by Amy Kyle
He snagged her hand and slipped a finger inside his mouth. She felt herself growing wet as his tongue curled around her finger. “Okay. But I intend to make sure you have another orgasm before we’re done. I don’t finish until you do.”
She bit her lip. “I’ve already finished,” she pointed out.
“Oh Tara,” he moaned. “We’ve barely gotten started.”
* * *
Those big eyes were almost too much for him. He rolled his body over to cover hers, and his knees nudged her legs apart. He was so hard he was aching, but while he could tell that she was ready for him, he’d felt just how tight she was. It would take a bit more work before he could slide inside her.
Her hands worked their way down the muscles of his back, and he relished the sensations. Her fingers were like magic. Every time she touched him, he burned for more.
He’d had women. He’d had more women than he could count, but it was nothing like this. If he wasn’t inside her soon, he felt like he would go mad with desire. He felt jealous and possessive and aroused all that same time. She belonged to him, and tonight he would finally make her his.
He licked and nibbled until her body shook with need. When she started to beg, he pushed at the entrance of her opening. And when she lifted her hips, he was lost.
Slowly, he sank into her. Bit by bit, he felt her wet flesh slide down him, and it took ever ounce of self-control not to simply ravish her. Her nails dug into his side, and he knew she was struggling to take all of him. She was tight. And warm. And welcoming. He could barely breathe.
“More,” she begged.
He clenched his teeth. “Hang on, baby. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You’d never hurt me,” she whispered. “I know that.”
Hurt her? Never. He’d never hurt her. He loved her. As the thought flitted through his mind, he pushed his hips down, and she screamed his name. He didn’t have time to dwell on his thoughts as her legs circled him. He focused on long easy strokes as she adjusted to him. In and out. In and out. They both punctuated the movements with their moans, and she writhed around him.
Pushing himself up, he watched her as he started to thrust a little harder. Her eyes were closed, and her head moved back and forth, but he needed more. “Open your eyes,” he whispered. “Look at me.”
Her eyes flitted open, and when she made eye contact, he felt the world still. Nothing else existed outside their bodies. It was only them, and he needed to see her come apart once more.
He reached down and pressed his thumb against her hard nub, and she immediately started to buck. “Stay with me,” he begged her. She locked eyes with him and whispered his name as she convulsed around him.
Brent couldn’t take anymore. As he surged deep within her, his orgasm took over, and he cried out her name.
* * *
He was still on top of her, but she loved his weight. She traced a finger over his skin as they both struggled to catch their breath. What had just happened was mind blowing. She needed to let it sink in.
“I must be suffocating you,” he muttered as he lifted his body.
“No, it’s fine,” she whispered. She liked having him this close to her, and suddenly, she was terrified that he would leave.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he said soothingly. He slid to her side and pulled her close. She rested her forehead against his chest and breathed in his scent.
“That was nice,” she said softly.
His chest vibrated as he laughed. “Sweetheart. That was more than nice.”
Tara blushed, and she hoped he couldn’t see it. She was content to just lie there and listen to his heartbeat.
“I’m sorry for everything,” he said finally. “The way I accused you. The panic attack. Pulling you into this whole mess.”
She heard the sincerity in his voice. “If you hadn’t, this would never have happened. Besides, the panic attack was my fault.”
“Right. Because you should have told me that you ex was a dick. I would have been so much nicer to you,” he said sarcastically. “Baby, I know you’re used to taking care of yourself, but it’s okay to lean on someone else for a bit. Let me apologize. Trust me, it doesn’t happen often.”
She giggled. “Two orgasms,” she muttered. “That’s something you should be proud of.”
He leaned down and kissed the top of her head. “Next time I’m shooting for three.”
She gasped. Three orgasms! “I don’t think I’d survive.”
“Practice makes perfect,” he whispered wickedly.
Chapter Six
The phone by the bed started to buzz. Tara opened her eyes sleepily as she watched Brent reach across and snag it. “Jenson,” he answered, his voice still husky from sleep.
Suddenly, she felt him tense. “I’m on my way,” he said quickly. Tara sat up and pulled the sheet up to her chin as he crawled out of bed.
“Brent? What’s wrong?” she asked.
“The guard at the gate is dead,” Brent said in a flat voice. “Stay here.”
Stay here? What if she could help? “But…”
“No.” He turned a cold eye towards her, and she shuddered. Sensing her fear, he leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. “I’m not going to be able to focus if I think you’re out and about. Stay here, okay?”
She nodded quickly, and he finished getting dressed in the dark. “I’ll call the landline when I’m done.”
“Be careful,” she whispered. He smiled briefly at her before hurrying out of the room. She couldn’t help it. As soon as the door closed, she was hurrying to the window. A few minutes later, she saw him running across the street.
What was going on? Was he going to be okay?
Please let him be okay.
She didn’t know what she would do if something happened to him.
She paced back and forth nervously as she waited for the phone to ring. When it did, she nearly jumped out of her skin. “Brent?” she asked, her heart beating rapidly.
“Tara? It’s Cassie. I work with Brent.”
“Cassie,” Tara wracked her brains. She remembered him speaking to her on the phone. “What’s wrong? Where’s Brent?”
“Brent’s fine. They’ve got a man in custody, and he needs you to come down and identify him. He thinks you might know him?”
“Matthew. Oh God, he thinks it’s Matthew. I’ll be right there. Wait- where am I going?”
“He’s in the holding fields in the back of the territory. Do you know where that is?”
Tara hesitated. “I’m not sure I know how to get there.”
“It’s okay. When you leave the condos, just head West. You’ll see an opening in the hedges a few feet down and a gate. You can meet us out there.”
He didn’t want to bring Matthew in the actual territory. That made sense. Tara quickly got dressed and headed outside.
The air was crisp and cold, and Tara shivered, but her mind was far from the weather. If Brent had Matthew, then they could finally move on from this mess. And Tara and Brent could finally move on.
But where they would move on to, she had no idea.
The clearing was easy enough to find. She opened the gate. Tara peered through. “Brent?”
“You made good time.” Tara turned around when she heard Cassie’s voice, but she couldn’t see her.
Suddenly, she felt someone shove her from behind. She hit the ground hard and gasped. Matthew was closing the gate.
“Hello, Tara.”
She froze as Matthew imitated the female voice. It melted away into the familiar voice that she once knew. It was raspy and cold. She pushed up from the ground and stared in horror as Matthew approached her.
“You. You’re responsible for all of this. What the hell do you want?”
He chuckled. “All in good time. You are a bit of a kink in my plans, but we’ll deal with it soon enough. First, I need you to do something for me.”
She stared into his eyes and gasped when they turned bright red. “Y
ou will kill the alpha, second-in-command, and security agent.” She felt him press a gun into her hands. “You will kill the alpha, second-in-command, and security agent. They are going to harm the human population. They are staging a coup. They must be stopped.”
“They must be stopped,” she repeated. “They’re going to hurt people.”
Matthew bent down and picked her up from the ground. Suddenly, she heard people yelling at them from all different direction. Tara gripped the gun and watched as Micah, Jackson, and Brent came into view.
“Shoot them,” he whispered. “Kill them.”
“Kill them,” she murmured.
“De’Massier!”
“I found her here with the gun,” Matthew yelled. De’Massier? “I can’t talk her down.”
“Tara.” She heard Brent’s voice penetrate the fog that was around her. “Tara, put the gun down.”
Her hands shook as she raised the gun. “Must be stopped. Going to hurt people.”
“Shit. Micah, get down!” Jackson yelled as he dove for the alpha.
Tara stared at Brent. Horror bloomed on his face, and she smiled. When she saw a mix of confusion, she winked. Suddenly, she whirled around and pointed the gun at Matthew. Without hesitation, she pulled the trigger.
He hissed as the bullet struck him, but she should have known it wouldn’t stop him. In an instant, he grabbed her and whirled her around. “Move, and I’ll bite her,” he threatened.
“Why are you doing this? I thought you wanted peace?” Brent said in a neutral voice. He held his hands up.
“I don’t give a shit about peace,” de’Massier hissed. “For too long, the vampires have been the low man on the totem pole. We can’t even reproduce. We’re dying.”
“Dying? You guys live for centuries,” Micah pointed out.
“And then you turned a human, and no one blinked an eye. Do you know how unfair that is?”
“Okay,” Brent said. Tara clawed at the vampires arm, but he didn’t move. “But that doesn’t explain the tunnel. Or Tara.”
“I needed a way into the grounds. I tried the tunnel at first, but without an invitation, I couldn’t get in. I couldn’t manipulate a shifter, so I tried a human. You followed her trail effortlessly, but I couldn’t get close to her again.”
“Why? What the hell do you want?” Jackson asked.
“I want to prove that we’re on top,” de’Massier screamed. “We are the more powerful force. I want to kill each and everyone one of you!”
“No!” Tara heard Brent scream before she felt the fangs bite into her neck. Immediately, she felt her life force leaving her. She sagged limply against the vampire as he continued to suck her.
“Power,” de’Massier said as he threw her to the ground. “She tastes like power. Come on boys. Let’s see if the three of you can take me. I’m far older and stronger.”
Tara whimpered as she saw the three men attack the vampire. It wasn’t long before all three shifters were flying through the air. The vampire cackled, and Tara suddenly knew without a doubt that they were going to die.
Suddenly, a bear came flying out of nowhere and attacked the vampire. He howled as the bear tackled him. She watched as a beautiful woman emerged from the woods, chanting.
“The waning moon has come to dark, but let its powers not depart. Give your strength to these bears three, so they may defeat the enemy.
Tara turned over and started crawling. She could feel the blood draining for her body, but she couldn’t just lie there and do nothing.
Under the witches spell, the three men shifted. Now, four bears advanced the vampire, and his screams were horrible as they devoured him.
The witch held up her amulet. “Reverse,” she whispered. “Reverse.” She knelt down next to her as the four bears shifted back to humans. “Shh. My name is Natalie.”
Another woman scrambled by her side. “Brent,” she called out. She pressed a hand to Tara’s wound. “She’d dying.”
Dying. Yes. She was dying.
Brent looked at her helplessly. “Micah,” he said harshly. “Please.”
The alpha nodded, and Tara saw Brent shift just before the darkness took her.
Chapter Seven
“Let me get this straight. You three faced the vampire leader and got your ass kicked. It took the empath witch and the alpha female to help you kick some ass?” Gratsky asked.
Brent narrowed his eyes. “Not the point,” he hissed.
“Right. Well, I will say this much. You three bring me the most interesting women,” Gratsky said with a sigh. “A newly turned bear. A witch. And now a human bit by both a vampire and a bear. I should probably consider asking for a raise.”
“Is she going to be all right?” Brent asked tightly.
“Will she live? Yes. Will she be a bear shifter? I don’t know.”
“Will she be a vampire?” Jackson asked. Brent glared at him, and he shrugged. “What? You don’t care?”
Honestly? Brent didn’t care. He didn’t give a damn how Tara woke up from the bed as long as she woke up, and she was happy. It didn’t matter whether she was a vampire, a shifter, or some freak hybrid of both.
“Doubtful. To change into a vampire, you have to actually die. And since Tara here is still very much alive, there is no way she can be a full-blown vampire. Now whether the vampire bite mingles with the shifter bite remains to be seen. What’s really interesting is that Tara was fairly immune to de’Massier’s charms.”
Brent’s head shot up. “What do you mean? Is that unusual?”
“De’massier is a powerful vampire. To have someone immune to him is quite intriguing. It’s more than just your relationship with her. She’s resisted his requests from the very beginning. That means that there is something very special about your Tara Schmidt.”
“What do you think it is?” Micah asked.
Gratsky shrugged. “Most likely, it means that humanity is evolving. They’re finding ways to defend themselves against more powerful species. It’s a fascinating thought. But what I can tell you is that between your three mates, absolutely no one is going to mess with this pack.”
“Sure. We have nothing to do with it,” Micah said sourly.
Gratsky grinned. “You do deserve credit. How you got Stacey and Natalie to fall in love with you two is beyond me.”
Brent tuned them out. He was watching the door to Tara’s room anxiously. Part of him wanted to be by her side right that very minute, but he knew she wouldn’t be happy to find her by her bed. She’d been perfectly fine in her life, and then he had to put her danger.
And turned her.
“I need to leave,” he said abruptly. “Keep me posted.”
“You’re leaving?” Jackson stared at him. “She’s going to want to see you when she wakes up.”
“I doubt that very seriously,” he muttered, and he slipped out the door. Deep down, he feared he would never see here again.
* * *
“It’s so romantic to wake up and find that your boyfriend isn’t there,” Tara said sourly. Brent’s head shot up from his desk, and he stared at her. “It’s even better when two whole days pass, and he doesn’t even send you flowers. Or a card.”
“Tara,” he breathed.
“It’s even better when a stranger has to tell explain things to you. You know, the part where the guy you were dating turned out to be the leader of the vampire clan and was trying to manipulate you. And the fact that you alpha female can shift at will. And that your second-in-command married a witch.”
He lowered his eyes. She was pissed. Of course. She had every right to be angry. “I wanted to tell you.”
“But you didn’t. That’s okay. I just thought that you should know that I’m alive and kicking. I thought I’d come by to say goodbye and tell that you I’ve leaving.” She waited a heartbeat which she watched his reaction. She was rewarded with the sad look in his eyes. “Except that I’m not leaving.”
“You’re not?” he muttered.
&
nbsp; “So then, I thought I’d come by and say hi and give you a kiss, but I’m pissed at you. So that’s not going to happen.” Her eyes narrowed when he leaned back in his chair and regarded her with interest. She was not going to let him get the upper hand.
“I couldn’t figure out why you’d stay away from me. I don’t really take you for the wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am approach. I think we both know that it was more than that. And you can’t be pissed about putting me in danger because de’Massier did that. Not you. And you can’t really be distraught over biting me because I’d be dead if you didn’t. But you’re a really hard guy to read. So tell me, Mr. Jenson. What’s going on through that head of yours?”
“Marry me,” he said softly.
Of all the words that she expected to come out of his mouth, those were not even in the top thousand. “What?” she whispered.
He scooted his chair back and stood. “I love you, Tara. I’ve loved you from the very beginning. I didn’t have one single reason for keeping you close to me except that I selfishly wanted you. And for the first time since I met you, I finally realized that you’ve had no say in this. So I gave you a choice. You’ve had days to leave. And you’re still here. By choice. No one is keeping you.”
She tried to hold her ground as he stalked her, but soon she was pressed up against the wall. “And you think that because I decided to stick around that I should marry you?”
“I think that you stuck around because you love me. And I’m going to marry you before you have a chance to change your mind,” he said softly. His hands skimmed her arms, and she shivered.
“Jesus, Brent. I do love you. But you have no idea what I’m going to become. When the full moon rises, I might be some weird bear vampire creature. I could be hideous.”
“You could four heads and still not be hideous,” he murmured. “And I don’t care what you become. You’ll always be you, and I’ll always love you. Marry me.”
“Once again, no flowers. No ring. No candlelight dinner. You know, at some point, I’d like to feel wooed and courted,” she pointed out. He frowned, and she reached up to stroke his face. “But nothing about this relationship has been traditional. So yes, Brent Jenson. I will marry you.”