by Tina Donahue
The moment the other guard did, Etaw continued. “Through a small separation in the boards, I was able to see what was happening. I made certain not to move, I barely breathed so I wouldn’t make any sound that the creature might hear.”
“And what of his other senses?” Jeete argued. “If what you say happened, he would have known you were here by your scent.”
“That’s not true. Listen to me, please,” Etaw begged. He had to keep Jeete from opening a portal and sending him back to E4 for torture and execution. “After Huatt was gone, his scent must have lingered in the alley, making the creature believe that it was him he smelled, not me. To a werewolf, we’d all have the same odor because we’re identical in every way. You’ve been on hunts in E4’s jungle. Those guards who’ve never been outside before are still located easily by the creatures, because they don’t distinguish one of us from the other.”
“So the werewolf didn’t detect you. That doesn’t mean you’re not a coward for hiding here until I arrived.”
“I haven’t been hiding,” Etaw argued. “I left this place as soon as the creature and female did.”
“And it still didn’t notice you?” Jeete lifted his device.
Etaw grabbed the man’s hand to keep him from activating the instrument and opening a gateway. “Once I was out of the building, I made certain to stay downwind of the werewolf so it didn’t know I was there.”
Jeete stopped trying to free himself of Etaw’s grip. “Downwind?”
“Yes.” It was something the guards on E4 had never considered or worried about. There, they had the advantage of their numbers, tranquilizer darts, the ruler’s crossbows and escape into the Pleasure Palace if the werewolves came too close. Here, they had to be as cunning as the creatures. “With the wind blowing toward me, it took my scent away, not allowing the creature to smell my presence or approach. That allowed me to watch him and the woman without them knowing it. It allowed me to follow them and learn the biggest secret of all.”
Jeete’s expression flickered with surprise and skepticism. “And what is that?”
Although eager to say, for the moment, all Etaw did was smile.
Kuma knew what Gwen was doing but wasn’t of a mind to stop her until he absolutely had to.
For nearly an hour, she massaged his aching muscles, interrupting that delightful endeavor to feed him steak and the pizza he’d grown to crave, after which she told him to relax while she prepared his bath. During her absence, he told Teeko and Staci that they needed to keep Gwen safe, the same as he did. Gwen called for him finally. She’d filled the tub, encouraging him to recline in the warm, fragrant water.
His arms dangled over the sides of the fixture. Bent at the knees, his legs sagged outward, exposing his rigid cock.
Although Gwen kept sneaking peeks at his erection, she didn’t encourage his arousal. With soapy hands, she washed his face and neck, then shampooed his hair, combing it with her fingers.
“I should shave you.” She ran her thumbs over his bristly cheeks and down his throat.
He swallowed and sighed. “Later.”
“Now.”
Before she could move, Kuma grabbed her wrist.
“Let go,” she ordered.
“No. Quit fighting me.”
She didn’t, still trying to free herself. It was an effort, but he finally managed to pull her on top of him, sending a wave of water over the side of the tub.
“Damn,” she complained above all the splashing sounds. “Will you stop?”
Not a chance. He kissed away her protests, determined to make her breathless and weak. Didn’t take long. She pulled at her sodden clothing, wanting it off, the same as he did. Once she was nude, Kuma washed her as she’d done with him, paying particular attention to her breasts and pussy.
Gwen rested her forehead against his and moaned at him stroking her clit. “Aw God, that feels good. Don’t stop.”
He didn’t, bringing her to a quick and unrestrained orgasm, reducing whatever fight she had left, molding her into the female she was born to be with him. Lush. Provocative. Submissive…at least for a time.
Not bothering to dry either of them off, Kuma carried her from the bath to their bed. They made love until well past dawn, stopping only because he finally grew flaccid.
“Sore?” she asked.
His cock burned from him burying it so frequently in each of her openings. A wonderful pain he needed to experience again and again. “No. You?”
“No. Sleepy?” she asked next, trying to stifle her own yawn.
Before he could lie and say no again, his stomach growled.
“You’re hungry,” Gwen said.
“Only for you.”
Despite his sentimental words, she rolled off the mattress and staggered to her feet.
Kuma pushed to a sitting position, then sagged back down, his depleted strength making it impossible for him to remain upright. “Where are you going?”
Since it was dawn, he sensed she wouldn’t wander too far from him.
“Kitchen.” She grabbed his tee and pulled it on. The garment’s hem reached the middle of her thighs. “Be right back.”
She returned with another steak, the bacon he liked and a circular food she called meatballs.
Leaning closer, he sniffed. “Is that blood on them?” he asked.
“God, no. Marinara sauce. Eat.”
Kuma finished it all, sighing in pleasure as she rubbed the leftover sauce on his belly and groin, then licked it off. He fell asleep without realizing he’d done so, a deep dreamless slumber he’d rarely experienced on E4. How long he was out didn’t matter. The creak of a floorboard awakened him.
Quickly alert, he left the bed, and caught up with Gwen, grabbing her wrist so she couldn’t leave their room. Given the streetlamp’s light streaming through the darkened window, Kuma knew it was night, and she wasn’t going to the kitchen to get him more food. She was dressed in a way he’d never seen before.
He frowned. “What did you do to yourself?”
She regarded the pink hoodie she wore. On its sleeves, small decorations glittered silver in the available light. “It’s Staci’s. Don’t you worry. I asked her if I could borrow it. She’s cool with that.”
Kuma tightened his grip, his focus still on her hair, no longer short and dark but long and blonde like her cousin’s. “Answer me.”
Gwen sighed. “It’s Staci’s wig, all right? She got it after the accident because some of her hair had burned off. I thought I’d give it a try. See how I look.”
Kuma curled his upper lip as he regarded the wig. “I don’t like it.”
“Then I won’t wear it to bed, okay? You can.” With her free hand, she slapped his chest.
Such a playful gesture. Kuma struggled not to smile. “I go to bed nude.” Lifting her hand, he kissed the inside of her wrist.
Gwen curled her fingers, the tips touching his cheek.
“You were leaving,” he said, serious once more. “To go where?”
“Grocery shopping.” She leaned into him. “You ate all my food. I need to go to the store to buy more.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“No.” She tried to pull her wrist from him.
Kuma wouldn’t allow it. “Why not? I went with you when we needed those items to make the tranquilizer and when you bought me the clothing. When we’re in the store this time, I can tell you what I want to eat.”
“I already know what that is. Just let me get it. I’ll be back in a little—”
“You’re dressed like Staci. Your hair’s like hers. You were going to hunt guards alone while I was here asleep. Don’t deny it.”
Her shoulders slumped. She muttered, “I wouldn’t have to if you hadn’t woken up.”
“You’re staying, I’m going.”
“No fucking way.” Gwen tried to twist out of his grip. Before she ended up hurting herself, Kuma let go of her.
Rubbing her wrist, Gwen regarded him, her expression wary as tho
ugh she was trying to determine his next move. He made none as she backed up to the door.
“I have to do this,” she said. “You’ve given me no choice, dammit. You came into my life with your wonderful smile, your tenderness, your desire for me. I don’t give a crap about the supernatural stuff or what danger I might be facing. All I know is that I don’t want this to end. I don’t want to lose you. Can’t you understand that? Each time you’re out there, you’re risking the guards finding and killing you, or someone from this plane seeing you morph into a damn werewolf. Don’t you know what the authorities would do to you if they knew what you are? The guards are looking for females, not a fucking wolf. I can lure them without you. With the tranquilizer, I have the means of neutralizing the pricks. Once I do that, shoving them into a portal will be easy.”
He looked like he wanted to scream at her…or hug her. Finally, he sighed. “I don’t want—”
“Please, don’t say that. I’ll be fine, okay?” She opened the door and stopped at Teeko in the hall. With one shoulder propped against the wall, the werewolf regarded her. Staci was at his feet, her head resting against his thigh, her mouth opened in a lusty yawn.
Kuma went to Gwen and murmured, “You can’t get past Teeko, me and your cousin, no matter how tired she is. The other night I warned them that you wanted me to fall asleep so you could go out alone. I made them promise to keep you here, to make certain you were safe, whether you want that or not.”
Gwen faced him. “Look who’s talking. If you keep transforming, you’re going to hurt yourself. Don’t you understand what you’re doing to your body? How often did you change on E4? Weekly? Nightly? Hourly?” She glanced at Teeko, then back at him. “What’s the longest any werewolf has lived on that plane?”
“We have many predators there,” Teeko answered. “They attack our kind frequently and—”
“Wait—stop,” Staci cried. “I don’t want to hear it.” She covered her ears with her hands.
Gwen grabbed Kuma’s arms, digging her fingers into his biceps. “I want an answer. How long does your kind live? You mentioned Zule’s mother. How old is she? Is she still alive? Are your grandparents? Great-grandparents? Tell me, dammit.”
Kuma remained calm, fearful of agitating her even more. “We were bred to live longer than your kind.”
“Are you telling me the truth?” she snapped.
He was. “Yes. I wouldn’t lie to you about that.”
“Thank God.” She sagged into him.
“I’ll be all right,” he assured.
“Damn right you will, because I’m not letting you put yourself at risk again.”
“I transformed too fast,” he explained. “That’s all.”
“Bull. Every time you moved in your sleep this afternoon, you groaned like you were in serious pain.”
“I was dreaming about you clawing my hands and shoving your body into mine to knock me off my feet. I like my bed play with you rough, though not that rough.”
She didn’t smile at his joke. “You can’t transform again. You don’t have to. If you insist on going with me—”
“Going with you?” he interrupted.
“If we’re doing this together,” she amended, “then let’s play it the way I did the other night. While I push the guard into the portal, you can watch from the sidelines…in human form. You can even slug the SOB if you want. Just don’t change. Promise me you won’t.”
How could he agree to such a thing if her life was at risk?
“Please, I’m begging you.” She threw her arms around his shoulders and hugged him harder than she’d ever done before.
Her concern moved Kuma in a way few things had. Not that he was of a mind to let it rule him. “I won’t,” he lied.
“You’ll just watch, then?”
“Yes,” he lied once more.
Gwen gripped him even tighter, as though she didn’t believe anything he’d said. Didn’t matter. Tonight would play out on his terms, not hers.
He pulled her arms from him. “Let me get dressed.”
“I washed your stuff,” Staci said. She pointed at his clothes neatly folded on top of the dresser.
“Here.” Gwen handed Kuma his running shoes, cleaned of mud. She turned to Teeko. “Watch Staci, keep her safe while we’re gone, understand?”
Staci curled her upper lip. “Hey, do you mind? I’m not an infant.”
“You’re my family,” Gwen murmured. “I don’t want anything happening to you.”
The girl’s expression softened. She ran her fingers over Teeko’s, taking his hand. “It won’t.” She lifted her face to his. “Right?”
Teeko regarded Kuma with a bit of wariness and bravado, still unused to the fact that Kuma had allowed him to mate on this plane. A privilege he might lose at any moment, if he didn’t behave appropriately. Kuma saw that concern on Teeko’s face.
To acknowledge the younger man’s full claim on Staci for as long as he desired, Kuma inclined his head. Teeko’s expression didn’t change. However, he did lace his fingers through hers.
Kuma pulled on his jacket, the suede also cleaned. It smelled as fresh as his other clothes and nowhere near as delightful as Gwen’s skin. Even with all of the other scents in this house bombarding him, Kuma focused on hers alone.
“Ready?” she asked.
If he’d been truthful, Kuma would have said no. He wanted to stay in this room with her, drinking in her warmth and fragrance, snuggling next to her in a soft bed, leaving it only to eat and bathe. A foolish dream, he knew, as long as the guards still prowled.
Wrapping his arm around Gwen’s shoulders, Kuma led her down the hall to the back door and into the unforgiving night.
Chapter Fifteen
With the damp wind in his face, Etaw crouched behind a stand of overgrown bushes, his body well concealed from the house across the street.
Last night, he’d followed the werewolf and female to this location, watching as they entered the building through a back door. Uncertain as to what he should do next, Etaw had debated running away, staying as far from this place as he could.
Curiosity kept him here and finally got the better of him. With the same stealth the werewolf always used, making certain the wind was blowing his scent away, Etaw had crept closer to the house, at last peering into its windows.
What he saw stole his breath. Next to the tall female with the short, dark hair stood a woman who was smaller, her hair long and blonde…the same as the tall woman’s tonight.
Etaw blinked, then stared to make certain his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him. The tall female had just come to the gate that led to the backyard. He looked at her hair, so different from the last time he’d seen her. He regarded her face, noting her features were exactly as he recalled. She appeared to be waiting. For what?
A moment later, the werewolf joined her. Currently, the creature was in human form. Together, they left the yard and moved up the street, upwind of him.
Given their determined strides, they had no idea Etaw was watching. Once more, he regarded the woman’s hair. How had she been able to change its length and color in only one day? Why had she done so? Even with the transformation, she didn’t resemble the smaller woman in the least.
Next to him, Jeete leaned close and whispered, “You’re certain that’s the female who attacked Huatt?”
Etaw was convinced of it, despite the way she’d changed herself. He nodded.
“She’s nothing like what Vakar and our other rulers prefer in a female. Why would Huatt have chosen her?”
Because she’d been available. It had been as simple as that. No doubt, Huatt had planned to transport her to E5, where he and the other guards kept their personal pleasure slaves. Not that Etaw was of a mind to reveal such a secret to Jeete. The man was too loyal to Vakar, never bending a rule, never taking a risk.
“Answer me,” Jeete said, elbowing him.
Etaw whispered, “Huatt feared returning empty-handed. He didn’t want to risk tor
ture and execution.”
“The same as you?” Jeete frowned. “That man with her tonight—how do you know he’s one of the creatures and not fully human?”
Etaw recalled the evening before, the male’s transformation. “I watched him turn. His body shrank at remarkable speed. Fur sprouted on his back and limbs until I couldn’t see his skin any longer. His lips went black and his nose jutted out, becoming a snout. He fell to all fours, panting, as though he was in excruciating pain. His eyes, though…” Etaw paused, recoiling at the danger he’d seen in them. “They were filled with hate and became a strange silver color that glowed with the faint outside light. Not once did he take his attention from Huatt. If not for the female acting first, the thing would have ripped Huatt apart.”
Jeete pushed to his feet.
Etaw grabbed the man’s forearm, terrified Jeete hadn’t believed what he’d said. Etaw had told him the truth. He had nothing else to offer, not even a convincing lie. “What are you doing?”
“We need to follow the creature and female, then attack when they don’t expect it. They can’t possibly escape both of us.”
“No.” With strength born of fear, he pulled Jeete back to a crouching position and spoke quickly. “We have to stay here.”
“Why? To keep safe?” Jeete punched Etaw’s arm away from him. “If we don’t bring a woman back tonight, Vakar will send others to search for us as he sent me to find you. They’ll transport us back to E4. Nothing you say there—no matter how much you lie—will be able to save you from the pain and—”
Etaw interrupted, “The prize we want is inside the building. She’s exactly what Vakar prefers.” Small. Youthful. Initially resistant but eventually dominated. Vakar would spend hours grooming her for his use. He’d whip her when need be, mount her as he pleased, then present her to the other rulers for their pleasure.
After which he’d hunt and dispose of her because she no longer amused him.
The tall woman and the werewolf reached the end of the street, the edges of their clothing and hair whipping in the steady breeze. They hesitated for a moment as if they didn’t know which route to take, then turned to the left, disappearing from view.
