Falling For a Hybrid Read online

Page 4


  He chuckled and shook his head. “Come on. You need to meet new people, besides me, that is.”

  “Fine. We’ll go.”

  Torger grabbed her hand, then led Rikki out of the apartment. He waited for her to lock the door behind them before they headed down the stairs to the street level. It was just a short walk to arrive at the coffee shop.

  He held the door open for her so she could enter ahead of him. There was a good amount of people sitting at tables, and the delicious smell of coffee and donuts made her think it wasn’t such a bad idea coming there, after all. She followed him to a booth where a man and woman sat, next to the large front window. The woman had similar enough features for Rikki to presume that was Kaisa, his sister, which meant the man was Cameron.

  Her assumption proved correct when Torger introduced them. Cameron slid out of his side of the booth and then sat next to Kaisa so Rikki and Torger could sit together. A waitress arrived and asked Rikki and Torger what they’d like to order. Rikki settled for a coffee and a Boston cream donut. Torger ordered the same.

  “So you must be Torger’s new girl,” Cameron said. Kaisa gave him a hard stare. He looked back at her. “What? I’m only stating the truth. I can smell him on—”

  He didn’t get to finish his sentence since Kaisa elbowed him in the stomach, and his breath came out in a loud whoosh.

  “Never mind him,” Kaisa said as she flicked Cameron a hard glance. “He sometimes doesn’t know how to be polite.”

  Rikki chuckled. “It’s okay. Really.” She looked at Cameron. “And yes, I’m Torger’s new girl.” He gazed at Kaisa with a smug expression. “Are the two of you a couple?”

  Kaisa gave an exaggerated shudder. “No, thank goodness. Cameron is more a brother to Torger and me. At times, an annoying younger brother.”

  “Hey,” Cameron said with a scowl. “I may not be as ancient as you, but I’m not annoying.” Kaisa arched a brow in his direction. “Okay, most of the time I’m not.”

  Kaisa shook her head. “Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

  “And this is usually the time when I have to come between the two of them or the taunting gets out of hand,” Torger said with a laugh.

  Rikki laughed with him. There was no mistaking the closeness between Torger, Kaisa and Cameron. It was something her life lacked—being part of a family. Having been moved from foster home to foster home as she grew up was a big reason she was such a loner. It was easier to keep distant from people so as not to get her expectations dashed.

  Torger put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her against his side. He met her gaze with laughter in his eyes. “If Cameron acts up, you can smack him over the nose with a rolled up newspaper like a bad puppy.”

  She looked over at Cameron, who shook his head and rolled his eyes.

  “Nice,” Cameron said. “I’m a pup, am I? At least I’m not an old dog.”

  Apparently, they liked to use dog references between them when they wanted to make a dig at each other. Rikki found it amusing. As did they.

  “Woof, woof,” Torger said with a chuckle.

  The waitress returned with Rikki’s and Torger’s coffees and donuts. Once she placed them in front of them, she left. Torger released Rikki, and she took a sip of her coffee. It was good. After a bite of the donut, she let out a sigh of contentment.

  “It’s good, isn’t it?” Cameron asked with a smile. “They have the best donuts. I found this place shortly after I moved here, and I’ve come every day since. Devin, Waverly’s brother, makes all of them.”

  Rikki nodded. “It is good. Torger told me Waverly’s family owned the coffee shop, and that she and Brolach work here.”

  “It just so happened that was how I found Brolach. Kaisa and Torger had been searching for the older brother they knew they had but hadn’t met. They’d gotten a lead that pointed to him being around this part of South Dakota. I came ahead of them, and accidently ran in to Brolach at the shop one day. He’d only been in Lemmon a day. That was a couple months ago. And he and Waverly had just met.”

  She looked at Torger. “I thought you said Waverly and Brolach were married?”

  “They are,” he replied.

  “Wow, your brother must be a fast worker to have married Waverly after only knowing her a couple months.”

  “You could say that. I guess when you know you’ve met the right person there’s no point in waiting.”

  The way Torger looked at her, as if he were talking about her, made Rikki swallow and her heart beat a little faster. Did he really think along those lines after only knowing her for a day? She wasn’t one of those people who believed in love at first sight. To be honest, she hadn’t had much experience with that emotion.

  Rikki broke eye contact with Torger and concentrated on eating her donut and drinking her coffee. He did the same, but as the conversation shifted to other topics, she felt him glancing at her every so often.

  Cameron drained the rest of his coffee, then said, “I guess I’m going to head off and do some hunting. Kaisa, you going to join me?”

  Torger’s sister nodded. “Sure.”

  “You’re hunters?” Rikki asked. “I’m not, but I didn’t think there was anything in season yet, not until the fall. That’s another month away.”

  Kaisa and Cameron looked at each other before Torger answered for them. “Cameron didn’t mean he was actually going out hunting. He’s helping us find relatives on our mother’s side of the family. He refers to it as being on the hunt. For information.”

  “Ah,” Rikki said as she nodded. “I gotcha. I guess if I ever wanted to look in to my mother’s family, I should talk to Cameron then. Being raised in foster care, I wouldn’t even know where to start.”

  Kaisa pushed Cameron. “Let’s go.” Her gaze seemed to settle on a man who appeared around Rikki’s age, who’d stepped through a door that led to the kitchen. “Now before Devin gets here.”

  Cameron shook his head and chuckled, but did as Kaisa had said. He slid out of the booth so she could as well, then they hurriedly left the coffee shop.

  Rikki turned to Torger. “What was that all about?”

  He laughed. “Devin likes Kaisa, and has been trying to convince her for the last couple months to go out on a date with him. She keeps turning him down.”

  The man arrived at their table. “Where did Kaisa go?”

  “You just missed her, Devin,” Torger replied.

  “Damn. One day she’s going to stop running from me.” He looked at Rikki. “You have to be Rikki. I’m Devin, Waverly’s brother.”

  She smiled at him. “Hi. I’m glad I was able to meet you. I have to say you make the best Boston cream donuts I’ve ever tasted.”

  Devin grinned. “Thanks. I should head back to the kitchen. I’ll see you around, Rikki.”

  He turned and walked away. “Devin seems nice,” Rikki said as she gazed at Torger.

  “He is. Don’t let Kaisa’s behavior fool you. I think she has feelings for Devin. In time, I can see the two of them getting together.” He brushed a kiss across her lips. “Shall we get out of here?”

  She nodded. “Sure.”

  Torger dug into his pocket for some money and then left enough on the table to cover their bill and a tip for the waitress. He slid out of the booth and held out his hand to help Rikki, which she accepted.

  “Where to now?” she asked once she stood in front of him.

  He pulled on her hand so her chest met his. Torger gave her a wickedly sexy grin. “Your place.”

  A shiver of arousal tore through Rikki. There was no mistaking what would happen once they arrived at her apartment. Already her body readied itself for Torger’s. Moisture pooled between her legs, and her nipples had grown taut.

  “Let’s go. Now,” she said.

  She turned and tugged him toward the door. He chuckled as he easily kept up with her hurried steps. They raced across the street as if there were a fire. Well, there was one, but it burned deep inside her.


  Even though it’d only been an hour or so since they’d last made love, Rikki was desperate to have Torger again. After they stepped through the door, they didn’t waste any time going up the flight of stairs. At the top, she dug her keys out of her jeans pocket. Her hands shook as her excitement grew. It took her a couple tries to get the key into the lock. Once she unlocked it, she pushed opened the apartment door and then quickly found herself wrapped in his embrace.

  Torger kicked the door shut before he walked them into the living room. They tore at each other’s clothes. There would be no making it to the bedroom this time. Not that Rikki cared. The floor, or even the couch, would be just as good as her bed. As long as they had a surface for them to get down and dirty on, she didn’t care. She wanted him inside her right there, right now.

  Once they were naked, they fell into each other’s arms, and ended up on the carpeted floor with Torger on top Rikki. His hard cock brushed against her wet pussy as his hips settled between her spread thighs. She lifted hers at the right angle, and the head of his shaft slipped inside her.

  They both moaned. After Torger worked his entire length as deep as it would go, he reached under her to cup her bottom, then pistoned in and out. He took her in slow, hard thrusts. She squeezed her inner muscles around his plunging cock. He made that growling sound he’d used the first time they’d been together like this. There was also the sensation of a sharp tooth being dragged against the side of her neck as well. Neither of those things put a damper on her arousal. They actually increased it.

  Rikki held on to Torger’s shoulders and matched the pace he set. He surged into her faster, and the sounds of pleasure he made increased in volume. She moaned right along with him, lost in the pleasurable sensations that washed through her.

  It was as her climax edged ever nearer to the surface did she feel something else stirring. It was a new sensation. The best way she could describe it was if a piece of Torger’s soul reached out for a piece of hers. It made her gasp as the two brushed against each other, then became one.

  As if that were the on switch to her orgasm, it tore through her like a freight train, and was just as unstoppable. It was intense and seemed to go on and on. Torger’s cock pulsed deep inside her pussy as he came. During it, there was a sharp pain in her neck as if he’d bit her. She was thrown into another release, and found herself on the verge of passing out as a sense of ecstasy swamped her.

  *

  Torger couldn’t help himself. He sank his fangs into Rikki’s neck as they came and drank. Having his werewolf side claim her, form the bond that joined their souls, had made his control slip. And the taste of her blood, god, it was unlike anything he’d had before. All the donors he’d used over the long years couldn’t compare to his mate’s sweetness.

  As she sighed and grew limp, he quickly realized he’d taken too much blood. He hadn’t wanted to do it, but he’d put Rikki at risk. Torger licked his bite mark on her neck to seal and heal the wound before he brought the inside of his wrist to his mouth and bit.

  Once his blood rose to the surface, he placed his arm against her lips. “Drink, Rikki.”

  She was barely aware of what he did, but she closed her mouth on his wrist and drank. It only lasted a few seconds, but it was enough to restore what he’d taken and to complete the first blood exchange. They were now well and truly on the road to his vampire side claiming her as his werewolf one had. There was no going back.

  Rikki sighed again, then fell into a deep sleep. Torger pulled out of her before he scooped her up into his arms. Once inside her bedroom, he tucked her into bed. He looked down at her. He loved her. He had from the moment he’d realized what she was to him.

  He went back into the living room and gathered up their strewn clothes. He smiled. They really had been impatient to have not even made it to the bed. He returned to the other room, then put their clothing on top the dresser before he slipped under the covers next to his mate. He wasn’t tired, but wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to watch her sleep.

  Torger pulled Rikki into his arms so she lay against his side. He kissed the top of her head. He was going to tell her everything about his world before he took that final step to bring her fully into it. With the second blood exchange, she’d be fully turned in to a vampire. She’d no longer be able to eat food. She’d subsist on his blood. Unlike other vamps, she’d be a day walker, and would be able to move freely while the sun was out.

  Once she awoke from her sleep, he promised himself he’d tell her the truth of what he was. Hopefully, she wouldn’t fear him afterward. When Brolach had found Waverly, he’d had to compel her not to be afraid. Torger didn’t want to resort to that unless it was absolutely necessary. Using compulsion on his mate wasn’t exactly something he should do to the woman he loved.

  Chapter Five

  Rikki came awake and looked around, not sure where she was at first. Then it hit her that she was in the bedroom in her new apartment. She looked over at the window and saw it was still light out, but it wasn’t as bright as it had been before she’d fallen asleep. The clock on her bedside table showed it was early in the evening. Since it was edging near fall, it’d be getting dark soon.

  “Shit,” she said as she threw back the covers.

  It didn’t take her long to realize she was naked. It all came rushing back to her. She and Torger had made love in the living room after returning from the coffee shop. She must have fallen asleep right after. That was twice now he’d put her to bed.

  Rikki hoped Torger hadn’t left. As she spotted her clothes piled on top her dresser and went to get them, she sniffed something delicious coming from the other side of the closed bedroom door. Was he cooking them dinner?

  She dressed, then hurried out to the kitchen. Torger stood before the stove, stirring something in a pot. He was dressed as well. He turned his head and smiled as she came closer.

  “How long was I asleep?” she asked, then gave him a quick kiss on the lips.

  “A couple hours.”

  “Why did you let me sleep for so long?”

  He smiled. “You obviously were tired and needed the rest. I didn’t mind. I actually climbed into bed and held you for a while before I got up. I was getting hungry, and I figured you’d be once you were awake, so I decided to cook us something.”

  “What are you making? It smells really good.”

  “Baked herbed chicken breasts, fettuccini alfredo and steamed broccoli.”

  “I don’t think when I went shopping this morning I bought the ingredients to make all that.”

  Torger chuckled. “You didn’t. I made a run to the grocery store while you were sleeping. I borrowed your keys so I could lock the door and not have to wake you up to let me back in. I hope you don’t mind.”

  “Of course not.”

  “Good. Dinner is almost ready. Why don’t you set the table while I finish up?”

  “I can do that.”

  Rikki went to the cupboard and took out two dinner plates. She placed those on the table before she went for the cutlery. By the time she was finished arranging the place settings, Torger had everything done. He dished up while she took a seat.

  She hadn’t realized how hungry she was until she had her first mouthful of food. It was delicious. The alfredo was made from scratch, and in no way compared to the noodle packages she usually bought.

  “How is it?” Torger asked.

  “Really, really good. How would you like the job of being my personal chef? There are times when I get so deep in to editing I forget to eat. And when I do cook, I’m nowhere near as good as you.”

  He smiled. “Well, thanks. I’ll have to keep that job offer in mind.”

  They continued eating, and Rikki seriously thought up ideas on how to work it so Torger would cook for her more often. She was more than willing to pay him with sex. She’d have a good meal, then get the best dessert ever—his hot bod. Maybe he’d let her put whipped cream on him and then lick it off. That way he’d truly be
a dessert.

  The sound of a cell going off broke Rikki out of her thoughts. Torger put down his fork before he took his phone out of his front jeans pocket. He looked at the screen, then answered the call.

  “Hey, Cameron. What’s up?” His smile slipped away to be replaced by a stern expression. “Where are you?” Torger remained silent as Cameron answered on the other end. “You and Kaisa stay where you are. I’ll be there in a few minutes.” He disconnected the call.

  “Is everything okay?” Rikki asked.

  “Something has come up. I have to meet with Kaisa and Cameron. I don’t know if I’ll be able to come back later.”

  “Don’t worry about it. If your sister and friend need you, then go. We can always see each other tomorrow. It isn’t as if you don’t know where I live.”

  Torger leaned toward her and gave her a short, thorough kiss. “Thanks for being understanding. And sorry for sticking you with all the dirty dishes.”

  “Hey, you cooked. It’s only fair I should do the washing up. Go.”

  He stood, then went to the apartment door. Torger turned and blew her a kiss before he walked out. Rikki smiled. He was cute.

  She collected their dirty dishes, then put them into the dishwasher. She filled the sinks to wash the pots and pans that Torger had used to cook their meal. Her thoughts gravitated toward him. So far, he came across as being perfect. The man cooked. She only hoped he wouldn’t be too good to be true. She hated that the thought even crossed her mind, but the way she grew up, she found it hard to trust what a person actually was at face value. Rikki had learned that lesson the hard way with a few foster parents. At first, they’d come across as great people, who only wanted the best for her. After a few months, they’d made it perfectly clear they were in it just for the money.

  Rikki was halfway done washing the dishes when someone knocked on the apartment door. She dried her hands on the tea towel that she had over her shoulder before she put it on the table. She smiled as she crossed to the entrance. Maybe it was Torger, finished up with whatever he had to do with Cameron and Kaisa.