Beauty and the Brute [Werescape III] (21 page)

And now the lighting was beyond nonexistent in the far reaches of the room. So, Brutus directed me to a ladder that led me to the loft. The room had been walled in except for three thick glass panes fitted into the wall allowing light to enter the space. The only other break in the wall's logs was the entrance, an opening not more than four feet tall and two feet wide, covered with a thick hanging wool blanket.

"Not bad,” Brutus whispered, crawling in behind me. “You'd think they had electric lighting with that windmill outside."

"Why do you say that?"

His golden gaze locked on me. “The outpost is right next to the river. They don't need to pump in water. And Shifters just shift and jump the walls if they need out when trapped inside a sanctuary. Water isn't necessarily a problem."

So what bothered him? “The windmill wasn't here before?"

He wagged his head. “By the looks of things, Kodiak's probably teaching the young warriors how to construct useful things. Shifters survive because of their brains and their brawn."

The reason their culture would survive because it had more to offer than the others who just made do.

He eased over to a pallet sketched mostly as shadows on the floor. “Smells like a female.” He perched his butt on the bedding. “Come here, Little Sassy."

Oh no. He wasn't going to put my mouth to work when he'd leave our stink all over little

Jasmine's bed. “We can't do that,” I whispered.

"Alright,” he groaned and patted the blanket. “Let's sleep."

Something told me he lied. But I had no other option. Lie down to sleep. Or sit in the scantest moonlight. I crawled to him.

He snatched me up and planted my straddling thighs upon his lap.

"Brutus!” The man. I covered his scratchy beard and velvet mouth with a palm before he could argue. “We can't."

He shook loose, grinned sparkling teeth at me, and smashed his mouth against mine, running his hungry palms all over my body.

How did a woman fight his conquering tongue? Those hands knew every place to touch me to make my organ's melt. And his hand's ability to shed my clothing without a heartbeat passing could boggle the mind. Probably to ensure he could remove my pants before the flood from my liquefying heart made it impossible to do anything but cut them to shreds to get them off.

That's what Brutus was all about. Taking off my pants.

Those hands ran the length of my thighs and back up to test his handiwork, fingers dipping into my Well. He growled, released my mouth from his unruly tongue's assault, and gasped.

"You're so Gods-be-damned wet for me, Beauty."

Did he have to yell? “Shut up and do something important with that mouth."

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Lightning jolted me from heart to womb.

So hard my body shook.

He only snarled more, sucking, nibbling, popping the little clasp between my breasts with needy fingers. He was like an animal. Uncontrollable until he'd had his way with me. Biting at my knotted nipples until he'd stretched them out to their sensitive tips.

Making me ache down there.

He thrust his swollen shaft inside my delicate flesh, threw back his head, and hissed. “Gods, you're so tight."

I couldn't scold him to keep his voice down. Not with the amazing pressure he wedged inside my core. Up. Up to the little place that stole my breath away. The spot only he could locate.

"Do you want a little baby, Lorelei?"

Um. No talking. “I guess so.” I grabbed his neck and tried to pull his mouth back to my body.

To put it to good use.

He chuckled, unaffected by my tugging at his corded neck. “Well, this mating fever isn't going to let up until Wolf smells his seed growing inside you."

Just shut up and move that damned club you stuffed inside me.

He growled. “I thought you'd like to have your own little one after watching you with

Condor."

Too much talking. I shoved up with my knees, trying to slide along the blessed length of him.

To make things feel so much better.

His hands grabbed my waist and held me in place. “Whoa there. I'm not ready yet."

Me. Me. Me. It's always about him. “Brutus, how can you not be ready?” I hate hearing myself whine. “You feel good and damned ready!"

The world whirled. I landed on all fours. Wolf-style.

He slid the smooth head of his cock into the mouth of my sex. “Locked and loaded, Beauty."

Well finish what you started. I wiggled my hips.

He growled, shoving his hard length inside my tender flesh.

Until his balls slapped me for good measure as if he could hear my thoughts. Probably could, knowing how sneaky he was. I knew his persona's unreadable factor was all about his selfgratification.

Thankfully, he spared me the little dirty taunts. The things that excited me even more. But could be heard by alert Wolf ears below. Young eavesdropping Wolf ears.

Then that little place keyed up for explosion. He tickled it. Ground against it. I couldn't bite back the screams. I shoved my face into the bedding and held on.

He leaned over my body. The scratchy Wolfen hairs covering his arms, brushing my ass and back. His hips pushing me forward. His chest pinning my shoulders down.

Like I would want to escape the incredible friction. The moment when he would feel my inner channel clench with orgasm. That point when his Wolf couldn't hold back. Would lose his seed. I couldn't hold onto anything. Couldn't find anything to grab. Scrambled for a handhold.

Gods, fought not to scream. Stuffed a fistful of bedding in my mouth. And screamed.

"Mine,” he snarled and froze.

Teeth clamped down over the back of my shoulder.

A touch of pain stabbed through my body.

Heat surrounded me. His body. He leaned over me.

I flinched. Held on. Waited. He'd release me. If I moved, the bite might deepen.

His hips began pumping.

Quick and deep jerking movements. Filling me with liquid heat. Only driving up another orgasm inside me. I screamed into the blanket.

His bite vanished, but his pumping became more desperate.

Dying. Fine with me. I needed to rest. To breathe cool night air. To curl up beside him the way he preferred to sleep wrapped around me.

He rubbed his forehead against my cheek from where he leaned against my shoulder. “Mine."

"Yes, Brutus.” Nothing would ever make me think otherwise. He'd never hurt me intentionally. Always loved me. Always took the best care of me. But the babies! There'd be no sleep for him until he explained how we had to have babies out here. Away from everything.

He sighed and slid off of my body onto his side. “Did I hurt you, Beauty?” He grabbed my waist with those wide palms and pulled my back into the heat of his ribs. “I didn't realize

Wolf meant to bite you."

Wolf had only bitten me the one other time. Marked me. “What do you think got into his head?"

"Probably the baby. Wolves are territorial. He probably thinks you need one to be happy."

Seeing his reaction was better than just hearing it. I rolled over to press my breasts into his drumming heart.

His palm brushed across my back as he canted close to my forehead. “Are you already coming back for more?"

"Stop.” I snuggled in close, pushing my temple into the warmth between his chin and shoulder. “I don't know about babies, Brutus. Not out here. While we're on the run. Are they important to you?"

"I think Wolf's the one who calls the shots."

Saying anything about shots would only lead to ammunition and ejaculation. Twice today was more than enough. “But it's so remote out here."

"That's why they call it The Wild, Lorelei.” His arm muscles tightened around me. The Wolfen hairs almost gone. His soft lips bent to my ear. “Nothing's going to happen to you out here with Wolf and I on watch.” He grew quiet.

So quiet I could hear his heart beat.

"I heard news today,” he whispered.

"About what?"

"New Pittsburgh and New York are gone. Yale's alive, and he saved his useless daughter. His bounty still stands, Beauty. We've got to head as deeply into The Wild as possible. So deep nobody can find us."

My heart didn't want to leave what Kodiak had built. “It really isn't safe here?"

"No.” He petted my shoulder blades with a stroking thumb. “Don't be afraid. Of anything. I

know it seems nice here. There's a woman and children. Even a baby. But we can have all that farther away. When you're hidden away from Yale."

When. Was safe even possible? We were in The Wild already.

A chill gripped me.

His powerful arms gently drew me closer into his body's warmth. “Trust me, Beauty. Trust

Wolf. We'll take care of you now."

Moonlight would never hold the same appeal after sneaking upriver cloaked in darkness.

Forget the silence and beauty of a moonglade trailing across the river's undulating surface of liquid black. The deafening hum of the airboat's fan would probably echo in my head for the rest of my life. But we now headed upstream about twenty-four hours after christening

Jasmine's pallet with our unique mating scent. Did my Shifter care? No. Next to me, Brutus leaned against the side of an earth-toned wall of the wide military transport. His black horse nervously shifted its shiny black hooves next to him. And I sat on his favorite thing. My tight little ass.

Nothing stood between us and the twinkling night sky but a brisk wind. Since we dared not travel during daylight, there was really no need for protection overhead. So, I just waited.

Brutus dropped into a squat and faced me in the pale silver light from the moon. His gaze slid to survey the empty flat cargo area.

Nothing else significant had been loaded onto the wide transport. We were the cargo. With the prices of fuel, this meant one thing. Yale really was coming. Why did he want me so badly?

A hand, knuckles, brushed my cheek.

Brutus. I stared at the metal floor beneath me.

His hand fell to my wrist. Warmth curled around my arm. He slowly brushed his thumb across my pulsing inner wrist.

Nothing moved.

He shot me a commanding glance and rose back to his full height.

Probably just checking on me. The noise was so overwhelming. No one could discuss anything out here in this racket.

A chill riddled through me, tingling, erupting goose bumps down my arms.

Strong. A very pronounced sensation. Like the one I felt the day I met Brutus.

Trouble.

My heart nosedived.

His knees buckled again until he knelt beside me with a pinched mask.

Scrutinizing me. Talking was impossible though. He'd just have to look. Wonder. Because I

never knew what this sense I had reflected. But something was going to happen.

He didn't stare long and produced the quilt, nudging me over to the saddle and gear, leaning me back cocooned in the smoky comfort of his bedroll. With a pat of my head, he left me as if I slept and went to stand with Trance.

Would he think I'd lost my mind if I told him about the intuition? Many people thought I was evil before my parents were killed. It was rumored I had been touched by darkness when I

could warn others danger was near. So, Mother taught me to hide my premonitions. To keep things even from her and Father. The same way I'd snuck off and hidden inside the crawl space when I felt danger encroaching that day. The day they died. The day my gut guided me to the safe crawl space hidden at the back of a guestroom's closet. Nobody knew of it or whoever attacked the mansion would have found me.

Every cell in my body warmed with a strange calming hum.

What was that?

The warmth tickled into a chilly tingle.

Bizarre. What did the unusual signal indicate? Would an alien spacecraft suddenly appear overhead? Blast us out of the water? I studied the broad expanse of clear black sky studded with crystalline points.

Nothing as far as the eye could see.

But whatever it was is coming. I clutched the edges of the blanket together beneath my chin and found Brutus staring at me the six steps he'd placed between the stallion and I.

Probably using the distance to keep Trance from stomping on me if the horse became startled. But my sudden uncontrollable death might be what would save us both when he learned I could sense the future. That he'd mated with an abomination of a Normal. Maybe I

should have told him? But life kept pushing us deeper into The Wild. And intuition hadn't said much.

What would Brutus do when he learned about my strange gift? I guess it's a gift. I'm still alive and in the hands of a mate who respected me. But would he be so angered when he learned that he and Wolf would kill me?

Probably so. Nothing ever good came from my intuitive gift. Except Brutus. I shut my eyes.

Tried not to think anymore.

Tried to forget about the screams.

All the damned roaches in the crawl space.

Crawling over me.

But if I had screamed, if I had made one sound, I'd have died that day too.

Above the hovercraft, Brutus squatted beside his mate's tossing head. The saddle propped her up so the grinding motion wouldn't make her slip onto the hovercraft's deck. But she struggled in her dreams nonetheless. With what? She only had this trouble when I wasn't sleeping with her. Better find out before she attracted other Shifters to see what bothered her.

She bolted into a sitting position, eyes wide as the moon, and swatted at her body.

Her entire body. “Lorelei,” I yelled over the loud hum of the hovercraft's motor.

She kicked out from under the blanket like something was beneath the quilt.

What in the world? “Lorelei!” I grabbed her.

She struggled and looked me in the eye.

Something clicked in those glinting orbs.

She threw her arms around my shoulders and dove into my chest.

What were these dreams about? Nightmares terrifying enough to make a Shifter's mate cringe and scramble in her sleep. I petted the silken length of her loose hair. “The same dream again?” I yelled.