by Alison Aimes
“Y-yes.”
He brushed his thumb over her needy clit once more. “Good girl.”
“P-please.”
He lifted her up and spun her around, undoing his ropes with a few flicks. He let them fall to the ground, greedy for her hands to be on him for this next part. For her to make the choice all over again.
She watched in silence, a question in her half-lidded gaze.
“Put me inside you, sweetheart. Bring me home.” He lifted her once more, his big hands flexing around her perfect ass as understanding surfaced in her gaze.
“Home?” Wonder shimmered in her tone. Her hand slipped beneath his covering and stroked his shaft before guiding him to her entrance. “I never been anyone’s home before.”
“You are now.” He sank inside.
They groaned in unison.
Doubts and fears were forgotten as need took hold, and they chased the wild storm of pleasure together. As one.
“W-when I thought I not feel your touch again…never feel your skin against mine…it hurt so much.” She sobbed out her confession and he worked himself inside her. A wild frenzy.
Every whispered word from her lips soothing him, even as they sparked his need higher. It hadn’t been a desertion, but the highest form of sacrifice and protection. Just as he’d promised to do for her.
“You want to care for me, Nayla? This is what I need. You. Safe. With. Me.” Tilting her back, he dragged her body up and down his cock, punctuating each word with a sharp downward stroke meant to hit her clit just right. “Close enough to touch. Pleasure. Fuck.”
“Yes.” Surrendering to his fierceness, her head lolled back, her cunt clenching with each of his growled demands until she was moaning his name and coming, her wet channel squeezing him in its own desperate claiming.
The show of possession set him off. He came with a roar, holding her tight, as if he would never let her go.
He came back to himself slowly, her hair trailing across his chest as she pressed slow kisses to his jaw, her legs still wrapped around his hips.
He staggered to the nearest rock and sank down, his cock buried deep inside her. The only place he wanted to be.
Their gazes locked once more. All the vulnerability and awe, courage and fear, that had drawn him to her in the first place was only sharper and more vivid in her gorgeous eyes now.
Tenderness flooded through him, along with sheer panic. He couldn’t fail her. He wouldn’t.
“I sorry I upset you. No one ever need me before.” Her voice trembled as she reached out and traced his lip with her fingertip. “I-I didn’t think from your side. Only that I want to protect you like you do me. I do better job next time.”
He clutched her tighter, his words emerging as a near growl. “I don’t need you to prove a damn thing to me.”
She nodded, but her ears twitched, and he didn’t miss the defiance swirling in her gaze. “I used to think home a place, but no more. You are my shelter, Grif. Soon you will realize I can be that for you, too.”
The monster inside him roared once more.
Everything he’d never known he’d wanted was in his arms and branded on his soul—and he knew all too well how quickly it could be taken away.
38
Nayla woke the next rotation in their tent, a thick arm slung over her waist. Grif must have carried her back to the underground shore where the others were camped. She’d been so worn out she hadn’t even realized.
“You okay, wild thing?” His voice was an even deeper rasp than usual.
She rolled to face him, pressing close and nuzzling his neck without hesitation. “Yes. I feel better.”
Thanks to him.
What had happened in her life had left her wild, shaping the creature that lived inside her heart into a snarling, wounded spirit that was always afraid. That did not know how to be gentle and trust. It should have consigned her to an isolated life. Except Grif had figured out how to slip beneath her defenses.
He understood how to soothe her spirit. He saw what she was and what she needed. It didn’t repel him.
Because the monster inside him, the beast shaped by his past, just as she had been by hers, was as desperate to demand her surrender as she was for him to seize it.
They fit. Two twisted souls whose needs matched. Their bodies and souls aligned. They liked to come together in a clash, their struggle wild and raw, full of teeth and fangs and ferocious passion. Animalistic. And when he took her, when he seized her hips and lifted her to ride his cock, the beast inside her finally threw back its head and roared with bliss. Because she felt safe and seen.
No one else knew her like Grif did. No one else controlled her and pleasured her and cared for her like he did. No one else was capable of taking her to the edge as he did.
He was her refuge, but he did not understand yet that she could be his as well.
She would find a way to change that.
“Despite my worries,” she pressed a kiss to the hollow of his neck, feeling brave, “you find way to make me feel lighter.”
“I’m glad.” His fingers played in her hair, sending tiny shivers of pleasure cascading down her spine. “I’m going to have a little chat with Lana all the same.”
She reared back, causing a sharp tug at her scalp. “No. I work it out. You cannot fight all my battles.”
“For you? I’m ready and willing.”
She didn’t smile back.
“Okay. No interfering. But if there are any more problems,” he stretched and she grew momentarily distracted by the play of those perfect muscles rubbing against her, “you let me know.”
It took her a moment to recall they were still talking about Lana. “I will.” They were going to need to work on his inclination to swoop in and fix everything, but a little at a time. Right now, a change of subject seemed wise. “You called out in your sleep.”
A slight hesitation, but then the words slid from him easily, his tone back to teasing. “How is that possible? Somebody seriously wore me out.” He nipped at the tip of her ear.
Her lips tilted upward. She liked his flat teeth now. They had so many good uses. Still, she sensed the deflection beneath and, because she was determined to be brave, she caught his strong jaw between her hands. “You say, ‘help me.’”
He blew out a breath. “Yeah, happens sometimes. Just a bad dream.” He pressed a kiss to her palm. “Less these rotations than before. For a while, the memories were back and uglier than ever.”
“Why do you think?”
He shrugged, but she could see by the way his jaw clenched he wasn’t as casual about the topic as he pretended to be. “It was hard caged below in the prison mines. I don’t like feeling helpless.”
He’d said so before and it made sense. He was so vital and dominant. It wasn’t in his blood to submit.
“That’s not only reason though?” She held her breath, wondering if he’d shut her down.
“No.” He rolled onto his back, but he took her with him so that his side was pressed to her front. “That’s not all. Finding Hope and Melody, seeing what happened to them and their mom and all the slaves.” He blew out a breath and stared up at the tent ceiling. “It hit close to home. Brought back memories better locked away for good.”
She fought the guilt, but she doubted that would ever fully go away. Now that she knew him, she couldn’t bear to think that she had helped to put him in that place.
“Do you think it is good to lock away bad memories?” She wondered the same about her own.
He laughed, but there was no humor in it. “No idea. Probably not. I just do what works.”
Her heart ached for him. For the horror of it all. “How you kill your father?”
He tensed beside her. “I choked him to death the rotation my sister took her life. Used the very same rope. Seemed like fitting justice.”
“Grif.” She pressed closer to his side.
“I wasn’t caught. No one had cared what happened to a worthless drunk like h
im while he’d been alive. They cared even less about his death. I foraged on my own for a while, but was eventually found and sent to the orphan barracks. It was there I was recruited to join the Resistance.”
“You still a boy.”
“Yes, but I already knew what I was going to do. It’s why I became such a good tracker and hunter. Why I honed my fighting and killing skills and cultivated my interrogation abilities. I spent every breath of every lunar rotation doing whatever I could to learn how to track down bastards like my father before they hurt anyone else.” He sighed, his expression shifting to regret. “Somewhere along the way, though, things got twisted.” He grasped her chin and titled it up. “Somewhere along the way I ended up becoming the monster, and innocents like you paid the price.”
She shook her head. “I am no innocent. You no monster. And I am glad your father dead.”
“Yeah.” He didn’t sound entirely convinced by her defense. “Still feels like I failed my sister.”
His fierceness always aroused her, but it was these moments of vulnerability, this different sort of strength—when he faced his demons head-on and roared back at them—that she felt most aligned with him. As if their souls touched, the Ancients approved, and the universe grew less vast.
She did not know what love was, but the wild rush of sensations that swirled through her chest at this moment had to be close.
“You were a child. You did the best you could.”
He tugged her on top of him, wrapping his arms around her and resting his chin on the top of her head. “Maybe.”
She liked the sensation of covering him. Of protecting him.
“You sister joined the Void. She at peace with the Ancients,” she told him. “Perhaps time you realize she want you to find peace, too.”
“I don’t know if I can. I’m my father’s son, after all.”
“I never knew that male, but he sound like true monster. When I look at you, I see only extraordinary male. One doing everything to protect those weaker. One who shoulders the weight of darkness and fights for innocent.”
“That’s a kind version.”
“It is truth.” Unable to contain the well of feelings in her chest any longer, she pressed her mouth to his. “I see reason to live and hope. I—”
A scream cut through the air. Along with hisses and growls and the pounding of six heavy paws.
“Sharluff!”
They scrambled out of the nest of blankets. She seized her coverings. Grif grabbed his rope and was gone.
By the time she cleared the opening, the tent next to hers had been trampled and Grif’s rope was looped around Sharluff’s neck, his muscles straining, heels sliding in the dirt, as her feathered pet reared up and Grif fought to keep the worked-up animal from breaking free once more.
A few arm’s lengths away, Malin stood in front of Lana and Cam, his ax up and ready to strike. Fresh red slashes marred his chest.
“Sharluff, naja!” She called her pet to heel, relieved that the sound of her voice settled him instantly.
Hurrying to Grif’s side, the sick sensation in her stomach grew. Pieces of tent lay strewn on the ground, along with destroyed rations and waterskins.
Moments before, she’d been so happy, almost at peace. Now this. She couldn’t imagine what had set Sharluff off, or how he’d gotten free of his tether in the first place.
“Is everyone all right?” Grif’s question jerked her from her thoughts, the calm in his voice centering her.
“No thanks to her.” Malin still hadn’t dropped his ax. More teammates, summoned by the noise, sprinted into view. All were in various states of dress, hair wild, weapons in hand, their expressions hard.
“Someone,” it was clear Malin meant her, “didn’t secure the leash properly and the beast got free. He almost ran over the tent with Lana and Britta still sleeping inside.”
More guilt slammed through Nayla. She’d been the one to tie her pet up. The knots had seemed so secure. She had been distracted though. Upset about what Lana had said and the thought of leaving Grif. Still, it was no excuse.
“That thing needs to be put down!” Malin’s anger was only growing.
“No.” She cried out.
“No,” Grif spoke at the same time. “You’ve seen how critical the animal is for navigating the underground waterways. It remains alive.”
Nayla was glad for his support.
“If none of us make it to the rescue,” challenged Malin, “it doesn’t really matter how good that thing is at getting us there, does it?”
“I will keep him under control.” It was hard to speak up, but she would not hide behind her mistakes.
“Like you did before?” Malin would not be appeased. “For all we know, this was done deliberately.”
“Enough.” Grif’s command allowed for no argument. “We’ll keep Sharluff farther from the tents from now on, and use extra care when leashing him for the night. What matters most is that we’re all okay.”
Relieved, Nayla nodded, but something in Grif’s gaze worried her all the same.
She followed his line of sight. He was staring at the others, studying each person with the same intensity he’d used when she was in his ropes.
Was he concerned they would believe Malin’s suggestion that she had purposely freed Sharluff? Or did Grif worry she had done something before she had gone off to try and sleep separately?
“We’ve wasted enough time,” Grif told the others. “Let’s clean up and clear out. Nothing is going to delay this mission.”
She had no idea what had prompted Sharluff’s wild dash. She’d thought he’d begun to grow used to the strange scents and sounds of the Others, but he could have scented another beast and gotten spooked. Or simply wanted to see her. He didn’t like to be separated. Either way, she’d have to be more careful.
She waited until the others departed. “Grif,” too nervous to lay a hand on him, she settled for wringing her hands in front of her, “what Malin suggest not true.”
“I know, wild thing.” Closing his hands around hers, he pulled her to him. “I checked that damn leash before I followed you and it was more than secure. Maybe Sharluff got himself out anyway. He’s definitely wily enough.” He squeezed her tighter. “Or…maybe someone else is up to something.”
39
Two rotations later, Nayla picked her way carefully to where Sharluff was tied, working the stiffness out of her arms and legs. Since his breakout, she’d been instructed to place his sleeping area a good deal farther from the sleeping tents.
She didn’t mind though. It was nice to have the time alone. After so much time wishing otherwise, she was finding being around others more challenging than expected.
Especially when there was a chance one of them was trying to cause problems for her or the mission.
It was hard to believe, but Grif was watchful all the same.
Grif.
Being with him was like riding the fastest, most exciting, seething current. Every rotation better than the last. Her heart slammed inside her chest each moment she was with him, her blood running hot. Carried along by his will and strength, her joy was close to effortless. She could have spent all her rotations by his side, all her nights in his arms.
But with every step deeper into pack territory the rest of her new life seemed to grow only more complicated.
“You need help?” Zale passed her, heading away from the water back to the campsite, a few dofels slung over his back.
True to his word, Grif had figured out a way to catch them and chalky rations were a thing of the past. Even her belly, once hollow, was now as full as her heart.
“No. I am good. Thank you.” Thankfully, while a few of the crew remained standoffish after the incident with Sharluff, most were just as friendly as they’d been before.
It meant a lot.
“Any luck with the spear?” He turned around to ask, walking backward, his small braids swinging in time with the evening’s dinner.
“A little.” The whole crew was interested in such developments—and asked her about it. It was another wonderful change from her past.
She’d left Grif with Bain and Quil. The three of them huddled over the danashe crystals and red powder, trying to get her spear to light. She’d never been privy to the pack hunters’ secrets about the balance needed, but she had been able to offer some basic suggestions based on what she’d observed. She wasn’t sure, though, that any of the crystals they were using were the right size and weight, but none of them had yet to come across anything better.
“So far, they get one flicker,” she reported.
“Hah.” White flat teeth flashed as he smiled. “Must be driving Bain crazy. Still, not to worry, those three will figure it out. Then, before long, we’ll have a whole slew of glowing spears ready to go.” With a final salute, he disappeared around the bend.
A familiar wave of nerves passed through her. Grif assured her more spears was for the best. That having the same weapon capabilities would make Talg more inclined to find a solution. She hoped it was the case.
She hoped, too, it gave Grif a little peace.
Since Sharluff’s escape, she had sensed the tension inside him growing. His rutting, while always fierce, was even more so with each passing night.
She understood. Her nerves were stretching tighter and tighter, too.
Before Grif, she had been miserable and unhappy and solely alone except for Sharluff. Now, she had so much.
Which also meant she had so much more to lose.
Low growls reverberated through the air.
Sharluff!
She’d left him near the shore contentedly snacking on his own dofels meal. He no longer sounded so relaxed.
If he’d gotten free again, they were both going to be in trouble.
She hurried around the last turn. His big feathered body came into view. Her steps slowed.
He was still tied by two strong ropes to a boulder even larger than him, but he wasn’t alone. Someone else hovered nearby.
“You can pet him if you like.” Nayla advanced, working to hide her surprise.
