Monstrous Intent, page 29
Just as he reaches me, there’s a flash of white and blue as Lake tears him to the ground. Niles twists and looks at Lake in what appears to be shock as the beast rips into him with claws and fangs.
“Do not touch him,” Lake growls.
“You would pick a human over your own family?” Niles asks.
“What have you ever done for me?”
They twist and flail on the ground before Niles slips out and I blast him with another shot a moment before Lake rips him to the ground.
Niles shifts to the side, refusing to back down from the fight, as I switch to my rifle seeing as the shotgun blast could hit Lake, and I can be more precise with the rifle. The moment Niles breaks from Lake, I shoot him again. He’s outnumbered, and it’s becoming clearer by the minute as Lake moves in. This time, Niles jumps back to the building across from us, but he misses the jump and claws at the side of the building as he begins sliding down. Then he drops out of view.
Lake moves to the edge, and I rush over with him, but I don’t even see Niles in the darkness below.
“What happened to him?” I ask as I step up and sink my fingers into the thick white mane around Lake’s neck.
“He caught himself before dropping the rest of the way. I don’t see him.”
“Fuck…”
Lake shifts into his human form and I pull my hand back. The look he turns on me isn’t the look of pure joy I was expecting; honestly, it takes me by surprise. “What the fuck was that?” he asks instead as he faces me, completely naked and utterly pissed.
“What?” I ask, standing my ground.
“How dense can you be? You’re supposed to leave. You’re supposed to… fuck off. Why are you here? You’re ruining everything.”
“I’m ruining everything?” I ask in disbelief. “Please inform me what I’ve ruined when you literally told me nothing. Sicced a fucking monster on me and ran off. So please, please inform me how I’m ruining shit.” I press up into his space, but he’s refusing to back down. The aura he’s letting off is enough that my body truly believes I need to back away, but I don’t because this is Lake. He might act like he’s tough, but at the end of the day, he doesn’t actually know how to be mad at me.
“You need to just step back and mind your own business,” he growls as he shoves me back with enough force it does make me go back a few steps.
I push back into him. “Yeah? It’s more fun to get a quick fuck and watch me run for my life, eh? You like that? Was that more fun?”
“Fuck you,” he says.
“Fuck you too,” I growl.
“I’m trying to protect you, why won’t you fucking let me protect you? You could have died and then I’d have no one again,” Lake says, voice shaking.
“Yeah? And who the fuck do you think I have if you die?” I demand. “You don’t have to play the damn hero.”
“You’re still a human. It doesn’t matter how good you are, at the end of the day, you’re a human, it only takes one single moment, and I won’t have you anymore,” he says, his voice catching as he holds his hand up like he’s going to cup my face, but he doesn’t; instead, he just closes his hand into a fist. “Just… go home. I have this handled.”
“Yeah? But I think together we’ll have it handled even better,” I say, deciding that I’m not caving. He can be as stubborn as he wants, but I’m the fucking master at being stubborn.
Lake watches me for a long moment. “Why do you even care? I gave you the perfect opportunity to leave. To move on with your life. It was foolish to even involve you in the first place.”
I grab his face in my hands. “Lake, stop being so damn stubborn. We’re ending this together whether you like it or not. You really think I’m going to let you take all the glory?”
He’s still for a moment before grinning at me. “You are a glory hound,” he says before reaching out and grabbing me. He hooks his hand around my neck and draws me in, pressing his lips against mine.
I don’t toy with him this time. I don’t taunt him, instead, I press into him, lips parting as I feel his tongue brush against mine as I feel the desire rise inside me. I know I shouldn’t want him. I know he’s the very thing I’ve spent most of my life despising, but I can’t stop. I’ve never wanted anything more than him. He’s ridiculously stubborn, his ideas might be out there, but there’s something about him that draws me to him unlike anyone I’ve ever met. I’ve never had anyone who truly cares about me. Who would place my safety above their own. Who chooses to protect me first and foremost.
When he breaks from the kiss, he puts his forehead against mine, and I close my eyes for a moment and just feel him.
“We really need to go. They’re going to figure out what happened before long. And you better go with me,” I say.
“There’s no place I’d rather be… besides with you at an aquarium. And with you naked in bed. Or with you shopping. Or with you—”
“I get it,” I say.
He’s giving me that ridiculously sexy grin now. “God, you’re magical.”
“I’m pretty sure I’m horribly boring compared to you,” I say. “Why didn’t you tell me you had a third form?”
He one hundred percent ignores me. He doesn’t even look at me as he stares off at the sky or the moon or who knows what to prove that he’s ignoring me.
“Lake?”
“You’re majestic,” he announces.
I sigh because we’ve gotten nowhere during all of this. He’s still refusing to tell me what I need to know, and really, am I even surprised?
He beams at me before kissing my cheek. “I love seeing your angry face.”
“I’m not wearing my angry face. I’m wearing my ‘Why would I even expect you to tell me the truth’ face.”
“It’s just as magical,” he decides as he watches me pick up my guns and put them back into their carrying cases. While I’d absolutely love to pin him down on the rooftop and make him squirm for me, I know we need to get going before anyone finds us.
“I’m mad at you,” I declare before grabbing my things and hurrying through the door.
The very naked man rushes after me. “I didn’t do anything wrong!”
“Didn’t you?” I ask with a growl.
“Sy wasn’t actually going to hurt you. He was just going to scare you off because I don’t want you getting dragged into this.”
“I was dragged into it a long time ago. I remember you dragging me in to pet your dying body. Remember that?”
Lake looks pleased with this memory. “I do. But that was back before I really cared if you got eaten or not. You know, back in the woods with Sy, I didn’t mean any of the shit I said.”
“Obviously, I know that.”
“I said it in the hopes you’d get pissed and not come back and put yourself in danger.”
“I know, but I also obviously realize it was all bullshit.”
He’s smiling so wide at me right now, ridiculously happy until he hesitates. “I think we have company. Get on my back.”
“What the hell would getting on your back accomplish? You think you’ll scare them off by making me piggyback a naked man?” It’s not until he shifts that it dawns on me what he’s wanting.
“Oh, hell no,” I say.
He grabs for my arm with his mouth and jerks me away from the door, telling me what’s coming through it isn’t going to be good. But hell, we can just fight them. I have my shotgun and—
Lake chomps down on my arm, preparing to drag me off into oblivion because I haven’t hopped up onto his back yet, and honestly, I wasn’t planning on it.
“I’m not riding on your back. I will shotgun blast them all in the face.”
“Ride me.”
“No!”
“Ride me, Declan.”
“I’m not riding you! I regret saving you. Why did I come back for you?”
“Because you want to ride me,” he says as his slobbery mouth starts pulling me after him. When the door opens and I realize that we’re outnumbered two to nine, I decide that maybe, just maybe I’ll give in to his ludicrous ideas. I climb up onto his back, feeling absolutely ridiculous as I hold on to him and my cases while Mittens attaches to my back with all her claws. Lake jumps across the gap Niles fell down, and I realize my life is coming to an end. The likelihood of me being alive tomorrow is next to none. I am a fool. I allowed some weird part of my brain to talk me into coming here for him.
“You feel terrified. Am I scaring you, hunter?” he asks in almost a teasing voice.
“I regret everything,” I whisper as I realize he’s not jumping rooftops, noooo, he’s dropping down at an alarming speed. There’s a roof a good two or three floors lower that he’s aimed for, and I realize that life is ending. This is it. This will be how I die. Splatted on the top of a roof where no one will find me. Mittens will chew on my corpse for days and all that anyone will find is my skull.
When he lands the jump with ease, I realize that I can’t relax. I can’t pretend life is going to be okay when his next jump is even longer. There’s not even a flick of hesitation before he makes the leap. I’m squeezing him with my legs with enough strength to slice him in half.
“I’m going to die,” I realize.
“At least I’ll be able to tell others you died riding me,” Lake says.
“Stop talking. Please just…”
He hits the ground and I try to jump off, but he bolts, giving me whiplash instead. All too soon, I’m being dropped into the side of my car, my heart racing a million miles an hour as he climbs in and waits for me.
When I finally manage to get my limbs under control, I open the car door and climb in to find him smiling at me, happy as can be from the passenger seat. “I was worried you got lost out there.”
“I nearly died,” I remind him.
“I didn’t know you were afraid of heights.”
“Afraid of… afraid of heights? You fucking… plummeted from the sky. I have whiplash.”
Lake is absolutely beaming at me, not a care in the world. He almost looks love blind. “God, I missed you,” he says as he grabs my face in his hand and drags me in for a kiss.
It does make me forget about my heart having crawled its way out of my chest as I press into him, fingers sinking into his hair. Fucking hell, I want this naked man to ride me.
The sound of the hood getting minorly crushed by what looks like a level three chimera brings me back to my senses.
“Get the fuck off the hood!” I yell as I lower the window enough to point my gun through it. The chimera leaps off the moment the car starts since it appears to realize that I can shoot it as soon as I get the window down. Lake, like he’s oblivious to what’s happening outside, flops down on my lap which can’t be comfortable with the middle console. He doesn’t care. He just beams up at me like I’m the brightest light in his life. Like there isn’t a chimera army heading our way.
“Oh my god, you’re magical,” he decides.
“I’m not… just stay focused.”
“I’m focused on how magical you are. You were all badass and sexy. Like whipped out your gun and all, ‘Bang, motherfucker. Come get me.’ And oh, I sure wanted to come get you. God, my heart.”
“I love the story, but I think we’re being followed,” I say as I notice that the chimera I’d scared off isn’t prepared to stop. Nah. He wants to murder us while Lake is on cloud nine.
“You have such long eyelashes,” he says.
“Are you on drugs?” I ask.
“Nah, I was shot with Cupid’s arrow. I mean… you act all gruff and grumpy… but you came back for me. You... you actually came back for me.”
That’s when I get blocked in at a traffic light. I try to veer into the oncoming lane, but there’s too much traffic and I can’t move the car without risking getting hit. The chimera is pleased by my hesitation and slams into the trunk as Lake’s blissful expression shifts into something much different.
“I’m fucking busy here,” he growls. He kicks open the door then shifts so quickly the chimera doesn’t have time to react before Lake’s tearing him off and sending his body flying across the street.
And then without hesitation, he shifts again, gets back into the car, and falls down onto my lap. “I missed you,” he says with a smile like I’m not currently using my wiper fluid to wash away the splattering of blood.
“You’re terrifying,” I realize.
“Not if you listen. If you’re a good boy, you get to ride me.”
I pat his head. “I’m never riding you again.”
He just closes his eyes and tucks himself against me as I realize how at peace I feel having him back with me. I hesitate before setting my hand down on his head and running my fingers through his hair. He doesn’t say anything, but I can see the smile return to his face.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
LAKE
When we reach the cabin, I’m pleased to see that we’re here alone. I don’t mind Emma, but I want Declan all to myself. No sense in sharing him with anyone when he’s all mine.
“You’re smiling too much now,” Declan says. “Like it’s beyond a happy smile, you look manic like you’re planning something sketchy.”
“I’m thinking about all the shit I’m going to do to you and have you do to me,” I announce.
“I think we should focus on discussing how to stay alive first and foremost,” Declan says as he gets out of the vehicle. Why he thinks he has to be reasonable and sensible, no one knows.
“Alright. Long story short. Evil Mona wants to inflict her evil plan on everyone. She tried getting me to join her by explaining that the DRD is up to some shady shit such as testing and drugging people.”
“As you speculated, but we still have no proof of it.”
“Right. But… are they the lesser of two evils?” I ask. “I don’t condone what they’re doing, and… if they did this to you, they didn’t ask for permission.”
Declan shakes his head as he stops in front of the car. “No permission was given. Hell, I was a teenager. I really didn’t have a damn clue what they were doing… I still don’t.”
“Do you think it changed you at all?” I ask curiously.
“I… don’t know. It’s hard to tell. I mean… I’m good at what I do.”
“Your reflexes are impressive, but then again, so’s your dick and you didn’t modify it at all.”
He shakes his head again like he’s not sure how helpful that was. Very helpful is what I’m feeling.
I gasp. “Or did you?”
“What?” Declan asks, looking unreasonably confused.
I grab the front of his pants and yank them down so quickly he doesn’t have time to react before they’re partway down and his dick is out. “Hey, buddy.”
“Don’t talk to my dick.”
“I thinks someone’s jealous I’m paying you attention,” I say.
Declan grabs my face in his hand and presses me against the car, his leg stuffed between mine, pushing them apart. “I do think you need to pay attention,” he says, voice rough. “Because the quicker you pay attention, the quicker I can get to sucking your cock.”
“How the fuck am I supposed to stay on task after you say that to me?” I ask. “This feels strangely like torture.”
He shrugs, clearly not caring at all about the pain he’s putting me through. “Better talk fast.”
“Okay… so yeah… Mona informed me about all this nonsense the DRD is doing, but she really doesn’t give much of a shit about it, she just likes the idea of murdering humans and controlling hunters, I believe. So when I wasn’t like, ‘Yippee, let’s fuck some bitches up,’ she sent me off with Niles. She claimed it was as his bodyguard, but I know she just wanted him to watch me because she knows he can control me, and now… about that fun time?”
“And are you going to pull that shit again like you did in the woods?” he asks, so much conviction in his voice.
“If it means I can protect you, one hundred percent—”
He yanks his pants up, turns around, and starts angrily walking away. “Wrong fucking answer.” The bite to his voice makes me hesitate a little.
“N-No… Declan… I’m sorry. I shall lie instead! Yes, I will one hundred percent never do anything like that again. I will forever put you in danger. You’re welcome.”
“Wonderful,” he says dryly, still not pleased.
I rush after him and grab his wrist before forcing him to face me. He doesn’t come easily, and instead tries walking away, but with my strength, he can’t. “Declan, you can’t tell me that if you thought I was in danger, you wouldn’t push me away to keep me safe?”
Declan turns around to face me. “You think every time we go out together, you’re not in danger? You think I believe you’re invincible? Literally every time you leave, you’re in danger, yet I don’t stop you because I know that together, we can do this. Alone, all we do is weaken our chances. I’m not fragile, Lake. I know what I’m doing. You need to trust that.”
I hesitate because I realize he’s right. He never has pushed me back or made me feel incapable of doing something. He’s always, even when he hated the idea of me being a chimera, allowed me to work with him.
“I’m sorry,” I say, honestly feeling bad. “I… I really didn’t think.”
He nods slowly. “It’s okay. Just… don’t pull that shit again, or I’m done. I’m not coming back for you and I’m not going to be here when you get back, got it? And I sure as hell won’t come and stroke your hair when you’re dying.”
I smile at him as I press myself close to kiss him. “Deal.”
“Now let’s go talk this through for real,” he says as I follow him into the house.
* * *
DECLAN
An hour of talking seems to have gotten us nowhere. There’s no clearcut plan on how to get through all of this. All Lake knows is the bare minimum, which isn’t surprising. Of course they wouldn’t trust him enough to tell him anything more. But still… I can’t help but hope there’s something obvious we’re missing that will help us.
