“I like the view very much.” I reached up, covering Colt’s big hands with my much small ones. “Do you like the view?”
“Very much. From here, you look sexy beyond all belief. Good enough to eat…if I didn’t have my cock in that lovely…”
“Okay. Okay. I get the picture.” I’d never be able to match these guys for braggadocio, or for a slightly dirty way of looking at the world. I loved it, but it made me blush. Like now.
“I love that color on you, Red. You look pretty in pink.”
I felt myself going six shades pinker. “You can stop now.”
The guys had an instinct for knowing what to say to get under my skin. I think it was a form of foreplay.
“Go easy on her, Jericho. You know when she comes, she flushes all over. Not just her face.” Colt took one hand away from my breast, turning my face to his. “Right? You could light up the night.”
Before I could say anything he claimed my mouth in a messy kiss. I twisted in his grip, wanting more of him. I got it, as he thrust his tongue between my lips, and the kiss went from messy to wet, and over-the-top sexy. It was the kind of kiss I’d always dreamed of having, but never got. Now, with Colt, and Jericho, kisses were wild and passionate, and sometimes very messy, in the best possible way.
Beneath me Jericho’s movements were getting just a little bit out of control, a little bit erratic. It meant he was close, or he was teasing me…again. Or trying to get my attention. I broke away from Colt, looking down at Jericho. Colt teased his fingers along my jaw, the other hand still occupied with my breast. He’d begun rolling my hard nipple between his thumb and forefinger. Little jolts ricocheted through me, sharp and penetrating, contrasting with the heat building lower down.
“Colt, want a turn?”
“Hey, I’m not a video game controller you pass back and forth.”
But Jericho was already sitting up. Colt let me go with a little push as Jericho pulled me toward him. I wrapped my legs around his waist, throwing my arms around his neck. We were face to face, our noses almost touching.
“You’re a hell of a lot more fun than video games. Besides, I outgrew those a long time ago. I like grown up games now.”
He kissed me, something between rough and gentle, that strange combination that always took me by surprise, threw me a little off guard, had back to day one. And I always hesitated, the tiniest bit hesitant how to react. I mean, I reacted to the kiss. My body reacted, melting into Jericho like I always did. But I never knew if I should go aggressive, or play up the gentle. So I just let him lead the way.
This kiss was anything but gentle. He grabbed the back of my head, pulling me into the kiss. It deepened. Impulsively I pulled his lower lip into my mouth, sucking briefly. And then I did it. I bit Jericho’s lip.
He growled, but didn’t pull away. I did, tugging his lower lip with my teeth. I opened my eyes to see him looking at me from beneath hooded eyes. I bit down just a little harder, and his eyes widened just a bit. Then I chickened out and let go. Jericho reached up, rubbing his lip.
“You’re getting better. You still pull your punches though.” He gave me a lopsided grin. “You’re a wolf now, Red. You can act like one.”
Colt’s breath was hot against my ear, his hands moving up my back, thumbs working into the hair at the nape of my neck. “So can I.”
Before I had a chance to think of a comeback, Colt grabbed me from behind. With a surprised yelp I let go of Jericho. Colt was quick, far quicker than I was. I found myself on my knees, practically falling onto my face. Colt was already pressed against my ass, his cock sliding between my legs. My body was still humming from Jericho’s attention to that part of my anatomy. Then Colt was there, sliding into me. It was different; he was different.
I managed to push up, against the pressure of Colt pushing me forward with each thrust. It was a struggle, but I finally got up on my hands. I was panting, from exertion, from arousal. From the desire to want to turn and snap at Colt, to taste him, like I had Jericho.
I shook my head, blinking in surprise. Something wasn’t right. Or maybe something really was right.
“Jericho…” My voice sounded harsh, choked. “Jericho, something’s happening.”
I saw panic in his eyes, and then he was leaning over, pushing back the hair from my face. Then I was moving, lunging forward on the bed, fingers gripping the sheets. Colt was beside me, trying to stroke my hair. But I shook him off.
“This is it, right? It’s happening…but why? I don’t want it…”
A force like nothing I’d ever felt before shook me. And I mean shook. All I wanted was to curl into a fetal position, to hold myself from splintering into a million shards. It was like every cell in my body was set on some high pitch vibrate mode. I closed my eyes, gritted my teeth, and tried to hold on.
“I guess this means you’re ready.” There was a mixture of apprehension and excitement in Colt’s voice. I forced myself to look at him.
“I am not. I am not ready. This isn’t…I don’t want…” Whatever the hell I wanted to say got lost in the growl that tore from my throat. My voice rose to an almost-howl, then cracked, turning into a guttural moan.
“This hurts.” I was sweating now, my body running hot, very hot. I uncurled myself, rolling over onto my back. The room spun around me, and for a horrible minute I thought I was going to be sick.
“Fuck this hurts…is it always like this?”
Colt loomed up next to me. Everything was distorted and I blinked, trying to make him come into focus. He knelt beside the bed.
“Yeah. It does, at first. It gets easier. But we’ll get you through this, and from then on, it’ll be a breeze.”
I blew out a breath. A breeze, right. My body felt like it was going through a meat grinder, my mind being blown to pieces. There was no way they knew what I was going through. I was alone in this.
Alone…
I jerked my head around. “Wait. You’ll be there, right? I can’t do this alone.” I shot a look at Colt, then to Jericho, standing behind him. “You’ll be there?”
“We will, Red. Right beside you. But…” I got that grin from Colt, the crooked one, the one that drove me insane sometimes.
“But what?” I gasped out what I was pretty sure were going to be my last human words for now. Maybe forever.
“Well, we can’t talk as wolves. And we don’t know if you’ll be able to…communicate as a wolf.”
I gave up trying to understand him, and gave in to the pain. Another blast of whatever the hell this was tore through me, and I knew this was it. My arms were in agony, felt like they were being stretched, bent backward, and torn out of my sockets. I screamed.
“Jericho, we need to get her outside. She can’t stay in here.”
“She can’t walk downstairs. I’ll carry her.”
There was a roaring in my ears, the pain in my arms traveling down to my legs. I wanted to lie still, very, very still, not be picked up and carried bodily downstairs. But that’s what was happening. Colt slid his arms under my shoulders and knees, picking me up easily. I turned my face toward his chest. For the first time since I’d known him, Colt’s skin felt cool against my heated skin. I closed my eyes and hung on as he carried me out of the room and down the stairs.
Chapter Nine
Colt set me down on the soft ground beneath the pines. It was blessedly cool, and for a moment I just lay there, pain wracking my body. It was too strong for me to fight, even if I wanted to.
Something was changing inside me. Not just my body, but something deep inside my core. I wanted this, I wanted to change. I was afraid of the pain, but the desire to be a wolf was growing stronger than the fear.
“Colt…” I tried to sit up, but I could only make it to my hands and knees. I stayed there, head down, gulping in the night air. “Jericho?”
“We’re here, Red. Right here. We’re not leaving you.”
“Will you change with me?”
“We will…”
> I looked up at Jericho, Colt standing behind him. “Promise?”
“Red, we wouldn’t miss this for all the world. We’ll be right there beside you, every step.”
Some kind of seismic wave of pain took my breath away. I arched up onto my knees, head back, screaming my pain into the night sky. The sound went from human to wolf, and this time stayed there.
Jericho said something, Colt answered, but their voices were muddy, muffled, words making no sense. My hands hurt, the tips of my fingers felt like someone was cutting them open with knives. I made the mistake of looking down.
My nails were splitting, the ends of my fingers widening, shortening, pulling back into my palms. Claws emerged, thick, sharp, wicked looking. I wanted to scream, but frankly I was mesmerized. Thick hair appeared, reddish blonde, and within minutes my hands—my feet—were covered. It moved up my arms and legs, and I looked down at my body. I was completely covered.
There was more, more pain, more changes. My jaw cracked, stretching. It was agony and I threw my hands up to my face, scratching my skin with my claws. The pain was nothing compared to the torture in the rest of my body. I tried to lower my arms, but they refused to cooperate, and I fell forward onto my newly formed paws. I wanted this to end, to be whatever I was supposed to be.
There was another burst of noise in my head, the roar deafening now. Someone touched me and I turned, snarling, snapping my jaws—and my very sharp new teeth—at the hand on my shoulder. It was Colt.
“She’s one of us.”
The roaring was gone. I could hear everything, see everything. Smell things I could not identify. I was a wolf.
* * *
Something pushed at my other shoulder. I turned, teeth bared. It was a yellow wolf…it was Jericho.
“It’s okay.”
I shook my head. It sounded for a minute like radio static, or bees buzzing. But then the noises cleared. The voice was his, in my mind. And he was there, standing next to me, a wolf.
“Think it, and you can talk to me. You’ll have to work at it.”
I wanted to tell him I was okay, or at least that I thought I was okay. But it was like being in a dream, where you want to scream, but it’s all muffled, like screaming into a pillow. A brief sharp pain lanced through my head, and I whined in protest.
“It’s okay. Just take it slow. You can understand me, right? Just wag your tail.”
Even as a wolf, he could make me smile. If wolves could smile. And wag my tail, right…but there was something behind me, something I could control. I glanced over my shoulder. I did have a tail, a big, lush tail, blonde tipped in red. An experimental wiggle of my back end brought a yip from my left.
“Wag your tail, not wiggle your ass. As much as I like that ass…”
I spun around. The big black wolf I’d seen on the trail in the park was sitting, head cocked, watching me with bright blue eyes. Colt. I snapped at him.
“You can wag your tail however you want.” It was Jericho again, clearer this time.
“Screw you.”
Colt and Jericho barked what I assume was wolfish laughter. “Good job, Red. You got it.”
“Leave it to Colt to make you mad enough to talk.”
“You feel like taking a walk in the woods?” Jericho wagged his tail and turned. “Follow the leader.”
I took a few experimental steps. Four legs and a tail, on a woman who had a hard time walking and chewing gum at the same time. But one step led to another, and another, and within minutes I was loping down the path behind Jericho. Colt followed. I could hear him, every footfall on the pine needles clear and sharp. I could smell him too. And Jericho. Their scent was even more intoxicating like this, mixed with trees, and foliage, and decaying leaves. It hit me like a physical blow, some place near my heart. These were my wolves.
The path I’d walked on before was suddenly full of things I’d never seen, or even knew existed. Everything was interesting. I heard something in the leaves, and couldn’t help pouncing on it. Turned out it was a shrew. I caught it, tossed it in the air. Then I backed away, my mouth filled with something that tasted horrible. Jericho’s laughed echoed in my head.
“You’ll learn what’s edible, what’s not. Those are not.”
I headed off the path, deeper into the forest. The guys flanked me, never pushing too close, but always there. I snuffled through leaves, listened to earthworms burrowing, beetles moving invisibly under cover. All of it was fascinating. I moved through a clearing, a space beneath the pines. I stopped, taking it all in. It was like a cathedral, a sacred space almost in our backyard. I wanted to come here again, as myself…or as my other self.
“Come on. You’ll love the river.”
Colt veered off, heading down the ravine. I’d never been here, couldn’t have ever walked here. It was steep and rocky, but I worked my way easily between boulders and fallen logs. If nothing else, I loved being graceful and surefooted.
The river shimmered in the dark, the surface giving off colors I never even knew existed, sounds I’d never heard with my human ears. I stood, open-mouthed, with what I thought was probably a wolf-like grin on my face.
“Beautiful, right?” Colt brushed against my shoulder, a bold move since I’d tried to bite him earlier. But the desire to snap had faded. Maybe I was getting used to being in this new skin.
“Yeah. Beyond beautiful.”
“More fun to play in. Come on.” Colt nudged me with his nose, pushing me forward. But I didn’t need any prodding.
“Race you.” But I was already sprinting toward the river. I looked over my shoulder, my two wolves right behind me.
I ran into the water. It was cold on my paws, but it ran off my fur. The rocks beneath me were slippery, but I clambered over them with ease. Water hit my muzzle, and I turned. Colt jumped from a nearby rock, water splashing over me. I barked…I think it was something like a bark. It was a sound of perfect joy.
We played in the water for a long time, jumping, splashing each other, veering off to turn over a rock in search of something hidden beneath them. I discovered a crayfish, nosing it with interest. Until it clamped one claw on the end of my nose. I pulled back, snorting, shaking my head until it came loose, sailing through the air. I heard it hit the water with a little plunk.
Colt crossed the river, and Jericho and I joined him. We started up the other side, into the park. It was the first time I’d been here since I’d met Colt and Jericho at the hot springs. It seemed a lifetime away now.
We skirted the campsites. The scent of burning wood was acrid, foreign, made me sneeze. Underneath that was the tantalizing smell of food. I lifted my head, sniffing the air, salivating. It was irresistible and I turned, following the aroma.
Jericho cut me off, a low grow rippling from his throat. I stopped. Colt stepped up on the other side.
“No.”
A single word, spoken by both. My hackles rose. I wanted what I wanted.
“We can’t risk being seen.”
I heard the words, let the meaning sink. I backed down, stepped away. It was hard, but I turned toward the river. The guys followed. And we went home.
Chapter Ten
“I never want to go through that again. At least not the first part. The rest...yeah, definitely. But not right now.”
They guys were hovering around the bed, pacing, not quite giving each other high fives. But they looked extremely pleased with themselves. Or maybe they were pleased with me. Actually, I was pretty pleased with myself. But I was also exhausted.
“This pacing stuff has to stop, okay? Sit or something.”
Colt perched on the edge of the bed. Jericho hovered a moment longer, then sat down on the windowsill. They still seemed full of energy. Annoyingly so.
“It’s hard coming down sometimes, for us.” Colt reached out, pulling the blanket up over my arms. “But for you, it was different.
“You think?” I turned toward Colt. Every inch of my body hurt and I winced.
“You did
n’t grow up like this. We did. But you did good, Red.” He leaned over and kissed my forehead. “Real good.”
“So I’m one of you now, for real?” I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open. Colt was fading in and out, Jericho behind him just a big familiar shape backlit by the light from the window.
“For real. You’re a shifter. One of us.” Jericho came into view over Colt’s shoulder. “You’re our shifter, Red.”
“Well, your shifter wants to sleep.” I pulled the blanket higher, unable to keep my eyes open any longer. And not wanting to. I wasn’t going anywhere, and I knew they weren’t.
“We can do a play-by-play later.”
The last thing I heard was Colt’s soft laugh, and the door clicking shut behind them.
* * *
I opened my eyes. It was dark, really dark. The usual house sounds were absent, and for a minute I panicked. The only clock in the house was downstairs, the big antique in the front room that didn’t keep very good time. I could just hear it ticking. Cellphone.
But I had no idea where that was right now. Tossing off the blankets I sat up. A wave of dizziness made me reconsider, but I shook my head. I was still in Jericho’s room, but like my cellphone, I really wasn’t sure where my clothes were. It really didn’t matter.
My eyes took almost no time to adjust to the total darkness. I stood up, waited through another wave of dizziness, and then decided it just might be from hunger and not some bizarre after effect of becoming a wolf for the first time. The rest of me felt pretty normal, except for the lingering aches in my joints.
I snagged a robe from the bathroom and padded downstairs. Before I’d reached the bottom I heard Colt and Jericho’s voices through the open door. They were on the front porch.
“Hey, Red. You’re back with us.” Colt was sitting on the ancient wicker sofa that seemed on the verge of collapse. He patted the cushion beside him. Jericho was leaned against the wide porch railing.
I dropped down, thankful for the softness of the cushions. My hips and knees ached, but I was starting to take a perverse pleasure in the pain. It was a badge of some kind. Shifter: Achievement unlocked.
Between Two Wolves (BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Menage Werewolf Romance) Page 9
