by E A Price
Well, that went well. She turned to the ice cream truck in time to see Cutter punching the other male. Oh, pumpernickel!
*
Lucie pulled Cutter into the truck, ignoring the string of obscenities he was currently leveling at the bleeding panther shifter.
“Son of a squeegee, what were you thinking? Anyone could have seen you!” she cried when safely ensconced inside.
Cutter’s whole body throbbed as he clenched his fists. His blazing amber eyes eagerly looked past her to the door, which she was currently blocking.
“The fucker had it coming,” he hissed.
Lucie threw up her arms. “For what?”
“I told his kid to shove it and…”
“You told a kid to shove it?” she repeated incredulously.
His jaw ticked. “Not in those exact words.”
Was he kidding? “Worse words than shove it?”
Cutter ground his teeth impatiently. “His fat son was badgering me about giving him ice cream and I told him over and over that I wasn’t going to sell him any, so I gave in and yeah, I told the little asshole to fuck off and suddenly I’m the bad guy?”
“Yes! He’s a kid and you’re a grown man; you should know better!”
He growled. “A grown man with anger issues - he’s lucky I can control myself as much as I do. The dad got in my face so, you know, nature took its course.” Cutter clenched his fist and pounded it into the freezer. “That guy tried to push me around, and I don’t take crap from anyone.”
Maybe she should have been disturbed by his outburst, and even scared by his display of violence, but she wasn’t. Her little hedgehog whined, and she realized it was out of concern. “Why are you so angry?”
“Ugh, I don’t fucking know!” he hollered. “It’s something all my shrinks have been trying to figure out for years. Father issues cause my stepdad slapped us around, being kicked out of my pack for being too aggressive, serving overseas in the army, the whole torture thing – take your fucking pick!”
He smashed his other fist into the freezer, giving it a matching dent. He barely had time to prepare as Lucie threw herself at him, mashing her lips against his. He stood rigid for a few moments in disbelief before he opened his mouth to her probing tongue and slipped his arms around her.
After a breathless exploration of his mouth, she pulled away and lavished kisses on his neck, licking and biting his skin. His erection pressed against her stomach, and she rubbed her breasts against him.
“What are you doing?” he groaned.
“You’re frustrated,” she breathed in between kisses. “I’m giving you an outlet for your anger.”
One hand settled on her ass while another reached up to massage her breast. “Usually I punch things.”
“Mmm, this is more fun.” Her fingers found his belt and started tugging it open.
“Aren’t you afraid I’ll hurt you?”
“I’m not so easily breakable, whatever you got, I can take it.”
Lucie almost jumped for joy as she freed him from his pants and smoothed her hand up and down his fat length.
“Here? Now?” he asked in disbelief. He really wasn’t getting with the program.
Her hand stilled, and she pouted. “Well, if you don’t want to?” She gave him a firm squeeze, and he let out a sensual snarl.
“I want to,” he growled.
Thank Merlin’s beard for that!
He crushed his lips to hers for a bruising kiss before pulling away and spinning her to lean over the counter. She squeaked in delighted surprise as he dragged her shorts down her legs. He leaned over her back, kissing and nipping her neck; his body pressed against her and his manhood rubbed against her buttocks.
“Stop teasing me; I need you, too,” she pleaded.
And in a way she did. She needed to do this for him; she needed to calm him, needed to take away his pain. Her beast was a soothing, timid little creature while his was a gruff, unmanageable beast. They needed each other.
Thankfully, he didn’t keep her waiting long.
Grabbing her hips, he pressed himself inside her with one, inexorable push. She let out a keening cry as he started driving himself inside her with a passion. Her fingers scrabbled and scraped over the counter as he pounded her. Her head rolled from side to side as heat bloomed in her womb.
His hands slid underneath her shirt, rubbing the soft globes of her breasts and tweaking the nipples through her bra. She moaned as electric pleasure shot straight to her girly parts.
“So close,” she gasped and pushed her hips back against him.
With a roar, Cutter buried himself inside her so deliciously deeply and exploded. His hands grasped her breasts almost painfully, and the added sensation sent her flying over the edge. She yelled his name as her beast barked in pleasure, her body writhed and pulsed in his arms before she collapsed, panting and moaning.
Cutter rested his head on her back. “Was that okay?”
“Oh, yes, definitely,” she cooed from her slumped over position on the counter. She felt boneless.
“I didn’t hurt you…”
“Heavens no, not even close. I told you, I don’t break so easily. That was… wonderful. Did I hurt you? I Mean, your wounds…”
“Of course not,” he snapped and pulled out of her; she winced at his sudden departure. Even soft, he was still pretty darn big.
“Lucie, I…”
Ugh, there was that apologetic tone again. She sighed; he was about to give her the ‘that was great, but we’re just good friends blah, blah, blah’ speech. Her hedgehog huffed in disappointment. She really wasn’t in the mood.
“I’m fine, Cutter. I’m fine.”
She leaned down and pulled up her shorts. He really needed to stop worrying. She’d been horny for a good year now, so she was currently letting her girly parts do the thinking for her. While Cutter worried he was taking advantage of her, he couldn’t be more wrong. She’d pursued him for a year and now that he was in dire straits, she was going to take full advantage of his dependence on her to ravish his body over and over. While she couldn’t deny that she would dearly like for their relationship to be long term, there was no way she could regret what they were doing, and he was silly if he actually thought he was the one in charge of their couplings. Not that she would admit it to him - alpha male and all that.
Feigning nonchalance, she dipped into the freezer and pulled out a cherry flavored popsicle and started licking it suggestively. “So, what next?”
Cutter watched her with ill-concealed hunger. “I’m going to need a few moments.”
Her eyes took a slow, lingering tour of his body. “You don’t look like you need recovery time,” she teased with a wink.
The way he looked away almost in embarrassment was adorable. Although she suspected his reaction had more to do with misplaced guilt than anything else.
He cleared his throat. “Did Primrose say anything?”
“No, that woman’s more repressed than a… than a… oh I can’t think of anything.” After her earth-shaking orgasm, she was having trouble thinking at all. “But she didn’t say that she actually thought you were guilty.”
“Yeah, I didn’t think she’d help.”
“Avery told me that the II guy, Harvey Blue has taken over the investigation.”
“Fucker!” snarled Cutter as he zipped up his pants.
Sigh, what a pity – she was actually enjoying the view. “He creeps me out.”
“No big surprise, that guy’s an asshole. Speaking of which, who was that fuckwit you let hug you?”
What was he talking about? Lucie gave him a frown in between licks.
“The wildebeest!” he grunted, tapping his foot. “I could scent his unwashed ass all the way over here.”
“Oh, Geoff? He’s happily married with three kids, and he was just helping me because I almost slipped and fell on my behind.”
Cutter looked like he wanted to argue, but visibly, he held himself back. “Well, goo
d. I don’t like seeing other men hug you. But I have to admit, I enjoyed your hug with Avery.”
“Mmmm, me too,” she said as she threw away her popsicle stick and started licking her fingers a little more zealously than she should have.
His eyes widened with lust before he scowled. “You probably shouldn’t do it again,” he said grouchily and with obvious jealousy.
Silly wolf, hadn’t she told him over and over he was the only one for her? Although, she had to admit a little possessiveness wasn’t entirely unwelcome. Her hedgehog growled disapprovingly.
“So what now?” she asked, changing the subject.
“We’ll follow Primrose; maybe she’ll lead us to Sadie.”
Lucie giggled. “Are we going to follow her in an ice cream truck?” She traced her fingers over the two fist-shaped dents in the freezer. “Not sure how to explain this to Malcolm.”
“I’ll think of an excuse for your precious Malcolm.”
“Oh for the love of…”
“And with any luck, Primrose will be looking for black SUVs and she won’t think twice about a friendly neighborhood ice cream truck.”
Cutter slid into the driver’s seat, and Lucie took the passenger seat, huffing and clucking her tongue.
“By the way, Avery wanted me to pass on a message about a case you were working on before… you know…”
He turned to face her sharply. “You didn’t tell her that I was hiding out with you?”
“No, don’t worry - you’re safe. She guessed it, and she wouldn’t tell anyone.”
“It’s not me I’m worried about, they could throw you in jail for helping me.”
Worry etched his handsome face and her hedgehog virtually swooned. Maybe he was a little crazy, but he did care about her. It made her heart bloom with tender love and her shorts wet with excited need. Did they have time to… uh oh, no they didn’t. There was a steaming pile of danger marching their way.
“I’m pleased that you care but maybe we should get going because it kind of looks like there’s a lynch mob heading our way.”
Lucie pointed out the window to the six, overly large, bullish men heading their way. The one in the middle leading the charge was the panther shifter Cutter punched – identifiable by the streams of blood on his face. They all looked similar with their thick bodies, flat noses and small, squinty eyes. Perhaps they were brothers and panther shifters – that was one hell of a litter.
Cutter being Cutter, he just bellowed with laughter and cracked his knuckles. “Don’t worry, sweetheart, I can take them.”
“Won’t that draw attention to you?”
He creased his brow at her comment. It wasn’t that she didn’t think he was capable of winning a smack down with six angry panther shifters – per se. It was just that she didn’t exactly relish the thought of watching her honey bunny get hurt. He was always blathering on about how he couldn’t stand the thought of her getting hurt, so why would it be any different for her?
Thankfully, whatever deity was watching out for hedgehog shifters, decided to throw her a bone.
“Hey, look!” she cried pointing in the opposite direction. “Isn’t that Primrose’s car leaving? The game must be over.”
“Ah, shit!” exclaimed Cutter throwing the truck into drive and peeling after Primrose. He huffed as he drove past the jeering panthers. “I could have taken them,” he muttered petulantly.
Lucie rubbed his shoulder. “Of course you could,” she cooed, stroking his ego. “They wouldn’t have known what hit them.”
His lips curled upwards, and he rubbed his cheek against her hand as he drove.
Chapter Seventeen
They followed Primrose for about an hour. She seemed to be driving aimlessly and doubled back on her route several times. At first they thought she had spotted them, but they reaped their reward when she ended up at a storage depot.
They watched as she drove inside the depot, using a key code for the gate and waving at the guard who was watching a Golden Girls rerun.
Cutter drove around the outside of the depot until he found a quiet and unobserved spot to park. There only appeared to be one camera at the front gate, so the security guard wouldn’t be an issue, and given the height of the fence, Cutter was, for the first time that day, pleased that he was driving such a ridiculous vehicle. It was extremely handy in the circumstances. Lucie, on the other hand, didn’t seem to share his enthusiasm.
He opened his arms. “Just jump, sweetheart, I’ll catch you.”
Lucie was crouching on top of the truck chewing on her lip. “What if you don’t?”
To get over the fence, all he had to do was climb onto the roof of the ice cream truck and jump over. The stupid truck was the right height just to vault on over. Lucie wasn’t thrilled with this plan, but her concern over his wounds was soon shot down and, reluctantly, she went along with it and had allowed Cutter to help her climb onto the roof. Since he had already taken the plunge over the fence, however, her nerves seemed to be getting the better of her.
“I will.”
Her bottom lip quivered in fear. His little hedgehog really wasn’t good with heights. His wolf yowled, wanting to leap back up there, wrap her in his arms and promise her that he would always be there to protect her from pesky heights. Sappy, right? If this were anyone other than Lucie, he’d already be barking at them to jump, and his wolf would be sneering scornfully. It might not always show, but he had a lot of patience for her.
Lucie was wringing her hands. “Won’t it hurt?”
“No, you won’t hit the ground.”
“I mean you, won’t it hurt you when I land on top of you and turn you into a pancake?”
Cutter let out a deep belly laugh and actually had to slap his leg. It wasn’t just her comical words; it was the serious mien of her face as she said them.
“I’ll be fine,” he said through a few last twitches of laughter.
“Your funeral, wolf,” she muttered as she inched to the edge of the roof and shakily stood up. “Maybe I should shift and try and crawl through the fence.”
“You’re not getting naked outside,” he told her sternly, “and besides, you’re light as a feather, hedgehog.”
“You’re a good liar, I know I’m chubby.”
“C’mon sweetheart, you have a perfect figure – you’re just fishing for compliments.”
“Oh, snot buckets! Here I come.”
Lucie closed her eyes and with something akin to a belly flop, jumped off the truck. Cutter caught her, naturally, and hardly even buckled under her weight. He wasn’t kidding when he said she was as light as a feather to him or that her figure was perfect. Okay, maybe she packed a few extra pounds than his previous females, but boy were they packed in all the right places.
Reluctantly, he set her on her feet and took her hand. Sniffing the air for the hyena’s scent, he inclined his head and set off running in her direction. Lucie puffed and panted alongside him, but never once complained or told him to slow down. It was perhaps unfortunate that it was such a large storage depot. He did consider offering to carry her, but the sight of her jiggling, as she ran, was already pretty distracting, having her warm body pressed up against him would make him completely forget their purpose for being there.
He slowed as Primrose’s scent intensified; it was coming from a storage lockup with a slightly ajar door. Moving quietly they approached and just as Cutter tried to glance inside, Primrose appeared with a gun trained on them.
Instinctively, Cutter stood in front of Lucie, shielding her and whipped out his own gun. Or at least the gun he had liberated when he tussled with the coyote the previous night. Primrose stared at him coldly as his wolf trembled, waiting to pounce.
“Where did you get that gun?” asked a sweet voice from behind him as she tried to poke her around him to look.
He pushed her back with his free hand. “Not important. You better start talking, Primrose,” he ordered harshly.
“Me?” she spat. “You’r
e the one wanted for murder.”
“So call it in, tell them you caught me. Do it; I won’t shoot while you make the call.”
Primrose narrowed her eyes but didn’t make a move. Perhaps she was afraid he would shoot, but, he suspected that she didn’t want the SEA to turn up. They stood watching each other, resolutely still. He could hear Lucie shuffling from foot to foot behind him. Their standoff was interrupted by a moan floating to them from the storage lockup.
“Who was that?” he demanded roughly.
Primrose’s eye twitched, and her arm shook ever so slightly.
“Prim?” came a tremulous and weak voice.
Lucie sucked in a breath before she evaded his grasp and walked past both him and Primrose and straight into the lockup. Slowly Primrose lowered her gun, and he did the same.
“Cutter,” called Lucie.
He followed Lucie and found her standing over Sadie Beauchamp. The bobcat shifter was lying on a cot. She was pale and shaking.
“Fuck,” he breathed.
Lucie pulled back the dressing to a wound on her stomach and sucked in a breath at the bloody sight before her.
“I thought she was getting better,” mumbled Primrose as she stood next to him. Her usually hard eyes were frightened and brimmed with tears. “I took out the bullet and she seemed to be okay. She was fine last night, but now she…”
“She has a fever,” said Lucie, gently, “and her body can’t cope with both the fever and healing the gunshot wound. She needs antibiotics. We have some at the SEA building.”
“You can help her?” asked Primrose, wonderingly.
“Yes, but you have to promise not to turn Cutter in.”
Cutter looked at her in surprise, but the biggest surprise of all was when Primrose agreed to that without even hesitating.
Primrose fished a pen and paper out of her purse. “Write down what I need and I’ll go get them.”
Cutter grabbed one of the boxes piled in the corner and sat down heavily, watching Primrose warily. It occurred to him that Primrose could easily break her word and come back with a dozen agents to take him by force, but he doubted it. She seemed to be genuinely concerned about Sadie; he couldn’t sense any deception on her part.
