Harvests Pride (7 page)

Then she ran.

She ran and ran until a stitch developed in her side. Her body ached from everything she’d been through today. Exhaustion began to tug at her. All the while, she prayed she wouldn’t run into another shifter, that she was heading the right way and that by some miracle there would be a car with a kind soul inside along her path.

Hanna saw the man smoking beside the road and his pickup truck near the edge of the land where pavement must run and she cut through the field toward him. He was staring at the stars and didn’t see her. She was within ten feet when she heard the roars in the distance, then the alarm sirens triggered as she drew closer to the road. It startled the guy, but she yelled for his attention.

“Help me,” she begged. “Please, I need a ride.”

“Uh, sure,” he said, looking behind her.

“Get in the truck,” she yelled, as another roar sounded. Closer. A lot closer. She ran around, scrambling inside while he lumbered into the driver's seat.

“Where to?” he asked as he started the car.

“Anywhere. Just go!” Her eyes widened as she saw the shadows of two huge lions heading their way. The man turned and looked, shocked.

“Is that—”

“Yes! Just go. Please go and fast,” she cried. “As fast as you can or they’ll catch us!”

His foot slammed to the accelerator and gravel spit as he cranked the pickup from the shoulder of the road. Hanna turned and looked out the window, seeing Myan and Kaz bounding after them. In moments, they’d catch up and leap onto the truck.

And then the pickup was pulling away and the big cats were left in the distance. She couldn’t hear their thoughts since they were in feline form, but she felt their emotions.

Panic, horror, anger, agonized sorrow. It pummeled her until tears welled in her eyes and she had to draw her knees to her chest to keep from rocking.

“What the hell was that?” the man demanded.

“A miracle,” she replied. It was a miracle that they’d gotten away. And it was a miracle that shifters existed, and that two had chosen her. Even if it was wrong. Very, very wrong.

* * * *

Fury filled Kaz as he stared after the rapidly diminishing taillights of the truck. Mud covered the plate, as well as the rest of the vehicle, and he couldn’t even make out the state of origin.

Myan panted beside him, and Kaz could sense his fatigue. It matched his own, as did his anger and fear. He butted his head against his brother, silently directing him back to the house.

Other dark shapes separated from the shadows as the wind from an incoming storm rushed across the fields, blowing at their manes and making them look more wild than normal. His pride. His family. Witnesses to his loss.

He faced them, knowing they knew what had happened, that they knew his failure. The bright Harvest moon glared down on the group, taunting him and Myan with the knowledge of its significance. A time for mating. And they’d lost theirs.

Kaz threw back his head and roared. Myan joined, then the others started until the echoing sound flooded the land.

* * * *

The trucker was headed to New York, and she decided it was best not to stay with him. He’d really had the misfortune of just stopping to look at the starry sky away from the city’s light pollution. He didn’t deserve to be caught in the middle of her escape.

At the first gas station they stopped at, some hours away, she withdrew all the cash she could from an ATM. A few hours later, she was able to go to a bank and withdraw all her savings. She stayed with the man, Fred, until a truck stop where she slipped away and caught a ride with a lady trucker heading to Albuquerque New Mexico. The woman was good company, and the more miles they rode, the more the tension in Hanna’s belly uncoiled. And there was calm.

Along the way, she disappeared from another truck stop. If by some long shot she was being followed, she didn’t want to leave a clear path. She caught a bus to Colorado then took a train to Washington State. Pretending to be a hiker, she caught a ride with a couple heading to the mountains. Partway, Hanna had them drop her and followed signs, hiking to a small town near Mount Rainier.

There, in the middle of nowhere, she took a breath.

In the midst of wilderness, she wondered what was happening to her life. Days ago, she was a reporter—respected in her field, too. Now, her life had been turned upside down. She couldn’t go back, and she had to start over as someone far from her old self. Wouldn’t she have been better off staying with Myan and Kaz? Her life as she’d known it had been over there, too. At least, she hadn’t been alone, and she’d been protected.

She pressed her palms to her eyes. These were thoughts she should have had before. It was too late to second guess, and she’d do no good to berate herself for her legendary hard-headedness.

Shaking her head, she walked to the old-style motel about a half-mile into town. It appeared to have no more than fifteen or twenty rooms. Thankfully, the proprietor wasn’t interested in checking ID, and soon she was on her way to a room. When she entered, using a real key attached to a diamond-shaped piece of plastic, she smiled for the first time. The place could have been featured as one of the kitschy rooms on the TV show
Supernatural.
Odd rustic wallpaper and décor covered the walls, and the two double beds were covered in mustard-yellow, ribbed bedspreads.

Sitting on the end of one of the mattresses, she dropped her elbows to her knees and leaned forward. More than anything, she wanted to call Mel, but that was the last thing she could do even if her sister would be upset and worried.

“I need a plan,” she muttered to herself. She might as well get used to talking to herself since it was bound to be her lot for a long time to come. She couldn’t contact her acquaintances, and striking up new friendships seemed unwise. The idea of even speaking to a man for more than basic business was completely distasteful. And
also
unwise. If, God forbid, Myan and Kaz found her, it wouldn’t be good for any man with whom she might be. She sensed that deep in her gut. It was part of the reason for her zigzagged trail across the States. She wouldn’t purposely endanger anyone, man or woman.

So a plan… Clothes. She needed some basic changes of garments. She had plenty of cash so she wouldn’t need a job too soon. Her options would be limited. And perhaps a little shady.

She’d worry about her prospects later. Most important were clothes and toiletries, then she’d feel human again. She’d focus on the simple, basic things.

Chapter Seven

Nothing was simple.

The first night at the hotel, the need began in her middle. Her clit tingled as if stimulated by invisible fingers. But she could fight it. She paced the motel room. Walking helped.

All the while, she focused on what she’d been told. If she was away from her mates, the desire for them would fade.

Chapter Eight

It didn’t.

Chapter Nine

Nights in Washington had already grown cool, and Hanna found walking through the park a few blocks from the motel before she tried to sleep helped a lot. In the days that she’d been here, the heat as Kaz and Myan had called it, had only grown worse. She now knew a few things, first being that Mel obviously didn’t know what the hell she was talking about. Second, she missed Kaz and Myan. It made no sense, but she ached for them sexually and non-sexually. She just wanted to be near them. And finally, what was happening inside her was from far more than pheromones. They would have faded by now. She just wanted them.

Tonight, her body vibrated overtime, and she wondered if she’d have to invest in some sort of gag to keep the others at the hotel from hearing her tormented screams as she suffered through her need. She’d spent most of the day nearly in tears, her skin crawling, her body shaking and her pussy spasming to be filled. Her panties were sodden though nothing had turned her on. More and more she wanted to scratch off her flesh and replace the pleasure-need sensors with pain.

Her breaths shaking, she sank onto the stoop outside her room and rested her head on the knotted wood post. Her thoughts strayed fully to Kaz and Myan. She pictured them, wishing she could tell them how wrong she’d been to run. She saw herself in their arms while they kissed her.

A moan tore from her lips. This was no good. Thinking of them wouldn’t help matters.

Rising, she pushed her hand in the pocket of her skirt and pulled out the room key. She could feel the screams coming. She’d have to figure out a way to muffle them. Nothing was helping the need to call for her lovers.

The room was dark, since the sun had set hours ago. She shut and locked the door behind her then tossed the key in the direction of the table. It missed and she heard it thud softly onto the carpet.

She didn’t care.

She needed…

Maybe if she touched…

Maybe if she drank the liquor she’d bought earlier…

Maybe she’d pass out…

“Hello, Hanna,” a deep voice said before she’d taken two steps into the darkness.

She jumped at the sound, the tension she’d felt the past two hours amplifying. She wasn’t alone in her motel room. Myan and Kaz had her in their sight now. And there was no escape. She wasn’t so sure she wanted it anymore, anyway.

After the past week of traveling then hunkering down here, she was more confused than ever. Only one thing was clear. She needed to be with them. Still, she murmured “no” as her sane mind took over, and she backed to the door. It was futile. There was no way she’d get away. She probably wouldn’t make it through the door. As Kaz stepped forward, the determination in his massive build told her that suspicion was true. She wasn’t going anywhere.

“No,” she repeated, staring at the shadowy forms. Even though twilight shrouded the men, she knew exactly which twin was which. Their tanned skin and dark clothes blended into the night so well she probably wouldn’t have seen them if they hadn’t spoken. Well, that wasn’t
quite
true. Their feline-like eyes seemed to glow in the bit of light filtering into the room.

“We haven’t asked anything,” Myan replied, his silky voice caressing her skin as it always did. The hair at the back of her neck rose. His tone was too smooth, too…angry.

“You want me to return to the pride.”

“Of course, you belong with us. You know it.”

Her mouth quivered but she wouldn’t admit the truth. Myan wasn’t interested in her answer—or non-answer. He crossed the room with a grace and speed that startled her though it shouldn’t have. He and Kaz always moved like lightning. His arms trapped her against the door before she could dive away. She pushed uselessly against his chest. His iron-like hands manacled her wrists and held them to the wood at either side of her head.

Her eyes closed, and he took a deep breath, inhaling her. Kaz was there beside his brother, reaching in to trap her elbows to the wood. His face pressed to the crook of her neck.

“Ours,” he growled. He drew in her scent once more. “
Our
mate.”

She took a shuddery breath. They’d gotten nowhere since the initial mating. She was their property. Tears of frustration streamed down her face. She didn’t want to be owned; she wanted to be loved.

“Let go of me,” she demanded, disturbed at how wet and tingly her pussy had become when they’d trapped her. Her pulse throbbed, and her body utterly betrayed her, softening for their possession. How soon before they took her to the bed…or the carpet?

Myan chuckled. “At least, you missed something about us.”

In truth, she’d missed a lot even if she didn’t want to tell them that. If they read her mind, they’d know it.

Her breathing increased, each intake filling with their spicy scent. Sweet heaven, how she’d missed them. Was it real, or was it hormones and pheromones? She fought it, but she couldn’t stop the longing deep inside her. She needed to have their powerful bodies over hers once more.

Myan’s teeth shown in the moonlight. “You don’t want to go free, mate.” He leaned forward and his lips brushed her ear. His pelvis pressed into her. “You don’t want us to leave.” He ground against her. “You want us to fuck you. I can smell it.”

“No,” she moaned. Belying her words, her panties clung to her pussy as her hips moved of their own accord toward the men.

He shifted her wrists into one of Kaz’s large hands then reached down to the hem of her denim skirt. Lifting it, he plunged his fingers between her thighs.

A satisfied growl rolled in his throat as he toyed with the wet crotch of her underwear. Hanna shook as arousal threaded to every part of her. She sank her teeth into her bottom lip as she fought against begging for more.

She wouldn’t get out of here un-fucked, but damn it, she wasn’t falling into their arms easily.