Beauty and the Brute [Werescape III] (12 page)

He ignored me, going about dropping his tack and possessions on the floor's wooden beams.

Was he angry still? Surely at Marcus. But with me? Why did he always seem angry with me?

He pivoted to face me.

Dead on. Holy shit. Not good by the intensity of his gaze. “Brutus?"

"Let's be done with this,” he growled.

Oh. No. No. “I just wanted to..."

The ground shrank so quickly between us with his snapping footfalls that my subconscious drove my footsteps backward. Into a solid wall. Another wall bearing down upon me. And then his iron chest was there. Pinning my hips and shoulders like a butterfly I'd seen in my science tutor's collection. Sprawled at his mercy. But I couldn't lift my gaze from the last button holding the two sides of his camouflage shirt together.

Smoke and man. A mixture that really disliked me.

Why? What was wrong with me?

His hands didn't grab me or beat me.

No punishment. Okay. Well, yet. Breathe. But I couldn't suck down enough air for the life of me. What did he want?

One of those monster hands rose along my side.

Higher and higher.

Touching my cheek.

Curling carefully down under my jaw.

Tilting my head.

God, no. Looking was too terrifying. I slammed my eyes shut.

Would the touch tighten? Yank off my head? Just beat me, rape me, or kill me. Get this nightmare over with.

Something warm and soft pressed against my mouth.

Lips.

His mouth opened. Those lips, pressing shut around my lower lip, and nipped.

Sweetly. So tenderly. Not what I'd expected from a warrior who never smiled or laughed.

Something ached inside my chest.

So damned much need. Welling. Wanting. Demanding to make him feel the same things from me. To make him not feel so alone. Like me. Maybe that's what he needed. What we needed?

The kiss would prove we weren't alone. Yes. That we didn't have to be. And he was so gorgeous. The muscles. His broad shoulders. And his trim waist. I just wanted to run my hands all over him. Under his shirt. Down his back. Touch him. Everywhere.

My heart clenched.

Lightning jolted down to heat me low in my belly as warm as the fire blazing across the room.

He thrust his tongue between my lips.

Such a wily muscle mine could never conquer. By the way he probed my mouth, he didn't care whether I was returning the kiss. He was claiming territory. Like other men I'd seen. But carefully. So determined. And I just wanted to sink into him. To feel safe. To encourage him to keep heat pooling in my belly. Aching. So aching for him. I slid my palms up the course cotton of his shirt, feeling the muscles swell beneath my hands.

His chest vibrated with a growl.

Buried deep inside him like his heart sputtered to life with our kiss. Life I wanted to hum through my soul. Life that made me feel safe. That smelled like smoke and power, him.

Those wide strong hands glided down my back, lingering at the low curve, his thumbs curling around to my waist.

Holding. So carefully. Was this another form of possession? Yes. I wanted to be possessed by him. Marked. Just to feel safe again. To feel like I was more important than a bartering chip.

What did he think?

What did it matter with his mouth sucking little hot spots across my cheek, down my pulsing jugular, all the way to where I gasped at the pressure in the bend of my neck? His tickling moustache only made me shiver in his arms. Then his hands locked onto my ass.

Pulling me into his hard shaft.

He growled into my neck.

A hot gurgling sound. For what? A warning? Was he about to lose his Wolf? Bite my neck in two?

The way his hot sucking lips kneaded my heart into a racing whir, nothing mattered. Nothing but him feeding. Or him making me unbearably hungry. That's what I wanted. To gnaw on a big sexy hunk of smoky Brutus. To make him snarl and growl for my touch. To have a man like him want me the way so many had from a distance back in Yale's world.

His mouth slipped away.

Where was he going? I opened my eyes.

His glowing eyes hovered inches away.

What was he thinking? “Brutus?” I whispered.

He slid those strong hands up my ass to my back, then over my sides. His body's heat withdrew.

Completely. Then two steps. Why was I standing alone? This was so wrong. We should be together. Couldn't he tell?

He reached for the door, his glowing gaze never relinquishing mine.

"Brutus?"

"I don't want to hurt you."

The swinging door was all he left me.

Brutus yanked at the buttons on his shirt, then pulled his arms out of the sleeves and tossed the shirt to the darkness. Wolf needed to run. To burn off his enthusiasm. Because I couldn't control him any longer.

Without my boots and clothing, only a few seconds passed before I shifted. Another breath and I reached the log palisade. Hopping up the wall's rough curved bark. Then leapt to the ground outside the sanctuary.

Wolf licked his lips, raising his nose to the almost-f moon.

Sniffing. Searching for her. For the swish of blood beneath her warm pale skin. For the woman's scent clinging heavily to her body. A few days in the saddle really brought out a person's scent. Oh, to roll against those mounded breasts. That ass. To lick her until she begged for mating. To thrust inside her scented heat until nothing but howling could restore a man's sanity.

Man. A man. Not a wolf. I slammed down a large hind paw and threw the other forward for a race against time.

Against Wolf turning me around. Sending me back. To her. To his mine.

Would she cringe at this inhuman form? Because I'd almost lost every trace of control with her in my arms. With her scent rooted in my nostrils. So close. She was so close and my fangs hovered ready against her skin. Skin so soft a man could run his hands over it and never tire of the luxury. The only luxury in this fucked up AEI world.

Beauty. She was so beautiful. Perfection. And perfection would never welcome an abomination.

Without a way to bar the door, I sat alone atop the blanket spread out on the hard floor. The old quilt Brutus used for his bedding. The fire's heat warmed my arm just enough I shouldn't need to cover up until the fire died back into coals. Then the night's cool spring air would creep into the room's shadows. Make me cold. How could that be possible after Brutus lit a fire inside me? Probably because he'd gone. The man had uttered absolute nonsense. No way could he kiss me like he had and then hurt me.

No way.

"Lorelei?” a man called.

Not my Brutus. It couldn't be. God. Not someone else outside a door impossible to lock.

"Here in the fire."

In the fire? Could this night turn any crazier?

"It's Octavius. Come to the fireplace. I need to speak with you."

Maybe trusting Octavius wasn't wise after Brutus turned on Marcus. But I had to do something before anyone came to my room to speak to me. I knelt before the dancing yellow flames framed inside the rectangular stone surround.

Octavius’ face stared from the back of the fire.

A fireplace between two adjoining rooms.

"Listen to me,” he said. “Brutus is fighting his Wolf."

That made sense of things. “He said he didn't want to hurt me."

Octavius nodded. “When he returns, give yourself to him."

Speaking of crazy! Who was Octavious to make such a decision? Shifters took great pride in selection of their mates. Brutus will do whatever Brutus wants. “I don't think that's wise."

"You have to, Lorelei. It's the only way he'll be able to take you where you'll be safe."

He couldn't be serious. “And what do I do if he refuses?"

"Do nothing at all. Simply submit. He will mark you."

"Mark me! Octavius, this scheme is dangerous. He will feel betrayed."

"No. He's outside trying to run off his desire in his Wolfskin. Outside, Lorelei. Tearing through the forest in a rage. Because he wants you. And Brutus has never wanted anyone before."

"You can't be serious. Look at him. He's unbelievably gorgeous. Grant it, he could kill game with a mere glance. But he's what every woman wants."

"It doesn't matter what every woman wants. He only wants you. Now, I'm going to find him.

Stay in your room. None of the Shifters here will do anything to hurt you if you leave your room. But it's dark. You're safer inside. And Marcus is on this side of the fireplace. Call for him if you need something. He's our cook."

No way was I having anything to do with Marcus after Brutus’ kiss. I stared into the sparks of flames reflecting in Octavius persuasive stare. “Alright."

"I mean it, Lorelei. Don't fight Brutus."

This Shifter couldn't know what we had between us. Not much. Little more than a few words and my hands around his waist for three days on horseback. But not one thing made me want to run and hide. Not a thing. I'd give myself to Brutus because he made me ache. Nobody had ever done that before. Probably because nobody ever got the chance. But Brutus, he was bigger than the rest. Kind in the way he'd taken me, a despicable Normal, under his protection. His strange behavior vacillating between gruff and sincerely dogmatic had to result from his attraction to me. Nothing but that attraction. Whatever that attraction was.

Something inside me warmed.

Nothing could make me give away whatever drew us together. I nodded at Octavius.

He vanished, leaving the searing heat of the jigging flames.

Alone again. I was so damned alone. And any moment, Brutus might burst through the door. In his Wolfskin? Arriving to take on an even bigger challenge than a mere charge. A mate was permanent. If only I knew more about Guardians. Why hadn't Titus answered more of my questions about Shifters?

Had he known Yale's plans for me all along?

My heart sank.

Warm tears burned my eyes.

Brutus had to be right. Had to. I shouldn't have argued with him earlier. He would never have lied to me. And he could mark me if he wants to. Yes. I had nothing left behind me. Brutus could be my future. I yanked off my hiking boots and set them carefully at the end of the blanket.

What I'd give for a hot bath. The fresh bite of scented soap. A night in a soft gown between cotton sheets. Oh the price of days gone by. At least sleeping without boots and jeans would be a treat.

But I stank. Maybe not as badly as if I sweated profusely for days under the baking summer sun. And Brutus ensured I'd stink just as badly in the morning. God. He meant to mark my smelly body? I guess that was just the way of things AEI.

The distant crack of a twig caught Wolf's attention. I'd run a good hour then parked my furry tail on the bank of a stream under the watchful moon. But a popping twig noted something approached. Not a Normal. Not by the smell or the creature's fast drum of a heartbeat. I

scanned the darkness in the sound's direction.

The yellow and orange form popped among the tall black lines of the tree trunks.

Like bars in a cell, the heat signature moved beyond the trunks, running on all fours. Loping.

Not an upright Bounder. A Shifter in his Wolfskin.

The night breeze curled and carried a scent back to me.

Octavius.

The form trotted to a walk and unfolded upright. Still in Wolfskin. But probably not for long.

The only reason Octavius would search for me beyond his sanctuary's walls was to speak of

Marcus. Octavius had every right to discuss the fight. I rose, pushing inward, shoving Wolf back inside the cage of my body.

The nude human Octavius stepped between the last two tree trunks, his eyes still glowing.

"You are missed at the fort."

He'd spoken to Beauty?

Wolf snarled.

Octavius wagged his head. “No arguing now, Brutus. You frightened her. Left her there alone.

She doesn't understand. Why?"

Who was he to question my actions with my charge?

The Shifter locked a rankled stare on my carcass. “If you can't pull yourself together to care for Lorelei, I can't allow you to take her any farther."

Mine, Wolf growled.

"Pull yourself together, Brutus. She needs you to take her away. Far far away."

"She's mine.” Only mine.

Slowly, Octavius nodded. “If you want her. But you haven't marked her. There are plenty of

Shifters at the fort who can hide her away in The Wild if you don't want to offer your complete protection. But with your unwarranted attack on Marcus tonight, I insist you mark

Lorelei before you leave. Prove you live only for her. Or you leave without her."

I'd kill every last Gods-be-damned one of them who tried to keep her from me. “You can't take her from me."

"I won't have to if you mark her.” Octavius shifted in a blink, dropped on all fours, and raced into the blackness of the forest.

Gone. With his ultimatum looming. Daring to take Beauty. Why? What did they want? My woman. Mine by her reaction to my kiss. My soft skin. An armful of curves. The little moans.

Mine. Wolf burst from my skin.

Taking over. Throwing his enormous clawed paw-feet into the moist cool soil and crackling leaves. Running. Racing. Sucking in chilly air. Air laced with the scent of Octavius. The Shifter who dared to claim something that was mine.

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Everything was so cozy, so warm wrapped inside the blanket. His quilt. Even the smoky male scent of Brutus enveloped me.

Just the blanket. Not pounds and pounds of bare muscle promising to hold me tight. Closely.

Just cloth. A helpful coverlet managing to help me sleep. Or fade in and out of sleep enough to snuggle down into the comfort of what he could be. What Brutus surely was. I rolled, pressing my back into the hard floor and sighed.

Go to sleep, Lorelei.

He'll be back when he's ready. And hopefully, he'd be in the right frame of mind. Or so Octavius thought.

Nude, Brutus stretched out on his side studying the tiny brown eyelashes lacing the edge of Beauty's closed eyelids. No Shifter's scent was on her. No one had visited her. Propositioned her. Like she would take another after the kiss. After the way her delicate feminine form sank into my body. After those hands of hers tried to roam across my chest over my shirt.