Shifters and Spice: A Shifter Romance Box Set Read online

  Now. Now it was coming, unwinding like a tight coil from deep inside her, up and up until it reached the inner walls of her sex. She thrust three fingers inside her, driving them in and out while she continued to torment a nipple. When the climax broke over her, she had to bite her lip to keep from shouting out loud.

  She rode her fingers, hips thrusting, shudders gripping her entire body until at last the spasms subsided, leaving her weak and spent. She lowered her legs to the bed, breathing hard, letting the last of the tremors fade away. It took a long time for her breathing to even out. At last, leaving her sleep pants on the floor, she pulled the sheet over her and closed her eyes.

  Maybe now she could sleep without nightmares. But, just as she fell off the edge of consciousness, in her mind she saw a huge black wolf sitting between her thighs, licking his lips, fire dancing in his hot amber eyes.

  Chapter 4

  Jordan dragged herself out of bed, feeling as if she hadn’t slept in months. Her body felt as if it was a collection of disconnected pieces, and fatigue wrapped itself around her. She’d barely made it through each day for the past two weeks because a black wolf had taken possession of her dreams and banished all ability to sleep. One night had been disturbing enough, but fourteen nights in a row was making a wreck of her.

  For a woman who’d had minimal sex her entire adult life, she was more than making up for it now, albeit in her dreams.

  They came together each night, she and the black wolf—shifted into human form—indulging in sex more erotic than she’d ever dreamed. What bothered her was her inability to see his face, always hidden by a blurry cloud. But his body stood out in magnificent detail, muscular and toned, his thick black hair framing a square-jawed masculine face and dark curls on his chest arrowing down to a cock that made her mouth water every time she looked at it. If they ever had sex in real life, would it be half as good as in her dreams?

  She never knew from night to night if he would be there in her dreams, waiting for her. She tried everything to block her mind—hot tea at bedtime, hot chocolate, meditation, any number of things. But her mind and her body had been taken over by the wolf, and she seemed to have lost any control of the situation.

  As she pushed herself through each day, she did her best to keep up a front for the Pelleys. She cleaned the cabins each day then hid in the small office where she helped Allison with the paperwork. Hopefully, they wouldn’t notice how tired or distracted she was. But, at the end of the first week, Allison poked her head into the little room.

  “Jordan? Are you okay?”

  She gave herself a mental shake. “Yes. Sorry. Didn’t sleep too well last night, I guess.”

  Now, why would she tell her that? It would just lead to more questions.

  “Is something wrong?” Allison’s voice was filled with concern. “I’m not working you too hard, am I?”

  “No, not at all.” Jordan hoped her smile didn’t look forced. “Just one of those restless nights that shows up every now and then. I’ll be fine.”

  “If you say so. But don’t hesitate to tell me if you’re a little off kilter.”

  Allison gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze.

  “I won’t. And thanks.”

  She’d make sure to keep telling them she was doing fine. Just fine. If only that were true. But that first dream after the night she’d seen him had left her aroused and unsettled.

  The black wolf. He was all she could think about.

  Holy mother. Was it possible for that wolf she’d seen at a distance to affect her this much? To invade her dreams? She’d brought herself to climax many times before, but last night surpassed all of them. She’d almost felt as if it was the wolf invading her body, bringing her a cataclysmic release.

  That was just stupid. She had seen the black wolf once, at a great distance. She didn’t even know for sure if he was a shifter. Or if that shifter was Stone Mackenzie. Of course, who else could it be? Before he came, no wolf. He arrived and so did the wolf.

  But you can find out.

  How?

  Run tonight. Find him tonight. You’ll know what to do.

  Oh, sure. She struggled to keep herself together at the thought Charles might even now be gathering information about her. She was no seductress, and Stone Mackenzie was a troubled man. The last thing he needed was some stranger invading his world. Maybe he’d had to hide who he was all his life and would not welcome being forced out into the open. At least she’d had the freedom to be herself.

  Then, in a flash, pieces of the dream came back to her.

  She waited until it was full dark and everyone had settled down before slipping out of her cabin. She’d discovered if she went out the back door, she could go around the side of the cabin and be in the woods almost at once. She’d tried to watch to see if Stone left his place, but, from the path she took, she had no view of him. Instead, she went to her usual tree, stripped, hid her clothes, and let the change take over her body.

  The moment she was completely in her wolf, she felt as if a burden had lifted from her body. She spun in a circle and then took off through the thick woods, the wind a caress on her fur. She had no idea how long she ran, but, at some point, she realized she’d reached the little exposed hillock of dirt where she’d stood the other night. She paused, the muscles in her body rippling, and stood there letting the moon spotlight her. If he was out tonight, there was no way he could miss her.

  But, after she’d stood there a while, trying to curb her impatience, she began to wonder if he’d show up. Maybe he’d decided to go in a different direction. Maybe—

  And there he was, in the same spot as the other night, his magnificent body bathed in the same moonlight. She almost licked her lips. How was it that she’d gone from being alone by design to pulled to a black wolf who might or might not be a shifter and might or might not be Stone Mackenzie? Just like that?

  She forced herself to stand there, motionless, and wait to see what he would do. At last, he moved toward her, slow at first then in an easy lope. When he reached her, he stopped so close their snouts touched. He stared at her as if waiting for her to back away, but she didn’t move. That tiny little connection she’d felt the other night had, in a time so short it was almost unbelievable—little more than an instant—grown into something intense and unexpected.

  Did he see her in his dreams, too? Were their dreams a signal to them? If they got to that point tonight, she’d ask him. After her experience with Dean and her terror concerning the alpha, she’d wondered if she’d ever feel sexual attraction for another person. Here, it seemed, was her answer.

  In her dream, the black wolf paced around her, his amber eyes taking in every line of her body, every hair of her fur. When he dipped his head to run his tongue along the slope of her stomach back to her sex, an electric thrill raced through her. Then he faced her again, staring at her for a long time as if making up his mind about something. At last, he turned, stepped forward, stopped and looked back over his shoulder. He dipped his head once.

  Follow me.

  That was when she’d awoken, her body ravenous, and brought herself to climax that time and after every ensuing dream with the image of the wolf in her head.

  What if it wasn’t Stone? What if it was—

  Was who? Charles? Here? She had to keep telling herself that was next to impossible. So, night after night, she lay in her bed, deep in her sensual dreams where she and the black wolf aroused and satisfied each other in exotic ways.

  She hadn’t even run since that one night, and her body already protested, demanding she let loose her inner wolf. Okay. Tonight, she would find the nerve to shift and run. Would he be there as he had been every night in her dreams?

  As she’d done before, she waited until she was as sure as she could be that everyone in the camp was bedded down and locked up for the night. Then she slipped out of her cabin, left her clothes in their usual place, and let her wolf free. She raced through the night, the single light being that of the m
oon now past the full stage, until she reached the spot where she’d seen him before.

  He was there, a magnificent animal, his powerful body poised on the slight rise. She stood there facing him, gazes locked as they studied each other.

  Shifter. It crackled in the air between them. A true wolf would have behaved differently.

  When he took off through the woods, heading toward the cottages, she followed without a second thought, trusting this was indeed Stone Mackenzie. She had no idea how both of them would manage to get inside his place unseen or how she would then get to hers after…after whatever happened. Or how they’d retrieve their clothes, hers in particular. But she wasn’t about to stop.

  When they reached the edge of the road that ran alongside the cabins, he turned with an abrupt movement and headed into the trees on the far side of his cabin. At that spot, they were concealed from everything and everyone else in the enclave. He paused to make sure she was still with him before leading her around to the back porch and butting the door open.

  For a fraction of a second, she thought about stopping. What would she do when they shifted? She’d left her clothes way on the other side of the camp. Did he expect her to stand there naked? Of course, if he’d been having the same dreams she had, why would she care?

  I’m here. I’m going to find out if this is real or if, even now, I’m having a dream.

  She followed him inside and paused in the living room. He headed for his bedroom, returning in a moment holding a T-shirt between his teeth. Opening his mouth, he dropped it on the floor in front of her and bowed his head once, as if telling her she should use it.

  Here? In front of him?

  He padded to the bathroom door and nudged it open with his snout then stood back. Was he not going to shift? To talk to her? Following his silent direction, she carried the T-shirt into the bathroom. She wanted to see him when he shifted back to human form, but he just waited for her to move. Fine. Okay.

  The bathroom was larger than those in the other cabins, but it was still a tight fit for a wolf. Still, she managed to shift without doing herself damage. She pulled on the giant-sized T-shirt, grateful it came past the middle of her thighs. When she entered the living room, Stone stood by the kitchen area, dressed in jeans and nothing else.

  He looked so much like the shifter in her dreams. Same head of black hair, same strong jaw and muscular body, same thick pelt of black curls covering his chest and arrowing down toward his cock. Same two-day scruff, and his hair was longer than she would expect on a soldier. Oh, wait. If he was special ops, he didn’t have the same regulations. He was without a doubt the sexiest man she had ever seen in her life. It took all her willpower not to drool.

  She lifted her gaze to his face and realized he was giving her the same intense study she’d given him. The room was charged with electricity and a sexual tension so thick it could be cut with a knife. Suddenly, she remembered her dreams from the night before and what she’d done to relieve her sexual tension, and heat crept up her cheeks. Had he had similar dreams?

  He had to have. Otherwise, how could this connection be so strong? She never would have followed him to this cabin on the strength of one erotic night.

  He stared at her for the longest time, fire and curiosity at war in his eyes, before he spoke at last.

  “So.” He crossed his arms and leaned against the counter. “What do you think the odds are that two shifters not connected in any way end up in an isolated sporting camp in the Maine North Woods? Where wolves are not indigenous?”

  Jordan wished she had pockets to shove her hands into. Instead, she crossed her arms and tried to look in control of the situation. What a farce that was.

  “I would have to say it’s very strange. Off the charts strange.”

  Stone looked at her as if he could see right through her. “Where are you from? Not around here. No down east accent.”

  “Uh, out west.” Why hadn’t she told him Montana or even Alaska??

  “Out west is a big place.” He pointed out and blew out a breath. “Sorry. Just trying to get a handle on things here. I wasn’t expecting you. Not just tonight but here at all.”

  “I could say the same.” She studied him trying to read behind the mask of his face. “Where did you come from? Where’s your home?”

  “I don’t have one.” His voice was flat, the word uninflected.

  Jordan frowned. “Everyone has a home somewhere. Or a place they call one.”

  He shrugged. “I had an apartment in West Virginia, but after I finished this last tour and got out, I gave it up and put all my stuff in storage.”

  Her eyes widened. “So you really don’t live anywhere?”

  He was silent for a moment. “I haven’t had what you’d call a home for a long time. That was just a place to sleep between missions. I’m supposed to be getting my life together here.” He focused on her with laserlike intent. “What about you? I’d say you’re not much better off than I am.”

  Worse. Much worse.

  “I…left my home to be out on my own.” Because my alpha, a very cruel individual, wanted to possess me whether I wanted it or not.

  He cocked an eyebrow. “And this is where you headed for?”

  Jordan bit her lower lip. “No. Yes. I-I’d heard about how beautiful it was here, the woods and all. And I love nature.”

  He gave her a hard look. “So you came all the way from wherever you left to this remote area so you could be a maid? A housekeeper?”

  She raised her chin in a defiant gesture. “There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s good honest work.”

  He held up his hands. “I didn’t mean it wasn’t. It’s just very strange to find two shifters in the North Maine Woods where there are almost no wolves. Seeing you the other night was a shock.”

  “For me, too.” She wet her lower lips. “I can tell you this. I mean no harm to the Pelleys.”

  “Good because they’re doing me a favor, and I’d hate to have anyone hurt them.” He stepped closer to her, cupped her shoulders, and studied the look on her face. In her eyes. “You’re in trouble. That’s why you’re here.”

  A sliver of apprehension wriggled through her. She couldn’t tell anyone about her situation. She knew nothing much about Stone Mackenzie. Maybe he was fooling the Pelleys. Maybe he’d tracked her from Montana at Charles’s direction.

  “It’s nothing you need to worry about,” she argued. “I promise you.” She wet her lips again. “Could…could I have a drink of water? Please?”

  “Oh.” He blinked. “Sure. Sorry. My manners are buried beneath my curiosity. At least what manners I have these days.” He pulled a bottle of water from the fridge and handed it to her. “Glass?”

  Jordan shook her head. “I’m good. Thanks.”

  She uncapped the bottle and took a long pull from it. So now what? When she recapped it and looked over at Stone, he had the strangest expression on his face.

  “I want to know how you got into my dreams.” It was a flat statement, no inflection, but commanding just the same.

  “I could ask you the same question.”

  They stared at each other for an endless moment, the air between them filled with lust, sexual hunger, need, and a stew of other emotions. Then he took two steps forward so he was touching her, his hands on her shoulders as he held her in place. The heat of his palms burned against her skin. Just from that simple contact, the walls of her sex clenched with need. Her musk was so strong she could catch the scent of it herself, so she was sure Stone did.

  Yes! There in his eyes! That same desire. His nostrils flared as he caught her scent. Oh lord. This wasn’t at all what she’d planned.

  “I came here to be alone.” His gaze held hers while he spoke. “Not for this. Not at all.”

  “I didn’t either,” she whispered. “But you were in my dream, too.”

  “Fuck!”

  She was prepared for him to push her away and take a few steps backward, but instead he slid his hands up to h
er cheeks, cradled her head, and pressed his mouth to hers. As hot as his body was, his lips were cool and smooth. The bottle dropped from her hand as she reached up to touch the scruff on his chin and cheeks, loving the rough feel of it. All rational thought fled from her mind.

  His tongue was hot and wet, slipping into her mouth like glass before turning into a whirlwind. He set her tongue on fire, twisting and turning with it, coaxing it into an erotic dance. The kiss went on and on until she had no breath left, and still her mouth clung to his. She was dizzy when at last he lifted his head. His gaze bore into hers with laserlike intensity, hot erotic flames dancing in his eyes. His skin beneath her touch was blazing as if licked by fire.

  “I can’t believe I just did that.” But still he cupped her head in his hands, holding her in place.

  “Me, either.” She could barely form the words. What on Earth was she doing? What was happening to her? Why had she even followed him here?

  I must be out of my mind.

  “I can help you with it.” His voice was deeper, more solid.

  “With what?”

  “Whatever has you frightened to death.” He lifted her, feet dangling so she had to wrap her legs around his waist.

  “But I’m not— But I can’t—”

  Oh my god. I sound like an idiot.

  “Jordan.” He cupped his hands beneath her buttocks to hold her in place against his body. The hard thickness of his cock pressed into the soft mound of her sex. “I don’t know what’s happening here.”

  “I don’t, either.”

  “I am such a fucked-up mess.” He nipped her shoulder where the over-large T-shirt slid down and left her skin bare. “You have no idea.”

  “We all have messes, Stone.” She tilted her head back, giving him room to lave her neck with his hot tongue. A shiver raced over her skin.