Deceiving the Protector

by Dee Tenorio

  Tearing himself away, he closed his eyes and began the shift.

  She’d seen his Wolf form before, but only at night, in the throes of battle. It hadn’t been time to appreciate the sheer beauty of his dark gray pelt and the regal line of his muzzle. A large Wolf with golden eyes, he stared up at her as he dropped his haunches and curled his long bushy tail around his huge paws. He licked his teeth as if he had all the time in the world for her to make up her mind.

  As if he were giving her a choice.

  But that was the point, she realized with a huff. She had every choice. She could do what he was asking—shift completely, facing her fears and her past, even the pain she thought might still be lurking, taking back her own life and throwing it in with his—or she could walk away. Hold on to the walls she’d built since her parents had died and continue to stifle the Wolf-part of her that he’d awakened.

  And lose him.

  A warm lick to her fingertips snapped her out of her thoughts.

  She looked out at the gold and green hills, the smell of the sun-warmed grass calling to her. It had been so long since she’d allowed herself to imagine running through such kinds of fields. Since she’d considered shifting completely.

  “It could hurt,” she murmured to herself more than him, but his wet nose pushed up under her hand in reassurance anyway. He didn’t know the agony—she hoped he never would—but there was no way to relay her fears completely. “What if I don’t come through the shift complete?”

  A long lick along the inside of her wrist and a sense of warmth surrounding her.

  “Why can’t you ask for easy things, Tate?”

  The wolfish snort and head shake ruffled his fur through her fingers. Because I’m not an easy man.

  She looked down at him, startled by the thought in her mind that felt more like knowing than a voice. He was getting far too comfortable with that skill. If they completed the bond, would he be able to actually speak to her, no matter what form they took? What else would they find in each other’s minds? In each other’s hearts?

  The force of his response couldn’t be ignored. His brows drew together, his ears flattening to the top of his head and his censure so strong it was nearly a taste on her tongue. There’s only you there, Lia.

  She looked down into those golden eyes and sighed. She knew that already. This was as much a risk for him, a man who’d barely survived the deepest betrayal once in his life. Offering himself this way, feeling as he did about failing her, she couldn’t imagine how hard it must be for him to wait so still.

  He hadn’t balked when she’d said what she needed. He’d dropped his pride and accepted her…albeit with a few restrictions. He was Tate, after all, not Prince Charming.

  “I’m not even sure I remember how.” The last time she’d shifted in truth, she’d been a terrified twenty-one-year-old, still learning how. The most she’d ever done since was to attempt claws. Fear, arousal; those were unconscious triggers. Not the way to willfully enact the shift.

  She felt the tug on her jeans, Tate’s teeth pulling at the denim. She sighed. “You seriously want me to stand here naked while I try to figure this out?”

  His bark wouldn’t have annoyed her so much if there weren’t a clear canine grin on his face.

  “Fine, but don’t think I won’t make you pay for this one way or another, pervert.” She peeled off the shirt, but only because it made sense. If she did manage to shift—and of course, manage another shift back to human form—she’d need clothes afterward. The shoes and jeans came next, all of which followed the shirt into the pile in with his things. Her mood was not improved by his happily wagging tail. She stood, considerably more uncomfortable, the wind blowing her hair around her and no trace of fur to be found.

  She squeezed her eyes tight. Shift, shift, shift…

  Not a tingle anywhere. Just warm air currents going up where she didn’t want them. She strained, but pushing her muscles until they hurt didn’t seem the way either.

  Tate bumped her leg with his big head, backing up, gently using his teeth to lead her along with him. She followed, watching him for some clue. He lifted his head, slowly closing his eyes, making a show of the motion. Then he ruined it by prancing a little, hopping side to side, as if playing, then running in a small circle.

  “Is this the part where I throw the stick or where I follow you to where Timmy fell down a well?”

  That just earned her a dirty Wolf glare.

  Imagine.

  Imagine what? She thought about his movements, her eyes drifting to the gold tall grass all around them. She wanted to run in these stalks, to paw the earth and smell that rich, musty scent of dirt and minerals. She wanted to run, could almost remember the feel of the ground under her paws, her breath rushing in pants and the wind ruffling her fur…

  By the time she recognized the sensation of cool water rushing down her back and legs, her stomach turning to jelly for a half second and her vision changing to a stark black and white, she was already shifted. She blinked at Tate, almost disbelieving, her limbs shaky and out of sync.

  Nothing seemed broken or in pain. She took a tentative step, trying to gain equilibrium while relief pumped through her veins. She was a Wolf! If she could have danced she would, spinning around so she could see her own silver tail, the brown fur across her back giving her a toasted coloring.

  Tate padded closer to rub his muzzle against hers, reminding her that he was there. She barked, overwhelmed with excitement. His head slid beneath her neck, caressing before nipping at her ear then licking her face. Walking backward—showoff—he motioned with his head for her to follow.

  Her first real steps were wobbly, trying to get her back legs and her front legs to move together. But by the fourth and fifth, she was able to take a breath and not think so hard about the balance. Tate’s excitement was steadily fueling her own. She tried a bound, her feet slipping out from under her on the landing, but she hardly cared. The smells of the hills were rich in her nose and she couldn’t wait to get to them. Swishing her tail at his nose, she turned and ran through the grass.

  He ran next to her, his big tongue lolling out as he rushed ahead. Before long, the grass gave way to open hillside and he was running circles around her, his rangy body brushing up against hers, nipping at her heels. Playing. She’d forgotten what that was like, juking to the side and dashing past another Wolf, tumbling over each other, nipping legs and racing. Soon enough, she wasn’t thinking about her movements at all, streaking up one hill and down the other. She reveled in scents, in the breathless motion, the wind whizzing past her ears and the sun on her fur, the miles disappearing beneath her paws. All the while, Tate was beside her. Not leading, not following. Hours melted away, but that never changed.

  If she had her way, it never would.

  A copse of trees grew ahead, at the top of a hill, the grass beneath it lush and inviting. She ran for them, settling on her back where the sun dappled the earth through the trees. She wanted to lie there but not like this. She wanted to touch, to be touched, skin to skin, with her mate. Picturing it, pressing her body to his, connecting to him while this wild vitality still laced her blood, sent the familiar wash over her body. An instant later she was changed, stretched out on the grass while Tate pressed his muzzle to her face. She closed her eyes, feeling his nose warm into smooth human flesh, his lips finding hers with hot, open-mouthed kisses.

  She dragged her hands over him, pulling him down closer to feed the physical ache for him. She needed him. Needed his flavor in her mouth, the strength of his thighs against hers, his heartbeat thundering in her ears. More than anything else, she wanted his skin; warmed by the sun, scented from the grass and the earth, flavored with that special element that was Tate himself.

  Fresh from the shift, her senses so raw, he went to her head like heated mercury. Her mind lost track of absolutely everything around them, only aware of him above her, the feel of him surrounding her mind, body and spirit. She reached for him instinct
ively, wanting to roll in his scent, wanting to connect to him in every way she could. Straining, she willed herself to find that signature Jade had mentioned. Nothing she could touch, nothing she could really control, but she reached for him all the same.

  Then, suddenly, the connection was there. Like something snapping together, interlocking and throwing every sense she thought she had into full, mind-altering color. Instead of the hazy sense of him from before, this time she felt him down to her bones, as if he were the breath in her lungs and the blood in her veins. Buffeting her from all sides were emotions and impressions that tasted like Tate. His thoughts, his excitement, his pleasure.

  She melted into delirium.

  His mouth drifted from her lips to her jaw, licking at her neck, down over her breasts. Sharp teeth nipped her skin, making her gasp and tighten her legs around him. Heat surrounded them, ratcheting the desperation. She arched up, gasps turning to cries, when he drew her nipple into his mouth. All that time, his fingers stroked along her body, ribs to waist to hip and back again.

  When he pressed her thigh aside, she let herself fall boneless and sighed when those rough fingers slid over her sex, seeking out the hard nub of her clit. He circled it, teasing her before settling his thumb over it and sinking his finger inside. Lia writhed beneath him, her entire body unable to decide where to focus. Those stroking fingers, that fluttering thumb, the hard draw of his mouth on first one nipple, then the other. Her claws broke free when a second finger joined his pistoning thrusts.

  But it wasn’t enough.

  She shoved at his shoulders, pushing him onto his back. He let her move him, his eyes sleepy and his mouth curved while she cuffed his wrists with her hands and pinned them over his head. Beneath her bottom, his erection felt like a brand against her skin. She rocked restlessly against him, sliding her slick folds over the steel length of it, shuddering from the sensation.

  “Is this part of your equality campaign, because I think I like this argument.”

  She leaned down to suck on his lip, her teeth rubbing side to side over the firm flesh in time with her hips over his cock. “Then you’re going to love this,” she panted, changing the angle of her movements so that he slid into her. Her breath turned to a hiss at the broad width of him stretching her walls.

  His hands gripped her hips, slowing her descent. She could feel him savoring her, quaking at the feel of her claw tips sinking into his shoulders. His eyes flickered, the gray color she loved having shifted to the glowing yellow of his Wolf. She smiled, bucking against his hold.

  “This time, I take you.” She pushed down, filling herself with him. He growled, drowning out her sigh. He squeezed tight, but she refused to be held back. She lifted up, rocking forward before sliding back down, savoring his groan against the beaded tips of her breasts. “I’m claiming you, Jensen Tate.”

  Because you’re mine.

  She hadn’t said the words, but as the slow smile spread across his handsome face, she knew he heard it.

  “I love you, Lia.”

  He levered himself up, joining his mouth to hers, letting her move as she would. His hands lifted to her hair, holding her head still for him to take control of the kiss. She let him, just as he let her. He stroked her mouth in time to the rhythm she used, but soon, the urgency took any grace away. She rode him hard, his upward thrusts more than meeting her, lifting her up just enough for her to bounce down again. His elbows dug into the soft earth, his head lolling back while he let her have her way with him. His skin, so gold, so sleek, made her fangs hurt. Conscious thought had long disappeared, she was a creature of Instinct now. Instinct that demanded she cement her claim to him.

  Before she realized what she was doing, she’d sunk her teeth into the hard flesh of his shoulder. His growl could have been a roar or simply an echo in her mind, she didn’t know, but when his fangs found the matching spot on her own shoulder, her entire body shuddered under the onslaught of searing magic, doused in unimaginable pleasure. First it flared between them, almost like a blast of light she couldn’t see, but felt the warmth of, before it settled in her heart—a fiery but painless bond she knew she’d feel long past her own death.

  Eyes still closed, her breath not nearly back to normal, limp body draped over his, she could feel him all the way down to her soul. A part of him, glowing warm and bright inside her. She’d always know if he was safe, if he was hurt, if he needed her. And she could feel his love, surrounding her, inside her, burning brighter with each passing second. She smiled against his shoulder, licking the wound absently. She should have known he’d be just as intense in the bond as he was beneath all the charm and the roles he played.

  “You know you have to say it now, don’t you, Sunshine?” The near-growl rumbled through his chest to tickle her skin.

  Her smile only grew. “Say what?”

  “I can feel it, Lia. I feel you in my bones, like fire.”

  She nodded against his neck, loathe to move but wanting to look him in the eyes again. She shifted position, little shocks of sensation lighting through her with even that small amount of movement. The faintest moan slipped through his lips too, earning him a soft kiss.

  When he met her gaze, his eyes had mostly shifted back to human, the summer-storm gray flickering with lights of gold. The man and the Wolf, completely as one. Her man, her Wolf.

  She pressed another kiss to his lips, this one lingering longer. This time, it was so much easier to will her feelings his way. But she knew he needed the words. Bond or not, she wasn’t going to keep anything from her mate that he needed.

  “I love you too.”

  He held her tighter, the part of him in her heart growing so warm she wished she was like Jade and could see it. But she didn’t need to be a Sibile to appreciate this gift, this joy, she never thought she’d have. This was a second chance.

  This was freedom.

  Epilogue

  “This plan was stupid,” Lia grumbled, chewing on her lip, looking all around for the three hundredth time in the last twenty minutes. She plucked at the ends of her hair, which only just touched her shoulders, and tried to still the swirling vortex in her stomach.

  “This plan was safest for everyone,” Tate replied, calm as you please. His thumb, warm and rough, stopped her from responding when he used it to gently tug her bottom lip free. “We have to get you a new chew toy, Sunshine. That one’s mine.”

  She gave him her best attempt at a smile but knew it was pathetic. “I can’t help it, Aurelia should have met us already.”

  Once he’d explained his plans to begin his hunt with her past, their careful investigation had led them here. To the Iowa state fair, of all places. On the southern bench in front of the carousel.

  “Stop worrying. They’re not late, they’re feeling us out.”

  She wasn’t sure if her glare made it past the oversize sunglasses he’d bought her or even the baseball cap he’d plopped on her head to cover her short bobbed hair.

  “Don’t look directly, but there’s a tall, swarthy guy over by the pretzel vendor. He’s been by us twice already. His scent is unmistakable. Next pass will probably be to tell us to follow him.” Tate slid his arm around her waist, tugging her closer. He wore his own set of sunglasses, but the heat of his gaze had no trouble penetrating his sunglasses as he looked her up and down. “Have I mentioned lately how much I like the way you’re dressed?”

  Lia rolled her eyes. She wore a simple pair of jeans and a red V-neck shirt that left her arms bare in the late summer heat. Nothing to get excited about, but she knew her cheeks were giving away her true reaction to the compliment. “I’m not that easy to distract.”

  His grin played xylophone with her hormones. “I am.”

  Soooo not falling for that, tempting as it was. The flow of people increased as a voice suddenly came over the nearby loudspeakers. Someone was being introduced to cheers so loud her ears rang.

  “Why are there so many people here anyway?” She eyed the crowd already pressi
ng tight to the stage with more people pushing to get closer. They were going to swamp the carousel area soon.

  “Whistle-stop,” Tate answered close to her ear. “That asshole Thompson is running for the presidency. Works in our favor, actually. We’ll talk to your nice old lady away from the crowds, right under everyone’s nose.”

  “Are you sure that’s safe?” Her stomach clenched at being so close to any government official.

  “Why do you think they chose this place? With this many people here, there’s a ton of scents to disguise ours. Anyone does anything suspicious, we just make a scene and the Secret Service swarms in.”

  “That’s not reassuring.”

  “It also keeps us all in line. Secret Service gets wind a bunch of shifters are this close to a presidential candidate and we’ll all be wishing for a death squad. By the way, if you’d told me your granny lady was allied with Bears, this might have been easier to arrange.”

  Lia almost responded that Aurelia didn’t know any Bears, but the voice speaking to the crowd finally sank into her subconscious. “…with the social and growing bouts of violence among humanity and shifters, now more than ever, this country needs a leader who is willing to find a middle ground and end the bloodletting…”

  Her ear twitched, dread welling from nowhere in her belly, freezing her in place.

  Tate picked up the change instantly. “Lia? Wh—”

  She put her hand over Tate’s mouth, listening to the voice from the man on the stage. She knew that voice. Knew it.

  Feared it.

  But why? She turned, looking for the source, trying to understand the growing unease. On either side of the stage, a giant video screen showed a close-up of the stranger.

  “I’m not only prepared to help this country heal its wounds…” the man said, his voice smooth, his handsome face smiling as he addressed the crowd.