“No problem.”
He pressed her all the way down to the ground. Rough hands pushed her shirt up, along with the sports bra, exposing her breasts to the night air. Her nipples hardened and a shiver raced through her body.
He had his face close, sniffed at her and rubbed his face against one breast and over the nipple. She jumped when his tongue licked the nub. He kept licking at it, and at the same time a hand went between her legs, rubbing at her pussy, waking things up she wouldn’t have dreamed possible, being in the woods like this, and with a stranger.
She didn’t know what to do or say, and when his mouth closed around a nipple, pulling and sucking hard on it, she lost her silence and moaned. That seemed to give him the permission he needed, and his hand went inside the spandex, under the now wet panties, right to her pussy where he slid two fingers as deep as he could into her.
“Shit!” she gasped, grabbing hold of his wrist. The action had him growling again, breaking the spell that was woven around her.
It all stopped suddenly when his big hands turned her over to her stomach, then grabbed her thighs and pulled her up onto her hands and knees. He yanked down her spandex pants until they settled at the tops of her boots. Her heart started racing when he ripped her panties right off her. With another jerk, he ripped her shirt off one shoulder. She felt his hot breath touch her bare shoulder and his cock, hot and hard, grazed her sex from behind.
Vesper hung her head down, wiggled her ass, and for whatever crazy reason she had, urged him right then to take her. He’d started something inside her, something she couldn’t explain, and for the moment didn’t give a damn about.
He pushed her legs apart, and with one hard thrust he tore into her, parting her unused body to take him, reminding her that she should have warned him of her virginity. Should’ve at least asked him to go easy with her, but she hadn’t.
Vesper cried out, dug her hands into the dirt, and tried to find something to hold onto. He moved hard and fast behind her, stopping every few strokes to grind into her. His mouth sucked on her shoulder, sharp teeth moved back and forth, sending sharp sensations to pool where they were now connected.
He kept one hand cupped around her breast, teasing the nipple, the other moved to her hip then around between her legs where he touched her clit. Vesper cried out, pleasure unlike anything she could ever prepare herself for exploding through her body.
The climax hit unexpectedly. She wasn’t ready for it and wasn’t sure what to do—a first for her, like a few other things this night. When the start of yet another climax began to build, Vesper shook her head, not understanding what the hell was going on. Her friends always said that you were lucky if you got one, maybe two orgasms during sex, and the second never came right after the first.
“Please,” she panted, her body seeming to slam back against his thrusts. “Don’t stop.”
“Mine!” he growled behind her.
The mouth that had been sucking on her shoulder stopped, and with a sharp bite his teeth sank in. This time she screamed and reached back, shoving her fingers into his hair. She pulled on the strands. Did she pull to make him stop, or to hold on for the second climax that hit? She couldn’t answer that question. He wouldn’t stop biting and sucking on her shoulder or pumping into her, which only heightened her passion.
A fast rub to her clit, and Vesper came a third time. She screamed at the top of her lungs, until her throat went raw. She could feel her pussy contract around the cock that still surged into her, and it didn’t seem to want to stop.
Vesper rolled over and sat up panting, sweat covering her face, heart pounding hard in her chest. She almost screamed when she saw Stray sitting at the end of the bed, watching her. His eyes looked darker with even a speck of red and that had her shivering, scooting back some.
“You remember, don’t you?” he asked.
Vesper swallowed hard and nodded. “Yes,” she breathed out.
Stray crawled on his hands and knees to her, and hovered over her. Fear mixed with excitement hit and she became glued to the bed, unable to move and make him move away.
“Are you afraid of me?” he asked over her.
“No,” she breathed out. “Are you afraid of me?”
“No.” His breathing became quicker. “That was not how I had dreamed finding my mate,” he said. “I didn’t want to take you in the woods like an animal. Didn’t want our first time together to be during my heat.”
“Wh…what are you?” she whispered. “You…you had red eyes that night.”
“I did that night.”
“Why…how?” She couldn’t control her breathing or the fear. For so long all she had was fear. Fear of being beaten, starved, and tested. When men came toward her that fear of not knowing what they were going to do was always the worst. “I—I don’t understand any of this and I want to.”
Stray pushed away from her and half sat, half knelt at the end of the bed. Those eyes of his seemed to be glued right on her. “I’m a shifter, Vesper. I’m a wolf and you are my mate.” She didn’t hold back her shock and her eyes widened. “I’m also damaged and have no fucking idea how to fix what’s been done to me.”
“Maybe that’s because you’re trying to do it alone.” He opened his mouth, and she quickly went on. “Look, I’m in no better shape than you, and I don’t want anything really from you except to be safe.”
“That I can give you without any problem in the world.”
“Then how about we just come to an understanding and not rush into anything? I know I’m not ready for what I see in your eyes.”
“I think I can hold back until we are both ready,” he said. He reached out and took her hand, still kneeling. Stray moved closer and brought her hand up to his lips. He didn’t really kiss it, but closed his eyes and pressed his lips against his knuckles. “Small touches I can handle,” he whispered. “Small touches…” He sighed. “Comforting.”
“Want to make a deal?” He looked over the knuckles at her, keeping his lips pressed against them. “You help me with my fear, and I’ll help you with the touch.”
“I think I can do that.”
3
“That phone has been ringing nonstop for over two hours now.” Stray dumped some wood next to the fire and looked at his cousin with narrowed eyes. “You ever going to answer it?”
“Nope,” Mika said, staring at the fire.
Stray glanced at the tent that Vesper was in. He left the moment she went back to sleep, looking in on her once. She hadn’t had a good rest in a long time and she needed it. Rest helped the body heal. That and some good food.
Stray sat down across from Mika. The phone stopped ringing for about five seconds, then started right back up. “Okay, give.”
“Give what?”
“You’ve been a big downer since you brought us out here. If it was going to be so depressing to be back, why the hell did you pick it?”
“Because I knew it would be safe for you two.”
“Fine, I get the safe part but shit.” He sighed, rubbing his face, feeling drained suddenly. “But there are nothing but demons for you.” Mika said nothing, only stared into the fire. Stray groaned and stared into the fire also. He thought about his cousin, the life he used to have years ago, and the things he almost had. Funny how you can forget things in the past when you’re being tortured. “Shit! How the hell could I have forgotten about her?”
“Don’t,” Mika warned.
“Lora, for Christ’s sake, Mika.”
“I’m warning you, Stray.”
“Warn all you damn want. Why the fuck did you bring us here?”
“Because it’s the safest place I know, okay?” Mika said between his teeth.
“Bullshit.”
The phone started in again, and Mika stood up with a deep growl. He went to the truck where he left it, jerking the door open. “Do you know of another place you would like to go? None of those pricks can find this place.” He pressed a button and brought the thin
g up to his ear. “What?” he yelled.
Stray watched Mika closely. Saw the tension build up in his cousin. His back stiffened, hand on one hip, and his jaw went taut. Whoever it was on that other end didn’t sit well with Mika.
“Fine.” Mika hung up but didn’t turn around. “I have to go.”
“What? Where?”
Mika grinded his teeth, still not looking at Stray. “Haven.” He looked over his shoulder at Stray. “And trust me, it’s the one place I don’t want to step foot in again.”
“Wait, why do you have to go to town?”
Mika’s whole body seemed to tense up then. He took such deep breaths that his shoulders moved up and down. “Wake Vesper up. We need to pack shit fast.”
“You want to tell me what the hell is going on first?” Mika moved away from the truck and started picking things up, tossing them in the back of the truck. “Mika, what the hell is going on?
“The past has just come back to bite me in the ass, Stray.” Mika looked Stray in the eye and for the first time Stray had a funny feeling in his stomach. A combination of worry and curiosity. “We need to hurry.”
Haven—the one place Mika never dreamed he’d ever go back to. And yet here he was, driving down the main road, right up to the sheriff’s office, feeling like the weight of the world just landed on his shoulders.
The last time he was in front of that old building was over five years ago. He came with the family to get the terrible news, and it almost crushed Brian Wisemyer, not to mention his other daughter and Mika.
Turning the truck off and taking a deep breath, Mika didn’t bother looking at Stray. “Stay here.”
“You sure?” Stray asked. “This could take some time.”
“If it ends up taking a while then I’ll get you.” Mika got out and slowly walked up to the front door. With a hand on the knob he looked at Stray, and Stray only nodded. Mika walked in as if he had never left. And everyone inside stilled and looked right at him.
“Mika, been a long time.” Mika turned to sheriff Maddock who was coming out of his small office. A hand was given, and Mika shook it. “Very long time. You’re a hard man to find.”
“Sheriff,” Mika said.
“You look good,” Maddock stated. They both went quiet then Maddock nodded. “Let’s take this in my office.” Mika followed him and glanced over his shoulder as the door was closed. “How long has it been?”
“Little over five years.”
“Right,” Maddock went around his desk and sat down. Mika stood. “Right after the funeral you left. Never to be heard from again.”
“That’s right.” Mika didn’t like thinking about that. It was a very dark time for him, one that almost destroyed him for good. “Not to sound rude, but could you get to why you insisted I come here?”
“Got somewhere to be?”
“Anywhere but here.”
“Yeah, you ran away, didn’t you? Disappeared.”
“Clearly not well enough. I’ve been found.” Mika squirmed in the chair. “And my cousin is outside waiting for me.”
Maddock nodded, dark eyes staring right at Mika. The manner in which the man stared wasn’t sitting well with Mika, not at all. Something wasn’t right, but for the life of him Mika had no clue what it was.
“Have a seat, Mika,” Maddock said with a sigh, sitting forward and opening a drawer. “This might take some time, so let me have someone get that cousin for you.” He picked up the phone and pressed a number. “Yeah, go outside and bring Mika’s family inside please.”
With his own sigh, Mika did. “So this is going to take some time then?”
“Could,” Maddock smiled. “Better to be safe and not let people wait in a heated vehicle, don’t you think?”
“I guess.”
Maddock looked Mika in the eye. “This is important, Mika. It’s not something that is going to be handed off and you go riding off again. I’ve been trying to get ahold of you for over a month.” Maddock once more just sat back and stared at Mika, linking fingers together and resting them on his chest as he rocked back and forth in his chair. “Why so hard to find?”
Maddock happened to be one of the few humans that knew about shifters without being involved with one. He also treated them all the same, which meant that the shifters had to follow the same rules if they wanted to live peacefully in town.
“I’m sure you’ve heard about the raids that have been going on with my kind.”
Maddock nodded. “Sure have. Mr. Wisemyer was very worried about you when the rumors started to reach us. Had me start looking for you, with no luck I might add. You were pretty close to Mr. Wisemyer, weren’t you?” The name had Mika’s gut dropping, and he knew the shock of hearing it showed on his face. “That’s what I thought. If memory serves me right, you were sort of engaged to his oldest daughter.” Maddock stopped the rocking in his chair. “If that’s what you guys call it.”
“Sheriff, why are you playing games here?” Mika sighed again. “You have me come back to town, so why don’t you just get on with it. What’s the point to all this crap?”
“You know he died recently?”
“Now how would I have known that?”
“Lung cancer.” Maddock went on. “He told no one, not even his daughter. Also didn’t take any treatments for it. Guess he never got over their deaths either, huh? Just couldn’t run away from it like yourself.”
Mika had to turn his head and look away. The deaths were so hard on them all, but no more it seemed than on Brian Wisemyer. The death of his wife and eldest daughter were a blow to the man, and no one could get him out of the deep depression he’d fallen into. He fell hard into grief and allowed it to wrap around him like a fist. He blamed everyone around him and pushed away the few family and friends he had. But the twist to the family unit was that his wife, Grace, was a shifter and he, human. Uncommon twist that not many in the shifter world had. When it came to mating with a human, it is always ninety percent human female, not human male. Then toss in the fact that their two daughters both had the shifter trait.
Mika was to mate with Lora, the eldest daughter. Or at least he had thought he was going to. Made him think they were anyways, as well as her parents. She had secrets that were coming out, secrets she didn’t want to ever come out. In fact, the night the family found out was the night they died. Lora ended up getting in the car to leave and Grace jumped in with her. How the car ended up flipping and crashing, causing their deaths, no one knew for sure. It had been speculated that a deer had dashed out.
After the funeral, Mika found out through Kaley, the youngest daughter, that Lora was running off to mate with another and might’ve even bore his mark. The information had Mika packing up everything he owned, moving out of the house, and leaving town without looking back. That had been almost five years ago, and now he was back in town. Right back in the very spot he ran from with what little amount of pride he had left and a whole bunch of guilt and anger.
“What’s this got to do with me?” Mika asked, looking back at Maddock.
“He mentioned you in his will.”
“Excuse me?”
Maddock picked up the file he had brought out from the desk and tossed it to Mika. “Also left you a note. Seems he put you in charge of it all and requested you be found at all costs.”
Mika opened the file and took the note out, surprised it wasn’t already opened.
Mika,
I know we have not talked in a long time. I blamed you, as I blamed everyone else for what happened to Grace and Lora. But I cannot blame you for something that wasn’t your fault. Lora deceived us both, and you must forgive her as I have.
My boy, I look at you still as my son, and as that son I trust you more than I trust anyone else. I need you to come home, come back and take care of my family as you once promised to do when Lora was alive. She did us both wrong, and you most of all must forgive her. To hold onto the pain and anger for the dead means the dead will not rest.
I h
ave pushed Kaley away and we need to bring her back. I fear for her. Fear what her own anger will cause her to do. She is half you, half me, and needs you to protect her more than myself. More than what I ever could do. I never saw it until now, never saw what kind of woman she’d become, and now it’s too late. Too late for me to guide her, so I need to place that burden on your shoulders.
She is worth a great deal, Mika. Worth so much more than you know. She’s my baby, what I have left, and even now I know I’ve lost her. Don’t you lose her, too. Bring her back, back to where she needs to be. Guide her and protect her. I know you can do this.
You are her guardian now, Mika. You are the executor of my estate as well as the guardian to Kaley. I know I am asking a lot, but there is no other I can trust with my treasure. No one but you.
Brian Wisemyer
“And now that part is done, I can hand you the keys to the house,” Maddock said, tossing keys at Mika and standing up. “And give you the big package. Follow me,” he said, finger motioning for him to follow.
Mika, feeling stunned, stood up, folded the letter, and slipped it in his back pocket as well as the keys. He followed the sheriff out of the office toward the back. Only the cells were in the back, and that confused him big time.
Two doors were unlocked for him. At the third, the sheriff didn’t go in, only extended his arm for Mika to walk in. “Drunk driving again. She started drinking after the funeral. Mika, this one is a freebie. Next time, we see the judge.”
Mika frowned, said nothing, and walked in. Maddock stayed at the open door. Mika walked a bit slowly, his boots making scuffing sounds on the floor.
All the way to the back he went. Stopping at the last cell, he had to admit he wasn’t expecting to see what he saw behind the bars. Kaley Wisemyer was slumped on a cot with her back to the far wall, head turned to another wall, and fingers tapping as she stared out. She was without any doubt at all not a little girl anymore.
She didn’t bother looking at him, but he didn’t mind looking at her. Last time he saw her she was about sixteen—maybe. She didn’t have the curves he could see now. Her hair was longer, lighter in color, and her baby fat had disappeared. Even her lips had filled out and had some color to them. Her legs had lengthened a bit in her final stages of youthful growing, and the curves he slightly remembered her having when she started to fill out were there now. The kind of curves that shifter males enjoyed thoroughly. Males like him didn’t really like skinny-to-the-bone girls, which human men seemed to want. For a shifter wanted meat on the bones. It meant females were healthy and could handle shifter males’ bodily demands.
Awakened Animals (A Shifter Novel Book 15) Page 4
