by R. A. Boyd
He was naked from the waist up and the sexy pajama bottoms he had on did little to hide his goods. That delicious looking band of muscles that sat low on his hips pointed directly at his cock like a one way street to fun times.
Best. Pants. Ever.
His lips moved against hers in a gentle motion that made her feel happy right down to her toes. Closing her eyes and smiling against his kiss, she moved her body closer to his and pressed herself against him. This was peace. This was something that she’d longed for for so long. Not just a mate but the inner stability she used to have. Even though Zeke was the cherry on the cream cheese icing of her triple layered chocolate and strawberry cake, Audra was happy to be herself again.
Zeke reached up and grasped her chin with his thumb and forefinger. He angled her face and deepened their kiss until she gently sucked on his tongue. She couldn’t help the giggle that bubbled up through her mouth, and that made her giggle even more. She wasn’t growling for no apparent fucking reason. She was laughing and giggling.
He kissed a path from her lips to her ear. “I’m so happy you’re not trying to kill people, but even if you were I’d still love you.” His voice was a soft caress against her ear.
Love? “Do you love me, Zeke Santos?”
“I do.”
“And you’d still want me even if Beastie was part of the package?” She said it in a teasing tone but had meant it.
Zeke pulled away from her and stared into her eyes. “Hell yes, I would. I did. Audra, I thought it was going to be you, me, and your slightly insane—”
“Fully ape-shit insane.”
“—buddy for the rest of our lives. And I was okay with that. Don’t get me wrong, it made me nervous but that was because I know what I’m capable of. Audra Defoe, it’s you. I considered fighting it when we first met, but how could I? And then you gave me this,” he said, taking her hand and running her finger along the winged star charm. “You gave me this and I knew you were mine. And that I was yours.”
Audra pressed her hand to his heart and felt it speed up beneath her touch. Somewhere inside him was part of her grace that would make her whole again.
“Zeke,” she said, already knowing the answer. She’d heard the response to her question in his head so many times before. It was never far from his mind but with everything going on he hadn’t wanted to bring it up. “You know the only way I can get my beast and my grace back is for me to bite you, right?”
His heart tripped even faster under her fingers and the defined muscles of his chest tensed. She liked those muscles.
“Audra, we need to talk.”
“I know we do. And I know you don’t want me to bite you because you don’t want to have an animal inside you. I understand.” She swallowed thickly and was surprised at how easy this was. Easy compared to the raging torrent that her beast would have unleashed. “As far as I’m concerned I don’t want it back. Not now. I need time to be me again. You might decide one day that maybe you wouldn’t mind me claiming you. But even if you don’t, I’d be supremely happy with us just being the awesome us that we are.”
She was okay with it, right? Or was she just so afraid to have her beast awake again? She didn’t know, and right now it didn’t matter.
“Audra, I don’t think you have to bite me to get your saber-tooth back.”
Using her finger to draw a large circle around chocolate peak of his nipple, she leaned in and kissed it. It was her best friend right now. “That’s how it works. Claiming a mate brings it all back.”
“But you don’t have to. Samael said that you don’t have to bite me.”
That shocked the shit out of her, so much that she abandoned her perky little buddy on Zeke’s chest. “When did you see Samael?”
“When you found out I was your mate and had your sister drag my ass up the steps, twelve whole steps I might add, while she held me in a choke hold,” he said, scoffing like he was offended. Humor danced in his eyes as he watched her. “I don’t know how else to do it. We’ve already had sex so that’s out.”
Audra quirked her lips to the side and shook her head. “He could have at least come by to say hello. It’s not like he didn’t know where I was. We’ll figure it out. We’ve got time.” Happy to see his nipple still drawn up and pebbled from her attention, she went back to drawing circles around it and smiled when he sighed against her touch. “I wonder if Samael’s a shit-shower.” The confusion on Zeke’s face made her laugh. “You know, a shit-shower. Someone who only shows up when the shit hits the fan.”
Reaching forward, he ran his hand up her arm until his fingers played with the hair at the nape of her neck. Goosebumps trailed in the wake of his touch. He made a noncommittal noise, and with no other warning than the devious grin that pulled at the corners of his lips he fisted her hair, forcing her to look up at him.
“Are you trying to get thoroughly fucked right now?” He slid his hips forward until she could feel the long bar of his cock on her stomach.
“Properly and thoroughly.” A gentle purr rumbled in her chest and she gasped in surprise. “I’ve never done that before.” She rubbed her sternum and gave a nervous laugh. “This is normal. I think,” she said, nodding her head. “I remember Damon calling Jax a kitten because he purred around Cass before they were even mated.”
And Damon was right. Right now under the intense gaze of Zeke, she felt like a pussycat in heat. She was super okay with that. If she didn’t think it would weird him out she would rub her body against his until he pet her. With his cock. That sounded like fun.
To get her wandering attention back to him, he pulled her hair tighter. “I love the way you taste.” His hungry gaze traveled down her body until it reached her thighs.
She parted her thighs, shivering as if he’d already caressed between her legs. The fire in his eyes urged Audra on. She pulled against his grip in her hair, loving the jolt of electric pain as her hair tugged at the roots, and looked down his body. She reached into his pants and ran her hand down the length of his cock. He lifted his hips and let her shimmy the pants down just enough until his cock sprang free.
The smooth skin around his shaft thinned out as he grew and lengthened in her hand. She knew how good it felt to have him inside her pushing her to orgasm.
“I’d like to see how you taste,” she said, lowering herself. He still kept a steady grip in her hair as she came face to face with his cock.
He was thick and large, and she licked her lips to ready herself for him. Flicking out the tip of her tongue she tasted the bead of moisture that sat on the small slit of his cock. She circled the head with her flattened tongue, using her thumb to trace the throbbing vein that ran the length of him. She eased his long, wide girth to the back of her throat and then swallowed him until her lips met the base of cock.
With his hand still tangled in her hair Zeke groaned and jerked his hips forward, fucking her mouth. She gagged and pulled back, but then swallowed him again. She let a low growl shake in her throat and he called out her name.
“Fucking do that again. Please,” he begged her. The desperation in his voice made her feel powerful. She’d done that to him.
She cupped his balls with one hand and ran the other down his cock in front of her lips as she jerked his shaft and sucked on the tip of the swollen head. Every muscle in his body was tense and twitching as he labored to breathe.
His hips started to piston erratically. She grabbed his thighs to keep him from moving away from her, but he seized both of her hands and pulled her away from him.
“Fuck,” he drawled out, holding her away from him as he fought to catch his breath.
Quick as lightning he flipped her over and settled his hips between her open legs. Instinct urged her to spread them wide to accept him. She wanted him deep inside her, fucking her until the only thing she could see and think and feel was him. Her mate.
He gripped his cock and placed it at the entrance between her thighs, rubbing the moisture from his cock to her sat
urated aching pussy. Shivers danced up her spine as he teased her pussy, sliding back and forth.
“Please, take me,” she said, looking up at him.
He was the sexiest, most beautiful man she’d ever seen. His honey coated skin stretched across his defined muscles. A sheen of sweat sat on his brow and shoulders. He was perfect.
With a single thrust he slid into her, filling her, stretching her. Bending down until his chest was flat against hers, he licked up the column of her throat and bit her ear.
She called out and met his hips, thrust for thrust. He grabbed her knees and pulled them higher, taking her harder and pushing deeper.
“So good,” she cried out. Her body vibrated with tension.
He drove inside her, over and over until she cried out. He took her. Hard. Deep. It was just this side of painful but she loved every minute of it. She arched her back and pulled her legs higher, taking more of him.
He gathered both of her wrists in one of his large hands and pinned them above her. With the other hand he grabbed her hip and steadied her, and she could feel him beginning to swell within her pussy. She clenched her muscles to squeeze him tighter, and he rewarded her with a soft whimper that sounded like her name.
With a groan he leaned forward and plunged his tongue into her mouth, and oh God, he tasted like heaven. The upward climb toward her orgasm reached its pinnacle and she called out, rolling her hips to meet the thrust that would push her over the edge.
Audra let go of a breath she hadn’t even known she’d been holding and detonated around him as his eyes rolled back. Warm jets of his release shot into her, but he kept thrusting into her until the aftershocks of her orgasm had been wrung from her body.
She continued to shutter as he worshiped her with his touch. He kissed her and rubbed the sensitive skin behind her knee as he held her close to him.
He brushed his nose along the bend of her neck and eased out of her. Pulling the blanket from where it had fallen to the bottom of the bed, he pulled it up to her shoulders and then tucked her up close to him.
It didn’t matter that there was a war coming to them. Not right now. Her mate was here with her, and she was at peace with herself. She may never get her beast back, but that was just fine. All the people that mattered most to her was in this tiny community. Especially this man right here. The man holding her close and talking to her about what his life had been like since he’d been set free.
She spoke of being a saber-tooth for countless years until it was all she could remember, and then having all that taken away from her and not knowing how to behave as a human. She told him of long flowing dresses that she wore through the centuries, and helping people who suffered from the plague during the Middle Ages.
They shared their stories, bared all to each other. They would never have any secrets. Not anymore. This was heaven, here with her mate. It was just them.
Life couldn’t get any better than this.
The echo of a doorbell ringing roused Zeke from his sleep. He looked over at the clock and was surprised to see it was eight the next morning. He and Audra had spent all day in bed. They talked. They made love. They fucked. They watched her favorite dance competition show while she mimicked the movements.
This Audra was freer, happier. And he loved it.
The squeak of the floorboards in the hallway pulled Zeke from his comfort. He grabbed his pajama pants and slid them over his bare legs just before there was a knock on the bedroom door.
Quiet as he could so he wouldn’t wake Audra, he tipped over to the door and was surprised to see Cass and Riley standing there.
They looked at him, Riley giving him an awkward smile and Cass shaking her head and rolling her eyes back.
Cass fluffed her hair and shrugged. “See. I told you he was okay.”
“Of course I’m okay.” Zeke stepped into the hall and closed the door behind him. Audra deserved her rest. She’d been through years of hell. “Why would I not be okay?”
Riley clicked her teeth and looked him over. “We rang the bell a few times and didn’t get an answer, and then when we opened the door and neither one of you answered our calls.”
“I smelled you blood and… um…” Cass stumbled over her words.
Riley flittered her hand in front of him and shrugged. “We just wanted to make sure Audra’s beast didn’t take control and maim you or anything. Not that she would.”
“No,” Cass said. “Yesterday was so crazy with Audra trying to kill me and then having all that pent up rage swirling around inside of me…” She laughed it off like it was a daily event. “We’re just checking. Is she okay?”
The door swung open and Audra stood there, naked and grinning. Her long hair hung wild and loose. “Of course I’m fine. And so is my man.” She looked him up and down. With a wink and a smile she ran her hands from just above his ass to his hair.
Her touch of her hands sent fire through his body all over again. His woman’s caress was life affirming and her wicked mouth would be the death of him.
He turned to look at Audra and she shimmied as his eyes traveled up the length of her soft body. His dick thumped against his pajama bottoms, and the thought of driving into her made his mouth water. Riley and Cass needed to get the hell out now so he could disappear into everything that was his mate.
Riley put her hand up to cover her eyes. “Cheese and crackers, Audra. Why are you naked?”
“Because I’m in my house. And this is payback.” The smile on her face was wide and giddy. “I will never forget walking into the woods to find you and Teague doing the grown-up against a tree. His hairy ass and your ample one will forever be stamped across my poor brain.”
Riley stomped her foot and pouted. “Damn-it. I said I was sorry. We didn’t hear you coming. Because we were. High five!” she screeched, and both Cass and Audra gave her a high five.
“Oh,” Audra said as she jumped up on Zeke’s back and wrapped her arms and legs around him. “I scratched him up pretty good while we were making with the love. That’s probably why you smelled his blood. Sorry, Lover.”
Zeke chuckled and grabbed her knees to pull her higher on his back. The heat of her pussy against his flesh shot a song of passion through him. “I like your claws.”
“Ew and barf,” Riley said, turning around with Cass trailing after her. “Glad you’re both alive.”
They watched as the two women walked down the stairs. This was life now. Audra’s slightly intrusive family being around, Simon giving him the finger any time his hands were free, and an Alpha Triad that cared more about their clan than they did themselves.
The coven house was nothing like this. At least not for him. Most of the witches kept to themselves, only getting together to discuss what job they had to do or what supernatural problem they had to take care of. It had been cold.
Too many of them hadn’t trusted him because of who he was and what he’d done. They didn’t care that he had been let go for a reason. They just knew he was a Watcher and had been condemned to suffer until the end of this age. They’d judged him.
But not here. Yes, Jax and Damon wanted to talk about who he was but they didn’t judge him. They didn’t shun him. They accepted him.
This was what he’d gotten himself into. And damn-it all, he was fucking happy about it.
“You should take me on a date,” Audra said, interrupting his thoughts. “And I know the perfect place.”
Audra held tight to Zeke’s hand as he opened the door to Melinda Bale’s Bar and Pub. Voices spoke loudly as dozens of conversations were competing with each other and the loud music of the jukebox. The aroma of syrup with pancakes, French fries, and steaks took over Audra’s senses and she was so happy she hadn’t eaten yet. She wanted to leave plenty of room for the crab cakes and waffles. Most thought it was a disgusting combination but it was one of her favorites.
Diner style booths lined the walls, and in the center of the pub sat a bar with chairs all around it. Between the two were tables
that peppered the area. The place was packed for brunch. It always was. Other than Riley’s café, Melinda place was the spot to be. And the only other restaurant open for brunch and lunch in the small town of New Rose.
Even though she owned sixty percent of the restaurant this place was all Melinda’s, and Audra had the pleasure of working here with her friend.
Melinda was the brains of all this. Audra was just the money. She’d helped Melinda pick out paint and furniture or whatever else Melinda had asked her opinion on, but this place thrived because of Melinda.
“You workin’ tonight?” Jess, the head chef, hollered over at Audra. He offered her and Zeke a hearty smile. His smile was the biggest thing on his small frame.
Audra shook her head and smiled back. “Hey, Jess. Nope. Not tonight. Here for a date with my… my… He’s mine.”
Jess looked back at her, his smile wavering. “That’s really nice.” He looked relieved when one a busboy asked him a question.
Everyone was used to Audra’s crazy antics, and now she’d just gone and called Zeke ‘mine’ like he was her new purse or fur coat.
Well that was awkward. Audra hadn’t thought of how to address Zeke to the people outside of the clan. They weren’t married, although the thought did cross her mind this morning. They were too old and seasoned to be boyfriend and girlfriend. Was the term ‘man-friend’ ever used, because Zeke was a big, strong, grown-ass man. She made a mental note to look ‘man-friend’ up when they got home.
“Where’s Melin?” Audra asked.
With his spatula Jess pointed toward the back office. “She’s in a meeting. Been back there for a while.”
“You can call me your boyfriend,” Zeke said, and Audra could hear the teasing in his velvety baritone.
She snickered and pulled him toward the office. “Dude, you and me are literally millions of years old. I don’t think boyfriend is the right word.”
“Flows better than man-friend.”
