by Liza Street
Grant wondered if any of Mathers’s other allies were in the woods, biding their time, but none of them came forward. He limped in the direction of his trailer, and Carter joined him along the way. He was limping, too, favoring one of his front legs.
When they reached Grant’s trailer, they both shifted back into human. Carter groaned in pain as he stood up straight. Grant knew how he felt; his right thigh was mangled from where Buenevista had taken out a chunk.
Grant sniffed the air and smelled vanilla and roses—Caitlyn was around. Hopefully inside with the door locked. He knocked on the door and heard an answering gasp.
“It’s me, Grant,” he said, leaning his head against the wall of the trailer. “Carter and I are hurt.”
She opened the door and took in their naked forms. Her eyebrows shot up, but she didn’t say anything about clothes. “Do you have bandages, antiseptic?”
“Nothing’ll get infected,” Grant said.
For a moment, she looked like she might argue.
“Your leg is bleeding,” she finally said. “It’s an open wound, and I’m wrapping it.”
“We don’t have first-aid kits here,” Carter said, his voice a growl.
“Fine,” she snapped. “I’ll find a clean shirt. And what happened to you?”
“Something’s out of place,” he said. “Shifting didn’t help.”
Sometimes the process of shifting could help heal them, as their bodies found the alternate ways of putting themselves together. But sometimes it didn’t work.
Caitlyn went inside the trailer and came back a moment later with two of Grant’s white t-shirts. He wanted to protest about getting bloodstains on his clothes because it was so freaking hard to wash things here, but he took one look at the stern expression on her face and decided to keep his mouth shut.
She efficiently wrapped up his leg. Snug, but not too snug. Her gaze on his body was assessing and clinical, and he wanted to return to their moment earlier in the morning when her body had been pressed against his while they kissed.
“Do we need to worry about them coming back?” Caitlyn asked. “Shouldn’t we, I don’t know, fortify the trailer or something?”
“They won’t bother us today,” Carter said, his arm hanging awkwardly at his side.
“Okay. You’re next,” Caitlyn said, pointing at Carter.
He stepped forward, but then he growled when her hands came around his bicep.
“Watch it,” Grant said to him.
“Looks like it’s dislocated,” Caitlyn said, feeling along the muscles and joints.
Carter breathed in and out. “No shit.”
“Don’t be rude,” Caitlyn said. “Here.”
She grabbed his wrist and guided the arm straight in front of Carter. He swore loudly until there was a loud cracking sound, and then he swore again. His face was pale, and sweat beaded along his brow. His blue eyes were dull with pain.
“You’re all set,” Caitlyn said.
“Thanks,” Carter mumbled. He stood up and walked away, bare-ass naked.
Caitlyn turned her gaze on Grant.
“What?” he said, unable to read her expression.
“You turned into a cougar.”
“Yep. I told you I could do that.”
“And Carter was a bear.”
Grant nodded. “Right again.”
She leaned against the side of the trailer and closed her eyes. “It’s a lot. Especially when you’re standing there with your dick out.”
“Yep.” Laughing to himself, Grant went into the trailer and rummaged in the drawers beneath the bed. He found an old pair of sweatpants, pulled them on carefully over his wrapped leg, then went back out again.
So much had happened, and it wasn’t even lunchtime yet.
Caitlyn was still leaning against the side of the trailer. Her head was resting against the belly of the mountain lion he’d painted onto the siding, and he inwardly preened at the sight. She’d chosen the lion.
She opened her eyes and stared at Grant when he came over to stand next to her.
“I don’t know if it’s any easier to have a conversation with you when you aren’t wearing a shirt,” she said.
“You want me to put one on?” he asked. The warm summer air felt nice against his skin, but he’d put on more clothes if that’s what she really wanted.
“No…I’ll get used to it.”
He wanted her to get used to more than that. He wanted to show her more about himself, and find out if she’d go running away—or come running into his arms. He wanted another kiss with her luscious lips, a taste of that sweet tongue sliding against his.
But for now, he wanted to get to know her better.
“C’mon,” he said, tugging on a pair of sneakers he’d left by the door. “Let’s go for a walk.”
“After those—those guys—just tried to kill us?” she asked, doubt all over her face. She didn’t budge from the side of the trailer. He wondered if she viewed it as some kind of protected area, like the place kids would declare a safe zone if they reached it while playing tag.
“It’s hard to explain,” he said, “but basically, I established dominance for at least another day. The men don’t follow many rules. Maybe they don’t follow any rules. But their animal sides recognize dominance. And since I just handed them their asses—with Carter’s help, but it still counts—we have some time to explore.”
He held out his hand to her. Please let her take it, please let her take it…
She took it.
Smiling to himself, he started off, Caitlyn at his side.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“I thought you might like to see the lake.”
“Yeah, I’d love that,” she said. “If nothing else, I can rinse off my stinky feet. I’d kill for a bath right now.”
“I’ll keep watch while you bathe,” he offered.
She sent him a side-eye. “Really.”
“Really.” He held a hand over his heart. “I’ll watch away from the lake, okay?”
It was only a ten-minute walk to the water.
“Tell me about your work,” he said.
“Well, I’m a nurse. Which I told you.”
He waited, then said, “You told me you worked in a hospital. Like in the past. Did you mean you don’t anymore?”
“I quit to take care of my aunt. My mom passed away a few years ago, and I’m all my aunt had. She was wealthy, and a misanthrope. We’d never gotten along, and she hadn’t gotten along with my mother, either—didn’t even come to the funeral. Basically, when she found out her cancer was terminal, she told me that if I came to take care of her for the remainder of her time, she’d leave me everything she owned.”
“Wow.” He gave her hand a gentle squeeze.
Caitlyn nodded and squeezed his hand back. “The thing was, she didn’t have to make me take care of her like that. Bribe me with her estate. I’d have done it anyway.”
“I bet you would have.”
She looked up at him, her brown eyes shining. “Thank you. Sometimes even I question my motivations. I wasn’t happy down in L.A. Maybe I was using Aunt Galinda as an excuse to run away.”
“Or,” Grant said slowly, “maybe you needed her as much as she needed you?”
Caitlyn made a hmm sound and looked ahead of them. “I see it—the lake. Are we alone?”
He listened and sniffed the air. “Yep, we’re alone.”
“Great.” She tugged off her shoes and the shirt she’d borrowed from him. “Well, stop gawking, creeper. I’m going to get clean and I don’t need an audience.”
“Okay, okay.” He turned around, reluctantly, and listened to her finish undressing.
Then he listened to her rapid footsteps as she hurried to the water. She waded in and he heard her soft shriek.
“What is it?” he asked, starting to turn around.
“Nothing—don’t look!”
He turned back around.
“It’s just…it’s
colder than ice!”
He laughed. “Missing Los Angeles yet?”
“Ha. No, not really.”
She splashed for a few more minutes, then went quiet.
“You okay?” Grant asked, keeping his eyes on the trees in front of him. But oh, how he wanted to look.
“Do you…do you want to come in?” she asked, her voice sounding shy.
Grant turned around in surprise. She stood in the lake, water up to her navel, arms crossed over her chest. As he watched, she dropped her arms.
Fucking glorious.
“You look like some sort of water goddess,” he said, kicking off his shoes and striding forward.
Her cheeks were pink with a blush, but she didn’t hide herself from him. He yanked off his sweatpants, then waded toward her. The cold water was a mild shock at first, but he was used to it. Water soaked the t-shirts she’d tied around his thigh, but he didn’t look down to see if the wound was healed or not. He didn’t take his gaze from her as he closed the distance between them.
He gathered her in his arms, but stopped when his mouth was a few inches from hers. “Do you want this?” he asked.
“Want what, exactly?”
“Me. You. Screwing in a lake.”
She laughed. “Yes, I want this.”
“Good. Because I want it, too, in case you couldn’t tell.”
She pressed forward until her stomach was flush against his cock. “Yeah, I think I can tell.”
He knew of a smooth, flat rock not far from the little beach, even more protected by a thick copse of trees surrounding it. He sometimes used it for drying his clothes after he washed them.
“Come here, you,” he said, then lifted her from the water.
Laughing, she wrapped her legs around his waist. He bit back a curse that was half-dismay, half-victory. Her pussy was so close to his cock, all he’d have to do is lower her down a little bit and he’d be inside of her.
There was the rock. He walked out of the lake with her in his arms and set her on it. She shivered, and he kissed her mouth, closing his eyes in pleasure at how good she tasted, how much he wanted her.
“Couple things you should know,” he said, pulling back. He’d just realized something tragic—birth control. It was a thing.
“Mmm, yeah?” She glanced up, her hands splayed on his chest.
“I have bad news. So, shifters don’t carry diseases or get sick.”
“That’s good news, though,” she said, looking at him in puzzlement.
“However,” he said, “we can get human women pregnant. And I don’t have a condom.”
She tugged him closer. “It’s okay. I have an IUD. If you’re sure about the whole diseases thing…”
“Positive.” He pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you. And if you aren’t comfortable with this”—he took his cock in his hand and gave it a squeeze, loving the feeling but loving even more the way her eyes widened and she gave off a scent of fresh arousal—“there are different things we can do, too. I’m creative.”
“I hope to see some of that,” she said with a wink.
“Then allow me to demonstrate.”
Standing in the lake before where she lay on the rock, he kissed his way up one of her legs. Goosebumps formed on her skin as he went. She moaned quietly. He approached her pussy and his kisses became open-mouthed so he could taste as much of her skin as possible. Past her knee. Up her thigh. And when he reached her center and placed an open-mouthed kiss there, he moved his tongue against her.
“Grant,” she gasped.
“Mmm?” He didn’t stop kissing, and he brought up a finger to press inside of her.
“Keep going,” she said, wrapping her fingers in his hair. “Just like that.”
Happy to oblige, he continued kissing and licking her, adding a second finger to her pussy and crooking them up a little. Caitlyn’s moans grew louder, so he paused to listen for anyone nearby. They were still alone.
“I want to come,” she said, looking down at him with her face flushed pink.
He gave himself a slow stroke and she licked her lips, her gaze on his length.
“Do you want to come on my mouth or my cock?” he asked. His dick ached with wanting her, but he’d let her finish however she chose.
“Cock.”
Fuck yeah, he could do that. “Come here, lover.”
He helped her forward a little bit, then leaned toward her. The head of his cock dragged against her thigh and came to rest next to her pussy. He bit back a swear word. So good. She felt so good in his arms. He couldn’t shake the feeling that they belonged together like this. The thought had crossed his mind in the morning when they’d kissed, but now he was certain.
This woman was his mate.
Gripping his cock, he guided it to her entrance and slowly pushed inside. She tensed, so he waited.
“Is everything okay?” he asked.
“Yeah. You’re just big. Go slow?”
“Got it.” He pressed forward another little bit. A quarter inch? A half? He tried to focus on incremental measures of distance so he wouldn’t lose control and blow his load before he was even half inside of her. She felt that good, her walls squeezing the head of his dick.
“More,” she whispered.
After a few more stops and starts, he was all the way inside of her. She clutched his biceps, her nails digging slightly into his skin. When she lifted her hips and pulled back, he followed her lead, slowly fucking her with patient thrusts.
“Yes,” she gasped. “Feels good. You?”
“You feel fucking amazing on my cock,” he said. “I can’t wait to feel you come.”
Her breaths came faster and faster. He lowered his head to kiss her mouth. Keeping one hand on her hip, he brought his other up to caress one of her breasts. Her movements became more and more erratic, so he quickened his thrusts to match her unspoken urges.
She came with a shout, her pussy squeezing him rhythmically. He kissed her, drinking in her cries of pleasure, and stroked inside of her rapidly until he came, too. Electric pleasure shot through him and he fell next to her on the great rock, spent.
Curling on her side, Caitlyn snuggled next to him. He kissed her forehead and then they dozed in the warm afternoon.
8
Caitlyn held Grant’s hand as they walked back to his trailer. It was dusk. The nap had been rejuvenating, the bath cleansing. The sex had been mind-blowing, and she wanted to do it again as soon as possible. It had been so long since she’d been with anyone, and her body wanted to make up for lost time.
It wasn’t just the sex, though—it was Grant. There was something about him. Her body reacted to his in a way that she’d never experienced before. Chaos, heat, passion. There was a sense of wholeness that defied reason and explanation.
He felt right.
“You doing okay?” he asked.
“Yeah,” she said. “Better than okay.”
They’d reached his place. Her thoughts swirled in her head, much like the swirling colors of the painted animals on the camp trailer.
He noticed her staring at them and asked, “What do you think?”
“They’re beautiful.” She reached out to trace the snarling mouth of a leopard and shivered. “They look so alive. I mean, no animal really looks like this, exactly. They aren’t realistic. But they carry…the spirit, I guess?”
“That’s what I was going for.”
“You painted these,” she said, trying not to sound surprised.
He nodded and she detected a flash of pride in his expression.
“I probably sounded like an idiot trying to describe them,” she added with a laugh.
“Not at all.” He grabbed her hand and traced the panther’s mouth with her, his fingers intertwined with hers.
She leaned back into his chest, allowing his warmth to envelop her.
“Is this what you do with your free time, usually?” she asked. “Paint?”
“Yep. I p
aint what I see in the shifters here. This leopard, that’s a guy named Ronan. The bear over there—”
“Let me guess—Carter?” The bear wore an expression of fierce antagonism, yet his blue eyes were definitely Carter’s, and they held an honesty within.
“Right in one,” Grant said.
She noticed there wasn’t another bear—Mathers didn’t have a place on Grant’s trailer. She was glad; she was just superstitious enough to believe that something like that would give her nightmares.
“I wish I’d found something creative to do with my time,” Caitlyn murmured.
“When you were taking care of your aunt?”
“Mm-hmm. I had so much time alone, and I didn’t know how to use it. She wanted a quiet house and she wanted me available to her all the time. My only break outside of the house was for my daily run.”
“But you didn’t have to sit next to her the whole time, did you?” Grant asked.
“No—she would’ve hated that,” Caitlyn said. Poor Aunt Galinda. Lonely, but even in the end she had pushed Caitlyn away. “I spent most of my time in the house so I could hear her if she called for me. I read a lot of books, did a lot of baking. Now I wish I’d done something like painting.”
“Maybe we could paint together sometime,” Grant said.
She turned in his arms and looked into his kind, rugged face. “I’d like that.”
He kissed her—softly, sweetly. When he pulled back, Caitlyn felt as if she’d gotten a hit of some kind of drug. It was a giant serotonin hit.
“Kiss me again,” she said, and he did.
Maybe it was serotonin. Or maybe it was magic. What had he called it before? Fate?
Finally, they pulled apart, and Caitlyn said, “I think it’s bedtime.”
“I think so, too,” he said, kissing her once more, a soft smack on the lips that made her crave another.
When he went inside the trailer, she hesitated. This nightmare situation—trapped in some kind of invisible dome with dangerous beast-men—had somehow turned into a fantasy. No, she wouldn’t be happy, she couldn’t rest, until she and Grant were free. But while they waited, they didn’t have to be miserable.
She would only be miserable without him.
