by Marilu Mann
Gareth started to answer Harmony when her daughter interrupted. “Do you have to be naked to do it?”
“No, but if you don’t take your clothes off first, depending on what you’re wearing they can get caught around your body. And it’s no fun running through the woods with pieces of a shirt or something slowing you down.” He grinned and Rain’s snort of laughter seemed to take her by surprise.
“It would suck to have to replace my favorite jeans. So…Keme can do this?”
Gareth hesitated then decided in for a penny in for a pound. “Keme had his first shift two years ago. His whole family are early shifters. Some of the other pups, kids, still haven’t shifted for the first time, some have. You’re not out of place here, Rain. If you can shift you’ll fit right in with them.”
He glanced at Harmony. “And if you can’t shift you will still fit in. You’re both Pack now.”
“That’s a pretty big ‘if’, isn’t it? I mean, Mom, if you and Dad can’t then why would I be able to do this?” Rain looked worried.
Harmony smiled. “Sometimes it skips a generation, baby. Sometimes it happens to one child in a family and none of the others. There’s no real rhyme or reason for one to be Moon-Called and another to be Moon-Denied. It just happens.”
“So does this mean I should stay away from silver? And what about garlic? No, that’s nothing, right? We eat garlic all the time. What other stuff is going to happen to me or what special powers will I have?” Rain peppered the questions hard and fast.
He chuckled. “No special powers. Shifters are faster, stronger than humans. We have higher metabolisms, that’s why we eat a lot and frequently. We’re warmer than humans, mostly. Our eyesight is usually better than humans and our scenting capability is stronger. You already mentioned that you associate different odors with different people. You told your mom you smelled me on her. We’re not prone to most human illness but there are some that can lay us low. Drugs and alcohol don’t affect us like they do humans. Silver or derivatives of silver can hurt us and in large enough quantities can kill us. Shifting between human and wolf form will heal most injuries, such as cuts, scrapes, bruises, broken bones, but I don’t recommend relying only on that.”
“Is that what happened to you?” Rain’s voice was soft and her glance flickered between Harmony and Gareth as though she knew she was treading on sensitive ground with both of them.
He nodded. “Yes. The water I used to clean my face after a fight was laced with silver nitrate. I got enough of in the eye itself to lose my sight. Shifting won’t heal this now.”
Harmony felt shock and anger radiate through her at that. Someone had laced his water? Who could be that evil? Before she could ask, Rain implored, “Can I try it? Can I try it now?”
“No.” Gareth’s voice was firm, cutting off any other questions. “You never want your first shift to be done during a time of stress and this is a lot to take in at one time. Give it a day or two, or even a week. We’ll be having all the teens at the lodge in a week or so, there won’t be as much pressure then. More excitement than anything else. Besides, now that you know about us, Micah will insist you join the others to learn more.”
“Okay.” Seeming to be placated for the moment, Rain sat back. “I’m still not sure this isn’t all a dream, but if it is I don’t want to wake up because this is probably the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. It’s like something out of a movie or a TV show.”
Harmony couldn’t stop the laughter from bubbling up inside her. Here she’d been scared even worried about talking to Rain. Of course her daughter was more intrigued than anything else. Go figure. She got to her feet. “Suddenly I’m starving. Anyone else want a snack?”
Rain nodded and got to her feet too. “Gareth? You coming?”
“I’ll be there in a few.” He didn’t move and Harmony let her eyes roam over him again. She’d felt those muscles through his clothes but seeing them gleaming in the firelight and overhead light in the living room was a whole different matter. The man was seriously built and she felt that gnawing ache again.
Seeing his gaze sharpen on her face, she took a deep breath then turned away from him. It was either that or really embarrass her daughter by going over and straddling him before kissing him senseless as she ripped her own clothes off. Somehow she didn’t think Rain would be as intrigued by that particular sight as she’d been in watching Gareth shift. Besides, there were just some things a woman did not do in front of her child! Even a nudity-be-damned shifter woman.
Shaking her head, she followed Rain toward the kitchen. She gave herself permission to glance back. She couldn’t stop the moisture from pooling in her mouth and lower in her body at the sight of Gareth’s naked delicious form. He had dropped the shirt to reach for his jeans, giving her a really good look at all of him. His penis was long and thick. Need thrummed through her. She really wanted to feel it inside her body. Taking another deep breath, she reminded herself that her child was in the next room and tamped down her lust.
Gareth took advantage of Harmony’s walking away to readjust his dick. Because she had her back to him she couldn’t see the smile that crossed his face. He had to palm his cock, stroking it once. He’d seen her checking him out. She wanted him. She might even want him as much as he did her.
Keeping that thought in the forefront of his mind, he finished getting dressed. He still listened for anything out of the ordinary from outside. He followed the women into the kitchen already thinking about the night ahead and whether or not he would be able to sneak into Harmony’s bedroom or convince her to join him in the living room after Rain went to bed.
“So what are you making me, pup?” Now that she knew, he felt easier not having to censor his language. “Crème brûlée? Chicken Kiev?”
Rain rolled her eyes at him as she moved to the microwave. “Duh. Popcorn! Mom’s making the lemonade.”
“Lemonade and popcorn? Where are you people from?” He hooked a leg around a chair to pull it out. As he sat down he realized he now had a wolf’s-eye view of Harmony’s plump ass. All he needed to do was just reach out to cup his hand over that very tempting mound of flesh. As if she knew he was watching, Harmony bent over at the waist as she searched in a lower cabinet.
“I know I got sugar at the store. Rain? Have you seen it?”
He couldn’t help himself. In the smarmiest voice he could muster, he said, “All you need to do is stick a finger in it to sweeten it up.”
Rain’s gagging noises made him laugh even as her mother scolded her about manners. His own parents had been very physical with each other, so he and his brother hadn’t thought much of it. Wolves showed their mates affection. It was the Pack way. Funny, he hadn’t thought of those earlier times in a long while. Looking back at Rain, he fixed his eye on her.
“Pup, you might as well know. I kissed your mother. I plan on kissing her again if she’ll let me.”
At Harmony’s gasp he wondered if he’d overstepped his boundaries but the scent wafting his way told him differently. The mother was very interested in being kissed again. He jutted his chin at Rain. “So, you got a problem with that?”
Rain dumped the popcorn into a large bowl. “The only thing I got a problem with is if you hurt her. You won’t be like my dad, right?”
The growl simply erupted from his core. “No! That fucker’s dead if he ever gets near you or your mom again.”
Rain dropped the popcorn bowl onto the table as she scurried back to her mother. “Geez, G-man. Chillax. You scared the crap out of me. Am I going to be able to do that?”
He shook his head, watching the teen move away from her mother back to him. Kids! Not enough sense to be scared of a wolf in full “hurt someone bad” mode. But then again, that protective mode extended to her as well.
“Yeah, sorry. I seem to have an issue where your safety is concerned. And you can do that but I don’t recommend it unless you know you can hold your own. And no, you can’t yet. You have a lot of learning to do—includi
ng how to shift. First class is next Saturday morning at the community center on the res. I’m teaching it. Eight o’clock. Don’t be late. And don’t whine at me about the time either.”
He scooped up a handful of popcorn then intentionally shoved it in his mouth to make Rain laugh. Harmony still stood by the cabinet with a pitcher of lemonade in her hand. He would have laughed at the stunned look on her face but even a single wolf had better survival instincts than that. So he just held out his glass. And prayed to every god he could think of to not have his cock jump when her hand brushed his.
She made sure to touch him when she poured his drink. God, she wanted him so badly she was surprised her panties didn’t just voluntarily sizzle off her body. And her daughter was right there with them! Eating popcorn and drinking lemonade and asking more questions about what it was like to shift. She smiled as he fielded the questions easily. He had a way with Rain that she appreciated. If he was going to be a part of the family…
“Shit!” Harmony jumped back as her nervous jerk knocked her glass to the floor. “I guess I’m still a bit shaken. Sorry. I’ll get that. No, Gareth. Let me. Please.”
She softened the last words enough to have him relaxing. Better to blame it on Tom’s appearance then her own reaction to seeing him as a permanent part of her world. She needed to get a grip. She needed her aunt. As she gathered up the thankfully large pieces of glass and then swept up the smaller pieces she listened as Rain kept on chattering. Lord love that girl, but she could be thick as a post when it came to emotional upheaval. She supposed that was a good thing.
No one was more surprised than she was when Rain declared she needed to go to bed. Gareth’s soft chuckle had her closing her mouth as her daughter exited the kitchen. “She rarely does that. She must be tired.”
His hand covered hers. “Or she knows how much I need to be with you right now, Harmony. How much I need to make sure that you are really okay. Talk to me. Tell me what happened. I know you held back with Rain here. I need to know everything if I’m going to protect you.”
She filled him in on what Tom had said, including Mexico. She blew it all off as inconsequential but he had asked for everything, so that was what she gave him. He didn’t let go of her hand until she’d stopped talking. The questions he’d asked along the way had helped her frame the situation. She realized that Tom really did think he had the right to take her away.
“And he called me ‘love’. Gareth, how insane is that? I’m just a possession to him.” She tugged her hand away to use both to wipe at her face. She hadn’t realized she’d started to cry. “I’m not crying for him. I’m crying…”
“Because you’re tired and you have had one hell of a day, baby. C’mere.”
Her body reacted as if those words were magnets. She flowed out of her chair into his lap. His arms wrapped around her, warm and calming. He murmured in her ear, telling her she was safe, that he had her, that it was okay. His scent darkened, telling her he was bone-shaking angry but that didn’t scare her. She wept against his shoulder with his hands soothing up and down her back. With a shuddering breath, she turned her face to his. “Sorry for the waterworks. Despite the fact that I’ve subjected you to this twice, I’m not usually like that.”
He didn’t answer, just covered her mouth with his. As his tongue lightly caressed her lips, she opened to him. His hands slid from her back so that his thumbs lightly grazed the sides of her breasts. She adjusted to give him more access. She wanted his hands on her. All over her. Her nipples throbbed with need while her clit beat a similar rhythm of want. Pulling back from his searing kiss, she reached up to grab his hair with her hands. The soft, silky flow over her hands felt like cashmere. She looked at him for a moment. Then, tugging him back down to her mouth, she whispered against it.
“I want you to make love to me, Gareth. I want to feel your long, beautiful cock fill me up. I want to be driven over the edge because it’s your hands touching me—your mouth kissing me. Your cock stroking me. Can you do that for me?”
His answer came simple and direct. He stood up with his arms full of her. “Baby, I thought you’d never ask. Where’s your room?”
She laughed as she pointed the way. “We have to be quiet though. Rain is right down the hall.”
“Quiet, right.” He let her slide down his body even as he shoved the door shut with his foot.
She wrapped both hands in his hair, a bit shocked when he pulled his head back away from her. When he turned slightly to the side, she realized that in spite of the fact they were about to, please god, get naked and horizontal, he was still worried about his patch and his scars.
“Gareth, don’t.” Gently she framed his face and turned it so that they were almost nose-to-nose. “Your scars may be on the outside but they can’t be any worse than the ones I have on the inside.”
She cupped his jaw and kissed his scarred cheek, moving her mouth slowly and gently up to cover the patch he wore over his eye. “You’re gorgeous, you have to know that. You are so good-looking.”
She opened her mouth to say more and suddenly found herself being kissed totally senseless by a strong male shifter who had been given free rein. She knew, as all females who were raised around Pack males knew, that all a female had to do was flirt a bit, make the first move and any unattached male they were interested in would take that as invitation enough. He obviously was no exception. She knew he’d been raised in a Pack, he must not have lived outside of one for any length of time.
When he made his move she reveled in his strength as he lifted her up as though she weighed less than Rain to carry her to the bed. She wrapped her legs around his hips, giving back as good as she got, she hoped, and kicking her slippers off at the same time. It seemed to be enough as he leaned forward and she felt the bed under her back. Then he released her long enough to yank her sweater up. She struggled to get it over her head and off her arms even as he pushed her bra out of his way and took one nipple in his mouth, sucking hard.
Reminding herself not to scream, she shoved her fist in her mouth. He moved his hands to her jeans, unsnapping them and then yanking them down over her hips. She moved her legs to get her jeans the rest of the way off even as his hands ripped her panties away. He lifted his head then, meeting her eyes, judging, she could tell, whether he’d scared her or not. When she simply unhooked her bra and tossed it over her head, she saw a fleeting grin go over his face and then his strong hands were shoving her thighs up and open and his mouth covered her.
She’d never experienced this, never felt this strong rush of lust for anyone, not even Tom the first time they’d had sex. Gareth’s mouth covered her, his tongue and lips working over the most sensitive part of her body, sucking her clit into his mouth then moving down to push his tongue into her. She felt his hands moving down slightly to open her even more and heard his growl as he fucked her with his tongue. The wave took her by surprise, her body shuddering in an unexpected orgasm and she fisted the quilt under her hands, lifting her hips under his glorious assault.
He didn’t stop but she felt his hands move away from her body, so she grabbed her own knees, holding herself open and openly weeping at the same time. “Oh my god, Gareth, please, please.”
She wasn’t sure if she wanted him to stop or keep going. It didn’t seem to matter because he didn’t stop. Then she felt his fingers at her opening and felt him pushing two fingers into her. He moved his mouth up her belly back up to her breasts to latch on again, sucking hard then letting her go. She heard him breathing hard even as he pushed another finger deep into her.
She opened her eyes to find him watching her. He leaned down to kiss her again, giving her the taste of herself on his tongue. “I don’t have anything. I need to be inside you, but I don’t have anything.”
His words didn’t make sense at first then she realized he was talking about protection. She reached up to bring his mouth back to hers, biting his bottom lip then letting him go as she whispered, “I’m on the Pill, have been
for years. And I’m clean, I know you are. Fuck me, Gareth, do it.”
That seemed to be all he was waiting for. His fingers left her pussy but she didn’t have time to miss them as his hard, hot cock slid into her. She did cry out softly when he slammed home, causing him to still above her until she gripped his ass in both hands and pulled hard. She wanted this, needed this and told him so, quietly whispering in his ear. “Don’t stop, please, don’t stop.”
The words set him loose and for the first time in her life she knew what it meant to make love to a shifter male, to have his full attention and she loved it. He pulled out, suddenly, tugging her to the edge of the bed and flipping her over. She had never felt so rag-doll in her life. Her feet were on the floor, her hands back to fisting the quilt as he gripped her hips in both hands and shoved his cock back into her.
He set a hard, fast rhythm, leaning over her body and gently biting at the back of her neck and shoulders. She pressed back, wanting to have as much of her against him as possible. Then one of his hands moved up to her breasts, squeezing them and then pinching her nipples. She threw her head back, gasping for breath, then had to concentrate on not screaming again as his other hand moved down to stroke her clit, pinching it at the same time he pinched her nipples. She came again, her entire body shaking as she fell forward, flat against the quilt.
His hands went back to her hips and he kept moving in her. The long strokes of his thick cock filled her. Her body opened up even more. A wave of sensation rolling over her as her breasts moved with his thrusts. She heard his guttural breaths. Felt them on her shoulder as his weight came down on her back. She welcomed the fullness of him. As he fucked her she gushed in response to the strokes on her G-spot. The moisture from her own body giving him even more access to her made her feel incredibly sexy. His growl reached her just before he slammed deep and then she felt his cum jetting into her body. He didn’t stop moving, just slowed down slightly.
