Chapter 18 - Westley
I was trying so bloody hard to keep it together, to keep my distance and tell myself that I would be fine just being friends with Gabriella. But having her half-naked, sliding over me like this, I was only fooling myself. I wanted her more than anything else. I couldn’t deny this feeling anymore.
She stared at me with want in those deep hazel eyes. She tasted like candy, and her body was reacting to me. She wanted it just as badly, and I wasn’t going to deny both of us.
I reached underneath the water, sliding my hand between her legs. She was soaking wet, my finger sliding into her with ease. She inhaled slowly, her cheeks going a little red, and I couldn’t tell if it was me or the cold water.
“You are so fucking tight.” My mind thought of last time and how tight she was around my dick. She was almost heavenly. And I wanted that again.
I felt her tighten even more as I shifted my hand, making a come here motion with my hands.
I watched her bite on her lower lip, her head falling back.
I was hitting a spot she enjoyed, and her body was giving it away.
I watched the way her mouth fell open, her eyes fluttering.
I could feel her legs shaking against me, knowing she was close.
I kissed her. “Come, and when you’re done, I’m going to slide my cock right into you and make you come even harder. ”
She moaned, her voice echoing around us. Her body clamped down on my fingers, and she came. Her body shook violently, and I devoured all of it. I memorized the way her face fell back and shattered apart.
I grabbed her hips, sliding my cock right over her entrance, and slid her right onto me. She tightened up even more, her voice pitching higher. “Oh my god!”
I almost came on the spot, feeling how she was still orgasming around my dick. I moved slowly, feeling her pulsing. I pressed my forehead against hers, inhaling her.
“Does it feel good to have me filling you?” I bit her neck, and she moaned loudly. I felt her nails dig into my shoulders, and her body tightened around my dick.
“You can’t lie,” I purred, sliding a hand down and rolling my thumb over her clit. “Your body tells me.”
I grabbed her chin, popping my thumb over her lower lip. “Tell me, does it feel good?”
I watched her eyes grow hazy, her head nodding slowly. I kissed her, sliding my tongue over hers. She moaned, her mouth pressed back with just as much want.
I moved slowly, sliding in and out of her. I tugged at her shirt, yanking it down, hearing a rip. Her eyes widened, and she looked down just as her breast broke free. I smiled, running my mouth down them.
“You ripped my shirt.”
“It was in the way.”
She tugged at my hair, tilting my head back. She glared at me. “I liked this shirt.”
I moved my hand up, cupping her breast. “I’ll buy you a new one.”
I grabbed her ass, sinking my cock deep into her. She gasped, and I kept the speed up. I thrust into her, feeling how deep my cock could go. She tightened, her legs shaking against my hips.
“Oh god, I’m close.”
I bit her collarbone, feeling myself getting close. I wanted to feel her come on my dick again more than anything.
“Oh god!” she cried out as her body gave way. I followed with her, finding my own release.
It felt quiet, and then I heard her start to giggle. I leaned back, and she covered her mouth as she started to laugh.
“What’s so funny?”
She looked at me. “We just fucked… in the lake.”
I smirked. “We did.”
“In the lake,” she started to laugh harder.
I couldn’t help but laugh with her. I hadn’t felt this relaxed since the last time we did it. It was the only time I felt like this. Sex with Gabriella was different than any sex I’d had with anyone else.
“I know I shouldn’t laugh,” she giggled. “But we have done it in a fake Santa house, the couch in the house, and the lake,” she snorted. “Everywhere but a bed.”
I hooked her chin. “Would you like the next time to be in a bed?”
Was she wanting us to do this again? Was our falling into this pattern maybe a sign?
She opened her mouth, but a scream erupted in the air, and we both tensed up. We both searched the woods around us, and I felt all the hair on my body stand up.
“What was that?” she whispered. “That sounded like it was close by us.”
“I have no idea, but it sounded like a person.” It didn’t sound like a hybrid or any other creature that we had encountered. I didn’t see anything in the trees near us, but that didn’t mean someone wasn’t.
Then my phone started to beep near my clothes, and I knew something wasn’t right.
“We need to go see what that was.”
I nodded in agreement.
We both rushed to get out of the water. We yanked on our clothes, shoving our shoes on. I pulled my phone out and saw a message from Brandon. A second later, the alarms started to go off, and Gabriella looked at me with wide eyes. “Is there a hybrid around? Is that what we heard?”
“That wasn’t a hybrid we heard, but that doesn’t mean one isn’t around. So, keep your eyes peeled and stay close to me.” We both started looking around the woods, not exactly sure where the noise was coming from. Who screamed? What was going on in town?
I wanted to go back because it was safer for Gabriella in town, but I also knew if someone was hurt out here, we needed to help.
“I think the scream was this way,” she said, pointing to the North.
We started moving deeper into the woods together. As we walked, I scanned the area for any signs that something was off. I noticed shoe prints, and what looked like someone had been dragged on the ground.
Just then, there were footsteps, and we both turned just as Brandon and Kaleb broke through the trees. They both looked stunned to see us standing there. “What the hell? Where did you guys come from?”
“Why are you wet?” Kaleb asked, looking between us.
“Water training,” Gabriella said, without a pause.
“We heard a scream,” I explained. “We think from the North. What’s going on in town?”
“We have no idea. The alarms went off, and Nora said she felt something from this way, so we went to check it out. We already have the other witches coming in case there are injuries.” “Did you guys see anything on your way here?”
“Westley!” Gabriella yanked on my shoulder, and I turned to where she was pointing. Ahead of us was a woman lying in the grass directly under a tree. She was covered in blood with her clothes ripped. She looked like she had been dragged in the snow, blood all over the white canvas.
We moved closer, and Gabriella leaned forward, searching for a pulse. “She’s alive, but it’s faint.”
I looked around, hoping this wasn’t a hybrid. The last thing we needed right now was a hybrid to come at us. But these wounds looked like one. They didn’t leave people alive, though, so the fact that she was seemed off.
“Shit,” Brandon cursed. “This is bad.”
“Is there anyone else around? Did you guys hear anything else?”
“No, just a scream.” I watched as Gabriella moved the girl’s hair, looking her over.
“Is she bleeding?” Kaleb asked.
“I can’t tell. She’s covered in it. I’m sure some of it is hers.”
The woman suddenly moaned, and pain crossed her face. Gabriella bent down, pulling her close. She patted the woman’s head and spoke calmly to her.
“We need to move. The longer we stay out here, the higher the chance that whatever came here is going to come back.” Brandon said, his eyes scanning the area around us.
Kaleb bent down and hoisted the woman up. We all moved together, heading back to the training ground. As Brandon explained, Chelsey, Marie, and Hazel were waiting there.
As soon as we appeared, Hazel came running at us. “Oh my god, is she okay!”
“We don’t know. We think she might have hit her head. She’s not responding.”
Hazel, Gabriella, and Kaleb took the woman over to the other witches, and Brandon stopped next to me. “Something doesn’t seem right here.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“She was alone for starters. There was no one else around. How do we know we aren’t getting played? If something happened, why wasn’t there anyone else around? We’ve been dealing with these monsters for years….how often do they leave someone alive?”
I understood Brandon’s concern. The alarms were going off, and we found her alone in the woods.
With everything else going on, we didn’t know who we could trust. We were constantly having these false alarms and never seemed to find out who was causing them.
And he was right. We rarely saved anyone. Most were holding on to life.
“What’s the plan?” Kaleb asked as he walked back to us. “She’s injured. Someone said stitched and possibly a concussion.”
“Or she might be covered in someone else’s blood,” Brandon countered. “She could be a vampire hunter for all we know.” I could see Brandon’s head was spinning with possibilities, and as Alpha, he had to make the call.
I looked back at Hazel and Gabriella. Hazel pulled herself up and walked toward us. “We need to get her in town. She’s got a huge cut on her left leg that needs stitches, and if she has a concussion, they want to get that checked out as quickly as possible.”
Brandon’s lips pursed together. “We need to question her first before we allow her into town.”
Hazel’s eyes looked at Brandon like he was crazy. “Question her? Brandon, she’s injured. She needs to be treated. Why the hell are you saying you need to question her?”
“We need to know where she came from, Hazel,” Kaleb added, giving Hazel a soft smile. “As a precaution. We have to protect the pack, and with everything going on, we don’t know who we can trust.”
“Are you kidding me right now?” Hazel snapped, anger crossing her entire face. “She’s bleeding, and instead of helping her, you guys want to stand around here and question if she’s someone who deserves to be healed? Why don’t you just fucking start digging her a grave at that point!”
“That’s not what he’s saying,” Gabriella said, trying to calm her sister.
“No, that is what they are saying,” Hazel snapped back at her sister. “They want to question an unconscious woman before giving her help.”
“Hazel, we need to think about the safety of the pack, and with everything that happened with the animal shelter, we can’t just open our arms to anyone. It’s not that we don’t want to help; we just can’t let anyone in. We can’t have a repeat of the shelter.”
“And what about people who need help? Who are trying to run away from something like Gabriella and I were? What if she was trying to get free and got injured?”
“And what if she’s playing us?” Brandon asked. “Just like that injured puppy was playing with Nora. I have to think about the pack as a whole, Hazel. I can’t just open our doors to anyone anymore.”
“You don’t know that she’s evil!”
“And neither do you,” Brandon said. “We have to keep her locked up until we know more of what happened here. We have to protect our people.”
“Hazel is right,” Gabriella spoke up, nodding in agreement with her sister.
“We can’t turn away people who are hurt.
She clearly needs help. We could just have someone keep an eye on her and question her when she is feeling a little better.
” Gabriella looked at Brandon. “You didn’t turn us away.
Doesn’t she deserve the same treatment? I understand you’re worried, but what’s worse?
Turning someone away because you’re scared of what could happen, or sending her away and finding her dead a day later? ”
I watched Brandon think about it. He looked over toward the witches and then back at Gabriella.
He contemplated it for a long moment before he gave a nod.
“Have her taken care of, but as soon as she is feeling even a little better, we are having her questions. I want answers to whatever the hell is going on.”
Hazel stormed away, telling the other witches to get moving. I looked over at Brandon, who looked stressed, running a hand over his face. “Kaleb, find out what the alarm was. I want to know what the hell is going on with this one and all the others.”
I looked at Gabriella as Brandon headed over to talk with the witches. She looked calm, and I offered her a smile. I was proud of how well she handled everything. “Are you okay?” I asked.
She nodded, giving me a smile. “I’m good. I’m going to go offer them a hand at the healing center. Are you okay?”
“Westley,” Brandon called, and I turned around. “I’m going to have you sweep the wood again. See if there is anything else we need. Try and piece together what happened.”
I looked back at Gabriella. I took a step into her space and smiled. She was safe, and we were okay. That was what mattered. “I’m good.” I kissed her forehead. “I’ll see you back at the house.”
She nodded her head, closing her eyes as she leaned against me for a moment. The world felt silent and perfect. And then she pulled away, and I turned to the woods.