Luna Junction 2 Forbidden Mate (W) (7 page)

His eyes were troubled. “Quite a bit,
I’m afraid.”

Once Max departed I searched around in
vain for something to do. There was no longer a television in the
house and he’d taken his laptop with him. I briefly pondered
lounging around in bed and watching naughty YouTube videos on my
phone but a glance outside at the brilliant day changed my mind. It
had been years since I’d spent any appreciable time in the fresh
air. The solitude of the woods might be somewhat refreshing after
the surreal events of the last few days.

A few moments later I was frowning as I
rifled through my bag. I had left California in a hurry and was
rapidly running out of wearable garments. Since Max didn’t see the
need for a washing machine, I made a mental note to do some hand
washing in the bathtub later. In the meantime, since only wolves
covered in fur could gallivant around naked, I slipped on a
sundress. It was really too white and frilly for a hike but would
have to do. My chunky sneakers definitely completed the offbeat
look but I figured no one would see me anyway.

The sky was a perfect cerulean blue.
The sun was already sharing a fair dose of its warmth. And it was
early. It would only get warmer.

Briefly I paused in front of the gray
shed. On impulse, I opened the door and withdrew a bow and a pack
of arrows, both of which I slung across my back. I was not
expecting to meet any threat but well remembered the vulnerability
of yesterday’s confrontations. I would not be caught so helpless
again.

I almost felt like skipping as I
crossed the clearing and entered the woods. How many happy hours
had I spent exploring this little patch of earth? Through the smoky
scents of autumn, the bitter ice of deep winter, the sweet promise
of spring and the blissful languor of summer, I knew this place in
all seasons. A light breeze sifted through my hair as I made my way
with care, pausing to feel the rough tree bark or to admire a
scrappy flower patch. It must have been my subconscious which let
me unwittingly to that place deep in the woods.

My heart stopped when I glimpsed the
giant white birch. This had been our spot, Gideon’s and mine. I
walked cautiously, fearfully, over to the stone bench, as if I
could be wounded by simply being here. It looked exactly the same
as it did in my memory. I sat down on the hard rock, bracing myself
for a flood of emotional pain but I only felt vaguely sad. It was
only a place, like a hundred million other places. I doubted Gideon
had forgotten it but I also doubted it meant anything to him any
longer.

A few nearby birds were agitated by my
presence, squawking with fury as they flew back and forth above my
head. I laid the bow and quiver on the ground and leaned back into
the immovable embrace of the tree, closing my eyes.

My body jerked as if slapped awake from
a sound sleep. The angry music of the birds had ceased and that
inexplicable part of my instincts gave me full warning. Carefully I
picked up the bow and loaded it with a silver-tipped arrow. I
crouched tensely, my eyes darting around wildly, searching for the
menace which rapidly approached.

“
Put it down,” his voice
commanded from behind.

I hesitated. I could tell he was close
enough to easily reach me before I could spin around and redirect
my aim. Yet I wasn’t eager to leave myself unprotected. “No,” I
said.

I felt his movement rather than heard
it. He circled around and emerged slowly from the trees in front of
me. He’d shaved the scraggly beard and cut his unruly hair. His
t-shirt did little to hide the muscled body which had been the
object of my guilty self-pleasure. Yet I still did not lower the
bow.

Gideon sighed and pulled his shirt off.
He opened his arms as if in surrender. “Look, I don’t have any
weapons. So why don’t you put yours away?”

I snorted. “Bullshit. We both know your
real weapon is.”

He spoke earnestly. “I won’t hurt you,
Acie. I swear.”

With some reluctance I put the bow
down. “What are you doing here?”

He looked at me with some wariness, not
coming any closer. “I followed you. At a safe distance. Figured we
needed to talk.”

“
Didn’t we do that
yesterday? It didn’t go well.”

Gideon nodded. “That was my fault.
Again. Look, can we just try to dispense with the hostilities for a
few minutes?”

“
Fine,” I was having a hell
of a time not staring at his impeccably tanned and muscled torso.
“You can put your shirt back on now.”

He smiled. “Why?”

“
Okay, don’t. Stand there
half naked.”

Gideon didn’t move and I looked away,
staring into the thick depths of the trees. After a moment he
slowly took a few steps forward and knelt in front of me, his head
down. “I know I owe you ten thousand apologies. I just don’t know
how to say them so that you’ll believe me.”

I crossed my arms. “Apologies? You
threw me away like I was nothing.”

His expression was painful. “I had
to.”

“
And the other day? We
finally see each again after so many years of empty silence you
treat me like I ran over your puppy or something.”

“
I know. I wasn’t prepared
to see you. I thought I’d never see you again. And then, when you
walked into the café I was afraid for you.”

“
That doesn’t make any
sense.”

“
It makes perfect sense and
you know it.” Gideon picked up a nearby rock and ran his large
thumbs over its smooth surface. “Claire told me what you said to
her. That all this time you didn’t know.”

I lowered my head, letting the long
strands of my dark hair hide my face. I tried to keep the agony out
of my voice. “Gideon, even if I had known then…about who you are
and about who I am, it wouldn’t have changed anything. It wouldn’t
have changed the way I felt about you.” I raised my head, looking
at him clearly. “That’s the difference between you and
me.”

Gideon was quiet for a moment. “He said
he would kill you, Acie.”

I was confused. “Who?”

He coughed. “Michael. He saw us in the
woods that night. When I got home he beat the living shit out of
me. He said things the whole time, terrible things about your
people, about what you were meant to become.” He sighed, closing
his eyes briefly. “I’d known of course, about the hunters. The
hunters are the perennial bogeyman to every werewolf child. But I
also knew your parents. My father always said the hunters were only
as dangerous as we allowed them to be. And Acie, I knew
you.”

My hands were clenched in my lap. “You
don’t know me anymore.”

He smiled grimly. “Yes, I do.” The
smile disappeared. “Michael said if he caught us together again he
would kill you. ‘Dispose of the threat’ was how he put it. He
called me a traitor.” Gideon paused and stared off into the
distance. “I know now that there are others I could have gone to
for help. Cade Landon or even Bellini. But then I was a thirteen
year old boy who had just lost both his parents and been informed
that the girl he loved was a future murderess.”

The girl he loved.
At those words the tears spilled out. The tears I
had thought were finished six years ago. Gideon waited while I
cried softly.

“
I’m sorry,” he finally
whispered.

I swiped at my cheeks, struggling to
calm down. “Okay, you’re sorry. Thank you, Gideon. Thank you for
telling me how sorry you are.”

He frowned. “You’re angry.”

“
Of course I’m angry!” I
stood up and shouted down at him. “I mean, fuck! Put yourself in my
place for a moment.”

He stared up at me. “I was torn in half
when you left.”

“
Oh yeah? Good!”

Gideon sighed again. “My life isn’t
exactly easy. I was foolish to think it could be, that I could live
a mainstream life for good.” He shook his head. “The wolf makes
that all but impossible. I ran back here with my tail between my
legs.” He laughed without humor. “Literally.”

I plunked back down on the hard ground.
“So nobody’s happy. Awesome.”

Gideon was silent as I gazed down at my
dress, smoothing the skirt underneath my hands. When he spoke again
his voice was hoarse. “You’re so goddamn beautiful.”

I looked up in surprise. His eyes held
a hunger I’d seen before, in other men. But, I reminded myself,
Gideon wasn’t a man. My face grew hot and a flush of warmth surged
between my legs. I had found it difficult to bury the powerful
physical attraction I felt for Gideon. And now I knew he wanted me
too.

His breath had quickened as he watched
me. I desperately desired to feel his hard body on top of me,
inside me. Yet he made no move forward. He stared at me, still
kneeling, as I stood and crept slowly toward him. I reached out and
tentatively touched his face.

“
Gideon,” I
whispered.

He seized me abruptly and our mouths
found one another in an instant. He leaned backwards and I fell on
top of him, our mouths still glued together as he wrapped me in a
tight embrace. The reality of the hard feel of his body was far
more enjoyable than my fantasies. He held me more tightly and I
felt another, more urgent, hardness. The solid shaft of his ready
organ pulsed between the flimsy fabric which separated
us.

Gideon moaned when I licked the smooth
perfect muscles of his chest. His large hands grasped my upper arms
and he pulled me back to his mouth, simultaneously rolling over so
that all his solid flesh was on top of me. His mouth searched
lower, uncovering my breasts and suckling first one, and then the
other. He paused and lifted himself, staring at me with a deep
passion which demanded more than mere kissing. The boy I remembered
was gone and there, ripping my panties away and spreading my legs,
was a lusty man. I felt a twinge of doubt as I recalled, once
again, that Gideon wasn’t exactly human. But then, I reasoned, I
might not be completely human either.

I reached out to help him discard his
jeans. I stared. He was immense. But my slippery center was more
than ready to welcome him inside. As he pushed my dress away and
prepared to enter me, his face suddenly changed. He cursed and
turned away.

I sat up, self-consciously covering my
breasts. “What is it?” I asked shakily.

He was having trouble speaking. “I
can’t.”

“
Uh, I think you’re more
than able.”

Gideon shook his head. “You don’t know
how it is with us, Artemis. If I enter your body, you’ll be my
mate.” He turned and looked at me with burning eyes.
“Forever.”

I blushed as Gideon faced away again
and tried to repackage his massive arousal. I tried to keep up with
the turn of events. “I don’t get it. I mean, what about your other
girlfriends? You must have-“

“
No,” he said tensely.
“No.”

And odd thought dawned on me. “You
mean, you’re a virgin?”

Gideon breathed deeply several times,
still facing away. “Technically. I told you Acie. It’s different
for us.”

I pulled my dress back up and looked
around for my panties. “Great. Now I feel like a slut.”

Gideon looked at me curiously. “Have
you had a lot of lovers?”

I laughed without humor. “I’ve been
screwed a lot. Not quite the same thing, I guess.” I swallowed. “I
was fourteen my first time.”

Gideon issued a low whistle. I crossed
my arms over my body, feeling filthy. He approached me slowly,
running the back of his hand over my cheek. “I wouldn’t expect it
to be the same for you.” His forehead touched mine and he let out a
shaky breath. “I just want you so much. Always have.”

I backed away. “But you don’t want me
for a mate. You just want me for a few minutes.”

Gideon winced. “You don’t even
understand what it all means yet. And by the way, you still happen
to have the instincts of a hunter.” He looked away darkly. “Plus
there’s Michael.”

“
Yeah, your sheriff pulled
me over last night.” I ignored the honest surprise in Gideon’s
face. “He molested me and then bared his teeth.” I brushed off my
dress, gathering my bow and quiver and holding back tears. “Good
luck finding your forever mate.” I moved quickly through the woods,
back the way I came, half wanting Gideon to stop me. He
didn’t.

Chapter Seven

I slammed the door to the house behind
me and tore my dress off. My underwear was still in the woods,
wherever it had been flung in the heat of passion. I shook my head
ruefully. Unfulfilled passion, I corrected myself. I grabbed a box
of powdered laundry soap from under the sink and gathered all my
dirty clothes in my arms.

In the bathroom, I sat naked on the
edge of the top and ran scalding hot water, dumping in a careless
amount of soap and my entire scant wardrobe. Tears dripped from my
face and I fought the lingering sensation of Gideon’s hands on my
body. When the tub was full I plunged both arms in to the sudsy
water, wanting the water to burn away the pain. I yelped a few
seconds later and withdrew my red arms. Miserably, I sank beside
the tub, staring down at my breasts. The nipples were swollen from
Gideon’s ardent attention. I sat there for a long time. After a
while my ears began to ring from the deafening silence. I fished a
bath towel out of the cabinet and wrapped it tightly around my
body. The water had cooled enough for me to begin
scrubbing.