by R. A. Boyd
It was a picture of wings. From just above his wrists to below his neck were beautiful feathered wings painted across his body in dark ink. A clock with an apple and a cherry sat on his left shoulder, and his chest was littered with beautiful ink that she was sure told some kind of story. They covered him like armor.
She chewed on her lips and watched in awe as his large hands snapped open the button on his pants as he started to unzip them. The soft rip of the zipper filled the hallway, and it echoed through Riley’s senses.
Her hand searched for the knob on the door behind her and when she got tired of not managing to find it, she turned around to open the door. Her hand made contact and before she could face him, he was only an arm’s distance in front of her. She looked up and stared into his bright green eyes. Riley put her hand on his chest to feel the vibration of his still rumbling growl.
“Riley. If I take you I won’t be able to let you go. You need to understand that.”
Let him go? Screw that. He’d be lucky to pry her off of his sexy ass with a crowbar.
She nodded and ran her tongue over her bottom lip. “I’m damaged. You’ll get sick of me doubting you. I won’t mean to, but I may not be able to stop myself.”
“I won’t give you a reason. Besides, what I am won’t let me hurt you. I’d rather pluck out my own eyeballs than be the reason you’re sad.”
Well that was a weird visual. Riley shook her head to get rid of the unpleasant and unsexy picture he just painted in her head. Wait. What he is won’t let him hurt her? Shifters had casual sex with people all the time.
Riley stopped breathing and could tell that Teague took notice. She knew about shifter bonding. When they found their mate they were paired for life. Most humans wanted a relationship like that. She’d even fantasized about it growing up. Finding someone who would love her for her, no matter what.
She swallowed thickly and licked her lips a few times. “Teague. Am I your mate?”
He closed his eyes and for a brief second the hallway was much darker. When he opened the neon glowing orbs the entire space was filled with the light of his emotion for her. She could see it.
He nodded, and Riley was done. Twin tears fell down her cheeks. She was his mate. Things would have been so much different if he would have told her sooner.
Riley took a step toward him. The closer she got to him the warmer her body felt. He was her mate. This was the universe pushing her toward what she thought she would avoid for as long as she remembered the pain Aaron had tried to stamp on her heart.
When she was standing toe-to-toe with Teague she wrapped her arms around his middle and laid her head on his chest.
“Am I your mate, Teague?” she repeated. “Say it. I need to hear you say it.”
He enveloped her in his large, comforting arms and held her tight. “You’re my mate, Riley.”
“And you’re mine.” She closed her eyes and listened to the steady rhythm of his heart. It was the sound of sincerity. Of joy. It was the sound of forever. “Make love to me,” she whispered.
“You don’t want a thorough fucking?” he teased.
She laughed and looked up at him. “Yeah. I want that too.”
“You got a bed in there?” He pulled her against his body and lifted her off her feet.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and let him lift her until her legs where tight around his waist. Briefly, she was worried she would hurt his back. She wasn’t a small woman. The knowledge that he was a strong shifter settled into her. He could carry her with no problem. He could fuck her up against this wall and she wouldn’t be worried he would drop her. This really was going to be so much fun.
“The couch has a pullout bed. I slept here a lot when I was getting the shop ready to open. Kiss me.”
She closed her eyes as their lips touched, and fireworks went off all around them. So soft. His lips were soft and firm as they melded against hers, and he turned his head this way and that to deepen the kiss. His tongue danced with hers. There was no part of her mouth that he was hesitant to find.
He pressed her back until she felt the cold wall against her shoulders. The chill of the paint and the heat of his warm body against hers brought on a dichotomy of pleasure. The cold disappeared and gave way to an unimaginable heat in her that burned only for him.
With a moan she rubbed her hands up his wide shoulders, feeling the sinuous muscles shift and move beneath his skin. She scratched her nails up his neck and to his scalp, grabbing a handful of his hair to keep him close to her. He curved his hips upward and she could feel the bulk of his cock rubbing against her most sensitive area through her panties.
Teague settled her down on her feet and kept stooping down until he was on his knees in front of her. He grabbed either side of her panties at her hips and slid them down, lightly scratching her skin along the way. He kissed the spot right above her pubic bone.
She heaved under his attention. She lifted each foot until her panties were discarded somewhere behind him. Riley ached for him. He was so close but it still wasn’t enough.
“Lift this leg,” he said, grabbing her right leg and draping it over his shoulder.
He wasn’t slow or unsure of how to touch her. His soft, warm, full lips kissed the ones between Riley’s legs and she melted. She relaxed against him and surrendered to whatever feeling he was managing to pull from her.
He sucked lightly on her clit and then ran his raspy tongue up her slit, one, two, three times before he went back to suckling her until she called out. Her back arched off the wall and she grabbed a handful of his hair, pulling him closer to her core.
“Teague,” she cried as he plunged his tongue deep inside her.
With two fingers he held her delicate folds apart and ate her like he was getting paid in gold to do it. Her hips rocked toward his mouth every time his tongue was close to the apex of her wet slit. She shook and moaned, and when his teeth nipped the small bundle of nerves she screamed out and begged him for more.
“Please, do that again.”
He bit her again and she called out his name. He thrust two thick fingers inside her and rubbed that beautiful, responsive spot just inside her drenched entrance.
She wouldn’t last long now. Her thighs trembled as she felt the orgasm he was creating roll through her body. Her hips bucked against his face as she panted, whispering nonsensical words.
“Please make me come,” she said, her whole body shaking now. “So close.”
He added a third finger to her wanting channel. When the sound of his beast spilled out of his mouth and shook her pussy she came, screaming and groaning and rubbing herself against him. The orgasm worked its way up her spine and filled out her body. She’d never felt anything like this, ever. Not even with her best vibrator. This man knew how to touch her better than she did herself.
When she was able to form words, and when Teague rang every aftershock out of her, she held him by the shoulders. “Fuck me,” she said, still trying to catch her breath. “Make love to me, take me. Do all that.”
With an unsteady hand she managed to grab hold of the knob and open the door. She walked straight for the couch and started snatching pillows off. When they were cleared away she yanked the metal poll and brought the bed crashing down from its resting place so hard that it completely unfolded into the full bed, almost like a magic trick.
“Score one for me,” she said. Riley turned around to high five Teague for her stunning, one-handed performance and was stopped cold at what she saw. “My word,” she whispered.
He was standing there in front of the closed door absolutely naked. His cock was long, thick, and proud as it stood at attention. His Adonis belt was beautifully defined and sat below the most defined six-pack she’d ever seen. Thick, powerful legs held him up. He practically flew across the room at her but stopped his fast advance when he was mere inches from her body.
Hands soft and gentle, he cupped the sides of her face and angled her head back. He kissed her like t
his, warm palms holding her to him. He lowered his hands and used his thumbs to massage the sides of her throat.
“I’ve loved you for so long,” he said when he broke their kiss. “I didn’t know you were mine until a few days ago, but I’ve loved you for so long.”
He reached around and unhooked her bra and pulled it down her arms. She didn’t feel ashamed. Not under his adoring gaze. Aaron used to ask her if she was going to have a boob job to make her breasts stand up and be perky, or if he should get her a gym membership. She considered going to jail for shoving his dumbass down the steps of their house but didn’t want to be late picking Liv up from school.
Teague held one of her heavy breasts in his hand and sighed. “Fucking perfect. I love big nipples.”
Riley cracked out a surprised laugh, but that ended in a soft hiss as he brought her nipple to his hot mouth and suckled her. His tongue laved and caressed and flicked against the tight bud. He took the other one in his hand and toyed with the nipple, making it just as hard and responsive as the one being spoiled by his lips.
Gently, he pushed her backward and urged her up higher on the bed, still giving loving attention to her breasts. He reached over and grabbed a pillow from the floor and tucked it under her head.
With an arm on either side of her head, he looked down at her. He smiled and she couldn’t help but smile back at him. He took his knee and pushed her legs wider until he was settled between her thighs.
Teague fisted his cock and rubbed it against her wet entrance until the full, mushroom-shaped head was coated in her passion. Starting at her mouth he left a trail of wet kisses to her neck, and when his lips were pressing against the tripping pulse of her throat he slid into her.
Her back bowed off the bed as he moved back and forth, pushing and pulling, until his hips were seated against hers. She was so full of him it was almost painful. He paused, giving her body the chance to adjust to his invasion. Slowly he pulled out of her and the delicious friction made her call out his name.
The thickness and the length of him alone had started the churning beginnings of another orgasm, and oh, his calculated movements would be the death of her. Teague pulled out of her aching pussy, and when he surged forward Riley lifted her hips and welcomed him back home.
“So fucking tight. So God-damned warm,” he said, head still buried at her neck. He took a deep breath and breathed her in.
She bit his shoulder to keep herself from screaming out. The people in the shop next door would think someone was trying to kill her. Or completely fucking her brains out. She was good with either.
“Teague,” she whispered, her arms locked around his neck, holding him close. “Faster, please.”
He grabbed both of her thighs and pulled them higher up his hips, and the angle deepened his cock inside her. And, oh stars above, he was going faster. Going deeper.
“Yes, yes,” she chanted.
Her body was on an uphill ride. An unfurling knot of energy that made Riley who she was had come loose and was tethering itself to Teague. She could feel it coming from him too. He lifted his torso and watched her, his hair now falling in his face. She took one hand and ran it over his forehead to hold his hair out of the way so she could stare into his eyes.
“You were made for me,” he said, gazing down at her through strained eyes. He was on the cusp of his orgasm. Riley could feel it in the way his rhythm sped up.
His body trembled above her, eyes still glued to hers. He moved his pelvis up a few inches and started grinding against her clit as he took her, the hard plains of his chest abrading her sensitive nipples. The new sensation brought bolts of lightning to Riley’s vision. All she could see and feel and breathe was Teague.
With his body he was taking her love and trust from a place of brokenness and mistrust to one of pure and true emotion and intentions.
“Come for me. I want to watch while you come on my dick” he said, hips and chest still moving. “I want to feel your tight pussy squeeze my cock.”
Dirty talk. She loved it. His words shoved her over the edge, and she called out a string of curse words and compliments, just for Teague. His lips crashed into hers and swallowed the sounds, and a few moments later his hips began to buck wildly against hers. A low growl rumbled deep in his throat, and the green in his eyes burned bright. He shot fiery jets of warmth into her still spasming channel and moaned, holding her tight to him.
“I’m so happy I found you,” he whispered.
The sentiment in his voice caused a new wave of tears to pour down Riley’s face. “Me too.”
Chapter 5
“Why didn’t you ever tell me you were a shifter?” Riley asked. She was tucked into the side of his body with her head on his chest.
He ran his fingers up and down her back between her shoulders and breathed her in. The way she shivered under his touch made him smile. He would never forget this moment. His beast was prowling around inside him, more than he’d felt in so many years. And it was because of this woman.
“No one knew. And, I’m not really a shifter. Not in the sense you know them to be.”
She gazed up at him with the cutest look of confusion he’d ever seen outside of a cartoon. How would he explain this to her? He never thought how he would break it to her, or anyone for that matter.
“You’re not really a shifter but you can do shifter stuff,” she asked, not really asking a question. “Explain to me please. Or not. It’s up to you.”
Teague laughed and pressed his lips to the top of her wild mass of coils. “It’ll be hard to believe, but it’s true. Got a while to listen?”
Her eyelids fluttered against his chest and the sensation shot straight to his dick. Everything this woman did lit him on fire. If he wasn’t careful he’d never want to do anything except bask in the love and desire that was Riley.
“I’ve got all night,” she said, rubbing her hand across his belly and then down his thigh. “Why are you hard?” she said, her voice tapering off into a giggle.
“Because you exist, woman.” His words were teasing, but true. He took a deep breath and held it in his cheeks for a few heartbeats before he explained. “I wasn’t born a shifter. And I wasn’t turned. Me and my brothers and sisters were made this way a long time ago. We were Beings of Light. We made a decision that has separated us from any other kind of shifter or human anywhere.”
With her body held tight against his, he could feel her heart speed up and her breaths come in short bursts. “Beings of Light?” She pulled away and looked up at him.
His mouth suddenly felt dry. He didn’t want her to reject him. He’d never survive it.
“I was an angel. That’s what I was made to be a long time ago. My brethren and I sat out the Great War in Heaven. We didn’t want to hurt anyone. Didn’t want to kill our fellow angels. We made ourselves into beasts that roamed the Earth and felt the effects of the war shake the grounds and upset the seas. Once we decided we could no longer stay impartial and had to fight, we tried to turn back. But we couldn’t. We were stuck.”
Riley’s eyes were glossed over with unshed tears as she watched him, listened to him. Did she believe? If she didn’t and was willing to go with him, he would take her home so she could watch Cass change.
Riley chewed her bottom lip and held tight to him. “What happened?” she whispered.
“We were punished for not doing as we were told.”
“But you didn’t want to kill anyone. That’s not a bad thing.”
He stared off at the wall behind her, not wanting to meet her gaze for fear of judgment. Of disappointment. “They were trying to overthrow the Most High. Hell, we knew Lucifer couldn’t do it so we just left. It was the first decision any of us had made on a purely selfish level. As punishment, we were locked into our animal forms, no longer able to communicate, not even with each other. We were stuck like that for what seemed like forever. Until it was who we were. Until it was all we knew. We had to stay away from humans. They would have thought we w
ere monsters in our form. But then, right after the Great Flood we were made human again. And then we wandered around trying to figure shit out.
“We were told only a few things after we were cursed. We would never get our wings back or gain entrance into Heaven as angels. We would be locked in our animal form until we loved it and then we would be made human when the time was called. And that our beasts would be sleeping inside us.” He snorted. “Most shifters stayed the fuck away from our clan. They didn’t know what to make of us, and once they figured out exactly what we were they called us the Ghost Shifters.”
Riley touched his face to bring his eyes to her. She blinked and the tears fell down her cheeks and landed on his chest, near his heart. “They called you Ghost Shifters because you have all the attributes of a shifter but no animal to speak of? Creative bunch you were dealing with. I don’t care if you have it or not. I still want you. I think I need you.” Her voice danced off to a gentle whisper.
He laughed in relief and wanted to cry. “Don’t say that just yet. You still need to know things about—”
“Doesn’t matter,” she murmured.
“Wait. You need to know these things.” His eyebrows drew down as he regarded her, trying to figure out how she would take what he had to say. “A few months ago my Alpha and Omega, Jax and Damon, found their mate. Cass.”
Her head snapped up and her eyes were wide. “Cass? My Cass? Those two hunky dudes she’s with now are… wait. What the hell is your beast?”
Teague scratched his head and gave her a one shoulder shrug. “A saber-tooth cat. Now, Cass is one, too.”
“But I thought your animals were trapped. Sleeping. And holy shit! Saber-tooth? Like a prehistoric, dinosaur eating, big ass saber-tooth. Wow.”
He pressed his lips together and made a tsking noise with his tongue. “See. Stuff you need to know. When we were cursed we were made a promise. Once we found our mate, that person would unlock our beasts. Once we claimed them it would fully awaken the saber-tooth and we’d be able to shift again. A mate is the key to our release.”
