Abby's Call

by Nichole Finley

  Her skin was on fire, she had to have more skin-to-skin contact. Abby shrugged out of her jacket as a tearing sound rent the air, a moment later warm hands cupped her bare ass.

  A deep bass growl rattled his chest as Abby locked her legs around his waist. “Very, very bad little kitty,” he said, chuckling.

  His mouth pressed back to hers and she groaned as he slipped his tongue inside. Frenzied she pushed at his jacket. He had to remove a hand at a time from her ass to get the thing off him, but when she ran her hands up his bare arms, it was worth the struggle and his growling protests. Her fingers played over tightly corded muscles that bunched and relaxed with her touch.

  When his hips retracted, she gave a pleading whimper. Then she realized he was trying to work his hand between them. The sound of her heart pounded in her ears. She held her breath, again waiting for her tiger to protest, but she only purred for this male.

  Between her legs, she could feel him fumbling to unfasten the buttons on her jeans. He growled violently when his fingers slipped, but the button stayed in place.

  She drew back from the kiss, giving him what she hoped was an eager look. The buttons loosened on the next attempt and he groaned in triumph.

  Nearly burning hot flesh rubbed along her slit, gathering her wetness and seeking entrance. Inside she felt herself clench with anticipation. That hot flesh nestled against her and she gasped as he started to push into her.

  Gentle, she whispered, then realized she’d used the energy stirring through and around them to use the pathway of magic she had with the Call. She opened her mouth to give the word voice, but he stilled. Abby nearly lost her hold around his waist. He…he heard me?

  Chapter 12

  Kyle groaned as the last button on his jeans slipped through its hole and pulled the annoying elastic band down. It only took a second for him to work the lips between her legs open with the head, coating himself in her wetness at the same time. Lord, she was ready for him.

  With her open for him, he pushed the head against her entrance.

  “Gentle,” she whispered in her ear.

  Kyle stilled as her request played havoc with his mind. Gentle…Gentle? After the whirlwind of eagerness, she wanted a gentle penetration? Her lust filled the air, washed over him urging him to take her. Why ask for a change of pace now? Unless…no…that couldn’t be it… but nothing else made sense.

  “Fuck,” he cursed at himself. Kyle took a long look at the tiny blonde he was getting ready to mate with. She was younger than him, maybe not even in her twenties yet. He let go of his cock and eased away from her.

  “No, don’t stop,” she pleaded.

  What had he been thinking? Kyle shook his head and lowered her back on her own feet. Yes, this beauty was in Heat and he wanted nothing more than to bury his cock to the hilt inside her, but she’d already told him her Soul-bonded mate was close by. He couldn’t rob another male of his time to find his mate. He took a step back and forced his cock back into his pants then fastened them back into place.

  “What’s wrong?” She asked. Her voice was shaky and he wished he could kick his own ass for what he’d almost done to her. He grabbed their jackets from the ground and handed hers to her. She frowned at him, but when he continued to hold it out to her, she gingerly took it and slipped it on.

  Great, Kyle thought as he jerked on his own jacket, now I’ve made her scared of me. He turned and head for the end of the ally. He needed to get his backpack and get away from her before something else happened.

  “Wait,” she said following him. “Don’t just walk away…please.”

  He grabbed up his backpack from the ground and slung it over a shoulder. Kyle studied her face; there was no reason for her to follow him. She should be pissed at him, yet she didn’t seem to be upset with him at all. In fact, she seemed more willing than she had before as her pale blue eyes started up at him. His cock twitched against the hold his underwear, again, had on it.

  Take her. We’ve earned it. She is ours, his tiger demanded. Kyle shook his head and sighed. He opened his mouth to wish her luck on finding her mate, but the words stuck in his throat as he noticed her clothing. What was meant to be provocative and revealing was now a torn mess. Her legs had patches of mud from where she’d sat on the ground; no doubt, her skirt was caked with it as well. The cool night air would be even colder covered in mud and somewhere along the way a strip to her shirt ripped.

  Kyle’s cheeks heated as he remembered ripping at her underwear and wondered if he’d ripped the shirt as well. He couldn’t let her walk around town like this. She needed a place to clean up and get another set of clothes or at least wash the ones she had. He held his hand back out to her. “I know you don’t have a reason to trust me now, but come with me. At least take a few minutes to get warm and clean,” he offered.

  This time she didn’t hesitate to take his hand and he led her down the block. “By the way…I’m Kyle.”

  A soft gasp left her lips. There was a slight pull on his hand as if she’d missed a step or stopped for a second. “Abigail…Abby,” she managed to get out.

  Kyle glanced over at her to make sure she was still all right going with him, only to find her staring at him. “What?” He asked looking himself over, but didn’t find anything worth the stare. Her eyes drifted over him win curiosity. It donned on him then that in the ally, though he could see her, she wouldn’t have been able to see much of what he looked like. The light had always been behind him.

  Abby gave him an approving smile and tugged on his hand urging him to continue walking. Kyle smiled back and the scent of lust and chocolate nearly knocked his head back. His cock kicked against his button fly with painful results, but he ignored it and led her passed rows of houses.

  “This is your place?” She asked as they turned and started up the drive.

  Kyle nodded. “Lived here about seven years or so. At first I had roommates, but for the last few years it’s been me and my little brother.” He reached for his keys, trying to steady his mind.

  “Your brother, is he home?” There was a note of fear in her voice and glanced over at the Mazda parked in the drive.

  He frowned; maybe Tay and Jason decided to go somewhere for a few days to celebrate and took her car. Kyle couldn’t think of another reason for Jason’s car to be there. “It’s not likely. His girlfriend had something planned for them tonight and I got the impression he’d be spending the night if not longer with her.”

  “Okay…good.”

  Kyle narrowed his eyes at her. Had she really thought he would be like those two from the ally? Take turns bedding her with someone? He nearly gagged at the idea of sharing like that with Jason.

  They made their way to the small porch and Kyle dropped the strap of his pack off his shoulder and down into his hand as he pushed the key into the lock with the other. He heard Abby sigh and she wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her breasts into his back just as another wave of pheromones pulsed from her. He had a second of clarity to realize how much trouble it was going to be for them to be in the same house and not touch before his senses fell into total corruption.

  Kyle spun around; his arm snaked around her and pulled her against him. He forced his lips onto hers while he turned the key then the knob. The door gave when he leaned into it and slammed against the wall behind it, sending them stumbling through the door and into the front hall.

  Chapter 13

  “I know he’s grown, but…” Jason scrubbed a frustrated hand through his hair and started pacing, his cell phone at his ear. “He should have walked through the door half an hour ago, Tay. Grown or not, Paul said he was pretty drunk and half an hour late means it’s time to worry.”

  Tay sighed in his ear. “I get that, but if anyone can navigate these streets drunk, it’s Kyle. You’re forgetting how long he’s lived in that house. He could find his way home from anywhere in this city and definitely from a bar he frequents as long as he’s mobile.”

  “It’s not j
ust that. Some of the things Shannon was telling us— “

  “Jason, I thought you said you didn’t want to talk about that yet,” Tay chimed in, reminding him of the other information he’d received about his brother.

  “Eww. No, no that part, the part about her talking with Kyle. If that was all true, I’ve got a different reason to worry.”

  “How so?” Jason could hear the frown in her voice as she asked.

  “If he’s getting close to changing for the first time alcohol might lower his natural ability to stay in human form.”

  A pause then, “Shit. It could force him to shift, if he’s drunk enough and gets agitated or frustrated, which is bound to happen at some point with him drunk.”

  “To top that off there’s another tiger female in Heat out on the town tonight. This one’s been close to the house for the past hour and a half. If she’s got a male and Kyle follows her scent or if he finds her and a male confronts him for her…Tay it could go really, really, really…bad.”

  “You think he’s gotten caught up in something like that? I wouldn’t think he’d be able to catch the scent a Heat gives off yet.”

  “Give me another reason he’d be this late.”

  “One: Kyle’s always late, usually not this late, but still always late. Two: a cop could’ve seen him stumbling around and took him to the station to sober up. Three: he only told Paul he was headed home and instead went over to a girl’s place to sleep it off or, you know…get some. Like you’re prone to trying after a few drinks.”

  Jason scoffed. “My uptight brother made a booty call? Doubt it.”

  Tay huffed. “Kyle isn’t as uptight as you think he is and you’re not the only East brother that’s good with females,” she explained. “I know you don’t want to hear about this, but it’s not like Kyle and I were ever exclusive…there are others he was with back then.”

  “He hasn’t brought a girl home since I’ve been living with him,” Jason said frowning. In high school Kyle had dressed completely Goth, had that vibe around him that screamed ‘piss off’, and his nose was always planted in some graphic novel or manga. Surprised the hell out of everyone when he managed to graduate fourth in his class. Kyle spent three years after that on his own and by the time Jason moved in with him, Kyle’s clothes and attitude had become milder, but still he never brought a girl home, not even a hint he was with anyone. Jason had actually believed, up until Shannon’s tell all, that there was a huge chance Kyle was still virgin.

  “Yes he has. Kyle’s just…discreet when it comes to relationships.” The line went silent.

  Did they…did they have sex while I was in the house…less than twenty feet away… Jason shook his head; he didn’t want to think about it. He didn’t want to know.

  Tay coughed to clear her throat. “I’ll call him— “

  “He left his phone on the dryer or I would’ve called him already.”

  “Ah, okay. Then I’ll call a few of the girls I know are interested in him and see if he called or went to see them.”

  “A few? There’s more than one or two?”

  Tay laughed. “Half the girls in the bio class he TAs would drop their pants for him if he gave them a chance. Four girls he tutors privately are actively trying to get him in bed.”

  Jason’s jaw hit the floor. “He’s got four girls he’s with?” How was it possible for him not to notice something like that?

  “No, nothing like that. They’ve made offers for…personal attention as payment for his tutoring skills, but he hasn’t taken anyone up on the offer, at least not that he’s told me.”

  “You know an awful lot about Kyle’s sex life,” Jason stated suspiciously. That didn’t seem like something that would randomly come up in conversation.

  “Kyle and I…we were each other’s first friend here. We’ve crammed for tests, celebrated, gotten drunk, watched movies, and…had sex together. He was here for me when I was trying to sort everything with my sisters out after our parents died. I was here for him when his died. Just because we decided one of those things between us didn’t fit doesn’t mean out friendship dissolved or lessened. We still tell each other almost everything.”

  “Almost?” Was there more that she kept from him, but told his brother? Jason focused on being calm. “What haven’t you told him?”

  “I never told him I was a shifter.”

  “And…”

  “Jason,” Tay paused and sighed. “Some things…are too hard to tell anyone.”

  “You won’t tell me? I’m your mate,” Jason asked. What could be so bad that she wouldn’t tell either of us?

  “I will just…not over the phone…or while you’re still irked about me and Kyle,” she sounded sad.

  Jason leaned on the counter, rubbing his hand over his face. “Okay, I’ll let you go so you can…” He stilled.

  “Jason…Jason? You still there?”

  “Yeah, one sec.”

  A quick sniff of the air confirmed it. The female wandering around the area in Heat was on this block and very close to the house. Jason’s body reacted, hardening with the idea of having sex, but unlike the two other times he’d scented a Heat before, he didn’t have the urge to go rushing to this girl or to bed her. Instead, he wanted to go to Tay. The need to go to her and prove he was still hers pulsed through him on a rolling growl from his tiger.

  Must realize we’re on the outs with our mate, Jason rationalized the impulse.

  Keys rattled in the door. Jason breathed a sigh of relief. Kyle was home. “Tay, let me let you go. Kyle’s trying to get in the door. I think he might be too far gone to work the lock.”

  “Okay, keep our kitten safe until he shifts. If that’s what’s happening.”

  “I will. I’ll call you after I get him settled down for the night.”

  “Alright, I love you.”

  “Love you too.”

  He hit the end button and headed through the living room toward the hall just as the door flung wide, hitting the wall of pictures, nearly sending some of them to the floor.

  The first words were out of his mouth before he thought them through or took in the sight of his brother and they came out dripping in sarcasm. “Glad your ass finally decided to make your way home. What the hell were you thinking…” his train of thought disappeared at that point, his mind finally catching up to what he was seeing…and smelling. He stared as he let the scents wash over him.

  The pheromones were the strongest scent, a female in a true Heat, then her natural scent, soft orange blossoms and Siberian tiger. Jason swallowed hard trying to get passed the familiarity of that combination, Taylor’s scent was frighteningly similar. Finally, under it all, he scented Kyle’s normal scent, something close to a forest; heavy male lust and, just under it all, he caught the barest hint of it…male tiger. It was so faint he couldn’t tell the type, but it was there.

  A pleading moan jerked his attention to what was happening before his eyes. His quiet, even tempered big brother, who he’d never seen touch a girl, grabbed a handful of the female’s ass and ground himself into her.

  That pleading moan issued from the female as she dug her fingers into Kyle’s hair, pulling his much taller frame down so she could keep her lips pressed to his.

  One smooth female leg lifted and wrapped over Kyle’s hip. The hand gripping her ass swept up her leg to hold it up as his grinding became more forceful and rhythmic. The female actually purred her excitement, but it was the cat like growl that resonated low in Kyle’s chest that forced Jason to take a step back.

  It’s really happening, Jason told himself. Not how I ever pictured it, but Kyle is finally going to shift for the first time.

  Jason was excited, he’d finally be able to go on a run, as a tiger, with his brother at their parents’ house in Alaska, tell him why he and Tay had hit it off so quickly, and tell Kyle that he and Tay were mated. He and Tay could finally move in together.

  He frowned. His thoughts came to a screeching halt as something import
ant donned on him. Kyle and this female were getting really close to mating, but Kyle was also about to shift. The first change was the worst, an uncontrollable shift with little warning to its coming; it locked an untrained shifter into their animal form for hours. There was no telling how soon it would be before he shifted, but, chances were, it wouldn’t be long. When that happened, Kyle wasn’t going to fit anyone’s ideal mating material, unless she was into bestiality. Kyle would still be ready to mate, her pheromones would make sure of that, but most shifters didn’t mate in animal form. From the way she was clinging to him, she was definitely looking for sex, not to babysit a newly shifted shifter.

  Jason shook his head and stepped forward. This isn’t going to end well, he thought. Cock blocking was never one of his strengths, he’d always tried to help his friends get laid. Hell he’d been trying to get Kyle laid the night he introduced Jason to Taylor, it was the only reason he’d dragged Kyle to the party.

  Now Jason had to separate them. To make matters worse he had no idea how long Kyle had been exposed to her pheromones. The longer he’d been around her, the harder the separation would be to achieve. Kyle wasn’t going to leave her willingly and the girl, well, a Heat could make a female do some crazy things.

  Jason eased closed to them and had to shake his head to get rid of their scents. The need in the air was overwhelming. “Kyle,” he demanded when he was in arms reach.

  Kyle went dead still and gave a threatening growl low and deep. Jason took a baby step closer and Kyle slowly turned his head enough to face Jason, gave him a look promising death and growled again, a little loader.

  No recognition showed in Kyle’s normally green eyes. Rage, aggravation, and arousal bled his eyes to the gold reflective glow of all purebred tigers in low light. Aggravation at being interrupted. Rage for the male that thought to get so close to his prize, to the female his was about to mate.