Ann H (15 page)

Thorn shook off the memory. “I was taken,
just like you. I got away when they were moving me.”

“That’s it?” Brandon asked.

“That’s it.”

“There’s a woman dealing in the sex slave
business,” Justice said, breaking up the intense stare off between them. “And
then to add to it we have this fucking second Council and some crazy bastard
trying to kill us all.”

“Not all of us, just the new Council,”
Thorn added with a sigh.

“So what are we to do now?” Brandon also
sighed, slumping in his chair.

“We deal with one thing at a time,” Thorn
answered. “You stay here and get over that second red moon and leave the hunting
to me.”

* * * *

Brandon decided to do just that, leave it
to Thorn. After all, that’s what the man was good at—hunting and tracking. What
Brandon needed to do was figure out the next step for him, and Diana, and he
needed to think fast. The second red moon was soon to shine bright and already
he felt the heat in his blood start to rise.

Thorn left them with a stocked house. He
called it a safe house in a town of nothing but shifters. Ponca. He heard of
the place, wanted to see it many times when he was younger and never got around
to it. His father once told him about how many Gatherings use to happen here
and how many of the older males still wanted to do things of the old ways. The
whole town rested in the center of woods—a perfect place for hunting and
mating—a perfect place to hide and be forgotten by the world.

“Where are we?”

He jumped, turned around and fought the
hunger which came much too fast to the surface for his taste. He had to swallow
hard and tried like hell to command his damn dick to be a good boy—for now.

She had a few small cuts on her face,
bruise to the chin and a few scrapes on her legs and knees as well. Someone
changed her clothes, giving her a large male shirt to wear instead of the gown
she was forced to leave in. Brandon wanted to snarl at the thought of another
scent upon her, but told himself that for now it would be alright. They didn’t
have much of a choice in what they wore for the moment.

“Ponca,” he answered.

“Never heard of it.”

He smiled. “It’s a very small all shifter
town hidden in the heart of a large expanse of woods. How do you feel?”

“Very sore,” she sighed.

“Same here.”

“So what now?” She crossed her arms over
her chest, more of her leg was revealed with the shirt moving up slightly.
“Charlie won’t give us up, not if he paid a large amount of money and needs us
for this full moon stuff.”

“He doesn’t know about this place. No one
does.” She opened her mouth and he held up his hand, silencing her. “How about
you go soak in a hot bath and I’ll get us some better clothing then fix
something to eat. We both just need to rest right now. That second red moon is
going to do a number on me and I need to make sure you can handle it.”

“Why? Because I’m the only one around?”

Brandon moved fast, coming up to her,
taking hold of her face with both of his hands, forcing her to meet his steady
gaze “No, because you’re my mate and I’m going to be extra demanding on you.
I’m not going to hold back, not now. It’s just us, no one watching.”

Her eyes widened. “I’m your mate?” she
whispered.

“Yes.”

“Then why didn’t you mark me?”

“Because that is something I wish to do
for our pleasure, not his, but be warned.” He let go of her face, grabbed the
front of the shirt, and ripped it open, down her shoulders. She gasped at the
harsh movement. “I’m marking you tonight. You’ll be mine completely.”

Chapter Four

Diana sighed in bliss in the hot bath. It
felt like every part of her body hurt in one way or another. She also had this
humming between her legs and knew just what it meant. Another red full moon,
another cycle for her, and another big heat for him. It was strange though, how
she could have this need, since she never had one before and she was half
shifter. Then again, a red moon was rare enough to have her body doing all
kinds of crazy shit.

She washed, stayed until the water began
to cool, and then got out. With towel around herself, Diana left the little
bathroom half-expecting Brandon to be back. He wasn’t.

Ponca was a tiny little town in the middle
of nowhere. Her father told her stories about the place. He was very little the
one and only time he came here, saying that his father came for a meeting and
left very upset. Years later, it was known then that no more Gatherings were to
happen here. Diana never had to come to Ponca. Her father told her there was no
point since she wasn’t a female shifter needing a mate.

Going to the window, she pulled back the
thick curtain and looked up at the sky. Still daylight yet she could clearly
see that red moon. Soon he would take her and this time no holding back,
according to him. They weren’t being watched. That alone had her easing a bit,
but she still felt a bit nervous and scared over the thought that tonight he
was planning on mating her the shifter way. This meant, come morning she would
have his mark and be branded to him.

She almost screamed when the door opened
and in came Brandon. For a split second, she thought Charlie had found them.

“You okay?” Brandon asked.

She smiled, hand at her throat. “Yeah,
think I’m a bit jumpy.” She noticed he had bags in his arms and two larger bags
hanging from his wrists. “What did you buy?”

“Well Thorn set up accounts for us in
town, so I got food and some clothes. Hope what I got for you fits. Wasn’t so
sure about your size.”

She went up to him, took one of the large
bags from his arms, and went over to the small kitchen counter, setting it
down. Brandon placed the other bag next to it then handed her one of the large
bags he had around his wrist. With another tender smile, she took it and went
back to the bathroom.

A robe, some sweat pants, t-shirts and
shoes. She brought the robe out, slipped into it and left the towel draped over
the tub.

“Hungry?” he asked when she came out.
Already he busied himself with putting food away.

“I can cook us up something.” She went
over to the stove, taking the pan from his hand.

“And what if I want to cook for you?” he
smirked.

“Maybe next time?”

He chuckled, took the pan, and shook his
head. “You can cook after the full moon. Right now, I get to treat you. You
like omelets?”

“Never had one.”

“Well then have a seat and be ready to
have paradise in your mouth. These things are good.”

True to his word, the omelets were great.
He fixed them both one, toast, along with orange juice and thick slices of ham.
Diana ate everything and signed in bliss once all the food was gone. When
Brandon began to clear things up she stopped him and did it herself, telling
him that since he cooked she’d clean up. After she finished, she joined him in
the small living room, sitting in the chair across from him on the sofa.

“So what’s going on?” she asked.

Brandon was slumped back on the sofa; his
long legs stretched out before him, and hand over his stomach with fingers
linked together. He looked up at her and the cool, dark forbidding expression
on his face gave her the chills.

“Someone is taking us and selling us as
male sex slaves,” he answered.

“Is Charlie involved in it?”

“Don’t know. There’s also a rumor that a
new Council is forming with the intentions of destroying the one we have now
and putting the old ways back.”

“Why would they want to do that?”

“There have always been families that
didn’t want the change. They liked the barbaric manner in which claimings were
done. Made them feel superior to others. Call it a male thing.”

“I had heard that at the old Gatherings
females didn’t show up.”

“No, they didn’t. Fathers didn’t like how
a male could claim and take their daughter right there on the ground in front
of everyone. Years ago, different families came together in meetings for the
change. Many things did change, including the demand for the females. Council
put to our law that a father couldn’t withhold his daughter for a Gathering and
that each one had to show upon their eighteenth birthday and once more on the
twenty-first. If a summons came, no one could refuse it either, oh and they had
to list their daughters to the Council as well. Don’t think that one is really
happening though.”

“Did you ever go to a Gathering?”

Brandon shook his head. “Nope. They didn’t
interest me.”

She drew her legs up to her cheek, the
robe opening, showing a large amount of her legs. Brandon’s eyes went down to
her legs, his eyes changed from brown to red and his breathing increased.

“It’s starting, isn’t it?” she asked the
question low.

“Yes,” he breathed out, eyes closing
slowly.

A clock on the wall told her that it was
only two in the afternoon. However, outside she could make out the red moon
full but not bright yet. She should have a few more hours before he made the
demands on her, yet by the look of him now it didn’t appear as if he was going
to wait.

Taking a trembling breath, her hands
shaking, her nerves screamed at her that she should let him make the first
move, Diana opened her robe, let it slip down her shoulders and spread her legs
as wide as the chair she sat in would let her. When his eyes opened again, he
saw what she did; a low growl left his lips.

Brandon stood up. She watched him move,
licked her lips and kept telling herself to stay put. He pulled his shirt up
over his head, tossed it aside. Four steps brought him to her where he knelt
down. Another growl and his head disappeared between her legs.

Diana gasped at the raw sensations that
gripped her just as he lips closed over her pussy, tongue licking at the flesh.
His hand slid to the inside of her thighs, held her open and he feasted.

The licks and the way he sucked on her
stole her breath. Diana couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, and couldn’t move.
She was pinned between his mouth and the chair she sat in, taking what he had
to give.

The orgasm that hit came unexpectedly.
Diana moaned, held her breath, and pulled at his hair. Brandon only growled
back at her, pushed his tongue into her pussy, and pulled out the highest
sensation from the orgasm.

“Brandon!” she yelled, feeling the onset
of yet another.

He pulled back and she pushed him to move
back even more with her feet. He went, staying on his knees, backing away from
her. Diana joined him on the floor, letting the robe fall from her body the
rest of the way. She then bent over and crawled on hands and knees to him,
stopped at his waist and went to work at freeing the cock that strained against
his jeans. Once she had it out, her own hunger took over and she had to taste
him.

On a moan, Diana sucked his cock into her
mouth, taking it down her throat. He hissed, hands fisted into her hair and
before she was ready he began fucking her mouth. She wanted to taste him, feed
her own hunger, but it seemed that Brandon needed other things. That was fine,
for now. Later on, when things calmed down, she was going to get what she
wanted and that was him at her mercy.

His breath picked up quickly, thrust into
her mouth further, but before she could pull his release from him, Brandon
stopped and pulled out of her mouth. He pushed her down to her back so fast she
didn’t have time to brace herself for the powerful thrust into her body.

He surged into her, stretched her to a
burn, and took her just as hard. His jeans rubbed against the inside of her
thighs and his mouth sucked on each nipple. Their bodies seemed to be in
tune—hers giving him everything he needed and receiving so much pleasure.

A silent cry left her lips. She could feel
her womb contract around him, feeling like she couldn’t get enough air into her
lungs and thought she might pass out or die from it all.
 

Brandon didn’t come with her as she
thought. Instead, right when the last contraction rippled through her, he
pulled out and flipped her over to her belly. Diana didn’t protest or
say a word when he pulled her up to
her hands and knees. She did whimper at the touch of fingers grazing sensitive
flesh between her legs. She also sucked air in sharply at the first feel of his
hot, slick cock touching the tiny entrance of her ass.