TUCKER: Valley Enforcers, #3 (4 page)

I felt every rapid breath he took – heard every grunt and mumbled curse like it was projected through a megaphone. He tweaked my nipples roughly and kissed my neck sloppily. The release I desperately wanted to keep at bay crashed down around me. A symphony of lights and colors accompanied a deafening roar inside my body.

“Oh my God, Tucker!” I screeched, my voice cracking with the surprised force of my volume.

He held me tightly, his body never slowing down. Contrasting with the primal fuck, he lips brushed against my damp skin with a sweet kiss. “I’ve got you, Em. Keep coming for me, baby.”

I rode it out until I felt nothing but tingling pleasure that seemed to have every atom in my body exploding all at once. Like a well-oiled machine, Tucker continued to thrust up into me. His pace slowed, but he still dug deep with every grinding plunge of his hips. He was anything if not persistent. I could tell he was trying to keep his orgasm at bay, just as I had done, but my body felt like it was on fire and my heart was thumping so loudly in my chest it felt like a bass drum.

We had all night, but Tucker seemed to be making the most of every minute.

He slid a hand down to my dewy bud and started circling. The area was so sensitive I nearly fell forward with electricity. “Tucker, I can’t! No more!”

“I won’t come until you come again,” He pushed through gritted teeth.

My breath caught in my throat. The sex, the connection… just
him
– it was all so much more than I ever could have anticipated. I expected hot passion and got something ten times more than that. I let go of the last remaining thread of sanity I had. I didn’t think I’d be able to give Tucker half as much pleasure as he gave me, but I was going to try. Tremors of lust shook me with what was either an orgasm or my soul escaping my body. Tucker slid up and gripped my hips, thrusts picking back up for a few seconds before completely stopping while he came.

The bellow that erupted from him pushed me forward onto the mattress, but he fell with me. “Coming! Holy shit, holy shit – fuck, fuck!”

His teeth pulled against my skin as he came down from his own set of Earth shattering tremors. The soft scrape of his teeth turned into a cluster of kisses. And despite the unspoken contract to keep things as unromantic and hands off as we could, he slipped out of me and rolled our bodies together. His warmth disappeared for a fleeting moment while he got rid of the condom and turned the bedside lamp off. I was still tingly and disoriented when he climbed back in bed and cradled me in his arms.

“Don’t get too comfortable. I wasn’t lying about the all night thing.” His hands stroked my skin while he spoke, like he couldn’t
not
touch me. I felt the same way, but my limbs were like jelly and I was afraid that if I held his hand it would make whatever I was feeling that much more concrete.

Attempting to deflect whatever was going on inside my chest, I lifted my head and looked back at him with a raised eyebrow. “I still have at least another seven orgasms in me. I think you should be the one we’re worried about here.”

With a chucked out laugh he replied, “Because I’m the one who forgot how to breathe for a few minutes and went cross eyed?”

“My face was either buried in a mattress or aimed at the wall, so I cannot confirm or deny that statement, Mr. President.”

“Mr. President? You didn’t tell me you were into role playing, Emily.” He shifted and urged me to rest my head on his chest. It wasn’t a very good pillow and we were both covered in sweat, but I obliged. “Are you looking to be my naughty Vice President? Or are you aiming for more of an ‘I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky’ kind of thing?”

“You’re incorrigible. I’ll be your naughty Vice President for the night if you ask nicely.”

His eye twitched and he frowned for a fraction of a beat before he replaced it with a false smile. A hand slid down my back with raking fingernails that created a fresh bout of goosebumps. He cupped my bottom, giving it a tight squeeze. “I’d rather have just Emily screaming beneath me. How does that sound?”

Exhausting. It sounded exhausting. But it also sounded like magic.

True to his word, Tucker spent the night buried inside of me. We’d fall asleep, limbs tangled, and wake to the soft rocking motion of two lovers who couldn’t get enough. There were moments when we stripped away the pretenses of everything we worked so hard to build and had tender moments of passion while we moved slowly, lips sealed together. Other times, it rough and hard and fast. There was nothing more satisfying than falling asleep with Tucker still inside of me and waking to find that he had covered us with the blanket and pulled my body against his for another layer of warmth. We indulged until our muscles screamed and our eyes refused to stay open. The sun was beginning to peak through the window when we finally fell asleep for good. I was too tired to think about how good it felt to sleep in his arms or what it would mean when his alarm would go off.

It didn’t go off, though. I woke up hugging a pillow with one of Tucker’s arms possessively draped over my stomach. The light came through the window at full force, reflecting off the fresh batch of snow on the ground. I tried not to wake Tucker up as I scooted out of his hold and squinted at the alarm clock resting on top of the dresser.
11:52
.

My muscles strained with both a good and bad hurt as I quietly moved through the room gathering my borrowed clothes. I forced myself not to look back at Tucker. I made the mistake when I first climbed out of his warm bed. He mumbled and pulled the pillow I’d been holding into his arms, nuzzling his face into the case. The blanket was wrapped around him like he was vacuum sealed inside. It was totally unsexy, but that’s what made it so alluring. There was something unnaturally comforting about Tucker.

That’s why I needed to go. I needed to distance myself before he woke up and trapped me with his magnetic eyes and deep, rumbling voice.
This is why one night stands are a bad idea
. I was too much of a hopeless romantic for not so anonymous sex with hunky bear shifters who rescued me from blizzards.

I snatched my clothes from the bathroom and tossed them into an old grocery sack I found in the kitchen. I sent Kate a quick text letting her know I’d be home later in the day for Echo. I’d sent her an update as soon as I could last night, just letting her know I’d found a place to stay for the evening. I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep Tucker a secret from her. Not that I wanted to. It was probably just a conversation best had over margaritas and not text message. When I saw the little indication that my message had been delivered, I tossed my phone in my purse and headed out into the blistering cold.

Tucker warned me against shifting on his clan’s property but it was the only way I could get out without waking him. My scent was all over him and his house, anyway. He could shower the traces of me off of him, but I’d still be there in his house for a few days – mucking it up, as he described it. His place seemed far enough away from everything else. I hadn’t smelled any other bears when we drove up on the snowmobile, nor had I sensed anyone inside his house. He mentioned that he was the only person who patrolled the area of land his house was situated on, so I assumed it was safe to go out in form. Even if it wasn’t, I was willing to take the risk to avoid the awkward morning after.

I surveyed the heavily snowed perimeter, making sure to take extra time to sniff the arctic air. It smelled normal; the only scents were from Tucker and me. Building up the nerve to get naked in the below freezing weather, I jumped back and forth on my feet to muster up some body warmth. It was silly. The moment I was in form it would feel like I was cozied up in front of a fire, but the process of getting there was tough.

Not wanting to waste any more time, I quickly slipped out of Tucker’s clothes and folded them. I went to put them on the steps but hesitated. I didn’t want to put my stiff clothes back on when I got to my car, but I didn’t need a reminder of Tucker in the back of my closet.
I’ll just throw them out when I get home.
I tossed them in the bag with my clothes and jacket before shifting as quickly as I could. The ache in my muscles intensified for a few seconds of searing white pain before I felt the heat bloom and a fuzzy blanket wrap around me. My paws compressed in the snow and I did a little trot, letting the two halves of my soul merge together.

I picked up the grocery sack and my purse, arranging them as best as I could between my teeth, before following my intuition and heading towards the trees. My wolf was good with directions and I trusted her to get us back to my car. Once we got there was an entirely different situation, but I was taking the day play-by-play. Despite the gnawing whine inside my chest that had me minutes from running back up to Tucker’s cottage, I forced myself to keep going forward.

By some miracle, I reached my Jeep. By a completely other miracle, it was no longer standing vertically in a ditch. It sat roadside with a dented bumper and an envelope tucked under the windshield.

After my wolf was satisfied that there wasn’t a threat waiting for us post-shift, I slipped back into human form and quickly pulled Tucker’s clothes on over my naked body. I fished my keys out and put my coat on for an extra layer of warmth while I loaded my things into the passenger seat and grabbed the envelope.

Hello – hope you’re okay and found a warm place for the night. I saw your car this morning while I was on my way to work. I pulled her out with my truck, but I’m not a tow and I didn’t want to move it in case you were returning. I’ve put the number to the local tow place at the bottom. Your car seems in good shape, but just in case. Best of luck and safe driving.

Thank fuck for friendly strangers. I didn’t smell another shifter anywhere near my Jeep, so I was confident my pit-stop on clan property went off without a hitch. If Tucker’s clan was anything like my pack, outsiders weren’t allowed on official property. Silver Shadow was an urban clan without a rural home base, but we did have a chunk of land with little cabins and posts spread out for our people to use before or after shifts.

Whoever pulled me out of the ditch was a gift from the stars. My trusty Jeep, however old and beaten, still roared to life. I plugged my home address into the maps app on my phone, not knowing where my GPS ended up in the crash. I’d pay the extra fee for going over my data a thousand times over if it meant I was done with the entire situation.

There was a pain in my chest while I drove, and I knew this time it wasn’t from the seatbelt. I forced myself to keep going on the highway. Tucker wasn’t my mate, and I couldn’t get my heart broken again.

Tucker

The moment I woke up I realized two things: Emily was gone and my phone was vibrating on the floor. Without opening my eyes, I bent over and reached around until I felt the sleek body of my iPhone. I brought it to my ear, clearing the sleep from my throat as I answered.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah?” Justin mocked, his voice something between a laugh and a scoff. “Are you still asleep? What the fuck did you do last night, man? You’re late, and Xavier is going to have an aneurism if he has to wait another minute.”

Like rolling shades, my eyes snapped open. I looked to the glowing red lights of my clock for confirmation. Sure enough, it was ten after two. How the hell had I managed to sleep through my alarm? And why didn’t Emily wake me up?
Because she isn’t here, dickhead.
I cursed into the phone loud enough to have Justin bitching about his sensitive ears. “Cover me, man. Tell him to head out. I’ll be there in ten tops.”

“Only if I get all the juicy details about your obviously crazy night.”

“I just forgot to set an alarm. Come on, Justin. Are you going to cover me or not? I’ll owe you one.”

“You’ll owe me one and a story,” He countered. There was silence while I jumped around my room, slipping into a pair of questionable boxers and searching for my standard uniform. I could hear Justin talking to Xavier before he turned his attention back to me. “I saved you from Xav, but I’m pretty sure you’re going to get a bleeding from the big man. Sorry, bro.”

“I’ve never been late and I pick up extra shifts regularly. It’s not like I make a habit of sleeping in. We’re on Quad DF tonight, right?” I waited for his ‘uh-huh’ before signing off. “I’ll meet you there at post.”

I dressed in the same clothes from the day before, took a quick bathroom break, and jogged into the living room. Part of me hoped that Emily would be there, curled up on the couch. The couch was empty, though, and the only indication that Emily wasn’t a figment of my imagination was her scent. My house smelled like her, but I smelled like her even more. I didn’t have time to shower, but I was only working with Justin.

I swiped the keys to my snowmobile, pathetically searching for a note from Emily. I knew I was going to be late to meeting up with Justin at the post in Quad D, so I laced my boots and headed out. I was halfway to my mobile when I spotted something shiny and black sticking out of the snow.

It was already two minutes past my original ten minute estimation, and I still had an eight minute drive to the quad. I knew Justin was going to kill me, but I bent down and picked up the unidentified object. It was a wallet – Emily’s wallet. The ID inside said so. Right there next to her horribly adorable license picture was her name and address.

Emily Louise Fisher. 302 Washington Avenue, Missoula, MT 59802.

My leg bounced anxiously. The smart thing to do would be to mail the wallet to her. But the smart thing to do and what I wanted to do were two totally separate things. It would be weird if I showed up on her doorstep and said, ‘Hey, I’ve never slept better in my life than I did with you. Oh, and you’re the prettiest damn thing I’ve ever seen. Want to see where this goes?’. We both knew where it would go – how it would go. Terribly. Dating when you’re a shifter has a tendency to take a turn for the worse real quick. What’s the point in being with someone if they aren’t your mate?

The itching sensation beneath my skin was still there. I needed more of her, but it was pretty obvious that she was happy with just one night with me. I never had a problem forgetting one night stands, but there was something about Emily that made forgetting about her impossible.
Just mail it to her and be done with the entire situation.
I forced out a long sigh and jogged back up to the house. I tossed her wallet into the darkness and hurried back down to my snowmobile.

If Vex didn’t bleed me, Justin surly would for being twenty minute late. The kid hated to sit still for longer than a few minutes at a time.

Our property recently expanded by a few hundred acres. It made our patrol a hell of a lot harder. After acquiring the hunk of wilderness, Deacon and Dean worked on rezoning our areas while Alexis sat down with each of us on the Enforcers team to talk about appropriate work schedules and not overloading. Yadda yadda ya. It seemed fun at the time. More space meant more room to roam. Twenty year old me failed to think about the extra work that went into patrol. Vex was a strict leader, especially after our recent security breaches. With the weird age gaps that proved to be problematic to nearly every aspect of clan life, there weren’t any candidates for the Enforcer program. That meant we picked up the slack.

There were eight of us total, but five or six of us worked at any given time. Before the acquisition of the new land, we worked four people in rotating shifts. Now we were in teams of two covering three predetermined chunks of land. Quads A, B and C were the central and south sides of the property where the main entrance to the reserve was situated. D, E and F were the quads on the north east part of the property and G, H and I were on the north west. It was plenty of space for our clan of just over seventy.

All the Enforcers were required to live along the property edges. We were scattered throughout the quads, isolated from the rest of the clan. A few homes, like mine, already existed from previous Enforcers. Hakeem called them bachelor shacks because once one of the Enforcers mated or got tired of the outdated and typically cramped housing they upsized and built a new home. It left a few vacant places around the reserve, but we needed the space for our growing team. Justin lived in one of the affectionately named bachelor shacks, but I managed to snag Xavier’s old place after he and his family built a stunning log home a few quads over. His wife took the storybook looking cottage and modernized it just enough to make it functional, but it could only be
so
functional with two kids. It was more than enough space for me and my bear thought it was perfect, so I was willing to pay an extra hundred bucks in rent for the place.

The second Justin spotted my snowmobile from the tower, he scurried down the ladder and stalked over with a frown the size of Texas.

“I know, I know. I got caught up with something.”

His mouth closed and his nostrils flared. In the most unsubtle move in history, he leaned forward and lifted my arm up to sniff me. I tried wrestling out of his hold, but it was too late. He pulled back with a wicked grin. “You fucked a wolf? I don’t know if I should high five you for finally getting laid or turn you in for taking a
wolf
back to your place. Tell me, man, did you make her howl all night long?”

I glowered in his direction. His wiggling eyebrows didn’t amuse me in the slightest. “Don’t tell anyone or I’ll bake my pubes into cupcakes and leave them on your doorstep.”

“The fuck?” He laughed, slapping my back. Even with my coat adding a heavy layer, his palm still thudded. “You need a promotion: Tucker Dawson, lead creator in the most fucked up torture methods. Waterboarding? Hell no. Let’s make pube cupcakes. Hey! If you get any mysterious baked goods, don’t eat them. Xav was a grumpy little asshat earlier.”

“Because one of his kids is teething and the other is off of school for break. It has nothing to do with me.” I paused and added, “Okay, it has a little to do with me. It’s not a big deal. I just overslept.”

I still wasn’t sure what happened to my alarm, but it was water under the bridge. I was a little more concerned with the whole sleeping through my one night stand’s walk of shame. I could hear a twig snap three miles away if I wanted to, but I couldn’t hear Emily leave in the morning? Either wolves had an extra stealth gene I didn’t know about or I really needed my sleep.

“Uh-huh. She still there? I want to meet the little lycanthrope that has your panties in a bunch.”

“I’m not stupid enough to keep her at my place.” Obviously my answer wasn’t enough for Justin because he cocked his head to the side, the same dumb look on his face. We were barely five minutes into our ten hour shift and I was ready to punch him. “Fine. She snuck out this morning.”

“You should be happy you didn’t have to do that weird morning after shit. Do you know how many times I’ve woken up next to a three who was definitely a seven the night before? Or had one of those ‘single because she’s crazy’ chicks and had to look into getting a new identity? Or dodge the breakfast –”

I lifted my hand to stop him. “I get it.”

“Just saying. You’re lucky. C’mon. We need to get started on our patrol, but that doesn’t mean you can get out of all the details. What did this wolf girl look like?
Did she
howl? Was she hairy? Details, man! Details!”

“You’re looking to get your ass kicked today, aren’t you? Chill out. Her name is Emily and that’s all you’re going to get from me. Stop with the jokes, too. They’re not funny.”

We managed to walk three feet before his arm swung out to stop me. With a groan, he kicked the snow. “Please don’t tell me you have feelings for this girl. One night stand, Tucker, emphasis on the one night part.”

“I don’t need a lecture, Don Juan. She lives in Missoula; it’s not like we’ll ever see each other again.”

“You look like I shit in your cheerios. Look, I know it’s been a while but you can’t get caught up on the first piece of ass that shows up on your doorstep.” He clicked his tongue against his teeth and leaned in a little. “Did she show up on your doorstep?”

“She wrecked her Jeep and I found her. And I’m not caught up on a piece of ass. I just didn’t expect her to be gone… or to oversleep for that matter.”

“Some people rescue babies from burning buildings. My man Tucker rescues Little Red Riding Hood from the big bad Jeep.” He grinned and gave a half shrug. “Sounds like a porno.”

“You’d know.”

“We shared a shack for the duration of our training. Don’t pretend like I didn’t hear you or your wank bank for a solid five months.”

“Can we please stop talking about my dick?” I exclaimed.

“You and I are going to hit up Center Village this week –”

“It’s the week before Christmas! I’m not going to bar hop with you. That’s just sad. Besides, I have family shit to do. I volunteered for the Christmas Day patrol so I’m doing stuff with my family Christmas Eve.”

“We’ll go the day after Christmas. You’re my best friend, dude. That gives me license to tell you when you’re working too hard. At least come over and play a few rounds of zombies with me. That stick up your ass is going to reach your brain if you don’t loosen up.”

“If you pay for the pizza, fine. I’m sure I’ll have a meeting with Vex tonight, but I’ll come over after. Is that cool?”

“Yeah. If we don’t start patrol we’ll both be in the hot seat. Let’s go.”

The day went by as expected; Justin relentlessly pushed for more information on Emily and I desperately tried to forget her. When we broke for lunch, which was dinner for most people, I ran home for a shower. My stomach was turning inside out from the lack of food, but I knew I couldn’t face Vex smelling like sex and wolf. I scrubbed myself twice and threw everything I could in the washer that smelled like Emily. Her wallet laid by the front door like an elephant in the room. I tucked it away in a kitchen drawer and grabbed a handful of protein bars before heading back out to post.

Two hours before the end of my shift, I was understandably nervous about the lack of communication from Vex. We were friends in the only way you could be with a guy you worked long shifts with, but he was still my boss. His mate and now fiancée, Acacia, softened some of the tough man attitude. Justin told me witnessed Vex eat tofu and kale, but I was pretty sure it was another one of my friend’s stories. Despite Acacia, Vex was still a scary motherfucker. He doled out a bleeding as well as he took one. I was pretty proud that I’d gone four years without a punishment from him, but my luck was definitely changing.

He didn’t text me at all. Instead, he was waiting by the post in Quad D. Arms crossed and leaning against the beam, he looked calm and collected. He gave Justin a dismissive nod.

“So I guess I’ll just run into town and pick up some food before Domino’s closes for the night. You want your regular?”

“Sure. Thanks, man.”

He hopped on his snowmobile and left a trail of fluttery white powder in his wake. Vex rubbed his freshly shaved jaw and looked at me like he was waiting for me to explain myself. He still hadn’t said a single word, which should’ve worried me more than it did. I was ready to kill some zombie scum, throw back a few brews while stuffing my gullet with greasy shit, and crash on Justin’s couch.

“You were late today.”

“I overslept. I don’t see why it’s grounds for the firing squad. Last week, Hakeem took an extra half hour on his lunch. A few days before that Barrel didn’t finish his shift because he was too tired. Hell, I’m pretty sure this summer Xavier was late at least twice.”

Vex’s eyebrows shot up. “Chill out, Tucker. I’m not here to bitch at you.”

I huffed and dragged the back of my hand against my face. I refused to be embarrassed over my little spaz attack. “Good.”

“Xavier came to me complaining and I told him exactly what you just said. We’ve all been running on empty for a while. We haven’t even hit the middle of the season rut. I’m trying to keep morale up the best I can, but it’s hard as hell when we’re all sore and cold and over patrols. I get it. But we have a job to do. We have the clan’s safety in our hands so the slacking needs to stop.”