Callie's Captors [Mountain Men of Montana 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (13 page)

“Until then, I want to see you come. Come for me, Blue.”

She wanted to hold back and have him come first, but when she saw that he was about to let loose, she came with him, their shouts mingling in the air and sending birds into flight. Their moans grew softer with each new tremble.

She scanned from one man to the next then back again, unable to get her fill. Next time, she’d do more than watch. Blue slumped against the tree while Raine and Pete, spent, went to their knees.

Closing her eyes, she let the warmth of the sun wash over her.

Maybe I’ll go swimming with them
.

Yet when she opened her eyes, her voice caught in her throat.

There it is.

The creature she’d seen before—his white diamond a distinct contrast to the black of his face—was hiding in the woods behind the men. If they hadn’t been so absorbed in pleasuring themselves, she was sure they would’ve noticed it. And if they had, they no doubt would’ve run it off or, worse, done something to harm it. If she could keep them from noticing, she’d get a chance to find out what it was.

“Uh, guys?”

Their sharp gazes turned her way.

“Yeah?” asked Raine.

“How about waiting for me in the water? By the waterfall?” Did her voice sound seductive enough to keep their focus on her? “Unless you’re too tired to have a little more fun?”

“Touching fun?” Pete was already heading toward the water.

“Oh, most definitely.”

“Then meet us behind the waterfall. There’s a break in the fall and a ledge in the back.” Blue wasn’t far behind Pete with Raine taking up the rear.

That sounded almost interesting enough to divert her from her first idea. “Great. I’ll be there in a minute after I check out the shots I took.”

“Yeah, let’s have a look.”

Her heart did a flip-flop as Pete diverted from his course. She darted her gaze to the creature to make sure it was still there then back to Pete. “No, no. I want to check them out on my own. You go on ahead with your brothers. See? They’re already halfway there.”

“Okay.” He rushed to the pool, then waded in and dove under the water.

She waited a moment longer before moving swiftly toward the forest. When she was within a few feet of the creature, she paused, giving it time to realize that she meant it no harm. With luck, he wouldn’t hurt her, either.

“Hey there.”

She didn’t know why she half-expected to get an answer. He had intelligence in his red eyes that made her think he might be more than an animal, but that was it. His mouth, more a muzzle, couldn’t have formed words. At least not words she could understand.

She inched forward. He remained still, his focus on her and nothing else. Would he flee if she brought the camera up to her face? Not wanting to take the chance, she held it at chest level and did her best to aim it at him. Once she got closer, hopefully, he’d get more comfortable and she’d take a chance at getting a better shot.

“Don’t be afraid. I won’t hurt you.”

His face scrunched up as it had the first time she’d seen him.

“You won’t hurt me, will you, Scrunch?”

He didn’t seem dangerous to her. Maybe the men had the creature all wrong. Or maybe she’d encountered a peaceful one of his kind. Either way, she’d take care, but she’d give him the benefit of the doubt, too.

A low sound rumbled out of him as his attention flicked to the water. She checked to make sure the men weren’t coming. They must’ve already made it behind the fall.

“It’s okay. They won’t hurt you, either. See? They’re gone.”

Not that she didn’t want them close enough to hear her if she called for help.

Scrunch hunkered down, leaning forward on long arms that seemed more human than animal. His knuckles brushed the ground much like an ape’s would when it walked. He was hairless, his black skin as shiny as a fur coat, with his flesh stretched over a bone-thin frame. Small ears pressed flat against his head.

She clicked, taking a photo. The slits in his head that served as his nose quivered and a long, black tongue lashed over his thin upper lip.

She should run. Scream. Do something other than stand there and take a picture of the hideous thing. But she couldn’t. He wouldn’t hurt her. Now that she’d gotten closer, she knew it was true. But what was it? Part animal and part human? The Missing Link? She caught a movement below and dropped her gaze.

Oh, hell. I already saw enough of his cock the first time.
She pulled her gaze away as fast as she could.

“That’s it, Scrunch. Take it easy. But you better know that if you come at me with that thing, I’m going to run like hell. Which means the three big guys you saw will be on you like white on rice.”

Scrunch tilted his head, reminding her of the way the men had tilted theirs in question. Was it a coincidence? Or did it mean more than that? She ignored the errant thought and decided Scrunch was comfortable enough for her to lift her camera to her face. Besides, she didn’t want to take shots of just his dick.

Taking it slowly, she lifted the camera and centered the photo in the frame. Scrunch flicked out his tongue again, but remained where he was. She didn’t waste any time, and took several pictures in succession.

But when he picked up a banana and held it out to her, she forgot all about what she was doing. She lowered the camera and frowned at him.

Did she dare accept his offer? Or was he drawing her closer so he could grab her?

She pushed down the clanging of alarms raging in her head. If she were smart, she’d back off while she could. But curiosity got the better of her.

Putting her camera beside her feet, she took the banana and started peeling it. Once peeled, she broke it into halves and handed one of the pieces to Scrunch. “I hate eating alone, too.”

They chewed the banana, woman and creature regarding each other with open interest. “See? You’re not so scary.”

“Callie, get away from it!”

Scrunch dropped the remainder of his fruit, let out a sound resembling a girl’s screech, and disappeared into the woods. She whirled toward Pete’s shout and saw the brothers charging through the pool then onto land. Without bothering to get dressed, they dashed past her in pursuit of Scrunch.

“No! Stop! Come back!”

When they kept running, breaking through the trees and underbrush, she did the only thing she could think to do. Drawing in a big breath, she let out a bloodcurdling scream.

Within a few seconds, Blue reappeared, bringing his brothers along with him. “Are there more of them?” He scanned the area around her, just as Pete and Raine did. “I don’t see any.”

“That’s because you ran off the only one that was here.”

The concern on his face morphed into irritation. “Then why the hell did you scream for us to come back?”

“I had to do something to get you guys to stop chasing that poor thing. He wasn’t doing anything to harm me.”

Blue opened his mouth to speak again then slammed it shut. Pete muttered a curse while Raine gave her a hard stare.

“You don’t know what you’re messing with, Callie.”

“Then don’t you think it’s about time you tell me, Pete? The only thing I’ve heard is that he’s dangerous and I should stay away from him.”

“So why aren’t you heeding our warning? And it’s an
it
. Not a he.”

“Whatever
he
is, he isn’t dangerous. Not once did I feel threatened. Not when I saw him at the pit, and not here.” She hadn’t told them the total truth and had, in fact, been afraid of Scrunch. Or leery to say the least. But they didn’t need to know that.

The men dressed, each glancing toward the forest. Blue stalked over to her and grabbed her arm.

“Hey! You’re hurting me.”

“I’m trying to save your pretty hide.”

He pushed her to the rock and motioned for her to sit down. Although she wanted to refuse simply on the principle that she didn’t like him ordering her around, she pushed herself onto the rock then crossed her arms. “Do tell.”

“You were told that they were trouble and you didn’t listen. Are you listening now?”

“Go ahead. Give it your best shot. But I know what I know.”

“You don’t know a damn thing.”

Raine edged his brother away and urged him to calm down. Once Blue had done so, he confronted her. “Callie, you don’t understand.”

She softened a little and decided that maybe she should hear them out. If she really trusted them—and she did—then she had to give them the chance to say their piece. But why wouldn’t they trust her when it came to Scrunch? “Fine. Then make me understand. What has he done to you?”

“I don’t know that he’s done anything, but his kind have.” He settled on the rock beside her and she relaxed. As relaxed as she could get around any of the Deacon men. As soon as they got anywhere close to her, her body started to burn with need. She concentrated, determined not to let her wayward libido keep her from paying attention.

“They’re called The Cursed.”

“Tell me something I don’t know.” His sharp look kept her from going on. “Sorry.”

“They’re like us, but different. I know it’s hard to believe, but the tales say that they were born to, uh, werewolves, but that they couldn’t change right.”

If he hadn’t looked so serious, she would’ve laughed. “Werewolves? You’re kidding me, right?”

“No, I’m not. Things are different inside The Hidden. We have things, beings here that myths and fairy tales are made of.”

“I know this place is thought to be magical, but I didn’t know I should take that literally.” Her incredulousness, however, was getting harder to hang on to.

“Yeah, I know it’s hard to believe, but have you ever seen anything like it, like him before?”

“No, but…” Her nerves leapt to life. Hadn’t she had a similar thought? That he was the Missing Link? If what they said was true, then what was Scrunch really?

“From what we know, the children of werewolves will transform within a few weeks of being born. But those poor creatures we call The Cursed can’t go through the change. Instead, their ancestors were born like that, caught in a partial transformation. They’re stuck being half-werewolf and half-human.”

“And you’re saying Scrunch is one of these Cursed things?”

“Scrunch?” Blue gaped at her. “You named it?”

“Never mind that.” Pete took her hand. “They’re dangerous because they hate our people for being human and for having the lives we have. They’re animals and unable to control themselves. They usually attack at night and against one or two of us while we’re in the forest, but that’s not always the case. The fact that your Scrunch is out right now and got that close to you proves it.”

“Damn. Don’t you start calling him that name. And sure as shit don’t call it hers.”

“Relax, Blue.” Pete squeezed her hand. “Do you understand why we don’t want you near him? We’re afraid for your life.”

“Do you really think he’d hurt me? That he might even kill me?”

“They’ve killed before. And if he scratches you, it could make you very ill. Possibly even kill you. We can’t let that happen.”

“But why would he? He didn’t act like he hated me. In fact, I’d say he’s trying to do the exact opposite. Like he’s trying to make friends with me. Maybe these Cursed things are trying to change. Or maybe it’s just him. Either way, I don’t think he’d hurt me.”

“Maybe he wouldn’t, but we don’t want to take that chance.”

“Pete, come on.”

He waved off Raine’s objection. “You have to know one more thing. The Cursed want to mate with a human woman. They think that if they do, their children will have more human blood running in their veins. The more generations that mate with a human woman, the closer it brings their kind to becoming like us.”

Her throat closed up. She didn’t mind befriending Scrunch, but the idea of one of them taking her was unthinkable.

“Don’t worry. We won’t let them get to you.”

She nodded, understanding as much as she could. It would take more time to get it to sink it. Still, she couldn’t shake the impression that Scrunch would never do anything to her.

Pete brushed her hair away from her cheek. “Let’s get back home, okay?”

She started to deny that the camp was her home, but didn’t. A feeling of warmth washed over her. What would it be like to have a real home? And how amazing would it be to have a home like The Hidden with the Deacon men in her life? They’d stood up for her, protected her as no one had ever done. She’d let her guard down and, for once, she’d placed her trust in the right place and with the right men. Letting Pete help her, she slid off the rock and kept his hand as they walked back to camp.

* * * *

Callie strolled from one side of the campsite to the other. After what Pete had told her about The Cursed, she’d needed time to think and she’d asked the men to give her the rest of that day and the next. After all, what was the rush? According to them, she wasn’t going anywhere.

Besides, wasn’t anticipation part of the fun of a new relationship? With three luscious men wanting to take her into their bed, the anticipation was that much better.

What she hadn’t counted on was finding so much to see around the camp that she ended up not thinking about Scrunch and the Deacons at all.

The people here are amazing. Strange, but amazing
.

Maybe it was her surroundings, or Scrunch, or the way she’d gone wild with the Deacon men, but she was beginning to wonder if she’d lost her mind. Why else would she start imagining so many things? Like when she’d almost run into two women with odd silver eyes. Surprised, she’d come to a quick stop and was thrown by their exotic look. But the eyes weren’t the most unusual thing about them. For a moment, too fast for her to be sure, she would’ve sworn she’d seen wings on their backs.

She’d stopped to gawk until Luke, the larger-than-life man, had swept by her. He’d mumbled a “Hey” in greeting and she’d answered. Then, turning around to give her a big grin, she’d seen his face. Fur covered most of his face. Stunned, she’d timidly pointed it out to him, but he’d acted unconcerned. Instead, he’d widened his huge grin, added a “Yup,” and hurried on his way.