He groaned as he bottomed out in her.
“There is nothing sexier than your legs in the air as you take my cock deep inside of you. The look on your face holds me in your power.”
She rested her legs on the crook of his arms as he moved inside of her. The movements were nice and slow meant to drag out her pleasure. She could feel her body becoming more sensitive with every movement even as he stared into her eyes never breaking contact. His feelings were in his eyes. He was telling her what he was still trying to tell her with his voice.
She ran her fingertips down his arms even as she moved to the rhythm he set.
“I love the feel of you inside of me. I feel so full. You feel like you belong here.”
“Rissa.” He moved faster his breath coming out in little pants to match her bigger ones. “You undo me.” He whispered trying to come to terms with how he felt.
“I know.” It was said humbly as if the very fact that she could move him touched her to a core that she never knew existed.
She would never know, but he would show her. His speed picked up, and she followed him. He knew that she would follow him anywhere and he swore as he watched the pleasure on her face, as he watched the love that was oozing out of her pores, that the one place he would never lead her was hell. Now he only needed a way to keep his word to himself.
Her nails bit into his back feeling his inattention, the minor turning of his mind from her to think about her.
“Rissa,” his voice was thick with need.
She looked up at him as he stilled over her.
“I love you, Rissa.”
Her smile undid him. He pushed her, pushed himself to reach the pinnacle so that they could fly free. He moved faster and deeper pounding into her until he saw the light in her eyes flicker and her body start to tremble. He saw the need for her to break boundaries and defy the laws of gravity. He gave her one more stroke, and she came apart for him. Her voice vibrated off the walls even as she clutched him tight.
No longer able to hold back what he was feeling he thrust again and joined her in a freefall that made his heart pound as his breath tried to catch in his throat. He loved her, he didn’t know miracles existed until he met her.
“That was…” She shut up how could she describe what just happened? When sex was no longer sex, when it was love but so much more. There weren’t words for what she felt all she could do was hope he felt it too.
He wrapped his arms around her and rolled over onto his back. They were still connected, and she didn’t want to move. She should cook and she would but not right now.
Sleep was overtaking her she kissed his chest before she closed her eyes and was lost.
Chapter Twenty-one
“How about some breakfast?” She leaned over to kiss him on his cheek. He turned his head giving her a deep kiss.
“Mmm, I like waking up like that.” They had been in the cabin for three blissful days. Laughing and making love.
“Which one of us is cooking?”
“Well someone almost burned the bacon yesterday.”
“I have no idea who that could have been.”
She laughed as she slid off the side of the bed. He told her he couldn’t cook and he meant it.
“Why don’t we make breakfast together.”
“That’s my favorite kind of breakfast.”
She moved backward as he was reaching for her until she hit the bathroom door.
“You’re just making me hungrier,” He called out as the bathroom door closed.
Her carefree laughter hit his ears making him smile.
Standing he stretched every muscle. No one ever told him life could be like this. They laughed, loved, and cooked together. He had never had this with any of his girlfriends, a relationship where he could be himself. There was no need to pretend he was something he wasn’t. Rissa wasn’t expecting him to always be hard or to be the military guy she told her friends about. She was content to just spend time with him.
“I think we should go swimming in the lake today.” She walked out drying her hair.
He caught her around the waist and pulled her into his arms. His lips were soft against her encouraging her to open before he went on an onslaught wrapping his tongue around hers. She dueled with him as she deepened their kiss.
A feeling hit him deep in his gut or was it his soul or heart. He didn’t know, and he wasn’t going to try and reason it out. All he knew was that when he was with her a part of him softened, embraced her. They were on a desperate mission to make it to their land, their home. Now his home was in her arms, it was the only place he wanted to be.
“We can go swimming if that’s what you want to do. Let me shower and then I’ll come out so we can fix breakfast.”
She walked away, and he hit her ass because…well, he just had to.
Her laughter filled the room long after she was gone.
“Find anything good?” She was staring into the fridge when he walked into the kitchen.
“I was thinking french toast and sausage.”
“Sounds good and since it’s not bacon, it won’t burn.”
She looked up at him with her bright eyes and his heart stuttered. These last days had been extraordinary, and every time he looked at her, he knew he had been given someone he didn’t deserve.
“Stay in the cabin, I’m going to do a perimeter check.”
He did a check several times a day. Rissa thought he was paranoid and maybe he was but his animals felt the same way. They needed to be on guard. Someone was looking for her making plans to take her away. The certainty of it felt like a dull ache.
He checked the traps and trip wires he had taken the time to set up. There was only so much he could do with the limited resources he had. Lore and Ben would bring him extra supplies tonight when they came for dinner. It would be nice if he could use something a little deadlier but people hiked up here, and he couldn’t risk maiming or hurting one of them.
“You're back just in time for breakfast.”
She timed how long it took him to check the traps so she would know when to start their meal. It was a little thing, but it made him feel special.
“Did you find anything?”
“Not a thing.” He walked to the sink to wash his hands. “Don’t say it.”
“I won’t. I trust your instincts they have kept us alive.”
She placed a plate of food in front of him. He opened his mouth.
“I know, don’t go beyond the grassy area and don’t get in the lake if you’re not with me.”
“Yeah, sorry. I guess I’m overdoing it.”
“No, you're simply concerned. I’ve been with you long enough now to know you don’t get concerned for nothing. I bet you had feelings like this that kept you and others alive when you were undercover.”
“I did, but at least I had an inkling of what I was facing back then. Now I’m completely in the dark.”
“I’m not worried, you know why?”
“Why?”
“Because I know if someone captures me you’re coming after me.”
There were so many other things to worry about. What if they decided to cut their losses and a marksman shot her? How was he supposed to protect her from that? He wanted to argue with her, but putting those fears in her head wouldn’t keep her alive. There were too many places for someone to hide.
The only thing that made him feel better was the thought of pulling out early. He would tell Lore and Ben tonight when they came over.
“Are you ready to go out?”
The dishes were washed, and she wanted to get in the lake.
“I’ll be ready in a few.”
“Since you already checked the area, I’m going to go out, but I’ll stick close to the house.”
He nodded and watched as she headed towards the door.
“Leave the front door open.”
“I will.”
He worried, and she understood why, but it made her nervous, and she didn’t
want to tell him that. She moved to the side of the house to look at the trees. They were picture perfect. If only she had a camera. Maybe she would become a world-famous photographer under a secret name of course.
There was a shadow standing in the middle of a sunny patch. How could that be? Her feet moved closer to inspect before she realized what she was doing. The shadow was in the shape of a man.
“I know who you are.”
“Perfect, I know who you are also.” His voice was deep with a sinister edge to it she had to tense to keep from shuddering. “Come closer.”
“No.”
“Scared of me?”
“No, I just have a healthy respect for my life. I know as long as I stay here you can’t touch me, but your always welcome to approach me.”
“Don’t you want to find out if your new abilities work?”
She stared at him. He wasn’t a shadow, she would bet the house that he was flesh and blood like Talon and his mate, but he didn’t want anyone to know.
He took a step closer to her and backed up quickly.
“I don’t know what shield you are projecting but it will fail, and you will die.” He disappeared, and she sagged in relief.
She wasn’t sure what shield she was projecting or if it was all in his head. No, there was something when he tried to move closer he was hit with pain. She couldn’t see his face but she understood body language, and he had been hurt.
“Rissa!” Dev came running around the side of the house. He slid to a stop beside her. “I thought I heard you talking to someone.”
“I was.” She could have lied to him. Telling him about Ha’cho was going to make him go ballistic. “Try not to get upset, I’m fine, and there was nothing you could have done even if you were at my side.”
He pulled her into his arms and hugged her tight before his eyes met hers.
“Tell me.”
“I saw a shadow in the middle of a sunny patch. It was shaped like a man.”
His eyebrows rose in confusion. She raised her hand to touch the frown on his lips.
“It was Ha’cho.”
He did a visual sweep of the area.
“He’s gone, he couldn’t come close to me, said I was projecting a shield. I don’t think he’ll be back.”
“He’ll be back, but next time he’ll send an emissary someone not affected by the shield that stopped him.”
“We’re not going swimming are we?”
“It’s too dangerous.”
He brought her to his side and wrapped his arms around her. How was he supposed to keep her from danger if he didn’t know where it was?
“We need to get in the cabin.”
He heard the almost inaudible sound of a weapon being cocked before he pushed her down taking the shot in his back. She screamed and pushed at him until she rolled him off her. She was on her knees shaking him begging him to get up. What happened?
The dart sticking out of his back told her that he wasn’t dead.
“Marissa, did you think I wouldn’t eventually catch up with you and him.”
Roger was standing in the sunlight looking like an angry god come to wreak vengeance on those that had crossed him.
“You’ll never have me!” She screamed as she ran. We need speed, she told her lion begging her for every extra step she could get.
He was chasing her. Every step she took was one step away from Dev. They were going to do it she could feel the extra speed flowing into her body. Then she heard the gunshot, and she faltered but refused to fall. This was the only way to protect Dev. The further she ran the less chance he would go back. The gun clicked again, and she hit the ground face first. He shot her in both legs.
She used her arms to move forward. There was no way she was going with him.
“Stop moving, or I’ll put a bullet on your head.”
She dropped to the ground. There was nothing else she could do.
“You left me, but I always knew I would get you back. You’ll regret leaving me.” He crouched down and looked at her legs before he took his shirt ripped it into and did a tourniquet on each leg.
“Looks like you won’t be walking.”
He took out a bandana from his back pocket and stuffed it in her mouth. He stood and took her arm and began to drag her across the ground. He was singing a song she wrote a long time ago.
This time he would have to kill her. She would never just sit back and allow herself to be abused. She turned her thoughts to Dev, he was safe, and that was all that mattered. She might die, but he would live, and there was some comfort in that thought. At least one of them would make it to the land that could be defended against the military and the government.
The terrain changed it was rocky and jagged. This was where she and Dev had been running in their animal forms. The more they let the animal out, the better they felt. He dragged her over jagged rocks, and she was sure the pain in her side meant that she had broken a rib. If only she could change. Would the change heal her enough to kill him?
She tried to change, but she was in too much pain. No matter how her animal tried to push the change, it wouldn’t come. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to drift. The change would come, and when it did, she would kill him, even if she had to follow him into hell.
He picked her up and threw her into the back of a vehicle. Her head hit the door, and she lost consciousness.
Chapter Twenty-two
“Dev wake up!” Lore’s heart beat fast, no matter how many times he shook him, he wasn’t waking up. His eyes went to the dart they pulled out of his back. What had they used on him?
Ben came running out of the house with water. He could hear his breath coming out in little pants letting him know that Ben was as scared for Dev as he was. He threw the water in Dev’s face, but he didn’t flinch.
“He’s not dead. Why won’t he wake up?” The fear in his voice could be heard even as his hand clutched around the cup.
“His animals internalized the drug at different rates, and they can’t get it out of their system.”
They turned to face Talon who was watching them work on Dev. He hadn’t been there when they started. He was much too quiet with his ability to pop in and out.
“Does this mean he’s going to die?”
“Maybe, possibly, probably.”
“And you’re going to stand there and watch it happen?”
He shrugged his shoulders.
Lore jumped at him from where he was crouching over Dev. Ben threw himself at Lore knowing what their unofficial leader was capable of.
“I want to tear him into small pieces as much as you do, but he’s the only one who can help Dev.”
“He has a point.” Talon looked at them and waited for them to decide what to do.
Ben eased off Lore. Then Lore followed suit by easing back until he was over Dev again.
“Are you going to help him?” That was the real question here because they couldn’t do anything for their brother.
“I am.”
“Why didn’t you just say that in the beginning?” The frustration in Ben’s voice could be heard.
“I’ll explain, eventually. You need to move away from him if you want my help.”
They backed up warily.
“Rath.” Another male materialized behind him. “He needs our help.”
“I was out hunting. Why do you need me?”
“Rath!”
“Does that tone ever work with me brother?”
Talon’s eyes sparked with gray fire, and Rath laughed. “Are we going to play or heal the shifter?”
His shoulders tensed before they loosened. There were times his brother challenged him to end his life, but he still had the strength to refuse him. The whole world would suffer the day he had to kill him.
Rath moved to the other side of Dev’s body before crouching over him.
Together they placed their hands on his chest. Sparks flowed from their hands into his body. He jumped like there were apply
ing shock pads to his heart.
“How could he ingest this much poison?”
“It was in a tranq dart that he was hit with.”
“Once again a cowardly human. I say we rid the world of all of them except the females.”
“What would we do with a world of females?”
“We look for the ones that are our mates.”
“And the other one’s?”
“They're better off without the men.”
“I don’t think that’s how they would see it. Focus.”
Rath went after every bit of poison in Dev’s system concentrating it in one place while Talon worked on neutralizing and allowing it to flow through his pores once it could no longer hurt him.
“Can we at least kill the human who did this? I’ll volunteer for the mission.”
“I think the three of them want that task.”
Dev groaned as he began to move slowly trying to get control of his body.
“You must find him as soon as possible if you want her to live.” Talon and Rath disappeared as if they were never there.
“What happened?” His voice was groggy, and his tongue was thick.
Ben pressed a cup into his hand he’d refilled with water.
“You were lying on the ground a tranq dart in your back when we pulled up.”
“Rissa wanted to go swimming. I heard her talking to someone and ran out. She said Ha’cho was here. I’ll explain him later, but he couldn’t get to her. I was trying to get her into the cabin when I was hit. Is there any sign of her?”
“Yeah, whoever took her dragged her about three hundred yards. He had a vehicle there, the path disappears after they hit the highway.”
“I’ve got to find her.”
Lore pushed him back down. “We have to find her, but it won’t help us if you move before you’re ready. We can’t fight and take care of you.”
Lore didn’t understand that the only person that mattered was Rissa. And he wasn’t going to make him understand so he sat and took deep breaths waiting for the desire to puke to pass him and hoping that the dizziness would pass also.
“I packed for you. I closed my eyes and just threw Rissa’s things in a bag because you know…”
Dev's Mate (Shifters on the run Book 2) Page 13
