Chapter Eleven

“No wonder you’re always half dressed.”

Aidan paused in pulling on his tunic and turned to face Rachel. He’d woken to find her dozing next to him, one arm draped protectively over his back. It had touched something deep inside, created a tight feeling in his chest that he’d never felt before and wasn’t sure he wanted to feel now. But he couldn’t deny the connection between them. From the very beginning, when her fellow Earthers had dragged him half conscious onto their ship, she hadn’t seemed to recognize the danger he posed to her. Or maybe she’d had the right of it, because as satisfying as it had been to slaughter her crew, he’d never once considered attacking her.

Earlier, he’d wanted to put his arms around her and hold her close. But he hadn’t been sure how she’d react to waking next to a naked man instead of a cuddly big cat. So he’d forced himself to slide out from under her grasp, moving one muscle at a time so as not to disturb her. She was safe as long as he was in the vicinity, so there was no need to clutch her to his chest, no matter how tempting the idea was.

He studied her now, trying to gauge her reaction to his big reveal. Shit. Rhodry was going to kill him when he found out. But that was in the future. Right now, he had to deal with Rachel.

“Shifters don’t worry much about being naked, but others do,” he explained. “We can’t drag a full set of clothes around with us, so we cache these throughout the Green.” He shrugged. “There’s none in the swamp, though, and this is my last pair. So, if I have to shift again…” He grinned, then stilled, waiting for her response.

“Don’t bother on my account,” she said dryly. “I enjoy the view. And don’t pretend you don’t know how good you look.”

His grin widened. “I try.”

She rolled her eyes, then sighed, her expression grim. “We have to talk.”

“About this,” he asked, gesturing at himself. “Nothing I can do about it, sweetheart.”

“No, not that. Although, you must know I have questions. And I still can’t believe you didn’t tell me, but…there’s something more important, something you need to know about Wolfrum.”

Aiden stilled. “Wolfrum?” he repeated. “You mean Guy Wolfrum?”

She nodded. “He’s your traitor.”

Aidan wanted to be shocked, but he wasn’t. There’d always been something off about the Earther scientist, something that had offended shifter sensibilities like a piece of bad meat. Rhodry hadn’t trusted him, nor had Amanda. Her instincts had weighed heavily on Rhodry’s opinion, of course, but they’d carried weight with Aidan and the other shifters, too. She’d proven herself too many times, both during the Guild trials and after, proven her intellect and abilities, not to mention the strength of her connection to the Green. Plus, she’d served with Wolfrum on the Earther ship. If she sensed something suspicious about him, they had to listen.

Aidan finished pulling on his tunic. “Tell me,” he said, but she wouldn’t look at him. He hadn’t known her long, but long enough to know that wasn’t typical for her. She was nothing if not forthright, sometimes defiantly so. The news about Wolfrum was bad enough, even if it wasn’t a complete surprise. That she wouldn’t meet his gaze meant there was more, and maybe worse.

“What is it, Rachel?”

She sighed, and when she finally looked up, her face was lined with misery and…guilt?

“You need to know,” she said as she drew closer, stopping a few feet away as if unsure of her welcome. “Fuck. There’s a second ship, Aidan. I think that’s where Wolfrum is.”

Aidan stared. “A second ship?”

Rachel nodded, then crouched down to dig her damn map out of her backpack. He watched her in disbelief. She’d been lying to him all along about going to the city to confront Wolfrum. She wasn’t trying to get to the city, she was trying to find the second ship.

“So what was your plan?” he asked. “Unless Wolfrum’s somehow managed to land his ship in the middle of Ciudad Vaquero, you were never going to the city. So how’d you plan to get there? And why didn’t you tell me the truth?” He was angry at her deception, but even more at her betrayal. They’d fought and survived together. He’d started to think there was something more between them, more than traveling companions, more even than friends. She’d been lying to him all along, keeping the truth about the threat to his people from him.

There were tears in her eyes when she met his stare. “It sounds stupid now, but I swear I thought Wolfrum would kill you if I told you where they were. I knew you’d go after him, and I was sure Wolfrum would butcher you and the other hunters.”

“Shifters,” he growled. “We’re called shifters.”

She nodded. “But don’t you see, this is so much worse now. Wolfrum knows what you are. That’s why he wanted you, why he wants you, still. And by now, he must know that the first ship failed. They had to have some way of signaling each other. Radios wouldn’t work, but flares would, or who the hell knows what else? If Wolfrum knows, or even suspects, the first ship is dead, he’ll also know that you and the other shifters are the ones who took it out, and that he’s finished, in every way that counts. He’s betrayed not only Harp, but everything on which he built his career.

“He has one last chance to gain something out of this venture, and that’s to capture a shifter and get it to his buyer. But he’ll be desperate by now. There’s nothing he won’t do.”

Aidan clenched his jaw, knowing she was right. He had to get word to Clanhome, and to Rhodry in the city. “Show me where it is,” he growled.

“I’m sorry,” she said earnestly.

He just grunted and jerked his chin at the map.

She lowered her head, chin hitting her chest, eyes closed in resignation. She hung there a long moment then unfolded her map and smoothed it out on the back of her pack. “Here,” she said and looked up expectantly, almost challenging him to join her.

He crouched next to her without a word.

“Okay.” She glanced up once, as if fixing the location of the sun in the sky, and then rotated the map slightly.

Aidan didn’t need to check the sun. He reached out and turned the map to the proper position.

“Ah,” she said, seeming to understand. “This is where we are now.” She pointed. “And this…” She slid her finger in a westerly direction and slightly north, closer to the mountains and Clanhome. “This is the second landing site.”

Aidan studied the map, fixing the site in his head, recalling everything he knew about the area. Wolfrum, the bastard, had chosen well for both ships. He’d picked two remote landing spots, both far from the city. They were on opposite sides of Clanhome, but still in clan territory, guaranteeing the presence of shifter patrols who would respond to an attack like the one that had brought Aidan out of hiding, bringing Wolfrum’s prey right to him.

“There’re no settlements out there,” he muttered, thinking out loud. “No lumber camps that I know of.” He frowned. The first site had been completely remote and unsettled, but there was something about this second site that was striking a nerve. “Right,” he breathed, as it finally hit him. “Cristobal,” he said.

Rachel raised her head in surprise. “Your Ardrigh?”

Aidan nodded, still not looking at her. “His family has an old hunting lodge out there.”

“Will he be there now?”

“Doubtful. I’ve never known him to use it. His grandfather only built it to piss off the clans.”

“If he’s there, will he be alone?”

“Hell, no. He’ll have a whole hunting party with him. All shifters.”

She frowned. “Wolfrum wouldn’t be stupid enough to go after the Ardrigh, would he?”

“Fuck if I know. He’s your guy, not mine.”

She glared, eyes flashing and cheeks flushed hotly. “Fuck you. I’m trying to help.”

“If you were really trying—”

“I explained why I didn’t tell you about the second ship. I was trying to save lives, including yours. And it’s not as if you’ve been forthcoming. You had a big fucking secret of your own.”

“I had a damn good reason for keeping the existence of shifters a secret, which is proved by the fact that your people are here trying to cage us like animals!”

“They are not my people!” She jumped to her feet, matching his glare. “I did everything I could to sabotage their mission. And if you’d told me the truth about your people,” she added, her voice rising along with her anger, “I’d have told you the truth about the other ship from the very beginning!”

Aidan stared at her, breathing hard. He was furious…and more turned on by this woman than he’d ever been in his life. She was beautiful. Forget the weight she’d lost over the days of their trek through the swamp, forget the dirt on her cheek, and the blood on her arm. She was fierce and determined and spitting mad. And she had a point.

He closed the distance between them with a single step, slipped an arm around her waist and tugged her against his chest. Her eyes widened in alarm and then heated with a desire that matched his own. They’d been building toward this for a long time, longer than she even knew. He lowered his head and kissed her.

…

Rachel didn’t know what to think. When he’d slung an arm around her and yanked her forward, she’d been alarmed. He was so much bigger than she was. He could easily overpower her, and even though she had a knife, she wasn’t sure she could use it on him. They’d been through too much together. But when her body collided with his, when her breasts were crushed against his hard chest…she looked up and saw the desire in his eyes and every sexual instinct she possessed came alive. The simmering hunger that had been building between them for days, stoked by every casual touch, every comforting embrace, burst into a raging flame.

Aidan bent his head to kiss her, his mouth unexpectedly gentle, barely touching at first, a soft brush of lips. But when she rose up to meet him, his arm tightened, pulling her onto her toes as he claimed her mouth for his own, his lips firm and demanding, his tongue sliding between her teeth to explore every inch, twisting sensuously around her tongue and then pulling out to stab in and out in a way that caused an ache between her thighs. She lifted her arms around his neck, wanting more, feeling the firm press of his erection behind the thin fabric of his pants, wrapping one leg around his thigh to better rub herself against him, putting the hard length of him between her legs, right where she needed him.

Aidan groaned against her mouth, his fingers digging into her lower back as he held her in place, his cock stroking between her thighs. Rachel grabbed the back of his tunic and pulled, wanting bare skin—

Something heavy crashed onto the forest floor right next to them, so close that its fur brushed against Rachel’s bare arm. Aidan acted before she had a chance to figure out what it was, whipping her around and into the curve of his body, dropping them both to the ground as the trees above them shook as if a violent wind had dipped out of the sky. Debris rained down all around, dead leaves and branches, rock-hard berries that were stinging pellets against her hands where they clutched Aidan close.

“What the fuck?” she asked, breathlessly.

“Cebas,” Aidan said, laughter in his voice. “Paying us back for hunting and killing them these last few days.”

“Fuckers.”

He kissed her briefly, then sighed. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but… This isn’t the time or place, sweetheart. We need to get out of this fucking swamp.”

She echoed his sigh and brushed something wiggly from his shoulder, wondering what the hell she’d been thinking. Had she actually expected to have sex on this slimy, swampy hillside? “Hell,” she said grumpily, “one look at your naked butt and the swamp monster would climb this fucking hill to take a bite.”

He laughed, his eyes more gold than blue as they caught a stray streak of sunshine. “Come on,” he said, jumping to his feet with a catlike grace that made a lot more sense now that she knew what he was. “Let’s climb this last bit of hillside and get some fresh air and real sunshine for a change. There’s a lively stream not too far from the top. The water’s cold, but there’s a good-sized pool that’s shallow enough to warm up a bit in the sunlight. We can get naked and wash off the muck.” He pulled her to her feet, yanked her against his body, and growled, “And finish what we started.” He kissed her hard and fast then set her on her feet, not letting go of her until she was steady. “You ready?” he asked.

She snorted at the stupid question, patted his cheek, then grabbed her pack and started climbing.

…

It took the better part of the day to finally climb out of the rift, leaving the swamp and its treacherous slopes behind. Aidan would have liked another hour or two of sunshine before they stopped for the night. They were back in the Green itself, which meant the foliage was increasingly thick and the canopy similarly dense. It also meant that before long he’d be able to send a warning to Rhodry and the other cousins using the trees’ song. The song wasn’t a message line. He wouldn’t be able to go into detail. But he could alert them to the existence of danger, and they were smart enough to make the connection between the invaders and a new threat. Especially since he was the one ringing the alarm. They all knew he was with Rachel, the woman from the ship.

His thoughts were interrupted by Rachel’s curse when her foot caught on something in the nearly lightless night. He could operate just fine with the minimal glow from Banba, the smallest and most distant of Harp’s moons. But Rachel couldn’t. Even with him taking the lead, forging a trail through the thick brush and cutting away thick vines that blocked their path, her steps had grown slower and more cautious as the sky darkened. In the end, there was no point in pushing it. They were both exhausted after more than a week of daily fights with swamp dwellers, tasteless meals, and too little sleep. It made more sense to stop early enough to have a decent meal and make a comfortable camp.

“Can you smell it, Rachel?” he asked, turning his head slightly so she could hear him without the need to raise his voice. The Green might be better than the swamp, but it was still a dangerous place. If he’d been alone, he’d have climbed a tree and fuck anyone or anything that tried to stop him. But he wasn’t taking any chances with Rachel along. It was better not to draw unnecessary attention to two weary travelers.

She inhaled softly in response to his question and surprised him by saying, “Moving water.”

He grinned, oddly proud of her skill in the wild. As if he’d had anything at all to do with it. “It’s a very small branch of the Leeward Stream,” he confirmed.

“Is that the main east/west river?”

“‘Main’ is a relative term. It’s not all that big. Nothing like the rivers you have on Earth, but it doesn’t need to be. There aren’t that many of us. It’s run-off from the glacier, as much underground as not. By the time it hits the center of the Green, it runs as low as two feet and as high as eight, depending on the season, until it’s finally swallowed up by the southern desert. What you’re smelling now is one of the irregular creeks that feed the swamp. It’s running high right now, which is good for us. Within a month, it’ll be mostly mud.”

“Will we reach it in time to wash up before sunset?”

For the first time, he caught a tired note in her question. Despite his misgivings about Rachel’s fitness for travel through the Green, he had to admit she’d done better than most Harp natives. She couldn’t match his skill, but she didn’t have his inborn advantages. It helped to be able to turn into a giant hunting cat. And then there was the Green, which was once again a steady and soothing song in his head, now that they’d climbed out of that damn rift. Someday, not in his lifetime, the Green would conquer the swamp, and even the swamp monster would be happier.

“With luck, we’ll not only wash up, but we should be able to catch our dinner. There’s always a stray silver or five who gets confused and ends up in the wrong creek. How good are you at cleaning fish?”

She snorted. “I’m assuming silvers are fish, or fish-like. As long as I get to eat it, I can clean and cook anything.”

“You cook?”

She laughed. “Don’t sound so excited. I cook over a campfire. Back home, my parents’ cook fixes care packages for me. All I have to do is heat them up.”

“It’s not so different here. When I’m in Clanhome, I eat mostly in Devlin house. We shifters provide the meat, others prepare the meals.”

“Devlin house?”

“Our clan house. Devlin is the largest of the clans, but we’re sworn to de Mendoza, which is our oldest clan. The head of de Mendoza is the leader of all Clanhome. My cousin Rhodry is the current de Mendoza. He comes to it from his mother’s side. His father was a Devlin.”

“His father’s dead?”

“Aye. An accident when Rhodry was just a lad. He and his mother moved into Devlin house after that, even though her father was still the de Mendoza and still alive. Mean bastard of an old man.”

“And your parents?”

“Alive and well, as are my five sisters, two brothers, and more cousins than I can count. No one crosses the Devlins. We’re a tight bunch, and there’s a lot of us.”

“Are you all shifters?”

“Most of the lads.”

She caught up and pulled him to a stop. “None of the women?” she asked, looking up at him curiously.

He tipped his head to one side, thinking. Since she knew shifters existed, which was Harp’s biggest secret, was there any reason not to tell her that the trait was sex-linked? Rachel wasn’t stupid. She’d figure it out for herself once she reached Clanhome, where she’d be surrounded by shifters. She was bound to notice they were all male, so he might as well tell her. He scowled at the sudden image of Rachel surrounded by his many alpha male cousins.

“The trait is sex-linked,” he told her. “A shifter’s sons will always be shifters. His daughters won’t even carry the gene.”

“Really?” She turned and started walking again. “I wonder how the founding colonists worked that out.”

“I don’t think anyone knows. The records were destroyed.”

“So you said. I’m not sure I believe you, but that’s all right. Harp’s entitled to her secrets.”

He caught up and wrapped an arm around her waist, lifting her off her feet a moment before she would have kicked a zillah nest, nearly invisible in the twilight of dusk.

“What?” she asked, then looked down. “What the hell is that?”

“Zillah lizard. They burrow into the ground for their nests. Our footsteps stirred them up.”

“Are they poisonous?”

“No, just disgusting once they reproduce.”

“Huh. You can put me down now.”

Aidan blinked in surprise and set her on her feet, carefully away from the zillah. He hadn’t been consciously aware that he was still holding her. “There’s a good spot about thirty feet that way,” he said, guiding her to the left of their path. “You can’t see it from here, but the bathing pool I told you about is there, and at the bend in the creek, you can usually snag some silvers. Use your flashlight.”

“It won’t hurt your night vision?”

“I’m not that delicate.”

She gave a breathy laugh as if she didn’t believe him, but dug out her small LED light and turned it on, aiming it just ahead of her feet. Aidan followed slowly, drinking in the song of the trees like a man who’d been dying of thirst. It was something he’d never been without, a call he’d first heard in his mother’s womb. He listened now, reaching far beyond their current location, searching for any hint that the second ship had attacked the Green, certain the trees’ agony would carry to every shifter on the planet.

He found nothing, which meant there was still time to stop Wolfrum from carrying out his sick plans. He glanced ahead to where Rachel had found the camping spot he’d indicated. She’d already dropped her pack and was sitting on the ground untying her boots. His awareness already mingled with that of the trees, he reached out, searching for some sign of his cousins, or any shifter, really. He found no one, but sent the warning anyway, hoping someone would be close enough to hear it.

“God, that feels good.”

He turned his head at the sound of Rachel’s quiet exclamation, watching as she tugged off her socks and began rubbing her feet.

“I hope you’re right about this place,” she called softly, without looking up. “If I wake up with disgusting bugs in my boots, I’m dumping them on your head.”

Aidan laughed as he walked closer to where she sat. “I’ll be your—” The breath ran out of him as she pulled her shirt off over her head then stood and shimmied out her pants and panties in a single move. Her bra followed, joining the pile of clothes on top of her pack. She was gorgeous—her body long and sleek with muscle, her ass a round temptation, her full breasts tipped with dark nipples that puckered in the night air like rosy berries waiting to be bitten. He stared wordlessly until she shot him a glance over her shoulder.

“I thought shifters didn’t have a problem with nudity.”

Aidan’s heart kicked back into action at the challenge in her words. “We don’t.” He stripped off his tunic and reached for the tie on his pants, only to pause again as he watched her step slowly into the bathing pool, his shifter eyes seeing every delicious detail as the water lapped over her legs, her ass, dripping off her breasts as she ducked under and then sat on a rocky ledge beneath the water and gave a pleasured sigh.

Aidan cleared his throat softly and reminded himself that he was the charming cousin, the one who had plenty of experience with women. Dropping his pants and kicking off the soft boots, he closed the distance to the pool. His vanity demanded he hesitate on the edge long enough to catch Rachel’s admiring scan of his body, her gaze sliding up over his hips and chest, then dropping back down to where his penis jutted hard and heavy between his legs. His cock jerked to attention, reacting to the hunger in her face. Her gaze shot up to meet his, and he had to fight back a groan when she licked her lips nervously.

“Fuck me,” he whispered and stepped down into the pool

Rachel’s gaze was still locked on his face. “Okay,” she whispered back.

Aidan dropped to the deepest part of the pool then reached out and snagged her around the waist, pulling her off the ledge and into his arms. “You weren’t supposed to hear that,” he grumbled.

She laughed. “Does that mean the invitation doesn’t stand?”

“Hell, no.” He kissed her then. Not a promise for the future kind of a kiss, like he’d given her before. This was passion and lust and demand. He crushed her lips against his, feeling her breasts against his naked chest, those lushly hard nipples scraping his skin like twin pebbles. He dropped a hand down to the swell of her ass and pressed her naked body against him, rubbing his cock between her legs, feeling the heat of her pussy despite the cool water. “Rachel…” It was the last warning he was going to give her.

“Yes,” she whispered. She slid her arms around his neck, and her thighs opened as she wrapped her legs around his hips.

“Damn.” Aidan had fucked a lot of women. Sex was accepted on Harp, even encouraged among young people. But it had never felt like this. He slid his cock into Rachel’s body and couldn’t hold back a groan of pleasure. She was hot and slick and tight, her sheath gripping his length, caressing it with intimate ripples. He pushed deep inside her, not stopping until he was fully buried in her delicious heat. He held there a moment, relishing the sensation, and then began to move, one hand palming her firm ass, holding her in place as his cock glided in and out on the satiny cream of her arousal. He bit hard on her lower lip, drinking in her small cry of desire as his lips traveled over her jaw and down to her neck. He bit her again, branding her, sucking her skin between his lips until he was certain he’d leave a mark, and then licking his way back to her mouth.

“Bastard,” she muttered, biting his lips before he could kiss her.

“What?” he asked, pretending innocence as his cock continued to thrust in and out, never stopping its rhythm.

She smiled against his lips, then shifted one of her legs higher on his hips, holding him more tightly, meeting every thrust of his cock with one of her own, their bodies grinding against each other with every hungry plunge. Her sweet mouth trailed over his jaw with tiny bites, her teeth closing teasingly over the lobe of his ear, then gliding down to his neck where she licked and kissed in time with the press of her hips, lulling him into a sensuous rhythm until her teeth closed down hard over the pulse point in his neck.

Several things happened at once.

His cock bucked hard at the erotic pain, feeling the pulsing pleasure of his climax building in his balls, even as Rachel moaned softly.

“Aidan,” she whispered and pressed herself against him as her pussy flooded with juices. Her whisper became a desperate cry as her body clamped down hard, squeezing and releasing his cock, like a thousand tiny fingers massaging him, caressing him, pulling him deeper into the seductive heat of her body. Her cries became more frantic as his thrusts sped up, his own climax an overwhelming pressure as he continued to fuck her, loving the feel of her slick tissues, not wanting it to end.

He took her mouth in a desperate, passionate kiss, their tongues tangling, teeth clashing, until his body surrendered. He lifted his head and howled as he climaxed, the heat of his release an overwhelming pleasure as Rachel’s cries joined his, her pussy clamping down on him in another orgasm until all they could do was hold onto each other in desperate desire.

…

Rachel clung to Aidan, her arms around his neck, her legs locked around his hips. His cock was still flexing inside her, her pussy shivering every time the hard length of him moved. Hard? How could he still be hard after all that? She tensed her hips experimentally, moving the tiniest bit, and was reward with his groan. She kissed his neck, licking the bite mark she’d left there. She didn’t know how things worked on Harp, but she hadn’t missed the fact that he’d blatantly marked her. She wanted it clear that the claiming went both ways. Aidan was hers.

Her stomach clenched with something close to fear. Her feelings for him went beyond fantastic sex. Beyond even the closeness that developed when two people survived a life-threatening challenge together. She’d felt that before. She’d even had sex with partners who’d gone through it with her. This was more. And it terrified her, so she pretended it wasn’t happening.

Arching her back, she slid her pussy along Aidan’s cock, until his big hand closed over her butt and pressed, holding himself deep inside her.

“Be a good girl,” he muttered.

“Fuck good.”

He laughed. “I should have known you’d want to be in charge.” He pulled out and immediately thrust deep inside her. He was so damn big. Thick and long and hard. “Not this time, sweetheart.” He tightened his arms around her, one hand on her butt, the other arm holding her shoulders so she couldn’t move, as he slid slowly in and out of her pussy. His eyes never left hers, flickering gold in the dim light, making her feel as if he saw far more than she wanted him to. She wanted to look away, to close her eyes against an intimacy that made her heart race with fear, but she was no coward. She forced herself to meet the demand in his gaze, to acknowledge that this was more than sex, more than the release of adrenaline.

A shiver of pleasure tightened her abdomen as her pussy clenched around his erection. Rachel tried to move, to ease the ache of desire, but Aidan wouldn’t let her. His gaze narrowed, his lids lowering over those golden eyes as he continued to fuck her, slowly, luxuriously, gliding on the slick juices of her growing arousal. Her fingers tightened on his shoulders, short nails digging into his flesh.

“Aidan,” she whispered, pleading for release.

He lowered his head and kissed her, one hand gripping the back of her neck, as he began thrusting harder, faster.

She kissed him back, biting, her fingers twisted in his long hair. A second orgasm swept over her, bowing her back as he crushed her against his chest, her cries meeting his groan as the sudden rush of his climax filled her with heat.

Rachel lowered her head to his shoulder. He still hadn’t released her. Their hearts were pounding against each other, chests heaving as they struggled to breathe. His hold loosened, leaving her breasts to rub against his chest, the scrape of her hard nipples over his skin sending a fresh wave of pleasure rippling through her body.

She and Aidan groaned in unison, then laughed. “Someday, sweetheart,” he murmured against her ear. “When we’re not worn out from surviving the swamp, or racing across the Green to save Harp…someday, I’ll have you in my bed with all the time in the world to make love to you.”

Rachel shivered as his warm breath floated over her skin. It was too easy to picture that someday. To imagine Aidan, golden skin gleaming over powerful muscles, his eyes dancing with mischief and desire as he spread her legs and… She forced the image away, her body already rubbing against his like a wanton thing.

“Is that a date?” she asked, trying to break the unbearable weight of the moment.

“Not a date,” he growled. “A promise.”

She shivered again. Aidan slipped an arm under her legs and stood. “The water’s cold,” he growled. “You need to warm up.”

Rachel couldn’t remember the last time she’d been carried by a man. Had she ever been? And yet Aidan held her with such ease as he stepped out of the water and over to the small, cleared area where they’d left their things. It felt perfectly natural, her arms around his neck, her head on his shoulder. “Do you have clean clothes?” he asked quietly. “If not, I can find a cache—”

“I have clothes,” she said, kissing his jaw. She felt his grin against her lips.

“I like you like this, all sweet and soft.”

She bit him. “Don’t get used to it.”

He laughed and set her on her feet. “You get dressed. I’ll get the fire started.”

“What about you?” she asked. “Don’t you need clothes?”

“Not really. I thought I’d wear fur tonight. It’ll keep us both warm.”

Rachel’s eyes widened. She was both intrigued and excited. She remembered the big, warm cat she’d treated on the ship. The lush thickness of his fur beneath her fingers, the deep thud of his heart. “Can we do that?”

He shrugged and said, “Why not? It’s still me.”

“Do you prefer one form over the other?”

…

Aidan didn’t answer right away. Did he prefer one form over the other? Shifters rarely thought about it. They were the same person, no matter what form they wore. It wasn’t as if they lost themselves to their animal, or vice versa. On the other hand, there was no doubt that each form had its benefits and drawbacks.

“Well,” he said thoughtfully, “the ability to talk is nice.”

She laughed in a way that made him think his answer had surprised her. “I guess it would be,” she conceded at last. “But with your cat… You’re so wild. It must be freeing.”

“It’s spectacular, but it has its limits.”

He could see the curious tilt of her head as she studied him. “Like what?” she asked.

“Sex, for one.” If he’d hoped to shock her, he failed miserably. He was the one shocked when she asked her next question.

“You don’t have sex while you’re shifted?” She spoke without stuttering, without embarrassment. She was a scientist, and he was her subject.

Shit. Why did he ever start this?

“Well, for one thing, I like women in my bed. So, unless my lover is into bestiality, sex in my cat form is a no-go. In fact, it’s definitely a no-go, because I’m not into it.”

“Right, no female shifters,” she said thoughtfully, ignoring his whole dissertation on bestiality, as if he hadn’t even mentioned it. How the hell had he gotten into this discussion? “Fascinating.”

“Yeah. That’s the word I’d use. ‘Fascinating,’” he said dryly.

She laughed. “You’re embarrassed.”

“Am not.”

“Okay,” she agreed, but he could still hear the laughter in her voice.

He gave her a narrow look and said, “You start the fire and I’ll catch some fish.”

…

Rachel couldn’t contain her amusement. The big bad shifter was embarrassed, and all because she’d asked some straightforward questions. Logical questions. Did he prefer one form over the other? Was one the real him, and the other simply a mask that he put on for convenience? After all, she wasn’t the one who’d raised the subject of bestiality. Her grin was huge as she gave him a little salute then turned to get the fire going. She pulled on her spare set of clean clothes first. Aidan might be accustomed to roaming around naked, but she wasn’t. It had nothing to do with nudity and everything to do with creepy crawly things that liked to sneak into places on the human body where she’d really rather not have them. She’d just gotten the flames going well and was working on stripping down some sticks to use as skewers for the fish, when Aidan reappeared. She stood to meet him, already pulling her knife, intending to fulfill her promise to clean his catch, but the two large, silver-scaled fish which he laid by the fire had already been gutted and washed.

“Hey, that was my job,” she said, looking up at him, trying to ignore the fact that he was gorgeously naked.

His gold-flecked eyes danced with knowledge of her reaction, his expression one of pure male satisfaction. “Silvers are easy. I’ll let you do the gutting when we’re deep in the Green and I’m hunting with my teeth instead of my hands.”

If he was trying to disgust her, he failed. Rachel had dressed more than her share of all manner of beasts. Plenty of her clients in the past had enjoyed the hunt, but not what came after. In her book, you ate what you killed, or you gave it to someone else who would.

“I’ll look forward to both. Seeing you hunt, and me dressing the game,” she clarified at his questioning look.

Aidan wrapped a big hand around her neck and pulled her in for a long, wet kiss. “You are not what I expected, Earther woman.”

“You’re not the first person I’ve surprised. And you’re freezing,” she said, her arms circling his waist. “Put on some clothes.” It was an exaggeration. His skin was slightly cooler than his usual furnace-like heat, but it was an excuse to get some clothes on him. He was simply too tempting, and they needed to eat. Regrettably, one could not live on spectacular sex alone.

His chuckle said he knew what she was doing, but he went along with it, pressing a quick kiss to her lips before strolling over to where he’d dropped another of those cached clothing packs the shifters seemed to leave around the Green.

“You guys have those everywhere?”

“No, just the places we travel a lot. This one and the one on the other side of the swamp are kept stocked because we usually take the tree road, which means we always travel shifted.” He pulled on the pants first, then the tunic, but shoved the boots back inside the drawstring bag.

“How do they get re-supplied?”

Dropping a small package of trail mix bars next to the fire, he said, “When we check into Clanhome after a patrol, we make note of any caches we used. The next patrol resupplies. Most of the year, the ones out here don’t get used much, but there’s a logging crew that rotates out this way, and they’re fussy about naked shifters hanging around. Don’t want to tempt their women,” he added, grinning.

That attitude made perfect sense to Rachel, but she didn’t say so. He didn’t need his ego getting any bigger than it was. She finished skewering the fish and set them on the spit she’d set up over the flames, then picked up her empty canteen. “Is this water drinkable?”

He nodded. “This far from the glacier, it is.”

“No weird parasites to worry about?”

He paused. “I don’t think so. As far as I know the fleet personnel manning the science center drink the local water with no enhancements. And it all comes from the same place. Come on, I’ll walk with you, keep you from falling on your ass in the dark.”

She flicked on her LED, sorely tempted to flash it in his eyes, but she’d regret it if some new threat appeared out of the forest while he was blinded by her light.

He caught the look on her face and laughed, coming very close and leaning down to whisper in her ear. “It’s not that I doubt your skills, sweetheart, it’s just that I’m very fond of your ass.”

She pushed him away, trying not to laugh. He was too charming by half. Shoving two of the empty bottles at his chest, she said, “Fine, you can come. But I lead.”

“That’s all right. I have excellent night vision, and I don’t mind the view.”

“You always carry salt with you?” Aidan asked, nearly an hour later as he finished the last of the fish and dropped the remnants into the fire.

“Sure, and pepper, too. That’s the minimum necessary for a tasty dish, according to Evelyn.”

“Evelyn?”

“My parents’ cook. They loved us, but they were way more invested in their work than their children. Evelyn saved my brother and me from starvation.”

“My compliments to Evelyn then, the next time you see her.” He added that last casually, waiting for her response, wondering if she planned to rush back to Earth on the next shuttle, a possibility that had him fighting back a growl. He paused, surprised by his own reaction. He didn’t do long-term with women. Hell, he barely did short-term. So what the hell did he care if Rachel went home? After all, her life was out there, visiting exotic places and finding new ways to risk her life. He knocked the two forked spit sticks into the fire.

Rachel looked up in surprise. “We could have used those in the morning.” There was a question in her voice.

He shrugged. “It’s not like there’s a shortage of wood.”

She eyed him a moment longer, then said quietly, “You should go ahead, Aidan.”

“What?”

“You need to warn your people about Wolfrum and the second ship, and you’ll travel a lot faster without me.”

He studied her. “Are you trying to get rid of me?”

She snorted. “Like I could. No, I’m serious. You’re too polite to say it, but I slow you down.”

It was his turn to snort. “I’m not too polite. You are slower than I am, but so is more than half the population of Harp. That doesn’t mean I leave them behind because it’s more convenient.”

“We’re not talking convenience. This is life or death. Damn it, Aidan, they put you in a cage, knowing you were human. And now that the first hunt failed, Wolfrum will be all the more determined to make sure their second hunt succeeds. He won’t care who gets hurt. You and I are the only ones who know everything, and you’re the only one who can stop him.”

“I’m not leaving you alone out here.” He knew she was right, but, damn it, he didn’t want her to end up dead because of it.

“Don’t insult me,” she snapped. “Maybe you could get away with that macho crap before, but you’ve seen what I’m capable of now. I can handle the Green for a few days on my own.”

“And what about the rizer bite that almost killed you?”

“Okay, what about the damn giant snake that almost killed you?” she countered angrily.

“I could have handled it,” he grumbled.

“And I could have handled the rizer bite!” Her voice gentled. “Don’t get me wrong, it was a lot better with you there, but I would have survived on my own if I’d had to.”

Aidan stared at the fire, not happy with the way this conversation was going. He kept lumping her in with most of the norms he knew. And not just the women, either. Most of the non-shifter population, male and female both, rarely ventured more than a hundred yards into the Green surrounding the city. They’d been raised with warnings about its dangers and were happy to leave it to shifters, while shifters considered the Green their private realm, and so were happy to keep it that way.

On the other hand, he had to admit that Rachel didn’t fit the typical “norm” description. To be honest, she reminded him a hell of a lot more of Rhodry’s Earther wife, Amanda, who’d come here with the fleet and broken every stereotype of what a woman and a norm could accomplish, if she was willing to fight for it. Some shifters had worried that Amanda’s success in becoming the first woman and the first norm to ever pass the exceedingly dangerous Shifter Guild trials would start an avalanche of norms wanting to try their hand at the same. That had been two years ago, and not a single norm had signed up.

Now there was Rachel, and damn if he didn’t think Rachel could pass the trials if she tried. That didn’t mean he wanted her to try. Amanda had nearly died. And he knew what Rachel would say to that.

“Two more days,” he said finally. “I want you farther away from that fucking cesspool. And,” he continued, when she opened her mouth to comment—whether it was to agree or disagree, he didn’t know—“I’ll find one of my cousins to escort you, to make sure you’re safe.”

She rolled her eyes.

“Look, I know you’re tough, but at a minimum the cousins can show you the fastest way to get where we’re going. And if we need to get a message to you, it’ll be faster if he’s with you.”

She frowned thoughtfully. “Why would he make a message faster?”

Aidan struggled with what to say. She knew about shifters, but he hadn’t told her about the trees’ song, the life blood of every shifter. Not even Harp-born norms could hear that song. “We travel a lot faster through the trees, and with our enhanced senses, we can find each other more easily.”

She gave him a searching look, but eventually said, “You’ll do what you want anyway. As long as you take off to warn your people, I’m good with it. I wouldn’t mind meeting some of your cousins.”

Aidan narrowed his eyes, wondering what she meant by that. Maybe he should send a cousin with the warning, while he doubled back— Oh fuck, no. What was he thinking? Was he actually afraid Rachel would prefer one of his cousins over him? Or, even worse, that she’d take up with one of them, because he was gone a few days? Or, worst of all, why did he care?

“They’re good lads,” he agreed, trying not to growl. “We should shut this down now,” he said, pointing at the fire. “You okay with banking it for the night?”

She chuckled. “Are you suggesting I’m afraid of the dark? You’re batting a thousand tonight, kitty cat.”

He was across the fire in an instant, had her off the ground and in his arms a second later, her back to his chest. “I don’t know what batting is, sweetheart,” he whispered against her ear, satisfied at the shiver of awareness that shook her slender form. “But I’m no kitty cat.” He spun her around and kissed her, biting her lower lip and taking advantage of her gasp to slip his tongue between her teeth, tightening his hold until there wasn’t the smallest distance between them, her breasts crushed against his chest, his already stiffening shaft pressed against her belly.

“The fire,” she pulled back to say breathlessly.

“I’ve got the fire.” He kicked dirt over the stone circle, dousing the remaining flames. Darkness swallowed them whole.

Rachel’s fingers tightened on his shirt. “I can’t see a thing.”

“I can.” He swung her into his arms, ignoring her soft protest, and carried her over to where they’d laid out their few things, including her bedroll. Aidan didn’t usually need a bedroll, and he wouldn’t need one tonight, either. Rachel’s would do for what he had planned, and after that, he’d shift for the night.

“You need to stop carrying me everywhere.”

“It’s more efficient.”

“Bullshit. You just like to seem all macho.”

“I’m the apex predator on this planet. I am all macho.”

“Hmmm. Okay, put me down now.”

He laughed and set her down next to her bedroll. “Have your eyes adjusted yet?”

She looked around. “Yes,” she said, sounding surprised. “There’s more light tonight.”

He nodded. “Eriu is in the sky. She’s our second moon and only rises one night a month. She’ll be gone tomorrow.”

“And the third moon?”

“Fodla. She only shows her face once every seven months, but we have a festival whenever she does. She’s nearly as bright as the sun.”

“Sounds beautiful. You think I’ll see it?”

He regarded her a moment, then said, “Depends on how long you’ll be here.” He knelt and began dragging her bedroll into place.

“Let me,” she said, taking the lightweight bedroll, which was zippered like a sleeping bag, and unzipping it all the way along the side. “It’ll be tight, but there’s room for both of us.”

Aidan let Rachel slide into the sleeping bag first, since he wouldn’t be staying. Once she was asleep, he’d shift, and they’d both sleep warmer. But he didn’t intend to let her sleep just yet. They’d fucked earlier, in the pool, but he wanted more. The memory of her naked in the moonlight—so beautiful, so unabashedly sexual—had him going instantly hard. And all their talk of future moonrises and the possibility of Rachel being gone before she could see them… It made him want to have her as many times as he could while she was still here, as if he could store up her scent, her taste, the slick feel of her around his cock, for when she was no longer here.

He frowned. That idea was too pathetic for him. He wanted to fuck a beautiful, willing woman who was about to share a tiny bedroll with him. He didn’t need any more reason than that.

Sliding into the bedroll after Rachel, he put his arm around her waist and snugged her up against his body, then bent to kiss the soft spot just below her ear. She shivered and reached back, threading her fingers through his hair, holding him in place.

“Tired?” he murmured.

He felt her cheeks move into a smile. “Not that tired.” She pushed her tight ass against his groin, moaning when she encountered his fully erect cock. Aidan slipped his hand into her pants, over her belly and between her thighs, dipping one finger between the smooth lips of her sex and into her pussy, finding her already slick and aroused. She hissed out a breath and thrust against his hand. She was so wet and so fucking hot. He added a second finger, plunging deep inside, pressing the heel of his hand against her clit, as he fucked her with his fingers, holding her tightly against his chest as she bucked against his hold.

“Aidan,” she gasped, her fingers so tight in his hair that he thought she’d rip his roots out. “Let me—” Her words broke off as he ground her clit beneath his thumb. She cried out in shock and then pleasure as she was thrown into a hard, fast climax that had her straining against his hold before she collapsed against him, trembling. “Fuck,” she breathed.

Aidan’s cock was painfully hard, aching to plunge into that soaking wet pussy. Removing his fingers from inside her, he dragged them over her still-sensitive clit, and then raised them deliberately to her mouth, sliding them between her lips until he felt her tongue wrap around his fingers and lick away every trace. He growled, imagining how it would be to have her tongue wrapped around his cock instead.

Something inside him snapped. Kneeling on the bedroll, he grabbed Rachel’s pants and, taking her panties at the same time, stripped them down her long legs and off. He took a moment to admire her pretty pussy, so silky and smooth, then gave in to temptation and slipped one finger between her outer lips, stroking her creamy slit and smiling when she thrust against his hand with a hungry moan.

“I want those gorgeous breasts,” he murmured and began to push up her shirt.

But Rachel clearly wanted more. Sitting up, she tugged her stretchy shirt over her head, followed by the tight-fitting bra, leaving her gloriously naked.

Aidan took a moment to admire the beauty before him, then bent over and closed his mouth over her nipple, feeling it plump into hardness against his tongue. He bit down just enough to be felt, enough that she cried out and bucked beneath him, and then he released the nipple with a final swirl of his tongue and moved to give her other breast the same lavish attention.

Rachel was breathing hard, one hand curved around his neck where he was bent to her breast, but with the other hand, she was pushing against the loose waistband of his pants, her fingers open wide as she stroked over his groin, straining to reach his cock.

Aidan yanked his tunic off and shimmied out of his pants, his hands spreading her legs while he was still kicking the pants from around his ankles. He heard the fabric tear and didn’t care. Shoving Rachel’s knees up, pressing them wide, he slammed his cock deep into her body. She was ready for him, her pussy slick with satiny cream, her sheath like a hot, tight glove all around his thickness, but still he paused for a moment, giving her time to adjust to him. Her hands ran down his back in an almost soothing motion, before her fingers dug into his ass and she flexed her hips pushing herself against him.

Aidan ground his groin against hers and then pulled his cock completely out of her pussy, holding it just outside her opening, feeling her wet heat against the tip of his cock as he dipped in and out, until she snarled his name.

“Aidan.”

He smiled at the demand in her voice and held himself apart for a moment longer, then plunged his cock into her pussy and began thrusting in and out, fucking her hard, hearing her helpless cries as his cock stretched her wide, her inner muscles grasping at his thickness, the tissues hot and slick. Aidan leaned down enough to take her mouth in a savage kiss, growling when she responded in kind, their mouths crushed against each other, teeth clashing. And all the while, his cock was slamming into her, while her nails dug into his shoulders and her hips lifted, meeting his thrusts.

He knew the moment Rachel’s climax began to build. Felt her muscles tense, the rush of wet heat that flooded her pussy a moment before her sheath clamped down on his cock and she bit his shoulder to muffle her scream. Aidan had thought to ride her orgasm out, to fuck her arousal soaked pussy until she came a second time. But the feel of her around him as she climaxed, the clench and heat of her pussy, the erotic pain of her teeth in his muscle, sent him over the edge.

He exploded with a roar of pleasure, his own release thundering down his cock, Rachel’s sweet body squeezing his shaft, caressing him into surrendering every drop until he was drained dry.

Aidan collapsed onto Rachel, then immediately rolled them both so she was on top. Reaching over, he pulled the flap of the bedroll over her bare back, and then both of them simply breathed. His heart was pounding, matched only by the thump of Rachel’s heart against his chest. He licked away the sweat on her neck, then kissed her there.

She stirred, wiggling slightly, his cock still half erect against her soaking wet sex.

He hummed in deep pleasure, and she raised her head, eyeing him in the darkness, though even with Eriu in the sky he was sure she couldn’t see his face. “Is sexual energy some kind of shifter trait?” she asked suspiciously.

He grinned. “No, just an Aidan trait.”

She tsked. “I can’t believe you said that,” she said, then paused. “On second thought, I can.”

He stroked his fingers through her hair, which she’d left unbound after their bath. “You should get dressed. You can never count on a peaceful night in the Green. I don’t want you fighting a hycat with no clothes on.”

“Me neither. What’s a hycat?”

“One of our uglier predators. They’re usually found north of here, but if they scent something tasty enough, they’ll extend their range.” He winked, making his meaning clear.

“Is that real?”

He laughed. “Aye, but they prefer much colder weather, so I think you’re safe.”

“You guys have a catalog of the various life-forms in the Green? It seems endless, and they’re all mean. Don’t you have any friendly animals?”

Aidan thought about her question. They did have such a catalog, but it wasn’t something they shared with just anyone. The Shifters Guild maintained the listing for their own purposes, mostly to educate future members, or those who hoped to be. He wasn’t aware of a single instance when they’d shared it with anyone else.

“The rabbits are friendly. And also, delicious. But you won’t have any fuzzy little animals coming to eat out of your hand if I’m around. They recognize what I am.”

“Huh.” She covered a yawn with the back of her hand. “I need to clean up before I put my clothes on.” She said it accusingly, as if the stickiness coating her thighs was his fault.

He grinned. “I’ll help.”

“That won’t help at all,” she grumbled, but she was smiling when she said it. “Come on, you can get dressed, too.”

“No need. I’ll sleep shifted. It’ll keep the beasties away.”

…

The cleanup went quickly, and before long Rachel was fully dressed and sitting on her bedroll, excited and alert as she waited for Aidan to shift. “Can you slow it down?” she asked.

Aidan chuckled. “Ah, no. I make the decision to shift, but after that nature takes over.”

“I wonder if… No,” she muttered, “digital cameras wouldn’t work here, too dependent on electronics. Maybe I could find an old video camera, with film, and slow it down. I wonder if that—”

“Rachel.”

She looked up.

“No one’s going to be filming shit.”

“Oh.” She tipped her head from side to side. “Of course not. I understand. It was just a thought, kind of automatic.”

“Uh huh.” A heartbeat later, he was shifting. There was no buildup, no magical incantation, not even a grunt. Just one moment he was a man and the next, in a whirlwind of golden sparks, he was a gorgeous cat.

Rachel didn’t say anything, but her mind was whirling with theories and possibilities. The golden sparks didn’t make scientific sense. She’d bet anything that, if she did ever manage to get the transformation on video, a frame by frame playback would show a lot more happening than just a pretty light show. Aidan interrupted her thoughts, shoving his big head against her belly to get her moving toward the bedroll.

She hugged him—half because he was a big, beautiful cat and she simply loved the idea that she could, and half to irritate him—then scooted into the bedroll and held up the top flap in invitation.

Aidan studied her, his unblinking eyes gleaming a brilliant gold in the dark, and then he padded over and sank onto the bedroll with the giant kitty cat version of a long-suffering sigh. Rachel draped her arm over his back, snuggling close to his warmth, and despite the hard ground, the deadly forest, and the looming threat of Wolfrum and his killers, she fell instantly, deeply asleep.