Melody Snow Monroe (8 page)

The longer she stays the more attached you’ll get.
He saw the way Taryn looked at her. Both of them spent all their time defending the lion territory and rarely had the chance to enjoy a female. This human was luscious, and his brother was weak.

She’s still feeling the effects of coming through the alignment point. She needs to rest a few days.

That was true, but they needed to make a plan for her departure.
Her friend will be worried.

So? What can she do? She can search the ends of the earth, but no one will find her
.

Kellum wasn’t surprised Taryn would use that excuse.
The longer she stays, the more she’ll tell the humans.

Let her. No one will believe her.

Arguing with his brother wouldn’t do much good. Clearly, he was thinking with his dick instead of his brain. Kellum would have to take matters into his own hands.

Lara couldn’t believe how good the food tasted. Nothing was more healthy or flavorful than fresh food. “You’re a great cook.” The combination of spices he used brought out the true essence of the vegetables.

“Aw, shucks.” Taryn lifted his glass of wine and finished it.

She could have sworn Kellum rolled his eyes.

All through the meal, neither man would answer her nagging questions about shifting or how she got to Anterra. Perhaps they’d be willing to share some stories not related to their environment.

“Taryn, what were you like as a little kid?”

His eyes sparkled. “I was a hellion. Kellum is a year younger, but we basically did everything together.”

Kellum leaned forward. “Until we were eight or nine, remember, it was you, me, and Kranor that hung together.”

“Who’s Kranor?” She loved getting some gossip.

Kellum’s lips pressed together, but then he must have decided that the information wasn’t proprietary. “Kranor was a wolf-shifter friend.”

Wolves shifted, too? She wasn’t going to bring up that tired topic and decided to go with the flow. She was having too good a time with these men to spoil her one, and only one, evening bickering. She looked over at Taryn. “I thought you all hated the wolves.”

“We do.”

“So not all wolves on Anterra are bad?”

“I’ve never met an adult wolf I’ve liked.”

How horrible for such hate to exist, though if they’d attacked her without provocation, she’d probably dislike them, also. She supposed there was a lot of prejudice across the world. That attitude was what caused so many useless wars.

“Why do the wolves and lions hate each other?”

Taryn shrugged. “No one knows for sure, but something bad must have happened a few thousand years ago to cause such a rift.”

Her mind searched through her studies for a possible answer. “Did the lions steal the wolves’ food supply or something?”

He shook his head. “No. Anterra has plenty for all.”

“Then why still fight if the original cause is unknown?” It seemed dumb to do battle when no one knew why. Though on earth she could point to a lot of instances where hatred sprung up for no reason other than ambition.

“It’s what we’ve always done.”

Too bad she wasn’t staying. The archeologist in her would have liked to dig around and perhaps find the mysterious missing link.

Kellum polished off the rest of his wine. “Can we change the subject? It’s been debated to death.”

She didn’t want to insult her hosts any more than necessary. “What was it like growing up around here?” She didn’t direct her question to one particular brother.

Taryn smiled. “We were typical boys. We did everything we weren’t supposed to do.”

That was probably the first real thing she believed. “Were you defiant and rambunctious?” She could imagine them getting into all sorts of trouble.

Kellum nodded. “I’ll say.” He glanced over at Taryn. “Remember when we broke into Rustan’s wine store and stole two bottles?” He laughed, a sound that seemed foreign. She hadn’t realized he had the capability, but she liked the sound.

“Do I? I drank almost one whole bottle myself and vomited up every last drop.”

That wasn’t a nice thing to imagine. “How old were you two?”

Taryn searched the ceiling. “I must have been nine.”

They were bad little boys. “That’s terrible. I hope you were sick for days.”

“Trust me, we were.” Kellum leaned back in his chair. “I think we scared our parents the most when we decided to take on two adult wolves who were attacking our henhouse.”

She sucked in a breath. “Could you shift at that age?” She’d decided that if she was going to convince them to take her home, she needed to pretend to go along with their story.

“Yes, but we were only baby lions then.”

“What happened?”

He pushed back his chair and stood. Her eyes remained glued on him as he lowered his loincloth. A large, white scar cut from his near his waist to his upper thigh. “This happened.”

Holy shit.
He was telling the truth. She prayed that shifter-wolves hadn’t been the cause, but she’d read about wolves attacking people. The ugly indent implied something had taken a huge chunk out of his skin. “I’m surprised the wolves didn’t kill both of you.”

Taryn sobered. “They nearly did. Had it not been for the fact that Kellum jumped in front of me and take the brunt of the attack, I might have died. After Kellum fell, the wolves only scratched me before running off. I was scared shitless that the wolves had killed him.”

She couldn’t imagine their mother’s horror when she found her baby boy so near death.

Kellum winked. “When I need the leverage, I remind him of that day. Since then he’s become very protective of his little brother.”

Kellum was hardly little anymore.

Taryn laughed. “How about when you, me, Kranor, and sometimes Henla would sneak over to Amlic’s farm and ride his horses without his consent?”

Kellum smiled. “Or when we made a mess in his barn by jumping in the hay, and the old man took out his shotgun and said if we came back again he’d shoot us.”

“I will admit I was pretty terrified. I’d never seen a gun before.”

They laughed, but she saw nothing funny about that threat. “What happened?”

“We were always too fast for him. We’d grab some berries on the way out and run away.” Kellum glanced at Taryn. “I think the old guy liked us. It was company for him. He and his wife never had kids.”

He reached across the table and refilled his plate with more vegetables and meat. “How about you? Did you ever get in trouble?”

“Me? Only once. I was an only child on a farm that lived and died by the weather. My parents got up early every morning and worked until the sun set. They expected me, from a very young age, to do the same.”

Taryn’s shoulders hunched forward. “I take it you rebelled?”

“You could say that. When I was twelve I decided to run away. The problem was that we lived in the middle of nowhere. The only way to get anywhere was to drive, so I stole my dad’s keys and took the car. The issue I faced was that I had never driven before.”

“I didn’t learn until I was eighteen.”

Maybe he grew up poor, too. His status in life sure had changed.

Taryn shoveled more food into his mouth and chewed. “What happened? Did you get in trouble with your dad?”

“Let’s just say I, too, didn’t get the chance to drive until I was eighteen. As soon as I did learn, I left home.”

Kellum picked up his plate and one other, and brought the dishes into the kitchen. “Weren’t your parents sad when you left? I know our folks would have been devastated.”

Apparently, theirs was a tight-knit family. More and more that closeness was becoming unusual. “I went to college, so they were proud.”

The conversation seemed to stop as they cleared the table. They were halfway through with washing the dishes when Kellum rushed to the door. Once more, Taryn didn’t ask why his brother suddenly dashed away. He placed a hand on her waist. “There’s some trouble with the wolves, and Kellum has to talk with the troops.”

Troops?
“Is he some kind of military man?”

“Yes. Kellum and I oversee all of the protection on Anterra.”

He had told her he was some kind of Homeland Security expert. “If it’s that dangerous to live here, why do you?”

“I grew up here. Besides, I doubt earth people would appreciate regular-looking men suddenly shifting into lions.”

She was getting a bit tired of their story. After she finished washing the dishes, Taryn dried them and stored them back in the cupboard. In no time, the kitchen looked unused. Instead of suggesting they sit in the living room, he moved in front of her. With one hand he drew her near, and with the other, he cupped her chin.

“Thank you.”

Before she could ask what for, he kissed her. This was no tentative kiss. It was one of capture. She closed her eyes and pretended he was a powerful animal who could ravish her at any moment.

He broke the kiss and ran his lips along her jaw. Bubbles of pleasure sizzled up her spine. She could tell him it was too soon, that she had to leave, but if there were wolves out there, she’d be safer inside with him. He’d protect her.

Banishing all thoughts of shape-shifters and alternate realities, she let her body relax and revel in the security and sexiness of his arms. It has been such a long time since had a man had made love to her that Taryn’s touch lit a need so deep, she couldn’t stop it from flaring. There was nothing wrong with enjoying herself one last time before she started her new life. This would be the proverbial icing on the cake so to speak.

His hands traveled across her shoulder blades and then down her bare neck. He inhaled. “I love your smell.”

Her scent had to be the same as his as they’d shared the same bath soap. Yet, when she leaned her face against his shoulder and inhaled, the best she could describe him was to say that he smelled of a blend of fresh, sweet earth and pine. His thumbs brushed the sides of her breasts and her pussy gushed.

A strong lust overpowered her. It was as if he’d taken over her mind and was directing her thoughts. Taryn didn’t ask. Instead, he swept her into his arms and carried her down the hallway, kissing her with each step. She knew what he wanted. Damn, but she wanted him, too. To experience such virility and strength in a man with such beauty might only come once in a lifetime. Even Brad’s face and body didn’t compare.

But it wasn’t just Taryn’s looks that attracted her to him. It was the way he joked, the way he tried to be gentle in easing her into why she was here. Half of her believed this was a different world, but regardless of where they were, she was a woman and he was a man.

The door to his room opened as he neared, and he carried her to his bed. “I’m surprised you sleep in one of those.”

He chuckled as he placed her on the spread. “Normally, we sleep on a rock all day and sun ourselves. Pretend this is a figment of your imagination.”

If he hadn’t winked, she might have believed him. “Please let’s not talk of any weird stuff for the rest of the night.”

“Your wish is my command.”

“Like I believe that.” She smiled. His eyes widened and sparkled as if her laughter helped heal him.

Never breaking the eye contact, he crawled on top of her. “From the moment I spotted you, I’ve wanted you.”

From the moment she’d seen him, her lower half wanted to touch and taste him. Since she was only going to be here for a short while, she might as well take advantage of what the natives had to offer. “Perhaps you’d like me to experience more of your human side.”

He leaned up and sat back on his haunches. For a moment, he almost looked like a lion with his light hazel eyes shining. As seductively as possible, he unknotted the loop on the side of his loincloth and removed his covering.

“Oh, my. That’s way too big.” Her gaze latched onto his big cock.

“I guess I’ll have to lick you until you come so many times that your pussy’s cream lets me slide in.”

She loved that he talked dirty to her. His tongue traced a path along the hollow of her throat, and streaks of pleasure tripped up her spine. The skin texture seemed coarser than what she was used to, but the roughness turned her on. His warm breath cascaded down her shoulder as he nibbled near her ear.

Not wanting to hurt him, she clasped onto his shoulders. That body part came out of the fray unscathed. Regardless of whether she believed he could shift, the man had fought with the wolves somehow.

He moved his body downward until his lips hovered over her breasts. She sent him a mental plea to take off her clothes. Instead of him lowering the skirt, he dragged a hand underneath. When his palm touched her naked pussy, her body exploded with need, and her moan came out a bit too loud.

“I see you’ve been a bad girl. What happened to the shy girl in the bathroom?”

He was teasing her, but she felt an explanation was in order. “My panties and bra are drying.” She knew he was asking about her other behavior, too.

“I’m glad you had to take a shower then.”