Read Online Beauty and the Brute [Werescape III] by Skhye Moncrief - Free Book Online

say,” she spat in my face. “Let me go, damn you.” She kicked me in the shins.
    Now, little mattered when Shifters had a code about hurting women. Even when a man needed to dance a fucking pain dance. But hopping while rubbing my shins wasn't going to do me any good if she bolted out into the moonlight. “Quiet,” I snarled.
    To no effect.
    She squirmed worse than a salmon determined to find its way back into the river and upstream. “Dammit, let me go, Brutus."
    Hell. I grabbed the base of her braid and yanked her head back until her jaw gaped at me.
    "You will calm yourself before you draw Bounders."
    Air knifed as she sucked in choppy breaths. She could have impaled my neck with her pointed chin if she snapped her head free of her hair fisted in my hand.
    But Beauty wasn't strong enough to manage such a feat. Or to keep my eyes from straying to the surging sound of the salty treasure racing through her jugular to feed her frantic brain.
    Metallic blood.
    Mine, Wolf growled.
    Oh, no. No. Shut up, Wolf. I stared into her eyes and inhaled a long deep breath.
    Not good when everything about a woman, the warm silk of her hair, the tender velvet of her skin, the perfect curve of her lips, the lingering burn from her arms wrapped around my chest, the bulge of her breasts, everything reminded me of mating.
    Kiss, Wolf hissed.
    The exquisite little line etching those perfect lips lured my gaze.
    To just take a kiss. Pillage. Plunder the promise of moist heat. No. Not a Normal. I jerked my gaze back to her bitter stare.
    She had quieted. Good. But how would she behave if I released her? “I will not allow anything to hurt you."
    The deep grooves in her furrowed brow lessened.
    "In this cave, Lorelei, are some beetles and crickets. Nothing dangerous. Or my Wolf would have sensed the danger. We are safe here. You must trust me. We can't afford dealing with
    Bounders tonight."
    Slowly her stare shifted from a pinched scowl to that of understanding.
    Even the tension in her limbs faded. Or I'd be screwed. Rather, she would. Because Wolf wasn't backing off. “I'm going to release you."
    She nodded.
    Why the iron rod in my pants didn't warn her to get the fuck out of here, I don't know. But she took one step away from the hard wall, toward me, following my retreat from her warmth as if she preferred I hold her, and rubbed the base of her skull.
    I'd hurt her. Been too rough with her hair. Hell, she could have gotten herself killed running into the night. The woman needed to sit back down and think before she reacted. “Come. Sit by the fire.” I waved toward her rock.
    She smacked her lips.
    Thoughtfully. Like the memory of blind crickets playing their little symphony was a threat. “I
    have food.” Maybe she'd sit for food.
    She wagged her head, eyes pinched like something pained her, and planted her sweet little ass back on her pedestal.
    Lucky boulder. My crotch was so damned hard she could have perched on it all night in an act of mercy. But something about her stiff composure and pained expression echoed she didn't do Shifters. What in the hell for? Most women fell at my boots. Begged for anything. A glance.
    Five minutes of my ramming into their tight little bodies kneeling before me. And here Beauty sat, ignoring me.
    Kiss, Wolf pleaded.
    I doubt she'd do anything other than run into the night's darkness and a pack of Bounders.
    She turned a questioning mask to me. “Brutus?"
    Now a soft voice. Why? I arched an eyebrow, cocking my chin in reply.
    "Maybe we could build another fire or two. Small ones. Around where I sleep so the bugs wouldn't, uh, reach me?"
    Why did I feel like an ass? She was too damned afraid of crickets to even think about the fact
    I was a Shifter. Nothing prejudiced whirled in her thoughts though. Her mind was locked on survival. Not that crickets ever killed anyone I knew.
    Not much time passed before she curled up in a fetal position with a few stone-circled fires dancing around her. I couldn't