Shadows of the Moon Ch. 02

Thank you for the feedback it's been lovely!

I actually posted a lot more than I intended in the first part. I uploaded the wrong document and the second half had not been proof read, but hey if you liked it then I guess I can live with that. :D

I tend to gravitate to the darker stories and this will likely be one of those. It might get a happy ending, it might not but the path there will be quite dark.

**

Brian stepped closer and Natalie screamed for help again. Out of nowhere an arm suddenly wrapped around her from behind and a hand holding a mean looking gun extended past her shoulder. Yelping she tried to pull away but the arm pressed her tight into the body it belonged to.

Brian staring into the muzzle of the gun backed away slowly, holding his hand up to show he was not a threat. Natalie squirmed around and stared into the face of a very grim looking Liam, the man who had come to her aid the previous night. Liam's rage had his eyes focused on the man backing away and for a moment she was sure he would pull the trigger.

He was beautiful. At that moment she was sure he was an angel. An avenging angel of death. The picture of her sister fanned her hate again.

"Liam..." She whispered hoarsely and watched as his eyes momentarily drifted down to hers. "Do it. They killed my sister." She pleaded, tears streaming down her face again. "They tied her up and shot her. Do it. Please. Shoot."

Liam was struggling to control his shift. Not since his father had he wished someone dead like he now wanted to rip the man in front of him apart. They dared hurt her. It comforted his soul to have her pressed against him until he heard her whisper. Despite his best efforts to stay lucid he felt his wolf control more and more, weakening his resolve.

Rage at what she told him made him loose it. The man being aimed at sensed the changed and turn to run. Liam's last lucid thought was to wrap the arm holding her around her shoulders and press her face into his neck, covering her ear with his hand as he pulled the trigger.

The first shot sped past the man and thudded into the van. The second hit the man in the arm and he staggered the last few steps to the open door of the vehicle. The third shot crushed the driver seat window as the door closed. Liam growled in frustration and fired two more shots into the back of the van for good measure before he lowered the gun and watched the car speed away.

Natalie was sobbing and shivering in his arms and he took a moment to just hold her before he carefully pushed her off his shoulder to make sure she was alright. Her first thought was to look over at where the van had been and finding no bodies she looked up at him accusingly. "They got away?"

He nodded. "Are you hurt?"

She leaned into him again and rested her forehead on his shoulder.

"There is blood on the pavement. Are you hurt?" He pressed a bit more commanding.

"My feet hurt. I think I might have stepped on something."

He stuffed the gun inside the lining of his pants and pushed her away from him again. "Wait here."

With a unhappy moan she settled her weight fully back on her own feet and winced from the pain. She watched him with curiosity as he walk back down the street and picked up a small package from the ground. With it in hand he came back to her and without breaking a stride he picked her up and carried her back towards the entrance of the house.

Not stopping until he could set her down on top of the toilet again he knelt next to her just as he had the previous night and lifted her feet one by one to rest in his lap. There was a multitude of cuts, blood and dirt on the sole of her left foot, the right had a piece of a broken bottle stuck between her toes. Grabbing the right he lifted it over the rim of the small dirty tub and turned the water on.

There was a comfortable silence between them and he was acutely aware of her eyes on him the whole time. She whimpered and winced as the water washed over her injuries and he spread her toes to ease the glass out.

"You, half-naked and men on the streets don't seem to go good together." He said with a smirk looking up her long naked legs to the rim of her sleeping shirt that ended just below her butt.

She narrowed her eyes at him and grimaced. "And you seem to be conveniently placed in my vicinity whenever it happens. Stalker."

"Well... I was bringing you this." He reached for the package she had seen him pick up earlier. It was a dark green square bag with a red cross on it, inside was the basic equipment for cleaning and dressing wounds.

He picked up a bottle of antiseptic and dabbed it on the wound. She tried to pull her foot away but he jammed her leg firmly between his elbow and body to keep it still.

He had just finished dressing the foot when his ears picked up the faint sound of sirens drawing closer. If there were someone he did not want to deal with at the moment it was the police. With a somewhat checkered past and a gun tucked into his pants there would be some very unwelcome questions. Still he found himself unable to leave her side, instead he picked up the other foot and gave it the same administrations as the first.

The sirens drew closer to stop somewhere on the street outside the building and fall quiet. Liam figured it would only be a few minutes before they came knocking on the door. He gently placed the bandaged foot back down on the floor and turned to look up at her. "Look... Uh." He shifted awkwardly. "I would rather not speak with the police if I can help it. Will you be okay?"

Natalie who had been staring emptily into space sluggishly focused on him again with anguished eyes. She looked broken. As if the last pillar holding her world up had broken and the weight of it was crushing her. He couldn't help himself as he reached up to gently cradle her chin in his hand.

With a tired and angry groan she pulled her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, resting her forehead on her knees, hugging herself tight. "Just go."

Liam almost choked. In her current position he could see all of her long legs and most of her black lacy panties. For a moment he was left speechless and he suppressed the need to put his tongue to the silky smooth skin of her legs.

"Eh..." He cleared his throat, struggling for control. "Maybe you should get dressed before they get here."

She looked up and rested her chin on her knees. "What the fuck for? A rape will hardly make this day worse."

"They are the police, woman. Not the rape squad. I was just thinking you might want to keep some dignity but it's your choice."

"Fuck off Liam. The moment I talk to the police they will know where I am and I'll have to split again. If I'm not taken into custody that is."

"They? The men that was here?"

"No." She sighed in annoyance. "It's a long story and one I'm not going to tell a man I met yesterday."

He sat crouched on her bathroom floor looking thoughtful for a moment. "If you don't want to talk to the police then come with me." Liam's heart was pounding harder than he liked to admit at the thought of her coming with him.

She gave him a long searching look and Liam felt the need to push the point further. "Come with me and lay low for a day, then you can come back here when they're gone. Can you walk?"

She nodded.

Helping her out into the main room he left her on the bed so she could get dressed and moved to look out the window. The police were standing just outside the building interviewing someone on the street. They kept looking over at the building and it was apparent they were talking about it. They didn't have many minutes before the police would come inside.

Throwing a quick look over his shoulder he saw Natalie's naked back, her blond hair slung across one shoulder to free her back from hair as she put her bra on. God, she was sexy. A moan slipped from his mouth before he could stop it. She froze in the middle of rolling a top down to cover her breasts and turned to look at him but he quickly looked back out the window hoping she would think he was annoyed with what he saw on the street and not ogling her like a horny teen.

"So... Guess I'm ready." She said and reached for a jacket. She was dressed in dark jeans and a bright red tank top.

He helped her up again and eased her feet into her shoes. It was a much tighter fit with the bandages and it caused her some discomfort when she tried to walk. He suggested that they scrap the idea to run but she wouldn't hear it. They made it out to the stair and walking became a little easier with every step.

"You have a back door or something?" He asked her when they reached the base of the stairs.

"Yeah, if we go down past the storage and trash room we can sneak out the back."

"Down we go." He nodded at her.

The cellar area was dark and smelled vaguely of mildew. The lighting in the corridor didn't work and all they had to guide them was the slim strip of light from under the door at the end of it. Natalie grabbed his upper arm and leaned in closer to help her find a way through the blackness. There was a giggling sound and then her voice whispered from the slightly darker shape that was all he could see of her body. "I feel like a teenager sneaking out from my parents to be with a boy."

She had no idea how much that turned him on. The thought that he was stealing her away. He was about to answer when the doors opened on the main floor and several people entered. Liam pulled her to him and stepped into the thicker shadows to make sure they couldn't be seen in case they came downstairs.

"What are you doing?" Natalie giggled and tried to push away.

Realizing she couldn't hear the sounds from upstairs he put his mouth next to her ear and hushed her. This put his nose in contact with her hair...

**

Natalie fell silent straining her ears to pick up whatever it was that her companion had heard. There were muffled sounds coming from upstairs but it sounded like they were moving up and not down. Still Natalie stayed silent, pressed to the warm body of the stranger that had waltzed into her life so suddenly.

Was it her imagination or was he breathing heavier? Was he smelling her hair? She leaned closer angling her face so he had better access to it and clearly felt him take a deep breath beneath her hand. There was something arousing about being in the dark, hiding from the authorities with a stranger and she was sure he felt the same.

She shifted slightly angling her leg to come in contact with his groin and heard him hiss sharply. The hand around her waist tightened it's grip and his thumb made small circles on the small of her back. The situation was extremely erotic and after a few seconds she was soaking wet squirming uncomfortably in his arms. He had his face buried in her hair and was clearly breathing heavier now.

She pushed slightly away from him and could have sworn she heard him growl. The darkness made it impossible to see his face but she angled her face up towards his and parted her lips hoping he would understand what she wanted.

It was still dark but Liam saw much better in the darkness than she did. Her yearning lips parted, waiting for him to kiss her made him completely lose it. He flipped them around and pressed her hard into the wall while he pressed his lips hungrily to hers. Natalie threw her arms around his neck to pull him closer and their tongues battled for dominance. She lifted her leg and hooked it around his waist. His hand slid down her ass to rest on her thigh to hold her leg in place.

Natalie moaned loudly against his mouth when he ground his hard-on against her most sensitive area. Her hands pulled at his sweater so she could slip her hands under it to feel his body. She gasped when she felt what was underneath. There was nothing but muscle, hard sculptured muscle. Moaning at the thought of having that on top of her she tipped her head back against the wall and his mouth traveled down to her neck.

His hard jeans covered cock rubbed just right against her and the feeling was overwhelmingly delicious. Her moans grew louder and she clung to his sweater while she rubbed herself against him.

"Don't stop." She whispered breathlessly. "Oh God..."

With an unstoppable wave of sensation she climaxed and the force of orgasm made her loose all control of her body. The only thing holding her upright was his hands on her butt cheeks and his body pinning her to the wall.

As her orgasm abated he stopped moving to allowing her to catch her breath. He was still rock hard and his need for release was evident in the tension of his body. She ran her hands up and down his muscular chest and sighed happily. Just as she opened her mouth to speak there was a noise from the stairs and a rough voice echoed down the short corridor.

"Somebody down there?" It called.

"Shit." Liam cursed. He grabbed her hand and then they were both running, throwing themselves out the back door.

**

Since Natalie had been given no time for neither breakfast or lunch they decided to grab some food. There was tension between them but not exactly an awkward tension. Somewhere between awkward and sexual. Neither of them seemed inclined to discuss what had happened so they ignored it and ate in silence.

When the meal was finished they drifted through the streets holding hands. Strangely it didn't feel weird. Natalie knew it should have been. She had only known Liam for a few hours, had the hottest sexual experience of her life in a dark cellar and now they were holding hands. It should be all manners of weird and that not counting all the other things that had gone wrong in her life the past twenty four hours.

As a matter of fact she was so comfortable in his company she never questioned when he pulled her to him to bury his face in her hair and nuzzle her neck. For a few hours he made her completely forget the terrible events of that morning. For a few hours she could pretend like her sister wasn't dead.

When evening came he brought her back to his motel to rest. Natalie had smiled at the suggestion knowing where it would most likely lead but spending the night in his bed suddenly seemed a lot better than spending the night in hers with a broken door and people looking for her. And she sure wouldn't mind having a taste of that sexy body she was sure hid under those ridiculous street clothes.

They ordered Chinese take away and brought it back to the room. Sitting on the floor with their backs leaning against the bed they shared the food between them and for the first time they really talked. It was Liam that brought the conversation back to the events of that morning.

"Why were you being abducted? What was that all about? And who were they?"

Natalie shook her head chewing to clear her mouth. "The simple answer is; I don't know. They showed up outside my door, got angry when I asked for identification and broke the door. The guy you shot at..." She felt silent and put the food container down on the floor, her hands shaking slightly. "God... I can't believe you did that. You shot at them."

Liam froze realizing where her mind was taking this. "Look." He said calmly. "It was the heat of the moment, you were crying and bleeding, I was angry. And I missed anyway." He didn't mentioned the fact that she had begged him to shoot figuring she didn't need that guilt.

"Shit." She pulled her legs up to her chest and buried her fingers in her hair. "I wanted them to die."

"I know." He put his own food package down and despite that every fiber in his body told him to comfort her he didn't move.

"I still do."

"I know."

"How the fuck can you possibly know!" She lashed out at him. His calm impassiveness was infuriating.

He was just about to answer when there was a knock on the door. Growling his head snapped around to face the door. He could smell three people on the other side. Wolves. Irritated he clambered up from the floor and yanked the door open. On the other side stood three faces he hadn't seen for a long time and they took a step back in surprise, sensing his hostility.

The leader of the trio smiled disarmingly at him. Liam knew him as Dael, a good man, a family man, older than Liam by twenty years. He had close cropped dark brown hair, warm brown eyes, and was a quite short for a wolf.

"Liam. Long time no see!" He exclaimed, eying Liam from head to toe. "You look... umh... well."

Inwardly Liam cursed furiously but kept it from showing. He had completely forgotten that his brother would send people to collect her. Falling into his old pattern when dealing with the pack his demeanor changed into emotionless indifference and he gave the man a cold stare.

"Dael." Was all Liam offered in ways of greeting.

"The boss sent us to get the girl."

Liam growled at the mans infuriating smile and cast a quick look over his shoulder at Natalie. She was still sitting on the floor staring at him in complete disbelief. What Dael had said hadn't been lost on her and he could see her mind processing it.

"Liam?" Her voice was shaky.

"Dael. Fuck off." Liam said and closed the door in his face.

He could hear his pack member call his name in confusion from the other side but he ignored it and turned to the woman on the floor instead.

Her eyes were wide in fear and confusion. "Who are you?" She whispered.

"Natalie." He held his hands out to calm her. "I guess you could say I'm a PI of sorts. I find people."

"You were spying on me? That's why you were just happened to be there."

"No. Natalie. No. That's not how it is. My brother asked me to find someone named Natalie Bryant yesterday but I turned him down, then by some freak coincident I ran into you on the street and..." He trailed off not sure how to continue without telling her how he felt and what she did to him.

"And you decided to seduce me... for what? Handing me over? Sell me? What the hell is going on here!?" She screamed the last words at him and climbed to her feet.

"No woman! That's not how it is. I called my brother to ask what he wanted with you and he wouldn't tell me. I had completely forgotten he was sending people here to find you."

"Bullshit! You fucking traitor! If you wont tell me what this shit is about then it's time I ask someone who will, seeing as I have no choice in the matter now anyway." She moved closer to him and spat the last words to his face before stepping around him to the door.

Liam felt like he had taken the beating of a life time. Everything hurt. Not even his father had ever made him feel this bad. All he wanted to do was pull her close and tell her how wrong she was. How he had not purposely betrayed her. The wolf in him howled in despair.

The door opened behind him and he heard Dael speak. "Hi there mam. I'm Dael. Dael Landon. Would you be Natalie Bryant?"

"Yes."

"A pleasure to meet you mam. I know this must be quite tumultuous for you and I'm not sure what Liam has told you but I can assure you we want you no harm. I'm afraid I must ask you to follow us though, the boss wants to speak to you."

"At least you're polite. That's an upgrade from my previous would be abductors. Who is your boss and what does he want?"

"Umh... Aarik Wyard, mam. Liam's brother." He said it like that would explain everything. "I'm not sure why he want to get a hold of you actually. He didn't say. He just said it was really important that we brought you to him."

"And if I refuse?"

Dael's face became uncertain. "Then I'm afraid we will have to bring you anyway. I really am sorry for this, mam."

"So you're saying you're kidnapping me?"

"Mam, please. Don't take it this way."

"How the fuck do you want me to take it!?"

"Calm down now." Dael patted the air with his hands looking up and down the row of red doors to see if anyone was paying them attention.