by Milly Taiden
In a heartbeat, she was dragged to straddle him. Lips clashed in a toe-curling kiss. Their tongues rubbed over each other, one looking to dominate the other. Wildfire spread through her belly. Turned her insides to mush and her pussy desperate for more. His hands pinched at her nipples and spread his cum over her chest, scent marking her from outside.
When he pulled back they both breathed heavy, and she saw the sensual intent in his gaze. The need to be together, bodies locked tight clear in his eyes.
“I want you.”
“Take me. I’m already yours.”
The kisses started anew. Fervent. Heated. Demanding. She’d swear the world stopped just so they could do this. Be one and enjoy their mating dance. The remaining clothes came off. Then he was sliding into her. One quick powerful thrust that pushed all reasoning to the side and all but her search for release to the surface.
“I love you, Nate.”
She didn’t really say that. Did she?
But his growl, the way his cock pulsed inside her pussy, almost thickening to the point of pain in her sex told her he’d heard. And liked it.
He buried balls deep inside her. Slid one finger over her lips and showed her a gentler side of him. His eyes held an emotion she hadn’t dared believe he felt for her.
“I love you too, babe.”
She dug her nails deep into his shoulders, urging him faster with her moans. “Fuck me. Harder.”
Passion she hadn’t been aware resided inside her exploded, and all she could do was ride the wave. Her body shook, pussy clenching and squeezing at his cock.
His drives shortened to shallow thrusts, a deep branding of his heated length in her slick sex. “You’re wet. Oh, baby and so tight.”
“Nate!” Another orgasm rolled through her. So quickly after the last she couldn’t even catch her breath.
“Fuck!” His cock jerked inside her. With a long, loud growl he filled her with his seed, pumping his hips hard, slamming into her quickly. A flutter and her legs shook at her sides. Then another and she curled her arms around his neck, holding him tight to her. Never wanting to see him anywhere but inside her. Filling her. This was her man. She loved him, and God help her, she was starting to believe he loved her too.
“COME FOR A walk, you said. It’ll be fun, you said,” Karla grumbled. Beads of sweat dripped down her spine and slipped down to her panties. “How is walking around in this heat fun? Can we go back to your car and hit the spa for a massage? I’m totally up for that.”
Jordan grinned. She was much too chipper lately. “Oh, come on. We passed on the hot yoga the others were going too.” She turned to walk backward while looking at Karla. “Ellie loves that stuff. I still can’t get used to it. I’ll take a walk in the woods any day.” She opened her arms wide. “Isn’t it just soothing?”
Karla slapped her hands on her hips. “Stop walking like that, you’re going to fall on your ass. Besides, you know that you have terrible luck with the woods.”
“Pft! I will have you know, Aric and I have gone on several walks in the woods after my last attack, and nothing has happened.” Jordan turned to face forward again. “So…how are things with the houseguest?”
“She went to stay at a hotel. Said she can’t stand how small my house is.”
“Wow. It’s hard to believe you three are related. I mean, I can see how much you and her look alike, but then she’s got such a crummy attitude. And then you and Kel have a great relationship, but look nothing alike.”
Karla kicked at the grass. “Yeah. Weirdest triplets ever.”
“Did she tell you what she wanted?” Jordan frowned. “She’s never come to visit you in all the years you’ve been living here and now she remembers you. What’s up with that?”
“Money. When our father died, he left us something in his will. Kel’s taken care of my finances. I don’t really bother with any of that. Since I didn’t really need it, he’s invested it for me for my retirement, and I haven’t really thought about it. But she’s blown through what he left her, and she’s broke. Just like mom.” Bitterness welled up her throat. They’d never been close. Ever. Even when small, she’d been closer to her brother, and Kass had been her mother’s favorite. But to see the way she nonchalantly came in looking for money like she was owed something really pissed Karla off.
“What did you tell her?”
Karla kicked another pebble. And almost fell flat on her ass. Oh God! She had forgotten she had a taser in her back pocket. If Jordan hadn’t helped her stay on her feet, she could have fallen and tased her ass. Nate made her carry the thing on her when they weren’t together.
“Karla?”
“What?” She jerked back to the present.
“I said what did you tell your sister?”
“To get a job.”
“And what are you thinking about Nate?”
Her phone chose that moment to ring. “Speak of the devil.” She pressed the button to answer the call. “Hi.”
“Hey, gorgeous.” His voice sounded damn sexy. She tried not to picture him naked. Wasn’t working very well. “Where are you?”
“Jordan hates me and is torturing me.”
“It’s called exercise not torture,” Jordan yelled from further ahead.
Laughter boomed from his end of the line. “How about I come save you, and we can do some other kind of exercise?”
That sounded a hell of a lot better than walking. Well, anything with Nate naked sounded perfect. “I’m sold. We’re at the nature trail closing in on the parking lot.”
“I’ll be there in a bit. I’ve got something in mind I know will make your legs shake.”
Oh hell. “Hurry up already. You big tease!”
He laughed again. “See you in a few.”
She glanced up to catch Jordan shaking her head at her with a smile. “You are so easy.”
“Hey, don’t judge. I didn’t when I heard about you rushing to your car in torn up clothes the night of the scenting ceremony.
Jordan’s eyes went wide. “Who told you?”
She giggled. “Men like to talk too.”
She gasped. “Aric! I’m going to kick his ass when he comes home.”
Karla couldn’t stop the laughter at the indignant expression on Jordan’s face. “You will not. You’ll be just as easy as I’m being now.”
She flung her ponytail over her shoulder. “Yeah. Who am I kidding? I probably will. Sounds like things are doing better with you and Nate.”
“He’s been very attentive lately. I guess I’ve been overreacting with keeping him at a distance.” She turned to Jordan. “I just don’t want to live the same things my mom did.”
“Chica, in case you haven’t noticed, you’re nothing like your mother. Not only have you not chased Nate at all, but he’s been stuck to your side trying to prove to you he’s committed to you and your babies.”
True. Nate had been there when she woke up every morning. He’d been there when she went to bed at night. Holding her. Comforting her. Filling the emptiness she’d felt her entire life with warmth. She’d been fighting her feelings for him. Almost unwilling to face the fact of how much she cared for him. If she did, she’d have to admit she didn’t want him to go anywhere. That she would chase after him and ignore all the things she’d said she wouldn’t do for him.
For most of her life, she’d held a large wall around her heart. But Nathan Wolfe had managed to slip through the cracks and his smiles, sexy talk, and hot looks turned her insides to mush. And emotions she hadn’t expected flourished. Frickin’ hell! She loved him. And it scared the shit out of her.
It wasn’t his actions she was concerned with if she was honest with herself. It was her dependence on him to grow to the point she’d do anything to be with him. The anything she kept thinking of was the obsessive things that could turn her into her mother.
They’d gone up a hill and were now on their way down. The sun started to fall over the horizon, and a light breeze swirled her hair over her
shoulders.
“Isn’t it pretty?” Jordan sighed.
“Yeah.” She had to admit it was. The colors of the falling sun over the trees were beautiful. Oranges and gold twirled over the horizon in a dance of beauty and grace. It showed off that Mother Nature truly was an artist. Her mind wrapped around the beauty of the scenery and was caught off guard when Jordan tensed beside her, a low growling filling the air.
“What’s wrong?” She asked, watching Jordan glance around the trail. The car was but a few hundred yards away from them. There was no need to worry.
“Someone’s here.” Jordan said quietly. “They’re not shifters, so it shouldn’t be bad, but I don’t want you getting hurt.”
They ran for the car when someone grabbed Jordan from the driver side. Karla stopped dead in her tracks, watching the large tattooed man try to haul her petite friend off her feet.
“This is the one.” Said the baldheaded guy who had Jordan in his grasp.
“What about that one?” Said a voice from the front of the car.
A shorter man with long dark hair and large holes in his ears stared at her with a vicious grin.
“I don’t know. We’re supposed to grab this one.” The guy struggled to keep Jordan in his grip. His bald head, covered in multiple tattoos and piercings shimmered with perspiration. Her friend’s eyes turned, a bright ring of gold surrounding the usual warm chocolate brown.
“Need help?” Short guy laughed, showing off crooked yellow teeth. His stringy black hair hung past his shoulders in an oily mess. Multiple scars covered his chin and lip. His dusty old clothing had probably seen better days some years back. It was the clear vicious light in their eyes that said they were some low-down thugs. “She looks like a handful.”
His distraction proved helpful for Karla. She slipped her hand into her back pocket and pulled out the taser. She wasn’t a violent person, truly. Well, maybe just a little. But she wasn’t stupid either. She’d been a single woman who lived in a town filled with shifters. She needed some sort of protection. Her little taser was nothing compared to Emma or Jordan’s shotguns, but it would have to do.
Jordan growled. The swift way she twisted in the guy’s hands shocked both men. One minute he had her pinned and the next she had him by the throat, digging her claws into his neck, blood oozing from the deep cuts.
“Who the fuck are you?” She growled. Anger sounded in the snarls between words.
The man reeled a fist back and punched her. The hit only got him loose for a moment. Karla raced around the car, making her way toward her friend when the other guy rushed her.
“Oh no you don’t. My buddy here is gonna handle that one.” He launched himself at her, but she used that moment to jab the taser into his side. He screamed. Loud. So loud his friend was caught off guard, and Jordan dug massive claws across his face, leaving large gaping wounds.
“Ahhhhhhhh!”
The man Karla tased fell on the ground shaking, body convulsing with the large dose of electricity having coursed through him.
Big baldheaded man threw another punch at Jordan, but she moved fast enough to miss it. Her claws drew across his side, leaving his shirt cut up and blood soaking the material.
“You fucking bitch!”
He reached behind him. Shit, what if he had a gun? Jordan took no mercy. In seconds, she shifted to her brown wolf. She latched her canines on the man’s throat and bit down hard. Her claws continued to dig at his chest. Teeth bit down on muscles and bones until all Karla heard was the sick sound of bones breaking. The guy’s screams slowly died off with him, and blood pooled at his side from the gaping wounds.
Karla gaped at the scene before her. She’d never seen Jordan attack anyone that viciously before. It was surreal. The fight at the school had been so spread out and fast she didn’t really get to focus on Jordan. The brown wolf her friend had turned into continued to claw at the dead body. Blood coated her muzzle and paws. She growled and glanced up, her bright golden gaze clashing with Karla’s.
“Uh…Jordan?”
The wolf moved toward her slowly. She stopped in front of her feet and cocked her head. Bones started to crack and fur receded as Jordan took back her human shape. Karla blinked and rushed to the back of the car to retrieve a blanket for Jordan. She was getting really good at being a shifter assistant.
“Are you okay?” She asked Jordan.
Jordan wrinkled face in disgust. “I got blood all over me. I need a shower and a toothbrush, asap!”
Karla winced watching Jordan wipe the blood and gore off her face. Shifter fights were bloody, and her stomach’s churning told her she shouldn’t have watched. Holding down the contents of her lunch turned into a chore.
An engine’s roar brought her out of her dazed staring at the corpse. She waited for Nate to rush forward.
“What happened?” His voice was deep and rough, the animal sitting right below the surface. His features had moved to alter his usually handsome face to a ready-shift as he glanced at the dead guy’s body.
“We got some unexpected company.” Jordan mumbled as she rubbed the blanket over her mouth.
“Are you both okay?” His gaze bore into Karla’s, showing her deep concern and alarm.
“Piece of cake.” Jordan grinned. “I told you guys I could take care of us.”
The tased man started to move, groaning on the ground. Nate moved over the guy and punched him back into unconsciousness. Karla’s muscles, previously locked with tension, started to ache as she came down from her fight or flight high. Her gaze strayed over to the torn dead guy. A shudder of revulsion racked her. She needed to get out of there.
“We need something to tie him up with. Let me check my truck and see what I find.” Nate raced back to his truck and returned moments later with some zip ties.
Jordan grabbed a bottle of water from her driver’s side and walked some yards away. She started washing her face and rinsing her mouth with the water.
“Do you carry zip ties around with you often?” Karla asked. Her curiosity peaked. She watched Nate move the unconscious guy to tie his hands behind his back. With her hands in her pockets to keep them from shaking, she took deep breaths while watching Nate work. Things were going to be fine. Jordan hadn’t been hurt. Her stomach rolled the contents into an agitated tornado of anxiety. The panic level she felt diminished with every minute that passed.
“Not really. I went to the hardware store for repair supplies for the bar and got them to organize some extension cords we have in the storage room.”
He deposited the guy on the bed of his truck and marched back to Karla. She rushed into his open arms. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yes. We were surprised they were here. I mean they must have been watching us because we didn’t tell anyone where we were going.”
He nodded, his grip tightening on her. “Don’t worry. We’ll figure out what it was they wanted.”
They had to or it could mean things really weren’t getting any better, but worse.
EVERYONE CONVENED IN Barbara’s home. Karla had just returned from the ladies' room when she was tugged down to sit on Nate’s lap. She’d struggled to get off, but with each wiggle, his cock poked her ass, and she didn’t want the others to know how turned on she was getting so she gave up.
“Did you speak to Aric?” Barbara asked Jordan.
Jordan flinched. “I did. He persists on coming home.”
“Then let him.” Barbara lifted a blonde brow, unsmiling. “You’re his priority. He should be here trying to figure out who the hell wants to hurt you.”
Karla stared in awe at Barbara’s features. Her facial lines had pulled tight and her nose and mouth had started to shift. The blue of her eyes glowed with her wolf power.
“I can’t let him cut his trip short for me. I’m supposed to be able to take care of myself!”
Barbara took a deep breath and pursed her lips. “He should be here with you.”
Jordan bit her lip, brows furrowed. �
��I told him to hold off. If I truly need him, I’ll tell him to come home. I’m trying to be independent here. I don’t want him to need to babysit me. Besides, how will it look to other Alphas that his mate can’t be left alone? I don’t want people to think he mated some weakling who needs him for everything.”
Barbara nodded. Her previously almost feral looking features changed back to the gentle beauty Karla was used to.
Karla knew what Jordan referred to when she mentioned encouraging Aric to continue his meetings. Neither of them liked depending on anyone, especially a man. “At least the enforcers got the one guy and are doing a check on the town for any outsiders. They’re on the hunt for anything suspicious.”
“Thanks for calling them, Nate.” Jordan rubbed her temple and leaned back. “I hope whatever is going on can be figured out quickly.”
“It’s not a problem. They got a cleanup crew to get rid of the other guy. I really think you should consider asking Aric to come home.” He squeezed Karla’s legs as he spoke. “You’ve been downplaying these attacks.”
“I don’t want to be the reason he has to rush back,” Jordan replied. “But if something else happens, I’ll ask him to come home.”
“Can someone explain to me where these humans came from?” Barbara asked, lifting a glass of iced tea to her lips.
“I don’t know,” Jordan answered from her sofa chair, lifting her hands in mock surrender. “I swear I haven’t pissed anyone off lately.”
“If it were Emma, we’d have one long list to work through,” Karla muttered.
Barbara coughed. “Did they say anything that can give us a clue?”
“Only that Jordan was the one they wanted,” Karla replied, giving in to Nate’s hold and softening enough to lean into him.
“What about the guy you got alive, Nate?” Barbara asked.
“According to Jake, he’s not talking. The enforcers have been at him. Normally, we don’t get human men attacking our kind this way, so they’re questioning of the guy is not our normal procedure. But he says he doesn’t know who hired them. They think the other guy must have been the one who set things up. They said he’s telling the truth which doesn’t really help us much.”