by Lisa Ladew
She smiled, but even to herself it felt like more of a snarl. “All my weapons? Can I keep my sharp wit?”
Someone barked a laugh behind her, making her realize she was ok again. She didn’t hurt anymore, now that she was engaged with the vampire. Her brain was moving too quickly for much steady thought, and it was just getting started. Magic built inside her like it had when she’d first touched her resonant, but now she was filling quickly, a balloon at a helium station. She flicked a hand at the vampire to see what would happen. He winced and flinched away from her. Magic? Energy? Her?
She ran for him and he ducked, intending to sweep her legs out from under her, but she spun in the air, over him, flashing her knife down, feeling it connect energetically first, then physically, directly in the meaty part of his back with a satisfying thud. She yanked up hard, tearing viciously through bone and gristle, exactly as she had with the training dummy. A green glow flashed through the sky as her leap carried to the other side of her victim. She landed lightly on her feet, her weapon between them.
But Garner was done for. A gaping wound in his back spilled red light and he screamed, red light pouring like sound from his mouth and illuminating the ground in front of him.
Cora spun in a circle, looking for the other vampires. None were in sight. She turned back to Garner’s already decaying body. “Your game is weak, vampire. I didn’t even break a sweat. Or a nail.”
She dismissed him, assessing the area for the best way to move forward, the most likely place to find the rest of the vampires. They would come for her, but she would meet them head on and slay them all. Their nest. It was close. Had to be. She headed to her left.
Someone spoke behind her and she whirled. “Cora, not that way. You’re going to be seen. We gotta go this way.” Not a vampire. A shifter, but not one of hers. She shook him off and went for the vampire nest again. She would find it. Clear it.
Head down, knife in hand, she plowed ruthlessly out of the woods, toward the humans. Vampires always hid with the humans.
It would not protect them.
Chapter 33
The white wolf ran through the forest with the wind in his face and fear in his heart. Not a fear that his mate would be hurt, but that he would be too late. The Instinct had said if he didn’t take her, he would lose her, and he knew that if he missed this prowl he would never get another chance. Which would kill him as sure as a vampire with a bloodblade.
He kept to the edge of the woods for as long as he could, but when he had to hit the road, he did so without hesitation. It was empty, but he didn’t care. He straddled the center line so he could react to either side if he needed to. A dark SUV came around the curve, head on, slamming their brakes when the driver saw him. Jameson feinted to the right, but the vehicle curved that way in its skid. Jameson leapt, landing on its roof and bounding easily over it. Its occupants screamed, and still he kept on. Close. Getting close.
Only a few more minutes, Cora, I’ll be there.
***
Cora stalked toward the humans, magic building in her. The hateful rage had quieted, but her energy had not. Kill. Find. Silence. Destroy.
Big arms came from behind and grabbed her, but she was ready this time. She dropped to the ground, slicing out with her knife and spinning away, then bounced up, her knife in hand and pointed at the shifter. “Try to stop me again and you’ll feel this in your throat,” she hissed. the shifter had his hand over the wound on his arm and was staring at her, dumbfounded. The young one. Someone screamed and people began to run away. Cora followed.
The older brother got in front of her, stalking her, holding out his hands. He was one of hers, which was why his words made no sense. “Cora, there are no more- uh you know. It’s over. It’s time to quit. Let me help you.”
It would never be over, not until the last vampire was wiped from the earth. Cora shifted her direction and sliced out with her knife, not trying to hurt the shifter but to warn him off. She would not be stopped from her hunt, and it was ludicrous that he was even trying.
The male stepped back and she twisted toward the crowd again, searching for that which was hers to take, to undo. She darted into the milling people as they screamed and ran from her. Cora reached out with one hand and snagged a running woman by the hair, twisting her around in the dim light, wanting to stare in her face.
Someone grabbed her from behind again. Oh, these males were getting tiresome, and this one locked his arms to lift her off the ground and pin her own arms to her side. “Let go of her,” he ordered and she did so, trying to twist, stabbing at him. Out of nowhere a pale tan puma, with a single black diamond-shape between his eyes, sprinted into the grassy field. He skidded to a stop between Cora and the mass of humans. It let out a vicious cat cry in the direction of the crowd, and now people were really screaming and scrambling to get away, even the security guards who had been coming for her.
“Good thinking, Riot” Bryce said. “But if the cops show up, you’re not getting out alive. C’mon!”
They ran for the woods, Cora fighting and clawing with all she had. Bryce didn’t flinch until her knife connected with his thigh, then he dropped her.
She crouched on the ground and snarled at the two people and the one animal trying to surround her. Magic filled her, pushing her to her very edge. Pain was building inside her again. Pain, want, need. She had to find a vampire. Needed to engage.
The puma shifted and shot to his feet, a tall, well-muscled male with black hair, tattoos, and a gorgeous package, standing naked before her. He gestured to Flint and Bryce. “You both heard Carick! The switch can’t come down by herself after a kill. You have to fuck it out of her!”
Mmmm. She stopped looking for an opening to escape and considered his words. Fucking would do her just right. Lots and lots of it. And look, here she had three strong males. Virile. She tried to sheath her knife, but there was no sheath at her waist.
Flint and Bryce exchanged a look. Bryce frowned. “Flint, your eyes are glowing. So are Riot’s.”
“Green, yeah, I know.” He snarled at Riot, then spoke. “She’s Jameson’s woman. Ain’t none of us gonna touch her.”
Riot looked around dramatically. “Where in the fuck is he, then?”
Cora shook herself. Jameson. She wasn’t his. He didn’t want her, right? Or… had she rejected him? The thoughts weren’t clear in her brain, but he wasn’t coming. He’d said he wouldn’t.
She kicked the dry carcass of the vampire aside, hot anger that he couldn’t be killed again shaking her physically. She worked the knife in her hand, ignoring the heat blistering her from the inside out, her eyes on Bryce. Then Flint. Then Riot. Then Bryce again. The naked one was the obvious choice. She went after him, knife held to her body, eyes locked on his cock. He was hers’ also. Covenbound to her. He would service her well. Make the hurting stop.
Flint got between Cora and her plan of cat-meat, pulling Bryce to stand next to him, making a wall in front of the naked shifter. She picked her way over leaves and tree roots, not deterred in the slightest. Ok, all three at once, then. Faster. Better.
Flint spoke, hands up, like she had a stick she was about to beat him with. Nope, he had the stick and she wanted it. “Jameson is coming, Cora. Just hang in there.”
His voice made her moan. Deep. Throaty. Like a male’s should be. Her head dropped back and she stopped advancing. “Say something,” Cora whispered. “Say anything.”
When no one did, her hands clutched wildly, frantic for the feel of cock. Her fingers went to the bodice of her sundress, yanking at the line of fabric down the center, tiny buttons flying everywhere, more of her skin revealed to the sultry air.
Bryce was looking away, distracted by something behind him. Something loud. Cora saw her chance and threw her dagger into the ground then pounced on the big male, latching her mouth onto his neck, licking, biting, kissing. The close contact, the taste of him, eased her the merest bit and she dug in her nails, climbing him like a tree.
Bryce’s voice was desperate, his hands holding her at a distance instead of giving her what she needed. Cora found his flat male nipple through his t-shirt and pinched it. “Shit! Flint, get Jameson on the phone!”
Flint grabbed Cora around the waist, dragging her away from her prize as she clawed to hold on. “We gotta get her out of here before people come looking.”
They carried her; one holding her legs, one holding her upper body. Cora twisted, loving the friction, and tried to get to them. A hand covered her mouth and she was almost giddy with gratitude. She tongued the calloused fingers, drawing one between her lips and sucking hard, wishing it was a thick, pulsing cock.
“Shit, Cora, you gotta stop.” Flint. He was responding to her. She could hear it in his voice. He could be persuaded. Taken.
They dropped her. She hit the ground on her back, losing her air. She turned to scramble across the ground, grasping at vines and roots for purchase. Strong hands found her ankles and yanked her back, pressed on her lower back and holding her firm against the earth. Her body responded to the rough handling, making her moan and raise her ass in invitation.
The male holding her down tried to soothe her with his voice. “Almost here, Cora, he’s got to be.”
She reached out blindly for the male body beside her, frantic to get hold of his cock, to bring it to her mouth.
His big hand grabbed hers and tucked it firmly but carefully against her back. “I’m not the one you want, Cora.”
“You’re right!” she screamed, struggling hard. “But you’ll do!”
He slapped his hand over her mouth. Cora slipped her tongue between her mashed lips and tasted his salty skin.
Fuck this. Fuck all of it. This was not how this was supposed to go.
She struggled, magic giving her the strength to push the big males off and away from her. She ran for her resonant. She could hear it, pulsing, calling to her. It was in the ground where she’d thrown it. She snatched it up and went hunting again.
No more humans in the grassy field. No vampires. Nothing but the two males who were following her, shouting to her to stop, and the big cat that prowled alongside them. From the road, cop cars screamed into the parking lot. She should fear them, she knew, but she didn’t. Instead, she headed straight for them. Vampires loved power. These males had power. Perhaps she would find a vampire…
A massive white wolf ran in front of her, gigging her with his body, turning her around.
Cora, this way, sounded in her mind, deep and throaty. A command that could not be disobeyed. I will give you what you need.
Yes! Finally! She turned with the wolf, ran with him to the forest, knowing what was coming. Rough sex with a big male. Her male. He had come for her prowl.
They ran deep into the forest, Cora’s agony retreating as her male urged her ever faster. At the end of their path he shifted to human form, catching her around the shoulders and tumbling her to a bed of dry forest leaves that looked as if it had been made for them.
Jameson stripped Cora of her dress and threw it to the ground. She latched onto his throat with her mouth, handling him roughly, pulling her to him, thrusting her hips at his naked body. He groaned heavily and the vibration of it shot straight to her nipples.
Cora burrowed her hands between them, searching for what would cure her. Hot, hard male flesh met her fingers. The skin beneath her lips vibrated with a low, hungry growl. An answering need had her wrapping her fingers around him, squeezing tight.
Jameson breathed against her hair and rolled them over the ground, then picked her up and leaned her back against something, finally pressing his lips to hers. Cora moaned into his hot mouth, sucking his tongue in to tangle with hers. Jameson made quick work of any barriers, his big hands lifting her legs up, spreading her thighs wide and pulling her panties to the side. In her frenzy it was all Cora could do to pull his thick length closer, press him against her. His body was tightly coiled under her hands, all strength and male hardness.
Their gazes held as he thrust once, slipping just the tip inside her, not deep but delicious. She wiggled, trying to draw more of his thickness inside, bracing her hands on his shoulders. He growled, staring into her eyes, asking her for permission. “Yes,” she pleaded, and he pushed all the way inside, circling his pelvis, working her deep, groaning in satisfaction.
A wave of pleasure-pain slammed into Cora. She struggled to free herself from the overwhelming sensation, pushing away from Jameson, some part of her imagining killing instead. But his strong arms wrapped around her thighs, gripping her skin, holding her fast. He pistoned his cock inside her. Every wet slap of their bodies reverberated through Cora, ramping her desire higher, erasing thoughts of anything but this. She tightened her inner muscles and canted her hips for just the right angle.
Jameson growled, the sound reverberating through his whole body and making his cock resonate inside her.
A climax ripped through Cora, surprising her with its strength and ferocity, a steady clench and release urged on by Jameson’s powerful thrusts. She fought to stay conscious as wave after wave of pleasure washed over her. Her body spasmed in Jameson’s arms, fingernails digging deep into his sweat-slicked shoulders.
He lunged for her throat, sucking and biting, and Cora cried out in pleasure. He reared back, concern in his eyes even as his cock kept up the punishing pace and his arms held tight to her.
A feral smile crossed Cora’s face, her eyes narrowed. She bared her throat to him. “Again.”
His sexy smile spoke of Jameson’s pleasure as he brought his lips to her neck. Only this time his kisses were gentle, reverent, completely at odds with the primal rhythm he kept with his hips against hers. Every touch made Cora shiver and her nipples tighten.
Jameson’s lips drifted to her breast, suckling deep as she moaned. Her lover’s eyes flicked to hers, his voice breathless. “You’re so beautiful, Cora. God, you’re perfect.”
She was insane, was what she was. The steady pound of Jameson’s cock inside her, the delectable way he manhandled her body to give her what she needed, his generous words; it was all so bliss. His tongue against her bare, tight nipples was Cora’s final, tender ruin.
Another orgasm took her by surprise, the powerful clench of her body around Jameson’s the sweetest agony she’d ever felt. A sob left her mouth and he was there, kissing her, filling her with everything he had to offer.
The wave took him down, too. Jameson gasped against her lips. “Fuck. Oh fuck, Cora, I-”
She felt his groan all the way to her toes, the glorious heat of his climax inside her.
But before he was even done, she was ready again, needy and wanting.
Her Prowl was not over.
Chapter 34
Jameson caught his breath, staring at his woman. His switch. She seemed to come to for the first time, really seeing him. Her frenzied heartbeat slowed, her fingernails released him. But she was not herself, yet. Covered in dirt and blood, some of it her own, her poor fingers cut to shreds. Her body still clenched him to her and he could feel its vibrations.
He’d been so rough with her. “Did I hurt you?”
Her eyes dropped to where they were joined. “Yes. Do it again. Now.”
Jameson frowned, but she would have none of it, trying to move against him. He lifted his head, scenting the way of the forest. The shifters were around them in a circle, tight enough to protect them from cops or humans, but loose enough to not see or hear them.
He ducked his head and pressed a kiss to her lips, which she took greedily, demanding more. “Home,” he grated. “To your house, it’s closer.”
“After,” was all she said, but the one word had his cock jumping inside her. He would never refuse her again. Especially not this. He started slow, but Cora urged him faster and harder, tilting her pelvis to take in more of him. Green magic sparkled around her, dissipating off her body. What could she do with it?
He fucked her for what seemed like hours, their soft murmurs and words of en
dearment echoing back to them from the trees. Jameson did not tire, only served, as she used his body for her own needs
An eagle cried out overhead, then a bear snarled to their right. “Cora, someone’s coming. We must leave the forest, now.”
She lifted her eyes to his, and he thought she was mostly back to herself. “My clothes,” she whispered. He pulled her back to them, watching as she put them on, then shifting to better scent the forest.
Cora, he said.
She looked at him sharply.
He tried to shrug, but couldn’t pull it off as a wolf. They would experiment later, for now, they had to go. Cops were in the forest, moving in toward them.
On my back, he said.
He knelt like a horse and Cora climbed on. She wound her fingers into his thick fur and he loped away from the cop smell, toward his fellow shifters.
Aven met them in a small, Forest-Service-only turnout, a bundle of clothes and Cora’s purse under his arm and Jameson’s truck behind him. He let Cora climb off his back, then shifted.
Aven held out his clothes to him. “Good one, Boss.”
Jameson grunted his thanks, then helped Cora into his side of the truck, keeping an eye on her as she scooted across to the passenger side.
It was different. All of it. She was different. He was different. Their relationship was different. The shifters were different. Nothing would ever be the same again.
They made it two miles down the road before she could wait no longer.
Jameson had just turned onto a winding road that ran adjacent to a creek, the water on one side and steeply sloping walls of rock on the other. A throaty moan left Cora’s throat. “Jameson.”
He slowed, eyes on the road and squeezed her knee with one hand. “I’m here.”
