Lost (Shifter Island Book 1) (9 page)

“Smell… what?”

But he shook his head. “Go to him,” he said, and got up from his chair. “You’d find a way to do that even if we kept you apart, so you might as well be together. It will help you decide whether the bond is truly there or not.” He paused. “As I told my son, this will not be simple. You will have to prove yourselves: to the elders, to this family, and to the rest of the community. If you can manage to do that, you’ll have a great deal of responsibility here.”

“For–?”

“Go to him,” Jeremiah said firmly. “Don’t stray. He’s waiting for you.”

Clearly, he was done talking for now. With Abby frowning at him, lost in confusion, he went into the bedroom and shut the door.

He’s waiting for you.

That was enough to send her out of the house in search of the man she’d begun to feel she couldn’t live without.

Somehow, she knew exactly where to look. It was only a couple of minutes’ walk from the house, though that was far enough that she could have spent hours looking in all the wrong places—being watched the whole time by the people who lived here.

She tried to tell herself that they didn’t seem angry at her, or fearful; they were just curious.

No, scratch that; a couple of them were obviously very unhappy.

She found Aaron sitting on a boulder at the edge of the woods, knees drawn up to his chest. She had the feeling that he came to sit there often, to watch the birds and squirrels in the trees, or maybe just to think.

“Don’t do anything because you think it’s what I want,” he said.

“I’m not.”

That wasn’t quite true. His wanting her so badly was definitely part of what was urging her to stay.

There wasn’t room for her to sit beside him, so she leaned against the boulder.

“There are people here who will never accept you, no matter what the elders decide,” he said after a minute.

“There are?”

“Not many. A few. They’ll have their reasons.”

She thought of those unhappy faces she’d passed on the way out here. One of them belonged to a woman about her age, another to an older woman, another to a man with white hair. Another to a man who seemed confused in a way none of the others did. He’d sniffed her repeatedly as she walked by, then scurried off into the woods. That had given her a rush of the heebie-jeebies, but she supposed it was really no different than being scrutinized by some of the homeless people who hung around near her office—the ones who were clearly listening to voices inside their heads.

That was a bad direction to allow her thoughts to stray to. With a small shudder, she put all of that aside.

Most of it, anyway.

“They wanted you to pick somebody from here, didn’t they?” she asked. “A woman to marry, I mean.”

“Yes.”

“Anybody in particular?”

“There are two or three,” Aaron said with a shrug. “I’ve thought about it over the years. When we were small, I thought for a while that I might”—he paused—“marry Katrin. Luca and I grew up with her. But she preferred him. Then, perhaps Jenna.”

“You’re telling me about your exes.”

He frowned.

“Your ex-girlfriends,” Abby explained. “But I guess they weren’t your girlfriends. I was in love with a boy named Davey when we were in the first grade, but he wasn’t my boyfriend. And the boyfriends I had in high school—” She cut herself off. “I’m babbling, aren’t I? I mean… it’s okay. Your father said there are women here he wanted you to pick from. He still does, I guess.”

“Very much so.”

“I’ll meet them, probably. Won’t I?”

“Eventually, yes. Maybe sooner than ‘eventually’.”

“Will I have to fight them for you? Have a chick fight in the mud? Pull their hair out or whatever?”

“I… would hope not. I doubt that it would end well.”

She’d been kidding; she’d never fought with anyone over a man, although she could vaguely remember having her milk spilled at lunchtime by another first-grader who’d staked out Davey as her own. But Aaron seemed serious—and yes, the women here all seemed like they were much better fighters than Abby could ever dream of being. That made her shudder.

“They wouldn’t—” she stammered. “Would they?”

Shaking his head, he wove the fingers of one hand into her hair and smoothed it back away from her shoulder. “No. They wouldn’t, not once I’ve announced my decision. And you don’t need to worry about me being undecided. They were only idle thoughts. I have no real interest in any of them.”

“But you did.”

“It was nothing like what I feel about you.”

And he slid down from the rock, wrapped his arms around her, and kissed her in a way that made his feelings very clear. It was firm, passionate, demanding—and tender and gentle, all at the same time. The whole time, she could feel his cock pressing against her, and a warmth rose in her breasts and belly to answer it.

“Would it be awful if we–” she whispered.

“Yes,” he said. “But I don’t care.”

He led her around the slope of the hill to a rocky area out of sight of the village. As they got closer, she could see that there were sheltered places behind some of the rocks. Some of them were nothing more than small alcoves, while others looked like they might be the entrance to a cave. Aaron chose one where some of the rocks were coated with thick, bright green moss from which tiny, light blue flowers had sprouted.

“Pretty,” Abby murmured.

She had no chance to say anything more. Swiftly, Aaron pressed her back against the rock wall and resumed his exploration of her lips, her tongue, her throat. His hands gripped her backside, kneading and rubbing the soft flesh, then moved to her breasts. He pinched her aching nipples through the fabric of her dress and made them as hard as pebbles. Groaning softly, she clutched at his arms, the back of his shirt, his taut, muscular ass.

When she thought she couldn’t wait any longer, he pulled up her skirt and tugged her panties down, then unfastened his jeans and pushed them down to his knees. His cock popped out in a way that was almost comical, and she was smiling as she wrapped her hand around it and began to stroke it.

He’d drawn back a little, enough so that she could see his face, see those beautiful gleaming golden eyes.

Fleetingly, she thought of what she’d left behind: that entire life, no part of which had really satisfied her. She’d always thought it was fine, comfortable, nothing to complain about. But that wasn’t enough.

Her mother would have wanted more for her, would have wanted her to have
this
. This man. This place. She’d be cherished here, something she hadn’t felt since her mother’s death.

That wasn’t sensible, she supposed. But it was right. This man, this… bond.

She held out her arms so Aaron could lift her, and wrapped her legs around him as he eased her onto his cock. Then he braced her against the rock again and began to thrust into her, the heat of him filling her to the brim. She circled her arms around his shoulders and pulled his head close to hers so she could taste him with her lips and tongue.

He growled. At first it was just a sound. Then it became a word: “
Mine
.”

He thrust harder and harder, making her breathe in gasps, and she felt as if she were riding something aimed toward the sky, that she was actually flying, reaching a height she’d never even imagined existed.

“Aaron,” she moaned. “God,
Aaron
.”

She’d never thought coming could actually feel like fireworks, but it did. Her nerve endings seemed to explode in bursts of color and heat, beginning deep in her core and working outward to the tips of her fingers and toes. She lost her hold on Aaron for a moment, but that simply made him hold her tighter.

She would never fall, she understood. He would never let her fall.

Some time had gone by when they finally left the little alcove. Aaron had pulled his pants back into place, and she’d done her best to tidy her dress and her hair, but even so, she was sure his family would easily be able to tell what had happened.

There’d be no secrets here, not in a place this small.

They walked hand in hand back into the village. Abby fully expected to be scrutinized again, but this time the atmosphere was… different. Even more intense than it had been before.

The people they passed were all rushing from one place to another, glancing at Aaron and then looking quickly away. She turned to him, intending to ask if he knew why things had changed, and was a little surprised by the worried, almost fearful expression on his face.

“Something’s wrong,” he said.

He began to walk more quickly, tugging her along until she had no choice but to break almost into a run to keep up with him. They passed a man going in the other direction whose pace was even faster than theirs, who acted like he was being chased. Not far away, a woman was all but shoving her children into their house.

“What’s–” she started, but Aaron shook his head.

When they reached his family’s house, he thrust the door open without knocking and pulled her inside.

Jeremiah and Rachel were there, along with a big, broad-shouldered man Abby couldn’t remember having seen before. Their attention was on one of the bedrooms, the one whose door had been closed a while ago. It was open now, and there was someone inside, lying very still and silent on the bed. Someone else was standing alongside the bed, tending to the person who seemed to be asleep.

Rachel was weeping.

“What’s happened?” Aaron demanded. “What’s wrong?”

His mother let out an anguished sob. Jeremiah gathered her into his arms and held her tightly against him—with a grip of steel, it seemed to Abby—then his focus shifted from the bedroom to the broad-shouldered stranger.

Everything seemed to freeze for a moment, then the big man seized Aaron by the arm.

“You’re to come with me,” he barked. “To be confined.”

“Confined?” Aaron said. “Daniel, what–”

“Your brother has been attacked,” the man told him in a tone that told Abby he wouldn’t tolerate being argued with—by anyone. “With a knife. The healer says it was coated with poison. He’s near to death.”

“Who?” Aaron blurted. “Who would–”

“The only one who has had issue with him today is you. You’re to be confined under lock and key until the elders have had a chance to examine the evidence.” Daniel tightened his grip. Then he turned to Abby.

“And you–” he growled.

Somehow, he seemed to grow taller, bulkier, more threatening. Color rose up his neck. He lunged for her, which sent a surge of fear rocketing through her, but before he could reach her, Aaron had pushed her out of the way.

“NO!” he roared at the massive Daniel.

Though they were only a few steps away, both Jeremiah and Rachel seemed to become smaller, to recede into the distance, become part of some other universe—along with most of the house, particularly the bedroom and whoever was in there. All that seemed to be real was the looming form of Daniel, who was growing more enormous by the second and had rage in his eyes.

He meant to do something terrible, Abby realized.

To her.

There wasn’t enough air in her lungs to allow her to scream, and her legs had gone rubbery and weak. She couldn’t even manage to string together a silent plea for Aaron to help her—though, really, Aaron was as much in need of help as she was. He was struggling against Daniel’s grip and getting nowhere.

Then, abruptly, Daniel let him go… and something even more unimaginable happened.

There, in front of her, the big man burst through his clothes…

And turned into a wolf.

* * * *

Shifter Island

Aaron and Abby’s story continues—and you can order the remaining two books in their trilogy NOW!

Book Two: Rivals
(Click the title to order)

Wolf shifter Aaron is sure he’s found his mate in beautiful Abby Sullivan, a human from the mainland, and he’s determined to convince his family and the elders of his pack to let her stay on the island. But things are turned completely upside down when Aaron’s brother Luca is violently attacked and left for dead—and the elders are sure Aaron is the guilty party. Left alone among the wolves, Abby has to fight for her own freedom, and her mate’s… before the elders can take the ultimate step and banish Aaron forever.

And their story concludes in…

Book Three: Forever
(Click the title to order)

Now that the real guilty party has been found, Aaron and Abby can plead their case in front of the elders and hope for permission to stay together. Abby has begun to gain acceptance among the pack, and things look bright… until an intruder from the mainland puts the safety of everyone on the island, and her future with Aaron, in serious jeopardy.

Coming in June 2016…

Book Four: Quest

Years ago, during a visit to the mainland, Aaron’s brother Luca met a beautiful redhead named Allison and felt the pull of the mating bond. But Allison was a human, and even though she was in love with Luca, she refused to leave her home and family to join him on the island. Although his heart was broken, Luca had no choice but to accept her decision. Now, he’s seen his brother and Abby find love together… and he’s determined to find Allison, no matter where she is, and make her his mate.

If you don’t want to miss a single book in the
Shifter Island
series…

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