Mangled Page 13

  “Well,” I drawled, “what was that you said about the witches helping us?”

  She laughed, bent over, wheezing, tears streaming down her cheeks.

  I watched her come unhinged as my crippled spirit bird landed on my shoulder. I gave him a look. “You really think I won’t rip your sneaky black head off?” I asked him.

  He clucked and held on tighter, little talons digging into my shoulder through my shirt.

  “’Cloud,” I said, wondering where my rage was. I was pretty sure I shouldn’t feel this numb. I watched her fall over sideways to sprawl on the ground. I nudged her with my foot, hoping she wasn’t dead. “Hey, Cloud Princess.”

  She wheezed again, and I watched as a silver streak slowly appeared in the black hair falling across her forehead.

  “Cloud?” My voice squeaked. The numbness was leaving me. Panic was setting in. I had watched hunters die. They aged rapidly then turned into dust.

  I hit my knees by her side. “Cloud. Get up. I still owe you an ass kicking for everything you’ve put me through.”

  She wheezed, eyes closed. “So tired.”

  I grabbed her by the collar of her shirt and yanked her up against me, giving her a shake. “Open your fucking eyes, hunter.”

  Golden brown eyes stared into mine. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “But when has that ever fixed anything?”

  I shook her again, watching as faint wrinkles appeared around her eyes, lined her high cheekbones and crinkled along her throat. “Cloud! Goddamn it Cloud, you do not get to leave me alone again!”

  She took a deep breath as if it was the hardest thing she had ever done in her life. “Fine.”

  I growled. Her hair was still going white.

  “Oh hell!” Then I remembered. I was so stupid. Cloud got her power from the blood of her enemies. Her creators had made her that way, so that she could never stop hunting monsters. Like me.

  I bit my lip, fangs slicing through my flesh with a rubbery give. Blood pooled in my mouth, and I pulled Cloud closer, pressing my lips to hers.

  She went rigid in my arms, frozen in shock. I shook her again, not removing my lips from hers. Finally, she opened under me, my blood flowing into her mouth. She swallowed greedily, and I drew back to rip my lip open again before it could heal. She reached for me on her own this time, fisting her long fingers in my hair and tugging hard, pulling me down to her. She swept her tongue inside my mouth, lapping up all the dark power I could give her.

  I pulled back. Her hair was black again, her bronze skin smooth and young. Her eyes unlined, but haunted-looking in the light of the flickering flames that had destroyed the last remnants of my life.

  Her hand slipped through my hair, then lower, cupping the back of my neck. “Tess?”

  Want thrummed through me. I needed her like I needed air.

  Like I needed human flesh and blood.

  I gazed into her honey-brown eyes as they flashed to glowing yellow, and I felt that sense of depth again. That feeling that I was about to fall into deep water.

  “I’ll never trust you again,” I said, voice rough.

  She licked her lips. “I know.”

  We were frozen. I don’t know who moved first.

  I was on my back without knowing how I got there. Cloud sat astride my hips, her strong hands ghosting up my body to cup my breasts as she leaned forward, claiming my mouth with a moan that went right through me.

  I was a monster. Every time I risked caring about someone I ended up hurting. Losing. But I had nothing left to lose now. And I knew better than to think that anyone would ever care about me.

  I didn’t need love.

  I needed this though. I wanted her warmth. Her humanity. The thing that lived inside her. So why shouldn’t I take it?

  I grasped her slender hips as she slid sideways, slipping a leg between mine. She rubbed against me and I growled, my chest rumbling with it, pleasure sparking over my skin everywhere we touched.

  I clutched her leather-clad ass and rolled us over. Cloud. My Cloud.

  No.

  Hunter. Betrayer. Liar. Killer.

  We ripped at each other’s clothes, shredding them in our haste. Her firmly muscled body slid over mine again, burning hot against my cold skin. Her hot mouth suckled at my breasts as her cleaver fingers brought me shuddering to the edge of release. My claws burst through my fingers and I was helpless, frustrated at my inability to touch her.

  “I’m not afraid of a little monster scratch,” she breathed against my throat.

  I dragged my claws down her back and she arched into me, those high, glorious tits squishing against my chest. I had never been with a woman. And some part of me would feel awkward and inexperienced later, but now my body knew what to do. My beast knew what it wanted, and it helped me push our pleasure higher.

  I slid down her perfect body, licking and kissing every scar. I stopped to bite her soft inner thigh, making her writhe and pull my hair as I pushed pleasure through her, letting her feel the desperate, scary need inside me. The blood helped me control my monster just enough. Claws away, I slid a finger past her slick folds, stroking her inside and out.

  Cloud. My cloud.

  Stoic. Cold. Emotionless. She came apart in my arms, defenses down, shaking and calling my name in that husky voice. I grinned, the possessive monster in me feeling pleased. I owned her as much as she owned me.

  I glutted myself on her pleasure.

  *****

  We were lying beside the smoldering ashes that had once been all my worldly possessions when I felt the damned sun creeping up the horizon.

  I was clammy and covered in leaves and sand. Light, puffy snowflakes started to fall, dusting us in prickling cold that vanished as fast as it fell, thanks to the heat still coming off the place where my house had been. My arm was numb where Cloud was using it as a pillow.

  The hunter was dead asleep. I had no idea what she had been up to before we found her last night, but whatever it was had drained her physically and magically.

  My head started to throb. The sun was coming up. I had no home. I had no money. No friends. No one I could trust.

  Not even the powerful hunter sleeping in my arms.

  Fucking her had been stupid.

  Every decision I had made in the last year had been stupid.

  I pulled my arm out from under Cloud, not caring if she woke.

  Then I pulled on what I could of my shredded clothes. Probably should have thought about the burning house when I decided to destroy the only clothing I had left.

  Cloud sat up, the sharp angles of her proud face unreadable.

  I tossed her clothing scraps to her.

  We had no sooner dressed than the raven flew into the clearing croaking it’s head off.

  I sensed power.

  Hunters.

  The creatures of the forest were a constant pressure at my back. Cloud stepped closer and we backed toward the woods in silent agreement. She cast one apprehensive glance at the strange creatures that surrounded us as we entered the woods. “Let her be,” I whispered to them. I could feel them bristling. She was a hunter.

  But there were worse things coming. I could feel them. So many of them. Rolling toward us with the light of the burning sun.

  Cal stepped into the clearing that had once been my back yard, glorious and radiating magic.

  He was dressed head-to-toe in a fitted black get-up that looked suspiciously like a uniform. His golden hair rippled in the breeze. His magic rose up around him in a dizzying cloud that made the air in front of us waver. He looked right at us. His eyes met mine across the impossible distance. Cloud stepped in front of me like a human shield.

  As if that was going to do any good.

  Cal was chanting. His magic rose up over us, tingling over my skin, suffocating, nearly deafening me as it cut off my senses. But I heard him shout one last thing before everything went silent.

  “The wendigo bitch is dead!”

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  You might also enjoy my paranormal romance/urban fantasy series the Demon’s Call Series.

  About The Author

  Kaye Draper is the author of numerous novels and short stories available in e-format and print. Kaye inhabits the forests and waters of Michigan, where she often finds inspiration for her stories. She is currently hard at work on the next book in the wendigo saga, and the final installment of the Earth and Sky Saga. Sign up for her mailing list to receive free short stories and book updates. Visit her website kayedraper.com, her blog Write Me, Twitter, or Facebook.

  More books by Kaye Draper

  Wendigo Girl Series

  Beauty And The Feast

  Creeping Beauty

  Mangled

  Demon’s Call Series

  Moonlight Calls

  Blood Beckons

  Destiny Decrees

  The Demon’s Birthday Present (short story)

  Earth and Sky Saga

  Earth And sky

  Rise And Fall

  Darkness And Light

  Gods And Angels (coming soon)

  Fantasy Romance

  Redemption

  A Secret Sky

  Paranormal Romance

  Survivor

  Come Love a Fey Collection

  Kelpie (novel)

  Pooka (short story)

  Mer (short story)

  Crow (short story)

  Wyvern (short story)

  House On The Hill (short story)

  Young Adult

  Kami Cursed