The Hard Way (Box Set) (23 page)

“The moon.” Chris pointed to the east, and Evan turned to see what the man was talking about.

There, just above the timberline, hovered a brilliant, glowing, full moon. It hung in the horizon, sharing space with the pulsing oranges and fuchsia of the dying sun as it dipped low in the west.

But this full moon was different. It glowed with the heat and life that was usually denied the pale-faced, cold beauty of the moon. It burned with heat, its bright, blood-tinted hues throbbing with a passion that had ignited both lovers and poets for years with its odd and erotic beauty.

Evan turned and watched Christopher snap several pictures, silent as he captured the blushing visage of the moon forever in film, quietly awed at the beauty of this natural phenomenon.

Chris opened his mouth to comment, but before he could wax poetic about the rarity and uniqueness of a full Cherry Moon, the feeling of being watched, of being pursued and hunted, spiked.

Evan whipped around and dropped into a deep crouch, taking a battle ready stance as he waited for the thing that had been tracking them to reveal itself. Before he could warn Chris off, it was on him, and fuck, it was big!

Evan recalled Chris bellowing some profanity or the other as he threw his arms up to protect his face and neck. He rolled with the thing so that he’d land on his back where he still had a chance of fighting it off.

Then there was a single moment when the world seemed to pause, to hold its breath while his brain felt near to exploding as it took in everything going on around him with crystal clarity.

He noticed the dry crackle of old leaves beneath his back, the sharp, rank scent of animal fur, the feel of the muscles bunching beneath the animal’s thick soft pelt.

For one second, for one perfectly still moment, the world stopped and he stared into bright red, all too human eyes. He stared into the eyes of a killer and knew his own death was at hand.

In that bindingly quick flash, Evan discovered how truly insignificant he really was. His strength, his experience, his skills amounted to a rather small pile of shit when faced with the awe and mastery of the beast that would surely see to his end.

Then pain hit him, an all-encompassing burn that slammed into him with the strength and force of a Mack truck or a tidal wave crashing onto a sandy beach.

And like sand, he felt his body tossed from side to side as the strength of the creature slammed him face first into his own humanity.

Evan thought he might have screamed, but all effort and concentration were now put to fighting against the odds, to just plain surviving this creature so he could have another day to contemplate his new humility.

Paws now dug into his legs, paws pressed against his shoulder, holding him to the earth. Teeth barely avoided ripping at the soft skin of his neck due to the efforts of his swinging arms and his wild shoulder thrashing.

But as a result of his outright defiance, the creature grew more agitated, its claws shredding his arms down to the bone. It felt like shards of fire tearing into his arms, and his fingers slipped on the gushing blood and the bits of torn material and flesh as he fought to keep a grip on the creature’s jaws, keeping that tooth filled maw away from his vulnerable points.

And all the while, those eyes, those too human eyes, bored into his, speaking of desperation, of hunger and anger… of insanity.

Then suddenly there was a break in the deadly dance as a voice bellowed and a body slammed into that of the beast.

Chris, he realized.

Skinny, studious Chris, without any skill or knowledge of survival or self-preservation, was attacking this thing, this bringer of death.

Pushing back the pain that swamped his body, Evan rolled over to his hands and knees to see Chris try to scramble backwards off the enraged beast. But he cursed as Chris struggled, only to lose any advantage he had by allowing the creature off its back, the vulnerable position it landed in when Chris knocked it from Evan.

“Shit!” Evan heard the usually modest man bellow as the creature rose to its four paws. In that position, the beast stood over five and a half feet tall. “Wolf!”

If that was a wolf, Evan had one moment to think, then not only was he the reincarnation of Liberace, he was also ready to bend over and take it up the ass. And as a concrete top during all his sexual explorations, that would be a pretty unbelievable and highly unlikely event.

The beast lunged at Chris, knocking him onto his back, exposing his vital points to attack. That was the jolt Evan needed to knock him out of his shock and into remembering his training and that he had a sidearm.

With trembling, clumsy hands, Evan struggled to release his Glock from its holster, Chris’ screams pushing him to extreme urgency.

He freed the gun, his hand slipping on his own blood, and raised the weapon, cursing again as his usually steady hand trembled like a leaf in the wind.

Supporting his weak and shaky right hand with an equally weak and shaky left, Evan drew a cautious bead on the creature that was now tossing Chris around like a dog worrying a blanket.

Chris screamed and instinctively protected his face and throat. The beast growled, and endorphins and adrenaline rushed through Evan’s system, helping to steady his hand as he sighted down the short barrel, praying his hands would be steady enough…

* * *

“Chris’s screaming was growing weak and that monster threw back his head to howl. I knew it tasted victory, that its next strike could end Chris. So I fired.”

Evan was pale and shaky, his body slipping into a remembered shock as the last of his tale poured forth from blue-tinted lips. Hatori’s touch provided a warm comfort to counter the cold that seemed to permeate his body as he finished.

“The hand of God guided that bullet. It hit the beast right in the temple.” Evan shook, wrapping his arms around himself defensively. “I dragged Chris away and put five extra slugs into that thing… just to make sure it wasn’t getting up again.”

“Lucky bastards, both of you,” was Delia’s response as she sat beside her cub.

“Yeah,” Evan snorted derisively. “Lucky.”

“Well, you could be dead,” Delia had to point out.

“Instead of a freak --” Evan broke off as he realized to whom he was speaking.

“I was born,” Delia chuckled. “Well, hatched is more like it.” A smile spread across her face, dispelling some of the tension in the room and easing Evan away from the shock his memories were sinking him into.

“I am ancient and honored,” Hatori sniffed. “Within me are generations of healers, protectors, defenders, and warriors. I too was… hatched.” Hatori smiled in dignity and grace, sure of who and what he was. Delia continued.

“Well.” She smiled consideringly at the man pup. “Since you killed your mama, not that she didn’t deserve it,” she was quick to point out when Evan looked to argue. “It’s up to me to explain some truths to you.”

“Truths?” Evan turned from Hatori’s stunning, well-bred, almost delicate features to stare at Delia, who grinned, showing off her still impressive choppers.

“Yes. For starters, prepare for perpetual heat.”

“What?” Evan’s cry came loud and high as Delia’s words sank in. Was this why he had been feeling like a nympho on crack? “Heat?”

“Perpetual,” Delia pointed out. “But don’t worry too much about it. You’ll only go into perpetual heat during your change and only if your body has not had its daily dose of sexual fulfillment before the rising of the full moon.”

“What?”

“You’ll have to be fucked at least twice a day, every day, to ensure you have some control when you change. And when the change is upon you, several times a day during the course of the full moon.”

“What!” Again, Evan looked pale. His body leapt in agreement with the words Delia spoke.

“Have you had a good fucking today?” Delia leaned in close and peered at Evan, who cringed back in response. “Probably not,” she decided. “But don’t worry your pretty little head about it. You have already scent marked both Hatori and I as your alphas, so we will take good care of you, little gamma. So get it up or bend over. It doesn’t matter much to me which one of us goes first… or do you have a scale verses fur preference?”

At his alpha’s words, hot and erotic in his ears, Evan allowed his mind to shut down. He was nothing more than a receptor, a vessel to be used until he spilled over in his pleasure for the delight of his alphas. Incoherent sounds rolled from his mouth as his male added another finger, spreading him wide while his female worked her throat muscles around his cock. All human thought was washed away on a wave of lust, and his instincts took over. To fuck, to be fucked, that was all he existed for
.

His alphas shifted position, his female pulling away, leaving his cock cold and bereft. He grunted his displeasure, growling and humping air as she moved, but his displeasure turned into wonderment as she repositioned herself before him. He felt the drag as his wet prick slid against the full globes of her ass. Then her legs spread wider, allowing the head of his cock to kiss the folds of her pussy
.

He instinctively slammed his hips forward, trying to penetrate, but whined in despair as this was prevented by his alpha male
.

“
Sssoon,” the male alpha whispered. His pleasure-giving fingers teased around Evan’s prostate, stroking around the gland before pulling free. Now Evan was hungry and empty, a state he would give almost anything to correct
.

“
Sssoon,” his male repeated, positioning himself so the ribbed head of his cock pressed against his submissive’s hole. “Sssoon you will be full unto bursting, little one. Very sssoon
.”

* * *

Evan was in shock.

Of all the things he’d expected when he walked into this bookstore, he never expected to hear that he would wind up some… some preternatural nymphomaniac tart for a lion lady and a lizard man.

He looked over at scales on his left and fur on his right and wanted someone to pinch him.

“Scales or fur?” Delia asked, eyebrows raised.

He looked over at Hatori, considering the were-dragon for the moment. The man was hot, even if he kind of glowed right now.

In his partially transformed state, Hatori was not the small individual Evan had first encountered in the bookshop. Now the quiet alpha had filled out quite beautifully. His eyes shimmered like black diamonds, and his ebony hair flowed freely down his back. His skin, once smooth and golden, now glimmered with the light of a thousand jewel tones.

There was sapphire blue and emerald green, all under a pearlized cream. His human features had not changed, though his chest had grown to immense proportions inside the tunic he still wore. Serenity rolled off the man in waves, and Evan found himself hard pressed not to drop to his knees and perform some act of obedience, so regal was his form.

Yet Hatori made no demands upon him; instead he watched him with a calm clarity that froze Evan in his place. Those eyes, those black glittering orbs, held so much knowledge, so much honor… so much hunger.

Desire flared up in Hatori’s eyes, making them sparkle all the more, giving him the look of a predator zeroing in on his meal. The ridges where his eyebrows had been lowered as he continued to stare at Evan -- his lips, his chest, his swollen erection.

Then, quick as a flash, a forked tongue -- a long, forked tongue -- lashed out, licking his upper lip. What would that tongue feel like wrapped around his prick, Evan wondered as he had the sudden desire to drop to his knees, raise his ass as high as he could and invite that dragon to discover a whole new cave of treasures.

Just as the thoughts almost became overwhelming and his body cheered his decision to go for scales, his mind once again invaded, knocking away the haze of lust and hunger that filled him.

What the fuck are you doing
? his brain yelled.

But his body fought his brain for control, instinct warring with human intelligence as he pulsed with hunger and neglect. Everything about Hatori’s quiet strength drew him, even though his mind was in total disagreement with the submissive nature of his sudden fantasies.

Hatori was a calming element, a balm to the fire that raged within his body. Hatori was like water. He looked like he could adjust to any situation, find a place anywhere he chose to roam. But like nearly all still waters, an undercurrent of power ran there.

Just looking at him, Evan knew Hatori could cast off the trappings of civility and become pure animal. It was in the tensing of his muscles, the solid stare that allowed Evan to read his desires. It was in his stance, his commanding nature, even in the arrogant care he allowed himself to show to one so low and needy as this gamma who had made his way into this shared lair seeking protection. But overall, there was still that layer of civility, of tranquility, and Hatori wore it like a royal robe. He was so assured and benevolent, unlike… her.

Delia was a wildfire, a force of nature, an explosion waiting to happen.

Where Hatori projected calm and peace, Delia was an active volcano, a fire element wrapped up in a soft round package with her wild mane of hair so like the legends of her animal counterpart’s. It seemed to crackle with a life all its own.

Delia’s personality was dominating, overbearing, and self-assured. Her confidence spoke to his wolf of safety and protection. Whatever Delia promised, she would see through or surely die in the trying.

That fiery passion, he was damned sure, would translate over into her soft bed furs. She would be loud and abrasive and demanding. She would be the one to knock him on his ass and command his cock to rise for her pleasure. With this one, he was sure he would be the one flat on his back begging for completion. That thought appealed to the wolf on so many different levels it almost made his head spin.

Again, his humanity argued that it was wrong to be led around by his cock for the satisfaction of some woman, but the thought of this woman licking her lips after sucking the very cream out of his body… well, the picture was hard to ignore.