Beasts Within (13 page)

             
His eyes followed the movements of the two on the floor, Camilla trying to get her jaws around Paul’s throat while he fended her off. He managed to get a foot under her body to kick her away for a bit and then he too was shifting, snarling as dark golden fur took the place of skin and a thick mane sprouted around his head. He was much bigger than Camilla, and he bared his teeth at her, roaring loudly.

             
Even though Karic wasn’t a lion, he could tell that was the roar of a king, the roar of a leader, and from the way the others in the room were slinking around and trying to leave, it was hard for them to disobey such command. Camilla didn’t seem to have noticed, though. She was still standing her ground, her own teeth bared. There was nothing conscious in those amber eyes, instead feral wildness drowned out any traces of the person she had been mere minutes ago. All Karic could hope was that it wasn’t going to be hard to get her back.

             
Well, that and that they both made it out of this alive.

             
Camilla and Paul were circling each other, but Camilla was lunging again and getting clawed across the belly for her trouble. Karic growled and leapt in front of her, eyes trained on the larger animal, everything in his posture and snarls was telling Paul to back the fuck down before he got hurt.

             
He could smell Camilla’s blood, and he wanted to get her out of here to make sure she wasn’t badly hurt, but they had to take care of Paul first. They had to make sure that he wasn’t going to be free to come after them. Even if that meant that he had to be removed from the picture all together.

             
There was some kind of commotion going on at the door, but Karic wasn’t bothered with that. He kept his gaze locked on Paul, waiting for him to make a move. The lion stepped forward and then it was Karic’s turn to lunge. Paul was favoring the paw that corresponded with the hand that Camilla had bitten, and Karic lunged for that leg, biting down hard enough that he tasted blood. An anguished roar ripped through the room, and Karic let go, blood staining his teeth. He’d do it again if he had to.

             
A quick glance behind him told him that Camilla was breathing hard and half curled on the floor around her belly which was bleeding profusely onto the marble floor. Something tightened in Karic’s stomach, clearing away most of the rage and replacing it with worry. If she was badly hurt then he didn’t know what to do.

             
“Everybody freeze!” The order was loud and enough to get everyone remaining in the room to follow it. Karic looked up and saw that the sheriff had finally arrived. A gun was trained on him and Paul, and really, Karic had definitely had enough of that for one night. Summoning the last dregs of his control and strength, he shifted back to his human form, exhausted.

             
“Please don’t shoot me,” he said weakly. After this he just wanted to sleep for a week and not leave his house.

             
“Jacobs!” the sheriff looked relieved. “I thought maybe you’d gotten eaten.”

             
“No such luck. Can you do anything here? I haven’t had a chance to sniff anything out.”

             
The man nodded. “We got a confession. There was a group of people outside, angry because they’d come here to talk to the leader of the pride and they hadn’t been able to see him yet. Apparently they were going to make a deal about protection, and then a,” he paused to check his note. “Danielle Spivey came and confessed what had been going on and asked us to help.”

             
Karic let out a low sigh. “She’s not going to get into trouble, is she? She was just following orders. That’s all any of them have been doing, it seems.”

             
“Depends on how involved she’s been. We’re gonna have to question all of them before we can make any real arrests, although this one,” he nodded at Paul who was trying to limp away. “He’s gonna see some jail time if even a fraction of the reports are true.” The sheriff motioned three men forward. “Inject him and get him in the van.”

             
He’d heard about the serum that had been created to turn shifters back into their human selves, and with his leg and paw hurt, Paul couldn’t run away when the cops stuck the syringe in him. And when he shifted back, it was easy to see Paul for what he was. A twisted man who was nothing more than a coward. He was bleeding profusely, and someone brought forward a blanket to wrap around him so they could take him away.

             
“How’s your friend?” Parks asked, and Karic sucked in a breath and moved over to Camilla’s side. She was still a lioness, and he stroked a hand through her fur, even though it was matted with blood. “That doesn’t look good. We’ve got an ambulance outside. Can you get her to shift back, or should we inject her, too.”

             
“No, don’t. I…I’ll handle it.” Karic knelt beside her on the cold floor, stroking her head. “Camilla? Can you hear me?” A low whine was the only response, but that was a damned sight better than nothing. Her breathing wasn’t shallow, and he figured she was just worn out and hurting. A lot had happened to her, after all. “It’s gonna be okay now,” he said. “They’re taking Paul away, and I don’t think he’s going to be coming back any time soon. You’re safe. Can you shift back for me, Cam? Please? We need to see how bad you’re hurt.”

             
Her eyes blinked open, and Karic watched the wildness recede. Pain and weariness eclipsed the anger that had been there before, and in a rush of energy the fur turned back to skin and bones shifted and Camilla lay on the floor in a small pool of her own blood.

             
“Ow,” she rasped, looking up at him. “That hurts.”

             
Karic examined the wounds, deeper now that she was a human again, but not life threatening. “You’ll be okay. These will need stitches, but they’ll heal.”

             
“Is it…it’s over?” she asked, her eyes large in her face. “He’s going to be gone?”

             
“Yeah. The police are probably going to ask you a lot of questions, but I’ll make sure they wait until after you’ve been cleaned up and dressed. The more you tell them, the more time Paul will be in jail for.”

             
Camilla nodded and winced as she pulled herself into a sitting position. “He killed my father. He never knew my mother, but he killed my father so that he could use me once he figured out what I could do. All my life he told me…told me that no one else would ever want me. That I was just a freak and that even my own parents had been horrified by my talent and had left me here rather than take care of me. But it wasn’t true.”

             
“No. It wasn’t. And, Camilla, there’s nothing wrong with you. You have a little bit more of a gift than the rest of us, but that doesn’t make you a freak, and it doesn’t mean that no one’s going to want you. I want you.”

             
She smiled and him. “You came to save me.”

             
“Of course I did. I wasn’t just going to let them take you away without putting up a fight. I want you to have your freedom. You deserve it. Even if you decide that you want to leave here once this is all said and done and go traveling, I’m still going to want you when you get back.”

             
The police officers were making their way over to them carrying blankets. Karic took them and wrapped Camilla up first and then himself, helping her to her feet.

             
From there it was a blur of being checked over in the ambulance and answering questions. He held Camilla’s hand on the ride back into town and then when Dr. Dearborn helped set her stitches. They would have to go back to the police station before morning, but hopefully only after they’d gotten a little sleep, and there was still a lot to be accounted for. Camilla was going to have to answer all kinds of questions about her power and what she had done to help Paul, but Karic didn’t think she was going to be in too much trouble. She hadn’t killed anyone; she hadn’t been the one pulling the strings. He hoped that some of the other lions got off as well. Following a bad leader shouldn’t be a crime.

             
For the most part, Karic would be more than happy for his life to return to whatever semblance of normalcy had existed before all of this. He’d had enough excitement to last him for a good long while.

             
Well,
he thought as he watched Camilla sleep some time later.
Maybe a little more wouldn’t hurt.

Camilla sang along to the song that was playing on the radio as she mixed up batter for waffles in the large bowl. A handful of chocolate chips went in, and then after a moment’s hesitation, she added in another. You could never have too much chocolate, right?

             
The phone on the wall rang shrilly, and Camilla winced, hoping desperately that it wasn’t going to wake Karic. He’d had a late shift the night before, and she wanted him to sleep while he could since he was scheduled to go back to work that night as well. She picked the phone up and held it between her ear and shoulder while she stirred. “Hello?”

             
“Oh, Camilla. Good morning. This is Dr. Dearborn.”

             
“Good morning, Doctor,” Camilla said with a smile. She had definitely become fond of the older woman since she had moved here. “Karic’s asleep still, I’m afraid.”

             
“Ah, that’s what I assumed since he wasn’t answering his cell. Would you just tell him that there’s no need for him to come in tonight? Two of his appointments had to cancel, and we’re over staffed for the day as it is.”

             
“He’ll be happy to hear that. You know, once he gets done insisting that he should come in anyway.”

             
The doctor laughed warmly. “Yes, I know. I should be happy that he’s so passionate about his job, but he overworks himself much more than is necessary. And I keep telling him that if he’s going to be like that, he’s better off moving to a bigger city and working in one of the hospitals there.”

             
“But you know Karic, Dr. Dearborn. He’s not going anywhere.”

             
“Yes, I know. Well. We’re all happy to have him where he is.”

             
“Yeah. Yeah, we are. I’ll give him your message.”

             
“Thank you, Camilla. You both have a good day, now.”

             
“You, too.” She replaced the phone on its cradle and went to grease the waffle iron and start the eggs. Breakfast in bed was going to be even better when she could tell Karic that he didn’t have to get out of bed unless he really, really wanted to.

             
When everything was ready, she balanced the massive plate of waffles and the bowl of scrambled eggs on a tray with juice and coffee and then made her way up the stairs, thanking whoever was listening for giving lions excellent balance. She nudged the bedroom door open with her hip and grinned at the sight of Karic’s head poking out from under the bundle of covers. November had blown in cold and harsh, and the room was chilly even with the heat on.

             
Camilla put the tray down on the bedside table and sat down on the edge of the bed. She went to prod her sleeping boyfriend, only to find that he wasn’t quite as asleep as she had thought. Quick as a flash, Karic was darting up and wrapping his arms around her, dragging her under the covers while they both laughed. His arms were strong and firm around her middle and he pressed kisses to the back of her neck as he dragged her closer to him. “Morning, beautiful.”

             
She was still laughing, shaking her head at his antics. “You’re impossible, do you know that?” she said.

             
“And you smell like chocolate.”

             
“It’s the waffles. I made breakfast, and I was going to eat with you in bed before you turned all slobbering canine on me.”
              “I am
wounded,
” Karic teased her, slipping a hand under her shirt and tracing the scars over her stomach with light fingers. “I am hardly slobbering at all. Who was that on the phone?”

             
“Dr. Dearborn,” Camilla replied, shivering as she always did when he touched the scars. They were a memento from the last fight she’d ever had to have with her pride, and while she had spent some time thinking that they were ugly and that she didn’t want any souvenirs from her time there, Karic often reminded her that they were a symbol of her freedom and how hard she had fought to get it. She found that she liked thinking about it like that quite a lot. Especially when Karic touched the scars with his fingers. Or even better with his mouth or tongue. That always got deep shudders of pleasure from her. And
oh.
Now she was thinking about it, and her body was reacting.

             
Even though they had been together since he’d come to save her from the pride house almost six months before, Camilla was still easily turned on by the realization of just how much Karic wanted her. They’d both thought about the mate theory more and had even talked to a couple of other independent shifters to get their opinions. In the end, they decided that it didn’t really matter. They were drawn to each other with a fervor that made the reason irrelevant, and now that there was nothing in the way of them being together, they planned to take advantage of it.

             
And it seemed that Karic’s brain was working along the same lines as hers because she could hear him inhaling deeply behind her and she could smell his arousal as well (and since he had taken to sleeping naked since they had been together, she could
feel
his arousal, too), and when that hand on her stomach slipped down into the loose cotton pants she was wearing, Camilla couldn’t help but moan and spread her legs a bit wider for him.

             
“Breakfast is going to get cold,” she said, voice already going husky with desire when he pressed a finger into her slickness.

             
“They made microwaves for a reason, Cam,” Karic breathed back, finding her clit and rubbing it in small circles.

             
“Pretty sure it wasn’t so people could put off eating to have sex.”

             
Karic laughed and pushed the covers back, climbing on top of her. “How do you know? Were you there? I don’t think you were.” His lips found that place on her neck, right above her pulse point, that never failed to make her shiver with desire for him. “The food will keep,” he murmured against her skin and then bit down hard, making her arch sharply. “I won’t. I want you.”

             
And fuck, what was she supposed to say to that other than a very breathless “Yes, please”?

             
Apparently that was all the acquiescence that Karic needed before he was pulling her shirt over her head and working her pants over her hips. She hadn’t bothered to put on underwear after her shower the night before, so she was bare under him, already starting to pant with need just from the way he looked at her.

             
They were never gentle with each other these days. There wasn’t a reason for them to be, really. They let their inner animals out and bit and scratched at each other, leaving marks behind that didn’t fade for days. Karic kissed his way down her neck to the generous swell of her breasts, biting hard over the crest of one of them and pinching the other nipple hard. Camilla gasped sharply, heat and pleasure flooding her system as she spread her legs wider for him and whined softly.

             
Karic just chuckled and let his other hand slide down her stomach to slip between her legs, fingers pushing into her wet heat and stroking hard. He fucked her with his hand for a bit, and Camilla rewarded him with her moans and soft cries of pleasure, arching her hips and trying to get those fingers deeper. They were enough for a tease, but she wanted more. She
needed
more. She needed him buried to the hilt inside of her, slamming into her again and again. Ever since she had come back to him, that was how she wanted it. Sometimes she was on top, riding him and making him scream for her, but most of the time she wanted him to take her, to remind her that while she didn’t belong to anyone anymore, she had chosen to give herself to
him.

             
“Karic,
please.
”

             
And they had done this enough times by now that he knew what she wanted. He grinned and pulled his fingers out of her, holding them up to her lips with a smirk. “Clean up your mess first.”

             
That just served to turn her on more, and she licked and sucked at his fingers, cleaning her juices from them while holding those darkened green eyes with her amber gaze. She wanted him like she had only wanted her freedom before, and now that she had both, she wanted to revel in it. When he grabbed her around the waist and flipped her over onto her front, she went willingly, pushing herself up onto her elbows and knees and presenting her ass for him.

             
Camilla had learned over the last few months that there were few things that made him go as wild as her sticking her ass out to him, and when he slapped the rounded muscle, she couldn’t help the guttural growl that ripped through her. She bowed her back more, pushing her bottom out and wiggling it teasingly. “Take me.”

             
“Don’t have to tell me twice.” Karic rubbed the head of his cock along her wet slit, gathering her juices and using them to slick himself up before he pushed into her in one solid stroke.

             
She moaned deeply and was already pushing back against him, unable to be still with the feeling of being full. When he pulled back, the drag of his length against her wet walls was enough to send fire up her spine, and she clenched the sheets in both hands, trying hard not to rip them in her pleasure.

             
From there it was just a matter of setting the pace, Karic slamming into her in hard, fast thrusts that rocked her body forward and kept her crying out for him. It felt so damned good, all of the sensations collecting under her skin and threatening to send her over the edge. She clenched around him, trying to hold back, trying to enjoy this for longer, even though she knew that she could have it for as long as she wanted now. There was no need to rush, no need to try to get it all in before it was taken away. This was her life now, and as long as things stayed like this, stayed good, she could keep it.

             
Eventually she would want to see other things, other places, but Karic had promised her that when that time came, he would take some time off work and they would go see things together. She was opening his eyes to how good new experiences could be, and she loved that.

             
She also loved the way his hard flesh rubbed against her clit as he fucked her, and she wailed her pleasure, unable to stop herself from ripping the sheets in her need to fuck back into each movement. Before long she was arching and practically screaming his name, coming in waves of pleasure so strong she nearly whited out. Her eyes did roll back, though, and she collapsed under him, leaving him to pull out and jack himself off, splattering his released on the skin of her ass and back.

             
“You look good like that,” he teased her. “Like you’re really mine.”

             
Camilla snorted, too worn out to move. “You’re such a dog with your territory marking, I swear.”

             
He laughed and stroked her hair out of her face, leaning down to kiss her cheek. “I’ll go warm up breakfast, okay? You just stay here and recover from what I just did to you.”

             
His laugh echoed as he took the tray down to the kitchen, and Camilla sighed. She was sweaty, sticky, and starving, but she had never been happier.