ShiftinDirty-ElizaGayle (4 page)

BOOK: ShiftinDirty-ElizaGayle
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Sienna inhaled, taking in the scent of man and outdoors. A little musk, a little earth. She really liked how he smelled. And the body underneath her hands fascinated her too. He had hard abs. The kind of washboard ridiculousness rarely seen on an ordinary man. Lost in thought, she didn’t realize her hands were stroking his stomach. As soon as she did, she stopped. Hard not to touch when she’d never been this close to a man with a body like this.
 

Her ex was soft around the middle. Well, actually soft all around. Not that she could say much. She had more padding than the average woman and no shortage of people willing to remind her that she didn’t fit their standards.

God, she needed to get away from this man. He clearly did something wacky to her brain, making it difficult for her to think straight or make good decisions. Like getting on the back of his bike without even knowing his name for example.
 

She leaned forward putting her mouth as close to his ear as possible.

“Where are we going?” she yelled into the wind.

His head jerked almost bumping into her nose. “As far away from those assholes as possible.”

She turned her head and looked behind them. There were no motorcycles following as far as she could see.
 

“There’s no one back there.”

“They’re back there. Trust me.”

Sienna shook her head. This was ridiculous. They couldn’t have a normal conversation trying to yell over the wind.

“Can you pull over now?”

He shook his head.

What the hell was she supposed to do now? They’d passed the Sweetwater city limits and were headed who knew where.
 

“No, seriously stop now.” To emphasize her point she pressed her hands into his stomach and slid her body slightly off balance. She was risking her life making such a crazy move at this speed, but when weighed against the fact she was being kidnapped, a little injury by motorcycle didn’t seem to matter as much.
 

He immediately slowed and pulled over to the side of the road and turned on her.

“Are you crazy? You could have wrecked us with that bullshit move, lady.”

“Sienna,” she said.

“What?” His eyebrows rose, anger still clouding his eyes.
 

“You keep calling me lady and babe and whatever else seems handy. And since you’re trying to kidnap me and take me God knows where, you might as well know my name.”

“Jesus Christ. You’re trying to get us killed and you’re worried about me knowing your name?” He shook his head and turned back around. She presumed to take off again.
 

“Oh no,” she said, practically jumping off his bike before he could pull away. “This is as far as I go.” She shoved her skirt down, embarrassed that during the ride the damn thing had ridden up her legs, exposing her panties.
 

“Sienna.”
 

She almost melted on the spot at the sound of her name rumbling through his chest. He made the one word sound so sexual.
 

With more control than she thought she had, she shook her head. “I don’t know you any better than you know me. And after what happened back there, I’m not feeling particularly safe with anyone right now.”

It was true. Every time she tried to process what she witnessed, it scared the hell out of her and she had to push it back out of her mind. Part of her thought she might be going crazy and dreamed the whole thing. Except the man in front of her was still here and as long as he was there then it all stayed very real.

“You’re safe with me.”

Sienna studied him. He was so damned good looking it made it far too easy to believe him. Although if memory served, most serial killers turn out handsome as well.

“Look, I really appreciate you getting me out of there. But I just want to go home, take a long, hot bath, and try to forget everything that happened today. Or at least do whatever it takes to make my brain stop hurting.”

He flipped a switch on his handlebars, swung his leg over the bike and turned to face her.
 

“I get that you’re confused. And under normal circumstances I would agree that a woman like you going off with someone you don’t know, not a grand idea. But I can’t forget what happened back there and neither will you. That makes this a very dangerous situation.”

“A woman like me?” She cocked her head to the side, ready to defend herself against whatever insult he was about to throw her way.

“Human.”

She threw up her arms. “This is crazy. I am not having this conversation with you out in the middle of nowhere on the side of a road.”

“I agree. We need to get somewhere safer and quick. Where do you live?”

She took several steps back. “Yeah...no. Like I said. It’s time to part ways.”

“I’m not leaving you here to be killed. I just found you.”

“Why do you assume I would be killed? Yes, it’s the side of the road, but this is the twenty first century. I think I can get home without getting killed.”

“Babe.” He slowly shook his head. “You’re not getting this situation. We got ahead of those guys back at the bar, but not for long. They’ve got instincts that will help them track us and the longer we stand here chit-chatting the better chance they have of finding us.”

She opened her mouth to argue and he stopped her by covering her mouth.
 

“Your tenacity is cute. It really is. But right now we don’t have time for this. So unless you have a place nearby we can go to regroup, you’re going to have to trust me.”

Before she could form a coherent response, a loud howl in the not too far distance broke the silence around them. A shiver worked down her spine as she again remembered the scene back at the bar. The chilling sound of bones cracking, fur appearing from nowhere as the man became a wolf right in front of her.
 

“Was that?” She couldn’t form the rest of the question. It would only make things worse if she started talking about it.

“Yes and we don’t have much time. Unless you want to deal with kill or be killed, it’s time to go.” He held out his hand to her.

With fear propelling her forward, Sienna placed her hand in his and let him pull her forward. A crackle of energy sizzled up her arm and through her body at his contact. Instant warmth calmed her.
 

“I told you my name, shouldn’t you tell me yours? It seems like the minimum amount of information I should know before getting back on your bike.”

He smiled, transforming a stern expression into something far more friendly. “Robert Gage at your service, ma'am.” He lifted her hand and pressed it to his lips. “But my friends and family just call me Gage.”

Gage.

It seemed odd they called him by his last name, but it strangely suited him better than his first name.

“Okay, Gage.”

His head dipped lower and she held her breath. He was so close she felt his warm breath caress her cheek.
 

“We good now?” he asked, his voice another octave lower.
 

She nodded. He was so close, making her brain not work so good anymore.

“We need a place to regroup. Not back there.” He tilted his head in the direction they’d just come from.

“I’ve been staying with a friend. She’s expecting me back.”

“No, babe. We can’t go back. In fact, if we don’t get our asses in gear we’ll be neck deep in wolves with no life preserver.”

Sienna jerked. Every little reminder of what happened sent her heart racing and not in a good way. She had an idea.

“I know of a place. It’s not too far. But won’t they just follow us?”

He shook his head, climbing back on his bike. “Let me worry about that part. I can handle them. Just tell me where we’re headed and I’ll do the rest.”

“You know where Lake Crescent is?”

“Yep.”

“My parents have a small cabin on the back side. It’s pretty private.”

He grinned. “Perfect. Get on.”

Her stomach dropped as she climbed on the back. Just what she needed. Some kind of man wolves trying to chase her down so they could kill her and an empty cabin with Mr. Hottie, who looked good enough to eat, who may or may not end up some sort of serial killer himself. When exactly had her life spun so out of control?

Oh yeah.

When the bastard ex-boyfriend decided to steal all her money while screwing some skinny chick behind her back, that’s when!

 

Chapter Four

Two hours later, Gage pulled into a gravel drive as directed by the pleasantly soft woman pressed against his back. They could have made the trip in much less time, but he spent a lot of time going in false directions to throw the fuckers following them off their trail.
 

A small cabin surrounded by overgrown bushes and vegetation appeared at the end of a short hill. He stopped in front and waited for Sienna to get off. When she did, he drove his bike around back and parked it completely out of sight. Even if someone came onto the property they wouldn’t see his motorcycle.

He wasn’t sure exactly when his plan to get drunk and laid had changed, but the situation at the bar had gone to hell in a matter of moments forcing him to take quick action. Now he had a serious problem on his hands.
 

He dug into the front pocket of his jeans and pulled out a phone. It was important to get in contact with Bhric and let him know what happened. This situation went beyond the inevitable violence and would have political fallout that the neutral zone leader would have to deal with.

The feline and wolf clans may have banished those with less than pure blood to a neutral area, but they still expected all shifters to follow certain rules. The most basic and primary of which was not to reveal shifters to humans. It was rare anyone broke that one, but when it did happen it usually meant death to the human and severe consequences to the revealing shifter.

Unfortunately, out here on the lake he wasn’t getting a strong enough signal for cell reception. He had to get her settled and then make his way to an area where he could make a call. For now he’d send Bhric a text and hope it went through.

He tapped out his message.
 

Ran into a shifter problem in Sweetwater. Turned serious and I need safe haven for a human female as soon as possible. Will explain more when I get a stronger cell signal.

“Front door’s locked.” Sienna said, walking by him. “Gonna try the back. I think I remember where the hide a key is.”

Gage dropped his phone into the front pocket of his jeans and followed behind her. She stepped onto the porch and leaned down to push overgrown weeds out of her way. The place looked like it hadn’t been touched in years. “How long has it been since you’ve been here?”

“Years. My parents retired down south a long time ago and as much as I’ve been meaning to, I haven’t been back either.”

Gage admired the view as she wriggled through the brush looking for a mysterious key. He loved her curves. Since the minute she walked into his line of sight back at the bar he’d thought of little else.
 

At first it was just her body he wanted. The idea of spending a few days with her giving her all the pleasure she could handle would do wonders for the months of frustration he endured at home. Then she wandered in the middle of fight…

“Why did you come outside the bar and get in the middle of a dangerous fight?”

She turned her head to the side, not quite facing him and stared out across the overgrown lawn. “Thumper overpaid me so I was trying to give him his change.”

Gage pulled in his lips to keep the laugh contained. “Thumper? You’re kidding, right?”

“No. That’s what he said his name was.”

Gage shook his head. “Not what I meant, babe. If he overpaid you then he was leaving you a tip.”

She lifted a small rock and dug in the dirt underneath. “I couldn’t accept a one hundred dollar tip. It was too much. Here it is.” She held up a dirt covered, rusty old key.

He really didn’t get her. There were puzzle pieces swirling in his head and none of them made sense yet. She worked in a biker bar, yet looked nothing like a waitress in a place like that. She lived with a friend instead of on her own. She spoke fondly of her parents who lived very far away. And so far she said very little about the fact she saw a man turn into a huge mangy wolf. He’d expected a bigger freak out. Instead her biggest concern so far seemed to be that he know her name. None of it made sense to him.
 

They entered the small musty cabin that while dusty, also looked neat and comfy. There were cloth covered chairs in front of a wood burning fireplace and a couch that separated the open kitchen from the rest of the room. It wasn’t fancy, but it wasn’t rundown either. It was homey.

Maybe it had been a while since anyone used it, but it looked like when they did they took good care of it. He could imagine raising a family in a cabin like this.
 

Shifters weren’t like humans when it came to where they wanted to live. This wouldn’t be a rarely used vacation spot. They preferred hidden gems such as this one as their permanent residence. Those condos in the city or suburban houses on the outskirts of town placed too many restrictions on the animal when it needed to roam free. They were vulnerable to discovery in situations such as those.

BOOK: ShiftinDirty-ElizaGayle
9.49Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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