"What we need to know about loving is no great mystery. We all know what constitutes loving behavior; we need but act upon it, not continually question it. Over-analysis often confuses the issue and in the end brings us no closer to insight. We sometimes become too busy classifying, separating, and examining, to remember that love is easy. It's we who make it complicated."
~ Leo Buscaglia ~
I knew interrogating Maria and Phil would have to wait after my date with Parker. I wasn’t completely sure of my accusation, so I wanted to make sure my assumption was well warranted before I did anything stupid.
Plus, I was really, really looking forward to spending some time alone with him.
“This is the place you thought of?” I questioned as we climbed over the familiar barrier of rocks and jumped onto the private area of sandy beach, trees lining the far edge. The waves rolled and crashed onto the shore.
“Yep,” he stated, peering at me cautiously. “Do you like it?”
I grinned widely, taking his hand in my own. “I love it.”
“Good.” He rolled out the blanket and set down the basket, pulling out food. I folded my legs beneath me on the checkered fabric and chuckled.
“You Landings and your picnics,” I teased. Parker winked.
“What can I say? We’re cheap.”
I laughed, popping a grape into my mouth. It was an overcast day, the slightly colder temperatures speaking of a nearing December. It was a relatively cool day. I wore jeans but only a short-sleeved shirt. I wrapped my arms around myself, shivering slightly.
“Here,” Parker offered, draping his jacket over my shoulders. It was huge on me. “I run hot.”
“That’s right,” I muttered, pushing my arms through the sleeves, sincerely missing the days I did, too. “Thanks.”
We ate in a companionable silence for the first ten or so minutes, steadily making our way through the food he brought. The none-too-gentle breeze continued to blow but I wasn’t about to complain. Not when I had Parker there with me.
“Thanks for the picnic,” I muttered when I was full, picking at the soft blanket.
“My treat,” he smiled, tucking the remaining food away. I felt his eyes on me, and then his hand appeared and covered mine. “What’s the matter?”
I looked up at him, not even bothering to hide the mess of emotions that must have been visible in my eyes. “I’ve just been thinking.”
“Uh-oh.” He tugged me over so I was lying down, my head on his lap. He sifted his fingers comfortingly through my hair. “That’s never good.”
“Hush,” I laughed softly, smacking his leg. And then in a quieter voice I admitted, “I’m scared, Parker.”
His fingers grazed my neck, leaving goose bumps behind. “Why?”
“The Scientists are closer than I think. They know my every move, my every thought, my every fear. I don’t even have a clue where to begin looking for them. I feel like the helpless victim.”
“You aren’t helpless, June.”
“I told you about the voices in my head, didn’t I?”
“Yeah,” he mumbled. “I still don’t completely understand that.”
“She was the Scientist who took me, who tried to kill me,” I told him. “She is the one who speaks to me and shows me visions. I just can’t shake the feeling that no matter what I do, it will all be useless. I can’t help feeling like I’m just prolonging my days until I’m captured and then that’s the end.”
His fingers froze. “The end of what?”
“Of me,” I whispered.
He didn’t respond for the longest time. I sat up so I could sneak a peek at his face. It was hard, rigid. He was glaring out into the ocean.
“Parker?” I whispered. He was so tense.
“Do you love me, June?” he asked suddenly, eyes still trained on the ocean.
I blinked, taken aback. “What?”
“Just answer the question. Do you love me?”
I pressed my fingers to his skin, turning his face toward mine. “Yes,” I breathed. His hand clenched into a fist and he appeared truly confused.
“Why?”
I frowned. “Why?” I echoed.
He nodded, eyes searching mine for whatever he was looking for.
“Because you’re—you’re you,” I managed, dropping my hand from his face. “You’re strong, and caring, and protective. You’re smart, funny, handsome . . . And a lifeguard. That’s a major plus.”
A ghost of a smile reached his lips.
“I’ve known you for two months and I know I must be completely insane, because this really feels like a dream right now but, God help me, Parker, somewhere along the way I fell really hard for you.”
“All my life,” he began, “I was looking for something. My mother and father died and Gemini and I were left out on the streets. I thought life was cruel, then. I thought life was cruel and stupid and evil and not worth living. And then Maria and Phil adopted us. Life got better, but something was still missing.”
Tears pricked my eyes. I wasn’t sure why I had been so emotional lately. I concluded it was all Parker’s fault, what with the rollercoaster of emotions he constantly had me on.
“As cheesy as this sounds, June, I think you’re my missing link,” he finished.
I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him tight. “You’re right,” I whispered. “That is cheesy.”
He snorted, returning the hug.
“I can’t be what you need,” I murmured a few minutes later after I had soaked up the hug. He pulled away and furrowed his eyebrows quizzically at me.
“What do you mean?”
“You’re an alpha, Parker. One day you’ll have a pack and you’ll be a great leader. A wonderful one. I’m nothing but a broken girl without a wolf and crazy-ass scientists chasing behind her twenty-four-seven.”
“June, if I cared even a little bit about that I wouldn’t be here right now,” he assured me. “You mean more to me than status.”
“Have you thought about—about marking me?” I voiced apprehensively, Anthony’s words from the kitchen ringing in my ears.
He shook his head firmly. “No. I haven’t.”
“Oh.” I lowered my gaze. He sighed.
“Do you want me to, June?”
I clenched my fingers in my hair. “I don’t know.”
He shifted around so he was sitting right in front of me and grabbed my hands. “Sweetheart, I can’t read your mind. You have to tell me what is bothering you so I can either fix it or kill it.”
I smiled nervously. “It’s just—what if some time down the line another wolf comes, and she’s your mate? What will happen to me?”
“Is that what you’re worried about?”
I shrugged. It was one of many things. “I hate thinking I’m only a temporary fixture in your life, but I’ve seen it at the pack house. When someone finds their mate it’s like magic. Disturbing and obsessive magic. They can’t get them out of their heads and they drive themselves mad keeping them by their side.”
“I’ve never been one to look far into the future,” he murmured. “Don’t waste your time worrying about what hasn’t happened yet, what could never happen.”
He was right, but my worries were still valid. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry, June. You think I don’t want to mark you? Of course I do. Of course I want every other wolf to know to back off. But with your situation it’s . . . It’s complicated.”
Complicated. Story of my life.
“I know, and that was shallow of me to ask. You’re in a tough situation which only begs the question; why?”
He smirked. “I feel like we’ve asked that question before, rather recently, too.”
“I’m more trouble than it’s worth,” I told him. Since we were getting all of our possible relationship problems out now there was nothing left to hide, no feelings left not to express. “In the end I’m not worth it. And if you wanted to leave I wouldn’t blame you.” I swallowed hard. “I wouldn’t stop you.”
He gazed at me as if I were insane. I was tired of people looking at me like that. “You are crazy,” he whispered.
“Been told that a time or two,” I muttered.
Parker took my face in his hands. “June, it’s been six years since I’ve dated a girl. You’re the first one I’ve ever told my past to, who I willingly shared my secret with. You keep saying you’re not worth it but you are so much more than that.”
A tear ran down my cheek and over his fingers.
He leaned closer to me. “I think if I truly loved a girl, after all this time, I would know,” he murmured. “I can’t believe you’re telling me to walk away. Is that what you really want? Because you know if it would make you happy I would do it.”
I shook my head. “That would suck,” I told him. “Don’t leave me.”
He smirked. “I hadn’t planned to,” he whispered, and captured my lips with his own. I clung to him in near desperation, relishing in the fire that erupted inside of me and the way he made my toes curl. He gently pushed me down onto the blanket, straddling me on his hands and knees as he continued devouring my mouth, stealing every breath I created.
He slid his jacket off my shoulders so he could touch my skin. With him as my shield I was impervious to the cold.
I panted into his mouth as he relentlessly increased the ferocity of his assault, my lips aching but not being able to pull away. Not wanting to pull away. I braided my fingers through his hair as he slipped his in the hem of my shirt, brushing over my stomach. I arched my back into him, all coherent thought having left me. The only thing my mind registered was Parker. His spicy aroma filling and overriding my senses and his touch sending me over the edge.
I was vaguely aware of a sound penetrating my outermost thoughts, but I was too occupied with Parker to care. When it happened again, significantly louder, Parker finally pulled away.
He was breathing hard but I was panting, lips tingling. I ran my tongue over them and tasted tiny beads of blood on my lower lip. I had felt Parker’s canines emerge once, fleetingly, and pierce through my lip but at my whimper he had gained control and retracted them. His face was hard and focused on the woods behind us. I was facing his chest, seeing it visibly rise up and down with each breath he was trying to regain after our heated five minute make-out session.
“What’s wrong?” I breathed, studying his taut face.
“Don’t move,” he ordered in a dangerously low voice. I frowned and that was when I heard the yip from a wolf emerged from the woods.
“Another shifter?” I asked. He nodded.
“I haven’t seen him before,” he muttered. I could hear a growl begin deep in his chest and escape through his bared teeth, and man, apart from the situation being scary it was extremely sexy.
“What does it want?”
“I don’t know and I don’t care.”
I sighed and sat up, shaking him off though he tried to push me back down. The wolf that had emerged from the trees was smaller than Parker, with muddy brown fur and snarling teeth. I stood, locking eyes with it, and Parker positioned himself in front of me.
“Maybe it’s friendly?” I suggested, although even I heard how stupid that sounded.
He snorted. “No. I can smell it’s instability from here. It’s hungry and feral. Near death.”
I tried finding some kind of sympathy to feel toward it, but I came up with none.
Parker snapped his teeth and the wolf ducked his head, turning and scampering off into the brush. I could feel the predatory essence on him, and I leaned against his chest. He automatically wrapped an arm around me.
“They sense you now, Parker,” I whispered to him, leaning my head against his shoulder. “That’s why so many wolves are appearing, right?”
He nodded. “They sense you, too.”
“Really? But I’m no longer a shifter.”
“Doesn’t matter. You have alpha and werewolf blood still running traces through your veins. They are after you.”
I sighed. “Then they better take a number and get in line.”
Parker chuckled. “You are a wanted woman.”
I grunted. “It’s so hard being me.”
“No kidding.”
*****
Alright, so this is all you get before things get intense and happen like BOOM BOOM BOOM. I'm just warning you. But VOTE if you like still and COMMENT becasue i LOVE hearing from YOU!:D Luv you all!
-EJ