Wild Things (BBW Paranormal Shifter Romance): Shifter Lovers Romance (9 page)

He
gestured over his shoulder at the window. “One of those machines.”

“Where
will we go? Home?”

He
was silent for a moment, and in his eyes, she saw the truth, even before he
spoke. “We can’t. Your father would be bound to send you back to the Ottway. It
is only you and I that know the truth.”

“The
Ottway would lie, to save face. He would never admit that I managed to get away
from him myself, and they surely know by now that you are gone.”

“Yes.
So we run across the desert. To my home. To my people.”

“Oh…”
It made sense, horrible sense. Glancing down at the silks flowing around her
legs, she reached for the layers, tearing through the fragile material. Gabriel
watched, eyes wide, as she ripped with abandon, until the layers of skirts were
up around her knees. Impatiently she motioned, turning around, back to him.

“Undo
this damn thing.” She glanced over her shoulder. Gabriel reached out, undoing
the laces of her corset. She unfastened the hooks in the front, fingers clumsy.
Then it came undone suddenly, and she let it fall to the floor.

“You
know; I’ve been wanting to do this for a very long time.” For a moment his
hands rested on her waist, very warm through the layers of silk, reaching up
briefly to cup her breasts. “And I will, when all this is over.”

“If
we could just stay like this…”

“But
we can’t.” He kissed the nape of her neck and then his hands were gone. For a
brief moment she could feel the heat of him through the silks that remained,
and then that was gone as well.

She
sank to the floor, grabbed the corset, stuffing it into the travel bag, along
with whatever else she could find from Gabriel’s hectic search. Gabriel watched
her, started to say something, but then stopped.

“It’s
all I have left, everything I own.” She looked up at him from the floor. “I can
take it, yes?”

“Yes.
Fine. Here.” He scooped up a piece of tattered silk, dumping the cheeses and
fruit onto it, tying the corners into knots. That and the wine were stuffed
into the travel bag.

“Now,
be ready, Senna. I’ll need to kill enough of them…”

“Kill
enough? How many is enough?”

“One,
if I can get a machine, and us away fast enough. Otherwise…” He shrugged. “As
many as it takes.”

“That’s
a comfort. Oh…the comb.”

Somewhere
in the confusion she’d dropped the comb. Turning in a frantic circle she spied
it under the divan. Diving for it, she grabbed it up, holding it like a knife.
The tines poked her hand. That wouldn’t do. Somewhere she had a pair of gloves
in her bag. Ana had actually insisted Senna wear them. But they’d caught on her
rings so they’d been relegated to the travel bag. Now she forced them over the
jewels and rings, the fragile fabric tearing. But she gripped the comb again, it
was much less painful. She took a few experimental pokes at the back of the
divan, tearing the fabric.

“Here,
grip it like this.” Gabriel took the comb, turning it in her hand, slapping the
tines back into her palm. “Stab out and down. You’ll have more power than if
you thrust in, and try to pull up. I want you to aim for the neck, here…” He
reached out and touched her neck along the side, then touched his neck. “Here.
The big vessel that carries blood. Stab here…” He brought his hand, bringing a
pretend knife down in a short violent slashing movement.

“When
you’ve struck him, twist. Twist hard. Blood will probably gush over your hand;
try not to panic. It will be hot. Pull the knife out. It will be slippery, but
the gloves may help.”

She
was staring at him, open-mouthed, in disbelief. “I...I…oh…” She swallowed hard,
her throat suddenly dry, her stomach turning in queasy circles. Gabriel
frowned, then reached for the comb.

“Give
it to me. Maybe you’re not…” His hand touched hers but she pulled it away.

“You
shall not.” She squared her shoulders. “I will do this. I will look after
myself.”

She
was surprised by Gabriel’s smile. “I will look after you, but you are allowed
to defend yourself. Don’t take chances or go off thinking you can take on a
full-grown man. Or an alien. Keep your eyes open and your wits about you, and
do not leave me, under any circumstances.”

He
touched her cheek. “Take no offense when I ask you stay one step behind me. I
need you close and in the safest place that you can be. Agreed?”

“Agreed.
I will do as you say.”

There
was a noise outside, the sound of roaring, a strange rough sound. Gabriel moved
to the side of the window, looking toward the front of the train. Slinging the
handles of the travel bag over her shoulder, she waited, heart beating,
breathing fast and shallow. A wave of dizziness washed over her for a minute,
she thought she would be ill. But she took a breath, focused on Gabriel’s
voice, and it lessened.

“Whatever
they’re doing, I think they’re done. The aliens are moving around and I can
hear voices.” His voice was tight.

“What
do we do?”

“We
wait. The train should be leaving soon. We can’t leave here until the train is
moving, or one of the Ottway’s guards might see us. Be ready.”

After
a moment, she heard the huff of steam, but no whistle though. Then there was a
louder noise and from habit she braced her feet, reaching for the support of
the back of the divan. But her car didn’t move.

“The
train is leaving. Get ready…” He looked at her and the message was clear. She gripped
her comb tightly as he’d showed her. The roar of the machines was louder, but
she saw only one rider outside the window. The huff of the train was loud for a
moment, then grew progressively distant. Against her arm, Gabriel’s fingers
tensed.

“Now.”

They
were moving toward the door. She’d expected somehow they’d sneak out, try to
remain hidden. But as soon as the door opened, Gabriel let loose what could
only be a war cry as he jumped to the ground. It was impossible for her not to
scream, to join her voice with his as she half jumped, half fell to the ground.
He let go of her arm, but she stayed as close to him as his shadow. He stopped,
teeth bared, every muscle in his body tensed, the armor straining against his
body. Somewhere along the way, he’d taken off the Ottway’s colors; she couldn’t
say when, and it bothered her that she couldn’t recall.

A
terrible sound filled the air, the ragged sound of a machine close by. The very
air seemed to vibrate from the noise. It tore at her ears but she focused on Gabriel,
where he was moving, staying with him. He moved in a circle. Most of the riders
were following the train, spears and fists waving in the air in some bizarre
kind of send-off.

Then
a single alien came screaming out of nowhere, coming up fast along the side of
the train car, the two-wheeled machine it rode on sending up a plume of dust.
All she could do was stare. Even the stories Ana had told her as a child, or
she’d told herself, the glimpses she’d had out the train window, couldn’t match
the terrible thing that rode toward her.

Gabriel
had said they were wearing leather, and she could see that now. They wore
tight-fitting leather jackets and pants, and layers of dirty rags around their
faces. But behind the torn leather, the gaps where the rags didn’t cover, she
could see the flash of silver skin. It was horrific, but mesmerizing at the
same time. As the creature rode past, it looked directly at her. Lifeless black
eyes stared into hers. Her blood went cold, and she stumbled to a halt. It
wasn’t until Gabriel called her name that she realized she was staring,
open-mouthed, as the alien rode past.

“Senna!”

She
jerked into motion, grabbing Gabriel’s arm. Another rider flanked them now,
coming so close the dust and dirt he kicked up stinging against her skin. She
threw up a hand, ducking her head. Blindly she ran forward until she felt Gabriel’s
hand on her arm.

“This
way. Against the car.”

He
pushed her away, toward the train car. “Underneath. Stay low.” With one last
shove, he sent her stumbling toward the back of the car. She scrambled
underneath, her hands and knees cut by the rocks that lined the railroad
tracks. But the pain barely registered. All her attention was on Gabriel, on
the riders converging around him.

And
then Gabriel was shifting. His yell turned to a deep growl. His body seemed to
shimmer in the heat and dust, arms and legs lengthening, the body armor moving
with him, changing to fit him as he began to shift. She hardly dared to blink,
not wanting to miss a moment of his transformation.

With
a howl he threw back his head, his jaws lengthening, white fangs growing in
place of teeth. Ears with tufts of dense black hair pushed up from the side of
his head. Dense black hair began to show through the plates of his armor, thick
tufts sticking out between segments of armor. When it all seemed to be too much
for him to bear, he dropped to the ground. Gabriel the man was gone, replaced
by a thick-bodied black desert wolf.

One
of the aliens dismounted its machine, waving a spear. It ran toward Gabriel,
shrieking an inhuman battle cry, tearing the dirty rags away from its face.
With horror, she realized it had a tail, a long whip-like thing that thrashed
behind it, covered in ragged scales. It was revolting, disgusting.

Gabriel
lunged at the thing, diving low as the alien brought the spear in an arc over
its head. She couldn’t hold back a scream. But Gabriel pushed forward, hitting
the alien low with his powerful shoulder, knocking it off balance. The spear
struck the ground, buried itself in the sand. The alien rolled on the ground
once, then jumped to its feet, spinning around, crouching low.

The
thing had claws, long gray claws. It curled them, hissing at Gabriel. The wolf
turned, snarling, advancing stiff-legged toward the alien. Then it jumped,
landing on Gabriel’s back.

She
screamed again, scrambling out from beneath the car. Holding the comb, she ran
at the alien, bringing it down in a slashing arc. It struck the thing in the
back, cutting through the leather. But then it stopped, the handle bending,
snapping off. She was left with the broken comb, and no weapon.

The
alien turned on her, hissing, a long forked tongue flicking the air in front of
her face. She screamed again, not a battle cry this time, but a sound of sheer
terror. The alien clawed at its back, unable to reach the broken handle of the
comb.

Gabriel
shook the alien off, getting to his feet, turning with a snarl, teeth snapping
at the alien. The thing ignored Gabriel and the broken comb in its back,
reaching for Senna with those dirty and broken claws.

She
staggered backward, tripped, sat down hard. The alien smiled—revolting behind
description—grabbing for her. Claws caught in the silk, tearing it, slicing a
long cut down her arm. The pain was immediate and intense and she cried out,
and she fell back on the ground in shock. The only thing she was told not to do
was attack an alien, but that’s the one thing she had done.

The
alien hissed again, reached for her, and then, oddly, it flew away. That had
never been part of the fairytales.

She
sat up. The alien wasn’t flying. It was being thrown through the air by Gabriel,
the wolves jaw, around the neck of the alien. It landed with a crash against
the railway car, then slid in a boneless heap to the ground. Gabriel growled at
it, then turned to her, cocking his head, whining at her, sniffing the air.
Even without words, she knew what he was asking.

“Fine.
It hurts, but I’ll be fine.” She got to her feet, feeling just a little weak.
Warm blood trickled down her arm. He whined again, but the sound was lost in
the roar of another machine. Gabriel spun around, jumping so quickly on the
alien as it rode past that he was just a blur of fur and armor. The machine and
the alien tumbled to the ground, Gabriel on top of the whole mess. The alien
struggled beneath the machine, making a terrible gurgling noise, a horrible
smell that she realized was burning flesh, filling her nostrils. It took her a
minute to realize Gabriel had the alien by the neck, fangs tearing through
leather and scales. Something dark, almost black, ran into the sand and she
realized that was the creature’s blood.

Gabriel
shook the alien once, then dropped the lifeless body and scrambled back, teeth
bared, looking at the retreating train. The final three riders were racing
back, now aware something was wrong. She waited, expecting Gabriel to run at
them, meet them head on. Eyes never leaving the machines and riders, she waited.

“Come
on. We need to go.”

She
turned, shocked to see Gabriel in human form, breathing hard, body covered in
sweat. The armor held rents and slashes, marks from the aliens’ claws, perhaps
teeth, or weapons. She shuddered to think what would happen if one captured
her.

“This
machine.” Gabriel was righting the nearest machine, the one the first alien had
driven. He climbed on, kicked the starter and it roared to life. Gunning the
engine he held out his hand.

“Get
on.”

Surprised
she still had it, she hiked the travel bag higher on her shoulder and climbed
on behind him. He smelled of sweat and dust and something acrid. But she didn’t
care. She wrapped her arms around him tight as the machine came to life beneath
her.