by Elle Boon
“Why don’t you get to the point of this...whatever it is?” he ordered.
Lula turned, a small figure in her hand. “Why don’t we ask your mate who she’s been in contact with in the last twenty-four hours, instead.” Lula pulled a chair in front of Annie, turning to straddle it backward, her arms hanging over the top of it. “Wow, this isn’t as easy as the guys make it look.” She got back up and spun it, so she sat on it the correct way. “Much better. Now, let’s try it again. Want to tell your mate who you spoke with about your friend out in the barn?” She tossed the figure in the air, catching it in her hand, then did it again. “This is so cute, so delicate. Who made it?”
Hollis growled. “One of my boys.”
Lula placed it on the table. “He’s very good. It’s very lifelike. Do you like wolves, Annie?”
The female swallowed but nodded. “I like all my, our, crew.”
“Then why did you betray Joni?” Lula picked the wolf figure back up, turning it to face Annie.
“I—I didn’t. I swear, there was a message on The Lost Ones board that only other shifters know about. It’s what we use for shifters who need a place to go. I received an email from a concerned mother. This person claimed she was the mother who was missing her daughter. I swear I only wanted to help Joni. I thought if I knew more,” Annie swallowed. “I thought I could help fix her,” she cried.
Lula tapped the table. “What did you tell this concerned female?”
Annie shook her head. “Nothing. I mean, she asked where her daughter was, threatened extreme retribution if I didn’t give her our location, but something didn’t ring true. She wouldn’t answer my questions about what was wrong with her, only demanded to know where we were located. I told her I’d have her daughter get in contact with her. I haven’t heard from her since.”
Hollis growled, his anger beating at Lula but her dragon was the dominate in the room.
Lula leaned forward, ignoring Hollis and his alpha growl to stop. Silly men and their thought to stop her. She placed one finger on Annie’s forehead, searching through the lioness’s memory, seeing for herself the truth of what she’d said. Oh, she could’ve done this to begin with, but Lula liked to see if a person would willingly be honest first. It made her next decision easier. “You speak the truth. You actually care for Joni, which is good news. However, the so called concerned mother has had a week since her first contact with you, and from your last conversation a day. Which means, they could be right outside your door at any moment, ready to pounce on your poor unsuspecting booties.”
“I would know if they’d entered my territory, female. If you could do that, then why didn’t you do it in the first place?” Hollis nearly stood, his anger giving him extra strength as he glared at Lula.
Lula patted his arm. “Easy, coyote. You two would’ve made beautiful cubities. Hmm, because I’m in the giving mood, I think I’ll see what I can do to make that happen. Would you like that?”
Annie turned to look at Hollis, then back at Lula. “We can’t have children of our own.”
“Pfft, you’ve never had a dragon on your side. Now, there’s trouble on its way, and it’s coming here, so you’ll need to rally your crew. I think,” she paused and tapped her chin. “Well, I’d say we’ve got a couple days and a very stubborn wolf in hiding that needs a bossy bear to do his boo thang, so let’s put a pin in this discussion. I gots places to go, a goddess to see, a Fey Queen and her babies to nuggle. You know, a dragon’s job is just never done. Tootles,” Lula said before she stood up, and then because she felt like fucking with the couple, clicked her heels three times. “I want to go home.” She grinned at their shocked expressions. “Just kidding.” Then she disappeared, pulling her power from them as she went.
Atlas felt the shift in the air. “Your friends are safe from Lula.” Goddess, he breathed a sigh of relief. The female was one of the only beings on Earth who actually scared the shit out of him, which was saying a lot since he hadn’t been scared of much since he’d been a cub.
“Do you know what she is?” Joni asked.
He nodded. “Can we talk about something else now?”
She licked her bottom lip. “Like what? Like how you left me, or how you showed up out of the blue with a crazy pink haired dragon female?”
Atlas didn’t like where her mind was going, or her questioning. However, he did like the way her lip was nice and puffy from her biting and the way it looked wet from her tongue. His bear wanted a taste, or maybe that was him who wanted it. Either way, Atlas was done denying them both. His head lowered, keeping his eyes locked onto her bright green ones, letting her see his intent. If she didn’t want his kiss, she could turn her head. Of course, he’d follow, but when his lips touched hers, she sighed into his mouth, opening for him.
He swept inside, taking the kiss deeper, licking over her teeth, then swept the roof of her mouth, wanting to memorize her taste. “Goddess, it’s been too long since I’ve tasted you. Like berries and mint.” He sealed his lips over hers, not letting her respond. If she shut him down again, he was sure his bear would need to go out and hunt. Hell, in fucking Texas cornfields, Atlas didn’t think there was a prey big enough to satisfy his bear.
The sweet smell of her arousal permeated the air around them. Mothereffingsonofabitch, he didn’t know how he was going to stop, but damn, he promised her he would. “You’re delicious, you know that, right?” he murmured, trailing biting kisses down her neck to where her shoulder was exposed. He nipped the area he wanted to mark, watching the skin form little goosebumps.
“You didn’t answer me earlier,” she gasped, arching her back.
Atlas bit one hardened nub through her shirt. His Joni was far from small breasted. Hell, she was downright curvy and perfect for him in every single way. At six feet seven and over two hundred and seventy-five pounds, he needed a woman who would fit his palms. Joni, while not big, was at least five seven, with breasts that filled his palms and an ass that would be more than enough for him to hold while he held her against him. Damn, the image of her legs wrapped around his hips, his hands holding her ass while he pumped in and out of her had his cock jerking. “What was your question?” he asked, coughing to clear his throat.
“You called me a name again. What did it mean? Oh, good goddess, what are you doing to me?”
Atlas took the other distended nipple into his mouth while he plucked the one he’d just had between his fingers. How he wished the two layers of fabric didn’t separate them. “Achwahnaja means love,” he answered.
Joni grabbed the back of his head, tugging on his hair. “You called me love. Do you think you love me, Atlas?”
He stilled. “Love is a fairytale, Joni. I care about you. I’ll take care of you for all our lives. I’ll be the best mate, the best father to our children, and I’ll protect you with my life. As for love, what is love but a word that’s thrown around for humans to excuse the way they act. For us, our kind, a truemate is the Fates way of ensuring we are with the ones that we’re fated to be with. That’s stronger than any word the humans have come up with. I know the thought of never seeing you, of never hearing your voice, or seeing you hurt brings me to my knees. If that’s what humans call love, then we can call it that. You’re who my bear calls his. You’re who I want to spend the rest of my time on this Earth with. I don’t have flowery words; they are just words. I can give you me, all of me. Is that enough for you, Achwahnaja?”
Atlas lifted up enough to see her reaction. If she denied him because he couldn’t love her, couldn’t give her the words she needed to hear, he wasn’t sure what he’d do. He was damaged by his past.
“Silly bear, of course you’re enough for me. Now, shut up and kiss me and show me what the fuss of making love is all about. Also, this shirt is all wet now, can you take it off me, please?” She wiggled her arms up and over her head.
He growled, looking at her with her arms over her head, green eyes sparkling with mischief. “If we do this, I might not be ab
le to stop,” he warned.
“Promises, promises, bossy bear. Come on, less talky, more action. There wasn’t anything I could think of that rhymed with talky other than walky, and well, I don’t want you walking.” She wiggled again.
Atlas’s eyes went to the twin globes jiggling as she moved. “One day, I’ll fuck these, too.”
“Oh, that sounds dirty, bossy bear.”
He growled. “You keep calling me bossy bear, and I’ll show you just how bossy I can be.”
Her eyes heated. Oh, his little female liked the idea. He couldn’t wait to get her back to his home and see just how far he could go with being her bossy bear.
Joni reached down with both hands, ripping her shirt over her head. “You’re way too slow, slow bear. How about that name?”
Atlas’s bear rumbled, wanting to show a little dominance to their soon to be truemate. “You like this bra, Achwahnaja?”
Joni nodded. “It’s hard to find bras that fit these double D’s,” she explained.
“Take it off then,” he ordered, sitting back on his heels as he straddled her thighs.
She flicked the catch in the middle, slowly moving the cup on the right while leaving the left breast covered. “I might need to sit up to take it off properly.”
He helped her sit up, shifting their legs so that he was between her thighs, taking over the removal for her, ripping his own shirt off while he had her so close to him. They both moaned when he pulled her chest against his. “Damn, you’re so soft,” he whispered.
“You’re not,” she sighed, moving back and forth. “Goddess, I think I could come from this alone.”
One of his hands slid down, lifting her up, rubbing her covered pussy up and down his jean-covered cock. Never had he been jealous of cloth before, but damned if he didn’t want to be a pair of yoga pants right then and there.
“If you’re going to come, it’s going to be on my fingers, tongue, or cock, not a pair of panties.” Atlas pressed her back onto the bed gently, following her down, keeping his weight from crushing her with his elbows on either side of her body. “I can’t believe we’re here.” He shook his head.
Joni brought her hand up, tracing his brows. “Why are you frowning?”
“There’s so much I need to tell you.”
“Sssh, talk more later. Right now, lets just feel. We’ve wasted too much time, running from each other.”
Joni didn’t want to voice her biggest fear, the one that he would reject her once he realized her wolf was really, truly gone for good. For once, she wanted to take what she wanted, and that was one night with the big bad bossy bear. She may not be able to call on her beast and do what she’d been born to do anymore, but she felt the other being more when she was with him. Even now, with him growling above her, her own skin felt more alive, similar to the first time she’d shifted. Goddess, she missed shifting.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
She blinked, pushing thoughts of what couldn’t be aside. “I was just thinking if you didn’t get to stepping, I might just have to take matters into my own...hands.” She maneuvered her hand between them, knowing it would incite Atlas.
“I’ll tie those hands to the bedpost, female.”
At his words, her inner hussy literally sat up and said, yes please. The bits of fabric between her thighs became even wetter as she lifted against him, wanting, needing him to do something.
“Easy, Konese’, I got you.” Atlas brushed his lips over hers, slowly moving down her body, nipping the bits of flesh he encountered, marking her as his for any who happened to see her. Of course, if anyone saw her unclothed, he’d kill them. Her stomach quivered beneath his kisses. The drawing of his tongue and lips made her abdominal muscles contract. He dipped his tongue into her belly button, watching as the muscles in her abdomen contracted. His little female had gained some strength in not only mind, but body, while she’d been away. Scooting farther down, he used his teeth to tug at the band on her pants, pulling them down with the use of his hands as well.
“Fuck, baby, your scent is driving me crazy, you know that?”
She tried to pull his head away when he stuck his nose between her thighs, still held together by the pants and panties, but Atlas wasn’t having any of it. “No,” he barked. “I will do with this body what I please. You know why?” He looked up, waiting for her to release her hold on his hair. “Tell me what I want to hear, Konese’.”
“Because I’m yours,” she whispered.
Atlas nodded. “That’s right, and I’m yours. You want to pull my hair, scratch my back, hell claw your name into my skin, you go right ahead. I’ll wear your marks with pride, love.” He used the word she was used to hearing, not the Mohican word for love, wanting her to know and recognize how he felt.
Her sigh was music to his ears, seconds before she relaxed her hold. Atlas finished pulling her pants and panties off, taking in the first sight of his truemate completely open to him. “Perfect.” The one word was a prayer and a thank you in one. He placed a kiss on the top of her mound, then settled back between her splayed thighs, his shoulders opening her up for him. With his left hand, he played with the lips covering paradise, spreading the sweet juice spilling out of her pussy, then spread her open with two fingers. “Damn, you’re so fucking pretty, even here. You’re little clit is so hard.” He licked the tiny little hardened nub, using his right hand on her stomach to hold her in place when she jerked.
“Oh my gawd, what are you doing?”
“Well, if you have to ask, I guess I should do a better job,” he said with a wicked tone.
He let his tongue roll around her clit, then licked a slow path down, circling the opening to her pussy, humming at her entrance. Her sweet juices were running down the crack of her ass. Atlas coated one of his fingers in her cream, pressing inside her tight little pussy at the same time he sucked her clit into his mouth. Her scream was followed by the hard pulse and flex of her orgasm. “Damn, that was one. Let’s see if we can do that again.” He spoke against her soaked flesh, pumping his finger in and out, letting her ride out the orgasm, slowing as he felt her body’s pulses stop. He knew just how to bring her back up and again, working her slowly, adding a second finger inside her, using his tongue and fingers. Her body jerked, her moans egging him on.
“Atlas, I...dear goddess, you’re killing me. I think I’m going to come again.”
He lifted his head, watching as she tossed her head back, her hips lifting into his thrusting fingers. Knowing he needed to stretch her to fit him, he added a third finger, slowly pumping them in and out. “Come on, Konese’, come for me.”
“You’re going to kill me,” she moaned.
“I want to make sure everyone knows you’re mine. I’m staking an undeniable claim to everyone that you’re mine,” he said, thrusting his fingers into the heart of her, pressing his tongue over the throbbing distended clit, begging for his attention. With each jerk of her body, he wanted her even more, wanted to hear her call his name.
“Atlas, yes, fuck, I’m coming!” His name burst from her lips as she came again as her sweet orgasm rolled over her, her pleasure filling his mouth.
He surged to his knees, leaning over her, looking into her glassy green eyes. “I want to claim you, every part of you.”
“Goddess, yes. Inside me. I need you. No, I want you inside me more than I want my next breath,” she panted, her body still shaking, overcome from what he’d done to her.
Keeping her thighs spread with him between them, he shimmied out of his clothes, holding her gaze with his own. “I’ll go slow, Achwahnaja,” he promised, praying he could actually keep his word. He positioned the head of his cock at her entrance, rubbing along her little slit, coating himself in her juices.
She hummed in approval, the sweet bliss of feeling her body beneath him almost had him slamming inside her. “You’re so wet, Joni.” He pressed inside an inch. “So tight,” he paused, looking down at where they connected, concentrating, then moving
forward a little more.
Joni gasped, her body freezing. “I think you’re too big.”
A bead of sweat tricked down his jaw, landing on her chest. “It’s okay, just relax.” Fuck, he thought he’d die if he didn’t get inside her sooner, rather than later, but didn’t want to scare or ruin this first time with his mate. Leaning down, he covered her mouth with his, kissing away her protest, then moved his right hand back down, playing with the little bundle of nerves at the top of her sex, feeling her body relax. Slowly, he worked another inch inside followed by another until he was finally seated fully where he longed to be, their bodies flush together.
He lifted from their kiss, peering down at her, needing to memorize every moment for all eternity. “Goddess, I’ve never seen a more beautiful sight in my entire life,” he swore.
“You’re inside me,” she whispered, her voice ragged.
Atlas grinned. “That I am. You ready for me to move?” he asked.
She nodded, her inner muscles flexing, almost sending him over the edge.
“Damn, don’t do that,” he warned, smiling down at her as she did it again. “I see I’m going to have to take you in hand.” He began moving in and out, slowly at first then faster, filling her, stamping her with his possession with every slow glide in and out. Sweat dripped off him, landing on her, but instead of revulsion on her face like he’d seen before, she gasped, her hand lifting to rub it into her skin. “Damn, you undo me, Konese’.” His thrusts picked up, gaining in speed and urgency, her hips meeting his thrust for thrust.
“I’m close, Joni, need you to come with me.” Her sweet little pussy gloved him like she’d been made for him, and she had, fitting him perfectly.
“Yes, right there,” Joni yelled, swiveling her hips.
He thrust again and again, harder, each one becoming more frantic, driving them both higher. The feel of her claws at his back had him leaning toward her neck, and the cord that he wanted to mark. “Mine,” he snarled, biting down, her blood filling his mouth.
