Rescue Me (Sawtooth Shifters, #2) (7 page)

I closed my eyes and moaned, thinking how mind-blowing the other night was before we had to go kill the jackoff who came to attack us. The lady behind me ran her cart up the back of my heels. I yelped as I turned around, and she gave me a horrible look. “Sorry.” Not really, but whatever. I turned back to Shadow before she was done glaring at me. “I thought you worked pretty well with the couch.”

“I like to have options.” Shadow’s low tone vibrated against my soul and a whole lot of other parts of my body I shouldn’t be thinking about in the middle of a giant department store. “And eventually, we’re going to get sore.”

I liked the sound of that.

I shouldn’t have been in such a good mood today. We had two credible leads on adoptions come in today, but that wasn’t all that had cheered me up. I guess cheating death for the second time will do that to a girl. Maybe now that the shock had worn off and I realized what Shadow had done for me, making sure I was safe by any means necessary up to and including putting someone’s cold body in the ground, I was finally willing to let my guard down and admit to myself what my heart had known all along.

Not that I was making light of what Shadow did. But I also knew what could’ve happened if he wasn’t there. It was an alternative that turned my stomach inside out.

This wasn’t exactly a celebration, but we both needed something good to focus on. A little light at the end of a long, dark tunnel.

He showed me there was indeed life after death.

“You never finished with me, on the couch.” I bumped against him. We needed to get whatever it was he had in mind and get out of here, fast. I was minutes away from pushing Shadow into one of these little boats in the sporting goods section and picking up where we left off. The grin he gave me didn’t help my cause. “What are we getting?”

Shadow put a small barbecue, lanterns, and a blow-up mattress in the cart. “We’re going camping.” He steered the cart out of the aisle. “We need housewares and food and then we can get back to business.”

I practically ran to the aisle that had bedding like I was on one of those game shows that you had to fill your cart in an insanely small amount of time to win. “What do you want to get for food?”

“Hamburgers. Hot dogs. Stuff to go with them.” Shadow chewed on his lip. “S’mores.”

“I haven’t had those since I was a kid.” This was a great idea. I missed cookouts. Being in Idaho, I didn’t get invited to family gatherings anymore, and I’d never gotten close enough to anyone in Granger Falls to encroach on their parties. “Wait a minute. Can you eat chocolate?”

Shadow laughed. “I’d have to take down the entire candy aisle before I got sick. It’s not great for us, but we’re bigger than other dogs so it doesn’t affect us as much.” A lady with a toddler swung her head around when Shadow referred to himself as a dog, but we quickly had the aisle to ourselves.

Reality set back in when we got back to the parking lot. “Stay here,” Shadow instructed before crossing over to my giant rescue truck. He inspected it thoroughly before waving me over. It was an easy target, I’d had it decorated with puppies and kitties and the shelter logo. But until my pickup was back in commission, we had to drive around in a giant rolling target or walk everywhere.

Sometimes going back to the shelter felt more like home than my house. I greeted all the animals then encouraged them to calm down, checking over cages and water dishes while Shadow began setting everything up. “What can I do to help?” I asked.

“Put the beer on ice and relax.” He was making quick work of the grill without even looking at the instructions. I was nervous about the beer. Since Shadow shifted, I hadn’t felt the urge to drown my sorrows, because I hadn’t had any. But I knew what went up must come down eventually.

“Oh come on.” I picked at the tape on the inflatable mattress box. “I might be a damsel in distress, but I’m not useless.”

“I never said you were.” Shadow took the box away from me before I opened it. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to do anything like this. It feels good.”

I nodded, sinking into the couch. I understood. Plus it gave me a chance to simply watch him in action. I already knew he was good with his hands. But we still knew so little about each other, so it was a treat to see how he put together our makeshift campground, the way he bit his lip when he was thinking, or talked to inanimate objects to get them to cooperate.

After putting sheets and blankets on the inflatable mattress, I collapsed on it, laughing when I bounced back up. My head was full of beer bubbles. We needed to cook some of that food.  Shadow fell beside me and I was airborne once again. He slung his arm over my stomach, settling me before he rose to all fours and crawled over to me.

Shadow stayed like that as he settled over my body, caging me in. His hair fell into my face, but even obscured, those blue eyes still pierced my soul.

“Everyone’s telling me to stay away from you.” Shadow’s voice was a deep rumble. “But I can’t.”

My pulse quickened even more. “I don’t want you to.” We’d only been together like this for a few days, but I already knew I couldn’t go back to the way my life was without him. He’d filled my empty, aching soul and it would never recover from another massive injury. Like I’d joked, I might be a damsel in distress lately, but I wasn’t stupid. “Why are they saying that?”

Shadow’s lips fell to my neck. His kisses calmed me, my heartbeat slowing to a less frenzied pace. I thought he might consume me whole until there was nothing left to do but lick the taste of me from his fingers. It should’ve scared me after what I saw him do last night. Instead I had to stop myself from begging him for more. “They think Ryker will hurt you to get to me.” He could barely catch his breath.

“Ryker was after me before you shifted.” Blood ran like slush in my veins. “If they want you to stay away from me, it’s to hurt
me
.” Taking fistfuls of his hair, I pulled him back down to my body. Even that little bit of distance had caused me pain, the possibility of losing him too real.

Shadow didn’t kiss me again. His heartbeat thundered against my belly. Anger danced in his eyes. “I never thought of it that way.” He shook his head at some imaginary enemy. They weren’t with us, but they were all too real. “I’ll never let that happen.”

“I hate that asshole, but he brought you to me.” Everything inside me melted. “I should thank him. It will kill him to know that everything he’s trying to do to hurt us makes us stronger.”

“Evil isn’t always smart,” Shadow said. “That’s what I keep trying to tell Major. That it can backfire.”

“It can and it will.” It was nice to know that for once, the black fog that had taken over my life was going to lift. I just had to let it. It would’ve been easy to push Shadow away and wrap the darkness around me like a security blanket. Letting Shadow in was scary, but it was the smartest thing I could do. “You know what I think is evil right now?”

“What?”

“Your clothes.” I giggled, pushing up his sweatshirt.
Who the hell was I?
Giggling. I hadn’t giggled since...anyway, I liked it. Even more, I loved the way the hard plane of his stomach rippled under my fingers, more so when his breath caught and hitched as I ran my hand over his chest. He pulled the sweatshirt up over his head and lay back down, hands behind his head.

I could get used to this.

If those muscles felt good under my fingers, I bet my tongue would like them even more. It wasn’t much of a gamble. Shadow sucked in a sharp breath when I made contact, tracing the outline of each muscle. I knelt between his legs, my tongue had freed up my hands to stroke the solid outline of his erection. Shadow groaned, shifting underneath me, but he kept his hands to himself.

My eyes flicked up, silently begging him to touch me, but nope, it was his turn to receive. Okay. My fingers trembled with need as I unzipped his jeans, my mouth falling to the opening before I took his cock out. Shadow bucked underneath me, his own plea for me to free his shaft, but two could play this game. Whatever I could reach in the small opening the zipper provided me, I licked and stroked while Shadow squirmed.

I never saw him coming. He flipped me to my back, holding me down by my shoulders. His eyes smoldered with desire and need. They were like two twin full moons, glowing in the low light of the lanterns. “You play dirty, Trina.”

“Do I?” I batted my eyelashes, fighting a grin. “What about you?”

Shadow sat beside me, sliding his pants down his thighs, easing them away from his ankles. He pumped his shaft in his hand, the tip was already glistening. “I believe in playing fair.”

“Show me.” I put my hands behind my head, assuming the position. Shadow ran his hand up the inside seam of my jeans, squeezing when he reached the apex of my thighs. I was already throbbing, ready for his touch as he rubbed against the denim, the friction hitting my clit and folds through the fabric. Turnabout was fair play as I shifted beneath his grip. His fingers swirled and pressed, stroking and curling. He had to know what he was doing to me. He already had me dripping, and my jeans would be soaking wet in no time.

He couldn’t make me come like this. I groaned, burying my face in my shoulder to try to keep everything inside me. “Oh, no.” Shadow shook his head. “I don’t want you to hide from me. Any of you.” He stopped, his hand danced lightly on my thigh. It was more torturous than what he’d been doing to me.

“You have me.” I tried to keep my cool, still fully dressed and trembling with need.

“Strip for me, Trina.” A wicked grin spread across his face. “Show me what
I’ve
got.”

I’d pictured a hasty discard of my clothes. Pushing them off and forgetting about them. But
strip for me
had a totally different connotation. Stripping was a show, an appetizer, an experience. It was addition by subtraction, and it required a layer of finesse I hadn’t considered since Ryan had asked me to marry him. I thought he’d taken that part of me with him to the grave, but those words made something stir inside me that I was so happy to welcome back. Like wanting to burst into tears happy to see it. But I wasn’t going to break down in front of Shadow. I’d never be able to convince him they were joyful tears. Instead, I was going to give the man the show he asked for.

Wobbling as I stood on the mattress, I lifted my shirt up to the bottom of my bra, caressing my bare stomach, careful to ignore where it wasn’t smooth and flat. Shadow sat at my feet, watching me with hungry eyes. I couldn’t afford shame or shyness or I’d never sell this. Especially to myself. My own touch gave me shivers, and Shadow’s mouth moved, like he wanted to say something but didn’t want to break the spell. I pulled the shirt up slowly, dropping it down over his head, brushing his bare shoulder, his stomach, catching the tip of his cock on the way down. He moaned softly, but his eyes snapped right back up. It was heady, having his full attention like this, just dying to see more of me. Turning away from him, I looked over my shoulder and smiled. He couldn’t tell what I was doing at this angle. Shadow’s Adam’s apple bobbed as I bent over, my head down near my thigh as I unzipped my jeans, slowly rolling them down over my ass.

Shadow groaned, his hands trailing down my bare thighs as I pushed the denim down. He took the jeans away from my feet as I stepped out of them, holding my hand so I didn’t fall. The look in his eyes made it hard to breathe. I knelt down in front of him, kissing him on the lips.

“I want you to do the rest.” My words were little more than a breath against his cheek.

Shadow kissed me in response. I moaned under his lips, letting him inside. Our tongues tangled, breathing became one as he slid my bra straps off my shoulders, unhooking the bra. My nipples hardened on contact against his chest. His kiss became more urgent as he hooked his thumbs in my underwear, sliding them down my legs.

“Lay down, Trina.” I loved the way my name sounded when we were like this. The
r
came out as a growl, the
a
breathless. “It’s my turn now.”

I did as I was told, letting his hungry eyes roam over my body for what seemed like forever before he touched me. Shadow’s hands were rough, callouses scraping the tender skin of my nipples. They pebbled at the divine sensation, he brushed back and forth, watching them with fascination as they swelled. His lips took care of that, taking one of them into his mouth as he continued to work my heavy breast in his other hand. The contrast, soft against sharp, sucking against scraping, sent liquid lightning through my veins. I writhed underneath him, wanton and so needy. His cock was hard against my hip as he matched my rhythm.

Shadow’s hair tickled my stomach as he kissed his way lower. Those rough hands followed, stilling my hips when he reached the strip of hair that led to my sex. He licked the length of it, and holy crap it tickled. I’d never had anyone pay so much attention to that tiny area before, and I was going to lose my mind.

“I think this is where I left off.” Shadow’s growl vibrated against my sex and I was pulsing, wet, and ready for him before his tongue touched my clit. He flicked it so softly I thought I was going to jump through the roof, but he still held me firm against the air mattress. No escape, even if I was fool enough to want it.

His tongue swirled around my clit, capturing it, rolling it around, before giving me a second of relief. My hands tangled in his hair, pulling as a reward, stroking it for encouragement. This is how we were communicating now. Sensations. Feelings. Pure instinct.

My body turned to jelly when he let go. Not that I was going anywhere. Those rough fingers played with the hair just above the spot his tongue had teased.

“I’ve never wanted to be inside another person like I want to be inside you right now, Trina.” His fingers fell to my opening; two of them slipped deep inside. He curled them forward, thrusting, hitting the spot that was going to send me over the brink, massaging it as he moved. “I want to see through your eyes, hear your thoughts.”

“No, you don’t.” I could barely speak as he lowered his mouth back to my clit. “It’s not what you think it is.”