Before Dawn

by Olivia Hutchinson

  “What the hell happened?” he asked her once there was some distance between them and the Council House.

  Natalie was looking at her small flesh wound, prodding it with a finger. "I was on the phone with Nikki when Jackson came in. He was fine, I guess." She shrugged. "Just Jackson the Jackass. When Red came in there a few minutes later though…" She grunted.

  “Did you say something to him?”

  She shook her head. "I didn't do that. Jackson did. I may have made a comment about Red needing to leave Hannah alone, but it was Jackson who laughed at him. He told Red that no one wanted his shifter herpes. It kinda escalated from there."

  “How did you end up with a cut on your arm?”

  "Red got pissed and threw the coffee pot at Jackson. Jackson slapped it out of the way but it ended up hitting the wall and breaking, and I caught a piece in the arm. I’m wearing most of that coffee, too." She poked at her arm again. "I can't get this damn glass out now."

  Declan all but slammed on his breaks in the middle of the road. “You still have glass in your arm?”

  "Yeah. Just a tiny piece I think. I can see it."

  “Hang on. We’re almost home. I’ll get it out.”

  Natalie was quiet for a minute before saying, “You didn’t have to beat the shit out of Red for me, you know.”

  “I know.”

  “Are you gonna get in trouble for that?”

  He shrugged. “Maybe, but I doubt it. He drew your blood, accidental or not.”

  “If I were a witch, I’d have already healed, wouldn’t I?”

  Declan frowned. “Not entirely, but you would’ve stopped bleeding by now.”

  Natalie sighed and leaned against the back of the seat. "I knew something wasn't right. That’s why they were asking questions."

  “Yeah.”

  "Declan, maybe we should go home today instead of waiting for tomorrow."

  He didn't like the way her voice was laced with fear when she suggested they leave. At that moment, he would like nothing better than to grab their stuff from the apartment and high-tail it back to the relative safety of Cantor. Only that wasn't an option. Going back now would just bring them more issues. Bigger issues than what they were dealing with now in Boston.

  “We can’t.”

  11

  “What do you mean, we can’t?” The fear Natalie felt before intensified. “I think we can. We just drive. Easy. Vroom-vroom and a few hours later, we’re there.”

  Declan shook his head. “Kaleb called me when I was in my dad’s office. There are slayers in Cantor.”

  Slayers. She shook her head. Slayers. "What the hell are slayers?"

  “They’re humans who know about the Others and hunt our kind.”

  "Jesus Christ, Declan. Just when I thought I had something figured out, there's more, like some twisted gameshow no one told me the rules to. But wait! There's more!" she mocked in her best game show host impression. She flung herself back in the seat, inadvertently whacking her arm on the door. Fresh blood seeped from the wound, and she cursed under her breath.

  “Stop flailing around before you hurt yourself,” he cautioned.

  “I’m not flailing around,” she growled. Growled. Actually growled. She’d been hanging around werewolves for too long. “When can we go home?”

  Declan sighed, opened the window and leaned out to open the gate. He held his thumb to his lips, rolled up his window, and continued down the driveway. “Kaleb and Beth were attacked this morning on my property.”

  She sucked in a breath. Beth had been attacked? “Are they okay?”

  He nodded and parked the SUV in front of the garage. One of the doors was left open, the car gone. “Kaleb called me to let me know there was an issue. I sent an enforcer to check it out and see what he can find. Ben will let me know as soon as it’s clear. Until then, we’re staying here. We can’t go home until I know they’re taken care of.”

  “You’re afraid they’ll come after you?”

  "No, Natalie," Declan said, his voice soft. He leaned back in his seat, his keys in his hand, and stared out to the apartment door. "They'll come after both of us. If they pegged Beth as a witch, they will peg you for one, too."

  Natalie wanted to cry. How had everything fallen apart so fast? In hours really, everything had started to crumble. Buck up, girl, she told herself, you ain’t dead yet. They were the same words of advice that her father used to say to her anytime shit went south.

  “Let’s go take care of that arm,” he said after a moment.

  She nodded in agreement and got out of the SUV before following him upstairs into the apartment. Natalie went straight into the bathroom and sat on the toilet seat, resting her arm on the edge of the sink. Declan flipped on the bright overhead light, washed his hands in the sink, and then looked down at her forearm, his lips pursed in concentration.

  “It’s not that deep,” he said.

  “Told you.”

  There was a slight vibration coming from his hand, and a long claw erupted from one of his fingertips. The sight shocked her for a second, and she reared back involuntarily. She hadn't seen Declan change before, and although she knew he was a werewolf, she hadn't really thought about it much.

  “I’m not going to hurt you,” he said, catching her movement.

  "I know."

  He cocked his head. “Really? You don’t look like you know.” With the pointed tip of his nail, he dug out the piece of glass that was still lodged inside the wound and dropped it into the trashcan next to the sink.

  "I haven't seen your animal before. It's easy for me to forget you're a werewolf."

  He snorted. "Not an animal, Natalie. I'm not a shifter. And I don't know how you can forget what I am for even a moment." He tugged her until her arm was underneath the faucet and turned on the water. She cringed at the stinging sensation, but after a moment, it eased up.

  “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be rude or anything,” she said. “It’s just that I’m so comfortable with you. More comfortable than I ever was around Kaleb or Gabriel or your father or Jackson or anyone else for that matter. You feel like you, not like your…your…”

  “Beast,” he supplied, pressing a clean towel over the cut to staunch the bleeding.

  “Beast. Can I see him?”

  Declan reared back. “You want me to change?”

  She nodded.

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “You want my teeth in your shoulder? Because that’ll be what happens. I don’t have control of that part of myself, I wouldn’t be able to stop it.”

  “You think you’d hurt me?”

  He shook his head. "No, never. Not even in that form. I'd mate you, whether you allowed it or not." His chest rumbled, and he closed his eyes. "Even now…"

  “Even now, what?” she asked when he trailed off.

  Declan met her inquiring gaze. “Even now it’s difficult to keep the beast under control. I can smell your blood and mating you would mean protecting you. You’d heal quickly. You’d be stronger, more able to defend yourself against someone like Red or Jackson or anyone who threatened you.”

  “You make it sound instinctual.”

  “It is.”

  She frowned. Instinct was one thing, but she always assumed mating meant more than just base instinct; but then again, maybe she was wrong. It’s not as if she actually understood any of this stuff. She was flying by the seat of her pants here.

  “What?” he asked when he saw her frown.

  “Nothing.”

  “No, tell me.”

  He never let her get away with that. She didn’t know why she still tried. “I thought mating was more than just instinctual.”

  “How so?”

  She shrugged, and Declan pulled the towel off her cut. With the bleeding stopped, he chucked the soiled terrycloth into the laundry basket. He folded his arms over his chest then, waiting for her to answer. "I thought it was more about feelings."

  “As in Gabriel was i
n love with Lila and that’s why he mated her?”

  She nodded, relieved he shifted the focus from them to someone else. She wasn't quite ready to have the feelings talk with him yet. Apparently, he wasn't either. Declan sighed and squatted down in front of her. "The instinct to protect and mate wouldn't be there if there weren't emotions already involved on some level."

  Natalie hadn't realized she'd been holding her breath until he uttered those words. She nodded, accepting his answer. "I need a shower," she said quickly, changing the subject. It wasn't a lie. She stunk of coffee, and there was blood on her shirt and the thigh of her pants.

  He glanced at her clothes and nodded, standing to his full height. “I’ll be in the living room so you can have some time to yourself.”

  "No, sir," she said, grabbing hold of his wrist to stop him. "I could play the damsel in distress and convince you to join me that way, or you can just accept the fact that you have blood on you as well and I find that to be gross. There's a reason why I chose physical therapy over nursing."

  He chuckled. "Do you want me to clean myself or do you just want to see me naked?"

  “Can’t it be both?” She fluttered her eyelashes at him.

  “It can be both.”

  He pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it into the laundry basket, followed by the rest of his clothes. She was having a hard time looking away from him, and it wasn't until he hooked his finger into the waistband of her jeans and yanked her toward him that she realized she still had her own clothes on.

  "I care about you," he said, his voice soft. Soft blue eyes looked into hers, and she held her breath as her heart fluttered in her chest. She knew what he was trying to say, but the words were unnecessary.

  “Ditto.”

  The corner of his mouth lifted with his grin and in the next second, he was tugging her shirt over her head. She helped get herself out of her clothes this time, shimmying out of her pants and underwear as he unhooked her bra.

  Shoes flying, Declan yanked her into the shower. He turned it on and all but covered her with his body when he hissed. The cold pelted his back and her legs. With a laugh, she held his neck and leaned up to kiss him.

  He groaned into her mouth, melting against her as soon as the water heated up. Or maybe it was her heating him up. She didn't know, nor did she care, not when Declan's erection was poking her belly.

  He shifted his weight, and she bumped against the wall. "Ow," she said, breaking the kiss and rubbing the back of her head.

  “I don’t think this shower is big enough for what you want.” Declan was laughing as he kissed the top of her head. “Are you okay?”

  “Injured pride and all that, but yeah.”

  “Wash, we’ll switch, and then we’ll take this into the bedroom where I can fuck you like I want to.”

  With a grumble, she agreed, and he stepped out. He stood on the other side of the glass, watching her as she made fast work of cleaning herself off. He held a towel out to her when she finished, and they switched places. His shower was just as quick as hers. Get in, get out.

  He snagged her towel before she could hand him a clean one, wiped off most of the water before throwing it to the side and grabbing her. Natalie’s ass was up in the air before she realized what was happening and she was still laughing as he carried her over his shoulder and into the bedroom.

  “Keep laughing, Nat,” he said with a swift smack on her ass and humor in his voice. “See what happens.”

  “Oh no! Whatcha gonna do? Hmm?”

  He tossed her onto the bed and jumped onto the mattress next to her. His weight made her bounce around, and with a laugh from her and a snarl from him, she was pinned beneath him a second later, her arms above her head. "Done laughing now?"

  “Nope.”

  “You’re adorable when you’re like this,” he said, his voice soft and the humor gone, although there was still a smile on his handsome face. “You could make a man forget himself.” Oh, the things he said to her. It made her want to dig her nails into him and never, ever let him go.

  “Forget it all, Declan,” she challenged. “All the crap you’re stuck dealing with all the time. All the reasons why forgetting about it isn’t a good idea. Just push it aside and be with me. Just for a little while.”

  He sucked in a long breath for a second, his eyes searching her face. There were no more words, no more laughing or joking around. It was just him and her, tangled around each other and wanting to be with each other more than she ever thought one person could want to be with someone else.

  His mouth crushed hers and he released her wrists. She held onto him, her hands on his face, needing to grab onto something to keep her head from spinning. When his tongue delved into her mouth, and he wedged his hips between her thighs, she moaned. His erection nudged her sex.

  He forced himself to slow down several times last night. She realized what he was doing each time he did it, but now? Now he pressed on, seemingly unable to help himself. She reveled in it. Basked in the way he lost himself with her.

  If she didn't slow him down, he'd be buried inside her in another few seconds. Natalie broke the kiss and pushed against his chest. Declan drew back, a look of uncertainty on his face. When she nudged him again, he rolled off her, but she followed. Sitting up on the bed next to him, she leaned down and met his mouth. His hands were on her shoulders and sliding down toward her hips. She could sense he was about to pull her on top of him, so she pulled out of his grasp and trailed light kisses over his chest and down, tucking her wet hair behind her ears as she went.

  His dick jutted in the air. When she wrapped her hands around it, he sucked in a harsh breath but didn't stop her, but rather watched her through half-closed lids. He rocked his hips as soon as she slid her mouth over him. Straddling his legs with her hands pressing into his thighs, she kept him as still as she could as she worked her mouth over his thick length.

  She sucked him down as far as she could, her tongue dragging over the head as she pulled back up, and then sank down again. Over and over she worked him until his chest rumbled, his hands tangled in her hair, and he was groaning his satisfaction.

  "Fuck, Nat," he said in one of those sexy little groans. "Stop, or I'm gonna come."

  She moaned against his dick, having no intention of stopping. This was about him. This was about helping him, encouraging him to take a second and just enjoy it. Enjoy being with her. She’d be damned if she allowed him to put her first this time.

  Besides, there was nothing sexier than seeing the man she loved lose control, seeing the expression on his face as she drove him to completion with just her mouth. If anything turned her on, it was the look of ecstasy on his face when his body tensed, and his dick jerked. Hot liquid slid over her tongue.

  She licked him, over and over, until he was clean and utterly spent. "Shit," he breathed, panting, "shit."

  "Keep muttering that word, and I'll begin to think your mouth is dirtier than mine right now." She sat up and smiled down at him, unable to keep the shit-eating grin off her face.

  With a growl, Declan reached up, grabbed her arms and hauled her down until she was sprawled on top of him. “Dirty girl,” he said before he kissed her. Hands ran over her side to her ass. He dragged her further up until her soaked cunt was sitting on top of his now rapidly hardening dick.

  She pulled back, breaking the connection as he gripped her hips. "Already?" She assumed maybe they'd make out for a little while. Perhaps he'd finger her again, but she hadn't expected him to be ready to go again so quickly.

  "I'm a werewolf, Nat. There's no recovery period." One hand relinquished her hip and moved between their bodies. He gripped his cock and lined himself up. With one buck of his hips, he was buried inside of her, and a guttural cry tore from her throat.

  He stretched her in all the right places. Last night she honestly questioned whether or not her body could hold a man of his size, but now that she knew she could and just how good it felt to have him balls deep, she'd ne
ver get tired of it. How could she? He was hers, regardless of whether or not it was made official with a bite.

  Bracing herself on his chest, she rolled her hips as he thrust up into her. It wasn’t long before she was meeting him, thrust for thrust. She barely recognized the sound of her own voice when she cried out, her body tightening and releasing in its own rhythm.

  Natalie stilled over him as her orgasm ripped through her. Catching her breath, she sank down onto him again with a whimper. Slowly, she rocked her hips again, determined to finish him off just as he finished her.

  Declan wasn’t having it. She didn’t know if it was the way she paused, his dick buried deep inside of her, or the way her movements slowed as she tried to recover, but he dragged her down until she was on the bed next to him. In one quick motion, he was on his knees behind her and yanking her ass into the air.

  Her face pressed against the mattress, she cried out as he sank into her again, the pressure intense. He slammed into her until his hips met her ass, over and over again. His balls slapped her clit until she couldn't do anything except lay there and take it, her fingers digging into the mattress.

  She thought coming again was out of the question. Ride him until he finished had been her plan, but Declan fucking her from behind was enough to drive her straight to the edge. "Come on," he urged, his voice nothing but a low grunt. "I'll fuck you like this all night if that's what it takes."

  Even if she could use words at that point, she didn’t have to ask what he meant. His hand tangled in her hair and pulled. He slammed into her once, twice, and then she clamped down on his cock as she came.

  Just when she thought she couldn’t handle anymore, hot jets pulsed deep inside of her. “Ah shit,” he groaned, his hips jerking. He released his hold on her hair and stroked his hand down her spine. He stayed buried inside of her.

  Gasping at the intensity of it all, Natalie stayed in that position until Declan softened and pulled himself from her, spent. He collapsed onto the mattress next to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She was in his arms, her back pressed to his chest and his mouth pressed against her neck before she could stop him. Not that she wanted to.