N. Walters - Legacy Found

She nodded. “I think that’s why I can’t remember too much of what came before. Whenever I brought up the past, he’d…” She buried her face against his bare chest. “He’d beat me.”

James knew the man was dead. He had to be. Otherwise how would she have escaped? But that still didn’t keep him from wanting to exact some kind of revenge against him. The fact that he couldn’t only added to his anger and frustration.

As much as he didn’t want to know the rest, there was a question he had to ask, even though he already knew the truth. “Did he…” He swallowed hard, having a hard time forcing the words past his lips. “Did he rape you?”

“Not at first. But after a few years, when I was older.”

Anguish tore through him and tears pricked his eyes. The thought of this gentle creature at some man’s mercy for all those years was almost too much to bear. But since she obviously had, he could do no less.

He held her tight, wanting to erase those years from her mind, but knowing there was no way to make that happen. “It’s all right.” Her soft voice pulled him from his reverie. Her fingers that had been clinging so tight to him were now patting his chest, calming him. “I survived and I have the rest of my life.”

How had he ever for a moment thought this woman was fragile or weak? Her inner strength was greater than anyone he’d ever known. She’d not only survived her ordeal, but she was determined to put it behind her and to build a life for herself.

He had so many questions he still needed answers to. How had she made her first transition? And she had to have done so in order to know what a werewolf was. For a female to shift into her wolf form for the first time required a male werewolf and sexual relations for it to happen. It was Mother Nature’s way of ensuring the species mated and procreated. It might not be fair to the females but it was the way things were for them.

What happened to the male who’d first mated with her? Was he the one who’d held her captive? Everything inside him said no. She seemed to know next to nothing about their species. This was something else. Something more sinister.

Other questions surged forward. Was she a half-breed or a full-blooded werewolf? What did she remember about her family? What had happened to her captor? It wouldn’t do to assume he was dead. Maybe he’d gotten lax with security after all these years. Maybe he’d dropped dead of a heart attack due to old age. Thirty to forty years was a long time.

But there was something he needed to do before he asked any more questions.

Taking his time and giving her every opportunity to say no or to move away, James lowered his head toward her and brushed her forehead with his lips. Then he did the same with her temples, her eyelids, her pert little nose and her chin. Her breathing deepened, but she kept her eyes open, watching him.

“I think you are the bravest and most beautiful woman I’ve ever known,” he whispered as he rubbed his lips over hers. He barely made contact with her soft mouth, not wanting to push or crowd her. A bead of sweat rolled down his back as he struggled to maintain control. Not for anything in the world would he want to do anything that would upset Shelley or frighten her. Not when she’d already been through so much.

She deserved to be cherished and loved. And he was just the male to do it.

He stroked his tongue along the seam of her mouth and her lips parted ever so slightly. He dipped inside, not pushing, but merely tasting before slipping out again. He kept their kiss light and playful even though his head was pounding and his body aching for a deeper contact.

Finally, he eased back. His control was becoming more precarious with each passing second. He knew she had to feel his swollen dick poking into her side. There was no way she couldn’t.

They were both gasping for breath as they stared at one another. Shelley smiled and put her fingers to her lips. James swallowed a groan, wanting to suck on those lovely, slender fingers. His erection twitched uncomfortably.

“I’d never been kissed before yesterday.”

The sheer brutality under which she’d lived came crashing down upon him. He was at a loss for words. Unable to express the anger he felt on her behalf. Another part of him, the more primitive side, was thrilled that he’d been the first to kiss those sweet lips.

He cleared his throat. “Then I thank you for allowing me such a precious gift.”

Something niggled at the back of his brain, something she’d said back at the diner. Call me Shelley , she’d said. “Shelley isn’t your real name, is it?”

She stiffened and he was immediately sorry that he’d opened his mouth.

“I don’t know.” She surprised him. He really hadn’t expected her to answer him. “It’s the only name I know, yet it’s not quite right.”

He wrapped both his hands around her, holding her close to his heart. “It doesn’t matter. We’ll figure out where you come from. I won’t let you go until we find your rightful home.” What he didn’t say aloud was that he wanted her to make her home with him.

He had to ask the one question that needed answering. Even though he knew in his heart it was the truth, he needed her to confirm it. “Was your captor a bounty hunter?”

Shelley was emotionally exhausted by what had just transpired. She’d told James things that she’d never expected to tell another person. Maybe it was because she knew he was like her. He knew she was different, but he wasn’t disgusted by it at all.

Her lips still tingled from where he’d kissed her. She hadn’t thought that she’d ever kiss a man, let alone that she’d like it. And they’d certainly done a lot more than kiss.

Her body was warm from the heat radiating from him and she could feel the imprint of his erection against her side. He was very aroused, yet he’d done nothing about it. Tom certainly wouldn’t have hesitated. She shivered with revulsion and shoved that thought out of her head. Tom was dead and she never had to think about him again. Those days were over.

But in order to claim her future, she had to examine the past. She knew that now. And that started by answering all James’s questions, no matter how uncomfortable they made her.

“Bounty hunter? I’m not sure what you mean by that. He and his friends were hunters. They were always talking about catching prey and bagging wolves.”

A muscle ticked in his jaw and James briefly closed his eyes. When he opened them, they were filled with raw determination and power. Energy radiated from him, like a vibration.

“Fucking bounty hunters had you for more than thirty years.” She realized he’d moved from beyond anger into fury. Yet, she didn’t fear him. She knew his rage was aimed at Tom and his buddies, not her.

Still, her heart pounded and her palms grew damp. She eased out of James’s arms. They tightened briefly before he let her go. Shelley crawled off the bed. James sat there with his head tilted back, his bare chest gleaming with sweat, his lungs pumping hard. His jean-clad legs shifted restlessly.

He couldn’t have been comfortable sleeping in them last night. She knew he’d done so for her sake and that made her lov—appreciate—that was the word she’d meant. She appreciated him all the more.

Her head swam. She’d almost said the “L” word. Even if it was in her own mind, it was scary. She couldn’t love him. She barely knew him.

That wasn’t quite true either. She knew him better than she’d ever known another male. She knew he was strong and courageous and fair. That he had a temper, but would never take it out on someone else. He was kind and generous and sexy as sin. A giving and caring lover. Someone she was coming to trust. Did trust, considering how much she’d told him this morning.