Falling For a Hybrid
Marisa Chenery
Edited by Marisa Chenery
Cover design by April Martinez
Copyright 2014 Marisa Chenery. Published by Forever More Publishing, 31 Wycliffe Place, Kitchener, Ontario, N2M 5J6, Canada. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the author.
ISBN: 978-1-92785-966-7
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogues in this book are of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental.
Being a loner, moving by herself from a city to a small town, is something Rikki is more than capable of handling. Having a strong hunk who offers to help with the heavy lifting was just an added bonus. And one she couldn’t pass up.
Torger had sat at the coffee shop across the street and watched the woman who’d snagged his interest carry boxes out of a moving trailer before he could no longer stay away. His interest in her is a sign his vampire side considered her a mate. Once he had her scent in his nose, his werewolf one agreed.
With his vampire side of the family still hunting him, his sister and brother, Torger knows he puts Rikki at risk, but there is no denying the mating instincts of a hybrid. Even though his closeness to her puts a target on her back.
Chapter One
Rikki hefted a box out of the rental trailer she’d packed with all her belongings. She’d just moved to Lemmon, South Dakota, and now had the painful task of unloading her stuff into her one-bedroom walkup apartment. It was above a hardware store located on the main street of the small town with a population of just over a thousand.
She walked to the street-level entrance, then climbed the set of stairs to her new place for what seemed like the hundredth time. Her legs burned. It sucked having to move all on her own. Rikki was just thankful the apartment had come furnished. It would have been impossible for her to lug a mattress or couch upstairs all by herself. And it wasn’t as if she knew anyone in Lemmon to ask for help.
She still had too much stuff, though. Rikki was an avid reader, and had accumulated an extensive collection of paperbacks before she’d made the switch to ebooks. She couldn’t bring herself to part with any of them. Now, after lugging the fifth box of them out of the trailer, she regretted that she couldn’t let them go.
After setting the box on the floor with the others in her living room, Rikki straightened and stretched her back. It was too bad she didn’t have a big, strong boyfriend to carry the heavy items. Sadly, she’d been single for a while.
Rikki headed back outside to the trailer. After assessing the amount of boxes that were left, she figured she still had at least another five or six trips to make until she was finished. She took a deep breath. The end was in sight.
Before she stepped inside the trailer, she glanced across the street. Her gaze landed on a man who stood facing in her direction, seeming to stare at her. Even though he wasn’t that close, from the distance between them, she couldn’t help noticing he was good looking. Like really good looking. Make her sex-starved body stand up and notice, even though the move had almost drained all the energy out of it.
He looked tall, well over six foot. At least he did from the opposite sidewalk in front of a coffee shop. He had short, blond hair and a muscular body that was hidden in a pair of black jeans and a black t-shirt that hugged it to perfection. Oh, baby. Momma liked.
Rikki gave a wistful sigh before she forced herself to tear her gaze off the hunk and get back to work. The boxes weren’t going to move themselves up to her apartment, much to her disappointment. Since Lemmon was small, maybe after she was settled in, she’d run in to him and see if she could get to know him better.
She stepped up into the trailer and then walked to the back to retrieve the next box. Rikki had just bent to pick it up when she was startled upright by a deep-sounding voice that came from behind her. She turned around to find the hunk from across the street standing at the doors.
“Sorry. What did you say?” she asked.
He smiled, which had her almost drooling. “I asked if you’d like some help. I watched you make a couple trips so I know you’re alone. It’d go faster with the two of us.”
“Ah, sure. I guess.”
The trailer bounced as he stepped into it. He had to keep his head ducked. He was tall. There was no way he could stand straight. Now that he was closer, Rikki saw his eyes were green. A deep jade-green.
Once he reached her, he held out his hand. “Hi. I’m Torger. You’re obviously new in town.”
She shook with him, getting a small thrill from the skin-to-skin contact. “I’m Rikki. I am new. I arrived this morning.”
“It’s kind of cramped in here. I’ll grab these two boxes.”
Torger brushed past her, then reached for the boxes. She was about to tell him they were heavy since they held her dishware and pots and pans, but he lifted them as if they didn’t weigh a thing. Rikki quickly picked up a box closest to her, led him out of the trailer and then up to her apartment.
She set her box in the living room before she directed Torger to the kitchen to place his two there. After he did, he looked around. The kitchen was attached to the main living space with no doors or walls between the two rooms.
“Nice place,” he said. “Did it come furnished?”
“Thanks. And yes, it did. I lived with a roommate in Rapid City. All the furniture was hers, even the bed I slept on since it was a pull-out couch.”
“What made you decide to move to Lemmon? It’s a lot smaller than Rapid City, and we don’t exactly have a nightlife to call home about.”
Rikki smiled. “I figured that. The rent is cheaper so I can afford my own place, instead of having to share. I’m kind of a loner. I don’t mind the small-town atmosphere.”
“Do you have a job lined up? If not, I could ask my brother about any openings at the coffee shop across the street. His wife’s family own it.”
“Thanks, but that isn’t necessary. I work from home.”
“Oh, yeah. What do you do?”
“I’m a freelance editor.”
“Interesting.”
Rikki chuckled. “Not everyone would agree with that. It’s the perfect job for me, though. I love books, but I have a hard time coming up with storylines to write my own. So editing is more my thing. Plus, it’s a solitary career, which me being a loner, works out as well.”
Torger grinned. “I’ll have to send my sister and sister-in-law over to introduce themselves. Maybe the three of you could become friends. Then you wouldn’t be able to say you’re a loner.”
“They can try, but I’m not guaranteeing anything,” she said jokingly. “I used to drive my roommate crazy. I wouldn’t leave the apartment for days at a time.”
“We’ll definitely have to fix that. Let’s get the rest of your things out of the trailer.”
Rikki nodded, then followed Torger outside. Holy hell, he was hot. And his being a really nice guy just upped her attraction for him. It was looking as if her decision to move to Lemmon was a good one, and not because her rent was cheap. She always had a hard time meeting new people. Maybe li
ving in a small town would rectify that problem.
She’d like to meet Torger’s sister and sister-in-law, but it was him she really wanted to get to know better. He hadn’t even blinked at her basically telling him she was a book geek.
At the trailer, they both stepped inside and headed to the remaining boxes. There wasn’t too much more. There was one long, flat box she’d had a hell of a time getting in there. It was the brand new computer desk she’d purchased before leaving Rapid City. It’d been almost too heavy for her to lift. She’d make sure Torger brought that one up to the apartment.
“Can you take this one?” Rikki asked as she pointed to the flat box.
“Okay.”
Torger easily picked it up and then walked toward the entrance. Rikki grabbed a box and quickly followed.
It took them two more trips to empty the trailer. On the last one, Rikki closed it before she headed upstairs with the last box. She expected to find Torger waiting for her to return so he could leave. Instead, he worked on opening the box that held her new computer desk.
He looked up as she stepped inside. “I figured I’d give you a hand with this. Given how flat the box is, I’m guessing there’s going to be a lot of assembling required.”
Rikki put down what she held in the entranceway, then closed the apartment door. “Go right ahead. I dreaded having to put it together myself. I’m not exactly handy when it comes to doing things like that. I’m pretty sure I’d mess it up and then not be able to figure out where I went wrong.”
“Sometimes the directions aren’t that clear or there’s a step missing.”
“True. I’ll still owe you at least a cup of coffee.”
His gaze met hers. “How about you pay me back by having dinner with me this evening?”
The way Torger stared at her, a surge of awareness shot through her tired body. Was that interest showing in his gorgeous eyes? Rikki was pretty sure it was and not wishful thinking on her part.
Rikki swallowed back the urge to sigh. “Ah, I’d love to have dinner with you, but I don’t think this evening will work. I have to take the trailer to U-Haul and then I should get started on some of the unpacking.”
As she came to stand next to him, Torger stood. “How about you return the trailer and I’ll get us some take-out? I doubt you’ll feel like cooking after moving, and I still have to put your computer desk together.”
“You’re right. The idea of going to the grocery store to shop, then having to cook dinner, isn’t appealing. I’d end up buying some fast food.”
Torger stepped closer. “Then say yes.”
“All right. Fine. I’ll return the trailer, and you get the take-out. You can meet me back here in an hour.”
“You won’t regret this. What would you like to eat?”
Oh, she knew she wouldn’t regret it. She only hoped she didn’t blow it with Torger and scare him off. Rikki’s track record with men wasn’t exactly stellar. She ended up boring the crap out of them and they eventually walked.
“Surprise me,” she said. “I’m not a picky eater. I like just about anything. Since I don’t know what restaurants are in town, you’ll know better than me what will be good.”
“Okay. I guess I’ll see you in an hour. I’ll also bring some tools in case I need them for the computer desk.”
“All right.”
Torger gave Rikki the same stare he had before that made her legs almost turn to jelly. He held her gaze for a few more seconds, then went to walk around her. He took a deep breath as he did. It made her shiver. She turned as he headed to the apartment door. Once he left, she couldn’t hold back a grin that had to be goofy, at best. She did a little happy dance, then brought herself back under control.
Rikki grabbed her car keys off the coffee table. She had a trailer to return. And then she’d get to spend the evening with a man who made her hungry for something more than just food.
* * * *
Once Torger reached the sidewalk, he blew out a breath that border lined on a growl of need. He was going to cross the street to the coffee shop, but decided he’d better take a little walk to get himself calmed down before he did that. Arousal still pulsed through him, making him edgy. He turned to the left and walked away from the apartment.
Rikki was his mate to both his vampire and werewolf sides. He remained in a bit of shock over it. Torger had watched her as she’d taken boxes out of the trailer. He’d first been drawn to her looks. She was pretty in a cute kind of way. Her long, black hair flowed over her shoulders, and she had a curvy body that had him unable to tear his gaze off it. The longer he stared the more the need to go outside and get a better look at her had come over him. As soon as he’d reached the sidewalk, he was taken by the urge to protect her, and his body had come to life.
That alone had told him his vampire side recognized her as his mate. He’d wanted to rush across the street and bury his nose in her hair to see if she was for his werewolf side as well, but he’d held back. As he’d waited, the wind had changed direction, blowing in his face. It’d carried Rikki’s scent to him. The urge to mate had slammed into him, making his cock hard in a matter of seconds. That was all he’d needed to know to come to the conclusion that she was completely his.
He was a two-thousand-year-old hybrid who was a true immortal, which meant nothing could kill him, and his mate was mortal. Luckily, his older brother, Brolach, had recently become mated to one so Torger wasn’t completely taken off guard by it. Plus, it didn’t surprise him. Being alive as long as he had, he’d met plenty of vampires and werewolves alike, and not one female from those races had ever stirred him to claim her as his mate.
Finally feeling as if he’d gotten himself under control, Torger walked to the end of the block, crossed the street, then headed to the coffee shop where his family waited. There would be, of course, questions since he’d up and left without any explanation. And his sister, Kaisa, his twin, would sense something in him. They had that twin awareness thing going on.
Torger stepped into the coffee shop, and sure enough, Kaisa met his gaze with a questioning look lurking in her eyes. There was no point in avoiding it. He crossed to the booth next to the large front window where his sister sat. He slid onto the bench on the opposite side of her. Cameron, a lone wolf and a friend they considered part of their pack, sat next to Kaisa.
“We saw you helping that woman moving boxes,” Kaisa said. “What was that all about?”
He decided being blunt and up front was the best way to answer. Get it all out there. “That was Rikki. She’s my mate. To both my vampire and werewolf sides.”
His sister didn’t even blink, only nodded. Cameron’s eyes widened as an expression of shock crossed his face for a few seconds.
“A mate?” Cameron asked. “Now when your asshole vampire relatives could show up at any time and possibly make a mess of things?”
Vampires, who were part of his mother’s family, had killed his parents and buried his older brother alive two thousand years ago. To a vampire, one of their kind mating with a werewolf, and bearing a child from that union, was considered an abomination. His parents had fled their homeland, Finland, five thousand years before and had come to this part of the world so they could live in peace. They’d been found in the end. His father had been beheaded while his mother burned. She’d been pregnant at the time with Torger and Kaisa. Being hybrids and true immortals, they’d survived and had been raised by a couple who’d been part of the local native tribe at time.
Now the vampires had returned, hoping to finish them off. They’d recently killed one who’d attacked and captured Waverly, Brolach’s mate, but the others would come. It was only a matter of time.
“It’s not as if I went out looking for my mate,” Torger said. “Believe me, I’m just as shocked as you.”
Kaisa reached across the table and squeezed his hand. “Well, we have to make sure we watch over Rikki. And it might be best if you can hold off claiming her, especially doing any blood exchang
es. That way if one of our vampire relatives happen to come across her, he won’t scent you on her. As your mate, she’d be in much greater danger.”
That was good advice, but Torger seriously didn’t think he’d be able to have that much restraint. At least with his werewolf side he wouldn’t. To claim her as his mate, he needed to make love to Rikki quite a few times, and once the bond happened, there would be no going back. Unlike a vampire mate bond, which only needed two blood exchanges to form, he’d have no control over the werewolf one. That side of him would ride him to have sex with her. It’d be a hunger that would be very hard to ignore.
He blew out a breath. “I know it would be, but now that I’ve found Rikki, staying away isn’t going to be an option, nor will it be that easy to hold off claiming her.”
“Tell me about it,” Cameron said. “Once a mating urge hits a male werewolf, he can only think about claiming his mate. Torger being a hybrid, it might temper it some, but it isn’t something he can go around acting as if it isn’t there.”
“Let’s take it as it comes,” Torger said. “Rikki’s gone to return the trailer she rented, then I’m going back to her apartment with Chinese take-out. I promised I’d put together a new computer desk for her.”
“Who’s Rikki?” Waverly asked as she came to their booth.
“I wondered that myself,” Brolach added as he arrived to stand at his mate’s side.
Torger turned his gaze on his older brother and his mate. Brolach had the same eye and hair color as Torger and Kaisa, and he was just as tall as Torger. The only difference between them was the fact Brolach could at times act the ancient he was. Being buried for two thousand years hadn’t made him a modern man. Though with Waverly at his side, his brother was improving.
“Rikki is my mate,” Torger said. “She just moved into the apartment above the hardware store across the street.”
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