“I’m going to leave you two alone,” said Lucas. “Do me a favour and let me know if he wakes up, would you?”
Naomi nodded silently.
Lucas pulled the chair to where she stood and she sat down as he left the room. Her hand held onto Tyler’s for two hours as she watched him.
It was no wonder he was angry—no wonder he needed constant escape. And it was no wonder he’d thrown himself, literally, to the wolves to protect Lucas. He would spend his whole life trying to save everyone but himself. To prove that he was worth something after all.
It was after midnight, finally, that Naomi felt his fingers twitch around her own. She placed her other hand over his, stroking its back as she spoke his name softly.
His eyes opened and he turned his head her way.
“Don’t move,” she said. “I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to move.”
“How can I look at you if I don’t?” he asked, smiling weakly.
Naomi stood and leaned over him. “There,” she said. “Now you don’t have to turn your neck.”
“You look like an angel,” he muttered. “My ferret angel.”
“I’m nothing of the sort, as you know.”
“You are. You’re good. So good.”
“So are you. And you’re an idiot, nearly getting yourself dismembered like that.”
“Pretty good, huh?” he chuckled. “I guess five wolves is my limit.”
“Yeah, well, if they hadn’t already beaten you to a pulp, I’d do it now. I’m mad at you.”
“Aw. I’m sorry.” He moved his hand to her face, sweeping her hair behind an ear. “I’d make it up to you with some hot sex, but I think they broke me.”
“Wait ’til you’re better, then you can do whatever you want to me.”
“Really?” His expression changed, as though he’d remembered something. “No—Naomi—you’re not even supposed to be here. You hate me.”
“I don’t hate you. Quite the opposite,” she said. Her eyes moved away from his face. She felt his hand squeeze hers briefly before he tried to pull away.
“No way,” she said. “I’m not letting you get away this time.” She locked eyes on his.
“You’ll want me to, when you know the truth about me,” he said. “I need to tell you, though. I can’t stand the thought that you’ll hate me. But if I let you walk out of here again, I’ll hate myself, which is even worse. Look—when I was a kid, something happened. Something bad.”
“Lucas told me,” she interrupted before he could continued. “He showed me an article that said what happened to your parents. I know, Tyler. And you have no idea how good you are. You beat yourself up, you try to get other people to beat you up in the boxing ring. But you deserve happiness. What happened was awful, and I’m so sorry. But you did what you needed to, and you need to accept that after all this time.”
“He beat her,” he said, his voice barely more than a whisper as his eyes shifted away from her face. “More than once, to within an inch of her life.”
“Did he shift before he attacked her?”
“No. Never. He pummelled her in his human form. Do you know what that feels like, Naomi? An animal being an animal is one thing—a lion fights. Even ferrets are built for fighting, for killing. But humans? We’re not. For a human to attack someone like that takes a real dose of madness. And he was mad—he would go insane, come home drunk and just take all his rage at the world out on her.”
“I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s no wonder…”
“I was young, and weak. I saw it happening, or heard it, which was sometimes worse. It killed me not to be able to help. But when I was fourteen, I was tall, strong. I could take him. And I did.”
“What do you mean? Tell me everything.”
“One day, he did more than hit her. He had a knife, and before I could get close, he’d…” His voice broke, and Naomi could see him choking back tears. But he continued. “He didn’t know I was behind him. And I grabbed his arm from behind and twisted, and he dropped the knife. I threw him across the room, blinded by rage. And I could see it in his eyes—that same rage, aimed at no one and everyone at once. He hated the world.
“Nothing I did dissuaded him. He was going to kill her this time, and my resistance only fuelled the fire. He leapt at her again, even though she was on the ground, bleeding.”
His eyes met hers again. There was no smile. No grimace. Only emptiness.
“I killed him, Naomi. With these hands.” He held them before him, examining them. “Not with the teeth of a lion. With these. I could have forgiven myself had I shifted. Anyone could have—animals can go wild. But it’s inhuman to kill someone with their bare hands.”
“But don’t you see what you did? How noble it was?”
“I try. But now when I look at myself in the mirror, I see that boy who killed his father. The boy who failed to save his mother. An orphan who had orphaned himself.”
“Do you understand that you were trying to protect her? You did exactly what any strong man would have done. But you were just a boy. You did everything you could.”
“I know. Rationally, I know.” He breathed a heavy sigh. “I’ve tried so many times to forgive myself. Maybe I need someone like you to forgive me instead.”
“Tyler—there’s nothing to forgive. I’m no shrink, but I need you to let me help you. You need to start understanding how good a man you are. How much people like Lucas care about you. And how much I lo—”
She stopped herself abruptly. The words had flowed without thought, just bursting out of her.
He turned to her and smiled. Not the smile that Naomi had seen so many times; that charming, calculated expression of someone masking pain. This was a genuine, happy grin.
“You were really going to say it,” he said. “You really feel it.”
“Yes. I do. More now than ever, even though you look like you fell out of a tree onto your lower lip.”
“Kiss my fat lip, would you?” he said, and she did.
“You are the most amazing woman,” he added. Naomi simply smiled, her fingers brushing a few loose strands of hair off his forehead. “And I have to thank you.”
“For what?”
“I feel free. For the first time in my life, the burden has lifted.”
“You’ve never told a woman about this, have you?”
“No. But I wanted to tell you—so badly. You’re the first woman in my life I’ve ever wanted to open up to. And I tried—I really did. But you need to understand, I felt myself falling for you, so quickly. Head over heels. The thought that you’d reject me was too much. It was easier, I suppose, to pull myself out of it before I got hurt. Or worse, hurt you.”
“I was never going to reject you,” she said, leaning down to kiss his lips. “Never. You pushed me away. But I wanted you to pull me in.”
Tyler laid a hand on her cheek again, his bright eyes looking into hers as shallow lines formed around them, revealing his pure happiness. “I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun.”
“You’re quoting Pride and Prejudice,” she said. “You really are perfect.”
“Not perfect. But I have you—and that’s perfection.”
“Well, if you want into my pants, just keep talking like that—Mr. Darcy,” she laughed. “He is a sexy man. But I’ll take my Tyler over him any day of the year.”
“Then you’ve just made me the happiest man alive.”
* * *
It was three days before Naomi was allowed to take Tyler home—to her home, as it turned out. She insisted that he return with her, saying that he was too weak to look after himself. He wanted to be irritated with her for the insinuation, but simply laughed, saying, “Yes, Ma’am,” as he climbed into the back of the cab with her.
“Are you still on painkillers?” she asked when at last he stood in her kitchen, eyeing her hungrily.
&nbs
p; “No. I don’t like drugs. Why?”
“I was going to offer you a beer. I wasn’t sure if you’re allowed.”
Tyler took her by the waist, pulling her to him. His lips were on hers, hot and full of want, the desire of the last empty days finally beginning to find what it sought. She nearly dropped the glass that she’d picked up, managing to return it to the counter before draping an arm around his neck. This kiss—this was new, different than ever before.
He’d been hungry during their first days together, feral. Each time he’d touched her, it was like he knew that it might be the last, as though he’d needed to consume her with a violence that encompassed all of his frustration, all of his secrets.
But now, there was something else. Love. Gratitude. A release, rather than a need to grab hold and possess her on the spot. Now there was the comfort of deep, enduring affection.
“No beer,” he managed before raking his teeth along her neck. “No anything but you and me.”
“I can live with that,” she said, lifting her chin to offer her white skin to his lips. Blindly she pulled at the buttons on his shirt, relieving him quickly of the garment before running her fingers along his abdomen. His wounds, inflicted by the Kefir members, were healing. But he would have scars, and she smiled, knowing that they’d only add to his sexiness.
Finally she felt as though she could take her time with him; the fear that he would disappear was gone. There was no longer a time limit on their adoration—they had until the day they died to spend together. And she knew that she’d never get tired of him—of seeking out each ebb and flow of his hard body, looking for an elusive inch of softness here or there among the muscles, the taut firmness of his body.
He was powerful, but now his power had altered; it was more subdued, concealed. His lion was resting, at peace, no longer demanding the world of him. He and his inner beast had both been tamed.
“I need to take you somewhere,” he said.
“Oh? Where?”
“The bedroom, first and foremost. Then we’ll talk about the rest of our lives.”
“Sounds perfect.”
He lifted her easily, his hands under the backs of her knees, and once again she felt her core tighten in anticipation. They’d been together so many times, and yet this would be the first time they’d ever made love as two people who trusted and had utter faith in one another.
He set her down gently, effortlessly, on the soft mattress coated in white cotton.
“You’re so beautiful,” he said, his eyes exploring her body. It wasn’t the first time, but it was different. She reached for the button on his jeans, tearing them open. “This is hardly fair,” he said. “I’ll be naked before you.”
“It’s fair if you’re me.”
“Well, let’s balance things out for me, shall we?” he asked, reaching down to undo her jeans. He slipped them over her hips, dragging her panties with them and tossed them onto the floor, pulling her socks off one by one.
He stood, lowering his own jeans to reveal his swollen cock as she lay smiling, taking in the sight of him once again.
“You know what I want,” she said. “What I need from you.”
He slid over her, his body parallel with hers, one hand pushing her shirt upwards. “I’ll give you what you need, but damn it, this shirt shouldn’t be here…” he said. She arched her back so that he could reach around her, leaning on his elbows, and undo her bra. Then Naomi slipped both garments over her head, offering every inch of herself to him.
“This is all mine,” he said. “This has been mine since the first moment—do you know that?”
“I do now,” she whispered. “I never understood what you wanted from me—I was scared—”
“Well.” He peppered her breasts with kisses, his teeth nipping at her flesh. “You never need to be scared again. I’ve claimed you, and you’ve claimed me. You are deep inside me, Naomi.”
“I’m glad. But I want you deep inside me.”
He slipped into her once, his face looking down at hers as she took him in: those blue eyes, more intense than ever, a new expression setting in. Joy. Bliss, even, as he lowered his body momentarily onto hers, his chest pressing into her own.
“Again,” she said. “Deep.”
And again he entered her, slipping into her welcoming channel, his cock swelling within her beautiful heat. He moved inside her as she rolled her hips, encouraging the motion, lifting herself into him as their bodies met. His eyes shut for a moment, the feeling so intense, so real. But then they reopened and met her own.
“I can’t close my eyes. I don’t want to miss this,” he said, staring down at her as she bit her lip.
“Miss what?” she asked. His thrusts were harder now, his intensity growing with his gaze.
“The look on your face when I tell you how much I love you.”
Naomi pulled his face to hers and met his lips with her own. There had never been a more perfect moment in the history of the world, she knew. She draped her arms around him, pulling him close as they moved together as one.
“I love you too.”
Chapter Eleven
Epilogue
Miri waved as the car pulled away.
“We’re going to start a new life,” Naomi had told her a few weeks earlier. “In another place, far away from Tyler’s past. He’s finally going back to school to get his PhD, and I can write anywhere so it’s easy for me.”
And like that, they’d left. Naomi had entrusted Miri with the task of renting out her former apartment, with the agreement that eventually she could consider buying the entire building, if Plenty of Shift took off financially—which it seemed to be doing. New clients were flooding in daily, to the point where Miri was going to have to consider hiring a couple of full-time assistants.
When Naomi and Tyler’s car was out of sight, Miri walked back into her apartment and began rifling through the files containing the next prospective clients. One woman had intrigued her recently—a young human who’d come to Plenty of Shift looking for a shifter, having grown tired of the type of man that she usually dated.
Two shifters had caught the matchmaker’s eye: a bear shifter called Slate and a wolf shifter called Kai. They’d be exactly what she was looking for. Now it was only a matter of introducing them to their potential mate.
* * *
The day of the interviews came and Miri sat Slate down first. The man was enormous, even bigger than her mate, Malcolm. Slate must have been over six-foot-five and his shoulders may as well have belonged to a giant.
“So,” Miri said, her face admiring and smug at once. She really did know how to pick the most attractive shifters. “You’re part grizzly. What do you do for a living?”
“I’m in construction. I build houses, mostly, though my big plan is to build my own outside of town.”
“With your bare hands?” Miri laughed. He looked as though he might just be able to do it.
“I suppose I could. But no—I usually stick with power tools rather than shattering logs with my brute strength. Is this important?”
“Probably not. So let’s get to the good stuff. Tell me something interesting about yourself—something that a woman might like to know.”
“Well, I work hard—which isn’t so interesting. My life is split between my contracted hours and my daughter.”
Miri’s eyes widened. Here was a surprise. “Oh, you have a child? How old is she?”
“Eight. Her mother died a few years ago, so we’re on our own. And before we proceed—if that’s an issue in terms of my meeting someone, I understand. But we’re complete set, and not to be split up by anyone.”
“I understand,” said Miri. “So what does this mean for your dating life?”
“It means that I don’t have as much time as some men. It also means that I understand responsibility and how to look after someone. But it also means that I don’t have time for games or for being jerked around. I’m a straight shooter, and I expect the same from any
woman I date.”
“Am I to think you don’t like having fun?”
For the first time, a dimple appeared on Slate’s right cheek as a smile broke through his serious features. “I love having fun,” he admitted. “It’s been a while is all. I’ve all but forgotten how.”
“Well, maybe the right woman could give you a refresher course. Tell me—how do you feel about dating a human?”
Slate went silent for a moment, his hands clasping together as his eyes seemed to glaze over.
“I’m sorry—did I say something stupid?” asked Miri.
“My daughter’s mother was human,” he said. “So no—I have no problem with them. I loved one once. Maybe I can love one again.”
* * *
Kai was tall and slender, less hulking than Slate but nevertheless powerful. He was a wolf shifter through and through, his light eyes piercing and keen.
“I teach,” he said when she asked. “High school Phys Ed.”
“I see,” said Miri. “I’m not surprised; you look like an athlete. So you’re used to corralling people and barking orders at teenagers. That can’t be easy.”
“It’s easier than some things.” His words held a good deal of meaning, though he didn’t expand.
“How do you feel about your Alpha?” Miri asked the question point blank, unflinching. By now she was beyond tired of the Pack’s shenanigans and had little sympathy for anyone who supported them.
“The Alpha—Char—is not popular. But no one’s been able to overthrow him yet.”
“Yet?”
“It’s only a matter of time,” Kai said quietly. “I’d say that tolerance has reached a minimum, and the forces are rallying to get new leadership into place. There are things going on behind the scenes that might surprise you.”
“Interesting. And would you ever lead a mutiny against him?”
“It’s hard to say. And besides, I would never admit such a thing. I’d be a fool to do so.”
Naomi and Tyler (Plenty of Shift Book 2) Page 9
