Shepherd’s Watch: Guarded

by J. Hali Steele

  Standing, Wade toed his boots off, and they were followed in short time by his pants. He stood naked over her and pulled on his engorged penis until it leaked. Stroking the skin back and forth, he couldn’t wait to be inside her.

  Going down on his knees between her legs, he grabbed under her thighs, lifted, and opened them wider. The sight of her swollen and moist nether lips was an invitation he couldn’t resist. His hard cock touched her folds and Jetta took it in her hand, guiding him home. Wade plunged all the way inside her.

  The pace he set was maddening as he thrust into her pussy. Back and forth, he ground hard into her pelvis each time he pressed in. Every stroke was meant to give her pleasure, and to take what he needed. Her cunt throbbed and convulsed around him, held him tight each time he buried his cock inside her. He couldn’t get enough. The base animal in him urged him on, it wanted everything. “Squeeze it, baby, take all of it.” Jetta’s body lifted to meet every stroke he delivered. Short and fast, long and slow, he fucked her until his insides were in a knot.

  “Ooh, yes, oh God,” she wailed, shattering the silence around them.

  “Come for us, give it to me.” Keeping her legs high, Wade slammed deep into her pussy, giving her every inch. Again and again, he drove into her.

  Her channel tightened around his cock, coaxed his orgasm from the depths of his nuts. “Ahh, shit, here it comes, baby.” Something burst inside Wade. Cum spilled from his dick and shot into her. It seemed like it would never end. He continued to jam his penis inside her until he was empty and couldn’t move.

  Collapsing on top of her, he captured her lips and kissed them. He planted kisses on the side of her neck, sucked her skin until she was marked. Jetta Volker belonged to him -- heart and soul.

  Now, he had to tell her what he was. “Damn, I like fucking you.” Not the words he meant to say.

  The air filled with her throaty laugh. “I like it when you fuck me.” Turning serious, she asked, “Tell me about the scars.”

  Shrugging, he answered, “I was young and dumb. Thought I could take on a whole pack alone. It was a painful lesson.” Wade stood and stretched before he bent to grab his pants.

  “What happened?” She rose to her knees and handed him his shirt.

  “Huh?” Aww, Christ, the bruise on his ass, she’d noticed it.

  “The bruise.” Jetta pointed to the black and blue mark, which was much better looking than it had been. The shepherds healed quickly.

  Wade couldn’t lie. Not anymore. “I got hit this morning.”

  Tilting her head to the side, she stared at him. “That’s a pretty big bruise.”

  “You should have seen it a few hours ago.” Holding his breath, he waited.

  “Who hit you?”

  It was as good a time as any. “You did.”

  “What?” Her eyes were saucers, the hazel color going gray.

  “You have pretty good aim. Especially with lead vases.”

  “Lord. God. No!” The high-pitched sound that passed her lips echoed through the trees. “Tell me what you’re saying.” She shuddered.

  His head went up and he sniffed loudly. Son-of-a-bitch. Wade would never forget the man’s odor. Mixed with it was her smell of fear and it made the shepherd tear at him mercilessly. The bastard had the nerve to show up on Jetta’s property.

  Chapter Six

  “Can we talk about this later? You need to get dressed.”

  “Talk to me now.”

  “Look, honey, I’d love to. We got company.” He pressed his shirt into her chest. “Put it on.”

  “Company?”

  “Jordan is here.”

  Shoving her arms in the shirt, Jetta shouted at him, “Jordan is here?” She trembled so hard she could barely button the shirt. It wasn’t her ex she was afraid of. Maybe she should be, but right now he didn’t top the list.

  “Tell me what’s going on, Wade. I want to know what you meant when you said I hit you.” The shaking subsided, slowly replaced by anger. It flared in her chest. “I hit a dog.” She glanced around him, looked over her shoulder. “How would you know if Jordan was here?”

  “Damn it, Jetta, I smell him.” Taking her arms, he drew her against his chest. “Be quiet and stay calm. He could be armed.”

  She shook her head back and forth. “No, he wouldn’t carry a gun.”

  “You know him so well? How many years has it been?” His eyes stabbed her like arrows. “We’re talking about the man who let an animal tear you apart.” Wade spat the words at her. “The same man who abandoned you in an alley just days ago. Does he mean that much to you?” His body visibly stiffened and he sucked in a lungful of air.

  “And if it hadn’t been for you and those damn dogs, she’d be locked away and safe with me.”

  She jumped at the sound of Jordan’s voice, but Wade didn’t move a muscle. He must have known already that the man was behind him. His eyes were black pits when he turned away to face her ex. He kept his naked body placed firmly in front of her.

  Peering over Wade’s shoulder, she couldn’t believe this was happening. “What do you want?” Jordan’s eyes were wild, crazy. This wasn’t the man she knew eight years ago.

  He glared back at her. “I’ve been watching you for months, Jetta.” The leer on Jordan’s face was maniacal and his hands shook. “How long have you been fucking him?”

  The growl emanating from the man standing in front of her shattered the air. “You’re going to die.” Wade’s voice was even, the words menacing.

  Suddenly Wade fell to his knees, his body contorted as black and brown fur sprouted up his arms and down his torso. A long snout pulled out from his jaw and his tongue lolled out. Unable to move, Jetta watched in awe as he placed his hands on the ground in front of him, his shoulders hunched up and bones popped and clicked. Paws clawed at the earth.

  A huge dog stood in front of her. It lunged across the short distance and pounced on Jordan whose screams filled the air as the animal clawed his back. “Jesus Christ!” She strangled on the words. Jetta’s feet were locked where she stood.

  Wade raised his head and howled, shaking the tree limbs.

  A shrill whistle snatched her out of the trance. Turning, she saw Victoria running across the meadow. Jetta could only stare at her before she dropped to her knees. “Vic, what the fuck is happening?”

  Both of them spun around at the vicious growl coming from Wade as he stood over Jordan. Opening his mouth, baring his canines, he bit down on Jordan’s forearm. The sound of bone breaking made her stomach lurch.

  “Damn it, Jetta, stop him,” Vic hollered. “He’ll kill him.”

  She glared up at Vic, then turned to look at the dog shaking her ex by the arm. It was like a bad dream and she waited to wake up.

  Victoria’s voice became soft, hypnotic. “No one can stop him but you.”

  Twisting toward the chaos, she gathered strength from somewhere deep inside. “Wade, don’t.”

  The man she’d fallen in love with was covered in fur and on all fours, tearing at her ex. He was the same man who minutes ago had made sweet love to her. They kept telling her the dog was special, that he’d never harm her or allow anyone else to hurt her. Now she understood. Everything. The dog’s eyes on the porch, the desire to chase him this morning and make sure he was okay. All of it made sense. Wade was the shepherd.

  Jordan had come here to hurt her, but she didn’t want Wade to kill him. Calm settled over her frayed nerves. “Wade, stop.” Her voice was barely a whisper, but the huge animal released the man, who had passed out, and turned to look at her. His brown eyes shone with an inhuman light. “Don’t kill him, please.”

  Leaving the bloodied man, the dog padded slowly in her direction. She tensed when his nose nudged the toe of her foot. Jetta wanted to reach out to him, but she couldn’t. Her heart raced when he took another step toward her. Scrambling back, she shouted, “No!”

  “Jetta?” Vic sounded surprised.

  She stood and backed away. “I can�
�t.”

  The shepherd growled, raised its head, and then howled, the sound so sad, it tore a moan from deep within her. Though it was Wade, Jetta couldn’t bring herself to touch the animal. It turned from her and ran into the woods.

  Gathering her clothes in a ball, she stood in Wade’s oversized shirt and glanced at her friend. “You knew what he was all this time?”

  “Yes.” Vic’s gaze didn’t waver.

  “How?”

  Two large dogs resembling Wade bounded to her friend’s side and flopped to the ground.

  Then it dawned on Jetta. “Shit, no. You too?” She looked down at the animals lying at Victoria’s feet.

  “My brothers,” Vic said. “I wanted to tell you. I kept them away from the apartment when you were around because I knew how you felt.” She patted the one nearest her on the head. “Go, clean his wound.” Both dogs stood and trotted over to Jordan and began licking his arm and back where the shirt had been torn from him.

  She watched, mesmerized as the animals lapped at the blood. “We need to get him help.” The sight should have sickened her, yet it didn’t.

  Victoria sniffed at the air. “Help’s on the way.”

  Spinning around, Jetta glared at Vic. “How am I supposed to understand this?” She’d known the woman for a while and never suspected. She wondered how she’d hid it so long, how the others had hidden in the world. What else was out there?

  Vic’s eyes were blank as she stared off into the distance. “We were genetically created by a monk who did experiments with DNA.”

  “How?”

  “I can’t explain it. The Alsatians can. I’m much younger and I never had the benefit of being with a pack. My brothers and I were separated from any contact with others like us at an early age by… Look, you need to find Wade.”

  “I don’t know if I can.”

  “Until you knew what he was, how did you feel?” Her eyes pierced Jetta. “He’s a man, he has all the feelings of a man, and we’re not responsible for what we are.” She averted her eyes. “You have to -- you smell like him.”

  “What the hell does that mean?” With everything Jetta had been through in her life, this wasn’t as shocking as it should be. Still, her heart clamored in her chest as she tried to put the pieces together. She wanted to go somewhere, be alone and think. She twisted around at the sound behind her. Max and Ren.

  Ren said, “We’ll make sure he’s okay before we return him to where he belongs.”

  “What?” His words, nothing made sense.

  “The detective found out your boyfriend had been institutionalized. Went nuts. Seems he disappeared from a group outing weeks ago and they’ve been looking for him.”

  Max glared at Victoria. “We had Dag posted up the road just in case he came here. He spotted him and alerted us. How’d you know?”

  Vic appeared to examine her shoes. “Jetta’s cell phone slipped from her purse in my car. It kept ringing so I thought it might be important. The man said he’d found out Jordan had been hospitalized and wanted to let her know he was missing.”

  “Want to tell me about them?” Max pointed to the watchful shepherds who now stood by Vic. The larger dog bared its teeth with a low rumble in its throat.

  Taking a step toward the dog, Max growled and the eerie sound shook the ground. Both dogs immediately flopped down at Vic’s feet. “Guess the cat’s out of the bag. You can stop with the cinnamon bullshit now.” He continued to gaze at her for a moment before he jerked around and walked away. He disappeared with Ren into the woods, Jordan dangling between them.

  “Will you be all right?” Vic’s voice was soft, minus her normal mesmerizing energy.

  “Will you?” Something unspoken had transpired between her friend and Max. “I’ll be fine. I need to be alone right now, but we need to talk. I trusted you, Victoria.”

  “I know. Call me.” Vic’s voice had never held such sadness. She whistled and her brothers trotted off behind her.

  * * *

  Jetta stopped at the small stream and watched the crystal clear water bubble over the rocks, washing them clean.

  She smelled Wade. Not strong or close by, but his delicious scent seemed to linger in the air. It was in his shirt and it shrouded her with a feeling of comfort, safeness. She sat down, and the scent grew stronger. He had been here. Had sat on this spot.

  She hadn’t lied to him, and he hadn’t lied to her, they just hadn’t told each other everything. The same thing with her friend. Vic should have told her. Jetta would have run for the hills if she’d known what they all were. She bit back a hysterical bubble of laughter.

  Finally, deciding what the hell, she let it out. Like a lunatic, she threw her head back and laughed loud and hard. Wrung out, she rubbed her aching jaw, and it spurred a vague memory. Jordan had smacked her by the car. She now remembered balling her keys in her hand, taking a swing at him and hitting the back of his head. Then she’d passed out.

  The wine. Oh God, the bastard drugged me! Her thoughts drifted to Jordan lying on the ground bleeding and the fact that, for the first time in years. she hadn’t fainted at the sight of blood. That was because of Wade. He made her feel stronger, safer.

  The idea of never seeing him again became agonizing. She buried her nose in her shoulder, breathed in his scent, and tears welled in her eyes. Damn, his aroma made her want him like crazy. But good Lord, he was some kind of screwed up science project. How in the hell could something like that happen?

  Suddenly it didn’t matter. Jetta needed him. But could she get past what he was?

  Standing, she grabbed her bundle of clothing and headed home. Finding Wade, talking to him, was all she could think about.

  * * *

  The path he wore in the rug was the same path being worn inside his churning stomach. His animal paced with him. Would she be able to accept every part of him? Belong to him totally?

  Gravel crunched out front, sending his shepherd into a frenzy. They both waited to hear her voice. To know what Jetta wanted.

  Walking through the doorway, she dropped a pile of clothing next to a chair and looked him square in the eye. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  She appeared so vulnerable in his wrinkled shirt, he just wanted to take her in his arms and hold her. He knew better. They had to work this out, for better or worse. “What was I supposed to say? Oh, by the way, I’m a dog.” He flopped down in the nearest chair. A loud sigh slipped from his mouth. Gazing at her, he asked, “Why weren’t you afraid of your ex, what he might have done to you?”

  “He was sick and dangerous, but I didn’t want him to die.” Jetta stood looking out the window.

  “Is that why you stopped me, or was it something else?” He had to know.

  “Wade, I stopped caring for him a long time ago. I don’t even hold what happened to me against him.” She turned and stabbed him with a look. “There have been men in my life, but none penetrated the wall I built.” Jetta squared her shoulders. “Somehow, you got through. But I don’t know if I can forget the pain an animal like you caused.”

  “We are not that animal.”

  “I saw what you… it did to him. Would it ever do that to me?”

  He stood and went to her. “Never, not in a million years. We both need you to be whole.” He tilted her chin up. “Smell me, that’s your scent. We belong together, Jetta. He’d tear me apart before letting me ever touch anyone else. He’d emerge in an instant and guard you from anyone or anything that tried to harm you.” Moisture threatened his eyes, forcing him to face away. Shit, he couldn’t let her see that.

  “I don’t know if I can do this.”

  Anger boiled in his chest at the thought of losing her. “What the fuck do you want from me, baby?” He whipped around and grasped her arms. “Kiss it, make it all better? I can’t do that. You know what I am -- I’m not going to change.”

  The pain smashed into his lungs like a hammer. Wade struggled with his clothes, removing them as fast as the pain allowed. The shepher
d was ripping its way from his body and he couldn’t stop him. Fuck. It thought Wade had threatened Jetta.

  Falling to his knees, he tried to restrain the animal, but it wasn’t going to happen. His shoulders hunched up, and the popping sound rang in his ears as they sprouted straight up. The dog’s snout pulled from his face, followed by hair racing over his torso and down his limbs. His body rapidly took on the black and brown fur. His large paws scraped at the floor until the animal was totally loose.

  Jetta! She wouldn’t understand the beast’s desire to protect her.

  She sucked at the air and stumbled back. Loose now, the animal pranced back and forth, seeking to ease her fear. The dog continued to move slowly in front of her. He had no control over the creature. Stopping suddenly, it peered up at her face. Her smell of fear was drifting away.

  Jetta whispered, “He has your eyes.” Tentatively, she reached for the dog’s back. It turned so she could stroke him. Sweet Jesus, he wanted to feel her bury her hands in his fur, holding him. Accepting what he was. “Beautiful, soft,” she murmured. Her hand swept over his body. “You’ll guard me forever.”

  Wade’s animal panted heavily, its tongue lolling out. He whined for more affection and got it. Jetta stroked his sides, down his chest, touching him so gently.

  The shepherd turned and licked the palm of her injured hand, tasting her. It squealed in delight. Taking a few steps back, its head held high, a solemn howl lifted into the air, the sound bouncing from the walls.

  Releasing Wade, the animal slowly pulled back into the man’s body. Naked, lying on the floor, he gasped, “You didn’t fear him.”

  “He’s a part of who you are.” Jetta gazed at him with tears in her hazel eyes. “I’m not afraid of you.”

  “He’ll never hurt you, I’d never hurt you.” He sat up.

  Easing down onto the floor, she landed beside him with one hand resting on his thigh. “When you say I belong to you, what’s that mean exactly?” A deep sigh left her as her other hand’s fingers feathered over the scars on his back, touching him in a way no other woman had.

  “We are a mated pair.” His voice cracked. “The dog won’t ever know another female; he’ll never let me touch another woman. Seems I’d better only touch you the way you want to be touched.”