by Kate Rudolph
He took the bite, chewing with relish and smiling once he swallowed. “Do you want to wait a moment to see if I drop dead?”
She let her arm drop and considered it. “That would be the tactically wise position. I’m usually—” she cut herself off.
“Usually what?” Derek had noticed her do that sometimes, begin a thought only to interrupt herself.
But instead of responding, Sandra took a bite of her food. At first, she just smiled politely, probably uncomfortable at how closely he was watching her. But Derek couldn’t stop himself. Every time she was in the room, his eyes were irresistibly drawn to her.
And then a change came over her. She closed her eyes and her face relaxed, an expression between complete pleasure and contentment radiating out. Who the hell cared if she liked the food? Derek’s new goal in life was to have her look at him like that while his cock was deep inside of her.
“That’s it,” she said after taking her time tasting the food. “I need a proper kitchen, if only so you can show me how to make something that delicious.”
“I... um... thank you.” Derek wanted to slap himself. He’d been so focused on watching to see if she liked the food that he didn’t have a response ready for if she actually did.
“Don’t get bashful on me now. This is the best meal I’ve had in a month, and that’s not just the shock talking.” For a woman whose home had just been invaded, she seemed to be taking it well. If that had happened to his sister, she’d be out in the forest ready to tear the intruder apart. His brother would retreat and refuse to speak to anyone for a month while he recovered.
Derek didn’t know what he would do if it happened to him. But his only thought at the time was to help Sandra. He’d already put a call out to Morse, putting him on high alert. If he and Sandra didn’t have information soon, Morse would come through.
“If you’d like, I’ll go back with you tomorrow. In case anything is wrong.” He hoped that they’d seen the last of the troublemakers, but there was no guarantee.
Sandra smiled, but shook her head. “I’ll keep you on speed dial, but if I don’t pull the Band-Aid off now I'll just have to later.”
It was sensible. But Derek wasn’t ready to pull off his own Band-Aid. If Sandra wouldn’t take his help, he’d simply supervise in his other skin. He huffed in agreement, lest she think he would argue.
Sandra ate as if she were afraid the meal would disappear from in front of her. It seemed like she took four bites for every one of his. He was trying to be polite and eat slowly, while she was shoveling in food like she was a shapeshifter. His kind were not known to dwell on meals.
Her haste and his concentration made for a quiet, if quick, meal. Barely ten minutes after they sat down they were both done. After watching her, Derek gave up taking his time.
With only a small piece of broccoli left on her plate, Sandra sat back with a satisfied smile and laced her fingers over her stomach. He tried not to stare at her breasts. It wasn’t as difficult as he expected. Her face was captivating. Dark eyelashes were thick over her long brown eyes. Those eyes held depth, held secrets that he wanted to discover. She had a body that made him hard, her breasts large and inviting and her hips almost made for him to wrap his hands around. He wanted to reach out and touch her, to pull her close and help her forget her troubles.
But he didn’t just want to be a balm for her wounds. He wanted to give her pleasure until she was addicted to him, wanted to feel her soft lips wrapped around his cock. He wanted to fall asleep next to her and wake up beside her every morning for as long as he could imagine.
The severity of the emotion washed over him in a tidal wave, sweeping him out to sea. He barely knew her, but in this moment he knew that he couldn’t live without her.
Without thought, he could feel the mating instinct rise from hibernation. He hadn’t meant to wake it, hadn’t even thought about it. But mating wasn’t something that a shifter could control. It wasn’t quite fate, but it wasn’t choice either. Instinct propelled two souls together, joining them for eternity... if they accepted the bond. It wasn’t an action taken lightly. And not everyone who found their mate chose to claim them.
His parents weren’t mates, but his aunt had found her own mate decades ago. They’d gone their separate ways before they could be bound together irrevocably.
And now the bear inside of him was thinking that Sandra could be the woman for him. It was crazy. They’d just met, she had no idea that the supernatural existed. But he had heard stories of people mating at first sight, bound together before they could even be introduced. At least he’d already known her for a few days.
“Are you okay?” Sandra asked, knocking him out of his reverie. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“No ghosts.” He could fight this urge right now, force his bear back to sleep. But Sandra was grinning, and he knew if she could smile after the day that she’d had, she was a hell of a woman.
Let the urge come.
“I think I’m going to turn in for the night.” She stacked her silverware on top of her plate and moved to pick it up.
Derek help up a hand, “You’re my guest, I’ll do clean up.” But not just yet. Without encouragement, he walked her up the stairs to her room. It was still pretty early, but he could understand wanting to sleep. “I’m just down the hall if you need anything. And just yell at me if the TV’s too loud.”
She was standing in the doorway, her hair half-falling onto her face. The grin was gone and there was something serious, something contemplative in her eyes. “It shouldn’t feel...”
Hell, that was all the encouragement he needed.
Derek leaned forward, cradling her head in his palm. Her dark hair was a silken glove around his fingers. He kissed her gently, nipping at her bottom lip, running his tongue along it, stealing her taste. Hunger was a beast in his soul. He craved her more than a starving man craved meat. The world could be ending around them and all he would want was another moment of her soft curves in his arms.
She was in his home, she’d eaten his food, and now she was right in front of him. Derek wanted to sweep her up and carry her just a few doors down the hall to his room. He wanted to take her hard and fast, then gently, taking his time. If she gave him the word, he’d hold onto her so tightly that she’d feel the loss if he let go.
But the intensity of that emotion was enough for him to know that he had to pull back. Because once they started this dance, there was only one way to finish it.
He hugged her and placed a kiss on her forehead. “Rest up.” His heart was pounding so hard that he could hear the blood rushing in his ears. He was sure she could feel it.
Derek wanted her so badly, but he wouldn’t take her to mate until he was certain that she wanted it as much as he did. Because that kiss had been enough to decide him. And if she accepted him once she knew the truth, he’d keep her forever.
CHAPTER NINE
Sandra was trying not to dwell on the fact that her best night’s sleep in the last month came in another person’s house just after she’d been robbed. She’d been on her own for nearly ten years, she could - theoretically - kill a man with her bare hands. She was freaking psychic! And yet the idea that there was a very, very attractive man who was ready to leap to protect her at a moment’s notice only a few feet away let her relax for the first time in a week.
The stress, the weirdness with her powers, Canary’s phone call, it was all getting to her. And Derek was just so wonderful that she could push all that to the side when she was with him.
She was going to fall in love with him.
Sandra wasn’t deciding to do so. She could read thoughts and emotions, but it didn’t mean that she had magical control of her own. Even so, she could already feel it happening. When she thought of him, her heart sped up and she felt happily light. She wasn’t worried about his thoughts betraying her. And she trusted him. Instinctively.
But she’d snuck out of his house like a thief in the early hours of
morning. She knew if he insisted on driving her back home, she’d give in. So it was a quick, quiet ride back to her trashed home. Just because she’d rejected his protection, didn’t mean she was dumb. She knew he’d try to convince her to call the police if he saw her.
Sandra cast out her power, trying to sense if anyone were watching and waiting. But it was quiet. A natural quiet, like she’d expect of a personless forest.
She was thankful for the shower at Derek’s place. The thought of cramming into the two-square-foot closet in her house was too much to deal with at the moment. Sandra unlocked the door to the tiny-house and took a look around. The place was still a mess. Her clothes were piled on the floor along with several dishes. If she’d had more than a dozen books, she was sure that they, too, would have been part of the pile.
She’d only been cleaning for a few moments when a whisper of a thought snapped her into action. Sandra hit the floor and crawled to the small safe underneath the kitchen table. Her gun was locked up there, and the thieves hadn’t taken it. Electricity arced between her fingers and the metal safe, shocking her.
Sandra placed her thumb over the scanner and punched in the code, but she only entered three of the four required digits when a voice behind her said, “Turn around very slowly and keep your hands up.”
There was a hint of Oklahoma in Ruth’s voice. Sandra raised up her hands and turned while she stood.
Ruth Gonzalez should have been taller. At 5’3”, she was nearly average, but her reputation made her out to be seven feet tall. She wore her dark hair in a tight braid, and black tactical gear covered her light brown skin. She had the face of a hard-ass and a wicked scar on her cheek to prove it. She’d been a legend even when Sandra joined the Sector.
So what had caused her to go rogue?
“How’d you sneak up on me?” Sandra noted that Ruth had a gun trained on her. It was almost a compliment.
Her brown eyes lit momentarily with lightening. It was a disturbing effect, but Sandra knew that trick was just for show. “Gave my brain a good fry,” Ruth explained. “Had to jumble up my thoughts enough so you couldn’t sense them.”
Jesus, she’d basically tasered herself to avoid detection. And the gun in her hand didn’t even wobble. If Ruth was here to kill her, then Sandra was already dead.
“I’m not here to kill you,” she said.
“I thought I was the psychic.” Stupid! Sandra knew not to taunt the Terminator with lightning powers and a gun, but she let off the remark without thinking.
Thankfully, Ruth just smiled and holstered her weapon. Sandra wasn’t naive enough to think that it meant she was safe. Hell, it probably meant that Ruth was able to zap her. “I’m here to talk.”
Knowing that it was probably okay, Sandra lowered her arms and crossed them over her chest. “I have a phone.”
Ruth rolled her eyes and scoffed. Electricity was live in the air, but Ruth did that unconsciously. “I wanted to talk in private.”
She had a point there. There was no way to guarantee that a phone call would be safe. “Why did you run?” It made no sense. If anyone was dedicated to the cause, it was Ruth.
Ruth swatted some of the debris from the break-in off of the kitchen chair and took a seat. “At least you’re up to speed. Shapiro told you?”
“What she could.” No one called Canary by her real name except for Ruth, not unless they were on a mission. But even Ruth had relented and now refrained from using Canary’s actual first name.
“So you know exactly how bad this is.”
Sandra had no clue. What she did know was that Ruth had abandoned her people after stealing from them. She couldn’t be trusted, and Sandra wasn’t safe with her. But if she tried to run, she’d be toast.
Literally.
So Sandra did what she needed to do. She stalled. “I know it would take something big for you to abandon the Sector.”
It was exactly the wrong thing to say. Ruth threw her hands up and clenched her jaw. Electricity crackled in the air and Sandra could feel her hair frizzing. “They abandoned us!”
That was new, and not the story that Canary had given her. “Things get tricky sometimes.”
“Look what they did to you.” Ruth leveled a heavy gaze at her. “Their fuck-up gets you hurt and then they dump you? Yeah, they’ve got our backs. I’ve given them everything. And after this...”
Sandra had never heard Ruth say so many words at once. She owned her reputation as the strong, silent type. But she had a point, and it struck a nerve. And if Ruth had tried to make that point without a gun, maybe Sandra could have believed her. But she’d spent enough years in the business to know how to stick to her own truths.
Ruth was the fiercest member of the Sector, she was a freaking legend. But right now she was tired and on edge. It made opposing her incredibly dangerous, but now was possibly the only time she could win.
Sandra opened her mind. She’d only been picking up Ruth’s surface thoughts, but now the full brunt of her conviction seeped into Sandra’s mind. That belief influenced her, made her want to go along with whatever Ruth was planning, but Sandra had long ago conditioned herself out of buying into passive conviction.
The women who worked for the Sector thought that Sandra’s power was completely passive. They thought that she could only receive thoughts. And that was something that she and her handler had decided was for the best. But after she’d begun to train her powers, another facet had made itself apparent: with a lot of work, and more energy than it took to run a marathon, she could influence people.
The mental toll wasn't the only reason that Sandra didn't tell anyone about the secondary ability. Frankly put, it made her feel icky. She couldn't help but hear people's thoughts. Sometimes it felt no worse than eavesdropping on a conversation taking place next to her. But if she actually forced someone to do something, that was a definite violation of boundaries.
But if it were her morals or her life, she'd choose to live. At least when it came to this.
Need her to believe me.
I'm doing the right thing.
Two unknown assailants, mission unclear.
Ruth's thoughts were clearer, more organized than many people's. Compartmentalization, order, these were the things that she clearly cared about. Sandra just needed one thought that she could build on, then Ruth would be at her mercy. It was possible to attack someone with a brand new thought, but much like in martial arts, it was always better to use an opponent's momentum against them.
It took more digging. Ruth had to be purposely projecting thoughts that she wanted Sandra to hear. Sandra didn't blame her. Half the Sector did that.
What she found, finally, wasn't so much a thought as it was an image of a cot tucked into the corner of a small, dark room. It wasn't Sandra's ideal, but there wasn't any negative baggage around it. Maybe it was Ruth's room, maybe it was a place she'd once had a really good nap. No matter what, Sandra could use it.
She tugged at the thought, all the while studying Ruth, looking for signs of drowsiness. Time seemed to stretch. She was doing this in a matter of seconds, but it felt like an hour of silence between them.
And then Ruth blinked.
At first Sandra didn't believe it, but another blink followed only a second later.
Sandra doubled down on the projection, picturing Ruth wrapped in her blankets, snoozing quietly and soundly. She felt her own energy flagging as she poured herself into the work. But Ruth's eyes were drooping and she rested her head on her hand, too tired to stand up of her own power.
"What'd you..." she couldn't even slur out the whole word before she collapsed onto the table, sound asleep.
Sandra had no idea how long it would last. It was just regular sleep, and she would have bet a thousand dollars that Ruth woke with every sound. Sandra's own limbs felt like they weighed a hundred pounds each, but she had to get out. Ruth couldn't stop her if she was out of sight. She wouldn't waste her power on attacking her blindly.
Her car key
s normally hung on a hook next to the door, but they weren't there right now. She looked Ruth over and saw a bulge in her pocket. Of course she'd grabbed the keys. Sandra was a fool to have left them out. And she couldn't risk reaching for them. That would wake Ruth back up.
With the stealth of a teenager sneaking out to meet her boyfriend after curfew, Sandra tiptoed passed Ruth. Once she was sure that Ruth wouldn't be able to hear, she took off running toward the river. Obviously, water was no impediment to Ruth's powers, but that day that not so long ago, she'd somehow ended up at Derek's house by following the river.
There was a path, but she somehow missed it and was left stumbling through the dense forest. A log tripped her up, twisting her ankle. But Sandra couldn't let that stop her. Despite the pain, she kept going, slowing only enough to give her time to choose her steps wisely. When she heard the river rushing ahead of her she let out a huge sigh of relief. Or she would have, had she not been panting in near-exhaustion. She needed to get to Derek's soon, otherwise she was going to faint in these woods.
Again.
She headed west, knowing Derek lived that way. She'd find his cave if she had to crawl. But the forest was unfamiliar, and even in the daylight it was hard to see.
Why hadn't she grabbed her phone? She didn't want to drag Derek into this, but he was her only connection here, the only person who could...
Who could do what, exactly?
He wasn't psychic. He didn't know about the world that she lived in. He wasn't even a cop or a soldier. He was a freaking handy man. But he was her handy man, god damn it, and she knew he'd do whatever he could to help. She'd just need to break the first rule they'd drilled into her at the Sector. She'd need to tell him the truth.
The forest was silent around her except for the sound of the river. That wasn't right. There should have been birds, squirrels, something. Sandra needed a moment. She sat on a fallen log, taking the time to breathe. It couldn't be far to Derek's.
