A Town Called Nowhere

by VK Tritschler

  ‘That’s all just speculation,’ she interjected. ‘I could’ve just been abandoned, or my parents died...’

  She could see that neither man believed that. And it didn’t explain why she could still hear them in her head.

  ‘Do they still talk to you?’ Dru’s face was grim.

  ‘Well, one of them does, the American sounding one. But rarely. I haven’t heard from the other for a few years now.’ She gulped as his face grew ashen.

  ‘And does he know where you are now?’

  ‘I dunno.’’ She felt tears spring to the corners of her eyes. ‘Maybe. Why?’

  ‘Shit,’ Corey swore beside them. ‘So, you want to set up a new pack with someone who might just be the sole and illegitimate heir to the Knute tribe? Fuck me, that would take some balls.’

  ‘The who?’ Nicci’s brain was screaming.

  #

  CHapTEr ThirTeeN

  Dru could feel her trembling underneath his fingers, and he wanted to pull her towards his chest, but the seat blocked the way. Instead, he reached back and sought out her hand. ‘You’re okay Nicci, don’t worry about it love,’ he soothed her. ‘I’ll protect you.’

  He could feel Corey’s sharp eyes on them and the tingling sensation of wanting to keep his body physically between them. There was something about how Corey looked at her that made his neck hair raise. And it was more than because she was in heat. He could sense Corey’s innate interest in her, and he didn’t want to share any part of her, with anyone.

  Her shoulders shook ever so slightly. For someone who didn’t know her, they would not see the fear radiating from her face. But he had grown to understand her signals, and he knew that it terrified her.

  ‘Hold on a minute, so you think my pack would try to...’ she gulped, ‘kill me? Because I am not the rightful heir.’

  ‘Well, technically I would think you would be the heir, sort of,’ Corey interjected, folding his arms across his chest. ‘I mean, since there isn’t anyone else that has your breeding and the leaders of the Knute tribe didn’t have any surviving heirs of their own, there would be many in the pack who would want to put you in charge. As far as I know. Along with a suitable mate, obviously. But then the others would see you as a threat...’

  No, it was not obvious, Dru seethed to himself. And why would she want to go to another pack, anyway? She was born and raised in Australia. She knew nothing of America or Montana. Hell, it could have been the moon for all she knew. No, she needed to be protected here on safer soil. Right next to him.

  He caught Corey’s eye and stared at him until he dropped his gaze. Any member would see this as an opportunity. A chance to grab a higher rank if given half a chance. All they had to do is marry Nicci and they could sort their future. A married pair would maintain control over an area, with their pups getting priority over all the others. As cats they didn’t naturally like to be bound in groups, but it was a requirement for both safety and survival.

  ‘Surviving heirs?’ Nicci echoed Corey, her face so pale it was almost translucent.

  Corey shifted on the spot. ‘I think the Alpha’s wife died during childbirth years ago. At least that’s what they told everyone. And sometimes cubs or even adult pack members go missing, depending on pack politics. It’s a dangerous thing to be a shifter,’ Dru shot him an angry look. ‘Shut the fuck up, Corey,’ Dru interjected. ‘She gets the point.’

  With Nicci shaking still, he gave her hand another reassuring squeeze. If Corey hadn’t been there, he would have leaned down and kissed it, but with the other man being present he didn’t want to do anything that might cause an argument. The last thing he needed to do was get into a fight over her, with her being in such a fragile state. There was time for marking territory and staking his claim later, he reminded himself.

  Letting go, he drove the remaining short distance to the house, and leapt out to open the door for Nicci. As he led her inside, Corey followed along behind. He barked orders at him from over his shoulder. ‘Can you grab the bag of groceries mate from the room in there?’ He used his free hand to point in the right direction. ‘We’ll meet you out in the back yard by the firepit.’

  He led her through the house and out into the garden where they had sat together the day before to enjoy the meal. Seating her carefully down on the log stool, he went and found some tree debris to build up a fire. Corey came out, placed the food on the ground and took a seat beside her.

  Dru returned with an armful of wood. ‘Come on, Corey,’ he growled. ‘Lend a fucking hand.’

  ‘I can.’ She jumped up from the seat.

  He wished he hadn’t said anything. He didn’t enjoy making her feel like she was a burden. He would gladly have gathered all the wood in the world for her without complaint. ‘It’s all good, Nicci.’’ He frowned at Corey, who shrugged back. ‘Don’t worry about it.’

  It was hard for him to concentrate on his task at hand with the two of them cosied up next to each other on the log. Corey was joking with her and trying to lighten the mood. Much to his chagrin, it seemed to work. She even gave a little chuckle at one of his stupid jokes. As Dru’s mood dampened with every smile and word, the flames flew to life. Stepping over to them, he purposefully squeezed himself between them both, making Corey nearly fall off the end.

  ‘Shit careful,’ Corey said as he reached out to balance himself. Dru eyeballed him and felt the satisfaction of Corey’s eyes moving swiftly away from his own.

  Nicci shifted on the seat beside him, the warmth from her body radiating out and making his thigh feel like it was on fire itself.

  ‘You’ve outdone yourself as usual,’ she smirked. ‘Now we have to wait a month for the flames to die down before we can cook some sausages.’

  Beside him, Corey chuckled. His mood darkened again. He watched the flickering inferno and wondered what his Dad would say if he thought Nicci was a Knute. Actually, he didn’t need to think very hard about it all. He knew exactly what he would say. This was an opportunity, son, take control of both packs and make our name international. Secure the safety of us all by bringing the two tribes together. Combined wealth and power would make it far less likely that their unusual activities would be investigated. He had heard it all before a million times.

  But he didn’t want to become even more famous. He yearned for anonymity. To go into a store and not be recognised every time. To drink a beer with friends at a pub without paparazzi, jealous men and swooning women. Just to have a life. Celebrity had denied these things to him, and the more he tried to claw a version of himself, the less he seemed to be able to grasp. It was always just out of his reach.

  But here, in a tiny slip of time, he started something new. Something different. Where being in charge was an honour, not a burden. With a woman who already drove him wild and he hadn’t even kissed her yet. The yearning for this was overpowering every rational thought and emotion he had. He leaned out and pulled some sausages from their wrapping and shoved it on a stick. Handing it to Nicci, he let his eyes rest on her face, watching the refracted light from the fire flickering in her eyes. She smiled at him, soft and barely noticeable, but it made his heart fill.

  Yes, there was time to take things slow. For her.

  In the meantime, he needed to get things sorted and completed. He would start with Ashley.

  #

  CHapTEr FourTeeN

  Corey diplomatically left them later that night to find his own place to sleep, claiming his snoring would keep Nicci awake. She suspected he was trying to keep the peace with Dru. During the evening, Nicci had felt strangely relaxed in his presence, an abnormal feeling for her. He made her laugh, and she liked him. Sure, he was not like Dru, who made her pulse leap at his very gaze, but he was still handsome and considerate. He offered to get her drinks and told wild tales of growing up with the Maxwells, some of which made Dru cringe.

  The men were
very dear and old friends, and she wished she had known them when she was younger. It would have been fun to go hunting together or learning how to climb trees. Her own experiences were far less pleasant than the tales they told.

  ‘Stay safe, pretty lady,’ he called out. ‘And I’ll see you in the morning to rescue you from old Mr Grouchy Pants.’

  He threw her a wink, and she chuckled. ‘See you soon then Corey,’ she replied, feeling Dru’s eyes watching her face and not wanting to blush.

  As he disappeared into the inky night, she wrapped her arms around herself. Dru walked over and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and she leaned into his warm, smoky scent.

  ‘Come on Nicci, let’s get back to the fire and stay warm,’ he drawled, the delicious temptation of his breath just inches from her own. Sitting down again, she allowed him to keep his arm draped across her, and she snuggled into his broad chest. Between the heat from the fire and from his body, she had never been more at home in her life. As night fell and the two of them sat by the fireside, her eyelids dropped of their own accord. She fought it, but soon drifted softly off to sleep, wrapped up in the arms of a man she barely knew.

  When she woke, she was being carried gently to her room. He had lifted her like a child and pulled her into his chest and was carefully tiptoeing through the broken building to where her bed lay. In the haze of her half asleep mind, she smiled at him and drank in his natural cologne.

  ‘You smell divine,’ she sighed, nestling into closer.

  ‘So, do you.’

  She thought he sounded like he was smiling, but she wasn’t sure. As he placed her down on the mat on the floor, his face was right in front of her. Through the dark she couldn’t read his eyes, but she watched his outlined features. The square jaw leading to that soft mouth that she had daydreamed about every moment since she met him. Without thinking, she reached forward and brought her lips to his to taste them. The world disappeared completely. His lips were soft. But his mouth was demanding. She drank deeply of his tongue as it dipped and teased her. Her nipples hardened underneath her shirt and she could feel the warm rise of heat surging through her loins.

  His mouth became more insistent, and she relented to him every step of the way. Both of them were breathing fast, unable to pull away from each other. His hands moved up under her shirt, sending tingles wherever they went. Her lips moved from his face down his jawline to his neck. There she nuzzled him, causing him to groan. Holding her back for a moment, she felt the sharp sting of his absence, but he pulled his shirt off over his head and sank back into her lips. Where he was supposed to be, her brain sighed. He was fumbling with her shirt, and in frustration at not being able to get it off, ripped it from her body. The cool, night air pushed against her naked skin and gave her a delicious shiver. Reaching behind her, he aptly undid her bra, her breasts falling free before rubbing tenderly against his chest as he brought her closer.

  She could hear herself making noises that sounded animalistic, but she couldn’t stop herself. She Purred and groaned as his fingers pulled off her pants and traced around her moistened opening. Her need to have him enter her was overwhelming.

  ‘Slow down,’ he purred into her neck. ‘We have all night.’

  But she didn’t want to slow down. She wanted him now. Joined and together as mates should be. She pulled his pants down and released his shaft, wrapping her fingers around it and feeling it pulse beneath them. He groaned, his breath catching in his throat. With determination she guided him to her, and as he finally entered, they both threw back their heads and together cried out. Each thrust brought ecstasy, as joining with him proved to be as strong as the most powerful drug she had ever taken. Her fingers raked down his back as the movements grew quicker and more urgent, until they both exploded, their bodies lifting in unison and the heat radiating off them.

  Exhausted, Dru collapsed on top of her, their mating complete, but their bond remaining. She wrapped her arms around his body and held him close, the hard thumping of his heart against her own as she tried to catch her breath.

  Never had she ever experienced something like that. It was more than sex. It was more than mating.

  ‘Wow,’ he whispered into her hair, as his fingers reached out to stroke the side of her face. ‘That was amazing.’

  She felt a tear prick the corner of her eye as she closed it tight. She had done the most amazing, wonderful and horrible thing she could ever do. She had fallen in love with a man and thrown all her self-protections aside for him. Her chest constricted as the enormity of the situation threatened to crush her. Dru rolled off and leaned on his elbow to watch her. Through the darkness he couldn’t see the solitary tear that now rolled down her cheek, but his hand brushed against the side of her face and felt the wetness.

  ‘Are you okay? Was it...’ he paused, his thumb soft on her cheekbone. ‘Did I go too fast?’

  ‘No,’ she gulped out. ‘It was... perfect.’

  Another tear slid down her cheek. He sat up, concern in his voice. ‘No, really. Are you okay?’

  She sat up and shook off her darkening thoughts. Pulling the discarded bra from nearby, she hastily put it back on while she dug around for her knickers. ‘Yeah, just a bit overwhelmed,’ she lied. ‘I just need to go for a walk to clear my head.’

  ‘Um...’ He sounded surprised and hurt. ‘Okay.’

  Leaning back, he let her busy herself before she stood up. She grabbed her now charged phone from off the floor and plugged in some ear phones. From above looking down she could see the outlines of his hard muscular chest and long limbs and a pang of desire ran through her again. She could still taste his mouth on hers, and the teasing softness of his fingertips.

  Stop it, she told herself. This was not a guy she could afford to do this with. He did this all the time, he even told her that himself. It didn’t mean the same to him as it did to her. It couldn’t. Plus, he was still, technically, engaged.

  Pushing play on her favourite song list, she left the room feeling his eyes boring into her back as she went. The cool night air hit her skin and she could sense the sheen of a shift but held it back. Not wanting to be out in the open for too long, she stretched out her legs into a soft jog. She relished the cold, calming her lust. From a distance she could see him standing naked by the front door, a confused expression on his face. Part of her yearned to return and rub against him once more. Instead, she pushed in the earplugs and closed her mind to everything except the thumping of the music and the pounding of the blood through her veins.

  #

  CHapTEr FifTeeN

  Dru had never felt like this before. Every woman he had ever made love to had always seemed like a conquest to him. Even Ashley. A game of domination, that once won, seemed a little less attractive than before. The glamour of the chase was his speciality and never had he not been in control during sex. He always set the pace and decreed the rules.

  But with Nicci he lost all that command. She pulled out desires in him he hadn’t even known existed. She was the one who sped it up until he felt like he was a hapless roller coaster rider, simply taking part in the thrill and hoping not to die. And he loved it. The feel of her control, the sense of her power, and the drive of her lust. It was intoxicating, and entirely new.

  So, when they had finished, and she literally ran off, it broke his heart. Maybe she just didn’t feel the same way about him? Could it be just because she was in heat and he was the poor sap who she needed to service her requirements?

  He felt sadness rip into him. As she had disappeared into the night air, he had yearned to join her. But he knew he shouldn’t. He needed to let her come to him. Flashes and images of her body writhing beneath his made him harden, so instead he turned and strode back into the room to gather his things. She might not be back tonight, he told himself, drinking in her musky smell from the torn shirt that he lifted to his nose. She didn’t come back the night before
.

  It was hard to sleep, tormented by the fear of her slipping from his grasp. He woke, shivering and sweaty, only to fall asleep and back into the same dream, until the chatter of the morning birds filled the air around him. Blue sky peeked through the dusty windows, and tempted him.

  Straining his ears, he listened for her, but there was nothing. He stepped outside and gathered some fresh wood for the fire. If he couldn’t be with her, he needed to distract himself. Hauling a large log in from the far corner of the yard, he grabbed a small axe from the boot of his car that he brought along with the camping gear. The smashing wood relieved some of his emotions. With each stroke, he stretched his arms above his head and brought the axe down mercilessly. It was only when he had nearly decimated the entire tree that he realised he was being watched. Suspecting Nicci in the shadows, he threw the axe over his shoulder and turned. Instead, he was greeted by a familiar figure.

  ‘Ash?’

  The shape moved from the shadows and into the morning light, the sun slicing across her golden hair and giving her an angel’s halo.

  ‘Dru,’ she acknowledged, leaning against the dilapidated wall with her arms folded across her chest. ‘Your Dad told me where to find you. So, I left yesterday but it was quite a trip and I had to stop on the way.’

  Even in the early hours, she looked like she had just walked off a magazine page. Her skin flawless, her clothing expensive and immaculate. The startling contrast was the ugly look on her face. Her brows were drawn, her lips tightened, and she had an angry glint deep in her bright blue eyes.

  ‘I see.’ He dropped the axe from his shoulder and placed the edge against the ground. He felt a ragged sigh rumble across his chest. ‘What do you want Ashley?’

  Her eyes, like the slits of a cat, stared into his own. ‘So where is she?’

  ‘Who?’ Dru knew exactly who she was talking about, and he also knew that this is why she was there. She might not love him anymore, but she would never let him find happiness without her. She needed him, and she wouldn’t give him up without a fight. For as long as Dru could, he would try to protect Nicci from Ashley’s venom.