Forbidden Call (New Breed Novels, Book 1) (3 page)

In that moment the urgency ramped up. He slid down, unzipped her skintight leathers, and pulled them off. Ana sat up and wrapped her long legs around him, taking him by the back of the neck and pulling him into another searing kiss.

By some force of will, SE pulled back and took her by the arms. “Ana, wait. If we take this any further, I won’t be able to stop.” His breath came in hard pants, taking in her jasmine scent every time he inhaled. As it mingled with the sweet smell of her arousal, his vision grayed out on him momentarily. The protective instinct deep inside him flared. He could already hear his second soul, that of his
nagual
, telling him this was right. She was the one.

Ilah
. It whispered the ancient Maya word.

Mine.

As Ana looked into SE’s soft brown eyes, a ring of brilliant gold glowed around the pupils. A New Breed’s eyes. They brightened with high emotion and they were alight for her. God, she wanted him. She wanted him to claim her, to take her as his own. The female she was would cease to exist. She would be a mated shifter, and somehow she was so okay with that. It made no sense, but there it was.

She grabbed the front of his shorts and pulled them past his erection.

“I want you inside me,” she hissed, her
nagual
making itself heard.

SE laid her back down on the bed. His weight crushed her into the hard mattress, but she bore it all, her curves fitting perfectly against him, soft meeting hard in all the right places. The tip of his tongue brushed the plump curve of her lower lip before his warm, wet mouth opened and pulled the tender skin of her throat against his teeth with gentle, yet insistent suction. Then he pressed his lips to her breast, her stomach, suckling her. Ana ran her hands into his long, soft hair, pushing him lower, demanding more. She heard a snap, and her core was suddenly bombarded with cool air.

SE had to stop and pull himself together. The sight of her core glistening for him made him tremble with need. He wanted to take her right then, but he just had to touch her slick heat. He ran his hand along her center, and she arched into his palm with a groan. He dipped his middle finger inside her, his thumb lightly massaging her in little circles. She flew into an orgasm, eyes closed, chest heaving.

Jesus, she was beautiful.

“Now, do it now,” she moaned, breathless, arching for him.

Ilah
.

It was two against one, and he wasn’t about to argue.

SE rose above her, setting his palms by her head. She felt the tip of him against her sex, opening her slightly. As he pushed into her, a sharp pain in her side caused her to suck in her breath and she felt him pull back a little.

“Easy, Ana,” SE whispered. “Call on your
nagual
.”

She closed her eyes and the warmth of her guiding spirit filled her. Instantly, her body responded, becoming totally relaxed as her mind was able to let go of the pain. She had communed with her
nagual
many times, but it had never been so powerful. When she opened her eyes, she saw SE’s eyes were closed. All at once, Ana cried out in shock as she felt a second spirit enter her. It hit her like a drug as she was touched by a sudden sense of euphoria. Only then did he push into her, gently stretching her until he was all the way home.

Ana didn’t think she could take any more. Sanity and reason were completely out of reach. She tried to move under him, but he took the side of her hip with one hand, and held her still.

“What are you doing?” she groaned.

“Lie still.” He closed his eyes and she felt him recall his
nagual
from her. Then he dropped down onto his forearms and kissed her deeply.

Ana became hyper aware of him inside of her. She could feel her deepest muscles grab his length. As they did, SE moaned, so she did it again, letting her body’s pulses caress him. Sweat covered their bodies as they held onto one another for dear life.

Oh. God.
She dug her nails into his back and he flexed against her hands.

“Move,” she groaned.

At last, SE moved just the tiniest bit, jetting them both off into orgasm, leaving her spinning off into infinity as wave after wave rocked her body.

SE looked down at her with concern in his eyes.

Ana smiled and put her hand on his cheek. “Hey, no, I’m fine.”

He swept her hair away from her forehead and kissed her gently.

“How did you learn to do that?” she asked.

“Which?” He grinned.

That smile.

“Funny. Share your
nagual
with another shifter. I thought that was an old legend.”

“It’s rare,” he said, “but there are those who’ve been taught, mostly Native Americans. It was something I learned growing up on the Kikapu rez in Mexico. It comes in handy.”

When Ana flushed pink, the male in him felt so goddamn fulfilled, like keeping her happy and safe was his new mission in life. She ran her hand lightly across his torso. God, he loved the feel of her hands on his bare skin.

“How’re your ribs?” Her eyebrows knitted together in a little worried wrinkle.

SE smoothed the wrinkle with a gentle finger. “I’ll be fine. Come here.”

Ana leaned down onto his chest, and he planted another kiss in her hair, closed his eyes, and let himself take in her scent in a long, deep breath. The picture of her beautiful face beneath him came into his mind.

Heaven.

Being inside her, body and soul, was pure heaven. At least now he had some idea who he was.

He was hers.

Ana lay with her head on SE’s chest and listened to the quiet, even sound of his breathing. Without moving her head, she could see the moon out her bedroom window. Jesus. It was totally unbelievable to her how shit could go so wrong so fast. That morning, she’d freaked the fuck out because she was harboring a wounded New Breed in her old apartment. Now they were mated. If she could let go of him for more than five seconds at a time, she’d run to the kitchen and stick a fork in her eye.

On top of everything else, she had the not-so-envious job of telling her mate that even though he had no idea who he was, she knew. Oh, this was bad. This was so bad. If they tried to stay together, one or both of them would most likely end up dead. No. She had to get him out of there. She needed to find a way to get in contact with the Order. Of course, the only two shifters she knew on the other side hated her guts. Actually, that was probably an understatement. Was it possible to hate someone’s DNA? It didn't matter. SE would never feel the same way about her when his memory returned and he realized they were enemies.

Then she’d be kicked to the curb.

Again.

Cast aside like the worthless female she was. Ana sighed. From the beauty of his face to the strength of his body to the integrity in his eyes, he was the same as when she’d known him as a kid. He must have been, what, twenty-five when she first met him? A little older than she was now. He hadn’t changed at all.

But she had. And not for the better.

Damn.
It wasn't like she’d planned on keeping what she knew from him. Everything just got all hot and heavy, and the next thing she knew... well…She looked up at his face and lightly ran the back of her hand along his short growth of beard. He would leave her. When he realized who she was, he would leave her.
Whatever
, she told herself. She was used to being alone. But the thought of being without him made her heart squeeze painfully in her chest.

CHAPTER THREE

Ana opened her eyes. As the dingy walls of her old apartment slowly registered, she groaned and blinked, trying to shake off the far-away feeling that came with too little sleep. Slowly, she realized that she was clamped onto something like a vise. A thought crept into her mind, penetrating her gray matter until it hit home.

Holy shit.
She was mated!

She looked at her male and realized she was hooked onto him like a goddamn octopus. When she looked up, her eyes met his and heat hit her cheeks. He was awake. Ever so slowly, Ana started to unwind herself.

“Hey, where do you think you’re going?”

Busted.

“I just thought maybe you’d like your body back.” She found herself smiling somehow.

“You thought wrong, female.”

SE pulled her back in close. God, she loved his size, the way his body took all five feet ten inches of her and could still have taken more if she’d had it. Wrapping a leg around one of his, she could feel the muscle in his calf as it flexed. As her thoughts lingered on the night before, her body responded with an intense heat. Then she remembered their full situation and bile rose in her throat. Panic hit her in sickening waves. Desperate to get away, she started to untangle herself and push away from her mate’s body.

“I gotta pee.” The one
catcha later
no one could argue with.

SE let go of her and she practically leapt into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her a little too forcefully. As she stood against it and stared at the peeling paint and grimy tile, it hit her. The protective instinct. The vicious bastard flared in her gut, causing her to pant. She could lose him if he went back to the Order. He could find out who she really was, or they could try to keep him away from her. But none of that mattered, because if he stayed here with her, he would die. He almost certainly would. A low growl worked its way up through her body. She had to get him the hell out of there. Fast. She walked over and flushed the toilet, took a deep breath, and focused on what needed to be done.

When she opened the door, her mate was standing there naked. Her breath caught in her throat. Damn, her male was fine.
So long focus, been real.
But then she noticed the look on his face. Like a little bird, she cocked her head to the side, trying to figure out why her mate was looking at her all
what the fuck?

“The shorts I was wearing,” he finally said. “They don’t fit.”

“What?” Ana looked down at the tattered denim shorts she had found him in only the day before. They looked like they were stuck at his upper thighs. But how could that…
Oh. My. God
. The Order hadn’t left him in that alley. He’d just been marked. They didn’t even know he existed yet. He had just received the call!

And the shit just kept on comin’.

“Ah, why don’t you leave those in the bathroom? I think we need to talk.”
That’s the understatement of the motherfucking year.
As SE climbed back into bed with her, Ana propped up a couple of pillows for him and frantically tried to find a place to start.

“What’s the last thing you remember?”

“Being a kid on the rez, I guess.”

“Do you remember anything about being an adult shifter?”

“No, not really. I remember phasing for the first time. Everything else is just a blank.”

“The shifters are at war, SE.”
Why mince words?

“War?”

She nodded. “They’re basically fighting an urban guerilla war. There’s a group of shifters who want shifter domination. Toltec. They’ve always been at war in some way with the shifters who don’t believe we’re superior. In the last few months, since the Transition at Chichen Itzá, a group of male shifters called the Order have received a divine calling to stop the shifters who want to take over. Their bodies have been transformed by the
k’ul
released during the Transition. They’ve gotten bigger physically. Like you. Their shifter senses and instincts are expanded. They’re also marked a second time. The Mayan tribal mark on your right shoulder means you’ve been called to serve. I think you were on your way to answer that calling when something happened to you.”

His features tightened. “But—what? Why don’t I remember any of this?”

“I’m not sure, but the group of shifters you’re meant to join have their compound here in Boston. That can’t be a coincidence.”

SE’s eyes dropped, and Ana wondered if he was trying to piece it all together somehow. Until her eyes followed his directly to her right shoulder.
Ah, hell.

“Ana, if we’re at war, whose side are you on?”

SE stared at the unmarked right shoulder of his mate. Then his eyes moved to the weapons on the nightstand. She was clearly a warrior, and they were obviously on different sides. He may have known dick shit about the war, but the implications weren’t hard to grasp.

“We’re on opposite sides,” Ana answered hoarsely.

“Hey, you are not going to lose me. We’ll figure something out.”

She cleared her throat. “No, SE, you don’t understand. You can’t stay here. If they find you, they’ll kill you or worse. You have to go on to the compound. At least for now.”

“Come here.” He tucked Ana against his chest. He knew she was worried about him, and that sword cut both ways. She would be in danger from his side if he stayed, but the idea of leaving her…

His female.

Fucking A.
It was enough to make him want to hoover a load of Paxil and wash it down with a few Prozac for good measure. He rubbed his temples. “How are we even going to contact them?”

Ana sat up abruptly. “You know…I’m not sure we’ll have to. Maybe if you focused enough
k’ul
, they could sense you the way I did.”

SE considered it for a minute. “I guess it’s worth a shot, but it can’t be here. I don’t want them even knowing this place exists.” He cupped her face with his hand. “Ana, I don’t want you there either. They can’t know about us. It’s too dangerous.”

Ana nodded and looked down at the bed. He could sense her despair. She was already lonely, even though he hadn’t gone yet. He wanted to ask her about it, but even though he was her mate now, he didn’t feel like he had the right. Instead, he turned her head and quietly began to braid her hair. He sensed her begin to calm almost instantly.

“You know,” she whispered, “I’ve never worn braids before.”

He grabbed one of his rubber bands from the top of the two crates set up as a nightstand. “You’re shitting me. Never?”

“Nope.”