by Leela Ash
“I don’t really want to think about it,” Val said quietly. Gabe nodded. He could hardly blame her for that.
“What the hell were you thinking, anyway? Why were you out there so late?” Gabe hesitated before speaking his real fear. “You weren’t looking for me, were you?”
If the girl had been out there looking for him and had gotten herself into trouble like that, how would he be able to live with himself? It had been his own damn fault that he had claimed her. She couldn’t help it if the whole thing just confused her. That was all on him.
“No,” Val said, shaking her head and trying to sit up again. “I was working late today. Randall had a family emergency…”
“Randall…” Gabe said, a small growl reverberating in his voice. Val laughed softly.
“Down boy,” she said, touching his arm lightly. She drew back immediately, as if she had touched a flame. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine,” Gabe said, his eyes dark as he studied her. “Are you all right? They didn’t… did they?”
“”No, I’m all right,” Val said quickly.
The wolf wasn’t satisfied with this, and Gabe found himself trying to gauge the scents around her body to determine whether or not she was telling him the truth. She was, but there was something disturbing about the scent of the man who had attacked her. Something familiar.
“You’re sure?” Gabe asked, quirking his brow at her.
“I’m sure,” Val said, yawning. “It’s just been a long night. I haven’t eaten since two in the afternoon. I usually pick up dinner on the way to the gas station but I had to call off.”
Gabe was startled by the revelation and immediately left the room. The girl worked herself to the bone to be able to afford living in Stonybrooke. The place was rife with dangers. She probably had no idea who the men were that had attacked her, but after confronting them for himself and placing the scent of their leader, Gabe knew it was bad news.
But he would have to think about that later. For now, it was his job to take care of the girl. To feed her; to make sure she was safe and sound.
He set to work cooking a dinner unlike any he had made since his wife had passed away; an elaborate shifter meal, but a quick one, and then brought it into the bedroom where the girl was dozing lightly on the bed.
“Please, eat something. I’m worried an empty stomach may have contributed to your fainting,” Gabe said. He wanted to be angry that she was there; that she looked so good; so right stretched out and sleeping peacefully between his sheets. But all he could do was gaze upon her and try to fight the warmth that her presence stirred in him. There was just something about her he simply liked. He couldn’t help himself.
“Thanks,” Val said, sitting up and taking the tray from him.
He watched her closely as she ate; so closely that it seemed to make her uncomfortable, but he wasn’t going to leave until he was certain she was well on her way to feeling better.
Finally, he took the empty plate from her and whisked it into the kitchen, catching a glimpse of himself in the glass cabinet. He was still naked. It was shameless. But the wolf wouldn’t be embarrassed by anything. It was at home, and felt perfectly comfortable strutting its stuff in front of the girl.
“I’m sorry,” Gabe said, walking briskly into the bedroom and grabbing a pair of pajama pants. He slipped them on and Val averted her gaze, another heavy scent of arousal filling the air between them. Gabe swallowed hard, doing his best to ignore it, but when he looked at Val again, her eyes were heavy lidded with desire.
“It’s all right,” she said softly.
“You’re bleeding,” he said, gripping her hand in his and twisting her arm gently to look at her elbow.
“I’m fine,” she said, a little breathlessly. “Really.”
Gabe shook his head and retrieved a small first aid kit from the bathroom. He dabbed gently at the cut with a cotton ball full of alcohol and then dressed the wound, Val wincing the entire time.
“There,” he said quietly. “That should do it.”
But when Gabe looked back into Val’s eyes, he knew there had been no point in denying what he already knew. The wolf wanted her. Badly. It had claimed her for a reason, and now that she was there with him, her body rife with desire, there was only one thing he could do. Give in.
12.
Heat pulsed through Val’s body when Gabe’s lips suddenly met her own, and she closed her eyes, her loins engulfed in flames. He pushed her shirt up over her head, burying his mouth against the soft flesh of her breasts, and she bucked her hips against him, completely consumed by a powerful wave of longing unlike anything she had ever felt before.
A soft moan, and then a whimper of ecstasy, escaped Val’s lips as the soft skin of Gabe’s sculpted abdomen brushed up against her exposed navel, and she felt the hard urgency of his desire firm against her middle. She shuddered in longing, anticipation mounting wildly as Gabe showered her body with hot, sensual kisses, both tender and demanding.
Val ran her hands through Gabe’s thick hair, gripping it as he tore the rest of her clothing off and devoured her body with his lips, kissing her from the nape of her neck all the way down to her thighs, a deep rumble vibrating against her groin as he growled, barely able to contain his animalistic desire.
Sweet waves of pleasure consumed her as he buried his face between her legs, his silky-smooth tongue caressing the ripe fruit of her loins and turning the fire into an inferno. Val bucked her hips wildly, desperate for a way to relieve herself of the intensity of her desire.
Gabe held her steady as he explored her with his mouth, his tongue awakening urges in her that she had never even known she was capable of. Her body was engulfed in bliss, and Gabe seemed to know exactly what he was doing to her. It was almost cruel in a way, but her body didn’t think so. It was thirsty for more; it wanted all of him, right then and there.
But he refused to strip himself again, no matter how urgently she pleaded for him to put himself inside her. She could feel just how much he wanted to; the testament of his longing was physical against her legs as he continued on in his pursuit to pleasure her. Never in her life had she wanted someone so badly, only to be refused again and againthe thing she wanted most.
And yet, it was clear he was relishing in the surrender of his longing, and his tongue seemed to savor every taste of her body he was able to get. Valerie found herself writhing on the bed, beside herself with pleasure, until she felt a sudden heaviness; a tingling pressure deep inside, and she knew she couldn’t hold out much longer. Her temptation to surrender to the bliss was overpowering, and she begged one last time for Gabe to go inside her; to fill her with the one thing her body wanted more than anything in the world. With him.
But again, he didn’t acknowledge her request, and instead, plunged a thick finger inside. She was electrified, and soon, he was pumping his fingers back and forth slowly, sensually, until the brink of her climax came upon her suddenly. Soon, her back was arching despite herself and Val gripped the sheets, unable to think of anything; her mind empty except for the consuming grip of her pleasure.
Higher and higher, Gabe took her, until she reached her peak and cried out, her body quaking involuntarily from its force. Soon, Gabe’s arms were around her and she was being held tightly against his broad chest, the warmth of his body bringing her safely back to her own. She looked up at him, smiling sheepishly, and his dark eyes flashed. He wanted her. She knew it. But he wasn’t going to give in. And she wasn’t going to try to make him.
“Get some rest, kid,” Gabe said. “When you get up, we’re going back to the record store to clean it up a bit. I know that job means a lot to you.”
Val was stunned as Gabe rose from the bed and headed to the door. He hesitated at the doorway and looked over his shoulder at her.
“I know you probably know this already,” he said quietly. “But this can’t happen again.”
And with that, he left the room, shutting the door gently behind him.
&nb
sp; ***
“What do you mean I don’t need to make any payments on the loan I took out when I began school?” Val asked. “There has to be some mistake. There was a lot that I still owed, and the interest from all the time it takes to get it done was pretty overwhelming, to be honest with you.”
The woman on the phone laughed kindly, and Valerie knitted her brow in confusion. She had to admit, it was a little bit hard to concentrate after what had happened with Gabe. Maybe she had given the woman the wrong information and she had pulled up the wrong file.
“You must have some kind of an angel investor on your future or something, because the entire thing has been paid in full. You don’t owe us anything anymore. All you’re going to have to pay for now are the classes that you’re taking and the fees for enrolling to graduate. You, my dear, are off the hook.”
“Thank you,” Valerie said, dumbfounded. She hung up the phone and leaned back in the chair, taking a deep breath. Maybe she should call back and see if there was some mistake. Maybe the woman had gotten some of her information wrong and was looking at somebody else’s loan. Her hand hovered over the phone as her heart raced in her chest.
Realization suddenly dawned on her and she remembered Gabe’s face after she had told him how hard she was working to be able to stay in Stonybrooke. This had Gabe’s masculine, obnoxious scent all over it. He felt like it was his job to take care of her, but would he really go out of his way to do something like this? Especially when it was something she had been managing to handle on her own? Where did he get off sticking his nose in her business like this? He had his own business to run; what was he thinking?
She would have to confront him about it before he started feeling like he was responsible for her financially. There was nothing worse to her than feeling like a burden, and if he was to begin acting like this, doing these things without even consulting her first, she wasn’t going to tolerate it. Not only was it insulting, but surely, it was hard on him. He had his own life to worry about. She had to clear things up.
“You got any cigarettes?”
Val cringed, locking her apartment door and trying to ignore the man on the corner who always tended to ask her for things. He lived just a few apartments down from her, and when she had first moved in, she had given him a little bit of money just to appease him. At first, she thought it would be a good idea to keep the scary shifters off her back, but now, she saw what a mistake it had been. Roger, and a few of his friends now, thought she was a pushover, and now they felt comfortable asking her for things all the time. Sometimes, she obliged and sometimes she didn’t; and right now, she wasn’t in the mood.
“You already know I don’t smoke, Roger,” she said, walking briskly down the sidewalk.
“Will you just help me out? You got you some money? Because I do smoke,” he shouted after her.
Val shook her head without looking back, and she heard Roger mutter and curse under his breath. His habits weren’t her responsibility, though, even if she didn’t have to pay off her student loan any longer. She was tired of feeling like she had to bend over backwards just to stay safe in a dangerous community. Especially now that she knew what it felt like to have someone on her side who cared about her safety and well-being. Whether or not Gabe wanted to do it. And even if she didn’t want him to.
“I don’t have anything for you.”
She said this more to herself than to Roger, because, by then, she was turning the corner and heading toward the bus shelter. She never felt as anxious during the day as she did in the bus shelter outside of the dingy apartment complex. It was so low income that all the riffraff in Stonybrooke managed to find their way there and stay public fixtures. They spent their days asking other people for money so they could support their habits and then retreating into their rooms to have obnoxious and loud parties and high-intensity fights, often full of racist and prejudice slurs against humans and other shifters.
In a way, she was glad she was too busy to be home for long. All she needed was somewhere to sleep and to keep her few possessions. Even if she didn’t feel safe, at least she had that much. She knew what it was like to have nothing, and that was worse.
“Let me give you a ride.”
As usual, the deep rumble of Gabe’s voice was warmly shocking, but she wouldn’t let herself be fooled by her physiological reaction.
“You’ve already done more than enough,” she said, glaring at him. His eyes narrowed in confusion, and then realization.
“You can’t be saddled with those loans forever. And how hard you’re working isn’t good for you. Not only that, but living somewhere like this? You could get killed even if you’re keeping your head down. None of these people would ever do anything for you. All these people are dangerous.”
Val’s face grew hot. She hadn’t wanted him to see where she lived. In fact, she had never told him. Seeing him there had been a major surprise.
“How did you know where to find me? This is my home,” Val said, trying to keep her voice low so her neighbors wouldn’t overhear. “Don’t you find that a little bit invasive?”
Gabe shrugged halfheartedly. “You know where I live. Fair is fair. Besides, I wouldn’t be able to help smelling you if I tried. Don’t blame me. The wolf brought me here. I was just going to go to work.”
“Ugh,” Val grumbled. “You know, you’re really an impossible man.”
Still, it was nice to be able to be back inside the safety of Gabriel’s car and avoid the watery, unsteady gaze of drunks and addicts as they watched her ride away instead of being stuck sitting next to them on the bus all the way to school. He smelled a lot better too.
“I’m going to pay you back for this, you know,” Val said, jutting her chin in determination. “I can’t be having you sweeping in to save me all the time.”
“Why not? That’s my job now. I brought it on myself, and you might as well just let it happen. There is nothing more I can do about it. Even the Elder said so.”
“Don’t you guys take human needs into consideration too? Why is it that all you shifters are able to do is worry about what your culture says? You guys are guests on earth as far as the research I’ve found has told me. Maybe you should be taking my needs into consideration more than your own. Because this is really stressing me out.”
Gabriel seemed thrown off by this, and turned to look at her, an angry and wild look in his eyes. “If you don’t like the laws here, you didn’t have to stay in Stonybrooke. This is our turf now. The planet had to make way for the shifters somehow, and wherever there are portals, the earth belongs to us now. You’re the one who chose to come here. And now you have to live by the laws of the land. Whether you like the way we do something or not.”
Gabriel gripped the steering wheel, the anger visible beneath his handsome features. “And really, I’m never going to see just what makes you feel so bad about having someone who wants to take care of you. Most people never have that. They’d consider themselves lucky to. And if they do have it, it’s taken away in an instant.”
“Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, but I know for a fact that we can never be together. You will never love me. Everything that we are doing is a waste of time, and you’re only doing all of this out of some sense of stupid obligation that doesn’t need to exist. It’s just stressing us both out. Stop coddling me. I have always made it on my own. Always. For my entire life. And the last thing I need is someone hanging around all the time because he thinks I’m not doing a good enough job of being independent.”
“That’s not what I think,” Gabe growled.
“Well, it doesn’t really matter anyway,” Val grumbled. He was such a stubborn asshole sometimes. He refused to see her perspective on the whole thing. He was so blinded by what he thought his duty as a wolf was that Valerie and her needs were completely overlooked.
“You’re right,” Gabe growled. “What’s done is done. And maybe we can’t be together. We already know that much. But the least you can do is respect ancient
shifter laws when you’re living in our territories. You don’t want to find out what happens to people who disrespect my culture.”
A wave of fear chilled Val and she turned away from Gabe. They spent the rest of the car ride in an icy silence. He dropped her off in front of the school, not even bothering to drive her to the building where her first class was. She was eager to get away from him, and hurried to class, doing her best not to cry. She hadn’t asked this man to come into her life like this, and now that he had, she was feeling very overwhelmed. Maybe it would be better if she did leave after all.
But once she got to class, all thoughts of Gabe went out the window and she was consumed by curriculum. Just because things had been stressful didn’t mean she had to give up on doing what she had come there to do. She would get through this just like she got through everything else, and she would be all the stronger for it. She was never going to let anybody get in her way. Not even Gabriel.
***
Val tossed her backpack over her shoulder and headed down the hallway. She had to stop by the library before she left, and in a way, she was glad. She was dreading going to the record store. Even though they had spent the night cleaning up after the robbery, she knew Randall was going to be full of questions, and she wasn’t sure she knew exactly how to answer them. Gabe had said he would take care of it all for her, but she was tired of him inserting himself into her life. She would deal with Randall without him.
Val turned the corner and stopped suddenly. The group of boys that constantly harassed her had congregated in the hallway, and were talking in hushed whispers amongst themselves. For some reason, she felt compelled to listen, and hid herself behind the doorway of the classroom nearest to them.
“It didn’t work,” Ren said. “Apparently, Hacker didn’t find what they were looking for, and then he got slaughtered in the alley. We know where it is. We just have to be more careful next time.”
