by Christa Wick
It took another second before she realized not all of the bodies near the vehicle were human. A shifter stepped into the light, his frame too big for her to believe she knew him. But she recognized his scent, the warm drip of caramel subduing the pure terror clawing at her mind.
The shifter contorted as he moved, bones popping and snapping, his size diminishing until it was clearly Seth standing in front of her, as naked as the night he had taken her in Esme's house.
Seth's arms were around her in an instant, crushing her against his chest. "Leah, say something, baby."
"Esme…"
A low, howling whine drew her gaze to where her friend sagged in the arms of another shifter. The high-beams bounced off red-gold fur. The strangled cries coming from Dana's throat reminded Leah of a dog she had found run over. It had taken ten minutes to reach the vet's office, which had been about three minutes too long.
Leah tried to fight her way out of Seth's embrace. "We've got to get her to Camille, now."
Seeing her intent to reach Esme, Seth shouted a command for the van's driver to take Leah and put her inside the vehicle. She kept fighting. She had to touch Esme, had to use the small amount of healing magic she'd learned to keep her friend alive until they reached Camille.
Seth tried to calm her. "Baby, his wolf is in lock down, he'll shred you if you go near her."
"No." Sagging in Seth's arms, she looked at Dana. "Please, you have to let me help her. You love her."
The change came over Dana with none of the grinding bones or popping cartilage that had marked Seth's shift. Even human, he still seemed feral. Leah twisted out of Seth's grip, his hands staying on her shoulders as she cautiously approached Dana. Risking her hand on his arm, she guided Dana toward the van. Climbing in first, she told him to place Esme where her head would be cradled in Leah's lap.
He obeyed, growling lightly when Leah brushed the hair from Esme's cheek and the witch winced. Seth tensed, the van's cargo door closing behind him. Trying to ignore the tension running through the two shifters, Leah focused on Esme.
There was blood, too much blood.
Seth handed Leah a wet cotton square and she cleaned Esme's face, forcing the magic down through her fingers and into the split skin.
"You knew." Dana's voice was hollow, the accusation empty of any threat or anger.
"Quiet." Leah ran her fingers through the thick blonde curls matted with blood. Gently, she explored the scalp. Leah's hands tingled, more magic leaking from Esme into Leah than she could offer the witch in return.
The van took a turn too sharply. Dana threw one leg out, bracing his body to keep Esme from being jostled. Looking at Esme, his gaze slowly died. "All these years, baby. You should have told me."
Leah fixed him with a hard stare. "Don't! She can feel you, even if she's unconscious. Don't accuse her. Tell her to stay with you. Tell her you need her to come back."
He nodded slowly, fire re-igniting in his eyes. His hand caressed Esme's hip, slid under her back.
"No," Leah cautioned, sensing that he wanted to hold the witch and cradle her close. Two weeks ago the glare Dana threw Leah would have frozen the blood in her veins. She shook her head. "She stays exactly like she is until we reach Camille."
She looked at Seth. "How long?"
"Five minutes, she's meeting us at the nearest border house."
Closing her eyes, Leah lightly cupped the back of Esme's head. There was swelling at the base. She willed it to recede, her magic pleading and coaxing, her touch a gentle vibration disrupting the building pressure inside the witch's skull.
********************
Five minutes.
Three hundred seconds.
Each one an eternity.
Seth slammed the door to the van open as Camille ran from the house and up to the vehicle. He lifted the older witch, setting her down directly in front of Esme. Her hands shaking, she ran them over her daughter's body in search of the most life-threatening injury.
"Her head." Leah cradled the edges of Esme's skull. "It's still swelling at the back. I couldn't get it to go down."
Camille nodded, her hand slipping under Esme's neck. She chanted, the words coalescing around the witch's limp form like a caterpillar's cocoon, the strands of magic a phosphorescent blue.
She looked at Dana, oblivious to the naked body covered with Esme's blood. "We need to move her inside, gently."
Demonstrating inhuman strength, he lifted Esme from the bent position the van's height forced on him and eased her to the door. Camille moved in sync with Dana, her hands hovering near Esme's head to keep the cushion of magic firmly in place.
Seth and Leah followed them into the house, watching from the doorway as Dana delicately placed Esme on the mattress. Camille pointed at Leah.
"You stay." Her finger drifted to Dana. "Out."
Sliding into a kneeling position next to the bed, he ignored the woman. Leah moved toward Esme. His hand curling around her arm, Seth held her back.
Camille's head whipped in their direction.
"Tell your mate I need you." Her voice broke as only a mother's could. "She needs you."
Leah looked at Seth. She could feel the tension coiling inside him. He had only held her for a few seconds after her rescue. As her mate, he wanted to make sure she wasn't ignoring any of her own injuries. From her lessons with Esme and the last latent's diary, Leah knew he needed his scent back on her after she'd been held hostage by other men. His instinct to protect her was so strong it overrode his responsibilities as pack alpha. That she'd kept him at arm's length before the kidnapping only heightened his need.
Throwing her arms around his shoulders, Leah tightly hugged Seth and quickly rubbed her body against his, her clothes soaking up his scent. "I'm okay, I promise. We'll have time once she's stable."
Knowing the danger of touching him much longer, Leah pressed her cheek against his and rubbed her hands over his arms for more of his scent before hurrying to the bed.
Gently, she steered Dana down the mattress where he could still touch Esme without interfering with her care. He gripped the witch's foot, his thumb rubbing at its sole as his gaze focused like a laser on Esme's face.
Leah caught Camille's attention. "What do you need me to do?"
Reaching out, she took Leah's hand and placed it over Esme's chest.
"Breathe for her."
********************
An hour before dawn, Leah staggered away from the bed. A healer from the nearest clan had arrived to relieve the women for a few hours of rest. The swelling in Esme's head was gone, but Camille had placed her in a very deep sleep to keep her motionless.
His position unchanged, Dana stood vigil at the foot of the bed, dried blood flaking off his naked flesh.
Stepping into the hall, Leah encountered Seth. Still wet from a recent shower, he carried a bundle of fresh clothes, feminine but not hers. Grabbing Leah's arm, he pulled her into the next room. The door closed, his hands immediately undoing the buttons on her blouse.
She tried to stop him. "Seth--"
"No." He didn't yell, but there was no arguing with his tone. "These are charmed. I want them off you now."
"Okay," she whispered, releasing her hold on his hands.
"You will never shield yourself from me again." A slight hysteria edged his voice as he unpinned the witch's lace from her bra. Reaching behind her, he unhooked it, freeing her breasts and tossing the fabric to the floor. "If those men hadn't removed Esme's charms…"
Realization crept through her. Seth and the other shifters had only found them because of Dana's connection to Esme. If Esme's charms had still been in place, Seth and Dana might have spent the night running circles in those woods.
Grabbing her by the shoulders, Seth stared into her eyes. "Never! Do you understand?"
Leah nodded, his fierce gaze breaking the last of her control. She collapsed against his chest, her breasts heaving in relieved sobs. He hugged her, his big hands traveling along her arms and
back.
"Ditch the panties, baby." His tone softened, his fingers already moving to help rid her of that last bit of fabric.
"Seth!"
He chuckled before turning serious once more. "They're charmed, too, love. I still can't feel you completely."
"Oh…" Pushing his hands aside, she started to wiggle out of her underwear.
"Disappointed I didn't have something else in mind?" His hands caught her breasts as she leaned forward. He tugged their hardening nipples before squeezing the firm flesh.
Blushing, she lied with a shake of her head. "It wouldn't be appropriate anyway."
Trying to turn from him, she reached for the clothes he'd tossed down on the dresser.
"Not so fast, baby." Pulling her back into his arms, he buried his face against her neck, nuzzling the sensitive flesh as his fingers explored her lush backside. Inhaling deeply, he sighed. "You smell like chocolate dipped chili peppers and…"
He paused. There wasn't supposed to be an "and." Tensing, he ran his nose along her cheek.
"What's wrong?"
"Apple." His hands returned to her breasts, testing their weight, finding them swollen and a little tender, the nipples exquisitely sensitive.
She hadn't noticed the change before but she could feel it with the way his fingers explored her flesh. "Is apple bad?"
"No." Cupping the back of her neck, he coaxed her head into a relaxed position. His other hand dropped between them, the fingers stroking the fur of her sex. "Leah, you're pregnant."
She nodded then realized she didn't quite understand. "How do you know you're not smelling your own scent? You smell like apples to me."
Capturing her bottom lip, Seth sucked at it for a second. "I know, trust me."
Seth shifted his weight to his other foot. Leah felt the solid rub of an erection against her hip. His fingers grew bolder between her legs. "Baby, I need to get you home. To our bed. ASAP."
She managed a slight gesture of acquiescence before all of her muscles melted beneath his touch. "Camille wants me back around noon, when they plan on moving Esme. And someone needs to manage Dana then. Get some clothes on him at least."
With a low growl, Seth forced his body to move to the door. He gestured at the change of clothes. "Five minutes, I want that sweet ass in the passenger seat of my van."
Squirming beneath his hot gaze, she blushed and waved him from the room. "Be there in three."
********************
Leah waited alone in Seth's bedroom. If she stood next to the door, she could hear his voice as he debriefed the clan's alpha over the phone. The timing of the shifter's call sucked, but she didn't mind the few minutes it gave her to explore the small space.
A huge four-poster bed occupied most of the room. Antique, it had thick burgundy draw curtains held in place by heavy corded tassels. The bedspread was a rich damask, the object on top of it startling her.
Standing at the edge of the mattress, she reached down and ran her fingers through the fur. Gray strands mixed with brown and black, forming a dense undercoat with coarser guard hairs extending out. Not bear, not fox -- but wolf, several of them stitched together judging by the size. Wrapping her hands around one heavy corner, she lifted it to her face and inhaled.
The familiar scent of her mate ran thick and deep. Her body tightened, Seth's presence so strong in the room she felt dizzy.
Hands grabbed her hips. She jerked, the motion unleashing a deep moan. Behind her, Seth closed the distance between their bodies. The base of his erection pressed at the top split of her rounded ass. She could hear him breathing, heat and moisture steaming against her neck as he bent his head.
"I'm going to fuck you on top of that." He squeezed her hips, molded her lush bottom around his cock and balls.
"Okay." She laughed at her response and the heady breathlessness of her acceptance.
"Turn around."
His hands guided Leah until she faced him. His fingers moved from her hips to the bottom hem of her sweater. Slowly, he dragged it up over her stomach and breasts, peeled it off her arms and tossed it to the floor. By chance or choice, there was no bra to remove. He cupped the underside of her breasts, testing their malleability with slow, sensual pulls that made her nipples ache.
Looking down at where his hands touched her, Leah gasped.
"Shhh, love, it's normal in our women this early."
It was breast milk. She tried to push his hands away but he wouldn't release her.
"But I…we…humans don't do this at two weeks."
Seth shook his head, his fingers massaging her breasts more deeply. "Baby, you're a latent carrying a shifter's child. You're not dealing with human hormones anymore."
Dipping his head, he did the unthinkable, taking one ripe, dripping nipple into his mouth and gently sucking. Her uterus contracted, her center of gravity dropping straight to her pelvic floor to soak her panties.
With his free hand, Seth pushed her slacks and underwear down her hips. The fabric pooled around her ankles. Reaching behind her, he lifted one heavy round globe, his fingertips digging into the flesh as he squeezed her to him.
Feeling his cock against her stomach, only his pants separating them, another pulse of moisture slicked Leah's thighs. He continued to mold her ass, grinding her mound against him as he nuzzled her breast.
With a sudden growl, he wrapped both hands around her shoulders and forced her to sit on the bed. The brush of soft wolf skin made her squirm, the heat pooling between her thighs almost unbearable. Pressing a finger against her breastbone, he pushed until her back rested flat against the fur.
Seth bent down, stripped the sandals and the last of her clothing away. Pushing her thighs apart, he stepped between her spread legs and started to undress. He moved with sinewy efficiency, muscles flexing and rippling as his shirt came off. He took his time removing his bottoms, giving her a show of his surging cock and powerful thighs.
The line of dark hair that ran up his abdomen to lightly fan across his chest thickened beneath her gaze. His slow rumbling growl told Leah he could feel her desire intensify, the almost psychic exchange creating a sensory loop that left her panting for his cock.
"Not yet, baby." Pressing his thighs against the bed, he gathered a fold of the wolf skin in one hand and slowly fisted his shaft.
Leah whimpered as she watched thick strings of pre-cum dribble from the tip to land on her mound, penetrating the soft covering of hair and dripping down her pussy. Reaching between her thighs, she spread her labia and smeared his juice over her clit. Seth groaned, the slow-falling stream thickening as he stared at Leah fingering her swollen flesh. His grip on his cock tightened, shutting the flow as a quiver rolled over his body.
Falling to his knees, he rubbed his nose against her cunt hair. Pinching her labia apart, his tongue uncurled along her sex, the tip dipping into her wet core before licking a line up to where his juices mingled with hers.
He lifted his gaze, hooking her attention. "Watch me, baby."
Leah couldn't take her eyes off him if her life depended on it. He was pure smoldering sex, his expression as devouring as his mouth. He licked her again, his tongue curling up to raise the hood of her clit and press it against his upper teeth. He pulled, his tongue still moving, stroking.
Milk leaked from her breasts, gathered in small rivulets to create a shallow pool at her navel. Stretching up, he dipped his tongue in it, his lips suctioning against her skin. His thumbs penetrated her cunt as he lapped at her stomach. He stretched her, stroked her, his touch roughening.
A shudder rolled through Leah, her pussy contracting, the tight clit bobbing with the pulse of her need.
Licking his lips, Seth returned to her aching clit with a growl. His lips fastened tight, his teeth indenting her swollen flesh. He sucked, thumbs thrusting. Her hips started to jerk, her spine arching, ass pressed hard against the bedding as she cried out.
Unrelenting, three rigid fingers replaced the thumbs, the tips curling up inside her. H
e wanted to wring another climax from her, to have her coming hard beneath his hands and mouth before he flipped her onto her stomach and fucked her wet, swollen folds without mercy.
Leah clutched at the wolf skin. Her mound crested against Seth's tongue and teeth, her sheath tightening around his fingers as another climax thundered through her.
"Roll over." The order was rough, issued through gritted teeth.
Leah turned onto her side and tried to pull her legs onto the bed. Not what he had in mind, Seth flipped Leah the rest of the way onto her stomach and pulled her legs off the mattress, her thighs still spread as he stood between them.
Leaning over her, he snaked his arm between her breasts, supporting her weight at the same time he pinned her immobile against him. His cock entered her hard and fast, a snarl tearing through his throat. He was going to take her roughly, slamming his hips into her soft bottom over and over as his hot mouth seared her back.
Her breasts bounced with each hard thrust, her nipples swollen and dragging along the wolf skin. Climaxing again, she tightened around him, the knot near the base of his cock already inflated to a mind-blowing diameter with his cum. His teeth grazed her shoulder, the muscles of her cunt lashing around his shaft to rope him in place.
Trapped inside her, pushing, pulling, the knot in his cock kneaded that sweet spot just inside her cunt over and over until she was reduced to a groaning, writhing mass of flesh that cried and came and called his name.
Seth erupted inside her, his teeth sinking at last into her shoulder, pinning her until the last jet of cum left him.
Too numb to move, Leah allowed Seth to lift her body the rest of the way onto the bed. He settled on top of her, his arms supporting his weight. Exhausted, she smiled at him, her mind already drifting toward slumber.
He stroked her cheek, his gaze serious as he studied her expression. "You know this is forever, baby."
Feeling the swell of emotion inside him, Leah nodded, her throat too tight to speak. There in his bed, for the first time in her life, she felt at home. This was where she was meant to be. No one would take it from them, not the Hunters nor any other enemies they might encounter. They would cherish it, holding it as tightly to them as they held one another.