Have Tail, Will Travel

by Nancey Cummings

  “Back from the red?” Sigald’s voice came over the communicator, thick with static. “It’s getting shorter every time. I got a few minutes of drone footage and you were just a machine. All blades and claws. Gets my panties wet just thinking about it.”

  Merit grunted, not willing to comment. He found an outlet and learned to cope with his problem. His friend, however, seemed to think it a marvel. Envious, even. “At least have the decency to clean up after yourself since you’re jerking off in my Watchtower.”

  Laughter came over the line. “Yes, sir. I learned my lesson after the last time.” Storms always put his team in a jovial mood. Punch-drunk on adrenaline and exhaustion, they came together afterward to debrief and boast about their hunts.

  “What’s our status?”

  “The teams are cleaning up now.”

  “I’m on my way.” He wanted to check every Hunter who arrived. Injuries were rare but happened. Mornclaws injected their victims with a toxin that masked the pain. If injured, a person might never know. He’d also compile and map out mornclaw sightings, using that information for future patrols and monitoring.

  “Not a good idea, sir. I checked in with Belith–you know this was her first storm–and she says… Well, you should check on your mate.”

  Merit hung his head. Shamefully. He forgot about his mate. This was her first storm. The kits knew what to do in a storm, but she had to have been terrified. “I hate it when you’re right. It goes to your head, and you start thinking all your little notions are good ones.”

  “You flatter me, sir. Now go home. I can handle the debriefing and reports.”

  Merit rinsed off the worst of the gore with water from his canteen and headed home.

  Evening arrived as he parked outside, which meant two full days had passed since he left his mate sleeping in bed. Exhaustion weighed down on him, making every step a struggle as pain burned in his bad knee.

  Kal waited for him in the door, arms folded over her chest.

  Kalini

  Kal promised herself she wouldn’t get upset. She’d keep her wits about her and a level head. But the moment Merit strode toward the house, limping ever so slightly, her calm vanished.

  He had been injured. She sat in a dark, stuffy house with two scared children, worried about him, worried about all the things she just didn’t know.

  “Two days!” Kal rushed forward and threw her arms around his neck. Despite the filth that clung to him, she needed to feel him, to reassure herself that he was whole under the layer of muck and whatever that was. She breathed in the scent of him with shaky breaths, relishing the metallic tang of sweat.

  Stiff, possibly stunned, he lightly patted her on the back. “Clean-up can take several hours,” he said.

  “Next time tell me you’re leaving. And tell me you’re okay!” She couldn’t control her voice. The pitch wavered, and the volume grew as relief and anger wrestled within her. She pulled back from the embrace and landed a soft blow on his shoulder. “I was worried.”

  “Are you angry with me?”

  She looked up at him, searching his face. “Not about that.” She turned back to the dark house, still without power. “And take your boots off.”

  He complied. Dare and Clarity rushed down the stairs, already dressed for bed. He crouched down, arms outstretched, but they stopped short of an embrace. Clarity wrinkled her nose and told him that he was gross. They babbled about the storm, the tent they made, and all the ways they helped. When they were finished, Kal settled them back into their beds for the night.

  He gave them each a kiss on the forehead before closing the door.

  “Why are the lights off?” He followed Kal into their bedroom. Without power and the cooling system, the room felt uncomfortably warm. She opened the windows, hoping to catch the evening breeze.

  He stripped off his filthy clothes, leaving them in a pile on the floor. The worst of the gore had dried, leaving the fabric stiff and stinking.

  The solar-powered lanterns illuminated the bedroom in soft light. It’d be romantic if she weren’t so freaking furious.

  “The lights are off because the power grid failed,” she said, gritting her teeth.

  “It is a simple thing to reset the fuse box. Just a switch that you toggle. There is no need to sit in the dark,” he said, tone condescending like she didn’t understand how electrical systems worked.

  She clenched her balled up fists, willing herself to relax. She didn’t want to fight, not really. He worked for two solid days and had to be tired. He still had clumps of dried bug guts in his hair, for crying out loud.

  Merit noticed her hands. “You are angry.”

  “Of course I’m angry!” She pressed a hand to her chest, surprised by her outburst. “You left, Merit! You left.”

  “For my job. I am a Hunter. You know this.” His voice remained calm and even, almost cold.

  Kal sat on the edge of the bed, trying to get herself under control. She never yelled. It just wasn’t in her but now, when she thought about how broken hearted she felt when she woke up to find him missing, and how small that dark stormy sky made her feel, all she had was frustrated anger. “I know that’s your job. When I woke up, I thought you blew off everything we talked about, and I was hopping mad. I figured it out, though.”

  “Hopping mad?” A grin tugged at the corner of his mouth.

  Kal’s breath hitched.

  No, damn it. She refused to be distracted by his sexy smile.

  “What’s the matter, kitten? I missed you. Let me get cleaned up and I’ll show you how much I missed you.”

  “Not interested.”

  His gaze swept over her. He didn’t have to call her out on fibbing. Her body betrayed her. He could probably smell her arousal or hear her heart beating faster.

  Stupid, horny body.

  “I’m mad at you,” she said. “Furious. You left without a word. You didn’t tell me where you were going, how long you’d be gone and you didn’t tell me anything about the storms.”

  Merit raked a hand through his hair. “The storm came on suddenly. There wasn’t much time.”

  He didn’t get it. There he stood, cool as you please, trying to charm her like it was an average day when she was spitting nails.

  That was their pattern, she realized. The last time she saw him, she voiced her concerns. He charmed her and cajoled her until she forgot why she felt unhappy. The unhealthiness of it staggered her. He didn’t really listen to her and nothing would ever be resolved.

  Not this time. She refused to let him charm or distract her. “You could have left a note. A voice message. Something. Instead, I found an empty bed and jumped to the worst conclusion.”

  His smile fell. “Why would you do that?”

  Maybe because all her past boyfriends had been lying, cheating jerks, but Kal didn’t say that. She didn’t want to hear about his past relationships and she was certain he felt the same. “Because I catastrophize. Worst-case scenario. That’s how my brain works. But that’s not even the real issue. I figured out where you were pretty fast, once I stopped being angry and starting thinking.”

  His nostrils flared, the first hint that he might be upset. “Then why are you still angry?”

  “Because I’ve been here for more than a month and you never told me about the storms!” She threw her hands up in the air. “You never told me that the schools close or how the sky gets so dark that it looks like the end of the world. I was left all alone with two scared kids, windows that wouldn’t shut properly, and power that kept flickering.”

  “Amity should have—”

  “She left,” Kal said, speaking over him. “Her ride got pushed up early to beat the storm, so she had to leave or stay for another two weeks.”

  He scratched behind one ear in a gesture she recognized as his thinking move.

  “I was woefully unprepared, and that falls squarely at your feet, but that’s not the worst of it.” She felt detached from herself, like her anger was a distant
island and she drifted away, swept out by the tide. She could see it but not quite reach it. “Clarity was terrified. I couldn’t get the shutter to close, and she started crying for her mother. Hysterical crying. Do you know how helpless that made me feel?” He opened his mouth to respond, but she did not pause: “Pretty fucking helpless. Then the power goes out. Which, by the way, when it’s pitch black outside because of your Armageddon weather systems, is also fucking terrifying.”

  “The power should not have failed.” He frowned.

  “Well, I hate to break it to you, but I climbed up on the roof today and, honestly, it’s a miracle we had any power at all. The entire system is a mess.”

  “We need new panels?”

  “New everything.” The solar array is a rat’s nest of wires and rusting metal frames.

  He crouched at her feet and took her hands. “My thoughtlessness has shamed me. I will make the repairs tomorrow and pray for forgiveness.”

  He needed to do more than pray.

  Kal studied their joined hands and the dirt embedded in his fingernails. His claw tips extended ever so slightly. He was more upset than he showed. “Your claws—”

  He rumbled, a sound somewhere between pleased and a warning. His fingers flexed, claws not retracting.

  “You have to give me the information I need to do this,” she said.

  His ears twitched, but he did not insult her by implying that caring for his niece and nephew was not a job. “You are correct. I would never send a team into the field without the proper information or gear.”

  Yet that’s totally what he did with her.

  “You carry my heart, but I’ve given you nothing to carry it with,” he said.

  His words lanced the ugly bubble inside her, and the anger drained away. He was just as unpracticed with relationships as her.

  “We’re figuring this out together, right?” She squeezed his hand and gave a soft smile. His ears and tail perked up.

  Might as well get the ugly question out of the way. They had danced around it since she arrived and she tried to be patient, to let the family tell her at their own pace. Considering Clarity’s meltdown, she needed to know. “How did their mother die? Was it during a storm?”

  “No.” His grip on her hand tightened, and the tip of his tail brushed around her wrist and forearm in a calming gesture. “Reason died in her sleep. She had a heart condition and mixed medication with alcohol. Her heart stopped.”

  Kal opened her mouth to ask if he thought her death had been intentional or an accident but decided against it. It served no purpose. Reason’s heart stopped, regardless of her intentions.

  His ears lay flat, as if he could sense her questions. “It was an accident. As much as Reason hurt after Prospect’s death, she would never leave her kits. She lived for them.”

  With her free hand, Kal brushed back the hair from his forehead, skimming over an ear. “Where were the kits?”

  “With me. Reason had been feeling poorly, so I took the kits.” Another brush of the tail and his breathing relaxed. “I should have taken her to the medical clinic. She didn’t want to go, but I should have insisted.”

  “You didn’t know.”

  “I knew about her heart condition,” he said, eyes downcast. “She hated the medics and was tired so often. Prospect would have carried her to the medic, kicking and screaming if that’s what it took.”

  Ah. So that was the issue.

  Kal dug her fingers in his hair, just behind his left ear. She ignored how coarse and stiff it felt. He needed a shower, badly. “You want to protect everyone.”

  “If a male cannot protect his family, then what good is he?”

  She leaned her forehead against his, adding another point of contact. Her body hummed with awareness of him. “I see a good male.”

  “I’m not so good.” He pulled away, breaking their connection. Turning, he spied her packed bag at the door. “What is that?”

  Chapter Ten

  Merit

  For a moment, he didn’t know what to think. Kal had been upset. She said as much. She failed to mention that she had been prepared to leave, without saying a word. Then again, it was no more than he deserved.

  She dashed to the door, blocking the bag from his view with her body. Her luscious, alluring body.

  He should be upset. Furious. Instead, all he felt was shame that he had given his mate no reason to stay.

  The last night he spent with her in his arms, she confessed that she felt alone and exposed. She wanted–needed–his touch to ground her, to make her feel wanted and desired.

  What did he do? He placated her with timid kisses and still held himself back.

  The bloodlust inside him stirred. His claws fully extended and the guard hairs on his arms bristled. Always hungry, the bloodlust should have been sated with the day’s slaughter but no. Killing mornclaws was not what it wanted.

  It wanted its mate.

  He would give her to it.

  She watched him, eyes wide, like a prey animal waiting for the pounce.

  “Kalini. Explain,” he said.

  “Well, I get a bit rash when I’m upset.”

  He prowled forward and she backed up, continuing until she hit the edge of the bed. She plopped down, staring up at him with those dark eyes.

  “You planned to leave.”

  “It certainly looks that way,” she said. “Funny story. I know our location is a bit remote, so I wanted to buy Amity’s ticket off her to leave today. Funny, right?” She gave a weak chuckle, still watching him for a reaction. “So, like I said, I was a bit rash, but I figured it out in the end. No harm done.”

  He pushed her back down to the mattress and leaned over her, hands planted on either side of her head. He breathed her in, sifting through the medley of her emotions and stress hormones.

  No. There had been harm done. The harm was right there in the sharp, bitter notes of her body’s chemistry. By keeping her at arm’s length to protect her from his bloodlust, he made her believe that he did not desire her.

  “Granted, leaving without telling you is pretty shitty. I admit that, but I thought there wasn’t time. You have every right to be upset with me. I accused you of abandoning me, and I was more than willing to do the same thing to you. Not my best moment. Can we talk about it, Merit?” She searched his face for a clue as to his thoughts. If she only knew that things racing through his head, she’d be a lot more frightened. “Please?”

  “I failed you,” he said.

  “Er, what?”

  He failed to make her understand that she was all he desired. She consumed his thoughts and directed every action. In the past, he had lost himself to bloodlust. He feared that his eyes would go black, his claws would come out, and his instinct would take hold.

  His claws extended. With a growl, he plucked at the front of her tunic. “Is this a favorite?”

  “What? No.”

  He shredded the fabric with his claws, pulled it apart to bare his mate, and then did the same to her bra. She gasped, but the heady musk betrayed her arousal. Exposed to him, her golden skin glowed, smooth and perfect. Dusty rose nipples crowned the full, succulent globes of her breasts.

  “That first day, I warned you I would pounce.” He pushed apart her legs with a knee and settled into the space between.

  Home. She felt like home.

  “Are you pouncing?” She licked her bottom lip. No fear.

  Merit growled with need and dipped down, his tongue swiping across her mouth. She opened to him, and he took what she offered. Warm and responsive, the kiss deepened, amplified by her own desire. Battle hormones thrummed through his body. His hard cock strained against his trousers. He ground against her, inspiring her hips to raise.

  “Consider yourself pounced,” he said. He pressed his face into the curve of her neck, licking her skin and savoring the taste of her.

  Her hips lifted, grinding against him.

  “I waited too long to show you how I feel,” he said, pres
sed to the shell of her ear. He nipped the soft lobe, and his tongue explored the shape, so different from his own ears.

  “You’re covered in bug guts,” she said, giving him a slight push. “You can show me after a shower. We don’t have hot water, but you need to be clean.”

  He grinned at the show of resistance. She couldn’t possibly hope to move him. “I wear the blood of my enemies, as tribute for my mate. “

  “That is not as sexy as you think it is. Also, gross.” The corner of her mouth pulled up. “Shower. Now.”

  “I love it when you’re bossy,” he said, reluctantly pulling away.

  “You like the bossy pants, huh?”

  “A strong male welcomes a strong female at his side.” He pulled her to her feet, hands immediately going to her ass. He prodded at the waistband of her trousers, pushing the fabric down her hips. “The lacy ones are particularly nice, but I prefer when you wear none at all.”

  “Mind the claws.” She pushed the trousers all the way down to the floor and stood in nothing but a pair of flesh-colored panties, before pulling those down as well.

  Merit growled with appreciation at the thatch of dark hair between her legs. Even from a distance, he could tell that the curling hairs captured her scent. Soon he’d push his nose into those curls and breathe her in.

  Taking her by the hand, he led her to the shower stall.

  “I don’t think there’s room for us both,” she said.

  “We’ll fit.” They had to. The bloodlust wouldn’t let her go. He needed to touch her. It was a tight fit, but his chest rumbled with pleasure at how close they stood together.

  Under the water, Merit let the worst of the mess sluice off him. Without prompting, Kal grabbed soap and a cloth, and began working on his back. He pressed his hands against the tile wall and let his head hang. The water swirled a dark, rusty color.

  His mate’s touch both soothed and excited him. His cock, already hard, throbbed with need. She systematically worked her way down his back, careful not to nick any existing scrapes or cuts.