Cormac (4 page)
Mac held her while they got their hearts
beating normally again. Christ, he’d just taken his mate in the front seat of
his car and had never been happier. He was going to have to get a bigger car
now, he thought. When he chuckled a little, she lifted her head and looked at
him. Mac pushed her damp hair out of her eyes and looked at her.
“You’re beautiful.” When she started to move,
he felt his cock fill again. When she froze over him, her eyes wide in shock,
he smiled at her. “I’m not going to hurt you again. But I’d very much like for
you to ride me again.”
“I didn’t say you would hurt me, but we’re
not going to do this again. And don’t call me beautiful. I know that you think
you have to after what we did, but I don’t expect you to want to do this again.”
He asked her why not. “Because…well because of what you are and what I am.”
“And what might I be or you be that would
make it so that we don’t make love again?” She struggled again, and he pulled
her body to his, holding her tightly before she hurt either of them. “What are
you thinking, Andi? About us?”
“You have all kinds of money.” He didn’t say anything,
not even sure what to say to her. “I mean, look at this car. It worth more than
I made over the last five years. Your parents are…well, nice. You have brothers
that love you. While me, I don’t have a pot to pee in, and after they find out
what we did here, they’re for sure going to fire me.”
“You have to do better than that, love. My
parents are nice, thank you for that. Yes, my brothers love me and I love them.
As for your pot, we have a very lovely toilet at the house you can use, and no
one is going to fire you for what we did. They might erect a monument in your
honor, but they won’t fire you.” He handed her the tattered remains of her
shirt. “If you can reach over the seat there, I have a bag back there with some
of my clothing in it. I’ll give you a shirt to pull on.”
As soon as she reached for it, he knew his
mistake. Or perhaps not a mistake, but an opportunity. Taking her breast into
his mouth again, he rocked her over his cock up and down as he suckled at her.
When her fingers curled around his shoulder, he fucked her this way, lifting
her up and down so that his crown filled her over and over. Mac watched as he
filled her, saw his cock, hard again, shine with her cream as it moved in and
out of her.
“I could come this way. Watching you take me
like this.” He moved her faster, deeper, until he had her down over him once
again and he was fucking her hard by bringing her tighter and tighter to him. “What
I wouldn’t give to have you spread out on my bed, my mouth sucking on your clit
while you came for me. Come Andi. Come now.”
This time he came with her. Her arms
tightened around his, her mouth at his throat again. Using a little of his cat,
he formed a long claw and cut at his throat for her. When Andi put her mouth
over the wound and sucked on it, Mac bit down on her shoulder and came hard as
blood, hot and thick, filled his mouth again.
He’d never come so hard in his life. Stars
and darkness filled his vision as he emptied not once but twice more deep
inside of her. When she cried out for the third time, her climax taking her, he
held her tightly to him as she rode him through another mind-blowing release.
Mac held her after she sobbed herself to
sleep in his arms. He’d not been able to understand what she was saying for the
most part. He was a mistake—that, or she was. Something about her father and an
aunt named Hester. She claimed that she was going to be killed one minute and
that she was going to run far away the next. Jabber, he supposed, wasn’t
supposed to make much sense. When Riordan touched his mind, he was almost glad
for it.
Where the fuck are you? I thought you were
taking her to Mom’s house. Did something happen?
He said that it did.
Well, do you need for someone to come and get you? I told you that car was a
mistake. You need something that isn’t going to get you killed.
I claimed her. Andi is my mate.
He could almost see
the look on his brother’s face. It would be shocked, his eyes wide with it. And
he’d be smiling so big right now that Mac would want to smack the shit right
out of him.
So, if it’s all the same to you, I’d just as soon you not come
and get us right now.
You made love to your mate for the first time
in that car?
His voice, even in his head, sounded like he was incredulous.
Mac, there is
barely enough room for you in that sucker. You took her in that?
Yeah, well, I’m sure you understand when the
mood comes over you, it matters little where you are. Remember me nearly
catching you in the pantry a few days ago?
Riordan said nothing in reply.
I’m
taking her to my house. I don’t have anything here for her to wear, so I think
that’s the best thing. Do you know if she has some clothing that I can pick up?
Storm said she had only the clothing on her
back when she brought her home from the hospital, and has been wearing
something of hers since.
Well, that explained why she smelled like Storm.
I
don’t know what to tell you about that. Her brother, however, I have plenty to
tell you. I thought Storm was going to kill him today. But he’s not right in
the head. I don’t mean that in a cruel way, but I think he might have a
developmental problem that makes him sort of slow.
She was saying something about her aunt and
her father, but little about him. I guess her dad is in jail, right? And there
was mention of an aunt that might want to kill her too.
Mac looked down at
the bundle in his arms.
I have a mate. I mean, holy shit, Riordan, I have a
mate, and she’s beautiful.
Yeah, I know that feeling.
He supposed his
brother would.
I think Mom knows what’s going on between you two. She just
asked me if you were going to take her to your house or bring her back here to
our house. That’s where we are by the way, at my house.
When Andi stirred and looked at him, he told
his brother that he’d talk to him later. Andi asked if she could get the
clothing now. Nodding, he tried his best not to taste her again, but couldn’t resist
planting a small kiss on her bruised nipple. He moved over to his side of the
car when she held the bag in front of her like a shield.
“I’m very sorry.” When she nodded at him and
looked at her feet, he thought that she’d taken that wrong and lifted her face
to look at him. “Not about making love to you either time, but that your first
time was in a car and not in a big bed with sheets and pillows.”
“It’s all right.” He let her pull his shirt
over her head before he pulled her to him again. She looked slightly afraid,
but he knew that he’d never hurt her; no one would. “Please, you have to let me
get dressed before someone comes by.”
“I don’t care. Look at me please.” When she
finally lifted her head and looked at him, he could see the tears filling her
eyes. “Are you hurting? Did I hurt you too badly when I took you?”
Her face heated up when she shook her head
no. “I’m fine. I’d like to go home now. You said you’d take me there. Storm
said that I could stay at the apartment above the restaurant for a few days.”
“I’m taking you to my house. Our house, I
mean.” He watched her face and knew when she realized what he said. “You don’t
have to be afraid of me. But I would really like to talk to you about a few
things. First and foremost, your idea about mates trading around. We don’t do
that.”
“What are you?” Her words were soft and he
was pretty sure that she wasn’t asking him if he was a cat, but some strange
man who was different to her. But he answered her truthfully. “A cat. A tiger.
You expect me to believe that you’re a shifter cat?”
“I am. All my family is.” He put out his arm
for her and let his cat take it. “He wants to mark you, by the way. Take you in
a way that has him drinking from your pussy and then marking you. Like I have.
Then I want to do that as well, fuck you properly after I’ve eaten you until
I’m full. Which I have to tell you, might not ever happen.”
“You can’t mean that.” But her fingers moved
along his arm, and he could feel his cat purring at her. “It’s soft. I thought…I
have no idea what I thought. How did you do that?”
“I’m a tiger. A pureblood shifter tiger.” Her
fingers moved over his fur again, and when she ran her cheek over it, he let
more of his cat go so that she could hear him purring. “You’re making him nuts
to come out and play with you. You’re his mate too, you know, and he wants his
mate as much as I do.”
She snatched her hand back and he reached for
it again. Putting it back on his arm, he told his cat that they had to be gentle
with her, that she was afraid of them. His cat seemed to understand and purred
again, this time low enough that she didn’t hear him.
“I don’t know what’s going on.” He nodded. He
had a lot of questions as well. “Will you…I don’t think I want to stay with
you. I do, but I don’t think we should, do you?”
“Yes. I want to take you to my house, strip
you down, and then make love to you until neither of us can stand up. Then when
I’ve had my fill, in about a month, I’d like to start over again, running my
tongue all over every inch of you.” Her eyes dilated, her breathing picked up.
Even her heartrate doubled. Leaning into her mouth, being as careful as he
could, Mac kissed her before going back to the steering wheel and holding it
tightly. “Right now we have to get to my house. And if you even touch me right
now, which I want you to in the worst possible way, I’m going to shift, and let
my cat feast on you for as long as he wants.”
“Oh.”
He laughed. It was that or sob. And he was
pretty sure that she’d understand him less if he did that. Starting the car up,
he watched her as she put her legs, bare now of anything, on the floor in front
of her. Mac tried his best not to think that she was naked under his shirt, and
that if he wanted, he could pull over, shift, and take her against the side of
the car several times before he was satisfied. If he ever was.
“They weren’t going to kill me, but they
weren’t helping me find her either. And there was Andi running out with this
man like she was running away from me.” Jim paced the big room, avoiding the
trash as he went. His dad was still in jail and might be for a little while
longer. He was sorta enjoying him not being there. Aunt Hester was still there,
but she was the only person he could talk to about how those people had made
him feel. She wasn’t really nice to him about it either, not like the Harrisons
were. After a bit they’d even given him some food. He knew it was his sister’s
cooking too. He’d eaten everything on his plate, but he’d been scared while
doing it.
“She’s gotta get her ass back here. The house
is going to ruin and there ain’t a soul here to clean it up. And the phone bill
is due too. That lady called here on it today telling me to get the promised
payment in.” Aunt Hester nodded as she continued. “She’s gonna have a lot to
answer for when she gets her skinny ass back here. Never would have been
treating us like this if your daddy had done what I told him to do over and
over and just tie her to the floor.” He was thinking that wasn’t right but said
nothing to her about his feelings on that. “I know that her extra money was
helping out, but that ain’t worth a hill of beans if there is nobody here to
wait on me. I deserve to be waited on, Jim. I’m the oldest in this family.”
Jim didn’t say anything to her. He’d never
understood how being the oldest had gotten her any more special treatment. He
was the older of he and Andi, but nobody cared about that. He missed his sister,
and if he was honest about it, he was glad that she’d gotten away from here.
Aunt Hester would kill her if she was still here. It was hard on Jim, but his
sister was all right and that was important to him. Always had been.
“Do you think you can go down and see if
those fellers want to buy your sister from us for about a week? I’m betting
that one or two of them would like a good fuck with her. Course, they can’t
keep her, but they can have some fun with her for a little bit.” Jim didn’t
have a clue what she meant and asked her about it. Sell her? Aunt Hester told
him what she meant as she continued about the selling part. “How much you
figure it would be worth to them to fuck her? If they want, they can even play rough
with her too. Ain’t like she’s never been beaten before a few times.”
“I don’t think that’s right. We can’t sell
her to them. What if they hurt her or something? I seen it on the news, Aunt
Hester. We can’t be selling my sister. There are laws about that.” Jim frowned
as he thought of something. “Those people have guns. I don’t know why they
pulled them on me, but I seen them. I was only trying to get Andi to get her
ass home like Dad said for me to do.”
“She’s ungrateful. All this time we’ve let
her do her own thing, and this is how she repays us. I told your father not to
let her get by with this. Having a job and going to school like she did. What
did she think that education was going to get her? A man?” Aunt Hester snorted.
“She’s not no more going to get a man than I am. And let me tell you, I had all
kinds of them when I was younger.”
Jim tried to imagine that, and just couldn’t.
His aunt wasn’t what he’d call courtable. She wasn’t even what he’d call
someone he would think of as even remotely pretty. She was plain. And fat. And
dirty. And she stank up the house when she took off her shoes. Jim said none of
these things because, like any sane man, he was terrified of her. Like he
figured any normal person would be if they had to live with her.
Aunt Hester had killed a man. This was not a
story that he’d heard growing up. It wasn’t something that he’d heard as a
rumor, either. He’d seen her do it. Just plucked the man right out of his car
when he’d come to collect on something and snapped his neck. When he didn’t
move any more, she dropped him on the ground and kicked him in the head.
“You got something to say to me?” Jim was
shaking his head at her even before she finished asking him. “Then you get on
over there at that place where you seen her and see if they’ll buy her for a
week. I think you should get about five hundred for her. She’s got a pretty enough
face, I guess, but nothing on her body that many men would want. You get going,
and don’t you dare think to spend any of my money before you get back here
either.”
He left then. There was nothing holding him
there, he told himself, not even any scraps of food to eat, and his belly was
growling for it again. He’d seen what those people had been eating, and he was
sure that his belly had told him that he’d been hungry. Chops and green beans,
like they was having some sort of feast. It had been so long since he’d had
real food, he’d been thinking that they must be the luckiest people in the
world right then, and he’d been given some of it before they told him to go
away and not come back. Course, he’d known that Andi was a good cook. When
she’d been working in the restaurant before this one, she’d sneak him food out
near the back door and let him eat it. Andi would take care of him when Dad didn’t
have him some assignment to go after her. He didn’t know what to do when he was
supposed to bring her home, so he just ate his food and forgot about the rest.
Andi was good to him most of the time, but he knew that she was afraid of him
too.
Jim had to walk to town. Two days ago he’d
run out of gas in his truck and there hadn’t been anyone to bring him any, nor
was there money for him to even get enough to try to get back to the house.
He’d have to see about draining a car in town again, then walking back to where
he’d parked it. Jim wondered if that man he was supposed to talk to about
selling Andi to him would give him enough extra to fill up his tank.
By the time he got back to town, it was
getting dark. The restaurant, called Home Cooking, was closed up; all the
lights inside were off too. The bakery next door to it had some lights on, but
he didn’t go there. The last time he’d tried to get into that place, he’d
nearly had his ass shot off. What the heck was going on with everyone having a
gun lately? He moved to the street behind the Bakery and sat against the
opposite wall watching and waiting. Maybe they’d toss out the day old stuff and
he’d have enough to eat now and then in the morning before he had to see his
dad again.
Jim thought about his family while he was
sitting there. His dad was a mean man and had been his entire life. Jim knew
that he blamed his mom on what had happened to him when he’d been born. Jim had
heard him screaming at her when she’d been big with Andi that she’d better not
fuck this boy up like she’d done before. His mom would sit and cry about it,
telling him that it wasn’t his fault but that of his birth. Jim hadn’t
understood that either. But when she’d told him that she was having him a
little sister and not to tell his dad, she’d told him that he’d have to be the
one to watch over her, that no one else would. She’d been right about that too.
“Then she up and died, my momma did.” Jim
missed her more and more every day. She’d been good to him, protecting him when
she could. She’d told him that taking things that didn’t belong to you was bad,
but his dad had beaten him when he told him that and Jim had had to steal. Jim knew
that stealing would get you arrested and had said that to his dad.
“No, we’re not stealing a damned thing. What
we’re doing is making the system work for us. When the government fails, and it
will, we’ll still be able to feed ourselves because we know how to do it right.”
Jim had nodded, but he really didn’t understand him. “You just do what I tell
you to do and I won’t have to kill you. Even though it pains me to have you
breathing.”
“But Mom said not to do it.” His dad had
cuffed him hard enough on the chin that it still hurt him to this day if he
opened his mouth too wide. Jim learned really fast not to disagree with him
when his dad was close enough to hit him again.
“We can work the system, like I said. We know
how to make a living on the backs of others, get in and out of places that
nobody thinks we can, and we can hide out where nobody will ever find us when
we need to.” All things that Jim thought were not right. But like with his aunt
when she spouted off about how they were good citizens just trying to get by,
he kept his mouth shut.
His questions might have been something like,
what is this system that you talk about? And if there is one, what system are
we going to be working to live if it fails? If we can get in and out of a place
without keys or permission, how is that not breaking and entering? And hiding
out? Wasn’t that evading? Jim wasn’t smart, nor did he have a good thinking
process, but he’d been arrested for these things. B&E, theft, as well as
evading the cops when they come looking for him. So he knew these things at
least enough to know that he wasn’t to do them and get caught again. And twice
when he’d done that, his aunt had ratted him out.
Aunt Hester had come to live with them after
her husband had passed away. Jim was about five, he thought, and Andi had been just
a wee little baby. His mom, sick when she’d gotten big with his sister, had
died soon after she’d come home from the hospital.
And right from the get go, Aunt Hester had
hated Andi. Pinching her when she thought no one was looking. Keeping her food
from her for no good reason other than she just did it. There were times when
Jim would get up on the middle of the night just to sit at the bottom of her crib
to keep his aunt from going into her room and smothering her, as she had said
she would do on several occasions when Andi would cry for her food.
His dad wasn’t a good man either when it came
to Andi. He never did once hold her when she cried, and after a little bit, Jim
was glad for it. He was afraid that he’d do what he said and bash her little
head against the wall to get rid of her.
George Collins had been in prison twice, once
for a robbery that he’d taken a gun to, and then when he’d gotten home from
that, he’d been arrested again and sent away for the same dumb thing. Aunt
Hester had been in charge of them then, and Jim had had to work real hard then
at keeping them both from harm. Then Andi had gotten out and got a job. But
nothing stopped his dad from hurting her then either.
Jim thought maybe his dad should have been
using his own money for bills and stuff instead of making Andi give over her
checks. Even their aunt had a check coming in every month to cover her expenses,
and she made sure that he knew they were
her
expenses too. He also knew
for a fact that they had one of them welfare cards. But according to their dad,
the government had decided that if he didn’t work, he didn’t get it. And that
had set him off quickly enough that Jim had left to hide out until his temper
cooled or the government saw the error of their ways, as dad called it.
Jim wondered if he just stayed away if it
would be safe for Andi too. Neither of them seemed to be able to find her like
he did. Of course, his dad had that one time, and look where it got him. In
county where Jim thought he belonged anyway. But his aunt, so far as he knew,
never left the house but to get her check and to shop for her things. Jim had
never seen her in any other—
“You lost?” Jim looked up at the woman in
front of him. He’d been sitting there thinking for so long that he’d missed the
possible trash dumping and maybe something to fill his belly, he just knew it. “I
asked you a question, Jim. Are you lost?”
“I’m not a good person.” He didn’t look away
from the woman. He knew who she was, or at least where he’d seen her before. It
was the woman with the gun from today. “I’m just hungry and was waiting on the
trash to be taken out. I didn’t bother nobody. Even though Aunt Hester told me
to find Andi and make her come home, I’m not going to do it. Not anymore.”
She didn’t say anything for several minutes,
and Jim stood up. He didn’t want to die here in this alley, and he was pretty
sure that she’d do it just to get him out of her way. Before he took two steps,
she told him to wait. He turned to look at her, just knowing that she was gonna
be pointing a gun at him. When she wasn’t, he felt his breath whoosh out of his
body.
“We don’t keep the leftovers at either place
of business, so there wouldn’t have been any food for you. They’re taken to the
shelter for them to use.” He nodded. Of course they did that. It was a good
thing to do, and here he was thinking to steal it. “Come on with me and I’ll
see that you get something to eat.”
“I’m Andi’s brother.” She told him she knew. And
then told him her name. “Mrs. Harrison, I don’t want no trouble, if you don’t
mind. I been sitting here thinking, and I know you could just kill me now and
not one person might care about it. But if you’d see to Andi, keep her safe,
I’d be right fine with that happening to me.”
“Yeah, I would though. Care, I mean. I don’t
kill men because they’re cold and hungry. And Andi is safe.” She moved with him
to the car sitting on the street. There was a big man standing there, the guy
from earlier that had a gun too. Jim paused and the woman laughed. “This is my
husband, Riordan. And if you call me Mrs. Harrison again, I might hurt you.
He’s Riordan and I’m Storm. Got it?”
“Yes. Are you going to take me to jail? My
dad’s there and he’d be powerfully mad at you…well, he is already, but he’d be
mad at me too if you do that.” She asked him why she’d do that. “Because you
told me to stay away from this place. But to be honest with you, I kinda wish
that you wouldn’t take me to jail but to the other place. Prison. Just don’t
let them put me next to my dad when he’s taken back. He’s…I’ve been thinking.”
