Wild Things (BBW Paranormal Shifter Romance): Shifter Lovers Romance (12 page)

The
voice was low, gravelly, and it struck her that she knew the voice. Someone on
the train, one of the men who had been in her car, on her trip back from her
first visit to the Ottway. He’d been courteous but distant, like the rest of
the entourage. But he’d been one of the few to speak to her.

“Shift
into your human form. Now. I want to talk to you.”

Gabriel
stood for a long moment. Then he shook himself, fur rippling over his body. He closed
his eyes. For a moment, he was still, then he rose, front legs coming off the
ground. For another minute, he was a wolf, standing on his back legs. With a
painful snapping and popping, his front legs bent and twisted, his back legs
straightening, lengthening, taking on the proportions of a human. It was
impossible to look away, but the last thing Senna wanted was to see Gabriel’s
handsome face emerging from the long-jawed, fanged wolf. Pain flashed in his
eyes before he closed them, and she wondered how he could do this, time after
time. Then, the last bits of fur on his body began to disappear, leaving behind
only the armor. And in the places where the armor was missing, she saw cuts and
scratches, some deep, all of them bloody.

He
straightened further, the thick ears disappearing into the curled mane of hair
she was familiar with. The black nose was the last to fade away. He took a deep
breath, opened his eyes and looked at her. Then his glare returned to the man
standing behind her.

“Let
her go.”

“You
know I’m not going to do that.”

Gabriel
scowled. “The Ottway must want her alive. Correct?”

The
man holding her, shrugged. She could picture his face now, a thin nose, blue
eyes. He’d reminded her of a bird of prey. Now his fingers dug into her
shoulder like claws.

“The
Ottway doesn’t care what happens to her anymore. I was to…attempt…to bring her
back. If I fail…” Another movement, that was probably a shrug. “Then I fail. I
was charged only to try.” The man took a step forward, pushing her in front of
him. She stumbled, and he jerked her up until her feet left the ground. One
shoe fell off. When he set her back, the sharp rocks bit into the sole of her foot.

“I
was, however, charged with killing you, Gabriel.”

“Why?”
His face remained expressionless, but his eyes flicked from the man, to her. It
was only for a second, but in that brief glance she saw rage and frustration.
And love. It was so powerful, that she gasped.

“You
have been charged with interfering with the Ottway’s plans. The Ottway is a
powerful man, and quite simply - you have stolen his property.” His hand
tightened on her arm, fingers digging in painfully.

“Property?
Senna isn’t his property.” She heard the tension in Gabriel’s voice, caught the
flicker of his eyes over her face again.

Another
irritating shrug from the man holding her. “No matter. She is valueless, to the
Ottway. But it is his, nonetheless.”

He
was talking about her. Anger fought with terror, and for a moment, it won. She
struggled, twisting in his grip to look up at the man, into those cold blue
eyes. “I…you bastard…you can’t…I’m a Princess…”

His
hand clamped over her mouth, cutting off her retort. “Quiet. Or I’ll break your
neck. Princess or not, makes no matter to me.”

Gabriel
took a step forward, fists clenched. “Let her go. Your fight is with me, not
her.”

“But
I do need to bring back proof. Alive…” His fingers tightened, bruising her lips
against her teeth, pushing up against her nose. “Or dead. Either is proof. And
with this one, the later might be easier.”

She
was losing track of what they were saying. It was impossible to breathe. She
reached up, grabbing at his wrist, pulling at him, scratching with her nails.
He jerked her head, hard. The world started to go gray around the edges, little
pinpricks of light flashing in front of her eyes. Panic gripped her, and she
clawed at him, digging her nails into him, felt them sink in his skin. He
grunted, moving his hand just enough for her to draw a breath. And just enough
for her to open her mouth.

She
bit down, hard, tasted sweat and dirt, felt her teeth sink into the thick pad
at the base of his thumb. Then she tasted blood, hot, coppery. It covered her
tongue, filled her mouth. She gagged, letting go of him. He swore, pulling his
hand away from her face. She pulled in a gasping breath, coughed, spitting
blood.

He
reached for her again, his bloody hand slipping against her face. Twisting, she
grabbed his hand with both of hers, digging her nails in, pulling with all her
might. He swore again, flung her away. She stumbled forward, caught herself,
straightened up. And found herself face to face with Gabriel.

Teeth
bared, fist already swinging through the air, he was charging at the man. She
yelped in surprise, dropping to the ground, as he lunged over her. A split
second later, she heard the sound of flesh hitting flesh, a deep grunt from
behind her, a loud curse. She got to her knees, eyes on Gabriel.

Gabriel
had the man against the wall of the building, hands around his neck. Blood
streamed down from his nose, which was smashed to a pulp. The man raised his
arms, bringing them down in Gabriel’s forearms, once, twice. Each blow, made Senna
wince. Everything, and everyone, was covered with blood, and she saw Gabriel
was slowly losing his grip. He began smashing the man’s head against the wall.
Face contorted, the man managed to push away from the wall, his momentum
carrying them away from the building, into the middle of the ledge.

Her
fingers closed around a rock, and she picked it up. With a ragged, choking cry,
the man broke free of Gabriel’s grip, pushing him away. He smashed into the
cliff, grunting. She jumped up, swinging the rock. It caught the man just above
his ear. It didn’t stop him. Or even slow him down.

She
gaped at him, the rock still in her hand. With ridiculous ease he reached out,
grabbed her by the wrist. Bone grated against bone, and she cried out in pain.
With a cruel smile, he lifted her until her feet left the ground, then swung
her toward the edge of the ledge.

“Stay
where you are, or she goes over the edge.”

Gabriel
growled, and she thought for a moment he was going to shift. But he stood,
fists clenched. The rage was still there, but now she saw fear. It chilled her.

“Let
her go.”

The
man laughed. “Then you jump. When you hit the bottom, I’ll put her pretty
little feet on the ground.”

“Her
feet touch
this
ground, not down there.” Gabriel pointed over the edge.
He couldn’t be serious. He couldn’t jump.

“No,
Gabriel. No.” She swung at the man with her fist, her blows ineffectual against
his armor. Crying now, she stopped. “Please…no…”

“Be
quiet, Senna.” The look he gave her was unreadable. “Put her down. I’ll jump.”

The
man laughed again, a terrible sound. “You know, Gabriel, I’m tired of fighting
both of you.” He swung her over the edge. For a moment, she panicked; surely he
couldn’t not be serious. Gabriel would do something.

“One
down, one to go.”

He
released her, let her go. She was too surprised to even scream. She looked up,
saw the man watching her with a satisfied smile. And then Gabriel appeared
beside him, his expression one of complete horror.

And
then she was falling faster, body hitting the wall, rocks banging into her
knees and elbows. She clawed at the wall, nails tearing at the rocks, rocks
breaking her nails. It seemed a terribly long way down, falling taking so very
long, so very painful.

Some
part of her cheap silk traveling costume, caught on a rock. For a moment her
fall slowed, and she grabbed at the rocks, praying the silk held. For once it
held, didn’t tear. Her fingers found a tiny crevice, the toes of her bare foot,
finding another. She’d stopped falling, but she was stuck, clinging like a bug
to the wall, with a man above her who wanted her dead. Her other shoe came off.
After a long time, she heard it hit somewhere below her. But she was too afraid
to move, to try to find another toehold.

“Senna!”

She
couldn’t risk looking up. Wishing she could fly, knowing she couldn’t, she
hugged the rock, her face pressed against its dusty surface.

“Hang
on!”

There
was nothing else she could do, or wanted to do. It was the one and only goal in
her life at the moment. Dirt got in her eyes, making them water, and she closed
them tightly.

Above,
there were curses, the sound of a deep male grunt, fists thudding against hard
muscles. Someone said something, there was an answer—it was Gabriel—but the
words were lost by the thudding of her heart, the rush of blood in her head.
She longed to know what was happening, to be able to see. Rocks fell over the
edge, hitting her shoulders, then a much larger one hitting her head. Dizziness
washed over her and her body and mind were going numb. Something very large,
maybe another rock, went hurtling past, but she couldn’t find the energy to
look, or to care.

She
thought she was supposed to be doing something important, something very
important. But she was tired, her body sore. Sleep…she desperately wanted
sleep.

Her
fall came to a sudden, painful stop, the bones in her hand crushed and grinding
together, her shoulder almost pulled from the socket. The fog in her head
cleared instantly as she hung in mid-air. She looked up. Looked into Gabriel’s
face.

“Hold
on, Senna. I’ve got you. Hold on.”

There
was nothing else she could imagine doing. He pulled, and she reached for the
rocks above her, scrambling with her feet against the wall. Sharp rocks cut
into the soles of her feet, but she didn’t care. Gabriel had her and she would
be on solid ground very soon.

Finally,
she reached up, groping along the edge of the cliff with her other hand. Gabriel
grabbed her other hand, pulled hard, and she flopped onto the shelf. Then she
was in his arms, pressed against his chest, the sound of his heart against her
cheek.

“I
thought I lost you.” His words were muffled against her hair.

“You
almost did.” Despite the pain in her shoulder, she hugged him hard. “But I’m
here now.”

“Yes.”

“The
other…” She lifted her head. “He’s gone?”

“Over
the edge.”

“It’s
over?”

“For
now.”

She
rested her head against him again. “They’ll keep coming, won’t they? To kill
you, and maybe me?”

“Yes.”

“Then
we should do something about that, don’t you think?”

He
nodded. “I’ll take you back to the palace, to your…”

She
pushed roughly away from him. “Not in this lifetime. My father is just as much
to blame for this, as the Ottway. He is the one who sent me there. He knew, if
not that the Ottway didn’t love me, that the Ottway didn’t want me. It was only
political. I won’t go back.” She heard the rising panic in her voice. To be
back in the palace, to be secluded…

“And
you can’t come back, can you?”

He
shook his head. “I won’t go back. My life there, is over.” He turned, looking over
the buildings surrounding them. “This was my life. The life I wanted. But even
this…” He spread his hands. “Even this is gone.”

“Then
what will we do?”

He
looked back at her. “I am going to try to find my people.” Stepping closer, he
reached out, touched her hair, brushed the tangled strands away from her face.
“But I cannot ask you to come with me. It’s dangerous, a long journey. They
left in a hurry, left behind all their belongings. They fled, and I need to follow
them.”

“But
I can come with you. I want to…I have to. You can’t leave me now, after
everything…” She’d started to cry, tears running down her face. “I love you.”

He
took her by the shoulders. “I love you, too, Senna. But it’s dangerous. If
something happened to you, I could never live with myself.”

“You’ve
said that. But riding on the train was dangerous. Riding on that machine with
you…that was dangerous. I’m still here. I think I proved I can take care of
myself. And you.”

“But
this is different…”

“If
you leave me, I’ll hurl myself off this cliff.” She pulled away from him,
coming to the edge of the cliff. She stopped, looking at him over her shoulder.

At
that, he laughed. “You’re quite the stubborn woman when you want your way…and
so dramatic.” He reached out, tugging at the tattered silk of her skirt. She
took a step back, let him pull her into his arms. “You really weren’t going to
jump, were you?”

She
shook her head. “No. Not really. One trip over the edge is enough for today.
But then, I can come with you?”

His
chest rose and fell in a sigh. “Yes, I guess you can.” He leaned forward,
kissing her forehead. “You have taken care of yourself. And me. But I can’t…”

“You
can. Whatever it is.”

“But
you’re a Princess.”

It
was her turn to laugh. “And you think that’s reason enough to leave me behind?
If it makes you more comfortable, I renounce, here and now, any claims to my
family and throne.”