My skin crawled, a million tiny feathers stroked and tickled my skin and tormented me. It had been like that since I arrived here and none of my usual cures remedied it. It was getting on my nerves and I was getting increasingly restless.

I had tried to sleep but the feathers had moved into my brain and turned to whispers, another irritation in a hundred that had been adding up over the past several days.

In the past I had loved this city. Its rich history had captivated me. The lay lines running in a dozen different directions crossing and re-crossing themselves had created a bubble that my kind could never resist. There were several spots in this world that created bubbles, but none were as strong as these. It had a lot to do with the people who had lived here, even in the present day with its technology and plastic, people still told stories of little folks and the Fae. They left the Fae trees intact, they whispered the stories of the banshee and the pooka, they teased about Leprechauns but never stopped leaving bowls of milk and cakes on the doorsteps for them.

Such a dichotomy I could relate to. I felt like a living dichotomy, I related to the city. Dublin. It had changed quite a bit since the world went to hell with its self. So many people swore the apocalypse was going to be nuclear, crazy politicians would push a red button on a desk and condemn us all; or biological, a mutant virus would be let loose on the population and devastate it; or my favorite the environment would be pushed past the point of bearing and suddenly burst upon mankind in a rush of vengeance and thunder down on us with storms and waves till the horrible little things called humans would be finished.

They had no idea we were here and were just waiting for the walls to fall. I say 'we' but I am not one of them. I've been here all along, now I just thrive. I don't know where I fit into all this, I'm not even sure what I am. I have come to the conclusion that I am an anomaly, some kind of odd little evolutionary mistake. But then 'evolutionary' would imply that I was born to parents, and I'm not sure I was.

I think I was made, probably by mistake, because I can't imagine someone making me on purpose, with intent. Whatever wanted me around didn't have the most wonderful plans for the human race, or Fae either.

I had laid there for hours waiting for sleep, but the feathers wouldn't stop and I had given up. Instead I had pulled on my favorite jeans and t-shirt and wandered down the dark streets to my favorite spot.

It was a club, an underground club that had popped up after the city had changed. It was the only one that I had found that interested me at all. The others catered to humans, they skulked around for the most part. This club welcomed Fae and human, and to some of the more exotic folks who had embraced the new world with reverence, and abject lust for Fae.

The shadows had swept back, away from my feet, whatever they were avoided me, maybe I was older. I preferred to think I was badder. They weren't normal shadows, they ate anything biologically based, so plants and animals were simply sucked dry.

The feathers were getting worse and I grit my teeth and fought back the urge to scrap my skin off. It would just grow back but the stinging exposed muscle would feel better than the feathers, for a little while anyway.

I could hear the bass beating from the club way before I saw it and I adjusted my hearing to accommodate it. Adjusted isn't really the right way to explain it really, block it maybe is a better way to explain it. If you imagine yourself in a stadium full of screaming sports fans, it's the way you focus your ears on the person speaking next to you, rather than on the noise. Except I can hear worms, and birds breathing.

I smell even better. I could smell human sweat, urine, semen, a variety of pheromones, Fae and liquor from a block away. It was nasty but tonight there was something else, something I couldn't put my finger on. I do have fingers, and toes and long black hair. Men say I'm beautiful. Women don't like me. If men were smart they wouldn't like me either, but for some reason they seem to think I'm someone that invites conversation, and sex. I like the way I look, but I don't invite either.

The something else had my attention, and even standing outside the club in the drizzle that had started I noticed knew it was coming from inside the club. I had ever been inside before, I usually waited outside.

The something made the tickles turn into a buzz, a buzz that started deep inside me and made me feel something I hadn't felt in so long I had forgotten about it. It scared me and nothing scares me. I thought I was alone in this world, something was telling me there was another, maybe two.

I watched the building. I don't know why. It wasn't like it was going to move, but I scanned the red brick walls, the stone window sills visible behind the wooded boards that had been slapped up in a haphazard manner, the roof. The only thing moving was the traffic going in and out of the doorway in the back.

I think I was hoping what I was looking for was in the upper floors and not in the club. I don't like actually being with humans or Fae but I need them to live. It wasn't there, so I took a breath and headed for the door.

I don't stand in lines, I make sure that whatever is in my way moves, and even the Fae move when I come through. The bouncer was something else, but when I let my pupils relax he noticed, and his eyes went wide. He knew what I was. It was like getting punched in the stomach. He knew what I was. He unhooked the stupid red rope that made a barricade and stepped aside and let me in, not saying a word.

Even with my ears tuned out, the bass thumped into my chest and through my feet, it felt like a hundred elephants jumping, it was oddly refreshing and drowned out the buzzing, a temporary refuge I had not expected.

The bar was in the center, surrounded by humans and Fae at chairs and tables, long leather padded booths and more tables covered with empty glasses and bottles. I glanced around taking in the floor plan, then once again taking in the entertainment. Bodies gyrated everywhere, on the dance floor, on the chairs, on the leather booth benches, dancing and fucking, all in time to the music. Some were content to watch from the bar and that was where I headed, not to watch but to find, to find the other thing that was me.

Despite the activity that was going on around them the bartenders looked bored, not even raising an eyebrow at my drink request. Champagne, I loved the way it bubbled in my mouth. He made me buy the whole bottle. I didn't care, I have more than enough money, too much in fact. The jeans I had on cost more than some people paid in rent.

I sipped, enjoyed the bubbles, the buzzing, the bass. It was almost a stimulation overload. That was my excuse later, when they snuck up behind me and caught me off guard. I had finished one flute of champagne and started on a second when they appeared at my side, two of the biggest man-things I had seen in a long time. They were huge, dressed in tight black t-shirts and black jeans, muscles on top of muscles roping over forearms the size of my neck, chests huge and broad, biceps that begged for teeth and nails. I stroked them with my eyes, appreciating everything I could see through their tight jeans, but their feet were cloven hooves. I didn't mind, I never had a foot thing anyway, it was knees up I was interested in. They had lots to look up from the knees up. They were very fuckable.

One of them huffed through his nose, and then eyed me up and down, he grinned faintly and I knew he liked what he saw. His partner grunted at him and gave him an elbow, then jerked his head at me and grunted in a strange accent that the 'boss' wanted to see me upstairs. I didn't give a shit about the boss, but I wanted to stay, figure out what was here that had me on stuck edge, maybe even grab a piece of this lovely hunk of man thing in front of me.

My brain flashed an image, me face first into a wall, my breasts jammed between an huge hand and a bigger chest, being pummel from behind by a beast of a man. Not the one I was looking at now. That startled me and I almost tripped on the steps that lead up to a balcony that stretched around the top of the club. It wasn't a wish, or a fantasy, it was a flash of what was going to happen. Nobody pummelled me from behind, nobody got my back. I got there's. I got the top. Not. Fuckin'. Possible.

I was pondering on what that meant when I was waved into a doorway, the cool glass sliding back to show a room, full of monitors, watching every inch of the club, inside and out. As soon as I stepped inside, the door slide shut, and the bass died. The buzzing had crept to an unbearable beat, a heartbeat, throbbing, I'd take it over the feathers and buzzing. My whole body throbbed, like it was trying to come all on its own. It almost hurt.

I adjusted my eyes, it was bright, and from the dim club to this room was a bit of a shock but they adjusted quickly and soon I could see everything just fine. I adjusted again and watched for the faint blue glow that accompanied Fae and other outworld creatures that might be something I would have to kill. He showed up as a black lump, in this vision, a shadow, and I adjusted back to normal so I could see him in detail.

He had his back to me, watching a monitor, flipped a couple of buttons, then slowly rotated his chair around to face me. He took my breath away.

His long black hair was pulled back in a low ponytail, tied with a leather thong, his jaw was strong, his nose strong and straight, beautiful cheekbones, but his eyes, his eyes were mine. I couldn't look away for a long second, then I flared by pupils at him, waiting to see his response.

Only one of our kind would notice the black circles flash to a jagged star, almost completely hiding the color, it would only be there for a second, long enough for us. Us! There was an 'us'.

His nostrils flared and his pupils flashed back, my knees wobbled. Us was a memory, and a very poor one at that. A desert, battles, a bare flash of a face, scars, sharp teeth bared, pupils flashing. He didn't move but I could hear his heart beating, and it was not every steady.

I had no idea what to say. When you walk around for thousands of years thinking you're the only one of you left, you stop acting like your suppose to and create your own rules.

I shifted on my feet and his nostrils flared again, his eyes narrowed and he opened his mouth to say something when another door slide open beside him and another man walked through. It made me jump, the door was so well made the seams disappeared and I had no idea it was even there. That was bad. I should have known.

"There are two of you?" I gasped. The newcomer stopped so fast he bumped the sliding door as it closed and had to jump forward to avoid getting caught in it. It was graceful; he dropped into a slight crouch and then growled faintly in the back of his throat at the sight of me. When he realised what I was his face flashed to astonishment, then smoothed to a mask of nothing. He curled to his feet and glanced at the chair, and waited.

"There are six of us." The beast in the chair growled, shooting a quick glance at the other one who had entered. I couldn't help it and sank back against the cold glass behind me, a weakness I knew, but the impact of what he just said had hit me like a tank.

"Who's your Alpha?" I asked, surprised at how husky my voice was.

"He's not here." The later arrival growled.

"He has a mate." The chair growled. A heated look passed between the two of them and then the smaller spun on his heel and went back out the door, leaving me alone with him. So, this was Beta male.

No wonder I was buzzing like a cheap fluorescent tube.

"Six of you." I breathed again, the idea still not sinking in. Surreal.

He grunted, then leaned back in his chair and folded his hands over his rock hard stomach slightly spread his legs, dominant male posture. The animal in me responded, I could smell him. It made me sweat.

He jerked his head to the left and my head jerked around to see what he was gesturing at, another chair. I wobbled for a second, then grabbed my nerves and walked properly over to the chair and sat down. I would not fucking melt like an idiot just because I had suddenly come face to face with another one of me, six of them actually. Six!

His eyes swept over me, paused and then did it again before he said anything.

"You seem to have adjusted to this age well. Have you hunted lately?" he asked, his eyes boring into mine.

"I didn't know I had company, if you're pissed about me invading your territory."

"I see that. We don't hunt here, at the club. Neutral ground."

"Says who?" I growled, irritation tingeing my voice. Neutral ground? That was hardly our way. We were wild, we hunted where and when we wanted, we were the dominant species.

"Me." He growled back.

That surprised me, I couldn't argue with that. If I was allowed to stay then I had to comply with Alpha's rules, or his. Comply. I hadn't complied with anything in years, that was going to be hard to get accustomed to. He shifted and the scent of him walloped me, I almost drooled. Part of me wanted to leave, the other part of me wanted to jump on him, all teeth and nails. I shifted in my chair, and his nostrils flared a bit, his pupils flashed at me again. Fuck.

"Do you plan on staying?" he growled. I shrugged and his eyes flipped down over my breasts, then back up to my face, it was a flicker but I caught it and I flushed faintly.

"If your Alpha allows it." I answered. "Where are the others? Do you all hunt here? Are there other packs? Do you all have mates?"

His eye brows popped up at the last question, and he shifted slightly, another wallop of scent hit me.

"I will be more than happy to have you join us. Alpha is the only one mated." He smiled faintly. His eyes sparkled, they were so dark, pupils blown, I wondered if I was the only other female in the pack.

"How many females?" I asked, my voice was so husky I hardly recognised it.

"You're it." He growled. That didn't make sense. If Alpha was mated then there should be another female, like me. He must have known what I was thinking because he grinned. It was a lovely smile really, perfect white teeth in a bronzed face. I wondered if the rest of him was as bronzed as his face and arms were.

"She's special...sort of human but not quite." He explained.

The door whished open again, letting in a cool breeze and the smaller guy came in again and shot me a glance.

"The room's ready." He said simply. I knew it was meant for me, but I was not staying, not with him smelling so damned fine. I climbed to my feet and two sets of eyes swung to me, surprised. I had forgotten that females did not stand in a sitting male's presence. They both growled. I growled back. He moved so fast I only caught a glimpse of him jumping over the desk before his hand was around my throat, the momentum droving us both into the glass and steel wall behind me.

He snarled, his breath hot in my ear, but his fingers were not tight on my neck, they were simply holding me there, lightly for such big hands. His body however was pressed so tight to mine I could feel every inch of his solid muscle, it rippled when he shifted his weight, growling in his chest. I god, I wanted to wrap my legs right around him and let him grind against me.

"You forget yourself." He hissed.

"I do not." I snarled back. Lies. "I do not live by old rules, I live by mine. I have no pack. I belong to no one." Truth.

He snarled, his eyes flashing, the air positively cracked around us, it was so very exciting, I felt a rush like I hadn't felt for thousands of years.

"Challenge?" he snarled, his hand tightened slightly and he gave me a gentle shake, like a bitch does to a wayward pup. I was neither.

"Challenge!" I snarled back.

The smaller man bolted from the room, and Beta stepped back and released me, his eyes burning into mine, he never looked away even when the door whooshed open and several people all piled in. I was suddenly hit with scent, a scent I hadn't had in my nostrils for so many years that just for a second I closed my eyes and sniffed, branding it into my brain. Never forgetting again what our kind smelled like. Five of them, five all here in the room with me, something I had never dreamed of. My body was throbbing at an unbearable tempo.

Beta flung his hand at the door and I stomped though it, following one of them through a maze of glass walls and steel. Stairs descended to a stone basement and we emerged into a huge stone vaulted storeroom.

It was full, divided into sections, heavy wooden crates that smelled of oil and metal, guns; barrels of alcohol; cases of beer; alcohol; can food; farther along cars, beautiful shiny beasts all leather and steel, shining, dying to be put through their paces; then motorcycles, rows of huge chrome machines, they would thunder in the stone vaults, deafening. I loved motorcycles. I stopped and stroked the gas tank of one beautiful machine, my fingers running over the leather seat, the next best thing after skin. My fingers sliding through the leather fringe that dangled from the handlebars, thick handfuls of hair tangled in my fists.

I almost moaned with pleasure.

"That's mine." He snarled. Of course it was!

The parking lot opened to a wide open area, bare, a ramp sloping up to a heavy metal door covered with locks, painted in glyphs. Cold concrete floor, a pillar scattered here and there, lots of room, I wouldn't have to hold back, pull any punches, I would be fighting like I was meant to. Without mercy.

One of the others recited the rules, no weapons, stay inside the parking lot, death or yield. We kicked off our boots and socks, then our shirts, his eyebrows popped faintly, and the four others who were forming a square around us shifted and muttered when I unclipped my bra and tossed it into the pile. Bare chest was tradition, and if he thought I was going to give him a handhold over modesty he was very wrong.

His chest was as bronzed as his face and arms, black hair formed a "Y" over his chest then into a line disappearing into the waistband of his low slung jeans. He reached back and tugged the leather thong free and then shook his hair out, it brushed over his shoulders in a blue-black ripple.

His eyes roamed over me, then stopped on my chest again, my nipples were hard, and it was hot in here. I was practically panting, shameless, lusting. Fight him or fuck him, both if I was lucky.

He launched at me, this time I was ready and knew he'd be fast. I was faster, lighter, I sidestepped and then slammed the heel of my hand into his left kidney when he slipped by. He jerked, spun and dropped into a crouch, then laughed and nodded his head, he knew then I wasn't playing. He liked it.

It was brutal. We fought till we were both panting, slippery with sweat, he pulled his punches several times, I didn't. He was bigger, powerful, stronger, he tossed me several times, but I managed to land on my feet for the most part. I was faster and danced out of the way most of the time, landing sharp little jabs that split his lip, his eyebrow, the bridge of his nose. His stance changed and I knew we were going to be finishing it soon. He faked me out and when I committed to move he shifted, his huge body was agile and he switched direction in mid-air, and caught me. I slammed into the ground, my head cracking off the cement floor sending my vision into sparkling stars in a black tunnel, his big body landed on me forcing the air out of my lungs. Pinned.

His big hand had clamped around my throat again, holding it gently, his breath panted in my ear. My leg curled around his thighs, my bare foot slide up the back of his calf, shifting my hips so the center of him was pressed into the core of me. I groaned at the stars that were dancing around, and the feel of him between my legs. My head throbbed in pain and my body throbbed in lust, both fighting to see which would win the battle.

"Death or yield." He growled against my neck.

"Fuck." I gasped. He waited a second, then gave me a shake by the throat and shifted to look at my face.

"Death or yield." He demanded, frowning.

"Fuck." I gasped. He frowned, then realisation dawned in his eyes, a huge grin split his face. I wasn't swearing at losing, I was telling him what I wanted. He shifted, and then mashed himself between my open legs. His erection pressed against my pubic bone, hard, it hurt good, real good.

"You're hurt." He grumbled, still rubbing against me. He was right but I didn't really care too much. I moaned my answer.

"I accept." He growled, his head dipping to nuzzle my neck, his lips bit lightly, then nibbled and licked their way up to my ear where is teeth caught my earlobe and lightly drug their way over it. Parts of me I forgot I had tingled and throbbed, and I couldn't help but moan, my eye fluttering shut, my head swimming.

Just as suddenly he was gone and I jerked my eyes open, head still swimming, to see where he had gone. He was standing above me, adjusting himself in his pants, smiling, then bend down and yanked me to my feet. The motion had me gagging, as my swimming head turned to a nausea inducing spinning, and he swept me off my feet, cradling me in his arms. It was humiliating and I tried to wiggle free. It made me feel worse.

"Stop." He growled, jerking me in his arms. I had already planned on stopping but when he ordered me to it added to the humiliation, but I had to. I did not throw up, ever, and especially not in front of a Beta male.

The trip upstairs seemed shorter, maybe it just felt like that because I really didn't want him to put me down, probably because I think I passed out somewhere along the way and lost track of the trip. When he did it was into a wonderfully decadent bathroom, the tub already running full of steaming water, fluffy towels in piles. He steadied me on my feet, and then set about unbuttoning my jeans, till my hands clamped down on his wrists to stop him.

"You're mine." He growled, knocking my hands off, he grabbed the waistband and jerked me, almost knocking me off my wobbling feet, and then finished the job of getting the buttons undone. He stepped back a short step, then yanked the jeans down, peeling them off my legs. I stepped out, my hands firmly clamped on his broad shoulders to keep from falling.

The tub was huge, he let me climb in, then threatened me to stay put and left, promising to be back in a minute. I should have left, but my excuse is that my head was still spinning with getting it beat off the cement floor, and the idea that there wasn't just one or two of them, there were six of them. Besides he had won a fair fight and had accepted my offer, I couldn't back down now, wouldn't either, that would be dishonorable to the pack.

He did return, with a bottle and a backpack, the bottle had a vile brew in it that he made me drink, the backpack was a first aid kit. He stitched up the back of my head, apparently it was a lot worse than I thought because he was back there forever. By the time he was finished I was well and truly stoned on whatever blend of stuff he had made me drink, and he whisked me out of the tub into a drippy, wobbly place in front of him.

He should have been mad at me, I had punched him hard enough to make him piss blood for a couple of days, split his lip, eyebrow and the bridge of his nose, bit is shoulder deep enough to make him bleed, and left him covered in scratches and bruises. Instead he towelled me off and wrapped me up. I think it turned him on because when he scooped me up again I could feel him, still hard, against my hip.

He didn't say a word, walked through a hallway made of stone, kicked open a heavy wooden door, and then carefully laid me into the softest, biggest bed I had ever seen. The wet towel was tugged away and he stood there staring down at me, if I hadn't been so bloody high I would have tugged him down with me and kept him there. Instead I think I gurgled up at him, with a stupid look on my face, because he laughed, then leaded over and tucked me in.

"What's your name? Your real name." He asked, his fingers twisting a bit of my hair around his finger.

I was going to shake my head, then stopped realising that it would probably make me throw up and I was pretty sure I was wrapped up in the softest silk sheets I'd ever felt.

"I don't know." I slurred."I can't remember. Nobody's said it for such a long time."

He frowned over me, then shifted a little and looked harder into my face. I was waiting for another question, instead he leaned down and sniffed me, behind my ear, over my shoulder, then down to one breast. I felt it peak, and was moaning even before his warm mouth closed over it and sucked.

The throbbing had never stopped, it pounded now through my head and my body, two different kinds of pounding. One I wanted to stop, the other I never wanted to stop. My fingers tangled through his hair, it was thick and silky, and my nails dug into his scalp just a touch, just enough to let him think about how they would feel on his back.

He stopped, suddenly, jerking away and sliding backwards off the bed. He stood there for a long minute watching me again, then adjusted himself in his jeans. He was big, thick, a leftie.

I wanted to climb off the bed but a weird thing was happening. A blackness was sneaking in from the sides of my vision. I closed my eyes and squeezed it away but when I opened them again they were heavy, and more blackness had taken over. I panicked, I never fell asleep in a strange place, I didn't sleep often but when I did it was on my terms, in my safe houses.

I wasn't stupid, I thought he had given me a painkiller, a least a good hard shot of alcohol and a painkiller mixed, I didn't think he'd drug me to sleep. The blankets had me in a tangle, it took a minute to get them off, but when I pushed myself up and swung my legs off the edge, he frowned and jumped forward and grabbed my arm.

"You're staying. You're safe. We protect our own." He growled.

"Fuck you." I snorted, trying to feel my feet. I thought I could see them on the floor but I couldn't feel them. He laughed.

"I'm hoping so. But not till you're better." He gave me a shove, and I flopped back on the bed like a boneless thing. I didn't like it at all but I couldn't do a thing about it, whatever he had given me had a death grip on me. I know he tucked me back into bed, I felt him do it, then nothing, he could have humped my ass all night. I was out for days.

Alpha still wasn't around, which was ok with me. When he did show up it would be up to him to decide if I could stay or not, I still wasn't sure if I wanted to. He would also decide if he got me or Beta did. I had heard that Alpha got to try the new females first, then decide if he would keep them or pass them on, even if he was mated. Like hell he would try me first. Nobody took me for a ride.

I was as weak as a kitten, I needed to hunt. I'd be useless unless I got to feed soon. It would be easy if they let me outside but I had to go through Beta first and I owed him. As much as I hated owing anybody anything I had honor to uphold within the pack. Within the pack. I hadn't thought that in so, so long. We weren't meant to be solitary, and I had been for so long I didn't know if I could change.

I didn't even wobble a whole circuit around the room, exploring it, figuring out who he was, when the door popped open and he walked in. I could feel him, everything perked up when he walked in. I couldn't find my clothes so I had pulled on a t-shirt, one of his, it skimmed my ass cheeks, and his eyes flipped there, then to my nipples, they were hard again.

"Hungry?" he grinned. I was hungry for a lot of things, I just wasn't sure what he was offering, my brain wanted food, the rest of me wanted him. I nodded, letting him decide what it was going to be, he stepped back into the hall and grabbed a tray and then swing into the room. Smells, meat, lots of it, cooked on a barbeque, spices, cheese, bread, champagne again, all swirled together with his musky scent.

He set it on a table and then pulled a chair over and moved a book off the seat. He had books everywhere, under the bed, on shelves sideways and right side up, on the night table, on the chairs. They were all well read, the spines had creases where they had been opened, laid face down, read again. I wish he had used me as well as those books, folded around his big hands till I was as pliable as the pages. Fuck! My brain was wandering off into sex again.

He must have sensed it because he stopped and looked at me, his eyes wandered again, then he jerked them away and refocused on the tray of food. So did I.

I managed to get down most of what he put on my plate, watching him eat everything off of his. He liked his steak medium rare, like me, and the tangy Valaskas cheese but not the softer Brie, green apples, and grapes. He even sipped champagne, when I figured he liked beer better. He had been watching me at the bar, long enough to know I drank champagne, it was kind of a turn on. I really didn't need another turn on, I needed to be turned off. There was only one way that was going to happen, and this time I didn't have to hold back. Humans are such delicate little things.

He was watching me over the top of the champagne flute.

I pushed the chair back a few inches and spread my legs apart, let him smell me. I knew he did because his nostrils flared just a tiny bit, anybody else would have missed it. I wasn't anybody else. His eyes never left mine. One part of my hunger was sated, now for the other part.

Lying in bed I had spent some time trying to remember, we had rules. Proper greetings, when to show deference, when to be dominant, pecking orders and where you stood in them all mattered, they kept the beasts from becoming animals. He was a fine beast. He was going to be mine.

His nostrils twitched again, and the champagne flute was gently placed on the table, his muscles flexed, rolled and stretched under his skin. Good, his hands were empty, soon to be full of something else. I couldn't help but grin a bit at the image my brain popped up. He simply quirked an eyebrow at me and waited.

I pushed the chair back a few more inches and then slipped to my knees, watching his face when I leaned in close to him. My cheek grazed the inside of his knee, jeans, black jeans, faint smell of leather, charcoal barbeque, beer, spicy body wash. I nuzzled up farther, the inside of his thigh had a stronger smell of leather, he must have been riding his motorcycle because there was also a faint smell of exhaust, musky male.

He twitched when my hands slid up his legs, over thighs that felt like rocks, and around his hips. His lips twitched into grin when I pulled them forward on the chair, almost to the edge, opening his legs even farther. The movement made the smell stronger, and the throbbing stepped up its pace, it was always there in the background, like a heartbeat that never went away, except this was raw, lust.

I rubbed my lips over his zipper, back and forth, smelling him. He growled at me. It was a warning and an invitation. I was tempted to push my luck and bite apart the buttons on the fly but I didn't, I nuzzled his stomach instead, rubbing my face over the ripples. I remembered the line of dark hair that ran down under the waistband of his jeans. His nipples were hard through the thin material, the scents he was throwing off were making me even wetter. The base of his neck, where his collarbone ended was my favorite spot, tender skin, wanting to be licked, when he growled this time it vibrated on my lips. He tilted his head back giving me his throat for a second and I shifted, pressed against his body, nuzzled just below his earlobe. His scent glands were there, just below the skin, pheromones were screaming into my brain. I whimpered, begging.

His head turned and his teeth sank into the muscles that ran across the top of my shoulder. It was a male dominant signal, telling a female to stop, holding her still, it could be a warning or foreplay. I was hoping like hell it was foreplay. I did freeze, panting in his ear, my arms were still wrapped around his hips, my hands clutching his ass. He paused a long moment, then his nuzzled up my neck to the base of my ear, he sniffed, a long deep breath that tickled. He shifted again and sniffed, his nose closer this time, running up my neck to my hair and then back down again. It was exquisite torture. I gasped, jerking when I felt his tongue lick my neck and then nip my earlobe.

"You're in heat." He growled. It wasn't a question, it was a statement of fact, he was right. I was a bundle of screaming hormones. He kept sniffing and licking my neck, then little nibbles over top the wet licks. I wanted to grind against him, relieve some of the pressure that was building up inside me, instead all I did was squeeze his ass a bit and moan. I imagined it flexing under my palms while he thrust in me.

"No regrets in the morning, or maybe the next?" Those were the most words he had spoke to me, and it made me stop and consider what he was saying. He cared if I had regrets? That surprised me more than anything, and he felt it, his lips nibbled up to my ear and then stopped and waited, pulling back a bit so he could watch my face.

He had beautiful eyes. I thought they were deep chocolate brown but this close I could see they weren't, they were deep blue, ringed in black, old eyes like mine. Lonely eyes. Hungry eyes.

"No." I breathed.

He moved, I wasn't sure what he was doing till I heard the buttons popping and he lifted his hips and started tugging his pants down. I didn't need any more of an invitation, and my hands slid around and grabbed jeans and underwear and peeled them off his legs. He had big heavy black boots on, thank god they had a zipper on the inside because that many laces to loosen up would have been a bitch. The boots went flying, then his socks and the bundle that was his jeans and underwear, he was already hard, and his legs were roped and creased with muscle from his thighs to his calves. He had pulled off his shirt and sent it flying across the room and then watched me, his eyes glittering from the chair.

I smiled faintly, then pulled his t-shirt off and added it to the pile of clothes on the floor. I am a beautiful beast. His eyes roamed over me and I smiled up at him, and then slowly eased away from him and stretched myself out over the floor. My elbows sank into the thick carpet, it was a bit scratchy on my back, my legs spread just enough to let him see the wet that would be shining on the inside of my thighs. His nostrils flared.

I had forgot how wonderful it was, being with one of my own. Human males were not as aware as we are, smells and taste were a minor thing to them, they were all touch. They wanted to jump on, get it in, pound away. We savored. Smells were everything. Visual almost as important, the simple dip of a head, the submissive glance that simply brushed over ones face, a gentle shift of hips and stance said everything.

Right now his stance said, Dominant male, he was making me wait for him, I could do that. I didn't have to wait long. I knew that he probably hadn't seen a female like me in a long time either.

He moved slowly, curling off the chair sliding to his knees he crawled up my body, nipping the arches of my feet, it made me laugh. He nuzzled the back of my knees, then up the inside of my thigh, I could hear him sniffing, he kissed the dip just below my hipbone and up to my stomach. He paused a second, his tongue dipped into my belly button and tickled, then licked up over my ribs and stopped hovering above an aching, erect nipple. He watched my face, slowly closing his mouth around it, and as much as I wanted to watch him, the pleasure bloomed through me and I closed my eyes and shuttered, moaning faintly at the wonderful sensations.

He sucked, drug his teeth over it, licked it, sucked it again deep in his mouth. It was exquisite. The only thing touching me was his mouth, hot and wet against me it was the only thing my horny brain could focus on, it made it feel all the more intense. He left it, still watching me and licked his way over to the other, then sucked, bit, and licked it like he did the other. I moaned again, feeling it grow harder in his mouth, aching for so much more. He left it, then nibbled his way up to the base of my neck. I thought he was going to nibble up my neck to the sensitive spots below my earlobes but he didn't, instead his mouth closed over mine.

I haven't tasted a kiss like that for so long. I had forgotten about the hormones and pheromones we have in our mouths, it's like speed. A kiss pops and sizzles. His hand slide from my hip to my ribs, then brushed lightly over my breast, and pushed me flat on the floor, not breaking our kiss.

I thought he might be rough. I expected him to toss me onto my stomach and then jerk me onto my knees and take me, rough and hard. His mouth was telling me something else. He kissed me thoroughly, his tongue probed and touched, tagged mine, invited it to explore his. I did. I tasted his mouth, curled his tongue in mine, touched the rough spots of his tongue, the smooth silky skin of the insides of his lips, his smooth teeth. He shifted over me, pressing his body to mine, groaning in my mouth when he rubbed his chest against mine, his erection rubbed over my stomach, hardly touching, brushing and teasing.

I wanted to tug him down, harder against me, part of me wanted him to go hard and fast, but this slower pace was such a torment, a good kind of hurt. He shifted again, his hips rolling slightly and the soft silky head of his cock nudged against me, teasing for a few minutes before he finally slipped inside me. He was big, stretched me, filled me like no human had filled me, hitting spots deep inside that hadn't been touched in a long time.

I gasped, stiffened up and whimpered over it. He paused, panting against my neck and waited, then pushed himself deeper. I could feel his heavy testicles against me, and he stopped again, panting, his teeth nipped my neck, that sensitive spot and he groaned faintly deep in his chest. Fuck.

When he started to move I was beyond thinking. I would have done anything he asked, I would have begged, I would have promised anything, I would have humiliated myself, but I was mindless, unable to think or speak, reduced to nothing but moaning and gasping, clawing at his back and his ass.

I came twice like that, the first time just a minute after he started moving, the second time a few minutes later. He came with me, biting my neck, hard, his fingers digging into my hip, he drove into me then froze gasping, before he moaned and bit down.

Humans would be finished, my beast was just starting. We had hardly caught our breath before he shifted, flipped me over on my knees and sank into me again. Hard and fast. This time I did make some noise. My human knows when he's doing it right, my beast did too, I usually demand that it be harder, faster, more. This time I howled, my fingernails tearing into the carpet leaving little clumps of wool behind, he swore and bucked while I pushed back against him, taking him all.

When he finally came, pounding deep into me again, he pushed me down onto the floor, the rough carpet scratching over my overly sensitive nipples, and rubbed his chest over mine, his cock still hard, deep inside me. I was panting for breath, tingling with the aftershocks that were pulsing through me. I almost whimpered when he finally slipped away from me. He rolled me over and kissed me, his mouth still demanding, his tongue still tangling with mine, he wasn't finished yet.

He scooped me up like I weighed nothing, and deposited me in the bed then smiled and nibbled the arch of my foot. It tickled, several places he nibbled were ticklish, but when his broad shoulders nudged my legs apart I wasn't giggling any more, I was moaning in anticipation. Humans fuck for pleasure, they are the only species that does, and beasts fuck to procreate. Sometimes I forget that somewhere inside there is a part of us that is human, sometimes I forget that there are ways to come that doesn't involve procreation body parts.

His mouth and tongue was doing that right now. From the sounds he was making me was enjoying himself as much as I was and I loved it. He tormented me, stopping several times, till I was pulling his hair and shaking, hovering right on the edge of another orgasm, begging him to let me come.

I think that was what he was waiting for, me to beg. His arms curled around my thighs, pinning them down, great bands of muscle and bone, his head dipped again, and he feasted on me. I came till I screamed, I kept coming till I cried, when I though I would die from it he stopped, loomed over me and the plunged inside, my muscles, still twitching from coming spasmed around him, sending me off into another orgasm.

He swore, then hooked my legs over his shoulders and thrust deep, his hands clamped around my shoulders, pinning me down, and pounded.

We fucked till we were both sore, raw, exhausted, then and only after we were both too sore to continue did we sleep. He would leave long enough to get us food, we would eat, tease each other, nap, then fall back into the rhythms of sex. He liked it when I woke him up with my mouth, kissing, licking him, tickling his spots. I liked it when he froze and groaned right before he came, his eyes would close, and a look of bliss would flash over his face before his jaw would clench and his teeth would grind. Sometimes he would swear, then he would collapse in a heap of shaking, sweaty male.

I couldn't remember much about having sex with one of my own. I thought it would be all about being a submissive female, a male dominating me, keeping me subservient. I would do it tonight. I was in heat and I needed it more than my pride needed to be sated. It wasn't about dominance. I was surprised when he pulled me over on top of him, I froze, wondering what he wanted till he pulled my knees up around his hips and sat up to kiss me.

"You're turn." He grinned, before he lay back down and folded his hands behind his head and waited. His hands didn't stay there long, soon they were clamped around my hips trying to set the pace. I was having none of that and grabbed his wrists and pinned them above his head, then rolled my hips around him. We came together that time, both of us gasping and moaning in each other's necks, straining together to finish it. Nothing had ever been as good as it was this time.

It wasn't going to last forever though, we couldn't very well stay in bed the rest of our lives, although at one point it was seriously tempted me to do it.

He told me this was his club, and he ran the security there. I was hunting for my mate-turned-enemy and trying to keep a fair balance between the humans and the Fae that had over run the world. Why...because sex and death with humans feeds the beast in me, and I have to keep my food supply at a proper level. Maybe that would change now that there was a pack. If I stayed.

A thought occurred to me that I hadn't before, a testament to how intense the heat had been this time and during one of our rest periods I rolled over and looked at him, then asked him if he knew of any others. He thought hard for a moment and then said he had run into a pack ages ago, in another world, but they were so entirely beast that they didn't even shift in human form any more.

That surprised me. Some of us discovered that it was better to stay in this form, it was easier to feed, go undetected, but even more important, kept us from going too deep into the animal side. It was a hard thing to balance sometimes. When we are threatened, or a mate is, or in times of extreme anger or threats, we shift and then even our best friends can be in danger. We kill, indiscriminately,

I had been mated once, so many years ago I could hardly remember it. He betrayed me, hurt me beyond measure, and then left me alone in a world that I didn't understand. I hated him to this very day, hated him enough that it had kept me alive in the darkest times. I promised myself that I would hurt him as badly as he hurt me. When our kind started disappearing I thought I would never get to see him hurt, now here was a pack, a small one. I gave me hope.

He must have sensed that my thoughts were dark because he shifted next to me, propped himself up on one elbow and looked down at me.

"So since you can't remember your real name what do you go by?"

I grinned and then stretched out beside him, making sure as much of my skin as possible was touching his, his lips twitched in a grin and he smacked me lightly on my ass.

"Why?" I smiled, "So you can scream it when you're coming?"

He laughed and then buried his big hand in my hair and crushed our mouths together. I thought he was going to keep kissing me, forgoing the answer but he didn't and yanked my mouth off of his with a handful of hair.

"No, because it's only polite." He smiled. He was teasing me of course, we are not much on politeness, or conventions, or morals.

"Racine." I gave him. Ne nodded, then tried it out, he rolled it through his mouth, like he was tasting it. I liked how he pronounced it, with a strange accent I hadn't heard before.

"Ryodan." He finally said. I knew it was his true name, the first one he had. "Some people are lazy and shorten it to Ry-O. I hate it."

My eyebrows pop up a little at that confession, the idea that he would put up with someone calling him something he didn't like was a little odd. I would have thought he would have taken their head off. He grins down at me for a second and then licked my neck.

"I keep the peace here. Neutral ground." He growls in my ear. I think about how easy he read that in my face, and I'm not sure if I like it. He nips again and then stops and nuzzles down between my breasts and stops, breaths, listens, he is still.

"You need to feed soon." He growls from my cleavage.

"I know, but you won't let me out of bed." I tease. He laughs and then jumps up and I suddenly regret that he noticed, I really wanted him to keep nuzzling. My erect nipples are a testament to that and his lips twitch into a grin when he notices, he grabs his clothes anyway.

"Wait here." He grunts, tugging the t-shirt over the waistband of his jeans, he shoves his feet in his boots and then zips them up and stalks out. I feel bereft.

He's only gone a minute, then the room is full of him again and he's handing me my pile of clothes, cleaned, neatly folded, my bra in a lacy pile right on the top, he eyes it and then grins and jerks his chin at me.

"Get dressed."

I do, faster than I'd admit it, and then watch him as he digs through a closet and pulls out a jacket and hands it to me.

"It will be big but wear it." It smells like him, black leather, worn at the elbows and the zipper, it is big but it feels great. It's like being inside him.

He pulls on his and then grabs my hand and leads me back down through the long hallway and into the storeroom/garage. He pauses in front of a big black truck, then keeps going and stops in front of a bike. I shiver inside. I love motorcycles and this is magnificent.

It's a Harley, of course, a beast of a machine, an Iron 883, anti-chrome cycle, fitting I smile to myself. Decked in black from front to back, black powder-coated engine, black rocker covers, black chopped fenders, black front forks with gators, a black oil tank cover and black cast wheels it suits my beast perfectly. It's all engine and he swings onto it and starts it, revving the throttle and the grins at me, he shoves his helmet on and then hands me one, it fits perfectly. I slide onto the back and notice he's switched the seat out for two.

That irritates me, I don't want to think about some other woman behind him, holding onto him while he tears through the streets of Dublin. I wiggle up so my groin is firmly wedged against his ass and wait for him to protest or shift forward, instead he reaches back grabs both my thighs and pulls me even harder against him, then grabs the handle bars and gives the beast some gas.

It vibrates against me. That's why women love it on the back of bikes. It's like riding a huge vibrator. Its power, especially when your arms are firmly grasping your man's hips. I slide my hands around his front, so my fingers are just inches away from his zipper, thumbs curling nonchalantly around the waist band of his jeans. It's anything but nonchalant. I think I see his shoulder shake, laughing but we are flying out of the bay door and onto the streets into the darkness, around the corner and off into the dark.

It's easy to feed these days. We can afford to be picky. We drive to the other side of the river, huge fancy houses, then out into the country side where there are bigger houses, the bike purrs and flashes down roads, the shadows that hunt move away from us. He stops eventually outside a huge house, there is a party going on, lots of beautiful people oblivious to what is going on around them. It doesn't take long.

Cocky, huge ego, big mouth, arrogant, a real dick athlete, he strolls outside, dragging a girl behind him. She's drunk, or high, probably both and I can feel Ryodan tense up just a little, he likes her too. They don't see what is in the shadows, humans can't, or won't, most don't give a shit, these two think they are too good to die like the other, poor uneducated, imperfect people they share the world with.

We leave the helmets and jackets behind with the bike and glide up to a spot closer to them to wait. Its comical really, how many times have I watched, laughing at how very predictable they are, brunette sucking between his legs, him fucking her mouth then pulling her up, flipping her around to lean over the low stone wall they stopped at and then shoving into her from behind. The energy builds and I hiss between my teeth, it blossoms around them, I adjust my vision and watch the aura building. He gives my hand a squeeze and I remember I'm not hunting alone now, I have to wait for him, it keeps building, pinks start to turn to reds, I see red, fury. I know he's shifted, I can smell the beast, I have too. We time it perfectly.

Arrogant athlete opens his mouth to scream his orgasm out but it never happens. Not a sound. I wallow in red energy, absorbing it, the moment of climax when things are created, pure and raw it is like speed. Red energy follows red blood, my teeth dig harder into his neck ripping out his throat, then I chew through his ribs and get his heart. I watch as the blood spatters on my skin and then is simple absorbed, like a sponge sopping up water.

Alcohol, drugs, steroids, pain-medication, filtered through my skin, eliminated, raw wonderful energy hits my core. It's almost as good as fucking.

I like arrogant shits like him. Sometimes I'm the one under them, it's more fun that way. They never know what hits them. One second, ready to enjoy the most mind-blowing orgasm they had ever felt, the next dead. The most intense energy you can get. It keeps me fed for a long time. But it's addictive. And tonight I want more.

He knows because he doesn't say anything. He hands me my helmet and then zips off again, the cycle vibrating, adding to the buzz I feel. It's a quick trip, he pulls into a town on the outskirts, near an alley way and kills the engine. I can hear the muffled beat of techo music bouncing off the walls and I know there is a club somewhere nearby, it makes me smile. Couples will be out in full force. He makes a beeline for the alleyway and in a second I know why he's in a hurry, this one is violent. The energy is bouncing around like lightning bolts and I don't have to switch my vision to see this one is going to be intense.

Party boy gets off on hurting girls, and the more they fight back the better. She's no match, never was, his six-something, two-fifty frame tosses her little five-foot six, one-twenty around with one arm, the other clamps over her mouth muffling the screams so no one will hear. We do, but we are special.

He bites, pinches, makes her bleed, leaves marks everywhere, the energy makes me shiver. He shoves her hard against the brick wall, her head snaps back against it and I remember how my head bounced off the concrete floor a day ago. Ryodan groans in his throat when Party boy tears her underwear off and thrusts into her. The energy is already blooming crimson, if we were lucky it will go darker, almost black.

He fucks her hard like that for a while, eventually she stops fighting and sags on the wall, held up by his body pinning her there. The red falters and I am ready to scream in disappointment, when Party boy stops. It's only for a second though, long enough to pull out of her and then flip her around and bend her over the arm of a burnt out couch.

I can hear Ryodan panting beside me. He whispers faintly under his breath, his eyes never leaving the scene being played out in front of us, begging him to do it, a faint Please, please, please.

He shivers when Party boy lines himself up and buries himself in her ass. Fuck, the waves go almost black. I moan and quiver beside him, watching. It's so brutal.

I change, so quickly my vision is just a flash between human and beast, and we are on them. I benefit more than Ryodan does. The energy I get from Party boy is riding the wave of pleasure, creation, dominance, death, anger; Ryodan is getting pain, humiliation, regret, death. Food is food. I enjoy killing him. Ryodan probably enjoys putting her out of her misery.

It's so intense that my legs wobble when I switch back to human form, and Ryodan grabs me and steadies me against his hip. It so much better hunting in pairs, I haven't felt anything this intense in so long.

Normally I have to be involved, I am the female in the encounter, but just before my dinner experiences a full orgasm I have to switch. No matter how fast I manage to switch there is always enough time for them to realise they are going to die, and the energy levels fall. Or, the other option is to watch, like tonight, and then kill one fast and the other slowly, either way it's diluted. Tonight we kill together, synchronised, at the peak of the energy, it`s magnificent.

He moves and takes me with him. We can`t stay long, there is always someone else out there looking for their friends, or even sometimes watching like us. Humans are odd in what they find exciting. My legs still wobble when I climb back on the bike and clutch him, it takes me a minute to get my breathing back under control and I am the one sagging against him. The bike roars and flips through traffic, he pushes it faster and faster till things look familiar again. The bike jerks when he gears down and yanks it around and flashes in through the moving door of the storage area.

The helmet muffles some noise but I can hear the club bass booming around me, it vibrates through my feet. He sets both helmets down on the floor and grabs my hand then leads me through the hallways and up some stairs. The walls change, cool glass and steel and a wall ahead of us slides open to the room full of monitors. Another one of us sits at the desk this time and slowly spins his chair away from the bank of entertainment and he glances at us. Blue eyes as clear as a summer sky, long blond hair, a shadow of a red beard, fabulous lips, he smiles at me and my groin jerks. I'm not part of the pack yet, I could fuck him too if I wanted. My body wanted, my head wasn't too sure.

"Good night?" he smirks.

Ryodan grunts at him, and steps in front of him, hits a few keys on a keyboard and then reads a screen, hits a few more and then checks another screen, then looks at the monitors. The club is packed, full of human and Fae fucking and dancing again. I blink and watch two ugly grey wrinkly things with huge cocks sit back and let two beautiful blond girls climb on them, both girls ease onto them then frantically bounce up and down in time to the music. I didn't think they'd fit, it looked impossible. A thought hits me.

"How come you don't feed here?" Both of them glance at me and both smile quirky grins, and watch what I'm watching, both of them make a point to adjust themselves in their jeans. Apparently security cameras are good for more than just security.

"Because it was hell outside. Fae didn't have enough sense to ration themselves, we were worried that they were going to kill humans off completely so we went to the top. Made deals, made the Fae aware that they needed humans, and apparently humans have discovered the benefits of Fae. The walls are special, blocks stuff."

Both glanced back the monitors and I flicked my eyes over to see the two grey things. They were still sitting there, surrounded with beautiful women, the girls bounced, then jumped off and dropped to their knees in front of them. The gray things grabbed their huge swollen cocks and hosed the crowd, great gooey strings of white spurting over the woman. They gyrated in it, rubbing it over their half naked bodies, obviously enjoying it. It was pretty gross, even for me, and I shook my head at the sight.

"Apparently it reacts on human skin. Makes them nuts." Beautiful blond explains, his eyebrows jerk at me, daring me, Ryodan growls.

"Does it work on ours?" I ask. Ryodan's head snaps to over and he glares at me, then stands up and stalks me. It's amusing to see him act that way. He knows I'm in heat, what the hell does he expect?

I'm not exactly sure but when he grabs my arm and yanks me right into his chest, and I like it.

"Do you want to try it? It can be arranged. Rhyno-boys love fucking human women, you look like one, they probably won't know the difference."

"I dare you." I challenged. His nostrils flare again, I'm wet but not because of the gross Rhyno-boys, it's because of him, and hunting, and being in heat.

It's a fast trip, but I know the route now, we're going to his room. He doesn't have to drag me but he's got me by the wrist anyway and he's not letting go. I let him think he's winning.

The door slams against the wall and the furniture behind it and bounces back, he catches it and gives it a push so it slams shut, all in one smooth move. One big arm sweeps the top of his dresser off. It's a big solid piece of furniture, oak or mahogany with brass fittings, covered in beautiful carvings. I only get a quick glance before he slams me on top of it and yanks off my shirt, his two big hands close around the back of my favorite lacy bra and he rips it apart, the delicate lace making a sharp screaming protest as it gives away.

I undo my jeans, and he yanks my ass off the dresser long enough to get them and my boots off before he plants me back up there and undoes his jeans. I get a glimpse of sharp fangs and black eyes before he slams into me, driving the air out of my lungs. He doesn't even give me a second to adjust before I feel him inside me, growing longer, harder, thicker, as more beast takes over. I strangled a cry of pain as I stretch to accommodate him, grabbing his forearms to try and hold him back. They are covered in thick dark hair and I can feel claws gripping my thigh, he shifts and yanks one of my legs over his shoulder, angling himself in deep and then jerks my hips closer to the edge so I'm perched, inches from falling. It opens me up and he grinds his hips into me, going deeper, it hurts but feels good at the same time and a wave of beast hits me.

I let it. I can't fight it and him at the same time. My fingernail claws dig into his shoulder and he throws his head back and howls when they dig into muscle. His teeth are sharp and his bites down on my shoulder , then thrusts against me again. His teeth hurt, his cock feels wonderful. I claw him and he pummels me, both of us battling to punish the other, both of us driving each other closer and closer to a delicious climax. He'd kill a human. He pounds into me like a demon possessed, maybe we are.

He bites me again, and growls, his claws dig into my hips and suddenly it's all worth it, I'm coming around him, harder than I ever have before. I think I'm shifting, I'm not sure, so many feelings at once. I can't breathe.

He's coming too. I can feel him pulsing and jerking inside me. He stills, gasping for breath, against my chest, sweat beads and runs down his face and chest. It mixes with the blood and makes pink rivulets down his skin. I'd lick it if I could reach, but I can't move a muscle at the moment. He is quivering, like his muscles are on an electric current. So am I.

He breathes heavy for a minute, then shifts, he drops my leg, grabs my hips, yanks me hard against him and then hooks both of my legs around his hips. It's rough, jerky, like his muscles are responding under protest, my guess he's stuck between animal and human and the muscles are all mixed up somewhere in between.

It doesn't seem to stop him though, he lifts me easily and plants me hard against the wall. I have enough sense to keep my head from bouncing off the wall and opening up the tender scar there, but it doesn't keep his cock from grinding into me. It hurts and I gasp in pain and tense up, the breath hissing between my teeth.

As least he hesitates, I can feel him inside me adjusting, then he strokes, not as deep but I'm still sensitive and I wait for it to hurt again. It doesn't and I relax and enjoy him.

"If you can't take me how are you gonna fuck a Rhyno?" he growls in my ear. I can't help but grin at him, he's either jealous or insecure and I'm not sure which one I'd prefer.

"Who says I want to?" I growl back. He thrusts hard and I gasp at the sensations. It just feels good now. It doesn't seem to quell his insecurities, and he pummels me, as if proving he can be better than them. I know he's better than they are, he feels, he's my beast, and I might fantasize about other's, but right now that is all it is, fantasy. For years that is all I had, I'm not about to give it up because he's insecure.

I can't think about anybody else when he's in me. It's just me and him, feeling each other, feeding off of each other. I know him, I don't know how. He knows when I need to bite, claw, and he bites and claws me back. Now he's thrusting, slow and smooth, big long, rhythmic, thrusts, he's hitting all the right spots again, I'm going to come. It's a low, heavy throbbing that rises and peaks and keeps...on...throbbing. Fuck! I surrender to it, letting it roll and pulse through me, it just keeps going and I'm almost wishing it would stop. He feels it too and swears under his breath and then groans and low throaty moan that stretches almost as long as my climax does.

I have never surrendered. I've died before surrendering. I did it for him. I think he knows because when he finally stops he carries me tenderly to the bed and lays me down. He covers me with his big body and kisses my face, I didn't realise I was crying till his big hands cup my face and he wipes my cheeks with his thumbs and then kisses me again.

"I hurt you." He says. It's a statement not a question, but it was a mutual thing, he's bloody. I can see the bites on his shoulders healing even as he speaks.

"You're bloody too." I breathe, I can feel parts of me stinging and hurting. He glances down, I can feel his eyes stroking over the bite marks on my shoulders, neck, his eyes flick lower and suddenly he's gone. I didn't want him to go but he stalks into the bathroom and I can hear the water running. When he comes back it's with a towel and a wet facecloth, but when I reach out to take it from him he pushes my hand away and then wipes the warm cloth over my shoulder.

It drags over my neck, the water stings a little, then down over my shoulder then the other side, it stings more on the left side and he takes longer there, wiping several times, glancing at my face while he does it. I lay there and let him, close my eyes, enjoy it. I smile when he drags the wet cloth over both breasts, there are no bites there, then down over my stomach, my eyes pop open when he strokes the inside of my thighs. My eyes pop open and I pull myself to my elbows to see what he's doing, surprised to see bloody smears on the inside of my thighs. He looks guilty.

"Sorry." He grunts, still wiping, not looking at me now. I don't know what to say to him. I don't want him to feel bad, but it hurt, at least now he'll know my limits. I have to trust that he'll remember them.

"It's going to take me a while to get accustomed to you." I finally say. "No Rhyno-boys." His lips twitch and I know he's trying hard not to smile, but it's okay with me if he does. I wonder how many humans he's fucked, if he's hurt them. He glances up at me and then stops, his eyes say a lot. He must realise it because suddenly they shut down, and he climbs off the bed and disappears back into the bathroom.

I hear water running, it runs for a while and I snuggle under the covers, the chill from the wet facecloth is unpleasant and I want to be warm right now. It's hard to heal when your cold, it tingles more intensely, like pins and needles when your foot or hand falls asleep. I don't feel warm till he climbs back in bed and then snuggles up against my back. We adjust, legs slide together, his chest is firm against my back, one big hand slips around my waist and then closes around one breast and he sighs a breath that tickles over my neck. I wonder at how quickly we fit.

We, as a species don't really sleep, we drift between being awake and sleeping, dozing I guess is a good description, sleeping with one eye open. We consciously relax. The closest thing we get to sleep is a deep doze where our bodies go into a kind of stasis, only when we are within a pack, when we trust completely. I can't remember if I've ever done it before.

I hear his breathing change, slows, deepens, it's soothing and it's contagious and I feel my body relax. My mind drifts and spins a dream, if that's what you want to call it and I'm lost in it for the moment.

We lay there for several hours, always touching, some part of our bodies tangled with the other, shifting together. My nose is buried in his chest, absorbing his smell, his chest hair tickles my nose, I haven't slept with anyone in a long time. I don't sleep with humans, they are food. His fingers start to wander and I know he's ready to get on with his day, ready to get up and get dressed, face whatever it is he does. I wonder what it is that gets him up every day. I have revenge. I wonder what he has.

His fingers wander, stroking my skin, it blossoms under his attention and I can feel it waking up for him. He doesn't say anything, but pretty soon his lips are following his fingers around, I love it when he nuzzles his face between my breasts and inhales, both big hands cupping them, his thumbs stroke over my nipples. He knows I like it too because the tingle starts and they harden, pucker under the attention, his lips close over them and he sucks, pulling them into his mouth. I purr, deep in my chest and then comb my fingers through his thick dark hair, its silky smooth waterfall through them, he shifts and then turns his attention on the other nipple, inciting another purr. I could get accustomed to waking up like this.

His big hand slides down over my side, and cups my hip and he shifts so his long legs are lying between my legs. He nibbles and licks my skin, long wet licks, some followed by a rumble deep from his chest, it's a mix of tickles and zings of pleasure that zap right through me and settles in my groin. His tongue sweeps across my stomach just above my pubic hair and he purrs again, I like that sound. He grins up at me, his teeth look sharp and this time when he licks the spot his eyes stay locked with mine, I know where he's going. It makes the tingles even sharper.

"Wait." I breathe, and shift around, adjusting pillows, pushing the blankets away, pulling him closer. His eyebrows pop up for a second, then the wolfish grin pops back and he follows my lead and shifts with me. He licks across the top of my pubic hair, I follow. He licks the inside of my thigh, I lick his. His breath hitches just a little and I watch his body respond, just shifting around has him semi-hard, now he unfurls, lengthens, gets harder, my mouth waters when the musky scent of him envelopes me.

"I haven't done this in a while." I confess." You're going to have to tell me what you like." I can feel his breath on the inside of my thigh and he kisses the thin skin there, then shifts a little.

"I think I'll like whatever you do, no teeth please." He says and I can feel him smiling against my skin. He nibbles, then another long slow lick up the inside of my leg. I follow his lead, long, slow, wet licks.

His skin has different textures, smooth and tender on the inside of his thighs, I nibble and lick it leaving little red marks behind. His testicles are pulled up tight, puckered and firm, I trace my tongue over the seam that divides them, he shivers. I like that. I explore every inch of him, licking and nibbling all of him, finding the spots that make his shiver and groan. He's doing the same to me, finding spots that make me jump and catch my breath, ones I didn't know I had. I'm trying to be patient, waiting for him to set the pace but I'm a little impatient, I want him in my mouth. I've licked him wet, he's shiny, slippery wet, and hard. My tongue swirls over the silky head, pausing long enough to tickle the little indent at the top and then I wrap my lips around him and swallow, and swallow. He groans loudly and pulls his lips away from my skin.

"Fuck." He gasps. "Oh baby, that feels so good." He jerks faintly and gasps again when I swallow more of him. I think he's just discovered I don't have a gag reflex. He swears again, but doesn't move, except for the quiver that hasn't stopped yet. Apparently he likes what I'm doing. His head dips and his tongue flicks out, then hardens and flicks over the sensitive bud he's been flirting around. It sends a spasm right through me and I have to make sure I don't clench my teeth, which would be bad. I moan instead and he jerks again, I realise it vibrates. I suck and pull away from him, creating suction around him, he jerks again and then swirls his tongue faster. I moan and swallow him again. We push each other, both of us notching up the pressure a little bit more each time, suck harder, flick faster, each time a little deeper, a little faster, a little harder.

He has me quivering like a leaf and I want him to finish me off. He surprises me when his arm snakes around my waist and pulls me tight against him and then rolls over on his back, taking me with him. It opens me up to him, gives him more access, he shoves both my knees farther apart and then wraps a big arm around my hips and pins me to his mouth. I gasp in surprise.

I've let him loose while he was shifting around, afraid of nicking him with my sharp teeth, my fingers firmly wrapped around him, disappointed at loosing contact with him. Now I'm glad I did because he's buried his face in my wetness, his head working from side to side, his mouth locked on to the most sensitive part of me, sucking and tonguing furiously. I can't even jerk because he had me clamped tight to him, I grit my teeth and gasp, then wail in pleasure when he slips two big fingers inside and pumps. I'm wet, soaking him, and he groans and licks and wiggles faster till I'm bucking against his mouth. He's going to come just as hard. I'm determined to make him scream.

I swallow him, wrapping my hand around whatever is left and squeeze, suck, tongue, he jerks, thrusts up into my mouth sets the pace, I turn up the speed. He jerks and I moan around him sending all the vibrations through him I can.

He ups the pleasure again and rearranges his fingers, sipping one into my wet, till its slippery, then sliding it up my ass, hitting a whole new batch of nerves, sending me into another round of intense spasms. Two can play that game.

He is as sloppy wet as I am, covered in glistening saliva. I wet my finger and stroke it down over the sensitive skin behind his testicles and then slip it inside him. He jerks hard and gasps, then swears, his whole body shakes when my mouth and hand closes around him. I think about the Rhyno-boys and the bouncing rhythm the girls had used, and match it, mouth, hand and finger all moving in sync. His hips fall into the rhythm and he fucks my mouth. He isn't any more immune than I am, he finally stops flicking his tongue over me and bites the inside of my thigh, then stiffens.

He howls. His cock jerks. I swallow, and swallow, gobbling him up, licking, swallowing, pumping him dry, feeling him twitch and spasm around my finger, he comes, and comes till I'm sure I hear him sobbing with pleasure. A rush of power hits me, realisation. It's almost as much pleasure making him come like that as it was coming myself. I have never done that for anyone before and suddenly I feel shy.

He's not. He grabs pillows, the sheets, then pulls me up into his chest, he only stops grinning long enough to kiss me, hard and thoroughly till my mouth is tingling with pheromones again.

I want to ask him if I did it right but it seems a bit redundant. His fingers brush through my hair and then he does something he hasn't before, his lips brush over my temple, then my eyebrow, down my nose, he nibbles on my lips, and then kisses down my jaw and back up to my lips. Things have taken a sudden shift. He's telling me things without talking. I'm listening. It's scary but I kiss him back.

He has beautiful eyes, I love how they are looking at me. My fingers smooth over his dark eyebrows, his has little smile lines at the corners of his eyes, I like that he smiles enough to have them. I want to hear him laugh. My lips nibble his, my fingers memorise his cheekbones, his jaw line, his lips, even his ears, his silky hair. Dare I? Dare I give him my heart?

I am so very close to it. I know nothing about him, I haven't even met the rest of the pack, I have to be accepted by the Alpha, I will have to stay with him and give up my hunt for the person I hate most in the world. I have lived for nothing but revenge, but can I stop and live for something else?

"You think too much." He growls, nibbling on my ear. "It's not that complicated."

That stuns me. How can he do that? He peels my fingers off his biceps and then presses his palm against mine, comparing the size of our hands, then threads his fingers through mine and gives my hand a squeeze.

"When Alpha picked his mate..." he stopped for a long minute. "When he picked her, I was mad as hell. A human." He growls. "We are his pack and we come first, except now we come second. I hate her and I was going to challenge him for Alpha when he got back. Now I get it."

My heart is bouncing around in my ribcage, hammering to get out, I know exactly what he's telling me.

"I know him. He's not going to be happy your here, he's going to growl about it but we put up with her, so he's going to put up with you. You are entitled to our protection, his human isn't."

This isn't what I wanted to hear. I don't want to be another wedge between them, it sounds like the pack is already teetering on the edge and it sounded like I might be the breaking point.

"Ryodan."

He glares at me and I stop. He's just telling me what is going to happen, he's not asking permission, it's been festering, I might be a catalyst but I'm not the cause.

I don't want him to get hurt. That is also redundant, we heal, quickly. We don't die. The worst that could happen is the pack splits, it happens, it reforms and we go on, at least I won't be alone anymore. I won't be alone anymore.

He smiles, his eyes laugh and it's magical.

"No," he smiles. "You won't be."