Shelter Me (Sawtooth Shifters, #6) (8 page)

“We haven’t even started yet.” I punctuated it with a hungry kiss. It was Lyssie’s turn to possess me, grabbing my shoulders hard, her fingernails digging in my skin. She planned to mark me, too.

“Drag them down my arms,” I growled.

“I’ll draw blood.”

“Good. These scars I’ll wear proudly.” This was why I wanted to see her face. I would’ve missed the way her eyes lit up when she realized what I was saying. “Everyone in the forest will know who marked me. And it won’t be that Ember bitch.”

“But I’m not a wolf.” Lyssie’s lip quivered with uncertainty.

There was only one way to convince her that she’d claimed me. I scrambled for my jeans, retrieving a condom from my wallet. Lyssie laughed when I ripped the foil open with my teeth, tossing it aside as I sheathed myself. I had to get inside her. My fingers were good, but she needed more.

Lyssie hooked her legs around me. I’d read her all wrong. She wasn’t afraid to take the lead, and take what she wanted. The best part of it was she didn’t realize she was doing it. I groaned as her fingernails sliced my skin.

We’d never done this before last night, and Lyssie deserved something slow and sweet. But no. Fuck that. She wanted all of me. The passion, the intensity. The wolf that wanted to run wild with her. She needed to know my animal was capable of something other than violence and pain. I wanted her to know what kind of pleasure it could bring.

I followed her lead. I never thought I’d let a woman take control, but the way Lyssie let go, giving herself over to the sensation, she was the teacher tonight. Our bodies dictated the rhythm; hard, deep thrusts. Her hips moved wildly, not missing a thing. Lyssie’s blood-slick fingers gripped my back, and she kissed an uneven trail from my cheek down to my neck.

“No.” I pulled away from her when she came too close to the bite.

It was like someone hit a switch—her body deflated underneath mine. The light faded from her eyes. “I wasn’t going to do anything.” Lyssie looked away. “All right, that was a lie. I wanted to make that mark mine. You’re stuck with it for life, it’s going to scar, and that bitch will have a piece of you forever. A piece of us. I can’t have all of you because of that.” She ran her finger dangerously close to the healing wound.

“You have all of me.” I picked up her hand. Her fingers were stained red. “Do you need any more proof than that? I don’t know what will happen to you if you touch that bite. Look what it does to me. You’re human...I can’t risk that. This isn’t going to be easy on either of us, but if anything happens to you because you touch that bite, there will be hell to pay.”

Lyssie stared at her hand, mouth open in horror. Shit. We’d gone too far. I’d never lost control like that before, totally given myself over to another person. Her smile was shy at first, but it gained confidence as it grew. She motioned for me to lay next to her. As soon as I settled, she put her head on my shoulder, and tangled her legs between mine. She reached down and slipped the condom off. We may have been a perfect fit when I was inside her, but this was so good, too. “Ember can try to take you from me, and maybe she’ll succeed.” She placed her finger over my lips when I started to protest. “But she’ll never have this. The way we are right now. No bite can give her that.”

L
yssie

Today was one of those unexpected but much appreciated warm January days. Either that or everything seemed sunnier and brighter now that Dallas and I were truly together. I’d dreamed of being with Dallas, and being the center of someone else’s attention for so long, but it wasn’t anything like I expected. I wanted to believe I was Dallas’ mate, but every time I let myself settle into the idea of it, it was interrupted by the image of Ember at The Redheaded Stepchild, ripping down his sweater, and exposing the bite. I swore I could taste her pine flavor like cheap cleaning products. I was willing to bet it was probably poisonous.

Regardless, Dallas had started every day of this New Year waking up in my bed, not hers. Ember may have a little bit of his skin stuck between her teeth, but I had his body, and more importantly, his heart.

It changed things. In the last twenty-seven years, I’d learned to enjoy my own company, never expecting someone else would actually enjoy it more. Now I laughed more easily. And I could almost tolerate Kiera and Trina’s endless sex talk.

“I like cuddling.” Sometimes I even joined in. The girls were still shocked when it happened, but they always listened to what I had to say. I’d held back so long they probably figured it had to be good. “When we settle for the night, I put my head on Dallas’ chest and his heart is still pounding. I mean, I did that. It’s my favorite part.”

“I bet our counselors didn’t anticipate that being part of our therapy,” Trina said, looking off in the distance, smiling at whatever vision played through her mind. “Each of the guys is powerful and fierce, and we, the staff of Forever Home, can bring them to their knees.”

“They told us to give the animals a chance.” Kiera chuckled, hooking a leash on one of the dogs. Since it was nice out, we planned to take the dogs for a walk. There were twelve of them, and three of us, and every time we did this we would up with a tangled mess. Somebody always managed to get off their leash, and someone else would eat something they shouldn’t. But the dogs loved it so much it was worth dealing with the aftermath for the rest of the afternoon.

“I can’t believe you two have been here almost a year already. You’ve lasted the longest of everyone who’s worked for me.” Trina grinned, gripping the leashes and digging in her heels. Four dogs packed a lot of power, and it was easy to be the one getting walked. “The difference in both of you since you got here is like night and day.”

Kiera glanced over at me. “It’s true, Lyssie.”

She had the magic touch, and her dogs were the best behaved. I looked up at her, untangling the leashes from around my thigh. A little bit of the panic, the one that even now the girls could leave me behind as they followed the dogs through the lot, crept in. But it faded.

“What’s the matter?” Trina asked when she looked back at me. “Don’t tell me you’re leaving me.”

I laughed. Of all the things she could’ve said, that was the most ironic. “Nope, not going anywhere.” I swallowed hard. “A couple weeks ago, I thought I was slipping. I didn’t want to go anywhere or talk to anyone. Even coming to the shelter was a struggle some days. I think the hardest thing is realizing that it never goes away, the thing that got us here. It’s part of us.”

“That’s pretty genius,” Trina said softly. “I have days and weeks like that, too. We do the best we can. You know what, though? I couldn’t do any of this without the two of you. I’m so glad you guys came here.”

“Me too.” Kiera’s smile was too big for her face. It took her a long time to be able to do that. When I met her, she was angry a lot. “I’d never had girlfriends before. I had no idea what I was missing.”

“Right? When I first got here, all I could think about was what I’d lost. Never did I think about what I’d gain. The animals, you girls; Delaney, even though we’re just getting to know her, it’s awesome to see the process all over again. And even the Lowes. I can’t imagine my life without any of you now.” Trina looked like she wanted to give us a hug. None of us were big huggers, but I went over and put my free arm around her shoulder. She laughed and did the same. “Let’s go check the mail. I always mean to do it when I drive by, but I zone out every single time.”

Only one dog got loose before we got back to the shelter. One of mine, of course, slipped out of his collar. A couple of squirrels may have needed a good, stiff drink after our walk, but all things considered, it went pretty smoothly.

But the big news was my lingerie came.

The girls squealed loud enough to get the dogs excited all over again. They took my crew off my hands as soon as we got back inside so I could open the package. Both of them paid more attention to me than the dogs, and got smothered with kisses. Dogs knew a good thing when they saw it.

I was nervous to open it. Funny. A couple weeks ago, this seemed like a big deal. Like I needed a special uniform to turn Dallas on, and I wouldn’t be able to do it on my own. Now I could see it for what it was: a new toy. Would it change anything? Dallas never cared what I had on, as long as he could take it off. I’d listened to the girls, letting my body take the lead and quieting my mind. This was the prettiest thing I’d ever owned, and it was part of the mind game. It was powerful, holding the tissue-wrapped lace in my hand, knowing it could unlock a piece of me I’d been afraid to explore.

I held up the teddy. “It’s smaller in person.” It was sheer black lace with no bottom. The bodice ended in four straps that connected to stockings. Those were still in the envelope. The girls could fill in the blanks.

“Dallas is going to lose his mind when he sees you in that.” Kiera took the lace out of my hand. I gasped as she snapped a piece away from it, and dropped it in my hand. The strap of fabric was actually the tiniest thong I’d ever seen. “Wear this over your garter straps. Because it’s gonna have to go, and you want to keep the rest of it on. So hot.”

My cheeks burned as Trina sorted through the rest of the mail, muttering under her breath when she saw the bills. Her face brightened any time a handwritten envelope came in from a place we didn’t know. That usually meant a donation. Things had been weird with the shelter in town after the dog fights. Our donations had dried up and some people in town had been downright awful to us since we dissolved Ryker’s ring. It broke my heart for so many reasons.

“Just the one?” Kiera asked, pursing her lips and shaking her head. “One of these days, I wish we’d have a stack of them.”

“Right? I was hoping maybe the Christmas donations would come late this year. We’re ridiculously down since the dog fights. Even if Granger Falls dropped their grudge in the name of holiday spirit, we need a fucking miracle. I’m worried, I have to be honest with you girls. We can’t keep operating at a loss.” Trina sighed, and glanced down at the check. She jumped like it bit her. “And we may have just got what we needed.”

Kiera peeked over at the check and her mouth fell open. “Holy shit. Am I seeing things? There are some zeroes on that thing.”

“How much is it for?” I asked. Most of our donations didn’t break three figures. Zeroes? Holy shit was right.

“Five thousand dollars.” Trina’s voice shook.

“It’s beautiful.” Kiera snatched it away from Trina, bringing it close to her face. “You don’t think it’s a scam, do you? Like we have to cash it and send money to someone else. In the meantime it winds up bouncing halfway to Bald Mountain, and we’re screwed.”

“Way to think positive.” I took the check, it was one of those things I had to see with my own eyes. This money would do so much good, especially now that we had the barn to worry about, too. “Oh, shit.”

“What? It looks legit. Did they sign it Minnie Mouse or something?” Trina’s eyes darkened, like all along she knew it was too good to be true.

“Worse. Ember Randall.” That poisonous pine cleaner taste burned my tongue again.

“Who?” Kiera wrinkled her nose. “Oh. That bitch. Why would she send us money? Maybe it’s a peace offering. You know, sorry for fucking up your Christmas, ripping your friend to shreds, and marking your boyfriend...here, feed some dogs or something.”

“No.” Trina took the check back, frowning at it. “It’s a power play. Shadow said that she’s been in contact with a lot of businesses in town, making promises she can’t possibly keep. The human-run ones of course—no self-respecting wolf would have anything to do with her. He expects some of the packs will work with her, because they’ve got the two things that we don’t: money and women. This is another way of getting a stronghold in town.”

“So she thought we were too stupid to notice, and then she’d own us?” Kiera shook her head. “It makes me sick, because we could do so much good with that money.”

It occurred to me that Ember’s intentions might be more personal. By giving us this money, she had say over what we did with it. She might think she had say over us, more specifically, me. No. I’d already let a disrespectful bitch hold my life hostage: my mother. I was finally breaking free, and I wasn’t about to hand over the reins to some she-wolf from Montana like I didn’t deserve better.

“We need to figure out a way to cash the check and tell her what she can do with herself. I have a few very detailed suggestions. It would keep her busy for a long time.” I smirked, drumming my fingers on the check, hoping the tattoo would erase her name from it. “If this is her way of trying to keep me away from Dallas, it’s not going to work. I plan on laughing all the way to the bank.”

“That’s what I love about you, Lyssie.” Kiera said. “You’re all quiet and sweet, but when you get pissed off, man, you are not to be messed with. You’re like our secret weapon.”

**

“S
o Ember’s getting cozy with everyone in town?” I asked once we settled in to eat. The Channings showed up with pizza and beer. I loved it when they did that, one of the little ways they let us know they’d been thinking about us all day. “Is she trying to bribe everyone, or is she doing anything besides writing checks?”

“She’s making the rounds,” Baron said, diving in for another slice of pizza. “I’m not sure what else she’s up to, but Major said she’s sniffing around the land his motorcycle shop is on. He owns the building, but she’s trying to exploit a technicality in the law. He’s bullshit, and because X is still healing, he can’t fight her the way he needs to.”

“We’ll help him. It goes without saying. He’ll probably have to pull Shea from the barn. Delaney can do the smaller stuff, but we’ll need to step it up for the heavy lifting,” Shadow said, and his brothers nodded. The Channings and the Lowes had been trying and failing to work together since they’d come into our lives. None of us expected the wildest one in the bunch to settle into work with our newest girl and make the cutest couple ever. Somehow, the two of them had the power to bring us all together when we couldn’t do it for ourselves.