by Beverly Rae
He snorted, his derision rankling her nerves. “I wish I could ask her. Unfortunately, she hasn’t come round yet, so I guess I’ll have to get the answer on my own.” His features hardened. “One way or another.”
Chapter Five
Daniel studied Lauren, trying to detect any hint of deception and finding none. Even more surprising, she appeared genuinely concerned about the injured she-wolf’s welfare. “I would’ve thought you’d be happy about Mysta’s condition.”
Lauren collapsed on the edge of the bed and a tear traced a path down her cheek. Was this a trick? His usual skepticism warned him to beware, but the way she hugged herself as though she were suddenly chilled had the ring of truth.
She took a shaky breath and exhaled, long and slow. “I am so sorry. I thought she was okay. Or at least, I’d hoped she would be. Damn it.” She wiped away another tear and lowered her head. “I thought I’d helped her.”
Was she telling the truth? Daniel moved to stand in front of the confusing hunter. “What do you mean?” She shook her head, unable or unwilling to answer. Instead of demanding a response, he sat beside her, his arm brushing hers. “How did you try to help?”
Not that he’d believe anything she said. He couldn’t believe a hunter. Could he?
“I’ve tried to tell you. I’m not a hunter anymore. I used to be, but I’m not anymore.”
“Then why are you with them? Why do you go on hunts? Why did you help kill Tyler?” She was either telling the truth or she was one helluva liar. But the problem remained. How could he know which one she was?
“I didn’t kill Tyler.”
He choked back his anger. “That still doesn’t change the fact that you’re one of them. That you cornered him just like all the others did. Maybe you didn’t pull the trigger, but you’re just as guilty.” He pulled his lips back into a snarl. “So you’re saying you didn’t shoot him?”
“No. It’s complicated. I may have fired a shot, but I didn’t hurt him.”
“Come on. What are you trying to pull?” She wasn’t making any sense which probably meant she was lying again. Probably? No, no doubt about it.
“I used blanks.”
“Blanks? But he wasn’t moving.” Could he believe this wild tale? Part of him sprang to alertness, ready to catch any sign that she was telling the truth, hoping she was telling the truth.
“John shot him first. But I convinced him to let me finish him off. Fortunately, Tyler understood and played dead when I shot him with blank bullets.” Her eyes widened into pools of concern. “But I couldn’t get back to him later to help. Didn’t he make it back to the pack?”
“No.”
If what she’d said was true, then Tyler would’ve made it to help. Some way, somehow. The fact that he hadn’t shown up made her story more difficult to believe. Daniel’s stomach churned as the knowledge of what he wanted to believe and what was true clashed.
She sighed and leaned against him. The touch of her against him sent shockwaves into his arm to streak down to his groin. Instantly, his cock awakened and grew. He gritted his teeth, telling himself to move away, but his body wouldn’t listen. Instead, he reached out and placed his palm over her hand. At first she tensed, then rested more of her weight against him and laid her head on his shoulder.
“I need to make amends.” She sniffed and wiped her nose with the back of her hand. “I need to help. To make up for the time when I did hunt.”
“I don’t understand.” Her warmth seeped into him, lessening the anger he held for her. He drew in her heady scent, a scent filled with lavender. “Talk to me.”
He wanted her to do more than talk. He wanted her to kiss him. He wanted to see her rock underneath him. To hear her cry out his name in the heat of passion.
The ache in his stomach churned, taking his lust to a higher level. Unsettled, yet not surprised at the idea, he wrapped his arm around her, enveloping her, giving her his strength. Screw talking. I have to have her. The force of his desire struck him hard, making him thankful he was sitting down.
“I’m a traitor.” She laughed, a bitter, sad sound. “At least that’s what John and the other hunters would call me.” At last she lifted her head.
His heart beat faster, louder. He could live a lifetime looking into those eyes. But could he ever trust her? Could he believe the story she was telling him? If it were only his life that he risked, he’d gladly take the chance. But he had the pack to consider. “Go on.” She placed her hand on his leg, making him wish she’d move it a few inches closer to his crotch.
“I sabotage the hunts. Whenever we corner a shifter, I cause a diversion and give the shifter a chance to escape. Or at least, I try to.”
If only he could read her mind. Then he’d know the truth. Yet, he couldn’t help but think that a small part of him had already made the decision to trust her. “So that’s what you did that first night I saw you? The night you were with Mysta?”
“Yes. I faked an injury during the hunt, distracting the men. She got away, but I knew she was hurt so I came back later, hoping I’d find her.”
A curl had fallen over one eye and he couldn’t resist brushing it back, enjoying the slide of the silky strand over his finger. “And when I found you and Mysta?”
“I was getting her to trust me. Or at least I was trying to. If I’d succeeded, I could’ve found one of her kind—your kind—to get her to safety.”
Maybe he could believe her. After all, he did remember her gun lying on the ground. If she’d wanted to kill the she-shifter, she could have done so easily enough. Damn, how he wanted to believe her. He wanted to think she was just another human and not a hunter. A very sexy, desirable human female he could take to his bed. His gaze swept over her form, lingering on the rounded curves of her breasts, then her hips. But he had to keep his wits. “And that’s what happened in the alley with the homeless man?”
She shook her head, perhaps denying his accusation. “I swear I did help Tyler. But I don’t know what happened after we left him there. I’m sorry you don’t believe me, but I understand why.”
“So you’re sticking to your story?” He had to hear her answer. Had to hear her say it again. Maybe, if she did, he could believe her. He prayed to hear the answer he wanted.
“Yes, I pulled the trigger and shot blanks that I’d substituted for the real bullets. If I really killed Tyler, then why did I shoot over your head? I had a clear shot at you.”
“Over my head, huh? It sure felt close enough to me.” But then her shot hadn’t hit him, had it? She could’ve shot wide.
“I have to make it look good or I’d get in trouble.”
She ran her tongue over her lips. The action, so simple yet so sensual tore apart the last shred of his resolve. Groaning, he crushed his mouth to hers and pushed her back against the bed. She moaned, enveloping him in her arms. He kept her mouth on his and pushed his tongue inside. Her juices, so sweet, so different than any he’d ever tasted, tantalized his tongue, filled his mouth. This was more than a mere kiss. This was a promise of more to come.
Daniel groaned and laid his full length on top of her, loving how she felt underneath him. How long had it been since he’d had a woman in this position, her face so close to his? He knew the answer and shoved the thought away.
He wanted to kiss her lips, see her eyes when she came. She whimpered, driving his need higher. He pushed her arms above her head and held her two wrists with one hand. She struggled, enough to drive him crazy with hunger but not enough to get free. She didn’t want freedom. He knew that as well as he knew how much he wanted her.
Daniel slid his tongue along her neck, traveling up the soft, scented skin until he reached her ear. Nibbling at her flesh, he slipped his fingers under the neckline of her shirt and tore it away. She gasped, bringing his gaze to her face. No fear lingered there. Instead, lust, pure and beautiful, raged in her eyes. He unbuckled her jeans, thrilling when she lifted her hips to give him room to push them down her sleek legs. Her tho
ng followed to puddle with her jeans around her ankles. She toed off her shoes, then stepped out of her clothes as she tugged at his shirt to bring it over his head. His jeans were on the floor in seconds.
Her smile was full of knowing and power.
Daniel paused for a moment and wondered if she was actually the one in control. But his inner animal, rearing to the surface, didn’t care. Not as long as he could take her. And he could. She waited, arms pinned above her head, for him to do what he wished with her.
He placed his hand on her shoulder, then let it glide along her arm, over the curve of the side of her breast, then back to cup her breast. Her tongue peeked between her lips and he flicked his tongue after hers, trying to catch it. He missed, then kept going, taking a long, torturous route to her nipple. Tugging the taut bud into his mouth, he sucked, tasting the sweetness of her against his tongue.
One wetness drove him to seek the other wetness between her legs. He palmed her mons, using his fingertips to coax the outer lips of her pussy. She opened for him, willingly, ready for his growing shaft, making yet another promise.
A shudder rippled through him, unnerving him in its intensity. No woman had made him feel this wild in human form. The truth froze him, taking his mouth away from his prize. But the woman beneath him wasn’t ready to let him go. Grabbing him by the hair, she yanked him back to her, pressing her breasts and her lips against him. He moaned and gave in to her demands.
Their bodies melted together, leaving no room. He lay between her legs, opening her wider to rub against her pussy. Taking her bottom, he spread her cheeks, running his fingers in the warm cleft.
Daniel traced a trail with his tongue down her neck, nipping as he went along, each nip harder than the last. Lauren tilted her head, showing him her throat. He answered with a low rumble that said nothing but meant everything. The sound, so primal, drew his emotions out of hiding, opening the way to the wolf within him. She clutched him, her urgency building his.
Arching her back, she gave his mouth her breast again. Soft murmurs drifted to his ears, sweet words urging him to go farther, take more. He rolled his tongue over her nipple and rubbed her pussy, sinking his finger into her cave. Daniel suckled her nipple harder, driving his finger deeper until she gasped and squirmed.
He entered her, adding another finger to shove into her, out of her, covered with her sticky moistness. Continuing the delicious torment, he bore down on her nipple and tugged it into his mouth. She cried out, struggled to break free of his hold, but he held on. He wouldn’t take her by force, but he sensed her struggles were not in earnest. Raking his tongue over her peaked bud, around the sides and back to nibble at its tip, he continued to plunge his fingers into her time and again, massaging the sensitive skin within.
“Please.”
Whether her plea was to let her go or to continue making love to her, he didn’t know. Determined to find out, he released her wrists and lifted off her. Her eyes, sparkling with desire, met his and he had his answer.
Daniel licked his lips, kissed her quickly on hers and feathered kisses along the slope of her neck. He kept going, following the swells and valleys of her body, along the soft mound of her stomach, teasing her, building his anticipation along with hers.
He was ready to experience his tongue on another part of her body. “Spread wider.”
She obeyed him. Thrilled with her easy acquiescence, he slid his tongue in the crease between her leg and her crotch. She jumped, tensing as he nibbled and sucked his way to her womanly part. He took his time, moving slowly over the sensitive skin, licking, sucking, creeping closer.
She groaned, making a sound very similar to a growl. Daniel ran his hands up the insides of her legs, then pressed his thumbs at the creases. She jerked again, pleasing him, letting him know that she wasn’t used to being touched so intimately. With a moan that started deep in his chest, he placed an arm under each leg, gripped her buttocks and brought her pussy to him.
She could never be too close. Not with the yearning he had. He ached to be inside her. To be a part of her. To have everything about her.
Daniel parted her sex lips and raked his tongue over the heightened nub. She gasped, yet instead of trying to wiggle away, she reached out for him. He devoured her, changing her sighs into soft mews of delight. He licked her harder and harder until shudders stormed through her body. She burst open again, quivering under his touch, tremors shaking her from head to toe. Her body, so slick, readied for him.
Pushing up, he placed his body over hers and sought her eyes, telling her this was her last chance to stop him. If he could stop.
What he saw made him take her legs and drape them around his waist. Guiding his shaft, he edged into her, again waiting for her to deny him. She didn’t and the last bit of restraint vanished. She moaned, spreading her legs wider. He slipped into her welcoming heat, shoving as far inside her as he could. Her resulting moan encouraged him and he moved into her body, rocked her, pumping into her again and again. Together their bodies worked as one, joined together for one primal purpose.
He gripped her ass, increased his speed to go faster, deeper, longer. Placing a hand on her fuzzy patch, he opened the folds and tortured her swollen pussy. His gaze fell to her breast, bumping back and forth, until he latched on to her nipple.
For every move he made, she matched it. For every ounce of power he used, she equaled it.
Sensation after sensation assaulted him, making him feel as he hadn’t felt since Torrie’s death. This was something more. Something wilder, hotter, stronger.
The animal inside him roared to life, howled for the renewal of his manhood. The volcano grew hotter, boiling to the top until, at last, the end was near.
Slamming into her, Daniel groaned and unleashed the power of his release. He shook, wave after heat wave blazing from his toes to his head. The climatic surge called for the inner wolf’s freedom, but he held on. To let the beast run wild, to sink his fangs into her, would mean accepting the female hunter as his mate. Instead, he held on, fighting to keep that last level of control. His release flushed outward, threatening to shatter his grip on that control and he turned his face away from her.
Needing to give his inner wolf a taste of freedom, he partially shifted, bringing out his fangs and claws. He dug his claws into the pillow next to him, tearing it to shreds.
Lauren grabbed him, held him to her so that her spasms met his. His body relaxed a little more with each subsequent wave. At last, he fell to the side, panting as his claws and teeth retracted, unthinking, uncaring what happened next.
Unlike previous sexual encounters, he’d had no thought of Torrie to distance him from the woman beside him. Instead, he rolled onto his side to place a kiss of thanks on her collarbone.
“I can’t believe this. That was…” Daniel played with one of those wild curls, a soft smile lifting the corners of his mouth.
“What you had planned all along?”
Is that what she thought of him? Her slight smile, however, told him the truth. “I’m assuming you’re kidding, right?”
She snuggled against him and skimmed a finger down the valley between his pecs. “I am. Still, I’m thinking that taking a hunter―a former hunter―to bed wasn’t an easy thing for you to do.”
She had a point. “Well, since someone in the pack probably heard us, I’m going to have some explaining to do. But, if you’re telling the truth, it’s not like you’ve actually killed one of us. Right?”
His good mood faded quickly with each second it took her to respond. He’d tried to accept her story but now, with her silence, the doubts crept back in. Moving to lie on his side, he squinted at her, and struggled to keep the hole in his gut from growing. “That’s right, isn’t it? Since you say you didn’t kill Tyler, then you’ve never actually killed a shifter?”
Why wouldn’t she look at him? Taking her chin, he forced her to face him. “You’ve never killed. Tell me I’m right.”
Moisture filled her eyes along with
the truth. Stunned, he pushed away from her, and flung his body out of the bed, needing time to gather his wits. He dressed with his back to her, then slowly faced her and found her, her knees snug to her chest, her head down. “You’ve killed.”
“No.”
The one word he desperately needed to hear was barely more than a whisper. “No?” Until then, he hadn’t realized that his breathing had gone shallow. “Then you haven’t?” He needed her to say it again, ached to hear her say the words.
“I meant I couldn’t tell you that. But I’ve only shot one.”
Only one? She said that as though killing one was better than killing several. That only one didn’t count. Daniel snarled, the growl in his throat sifting through clenched fangs. “When? Tell me when and where you killed.”
Why it mattered, he didn’t know. But it did matter. An inner warning signal said it mattered a lot.
“It was a year ago. On one of my first hunts. I shot at the werewolf along with everyone else.” She looked at him, torture dulling her eyes, slumping her body. “I didn’t know any better then. I believed what my boyfriend had told me. That shifters are animals, evil creatures that we have to eradicate.”
She’d killed a shifter a year ago? Torrie’s murder happened a year ago. “When? What month did this happen? Where did this happen?”
His jaw hurt from grinding his teeth. He could barely move his neck from the tension taking up residence there, but he had to know.
“What does it matter when or where?” She reached out to him. “I’m not the same person I was back then, Daniel. I know better now. I understand―”
“Tell me when and where!” His shout startled her, frightened her, but he didn’t care. He cared about nothing except her answers. “Was the shifter male or female?”
Hurt and scared, she nonetheless defiantly stuck out her chin. “The hunt was last fall. Here in the city. It was a female.”
He gripped the back of a nearby wingback chair. “What happened to the body? Did one of your friends get rid of her?” He couldn’t bring himself to ask if the body had been dumped in the woods. Especially if her answer confirmed his worst fear.
