Shifters Forever Worlds Mega Box- Volume 1 Page 4

  “Drive through?” She pushed her hair back nervously.

  “My window doesn’t roll down. Coming?”

  She studied Jeff hard. She wasn’t interested in being manipulated. “I’ll wait here, if that’s okay with you.” She tugged on her coat collar. “This jacket’s not really made for this kind of weather.”

  “That’s true. You’ll have to tell me sometime where you came from. Someplace warm, I’m guessing. You should probably buy a better coat.”

  “True.” She hadn’t planned on staying in this state as long as she had. But when the opportunity for a job and a place to live with Mae had come up, she couldn’t find a way to turn that down. If she had, she’d have already gone through her money.

  “I’ll be right back.” He slipped out the car door, taking the keys with him, and letting cold air in.

  The least he could have done was left the engine running, she thought. Didn’t he trust her not to steal his car?

  Less than ten minutes later—yes, she’d timed him on her cell phone—he was back and handing her a cup of hot chocolate. He put the key in the ignition. “Sorry, I thought I’d left the keys here and the car running. I hope I didn’t make you too cold.”

  She wrapped her fingers around the warm cup. “I’m fine.” She let the warmth and steam that came through the tiny drink hole warm her face.

  “Try it.” He smiled an encouraging smile. “They make it with real chocolate. Best hot chocolate you’ve ever had, I’ll bet.” Jeff watched her eagerly, as if he wanted her approval.

  She put the cup to her lips and took a tiny, cautious swallow so she wouldn’t burn herself. “It’s good,” she murmured. The liquid warmed her insides.

  He pulled out of the parking lot. “Okay, so on to your place now. Do you live near Mae’s salon?”

  “No, fifteen minutes in the other direction.”

  “Oh, you live near Grant’s property. That’s close to the land I’m trying to acquire.” His face conveyed his dislike for Grant.

  She purposely didn’t respond. She didn’t need to be dragged into the middle of that drama.

  “My plans for that land will benefit the entire community. An entertainment complex will bring people in droves. We have the potential to be one of the largest tourist destinations in the state. Imagine the money that would bring in to the people who live here.”

  Namely you. She held her tongue, took a sip of the comforting beverage and looked out the window at the blackness of the forest.

  After a few moments of silence, Jeff cleared his throat. “You’re friends with Grant.” He paused, waiting for her to either acknowledge or disagree.

  She said nothing, raised the cup to her lips for another drink.

  “You could tell him what a good thing that would be.”

  She lowered the cup slowly, pondering what to say. A bump in the road jostled the cup from her grip slightly.

  She gasped, more out of surprise than pain as the liquid exploded out of the tiny drinking hole and splashed on her cheek. She tried to wipe her face, but her hand wouldn’t rise.

  Slowing the car slightly, Jeff took the cup from her hand. “You okay?”

  She looked down at her hands in her lap. “Yeshh—I’m—” Why was she slurring her words? Why weren’t her hands moving?

  She raised her eyes from her lap to his face. That wasn’t an expression of concern, it was more like expectation. What was going on?

  “What—” She still couldn’t put a sentence together. What had he given her? Why couldn’t she control her hands and her mouth? She started to panic. Her eyes widened and she was sure her face held an expression that reflected her fear and horror. What had he given her? What had he put in the hot chocolate?

  Stupid, stupid, stupid.

  “Relax.” He put a hand on her wrist, his grip a steel band. “No one’s going to hurt you. Not in a bad way.” His smile was nothing short of lecherous, his leer, lustful. His thumb traced circles on her wrist.

  Chelsea wanted to pull her hand away, but couldn’t. She couldn’t move her hand, couldn’t scream at him the obscenities she wanted to.

  She glanced out the window. They were passing the salon, and they were heading out of town. Where was he taking her? She hadn’t told him where exactly she lived. What was he planning to do with her? The vehicle sped up, and the dark countryside seemed like a blur. She wondered if that was because she was becoming dizzy.

  She moved her right hand a bit, just a few inches toward the door, then it went numb and she couldn’t control it again.

  She waited a moment, avoided looking at her hand so Jeff’s attention wouldn’t be drawn there. She flexed her thumb. It moved. She could feel it. Not much movement, but still. It was slow, torturous, painstaking, but she could inch it along.

  “I know you feel the same way. I can see it in your eyes. You’re just shy.” His hand traveled up her arm to her shoulder. He pushed her hair away almost lovingly.

  His hand drifted down over her breast, which thankfully was still covered by her coat, but that did little to alleviate the emotions raging in her at his actions.

  Chelsea tried to control the tears that were building in her eyes. He reached down, released her seatbelt, gave her a smile, and then put his hand back on her chest. He unbuttoned a button on her coat, glancing out the windshield, then back at her. He slipped a hand inside her coat, raised her top, pushing her bra aside. Her body didn’t want to move. She tried to shake, to squirm, but her upper body was frozen. His fingers immediately found her nipple.

  “God, I can’t wait to taste you. Look how hard your nipple gets when I touch it.” He pinched, his fingers merciless.

  Tears of pain rose to her eyes. Chelsea shook her head. “Nn—no.” She moved her hand one last time, gripping the door handle, praying it was one that would be unlocked when it was pulled on. She tried to tighten her grip. She jerked on the handle as the car took a curve. Her body kept traveling in one direction while the car took the curve with mechanical precision in the other.

  Chelsea flew out of the car and hit the ground. Luckily, a patch of soft earth, a little snow, and some grass slowed her progress toward a tree trunk. Her forehead bounced off the trunk’s bark, her body crumpling on impact.

  Chapter Ten

  Grant rolled over. Something had awakened him, and he was in a nasty mood at what being awakened had interrupted. He’d been having a hell of a dream. Chelsea was naked in his dream, spread-eagled on his bed while he—

  There it went again.

  He pushed himself to a sitting position. His cell. It was vibrating on the dresser. Naked, with a raging hard-on from hell, he padded to the phone.

  “Mae.” She’d better have a good reason for interrupting his dream—um, sleep. Mae never called, hardly ever, anyway, so when she did... It probably wasn’t good news.

  “What’s up?”

  “Chelsea’s missing.” She had a measure of panic in her voice.

  His blood did the whole turning-into-ice thing. Not Chelsea. Not when they hadn’t even had a chance yet.

  “Slow down. Catch me up.” Slow down, he told his own heartbeat. She had to be okay. He hadn’t felt this way about a woman—ever.

  No, he wouldn’t think like that. He couldn’t lose this precious, long-haired, curvy package with that pretty smile.

  Mae gave him the information, cluing him in on Jeff’s attempts to bully Chelsea into going out with him and Chelsea’s decision to stay late at the salon—alone.

  He bit back a reprimand at Mae for leaving her alone. Just because he was convinced that Jeff had a shady side didn’t mean that Mae had the instincts to do the same. She was human, after all, even if she’d been mated to a shifter. She had acquired some skills; the couplebond did that. But it didn’t give her everything a born shifter had.

  Mae was still talking while he sifted through the information. “And she never made it home. I called her cell. No answer. I was going to call the sheriff. But I thought...”

>   “You were right. There’s no reason to bother the sheriff.” He shoved his jeans on, wincing as they caged his semi-hard cock in their confines. His protective instinct was strong. As an alpha shifter, he felt the urge to protect more fiercely. He would drive into town, check on her. “You called the salon, right?”

  “No answer. I’m coming too. Lots of snow expected.” She was still hyperventilating.

  “Mae. Don’t. I don’t need to worry about both of you. Wait at home, and stay near the phone in case I need you.”

  “I’m going to feel useless. It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have let her stay late without being with her.” A half-sob escaped her before she could stop it. He heard her clamp down on the sorrowful sound before it could finish.

  “You care about Chelsea,” he noted.

  “I do. There’s something about her...”

  He couldn’t argue with that. There was something about Chelsea that pulled at him and the bear inside him. “Mae. I’m going to hang up so I can get dressed and get out of here. Don’t fret.” Easy for him to say, but not so easy for him to do. Worry ate at his gut like acid.

  He made the drive in record time—for him, the snow that had been threatening hadn’t really begun yet, though the temperature was already too low for comfort. Human comfort. He enjoyed it, though he’d rather sleep the whole winter through.

  He saw Chelsea’s car, lonely in the dimly lit parking lot. One little streetlight at the other end. He would have to talk to Mae about this. And the town. This was ridiculous. There should be better lighting.

  Pulling up near Chelsea’s car, he noted in the light snow blanket that there were tracks. Hers and a man’s. He breathed deep, sniffing, absorbing, letting his bear analyze the scents.

  Jeff. Those footprints belonged to Jeff. Grant followed them, his and her footprints. That was definitely Chelsea’s scent. The prints led to a set of tire tracks. It was clear she’d gotten into her car, and that Jeff followed her there.

  A sneer crossed Grant’s rugged face. Jeff had probably put on a great front as a gentleman. But now there was no sign of Grant’s woman.

  Grant grimaced at himself. He was already calling her his woman. She hadn’t even really agreed to anything but a date—probably a casual date, though Grant didn’t really think it was just that, because the looks she gave him—they said there was fire behind that smoke. A furnace, in fact.

  Anger fueled Grant forward as he followed the tire tracks. They led to the road, and then vanished among countless other tracks. The only clue he had was that they veered to the right. He got in his truck and headed in that direction.

  When he was sufficiently out of town, he pulled into an alcove made by the forest and a long-abandoned road and parked the truck. He shoved his cell phone and keys into the glove box. Getting out, he set the lock with the number pad under the door handle, and shifted. His clothes shifted with him, like always.

  He roamed the forest for an hour at a quick lope, pausing every few moments hoping to catch her scent. Finally, he did. He increased his pace, ignoring the pain in his side from maintaining this speed for so long, going way too fast for even his powerful body to endure.

  The last time he paused to catch her scent, he knew she wasn’t far. A grunt that was more like a moan of pain escaped his throat, because the other thing he smelled was blood.

  This was the moment it hit him—his feelings for this woman were much more powerful than he’d thought, and they were completely bound to his bear’s consuming love for her.

  In the dimness, his bear eyes caught sight of her much sooner than his human eyes would have. He roared at the sight of her prone body, crumpled up against the tree, curled around it as if it were a lover who would offer solace.

  He increased his pace, shifting in the last few strides, becoming a man again. He paused next to her, panting, his chest heaving from ninety minutes of running and scouting for her. He touched her neck where her pulse would be. There it was—faint, but present. In his chest, his bear could feel her heartbeat.

  She was shivering, shaking violently from the cold, but the shaking didn’t wake her up. Grant took his jacket off, leaned close to her, bundled her and picked her up. He nuzzled her neck, relishing in her life. Leaning against the tree, he braced himself and pushed her hair out of her face so he could examine the source of the blood.

  A knot, seeping blood slowly at the very corner of her forehead. A gash embellished the knot, the blood beginning to clot in its outer edges.

  He shifted to his bear form, knowing he had to get her to safety. Right now the nearest and safest place was a cave a few hundred yards away. He could make it there, build a fire and keep her warm against his bear form. His bear released another roar of anguish, this one softer so as not to disturb her.

  A set of headlights shone brightly on him. His head snapped up. The headlights slowed. He recognized Jeff’s car.

  Returning to the scene.

  He snorted. If Jeff got out to help her...

  The car was still, then peeled out, swerving and fishtailing in the snow and light ice.

  Coward.

  Jeff had to have seen her with a bear and was doing nothing at all to help her.

  Grant shifted to human, picked up Chelsea, and made his way through the thick undergrowth, the trees, and the bushes. Shortly, he was in front of the cave he’d used since he was a young boy, before this was even his own land, when it had belonged to his grandfather and the Native American woman he’d taken as his mate.

  A smile of reminiscence at the fond memories of his grandfather and grandmother crossed his face. This was Grant’s private getaway. He’d never told anyone about it. Not even his trusted foreman, Joe. When Grant wanted complete privacy, this was where he’d find it.

  Entering the deep cave, he found the set-up he always left in the alcove near the entrance—fixings for a fire, a sleeping bag that was protected from the elements and wild creatures in an oversized plastic trash bag, and the hay he’d lain on.

  Gently, he placed Chelsea on the hay, fighting off the memories he had from long ago, the first time his grandfather had brought him here.

  Grant started a fire, unwrapped the sleeping bag, and swathed it around Chelsea. He shifted to his bear form and lay next to her to keep her warm. He’d have to get her to his truck, but right now, warmth was more important. The jagged gash had stopped bleeding, but her shaking had not abated. He inhaled her scent, relishing it, angered by what he was certain was Jeff’s role in this. He’d seek retribution, but not yet. First, he had to make sure she was well.

  He paused. Sniffed. Inhaled again. That smell.

  A chemical smell. On her breath, coming from her pores, mixed with the scent of nervous sweat. He drew closer. Chocolate, mixed with the smell.

  Her pulse getting stronger was a good sign that her head injury wasn’t as bad as he’d originally feared. But still, that bastard Jeff had left her to die.

  He bit back a roar of fury that threatened to overtake him. He shook from anger, his bear claws flexing. In his chest, a burning anger wanted to rear its mighty head and hunt for Jeff. To rip him apart, barehanded.

  He was torn between taking care of Chelsea and going after Jeff.

  She moaned and moved slightly. Her color was returning. Her lips were no longer blue. Her eyes fluttered, and she gasped for a breath.

  Grant shifted to his human form as quickly as he could, praying she hadn’t noticed, been alert enough, awake enough...

  “G—gr—” Her eyes focused on his face. Recognition obvious. Relief, even more obvious. She sputtered, as if she was trying to say his name but couldn’t.

  He couldn’t help the kiss he planted on her temple, near the bump and dried blood, but not near enough to create more pain for her.

  “Shhh.” He shushed her. “You don’t need to talk.” He tightened his embrace around her. “As soon as your body gets warm, I’ll get you to a doctor.”

  “No.” The word was ripped from her lun
gs. She began to flail, flopping, trying to free herself from his embrace.

  “No?” He studied her face. “Calm down. Easy, now. No what? No doctor?”

  She shook her head.

  “And if you have a concussion?” He didn’t think she did, but he wanted a doctor’s opinion.

  She shook her head again, vehemently.

  “Okay. Look. I don’t want you to get worse, but fine. Fine, okay? Call me a damned fool for agreeing. No doctor.” He hoped he could keep the promise.

  He tried to calculate how far he might be from his truck, and decided one of the cabins on his property would be closer than the truck. They were old, from the time his grandfather had run the property.

  Most of them had electricity and other modern conveniences, but he wasn’t sure if the nearest one did. It didn’t matter. He could get it warmed up in no time. They were always stocked with firewood and other supplies—just in case, a habit he’d learned from his grandfather.

  He touched her cheek, his fingers dark against her fair skin. He planted another kiss on her temple, letting his lips linger, closing his eyes, absorbing the feel of her skin, the scent of her body.

  She snuggled closer, a tiny whimper of a sound escaping from her mouth.

  A new scent infiltrated his nostrils, one that stirred a desire in him.

  She was aroused.

  The scent of it was strong, permeating his pores, his nerves—every cell of him was tuned in to every part of her.

  Chapter Eleven

  Grant fought the desire to mate with her. His bear wanted to the commit the couplebond, to claim her for life—forever. Too early, he cautioned himself. They didn’t have an understanding; she had not agreed to become his mate. But that didn’t stop the bear and the man in him from wanting to take her. To sink his cock deep within her channel, to be housed in her slickness and tightness, to love her curves, to claim every inch of her. To leave his scent on her, permanently marking her as his. A low, deep growl built in his chest, raging to come out in a roar.