Chapter 23
The Next Day
I know. Ruka knows.
The paranormal world knows.
One-hundred people died, and countless are missing. The town was torn to its foundation, flattening most homes.
They are calling it The Route 99 Tornado.
And the violence is catastrophic.
“I’m a vampire!” Ruka runs full speed, a blur around what used to be where we lived.
All that’s left is foundation.
And my mom’s care package. Of course, out of everything, it survived. I blow out a breath when I think about how happy I am that I have this in my arms. I touch the tattered label, waterlogged and torn.
“At least he is taking that well,” Oklahoma tugs me close by the belt loop. “I was worried. He didn’t wake up for so long. I didn’t think he’d make it.” His touch grazes the side of my neck when he moves my hair over my other shoulder.
I never thought I’d feel him again.
My chest hitches when the emotion becomes too strong to keep locked inside.
“It’s okay, Sugar. Hey, look at me.” He takes the box out of my arms and grabs onto the curve of my shoulder, his thumb gliding under my chin. “It’s okay to not be okay. That was scary, and it changed your life. You’ll live forever. You died. Process it how you need to process it.”
I lean into him, loving that I know I’ll get to be with him for all eternity. I’ll miss the urgency to live life to the fullest because time was short. Now, I have all the time in the world, and that’s new for me.
I’m happy Oklahoma turned Ruka. There’s no way in hell I’d survive the loss of him.
“Did we ever figure out who that woman was?” I ask him, watching my brother discover every ability he has.
“Lorcan said he’s taking care of it. He said she is part phoenix and she will be reborn, but she won’t be coming back here. He assured me of that.”
“It’s just sad. She died not knowing where he was. Whoever he is, I hope he knows how hard she tried to get to him.”
“I’d do that for you,” he says. “I’d chase every storm if it led to you.”
“You hate storms,” I remind him.
“Yeah, but I love you. And that trumps any storm on any given day.”
I tug his shirt and press my lips against his, sighing at finally feeling his kiss. It’s been since yesterday. We were all too busy making sure everyone was okay.
All of our people are.
Millie, Jess, Reina, Westin, and Jazz all made it back to the ranch. A few people from the bar didn’t make it. The tornado flattened it as expected. The basement protected a lot of people; some were just not very lucky compared to others.
“There’s my girl,” Oklahoma whispers.
I smile up at him and turn on my camera, wanting to see what I managed to grab before…before.
The screen is cracked, and I’ll need a new lens, but somehow, this camera lived. Pressing the button, I click through the images I have.
Old pictures of the team come up. A group photo of us high-fiving each other at the same time and jumping in the air, yelling, “Let’s chase!”
A little cheesy, but we all love it.
The images I took of the storm appear, and I’m blown away by the super cell. I trace the bolt of lightning from one edge of the screen to the other, the electricity veining through the clouds.
The clouds. A sinister black with deep plum edges. The inside lit up pink with every crack of lightning.
The wedge wasn’t as big as when I took this photo. This isn’t the beast that killed us. It’s mother did.
“What—” I’m speechless when I come across dozens of photos from inside the funnel. “You got them?” I don’t know what to say. I’m speechless. “How? Why? I don’t understand how this is possible.”
“Ruka told me to. He said it was your dream to take a picture within an EF5. I don’t know how to take pictures. Hopefully, they came out okay.”
Tears fall onto the touchscreen, and I wipe them away, not wanting my happiness to blur the photos.
“You’re such a good man.” I pause at one of them. The outer edges are slightly blurred, the clouds showing gorgeous striations of different colors of grey, black, and green with a strong wicked bolt piercing down the middle of the funnel.
The funnel that doesn’t fit onto the screen.
Regardless, it’s gorgeous.
It might get picture of the year.
“Thank you, Oakley. Thank you.” I take the box away from him and set it on the ground.
I jump into his arms, hook my legs over his hips, and wrap my arms around his neck. Grabbing his face, I kiss him softly, throwing everything I feel for him in this kiss. I know he can feel it.
He always can.
“My Kokoro,” I whisper, placing my hand over his heart to show what it signifies.
He dips me over his knee, deepening the kiss, his tongue finding its way to dance with mine. He growls down my throat, his hands clutching my ribcage.
I gasp, heat creeping up my neck as my lust intensifies more than I’ve ever felt before. I slip my hand down over his bulge and give it a firm, tight squeeze.
“Hey, Ruka!” I snag my mate’s lips again.
“What!” he shouts from up high in a tree.
“I’m going to show Oklahoma the storm shelter.”
“Whatever. You guys can’t wait until we’re home?”
Absolutely-fucking-not.
I know Oklahoma said I’d feel everything times a million, but I never expected this. Every nerve ending is on fire. Heat blooms between my thighs, my clit throbbing with need.
I try to use my new speed, but I only trip over myself. Oklahoma catches me, and I’m left looking up at his swollen lips while I’m strewn across his thigh.
“Just show me where to go.”
“You’ll see it. It’s only a few more yards.” I gulp, electrical currents tickling my palms as I rub my hands across his chest.
Oakley slowly rolls his eyes, growling and sucking his tongue over his fangs. “You smell so goddamn good. How much time do we have before everyone shows up?”
I peer down at my watch, the numbers in red as my vision shifts; the need for my mate makes me lose control.
“We have twenty minutes.”
“Perfect,” he growls, swooping me into his arms.
I’m left looking up at the clear blue sky, not a cloud to be seen for miles. The weather is always beautiful after a storm. It’s as if the catastrophic tornado never happened. I’d believe it too, if I wasn’t standing where my house used to be.
Almost everything is gone.
All that matters is that we’re alive. Everything else can be replaced. Everything can be rebuilt, but Oklahoma, Ruka, and the team? Nothing this world could give me could ever come near replacing them.
The storm door thuds against the ground, the scent of rust from the hinges tickling my senses. Oklahoma guides me inside, and I walk down the steps into a small, cramped space. There’s a built-in bench and two cots to the right.
Pillows and blankets are on the small bookshelf along with nonperishable foods. The sunlight falls upon every surface, micro-specs of dust glittering against the bright rays.
Oklahoma closes the shelter door with a loud thud, encompassing us in darkness. The bright garnet gems glow as he steps out of the shadows, pausing where the smallest amount of light beams through the small window of the door.
His growl awakens the new side of me, and I answer him in return.
Urgency is all that remains between us.
In two strides, we collide. Our snarls echo in the small enclosed space. His fangs cut into my bottom lip. His tongue is there, licking away the blood before I heal.
“I don’t have to hold back with you anymore.” His tongue twists with mine, sucking it into his mouth before letting it go with a soft pop.
“You’ve been holding back?” I ask between ravaging kisses. Our lips are at war, moving against one another in a messy, untamed, animalistic way.
We bite and claw, his nails digging into my back. He rakes them down, my flesh tearing. I cry out, the pain unexpected but not unwelcome.
He shoves me against the wall face first and applies pressure to the back of my head so I can’t move. I don’t dare fight him. I know it’s pointless. He’s much stronger than me, and right now, I want him to take me.
His tongue licks up my back, gathering the blood dripping down my spine. I gasp when he spins me around and lifts the green dress with white flowers all over it; his hand roams up my thigh to my butt, finding I’m not wearing any underwear.
“Nariko,” an appreciative growl escapes him. “This dress has been driving me fucking crazy all morning.” His fingers brush over my pussy, dipping inside to feel how wet I am for him.
He sucks his fingers into his mouth, and the moment he tastes me, my mate becomes feral.
Lifting the dress to my hips, he unbuckles his belt, unzips his pants, and tugs his jeans down his hips just enough to release his thick cock.
“This fucking dress,” he sneers, tugging the front down to release my breasts.
He sucks one nipple into his mouth, the sharpness of his fangs threatening pain. He lets the hardened bead go with a soft pop, then moves to the other.
The thin strap of my dress rips when his claw accidentally slices it in half. Oklahoma drags his tongue up my chest, to my neck, and sucks at the mating mark on my neck.
“All mine.” He bites, threatening to sink his fangs into me to take what’s rightfully his. “Tell me.” He thrusts deep and in one stroke he fills me, stretching more than any other man ever has.
I curl my arms around his neck and bury my fingers in his hair, my orgasm already so close, the intensity is so much, it might destroy me like a stake to the heart.
He really has been holding back.
Oklahoma fucks me so hard and fast, no human could ever keep up.
He yanks my head back, revealing my throat for him to feast on. One hand on my thigh, one on my breast, gripping me tight in both places while he rams into me.
“You thought you could wear this and get away with it? Any time you wear a dress, I promise I’ll find a way to lift the skirt and leave you dripping with my come so everyone knows what you did to deserve that. Fucking teasing me with what’s mine and expect me to do nothing?”
“I didn’t—I didn’t know,” I stutter on a broken moan.
“Nariko! Oklahoma! Everyone is here!”
“Damn it. Ruka is calling—” Oklahoma shoves his hand over my mouth to keep me from saying anything else.