Wolf on the Run: Shifter romance (Shifters of the Glen Book 4)

by Jones,Skye

  “Penny for them.”

  “Jesus, Boyd. You made me jump.” I clasped my hand over my heart and slowed my suddenly erratic breathing.

  “Sorry. You looked deep in thought.”

  I frowned at him, wondering how he managed to be so damn sneaky. “How does someone as big as you move so quietly?”

  He hitched up one shoulder. “I don’t know. Shifter genes, I suppose.” Sitting down beside me, he continued to stare ahead.

  We sat in silence for a moment and watched the park life play out in front of us. A warm hand engulfed mine, and I looked down to see Boyd holding my hand, his thumb stroking across my palm.

  “I’m a coward.” His voice came out gruffer than usual.

  “No, you’re not.” He was anything but, the way he protected the pack. “You’re the protector of a large group of people. A coward doesn’t protect others.”

  “There are different ways of being a coward. I find this difficult. I don’t know how to do it. You’re human, and you’re young. You do this romance thing so differently to anything I know, or have ever known.”

  “Romance?” I looked into his gorgeous brown eyes and smiled at the confusion evident there. “Are you trying to be romantic with me?”

  Hope bloomed in my chest. A tiny spark of possibility. Maybe he did want me, if only a little, after all.

  “Yes.” His lips twitched into a small smile.

  “I love it when you smile,” I noted. “It changes your whole face.”

  “I do a lot more of it around you.” He squeezed my hand. “It’s why I want you to come back with me. Not simply to keep you safe but because I miss you. I’m bonding with you, as you are with me. But more than this, I like you, Laura. A whole lot. You make me happy when I am with you. Come back with me and give this a chance. I know I fucked up. Made you feel unwanted. And I can’t promise to be some ideal boyfriend, because I don’t have a clue how to go about this. But I want to give it a go with you.”

  “Give what a go?”

  “Trying. Seeing where this leads us. It scares me, but I want it too much to keep running away. Want you too much.”

  He lowered his voice and dipped his head down so his lips brushed my ear. “I dream about you at night, Laura.”

  Oh, my. My belly dipped, and I swallowed hard.

  “Come home with me. Let us see how this goes.” He paused, and I chewed on my lip as I considered his request. “Please.”

  The word please did it. With one simple word, he broke down my last barriers.

  “I don’t want to cause you distress or pain or bring back bad memories.” I spoke the words quietly.

  “Don’t go there. You won’t. You don’t. Those memories are there anyway, but I need to move past them. Finding my mate so horribly murdered… It was truly terrible, and it haunted my nights, each and every single night, for decades. Now, you’re in my dreams, Laura. You. Not death and horror. It makes a change, I can tell you. I’m sick of fighting this thing between us. I can’t promise you hearts and flowers. I’m not like Jake, you know. I don’t have a smooth way of talking, and I often say the wrong thing. I’m probably going to fuck up…a lot. But I want this. I want you.”

  I smiled up at him. “You know… I think that’s the most words I’ve ever heard you say.”

  He threw back his head and laughed. Properly laughed, with the sun shining down on him. I saw a few women look his way with admiring glances, and I wanted to shout Mine so they didn’t even bother.

  “I’ll go home and pack, and you can book us on a flight while I do.”

  “That easy?” He glanced at me and then looked away.

  “Yeah. That easy. I’m not going to ruin this chance for us because of stupid pride. Anyway, I’ve made you sweat for a few days now.”

  “You certainly have.”

  “Of course, the hard work will be when we get back. I never want you to feel beholden to me, to this, because of my safety. So if it doesn’t work out between us, I promise I won’t run away again. I’ll stay under pack protection until the threat is sorted one way or another.”

  I wanted to give Boyd something. He’d screwed up his courage to come find me, and he’d laid his heart out for me. I didn’t want him to feel trapped, and I realized I didn’t want to be with him if he didn’t truly love me. So, in giving him an out, I hoped he’d stay because we worked together and not out of duty. I almost laughed. Seemed like I might be growing up.

  Boyd didn’t answer me, but he brought his lips down to mine, his hand snaking into my hair as he pulled me in for a sweet as wine kiss. My head spun at the taste and feel of him, and I breathed in his scent, relishing having him so close again. God, I loved having him near me, touching me. I never wanted to move out of his arms, but if we were going home, we needed to get our things sorted. And suddenly, I longed to see Cait, Jake, Brooke, and Izzy. In the few short months I’d been hanging around with the pack, they’d wormed their way into my heart.

  I broke the kiss reluctantly and tugged on his hand. “Come on. Let’s go get packed.”

  It took two days to get a flight, but finally, we were soaring over the Atlantic in style. Boyd booked us in first class, and I kept marveling at the luxury. Marc had flown back to Norway, promising to come visit us soon. So he’d missed the luxury fest.

  I worried about Boyd, though, which took some of the shine off. Maybe he regretted asking me to come home with him, because he’d hardly said a word the whole two hours we’d been in the air.

  I snuck a glance his way, only to see tight, hard lines on his face. Oh, crap. Don’t tell me I’d decided to believe him, only for Boyd to freak out and change his mind?

  I plucked up my courage and spoke to him. “Not having regrets, are you? You’re awfully quiet.”

  He glanced at me and shook his head. The plane shook as a patch of mild turbulence hit, and his hands gripped the armrest. Suddenly, I gained a different frame of reference for his behavior.

  “Are you afraid of flying?”

  He nodded. “Fucking hate it.”

  I relaxed and bit back a laugh. I didn’t want him to feel stupid, but I found myself so relieved he hadn’t regretted his decision. “They say it is the safest form of travel. Being in a car is way more dangerous.”

  “It’s not natural. Our kind doesn’t like it.” He bit his words out. “Being stuck in a bit of tin miles above the earth…” He shuddered, and I put my hand on his thigh, meaning to reassure him.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, we are turning down the lights in the cabin now. Our remaining flight time is roughly four hours, and we’ll be landing in London at around six a.m. local time. The weather is good, and we anticipate a smooth ride from here on out.”

  A beep sounded in the cabin, and the overhead lights dimmed. A few reading lights clicked on here and there. I looked around and saw no one moving about the cabin. A devilish thought popped into my mind. I got out of my seat and moved past Boyd.

  I leaned in and brushed my lips over his ear. “Come to the toilet at the back of the cabin in two minutes.”

  I moved down the aisle quickly so he didn’t have time to tell me no.

  After a few long moments’ wait in the large and spacious bathroom—well, large and spacious for a plane—I began to think he wasn’t going to turn up. But a tentative knock at the door had me grinning.

  I opened the door and pulled Boyd into the space with me. “How about joining the mile-high club?” I winked at him.

  He looked horrified. Not the reaction I’d been going for.

  “No way.” He backed away and into the door, making a fair bit of noise.

  “Shush.” I giggled and waited, but I heard no footsteps outside. “Let’s have some fun. Make you forget you’re in a tin can.”

  “I said, no way.”

  “Boyd!” I put my hands on my hips and looked at him. “I didn’t take you for a prude.”

  “I’m not a prude.”

  “Okay, so you’re scared of flying. This will
take your mind off it.” I hitched my skirt up and pulled my panties down, waving them around my head with what I hoped came off as a confident grin.

  “It’s not because I’m scared.”

  The big bad wolf would say so, wouldn’t he?

  “Why not, then? Pantyless here, darling. Waiting for you. All warm and wet and ready.”

  He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “Jesus, babe. I…this…it’s…I want it to be special. Been dancing around this, around us, so long, I want it to be special.”

  Suddenly, what had meant to be a bit of fun and games turned into something more. His warm brown eyes regarded me with such solemn affection it flipped my stomach over and made me giddy. I’d only planned on a fun and naughty blow job, the knickers thing only meant to goad him and add a bit of playfulness, but now I wanted him. In every way. Didn’t want to wait. Didn’t need a bed and hearts and flowers. I wanted him, right the fuck now.

  “It will be special. Come and sit here.”

  The upper-class bathroom had a small seat next to the toilet, and it faced a mirror. I knew what I wanted, and I pushed Boyd down until he sat on the seat. I straddled him and kissed him passionately, putting all my feelings for him into it. He moaned and kissed me back, and after a moment, he took over. He grabbed my hair in one big fist and pulled my head to the side, taking my mouth as his own. His other hand ran down the side of my body, skimming the swell of my breast and down to my waist where he held me.

  I pulled out of the kiss after a long while, almost panting from how turned on some mouth action had gotten me. “I’ve waited for you such a long time. I’ve wanted you such a long time. Don’t make me wait anymore. We can take it slow and romantic once we’re home. Right now, I want it hard and fast and dirty.”

  Something changed in his face. His features hardened, and he licked his lips as his gaze dropped to my heaving chest and then back to my face. “Hard and dirty, eh?”

  “Yes.”

  He put his palms on my thighs and moved my legs farther apart. “Take me out.” His rough, low voice washed over me, raking my skin and setting me on fire even more.

  I scrambled to do as he ordered, my fingers shaking slightly. I got the zipper of his charcoal pants down and undid the buttons on his boxer briefs and took him out. His impressive, rigid length sat warm and heavy in my palm.

  I moved my hand up and down the length of him, watching him watch me, his eyes hooded, jaw tight.

  After a moment, he grabbed my wrist, stilling my hand and, with his, swept his palm up my legs, taking my skirt with it until cool air conditioning swept over my butt cheeks.

  “I can see you and me in the mirror.” He angled his jaw over my shoulder, and I turned around and gave a low moan at the sight we made. Me with my skirt hitched up and him with his legs apart, dick jutting out of his trousers obscenely.

  He brought his hand around to the front and parted me, dipping his fingers between my folds and stroking through my wetness. “Christ, you’re soaked.”

  His voice still held the growly, guttural edge, and it turned me on. “You always do this to me. Add in the whole mile-high thing, and yeah, I’m a bit turned on.”

  “Get your ass over me then and ride me.” His order sent a shock of arousal through me, a live current of heated desire which zinged around my body, hardening my nipples and catching my breath.

  I parted my legs more and then took hold of him and guided him to my entrance. As I eased myself down over his thick length, I groaned at the intrusion and held still a moment. “God, you’re big.” And it had been a long time for me. I’d practically become a born-again virgin in the last year.

  “Do you need to stop?” He helped hold me in place, balanced over him.

  “No. Do not want to stop, just need a moment.”

  “Thank fuck. You feel amazing.”

  I pushed down some more and took more of him in me, and he felt so good. So right. As if he’d been made purely for me.

  As I seated myself all the way to his base, he closed his eyes and dropped his head back on the wall behind him. “Oh, fuck. Laura, babe, so amazing.”

  I smiled at the moment of total surrender to me, to us, in his actions and expression. Wanting to blow his mind even more, I began to move. I pulled up and off him and then gave a tiny twist of my hips as I sank back down.

  “Oh, my gods.” He opened his eyes, and I gasped.

  His eyes were no longer a warm brown but a strange, almost yellow color. I stilled and panicked for a moment.

  “It’s okay, it’s the bond is all. It does this.” He passed a hand over his eyes, and then pulled me into him, taking my mouth in a hard, punishing kiss. The kiss made me forget everything else. I vaguely remembered Cait mentioning that Jake’s eyes changed color sometimes. Boyd’s eyes didn’t bother me. It was just another amazing part of being with a wolf shifter.

  We moved that way for a while, and then he pushed me off him. For a moment, I was unsure what he wanted, but he turned me around and then pulled me back down. His big hands came up around my front and pulled my skirt right up until it sat around my waist like a belt. One hand drifted higher to palm my breast through my shirt, and the other snaked down to stroke me as he entered me once more with a thrust of his hips beneath me.

  I saw it all. Me on top of him, legs spread, eyes dazed, cheeks flushed. Boyd underneath me, his powerful thighs moving him up and down, and his lips at my neck.

  His hand stroking me and the porn show going on in the mirror rushed me headlong toward my release.

  “I’m going to come.” I ground down on him as he moved up, and I held my hand over his, pressing him even harder onto my clit.

  Stars burst behind my eyes as I squeezed them closed and convulsed around him, letting out a cry.

  “Oh, fuck.” He groaned low and long in my ear, and then I felt him filling me with hot, thick seed.

  I sagged against him and groaned when I opened my eyes. We looked debauched. But it had been so worth it.

  I’d never come so hard in my life.

  “We’ve got a problem now.” Boyd nibbled at the shell of my ear.

  “What’s that?”

  “I want to do this all over again. In every position imaginable. I want to crawl between your thighs and not come up for air for hours. I want to come down your throat. I want to fuck you repeatedly. Until neither of us can damn well walk. But now, we’ve got to walk down that aisle and take our seats and behave like respectable people, not animals, for another four or five fucking hours.”

  “Maybe I can give you some halfway there relief under one of the cashmere blankets they provided us with?”

  He growled and nipped at my neck. “Sounds like a plan.”

  “Let me go first and check it’s all clear before you come out.” He kissed me softly and then helped me up, correcting my skirt and putting it back into place. He took my knickers from the vanity unit and bent down to pull them up my legs. When he’d placed my clothes correctly, he kissed each inner thigh and stood.

  Cracking the door open a tiny degree, he looked right and left and then opened it wider and stepped out. “All clear.”

  He shot me a beautiful grin, taking my breath clear away as he strode confidently down the aisle back to our seats.

  I watched him go and saw the heads of a few women turn as he passed. Mine, my heart sang. All mine.

  Epilogue

  Boyd’s house was warm despite the winter storm raging outside. There had been a meeting, and rumors were spreading around the village like wildfire, but Boyd, along with the other enforcers, the elders, and the alphas, knew the truth.

  We may have another empathine out there. Once I’d been back in the village some time, I’d finally felt safe enough to take hold of the ring I’d taken from the rogues’ shack.

  As I sat and held it, many images came to me. Most of them seemed to be of the same woman, a woman from the past, I was sure of it. But then, two nights ago, I’d held it in my hands while Boyd wa
s out checking the boundaries of the village, and I’d seen a young woman in modern dress.

  She’d looked so much like the other person I’d seen that they had to be related. Letting my mind open further, I saw a rogue wolf watching her from a darkened alley as she rushed down a busy street. I’d gasped and dropped the ring in shock. But I knew I couldn’t let fear stop me. This woman might be in danger.

  So I’d tried again, and I’d concentrated and focused like never before in my life. Images flew at me. The woman lived in San Francisco. I saw the bridge and the iconic painted houses as she went about her life in the city. I saw flashes of her with friends or colleagues, and then I hit gold. I saw her at work and heard the name of the company.

  I now believed a female existed out there, related to the woman from long ago, whose strength and presence rang out in my mind whenever I saw her. The female living in the here and now was in danger. This much I knew.

  I’d told Boyd, who’d told Adam and the other leaders, and now the pack was debating what to do about her. I sensed her to be empathine, as her energy matched Brooke’s and Izzy’s in many ways. A sort of powerful aura, but one which calmed as much as anything else. The woman from the past had the same vibe as this younger female.

  It seemed I may have found another empathine!

  The door opened, and Boyd sauntered in.

  “Hey, gorgeous.” He gave me a kiss on the forehead.

  “So? Are they going to send some pack members to get her?” I’d been on tenterhooks the whole duration of their meeting. Somehow, I felt responsible for this woman’s fate.

  Boyd stretched his long legs out on the sofa and shook his head. “Nope. Turns out, with everything going on, Adam doesn’t want to risk it. He’s finally decided to bring in the Warriors.”

  The Warriors, I’d learned, were a group of males who protected the shifters and other preternatural creatures from human persecution, as well as from any attacks by the Kikan Myre. They also protected humans from the Kikan Myre in order to maintain the centuries’ old peace.

  In recent years, they hadn’t had much to do. Humans didn’t believe in creatures such as vampires anymore. Part of the peace treaty between humans and the preternatural world had been the church promising to stop the persecution of witches, vampires, and the like by making belief in them something to be derided. It worked staggeringly well. Vampires, wolf shifters, witches, warlocks, wizards… They were all seen as nothing more than myth.