Transforming Love (A Koning Clan Novel) (5 page)

     "Please."

     "Please what
?"

   
"Please
, I want to come." s
he begged.

    
She cried out as he pushed into her. His thumb circled her swollen clit. He
r
hands gripped the sheets wrinkling
,
the soft, white cotton. Then she felt him push another finger inside, stretching her. She squee
zed his fingers
with her core,
making him curse.

    
He increased the pressure with his thumb, and she cried out. Ecstasy thrummed along her skin and through her body. Her limbs fell lifeless
ly
to the bed. He flipped her over and palmed her ass
,
giving h
er a light swat. He rubb
ed the sting away as he spoke.

    
"That's for taking a two tho
usand dollar bottle of vodka."

    
She tried to lift herself off of the bed, but
his brawny hand held her down.

    
"You have a beautiful ass. Has
anyone ever fuck
ed you there?"

    
She shook her head
,
intrigued and
disturbed
by his que
stion.

    
"No, I would think not. You've only been with boys. Your body needs a man to understand its needs. You're mine, you may not know it,
but your body recognizes me."

     “
Stop.”
s
he hissed.

    
He loo
ked pained as he stepped back.

    
“
You want me. I can sme
ll your need.”
h
e growled.

    
“
Yes, my body wan
ts you, but my heart doesn't.”

    
“
You are mine, and I
will
have you.”
He started to close th
e small dista
nce between them.

    
“
No, I am not yours! You have not won me y
et. So I still have a choice.”

    
A deep snarl
thundered
through his chest, and his lips peeled back from his teeth. “
I will leave you for now, but you will be mine.”
Then he walked out o
f her room and slammed the door.

    
She froze as she caught her image in the mirror, in the corner of the room. Her body was marked by his touch and his mouth. Even after his words she still wanted him. She retrieved her robe from the floor and wrapped
it around her body
,
forming a small shield from her mind and her heart.

     Jenny stretched like a cat basking in the sun and felt terrific despite everything that
had happened. She
had
weird dreams o
f wild animals and places she
’
d never been. It must be all the paintings and statues. She threw back the covers and hurried to get dressed. She pulled her college track t-shirt over her head and stepped into her favorite pair of worn boot-cut jeans. She br
ushed her hair and let it fall in soft waves around her shoulders. She couldn
’
t wait to see Charlie.

     She opened her door and walked down the hallway. She figured the best place to start would be in the kitchen. Charlie was always eating something. Sh
e smiled to herself as childhood memories flowed through her thoughts. She hoped she was heading in the ri
ght direction when she heard the deep timbre of his
voice
,
complete with a
Scottish
accent.

     “
You
’
ll be letting me see the lass. You wouldn
’
t wan
t me to be getting angry.”
S
he smiled. He sounded like the H
ulk.

     “
Charlie!”
Jenny's heart fluttered. Tears threatened to spill past at the small reminder of her home.

     “
Shh...
don't cry.”
She buried her nose in his shirt and sucked in a deep brea
th. He smelled of leather soap and fresh
ly
cut grass.

     Jenny held onto him and let her tears saturate his shirt. She needed his strength and tried to soak up all she could.

     “
Charlie, why is this happening?”
He lifted her with ease and must have
shooed Clint out of the kitchen with one of his famous stares.

     “
Don
’
t worry, I
’
m gonna explain as much as I can.”
He sat her down in one of the stools and used the cuff of his shirt to dry her tears. Charlie had been with her since as far back as she
could remember. His dark red hair and freckled skin reminded her of her ranch in Colorado. She just wanted to go home, but she had to know what was going on. She nodded her head for him to continue.

     “
First thing
,
your Da sends his love and wants you
to be strong. He was only trying to keep you from this fate, and that
’
s why he never told you what you are.”

     “
W-what am I
?”
She wasn't sure she wanted to know.

     “
Well, that
’
s the hard part
,
lass. You
’
re a little bit of everything.”
Jenny scrunc
hed her forehead in confusion as Charlie continued. “
Your part of the Clan Koning, it makes you rare among our kind. The females of your family have unique talents, but they come with a price. The law of our people states that you are to wed the winner
of
the Slag before your twenty-
first birthd
ay. All of the eligible
compete. It
’
s tradition.”

     “
Okay, but what am I?”
Her nails bit into her palms. She was to be the prize, l
ike some sort of golden trophy
—
a
beautiful thing to sit on a shelf to be seen but
never heard.

     “
I
’
m a getting to that
,
lass. You
’
re a shifter. You can change into any animal in the world. You see, the rest of us can only change into one. It
’
s a sign of the royal blood in your veins. T
hat
’
s what your clan name means:
king.
The Slag
is a contest that determines the strongest of our race, the king.
”

     Jenny's eyes were wide a
s she shook her head.

     “
I don
’
t want any of this
,
Charlie. I want the right to choose. Please
,
help me.”

     “
I will
, as much as I can, but you have to
stay here. There
’
s no going back to the way things were. I don
’
t know how you ended up here, but it must be destiny.”

    
"I don't think I can do this." s
he cried. Sweet broke out across her skin as panic slithered into her heart.

     "You must. Use it
, Jenny
. Use the pain and the hurt to make yourself stronger."

     Still, she denied everything. He was wrong. People couldn't shift. This was some sort of nightmare brought on by expensive vodka and racing hormones.

    
She bit the inside of her cheek
u
ntil
she tasted the tang of her blood. Oh God. It's n
ot a dream. She had two choices: run or f
ight. T
he Slag was in a little over a month. She had to do
something. Destiny, yeah right. D
estiny could kiss her behind.

     “
W
hen do I start to shift?”

    
“
Well
,
that
’
s the other thing; you know the charm bracelet you always wear?”

     “
Yeah, what about it?”

    
Her mother had given it to her before she died. The small silver charms dangled from a delicate chain around her ankle.
They were symbols for al
l the places they were going to visit, her mother and her. They were going to backpack across Europe
,
until she died. Pain echoed in her chest. She waited for Charlie to continue
,
fighting her tears.

     “
It really is charmed. If you remove it, I can teac
h you to shift. It blocks that
part of your nature. Maybe it
will help you deal with this somehow.”

     It was all so much to take in. Jenny was afraid
,
but being able to shift was worth being brave for. She nodded her head and stood
,
looking Charlie in
the eye.

     “
Okay
,
Charlie, when do we start?”
She would do this for her mother.

     “
Now hold on
, first I have to
get permission from Gryph. He
’
s your warden.”
He held up his hand to
hold
her off.

     She gave a quick nod. “
Fine, let
’
s go ask him.”

     Jenny figured he would probably be at the bar so she headed in that direction, but before she reached the front door Charlie put a restraining hand on her shoulder.

     “
Just a second
,
lass, you can
’
t leave the house. I will go on your behalf, and
if you want him to say yes
,
you better follow the rules.”

     She raised her eyebrows and gave h
im a glassy stare. “
Okay
, I promise, but please hurry.”

     Charlie leaned in and kissed her on the forehead
,
and then he opened the fron
t door. Jenny clenc
hed
her jaw
as her heart pounded in her ears. Men
,
they think they can tell her what to do. She loved Charlie, but she was forming a plan
. I
f she could find a way
,
she was going to get out of her wedding. Daddy always said she was as sly as a fox and cute
as a butt
on.
S
he hoped it was true.

 
   “
Lass!”
Charlie's deep timbre
echoed through the house.

     “
I
’
m in here
,
Charlie.”
Jenny knew he would find her
,
so she didn't get up from her position on the comfy
,
black
,
leather couch.

     “
What are you doing in the library?”
He took stock of the walls full of books and the large windows displaying the beautiful trees surrounding the house.

     “
Come on
,
you know how much I enjoy reading. So did he say it was o
kay for me to learn to shift?”
She looked up from her book.

    
“
Yeah, frankly he was upset
you didn
’
t know anything about it.
What do you have there?”

     “
It
’
s an old tome, it tells all about the Slag.”
She closed it after marking her page sending a
plume of dust into the air.

     Charlie put his hands on his hips like he was going to s
cold a petulant child. “
Now
, what are cooking in that brain of yours?”