by Amelia Jade
“A nomad?”
“Yes,” she said, her head tilting down as she played with her hair.
“What do you mean?”
His heart nearly stopped when she looked back up at him without raising her head, her eyes big and round as they locked with his once more.
Stunning. I could stare into the depths of her eyes for days on end…
“I wander. I’ve lived in ten cities in the past eleven years. No family, no home, nothing holding me down. So I just go somewhere and live. When I get bored, I move on.”
“You get bored easily,” he said, the words just slipping out.
“I guess I haven’t found that thing to keep me anchored, to hold me to one place,” she said demurely.
She was flirting with him. He knew it. Then again, he was flirting with her too. He’d never felt such a magnetism to someone before. She was gorgeous, that was part of it, but it wasn’t the key factor to it.
There was something about her, about Allix Rose the person, that seemed to draw him in. The question that was bugging him though was just what was it?
His bear growled at him, and he suddenly realized that’s what it was. His animal was telling him that she was different. She was special, and he needed to stay near her. Luther didn’t object to that, but the only time he’d ever heard of a shifter’s animal doing that, was when it found its—
No. That can’t be it. And yet…
***
Allix
Say something. Please say something.
The silence seemed to stretch on for eternity.
“I guess it would take a strong anchor, wouldn’t it?” His reply came at last, and Allix nearly bubbled with delight at his choice of words.
“The strongest.” Her eyes strayed to his biceps and then back to his face as she realized what she was doing. “Luther, I…” she began to say, but her voice caught in her throat.
She swallowed the nervous lump and tried again.
“I never really thanked you,” she told him, feeling herself sway closer once more.
“Thanked me for what?” he asked, shuffling his feet as he responded.
They ended up several inches closer than before. Allix couldn’t believe what was going on. They were flirting, and she was loving every minute of it. Her entire being was screaming out at her to get closer to him, to let him in, to tell him her every secret, her fears, her hopes, and her dreams. Everything. It was as if she wanted to bare her soul to him.
But she clamped down on that part, allowing her rational mind to dictate the pace. It was almost as if she had two different sides to her. The one was a burning, primal fire that wanted nothing more than to reach out and meld itself with Luther, as if he were the fuel for her flames.
The other was her human mind. Cold, rational, logical. Patient.
Right now they were in a dead heat for control of her body, and if Luther got any closer, Allix wasn’t sure what would happen.
“For saving my life.” The words were what her rational brain wanted to say. He had risked his life for hers. He deserved her thanks.
But the tone. The tone was filled with fire and flame as the words spilled from between her lips, all but inviting him to come closer.
And she found that she did want to thank him. Allix was a loner, like her lifestyle demanded.
Oh sure, she’d made friends here and there as she wandered from city to city, but they were temporary, impermanent things. The social friends who she could enjoy a night out with, but not the type that she would get together and gossip with over a bottle of wine.
They weren’t the type to think of her before each other, and that was the way Allix had always been as well. She put herself and her needs first, and if there was room for anything more, it was welcome to tag along.
But Luther was different. She’d called to him for help, and without hesitation he’d thrown himself into harm’s way for her, over and over again.
That’s because he got you into the situation in the first place, her rational brain tried to tell her.
But that wasn’t entirely true. He hadn’t done anything more than protect her from some assholes. Would she have been okay anyway? Most likely. But it wasn’t the first time someone had stepped in to stop a drunk from harassing her. Never before had the drunk held it against her. Which meant she couldn’t hold this against Luther.
And that was the crux of the issue. He’d jumped back into a city full of bloodthirsty shifters who wanted to kill him, and then he’d fought his way to her side, and taken her from the city, where she would be safe. All without expecting anything more than a few words of thanks, at best.
Who the hell did that?
Not anyone Allix had ever known before, that was for sure.
He was different.
“Just doing my job,” he said at long last, his eyes never having left hers the entire time the thoughts were running through her head.
“Perhaps. But that job involved you putting yourself into harm’s way for me. A nobody server you didn’t even know.”
“I know you now,” he said softly.
She smiled. “Not good enough. Why did you do it?” Allix needed the answer. She needed to hear from him why he’d come back for her, why he’d fought so hard to protect her, when he’d been under no obligation to.
The big, muscular bear shifter frowned for a moment, but that was the only hesitation before he answered.
“Two reasons.”
“The first?” she asked.
“Whether it was my fault or not, you were involved in that mess because of Aksel and me. If we weren’t there, or if we’d handled things better, you would never have gotten caught up in it. They were going to cause trouble one way or another, and I don’t hold myself responsible. I know better than that, but the fact is, it’s because of us that you were put in harm’s way. I don’t stand for that.” His eyes glittered like gemstones as he spoke, the conviction in his voice catching her off guard.
This man really, truly believed in doing the right thing. It was a novel sensation for her, to stand in the presence of someone who believed in that concept so fully that he was willing to do whatever it took to live up to it, regardless of personal harm.
“And the second?” she asked, her voice barely audible.
“I couldn’t explain it then, and I’m barely certain I could explain it now. Not without screwing up,” he said helplessly. “Suffice it to say, I—”
Allix leaned in and her lips touched his before he could say another word.
She hadn’t been aware she was going to do that.
But it was happening anyway. Her fingertips brushed against his cheek, tenderly holding him in place as he went rigid, unmoving. His lips froze and Allix began to think she’d made a horrible, horrible mistake.
Had she misread him? Was all of this just imagination on her part? All the words, the thoughts, and tensions she’d been feeling suddenly felt unreal. As if she’d imagined them.
She started to pull back, to apologize and to run from the room in embarrassment. She would need to hide until she could figure out a way out of here.
But fingers stronger than steel reached out and caught her. One hand slid around her back, stronger than anything she’d ever felt before, and yet as gentle as a feather. His other hand slid up the side of her body and wrapped around the back of her neck. They both flexed slightly, and pulled her back in.
Warm lips met hers and Allix practically melted as Luther kissed her back. She shuddered slightly in his embrace as all sense of his earlier tentativeness faded. In its stead was the calm, sturdy confidence of a man who knew what he wanted.
He kissed her fully, their lips moving back and forth against each other. At one point he pulled away just enough to tug on her lower lip with his teeth, sending shivers down her spine as she sighed softly with delight, before he covered her mouth with his once more.
It went on, and on.
Allix had never been kissed like that before. Sim
ilar motions and moves, yes. But never with such passion, such desire. The tension that had existed between them seemed to flow from her body as he kissed her, and everything in the world aligned perfectly.
It was world-changing. She would have done anything, and she meant anything, for him to kiss her again like that. And still he didn’t pull back. Both her hands were on his face now, pulling him in to her, never wanting to let go, even as she ran them over his shaved head and around his neck, touching him as furiously as he was kissing her.
She could feel her body responding. Her nipples started to harden under her shirt, and blood flowed rapidly between her legs, beginning to warm her.
Were they going to—?
The door opened behind them abruptly.
Allix froze.
“Oh. My apologies,” a voice said.
Luther stepped back from her and straightened as stiff as a board.
“No apologies necessary, sir,” he said, his cheeks turning as red as Allix felt hers were, heat flushing her face as she tried to compose herself before turning to face him.
“Hello,” she said politely.
“Hi. I’m Colonel Richter,” the other man said, stepping forward and extending his hand.
“Allix,” she replied, taking his hand. Looking up, she studied the tall man with a close-cropped beard and short, wavy brown hair. He was handsome, in a distant sort of way. But although he was a shifter as well, judging by his size and build, he just didn’t capture her eyes the way Luther did.
“I just got back from a meeting and heard you had arrived. So, here I am, Captain. Report.”
“Before I come with you sir, I need to make a request.”
The colonel looked at Luther, but then he shrugged. “What is it?”
“Allix is going to need a place to stay for a little bit. She can’t go back to Cloud Lake. It’s a warzone, sir. Do we have any spare quarters?”
The other shifter shook his head. “No, we’re already billeting newcomers in tents. Why doesn’t she just stay with you in the meantime? It’ll be more spacious than anything else we have.”
Allix looked at them in surprise. “Stay with Luther?” she asked, the words coming out of her mouth rather suddenly.
“Unless that’s a problem?”
Luther looked at her, and shrugged. “That’s up to Allix, sir.”
The two of them turned to look at her.
Oh. Right. I should probably answer the question.
But how did she answer such a thing? Of course staying with Luther sounded wonderful. They could continue what they’d been doing, in private. Explore each other, and see how that went. What more could she ask for?
Except she barely knew him. What kind of person was he? Could he make her laugh? Would he be there on her bad days just as much as on her good?
What if he snores?
She was only staying for a few days. Then it would be back on the road. Humans weren’t allowed to stay in Cadia, she knew that. Not even in special cases like hers. So Allix told herself she needed to stop thinking about Luther long-term. Think about the short-term. Like two, maybe three nights max. She could handle that.
“I think that will work,” she said slowly, looking around. “I’ll sleep on the couch. I’d prefer a solid roof over my head, if truth be told. I’m not sure I’m as adaptable as you are.”
The colonel smiled. “Very well. Luther, let’s go. It was a pleasure meeting you, Allix. We’ll talk soon, after I’ve had a chance to go over things with Luther.”
She nodded politely, and he exited the room.
“Make yourself at home,” Luther said, before sweeping her up into a hug.
Allix didn’t resist. Instead she practically threw herself into the embrace, relishing the heat that poured off him, letting it seep into her skin.
“I’ll be back shortly,” he said, leaning down to kiss her all too briefly on the lips before he followed his boss out the door.
“Well, now you’ve gone and done it,” she said to herself after they both left. “So, what the hell do I do for three days to occupy myself in the middle of a military base camp?”
Chapter Nine
Luther
“Well, here they come.”
Luther shook himself back to awareness as the voice spoke from his left side.
“Yes, I suppose you could call it that,” he said slowly, looking down the path at the group of shifters coming their way. “Fuck, tell me I didn’t look like that when I first arrived,” he muttered in disbelief.
“No, not at all,” the man at his side said with a snicker.
“Easy there, Lieutenant Hartmann,” Luther said out of the corner of his mouth. “Wouldn’t do for the recruits to see you laughing at a superior officer.”
“Yes sir,” Lieutenant Kiefer Hartmann said, straightening up slightly.
Luther smiled. His executive officer was a good shifter. Although they’d known each other for some time, it was like Aksel—they’d never really had a lot of interaction with each other. He had, however, been present as a lieutenant the day Luther started at Base Camp. He’d also been present, as a corporal, the day Luther graduated.
Kiefer, it seemed, had a bit of a problem with authority. Luther hoped that wouldn’t be a problem, and so far it seemed to be working out okay.
After he and Allix had been debriefed by Colonel Richter, Luther had been ordered to assume command of his company of new recruits, and begin training them. He’d spent two days preparing things with Kiefer, during which the two had decided they could get along quite well. Outside of Base Camp, Luther had a feeling they would end up becoming fast friends. He just hoped that didn’t translate into troubles when it came to discipline and following orders.
Not that that would be an issue for some time to come, he thought with a pained look at the forty shifters arrayed in front of them.
Arrayed was a bad word, he thought. “Huddled” would be better. Massed. Grouped. Disorganized. Disjointed.
“This is pathetic,” he muttered to his XO as he slowly rose from his leaning position on the wooden post embedded into the ground next to him.
One or two of the shifters noticed this and came to some form of attention.
“Welcome to Base Camp,” Luther said, in a voice that should have easily carried to those in the rear ranks.
If they hadn’t been muttering to each other.
“Five bucks says we have to do this the hard way,” Kiefer said from at his side.
“No bet.”
Luther eyed the crowd, and saw that another handful and change had realized something was up, and had stopped talking and were standing in their own form of attention.
He sighed, and raised his hands in front of him as he spied one particular loudmouth at the center of a knot of shifters at the back.
They were all so young. Most were ranged anywhere from seventeen to twenty, though several of them at the front were definitely older, mid or late twenties, perhaps.
Figures they’d be the ones who get it.
With his palms together pointed straight out from him, Luther made eye contact with those in the front rows who had their shit—somewhat—together. Then he slowly parted his hands to the sides. Most of the recruits picked up on his intent and shuffled out of his way. They pulled along those who did not, opening up a direct path from Luther to the loudmouth.
“Five bucks says he shits his pants,” Kiefer said.
“Shut up,” Luther told him, and made his example.
Power surged through his body as he unleashed his bear. Already-powerful legs became even thicker hind legs, as his arms became a second pair. Luther was already moving forward, even as thick dark brown fur exploded from his pores to cover his body. His spine altered to hold his head up even as his face shot forward, a long, powerful snout emerging from it, filled with teeth.
Shifters dove from his path as the two-ton wild beast charged through their midst, scattering all of them. Except the troublemaker. He froze o
n the spot, and Luther hit him like a wrecking ball.
Although the shifter was a good few inches over six feet, and layered in muscle like all bear shifters, Luther’s bear was simply unstoppable. The loudmouth flew thirty feet through the air until he hit the ground, bounced high, and then rolled in a heap.
But Luther wasn’t done. He was still moving forward, until he was looming over the offender, teeth inches from his face. He growled and pawed the snow around the recruit, his claws digging so deep they hit dirt through the winter covering on the ground.
Then just like that, Luther harnessed his massive bear and rose to his feet, turning his back on the shifter.
He knew what was coming next. Heard it before it even happened.
With a sigh, he turned swiftly and shot his right hand out.
The fist connected with the unlucky shifter’s face, exposed by his wild charge at Luther’s back, and the young man dropped like a stone.
“Rule Number One,” he said, speaking in the same tone, not having to yell. “Shut the fuck up.”
The recruits eyed their unconscious comrade, and he saw many of them nodding.
“Anyone care to take a guess at Rule Number Two?”
Nobody said a word.
“That was not a rhetorical question.”
One or two hands went up.
“You,” he said, pointing at a tall shifter with bright red hair.
“Either Shut the Fuck Up, or Do Not Hit Your Boss, sir?” the young man said.
Luther blinked at the incredibly deep bass voice attached to the pimply young kid. He had not expected that.
“Close, but wrong. Give me twenty push-ups.”
The shifter blinked in confusion, but then dropped to the ground. Push-ups were nothing for a shifter.
“You, you, and you, stand on his back,” Luther said, pointing to three of the biggest shifters.
The ginger let out a very quiet groan as he lay flat on the ground, face in the snow and waited for the three to balance themselves on his back.
“Every time one of them falls off, that’s another twenty,” Luther said, but internally he made note of the redhead. Kid had potential, and he learned quickly.