Night Caught

by Godiva Glenn

  She sighed and collapsed on the forest floor. Her legs fell open and his cum glistened on her thighs and folds. A thick white flood that made his cock ache and harden. He wanted her again. The heavy-lidded stare she gave him read like an invitation, but he looked away. He was imagining things.

  No way she wanted him to crawl over her and fuck her again. Face-to-face while she moaned softly and stared at him with those sated and sleepy eyes. He could almost feel her, though. Knew she’d be relaxed and pliable, but still tight where he needed her to be.

  “Kalle,” she called.

  He rubbed his hands over his face, scrubbing away his thoughts. “Yeah?”

  “What now?”

  Fuck if he knew.

  * * * *

  Kalle stared at the bathroom door, which was broken at the knob but still served as a semi-barrier while he sat on the floor and listened to Sky finishing her shower. She padded around on the other side. Every action had a sound he could easily decipher. Rubbing the towel against her hair. Wiping at the mirror. Pulling on a shirt.

  By the time the door opened fully, he’d hoped to know what to say to her. After bringing her back to the cabin, he should have left. Something made him stay. Realistically, she had, but not through request or direct action.

  Seeing her angered a part of him. Reminded him of what she’d put him through. How close he’d come to being a lab experiment. But the other part of him saw her as equally trapped, yet ill-equipped to escape.

  And another part of him, likely the wolf lurking close to the surface, saw her as a desirable challenge. Whether she was naive, evil, cruel, or whatever else—she was beautiful. The wolf didn’t seem to take issue with the extenuating circumstance.

  Sky tilted her head to the side, running her fingers through her damp hair while she watched him. Her eyes were hard to read, but he felt like a wild animal she was analyzing. Could she pet him, snuggle him? Or would he bite?

  “I left some hot water,” she murmured, glancing away.

  “I don’t think I should stick around.”

  “I see.”

  Her hands tugged idly at the over-sized shirt. Her nipples poked through the thin fabric, sending flashbacks through his head. He looked down, his focus landing on her scuffed, red knees. “How do you feel?”

  “Sleepy.” She stepped out of the doorway and rested her back against the wood paneling of the hallway. “I guess I’m a hit and run.”

  “What else could it be?”

  “I don’t know,” she whispered. “I don’t know why I said that or if I truly give a damn. I don’t know anything anymore.”

  Sighing because he knew exactly what she meant, he stood. He moved next to Sky, aware that their difference in height was substantial, yet at this moment perception made it greater. She was slouching, and her eyes broadcasted her uncertainty. They were both confused, but he wasn’t letting it rule him. He towered over her; pride restored by his freedom.

  The freedom he’d won gave him strength, even if he didn’t feel like celebrating in this very moment.

  He searched for reassuring words and found none. “You should get some rest.”

  “And you?” She met his eyes with clear hesitance. “Because I won’t come after you. I don’t have any more fight.”

  “That’s a lie,” he replied quickly. “At least, I don’t think anything could take the fight out of you.”

  She took a step towards her room and he reached out, taking her hand. They stared at their fingers, which entwined automatically. He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t even mean to touch her.

  Her lips curled into a weak smile and she tugged him along with her to the bedroom.

  So much for his revenge. So much for “it’s just fucking.”

  He hadn’t forgotten the ways her eyes transformed with her anger or her scent changing in a way that shouldn’t have been possible.

  Add that to her navigating through the woods for several days on barely any food and rest. Hell, while he was unconscious, she’d dragged him around and loaded him into a van. He’d have loved to have been awake for that.

  He hadn’t felt supernatural strength in the few times they’d been close, but there had to be some lurking inside her.

  Even if his emotions weren’t a mess, he’d feel uncomfortable walking away from such a mystery. At least that’s what he told himself as he climbed into the bed and felt Sky curl against him as if they weren’t enemies.

  Closing his eyes, he prayed to the ancestors. He believed that he was never given more than he could handle in life. That didn’t mean he never failed, but it meant that success was always an option. It all depended on his choices and conviction.

  But he didn’t think the ancestors ever saw Sky coming. She didn’t even seem to know what to expect out of herself.

  As Sky’s breath evened beside him, it dawned on him that they were both fugitives now. Separate or together, they’d likely be hunted down eventually.

  EIGHT

  Sky’s room had a comfortable air about it. The bed had extra blankets folded at the foot, an assortment of quilted and flannel-like choices that he guessed were for the winter months. Maybe at some time they were tucked away in a drawer but judging by Sky’s cold feet curled around Kalle’s ankles, the extra covers were now there with purpose.

  Kalle didn’t remember falling asleep. He’d gone from wandering lost in his thoughts to waking up, and he was still lost.

  There were too many questions presenting themselves to him currently. What was Sky? How did she not know? Why did he want to kiss and hold and protect her as much as he wanted to slam a door in her face and never look back? And many more.

  The certainties were a smaller list. Such as, if they stayed here, they would be caught. They could run but the Wardens could have a way to track them.

  Another certain fact was equally unsettling; His wolf had a great curiosity and acceptance for Sky. Even now, resting beside her and watching the side of her body rise and fall with each breath, his wolf was completely calm.

  With everything else going on, Kalle hadn’t considered how he’d gone from the brink of feral to one hundred percent balanced. Even during their wild romp in the woods, his wolf never encroached—and that was alarming. The last few times he’d hooked up with humans, his wolf was chomping at the bit to let loose. He’d had to fight to keep from slipping into his lupine state mid-thrust many times.

  Yet even when Sky’s scent had changed and the thought snaked through his mind that she was mating material, his form remained human.

  Though thinking of it now, he imagined that shifting into his lupine form while pulling Sky’s hair and scraping her knees would be fucking amazing.

  His cock twitched, hard enough to break down a wall just from the simple fantasy. After carefully detangling his legs from Sky’s, he sat up and faced the boarded window. First things first. Figure out what the fuck is going on with her. She looked human, but hell, so did he but he certainly wasn’t.

  “Mmmm.” Sky poked the back of his elbow.

  He glanced back. Her eyes weren’t open all the way, but she was roused. Her fingertip traced his arm as she wiped at her face.

  “What time is it,” she asked with a sleepy slur.

  “Uh.” He peered at the window. The barest sliver of light glowed around the edges of the boards. “Not sure. Sun seems to be up.”

  She fumbled around, then groaned as she seemed to remember that she wore a watch. The room illuminated with the soft blue of the watch face. “Damnit.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “You need to go.” She rolled out of the bed, pushing her unruly hair back behind her ears. “When they come, you have to be far away.”

  “Obviously. But when are they coming?” He followed her out into the hallway.

  She stopped in the doorway of the bathroom. “I don’t know. I didn’t contact them, but they’ll check in anyways.” She hopped from left foot to right foot. “You broke the door.”


  “Yeah, I remember.”

  “I have to pee,” she hissed.

  He grimaced and made his way to the kitchen to give her privacy. Sound traveled down the hallway and he did his best to ignore it while he poured each of them a bowl of stale cereal. They were almost out of food.

  Minutes ticked by and when Sky appeared, her hair was somewhat brushed, and she’d pulled on a zip-front hoodie over her pajamas. The metal bracelet and collar were in her hand, and though the sight made him freeze briefly, he didn’t fear them.

  She tossed the bracelet onto the counter next to the bowls and sat on the nearest stool. Her fingers traced the collar.

  “I failed my mission.”

  “You don’t see me complaining about it,” he half-joked.

  The corner of her mouth lifted in amusement. “Leave it to me to fuck up my mission so royally, that I fuck my mission.”

  “Again, no complaints.”

  She pressed the metal to her forehead and shut her eyes so tight he expected tears, but none came. “I don’t know what to do.”

  “For starters, probably get out of here.”

  “And go where?”

  “Anywhere. Just don’t stick around and get caught.”

  She set the collar down and stared at it for a moment before pushing it away with a single fingertip. Her attention went to the cereal for the first time and she grabbed a bowl and spoon.

  “Did you hear me?” he asked.

  “I heard you.” She stirred the spoon through the dry flakes. “That’s easier said than done.”

  He scoffed. “Everything is. But you can start over somewhere else.” He didn’t say what he really meant, which was that he thought she should stick with him. After last night, he wanted her close even though distance seemed far more logical. Things had become intimate in a way that left him uncertain. “You can leave the Wardens and have your own life.”

  “Abandon the mission.” She chewed her cereal and stared past him. “But it’s all I know.”

  “Not all of the things you hunt are actually monsters. Doesn’t that mean your mission isn’t as righteous as you thought?”

  Her eyes fell and the spoon slipped from between her fingers. “Thinking of that… realizing that. It hurts.” Her voice barely carried. “I’ve already killed. Vampires. Lupine. And if you’re right—which obviously you are—then I’m just a murderer.”

  “Vampires are scum, honestly,” he said.

  “Kalle…”

  “I know, I shouldn’t joke. I’m sorry.” He leaned on the counter. “But it seems like maybe you want to… what’s the word. Repent.”

  “Maybe.”

  He lifted the collar and held it up before her. “You can’t stay with them and repent. If you want to fix what you’ve done, you can’t stay with an organization that does this.”

  She pushed the collar away and met his eyes. “How do I know this wasn’t your plan all along?”

  He arched a brow.

  “Lupine pheromones. You wanted your freedom. Is this how you got it? Seducing me? Confusing me?”

  He couldn’t help but chuckle. “First off, you said you were immune to my lupine charms. Second, I promise that I don’t think that far ahead.”

  “I was warned not to give you an inch. Not to listen to you. But Tommy was supposed to be a buffer between us.”

  Tommy. Kalle still didn’t quite have a grasp of how he felt about the man he’d killed. He didn’t know what to say about him, either.

  “He was a dick,” Sky muttered. “Not that he deserved to die, I guess. But you asked before about why I wasn’t too distraught about him. He wasn’t a nice guy.”

  “How long did you know him?”

  “Just a few years. I was raised within the Wardens, but they kept me out of things until I was eighteen. Then I started training.” She picked up a cereal flake and crushed it between her fingers. “Eventually got my own missions.”

  “How old were you when your parents died?”

  She shrugged. “Just a baby. I don’t even remember them.”

  “I hate to ask this but if you were just a baby and all, how can you be sure they were killed in the way you say?”

  “What else could be the truth? I’ve heard the story so many times. And I wasn’t the only orphan raised by the Wardens. They saved any children whose parents were victims of the paranormal.”

  He nodded to himself. If that’s all she knew, that was all there was to tell. He didn’t buy it, but it’s not like he could offer another explanation. Yeah, the lupine didn’t make a habit of slaughtering people, but vampires were something else. Especially new vampires with no control over their hunger.

  “The entire time I was growing up, I didn’t think about the hate,” she insisted. “It was never presented that way. The mission was protecting humankind. To bridge the gap in advantage that the paranormal types have over unsuspecting humans.”

  “Yet you hated me. Or still do. Whatever.”

  Her lips pursed for a moment. “The organization as a whole didn’t preach prejudice. But I was raised by individuals. And I suppose it came naturally to let the hate in. How else could I do my job? How else could I kill if I didn’t believe it was them or me? That I was ridding the world of evil?”

  “Evil like me,” he said carefully.

  Her hand stretched across the table but stopped short of reaching his. Her fingers curled under as unreadable emotions played across her face. “You need to leave.”

  “As do you.”

  “No. I can’t. Even if I… I just can’t. But I’ll say I lost you.” Her deep brown eyes pleaded with him. “I can’t leave the only home and life I’ve ever known.”

  “You don’t seem to realize that I know what that’s like. I know what it’s like to be brainwashed and ruled over. To feel like there’s no changing the situation.” And because of that, he’d lost his sister. “I won’t leave you to this fate.”

  I already left Sierra. I can’t leave you too. He closed his eyes and willed away the sadness that poured through him. “I’m alone too, don’t you see? I’m not leaving you.”

  “I don’t want you to be caught.”

  “Then don’t stay here. But if you do, I’m staying too. It’s my choice.”

  “It’s a terrible one.”

  “Not as terrible as you trying to stay with a misguided group of humans that want you to kill for them. If you don’t want to go it alone, fine. Come with me. Picking a direction and setting off is the best chance for us.”

  “How did it go from me and you to us?” she whispered.

  “I can keep you safe. We can protect each other. I don’t know how or when things changed but didn’t they? Or is it just me thinking that I’m not ready to say goodbye?”

  She tilted her head to one side. “You don’t want to be a lone wolf?”

  “I can say I do. I can say you should go it alone too,” he said with a sigh. “But those are lies. Even if it doesn’t make sense, I want to keep you around. Just… no bondage this time. It’s not my kink.”

  Her eyes closed as a grin crossed her seat. Shaking her head at his words, she rose from her seat and walked around the counter. Her eyes searched his as uncertainty faded into vibrant determination. She flattened her hands against his chest, palms pressed to his pectoral muscles. Then she gripped two handfuls of his shirt and yanked.

  He leaned down to kiss her, as it seemed to be what she wanted, and he was right. She parted her lips and licked his bottom lip before he took control, hungrily tasting her and teasing his tongue against hers.

  She pulled away just enough to break the kiss and pressed her forehead against his. “Why does this feel right?”

  “How do you calm my wolf?”

  “What?”

  “I thought we were asking rhetorical questions.”

  She smiled weakly, her gaze transfixed on his mouth. “Take me back to bed.”

  As tempting as that was, he kissed her nose and shook his head. “It’s not
safe here.”

  “None of my fellow agents are morning people,” she reasoned.

  “You seemed to think otherwise when you first woke.”

  “You’re no fun.”

  He brushed his thumb across her cheek then traced the shape of her mouth. He loved the gentle curve of her cupid’s bow. “I have to admit. I couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful captor.”

  “You’re free now.”

  “No. I don’t want to ever be free of you. You’ve definitely caught me.”

  * * * *

  The females of the Sarka pack had always been clear about how they felt in regard to Kalle as a mate. He was acceptable, but not preferred. Rather than pursue someone who would be settling for him, he remained unattached. Even so, he avoided giving in to the cravings of flesh and hitting up the local town. Loneliness never bothered him, however, as long as he had family.

  Of course, Sierra felt that loneliness tenfold and allowed it to warp her goals and personality. Not a day went by that he didn’t regret not being stronger for her.

  He knew that Sky wasn’t a replacement. That would be sick, after all, since his feelings for Sky were nothing like brotherly love. But he could do his best to save her. It didn’t escape his logic that she didn’t need him to rescue her. She wasn’t weak, and far from being a damsel in distress. He simply wanted to save her.

  Matters of the heart rarely made sense, or he wouldn’t have interest in her in the first place.

  “I wonder if we should hit the town first,” Sky mused as she wandered through the room.

  “I don’t see why not.”

  “I don’t know if it’s safe for there to be witnesses that we were in the area.”

  Kalle hadn’t thought of that. “You know where we are. There are other towns, aren’t there? Further away?”

  “Days.” She ran her hands along the back of the couch where he’d been lounging while she’d picked the cabin clean of supplies to fit in her bag. “I suppose we can follow the river.

  “Sounds like a plan. Ready to go?” He started to stand but she pushed him down using both hands on his shoulders.