Fierce Wanderer (5 page)

He pulled the bottle from his pack and handed it to her. She took a swig and passed it back. “Good stuff,” she said.

“Yeah, Jude buys it.” He took a sip, felt it burn happily on the way down.

“So, tell me about your family. Are they all…shifters, too?”

“Oh,” he said, smiling. “I see your plan. Get me liquored up so I spill all my secrets.”

She shook her head forcefully. “No, that’s not it. Don’t tell me anything you’re not comfortable with—”

He was suddenly tired. “I don’t really think that. But I’ve never shared this with anyone, so it’s hard. Basically, shifting is hereditary. I can’t bite you and make you like me.”

Was it just him, or did she look a little relieved?

He went on. “And there’s no howling at the moon. The lunar cycle has nothing to do with my shifts. And I’m still
me
when I’m a cat. I don’t turn into a mindless monster or anything.”

“I know you’re not a monster,” she whispered. “I saw you—
you
—when you were a cat.”

He passed the bottle back to her. “Now you get to share.”

“You know everything already. Drug-dealing ex-fiancé and so on.”

“No, I don’t want to talk about that stuff. How do you know about cars?”

She smiled again. If he could get her to keep smiling, the whole world would be a better place.

“My parents taught me. They had a garage, a literal mom and pop place in a tiny town, where everyone brought in whatever kind of car they had, and my parents could fix it.”

“Do they still have it?”

“Yes,” she said. “They live up in Oregon, still running their shop. I came down to California for school, got my teaching credential. I thought I’d teach art history, but then I saw this opening for an auto mechanic teacher, and I knew I had to apply.”

“So you’re a teacher, huh?” He bet the boys in her school paid great attention when she led the class.

“Yeah.” She passed the bottle back to him. “Your turn.”

“I told you everything.”

“Tell me something embarrassing. Something I don’t know. Something that’ll shock me.”

He took a swig of tequila and flashed another smile at her. “Okay. Something embarrassing—I’m not wearing any underwear. Something you don’t know—I sleep in the nude. Something that’ll shock you—we’ve only got one sleeping bag.”

He watched her face change from amusement to astonishment. He waited while she spluttered, then he finally said, “Only two of those things are true.”

She threw her granola wrapper at him. “Which two?”

Chapter Thirteen

Hera wondered if all shifters were as nice as Blake. Then she realized they were probably like any other people—some of them were good, and some of them were not so good, and some were like Tobin—downright bad.

Blake had stepped out of the tent while she changed into her flannel pajama shorts and thermal shirt. When he came back in, he offered to give her the sleeping bag, and sleep outside of it, but it was cold. She couldn’t do that to him, not when he’d already lost a truck and a cell phone—and his family’s secret—for her.

“No, come here,” she said, patting the spot next to her. “Just keep your pants on.”

His devilish smile was adorable. And he could make her laugh. No, she needed to tone things down. She was pretty sure he liked her, the way he looked at her said he appreciated her, and he was curious about her life…and she definitely liked him. But even though she didn’t want to waste a single second of her new lease on life, she was a bit overwhelmed. It was too much, too fast. The whole mountain lion thing alone should’ve had her running far in another direction, but instead, here she was, asking him to share the sleeping bag.

Maybe she’d hit her head, too, when the truck crashed.

He lay down next to her. The sleeping bag wasn’t all the way zipped, because there wouldn’t be room to move. But it was enough, thrown over them on top of the Therm-a-Rest, for warmth. She turned over when he lay down, not wanting to be facing him awkwardly. This way there was no pressure on her injured arm. But now she could feel him, hot and present, all along her back.

She’d never get to sleep.

He gave a gentle sigh. Maybe he felt the same way. She moved her leg so it would “accidentally” brush against his, and heard his sharp intake of breath.

Yes, he wanted her, too.

Feeling bold, she asked, “So are you really going commando?”

He was quiet for a moment. “Guess.”

“Hmm…” She kept her voice playful, light. “Maybe I should just see for myself.”

He went completely still behind her. Had she been too forward? Could she blame the tequila? It wasn’t the tequila. It was her, and him, and being so close together. But she could say it was—

His voice rumbled behind her. “Yeah, maybe you should see for yourself.”

Feeling shy, she turned onto her back and moved her head to face him. In the moonlight, she could tell he was staring at her, a small smile on his lips. Almost as if he was daring her to do it. She felt a matching smile of her own grow on her face, and she reached toward him, touching first his hips, just where the denim met his skin.

“Are you sure about this?” she asked.

He smiled bigger. “I am if you are.”

“Okay.” He still didn’t think she’d do it, she could tell. He thought she was bluffing. So without any more warning, she quickly reached down his pants and cupped him in her palm.

He was totally going commando. She knew it! And he was already hard. Hard with wanting her. She watched his face, and his eyes grew even wider, his mouth opened. Before she could scare herself away from him, she leaned forward and kissed his lower lip.

“Hera,” he moaned, and brought a hand to her face. “Gods…let me kiss you…”

She kissed him again in response, and he held the back of her head in his palm, brought her closer for a deeper kiss. His tongue touched lightly against her lips as if asking for permission, and she opened her mouth to him, tasted him, and let him taste her.

He moved slightly, freeing his other arm. He stroked her breasts through her thermal shirt, and her nipples ached with pleasure. She kissed him harder, moaning into his mouth.

He pushed her hand away from his cock. “Too much,” he said. “I don’t want to come…yet.”

Instead, he tugged at the waistband of her flannel shorts. Wow, she thought, this is really happening. Her whole body tingled, felt light and free with desire.

“Is this okay?” he asked. “Your arm? I’m not hurting you, am I?”

Hurting her? Hell no, this was the best thing ever. “Don’t stop,” she gasped. “Condom. Check my bag.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’ve got some, too.”

She kissed his neck while he fumbled with his backpack. She could hear the zipper on his pack, and he muttered a mild curse.

“Everything okay?” she murmured.

“Yeah…yeah. I found one.”

“Good,” she said, kissing and sucking at his neck. “Because I want—I need—you inside me.”

He moaned, “Mmm, I need that, too.”

The sound of foil ripping, and she waited while he rolled the condom on. And then he was nudging against her, between her legs, and she wanted him so badly she thought she would turn inside out. When he was finally in, she felt full and whole…but far from satisfied.

He stroked inside her, every movement causing ripples of pleasure to move throughout her body. He wrapped his arms around her and turned so that she was on top. She pushed herself up and down on his shaft, glorying in his hands on her hips. His touch blazed up her stomach and toward her breasts. He teased her nipples with his fingers and she moaned. When he sat up and took one of her nipples in his mouth, she nearly came undone. She lifted up and down quickly, erratically, until everything built and built and built, and the soaring feeling had nowhere else to go and exploded from her. She cried out his name, shuddering against him. Her release seemed to be all he needed, and with one more thrust, he tensed against her and pulsed inside.

“Hera,” he moaned. “Hera.”

She smiled. She’d never felt so beautiful, so powerful.

He fell backward, pulling her with him so she rested her head against his shoulder.

“I have to tell you something,” she said.

“Yeah?”

“I don’t usually sleep with shifters I’ve just met.”

He gave a deep laugh and breathed against her hair, marking her with his cheek just like he had done as a lion.

Chapter Fourteen

She felt incredible in his arms. So soft. She smelled so good, too, like night-blooming flowers, something spicy and sweet at the same time.

Everything about her was exquisite. The taut line of her neck, with her head flung back in pleasure. The slope of her breasts and the hard nubs of her nipples. He rubbed his thumb in slow circles over one, then the other.

“I have to tell you something,” he said.

He could hear the smile in her voice when she said, “Yeah?”

“Yeah. Every now and then, I like to be the one in control. Tell me, how do you feel about that?” He tweaked her nipple playfully, but he was feeling serious. Not all women liked being dominated. Would Hera?

He sat up and looked down at her face, grateful for his ability to see in dim light. Her skin was still flushed from sex, and her eyes were lowered in submission.

“I like that sometimes, too. I mean, I’ve never had it, but I’ve thought about it.”

“Then I’m going to take you again and again tonight, until you forget your name.” He leaned over and trailed kisses across her lips and down her throat. “How do you feel about that?”

“Oh yes,” she moaned.

Encouraged, he dipped his head to her chest, swirling his tongue around her breasts, drinking in her taste and her pleasure. Again and again they brought each other to the highest peaks until, exhausted, they fell asleep, arms and legs twined together.

The next morning he woke early, with the dawn. He slid carefully out from under their sleeping bag. He didn’t want to wake Hera. He wasn’t sure she’d gotten enough rest last night, and he found himself surprisingly protective of her.

Mine
, he had thought, that last time they made love.
Mine
.

The thought had startled him, although it felt completely right at the time.

It felt right even now.

Had he found the woman for him? None of his brothers had found mates yet. He was third oldest, and Mav was after him, and then their sisters, Justine and Cora, who were working across the country. He always figured their older brothers, Gabriel and Jude, would find mates first, like a mate was supposed to be awarded in order of birth. What was he going to do? Should he tell her about the whole mate thing, when he didn’t even understand it himself?

Shit. He couldn’t let her just leave once they reached Reno.

He unpacked his tent stove, and poured some water in a tiny pot to boil. He had some coffee and instant oatmeal, although he couldn’t make both at once. He tried to guess which one Hera would want first. Coffee. Definitely coffee.

His stomach growled. Between his injury and his quick shift yesterday, he needed food.

Hera was rustling around in the tent behind him, probably getting dressed. He kind of wished she wouldn’t.

He couldn’t believe how amazing last night had been. He’d never had that much sex in one night in his life. It hadn’t just been physical attraction—although there’d been plenty of that. They also had a connection.
Mine
. He shook his head. Lions didn’t have any of that weird spiritual mate stuff—that was for shapeshifting wolves. Swans, maybe. He snorted, wondering if shifter swans existed, although he’d heard of wolf packs up in the northern U.S. But there was no denying that something was between him and Hera, something bigger than the two of them.

A granola bar landed in his lap.

“I smelled coffee,” Hera said from above him, “but I thought you might be hungry.”

He grinned. “It’s like you read my mind.”

“Not hard to guess. You’re a guy. It’s the morning. Breakfast has gotta be on your mind.”

He wrapped his arm around her shin and nuzzled her thigh. “It’s not the only thing on my mind.”

“Hmm, me too,” she said. “But I’d feel a lot better about all that if we made some progress toward Reno.”

“I’ve been thinking about that. We need a car.”

Her face fell. “I’ve already wrecked two in twenty-four hours.”

“Well, maybe we’ll have to wreck Jude’s, too. It’s just too long of a hike. I could do it on my own, but…”

“I know,” she said, “I suck at hiking. It’s never been a skill set I wanted to develop.”

He tugged her hand until she joined him on the ground next to the stove. She leaned against him. Her hair smelled so good, he wished he could wear it. “You’ll get quite a bit of hiking practice today. It’s still a ways back to the ranch. How are your shoes?”

Her tennis shoes were not made for hiking, but they were better than the sandals she’d stowed in her duffel. “I’ll manage.”

After their breakfast of coffee and instant oatmeal with shared dishes and a spoon, Hera helped him take down the tent. Her shoulder flexed as she broke down the tent and shoved poles into the nylon sack. She had muscles on her. But could she protect herself, if something happened to him?

“So I’ve been thinking,” he said. “I’m going to have to leave you for a bit when I shift to lion so I can reach the ranch and talk to Jude.”

She nodded. “I figured we couldn’t go waltzing in there together.”

“It’s going to be risky enough getting his Range Rover down the driveway without bringing them all on our tail.”

“Okay. Tell me what to do.”

Gods she was gorgeous with that stubborn, resolute pout to her lips. He leaned forward and kissed it. “Do you know how to throw a punch?”

Smiling, she said, “After last night, I wouldn’t have guessed you’d be into that—”

“Oh shut up,” he said with a laugh. “I just want to make sure you can protect yourself to the best of your ability.” He shouldered the pack and gestured that they should start walking.

“If you’re offering to be my teacher, I’ll gladly learn fighting skills from Cougar Kid.” She knocked into his shoulder, but bounced right off.