Feral Craving (9 page)

His fists clenched at his sides as she
left. He reached up to scrub a hand down his face. He had no clue what the fuck
he was doing, nor did he even know if he wanted to find out. Shit had gone to
hell in a handbasket, and he could not make heads or tails of it.

He scanned the door, studied it as if it
were calling to him. Mackenzie had walked out with an air of rejection, a harsh
reminder that he tasted the moods and emotions of others now, that he wasn’t
exactly human. He couldn’t go back now, couldn’t return to his old life. For
some reason he felt like he belonged here, like this had been missing from his
life for so long. Well, it was at least one of the things he had been missing.
A certain female crossed his mind; an image of Mackenzie’s body rose up and
strangled the breath from him. He shook his head. It couldn’t happen,
especially if he was to do what Tyler told him: protect them, the human race.
From what he knew, what he had seen as a child, he understood that protecting
people meant protecting them from himself. Opening the door, he stepped out
into the hall.

Tyler and Mike stood at the end of the
hallway, both of their eyes flashing in color before they glanced in the
direction Mackenzie had gone. He went to step back into his room and right
there, in a beat of time, he saw both of them, only they weren’t the males he
knew. Instead, in their place stood two menacing demons, almost exact replicas
of what he had seen as a child. The colors were different though, the patterns
distinguished between the two.

Tyler’s stood as a menacing figure in
deep red, his markings, raised and green, stood out in the same color as his
eyes. Mike had been a lighter green, almost hazel, his markings brown. The
second passed and then they both stood in their human forms once again, staring
back at him as he stood shell-shocked to the spot. Yeah, Toto definitely wasn’t
in Kansas anymore…

Chapter
Nine

“Mom?”

Mac turned at the sound of Byron’s voice
and saw him peaking up from his homework. “Yeah, babe?”

“Do I have a dad?”

Mac’s hands stilled on the plate she was
drying, and she fought to keep hold of the porcelain. This was a question she
tried to avoid and yet feared would come up. On one hand, she thought she could
do a good enough job of playing the role of both parents. But on the other
hand, she understood that sometimes she fell short. This past weekend was a
perfect example. With Byron being in little league baseball, there was a prime
opportunity for her shortcomings as a mother and not as a father to show. All
the coaches on the team were fathers. When the coach made mention of the
players needing more practice with pitching and hitting, Byron had looked to
her for guidance. It wasn’t as though she couldn’t throw a ball, but more so
about the longing in Byron’s face as he watched his friends play with their
dads. It was the shadows in his eyes as she tried, and failed, to teach him a
basic sport. “Yes. You do, By. It’s just your daddy … he’s not in our lives.”

“Why?”

God, wasn’t
that the question of the hour.

She set the plate down and used the towel
to wipe off her hands, turning to lean against the counter. “Well, that’s a
good question, sweetie. See, sometimes two adults go their separate ways.” She
struggled for the right words, her mind coming up a complete blank. “Your daddy
just isn’t here, By. I know what this is about, babe. Tell you what, let’s give
Grandpa a call. Perhaps he can help out with baseball. How does that sound?”
How could she explain to her son who his father was, when it was something that
terrified her?

 
“You know what? Forget it, Mom.” Byron rose
from the table and pushed his chair back, grabbing his book and pencil. Just
before he turned away, anger and impatience flashed across his face. “I’m going
to finish my homework in my room.”

Her heart plummeted. “By, wait, don’t
go.”

But he was already shaking his head
before his little body disappeared into his room, the snap of a door closing
her out. “Shit…” Glancing over to her phone, she thought of a different male in
her life, one who seemed to be avoiding the hell out of her. She and Bari went
back so many years; their friendship had begun at such a young age. She really
wished she could get into his head, try to make him understand how happy she
had been to see him. After he left, there hadn’t been anything from him until a
few weeks ago.

Did he think he could come back to
Nantucket and settle in as if they weren’t anything to one another? As if he
didn’t owe her some sort of damn explanation? One damn night, only one, and her
entire world changed. One touch and their friendship crumbled.

With a snort of disgust, she pushed off
the counter as the front door bell rang. “What now?”

Walking down the hall, she cut through
the living room and up to the door, looking through the peephole before she
opened it. Her brows drew down as she looked around and didn’t see anyone.
Maybe the lack of sleep was throwing her mind off.

She turned to go back into the house when
her gaze drew down to a long white box sitting on her porch. Surprised, she
leaned down and picked up the box, walked back into her house and set it down
on the table. Opening it up, a gasp of delight came out of her mouth as she saw
that two dozen long stemmed white roses—her favorite—filled the box. She
searched around the box looking for any kind of note, something that would give
her an indicator of who they were from. Nothing.

Letting out a soft sigh, she pulled the
roses from the box before walking over to grab a vase and fill it with water.
She had a hint, though. A certain male in her life had pushed her away earlier
and perhaps this was his apology. Bari had always been a man of a few words,
but Bari also knew when he was wrong. Her lips curved into a smile as she set the
vase of roses in the middle of her kitchen island and thought on the phone call
she had been wondering about earlier. Perhaps, perhaps she would try.

****

Her sweet mouth was
going to undo him, outright, flat out, kill him. Bari glanced down and saw her lips
peel back as her blunt teeth bit down on his nipple.

“Fucking hell … Christ,
Mackenzie
.”

His back arched off the
mattress, following Mackenzie’s retreating mouth before she soothed away the
pain with a soft rasp of her tongue. His cock pulsed in time with his heart as
if it were its own person.

Having Mac above him,
dedicating her attentions to his body in her own teasing way, was heaven. Her
legs sat on the outside of his hips, held off from touching him. Each time he
reached up to grab her, to pull her down, she drew back with laughter dancing
in her eyes.

Mackenzie’s silken mouth moved lower, and
she made a sweet sound, a cross between a wanton moan and a low growl that had
his blood heating, his length jumping in anticipation, and his body growing
impatient. He lifted his hand to comb his fingers through her hair as she
sucked an opened mouth kiss on his hip, making a subtle ‘pop’ in the air. He
couldn’t wait to have her gorgeous lips surrounding him. Patience was something
he understood but right now, it was something he fought to maintain. He watched
her, her focus dedicated on his body, soaking it all in. Mackenzie’s head moved
lower, and he groaned, arching into her touch. He took his other hand and
brushed her hair away from her face to get a better view. His erection pulsed,
the head of it hitting just above his belly button and the thick length lying
in full view for her perusal. Mackenzie chuckled low as she watched it, and her
eyes flicked up to his and back down. Her head dipped down slowly … so fucking
slow he thought he’d die from the way his heart stopped. In agony Bari watched
her lips part, her tongue darting out, and as Mackenzie hovered delicious
inches from the head, his eyes snapped open.

He was alone in his room.

“Christ!” His hips rolled forward, and he
felt the rasp of the sheets against his painfully hard erection. “Fucking
hell!” He tossed the covers off and sat up, sliding his legs off the bed
and dropping his head between his shoulders. His cock demanded attention, the
dream having felt so real. He would have put money on it, risked his own life,
and swore that Mackenzie had been there in the flesh. With a groan, he pushed
off the bed and walked over to grab his nylon pants, shoving each of his legs
in them before snapping them low on his hips. He reached into a drawer and
pulled out a black A-line tank before yanking it over his head.

In a foul mood, he slipped into his
sneakers, his body not backing down from its demand. The showers, his hand, his
imagination weren’t doing the trick anymore. Mackenzie’s lush curves, her
smart-ass mouth, and her mind gripped him by the balls—literally. He tossed
open his door and stepped out, past Tyler who, coming out of his room, lifted a
hand. Tyler had this look on his face, knowledge in his eyes, as if he knew
what was going on. Bari forced himself to keep walking. He went down the stairs
leading to the basement and entered the weight room. He pushed himself on the
treadmill, worked his muscles to exhaustion on the weight bench and still as
the sweat poured down his face and soaked through his shirt, he didn’t feel
anywhere near calm. His mind and body were confused with what he wanted and
what he recognized he couldn’t take. To top it off, the more he pushed himself
to stay away from her, the darker the burn inside of him became, almost as if
the beast lurking within didn’t like that idea one … little … bit.

She hadn’t let up on him, calling and
texting him, and even though he ignored them all, the need, the craving he had
for her wouldn’t go away. After long days of pushing himself to the brink, he
fell into bed only to have his dreams filled with Mackenzie.

Chapter
Ten

“Please don’t tell me you’re gonna get
hung up on him again.” Mackenzie turned to Bethany. Her friend stood there, hands
on her hips, sleek platinum blonde hair brushing against her shoulders as she
shook her head. Dressed in a long purple tunic, black tights, and mid-length
black boots, Bethany gave off a cool aura of confidence and beauty.

“Beth…”

“Don’t Beth me.”

“You don’t understand.”

“Like hell I don’t.” Bethany took a seat
at the counter, and Mackenzie tried like hell to keep her face a mask of calm
when inside she felt anything but. What she felt was unlike any other reaction
she had with any other man. She knew Bari, understood him better than most. He
had this magnetism that drew her in, called out to her.

“No, Beth, I don’t think you do.”
Mackenzie was miserable she couldn’t move on. “Do you think I enjoy this? Enjoy
knowing that the years of our friendship were worth nothing more than a quick
fuck? Do you think I don’t want to get him out of my head? Out of my system?
Believe me, Beth, I do.” Mackenzie tossed the towel down on the counter and
reached for a mug, setting it under the espresso machine as she started working
on Bethany’s drink. Catching the dark coffee grinds in the silver cup,
Mackenzie locked it to the machine before hitting brew. The machine steamed,
and the steady flow of dark liquid flowed into the cup. Setting the mug in
front of Beth, Mackenzie felt her friend’s hand come down on her own and hold
her. She didn’t want to look up, didn’t want to see the pity or even
understanding in Bethany’s eyes, but damn if she could resist. Glancing up, she
met Bethany’s hazel gaze.

“I do get it, Mac. I’m sorry, I
completely do. I just don’t want to see you get hurt again.”

“He’s different, Bethany.” It wasn’t a
lie, something about Bari did seem different, but that was far from how she
believed he would treat her. Hell, he already made it clear he didn’t want her
around. Why couldn’t she just let him be? She dropped her head in her hands and
shook it in frustration. “I have to know.”

 
“I
know, Mac. Just be careful, for both of your sakes.”

The ding of the bell broke the moment,
and Mackenzie lifted her head, her heart slamming in her chest as she
recognized the man from Bari’s house. Standing above six foot, the man oozed
sensuality and danger. He walked with purpose, his stride and aura commanding
attention as soon as he entered the shop. His black hair sat tied back in a
short ponytail at the base of his neck. The strands gleamed under the light, a
color of midnight, and a black so deep that sucked in all the colors around
him. Speaking of colors, his eyes—a green so pure, so clean—stared back at her.
His eyes reminded her of the deepest part of the rainforest, an area
undiscovered, and one filled with predators that would make anyone, even this
man himself, shake. Right now, those eyes held her, a slight frown line
creasing his brow.

****

“Mackenzie, right?” Tyler arched a brow
and took in the distressed state of Mackenzie. He knew who and what she was to
Bari. They all came back to Nantucket for a reason, and this woman was part of
it.

Mackenzie wiped a hand under her eyes and
nodded, shooting him a hesitant smile. “Yes, I remember you from Bari’s. I’m
sorry, but I didn’t catch your name.”