Shifters After Dark Box Set: (6-Book Bundle)

by SM Reine

  “You need to let go of all your inhibitions and just feel it. Can you feel it?” He worked his fingers into my panties and made me suck in a sharp breath and hold it. “Feel it, Lexi. Before the night is over, I’m going to have your legs wrapped around my shoulders as you beg for more.” Then his moist lips touched my cheek and he whispered one hot word. “Beg.”

  “Please.”

  He knew what game we were playing.

  Except I was the one who didn’t. Austin abruptly stopped and grabbed my wrist, guiding my hand down. “Finish.”

  “What?”

  His lips met mine with a warm press and he spoke against my mouth. “I need to know how you like it so I can make this experience easier for you. If this goes on for days, then I’m not going to tease you. I’m going to make you come. Now show me how you like to be touched. Don’t be afraid to take what your body needs. Do it once and I’ll take care of you from here on out.”

  That was something I’d never done in front of a man either. But not wanting to seem prudish, I played his little game and cupped myself, widening my legs so I could fall into that imaginary fantasy of mine.

  The one he didn’t know about where we were having sex. The fantasy was even hotter knowing he was in the room watching me, and it didn’t take long before I closed my eyes and forgot he was there. My back arched and I suddenly felt his hands brush over my nipples. That snapped me back into reality. Austin was ruining the dream where he falls asleep beside me on the sofa and I slowly unzip his pants and pleasure him. That had been the running fantasy for the last nine years, closely followed by sex on a pool table.

  “Please, Austin,” I begged again. “Make love to me.”

  He laid down beside me on the left and slipped his hand beneath my shirt, pushing up my bra so he could tease me with his fingers.

  “I want to do more than that, Lexi. I want to fuck you on the hood of my car.”

  Okay, so I gasped a little.

  “You don’t talk like that,” I said in a confused voice. Not sure why I thought Austin would be the kind for romantic words, but I’d never imagined him saying those things to me. It wasn’t just hot, but completely unexpected.

  “Correction. I’ve never talked to you like that. I might fall short in the romance department, but I more than make up for it in other ways. I want to slide my hand down your body, rip off those panties, and take you all over every inch of this house, but it doesn’t mean I don’t respect the fuck out of you,” he said, as if the last bit meant something. “So do me a favor and spread yourself over the hood of my black car, arms wide as I slide down your shorts very slowly. All the way to your ankles.”

  Tingles returned as I got the full visual of what Austin was mentally doing to me. I’d had men dirty-talk in the bedroom, but this was completely different.

  “Then your panties go next, but you keep a long T-shirt on so I can just make out the cups of your fine ass. Yeah, Lexi, you have one fine ass.”

  My fingers were going for gold, touching all the right places as he set me on fire with his words. Every so often, I opened my eyes to discover him closely watching everything I did with my hands. The rhythmic way my fingers stroked and circled and how my other hand massaged the inside of my thigh as if it were his hand.

  Then he kept talking in that sexy, assertive voice of his.

  “My engine is still warm against your stomach, and someone could be watching us because we’re not so far away from the main road. That’s okay, because I don’t care who the hell sees us. I spread your legs wide and kneel down so I can run my tongue between your legs, and you like it. You’re crying out for more as I make you even wetter. Do you like that?”

  “Uh huh,” I moaned and cried out all at once. My knees pulled up as I kept the fantasy alive in my head. “Don’t stop,” I said.

  “Yeah, you’ll say a lot of that too. Don’t stop. Don’t stop. Don’t stop.”

  My breathing was out of control and warmth licked over my skin. A dull ache grew sharper with each second, swelling and tightening beneath my fingertips. Almost there. So close.

  “You want me,” he said in a husky voice. “So then what?”

  “You…”

  “Yeah? Say it,” he growled in my ear, sucking on the lobe. “Say what you want me to do to you next while I’m stretched across your back and widening your legs.”

  Then I felt his tongue glide across my neck as his warm hand smoothed over my breast and massaged.

  “You can hear my belt unbuckling and sliding out of the loops. Tell me what you want me to do to you as you hear the sound of my zipper coming undone. Can you feel that thick press between your legs? That’s how much I want you. Christ, I need to hear you say it. What am I going to do to you on the hood of my car, Lexi? Tell me,” he urged in his alpha voice.

  Austin nipped my ear and the sweet sting of pain caused me to answer.

  “You fuck me. God, Austin… fuck me!” I cried out and arched my back as he quickly placed his hand on top of mine, nuzzling against my neck.

  Bursts of energy rolled through me as I came so hard my entire body tensed up. Being in heat intensified everything like I’d never experienced. I barely noticed Austin’s lips melting against my shoulder.

  He twirled my nipple between his fingers and tugged, bringing another jolt of pleasure through my belly. My legs straightened out like useless timber and I panted, slowly becoming aware I’d just pleasured myself in front of Austin Cole, who was still fully clothed.

  His lips kissed mine softly, in a different way than they had before. “Thank you,” he whispered.

  This threw me, because it should have been me thanking him. So I played it cool. “Anytime.”

  Austin laughed warmly and rolled onto his back, locking his hands behind his head. “Feel better? I have a short fridge with some food in the other room if you get hungry. You should eat before the next wave hits. The house needs work, but I got the power turned on last night. I thought we could sleep with the windows open tonight since the rain should cool things down.”

  Rain? Oh yeah, that hammering noise going on outside that I hadn’t even noticed over the sound of my pounding heart. This was too weird. Here I was, coming down from the throes of a mind-blowing orgasm, and Austin was discussing the weather and the electric company. I was looking around for my shorts when he yanked me back down.

  “Let me go,” I protested.

  “Nope. Not letting you leave, Ladybug. If you’re chilly, you can wrap up in the sheet. But the shorts stay off for the rest of the night.”

  “What about yours?” I pointed out, wrinkling my mouth.

  He smirked and shifted over so he was propped up on one elbow and lying on his right side. “That’s not going to happen. You have to be careful with loaded weapons.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Give me a break.”

  “I’m just here to give Mother Nature a hand.”

  My legs crossed at the ankle and I stared at the ceiling. “You were always so bad with jokes,” I groaned.

  “Did you really like the candy or were you just being polite? Be honest; my feelings won’t be hurt and I swear I won’t be crying over a gallon of ice cream at two in the morning with Denver, talking about my feelings and shit.”

  A burst of laughter flew out of my mouth and I curled on my side. Austin’s look was so serious my Beaker laugh slipped out and then he quickly kissed my neck. “There it is,” he said. “That’s the Lexi I know and love.”

  My smile was erased like a mistake on a chalkboard. I sat up and covered my bare legs with the sheet. “Don’t say flippant things like that if you don’t mean them.”

  An ordinary remark hit the psycho switch in my brain and turned me into one of those… sensitive girls. Normally, I just rolled with the punches and dished what I got, rarely taking what people said to heart. But for whatever reason, hearing “love” come out of his mouth in the same sentence with my name provoked a new feeling I didn’t have a grasp on.

 
An uncomfortable moment passed between us and vanished when thunder cracked outside and I screamed, flying against Austin’s chest. He rocked with laughter and threaded his fingers through my long, silky hair.

  “Why didn’t you bring a blanket?”

  “I did. I brought the Austin special,” he said, running his hand teasingly down his chest.

  A snort escaped. “Very funny.” I was too afraid to ask what any of this meant—if anything—so I just let go of all the questions and lived in the moment. “Did you kill a lot of men?”

  “Yeah,” he admitted. “Bounty hunters track down outlaws and it’s dead or alive. Outlaws in the Breed world are the worst kinds of criminals, so we do whatever it takes to bring them in. Hunting is a legal, respectable position that pays well. I needed to build up my finances before starting my own pack. Our parents didn’t leave us with much money because they’d never established a pack of their own, which is how you get that kind of security. Most of the men were turned in alive, if that makes it any easier for you to think about.”

  “That business card you gave me, was that your old job?”

  “I still have a few of those left,” he said. “It was my calling card. The bow and arrow is the symbol of a bounty hunter. You’ll see that a lot among Breed in certain professions; we use symbols instead of titles. That’s the life I’m leaving behind.”

  The room lit up with strobe lights and we quietly waited for the crash of thunder. Instead, it was a heavy roll, like a bowling ball traveling down a wooden lane. I felt like I was supposed to say something profound, o r funny—something to kill the silence. But there was a sweetness in the quiet moments we shared that I enjoyed too much.

  The rain. The rumbling thunder. The flashes of light and catching glimpses of his pale eyes watching me. His fingers threading through my hair. And when I began to drift off to sleep, his soft lips kissed my eyelids.

  I wanted to ask what I meant to him. I wanted to hear it from his lips, even if they were words of denial. But all I felt was his warm body against mine as I fell asleep, wrapped up in his embrace.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  The previous night was one sexual blur. I’d love to say I slept in Austin’s arms for the rest of the night, but that heat thing ain’t no joke. I had four more episodes, and he was right there, taking care of me like he’d promised. I loved that at twenty-eight, Austin could give me a first-time experience. Honestly, it meant more because it was with him. He wasn’t exactly a perfect gentleman, but he kept his word that it wasn’t about reciprocating the favor (not that I would’ve objected).

  Yeah, I was a little disappointed. But in retrospect, I knew he was right. It would have been weird between us. This was weird enough, but sex kind of solidified it in a more irreversible way. Not to mention if I’d become pregnant, it would have complicated my life in a way I wasn’t prepared for.

  Still, it was one of the most erotic nights of my life. Strange to think it was possible to feel that way when we didn’t even have traditional sex. I’d probably need a cold shower for the next five years whenever I thought about what he did to me. What I didn’t realize was that Austin had inadvertently planted a permanent fantasy in my head where every time I’d touch myself, I would think of him.

  Looking at the hood of his Dodge Challenger without getting aroused would also prove to be impossible.

  I stretched my toes and buried my face in the soft pillow. Austin smacked my ass. “Get up, lazybones.”

  “Get out.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t want you to see me.”

  Without a doubt, I knew I looked like a hot mess. Dried sweat and matted hair, smeared eyeliner, and probably marks on my face from having slept on wrinkled sheets.

  “Don’t tell me you’re one of those girls,” he said, laughing heartily. “Jesus, Lexi. I’ve seen what you look like in the morning, and you’ve got nothing to hide about.”

  “Yes I do,” I mumbled.

  “Maybe you’re right. Your breath does tend to smell like sweaty socks when you wake up.”

  I waved my arm out to slap him but missed. “That’s not funny.”

  “Fine. I’ll just sit here staring at your lovely rear end for the rest of the morning. On a side note, I like these panties with the strings on the side.” He pulled the elastic and let it snap against my hip. “But I think the ones that ride up in the back are sexier. What do you call those?”

  “Slut shorts.”

  He chuckled warmly and fell against the mattress. I gathered up the sheets and covered my waist, sitting up with my back to him. A clump of hair fell in front of my face and I hiccupped, looking around for my clothes. It was so bright and sunny in the room that the memory of the night before was almost erased.

  Almost, but not a chance in hell.

  “Do you have any coffee?”

  “Yeah,” he said, getting up and stretching out his back.

  I tried not to peek at him through an opening in my hair, but damn, he looked good. Tight abs, his jeans slung low on his hips because the belt was off, barefoot, and shirtless. Austin had a nice tan all over, not to mention he was sporting the messy hair I found wildly attractive. When he rubbed his hand over his pec, pushing the skin around, I slammed my eyes shut. “Um, the coffee?”

  “On it,” he said, bare feet sliding across the wooden floor. “The bathroom is down the hall and I left a few things in there for you like towels and a robe. I wasn’t sure how long we’d be here, but it ended sooner than I thought it would. Christ, I don’t think I could have taken much more of that.” His voice was strained, the words meant for his ears and not mine.

  Austin disappeared and I ran in quick steps across the house with my clothes in my arms, looking for the bathroom. It was a beautiful house with a large staircase in front that led up to a second landing before turning right and going up another flight. The floors were an unfinished wood, and the white paint on the walls had begun to age. I didn’t have time to look at all the details, but I did notice a hole in the wall next to the staircase.

  After a quick shower, I brushed my teeth and put on some fresh clothes Austin had packed. Jean shorts and a thin white shirt. Men didn’t really think about such things, but all he’d packed were black bras. I sighed and put one on anyhow. On hot days like these, I preferred wearing a thin shirt to a tight tank top. Just not with the faux pas of my bra being visible.

  I walked barefoot through the beautiful house, my long hair tied up in a wet ponytail. Sunshine poured in through the front windows and I could see tiny dust particles floating in the air.

  “Austin?”

  “Out here,” he called from the front.

  The house faced east and sunlight splashed across the wooden porch. Austin was sitting on the steps with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and a small plate on his knees. I sat beside him and lifted my red mug from the step. “Hola. What’s that you’re eating?”

  He held the plate in front of me. “Bananas, granola, and dried cherries.”

  “How did you get so fit eating birdseed?”

  Austin held out his right arm and flexed a little. “You think I’m fit? I could probably use a little more muscle. I’ve been slacking these past few months.”

  He had to be kidding. If he had been any more toned, I might have dry humped his leg when I first saw him at Dairy Queen. Maybe that was extreme, but it made me laugh and I took a bite of the banana.

  “Want to share?”

  “Not really,” I said, knowing he was asking about my thoughts, not breakfast. “Are there any neighbors nearby?”

  “No.” He quietly sipped his coffee and made an audible swallow. “I bought a hundred acres, so we’re pretty spaced apart.”

  “How much did that cost?”

  Austin didn’t answer. I guess at this point, it didn’t matter. Finally, he pointed to the left by a pear tree. “What do you think about putting a garden over there? I could make some wind chimes and hang them from the branch.”
>
  “You know how to whittle?”

  He gave a handsome smirk and his dark brows sank over his sparkling eyes. “Don’t look so surprised. A Shifter once showed me how to make them out of wood. It’s not difficult.”

  It was such a little thing, but it gave me insight to a side of Austin I’d never seen. Suddenly I wanted to know everything he’d been through in the past seven years—even the bad stuff.

  “Can you remember things when you’re in wolf form? I mean, everything in detail?”

  After taking another sip, Austin set the coffee down and stretched out his legs, crossing them at the ankle. He’d put on a pair of brown hiking boots.

  “Most of it. I can’t remember details of conversation too well, but I get the gist of emotions and things that I pick up through my wolf. Depends on the situation. Why?”

  “Do you remember the lawyer coming by?”

  “Ah, so that’s who that was.”

  “My boss died.”

  A blue jay squawked and flapped into a nearby oak tree.

  “Sorry to hear that.”

  After another bite of banana, I set down the plate. “He willed me his shop and I don’t know what to do. I’ve never run a business before; I’ll screw it up.”

  Austin chewed on his lip for a moment, staring at the open stretch of land. “Do it. You’ve got my support, Lexi. Just don’t run yourself into a hole, and if it comes to that, then sell it or quit. You’ll regret it if you don’t try.”

  “I know,” I said, resting my chin on my knee. “I just don’t know how to feel about it. Charlie’s gone, and it hardly seems like it’s the same without him.”

  “But you knew how he ran the store and what it took to make money. You’re a smart girl, Lexi. I know you’ve picked up some business sense over the years working there. I’ll help if you need it. Maybe put Ben and Wheeler’s sorry asses in there to work for you.”

  “Uh, no thanks. They’d scare the children.”

  He laughed and leaned forward, chewing the granola and wiping his hand on his jeans. “When I was younger, they were more like Denver, personality wise. No tattoos, no morose expressions, and Ben worked with Wheeler for a while before he decided to play cards professionally. Something happened between them, and if I had to guess, it has to do with money or a woman. They still get along, but it seems more like they’re doing it because of rank or something.”