Blackwing Defender (Kane's Mountains Book 1) (11 page)

His release spurred hers on, encouraging more aftershocks than she thought possible. She and Logan slowed the pace, swayed together as the pleasurable throbbing sensation in her middle became softer. His lips were gentle again, and for some reason it made her want to cry. Logan wasn’t on the attack tonight. He was massaging her thighs, brushing his fingertips up her back, gripping her neck gently, stroking her cheek, kissing her softer and softer, adoring her, all unrushed. Tonight, his monster slumbered and allowed her this breathtaking moment.

This was such a beautiful gift after yesterday’s pain.

Logan huffed a soft sound, half-growl, half laugh. A smile curved his lips, and he shook his head as he stayed locked in her gaze. “I can’t…I can’t believe…” He eased back against the mattress, dragging her with him, and then curled around her body protectively. “He’s fine.”

As Logan smoothed her hair out of her face, she pecked his hand. “Your bear is okay?”

“Well, not okay, but quiet.”

“Can I tell you something, and you not freak out?”

“You can tell me anything.”

“For a second there, I thought you were going to claim me.”

The smile slipped from his face so fast his ears moved. He pulled the pillow under them better and rested his cheek just inches from hers. As quiet as a breath, he asked, “Would you hate that?”

Winter shook her head slowly, allowed him to see the steadiness in her eyes.

Logan swallowed hard in the quiet darkness and ran his fingertips along the sore claw marks on her arm. He followed his touch with his gaze, then blinked slowly and lifted those blazing silver eyes back to hers.

He didn’t say anything, but that single look in his eyes said so much. She felt struck by lightning. Suddenly, everything made sense. His bear’s attack, him promising he wouldn’t have killed her, his protectiveness, his inability to leave her alone, his need to touch her tonight.

Her throat got so tight she couldn’t speak right away, and her eyes misted with tears. “You didn’t hurt me tonight,” she croaked out emotionally.

“I told you I can’t hurt you anymore.”

Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!

“Are these…?” Winter pressed her hand on top of Logan’s, flattening his palm against the new scars on her arm. “Are these claiming marks?”

Logan looked sick and ripped his gaze away. “I’m sorry.”

As he buried his face against her chest, she stared at the headboard above them. Claiming marks, the only way his monster knew how. It hadn’t been sweet or in an intimate moment. It had been violent and forced and animalistic. It had been so…Logan.

“You didn’t cover Brody’s mark,” she whispered, her head spinning.

“He’s part of your history. Fuck his mark. I had to give you another one just from me. It wasn’t a reaction to seeing Brody’s mark. It was my bear choosing and me not working hard enough to stop him. And now I’m tied to you. I didn’t ask you, though, and I know what this is. I can see it. It’s okay.”

“What do you think this is?” she whispered, stroking his hair. The tears streamed down her face, and her heart pounded like thunder.

“I take your mind off Brody.”

Winter huffed an emotional laugh and inhaled raggedly. “You’re no one’s replacement, Logan.”

“You forgive me?”

“On one condition.”

“What?”

“You promise me day by day.” Nope, she wasn’t giving up on him like he had on himself. If he felt strong enough to claim her, he could get strong enough to stick around. She knew it. She believed in him, no matter what damage he or his bear had sustained. “Promise me.”

He was quiet for so long she thought he would refuse to answer completely. But at last, with a huffed sigh, he cradled her closer and murmured, “Day by day.”

Winter now knew what that song “Walking on Sunshine” was talking about.

For the second day in a row, she’d put on make-up, fussed over her hair, and turned into a grinning idiot every time she saw herself in the mirror. It wasn’t vanity, but rather joy that she was finding her old self again. That and the giant hickey Logan had gifted her. And the marks. The
claiming
marks!

It was September, and chilly outside, but she was mighty tempted to wear a tank top again just so Logan would get that red flush to his cheeks and smile down at his feet like he’d done this morning before he left for his room.

These last five months she’d lived like a zombie, meandering from one task to the next, numb and mindless. Not today. And if she was honest, she had been on an upswing from the moment she set foot on Kane’s territory and met Logan and the D-Team. What a horridly dysfunctional batch of beasties they made, but Winter kind of liked it. None of them were angels, or even very safe to the human populace, and half the time they all drove each other bat-guano-crazy, but Winter was still protective over them in ways that surprised her.

She hoped they all made it into the crew.

But…what if they didn’t? What if she didn’t? What if Logan didn’t? Or what if one of them made it, but not the other? Or what if she and Logan made it, but not Beast, Emma, and Dustin? Or what if Dustin and Beast made it, but not Emma and—
Stop it!
She would drive herself nuts with this train of thought. Whatever happened from here, she had to trust the process and the dragons to build the best crew for them and for the territory.

A knock sounded at the door. It was the polite sort, and since Winter had propped it open with the door latch, she called out, “Come in.”

Emma pushed open the door and plopped onto the unmade bed as Winter continued folding up the clothes she’d discarded in her insane search for the perfect outfit.

“Dustin’s hungry for bacon.” Emma frowned up at the ceiling and fiddled with her hearing aid. Maybe her voice sounded off or something, but to Winter, Emma sounded the same as always.

“Are we all going to breakfast?” Winter asked.

Emily rolled her head toward her, and her frown deepened, so Winter repeated, “Are we all going to breakfast?” careful to keep her face angled toward her so Emma could read her lips, too.

“Dustin said he’s tired of hanging out with us.”

Winter snorted. “Bullshit, why would he tell you he was hungry then?”

“Exactly. He got grumpy and yelled that he isn’t waiting more than ten minutes for everyone, and then he slammed his room door like a spoiled princess. You ready?”

“Is Beast going?” Winter asked carefully. She was really working up to asking about Logan.

“He’s already in the truck looking like he wants to kill everyone.”

Winter giggled, then cleared her throat and tried for aloof. “So Logan’s going, too?”

Emma rolled her eyes and shook her head. “You two are ridiculous. You know he is a psychopath, right?”

“But he’s
my
psychopath,” Winter whispered through a grin as she folded the last shirt.

Emma pointed to her eyes and then to Winter’s lips. “Nice try, I read that.”

“I’m hungry for pancakes,” Winter said, sidling Emma’s gently kicking legs and grabbing her purse off the chair.

“Nice subject change,” the honey-haired wood sprite said as she followed her out the door. “Are you looking for a job yet?” she asked.

“Not yet,” Winter said, making sure Emma could see her lips. “I wanted to wait until I have a better instinct on how the dragons feel about me. I don’t want to get my hopes up too high, you know? You?”

“Yeah, I put my application in at a coffee shop this morning. If this is going to take months, I can’t afford the motel for that long. It adds up.”

Logan and Dustin were arguing in the front seat of Logan’s truck. Beast had evacuated it completely and was sitting in the bed, head leaned back on the side like he was sleeping.

Logan’s angry voice drifted through the closed window. “I swear to God, Dustin, if you touch that radio dial again, I’m gonna gut you.”

When Dustin leaned forward to poke the dial, Logan grabbed his finger. Dustin grinned and made a fart sound, and Logan roared in his face. This was how the day was going to go. Winter could just see it.

When Emma threw open the back door, Dustin yelled, “Bacon!” like it would make them hurry faster.

Winter put on her sunglasses so he wouldn’t see her infinite number of eye-rolls today.

The reek of dominance made it crystal clear why Beast had evacuated, and immediately after buckling her seatbelt, Emma opened her window plus the back sliding window.

“Morning, Beast,” Winter said cheerfully.

“No to all of your morning-person bullshit,” he said blandly, not even bothering to open his eyes.

Winter shrugged her shoulders up to her ears and murmured, “He loves me.”

“I love nothing,” Beast said.

Dustin was fiddling around with the radio again, Logan was snarling like he was on the verge of a shift, and Emma was hanging her head out the window as though she—a dull-sensed little human—could feel all the monster-crap happening in the truck.

They would make the worst crew in the whole world. Winter’s smile took over her whole face until her cheeks hurt.

“Stop smiling like that,” Dustin said, looking eked out. “It’s weird. And is that a hickey? Shit Logan, sex is supposed to put you in a good mood!”

Logan gritted out, “I’m not listening to techno all the way to the restaurant. It makes me feel crazy.”

“Newsflash, asshole,” Dustin said, slamming his back against the seat and crossing his arms. “You
are
crazy.”

“I like your smile,” Logan said, his eyes on Winter in the rearview mirror. He wasn’t even close to grinning, his eyes were the color of a bug zapper, and his voice was terrifying, but she still got butterflies.

“I like your smile, too.”

“Bacon!” Dustin yelled, way too loud. They all hunched their shoulders at the sound except Emma, who looked to be fighting back an amused grin.

Their phones all dinged with different tones, all seconds apart.

Dustin struggled his phone out of his pocket first. “Want me to read it?”

“Depends.
Can
you read?” Emma asked.

Winter pulled her phone out and read along as Dustin narrated. “D-Team, we got a visit from the police early this morning about a disturbance at the horse stables, complete with security footage of you idiots fighting.”

“Oh, shit,” Logan muttered.

“Because of this, all the shifters in the Smoky Mountains have been formally banned from the stables for a minimum of one year, and thus we cannot conduct your next interview as we’d planned. Please make your way to my mountains at your earliest convenience. That means now, D-Team. Kane.”

“I like when Rowan texts us better,” Winter murmured. “She’s nicer.”

“What is there to be nice about?” Beast growled from the back of the truck. “We left the arena splattered with blood.”

“No, you and Logan did,” Dustin pointed out. “I bled zero percent.”

“Are we getting cut?” Emma asked, her green eyes round as dinner plates.

“Probably,” Beast said, louder than before. One look back at the bed, and he was red-faced, which made the gold in his eyes look even more terrifying. Fantastic.

“I seriously can’t believe I threw in with you bunch of psychos,” Dustin said. His eyes were glowing two different colors, and he smelled like fur. “I was in! I had all the cards, and now I’m going to get cut from the crew because of you guys!” He jammed a finger at Beast. “You suck.” He jammed his finger at Emma. “And you suck, too.” He pointed his middle finger at Winter. “And you suck the most—ack,” he croaked as Logan tightened his fist around Dustin’s throat.

“Don’t fucking talk to her like that.”

As Beast reached through the back window with a massive paw, apparently scrabbling for Dustin, Emma cursed them all out while beating on Beast’s massive arm with both fists.

“Stop!” Winter yelled. Winter shoved Beast’s arm as hard as she could. “Logan, unhand Dustin’s throat, Dustin, stop being a chode, Emma, you’re awesome, never change. We don’t know what is happening yet or even if we are cut for sure, but I know one thing. We’re all hungry and tired, and we shouldn’t go up to Kane’s Mountains on empty stomachs. Let’s put in our to-go order and go find out what is really going on. Logan!”

With a growl, Logan released Dustin, who immediately jammed a middle finger in Logan’s face and nearly got it bitten off. The wolf shifter removed the bird one millisecond before Logan snapped his teeth with a
clack
.

Emma was laughing again.

As Logan backed out of the parking spot, there was such a heavy, awkward silence it put Winter’s hair on end. It was going to suck if it was like this all day.

As they passed the opposite side of the motel, the A-Team was gathered outside of one of the rooms talking low. When they caught sight of Logan’s truck, they all stopped their conversation, and each of their lightened eyes drifted to them. They weren’t joking this morning, and really, they looked suspicious as hell.

“Anyone find it odd that they’ve been doing that shit all morning?” Logan asked as they coasted by.

“I can find out their names if you want to murder them all,” Dustin said. Apparently the wolf had caught wind of Logan’s last profession, and there was this loaded moment that hung in the air, clogging up Winter’s lungs as she waited for Logan’s reaction.

“Careful dog,” Logan said coolly. “I know your secrets, too.”

“Okay, you caught me,” Dustin said sarcastically. “I hold the world record for most masturbations in one day. Autographs later.”

Beast snorted behind them, and Emma shook her head at Winter, eyes exhausted as if she needed a nap already.

But when Dustin turned up the techno music again, Logan didn’t even yell at him, and that was some true and serious progress with this bunch. The awkward silence lifted, and Winter’s smile was back to stretching her face.

Logan had claimed her, Kane hadn’t come out and said they were eliminated, she was about to get pancakes, and she was in a truck full of her people.

Bright sides.