Chapter 16 Kathryn
Kathryn
Iwalked into the medical school library flanked by two scary-looking sisters.
Even though Darla and Bella were very different, when they were next to each other there was no doubt that they were sisters.
Darla’s hair was a shade darker, longer and much thicker, and Bella was a little curvier, but the resemblance was still strong.
They were both scowling, dressed totally in black.
After stopping at the reference desk, my two bodyguards and I headed to one of the smaller research rooms where the non-human medical texts were kept.
“Our books are filed in the same room as the dogs and bunnies?” Darla grumbled. “That’s insulting.”
“Why? There are bunny shifters too, right?”
Darla rolled her eyes, as if to say that bunny shifters weren’t real shifters.
Bella ignored up both, sitting at a table and getting to work on her laptop. Despite her distracted appearance though, I knew she was fully aware of everything happening around her. Every few minutes her eyes darted around, looking for trouble.
“What are we looking for?” Darla asked.
“Anything that talks about the physiology of the shift. Or how humans are turned into shifters or other beings.”
I knew from my father that shifters, vampires, and other supernatural creatures were strictly prohibited from changing humans, even if they wanted it to happen.
The punishment for changing humans was death.
Still, it begged the question why Xi and her co-conspirators were trying to chemically adapt humans into shifters instead of just hirings some shifters to bite them.
Then I remembered what Wanda had told me about not recruiting people who were already shifters – they didn’t want to have free will get in the way.
We spent the entire afternoon researching.
I moved from book to book, reviewing the pertinent parts and making notes.
Darla did her own research, periodically handing me a book to show me what she’d found.
By the time the sun was setting, I had a much deeper understanding about shifter physiology – as well as some ideas about how Xi might be trying to force the change on humans.
I stood up and stretched my back, groaning. When I looked down, Darla was staring at my breasts. In this position, they were pushed forward like an offering. I sent her a smirk.
When I sat back down, somehow my chair was closer to Darla’s than it had been before. She moved her leg, pressing it against mine. I kept my attention on the textbook I was looking at but shifted slightly to increase the connection. After a few seconds, I felt her hand on my thigh.
I gave her a look out of the corner of my eye, but when I didn’t protest, Darla slid her hand up my thigh, her fingers sliding between them.
I opened my legs a little more, giving her access, and her hand moved up again, this time to cup my pussy over my jeans.
The heat of her hand burned me through the thick fabric.
Biting back a moan, I rocked my hips closer, seeking pressure. Her fingers pressed against my seam, giving me just enough to tease, not to get me off.
“We’re in a library.”
I hadn’t seen Bella look up from her laptop, but clearly she knew something was going on.
“Maybe wait to feel your mate up when we’re back at the house.”
I wasn’t a person prone to embarrassment, but my face burned bright red as I scooted my chair away from Darla. What was I doing?
“I never knew you were a cockblock,” Darla grumbled at her sister.
“I think you mean pussy block,” Bella shot back.
I ignored them both, returning to my research and wondering how much longer we would last before one of us broke and Darla and I had sex.
When we got back to the safe house, Yuri was there. Cassie had already gone off duty this morning, and with Yuri to provide back-up, Bella went home to her mate.
“I’m so glad you’re here, Yuri,” I said, popping up on my tiptoes to give the bear a hug.
Behind me I heard Darla release a possessive growl. I’d noticed that she had that reaction whenever I touched someone who wasn’t her.
“We’ve been living on sandwiches and boxed mac and cheese here. It’s been awful,” I said dramatically.
“I already cook for you,” he said proudly. “Tonight we have Belarusian feast. You both need more fat.”
I thought I was a healthy weight, but I wasn’t going to argue with him, not when I could smell all the delicious flavors in the kitchen. For a doctor, I didn’t have the best diet. Then again, I ate most of my meals at the hospital.
Excusing myself, I went to take a shower and change into something more comfortable. I was pulling on a baggy sweatshirt when I heard the knock on my door. I didn’t have shifter senses, but I knew before I opened the door that I’d find Darla standing there.
I wasn’t sure why she was here, and by the tentative look on her face I suspected that she wasn’t either, but I decided to seize the opportunity. Before she could open her mouth, I grabbed her shirt and pulled her into my bedroom.
The door closed behind us, and I pressed her against the wood.
“This time it’s your turn to get off,” I said firmly, dropping to my knees.
I made quick work of unzipping her pants, pulling them down her legs and bringing her plain cotton panties down too. I made a quick detour to untie her boots, then helped her kick them off so I could relieve her of her pants.
Once Darla was naked from the waist down, I took a moment just to look. As a doctor, I saw a lot of bodies, but Darla’s was extraordinary. She was all lean muscle, with just enough softness to make her body feminine. This close I could smell her excitement. My mouth watered.
“I’ve been dying for a taste,” I told her, looking up from beneath my eyelashes.
Without waiting for a response, I used my fingers to spread her lower lips and dove right in, licking her from bottom to top in one long, slow stroke.
“Mate,” she gasped, her fingers coming to my ponytail.
She wrapped it around her fingers, almost as if it anchored her as I began licking her in earnest. She was hot and wet and tasted delicious. I hummed happily as I explored her folds, gradually pressing harder and licking deeper.
When Darla’s fingers tightened in my hair, I knew she was getting close. I thrust my tongue inside her body, fucking her with it while I teased her clit with my thumb.
Darla was shaking now, the coiled power that always surrounded her gone as she ground her pussy against my face and made soft little moaning sounds that I’d hear in my dreams after this.
“Mate!”
Her fingers felt sharper now, more like claws, and when I looked up, I realized she was shifting, her vampire side coming out. Her eyes were red-tinged, her lips turning darker red as her fangs protruded from her mouth.
The next time I pinched her clit she went over the edge, shuddering against me as I drank up her release.
When I pulled my head back, she slid down the door as if she couldn’t stand any more.
Her knees came up to her chin as she stared at me.
The expression on her face was a mixture of shock and satisfaction and something that looked a lot like affection.
Gripping her cheeks between my palms, I leaned forward and gave her a long, deep kiss, letting her taste herself on my tongue.
“Dinner!”
Yuri’s voice boomed from across the house, reminding me that we weren’t alone.
“We should go,” I said, pushing to my feet.
Darla still sat on the ground, chin on her knees, staring into space. I snapped my fingers in front of her face.
“Did I break you?” I teased.
She looked up. “I think maybe you did,” she said softly.
“We should try that in a bed sometime,” I suggested. “And maybe try to come together.”
What we’d just done was exciting for me too – my soaked panties were a testament to that – but Yuri was waiting for us, so anything else would have to wait for later. Besides, I was starving for anything that didn’t come from a box.
“Come on,” I said, reaching out a hand. “I’ll help you up.”
She moved to her feet with the natural grace and speed of her vampire, then looked around for her clothes.
“Take your time getting dressed,” I said. “I’ll go help Yuri before he comes looking for us.”
But when I walked into the kitchen, Yuri was typing on his phone, his face lit up in a big grin.
“You look happy,” I said.
“Not as happy as Darla is right now,” he shot back, winking.
Oops. I’d forgotten about the super hearing these shifters had. Then again, they didn’t seem to have any of the hang-ups about sex that humans had.
Letting me off the hook, Yuri nodded at his phone. “I talk with mate. Lois says I do not work tomorrow, so Stacy and I go for a date.”
“You and your mate are going for a date?” Darla asked as she joined us in the kitchen. “That’s great, Yuri.”
We worked together to set the table, oohing and awing over the multiple dishes of Belarusian food covering the table. Everything smelled fabulous.
“I make enough so you eat left-overs tomorrow night when I am gone with mate,” Yuri said. “You cannot live on sandwiches, is not good.”
“That’s so nice of you, Yuri,” I said. “Thank you.”
Yuri explained what each dish was, then we tucked in, eating in silence for several minutes until our cook cleared his throat.
“I need advice,” he said, his ears turning pink. “For date with Stacy. Is tomorrow night.”
“This is your first date, right?” I asked.
“Yes, but I must ask more than once to get her to say yes.”
“Did you tell her that you’re mates?” Darla asked. “She already figured out that you’re a shifter.”
He shook his head. “I did not get that far. Brothers advise to wait for this news until she is falling in love with me.”
“Probably a good idea,” I agreed. “But I’m surprised she didn’t say yes the first time. I know she’s into you.”
At his puzzled look I explained, “She thinks you’re handsome.”
“When I ask first time, I tell her that she is beautiful woman with wide hips, easy for childbirth. Then she is angry.”
I choked on my food. “You told her she’s fat?”
He frowned. “No I tell her she has good hips and that she smells fertile, make good babies.”
“Yuri, you’ve got a lot to learn about women. Give me more of those dumpling things and let’s figure out how to win Stacy’s heart.”