Read Between the Lines

Okay my wonderful readers I have a special treat for you I have the Lovely Dawn Kirby the author of the Serenity Series here today and she has wrote the second part of her short Flash Fiction {Claimed} for all of us to enjoy. So Grab a drink and enjoy this Flash Fiction Short.

Part 2

“Come with me,” Adam said. He got up and offered his hand. I took it, allowing him to guide me through the cold creek.

“Where are we going?” I asked, dodging a branch.

“My house,” he answered. “You need food, warmth and clothes. After that we can talk.”

“About what?” I asked. I looked behind me and smiled. Had someone told me earlier my run would end with a romp in the woods with Adam, I would have thought they were nuts. “I think it’s safe to say we both got what we wanted.”

He stopped suddenly and yanked my naked body to his. His amber eyes twinkled much brighter than they had before as his fingers raked down my back. Our lips locked. My hands slid around his waist and up his back, settling in his hair until he broke away.

“I want more,” he growled. Keeping my hand in his, he continued through the brush. “I wasn’t kidding when I said I’d stake a claim of my own.”

I stopped in my tracks, stunned. Fear gripped me. Yes he’d said that, but I thought it had only been said in the heat of the moment. When my hand slid from his, I thought about running. But to where? Home? No, I wasn’t ready to face my uncle again. I didn’t want to face him again. And now there was this.

Adam turned on his heel, rolled his eyes and grabbed my arm again. Whether I wanted to move or not, I followed him. All the while my mind was reeling. How could I have been so damn stupid? He’d said neither pack had a good leader. How could I have let passion get the best on me like that? How could I have let my guard down like that? Especially with a leader as aggressive as he’s known to be.

Before long the trees gave way to grass. I looked up from the ground to see a cobblestone path lit by solar lights. Rose bushes lined each side leading us to a huge two-story log home. Adam pushed open the heavy oak door and ushered me inside. He gestured me into what I could only assume was the living room. While he threw logs into the fireplace I stood there, watching and waiting.

“My room’s upstairs and to your right,” he said, his back to me. He tossed another log into the fire and dusted off his hands. “There’s a spare robe in the closet.” He stood up and looked at me. A sly smile spread across his face. “Not that I think you need it. You could walk around here like that all night and I’d be fine with it.”

I nodded my head and started to go upstairs. He rushed to me. My eyes quickly found the floor. No matter what had happened between us, I was still out of my element. I was still an outsider.

He raised my chin, forcing me to look at him. “You’re uncomfortable?”

I crossed my arms over my chest nervously. “Honestly?” He nodded. “I’m scared.”

“Scared? Why on earth would you be scared? I don’t remember threatening you. I don’t remember hurting you.” He raised an eyebrow. “Well, anymore than called for.”

“I’m not part of your pack, Adam,” I whispered. “I shouldn’t even be here.”

“But you are. And I intend to keep you here.”

“More territory?”

“Isn’t it natural?” he asked. “To take what your uncle offered to the imp he gave you to? Why should he have it and not me? I’m ten times the man he is. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“From what I know of you, yes.” From what I’d just experienced…hell yes.

“Then what’s the problem?” He sat down on a cushy brown leather couch, looking up at me. “Well?”

“First, as soon as my uncle finds out I’ve gone out without an escort he’s going to confine me to the house indefinitely. When he finds out I’ve been with you.” I stopped there because I didn’t even want to begin to go there just yet. “Second, you know what going after two packs is going to start. It won’t be pleasant.”

“You’re no longer your uncle’s problem,” he said firmly. “If he even tries to come in here and take you away he’ll see what me and my pack are made of. As for the other,” he waved his hand as if he was swatting a fly. “If I didn’t think I could handle it, I wouldn’t bother.”

He reached out to me. There was something oddly comforting in the way he looked at me. I took his hand and sat beside him. I was torn between the Adam I’ve seen and the Adam I’ve heard about. One was warm and friendly. The other was a force to be reckoned with.

“You make it really hard to believe all those rumors about you,” I told him.

“Make no mistake, I can be vicious if pushed. Hurt me, betray me, play me and you’ll see first hand. That I promise you now.” I stiffened a little, knowing what the harsh tone in his voice meant. I’d heard my uncle use it plenty of times before. “Look, I’ve been patient. I’ve sat on my hands waiting for your engagement to fall apart. Now that it has, I can have everything I deserve.”

I wanted to ask him what the hell he meant by all of that, but my mouth refused to work. Four years? He’d been plotting this for four years?

“I see he never told you.”

“Told me what?” He was undoubtedly my dear, old uncle.

“My dad went to him years ago. He assumed your dad had told him what they had planned before your parents were killed. Hell everybody else knew, including you. It didn’t matter though. He dismissed everything and handed you to that useless son of bitch while you still in that damn hospital.”

“Wait a second.” I couldn’t wrap my head around it. My parents had been killed in a car accident. I’d been badly injured and put in a medically induced coma for months after. Thanks to that, remembering them was hard enough. Trying to remember a conversation I may or may not have heard was impossible. “We were? My dad promised me to-”

“Sure did.” He looked at the ceiling and back down at me. “I’ve still got all the paperwork upstairs. Never could bring myself to throw it away.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Not that I had seen him often. A few pack events here and there. “Why don’t I know this?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “You were hurt pretty bad. I wasn’t surprised when you couldn’t remember me. Anyway, I had to let it fall apart on it’s own. Had I interfered at all, I would have been accused of sabotage. Besides, I had a pack to build up on my own. Not to mention a life.”

“And if I don’t this? If I don’t want you?”

“Say you don’t.”

“Could be lust.” I couldn’t say I wasn’t attracted to him. “You are a very handsome man.”

“I never claimed to love you,” he said dryly. “Stay with me because the sex is good.”

“I’ve only had you once. What’s to say good is the norm?”

“The same can be said for you.”

“Is that a challenge?” I asked him.

“An observation.”

Something clicked inside me. The same something that had clicked when I’d finally been brave enough to call off my engagement. At that moment all I wanted was to set myself free. At this moment all I wanted was Adam. Again. To hell with politics. To hell with family. To hell with love. It was time to let fate lead me.

I straddled his body and kissed him. His hand dug into the back of my head. He wanted me as much as I wanted him. Not willing to waste another second, I lifted my hips and let him fill me again. His fingers bit into my hips as I rolled them around him.

His hands locked onto my shoulders, forcing my hips into his. Our bodies grinded together. Sweat rolled down my cheeks. He licked it away sending chills down my spine. I tightened the muscles inside me. He moaned and bit my lip. I bit back, drawing blood. Nothing on this earth had ever tasted so good. It seemed to excite him more than it did me.

His thrusts came deeper, harder. I felt my body convulse, spent. His hold tightened even more. I braced against his strength, his speed. He kissed me again, the bitter taste of blood still on his lips. I broke and hugged him to me. His hips jarred against me. Sweet pain cut through me. I bit down hard on the soft skin of his neck. My nails tore down his back leaving bloody marks in their wake. I squeezed my legs into his. His hand ripped through my hair as he came. I collapsed against him, breathless and exhausted.

“Challenge met,” he said with a chuckle.

“I should say so,” I whispered. I sat up to look at him and saw the blood on his bottom lip. “Sorry about the blood. I’m not sure what got into me.”

He wiped it away and smiled. “Don’t be. Lets me know I’m doing something right. Besides, a little pain in my experience can be a good thing.”

“Glad you think so. Your back may not agree with you later though.”

“I’m sure I’ll live.” He patted my leg, gesturing me off. I scooted to the side to allowing him to stand. “You’ll stay?” I nodded. “You’ll let me handle this situation my way?” I nodded. “That could mean breaking ties with your uncle.”

“I realize that,” I told him.

He narrowed his eyes at me. “You aren’t much for loyalty, are you?”

“How ‘bout I’m tired of everybody else telling me what I should be doing with my life. Just once I’d like to make my own mistakes. I won’t say this isn’t wrong, it may very well be. But for once it’s my choice to make.”

“Fair enough,” he said rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “Tell me, when it comes to you who makes the decisions? I know your uncle has the final say, but how many others are involved?

“My aunt and cousin. Uncle Ben’s betas. Other than that, I’m not sure.”

“Good, good.” He glanced at something behind me and then cleared his throat. “Go get a shower. I’ll whip up a little something to eat and we’ll figure things out from there. Sound good?”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” I said. Something felt off. I stood up and looked to see if I could see what had caught his eye before, but didn’t see anything other than the fridge. Maybe he was as hungry as I was?

“Let’s get busy then,” he said. He saw our reflections in one of the picture windows and laughed. “Maybe I should grab some clothes myself. Hot grease and bare skin don’t exactly mix well.”

He showed me upstairs, handed me his spare robe and left me to take a shower. I turned on the water and hovered by the door waiting until I heard his closet door open. When it did I cracked the bathroom door a little. I hadn’t dismissed his reaction to whatever he’d seen downstairs and I regardless of what I said, I didn’t plan on walking into this with blinders on. Living the way I had for the past few years I’d discovered nothing comes without strings.

I heard his phone ring. He quickly answered it. “I told you to wait for my call,” he growled into the headset. “If she had seen you. Next time I give you an order, you better damn well follow it.”

I heard footsteps coming down the hall. I looked through the crack in the door to see a skinny blond man walk into the room. He had a smile on his face and a definite spring in his step.

He shook Adam’s hand and hung up his phone. Adam tossed his on the dresser and finished getting dressed.

“So what’s the plan?” the blond man asked. “She seems willing enough.”

“Nothing’s changed,” Adam told him. “She knows the score. This is business and sex.”

“Damn good sex from what I saw,” Blondie snorted. I felt my face flush.

“I’m not complaining,” Adam said. “That son of bitch she was engaged to was doing something wrong with that one.”

“We don’t all have your magic touch, Adam.” He handed Adam a piece of paper and sat down on the bed. “I got the numbers you asked for. If we’re doing this, we better do it now. They’re already out looking for her.”

“I knew they would be. She’s their biggest asset.”

“You call Hunter and Logan. Tell them I need them here now. I’ll handle the rest. Don’t get complacent on me either. Once Ben finds out she’s mine now all hell is going to break loose.”

“You asking for the money too?”

Money? There’s money? I strained my ears harder not wanting to miss a word.

“I don’t want it, it’s hers,” Adam told him. “I doubt she knows it’s there though. Doc can look at the legalities later. Right now all I’m interested in is her, territory and avoiding a pack war.”

“That’s inevitable,” Blondie said, shaking his head. “Like you said, you have Ben’s biggest asset. Without her he’s nothing.”

If you have enjoyed this short please share some love for the author. I have asked Dawn to be a regular with Flash Fiction Shorts.

I'm a wife, a mother, a writer and a dreamer. I spend my days working a full time job, caring for my husband of 16 years, my kids; Tristan, Aishlynn and Shelby and our growing number of pets. My nights are for my stories; my paranormal world and the many characters I've come to love. My writing career started with a nagging idea that refused to go away and has blossomed into a raging passion. Now I can't imagine my life without a pen and a piece of paper in my hand.