Laura dried herself off, mind unfocused. She hadn’t been able to keep from crying while in the shower, but at least Rick hadn’t heard. He had done so much for her over the last couple of days that she didn’t want her grief to be a burden to him as well.

She dressed herself in jeans and a tee from her duffel bag, after which she spent a few minutes drying and combing her hair. It felt good to do something that didn’t require any thought, as if she could partially avoid a tragedy by busying herself.

The pain and grief at Craig’s death had mostly faded to a dull ache at this point. Maybe there was only so much heartbreak someone could take before their body shuts it down. All she wanted now was to go to bed. She felt exhausted from the torrent of feelings that had been pouring through her.

As she walked out of the bathroom, Rick was turning on the TV. He was sitting on the bed where the pillows would usually be, back pressed against the wall. He looked up at her as she came into the room, his eyes searching her for some sign of how well she was holding up.

“You look tired,” he said. “Come lay down.” He gestured to the bed next to his. Always a gentleman, Rick was.

She smiled wanly at him and collapsed on the bed as he began flicking through the channels on the TV. The sound of it bothered her a bit, and she was about to ask him to turn it off when she realized what he was doing. He was pausing at each news station, looking for any stories about Craig’s death.

She sat up on the bed. She wanted to know that those assholes that had been chasing them had been caught and charged with Craig’s murder, that they were being punished.

Then she saw her photo in the corner of the screen on what looked like every nightly news show she had ever watched. “... are looking for a Laura Hamilton in connection with the murder of her brother and one of his friends in her apartment.” The anchorwoman was giving the story in the cool and professional tone that you expect to hear on a newscast, which made what she was saying all the more jarring. “Police say they found her fingerprints on the weapon that was used to murder her brother, Craig Hamilton, and that he was killed some time today. According to neighbors, one of Mr. Hamilton’s friends confronted Ms. Hamilton this afternoon when she shot him in the chest. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Witnesses say the suspect fled the scene immediately after the shooting with a large Caucasian male wearing jeans and a black t-shirt. Police are asking for anyone who has any information in regards to Laura Hamilton’s whereabouts to come forward.”

Laura sat there, her mind refusing to accept what she had just heard. They thought she had killed Craig? That the man she had shot was his friend? It didn’t make any sense.

Her mind drifted back to when Craig had passed. Her memories were fuzzy, as if the intense emotion of the experience had washed away some of the details. She remembered kneeling over his body, holding him.

Then it hit her. She had picked up the knife. She couldn’t believe how stupid she had been, but the idea that she could be accused of his murder hadn’t even crossed her mind.

“It’ll be alright Laura, nobody will believe that you really killed your brother,” Rick said. “We can turn ourselves in tomorrow and get this straightened out then.”

But Laura’s mind was working overtime now, and her stomach sank with each new thought. How had the police not caught the two men who had been chasing them? And they should have found the large silver gun next to the man she had shot, which would have at least called into question the account they had been given.

And who had told the police that the man she had shot was Craig’s friend? None of this was making sense to her right now. Just then her focus was brought back to the television, to a shot where a reporter was interviewing a well-dressed man on the street.

“… really is terrible what happened,” the man said. He had short salt and pepper hair, and was wearing an expensive looking silver suit. “Mr. Hamilton was a regular customer at some of my bars, and he was well liked by all of my staff.”

“Is it true that the second victim at the scene was one of your employees, Mr. Vascenti?”

“Yes, he was,” the man replied. “Mr. Simon was a fantastic worker, and had been friends with Mr. Hamilton for some time I believe. Some of my other staff have told me that Mr. Hamilton had mentioned that his sister had been dealing with some significant mental health issues lately, but no one thought that anything like this could happen. It’s a tragedy what happened today.”

The screen switched back to the news desk. “That was Dominic Vascenti, a local business owner and philanthropist here in New York. Once again, if anyone has any information about the whereabouts of Laura Hamilton, police are asking you to contact them immediately.”

Rick turned the TV off and stood up, coming over and sitting on her bed next to her. “We can get this all straightened out Laura. We’ll go into the police station together tomorrow morning. We’ll tell them everything that happened, from start to finish.”

“It won’t be that simple Rick. The police not catching those two men who were chasing us means they were incompetent. Or they’re dirty.” This thought led her to another, more important one. “And that man on the TV, he’s the guy who had Craig killed!” She was yelling now, but couldn’t help it. “That’s him! They said the man I shot worked for him!”

Rick nodded. “That’s the guy who your brother owed money to? Pretty ballsy for him to be on TV talking about the crime. He must be real confident to give that bit about you having mental problems. Won’t the people you work with tell the reporters the truth?”

Laura should have felt her insides drop at the mention of her work, but she didn’t think there was anywhere lower for them to go. “Damn it,” she said with a defeated sigh. “I work for an advertising agency. As soon as they hear that I’ve been accused of murder they’ll go all no comment. Staff will be told not to say anything to anyone about it. It’s part of the business to be overly concerned with your public image.”

“Really?” he asked. “You don’t think the people you work for would stand up for your good name?” He sounded as if he didn’t really believe it.

It was sometimes hard to remember that Rick came from a completely different world from hers. His world was all small town folk, people standing by their word, that sort of thing. About as far from New York as you could get, really.

“The responsibility of the management is to the company first. All their decisions will be based around what’s best for the business. And there’s really no argument that distancing themselves from me is the best thing for the business.” She was surprised how calm she sounded. As if she wasn’t just listing off all the ways she was screwed.

“Still, it’s not right,” he said with a frown.

“Maybe not, but it’s the world I live in,” Laura replied. “Lived in, I guess I should say.”

“What do you mean?” Rick asked, brows furrowing. He looked infuriatingly cute like that, the thought sitting absently in the back of her head.

“I can’t go back to New York right now,” she explained, thinking things through as she went. “Vascenti has set things up to give the police every reason to believe that I killed Craig. With a high profile case like this, the burden will be on the police to solve things quickly. If I go back there now, I’ll be in a cell, followed shortly by a court room. There will be no chance to prove I’m innocent.” She thought for a second. “Well, mostly innocent.”

“Innocent,” he replied firmly. “You were defending me.”

“I know,” she said, looking into Rick’s eyes but not really seeing them. “It’s strange. I don’t feel bad about shooting that guy, but for some reason I keep seeing his face. The look on his face when he realized…”

Rick’s arms were around her then. For the first time all day she felt safe. She let herself relax in his embrace, the warmth of his body reassuring her that she might somehow get through all of this.

She wasn’t sure how long they stayed there before a thought caused her to start. “Oh no,” she said, pushing her way out of Rick’s arms. “Oh I’m so stupid!”

“What’s wrong?” Rick asked, but she was already going into the pocket of her sweater and wasn’t listening.

She pulled out her phone and hit the power button, but nothing happened. “Oh thank god,” she said, breathing a deep sigh of relief. “The battery’s dead.”

“And that’s good?” he asked, obviously not following.

“I’m a fugitive, so the police are looking for me. That means they might try to track my cell phone.” She quickly took the back off the phone and removed the battery, just to be safe.

“They can do that?” he asked.

She paused for a moment. “I don’t really know.”

Rick tipped his head back and laughed then, a deep belly laugh that bounced off the walls. She couldn’t help but join him, though her laugh came out as more of a chuckle. Still, it felt good.

She put the phone and battery in her bag. It would probably be a long while before she could turn it on again, she supposed. Better safe than sorry though.

She went back to the bed and leaned into Rick’s arms again.

After a moment, she spoke. “Can we go back to Blackendale tomorrow? And can I stay with you for a while? I know it’s a lot to ask, but...”

He cut her off. “Of course you can, Laura. We’ll figure this thing out together, but in the meantime I want you near me.”

It was such a relief hearing those words. If Laura had any doubts about Rick’s feelings for her, they were long gone at this point. He had proven his willingness to take on her burdens well past the point where any sane man would have cut and run. She had no idea how she would have gotten through this if it wasn’t for him.

So she laid back in his arms and just listened while he talked about small things. He talked about growing up in a family of shifters, and about the silly pranks him and his brother played on each other. He spoke for almost twenty minutes about logging, about how to pick out the right trees and how to cut them down. He told her about how he had gotten his truck as a gift from his father. He talked about everything and nothing all at once.

She knew what he was doing, trying to help her forget about things, even if it was just for a little while. So she let him ramble on and on, and the deep, low sound of his voice soon lulled her to sleep.

 

Rick woke up with his back resting against the bed’s headboard and Laura curled up against him. It felt good, her sleeping there in his arms. It felt right.

Still, even the knowledge that she was coming back home with him didn’t dispel all the worries from his mind. He knew that part of Laura would never forgive herself for what had happened to Craig, regardless of whether or not she could have stopped it from happening. Further, he was sure that her pulling the trigger on the man who had been about to shoot him would haunt her. How could it not?

All in all, this wasn’t exactly the way he would have preferred to meet Laura. Still, nothing that had happened had dampened his feelings for her in any way. If anything, they had reinforced them. Laura’s willingness to throw herself in harms way for Craig and for him spoke volumes about her loyalty, about her character.

Despite this, he knew they had an uphill battle in front of them. The man they had seen on the news the night before, that Vascenti, he would not be an easy person to go up against. He had a large number of men working for him, men who would kill. He had enough money to be described as a philanthropist on the news, which also meant that he had connections with the upper class of New York, and possibly the police as well.

The thing that worried him the most, however, was how Vascenti had handled the interview on the news. He had to have looked into Laura’s background, and he had known enough to understand that her company would not want to be associated with her, which meant there was almost no one to contradict what he was saying. That meant he was clever.

Powerful was one thing. Powerful and clever, that was something else entirely. He felt the first tendrils of doubt within himself, but he tamped them down quickly. He had to be strong for Laura. Strong and smart, if they were to have any chance of getting Laura off the hook for her brother’s murder.

He felt Laura start to stir awake against him, and smiled to himself. Truth be told, he had been starting to get tired of the life of solitude in his cabin. At first, it had been a relief after the power struggle that had seen him thrown out of his clan, but it had been long enough that he had begun craving a little more excitement in his life. And while this situation may not be what he would have chosen had he been free to, now that it was his, he would find a way to straighten it out.

“Hey,” Laura said softly, looking up at him. He had been so lost in his thoughts that he hadn’t noticed her wake up.

“Hey,” he said back, smiling down at her. “You sleep okay?”

“Yeah,” she replied, a hint of a smile showing on her face. It didn’t remain for long.

“Alright, well get your ass in the shower. We need to put some distance between us and New York for now.” If the police knew they had left the city then they might be looking for them in New Jersey by now as well. They had to get moving.

“Right,” Laura said as she sat up from his embrace. He felt an urge to hold onto her for just a bit longer, but resisted it. They really did have to get going.

Rick turned the TV on again to check the news. The main story seemed to be them, but the news didn’t mention anything about roadblocks as far as New Jersey, so it looked like they were safe for now. Still, he would skip a shower for the second day in a row so they could get out of there a little faster.

The sacrifices I make he thought to himself with a little smile.

He dropped off the room key at the front desk as Laura was getting out of the shower, and they were soon on the highway again, this time driving away from the sun.

He stopped once again for a gourmet breakfast of gas station hot dogs. Laura just rolled her eyes when he commented on how he was trying to diet these days. He only ate six this time. His wounds were mostly healed by now, so his appetite was beginning to go back to normal.

They spent the whole rest of the day in truck, only stopping once for lunch. Laura talked a lot about her brother, funny stories about things he had done as a child and scams he had run. It seemed like her way of saying goodbye, since it wasn’t likely that she would be able to make his funeral. He let her talk, hoping that it might help in some small way.

Rick was starting the think that he might have actually liked the guy, regardless of his recklessness. He tended to like people who could find humor in any situation, and that description seemed to fit Craig pretty well, at least from the stories Laura told. This ended up making him even angrier with Vascenti.

As if he needed another reason.

All during the day Rick’s mind wrestled at the problem. How did you get at someone like that? Someone who most likely had multiple layers of security, wealth, and powerful connections?

Rick wasn’t accustomed to feeling intimidated, and he found he didn’t care for it very much. Growing up as a shifter meant having confidence in your ability to defend yourself, in your own inherent capability. But those things wouldn’t see them through this alone. He would need more than brawn.

They would need, he reminded himself. Laura had proven herself willing to fight, so he couldn’t in good faith try to leave her out of this. She wouldn’t let him if he tried, he suspected. While he would prefer to keep her far away from this conflict, it was her brother who had been killed. She had a right to be a part of bringing Vascenti to justice.

Rick was still trying to puzzle out some kind of plan when they arrived back at his cabin. His only real conclusion was that they needed to know more about what they were up against. The sight of his small cabin reinforced the power imbalance in this fight.

He pulled his truck in and turned it off, glancing over at Laura. She had dozed off about an hour back, and he had just let her sleep. She looked gorgeous sitting there, head pressed up against the window and hair fanned across her face.

He gave her shoulder a squeeze. “We’re back.”

“Mmmmmm,” she groaned, shifting around in her seat. Her eyes opened slowly, looking over at him.

Rick gave her shoulder one last rub then got out. The sun was hanging just over the horizon now, having raced them across the country. He grabbed Laura’s bag from the back of the truck and brought it inside. She followed him in.

He tossed the bag on the living room floor and immediately felt Laura’s presence behind him.

“Rick?” she asked quietly.

He turned to face her. Laura was stepping forward to him as he turned, her head tilted back, inviting him in. He let his hands drift down to her hips and brought his face down to hers, kissing her softly. Her lips against his felt like heaven, and he felt himself get hard. Still, this wasn’t how he wanted their first time to be, with Laura broken by her brother’s death and reaching out for any feelings she could find.

“Laura,” he began, pulling his face back.

She interrupted him. “Rick, please.” Her eyes looked tired, dulled by the days pain.

The need in her voice made him realize that it didn’t matter how he had imagined their first time together. It certainly had not been like this. There had been more rose petals, wine, and laughing. Regardless, his mate needed him now, and he couldn’t refuse her this.

He brought his face back in to hers, lips meeting and twisting against each other. He felt her tongue slide past his lips, and felt the primal part of himself rumble within him. He crushed her to his chest, her soft curves pressed against him, and teased her tongue with his. His hands drifted down past her hips and over her perfect ass.

Rick felt her moan, the sound coming more from her throat than her lips. The moan turned him on even more as all of his thoughts about wanting to wait melted away. He had been with women before, but never like this. The heat building inside him threatened to burn the world away.

He bent down and swept Laura’s legs out from under her, picking her up and starting for the bedroom, only briefly breaking their kiss as she shifted in his arms. He threw her down on the bed and climbed on top of her.

In another situation he might have worried about how shabby his place was, how much rougher than Laura’s. Here and now though, thoughts like that could find no purchase.

Rick broke away from Laura’s lips and kissed behind her ear, then down her neck. Her skin was like silk beneath his lips. Her breathing was fast now, desire having wrestled any control away from her. Away from them both.

He felt Laura’s hands pushing at his chest, the right one pushing harder. She could push all day like that without moving him an inch, but he relented from kissing her neck and allowed himself to be pushed off. As soon as his back touched the bed Laura was already on top of him, her lips and tongue pressing against his. She pulled back for a moment and pulled off her shirt, revealing the black bra and firm body beneath. He slipped out of his shirt at the same time, tossing it to the floor.

Her gaze took him in hungrily before she brought her lips down to his chest, kissing and licking. The feeling of it drove him wild with desire. He brought his hands around her back and unhooked her bra, throwing it aside with barely half a mind as to where it landed.

Laura had worked her way up to his neck now, and he could feel her bare breasts pressed against his chest. Her lips and tongue made patterns on his neck before they found his mouth again. Her tongue pressed into his mouth with an urgency that was palpable.

Rick sat up then, lips still firmly locked on Laura’s. He stood up, her legs wrapped firmly around his waist, then turned and brought them both back down on the bed, her underneath him. He broke their kiss and brought his lips down to her breasts, teasing each nipple lightly before sucking on them. He was more than firm, but Laura didn’t seem to mind, moans forcing their way out of her throat steadily.

At the same time, he started undoing Laura’s pants. She didn’t need any coaxing, sliding out of them and her panties at the same time. They joined the pile of clothes at the foot of the bed. He stood up while she was doing this and took off his pants too. Her gaze fell on his hard shaft and her breath seemed to catch for an instant.

Rick’s cock was rock hard and pointing straight at her. He felt like he was on fire, every nerve ending in his body begging him to take her now. But no, not yet.

He kneeled down at the edge of the bed and brought his mouth to Laura’s pussy. It smelled fantastic, lust and her natural scent intermixed until he couldn’t tell them apart. He kissed it softly, then let his tongue dart out to run along its length. Laura’s breath caught, and her body tensed when as touched her.

He worked his way up and down her glistening mound, softly at first, then with more pressure. Laura’s moans were coming faster and harder now, her breathing harsh. He worked his tongue over it again and again, then pressed it inside of her. Her hands found the top of his head and her pelvis arched off the bed as she came, her body shuddering with the release.

He teased her with his tongue a little more, then stood up. The sight of her there, lying on the bed, totally ready for him, it was intoxicating. He knew he couldn’t hold himself back any longer.

She shimmied back on the bed as he got on, making room for him. Rick knelt between her legs, hands planted beside each of her shoulders, and lowered his body to meet hers. The sensation of Laura’s naked body pressed up against his was indescribable. He kissed her as they pressed against each other, his cock poised at her entrance, rubbing it up and down teasingly as she writhed beneath him.

Then he was inside her, slowly sliding in as deep as he could go. A gasp broke from her lips and her body shuddered in pleasure. He began to thrust, slowly pulling back and pushing in, savoring the feel of her wrapped around him. He had never felt like this with another woman, couldn’t conceive of someone being more perfect to him.

Rick continued to take her slowly, enjoying the sound of each gasp she made, of each tremor that ran through her. He began to pump faster, feeling her beginning to reach another climax under him. He gradually sped up, his thrusts driving her into another release. This one wasn’t as quiet as the last had been, her cry of pleasure almost a shout.

He slowed then, and gradually pulled out, already missing the feeling of her wrapped around him.

Laura cocked her head and whispered to him, her voice coming out breathlessly. “What’s wrong?”

“Right now, nothing’s wrong,” he answered with a grin. “But there’s no way in hell you’re making me do all the work.” He rolled off her, but used an arm beneath Laura to bring her along, her ending up on top of him.

“So that’s how it is,” she said, smiling wickedly down at him.

“That’s how it is,” he confirmed.

She settled on top of him and reached behind, taking hold of his dick and getting it in the right position. Then she sat back and took him inside her, her warmth seeming to envelope his whole body. Rick laid back and closed his eyes, savoring the feeling of her on top of him.

Laura put her hands on his chest and began to roll her hips against his, rising and falling against him. Rick moaned as she worked up and down his length, slowly gaining intensity. He let his hands roam up her arms, his left hand squeezing one perfect breast while his right cupped her face. He could feel her pulse racing in time with his, her breath shuddering out through pursed lips.

She took her hands off his chest and sank to meet him, her lips finding his and her body pressed close. Rick started to thrust from beneath her as they kissed, each apex forcing a small moan of pleasure from her that he felt more than heard.

Her tongue continued darting into his mouth, pressing against his then retreating, teasing and sensual. Rick felt pressure building within him, and began thrusting into her harder. Seeming to sense that he was close, she sat up and put her hands back on his chest, taking control away from him. Rather than trying to slow things down, Laura rocked herself against him passionately, seeking to draw that one explosion of pleasure from him.

Finally Rick couldn’t hold it anymore. He felt his body tense and a groan escape his lips as fire engulfed him, pouring out of him and into her. Laura’s head had tilted back, face turned towards the ceiling as she shuddered at the warmth now filling her.

At last she sank down again, bringing her face down to nestle against his shoulder. Her heavy breaths warmed his neck as she cuddled into him, both of them too spent to say anything. They laid like that for a time, Rick just enjoying the feeling of her there pressed against him.

She rolled off him a few minutes later, but stayed curled up against his side. He stroked her hair with his hand as his mind wandered over everything that had happened to them over the last few days. When his recollections drifted over Craig’s death, he felt something within himself that he had not felt for a long long time.

Anger.

Oh, he had felt something similar when he had burst into Joyce’s place to see those two smug bastards standing over Laura, but that was different. That had been rage, like a bomb going off or a wildfire raging out of control, fast to come on but also fast to burn out. What he felt now was more like a well fed campfire, the kind that would last and last.

He didn’t know how they were going to manage it, but they would make Vascenti pay for what he had done. He owed it to his mate, and already he knew he would do anything for her.

They laid there in the bed and his mind worked at the problem like a dog at a bone. This bone wouldn’t be quick to snap, but he was patient, and he was persistent. Vascenti had made a very dangerous enemy in Rick and Laura, and he would soon know it.

 

As Laura laid there in Rick’s arms, she let her mind go blank. She didn’t know if there was any more grief to be found within her, most of it having already been cried out. But she did know one thing. As the grief faded, something was replacing it.

Rage.