Second Chance with the Shifter (Stonybrooke Shifters)

by Leela Ash

  “I didn’t think I did,” Sadie said softly, looking down at her hands. The tone of her voice made Max second-guess his own feelings. He wanted to gather her close to his body the way he once had, and feel the soft brush of her lips against his own. Why was he bitter or angry at her when the situation had been horrible for both of them? He had been an insufferable idiot, and she had been right not to put up with him. At least, to a point.

  Still, she had driven him away pretty harshly, and he had learned, long ago, to take a person at their word. When she had gone off on him that fateful night, she had cut him more deeply than he had ever been cut by anybody since his parents had abandoned him. He had needed a long time to recover from the wounds her tongue had lashed onto his body, but once he had, he had realized that most of what she had said was truth. That was when he began writing to her…letter after unanswered letter…leaving him feeling worse off than he had been if he had just heeded her advice and forgotten her once and for all.

  “You were everything I needed, Sade,” Max said, holding her gaze in his dark, serious eyes. She was staring at him now, her beautiful eyes clear and concerned. “I never needed anybody but you. My last few years in Stonybrooke were the best of my entire life, and that was because of you.”

  Sadie gasped softly, staring at Max as though seeing him for the first time. The wolf within him stirred, and he could sense the heat rising in her body as he reached out to her slowly, caressing her face, and holding her hand in his own. She shuddered under his touch, as if she had been waiting for it just as long as he had. The heady scent of arousal immediately electrified the wolf into wakefulness, and suddenly, there was no self-control left for Max any longer. He was succumbing to his deepest, most carnal desires, and the man within him was gone, only to be replaced by the very beast Sadie had claimed she never wanted to see again.

  But, this time, he wasn’t going anywhere. He was going to make her his again, no matter what it took. That was final.

  10.

  “Max,” Sadie breathed, pulling away from his soft lips, gasping for air. Her entire body was tingling, and she could still feel the impression of his tongue on her bottom lip. She wanted more, she wanted it more than anything she had ever conceived of in her life, but was it really wise? Why now? They hadn’t even come to a real understanding yet…

  And yet, Max’s dark eyes were flashing. She knew he was losing the battle with the beast inside him. And her body was begging him to lose the fight. She wanted surrender, from both of them. And she wouldn’t be happy until she was being claimed, once and for all, by the man she loved.

  He lifted her slowly, letting her body drag against his as his lips connected with hers, sending a hot wave of urgent desire flooding through her body. She gasped in longing as she felt the hard mound of his groin through his jeans, and kissed him passionately, her tongue relishing in his taste.

  Max growled appreciatively, carrying her inside and stripping her easily. It was amazing how effortlessly he could do it; as if he knew her still, after all these years, right down to what she was wearing and how easy it would be to get her out of it. How long had he been considering undoing the buttons of her blouse; the clasp of her bra? The thought sent another charge of heat ripping through her, and she moaned softly as Max’s stubbled cheeks found their way between her breasts as he sampled their taste.

  Sadie arched her back in shock as Max’s lips left electrically charged kisses up and down her body. She never wanted this to end; it was everything she had wanted for so long. He stood finally, leading her to the couch, where he placed her assertively, gazing down at her, his handsome face conflicted.

  The last thing she wanted was for him to leave, and she gripped the waistband of his jeans in her hands, unbuttoning them with trembling hands. She released his member from its prison and swallowed hard as he pulled his shirt off. He was naked now, and just as perfect as the day he had left town.

  The heat within her was spreading rapidly, the fire within her hot and urgent as Max climbed on top of her, the friction of his member heavy against her middle. She arched her back involuntarily, consumed by the fierce desire that urged her to grip Max in her arms and look him in the eye, so that there was no question in either of their minds just what it was she wanted.

  With a sharp gasp of pleasure that erupted from both of them, Max was suddenly inside her, filling her body with a deep pleasure unlike anything she had experienced since their relationship had been in its prime.

  Her body was suddenly assaulted again and again by the deep, sensual rhythm of Max’s body. Sadie moaned softly as the man’s power consumed her, sending wave after wave of sensual pleasure crashing down upon her. She had needed him, needed this, for so long. Now that it was happening, she was already right on the brink of her orgasm, long before she was even ready to be.

  Max seemed to sense this and grinned at her, his dark eyes filled with heat. She shuddered as his lips found the pink flesh of her nipple and began teasing it between them, his tongue engulfing it with hot, sensuous laps. It was almost more than she could bear, and she let out a soft moan. Her voice was starting to sound fevered, even in her own ears, and Max was increasing the power he exposed her to, until they were staring at each other, eyes locked, as his body began its full assault upon her.

  Sadie’s mind completely went blank as pleasure consumed her right down to the core, filling her again and again with the long, penetrating thrusts of Max’s urgent muscle. She could feel her body tightening around him, contracting as the sacred bliss that he had waited so long to give to her began to consume her body, and soon, her entire being was quaking beneath Max.

  He held her close, whispering words she could hardly understand as his cock slipped even deeper inside. He embraced her tightly, thrusting the whole of his power within her, until, with a deep growl, he released himself within her.

  She cried out loudly, her body electrified by the hot eruption of pleasure that was filling her body, and she kissed Max passionately, holding him close until he finally began to slow the power of his hips and slowly pulled himself out.

  They stared at each other, neither knowing quite what to say. Sadie was satisfied for the time being, but the truth was, there was far more she wanted from him. More than this. She was ready to take him back into her life, completely. And she was ready for round two.

  11.

  Sadie gasped softly, her body suddenly overpowered with the dark, sensual energy of Max’s body. He was kissing her now, softly and sensually, his tongue moving in long, sensual laps against hers. It awoke a fierce longing within her; one that was nearly impossible to control. There was no denying what it was she really wanted now. Max knew. He could sense it. Worse than that, he could make her longing even more fierce. He knew exactly what to do.

  He pulled away, grinning at her, his voice a lilting tease.

  “Are you ever going to be satisfied?”

  Sadie was embarrassed now, ashamed of the depth of desire she had hidden within her. If only she knew how deeply attractive Max found this side of her. Maybe she wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss it.

  “I…”

  Sadie trailed off, turning away from Max and hiding her face. Yes, she was fully embarrassed now. Maybe she could have taken this kind of teasing when they were together the first time, but right now, it probably felt something like an attack.

  Thoughts of their original relationship pulled Max out of his lusty mood, and he turned away from her, sighing deeply.

  “Maybe we should talk about what happened back then now,” he said tentatively, feeling out the energy in the room to try and sense Sadie’s feelings about this.

  She turned to look at him sharply, her face drawn in a combination of annoyance and pain.

  “Or maybe we don’t have to do that right now. Isn’t this enough for you?”

  “Well, it wasn’t enough for you, was it?” Max asked, chuckling softly.

  Sadie didn’t seem to think this was funny, and turned
away from him again, a deep pout jetting on her lip.

  “Aww, don’t be like that, now,” Max said, sitting beside her and putting his arm around her gently. She seemed to relax for a moment, but when she looked at him again, her gaze was steel. It reminded him immediately of the way she had looked at him during their last fight, when she had told him she wanted nothing to do with him and that she never wanted to see him again. And yet, somehow, here they were.

  “I don’t know how else to be. This is all really confusing. And I don’t think you’re making it much better by teasing me like that. Why can’t we just have a normal conversation and live in the present instead of the past?”

  Max studied Sadie, confusion and mild anger beginning to broil in his breast. Why was it that she didn’t want to talk about what had happened? They had to get over the elephant in the room if they were ever going to have a meaningful relationship again. It wasn’t as if he blamed her for any of it.

  “Well, yeah, it’s confusing. That’s why we have to try and talk it out, you know? A lot of things are different now. We aren’t kids anymore. And when we were kids, we just fucked things up. I don’t want that to happen again, do you?”

  Sadie studied him, her eyes cloudy and difficult to read. Sometimes, she was just as good at hiding her feelings as the shifter was. He could sense some kind of shifter qualities and her ancestry, so that probably had something to do with it. It was one of the most irritating things about her, if he was going to be honest with himself. He wanted to be able to understand her entirely, but if she was going to hide everything within her power to hide from him, then how were they ever going to make any progress in their relationship? It’s not like they were masters in communication.

  “I don’t know why you’re being so aggressive with me, right now,” Sadie said, gritting her teeth. “I told you I don’t want to talk about this. At least, not right now. Not when I’m feeling so vulnerable. There’s a lot of things I just don’t know how to say.”

  “Well, you certainly knew how to say it back then!” Max said, getting to his feet angrily, as all of the harsh words that Sadie had spoken began to sound out in his mind again. He had stuffed down his anger about this for so long that he nearly forgot it was there. But now, there it was again, boiling over. She hadn’t answered any of his letters. She hadn’t even treated their relationship like it was anything worthwhile.

  He had worked hard to try and get back into communication with her. He had done everything short of actually coming back to town so he could talk to her in person about what it was she actually wanted. But she had already told him. She didn’t want him in town. She didn’t want him anywhere near her. She had told him never to come back.

  And he had taken the words to heart, especially when things had started getting dangerous for him. What other choice did he have? He wasn’t going to stick around for a woman who hated him just so he could get himself into all kinds of trouble with a group of shifters that seemed to want him dead. There was no point in that.

  “I’m not the only one to blame here,” Sadie said, standing up as well and grabbing a blanket from behind the couch to wrap herself up in. “I didn’t tell you to leave and just completely forget everything we should feel. Sometimes, people say things out of anger and don’t entirely mean it. You could’ve tried a little bit harder. I thought maybe salvaging whatever was left of our relationship would’ve been important enough to you to give it another try. But you didn’t. You just disappeared like that, and you left me alone here. I don’t know why I should even be talking to you right now. It was the worst thing anybody has ever done to me.”

  “You told me to!” Max exclaimed.

  What was it with human women and thinking that being straightforward was far too simple a way to conduct their relationships. They always acted like they wanted honesty, but when he gave them honesty, they shut him down. And he expected them to be honest about how they were feeling, and when he took them at their word, that was also the wrong thing to do.

  What the hell was going on? Why had he even bothered to come back here? Things were never going to change. Sadie would always be the same person she was, and everything that had happened between them probably had happened for a reason. Otherwise, why would they have ended up in the situation they were in, even right now, with both of them feeling completely miserable and pissed off at each other.

  “It’s not my fault you don’t understand women,” Sadie exclaimed. “Maybe we’re just too incompatible for each other. You don’t seem to understand anything I want, and maybe you are just too selfish and full of yourself to consider what anybody else needs. It’s ridiculous. I don’t know how I ever lived with you for so long. Everything has just been a struggle, and I will never be able to forgive myself for wasting so much of my life with you.”

  “You know what?” Max said, his anger finally giving way full force and causing him to pull his clothes on aggressively, allowing the harsh words that had been brewing in his chest to finally spill out of his mouth. “I’m glad I left. I’m glad I haven’t seen you in fifteen years. And I could live just as well without seeing you for another fifteen years. You know how much better my life has been? I made something of myself. I made a ton of money. I made a successful business, all from scratch. I didn’t have anybody to help me do that. And without you holding me back, it was a hell of a lot easier. I don’t need you, and I don’t need anybody. So you stay the hell away from me. And never even look at my storefront. You have done nothing to deserve it.”

  Max collected his things and stormed out of the house, vaguely aware of Sadie following after him. It was clear she didn’t want him to stay, but for some reason, he also got the impression she didn’t want him to go either. Why couldn’t women just make up their minds? Why did everything have to be such a fucking struggle for them?

  No, he wasn’t going to stick around for any of this. Everything with her had always been overly complicated, and he wasn’t going to let himself fall into the same trap again. He was too busy for that shit. He had a new store to run and a group full of shifters who wanted to see him fail. He wasn’t going to let Sadie or his enemies get what they wanted. And as far as he was concerned now, Sadie and his enemies were one and the same.

  12.

  Max shifted quickly into his wolf form and took off running. He couldn’t believe what had just happened, and went over it again and again in his mind. How could things have gone from so good to so bad in so short a time? He knew it wasn’t entirely his fault, but Sadie wasn’t completely to blame either. It had simply been a mistake for them to meet up the way they had. And now, they were going to have to deal with the consequences, whether they liked it or not.

  What was he going to do now? For a moment, he had truly allowed himself to believe things were going to get better. That maybe, just maybe, he was going to have a chance to make things right with the woman he loved. He had been longing for her and the peace she brought to his life for so long. It had been a huge mistake to rush into it the way they had. He could only blame himself, though. He had already known Sadie wanted nothing to do with him. She had made that abundantly clear.

  He was just going to have to go back to his store and focus on what was truly important now. And that was getting through the season and opening up the new headquarters for his outdoor sporting equipment line. No matter how difficult it might be to try and pretend this entire night hadn’t happened, it was something he was going to have to do. Not only for himself, but for Sadie’s peace of mind as well.

  It really had not been fair of him to accept her invitation. She had probably just done it out of the feeling of obligation. God knew she probably would have done the same thing to anybody who had offered her a ride. She just had that sort of a giving heart. It just so happened they had a history and she had felt even more obligated to connect with him. Whether it was good for their relationship or detrimental.

  Apparently, it had been detrimental. He should’ve known better. What
had he been thinking? He was so angry at himself that he couldn’t sit still. The wolf roamed all throughout Stonybrooke deep into the night, to the point that he almost wasn’t sure if he was going to get home in time to actually sleep long enough that he would be rested for work in the morning.

  That was something he was just going to have to deal with. And so, Max allowed the wolf to let off some steam that night, before finally returning at the crack of dawn to the apartment that he had rented temporarily as he checked out the real estate market. There were plenty of places available in the richer side of town. It was funny that he could afford them now. But he still felt out of place.

  What would a scrappy shifter with no parents be doing mingling amongst the wolf shifter elite? The Royals were set in their ways and had rules about how to conduct everything, from mealtime to everybody’s front and back yards alike. It was a little too much pressure for him. And yet, he wanted to show he had really moved up in the world. There was something to be said for status, even to someone like Max. He had worked hard and accomplished great things, and he wanted his community to know it.

  And yet, no amount of acreage would make up for the loneliness he had been feeling ever since he had left Sadie in the first place. There was a hollow void within himself that he could not resolve, no matter how much he accomplished throughout his life. It was only a matter of time before he found himself feeling restless again and would want to leave. This was becoming more and more clear. He should never have come back. This whole venture had been a mistake. In fact, he had half a mind to quit right then and there. He could call the Council and tell them they could shove their permits up their asses and watch him walk away again, just as they had so many years before.

  They could have offered him some kind of refuge, maybe. Or a place to stay after his parents had bailed on him. But when had the Council ever been there for him? Why had his life always been so difficult? He never had anybody who was willing to step in. At least, not until he had met Sadie. And now, she didn’t even want to give him the time of day. Not even after sharing what they had shared after all those years. Yes, he was going to move. He’s going to forget all about his business. That would give him the chance to get out of this godforsaken town and get back to his old life again. Maybe he could take Nancy out on a date and things would go better this time. Maybe.