by Golden Angel
“Brock!” She arched beneath him in abject ecstasy as his thick shaft sank into her, rubbing all her most sensitive areas exquisitely.
Then his mouth was on hers again, keeping her quiet as she knew he would.
******
The way Doc was writhing underneath him, her body urging him onward, was shredding all of his careful control.
Normally he didn’t have a problem with his own desires. Yes, he liked women; yes, he liked sex, but he’d never felt so out-of-control with one before. Like his need to be inside of her, to make her scream his name, to fill her and mark her... He’d definitely never had the urge to mark a woman before and he was purposefully not thinking about what that probably meant considering the only time he’d ever seen one of his brothers’ mark a woman.
Hopefully Doc wouldn’t be too mad about all the hickeys he’d left all over her breasts. Even though he’d tried to make himself focus his attention on her nipples, the satisfaction he got out of covering her pale skin in little red marks of his presence was too tempting, too gratifying.
Plus it kept his bugaboo from pushing for even more obvious markings.
Or doing something completely crazy like biting her and leaving a mate mark.
Her nails dug into his back as she dragged them across his skin and the bite was delicious. Brock’s bugaboo was thrilled she was marking him up, leaving her own badges of possession across his flesh.
Grunting he picked up his pace.
If she wanted it hard and fast—fine, he’d give it to her hard and fast.
He could take his time next time.
And he didn’t even question that there would be a next time. Already he knew he definitely wanted a next time with Doc… and a time after that, and a time after that.
Kissing her fiercely, he pounded between her thighs, feeling the slick heat of her body squeezing his cock as her nails raked down his chest. Her heels dug into the backs of his thighs, giving her the leverage to pull herself up to meet his thrusts. The urgency of their movements had his pants down around his knees, and her shirt nearly up to her neck as they moved together in rhythm.
Since he could no longer mark her up with his mouth, he found himself kissing her deeper, harder, taking her with long, hard strokes that had her crying out against his lips.
He swallowed every cry of ecstasy as she writhed for him, her pussy clenching down around his cock, squeezing and pulsing as he ground his body against hers, extending her climax. It felt like her body was trying to actually suck his cum out of him—and it worked.
As she came, his good intentions were shot to hell under the tight pressure of her pussy milking his cock and he could feel his balls tightening. He couldn’t hold back any longer, and he moved almost desperately, clinging to her as he slammed into her once… twice… three more times.
The hot clasp of her body left him shuddering as he came, the spasms of pure rapture wringing him out completely. Beneath him, Doc was quivering, her own muscles jerking as he filled her with his cum.
Their kiss gentled, turning more tender as their mutual sexual desperation eased, relaxing into something more intimate.
Sweeter.
Warmth surged in Brock’s chest, something which he’d never felt before with any of the other women he’d been with.
Of course, he hadn’t really gotten to know them the way he had Doc. None of them had sat with him for hours on end, talking about everything that popped into their heads. None of them had gone for a six hour car ride with him and spent time trying to draw out information about himself. Only Doc had.
So it made sense his emotions were a lot more engaged.
The problem was he didn’t know what to do now…
Well, other than keep kissing her. He didn’t want to stop doing that.
Unfortunately the sudden sound of rustling on the far side of the willow tree had both him and Doc tensing. They broke off the kiss, both of them turning their heads…
And saw a raccoon ambling along outside the line of branches.
Immediately both of them relaxed and Doc started to giggle. Hearing them, the raccoon jerked—startled—and took off away from them.
******
The tender expression on Brock’s face as he looked down at her made Doc feel oddly exposed. Not in a physical way, because she really didn’t care about him seeing her naked but… she’d never imagined him looking like that. Definitely not looking like that at her.
Her gaze flitted away from his and that was when she realized how badly she’d marked up his chest and shoulders, which probably meant his back wasn’t much better.
“Oh… crap…” Her hand hovered above the marks, not quite touching them. “I’m sorry… I… I don’t normally do that.”
The expression on his face shifted to something more smug—immediately followed by a sheepish one.
“Yeah well, ah… I kinda did a little bit of the same as well,” he admitted, nodding down at her body. Doc looked down at her breasts and started giggling again.
“I look like I’ve been attacked by Ursula!” she said. There were red sucker marks all over her breasts. It actually made her feel a little better that she wasn’t the only one who had gotten a little overenthusiastic.
Although she couldn’t help but wonder what it meant too.
As far as she knew, Brock had never marked up a woman before. There was enough gossip about the whole Bunson family she was pretty sure she would have heard. Brice had never marked a woman up either. And Bailey definitely hadn’t marked any of her boyfriends.
The only two who had ever marked up someone they had sex with were Bethany and Brady—and they’d only marked their mates.
But maybe the non-mates didn’t talk about being marked because they didn’t want anyone to think they were taken. It wasn’t like the women who had been sleeping with the Bunson brothers were the ones interested in relationships. So Doc was determined not to make more out of this than it might be.
After all, it wasn’t like he’d marked her where anyone would be able to see on a daily basis. As casual as shifters could be about nudity, they didn’t just walk around naked for no reason.
“Yeah… ah…” His voice trailed off, but unlike her he didn’t apologize for the marks. Instead, he looked up towards where the raccoon had been again and then back to her.
Dropping a quick kiss on her lips, he rolled off her to lay in the grass beside her—kicking off his pants along the way. Which made sense. If anyone came across them now, they’d want to shift. She tugged off her shirt, and when she was done Brock was lying on his side beside her, one hand resting on her stomach. Her lower body was still thrumming with satisfaction from her orgasm and she was totally sore in the best way.
Meeting his gaze, she smiled. Just because she felt happy right now.
“How do you do it?” he asked softly.
“Do what?”
“Stay so positive. After everything… why aren’t you bitter? Angry? Looking for revenge.”
Letting out a low sigh, Doc stared up at the branches above them. There were just tiny bits of sky visible and one or two stars. “The past can hurt, but the way I see it you can either run from it or learn from it.”
“Huh.” His fingers stroked her stomach. “That’s pretty deep.”
“That’s Rafiki.”
The caress stopped. “What?”
“Rafiki, from The Lion King. It’s something he says.”
Brock hauled her across the grass and nuzzled her hair with his nose. “Of course it is.”
She didn’t miss the amusement in his voice. Funny how she could read him so much better now. Was he being more expressive? Or was she just getting better at it?
As she nestled into his arms, eyes closing as sleep finally began to creep up on her, she couldn’t help but think—there might be something here that wasn’t there before.
Chapter 6
The sun was still a couple of hours from rising when Brock felt a vibration against hi
s side. When he’d taken his pants off, he’d made sure to tuck his phone right up against him.
Moving carefully so as not to wake the sleeping beauty spooned into the crook of his body, Brock reached behind himself and managed to snag the phone. A quick glance at the screen had him hitting accept call.
“Hello?” he asked in a low, rough voice. Pressed up against him, he could feel Doc start to stir at the sound.
His eyes weren’t bad in the dark, and he looked around past her, keeping one ear out for anything that wasn’t normal night time noise. Nothing had woken him since he’d fallen asleep, his bugaboo seemed relaxed, and he was a pretty light sleeper thanks to The Company, so he was pretty sure nothing was amiss. But he was also too paranoid not to make assumptions.
Especially when he was guarding Doc.
“We’re coming in hot,” Steele said, his voice tight. “I only see one jeep, so I’m assuming they haven’t sent for reinforcements. Fucking dumbasses. Did they not think you’d call someone?”
“Maybe it’s another trap,” Brock warned, his cynicism automatically rearing its head. “Be careful.”
“Well if it is, they’re still going to regret messing with us,” Steele said. “Eli’s only about half an hour behind us with more backup.”
“Who’s with you?” Brock asked, already dreading the answer he was pretty sure was coming. It was highly unlikely any of his siblings would allow Steele to come to his rescue without them. The silence on the other end of the line indicated his suspicion was right. “You are so whipped, man.”
Doc snorted, shifting her body around so she could press her nose into the hair on his chest. Feeling oddly tender, Brock stroked her hair. Thanks to her shifter hearing, she could definitely hear both sides of the conversation since she was so close to him, even though both he and Steele were doing their best to stay quiet. Just in case.
“Like you could have convinced them to sit this out,” Steele snapped back, his voice tight with both frustration and impatience. Because it’s not like he wanted his mate or her younger sister there and in danger either.
“Ha!” The dulcet tones of Brock’s older sister were clearly audible. “He wishes.”
Brock really did wish, but so much for that. Bethany had the pack leader by the balls and she pretty much did as she pleased. Every so often Steele would put his foot down and draw her back into line, but only if he thought the battle was really worth it.
Fighting her on coming to the rescue when one of her siblings was in trouble… yeah, there was no way anyone was going to win that battle.
“Great,” Brock muttered. “Just, keep them safe.”
“Keep yourself safe,” his older brother said, clearly audible over the phone before Bethany interrupted him.
“Bailey, Jesse, and I are all way safer than you,” Bethany said, sounding irritable. “Now shut up and circle back around to skunk-town so we can meet you. We’ll take care of any pesky bad guys that show up.”
Then the phone went silent, which probably meant his sister had snatched it from Steele and ended the call just so Brock couldn’t argue with her. Typical Bethy. The thought was wreathed with as much affection as it was frustration.
“They’re here?” Doc asked, rubbing her nose against his chest some more.
“Sounds like they’re getting close,” he said. Oddly he felt a little reluctant to end this little adventure. Maybe because right now he felt like they were safe and cozy, and he didn’t want this moment with her to be over. “We have to go back. Carefully. Getting back might be even more difficult than running away was.”
“Okay. Are you going to shift?” she asked, sighing and pulling away so she could sit up. He let her go reluctantly.
“No, I’m too likely to draw more attention as a bunny-bear than I am as a human,” he said. “You should shift though. If we run into any of the enemy then I’ll shift, and I want you to run.” His bugaboo whole-heartedly supported this idea.
Protect.
She scowled at him. “I’m not just going to run and leave you.”
“Of course not, that’s not what I was thinking at all,” he outright lied. Fortunately, he had a good excuse. “You’ll need to go get the back-up. I’m better protected than you in my shell, you’ll be able to lead the others to where I am.”
Pursing her lips together, she didn’t look happy about the idea, but she also didn’t look like she was able to come up with a good argument against it.
Success.
******
The trip back toward the skunk's small town was more harrowing than running had been, because this time she knew they were headed toward the enemy.
Her puma was on high alert, the predatory cat wanting to hunt the bad guys whereas Doc was still hoping they wouldn't run into any. At least, not until they were close enough to be near some back up. She was also pretty worried that Brock was right and this was another trap, just like the initial call for the vaccine had been.
Escaping yesterday had been almost too easy.
Or maybe she just didn't know enough about being pursued outside of what she'd seen in movies. Or maybe Brock's cynical paranoia had become contagious.
All she knew was that she was definitely having trouble keeping up the sunny, upbeat optimism Brock accused her of always having.
They were moving slower than they had been when they'd been running away through the woods, but still at a good pace. They were just being careful. If either of them saw any movement off in the distance, heard anything, they would both freeze and wait to see what it was. So far nothing but regular animals, getting up and starting their daily activities.
The longer she and Brock went without seeing any sign of the bad guys, the more anxious Doc became.
When movement in the distance, between the trees, actually turned out to be soldiers, it was almost a relief. Just because she'd been expecting them for so long.
The guys from yesterday had definitely brought in reinforcements. At least, the group yesterday hadn’t had a woman with them, which meant this group of four were probably new baddies.
Great.
She glanced up at Brock, who was frowning as he peered at the bad guys from behind a tree. So far they hadn't been spotted, but getting around them... well that was going to be a little more difficult. With two to one odds, and not knowing how much backup either side would have nearby, Doc didn't particularly want to fight. But even if they did manage to sneak around, then they'd have enemies at their back and very possibly at their front and sides as well...
The group hadn't seen them and there wasn't any wind so Doc wasn't worried about them scenting her and Brock either... but that also meant she couldn't tell if there were any shifters among them.
Made it kind of hard to decide what their next move should be.
Finally, the group began to move away, heading in the direction she and Brock had just come from, and Brock gave a little waving motion with his hand, indicating she should keep going.
Somewhat reluctantly, Doc started moving again. Glancing back over her shoulder, she could see Brock watching the bad guys moving away. Reassured he was only making sure they didn't turn around and see her, Doc turned back and kept moving, doing her best to slink through the woods without disturbing any of the vegetation. Knowing the bad guys weren't far away made her move even more carefully than before.
Unfortunately, it was all in vain.
There was a straggler from the main group she'd just passed, about fifty feet back, and he immediately spotted her. Letting out a shout, he raised his gun.
Doc yowled an attack cry—no point in trying to be quiet now and she needed to warn Brock—and leapt to the side.
The first tranquilizer dart missed her.
The second one hit her on her right flank. Her steps stumbled, her legs weakening as her puma's panic flared.
The last thing she heard before everything went dark was an enraged, unnatural roar of Brock's hybrid beast.
******
His bugaboo howled with rage as Brock inwardly howled with regret and recrimination. He had let Doc get too far ahead of him while he focused on making sure the enemy they'd seen didn't turn back and he'd forgotten to be wary of more enemies ahead.
The look on the human's face as Brock's massive beast sprang at him almost made him feel a little better. The man had tried to shoot tranquilizers at Brock too, but he'd only managed to hit the parts of Brock covered by his turtle shell.
Yeah, fuck you asshole. The Company made me into a well-protected killing machine and then hired you to try and take me on. Try being the operative word.
All the Bunsons were a mix of bear, bunny, and turtle. All of them except Bailey were bunnies the size of bears with a nearly impenetrable turtle shell underneath of their fluffy white fur. Bailey was actually the size of a regular bunny but, like her brothers and sister, she still had the vicious teeth and claws of a bear. Both females could actually retract their limbs and head into their shells as well, something which none of the brothers could do. Dr. Montgomery hadn’t even seemed to know why.
Shouting from behind him meant the other bad guys were hauling ass towards them. Brock to make quick work stomping the man who'd shot Doc before bounding over to hover protectively over her still form laying on the ground. The pretty kitty was down for the count, at least she’d been hit by a tranquilizer and not a silver bullet.
He'd dropped the vaccines when he'd shifted but there were more important things on his mind.
The other bad guys slowly came into view as he crouched over Doc, all of them holding up guns and looking nervous. Unfortunately, they had him at a disadvantage because he couldn't carry Doc without returning to his human form, and he couldn't return to his human form because he would no longer have any protection against their tranquilizers and there was no way he'd be able to outrun them.
He roared at them, a sound he'd been told unnerved both shifters and humans alike. It didn't bother him or the rest of his siblings. All of them paused in their advance, one of the men turning several shades paler as his hands started to shake.
