Zanthe (Primal Impulse Shifters Book 2)

by Romi Hart

I had but one gift to give a female – my spawn. If she didn’t want it, then I shouldn’t want her.

  I have to stop wanting Crina Loveanu. I have to stop needing her body to fulfill my soul. Life goes on and so will I.

  16

  Crina

  Tossing and turning, I couldn’t sleep no matter how much wine I’d consumed to help me. Getting up, I pulled my nightdress off, thinking it was getting in my way of getting comfortable and that was why I couldn’t sleep. There was the slightest thought that the argument and breakup with Zanthe might’ve been the cause as well.

  I went to get a bottle of cold water from my fridge when I heard something outside the door. Naked, except for a tiny pair of panties, I threw my arm over my tits as the doorknob began to move slowly back and forth.

  Backing up, I kneeled down to gather the nightdress and put it back on, sure that Zanthe had come back to bother me some more. “Go away, Zanthe. I haven’t changed my mind.”

  With a sudden loud bang, the door burst open and a tall, dark figure stood in the doorway. “Submit,” came a deep male voice.

  The only thing I knew was that the man standing there wasn’t Zanthe. This man was taller and thinner - far thinner - than Zanthe. “Get out!” I had neighbors and knew they could hear me shouting so loudly. Moving backward, I thought about what I had in my tiny apartment that could hurt the man.

  “Submit to me,” he growled with a voice so harsh that it set my skin on fire with fear.

  “I will not! Help!” I screamed as loud as I could. “I need help! Please! It’s Crina!” I thought I had better say my name just in case anything happened to me.

  The man stepped inside and the door slammed shut behind him. It was too dark to see who he was, he appeared only as a silhouette. “On your knees, wench.”

  “No!” If he was going to take me, he had a fight coming to him. “Get out of my home! Now!” I added as pure fear coursed through every fiber of my being.

  I’d never felt more like I needed someone than I did right then. Crumpling to the floor in a puddle of tears, I understood that I needed other people in my life. People who cared about me. People who wanted what was best for me. People who wouldn’t leave me.

  “Remove your clothes,” he told me in a whisper.

  “No,” I said as I wept softly. “Go away.”

  “Do as I say, girl.” His bony hand took my shoulder, pinching it hard.

  “Please, don’t do this,” I pleaded. “You don’t want to do this.”

  “Oh, but I do. You are young. You are ripe. You are clean and innocent. And I want it all. I want to take it all from you.” His grip tightened even more as he lifted me up until my feet dangled off the floor.

  Even as close as we were, I still couldn’t see him as the darkness enveloped him in a way that seemed unreal and completely unnatural. “Let me go,” I managed to get out from between my clenched teeth as the pain of his hold on me was excruciating.

  “Submit,” came his order again.

  But I would die before I said what he wanted me to say. “Go to hell.”

  A brilliant light flashed as I heard the sound of a loud bang. I fell to the floor as the light filled the room, making me shield my eyes. Scrambling to the side of my bed, I cowered against it.

  Growls, snarls, and snapping of teeth made me think a couple of animals fought only feet away from me. But just as the darkness had made it hard for me to see, the bright light made it impossible.

  Moments later, a loud bang left me in the darkness once again. Alone. Shivering, I wrapped my arms around my knees, making myself into a ball. My mind seemed to be frozen, unable to comprehend what had just occurred.

  “Crina, are you okay?”

  Pulling my face out of the protection of being against my legs, I turned to see Zanthe’s handsome mug. Gasping, I flung my arms around his thick neck, crying into the side of it. “Zanthe! What was that? Who was that?” Then I remembered all the snarls and teeth-gnashing I’d heard and pulled my head back as I looked at him with concern. “Are you hurt? Did he hurt you?”

  “I’m fine.” Nuzzling my hair, he inhaled slowly and deeply. “I can smell that he didn’t touch you. You’re okay now.”

  Needing to feel him all around me, I clung to him as I cried with relief. “You came to save me. You heard my cries for help and came to save me. Even though I sent you away, you stayed to make sure I was okay. You care for me, more than you care for yourself. You stayed out in the cold to make sure no one hurt me.” I had never felt so selfish in my life.

  “I do care for you more than I care for myself. But I didn’t stay, Crina. I had gone home. But I came back because I wanted to tell you that I will give you whatever you want.” His lips pressed softly against the spot on my shoulder where the man had held me so hard that it felt as if he’d ripped a chunk of flesh from my body.

  “You will?” I didn’t want much. “You’ll listen to me and what I want?”

  “Always, baby. I will always do what you want.” He grazed his lips along my neck, over my cheek then took my mouth with a sweet kiss.

  Tears fell from my eyes, mixing with our kiss to make it salty. Just like us, our love was salty. I wanted one thing at that time. “Make love to me, Zanthe. Make me yours in every way.”

  His hot breath flowed over my cheek as he whispered, “My love, I still don’t have what you require. I can’t…”

  “Never mind that.” I reached between us, taking his erection into my hand. “You can. I want you to. I want you to take my innocence, Zanthe.”

  I knew what I wanted and what I’d asked for. The risk outweighed the need. And as he laid me back on my bed, looking down at me with eyes filled with adoration and commitment, I knew I’d made the right decision.

  Pulling my nightdress off, he then took his shirt and pants off, standing naked in front of me. His manhood was more than a bit intimidating as it stood at attention.

  He saw the fear on my face, then smiled as he pulled both sides of my panties until they ripped away from my body. “No fear.”

  Shaking my head, I gulped. “No fear.”

  Kneeling on the floor, he pulled my body to the edge of the bed, then kissed my intimate lips softer than he ever had before. My nails curled into the mattress as my body arched, wanting to feel even more of him.

  Licking, kissing, sucking he aroused me into a state of utter desire. Taking me to the brink, then taking me back down over and over, I whimpered with the need to release. But I didn’t say a thing as he teased me.

  His thick, long finger moved to circle my virgin hole as he tapped his tongue against my lust-swollen clit. Inserting his finger into me, I gasped with how good it felt. My body began to shake as a wave built inside of me of monumental proportions.

  I had no idea if he was going to let me climax this time. But begged for it, for once, “Please, Zanthe let me come.”

  “If that’s what you want.” He pushed his finger in and out of me as he sucked on my clit as his tongue flicked over it.

  Shrieking with the hard orgasm, it felt as if a wave of molten lava moved through my body. And then he rose above me, pulling my body toward him, then grabbing my hips before thrusting his hard cock into my orgasming virgin hole.

  White heat flushed my entire cunt as I screamed with the painful sensation, “Zanthe! God!”

  But the orgasm that I had going on, went deeper and the pain turned to intense pleasure as he moved his manhood with a slow speed, his body moving between my legs as I watched.

  Nothing had ever looked so good to me as that man between my legs. His massive body made mine feel amazing in a way that defied imagination.

  “Look into my eyes,” he gave a soft command.

  Pulling them off of the scene our bodies made wasn’t easy. But once my eyes met his, they held tight. “This is beautiful.”

  “I agree.” He moved in a way that had my body moving back on the bed as he put his body over mine, laying on top of me, his weight on me. “This is what
love feels like. This is what being at one with another person feels like. This is what I want with you forever, Crina. But I will try to understand if that’s not what you want. I don’t want you to feel pressured to be with me. But I want you to know that I will want you for the rest of the days of my life.”

  Touching his bearded cheek, I watched his eyes glisten with unshed tears and knew – without a shred of doubt – that he was speaking the truth. “I don’t know what I will want in the future, but for now, I want this – with you.”

  His lips barely touched mine. “Then I will just have to accept that.”

  With him inside of me, things felt different than they had before. I’d let him into my body and my heart. And as he moved, he took me even deeper. Our eyes held as he thrust into me until our bodies sang the same song - together this time.

  My nails bit into his massive biceps as I exploded, and he did too. The firework sensations that went on between my legs and within my body made me dizzy, then exhausted as if I’d used every last drop of fuel my body had to fulfill this prophecy between us.

  With ragged breaths, he kissed my forehead then rolled off me. “That was amazing.”

  I nodded, agreeing silently. Rolling to lie on my side, his hot body came up against my back, his arm draped over my side, pulling me to him. Soft lips against my neck, soft murmurs that I no longer could make out, sent me to sleep. The sweetest sleep I’d ever had.

  When light peeked through the window at me, making my eyes open, I found myself alone, my back cold where he’d been. Turning over, I expected to see Zanthe standing at the stove, making something for breakfast, or sitting in a chair, watching me sleep.

  “Zanthe?” I saw nothing. As I sat up, looking for him, I felt pain radiating between my legs that made me smile. “Oh, yeah. What a night. Zanthe?” He had to be in the bathroom.

  That man would never leave me alone after a night like we just had.

  Getting out of bed, I made my way – very slowly – to the bathroom. But found it empty. As I sat down on the toilet to pee, I scanned the area and found his clothes were gone too.

  He left me?

  The mess on my body and the idea that a hot shower would ease my sore muscles had me getting into the shower. I knew he had to be out getting something to eat was all. Zanthe wouldn’t just hit it and quit it. That was so not him.

  But as I finished my shower, then dressed, dried my hair, even put on some makeup, thinking that Zanthe might want to do something special that day, I found myself disappointed. As I made my bed, I found a small piece of paper underneath the pillow I’d slept on.

  The way my heart clenched in my chest was uncomfortable as I read what he’d written to me. -The gift you gave me was the best I’ve ever had. So, I want to give you the gift of independence. I’m not gone, just letting you be free. Watching you from afar as you go about your life, any way you want to is where I’ll be. So, go live. Be free. And know while you’re doing that, that you are loved by me and always will be. Zanthe (your love and your hero) –

  He’d listened to me after all. He’d given me exactly what I wanted. But I felt alone somehow. Even knowing that I had his love, I still felt alone.

  Maybe because you woke up alone after the best night of your life, Crina Loveanu.

  As I sat there, holding that little note to my heart, I knew I’d brought this on myself. I had some growing to do. And staying where I was wasn’t going to let that happen.

  So, I pulled out my duffle bag and packed it. Not only did I have trouble finding my apartment safe as the night visitor Zanthe had saved me from had gotten in a bit too easily, but I knew I needed a change of scenery. At least for a while.

  After stopping to see the apartment complex manager to let her know that I’d be gone for a while and that I needed new locks put on my door while I was away, I went to see my boss at work.

  Being a tour guide meant that I could travel around myself. Trading jobs with a fellow guide from Bran Castle, what tourists called, the real Dracula’s Castle - which it wasn’t – I hopped into my car and set out for Transylvania.

  One thing giving my virginity to Zanthe had given me was confidence. Or maybe it was knowing that I had his love that gave me such confidence in myself. Whatever it was, I felt alive in a way I never had before. I felt as if I could take on the world.

  What better place to start with than Dracula’s castle?

  Leaving the park in my rearview mirror, I thought I would feel sad to be leaving Zanthe behind. But my heart only soared as I kept driving.

  Perhaps that is what real love did. It gave a person the wind beneath their wings to really fly. I’d had the idea that Zanthe’s love would hold me down, tie me to him in a way I didn’t want to be tied.

  I’d been wrong. Or had I been?

  Perhaps our fight had caused him to change the way he loved. Perhaps our arguing had opened up his mind and heart in ways that served him best.

  Maybe it had been me who’d made this great change in both of us. Or – even more likely – we’d both had a hand in it. Whatever or whoever was the one behind the great changes, I was happy with them.

  Happier than I had ever been in my entire life.

  How odd to feel so happy about leaving behind the one I’ve found that I love and who loves me.

  17

  Zanthe

  Thirty-five days had gone by without me seeing Crina. We’d talked a little each day, but I hadn’t seen her in what seemed like forever. I’d lost her scent completely. But she was still fresh in my mind.

  “She isn’t like the others,” I told my brother.

  He was busy filling out the datasheet on the Carpathian chamois he’d been counting for the last week. “Have you turned in the report on the female squirrels yet? It’s near the end of the month. The more reports, essays, and data sheets we turn in to the Romanian Wildlife Society, the more we get paid for our scientific work.”

  We’d found honest work and had a home, not just a cave to live in. A home in a small village in the borderlands of Apuseni Natural Park made it easy for us to venture into the forest to do our research. Sure, we stayed in our old cave from time to time, but that was just so we could hang out in our bear forms.

  I found it much easier to mentally connect with Crina while being my bear. Being able to feel her happiness made the distance between us bearable.

  My brother didn’t like to conversate with me about Crina. But I had to talk to someone about her and he was all I had at the moment. “The thing is, Freedrick, that I value your opinion where Crina is concerned. If you hadn’t set me straight the night she broke it off with me, I wouldn’t have thought about what you’d said and come to the realizations that I had. I wouldn’t have gone to talk to her and Crina might not be alive today for me to miss.”

  “Speaking of that.” He pulled down his real reading glasses to peer over them at me. “The man – or better yet – the creature who broke into her apartment and threatened her is still at large. So I don’t think your lady-friend feels that her place is safe yet. Maybe finding him and making sure he’s not around to harm her would make her want to come home.”

  There was still the beast to worry about, I’d all but forgotten about him. “I am positive that it’s the thing that’s decided to make life hard on us and the dragons as well. Whatever he is, he doesn’t stay in one place for long. We don’t have the power to move from realm to realm to even attempt to follow him.”

  “Which means he has wings,” Freedrick pointed out. “So, we have that much we know about the thing. He has wings. And he’s tall. You found that out when you fought him at her apartment.”

  “And he’s got scaly skin,” I added. “Much like a dragon’s. If I had to put a name to it right now, I would definitely say the thing trying to make our lives hard is a dragon-shifter. But why wouldn’t Tieris and Mako know who this dragon-shifter might be?”

  “We don’t know all the bear-shifters on Earth, much less the entire universe,”
my brother reminded me. “So, why would they know who this malevolent shifter is, dragon or not?”

  Stroking my beard that I hadn’t shaved since Crina left, I wondered about the thing that I’d found attacking her. “He wanted to take her innocence. But from past experiences, where shifters are concerned, I felt as if he was playing with her. Sort of how a cat plays with a mouse. Dragons aren’t ones to pussyfoot around with their need for a female. Especially the darker versions of them. He could’ve taken her with great ease before I got to her. Yet, he hadn’t yet. He hadn’t even ripped her clothes away from her body before I got there.”

  “You have no idea how long he was there before you got to her,” Freedrick said. “You can’t count on her time being accurate either. When a person is afraid, time stops.”

  “Yes, I know. But still, his scent lingered in the air near her door. It wasn’t as fresh as if he’d just gone inside. To me, that meant he’d been there for at least a bit before I came along.” I knew he’d had time to deflower her before I came upon the scene. He just hadn’t done it. Which I was thankful for, but still, his actions had raised many questions in my mind.

  “She won’t want to come here to live with you if that’s what you’re thinking, Zanthe.” He typed on his laptop for a moment, then stopped to glance at me. “Even if I didn’t live here with you, she wouldn’t want to come here to stay. So, my advice to you is to get rid of the creature who harmed her if you want her to come back around.”

  The thing hadn’t been around at all since I’d kicked its ass. “I think I did get rid of it. But what I haven’t done was explain that to Crina.” I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t thought about that yet. “I sent it out of this realm. It didn’t run away. I threw it into a portal that I created.”

  Wide eyes met mine as Freedrick’s jaw dropped. “Zanthe!”

  It hit me at the same time it hit him. “He should be where I put him!”

  Running out of our nice, two-bedroom home we’d purchased after gaining employment, we made quick time to the tall, large truck I bought that we both could fit in well. Speeding away, I headed to Crina’s apartment. “I can’t understand why I didn’t think about this before. Of course, he’s still wherever I sent him. I just popped open a portal in time and space and pushed him through the opening before closing it up nice and tight.”