His hands came up, cradling her face as his drew closer. For a moment he was so close that all she could see were his eyes, dark and luminous, lit by some inner fire. Then his lips touched hers, and she closed her eyes, the overwhelming need to have him inside her so strong she pulled him roughly down with her legs. There was a grunt from him as his hips met hers, his chest crushing her breasts.
But the agonizing truth was he was still holding himself back, the head of his cock teasing against her, his back arching slowly away, hips rolling down. The kiss deepened, and in her desire she whimpered against his mouth, urging him with her hips, her hands, her mouth. The only response she got was a smile against her mouth, and the arching of his back as he pulled away from her again, as the delicious feel of the head of his cock moved away from where she wanted it to be.
Frustration overwhelmed over her desire. Unlocking her ankles and planting her feet on the bed, she wound an arm through one of his. From there, it was only one move she needed to make, a push with her foot against the bed—softer than the mat at the gym—and she had Taso on his back.
He looked up her, and for a moment, she thought he would be angry, but she saw only admiration flirting with desire.
“You are unpredictable. And you are not passive. I like this, very much.”
Her breath was coming in short gasps. “I’d like it more if we could stop fighting for control, and...”
“And?”
“And you could keep your promise to me.”
“Promise?” His brows drew down briefly, but she saw the humor in his eyes. “Ah, yes. I remember.”
In the space of a heartbeat, he had her on her back, his knees forcing her legs apart, his hips grinding down on hers. This time there was no teasing, no arched back, no movement of his hips keeping him away from her. This time there was only the sudden hard movement of him, the brutal, but delicious thrust of his cock as he slid into her. She cried out, a sound more like that she made fighting the alien on the hot and dusty planet. The sounds were primal, almost guttural, issuing from deep inside her. They felt primitive, but right, absolutely right.
Taso jammed his hips down on her, his lips hitting hers in another rough kiss. She met him fully, hips rising up to meet his, crashing into him over and over. Each thrust into her brought another wave of arousal and desire to the surface, the waves coming closer, turning into one long rising tidal wave of passion so powerful she was helpless under it. She surrendered, fingers digging into the linens, arching up sharply against Taso, her body shuddering as her orgasm broke.
Eyes closed, she let the shrieking orgasm tear through her, tearing her mouth away from Taso, thrashing her head from side to side. Above her, over the thundering sound of her heartbeat in her ears, she heard Taso cry out, a long low sound that seemed to come from his very soul, more of vibration against her chest than a sound, a deep counterpoint to her high-pitched cries.
“Max...”
She opened her eyes. Taso was lying beside her, his long hard thigh thrown over her hip. Blinking, she turned to look at him. With a smile he reached up, pushed the hair back from her forehead.
“Did I convince you of anything?”
“Did you...oh, right.” She breathed out a sigh, turning to look at the gauzy canopy overhead. “You gave it a really good try.”
“But you do not love me...yet.”
His finger moved over her cheek, to her ear, tickling the hair at the back of her neck. Then his finger moved to her chin, turning her face to look at him.
“You do not love me.”
His eyes were dark, serious. It hurt her heart to say the truth even though she was already shaking her head.
“No, Taso. I can’t say those words...not yet.” She reached out and took his hand, kissing his fingers. “You’ll have to give me more time. It’s too soon.”
He was already rolling toward her, mouth seeking hers. Before the kiss, on the tangled linens of his bed, she heard his words.
“Then I’ll just have to keep trying to convince you.”
With a smile she’d come to recognize, he pushed her back into the mattress, and she let him try to make her believe she loved him. And for a minute, at the end, as another orgasm made her cry out, for a minute she thought it might be possible.
Chapter Eleven
Someone was knocking on their door. Taso was awake instantly, climbing out of the bed. She squinted, wondering what time it was. The skies had been gray for so many days, it was hard to tell early morning from later afternoon.
“What is it?”
“We’re being attacked. Wolves. And lions.”
She sat up, watching as Taso began pulling on his armor. He glanced at her. “I need you to stay away from the battlefield…to stay safe.”
For the past few weeks he’d said that to her each time they’d been attacked.
She could watch the scrimmages from the walls, safe but hardly at ease. From here, the sounds of the battle were remote, the cries of bears and wolves and lions muted, the screams of those attacked barely audible. It was like watching a tiny game being played far below her. But it was real. Because when Taso came back, he would be covered in blood, bitten and scratched. She’d draw him a bath, and climb in with him, adding whatever color bath oil he asked for. She’d bath him, washing away the dirt and blood, until he was clean. They’d eat, make love, and sleep. And she’d wait for the next knock on the door, the next sound of men running toward battle.
Every time she watched, she’d hear Taso’s words, the ones he’d said on the ship. That he’d been looking for a mate, someone to stand beside him, someone to come back home to. She knew that he didn’t want her fighting on the battlefield, but to simply be his equal in life, and to support his decisions as Alpha. It was part of the reason they brought Earth women to their planet, not just to produce heirs, but because they weren’t insistent on fighting alongside their men, unlike the female shifters on this Planet. Well, she was fulfilling the last part. She was there for him.
But something was changing inside her. Every battle she watched made her feel as if it were her people out there, her own—if not Clan, at least people she recognized. Spoke to as she moved around the palace. She had yet to leave the building, simply because she was afraid of getting lost.
It tore her heart to watch and stand by, helpless. She keenly felt Taso’s frustration at each attack, particularly by those who had spoken of peace, the lions and tigers. The wolves...they expected those attacks. But the others tore at his heart, worried him. He would talk to her, long into the night.
“I don’t know what to do, how to approach them. All we can do now is fight, until we can make them think that peace might be a better way.”
He’d look at her, and she could read between the lines. There was no we; there was only him fighting.
Until one day, when he returned from another battle. She bathed him, then climbed into bed.
“Taso...”
He was on the verge of sleep. “Yes.” His voice was hoarse, just above a whisper. “What is it?”
“Take me with you, the next time the wolves attack. Take me with you to fight alongside you. Please.”
She thought she heard him grumble something, a likely no. And then he was asleep.
* * *
“Max. Wake up.”
The urgency in Taso’s voice cut through her sleep. She was awake instantly, sitting upright in the bed. She knew exactly where she was, who she was with. Any why. She’d asked for this – begged him to see her as a true equal in every way – and now it was time to fight.
“They are attacking. The north wall.”
“They?” She felt panic rising in her chest, though she didn’t understand what was happening. Taso was naked, on the other side of the room. His room. Standing in front of an open closet. “Who is attacking?”
“The Moonbay Clan. Wolves.” Taso threw her a set of armor, shirt and pants. “We need to hold them at bay. They are incensed with the talk of peace
. Are you ready?”
She nodded, pulling the armor over her head. It felt familiar, comforting, even though she hadn’t worn any in a very long time. She’d seen what it could withstand on Taso, but she wasn’t a bear, with thick skin underneath the strange metal mesh, or spikes on her back. Or equipped a double, or even triple row of razor sharp teeth.
“I need something...want something. A weapon.” Her clothes from the previous night were still on the floor, and she found the fabric strip. With quick fingers, she braided her hair, tying it securely with the fabric.
He glanced at her, then nodded. “I wish you would not fight like this. I would remain broken forever if something ever happened to you.”
“I understand how you feel, Taso…but I need to fight. I need to do my part to protect this Clan.”
“You are better protecting the Clan by producing heirs to continue our lineage,” he replied, rather bitingly, but he quickly softened his voice, and pulled her into his arms. Wrapping his hands around her shoulders, he kissed her sweetly on the forehead, then nuzzled his face in the crook of her neck. She could feel his hot breath against her skin. “I understand that the reason I was drawn to you was the very reason you insist on fighting today… you are a warrior as I’ve always said. I guess you aren’t that different from the women of this Planet, after all.” His voice turned into a whisper, and he held her even tighter, though she didn’t think that was possible. “Is there anything I can say to change your mind?”
She shook her head, and squeezed him harder. “No, this is what I was born to do. I feel it in my bones. This is what I am meant to do, as part of this Clan.”
He sighed deeply, but she could feel a shift in his body, the tension still there, mixed with the fear of losing her, but a deeper understanding…or perhaps, he was just tired of arguing about it, and finally realizing that there was no changing her mind. She had watched countless battles with the safety of distance between her and the battlefield, but now it was time she was one of the Clan.
“As you wish, woman. But we must be quick.”
She slipped into the shoes Taso had left for her. They, too, were the blue metal mesh, molding to her feet. They felt light, but she knew she’d be able to kick down any door—or wolf—that stood in her way.
Taso was already down the hall, and halfway down the first set of stairs. She had to run to keep up. She thought she knew where she was, but it was clear after only a few twists and turns that she was hopelessly lost.
She heard a crash and turned a corner to find Taso in a small dark room. He flicked on a box lamp, and in the dim light she saw the dim glow of weapons. Metal weapons. She moved past Taso, eyes wide. Some were fantastical, multiple-headed spears, and curved swords that looked lethal, but out of her league. Yet some looked amazingly like modern-day weapons.
“What are these? Where did they come from?” There were racks holding swords of all lengths, shelves with daggers. There were bows and arrows, the strings rotted, the fletching on the arrows torn and tattered.
“They are relics. Some from past civilizations. Some are more recent.” He reached out, fingering a sword. “Hundreds of generations ago, we fought man against man, suppressing our shifter ability. When that changed...” He blew out a frustrated breath, turning to her.
“We need to hurry. Choose your weapon.”
She reached out for a spear, a tall thin shaft of what looked like bronze. It was light, flexible, and the end looked fairly sharp, but it wasn’t sharpness she was looking for. She’d taken a class with Japanese fighting sticks, and now she wanted something that had balance. There was a carved hand-hold and she gripped that, testing its weight, the shift of that weight as she lifted it, and then swung her arm. Taso watched, an impatient look on his face.
She nodded at him. “This will do.”
He nodded, and before she was out of the room, the light was out. She trotted after him, slamming the door behind her. Just having the spear in her hand gave her a sense of confidence. Maybe false confidence, but still, it made her feel better.
She didn’t even try to remember how to get to the barracks. And it didn’t matter, because they didn’t end up there. Taso pushed open a door, and they burst into a high-walled courtyard. Taso rushed ahead, but she stopped, staring, unable to comprehend what she was seeing.
There were men, women, some already shifted, some in the process of shifting. Watching Taso change once had been a shock. But watching a group of these Clan members shift was a horrific, barbaric-looking process. Everywhere she looked, she saw a man or a woman in the throes of shifting, their bodies contorted, arms and legs thickening, shortening, mesh armor stretching.
A woman near her cried out, her head back, neck arched back so far Veronica was certain it would break, but as she watched, the woman’s face widened, her cheeks flattening, her nose and jaws lengthening. Veronica’s blood went cold as thick sharp teeth erupted from the woman’s mouth. With a growl that was part pain, part triumph, the woman brought her head down. Veronica was looking at the face of a bear, not yet a bear. An arrangement of spikes crowned her forehead, four or five, vicious and sharp. In the space of a few minutes, the woman had changed into the bear-thing in front of her. The bear growled, shook its head, and then was gone.
“Max... here.” Taso waved her over to the wall. “Follow me. I will lead. Remember...” He gave her a startlingly disarming smile. “Kill only wolves. No bears.”
She was going to answer, but before she could take a breath, he threw his head back and she knew he was gone to her. She watched as his body armor stretched, as thick dark fur started to show where the armor didn’t cover him. She wanted to look away, didn’t want to see the man she’d just spent the night with, turn into a bear, with multiple rows of fangs, spikes and horns. Yet despite herself, she found it was impossible to look away.
His arms and legs grew thick and muscular, his shoulders widening. As bad as that was, watching his face change into a bear was almost too intense for her. She couldn’t imagine how painful it must be, couldn’t even begin to understand how his body could withstand the whole change, how his jaw could hold all of those teeth, the double row of fangs that gleamed at her, long and sharp, ready to kill.
Then suddenly, he was on all fours, a ferocious yet beautiful creature, standing in front of her, shaking his head from side to side. He grunted, bumped her leg with his head.
“Yeah. Okay. Let’s go.”
She was surrounded by bears, brown and black, all growling, all with different arrangements of spikes on their backs, some in lines, some with double rows. They were all roaring, showing so many teeth she couldn’t even begin to comprehend how many. They were banging against her as they moved forward to the big gate. She looked up. Men stood at the top, pulling on chains. She heard the Clank and rumble, and the gates swung open.
The bears rushed forward, fierce, but strangely graceful in a brutal, dangerous way, and she was carried with them. It wasn’t until her throat hurt that she realized she was screaming with them as they charged. They formed a rough wedge, the point driving out through the gate, the bears behind her fanning out to the sides.
The wolves had already engaged what must have been a small outrider party of bears. There were small scrimmages happening all around her. She was lost for a moment in the swelling ranks of bears until a jet-black wolf came flying through a gap between two huge bears, heading straight for her.
For a moment, it charged, and she looked at death. It was a wolf-thing, but with six legs, all of them tipped with long claws that tore the ground beneath it. Its yellow eyes met hers, and for a startled moment, she thought she heard it yip in surprise. It skidded to a stop, pulling back snarling lips, showing her its teeth. Only one row, thank heavens. Then it raised its tail, and all illusions that it was like any other wolf she ever saw, quickly vanished. It had a barbed tail, a club-like thing that it swung menacingly behind it. It was just as dangerous coming, as going.
Without even thinking
, she raised her spear, gripping it with both hands. Swinging hard, she hit the surprised wolf in the head. It fell down, but got back up, shaking its head. For a moment she saw the surprise in its eyes, surprise that she wasn’t a were-bear, or surprise that she’d attacked she couldn’t be sure. Then it snarled again, and she saw white teeth flecked with spit. And she saw that the wolf wanted her, wanted to taste her blood.
Her heart was in her throat, thumping hard. Her hands shook and she took a step back. The wolf growled, and took a step toward her, its size legs working in eerie unison. Every instinct in her told her to turn and run, that this was a wild animal.
And every girl knows, you run away from the big, bad wolf.
But this wasn’t a fairy tale. This was beyond that, beyond all rational thought. For a terrible moment she was confused, lost...scared. The wolf took another step.
Then Gus’s voice was there, shouting at her to stop backing up, press ahead. Look for an advantage and take it.
She pulled in a breath, tightened her grip on the spear, and pointed the sharpened end at the wolf. With a shrill cry, she lowered her head, and lunged. The wolf scrambled back briefly, but as soon as she pulled the spear back, the wolf advanced again.
Unless she could get close enough to impale the thing, there was no way she was going to kill the wolf with the spear. She switched her grip on the shaft of the spear, swung it like a bat, down low, going for the wolf’s front pair of legs.
It jumped and turned, and she caught one of its middle legs, at a glancing blow, but it must have been enough, because when the wolf came down, it yelped in pain, landing awkwardly on five legs. It snarled, turned to her with snapping teeth, but it held its ground.
She advanced again, bringing the spear up, over her head, bringing it down with all her strength, aiming for the wolf’s head. It stepped aside with almost comical ease and the head of the spear thudded on the ground. The sound of what could only be laughter from the wolf reached her.
Dark Side Of The Moon (BBW Paranormal Were-Bear Shifter Sci-Fi Romance) Page 12
