Falling For a Hybrid Read online

  Waverly smiled. “I’m happy for you, Torger, but having a human mate comes with risks.”

  And Waverly would know that from firsthand experience. The vampire who’d captured her had torn into her neck, just about draining her dry. Only Brolach doing the second blood exchange had saved her. Not only did it take two to form a mate bond it also was enough to turn a human. The only difference between a vampire and a hybrid doing the turning was a human became a day walker when the hybrid did it. Other than that, Waverly was now a vampire with the need to drink blood and had fangs. She also was immortal, but not a true one.

  “We were discussing that,” Cameron said.

  “What’s going on? Did I miss something?” Devin, Waverly’s brother, asked as he slid onto the bench seat next to Kaisa and put her arm around her shoulders.

  Kaisa slid out from Devin’s embrace, causing Cameron to move farther into the corner. “Torger found his mate.”

  Devin smiled at Kaisa. “You two being twins, maybe that means you’ll find yours soon too. I have an idea who it could be.” He winked at her.

  Torger bit back a smile. Ever since Devin had met them, he’d been trying to get Kaisa to go out with him. He knew what they were, but that didn’t put him off in the least. Kaisa, on the other hand, so far, wasn’t going for it. Torger could understand why, though. When they’d been young, only in their twenties, his sister had fallen for a native hunter in the tribe they’d grown up in. Even though they’d loved each other, he hadn’t been a mate for her werewolf side, and he’d refused to allow her to turn him. Kaisa had had only a few years with her hunter before losing him during a buffalo hunt that had gone wrong. She’d sworn from that day on she’d never give her heart to a human male unless he was truly her mate.

  Kaisa rolled her eyes at Devin. “I’m sure you do. Are you ever going to give up?”

  “Not a chance.” He grinned and winked again.

  Even though Kaisa tried to keep Devin at arm’s length, Torger had a feeling she liked Waverly’s brother more than she wanted to admit.

  “Now that everyone knows about Rikki, I’m heading out before I’m late meeting her,” Torger said as he slid off the bench to stand next to Brolach.

  His brother clapped him on the shoulder. “Bring Rikki around soon so we can meet her.”

  “I will.”

  After saying goodbye to everyone, Torger headed out of the coffee shop. Once outside, he decided to walk to the town’s only Chinese restaurant since it was on the main street as well.

  Finding the best way to protect Rikki from his vampire relatives while she had no clue what he was would be a challenge. Then there would be the struggle to decide how much time he spent with her, along with how far he’d go on the road to claiming her as his mate. On one hand, doing it as fast as he could held merit. He could keep her at his side all the time. On the other, as Kaisa and Cameron had pointed out, it’d put Rikki at greater risk. He was torn. Holding off went against his nature and the instincts that had kicked in as soon as he’d realized she was his female.

  As he arrived at the Chinese restaurant, Torger pushed all thoughts of claiming Rikki aside. For now, he’d enjoy his evening with her and use it to get to know her better.

  Chapter Two

  Rikki turned in the trailer with no problem, then returned to her apartment. She parked her car behind the building in the spot that was reserved for her. There was no back entrance to her place, so she walked around to the front and went inside by that door. It wasn’t secured, but she didn’t mind. Lemmon was a small town, after all.

  At the top of the stairs, she unlocked her apartment door and stepped inside. Seeing all the boxes in the living room made her groan. She hated unpacking as much as she hated packing. Rikki looked at the clock that hung on the wall. She’d finished with the trailer faster than she’d expected. There was still another forty minutes before Torger would return.

  Since she had time to kill, she decided she might as well put a dent in the unpacking. Rikki moved the bookshelf she’d brought with her in place against an open space along one of the walls in the living room. She took a step back to make sure it was where she wanted it. Once she placed all her books on it, there would be no moving it without taking them off.

  She lugged one of the boxes of books over to the bookshelf, then set to work. Rikki once more thought she was being silly for keeping all of them. It wasn’t as if she’d ever read them again. Even if she really enjoyed a book, she never reread any of them. Maybe one day she’d get rid of them, but today wasn’t it. Especially not after packing and moving them.

  Rikki became so involved in what she was doing she didn’t pay attention to the time. A knock on her apartment door caused her to jump. She glanced at the clock to find the forty minutes had flown by. She stood from where she kneeled on the floor in front of the bookshelf, then went to let Torger in, who she presumed had knocked.

  She opened the door, then stepped back and waved Torger inside. “I smell Chinese food.”

  He walked into the entranceway and lifted the large bag he carried. “I hope you like it.”

  Rikki closed the door behind Torger. “I always say you can’t go wrong with Chinese. It’s one of my favorites.”

  “Good. Should I put it on the kitchen table?”

  “Sure. Go ahead. I haven’t unpacked any of my dishes yet so we’re going to have to eat out of the containers.”

  “That’s fine. I had them put some chopsticks in with the food. Can you use them?”

  “Yes.” Rikki followed Torger into the kitchen. He placed the bag onto the table, then took out container after container of food. Once he was finished it looked as if there was enough to feed four people. She looked at him. “I hope you don’t expect me to eat half of that.”

  Torger chuckled. “No. I figured I’d buy enough so there’d be leftovers. That way you’ll have something to eat for lunch tomorrow and won’t have to hurry out to the grocery store.”

  “Thanks. That was thoughtful of you.”

  They sat at her small table. Rikki took one set of chopsticks, removed them from the paper wrapping and then broke them apart. She reached for one take-out container before she pulled it toward her. She took a deep breath, savoring the smell of the curried thin fried rice noodle dish. She took a mouthful and moaned.

  Torger chuckled. “Is it good?”

  Rikki chewed, then swallowed. “The best. Now I know of one great restaurant to order out to.”

  “Well, it’s the only Chinese restaurant in town, so I guess it’s a good thing you like the food there.”

  She laughed. “Yeah, I would guess so.”

  They ate in silence. Rikki hadn’t realized how hungry she’d been until she’d started eating. Now that she thought about it, the last time she’d had a meal was breakfast, and that had only been a cereal bar. It’d been a three-hour drive from Rapid City to Lemmon, and she hadn’t stopped to eat again on the road.

  Having taken the edge off her hunger, Rikki said, “You know what I do for a living, but I don’t know what you do.”

  Torger swallowed a mouthful of food before he answered. “Well, at present, nothing. My sister, Kaisa, who is also my twin, and I moved to Lemmon a few months ago. Around the same time we found our older brother, Brolach.”

  “Found him?”

  “Yeah. We were separated when Kaisa and I were born. Our parents had died. We knew about him growing up, but we didn’t know where he was until recently.”

  “Oh wow. It’s too bad they couldn’t have kept the three of you together when you were kids. I know what it’s like being in the system.”

  “System?”

  “Yeah, you know, being in foster homes. I grew up in them. My mom had a drug addiction problem, and I was taken from her when I was six months old. I have no idea who my father is, and I’m not sure if my mother did since she never put his name on my birth certificate. She apparently died of an overdose a year after she lost me so I couldn’t ask her even if
I wanted to find her.”

  “Kaisa and I were lucky. A couple took us in as if we were their own and raised us. What about you?”

  “I wasn’t quite that lucky. I was bounced from foster home to foster home. My foster families didn’t mistreat me or anything, but I always knew I wasn’t their kid. After I finished high school, I managed to get a college scholarship so I could get my BA in English. I’ve been on my own ever since.”

  Torger met her gaze. “What about a boyfriend?”

  Rikki smiled. “I don’t have one of those. When I get one, he usually doesn’t hang around very long. I’ve been told I’m a bore since I apparently am only interested in books.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with that. There was a time when anyone who could read were considered privileged and well-educated while the rest of the masses weren’t.”

  “Very true, but in this day and age, not so much.”

  “Well, I don’t think you’re a bore if you like books.”

  Torger’s gaze heated and made Rikki’s heart beat a little faster. There was definite interest, and desire, in his eyes. A throbbing ache deep inside her pussy took up residence, demanding she do something about it. She wondered what he’d do if she went under the table and got up close and personal to what he had hidden inside his jeans. It was so tempting, she figured she’d better do something before she acted out her little fantasy.

  Rikki pushed back her chair and then stood. “Are you finished eating? I am. Maybe we should get started on putting that computer desk together.”

  She rambled, and more than likely came across as sounding on the rude side. It was something she couldn’t stop herself from doing when she became nervous. Not bothering to wait for Torger’s answer, Rikki closed the take-out containers and then put them into the fridge.

  “I guess I’m done,” Torger said with laugher in his voice. “Let’s go work on that desk of yours.”

  Rikki led the way into the living room. She told herself to get a grip and not act like such an idiot as she walked over to the box with the desk in it. With Torger helping, she managed to get it open and all the pieces taken out. There seemed to be an awful lot for the size of the desk.

  She picked up the instructions and quickly skimmed through them. “Well, this looks like a huge pain in the ass. You might regret volunteering to put it together.”

  “Here, let me see it,” Torger said as he reached for what she held.

  As Rikki passed the paperwork to Torger, their fingers touched. A shot of awareness surged through her, making thoughts of what he’d be like in bed fill her mind. This time, her pussy throbbed with arousal and wetness pooled deep inside it.

  She gave herself a mental shake. She had to stop thinking about sex with Torger. He was there to put her computer desk together. Once he finished that, then she could test the waters.

  Torger shook his head. “It’s not that bad.” He lifted his gaze to hers. “It’ll be a little time consuming.”

  “If you say so. I’ll assist when you need an extra pair of hands, but other than that, you’ll be the builder.”

  “Okay,” he said with a chuckle.

  As Torger set to work on the assembly, Rikki sat on the floor and watched. She found her gaze drawn to his muscular arms. His t-shirt pulled snuggly against his upper body as he reached for pieces of the table. When he tightened a screw, his muscles flexed, which made them even more noticeable. She’d dated guys who’d worked out, but none of them had been as built as Torger.

  They spent the next half hour slowly getting the desk together. As Rikki had predicted, it turned out to be a huge pain. At one point, Torger swore at it as he reread the instructions for the fourth time. The poor guy looked as if he were ready to throw it out the window, and she wouldn’t blame him.

  Finally, Torger tightened the last screw, then set the desk upright. “Finished. Where would you like it?” he asked as he stood.

  Rikki stood as well. “Just up against the wall there will be fine.” He shifted it in to place. “Thanks. I think I’m going to owe you something else since you paid for our dinner.”

  Torger stepped closer and looked into her eyes. “What would you say about paying me back with a kiss?”

  She sucked in a sharp breath as her body went in to arousal mode. It took everything in her not to throw herself into Torger’s arms and devour his mouth. She was that keyed up. Instead, she silently nodded.

  *

  Torger had done his best to ignore Rikki’s enticing scent as he’d worked on assembling her computer desk. It’d been impossible. It filled his nose with every breath he took, going straight to his head. He’d found it hard to concentrate on the task he was doing. His cock was hard and ached. All he wanted to do was drag her into his arms and show his mate what her closeness did to him.

  Having Rikki say she owed him something else for the work he’d done, he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to ask for a kiss. He wanted, no, needed, that small contact—badly. It’d test the waters to see if she was willing to accept him in that way. Not that the scent of her arousal hadn’t already told him that.

  At her nod, Torger put his arms around her and tugged her closer until they were chest to chest. The scent of Rikki’s arousal became stronger. Her nipples pebbled beneath her shirt, brushing against him with each rapid breath she took. His erection strained against the front of his jeans. He had to resist the urge to growl like the wolf he was with need. His vampire side wanted to sink its fangs into her neck, preferably while they had sex.

  He lowered his head and took her mouth with his. Torger brushed his lips along her plump ones until a soft moan escaped Rikki. That was all the encouragement he needed to deepen the kiss. He increased the pressure as he pushed his tongue inside. It was his turn to moan at the taste of her.

  Rikki lifted her hands and placed them on the tops his shoulders as she rubbed against his hard cock. Torger held her tighter, angling his mouth for a better fit along hers. He plunged his tongue in and out like he wanted to do with his shaft inside her pussy.

  He shifted his hands from her waist to her bottom. He held it as he ground against her. His blood heated, and the urge to take her rode him hard. Torger picked Rikki up without breaking contact with her lips, then carried her over to the couch. He sat on it as he positioned her so she straddled his lap.

  She rode his cock through his jeans as she sucked on his tongue. He held her hips, lifting his to match her strokes. He cupped the back of her head and dragged his lips from her mouth to her jawline. He left a line of wet kisses before he reached the side of her neck. His fangs extended at the feel of her rapid pulse beating against his mouth. He couldn’t stop himself from dragging the sharp points along her delicate skin. She sucked in a deep breath and quivered.

  It took more self-control than he liked not to bite Rikki. Thinking it was best not to see how far he could go without doing it, Torger left her neck and nuzzled between her full breasts as he cupped them. She arched her back, pushing the mounds toward him.

  He couldn’t hold back a quiet growl. He grabbed the bottom of her shirt and lifted it to her chin. Her bra did up in the front. He undid the clasp, then pushed the cups to the sides, baring her breasts to his sight. Her rosy-pink nipples were taut, begging him to suck on them. Who was he to deny them? He bent his head and swirled his tongue around one tight peak before he sucked it into his mouth.

  Torger switched to her other nipple, giving it the same attention. Rikki panted, and her movements grew jerky. His cock throbbed in time with his rapidly beating heart. He could almost feel her moist walls closing around his length as he sank inside her pussy over and over again until they both cried out in ecstasy. It’d be so easy to take off their jeans and do what was so vivid in his mind. The only thing holding him back was the fact it’d put them that much closer to his werewolf side claiming her.

  He released her nipple and looked up at her. Rikki had her eyes closed and her mouth was slightly open as she breathed at a fast rate
. Her checks were flushed with arousal. God, she was beautiful. Torger cupped her face and ran the pad of his thumb along her bottom lip that was swollen from his earlier kisses. She opened her eyes that were filled with desire and met his gaze.

  “Why did you stop?” Rikki asked in a husky voice.

  “I think we should slow things down a bit. You had a big move today. I bet it wore you out since you did most of it yourself. When I take you to bed, I want you well rested. There wouldn’t be much sleeping going on. Plus, I don’t want you to have the idea that I’m only interested in a one-night stand.”

  Rikki smiled. “You’re right. The move is going to catch up with me soon and I’m going to crash.” She leaned down and brushed her lips against his before straightening. “I’m glad you don’t want only one night. I don’t do those. And I’m going to hold you to the no sleeping part.”

  “We’ll wait until you’re unpacked and organized. That way you’ll have a chance to get to know me better.”

  “I guess that means I’ll be seeing more of you?”

  “Of course. Try to get rid of me.”

  Torger swallowed back a groan of disappointment as Rikki did her bra up and then tugged the front of her t-shirt down. He might not want to have sex with her right then, but he liked looking at her body. He couldn’t wait to strip her completely naked and learn every inch of her soft skin with his lips and tongue.

  Rikki slid off his lap to sit beside him. “You want to watch some TV with me? The cable is hooked up since it’s included in my rent. I’d offer you a beer, but I haven’t gone to the store yet so I don’t have any.”

  He put his arm around her shoulders and tucked her up against his side. “TV sounds good. And that’s fine about the beer.”

  They watched television for a couple hours before, as Rikki had predicted, she fell asleep with her head on his chest as she snuggled against him. She didn’t even wake up when he lifted her into his arms and then carried her to her room. He pulled back the covers on the bed and tucked her in.