Lover's Instinct: A Moon Shifter Novella (8 page)

Swiping out with his claws, he sliced open Marco’s face. Another howl emitted from the shifter, but Nikan didn’t pause in his attack. He kept swiping and clawing until he had the wolf on the ground. Blood pooled all around them, spreading across the tile floor in a dark crimson. His wolf was in control now, doing what was necessary.

Without pause, he bit down, finishing what he’d started moments before. Cutting through tendon and muscle, he didn’t stop until Marco’s head was lying in a bloody heap next to his body.

At the sound of a terrified gasp, he turned to find the dark-haired woman standing in the entryway, her face pale as she tugged the remainder of the bindings off using her teeth. Why hadn’t she run away? Before he could contemplate that, a very familiar scent drew his attention toward the broken window. Looking over he saw Esperanze peeking inside with wide eyes at the destruction and carnage.

“You couldn’t have waited for me?” She started to grab the edge of the window as if to pull herself through, but there were too many glass points sticking out.

He growled at her then shifted back to his human form. Uncaring about the blood or his nudity, he shook his head. “Don’t. I’ll open the back door.”

“Who are you people?” the woman finally asked.

“We’re friends of Antoine, here to save you,” Nikan said without turning toward her as he opened the back door.

Esperanze looked him over, her eyes filled with worry. She reached out as though needing to touch him, but pulled her hand back. “Are you injured? I don’t want to hurt you more.” Biting her bottom lip, she met his gaze. A light sheen of wetness glistened there and it took him a moment to realize it was unshed tears.

“Essie, I’m fine.” Disregarding the blood on his hands and torso, he pulled her into a tight hug. His back had been slashed but as a warrior, he was already healing. In the next hour he’d be completely fine.

“You didn’t answer your phone and I got worried.” Her arms went around him without pause. A small shudder sped through her.

“How’d you find me?” he murmured against her hair, soaking up her sweet honeysuckle scent.

“You’re not the only one who can track. I followed your stupid scent,” she said.

He pulled back a fraction, but didn’t lessen his hold. “Stupid?”

“Yes, right now I’m mad at you for making me worry so it’s stupid.” She sniffled lightly, making his guilt skyrocket, but it was tempered with the knowledge that she truly cared about him. She wouldn’t be crying on his chest if she didn’t. There hadn’t been time to answer her call and they had other things to deal with at the moment.

“We’ll talk later.” Releasing his hold, he turned to face Chandra, who still stood in the doorway. “Is this where they’ve been holding you the entire time?”

Clearly avoiding looking at the dead body, she nodded and pointed at what he guessed was a pantry door. “That leads to a basement. It’s not dingy or anything. I had a television, my own bathroom and a mini fridge, but they kept me locked in there almost 24/7.”

“Did they . . . do you need medical attention right now?” He wasn’t sure how to phrase what he wanted to ask.

Chandra frowned, then her expression cleared as she shook her head. “They didn’t assault me or anything.” She looked down at Marco’s dead body and shuddered. “Don’t get me wrong, they’re both assholes and I’m not sorry he’s dead, but, no, I don’t need medical attention. . . . Where’s the other one?”

Instead of answering he looked down at Esperanze. “Will you grab my phone and clothes? I left them—”

She nodded quickly. “I saw them outside.”

As she disappeared out the backdoor, he turned to Chandra who was purposefully avoiding his gaze. Cringing, he looked around and grabbed a hand towel. Trying to cover himself with it, he held it up against his groin. “The other one is with Antoine right now. I need to call a colleague of mine and let him know you’re safe.”

“Shouldn’t we call the police?”

Nikan shook his head. “No cops right now. If we involve them, they’ll involve my Council and the vampire Brethren. Shifters used you to make Antoine do some illegal stuff. It won’t matter to the vamps that he did it to save you. You’re just a human and to them—”

She nodded, cutting him off. “I get it. And I don’t mind lying to save Antoine.” Her voice softened as she said the vampire’s name.

Esperanze strode back through the door, Nikan’s clothes and cell phone in hand. After wiping as much of the blood off himself as he could, he put his clothes back on and dialed Thabit.

From the intel his packmates had gathered, he knew the Moretti brothers didn’t have any partners. Whether it was right or wrong, Nikan sure as hell didn’t want to involve the authorities. They’d have to make up something for why Chandra had been gone for these last few weeks, but lying was better than pitting shifters and vamps against one another. The last thing either species needed was unnecessary tension. They had enough problems keeping peace with the humans. And once bureaucrats got involved, all semblance of peace between them would disintegrate.

Thabit picked up on the first ring. “Yeah?”

“The woman is safe and Marco is no longer a problem.”

“Is that right?”

“Yep, but it’s a little messy.”

“Where are you?”

“A house, populated residential area.” Nikan seriously doubted anyone was listening to their conversation but he kept the details as vague as possible.

“Do you need a cleanup crew?”

Nikan was surprised the lupine shifter could arrange that, but said, “Yes. Immediately.”

“I’ll take care of his brother. Text me the address and get out of that house. Take the human with you, but don’t go back to your hotel room. Not yet. Once I’m done with the shifter, I’ll meet you and pick her up.”

“Then what?”

“Then you and that pretty woman of yours are going to get the hell out of town. You don’t need to be involved in this anymore.”

Hell yes.

Anything to get Esperanze out of there. Nikan didn’t like the idea of leaving anything unfinished, but he also didn’t want Esperanze in DC any longer either. After disconnecting he looked at Chandra. “Do you have any personal belongings downstairs?” Thabit might be sending a cleanup crew but he figured they could take what they could now.

She shook her head.

“Good. We’re getting you the hell out of here.”

Swallowing hard, the woman took a few tentative steps toward them. It was almost like whatever wall she’d had around herself cracked. Tears streamed down her face and she started to shake. “Thank you so much for saving me. I thought . . . I’m pretty sure they meant to kill me tonight.” As she wrapped her arms around herself, Esperanze hurried to her side and slid her arm around Chandra’s shoulder.

“Come on. You’re never going to have to see this place or either of those bastards again,” Esperanze said.

Palming the car keys, Nikan went outside and did a quick visual sweep before texting Thabit the address. From what he could see and hear, no one was aware of the violence that had just taken place.

He really hoped it stayed that way.

Chapter 8

Esperanze slowly opened her eyes, blinking away the sleep that had taken her by surprise. She looked at the clock on the dashboard of their new rental and realized they were already five hours into their almost eight-hour trip back to North Carolina. She glanced over at Nikan as he drove, sad that soon they’d be at the ranch and back to reality.

Not that her everyday life was a bad thing. She loved her pack and life on the ranch, especially since Nikan and the other warriors were now living among them.

But he hadn’t said a word about their earlier conversation. Granted they hadn’t had much time since meeting up with Thabit and Antoine then packing up all their stuff and getting out of town. After Nikan had spoken to Connor, they’d all made a unified decision not to involve their Council or any vampire leaders. Antoine had been more than willing to do that and Thabit had gone along with it, because if lupine shifters and vampires had gotten into a war over what had happened, feline shifters would eventually have been dragged into it as well.

So Thabit had disposed of the bodies and called in a cleanup crew to “sanitize” the house they’d found Chandra in. Esperanze didn’t even want to know the details of that. And Chandra was going to tell the cops she had been held by unknown assailants in a basement for the past few weeks but managed to escape when they left the door unlocked. Once the sun had set, the plan was for her to stumble into a police station, unsure where she’d been held, just that she’d run the moment she’d escaped.

Not exactly brilliant, and they might not believe her, but Chandra still had drugs in her system when they found her so it would hopefully tie in to her story about not remembering exactly where she was being held, who had her or even why they wanted her. Esperanze was just glad she wasn’t the one having to lie to the police. Either way, it was obvious Chandra was a victim and Esperanze couldn’t see the cops harassing her when she had nothing to gain from lying. Especially since she was such a respected member of the academic community.

Shifting in her seat, Esperanze glanced out the window, forcing her gaze away from Nikan’s defined profile. He hadn’t wanted to fly home and she hadn’t argued. It just meant more time spent with him. Unfortunately the longer they drove, the closer they were to the ranch and nothing had been resolved between them. Something twisted around her chest, squeezing the air out of her lungs and making it hard to breathe. She couldn’t let him go.

Maybe he’d changed his mind about mating. No, she couldn’t believe that. Not after what they’d been through together. As she took in the trees and road flying by, she realized they weren’t on the highway anymore but a two lane winding road. There weren’t many lights except the stars and half moon. “Where are we?” Her voice sounded raspy as she spoke for the first time in hours.

“You’ll see soon.” Nikan’s deep voice washed over her, soothing her.

“Are we making a stop before we head home?”
Please say yes
. Anything to stretch out their time together. It was almost one in the morning so he was probably tired anyway. Maybe he wanted to stop and get some sleep.

He shot her a quick look full of promise. “Do you
want
to stop?”

Unable to find her voice, she simply nodded.

Nikan didn’t say anything, just turned his attention back to the road, but his earthy scent intensified with each second that passed. Yeah, he definitely still wanted her. His fingers grasped the wheel so tight his knuckles had turned white. A few minutes later he pulled off the two-lane road onto a paved driveway that stretched on for over a mile at least. He was silent so she didn’t ask questions, though she couldn’t quell her building curiosity.

Eventually they pulled up to a two-story log cabin. There were no lights but it was obvious the place was well maintained. The shrubs out front were covered with sheets to guard against the frost and the stone walkway leading up to the front steps had been cleared of the light layer of snow that dusted the rest of the yard and surrounding woods.

“What is this place?” she asked.

As he put the car in park, he turned to look at her. Even though she could see well in the darkness, shadows played off the angles of his face, making it difficult to read his expression. “A piece of property Connor owns—well, the pack owns now. It’s available for anyone to use. We’re about two hours north of Fontana.”

“How long are we staying here?”

“As long as it takes.”

She thought she knew what he meant but didn’t want to get too excited. “What takes?”

Reaching out, he ran his knuckles across her cheek before cupping her jaw. “To convince you to mate with me.”

It felt as if her heart skipped a beat though she knew that was impossible. Her throat seized for a moment as she digested what he was telling her. “You really want to mate? You weren’t just being all alpha with Thabit?” He growled and she raised her eyebrows. “What’s that for?”

His expression was dark, almost feral. “I don’t like you saying his name.”

She grinned despite his serious expression. “Oh really?”

“The only name I want on your lips is mine. Over and over as you come.”

Feeling her face flush, she swallowed hard. She loved it when he talked like that. It made her nipples tingle and warmth flood the juncture between her thighs. “First you’ve got to
make
me come.”

A shudder rolled through him as his hand slightly tightened against her face. He surprised her when he let it drop. He reached into his jacket pocket and handed her a single key on a silver key ring in the shape of a wolf howling at the moon. “Go inside.” His words were practically an order.

“What?”

“Now, before I take you right here in the front seat of this car. I’ll bring in our bags.”

She inwardly smiled at the knowledge he was losing control. That’s what she wanted from this man. The man she definitely wanted as her mate. She opened the door and nearly shivered as the cold rolled inside. “Well you better hurry or I might make you wait longer to mark me.”

His dark eyes widened and his head slightly tilted to the side. “You mean . . .”

She slid out of the car and raced for the front door. Behind her she could hear his boots pounding against the walkway. Looked like he’d decided not to get their bags after all. She’d never thought she’d want a man to chase her, but right now the feeling of being hunted by a man as powerful as Nikan sent a thrill up her spine.

Esperanze had barely slid the key in the door when he reached her. His massive hands clasped her shoulders. Spinning her around, he pulled her tight against his body, his hands sliding down to cup her butt as he pressed her pelvis to his. He was rock hard and even though she was a little nervous, she couldn’t wait to feel him inside her.

Her entire body ached for this. She’d known for a while that her feelings for him went well past friendship, but she’d been too afraid to admit it out loud.

This weekend had proved to her that he viewed her as an equal. They might be physically different, but that didn’t matter. He valued her in every way that mattered and she couldn’t get enough of him. She wanted to be his forever.

One hand tightened on her as one moved away. She heard the door swing open behind them, but he didn’t take his gaze off her. He was breathing hard as he stared down at her. “I’m playing for keeps, Essie. I want you for my mate and eventually my bondmate.”

At the word bondmate, she slightly jerked back, but he just tightened his hold. When they mated they’d be linked, much like humans who married. Other supernatural beings would know they were off limits but if they eventually wanted to part ways they could. It would be the equivalent of humans divorcing one another.

That couldn’t happen if they were bonded. It wasn’t as if they could bond tonight anyway. They could only do that under the full moon. His admission honored her, yes, but it still stunned her. “Nikan . . .” She didn’t know how to respond.

“I don’t need you to say anything. I’m just telling you how I feel. I love you, Essie. Have for a while. I want to live with you, have kids with you—”

Her heart swelled at his words and she couldn’t keep her own feelings in any longer. “I love you too.” Reaching up she clasped his face between her hands. “I want to be your mate, I want to feel you inside me tonight and tomorrow and—”

Her words were lost as his mouth crushed over hers. His tongue invaded her mouth, frantic and hungry as his hands grasped her behind, hoisting her up so that she had no choice but to wrap her legs around his waist.

Feeling his erection press against her, she moaned and gripped his shoulders. She was vaguely aware of them moving inside and the front door shutting behind them.

Nikan was walking them somewhere. She didn’t care where as long as it was a flat surface. The wall, floor, a couch, it didn’t matter as long as he was inside her.

For a brief moment she felt as if she was falling. Her eyes snapped open and she pulled back just as her arms collided with something soft. Twisting to the side she realized he’d laid her on a giant pile of blankets in a living room. Right in front of a fireplace.

He stood as she propped up on her elbows, already missing his warmth. “What are you doing?”

His expression was dark, almost feral and she could tell he was struggling with control. “Give me just a second . . .” He turned away and felt along the wall by the fireplace. “I had Connor call the caretaker and make sure this place was set up for us.” He flipped a switch and a fire flared to life in the stone fireplace.

She blinked, trying to figure out how he’d done it when she realized it was gas and the log set and fire must be fake. The heat was real though. But she didn’t care about any of that. She only cared about the very sexy man staring at her as if she was the most precious thing in the world.

When he crouched down on his knees in front of her she didn’t make a move toward him. First she wanted to see what she’d been fantasizing about for too long. She’d seen him naked in that house but it hadn’t been the time or the place to stare. “Take off your sweater,” she ordered.

His eyebrows raised. “That sounds like a demand.”

“It is.”

Nikan’s lips quirked up at the corners. He grasped the hem of his sweater and tugged upward until she got the perfect view of his chest. A few scars nicked the sharp planes of all those muscles. They only added to his raw sexiness. She wanted to run her fingers then mouth over every single one. Mesmerized, she raked her gaze over his bronze skin, drinking in her fill while the firelight flickered around him. She might have seen his chest in the hotel room too, but now she wanted everything.

“Now the pants,” she whispered.

His long fingers played with the button of his dark, well-worn jeans until he finally slid it out of the hole. She let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. But then he suddenly stopped.

“What are you doing?” she demanded, needing to see all of him.

Grinning, he reached for her. Sliding one of her pant legs up, he unzipped her boot and slid it off. “If I get naked, I’m going to be on you then in you. Let me give you some foreplay, woman,” he softly growled.

“I
guess
I can deal with that.” She couldn’t bite back her smile.

His gaze flicked to hers again. “I love it when you get feisty.”

“Really?”

He slid her other boot off then quickly followed with her thin socks. “
Really.
I like that you don’t hold back, that you’re not afraid to be yourself with me.”

How did he say exactly the right thing? Only she knew he wasn’t paying her lip service. He was being completely serious. Something she loved about him. He only said what he meant. No bullshit from Nikan Lawless. Something she should have realized earlier. He wouldn’t have said he wanted to mate with her without being absolutely sure.

As he started unbuttoning her pants and sliding them down her legs she reached for the tie on her wraparound sweater and pulled the bow free. Her top fell open, revealing the lacy purple bra she’d worn for Nikan. It was purely for show. Tiny crystals meant to look like diamonds dotted around the demi-cups, drawing the eye directly to the rounded curves of her breasts.

His hands froze at her knees as he stared at her. His gaze cut a scorching path down her stomach to the matching lace thong. He wouldn’t know the skimpy cut until she turned over, but the front was a sheer, tiny triangle, leaving very little to the imagination. Watching him watch her so intently made a slow burning heat build inside her.

“Do you wear sexy stuff like this all the time?” he rasped out, hunger in his voice and in his dark eyes.

She couldn’t help it. She laughed at his very male question. The sound seemed to jerk him out of his daze.

He looked back at her face, his expression apologetic. “Sorry. I just meant . . . you look beautiful.”

Just like that he was back in action, tugging her pants the rest of the way off. While he moved she did the same, slipping her sweater off. She’d never felt so exposed before, but she’d also never felt so wanted.

The way he devoured her with his eyes, without him saying a word, she could clearly see how much he not only desired her but how much he treasured her.

Now that she was almost completely bared to him she didn’t know what to do with her hands. Nerves hummed through her with a vengeance. She sat up fully and started to cover herself but he clasped her wrists and pushed her flat on her back. Stretching out on top of her, he covered her body with his, loosely holding her wrists above her head.

“You don’t get to cover yourself around me anymore, Essie. You’re mine.” He nipped her jaw, raking his teeth along her skin.

His words set off an explosion inside her. Arching her back, she rubbed her covered breasts against his chest. They felt swollen, the tips aching for his touch.

Still holding her wrists with one hand, Nikan reached between their bodies and cupped one of her breasts. “Mine,” he murmured against her mouth as he gently squeezed.

Pulling one of her hands free she reached between them and grasped his cock over his jeans. “Mine.”