Chapter 10 #2
“Then why are you still talking to me?” She was close enough to kiss him now, and she bit her lips at the desire.
Her nose picked up his scent, a cleaner smell than she remembered.
Maybe because he wasn’t frightened. Or maybe because he didn’t care what happened to him.
She’d known men who’d crossed into kamikaze mode.
They’d already accepted death, so fear became a nonentity in their lives.
But as she inhaled his scent, she noted the wrongness was gone.
Or maybe she’d just gotten used to it. Either way, her bear clearly liked the scent and she leaned a little closer.
He reached up, his large and callused hand stroking her jaw. She fought the need to close her eyes and lean into his caress. Instead, she watched his eyes go soft and sad. “Why do women only want monsters?”
“You’re not a monster.” She spoke it firmly. He needed to know she believed that even when the label got tangled in her thoughts.
He stared at her and shook his head. “You think because I’m not fur and claws right now that I’m tame? That I won’t tear right through you if you try to Tase me again?”
She held up her bare hands, spread wide.
“I don’t want to hurt you. I want to talk to you.
Come home with me. Please. There are...things we need to talk about.
” She’d almost said more. She’d nearly told him about how much her bear was right now pulsing with want.
How his scent was oddly compelling even at its worst. About all the confusion that he created inside her.
But she was on an open mic with Mark on the other end.
She just couldn’t force herself to be that vulnerable with another man listening in.
So she swallowed the full sentence and settled for pleading.
He was still stroking her jaw, the caress of his thumb gentle and soothing.
Hell she was so tired right now, a little tug from him and she’d melt into his arms. It didn’t make sense.
She was a rational woman, and Alan wasn’t the easy man she remembered.
He was volatile and dangerous. But apparently that made her grizzly wet and needy.
Maybe she did have a thing for monsters.
“When was the last time you slept?” he asked.
She shook her head. “Not until you’re safe.”
He tugged her closer with just the edge of his nails. They weren’t claws just then. There was no pinprick to his touch. Just the blunt edge of his fingers tugging her forward and she went willingly. “I’m not the one in danger,” he murmured.
“Bullshit,” she answered. But that was as far as she got before his mouth was on hers. Hot. Possessive. Desperate. It was like he was taking everything he could get before it all disappeared.
She met his tongue with her own, arching her neck and dueling with him.
Her hands found his shoulders, and she gripped him, dragging him closer or holding on to him for support.
She wasn’t sure which. And while her heart exploded into a feverish beat, her mind ceased yammering.
It had been full of words and strategies, ways that she could convince him to come back with her.
But at the first press of his lips, they were silenced.
This was what she wanted. This was what they both needed.
So she kissed him back, and in the midst of his desperation, she tried to reassure him.
Yes, she said with teeth and tongue. Yes, I want you, too.
Then he was gone. He ripped himself from her grip and dashed away.
She stumbled at his sudden absence. She gasped and pressed her fingers to her wet, swollen lips as she tried to focus.
She saw his flip-flops discarded in the grass.
Looked beyond to see him dash between cabins to the backyard.
She didn’t even have the presence of mind to call him.
Just a trapped scream in her belly that she couldn’t release.
She couldn’t have had him right here again and lose him. She couldn’t—
Pop!
She knew that sound. A tranquilizer gun. Mark had it, and Alan had run straight at him. She ran around the corner to see Mark stepping out from behind a tree. Alan was swearing and ripping the pink-tailed dart out of his shoulder.
“Alan, wait!” she pleaded, but it was too late.
She saw him shift, even faster than the last time. His hands became claws, his face twisted into a growl, and he barreled straight at Mark who stood like the Rock of Gibraltar.
“Don’t make me hurt you,” Mark said, his words almost growls. He was still human, but with Mark the grizzly was always close to the surface.
“You can’t win against both of us,” she cried, though God knew it was too soon for her to shift again. She was so tired, she couldn’t even manage a good snout. But she could still fight. And, damn it, she could still shoot, though her gun remained firmly holstered.
Alan wasn’t listening. He lunged forward, the fury taking him over as he went straight for Mark.
But he was slowing down. Even she could see it.
His leap didn’t take him far and he appeared to be off balance.
Tonya thought Mark would meet him. The man had never backed down from anything in his life.
But this time, he just stepped to the side.
A little slide to get out of the way, and yet still block Alan from running into the woods.
Alan roared in frustration, but Mark just shook his head.
“We can’t let you run wild,” Mark said, his voice gruff but no less firm. “It’s too dangerous. You could hurt someone.”
Alan stumbled against a tree, righting himself with a dark curl of his lip.
“We’re your friends,” Tonya said as she came closer.
He twisted his head to glare at her, and she died a little inside at the hatred in his gaze. He was fully monster now. Every part of him thickened and sharp. She didn’t care. She’d seen it before so there was no shock. Just an aching pain at what he’d become.
“You’re bringing him out,” he snarled. “I’m losing control!”
He tried to dash away. He had a good shot. A path that led into the woods. If he got a head start that way, they might never catch him. But he’d been hit by that dart and Mark was a little too close for it to be an easy escape.
Alan dashed, but Mark stepped into the path. And when Alan tried to strike again, Mark spun sharply, ducking away from the blow even as his leg shot up from behind. He clobbered Alan hard in the back. Alan jolted forward, his face hitting the nearest tree trunk with a sickening thud.
Stay down! Please!
She saw it the moment he went completely feral.
Up till now, there’d been a calculation in his movements.
A control that kept him from hurting anyone.
But then he snapped. He shoved off the tree at double speed.
He attacked Mark like a cornered animal.
If it weren’t for the tranquilizer, no way would Mark have been able to keep him down.
Even so, Tonya had to use all her skills to help.
She tripped him from behind. And when he rolled onto all fours, Mark was there to grab him, hauling his arms up and back so that he couldn’t fight.
Except he could. Even with Mark’s strength holding him back, Alan still managed to tag them both.
Hands. Feet. Teeth. He fought with everything.
He got one arm free and ripped a long scrape down her calf.
He bit Mark twice, though not deeply. Tonya’s bear screamed with every impact.
Inside, she howled through every second.
But she was relentless as was Mark. Until finally, inevitably, Alan wobbled for the last time and collapsed in Mark’s arms.
Down.
She stood with her arms raised, her breath coming in gasps and her mouth bloody from where she’d bit her own cheek to keep from screaming. She waited in taut prayer, watching for any sign of movement. Nothing. Oh God, had they killed him?
No. He was still breathing.
She kept her gaze trained on the steady lift and lower of his chest. It was easier than seeing his battered body. Was he faking? Would he spring back the moment she looked away?
A minute. Two. And he stayed quiet.
Thank God.
And then Mark finally met her gaze with an arched brow. “Now what?” he asked.
“Now we make it worse,” she said as she pulled out the hypodermic of suppressant.
“You want me to do it?” Mark asked.
“You have your hands full,” she said. With the unconscious Alan.
With shaking hands, she lifted Alan’s arm and injected him. Then she abruptly turned aside and threw up every last dreg of coffee and bile that had been poisoning her stomach.