Shifter Wars Complete Series

by Sarah J. Stone

  "Stay close," Jerrod said. "Shifters here in Flushing play by their own rules."

  I knew that he was right. Flushing, as the furthest eastern part of New York City, was where shifters who didn't want to be found went. As such, the shifters who lived here tended to be the ones who had a reason to hide, whether because someone was looking for them, or because they were banished from their own communities. Either way, Flushing shifters tended to be paranoid and anti-social.

  We weaved through the crowds, eventually making our way to a nondescript apartment building made of red brick, appearing to be about ten stories high.

  "Here." Jerrod fished a key out of his pocket and opened the front door.

  We went through the no-frills lobby and into the elevator, the lift groaning as we went up. Soon, we stepped out onto the eighth floor and arrived at the front door. Jerrod opened the door, revealing a simple, one-bedroom apartment. It was nice, decorated in a clean, bachelor-style of modern furniture and clean décor.

  Jerrod flicked on the lights, grabbed a pair of beers from the kitchen, and plopped down on the couch. He opened the bottles with a pair of quick twists, handing me one of them. I've never been much of a drinker, like I said, but at that moment a beer sounded like the best possible thing imaginable. I took the cold bottle from him, drank a long sip, and fell onto the couch next to Jerrod. My heart was just now finally starting to calm, and the events of the evening were beginning to wash over me.

  Turning to Jerrod, I saw that his wounds were still bloody; he needed to do something about them. "Where's your medical kit?"

  Jerrod waved his hand through the air. "I don't need a damn first-aid kit." He took another sip of his beer. "I need this beer, another one after it, then a shower."

  "Are you kidding me? Have you seen yourself?" I pulled out my phone and brought up the camera. "Look." I handed it over to him.

  "Oh." He studied at his reflection. "I guess I look a little rough."

  "'A little rough’?" I shook my head. "You look like you got hit by a car."

  "Fine. It's under the bathroom sink.”

  I retrieved the kit from the bathroom and sat on the couch next to him. Taking out the necessary supplies, I washed the cut with alcohol and wiped his face clean.

  "Easy with that shit." He winced from the pain of the alcohol.

  "Such a tough guy," I said with a smirk, "but you can't handle a little burn."

  After a little more attention, he was looking better.

  "There," I said. "Halfway decent. But I don't think you're going to be sneaking into any fancy balls any time soon."

  "After the night we just ha, I think I've had enough galas for a lifetime." He sat back in his seat and drained the rest of his beer. A little smirk formed on his face as he sat back down from grabbing another.

  "What?" I asked. "What're you smirking about this time?"

  "Nothing," he said. "Just thinking we don't make a half-terrible team."

  "Oh really?" I asked. "We did almost get killed, remember?"

  "True, but we were marked from the start. Considering that, getting out of there with our lives was a goddamn miracle. Not to mention that we know what he's up to now."

  "True," I said. "You learn anything before he worked you over?"

  "I did," he said. "I managed to go through his emails before they found me. Learned that Aubrey and the rest of the lion high-ups are going to be declaring war tomorrow. Officially."

  "Are you serious?" I asked. "Then that's it; we lost."

  "I've got a few tricks up my sleeve."

  "Anything you want to let the other member of this not half-terrible team in on?"

  "Gotta check with some contacts, first," he said. "We're meeting tomorrow at noon. So get your head right for that."

  "Assuming Aubrey doesn't find us in the middle of the night," I said.

  "He won't," Jerrod said, his voice confident. "I've hidden from worse out here. He may have a long reach, but not even a man like Aubrey could find a pair of people who don't want to be found in the biggest city in the country in one night."

  I felt a little better at these words.

  Sitting in silence as I sipped my beer, I watched as Jerrod stood up from his seat and walked over the window. I was getting the sense that there was something more going on than he was letting on.

  "What's up?" I asked.

  "Nothing," he said, thought his tone made it clear that this wasn't the case.

  "Spill it," I said. "If we're going to be working together through the rest of this mess, we can't be hiding things from one another."

  He let out a small sigh, apparently realizing that I was speaking the truth. "I swore I'd never work with a partner again," he said, still looking out the window. "Fuck, I swore I'd never work a case again. I just wanted to hide out in my apartment, drink, and let life pass me by. And when you came looking for me, every bit of me wanted to send you packing. Every bit, that is, aside from a little voice inside of me that forced me to hear you out."

  "When you told me who you were, I knew right then and there that there was no getting away from the life I'd tried to leave behind. When you told me you needed help with a case, when you offered me that path back into this shit, a part of me lit up; I was more excited than I'd been since I quit the force. And at that moment, I knew I couldn't help but get pulled right back into this world."

  "So?" I asked. "You get to make a difference working with the Sapiens- the kind of difference you don't get to make wasting away in that fancy apartment of yours."

  "The last time I tried to make a difference it ended up costing me the life of the woman I loved."

  I let his words hang in the air. He was right, after all. "But that wasn't your fault." I stood up and moved over to his side.

  "Of course it was my fault," he said. "I was the one who put us both in danger. I could've called the op off, told Sophia that it was too dangerous, and been back in bed by midnight."

  "You could've," I said, "but you knew then the same thing that you know now: that you did your job the best way you knew how. And looking back on what you could've done differently is the fastest way to tear yourself into pieces."

  Jerrod turned to me with anger in his eyes. "Oh? You think it's as simple as that? Just looking at the right way? Just writing off a death that I was responsible for like it just comes with the territory?"

  Now, it was my turn to be mad. "I don't know if that beating Aubrey's goons gave you fucked with your memory or what, but did you forget who the hell you're talking to? I'm a few days out from having my entire team wiped out right under my nose, right under my watch. And I'm not keeping score on who's got it worse, but I'm not exactly the right person to be scolding for not knowing what it's like to lose people on the job."

  Jerrod opened his mouth to speak but closed it instead. And against my better wishes, I couldn't help but notice the way his gorgeous eyes looked in the reflection of the city lights. "You're right," he said after a time. "I've got no right to lecture you about this shit."

  But I could sense that this wasn't all he had on his mind.

  "Spill it," I said.

  "What?"

  "There's more, and you know it."

  He took a deep breath and said, "You know who the person I lost was. Not just a work partner, but something more. And now, here I am responsible for looking out for another woman. Another woman that I…can't help but care about."

  What is he saying?

  "We've got a mountain to climb ahead of us, and who the hell knows if we're going to make it to the other side. But I know one thing: if I lost you in the process, I don't know what the hell I would do." As he spoke, there was something to his voice that I'd never heard from him before. It was a…vulnerability, a sense of concern that cut right through his cocky exterior. "I can't lose you, Harper." He turned to me, his handsome face weighed down with pain.

  At that moment, as Jerrod looked at me, I felt something that I hadn't felt in as long as I could remembe
r. I felt a closeness to him, a connection that formed the moment he finally let his guard down. And as we stood there, facing one another, there was something between us, something that pulled us closer.

  Then, without thinking, I moved closer to him until our faces were inches apart.

  Jerrod didn't need me to say anything. He put his hands on my arms, pulling my body against his. He gazed down at me for a long moment, staring at me with those piercing eyes of his. I knew right then and there that I couldn't resist. And, evidently, neither could Jerrod. He slipped his hand onto the back of my neck, pulling me to him until our lips touched. We pressed our lips against one another's for a moment, almost as if we'd both forgotten how to do something as simple as kiss.

  But we both found our step right away.

  Reaching up, I placed my hands on the back of Jerrod's head, holding him as close as I could as our kisses turned from chaste to something more sensual. Jerrod's hands moved down to my hips, caressing my curves as we embraced. My heart began to pound just as it had been nearly the entire evening, though the current circumstances now were far, far more pleasant.

  Our kiss grew more intense by the second, and soon we were making our way over to the couch. I bumped up against the back of it with my legs, my attention fully on Jerrod. Grabbing him by the opening of his shirt, I pulled him down, and we both fell onto the soft surface of the couch. Now, Jerrod was on top of me, right where I wanted him. We continued to kiss, our hands exploring one another's bodies as if neither of us wanted a single square inch to go unattended to. Then, my hand slipped into his shirt, my fingertips moving along the hard lines of his pecs. I grew increasingly aroused by the second, and I knew I needed more and more.

  He was happy to give it to me.

  My fingers went to work hastily on the buttons of his dress shirt, undoing them one by one and pulling it open when I'd reached his belt. I couldn't help but take in a little gasp as I laid eyes on his perfectly cut upper body; not a drop of fat on him. Jerrod moved down my neck, kissing along the sweeping curve of it, and as he did I ran my hands through his hair, sighing as I stole glances at his broad, muscular back.

  He didn't waste any time on my clothes, either. His hands moved from my hips to my back, his fingers going to work on the zipper of my dress. With a quick tug, he pulled it down, his warm, rough hands moving over my now-bare skin as he did. His hands upon my shoulder, he pulled the top half of the dress down, exposing my upper body, now naked aside from the red lace bra I wore.

  "As good as you look in this," he said as he kissed along my collarbone, "it's even better to see you out of it."

  "Such a smooth talker," I said, unable to resist a grin.

  His lips moved from one shoulder to the other as his he unfastened the clasp of my bra with a practiced, deft motion. His hands swept up to my shoulders once again, this time his fingers slipping under the straps of my bra as he took the piece of clothing off, my breasts tumbling out as he did. And as soon as my breasts were exposed, Jerrod gave them his full attention.

  And I didn't mind one bit.

  He took my left breast into his hands, squeezing it gently as he licked and sucked my nipple. The feeling was incredible; waves of pleasure rushed through my body with each lick, the sensation of his tongue on this most sensitive of skin beyond compare. Once he was done with one, he moved to the other, repeating the process and sending the same flashed of ecstasy through my body. He knew just what he was doing.

  After giving my breasts the attention they deserved, he moved down, kissing me in a wandering path that ended at my belly. And as he kissed me, he slid his hands under my dress, pulling it down and leaving me in nothing but the matching red lace panties. He kissed me with a passion that was positively ravenous. He kissed my hips, my waist, my thighs; it was as though he wanted to make sure that not a square inch was ignored by his lips.

  And when he was done, he rose back to my level and look at me with the hungry passion of a bear that needed to mate, right then and there. I was ready to get down to business right there on the floor, but Jerrod had the foresight to take things to the bedroom. He grabbed my hand and led me from the living room to the bedroom, flicking on the lights and revealing a small but cozy space decorated in the same minimalist, modern style as the rest of the apartment.

  "Carpet's not the best for this kind of activity," Jerrod said, leading me to the bed.

  "Oh, really?" I asked with a sly grin. "And how would you know that, exactly?"

  "No kissing and telling," he said, returning the smirk.

  With a playful shove, he tossed me onto the bed, a little squeal of delight slipping out of my mouth. But once he took his place next to me, it was right back down to business. I ran my hands up the soft fabric of his dress pants, a moan of delight sounding from my lips as I felt his already-hard prick through the pants. I could tell even without looking that Jerrod was packing more than enough to make me happy. I went to work on his belt and zipper slipping him out of his pants, shoes, and socks, leaving him in a pair of black boxer-briefs that clung tightly to his well-defined, muscular legs. I moved my hands along his legs again, enjoying the feeling of thick hard muscle, my eyes latched hungrily on to the erection visible through his boxer-briefs- a hard-on that grew larger by the second.

  I couldn't take any more. My mind swan with arousal and I could barely hold a thought in my head that didn't involve the enormous cock that was just waiting for me to give it the attention it needed. I stuck my fingers into the elastic waistband of his underwear and yanked them off, my eyes going wide as I got my first glimpse of his massive member. It was easily the biggest cock that I'd seen in person, and as I scanned it up and down I couldn't help but feel a mixture of both thrill and curiosity at just how I was going to handle it.

  Reaching down, I took hold of Jerrod's cock, becoming elevated to a level of unimaginable arousal as soon as I wrapped my fingers around the thick girth of the thing. Jerrod let out a sexy little moan as I touched him, my fingertips grazing up and down his length. We kissed hard and passionately, Jerrod's hand moving down to my inner thigh and giving the sensitive flesh a sensual squeeze. At that moment, I was so turned on that I could barely keep a thought straight in my mind. All I could feel was the desire for him to keep going, to touch me right where I wanted him to touch me. He was so close that I could hardly stand it.

  Thankfully, he and I were of the same mind. Placing his hands on my hips, his touch moved down along my legs, pulling down my panties as he descended. I eagerly kicked my underwear off as soon as they reached my ankles; I was so eager for him to take me.

  Jerrod's hand moved quickly along the inside of my leg, coming to a stop on my now-exposed sex. The air rushed out of my lungs as he touched me, the tension finally released, if only just a bit. He moved the side of his index finger along me, stimulating me right where I wanted him to. And as he did, we continued to kiss hard, the interplay of our tongues erotic beyond compare. My hand stayed latched onto his cock, and I stroked him as he rubbed me. Soon, he extended a finger and entered me gently, my eyes going wide as saucers as he did.

  The feeling of Jerrod finally being inside of me was a thrill like none other. He knew just how to touch a woman to make her feel incredible, and he didn't waste any time making sure I was pleased. I continued to stroke his long, thick cock, each pump of my hand taking some tie due to his length. We continued this way for a time, using one hand to pleasure the other and using the free one to explore each other's bodies. The feeling was sublime, but the more time that he spent fingering me, as incredible as it felt, the more I wanted the massive member in his hand to do the work that I knew it could do.

  "I need this, now," I said, my voice coming out in a surprisingly demanding tone, my words weighed down with heavy arousal.

  "Someone's bossy," Jerrod said; I didn't even need to look to know that he was saying it through a smirk.

  "It's just…I'm going crazy here," I said, the sexual tension within me building to nearly un
thinkable levels.

  "Good girls know how to wait," Jerrod said in a low, sensual purr.

  "Who said that I'm a good girl?" I shot back, my mouth in a sly little smile.

  He gave a dry laugh that blended into a moan as I continued to stroke him.

  He then removed his fingers from me and rolled over until he was positioned on top of me; I eagerly spread my legs to accommodate him.

  I think he got the hint.

  He lowered his head to kiss me more along my neck, and as he did I glanced down, my eyes locked onto his enormous prick now pointed tantalizingly at my pussy. Part of me wanted to reach down, grab hold, and shove it into me. But another part of me was taking sweet pleasure in the teasing that Jerrod seemed to be so keen on.

  "Give it to me," I said. "I can't wait any longer."

  The voice coming out of me was strange; it almost sounded as though someone else were speaking the words. I felt as though I'd been possessed by some kind of spirit of lust, a spirit that would only be satisfied by the fucking that I knew Jerrod was capable of giving me.

  Finally, he was ready to give me just what I was craving. Propping himself up with one arm, the ropy muscles bulging in a way that drove me wild, he reached down and grabbed his cock by its base. He moved his prick until the head was pressed right on the opening of my sex; the sensation like electricity pulsing through my body. Then, with a slow, full plunge, he entered me.

  The feeling was so intense that I thought I just might have an out-of-body experience.

  I grabbed hard onto him, my fingertips digging into the thick muscle of his back as he entered me, inch by inch. The feeling of him driving down deep into me was beyond compare; the pleasure was like fire, but he was so thick and long that I couldn't help but wonder if I was going to fit every last bit of him. However, he was soon fully buried inside of me. Looking down, I took in both the sight and the sensation of his cock shoved in me to the hilt, savoring the experience like a fine wine on my palate.