He stirred, rolling over to look at her. “That was nice,” he murmured before reaching past her to the pitcher still on his nightstand. He drank directly from the jug, but Jaelle didn’t protest. She just gripped it once he was done and gulped some down, as well.
“It was, wasn’t it?” she added, snuggling to his form. He was warm, and so, so comforting. It was easy to feel less alone when she was between his arms.
“Maybe… nice enough to happen again?”
At that, she laughed. It probably wasn’t the best choice, but the contentiousness and uncertainty in his voice was so novel. He really did care about how she felt, and knowing that she was one hundred percent enthusiastic. It was a lovely change.
Not that David ever tried anything she didn’t want to do. No, he was loving and tender and good at listening to what she wanted. But sex with Bradley was just… different. And she definitely liked it.
“We’ll see what happens,” she murmured, breathing his scent in deep so it could imprint in her nose forever. “I wouldn’t mind a repeat performance, but it’s all about the timing. And, I’m not very much into necrophilia, so both of us need to survive what’s coming.”
“Good point,” he said with a sigh. “Too bad I don’t know what Creed’s next move will be.”
“I do.” Jaelle answered quietly. She didn’t want to bring it up because it would ruin the mood between them, but she didn’t see a way around it.
“Wait, what?!” Bradley sat up, looking at her incredulously. “How?”
“He knows about the hospital, and now he knows that that’s our goal. If he’s anything like I know he is, he’s going right there to set up his base.”
“Base? What do you mean?”
“He wants to kill all of the Clan Leaders and anyone else who gets in his way. In order to do that, he needs leverage and followers. The hospital and experiments housed within will give him leverage and having a base will give him a place to send those who share his beliefs.”
“Who the hell would share in his beliefs?”
She shrugged. “Criminals, despots. Parents who had their children forcibly ripped from their hands to be executed, other Aberrants who may be better at hiding than either of us. It’s easy to think that no one could possibly listen to the ravings of a madman, but just look at the human politicians that get elected nowadays. People fall for rhetoric, and especially the hateful ones.”
“So, that’s it then, a race to the hospital?”
“Probably. I would say we should alert those in power so that they can beef up the guard, but then we have no way of getting what we want. So, our only option is to get there first.”
“Great, and he’s got a week’s head start on us.”
“True, but you forget that he doesn’t like cars. He’s on foot, even for something as important as this.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“Me, too,” she said, settling back down onto the sheet. “When do we leave?”
“Tomorrow. But for now, the rest of the night belongs to us.” He settled back down with her, letting an arm rest over her waist.
“I’d like that,” she mused, pressing a chaste kiss to his lips.
However, things grew less chaste very quickly, and before Jaelle knew it, she was mounting him once more, the two of them working to bring each other just a little slice of solace in a world where nothing was guaranteed.
All in all, it wasn’t a bad way to spend the night. It was certainly the best one they would have together for a long, long while.
To be Continued…
Book 4: Shifter Prison
Sarah J. Stone
Chapter One: Ride Again
“Thank y’all so much for coming down! We know you’re just gonna love it!”
“Yeah, I’m sure it’ll be great,” Bradley said, a winning smile on his face.
Jaelle watched, amused at the whole scene. It had been a week since they had first slept together and he was finally fully healed and ready to go and their first order of business was buying a new lead car.
It had been mildly funny, seeing how antsy the leader was without his own vehicle, but Jaelle couldn’t help but wonder how much time this was costing them. True, while they knew exactly where Creed was heading and could get there much faster than him, every single moment seemed precious.
Nevertheless, lost time or not, watching Bradley walk into a car dealership and pay for a new Jeep outright was pretty priceless. It was just a little mom and pop place, run by a whole three people, so it was clear he quite made their day. It was refreshing to have a little sliver of niceness in what had so far been mostly a shit pie.
She thought back to her home in Braywire. Well, her ex-home. It came up in her mind less often, which was a wonderful relief. It was like the gaping wound that was her past was slowly healing a little bit day by day. But it was far from gone and whenever it floated to the top of her mind, she wondered what her life would be if she were still there. If Creed had never wandered into her life. If she had never learned that she didn’t have a death sentence hanging over her head.
It was hard to say. She was a mutant shapeshifter, not a fortune teller. She supposed it all depended on if she survived the whole crazy ordeal or not. Which right now was about as up in the air as their plan.
But possible impending doom or not, she couldn’t resist ribbing Bradley as they got into his new ride and caravanned off the lot.
“Feeling like a man again?” she teased. Perhaps it was strange to joke around when they were literally on their way from stopping a serial killer from dooming her kind forever, but she clung to these moments of comradery. They were so alien to the life that she had lived before and they gave her hope that there was something she could work toward. And she needed that hope to go straight into the vicious jaws she felt waiting to snap closed on her.
“I’m a man with or without a car,” he grumbled. Although his tone was stern, his eyes were alive with excitement as he began to play around with the settings. Usually Jaelle would insist that he kept his eyes on the road, but there was going less than thirty down a two-lane road in the middle of a small town. Fiddling with the heated seats and satellite radio weren’t going to hurt anything. “Things are just more convenient when I have a car to lead. Besides, we needed to restock on more supplies and most of our carrier vehicles were taken by the others when we split.”
“Have they contacted you at all? Herc and them?”
“Nah, and they won’t,” Dannon said from the back, nearly making her jump. She had completely forgotten the blind man was back there.
“What? Why not? I mean I know you’re kind of doing a Hunter no-no, but I assumed they wouldn’t let that come between your bond”.
“They won’t. But it’s not about that. If they contact us in any way, they would be bound to relay whatever they learned back to their nearest Clan Leader. By making sure they know nothing, they’re protecting us as best they can.”
“Oh…” How depressing. Jaelle couldn’t imagine forging a friendship and surviving multiple battles with someone only to be torn apart by politics and an interloper. Especially since she was said interloper. She knew she was justified in what she was doing, but it didn’t make her feel any less like the ‘other woman.’ Time to change the subject.
“So, you wanna tell me how you were able to pay for this car in its entirety?”
He shrugged. “I’m a Hunter, and a lead one at that.” She continued to stare at him, waiting for the rest of the explanation. It took him a minute to realize she didn’t understand how what he said had to do with anything and he kept on, “For missions, our team is given an account to draw our supplies from. It’s supposed to help us get whatever we need to get our jobs done. Food, clothes, shelter, vehicles, you name it. Whenever we recover wealth, we send it back to the Clan Leaders and they put a percentage of it in our account as rewards. Our group has been working together for almost three years now. We’ve racked up quite a bit there.�
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“Huh. I guess I never thought about the monetary aspects of this all.”
He nodded, only half paying attention to her as he fiddled with the radio. “Although we deal with Shifter issues, we live in the human world. If we want to do anything, we need to play by their rules. And, unfortunately, about ninety percent of their rules have to do with money.”
“I see.”
“Do you?”
“I mean, kinda. I remember struggling a lot of times when I was on my own. Having to con my way into someone’s good graces so I could stay with them for a night. I guess that would have been a lot easier if I had money.”
“Everything’s easier with money. I guess we’re lucky that Creed hasn’t seemed to realize that yet.”
“Yeah, to be honest, he doesn’t seem to think about the human world at all. It’s pretty obvious that he was raised on a Shifter outpost and has only really dealt with our kind.”
“You see, that’s what doesn’t make sense to me. You said he was turned in young, so I’m guessing less than thirteen. He’s obviously about ten years older, so what has he done in the meantime?”
“If I had to guess,” she answered, “he spent a long time as an animal, hiding. Something about his anger told me that he spent a whole lot of time being scared. But after long enough, that fear turned into anger, and that what set him off on this bath of revenge. Or maybe he just stayed in hiding until the madness set in. It’s hard to say. Either way, humans have only ever existed in the background of his life and I don’t think that’s going to change until he kills all the Shifters he wants to.”
“Well, let’s not let it get to that point,” Bradley said, picking up speed as we reached the highway. “Let’s end this before anyone else gets hurt.”
“From your mouth to God’s ears,” Jaelle murmured, sinking back into her seat. She supposed that if everything went right, this might be the final chapter of her little story before she could sink back into obscurity and small-town life where the biggest issue was when the corner store was getting new confections shipped in.
Unless life had some other surprise in store for her.
Chapter Two: A Whole Lot of Solace
“Bradley, we can’t!” she hissed, pushing him away from her as he nipped her neck.
It was dark and the sounds of the night were chirping in full, but she knew that wouldn’t be enough to cover the amount of noise they would make. Sure, she hadn’t cared when the rest of the pack were all at the doctor’s house and could hear them have their first time together, but this seemed different.
They were at yet another one of those overnight rest areas, and the Hunters were in an arrangement of tents a bit of a ways from the restrooms. Jaelle had just been returning from washing herself when Bradley had appeared out of nowhere, took her hand and lead her to his new car.
That was how she found herself in his lap, the seat reclined just enough to fit the two of them in.
“Come on,” Bradley purred. “We have to christen the new car.”
“Aren’t you supposed to do that with a bottle of champagne?” she groaned as his lips found the pulse at her neck again, teeth grazing her skin there.
“Why do that when you taste so much better?” he growled into her throat.
“You have a point,” she admitted, grinding into him.
God, he knew just how to set her alight, didn’t he? His hands were at the small of her back, his thumbs kneading the flesh there under her skirt. His nails were extended, but they were a welcome point of pain amongst all the pleasure. She could feel herself heating up and the logical part of her mind slowly losing itself to her more feral side.
Who cared if anyone heard! She needed his touch. Needed his claim. Needed him to turn her inside out and leave her unable to speak even her own name.
…but in a Jeep, really?
Her logical thought was like a bucket of cold water poured over her head. She pulled away, doubting herself yet again. “I don’t know if this is a good idea,” she whispered, looking out the window.
For what it was worth, Bradley managed not to look disappointed. “Just say the word, and this stops,” he murmured, his hands coming around the front of her to rest at her hips, squeezing ever so slightly. That was enough to make Jaelle’s eyes flutter, and those feral thoughts came creeping back in like and illicit drug.
“Mmmm.” She rocked against him. Even through his jeans she could feel him straining for her, begging for some sort of satisfaction. How could she resist a need to ardent? Nothing made her feel sexier than how hard and hotly he wanted her.
“That’s funny,” he said, his fingers slowly walking up until it hit her first button, which he managed to open with just two fingers. “That didn’t sound like a no.”
“That’s because it wasn’t,” she whispered, resting her hands on his shoulders.
Another button, and his fingers ghosted across her flesh, just grazing, never giving her the satisfaction she wanted. “Am I to take it that you’d like me to continue?”
She nodded, grinding her hips against his sharply. He hissed and his fingers quickly went to the next button and then the next until her shirt was entirely open.
His hands drifted up to her bra and she thrust herself forward, begging him to palm her, but instead he pulled his hands back and looked at her.
“Are you teasing me?” she breathed, almost panting with the sheer amount of desire flowing through her veins.
“Why I would never dream of it?” His smile curved oh-so wickedly. “But I do want you to tell me what you want me to do to you.”
“I should think that would be fairly obvious,” she hissed, having no patience for his little game.
But he was persistent, she would give him that. “Spell it out for me.”
Fine. She could do that. “Touch me,” she said, eyes growing sharp. While she was annoyed, she could feel a part of her being enticed by the idea of talking dirty.
He plopped one of his large hands on her shoulder as if it were a dead fish. “Like this?”
She rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean.”
“No, I don’t,” he said, sitting forward slightly until his face was only a breath from hers. “Why don’t you tell me?”
Fine. Two could play that game. “Take off my bra,” she said, sliding her open shirt off. “I trust you don’t need step-by-step directions for that.”
“No, I got it.”
That damned smirk was still on his face as he reached behind her and undid the clasp. With a practiced ease, he pulled it up over her head and threw it into the back of the Jeep.
“Kiss them,” she ordered next.
The look in his eyes was absolutely indescribable and flames rose ever higher within her. Leaning forward, he slowly, reverently, pressed his lips to her right breast. She sighed, her hands returning to her shoulders, as he moved to the other and places an equally chaste sign of affection.
But for one she didn’t mind the slow burn. It made her ache in ways she didn’t think were possible, longing for something just beyond the horizon.
And then his rough tongue flicked over a sensitive coral bud and sharp fangs lightly, ever so lightly, grazed after it. Electricity ran down her spine and her thighs clenched on either side of the man before her.
“Like that?” he breathed into her.
“Yes,” she whispered, pushing herself forward for more. It was amazing how easily this man turned her into a glutton, always seeking fulfillment, always seeking satiation but it hovering just above her head. Was this what it was like to let go, to fly high with euphoria and never touch down? Or was she just drunk on never having to worry about clawing or biting too hard, or letting her eyes glow or her voice slip into a roar?
She didn’t know, and she supposed it didn’t matter, because then his mouth was moving to give the other side equal treatment while a hand came up to roll the still-damp nipple between his fingertips.
It was too much. But it was never enough
. Her hips rolled against him without restraint. She was sure that she was ruining her underwear, but she didn’t care. She didn’t care about anything really.
Somehow, when he touched her, all she felt was the fantasy. There was no responsibility, no orphaned past, not even a David, still recouping somewhere safe. There was only the energy between them, and the solace they gave each other.
She let him work her over, coaxing her higher, making her breath come in short pants, before she bade him to stop. He did, face flushed and looking like he could devour her if she let him.
Which was exactly what she planned to do.
“Put your hands on the canvas top,” she said, letting her voice drop to its lowest register.
And he did. She could tell from his heated smile that he thought he was so good at the game, but Jaelle was going to show him exactly what it meant to play dirty.
“Don’t move,” she ordered, sliding backwards just a hair.
“Whatever you say,” was his assured response.
Her hands finally moved from his shoulders, sliding down his chest until they reached his belt. There, her fingers lazily traced the metal edges, circling the generic pattern there. His hips tensed, trying to subtly urge her to hurry, but she felt no need.
“Remember, I said not to move.”
“You’re enjoying this too much.”
“Aww, upset now that you have to play by your own rules?” She leaned forward, allowing her palm to rest against the bulge in his jeans and her lips to hover just above his. He could have easily pushed up and claimed her, but he stayed put just as he should.
“Maybe a little,” he whispered, voice growing hoarser by the second. “But you’re a good person. You wouldn’t get off on torturing an innocent man, would you?”
She fluttered her eyelashes at him. “Now, what on Earth makes you think that?”
He groaned, but she relished it, removing the press of her hand against him and went back to tracing his belt buckle. She kept on with that just long enough to be mean, before finally pulling his zipper down.
The Aberrants Box Set (Books 1-5) Page 36