by Amelia Jade
Each step he took elevated her pulse some more. Each time his foot came down, the vibration ran along his arm, sending shivers up her spine. Trestin leaned forward, wrapping one leg around his stomach and the other around his back, so that she could get closer to him.
He growled softly as her lips made contact with the exposed skin of his neck. She could feel his stubble on her lips, but it didn’t matter. Hell, it was actually kind of hot. He was scruffy and rugged, in a way that no other man had been before. At least not the ones she’d had sex with.
Cole had to put her down to get his keys out and open the door. There was no hesitation in his body language now. Any thoughts he may have had about her not being fully ready for this had been expunged on the drive over.
Now she looked at the bulge in his crotch hungrily as he tossed his jacket on a chair and spun back to face her.
The two of them stood still for a minute, just looking at each other. Her breath’s came in short, quick bursts. Her mouth dried up as eager anticipation took over. Her underwear became wet as warmth flowed between her legs, preparing her for his large cock.
She looked at him, seeing the same reactions going through his mind.
Finally Trestin could take it no longer, and she all but launched herself at Cole. The bear shifter waited until she had closed two of the three steps between them, and then his hands flashed out, grabbing her waist and neatly depositing her on the bed.
His lips crushed up against hers furiously as he bent down over the top of her, his muscular frame supported by the iron-hard poles that he called arms. She raked her hands down his back as he kissed her fiercely, feeling each individual muscle through the thin fabric of his T-shirt. There was a muffled growl from Cole as she pulled him tighter, the press of him against her igniting an insatiable desire deep within. Normally Trestin would have preferred more warm-up and foreplay. But that night, right then, all she could think about was having him inside her. She wanted to dispense with the niceties and just fuck.
She felt so dirty for having such thoughts, and a part of her that she hadn’t realized existed before was thrilled by it. Just admitting that she loved to have sex, even just to herself, was new to her. It was liberating, and the more she thought about it, the more she needed to tell someone.
Fortunately, the comedic part of her brain thought, there was the perfect person to tell.
“I want you,” she whispered into Cole’s ear as he kissed his way down her neck. “Now.”
Ever the gentleman, Cole obliged, sitting back and all but ripping his shirt off.
She ran a hand over his firm stomach, the washboard abs so well defined by the way he was sitting that she could trace the outline of each one.
It took her a moment longer to realize that he was almost naked, and she was still fully clothed. But the moment he stripped the last piece of clothing off, leaving him on his knees fully naked, she decided to change that. The sight of his hard cock hanging there was enough to galvanize her into hurried action. She took her pants off first, spreading her legs around Cole as he helped remove her bra.
“Slowly,” she urged as he lined himself up between her thighs. He looked her in the eye and nodded, clearly aware of why he couldn’t just plunge deep into her.
With careful precision, he pressed the tip of his cock between the swollen folds of flesh so that she painfully ached for him. She was more than wet enough to take him easily, the anticipation on the drive over having built that up well in advance.
That didn’t mean he fit easily. Her walls stretched around him as he pushed deeper, inch by deliciously painful inch. Finally she gasped and cried out, thinking he was done. It was so deep. But a glance between her legs told her he still had a couple of inches to go.
“Holy hell, I don’t know if I can take you,” she said, speaking for the first time in what felt like ages.
“I’m in no rush,” he told her. “If it takes all night, I’ll do what you need.”
His desire to please her was overwhelming. She smiled, then tightened her legs around him slightly, urging him to push a little deeper.
Something adjusted within her, and all of a sudden she felt like she had reached the tipping point. There was still a moment of pain, but before she knew it, Cole’s hips were pressed up against hers, and this time he was truly buried within her.
“Just so you know,” she gasped as he rocked his hips slightly, grinding into her. “I think it’s going to be a while before we can have a quickie.”
Gasp.
Then he began to withdraw. There was a distinct feeling of emptiness, of a lack of completeness that she had been unaware she was feeling.
It was horrible.
“No, come back, please,” she begged, pulling against his hips as hard as she could. It didn’t matter; he was too strong. He kept moving away until he was all but out of her.
She gulped.
He began to push back inside of her. There was much less pain this time, and her brain began to swim with pleasure as he gently stroked in and out of her. His rhythm was painfully slow at first, but it picked up speed as he went, allowing her the time to adjust.
It also continued to build the pressure within her as he brought her closer and closer to climax. As if he could sense it, Cole backed off for a moment, letting her calm down.
“And you think I’m the tease,” she gasped, trying to regain control of herself.
“Perhaps,” he said with a sly grin. Then he picked her up off her back, and settled her in his lap as he leaned back on his knees, legs spread.
“Oh!” she cried, adjusting to the slightly different angle that his cock was now at within her.
Realizing that there wasn’t much Cole could do from that position, Trestin began to take control. Slowly at first—but moving faster as she gained confidence in her movement and in the fact that Cole enjoyed looking at her body like this—she slid her hips up and down him, grinding away, burying his cock as deep within her as it could go.
“Kiss me,” she ordered, her hands wrapped around his neck to help lift her up and down.
Cole ran one hand through her hair and pulled her tight, the other continuing to support himself. His warm lips found hers, the act bringing their bodies closer together, melding them until there was next to no room between them. She felt the warmth pouring off of him, the heat causing both of them to begin to sweat.
Her hair plastered against her forehead, she rode him for all that he was worth, driving his hard cock entirely inside of her with each thrust forward of her hips.
The deep growls and grunts of pleasure from Cole mixed with her cries, the lighter moans and gasps providing a nice counterbalance of sound that assaulted her ears, like the way his dick assaulted her insides.
Finally, with sweat dripping down her back and pouring off of Cole, she felt herself go over the edge.
“Now!” she cried, feeling her walls tighten around him as her climax exploded out from within. They began to move faster, a frenzy to their movements that had not been there before. Cole leaned forward, falling on top of her as he began to pump in and out of her with piston-like efficiency, slamming his hips hard into her.
She began to shake and shudder, the pleasure overwhelming her nerve receptors, locking her out of control of her body as she screamed, bucking and jumping under him.
“I want it,” she told him, begging him to finish.
A growl built within Cole that turned into a groan. The deep thundering timbre of it vibrated through her entire body until he yelled her name, crying it out with pleasure as he unleashed a torrent of warmth inside her. Jet after jet of hot liquid filled her insides as she writhed in pleasure atop him. She watched, fully aroused at the way his orgasm played out across his face.
“Fuck. That was the most intense one I’ve ever had,” he murmured several minutes later, the two of them still laboring for breath, bodies wrapped around each other. Neither of them cared that they were covered in sweat and bodily fluids. This,
she thought to herself, is how sex was supposed to be. Messy and brutally honest. Not the pristine, precisely measured act she had led herself to believe.
A part of her wondered just what else Cole was going to show her as they explored the strange bond between them.
Then she felt his hips move slightly, in a rather explicit way.
“What? Already?” she asked, shocked.
“It’s your fault really,” he replied, winking as his rapidly hardening cock began to move in and out of her again.
Well, perhaps there was one thing she already knew he was going to show her...
Chapter Seven
Cole
What an evening.
There was no better way to describe it, he thought, as they lay on their sides, Trestin curled up inside his arms, the little to his big. It felt...right. As if this was the way things were always supposed to be.
He yawned, and Trestin pushed herself back up against him. He dragged his hand lightly up her leg and side, appreciating once more—albeit now in a more subdued manner—all the curves and shapes of her body. She was incredibly beautiful, and yet at the same time, a part of her called out to his primal side, the part of him that thought of nothing but reproducing and the act that led to it.
Well, good thing she’s rather vigorous herself, he thought, another yawn overtaking him. With a smile he lay his head down on the pillow, eyes closing of their own accord. After several hours of sex, he had no shame in admitting that he was tired. He needed sleep.
A cage.
Voices. Taunting voices circling around him. Shrill and high-pitched.
They weren’t men, none of them were men. They were just boys.
Then there was the wire. Around and around it went. Looping tighter.
The laughter as someone pulled on it. The cage walls.
From within, the stirring.
Screams.
Red.
With a jolt, Cole sat up straight, his body rigid, locked with terror. No, not tonight, why did it have to be tonight that the dreams started? Tomorrow, or the next. Any day but today.
Try as he might though, there was no use denying it. That was something he had realized over the years. He could try to push it away, but it would make no difference; they would come nonetheless.
You’re pathetic.
He didn’t argue. He was pathetic. He was almost thirty, and he couldn’t handle something that should have been no more than an afterthought.
“Cole?” Trestin asked sleepily. “What’s wrong?”
He wanted to tell her.
You have to.
He couldn’t. Not yet. Maybe after she knew him a bit better he would reveal it to her. But now, she would never see him again.
She’ll never see you again if you don’t tell her.
He cursed and swore, hating himself for what he was about to do. If he did tell her, she would insist that it would be okay, and he couldn’t let that happen. Not tonight. Not the first night.
“I need to take you home,” he mumbled.
“What?” she said, sitting upright next to him. She reached out an arm to touch him and he jerked when she made contact, like he had been struck by lightning.
“You can’t stay the night,” he forced himself to say. His eyes pleaded with her to understand, to accept it, but there was more than just confusion in her he saw. There was also hurt.
Good job.
Cole had gone and torn open something within Trestin, something he hadn’t even realized was there to be opened. It was too late to take back his words now. The damage was done.
“Why the hell not?” Anger infused her voice as she came fully awake, focusing on him. He got up out of the bed and started to pace.
“You just can’t, okay? I’ll take you home now,” he said stiffly, motioning her toward the door.
“Are you fucking serious? Everything was just fine while your dick was inside me, but now that it’s not, I have to go?”
Tears sprang into her eyes. She was more hurt than mad, he could tell, though the anger would come.
Just tell her. She’ll understand.
No she wouldn’t. She would run away, refuse to see him, never want anything to do with him again.
That’s what’s about to happen anyway.
Cole cut off his inner dialog, done arguing with himself.
“It’s not that, Trestin. Trust me,” he pleaded, but she wasn’t buying it.
“Fuck you Cole. I thought you were different. I thought you were better than that,” she spat, getting out of bed and angrily pulling her clothes on. “You know,” she said, turning to face him once she was dressed again. “I could have sworn there was something between us. Or at least, between the you that I thought I knew. This though,” she said, gesturing at him, “this isn’t Cole. Or at least, not the Cole I found myself liking.”
“I—” he tried to say.
“You know what? No, just don’t. And don’t call me,” she said through the tears, heading toward the door.
“Trestin wait, it’s not—”
“Do not tell me it’s not what I think,” she snarled, pausing in the door. “I don’t care what it is. You don’t tell a woman you claim to like to get out, especially not one that you think might be your mate, if there was ever any truth to that,” she said, her voice all but hurling the words at him as if they were spears. “And don’t follow me. I’ll inform the liaisons if you come near me,” she said.
“No,” he whispered as she slammed the door before he could say more.
He slumped down to the floor, utterly broken. That had not been the way he envisioned things going at all. Not even close. Fuck off, he told his brain before it could say anything to him. Still, there was something he could do. Pulling out his phone, he quickly sent a rather long text message, hoping that the recipient would understand.
As he waited for a reply, he heard Emma’s voice from outside. Peeking out the window, he watched as the two of them embraced, and then Emma pointed at Garrett’s truck. It looked like Emma was going to drive her back. At least Trestin would get there safely.
He looked at the bed, which just moments ago had appeared warm and inviting. Now all he could see was cold and dead.
Well, it sure suited the occasion, he thought, knowing what it would be like when he awoke.
***
Cole’s eyes slowly opened. He was staring at the ceiling.
For the longest time he didn’t move, hoping that if he didn’t move, didn’t see it, it wouldn’t be there.
An unknown amount of time later, his work alarm began to go off.
He sighed.
“You know what it’s going to be like,” he told himself out loud.
He sat up. The window to outside was open, and a cool breeze drifted through. Cole knew it was cool, because he could feel it. Everywhere. Looking down, he shuddered.
The bed was completely destroyed. The purple sheets had huge, gaping holes ripped in them. The pillows were equally shredded, the memory-foam interior in pieces scattered across the bed and the floor on both sides. Even the mattress itself had huge furrows torn from the top, as if massive claws had torn it asunder.
Bear claws.
He closed his eyes, his shoulders shaking as he gazed at the ruined mass that had been his bed.
All he could think of was how thankful he was that he had gotten Trestin out. She would never know, never understand why he had done what he had done. But looking down at the scene of destruction in front of him, he knew he had done the right thing.
He flinched in horror as his brain pictured what would have happened if he hadn’t woken so abruptly and sent her home. The image of her decimated corpse, ripped apart by his partially-shifted form in the middle of the night, without him ever knowing.
Cole knew without a doubt in his mind that he would have killed her in his sleep.
And yet, he couldn’t ever tell her now. She would go to the Mining Consortium and tell them he was harassing her. With
his previous track record, the Kedyns, the gryphon shifters who owned Lionshead Mining, would likely vote in favor of ending him. They were not prone to taking chances, he knew. They would rather be rid of a problem instead of rehabilitating it.
They weren’t assholes; they just knew the odds of a bear shifter from Genesis Valley ever changing its stripes. It just didn’t happen. It’s what got them sent here in the first place.
Maybe, a part of him thought, it would just be better if he let them do it. He looked thoughtfully at his phone. It would only take one call.
He reached for it.
***
“What do you mean I’m not going?” he asked his Alpha in surprise.
The two of them were standing outside Ridgeback Lodge. It was early on a Thursday morning, and as far as Cole knew, it was time for work. But apparently he was being removed from the mining team. Whether temporary or permanent, he had no idea. Garrett had just told him that he was to stay back and work on the renovations.
“Did you misinterpret what I said?” Garrett asked, his voice turning deadly serious.
Cole swallowed hard.
Garrett arched an eyebrow in question.
“No. I understand,” he said reluctantly.
“Good,” his Alpha said, turning to leave. There was none of the warmth in his attitude like there had been that night at the bar with Trestin, when he had said that she was likely his mate.
But then again, Cole knew he hadn’t earned any respect from Garrett in the past three months since. In fact, he often wondered why Garrett hadn’t ended him yet. Cole had balked at turning himself in the day after he had messed things up with Trestin for good, having found that he still wanted to live more than he wanted to die of the shame of what he had done to Trestin. But as the weeks had passed, it had become evident that it wasn’t enough.
His desire to live hadn’t allowed him to control his bear. Things had gotten worse, and he was fighting at every turn. The others were sick of him, he knew that. But Cole just couldn’t seem to fix it. Everything he tried blew up in his face. At night he often sat alone, helplessly wondering when his bear would strike next and if that would be his last. He had replaced his mattress twice, but after the third one was ruined, he had simply started sleeping on the floor. All he was able to destroy in his dreams that way were the blankets, and by now he just used the remnants of the various ones instead of buying more.
