The Wild Moon by Riley Storm

Chapter Forty-Four

The arousal died the second we snapped back into reality.

“Oh, god,” I moaned, wriggling desperately to get out of his grip as my stomach roiled and heaved.

Falling to the floor, I dry retched, begging myself furiously not to puke in front of the giant fire-sex-man-thing. I didn’t want that embarrassment. My wolf agreed, but she did nothing to help, simply content to watch and admire the Alpha, ready to do exactly as he said, whenever he said it.

She’d already decided whom to submit to.

Moments later, my stomach settled so quickly I nearly lost control from the swiftness of it.

“What the fuck was that?” I swore, leaping to my feet. “Vir’s Oath, man, you can’t just poof people like that without warning.”

I wanted to get really good and mad at my captor, to show him my fury, but it was hard when I only came to his shoulders. I’m no wimp in the height department, but this guy was massive, towering above me without even trying. There was no way I was intimidating him.

His fire faded with my fury, however, revealing the face of my abductor at last. I looked up–all the way up–and gasped.

“Holy fuck!” I shouted, backing away in stunned amazement. “You? You’re fiery demon thing?”

“I’m no demon,” Mr. Mysterious rumbled.

It was him. The man from my dreams. Tall, handsome, dark hair spilling to his shoulders, and eyes of a blue so rich it defied comprehension. Just like everything else about him.

“It’s you,” I said, feeling slightly faint. “You’re here. You came. From my dreams. Now you’re here.”

“Actually, you’ve got it somewhat wrong,” he said.

I raised an eyebrow. “Come again?”

“I didn’t come to you,” he corrected. “You came to me. To my world.”

“Your world?” I said, voice failing me on the last syllable. “Where are we? This isn’t my dream.”

Giant Sex Machine shook his head, sending that beautiful, shiny hair of his flying. “I was never in your dreams. You came here. Visited.”

“And now I’m here for real,” I said, trying to comprehend what he was telling me.

“Yes.”

“And it’s you. You’re the same person?” I was going in logic circles, but I didn’t care. I think those sorts of things are excused when you’re transported to another world.

“Yes.”

“But why? How?” I asked. “I don’t understand.”

“Neither do I,” he said, looking troubled. “But your presence will have attracted attention.”

I recalled the empty, desolate nature of his world. “Attention? From whom? There’s nobody else out there.”

Dream Man, or was it Dreamy Man? I didn’t know yet, didn’t respond to my question. Apparently, some secrets were still his to keep.

“Where are we anyway?”

“A safe place,” he rumbled, waving a hand around.

I really focused on the room we were in. I’d been so overwhelmed by everything that had happened that I hadn’t really processed any of it.

We were in the center of a circular room, standing on a stone platform. There were faint lines written in the rock below us, which I figured must be some sort of runes, which allowed him to do that stomach-churning poof trick. Three wooden bridges, perhaps eight feet long, arced up and over a flowing river of water that split around the platform.

A variety of plants grew along the banks, adding flowers and color to the room. The walls and ceiling were rock, which meant, I assumed, we were underground. I continued turning.

“Oh, wow,” I said, suitably impressed at the roaring fire in the middle of a semi-circle of seats and couches, all of which were laid out in front of two long walls full of books, meeting at a sharp corner. “Now that is a private library. Damn.”

“I’m glad you approve,” Mr. Mysterious said with a chuckle.

It was the first positive sound I’d heard from him. Maybe he wasn’t going to kill me for intruding on his solitude after all.

“Absolutely,” I said, noting an area near the reading chairs filled with more personal items. Some tokens, statuettes, paintings, and even a giant tapestry that hung from the rock wall and marked the outer edge of his lair, for lack of a better word.

Across the underground river, there was an area filled with what could only be workout equipment. Weights, dummies holding weapons, things of that nature. I’m not sure why he needed that, considering he could shoot fire and use his fists to carve rock, but I wasn’t about to ask.

“Shit, where were you a week ago?” I said, staring at the next area. It was piled high with gold coins and bars while the firelight flickered off items that reflected blue, green, even red. Precious stones, they had to be. Rubies, emeralds, sapphires.

It wasn’t all treasure, though. Rows of weapons lay racked against the wall. Swords, spears, suits of armor, whose origins I didn’t recognize, and more. Some of it didn’t even look human.

I had to admit, his lair was impressive and had a sense of grandeur about it, despite its welcoming, and almost cozy, feeling. Somehow, he managed to combine it all.

“Where is this place?” I repeated.

“It’s safe,” he assured me. “Somewhere you can rest. And recover.”

“Recover?” I asked, tearing my gaze away from the library to stare back at Mr. Mysterious.

“From your wounds?” he said, pointing at my side.

I glanced down at my side, all at once reminded that I’d been badly wounded in my fight with Johnathan. Somehow, the adrenaline of being kidnapped and brought here had pushed the pain to the back of my mind, distracting me from its ache.

Not anymore. It came rushing back, and I gritted my teeth. “Right. That.”

Which came with another realization. I was still naked. And I’d been standing here. In his presence. Without a care. Letting him get a full look at my completely naked body.

I clapped my hands to my body, trying to hide my tits from him while I crossed my leg in front of the other, desperate to try and regain some sort of decency. The fact that I was half-streaked in blood didn’t do much.

“Do you have a shower?” I asked, eager to get the blood off me first and foremost.

Mr. Mysterious shrugged and pointed to the back corner, where water fell from an unseen crack in the wall, the start of the river.

“Right,” I said, noting that it was completely exposed. Of course it was. “You don’t have anything, um, more private, do you?”

“Why would I?”

I sighed. “Of course not.”

“Why does it matter? The water will clean you.” He frowned at me, his lips compressing into a line.

“Because I’m naked,” I said, stressing the last word.

“That hasn’t bothered you until now.”

“Well, until now, I was kind of trying not to puke, then busy trying to figure out what the hell is going on. It…didn’t seem like a priority,” I said weakly.

It was easier to say that than it was to explain how my hormones were driving me wild, begging me to throw myself at this beautiful sex god and beg him to take me, touch me, do whatever he wanted to me.

He’d probably enjoy doing it with me covered in blood. He wouldn’t understand how that grosses me out.

“You are confusing,” he said.

“We humans tend to get like that sometimes,” I agreed, still covering myself as best I could. “You’d know, except you aren’t human, are you?”

The unflinching stare I got as an answer was all I needed to know.

“Fine, whatever,” I said. “Do you have any clothes at least?”

“They’ll be big.”

“Yeah, I figured that,” I said. “It would be creepy if you somehow had my size on hand, just waiting.”

“I will get them for you,” he said, heading over the third bridge without another word and disappearing behind a rock wall I just realized wasn’t the outer wall. It must be where his sleeping chamber was.

He does sleep, doesn’t he?

Taking advantage of the momentary privacy, I rushed over to the waterfall shower and plunged underneath it, ignoring the pulling at my wounds. My shifter healing would take care of those soon enough.

“EYAAHHHHH!” I shrieked, darting away from the absolutely frigid water.

“What’s wrong?”

I jumped as Mr. Mysterious was abruptly at my side, concern lighting his eyes.

“Are you hurt? Did something happen?”

I shook my head.

“What’s wrong then? Why did you scream like that?”

I shuffled my arms to keep my now glass-cutter-like tits covered and pointed. “C-C-Cold.”

Mr. Mysterious wasn’t impressed with my answer. “I thought you were in danger.”

“Hypothermia is a danger,” I pointed out.

“You’re so delicate.”

“Listen, mister whoever you are, not all of us can burn fire to keep warm, okay? So, I’m not invincible, like you. That’s not the end of the world. Now, does this warm up at all?”

He grunted, walked over to where the water fell from the wall and placed a hand in the opening, so that the water rushed over his fingers.

“There.”

I frowned. The water didn’t look any different. Carefully, I tested it with my foot. It was perfectly warm, on the edge of being scalding hot without doing actual damage. Just the way I liked it.

“Thank you,” I said and waited.

He didn’t move.

“You can go now,” I said, eager to clean off and get dressed.

“The water will cool if I stop heating it,” he said, staring at me.

“You’ve got to be kidding,” I moaned.

“Why would I do that?”

“I didn’t–never mind,” I said, exasperated.

Did it really matter? He’d seen me naked already. What did it matter if he saw a little more? It was either that or stay covered in my blood. Glaring at him, I hopped under the water and started to clean. I did ensure that my ass was the only thing he got a really good look at. It was the best I could do to maintain decency in the situation.

I definitely did not get disappointed when he didn’t reach into the water and pull me back against him. Not at all.

Get a hold of yourself. Why does the touch of every male seem to inflame your fucking vag? You need to be more in control of yourself. Don’t let them control you.

But that’s what I wanted. Ever since my Soulbond had formed, I’d been a slobbering, slathering fool any time a hot man wanted a piece of me. It was like their attention reduced me to nothing, driving back women’s rights a hundred years or more. And I liked it.

Aaron, this non-human sexual something–I lacked words to properly describe him and what he did to my body simply by looking at me.

I showered quickly and got dressed, hoping the big, baggy clothes would help calm things down. I didn’t feel sexy in them at all. In fact, I had to work not to trip over the legs since there was so much extra material. I must have looked like a clown. Thankfully, there were no mirrors to give me a visual I’d never forget.

“It’s time you give me some answers,” I said in as firm a voice as I could, carefully plunking myself down in a seat in front of the fire so I could bask in its warmth.

“Such as?”

“Who are you?” I asked. “I think you owe me at least a name if you’re going to just up and take me like this.”

The frown I got back was legendary in its seriousness.

“I’m not like that. I am not going to take you. That is not why I brought you here.”

My jaw fell open in a mixture of disappointment and disbelief at how he could misinterpret my comments.

Assuming he did so on accident, and not on purpose, to try and put me at ease.

“Not what I meant,” I said, sighing internally. Rejected by another man. The only one who seemed to actively want me had gone from wanting me as his mate to trying to kill me.

What’s a girl got to do to be loved properly? Why was it so difficult?

Unsure of how to handle his misdirection style of conversation, I got myself right back up and wandered past the fire to peruse his selection of books. My fingers dragged along the spines. I recognized the names of maybe one in fifty of the books I passed. Most of them were rare or sounded rare.

“Hey!” I said as a familiar title stood out to me. “I know this one. I’ve read this one.”

I pulled out Froller’s The Ancients, smiling as I reminisced about the books of old.

“My dad got me hooked on these, you know. All about the ancient shifter mythology. He was big into it, loved to talk about it.”

I’d long since stopped thinking of my parents as “the people who raised me.” I’d started to think of them that way shortly after my Soulshift, when I still wondered if they had lied to me on purpose and didn’t care for me, but I’d moved on. I knew the love I’d felt was real, that they had thought of me as their daughter.

Frig, I miss you guys. I’m sorry, Dad. I was trying to follow your clues, but things…things got weird. I’ll figure out a way. I’ll find you, wherever you went. I promise.

“What?” I asked when I finally snapped out of my reverie to see Hunky McHunkster staring at me.

“Mythology?” he asked.

“Yeah, you know. Legends, lore. That sort of thing. Stuff that isn’t actually real, but people used to believe was?”

To my surprise, Mr. Mysterious’ shoulders slumped. “Is that what we’ve become?”

I frowned. “We? What is this we business?”

“Page seventeen,” he rasped, the strength gone from his voice. “Turn to page seventeen.”

“Ooookay,” I said, doing as he said and looking at the page and the depiction of the god Vir, Champion to Amunlea. “Now what do I–Holy shit.”

Mr. Mysterious was standing in front of me. At some point, while I’d flipped pages, he’d approached. But gone was the long hair, blue eyes, and sharp facial features of a sex god.

The picture on the page now stared back at me.

Except it was alive.