Hunter's Moon (5 page)

It
so
did not work.

She nudged the door shut behind her softly, approaching the vanity with its big old-fashioned mirror, and studied her face in the glass. The strain was starting to show. Hell. She should have known better than try to do something normal. She wasn’t normal. Never would be.

With a grin, she pivoted a little to check herself out though. She looked good, even if she did say so herself. Even if it wasn’t PC. The corset was black vinyl, zippered up the front and laced up the back. She’d had to get Julian to tighten the back laces and he really hadn’t pulled them tight enough, but she got that. He was her uncle, her mother’s brother. He didn’t want to see her sexy, and damn it, in this thing she was sexy.

She didn’t have much in the boobs department, just a B cup, but the corset cinched everything in and then pushed it up. She even liked how it made her tattoos look. Big and full. On total display. She took a deep breath and reached for the zipper, tried to pep herself up.

So what? Who really cared what he thought of her? Between the anniversary of her mother’s death, her father’s reappearance, and a near constant want for Anthony, her emotional walls were battered. She started to tug it down and was surprised when she had to gulp down a sob. She had to face one truth at least. She cared. Too much.

Lowering her hands, she gripped the edge of the vanity and took several deep breaths. She wouldn’t cry here. Not in this house. Not in a place where anyone could walk in at any time. When she did let loose, and she knew she would, it would be the kind of uncontrollable crying she hadn’t indulged in since her mother died sixteen years earlier. It made sense. Psychologically, she knew there was nothing so cathartic as a good cry. She just hadn’t indulged one in so long she was afraid it would incapacitate her.

She was so distracted, so wrapped up in her thoughts, that she didn’t hear the door open or shut. She wasn’t aware that anyone was in the room at all until his hands came to rest on her shoulders and she damned near jumped through the ceiling.

“Go away. Just do me a favor, and get the fuck out of my life,” she said quietly. She was so done fighting with him. Done arguing, always being on guard. She met her own gaze in the mirror, knew what choice she had to make. Straightening, she turned around to face him.

“After this hunt, I’m leaving. Julian has been trying to get me to give this up for years, and well, he’s right. I need a break. I need to get away.”

He huffed. “You aren’t going anywhere, Gia. Not alone.”

She could hear the tears in her laughter and knew she was close to snapping but she didn’t care. “You really don’t get it, do you?” Oh, what a bitter twist in the heart. She shook her head. “I can’t stay here. Not with you around. Not with any werewolf around.”

Anthony’s expression could only be described as shocked. “There is no way I, or your uncle, will let you leave here alone.”

She almost smiled, and she lifted her hand to touch his face. “Do you really think you can stop me, Anthony?”

Anthony couldn’t believe what she was saying. He grabbed her shoulders and shook her a little. “Yes! You’re mine, Gia. You’re my mate. Do you really think I’m going to let you go?”

Instead of arguing, she paled and shrank back. “No,” she said, shaking her head. “I want you, sure. But I don’t want that. I don’t want you like that.”

“It’s the truth,” he answered calmly. Soothing. Her reaction was over the top and when her heart started to race, when she struggled to breathe, he was alarmed. He moved towards her but she shrank back. It looked like the action of a scared woman. An abused woman. What the hell? Julian hadn’t given him the impression she’d been her father’s victim. The idea she could ever be afraid of him cut to the bone. He followed softly.

“Baby, I would never hurt you. Never. But I need to know where this is coming from. I can’t help if I don’t know why. And I can’t walk away. Surely you know, I can’t walk away.”

It physically hurt to see her so shattered. She’d backed herself into a corner and slid down to sit on the floor. How the hell had she gotten so traumatized and Julian not done anything about it? He dropped to his knees and walked to her. She needed help and her uncle was not fulfilling that need.

“Julian’s got a lot to answer for,” he said harshly when he reached her, wiping the sweat off her brow.

“He did enough,” she said between wheezes of breath. He realized this was the beginning of a panic attack. “He buried his sister. He took me in. I never chose to burden him with more.”

“He’s family. And even I can see he loves you.” In retrospect it was crystal fucking clear. “He would have done whatever was necessary.”

She smiled a bitter smile. “You think? My father is a rogue.” She paused, he was sure it was just long enough to let it sink in. He didn’t interrupt to tell her Julian had filled him in on that much. He needed to know the rest and couldn’t risk her clamming up again. “I was sixteen. My mother…she grew up in this world. My world. My father was a Hunter. They crossed paths and ended up together. He made her quit.” She sent him a hard glare. Stubborn to the end. “And she was miserable. He tried to control every move we made, every thought we had.”

She sighed, clenched her jaw, and then finally met his gaze before speaking again. “I came home from school one day, and he’d killed her. He
waited
for me.” He wiped away her silent tears, his own heart bleeding for her. “Told me he was sorry. That he’d called Julian to come get me. And then he disappeared. I haven’t seen him since then.”

He put two fingers under her jaw and lifted her chin so she would meet his gaze. “You know we aren’t all like that, baby. You know we aren’t. I’m not.”

She cut her eyes away and he could see she was struggling not to break down. She shook her head. “There is a part of me that will never believe that. And it doesn’t matter. I didn’t want to enter into this agreement with y’all because I knew I wouldn’t be able to work with you. I’m not the only one who feels this way either. I’m just the one that got stuck with you.”

“And most of you have been hurt by rogues?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

“I can’t do anything but show you, and the rest, that I’m different. No amount of talking is going to change anything.”

One corner of her mouth curved up in a half smile. “I know. That doesn’t mean I have to stay here and watch it, though.”

She finally stood up but kept her back pressed to the wall. “Please leave, Anthony. I need to change. You know everything there is to know about me now.”

He didn’t budge. “Don’t make this harder than it has to be,” she whispered.

She really thought he was just going to leave. He did step back to give her some air, but once there was some space between them, he stopped, crossed his arms over his chest, and shook his head. “I’m not leaving, Gia. I’ll wait as long as you need, but I think you really don’t need it. I think it’s an excuse. Makes it easier to keep me, everyone, at arm’s length, doesn’t it?”

She took a deep outraged breath, and the things it did to that corset made him curse the months of abstinence. His control was shot to hell. Then she tugged on the zipper, exposing more of her cleavage.

“Don’t,” he ordered gruffly. “We need to talk and if you keep that up…”

She sauntered towards him. “You want me to stay or go? Talk or not talk?”

She circled him, her hand skimming his waist as she moved. “What about what I want? Does that count?”

He stopped her, grabbing her hands and pulling her in front of him. “Jesus. I can’t believe you have to ask that. What kind of life have you lived, baby?”

She gave him the fake smile he’d so come to hate. “Nothing so bad.” She pulled away and was almost out of the door before he stopped her.

“Enough, Gia. Enough. It’s time for the truth now.”

He pushed his body against hers, pressing her against the door so she couldn’t escape.

“I just…” She looked at the floor and muttered. “I’m not strong enough to walk away later. I thought I was, but I’m not.”

He couldn’t take her pain. It was like knives flaying his skin. Bending his head to her neck, he sucked her skin between his lips until she gasped and arched into him. “I’m going to bite you, Gia. I thought you knew what that would mean, but I’m starting to wonder.”

She tried to move away from him but he held her hips against the wall. “I know how a mate bond is formed, yes. Is that what you want to know? Don’t do that to me, Anthony. You want to fuck me. You don’t love me.”

“You’re wrong about that, baby.”

She refused to listen, just went on. “I get on your last nerve. That isn’t going to change,” she ended dryly.

Hell, the woman would be coming up with excuses forever if he gave her the chance. He didn’t. When his mouth returned to her nape, he broke the skin, mixing her blood with the enzymes in his saliva. The combination would tie them together forever.

The sweet taste of her skin against his lips was enough to make him hard as a rock, and he felt the connection between them snap together. He licked off a bead of blood and kissed the small wound, leaving a trail of kisses up her neck before claiming her lips. His hands were busy elsewhere. Ripping off her thong, dropping his costume to the floor. He lifted her easily, thrusting into her hard. He froze when she groaned. Broke the kiss and searched her face.

“Don’t stop now.” Her tone was a bit on the testy side, but her eyes were clouded with lust, her yearning open on her face.

He started a slow stroke in and out, knew that wasn’t going to last long at all with the urgency he felt, but wanted to bring her along for the ride with him.

“Next time we’re doing this in a bed,” he said gruffly, struggling to maintain control long enough to make her come first.

She chuckled. “There’s one right behind you, but you’re kind of fulfilling a fantasy of mine so I’m not complaining.”

“Is that right?” He thrust harder, the idea a serious turn-on. He planned on fulfilling every single fantasy either one of them had. “What is it?”

“Me against a wall,” she started to pant when he angled his thrusts to rub across her G-spot. “Hard and fast.”

Hell yeah. But she wasn’t quite ready for that yet. Reaching between them, he tugged the zipper on her corset down enough to expose her breasts. Beautiful. The surge of possessiveness was so intense he felt a growl rise from his throat.

He moved one arm under her ass, holding her still. With his free hand, he cupped her breast, lifting her nipple to his mouth. She smelled like vanilla and strawberries, and tasted even better. Sweet.
His
. She moaned when his teeth closed around her nipple and tugged. He felt her response in her pussy as she grew wetter around his cock. Her inner muscles clenched when he pumped into her harder.

Her moans mixed with breathy pants. The little sounds from her throat drove him harder, faster. He bit her nipple one last time before releasing it with pop and leaving a trail of kisses up her body to her neck. She gasped when he sucked the skin where he’d left his mark. Nails dug into his shoulder and she trembled, then shuddered as the orgasm rushed through her body.

It was the most incredible feeling in the world. Feeling her come around him. Feeling her come for him. He felt like he’d stepped into an abyss when he came. She was still convulsing around him, massaging his cock, sucking all the cum from him.

Her grip on his shoulders slackened and she lowered her legs. He reluctantly let her go. But it would only be long enough to get her to the bed. He turned to look at it, frowning. He wanted her at home, in his bed. Where she belonged. She walked around him, around the bed, and the frown turned to a scowl.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

She opened a door he hadn’t noticed on the opposite wall, revealing a bathroom. Excellent idea. He could explore her in full light. Wet. She’d be slick when he entered her in the small shower stall. She disappeared inside and the water came on seconds later. He followed her in. She arched an eyebrow when he stepped in behind her.

“We don’t have time for this. There’s a job to do.”

No way. He was not about to let her hunt down and kill her own father. He shook his head as he reached for the soap and began to lather her up.

“No. You need to let someone else handle this one, baby. I’ll take care of it personally.”

He spun her around to do her back, but not fast enough to miss her glare. She stiffened under his hands. He wanted to stroke her, to massage the tension from her shoulders and back, but he kept his touches impersonal. They needed to have this out.

God, how had Gia gotten in this mess? Yeah, she’d wanted to fuck him. Both times. But how could she have forgotten in the middle of that intense passion that he’d claimed her? In her own defense, he had been doing incredible, sinful things to her body. But as soon as that was over, he got bossy. There was a small part of her that even found the bossiness a turn-on. If he touched her between her legs, he’d find her wet and ready. There was only one explanation. She’d lost her damned mind.

She struggled for control, tried to calm herself as the full ramifications of what he’d done sunk in.
Face it, Gia. You could have stopped him. You didn’t want to.
God, it was true. A secret, repressed part of her had wanted, no yearned, to be tied to him so permanently. And she fucking knew better. She’d seen firsthand what happened when a domineering, obsessed werewolf lost control.