Beauty and the Brute [Werescape III] Page 6

  He turned that emotionless mask to me, boring a hole through my skull.

  Heat crept up my cheeks.

  What in the hell did he want?

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  * * *

  Chapter Four

  Brutus kept Trance walking through the forest heading west. Into the setting sun and the Ohio

  Territory. Right to a remote little cave tucked into the side of a hill. Safe enough to hide us for the night. A long night no doubt. Especially after I lit a fire and seated Lorelei near the hot flames. The fire just might save her from Wolf. Cut her scent. Wolf wouldn't sit still whenever I was this close to Beauty. He pounced. Yapped. Drove me insane with his tongue hanging out.

  The journey would be pure misery.

  Why had I gone after her? I studied her body's dark silhouette from behind.

  She sat on a flat boulder, leaning slightly forward as if the fire drew her to its seductive light.

  Like a deer standing still to go unnoticed. And a perfect little white-tailed doe she was.

  Beautiful face. Sleek. Ready for mating. To shove her against a wall. To let Wolf have his way with her. To sink my fangs into the throbbing pulse of her neck.

  Wolf licked his lips.

  I went rock hard.

  Why couldn't I control my thoughts? What had I done touching her hand to yank her up behind me on Trance that first day?

  The fire's golden light danced with shadows beyond the fire.

  But she didn't notice.

  Beauty sat quietly, statuesque, until the crickets began chirping.

  Then her heart thrashed.

  Why was the sound so awful?

  Watching her well-groomed resolve slowly fall away was far worse. One-by-one, she began swatting at what could be nothing but nervous itches. Maybe insects occasionally crawled on her. But not as often as she smacked at herself. How could she be so annoyed by beetles, daddy longlegs, and crickets? Especially when we'd managed to find a cave local bats didn't call home.

  She bolted onto her feet and jerked her palms across every surface of her body.

  Panicking.

  No. Not tonight. Bounders were out. We had to lie low. Be quiet. And I get the woman afraid of bugs.

  She leapt toward the cave entrance.

  Holy shit. I pounced, shoving her curves into a wall, fighting her flailing limbs, pinning them to her sides.

  She twisted in my grasp. The brightest glare I'd yet to see in her eyes burned my direction.

  “Let me go!” Her sleek curves slithered against my chest and thighs but couldn't loosen my arm hold.

  “Calm down, Lorelei. Nothing in here is going to hurt you.”

  “Easy for you to say,” she spat in my face. “Let me go, damn you.” She kicked me in the shins.

  Now, little mattered when Shifters had a code about hurting women. Even when a man needed to dance a fucking pain dance. But hopping while rubbing my shins wasn't going to do me any good if she bolted out into the moonlight. “Quiet,” I snarled.

  To no effect.

  She squirmed worse than a salmon determined to find its way back into the river and upstream. “Dammit, let me go, Brutus.”

  Hell. I grabbed the base of her braid and yanked her head back until her jaw gaped at me.

  “You will calm yourself before you draw Bounders.”

  Air knifed as she sucked in choppy breaths. She could have impaled my neck with her pointed chin if she snapped her head free of her hair fisted in my hand.

  But Beauty wasn't strong enough to manage such a feat. Or to keep my eyes from straying to the surging sound of the salty treasure racing through her jugular to feed her frantic brain.

  Metallic blood.

  Mine, Wolf growled.

  Oh, no. No. Shut up, Wolf. I stared into her eyes and inhaled a long deep breath.

  Not good when everything about a woman, the warm silk of her hair, the tender velvet of her skin, the perfect curve of her lips, the lingering burn from her arms wrapped around my chest, the bulge of her breasts, everything reminded me of mating.

  Kiss, Wolf hissed.

  The exquisite little line etching those perfect lips lured my gaze.

  To just take a kiss. Pillage. Plunder the promise of moist heat. No. Not a Normal. I jerked my gaze back to her bitter stare.

  She had quieted. Good. But how would she behave if I released her? “I will not allow anything to hurt you.”

  The deep grooves in her furrowed brow lessened.

  “In this cave, Lorelei, are some beetles and crickets. Nothing dangerous. Or my Wolf would have sensed the danger. We are safe here. You must trust me. We can't afford dealing with

  Bounders tonight.”

  Slowly her stare shifted from a pinched scowl to that of understanding.

  Even the tension in her limbs faded. Or I'd be screwed. Rather, she would. Because Wolf wasn't backing off. “I'm going to release you.”

  She nodded.

  Why the iron rod in my pants didn't warn her to get the fuck out of here, I don't know. But she took one step away from the hard wall, toward me, following my retreat from her warmth as if she preferred I hold her, and rubbed the base of her skull.

  I'd hurt her. Been too rough with her hair. Hell, she could have gotten herself killed running into the night. The woman needed to sit back down and think before she reacted. “Come. Sit by the fire.” I waved toward her rock.

  She smacked her lips.

  Thoughtfully. Like the memory of blind crickets playing their little symphony was a threat. “I

  have food.” Maybe she'd sit for food.

  She wagged her head, eyes pinched like something pained her, and planted her sweet little ass back on her pedestal.

  Lucky boulder. My crotch was so damned hard she could have perched on it all night in an act of mercy. But something about her stiff composure and pained expression echoed she didn't do Shifters. What in the hell for? Most women fell at my boots. Begged for anything. A glance.

  Five minutes of my ramming into their tight little bodies kneeling before me. And here Beauty sat, ignoring me.

  Kiss, Wolf pleaded.

  I doubt she'd do anything other than run into the night's darkness and a pack of Bounders.

  She turned a questioning mask to me. “Brutus?”

  Now a soft voice. Why? I arched an eyebrow, cocking my chin in reply.

  “Maybe we could build another fire or two. Small ones. Around where I sleep so the bugs wouldn't, uh, reach me?”

  Why did I feel like an ass? She was too damned afraid of crickets to even think about the fact

  I was a Shifter. Nothing prejudiced whirled in her thoughts though. Her mind was locked on survival. Not that crickets ever killed anyone I knew.

  Not much time passed before she curled up in a fetal position with a few stone-circled fires dancing around her. I couldn't bring myself to mention the flames attracted insects. Nor could I argue the futility in spending time and energy constructing more fires. I just sat near her ass like another hearth and studied the swell of her hip.

  Her back faced me.

  “Thank you, Brutus,” she mumbled.

  Pathetically. So, I'm an asshole. “Try to sleep.” I'll be up all Gods-be-damned night with this pinched hard-on. Wolf breathing down my neck. But an asshole deserved the torture.

  * * * *

  Lorelei tried to sleep on the cavern's dirty hard surface. Tried to forget about the cave floor crawling with insects. But Yale's mansion never had such an infestation. Unlike the crawl space on that fateful day. Where I hid when my parents were killed. How I choked down my own screams when my parents were slaughtered was miraculous.

  And now I live because of another miracle. Because my intuition told me to run. Lying here in the dirt was just what my intuition needed me to do. To be strong. To survive because of

  Yale's lies. And then I behave like a squealing girl. What a fine way to thank the Shifter who saves me. Why hadn't Brutus tossed me out o
f the cave? A wise man would have.

  Something popped behind me.

  Probably a joint popping from him stretching his arms. Iron arms. He'd been rough with me, holding my body against the wall while yanking my hair. Or maybe he'd been firm. Careful.

  The way he'd been with his horse, checking its legs. The way he was each time he helped me down from the saddle. Yes. He was just helping me. This Shifter who others feared proved time and time again that he wasn't the barbarian rumor claimed him to be. Maybe a little demanding. But I didn't dare begin believing the wildness in his commanding gaze reflected anything other than his distaste for Normals. Me. I was merely another Normal thorn in his side. And, for some reason, duty obligated him to help me. Or he helped himself to whatever end he could picture for his efforts in salvaging my life. And he damned sure had an end in mind with the steely shaft he'd pressed against my belly. Most likely an end that didn't keep

  a squealing female underfoot.

  God, why do I keep thinking these depressing thoughts?

  Just close your eyes.

  Go to sleep.

  He built the extra fires. So, the man was accommodating. Not evil. Just male. Thankfully not a groping asshole like Yale's men. If I hadn't had a Guardian of my own for years, I would have been misused by Yale's animals. Ruined. Forced to have abortion after abortion like

  Yale's servants who chose not to give birth, raise, and feed starving bastard children. But that was the way of life AEI. A woman's life. I studied the flickering golden flames.

  The fluid heat held a beauty all its own.

  Silently bending and uncurling. Like a ballet I'd seen two years ago when the wandering troupe stayed for two months in Pittsburgh. But they moved on. Fortunately for them. On to live another day. Or year.

  I want to live. My gut keeps pushing me in the right direction. And for some reason, Brutus kept me alive. Safe. Yes. Safe. Just go to sleep. I closed my eyes.

  * * * *

  Luckily, I'd learned how to sleep sitting many years ago, even without a surface to lean against. After Beauty's heart had finally quieted and she had drifted off to sleep, I then allowed myself the luxury. Some sleep was better than no sleep. Especially when a man had to keep his carcass and a clueless female alive as well as ignore her wiles.

  Yes. She had to be seducing me. For what? She obviously knew who I was.

  The dawn's intensifying sunlight caused the cave's entrance to glow with pale light.

  She rustled to life near the glowing coals and shoved up with one arm and shot me a questioning look.

  Time to go. “Let's go.” I rose.

  We rode Trance west. Into the darker interior of what used to be the United States where the once easily-defined states had merged into not-so-clear-cut Territories and their small pockets of human refugees. Civilization? Maybe to some. Snake pits to others. But there was no avoiding the evil Normals committed against one another if a person wanted to reach the farthest most remote reaches of The Wild. Areas west of the Mississippi. So remote the extraterrestrials didn't bother wasting time in monitoring the scant Normal and Shifter populations scattered across that expanse of the wilderness. Desolate to those who couldn't fend for themselves. Sanctuary to others who banded together to ward off Bounder attacks at

  nightfall. Places men would fight one another for a chance to have a woman like Beauty. I'd be wise to leave her at any of the sanctuaries run by Shifter clans.

  Mine, Wolf growled.

  Before Wolf sank his fangs into her. The last thing a wise warrior wanted was to be mated to a Normal.

  Mine.

  One more mistake like last night in the cave with her soft skin and curves pressed against a wall and I'd become a Normal's conquest. A pawn in a game Shifters couldn't afford to lose in a world humans desperately struggled to hang onto. I should have never touched her skin.

  Never pulled her onto my horse. Never allowed her to wrap those arms around my chest. She was trouble.

  Mine. Wolf snorted and began clawing the underside of my ribs.

  Her grip loosened around my chest. Her head touched then pressed into my shoulder blade.

  Almost sagged. Beauty hadn't slept much last night. I glanced over my shoulder.

  She was asleep, her cheek lodged against my back.

  Exhausted from last night's senseless fear. Unable to fend for herself. Hell, I even had to give her a pistol. A weapon she almost wouldn't touch. She left Yale's with a tin of crackers. Not a knife or pack of matches on her. Absolutely defenseless. And Wolf licked his chops to take a bite out of her.

  Protect, Wolf snapped.

  I'd really wedged myself into a tight spot this time. I should have stayed in Canada. A lot could be said about jerking meat and pouring bullets. But I had to set off as usual, on my own little journey. Save a woman who feared crickets. I glanced at her slumped form once more.

  Beauty needed me. By the look on her face when I stopped her in the maze of corridors in

  Yale's basement, I was the last Shifter she expected to find intervening. The last. Her last hope. A man couldn't hold that against her. Couldn't find her anything but innocent of seduction. She just wanted to live. And she was Gods-be-damned fortunate Wolf intended on saving her.

  * * * *

  The scent of smoke and something far more cozy rocked Lorelei gently awake. Smack dab nestled into the camouflage of Brutus’ back. His smell. A mixture of muscles and strength.

  Brutus. Against my cheek.

  Lord, I was all over him. And the way his arms held mine curled around his lap, meant he knew those arms kept me from toppling off the horse. Should I pretend to continue to sleep?

  Or just rise from my embarrassing situation and act like all is well?

  Like I had much of a choice. It's best to just get on with life. I shoved my cheek into him and sat up.

  He just kept steering his mount into the forest.

  Good. “Where are we?” Maybe he'd talk. Change the subject from my hug to our direction.

  “Ohio Territory. You sleep much more, you won't sleep tonight.”

  Well, there. We have his slant on things. I'm annoying.

  The horse snorted.

  And the horse agrees. At least they didn't dump my body and make a run for it while I slept.

  This ride to wherever would be the longest miserably boring ride anyone ever had to take.

  “So, why do you hate Normals so much?”

  The question earned me a glance capable of making a starving Bounder wince and run the other direction.

  “I'm in a fairly decent mood. I'll humor you,” he announced.

  The horse took two more steps.

  “Normals captured my parents and traded them to the extraterrestrials.”

  That was sufficient reason. But Brutus’ reputation sent Normals scattering. There had to be more to the story. I slid my arms back around his lean solid waist, avoiding his lap. And anything else lurking there. “How old were you?”

  He shot me a mask of disbelief over his shoulder and turned back to the trees.

  Maybe I shouldn't have been so nosy. But far worse things could happen than Brutus clam up.

  “Thirteen.”

  Another answer. Maybe the future's endless trip wouldn't be so boring after all.

  “Nobody ever saw my parents again. I swore I'd make the Normals who captured them pay.”

  And he had. He was legendary. “So you did and continue to mete out justice.”

  “Some call it that. Others say I'm insane.”

  He didn't have to tell me. I'd heard the tales when elders spoke to children who needed a strong dose of coercion to modify their behavior. But what about my situation brought Brutus to my aid? “Why are you helping me?”

  His unreadable stare locked on me for a moment then turned back to observe the stallion's progress.

  The ground continued rolling beneath us.

  Nothing. Not one grunt. Not him groaning from my obviously redundant question I'd uttere
d.

  We just moved forward. Me stuck behind his saddle, gripping the most gorgeous man I'd ever seen, who couldn't stand me. The highlight of the day's westward effort occurred around two in the afternoon. Long after passing individual looted homes set in the middle of nowhere.

  Homes with gaping holes for windows. Each remnant structure's paint had been gnawed away by fifty years worth of summer's baking sun and searing cold of winter snow.

  Just where were we? And why did the horizon look like rows of manmade peaks marched toward it? I'd never been out this far from civilization. I'd never seen a subdivision. Never even heard of one until Brutus stopped his horse short of the outer row of houses.

  Did anyone live here?

  Could they be trusted? I leaned a forward a little to whisper. “Does anybody live here?

  “I don't know,” he whispered again.

  The last thing I want to do is find out. I shoved up to the back of his ear. “Can we go around?”

  I whispered.

  “Less time to cut through.”

  Was he crazy? “What do I do if we're separated?”

  “We won't be.” He kicked the horse into a walk.

  Forcing my butt back on the horse's rocking rump.

  The hairs on my neck jumped to chilly attention.

  Not good. This was a big mistake. Extremely wrong according to my intuition. Couldn't he sense it with those Wolf senses? I could tell him I feel these things. Sense things in my own way. Although he probably would appreciate my intuition as much as Normals. But this venture across an ancient village could go bad. Very bad.

  But how did you argue your point with a guy who held the reins and was a hell of a lot bigger?

  Maybe he knew what he was doing. Yes. He did. And he'd save my ass. But what if his foolish decision landed me in the clutches of another male? I wasn't ready to just hand my virginity over to the first disgusting bastard who pinned me against the ground. Not because Brutus decided to take a shortcut.

  The horse stepped between the first two houses.

  The skin on my arms began to crawl.

  Why? Overgrown with shrubs, vines, and trees who had managed to snag a foothold and bully their way toward the sky, the dead village looked like a sea of rotted boxes. Decomposing with time like the houses we passed on our way to this place. Homes so many people chose to occupy so very long ago.