Chapter 6
“He’s not really a king,” James said thoughtfully. “We don’t have kings.”
“So, what then? Alpha?”
“That’s a wolf term.” His look was warning.
“Well, what would you call him?” Casey looked over to where Nathaniel was in close conference with Victor, an older man with a grizzled beard.
“Mostly, we just call him Nathaniel. Everyone knows who he is.” James took a sip of beer and cracked his neck.
“Who was the white wolf?”
“Old enemy.” James shrugged. “It’s…difficult to explain.”
“You just don’t want to tell me, because you don’t want me spilling all your secrets.”
“That, too,” he admitted.
“I’m not going to.” Casey grinned at his dubious look. “I mean, come on—I tell my family and friends I saw three men turn into bears and fight a pack of thirty wolves, and I shot a few wolves. I don’t even have a scratch. They’re going to lock me up and make sure I never have a shotgun again.”
“You make a good point.” James settled back in his chair. “We’re just told…never to let anyone know. We grow up learning to hide what we are.”
“So are you humans who transform into bears, or bears who transform into humans?”
“Both? I don’t know. I guess we’re human. We’re always born human, and then we learn to control the transformations. I hated learning to walk as a human, I still remember that. It’s so much easier with four legs than two.”
“I hadn’t thought of that.” Casey took a sip of beer. “So there’s…a whole world out there of people like you.”
“Shifters. Yep.” He looked up. “Nathaniel’s coming to talk to you. I’ll go check on the burgers.”
“How are you?” Nathaniel asked as he arrived.
“I’m going to have a pretty righteous bruise from the shotgun, but otherwise okay.” Casey smiled up at him. “How are you?”
“I’ll be all right. You got all of the major things.” He gave a rueful smile at his arms; peppered with Band-Aids. “And as you saw, I heal quickly.”
“Ridiculously quickly,” Casey agreed. “So…what happened out there?”
“You remember all that stuff your dad told you about wolves? Well, it’s usually true…but lately, around here; the wolves are getting bolder. Every year, a few more farmers were reporting livestock gone, people were reporting that they lost their pets, kids were saying they saw wolves in the woods.” He sighed and rubbed his head. “Well, that wolf you saw, the white one—he wasn’t just a shifter; he was a mage, too. He was doing something to the native wolves around here, changing them and their instincts. And he was part of the spell, there was no undoing it without him agreeing to, or dying. We told him what he was doing wasn’t natural, that we’d stop him if he didn’t stop it on his own. And he’s been out for us ever since. Today, he thought he’d caught me alone. And he sent real wolves, not shifters, to make a point.” He sighed heavily. “They didn’t have to die.”
“I’m sorry,” Casey murmured.
“It’s not your fault. They’d been turned into monsters. Nothing anyone did would have kept them from attacking. But maybe…maybe the ones that are left will turn back into what they were.” He looked over at her, draining the last of his beer. “Thank you for coming out there. I hoped you wouldn’t, but it was a close fight, even with James and Victor. If you hadn’t been there; I don’t know what would have happened.”
“I’m glad you’re safe.” Casey leaned back in her seat and crossed her legs, letting her eyes drift over the muscles in his arms and across his chest.
He noticed, and his eyes darkened with desire.
“Come with me.”
“But James—”
“Come on.” He pulled her into the house and up the stairs, stripping off his shirt when they reached the landing and pinning her against the wall. One kiss and her knees went weak. “So, one thing to know about shifters…”
“Yes?” His fingers were undoing the buttons on her shirt, and hers were tangling with his belt buckle.
“They have exceptionally good hearing.” He smiled down at her. “So you’re going to need to be very quiet.” His eyes locked on hers and his smile grew as he trailed a finger down between her legs, watching her bite her lip to keep from gasping. “Good.”
He picked her up and tossed her onto the bed, dragging her shorts off and smiling appreciatively at the lacey thong she was wearing.
“Very nice.”
“Your turn.” She shrugged out of her shirt and watched hungrily as he slipped off his pants and briefs, and bit her lip when she saw him at last. “Also, uh…very nice.”
“You should be naked,” he said lazily. He watched as her panties and bra came off, smiling, and then he crawled onto the bed with her, kissing her as his fingers slid between her legs again. She arched when he parted her. His thumb found her clit and stroked it gently, and his fingers slipped easily inside.
“So wet already.”
Casey bit back a moan.
“Good girl.” But he shifted, kissing down her torso and along the curve of her hip, tracing it with his lips and tongue before bending to put his head between her legs.
“Oh, no fair.” She whimpered when his tongue parted her. He was kissing, licking, stroking as his fingers thrust into her, and she bit down on her own fingers to keep from moaning again.
“Tell me what you want, Casey. Tell me what you want me to do to you.”
“Please don’t stop,” she whispered, her back arched. She was not going to be able to stay quiet much longer if he kept going like this.
He must have known it, too, because his fingers withdrew and his lips trailed up. His kisses traced around the curve of her breast, and his tongue flicked at her nipple. When she gasped aloud, his hand came down over her mouth.
“I think you might be quieter with something in your mouth,” he suggested. His grin turned into a gasp of his own when her hands found him, and he lay back as she moved.
She licked up the length of him, circling the tip with her tongue and kissing it before taking him in her mouth. She couldn’t close to fit the length of him, but she took him as deep as she could, tongue and lips working, little moans starting in her throat when she saw him clench his hands to stay silent.
When she straddled him, he held himself rigid while she sank down onto his cock. His eyes were open to slits, and he looked pleased to see her gasp at the size of him. She moved her hips cautiously, and he groaned as she rode him, his hands clenching around her ass.
“More.” A command, and she felt herself clench around him at the sound of it.
“Yes…sir.”
He growled at that and flipped her over, pinning her hands over her head as he drove into her. Casey bit her lip to muffle her cries. He was driving deep, grinding his hips against her so that she shivered with pleasure, and she was writhing, moving her hips to beg for more. It would never be enough, she was sure. She wanted more of him; she wanted him to ride her hard. She wanted to make him come.
“Turn over,” he whispered in her ear.
“Yes, sir.”
“You keep doing that,” he muttered, “and I will be very tempted to make you scream my name.”
“Mmm.” Casey settled on her stomach and lifted her hips. She bit her lips when he slipped his fingers inside her, parting her for his cock.
He fucked her slowly, just like he’d promised earlier, and Casey felt herself melting at each stroke. She was pressing her hips back. His hand covered her mouth, and she could hear his harsh breathing in her ear. Each thrust was slow, and she whimpered against his fingers when he withdrew.
Slowly, so slowly she could barely be sure of it, his pace increased. He drove harder, faster into her, and Casey spread her legs to let him go deeper. She could feel her pleasure rising, urgency building each time he thrust into her, and from his faint growl in her ear, she knew he felt the same.
It seemed forever that her pleasure built, but they both tipped over the edge unexpectedly, in a moment. His lips found hers as she came, and pleasure spiraled outwards, making her mind go blank as she spasmed around him. Their hips were still moving, greedy for more even as they reached their climax.
When the world came back to normal, Casey heard him laugh, low in his throat.
“Perfect,” he murmured. He rolled away, and then held out his arms so she could nestle against him.
“Perfect,” she agreed.
The End