Ghost Stalker (16 page)

Nick strained to subdue a huge tawny cat.

A mountain lion!

No wonder the horses were screaming. Nick rained blows upon the lion’s sides, each punch accompanied by a sickening crunch.

Why didn’t he transform? As a wolf he’d have more speed and his fangs. The cat would feel more threatened by its natural enemy.

The lion succeeded in taking a wicked swipe at Nick. But he dodged it, just outside the length of the cat’s reach, the menacing claws narrowly missing his face.

Jessie gasped and then ran, but not toward safety. No, her instincts took her toward the lion, toward Nick, who had succeeded in wrapping his legs about the creature, pinning it to the ground as the feline writhed like a snake.

“Jessie!” he called. “Get back. Run.”

It was then that she saw the ghastly yellow eyes. They turned on her, fixing with unnatural calm. Then
the cat clawed the earth in an effort to reach her. Nick held fast.

Possessed.
Only a sick or starving animal would come so close to man.

Her horses raced along the fence, trying to escape the threat, and she stood frozen, too frightened of the ghost cat to move forward and to afraid for Nick to run away.

Nick tried to choke the cat. The lion was twisting and heaving in a mad effort to get claws or teeth into Nick.

Jessie glanced frantically about for a weapon and spotted her UTV and remembered the bailing hook. She ran, reaching the passenger seat. Gripping the wicked-looking hook of metal that terminated in a perpendicular wooden handle, she charged back across the pasture, holding the hook aloft.

Nick saw her coming. “Throw it.”

She did. It landed on the ground beside his head. The cat was now on top of him, struggling to disembowel him with its hind legs. Nick grappled for the weapon, lifted it high and swung it in an arc.

Jessie looked away. The lion screamed. She couldn’t keep herself from glancing back. Nick now kneeled over the cat, driving the hook deep into its tawny side. It shuddered as the blade pierced its heart.

Jessie pressed her hand across her mouth to keep from screaming. She’d never seen anything so horrible.

There was a sizzling sound, like bacon on a hot skillet, and then an eerie green glow radiated from the lion. The next instant it went limp.

Nick stood and retrieved the hook. It was then she noted he was still shirtless and his torso was streaked with blood.

Whose blood?

“Nick!” She rushed forward, throwing her arms about him. “Are you hurt? Did it… Are you all right?”

He dropped the weapon and dragged her to his side, glancing back at the horses.

“Come away, now. Quickly.”

“But it’s dead.”

He didn’t stop as he rushed her across the pasture and through the gate.

Only then did he turn and face her. He dragged the hood from her head and raked his fingers through her hair.

She felt his anxiety at the attack and the possibility that she might be injured.

“Just frightened,” she said.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” She extended her arms out to show him. “This jacket protected me. It’s a miracle that the cat’s fangs didn’t puncture it.” A realization struck her. “This coat, it’s a part of you. Isn’t it?” He nodded.

She stared at him. “You couldn’t transform, because you gave me half your skin.”

“I told you I’d protect you.”

“At your expense! Don’t do that again, Nick.” She slid off the jacket and extended it to him. “I mean it.”

His eyes narrowed. “Why?”

“For the same reason you gave it to me. I want to protect you, too.”

He wrinkled his brow in disbelief. “Really?”

“Yes, really.” She glanced back. “I have to see if my horses are safe. I’ll bring them in tonight.”

“No.”

“But—”

“No, I said. The ghosts could use one or all of them next and I will have to kill them, just like the lion.”

His hand clasped hers and she understood everything. The ghosts could possess her precious horses, use them to attack her. She gave a cry of horror as he dragged her along.

“Ghosts do not leave their host unless it is dying or if forced out by a powerful healer. Do you understand?”

“You had to kill it.” Jessie began to tremble.

“Yes. They know of our bond. They know it is my duty to protect you.”

He gripped her hand and pulled her along. His thoughts crashed into her as they reached the road.

He felt responsible for his father’s death. He did not want to be the cause of hers, as well. They ran across the lawn and to the front steps.

“If they had injured you, I would bring you to the Healer, even at risk of his life. They would use you to force me.”

“We can’t let that happen.”

He set them in motion again, hurrying her through the front door. He rested his hand on her bare neck, guiding her farther into the house.

He slipped his hand away, breaking the connection that allowed her to feel his upheaval, and locked her door.

It wouldn’t keep the ghosts out but would keep out most possessed creatures.

The shock and violence of the attack began to sink in and Jessie began to shake, as if she were freezing to death.

He gathered her in his arms. She felt his resolve to keep her safe.

His open shirt revealed the blood that now dried on his skin. Jessie led him to the bathroom and wrung out a facecloth. Gently, she washed away the evidence of the attack, finding no mar or puncture in his smooth, taut skin. His stomach twitched as she washed below his navel. Her little finger brushed his flesh.

She could sense his thoughts changing from lions to a memory from his dream of tangled bedsheets and the musky scent of their lovemaking.

Jessie pressed her hand flat to his stomach, savoring his memories and relaying her desire to have him once more.

J
essie stripped out of her wet clothes and slipped into a silk robe, then led Nick to her bedroom, their palms pressed tight. She released him to flick on the bedside lamp, allowing her to see him, and realized that he did not need the light to see her.

He sat before her on the corner of her bed, his long legs stretched out before him and open for her to step between them.

“Life would be simpler for you if you had let me go,” he said.

“I couldn’t.”

“Why?”

She smiled. “I think I already knew.”

He rewarded her with his smile. It did things to her insides. The room suddenly felt a few degrees warmer. She wanted to go to him, but there was more to say.

“Nick, when I first saw you, I thought you were a monster. I don’t believe that anymore.”

His smile vanished so quickly, she wondered if it had been there at all. “You were right the first time.”

“Don’t say that.” She stepped closer but he lifted his hand to stop her.

“But it’s true, or at least, I have the capacity for it. It’s in my blood, as you said.”

“You aren’t like him.”

“You just witnessed what I’m capable of.”

She was unable to keep from quivering at the memory of the strength and brutality of his attack.

“We are shunned by your people and feared by man for good reason. My kind is solitary. I have been alone over decades. Yet you are so eager to offer me your heart.”

She dropped her gaze as his words hit. She was eager. He was the most appealing man she had ever met. Physically, he was unmatched. But it was the mind connection that drew her; the honesty of that joining was unlike anything she had ever known.

She reached for his hand and confirmed her suspicion as his thoughts flowed to her. “But you think my love won’t last. That I’ll hurt you or use you, like she did.”

Nick slipped his hand free as she sat beside him. “Jessie, lots of women find me attractive because they can’t see what I really am. If they could, they would run away screaming.”

Jessie stilled, knowing this was not entirely true. Humans would be terrified and her people, likely
repulsed, but what about his own kind? What about a lithe, beautiful raven.

“What about other Inanoka?”

He hesitated a moment too long and she felt the tearing in her heart.

“My kind do not forgive failure and I am the son of the most notorious Skinwalker who ever lived. It makes me an outcast among them.”

“What about Tuff?”

“A holy man, above such emotions.”

“You have no true friends?”

Another long pause. “Few. And now I have you and this connection between us that I do not understand. But it gave me hope that you would be different.”

She stalked to the dresser and then back as their roles reversed as she hunted him. “I
am
different. Because I am the
first
woman to ever see what is in your heart and it makes me want you more.”

He drew back. “It’s a mistake.”

She had no way to win this argument. She wondered if knowing what was in her thoughts would convince him. Jessie stood and untied her robe, allowing it to fall open, revealing herself to him. His gaze turned hungry as she came to him, taking his head between her hands and pressing his cheek to the naked swell of her breasts. She held him there, with his skin pressed to her own. Could he feel her heartbeat?

Could he feel her change of heart? Did he know that she was not like his mother and that she would never, ever stop loving him?

He drew back, gripping her hands as he gazed up at her.

“With you it is more than the wanting.”

She smiled. “Much more.”

He closed his eyes and inhaled, his face taking on a pained expression. “I can’t resist you.”

“Maka be blessed.”

His hands slipped from hers and he seized her hips, dragging her forward so that his teeth could scrape the sensitive skin of her breast.

He reached to her shoulders and pushed the silky fabric away, allowing it to fall at her feet.

Nick stood before her, and when she lifted her arms to embrace him, she discovered he was already naked.

“That’s hard to get used to,” she whispered and stepped into his arms. “But I like it.”

He dragged her up against him and then carried them back onto the middle of her king-size bed.

“This is a lot of territory for someone that so often sleeps alone.”

She always slept alone and with good reason. Pride made a denial spring to her lips, but then he laughed again and she saw the futility of lies. He saw the truth in her.

“I’m not alone anymore,” she whispered.

For the first time in her life, she did not have to hide what she was or what she wanted. He knew everything.

“Better still, I know how to give it to you.” His smile made promises he intended to keep.

They grinned at each other.

“That sounds…intriguing.” She leaned forward and licked the shell of his ear and plucked his earlobe into her mouth. She sucked it and his thrill of excitement pulsed through her. The reaction so startled her, she drew back to stare down at him in wonder. “This is amazing.”

He frowned. “It was…”

She sat up so that she knelt over him, with one knee pressed to each side of his lean hips. “So impatient.”

He thrust his hips, bucking hard enough to lift her completely off the bed. When she came back down, his erection was nestled between his belly and her thighs. She gasped in surprise and he laughed.

He was so powerful. He could do whatever he wanted to her and she would let him. But right now she wanted to command him, hold him, make him do her bidding. Even if it were all an illusion. She wanted him under
her
control.

He grinned and lifted his arms. But instead of taking her as he wanted, he pressed his wrists together as if they were bound and placed them above his head.

“Go ahead,” he coaxed. “Control me.”

She slipped her hands over his wrists and pinned them down. He made a show of testing his bonds, flexing his muscles so she could see the power she sought to contain. His grin was wicked and it did things to her insides.

Jessie’s hand glided along his erection, and for the first time, he lost control. He sucked in a breath through his teeth and arched back to increase the contact between
them. She felt his urge to grasp her hips and thrust deep inside her.

“So impatient,” she murmured, using his words against him.

He growled but relaxed his arms, pressing them back to the mattress. She continued her game, gliding her slick cleft along the full length of him and watching the blood vessels in his neck and forehead pulse. He was losing the battle of restraint, and she knew she could not push him much further.

She leaned forward to kiss him but decided to bite his lower lip instead and then held the soft, ripe tissue between her lips.

He bucked against her, increasing the delicious friction and making her suck in a breath. The gasp inadvertently freed him from her bite. He lifted his head and took her mouth in a deep kiss. One hand slipped from hers, and he clasped her head, bringing her closer and controlling the kiss. She pulled back, sliding away to sit on his thighs.

His erection sprang up between them like a catapult and he looked confused for an instant, then narrowed his eyes and returned his wrist to her possession.

“You’ll be sorry,” he said. The threat only excited her as she thought of what he might do in retaliation.

“I hope so,” she whispered and leaned forward to capture his lips again.

He moved so quickly that she did not have time to react. One moment she was brushing the tips of her breasts across the bare skin of his chest and the next he had captured her breast in his mouth. She arched back
at the flood of pleasure cascading through her. Jessie clutched at his head, pressing him tight, forgetting to imprison his wrists.

He moved from one aching breast to the next, loving her and laving her hot flesh with his tongue. She pulsed with desire and wetness, wanting to feel him driving deep.

“Now, please now,” she urged.

He pinned her with hungry eyes. “If you want me, then take me.”

She had never wanted anything more. Jessie rose up before him, gripping his shaft with both hands as she took possession of him. In the low light, his eyes took on a strange green cast, like the glint of an animal’s in the headlights. She held him at the ready as she rose above him. He watched her progress and she felt the restraint he exercised as she began her descent. He wanted to move, to possess, to join, yet he held himself motionless as she glided all the way down until her bottom pressed to his lean hips.