Triumph

by Mazzy J March

  Chapter Seventeen

  Escher left Cash with me at Moss’ house and went to clean up the mess at the new house once I assured him I had things under control. Cash had shifted back and I’d cleaned his wound—which was pretty well closed—as best I could and tried to infuse it with white light. A person would think he’d been injured some time ago, since really it was a faint scab on the palm and a pink mark on the back of his hand, but I still had concern any kind of foreign matter inside could cause infection. I’d found him some of Moss’ track pants and a T-shirt, but he only put on the pants when I slipped off to put on a tie-die spaghetti strap dress I liked to wear around the house. .

  I didn’t complain at all. Healer Wendi had an eye for a fine man, and Cash was among the finest. Wanting him well didn’t mean I couldn’t appreciate his broad shoulders, bulging biceps, and remarkable eight-pack abs. What a shame we couldn’t make love while we were

  Basically all we could do was keep a close eye on him, and he swore up and down it didn’t hurt at all. In fact, every time I got close to him, he pulled me in for kisses and hugs and it was getting harder and harder to resist his ploys. We’d had plans to go out to dinner later, but not way was I letting him do anything so strenuous. Instead I fixed him dinner on a tray and we sat on the couch and watched TV and ate pancakes and sausages, and, even though it was summer, I made hot chocolate because I thought it was comforting and might make him feel better.

  Once I’d washed the dishes and joined him again, it became clear he was feeling fine.

  I was sitting on the couch too, but at the far end so he wouldn’t overdo. Which only worked until he reached out and tugged me over onto his lap.

  “Cash, I don’t think this is a good idea. You had a shock today. Trauma.”

  “Mmm hmm.” He nuzzled my hair. “You smell great. Like lemons.”

  “That’s shampoo. Now cut it out.”

  Nibbling his way down my neck, he growled. “No you always smell great. And taste good, too.”

  The responsible thing to do would be to gently move away, tell him he needed to recover from what he’d done to his body, and then that running off. Escher said it was because of the pain but I wasn’t entirely sure. He ran like he was being pursued by a pack of rabid coyotes or something else horrible and maybe faster.

  And Cash had never been the type to run. Not away. How badly had he hurt?

  I tucked the thought aside because he was defying my attempts to convince him he wasn’t up for more than a friendly kiss, and he was doing a heck of a job at it. “Cash, what if we hurt your hand?”

  He grinned at me. Of course, he knew he’d won. Bastard. But I wanted him, too, and he put his lips back to work proving he was fine. An understatement.

  I’d wondered, a teeny bit, if it would feel odd to make love with another of my mates so soon, but odd described it not in the slightest. Goose bumps chased one another over my skin as if every bit of me wanted to draw his attention, bring him in for another kiss, another lick, another taste.

  He suddenly stopped and I whimpered, but he only rose to his feet, lifting me in his arms, and started for the stairs. “I’d rather do this in bed, where we have more room.”

  “But what if…” I mean the guys had all made it more than clear they were fine with me being with each of them, but mightn’t it be awkward to be overheard? “I mean, Moss and…”

  “Nobody is coming here tonight. Moss is staying at Brandon’s and so is Escher. They’re having a stag night.”

  I gasped, clinging to his neck. “Do they know? How could they know?” Nobody could have been aware in advance he’d get hurt and we’d end up here. Could they?

  He kissed my cheek. “They know only we had a date planned and offered us privacy to be together.”

  A date! Yes, we had. I’d almost forgotten in all the insanity. We’d been going to go to dinner. “So they don’t know we are going to, umm…”

  “I didn’t even know, although I had hopes.” He searched my gaze. “But no pressure, even now. I can wait, if you don’t want to.”

  “Oh my gosh, Cash. I was a little embarrassed they might all know, but I realize now how silly that is since we all will be living together in that big house and whoever I’m with…well the others will have every reason to believe we’re umm…you know. They have all said they’re cool with it, and I want to be with you more than I’ve wanted almost anything in life.” I stroked his blond hair and studied his face. My hardworking Cash who had already injured himself today building a home for our family. “Cash, please make love to me? Will you?”

  “Like you even have to ask.” His grin stretched so wide, it nearly made it all the way to his ears. We were at my bedroom door, and he bumped it open with a shoulder and carried me inside then laid me on the bed. “I want this more than anything in my life. You’re my dream girl, you know.” He straightened and stepped back.

  “No, don’t go away,” I cried, reaching out. “Why are you going away?”

  But in about four seconds I knew why because he stripped off his clothing and came back to me. “Now, I get to unwrap you.”

  He removed each piece of my clothing gently, as if literally unwrapping a present, and laid my clothing over the chair by the bed. I barely breathed, my skin heating under his regard, heart thumping, nipples hardening, and moisture dampening the place between my thighs. We lay and explored one another with lips and fingertips until I couldn’t take it any longer and rolled onto my back, panting.

  “Cash, please.”

  He didn’t ask any questions, just lay between my thighs and whispered, “I love you,” before spearing me to the core. I was so wet, he had no trouble. But his gasp of pleasure amped mine up as he began to move right away. I wrapped my arms and legs around him and hung on for the ride, loving every minute.

  It seemed months of teasing and foreplay made us both eager and just as he jerked and cried out, I reached my peak and followed him over, coming again when he pulled out and slid down to place his mark.

  My second one. Pain and pleasure mingled, but in the best possible way.

  Chapter Eighteen

  We’d run as wolves until well into the morning. The first thing I did when I got up was assess my second marking, right on my hip. Cash had done well. I touched the thing and, like Brandon’s, it flared to life, inflaming my cells and bringing back flashes of our night together.

  Downstairs I heard the murmurs of my mates but Cash was still in bed, and I wanted this opportunity to cuddle with him.

  “Good morning, mate of mine,” he grumbled an, before I could reach him, pulled me into his arms and nuzzled his face in the crook of my neck. ‘Mm, now you smell like me and lemons.”

  This man.

  “My mark is all healed,” I tilted my body and pulled down my pajama pants to show him my hip.

  “But you have clothes on. What a shame. It does look good on you, mate.”

  “The boys are downstairs,” I mentioned, leaning forward to kiss his full lips.

  “We are not boys,” Escher called from the kitchen, and I threw myself against the bed with laughter.

  “I need a shower,” Cash said, rolling out of bed, our bubble burst.

  “You smell fine to me.” I watched him cross the room, no sign of any qualms at all about his nakedness or the fact I was ogling him. Shifters!

  “Come here.” He said and stopped. I jumped from the bed and ducked into his embrace. “Last night was absolute perfection for me.”

  “Me, too.”

  “Good. There’s many more to come. I love you, and I’m enjoying this moment, but…” He paused, and I got nervous.

  “What?”

  “I need coffee and a cold shower. Now, go.”

  Clearly he wasn’t a morning person. Good to know.

  While I laughed and walked away, he ran up behind me and slapped my bottom, making me jump.

  I bounced down the stairs and right into the pit of embarrassment despite their claiming it wasn�
��t a factor at all. I greeted each of my mates with a kiss and they greeted me with a cup of delicious steaming coffee.

  “I’m starving,” I claimed as I sat down on a barstool, but Escher was having none of it. He pulled me into his lap and playfully bit at my shoulder.

  “I was going to take you out for breakfast. I’ve been missing you,” he growled into my ear, making me shudder.

  “Me too. Let me go get dressed.”

  “Not yet. I’m liking this way too much.”

  I almost choked on my coffee as I realized his hardness was pressing into my ass. No one else was watching. Brandon and Moss were going over some of the house plans, and Cash was still in the shower. I wiggled my ass a little, enjoying every moment of tormenting my mate.

  “Enough, you dangerous creature. Now, go get dressed.”

  I looked over my shoulder and then up at him. “You sure you want me to move right now?”

  “Go before I change my mind and mate you right here in front of everyone.”

  I shivered. No part of me didn’t believe he would.

  I bolted upstairs and changed after crossing paths with Cash and sharing a few kisses. With my teeth brushed and my hair combed, I went back downstairs, or intended to. From the top, I could hear them speaking.

  “No, dude, you’re not thinking big enough.” They were talking in whispers, but my shifter senses had gotten better over time, and I could make out most of what they were saying.

  “What? She’s not that kind of girl. Scratch the plan.”

  What kind of a girl wasn’t I?

  I tiptoed down two stairs and listened in. I felt like a voyeur but couldn’t help myself.

  “Fine. But I still think we don’t have it perfect yet. It’s got to be…come on, it’s Wendi.”

  “What are you guys talking about?” I asked, tired of the what-ifs running through my head, all of them coming up negative.

  “Oh, nothing,” Brandon said and tucked a piece of notebook paper into his back pocket. “You know, future house stuff.”

  “Well, let me see.” I held out my hand. Cash rubbed the back of his neck while Escher grumbled something incoherent. Moss pretended to be reading a book. Too bad it was upside down.

  “It’s kind of a surprise.”

  “Come on, female. Let’s feed you. I can feel your hunger all the way over here. Let’s go.”

  Brandon still had his hand on his back pocket like I might dart for the damned thing and swipe the paper from him. “Yeah, you do that, and we will meet you in town. Go to the bookstore. There’s that new vampire series you’ve been talking about…the one they’re going to turn into a TV show.”

  Breakfast and bookstore. Textbook ways to distract Wendi from…life.

  Well played mates, well played.

  “Fine. Let’s play distract the mate. I’m game.”

  I grabbed my bag and each of them seemed genuinely relieved. Escher and I went out to the truck and he brought me to a diner where he ordered one of each and the waitress almost fainted.

  “You’re going to eat the entire breakfast menu?” I asked, crossing my arms over my breasts.

  “No, we are. Now, come sit over here. What’s this other side of the booth bullshit?”

  I cracked up. “Nothing. I just sat here.”

  “Well, let’s not make a habit of sitting away from me.”

  He scooted out and made me sit in the inside of the booth and, when he was settled, his hand went to my thigh, very high up my thigh.

  “I see now why you wanted me over here,” I said after the waitress delivered the food and before I stuffed a bite in my mouth.

  His face fell. “If you don’t like it…I want to touch you all the time. You’re mine. We feel settled when you and I touch.”

  “No, I like it a lot. Which is the problem. We’re in a diner.”

  He huffed out a laugh. “It’s all part of my plan, female. I’m working you up, and you don’t even know it.” Trust me, I knew it. “You see, the first time you and I mate, it’s going to be spontaneous. Not some planned date or any of that, not that there’s anything wrong with it, it’s just you and I…well, let’s put it this way, when we are mate it will be because you are begging me to.”

  He growled all of this into my ear, and if he moved his hand any farther up, he would find wetness, I was sure of it.

  And he was right. I knew Escher and I would come together not with sweetness, but something more…raw and carnal.

  Because that’s what he was. And that’s how I felt around him. Wild and uninhibited. Like I was capable of turning to a wolf and never shifting back.

  “Okay,” I said, sitting back, full of pancakes and every breakfast meat known to man. “Let’s go buy me books.”

  He smiled. “Sounds good to me.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  The issue with Cash still teetered in my mind along with some pointed questions I wanted answered.

  “I’m going to see Mirella” I announced.

  “I’m coming with you,” Escher said, picking up a turkey and cheese sandwich. “I’ll eat this on the way.”

  “The hell you will,” Moss butted in, coming out of his room where he was studying and down the stairs. “The woman wouldn’t even let me over the threshold.”

  Escher grunted and slowly took a bite of the sandwich. He chewed while he thought about it, making both Moss and I laugh. “You know how close she lives to the neutral land. And what’s on the other side of the neutral land?”

  Moss rolled his eyes. “Rattlecreek assholes.”

  Escher nodded. “Either she lets me stay or well, her choice. I’m not giving her another option. After what happened the other day, I won’t let Wendi go even that close to them without one of us. They have no boundaries and obey no laws. It would be nothing for them to cross over and snap in seconds.”

  Escher was like the bodyguard who irritated the hell out of you because he was right. He was right about me still being in danger, and he was right about coming with me.

  Still, if I was going to do some kind of confronting of her, I would’ve preferred it to be on my own.

  “Okay, let’s go.”

  Mirella and I hadn’t discussed a specific time or day, but I had a feeling the woman made her own schedule in this life. So, I’d go and if she was there, if she would see me, fine. If not, I’d try again later. Escher and I walked through the pack lands and were greeted several times, making him tuck me closer against his side with every one.

  “It’s only pack members,” I whispered, looking up at him.

  “At this point, I’m suspicious of everyone except our family and the alpha. Oh, and your friend. Other than those people, everyone is on my list.”

  I shuddered. He had the beasty tone again.

  “Just be nice to her. She might be my grandmother or something.”

  He grunted in response.

  I knocked on the door some minutes later and heard her shuffling around inside. In minutes, she opened the door and tapped her nonexistent watch. “I thought you’d be here yesterday. I’m getting rusty.” She tapped her temples and stood back, waving for me to enter.

  Escher moved to come inside but she put her hand into the middle of his chest. “Oh no, you don’t. That wolf of yours is barely being contained.”

  “Oh yes, I do, ma’am. This is my mate, and you are entirely too close to Rattlecreek for my liking. I’m coming with her. I’ll stay quiet.”

  Ma’am. It sounded funny coming from my king-of-the-dirty-talk mate with one bite of his sandwich still gripped in his hand. Had he forgotten he was holding it?

  I was surprised the damned thing lasted so long. I’d seen my men swallow foot longs whole.

  “Well, don’t shift in the middle of my living room. You’ll scratch up my furniture.”

  They shared some kind of look and then both nodded.

  Escher had won.

  I was impressed.

  “Spill it already, Wendi. Your anger is filling
up my space.” Mirella sat down and crossed her legs before situating her skirt.

  I wasn’t angry. Was I?

  “I saw someone in my family tree with your name. I was wondering if you might be related to me and forgot to tell me.” That was about as diplomatic as I could word it and as I spoke the sentence, I realized I was on the brink of anger and frustration. If she was related to me. Why in the hell wait so long to tell me?

  “I am, but I didn’t forget.”

  Clear as mud.

  “You’re my…” I trailed off hoping for her to finish the thought.

  “I am your great-grandmother, Wendi.”

  Tears formed in my eyes. I’d never been so conflicted. I had a part of my family here and yet, she’d omitted the fact until now…when I had to confront her to get the information out. Piercing anger rose up until I could keep my thoughts to myself no longer.

  “Why didn’t you tell me? I was here, knowing no one and feeling alone and scared. Why would you keep that from me?”

  She blew out a breath, and her chin quivered. “Because your grandmother stopped speaking to me when she came of age. She didn’t want to be a healer and denied her gift and in doing so, denied me. When she passed on, it had been thirty-two years since she’d spoken to me. And by then, your mother had grown up and changed her name with marriage, so I was unable to track her down even though from what I know now she was only hours away. It has been generations since one of us, one of the Sword Females has actually practiced the gift. Mine began waning some time ago.”

  “How long?” I asked, scooting forward in the chair I’d sat in while she was talking, afraid my legs wouldn’t hold me up. My fears were carryover from the days I was so frail.

  “Since the day you were born, Wendi. Ever since then, my powers have trickled away like a stream. But that’s the way of it. They did the same when my daughter was born, but came back in a flood once she denied the gift. Same with your mother. But you….you are the healer. I shines around you like a nimbus. So when you came here, to this pack, I didn’t know what you’d been told about me and us. I couldn’t bear to be rejected by the one member of my family I have left.”