“Sucky,” Kendall said.
“That’s what they kept saying,” Raven joked as she gestured to her crotch.
Kendall wrinkled her nose. “Not worth it.”
“What’s not worth it?” Chase asked as he and Ranulf walked into the kitchen.
“A threesome,” Kendall said. “Raven said it was boring.”
“She just hasn’t had the right men,” Chase said as he grabbed two cups from the cupboard and handed one to Ranulf.
Raven rolled her eyes. “Please.”
The two males poured themselves coffee and started to head back to the living room.
“With that attitude, I guess you’ll never know,” Ranulf said as the two left.
“I’m surprised they even have room for a woman with egos that big,” Raven said.
“Yeah.” She tilted her head. “I’m still curious though.”
“I’m not. Please promise me you won’t go there.”
Kendall laughed. “I promise, I won’t. I’ll be spending my next mating heat alone and mateless.”
She heard more voices in the living room.
“Speaking of my next heat, I have to go and talk to Damien and Payton. I’m hoping I can hang out at their place.”
Raven reached over and squeezed her hand. “We won’t always have to do it alone.”
“I know,” she said, but she hoped her friend was right.
Chapter 14
The man comes out of the shadows, and Demi freezes.
“I’m going to kill you, bitch.”
Demi shakes her head. “No. No, you can’t. You’re already dead.”
He sneers and proceeds toward her.
She takes a step back. Or tries to.
Her legs won’t move.
The man grins and lifts a knife. “I’m going to make you suffer. Maybe you’ll think twice about who you kill next time.”
Demi sticks her hands out. “No. Please. I was just defending myself and my friend.”
The man begins laughing and raises the knife over his head.
Demi squeezes her eyes shut and screams.
Hands landed down on her upper arms and shook her. “Demi, wake up.”
Demi blinked her eyes open, sat up, and lifted her arm to protect herself from the figure in front of her.
“Demi. Hey, it’s me.”
She slowly lowered her limb. “Saxon?”
He smiled tentatively at her. “Yeah.”
She looked around, and her body sagged with relief. “I had…I had a bad dream.”
“I could tell.” He let go of her biceps. “Do you want to talk about it?”
She shook her head but then began to tell him anyway, “It was the guy…from the alley. He said he was going to make me suffer for killing him.”
Saxon ran his hand over her hair. “He can’t hurt you any longer.”
She looked down at her hands. “I know. It just felt so real.”
“They always do.”
She looked up. “You have bad dreams, too?”
Saxon smiled. “Yeah.” He nodded toward the bed. “Why don’t you lie back down and try to get more rest? It’s only about seven in the morning, and you still have some healing to do.”
Demi pulled the covers up as she lay back down. “I’ll try.” She looked at the strong male in front of her. It sure helped to know he was there with her, but she’d probably feel better if he—
“Do you want me to lie with you?”
“Do you mind?”
He shook his head. “No. The chair was getting old anyway.” He bent over and began unlacing his boots.
“You’ve been here all night?” she asked, surprised.
“Yep.” He didn’t bother to look up from what he was doing, as if staying by her side all night were normal.
When he was finished, he stood to pull back the covers and slipped underneath them, beside her. She was slightly unsure what to do since they’d only spent one whole night together. In the end, she decided that she was injured, and he had offered to lie with her, so she was going to do what she wanted. And that was to lay her head on his chest.
He was warm and smelled so good that she immediately relaxed against him.
Saxon picked up one of her hands and started playing with it. “So, when you shifted, this was the only thing that changed?”
She opened her eyes and moved her head to the bed, so she could see him. “Yeah. I think so anyway. I mean, I couldn’t see myself either time, and I wasn’t exactly paying attention to my body.”
Saxon looked up into her eyes. “How many times have you partially shifted?”
“Twice.”
“Once was last night, obviously.”
“Yes.”
“And when was the other? What were you doing that you weren’t paying attention?”
She studied his face to see if he was playing a joke on her, but his expression remained serious. “It was when we were behind the club.”
“When behind the club? Was I inside you?”
She swallowed. “Yes.” Her voice came out all breathy.
“Was I making you come?”
“Yes,” she answered again as she began to grow wet between her legs.
Now was not the time to be thinking about sex. She could barely walk to use the bathroom.
He interlaced their fingers, so their palms were touching. “So, you would say that it happens when you’re emotional?”
“I guess so.”
“Do you think you can do it again?”
“I don’t know. Are you offering to make me come or attack me?”
The corner of Saxon’s mouth went up in a half-smile. “Whatever works.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “I can’t tell if you’re joking or not.”
“Have you ever seen another shifter shift?” he asked, leaving her concern unaddressed.
“Just my grandmother.”
“Right. Of course. But never your father?”
“No. He passed away when I was little.”
“What was it like when you saw your grandmother shift?”
Demi shrugged. “I don’t know. At first, I thought it was the coolest thing ever. I was a kid and had never seen anything like it. But, after a while, I began to grow resentful.”
“Why?”
“Because I couldn’t shift. I was jealous of her, and I was mad at my body. It didn’t help that my grandmother pushed me and pushed me.”
“When did she pass?”
“When I was seventeen. But she stopped taking me out to the woods to try to shift years before that. She finally gave up, and I did, too.”
“Hmm,” was all he said.
“Can I see you shift?”
He raised his brow.
“Please?”
Saxon slipped out of the bed and slowly pulled off his clothes. His body was so fluid in its movements, and if she’d just met him, she would think he was trying to turn her on. But it was just how he moved.
Although she was amazed to see his erection when his boxers—his final article of clothing—came off.
“You look surprised,” he said, and she guiltily looked up into his eyes. “I can smell your desire, you know.”
“Oh.” She looked away. She was so used to being around humans; she sometimes forgot that shifters had such a good sense of smell. Even better than hers. “Sorry about that.”
Saxon lifted her chin. “Don’t do that.”
“Don’t do what?”
“Apologize. There’s no need. You don’t need to apologize for who you are or what you’re feeling.”
“Okay.”
Saxon stood back. “Are you ready?”
“Yes.”
Saxon shook out his hair and limbs, and in two blinks of her eyes, he was a cat.
“Oh, wow,” she said as he jumped onto the bed next to her.
He almost looked like a tiger with his striped hair. Except his fur was brown and blond.
He nudged her hand, so she stroked his head a
nd scratched him behind the ears.
It was the coolest thing she’d seen in a long time. She’d never been allowed to touch her grandmother, much less pet her, so Demi had only experienced this sort of thing with house cats. But Saxon was over ten times bigger.
She touched him everywhere she could, and he let her. She caressed him down his whole back and ran her hand over his tail. She picked up his paws to see how big they were in her palms. And she rubbed her face against his to see how soft he was.
“Can you just stay like this? You’d make the best teddy bear ever.”
And, with that, the big cat in front of her became human again.
“I’m not a teddy bear.”
She frowned. “You’re no fun.”
Saxon pulled her sheets over his naked body and put one arm behind his back. “You’re not supposed to be having fun. You’re supposed to be recovering.”
She rolled to her back beside him. “Yeah, I suppose.”
“Turn away from me,” he told her. “Put your injured side up.”
She did as he’d told her and was rewarded with an arm wrapping around her waist.
“I’m here now. You can go back to sleep. No more bad dreams.”
And that was exactly what she did.
Chapter 15
Siya woke slowly from a deep sleep. One of those where you woke up in the same position you’d fallen asleep in. It was the best feeling. Of course, the reason she’d been so tired in the first place wasn’t great, but at least today was a new day.
She rolled over and came face-to-face with a sleeping Ram.
She poked his naked shoulder with her finger.
“What?” he said, keeping his eyes closed.
“Why are you in bed with me?”
“I’m keeping you safe.” His eyes remained closed.
“And you couldn’t do that from the other bed?”
He didn’t answer right away, and she realized he’d fallen back asleep. She poked him again.
“What?” he said a little more testily this time.
“Never mind.” She sat up and looked around.
The clock on the nightstand said it was after ten in the morning. No wonder she felt great. She hadn’t slept that late in a long time. And that meant it was time to get up.
Since she was stuck between the wall and Ram, she threw her leg over him in order to get out of bed.
An eye opened, and he moved to his back.
“Whoa,” she said as she grasped his shoulders before she fell off.
“What are you doing?” Ram asked.
She slid off him and onto the floor. “I’m getting up.”
He grabbed on to her wrist. “But I’m not. I need you to stay here.”
“I’m sure there are others here. Besides, I’m not a vampire. I can’t sleep all day.”
He met her eyes. “You’re my responsibility, Siya.”
She could feel herself getting riled up. She’d grown up in a culture that viewed a woman as belonging to a man, and she’d worked hard to be her own person and independent. “I’m responsible for myself.”
Ram sighed. “I know you are. But you’re not in your world; you’re in our world. Things are different.”
She raised a finger. “Technically, a human was killed, so I think I’m still in my world.”
He rubbed his thumb over her wrist. “You bring up a good point. But I was given an order, and I can’t just ignore that.”
“So, how about we compromise? You see if there is someone else here to protect me, and I’ll promise not to leave.” At least, not alone. If this place didn’t have coffee though, she was going to get some.
Ram smiled. “Compromise. That’s a good idea.”
She was shocked he’d given in so easily. “It is? I mean, of course, it is.”
Ram yanked her closer to him. She stumbled and almost fell on top of him, so she didn’t notice him putting his mouth on the inside of her wrist until he licked her.
Her eyes widened to the point they almost hurt. “What are you doing?”
“Keeping tabs on you,” he said and then bit down.
She sucked in her breath and tensed up, but there was only a slight sting where Ram had bitten her. And, after that, she kind of forgot about any possible pain because she was mesmerized as she watched a vampire drink from her.
She could see his cheeks hollow as he sucked, and she could feel his warm tongue on her wrist. It was way hotter than it should be, and she rubbed her legs together to alleviate the new ache she felt in her body.
After less than a minute, Ram licked her wound clean and let her go.
She picked up her arm and studied it. Only two little puncture holes were there, and they were already closed off. They were no longer bleeding.
“Why’d you drink my blood?” she asked and dropped her hand.
“This way, I can feel if you’re in trouble.”
“Oh.” She’d had no idea.
“And, Siya?”
“Yeah?”
He slipped a hand between her legs by her knee and slowly raised it up, higher and higher. When he reached her underwear, he stopped and squeezed the inside of her thigh. “The next time I drink from you, I’m going to do it from here.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “You smell fucking amazing.”
Does he mean—
“Yeah, sweetheart, I mean, your desire. You liked when I drank from you. Who knew? A human.” He pulled his hand from between her legs and tapped her on the butt. “Go on. Go eat or whatever it is you need to do.”
“Cocky,” she muttered under her breath and headed for the door.
“But, Siya?”
She turned. “Yeah?”
“Leave, and I’ll know. And I really don’t want to get out of bed.”
She smiled. “I won’t. I promise.”
“Good girl,” he said and then rolled back over and closed his eyes.
“That’s good woman to you,” she said before leaving the room and shutting the door.
Siya stood in the hall, feeling slightly out of place and hoping she ran into someone friendly.
She walked to the kitchen where a blond man was pouring coffee.
“Good morning,” he said with a smile.
“Morning.”
“Coffee?” he said, holding up the pot.
“Yes, please.”
He grabbed a cup from the cupboard as she took a seat at the counter.
“I’m Camden. I saw you last night, but we didn’t really get a chance to meet.”
“I’m Siya.”
“Nice to meet you, Siya.”
Across the hall from Ram’s room, Reid was lying in bed, staring at the ceiling.
He’d been up most of the night, and he should be getting some much-needed rest, yet he couldn’t shake the feeling that he needed to do something.
“Reid?” his beautiful, naked mate said from his side where she was currently wrapped around him.
“Yeah, Angel?”
“Why aren’t you sleeping?”
“I honestly don’t know.”
Tegan nuzzled his neck with her nose. “I think I can help with your problem.”
He smiled. “Oh, yeah?”
She slipped a leg over him and sank down on his cock.
He’d gotten hard the second she said she could help with his problem.
Tegan sat up and began to ride him, her white-blonde hair falling like a veil around her body.
Reid slid a hand up her belly, between her breasts, and up to her neck where he wrapped his hand around her throat. He didn’t squeeze; he just held her above him as she rotated her hips over his.
Tegan moaned and clenched around him, and he pulled her down to his mouth.
“You feel amazing, Angel.”
She smiled against his lips and pushed her tongue into his mouth.
Reid wrapped his other arm around her waist and encouraged her to ride him harder, faster.
Tegan yanked her mouth from h
is and panted next to his ear. Her hands were now in his hair, holding him so tightly that it almost hurt.
Reid quickly flipped them over, so he was on top. Digging his toes into the bed, he began to thrust into his mate as deeply as he could.
Tegan began to whimper, and he knew she was close. He pulled his hand from her throat and replaced it with his mouth. He bit down on her shoulder as she climaxed so hard that she practically sobbed.
He loved when she almost cried when she orgasmed. That his presence, his being inside her, his making her come made her so emotional that she could no longer hold in her feelings. He was one lucky bastard.
Reid slammed into her one more time, letting his own release wash over him as he poured himself into Tegan.
The two of them lay there, limbs entwined, for several minutes while they caught their breaths. Reid slowly rolled to Tegan’s side and pulled her into his arms.
She ran her hand over his bare chest. “Hmm…that was great.”
He kissed her forehead. “It was,” he agreed. He would never tire of making love to her.
Reid rubbed her back until Tegan fell asleep, and he realized that he was not going to be as fortunate. He carefully extracted himself from his mate and slipped out of bed. He pulled on a pair of sweats and parked himself in front of his second love. His computers.
He didn’t know what he was looking for, but he had a feeling he would know it when he found it. He checked local news station websites. Nothing unusual. He kept searching and was ready to give up when he found it. And it wasn’t good.
He quickly grabbed his cell and called Vance.
“Reid?” Vance answered, his voice raspy. His alpha had probably been sleeping, too.
“Sorry to wake you, but we have a problem.”
Chapter 16
He hated the place. He had only gotten involved with the group when his impressionable, idealistic nineteen-year-old brother, Gavin, became a member. And he hated every second he was there.
PPP was prejudice. They were speciest and sexist, so much so that they had no female members and the wolf-shifters had their own division called Pure Pack Power. Neither group saw the irony in their PPP resembling the KKK, except, instead of keeping different races apart, they wanted to keep different species apart, including subspecies. No one in the group was allowed to be with anyone other than another cat-shifter for any reason whatsoever.
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