by Ava Benton
“Gee, I don’t know if I can handle that.”
“And stop being so damn sarcastic while you’re at it. Not everybody thrives on sarcasm the way you do.”
“It seems like you do.”
“I’m different. I’m allowed to be sarcastic.” I burst out laughing when I realized how stupid I sounded.
He laughed, too. It went a long way toward diffusing the tension.
“What do you really want?” I asked.
“I’m here to hang out with you, obviously. Drew’s taking my place, keeping watch. So I came over to check on you.”
“The walls are pretty thin,” I reminded him. “If anything happened to me over here, you’d probably be able to hear it.”
“But it would be too late,” he pointed out. “And besides, something tells me it would be pretty quiet.”
A chill ran through me. “Wow. You know how to reassure a girl.”
“Sorry,” he frowned. “Can I come in now? It feels sort of ridiculous, standing out here like this.” He looked over his shoulder to the parking lot below. “I look like a stalker. Or like we’re fighting.”
“I thought we kind of were for a little while there.” Even so, I stepped aside and let him in.
Being friends was easier, and it made me a lot happier. Happier than I should’ve been. It also made my palms a little sweaty and my heart race a little faster.
It made me wish I had worn something a little cuter that day, something other than a flowered romper. Something a little more mature. Something sexier.
“I shouldn’t have been a d-bag earlier.”
I scowled at him, though I didn’t exactly mean it. “I’ll accept that as an apology.”
He sat down on the bed. “Wow. A TV and everything.”
“Would you shut up?” I said, rolling my eyes. “So I live simply. Big deal. What, do you live in a mansion or something?”
“Or something,” he said with a shrug.
“Oh, my lord. You do, don’t you? You guys live in a mansion someplace. I hate you.”
He laughed.
I hated how nice it sounded—and even more how good I felt when I heard it.
“It’s not a mansion, okay? I’m pulling your chain. It’s a really tricked out cabin, though.”
“Ugh.” I sat against the headboard, knees against my chest.
It was weird, being alone with him, even though we had been alone that first night. It was different then. I was still in shock.
The shock was way gone by now. All I felt was… mild discomfort. But a good discomfort. The sort of discomfort a girl feels when there’s an extremely masculine, extremely muscular presence sitting on her bed. While she’s also sitting on her bed.
Then, I remembered the way he had smiled at Nia. He probably liked her. No big surprise. I reminded myself to be realistic.
“There’s a reason we have to stay in that cabin, though.” His mood dropped. His smile dissolved.
“Why? If it’s not too much for me to ask.”
“Remember when you said I didn’t know what you were going through?”
Did I ever. He went totally weird after that. “Yes.”
“I do know. All of us do. I told you there were people out there who wanted to forget my family exists. That wasn’t a lie. We live in that cabin, away from the rest of the world except when we need to get food or when we’re just about ready to rip each other’s heads off if we don’t spend a little time apart. We live there because we can’t let whoever wants us out of the picture to know we’re still around. It wasn’t enough that they dishonorably discharged us.”
“Oh… I should’ve known better than to say what I said.”
“You were a little emotional. More than a little. It’s not a big deal. I’m the one who shouldn’t have overreacted.”
“You didn’t.”
“Thanks.” He looked me in the eye and smiled again. “And thanks for the candy. I finished it before I came over here. It was really good.”
“You’re welcome.”
Suddenly, his shoulders shook up and down. He clenched his teeth.
I realized he was trying to hold back a laugh. “What is it?” I found the nerve to ask.
“You’ve had a smear of chocolate on your chin this entire time we were talking. I told myself not to point it out and piss you off even more, but…”
“Oh, thanks for waiting to tell me!” I groaned. I licked my thumb and swiped it over my chin.
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “You missed it.”
“Seriously?” I tried again.
“Are you deliberately trying to miss?”
I felt a blush burning my cheeks. “I can’t see it!” I made as though to get up.
“Here.” He moved closer and reached out with his thumb.
The touch of it against my chin sent a delicious shiver down my spine. He held it up so I could see—sure enough, there was chocolate on it.
I watched, breathless, as he raised it to his lips and licked it.
Holy hell.
“Candy bar?” he murmured, his eyes never leaving mine.
“Cupcakes.”
“Good?”
“Eh. Not worth the calories.” I looked down at his mouth and wondered what it would’ve been like if he had licked the chocolate from my thumb. Or my chin. Or my lips.
He leaned in a little closer, and I didn’t pull back. It was like he was hypnotizing me, drawing me closer and closer.
What was happening?
I had to be dreaming. I must have fallen asleep on my back, after the cupcakes, and I was dreaming that he was coming closer with a sexy spark in his eye and lips inching closer to mine.
But there was no missing the thrill that raced through me and set my nerves on fire when his mouth brushed against mine. It was unreal.
Him? He wanted to kiss me.
I didn’t care anymore if it was real, or why he wanted to. I only cared that he was, and that when he took the back of my head in his huge hand, he dug his fingers into my hair and pulled me closer.
If it was a dream, I didn’t want to wake up.
I reached for him and let my fingers trail up his arms, settling on his shoulders. They flexed under my palms as he wrapped his arms around me and lowered me to the bed.
Oh, my God. This is happening. This is really happening.
My heart sang. Never, not ever in my whole life, had something I wanted so badly actually come true.
Because I did want him. I wanted him so much. I had been too scared of him rejecting me to admit to myself just how much I yearned for him.
He settled next to me and ran one hand up my almost bare leg as his mouth moved against mine.
I pressed my body to his, inviting him. It flashed through my head that I might be coming on too strong, but I didn’t care. I might never get a chance like it again.
He groaned when he reached my butt, digging his fingers into my flesh as his tongue parted my lips and probed the inside of my mouth.
Goosebumps rose up all over my skin, and my head spun. I felt weak and giddy and breathless as he kissed me—so slowly, so surely, so skillfully. Opening me up to him one stroke, one kiss at a time.
I was his. I was all his.
His fingers dipped under the bottom of the cotton romper and made contact with my panties.
I moaned into his mouth and parted my legs, asking for more. So much more. It would never be enough.
He slid under the lacy panties, then, and slowly stroked his way to the center of my need. I couldn’t believe it was happening. He was touching me, sliding one finger along my slick lips. I was already so wet, so needy, and my clit throbbed harder with each gentle stroke just above it.
My breath came in sharp, ragged gasps as he played with me, on and on, teasing me. Taking me so close to the edge but never sending me over. And all the while, his tongue swept around the inside of my mouth, dancing with mine, making me moan again and again with each breath.
I came
within seconds of him making contact with my aching clit, hips launching off the mattress, shrieks just barely muffled by his mouth over mine.
He grunted like an animal, panting and groaning while he fingered me over the edge and beyond.
So many things raced through my mind. How good he was, how hard his dick was against my hip, how the grunts and groans still coming from him told how much he wanted me. He wanted me. Me.
Bangbangbang!
“Carter! Alice!” Drew banged on the door again.
“Shit.” Just like that, the moment was over, and Carter was sitting bolt upright. “What is it?” he called out.
I sat up, too, running my hands through my hair with my heart still pounding and my core still pulsing and quivering.
“I picked up a scent! We have to move!”
“Son of a bitch.” He was off the bed, running to the bathroom. I heard the water running in the sink. “Okay! Be out in a sec!”
I went to the mirror and checked out my reflection. I was still breathless, still flushed. My cheeks glowed. I smoothed down my hair and clothes while Carter picked up my suitcase. “Is everything still in here?” he asked.
“Yeah, I didn’t unpack yet.”
“Good. Come on,” he barked.
I sneaked one last look at the slightly disheveled bed before closing the door behind me.
10
Carter
My balls ached as I ran down the concrete stairs to the parking lot with Alice behind me.
Her flip flops slapped off each stair in time with my footsteps.
Damn it, and we were so close.
She was so hot and ready, and I was still hard, straining against the zipper of my jeans. My whole body demanded satisfaction, but other things took precedence.
Like the scent of another shifter on the wind. I could smell it, too.
Drew was already behind the wheel when I tossed Alice’s bag into the car.
She jumped in back, and I took shotgun, barely closing the door before Drew peeled out of the lot.
If he knew what we were doing in her room—and he probably did—he kept it to himself.
“Moving south,” he muttered, making a squealing turn out of the lot, back onto the access road leading to the highway.
“He must be going back for the group,” I said, rolling the window down so Jordan’s scent would float its way to me easier.
Drew broke the speed limit by a good ten, maybe fifteen miles per hour as we flew down the road.
We would have to risk getting pulled over if we were going to catch him.
I kept my eyes peeled for tail lights in the distance.
We were about to hit the highway in another mile and needed to catch up to him before then, or at least get him in our sights so we could follow him.
“What happens when we catch him?” Alice asked from the back.
“We try to get him to pull over—if it’s him. I only know he’s an older guy with dark hair and a scar down the left side of his face.”
“That’s pretty distinctive,” she said.
Meanwhile, I squinted and hoped it wasn’t wishful thinking.
Two red lights on the horizon.
“Floor it,” I shouted, pointing. “The scent’s getting stronger all the time. That must be him—or another shifter, but hopefully, it’s him.”
“I hope I’m not risking our necks for some random asshole,” Drew growled before flooring the gas.
We almost shot forward like a bullet out of a gun. The engine roared.
I heard Alice’s faint gasp behind me and told myself to stop thinking about the way she had gasped back in bed. Not the time to think about that.
The car loomed in front of us, closer all the time. A dark Jeep. The scent of shifter filled my senses—a pungent, animal scent. It was like hunting, tracking down the animal and catching up to it when I knew it was the one I wanted.
“Flash the hazards,” I suggested, slamming my hand against the button and hoping it would get him to pull over.
Hoping he even saw them before he got on the main road.
“Come on, come on,” Drew muttered, pulling even closer. He tapped on the horn to get the driver’s attention.
“You’re sure it’s somebody like you?” Alice asked.
“Yeah. No doubt,” I replied, barely thinking about it.
I needed her to be quiet just then. I had to concentrate—but she didn’t know that.
“Why isn’t he pulling over?” Drew asked.
“Probably afraid to. We could be anybody. I wish there was a way to tell him we’re not trying to chase him because we want to hurt him. He should be able to smell us by now, right?”
Or the wind was carrying our scent away. That could’ve been it, too. Either way, we were almost out of time. We might lose him on the highway.
Finally, he slowed down. His brake lights flashed as he tapped them, signaling that we should slow down.
We did.
“Please, let this be him,” Alice whispered again and again.
I realized she was praying and figured it couldn’t hurt.
The Jeep stopped. We pulled to a stop behind it.
The road was dark, with no buildings and only a few lights. The on-ramp was another few hundred yards ahead, and beyond it were streams of cars rushing back and forth.
“Stay here, buckled in,” I warned Alice. It could’ve been anybody in that Jeep. We had to be careful.
I opened my door when the driver’s side door opened in front of me. I watched as a pair of work boots appeared, then legs dressed in camouflage pants.
A large, capable man stepped down and walked around to the space between our cars.
When the headlights hit him, Drew gasped.
“No,” I whispered.
The door was still open, but I couldn’t move. My body had turned into a block of ice.
“What’s the matter?” Alice asked. She touched my shoulder.
I barely felt it.
“It’s not possible,” Drew muttered, shaking his head. "No, no. Not possible.”
“How?” I asked, staring straight ahead.
There was too much happening. I couldn’t make sense of anything. The scent was so strong by then, and it was a scent I recognized just like I recognized Drew and my cousins.
I hadn’t expected it to be him. He was the last person I could’ve ever expected. So I hadn’t put it together.
“What’s wrong?” Alice asked in a louder voice.
“Oh, my God,” Drew muttered. “Except for the scar…”
“It’s him,” I said, nodding. “It’s Dad.”
11
Carter
“Your father?” Alice whispered. “Jordan’s your father?”
“Impossible,” Drew said, shaking his head again. “No way. He wouldn’t hide from us.”
I found the strength to unbuckle my belt and step out of the car. When I stood up and met his eyes, they widened.
His mouth fell open a little. So did mine.
He walked over to me, one slow step at a time, not saying a word.
It was him. I felt it in my bones.
Besides the scar and a little gray at his temples, he was the man I hadn’t seen since I was a kid. Since he went on one last mission and never came back. Since Mary told us he went missing and promised to take care of us, us and our cousins since their dad was dead.
But my dad was standing in front of me, looking as surprised as I felt.
“Son?” Even his voice was the same.
I didn’t know what to think or how to feel. Overjoyed because he was alive? Enraged because he had been alive all along and never told us?
He reached for me, and I let him clamp his arms around my shoulders. He squeezed hard enough for it to hurt.
“Carter,” he murmured, shaking a little.
Or maybe it was me.
“Dad?” Drew was standing on his side of the car. He got out and walked around the front, and Dad threw an arm aro
und him, so he was holding the two of us at once.
“My boys. My boys.” Dad sounded like he was barely choking back tears.
Drew laughed and asked questions and laughed some more.
I didn’t laugh. I didn’t do anything but stand there and try to absorb what just happened.
My father was alive.
“How did you find me?” Dad asked when he let us go. But he still touched us—a shoulder, an arm.
“It’s a long story. We have a motel room back in Santa Barbara. It might be better for us to go back there and work things out,” Drew explained.
“I can’t do that, son. I’m on my way—”
“To find your new family. We know.” I didn’t know until just then how angry I was with him.
He would rather be with them, with a bunch of strangers who happened to share a tragic past, than with us.
Deep lines etched into his forehead when he frowned. “How do you know?” He didn’t touch on the family angle.
I wasn’t surprised.
“We’ve been trying to find you. There’s trouble,” Drew said. “We can talk about it back at the motel. Trust me, everybody’s okay right now. Roan and Slate are with them.”
“Roan and Slate?” Dad asked, beaming. “I’m so glad you’re all still together.”
“Yeah, well, we didn’t have a choice.” I turned back to the car. “You can follow us to the motel, and we’ll talk it out, and then you can decide what you want to do.”
“Carter…” I ignored him as I walked around to the driver’s side.
“I’ll ride in the Jeep,” Drew called out.
I nodded without looking at him.
How could he jump in the man’s arms and laugh and hug him as though nothing happened? Why didn’t he care a little more?
Alice was waiting in the back. “What happened? Is that your father?”
“Looks that way.”
“Wait up.” She jumped out of the back and into the passenger seat. “I’m not Miss Daisy if we’re the only two people in the car. So what happened?”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” I growled as I pulled U-turn and headed back to the motel a lot more slowly than we had driven away from it. I watched the Jeep’s taillights as they pulled further and further out ahead of us. “We’re going back, and Drew can talk to him all night if he wants to.”