Hunter of the Heart: Moon, Magic, Madness, Book 1

by Vanessa Jaye

  “I am yours and you are mine, Tessa.” Nate slid a hand between her legs, captured her clit between finger and thumb and squeezed.

  She exploded. Kept climbing higher as he hammered into her to just this side of pain. She felt him swelling and growing harder, bigger, hotter.

  He gave a final thrust. Her legs gave and they both collapsed to the mattress as he continued to press forward, his pulsing cock emptying within her wet, milking grasp.

  A deep lassitude overtook Tessa. Nate relaxed on top of her. He was softer now, instead of so hard, in movement as well as feel.

  Satisfaction filled her. She was sure she was glowing with it. “Are we mated now?”

  He took so long to answer she thought he hadn’t heard her.

  “In every way…except one.”

  Tessa frowned and gave a great big yawn. “What do you mean?” she mumbled sleepily.

  He settled beside her, hugging her close.

  Just before the downy darkness claimed her, she remembered to ask again. “Except which way, Nate?”

  “It doesn’t matter. Go to sleep.”

  But something in his voice told her it did matter. Her mind stretched out to his in a bone-weary, half-hearted attempt to find the answer, but the day’s and night’s events finally caught up to her. She was asleep before she drew her next breath.

  As for Nate, he stayed up for the rest of the night watching over Tessa. In turns stunned at his good fortune and afraid that it would be snatched away.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Tessa woke up with sudden heart-thumping paralysis, fear scouring her insides. Then she remembered. She was safe. The fear vanished and her limbs became loose and heavy and a smile curved her lips. She opened her eyes.

  Nate.

  They touched with no urgency, no words, no buildup, sharing little kisses that hinted at things neither one of them was ready to broach more openly. They made vague plans for the future and talked in fragments about their pasts.

  Under her tentative questioning Nate explained a bit more about shifters, how they lived regular human lives within loose affiliations called tribes that were based mainly on geography but also on a mix of business interests, family ties and an intricate exchange of loyalties.

  At one point she cradled his larger hand in her own and studied the scarred fingertips.

  “Does it hurt when your claws come out?”

  “You get used to it.”

  Tessa frowned as she tried to read him, but he was blocking her out. Her frown deepened as she remembered the agony he’d gone through after that first encounter with the Pithcus. It was inconceivable that anyone could get used to that.

  “Liar,” she chastised softly and kissed the tips of his fingers one by one.

  She let his hand fall and he dropped it to her bare shoulder, lightly stroking back and forth as she continued to explore his body. Her examination had a predictable affect.

  “What’re you looking for?”

  “A hidden zipper.” She gave him a playful tug.

  “Sweetheart, that’s not it, but keep searching in just that spot, right there.”

  “Seriously, how does this work?”

  Nate raised an eyebrow, one corner of his mouth lifting in a smirk.

  “I mean shifting. Not your penis, perv.” She let him go to walk her fingers up his belly to his chest.

  He shrugged, much more interested in her continued examination or in pursuing his own but she put a stop to that with an imperious, “Well?” and a few impatient smacks at his roving hands. Nate gave up.

  “I don’t know.” He shrugged again. “The wolf is always there. Sometimes he comes out fully, that’s when the change happens, but most of the time he’s there in more subtle ways. I have better hearing, a better sense of smell than a normal human. I’m faster, stronger.”

  “Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound?”

  He laughed. A deep sound full of contentment. It felt good. “Not quite.”

  “But were you like born like this? Or did you get—”

  “Bitten by a werewolf during a full moon?” He shook his head. “That’s an old wives’ tales. Shifters are born with whatever animal lives inside them. And the moon affects us as much as it affects anyone else.”

  “Yeah, but how does it happen?”

  Nate shrugged again, not used to having to explain this aspect of himself. Uneasy also, because there were things he didn’t want to explain to her just yet. Or ever.

  “That’s like asking a bird how it flies. The change can be triggered by adrenalin or strong emotions.”

  Or hunger.

  He ignored the dark twist in his gut. “Mostly we change at will. We are. We exist. We have always been.” He found himself repeating words his own father had said to him so many years ago when Nate was still a kid and his father alive.

  “Caterpillars become butterflies. Chameleons change color. No one can explain the platypus. Somewhere in the evolutionary chain shifters branched off from our common ancestor—not fully human, not fully animal—belonging nowhere but with our own kind. We learned to keep a low profile because of that.”

  He felt her shiver as she huddled against him. “Someone forgot to give the Pithcus that memo.”

  “Don’t worry, he’ll get the message. I’ll make sure of it.”

  Nate drew her closer and pressed a kiss to the top of her head as wisps of anger coiled inside of him.

  Tessa wiggled out of his arms and rose up on an elbow. “What is it? What are you hiding from me?”

  “Nothing.” Damn, she was a little too perceptive.

  She frowned as fiercely as any she-wolf. “You’ve got to stop doing that if we’re going to be together. You can’t keep blocking me out.”

  “If? It’s a little too late for ‘ifs’. We’re mated now.”

  “Yeah, mated. Gotcha. I was there, you’re a great fuck.”

  Nate smiled, baring his canines and her blush deepened, but when he reached for her she swatted his hand away.

  “Don’t even think it.”

  “Is this our first fight?”

  “Maybe. Look, we need trust to make this relationship work, Nate.” She became serious again, as focused on him as a hunter’s scope. “I’ve trusted you with my life. Why can’t you let me in?”

  To escape her scrutiny, he rolled over onto his back, the tension coiling tighter inside him. “It’s better if you don’t know certain things.”

  “Oh bullshit. How can you say that? You got me involved in all this—with this insane monster going around killing people—and now you’re trying to tell me it’s better that I don’t know what we’re up against?”

  “I asked if you were sure about the—”

  “Can we forget about the mating crap for just one stinking minute? This is about secrets, Nate. Yours. Things that I suspect I need to know.”

  She placed a hand on his chest, beneath her palm he felt his heart beat strong and sure, but the rest of him felt frozen, and if it were possible he went deeper within himself, keeping every even potentially betraying thought and emotion locked away from her.

  “Nate, you can tell me. I promise I won’t freak out. Can you and Mitch really beat this thing?”

  His breath came out in a soft, whoosh. “Is that what you’re worried about? About me?”

  “No. About me.” A tight-lipped smile did little to hide the full truth.

  He traced her profile with his finger. “Don’t—”

  “Don’t lie to me. You’ve been hunting this thing for years. Is this how it’s going to be between us?”

  Nate turned back to her. “The Pithcus won’t get off this boat alive,” he stated implacably. “And once this is all over, you and I will have the rest of our lives to make this thing work.”

  It was foolish, but, “Promise?” tumbled from her mouth.

  “Promise,” he said, proving that he was just as foolish as her.

  Maybe they were a good match.

  Unlik
e him, she was an open book at the moment, raw edges freshly cut, bindings too fragile. She could see he was about to try and convince her that everything was going to be all right. Even though the sick feeling in her gut said otherwise. That this time between them was magic and couldn’t last beyond this room.

  Right on cue the phone rang. Judging by the way Nate hesitated before he snatched up the phone, he felt just as frustrated as her at the interruption.

  It was Mitch. She caught just enough of Nate’s end of the conversation to figure out that the men were strategizing their next step to locate and capture the Pithcus. Her stomach in knots, Tessa left the room to take a shower. She didn’t want to hear any more.

  She was almost done washing up when Nate joined her in the stall. While she would have loved to accommodate him, she was too sore. He responded by dropping to his knees and hooking her leg over his shoulder. Then Tessa was only aware of his hot hungry mouth, the soft raining pelt of water on her skin, the coiling pleasure that raced through her veins and their mingled moans.

  Much, much later, Nate backed out of the shower and handed her one of the towels folded on the counter. The other he took for himself. Though why he bothered was a mystery since he tracked into the bedroom after a cursory rubdown of his arms and chest.

  Then he shook his head like a big shaggy dog, whipping water everywhere.

  Tessa pursed her lips. Imagining it was the hardwood flooring in her bedroom he was standing on with those big wet feet.

  Nate gave her a smug look and a wink. “That mean I’m invited over?”

  She really had to get used to this mind-link thing. “Not until you learn the proper use of a towel,” she said, primly tucking her own around herself.

  He came back to her, and hung his towel around her neck. Holding both ends, he started blotting her hair and squeezing the ends gently.

  “I’m a fast learner.” He tugged, pulling her closer, then dropped a soft kiss on her lips. “And I’d really like that invite.”

  “Is that some kind of vampire thing? You can’t come in unless I invite you?”

  “You’re talking crazy,” he murmured between kisses.

  She wound her arms around his waist. “That vampires don’t exist?”

  “No. That you’d think a little thing like an invite would keep me away from you.” He chuckled, but his smile died almost before it touched his eyes. “No, I’d like that invite because it’d be good to know you want me as much as I want you.”

  “Then consider yourself given with carte blanche, mister.”

  “That’s a dangerous thing to say to a wolf.”

  “I think I like—” She nearly said she liked a little danger in her life. But that wasn’t exactly true. Not when it came to the Pithcus. No, what she like in her life was him. Nathan.

  She pulled back, taking the towel out of his hands. After years of keeping her emotions under tight wraps, never managing to quite separate or give voice to the mix of resentment and love she had for her twin and parents, the last twenty-four hours were a revelation. She hadn’t let anyone get as close as Nate was, and even then there were areas she hadn’t delved into. It felt like she was teetering on the edge of one of those areas now. Tessa kept her eyes averted as she stepped around him.

  “We should order dinner. I famished.”

  She felt the slight push of him in her head and she hunched her shoulders. Thankfully, he backed off. Nate grabbed another towel from the bathroom and completed drying himself. She couldn’t help noticing that he dropped the towel on the floor when he was done. Apparently werewolves weren’t housebroken. She and he were going to have a little talk about that soonish.

  He ambled back into the room. “By the way, Mitch suggested we all grab a bite together, get out of the cabin for a few hours. He’s bringing Angelica.”

  “He works fast.” They exchanged amused looks via the mirror as she wiggled into a clean thong. Nate’s gaze slid down to her ass appreciatively.

  “Is that all you think about?” Tessa turned.

  “Not all.” He ogled her chest. Honestly, she was surprised his eyeballs didn’t pop out of his head on stalks.

  “Pig.” Laughing, Tessa threw a pair of balled-up socks at him, which he caught one-handed.

  “Wolf,” he corrected with a leer worthy of his shifter-nature. It sent a delicious shiver down her spine.

  They both finished dressing, he in a pair of tailored black pants and white shirt with the two top buttons left undone, and she in a body-skimming knee-length dress in a shade of green that emphasized her eyes and made her tan seem more golden.

  “Nice.” Nate stood behind her and traced a finger lightly over her bared shoulder.

  She wished that they didn’t have to meet the others, that it was just the two of them going out for dinner. Like a real date. His gaze warmed as he held hers in the mirror and she was hit with a sudden, fierce yearning to jealously guard their time together from all comers, as if that time were running out. She almost said it out loud. There was only one person on this ship whose company she wanted and everyone else, Mitch, Angelica, Rob—her stomach knotted—could go hang.

  Nate spun her around, his grip hard on her arms.

  “He tried to force you?” His lips curled back in a snarl.

  Oops. This mind-meld thing is the pits. Tessa pressed the tip of her tongue to her upper lip. “It was nothing. He just got a little amorous. Nate, wait!” She caught the cabin door before it slammed shut behind him.

  His powerful loping stride ate up the carpet, with her taking two steps for every one of his. He filled the space—not just with the aura of danger that radiated from him, causing other passengers to give him wide berth, but he literally seemed taller and wider.

  The shirt that had fit his lean torso with loose elegance earlier now strained across his powerful back, the sleeves barely containing his biceps and the seams threatening to burst at any moment. His dress pants promised a similar fate, with the now tight fabric making his ass appear obscenely round and firm.

  A cursory glance might suggest Nate was merely clenching his jaw, but that wasn’t even close to what was going on beneath the surface of flesh and muscle. Bones were pressing to reform, teeth to sharpen and grow.

  He was fighting the change, and only just winning.

  Tessa tugged on his arm to no effect. “You can’t go up to the concierge looking like that.”

  “Like what?” His cheeks were flagged bright red and rage quickened his gaze to a flashing marquee of emotion—blue-brown, silver, blue-brown, silver.

  “You look like you want to rip someone’s head off.”

  “Not someone. Rod’s.”

  Does he really think that clarification comes under the heading of being reasonable?

  “I doubt the ship’s staff will appreciate that distinction with you snarling at them.”

  He wasn’t paying attention again. They’d reached the central foyer and Nate came to an abrupt stop, head tilted back as he slowly turned. Other passengers looked at him oddly, then looked up to see what had caught his interest. They needn’t have bothered. He wasn’t interested in anything up there. He was scenting prey.

  Who knows what he’d do, what he was capable of, when he caught up with Rod?

  “We’re going to be late to meet Mitch and Angelica.” She tugged on his arm again. “I mean it, Nate. I want you to drop this. Rod didn’t hurt me.”

  “But he would have,” Nate snarled, his voice a guttural tangle of constants and vowels. “He frightened you.”

  “You frighten me,” she said quietly.

  “Even after last night? And today? You made love with me. Slept in my arms. Not the actions of a frightened woman, Tessa.”

  Instantly, he whipped up torrents of heat around them, battering her with images of them together—the grunts and moans, wet and hot, pain and pleasure. Her knees went weak and she grabbed on to him more firmly.

  But she resisted the spell he wove, because now she identified t
he vague disquiet that had been hounding her since she’d woken pressed against Nate’s solid heat, her limbs deliciously heavy and body still hungering. It was a feeling that couldn’t be completely swept aside with kisses and caresses then, or cowed by intimidation now.

  “You’ve shut me out.”

  Nate didn’t acknowledge her statement by word or motion.

  “I can feel your anger, but I can’t read what you’re thinking. And that’s what scares me. You’re really, really upset about this, more than you should be. So why don’t you tell me what this is really about, Nate?”

  Tessa held his gaze. Outside she was all calmness, but inside he sensed her turmoil. Her clear-sighted logic pierced the black fog surrounding him and he realized that she was right, this was more than the natural reaction of a wolf when his mate was threatened. More than the residual guilt he’d never be rid of for failing to protect his first mate.

  A hunger churned inside of him. Not just to hurt Rod, but more. He wanted to make fear sing in the human’s veins, to see the whites of his eyes bulge in terror and hear the sweet racing beat of his pulses grow faster and louder until that first bite—

  No! He would not give in to this. Nate fought for control while his heart thudded against his ribs, filling his head with a staccato echo. And that echo said, Tell her. No. Tell her. No.

  Tessa might accept what she thought she knew of him, the man and the wolf. How would she feel about the monster?

  Nate became aware of his surroundings again, the milling humans, the long concierge desk to one side, the sweeping stairs and bank of elevators on the other and the doors behind Tessa that led outside. The fresh sea air helped clear his head further.

  Then his focus, his world, shrunk down to Tessa herself, staring up at him with concern and absolute trust. She was waiting for answers he couldn’t give her, so he did what instinct told him to. He drew her into his arms and kissed her as if the questions were all his and she held every answer. And she did. She held the key to his heart and to his humanity. He couldn’t lose her.

  “Promise me you’ll always believe me, Tessa,” he whispered urgently. “Even if—” He broke off and kissed her again, as if this kiss alone would convince her of the inherent goodness inside him.