Feral Craving

by D. C. Stone

  His tongue guided over hers, caressed and curled around it. He leaned in to her, pulling his hand from the mug, and palmed her face, deepening the kiss, unable to get enough of her. Something primitive took over. Something deep inside craved her more than should be possible. He was a drowning man in a sea full of water. So damn thirsty.

  Mackenzie moaned, and Bari swallowed it with his mouth, answered with a low growl. His hands left her face, guided down the length of her neck before rolling across her shoulders and down her back. He wanted to mold her, wanted to trace and learn every curve, every dip of her body with his hands before retracing it all with his mouth. He wanted so much, yet not enough, to give and take, to conquer and plunge.

  Dropping his hands to her slender waist, he curved them over her enticing rear and squeezed her body tight to his as he rose from the stool he was sitting on at the center island. His cock strained in his pants, begging to be set free.

  Down, boy.

  His hips rolled, the action intentionally slow, and as another groan escaped her, he caught it with his mouth. Lifting up, he palmed her rear and turned, setting her on the counter as he stepped between her legs. She tasted of heaven and home, of apple and spices, of the sea and sky; so many different flavors, all identified to that of his Mackenzie. His muscles coiled tight, his need hammering nails in the coffin of his restraint.

  Mackenzie broke her mouth from his with a gasp, and she groaned as his mouth trailed down her neck, nipping and suckling. The sound was as sweet as sugar would be on his tongue.

  “Bari, don’t hold back.”

  An answering growl, a labored groan. Bari’s hands hooked under her thighs and pulled her closer as he bent her body back on the counter. She wrapped her legs around his waist and curled her body to his like someone hanging on for their life. His mouth came back up to hers, and as he captured her lips, he heard a tortured sigh.

  “Mackenzie.” The sigh came from him.

  Dishes clattered as he swiped them across the counter. Bari hovered above Mackenzie, his hands roaming with frantic movements before he dipped his hand beneath her shirt to seek skin. Under his palm she was so damn soft, like velvet, so warm to his touch. Warmth he yearned for on a cold night. He wanted to brand and possess her. The surge of it shocked him. Bari pulled back and stared down at her. Heavy-lidded eyes stared up at him, unblinking and heavy with anticipation. His hand paused just under the swell of her breast, and his fingers moved back and forth in a teasing caress, just barely brushing the sensitive skin.

  “Mackenzie, I’m not going to be able to stop until you tell me to. You understand?” His voice sounded thick, guttural.

  She answered by raising her head and pulling him down to her seeking lips. Heat pooled low in his stomach as his hips rolled against hers, eliciting a gasp as he rubbed right against her sex. His hand brushed under her bra, wrapped around her breast. She felt like heaven, silk, sweet temptation. Mackenzie moaned into his mouth and pressed her hips up to meet his in a primal movement as old as time, mimicking the movements of his tongue in her mouth with her body.

  “Mommy!”

  Mackenzie’s entire body went rigid at the sound of Byron’s voice. Bari's breathing sounded harsh in the small room as he pulled back. His body strained under her presence, and her sweet taste sitting on his tongue practically drove him insane. She was like his drug, and he was ever so happy to become an addict. Tossing her a slow grin, he took a step back and leaned against the counter, his palms coming down to curl under it in an attempt to hold himself in place. As Mackenzie hopped off the counter, he couldn’t help himself, and as if it were a natural reaction, he reached out to grab her, taking her small, petite frame and pulling her body to his. He wrapped his palm to the back of her head and held her. It felt like a normal thing to do, seemed as if she fit perfect, brought him such peace it astounded him. His body raged with demand, filled with need for her but with one touch, his mind wrapped up the peace somehow offered. The action was so sudden that they both paused, neither able to move. Bari lowered his hand and ran his fingers along her back, the action soothing his battered nerves, calming inner turmoil. He never allowed females in his bed, no one besides Mackenzie close, and never held anyone so close to his heart but her.

  “Mommy!”

  “I better go.”

  Bari nodded and remembered what he had been thinking about earlier. “I’m gonna crash right outside tonight. Keep an eye on the area and make sure you two are safe.”

  Mackenzie paused and studied him in that eerie way of hers again. “Why don’t you just take the guest room, Bari? There’s no point in sleeping out in the cold when we have more than enough space inside.”

  It’d be hell being so close to Mackenzie but not in her bed, but it made sense. And it brought up a perfect solution to his need in appeasing the protective instinct inside. “That sounds like a better plan. I’m going to catch some sleep. You should do the same.” Bari brushed his thumb across her swollen lips as she stepped back. Mackenzie turned from him, their fingers the last to break contact as she walked down the hallway toward Byron’s room. His gaze roamed the room one last time, taking it all in, the life she built here with his son. Things were about to change and that included him becoming a more permanent fixture in their lives. He didn’t have any kind of promise he could offer the two of them, but he’d be damned if he could just walk away.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Bari heard Alex pound on the door and knew it was time. One part of him was excited for the reprieve from his own mind and a chance to get out of the house, away from the constant temptation of Mackenzie. After several days of keeping watch over them, refusing to let them out of his sight, and bordering on driving Mackenzie insane, as she so eloquently told him earlier, he needed to do something more when he felt as if he wasn’t doing enough.

  Bari tossed a black tank top over his head and pulled the material down to cover his body, setting it over his jeans, which sat low on his hips. Bari laced up his combat boots and rose, walking over to grab his faded leather jacket and tossing it over his arm. He walked out of Mackenzie’s guest room feeling out of place but not wanting to be anywhere else.

  He approached the kitchen, walked around the corner, and paused at the sight of Mackenzie standing next to the very same window he’d studied in the room last night. His thoughts came rushing back to him, and he found it more than a coincidence that what he had pictured last night matched the very same sight before him now. The sun shone down on her, making the dark auburn highlights of her hair stand out. Bari didn't make a sound, didn't move, and drank in the sight of her. She had pulled her hair back, the tail of her tresses hanging off one of her shoulders and yet with each movement it seemed to caress her skin the way his hands itched to. He shook the stupor from himself and walked into the kitchen.

  "Morning, Angel."

  Mackenzie turned toward him, her entire face lighting up, and he had a sudden moment’s panic. He was putting that look there: hope, that’s what he’d call it, and it scared him shitless. No one should rely on him; he liked it that way, was all too familiar with letting people down. He didn’t have enough emotion, enough stability in his life. Damn, his feelings were so mixed up and disharmonized that he found even his own back and forth choices were even annoying him.

  Glancing over at Alex, he saw her brother studying Mackenzie. A deep frown marred the man’s face before Alex’s light green eyes caught Bari’s and held them. They narrowed with an unspoken promise, passed along a threat. Bari shook his head and turned to the mug waiting for him on the counter. While Alex had already run him through the basic operation of today, he didn't feel as confident as he would out in the desert of Iraq with his own team. A set of keys was tossed through the air, and he lifted a hand on reflex, caught them and turned his palm over. Today his station was on a motorcycle, nothing compared to the Harley he grew up on, but it would do for today’s operation. After being in storage for so long, his bike wouldn’t be ready for a whi
le. The dark monster of a machine was the one thing he felt assured straddling, and he couldn’t wait to get it between his legs again. The comparison between what he liked to straddle and what he wanted to straddle him wasn't lost on him at all, and with a sly grin, he set the mug down, glanced over at Mackenzie, and sent her a smile he hoped radiated confidence and security.

  Today would be the day they’d bring this asshole terrorizing Mackenzie out into the open.

  They couldn’t fuck this up.

  ****

  Bari sat in a corner of her shop, his gaze roaming over the patrons. The sit and wait approach never sat well with him, but they didn’t know where this bastard was and were forced to wait until he made a move. Every instinct in Bari’s head screamed, and it made his skin crawl. Mackenzie was purposely setting herself up, and he didn’t like it one bit.

  Byron had been sent to Mackenzie’s mother's for the weekend, and she tossed herself into work, flitting around the shop. Her mood didn’t fool him: Bari recognized the nervous energy and from the stress lines around her eyes, he knew she was just as upset about this.

  He also didn’t like that, not one bit.

  Alex set up down the street, stationed in an undercover sedan that screamed cop; Bari’s team was strategically placed all around town, surrounding Mackenzie’s shop. Bari knew his team was good, knew they wouldn’t let anything by, but this was Mackenzie’s safety they played with and it didn’t calm him.

  Just then Mackenzie caught his gaze and crinkles formed around her eyes as she passed him a smile before she turned away.

  Didn’t work, Angel.

  As Mackenzie approached his table, he turned his attention from the crowd to her green, beautiful gaze. He took another moment, his thoughts rolling around, going different directions on what he wanted to say or should say. It was a battle, one he had grown familiar with in her presence. Worry lines strained the area around her mouth.

  “I won’t let anything touch you, Mac.”

  He took his role seriously with anyone he protected, but with Mackenzie, it was an extreme need. He didn’t want to try to evaluate it, but recognized it as something that was like a second skin.

  “I’ve killed more than I can count, Angel. Some I’m not happy about, though with others it was kill or be killed. But something you are going to have to understand about the way I kill…” He paused for a few moments and held her gaze, needing her to grasp who he was. “I’ll show no remorse. I know nothing about this world, but killing, it’s just what I do. The only thing I’ve ever been able to do well. Especially when someone messes with what matters to me.”

  Mackenzie’s eyes flared. “You talk about it as if it should be something I’m comfortable with.”

  “Mac,” he shrugged, “it’s who I am.” Bari held her gaze. It wasn’t the killing or even the reminder of what he had done. It was who he was. Point blank. No holding back, things were placed in her lap. She would have to be the next to move.

  Checkmate.

  He cleared his throat and studied their surroundings, looking for anything out of place, and felt as if everything was.

  “So what are we looking for? Can you describe him for me again?”

  As Mackenzie spoke, he studied her and saw her body tremble. Bari’s frown deepened, and he had a brief image of him tossing her over his shoulder and hiding her away until the threat passed. The urge to do it was so strong that he ground his teeth together in order to stay seated. A tendon snapped in his jaw and shook him. Bari kicked out a leg, wrapping it around the leg of a chair and pulling it close.

  “Sit.”

  Mackenzie did immediately, and he leaned forward, his thighs spread enough to wrap around the sides of hers, and commanded her attention.

  “Mac…” He lifted a hand, unable to stop, and brushed a loose tendril of hair from her face. Her shining eyes lifted to his, and Bari blinked as her hands came up to palm the sides of his face.

  “Bari…”

  He let out a deep breath and forced his body to relax, which really wasn’t fucking easy with her hands on him. He pushed down the response and waited for her. Mackenzie’s mind screamed at him, the touch on his face enhancing the connection. She wanted this threat removed, wanted this stalker found, and wanted what he yearned to give her. Bari focused on her need for safety, pushed the rest away and in doing so, it about crushed his heart in two.

  With her touch though, he recognized a spike in his power. It wasn’t something he could explain but more so almost like a spike in energy, as if he had drunk a six-pack of Red Bulls. The power pushed to be used, begged to be set free. He gave in to the temptation and closed his eyes. Something needed to be done.

  His mind sought past the crowds around them, through the town’s population, searching. He felt each of his team member’s minds as he touched them. In response, there was a quick second of surprise before they linked to his mind. He searched for the dark presence lurking by, a threat he knew was very real to Mackenzie’s life. It was something that tainted the clear air of Nantucket and darkened the town as if a storm cloud passed above. Nothing seemed to be meeting his search, and his free hand fisted at his side. His frustration grew, and just as he was about to pull away, he found what he sought.

  Blood lust hit him sharp, and he drew in a ragged breath, his brows drawing down and his face twisting into a snarl. It was a hunger filled with such hatred that it melted in his mind like soft chocolate until he couldn’t tell his own thoughts from those of the one he was linked to. Tyler urged him to pull back, but he ignored him and focused on the target. The malevolent mind held Mackenzie’s image in his head, and the threats streaming through were enough to horrify even Bari. The man was several miles away but closing in at a fast pace—focused on the kill to come.

  Bari growled. The fucker was a tad bit too cocky for his own good.

  “He’s coming. He knows we’re here.” He saw everything in this male’s mind, all the lewd, cruel things he planned for Mackenzie. His gut rolled. Opening his eyes he met Mackenzie’s gaze before the air shifted, almost as if a whisper of movement suddenly surrounded them. He didn’t have to look away from her hypnotizing gaze to see his team had arrived.

  “We need to go, Bari. Not here.” Tyler’s voice rumbled down to Bari, and he stood and then tore his eyes from Mackenzie reluctantly. Their minds linked together gathered power to the connection, made it stronger than he’d felt before. This connection felt new, yet at the same time so natural. It was reminiscent of the connection when they were in the field, but Bari hadn’t understood it then. Now it was pungent, full of life, powerful, and addictive. Mike, miles away, fed information over their connection. Like always, they didn’t need to speak, and Bari didn’t need to give commands. His team simply operated as a single mind, and now he understood why. He took in everything Mike sent and watched as the threat drew closer to town.

  Alex burst into the shop, confusion playing over his features. “What’s going on, Bari?”

  Bari tilted his head at Mackenzie’s brother, a little unnerved at just how in tune he was to his sister. He’d always heard twins had links to one another but hadn’t understood it until now, as he held a link of his own. His team pulled the cop in, needing Alex to stay behind and watch over Mackenzie. There was no way in hell he felt comfortable leaving her right now, but having her brother close by gave him some measure of comfort.

  “Stay here with Mac.”

  Alex stepped forward. “Let the cops handle this, Bari. Don’t be stupid.”

  Bari turned his icy blue glaze toward the man. Her brother’s eyes were so damn similar to Mackenzie’s that he had to take a moment and rein in control to prevent his patience from snapping. This protection urge was a living and breathing monster inside of him.

  “The cops handled it once and fucked it up. Don’t worry; he won’t be a threat any longer. Stay with her, Alex.”

  Turning, not waiting for a response, the three of them stepped behind the shop, out of public view
, and honed in on Mike. Tyler set his hand on Bari’s shoulder before they disappeared.

  Chapter Twenty

  Just outside of Nantucket, near the state forest, the team appeared and converged on a small cabin. Set away from civilization, the cabin was tucked deep in the woods, away from roads, and a sickening feeling filled Bari’s chest. Being connected to the bastard’s mind still, he could read all of what he planned for Mackenzie, seeing images of her in a remote cabin, bound to this man’s will. Bari’s imagination filled in the blanks, sending a surge of fury through him, power sparking off his skin as it stretched under emotion. As if called, a male came out of the cabin and looked around.

  Dozens of visions assaulted Bari’s mind, the attack on Mackenzie and her horror-stricken face filled his vision. It was as if he had been pulled into the past, forced to relive the violence she’d been through at the hands of this man. Why hadn’t she told him?

  On one hand he felt as if he were violating her privacy, knew she’d be upset by the knowledge he’d acquired. Yet, on the other hand, Bari’s beast inside fueled his fury. It grew until his vision tunneled and his mind warped to murderous intentions. A fantasy burst to life in Bari’s mind, one including pain, blood, and death—all of it planned for the rapist who stood in front of him.

  Settling in the tree line, Bari growled deep in his chest. He didn’t realize the sound came from him until a hand touched his shoulder. The silent support pulled him back from the precipice and forced him to take a moment to acquire patience. Tyler, Mike, and Tony stood and stepped out from the wood line. Bari followed a heartbeat later and advanced in front of his team. The four of them walked with menacing steps toward the cabin. Standing at the top of wooden stairs, the man’s thick, pudgy cheeks shook as he drew back. The wide expanse of his stomach strained against the white stained t-shirt before giving up the fight against gravity and hanging over the waistband of his dark jeans. The male’s black eyes widened.