by Piper Fox
Although, with Ry, there’s very rarely a filter anyway.
“This is so awesome.” She runs her fingers through my fur, petting me like it’s the most natural thing in the world.
I suppose it could be, except that I make even the biggest of dogs look small in comparison. Her reaction is encouraging since she hasn’t gone screaming from the room or screwed her face up in disgust.
When her hand loses some of its enthusiasm, I step back and move back to where I shifted before, hoping she’ll get the hint. But not really minding as much if she doesn’t. Maybe if she sees what she’s been missing out on, she won’t think about jumping right back into bed with Gage.
My wolf whimpers a little, trying to pull us back toward Ryanne, to be closer to her, to be touched more by her.
Soon. Now that she knows, you can come out more, spend time with her. It’s the only promise I can make.
Assuming Ryanne wants anything to do with me once I shift back.
With a deep breath, I let my body realign itself again, until I’m crouched, naked, in my living room.
“That was…wow.” She stares at me, her whiskey-colored eyes wide.
“I’m going to get dressed.” I turn away from her, pulling the sweats up as quickly as I can.
It doesn’t help that my wolf was practically fixated on the idea of rubbing my scent all over her. Damned possessive beast doesn’t like that she smells like Gage.
Not that I do either.
Discreetly, I snag a throw pillow from the armchair and hold it in front of me as I head back to the couch.
“You going to ghost me now?” I smile softly at her. “Now that you know…all of me?”
“Are you kidding? Do you know how badass this is?” She grins. “I can’t believe it took you this long to show me.”
I settle next to her on the couch again, and Ryanne leans into me once more. My wolf is more than happy to let her snuggle with us.
Me and my cock? We’re not so sure.
Eventually, Ryanne insists we need to order food and put on a movie, or she’s just going to go curl up in my bed, with or without me.
And as much as I like the idea of her in my bed again, I don’t think it’s such a good idea, not with the reaction that shifting in front of her brought out. I still have to keep the pillow in my lap, just to hide the affect she’s having on me.
“Order whatever you want, I’ll pick a movie.”
“Seriously? You’re going to entrust me to choose what food you put in your temple?” Her eyes grow wide as she stares at me. “Who are you, and what have you done with my best friend?”
“If you’re going to act like this about it, I take it back.” I grab my phone and pull up a food delivery app. “I’ve been craving a burger all day. But if you’re going to be weird about it, I can wait until you leave.”
“No way. I am so sticking around to watch you eat a burger.” She snatches my phone out of my hand before I even have the chance to choose a restaurant, and she tosses me the remote. “You can review my choices, but I’m not going to be very accommodating to changes, so you’re probably just going to have to eat what I put in front of you.”
With a laugh, I turn on the TV and start scrolling through the movie options, looking for something that neither of us have seen. It’s easier when it comes to Ryanne, since she spends so much time away from her apartment. I don’t know that she even turns her TV on, unless I’m with her.
For me, it’s more about deciding what kind of movie is going to be easiest on my throbbing head. By the time I pick a slasher flick, Ryanne’s grinning like she just got a major payday on a fluke.
“What did you do?” I look at her sideways, nervous about what shenanigans she’s up to.
“I ordered. You looked fixated on the movie choices, so I just made executive decisions.” She smirks. “I think you’ll be pleased.”
“If I’m not, I’ll just pick things off until I’m happy.” I laugh and reach over, pulling her in close. “You good with horror?”
“Just as long as it stays on the screen. I’ve had enough of real-world horrors today.”
Wrapping my arms around her, I breathe her in as the movie starts, trying to focus on the girls running across the screen, rather than thinking about how Ryanne was attacked, thrown into the supernatural world, and I wasn’t there to protect her.
Instead, she had Gage.
There’s no way I’m going to be able to think about anything other than the fact that Ryanne and Gage were together. That he was there to watch her back when I couldn’t be.
Food shows up, and I laugh at the fact that she actually got food that I would eat—a mushroom swiss burger with a side salad instead of fries.
“See, I know you, Tyler.” She grins as she bites into her bacon cheeseburger and the barbecue sauce drips down her chin.
I grab a napkin and wipe it clean. “I never thought you didn’t. But I don’t always trust you to use that knowledge for good. Sometimes, if I’m Clark Kent, you’re my Lex Luthor.”
She laughs. “You’re such a nerd, Tyler.”
Shrugging, I pull my burger out and take a bite. “You’ve never complained about my nerd tendencies before. Don’t start now.”
With or Without You
RYANNE
By the time we’ve burned through a couple movies and Tyler stole more of my fries than I really wanted to part with, all I want to do is crawl back into Tyler’s bed and cuddle with him until we have to go to work in the morning.
He’s not looking that much more lively, either.
“Can I ask you a question?” I bite my lip, nervous about saying it.
“Of course.” His fingers slide up and down my spine.
I look up at him. “Do you know when someone else is supernatural? Like, can you just look at them and know?”
“It depends. Shifters usually smell like their animals. Other creatures give off certain vibes, or scents. But not all creatures do.” He shrugs. “Why?”
“You’re my closest friend. Practically family. Do I…give off a vibe? A scent?” I feel like an ass just for asking. “Any at all?”
“Are you asking if you’re supernatural?” His brow furrows. “Why would you think that?”
I fiddle with the front of my shirt, considering showing him the wound. Or the lack there of. “I didn’t get out of the battle in the office unscathed. But by the time I got home, got cleaned up, it was gone. I don’t know what to make of it. Gage thinks I must be something supernatural, but since I don’t know who my parents are, and I don’t know what I’d be…” I sigh. “I guess I was kind of hoping that you, my best friend, would have some idea.”
Tyler shakes his head, but his expression is full of concern. “I’m sorry, Ry. I mean, I’m not the expert here. I didn’t even know what I was, until I was turning. If Gage thinks you’re something, he’d be the one to know. Not that I love the idea of you spending all your time with that guy.”
I frown. “You don’t trust Gage?”
He scowls, and I swear, I can hear the wolf growling too. “He’s an enforcer. He knows just about everything there is about the supernatural world, even if he’s smug about it. But that doesn’t mean I have to like the guy. Especially, since I’ve spent all day smelling him all over you.”
I stiffen for a moment. Smells him on me? That’s unnerving. And embarrassing, oh god. I laugh it off or at least try. “That’s really gross.”
“That you had sex with the guy?”
I narrow my eyes at him. “You sound jealous.”
He snorts. “I’m protective. You’re not the only one of us who considers us family, Ry. You think he’s going to stick around town? Whatever reasons brought him here, he’s going to blow right back out again as soon as someone else pulls his attention.” He sighs. “For all I know, he’s on Eranear Mathis’s trail.”
“Wait. You haven’t wanted me on him since his name came across the wire. What do you know about Eranear?” I sit up, stari
ng at him. “Is he supernatural?”
Tyler looks down, sheepish. “An incubus. I could tell something was off about him when we first saw him in Molly’s Place, but Gage confirmed it.” He looks up again. “Ry, you don’t want to get involved with an S.E.A. operation. And you don’t want to get close to an incubus. He seduces women, men, uses them until they physically can’t keep up with him anymore, and then he abandons them. I don’t want to see you like that.”
“Why do you think I’d be susceptible? You don’t think I have the willpower to resist an attractive man?” I shake my head.
Maybe considering staying over tonight is a bad idea.
Tyler reaches out and takes my hand. “I’m not saying that you would fall to his thrall, but I really don’t want to find out. Hell, I don’t want to find out if I have the willpower to stay out of his thrall. I don’t care about how much the bounty is on his head. I don’t want you going anywhere near Eranear. I don’t want you to spend time with Gage.” He sighs. “I don’t like that you’re wrapped up in my world now. I don’t like that you were attacked, and I wasn’t there to protect you.”
“You’re not my Superman, Tyler. I don’t need you swooping in with a billowing cape. I needed to know. Hell, I can do my job better now, because I’ve got the information I need to be safe. I can be prepared for the possibility of one of my skips shifting into a wild animal.” I frown. “How are claws and teeth any worse than knives and bullets, Tyler?”
He shakes his head and gets up, pacing across the apartment. “You don’t always have to be the hero either, Ry. You can just let one skip go. He’s not your enemy.”
“Don’t you get it, Tyler? If a man like that exists out there, I can help stop him. Before he hurts someone who can’t. I don’t miss. I won’t here either.”
He sighs and turns to look at me. “You can’t be the champion of everyone weaker than you, Ry. It’s what got you bounced from one foster home to another, again and again.”
“Oh, don’t act like you weren’t right there with me, Tyler.” I get up and reach for him. “You used to want to fight the good fight with me. You used to want to stand up for the little guy. If what you’re saying about Eranear is true, it’s more than just about what came in on the all-hands call. It’s about stopping this monster from preying on more women. Men. Both, at the same time. If I can get close enough, if I can get him in cuffs, then we can lock him up. We can stop him.”
“There’s no stopping someone like that, Ry. Not for people like us.”
I shake my head. “I refuse to believe that.” I grab my purse and head for the door. “If you don’t want to research this guy, if you don’t want to help me, I’ll do it on my own. But if you come into the office tomorrow, you better be fucking prepared to find a way to take down an incubus and get him put away where he belongs.”
Tyler grabs me before I can get out the door, pressing me against the hard surface, caging me in with his arms. The air wooshes out of me in surprise.
For a second, I think he’s going to kiss me. His mouth is hovering just above mine. His eyes flicker to my mouth, like maybe he’s thinking about kissing me. Was he jealous earlier? Air seems a lot harder to come by suddenly and Tyler’s heat envelops me. I’m afraid to touch him, push him back, because I’m not sure that’s what I would do.
Completely immobile, I stare at him. Do I want him to kiss me? Fuck, he’s my best friend. He shouldn’t look this hot, smoldering at me.
“Stay. I’m sorry.” His chest rises and falls a couple times with deep breaths before he says, “No, fuck that. I’m not sorry. I’m not going to stand here and apologize for wanting to see you safe. For wanting you to think about yourself, your own wellbeing before you consider the rest of the world. The world’s problems aren’t yours to solve, Ry. Especially not when they come with the almost certain fact that you’ll end up under an incubus’s thrall and be used. Broken. By a man who has no capacity for love. No capacity for compassion. Just need. He takes what he needs, and he doesn’t care who he hurts in the process.”
“How’s that any different than the foster dad who raped me, Tyler? You don’t think he used me? Broke me? Left me with no intention of caring whether I got back up again?” I look away from him, unable to meet his eyes. “It took me a while, but I got his ass locked up. I’ll do the same thing to this guy. And any others who come across my desk. I wanted to hunt him down when I saw the dollar amount attached to his name. Now, I need to. I need to take him down. I need to see him behind bars. I need to know he won’t hurt anyone else.”
Tears drop from the corners of my eyes, a product of the rage and hatred that burns in my belly for men like Eranear.
Tyler’s smoldering eyes soften and his heavy breaths ease. It’s my best friend again, and not the hopped-up, overprotective wolf. “Okay. Stay the night, and tomorrow, we’ll figure out how to trap him. How to get him behind bars, without risking his thrall or you.” He pulls me into his arms, his chin resting on the top of my head as he hugs me close.
Until very recently, Tyler was the only man who could make me feel small when I’m in his arms. Gage does too, but it feels completely different.
Tyler’s strong. He’s my safety net, the one who will always catch me when I fall from the dangerous tightrope I dance.
Gage feels like he’s on the line with me, like my balance depends on his when we’re together.
I let Tyler lead me back to his bedroom, and I fall asleep curled in his arms, like I’m right where I’m meant to be.
I don’t know if there’s room enough in my world for both, but I don’t know if I want to live in a world that small anymore, either.
Hours of research, hours of studying, and we’re no closer to figuring out how to stop Eranear. Hell, most of the websites Tyler’s visited today look more like they belong on some paranormal hunting show, rather than genuine sources.
“What if not everyone falls for his thrall?”
“What?” Tyler looks up, his glasses sliding down his nose. I’m not sure why he’s wearing them, now that I know they’re fake, but it doesn’t change how adorably nerdy he looks when he’s got them on.
“What if I’m immune? Or you are? Why are we wasting time, trying to prove that there’s some magical talisman that will keep us safe, if there’s just as much chance that he won’t affect me at all?” I get up and start pacing my entirely too clean office. “We were in the same bar with him. Others were throwing themselves at his feet, practically ready to strip down and let him fuck them on the pool table. But we weren’t affected.”
“We were also across the room. And I saw you, saw the expression on your face, when you saw him the first time. You’re not immune to him, Ry. If anything, I think you’re attracted. Called to him.”
“Okay, maybe immune is going too far. Resistant.” I shake my head. “I’m not going to lie and say that I didn’t think he was hot, but I didn’t go up to him. I didn’t act out of character. How many other people in that bar do you think can say that?”
Tyler sighs and pulls his glasses off, folding them on top of his keyboard. “I’m not going to agree with you. But I will consider going back to Molly’s Place tonight. Molly’s a witch. She might know something. Or she might have a spell or a talisman to help us counteract his thrall.”
“Molly’s a witch? You holding back anything else I should know?”
He holds up his hands in defense. “I just found out. Witches don’t give themselves away with scent.”
I sigh and grab a spare chair, dragging it over to sit next to him. “You’re really as lost as I am with all this stuff?”
“Almost as lost. I’ve got the actual act of being a shifter mostly down. I still don’t know everything about it though.” Tyler reaches over and squeezes my hand. “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather just go after a nice, predictable, easy to find bail jumper? For me?”
“Please. I could bring two in today, before five o’clock, and still have time to go chat with Molly.”<
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He laughs and leans his head over onto my shoulder. “Someone’s got to do all the dirty work. I’m just the tech guy.”
“And the wolf guy.” I get up and pull on my leather jacket. “Text me if you find out anything that I need to know. Otherwise, I’ll be back with my payday.”
Tyler doesn’t need to know that a couple of the new bail jumpers on the list today always hang out together, and I would be shocked and amazed if they’re not sitting on matching barstools right now, just waiting for me.
Because I’m just that good, I manage to pick up not just two, but three skips before five o’clock.
Or because luck was on my side. One of the two.
Still, when I show back up at the office with my three checks in hand, I can’t help but be a little smug as I rub them in Tyler’s face.
“See, told you I could do it.”
“Yeah, yeah. You’re the best. All other bounty hunters should bow to you and kiss your motorcycle boots.” He rolls his eyes and shuts down his computer. “Are you really sure you want to do this? If Eranear shows up at Molly’s tonight, and we don’t have a way to protect against his thrall…”
“Then I guess we’ll see if the jocks from freshman year were right. Did they say you were a top or a bottom, Tyler?” I grin as I wrap my arm around his waist. “I’m counting on willpower and resistance to be a thing. We’ll get through this. If either of us start to look too moony-eyed, we’ll bail out. I promise.” After a second, I add, “For real, this time.”
He nods. “Okay. Let’s go see what we can do about taking down an incubus.”
Molly’s Place is back to its normal patronage. A few tables are full, but it’s not nearly the crowd of the other night.
And there’s no sign of Eranear either.
Tyler heads to the bar while I secure a pool table, not so much because I want to play, but because it’ll give me a good vantage point to scope out the room all night long.
