Shifting Solitude (Outlaws, Fangs and Claws Book 1) Read online

  He would fight it then. She was nothing to him_just as he was nothing to her, just like the rest of them. What an infuriating dream! Hallard let out an animalistic roar as his eyes sprang open, and he tore at his sheets and sat upright in bed.

  He rolled over and opened his eyes, awake. Hallard realized that he was in a muggy sweat, which was quickly cooling. It didn't do a whole lot to dampen the heat of his body though. Despite it being nearly the end of fall, with no heating in his home, he was actually sweating. At first he checked his surroundings to make sure there were no unwelcoming guests in the night. Without electricity in his home for a bedside lamp, he could still see pretty well in the dark. Damn well actually, better than any human could boast. Being a shifter did come with perks, which he wouldn't trade for anything, not even that one thing … maybe.

  He sat up and brushed aside his ruined blanket before going to take a piss. He left his sleeping area and went into the cold night. The woods were quiet, calming, a spiritual moment in that blue haze. Insects and nocturnal animals made their sounds and moved about invisible. Hallard looked up at the moon and his eyes blazed fiery green in its reflection. His jaw twitched and his skin shimmered, then turned a darker matte texture, before settling back to normal.

  He found a favorite tree by the entrance to his cave and stood with his pelvis out to void his bladder. That was hard to do, he realized, because he had awoken with an erection. Holding his stiff and uncooperative dick in his palm—he was usually completely naked—which still left plenty of length un-gripped, he leaned back and tried to push without it causing him discomfort. Trying to take a leak with a hard on was always a pain in the ass, but he managed to finish.

  "What a dream," he mumbled as he focused on getting his hard on under control and relieving himself. Why was he so sweaty, so restless, unable to find some solace in his solitude in the middle of nowhere, buried by the overgrown natural state of the land? There was no woman around, that was absurd. He sucked the night sky through expanding nostrils, but even those keen animal olfactories could not detect anything unusual … just the memory of what she'd smelled like in his dream. His cock pulsed and he cursed the night that he had no woman to make use of it.

  Walking back toward his bed, Hallard stopped dead where he walked. He inhaled fiercely. "I'm going crazy," he said. But the hairs where standing up on his back and neck. The burly man clenched his body, tightened his muscles, closed his eyes, and breathed in slowly. He did so with purpose, and there it was: the scent of a woman, not just any woman, but the women.

  It was the scent of that gorgeous young woman from his dream. Well, she was younger than Hallard anyway, who was older than he looked. But how could this woman be nearby, all the way out in the forest? That was ridiculous, or maybe …

  "I really am going crazy," Hallard said with a clear voice, to the empty darkness. Maybe it was just the solitude finally getting to him. He took another big breath, and then several more. His face turned sour, there was something not at all right about the smell the breeze was brining now.

  "No ..." he muttered. There really was someone_or something_in the woods that night, right then. If there was a woman out there, maybe even the one from his dream somehow, she certainly was not the only other living creature coming to visit in the quiet night.

  Chapter Three

  The road was getting bumpier and everyone was being jostled around in their seats. Looking through the dark-tinted windows into the nightside wilderness, Rita said to Melody, "I suppose it’d be too much to hope these guys have a vacation house out here.”

  "I wouldn't hold my breath," replied Melody.

  “What are you lovely ladies worrying about?” piped up a fat, yet simultaneously muscular, man who was lingering near them. It was as though he'd just appeared in the midst of their conversation, but that was probably the drugs playing with Melody's head. The guy had a head of short, tangled locks and grease-stained hands that made him seem so dirty.

  He might have heard what they'd been talking about, but he might not have. That was hard to tell through the drunken stupor he was in. One thing was for sure, that he was looking for trouble. That much was easy to tell from the stink of cheap liquor on him, and the dangerous way he leered at them.

  “I want to know where we're going," demanded Rita. She probably didn’t even know how naive and helpless she seemed, but that was one very ironic drawback of being so naive and helpless.

  “You’re going to find out soon enough. Why not just shut up and enjoy all this fun, baby?” He lunged forward and it looked like he was about to assault the hapless girl. But it was just the bus going around a bend in the uneven dirt road, which had hoisted him forward. Still, the guy ended up practically in their laps, splayed out over them like he was a grotesque slug.

  “Hey, if you like me that much, you could’ve just asked for a kiss,” he said, then let out a wet burp.

  “Ugh! Get off me,” said Rita and she shoved the guy away.

  “What's your problem?" he bellowed at Rita. He got up, pushing his elbow into Melody’s crotch --hopefully by accident_as he fought to lever up with chunky body.

  Hopefully that part was by accident, but she was frozen by his air of malicious intent.

  He kept on reprimanding Rita, paying no mind to Melody and, let alone apologizing for inadvertently elbow-fucking her. "You got some damn mouth on you, don’t you? I might have to teach you a lesson about manners. All I wanted was a kiss.” He pulled himself up on the back of the seat in front of them and came right up to Rita’s face, so close his putrid breath must have been turned the girl's stomach.

  He said, “In fact, I will take my kiss. It’s the least you could do for almost knocking me down,”

  “No one knocked you down. You fell because you're drunk. And I’m not here to hook up with some fat pig.” Rita almost visibly choked on the words as soon as they came out of her mouth.

  Melody's buzz was firmly being harshed, and panic was taking hold of her with its icy fingers. She couldn't let this roach of a man lay his hands on such a defenseless girl. But she couldn't bring herself to choose any action. Her fight or flight response seemed to have gotten jammed, leaving her spinning in a circle of self-doubt.

  The drunken pig put his hand over Rita's throat and squeezed. He held her as he leaned in closer to her face.

  Rita had gone from defiant to terrified in a flash.

  The pig pressed his plump, purple lips to hers and started making a wet suction sound. Tongue was evident, so much tongue.

  Rita's eyes were glazing over with tears, and she made muffled squealing noises that broke Melody's heart.

  She couldn't take it anymore, no matter what the consequences were. Melody had stealthily slid her hand into her purse and wrapped her fist around the largest of her keys_the one to her parents’ home that had not been used for years. Making herself mad watching this repulsive invasion of personal freedom and justice, Melody got pumped, ready to act. Just as she was about to thrust the jagged key into the side of the drunken pig's head, he stopped the kiss himself.

  “Muah!” he said, like he was complimenting the perfect slice of pizza. He let go of Rita's neck, bruise marks already showing on her delicate skin.

  The man grabbed his dick through his pants, gesturing it at Rita, but then thankfully walked off toward the front of the bus to stand beside the driver and talk shit.

  Certain he was out of earshot, Rita turned to Melody and hoarsely whispered, “This isn’t going to end well.”

  Melody nodded, still in shock.

  “And thanks for your help, by the way.” She rubber her throat then shrugged.

  Melody was going to say sorry, explain how she'd frozen and it wasn't her fault, but she really was going to defend the girl. Instead, all she did was stare at Rita, mouth agape, unable to come up with the right words to appease that look of condemnation.

  Rita turned her shoulder away and looked out the window.

  The people having fun around t
hem suddenly seemed distant. Melody went cold all over like she was floating in a lake at night. Still, quiet, nothing but darkness and the light of the moon. She looked past Rita and out the window, and felt incredibly lost.

  “We’re here," called out the stoic leader as the bus rolled to a stop. He looked around, inspecting the contents of the small house-sized vehicle. His eyes locked directly with Melody's and held there. It was enough time to infiltrate her completely. He was a hulk of a man, nothing about him small. There was something sinister that was hard to figure out, however.

  Melody was suddenly afraid and averted her eyes, but quickly looked back when she was sure he'd moved his sight from her. There was something about him that grabbed her, and she couldn't help but admire the downright masculinity he wielded. It was like an intrinsic force of nature.

  Men and women began to bustle from the bus, drunk, high, and already getting much louder.

  "This is where it's at," said a man in the shifting crowd. He grabbed the nearest woman and started to push her to hurry her out of the door. They collided with a guy in front of them.

  "Watch it," snapped a guttural growl.

  The woman who'd been shoved was smart enough to shimmy to the side, to avoid being caught in the middle of the confrontation.

  Rita was in front of Melody and eagerly vying to get off the bus.

  Melody put her hand on her new friend's shoulder and held her back.

  It was a smart move. Someone was pushed, someone retaliated, and some fists were even involved. Soon, a small brawl was brewing like a highly localized storm right there in the bus.

  "Stop." The voice cut through Melody. It was the leader, she knew it without being able to see him. "Get off the bus. Enjoy yourselves," he continued.

  They didn't argue a second longer. Actually, they seemed afraid of the leader. Good. They weren't going to cause any trouble while he was around.

  After Melody had gotten off the bus, behind practically everyone else with all their pushing and shuffling, she noticed that Rita was hanging by her. The girl looked like she'd take a wrong turn down a backroad and was running low on gas.

  "Hey, I think I'll take you up on that offer and stick with you," she whispered. "I really don't like where this is all going. And I really have no idea where we are now. Do you?"

  "I think their leader will keep the guys in line, mostly. But sure, you can stick with me if it makes you feel safer. And we're not that far from home, don't panic. Try not to start any arguments with anyone though, okay?" She shook her head and walked closer to the others.

  Some of the men were putting together a bon-fire. They'd procured axes from the storage area beneath the bus, and were felling entire trees, albeit small ones, at least compared to the tallest in the woods.

  "Do you think I could borrow your phone to call my boyfriend? I'm not getting any reception out here," asked Rita.

  "I ran out of credit last week. Sorry, but how about you give this party a chance?"

  "You call this partying? I thought they'd take us to a penthouse or a place in the hills. This is just a bunch of dirt and trees." Rita was hugging herself snuggly with her slender forearms. There was a slight breeze that brought chilled air. None of the women were dressed for that type of thing.

  "You must be freezing your tits off," Melody said with a laugh. "What do you say we go get warm by that fire they're starting? Maybe these guys aren't so bad."

  "They're acting crazy."

  "They're just being boys. Tell me you haven't seen worse in your boyfriend's gang. Besides, I think I might have my sights set on one in particular." Melody put her arm around Rita's shoulder and started walking her toward the others."

  "That big, bossy one you were staring at? Think he's their leader?"

  "Hey!" barked someone from inside the bus. "What are you two bitches doing to our bus? Get over there and join the rest of them." It was the driver, still in his seat and sorting things out with his bus.

  "I think we better then," said Rita with a sigh.

  Some sparks and even licks of yellow-orange flame had started up, as Melody and Rita walked over to the looming mass of people encircling the pile of wood. They were loud, like a flock of birds twirling and screeching in their treetops at dusk. It was easy to blend into the shadows though. Melody edged slowly around the growing flames as they nibbled at the wood.

  Rita cautiously followed, sometimes grabbing onto her adopted guardian's top when she feared she'd be left behind in the roiling mass of flesh and sound.

  "There you are," Melody said under her breath. She'd spied the man who was able to assert such dominance over this rough-and-tumble group.

  The leader was standing, tall, powerful and now without his shirt on. There were three women around him, hovering. They were twittering among each other and to the other men nearby, although it was hard to discern anything intelligible in the clamor. That made it easy to slip in beside him.

  "What's your name?" Melody asked him. The guy pretended like he hadn't heard her. Looked around, suddenly very interested in taking in everything but Melody. But it was hard to hear anything. Maybe he didn't notice her speaking. Either way, her pride took a sudden fall. Regrouping her courage, Melody stood up on her toes—he was much taller than her, even with her pumps on—and spoke against his ear. "Hey, you there," she said with a sweetly seductive voice, her finger tracing across his bulging bicep.

  That got his attention and he turned to her. The fire had grown damn fast, with the help of some gasoline, so they could better see each other now.

  He looked deeply into the center of her, piercing and expanding her pupils with his own, through her spine and heart, to places unknown. "Hello," he simply said in a low voice that somehow reached her ears through the din without trouble. "I'm Grave."

  Those eyes. "Melody," she managed to reply while she was caught helplessly in that gaze. Something about his face was so different now. If it were even possibly, his perfectly chiseled features were even more masculine. It was intimidating, even for a lovely woman like her. The light shimmered around them and she realized that she was just standing there staring up into this man's eyes.

  "You're something special," he said.

  "Am I?"

  Rita was still behind her and gave Melody a little shove from behind. There was a girlish giggle that followed as she stumbled forward, colliding with the shirtless Adonis.

  He was not upset in the slightest. In fact, Grave didn't hesitate as Melody wound up pressed against his hard body. He put his arms on her waist and kissed her.

  That kiss was unreal for many reasons, but refined technique was far from one of them. He was overly firm, wet to the point of dripping, and without that sense of chase-and-catch between tongues and pouting lips that were often part of a sensual kiss. But Melody's pussy throbbed.

  Grave grabbed her by the wrist and drew her away from the fire's light.

  "Don't leave me," said Rita. The girl shuffled after them for a few steps, but wasn't willing to be that much of a third wheel. "Well, I'll be just here, okay."

  Melody said, "Just enjoy yourself, okay?" to Rita and nodded at her. The girl seemed okay with this, and this man was too good to refuse.

  Back away from the roaring fire and group, they found a soft place under a tree. It was colder over there but the grass was dry. Melody laid down eagerly, and Grave got down on top of her. He smelled like a man who did a lot of physical work. Musky odor and a lick of sweat-salt. Melody bit his chest, tasted him, fed her desire. She let her hand wonder over him and wondered at the pure power those muscles would be able to exert. It was all hers.

  His hand made a bee-line to her crotch and slipped under the surface of her flimsy skirt. Something strange about the feeling of his body. It was almost too solid, too hard, so hard ...

  She reached in, pulled it out of his pants–already hard as steel—and stroked it a few times. "That dick," she said with sexual glee. "Fuck me, big boy?" It felt almost a sin to order this man
to do anything, so she said it as a question, would have been willing to beg.

  "I will," he said through peeled lips and teeth that flashed in the light of the moon. "You're not going to forget this for a long time." He lunged forward and nibbled on her neck while she guided his dick into her waiting hole.

  "Oh!" she exclaimed. There was nothing else she could say to describe it.

  He fucked her hard right away, no slowly moving into things. But that was fine. His animal sexuality would have been more than enough to lubricate even the staunchest celibate.

  She wrapped her legs around him—mine—and moved her pelvis with his driving thrusts. She had her fists full of long grass, and the smell of the night breeze was earthy, combining with Grave's scent and her own perfume to make something out of this world.

  Suddenly, a woman by the fire screamed, which was not particularly alarming given the amount of noise everyone was making.

  Melody hesitated to break her concentration. There was another scream, possibly the same woman. "What was that?" she said, looking up at the shadow over

  Again, a woman screamed and the sound was immediately chased with an inhuman growl.

  "Oh my god!" screamed another woman, coming closer to Melody and Grave. It was Rita. "Melody! There's a fight or something, I don't know. Get up!"

  Melody said, "What's going on?" to Grave. He would sort out whatever was going on. That would mean taking his dick out of her, she lamented. "Hey, baby, you gotta stop, huh? Grave?"

  "What's happened to your face?!" cried out a woman by the fire. She then cried out with pain and then screamed wordlessly.

  "Get off me!" shouted another, panicking. And then there was too much commotion to focus on any one sound from over by the darkened trees.

  "What's going on?" asked Melody, pushing Grave back to see his face.

  It was different, changing quickly into something with too much hair, an extended nose like a dog's but still too human. He didn't stop entering her. "Shut your fucking mouth and take my seed," he said. He grabbed her throat and nailed her to the grassy soil with thick, hairy fingers that were sharp on the ends and dug into her neck.