Sundown & Serena Read online

  Nick gave a guttural roar, and charged, Vince right behind him. Kev fought hard with them, roaring over and over. Soon, the sand was wet with blood. Nick backed off first, whimpering a little with a large gash on his side. Vince followed suit, limping on three legs. But my eyes were all for my warrior, who was coming fast to me.

  I crouched down for him, readying myself, and then I felt him roaring, thrusting hard into me like a jackhammer. He let out a roar as he came, and then withdrew. But in another moment, I felt him enter me again, just as roughly, and again, within seconds he finished. I swiped at him that time with my claws, my harsh bellow telling him he wasn’t pleasing me. Kev chuffed in response, asking me to be patient with him. He mounted me again. This time, he lasted long enough so my roaring joined his, as we screamed out our pleasure into the night. The next time, a few seconds after, he lasted longer.

  Forty-five minutes later, Kev tried to enter me again, and couldn’t. He gave it one more attempt, and then walked away from me, lying in the shade of a palm tree some yards away.

  My two other paramours were already coming towards me. Vince took Kev’s place, growling, and snarling at Nick, who roared furiously back at him, yet backed away. Vince lasted one stroke in me, and came. Annoyed, I swiped at him, connecting this time with my claws. I drew blood from his nose, and he yelped. But he didn’t strike me back, just grabbed hold of me again, pushing inside me even as I squirmed under him.

  Soon, he was pleasuring me, and we were roaring together, losing ourselves in the rut until he was exhausted. Twenty minutes later, he joined Kev under the tree.

  Nick came to me then, and I swiped at him, telling him there would be none of what had gone on before, to enter me at all without pleasing me. He chuffed at me, then rubbed his head against my side, weaving back and forth. The action strangely mellowed me, and I crouched for him obediently. When he mounted me, I got a pleasant surprise: he lasted long enough his first time to bring me. Even though we continued on after, he didn’t grow soft, or withdraw. And every time he brought me, until finally he grew soft, and dismounted.

  I turned to him questioningly. In my bear mind, I was completely sexually sated. But I also felt the need to run, to dig, and to eat. When he chuffed at me and ran away, I followed him.

  He ran to a nearby sealed barrel, and knocked it over. Meat spilled out, and we both began eating greedily, bolting down the large chunks of raw meat. When I’d eaten my fill, he finished what I left. Then I noticed that Vince and Kev were also eating from a similar barrel under the tree.

  Nick nipped me with his teeth, and I roared in mock annoyance. He ran into the surf with me in hot pursuit. We wrestled, the waves crashing over us, and Kev and Nick joined us.

  The next hour was almost more fun than the sex. We played together in the surf, and rolled in the sand. I dunked all of them in waves, and they rose up, eyes closed, water dripping from their drooping ears to shake hard, spraying salt water everywhere.

  Finally utterly exhausted, I walked up and sprawled on the sand and dozed. My body began to change back. My fur and claws receded, and my form grew smaller, and soon, I was human again.

  The men saw me changing back, and changed back, too. As soon as they were human, Vince went right to Kev, and punched him in the face. “This was our idea!” Vince said angrily, and Nick echoed that he was right. “What right did you have to crash?”

  “I was and am the strongest,” Kev said arrogantly, wiping the blood off his mouth. “I’m alpha bear here, Vince. You’re beta. And Nick, you aren’t even ranked.”

  “Fuck you!” Nick roared. “You had no right. We aren’t wolves, that there is any kind of pack hierarchy rules for mating!”

  “I went in on that potion,” Kev said, shrugging on his clothes, which lay draped on a nearby bush. “You think your salaries covered it? You needed mine to pay for the transportation of it here, which cost the same as to make it. It only keeps for a few days, so it needs to be teleported via demon. You’re just lucky that I kept the other bears away from the beach tonight, Nick. Or there’d have been none of her left for you.”

  Nick swore at him, but he didn’t move to hit him. Kev looked at us, eyes glittering, and then strode off.

  Vince came to me, and hugged me. “Are you okay?” he asked hesitantly. “Please believe me, we didn’t intend to hurt you, or to have you feel forced into taking on all three of us in one night.”

  “I’m okay,” I said, giving him a smile as he let go of me. “I had a lot of fun. It felt really good, to be animal.” I felt unshed tears gather in my eyes. “I never had any idea...”

  Nick came over and hugged me. “We’ll help you try to be fox,” he whispered in a tender voice. “Males can usually bring females into their animal form and back, the way Kev did to trigger your bear transformation. We’ll start trying tomorrow.”

  I was touched, and some of my tears spilled over, even as I smiled happily. “Thank you.”

  Vince grabbed me up in his arms, laughing, and carried me up to the house, Nick following with their weapons and our clothes.

  Chapter Six

  I walked inside that night feeling wonderful. The night was quiet, and I was very tired. After we’d dressed, Vince and Nick had left me to go to their posts, and I was feeling how exhausted I was. I need to get to bed before I fall down.

  “Fuck me,” a soft hissing voice said. I stopped dead in my tracks. It had come from above me, near my room.

  “Not in my bedroom,” a deeper hissing voice replied. “I told you that, Esperanza. Wait for me near the stairs. I’ll only be a minute.”

  “Fuck me now, Lash, or I’m leaving!” she hissed back. “And I want to be in a real bed for a change!”

  “I pay you, and I say where we fuck, and when!” he hissed angrily. “Wait for me there!”

  “Bastard!” she spat at him. “You think you’re so good of a lay that I need to put up with your shit? You aren’t! There’s a python I know who...”

  There was the harsh sound of flesh striking flesh, and a woman’s cry of pain.

  “Wait for me near the stairs,” Lash hissed in a low threatening tone. “And God help you if you aren’t there when I get there, Esperanza.”

  I am not going up there, no way. I stayed quiet and motionless, right where I was.

  A woman came slowly down the hallway, holding the right side of her face. She continued down to the bottom of the stairs. She was very pretty, with long dark hair, full lips, and a lush body.

  Why would she ever bed Lash? She might be weresnake, but I knew she wasn’t his species. And he’d just hit her. What an asshole.

  Lash came walking fast down the upstairs hallway toward her, his gaze locked on her. From my hidden alcove, I felt a shiver of fear. Lash went down the stairs, grabbed Esperanza by the back of her neck, and gave her a shove. “Get to the couch,” he hissed. “And drop your skirt, before I drop it for you.”

  I stayed still, riveted.

  Esperanza backed away from him, showing him her own snake fangs in a warning hiss. Lash bared his fangs back at her, then grabbed hold of her, throwing her to the couch. He unzipped his pants. She got up, and tried to run, but he grabbed her again, pushing her face down on the couch.

  “Hold still, you bitch!” he hissed. Esperanza tried to bite him in response. He slapped her hard, knocking her to the couch on her belly. She tried to crawl away from him over the back of the couch, but he grabbed her hips, tearing her underwear down. With a quick motion, he pulled her hips back against him hard. Esperanza let out a cry, going still. He pulled down her low cut tank top, baring her large breasts, and he grabbed hold of them in his hands, squeezing roughly. Lash let out a loud hiss of satisfaction, and then he was hammering himself into her, trapping her body against the couch as he thrust fiercely into her, and she was struggling, but she seemed to be moaning, too. He gripped her hard, his one hand moving up from her breast to wind in her hair, the other still fondling her breasts.

  “Yes, lover, just like
that!” Esperanza hissed. “Yes, stroke me! Fuck me! Harder!” Her struggles are and were really her writhing in pleasure in his grip. This isn’t force; it’s more role-playing. Ugh. Maybe this is where Kev gets his ideas.

  Lash continued to pound himself into her, hissing fast and furiously, his eyes almost closed. Esperanza alternated demanding he fuck her harder with loud hissing noises of pleasure, her eyes tightly shut and her mouth slack with desire. In a few minutes, it was over. Lash jerked, as he came inside her, and Esperanza let out a soft cry of release, collapsing over the couch under him.

  They’d been so quiet, compared to my lovers and me. Maybe it’s a snake thing?

  Lash stood up, and zipped his pants, looking down at her with an angry expression. “There had better not be any fucking python,” he hissed in a dangerous tone. “I told you I’d pay you for every night, but I was going to be your only lover. That was our arrangement.”

  “There isn’t,” she hissed softly, turning to him almost lovingly. “There’s only you.”

  “You’re going to get tested tomorrow,” Lash interrupted. “Before I fuck you again, you’re going to show me you’re safe to fuck.”

  “I’ll do it,” she said quickly, her fangs disappearing, her eyes soft and placating. “I’ll bring you proof tomorrow.”

  “You had better, or you won’t be having any more of me,” he hissed at her. “When I fuck you, I want to feel your flesh against mine. I’m not going to wear a rubber.”

  “You don’t have to, I told you,” she pleaded, coming to him on her hands and knees on the couch. He helped her stand, and she reached up, sliding her hands around his neck. “I don’t want you to, anyway. I’m on the pill.”

  “Go off it!” Lash hissed angrily. “I can’t get you with child, I told you. So there’s no reason for you to be on it, unless you’re fucking someone else besides me.”

  “I will, tonight. I swear, there’s only you. I like to feel you, too, Lash. So much...”

  “I know you do,” he said, hissing in an almost fond manner, and then he kissed her roughly. She wrapped her arms around him, kissing him back passionately.

  He let her go after a moment, though she didn’t take her arms from around him. “You care for me, don’t you?” she said softly. “I like you a lot, Lash. I love being with you, feeling you loving me.”

  She must be crazy. Well, she’s his lover, so she has to be just from that decision.

  “You’re nice,” he said gently, looking down at her. “That’s all I want in a woman, Esperanza. Just to have someone to be with, to coil with, and not have to share her with another snake.”

  “You have that, in me. But I’d like it, if we could be more,” she offered, kissing his neck gently. “I could be your woman, Lash. There doesn’t need to be money between us.”

  Lash took her arms off him gently, and pushed her away. “There is too much danger here for that. I’m not that kind of man, Sweetfang. You knew that when I first made arrangements with you. Things are better staying as they are.”

  He walked her to the door, and opened it for her.

  “Okay,” she said with a sultry smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow then. I’ll bring you the proof.”

  “Be safe going to your home,” Lash hissed gently, and shut the door behind her.

  I made a quick dash for the stairs. The movement caught Lash’s attention. I blushed red as he gave me a knowing look. “You watched us.”

  I flushed deeper. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to.”

  “You thought I was raping her, didn’t you?” he said angrily, as I backed away from him.

  “I didn’t...I don’t judge,” I offered lamely.

  “She likes me being rough with her, even sometimes to hurt her,” Lash hissed softly. “I don’t understand it myself, but she needs it, to get enjoyment out of sex. I do it, though some of what she asks me to do to her appalls me.”

  “I saw that,” I uttered, hoping I wasn’t making a bigger hole for myself. I hadn’t expected him to be thoughtful enough to care what his partner needed, since he was paying her. But my guys cared about my happiness. Why shouldn’t he be the same?

  “I’d rather be gentler,” Lash went on, looking at me with his cold eyes. “I like sharing soft caresses with a woman, to make love to one. I miss it badly. But I can’t do that with her. And she is the only were in this place who will let me touch her.”

  I flushed dark crimson at his words, the reason for his explanation clear. He wants me to reconsider, to let him come to me.

  I looked at his snake eyes and fangs, and knew I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t even imagine kissing him. What if he wants some kind of fantasy, like Kev? Bile rose in my throat, and I swallowed hard.

  “I see your revulsion in your eyes,” he hissed flatly. “Forget I said anything.” He stalked past me, and up the stairs. His bedroom door closed with a slam, and I almost fell to my knees in relief. Somehow, I got to my bedroom, shut and locked the door, then collapsed on the bed.

  While I felt badly for Lash’s situation, what could I do? There was nothing he could do that would make me not fear him. And there was no way I wanted him inside me. Not ever.

  * * * *

  That next week, after four nights of attempting transformations with Nick and Vince, I finally changed form. I became coyote first, not a fox. It felt so good to finally run, to finally be what I’d always known on some subconscious level I was. Two nights later, I managed finally to take fox form. It was very different, though I wasn’t that much smaller. I seemed way too short, and my legs too tiny to support me. Yet Vince and Nick encouraged me with their friendly chuffs. With their help, I adjusted to my new forms rapidly.

  Of course, the inevitable happened. No sooner had I become animal than I wanted sex. I spent a good part of my first night in each form whining pitifully, rolling on my back, and scooting along on all fours with my tail raised in hopeless anticipation. Nick and Vince stroked my fur, and told me again and again they were sorry, but they couldn’t do what I needed.

  Vince came to me the night after I turned coyote, and told me he would put up the money to get a potion for himself to become coyote, as I hadn’t earned enough yet from working with Devlin to pay what the potion would cost. After I became fox, Nick came to me and said the same thing the next day, in terms of that form. Devlin himself visited me the night after, and told me he was pleased with my “adventuresome spirit” and he would put up some of the money himself, as I’d been a “good sport” about Kev “joining us.”

  I got a little chill, thinking I’d been wise to accept Kev’s extra money, and to do what he requested of me. Holding in my nervousness, I thanked Devlin and accepted his help, glad I’d maneuvered the tricky situation successfully.

  Chapter Seven

  I was reading in bed on the afternoon of Halloween. Vince and Nick were in the closest small tourist town, getting me some candy along with supplies for the estate: bullets, some meat, some new clothes for themselves, some bottled water, and some kind of discs for Devlin’s laptop. There was a knock at the door.

  I got up with surprise, and went to answer it. I had no one scheduled for that day until nine, when Vince got back.

  Maybe it’s Jazz. He’d come to me apologetically a few times now for sex. His mate, Valerie, sometimes said nasty things to me, and he apologized for that, too. According to him, though Valerie liked sex, she would permit it only one way. And like most men, he liked it another way sometimes, a way she wasn’t willing to do for him. I’d asked Devlin about it the first time Jazz had approached me, not wanting to cause trouble. He replied that Jazz had come to him asking and requested that I comply. “Val will deal with it,” he said, rolling his eyes. “If she’d just blow him once in a while, he’d never look at another woman. But it’s her choice to say no. Just as it’s his choice to look elsewhere for satisfaction.”

  I’d flushed and nodded. And the few times Jazz had come to me since then, I’d taken care of him.

  T
o my surprise, Lars was the guard standing at my door, not Jazz. He looked anxious, almost rattled. “Serena, could you do me?” he said, sounding almost desperate. “I need it bad.”

  I hadn’t seen him since he’d left for Rio weeks ago. I’d thought he’d decided I wasn’t worth Dev’s price, or something. But Devlin hadn’t said he’d stopped paying. Maybe he’d been delayed in Rio? I opened my mouth to say “yes,” and then got a good look in his eyes. They were glassy and bloodshot. He’s on something. “No, I’m sorry,” I said, closing the door. “Come back tomorrow. I have someone coming at six.”

  “They can fucking wait!” he roared, growing fangs. “I told you I need it, bitch! Now get undressed!”

  “No!” I grabbed the door, and tried to slam it. He grabbed it too, and pushed back.

  “Stop!” I screamed. “Help!”

  I pushed back hard as he tried to push his way into the room, wishing Vince or Nick were here. Lars was stronger than I was, and with a crack, he pushed the door fully open, knocking me to the floor, and burying the doorknob in the bedroom wall.

  “You whore! You’re going to do what I say, and I’ll call you anything I want to!” he said, starting towards me. “When I get through with you...”

  A sharp crack sounded. Lars roared, and turned, a fresh stripe down his back bleeding through the hole in his shirt, just in time to get a bullet through the heart. He fell to his knees, and then Lash put another bullet between his eyes. Lars’ body fell to the floor, twitching.

  Lash came to me, and helped me to my feet. I was still so scared I hugged him. “Are you all right?” he hissed gently.

  “Yes,” I said, stepping away from him, and trying to compose myself. “He just went crazy.”

  Lash flicked out his tongue, and a good foot of it came out of his mouth, vibrating. I shivered slightly, as he repeatedly scented the air. “Meth,” he pronounced disdainfully. “And probably coke, too.” He paused, flicking his tongue out again. “And fresh VD, probably bear type, but I can’t tell for sure.” He looked over at me. “Good he didn’t get to you, or you’d have caught it.”