RANGER

by Samantha Leal

“Impressive show,” he said, though his pompous voice sounded bored. “But you’re not going to get away with this.”

  He bowed his head and began muttering to himself, and a wave of fear overpowered Gabe. He hadn’t shifted because he was reciting an incantation. He was going to fight with magic, like a sneaky, underhanded coward.

  “Ow!”

  Gabe was just as surprised as Ren’s uncle when Val, her eyes narrowed in determination, smacked him with the curtain rod. It was all the break he needed to lunge at the man. Gabe was injured badly; he wouldn’t survive another fight with a wolf. But if he could reach the man before he shifted or recited his curse, he would have done his job. He would save her.

  A sharp cry filled the air, and Gabe’s mouth was filled with the taste of human blood. He prayed Val was looking away, refusing to bear witness to the slaughter, but he had a job to do. He couldn’t shelter her from this. Not when he had to protect her.

  But the world suddenly began to spin and Gabe’s vision darkened. He didn’t know whether he had finished the job or not as the wolf began to succumb to its injuries. He could only hope as he attempted to cling onto the last strands of life he had in him, that Val would do whatever she could to get the hell out of that house and run like hell.

  22.

  “Thank God,” Val whispered when Gabe’s eyes finally fluttered open. They were dark and brooding as they settled upon her, and he reached his hand up to touch her face gently.

  “Are you all right?” he asked hoarsely.

  “Me?!” Val exclaimed, laughing in disbelief. “You nearly died! If Ren hadn’t shown up and driven us back here, you would have!”

  Gabe’s brow furrowed. “I don’t remember that.”

  “Well, good, because I was hysterical the whole time. It was kind of embarrassing.”

  Gabe grinned, a sexy little gesture that made his entire face light up, and Val swallowed hard. She didn’t know what she would have done if she had lost him. The thought was unbearable.

  “Is Ren still here? I’d like to thank him.”

  “No, he left after stopping by the drug store and getting me a salve to put on your wounds. He said you’d make it, but I didn’t believe him until just now. When you opened your eyes. Don’t ever do that to me again, you jerk!”

  Gabe sat up straight, the thin sheet falling from his broad chest as he did so. It was clear he was gaining all his strength back now, and quickly, just as Ren had promised he would.

  “Or maybe, next time, you stay put when I ask you to so you don’t get yourself kidnapped and I have to fight to the death for you.”

  Val pursed her lips, a combination of relief and guilt bringing hot tears to her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

  “Hey,” Gabe said, his low voice a comforting rumble as he held her close to his chest. “Don’t do that, now. I only did it because I…”

  Val froze, the emotion between them obvious, and she pulled away to look into Gabe’s eyes.

  “I can’t live with you like this anymore,” she whispered. “I have to go on my own. Not unless…”

  Gabe’s lips were on hers suddenly and passionately, and Val gasped in shock and pleasure. Her body was electrified, every sensation of pleasure awakened by his touch. It meant only one thing. He felt for her exactly what she felt for him. And now, he was ready to accept that. And she was ready to receive.

  Val moaned softly as Gabe’s soft lips found their way to the nape of her neck, and she was filled with a hot wave of ecstasy as her body became weightless in Gabe’s arms. He sat her down in his lap, the thick muscle between his legs pressed firmly against her as a testament to his desire. She shuddered in pleasure when he stripped her swiftly, so the only thing between their middles was the thin sheet of her bed.

  Suddenly, Gabe was on top of her, the sheet nowhere to be found, and she stared in wonder at the impossible muscles of his abdomen. They had gone through so much, and yet, he was still able to display such raw power. It filled her with something deeper than desire; a profound sense of awe and appreciation for his body.

  He seemed to sense this and returned it in kind, his strong hands roaming the gentle slopes of her body, sending tendrils of fire in their wake. A creeping sensation traveled up her spine as the fire in her loins was stoked, and soon, Gabe was rocking his hips gently against her, massaging the most sensitive area of her body. She writhed in pleasure beneath him, gasping in shock when, with one abrupt, decisive action, Gabe thrust himself inside her.

  An explosion of bliss shook her to her core, and she gripped Gabe’s shoulders tightly, closing her eyes to relish the fullness of the sensation. His body was becoming one with hers as they found their unique rhythm, Gabe’s hips moving in slow, sensual rotations until the only thing Valerie could think about was her own pleasure.

  She met Gabe’s eyes, and they bore into her. Without speaking, she knew what he felt, and she felt the same. They were better together, both of them knew it, and now, nothing would ever be the same again.

  Val cried out in ecstasy as Gabe’s muscle pried inside her again and again, each time bringing her closer to the height of her desire. He dropped his lips over her breast, taking her nipple into his mouth and lapping his tongue sweetly over it, intensifying her pleasure until she could no longer hold herself back.

  She shuddered beneath the comforting weight of his body as he thrust inside her, every inch of his member making itself known to her. She couldn’t stop the contractions as her orgasm began, and they hugged his muscle tightly. Gabe growled in pleasure, unleashing the true power of his beast inside of her and nearly making Val shout out in rapture.

  The sudden explosion of Gabe’s orgasm rocked Val’s body, and she was filled with the sheer force of it as she surrendered fully to her own, their bodies entwined as they shared a moment of pleasure unlike anything either of them had ever known. Gabe gradually slowed his pace as Val shuddered beneath him, and they finally collapsed together on the bed.

  Gabe lifted Val up and held him tightly on top of his broad body, stroking the hair out of her face and kissing the corners of her lips.

  “You sure I’m not too old for you?” he asked, raising a brow at her.

  Val laughed and shook her head. “You’re not too anything for me,” she replied. “Is it wrong for me to love you the way I do?”

  Gabe shrugged.

  “I think it might be more wrong to hide what you really feel. At the end of the day, that’s what really matters.”

  “Do you think your wife would like me?” Val whispered.

  The question seemed to take Gabe by surprise. She expected him to be angry, to want to leave and never come back, but instead, he smiled and held her eye.

  “She would absolutely love you,” he whispered, kissing her tenderly. “Because I love you. And I know she would want us to live happily ever after.”

  Val smiled, and laid her head on his shoulder, suddenly very sleepy.

  “So do I,” she said with a small yawn.

  “And we will,” Gabe promised, stroking her back soothingly. “I claimed you for a reason.”

  And with that, they fell into a deep, restorative sleep.

  THE END

  Please enjoy the other STONYBROOKE SHIFTERS stories available on AMAZON!

  Dystopian Romance

  Welcome to Zombie Island

  Natalie Nixon

  Copyright ©2015 by Cynthia Wilde. All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic of mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Thank you so much for your interest in my work! Please

  Chapter 1

  Club SINZ was celebrating its grand opening, and had pulled out all the stops to make their first night in business a memorable one. The place was packed with everyone from porn stars to rich losers to travel writers, all desperate to be part of the Ca
ribbean's newest adult getaway. Club SINZ's advertising promised to make the Hedonism resorts look like a church picnic. Among the guests was a contingent of Estonian tourists, who not coincidentally, just happened to be beautiful, open-minded, and available women. The owners had clearly "stocked the pond" with professionals to ensure their initial guests left with fond memories - and maybe a few painful urinary tract infections as well.

  Cass Bauer, the main bartender was more interested in the clock than the crowd. She had important plans tonight that didn't involve Club SINZ. The last month of opening preparations had been chaotic, forcing her to work endless hours. Being an army veteran she had leadership skills, which had inspired management to entrust her with more responsibilities than the usual mixologist. She'd practically built the main bar as well as helped with everything from overall renovations to the hiring of local staff. SINZ was the first American business to open on Isla de Tortura, so the Caribbean locals eagerly lined up for the relatively high paying jobs. Two dollars and twenty-seven cents an hour represented big money on Tortura.

  Designed like a wagon wheel, Club SINZ had a central pool, surrounded by small cabanas. Tucked behind those were the VIP cabanas, which of course came with private Jacuzzis. The largest building held the dining hall, indoor bar and the industrial sized kitchen facilities. There was a band pavilion and even a miniature golf course. The abundance of outdoor bars guaranteed liquor would always be within staggering distance.

  Cass worked the main patio bar. She also taught windsurfing and kickboxing on the beach, but since the clientele lived on a diet of alcohol, frozen shrimp and pharmaceuticals, the turnout for physical fitness had been… underwhelming. But her time at the beach hadn't been a waste, because that was where she had met Talin, who was, of all things, the island's Voodoo Priest. At first she had been understandably wary of him. Talin had to be the most eccentric person she'd ever met, and that was saying something. You might wonder what an ex-military bartender had in common with an islands-raised witch doctor, and you would be surprised. Chemistry can go a long way. Over the course of a few weeks she'd happily become his lover as well as his pupil, of all things. If her current infatuation held, she planned to stay on the island with Talin for the rest of her life. It was a big change of plans, but she was impulsive like that. She’d been getting by like that for years and it always seemed to work out, so she wasn’t worried about it. She was actually pretty excited about the future.

  Initially Cass planned to kill a few months on Isla de Tortura, and then drift on to the next spot that held her interest. Keep moving and don't tie yourself down had become her mantra since leaving the military. Her first months in the civilian world had been dicey though. Without the boundaries of military life her behavior had gotten reckless and out of control. The endless parade of anonymous sexual encounters and all night drinking binges had gotten more and more extreme as time went on. None of it so much as put a dent in the pain that enveloped her though. She had actually been trying in vain to envelop herself in a nice cushion of emotional numbness, but to no avail. Eventually she had had to acknowledge that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder was really “a thing”, that she had it, and that it wasn't going away on its own. Once she had acknowledged and begun to face it, she'd come a long way in just a few months. Her drinking was almost nonexistent; she'd stopped banging nameless losers and, most amazingly, hadn't beaten the shit out of anyone in a month or more. But the customer leaning on the bar at that moment was really challenging her on that last note at the moment.

  He was an oily looking guy, who clearly bought his way into the grand opening. They probably had charged him double. He was definitely a beta male who bought his clothes in the alpha male store. From the moment he had approached the bar, he'd been finding excuse after excuse to make casual contact with Cass' hands. He also kept offering to buy her drinks. Maybe he hadn’t noticed that she was the bartender and already had access to any drink she wanted. Fucking idiot.

  "So what time do you finish up here?" he asked, for the sixth time.

  Amazing, she thought… in what he should have identified as a perfect storm of women with high blood alcohol and low self-esteem, this jackass fixates on the one woman he can't have. Cass counted backwards in her head, engaging an old trick she often used to diffuse the inner rage this guy seemed intent on releasing.

  "I'm on until eight, and then I have someplace to be."

  "You should be with me, I've got plenty of booze, a little 420 and more… if you’re into a little P&P?"

  "P&P?"

  "’Party and play’ babe, the only way to fly." He discreetly held up a little baggie of either cocaine or meth.

  Cass casually reached over to a bowl, picking up two walnuts with a showy flourish of her hand. She put her hand in front of the jerk's face and squeezed, crushing the nuts easily. He got the message.

  "Um, I guess I’ll go check out the Jacuzzi for a bit," He said back peddling away from the bar.

  "Good idea," Cass responded flatly, tossing the walnut shards into the trash. Who the hell ate walnuts in the tropics anyway?

  The fleeing jerk bumped into Jack Godwin, an alleged travel writer who asked way too many questions to be writing for Travel and Leisure. He was intelligent, and good-looking in a rough Sean Bean kind of way. But Cass had been watching him long enough to see through his travel writer facade.

  "Hey Cass, how's your night going?" Jack asked, smiling. He had brilliant green eyes with a penetrating gaze that never wavered. When he asked a question he heard your answer, but also seemed to know immediately whether you were hiding something else or not. "Can I get another house special?"

  The house special was a "Mai Tai" rip-off that contained enough sweet fruit juices to hide the rotgut liquor that gave it its punch.

  "No Problem Jack," Cass said, breaking the house rules by using a non-toxic brand of rum. This was Jack's third drink, but she'd seen him leave the other two, mostly intact, on empty tables. She surmised that Jack wanted to fit in with the drunks while staying sober and alert. Travel writer my ass, she thought. He’s probably some federal agent hunting crooks on the lam. This resort would be like flypaper for horny criminals.

  "So Cass, I hear you've been spending a lot of time with the locals?"

  "Yeah, I've made some friends," Cass replied, trying not to sound defensive at the prying question.

  "How are they feeling, you know about the resort and things in general? I've heard there's been trouble?"

  "Nothing I've noticed, but I'm too busy with my boyfriend to listen to the gossip."

  "So there is talk then?"

  Cass put down the glass she was washing, "Why is a travel writer so interested in local politics? I thought you just wrote about cheap buffets and places to get Seaweed Wraps?"

  "I'm just a big picture kind of guy I guess," He replied innocently.

  "Uh huh,"

  A nasal female voice cut off their witty banter, "Hi, can I have four shots of gold please? Bill it to cabana seven." She was Fawn, a pretty young girl with long brown hair and a great pair of natural tits. Cass could tell because she'd abandoned her bikini top three tequilas ago. She turned to Jack, "Hi I'm Fawn, you're really cute."

  "Thank you Fawn, it's nice to meet you too." Jack replied politely.

  "I'm in cabana seven with Hot Stuff Productions. I'm starring in a movie tomorrow."

  "How nice for you. What's the movie?"

  "First-Time Bukkake Babes #27, but we don't have enough dudes, so if a cute guy like you wanted to drop by I can get you in."

  "Oh I don't know. I've never been in a movie before. I'd probably forget all my lines."

  "Oh you don't have to remember anything, you just, well, you know… like the other guys… it'll be fun."

  Cass couldn't help eavesdropping. She could hear the uncertainty in Fawn's voice, like she was really trying to convince herself it would be fun.

  "Okay, I'll try to swing by, but no promises."

  "That's so cool, I
'm really excited," Fawn replied grinning. She grabbed her tray of tequilas and bounced off towards the Jacuzzi.

  Jack gave her a little wave, "Good luck with that." He turned back to Cass, "Guess I'll see if I can find some great story for my blog."

  "That's so cool, I'm so excited!" Cass replied, mimicking Fawn.

  Jack Laughed, "Careful Cass, don't mock the afflicted." With that he slipped back into the crowd.

  "Travel writer my ass," Cass mumbled to herself. She glanced at the clock, smiled and immediately started cashing out. Her twelve-hour shift was over, and she had someplace to be.

  Another bartender took her post and Cass made a beeline for the staff exit. She knew escaping from Stalag-Sinz wasn't easy, with management always on the prowl, trying to shanghai staff into extra shifts. Cass took a practiced detour behind the VIP Cabanas. She'd almost made it when Eric, the resort manager, appeared, blocking her path.

  "Cass, where are you going?"

  "Uh, out of here? It's been twelve hours Eric, I'm done."

  "But it's our big night, the president of the island is making his speech in a few hours. I need everybody… including my best bartender." Eric was half pleading and half demanding.

  "Well, first of all, I told you three times, grand opening or not, I had plans later tonight, and second of all, he's a Prime Minister… not a President."

  "Oh it's the same thing."

  "No, the PM is appointed by the standing legislature whereas the president is elected by popular vote… and I'm still leaving, good night." She slipped past him before he got any more whining in. With Eric shaken off Cass continued towards the staff exit.

  She rounded the corner near cabana seven and paused. Fawn was in the Jacuzzi making out with some lucky college boy while a few other guests lounged on the nearby deck chairs. They seemed to be ignoring Fawn's little play-date. They were probably too jaded by wild group action and other kinky stuff to care about a college boy and a hick town girl. But Cass found it intriguing. She was a voyeur at heart. If she'd continued on her initial post military drinking and partying trajectory she might have actually have graduated to become a full blown sex and drug addled degenerate.