Predator's Fire Read online

  He gazed at the wondrous globes. Dark skin crowned by large, dusky nipples. The most beautiful sight he’d ever seen. He swallowed, but his throat went dry. He had to taste her, needed to drink her down so he could keep a part of her inside him. She arched her back and he lowered his head, capturing one soft peak in his mouth. As she continued to roll her pelvis over his cock, he cupped her ass and swirled his tongue over her nipple.

  Perfection. Sweet morsels of perfection.

  “Damn, Nina,” he whispered. “You’re killing me.”

  She ran her fingers through his hair, scraping them lightly over his scalp. “Does that mean you like my human body?”

  He released her breast and looked her in the eye. “Woman, you’re a goddess. And by the time I’m done, you won’t remember where you left your human body.”

  Her flirty smile made him want to throw her over his shoulder. “Well, now you need to deliver on that promise.”

  “Oh, sweet thing. If there’s one thing I appreciate, it’s a dare.” Restraining the rolling growl at the back of his throat, he lifted her off him and ripped off his shirt. He led her toward Byron’s wooden jaguar and urged her to lean over its wide back. She spread out her arms, grabbing opposite ends of the jag. Kneeling, Killian raised her skirt, ripped the lacy thong from her skin and blew on her exposed pussy.

  She wriggled, mumbling something unintelligible. Her fingernails scratched at the wood.

  Smiling, he appraised her pussy. “So goddamn beautiful,” he whispered, stroking her with one eager finger. “Look at these velvety lips, so wet for me, so juicy. Your skin’s so dark here, Nina. Really pretty. I can’t wait to taste you.”

  “Please.”

  Chuckling, he put his face to her pussy and inhaled. Her woman’s scent careened into his senses, making him feel famished, parched. As he gazed at her, his eyes sharpened. Her moans landed on his sensitive ears, and he wanted to hear more. His fingers itched to invade the sacred treasure, but he had to taste her. It was suddenly imperative he taste her.

  He dragged his tongue through her seam and she jumped in obvious delight. Holding her by the ass, he licked her again and again, slow embraces meant to drive her mad. He hadn’t tasted her for more than a few moments when her knees began to buckle and his chest swelled with pride.

  She’d destroyed his peace of mind, but he’d ruin her, body and soul.

  Each swallow of her essence had his jaguar strutting inside him. Our mate, our mate, it cried.

  Every fiber of him agreed. His brain, his mouth, his hands, his damn knees agreed as he used them to worship her. She’s mine. He could no longer deny it.

  Toying with her swollen clit, he flicked and teased her. Her cries escalated and she clamped a hand over her mouth. Not that it mattered. He’d see to it she’d scream his name so the forest rang. As he nibbled her gorgeous lips, sucking them into his mouth, he felt her come apart.

  Yes! Just like this.

  He pulled her up, turned her around and leaned her back against the jaguar. Kneeling before her once more, he spread her legs and sucked on her clit.

  She held her breath, her body shook, and she let out a beautiful scream. “Killian.” She then sighed as her body fluttered under his mouth. He drank in her juices, swallowed her climax, unable to get enough. He needed more, needed to impale her on his painful cock and watch her come again. He’d never witnessed anything quite as poignant as her remarkable orgasm. Each shake seemed programmed for him. Each tremor had his strength as its origin. Every last ripple bore his name.

  He’d made her come, and he knew he’d need to relive the miracle every day and night for as long as he lived. Fuck, every hour, if he had his way.

  She gripped his head, holding him between her thighs, as if still needy for him. Happily, he obliged. There was nothing as tasty as Nina’s heat, nothing as sensual as making her sigh. He glanced up at her, grinning at the sight of her exposed breasts under her jean jacket and her pretty face, so transported by pleasure. Damn, they had barely gotten their clothes off. What sorts of wonders would they achieve while buck naked?

  He hunkered down, eager to make her come again and to feed his hunger. He opened his mouth and encircled her still-throbbing clit.

  She whispered his name and tugged. “Killian. I’m sorry. This sculpture’s hurting my back. Can we find a bed please?”

  He stood and immediately noted the wrinkled expression of discomfort on her face. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. “I’m sorry.” After bedding shifters for much of his adult life, he’d forgotten humans weren’t quite as limber. Granted, Nina moved like an awkward gazelle but he didn’t want to be responsible for her pain. “I got carried away.”

  Don’t break our human, his jaguar begged. We need to keep her.

  Human.

  It had been easy to forget while his face was situated between her legs.

  “No, I’m sorry,” she replied in sheepish tones. “I’m glad you got carried away. I did, too.” She offered him a sweet grin. “So, your place or mine?”

  Even as worry made his stomach pitch, desire made him weak. He’d tasted her sweetness. How could he ever go back now?

  This woman was his mate, come hell or high water.

  “Mine.” Yes, he wanted her in his bed. Always.

  Stopping to pick up her ruined thong, he saw her adjust her bodice out of the corner of his eye.

  “Let me do that for you,” he said. They gazed at each other as he tucked her breasts back into her bra and covered them with the dress. Stopping to plump and caress them, he leaned in and kissed her with lips that still carried her taste. She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms about his waist, letting her hands rest on his belt. Their tongues tangled with ease and strange familiarity, as if each movement were preordained. He wanted to be Romeo to her Juliet, but determined to give her a happy ending. He wanted to make her smile, make her come, make her goddamn delirious.

  He just wanted her, plain and simple. One orgasm, and he saw the world with utter clarity.

  She was his.

  “Come on,” he said, pulling himself away from her mouth with difficulty. He slung an arm around her shoulders. “Thank God we’re not too far away from the cabins.”

  “You don’t have a mentoring session?”

  “Not yet. We have time.” He smiled, wishing he could clear his schedule ad infinitum.

  “You’re so good with those kids,” she said. “They really look up to you.”

  “You were pretty good with them yourself. Ever do any work with teens?”

  “Not really, but when I was at college, I was part of the peer ministry. It was a group of older students who spent time with freshmen, helping them adjust to life away from home. We were just meant to be buddies, but I did end up talking a lot with some kids who had problems.”

  “Have you ever thought of mentoring as a career?”

  “I guess so, but I’ve always loved animals, too. I started grooming dogs when I was at school and really enjoyed it. It’s hard work with long days, but the dogs are sweet. And some days, after dealing with the people clients, I feel as if I like the animals more than their owners.”

  He grinned. “I understand that feeling.”

  “What about you? Did you study counseling?”

  He felt his face heat up. “No. I sort of fell into it.”

  Nina looked at him, her gaze steady and curious, and she waited for him to elaborate.

  “As I kid, I was pretty messed up. Like I said, our parents flitted from religious group to religious group and we didn’t have a lot of stability at home. I felt responsible for my brothers. There were days I had to make sure they ate because my mom and dad hadn’t bothered. They were more concerned with spiritual nourishment.”

  “You had to take charge.”

  “You could say that.” He frowned, stroking her hand. As they walked toward his cabin, the details he’d always bottled up spilled out. “My
parents were strict in some ways, forcing us to attend various churches, but negligent in other ways. Percy and Byron and I rebelled a lot, and usually got battered when we did.”

  Nina stopped walking and gazed at him, her face etched in pain.

  “Even though we were under their thumbs, I found other ways to rebel.”

  “What did you do?”

  He turned his head, ashamed. “I set fires.”

  She made him look at her. “Oh, Killian. You could have been hurt.”

  “I know, and luckily no one ever did get hurt. It started in my backyard, playing with matches. When that didn’t make me feel better, I moved onto shed fires. I felt such power when I lit them. I was young. I had no rights, but when I watched those sheds go up in flames, I felt like I took a bit of my power back.” He clenched his teeth, remembering the way the smoke stung his eyes, the way the acrid smell filled his nostrils. Repellent but oddly empowering. A message to his parents that they couldn’t fuck with him any longer.

  “What happened afterward?”

  “A firefighter who responded to one of the calls happened to be a shifter. He took pity on me. He saw my brothers and I lived in a mess of a home and he took it upon himself to talk to us. I realized my vocation after that. But I won’t lie to you, Nina. When I think of the ways our parents hurt us, I still want to lash out. Sometimes I want to go back to the family house, reach for a can of gasoline and watch it burn.”

  He expected her to turn tail and run from his horrible admission. However, she cupped his face, looked him right in the eye and kissed him on the mouth. “Whenever you feel that way,” she whispered. “Reach for me instead.”

  Emotion raged in his core, making him shake with gratitude and relief and need. He embraced her, running his hands all over her warm body as she buried her face in his chest. Part of him wanted to cry, but part of him wanted to shout in exultation. And everything in him needed to see her naked.

  It was just a few steps to his cabin. He picked her up and carried her the remaining distance, the whole time wondering how he’d explain they were mates. Another shifter would understand, but a human? He had to break it to her, had to make her see.

  They reached his stoop and Killian’s hackles went up. As he slowly put Nina down, he noticed his front door was open, just a crack. He always locked it.

  She noticed, too. “Someone’s here.”

  “That’s right,” called the familiar voice. “Come in, son. And bring the human. We’re waiting.”

  As dread filled his marrow, Killian once again envisioned those long-gone shed fires. He remembered the feeling of his young life spinning out of control, and of watching the flames until everything seemed clearer. He’d found clarity in those flames, had known he could no longer rely on his parents. They’d lost their way and he’d had to find a new way for himself and for his brothers.

  The urge to set the cabin alight hit him like a flash storm on a lonely landscape.

  He turned to Nina, afraid of what he might do. “Run to the security office, down the path to the right. Get Bart or Ryland, anyone you can find. Tell them to come.”

  She shook her head. “I don’t want to leave you…”

  He put his hands on her shoulders. “Nina, do this for me. I don’t trust myself with them. Run.”

  Her eyes watered but she turned and fled down the path he’d indicated. His heart hammering, he turned and prepared himself to greet the people who’d almost destroyed his life.

  Chapter 7

  NINA had never run so hard.

  Even though her chest heaved, she paid it no attention. Her muscles, still sore from Killian’s class workout, complained with every frantic step. She didn’t care. He had to face his parents, the people who’d abused him all his life, and she’d never been so scared.

  Not because she thought they’d hurt him. No, she ran because if she didn’t get help, she knew he’d hurt them. He’d known it, too. After confessing his desire to see the family home go up in flames, she’d understood his need for revenge. The need still ran deep, she could see it in his face. When he’d spoken of them, his gold-green eyes darkened, turning almost black. It frightened her, but it also made her want to hold him and warm him and keep him safe in her arms.

  Just as he’d made her feel when he’d delivered the single most astounding orgasm of her life. Now that she’d felt his knowing lips on her sex, the game had changed. Her views had changed, and she couldn’t see a future without Killian.

  Sure, she’d had orgasms before. They came, they amused, and they went.

  She’d never had one that had altered the course of her life. Until now. It sounded melodramatic to her own ears, and yet still rang true.

  So she couldn’t let him down.

  Spying the security office up ahead, she raced the final, few steps and whipped open the door. Several of the men were gathered inside. She saw Bart, Ryland, and Soren, and a few others she hadn’t met yet. They had a map of Gemini Island out on a table between them and were crouched over it. However, when she crashed into the room, they looked up with a start.

  “Killian’s in trouble. His parents broke into his cabin.”

  “Shit,” Bart muttered. He stepped aside with a couple of the other men, who she assumed to be fellow security officers. After conferring for a moment, the other men rushed out of the office. Bart turned to Ry and Soren. “Let’s go. We’ll have a bloodbath if he stays alone with them much longer.”

  As they headed out of the office, Ry turned to her. “Nina, Killian would want you to wait here.”

  “No way. Remember when I said I was stubborn?”

  Shaking his head at her, he allowed her to follow. They were much quicker than she was, and it was hard to keep up. As they raced through the woods, she saw a flash of fur and realized Bart had changed into a big, brown wolf, much like Janine’s. Another flash, and Soren became a huge polar bear. The two animal men traveled like demons through the trees toward Killian’s cabin.

  Ryland turned to her. “I’m going to shift. Get on my back and I’ll carry you.”

  With her nod, he burst from his clothing and transformed into a mighty grizzly bear. She barely had time to register his size and strength when he made a growling noise and leaned down.

  “Okay, okay. I’m coming, big guy.” Dismissing her growing panic, she clambered atop Ryland’s back and held onto his thick neck. With an ursine shout, he dropped to all fours and followed the others.

  She was sure she cursed the entire trip to the cabin area, but couldn’t recall her precise language. Only having ridden ponies at the farm as a kid, riding a grizzly would go down in her personal record book as particularly harrowing. Each move of his gigantic muscles, each hard throb in his veins, set her heart racing. Luckily, the ride proved short. Given she wore no undies, it had felt rather awkward. By the time they reached Killian’s cabin, Bart and Soren had already shifted and plowed in.

  Ryland bent down so she could slide off. As she did, she heard the now-familiar popping noise that seemed to accompany each shift. Before she knew it, Ry stood tall and naked before her.

  “Yeah, uh,” he stammered. “Sorry for all the nudity you’re about to see.”

  She nodded but forced her gaze to remain at eye level. Being so friendly with the Gemini Island women now, she felt sort of guilty staring at their men’s butts and would do all she could not to. Besides, the only butt she wanted to see was Killian’s. That thought in mind, she followed Ryland inside.

  Killian was alive, thank God, standing in tense anticipation in one corner of his large sitting room. His shoulders hunched and his face contorted in pain, he appeared more animal than man. She flew to him, unafraid, and he opened his arms to her. As he embraced her, he buried his nose in her hair and inhaled.

  “That’s my girl.”

  “Are you okay?”

  “I am now.” He kissed her and moved her so she stood behind him, as if wanting to shield her from
the burning gazes at the other side of the room.

  She looked at the couple facing him, conscious of Ry, Soren, and Bart standing at attention off to the side. Mr. and Mrs. Moon didn’t look like card-carrying members of a shifter cult, but she supposed appearances could be deceiving. Killian’s parents were a handsome couple, both tall like their son. Although the father had Killian’s blond hair, Mrs. Moon was darker. Both of them slim and strong.

  And both looked very disappointed.

  “Killian,” his mother cried, eyeing Nina with intense hatred. “You didn’t!”

  “Didn’t what, Mother?” Killian replied in a warning tone.

  She waved her hand at Nina. “You…you…cavorted with that creature! I can smell it from here.”

  “Disgusting,” concurred Mr. Moon.

  Killian’s entire frame tensed. He took a step.

  Nina put a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t. It’s not worth it.”

  He turned and touched her cheek. “It’s always worth it, and no one talks to my mate like that.”

  Mate? She couldn’t stop her eyes from growing twice their size. “Um…”

  “Killian,” his father said. “I had such hopes for you. The Great Alpha is still willing to accept you as one of his apostles. There is room for you in the Alpha Brethren, and room for your brothers. But in order to join us, you can’t have any contact with this human slut.”

  Killian whipped around, his face made red with fury. He rushed up to his father and pinned him against the wall. “Nina is my woman, mine! You got that? And there is no way I’ll allow you to insult her,” he seethed. “I will kill you before I let you say anything derogatory about her.”

  Her heart pounded, hearing him speak in such possessive fashion. But as much as it thrilled her, it terrified her. He’d called her his mate. Did he mean it? No, surely he just said it to his parents to make a point.

  And yet the very idea sent wonderful chills of anticipation up her spine.