by Meg Ripley
“I hope it was a one-time thing,” I said.
“Me, too.”
I looked at the clock on the wall in his office. “I’m done for the day. Think I will go for that run.”
“Let me know what you find, bud.”
“No doubt, man.”
I went out to my car and drove to a more secluded spot. Once there, I stripped down and hid my car key, then shifted. I stood on my hind legs and gave a good stretch, then took off running.
Without really thinking about where I was going, I ran back to the last place I’d had her scent. When I reached it and smelled it, the familiarity of it was comforting. I breathed her in, and it warmed my chest. And that made me pause. If I really didn’t want to date her, or even get to know her, why did her scent affect me like this?
The whole fated thing that Owen kept bringing up seemed like a bunch of bullshit. Her pheromones made my body want her and go crazy with the wanting—that must have been it; it was purely chemical. If we ended up sleeping together ever, it would probably end this. And actually, that wasn’t a bad idea. It might be the best means to the end of this obsession.
I shook the thought from my head and refocused. I didn’t have time to get all riled up, and I sure as hell didn’t have time to stop and take a cold shower. A cool dip might not be bad, though, I thought, so I dashed to the closest pond and jumped in, letting the water run through my fur and cool my body. I got out and shook off, then returned to following the scent.
As I went on, weaving through the mangroves and tall grasses, I got some insight on her hunting patterns; how she circled around nests of birds and slunk along the water’s edge in places. She must have been very good at what she did.
I came to a cabin tucked deep in the woods, but off the park land, technically. It reminded me very much of Owen’s cabin, but then again, there were many of those little cabins out there. They were the properties that had been outside the government takeover back when the Everglades National Park was established in the first place. I didn’t know much about that time, but people still talked about how much land and property they lost. It seemed like a bunch of whining to me; the land in the area needed to be protected, after all. I’d hate to think about the ramifications all that development would have had on our natural resources if the government hadn’t stepped in. But then again, I wasn’t a Gladesman.
It was her property, though, and I wasn’t about to trespass, so I didn’t go any further. But I did pick up a very fresh trail leading away from the cabin. She must be out hunting right now, I thought. I could make sure she’s okay and see if she found anything.
With that, I followed the trail and the scent grew stronger as I went.
Just then, Mason reached out. Hey all.
Just me here, I answered. How goes it?
Wish we were making more progress, but there’s not much to go on.
For the panther killer?
Yeah. We haven’t been able to pull evidence off the body. We’ve pretty much got nothing.
I’m running right now, I said. Trying to follow a trail I picked up on to see if Britt knows something. Right after I had the thought, I regretted it and mentally braced for the backlash.
She was helpful the other day, was all he said. I bet she’ll be a valuable resource in finding him. She has the motivation and the skills. As it turned out, he wasn’t going to rip on me after all. He must’ve picked up on my not-so-fully formed thoughts because he added, She’s cool, man. You could do worse.
I’m not trying to do anything with her at all.
Okay, then. I’ve gotta shift and get back to work. Just wanted to check in and stretch my legs.
Catch ya later, bro.
Later.
When Mason shifted back and I was alone again, I considered what he’d said. Were they all just going to accept it going forward? Would they assume I was going to be with her and that was it? Well, that wasn’t going to happen. They’d see it. I’d work with her the best I could to find the killer. Sure, we all would. But it didn’t have to go any further than that.
I’d barely finished that thought when I heard a rustling and paused to listen and sniff. It was her. She had to be just over the hill from where I stood.
I didn’t want to startle her, and I sure as hell didn’t want to anger her. I walked slowly and loudly in her direction, and when she came into view, I saw her pounce on a raccoon, sinking her teeth in deep. She turned to look at me, holding my gaze for a long moment.
I stayed back, not wanting her to think this was going to be a of repeat of the deer incident. I wasn’t interested in the raccoon, anyway. So, I sat down to watch her and waited until she was through.
She tore into the raccoon, eating a large chunk of its flesh, and I was content to watch. When she was finished, I’d shift to talk to her. But as I waited, she sat up sharply, then took off running at full speed.
9
Britt
The timing couldn’t have been worse. I’d just killed my coon and was having a nice snack, then he showed up. At that point, I wasn’t even surprised. I’d heard him coming a long way off and then he just sat there. He was being respectful, for once. Just watching. Waiting, I guessed. Why would he have stuck around?
I had planned to talk to him; to show him the trail of the killer I’d found and see if the vehicle’s scent was familiar to him at all. If it wasn’t, I’d make him familiar with it. But then, I’d heard footfalls in the distance. I knew it was a human, from the sound of its steps. Most critters had distinct patterns as they moved, and it wasn’t uncommon for me to recognize what something was before I even smelled it or saw it. This was no different.
I kept an ear out. If the person came closer, I’d make sure I wasn’t seen. When people saw a panther, it tended to freak them out a bit, and I wasn’t there to scare people. But then the wind brought me a little gift: a hint of the scent of the person—the one who’d killed the panther.
Well, nothing was going to stop me from chasing him down. Not some little raccoon snack, and not Ezra showing up. I would do whatever it took to get him. And I surely wasn’t going to waste one damn second to shift back and tell that bear about my game plan.
So, I dropped the coon and took off. I was nearing the killer; nothing would stop me from tearing him to shreds. I ran hard as I could, but when I got to the place where I thought the sound had come from, he was gone.
I sniffed around and found a new trail—the vehicle—and picked up my pace. Running after a human was easy; I could outrun even the best sprinters without breaking a sweat. But a vehicle was different; much faster. And the smell was different, too; not like tracking a person or animal. Mammals had a warmer, stronger smell that my nose was built for. This task took a lot more concentration.
I was so focused, in fact, that I hadn’t paid attention to Ezra. I didn’t think he’d come after me—or be able to keep up, for that matter. And so, when I heard someone running just behind me, it threw me off.
The sound of paws pounding on the dirt made me whirl and pause until I realized it was him. I ran again, but now his scent overwhelmed my senses. I shook it off and picked out the vehicle scent again and ran to a crossroads.
When I got there, I found a slightly busier dirt road. This was one more heavily-traveled by visitors to the park, so there was an onslaught of odors to sort through; I couldn’t tell which way the killer had gone. I sniffed and sniffed, running in circles, going down one direction, then another. Fuck.
I had to face the truth after several minutes of trying. I’d lost him. My gut sank and the anger ripped through my chest. It was all Ezra’s fault.
I ran back a little ways until we were well out of human earshot or sight. I waited, and sure enough, moments later, he came bounding toward me. As soon as he caught up to me and stopped, I shifted back. And then I let him have it.
“Why do you always show up at the worst possible times? I had him, you asshole! Why won’t you stay away from me?”
&
nbsp; He blinked at me with his big bear eyes before he stood up and shifted back.
“How can you blame this on me?” he demanded. “I was following you to help you catch him!”
“But you didn’t. You distracted me and I lost the scent.”
“So, you got distracted and that’s my fault?”
“If you would have stayed out of my way, I would have him right now.” My rage boiled at the thought of it. “I could have put an end to all of this.”
“Oh right, because you’re going to chase a car now? You really think you’re that fast?” he challenged.
I gritted my teeth together. “I would have followed the scent until I came to the vehicle, idiot.”
“Then go ahead. I’m not stopping you.”
“I can’t because I lost the trail when you distracted me.”
“So, you lost the trail and that’s my fault, too?”
“Yes!” My hands balled into fists. “What is your problem? Why do you keep showing up and following me around?”
“I’m not. You keep showing up! I was out hunting and there you were, then—”
“Oh, when you took my kill? That time? When I was out hunting and you just showed up?”
“Then, you came into Shady’s—”
“I was there first,” I said.
“Whatever. But you were the one who took it on yourself to come over to me and start something. I was just sitting there minding my own business. Then you were the one who came to us when you found the dead panther, or did you forget that?”
“Hello? You’re the Ranger, not me. It’s your job to find the killer.”
“Exactly.” His expression fell into cockiness, and I wanted to slap it off him. “And that’s what I’m doing. So, actually, you’re in my way. You got in the way of the official investigation.”
“Oh, what are you going to do, arrest me? You don’t have the authority to do that.”
“Of course not.” He shook his head. “You’re an asset to the investigation—when you’re not getting in the way. I came out here to make sure you were okay and see if you found anything.”
“I don’t need you to check up on me. Stay away and maybe I could find something to tell you about. Or, more likely, I’ll just kill him myself and not bother you all with it.”
“Right, because you’re better at everything? You’re better than everyone? Why would Rangers have any idea how to do their jobs, is that it?”
I growled low in my chest before I jumped on him, sending him crashing to the ground. I pinned him down, my hands on his shoulders.
“Who’s winning now, asshole?” I spit the words at him.
“Neither of us.” He held my gaze for a long moment, then did something I couldn’t forgive him for. He leaned up a few inches and smashed his mouth to mine.
I pulled back and narrowed my eyes. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Let’s just get it over with. We keep running into each other. It’s obvious there’s some stupid attraction between us.”
The fact that I was lying naked on top of him suddenly registered in my body, and warmth rushed over me. He grew hard beneath my hips and that same feeling took over. That animalistic desire.
Maybe he was right. “So, we fuck and that’s it? Then we’ll be able to stay away from each other?”
“I sure hope so,” he said. “Because I can’t stand it anymore. Your scent drives me wild, but your attitude drives me crazy. I don’t know if I should kiss you or smack you.”
Just for fun, I slapped him—not too hard, but to make a point. Then, I pressed my lips against his in a hungry kiss, like I wanted to devour him. Because in that moment, I did.
He dug his fingers into my hair and pulled me closer. We kissed so hard, it hurt my mouth. My body tingled all over with wanton desire, and when I finally gave into it the feeling was so strong, it made my head spin.
He pushed up and flipped us so he was on top. His hands were on either side of my body and he lowered himself down to press against me. His skin was as hot as mine; we were fire together, stoking each other to raging. Pressing his hips into mine, his hard-on slid up and down against me; I was so wet already.
But I didn’t like him being on top. I was going to show him that I was in control. I pushed up and tackled him again, reaching down to grab his cock. I had to make sure he was nice and ready, and I wanted this over fast.
He was hard as a rock, so I positioned myself over him and slid down his length, but as he entered me, the feeling overwhelmed me and shook me to the core. Before he was even fully inside me, I came with a loud moan. Any other time I had sex, it took much longer than that, and once I hit my peak, that was it. I came and moved on. Not this time. This was just the beginning; my body was still hot and wanting him.
I sat up, pushing him fully inside me before I bounced on him, sending him deep and shallow as I rocked. I tugged on his chest hair and he growled in response, pinching my nipples so hard it should have hurt, but instead, it sent a wave of pleasure through me.
He grabbed my hips and slammed me down, thrusting harder into me than before, and his eyes stared at me intently as he pounded me faster. This was not lovemaking. Not even close. This was fucking.
“Faster!” I demanded.
He sat up and embraced me, but it was only to move me. He put himself on top of me again and slid one arm under my leg to pin it up high. From that position, he was able to go deep, but also harder. His ass muscles worked as he thrusted into me again and again. It still wasn’t hard enough. Nothing could be hard enough.
“Harder!” I insisted.
He sped up, his face red with the exertion. As he pounded, I came again, feeling like a wave had rushed over me, then out of me and all over him.
He yanked back, pulling out of me so fast it took my breath before he flipped me over on my stomach. Pulling my hips up to meet his, he entered me from behind. His fist wound into my hair and he tugged as he slammed into me.
Finally, from this position, he could do it hard enough. My ass slapped against his thighs and my wetness drenched him. That was the problem, I realized. I was actually too wet. Not enough friction.
As he sped up, putting his other hand on my shoulder to steady me as he pounded me, the friction increased a little. Before it had been just playing. Now we were getting serious.
“Fuck yes,” he groaned.
I pushed back, forcing my ass into him with each thrust. His cock stroked my insides and when he cried out, I came for the third time.
“I’m coming,” he announced and let go of my hair to grab my hips. He pounded me as hard as he could and cried out again. I could feel his dick throbbing inside me.
He collapsed to the forest floor, spent. I was still on all fours and dropped my forehead down to the soft ground, tingling all over. Even the soreness felt good, which seemed twisted to me, but then again, so did this whole thing. Did we really just have sex?
I faced him as he laid in the grass, breathing hard, glistening in a sheen of sweat.
“You think that did it?” I asked.
“That did something, that’s for sure.”
“Yeah.” I got to my feet. “Now please, please, stay the fuck out of my way.”
I shifted back to my panther and heard him calling out to me, begging me not to run off yet, but my paws sank into the soft ground as I ran.
10
Ezra
When I could finally move again, I pushed myself up. She’d ditched me, just like that? Get off, then take off? Weren’t women always accusing men of doing that, calling it insensitive? She had just screwed my brains out and left.
I shook my head. How had we gone from screaming at each other to having sex? It didn’t make much sense to me. But it had made perfect sense to my body. She felt so good. Even the thought made me hard again. No, I reminded myself. That was it. We had sex so that we could stay away from each other.
I shifted and took off, running back to my car and clothes.
I went straight home and showered, but at least this time, I didn’t have to shower in frigid water to calm my body down. I was worn out. I grabbed a beer from the fridge and fell onto the couch, but I didn’t even get the can opened before I fell asleep. I knew this because when I woke in the morning, the sealed can was on the floor where I’d apparently dropped it in my sleep. At least it hadn’t spilled all over the carpet.
I stretched and caught a faint whiff of her on my shirt. How that had even happened, I didn’t know. I guess her scent was on me when I dressed and it had lingered. One little sniff and my cock stood at attention. Great, I sighed inwardly. So much for the whole ‘let’s-have-sex-to-get-this-out-of-our-systems’ theory. I already craved her. I wanted more. I wanted her.
I doubted there was any way she’d want to see my face again. This had been a one-time thing and probably a huge mistake. My mind was already foggy with desire and want; full of nothing but her. I scrubbed my face with my hands and hopped in the shower for yet another cold shower.
When I got to work, I went straight to Owen’s office, where I found him working at his computer. I sat in the chair across from him and banged my forehead onto the desk.
“Bad night?” he asked.
“Depends on how you look at it,” I mumbled, my face pressed into the cool wood. “I found her.”
“Yeah? Anything come up?”
I sat up to look at him. “You could say that. We… had sex.”
“What!” He coughed and spit out his coffee. “How the…?”
“I found her and pissed her off like I always seem to do. She was on the trail of the killer and said I distracted her and made her lose it. So, we got into this huge screaming match and the next thing I knew, she tackled me. What was I supposed to do? She was naked on top of me. My body went crazy. So, I kissed her. Then we…”
“Of all the things I thought you might say to me this morning, this would have been last on the list, right after you telling me you were abducted by aliens last night.”
