Clothesline Read online

  “I was lying on the kitchen table in my nightgown. The kitchen was dark, and Don claimed he’d heard me moan in the night. He charged me with having unclean thoughts and he’d called everyone to pronounce judgment. “Harmony. You need to repent for your wickedness. You aren’t fit to reside with good people until your thoughts are again clean.”

  Harmony shivered. Line wanted to gather her against him, but he knew she wasn’t finished.

  “That was what he said as he delivered my punishment. Twenty licks with the belt to my bare bottom.”

  Her eyes were damp when she looked up at him. She’d finished.

  Clothesline knew it wasn’t only a dream, but a memory of the horrors she’d faced in her home.

  “You’re safe now.” He crooned as he finally pulled her to him. “I’ll never let anyone hurt you again. I swear it.”

  Her body shook as she cried in his arms.

  He pressed his lips to her golden hair and let himself breathe her in.

  “Will you stay with me?” She whispered.

  He gritted his teeth. “I’m not a good man Harmony. You deserve something better.”

  “I’m not afraid of you, or anything when I’m with you. Please. I’m so tired of feeling out of place. I’m tired of not knowing how to feel, of being afraid to close my eyes.”

  He slipped into her bed and pulled her close. He wanted her, and he cursed himself for it. She needed a man who could be there, comfort her without having a hard cock while doing it. She needed a man who didn’t live a life she would never understand.

  If she noticed, she didn’t comment. She snuggled into him and sighed contentedly and fell asleep.

  3

  Harmony woke to an empty bed, but the pillow was still warm where Clothesline’s head had been.

  She pulled herself from her bed and went to her window. He was there, sitting by her window.

  The night was old, and the sky was growing gray, but the dawn had not yet come.

  She reached out and laid a hand on his shoulder.

  “You shouldn’t be up.” He whispered.

  “I got a chill.” She grinned shyly, but he missed it.

  There was something different. She felt that if he left her she would never see him again and the fear of it was choking her.

  He turned suddenly.

  “Why do you smell like you’re in pain?” He looked puzzled.

  “Why do I feel like you’re leaving me?” She asked in answer.

  “There are things I need to take care of. I have to.”

  His eyes were so black that she could see herself reflected in them.

  “I need you here.” She whispered brokenly, and he came to her. He stepped inside and scooped her into his arms.

  “You can’t need me Harmony. I can’t be the man you need me to be. I can’t be that for anybody. I can’t. I can’t make you understand.”

  She was weeping now, and she couldn’t help it. He was throwing her away. He didn’t want her. No one would ever want her. She was used goods, damaged.

  He cursed and then his lips found hers and she forgot everything, but the taste of him. She poured her heartache into their kiss and gave him all that she was.

  Her arms wrapped around him to pull him closer and his warmth seeped into her through her thin gown.

  He cupped her face. “What are you doing?”

  “If you are leaving, please, I…” How could she say what she felt? How could she say the things that were running through her mind?

  He looked puzzled, but there was more in his eyes now, a heat that drove her to speak.

  “I want to feel you. Please. Don’t leave me like this. Take away the pain. I want to forget it. All I want is the memory of you, of us. If this is goodbye, please give me something to remember.”

  She saw the moment he understood. His arms grew tighter around her.

  “I don’t think that’s what you need sweetheart.” He said against her neck.

  “I want this. I want to feel alive. I want a good memory of what can be.” She stammered, and her face flamed. “I know what I’m asking for. I’m not an innocent.”

  “I’m not a gentle man Harmony. I don’t know…”

  She lay a finger over his lips. “Please?”

  His eyes searched hers for what seemed like eternity. At last he nodded, and his lips found hers again.

  Nothing had ever felt so right in her life. His hands were warm and gentle as he lifted her gown and tossed it away. She ran her hands up his chest and he let her take off his shirt too.

  Her breasts felt full as they squished against his chest and her nipples were so hard they hurt.

  “If you need to stop, you just tell me.” His raspy voice made chills run over her body.

  “I don’t want to stop.” She said and pulled one of his big hands to her breast.

  He cupped it and rolled her nipple until she moaned. She felt a pulse between her legs and felt dampness on her thighs.

  “You smell so damned good sweetheart.” He said and lay her on the bed. He spread her thighs and she tensed until she saw the look on his face. It wasn’t disgust, it was desire, hunger, but not like she’d seen on Don’s face. This was wanted. She was wanted, and she wanted him back.

  He lowered his lips to her damp folds and tasted her.

  She lifted her hips without meaning to.

  “Does that feel good sweetheart?”

  He asked, his warm breath fanning her dampness.

  “Yes.” She whispered, lost in his touch.

  He fastened his mouth to her and suckled her like a babe at a breast. The sensation was more than she could take. She swallowed down her moans as he tugged at her clit. Something was happening, there was a pressure growing in her belly that she didn’t understand.

  “Let go for me sweetheart.” He said, and he sucked hard as he pressed two fingers into her.

  She shattered, hips bucking, body trembling.

  There was nothing but the feel of his mouth on her body and she loved it.

  When her body stopped pulsing, he climbed up her body and kissed her. She tasted the musky taste of her own pleasure as his tongue slipped into her mouth.

  She expected to feel him entering her, but when her hand slipped down his body she found his jeans still clinging to his hips.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to stop here?” He asked, his raspy voice deep with need.

  “I’m sure I want to feel you. I’m sure I want to be as close to you as I can while you’ll let me.” She whispered, and she meant it with everything she was. Nothing mattered more to her in those moments than being with him.

  When she felt him press against her she didn’t wince. He felt right and when he filled her she had never felt anything so good in all of her life.

  All of the pieces of her broken spirit fell into place as he moved inside of her. All of her life had brought her to this moment and she would never look back on it with regret.

  She was where she was supposed to be.

  “I can’t stay. Tell me you understand. There are things I need to do, I have to. Tell me you understand, tell me you’ll wait for me.” He pleaded as he held her close.

  She didn’t know what to say. Her mind was so foggy all she wanted to do was sleep, but she wanted to say something, needed to.

  “Please, come back to me.”

  He pressed a kiss to her hair. “I will do what I can. You need to heal, and I have to give you time to do that and… I need to take care of a few things.” His hand slid over her skin.

  Something burned in her chest. Clothesline jumped as if he felt it too.

  “Well, I’ll be damned.” He whispered but didn’t explain. He grinned at her and kissed her.

  “I need to do this sweetheart. I swear, If I live, I will come back. It’s the best I can do.” He looked down at her in wonder. “That is all I will ever be able to offer you.”

  She felt her heart breaking in her chest. He was leaving and there was nothing she coul
d do to keep him.

  “I will be here.”

  He kissed her hard and slipped from the bed and through the window.

  Harmony pulled the quilt around her shoulders and stepped to the window. The sun was starting to turn the sky pink as he climbed on his big motorcycle and looked up at her.

  His eyes ran over her as if he were trying to memorize her. Then he nodded and sped away, taking her heart with him.

  4

  Blood dripped from his claws as he stepped out of the old house that stood in a little glade in the forest. Every night was filled with blood now. Life was nothing but the death of others.

  He searched and he killed.

  He was the bringer of death to those who threatened those he loved and with each night that passed he grew closer to being able to go home and claim the woman he loved.

  Only one person eluded him.

  There was a whimper from the crumpled form that lay on the porch and he reached down and lifted the boy with his claws.

  “Where is the woman?”

  Tears and snot ran down the kid’s face. “I... I don’t know...I swear…Why are you doing this? I’m just a kid, I’ve never hurt anybody.”

  “Your name is Douglas Brant. Your father was Don Brant. You helped torture a woman named Harmony Lowell. I am avenging her.”

  Line saw the hatred in the boy’s eyes. “Harmony was a bitch and a whore. I’m not surprised she ended up with monsters like you. Damn her and damn you too. I hope you rip out her throat. I hope her demon babies eat her alive...I... hope...”

  “Those words are your last.” Line ran his claws over the kid’s throat with such force that his head rolled across the porch.

  He stepped off the porch and into the darkness.

  “Find what you were looking for?” Pie’s voice came to him from the shadows of a shack on the edge of the property.

  “Fuck no.” Line wasn’t overly shocked to see him.

  The Howlers were tight and when one went rogue, another would come looking. He wouldn’t be shocked to see one or two others hanging around.

  “Guess you’ll be glad to see me then.” Pie said, and Line knew he was grinning even without seeing his face.

  “What do you have?”

  “Well a certain stripy psychopath gave me a tip to pass along to you if I found you, like I would have any trouble finding you.” Pie sounded offended that Lucian would have any doubt in him.

  “How did you know how to find me?” Line grumbled.

  “Not too hard. Follow the bloody trail of death and destruction.”

  Line heard a rattling of paper and held out his hand. There was an address printed in Lucian’s distinct scrawl.

  “Is the woman here?”

  “That’s what I was told, but you can’t kill her.”

  Line cursed. “Why not? I haven’t been spreading sunshine to find her and not kill her.”

  “Well, you can kill her, I don’t give a shit and neither does stripes, but someone might.” Pie shrugged.

  “Harmony.” Line breathed.

  “Stripes says she won’t appreciate you slaughtering her mom. Fuck if I know.”

  “He will kill you for calling him that.” Line breathed and figured that was probably the idea.

  His head pounded. He had been so focused on killing that he hadn’t thought of how she would feel about any of it. It made sense somehow. Harmony loved her mother enough to suffer to keep her alive. She wouldn’t want her dead.

  “What then? I can’t let her get away.” Line gritted out. His wolf wouldn’t let that happen. The woman needed to pay.

  “There is a hospital. They have a bed waiting for psycho mama. Get her there and the good doctor will see that she gets care.” Pie said simply.

  “Why the fuck did River send you to find me?”

  “I volunteered.” Pie said and there was an edge to his voice.

  “I don’t need a fucking babysitter, especially not one crazier than I am.” Line spat.

  “I’m not here to babysit fuck you very much. I’m just here.” Pie said in a tired voice.

  “Don’t you fucking get killed, I don’t need that shit right now.” Clothesline spat. Pie was dangerous lately. He wanted a mate and he couldn’t find one and it was making him crazy. Men like them did that. They needed someone to anchor them to sanity. The job was too brutal and too hard without someone holding that line and Pie was suffering.

  “You smell like pussy.” Pie sniffed loudly. “And not the good kind. What the fuck is up with that?”

  Line cursed under his breath. He had been on his own for a month and hadn’t been careful.

  “Your nose is as crazy as you are.” He spat, but Pie’s eyes were gleaming in the darkness. “You don’t think of anything but pussy.”

  “Is it?” His blonde head tilted, and he studied Clothesline until his skin crawled. “Maybe I’m the only one that has any idea what is really going on.”

  “Back off brother.” He snarled.

  Pie only nodded, and they walked to their bikes.

  Line was tired, and he wanted to go home, but he had one more stop to make first… well two if he had to take the old woman to a damned hospital. That would be harder than just bleeding her. Like he needed this headache.

  As if Pie read his mind. “Yeah, it’s hard being a real person instead of a bloodthirsty monster. It’s tough, but that’s what happens when you take a mate. Expectations soar.”

  Clothesline would probably kill his brother too before all this was over. He could do it and burry him in a shallow grave, no one would blame him.

  He really didn’t need this shit.

  “Yeah, but a certain blonde sure is mooning over some damned body and if it’s you I may shoot myself so don’t worry over that.” Pie put in helpfully. “Don’t do me any favors.”

  The thought of Harmony snapped things back into perspective. He was trying to make her safe. He wanted to be a good man for her.

  He looked down at the blood that was drying on his hands.

  He’d never be good enough.

  “Fuck, fuck, fuck.” He cursed.

  “Now you’re talking. I can do that. Where do you want to go?” Pie grinned but there was an edge to his voice.

  “Sent a fucking psycho to find me, great.”

  Pie grinned.

  “Stop grinning at me like that. It’s creepy.”

  Pie ignored him and started humming a bawdy tune.

  This was a nightmare.

  But it was also nice to have someone there with him. Pie was his brother, a reminder that he had a family, a home.

  Would he still have it when they found out who he really was?

  5

  Harmony shivered in the darkness as she stood on the porch and looked toward the ominous peeks of the caves that protected their haven at Lost Lakes.

  “He isn’t coming back.” Daisy said and made herself comfortable in one of the wide rocking chairs that sat on the porch.

  Harmony cut her eyes to the crafty coyote woman.

  “What do you know about it?” Harmony spat. She didn’t care for Daisy. She was polite because Daisy was Creed’s sister and Creed allowed her and her brother to live in his compound, but she didn’t care for Daisy.

  “I know…” Daisy stated and took a sip of her sweet tea. “That there haven’t been any news reports on especially bloody scenes in over a month, none with that special crazy twist that I believe to be Clothesline the psycho. That tells me that he’s dead, if he’s lucky, or captured by those lovely people with whom you used to live and being tortured.”

  She tucked one foot under her and used the other to start the rocking chair moving.

  Harmony wanted to rip her face off. “You are a cruel woman Daisy. Why would you say that to me?”

  “Because you are weak, and I hate weakness. Makes me sick. You act too much like a human.”

  Harmony let out a breath. “I am human.”

  Daisy’s eyebrows met her hairline an
d her nostrils flared. “No. You aren’t.”

  Harmony crossed her arms. “I think I’d know if I wasn’t. My father and mother were both human. Reed is my half-brother.”

  Daisy laughed. “You really are a stupid girl. You are a hybrid. You have no animal, or it’s suppressed or something, I don’t really know, but you smell of fur. It’s slight, but it’s there. I know the scent, I live with it. Reed is your brother.”

  Harmony gripped the porch railing for support. Could it be true? Could her mother have lied? She had never seen a picture of her father. There were none. Would her mother have lied to her?

  Of course, she would have.

  She was crazy and evil and so were those she lived with and followed, but why lie?

  To protect her from Don.

  Daisy let out a long-suffering sigh. “For heaven’s sake.” She picked a piece of ice out of her drink and threw it into the yard. “Can you see it?”

  Harmony had no trouble seeing it. “Of course.”

  “Hybrid. It’s pitch dark out here. A human would have trouble seeing that with a flashlight. How are you this dumb?”

  Harmony couldn’t take another moment with Daisy. She walked into the big farmhouse and walked instead to the back porch. She couldn’t watch for Clothesline from there, but it was peaceful.

  There she found Creed. He was much better company than his sister and she slid into a cushioned chair and looked up at the stars.

  “I see Daisy found you.” Creed said in that easy way he talked to everyone. Nothing ruffled him.

  “Found me?” Harmony asked.

  “Yeah. asked her to find you. Figured she had.” There was a shrug in his voice that said he didn’t really care what brought her as long as she was there.

  “She found me. I guess she didn’t want to. Is that why she was so nasty?”

  “It’s just her way.” He drank deep from the bottle in his hand. The sweet smell of beer reached out to Harmony.

  “Losing her mate did something to her, made her bitter. She can’t stand for others to find what she has lost. Can’t stand to see others happy.”