Hunting Season (The Gathering Book 1)

by Shelly Laurenston

  “By the way, I’ve heard rumors that Hunting Season has begun again. A new Hunter this time.”

  Yager’s head snapped around to nail Odin to the spot. “What? I haven’t heard anything from the guys.”

  “You’re not the only one with wings, boy.”

  Rage. Pure, simple, and white hot welled up in him. He didn’t move. He simply stared at Odin.

  Odin shook his head. “Try and protect the Crows and they’ll crush you. I’m only telling you about this because once they start with Crows, they usually move on to the Ravens… if they can get past the Crows, that is. And that’s a big if.”

  Yager didn’t respond. Actually, he was unable to respond. He’d clenched his jaw way too hard.

  “Foolish boy,” Odin muttered again. “Never get between a Crow and her prey. I just hope you know what you’re doing, Yager. Sometimes you’re way too nice.”

  The god who could simply leave the room with a mere thought decided to use the door. As he pulled it open, he added, “And Neecy Lawrence isn’t anything like she seems.”

  Chapter Nine

  Dr. Denise Lawrence, PhD, scooted back on her desk and looked out over her small room of graduate students. They’d stop giving her any undergrad students who were merely trying to fulfill credits, especially freshman, almost seven years ago. Although her teacher evaluations received high marks from the serious students, the others absolutely hated her. So the university, at the insistence of one of their most important board members—who just happened to be a Raven Elder—gave her only the graduate and senior undergrad classes. They had no real problems after that.

  “I don’t want to have the Magna Carta discussion ever again.”

  Her students laughed as Pat Johnson attempted to push his point. “Wait, I’m serious. Really.”

  “I don’t want to have the King John conversation either, Patrick. Not again. Let it go.”

  Patrick was so cute. Like most of her male students, he liked to flirt with her and she let him as long as it didn’t go past a little light banter in the classroom or her office during office hours. Anything beyond that had required her to put one student in a headlock he never forgot.

  She heard the doors to the huge auditorium open and she readied herself to rip Jason Benson a new one. The little fucker was always late to her class and she was done.

  But when she looked up, she stopped breathing as Will Yager walked a few rows down and then plopped that gorgeous and way-too-big-for-the-chair body in one of the many empty seats. The auditorium was much too large for her small group of students, but she didn’t mind. She simply made them all sit up front near her.

  Now, however, the room seemed way too small.

  He stared down at her and smiled and she felt like someone sucker-punched her. Finally, remembering they weren’t alone, she looked back at her class. The girls still stared at Yager, while all the boys stared at her. Pat looked particularly annoyed.

  “So… um…”

  “Magna Carta,” Pat filled in helpfully.

  And just like that, Neecy snapped back. “We were not discussing the Magna Carta, Mr. Johnson.”

  He shrugged. “Can’t blame a guy for trying.”

  “Oh, yes, I can.” She crossed her legs at her ankles and pushed her glasses back on the bridge of her nose. She felt unexpectedly silly. Yager had never seen her like this. She wore her favorite burgundy plaid skirt, a solid burgundy turtleneck since she still had those damn hickeys, black leather knee-high boots and dark thigh-high wool stockings because of the cold. Plus she’d used a way geeky headband to keep her long bangs off her face. And she knew for a fact, Yager had never seen her in her glasses. She only wore them when she was reading or teaching since she often had to refer to books for information. When she needed to look at her students, she just dropped her head and looked over the frames. A scary but effective move.

  “What I’m saying is I want something different from this paper.” She slid off the desk and walked over to Cindy Barone. “I don’t want the obvious. I don’t want to read about the Magna Carta. Or Prince John. Or another debate about whether Robin Hood actually existed.”

  Neecy rapped her knuckles on Cindy’s desk and the girl’s head snapped around and away from her obvious adoration of Yager.

  “I’m sorry. Am I boring you, Ms. Barone?”

  “No, Miss… uh… Dr. Lawrence.”

  “Good. I really do live my life simply to entertain you.” She spun on her heel and walked back to her desk. “So I want ideas by next Wednesday. And once I’ve approved those, I’ll want outlines the following week. And you better hope I approve them. At least partially. Give me the Magna Carta—” she glanced at Pat, “—at your own risk.”

  The students chuckled again as she motioned for them to leave with a wave of her hand. “Out. I’ll see you guys on Friday.”

  She walked around the desk and began piling her books together to head back to her office. Without looking directly at him, she could see Yager stand. And she could see all her students staring at him as they walked by. The girls looked like they may swoon at any second, while the boys looked truly horrified… and jealous.

  Once the last one left, Yager walked down the stairs toward her. “Are you covering Vikings in this class?”

  “Nope. I have a separate class for the Vikings. There’s so much there to cover.”

  “You know, I might have gone for my doctorate too if any of my teachers looked as good as you.”

  Neecy slammed the last book on top of the pile. “Why are you here, Yager?”

  “To see you. I tried calling you last night, but it rolled over to voicemail.”

  “Yeah. For a reason.” She grabbed hold of the pile of books and lifted them up. “I don’t want to talk to you.”

  Before she could take a step, Yager took the books from her.

  “Hey!”

  “I’ve got ‘em. Just go. I’ll follow.”

  Christ, it’s gonna be like shaking my shadow.

  He had no idea the woman wore glasses. Nothing fancy. Simple square burgundy frames, perfect for her face.

  He wanted to fuck her wearing those glasses. Actually, he wanted to fuck her in that outfit, on her desk. He actually pouted a bit when she removed her glasses to leave the classroom. Damn, maybe some other time then.

  Odin had been right. Neecy Lawrence wasn’t anything like she seemed. Who knew this Neecy even existed? He didn’t. He knew she taught, but a PhD? A history professor? And the book on top of the pile he carried… written by her and already a fourth edition.

  There was so much about Neecy he knew nothing about. So much he was dying to learn.

  He watched her walk toward her office and he almost drooled all over her books. What an ass on this woman. The best part, he knew about her “night job”. He knew Neecy the predator. The woman who could snap a man’s neck with just a twist of her hands. He knew more than anybody besides the other Crows. And even they didn’t know she liked to have her clit nibbled.

  He followed her down a long hallway and into an alcove. Her office was at the very end. She unlocked the door and pushed it open. It was a small room with books in every corner. Her shelves were filled several rows deep with big tomes. She had them on the floor, on top of her desk… absolutely everywhere.

  “You need another office.”

  “Yeah? Well, tell that to the dean.”

  She walked to her desk, dropping the keys on top of another stack of books. Yager kicked her door closed and discreetly turned the lock. He didn’t want any annoying students walking in on them.

  “Where do you want these?”

  “Drop ‘em on that table.”

  He did.

  “Why are you here, Yager?”

  Yager turned to find her grabbing a bottle of water from the shelf behind her desk. She took a long swig while she waited for him to speak.

  Finally, “Like I said, I wanted to see you.”

  Grumbling, she stalked past him, handing t
he reclosed bottle to him. He smiled at her unconscious actions as she stood in front of the stack of books he just dumped.

  “Look, I’m sure those bubbleheaded Valkyries think the dominant-male thing is cute and all, but it really just pisses me the fuck off.” She angrily proceeded to shove books back in the shelf behind the table.

  Yager looked around her office and drank the water while she lit into him. He wondered if she’d actually read all these books. He wondered how she’d made it this far. He found Neecy Lawrence absolutely amazing. Sure, she was hot and an outstanding lay. But come on—from drug dealer to warrior to PhD. Only Skuld seemed to see the potential in all these women. She didn’t waste her time with idiots. Stupid girls need not apply to The Gathering.

  “Are you even listening to me?”

  Sighing, Yager walked over to her office chair and sat down. He put his feet up on her desk and looked at her.

  “Yeah. I’m listening.”

  She crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Oh, really? Then what did I just say?”

  He had to be kidding. Really. When he put his humongous feet up on her desk… she knew he had to be kidding. But he wasn’t. He truly was that cocky.

  “Your exact words? ‘This wasn’t part of the agreement. And if you think I’ll take your shit for two seconds, you are sadly mistaken. Are you even listening to me?’ That’s what you said.”

  Bastard. That was exactly what she said.

  Okay. Forceful wasn’t working with him. And the bottom line was she still had to work with this guy.

  She growled to herself. This is why you shouldn’t fuck coworkers!

  “Look, Yager, I’m sure that… that… What are you doing?”

  Once again, he seemed to have stopped listening to her and instead fiddled with her extremely expensive and self-purchased, ergonomically correct office chair. She watched him push a button and drop the armrests under the seat.

  “Excuse me, but I had that chair exactly the way I wanted it.”

  He looked at her and she wondered why he wouldn’t just comb his hair. That tousled, just-rolled-out-of-bed-after-a-night-of-good-fucking hair absolutely killed her.

  “I’ll fix it.” He glanced around her office, and she wondered what the hell he wanted—and why wouldn’t he leave her alone? He’d fucked her, what more did he want?

  “So, Neecy, any problems at your night job?”

  Neecy frowned. “What?”

  “Anything the Ravens should know about?”

  Aw, shit. “There’s nothing you need to worry your big head about.”

  “Hunting Season is something we don’t need to worry about? That’s new.”

  “If it truly is Hunting Season, they’re not after you. And the Crows don’t need you. But thank you, O Big Great Strong One, for trying to come to our rescue.”

  Yager grinned. She just snapped at him and he grins at her. What a freak.

  “Come here, Neecy.”

  No, she didn’t like the sound of that one bit. He said it all low and husky, causing her nipples to immediately peak under her sports bra and burgundy sweater.

  “Uh… no.”

  He sat up straight, dropping his big feet to the floor and pulling his leather jacket off, tossing it aside. “Come here.”

  “I don’t think—”

  “I just don’t feel like yelling at you across this office.” He smiled at her. “So come here.”

  She knew this was a bad idea, but she couldn’t stop herself. At least, she couldn’t stop her body. Her mind tried. It told her to stop walking. It told her to stay away. But her body completely ignored her mind, walking right across the room until she stood in front of Yager.

  “What, Yager?”

  He took a deep breath and let his eyes glide over her body. Now she had a wet pussy to go with her hard nipples. Plus, she could barely breathe. Which she found a little scary, since breathing was so important.

  “Didn’t you miss me at all last night?” he asked softly.

  “No.” Mostly because she spent the night partying with the Crows. Apparently, the opening of Hunting Season by men unknown was just another reason for the Crows to throw a party. Once the party was over, she only had time to run home, shower, and get to her eight a.m. class. Good thing Crows didn’t need a lot of sleep.

  His big hand gently grabbed the hem of her sweater and tugged. “Not even a little?”

  “Yager, I can’t—”

  But before she could finish, he’d pulled her in between his legs, wrapped his arms around her waist, and rested his cheek against her stomach.

  Then he held her.

  Neecy didn’t know what to do. She’d never had a man hold her like this. Just hold her. And it didn’t help it felt kind of nice.

  She shook her head. No, she would not allow herself to have those thoughts.

  “Yager—”

  “You smell so good.”

  Dammit!

  “I’ve been thinking about your smell since you left yesterday morning.”

  Yager turned his head and her eyes slid shut in desperation as he kissed her stomach through her sweater.

  “It’s barely been twenty-four hours since I last saw you and I can’t stop thinking about you.”

  “Yager,” she whispered, unable to control her voice.

  He pushed her sweater up and out of his way, kissing her bare stomach.

  “We… we can’t.”

  He simply growled in response. Then his hands slid down her waist and thighs, only to loop back under her skirt.

  She let out a breath and so did he.

  “Neecy… these are thigh-highs.”

  “I—” she cleared her throat, “—I hate pantyhose.” She wore them because they were convenient and very comfortable, especially when she rode her bike to school. And only a few places sold thigh-highs for someone her height and build.

  Not until this moment, though, had she ever been more grateful for tracking down those stores and buying a big stack of the wool stockings.

  Yager slowly pushed up her skirt, watching his own hands move the plaid material out of his way.

  “Yeah, this is the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.”

  He must be kidding. He saw the Valkyries almost every day and she knew for a fact at least one of them used to be a Penthouse Pet. Exactly what about Neecy he found sexy, she had no idea. Unless he simply got turned on by girls who, on more than one occasion, had thrown a knife at his head.

  No, this wouldn’t do. They had to stop. Right now. Right this second. Right this very moment!

  Neecy’s head fell back as Yager’s hands ran up the inside of her thighs. He kissed the flesh just above where the stockings ended. She dug her hands into his hair as he spread her legs and gently moved her so that she straddled his big thighs, pulling her down until she sat on him.

  Now she knew why he moved the armrests out of the way.

  “Look at me, Neecy.”

  Neecy slowly opened her eyes and then almost shut them again. No one should look at her like that. No one. Exactly how was she supposed to think straight when a man as gorgeous as Yager looked at her like that?

  “Kiss me, Neecy.”

  “You promised—”

  “No. I didn’t. I only promised you anything you wanted for twenty-four hours. You want more than that… you’ll have to renegotiate our deal.”

  Damn business majors. Being nosy after their time together, Neecy discovered the man had an MBA and a master’s in computer science. She knew the Magna Carta and Prince John. Clearly outmatched in this particular situation, she gave in and relaxed… sorta.

  “Kiss me,” he growled again.

  Neecy couldn’t help herself. The man had the most amazing lips. And she already knew what a great kisser he was. She hated her weakness, but a girl could only take so much. Besides, she still wanted him. Fucking him for twenty-four hours straight hadn’t remotely dampened her desire for him. If anything, the whole thing only made it worse. Now she knew e
xactly what she was missing.

  She leaned forward, gently touching her lips to Yager’s. He groaned softly and his hands tightened on her ass. He tilted his head to the side and slipped his tongue into her mouth. As soon as his tongue touched hers, she was lost.

  Yager gripped Neecy to him, pulling her into his body. Christ, why didn’t she see it? Why didn’t she see that this was where she belonged? Right here. With him.

  Her fingers dug painfully into his scalp and she pulled him closer. Her kiss was desperate. Demanding. She explored his mouth while he slipped his hand between the two of them and brushed against her crotch. She whimpered but didn’t pull away. So he moved her panties aside and with unerring aim born of twenty-four hours of practice, he thrust two fingers inside her pussy. She let out a soft squeal, pulling her mouth away from his.

  “Yager, wait—”

  He pulled his fingers out and thrust them back again, making sure he curled them just right. He couldn’t believe how wet she was. Wet for him. She may have all sorts of rational reasons why they shouldn’t be together, but clearly her body didn’t buy that bullshit either.

  She gripped his hair tighter and buried her face in his neck. Then her pussy clenched his fingers and he thought he might explode. Christ, she was so tight. He couldn’t wait any longer. Not for her.

  He kept finger-fucking with one hand while he unleashed his cock with the other. Thank God for button-fly jeans. If he had a zipper, it would have caught on him and torn the shit out of his cock. Although he was so hard right now, his cock felt like it was made of titanium.

  With his free hand he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a condom. He tore the package open with his teeth and quickly removed the latex. In seconds, he sheathed his cock, tore off her panties, and buried himself so far inside her, he was positive he must be choking her to death.

  She let out a startled cry, her legs tightening around him and the back of the chair.

  “I hate you, Yager,” she mumbled into his neck.

  “Why?”

  She finally pulled back a bit, staring him in the eye. “‘Cause you’re not playing fair. And you know it.”

  Yeah. He knew it. And he had no intention of playing fair. Not if it meant she wouldn’t be in his bed forever.