by Sammie Joyce
But I wasn’t going anywhere but maybe into his bedroom with him.
Our eyes still locked together, Inigo’s mouth grew hotter on mine, our lips parting to play the tips of our tongues against each other. He pushed me back gently and I moaned softly when his lips caught my lower one to suck on it.
On my back, I reached up to embrace him, allowing my fingers to twirl through his thick mane of dark hair. I found myself wondering what kind of animal I would liken him to with his strong, toned body. My legs raised up to lock him against me and his head began to explore the curve of my neck, his own hands discovering the hidden spots under my blouse.
Goosebumps erupted over my body and as Inigo wriggled me out of my top, I somehow shimmied off my designer jeans before again wrapping my legs around his waist.
He paused for a moment to look at me, half-naked, his eyes inhaling me. The look alone sent hot lava gushing through me.
“You’re so beautiful, Addisyn,” he breathed. “I don’t know where you came from…”
I reveled in his intoxicating words, his voice bringing me to the same heights as his strong, skilled fingers that danced around the center of my being. He knew exactly where to touch, where to stroke, where to kiss, as if he’d traveled this path a thousand times before. But the excitement in me sang a different tune, one that dictated that this was new and bewildering.
I was drunk off his touch, the way his tongue rolled along the swell of my breasts, his breaths growing quicker when he sampled the flesh of my most intimate parts.
He had me quivering, my legs draped along his broad shoulders, the muscles of his back rippling as he delved into my core, only the intense green of his eyes visible.
All of it was making me heady and escalating me to heights I’d never been. His fingers worked in and around me, his tongue smooth and steady until finally, he had me precisely where he wanted me—climaxing and mewling like a kitten. It was only then I closed my eyes, savoring the seemingly endless release as he moved up my body to position himself against me.
I gasped in surprise when I realized the mass of him, my eyes flying open to gape at him in disbelief.
“I’ll go slow,” he promised but I shook my head.
“No,” I said. “Don’t.”
I didn’t want him to go slowly and treat me like I might break. I wanted him to take me fast and furiously, to reignite that rush I’d felt when I’d seen him suspending Elia that night. I wanted the dangerous Inigo and I had him as he entered me with a small cry of pleasure.
I locked into him, gasping as he took my breath away, his thrusts hard and deep, but he kept his eyes fixed on my face, ensuring that I wasn’t hurt. But I knew he couldn’t hurt me, not then, not ever. However we’d found one another, however I’d thought of him before, I knew then as we fell into perfect synch, my nails digging into the creamy skin of his shoulders, Inigo was my protector and I trusted him entirely.
10
Inigo
We made love well into the night, taking long, leisurely breaks to wind ourselves in each others’ limbs, my fingers twining through Addisyn’s golden strands.
I felt like I learned everything about her that night, even without her spelling it out. There was a wistfulness in her tone that I recognized, a longing for something other than the picture-perfect life she led.
When she spoke of her job, I could hear a slight boredom but when I pressed her on it, she laughed and said it was what she’d always wanted—stability.
“And really, you can’t get any more stable than working in a bank,” she informed me. I supposed she had a point. She had a beautiful house, a nice car, and the means to care for her mother. Still, I didn’t envy the tediousness of her choices. Then again, I was hardly one to talk when I was living on a razor’s edge most of the time, balancing my career as an attorney and my job as a Protector.
And now, as a lover?
I refused to let anything dampen the spirit of wild abandon that had possessed us both even though the dark shadow of Cronin lurked in the back of my mind.
Had it really been Cronin I’d seen at the theater? Everything visually told me it had been. It was hard to mistake a bear his size and strength, but my Cronin? My friend? It was a difficult pill to swallow and one that had me wracked with guilt. Hadn’t he warned me that he was on edge? I’d dismissed him and now look what happened.
I was thinking this long after Addy had fallen asleep and I stared at her peaceful face.
But even with my mind on the possibility that my closest friend had gone on some murderous rampage, I felt removed from the outside world, as if Addy and I had built a new one, untouched by reality.
Eventually, I, too, settled into a slumber, my eyes growing heavier until I had succumbed to a dreamless sleep, my arms enveloping Addy’s curvy frame.
At first I didn’t know what had woken me, the sensation trailing against my abs both foreign and thrilling.
When my eyes opened, I realized it was Addisyn, her head falling lower against my body to sample the skin of my front in every direction.
With a low groan, my hands again found my way to her hair, the feel of the silk only enhancing the sensations overwhelming my body.
When she met my middle, I again moaned, propping myself up to watch her. Her irises were almost yellow as she lifted her gaze to fix on me, her mouth discovering me in a whole new way.
“Gods, Addy…”
My plaintive cry only seemed to motivate her and where she had begun her exploration slowly, a sense of urgency began to take us both over. I writhed beneath her, knowing that she was bringing me too high too fast and that was not the way I wanted to finish.
With every bit of willpower I could muster, I leaned forward, drawing her upward, bringing her to a straddle over my ready manhood as she fell forward to meet my face with hers.
She dropped a long, sweet kiss on my mouth, positioning herself on top of me.
“Good morning,” she breathed, lowering herself onto me.
“Good morning,” I rasped back, sitting up to encircle her waist with my forearm. From beneath her, I pushed up, savoring the widening of her eyes. Her arms wrapped around my neck and once again, we fell into a frantic rhythm of pleasure, our cries growing louder and stronger.
“Oh my God!” she cried out, her fingers digging into the flesh of my neck and I knew she had climaxed, allowing for me to do the same. With another muffled groan, I permitted myself to join her.
My body wracked with spasms, I fell back, pulling her down with me. The smell of her was still driving me crazy, even though I was spent and unable to move.
For a long moment, we only embraced, our breathing evening and synching until I felt the sleepiness overcoming me again.
“Oh no, you don’t,” Addy teased, raising her head to look at my half-closed eyes. “You need to feed me breakfast. I’m starving.”
I laughed.
“You’re really going to make me cook?” I asked. “I’m not sure that’s a very good idea, Addy.”
Her smile was bright and happy.
“Fine. I’ll cook, then,” she replied, slipping off me to rise from the bed. I didn’t even remember when we’d found ourselves there. The entire night was a hedonistic blur.
She padded toward the door and paused to look at me.
“Are you coming?”
“So we’re really doing this moving thing, are we?” I teased.
“You aren’t going to leave me alone in this condo, are you? I might get lost.”
“Well, then, I wouldn’t want that. I’ll be right there.”
Naked, she disappeared, but I scrounged around until I found a clean pair of boxers in my drawer before joining her in the kitchen.
I could have spent all day standing in that doorway, watching her move.
“Um…” she muttered from the fridge door. “Is this all you have?”
I frowned, confused by her question. I’d only been out shopping a couple days earlier and I’d barely be
en home to eat.
“What do you need?” I asked. “There’s bacon, eggs, bread, butter… I think there are hash browns in the pantry. I also think there’s pancake mix in there.”
Her face puckered into a slight frown but just as quickly as it had come on, it disappeared.
“I was looking for something a little healthier,” she confessed. I snorted before I could stop myself.
“Yeah, you won’t find that here,” I replied, grinning. She didn’t seem all that amused.
“What about coffee?” she said.
“Is coffee healthy?” I joked. Her eyes narrowed slightly.
“Are you making fun of me?”
I shook my head.
“No. I’ll get the coffee going.”
I moved toward the cupboard and gave her another appreciative glance.
“How about you sit down and relax and I’ll make some bacon and eggs,” I suggested. “I’m fairly certain I won’t screw that up.”
She stared at me, her lips parted for a second like she was going to say something, but she quickly clamped her mouth closed and shook her head.
“You know what?” she said, moving to give me a kiss on the cheek. “Forget about breakfast. I really should get home to check on Odessa. I shouldn’t have left her home all night by herself. It’s just a recipe for her to get into trouble.”
I eyed her, wondering if I’d said something to upset her, but she again cupped my face in her hands and gave me a kiss on the mouth, silently reassuring me that I was worrying about nothing.
“Are you sure?” I asked. “What about coffee?”
“I’ll just hit Starbucks on the way home,” she replied, ambling back toward the living room where most of her clothes had ended up the previous night.
“Are we going to do this again, Addy?” I called out to her, feeling unsure for a moment. After a slight pause, she poked her head back inside the kitchen and nodded.
“Of course. Hopefully our next date won’t be so dramatic,” she laughed and I felt a slight relief. Why had I doubted that she would want to get together again?
“Let me get dressed and I’ll take you home.”
She shook her head.
“I’ll call an Uber. I don’t want to inflict Odessa on you again.”
Again, I wondered if she was brushing me off but I told myself not to be so paranoid. Anyway, I wanted to touch base with Cronin, painful as that conversation might be.
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
She sashayed toward me, her face serious then.
“I never thanked you,” she murmured. I blinked in confusion.
“For what?”
“For saving me from that bear last night… among other things.”
A shiver passed through me.
“I won’t let anything happen to you,” I promised and I meant it. She nodded.
“I know.”
Our gazes held for a moment longer, like we were communicating silently, and I could read the emotion on her face.
“I’ll text you later, okay?” she said, finally breaking the quiet between us.
“You better.”
She finished dressing, grabbing her purse from the front entrance where she’d left it before giving me another kiss and disappearing into the hallway. I sighed happily but the feeling was short-lived as reality set back in. Now I had to call Cronin—but I was going to need some coffee before that conversation occurred.
* * *
Cronin answered on the third ring, his voice low and growling.
“What is it, In?”
I felt a muscle in my cheek twitch. Had he seen me there last night? Was that why he was being so rude?
“What is it?” I echoed. “You want to tell me what the hell you were doing last night?”
A grumble met my ears and I stared at the phone in disbelief.
Is he angry at me for calling him on his attack?
“I wanted to be alone,” he muttered. “I shouldn’t have to explain myself to you.”
I blinked.
“What?”
“What what? Jesus, Inigo, you’re not my mother. I don’t have to answer to you. If I don’t want to do lunch, you don’t have to call and harass me about it.”
Consternation flowed through me.
“Lunch? What are you—?” Abruptly I remembered how I’d invited him to Patti’s when we’d met up the previous afternoon.
“You think I’m calling because you refused lunch?” I almost laughed and cried simultaneously.
“Isn’t it?”
“No…” I trailed off. If I straight up asked him where he was, he would be apt to get defensive, but if I didn’t, I would never really know.
“Hang on, In. I’m getting another call.”
“Wait!” I started to say but he had already clicked over, leaving me to contemplate what I was going to say. The minutes ticked by and suddenly, Cronin’s voice was screeching in my ear.
“YOU THINK I’M THE BEAR WHO ATTACKED THOSE PEOPLE?!”
My heart jumped at the accusation.
“Whoa,” I said. “Let’s back up here.”
“That’s why you called? You think—oh Christ, someone else is calling. The entire community thinks I’m responsible for that attack now!”
“Cronin, don’t answer it and answer me. If you did, I’m not angry at you. I know that sometimes, when the magic is thick, your aggression gets the best of you—”
“You think I’d forget attacking a bunch of humans at a movie theater?!”
“No, of course not. That’s why I’m asking you.”
“Wow. I didn’t expect this from you, In, but since you’re so understanding, let me be frank—I didn’t do it. I’m not the only black bear shifter. Call someone else and harass them.”
The line went dead in my ear before I could respond and I groaned loudly, realizing that I’d upset Cronin. At the same time, I was deeply relieved to know that he had nothing to do with what had happened. Cronin was a lot of things but a liar wasn’t one of them, especially not with me. If he was in trouble, I would be the first person he’d go to.
He needed some time to cool off before I tried to talk to him again but I knew he’d come around eventually. There was nothing more I could do but ponder who else had gone after those people last night.
We had a rogue shifter on our hands but at least it wasn’t Cronin. I was enamored with a human, but gods, what a human she was. Life could be so much worse. I had no complaints.
At least not in that moment.
11
Addisyn
I was on a high riding home from Inigo’s house, one that slowly began to fade away the closer my Uber got to my house in Santa Clara. Or maybe I’d already started to sober up even before I’d left, Inigo’s comment about breakfast bothering me more than I cared to admit.
It was stupid to be hung up on the fact that the man had not a single fruit or vegetable in his house. After all, he was entitled to eat whatever he wanted and hadn’t been expecting an overnight guest. Even if he had, he didn’t need to make allowances for me. What had bothered me was the way he’d tried to push his diet on me.
Stop being dramatic. He didn’t try to push anything on you. He was trying to be helpful so you didn’t go hungry.
And I knew that, logically. The problem was, the doubt in my gut held strong and fast to me and honestly, I knew it had little to do with Inigo at all.
For years, I had struggled to build myself into this independent woman. I never wanted to be like my mother—needy, clingy, useless, and dependent. I knew Odessa had done terrible things for money, even if she didn’t think I knew the entire sordid history of her drug use. All I had ever wanted was to be self-sufficient, to take care of me. Breakfast had not been about breakfast at all but the feeling that Inigo was already trying to infringe his will upon me.
And there you go again, making a mountain out of a molehill. You’re a jerk. You’re just looking for a reason to put
a damper on your own happiness because you don’t know how to be happy. Stop it with breakfast already.
The driver stopped in front of my house and for a moment, I considered having him take me back to Inigo’s.
That would be nice, wouldn’t it? Spend all day Saturday wrapped in Inigo’s arms, forgetting about the world outside?
But that was exactly the reason I didn’t do it. There was a world outside and I needed to address it. I hadn’t lied when I said I needed to check up on Odessa. I really shouldn’t have left her all night and now, the guilt was settling in.
“You okay, lady?” my driver asked. I nodded quickly, realizing I’d been sitting there for a long while, not speaking or moving.
“Yeah, thanks,” I said, opening the car door to let myself out.
“Anytime. Don’t forget to leave me a rating!”
I slammed the door and headed toward the house, steeling myself for what I might find inside.
To my uneasy relief, Odessa wasn’t there.
I checked all the rooms to be sure but her purse was gone and so was she.
Did she have a doctor’s appointment? I automatically thought but that couldn’t be it. There were no doctor’s appointments on Saturdays.
I took a deep breath and again looked around the house for signs of destruction or an indication that she’d fallen off the wagon again. Her carry-home methadone for the day had either been taken with her or already consumed that morning but the rest of the days she had were there. I took that to be a good sign. At least she intended to come back.
With my mind relatively at ease, I made my way back toward the living room and flopped down on the sofa, realizing that I was extremely tired.
A small smile toyed on my lips as I realized why my body was aching in places I hadn’t even realized existed.
Feeling bad never felt so good and now, here I was, in my own house, alone and smiling. I knew that my fridge was filled with the stuff I liked to eat and my bank account had my own money in it.
Maybe this could work with Inigo if he respected all that and despite my earlier reservations, I had a feeling that he wanted to make it work too.
