Falling for the Shifter Box Set, page 10
part #1 of Falling for the Shifter Series
Tarben lies back down on the bed and closes his eyes. I climb onto him and straddle his body. “How did you want to celebrate, roomie?” I ask.
I glide my hands up his chest, lifting his t-shirt as I go. A hint of hair, low on his stomach shows and I run my tongue over my bottom lip in anticipation of what’s to come.
He opens his eyes slowly and smiles as he raises his brow. “You read my mind.”
“I’d rather read your body.” I unbuckle his belt and unzip his shorts; the line of hair is further exposed. At the end of the hair is what I’m really looking for.
His cock twitches as I run my fingers over the cotton of his underwear.
He moans appreciatively and moves his hands behind his head as he watches me move above him.
I pull his shorts further down and lean forward, playing with the elastic of his underwear. He stiffens further and I help him free of the fabric. His hard cock strains upwards as I wrap my hand around his length.
I bend down and run my tongue around the tip of his dick to tease him. He tastes good, he always does. He rolls his eyes back and moans. I lower my lips onto him and move lower until he’s sliding into my mouth. It’s too big to take all of him, but I try anyway.
As I bring my mouth back up I can see his eyes are glazed with lust. I love that I can turn him on so quickly. I love that he can turn me on just as fast.
I continue to suck and lick until he can’t stand it much longer. He’s panting heavily.
“Let me fuck you,” he says breathlessly. I can tell he’s close to releasing.
“Come in my mouth,” I respond.
“Shit, Jade.”
I move my mouth faster than before and he grabs hold of my hair to steady himself.
I brace myself so I’m ready for him when I feel him thrust forward, his pleasure streaming down my throat as I gulp him down. When he’s finished I pull away.
“Your turn,” he says. I move higher so I’m sitting on his chest. “Stand up and strip. I want to watch.”
I do as he asks. I try to make my moves seductive as I sway my hips, but I’m no dancer. He doesn’t seem to mind and when I’m naked I kneel back on his chest feeling his strong body under me.
He grabs my hips and brings my sex up towards his face. When his tongue flicks onto my already throbbing clit I melt into his touch. It only takes a few minutes with his hot tongue exploring me before I’m buckling with my first orgasm. I know there’ll be more tonight. We won’t get much sleep on our first night living together.
Morning comes faster than I expect. One minute I’m shuddering with my third climax and the next I’m waking up with sunlight streaming in through the discreet window in the ceiling.
“What time is it?” I ask sleepily.
Tarben is in the kitchen, the smell of cinnamon Pop Tarts permeating the air. He takes a casual bite. “Around nine. I let you sleep in; you looked like you needed the extra energy.”
I bend my elbow and prop my head up on my hand. “Pop Tarts are hardly a good breakfast. If you want me to have more energy I’m going to need something a little healthier.”
He shrugs. “Haven’t done me any harm. You want some?”
I shake my head. “No, I’ll grab some fruit.” I sit up and swing my feet onto the floor. “What are we doing today?” I stand up and walk over to him. When I reach him, he kisses me on the cheek.
“Need to go to the hardware store.”
Whether it’s because I’m still sleepy or because it sounds so normal, I have to take a moment. “Huh? You can’t go the hardware store.”
“Of course I can, I need a part for the shower. You want to come with me?”
“We are in hiding remember?” I know he does, but he’s acting like nothing is wrong. I will never understand his concern one moment and his lack of, the next.
He nods. “True, but they know me there, I don’t walk around with the general public. We have an arrangement.”
“An arrangement,” I repeat. “This I have to see.”
I grab an apple from a bowl and quickly get dressed. I’m sure Tarben has made this trip hundreds of times before but today I want to go with him just to make sure that it is safe. After his last trip in public, I need to be convinced.
The trek takes place straight through the trees. No one other than Tarben would know to go this way. It takes half an hour to reach the store.
Tarben hesitates at the tree line watching carefully in both directions. The hardware store is bordering the woods at the far edge of town. It’s protected from view on two sides. We are at the back of the building, a loading dock with one truck parked inside the only signs of life. I can’t see the front of the building from here to tell if they have customers.
“Come on,” says Tarben. “It won’t take long.”
We creep toward the building and press against the wall. There is a set of concrete stairs ahead and a closed door. Tarben walks confidently up the stairs and knocks three times on the door in short sharp raps.
A young man with pale blonde hair opens the door. He smiles widely and pats Tarben on the back. “How’s the shower coming along, my friend?”
Friend? Tarben has friends? He doesn’t fail to surprise me.
“Good. Just need another elbow and a coupling and it should be done. We’ll be bathing as kings and queens.”
“Sure thing.” He says as he winks. He turns and disappears into the store.
“You have a friend?” I ask.
Tarben smiles. “I’m a friendly guy.”
The man returns and Tarben takes the wrapped package of parts from him. “I’ll place it on your account, as usual.”
“Thanks, Pete.”
Tarben gives the guy a wave and turns back to me. I blink. “That’s it.”
“That’s it,” says Tarben. “Safe and easy.”
“Who are you?” I ask jokingly, not expecting an answer.
We walk into the trees and head back home.
Chapter 2
We’ve been gone an hour.
When I walk back into the room, I look at the pile of clothes that I’ve neatly stacked in the corner. The blue top that I haven’t worn in weeks is on the top of the pile. I’m sure it wasn’t on the top when we left to go to the hardware store, but I can’t be sure.
“Did you touch my clothes?” I ask. I’m not trying to sound accusatory, but I know I didn’t rearrange them myself.
“No, why?” Tarben looks over and squints into the corner of the bedroom. “Is something missing?”
I tip my head to the side as I examine the pile. “No, I don’t think so. It’s just the blue t-shirt is on the top of the pile. I’m sure it was at the bottom when I placed it down.” I reach up and scratch the back of my neck.
He looks around the room with a more critical eye. “Is anything else different?”
I glance around. I don’t think so, but I didn’t take much notice before we left as I was too concerned about going out in public. I shake my head. “No.”
There isn’t anything that looks out of place anywhere else in the room.
I turn my attention back to the pile of clothes. “Perhaps I put them down like that and wasn’t paying attention.” It makes the most sense.
Tarben walks over, places his hand on my shoulder, and pulls me back for a quick hug, my back leaning against his strong chest. “You think someone has been in here?” I can feel the muscles in his body tense as he contemplates the enormity of the statement.
It makes no sense. If someone has been in here then more things than a simple blue top would have been moved. I break away from him, walk over the pile of clothes, and lift the clothing up one by one. “No. I must have done this without thinking. I wasn’t paying attention when I woke this morning, too sleepy. I’ve done this.” I turn back to him and grin. “My brain doesn’t function without coffee in the morning.”
I stand up and walk over to him, kissing him on his shoulder. He looks suspiciously at my pile of clothes. “Keep vigilant anyway.” He brushes his fingers over my cheek and down across my lip. “Just to be sure.”
He plants a slow lingering kiss on my lips and any concerns I’d had about whether the top has been moved or not, disappear. As I reach up to pull him closer and tangle my fingers in his hair, he pulls away. That isn’t like him.
Last week he couldn’t keep his hands off me and a kiss like this would have him burying himself in my body, this morning he turns and begins to fasten the tool belt around his waist. He’s concerned and it’s my fault.
I should have known not to bring up any suspicions I had when he’s still vulnerable about being spotted in the city. Especially something as stupid and small as a blue top misplaced on the top of a clothing pile. A top that I’m now convinced that I must have placed there when I was in a hurry this morning.
“I’m fetching coffee,” I say. “You want some?”
He looks over at me and furrows his brow. “You’re going outside again?”
“Just to get coffee.”
His chest heaves up with a heavy breath. “I’ll come with you.”
I walk over to him and place my hand on his arm. “Don’t be silly. Go work on the shower system, I’ll be back soon. There’s plenty of people down there.” I smile brightly. “Safety in numbers.”
“Take your knife.”
I nod and place my sheathed knife in the back of my shorts, letting my shirt hang over the top so it’s hidden. “I’ll be careful.”
He glances back over at the pile of clothes. “If you see anything else suspicious, anything at all, come straight back.”
I love that he’s concerned about me, but it’s unwarranted. We are well hidden here and it’s unlikely, even if I was seen, that anyone would connect me to him. “I can take care of myself.”
I wait until I can hear Tarben above me in the roof before I leave the cave and find the path. I wanted to make sure he didn’t follow me. I don’t want to concern him any more today.
Since we’ve got back here last night, he’s been much calmer and easier to talk to. I don’t want that to disappear because I’m the one becoming paranoid over my own stupid memory.
Even so, I’m on high alert as I head down the path. I strain my ears to hear any sound that doesn’t belong, and look sideways for anything that is out of place in the woods.
As I get closer to the campsite, I start to feel better. There has been nothing that indicates that anyone has been close to where we live, let alone broken in and moved a stupid t-shirt. I’m becoming as paranoid as Tarben.
The more I think about it, the more ridiculous it seems. If someone were after Tarben, then they would have done a lot more than that. They would have waited in ambush or confronted us as soon as we opened the door. No, I was right when I said that I wasn’t thinking clearly. It’s the only explanation.
There are the usual family sedans in the camping ground car park but my attention is drawn to a pair of black SUV’s at the far end. They both have official looking number plates. Immediately my blood turns cold as I stare at the vehicles.
I take a step back as I look in that direction but then realize by doing this I’m drawing attention to myself. I need to act like every other camper and act as normal as possible.
While I don’t feel like coffee anymore, I walk over to the small store and order one anyway.
“Lots of campers today,” I say casually, even though my heart is pounding at a million miles an hour. “Looks like even the suits are out enjoying the sunshine.” I hand over my money as I look to my side, expecting someone to be there, but there is no one.
“Them,” says the girl behind the counter as she froths my milk. “They are looking for someone.”
“Oh?” I swallow. “Someone bad?”
She leans over the counter as she placed my coffee at the edge. “They wouldn’t say exactly. Just asked if I’ve seen anyone without clothes on.” She giggles. “Now, why they’d care about a group of nudists is beyond me.”
I knew I wasn’t going crazy. “Where did they go?”
The girl points up the path I just came from. “I told them that campers like to skinny dip up ahead. I think they were going to arrest them.” She sighs dramatically. “Can’t do anything fun with our government watching over us these days. They want to control everything.”
I take my coffee and turn around. If they are up ahead then I didn’t see them. That means they went somewhere different or are very good at avoiding detection.
I want to run back to the cave and find Tarben. I need to warn him so we can get the hell out of here.
I dump my coffee in a nearby bin and head up the path. Once I’m out of sight I’ll be able to run, but before that I want to make sure that I don’t draw any attention.
As I round the corner and get ready to increase my speed, I spot a pile of neatly folded clothes hidden behind a tree. Not just one outfit but three. That means there are three naked people in the woods somewhere, all men judging by the style of clothing.
There is only one reason why three men would strip here and it isn’t sexy or kinky.
Tarben isn’t the only shifter.
Chapter 3
I was wrong.
There aren’t three men trying to find Tarben, there are four. Three of them are bears, all with fur darker than Tarben’s when he shifts, and the fourth is in human form. That man is tall and thin with dark hair and a graze of stubble across his chin. They are about fifty feet ahead of me.
I press back against the tree so they don’t see me.
The tall thin man orders the bears to spread out and they jump to his command. It’s clear who makes the decisions.
I have to get to Tarben and warn him. I have the advantage that they don’t know where they are going, or a least aren’t staying together in a group and converging on the cave.
This either means they don’t know where it is, in which case I was paranoid and no-one has been inside messing with my clothes. Or, they do, but because Tarben and I weren’t there when they arrived, they are now searching for us outside.
I hope this means they aren’t too smart. If they were, they would have waited.
I have to get ahead but I don’t want them following me.
Slipping around the trunk I duck down and inch back away from the path. I’m going to have to travel under the cover of the trees. This will make my trek slower as I won’t have the advantage of a smooth path, but necessary to avoid being seen.
They are moving away from me, so when I’m sure they are far enough away as to avoid hearing me running, I take off.
I’m not moving too fast, I don’t want to trip on a fallen branch and hurt myself - that would make things worse, but I’m not slowing down to see if they are behind me either. When I get closer to the cave I can re-evaluate, but right now my only thought is to get back to Tarben before they do.
The vegetation is light and I’m thankful as I run forward, jumping over twigs and slaloming between trees and shrubs.
I’m about ten minutes away when I hear voices.
I freeze and duck low, pulling a branch over me to hide from view.
“Somewhere up here,” says a woman’s voice. I’m momentarily confused as I didn’t see a woman in the group before and wonder if there are more people than I first thought. I carefully lift my head to see who spoke.
A guy with floppy brown hair playfully pinches the woman’s ass. “I can’t wait to see you in that bikini.”
“Who says I’m going to wear it?” She giggles as the guys mouth widens in happy shock. They are just campers looking for somewhere to swim where others won’t find them. Any other time I’d let them move on to whatever fun they are planning. Not today.
I stand up so they can see me. “Hi,” I say.
Both look at me startled, clearly not expecting a strange woman to jump out at them from the trees. “Hello?” says the girl tentatively. “What were you doing in there?” She takes a step backwards toward her boyfriend.
I smile and roll my eyes. “You wouldn’t believe it; I dropped my phone and was looking for it here. I’m such a klutz sometimes.”
“You want us to help you look?” asks the man. He takes a step toward me and looks down into the vegetation on the ground.
He might be nice but I can tell the woman doesn’t want to help me. Not that they’d find anything.
“That’s sweet, but I’ve looked and looked. Perhaps I dropped it somewhere else.” I shrug. “But I could use another favor, I really need to call my boyfriend and tell him where I am. Do you have a phone I could use?”
The woman eyes me suspiciously. “He doesn’t live outside area, does he?”
I smile sweetly. “No, he’s around here somewhere. I won’t be long and you can be on your way.”
“I suppose.” She reaches into her bag and pulls out her phone. “But don’t be too long.”
I don’t know the number of Tarben’s new phone. I never bothered finding out because he wouldn’t take it, so instead I call my own number. I need him to answer it.
Pick up, pick up.
I count the rings. One, two, three, four. I look nervously over at the couple in front of me and then around to the trees. Five, six. You’ve reached the voicemail of Jade Jenkins, she can’t answer the phone right now but if ... I hang up. Shit.
“Thank you, he doesn’t seem to be near his phone.” I hand the cell back to the woman who seems pleased that I’ve failed.
“Never mind, I’m sure you’ll find him.”
“We could wait with you, if you like?” The guy offers helpfully.
“No, we’ve got to be going.” The woman pulls on her boyfriends arm and they move up the path.
Damn it.
There is no sign of any bears or men with stubbled chins, so I decide to run the last part on the path. There’s no point in hiding now, I just have to get back as fast as I can.
As I run passed the couple whose phone I borrowed they stop and let me pass. I don’t know what they are thinking. I don’t care. All I can hope is that their footprints on the ground confuse whoever is looking for Tarben and me.
I’m panting when I reach the corner. Just around the next bend is the cave. I lean back against another tree as I catch my breath and look back into the woods. There is no sign that anyone followed me here.
