Lexia (The Deadwood Hunter Series) (19 page)

“Any animal?”

“No only the animal that is their other half.”

“So you only change into a panther?”

“Yes, my panther is as much a part of me as my human side.”

“So the wolves that attacked me were Shifters not werewolves?”

“Wolves? You were tracked by more than one?”

“Mmm, he was the first thing I killed after the vampires.” Lexia shuddered, suppressing the memory of his blood covering her skin.

 “Werewolves can only change on the full moon and when they do they lose all thought from their human side. Like vampires, their souls, their conscience, are gone.”

“Wow, it’s still so hard to get my head around all this supernatural stuff.”

Lincoln stayed silent and dropped his eyes to his food. Lexia got the feeling he wanted her to stop prying but she needed answers and he was the only one who could give them to her.

“What other animals do Shifters turn into?”

“Mostly wolves and big cats. Sometimes I’ll come across a lion or tiger or a non–predatory Shifter like dogs or deer but most of them were wiped out by Hunters.”

Lexia fell silent at his last comment. Her kind were killers, she had half of that blood running through her. Lincoln looked up and studied her.

“Lex, don’t blame yourself for others’ actions. Just because you’re half Hunter doesn’t mean you’re evil. Just like Shifters, we choose whether to follow the light or the dark. Those wolves who attacked you chose to embrace their animal sides completely but not all wolves do.”

“Yes, but from what you’ve told me, no Hunters were good. We weren’t born as Hunters but created. How do you know we weren’t created for evil?”

“Come on, Lex, you were born and do you honestly believe you’re evil?”

“Maybe not all of me, Lincoln, but sometimes I feel so... so out of control, like something’s taking over me.”

“So you fight. Do you not think I fight to control the panther? And you’ve seen that I lose control.”

“Mmm.” Lexia absently rubbed her neck remembering the moment she felt sharp teeth piece her skin, and even then she’d have backed down and let the panther take her life. “Do you think he wanted to kill me?” She held his eye and gasped when she looked back at a panther wearing a human face.

“Not kill, just mark.” His smile made her heart flutter and she gulped as heat pooled between her legs.

“What does that mean?” she whispered.

“You’ll see,” he murmured. Lexia couldn’t pull her eyes away from him and she followed him as he left the kitchen and shifted leaving in a blur of gold lights and black velvet.

Chapter 20

The next day Lincoln went into town for more supplies. Lexia stood watching him walk out of the house onto the veranda. He turned back, frowning and asked, “Are you going to be alright?”

She smiled, “I’ll still be here.” He turned, dropping from view and even though she said she would be fine, the second he dropped from the veranda her heart gave a lurch and she started to breathe in quick, panicked breaths.

His voice whispered through the forest, “I can hear you panicking. Breathe.”

His soft voice wrapped around her. Lexia suddenly felt angry with herself. How had she gotten into such a state, that she had a meltdown every time she was alone? She had to pull herself together or Lincoln would get sick of babysitting her.

Lexia paced the room thinking about why Lincoln was helping her. He had spent the last few weeks stalking her, hunting her, and now what? What did he want from her? How was she ever going to avenge her Dad’s death? And after that, what would she do? So many thoughts whirled through her mind and she had no answers.

 She stopped, realizing she had walked outside in her pacing. The air was clean and crisp, and a slight chill still lingered in the air making goose bumps rise along her skin. She sat down on the swing, slowly rocking back and forth and started thinking over what troubled her most—Lincoln. She had feelings for him, feelings she had never had with another man. She’d had a few boyfriends but had never felt as drawn to them as she was with Lincoln. She found her eyes wandering to him whenever he couldn’t see her watching and the slightest touch from him set her nerve endings on fire. But what did he feel for her? He’d been so caring towards her, held her when she had fallen apart, and he had saved her life when he had first set out to take it, but then he said he meant to mark not kill. What did that even mean?
God he was confusing
. Getting up she started to pace again hoping he would be back soon before she lost it again.

A few minutes later she stopped pacing, she was sure she could sense someone out there amongst the trees. Walking quietly to the rails Lexia stood listening to the forest sounds. She tried to relax and push out her senses but they were still so new to her and she couldn’t feel anything. She turned to start pacing again and that’s when she caught his scent from above. Lexia moved just as he dropped from above; twisting to the side she brought up her elbow slamming it in the back of his head. He grunted, stumbling forward and then burst out laughing, “Bloody hell, love!”

“I’ve warned you before about sneaking up on a girl,” she grinned at him. “What were you doing anyway? Thought you were helping me, not attacking me?”

“Just a test, my Little Wildcat.” He jumped back onto the roof.

“Guess I passed then?” she called.

He jumped back down carrying bags. “Hungry? I bought some food,” he said, rubbing his knuckles across her cheek before walking inside.

Lexia stood stunned; she brushed her fingers over her cheek, the skin burned from his touch.
You are so confusing
.

Following him inside she realised Lincoln had been paying for everything she needed. “Thanks for this, I’ll pay you back as soon as we get into my house.”

“Hey not a problem... so you wanna eat?”

“Sure.”

Chapter 21

Two hours later Lexia ran through the woods following Lincoln. This was his idea of increasing her stamina; he ran at speeds some cars couldn’t sustain. She stumbled over logs, rocks, roots, and natural potholes until she was so exhausted she wanted to vomit. Stopping to lean against a tree, Lexia panted hard; the cat had obviously held back when he’d chased her through the woods before
. Would he carry me back if I passed out?

The panther snaked through the trees; a low growl rumbled up his throat.  He stalked towards her, the sun glinting off his black velvet fur giving it a warm golden gleam. Lexia was memorized by this beautiful deadly, creature. She longed to run her fingers through his coat, to hear him purr. The panther stopped a few yards away; he growled again, a deep threatening growl, his golden cat eyes searched her face.

“You’ve got four legs, I can’t run anymore.” She smiled at him, thinking she should maybe be afraid.

He crouched, ready to strike. She was sure his eyes lit up as if laughing at her. “Now, now, kitty, play nice,” she said, holding up her palms to the cat.

He leapt with a growl, claws and teeth glinting in the sun. Lexia twisted around the tree, watching as he landed on the trunk and jumped back to the ground. He was so graceful and she was momentarily hypnotized by the sight of him. He jumped again and she leapt to the side but his claws sliced into her thigh. “Mother fucker! Lincoln that hurt!”

But he just jumped again and this time she twisted around kicking him in the side. The cat fell to the ground but quickly recovered, prowling towards her.

Doubt filled her mind.
Was he just playing or had the beast taken over?

“
It’s like that is it? Well, here kitty, kitty, kitty!”

Lexia cleared her mind, letting the power to the surface; it filled her muscles giving her a rush. She flashed a wicked smile pulling out the silver knife that was strapped to her ankle. Lunging, she swiped a shallow cut across his side as he jumped out the way. He growled at her and she felt guilty for damaging his beautiful fur.

“Play nice then, kitty! I don’t wanna hurt you.”

He answered by leaping again, knocking her to the ground. She managed to recover quickly and jumped to her feet facing him. This time as his teeth lunged for her, she hit the side of his head. He faltered, stumbling slightly on landing and she took her chance. It would take him seconds to recover and lunge at her again, but she was a Hunter and she could be quick and deadly just like the panther. So she let go of her fear, letting instinct take over. Lexia spun around, her leg curling up and then lashing out, kicking him in his side. The cat slid across the floor with a stunned look in his eye. Lexia took her opportunity and ran flat out towards his home. This time she had no problems with the roots and branches that threatened to trip her before and she no longer felt tired. She felt great, adrenaline coursed through her, she felt like a...? A Hunter.

Lincoln walked out of the trees into the clearing around his aerie. He had on just a pair of faded jeans, they hung loosely on his hips. Lexia dragged her eyes to his face and he looked up at her, an odd expression on his face. She sat on his veranda, legs swinging over the edge.

“How’d you get up there?”

“Erm, not sure really... I kind of jumped and climbed. A bit scary how I do these things when I let the Hunter take over,” she laughed nervously at him.

He climbed up, too, jumping over the railing, and stood in front of her. Lexia looked up at him taking in his lean muscled body, the top button of his jeans were still undone, his chest was dusted lightly in dark hair, the trail narrowed as it trailed down under his jeans. She blushed, looking away.
God what’s wrong with me?

“So you got that beast of yours under control now?” she asked to distract herself from the naughty thoughts that filtered through her mind.

“Have you, Little Hunter?” he laughed unlocking his door and walking into his kitchen.

Lexia flushed fever-hot, staying put, and trying to slow her beating heart. She was sure he knew the effect he had on her and with his Shifter hearing and senses he would quite easily pick up her racing heart and the scent of her arousal.

“You want me to cook? You must be starving after all that running.”

“Sure,” she whispered out into the darkening night. Closing her eyes she let her thoughts whirl.
How did my life get so messed up in such a short span of time?

*******

The next few weeks carried on the same—he’d run her through the woods morning and night, always in his cat form. She kind of thought that was cheating but after a few weeks she could keep to his incredibly fast pace. They did hand-to-hand combat, which mostly consisted of him beating her until she was black and blue. A few times he knocked her out and she’d come to laying in his bed with his laughing face looming over her.

He also made her meditate. “Center your mind,” he’d say. “Learn to tap into that Hunter power.” She mostly just got mad and frustrated at him, and found her mind filling with images of kicking his ass instead of empty of any thought.

Then there were all the surprise attacks he tried. She was pleased he’d never managed to catch her unawares, sensing danger was the one thing she was really good at. Most of the time she felt safe with him but then every now and then he would go feral. She would find herself thinking that maybe he was still playing games with her and eventually he would grow tired and kill her.

But no matter how mad and confused she got, he was helping and she slowly got better. Her muscles grew tighter and more defined and she felt more in control of the strength she had within her.

Three weeks into her training they were fighting on the veranda. He had given her a good few punches in her side and her every breath hurt.

 “You need to let go, Lex. You’re over thinking every move.”

She let his honey-smooth voice calm her mind, and tried to stop thinking about how she wanted to beat him senseless. Taking deep breaths, letting her instincts take over, she blocked his two blows and got in an uppercut to his side. He grunted and the sound drove her on, going at him again and again. He blocked her twice and on the third he let his guard down for a split second giving her all the time she needed to clip the side of his head. He stumbled and she spun around, kicking him in the gut. He fell to the floor with a smile on his face. “Now that’s my Wildcat.”

“Ha! At last I have you at my feet!” she laughed at him, feeling exhilarated, but then he hooked his foot behind her knee, pulling. It happened so fast she didn’t have time to react as her knees buckled and she fell on top of him. He flipped her over, pinning her body to the floor with his arms framing her face. She stared at him shocked and little breathless. He grinned wickedly causing her heart to skip a beat. “That’s better,” he drawled.

“L-Lincoln,” she stuttered.

He just smiled sweetly at her, caressing the sensitive skin at the nape of her neck. Taking her earlobe between his teeth, he bit down gently. The slight jerk of her body was unmistakable. She wanted him; her whole body begged for more. Lexia turned her head away, cursing her body for reacting.

 Letting go of her nape he cupped her cheek with one hand and turned her face toward his. Their eyes locked, gold on gold, looking at each other with such raw heat, her heart raced and her gut clenched. Did he really want her like she wanted him?

Lincoln ran his thumb over the softness of her lower lip, the urge to tease her had turned into a craving for more. Giving in he bent his head, running his lips across hers; warm, soft and delicious they made his body come to life.

Chapter 22

He kept the kiss soft, sucking slightly on her lower lip; a soft female moan escaped her lips and he deepened the kiss, caressing her lips with his tongue. He could feel the rise and fall of her beasts against his chest.

The sound of her pounding heartbeat and jagged breath only made him want her more. He’d never wanted someone so much and yet he held himself back not wanting to pressure her into something she didn’t want.