Aedan: Harrison Ambush – Erotic Tiger Shapeshifter Romance (8 page)

“Hospital is secure. The other houses are being watched too. I wasn’t sure if I cared if you were hurt or not, so I only have a few watching over here. But I’m upgrading that now. As for the Adkins guy, I have that in a file you can read when we get to the hospital.” He thanked her. “What changed your mind?”

He took the album and gave it back to her with the picture of Nikki and her grandda at the end of a pier with a fish between them. They were both smiling, and an air of love seemed to surround them both. Storm asked him why this one.

“That’s the day that her grandma passed away. If you read the back of the picture, after making the arrangements to have her funeral, he gathered up his granddaughter and took her out there to help with the pain. He wrote on the back, ‘fishing away the pain on this horrific day.’” She pulled it out and read it. Then she looked at him. “My grandda, before he died a long time ago, he told me once that should you ever find yourself in over your head, you should drown some worms. Not fish…he always said drown worms. That’s just what they did. Went out there to ease their sorrow and drown worms together. The fish, I would imagine, was an unexpected bonus. Like she is going to be in my life.”

“You think it’ll be that easy? To bring her around after what you did to her?” He shook his head. “Yeah, I don’t think so either. She’s hard as nails, and scares me just a little too.”

“Say it’s not so.” She punched him in the arm. “I have to fix this. I’m going to grovel like I’ve never done before. Beg her to let me try again, and in the meantime, try not to get my head blown off in the process.”

“I don’t think you’re going to be able to make all of that happen.” He said nothing, hoping she meant the first things on his list and not the last. He really didn’t want to be shot. “I’ll help you. A little. But if you fuck up again, you’re dead. Not a threat, Aedan, but a promise. I will find someone to kill you and no one will ever know it was me.”

He wasn’t even thinking she was joking. Aedan doubted very much she knew how to joke around when it came to having people killed. Getting into her car, he nearly told her that he’d walk. He’d forgotten what a terrible driver she was.

~~~

Nikki held onto her grandda’s hand and said nothing. They were both afraid, she knew. Her especially. Adkins was in town, and he knew for a certainty that they were as well. Adkins had been in the front seat of the car that had come at them, along with the driver, and they had both looked right at them. She was sure that the only reason that they’d gotten out alive was because the airbag had prevented Adkins and his driver from exiting their vehicle before her and Grandda could get away. The old car hadn’t any airbags to deflate, so they’d been able to get out and flag down someone to help them right away.

The door opened and she nearly reached for her gun again when she saw who it was. She could not imagine what the fuck he was doing here. But her grandda squeezed her hand and she held tightly onto his. Instead of looking at Aedan, she turned to stare at the blank screen on the television. Anything was better than looking at his handsome face.

“I found this after you left.” She didn’t turn to look, but her grandda thanked him for it. “I hope you don’t mind, but I read it. Most of it. I didn’t get to the last one where Nikki had been hurt.”

“She was supposed to be dead. You don’t know how happy I am that she’s not.” Grandda let go of her hand and stood up. “If you don’t mind, this old man needs a little fresh air. Don’t piss her off again, Aedan. I took her gun from her, but she can still put you in a world of hurt all the same.”

The door opened and closed and she still stared at the television. She wasn’t going to talk to him, and there was no way he was going to touch her. So when he took her hand in his, she jerked it away. He took it back in his, but in a little tighter grip this time.

“I’m sorry.” She started to snort, a habit that she was trying in vain to stop doing. “I guess you don’t want to hear why I’m such an idiot. I’m pretty sure you have your own list.”

“Yes. And I’m not sure why you think coming here right now is going to endear you any better to me. I think you made it perfectly clear that you didn’t want me to fuck up your life. Well, jackass, I don’t need you to be in mine either. I have things just the way I want them.” She looked at him when he kissed the back of her hand. “Don’t touch me. I don’t want you to ever touch me again.”

“Don’t you? I was thinking of a few things while I was laying on the floor after Storm hit me. She has a pretty good left, by the way.” If he wanted her sympathy, then he was waiting for something that was never happening. “Anyway, I thought of why I didn’t want you in my life. For the life of me now, I can’t seem to make sense of what I was saying. I’m not even sure why I even thought you’d mess things up for me.”

“Well good for you. Now if you don’t mind, I’d like for you to get out.” He stroked the back of her hand and smiled before he looked at her. Christ, the man was beautiful. But she wasn’t going to fall for a pretty face. “Go away.”

“I’m glad that you’re not armed. What I have to say is going to piss you off again.” She asked him why he felt the need to say it then. “Because I want you to understand me. Not me, I guess—that will take a lot longer—but what I was doing by my way of thinking. I was foolish, yes, but I think that it was more than that. I was terrified.”

“And that is supposed to mean what to me? I’m afraid every single day of my life. And I’m armed. You’re not getting anywhere with me, Aedan. I have to make plans and get out of here before Adkins comes. And he knows that I’m here. I have to make sure that he can’t get to me before I can take him down.” He ran his finger up her arm to the scar there, and she felt the chip vibrate under her skin. “Don’t do that.”

“I know what it is. When I tasted your blood, it also gave me an insight to your mind. Your memories and what you were feeling. When you were hurt, I knew it. I just don’t know what happened.” He stood up and pulled the sheet down that was laying over her. “There was pain here. And here.”

The seatbelt had cut into her chest wounds and ripped them open. Also, the buckle had cut into her hip badly enough that she wasn’t sure she’d be able to walk without help for the next few days. Her grandda had been lucky; when the car had hit them, it had hit her side or they would never have been able to get out and get some much needed help. Thankfully, they got out of there and to the hospital before Adkins and his men could follow.

When Aedan leaned over her, his eyes watching hers, she held her breath when he kissed the wound over her left breast. Then he ran his tongue over the entire length of it before he moved to the one in the middle of her chest. She stopped him with her hand over his mouth. Her body was on fire and all he was doing was licking her. What would she do if he actually had sex with her? Not that it was going to happen.

“You’re not helping yourself if you think getting me all hot and bothered is going to work. I’m made of better stuff. And if I wanted to come, which I’m not saying I do, then I have a vibrator that I can enjoy much more.” He grinned at her. “Damn it, don’t use that good looking charm on me that I’m sure you’ve dispatched to hundreds of other women.”

“You think I’m good looking? And for the record, women do find me charming, but I’ve never felt this way about them like I do you.” He licked her nipple and she moaned before she could stop it. “I feel that, all the way to my toes.”

“Go over there and sit down and tell me what you think you’re doing here.” He did, but not before he licked the second wound on her chest. This one had been what scared her the most.

Adkins had been so close to her the day of the big shoot out, what she’d begun calling it when she was alone. His gun was only inches from her chest when he fired, his face full of humor and a sadistic laugh. It broke three ribs; she felt each of them as they bent under the immense pressure, then just broke. The second time he shot her from that short distance, she passed out. She looked at Aedan when he sat down, the scraping of the chair bringing her from her nightmarish thoughts. She asked him again what he was doing there.

“I’d like to talk to you. Tell you what is going on in my head right now. I’m going to be governor. I mean, I’m hoping to be governor here soon. I’ve been so focused on that, and working at my family’s firm, that I sort of lost touch with the world around me. I guess not really lost it, but shut it out. I didn’t want to be distracted from.... I wasn’t allowing myself to be distracted, when I probably should have a little more.” She leaned back. This wasn’t really anything she needed to hear, but she thought if he said his piece then he’d go away. It would be safer for him and his family if he did. “I watched my brothers, the two that have mates, change with their love for the women in their lives. Not in a bad way, but in an all-consuming way. Like nothing else mattered but their mates.”

“I’m to understand that you didn’t want me around because you didn’t want to be consumed by me? Bullshit. You just didn’t want your well-ordered life to be fucked with. I’m pretty sure that you said that to me too. I don’t care, Aedan. You can have your Post-it note, color coordinated socks matching life. I have enough shit in my life to deal with rather than try to remember if I put the damned plastic bottle in the right recycling container.” He told her it was the blue one and grinned again. “This isn’t funny, you moron. For as much as I hate to admit it, you fucking hurt me. And for that alone, I’m not going to let you come into my life. You…you really hurt me.”

“I know I did. And for that I’m profoundly sorry.” She looked away, wondering why it mattered that he sounded so sincere. “But I want to tell you what I was thinking. It was a bad decision on my part, I know that now. Like I said, I have been totally focused on my life and didn’t let others in. Not even those that matter a great deal to me. I had this all mapped out, and I didn’t want love, or being in love, to mess things up. I was stupid in thinking that, when I know for a fact that love does change you, but never the way I was working it out to be. If you ask my mom…well, not today, but if you asked her, she’d tell you that I’ve always had a sort of one track mind.”

“I’ve tried being on track. But life gets in the way. Everyday things like people trying to gun me down. My parents being shot and killed for simply being good people. My grandma dying too young, when I’d only just gotten to know her a little.” He said that he was sorry about her family and that she’d missed so much. But Nikki knew, as surely as she was laying here, that even though he was really sorry, it would never work out for them. And even if it did, there was going to always be someone out there that would take exception to what she did. “Okay, so you’ve explained yourself. Good for you. Now I think it’s time that you left me alone. I have shit to get together.”

“Adkins.” She nodded. “He’s here. I’m sure you know that, but there are nine men with him that we’ve been able to track down. We think that they’re going to try their best to get to you and your grandfather as soon as you try to leave here. People are watching this place very closely to see when they can attack.”

“They’re in the hospital?” He told her what Storm had told him. “So they’re out there, just waiting for me to leave so they can put me in a body bag. What about my grandfather? Is he a target too?”

“I would imagine that they will either get you or use him to get you. It’s what Stormy said she’d do. But they’ll kill him too, just because he’s related to you.” She nodded. “I want to help you. My family, we all want to help you. We have a great many resources and people around that can pull together to get you to safety until we can think this through.”

“I don’t think that you being what you are is going to be very helpful. I mean, a wealthy businessman who is too big for his britches isn’t going to be a blip on his radar. If you know what is on this chip, then you have an understanding of what this monster is and what he’s capable of. There isn’t enough to convict him, and if we took this to the police, I’m pretty sure that it would either come up missing or we would.” He stood up and pulled his shirt off. “What are you doing now?”

“My cat is going to heal you. His saliva is stronger than mine.” She watched as he put his hands on the top of his pants and stood there. “Both of us would very much like to eat you too when we’re somewhere that we’re alone.”

Then he was gone. The big cat stood there, staring at her as if she were going to be a fine meal for him, and maybe a little snack later. Thinking of what he’d just said to her, him and his cat eating her, made her squirm a little on the bed.

Nikki wanted to beg him to get out, to leave her to her business. But the thought of his mouth, Aedan’s mouth, on her pussy had her soaking wet and her body on fire. The thought of having sex with this man, to have either of them touching her with their mouth, it was all she could do not to beg him for anything he was willing to give her. Then the cat nudged her leg where she’d been hurt and pulled the gauze off with his teeth. Christ, she was so fucked right now.

Chapter 7

Aedan knew he had to take it easy with her. He’d fucked up, big time, and he was pretty sure she wasn’t going to be very forgiving, at least not quickly. Not that he blamed her. He’d been an asshole as well as an arrogant prick. Both names Storm had called him several times on the way in. But now he had to get her well enough to survive, and maybe mark her as his at the same time. This was a test, he knew, and he was going to pass it or die trying.

Her wounds had been opened again by the accident. He had felt her terror and pain when she’d been hurt, and it wasn’t a feeling that he wanted either of them to experience again. Aedan had smelled her blood the moment he’d walked into the room, and had had to work hard to keep his cat calm enough to talk to her. Careful where he put his large paws, he got up on the bed and stood over her. As he watched her, she unsnapped the top of her gown.

“This doesn’t change anything. You’re just going to help me out of a bad situation so I can defend myself.” He licked her hand. There was nothing wrong with it, but he needed to taste some of her and she was going entirely too slow for his cat. “If you get off the bed, I can stand up and undress. But I’m not going to be naked in front of you. And you can get that whole eating me thing right out of your head.”

He got off the bed and watched her stand. She was still wobbly on her feet, but she didn’t take any chances with it by not holding onto the bed while she got her feet under her. When she pulled the gown off, Aedan sat on his ass and watched as she started pulling off the bandages. Her hands were trembling, either from weakness or fear, he didn’t know which. Distraction; he decided that they both needed a distraction.

Did you know that a tiger’s tongue is about twice the length of a human’s
? She didn’t say anything so he continued
. Males weigh anywhere from two hundred to almost seven hundred pounds. We weigh a little more because we’re human too. Females are about half that for the most part, but again, as a shifter, they’re heavier as well. I think it has to do with muscle mass more than just fat. That’s why you will rarely see a fat shifter. And we aren’t nocturnal like our counterparts are.

“Why not?” He was slightly distracted by the sight of her standing there in just her panties and a few bandages. “Aedan, why aren’t you nocturnal?”

We’re human too, who are not, for the most part, nocturnal. Do you have any idea how beautiful you are right now?
She told him to go on with his fun facts.
All right. Our teeth are larger than a human’s. Sometimes as long as three inches. Are you going to sit in a chair for me?

“Are you going to try something funny?” He didn’t think what he was going to try could be considered funny, so he shook his big head. “You’d better not. Just heal me so that I can get out of here.”

When she made her way to the chair, Aedan talked to his cat. He told him that she was angry with them, mostly him, and that if they hurt her again, broke her heart, they might not ever get another chance to be with her. As he stood up to move toward her, her arousal had him stopping in his tracks.

“What is it?” He didn’t say anything but he knew that she was wet. “Just do what you said you were going to do.”

Permission, he thought. She’d given them permission to have her. Not really, his heart told him, but his head and cock were all for having it sound like she’d given them the okay. But first, healing her had to happen.

Moving to the chair again, he asked her to pull out the IV needle that had been put there, he supposed, in the event she needed meds. When she took it out, he licked the small wound and watched her face when she looked at it. When she didn’t seem to be freaking out, something he was sure she rarely if ever did, he looked at it as well.

It didn’t heal immediately, but as they watched it, the wound closed over and there was nothing there to indicate that she’d ever been hurt. The small bruise would take the normal time to heal up. Unless she took his blood into her, she’d not be able to get rid of those just yet.

I told you, the cat’s saliva is a lot stronger than mine. And it has this numbing agent in it as well. So when he bites someone, either in play or marking someone, it’s not nearly as painful. Nikki, are you all right with this? Just say so and I’ll stop and have someone else come in and.... No, I won’t be able to let anyone else touch you, but I can stop.
She nodded.
All right, love, I’m going to start with the wounds on your chest. Those are the worst, and might need to be taken care of a second time.

She laid back and he moved between her legs. It wasn’t necessary for him to stand there, but it did help him reach her better. Running his tongue over the wound over her left breast, he made sure that his tongue lapped at her nipple that was exposed, too. Her moan had him smiling to himself.

Aedan looked at her before he moved to the next one. She’d been hurt badly, both times by this man. As soon as he could, he was going to find out all he could about this man and make him pay. Aedan was sure if he asked Storm to help him, the man would be gone. It might not be right, but Nikki was his mate and he wanted her to be safe.

When she cleared her throat, he remembered why he was there and licked the next wound, careful not to alarm her too much on how much he was tasting other parts of her. For as much as he wanted her, Nikki trusting him was much more important.

“I heard you tell Grandda that you saw his album. He’s been keeping pictures of me since I was taken to him and Grandma.” He told her that he’d read about her family being killed. “Yes. I should have died, but for some reason I didn’t. I’m glad. I got to be with them for a long time. Grandma had to move into a nursing home after I started living with them. She had a nervous breakdown when her dad died, then later a stroke. Grandda said she and her dad were very close, and when he died, she crawled into her head and never returned. When she died, I felt…I don’t know, it was like I was losing more and more of myself every time someone died. I think it’s why I make every day count with Grandda. He’s all I have in the world. Your tongue is very rough, isn’t it?”

Yes. Am I hurting you?
She said no and he moved closer to her to touch the wound that had recently been stitched up. Aedan felt his heart break when he saw the other scars there. Ones that he was sure she’d gotten when her parents had been killed. The only way that they’d leave her body would be if he converted her. Aedan wanted that as much as he did her trust. Trying to think of something else, he licked over the small bump in her arm.
The chip in your arm, you told me that it’s dirt on Adkins. Why haven’t you used it to bring him in? I’m assuming that you’ve been working toward that end for a while now.

“Years, I guess. But as I said, it’s enough to bring him in, just enough, but not enough to keep him there. My plan has always been to make a rock solid case against him so that he’d not be out in a few years. And this chip, like the one in Grandda’s leg, is what I have so far. But it’s here because I wanted to make sure that I never left it behind. I guess in the back of my head I knew that someday I’d have to take off. I just never thought that my grandda would be with me when I did.” He licked the small stitched place just below her right breast. This time he didn’t hesitate in running his tongue over the rounded flesh, and loved the way her nipple tightened for him. “You’re playing unfairly, Aedan. This is not going to happen; whatever is going on in your head right now is not a part of the plan.”

Plenty of things are going on in my head right now. Like will your cream be as rich and delicious as I think it will. When you come, will you scream out my name? I’d like that, by the way, to hear you scream my name as I bring you over the edge. Christ, Nikki, I need you. Spread your legs for us. We can smell how aroused you are.
She didn’t do it at first and he was somewhat disappointed. But when she did move, his cat moved his big head between her thighs and rubbed his nose over her damp panties.
You’re so wet, Nikki. Let my cat fuck you with his tongue.

Her legs widened more for him. And when his cat moved back for her, she removed her panties and slid down on the seat of the chair. Spread out like she was for them, Aedan wanted to take his cat back and have her, but his cat snarled at him that it was his mate as well and he needed her.

Moving close enough to see her hard clit peeking from her swollen lips, it was all Aedan could do not to beg her to touch herself. But his cat moved in and licked her from gate to clit and had her crying out with her first of a great many releases that he was planning to give her.

His cat ate her. Licked her until she cried out twice more before he slid his tongue into her and fucked her that way. When Nikki curled her fingers into his fur and held him, Aedan felt like he’d been given a great gift. Now he had to try not to fuck it up.

Each time she came, he tasted more of her. When his cat backed from her, Aedan looked at the feast before him. She really was beautiful. Especially like she looked right now.

Flushed with sexual pleasure, there was a beautiful dewiness to her skin from what he’d done to her. Her legs were up and over the arms of the chair. Her pussy was wide, wet, and pulsing with need. Nikki’s nipples were pink, thick, and hard, and her hands were cupping them as her fingers tugged at the hard nubbins. With her head thrown back and her eyes closed, Aedan wished in that moment that he was artistic and that he could paint her this way.

He took his body back and cupped her ass in his hands and buried his mouth over her pussy. Her scream of another release was like music to his ears, a symphony of sounds that made his cock ache with need.

Words failed him on trying to decide how she tasted. It was more than honey and cream, it was something so unique to her that he knew that for as long as he lived, he’d never get enough of her. Every time she flooded his mouth, when her legs tightened around his head, Aedan knew a pleasure that would keep him warm at night, make him smile when he thought of her. This woman, like none before her, could make him feel like he was king.

Mine
, his mind screamed at him; this woman was his and no one would hurt her again. As he devoured her, his fingers sliding in and out of her now, he brought her twice more, her body riding his mouth and fingers like he was taking her. Aedan could not wait to be buried as deeply as he could in her, feel her tighten around his cock, her cream sliding over his balls as he made love to her.

When she lifted his head from her, pulling his hair hard enough that even his cat was startled, he watched her face as she tried to seemingly focus on him. When she licked her lips, all he could think about was feeling her mouth wrapped around his cock while he fucked her there. Aedan moved to her mouth and took it. Kissing her, tasting the dark richness of her mouth, had him pulling her body closer to his, his cock rubbing over her wet heat.

“I need you.” He growled low when she lifted his head again. “Christ, do you have any idea how many times that I came? And yet I need more. I need to feel you inside of me, fucking me. Please, I burn with the need to have you inside of me right now, Aedan.”

Aedan kissed her again and slid his crown into her pussy. She cried out, her body riding his, but he was careful only to fill her enough to tease them both. For as much as he needed her, he didn’t want this to end just yet. Fucking her this way, short strokes in her, she came again. Then she moved in a way that knocked him to the floor.

“You’re taking too long.” Before he could guess her intent, she moved over him, her hands holding his cock while she slid down his shaft. Aedan couldn’t breathe over the feeling of having her there, his body got harder, his cock stretched. When she was seated and started to move, Aedan held her by her hips to still her. “I need to come. Like this, I need to come with your cock inside of me or I’m going to die.”

“As do I. But I have to tell you something, I need for you to understand that if I come in you, you belong to me.” She nodded, then threw back her head as she rolled over him again. “You’re beautiful, Nikki. Come for me. And when you do, you’re going to bring me and I want to watch you.”

“Watch me. I don’t care. But if I don’t come with you inside of me, I’m going to be really pissed off.” Rolling her to her side, then her back, taking control again, her legs wrapped around his hips and he lifted her up by her ass and fucked her slowly. “You’re not helping me.”

“Are you always this impatient? Don’t you want this to last? I want to have you come on me several times before I fill you.” She growled and he laughed. “Christ, to think I was afraid that I’d never get to be this deep inside of you. And now here I am being rushed through what I wanted to last for hours.”

“Hours? You can hold on for hours?” He nodded and kissed her before pounding her just a little more. When he lifted his head, he laughed at the expression on her face and fell in love with her. Just like that, Aedan realized he loved his mate. “I might not survive having sex with you often. Oh yes, Aedan. Fuck me like that. Harder, I need to come.”

He leaned into her throat and licked the pounding pulse there. She tasted of sex and sweat, a combination that had him sliding into her faster, deeper, and harder. When she cried out that she was coming, he sank his teeth into her throat and nearly came when she dug her nails deep enough into his back to draw blood.

Drinking deeply of her, tasting paradise while he fucked her, he thought of her in his bed, tied to it while he explored her. He had a feeling that was going to be the only way he’d be able to take his time with this woman. And when she cried out again that she was coming, he lifted his head, tilting it, and told her to bite him. Nikki pulled his pec to her mouth and bit his nipple hard enough to have him crying out from the pain/pleasure of it.