Shifter In Ascent (Louisiana Shifters) (18 page)

Jace couldn’t move, couldn’t do anything but listen to the blood rushing in his ears as Maddie left hand in hand with none other than Jasper McDonough. He honestly couldn’t decide if he was going to be sick or not; even worse, some part of his mind seemed to be shredding into tiny shards.

At last fur brushed his leg, and then his hand. He looked down to find Tessa’s glorious wolf leaning against him, calming him. Even in this form he could read the sympathy and caring in her expression. He knelt to run his hands over her coat, awed by her fierce beauty.

Her coat was thick and soft to the touch, and he loved the feel of it. Her breathing was ragged, reminding Jace how difficult the first change could be. Tessa was overdoing it, and she could hurt herself if she stayed in her wolf form too long this time.

Jace took one last look toward the spot where Maddie had disappeared, and then concentrated on Tessa. Jace pulled the snowy wolf into his arms and awkwardly carried her into the cabin. Laying her down on the bed, Jace knelt to put his face at her level.

“Tessa. I need you to change back. Just remember what it’s like to feel your human self. Remember the feel of your arms and legs, your neck, your hands. Remember it and just let go of your wolf, my love,” he said, his tone a bit desperate.

Her form wavered and shimmered for several long beats before flashing to reveal her human form. Jace climbed up onto the bed and shook her gently, trying not to stare at her naked body.
He pulled her close as he waited for her to awaken. His heart swelled painfully at her proximity, which caught him off guard. Jace had fastidiously maintained physical and emotional distance from everyone except his sister, and yet here he was pulling Tessa close, waiting anxiously for her every breath. The worst part that while the anxiety was painful, a deeper part of him was thrilled to have a woman in his arms. Not just any female, either.
His
female, he thought with an unwelcome surge of pride.
Jace had never had such a pure moment of wanting. It was physical, yes. But there was more, a deeper and more satisfying level of being with his female that pulled at him relentlessly. He wanted her for more than the sum of her parts, and it was slowly driving him crazy.
Tessa’s eyelids fluttered, slowly revealing her intense gray gaze. A smile creased the corner of her mouth as she looked at Jace sleepily.
“You came. I wasn’t sure you would come,” she said sleepily, rubbing her face against his knee like a cat.
“Of course I came,” Jace said, trying not to sound offended. Jesus, if she thought that… he really had been nothing but a bastard to the only woman… he pushed the thought away.
“Well, it’s just…,” Tessa said with a yawn, pulling one of the blankets over her body and sitting up.
Jace leaned forward and brushed a kiss against her lips. Tessa gave one of those breathy little sighs that he just couldn’t resist, and then he couldn’t resist kissing her more deeply.
“We should go. I’m sure you hate the sight of this place by now,” Jace said gently.
“I can think of places I’d want to be less right now,” Tessa said with a smile.
“Like Bourbon Street?” Jace joked.
“I was thinking of Brookline, but Bourbon Street is definitely on my list too.”
“Where is Brookline?”
“It’s the part of Boston where I grew up. It’s very private.”
“I’ll take that to mean very rich,” Jace said tartly.
“Pretty much. The joke goes, ‘Why choose between a pool and a tennis court when you can have both? Because in Brookline even God can’t afford that much land.’”
Tessa tensed and waited for the inevitable questions: what’s your family like? Do you have any siblings? Pets? It was one of the first conversations she’d had with James. That’s how he’d known to kidnap the one person Tessa would die to protect.
As usual, Jace surprised her.
“Yeesh. This must all seem pretty broke down to you,” Jace said as he waved a hand to indicate their surroundings.
“I didn’t mean it that way. I left because I
didn’t
want to live there,” was her snippy reply.
“I can see how you would find that lifestyle tiresome.”
Tessa turned and looked at Jace, scanning for signs of sarcasm. She found none. His face was unshuttered, as if his statement was simply an appraisal of Tessa’s character. A positive appraisal, at that.
“What?” he asked, “I’m just saying you seem more of a Prius girl than a Mercedes C Class kind of girl.”
“How do you know I drive a Prius?!” Tessa demanded, shocked.
Jace rocked back in the chair with a chuckle, the movement rippling down his long frame. Damn if he wasn’t just hot as hell. That laugh sent a little shiver up the back of Tessa’s neck, and she had to work to pull her gaze away from his mouth.
“It was just a guess,” he said with another casual shrug.
Tessa flopped down on the bed, rolling her eyes. Jace pulled up a chair, seeming to take up the entire room. He somehow folded his limbs comfortably to fit in the oversized chair, and watched Tessa thoughtfully.
“I found a sore spot, apparently,” Jace commented.
“Know it alls run in my family. I can’t even say who was the worst, my mother or my sister.”
“And here I thought all women were supposed to have daddy issues.”
Tessa snorted.
“Not the ones who were daddy’s little girl. My dad worshipped my mom.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s how most families are run. My mother may have been smaller than my father, but she had the final say. Her veto power was unassailable.”
“Was… like past tense?” Tessa asked, recalling the lone family photo she’d seen at his house.
“Our parents died when I was fifteen and Maddie was eight. We were fostered into this pack back then. We were some of the lucky ones,” Jace said, unconsciously tensing as he talked about the past. Tessa should let it go, but she couldn’t.
“You didn’t have any aunts or uncles to take you in? No one in the pack?” Tessa pressed, unable to believe that anyone would turn away two orphans.
“My entire family was killed. The Den was firebombed during the night, and most of those who made it past the bombs were gunned down. Only a few survived out of the whole pack, and they were all cubs. The adults died protecting us,” Jace said, his eyes going dark as they drifted upward, remembering.
Tessa cursed inwardly, wanting to kick herself for having asked such a painful question.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t- I shouldn’t have asked,” she said.
“It’s in the past. But you can imagine that Maddie and I are very close. She’s a brat, but she’s my best friend, you know?” he said, a sad smile flickering across his face.
“I do know. My sister Camilla is also a brat, but I love her to pieces. She can give really great advice if you can get her to listen.”
Tessa flushed as Jace’s gaze swept over her, studying her pensively. He was quiet for several long beats before he spoke.
“Just ask. I don’t mind.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You want to know who killed my pack. Am I wrong?”
“No. I just don’t want to dredge up things better left in the past,” Tessa said, biting her lip.
“I think I need to tell you. It explains a lot about why I prefer to avoid humans,” Jace said softly.
“Humans?” Tessa asked, her voice trembling a bit.
“Yes. Some group of extremists who found out about our pack and tried to exterminate us. My pack wasn’t the only one attacked. There were a lot of violent attacks in the South back then. Bombings, abductions, attacks on Shifters who lived away from their pack. The extremist group was die-hard and had some really nasty methods. They called themselves the Legion.”
Tessa’s heart dropped like a stone. The Legion had murdered families, including children. Their claim to be the good guys had been ridiculous to begin with, but now Tessa suffered no illusions about their true nature. Tessa swallowed angrily, but the tears were already pricking her eyes.
“Hey, hey. It’s okay,” Jace soothed, suddenly sitting down on the bed next to Tessa and wrapping an arm around her.
“It is not okay!” Tessa whispered, and the dam broke. Tears streaked down her face, making Tessa even more miserable.
“I mean, it’s not your fault,” Jace said, hesitantly pulling her close. “No one knows what the Legion even wants, really. They’re just a bunch of fanatics living in the woods, hunting something they don’t understand. I can’t blame every human in the world for that, much less you.”
He gave her a half-hearted smile. Trying not to scare her, Tessa thought.
Tessa took a deep breath, and Jace filled her senses. That faint smell of mint and almond wrapped itself around her as tightly as his arms did. Her skin heated sweetly, and suddenly Tessa couldn’t stop thinking about kissing Jace.
Say something. Say anything. You have to tell him,
she thought.
“You don’t understand,” Tessa mumbled into Jace’s chest.
I’m pretty sure the people who killed your family are the ones who are going to kill my sister unless I betray you.
“You’re practically a Shifter at this point,” Jace replied firmly.
“But I’m human, too. You can’t pretend that I’m not, Jace. I’m no different than the Legion.”
Tessa tried to pull back to wipe her eyes, but Jace held her fast. She tilted her head back to look up into his face. Their eyes caught, and all the heat she was pushing down rose back to the surface. If she didn’t do something, she would explode into flames.
Jace stared right back into her eyes with a soft smile, and then said the words she so desperately needed to hear.
“I could never hate you, Tessa. You’re a lot of things, and even if human is one of them, it’s “I could never hate you, Tessa. You’re a lot of things, and even if human is one of them, it’s

okay. I like humans a little better for having made you.”
Tessa gave a weak laugh, some of the tension leaving her body.
“I bet you tell all the human girls that,” she said softly.
Her eyes dropped to Jace’s mouth, lingering. Jace threaded his long fingers into Tessa’s hair,

angling her head so that their gazes met again.
“Do you have any idea what you’re doing to me right now?”
Tessa bit her lip to stifle a little noise of excitement that was bubbling up in her throat. Jace

gripped her hair harder and pulled her head back farther, exposing Tessa’s throat. Her heart beat wildly as Jace leaned down and ran his nose against the slim column of
Tessa’s throat. He paused at the hairline just below her ear and took a deep breath, then moved
up to blow it gently into Tessa’s ear.
Tessa let out a little gasp and her spine straightened, pushing her ear closer to Jace’s mouth. “You honestly don’t, do you?” Jace said, his mouth rasping against her ear lobe. A day’s
worth of stubble brushed her neck as he talked, and Tessa felt heat pool between her legs. Suddenly her wolf made herself known. She’d made a decision, and
she
liked Jace.
Approved of him, and admired him. All these thoughts rushed by in a single heartbeat. Tessa looked up at Jace and knew he sensed the presence, too. His pupils were visibly
dilated, and his breathing came heavier now.
“Your wolf is in full Ascent,” he managed to grind out.
Tessa wasn’t really listening anymore. The wolf knew what she wanted, and Tessa was going
to make her happy.
Tessa closed her eyes, her mouth parting slightly as she offered it to Jace. His mouth came
down on hers, hard and demanding. He nipped her bottom lip, and then licked at the slight sting
his bite left. Tessa gasped at the sensation and a moment later his tongue was teasing hers,
inviting her to play.
Tessa slid her hands around his neck, pulling him closer. Jace responded by dragging her into
his lap, facing him so she had to straddle him. One hand returned to Tessa’s hair, while the other
pressed Tessa tightly against his body.
Tessa tasted Jace’s kisses hungrily, instinctively rocking against him where their hips met.
Jace released her mouth and growled. The sound reverberated through Tessa, spreading flame
from her core upward to her breasts and neck.
Jace pulled her head back, baring her pale throat again. Tessa moaned as Jace nuzzled the
spot where her neck joined her shoulder, rubbing his beard against her delicate skin. Then Jace
bit her in the same spot and Tessa thought she might go over just from his mouth against her
neck.
Jace’s unique scent flared strongly as he ran a hand up her ribcage, then a brushed two
fingertips against the bottom of her right breast. Tessa bit her lip and watched Jace as he framed
her breasts with his big hands, his touch achingly light.
Tessa pressed her heat against Jace’s growing hardness impatiently, and he grabbed her hips
again, stopping her movement.
“Stay still,” he warned.
Tessa growled right back at him, challenging. Still Jace gripped her to keep her in place. “I mean it. Stay still, or I will be inside you in a second. Your wolf might be ready, but our
first time ought to be better than that,” he warned.
Tessa stilled, giving him a frustrated sigh as a white flag. Jace waited a long moment, then Tessa stilled, giving him a frustrated sigh as a white flag. Jace waited a long moment, then

Leaning in, Jace nuzzled and nipped at her collarbone before dropping lower to place a quick, sharp bite on the top of her right breast. Tessa sucked in a breath, and before she’d let it out Jace had pulled her shirt up over her head and cast it aside. He unhooked her bra in one smooth motion, then peeled off the silky satin with painstaking slowness.

Cool air caressed Tessa’s already pebbled nipples, followed by the warmth of Jace’s breath as he teased her mercilessly. He licked and teased the sensitive underside of each breast, working closer and closer to the nipple until Tessa was completely tensed with the effort of staying still. Finally he laved his tongue over her right nipple before taking it into his mouth, sucking with increasing pressure until Tessa begged him hotly to touch the other breast.

He then gave her left breast the same treatment as he cupped it’s fullness to his face. “You have amazing breasts,” Jace said, his voice roughened by need.
Tessa laughed, leaning in to kiss him with a smile.
“And you are wearing far too much clothing,” she pointed out as she tugged his soft t-shirt p

Tessa ran her hands over the lean muscle of his shoulders and down his arms, marveling at the perfection of his body. His chest, abs, and sides seemed as if sculpted by a devilish hand. Aside from a light smattering of chest hair, he was smooth and warm everywhere she touched.