The Hyena's Hope

by Emilia Hartley

  Was he ready for this if that was the case? He’d already promised to hunt this kidnapper. There was no going back. If he told Dante that he wasn’t sure if he could handle himself in dangerous situations, Dante would never trust him again. Rodrigo had to follow through with his promises.

  He followed Carol’s scent into the back yard. A white shed stood like a ghost in the night. It reeked of fear and desperation. The scent soured Rodrigo’s stomach. It was as if he could feel each and every day Carol spent suffering in this kidnapper’s hands. Every step further into the cloud of this sharp scent pushed his beast further to the edge.

  A growl rumbled up his throat, unbidden. The beast wanted blood. It wanted someone to pay for the pain in the air. Still, he pushed toward the shed. The door was locked, and he wasn’t about to shift back just so he could have hands. He could have broken the door by throwing himself against it, but the snap would have been too loud.

  Someone in the neighborhood would likely hear and come looking. He wasn’t going to involve anyone else.

  The fur on Rodrigo’s hackles rose. He paused, suddenly aware that someone was watching him. If he turned around slowly…

  “Well, you’re not exactly what I was expecting, but I’ll take what I can get.” A hand gripped the fur between his shoulder blades.

  Chapter Twelve

  Lily lay in bed, her hand over her heart as she stared at the ceiling above. Her lone ranger book lay in the other hand, finger between the pages like a bookmark. Her chest ached. She couldn’t describe the pain, only that it made her think of Rodrigo.

  How long had it been since she’d seen him? Since their little date? She wished she could go back to that day and relive it. The echo of his kiss flashed across her lips.

  Was he thinking of her in this moment? She turned on her side, abandoning the book in her hand, and stared out the nearby window. The night was dark, lit only by the orange glow of the street lamps. The tree branches danced in the light and cast dappled shadows over her bed.

  On her nightstand, her phone vibrated. She groaned, thinking it was Brock again. Her heart gave a weird flip that she didn’t quite understand. Despite rational thinking, she still reached for the phone. She didn’t want to be alone anymore.

  The number on the screen wasn’t Brock’s, though. It was Rodrigo.

  Panicking, she slapped the green button and held a shaky hand up to her ear. A great smile spread over her face. “What are you doing calling me at this time of night?”

  “L-L-Lily?” His voice seemed strained, dragging out her name as he fumbled through it.

  She sat up, heart clenched now. Her panic sharpened, turning from romantic tummy flutters to cold fear. “What’s wrong?”

  There was an audible swallow. “I need…I don’t know what I need. A place to stay? Company? I just need to be near someone.”

  She threw her feet to the floor. “Uh, alright. You can always come here. Let me know when you get here so I can let you into the lobby.”

  “I’m already here.”

  She paused, a slipper on one foot. “You’re outside?”

  There was a long moment of silence before he answered, almost sounding ashamed. “Yeah. This was the first place I could think of.”

  Without asking any further questions, she rushed down the stairs. There was no buzzer in this old building that would unlock the door for him. She had to go down herself. Only belatedly, while shoving the building door open, did she realized she was only wearing a t-shirt and slippers.

  Her face heated. Rodrigo didn’t seem to notice. He nearly fell into her. She had to brace herself when his body crashed into hers. His scent was warm, but his body was not. His clothes were loose fitting, like they didn’t belong to him.

  She pushed his curls away from his face and searched his eyes. “What happened to you?”

  “It’s a long story.” He let his head fall to her shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her and sank into her body.

  She felt strong. It was a weird sensation, considering she was only two thirds his size and very human. Still, she held onto him. Another building tenant came down to meet the pizza delivery boy while she held Rodrigo. All she could do was offer a reassuring smile while both the tenant and delivery boy eyed the massive man in her arms.

  “We should go upstairs,” she whispered into Rodrigo’s ear.

  He nodded but held onto her a moment longer. Only when they were back in her apartment did he say anything.

  “I’m sorry for showing up like this.” His lips settled into a scowl after he spoke. He wouldn’t meet her gaze, instead gazing into the distance like he was still being haunted.

  She tugged him toward the bed, only thinking that it was large enough for a man his size. He would have looked ridiculous on the small couch. Yet, when she got him to the bed, she remembered that she was wearing nothing but panties under the large shirt. Her cheeks heated and she ducked to grab a pair of fallen shorts from the floor.

  It was then that Rodrigo’s gaze found her. It heated when she put one foot through the leg hole. Before she could finish putting the shorts on, Rodrigo reached out and pulled her toward him. He gently tugged her onto the bed with him.

  “Lie with me a little while?”

  “I should put on shorts…or pants. I definitely should put on something.” She tried to turn around and grab something, but Rodrigo didn’t let go of her hand. “Unless you’re trying to seduce me. If that is the case, I must warn you that this is the weirdest seduction ever.”

  He let out a small, embarrassed laugh and let go of her hand. “I didn’t mean it that way. It’s just that skin on skin contact helps sometimes.”

  She cocked her head, trying to understand. The problem was that she was human, and he wasn’t. Whatever he was trying to say went right over her head.

  “What I mean is that sitting close to you could help me control my beast. I’ve had…a stressful night. The beast is fighting me, and I need to push it back. If I can’t control it then…” He paused and fisted his hands in his hair, tugging.

  Lily saw the strain that passed over his face. There was the ripple of that animal glow in his eyes again. She should have been afraid. At best, he could trash her apartment if he lost control. She didn’t want to lose her security deposit. At worst…

  He could hurt her.

  Yet, that didn’t seem to be on her list of concerns. She was already crawling across the mattress toward him, confident that Rodrigo would not hurt her. He was incapable of doing so. What they had, while she didn’t understand it, was special.

  She settled on her side, letting him be the big spoon. Soon, his breath washed down the back of her neck. She thought he fell asleep once it evened out. She could have drifted off like this, too. She might have if he hadn’t spoken.

  “Thank you,” he whispered into her skin. “You didn’t have to do this. I don’t know why you trust me.”

  Lily was used to letting people into her life, to fitting herself around them. The way Rodrigo came to her and seemed to fill a space in her world without asking her for anything set her at ease. It was like he was meant to be there. She questioned nothing about him.

  Save for one thing.

  “What happened?”

  He stilled behind her. His breath caught. Perhaps it was too soon to ask. She was too curious about his life. Yet, little by little, he relaxed into her again. She waited to see if he would respond.

  “You don’t owe me an explanation,” she said, quickly trying to cover her tracks.

  He hugged her tighter. The way she fit into his body boggled her mind. His arms were like a big safe blanket that she could hide under when the world was frightening. This was the part the books forgot about, those small moments when every problem in the world ceased to exist. As if the two of them together were untouchable.

  She hoped he felt that, too.

  She hoped this would last forever.

  “I did something stupid tonight. I got away, but just barely.”<
br />
  Her brows folded together. “Just barely? What does that mean?”

  She twisted in his arms and was alarmed when she saw the ashen state of his face. His eyelids drooped. He tried to offer a smile that could have been reassuring had he not winced in the middle. That was when she looked lower. The shirt that had been loose before now clung to his chest, sticky with blood.

  Lily leapt out of the bed. “You didn’t tell me you were hurt!”

  She didn’t think about her shirt or her sheets. Instead, she raced to the bathroom for her first aid kit. When she returned, Rodrigo was peeling his shirt off. The fabric stuck to his wound and made a wet sucking sound when it was yanked away. He scowled at the wadded-up shirt in his hands, looking around and finding nowhere to put it.

  The shirt didn’t matter. Not in the moment.

  She grabbed it away from him and threw it to the floor. But when the shirt was gone and he turned to face her fully, the wound in his shoulder was gone. She knew shifters could heal, but she never saw it for herself. The blood on his chest was evidence of something, but without the wound, she would never know what happened to him. Only Rodrigo would know.

  He touched his shoulder, fingers trailing in a line as if he were remembering the pain he’d felt only a little while ago.

  “I guess we should clean you up. Huh?” She looked to the first aid kit and back to Rodrigo. “Maybe a shower would be best.”

  He let out the largest sigh of relief she’d ever heard. “Yes. I’d love a shower. I smell like death. Literally.”

  She led him to the bathroom, her mind holding onto what he’d just said. There were a lot of people who used the word literally out of context, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that Rodrigo was not. The blood on his shoulder and chest spoke loud enough. He’d been somewhere dangerous recently.

  He’d faced death and then come to her. The knowledge left a strange feeling in her chest. This wasn’t about filling the lonely spaces in her life, or about filling the emptiness with anyone who happened to be nearby. The fear she felt toward his safety rocked her world. It wasn’t her place to tell him to give up whatever he’d been doing, but she desperately wanted to shake him and beg that he never go back.

  She didn’t even know where he’d been.

  As he began to strip for the shower, she looked away, but lingered. “So, were you involved in some underground fighting ring? Is that what happened?”

  He paused, hand falling away from the faucet knobs in the shower. “I can’t talk about it right now.”

  His response stole the air from her lungs. She couldn’t deal with that. Not if he was going to hide parts of his life from her. She’d already put up with that once. She turned to leave, but before she could get far, Rodrigo called out to her.

  “Do you mind staying with me? I’m not ready to be…alone.”

  She bit her lip. The pain etched into his face was more than her own anger. But then she realized she was looking at him and he was standing completely naked before her. Against her better judgement, her gaze dropped. It roved over his chest, down his waist to his cock. Even now, it was larger than any cock she’d seen before.

  Did shifters get an automatic upgrade in the dick department when they were changed? His seemed a lot bigger than the average human man. She tried to imagine what it would look like hard and her brain momentarily scrambled.

  His laugh was low and heady. “You could join me in the shower if you wanted. I did get blood on you.”

  He grabbed her shirt and drew her back into the bathroom. Holding her gaze, he lifted the shirt over her head. Her heart pattered a mad beat. If he said anything, she wouldn’t be able to hear it over her heart.

  The cool air touched her nipples and they tightened. His breath caught as he took her in. He grazed her bare stomach with his knuckles, tentative like he was asking for permission. When she didn’t run and hide, he took that as consent. He reached and cupped one breast with his hand. His palm dwarfed her small breast, but he didn’t seem to care.

  He was entranced by her body, eyes transfixed on her chest as he bit his lip. The expression made her wild with need. She pulled him closer, wanting his body pressed against hers. Needing him to lean in and kiss her with the desire she saw in his eyes.

  He leaned in. Her breath caught. Then she heard the creak of the shower knob as he twisted it. The showerhead sputtered to life before raining down on her. She laughed and jumped out of the way, so the water didn’t wash over her face.

  Rodrigo pulled her back. He watched the trails of water slide down her chest and his lips parted. Lily couldn’t take it anymore. She slid her hand around the back of his neck and pulled him to her. Their lips crashed together. She groaned into his mouth, but as satisfying as it was to kiss him again, it wasn’t enough.

  She wanted more.

  Rodrigo seemed to understand. His knuckles grazed her thighs, moving up toward the V between her legs. She gasped when his fingers parted her folds. He was gentle and slow, but she still dug her nails into his skin as her body came alive. Sensation lit over every inch of her skin before focusing on her tight nipples and where his fingers were teasing her.

  She pushed her tongue between his lips as his fingers glided lower. They found her wet entrance and it was his turn to groan. The evidence of his need touched her thigh. She glanced down and all logical thought failed her. His cock was huge. She didn’t know what to do with all of that.

  The only thing she knew for sure was that it would end up inside her by the end of the night. She closed her other hand around him. His breath quickened. Her heart did a small flip. She was in control. It gave her no small amount of delight to know that she could affect him like this.

  Rodrigo was hard because of her. He gasped because of her. She’d never felt so powerful in her life and it was exhilarating.

  The only problem was that she’d never had sex in the shower before. She didn’t know quite how it worked. What was she supposed to do? How was she supposed to stand? The feeling of being in power began to fade. Rodrigo seemed to pick up on her insecurity and pressed forward.

  His fingertip entered her. Just one. She was slick and a ripple of sensation blossomed from around his touch. She shuddered in his arms. He added another finger. Her core tightened around him. He slowed down, making small circular motions until her core eased. She was alight with sensation. It made her feel like putty in his arms.

  She promised herself she would make him feel the same. She just had to figure out how. When her own pleasure wasn’t scrambling her brain.

  “You should be,” her breath caught, “showering.”

  He laughed, a soft breath against the crook of her neck before his lips grazed her skin. She shuddered at his touch.

  “You’re right.”

  The moment he pulled away, she felt bereft. She regretted her words but swallowed her need back down. Her thighs hummed with the small shocks still pulsing in her core. While Rodrigo leaned back and let the water run over his hair and face, she held onto the wall to stay standing. Blood ran down his body, washing away into a sea of rust colored water that swirled down the drain until there was no evidence of his pain.

  His cock was still at attention. He cracked open an eye, water running between his lashes, and stole another glance at her. The way his gaze dragged up and down her, a slow devouring of her body, made her cheeks warm all over again. She didn’t look away, though. She met his gaze and fell into the molten warmth of his eyes.

  “Is your beast close to…” She searched for the right word. Breaking out didn’t feel like a nice thing to say.

  “My beast is close, alright.”

  The way he spoke, low and rumbling, made her lungs seize tight. She’d never felt so wanted. Rodrigo looked upon her with awe, like she was some sort of miracle he’d never seen before. Like he would gladly explore every inch of her. She pushed away from the wall and stepped toward him. He reached out, hand hovering over her skin until she nodded.

  When t
heir skin finally contacted, a growl emanated from his chest. Lily wasn’t sure he was even aware he was making the sound.

  “May I wash you?”

  She paused. It was a strange question, but she conceded and handed him her favorite body wash. He lathered the soap between his hands so that they glided over her when he touched her. The growl grew louder, especially when he washed beneath her breasts. He stole a moment to cup them. They weren’t enough to fill his palms, but he didn’t seem to care.

  “Do you wear those little lace bras? The ones that are more like a top than a bra?”

  “Not often. Br—” she stopped herself. She’d been about to say that Brock didn’t consider them appropriate, but those days were over. She wasn’t with Brock anymore. She was, in fact, very naked with a very attentive man. “I like to wear them, though. They’re so much comfier than underwire bras.”

  He bit his lip, thumbs slipping over her nipples. “A comfortable woman is the sexiest woman.”

  She pulled back and looked up at him. He still seemed enamored with her. Finished with her breasts now, he gently turned her around. When he began on her back, he added a gentle knead to it, loosening the knots that had twisted there in the past few days. She let out a groan of satisfaction.

  “Comfort means happiness. If I could, I’d do my best to make you happy every day.”

  She knew a few ways he could make her happy. With his hands all over her body, she could think of nothing else. It seemed, neither could he. The tip of his cock touched her backside. It slid beneath her butt cheeks and grazed the folds over her entrance.

  Her hands curled into fists. She wanted it so bad. All he had to do was push forward another inch. Reaching down, she parted her folds herself, an open invitation.

  Instead of accepting, Rodrigo pulled her into a short dance. He pulled her close and spun around so that she stood beneath the water. Her soap suds bra washed away into the drain, leaving her truly naked once again.