Pleasured By The Dark & Damaged (4 page)

Barret’s erection was gone when I returned ten minutes later. We left the strip mall and proceeded to the nearest park, where Barret dressed. It was three by the time we were again on our way.

The Department of Motor Vehicles turned out to be a bust. The car we’d seen drive away had been a blue Toyota Camry with a license plate that read Z990PQR. Barret talked to an exceptionally helpful red-head, who told him that the plates actually belonged to a red Volkswagen bug.

Barret combed his hair with his fingers as we walked out of the building. “He switched the plates, Toots. We’re at another dead end.”

“Maybe not,” I mused. “There’s another Judas on the list. His name is Jack Seeton, and he lives in Anaconda. Let’s grab some lunch and head over there. He’s only about an hour and a half away.”

We pulled into the drive-through of a local fast food restaurant a few minutes later, ordered our food and got back on the road. Barret turned the radio down so that we could talk.

“Do you think Kyra was part of this, Toots?”

“I really couldn’t say. She may be, and then again, she may have moved out of that apartment a few weeks ago.”

“That’s possible,” he mused. “Like I said, the traces were old. Whoever set that trap was expecting a wolf though. As you know, silver doesn’t kill us werebears.”

My mouth was full of beef. I chewed and swallowed. “Why is that? How come you guys are immune to silver?”

“I don’t know for sure. I just know that we are the only shifters alive who aren’t affected by it.”

I unwrapped another hamburger. “So, what is your weakness?”

His eyes twinkled. “Kryptonite.”

“Come on, Barret.”

“It’s better if you don’t know, Toots. We werebears are a secretive lot. We don’t want the knowledge of how to kill us out there.”

“That makes sense.”

He took a sip of soda. “So, who was the wolf? It’s obvious that he set the trap and that he knew we were coming. Question is, who told him?”

“Well, if you would’ve taken more than a cursory glance at the file, you would’ve known that the werewolf we saw resembles Lobo.”

“I’m letting you take care of the detail stuff. I’ll do the heavy lifting.”

“Heavy lifting?”

He grunted dramatically and curled his forearm over his bicep. Muscles bunched on his arm.

“Check out my guns.”

I rolled my eyes. “Oh, brother.”

Barret’s eyes glimmered with excitement. “Did you just smile at one of my jokes? I saw you smile.”

I turned my face so that he wouldn’t see my grin, and resumed the conversation.

“I don’t think that the werewolf was Lobo. It was probably one of the triplets. Lobo wouldn’t leave a bomb like that for me. I think someone from Mickey’s office tipped him off. After all, nobody else knows we’re after Lobo.”

“Are you suggesting Coral told him?”

I scowled. “That’s exactly what I’m suggesting.”

“What have you got against Coral? She’s a nice girl.”

“Judging by your photo collection, she must be,” I quipped.

“Have you ever stopped to think that maybe we’re after the right werewolf and that none of his brothers are involved? Maybe Lobo knew you would be after him and he tried to kill you.”

“That’s your jealousy talking. You assume Lobo is guilty because he fucked me and you never will.”

“I admit it. I am jealous of him. He had a beautiful, loyal, talented and smart woman who gave him her beautiful body, and he didn’t appreciate it. I would never have left such a prize at the altar. But, that’s neither here nor there. You’re jealous because Coral slept with me and you think I prefer women like her.”

The little red flame that had started within me at Mickey’s office, suddenly became a towering inferno.

“I am not jealous of Coral!” I snapped.

“Then what’s your problem with her?”

The flames of the inferno were burning high and hot. “I was interested in you first, long before the little bitch even knew you existed. I made the stupid mistake of telling her about it, and she swooped in to steal you right from under my nose. Then, after she slept with you, she had the nerve to tell me how great it was. That is my problem with Coral. And I have no doubt that she told one of the triplets about my being on the hunt so that he would kill me. That way, she could have you all to herself.”

I was panting by the end, my body heaving as the inferno became a tiny flame once more.

Barret had stared at me during the long tirade, weathering it with a strangely bored look.

“Are you finished?” he asked.

“Yes.”

He wadded the sack that had held his meal into a ball. “This is the thing, Toots. I may fuck girls like her, but there’s only one girl I would ever marry. And that girl is you.”

My eyes widened and, to my dismay, the warm feeling spread out of my heart and into my body. I took a deep breath and tried to control it with logic.

“You’re just saying this to win the bet.”

He stared into my eyes. “Am I?”

“You tell me.”

“If there were no bet, I would tell you the same thing. And then, if you were willing, I would tear your clothes off and fuck you. Right here. Right now. It would be long and slow and I wouldn’t stop until you told me to.”

My body was trembling, and an icy chill raised goosebumps over my skin. My mind was still stuck on the part about it being “long and slow,” and I was unable to speak.

Barret and I entered Anaconda just as the first flakes of snow started. They spiraled toward us in a graceful winter ballet, shimmering in the afternoon half-light. Parts of the road were already covered, and residents walked along the sidewalks, heads bowed to the wind.

Barret flipped his headlights on. “Looks like a big storm. We may have to stay the night here.”

“Probably.” My voice was hoarse, and I cleared my throat. “Seeton lives about a mile out of town. We could get there before dark.”

“What makes him a Judas?”

“Lobo asked him for an alibi, and he wouldn’t give it.”

“Wonder why.”

“We should find out soon,” I said, peering out the window.

We drove through Anaconda and into the worsening storm. When we arrived at the small ranch-style home of Jack Seeton, it was a full-blown blizzard.

Barret motioned toward the dark house. “Doesn’t look like anyone is home.”

“Let’s check it out.”

Barret opened his door and began to strip.

I averted my eyes. “You’re going to transform now?”

“Yes, and you may want to do it too. Who knows what’s waiting for us in there. At least this way, I won’t rip my clothes.”

I followed his lead and removed my shirt. My nipples grew erect in the wintry air. Barret paused to watch me take off my jeans.

“Do you have to stare?” I growled.

“I can’t tear my eyes away.”

His cock was fully erect again and, for some weird reason, it seemed bigger this time. The pink head quivered.

I stared at it, unable to move.

“You coming, Toots?”

“Uh…yes.”

He turned to go.

“Barret, wait a minute. Am I imagining things or…” I pointed to his crotch.

He looked down. “What?”

“It looks…bigger.”

“Oh, yeah. It does that,” He said nonchalantly.

I raised my eyebrows. “How…um…big…does it usually get? I’m just curious.”

“About eleven inches. Maybe, four inches wide. I have to be really turned on for that to happen though.”

I blinked. “Are you really turned on now?”

“Yes.”

Desire lit a fire inside my loins, and I shook my head to stop it from spreading, but it was too late. A quick peek into the rearview mirror revealed that my eyes had turned the color of amber, and a soft whine escaped my lips.

“You ok?” Barret asked.

“F-fine.” I shook my head again. It was a good thing that Barret was a werebear and not a werewolf. If he had been, he would have known what the whine meant. And I would have lost $80,000.

We transformed as the last vestige of dusk vanished from the night sky. Since my eyes were better than Barret’s, and I had natural night-vision, I took the lead.

The small white house stood silent under the falling snow. It was surrounded by a white picket fence. We had to pass through the gate to get into the yard.

We had only taken a few steps when Barret began to cough. He pointed toward the left with one big paw and I headed off in that direction.

Though I could not admit it, Barret’s sense of hearing and smell were superior to mine. He had detected the odor a full minute before I did.

It was the scent of death.

The scent was not fresh. The man had been dead for at least a day, maybe two at the most. He was a non-shifter, probably our Judas.

Barret coughed again and I turned to him. He pointed toward the fence.

Something had been impaled on one of the pickets a few feet away. It was covered with snow, but I could still make out the features.

It was a human head.

When I turned back to Barret, he was swaying back and forth, his mouth wide.

I pricked up my ears and sniffed, but detected no spoor upon the wind. If I hadn’t seen the shadow, I might not have known the creature was there.

Unlike me, this wolf was standing on its hind-legs and appeared to be more man than wolf. He looked more like a man.

My blood ran cold at the sight of it, and a single phrase screamed through my mind.

Blood Fever.

The werewolf before me was obviously infected, and when his odor finally reached my nostrils, I knew who it was at once.

It was Bob.

I barked a warning to Barret, but he didn’t seem to understand me.

He charged the werewolf.

The diseased creature howled as Barret lumbered toward him. It met his attack with a triumphant and toothy grin. The two struggled and kicked up the snow.

Barret successfully fended off Bob’s gnashing jaws, keeping him at arm’s length with his much longer limbs. I paced back and forth, looking for an opening that might allow my own attack.

I didn’t know it, but Bob was looking for the same thing.

Barret swiped at the man-wolf with a heavy paw. The blow missed, and the wolf ducked under it. Instead of turning on Barret, he came after me.

His yellow eyes glowed as he rushed me. I stared into the half-human face and an icy chill filled the pit of my stomach. Too late, I turned to run.

The man-wolf caught me by the tail, and I whimpered as he pulled me backward. I clawed the ground trying to escape his grip.

Suddenly I was released.

I turned just in time to see Barret crush Bob in a tremendous bear hug. The man-wolf struggled in his grasp, then leaned back.

He bit Barret.

Barret howled in pain, but didn’t release the man-wolf. He tightened his grip, and bones cracked under the pressure. The creature whined in protest. When it ceased to move, Barret dropped it into the snow.

The werebear stood on his hind legs for several seconds before reverting to his human shape.

I had also returned to my form, and as I rushed toward him, Barret fell to his knees.

I examined his shoulder. The wound was large, and bleeding profusely. I scooped up some snow to pack against it.

Bob lay in the snow, an inert shape on the ground. I glanced at him and shivered.

“Barret, we have to get out of here. We have to go now.”

“It’s alright, Toots. It’s dead.”

“No. Only silver can kill us. Get up now.”

Barret turned his head toward his bloody shoulder. “The damn thing bit me.”

“That’s another reason we must leave now. You’ve been infected.”

“Infected with what?”

“Barret, for the love of—just get moving, please!”

He rose to his feet and nearly fell over.

“Jesus, I feel dizzy.”

I took his arm and wrapped it around my shoulder, supporting him so that he could get back to the truck. His hand brushed my right breast and he took hold of it, but I didn’t really care at the moment.

When we arrived at the truck, I didn’t bother to dress.

I glanced back toward the house. The man-wolf lay where it had been. It hadn’t moved.

“Barret, can you drive?”

“I-I think so.”

He slid behind the wheel, and I hurried to the passenger side. He started the engine and we backed out of the drive.

Barret’s eyes drooped as we sped down the road and he drifted back and forth across it. I touched his arm and had to snatch my hand away.

He was burning up.

I had no idea how Blood Fever would affect Barret’s physiology. For all I knew, instead of transforming him, it might be killing him.

We had traveled only a couple of miles when Barret began to shake.

“I can’t go any further, Toots.”

“We’re almost to town. You can make it.”

“Can’t. Gotta stop.”

The sign of a small motel loomed up ahead in the darkness like a lighthouse beacon. I hadn’t noticed the place on the way to Jack Seeton’s house, but I was very glad to see it now. The turn off was only a few yards away.

“Just a little further, Barret,” I pleaded.

He made it into the parking lot and then promptly passed out over the wheel. The sound of the horn blared through the snowy air, but no one seemed to notice.

I pulled Barret over so that he lay upon the bench seat. Then, I got out of the truck and rushed toward the motel office.

No one was there.

A small, old school TV sat on the counter. It blared a commercial to the warm and empty room. I didn’t ring the bell, nor call for assistance. I simply jumped the counter and grabbed the key to bungalow 23.

My return trip to the pick-up was marked by harsh wind and snow that collected in my hair and stung my naked body. I opened the driver’s side door of the pick-up and stared at Barret’s body.

He looked worse.

His fever had not abated, and his shaking had worsened. When he opened his eyes to look at me, they glowed scarlet.

I stepped up to pull him out and, as I did so, bumped the sun shade. A single picture dropped down to the floor. All the other pictures were gone.

The picture was torn and when I picked it up, a gasp escaped my lips.

It was the naked picture of me taken with Lobo.

I placed the picture back in the pick-up.

Barret moaned. I turned my attention back to him and pulled his body from the truck, supporting him with all the strength I could muster. Then, I half-carried, half-dragged him toward Bungalow 23.

It was hard to balance Barret’s body while I fumbled with the lock, but I managed it. We entered the room and I switched on the light.

A single queen-sized bed stood off to my left, and a doorway lay on my right. I helped Barret to the bed and laid him on it.

The doorway led to a bathroom. It smelled of cheap disinfectant. I searched the cabinets for towels, and found a few dingy ones. I wet them down with cold water and then hurried back Barret.

Steam rose from the towels as I laid them on Barret’s head and chest. Within minutes, they were dry.

The towels weren’t working, so I decided on a better solution. I went outside, scooped snow up into the towels and carried them back in. Then, I placed them on his body. This proved to be more effective.

The only encouraging thing about his condition was that the wound had stopped bleeding. It had even begun to heal around the edges.

I paced back and forth, my eyes on the towels as the snow melted and dripped onto the floor. Barret murmured in his delirium, and I heard my name more than once.

Tears rose within me. I choked back my sobs and fell to my knees beside the bed.

“Barret, you have to live. Please, please live.”

He turned toward me and opened his eyes. They were still the color of blood. I touched his hot forehead and stroked his hair back.

“Please, Barret. Don’t die. I don’t know what I’ll do without you.”

He opened his mouth. The teeth were sharp, bear-like. He made no sound.

I took his hand and squeezed it. I didn’t know what to do. Without the right medicines, there was no way to save him.

Tears blinded me and I shook my head. I couldn’t just watch him die. I had to do something.

Thinking that perhaps the motel had a medicine chest or at least a first aid kit, I hurried out the door into the freezing night.