Haulcon's Revenge (7 page)

Turning away, Haulcon stepped into the shadows then reappeared before her with her clothing in hand. His kind’s ability to move with such speed boggled her mind.

Heat infused her cheeks. “Thanks.” Taking them she moved back for a bit of privacy and stepped into her underwear and shorts, still together. Evidence that Haulcon had removed them both at the same time.

“
You’re beautiful, Adair. You should not feel the need to hide yourself.” He stood with his arms crossed over his broad chest and stared pointedly at her.

There was no doubt that he could see her clearly in the darkness and it had been silly of her to even attempt to have privacy. But, keeping her nude lower parts out of the harsh light made her feel a little more at ease.

“
I know, I have a pretty face, I’ve heard it since I was a teenager.”

“
Yes, your face is lovely, but your body robs a man of his thoughts.”

Was he seeing the same body that human men saw? She didn’t think of herself as fat, but she was full-figured with curves that filled her size sixteen shorts to the max.

“
Human men are fools.” He commented, evidence of him still reading her thoughts. “Valf males need their woman able to handle loving and bearing of children. We are not slight beings.”

He had that right. If she was five ten, he had to be a good six four with wide shoulders and muscle definition like a Clydesdale.

Not wanting to debate the beauty or non-beauty of her curves any longer, she finished fastening her shorts and was thankful they were a little snug because her belt was ruined and of no use to her.

Stepping closer to him, she grabbed her light and picked up the ripped leather and shoved it into her backpack before slipping the straps onto her shoulders. “I…um…hope you find the people responsible for hurting you and make them pay.”

“
It will be done. Remember to stay to the right of the trees and hug the cliff and you’ll be fine. Goodbye, Adair.” He moved backwards into the woods allowing them to consume him—remove him from her sight.

This is where he fit. He was wild and free, a being of the night, while she belonged to the city.

“
Bye, Haulcon,” she called after him. By now he probably had shifted to his wolf and was headed home.

That’s what she needed to do. Turning she took the path toward her car. She was thankful that the ache and gnawing emptiness inside of her that she experienced the other times they parted were not present. It made it easier to keep moving forward.

She allowed her mind to only think about her job and her father. Concerning herself with any and everything, but Haulcon and her forest, insanity lust. That is how she would refer to it in the future.

Ten minutes later when she rounded the cliff and stepped onto the asphalt rest stop she’d never felt more relief. The lot was bare except for her small jeep on the far side. Even the rest stop attendants were back in the city until the morning when all the tourist and hikers returned.

Pulling her car keys from the side zip pocket of her backpack she pressed the unlock button as she moved closer to it. There was a small beep sound and the lights flashed.

Slipping her bag off, she pulled open the driver-side door and allowed herself one final glance toward the way she’d come. She didn’t expect to see Haulcon standing there at the cusp of the forest, but she couldn’t deny that her heart dropped a little in her chest that he hadn’t followed her.

Shaking that off, she tossed her pack to the passenger side and got in. It was probably best for her to take another assignment. Take pictures of wildlife somewhere else. She knew that she’d never be able to return to this area without thinking of Haulcon and looking for him to appear behind every tree or bush.

“
Time to go home.” She started the engine, shifted into drive and pulled away.

Chapter Four

“
Fuck, fuck, fuck!” No matter how many times Haulcon cursed and berated himself for his actions it still didn’t make him feel any better. Passing inside a hidden cave behind the waterfall he tried not to calculate how many errors he had made with both trusting Jacin, his deceased Alpha’s son, or with Adair.

Of all the mistakes of the day he had made with the human female, mating with her was at the top of the list. He should have allowed her to continue to walk away once he’d gotten her to the bluff. However, watching her create more distance between them with each step had been just as agonizing as it had been when she left the cave, maybe even more.

He wasn’t entirely sure why they were connected, but it had been there. That’s why he’d gone to her. He’d convinced himself that he needed to give her a parting kiss. Something traditionally was only given between mates. She wasn’t his mate. Regardless of that fact he’d buried himself to the hilt inside of her tight, wet, warm pussy. That had been biological.

However, when he touched her, the urgency to sample her essence one more time on his tongue greeted him.

After she’d climaxed so freely and gloriously, her scent of spicy hibiscus had been so potent that he couldn’t fight his desire for her any longer. He had to have her, had to be inside of her. He should have pulled away then. Hell, he hadn’t needed to bite her and drink of the rich, sweet blood that flowed through her veins. It was the reason he drank very little. But, once he’d passed the point of no return he knew he needed to mark her as his. Even though it would be the last time he saw her, it had to be done.

Without some greater connection to her, he wouldn’t feel whole for the rest of his life.

“
Damn it!”
Foolishness
. Never before had he been one to recite such ridiculous musings. What kind of Alpha was he if he couldn’t control his own base need and not break a clan rule. Shit, a species rule, ‘never fuck a human’. With a vicious growl, he raced through the rapid curtain and dove into the river. He needed to cool himself, cool his mind. He couldn’t go far because the sun would be up soon.

Being inside her had been like finding a missing piece of himself. He’d finally kissed her and set her free. Their connection would still be there, but as long as neither of them tapped into it, all would be fine. Back to normal.

Flipping beneath the water before he broke surface for a breath to ease the burn in his lungs from lack of oxygen, he headed back toward the cascading water and hidden cave.

Stroke after stroke he pushed his mind toward Jacin’s betrayal. Ridok, the former Alpha, had never wanted his son to succeed him. Jacin was a vicious and conniving bastard. His actions after their Alpha’s death proved it.

Ridok hadn’t been dead more than an hour when Jacin and his followers misled Haulcon into leaving the clan compound.

Haulcon pulled himself up onto the ledge and entered the damp cave. It’s cool air felt good on his skin. Valfs were extremely warm blooded, only dropping in temperature during sleep or the final chill, death. At the hands of another valf or sunlight.

Now, it was time for him to rest and plan. He claimed a spot in the middle of the cave and stared up at the damp ceiling. Sleeping on hard rock didn’t bother him, but he missed his bed in his room at the compound.

He listened to the loud echo of the waterfall off the stone walls around him as he calmed his wolf. His wolf wanted nothing more than to head into the clan territory and start ripping heads off. But, using logic over animal instinct he understood that wasn’t rational. He needed to discover what was going on with his people first and who all were in alliance with Jacin.

Early evening would give him the opportunity he needed to start his plot to avenge himself.

~YH~

“
Adair, darling…how are you?”

Adair pulled the cell phone away from her ear as Princess Smith’s loud, false cheer, came through the phone.

“
Princess, I’m not sure what could be the cause of such an early call,” Adair grumbled. Her eyes were still closed. When her cell phone went off, she’d blindly reached out and fumbled along her nightstand until her finger came in contact with the vibrating slim case. Adair hoped she could get the magazine owner off the phone and go back to sleep.

She felt as if she’d just closed her eyes. Arriving home in the middle of the night, she’d stripped down to her panties and bra and climbed into bed. Normally after spending hours in the woods she would have showered first, but hadn’t wanted to last night. For reasons she didn’t allow herself to ponder as she closed her eyes and immediately gave in to sleep.

“
The day is practically over. It is one in the afternoon.”

“
What?” she mumbled and slowly opened her eyes and angled the cell phone down so she could check the time in the top right corner.
Where had the time gone?

“
Are you still sleeping? Adair…Adair?”

Sighing hard, Adair sat up. “Not now I’m not.”

“
Good, darling. So, I want to know if you have considered my proposal. I’m willing to go up by ten percent on my original offer.”

Shifting her hips, Adair swung her feet off the bed to the floor. “I don’t think I’m the person for the job. You need to look somewhere else, as I told you before.”

“
But, you’re the city’s best. Why would I settle for less?” There was a tapping sound that came through Princesses side of the phone.

Adair could picture the older black lady striking a tablet with the tip of her pen.

“
I’m sure that’s not true… Maybe I can help you find someone else.” She doubted it. All the photographers she associated with were reputable. Adair learned years ago to steer clear of sleazy paparazzi. They didn’t take pictures for the pleasure of immortalizing moments in time. Instead, they did it strictly for the payoff to tabloids like Exposure Press, Princess Smith’s company.

“
Fine! You drive a hard bargain. Fifty percent more. I’ll give you a couple weeks to think about it. You’re always up in those woods anyway…getting those monsters on film wouldn’t take you far out of your way.”

“
There no—”

“
Call you soon. Ciao!” Princess hung up.

Adair realized she had vaulted up on the side of the bed. Both her feet were planted wide in the carpet and the fist of her free hand was balled tightly and resting on her hip. The magazine owner’s words had caused a burning to shoot up her spine and around her neck. She could almost feel the side of her neck where Haulcon had fed from her the night before burning with indignation.

She had to remind herself that Princess was speaking out of ignorance. Until more than twenty-four hours ago, Adair also had thought of them as some kind of beast, woodland monsters that devoured humans. But, none of the fables or gossip that went around the city was true. Not based on her interaction with Haulcon.

Haulcon
.

His name caused a humming throughout her body. She whimpered with need recalling their last few moments together. What he felt like inside of her. Their coupling had been quick, brief but powerful.

Looking down at herself she understood why she’d crawled into bed without washing, she’d wanted his scent around her. The woodsy cinnamon scent had covered her like a cloak while she slept. However, now it was time for her to get back to her life. She needed to develop some film from a few weeks ago and get the pictures turned into National Geo Archives in the morning.

Taking hold of her sheets, she did what she always did when a relationship with a man ended, cleaned and rid her house of him. True she and Haulcon really didn’t have a relationship, per se. He’d never even been to her home, but she would still wash the few remnants of him from her life.

She dragged the sheets from her bed and shook the pillows from their cases, dropping them into a pile on the floor. Next she scooped up her shirt, shorts and socks beside her bed and added them to the top of the rose-colored sheets. Standing there she pulled off her panties and bra and deposited them with the other dirty things. She headed into the bathroom and turned on the tub faucet so the water could warm up.

Moving before the wide mirror with its Hollywood lights, she assessed her body, something she rarely gave herself time to do. When she did do it, all she saw was every extra pound of flesh that she wanted gone, how her thighs kissed each other and the heft of her big breasts.