Courted: A Paranormal Romance (Midnight Huntress Book 2) Read online

  “You’re right, I really don’t want to. But I want to test a theory.” He gestures for me to go first, but when I don’t make a move, he shrugs and continues to lead.

  “What theory?” I follow slowly, ready to make a break for it if the bear’s hiding something down here that I don’t want any part of.

  He grins as he flicks on a light and reveals a shooting range.

  As I look around, I realize it’s not just guns. He’s got targets set up for archery, and a whole wall of weapons, some of which don’t look like they’ve been used in any sort of combat since the middle ages.

  “What is this place?” I head for the wall of weaponry immediately, drawn to it.

  He just laughs. “I might not be part of the S.E.A., but I haven’t given up on my training. I figured you might like to get started, since you seem too antsy to sit still upstairs.” He catches my hand before I touch a silvery arrow. “Not that one, Ryanne.”

  I look at it for another few seconds before moving on down the wall. “Your theory was that I’m antsy?”

  Brandis shakes his head. “Gage told me that when you shot the archer in the bar, you hit him dead center on the forehead. How often does that happen?”

  “I don’t know. I hit my targets, if that’s what you’re asking.” It’s not like I’ve ever really thought about it before or focused on just how accurate I can be. It’s just always come naturally. I want to hit a target, I do.

  “I think there was a reason that particular arrow was fired at you.” He glances back at the silver shaft hanging on the wall, and it hits me that it must be the one he pulled out of me.

  Is it a sick sort of trophy? Or is there just no way to destroy the thing?

  “Okay…explain.” I cross my arms over my chest.

  “Orion and Artemis had a sordid history. Both hunters, both with exceptional skill. Some say the weapons of Orion were the only things that could kill a god. That his arrows were specially forged, to be able to pierce through Artemis’s heart.” Brandis frowns. “If I’m right, it would give the wolf upstairs a place to focus his research.”

  “Are you saying…” I try and wrap my mind around his words. “You think Artemis is my mother?” I furrow my brow at him. “How do you intend to prove it?”

  “The only surefire way to know would be to ask the gods themselves. But since I don’t have the spells to commune with them, I want to see what you can do. I want to know just how good your aim is. Rumor was Artemis couldn’t miss.”

  I bite my lower lip, looking at him as I try to decide just how crazy his theory sounds.

  In all honesty, just the idea of being descended from a god at all sounds insane. But if I had to pick one, the goddess of the hunt would make more sense than a lot of the others. “Wasn’t she also the goddess of chastity? A forever virgin? How could I be her daughter, if she never had sex?”

  “There are different interpretations of chastity. It’s not always been strictly virginal.” He picks up a pistol, similar to my Hellcat, and hands it over. “There are societies that believe chastity only applies to sex outside of marriage. And it’s not as though no child of the gods has never been conceived against someone’s will.” He sighs. “Don’t get hung up on all the details right now. I could be completely off my mark, and you may be the child of Zeus, or Anubis, or Freyja even.”

  I adjust the weight of the gun in my hand as I glance over at the target range. “You really think if I can hit all my shots, Artemis might be the best bet?”

  “Depends on how hard you’re trying. Artemis wouldn’t have to aim. She wouldn’t have to try. She’d just hit the target.”

  Brandis takes the gun from me for a moment. He hands over a pair of noise cancelling earmuffs.

  “Don’t you think we should tell the others we’re going to be shooting down here?” I ask before I slide the headphones on.

  “Not necessary. I’ve magically sound proofed the room. They won’t know unless they come downstairs.”

  I nod, donning the headphones, and hold my hand out for the gun. He sets it in my hands and shoots me a wink. I walk toward the range. Only one paper silhouette hangs at the other end. It has to be twenty yards away, at least. “Who has this kind of stuff just in their basement?”

  “The son of a very stubborn bear.” He smirks. I can barely hear him through the ear protection, but it helps to read his lips. “One who hates that I like to use mortal weapons, not just my teeth and claws.”

  I turn toward him as I lift my gun in the other direction. He puts on his own earmuffs. I know for a fact that it has to be pointed somewhere near the paper target, but there’s no way I could be aiming, looking at Brandis.

  I take a breath, and then fire.

  Pop. Pop, pop, pop. Pop. Five rounds, in quick succession. Not enough time to adjust, not enough time to account for any kickback on the weapon.

  If I hit the target once, I’ll be surprised. I set the gun down and pull off the headphones off.

  Brandis’s laugh greets me as he shakes his head. “Hoping to find out quick, are we?”

  “No reason to beat around the bush here. Either I hit it, or you can cross Artemis off the list of potential parents.” I hand him the gun. “And, for the record, I’ve never communicated with fish or had any control over water, so I don’t think Poseidon’s swimming in my gene pool.”

  Brandis brings in the paper target, and I wait, half expecting it to still be a full sheet.

  Instead, what he holds up is next to impossible.

  All five bullet holes, clustered together, right in the silhouette’s forehead.

  “Again.” I don’t believe it. It has to be a fluke. Not missing is one thing. Having that much accuracy, that precision, without even trying to aim, is crazy.

  “We can try it as many times as you want.” He clips another sheet of paper up and sends it flying back to the wall again. “But at some point, you might have to admit what I’m already seeing.”

  “It doesn’t freak you out?” I stare at the piece of paper, like it might turn into a snake and bite me. “I shouldn’t be able to do that.”

  “You’re a demigoddess. No one tells you what you should or shouldn’t be able to do.” He reloads with a fresh clip, even though the first still had rounds left. “Fire them all. Move around the room, stand behind a pillar. I bet you still don’t miss.”

  I purse my lips, disbelieving. “Fine. But if I’m going to be shooting so haphazardly, you should go upstairs.”

  “You won’t hit me.” He gestures at the target. “Unless you’re trying to.”

  Raising the gun again, I pull on the earmuffs and point the pistol away from where I know the target is, but I keep the paper silhouette in my mind’s eye.

  One after another, I fire.

  Eleven rounds this time, shot from all over this end of the room.

  There’s no way I hit them all.

  There’s no way I hit two of them.

  But as Brandis brings the target back up to the front of the range, my stomach does a flip-flop.

  They’re not all clustered in the forehead this time.

  It looks like they split, almost perfectly even, between the brain and the heart.

  “Fuck.” I shake my head. “If I find out this is like that spinning wheel knife trick of old timey carnivals, I’m going to punch you.”

  “And I have no doubt it would land.”

  Daughter of Artemis. It doesn’t seem possible.

  But the proof seems to speak for itself.

  “Come on, let’s go tell the wolf.” Brandis grins as he reaches for me and pulls me in close. “Or should we stay down here a while longer and leave him to his world of computers and research?”

  I bite my lip as his hands slide over my curves, touching gently, not exactly teasing, but tempting all the same. “What would we do instead? I don’t want to use up all your ammo just to test a theory that seems nearly solidly proven.”

  He tilts my chin up with one hand as his mouth lo
wers toward mine. “I’m sure we could think of something to do. How soundproof are those headphones of his?”

  “I thought this space was soundproof.”

  His grin spreads. “For guns.”

  “Then probably not as soundproof as you’re hoping.” I wrap my arms up over his shoulders as my heart dances in my chest.

  “Especially if he’s drawing on his shifter abilities.” Brandis kisses me, his lips just brushing over mine once, before he says, “He’ll know either way, if I take you down here.”

  Fuck. I almost forgot that Tyler’s going to be able to smell it, even if he doesn’t hear us going at it.

  “We could invite the wolf to join in. Ever been with two?” His eyebrow raises as his hand slides down to grab my ass.

  That shouldn’t be so hot.

  It shouldn’t even be something worth considering.

  Tyler’s my best friend. And no matter how many times he’s brought up sexy ideas today, he’s not my lover.

  Even if the images in my head are making me wet, just imagining them.

  “We don’t have to, Ryanne.” Brandis kisses me again, this time rougher, his beard scratchy and almost ticklish against my face.

  But as his tongue probes into my mouth, slicking over mine, I almost forget that anyone else is in the house, or that his beard is rough against my face. All I can think about is Brandis. About the power behind his kiss.

  The easy way his hands cup my ass, and he lifts me, walking us both over so that my back is pressed against the wall.

  My legs wrap around his waist, holding him close. He’s already hard, and with the thin layer of fabric that makes up my leggings, it’s almost unbearable.

  Brandis grinds his hips into mine, making me moan into his mouth.

  Making me crave more.

  The slamming sound of the front door makes me push Brandis away, but it’s not enough for me to forget how close we are.

  How easy it would be to let him fuck me right here.

  “I should…go shower. Get cleaned up and ready for bed.”

  I’m not a nighttime showerer, but it’s the only excuse I can think of, the only way to get the taste of him, the feel of him, off me.

  “Should we plan for four in my bed tonight?” He lets my legs slide down to the floor, making sure I’m steady before he steps back.

  I shrug. Right now, I don’t know whether I want any of them with me. My head’s too full, my heart’s too conflicted. And my pussy aches too much to spend another night in bed with men who aren’t fucking me.

  But I don’t see how I could possibly fuck one of them, with the other two right outside the door, either.

  “It doesn’t have to be this hard, Ryanne. You’re a goddess, even if your bloodline didn’t extend from Zeus. You should take what you want. Claim who you want. Fuck one of us. Fuck all of us. But don’t deny yourself pleasure, just because the rules of the mortal world or hell the shifter world would tell you it’s wrong.” He turns and walks back to where I left the pistol, carefully taking his time to unload the magazine and the bullet in the chamber, and then set it back on its place on the wall.

  I want to argue with him, to tell him that he’s wrong. But he promised he’d never lie to me, and so far, he hasn’t.

  I don’t want to start lying to him. Or to myself.

  With a heavy heart, I make my way back up the stairs and weave through the house as quickly as possible.

  “Ry? Everything okay?” Tyler looks up from his computer as I pass.

  “Yeah. I’m just…going to take a shower.”

  He nods, and as his eyes drop back down to the screen, I think that’s the end of it.

  Gage isn’t anywhere to be seen, which I’m grateful for. I don’t need two shifters scenting my arousal. I don’t need both Gage and Brandis sniffing around, looking to get laid.

  Turning on the shower, I let the water run until it starts to get humid and steamy in the bathroom before I get undressed and step into the tub. It feels so bizarre, thinking that just a few days ago, my world was normal. Or as close to normal as I’ve ever experienced.

  It was just me and Tyler, against all the criminals in Minnesota, sometimes other states if the payday was good enough.

  Now…I don’t even feel like my life is my own anymore.

  I close my eyes as the water washes over me, drenching my hair and dancing over my shoulders. I never expected the shower to be my one place of sanctuary, but where else am I going to hide out in a house with three guys?

  Hands touching my sides surprise me.

  My eyes fly open, and I gasp as I lock my gaze with one brown eye, and one blue.

  “Tyler?”

  Rather than say anything, he shifts us slightly, so that my back is pressed against the tile wall. Then, his mouth lowers onto mine. There’s no hesitancy, no tentativeness in his kiss. His fingers come up into my hair, cupping both sides of my head as his lips assault mine, crushing and bruising as his tongue presses against the seam of my lips, demanding entrance.

  My heart’s pounding in my chest as I open up, just enough to dart my tongue out to meet his.

  It seems that’s all the confirmation that Tyler needs, as his hands drop from my hair and he scoops me up, pulling me in tighter against him as he wraps my legs around his waist.

  I grip his shoulders as his very hard, very naked cock falls right against my core.

  Fuck, he feels like he’s huge.

  Tyler groans into my mouth as his fingers dig into the soft flesh of my ass, kneading into it, holding onto me like I’m his anchor.

  Each time he grabs onto me, my hips rock forward, making his dick slide through my wet pussy again and again. My body tightens with need with every torturous touch. I cling to him, pressing against him as much as I can manage. All the insecurities and uncertainties of today, with the men circling me like I was a kitten trapped in a tree, drain away. It took Tyler and I way too long to get here. I moan into his mouth, my hips buck, my nails dig into his taut muscles.

  Without even breaking the kiss, he reaches between us and lines himself up.

  I don’t know how I lasted this long without him. Without this.

  My moan against his lips is all the approval he needs to slam home.

  It all Comes to a Head

  TYLER

  Scenting Ryanne’s arousal as she breezed past me in the kitchen was too much to bear. I could tell she hadn’t fucked Brandis, but just the idea that at least some part of her wanted to, made my wolf crazy.

  Part of me knows I should’ve taken this slower, should’ve talked to her about it before I climbed into her shower, naked, with every intention of making her come.

  But I don’t have the words. I’ve never had the words to really tell her how I feel. Instead, I’ve always hidden it in joking comments, or offers I knew she’d never take me up on.

  As her hips rock against mine, taking me deep, and her soaking wet pussy clenches around my cock, I can’t help but wonder if maybe she just didn’t have the words either.

  Breaking the kiss, I pull back just enough to look at her, to meet her whiskey-colored eyes. I have to see that she’s okay with this. I have to know that she’s not going to regret letting me inside her.

  “Tyler?” She practically moans out my name, a soft whisper, as her fingernails bite into my shoulders again.

  “Ry.” I nuzzle against her neck, clinging to her as I thrust into her again and again, riding her body like it was made just for me. Like she’s mine, if only for these stolen minutes in the shower.

  She pulls my face back to hers, kissing me again, just as hungrily as before, as her pussy tightens even more around my cock.

  Fuck, she’s going to make me blow my load way too soon.

  Years of fantasizing, of imagining what this would feel like, have nothing on the real thing.

  Ryanne clings to me as her hips rock harder into mine, urging me to make her come. I grind my hips into hers, pressing my pelvis against her clit.
r />   I break the kiss again, just long enough to growl out, “Come for me, Ry.”

  It’s almost like she was waiting for permission. As soon as I kiss her again, she moans into my mouth. Her pussy clamps down on me, and her hips buck harder against me. I groan as I follow her over, thrusting deep as I fill her with my own release.

  Burying my face into the crook of her neck, I hold her against me, breathing her in. I don’t want to let her go. I’m not ready yet to face what trouble I might be in for invading her shower like this.

  But then, she didn’t stop me, didn’t push me away either.

  “Tyler?” Her fingers trace up and down my spine, even as her legs unhook from around my waist, and she finds her feet again. “Can you look at me?”

  I pull back slowly, still touching her, still holding onto her.

  At least she doesn’t look pissed off.

  “Where did that come from?” She shivers slightly, and I remember that we’re still naked, still in the shower.

  I reposition us so that she’s under the spray of the water. But I don’t stop touching her.

  I don’t know how to answer her question. In all honesty, I didn’t really think, beyond the fact that I needed her. That I couldn’t settle for just friends anymore.

  Instead of verbalizing any of that or explaining that when I scented her arousal after spending time with Brandis, I just pull her in close and kiss her again.

  I know it’s avoidance, and I’m going to have to talk it out with her sooner or later, but not now. Not when things are just heating up.

  “You can’t just keep kissing me and think that’s going to stop me from wanting more information, Tyler.” She pulls back, looking up at me. “Why didn’t you ever say anything?”

  “What would I have said? You were my best friend. Practically family. How often did we hear in foster families that we were siblings, brother and sister?” I sigh and run my fingers through her wet hair, letting my nails scratch along her scalp slightly, almost like a massage. “I didn’t want to make things weird. I didn’t want to give you a reason to run, to decide that you were better off without me. I figured any amount of Ryanne Atwood was better than none at all.”