Moonlit Beasts Ch 04

Tanner barely had time to catch the woman's wrist as she stumbled back, towards the door, the exit.

"Jo! Please, wait." His grip tightened slightly on her soft flesh even as she tried to wretch it from his grasp. "Jo, Jo, beautiful Josette..." His words wrapped around her mind, lulling her into calmness, if only for a moment. "You are safe here. I know what you think of us, I can see it on your face, but it is not all true. I assure you. Please, trust me..." Tanner reached and took hold of her other hand, rubbing his thumbs gently across her knuckles.

Jo lifted her gaze to the man before her. As their eyes met, Tanner lifted one, large hand to caress her face. In an instant, Jo lost all of her will to fight. All she wanted was to feel his skin against hers, his warmth around her body, soothing her. She leaned her face against his palm, turning her head to kiss the calloused skin there.

"I trust you..." she whispered. No matter how much she tried to convince herself that Tanner would never hurt her, there was always that sliver of doubt in her mind that he would. With his strong muscles and large hands, he could snuff out her life without breaking a sweat. This thought made Jo tremble in his grasp.

Pulling her closer to his chest, Tanner laid a chaste kiss to her temple, lifting her face back to his gaze. "You will be safe here, I swear it to you. Thompson and his band of vagrants will never get to you again, so long as I am here to stop it. I swear to you, dove. No one will harm you and live to tell about it."

Had this been any other man before her, she would have been startled, but Jo only felt a sense of security in his arms. Never, in her short life, had she felt this way before. Damn, she had never even felt this way about her one boyfriend. Instead, she put all of her focus to her studies, and where did that get her? Minimum-wage job, in debt, and a recent ex-boyfriend.

Tanner brushed a few strands of auburn hair from her eyes, placing it behind her ear before leaning in to place his forehead to hers. "I would like to kiss you, Jo...very much." "Then why don't you?" Jo closed her eyes as she felt Tanner's lips come in contact with her own.

Soft. Plump. Completely exquisite. There weren't enough words for Jo to describe this kiss. No other kiss that she had had before amounted to this one. Tanner's hands curled around her head and waist, pulling her in, closer and closer. As if she would somehow melt into his very body and become a part of him. Jo placed her hands against his sculpted chest, fisting the fabric in her hands.

Oh, how she wanted this man. Wanted to feel his body over hers. Wanted to feel as he trailed his lips and tongue down her body. Wanted to hear his own moans mixed with hers as he buried himself deep inside her.

Pulling back, Tanner replaced his forehead to Jo's. "We should head back to the others. I bet they're dying to meet you." He smiled at Jo's beet-red face. "You're blushing, dove." He chided.

Jo's face flamed even more than before. Placing one final kiss to her cheek, Tanner led her from the room and back into the crowded hall. Once again, everyone seemed to stare at her, hushed whispers rippling across the room. Tanner placed his arm around Jo's waist, pulling her close to his side. "You're safe here. No one will harm you." Jo nodded, but in her bones she still felt uneasy.

"Tanner...can I go back to the room please? I...I don't like crowds." Tanner's brow shot up in question but he didn't voice it as Jo clung to his shirt. "Of course. I'll take you to your new room, okay?" With sure steps, he guided her through the sea of faces until, finally, they were back in another narrow hallway. "You really should have a map for this place. I'm afraid I'll get lost." Tanner chuckled at Jo's attempt at humour. "Just stick with me, dove, and you won't ever get lost." He continued to lead her down the hallway, up two flights of stairs, to a large wooden door.

Taking an antique-looking key from his belt, Tanner unlocked the heavy-duty door. Shouldering it open, he let Jo enter first.

While the room was luxurious, far more so than the room he had awoken in, it only seemed cold. There was no colour. Only varying shades of black and grey. Taking a step towards the center of the room, Jo took a slow spin, taking in every angle of the room.

"Is...is this your room?" Tanner shut the door behind him with a soft click. "Would it upset you if I said yes?" He dared not move from is spot, his hand firmly clenching the doorknob. Jo shook her head, taking hesitant steps to wrap her arms around his waist from behind. Tanner let out a shuddering breath, releasing the doorknob to rest his hand against her own.

"This is the safest place for you right now. With me, where I can make sure Thompson's men have no way of getting in. The only one who has a key to the room is me, and you when I have one made in the morn." Gently, his fingers trailed across the skin of her scar, drawing lazy circles across the darkened flesh.

Jo shut her eyes and buried her head against his spine. "When those guys came to take me...they mentioned that I had a mark...Is it my scar?" Her voice was meek, muffled against his shirt. Tanner hesitated before nodding. "Yes. It is."

"Why is it important?" Jo lifted her head as Tanner spun around to face her. With deft hands, he lifted her up, his hands cradling her weight under her legs. Bridal-style he carried her to the edge of the bed, gently setting her down before kneeling in front of her.

"Do you believe in myths?"

Jo blinked. "Like, fairy tales and the old Grimm stories?" Tanner nodded, his face impassive.

"I guess so. Why? What are you not telling me, Tanner?"

Tanner lowered his head. "A lot of things..." Jo barely missed those whispered words as he continued his explanation. "Do...do you know the stories of the skin changers? Humans that could morph their bodies to anything they deemed it?" Jo nodded slightly. "I...I don't understand, Tanner. What's going on?" Tanner shook his head, running a shaking hand through his hair. "Please, just don't freak out, okay?"

Jo tilted her head, scooting farther towards the center of the bed, away from Tanner. "You're scaring me...What's going on, Tanner?" Shaking his head once more, he stood, pulling off his shirt and throwing it to the floor. Next came his boots and socks. Jo forced herself to look away from his chest. But in her glimpse, she saw that he was practically ripped.

Fuck six-pack, this man had eight gorgeously defined abs, prime for her imagination. While his skin was mostly a flawless tawny gold, a few scars ran along his side, right through a large, swirling tattoo. "Tanner?" "Shh...just breathe, okay? And don't scream." Jo tilted her head. "Scream from what?"

She had her answer a moment later as Tanner's eyes changed from emerald, to gold. Arching his back, Tanner let out a pained grunt as his skin began to tear and dissolve. Clumps of golden fur sprouted from the tears of his skin, taking the place of what once was his flesh. Within a few heartbeats, there was no longer a man before her. Instead, Jo only found a large beast. One with large claws, great fangs, and eyes that denoted a hunger for flesh. Hers, to be exact.

Suppressing a scream, Jo scrambled off the bed, towards a corner. Slowly, slowly, the beast crept forward, the claws of its toes scraping the ground. Jo clamped her hands around her mouth, muffling her sobs. Tears welled in her eyes as the beast closed the distance to her. Jo watched in horror as the beast opened its mouth, showing off its large teeth. She could only pray that her death would be quick.