Series: Shifter Ops Series by Renee Rose
Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 65371 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65371 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
And it feels wrong to even hope for the latter on the day we’re remembering Geoffrey.
But her lilac and lavender scent is up in my nostrils, driving me mad. Besides, I’m long past acting brotherly.
I stroke my hands down Julia’s back until they mold around her tight little yoga ass. I squeeze, dragging her hips up against my leg, so she can ride my thigh, grind against it when I kiss down her neck.
“Is this okay?” I murmur because I want to be respectful. She may feel guilty about us today, too.
But her answer becomes obvious when she slides one hand into the waistband of my boxer briefs and sinks her nails into my asscheek.
“Yeah?” I hoist her up, and her legs wrap around my waist, her arms around my neck. She kisses me like she’s hungry for it. Like she needs me as badly as I need her.
I drop her on the bed and climb over her, dragging the robe down from her shoulders. She kicks off her slippers, and I shuck my boxers. I’m usually an attentive lover, but my heart is still in my throat, my emotions raw and ragged. I need Julia like I need my next breath.
Before I even mean to, I’ve thrust inside her, driving to some destination. Some place where Julia and I will both be healed. Of Geoffrey’s death. Of losing each other afterward.
She clings to my shoulders, her nails scoring my skin, her ankles hooked behind my back to urge me onward. Forward. Turning both of us inside out with the frantic pace. The needy climb.
“I need you,” she gasps as if voicing my own thoughts.
“I’m here. Always, Julia. I’m yours.”
There are tears in her eyes, but I can’t slow down enough to kiss them away. To ask if she’s okay. If she needs something else besides this urgent joining. This necessary communion of two broken but bonded hearts.
Our hips move in concert, hers lifting to meet mine, then lowering with the force of my thrust, then soaring upward again. I have the sense of the entire world narrowing to this moment.
Her face framed by my hands resting on the bed.
Her teary gaze glued to mine. Like we’re riding through the eye of a storm together.
“I need this,” she pants. “I need you.”
Every time she says it, some wounded place inside me heals.
“I need you, too.” My fangs lengthen to mark her, but I keep my lips closed. Draw harsh breaths in through my nostrils to stave off the marking instinct.
She comes, her muscles clamping around my dick. My eyes roll back in my head. My balls tighten.
And then I remember I didn’t wear protection, so I pull out and come all over her belly. Marking her in a more temporary way.
It’s not enough.
Not for my wolf.
I’ll have to claim her soon. Either that, or I’ll have to leave.
Chapter Ten
Channing
The next evening, my phone buzzes. Buddy and I spent the past few hours working on Julia’s car, and we’ve just come in to wash up and grab a beer. I answer on autopilot and step outside on the deck.
“How’s the mission?” Deke asks.
“Good,” I say because I don’t really want to get into details. Technically, I’ve done what I came to do: help my nephew through his first shifts until he’s confident enough on his own. But every passing minute it becomes more agonizing to consider leaving. How can I, after hearing Julia say she needs me?
But Deke wouldn't be calling to check on me. He doesn’t do small talk. “What’s up?”
“We have more news about Hannibal.”
“Have you found him?”
“Not yet. But there’s evidence that he talked to other kids in private chats.”
“To lure them to a fight club?” My wolf rises, making my voice a growl. This Hannibal character needs to be stopped.
“Not sure yet. Kylie’s still digging into the app. Jackson is, too, from a different angle. He wants to figure out who’s funding the app.”
My blood runs cold. Jackson King runs an IT and cybersecurity company based in Tucson. If he doesn’t know who created the app, then it’s not another shifter. Meaning, shifter teens are talking in an unsecured chat room run by humans.
Shifter teens aren’t known for their discretion. They could out the whole shifter community with a few posts. “Are humans behind it? Or maybe a leech? Or a dragon?” Vampires and dragons have the billions to fund a startup.
“We don’t know yet. At first we thought it was another shifter kid, but the security is too good. Kylie’s having trouble hacking it. She will, though. She’s trying to get the locations of some of the users, Hannibal included.”
My claws are out. I dig them into my palm. “Let me know when you get a lock on Hannibal.”
“Will do. Keep an eye out. He might still be in your area.”