The Twin Moon (The Moon Series) (27 page)

“Talk to me.”

“Andy left.”

“
Why?”

“She said it was to
o
much to ha
ndle. T
hat she needed some time to think.”

“
So.
Go after her.”
Ivy stared up into his face from her shorter height with all the determination he wish
ed
he
had
.

“What?”
Ian shook he’s head as if what she said made
absolutely
no sense.

“Do you love her?”
Ivy place
d
her hands on her hips and cocked her head at him.

“Of course I love her.
She’s my mate.”
Ian stared at Ivy.
Was she crazy?
Did he love her.

“Then go get her.
You’re a W
ere-tiger.
You’re my brother
,
a member of my pack and we don’t take no for an answer.
Go claim your mate.”
Ivy pointed a finger down the hallway.

Ian considered her a minute, but she stomped her foot and thrust her finger toward the door again.
Ian grabbed Ivy by both sides of the face and planted a kiss on her lips. “I love you
,
sis!”
He called over his s
houlder as he raced out of the
Haven.

“I love you too!” She called after him.

***

Andy set the phone down on the
coffee table
.
Her eyes closed she was so tired from the mental toll the events had taken on her.
She needed to just nap for a few minutes, even though the things Rosie had said on the phone swam in her mind.
She did love Ian.
That was obvious to her now.
How she hadn’t seen that all along was so beyond her.
A soft click had her opening her eyes and turning her head.

“Rich!”
Andy jerked up right and edged back against the arm of the sofa.

“My, my, my
,
what do we have here?
Andy
,
all alone.”
Rich
’s
hand slid f
rom the door knob to the dead b
o
l
t and locked it in place.
“Now it’s just you and me.
That’s all I ever wanted.
A little alone time with you.”

Terror swam up through her stomach and into her chest burning her body.
Andy jumped off the couch so that it was between them.

“Rich, you have to get out of here.
You can’t be here.
My boyfriend’s coming over.
He’ll be here any minute.”
Andy grasped at anything she could think of to get this man out of her house.

“You think I care about him?
You’re my girlfriend, just because you’re a whore doesn’t mean you
’
r
e
not still mine.”
Rich strode toward her quickly and Andy compensated by moving th
e opposite direction.
The word
whore on his lips made her want to vomit.
She hated that word
,
the use of it made her sick to her stomach.

“I’m not your girlfriend. W
e broke up.”
Andy raced away from him keeping the couch between them.

“No, we didn’t.
You kicked me out…
we never broke up.
I came her
e
to apologize.
I’m so sorry about what happened, Andy.
I never meant to hurt you.”
Rich shook his head as he stopped on
the opposite side of the couch; his
gaze roamed over her.
“You look so pretty today.
Do you have a kiss for me?”

He was crazy.
That’s it
,
he was bat shit crazy.
How had she missed that?
And better yet how was she going to get him out of the house?
She inched closer toward the door backing up slowly.

“No kissing, Rich.”
She shook her head and reached for the door knob.

“What are you doing?”
His eyes went big as dinner plates as he watched her.

“I’m just going to open the door and let in a little fresh air.”
Andy touched the dead bolt her fingers twisting the lock out of place.
The bottom knob was still locked.
Her heart beat hard in her chest with dread if she couldn’t get the door open and get out of here there was no tell
ing
what might happen.

“No, don’t touch that lock.”
Rich vaulted over the couch and raced toward her.
Andy fumbled with the bottom lock as he got in her face.
Panic became a weight around her chest that pulled her down until she could barely breath
e
.
He pinned her against the door, his arms and body a tight cage around her.
“You’re not running from me
…
not again.
Now
,
I want my kiss.”

The entire idea of his lips on her made bile rise up the back of her throat until she gagged and had to swallow hard to force it back.
This close she could smell his rotten egg smelling breath, what she had first though
t
to be halitosis she found out was just bad hygiene.
He smiled and his yellow teeth winked back at her.
She shivered and turned her head away.

He put his lips to her ear and whispered.

“Just one kiss, Andy.
T
hat’s all I want.”
The
n
he kiss
ed
the tender spot beneath her ear like a lover would and she gagged again.

“N-No.”
Andy closed her eyes trying to shut out the touch of his body against hers the way his clothes brushed her breasts.
She was snatched by the hair, his long fingers digging in deep.
Andy cried out as her scalp pulsed with pain.

“No is not an option.”
He growled at her and smashed his mouth over hers.

Andy held her lips firm and her teeth clenched tight as she tried to keep his tongue out of her mouth.
Rich grabbed her chin and forced open her jaw, cramming his tongue inside her.
His wet tongue tasted about like it smelled
,
rancid and of rotted egg.
Andy pulled her tongue back and she gagged over and over into his mouth, somehow not vomiting as he delved deep with his tongue.

Tears burned her eyes and his hand groped her through her dress.
He broke the kiss and trailed kisses over her jaw.
Andy remembered she had hands.
They were already fisted and she used the
m
to fight. She punched Rich in the hea
d and face as hard as she could.
H
er determination returned to her.
She was not a victim.
She would not allow this to happen.

Rich jerked away as the blows rained down.
Andy kept hitting driving him back until she had room to turn back to the door.
She unlocked the bottom knob, but just as she twisted it he grabbed a handful of hair again.

“Bitch!
You gave me a bloody nose.”
Rich pulled Andy back until she was flush against him.
Andy fought kicking and screaming as he tried to grab hold of her.
She wasn’t going down without a damn good fight.
He turned her around and slapped her hard across the face.
Unfazed
,
anger and hate now pounding in her veins Andy clawed her fingers and went for his eyes, scratching his face.
Somehow in the chaos the
y
had made it to the other side of the room and this time as she broke free she ran for the front door.
Rich tackled her taking her quickly to the floor and climbing on top of her.

“That’s it fight me.
I’ll still get what I want.”
Rich had her pinned to the floor with his larger body weight and he
shifted
in between
her legs
.
Andy clawed at the floor trying to get away as panic spasamed in her chest again.
He thrust up against her buttocks his cock a hard scary promise that he ground against her.
Andy was suddenly aware of what he was about to do.
He tore at her sundress.
Andy tried to move her legs to kick him or hit him, but he held to her waist tight.

Andy screamed for all she was worth.
As long and as loud as she could this was it he would rape her.

“And when I’m done, I’m going to kill you.”
He pushed himself against her and she screamed again.

***

As Ian got out of the car in front of Andy’s house a woman screamed.
He was sure it had come from inside.
He raced toward the house prepared to break the door down.
The door was unlocked.
He threw the door open and there on the floor face down in a pile of her yellow polka dotted sundress was Andy with that maniac Rich on top on her, his pants around his thighs.
Ian’s blood boiled in his veins instantly going to liquid magma, his vision went red and his tiger
’
s fangs erupted from his mouth.
His clothes tore as his hands and arms changed into claws.

“Son of a bitch!”
Ian ran at Rich and
tackled
him off of his mate.
He sailed with the other man across the room landing near Andy’s bedroom door.
Ian roared as
just his arms transformed with
claws extended and he swiped them across the man
’
s face.
Blood welled up from the scores and ran down his face.
Ian reached his arm back again to deliver the next blow to the man
’
s
neck, his claws extend the
full five inches.
It would be the death blow and Ian’s satisfaction with that idea overwhelmed him.
Just as he was ready to strike a soft hand landed on his orange and black fur.
The hand stroked softly back and forth for a moment before the fingers curled around the
furry
bicep.

“Don’t.”
Andy’s voice was soft and rough as she said the words through her tears.
“I couldn’t live with myself if I knew I’d let you kill him.
Even though I really want you to.”

Ian stared at her long fingers wrapped so tightly around his arm and hope swelled in his chest.
He followed the long line of her arm to look up into her face.
Her cheek was red were she’d obviously been sl
apped and tears spilled down her
face.

“Did he…”
Ian couldn’t finish the sentence, but he couldn’t let this man live if he had defiled his mate, no matter what she asked of him.

“No, you made it in time.
Just barely.”
Andy shivered.

Ian stared down at Rich and had the urge to tear the man’s heart out of his chest even though he was no longer in a killing rage.
Ian stood up, his arms and hands shift
ing
and popping back into place the fur running back into his pores.
He groaned as his fingers elongated muscle and bone contorting as it grew into his human hands.
The sleeves of his nice dress shirt were tore where his arms had transformed.
Ian breathed through the transformation even as his teeth receded back into his skull and pain shot through his mouth.
Rich scuttled back on the floor against the wall his eyebrows raised, his mouth gaped open in a perfect O.
“Get the hell out of here
you rat bastard
.
Run.
And keep running, because if I ever catch you alone
,
I will kill you.”
Ian let loose a deafening roar that came up out of his gut, rumbled through his lung and out his throat until his mouth was stretched wide in the wild sound and he shook his head.

Rich sho
ok all over then bolted out of the front door
, the security gate banged against the frame
as it shut behind him
.

Ian turned and glanced at Andy.
She was barefoot and her yellow and red polka dot dress was tore at the hem, hanging awkwardly behind her.
Her dark hair was rumpled and her face was streaked with the remains of her tears.
She was pale and Ian worried that she would go into shock at any moment
if she wasn’t there already.
He
approached her slowly, one step at a time.
She didn’t run or turn away.
Ian brushed the ha
ir away from her face and gently
cupped her face in his hands.