Authors: Starla Silver
Melinda had no fear or doubt. He could see all of her, and she liked it. She wanted him to see her. To watch her. She let her gaze linger in his until she could not wait another minute longer. “I need you, inside me. Please.”
He wanted to make her wait. To tease her. To make her beg for him… but her tone, her eyes her body begged at their full potential already.
Riley rubbed his thick head against her entrance, preparing for entry. “Jesus,” he groaned. “You’re fucking soaked.” He wanted to bathe in it.
Feeling him rub against her throbbing heat was more than Melinda could take. She bucked, pushing against him. “Please, Riley. I can’t wa…” He pushed inside. Then thrust deeper.
“Oh damn,” she moaned.
“Is it okay?” he felt the need to ask.
It was tight. Stretched her. And ignited every nerve ending. “Yes,” she told him. “Do it again.”
“Your wish, my command.” He withdrew slowly, letting her wetness assist his movement. At her edge, he thrust in again, this time all at once and deeply. His grip loosened from around her hips. He leaned over her, hands sliding into hers raising them over her head. Melinda found herself imprisoned against the granite and trembled at the sparks this thrill ignited.
Lips played with each other. Moans soaked up by the waterfall splattering onto the water and granite. Riley sank into her tight flesh, dragging himself out and sinking deep inside. His body skimmed across her sensitive peaks, each touch of his skin igniting a fire that got her blood simmering.
He pushed in deeply, pulling out and slamming into her. Faster. Harder. She moaned with each attack, her breaths growing more frantic.
“Riley.” She gasped, a blood-tingling vibration ricocheted through her core. “I think I’m… Oh my God!” She let out a frenzied exhale.
He freed her arms grabbing her thigh, pulling her body to meet his final thrusts.
Her legs quivered. Her pulse soared, her skin set ablaze as her blood boiled over.
Melinda wrapped her arms and legs around him, letting the explosion consume her.
Riley grunted through his teeth, shooting his release with a series of uncontrollable spasms.
Their eyes met and locked.
Melinda had no words.
Why couldn’t this have been her first time? This
should
have been it. Why couldn’t she have met Riley months ago? Why had she been so impatient and let jerkwad have her? She decided whatever he’d done to her, it did not count as sex. This was her do-over. Riley had officially taken her virginity. It was the first time she’d had an orgasm that wasn’t at her own hands.
“I had no idea it could be like this.” Riley beamed, out of breath. “You’re so beautiful, Melinda.”
A strange feeling grew in the pit of her stomach, drowning the perfect bliss she’d been bathed in. What was it?
Shame? Fear? Was it too much, too fast?
Was she feeling guilty because part of what had drawn her into a stranger’s arms, was William? And now this stranger was suddenly claiming every part of her being for his own. For a moment, she had completely forgotten they were naked in a quarry. The rest of the world washed away. All her problems and concerns just
vamoose…
she’d never given herself over to someone so completely. Ever.
So why did this pit suddenly open, threatening to swallow her whole.
“I…” she didn’t know how to express her feelings.
Riley got to his knees, bringing her up with him. He adjusted himself so they sat facing each other.
“What just happened?” He tapped her head gently. He wasn’t angry or harsh, but curious.
“Far too perceptive,” she said, lowering her head. “I’m letting old issues get into my brain, that’s all.”
“So… it was good for you too then?” he grinned confidently, already knowing her answer. But she wanted to give him the affirmation he deserved. Melinda grabbed his lips, bringing their bodies together. No shame. No guilt.
He grabbed her and slid across the granite, leaning against a wall and tucked her onto his lap. Sun shined down, warming them. Mist and steam still hid them from view. She placed her head on his chest, running circles with her fingers across his skin.
“You’d better be careful,” he warned.
She chuckled, but stopped. Her breaths nervous. “Thank you.” He didn’t respond. She looked up to a confused look on his face. “For caring about what I wanted. And listening. For not just leaving me right after.”
Like you were doing me some kind of huge favor…
She tore her gaze away. She shouldn’t have said it. It was needy. Too serious.
“I love knowing what you want, Melinda. It’s a big turn on, actually, when you tell me. But why would I just leave you?”
She shrugged. Old inhibitions returning.
It took him a second, but he finally heard what she didn’t say.
Thanks for not making me feel cheap. Thanks for not making it all about you.
“Hey,” he picked up her chin. “Any guy who would treat you like that is a jackass who doesn’t deserve a minute of your thoughts. Especially thoughts that make you feel bad about yourself.” Which had happened, he expected. “You’re perfect, Melinda. No. Strike that. Perfect hardly cuts it.
You
are a queen.”
“There you go again, saying all the right things.”
“And there you go again making me say things I’ve never said to anyone, ever.”
She let out a nervous exhale and rested her head against him. “Riley.” She said it so timidly she wasn’t even sure he’d heard her.
“Yeah.”
She raised her head to face him. “I, um…” she lost her nerve.
“What?” he asked softly.
She scrunched her nose, biting her lip.
“Now you have me curious,” he said, nipping at her nose.
Her cheeks got pink and she had to look away from him.
“Okay, now I’m intrigued. You’re going to have to tell me.”
“God, why is this so hard?” she let out.
“Now, you’re just killing me. Do I have to force it out of you?” he teased.
She sucked on her bottom lip and closed her eyes. “That was the first time a guy’s ever actually… gotten me there.” For whatever reason she was unable to utter the words,
gave me an orgasm.
Riley didn’t care what words she used. He grinned in complete delight over this fact.
“Really? I find that very hard to believe.”
“Believe it.”
His grin dropped a little. “Melinda… I wasn’t your
first
, was I?” The thought suddenly thrilled and freaked him out. Her being a virgin hadn’t even crossed his mind as a possibility, and he hadn’t taken enough care to make sure he didn’t hurt her, if that was true.
“Oh, um, not
exactly
.”
He waited for her to explain.
“Shit. This is super weird.”
“I’m sorry. You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. I was just afraid I might have hurt you.”
“Oh. No. You didn’t. Not at all, and quite the opposite. It’s just… I really wish you had been my first. It would have been a much more pleasant memory. I’ve only slept with one other guy, one time…” she could not believe she was telling him all this. “And we might as well have actually slept. To call what we did
sex
, is sort of an injustice to the word. And I only know that now… because of you.”
“Damn. You sure know how to stroke a guy’s ego.” His beam returned. “Maybe, considering our disastrous starts, we could just pretend our previous relationships didn’t happen? I know I’d like to forget about mine. You’re a much more pleasurable memory for me too.”
Melinda grinned, resting her head against his chest. It was an appealing idea.
Even if this did turn out to be a one night (or middle of the day) stand, it had been worth it. Her angst from all the William dreams was gone. Her worries and fears had flown into the wind. She wanted to wrap herself in this moment and remember how it felt, forever.
Riley had given her everything she needed. Her eyes fluttered closed, feeling sleepy.
He let their bodies slide down onto the granite, bringing her head onto his chest. He stroked her hair, listening to her breaths slowing as she drifted off.
Melinda trusted him enough to open up to him, but also sleep next to him, a total stranger. What had he ever done in his life to deserve such a magnificent creature?
He despised whoever had treated her so poorly that she thought so little of herself. He’d be contented to spend the rest of his life making sure that never happened again.
CHAPTER NINE
Charlie sat behind the wheel of the jeep, driving, while Michael chatted on the phone with Mack, filling the sheriff in on the shapeshifter theory. William sat like a stone in the back seat, focused, deep in thought. He was also using his enhanced hearing and sight to track any unusual sounds or movement as they wound their way through narrow roads of White Pines National Park.
“Hey, ask Mack if she happened to see Melinda while she was out today?” Charlie told Michael. He nodded and relayed the question.
“No. Okay. We haven’t seen her since this morning and she left her phone at home. Emily went looking for her but she just called and said she didn’t find her. We’re getting a bit worried. K, thanks, Mack. See you in a few.”
“She seen her?”
“Nope.”
“So help me God if something’s happened to her…”
William inched forward and touched his shoulder. “Focus on the task at hand, Charlie. Control your emotions.”
Charlie nodded. William was right. He could not afford to lose control. But of all the days for Melinda to run off...
“Here’s the turn,” Michael pointed out.
Charlie pulled the jeep off the road and parked. “Mack said she’d meet us just over the hill.”
“How is she planning to explain our arrival at a crime scene?” asked William.
“It’s Mack, she’ll think up something,” said Michael.
Just then, an exhaust backfired as a hefty cargo van pulled up alongside them. The man behind the wheel waved, smiled and kept driving up the road.
“Police vehicle?” asked Michael.
“I smell human food,” William noted.
“Mack,” the brothers said simultaneously.
Sure enough, as they approached the hill, they saw the driver get out and prop open a door, proceeding to set up a few tables. They heard Mack shout “Lunch” and watched as everyone at the crime scene eagerly made their way to the truck. As they gathered, Mack gave a short speech.
“I just want to thank all of you for your hard work today. I know this hasn’t been an easy one. So let’s all take a much needed break, have some food, some coffee, and then we’ll get back at it, okay?”
Mack walked to the other side of the van where Charlie, Michael and William waited just in the woods, out of sight.
“Keep hidden as much as possible. You’ve safely got twenty, maybe thirty minutes. My guys get antsy to get back to work pretty quickly,” she added proudly.
Charlie tossed her a half-hearted salute, and they headed toward the crime scene. They kept to the edges of the wood line until out of sight of Mack’s team.
They saw the body, a bloody sheet wrapped over it.
William suddenly gagged, a low hiss echoing in his throat, his fangs dropping.
Horrified by his reaction he spun around, trying to hide it. But the brothers had already seen. “Too much blood,” he admitted, forcing his fangs to retract.
“Maybe there’s more than one monster in the house that cannot handle his poison, after all,” Charlie mumbled sardonically.
“I’ll go do a perimeter sweep and check the out-skirting areas,” William retorted flatly.
“We’ll meet you back at the jeep,” Michael said as the vampire sped off in a daze, leaving behind a whirlwind of dried leaves and forest debris. “Does William seem a little off his game lately?”
“Have any of us been
on our game
lately?” Charlie countered.
Michael could not argue the sentiment and supposed the vampire was allowed to have a bad day now and then, too.
Charlie and Michael proceeded to creep around the crime scene, looking for anything the werewolf, and possible shapeshifter, might have left behind.
“Why don’t I just do a death reading?” suggested Michael.
“I don’t know, it’s going to be a vicious thing to watch, and chances are you won’t see anything more than we already know.”
“Believe me! I don’t like the idea either but what if I can see something helpful? I think it’s worth trying. We’re running out of options. And time.”
“Okay,” Charlie relented. “But if it gets too intense, just stop.”
Michael sat next to the body and reached out his arm. He flexed his hand, preparing himself.
Charlie didn’t like it. Michael’s ability could come in handy, but what a terrible magical inheritance. A witness to death. Sometimes he thought he understood how magic worked and sometimes he felt like he didn’t understand anything. His parents had always told him that magic worked in mysterious ways, and would provide the gifts it saw fit for the times ahead. And that those gifts could grow and change with time and need.
Charlie himself had never been bestowed any extra magical gifts. He assumed this was due to the extra passenger he already carried, that somehow the wolf negated a need, or perhaps didn’t allow the space for anything extra.
Michael touched the body.
Charlie tensed, watching his brother’s eyes rolling behind closed lids.
The reading ended abruptly when Michael pulled his hand away from the body.
“Too much?” asked Charlie.
“No. Too little.” Michael furrowed his brow, perplexed.
“What do you mean?”
“This guy didn’t die at the hands of a wolf. He died after being in a coma for a year. Just slipped away, peacefully.”
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
“No. It doesn’t.” Michael got up and paced for a minute. “I think this was a setup, Charlie.”
“Why do you say that?”
“The man was in the hospital when he died. I couldn’t see anyone else around. No family or friends. But I recognized his face.”
“Who was he?”
“A John Doe. Remember that tourist who fell off a cliff last summer? Was here alone and Mack couldn’t track down his identity, and no missing persons reports were ever filed.”
“This is him?”
“Yeah. He never woke up from the coma. Which means someone did this to him after he died. His face is so torn up, Mack wouldn’t have recognized him.”
“Fuck…” said Charlie, letting out a frustrated growl. “It’s a message for me. The alpha wolf wanted me to know he was here.”
Michael nodded. “I’d wager you’re right.”
Charlie didn’t know what to make of it other than, sadistic. “What if it wasn’t just a message, but a distraction?” The idea hit his mind forcefully.
“That’s a disturbing thought.”
“Yeah. And probably wrong. But...” Charlie trailed off, a terrible feeling nagging at his insides.
“I’ll go talk to Mack,” offered Michael. “You find William.”
“Okay. Meet you at the jeep in a few.”
Charlie found William already waiting by the jeep.
“Anything?” the vampire asked.
“Yeah we did, how about you?”
“Nothing of any value. A few wolf hairs, but we already know a wolf was here.”
“A wolf might have been here, but the body was dead before it was brought here.” Charlie went on, explaining what Michael had seen.
“Interesting. A message telling you that he, the alpha wolf, is on the Isle, but possibly also a distraction, bringing us here. Away from what?”
“Melinda?” This was Charlie’s only concern.
William’s face turned stoic, getting that deep in thought look.
“I do not think so,” he said after a moment.
“Can you be sure?”
The vampire hesitated in answering. He wanted to be correct, but he didn’t know if he could trust his instincts today. He felt off. And if he wasn’t so afraid to leave Charlie on his own, he’d be scouring the Isle searching for Melinda to be sure she was safe.
Michael appeared.
“Told Mack. No idea how she’s going to handle this one. But now that she knows what happened she can sort all that out. Did you find anything William?”
“No. And Charlie filled me in on your findings.”
“We were just discussing possible motives.” Charlie shifted on his feet.
“If it was a distraction, and not just a message, you mean?” confirmed Michael.
“Yes. My thoughts were Melinda.”
“You think it’s keeping us out here and away from her?” Michael’s heart dropped to his stomach.
Charlie puffed out his cheeks. “William doesn’t think so and I guess... I guess I don’t think that either. It wouldn’t make any sense. How would the wolf even be aware she wasn’t with us today?”
“Yeah, I don’t think that’s it either. But it would be awfully nice to figure out where the hell she is.”
“Let’s just take a step back for a minute,” suggested Charlie. “The wolf left me a message, that much is clear. But… it didn’t kill someone to do it.”
“You think this alpha is not a killer?” suggested William.
“It attacked you, after trying to attack our father,” reminded Michael. “And from what I remember, it looked poised to kill when it bit you ten years ago.”
Charlie could not argue. “Obviously, there’s something we’re missing. Question right now is, do we continue into White Pines and the old tree, or just leave and get home?”
Michael opened his mouth but then closed it. After a second he said, “I’d still like to go.”
William agreed. “Yes. We should attempt to retrieve your mother’s body. If at all possible. I also think a thorough search of the area might be required just to be certain the
something
we might be missing in this scenario, isn’t somehow connected to the old tree. Or the power source.”
“You’re right, William. Let’s get moving.” Charlie got into the jeep, letting Michael drive.
The sun dipped behind a cloud and the park suddenly appeared much darker than it should for being afternoon, and usually the brightest and warmest time of day. The old tree was at the edge of a riverbank, and as they drove closer, fog started to roll across the road. Michael stopped and parked.
“Do you hear anything nearby, William?” Michael asked.
William closed his eyes and allowed his ears to listen for any abnormal sounds.
Birds, the river, fish jumping in the river, bugs and insects buzzing, and… footsteps.
“There is someone close,” he warned, trying to better tune into the sound. “Humming. A woman. I think just a hiker walking through.”
“Let’s go then,” decided Charlie. Michael and William followed.
They approached the area apprehensively.
“It’s too bad I couldn’t see or hear how Mom and Dad opened the tunnel,” Michael confided to Charlie and William.
“Can’t deny that would be helpful,” agreed Charlie. “But we’ll manage.”
They came over the crest of a hill and stopped, searching the ravine below.
To their right, jammed against the riverbank was the old tree. It stood no taller than the surrounding trees, but was easily twice as wide and had many roots that shot out of the ground, winding around the base.
The embankment they stood on continued far to the left, dipping down into the river.
“I remember coming here,” Charlie muttered. “I was so little. I think the last time we came here I couldn’t have been older than…”
“Eight,” William answered for him. “You were but eight years old. Michael was five, and Melinda was but a toddler of three.” He looked at them, then. “I have many fond memories of this place.”
“It’s a shame they’ve been ruined now by bad ones,” said Charlie.
“Yes, well. Shall we?” William sauntered down, standing in front of the tree, investigating the tangled mess of roots. Charlie and Michael came up alongside him.
“How will we get in?” Michael looked ready to start digging if necessary.
“We will do as your parents did. Try one spell at a time. One attempt at a time. Until something works and the doorway opens.”
They spent the next few minutes meandering around the area, looking for any obvious magical clues. Things that a non-magical person would mistake for an odd or ancient symbol, some kind of artwork, but again, they struck out.
There was to be no easy way to get inside.
In fact, there was nothing remotely magical or supernatural surrounding the tree at all. It just looked like an old tree with a mess of roots at the base.
Michael took out his crystal, hoping against hope that it would at least point them in the right direction, pick up some secret magical spot, or energy… find something. He let the crystal spin in his hand, but it never stopped and never lit up. He frustratingly threw the crystal to the ground.
William dashed and picked it up, gently placing it back in his hand. “Michael, if this is truly the doorway to the Isle’s power source, it will take more than a crystal to open this access such a place.”
“I didn’t really think it would be easy, it’s just, our mother’s bones are right inside that cave. And to stand here this close and not be able to get in…”
“Maybe we are searching too close?” Charlie suggested, understanding his brother’s frustration. “Maybe we need to broaden our search a little. We should separate, do a quick probe of the area and meet back here in thirty minutes. We wanted to scour the place for signs of the alpha wolf anyway.”