Ethereal King

by Ariana Hawkes

  10

  Two hours earlier

  Paige awoke in darkness, and a moment later, her whole body went rigid as she discovered that something large and unyielding was wrapped around her. What is it? Where am I? Her heart seemed like it was going to jump out of her chest. The thing wasn’t moving. And there was a soft, oddly comforting rumbling sound close to her ear. Caleb? She pulled her mind out of its sleepy haze. I went to sleep in his bed. He was making that noise when he fell asleep, which means that he’s asleep now. He’s not trying to crush me to death. In fact – she wriggled in his grasp – he’s holding me very gently, with an arm around my waist and his body tucked close behind me. And – she suppressed a sound at the discovery – something is pressing against the cleft of my ass. Oh my god, he’s hard! As she wriggled a little more, he gave a sleepy purr and his big, muscular arm pulled her tight against him, and his cock rubbed back and forth a couple of times. Her clit tingled. It was actually a very nice feeling to be held like this, enfolded by the powerful body of this big, sexy bear man. She’d never felt so protected before. And he wanted her – at least, in his sleep. Had he woken up and decided he felt like snuggling up with her, or had it happened while he was asleep? She didn’t think he was the kind of guy who’d touch her without her permission, so it must be the latter, she concluded with a twinge of disappointment. Maybe his bear made him do it. At the thought, another sharp tingle hit her between her thighs, blossoming into an ache all the way inside her. And if it was his bear, what did that mean? That it wanted her to be its mate? No, it probably meant that it was a horny animal; nothing more. Caleb stirred. His hand moved up and cupped her breast, and she stifled a gasp. Her nipple hardened instantly, pushing against the fabric of her shirt, as if enticing him. She held her breath, half hoping he’d roll it between his fingers, slide his hand right under her shirt, strip her clothes off and ravish her right there. Her clit began to throb. A minute passed, then two, and he continued to cup her breast, but his hand didn’t wander anywhere else. She fidgeted in frustration, aware that her panties were soaked. Damn it. He’d got her more turned on than she’d ever been before, and he wasn’t even awake. She might as well try to get back to sleep.

  It didn’t happen fast, her arousal keeping her on high alert, but at some point she must have drifted off, because the next time she awoke, Caleb was coming out of the bathroom, wearing only a towel. She stared at his body, stunned beyond belief. He had the body of a god. It was absolute muscular perfection. His biceps, pecs, abs and obliques defied description. They were huge and bulky and perfectly honed. He had some hair on his chest, which she loved, and his skin had a lovely olive hue. He seemed embarrassed to be caught like that, and she was suddenly overwhelmed with awkwardness herself. If she didn’t leave right now, he was going to figure out how much she wanted him. She got up fast, and, mumbling that she had to go and get ready, she went back to her room.

  As she opened the door, something didn’t feel quite right. She had the curious sense that the room had just been occupied. Probably because it’s a hotel room, stupid, she told herself, picking up a towel from the bed and striding over to the bathroom. As she stepped inside, something grabbed her from behind, and a big, heavy hand clamped down over her mouth. She screamed, but nothing came out, and she tasted sweat and unwashed skin.

  “Don’t make a sound, you fucking whore, or I’ll snap your neck,” Kurt snarled in her ear. She whimpered. The arm around her waist squeezed her until she thought her ribs would break. “Yeah, that’s it,” he crooned. “You keep good and quiet. You thought you could run away from me, didn’t you? You ungrateful slut. After all I’ve done for you. You don’t deserve me.” He lifted her right off the floor, carried her out of the bathroom and threw her on the bed. He climbed on top of her, kicking her legs apart. He looked terrible – haggard with bloodshot eyes – and his breath stunk of alcohol. He grasped her wrists and pinned them over her head with one hand, then he plunged his other hand into her pants. “You’ve been giving this away to that fucking dirty bear, huh?” he demanded, his face contorted by an unpleasant grin. She squirmed, revolted at being touched by him. Then she almost laughed. A day ago, he’d been her boyfriend, and he’d touched her any time he wanted, and she’d accepted it, but now she felt like she belonged to someone else. She hoped she wasn’t still wet from Caleb spooning her. “I should screw you right now and remind you who you belong to,” Kurt hissed. “But unfortunately, we have to go.” He climbed off her and hauled her to her feet. “You’re not getting away from me, ever again. And if you make a sound as I take you out to the car, I’m going to make every single member of your family wish they’d never been born.” She whimpered and squeezed her eyes shut, forcing herself to assume the subservient demeanor she always presented when she was around Kurt.

  He clamped an arm around her waist and walked her quickly along the hallway and down the stairs of the hotel. She looked around wildly for Caleb, but there was no sign of him. Kurt dragged her towards the back of the hotel and into a side street. His car was waiting. She didn’t struggle; she opened the door and got in, and before she had time to close the door, he’d pulled away at high speed. What kind of a loser takes his mate back from the bear who’s abducted her and doesn’t even have the guts to stay around to fight it, she thought, as they hurtled around a sharp corner. The kind of loser who’d rather take it out on a woman, she realized, with a sick lurch of her stomach. He turned onto the highway and hit the gas. They were heading north, right? Her mind was spinning and she suddenly wasn’t sure. What’s he planning on doing anyway? He wasn’t speaking to her at all. She cast a sideways glance at him. His lips were pulled back in an ugly grin. Whatever he was thinking, it seemed to be giving him a lot of pleasure. Whatever it was, she knew that the worst was yet to come.

  The snowy road swept by at an alarming speed as Kurt overtook the occasional vehicle. Time passed. Was it an hour, or two? Or more? Still Kurt hadn’t spoken, and Paige was getting increasingly nervous. She looked out for the road signs, but they didn’t tell her much, just indicating distances to small towns that she’d never heard of.

  Kurt braked hard and turned into a gas station. He pulled something out of the glove box which glinted in the light, then he leaned right across her body, grasped her wrist and snapped a handcuff around it, closing it tightly enough to make her cry out. Then he snapped the other cuff around the door handle.

  “I’ll be gone for a few minutes. Don’t forget what I said about your family and keep that fat mouth of yours shut,” he snarled. Then he climbed out of the car and slammed the door. She watched as he filled the tank with gas and paid the attendant. Her heart sunk as he climbed back in and started the car. She’d been desperately hoping that he’d be away for longer to give her an opportunity to do something, although what that was, she didn’t know. But instead of leaving the gas station, he parked the car in a corner of the lot and stormed off again, dialing a number on his cell as he did. He walked around the back of the store and disappeared from sight. Is he going to the bathroom? she wondered. She tugged on the handcuff, but it didn’t give at all, and the metal bracelet cut into her wrist even more harshly. She stared out of the windshield and bit down on her lower lip, trying to force back the tears that were prickling behind her eyelids. What the hell is Kurt planning? He wasn’t just going to take her back home, that was for sure. There was no way he’d let her escape attempt go unpunished.

  She jumped as a dark shape appeared at the periphery of her vision, coming from the back of the car. And then her heart flipped. It’s Caleb! He was crouching low, keeping his body below the bottom of the window. He reached out for the door handle and pulled. It opened. Kurt hadn’t even bothered to lock the car.

  “Oh my god! How did you find me?” she exclaimed.

  “There’s no time to explain. We’ve gotta go. Come on.” He reached for her, ready to lift her out, but she showed him her wrist.

  “That son of a bitch!” he hissed. “Has he hu
rt you?” She shook her head. “Where’s he gone?”

  “He didn’t say. Behind the store I think.”

  “Did he leave the key here?” She tried to remember.

  “No, he put it in his pocket.”

  “Damn.” His brow furrowed as he tried to force the cuff open.

  “What are you thinking?” she asked.

  “I’m thinking that I want to tear him apart. But there are suddenly a lot of people here.” She looked around. Half a dozen cars had turned up since they’d been there, and people were getting out of their cars and stretching.

  “Seems to be a popular rest stop,” she said.

  “Who would have thought it?”

  “Oh. He’s coming back.” Her stomach tightened at the sight of Kurt’s rangy figure striding across the forecourt.

  “I’ve got an idea. Whatever happens, just stay calm. I’ll come back for you and help you escape.”

  “But, Caleb –” her words were cut off by the pressure of his mouth on hers.

  “Don’t worry. Everything’s going to be fine,” he said, and he was gone. Her head spun as she watched Kurt approaching, caught between disgust and fear of him and shock and excitement at the way Caleb had just kissed her. Her lips were tingling and her whole body cried out for him. He came to rescue me; he just kissed me, she told her self over and over.

  “What are you staring at?” Kurt demanded in his harsh, whiny voice.

  “I was looking out of the windshield, Kurt. Where else do you expect me to be looking?” she snapped.

  “Don’t get smart with me, slut. Whores like you shouldn’t speak unless they’re spoken to.” She opened her mouth to point out that he’d just asked her a question, but then she closed it again. She usually had a hard time holding back her smart comments, but now she was more scared of Kurt than she’d ever been. The look of satisfaction he’d been wearing since he came back also sent a shiver down her spine.

  He started up the car and pulled away, tires squealing. She kept looking straight ahead, not daring to look for Caleb, however much she wanted to. What is he planning? The car went faster and faster and adrenaline coursed through her veins, making her palms sticky. Kurt loved driving fast, and there was hardly any car on that road that could keep up with the flashy sports car. Caleb would be following, she was almost sure of it. But what if he couldn’t keep up and lost them? On cue, Kurt pulled a sharp right, off the highway and began to race down some back roads. Her stomach lurched. If Caleb hadn’t been able to keep them in sight, he would’ve shot straight past the turning. He’d never find them, and that would be it for her. She was probably going to get killed in the woods, and no-one would ever know what had happened to her.

  The daylight was already failing and tears blurred her eyes as they plunged on into darker and darker roads. But then something happened. The car jolted, and she saw Kurt fight to keep the steering wheel straight. Then it jolted again.

  “What the fuck? he yelled, as it lurched to the side and seemed to hit some giant bumps. He braked hard and it veered right off the road, coming to rest in a snowdrift, beside a dark forest. Swearing, Kurt leapt out of the car and stalked around to the passenger side.

  “A fucking puncture!” he bellowed. He kicked at the tire, before going to the trunk and yanking it open. Paige risked a glance in the rear-view mirror. The expression of rage on his face was a little comical. From his yelling and swearing, it was apparent that he didn’t have a spare tire in the back of the car.

  He slammed the trunk closed again and peered down the road the way they’d just come. He turned abruptly and stormed over to the passenger door and pulled it open roughly, jerking her arm and the tender, bruised flesh of her wrist, making her cry out in pain. A nasty smile contorted his lips.

  “Sore, huh?” he said. She regarded him blankly, unwilling to give him the pleasure of enjoying her pain. “I’m going to stop one of these hillbillies, get them to help me out with the tire. If you so much as whisper while they’re here, I’ll make you watch me kill them, and then I’ll kill you too. Do you understand me?” She nodded, suppressing a shudder. He slammed the door again and she pressed her hand over her mouth, trying to get her breathing under control, fear flooding her veins. He’d never explicitly threatened to kill her before, and she sensed that there was a real step change in his behavior, that her escape attempt had made something snap inside him. Where was Caleb? He was the only one who could save her now.

  She watched as Kurt held his hand out for passing traffic. Only two cars passed in five minutes and, although the drivers looked at the red sports car with curiosity, they didn’t stop. It’s probably because the sight of Kurt is so off-putting, she thought. He seemed to have the same idea because, after ten minutes of waiting, he yanked her door open again, making her scream. Fishing in his pocket, he retrieved the key and unlocked the handcuff from the door handle, leaving the other end tight around her wrist.

  “And this end too?’ she said. He shook his head with an evil grin.

  “That’s staying right there, bitch,” he said. “And I hope it’ll make you think about what you’ve done.” He snapped the other cuff around the same wrist and pulled the cuff of her jacket down so it covered them, then he grasped her by her upper arm, dragging her out of the car. “Get over here.” He pulled her to the roadside. “Flag down a car for me. Maybe that fat ass of yours will have more luck than I did.” Shivering in the cold, she stumbled through the snow and stood where he positioned her. “Keep your mouth shut. Tell whoever stops that you’ve got a puncture, then I’ll do the rest.” She nodded. Kurt moved out of sight, behind a clump of trees. She gazed far into the distance, willing a car to come, but the snowy road was deserted and it was fast becoming dark. She shuddered at the thought of getting stuck here with Kurt for a whole night.

  Suddenly, there was an earth-shattering roar right behind her and she jumped as if she’d been electrocuted. It was followed by a wild scream, and she whipped around to be greeted by the sight of a huge, black bear standing right beside the trees, and next to it was Kurt, looking pale, the left sleeve of his leather jacket gashed with claw marks. She collapsed against the car, incapable of doing anything else, and watched. The bear stared down at Kurt from its great height. It seemed to be waiting. Kurt gave a shout of rage and tore his jacket off. His body increased in size and his muscles bunched. There was the sound of tearing fabric and Kurt burst out of his clothes, his flesh turning to fur and his jaws cracking and lengthening, until there was a loud snap, he fell onto all fours, and a large gray wolf faced the bear, regarding it with yellow eyes. For a long moment, nothing happened, and then Kurt spun and hurtled headlong into the forest. The bear stayed still a moment longer. It dipped its head and looked at Paige with striking ice blue eyes, and it gave a soft purr. Then it ran off, on Kurt’s tail. Caleb, Paige thought, knowing with no doubt that the bear was him. His eyes hadn’t changed at all as he’d shifted from human to animal. She kept her eyes trained on the point where they’d both disappeared, but she couldn’t see any signs of them at all. The woods were all silent. She bent down and retrieved the key from Kurt’s shredded jeans and unfastened the handcuff. As it fell off her wrist, a vicious snarl came from deep in the woods. It was followed by a roar. Terrified though she was, she ran towards them, her legs acting of their own accord. A hundred yards in, she saw them. Caleb was standing on all four legs, while Kurt was crouched down low, ready to pounce. Kurt suddenly sprang at the much larger bear, his jaws wide open, razor-sharp fangs glinting in the dim light. Caleb lifted one of his huge paws and swept at him, sending him sprawling across the ground. He got up quickly, but his face was bleeding, leaving crimson drops on the virgin snow. He pounced again, and Caleb knocked him back once more. This time, he got up more slowly and hatred gleamed in his yellow eyes. He feinted to the left, then went in towards the right, catching Caleb’s paw in his teeth. With a roar, Caleb knocked him onto his back and leapt on top of him. For a while, all Paige could see was a flu
rry of fur as they turned over and over, teeth and claws flashing as they tried hard to wound each other. Despite his vicious jaws, there was no way Kurt could win – Caleb was so much bigger than him, and he pinned him down easily with his huge bulk. At last, Caleb delivered the final blow, sinking his jaws into Kurt’s throat, lifting him into the air and shaking him hard. Paige heard the snap of his neck breaking, and the breath she didn’t know she’d been holding whooshed out of her, the tension in her chest easing. Caleb dropped the limp body on the ground. And then he began to dig. The frozen earth didn’t seem to make much work for his mighty paws, and soon he’d made a hole around five feet deep. He dumped Kurt’s body into it and piled the earth on top, finishing with a layer of snow. It didn’t look like the ground had been disturbed at all. Finally, he rubbed snow all over his paws and buried his face in it, until his whole head was covered. Paige realized that he was cleaning himself.

  He shook the remnants of the snow off, and came towards her, head lowered, in what she recognized was a friendly position.

  “Caleb, thank you so much for rescuing me and getting rid of Kurt,” she said. He gave a long, soft rumble, and then he turned his head to the side, looked over his shoulder, and lay down low on the ground. “You want me to get on your back?” she said. He nodded. She stepped over to him and lifted her leg cautiously over his broad back. She could just about reach across him, and as her weight came down fully, she sunk into his amazingly thick, luxuriant fur. She stopped shivering immediately, surrounded by his warmth. Not sure how to hold him, she loosely clasped the fur at the nape of his neck. When her weight was evenly balanced and she’d stopped wriggling, he stood up and began to move. They didn’t return to the car as she’d expected, but stayed in the forest, running approximately parallel to the road. He moved at an easy lope, carrying her through dense woodland. The motion of his body was oddly comforting, and there was something magical about being carried through the snow by this big strong bear. She began to feel like she didn’t ever want to get off.