Tane's Mate: A Paranormal Shifter Romance (Shifter's on the Run Book 1) (8 page)

“There’s an exit coming up, see it on the right side of the road? We are going to over shoot it then cross the barrier and make our way back to it. They are far enough back that they won’t know we are no longer on the highway until it’s too late.”

She watched as Dai turned the wheel and began crossing the barrier by doing a one eighty with the car. Her stomach was in her feet while her heart was where her stomach belonged and her animal was clawing her up on the inside. This was why she never went into the military or any other frightening arm of the law. Stunts like these scared the life out of her.

The car skidded and leveled out on two wheels as they made it to the other side of the road. She was too petrified to even let out a squeak of protest as she waited to die in a heap of twisted metal followed by a fire.

The car slammed down on all four tires and Dai raced to the exit. They took that exit at a speed she didn’t want to contemplate. He hit the brakes slowing them down and merging into traffic.

“Clear,” Tane said.

“Clear,” Jay echoed.

Leza collapsed in Tane’s arms as her breathing tried to return to normal.

“You guys live an exciting life.”

“It’s your life now.”

Tane’s hands rubbed her back slowly easing the tension out of her shoulders. They felt so good caressing then squeezing her muscles. His hands were deft touching her in magical places she didn’t know she wanted to be stroked.

“What do we do now?” she asked on a deep sigh of pleasure.

“It’s time to get rid of this vehicle. We have another one lined up.”

“You thought of everything didn’t you?” She looked up into Tane’s eyes.

“Not just me. This is a group effort; we all contributed because all of our lives are on the line. Also if just one person planned the whole op they would be on us because they know how we think. But together we can keep them off balance.”

“Maybe next time I’ll be able to help.” He ran his hand over her cheek as she pressed closer to his chest.

“Next time, for now keep those ears open. If you hear something that shouldn’t be here let us know. The military sometimes uses vehicles that use a different engine than the norm. You will be able to hear the difference.”

“I’ll listen.”

“We’re here,” Dai said into the silence of the car.

Leza looked up to see a used car dealership on the side of the road. They had every make and model of car as well as several campers. Dai pulled into the dealership not stopping until he was in the back, hidden from the prying eyes of those driving the highway.

She waited until Tane gave a nod indicating she could get out. Standing next to him she looked around for a sales person.

A tall dark haired man came out the backdoor looking around before he came over to them.

“It’s waiting for you. I already have the SUV in my system; it will look like it was traded a week ago for a smaller car.”

The man shuffled from foot to foot looking nervous. She wondered why he was helping.

The man looked at Jay and lowered his voice, “Janice says hello.”

A soft smile hit Jay’s face before he shut it down. “Tell her I’m ok and kiss Olivia for me.”

“I will, don’t die there’s no way I can tell her that. So stay alive.”

“As far as anyone knows you never saw me. So it would be better if you didn’t tell her anything.” A small smile tugged at his lips as he thought about his sister.

He nodded, “I know. If you were me and you were looking into those eyes what would you do?”

“Anything to make her happy.”

The man took the keys of the SUV. Tane quickly picked up the cases of coke and moved them to the camper. They emptied the SUV and the salesman drove it around front.

Jay stared after him before climbing into the driver’s seat of the camper and taking off.

“We’re going camping?” Leza looked around the camper. When was the last time she had seen one of these? Heck, she didn’t know people still used them.

This one looked more like a tour bus. A sleeping area in the back looked like it might have a double bed in it. There were two single bunk beds on one side of the camper, a kitchen with a small table, and a bathroom as well as a seating area. The place was nicely equipped for four people.

She went to the fridge to put some of her soda in only to find that it was stocked with food. They wouldn’t starve.

Tane was sitting in one of the chairs watching her as Dai sat up front with Jay. She grabbed a coke and came to sit across from him in the other chair.

“I’d rather you not drink that.”

She looked at him then back to the coke in her hand.

“Why? I used to be addicted to this stuff when I was younger and I still like it.”

“The doctors are ruthless and less than human as far as I’m concerned but they are also thorough. If they only gave you one a day, it was because you didn’t need more. You went for seven days before you began to feel the effects of not having it. I’d prefer not to find out what happens if you have too much.”

She glanced from him back to the unopened can in her hand. When she was held captive, she had dreamed of being able to make her own decisions again. The thoughts of a swimming pool of this stuff flashed in her mind. Then there were the simple things, like going to the bathroom in privacy. Or the pop of color that was still on her toes. She wiggled them in her boots.

Without a word she got up and placed the can in the fridge. She’d drink a can tomorrow. Freedom meant being able to make the best decisions for yourself and subjecting her animal to something she potentially couldn’t handle didn’t make sense.

Her animal stretched in her and rubbed against her mind bringing a smile to her face.

Tane stood up and held out his hand. “Come with me.”

She took it knowing better but following anyway. He led her to the back of the camper and opened the door to the sleeping area.

She tried to swallow past the lump in her throat. “Are we going to get some rest?”

“Not yet.” He placed his hand in the small of her back encouraging her toward the bed.

She crawled over and got on the bed sitting down in front of the door. He allowed his fingers to slowly move down her leg until he reached an ankle. His fingers flicked down to her boot and he untied the shoelace. He widened the enclosure and slipped the boot off placing it on the floor before he started on the second one.

“I thought you weren’t the kind to wait on someone.”

“I’ve been known to make exceptions.” He slid the second boot off before caressing her instep.

Her breath hitched at the feel of his strong fingers on her foot.

“I haven’t been with anyone in a while.”

“I bet I have you beat, Leza. It’s been seven years for me.”

“How could you wait that long?”

“I didn’t wait.” His hands traveled up to her neck, flicking it with his fingertips. “When you’ve been chained to a wall, stuck in a cell and then placed in a cage, you’re not really thinking about getting laid.”

“Now you’re thinking about it.”

“All I’m thinking about is tasting your lips again. I know there won’t be any interruptions. This way I can watch you melt for me and give you something to look forward to.”

His head descended. It wasn’t the frantic desperate kiss she was waiting for. Instead it was soft, almost gentle as his lips touched hers. His tongue came out to caress the seam of her mouth encouraging her to open for him. He slipped his tongue in until he was able to lick and suck on hers.

Her body jerked like she was being shot up with adrenaline. Her mind crashed from the pleasure of it, before she swiped her tongue around his. Dueling with him not for supremacy, but for the sheer joy of it.

Her nipples puckered and she shivered just a little as his hands slid down her arms. His kiss was divine, the kind she used to dream of as she slipped off to sleep at night.

“Are you real?” She broke away and whispered in his ear.

“I’m as real as you are, Love.”

She pressed her aching nipples against his chest. Love. It might be casual to him, but for her it meant so much more. To have a male call her that as if she meant something to him had her reaching for the dream even if it was a fragile thing that might die in her hand. This moment she needed to believe she was more than a tool the government had aimed at him. She needed to be his love.

She licked his neck enjoying the feel of his heart pounding and his blood rushing through his veins.

He stretched out beside her on the bed caressing the length of her neck.

“Tane, you’re so real under my hands.”

“They don’t get any more real than me.”

“Why did you stop?”

“We’re animals, Love. Dai and Jay can already smell your arousal. To do anything more would be torture for them to endure. They might not have your hearing but they hear well enough so that every moan of pleasure would torture them. Tonight we will camp out and leave the camper to them.”

“All right.”

She’d never camped out. In fact, she was sure it was listed on her dating profile because she had one. It said under dislikes camping out, because she was a city girl and well city girls should camp out on their balconies, in her humble opinion.

Suddenly she couldn’t think of anything better than spending the night in Tane’s arms even if the only reason he wanted her was because she was his type.

*~*~*~*

The uneven rocking of the camper woke her up.

“Where are we?” Her voice came out deep from sleep.

“Jay just pulled into a camp ground; we are going to spend the night here maybe tomorrow too.”

“Why tomorrow?”

“The longer we stay off grid the better. The search for where we were last spotted will be ahead of us and not behind us.”

“Oh.” She inched to the edge of the bed and reached down for her boots.

She had once again spent hours sleeping in Tane’s arms. It was becoming one of her favorite activities. They walked out of the room together. Jay was pulling past other campers going deeper into the trees until he stopped at a spot that seemed unoccupied.

“Nature,” she went to the side door only to feel Tane stop her by taking her arm.

“I’ll go out first.” She moved to the side and allowed him to go in front of her. He would protect her even with his life. The hard ball she carried in her middle that said no one would ever care for her was touched.

He walked out and looked around before sticking his head back in and reaching for her.

The beauty of her surroundings caught her off guard. The trees were so tall she couldn’t see the tops of them. The setting sun shone down in patches making the place look magical. There were sporadic flowers everywhere; the kind she didn’t even know existed. There were small bushes mixed in. The area was untamed, as if the only plan it followed was its own. Being here felt bigger than anything she had gone through and yet it refreshed her with its glorious abandonment, making her feel small at the same time.

She could get used to this.

“Let’s set up camp.” Jay went into the camper while Dai disappeared into the woods with Tane on his tail.

He whispered to Leza to stay close before he followed his twin. She went into the camper asking Jay what he needed.

“Firewood.”

“I can get you some of that without going too far away.”

His eyes looked her up and down. “You don’t say, city girl.”

“I might be a city girl but I’m a strong one and I can get wood.” She gave him a cheeky grin before jumping down the steps and taking off into the woods with no hesitation in her steps.

When she could no longer see the camp site, she slowed down wondering what she was doing out here in the woods where lions, tigers and bears oh my…lived. Then she remembered she had an animal in her with claws, in fact she might even be a lioness.

Her animal sniffed and raised its head. Ok…she wasn’t a lioness. Lions were cool but she was sure her animal was much cooler. She walked until she came to the edge of a stream. A little girl was bending there running her hand in the water.

“Hello?” Leza walked quietly up to her not wanting to startle her.

The little girl jumped anyway. When she stood, Leza realized she was a teenager. Her body was slender; she had a wealth of black hair tumbling down her shoulders and pale skin. The girl turned her head ignoring Leza.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. I thought I was out here all alone. If I’m interrupting your private time I’ll leave you alone.”

“No, you can stay.”

“Thanks, I’m Leza.”

“My name is Amy.”

“Nice to meet you, Amy.”

“Nice to meet you also, Leza.”

Leza walked over and bent down trailing her hand in the water. “This is my first time camping.”

“I’ve been here a long time.”

“You must like camping.”

“Not anymore. I just wish I could go home.”

“Hopefully your parents will get tired and take you home soon.”

The girl’s eyes flared with panic before she got it under control. “Yeah, soon I’m sure they will be ready to take me back.”

“Are you ok, Amy?”

“I’m fine, why did you ask that?”

“No reason, just wondered.”

“What’s your favorite part of camping so far, Leza?” Amy sank to the ground and let herself relax for a minute before she gave Leza a genuine smile.

“I like the trees. Does that sound weird?” Amy shook her head no.

“They’re just so tall. I think to myself they’re hundreds of years old, when I’m no longer here this tree will still be standing watching the next generation and the next. The knowledge they could impart if only we could communicate with them. What’s your favorite part?” Leza gave Amy a comforting smile.

“The part I used to love is the part I hate now. I used to love that when you were in the woods there was no cell signal. No way to get in touch with others. No need to keep up your cool image. In the woods you could be whoever you were or wanted to be without someone judging you.”

“Why do you hate it now?”

Amy’s eyes lifted to look at Leza, tears clinging to her eyelashes. “Because there is no cell signal. No one can find you in the woods.”