The Aberrants Box Set (Books 1-5)

by Sarah J. Stone

  But they couldn’t exactly start humping right in the middle of the road, as tempting as the idea might be. With an erstwhile sigh, she pulled away, looking into his eyes.

  “It’s good to see you again,” she admitted before leaning her head against his chest.

  “It’s good to see you too. Are we done with this whole leaving me behind thing finally?”

  She let out a shaking laugh. “I certainly hope so. Frankly, it’s getting a little old.”

  “Glad you feel that way,” he said, pressing one last kiss to the top of her head before returning back to his truck. She watched him grab the things he needed, a feeling of contentment rising in her.

  Somehow, her life had gone from being right about to end, to being reunited and on the road with her lover again. For having such historically terrible luck, it seemed like it was really turning around.

  She just hoped that trend continued.

  *

  It still took another hour before they were on the road again, with David taking his place at the end of the convoy. She knew that putting them as the last car in the line was a strategic thing. If they were attacked from behind it would just be the human and monster in the line of fire, giving the rest of them time to react without losing any of their own. Still, she didn’t resist it as it finally felt like she had some peace.

  Surprisingly, neither she or David said much. Maybe they were too tired, or maybe there wasn’t much that needed to be said in the moment. Instead, they drove along without a word, the radio playing softly and their hands resting together in the center of the seat.

  Was this what happiness felt like? It was hard to believe that she could find anything remotely like that in the situation, and yet every time she looked over at her partner, that’s all she could feel. Happiness, contentment, whatever one wanted to call it; those feelings bubbled through her like a warm, soothing spring.

  And the feeling continued through the hours, and the night, all the way until they stopped just after two a.m.

  “Good job driving there.” Bradley said, coming up alongside of the truck after David parked.

  “Yeah. I follow cars real good, sir.”

  “Your humor is noted, but I’d like to talk to Jaelle, if you don’t mind.”

  “Anything you want to say to her, you can say with me present.”

  “It’s fine, David,” Jaelle said, opening her door and clambering out. God, her spine was stiff. She needed to start doing some sort of side-seat yoga before she developed osteoporosis before she was thirty. “Why don’t you go set up that tent you have in the back?”

  His gaze flicked from her to the leader and back before he relented. “Alright. Be safe.”

  She smiled softly at him before turning to Bradley. Even after a day on the road he was still unfairly good looking. Maybe that was why he went with the whole rugged charm thing. Since a five o’clock shadow and mussed hair seemed to go hand and hand in his job, it made sense to just roll with it rather than fight it.

  “What’s up?” she asked as they walked away from the group. If she was being practical, she would be keeping an eye on her surroundings, as leading her away from the rest was a classic way to off someone when you didn’t want to make a big scene. And yet… she wasn’t worried about it. Somehow, in the back of her mind, she knew Bradley wasn’t a threat.

  “Tomorrow I’m going to need you to ride with me. I’ll have Dannon ride side-seat with your boytoy and tell him to play nice.”

  “Why the changeup?”

  “We’re getting close. You didn’t have a walkie today, but Dannon says we’re coming up on his scent faster and faster.”

  “Then should we be stopping for the night?”

  “We have to. Even the best of us need four hours every now and then. The last time we tried to take on this Aberrant under sleep deprivation, five good Hunters died.”

  “Yikes, yeah. Let’s not do that.”

  “I didn’t want to spring this on you in the morning, figured it would be good to give you the night to talk it out with your man.”

  “Thanks, it’s appreciated. I’m sure he’ll understand.”

  “You sure? Of all the words I’d use to describe him, I don’t think reasonable was among them.”

  “I dunno,” she said with a cheeky grin. “I asked him not to kill the men that were so intent on killing me a few days ago and he listened, I would say that and exemplary amount of being reasonable for one man.”

  “Fair enough.” He sighed and looked up at the stars. Jaelle sensed that there was something on his mind, so she said nothing. Instead, she waited. “You know, before I met you, everything was pretty simple.”

  “Oh, yeah?”

  “Yeah. I dedicated my life to saving people and hunting down the monster that went bump in the night.” His gaze moved from the shining, celestial objected above to her. “But now, I’m beginning to wonder if those monsters were really monsters at all. For your entire life me, and people like me, have been your boogeymen. Hunting you down, destroying any hope you had of peace. How could something like that be right?

  “And yet, it has to be right. The amount of bodies I’ve buried in this Aberrant’s wake keeps me up at night. Every time he slips through our grasp, I doom more people to violent, painful ends. Their worst nightmares come true.”

  “Sounds like you’re caught between a rock and a hard place.” She wanted to feel for him, she really did. But anytime she started to feel and iota of pity, she was reminded of a Hunter striking her mother down in the distance, a spray of red across the snow.

  “Wow, how self-entitled can I be?” he said with a dry laugh. “Complaining about my emotional discomfort to a woman who I turned in to be executed after forcing her to flee her home.”

  “I wasn’t going to say anything, but yeah, not your smartest move.”

  “Yeah, well I never claimed to be smart.” He shot her another one of those dashing grins, smoothing his hair back and out of his chiseled face. “Come on, let’s go back before I can insert my foot any farther into my mouth.”

  “I dunno,” she taunted, relieved at the change in conversation. “I kind of like to see you contort yourself into a bit of a mess.”

  “That’s schadenfreude for you.”

  They continued to banter back and forth until they reached their little makeshift camping area. Looking around, Jaelle saw that David had set up their tent about as far as physically possible from the rest without being dangerously separated. She gave a little wave to Bradley, then headed over.

  “Hey there,” she announced, unzipping the entrance to find David inside, unrolling what looked like a double-sleeping back onto an air mattress. “Oh, what’s this, some sort of five-star resort?”

  “You know me. Only the best for my lady.”

  She laughed and zipped the entrance closed again before sitting down to remove her shoes. They were thick and heavy boots that the town had supplied to her before they left. Defintiely an upgrade over the two-dollar flats that David had gotten her in a gas station shortly after the first time he had rescued her.

  She smirked at that. She liked to think she was an independent woman who fought her own battles, but hell if she didn’t have the best deus ex machina of a boyfriend in her back pocket.

  Strong arms wrapped around her, pulling her backwards onto the improvised bed. She laughed as they went tumbling, then proceeded to roll around in a mock fight. They ended up with him posted on top of her, her wrists pinned above her head.

  They exchanged looks, longing evident across both of their faces, and then he was kissing her again.

  And once more, it was relief. Blessed, simple relief.

  He let go of her wrists, allowing her to yank him down to her with ardent desire. He laughed into her mouth, but didn’t break their kiss.

  Her lips lifted up, begging for contact, and her tongue demanded attention. She could feel her feralness begin to take over after being denied for far too long, but reality, cold and
utterly boring, reminded her that she needed to cool it.

  She broke away with a sigh, gently pushing David off of her.

  “Whoa, what happened?”

  “We can’t,” she said with a sigh.

  “Why not?”

  She gave him an incredulous look. “Are you kidding me? The rest of the Hunters are right outside. They’ll hear us. They’ll smell us.”

  “So?”

  She flushed at that, rolling onto her side to face him. “Well… isn’t that embarrassing?”

  “Maybe. Or maybe it’ll remind them that you’re a real, breathing person just like them.”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “Okay, then. I don’t want to if you’re not comfortable.” He pressed another tender kiss to her lips before rolling onto his back. “But I’m not giving up on my cuddle rights. It’s been a very long week without you and I’ve earned that much.”

  Abruptly, what little control she had sublimated into the atmosphere, and she felt her feral side become more insistent. In just a few short movements, she was on her knees and straddling him, pulling him up to kiss her once more.

  Instantly his hands went to the curve of her behind, kneading the warm flesh there as his mouth gave into her demands. She made herself busy with hurriedly unbuttoning his shirt and throwing the fabric open.

  With a heady groan, she tore herself away from his mouth, leaning down to let her tongue trace the striations of his front. He tasted of salt and masculinity and flannel. Normally not a flavor profile she was into, but in the moment, it was absolutely perfect.

  He let out a hiss of pleasure and then he was onto removing her own shirt, yanking it over her head with a fierceness that her body responded to instantly. God, she wanted him so bad. Everything in her was crying out for his touch, his kiss, for him to bury himself inside her again and again until she forgot her own name.

  As soon as her shirt was gone, he was onto her bra next, pulling it from her frame and throwing it against the wall of the tent.

  His hands went to her breasts almost instantly, rolling and pinching the nipples between his calloused fingers. She ground against him in response, her center craving him.

  She couldn’t wait any longer. She needed him, and she needed him now. She could already feel that her underwear was slick, and she couldn’t get it off fast enough.

  Scooting back, her hand went to David’s belt, quickly undoing it and yanking down his zipper. Reaching into his boxers, she pulled him free, barely able to resist licking her lips. He was already stiff and straining for her. At least she knew without a doubt that he was as attracted to her as she was to him.

  Finally, she stood, undoing her own button and zipper before nearly tearing her clothes from her own body. Within seconds, she was bare before him, and she knelt down once more.

  Gripping his length in her hand, her thumb flicked across the top, smearing the liquid along his head before positioning himself at her entrance.

  She took a deep breath, them lowered himself onto him.

  There were no real words to describe the absolute fulfillment that flooded her as she took him into herself. She was stretched, almost beyond compacity, and he was hitting an angle within her that was just right.

  Finally, she reached his base and she sat a moment, breathing deeply. Although they had had their one romp together in Canada, it had been far too long since she had been on top, which made her body resist a bit more than usual.

  David gripped her hips, his thumbs rubbing comforting circles against the soft skin there until she finally adjusted.

  “I’m ready,” she murmured, leaning forward to place another kiss on his lips.

  “Good,” he answered, expression somewhere between a cocky smile and lost to the throws of pleasure.

  She moved her hips experimentally, writhing against him. The resulting rush of pleasure was borderline intoxicating, and she quickly picked up speed.

  God. It was perfect. Everything was perfect. The way David gripped her hips, guiding her up and down along his lengths with a force that was just right. The way his scent filled the tent, combining with hers to send her senses aflame. The way he hit the deepest parts of her, filling something that she desperately needed to be complete.

  His hands left her hips, moving once more to her breasts. Throwing her head back, she changed their combined movement from frenzied thrusts, to gliding back and forward, allowing him to slide almost completely out of her before taking him again.

  She could feel that wall of pleasure rushing toward her, sweeping aside all other thoughts, all other worries. It built, like a dam in her abdomen, fueled by the heat of it all.

  “David!” she cried, not caring who heard or what they smelled. “God, David, don’t stop!”

  And for what it was worth, he didn’t. His hips rolled with hers, guiding her to her completion, words of praise falling from his lips in little snippets of worship.

  Her own hands went to his front, her nails digging into the skin there. Although they broke the skin, he made no objection aside from a hiss of pleasure. If anything, he increased his pace, one of his hands gripping her hip again to shuttle her long his member.

  And then it hit.

  In the middle of the furor, the wanton passion, her climax hit her like a ton of bricks. Suddenly she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t see. There was only her, the man below her, and the absolute pleasure coursing through her every vein.

  The blinding deluge seemed to last forever, and when she came down, she felt David thrusting into her with abandon. A few seconds later, he twitched within her and reached his own end, letting out a cry that could probably be heard by any Shifters in a five-mile radius.

  Slowly, they came down from their high, breathing like they had just run a marathon. Jaelle sat perched atop him, completely serious until what they had just done dawned on her and a small case of the giggles set in.

  “We are going to get such odd looks in the morning,” she panted finally, pulling herself off of him with a wince before collapsing beside him.

  “Yeah, yeah we are,” he said with his own small chuckle, reaching over to slide his arm under her head. “And they’re going to be totally jealous.”

  “Either that or disgusted.”

  “Hey, we don’t need them to like us. Just not kill us.”

  “True. But let’s not talk about death now. I’ve still got my buzz.”

  “You’re right.” He let out a long, contented sigh and hugged her to his side. “Either way, even if we only had this one night together, it would be worth it to see you again.”

  “Same over here,” she replied, nuzzling into his side. “Except we’re going to have plenty of nights together. If the future indicated anything about the past, we’re going to be chasing after this guy for a while.”

  “Good.” As was their tradition, he pressed a kiss to the top of her head before settling down to the mattress. She too allowed herself to tuck in for the night and let herself drift away into sleep.

  Chapter Seven: Crossing New Boundaries

  She was right, they did get plenty of stares the next morning. But instead of being embarrassed like she thought she would be, Jaelle actually felt her confident rise a bit from the whole thing. Maybe it was the inquisitive side eyes she caught in the corners of her vision, or maybe it was just the hormonal effect of having a really, really good lay, but either way, it wasn’t bad at all.

  The only thing that even gave her a slight pause was the raised eyebrow Bradley shot her when she slid into his car.

  “Sleep well?” he asked, obviously trying to suppress a smirk.

  “Yeah. I couldn’t tell ya why, but I was really out like a rock the entire time.”

  “I guess it’s a real mystery.”

  “Looks like it.”

  Now he did smirk in earnest, but the conversation ended there. One more, they headed out onto the road, driving through what seemed like a never-ending forest.

  It was quiet for se
veral hours, the sun shining brightly before them, before the Hunter in the back seat let out a frustrated sigh.

  “What’s up, Javier?”

  “Nothing,” he grumbled.

  Jaelle crossed back to see that the tanned man’s cheeks were quite red and his arms were crossed over his torso, like he was trying to contain myself.

  “It’s me,” she said, trying not to blush, as well.

  “Really, Javi? A little after-sex is bothering you? What are you, twelve?”

  “No! It’s not that!” Bradley gave him a hard stare and the Hunter caved. “All right, fine. It is. But not for the reasons you’re thinking.” He sighed, rubbing the sides of his head. “It’s just that I haven’t seen Isabella in nine months now. And hearing such… extracurricular activities last night just reminded me of how much I missed her. That’s all.”

  “Aw,” Jaelle murmured. “That’s actually kind of sweet. Isabella’s your partner?”

  “My wife of six years,” he responded. “She is the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on, and the kindest soul to ever touch down on this earth.” He heaved another long sigh before straightening. “Ignore me. But do you mind if I crack a window?”

  “It’s fine,” she said with a slight smile. “I get it, I do.”

  The mood seemed to relax after that and it was almost pleasant. Who knew, maybe she could have similar one on one moments with the entire pack of Hunters until they were like one big family.

  And maybe pigs would fly.

  She smirked but kept her thoughts to herself. Yeah, things were looking up, but she couldn’t let herself get too relaxed.

  After all, she was still in enemy territory. Even if that enemy was a handsome, charming man with his merry band of peace-keepers.

  *

  The day passed without event, the hours flitting by until it was nearly sundown. Bradley was on the walkie with someone she thought might be named Mitchell, debating on whether they should stop for gas now, or in the morning when suddenly Dannon cut over the line.

  “We need to stop, now!”

  “What, why? Are you smelling a trap? We’re in the middle of nowhere.”