CHAPTER FIVE
Luka
A scream breaks the calm silence of the forest. Whipping around, he sees Alice for a moment before she falls to the ground and out of his sight. The shock makes Luka lose his concentration, and he shifts back to human, gasping and lying on the ground. Sweat pours over his brow. What the hell?
He hears a swish of air that signals that Naomi's shifted back to human as well. Breathing out, he gets to his feet. A few feet away, Alice is completely passed out. Blond hair is everywhere, long locks scattered around her head. Sighing, he rubs his face with his hands.
Naomi whips around to him, infuriated. "You didn't look to make sure you weren't being followed?"
"No, I didn't," he says simply. "She was supposed to be in town getting coffee. I didn't expect her back for another hour."
Naomi huffs. "That's sloppy."
"I know." Pursing his lips, Luka tries to shrug her off and steps over the grass and leaves to where Alice is. Carefully, he lifts her unconscious form up and studies her head. Running soft fingers over the back of her head, he checks for injury. "She's fine."
"Whoop-dee-doo." Naomi walks up to him, leaning against a tree.
"Would you rather she be dead?" Luka points out plainly, voice flat. "It seems unwise to have another murder on our hands, does it not?"
"We both know Nathan didn't kill her," Naomi says.
Luka turns and raises an eyebrow at her, making direct eye contact. "And you've convinced the investigator in town of that? You've convinced the police?"
Face going beet red, Naomi turns away and grinds her teeth. "It's not worth my time. I'll just erase their memory."
"Hm," he says. "Whatever you say, Naomi."
She doesn't answer that for a moment, and he can hear her breathing in and out to avoid snapping at him again. Ignoring the other shifter's behavior, he makes sure Alice is totally fine before zipping up her jacket that has fallen off of her shoulders. With a long sigh, he picks the woman up in his arms and looks back at Naomi. "I'll take her back and erase her memory. Don't stress about this. You have enough on your shoulders right now."
"Easier said than done," she says, but Luka knows she's given in. She sighs. "Just be careful. Don't use too much of your powers; I need you to have energy to deal with anything else that comes up."
"Don't underplay yourself," Luka says, a tiny smile playing at the corner of his mouth. "You and I both know your powers are stronger than mine."
"You're still a guardian of this clan." Naomi steps forward and awkwardly pats his shoulder. "Do go running with me soon. You barely got to shift, and I know it stresses you out being stuck in this form for too long."
Luka just rolls his eyes and laughs, adjusting his grip on Alice to make sure he's got her tightly in his arms. "Worry about yourself."
Uninterested in engaging in any more patronizing conversation with Naomi, he starts back toward Alice's house. The walk is silent, as Naomi walks toward town in a different direction. She's lucky she has telecommuting work she can complete from a hotel room—not to say that Luka is unhappy with his current living situation, because he isn't. Aside from the fact that his employer is an anxious woman who darts whenever she sees him, it's fine.
Walking up to the house, he's relieved to find that she left the front door unlocked so he doesn't have to hop the fence of the porch with a woman in tow. Inside, he carries up to her room and sets her down on the bed. Luka sighs and stares at himself in the window reflection.
His hair is messy, but it always is. God, he looks tired. This is a huge mess. If Nathan had just waited one second before running off on his own, everything could have been figured out. Instead, the crazy man decided to take a wild adventure, and Naomi was forced to get together a small group to go after him.
It's just him, Naomi, Raine, and Toby. It's a small group, but he and Naomi are guardians of the clan, and their combined powers should be enough. He doesn't think anyone could stand up to Naomi, not even Nathan when he's out of control.
Naomi can be controlling and ridiculous, but he feels bad for her sometimes. She's torn right and left by her guardian duties and beyond that, by her brother. Nathan's got a shifter-only condition that makes it difficult for him to control himself while shifted, and Naomi's spent her whole life trying to control him. Maybe Luka pities her for that—she'll never succeed; Nathan is a wild card.
Luka got this job because it's in the town they tracked Nathan to. He never would have expected Nathan to be bunking up with the neighbor of his employer. He's been masking his scent for days and days to stop Nathan from finding out he's here.
Returning to Alice, he stares down at her and feels kind of awkward. Aw, hell. She looks peaceful while sleeping.
He can't help that he's a flirt. It just sort of comes out, and she's cute. He is entertained by the way she blushes at the slightest provocation. Sighing, he rubs his face and brushes hair out of her face. He picks some leaves out of her thick, blond locks.
She's breathing softly. Luka furrows his eyebrows and stares down. He could have maybe tried to go after her, but it's hardly appropriate. He feels strongly that shifters and humans shouldn't date or interact in that way. This is just a little aesthetic crush. They don't know each other, and he wants it that way. It's entirely inappropriate for him to be thinking about his employer this way.
No more hesitation.
He presses his hand over her eyes, closing his own and focusing his energy. Luka breathes in and out, trying to put himself into the right space. He envisions an amber light shining out from his hand, erasing her memory. It's so silent in the room that he can hear her breathing. A shiver runs through his body and he opens his eyes.
No light. What?
He tries to focus again, tries to make that familiar light to bring her back to where she was before. God knows people treat shifters badly; he can't have her running to the police over this, especially not when they're trying to get Nathan out without causing too much of a fuss.
Putting all his energy into it, he tries to activate his memory-erasure ability. He's done it before, many times. He frowns, getting irritated. His hand looks stupid covering her face with no light emitting at all. Irritation washes over him in a wave, and he retracts his hand quickly and steps back before he does something stupid.
Gritting his teeth, Luka goes to the washroom and splashes his face with water. He looks at himself in the mirror. His expression is neutral as always, but there's a hint of something frustrated and wild in his eyes. Getting surprised out of a shift has him feeling off. Maybe that's why this is happening? But that wouldn't make sense.
After a moment, he returns to Alice's room and paces. Trying to distract himself, he cleans up the trash in her room and dusts. She doesn’t let him in here as much and subsequently it doesn't get cleaned enough.
He wanders to the bed, looking down at her. While staring down at her sleeping face, something in his heart does a backflip. He breathes in slowly, trying to bite back the childish affection.
Luka tries again and again over the next hour or so, all to no avail. He can't tell Naomi—she'll be furious with him and doubt his ability. Naomi would take any chance to become the alpha guardian of the two of them, as if the title means that much. They're chosen to be guardians and gain those powers, but shifters don’t get much of an excuse to use them except in situations like this.
He cleans up Alice's study as well, removing at least three half-finished cups of ramen and two coffee mugs. It's been a number of hours. By the time early afternoon hits, he's very much surprised that Alice isn't awake yet. Eventually, he just gives up and goes downstairs. Luka makes coffee for himself to quell the anxiety eating up his entire being.
He flips through magazines and cleans up more. He cleans up Alice's shoe tracks on the ground. He wipes down the counters again. He empties the dishwasher and adds some more dishes. None of it really makes the ugly feeling go away.
Luka doesn't even notice when he falls asleep. He's sitting on the couch when he drifts off. He doesn't dream, or if he does, he's too deep in the sleep to remember it later.
Soft, hesitant fingers wake him. He blinks, looking through narrowed eyes at a pale hand touching his forearm. It takes a moment for Luka to recognize where he is. Was all that a dream? His silent prayer, however, is immediately shut down when he opens his eyes all the way.
Alice is looking down at him with the anxious, nervous look she wore when they first met. She's always anxious, but this is different. This feels like a few steps back. He braces himself for a flood of questions, a flood of demands, a notice that he's being fired, any of it. None of those things come out of her mouth.
"S-sorry for waking you," she murmurs quietly. Alice pulls her arm back to her chest, futzing with her fingers and breaking eye contact. The woman stares down at the floor. Her jacket is gone, leaving only her tank top. It's smeared with dirt.
Luka stares at her for a moment. Something deep inside of him churns at the sight of her, but not in a bad way. He gulps. There's something so untouched about her; something innocent and clean that draws him in. A possessive streak flares suddenly, throwing him off.
"It's no problem," he breathes out. He sits up straight, dropping his hands in his lap. Biting the inside of his cheek, he stares up at her and tries to get a grip.
Evening light is streaking the inside of her home, leaving Alice illuminated in purpled light. Luka tries to hold himself back, tries to be reasonable. His heart is beating slowly. Alice shivers, covering her chest and collarbone with her arms.
"Are you cold?" The words come out of his mouth inadvertently.
"A bit," she whispers.
Luka sees something in her eyes that's like a scared mouse stuck in a corner. If that's the case, though, why did she wake him instead of just calling the cops? "Are you afraid of me?"
She pauses, then repeats her earlier comment. "A bit."
Luka finds himself inadvertently smiling at that. He breathes out, relaxing a little. Exhaustion overwhelms him. "You're in deep, little girl."
"I-I'm not a little girl," She snaps. "I'm twenty-three."
Raising an eyebrow, Luka looks up and smiles with amusement. "See? You've already taken the bait, love. Little girl."
She looks irritated, some of that soft innocence fading away. "Don't treat me like a child. You can't be more than a few years older than me."
She's not wrong. Luka's only twenty-seven, but he's not about to admit that. Standing up, he looks down at her. The distance between them is small, making her shrink back. "How do you reckon? For all you know, I'm an old god sent to judge your place on Earth."
"Nice try," Alice manages, though he can tell she's considering the possibility. "But I saw you shift, and I saw you talking to that woman. You're just a shifter."
"Just a shifter." Luka's expression is neutral, but he knows she can see something else in his eyes; some kind of fire. "Oh, how you wound my pride."
Something confident builds in Alice's expression. She counters him quickly. "I-I-I'm sure that's a fun party t-trick to reveal, but, b-but it won't work on me. I’m not s-so easily impressed."
"I suppose not, though I don’t think I’m in the habit of going to parties," he says, sitting down again. His expression sinks back to something dull just as his heart sinks. As fun as whatever flirting he's doing is, Luka knows he fucked up. He doesn't know how to fix this. He's got no clue how to erase her memory, and any minutes now Naomi is going to break his door down and ream him out.
Clara stares down at him, arms crossed in a defensive gesture. "I heard that woman talking about erasing memory. Can you do that too?"
"Yes," he says, closing his eyes and smiling softly. Inside his head, he tries to think of a logical solution but comes up blank. He could explain the situation to her and then threaten her. Luka has no doubt this woman would be far too anxious to even call the cops with a thread hanging over her head, but he doesn't really want to do that.
"Why didn't you erase my memory then?"
He was hoping she wouldn't ask that. Luka breathes out softly and lies. "I didn't want to."
He opens his eyes and stands up. Staring down at her, that same possessive streak bubbles in his chest. The urge to pull her close is far, far too strong. Luka chastises himself mentally. That train of thought is unwise.
Alice looks confused. She shrinks into herself a little. " Why?"
"I . . . " He trails off, breathing out. "I hesitated."
Gulping, Alice looks up at him. "Why did you hesitate?"
He doesn't answer, instead opting to raise an eyebrow and challenge her with the question. Alice presses her hand to his forehead, pushing bronze locks out of his face. She stares deep into his eyes, so deep Luka wonders if she can see the lie in him. Alice's eyes are gray, but there's a blue hidden behind that gray. Luka thinks, for a moment, that it's funny that a person's eyes can match their personality so well.
Ignoring Alice's question, he pushes past her and moves to the kitchen, filling a glass of water and downing it in a couple gulps. He leans into the marble, sighing. Alice isn't far behind him. She looks around the counter to stare at him again, eyes wide. "I want answers. What were you two talking about? Are you a criminal? You said you're here for someone? I want to know about you. S-stop hiding. D-don't shut me out—"
"What business is this of yours?" He turns and stares at her blankly. "Fire me if you like."
"I-I-I want to know if I should be calling the cops," she chokes out. "Are you the murderer from Charlottetown?"
That makes Luka laugh out loud, snorting. Alice doesn't look as entertained. If anything, she looks scared. Quickly, however, her expression turns to anger. She grabs him by the arm. "Answer me, you bastard—"
Luka's expression goes dark. He pulls her arm off of his and stares into her eyes before slamming her back into the fridge. He hears some poetry magnets clatter to the floor. Staring into his eyes, Alice shivers. Like this, she looks even more like scared prey.
"Are you so desperate to be close to me that you’d put yourself in the possible line of danger?" He raises an eyebrow at her. "You heard Naomi and I talking. You know we're up to something. Why aren't you more afraid? You're a fool."
"M-maybe so," she admits, steeling her expression a little and taking a deep breath. A tiny bit of confidence breathes into her features. "But if I am, I'm a curious one."
Surprised, Luka slightly lessens his grip on her wrists. Interesting. He smirks and tilts his head, flicking his tongue out against his teeth. "Have you thought of me when you lie in bed at night?"
She goes bright red but doesn't answer, mouth gaping. Luka continues. "When you use one of the vibrators you have in your drawer, do you think about me? Do you imagine me touching you?" He leans in, breathing words into the skin of her neck. "Do you dream of what it would feel like when I fuck you? Would you do it again, even knowing there's a chance I'm a murderer?"
"You're not the murderer." Alice shivers, and he backs up so she has to make eye contact with him when she speaks.
"You don't know that," he teases, rubbing his thumb over the skin of her wrist. Alice gulps. Her cheeks are red.
"I do," she says after a moment. "You talked about another man. That one's the murderer."
Shit. Luka drops his expression. "You're a smart one, but that doesn't change anything. I'm still going after someone who might be a murderer."
He thinks he's got her cornered, but the amused look that flashes in Alice's eyes. She smiles knowingly. "You said might be a murderer. You and Naomi are chasing a suspect you know is innocent, aren't you?"
Luka gulps. She's keeping up with him, and it's throwing him off. That's not how this is supposed to work. "For you to decide that would require being presumptuous as to my true character."
"I d-don't need to presume," she says, biting back what he fears is a grin. "You think you're mysterious. I'm pretty sure you're predictable. D-don't act so cool when I th-think what you really are is avoidant, j-just like me."
Luka lets go of her wrists and takes a step back. Dropping them, Alice massages the tender skin and stares him down. He grinds his teeth, frustrated with the fact that he's losing some of his usual composure but with no clue how to stop this from happening.
"You may be able to make sweeping generalizations like that, but you don't know about my life," he says, dropping the playful act in favor of something serious. "You don't know what being a shifter is really like. It's alienating. There's a reason I act like this, and contrary to what you may think, it's not just to seem distant and interesting. As you are human, you could never, ever understand that."
For the first time in the entire conversation, anger flashes in Alice's expression. "I wouldn't understand that? Really? I wouldn't understand alienation?"
She steps forward, poking him in the chest. Luka's so thrown off by her change in demeanor and sudden surge of confidence that he doesn't know what to do about it. She keeps talking. "I've been alienated all my life. I know I'm not normal. You have your shifter status, and I know that's bad. I'm sure it's harder than I could ever understand, but to say I don't know alienation? You're a fool." Alice's expression softens as she looks up at him. "I'm strange, and I'm a-afraid of people, a-and . . . and I know that. It's made things s-so, so hard for my whole life. I'm trying, here. If I'm strange, if I'm weird, if you can't stand me, don't stay here j-just for your own agenda. Stay here because you want to."
Luka's breath is caught in his chest. He doesn't know what to say. All of his senses freeze up. "I don't," he starts, then swallows. "I don't think you're that strange." He immediately chastises his own impulses. What's he fucking saying? Alice's face flushes, and Luka's mouth opens. "I'm not just here for my own agenda." That's a lie, so he doesn't know why he said it.
"Then . . . " Alice steps forward, ducking her head from what he assumes is nerves. "Then why are you here?"
Luka gulps. Her face looks so soft from here, downcast eyes and cascading, blond hair making her look like a woman pulled straight from a renaissance painting. His heart does an uncomfortable flip again, reminding him of his own weakness. He counters her question with one of his own. "Why do you want me to be here?"
Eyes widening, Alice looks up at him again. He drifts his hand to her neck, giving in to whatever is happening. He'll be leaving as soon as they've got Nathan under control again, so what's the issue?
Her lips part. "Wh—why don't you . . . let me show you?"
Alice steps forward, taking his face in her hands and pulling her down to meet him. Her kiss is soft. He wraps his arms around her, slipping his tongue into her mouth and letting her lead at first. She weaves her fingers into his hair, breathing into his lips in tiny gasps.
Her body molds into his. It's not long before Luka takes control back, pushing her back into the fridge. He nips at her bottom lip, leaning his knee between her legs. Shocked, Alice grips his arms and kisses back. His tongue flicks against her teeth. He can taste the mint toothpaste in her mouth—she must have brushed her teeth after getting up.
When he breaks off the kiss, Alice gasps into his cheek. Luka drifts his lips to her jaw, leaving a kiss there and reveling in the way her entire body shivers when he touches her. Alice holds onto him like a life raft. Her breath in the crook of his neck makes him feel more and more heated. He nips at the nape of her neck, leaving territorial marks. The knowledge that these marks will last and that she'll see them every time she looks in the mirror gives him great pleasure.
Alice fumbles with her hands, bunching her fingers in the fabric of his long-sleeve shirt. She feels so small underneath him, her shivering body an entirely separate force from his own.
Luka kisses her neck down to her collarbone, breathing into her skin. He drifts his hands to her hips and tugs them to his own. She breathes out, shuddering as he leaves open-mouthed kisses over her shoulders. When his teeth drag over the flesh, Alice rings like a bell in his hands.
"L-Luka," she breathes out, shivering.
He pulls away for a moment, making eye contact and raising his eyebrows. "Have I crossed a line? I'm so sorry."
He starts to step farther back, but Alice stops him and shakes her head before dropping her gaze to the floor. "No, you didn't . . . "
Hesitating, Luka pulls closer again and touches the bottom of her chin. He raises her head so that they can make eye contact once more. The shifter stares her down with a gaze he hopes comes across as serious and concerned. He's not all that great at regulating his facial expressions. "Do you want this? Answer me honestly."
Alice nods, breathing out shakily. "Yes." Then, a pause. "I-It's just, I . . . It's been a long time."
"So I should go slow?" He tries to understand and clarify.
She hesitates then shakes her head. "N-no, I . . . I don't want you to. I like it when you're rough," She admits, face reddening. Her nervous expression makes Luka have to fight back a smile. "I j-just wanted you to know th-that I might not be that good or as e-e-experienced as you're u-used to."
"Oh," he says, relief washing over him. "I'm not worried about that."
Alice looks dramatically more relaxed. She melts into his arms and kisses his neck. "Th-then I want everything you're willing t-to give me."
Luka is shell-shocked. The warmth of her kiss burns into his skin and electrifies his body. Shit. He tucks some of Alice's hair behind her ear and brushes his lips over the top of the cartilage. Testing, he nips at the skin. Her entire body relaxes even more, almost vibrating.
"You don’t know what you’re asking for, Ms. Lenore," he teases, whispering into her ear in a lewd tone. "What I'm willing to give you is quite a lot."
She shudders. Luka laughs, low and almost inaudible—almost. Right next to her ear, he's sure it sounds deafening. "My room or yours?"
"Mine," she breathes.
Luka doesn't hesitate. Hoisting her up by her ass, he chortles at the squeal she makes. He carries her up the stairs, leaving tiny kisses over her jaw and the nape of her neck. Once they get up to her room, he tosses her onto the bed and climbs on top of her, straddling her groin.
Alice breathes in sharply, staring up at him. Her entire expression is one of awe, wide-eyed and innocent in the way that made Luka feel so possessive earlier. Her shocked expression soon melts away into a narrowed, clever one—one that challenges him. Looking down, Luka thinks he might just like this one even more.
He leans down and nips at her neck again, making her gasp. All the while, he fumbles with her shirt, slowly pushing it up her chest. After a moment, he breaks away and strips off her tank top. Underneath, she's got a plain pink bra. He's not surprised that it's plain. If anything, the fact that it matches his expectations of her feels like something comforting and safe. Luka's not really into the "secretly sexy" girl who wears lace lingerie under all of her clothing.
Alice shifts nervously, as if waiting for his approval. He shoots a smile down at her to reassure the insecurities he's positive she has before dipping down for kiss. Alice kisses back hungrily, weaving her fingers into his thick hair again. The kiss starts out passionate from the beginning, not the one from earlier that began as gentle and experimental. He reaches behind her back to unhook her bra before slipping his fingers below the underwire to caress her breasts.
She shivers before dropping her fingers to his shirt and bringing them under the hem to touch his bare chest as well. Luka pulls away for a moment and strips off the garment, tossing it to the side. It takes a moment for the woman in front of him to move. She scans her eyes over his muscles, running her fingers over the skin.
Soon enough, Luka strips off her bra and sets it on the nightstand. Her breasts aren't as average as he thought they might be—they're larger, probably around a DD cup size. He takes them in his hands, feeling the soft flesh before dipping down and flicking his tongue against one of her nipples.
Alice jolts, surprised, but quickly relaxes. He breathes into the skin, swirling his tongue around her nipple and reveling in her reaction as he does so. She shudders underneath him, gasping quietly. Luka switches to the other one after a moment, her quiet sounds of pleasure urging him on.
He covers her nipple with his mouth, nipping at the tender skin and grinding down on her. Alice gasps, tightening her grip in the bed sheets.
Bringing his hands to Alice's skirt, he slips down her thick winter tights and pulls them off of her body. Once those are gone, he caresses the inside of her thigh and runs his fingers over her intimate areas through the thin fabric of her panties. Alice shivers, straining her hips slightly in desperation for more of his touch. Luka drifts downwards, kissing over her breasts and abdomen until he reaches her skirt. He slides that item down as well, letting it drop onto the floor.
Luka kisses the inside of her thighs, teasing. He flicks his gaze up to her, watching the desperation in her eyes as he moves open-mouthed kisses over her thighs. Once he reaches her groin, he kisses her clit through the fabric. Alice shudders, breathing shallowly.
He looks up at her again. She looks so cute from here, eyes closed and hips straining. A mess of wavy, blond hair falls in every direction, all around her head.
Slowly, he slides her panties down her thin legs. Her skin is so pale, like it's never seen the sunlight. Luka supposes it probably hasn't—she doesn't seem like the type who spends summers at the beach or long days hiking. Maybe you should take her hiking with you, part of his brain suggests, but he immediately shuts the thought down. That's not relevant or possible right now. Right now his only focus is mindless, good sex.
Once the thin layer of cotton is gone, he returns to kiss her most intimate area. Luka teases her, basking in the way her body responds to even the slightest touch. Just his breath alone makes her shudder. He swirls his tongue around her clit, practically French kissing. Alice gasps, straining her hips into him. Her hand drifts to his head, and she threads her fingers through his hair.
Luka doesn't pull away. He drifts his head down, flicking his tongue against her opening. "O-oh, my God—" Alice gasps, legs twitching.
Luka uses his hands to keep her steady, shh-ing softly. He breathes into her skin, flicking his tongue deeper and looking for her sweet spot. Alice moans when he moves his tongue.
He keeps bringing her closer to climax, moving his tongue in spirals around her clit so that she melts under every movement of his mouth. To add to the sensation, Luka rubs up and down her thigh with his left hand, circling his thumb near her erogenous zones. When she comes, it's just a small shudder that wracks her body and a quiet moan. He looks up at her, shaking in the comedown.
She smiles at him from the bed as he mounts her hips again. Luka brushes stray hair out of her face. "You up to keep going?"
She nods, practically glowing. Her cheeks have gone all pink from the pleasure. Luka can tell it's not embarrassment this time. Leaning down, he kisses the corner of her mouth. While kissing her, he unbuttons his pants.
Luka's already half hard. Pulling his jeans off and tossing them to the side, he reaches into his boxers and strokes himself to full hardness. Alice stares up at him, wondering what he's going to do next. Once Luka has his boxers off, he kisses Alice one more time. The feeling of her delicate tongue flicking inside of his mouth is better than anything.
He holds Alice's jaw in his hands with a stern, dominant expression. "Get on your hands and knees."
"Yes," she breathes, doing just as he said.
He brushes her hair all over one shoulder and murmurs into her ear with a laugh. "That's 'yes, sir' to you, sweetheart." Luka kisses the nape of her neck.
She breathes out in a shudder, almost incredulous. "Y-yes, sir."
With her face in the pillows and ass up in the air like this, she looks perfect. Luka gives her ass an experimental smack, making her yelp in surprise. In the aftershock, she laughs. Luka runs his hands all over her torso, reaching underneath her body to grasp her breasts. He kisses all the way down her back in delicate, teasing nips.
"Please," she breathes out, arms and legs shaking.
"Oh, be patient," he teases. "We're in no hurry."
He stands up, pulling away before opening the drawer of her nightstand. Luckily and surprisingly enough, there's lube and condoms inside. It's a shock to find that neither are expired. He wonders how long it's really been for her but shelves the question for later.
Luka pulls a condom over his length. After spreading some lube on his fingers, he slicks it over his length before returning to Alice. She pulls her head away in an ineffective attempt to pretend that she hadn't been watching him the entire time.
"Naughty girl," he murmurs in a quiet voice, having too much fun with this. Luka gets back on the bed and positions himself between her legs, but he doesn't push inside her just yet. Instead, he presses her thighs together firmly and pushes his length between them, rubbing past her opening and up against her clit.
Alice shivers, shifting her legs. Slowly, he pushes in and out between her thighs. Her face is in the pillows, but he can hear her breathy, desperate gasps anyway.
Luka takes a slow pace, not yet inside of her. His arms snake around her torso, one hand groping her breast and the other grinding fingers into her clit. He listens to her quiet moans, slowly and teasingly moving in and out between her thighs. Alice responds to his touch like a charm, turning him on more every time she breathes.
After a few minutes, though, she can't take it anymore. Tilting her head, she begs. "P-please, Luka. I want you."
"You want me," he repeats, amused. It's almost a shame she can't see him because he's got a real smile on his face for once. "How do you want me?"
She breathes out as he grinds himself against her. Back and forth. Alice shivers. "I want you to fuck me," she groans. "I'm tired of waiting."
Her demanding tone and sudden cursing stop Luka from chastising her for not calling him sir. He can't hold off any longer, and he doesn't want to. He's just as desperate as she is.
Pulling away from her thighs, he leans forward and kisses her back. "Alright. As you wish."
He pushes inside of her slowly, keeping a steady grip on her hips. Luka knows his cock isn't small, so he goes carefully instead of his prior domineering pace. "Let me know if it gets to be too much," he reminds her.
"Mhm." Alice nods into the pillow and closes her eyes, breathing shakily as he presses inside. She never stops him, so he pushes his entire length inside. Her warmth overwhelms him, making Luka stop for a moment just to adjust. Fuck.
When he's good and ready, Luka starts moving. "God, that's tight," he breathes, feeling her shudder. He begins slowly, pulling almost all the way out and then pushing back into her. Alice breathes underneath him, chest softly rising and falling as she does. Luka relishes it, letting himself fall into the feeling of her. He runs his fingers over her back, teasing.
Her body is so lanky and pale underneath him in comparison to his golden tan skin. He pulls in and out, beginning to thrust faster. Tiny moans spill out of Alice's mouth, muted in the pillows. Luka finds his breathing picking up with every thrust. He leans and kisses her back again, grinding inside of her.
Sensation drags him under, past his usual logic. He focuses on the pleasure of it, increasing the pace. Alice moans into the pillow. "Oh, m-my God—"
"Are you alright?" He asks in a shuddered murmur, breathing into her skin.
"More th-than alright," Alice chokes out. Her back curves inwards and she grinds her ass backwards into him. "F-faster, sir—"
She calls him sir, and Luka feels himself getting closer just from the sound of her uttering it. He runs his hands over her torso, trying to memorize the feel of her as he slams in and out. When the pace becomes too much, he grips her hips and pulls her back into him with every thrust.
"Oh—" she chokes into the pillow, shuddering under his touch.
"I'm close," he breathes, half growling.
Alice shivers, fidgeting and wiggling her hips again. He almost wishes he could see her whole face instead of just a profile, but it's better to keep it like this—more impersonal. Luka thinks about continuing this. He thinks about fucking her mouth, weaving his fingers into her hair and watching her drool on his cock. He thinks about her eyes staring up at him with her lips wrapped around him.
Swallowing, he flicks his tongue against his lips and fucks her full force. Every time his length rubs up against her g-spot, she shudders and whines into the pillow. Her reactions are all so perfect, so satisfying and predictable in the best way.
"Me too," she moans, her whole body shivering. Luka runs his hands over her back in a comforting manner.
"That's it," he breathes, pushing into her all the way to the hilt so that their hips are taut. "Come for me."
That does it for her. "Oh, fuck—"
He watches shivers run through her whole body as her pussy clenches around him.
Pushing himself the rest of the distance to his own climax, he thrusts in and out of her a couple more times before coming into the condom and wrapping his arms around her. He bends his torso over her, pulling her warm body close and panting into her back. "Sh-shit—" he stutters quietly, her tightness making his orgasm even more intense.
The comedown is intense as well. The two of them just stay there for a moment, with Alice bent over on her knees and Luka inside of her. He pants into the skin of her back, listening to her quiet whines. She shakes underneath him. As Alice's shivers slowly die down, Luka pulls out of her and steps off of the bed. Alice collapses to the side, lying on her back and breathing hot and heavy.
Luka slips the condom off and ties it closed, walking to the bathroom and throwing it away. He grabs a washcloth and cleans off his length for good measure before throwing it in the laundry bin. He'll wash that and their clothing from today pretty soon—he's not really making work for anyone but himself.
While in the bathroom, he glances at himself in the mirror. His cheeks are flushed. Hm. He's not sure he likes how that looks on him.
Running downstairs, he grabs some new undergarments before returning to Alice. He gets her some new underwear too and slips it onto her body, leaving soft kisses up her legs as he does so. She stares down at him in tired amusement, raising an eyebrow. "Th-that was . . . amazing."
"Amazing because of me," he starts, lying down next to her on the bed and brushing strands of hair out of her face. "Or amazing because it's been a long time for you?"
"Probably a b-bit of both," she admits somewhat sheepishly, "But I-I'd like to think it's mostly you. No one’s ever given me oral before.”
Luka finds himself taken aback. He furrows his eyebrows. What? "What kind of men have you been with before? Clearly, they're not treating you right. Eating a girl out is arguably the most important part of having sex with a woman."
She blushes again, looking terribly embarrassed. He watches as she hides part of her face with her hand. Luka reaches and pulls the hand away, raising an eyebrow. Alice avoids eye contact and laughs awkwardly. "My ex-fiancé, Craig, he . . ." She trails off. "It just wasn't his thing. He's really straightforward."
Luka nods, tilting his head and opening his eyes wider. He gives her an inquisitive, knowing look. "OK, but did you give him oral?”
A look of confusion crosses Alice's face. Or . . . maybe not confusion. Guilt? "Y-yeah."
Shaking his head, Luka tsks. "See, that's not fair, honey. It's got to be fair share. Did he expect oral?"
Alice looks even guiltier. She scratches her forehead and pulls her arms close. "Yeah . . . " She laughs awkwardly, but her expression looks utterly mortified.
"Don't feel bad about it." Luka flips onto his back, dropping to a neutral expression and staring at the ceiling. He folds his arms behind his head. "But I'll say this much—in a fair relationship, if one party expects oral, they should be giving it as well."
"D-does that mean I should blow you, then?" She asks, part curiosity and part teasing.
Luka's thrown off guard by that. He laughs out loud, shaking his head. "You're always surprising me, Ms. Lenore." He lets out a long, relaxed exhale. "No. No, that was a gift. You didn't expect it, and thus you do not have to return it."
He closes his eyes. There's a small, hesitant pause as he waits for Alice to say whatever she's got stuck in her mouth. After a moment, she finally does. "What if . . . I want to?"
Smiling with his eyes closed, Luka speaks. "Ah, but then you assume I'm willing for this to be a repeat occasion, don't you?"
He can hear the embarrassment in her tone. "I-I'm s-so sorry. I a-assumed-"
"I never said I'd decided either way." Luka laughs under his breath, opening his eyes and looking all the way to the side with his head still facing up.
Alice purses her lips and creases his eyebrows. "You're teasing me."
"Maybe so," he flirts, flicking his tongue against his teeth, "but why would I stop when you're so much fun to play with?"
Luka turns his head, expression dropping to somewhere blank and serious and tired. Alice stares into his eyes. While keeping up the solemn eye contact, Luka tries to count the genuine blue flecks in her irises. Her perfect pink lips are slightly parted. Of course, he is teasing, but Luka knows he probably shouldn't do this again. He needs to find a new solution and attempt to erase her memory again. Still . . . it'd be a lie to say he hadn't been fantasizing about how she would look on her knees, sucking him off, just a few minutes prior.
Luka knows he's a hypocrite, at least mentally, but that's a secret he intends to keep. Reaching forward, he brushes his thumb over Alice's lips.
He can feel her wanting to ask a question. He wants to ask a question too, but he's not entirely sure what kind. What does he want from this? Sex? Pleasure? Well, yeah. Anything else would be irrelevant.
The sound of the doorbell downstairs jolts him out of his thoughts, and he sits up abruptly. Alice yelps, sitting up as well. She covers her breasts with her hands on impulse, and Luka can’t help but laugh.
He sits up and slides out of the bed to his feet. "Don't worry, I'll get it."
Relief washes over Alice's expression, and she nods, lying down again and half burying her face in the pillow. Cute, he thinks and then berates himself for indulging that train of thought. She's cute, but she's a human, which means she's only cute within a sexual context. Romance between shifters and humans is just blatantly unrealistic.
As fast as he can, Luka pulls on his shirt and jeans from earlier. He runs fingers through his hair and casts a glance in the full-length mirror by her bedroom door before he goes downstairs. Good, the face flush is gone.
Luka can smell the other bears. He knows it's them before he even walks down the steps. Once he reaches the main landing, he sighs and thinks of what his lies will be. Naomi may be a guardian, which means she can project her thoughts into his head at will, but she certainly can't read them. Luka knows he's a good liar. He won't get caught.
Opening the door, he stares out at Raine and Naomi. "What do you need?"
Naomi's got a weird sort of expression on her face. She pushes a strand of black hair behind one ear. Raine, shorter than Naomi, is leaned against the doorway. Her short brown hair is messy around her face. He studies her face. "Something is different about you, Raine."
The other bear shifter looks up at him. "I got a haircut. I guess you wouldn't know, since you're too busy playing house."
"Goodness," he mutters, raising an eyebrow. "What have I done?"
She stares down at her nails. "You know, you could spend time with me once in a while. It wouldn't kill you."
"I will remind you," he says blankly, "that we are not mates yet. I don't have time for that right now."
"You could at least fuck me—"
Naomi rolls her eyes. "Oh, quit it, you two. That isn't the issue at hand right now, and I don’t want to deal with your couples’ quarreling.”
Luka considers correcting Naomi and reminding her that he and Raine are not a couple anymore and their long-term status as mates is not at all solidified, but he bites his tongue instead. Frankly, that entire topic is one he doesn’t feel like dealing with right now.
Glancing inside of the house, Naomi continues. “We need to get Nathan out soon.”
“Isn’t that what I told you this morning?” He raises an eyebrow.
Irritation creases the woman’s forehead. “Yeah, yeah, Mr. Smart Guy. I’ve been speaking with Liam the past few hours, and—”
“Oh, so we’re on first-name terms with the paranormal investigator now?” Luka’s voice slips into something low and nasty even as he keeps his facial expression completely blank. “Does he call you Naomi or are you letting him use your nickname, Nao?”
She shoves him in the chest, fire flaring in her eyes. Luka takes a step back into the house and shrugs. Naomi spits on the ground outside of the door. “Don’t start shit I know you won’t finish. You can’t beat me in a fight.”
“I’m not asking to fight you,” he says calmly. “Perhaps you’re the one who jumped to that conclusion? I wonder why. Is the reason you’re suddenly so ready to get out of here that you feel yourself slipping?”
Raine is fidgeting by the door, ignoring the conflict between the two guardians. She’s always wanted to be one—Luka’s always sensed her jealousy. Raine, however, has always been a weak polar bear. Her strength can’t even match up to Nathan’s, and his condition makes shifting harder and more painful for him than for anyone else.
“What do you mean, ‘slipping?’ Explain,” Naomi demands, but he can see the weakness in her eyes.
Relaxing, Luka breathes out slowly and leans against the door frame. The cold breeze from outside makes him feel calm; it brings him the rational thinking ability he needs. “Just remember what happened last time. What happened with Cameron.”
“Don’t treat me like an idiot. I know human men are bastards. You think I could ever love one? You think I could fall into that again?” Her nostrils flare and she breathes in, staring deep into Luka’s eyes. “You’re the one who smells like sex.”
Raine stands up straight, eyes widening. She breathes in as well, eyes going dark and angry. “She’s right. You do smell like sex.” She bites her lip so hard Luka’s sure it’s going to start bleeding. “Bastard.”
“Tell me, Luka,” Naomi begins, glaring, “did you sleep with her before or after you erased her memory? Have you even erased her memory yet?”
“Yes,” Luka defends himself, even if it’s a lie. He rubs his temples and sighs. “She’s been flirting with me for days. It’s just sex. Don’t act like this is any of your business.”
“Then why is it your business what I do with Liam? I’m trying to manipulate him. Men are manipulated by sex. Men are manipulated by love. I want information.”
“Because I’m not a first-name basis with Ms. Lenore,” Luka says, smiling simply. “This isn’t an accusation. I would just remind you of what we both know: human and shifter relationships—”
“—are doomed to failure. I know.” Naomi takes a step back, dropping her defensive posture. “Sorry. As long as her memory is gone, I don’t care what you do. I won’t let myself slip too far. This investigator wants our heads, especially Nathan’s, and I won’t let him have that.”
Raine gnashes her teeth and finally snaps. Standing up, she shoots a glare like ice at Luka and storms down the hill. Luka stares after her blankly, not even bothering to sigh about it. Naomi clicks her teeth. “Don’t worry about her. She’s just bitter because she still loves you.”
“She doesn’t love me,” Luka says simply. “She loves an idea of me that isn’t realistic. She wants someone much more emotive than me.” Running fingers through wavy bronze locks. “Raine hasn’t experienced love yet. She’s just trying to follow convention, and she believes I’m the best path to that.”
“Because you follow convention,” Naomi snorts. “You break the rules all the time.”
He shakes his head, a tiny smile curling his lips. “Sex doesn’t mean ‘mate,’ Naomi. I sleep with humans all the time. Don’t pretend you’re any better. You’re not.”
“I know that.” She kneads her forehead with two fingers. Naomi looks Luka directly in the eye, tone going low and serious once more. “You promise me you erased her memory?”
“Yes,” he lies with a straight face. “You’re not my babysitter. I’m your equal. Don’t forget that and don’t forget you’re capable of fault.”
“Oh, shut it.” She rolls her eyes and takes a step back from the door. “We’ll visit Nathan soon. Tonight. I’ll be back to pick you up when we’re ready, so be dressed.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Luka salutes bitterly, eyes narrowed and dead. He steps back and closes the door on her face as she waves goodbye. Staring out the window, he watches her walk down to Raine, who’s pouting and smoking at the bottom of the driveway.
He’s not wrong about him and Raine. They’ll probably end up as mates out of desperation—there are no better options, and Luka would dramatically prefer to mate with another polar bear shifter than another breed of bear shifter. It’s just cleaner that way.
"Wh-who was that?" A tired voice calls his eyes to the indoor balcony of the second floor. Alice looks down and over the railing. She's in her underwear and the tank top from earlier. Luka can't help but think that she has a nice body.
He sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. "They're other bear shifters from my clan."
"Clan? I-I thought polar bears were solitary."
Luka raises an eyebrow. "You're right, they are. Shifters are a little different, though." Going over to the stairs, he ascends while talking. "Being a shifter means you're neither human nor animal. It's helpful, I-I guess, to have community of some kind."
Breathing out, Luka scratches the back of his head. Alice wanders around to him, leaning on the railing and looking up at him. Her eyes are wide and endearing, drawing him in. Oh, God. Luka gulps and turns away. "It's just a formality. We stick together, sort of like family."
"Do you have real family, Luka?"
He closes his eyes and breathes out through his nose. Luka thinks on how to respond then shakes his head. He'll erase her memory once he regains the ability to do so, so it's probably fine.
"Mom died of cancer. Dad's in jail because of the early shifter crisis. They jailed him when I was fifteen—found out he was a shifter. People were even more scared of us then than they are now. I've been on my own ever since." Luka blinks his eyes open and waves it away. "It's not important."
"Don't say that," Alice says, looking worried. "I'm s-s-sure that's been hard beyond belief for you."
"Yes," he affirms, pushing past her and toward her room with a blank expression, "but that's not your business and not something I want to talk about."
Kneeling down, he gathers up his belt and the rest of her clothing from the floor. Luka dumps it in the laundry bin, sighing as Alice walks back into the room. Her hair's all fluffed around her head in a messy, wavy, blond tangle. Luka tries to leave, but she catches him by the arm and shakes her head.
"No. Y-you've been dodging my questions f-for days and days. A-at least talk to me."
Throwing his hands up, he sits back down on the edge of the bed and yawns. Alice flops down next to him and he turns to her with dead-looking eyes, exhausted. "What did you want to talk about, then?"
Frustration crosses her expression, making her face wrinkle and look less innocent. "A-anything, I feel like . . . " She trails off. "What were th-those people here for?"
"We're here to extract Naomi's brother, Nathan, who a paranormal investigator in town thinks killed his mate, Mihra."
"Did he?"
Luka shakes his head. "No. It's complicated."
Alice gnashes her teeth, and Luka finds that he's impressed with her ability to stop herself from snapping. That or she doesn't have the ability to snap at anyone at all—frankly, that wouldn't surprise him either. She breathes in and out then speaks with a tiny smile. "OK, fine. What else?"
"She wants to hurry things up." He closes his eyes. "I think it's because she's fucking the investigator. She referred to him as Liam."
"Isn't that an advantage if you have him on your side?"
Luka shakes his head, opening his eyes and smiling in irritation. He's not irritated with Alice. He's irritated with Naomi and the situation at large. "No. It's not an advantage if Naomi falls for him, at least. That would be a pain."
There's a pause. He can hear Alice breathing, thinking. She speaks again after a moment. "Why?"
"Some shifters strongly believe that humans and shifter relationships shouldn't occur." He lies back, staring at the ceiling. The sound of the heater breaks up the silence. "I am one of those shifters. Naomi and I are guardians. It's just that way."
Alice stares down at him, furrowing. Some of her hair falls into her face, dangling over his arm. "Didn't you just break that rule then?"
"No," he murmurs, shaking his head. "I fucked you. That's different from being mates for life."
"S-so it was just a one night stand?" There's hurt in her voice, but she swallows it down. Luka feels a little guilty. Something in his heart flips. "I-It's that important t-to you to keep to your values?"
He nods. "You'll find someone eventually. A guy who'll treat you right. If a shifter dates a human, it'll just make that human's life harder."
Wrapping an arm around Alice's torso, Luka kisses the top of her head. "We can be friends, alright? I know that probably isn't enough, but . . . " He trails off for a moment, exhaling slowly. "It's just healthier that way for both of us. It's better to cut things off before we get too far in and you get hurt."
Alice just breathes into his shoulder before slowly nodding. "You're h-hurting me now, Luka."
It takes a lot to stop himself from wincing at that. It stings like a motherfucker, but he keeps stoic. "I know. Sorry. That's just how it is."
Standing up, he wipes off his hands. "You should take a shower, alright? I'll make food, and it'll be ready when you're done."
Alice looks tired and upset, but she smiles anyway. The fact that she's not crying surprises Luka in a way that makes him almost uncomfortable. Her calm mood in this sort of situation is baffling. "Alright." She sighs. "You know, you act like a housewife."
"What you can't marry into," he teases, moving to the doorway, "get as a job."
Luka doesn't look back as he walks out the door, but he hears her sigh and get up. Not long after descending the stairs, the shower upstairs turns on. He'll shower himself once dinner is finished up.
Washing his hands under the faucet, he feels exhaustion run over him in a wave. Raine and Naomi's scents have disappeared. His sense of smell would be better if he was in bear form, but he doesn't need to locate them right now. He opens his eyes and stares at himself in the stainless steel kitchen backing.
Of course he's doing the right thing. He knows that he is. Sometimes, however, Luka wishes that the right thing didn't feel so bad.