by Dez Burke
"Ohhhhh," she cried.
He rocked forward again, then again. His swollen length worked its way deeper and deeper into her oh-so-willing body, and she tightened her legs around his waist every time he rocked in. Desire crashed through her body with every deep thrust, the pressure building, oh God, building—
He was panting with the rhythm of their lovemaking, and she felt herself on the edge of climax, her body matching his rhythm and echoing it.
"Almost—almost there—" she breathed, her voice rasping through her throat. "God, harder, please, Josh, harder—"
He withdrew then, pulling her completely off of the counter. In a few quick steps he had carried her across the room and lay her down on the mat in front of the fireplace where a fire was already dying down to embers. The warmth enveloped her even as she struggled to breathe.
"Don't stop! Josh—"
He bent over her and kissed her.
"Harder?" he asked.
Her fingers tore at his hair, pulling him in. She was empty between her thighs now, and her body screamed for him to come back and fill her completely.
"Yes!" she cried out. "GOD, yes, YES!"
He was on top of her blindingly fast, his legs spreading her aching thighs. His cock touched the hot and anxious folds and she lay her head back.
"Please," she whimpered. "Josh. Please—"
He thrust into her, hard and thick as a tree's trunk.
"Ahh!"
Again he moved in a rhythm, slow at first, but quickening as she responded. The ache inside of her was tearing her apart.
"Harder. Harder—"
"Oh, Lord, Ruby," Josh panted. "If you want it—"
"I want it. Josh. Yes." Ruby was writhing on the ground, her body losing control despite herself. She needed him, needed him to push her, needed to come with him. Nobody had ever made love to her like this. And yet she knew that she wanted more, and that he could give it to her.
"Harder." Her voice rasped against the warm night air. "OH! JOSH!"
His full weight bore down on her, and her hands pulled at his hips. He jammed his cock into her and she gasped in pleasure. He bent back and thrust again, then again, harder and harder.
"Yes! Yes! YES!"
The rhythm was hard, insistent. His body pounded against hers, the impact shuddering her entire being, faster and faster until he was almost jackhammering her. The motion was fierce, brutal, and she loved it more than she'd ever imagined she could. It was the stuff of daydreams that made her blush. Here, though, with Josh, she did not want anything else.
At the last moment, she tilted her head back and groaned, her fingers scraping his back. He pushed into her fully and she exploded with pleasure.
"OHH!"
Her body tensed, clenching around him, and she felt him shudder inside of her even as she was blinded by the surging climax that tore through her.
"Yes! YES!"
"Ohh," he moaned, and he came with her, riding the same wave as she rode, their bodies arching against the floor in twin arcs of ecstasy.
Josh's body stiffened and she felt his heat inside of her as he thrust once, then again, and then relaxed. His head came to rest on her chest, his cheek pressed in the space just between her breasts. Her fingers reached up involuntarily and curled themselves through the tangle of his hair. She breathed.
All of her body was on fire, the slow shivers of the orgasm subsiding as she breathed in, then out. She caressed his head and tilted her head back against the floor, swallowing.
Now that it was done, she didn't know what had taken over her. Such an uncontrollable urge. Where had it come from? And the things she'd said to him were things she'd never said to any other man. Never even thought about saying. With this man, though, she'd known that he would understand what she needed.
"Nickel for your thoughts," Josh said.
She looked down to find his light gray eyes peering up at her.
"I thought it was a penny," she said, still catching her breath.
"Yeah, well, inflation's a bitch," Josh said. "Are you...are you okay? I kind of lost control for a second there."
Ruby laughed.
"You're not the only one!"
Josh rolled over onto his side, curling one arm under her head and pulling her into a side embrace.
"Pretty nice roll in the hay for a city girl," he murmured, his lips against her forehead.
Ruby's smile twitched at the corners.
"I have to leave tomorrow," she said.
"We all have to go sometime."
"I could come back and visit. If the acquisition goes well..." Ruby trailed off. She didn't want to make empty promises. She had no idea whether she'd be able to come back to visit. Despite the allure of Josh's strong arms and beautiful eyes.
"If you want to come back, you will," Josh said. He planted a kiss squarely between her eyes, then fluttered small kisses down to her nose, her chin. She giggled, but turned slightly away.
"It's not that simple."
"Really?" Josh propped his head up on his hand next to her.
Ruby felt her skin turn red with embarrassment.
"Really."
"You can choose to come back or not come back. It is that simple."
"How about you come visit me in the city?" Ruby asked, the idea emerging from the dizziness in her mind.
He laughed.
"I wouldn't do well in the city. I need to run around in the fresh air every once in a while."
Ruby eyed Josh. His strong, sunkissed shoulders. His coarse, unshaven chin. He wouldn't fit in at all in the city. And I don't fit in at all here, she thought sadly. Even as she thought it, she was fighting the thought. This...whatever they had. It was wonderful, beautiful. Real. She didn't want to give it up, not that easily.
"Okay," she said firmly. "Then I will come back."
"When?"
"You want a date?"
"I want to have something to look forward to." Josh arched a smile in her direction.
"Soon, then."
"Soon's not a date."
"Sooner than a month. Is that enough of a date?" As she spoke the words, she felt a stirring of nervous fear in her chest. Making promises...that wasn't something she normally did with men. And yet here she was, promising to fly across the country for a man she'd only known a couple of days. Then Josh kissed her softly on the lips, and she forgot every hesitation she had.
"I'll be looking forward to it," he whispered. "But for tonight, now that I have you here..." His fingers traced their way down her curves, over her hips, and she felt another thrill of desire begin to seep through her body.
She pulled herself closer into Josh's arms, and let herself melt into his embrace. Tomorrow he would take her on his motorcycle again. At the thought of it, Ruby shuddered with delight. Her arms wrapped around him, speeding down the countryside...it would be wonderful, just wonderful.
She had nothing to wear for tomorrow, and at that moment she couldn't even remember the details of the acquisition that had occupied her thoughts for the past months. Her cell phone was dead, and the deal's failure rested squarely on her shoulders. But it didn't matter right now.
Right now, in his arms, she felt as though everything would be fine.
CHAPTER FIVE
Ruby woke up cold and alone.
She rolled over, but in the dim light of the dying embers, she could not see Josh anywhere.
"Josh?" she whispered. There was no answer.
"Josh?" She pulled Josh's flannel shirt over her head and wrapped the blanket over her shoulders for warmth. She stood up. Josh wasn't in the bed. She peered through the doorway, but he wasn't in the bathroom either.
"Hello? Josh?" For some reason she was afraid to raise her voice. She stood in front of the fireplace and lifted her hands in front of her for warmth.
A scratching came from the door. Ruby whirled around.
"Josh?"
The noise came again. This time a light knocking.
"This isn't funny, Jo
sh" Ruby said, approaching the door. She waited for a response, standing with the blanket wrapped around her, but there was nothing. Anxiety ran cold through her blood.
She bit her lip, torn with indecision. She wanted to throw open the door and confront him, but if it wasn't Josh...
But who could it be? Who, in the middle of the night, just outside his cabin?
She steeled herself and reached for the door, but just as she did she saw a shadow pass near the window. She bent to look through the window—
"AHHHH!"
The face peering through the glass was Alex's, his eyes black and predatorial. Ruby stumbled backwards into the room. Alex's hand shattered the windowpane.
"Help! JOSH!" Ruby screamed. Glass shards scattered over the floor, and Alex knocked out another window pane. His bare arm came through the window and reached for the door handle.
Ruby fled back through the only doorway, slamming the bathroom door behind her. Her fingers trembled as she moved to lock the door. The bolt snapped shut just as the bathroom door handle rattled. She fell backwards onto the floor, retreating from the door as though it was on fire.
"Hey, little girl. Let me in."
Alex was there. Right there. Just behind the door. She heard his fingers scraping down the wood frame.
"I'm calling the police!" she yelled.
"Hard to do when your phone is out here," Alex said, his voice oily and slick. "Nice try. Why don't you let me in?"
Ruby looked around the room. The only way out was a small window in the back. She moved silently to the window and unlocked it.
BANG!
Ruby screamed. Alex had thrown himself against the door. The whole wall shuddered with the force of impact.
"You don't want to make me angry before I get to you," he called through the door. "Come on, Ruby."
"Josh! Josh!"
She slid the window up as she screamed to mask the sound.
Alex hit the door again and the wood frame splintered at the side where the hinge was.
Ruby scrambled up and through the window, her leg scraping painfully against the side as she tumbled out into the darkness. She hit the ground with a thud, knocking the breath out of her. Behind her, Alex was slamming the door with full force. She pulled down the window behind her, turned, and ran.
She had no idea where she was going. She was naked but for Josh's shirt, and she knew only that she didn't want Alex to catch her. She zigzagged through the cornfield, sprinting as fast as she could. Her bare feet pressed deeply into the damp earth as she ran and ran and—
A piercing howl stopped her cold in her tracks.
It had come from behind, from the cabin. She was panting, her lungs burning with the effort, but at the sound of the howl she took off with renewed adrenaline. She ran and ran until she had no idea where she was. Stumbling down a row of corn, she ended up in the middle of a dirt road. Was it the same road she'd been on before? She had no idea. More importantly, she must have lost Alex. She began to walk quickly down the road. She would reach the highway, maybe, and she could find an emergency pay phone or flag someone down to call the police. Her face burned at the thought of waving down a car while wearing only a shirt, but if that's what she had to do, she would. She would—
Ruby gasped and froze.
A wolf had come out in front of her path, so quickly that she hadn't even seen it come.
The creature was jet black, its fur coat as slick as an oil spill. It eyed her fiercely and growled.
The sound of the growl was low. It ran through her nerves, making her shiver with fear. Then another wolf came out of the cornfield. And another. The three wolves advanced on her. She breathed shallowly. Her whole being wanted to turn and run, but there was something in the hypnotic look of the black wolf that turned her muscles to jelly. She could not move.
A rumbling started to fill the air, soft at first and then louder. She thought that it was the wolves growling, but no, the sound filled the air, too loud to be a growl. It was coming from behind her.
The wolf broke his gaze for a moment, but that moment was all she needed. Ruby spun and began to run away. In front of her, farther down the dirt road, there was a cloud of...dust? A tornado? Fear of a different kind seized her heart. Then the source of the rumble emerged from the cloud, and her eyes widened in surprise.
A motorcycle. Josh's motorcycle.
She angled herself out of his path, running to the side of the road. Josh roared by her and swung to the side, skidding to a stop between her and the wolves. He leapt off of his motorcycle.
"Josh!" she cried. "Watch out!"
The three wolves were approaching him, and she thought perhaps he would have a gun. Something. What she didn't expect was what actually happened.
Josh turned his head toward her, and in the moonlight she saw his light gray eyes shine with a sad look she didn't understand.
"Ruby. I'm sorry," he said. Then he turned back to the wolves, and—oh god—what was he doing? What was happening?
It was a scene from a late night horror movie, and Ruby struggled not to scream as she watched. His arms stretched, sprouted tufts of hair. She saw claws burst from his hands, and his face—oh god, his face—
He was a wolf.
His clothes torn and strewn across the dirt road, he fell back to the ground. This time on four legs. His face had stretched into a wolf's snout, and as Ruby watched, terror-struck, he raised his head and... and...
He howled.
The sound spiraled up into the cold Nebraska night and Ruby's limbs trembled. She would have run but she knew in her heart that there was nowhere she could run to. This was a nightmare unlike any other she'd ever had.
The black wolf leapt forward with claws extended, the sharp points glinting in the moonlight. Ruby screamed as Josh jumped to meet him, and they impacted in a crash of fur and fangs. Snarls ripped through the night air. Jaws snapped. Ruby ran forward and crouched behind the motorcycle, wanting with all of her being to run but equally certain that the two other wolves would chase after her if she left Josh. What had used to be Josh.
The two other wolves circled around the fighters, darting in whenever there was an opening. Their jaws nipped and tore at the fighter's haunches. Although Ruby was only ten feet away, the wolves moved so quickly that their motion was nothing but a blur for the most part, a blur of gray and black fur. Her breathing came fast and hard, and her heart pounded as she saw Josh slip and stumble on one of his legs.
One of the smaller wolves slipped in and bit down on his haunch, and Josh howled in pain. The noise stabbed through Ruby's head, and she clapped her hands to her ears to shut it out. Then Josh whirled around, snapped his jaws on the smaller wolf's neck, and whipped his body around, flinging the wolf over the head of the other fighters. The wolf landed with a heavy thud on the dirt road. Ruby thought it was dead, but it whimpered and kicked, struggling to crawl away from the fight.
Ruby could tell that Josh was tiring. With two wolves fighting against one, it wasn't fair. He was limping, the bite from the other wolf bleeding down his front leg. Ruby wished she had a gun, a knife, anything at all. There was nothing she could do to help him against these wolves.
They faced off and Josh was forced back, one slow step at a time. He retreated back to where Ruby was standing behind the motorcycle, snarling and snapping to keep the wolves from coming too close. But what would they do once there was no more space left to back up? Ruby glanced around. If she could run and distract them—
Both of the black wolves looked up, their ears perking at the noise. Josh—or the wolf that used to be Josh—swiveled his head slightly. Ruby's eyes widened. Would they pounce on her? She could almost feel the wolves' hot breath on her face, their sharp fangs on hers.
But no. It wasn't her that they were interested in. As she waited in fright, she heard the new rumble of something coming.
And then they came. Motorcycles roaring to life, coming out down the dirt road. Josh's bike had left a thin cloud of dust, bu
t the motorcycles came together in a cloud the size of a sandstorm. They burst through the rows of corn, circling Ruby and the wolves. Ruby was frightened, but Josh seemed to stand up straighter, and the other wolves cowered on the ground, backing up to stand next to the injured black wolf. It was then that she knew they were safe.
One motorcycle came to a stop and the rider took off his helmet. He was an old man, grizzled, his dark hair streaked white. His eyes were the same gray as Josh's, and he looked over Ruby and the wolves calmly, as though this was a normal scene he saw every day.
"You're not welcome here, Alex," he said.
Ruby's jaw dropped as she saw that he was talking to the large black wolf. It snarled, barking only once. When it met her eyes she swore she could see Alex's fierce gaze looking out. Oh god, was that what it was?
"Get out of here and don't come back until you want a proper fight." The man on the motorcycle looked over the three black wolves dismissively. "Next time you might want to bring more of your friends. No more tricks. Just a fair fight."
He whistled toward the wolves and two of the riders gunned their engines, circling in right next to—Alex? Could it really be?
The old man met Ruby's eyes and in them she saw a hint of laughter. Then he put his helmet back on and revved his engine.
The black wolves took the cue and retreated down the dirt road, the one wolf limping hurriedly along as the motorcycles breathed hot exhaust and skimmed the back of its hind legs. Alex, or the wolf who was Alex, looked back with a stare of pure hatred. Then they were gone, escorted away by the motorcycle riders and the old man riding in the back of the whole procession. The chrome of his bike shimmered in the moonlight and then was gone amid the corn.
Ruby blinked. The night was silent again, and in the distance the cloud kicked up by the motorcycles was already dissipating. She would have thought she'd imagined the whole thing, but in the dusty ground there were bike tracks and wolf paw prints. As she struggled to regain her breath, a low whine made her look up.
The gray wolf.
It moved toward her, and now that the others were gone she realized how insane she was to feel safe near this...thing. She stumbled back, putting Josh's motorcycle between her and the wolf.
