by Unknown
She raised trembling hands to her mouth. “I’d say it’s impossible too, except I saw it with my own two eyes.”
“This makes no sense.”
“I don’t understand it either. But it seemed that when I stopped being afraid, you changed back.”
“Yeah.” He thought back to the impulses and sensations that had coursed through him when he had been a bear. “I could smell your fear. It made me want to chase you…it was like an instinct. A compulsion. I could barely stop myself.”
“But you did.” Trembling, she wrapped her arms around herself.
He scooped up the quilt and, circling her, wrapped it around her shaking form. He caught the scent of her hair as he walked. His cock stiffened.
Dammit, his libido was in overdrive tonight, even more than normal. Because he had to, because being even a few inches away from her physically hurt, he moved closer, until his chest brushed against her back and her bottom rubbed his legs. He inhaled deeply, pulling the sweet aroma of her skin and hair into his nostrils. The need to take her swelled to painful intensity.
His brain told him he should leave before anything else happened. His body refused to budge. He’d been so close to taking her. She’d been willing.
Would she be willing again? Did he have the right to even try? He had to. God help him, he couldn’t stop himself.
“You’re so beautiful and you smell so good.” He gathered her long hair into his hands and raised it to his nose. Lavender. He gently laid the tresses over one shoulder and nuzzled the sweet spot where her neck met her collarbone.
She stood stone still. Her trembling had stopped. Whether it was because of the warm quilt or something else he had no clue. Even though he was a man again, and not a bear, clear thought eluded him. Bizarre, burning impulses charged through his body. So urgent.
He wanted her. More than he’d ever wanted a woman before. This woman. Now. But he would not take her if she was scared.
“I don’t want to hurt you. You believe me, don’t you?” He sensed no fear, only mounting desire, so he gently pushed the quilt down to expose her shoulder and upper back. That was such a sexy spot on a woman—between her shoulder blades. He kissed her there and a coat of goose bumps sprang up all over her upper body. “It can get so damn lonely out here. Living alone. Having no one to talk to in the middle of the night. No one to share my hopes and troubles with. Have you been lonely too? You know what I’m talking about, don’t you?”
His balls felt heavy. His blood like acid. The flavor of her skin lingered on his tongue. More. He wanted to taste every inch of her. He pulled the quilt lower, until he’d exposed her entire torso. The fine blond hairs at the small of her back stood on end.
He ran his tongue down her spine then dropped on his knees. This was the position to be in. Oh yes. The delicious curve of her rear end sat at just above eye level. He had to see it, had to touch her, to feel her slick passage again.
He knew the answer but he asked anyway, “Are you scared?”
“No,” came her breathy response.
“I can’t stop.”
She didn’t respond and he tried to back away. But before he’d stood up, she whispered, “Wh-who’s asking you to?”
He reached down, under the quilt. Ran his hand up her smooth calf, the back of her knee. The blanket gathered on his forearm as he went higher. The back of her thigh felt smooth and warm. Her buttocks soft and tempting. He grabbed the blanket in his other hand and jerked. It fell to the floor. The woman didn’t move.
“Your name. I want to know your name,” he whispered.
“Abby.”
“Abby,” he repeated, teasing her labia with his fingertip. Her sweet honey, warm and fragrant, coated the tip of his finger. He knew what she tasted like, how hot and tight her pussy was. He wanted to fuck her. Hard and fast. “Is that short for Abigail?” He pushed gently on her back until she bent over. He parted her ass cheeks and teased her anus with his moistened index finger. She shivered. “Are you cold, kitten?”
“No. Not cold.” She moaned when he slid his thumb into her canal. Her inner walls gripped him as he slowly pulled it out and then pushed it back in. “Ohhhh.” Her arms quaked. Her legs too. “This is crazy but I don’t want you to stop.”
“This way.” He pulled his thumb from her and stood, leading her to the leather chair by the fireplace. He shoved the pine coffee table out of the way and motioned for her to sit, facing him. Then, kneeling again at her feet, he gently urged her knees apart.
A narrow stripe of dark blond curly hair covered her sex. Her inner folds were swollen, a deep red. They glistened with her juices. The scent of her arousal hung thick and spicy-sweet in the air. He licked his lips then bent down. He knew how delicious she tasted, how her flavor had beckoned the change. He had to be careful. He danced his tongue over her clit and slid two fingers deep inside. This time he didn’t let his mouth go lower. Drinking her essence would surely call the beast again.
Her head thrown back, her spine arched, her breasts high in the air, she groaned and quivered. She pulled his hair, adding the pleasant tingle of his scalp to the already heady mix of sensations.
He stopped just before she climaxed.
“Oh God. Now,” she pleaded. “Fuck me now.”
He scooted closer, until his hips were flush with the chair’s seat and then pulled on her bent knees until her bottom sat at the very edge of the cushion. Holding her knees for leverage, he positioned himself.
“Wait! Condom.” She pointed at her luggage. “I’m on the pill, but...well...”
He nodded, went for the bag she pointed to and unzipped it. An unopened box of rubbers lay on top of her clothes. He quickly unwrapped one and rolled it on, dashed back to her and after muttering an apology thrust deep into her pussy. Her shriek of pleasure melded with his growl of satisfaction. His cock swelled inside her tight canal, filling every inch.
So hot and tight. Perfect. He withdrew himself then thrust again, settling into a slow but steady rhythm that would bring him to orgasm. He couldn’t release her legs to stroke her clit. “Touch yourself,” he said, knowing it was the only way she’d reach climax. Despite his deep thrusts, she needed more. “Touch yourself and come for me.”
Her eyes closed, she lowered a shaking hand to her pussy and began stroking the tiny red nub. Slick heat coated his dick, sending white-hot pleasure rocketing through his body.
Soon. He would have release very soon.
“Faster,” he demanded. He met the pace of her strokes in a desperate race toward climax. He needed it so bad it hurt. He needed her to find release even more. It burned him inside.
“That’s it. More. More.” He tipped his hips and released her legs, changing the angle of penetration. The head of his dick, wet and hot with her juices, rubbed the ridged walls of her pussy. He knocked her hand away, licked his forefinger and stroked her clit. He couldn’t wait any longer. God help him, he couldn’t hold back. “Come for me, kitten. I can’t wait.”
Her back arched, her toes curled. Her breathing turned to short panting bursts. And then he felt it, the wash of juices and pulsing spasms of her climax. She sighed then cried out, “Harder, please harder.”
He obliged her, hammering in and out until the cum burst from his balls, pumped down the length of his cock and shot into her pussy. It just continued and continued. The heat. The pleasure. He didn’t stop thrusting until he was spent and she was limp beneath him. Limp and smiling.
“Wow,” she whispered. “So, uh, you’re not an erotic dancer, are you?”
“Nope.” He pulled out of her and, realizing the rubber had torn and he’d left her a wet mess, he went to the kitchen in search of a hand towel. He picked the gun up from the floor, checked to see if it was loaded—it wasn’t—and set it on the table before returning with the towel.
She smiled a bleary-eyed thank you to him and pressed the scrap of worn cotton between her legs. She was shaking again—still. He grabbed the quilt, motioned for her to stand
up, then sat and pulled her on top of him and wrapped them both in the blanket.
Warm and satisfied at last. And he’d made it through the lovemaking without turning back into the bear. He was a bear? A bear. How could that be?
He didn’t want to think now. Didn’t want to face the flurry of unanswered questions whipping around in the back of his mind.
Later. There was plenty of time for questions later.
For now he wanted to relax. To enjoy this woman, what she’d given him. As long as he could keep the beast under control, she’d be safe— from him.
* * * *
Abby pretended to sleep. She slowed her breathing and relaxed her muscles. Eventually the trembling stopped as Tarik’s warmth seeped into her muscles.
She’d just had sex with a man who turned into an animal. That was plain crazy. What the hell had gotten into her? It seemed since she’d boarded that plane back at Detroit Metro Airport she’d made one stupid decision after another.
First, she’d decided not to stay in a hotel. Sure, she didn’t have a lot of cash, and the hotel bills would’ve tapped her out in a hurry. But it sure beat being lunch to a bear.
Second, she’d been stupid enough to have come out to the cabin by herself.
Third, she’d slept with a guy who she had just watched morph into an animal. That had to be the stupidest decision of all.
Now that she could think clearly, she could see how absolutely idiotic that one had been. She didn’t know this guy. Although not knowing a man hadn’t stopped her from having more than her share of one-night stands, none of the guys she’d slept with had had issues like this one. Granted, none of them had charged her rockets like this one either.
There was something about him. Especially after she’d watched him turn into the bear. A strength and dark sensuality, tempered with a touch of vulnerability. He was genuinely one of a kind, which made him that much more dangerous.
She needed to get out of there, away from him. Not just because she didn’t belong in the woods any more than a penguin belonged in the jungles of Africa. And not just because he turned into an animal that weighed anywhere from five to ten times what she did and probably wouldn’t mind swallowing her whole.
She needed to get out of there because of what he might do to her heart. Tarik was not a stripper like she’d thought. He was a genetic researcher who’d done some kind of experiment on himself, from the looks of it. This man was brilliant, fascinating, sexy…
Man oh man, she was in trouble. She knew herself well enough to know that if he was half as smart as he claimed, she could fall for this guy. She tended to do that if she let down her guard—fall for guys hard and fast. Especially sexy, intelligent, semi-vulnerable guys. Two weeks was nothing to some people. But to her, fourteen days and nights was ample time to set herself up for some serious heartbreak.
The itinerary for her vacation to Alaska did not include heartbreak. Vacation fling with someone she could never fall in love with, yes. Falling for a guy who wasn’t just sexy but thoughtful and smart, hell no!
She really didn’t need those kinds of complications in her life right now. Damn her weakness for people, animals, things that needed rescuing. That susceptibility had gotten her into this situation in the first place. If he hadn’t given her those sad puppy dog eyes—and yes, her erroneous (idiotic) assumption that he’d been a gift from Katie—she wouldn’t have been tempted to let him stick around.
She was her own worst enemy sometimes.
At the risk of making another stupid decision, she determined she needed to leave the cabin, find someplace safer to stay until she could fly back home or until Katie could join her. Either way, she wasn’t going to see Tarik the morphing research scientist again.
Lucky for her, like most men after having mind-blowing sex, Tarik slept deep and hard. At the first light of daybreak, she scooped up her suitcases and headed out to the truck she’d rented. She threw them on the backseat and checked her cell to see if she had a signal. Nada. She’d have to wait to call Katie.
It was difficult, but she didn’t go back inside for one last look at Tarik the man-bear. She didn’t leave a note. She didn’t wake him to explain. He was truly the most mysterious, interesting, gorgeous man she’d ever laid eyes on. To stand there and stare at him, remembering how it had felt to have him touch her, make love to her…she couldn’t do it.
As she maneuvered the truck around the wide circle driveway, she whispered guiltily, “’Bye, Tarik. I hope you figure out what’s happening to you.”
Chapter Three
She was gone. Gone! His woman. The one he’d had only once and wanted again, already.
He searched the cabin. Her luggage was missing. He looked outside. Her rented truck was gone. A set of fresh tire tracks wound down the drive and out to the road.
A horde of emotions flared through him, ten times more intense than he wanted them to be. Fear for her safety, frustration, confusion, anger. They churned inside his gut like storm clouds. Wrapped in the blanket, no shoes on his feet, he ran down the rural dirt road, thankful for the lack of traffic. Her truck’s tracks hadn’t been covered. He could easily follow them. He had to.
She was alone out there. Alone and defenseless.
What if she got lost? Or her truck broke down? What if a tire went flat? She needed him. She was obviously out of her element.
He broke into a full run, raced past his own house without a thought, following the winding road that meandered through the pine forests. If she was headed back to Anchorage, she was going the wrong way. Did she realize that? His fears swelled with every moment that went by. Rage soon followed.
He wasn’t just running now, he was charging. Into battle. Battle with the beast.
He lost.
Right after he’d stepped on something hard, a rock maybe, he felt the first twinges of the change again. “No!” he shouted. The dense forest around him swallowed up his voice. He fell to the ground as his bones shifted and his muscles stretched. This time the beast didn’t have to fight so hard to take over the man. His fury and fear fed it until his thoughts were gone and only instinct drove him. He ran through the trees, battering anything in his way. He came upon a building of some kind and smelling her inside, kicked and clawed his way through the door.
No Abby.
He ran back outside and sniffed the air then turned toward the road. He heard the pop of a rifle, the whir of a bullet. He dashed for the trees. He ran until he couldn’t run any longer and then he stopped. Finally, exhausted, the beast released him. Luckily he wasn’t far from home. Weak and wobbly-legged, he shifted back to a man.
The quarter of a mile back to his home felt like twenty.
He fell into a restless sleep, filled with nightmares. He awoke the next morning, wondering if they’d been dreams or memories. He’d never lived like this—on the edge. He barely clung to the normalcy he’d come to take for granted. Go to bed. Wake up. Go to work. That was how it was supposed to be. Instead, impulses kept running through his head. Strange, wild urges. Hungers. Needs. He tried to ignore them but they were so strong.
He dressed and drove the five miles to work, looking for a white rented Yukon as he drove. The beast inside didn’t want to accept that Abby was lost to him, that she’d only been his for one night.
Or so he assumed it was the beast.
On second thought, it could’ve been the man that didn’t want to accept the loss of Abby. At this point he wasn’t sure of much of anything. He pulled into his parking spot, outside of Omega, cut off the engine and fisted his keys.
He’d been tempted to call off but decided he needed this—his normal day-to-day life—to keep him grounded. Something powerful pulled him. Something he didn’t understand. He felt that holding onto the life he’d known before was his only hope of holding onto himself, his very soul.
He went into the building, smiled at Denise the elderly receptionist-slash-office manager-slash-gopher. For the first time since he’d started working a
t Omega, some eight years ago, she didn’t smile back.
Had something happened to her too?
He opened his mouth to ask if she was okay when two huge guys he’d never seen before stepped out of the security office, which was located to the right of her desk.
They gave him a look. Not a friendly one. No, more like the kind of glare they’d give a guy who’d been caught embezzling a million dollars from the company.
What the hell was going on?
He felt like he’d stepped into a bizarre new world. Everything appeared to be the same but it was a façade. Something had changed. Something besides him. The people around him acted differently. Like strangers.
“What’s up?” he asked.
The two guards rushed him, knocked him to the floor, and pinned his hands behind his back. He was so confused and shocked he didn’t try to fight them off. Whatever mistake had been made would be cleared up. He’d done nothing wrong. He’d been a longtime, trusted employee. His boss, Alexander Torborg, was his mentor. His friend. Those men had no reason to be securing his hands behind his back.
They hauled him to his feet. He noticed, as the guards escorted him past Denise’s desk, that she was watching the whole scene with a puzzled expression.
They led him to the elevator, took him down to the basement. He’d never been in the basement before. Had never had a reason to go down there.
“Want to tell me what’s going on?” he asked, not expecting an answer.
Escorting him like a prisoner, the men didn’t say a word.
The elevator doors opened, revealing a dimly lit narrow corridor, painted a dull gray. The ceiling was open, revealing heating ductwork, wire channels, the bones of the building. Their footsteps echoed on the scuffed tile floor. The guards stopped him next to a metal door.
What poor schmuck had been forced to take an office down here?
One of them unlocked the door while the other held onto the manacles securing his arms. Yes, they were like those old-time irons. Not handcuffs. Thick, hinged metal cuffs wrapped around his wrists. The edges ground into his bones when he twisted his wrists. Hurt like hell. Between the cuffs and the metal chain connecting them, the rig weighted a lot.
