She whipped the flashlight over the clearing and the ring of rocks. “I found a spot and built a fire pit.” She’d cleared enough space on either side of the fire for them to lay out their bags under the protection of the fir tree.
Cole dropped his armload of wood next to the pit she’d built.
Running her hands over her arms to chase away the chill of the night air, she asked, “Is it wise to start a fire? Wouldn’t that be an easy way to find us?”
He knelt to arrange the kindling. “The two we ran into today were the only ones who got away. I hope it will take a while for whoever sent them to regroup, but after this second attack, you’re right. We can’t be too careful.”
Perspiration had dried on her skin, and cold steadily seeped into her bones. Shivering, Bri kept the flashlight trained on the fire pit.
Cole glanced up. “We need to stay warm. In the mountains, the temperature drops at night.” He lit the fire, and it crackled to life.
Dragging the pack closer and settling on one of the two small logs Cole had placed on either side of the fire for seats, she pulled out sweaters for each of them. Her stomach rumbled loudly. Their quick flight from the ranch house was a blur; she’d grabbed several canned items from the pantry without really paying attention to what they were. She set the cans of food by the fire alongside a jar of peanut butter and a package of crackers.
Cole piled a few more branches on the blaze before perching on the log opposite the fire. This was his environment, and despite everything that had happened between them, she felt safe with him. He hadn’t left her when he’d been freed, and he certainly could have made better time in the forest by ditching her.
She searched the pack for a can opener. Maybe it would be best if they ignored each other and kept their relationship strictly business.
“Beans, peanut butter, canned fruit, and crackers,” she announced, frowning as her stomach growled again. “A veritable feast.”
He smiled at her for the first time in several hours. “Sounds good. I’m starving too.”
“I forgot a can opener. That was stupid.”
“Let me try.” Cole held out a hand.
Sitting back on her heels, Bri tossed him the can of beans over the open fire, and he snatched it out of the air.
In the next instant, Cole’s fingernails on his left hand transformed into razor-sharp claws. He used one of them to puncture the top of the can in several places so he could pry open the lid.
“That’s a handy talent.” She passed him the can of fruit to open.
Working on the second can, Cole let the fire keep the chill of the night at bay. What had possessed him to kiss Bri? Knowing whatever chemistry existed between them was dangerous and explosive, and likely magically enhanced, it had not been a smart move. Now that he’d tasted her, he wanted more.
He’d put distance between them all day, thinking it would be safer. Being with her now, he wanted it gone. Relationships felt foreign. It was hard enough to maintain them with a dangerous job that required a lot of travel. He hadn’t met anyone with whom he felt he could share his secrets. Admittedly, Bri’s knowledge of both sides of him had immense appeal. She hadn’t run from the wolf, not that she could at this point.
He blew out a frustrated huff. It always came to that. Whatever was happening between them had been forced upon them. He had no hope of leaving her because of the pearl, and she was under his protection now whether she wanted it or not. Even if she tried to leave him, he’d find her.
And when she was safe, where would that leave them? Would he have this compulsion to be with her for life? What a hell of a future to imagine.
Chewing thoughtfully on a mouthful of beans, Cole studied her over the open flame. Bri stared into the fire, absently nibbling dry crackers dipped in peanut butter. The firelight playing off her pale skin and blond hair made her appear ethereal. She was a beautiful woman to be sure, smart and confident. Her relative ease with their current situation impressed him. His respect for her kept growing.
He cleared his throat, wanting to bridge the gap he’d created between them. “How are you doing?”
Her body jolted and her green eyes narrowed on his.
“Peachy.” She sipped more water. He found the movement of her delicate neck and throat as she swallowed far too fascinating. “You?”
He held her cautious look. “I’m sorry about earlier today. The kiss. I was out of line.”
“You already said that,” she snapped. “You didn’t need to be a jerk about it after.”
Cole nodded, accepting her censure. He scraped an agitated hand through his hair. “I don’t trust what I feel between us.” There, he’d put it out in the open.
Her eyes spat fire. “And you think I do?”
“How the hell would I know?” he shot back, his own aggravation with the whole situation spilling out.
Bri’s expression suddenly shut down. Swallowing, she raised her face, a shimmering reflection of sadness in her green eyes. “I’m the one who should apologize for dragging you into this mess. I have no idea why this is happening. The more information I get, the more dangerous and bizarre the whole thing seems to be. People have died because of me. Mack—”
She paused, pressing her thumb and forefinger to her eyes, but not before he caught the sheen of unshed tears. Clearing her throat, she continued, “And now you’re in danger too.”
“Don’t take too much of this on yourself,” he countered, his temper dissipating into the crisp night air. “I’m in this because my team investigated the psychic murders. It’s part of the job.”
Her gaze focused intently on him over the crackling flames. “Why were you angry this afternoon?”
He gestured wearily with a shoulder. Unused to explaining himself, the least he could do was be honest with her. If they had to fight this battle together, trusting each other would be a critical piece. “It’s not safe when I’m not in control. I’ve had to be strict about it, given my dual nature. If I don’t pay attention, well . . . you’ve seen what can happen. The wolf is a great source of strength for me, but he’s also dangerous and wild, and doesn’t have the same priorities I have as a human needing to function in society. The compulsion took away an element of my control.”
Cole caught her gaze and held it. “I can’t physically be away from you or it’s,” he searched for the right word, “painful, discordant.”
She squirmed but didn’t look away. He had to give her points for that.
“On top of that, you add this intense physical attraction, and it’s unsettling,” he finished.
Bri set the jar of peanut butter on the ground and wrapped her arms around herself, a defensive move. “And you’re wondering how long you’ll be stuck with it. With me.”
He nodded. She wasn’t pulling any punches. Which was part of the problem. Because he actually liked her, everything else grew complicated.
“We don’t need to worry about it right now.” He grabbed two more thick logs and balanced them on top of the fire. “What was it like to have Jonah as a father?”
She regarded him with a skeptical tilt to her head. It was as sexy as hell. “Nice segue,” she muttered, toying with the cracker she’d started eating.
“What happened to your mother?” he probed.
Across the fire, he caught the shift in her awareness and her body tensed.
“A few weeks after my fifth birthday, my parents mysteriously disappeared. Jonah showed up almost immediately, I think even the same day, and took me with him to Arizona a few days later. Obviously at the time, I had no idea about the legal system or what he would have had to do to adopt me, although I’ve certainly wondered as an adult how he managed all of that so quickly.”
“Psychic powers have their advantages at times.” Cole set the empty can of beans on the gro
und, leaning forward, rubbing his hands together and then spreading them out over the open flame to warm them.
“Now it makes more sense,” she agreed. “At the time he said he was my mother’s cousin, although the relationship was never made clear to me. Whenever I’d ask him about it, he would find ways to avoid the conversation. He never talked about my parents and after a while I stopped asking.”
Cole had the sudden urge to pull her into his arms and comfort her. To be the one man in her life who wouldn’t betray her. The feeling came on strong and out of the blue, more than physical attraction and sex. Something about her as a person, about her sad story, ensnared him.
“It’s a hell of a thing to have such a traumatic experience when you’re young.”
Bri gave him a small half-smile. “You say that as if you know what it’s like.”
He stared at the flickering shadows playing across his hands in the firelight, and it reminded him of being on the run as a kid, scared and excited by the chance at freedom.
Resting his elbows on his knees, Cole glanced over at her. “My father was a real piece of work. A mean drunk who beat my mother, me, my twin sister, whichever of us happened to be in his way. He was also half wolf, and that made him strong.”
“Cole, I’m sorry,” Bri said softly.
Why he felt compelled to tell her his early life story, when he’d never told it to another person, he didn’t want to examine too closely. “We were born in his pack, far away from anyone who could help us. My mother is human, and somehow got away from him and the pack with the two of us. I still can’t imagine how she did it. A pack is protective of their young, and males typically have rights over the children.” His voice rang with harsh disgust he couldn’t hide. “It’s an archaic system. The women are the ones who care for the young and protect them, but the men own them.”
“That’s terrible.” He heard the outrage in her voice mirroring the same in his soul. “How did your mother get you out of there?”
Her anger was oddly comforting.
“She would never talk about it, but Mali and I always thought she had to have had some psychic ability to be able to escape. We both have psychic abilities, and it isn’t too common for shape-shifters. We were only three when she finally left him. I have flashes, a memory here and there. Even our escape isn’t clear in my mind. My mother won’t talk about it much. I remember a lot of running and back roads, lying low and feeling afraid. As children we can’t control the shift very well. We had to stay out of sight most of the time.” Cole drew in a deep breath. “To this day, I don’t know how she managed it. If she hadn’t, she would likely be dead and who knows what would have happened to us.”
Bri’s hand had crept up to cover her throat. “Where did you finally end up?” He felt sympathy in her question. He preferred the anger.
“In rural Oregon first,” he answered.
The woman had bewitched him in more than a physical way. Somehow he didn’t mind telling her about his life, as rough as it had been early on. “My mother had been a nurse before she met my father, so she found work in a small hospital nearby. She left us alone a lot because she had to. No one could find out about us. Maliha and I knew it was too dangerous if anyone found us so we stuck close to the house. We didn’t really have neighbors to speak of. I don’t think anyone even knew she had children.”
He scrubbed his hands over his face, remembering. “When we got older, we moved to rural Washington and started school while she worked. We moved almost every year until middle school in case he found us, or people started to grow suspicious. We finally settled in northern California. Mom has been there ever since.”
“It must have been difficult to grow up without others like you around,” she prompted him.
He shrugged. “We didn’t really know the difference. Living in our pack had been a nightmare, so we were happy to be out of it. Our mother taught us as much as she knew about shape-shifters and helped us accept and appreciate who we are, to embrace that part of ourselves, and control it.”
“She sounds like an incredible woman.” Bri smiled.
“She is.” Cole stood to stretch. His body had certainly been abused over the last few days. He needed some space from the brutality of his past which was suddenly too close. “Hand me those open cans and the rest of the food. I’ll put it high in a tree far enough from here so we don’t draw any bears.”
Bri gathered the remains of their dinner and wrapped them in a towel she’d thrown into the pack at the last minute. Cole added the empty can of beans to the mix and tied everything up into a small bundle.
“We should try to sleep,” he said. “I’ll be back in a minute.” With that, he turned and walked out into the darkened forest.
Bri sat for a while staring at the fire as she thought about Cole’s horrific childhood. He’d survived, his mother and sister had survived, and they’d all made something of themselves. She’d been feeling sorry for herself again, and his sobering story helped her regain her perspective. She had to think, figure this out.
Cursing Jonah, she shook out her sleeping bag and arranged it in the space she’d cleared, as close to the fire as she dared. If Jonah had only told her about her power earlier, about her history, maybe she could have seen this coming; maybe she wouldn’t feel so damned helpless to defend herself and the people she cared about. Maybe people wouldn’t have died because of her.
Mack. Sadness and guilt weighed heavy on her soul.
Her mind kept turning to thoughts of Cole, almost as if he were her savior in all of this, an anchor. And in a way, he was. He’d been in her nightmare and changed everything. He’d gotten her safely away from the house when she’d been under attack and kept her safe from the men who had tried to capture her in the forest. He was guiding her back to civilization. She had no doubt her attraction to him and her wanting to lean on his strength came at least in part from the intensity of everything that had happened since they’d met.
She shook out the other sleeping bag and arranged his in the space she’d cleared on the opposite side of the fire.
“Thanks.” Cole’s low voice penetrated her rumination, washing over her skin and nerve endings, bringing them to attention.
Bri spun around and nearly ran into him. He didn’t make a sound when he moved, and he’d startled her again. Strong arms reached out to steady her, and their eyes locked. Her stomach did a slow roll. Desire flared between them, hot and sweet.
“I’m going to kiss you again.” His voice bordered on gruff.
She inhaled his spicy scent and moved closer, resting her hand on his chest. His heartbeat under her palm was slow and steady. “But no turning into a jerk after,” she warned, in more of a whisper than anything as she rose up on her toes.
His mouth formed a small smile and she brushed her lips against its curve, tracing with her tongue until he opened for her. Swept away in a firestorm of need and urgent demand, their tongues met and tangled. Cole’s hand fisted in her long hair and held her in place. The minute bite of pain at her skull sent desire pooling low in her belly.
Bri let out a moan of need and pressed closer, one hand creeping up to the nape of his neck while the other explored the hard muscles of his back under his T-shirt.
Cole pulled back, breathing harshly. “You’re like a damn drug,” he muttered before returning to her mouth for a long, demanding kiss.
His free hand brushed her bare stomach under her sweater and zings of electricity skittered over the surface of her skin. Callused fingers were rough against her smooth flesh as he moved up her ribcage to cup her breast through her bra.
Bri arched into his palm as he flicked her hardened nipple. Cole trailed kisses down her throat to her breast, taking her bud between his teeth right through her clothes. A streak of pleasure pinged inside her, and she cradled his head in her hands, gripping hi
s hair.
He kissed his way up her throat to her chin, to the corner of her mouth. When he framed her face with both hands, they trembled.
She wrapped her arms around his waist, and he pulled her into the warmth of his body, holding her to him as if she really mattered.
Even as the steady beat of his heart under her cheek calmed her, she had to know. “What are we going to do about this?”
Cole stroked the length of her long hair, trailing fingers down the middle of her back. He rested his chin on the top of her head, trying to calm his raging desire. The wolf was ready to throw her to the ground and mount her, and his human side wasn’t faring much better. True desire lay underneath the compulsion, he was certain. And it was a potent brew.
“I have no idea,” he said when he had control of his voice.
He felt her smile against his chest. “You’re no help.”
“We’ll be able to keep warmer if we zip the sleeping bags together and share our body heat.” Cole set her away from him so he could see her expression.
A bark of laughter met his statement. “I don’t think that’s wise.”
He placed his hand over his heart. “I promise to keep my paws to myself.”
She laughed again, a coy tilt to her head. “I’m not sure I can make the same promise.”
“You’re killing me here,” he groaned.
Bri stepped aside and picked up her sleeping bag, laying it down next to his. He helped her zip the bags together. They kept their clothes on as they slid in next to each other.
Cole lay on his side with Bri between himself and the fading fire. She nestled up to him with her back to his chest, her legs matching the bend in his. One of his arms pillowed her head and the other curved around her waist, pulling her tight against him. There was no way she wouldn’t feel his erection, fierce and heavy, but they were both too wary of the validity of their attraction. Plus, they needed the sleep.
Circle of Dreams (The Quytel Series Book 1) Page 14
