Autumn Thorns (24 page)

“And you will be mine. Can you live with this? Can you take on your duties and guard me?” Again, the words felt like they were coming from some ancient rite, from days long past and times that most thought long-buried, but which were still as strong and vibrant and filled with life as the most brilliant rainbow, as the most powerful storm.

“I will guard you, Kerris Fellwater, and love you, and make love to you. I will be your champion and your sentinel.” And then, as he lunged for me, I felt my strength rise up and I met him midpoint, pushing him back, ripping one of the condoms out of his hand. I tore the package open with my teeth and, with firm fingers, slid it over the head of his erect penis, rolling it down, teasing as I went.

“You want my lips? You want me to taste you?”

He nodded. “Suck me, woman, suck me hard.” And then he was on his back and I was sprawled out alongside him, my lips pressed against his cock, letting him force them open as he thrust up to meet me. I tightened them around the head, forming a seal as I worked the underside of the tip with my tongue. He moaned, fisting my hair in his hands as he shifted his hips. He thrust as I bobbed my head up and down, sliding my lips around the shaft of his cock, keeping the suction tight as I teased him with my tongue. His girth spread my lips into a perfect O and a warm flush rose up between my legs as I ached to take him inside me.

“Enough . . . or I'll come.” He pulled away gently, groaning as he slid out of my mouth.

I was back on my hands and knees. “Now what?” I challenged him.

He answered by flipping me onto my back, where he slid between my legs, his breath warm against my sex. I cried out when he suddenly dipped, his tongue stroking my clit, worrying it round and round. He reached up, took hold of my hands as I reached for his head, and held them firmly to the bed at my sides. As he stroked me with his tongue, harder and faster, thought began to recede in the wash of the waves moving over me. He was grunting now, sucking and teething at me, nibbling to the point of pain and then pulling back to give me relief.

I let out a sharp cry as he sucked harder, almost biting me. The pressure was to a point where I could bear it no longer, and I arched my back as the dam broke and the cascade of release thundered through my body, a wave of loss and fear, of desire and hunger, of pain and joy all rolled
into one massive tsunami. At first, it drove me under and I felt like I was choking, then I was suddenly riding atop it, watching from the crest as this new life I had entered took full hold. I gasped as Bryan was suddenly rising over me, and then with one sharp, dark thrust, he drove himself into me, plunging so deep and so hard that I once again succumbed to the rhythm our bodies made together.

“Come with me . . . come with me . . .” He was holding me down, his hands forcing my arms over my head, as he moved inside me, driving deeper and deeper with every swivel of his hips. His body hot against mine, his lips fastened to mine, he owned me—body and heart and soul—and for the first time in my life, I felt absolutely safe. As he leaned his head back, straining as a long, low growl echoed from the back of his throat, I surrendered to him, surrendered to the orgasm. Rising high over the scene, I capitulated to the reality that had become my life, and to the shapeshifter who had so quickly won my heart.

M
orning came early, with the ring of my cell phone at six
A
.
M
.
I blinked, wondering why I couldn't easily reach for the nightstand, and then realized that Bryan's arm was draped over my waist, holding me down. His soft breathing was comforting, and the smell of sex was heavy on the sheets, teasing me to stay beneath the covers, curled in the niche of his arms. But the night's events flashed through my mind and a swell of sadness filled my chest as I realized that there was no doubt left—my mother was dead.

The jangle of my phone startled me into action. My ring tone was “#1 Crush” by Garbage and I kept the volume turned up. I stretched my arm out, fighting the covers. Gabby popped out from beneath the sheet next to me. No wonder I'd been so warm, tucked between a fluffy Maine Coon and Bryan's heat. I managed to just barely touch the edge of the phone and coax it over to where I could wrap my fingers around it. I quickly tapped Answer before I even had managed to look at the caller ID.

“Kerris?” Ellia was on the line. “We're going to need you tonight. The Lady claimed someone this morning.”

Fuck. Just what we needed. I eased Bryan's arm off my waist and pushed myself to a sitting position, sliding out from beneath the sheets. Shivering, as my nipples stiffened in the cool air, I moved into the bathroom so I wouldn't wake Bryan.

“Who? Anybody we know? And did they recover the victim?” It could be anybody, really. The Lady of the Lake took them all—young and old, male and female, healthy and sick. She was capricious, and she held on to the bodies as long as she could.

“No, but Pastor Jim saw her go in.” She sighed. “Search and rescue are looking for the car, but you know the lake and you know the Lady. He recognized who it was, though—Tawny Marple. She was on her way to work, I think, and she just cut through the guardrail. Pastor Jim was down at the campground leading a tai chi class when he saw her plunge off the curve. He was able to confirm that she was alone in the car. That is, unless there was somebody asleep in the back. They checked with her husband and he said she'd headed out to work by herself. This was one of the few days she had to go in early, and so he volunteered to drop the kids of at school, thank heavens. He's devastated, to say the least.”

I quickly ran through what I could remember from Lila's journal. “We'll need to start the ritual tonight, won't we? To ensure that she sleeps?”

“Yes. We have to go out to the point where she drove off the road into the water and begin the rites. We won't actually conclude the ceremony until later. We send her through the Veil after her memorial service, once her memory is laid to rest. If they can't find her body by then, we'll have to take a few other measures, so you'll need to bone up on whatever your grandmother did, because I know the songs she asked me to play in those circumstances, but I have no real clue of the process involved in her rituals. I'll be over around ten tonight, if you don't mind driving us. It's better if we do this in the dark.”

The dark. Lovely, but it was part and parcel of what I had been born into. “I'm bringing Bryan. You know . . . Well, we'll talk later.”

“I know. I knew who he was at the hospital. He will need to come with us as much as possible. He's your guardian and trust me, girl, you will need guarding.” She paused. “Is it true? About your mother?”

I didn't want to answer, but finally— “Yes. We found her last night. She was buried in a ravine behind the Tree of Skulls. She was wearing the ring that Ivy gave to Avery. And . . . Avery . . . we saw his spirit there, guarding over her remains. So we're pretty sure he's dead. Please don't tell Ivy until I'm able to. I want to be the one to break it to her.”

Ellia let out a soft sigh. “That's probably best. But this opens up a lot of questions . . .”

“I know, and we're on it. Sophia and her crew said they'd be searching for his body, too—they're looking around there because if whoever killed Avery also killed my mother, chances are the bodies were dumped near one another.” I paused for a moment, thinking about the tangle we were in. “I think . . . well, I'll talk to you tonight. There's a lot I need to tell you, and a lot I need to ask you, but better we talk in person than over the phone.”

“I've called an emergency meeting of the Crescent Moon Society. You and Bryan will also need to attend. I know it's on short notice, but we have to convene and discuss what's going on. We'll meet tomorrow night at eight
P.M.
At Niles Vandyke's garage.”

I let out a long sigh. “I'll take a nap at some point today. And I'll tell Bryan. We'll be there.” With that, I said a quiet good-bye and hung up.

I started to jump in the shower, but a sound from the bedroom made me peek out. There, sitting up in bed, was Bryan. His eyes were sparkling and he let out a low laugh.

“Before you get any ideas of lathering up, get your pretty ass back here in bed with me. I think last night deserves an encore, don't you?”

My body on sudden alert, I grinned back at him. “Yes sir, whatever you say. And for the record, yes, an encore is in order.” The news about Tawny and the meeting could wait.
With that, I dove under the covers with him, and we discovered that we were as good together in the morning light as when we were exhausted, under the shadow of the night sky.

*   *   *

B
y the time we were clean and dressed, I had already decided what I wanted to do next. But first I put in a call to Sophia to see if the coroner had any answers. It was only seven
A
.
M
.
, but she was at her desk.

“I'm sorry, Kerris, but yes, we did a rush job—called in dental records in the middle of the night, given the circumstances. We've verified that the remains are those of your mother. Though it's hard to tell what killed her . . .”

“I'll bring down that jacket today. My guess is she was shot or something. There's blood all over it.” I frowned. “What happens next?” I was used to dealing with people after they'd died, not their mortal remains.

“We'll examine the jacket, but I think we can release her remains to you. We may never know exactly how she died, but one thing's for sure—she didn't bury herself at the base of that tree. Which means, at the very least, someone covered up her death, whether it was accidental or deliberate. Speaking of which, we're hunting out in the woods to see if we can find . . . hold on . . . Frank just came in.”

She put me on hold for a moment. “We found another body. Male. He was buried two trees over. I think . . . no, I can't make a call yet, not even tentative. But I will say this much: I want to pull your father's dental records and check for a match. And, Kerris, whatever the case, we have confirmed that this man's death was a homicide. He was bludgeoned from behind, enough to crush his skull.”

I stared bleakly at the table. Sophia might not be able to confirm his identity yet, but I knew precisely who it was. In one fell swoop, they had confirmed I was an orphan. “Let me talk to Ivy. I'll do that first thing here.”

“All right. Ask her to come down to the station, please. If we can verify where Avery went and who he was seeing
the day he vanished, it might help us sort out this mess. I'm sorry, Kerris. It's bad enough you came home due to your grandparents dying, but now, your mother.”

I let out a shaky breath. “Yeah, but I have the feeling it's going to get worse before it gets any better. Okay, Sophia. Thank you for letting me know. I'll talk to you later.” And with that, I hung up and turned to Bryan, who was now busy at the stove, making pancakes.

“They found another body. A man. Murder victim. I know it's Avery. I know it's my father.”

He nodded me over to his side, and I bleakly leaned against his shoulder as he stirred the batter. “What do you need to do?”

“I need to talk to Ivy as soon as we're done with breakfast. They might not have confirmed his identity yet, but I know it's him. And they want to talk to her, to try to place his whereabouts the day he vanished. Who he was with, that sort of thing. Oh, and Ellia called before you were awake. The Lady's claimed another victim. We have to visit the place where the car went over the guardrail tonight, in order to start the rites. That means that I devote some time this afternoon to read up in my grandmother's journal on what exactly it is I'm supposed to do.” I turned to him. “You need to come with us—if you are truly going to be my guardian. Oh, by the way. Tomorrow night we have a meeting with the Crescent Moon Society.”

“I can do that.”

“And lastly . . .” I paused. Men generally shied away from the words I was about to say, but in our circumstance, I felt we needed to clarify where we stood. “We . . .
I
 . . . need to talk about us.”

“I told you last night, if we mated, you're mine. I'm your guardian and protector. I'm your mate. I thought that was settled.” His eyes crinkled and I melted, just a little. Even neat and tidy, he looked just tousled enough that I wanted to reach up and bite his lip. I settled for reaching out and stroking my fingers down the back of his shirt.

“You're so yummy.” I licked my lips, then pulled my hand away.

“You're pretty delicious yourself. How many pancakes do you want?”

“Three. I'm not used to men who can handle me seeing ghosts, let alone doing what I'm destined to do.”

“Don't forget, I have my own destiny and it aligns with yours.”

“True.” I paused, thinking. “Why didn't you say something about being my guardian that first night when you ran in front of my car? Did you know about it then?”

“I told you about the dream I had, so yes, I knew.” He poured more batter in the skillet and waited, spatula at the ready. “I didn't mention it because I wanted you to find out who I was. Saying, ‘I'm your shapeshifter guardian and potentially your mate' when we first met might just have sounded a shade too close to creepy-stalker-dude.” He laughed as he flipped the hotcakes.

I snorted. “Yeah, that's true enough. And I probably would have run like hell.”

“Hell, I would have if I were you. I also knew that while shapeshifters are commonly chosen mates for the spirit shamans they protect, it doesn't always follow. And who was to say if we'd hit it off? I already went through one arranged marriage; I wasn't about to commit to another.”

“Good point. I'd never want you to feel I expected you to be with me this way unless you wanted to. Being my guardian, if that's all you wanted, would be enough.” Though in my heart, I knew it wouldn't be that easy. Not now, not after I'd been in his arms.

He paused. “The truth is, it would be my duty to protect you regardless of my feelings for you. But I had no clue if I'd want to share your bed. I'm no horndog. I really thought the decision would take longer, but, Kerris, even that first day when I pissed you off, I knew that I wanted to be with you.” The tone in his voice was strained, a taut wire about ready to spring. “Now, I can't imagine it not working out this way.”

He meant what he said. I could feel his hunger for me, his desire to be near me, and it was as great as my own. As the feeling settled in, I realized that I'd never, ever had anyone to protect me. I wasn't sure how it made me feel, either. Though there was a little part of me so used to making my own way that the thought of having a
guardian
chafed. I could take care of myself. I must have looked uncomfortable, because he picked up on it.

“Darling, having a guardian isn't like having a keeper. I'm not here to protect you from every scrape and bruise. I'm backup—I'm here to jump in if you need my help. I'm here to guard you so you can do your job right. I'm not here to turn you into the helpless little woman or the damsel in distress. You and I, along with Ellia, we all work as a team.”

Nodding, I considered what he said. The truth was that I wasn't in Kansas anymore, my cats weren't named Toto, and this wasn't a fairy tale where happy endings were guaranteed. I was walking in dangerous territory. With the discovery of my mother's body, the danger had crossed from the spirit realm over to the physical.
Somebody
had put her in the ground, and while I knew that my grandfather had played a part in that, I was also smart enough to know that he probably had help. And that
help
might still be alive and kicking even though my grandfather was dead. If so, then whoever had helped him dispose of my mother wouldn't want to be found out.

I let out a soft sigh. “Thank you. Thank you for being here, for being who you are. Thank you for taking up the job as my protector. I really don't know what to expect, but I feel this thundercloud growing around me, and I'm waiting for the storm to break. It's nice to have someone I can trust. Two people, actually. I have Peggin, too.” I still didn't know what to think about Ellia and Oriel and Ivy—they were on my side, it seemed, but something held me back.