Hunting Season (The Gathering Book 1)

by Shelly Laurenston

  Okay. Even Neecy had to admit that was too cool. But still… middle of a Crow-Valkyrie brawl. Yager should not be interrupting.

  “Have you lost your mind?”

  “Horny. Must fuck. Now.” Yager turned and wrapped his big hands around her waist. Next thing she knew, she was staring at his ass as she hung over his shoulder.

  He has got to be kidding.

  “Wilhelm Yager, you put me down!”

  He stopped. “Fuck here?”

  “What? No! Of course not.”

  He started walking again, heading toward the stairs. “Then shut up.”

  Neecy forced her head up, her cheeks burning with embarrassment, expecting to see everyone staring at her. And they probably would have been, if Janelle hadn’t sucker punched Cassie, dropping the girl like yesterday’s garbage.

  “And so the mountain speaks!” Janelle sneered seconds before another Valkyrie leaped at her.

  Neecy knew she would be missing the fight of the century. The Ravens standing around, not helping, but clearly praying someone would start ripping off clothes.

  Yet she already felt her body responding to Yager’s lust. Her nipples so hard they hurt. Her clit twitching, demanding the attention of his tongue or finger.

  He didn’t speak as he carried her upstairs and to his bedroom. He kicked the door open and stepped inside, slamming and locking the door behind them.

  Yager put her down, but he didn’t look at her once she had her feet firmly planted on his thick bedroom carpet.

  “How’s your back, baby?” he gritted out as he picked up a straight-back chair.

  “Fine.”

  “Does it hurt? Are you in any pain?” He fit the chair against the doorknob, ensuring only a serious kick would open it.

  Still cranky, horny, a little tipsy, and now frustrated she hadn’t gotten to kick a stripper’s ass, Neecy sighed in annoyance.

  “No, Yager. I’m not in any pain. At all. Okay?”

  “Perfect.”

  One second she was standing in the middle of the man’s bedroom, hands on her hips, irritated beyond all hell. The next he’d shoved her up against the wall beside the bedroom door. His mouth slamming down on hers as his hands gripped her tits and squeezed hard, his fingertips twisting her nipples through Yager’s tank top that she wore.

  She groaned into his mouth, completely forgetting anything and everything that might be going on outside this room at this moment.

  Finally, Yager pulled back, but only to drop to his knees in front of her, yanking at her sweatpants.

  “Tell me you’re already wet for me, baby. Tell me I don’t have to wait.”

  “Not a goddamn second, Yager.” She waited until he’d finished pulling off her sweatpants, then she reached down and tugged at his T-shirt, ripping it up over his head.

  “Condom?” she asked.

  “Back pocket.”

  He stood and she reached around him to dig into his jeans. Big, gentle hands caressed her face as she found and removed the foil packet.

  “Jeans. Off.”

  By the time she tore open the foil and had the condom in her hand, Yager stood beautifully naked before her. His cock hard and desperate, pointing to the ceiling.

  Neecy rolled the condom on Yager’s cock, her mouth watering at the thought of licking the long, hard shaft. But that would have to wait. She wanted him inside her pussy too much.

  Stepping back, Neecy pulled off Yager’s MIT tank top, throwing it over his shoulder so that it landed on the bed.

  Yager’s hands slid under her arms, lifting her off the floor effortlessly while she wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. He pushed her back into the wall with his body, the head of his cock teasing her clit.

  “Don’t even think about making me wait, motherfucker.”

  Yager groaned at her rough order, slamming his cock into her so hard if he hadn’t been holding on to her, he might have shoved her head into the ceiling ten feet above them.

  Growling, Yager pressed his hips into her, his cock forcing its way inside her again and again. And the entire time, they never looked away from each other. They never stopped staring into each other’s eyes, even as Neecy felt that orgasm ripping up her spine, tearing through her limbs. He wouldn’t release her. He wouldn’t let her go.

  She came. Hard. Brutally. Gasping and moaning, still staring into his beautiful eyes. Needing to see him go over. Needing to feel his body come apart in her arms.

  He did. His smooth pumping turning jerky, harsher. His entire body shaking as he came and came, his cock twitching inside her.

  Yager released a shaky breath, leaning forward to rest his forehead against hers.

  “Holy shit.”

  “Yeah.” She smiled even as she gasped for air. “My thinking exactly.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Neecy woke up and found herself sprawled over Yager like a well-fed puma. The man had an enormous bed and yet she couldn’t seem to stay on one side of it. What was wrong with her?

  Who was she kidding? She knew what was wrong. She was comfortable. Way too comfortable. She’d only been in his home a few days but Yager treated her like she belonged here.

  She stared at his sleeping face, his arm tight around her. At some point, she’d put his tank top back on. He told her he liked seeing her wearing his clothes. And she liked smelling him on her. She liked it a lot.

  Somehow sensing her rapt attention, Yager’s eyes snapped open and he stared into her face.

  “What is it?”

  It was only four in the morning, but she figured she might as well get the difficult part over with before he confronted her over breakfast and in front of a roomful of hungover Crows and Ravens.

  “Now that I’m better… I should leave.”

  “Yeah. Back to work, huh?”

  Well, he took that better than she thought he would. “Yup. No rest for the followers of gods.”

  He stretched and his warm body felt so amazing rubbing against hers. “After everybody wakes up tomorrow, we’ll head back into the City.”

  “Good.”

  Wow. That was really easy. Which, she had to admit, kind of hurt her feelings. Could he really let her go that easy? After they’d peeled themselves away from the wall, they’d started up again moments later on his bed. This time slower, but still an amazing fuck. She saw it on his face. The way he looked at her when he was inside of her, the way he choked out her name when he came. He did care about her. She knew he did.

  No, no. She was thinking about this the wrong way. He would let her go easy, and… and that was good. That was what she wanted.

  “We can move your stuff into my apartment right away.”

  Dammit! She should have known better.

  “Yager, I can’t move in with you.”

  His expression didn’t change. “Why?”

  “‘Cause… we just… can’t.”

  He stared at her and she waited for some explosion of anger. Some kind of argument. Instead, his hands began caressing her body. She frowned in confusion as he gently rolled her onto her back.

  His hands kept moving across her flesh, making it tingle and demand satisfaction. He kissed her neck, her chin, her cheek. But it wasn’t until he kissed her mouth—long, slow, and deep—that she knew what he was up to.

  She tried to say no. Tried to push him off. But she was weak and he felt so good. But this was wrong. They shouldn’t be doing this. They should never be doing this.

  She let him continue, though. Let him kiss her and touch her. At some point, and without her even realizing he’d done it, he slipped on a condom. Then he was inside her and she almost cried. Cried from relief because her body ached to have him inside her all the time now. And cried from anger. Anger at herself for letting this go on.

  Neecy pulled away from his kiss, even as her body thrilled to the slow, steady pace of his thrusts. “Yager—”

  “You know how I feel about you, Neecy,” he cut her off, panting hard.


  “No. Don’t.” She wanted to beg him to stop. She wanted to demand he keep going.

  “You mean everything to me.”

  “No.”

  “I love you, Neecy. I’ll always love you.”

  “No!” Now she was crying as she wrapped her arms around him. “God, Yager. Please just—”

  “If you tell me you don’t love me, I”ll stop. I’ll stop making love to you and fuck you twenty ways to Sunday. But ya gotta tell me you don’t love me.”

  But she couldn’t. Neecy didn’t lie. She may bullshit and fool around, but she didn’t lie.

  It was definite now. The not-lying thing… by far her most annoying trait.

  If she were a good liar, she could get laid and then head home tomorrow—and spend the rest of her life suffering for something she’d paid for twenty years ago. But she wasn’t a liar. She never had been.

  She’d paid for her past. Yeah. She was a drug dealer once. A good one. But she’d paid for all that as soon as her boyfriend pulled the trigger.

  Now? Now she deserved to be happy. Or to at least try.

  “I can’t,” she sobbed into his neck. “I can’t tell you that.”

  Yager’s arms tightened around her body, as he continued to slowly thrust into her. He turned his head, forcing her to look at him. He smiled into her tear-soaked face and kissed her eyes, her nose, her mouth.

  “I love you, Neecy. You might as well get used to it. ‘Cause I’m not going anywhere, baby. Not without you right by my side.”

  Neecy thought a fresh wave of tears might suddenly explode out of her, but the orgasm got to her first. She gripped Yager tight and let him take her exactly where he wanted her to go.

  Yager held her so tight, he was afraid he’d break her. Especially when he came and he temporarily lost the ability to speak or think straight.

  He knew he might scare her off, but it was a risk he was willing to take. He had to do something. The look in those eyes said it all. Come morning, she would leave him… again. He couldn’t face that. He couldn’t face waking up another morning without Neecy next to him. Not when he’d had her right by his side for days.

  And telling her just wasn’t enough for Neecy. He had to show her. To be honest, though, he never thought she’d let him. He was terrified she’d pull away or tell him to stop. If she’d told him to stop, he would have, even though it probably would have killed him.

  He kissed away her tears as he gently pulled out of her. He tossed the condom in the trash can by the bed and turned back to her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into his chest.

  Her warm breath tickled the skin of his neck as he used his hands to soothe her shaking.

  “I’m never letting you go, Neecy Lawrence. No matter what. Understand?”

  She nodded her head but didn’t speak.

  “As long as we’re clear, baby.”

  When he was sure she finally slept, he closed his eyes and joined her.

  Neecy frowned at the sound of birds. Not her crows. These were birds that didn’t actually sound frightening. Yager was behind her, spooning her. His big arms wrapped around her waist like he was afraid she’d fly away.

  Her naked skin itched and she realized it was because of the grass.

  Neecy’s eyes snapped open. Grass?

  She gave herself a moment to focus and quickly realized they were under an enormous tree. Its limbs twisted and turned, leading up toward the stars while its roots led to the bowels of the earth. It took her a good thirty seconds to figure out exactly where she was—beneath the sheltering leaves of Yggdrasil or the World Tree. The way station between the different worlds of the Norse gods, including Asgaard, Helheim, Aesiras, as well as a few other worlds Neecy couldn’t remember the names of.

  In the halls of Asgaard, Neecy would find Valhalla. Being that close to her final resting place until Ragnarok came gave her little comfort.

  “Would you like some grapes?”

  Neecy glanced up at the woman standing over her wearing a Boston Red Sox baseball cap, black overalls, and a plain white T-shirt.

  “What is it with you and fruit?”

  Skuld smiled as she sat under the tree. “I find it a wonderful icebreaker.” She popped several grapes in her mouth.

  “Do you know why you’re here, Denise?” she demanded while chewing.

  Christ, it was like dealing with a nun. They were the only ones who called her Denise.

  “No. And I definitely don’t know why he’s here.” She motioned to the still-sleeping Yager who, even in sleep, gripped her like his life depended on it.

  “Well, let’s start with him, ‘cause he’s easy. He refused to let you go.”

  “What?”

  “I tried to pull you away from him to bring you here and the man would not release you. So I had to bring you both. As a leader of the Ravens, I wasn’t too concerned about having him here, but talk about some strength. No wonder he’s Odin’s favorite. I just thought that was because he was the one who actually had the balls to take the big idiot to a strip joint.”

  Neecy remembered what he told her last night. “I’m never letting you go, Neecy Lawrence. No matter what.” Apparently, he wasn’t kidding.

  “So this is the deal… Didi wants to retire.”

  Throwing Yager’s arm off, Neecy sat up abruptly. “What? Well, you can’t let her.”

  “I have very little choice.”

  “Since when?”

  “Since I’ve kept the Crows mortal. At some point, if you survive, all of you will need to retire.”

  Neecy’s eyes narrowed. “So what does that have to do with me?”

  “I do love the sound of trepidation in your voice… and you know exactly what this means.”

  “You want me to lead The Jersey Gathering?”

  “Why do you sound so surprised?”

  “I don’t know. I guess I never really thought about it.”

  “Well, no one could ever accuse you of being power hungry.”

  “Power hungry? I’ve got too much shit to do.”

  Skuld laughed and it was a surprisingly soothing sound. “I see why Didi likes you. You’re strange.”

  “I’ll try and take that as a compliment.”

  Neecy glanced over her shoulder as Yager sat up, his mouth open in a wide yawn. He nodded his head at the goddess. “Skuld.”

  “Wilhelm.”

  “Why are we here exactly?”

  “It’s time.”

  Yager brushed his hand over Neecy’s bare arm. A calming move that worked extremely well. “Time for what?”

  “For Denise to prove her worth to me.”

  “I haven’t already?”

  “As a soldier, you’re exemplary. But I need a wartime leader.”

  “Wartime?”

  “This assault from the Hunters, Denise, is just the beginning. They want you gone for the same reason I want you to lead.” Skuld ate a few more grapes, turned her head to the right, and yelled, “I told you two I’m in a meeting! So one of you bitches get out here and water this goddamn tree!”

  One of the Fates and Skuld’s sister, Urd maybe—Neecy didn’t know and she wasn’t about to ask—stepped out from behind the enormous World Tree and tossed a watering can at her sister. “Water it your damn self!”

  Skuld’s barely concealed face turned frightening. No wonder many considered her a less-than-approachable god.

  “Bitches.”

  Skuld stood up. She was tall. Much taller than Neecy.

  Neecy pushed herself to her feet as Skuld turned her back. Yager now stood behind her, naked as the day he was born. Unlike Neecy, who thankfully had on his MIT tank top that reached mid thigh.

  When Skuld turned back to face them she held an ax.

  Great. More axes.

  Neecy had never been a big ax fan when it came to her weapons, and now that she’d actually had one in her back, she’d like to avoid them. Unfortunately, that didn’t seem possible at the moment. She knew Skuld wou
ld only give it to her because she’d need it.

  “This is a powerful weapon. One of the most powerful you’ll find.” Skuld ran her thumb along the edge. “You’ll need it for your Trial.”

  She may not be an ax fan, but any weapon was better than no weapon. So when Skuld handed it to her, she took it gratefully.

  “Any specific directions go along with this?”

  “Now where would the fun be in that?”

  Neecy sighed. “Of course.”

  “But if you succeed at this Trial, you’ll become leader of The Jersey Gathering.”

  Holding the weapon in her hand, Neecy felt the weight. It was heavy but filled with powerful Magick. She felt it running through her fingers. “And if I fail?”

  “We’ll make sure to have a lovely funeral for you… with roses. I heard they were your favorite.”

  Yager barely bit back his growl. “That’s not funny.”

  Skuld chuckled. “Actually, it kind of is.”

  Neecy took a few practice swings with her new ax. It was like she was born with it in her hand. “So what’s my Trial?”

  “Destroy the Hunters. Especially their leader, Waldgrave. But I want them all, Denise. I want them weeping to Hella come dawn.”

  Yager had no idea how he ended up here with Neecy, but he would be eternally grateful he did. He wouldn’t let her face this on her own. One or two Hunters… maybe. But all of them? With no wings and having just recovered from her last fight? No way would his woman be facing this alone.

  Battle plans already filled his head. Ways of attack. Who should be on the team from both the Ravens and the Crows. Together, they’d make sure she passed this Trial.

  Neecy swung the ax again, her muscles rippling under his tank top. Powerful runes covered the ax blade and its black handle.

  “No Valhalla for them?” she asked.

  “Sneaky bastards preying on my warriors? No. There’ll be no Valhalla for them. No Valkyries to lead them home.”

  Neecy nodded as her index finger slid across the runes on the ax. “Can I ask you a question?”

  “You can ask me anything as long as it’s not about your death… which may very well be today,” Skuld said with a huge grin.