by Jade Alters
Like most prosecutors, I bought my suits off the rack. But I’d helped Melanie shop in boutiques plenty of times. Sometimes, I held the outfits up and laughed about how little fabric they’d cover on me.
Owen left, still shaking his head. At least he wasn’t petty. And he didn’t hold a grudge.
He came back with a pair of sweats, leggings and jeans for pants. For a top, he had a sweatshirt, t-shirt, and a tunic.
“Wow. Not bad. Maybe I need to check out the thrift stores more often,” I said. I let my arms fall down and eyeballed him. “Have you spent a lot of time with women whose clothes got ruined?
He blushed. I threw my head back and laughed again. “Seriously though, thank you.”
Some men I knew, human and shifter alike, wouldn’t have gone after clothes for me. Especially not after I’d yelled at them. I didn’t regret it though. Owen was pig-headed and obtuse about why I hated being an omega, but otherwise he was kind, and generous. It would never have worked between us, not if he still held the same primitive attitudes, but that didn’t mean we couldn’t get along now.
I took the softest set of clothes into the bathroom and pulled them on. When I came back out, Owen sat on one side of the bed, the one closest to the windows and door, staring straight ahead.
I couldn’t help but notice the way his shirt stretched across his biceps. I laid down on the other side of the bed.
He tinkered with the lamp, turning it on and off before lying down and facing the door. “What’s wrong?” I asked.
He didn’t reply.
“Look,” I said. I rolled onto my side and put my hand on his arm. Under my palm, his bicep was firm. I swallowed hard. It may have been the loss of the suppressants, but I wanted to run my hands up and down his arms. And then some. I wanted to press my mouth against his. I wanted to tuck my head under his, and inhale his masculine scent.
I moved my arm until I found his hand. I wrapped my hand around his and squeezed. “I may have changed, but you haven’t. I can tell you want to say something. Just spit it out.”
He squeezed my hand back. “I should have listened to you more. I wish I had.”
I tried to say something, but found that I couldn’t. It wasn’t an apology, exactly, but it was close. “Thank you. Now you know better. You can listen to others in the clan who might need their leader to stick up for them.”
He nodded, but didn’t let go of my hand. “I’m going to sleep. I suggest you do as well.”
So much for more heartfelt conversation. My mind knew him. We grew up together. We’d spent hours making out. We’d never gone all the way, because I hadn’t had my heat yet at that point, and being intimate before an omega’s heat was taboo for shifters. But we’d laid down together, night after night, bodies pressed close.
He smelled like juniper and fresh air, and male shifter. He smelled like home, and the life I thought I’d have, before I realized it was a cage.
I didn’t want that life, but in this moment, I wanted him. Today had been a real shitshow. Months of work, snatched from me during a closing argument. Years of hiding, blown apart the moment Owen saw me.
I scooted closer to him. I pressed my body against his, as I had so many times before. There was no way he could miss the swell of my breasts pushed against his back.
He went stiff. “I thought you wanted nothing to do with shifters.”
“It’s not that simple,” I said. I pressed my forehead against the back of his head. I knew Owen. My bear knew Owen. That was significant, even if I didn’t want to admit it until now.
He let go of my hand and turned over to face me. “You want simple?”
Now my breasts were against his chest. My nipples hardened. “Tonight, I would love simple,” I said.
He took my face in his hands. Heat burned through my body, down to my core. I’d never felt this way for anyone besides Owen. His lips brushed over mine as he kissed me. He started out with light kisses, then his mouth covered mine.
I surged against him. I pressed my thigh between his legs and we moved together, rocking against each other. His hands tangled in my hair, turning my head so he could scrape his teeth over my neck. I wanted him inside me. Now.
But first, I had a confession. “I have to tell you something.”
“I’m listening,” he said, voice low.
Just hearing his deep voice made me even wetter. But I couldn't get distracted. This shouldn’t be so difficult to admit. I wasn’t ashamed to have waited this long. It just wasn’t something I shared. “I’ve never done this before.”
“With a shifter?”
“With anyone.”
Owen sucked in a quick breath. “You’re a vir-”
I held a finger against his lips. “Do not say it. I feel like you have the right to know, if we’re going to sleep together, but don’t start treating me differently based on your old-fashioned beliefs.”
Owen seized my hand and pulled it away from his mouth, but he didn’t let go. “Me? Old-fashioned? Well I never.”
“If the shoe fits,” I said.
He scooted closer. “Don’t forget that I know all your childhood secrets,” he mock whispered.
I laughed. That was true. Owen had watched me taste a mud pie, when one of our buddies said it was chocolate. He’d seen me bust my ass ice skating more times than I could count, and he’d seen me wet my pants in our shifter nursery school. “You forget.” I put my hand on his chest. “I know all of yours too.”
He chuckled. “Oh right. I forgot about that.” His grin faded to a slight smile. “I’m glad you told me.” He brushed a stray piece of hair from my face. “Would you rather wait? Until we’re somewhere nicer?”
“That’s very romantic of you. But I’m a twenty-eight year old prosecutor that’s possibly being chased by a mob boss.” I pulled my hand from his and squeezed his shoulder. “I’ve decided I need to live in the moment, not wait on roses and champagne.”
“I’m glad to hear that, considering I don’t have any roses or champagne.”
“So show me what you do have,” I said. I tried to lower my voice, hoping I sounded sultry instead of sick.
He drew my hand back up to his mouth and nipped my fingers with his teeth. “I plan to,” he said. Feeling bold from lust, I pushed my finger into his mouth.
“Eve,” he rumbled. “If you’re not careful, I’m going to lose control.”
“Maybe I want you to.”
“You got it,” he said. Owen pushed me onto my back and kissed my cheek. He rolled over and lowered his body on top of mine, and the teasing mood evaporated.
He nipped at my earlobe, which sent a sudden spark directly between my legs. I lifted my hips to meet him. He ground against me. I didn’t have any panties on, so my sweats became soaked with my arousal.
He held himself up on one elbow and tugged my t-shirt up. Once my chest was bare, he stared at my breasts. “I used to imagine this moment,” he said. In those days, we’d kissed and our hands had wandered now and then, but always over our clothes.
I hadn’t imagined the moment, not specifically. My fantasies had been about escaping our clan. But he was well-aware of that now. I didn’t need to bring it up. “You don’t have to imagine it now,” I managed to say.
He closed his mouth over my left breast. I shut my eyes and let my head roll to the side, panting. This was already better than I’d expected. When he moved to the right breast, and licked over my nipple, I grabbed the sheet in my fists to keep from screaming. “Owen.”
“Eve,” he said. He moved on to my stomach, kissing his way down to my waist. He tugged the ratty sweatpants off, exposing my sex to the air. He tossed my pants to the floor. He moved back up to lie next to me, taking my left knee and gently pushing it up.
More cool air between my legs. I clenched them together, needing friction. “I’m ready.”
“Not yet,” he said. He pushed my legs apart and lowered his hand between my legs. He teased my clit with just one finger.
&nbs
p; I thrashed on the bed, until he held me down with one hand. “If you need to come, let it happen.”
I threw my head back. I couldn’t control myself. How had I gone from running from Owen, to giving him this level of trust? I was no longer in tune with my bear, the way I had once been. But my bear was obviously content to give herself over to Owen.
He pushed one finger into my body. “Feel good?”
“You know it does.”
He added another finger. I tugged at his shirt. “You get your clothes off too,” I pleaded. He pulled away for a second, long enough to strip. I’d seen him naked, but never in this context. A strong instinct stirred inside me. I wanted his cock.
I reached down to touch his erection. I found I liked the heavy feel of it.“I want this inside me.”
He groaned. “Patience. It’s going to hurt if you rush it.”
“I can take it.”
“I know you can. It’s not about taking it. It’s about feeling good.”
He pushed his fingers back into me, this time adding a third. It was a snug fit, but as wet as I was, it didn’t hurt. He slid his fingers in and out, and rubbed my clit with his thumb. Without much warning, my body seized up, Owen gave me the first orgasm I’d ever had with a partner. I shuddered while my body pulsed against Owen’s fingers.
“Now you’re ready,” he said. He knelt in between my legs. “I’m going to put my cock inside you now.”
Twenty-four hours ago, I’d have punched someone who’d told me I’d beg for Owen’s cock, but in that moment, I’d never wanted something so much in my life. “Please, Owen. Fuck me,” I said, as I spread my legs wide.
Owen
Eve lay in front of me, legs spread wide, her pussy glistening. Her dark hair fanned out on the pillow. Her eyes were half closed. I wanted every part of her. I needed to be inside her.
“Do you want me to use protection?” I asked. She wouldn’t get pregnant outside of a heat, and shifters didn’t tend to get human diseases.
“No. I want to feel you,” she said.
Oh God. I’d been hard since she walked out of the bathroom in that towel. Once she told me she was a virgin, my erection had turned to stone. Now my cock throbbed as I slid the head over her slick folds.
“Owen,” she moaned. “Now.”
Mine, my bear said. Don’t let her run away again.
I wish I had as much sway with Eve as my bear thought I did.
I pressed my cock into her entrance. The rush of heat surged through my entire body. I bowed my head for a brief second. I went slowly, inch by inch. Her entrance was tight, and her body resisted me. I paused and looked at her face, watching. Her jaw clenched, but her eyes were open, and focused on me.
She shook her head. “Don’t stop.”
I pressed forward. The feeling of her slick heat on my cock sent a shiver down my spine. I’d been with a few human women, a few shifters, and even an omega. But nothing was like being with Eve. My body and my mind knew she was supposed to be my mate. We would have spent our entire lives together, intertwined in every way, until she’d ripped her presence away from me.
I would not let the past mar our time together now. Eve was a part of me, even if we weren’t together. I could finally accept that now, as I entered her body all the way.
She squeezed her eyes closed as my hips met hers. “How are you?” I asked.
“Good,” she said between breaths. “Keep going.”
I shifted, pulled back, and thrust into her. She wrapped her arms tight around my shoulder and lifted her head to kiss me. I thrust again, finding a rhythm that allowed us to move together. I made it for a few minutes until the intoxication of having her, and possessing her struck me with a flood of awareness. I was going to come. I let it happen, releasing into her body.
She threw her head back and moaned. “I can feel it,” she said. I pressed a hand between her legs again, circling my fingers over her folds. She bucked against me, then came again, her pussy pulsating against my cock.
I kissed her forehead. I tugged her into my arms, and I found that her muscles stayed relaxed as we lay together, both of us drifting off to sleep.
We both woke up at dawn.
I gazed at Eve where she lay on her side. Her beauty took my breath away.
Last night I’d made love to her. We hadn’t fucked; with Eve, sex would never be simply fucking. My bear instinctively accepted her, and viewed her as a lover.
Now that I’d been inside her, my bear thought of her as mine. Ten years ago, before the anger settled over me, overwhelming grief had consumed me. I hadn’t eaten, though hunger had clawed at me. I hadn’t slept, though I’d been mindless with exhaustion. I walked through my life, bereft, only finding purpose in my work with my MASK unit.
Could I recover from losing her again?
“Don’t run off,” I said to Eve as soon as I saw that she was awake. I wasn’t under any illusions that she wanted a relationship. As much as I’d wanted her last night, I knew our new intimacy would only bring more complications. Protecting her when we weren’t sleeping together was hard enough.
“Good morning to you too,” she snapped. “And don’t patronize me.”
I was getting really tired of her attitude. I got that her life hadn’t been easy. I’d even tried to apologize. Not that it had done much good. “How exactly is trying to protect you patronizing?”
“Because it implies I can’t make my own decisions.”
My bear rumbled. He wanted to shift, and demonstrate to Eve that she truly was his mate. To the bear, that would solve every problem. We will absolutely not be doing that, I warned him. “I never said that.”
“I realize that you think I’m irrational, or blowing this out of proportion. I’m sure you’re tired of hearing about it. Until you can understand what it’s like to have no choices, just because of the way you’re born, then don’t speak to me.”
Why was she getting to me? I had a reputation for being a brick wall. Nothing got to me. Less than twenty-four hours with Eve, and I was ready to bash my head into this cheap plaster wall. “I am tired of hearing about it, because you rip me apart, but you don’t offer any solutions.”
She shoved herself into a sitting position. She yanked the sheet up, covering her breasts. “I had a solution. Leaving!”
I grabbed my own pants and tugged them up. “Yeah. Because that solves everything.”
“It did for me.”
“And yet you’re here now, and not back in your happy life in Denver,” I said.
“Do not sneer at me, Owen Brady.” She slammed her hand against the hard mattress. “You’re just jealous that you’re still trapped in their archaic system, and I got out.”
“Enough.” I was done with her bullshit. “We’re leaving. Get dressed, then get in the car.”
I half expected her to scream she wasn’t going to listen, but as she’d said, she didn’t get this far in life by not having a lot of common sense. Her ire was palpable, it blazed across the room. I wouldn’t wait around for any more scathing words.
I grabbed the keys and scanned the parking lot, keeping an eye out. I looked across the treeline, then walked the perimeter of the parking lot. There were no people around. No cars. No movement.
My senses prickled. My bear’s presence usually pushed at me, making me bolder. Now, he wanted me back inside. Can’t go back inside, buddy. We have to get out of here.
I didn’t expect the dart. It hit me in the neck, right in the vein.
My bear had been right to be skittish. He’d sensed this incoming threat. The poison rushed through my blood. My vision swam. My hearing dulled. A misty haze washed over me as my body struck the pavement. Fuck. I had to warn Eve. I hadn’t sensed another shifter nearby, so whoever did this was a human, or a shifter using more of those fucked up suppressants.
Whoever shot me knew I was a shifter -- this much tranquilizer would kill a human. A sniper shot to the head with the right bullet would kill me, so they obviously wanted
me alive, not dead. I had to hope the same was true with Eve. I tried to call out to her. I pushed myself up on my hands. If I could drag myself back to the room, I could warn her.
On my elbows, I made it five feet before my body went slack. I lifted my head just as Eve shoved the door open and slammed it behind her.
“Eve,” I stammered. “Get back. Inside.” My voice cracked. I wasn’t loud enough to warn her, but she spotted me on the ground.
She rushed forward, kneeling on the pavement beside me.
“Get away. Drive,” I said. I tried to push her away, but my arms were useless.
“I am not going to leave you here to die.” She grabbed me under the arms and started tugging. “I’m getting you back inside.”
“I won’t die.” I managed to dig my fingers into her wrist. “Eve. Go now.”
She didn’t go. She kept hauling me backward, not aware of her surroundings. We made it about another five feet before the shifters showed themselves.
They crept out from the motel door next to ours. Within seconds, they were on us. One aimed a gun at my head. Another pointed a gun at Eve. “In the van... get moving,” the one pointing the gun at me said.
The other one poked his finger in Eve’s face. “Don’t get any ideas. We dosed him with triple the amount needed. He’s not going anywhere.”
She hesitated. I knew she was weighing her options.
The goon pressed the gun into my skull as he spoke to her. “Omega. I said get in the van. I’m planning to leave him alive as long as you cooperate.”
I could imagine Eve’s eyes glaring at the one that called her omega. For once, she didn’t mouth off to him. She slowly lowered me back to the ground. She squeezed my shoulder once and stood.
Two of the goons tried to pick me up. I caught a faint whiff of bear on them. So they must be shifters after all. But they were still weak-ass losers if they couldn’t pick me up together. I chuckled a half-laugh when the third one had to help. They stumbled around, and finally managed to drag me into the back of a passenger van.
