The Sweetest Mercy (Sexy Shifter Shorts) Read Online Free PDF Page B

he liked to follow up with a right hook. But that feral gleam in Carter’s eyes didn’t scare her. Instead, she felt strangely drawn to him. Comforted by what she saw behind his gaze. As though Carter had retreated to the back of his mind and something else stared out at her. Something powerful, and yet—
    “I can stand. But I need you to pull the spike out of the ground that’s holding the trap in place.”
    The words came distorted with pain, fatigue, and a dark edge that caused an anxious shiver to ripple across Kiera’s skin. She had a feeling that if he wasn’t weakened by the silver, Carter would be very dangerous in his current state. From where the trap gripped his calf, she followed a length of chain to a large iron spike buried in the ground to keep it secured in place. Kiera worried her bottom lip between her teeth as she tried to move the spike. It had to be embedded a good foot into the ground; she could barely budge it. A wood nymph heritage gave her the upper hand in many things: persuasion, intuition that was almost a sixth sense, and a killer singing voice. But it didn’t give her enough in the supernatural strength department.
    “Kick…it,” Carter panted through gritted teeth. “Use your foot, kick it from side to side to loosen it and then pull it straight up out of the ground.” As if the effort of the last sentence was too much, his head dropped to the ground and he panted in earnest.
    Kick it. Okay, easy enough .
     

Chapter Six
    CARTER’S LION CHOSE the wrong moment to retreat into his psyche. Kiera gave the stake a solid kick, pulling the chain—and the trap—right along with it. The teeth bit into his flesh and another fresh wave of pain shot up his leg. He clamped his jaw down, tight, unwilling for Kiera to know that she caused him pain.
    Had she simply stumbled upon him in her haste to escape, or had she heard him shout and come to find him? Either way, she’d saved his ass. It shouldn’t matter how she’d found him, but it did. For some crazy reason, Carter wanted to believe that she’d heard him and came to find him. That she’d… cared for him. Gods, how could he possibly think this way? He’d just met her. Met her and fucked her for all he was worth on the dirt floor of a cave. Yeah, he was such a romantic. Kiera kicked at the stake again, the tug of the trap tearing his flesh. Fuuuuuuck. That one hurt like a sonofabitch.
    Kiera turned, the look on her face one of indecision. She rolled her bottom lip between her teeth and despite the blinding pain, Carter couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to take that full lip in his own mouth and suck. He was damned near dying of silver poisoning, but his cock didn’t seem to notice. Go figure.
    “Carter,” Kiera said quietly. “This chain isn’t very long. When I pull it out of the ground—”
    “Just do it.” Carter cut her off and infused his own voice with the same strength she’d shown him. “Like a Band-Aid. Quick.”
    Her jaw took on a determined set and Kiera nodded, once. With a single deep breath, she wrapped her hands around the stake and yanked. The chain pulled and the metal teeth scraped against bone, vibrating up Carter’s leg and the length of his spine. “Fuck!” he shouted as he shook his head from side to side in an effort to keep unconsciousness at bay. He wouldn’t be worth a damn to Kiera passed out. He’d assured her he could stand, and damn it, he’d do just that.
    “Can you help me up?” His beast rumbled in his mind, obviously unhappy that they had to ask for help. Well, that was too gods damned bad, wasn’t it? Thanks to Reece and his motherfucking silver trap, they were as weak as a newborn foal.
    “How far is your cabin from here?” Kiera asked as she retrieved his rifle and tucked her body under his arm. She placed her right palm on his chest which sent his heart beating faster and he took a steadying breath.
    “A couple of miles, give or take.” He stripped his pack,