by Lisa Ladew
“Crew, I’m sorry,” she gasped. “Just, give me a minute. I was in an accident…”
He pressed against her and moved her to the couch. “Sit. Here.” He grabbed her water off the table and gave it to her. She took a drink, then capped it.
He took it from her gently and peered into her face. “When was this accident?”
“Earlier tonight.”
Dahlia chewed on her lip and tried not to cry, staring hard at the floor. She didn’t want him to think she was crazy, or lying, or both.
“A car accident?”
She nodded.
“Where?”
What could she say? Could he find out there had been no accident? Loganville popped into her mind, the town where the whiny female had been from, but she really didn’t want to lie to him. “I… I don’t remember.”
He brushed her hair behind her ear. “Did you hit your head?”
She looked up at him. “I─I might have.”
His eyes scanned her hair. She touched a spot just above her left ear, grimacing. “It hurts here. I might have a little bump.”
He looked at her sideways. “Did you shift? You can heal that.”
Dahlia sucked in a breath and looked down again, her cheeks coloring. She was an idiot!
“Are you not able to shift?”
His voice held such concern that Dahlia thought she might die of shame. She had no idea what she could or should say, and agreeing to anything felt like a complete betrayal of him. Anything she said, he would believe, she could tell.
She shook her head, trying to hide behind her hair. “I don’t remember.”
He touched her under her chin, urging her to look at him. “Hey, it happens. I’ve heard of it before. Don’t be scared. Did you go to a doctor?”
“Not yet.”
He nodded like that was completely normal. He climbed onto the couch next to her and put an arm around her. “You’re really here alone, aren’t you?” he said softly.
She looked at him, eyes wide. Did he know already that she was lying? “I am.”
He chewed on the inside of his lip and stared down at her, something she couldn’t read on his face. “How old are you?”
“Twenty-five,” she whispered. “How old are you?”
He looked away, for a moment, then back at her. “Thirty-five,” he said, almost apologetically. She smiled to let him know a ten-year age gap didn’t bother her at all. He was sexy as hell, and mature. She loved that about him.
“Have you ever been to a rut before?”
Dahlia looked past him, toward the open door. Outside of it, she could see bodies writhing in open sexual displays. She looked away, cheeks reddening again. “No.”
“Have you…? Ah, Dahlia…” His voice trailed off.
“I’ve had sex, Crew. I know what it’s all about. But no, not like this. Not out in the open. And I was kind of forced into it, so─”
She cut off as a low growl came from his throat. She looked up at him, alarmed. His eyes were deadly yellow.
“Who? Tell me his name and where I can find him.” His voice was as deadly as his eyes. She felt afraid, but not for herself.
“Crew, he doesn’t live near here.”
“Tell me, Dahlia. I want his name.”
“Donnie Bryan,” she said, unable to not tell him. Donnie lived in another world.
She watched as Crew filed the information away in his mind, then visibly calmed himself. His eyes warmed, the gorgeous amber coming back.
She went to touch his chest but he caught her hand and looked at the inside of her wrist, then pushed her sleeve up, his brow furrowing. One of her tattoos.
His eyes found hers. “That’s amazing for a white tattoo. So crisp.”
She nodded and bit her lip, not trusting herself to say anything, her eyes on the small moon just under her palm. White tattoos were rare because tattoo artists didn’t like to do them for so many reasons, but when she’d gotten that tattoo in her real world, it had been black. One of her tests to see what transferred from world to world. All of her tattoos still showed in the world she hadn’t gotten them in, but in their inverse colors, like a negative. His eyes on it made her nervous. She pulled her hand gently away.
“Crew,” she said. “Can you take me home─to your home? I don’t want to be alone tonight.”
Brave and wild. If she only had one night with this amazing man, she would make the most of it. She would keep him so busy he wouldn’t ask her any more questions.
***
Crew jumped to his feet, knowing a distracting tactic when he saw one, but not caring. She might be hiding something, but he was hardwired to get his mate whatever she wanted. She wasn’t his mate yet, but if she wanted to go home with him, maybe she was feeling the same things he was. She’d never been claimed, so what she was hiding wouldn’t come between them.
“You don’t have to be alone,” he told her, his voice lowering, as he slid his fingers down the soft skin of her arm. He cursed lightly as he remembered he and Mac had walked there. They tried to walk everywhere, taking it upon themselves to patrol Tranquility constantly, stopping exactly the kind of crap that had introduced him to Dahlia.
“What?” she asked him, looking haunted.
“We can’t drive. I walked here.”
“How far is it?”
“Half a mile or so.”
She smiled at him, making his fangs grow in his mouth. He itched to claim her even though he’d only just met her and knew nothing about her. That’s how it was with your mate, he’d heard, but never experienced. Thoughts of taking her from behind filled his mind. He could see it, her head rising and falling and her hair flying everywhere. When he bent over her to bite that spot where her shoulder met her neck, her hair would be all over him, rubbing against his face, tickling his chest, spilling her scent all over him. His eyes slipped shut for just a moment and his cock jumped behind the zipper of his pants.
“Crew, I can walk a half mile.”
What? Oh. “I’m sure you can, but we shouldn’t.”
She frowned but didn’t say anything, only watched him with those big eyes. He shook his head. “I might walk alone if it were just me, but with you, I need at least one other male with me. It’s not safe otherwise.”
Her frown deepened and he looked at her, really looked at her reaction for the first time. She hadn’t known that. She wasn’t from around here. But where in this world was it any different? Unless she was from another wo─. No. Impossible. He cut the thought off at its knees then circled back for another slice.
He quickly pulled her toward the door. “My roommate Mac will walk us home.”
They entered the open area of music and twined bodies and Crew wanted only to get her out of there as quickly as possible.
She pressed against him, holding onto his arm. “Is that who you were with earlier? When you, ah…”
“Yeah, that’s Mac. He’s a good male. One of the best. Strong. Loyal. Never runs from a fight.”
She didn’t answer but her grip on him tightened. Crew looked over the crowd, threading his way between couples pressed so close to each other they might as well be one person.
A male approached him that he recognized, a flamboyant female on his arm. He lifted his chin in greeting, then remembered what Beckett represented in this world and snarled instead. Beckett snarled back and his female eyed Crew, then gave Dahlia a dangerous look. When they passed, Crew pulled Dahlia to the other side of him, just in case Beckett attacked. When he didn’t, Crew relaxed slightly.
On the other side of the dance floor, he found Mac on a couch, reclining as two females licked whipped cream off of him. Crew skirted around the back of the couch, holding Dahlia slightly behind him.
“Mac!” he yelled over the music until Mac looked up and back at him. One of the females smiled and nodded invitingly at him, including Dahlia in her stare. He ignored her, leaning close to Mac’s ear. “Sorry, dude, but when you get a break can you walk me and Dahlia home
?”
Mac twisted to see, but Crew kept Dahlia behind him. Mac grabbed him by the back of his neck and pulled him closer so he could talk directly into Crew’s ear. “I know you don’t go to a lot of these, Spook, but you don’t take females home from the rut. That’s what the rut is for.”
Crew pulled away and gave Mac a challenging stare. “She’s special.”
Mac twisted again, trying to see Dahlia. He must have gotten a partial look and realized who she was because his eyes widened. “Her?” Crew nodded tightly. Mac tried to say something to her but Crew lifted his lip so Mac got a good view of his teeth, and gave a warning growl.
Mac’s eyebrows lifted and he locked eyes with Crew, a question in his gaze. Crew nodded again. “Shit, Spook, you shoulda said something! Congratufuckinglations.”
He turned back to the females, standing up, pulling his body out of their reach and grabbing for his pants. “Sorry, ladies, but I need to help a friend get his female home safely. I’ll be back before you can miss me.”
But they were already turning away, looking for someone else to hold their attention.
“Sorry,” Crew offered.
Mac pulled on the rest of his clothes. “No stress. There’s hundreds of females here who would pay to be the bread in a Mac sandwich. My night is young.”
He held up his hand and Crew clasped it. Too late, Crew realized he was using the gesture as a way to get another look at Dahlia. Crew pulled her closer and put a possessive arm around her.
Mac smiled at her and Crew felt like killing him.
“You’re Dahlia,” he said. “Groovy.”
Dahlia smiled back but stayed close to Crew and didn’t say a word. Good girl. He’d show her how good when they got home. He was going to make her come three times before he took his dick out of his pants.
If she just wanted to cuddle, that would be good, but if she wanted more, she would be in for a ride she’d never forget. A memory that would still get them hot when they were grandparents. He would make sure of it.
Chapter 11
As they walked, Mac slightly in front, she and Crew behind, Dahlia held tightly to Crew. He was tense, much more tense than he’d been inside. His eyes moved constantly and when other people passed them, he tensed even more. The street was festive, with several boisterous groups walking through the area. They passed two males fighting and neither Mac nor Crew even looked their way.
They were in a residential area and Dahlia watched the houses closely, thinking they looked familiar. When they passed a two-story beige house with a wrap-around porch, she frowned as she examined it. She knew that house. She’d babysat there in both her real and her dream world, except in those worlds, the fence had been a small picket one, not the monstrosity topped with barbed wire that this one had. Tranquility had to be this world’s version of Serenity, which had been where she’d lived in both worlds she lived in. She shuddered. It was not named well. If she had written a town like this into a story, she would have called it something different, dangerous-sounding. Like Where the Wolves Play or…
Two large animals shot out of the darkness straight towards them, both black with teeth that gleamed in the moonlight, startling a scream from Dahlia. Crew pulled her to the side and behind him, but the wolves─they had to be wolves, they were both as big as Great Danes but looked like dark huskies─ran straight by them.
“What the hell?” Mac grated. “Keep her quiet. We don’t need to look like we spook easy.”
Crew gave her a questioning look that made her feel like a complete idiot. Females in this world didn’t scream when they saw wolves. They were wolves.
“Sorry,” she whispered to Crew.
“Shh. Don’t worry about it. They startled you.”
Mac turned left in an alley in front of them and Crew steered her that way, where they followed Mac through a gate that towered over her head. Inside the gate, Mac wrestled with several locks on a steel door. When he got them all unlocked, he held the door for her and Crew, then waved. “See you two later.” He turned and disappeared back out the gate.
“Is he going to be ok by himself?” Dahlia whispered.
“Mac’s strong and fast. He’ll be fine over that short distance. And we have lots of friends patrolling tonight. If he gets in trouble, he’ll howl.”
Crew led her up the dark stairs, worked several more locks at the top, then clicked on some lights and smiled at her, holding out his hand so she would enter first.
Dahlia looked around curiously. A large, open room greeted her, looking like any other house she’d ever been in, except there were no pictures on the walls, no plants, no decorations of any kind. That didn’t surprise her overmuch. “Is it just you and Mac here?”
“Yes.” Crew walked past her and turned on lights in rooms off the main room, then headed into the kitchen area. He dug four candles out of a drawer and lit them, then took some drinks out of the refrigerator and placed them on the counter. Dragon’s Best Sparkling Tea and two water bottles. He pulled his sweatshirt over his head and tossed it on the back of a chair, then looked at her and picked it back up, taking it to a closet, turning the main lights down low on his way. “Can I take your jacket?”
Dahlia gave it to him, feeling nervous all of a sudden, hoping things weren’t about to get awkward between them. From across the room she could see he had a tattoo on his right forearm but she couldn’t tell what it was.
He hung her jacket on a hanger, then turned to her and stared at her, his expression smoldering. Dahlia half-smiled, nervous still. He crossed the room to where she stood, holding her in place with his eyes, then dipped a hand around her waist and another into her hair. “I’m so glad you came home with me tonight.”
Dahlia’s cheeks heated up at his straightforwardness. He wasn’t feeling awkward at all. Maybe he did this a lot. His hand in her hair tugged slightly, sending sensation down her spine. She smiled at him again. Brave and wild. “Me too.” She touched her tongue to her top lip, feeling ridiculous at first but then triumphant when his gaze flew to it and he made a noise deep in his throat, like a growl. His every sound and gesture was incredibly sexy and she wanted more.
He stepped away from her, pulling at her with just two fingers, heading for the couch. He let go, then sat down and looked at her. “Come here.”
The command in his voice was unmistakable and it sent heat straight to her core. She didn’t care how often he did it. She wanted to experience it.
She walked to him, almost sat next to him, then changed her mind and straddled him instead, facing forward, locking gazes with him.
The intensity in his eyes as he nodded his approval overwhelmed her. “Good girl,” he rasped.
He leaned back and put his hands on the couch, palms up, fingers curled slightly, touching her only with his gaze. “Touch me,” he told her. She looked at him questioningly. “Anywhere you want. I like how it feels when you touch me but I don’t want you uncomfortable.”
Her fingers crept to his belly, flat and muscled under his shirt. She dropped her eyes to it as she lightly caressed it. Power rippled through his muscles as they jumped at her touch. Greedy to know more of him, she ran her hands up to his chest muscles, then down again, lifting his shirt. He sat forward and took it over his head. She gasped at the sheer perfection of his chest, running her hands over the bulging muscles. He was heavenly to look at. His tattoos caught her eye and she traced them with her fingers.
“What does this mean?” she asked, her hand on a large tattoo of wings over feminine eyes on his chest.
His lips quirked slightly and he didn’t speak for a long moment. She wondered if he resented her asking.
When he finally spoke, his tone was contemplative. “I did some stupid shit when I was thirteen. It cost me something very dear and this is my reminder.”
“You got that at thirteen?” she asked, her fingers memorizing his pecs and shoulders. He dropped his head to the back of the couch and closed his eyes, as if her touch was bliss.
/> “Fourteen.”
“Your parents let you get a tattoo at fourteen?”
“My mom was dead. My dad… wasn’t around.”
Dahlia sucked in a breath. “I’m sorry.”
He opened his eyes and caught her hand. “Don’t be sorry for asking questions. You can ask me anything and I’ll never get upset.”
She dipped her head. “Why are you being so sweet to me?”
He stared at her so long, with such intensity, that she squirmed in his lap. Finally he spoke. “Because you deserve it. Because I want you to be mine.”
She sucked in a breath, her hand flying to her throat to twist nothing. “We just met,” she said softly.
“I know. But I can feel we are right for each other. Tell me you feel it, too.”
Dahlia looked back down at his muscles. What could she possibly say to that? This intense, sexy, strong man, in another place or circumstance? Yes. She would say yes to that in a heartbeat. But here? She hoped she would never see this place again. She’d been through dying, without the heaven or hell, and had no idea what the future held. What would he say if he knew that?
But she did feel it and she had no choice but to admit it. “I do feel it.”
Relief spread across his face. “I will always be sweet to you, Dahlia. I don’t know any other way to be to my mate.”
Dahlia’s eyes went wide at that word. Mate. So animalistic yet strangely attractive. Way stronger than girlfriend. Too bad she didn’t know how any of this worked! Would he give her a ring? Want her to move in? Be destroyed if she somehow disappeared from this world?
The thoughts came quickly, overwhelmingly, and she leaned forward into his chest to hide her face. She’d been hoping that when she went to sleep she would wake up back in her real world and never come to this world again. Something that had happened to her after she died and before she arrived in this world─something she couldn’t quite remember─made her think that was what would happen.
Now she wondered if she really wanted to go back to the world where she was only a few weeks from dying… for good.
Dahlia’s breaths came too quickly and for the second time that evening she felt close to losing it. To just curling up on the floor and crying or screaming until she passed out. Crew. She remembered now what that name was from.