Mystical Mayhem Read Online Free

her. Would she be that wonderful mix of sweet and spicy like she smelled? A warm ginger sugar cookie, fresh and still soft from the skillet over the fire. He tried to calm his erratic breathing.
    It had been a long time since there’d been anyone other than himself in his cave. There’d been a few – now and then, a few necessary acquaintances, other creatures who used their particular more-than-human to save lives. Never someone he’d saved, but she’d been too hurt to take anywhere else. No, he knew that wasn’t exactly true. He was lying to himself. Her, he couldn’t just save and walk away from. Instincts, every one he had on high alert last night, had him trembling in her presence like a hormonal teenage boy. Touching her last night, he’d wanted to wrap his arms around her and tell her everything would be alright rather than just heal her and move on. And, after he’d promised her the world, he wanted to move inside her until she screamed his name. The whole thing was irrational. Insane. He had no idea where such feelings had come from, but he’d felt the connection instantly, almost enough to bring his beast to its knees when he’d first seen her hanging against the cave wall.
    His mother, when she’d been alive, had tried to tell him about shifters picking Mates, but he had ignored those lessons. He was a freak of nature, which was exactly why he’d never take a Mate. His argument had always been about not knowing which animal would choose, or the gods forbid, each different animal chose one. He had always prayed he just wouldn’t need a Mate because no other Chimera existed. Well, he didn’t know that for sure. He knew of no other Chimera in the states anyway. He’d chosen to live apart. His needs were met with one-night stands, women from bars he picked up in his human form. Their place, of course. They had no idea what he was, and he made sure he never saw them again.
    “Something wrong?” she asked.
    “No,” he turned to her with a jerk of his head. He laid the blanket quickly back over her body, tucking it in around her neck. “You look perfect, um … all healed I mean.”
    “Thank you,” she whispered, her voice scratchy.
    “No need. When you feel up to it, I can take you back home.”
    “I’m so glad my people are all okay,” she choked, tears filling her eyes. “You can’t imagine the horrible thoughts worry placed in my brain as I hung on that wall.”
    When she blinked, he watched the drops fall, drowning something inside of him; taking with them the last ounce of his compassion for those who’d wronged her, if there’d ever been any. He could only imagine the things her mind had conjured of her people and her land, the tiny plot the government had stolen from them, then granted her people use of.
    “I’m sorry. I went down to your reservation while you slept and told your people that I had you, that I would return you soon.” Proud of himself for keeping his anger, spurred by her tears, restrained enough to talk when he felt like punching something so hard his knuckles would shatter, he forced a smile to his lips. The last thing he wanted was for her to fear him any more than she probably already did.
    “I can’t go back and put everyone I care about in danger. What if that Aiden, the Hawk-man, comes for me again? Or, what if he and his makeshift coven come for me at the reservation, and I’m not there? Do you think they would hurt my people just for kicks or out of anger, or would they just leave? Should I even go back?” She tried to sit up, but his hands stopped her.
    “No! I mean… I don’t know. Sorry, but you should rest. Let me worry about protecting them for right now.” He pulled his hands from her – an effort, as if they were glued to her shoulders. He held them in front of him, unsure where he should put them – knowing how badly he wanted to touch her again but couldn’t. He knew he looked the fool as his body and mind fought it out. “You can stay