then turned it on again, knowing if it was bright out, she'd be blinded by the harsh light if her eyes adjusted to the dark. Besides, the trapdoor was sealed tight. No light could escape it.
Gunfire sounded like a distant crack of thunder. Was it Gedge and his men, or the traps Oliver had set?
It wouldn't be Meyer–she had convinced Oliver to phone him and tell him about the two safe exit points. If the marshal did show up, he wouldn’t enter through the door. Unless Gedge and Meyer had both shown up at the same time.
Panicking wasn't going to help and she took in a deep breath, held it, and then let it out slowly. She couldn’t do anything about the pounding of her heart, though, or the anxiety that coursed through her. More gunfire. More explosions. Then silence.
"Bertha?"
Mack's heart jolted at the muffled sound of Tom Meyer's voice. She threw open the trap door, scrambling out. Meyer jumped. He was only a few feet from her hiding place, and relief crossed his face as he stomped over to her. "Hurry, we have a chopper on the roof but this place is crawling with Gedge's men. Where's Oliver?"
Mack shook her head, her relief at seeing Meyer disappearing as anxiety for Oliver clawed at he
r gut. Was he okay? "Have you seen a gorilla?"
Tom's eyes widened. Sweat dripped down the side of his face. "A gorilla?"
"Oliver has a gorilla that's trained to protect him," she muttered, unwilling to say anymore. "He's probably… with it."
Meyer shook his head. "My men will find him, but it's important we get you out of here. It's hot as blazes in here!"
"Oliver's good with heat." Sweat was already beginning to bead on Mack's forehead. She clutched the gun as Meyer began leading her away. He cast a surprised glance at it.
"You should give that to me." He moved to take it.
Mack shook her head. "No. You have a gun. I can defend myself."
"And how will you know who's your enemy and who's a friend?"
"If they shoot at us, I shoot back."
Mack lifted her chin and glared at him. She didn't even really know how to use the handgun, other than to point and pull the trigger, but just having it in her hand was a comfort. Meyer frowned at her, but shook his head and continued on.
There were intermittent bursts of gunfire, but they met no resistance as they made their way through the house. Mack was tense, on edge, expecting at any moment that Gedge would appear behind them and shoot them in the back. Her heart was in her throat, but he made no appearances. His men didn't block their way. Her heart lifted as they neared the rooftop–if Oliver somehow made his way up as well, everything would be perfect.
Or so she thought.
When they emerged onto the roof, Mack gasped. Half a dozen men were standing near a black helicopter. She didn't see the way the men stood loosely, with their hands on holstered guns, or the way they stood in a protective semi-circle. All she saw was the man standing in the middle of them.
Gedge. Tall, with pale skin and striking blue eyes. Hair the color of corn silk. Muscular build. In another lifetime, he could have been a movie star. He smiled.
Mack brought her gun up, but before she could pull the trigger, Meyer snatched the weapon from her. She turned shocked eyes on him, and he shrugged at her. He turned the gun on her and prodded her forward with a jerk of his head.