But now, with a single kiss, she wanted his hands all over her. In every secret place.
In a flash of movement, his hands slid down her back, clenching her bottom as he swept her over to the counter and set her on it.
Her body seemed to have its own agenda, but she didn’t mind one bit as her legs wrapped around his hips. His chiseled abs pressed against her, ringing a soft moan from her as it appeased her. Oh, but it sparked a whole new whirlwind of need inside her. More. She needed more of whatever this was.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Unbelievable. There were no other words to describe the all-consuming nature of this moment. He wouldn’t have believed it if it hadn’t just happened in front of his own eyes. And mouth. And everything. Autumn was the world’s most unexpected seductress. Her lips had taken his with a force he wouldn’t have expected from her.
And it was only getting better. He’d wanted to be gentle, slow and steady wins the race. But his body was having none of that. And, by some miracle, she was giving every bit of it back to him. Her nails clawed down his chest as he pulled her hips towards him, his erection was pressing painfully against the counter’s edge, but he didn’t care right now.
When she moaned into his mouth, a tidal wave of undiluted lust slaked through him. He opened his eyes, and it stoked the fire inside him as he saw her as lost as he was. He dug his fingers into the soft flesh of her thighs as he moved his mouth down her jaw. Her sweet sigh spurring him on. As he licked and lapped at the supple skin of her neck and shoulder, he got the unyielding urge to press his teeth against that perfect alabaster skin. He shook it off. Why would he want to mar such perfection?
And then a sharp streak of agonizing pain lanced through his body, making him pull away.
As another streak of pain licked through him, he backed away from her. She opened her eyes, hooded with lust. Her mouth pink and plump. Her skin glowing at him. She reached out for him and he stepped towards her. But pain cascaded over his skin. He wanted to stop it. To go back to her welcoming embrace. Back to the bliss of her body.
But tonight was the full moon. And there was no stopping it.
***
Autumn hopped down from the counter, reaching for Torin. He looked like he was in excruciating pain. Had she done something wrong? His whole body tensed as he grit his teeth, closing his eyes against the agony. She wanted to stop whatever it was causing him so much pain, but...there was nothing she could do. She was helpless. Just like when her mother had gotten sick. Like when the evil men had stolen her away. Why was she always so goddamn helpless when people she cared about needed her.
Then, she heard it. The first bone cracking. Torin groaned as his shoulder popped out of its socket. The other one followed shortly after.
No, she thought, praying. Please, not him. He can’t be.
But as she watched on in horror, she knew it was true. She backed away, her ass smashing into the counter again. She couldn’t look away, praying each moment that she was imagining it. That she’d blink and Torin would be smiling down at her again.
In what seemed like no time, he stood before her. On four legs, whimpering as he tried to get his balance. His tail cracked into place, causing one last yelp. Then, he lifted his furry head, his ears drawn back to his head as he gazed at her. It was the one thing that wouldn’t change. The eyes always remained the same. And he was no different than the rest, looking up at her with the same multi-colored eyes as always.
She shook her head at him, staring in disbelief. Not Torin. Not sweet, funny Torin. Her eyes darted over his new face. Tawny fur, long snout, wet nose. Not five minutes ago, she’d been kissing that face. The face of a monster.
With little warning, she turned away...and vomited in the sink. A moment later, fur slid under her palm as Torin nuzzled her hand. Jumping away, she snatched her hand away. She shook her head at him.
His head lowered as his ears fell back against his head again. Those hauntingly similar eyes widening.
How could you? she thought, her eyes swimming in tears. How could you be one of them?
He whimpered, looking at the floor. His gaze kept darting back to her though until he took a tentative step towards her.
She hurried back again, holding her hand up to stop him. Don’t even think of coming near me, beast.
Lowering his gaze again, he gave her one last, sad look before turning and running from the room.
She could hear him clawing at the front door until she heard Lauren come and open it for him.
“What was he still doing in here, anyway?” Lauren thought aloud. Then she stepped into the kitchen and saw Autumn standing there shaking, those ugly blotches probably all over her face again. Damn tears. The kind woman’s mouth frowned. “Now I know why he was still in here.”
Autumn blushed through her tears, covering her blotchy face with her hands in shame. The more experienced woman probably knew exactly what Torin was doing in here. With her mouth. And throat. And...Autumn shivered at the memory, her shameful body flushing with heat. How could she still feel this way? Knowing what he was?!
“You seem torn, my dear,” Lauren’s soft voice interrupted her self-hatred.
Autumn nodded, trying to swipe the moisture from her face.
Lauren gave her a gentle smile, stepping over to her and pulling her into her softness.
Something inside her snapped at that moment. Some invisible dam breaking as the tears began anew, flooding onto Lauren’s poor sweater in buckets. Lauren’s arms tightened around her, which made her cry harder. How could this wonderful person be the mother of a monster? And how had she not seen any signs of his inner beast? She had always spotted them from miles away, but Torin had completely fooled her. With his smiling face, and witty words. Had it all been a mask to hide the monster within?
Lauren stood there with her while she cried through her confusion. Petting her hair and cooing at her. It brought all those memories of her mother back to her. Every small moment of content they’d had together in those early years of her life came flooding back.
“I know, dear,” Lauren cooed. “It’s such an adjustment. And I’m sure seeing Torin shift was a bit of a shock.”
Autumn nodded into her shoulder. Shocked was the understatement of the century. She’d vomited for gods’ sakes.
“I’m surprised he ran away from you. He should have wanted to be attached to your hip right now.”
Autumn lifted her head, scrunching her nose and shaking her head. No way. There would be no hip attachment to any fur of any kind. Period.
Lauren’s big, brown eyes widened under her spectacles. “You...rejected him?”
Ummm...duh. Why would anyone want a monster around?
Lauren shook her head, her fingers touching her lips. “Oh, my. But, why, dear? I thought you liked him? Did he do something you didn’t like?”
Autumn tilted her head, confused. There was no way to explain this non-verbally. She glanced around. Well, there weren’t any men around, so maybe it was safe.
“He...he turned into a…” Gods, she couldn’t even say it!
“A wolf?” Lauren asked.
“A monster,” she whispered.
Lauren gasped. “Oh, dear gods, a monster?” She shook her head. “What did he do?”
Autumn gulped. “He touched me.”
Lauren’s eyes turned into saucers, her cheeks turning red as her brows furrowed. “Where did he touch you? If he did something unspeakable, I will tan his furry hide when he gets home, I swear to the gods!”
Taking a breath to steady her voice. “He put his…” Lauren’s lip curled. “snout…” Gag. “On my hand.”
Every ounce of fury melted away from Lauren’s face. “Oh…” she paused, looking at her with confusion. “And, that’s it?”
Autumn shuttered and nodded. Wasn’t that enough?!
“Well, dear. Lycans are very physical creatures. Even more so in wolf form. Without his ability to speak, Torin can really only communicate his emotions thro
ugh touch.” Sadness overwhelmed her face as she continued. “Although, I understand if that is a problem for you. Try to understand that it is part of his nature to crave physical touch. From you in particular.”
Autumn’s stomach churned. Yes, she knew all about the lycan’s...cravings. Jaxon and the others had come to her with them often during full moons. Gods, she was about to vomit again.
“Just stay in Torin’s room and you’ll be just fine. I’ll even join you once I find Kayline. The difficult child,” Lauren muttered as she gave Autumn’s hand a little pat and headed for the door.
Climbing the stairs back toward the bedroom, she tried to catch her breath. The fact that Torin had literally kissed the breath out of her and then turned into a monster before her very eyes, it was no wonder she was a little rattled.
Relieved to be alone again, she tried to get her stomach to stop churning. And figure out why Lauren hadn’t seemed very phased by the whole “wolf touching” thing.
Back in Torin’s bedroom, she huddled beneath his thick quilt as she stared into the fire. Her mind replaying the last eventful hour. She couldn’t rationalize her behavior before Torin went all wolfy on her. She couldn’t stand being touched by a man. It repulsed her. Always had. But for some incomprehensible reason, she wanted Torin’s touch. Craved it with an intensity that mystified her. But why? What made Torin so...different?
Hours later, a high-pitched scream shattered the silence, driving Autumn from beneath the quilt as she bolted down the stairs towards the front door. It was unmistakably a woman’s scream. A woman who needed help.
Outside, she blinked in the dim light. Only the moon, round and glowing, cast its eerie glow over the village. Lights flickered in a few windows of the houses, but it took Autumn a few seconds for her eyes to adjust. The village was practically deserted. Nothing like during the day when everyone was out and about. Chatting, working, playing. Now, it just seemed so…empty. Only the sounds of howls ringing in the far distance broke the eerie silence.
A second scream tore through the empty air and, this time, she recognized it. Lauren. Dear gods, what could make that woman scream like that? The woman who called men “cowards” and threatened them with war.
It was easy enough to follow the sound. And then she knew exactly what could make the strongest woman she knew scream in complete terror. Staring at the two of them from across a small clearing just outside the village was a large, black wolf. One she knew all too well, regrettably.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
You’re an idiot. Torin’s four legs had carried him out into the woods. He had intended to take a long run far away from the village. And a certain redhead.
You knew from the beginning that it could never work. Torin growled under his breath as his paws pounded over the frozen ground. After what she’s gone through, she could never accept you. But for some pathetic reason, he couldn’t seem to get himself more than few hundred yards from the village edge. He was going in circles. Kind of like this dead-end relationship.
She thinks you’re a monster.
Well, deep down he’d known she wouldn’t like his furrier side. Which was why he’d tried to get her to stay in his room tonight. But, no, the woman couldn’t listen. Not to him, at least. Instead, she had to come moseying downstairs. Staring at him with those irresistible eyes. Kissing him with those equally irresistible lips. It was her own damn fault he’d shifted right in front of her. Because there was no way in Hades he would have been able to pull himself away from her before the shifting pains began.
A woman’s screams tore through the chorus of howls drew his attention from his steamier thoughts. His keen ears picked up the pounding of human feet moving over the dead leaves and twigs of the forest. Sniffing the air, his chest constricted. He knew those scents. One he’d been familiar with since infanthood. The other had been permanently seared into his memory as the best smell of all time.
His paws pounded over the ground as he darted around trees and crashed through bushes in his race to reach them in time. Please, gods, let him reach them in time.
“Keep running,” he heard his mother call. “Don’t look back. Just run!”
She appeared suddenly as he dove through another thistle bush, her eyes widening as her mouth opened on a silent scream. Stumbling, she turned to run in another direction, and he spotted his mother not far behind her.
And the large black wolf trotting a few yards behind slowed to a halt as it spotted Torin. Torin raised his hackles and growled a warning. Which was ignored as the black wolf’s dark eyes glinted with amusement.
“Torin, don’t,” his mother called from behind him.
He barked at her. Get out of here!
“He’s twice your size,” she continued. Why did no one ever listen to him?!
Keeping his gaze locked on the threat, he growled. Fuck his size. Sure he was on the smaller size, but size didn’t matter. He’d proven at least that much over the years, taking down others bigger than himself. Not quite as large as this bastard, whoever it was, but no matter. An enemy was an enemy no matter what their size.
“I’m going to find Talon. Stay here,” his mother’s stern voice whispered to Autumn just before he heard her creep away into the woods in the direction of the village.
As he and the other wolf began circling each other, he spotted Autumn hidden in a tree. Smart girl. She’d climbed up to where a wolf couldn’t reach. Not until dawn at least. Because there was no shifting back until the full moon disappeared behind the distant mountains. Which, by the looks of it, wasn’t too far off. He had to get this wild beast taken care of and quick.
Leaping, he aimed for the legs. The wolf raised up on his haunches, bringing his substantial weight down on Torin’s head. Torin rolled from beneath him, clamping down on the meat of its front leg, drawing first blood.
The wolf growled, sinking its teeth into Torin’s shoulder and yanking. Hard. Torin released the leg, bucking the larger wolf off him. The wolf almost got his face, but he jerked out of the way just in time, turning at the last moment to slash his claws into the wolf’s side.
The wolf snarled at him, the amusement gone from its soulless, black eyes. It bounded forward, snapping at him. Torin’s agility saved his ass (literally) a few times. He scratched the wolf’s face up as it snapped at him, but it kept coming. When he tried to snap back at its jugular, it raised up on its haunches again. Torin went to rip the ugly mutt’s throat out, but it slammed a paw into his face, forcing his snout down. And then Torin felt teeth sinking into the back of his neck, claws cutting open his ribs as the wolf went wild, whipping its head like a dog with a chew toy. And Torin was the chew toy.
Torin managed to shake him off, but felt the warm oozing of blood down his backside. Not good. The wild animal went for his hindquarters, and Torin’s injuries slowed him down, making it difficult to dart out of the way. When Torin managed to clamp down on its snout, he put every ounce of strength he had into it.
It yelped, yanking its snout free and leaving a few long, bloody gashes. Its eyes held murder as it crept back towards him. He should run for it. His one advantage was compromised. His speed and agility hindered by the amount of blood oozing from the wound across his shoulder, which screamed in agony with every step, every turn. His eyes darted to the trees where Autumn sat watching with a horror-stricken face.
But he couldn’t do it. He refused to run like a coward, especially in front of her. He had to prove that he could protect her.
Torin let out a howl of pain as the wolf’s jaw clamped down on the same wounded shoulder, hitting a tendon. Torin’s leg gave out under the weight and pain as the crazy mutt had a field day with his shoulder.
Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Autumn slowly climbing down the trunk, her tiny hands picking up a large branch and gripping it tight.
He barked at her, a strangled cry that revealed his weakened state. No, woman! Stay there. Ignoring the excruciating pain, he turned his head and sank his teeth into the wolf
’s side, pulling chunks of fur and skin from its body. Have to keep it distracted. Can’t let it see her.
A loud bark sounded a few yards. away and Torin tried to glimpsesee through the black fur to see where it was coming from. Was it another wolf? Which pack would it hail from? Because if it was another Blackmoon, he was done for.
Through the haze of pain and blackness, he spotted a third wolf crouched down on its front legs, snow white fur and icy blue eyes that glowed in the darkness. It barked at them. And through the air he caught its scent. It was female.
The black wolf must have caught it as well because it released Torin, lifting its head to lock onto the female. She raised up, her gaze firmly on the black wolf for a moment before taking off into the woods. The black wolf took off after her. Torin was all but forgotten as he struggled to stay conscious, limping towards the tree. But he managed to notice that the black wolf had a slight limp in its front leg as it chased after the female. Before he blacked out.
***
Autumn peeled herself from the tree, staring at the spot where Jaxon had disappeared. When he didn’t come back after a few minutes, she registered a faint whimpering. A tawny wolf limped into the little glade. Claw marks littered its backside and its face wore bloody teeth impressions.
Out of habit, Autumn retreated back into the bushes. Until she recognized the animal. His hazel eyes locked onto her just before he lost his strength to stand and crashed to the ground.
Rushing over, she knelt down next to him, cringing at the sight of all the blood-stained snow. No one could lose all that and survive. His eyes fluttered, growing hazy.
Tears slid down her face as she forced herself to comb her fingers through his fur. Torin. He’d saved her from the monster. Again. And now, she would have to watch him die. Because she was a coward who hid in the bushes.
“Please, don’t die,” she croaked, but his eyes closed as his body shook violently. Her own body shook with sobs as she was forced to back away from him. But her tears slowed as she looked on in amazement, watching as he eventually came to lay naked and furless in the snow before her.
Kiss of Fire: A Dystopian Shifter Romance (The Whitemoon Warriors #2) (The Whitemoon Warriors Series) Page 11