Chapter 8 #2
“Long? No.” He doesn’t expound.
“Ahhh, but there is a list.” I bat my lashes and ignore the stab of jealousy twisting my gut. Of course there is a list. How could there not be for a strong, virile shifter? Men like Erick exude a primal power women gravitate to.
He shakes his head but doesn’t answer my question. “What are you doing tomorrow, Kylian?”
“I’m restocking my shelves and hanging out at the Trading Post. It’s Sunday, so there’s not a lot going on. What about you?”
“Hopefully, I’ll be entertaining a beautiful girl around Broken Falls.”
“Lucky girl,” I whisper. He’s talking about me, right?
“Will you spend the day with me, Kylian?”
Yay, he’s talking about me! My thoughts immediately go to my brothers, specifically Kade. “What about my brother?”
“He already knows everything there is to do in Broken Falls.”
Rolling my eyes, I giggle. “You know what I mean.”
“I told you, beautiful, he’ll deal with it.”
Ibarely slept after we hung up, my body vibrating with unmet desire because of Erick’s huskily whispered good night.
Specifically his, “Sleep well, babygirl. If I’m lucky, you’ll dream of me.”
I’ve never heard words infused with such promise and they left me with a different kind of itch. The lower half of my body tingled in anticipation and I tossed and turned as I did exactly what he asked—dreamed of him.
I’m not somebody who masturbates—not that I’m a prude—but for some reason it doesn’t work for me.
I’ve tried using my fingers over the years but I can’t achieve climax and it leaves me frustrated and unsatisfied.
Lana bought me a vibrator when we visited a sex store last year in Great Falls but laying in my room at night, I can’t shut my mind down or will my body to relax.
All I can think about is my brothers hearing the toy with their supersonic hearing and making fun of me.
Even the few times I’ve had the house to myself, I couldn’t get myself there.
All my sexual experience has been in the last month making out with James.
Friday night was the first time he tried putting his hands down my pants but I stopped him before he got there.
Literally, the most stimulation I’ve ever had was when he ground his erection against me while he had me pressed against his truck door.
The friction between my thighs was pleasurable but didn’t leave me so crazed that I felt the need to spread my legs wider and wrap them around his waist.
Maybe I’m dysfunctional in every way—as a woman and as a shifter. Shouldn’t I know how to receive pleasure when someone tries to give it to me? Shouldn’t I know how to touch and bring myself to orgasm?
This has never been a conversation I’ve had with my girlfriends.
They, like most shifters, had sex soon after they shifted for the first time—usually in their mid teens.
It’s normal for shifters to have high sex drives—especially around the full moon—and they only get possessive about their partners when they’re mated.
Otherwise, it’s casual and in the heat of the moment.
At least that’s what I gathered from the few conversations I’ve overheard between Lana and Alyssa after pack full moons. That is also why I don’t attend, or if I do, I am home before midnight. I can’t do the things they do and everybody knows it.
I’m showered, dressed, and walking out of the house shortly after sunrise.
Everyone is asleep, and it’s better this way.
I don’t want to explain to Kade where I’m going, although I wonder if Erick will tell him?
They consider each other family, so as Kade’s little sister, shouldn’t I be off-limits?
It’s never been explicitly said, but then again my brother has never introduced me to his Broken Falls pack.
Which circles back to an idea that’s been brewing in my mind since I crawled into bed.
Last night, I came to in Erick’s arms with my brothers watching over us.
Prior to that moment, I never would’ve believed that scene could’ve been possible without some fists—or at the very least harsh words—flying.
Is there a reason Kade and Karter are cool with a bear shifter talking to me, touching me, or taking me on a date?
Do they know something I don’t know? Is it the reason for my fever? Am I reacting to a mating bond like only a dysfunctional shifter can?
As humans, Dinah and Valery had no idea what they meant to Kade and Karter upon meeting.
Supposedly they did react to their mate’s pheromones, but it was a subdued reaction compared to two shifters scenting each other.
I understood what was going on, but only because they explained to me and not because I have a preternatural instinct to rely on.
I glance at the sky, a late winter storm brewing overhead.
It’s not supposed to snow this weekend. The ground has been frozen solid for five months and we had snow a few days ago.
Yet another thing that is different for me from my brothers.
I have “safe for summer” and “safe for winter” vehicles, where they do whatever they want because they’re not frail humans.
I know they do this because they care but it doesn’t make their protective, bossy natures any less annoying.
Driving the short distance to the Trading Post, I park between Leo’s truck and Lana’s Jeep. I can restock my shelves in twenty minutes, grab a coffee, and be on the road if Erick is ready to receive me.
I walk through the vendor displays to my booth filled with lotions, soaps and candles made with my beeswax, as well as jars of honey.
Lana pops over from her booth where she sells crocheted items and thrifted clothing we upcycle together.
“Hey. Your face looks so much better. I can barely see the bruise anymore. I thought they usually get worse for a day or two before getting better?”
“They usually do,” I say, my words cut off when Alyssa pops in with her cousin Leo behind her.
“You never texted us back. We heard Kash is home. Why’d they fly him home in a helicopter?”
Kade explicitly told us not to tell the community Kash was home until he was healthy again, but obviously someone blabbed.
“What else did you hear?” Not making eye contact, I pull a couple of candles out of a tote and wait for their answer.
“Nothing. No one keeps secrets like the Barringtons.” Leo grins.
He’s close to the terrorists and has made a few cougar cameos in their videos which they’ve made nearly a million dollars on in the last year.
It was a closely held secret until a few months ago when Valery unwittingly dimed them out by showing their videos to Kade and Karter.
She’s a big fan and their videos are what brought her to the area in the first place.
Considering Karter never would have met his fated mate without those videos, he decided not to kill them for it.
“Try not to talk about it. Kash will make the rounds when he’s ready.” Locking eyes with Leo, he nods and puts his hands in the air.
“Of course. I’ll protect him and our secrets with my life.” He waggles his brow and pounds his hand against his chest.
“I think there's a customer waiting up front to be checked out,” Lana says, giving her cousin a meaningful get-the-fuck-out-of-here look. Or maybe she projected it to him. I never can tell.
“Girl talk, got it.” He winks at me and runs to the front of the store.
“How are you feeling today? Even though the bruise is gone, we never finished our conversation.” Alyssa absently aligns my row of candles, probably trying to appear less intense. I know seeing me bruised was the topic of the day.
“I’m fine.” I wave off their concern. “James wrote me more crazy texts yesterday but I haven't heard from him since. Besides, I have much more important things going on.”
“Like what?” Lana prods.
“Yeah, there is something about you today, Ky,” Alyssa concurs. “You are kind of glowing. Are you happy Kash is home?”
“Of course I'm happy my brother is home, but it's so much more.” I bite my lip and look around, making a show of it so my girlfriends can tell me if anyone is within hearing distance. “Kade invited a couple of his Broken Falls pack members home yesterday and one of them asked me on a date.”
“Get the fuck out of here!” Lana and Alyssa exchange a wide-eyed glance with each other.
“I know.” I beam a huge smile. “He's handsome, a couple years older than Kade, and sweet. We talked on the phone for hours last night, and he asked me to come see him in Broken Falls today.”
“How is that going over with your brothers?” Alyssa frowns, fully aware of how protective Kade and Karter have been of me over the years.
“Erick said he doesn’t care and neither do I.” Shrugging, I pop the lid back on the tote and stack it with others in the back.
“Is he a bear shifter?” Alyssa asks, her nose twitching as she sniffs my booth.
“Yes, he is. Why do you ask?”
“Well, yesterday a stranger came in. Leo says he was a bear shifter. Apparently, this stranger spent a lot of time sniffing around your booth.”
“Really? Do you know what he looked like?”
Lana rolls her eyes. “No, of course not. It's Leo. You know details are not his thing.”
“Huh.” I hadn't realized Erick stopped here yesterday. I wonder why he didn't mention it?
My phone beeps with an incoming text. I’m both nervous and excited to check my messages. I hope James continues the silent treatment and I pray my brothers don’t look for me before I get out of town, but what I really want is a note from Erick.
Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I beam a huge smile and turn it so Lana and Alyssa can read.
Erick: Good morning, babygirl. I dreamt of you. When can you get here?
“Oh my.” Lana fans herself as if it’s the hottest thing she’s ever read.
I know it’s tame for most, but for me it’s huge.
Erick is only the second man to show interest in me and this time the excitement to get to know each other is mutual.
James was insistent and while I liked the attention, I wasn’t dying to see him again like I am Erick.
Me: I can leave here in a few minutes. I was going to stop at Silver Fox Diner for breakfast but now that I know you’re waiting for me, I’ll skip it.
Erick: If you can wait to eat, I’ll feed you when you get here. Here’s the address to the shop.
A link to my maps app tells me it’ll take fifty-six minutes to get to Bearclaw Ammo—Erick and Kade’s business.
“Well, I guess I’m going on a date.”
“Go get him, girl!” Lana whoops with her fist in the air.