Shifters Hallows Eve

by Lori King

  I considered his offer, but shook my head and thought, No. Thoughts are supposed to be private. I don’t think I want him in my head.

  Okay. I left most of the abduction, I just removed the portion that would’ve told you they weren’t human.

  Abbott gave my memories back to me a little at a time, and talked me through them as we came to them. Somehow, he made it so I was seeing them as if on a movie screen, instead of experiencing it all over again. It helped, but it was still hard. I’d never been naked in front of anyone before that night. Not since I was in diapers, anyway. My mom never even let the doctor see me in any form of undress. These vampires stripped me down to nothing, and looked at me there to make sure I was still intact in all ways. Apparently, you can be a virgin and not have a hymen, and they had to make sure it was still blocking the way. They hadn’t raped me, but they’d pawed my breasts and handled my private parts. They’d sliced through my skin with their horrid claws, burned marks into my thighs, and coated themselves in my blood. I hadn’t remembered them burning my thighs, but it made sense. The scars were different. More pronounced.

  And through it all, Abbott reminded me this had happened over a year ago, and I was safe in Zeke’s lap, and he told me how strong I am.

  When we finally reached the end, I was a sweaty, sobbing mess. Aaron and Nathan had left, I guess to give us some privacy. It took me a few minutes to reorient myself, and it suddenly felt wrong for Abbott to be across the room. He’d walked me through something so painful, so embarrassing, so unbearably, devastatingly humiliating. And yet, he’d done it in the kindest way possible.

  He gave me a gentle smile. “I can sit with you if I won’t scare you. I believe Nathan and Aaron have made you a peanut butter and jam sandwich, which your mind tells me is your comfort food.”

  “Your powers terrify me, but you’ve earned my trust,” I told him, and then what he’d said about my favorite comfort food sunk in. “You told them about the peanut butter and jam thing?”

  He nodded. “You’re in luck, because Aaron’s wife happens to like organic grape jam, made without any extra sugar.”

  7

  Zeke

  I scented every emotion Destiny went through as she got her memories back. I didn’t have to see or hear anything to know what she was going through, and it broke my heart. Abbott can be cruel, but he can also be gentle, and her scent told me he was doing what he could to soften the impact of the memories.

  By the time Nathan drove us home, Destiny was so far beyond exhausted I wished she’d give up and go to sleep. I wouldn’t mind carrying her inside, but she seemed set on remaining upright and speaking.

  Her parents thought she was out of town for the weekend, staying with a friend who’s attending UT in Knoxville.

  Abbott had hinted at the fact she’s in danger now because she’s once again broadcasting her virgin status to those who can pick up on such things. Abbott tells me it isn’t just that she’s physically still a virgin, but she’s also never had an orgasm. As far as he can tell, there’s been no insertion of anything other than a tampon, and only that a few times because her parents forbid her from using them. She hadn’t been allowed to swim when she was on her period.

  Until she lost her virginity, she’d have to be protected by a strong supernatural capable of fighting off Celrau. I’d told him if she was ready for sex this weekend I’d do it, but I wouldn’t push for it. I hated having to do it on a timetable, and I was only considering it because I’d originally looked at this general time frame before I’d known about the urgency.

  Nothing would happen tonight, though. She was exhausted.

  I was surprised when she asked to sleep with me, but no way was I going to make her sleep alone in my guest room if she wanted to be in my bed.

  I’d pushed her away last year because she was seventeen, and I’ve kept from so much as kissing her over the past month because I wanted the two of us to form a relationship apart from the one where I’d taken care of her last year. We’ve gone hiking, we’ve rollerbladed on the Riverwalk, we went to a trampoline park, and we’ve just sat on a cliff overlooking the city and talked. We’ve joked while eating lunch, and we’ve talked on the phone until the early morning hours. We’re no longer victim and protector. We’re friends who are attracted to each other, but who knows where things might go?

  Also, I’d really wanted her to get her memories back before we started a relationship. I knew what happened to her when she didn’t. It hadn’t felt right.

  Now, however, she knew it all. The only barrier left was whether she could be comfortable with me if we took things to the next level. I had no doubt she could handle intimacy because I’ve held her in my arms enough to know she has no qualms about being close to me. She’s an expert cuddler.

  Sex, however, is a different kind of intimacy, and I worried about how I should approach it. What could I do to help put her at ease? I’d run a million scenarios through my head, but in the end, I’d just have to play it by ear.

  She’d brought clothes and I knew she’d have pajamas, but my lion wanted her to smell like us. I gave her one of my shirts as I asked, “Can you wear this tonight, please?”

  She nodded without saying anything, and went into my master bathroom and closed the door.

  I stripped down to my boxer briefs, but then changed my mind and took them off to put loose boxers on. I usually sleep nude, so boxers would be more comfortable. I turned the lights off and got under the covers to wait for her.

  It didn’t occur to me she thought I’d want to do something tonight until I heard the shower turn on. I got out of bed and went to the bathroom. She hadn’t locked the door, and I let myself in. The shower is towards the back of the room, and I stayed by the door to give her privacy.

  “You don’t have to shower before bed, Teeny. We’re just sleeping tonight. You’re exhausted.”

  “But you can smell better than a human, and I got all sweaty when I was crying.”

  I couldn’t help but smile as I said, “Okay. I’ll be in bed when you finish. We’re just sleeping tonight. No stress.”

  * * *

  Destiny

  He hadn’t been joking about just sleeping. He’d held me through the night, but he hadn’t tried anything at all. He hadn’t even kissed me yet. Not a real one. He’d kissed the top of my head, and my forehead. Once he’d kissed the tip of my nose and my stomach had done backflips. I couldn’t imagine what an actual kiss might do to me.

  Still, having his arm over me, caressing me as I drifted off to sleep, made all the difference. Now that I knew about the Celrau, I was terrified of them.

  Sometime during the night he’d turned the bathroom light on and left the door open a tiny bit. He’d also put a bottled water on my nightstand. The clock on his nightstand told me it wasn’t even five in the morning yet, but I needed to pee something fierce.

  He has a wall of frosted glass in his bathroom to let light in while preserving privacy. No one can see in or out, but with the bathroom light on, they’d be able to see me moving around. Granted, they’d have to be on the roof, but I figured that’d be a piece of cake for a vampire. If a bad vampire was out there, he could bust through the glass and get me before Zeke even woke up.

  I’d worked myself into a state of panic so intense I couldn’t move to get up from the toilet when I heard Zeke’s deep, soothing voice. “I’m outside the bathroom, Teeny. I can come in if you need me to.”

  Just like that, I was okay.

  “Thanks, but knowing you’re close helps. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

  “Why don’t you leave your underwear off when you come back to bed? My shirt comes past your knees, you’ll be covered.”

  I froze as I considered the request. Did he want to finally fool around this morning? I eyed my backpack beside the sink and was glad it was in here so I could brush my teeth.

  He pulled me into his arms when I opened the door. “You’re safe in this house, Destiny. You’re safe w
hen you’re with me. I won’t let anyone hurt you.” He walked us back to bed, but I was awkward as I got in.

  He didn’t say anything about me brushing my teeth, he didn’t ask if I’d taken my panties off, he just situated me on my back, him on his side, and then leaned in and kissed me.

  I remember thinking he didn’t have morning breath even though he hadn’t brushed his teeth, but as soon as the thought brushed through my mind, all thoughts were history as I experienced my first real kiss. I’ve been kissed before, but never like this. His lips teased mine until I kissed him back, so it was like a little dance, but with our lips instead of our feet and legs. Finally, he kissed my mouth open, and I didn’t know what to do with my tongue as his entered, but I couldn’t breathe, either, because it felt like all the blood in my body went between my legs — except for a little that went to my nipples.

  My hand rose and touched the side of his head before I realized it, but it felt right so I pulled him closer, even though he was already about as close as he could be.

  His hand moved down my side and paused at my ribcage. I gasped when his thumb moved back and forth over my nipple, and my heart stuttered as he intensified the kiss. His tongue in my mouth made me want other parts of his body in other parts of my body, and my hips moved of their own volition.

  I was a little embarrassed at the way my body was reacting, but he made a noise somewhere between a groan and a growl, and I realized he liked the way I moved.

  His hand moved lower, and lower. Slow. So slow. Finally, his hand slid off the shirt and touched my knee. It paused a brief second before it went back up the side of my leg, pushing the shirt up so his hand stayed on my leg. As he got to my thigh, his hand moved on top of it, and when he went higher, it was between my legs.

  I tensed and he kissed my cheek and put his mouth to my ear. “Baby steps, Teeny. Let’s play around a little this morning. No sex yet — not until you’re ready, but I have so much I can show you before we decide how far we should go.”

  “You wouldn’t have known I got anxious all of a sudden if you couldn’t smell it. Can we maybe ignore me being nervous?”

  “No. This has to be good for both of us, and if I know you’re uptight I’ll do what I can to fix it.” His hand touched between my legs and he pushed the lips together, over the little flap of skin they call a clit on the porn I’ve watched.

  My breath caught as I realized why it’s such a big deal. I moaned without meaning to, and my legs opened wider to give him easier access. I’ve been taught all my life that only my husband can see me naked, and only my husband can touch my private places. I’d been horrified when the vampires had touched me, because they were taking that right away from my future husband. I thought they were sullying me.

  Now, I didn’t care about any of that. Zeke cared about me, and I was pretty sure I’d been in love with him since he’d held my hand in the emergency room and refused to leave my side.

  My eyes flew open when he slid a finger inside me, and as our eyes met, it once again felt as if I fell into his gaze. My mouth opened in a silent O, and he held me with his gaze as his finger moved inside me. Several strokes, and he touched a place in me that made my entire body go lax, and I made a deep noise way down in my chest I hadn’t known I was capable of making.

  I don’t know how long his finger moved over the spot before my world went wonky. Maybe a minute, maybe five minutes. Time ceased to exist as he kissed me again while his finger stroked me from the inside until finally I was making all kinds of high and low-pitched noises because so much sensation was happening in my entire body, I couldn’t contain all the feelings. I know some people have described it as fireworks, and I can understand why, but it wasn’t fireworks for me. It was more like an atomic bomb, or a meteor landing in the ocean and moving the Earth, or something messing with the space-time continuum. It was so much bigger than fireworks, and when it was over and I tried to catch my breath, Zeke held my gaze as he lifted his finger to his lips and put it inside as if my taste was the best thing he’d ever had in his mouth.

  When I could finally speak again, I told him, “You look terribly cocky, but I can’t fault you for it. I had no idea it’d be like that.”

  I’d seen people orgasming on the porn I’d watched, but my new theory was that they’d had a pretend orgasm because I’m pretty sure they didn’t experience anything close to what I’d just felt.

  He kissed my forehead again but didn’t say anything, and I asked, “Aren’t I supposed to do something for you, now?”

  “We aren’t keeping score, and it’ll be normal for me to give you lots of orgasms to my one or two times. If you want to see me, or touch me, I don’t have a problem with it, but only when you’re ready.”

  “Will you help me?” I took a breath and admitted, “I’ve watched some porn online. I think I know a little about what to do, but I’ve never seen one in real life.”

  “Have you ever played with yourself?”

  My face flamed hot and he gave me a gentle smile. “I masturbated all the time as a teen. There’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

  “I could never get myself… it didn’t work. I found all my parts, and, and…” I took a breath, closed my eyes in embarrassment, but then determined I’d answer his question even if I died of embarrassment. “I touched… everything, but it never made me… my hips never wanted to move like they did when you touched me.”

  The cocky smile was back, and I rolled my eyes but asked, “Will you show me what you like?”

  He stood beside the bed and pulled his boxers down, and I inhaled as I saw how big he was. No way was that going to fit. He’d used a single finger in me and it’d felt big.

  “Please don’t be afraid of me, Destiny. I’ll make it good for you, but that’s later. Right now you’re just going to explore me.” He crawled back into bed, on top of the sheets and blanket with his penis touching the angles and planes of his abdominal muscles.

  He put my hand on his thigh and slid it up until it was beside his beautiful — but much too large — penis.

  “Be gentle with the balls and the head, but you can touch him anywhere you want.”

  I hesitantly lifted my hand and poked it near the base, and he chuckled. “It won’t bite you, Destiny. Here.” He wrapped his hand around mine, and put our hands over the top of his penis and curled my fingers around it. “Think about simulating the sex act. So, we’ll hold it like this, and then move our hands up and down.”

  He let go of my hand and reached into his nightstand drawer.

  “Why do you have coconut oil in here?” I asked when I saw the jar.

  “It works better if my cock is slick.”

  My face flamed hot again and he said, “Cock. It’s a cock. You have a pussy and a clit. When you’re ready to take your shirt off, your nipples are gonna be in my mouth — but no pressure. I can wait ’til you’re ready.”

  My entire body felt as if it were blushing when he finished talking, and he chuckled again. “I adore you, Teeny. Let’s get my cock and your hand slick.”

  * * *

  Zeke

  It took every bit of willpower, in every cell of my body, to lie still while Destiny wrapped her tiny little hands around my cock and explored every inch of it.

  I wasn’t going to bring up a blow job, but she kissed the tip and put the head in her mouth, and my cock went impossibly hard. I froze, lest I freak her out by pressing into her mouth. She gave a few more licks before exploring me with her hands again, which was probably for the best. It would’ve killed me to lie still if she’d decided to explore me with her tongue.

  God, but I wanted to be inside her. I had to wait, though. Had to take it slowly. I knew Nathan wanted me to make it happen today or tomorrow, and I would if she was ready, but if she wasn’t then we’d just have to figure out how to keep her safe until… fuck. It really needed to happen this weekend. Aaron had sent someone earlier in the week to ward my house, so no one could open a portal to Hell, but no way could
we ward every place on campus she’d be.

  But I would not rush this. If she was ready this weekend, great. If she wasn’t, we’d have to find a plan B.

  I let her play until I sensed she wasn’t sure what else to do and was no longer as into it as she’d been, and I gently sat up. “As great as your hands feel on me, and the few seconds you had your lips on me were heavenly, but I’m not sure I can stay still much longer. If you want to watch me beat myself off, you can sit or stand beside me. If not, I can jump in the shower and take care of it.”

  I sensed her uncertainty, so I kissed her forehead and told her, “I’ll jump in the shower in the hall bathroom, and you can get ready in here. I’ll make eggs, steak, and bacon for breakfast. I have some canned biscuits we can bake, too.” I wanted her to remain easily accessible, but it was a gamble to ask for it. I looked at her a few seconds before making up my mind. “I’ll leave you another shirt to wear. Would you do me a favor, and wear it with no underwear? I’ll throw on some loose shorts, with no shirt and no underwear. We’ll both be covered, but… baby steps?”

  I relaxed as the spicy-sweet scent of her arousal hit my senses, and smiled as she nodded and said, “Yeah, but it needs to be as long as this one.”

  8

  Destiny

  “I told you I tried drinking and didn’t like it.”

  “This isn’t party drinking. It’s a glass of wine with dinner. Have I led you wrong yet?”

  He hadn’t, and I shook my head but crossed my arms.

  “You’re so cute you’re adorable, and you don’t have to drink it if you don’t want to, but I’m going to pour you a half a glass with dinner.”

  He’d marinated buffalo steaks that morning, and they’d soaked all day. This evening, he’d made country-fried pork chops and gravy while I worked on the mashed potatoes and made a broccoli casserole with tons of cheese. Now, he was turning the steaks on the grill, and I was wondering why we needed both buffalo and pig but figured it might be a lion thing, so I hadn’t asked.