by Ruby Raine
Mack’s gaze apologized, but her usual haphazard humor was missing. “I caught ya pullin’ into the parking lot, and didn’t mean to interrupt ya. It’s just,” she shrugged with a disillusioned head shake.
“Another body?” he guessed.
“Fresh kill. No way it coulda been the reporter locked up in your basement. Time of death would’ve been right before sunup, opposite side of the Isle from the mansion.”
Charlie’s jaw ground together.
A jolt crept up his arm, his head dropped to see Lizzy’s fingers entwined in his own. He hooked on, unwilling to let go.
“You know it’s the last thing I want to do, Charlie, but we need to sit down and talk about things. Bodies are piling up. I’m not going to be able to keep the public from finding out. Panic will set it. And the evidence is all pointing toward William, and if it...”
He raised his hand. “I got it, Mack. And I already know what has to happen. But we should get it out in the open and lay it all on the table, just the same. We’ll meet you back at the house.”
Lizzy’s heart warmed over his use of the word, we, automatically including her, assuming it was a given. But she wondered if this needed to be a private Howard conversation.
Mack left them with a terse nod.
For a brief few minutes, Charlie had let himself forget about it all, his thoughts entirely wound around the woman he was attempting to romance. Forgetting and letting his brain unwind was the reason to be on his boat. To forget. To pretend for a short time he was a normal guy without these responsibilities and pressures twisting his heart tighter every moment of every day.
Charlie lost the will to remain standing, sinking into a seat on the boat, needing a few minutes to gather himself. Lizzy kneeled down in front of him.
“If you want to do this conversation with just you, and your siblings, I would understand.”
“It’s not going to make it any easier. And the truth is, I’d rather always have you there,” he professed. His hand traced the curve of her jaw. “You have this way of calming me. Making me see straight. Making me so tongue tied I can’t even complete a sentence... when I’m not so pissed I want to throw you over my knee and spank you.”
There was far too much delight gleaming in her eye at that statement, her entire body fidgeting with an itch she told herself to ignore. Charlie’s body hardened, the very idea of the act leaving a sting burning on his palm. His voice deepened.
“Lizzy, if you want a spanking you only have to ask.”
“But it’s so much more fun to push. And make you really mean it.”
Oh how the woman was asking for trouble. Her tone reminded him of velvet, soft against the skin, something to sink into and get lost in. She licked her lips in that manner that drove him mad to kiss her.
He had half a mind to throw her over his shoulder, lock her in the cabin and get her over his knee. It would only lead to things he was not ready to do yet. He swallowed the growl flitting around his throat. Lizzy was teasing, needling him. And one of these days he was going to find five spare uninterrupted minutes to kiss her, properly. That or just throw her over his knee. Or both.
“C’mon wolf. We’d better get going.” Lizzy made to stand. Duty would not wait long.
“Yeah, um, I’m gonna need a minute.” His body had completely betrayed him. All the thinking about kissing and spanking...
She peeked downward. “Damn,” she breathed out, refusing to look away.
“You keep looking at me like that and we’re never going to make it off this boat.”
“That’s not incentive to look away.” It was all she could do to keep her hands to herself. Her eyes flashed upward, a sly grin on her face. “Guess I’m not too skinny for you after all.”
His breath frayed. He deserved that.
Lizzy got to her feet. She’d pushed enough. Possibly too far to keep her own self-control in check. “I’ll just go wait in the jeep, give you a minute to, you know.” She fisted her hands, moving to the edge of the boat to climb onto the dock. If she didn’t leave now, she might be the one to lock them inside that cabin. She was far too worked up and beyond undersexed, that dull ache in her veins burning hotter. That one night with William did not count... damn it, let’s not think about him. Wrong on so many levels right now.
She balanced on the edge of the boat, the world coming to a spin as commanding arms brought her face to face with ravenous silver. Charlie wanted to be gentle. Savor each caress the first time he kissed her, but instead crushed her against him, possessing her.
No more interruptions.
No more stalling.
Or trying to figure out romance.
Kissing Lizzy was akin to drinking bourbon and honey. Sweet at the onset, succulent across the tongue, a sting down his throat. Instantly drunk for more. Her soft hands slid around his neck fisting in his hair. She matched every thrust of his tongue, feeding herself to him. His hands squeezed around her hips, the Guardian ring taming the wolf’s more dangerous desires.
She tempted him to the limit, but the ring kept Charlie from acting on it. Granted, holding back left an unsatisfied need building inside him. And his teeth had a mind of their own, entirely focused on her neck and sinking into the tender flesh there. To leave his mark. Claim her, forever, as his. Something he was not willing to do because it meant Lizzy spending the rest of her life as a werewolf. And therein lied so many of his overthinking problems.
Charlie’s muscles tensed underneath Lizzy’s arms. Damn that brain of his. He needed to pull away and stop before he got carried away. He slowed. Gentled his attack, dragging his lips away, enticed at the sight of her tongue sweeping across lips he’d made swollen. He kissed her again softly, unable to stop completely.
He had never kissed a woman he loved before. Never imagined it any different than kissing any woman he was attracted to, but it was entirely different. It was not about seeking release like his past relationships. Or feeding the wolf’s primal urges. It was branding himself into her soul, tasting it, bathing in it, melding his own being into every soft inch of her.
It left him hungry. Starving for more. There was no way to get enough.
Pull away. Let go of her, he ordered himself.
This request was not obeyed.
Instead of his hands releasing her, they gripped tighter. Instead of freeing her lips, he drove in deeper. Lizzy matched every thrust of his tongue, attacking with her own ferocity that pushed out a guttural growl through Charlie’s teeth. She returned with an urgent whimper he needed to turn into a scream.
The wolf was fighting hard to overpower the ring. Or was it Charlie, giving permission for the wolf take over, just a little more. His mind wove around many thoughts and arguments; he needed some Lizzy free air to think straight for a minute.
Instead, he wrapped his arms around that tiny waist and secured her to his body, lifted her like she weighed nothing and stormed down the stairs into the cabin. With a thrust of his arm the door slammed shut and their bodies crushed against it. Lizzy gasped, the wind knocked out of her.
Eyes met and linked on each other.
Hers on fire, the flames licking out at him, boiling his blood. Waking up every hungry nerve. His burnished in silver, intent heavy on his lids.
“I’m feeling selfish.” His voice was gravel, an effort to talk. It was supposed to be a kiss. Nothing more. Not today at least. Just a kiss. Nothing to tempt the wolf into uncharted waters, which was too late as it scratched at his skin making it too tight for his body. It was testing his willpower to the maximum. He wanted the woman pinned between him and the door like nothing else he’d ever craved... but the teeth aching and pushing against his mouth warned him he was precariously close to a dangerous ledge.
“I’m okay with selfish,” Lizzy breathed out heavily. “I really like selfish.” Her legs wrapped around him, her core pressing into him, taunting him even more. She wasn’t going to relent. She trusted him, even if he didn’t trust himself.
Or
maybe it was just the hormone craze pulling them both down under. Neither able to kick hard enough to swim back to the surface and breathe the fresh air.
Charlie slid the dress up her thighs, his hands gripping at her flesh. He controlled the urge to sink himself between her thighs though her body begged him to.
So soft. So squeezable. So, his.
He and his wolf agreed that leaving her so worked up and unsatisfied would be most ungentlemanly. Right. And you’ll get no pleasure in touching her, his Lizzy-addled brain argued haughtily.
His hand slid up the inside of her thigh, the pad of his thumb tracing over the outside of the damp thin layer of cotton keeping him from sinking into the heated flesh throbbing for release underneath. But to pull that cloth aside and lose himself inside that hot mess would be his doom.
Lizzy refused his hesitance. “Don’t make me go home and finish this myself.”
Damn the woman!
His wolf wanted him to relinquish control and claim her. Completely. His human mind fought for any measure of dominance. This was too much, too fast. It needed to slow down. He could satisfy her without taking it to a dangerous place. He hoped.
His thumb pressed into the cloth, swirling over the needy flesh underneath. He fed off every gasp, every needy buck under his touch, and would not be appeased until she was.
Curse all that’s holy... he’d give almost anything to drop to his knees and taste her. Drink that bourbon soaking her core. But such intimate contact would send him over an edge there was no coming back from. And he’d end up hurting Lizzy.
Her wishes were not of the safe kind.
Charlie growled when a soft hand snaked down between them gliding outside his jeans, feeling the thick length of him pulsing for freedom. He jerked under the friction of her movements. She tugged at the zipper.
Too much his overthinking brain shouted in warning.
“You have to stop,” he got out raggedly. “I’m losing my mind, I can’t... I can’t let that happen.” She must have heard the desperation in his voice because she gave up getting his pants off.
A kiss. Just one kiss... why hadn’t he stuck to his original plan and just kissed her. Stupid ass lack of self-control. It was going to get them into serious trouble. A thin, wet layer of cotton was all that blocked him from sweet disaster.
He kissed her furiously, thick thighs pressing her apart. The pad of his thumb working her into a frenzy of gasps. The more she squirmed, tensed, bucked, and cried out, Charlie increased his deliberate strokes. Her nails dug into his shoulders. Head knocking into the door. Then flinging forward, a resolved need in her stare.
Lizzy reached down, pulled his hand away, unzipped his jeans, and pressed his freed steel against her soaked core. “I know you won’t come inside me.” The rest of her request was silent, but screaming out of her. She outright refused to finish without him. And she wouldn’t let him go beyond the danger zone.
He panted heavily. The pressure was so much already it would hardly take any friction at all to finish. Her hand glided down him, burying the front side of him into the hot wet cotton. He lifted his head back needing his teeth away from her delicate skin. His groin thrust against her, the damp friction pulsing even more hardness into him.
Would it be so bad to let go? Completely? To give in and disappear. To keep her in this cabin until both of them were so satisfied they couldn’t move out of exhaustion.
Not yet. He fought against it.
Crazy let-it-all-go sex had to wait. Too many what ifs.
He struck against her, the heat burning so hot, flames were sure to erupt. His body tensed, muscles cording. He stroked hard, his head slamming forward, teeth pinching at Lizzy’s neck as her head flew back, opening for him.
Fuck.
Don’t bite her.
Don’t bite her.
Don’t fucking bite her.
She flew over the edge, her body melting around him. He let go of himself a few thrusts later. It wasn’t the deep satisfaction he or the wolf craved. But it was far more than he’d intended and tested his limits to the max. But her shoulder remained a perfectly smooth creamy surface. No bite mark. No blood drawn. No instant and permanent curse infecting her.
The satisfied sighs heaving out of her... good God, if they weren’t already hardening him up again.
Air. They needed air. For the moment, he’d try a few inches of space.
He gently let her body slip down until her feet hit the floor. Pulled his jeans back up over his ass. But kept the distance between them tight.
“I only meant to kiss you,” he told her breathlessly.
She didn’t say anything. He looked down to see her gaze affixed on his. A drunken haze in her eyes. No words willing to escape her lips.
“I finally rendered Lizzy Deane speechless.”
She grinned like a girl floating in the clouds.
“I came so close, too close to hurting you. We need to be careful. Although, I’m not the least bit sorry right now.”
“Shouldn’t be,” she breathed out. “We’re adults who know what we want. Why wait?”
That two-word question was overloaded.
“If I had some guarantee I wouldn’t hurt you,” his hand caressed her cheek. “The idea of hurting you kills me in a way I can’t even express. But so help me, Lizzy, I’m still feeling completely selfish.”
“I had to force you to be selfish,” she joked lightly.
“Touching you in any way feels selfish. And what I’m feeling right now, is so... wrong. I am glad some distant relative of mine hated you. And cursed you so I can have you. I can’t think of a less romantic thing to say. But it’s true. You were stolen from another life. But you belong in mine.”
“I think I do.”
Lizzy reached up and caressed his lips with hers. A soft kiss. Gentle.
For a moment, content. Peaceful. Telling.
“I have been wondering,” she whispered. “If perhaps being in this time was meant to happen. All those long years being captive outside my body... for so many years I’d given up believing I’d ever get the chance to live my life. That fate had forgotten me. Betrayed me. I was so angry. Lost. Alone.”
“Never again,” Charlie determined. He’d never let her be those things again.
“I can’t explain it well. It’s like a fire burning wild, telling me to grab hold and ride the flames, but being in this time feels right to me. Looking to this new future, it’s like the only future I was meant to live. I don’t want to push here, Charlie. That’s not what I’m trying to do, I just...”
“Don’t want to wait. Don’t want to slow down. Just let fate take the reins,” he finished.
“It can’t be like that. I know it can’t. Still, it’s a bit like fate working in very harsh and mysterious ways. But if this is the future I get to have, I’m okay with that.”
“Fate can have a sick sense of humor,” said Charlie. His thoughts on their recent weeks, and on the unsavory task ahead of them.
“She does always get what she wants in the end.”
Charlie closed his eyes, breathing raggedly. Their lips were so close he was afraid if he kissed Lizzy again, they’d never leave and get home. How did they become so all consuming, so quickly? He didn’t want to leave. Wanted to forget about anything but them.
Instead, he backed away a few more inches. The air was still far too much Lizzy. She understood what he was trying to do and grinned, letting out a shy laugh.
“How hard do you think the boat was rocking?” She wondered if anyone outside on the dock, noticed. Or heard them.
“That wasn’t even enough to get the boat swaying. When we get to do that for real, I’ll be rolling the damn boat over.”
She fired off a whiny whimper he guessed meant, why couldn’t that be now?
Okay. Opposite reaction he needed at the moment. He backed away a few more inches.
“Are you upset that I didn’t go further?” he asked her.
“No. I understand why y
ou didn’t. But you do have the ring.”
“Today. Maybe tomorrow. But next year? In ten? It worked tonight, but I wanted so much more just now. And it rips me apart thinking about what will have to happen if we are together. I don’t think there’s any way you can stay human, Lizzy.”
He watched for any hesitation, listened to her heart beating... nothing. No fear over that most likely of futures. Although he worried she didn’t comprehend what it truly meant. And honestly, neither did he at the moment. More of those unanswered questions.
She traced the ring on his finger, calmly. So many unknowns hiding inside an unassuming little black piece of jewelry.
“No one can take the ring off your finger, Charlie.”
“It doesn’t mean I’m invulnerable. There are ways to force it off my finger.” People he loved could be used against him, if someone was smart enough to try. Just remembering how close he’d come with the mermaids; they’d almost mesmerized him into removing it. That was all Eva’s doing, of course. “I refuse to let my future be determined by a single piece of jewelry.”
“Then we answer all those questions swimming around your brain. I have a few of my own too.”
Things that would have to wait as they had a heavy task ahead and had to face the rest of the day no matter how badly they didn’t want to.
Charlie was such a mix of emotions right now.
A bit high, like walking in the clouds.
Relieved, he hadn’t taken things too far.
Content, Lizzy Deane was his. A woman stolen from her time and freed into his...
Broody. Dread pooling in his gut with each step they took off the boat, to the jeep, each roll of the wheels taking them closer to home. Closer to that task none of them wanted to do. Nausea threatening to make him pull off the side of the road. His high, crashing fast, drowning in despair over William’s inevitable demise.
Mack was most likely already in the Howard’s kitchen, a dismal meeting about to begin. To officially make the decision to kill their friend. To kill William, if he was the one responsible for murdering the tourists.
Charlie wanted to crush his eyes closed and pray to any deity in existence. To whatever power in the universe that had any control over life and death, please let it not be William. By some miracle of miracles, let it be someone else. Someone nameless. Faceless. Someone completely vile and evil, and easy to take out of existence.
