Survivor: A Shifter of Consequence Tale (Shifters of Consequence Book 1) Read online

  Clearly, I was in it.

  Like eyeball deep in this embarrassing moment.

  Ah, fuck it. I was who I was, and my body wasn’t changing anytime soon. They could love it or leave it.

  Preferably the first one.

  I shucked my shirt and shorts, stuffed them in my bag, sat on the edge of the lake and splashed my toes in the shallows. “It’s not very cold.” I lifted my butt, pushed off the land and sank into the water. I hadn’t been in a second before Brandon was right next to me.

  “Am I supposed to say nice suit, or should I claim I was being a gentleman and not looking? I can’t decide.” Over his shoulder I saw the other boys had taken up a game of chicken with Christie on Moss’ shoulders. A jolt of jealousy ripped through me, but I pushed it down in an instant.

  As though he didn’t already have my attention, he ran his finger down the line of the halter strap holding my suit up.

  I caught my breath. “Let’s pretend you did look, what would you say?”

  “I’d say you look very good in a swimsuit, but more than that. You look happy.” His finger traced my bottom lip, over my smile.

  “I am.” I focused on treading water, but I was losing strength fast.

  “Good. If you are getting weak or need me to help out, just tap my shoulder. It will be our secret, okay?”

  I nodded. “Yeah. Thanks.”

  He smiled, revealing the tiniest dimple in the middle of his right cheek. “Now, I think we can take them. How about you?” He turned and pointed at the boys, playing chicken. Cashel was on Escher’s shoulders, and while he was fighting Christie, I could tell he was holding back. Probably didn’t want to hurt a girl.

  “Are you kidding me? I might not have leg strength, but I’ve got arm strength. Let’s go.”

  He slapped the water. “That’s my girl. Let’s go.”

  My girl.

  We spent another half hour playing chicken until, even with my strong arms, I needed a break. I tapped Brandon’s biceps, and he ducked into the water, letting me slide down his back then turning to gather me against his chest. “I brought a big picnic for us all. I’m gonna go get it out of my truck.”

  Okay, time to get out.

  “My turn.” Moss winked at me and, while Brandon swam freestyle toward the bank, took me into his arms, and I wrapped my legs around his torso.

  “Sorry, is this okay?” I’d never been in this position with a guy.

  “This is more than okay. You look great today,” he whispered in my ear as his fingers moved in tiny circles along the small of my back.

  “So do you. I mean, you look good for a math geek and all.”

  He laughed, throwing his head back. The sun glinted off the surface of the lake and made his strawberry-blond hair look like fire. “I’ll take the compliment. But speaking of math, how are you doing with it?”

  While he spoke, he swayed us in the water like we were dancing instead of swimming. The water sloshed around us, attempting to distract me from getting lost in his green eyes. It didn’t work.

  “Me and math, well…there’s a lot of hair pulling and beating my fists against the textbook, but otherwise, good.”

  He chuckled low and deep, and my chest vibrated with the sound of it. “I’m still up for tutoring. I mean, if you can handle a hot math geek in your living room.”

  I slapped at his chest playfully. “Hot? I said you look good, and all of the sudden your head is as big as Europe.”

  “I’m hurt, sweetheart. But it’s okay. I know the truth. How about I come over sometime this week and we can see about putting a stop to the hair pulling and the punching your book. I would love to help you.”

  “Okay,” I said as his hands splayed out along my lower back right at the edge of my bikini bottom.

  We stared at each other. The heat seemed to roll off him in waves touching every part of me. I watched as his Adam’s apple bobbed and his gaze dipped to my lips.

  “Food everyone,” Brandon announced, and Moss smiled, broken free of the spell hanging like a passion hammock between us as we swayed.

  “Gotta feed the female so we can have more fun” He held me all the way to the bank where Escher and Cashel helped me out. We ate while Christie and I talked about the vampire books.

  “Okay, so who is your favorite?” Christie asked, and all four boys stopped their chewing and stared at me. Christie cracked up, a smirk growing on her face. She was about to exploit this situation. I knew it. “I mean, every girl has to have a favorite.”

  The books. Yes. She was talking about the books. “Um, Rhevenge.”

  She reeled back, and the guys’ faces fell like I’d mortally wounded them.

  “Who the fuck is Rhevenge?” Brandon asked, tossing his sandwich down.

  “It's a guy from a vampire series we read. Shut up. What did you think we were talking about?” She drove her point home by tossing a water bottle at him, but he caught it before it hit him.

  “Fictional men? This is what you’re talking about?” Moss asked. “I mean, I’m making sure here.”

  I huffed out a laugh. Their jealousy was palpable, and it covered me like a slimy blanket. “Yes. Vampire men. In books.”

  That only seemed to settle them a little.

  Boys.

  The rest of the day I was the hot potato Christie spoke of. I was passed from guy to guy, spending a little alone time with each of them one on one.

  When I was with Escher, he took us to the other side of the lake while the sun began to dip in the sky. I put my arms around his neck but noticed I had forgotten my watch. A spiral of anxiety shot through me.

  “What’s the matter?” Eschel asked, checking me for something wrong with my body.

  “I forgot my watch,” I answered, feeling silly.

  “And…”

  “And my watch reminds me to take my pills. I haven’t taken them today.”

  He cocked his head, and his brow drew down over his nose. “And how do you feel, female?”

  “I’m okay.”

  He smiled with only one side of his face. “Wendi, you feel fantastic to me.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  I reveled in the toasty after-feeling of the day. My skin was hot from the sun, but thankfully I didn’t burn. Except the tops of my cheeks were a little red, so I applied some after-sun and took a few Tylenol to help. I’d taken a cold shower and changed into my comfiest pajamas when a knock echoed through the house.

  When I lived with my aunt, and then with various caregivers in residence, no one came to the house. Now that I was alone, it seemed like I had visitors at all times of the day and night.

  I wasn’t complaining.

  After wheeling to the front door, I asked who it was through the door.

  “It’s Brandon.”

  Something about a guy knocking on my door late at night made my belly swirl.

  “Come on in,” I called, noticing, in my haste to get a shower and change, I’d forgotten to lock the deadbolt. I shrugged it off. I had protection all around me. What’s a deadbolt when you have shifters on patrol?

  “Why isn’t your door locked, Wendi?” he barked as he came in, testing the deadbolt like it was broken.

  “Hello to you, too. I forgot it. I came in and showered and got dressed before I ran out of energy. And don’t you fuss at me. I forgot, okay?”

  His shoulders released their tension while the rest of him deflated. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to raise my voice. Can you please make sure you lock this door from now on? For me?” He scrubbed the back of his neck while his errant strand of sandy brown hair fell forward.

  “I can. Is that why you came over? To test my locks?”

  He chuckled and pulled out something from behind his back. “No. But I’m glad I did. You accidentally left this at the lake.”

  “Oh, my T-shirt. Thanks. I haven’t gotten to doing the laundry yet. You didn’t have to bring it over tonight.”

  “I wanted to see you.” He shrugged with the sent
ence. “And I volunteered for patrols tonight, so I had to come over here anyway.”

  Gods, he was sexy when he tried to act nonchalant. But the redness saturating his earlobes gave him away.

  “I’m glad you came,” I admitted, trying to be sultry in my bunny rabbit pajamas. If I was going to have guys over all the time, and, apparently, I was, I needed to upgrade my jammies.

  “Me, too. You’re tired.”

  I nodded. “I am, but my mind won’t settle down, so I thought I’d watch some TV—do something to make everything go away. Then maybe I can sleep.”

  He worked his bottom lip between his teeth, and I wondered what he tasted like. If we kissed, would he like me biting on that lip for him?

  “Be careful, female,” he said, his voice dipping low for a split second. “Mind if I stay a while?”

  “Not at all.” Before I could get my hands onto the wheels of my chair, he’d scooped me up and brought us to the sofa. He sat down, and I expected him to put me beside him, but instead, he plopped me down sideways so my butt was on the couch but my legs were draped over his. “Um, so what are we watching?”

  He leaned over to get the remote and handed it to me. “Ladies’ choice.”

  I chose some Netflix show about zombies and looked at Brandon to gauge his reaction. “Are you afraid?” I asked, lowering my voice to mimic someone scary.

  He laughed and pulled a blanket from the back of the couch to cover our legs. “No, it’s pretty gross, though. I mean, that one tore into that woman’s boob like it was prime rib. It’s not the way to treat a lady. Damn.”

  I laughed hard and loud. “I don’t think manners count in the apocalypse.”

  “Well, they should. Aww, no, look at this gentleman here. He’s face down in another man’s intestines like a pig at a trough. You like this stuff?”

  I shook my head. “No. I kind of wanted to see your reaction.”

  “What? Female, you are too much.”

  I laughed, and he tickled me on the sides until I thought I was going to burst. He took the remote from my hands, shut the TV off, and pulled me up so my thighs straddled his.

  “Your laugh and your smile are breathtaking, Wendi.”

  My laughter died in my throat, and I looked down at his chest.

  “Don’t lower your gaze while you’re with me, okay? You’re too beautiful and smart and funny to look down in anyone’s presence.”

  I nodded, struck silent by his honesty. He inhaled deeply. “I can smell how tired you are…and…I think I’ve figured out a way to calm your mind. Make everything go away like you want it to.”

  His hands kneaded my hips with his warm hands, and I could barely hear him over the sound of my heart beating. “And what would that be?”

  “Me.”

  I tilted my head. “You? And what do you propose to do to make the world go away?”

  As we spoke, I naturally leaned into him until my hands were braced on the back of the couch and our mouths mere breaths from each other.

  “Can I kiss you?” I swore there was a shakiness in his voice.

  “Please.” The word came out like a moan.

  His lips were on mine in seconds. At first, they were timid, testing, but I leaned into it, needing more—desperate for more. He turned his head and moved his hands to cup my face. I scooted closer, inching up my knees, craving every part of me to be against every part of him.

  He pulled back and smiled at me, but I wasn’t ready for my first kiss to be over. Not by a long shot. Tangling my fingers in the hair at the back of his head, I pulled him back, turning his chuckle into a groan. He licked my bottom lip, asking for entrance, and I gave it to him, so lost in the moment.

  “Darlin’,” he murmured, pulling back, as breathless as me. He held my shoulders with his palms like he needed me at a distance before he lost control.

  I was right there on the edge of control myself.

  “What? Did I not do it right? I mean, I never have before…”

  He blew out a breath, and it fanned over my face. “That was your first kiss?”

  I shrugged, bashful all of a sudden. “Yeah. It’s not like boys were knocking down the door. Not like now.”

  “I’m honored you would give it to me. And for the record, you did that extremely well. So well I’m having a hard time not asking you for more—not asking you for things neither of us are quite ready for.”

  I stroked his hair. “Maybe it wasn’t enough to make me go to sleep.”

  He laughed and took my hands from his hair and kissed each palm. “Well, you’re going to have to make do. I’m a gentleman, after all, and you, my…you are everything I want to be careful with. I have to patrol now before I get myself in trouble. You are more tempting than you know.”

  “Do you have to go?” I asked, feeling a little let down.

  “I do. My need to protect you is almost as great as my need to kiss you. And that’s saying something.” His ears reddened again. I knew something was up. “Mind if I tuck you in?”

  “Not at all.”

  He carried me to my bed and tucked me in before bringing my chair in and putting it by my bed. I sighed as he placed the sweetest kiss on my forehead.

  He leaned back, and I pouted. “Oh, no, you can’t do that to me. Put that weapon away before one of us gets hurt.”

  He and I both cracked up, and I promised to get some sleep.

  Promise or not, I spent the rest of the night tossing and turning, swearing I could hear him outside, hear every footstep, every breath, every wisp of wind through the trees.

  Tomorrow without sleep was going to suck.

  Chapter Eighteen

  The rest of the week went off without a hitch, but Brandon didn’t return for a make-out session like I’d hoped he would. We texted a bit at night but really hadn’t face-to-face touched base.

  I’d offered to meet Moss at the library after work, but he suggested studying at my house since it was right after his patrol. These guys put so much time and effort into protecting me. and sometimes, I wondered if the threat was still there.

  “You’re making this entirely too hard, Wendi.” In seconds, he explained the word problem in a way that made total and complete sense.

  “That’s it?” I asked, dumbfounded by how complicated I’d managed to turn something simple.

  “Yep. Now go to the next and see if you can figure that one out on your own.”

  I realized each of the four guys who seemed to like me, or, at least, tolerate me, was a champion for me in his own way.

  Eschel and Cash wanted me to be physically strong, to walk more each day, to strive for those physical goals.

  Brandon wanted me to protect myself even if right now that meant just remembering the deadbolt.

  And Moss wanted me to pursue my education on my own. They each offered their help along the way, but they wanted me to meet my challenges head on instead of trying to do things for me.

  I worked through the problem and, while I got the answer wrong because of a simple arithmetic issue, the solving was on point, and Moss got up from his seat and kissed my temple as a reward.

  “I’m a math genius!” I yelled and raised my arms up high.

  “Don’t get cocky, sweetheart. It’s the cocky ones who get kicked in the teeth.”

  I screwed up my face. “By math?”

  He chuckled long and hard. “Yes, by math. Come on and finish up. It’s getting late.”

  He was right. It was almost eleven, and everything had begun to ache. I finished up my homework, and Moss told me he was proud of me.

  I yawned. “I’m gonna get to bed. You’re probably exhausted.”

  He shrugged one shoulder. “I’m probably going to go home and read until I pass out.”

  “Oh yeah? What does Moss read at night?”

  He chuckled, reached into his bag, and pulled out a copy of Love is a Dog from Hell. “Yeah, I’m loving this guy lately.”

  “That’s really sexy. I mean, I pegged you for a
romantic, but this is beyond my expectations.” Sarcasm was my second language.

  “What? The innards are better than the title. Smartass. Anyway, the best romantics get a little…gnarly around the edges from time to time.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “I doubt it seriously.”

  He made a huffing sound. “I bet I can prove it to you. I bet I can have you loving his writing before the night is over.”

  “What are your terms?”

  “If I win and you like it, which you will, I get to kiss you.”

  I gasped, but it didn’t seem to faze him.

  “And if you don’t…”

  “You have to read a book I like.”

  He sighed. “Not the vampires. Anything but the vampires.”

  I wheeled backward, ready to go to the couch and read his book. “If you don’t want to…”

  “Alternate idea, but the bet still holds,” he blurted.

  “I’m listening.”

  “You go put your pajamas on and get into bed and I read Bukowski to you until you fall asleep or we have our verdict.”

  Gods, I loved the banter with Moss.

  “You’re trying to get me in bed, Mr. Chambers.”

  He chuckled and scrubbed his hand over his reddening cheeks. “Maybe.”

  I laughed out loud. “Ten minutes.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  I rushed to my bedroom and got out of my chair to put on my pajamas. I got the top on then braced one hand on the dresser and bent down to put the bottoms on. I lifted my foot and tried to step in, but lost my balance and fell against the dresser then onto the carpet with an oomph. I heard Moss stomping down the hall and then the door open.

  “Don’t you dare come in. I’m not dressed. I’m okay.”

  “That didn’t sound okay. Please let me help. It’s killing me.” His voice sounded as though not helping me was actually causing him physical pain.

  “Okay, but keep your eyes closed,” I demanded. No way he was seeing me with my pants down around my ankles. Shit, I needed to wear sexier underwear.