Rachel's Totem

Chapter Five

Rachel swore as she sneezed again. Damn, Aunt Charlotte might have dusted the attic at least once every ten years.

For the past week and a half, Rachel had spent every morning with Burke trying to figure out how to find the totem and every evening sifting through more of Charlotte’s stuff. Moving in had been easy. Rachel had no furniture, just a bunch of clothes and toiletries she’d brought with her. She still rented a small storage facility back in Chicago full of books and odds and ends from her prior life.

As much as she regretted some things she’d done, Rachel didn’t regret a single minute spent in Cougar Falls. She absolutely loved the town. Though she’d returned her rental car to the airport and knew she needed to find her own transportation, she’d found it easier to ride into town with Burke when he stopped by, which was at least three times a day. She couldn’t help the jolt of lust, and what felt like growing affection, every time she saw him.

Thoughts of Jesse paled next to remembrances of Burke. Rachel could drown in Burke’s eyes, and never got tired of his broad, sexy grin. Much as she’d tried to forget it, she could still feel him pounding against her in that alleyway as if it had just happened.

And several times she’d felt on fire, as if she’d die if he didn’t make love to her.

Fortunately, she’d been in bed during those instances, and she’d taken care of the problem herself. She flushed, recalling how often she’d had to do that during her brief marriage. Another sign Jesse hadn’t been “The One”.

She had no doubt, however, that life with Burke would be nothing so tame. A man like Burke would want sex often, and he’d want it hot.

Shit. Again with the libido. She fanned her chest and then said to hell with it. She was alone and in her home. The sun had set. Who would see her up in her aunt’s windowless attic? Shrugging out of her oppressive shirt, she continued to clean the attic, looking for any sign of instruction pertaining to the totem.

During the past week, she’d learned more from Burke and his brothers, and Gerald as well. Though, as the lawyer had stated, he refused to answer any questions she had about the totem, he told her a lot about the town and its inhabitants. Gerald was a silver fox Shifter. A “wily bastard,” as Burke often pointed out, and a ladies’ man. Gerald had been a perfect gentleman with her, however. Maybe due to the hissing and rumbled warnings Burke sent the man anytime they ran into him.

Dean and Grady still voiced their worries that she’d choose another clan to bond with. And they made it plain they wanted her. Maybe it was a power thing with the totem. Yet the looks they gave her, the ones that spoke of carnal hungers they’d love to assuage, made her wonder just what kind of sexual practices the catamounts observed.

Burke seemed the possessive type, but she remembered the sexual vibes coming off of him and his brothers that day at his house. She shivered at the thought. Three men who looked like the Chastells and Rachel? Wow. She could just imagine taking them all on, and had used the inspiration to cool her jets a time or two.

The temperature rose and she shed her jeans. Though it had to be around fifty outside, the attic sweltered. Thoughts of sex with the Chastells didn’t help any either, and she told herself to flat-out stop it. Focus, Rachel. Sex is not one of your priorities right now. She couldn’t help her wicked conscience that added , But it should be.

Taking a deep breath, Rachel stood and crossed her arms over her chest, staring around her. “Okay, Aunt Charlotte, help me out here. How do I find your totem and take care of Cougar Falls?”

Several times during her visits into town she’d seen more of the hairy, unkempt wolf clan loitering around. They threatened with just their presence, and they always seemed to be near when she walked anywhere. Gerald had noticed just today and remarked on the fact. But she refused to say anything to Burke, afraid he’d stop taking her into town. And come on, not being able to sample any of Millie’s ice cream was just plain cruel.

She felt Burke’s urgency daily, and wanted to find the totem as much for the town as for him. According to Burke, the magic in the relic would keep the wolves away, and those “pesky humans”. How the heck a piece of old wood could hide an entire town from society she didn’t know. But she didn’t understand shifting either, and she’d seen it with her own two eyes.

Sighing, she looked behind several boxes, glad she’d batted down the cobwebs and dust balls earlier. Rachel found a box tucked behind an old mirror she hadn’t previously seen and dusted the grime off the top. The cardboard ripped as she opened it, and she stared inside at old pictures. Interesting stuff, but not now, not when she had a mission to fulfill. If only that damned totem would turn up. No one had seen it anywhere on Charlotte’s property. It had just vanished from its position in a shaded glen when Charlotte passed away. Very, very strange. And her aunt had ordered Burke to help Rachel find the thing.

Honestly, how could Burke guide her to find the missing totem when he had no idea where to look? No passwords, no maps, just Charlotte’s frustrating letter telling Rachel to

“trust yourself, look deep into your heart and follow your beast, for he’ll show you the way.”

So did that mean she had to choose an animal soul to find the blasted totem? Because it sure was looking that way. She’d taken Grady’s demonstration as truth and had peppered Burke, his brothers and Gerald for information about the clans. Bear, cougar, eagle, raptor, wolf and fox Shifters all lived together in Cougar Falls. The majority of the town seemed to consist of the fox and eagle clans, followed closely by the bears and raptors. Not so many wolves, though the few that Burke had pointed out looked nothing like their hairy brethren from Glacier Park.

She thought perhaps that was why Burke and his brothers wanted her, seeing as how few catamount Shifters there were. Burke said that many of the cats had died during clan wars, when the totem went missing a long time ago. The rest had left in the years since, striking out to claim their own territories. But Burke insisted he and his brothers had no plans to leave. Catamounts were loners, but the Chastells definitely weren’t, nor were the members in their pride. Though the Ac-taw held animal souls, they also lived as humans.

And they loved and laughed with one another, needing the close companionship their kind brought. Which was what made Cougar Falls such a remarkable place. Shifters of all clans were welcome, and they lived together to form a solid unit. Though Burke was a catamount, he protected the totem. Sheriff Tyler Roderick was a silver fox, as was Gerald, but the two worked so that the law would function. Joel was a bear, Millie a raptor, and yet they both served the town in different ways.

Rachel nodded to herself and shoved the box of pictures to the side. She needed to serve a purpose in this town too, and not just to contribute to the local economy. Her Internet had been connected yesterday, and her business was ready to roll as soon as she fixed the totem problem. Money wouldn’t be a concern for quite a while thanks to Aunt Charlotte’s generosity, and anything else she might need Burke had already offered to give her. He, Grady and Dean had done a thorough inspection on the house the day she’d moved in, fixing the hot water heater and the leaky faucet in the upstairs bathroom.

Burke had also insisted on a state of the art security system that he’d paid for himself, to her chagrin. It wasn’t that she didn’t appreciate it, but she didn’t want to feel beholden to him. She wanted them on equal footing when they… When they what?

She groaned at the sudden image of them entwined, naked, on her bed. Rachel just couldn’t stop fantasizing about having real sex with Burke, and she didn’t know what to think. Ever since that walk by the stream she’d softened toward him, having found a kindred spirit of sorts. She loved how he’d shared his feelings, then been totally embarrassed by doing so. It made him so human, so down-to-earth approachable for a man who looked as handsome as he did. And it also showed how completely different he was from Jesse.

Jesse would have taken Sarah Duncan up on her offer for sex in a heartbeat. Jesse would never have offered to fix Millie’s car or taken Rachel into town whenever she needed something with no strings attached. Burke wanted to find the totem, yes, but more, he seemed to like spending time with Rachel. They’d caught a movie, played spades with his cheating brothers, and watched the sun set last night, sitting together on a picnic blanket behind his house holding hands. And Burke always made sure either he, Grady or Dean were around to chase off the encroaching wolves near her property.

No, Jesse would never have lifted a finger to help her with anything that didn’t get him something in return. He wasn’t even half the man, or cat, she thought with a grin, that Burke was. Jesse was…

“A man I no longer need to think about with anything but pity.” She grinned at the notion, realizing she was finally over the jerk. It had taken nine months of wrangling, and three more months of sour grapes, but she felt free. At last.

Nearly skipping out of the attic and down the stairs toward the bedroom, she didn’t see the tall figure waiting for her in the landing and shrieked when strong arms closed around her.

“Shh, it’s okay, Rachel. It’s me, Burke.”

She sagged in his hold for a moment, her heart racing out of her chest. And then she squirmed to push him away, punching him in the chest. “What the hell are you doing in here? You scared me half to death!”

“Sorry, but you didn’t answer when I knocked. And I got…worried.” His low voice grew lower, his eyelids shuttered as he stared at her.

Rachel was suddenly aware she’d left her clothes in the attic, and now stood before Burke in a lacy pink bra and panties.

“Fuck me,” he groaned, breathing heavily. His eyes flashed and his fingers curled.

“Rachel, you’re killing me, you know that?”

Need, sure and true, suddenly filled her. And she wanted nothing more than to feel him inside of her. I’m free, she reminded herself. Free to do what feels good. And Burke feels like heaven whenever I’m near.

“Have wild and passionate sex,” Aunt Charlotte had written. Yeah, that sounded just right. “Burke, are you doing this to me?”

“Doing what?” His voice was thick as he took a step to close the distance between them.

“Making me hot. I burn,” she said, nearly panting. “I want you so much I can’t see straight.” He licked his lips, and she saw one large canine before he closed his mouth again. The sight stirred her, making her want more.

“I don’t know why, but you’re flashing in and out of heat. I felt it that day in the alley, and later at my house. Baby, if you don’t want this, tell me now. Because I’m about to seriously lose it if I’m not inside you in like the next thirty seconds.”

“But I’m all dirty.”

“Good, I like dirty.” Burke ripped his shirt off, heedless of the scattering buttons. He reached for his pants but Rachel stopped him. Burke froze, completely still.

God, how she’d dreamed of this. “No. Let me.” Rachel slowly popped open his jeans and slid the zipper over his thick erection. Her hands brushed his fly and he trembled, his eyes glowing and locked on her. The zipper seemed to go on forever, but when it stopped she caught her breath. Beneath his jeans Burke wore nothing, and she could see his shaft hard and flushed in a bed of dark hair.

Reaching inside, she couldn’t quite close her fist around his cock, and she groaned with him at the feel of their flesh touching.

“I want to come inside you, not in your damn hand,” Burke growled, completely feral. “Take me out, baby, now.”

She pushed his jeans down and he kicked out of his boots and pants and stripped off his socks. Completely nude, he looked like sex incarnate. A broad chest and ropy biceps, a ripped abdomen, hard muscle over sun-darkened skin, and that potent erection straining toward her. God, his thighs, his ass… Rachel drenched her panties just looking at him.

And then that scent wafted over her, that sweet, sexy smell of need and cat and Burke.

Stripping out of her bra and panties, she trembled as Burke’s gaze traced every movement, his attention keen, like a predator intent on prey. He rumbled deep in his chest, his purring loud and enticing as he stalked closer.

“I’m going to make you scream. I’m going to take you the way I should have that first time, hard and rough, and I’m going to come inside you. My seed bathing your womb.”

Oh shit, he was really turning her on. A small sense of preservation had her mumbling about a condom, but Burke cut her off, his scent drenching her with need.

Suddenly she couldn’t find it in her to care, hazy with desire. She muffled that inner voice screaming for caution, and gave way to the beast within her wanting to join with another, stronger partner.

His kiss ravaged her senses. “No condom, no birth control. We’re both clean. I want this with you. You’re mine, Rachel. Mine.” He snarled and braced her against the wall in the hallway, repeating their experience in the alley. But this time they were both naked, and the feel of his sleek chest against her breasts, of his cock brushing her moist curls, had her arching into him.

“Burke. I want you so much.”

“Yeah, hard and fast.” He panted and spread her thighs, holding her hips as he aligned with her wet sex. In one sharp thrust, he impaled her, the feel of his immense girth both painful and ecstatic.

“More,” she gasped before he sealed her mouth with his. His tongue shot between her lips as he began fucking her, taking her with force against the wall. His scent settled deep into her bones, the feel of him more than physical, but like a brand that had staked a permanent claim. Her nails lengthened and she scratched at his back as she took his pounding, reveling in his vigor. And still it wasn’t enough. She needed to feel him spurt inside of her, to smell his seed overtaking her womb.

“Burke,” she screamed, her voice pitched high, her cry not her own.

He grunted and continued to thrust, his cock huge, his hands prying her ass cheeks apart as he toyed with her rim and pushed a finger past it.

She stiffened as sensation overwhelmed her. His pubic bone brushed her clit. His shaft pushed her G-spot again and again while his finger pressured nerves inside her ass.

The steady friction of his chest against her aching nipples multiplied the eroticism of his mouth as his tongue stabbed her in time with his cock’s thrusts… She was so close, just within reach, and then he bit her neck, sucking hard as moisture trickled from the wound.

Rachel clung to him as she shattered, clenching him tight as her inner walls sucked his cock deep.

“Bite me,” he rasped as he continued to plunge, and lost in the haze of his making, she settled her mouth over the juncture between his shoulder and neck and bit as well.

Teeth that were suddenly as sharp as needles punctured his skin, but the taste of him drowned out everything but Burke. He howled as he stiffened, and she felt him spurting, felt his cock swelling within her as he flooded her with seed.

Heat filled her, the places where their skin touched inordinately sensitive as he held her tight, coming with great gasps.

When he finally relaxed, she was too sated to do more than rest in his arms and blink up at him.

“That was just the beginning.”

She smiled, startled though pleased and excited when her body stirred yet again.

“Burke.”

“Hmm?” He rotated his cock within her, and she groaned as his fading erection suddenly stiffened again.

“I think I’ve found my inner beast.”

Burke knew a sense of belonging he wanted to experience forever. Granted, he had family, acceptance and a duty to his town. But Rachel in his arms felt different. She made him feel…whole. The feline within her begged for release, and he knew their sex would only grow more passionate and more out of control, her heat attracting males far and wide since he’d opened the lid on her Ac-taw desires. Before, Rachel had been in and out of heat, unpredictable and hell on his needy cock. But now… now she was open and calling to him on a level he couldn’t refuse.

She’d taken him, bitten him, and he needed to claim her as part of his pride before any other Shifters wandered too close. She belonged to him, dammit, and he refused to share her with the wolves and foxes already sniffing around her. Hell, he didn’t want to share her with anyone, and he knew he had to.

“Dean, Grady,” he sent with a growl, the mental pathway difficult in his human form. “I need you here for the marking. Don’t bother dressing.” He felt their excitement purring deep in his mind.

His brothers had remained near, patrolling the grounds when Burke wasn’t around to do it. Tonight he’d taken longer at the ranch than he’d thought, and almost hadn’t made it out, so he’d sent Grady ahead of him to spell Dean, the three of them, plus Joel, working in shifts to see to Rachel’s protection.

“Rachel?” Burke rested his palms on her ass, the wall, more than him, holding her up. He was extremely aware of his come sliding down her legs and over his thighs. Her wet heat surrounded him, and he had to resist the urge to start pumping again. He sniffed and was surprised to find he’d done a decent job of starting the claiming. Hell, she smelled of him already, his marker lingering despite his intent to wait to mate with her.

Burke had known since that walk by the stream, but this joining reaffirmed it. He would take Rachel to mate. In his entire life, he’d never desired another with such intensity, never had such loving feelings for a woman the way he did for Rachel. His beast wanted her, the man wanted her, and he would move heaven and hell to have her.

But first he needed her to be feline, and to make her so as quickly as possible. As difficult as he expected it might be for him to accept it, he needed his brothers’ help.

“Burke, what’s wrong?”

He realized he’d missed half of what she’d said and gave her a wry grin. “I’m not thinking too clearly right now, you’ll have to forgive me.” She laughed, then groaned when he hitched her higher over his cock. “Rachel, I have to mark you. Tonight.”

She stared at him, not seeming angry, worried or scared as he’d anticipated. “Why?”

“Because I need to. I have to.” He frowned, knowing it was coming out all wrong.

But he didn’t know how to explain his urgency without admitting he meant to mate with her. Coming off her divorce, she’d explained she wasn’t too keen on men, and he hadn’t been offended, just relieved to know he’d done nothing more than growl at Sarah to piss her off. That Rachel had let him get this far gave him high hopes. But that didn’t mean he assumed she’d be easy to bring down. Rachel had a crafty edge to her, a perfect fit for a catamount, or a silver fox sniffing too close. Fucking Gerald. Jealousy rose again at the thought of how often she’d seen the fox.

What if she was starting to lean toward Gerald and his clan? But Burke couldn’t afford to move too quickly, not if he wanted all of her. He had to watch how much he admitted to needing her until he had her hooked on the taste of him, on the smell of him, so as not to scare her off.

“You have to?” She squeezed him inside her and he moaned, helpless to resist her approaching lips and devouring kiss.

When he could breathe again, he tried explaining what he intended with the marking when her eyes widened, her stare centered on a presence over his shoulders.

“Grady and Dean.” He sighed and withdrew from her body, still holding her in his arms. “We need to mark you, Rachel. You’re mine—ours. You know it and I know it.”

He couldn’t control his dominance as he pushed her to submit.

Her eyes flashed and his hunger rose. Passion flared in the green depths of her gaze, and her musk permeated the room. Feline excitement, a surge of pheromones telling them she was more than ready, if not yet willing. “You want me to have sex with your brothers?”

Burke hissed and his brothers took a step back, giving him space. “No, I don’t want you to fuck my brothers. I need you to do it. All three of us marking you together will ensure your beast is feline. And you’ll be one of ours to protect.” To love.

“Um, I know I was kind of wild, but I’ve never done threesomes or, ah, a foursome before.” She swallowed loudly, but her pupils dilated with lust.

“Much as I wish it could be this way all the time,” Grady rumbled, “I have a feeling big brother is only allowing us this one night.”

“You’re damned right.” Burke flashed his teeth in warning, and Rachel’s breathing increased.

“Oh.” She rubbed against him and it was all he could do not to fuck her against the wall again. Glancing at Dean, he noted the desire burning in his brother’s gaze. Grady, too, looked ready to pounce, his body hard, burning with need.

“Take her into the bedroom.” Burke forced himself to relinquish his hold on her, handing her into Grady’s waiting arms. But watching her squirm in his brother’s hold wasn’t as difficult as Burke had thought it might be. Instead, a peculiar calm descended over his raging excitement, and a primitive instinct to bring Rachel to all the Chastells before claiming her as his own consumed him. This would make her family, and cement the ties between his future mate and his brothers.

Burke quickly followed them into Rachel’s room, only to see her on her back in the middle of her bed. Her eyes were closed in bliss, her body arched, supplicant, as Grady and Dean laved her breasts with their mouths.

“So eager, hmm?” He surprised himself by chuckling, but soon lost his humor as his own needs rode him hard. Grady ran his hands over her body while he toyed with her breast, and his fingers unerringly sought and entered her pussy. Dean left her breast to kiss her mouth, and Rachel’s clever little hand wrapped around his brother’s dick, pumping and squeezing and turning Dean into a raging animal.

“Yes.” He thrust against her thigh, pushing more into her hand. “That’s it, baby.

Squeeze me harder. Oh yeah. More.”

Grady groaned, and Burke couldn’t help fisting his own cock as he watched his brothers fuck his mate. The marking musk permeated the room, all three of them desperate to cling to Rachel’s feminine wildness, to her ability to soothe and fight and love like a true Ac-taw.

“God, I want to come inside her.” Grady stared up at Burke through a slitted gaze, asking permission.

Burke’s beast raged, but his human half wanted to share her love, wanted his brothers to know the warmth he’d found. “Rachel?”

Dean broke from her mouth and Burke’s breath caught. Her eyes had fully changed, yet her body remained human. “Burke, help me. I’m so hot. I need, so badly.”

“Rachel, all this. It’s not too late to say no.” Dean and Grady stared at him as if he’d lost his mind. And maybe he had. “We’re going to come inside you, Rachel. All of us.

Everywhere.” His cock throbbed at thoughts of her ass, of sinking deep inside her flesh and possessing every ounce of her. “Your body is begging to be shown its inner beast.

You’re in heat but you’re not ovulating, so we aren’t going to procreate, but we need to thoroughly mark you. And the fastest, easiest way to do it is through our come.”

Rachel arched into Grady’s hand cupping her breast. “Oh, Burke, Grady.” She turned to face Dean, her body feverish and glistening with sweat under the dim light of her room. “Dean. I want you all so much. I can’t think. I’m empty, Burke. You left me too soon.”

Burke joined them on the bed, their weight easily filling the large, king-sized monstrosity Charlotte had left to Rachel. “Baby, you might not know it yet, but I’m never leaving you again.”

His brothers stared at him in shock, but he didn’t care. He was keeping Rachel, and he’d as good as declared himself. Grady’s mouth quirked and he exchanged a look with Dean.

“You know, bro, we’d better take full advantage of tonight. He’ll never let it happen again.”

Dean’s eyes shone in the darkness. “Oh yeah. I just hope tonight doesn’t ruin me for other women. She tastes so sweet.”

“So much power, and her clawing feline is like a drug.”

Burke settled between her thighs, inhaling his scent over hers. He shoved Grady’s fingers aside and licked her clit, sucking on the small bud. In a low voice, he murmured,

“Her pussy is addicting. Enjoy tonight, guys, because it won’t happen again. Not with my future mate.”

He didn’t think she’d caught what he’d said. By the look of her, Rachel was in another world, desire turning her into the creature she’d been born to be.

“What are we waiting for, then?” Grady asked, smiling through his elongated teeth.

“On your hands and knees, Rachel. We’ve got a surprise for you.”