Tainted Souls: A Shadow Creek Novel

by J. C RIMELL

  She chuckled. “Oh, come on, it's so obvious.”

  Shit.

  He watched her take a long, slow pull of her beer, his eyes shifting from her eyes to the erotic movement of her throat.

  “I get it,” she said, turning on her stool to face him more fully. “You're the deep and secretive, suffer-in-silence type.” An uncommitted shrug. “That's okay.”

  Damn, she was a pretty good judge of character.

  “What are you doing here, Gabrielle? This doesn't strike me as the kind of place you'd normally hang out.” He heard the sour timbre in his voice, cursed himself silently for being unable to mask it and let his eyes drift back down to his empty glass.

  “And just what is my kind of place, Ryker?”

  His apparitional gaze watched her reflection in the mirror behind the bar, her lips twisted with playful intent. He sat up a little straighter. “Something more sophisticated for a start.” He'd chosen the word carefully, anyone could see Gabrielle Robinson was a classy lady. He watched her take a look around. The place had a couple of guys playing pool, a group of women sat in one of the corner booths gossiping about one of their neighbors' cheating husband. And the two of them propping up the bar.

  She smiled, the look softening her features and lighting her eyes. “I dunno,” she said, “it offers a certain kind of charm for a high society girl like myself.” She leaned in toward him, her breath at his ear sending another spark of heat down to his groin. “I like things a little rough sometimes.”

  Ryker met her gaze again and held it. She didn't waver beneath the dominance that flared within it. His wolf rose to the challenge, the sexual hunger raging far too untamed for him to dampen.

  She sat back slowly as if on a subconscious level she suddenly felt the powerful vibe ripple off him.

  “So, what are you doing here, anyway?” he asked, his voice thick as he studied her mouth seductively covering the top of the beer bottle. There was something about her that excited him, enticed his wolf, confused the hell out of them both. “Aren't you meant to be out on a girls night?”

  She placed her half-empty bottle back onto the bar. “I'll tell you. But only after you tell me why you're drinking like you're trying to forget something or someone?”

  A few tense moments passed before Ryker responded. “It's no one. I know what you heard earlier tonight, and it's not what you think. I'm a soldier. I don't have time for someone.” He knew she would catch the unspoken message between those lines.

  She nodded as though unruffled. “So you're blue because…?”

  “Listen,” he bit back as he got up off of his stool. His eyes didn't miss the hint of her breasts visible by the undone buttons of her white, sleeveless blouse. Trying not to let her beauty distract him, he continued, “I came here for a quiet drink, if there's something you need to say—just say it.” He dipped his hand into the pocket of his jeans and fished out a twenty from a small bundle of notes and tossed it onto the bar. “Thanks, Jess.”

  “I didn't mean to pry,” Gabrielle replied rising from her seat. “Fleet said you were here. I just―”

  He let go of a deep sigh, muttered a low curse before meeting her gaze once more. “It's okay, forget it.” A brief silence passed between them before he asked, “Do you need a ride someplace?”

  Slipping back into her jacket, she shook her head. “Nah, I'm good. I'm staying in the B&B across the street.” Gabrielle edged a little closer toward him and reached for the door. “If you'd like to join me for a nightcap, I promise not to pry any further.”

  Ryker caught the playful curve of her lips. “Don't sweat it. I get that you're a cop, being inquisitive and nosy comes with the territory, right?”

  She laughed, the sound making him smile. “Yeah, you noticed that, huh?”

  “Come on,” he said, cocking his head he moved aside and opened the door. The late night air was a cool, sharp draft against his face as they strolled in silence across the street. The faint thump of music echoed down their way from the Grave Yard, at just past midnight the nightclub would only just be coming alive.

  The three-story building strangely held a quaint charm. Painted pastel yellow and positioned between the local Barber's and a grungy record store, they entered and climbed the three flights of stairs to the top floor.

  “The Honeymoon suite?”

  Gabrielle looked up and smiled at him, a slight flush in her cheeks. “It was the only room they had left.” Swinging open the door, she flicked on the bedside lamp and shrugged out of her jacket. “Make yourself comfortable, I'll fix us a drink.”

  Ryker prowled around the spacious room. The décor was chintzy in dusky rose hues and cream walls, the main feature being the hand carved, pine four-poster bed. He stared over at Gabrielle, crouched in front of a cooler she grabbed two small bottles, prepared two glasses and poured the liquor into them.

  “Here,” she said, coming to him with a drink held aloft.

  Taking the glass, he took a sip. “Thanks.” Following her over to the love seat in the corner of the room, he sat down. His big body filled it, leaving only a slither of a gap between the two of them. Gabrielle kicked off her boots and brought one leg up, her knee resting against his thigh.

  Ryker's wolf felt the contact. Rubbed up against his skin, urged him to get closer.

  “So, Nevada will be the one going undercover in France,” she said, before taking a sip of her own drink.

  He shrugged. “Yeah, seems so. The target's a well known, billionaire bachelor,” he said with a quiet grunt. “Women throw themselves at guys like that.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “And what about guys like you, Ryker?”

  He felt the sudden shift in the air, a crackle of anticipation. “What do you mean?”

  “Do women throw themselves at you?” His gaze followed her as she turned in her seat and placed her glass on the side table.

  A cynical laugh. “I'm no billionaire.”

  Turning back to face him, she ran a hand through her silky hair, the subtle hints of bronze catching the soft lighting. “Damn, here's me thinking you were just using the soldier thing as a cover.”

  He heard the change in her voice. Saw the spark of lust as it flamed in her eyes and his wolf rushed forward. Heat began to build into a tight knot in his groin.

  Gabrielle moved forward and took the glass from him, placing it alongside her own. Coming back to him, she slid a hand along his upper thigh. The smell of her filled his lungs, a primal need fused beneath his skin. “Do you ever take this thing off?” she asked, fingering the peak of his cap. Her voice dipped lower, “I'd love to see your eyes.”

  Ryker didn't know what it was about her. She confused him. Made him forget about everything else. So when he would've normally stopped anyone removing the ball cap, he allowed her to do it. Even though it meant having to tighten the leash on his inner beast. It had been a while since he'd been with a female.

  That's a lie. It has been way too fucking long.

  The hard-on between his legs agreed with eagerness.

  Her lips were almost upon his. “Wow, your eyes… they… I've never seen anything like them.”

  He could feel the heat dancing in their depths, feel his wolf thrashing against his hold as she moved to straddle his lap. His cock pulsed as she settled against him wanting 'in' like… right now.

  The air charged thick and heavy. Her breath on his face. With his hands on her jean clad ass, he squeezed as his sexual hunger took over.

  “You don't waste time.” His voice was all gravel, raw with the thought of being inside of her.

  She shrugged. “I believe you shouldn't be afraid to go after the things you want. And right now...” she fingered the collar of his shirt and popped open a button, “… I want you.”

  Lifting her slender body with ease, he shifted to press her back against the wall; her legs coming around his waist, his lips brushed against hers with the faintest touch. “You barely know me.”

  “Then let me get to know you�
�� more.”

  He tensed against her for a heartbeat, then he kissed her. Her tongue licked against the seam of his mouth and his lips parted on a strangled moan as her hands speared his hair and pulled him closer. With one hand under her thigh and the other splayed against the wall above her head, he felt the tight buds of her breasts heaving against his chest.

  Damn, his fangs were about to punch into his mouth and his eyes were like flames in his head, the heat burning his closed eyelids. Dropping her slowly to her feet, he unbuttoned her blouse. Keeping his head bowed down, he drank in the sight of her creamy mounds filling the skimpy lace bra.

  Everything male in him responded to the sight of her, the smell of her, the way her hands felt so damn good in his hair. He traced the column of her neck with his tongue, down to the hollow of her throat. His fangs sliced through his gums wanting to mark her pretty skin and he took a deep breath, tried to keep his wolf in check. Ryker couldn't remember when a woman had made him feel so wild inside. Flashes of Madeleine's face tried to haunt him, tried to prise him away, but he refused to submit. His wolf snarled in anger clearly wanting Gabrielle and everything she was offering right now.

  “Jesus,” he cursed trying to shake his thoughts aside.

  Gabrielle soon sent his conscience skittering back to the dark corner of his mind when she dropped to her knees and began to fumble with his belt.

  Holy shit, she wasn't messing around.

  His cock throbbed at the thought of her mouth sinking slowly down the length of him.

  “Let's get these off.”

  Like an automatic defense mechanism, his hands gripped hers and stopped her dead in her tracks.

  “No,” he snapped with sharp rejection.

  “No?”

  He stepped back, the look of surprise on her face was like a dousing of Arctic frost over his skin. He buckled up his belt. “Shit.” There it was again—his lack of self-confidence, or more to the point—his damned leg turning up to spoil the moment like a bad stink.

  Damn this incomplete, defective, fucking leg!

  He grabbed his cap from off the love seat as Gabrielle got to her feet, her look of surprise now one of complete confusion.

  “Gabrielle...” He tugged his cap down low, a shake of his head. “I've got to go…”

  She folded her arms defensively across her chest. “That's it?” Her reply was haughty and pissed off and rightly so.

  Fuck.

  He was sweating with the effort of keeping his wolf from surfacing. He might be confused to fuck about Gabrielle, feel inadequate and defective, but his wolf sure as hell wasn't. His wolf was making it damn clear it wanted this woman.

  Now.

  Ryker had struggled to accept losing his leg. His wolf adapted without any problem, running on three legs was just as easy for his beast as it had been on four. The loss had been for a worthy cause and he would do it again without a second thought. Damn, when it came down to it, he'd lose every part of himself if he had to… for Madeleine. Why then was he so fucking confused? He had feelings for Madeleine that ran deep, but the way his wolf was acting now, he'd never felt… until Gabrielle.

  He rubbed a hand over his face, blew out a frustrated breath and stared into deep, jade eyes that both intimidated and excited him. The way she was looking at him almost cut him in fucking half. He was being a complete prick. Was he really going to leave her like this?

  “Ah, fuck it.” Without another thought, his instincts kicked in and he crushed the gap between them. His hands slid around Gabrielle's ass and his mouth possessed hers. She resisted. He pushed through it, knew she wanted him just the same. She thumped at his chest, tried to curse at him. He smiled against her lips, the male in him kinda liked her getting feisty. He'd never force himself on a woman, and if Gabrielle truly didn't want him, he'd stop. But he could smell her arousal, knew she could put him on his ass if she really wanted to, and he'd let her.

  Finally, he felt her body loosen as she caved into him. Her feminine curves fit with perfection against his lean slabs of muscle and he liked the way she felt small to his immense size. A strange, protective sensation crept up on him.

  She yanked off his cap and threw it over his shoulder.

  Locked in a searing kiss and a duel of tongues, he tugged the buttons of her jeans free, dipped his hand inside and under the silky fabric of her panties to the hot, heat of her sex.

  A chill of excitement shuddered through his body like the beginning of a storm. “Jesus, you feel so good,” he said breaking their kiss and letting her breathe. She rocked her hips forward, his finger slipped inside of her and she sucked in a sharp breath.

  “Don't you dare start something if you've no intention of finishing.”

  His eyes were heated as he trapped her gaze. “Is that a warning, Agent Robinson?” he asked with a teasing smile as he pulled back his finger from the molten heat of her core.

  Her eyes fluttered half closed on a sigh. “You bet your ass it is, soldier.”

  Ryker thrust in a second finger, his mouth beside her ear as his voice dropped lower, “I promise not to disappoint.”

  She was like dynamite in his hands and he had just lit the fuse. He could control this… she didn't need to know about his leg. He'd make sure she'd be screaming his name before he left her.

  Ryker went down on her, tugged her jeans with deliberate slowness. She stepped out of them and pulled at his shirt.

  “Off.”

  That, he could do. He had a damn good physique, and the male in him enjoyed the pleasure it ignited within her eyes as she devoured him. Her hands splayed across thick ropes of muscle under his broad shoulders as he tore off her panties in one, swift tug.

  Holy… Wow.

  Gabrielle Robinson's body was divine. He ran his hands up the athletic muscle of her calves and inner thighs. Coaxing her legs apart revealed the pretty swollen flesh that had his mouth watering and his groin aching with a roaring, painful need.

  He took her in his mouth and her nails bit into his skin. Damn, he'd forgotten what it felt like to taste a woman, and she tasted incredible. He slid his tongue into her moist entrance, teased her there until he could feel her body grinding against him. She knew what she wanted from him, and that was one hell of a turn on, so much so, he almost came in his fucking pants. Until he could hear her frustrated moans and her fingers knotted in his hair trying to pull him back up to her.

  Standing slowly, he lifted her shirt up and off over her head, his eyes falling on the lacy little bra. “Off,” he said, keeping his eyes hooded.

  She revealed two fleshy mounds with deep, pink nipples and he couldn't resist the temptation of them. He tweaked one between his finger and thumb and she bucked against him. He continued the blissful assault on her senses. Her kisses peppered his skin, her tongue hot like a burning flame. He reached down with one hand and undid his belt buckle and button, lowered his zipper just enough to allow his aching erection to spring free.

  She gripped the length of him with a female possessiveness and he blew out a curse. The scorch of her skin on his sending electrical jolts of pleasure to the head of his cock.

  “Condom...” she whispered.

  Ah. Reality drew him back for a second. He didn't carry diseases. No shifters did, but she didn't know he was a preternatural male and he admired her for being a confident and safe woman.

  “In the drawer, by the bed.”

  He kissed her hard and lifted her. She wrapped her legs around his waist, the slick heat of her pressed tight against his abdomen and his erection against her ass, as he carried her across the room. Fumbling, he opened the drawer with one hand. He craned his head and saw a small, neon pink vibrator and a shiny foil packet. He grabbed it.

  “Only one?” he asked, both a little surprised and inquisitive.

  “Before you jump to conclusions, soldier, I only keep one… just in case.”

  “And this?” he bent slightly and palmed the sleek vibrator.

  She took it from him with a w
ry smile. “A girl has needs… and despite what you might be thinking, I don't sleep with every guy I meet.”

  Ryker couldn't deny that made him feel a little smug inside.

  “Your eyes, Ryker… they look—”

  “—It's the light,” he cut her off quickly, lowered her to her feet and took the vibrator from her. “Lie down, Gabrielle.”

  “Is that an order, soldier?”

  His head cocked to one side. “You bet your ass it is.”

  He watched fire spark in those jadeite eyes as she lay back on the bed and saw him click on the little device in his hand. Leaning his big body over her, he placed the pulsing device on the sensitive spot nestled neatly between her folds. Her body bowed and an erotic cry filled the room, he dropped his head to tease her nipples into tight buds.

  With one hand delving between them, she gripped his cock with tight demand. “Please… Ryker.”

  He ignored her frustrated plea, wanted her to peak while he lost himself in the delicious undulation of her body. Moments later she came like a wave crashing beneath him, a cry ripping through her throat as she threw back her head.

  Now he felt the urgency. His wolf surfaced with the desire to have her its only focus.

  “I need to be inside you now, Gabrielle,” he said, tearing the foil packet with his teeth. His concentration remained on her as she came back down from her high, chest heaving, her eyes at half-mast.

  Jesus, she looks so beautiful.

  He made a quick job of the condom and fisting himself, he thrust inside of her in one powerful stroke, burying him to the hilt.

  She gripped his shoulders and knotted her legs around him as he lifted her into his arms. Standing with her, he moved over to the door and leaned her against it. He buried his head in the curve of her neck, his teeth inched out, a roar hummed in his chest. “Ah, fuck, Gabrielle,” he grunted, trying not to be rough as he drove in and out of her. Lifting her body up and down the length of his shaft, she met his every demand. Her legs squeezed the two of them together, her tiny muscles clenching and milking him. With her breasts crushed against the slabs of his muscled chest, he felt the rise and fall of her labored breathing.