The Pull

by Amber Lynn

  “Nothing happened between him and me. He required a service from me, and I obliged.”

  “If I thought lesser of you, your words would make me wonder what you classify as a service. What would the wolves need a demigoddess for, or did they think you were merely a witch?”

  “My business with the wolves, and in general, is none of your concern. What you should be worried about is what I plan on doing about you causing problems in my town.”

  “Are you the new sheriff in town, Kennedy? Policing things that aren’t human isn’t as easy as one thinks.”

  I’d been wearing my pumps all day, and my toes wanted to escape. I was walking slow, trying to make sure I got at least one piece of useful information out of the talk. The pace meant it was going to be a few minutes before I made it home, and I decided the shoes would work better if I carried them.

  I stopped walking for a second and stripped them off. The cold concrete instantly felt better than the sweaty tight shoes as I got back on my way.

  “I don’t know exactly what I plan on doing, but you can’t prey on people around here. If you keep things up, you’ll end up exposing yourself. With the number of people not quite human living around here, that’s a threat to all of us.”

  “There is an abnormal amount of species living amongst us, isn’t there? When I spoke of the things I had to do to live earlier, our conversation didn’t reach the finale I was looking for.”

  “You have about a block to get it where you want it to be. I’d say you should use that time wisely.”

  “Very well. I need life from others in order to keep myself in the fine form you see before you. I prefer to take that while enjoying myself, but there are other ways for me to do it that give me less energy. I was a little careless when I first moved here. I didn’t know what was throwing my usual control off until I stumbled upon you.”

  “So you’re going to blame me for you killing two women?”

  “I wouldn’t say that. My instinct to be at my strongest took over, and I fed a little more than usual. It was unfortunate for the women, but you wouldn’t have even noticed me if I couldn’t push some power at you.”

  I didn’t know how he was raised, but I was thankful I hadn’t been raised in a magical world. I felt that if I had, the death of two women would seem like just an unfortunate event to me.

  “Really? I thought maybe you needed the power to cause unexpected weather events. I heard you’re pretty good at those.”

  Our walk together was over. I had crossed my barrier and stopped to finish the trains of thoughts we were on.

  “Yeah, well, I didn’t think it was a good idea for him to pester you, and I decided to let him know. I take it this is where your barrier starts. I knew you had one, but I haven’t bothered testing exactly how far it stretched.”

  “Care to try to walk through it and verify it’s working?”

  I wasn’t sure what it would do to him. If there were humans I didn’t want around at a particular time, they tended to hit the barrier and decide they had other places they wanted to be. I had adjusted things a little after learning there were other people I needed protection from. It was supposed to give them a good jolt, but I hadn’t tested it.

  “I think I’ll probably pass for now. We have many more things I’m sure you’d be interested in discussing. How about we address the question of how I happened to end up here in a time I really don’t belong during tomorrow’s walk?”

  “What makes you think I want to know bad enough to agree to see you? I could’ve stopped you from walking with me today if I wasn’t feeling generous.”

  “Because telling you that you remind me of your mother when you act bored in order to get information is going to ensure you want to see me again.”

  “What do you know about my mother?”

  I didn’t like the smile that spread across his face. He knew he had something he could use against me, and I’d walked right into his tease.

  “We’ll talk about her tomorrow. Until then, pleasant dreams, Kennedy.”

  He disappeared before I could say anything. It was getting dark outside, but it certainly wasn’t dark enough that someone peeking out their windows wouldn’t have noticed. I didn’t know my neighbors well enough to know whether people were blowing up the police switchboard from what they’d seen, but I assumed Jack would get wind of trouble and figure out a story.

  I walked the rest of the way home, and hoped after having a quick dinner that I’d be able to sleep. When my powers were open during the years I’d gone off the deep end, I’d never had a problem shutting down at night. Something had changed over the years, because I hadn’t been able to sleep since I let my power out.

  Going weeks with only an hour or two of sleep a day was bad for my overall mood. I’d tried just about everything I could think of to increase the hours. Tea, warm milk, exercise, counting invisible objects jumping over the moon and sleeping pills had all been tried, each one of them failing miserably.

  After I let myself into the house, I threw my bag and keys on the coffee table. My shoes ended up by the door. Eventually they’d make it up to my bedroom, but I wasn’t headed straight for it.

  My nightly routine had become a standard affair. Abbie showed up every once in a while, but she was hesitant about the moods that overcame me. There were times I became sad for no apparent reason, and evidently I pushed my emotions into the room.

  No one wanted to be in a room that made you want to cry. Without her around, I got a little lonely. I’d grown to expect her to be around because she hadn’t left my house for three days after her encounter with Helki.

  I walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge door. There wasn’t a lot of choices. I decided to make a quick veggie sandwich. Most of the vegetables involved weren’t going to be good very much longer, so I needed to eat them.

  When I had everything spread out on the counter, I unexpectedly felt a shift in my mood. The doom and gloom I’d been broadcasting lifted and a bit of joy tickled in my head. It was a little strange, but I thought deciphering it was something that needed to be done on a full stomach.

  Once my sandwich of lettuce, onions, avocado and green pepper was assembled, I grabbed a knife out of the knife block on my counter and cut it in half. I’d been considering venturing outside my usual vegetarian diet, and taking a bite of my third veggie sandwich in as many days, made me wonder what meat products would be a good place to start.

  The sandwiches were more for their convenience than anything else. My quick dinner was over almost before it started as I put the last bite in my mouth. I placed the plate and knife I’d used in the sink and decided to take care of them in the morning.

  I was getting ready to turn off the light when I heard someone take a breath. My abilities were either skewed or nowhere near as strong as I thought they were if two people had sneaked up on me in one day.

  Since the unwelcome visitor was in the living room, I went ahead and turned the light off to go greet them. I hadn’t turned any lights on other than the kitchen one, so the house was instantly covered in darkness.

  “I know I didn’t call ahead, but we both know you wouldn’t have invited me over, and after tonight, I had to see you.”

  Instead of replying, I ignored his words and headed to my bedroom.

  Chapter Sixteen

  He didn’t hesitate following me, which I expected. Just hearing his voice perked my mood up. I tried to be pissed about that, but the largest part of my brain was happy to see him.

  “How’d you get in here? I thought I made it pretty clear the last time you were here that I didn’t want you around.”

  “You can blast me with energy all you want, Kennedy, but your barrier isn’t going to keep me away. How have you been? I’ve been worried about you.”

  I walked over to my closet and stepped inside, closing the door behind me. I assumed he couldn’t see through the door, so I went ahead and changed out of my skirt and blouse and into a pair of yoga pants an
d a tank top.

  When I opened the door, Jack was sitting on my bed, staring at me. I fought falling into those beautiful green eyes of his.

  “You’ve kept a pretty good eye on me, so I assume you really don’t need an answer to that question. You’ve let me know you were around up until just a few minutes ago, and I assume you only stopped so you could sneak in.”

  “I can follow you all day long, but that doesn’t really tell me how you’ve been. Do you have as much trouble sleeping as I do?”

  Knowing the bags under my eyes probably provoked his question, I didn’t think too much about the statement. I did feel better that maybe he was losing sleep at night.

  “Why did you decide it was important for me to know who I was if it was going to end with me hating you?”

  I asked myself that question so many times over the month since I’d seen him. It was the one thing I couldn’t figure out. Well, that and the fact that I didn’t actually hate him.

  “Because I didn’t think it would end that way. Selina tells me you didn’t see everything we thought you would, and you clearly haven’t taken my advice to go back and let things play out.”

  “What more did you expect me to see? Wolves killed my entire family and made it so my mother had to basically send me to the future so they didn’t kill me too. Did a pack of wolves trot by and piss on my dad’s and siblings’ grave? I’m sure that would’ve been worth sticking around to see.”

  Jack sighed and stood up. He walked over to me, a little hesitantly. Once he reached me, one of his hands grabbed ahold of mine and he walked me back to the bed. He sat back down, and pulled me with him so I was next to him.

  “I’m sorry you’ll never know them. There were mistakes made by both my ancestors and yours. I can’t tell you what happened because you won’t believe it from me, just like I doubt you would’ve believed me if I told you your mother was a goddess. There are things in life we sometimes have to learn firsthand.”

  “How does Selina know what happened in the past? I know she’s strong, but being able to see anyone’s past, or future, is a lot for a little girl to be able to do.”

  Jack’s hand hadn’t left mine, and he squeezed it, just in case I hadn’t noticed. The part of my brain that told me he was an enemy wasn’t doing a very good job of convincing my heart and the parts of my brain running things.

  “She doesn’t know everything. She doesn’t even know most things. When she picked up that I had an interest in you, she caught glimpses of things and told me I needed to protect you. As soon as she felt the time was right, she asked me to get you two together. Nikki thought asking for a reading would be the easiest introduction.”

  “What have they said about us? Is there a reason why I don’t hate you when I should?”

  “You feel the sparks when we touch, don’t you? If you ever figure out why that happens, I’m sure you’ll figure out why you can’t hate me.”

  “Nice way to not answer the question. What are we doing here, Jack?”

  He leaned in so our foreheads touched. The electricity between us formed a circle that tickled as it traveled through the two of us.

  “I already told you what I’m doing here. I was worried about you. He came back today, and the first place he went was the library.”

  “I’m surprised you didn’t try to stop him.”

  “I was told not to. Nikki told me to wait until you came to me, but I’ve always had trouble listening to her.”

  “Or you figured out I wasn’t going to come to you.”

  “You’re stubborn, and I love that about you, but you’d eventually cave. If you go enough days without sleep, you’ll remember the last night you slept well, and you’ll remember that it was while you were in my arms.”

  With his free hand, he tilted my chin up and kissed the side of my mouth. I didn’t magically drop sharp teeth and bite him, so he pushed his luck and lined his lips up with mine.

  It was wrong that his lips felt so right. I barely knew him and our families seemed to have a Hatfield and McCoy kind of relationship. Nothing good could come from it, but I didn’t let that stop me from opening my mouth a little when his tongue glided across my lips.

  I’d expected my body to combust at the increased intimacy, but it was a cool burn that led me to lean into his body. Getting lost in Jack was easy, and I was getting in over my head. I broke away from his mouth briefly to get a little oxygen to my brain.

  “Did anyone see you come here?”

  “They shouldn’t have. When you started your walk home, I raced ahead from the other direction so he wouldn’t see I was here. I assume the incubus is who you’re worried about knowing.”

  Our faces were close enough that I got a deep whiff of his peppermint breath. It smelled like my toothpaste, and I hoped that was just a coincidence.

  “I should tell you to leave so I can get to sleep. I have a busy day tomorrow.”

  “I’m sure you do, but you know you want me to stay.”

  “Yeah, but why, and what good is it for either of us? You said we couldn’t have kids, and your future changed to include a full brood. I’m not going to fall in love with you, only to have my heart ripped out when you find the right wolf for you.”

  “I’m not going to ever love another woman like I do you, and I’m convinced those kids are somehow yours. Selina warned me that there was a curse that kept you from having kids with me. Knowing the history of your grandmother and werewolves, that makes sense. It doesn’t mean there’s something Selina missed. Have you looked to the future to figure out what changed?”

  I shook my head, rubbing our noses together as I did.

  “I don’t like knowing the future, and I’ve been scared to see what’s there. Things change so quickly that I couldn’t trust it.”

  “I have to wonder what good a power is if you don’t ever use it. Aren’t you tempted to just unleash what’s in you?”

  Rather than answer, I planted my lips on his. He growled deep in his chest and pushed me back so I laid on the bed, with his body on top of me. For as big as he was, he weighed nothing as he pressed me into the bed.

  Jack was quick to break off the kiss, revealing he had a little more restraint than I thought. He bent down and nipped at my neck. It stung a little, but I didn’t think he drew blood.

  “If we continue this, we’re going to find out whether you can have my kids real fast.”

  “There’s no guarantee you’d get me pregnant, even if we could have kids,” I said as I reached up and wrapped my arms around his neck.

  “Believe me, you’d get pregnant. Are you willing to tempt fate?”

  We let his question hang in the air. It wasn’t something that had a simple answer. Did I want to have sex with him? Yes.

  There was no denying that. Every molecule in my body was trying to figure out what my clothes were still doing on. Even the part of my brain that had warned me that he was the enemy had come around and was pushing me to say yes. When the two of us were in a room together, there was just an electric drive to be as close together as possible.

  After hearing his promise, the issue that gave me pause was the very big chance I didn’t get pregnant. That reality was a nail in the coffin of a doomed relationship.

  “I’m guessing you didn’t think to bring a condom.”

  He smiled and leaned down to kiss me chastely on the lips.

  “It’s naked between you and me or it isn’t happening. I’ve been dying to feel every inch of you since the moment I saw you. You can ask anyone who knows me whether I believe in love at first sight. They’ll tell you I didn’t up until the day you walked down a sidewalk. That’s why I know you were meant for me.”

  “And if things don’t turn out how you expect, are you just going to walk out of my life?”

  “You mean if you don’t get pregnant? As much as I want to see your stomach swollen with my child, if it doesn’t happen, I’ll know whatever curse Selina was talking about hasn’t been broken. Eventually, y
ou’ll have my kids.”

  His determination was catching. Not knowing much about what made me weird, I hadn’t ever really considered having children. Passing on the confusion didn’t make a lot of sense.

  The children I saw in Jack’s future appeared normal. They had their daddy’s eyes, so I assumed they had a lot of wolf in them, but I hadn’t gotten a sense if there was anything else.

  To finally answer his question about tempting fate, I reached between us and unbuttoned his jeans. Getting the zipper down over his swollen package was difficult, but I managed.

  I was getting ready to reach in and feel the part of him that I could already tell was pulsing, when he reached his hand down and stopped me.

  “You’re sure? There’s not going to be anything nice and easy about this, Kennedy. I know you deserve slow and romantic, but sex is the one place I’m pretty sure I’m going have trouble with that.”

  “I’m not a nice and easy girl, Jack.”

  I pushed by his hand and reached in to grab the firm rod he had hidden behind his clothes. Just feeling it made my body rise off the bed and grind into him.

  Making good on his word about things moving fast, my tank top turned to shreds within a second of touching him. The tank top was a casualty of his hands. My bra ended up being a casualty of his teeth.

  He leaned down, I heard a small rip and then his lips surrounded my left breast. The moan that escaped my lips echoed in my ears.

  Judging by the nicks I felt, I didn’t think his normal teeth were alone in his mouth. There were a pair of sharp canines that ignited heat in my body whenever they met my flesh.

  My right breast felt a little lonely, so I took my free hand and pinched my nipple hard, trying to stimulate the same feelings happening on the other side of my body. While I did that, I worked his pants and boxers down enough that I could free him and start stroking.

  The motion caused an almost frightening growl to rumble in his chest. I liked the danger it implied, and I could tell he knew that.