Page 65 of Not Your Ordinary Shifter

Jacob was up and charging to help her almost before his brain kicked in. Her eyes were closed, and her face twisted into a grimace. He dropped down next to her, ignoring the sharp rocks that pressed into his knee. “Lizzy, you okay?”

Her eyes fluttered open and she groaned. “Do Ilookokay? Fuck, that hurts. Can you help me up?”

“Hold on, let’s make sure nothing is broken. That was a pretty bad fall. Where’s the pain?”

She winced and bit back a hiss as she tried to sit up. “Everywhere. I don’t think anything’s broken though.”

“Okay let’s do this nice and easy.” He slid an arm around her shoulders and helped her to sit up. It didn’t seem to make anything worse, so she probably wasn’t too badly hurt. “Okay?”

She nodded, looking up. Their eyes met and locked. His arm was still around her, almost like an embrace. The magnetic attraction was too much to resist.

Her hand came up between them and grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling him down until their faces were only an inch apart. Suddenly they were kissing, a frantic, desperately hungry kiss that bound them even tighter.

It was like she wanted to suck his soul from his body, and he was willing to give her that and everything else. His tongue thrust against hers, pushing into her mouth to explore and she whimpered with need, but when he gripped her tighter, there was a sharp pain, distantly felt, like an echo.

It was hers.

He let her go quickly. “Did I hurt you?” He could feel her body better now, all the little aches and pains from the fall… and underneath that a throbbing of arousal that was growing, despite the pain.

“Pressed on a sore spot.” Her breathing was a little ragged, but he didn’t think it was from the pain. She forced a smile. “Don’t get me wrong, a little pain is a turn on, but some warning is nice.”

Jacob filed that away for future reference, since he enjoyed a little spice in the bedroom… but not like this. “Sorry, it’s hard to go slow with you.” He took a deep breath and forced a little more space between them.

He couldn’t think with her so close.

Chapter

Nine

She didn’t like the distance between them. The empty space was like a void and despite the aches and pains, she wanted more of him. She reached out to pull him closer again, but he caught her hand.

“We should stop before things get too heated.”

Her eyes narrowed and her bottom lip jutted out. “Suddenly you don’t want me?” She knew it wasn’t true. She could feel the need radiating from his body, almost like a physical force. Without looking, she knew he was hard as a rock.

“You—” He took a deep breath and blew it out. “You know that’s not true, but I think the bond is overriding how you feel about all of this. A minute ago you didn’t seem happy at the thought of it becoming permanent.”

It was hard to think with any coherency. And she frowned, remembering. He was right. She’d been angry about it, feeling trapped, but now it was different.

Lizzy wanted him the way she wanted air and water. It felt like something she couldn’t ignore and live. Her upset about the bond was still there, but muted, buried underneath the need. She hated being trapped. Had always hated it.

Her hand traced over his jeans, running up and down his thigh as he knelt next to her. “This bond… you didn’t cause it? There was nothing you did that made it happen?” She watched his face, holding her breath as she waited.

He looked her right in the eye and answered without hesitation. “No, it’s not something I can control. No one can make a bond appear if there isn’t meant to be one. There are couples who have been married for years, hoping for the bond to click into place. Believe me, if they could make it happen, it would.”

“Then… this isn’t your fault either. I can’t hold it against you, if it’s not your fault.”

“No.” He shifted a little, looked away and then looked back with a sigh. “But I won’t lie… I’m okay with it. I get that you aren’t, but I?—”

She lunged forward, caught his face in her hands and held him there as she pressed her lips to his. The aggression nearly knocked him over and he grabbed onto her for balance. She ignored the pain when his fingers pressed into sore places.

For a second, he held stiff, like he might pull away, but then he relaxed into it until they were both left panting and sprawled on the rocks. They were silent for a few minutes, except for the heavy breathing. Then he said, “If we do this…” He trailed off.

“I don’t care.” As she said the words, she realized they were true. Right now, it didn’t matter.

“It will be permanent. Geese in the wild don’t always mate for life, but geese shifters tend to when they are bonded.”

It scared her; she couldn’t deny it. She swallowed at the sudden hard lump in her throat, and tried to imagine being stuck with a man she barely knew forever. What if he was awful? What if he was abusive?

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