by Tl Reeve
He had her mindless in seconds, begging for him to let her come, to have him fill her with his release, but still, he tunneled in and out of her. Each thrust brought her closer. She lost her goddamned mind when he dipped his head low, capturing the tight bud of her nipple, and sucked hard. It was a direct line to her clit. Her womb clenched, and her channel started to flutter around his invading flesh.
He released her nipple with a loud pop and a growl. “Let go, kitten. I’ve got you.”
“Come with me, daddy.” She whimpered, needing to feel the special connection between them when they reached the pinnacle of pleasure together.
Rapier dropped lower, tucking first one arm, then another under her legs, spreading her wide to his invasion and power fucked her. Jasmine’s breath caught in her chest. She shuddered, and spots filled her vision a second before she exploded, covering them in her release.
“Fuck…fuck...” He repeated the word over and over again as she felt him get impossibly bigger inside of her, stretching her already taut flesh to the point of pain before she felt his hot release coating her insides.
He collapsed on top of her with a groan, his big body pinning her to the bed while her pussy continued to milk all the seed from his balls. How long they lay together, she had no clue. Time had no existence when he was in her body or she was in his arms.
“You okay, kitten?” he asked, nuzzling her neck.
“Mmm hmm,” she replied, feeling boneless beneath him.
“My lion took over and was a little rough,” he admitted.
She gave him a weary look, well aware of who had been fucking her. “It’s okay. You can make it up to me later.”
He snorted. “You get off entirely too much in teasing the surly bastard.”
“Hey,” she smacked his chest weakly. “He’s not a bastard to me.” Seeing the concern in his blue eyes, she rushed to assure him she was fine. “I wanted it, Rapier. I liked it.”
“You’re going to be sore later,” he warned.
“I’m going to be sore until my cycle is done. One more day won’t make a damn bit of difference.”
“True,” he said as he slowly and gingerly slipped from her body. “I’ll get a towel to clean you up.”
“No,” she pleaded. “Stay here with me.”
As if to prove her point, she sought out the wetness between her thighs and gathered it on her fingers before bringing it back up to her lips. The combination of them always did something to her, she couldn’t even explain.
He growled, his dick, semi-hard when he removed himself from her body, now pulsed fully hard against her hip. “You gonna walk around town all day with my cum on you?”
She smiled, drowsily at him. “Hell yes.”
“You’re going to fall asleep on me, aren’t you?”
“Nope, Jenna’s downstairs,” she muttered, snuggled into his wide, warm chest.
His thumb rubbed at her hip, drawing her deeper into his big body. Her eyes popped open, and she sat up. “Oooh oooh. Guess what?”
“What?” he inquired, his blues eyes twinkling with amusement.
Dropping her voice to a loud whisper, she told him her gossip. “Jenna and Osirus finally did it!”
* * * *
The next morning, Jasmine stood in front of the coffee pot willing it to percolate faster. The kids were already outside playing. Utah was watching over them in his tiger form. Inside, Osirus and Rapier were discussing something. She only hoped her sister would get out of her head and give Osirus a chance.
Jenna sat at the table near her, a surly look on her face as she burrowed her neck into her shoulders, something she did when she’d done something she regretted. When the coffee finished making, Jasmine grabbed both of them a cup and brought it to the table.
“You going to tell me what happened now?”
Jenna flipped her off. “Answer enough for you?”
Jasmine laughed. “I’m happy for you.”
Jenna showed her the finger again. “Shut up.”
“This is a good thing. I know you love him.”
Her sister curled her hands into fists and exposed her canine to Jasmine. “I said shut up about it.”
“Are you not happy?” Concern filled Jasmine. “Did he force you?”
Jenna snarled. “No. Jesus, Jaz, shut up. I don’t want to talk about it.”
She held up her hands. “Fine. We won’t. But, if you ne—”
“I won’t. It happened. We’re not mates.” Jenna stared down at her cup of coffee. “It’s been too long.”
“I understand.” Jasmine placed her hand on Jenna’s. “It’s okay. We’re here for you, too.”
A knock came at the door. “That’s Keeley.” Rapier crossed to the side entryway. The squeak of the screen opening drew Jasmine’s attention. “Come on in. Looks like you have your hands full.”
“Thank you.” Keeley blew out a harsh breath as she ushered a little boy inside. “Can I get a little help?”
Jasmine got up. “What’s going on?”
Keeley frowned. “We got some sad news this morning. Caden has taken Danielle to the doctor. Kal was needed at the station, and I have the babies. I didn’t want to cancel our appointment, but I am also doubling as a babysitter.”
“Is Cookie okay?” Rapier grabbed Nicolas out of his car seat. “What’s the news?”
Keeley frowned. “Danielle miscarried. Didn’t even realize she was pregnant this time. Guess we know why.” Keeley continued to ramble off what happened. “Anyway, after the surgery and the rough go of everything, none of us expected her to be able to get pregnant again. Boy, did she fool all of us.”
Jasmine’s heart ached. Miscarriage in the shifter community happened, but nothing like their human counterparts. Her heart lodged in her throat. She really liked the women, once she got to know them, and to hear about such a tragedy... Shit. Jasmine unhooked Colin from his seat and picked him up. The little boy gave her a sly grin and winked at her.
“Little flirt.” She laughed. “I am sure the girls are going to love you.”
“Stupid question,” Rapier said. “But, is she—are they okay?”
Keeley pursed her lips. “Yeah. Caden is a bit on edge and protective. We’ll get through it.” She grabbed the pack and play from the back end of the SUV. “Okay, that’s everything.”
When they walked back in the house Aiden stood near the back door, watching Utah. The little boy was enthralled by the big tiger flicking his tail back and forth while Zoe and Bell played nearby.
“Can Aiden go outside?” Jasmine carried Colin on her hip as she walked through the kitchen.
“Sure,” Keeley said, taking Colin from her.
Jasmine took Aiden’s hand. “Would you like to play with Utah?”
The boy nodded.
“They’re old friends,” Keeley said. “He knows to be careful.”
“He knows a couple of signs too,” Rapier said. “Danielle told me about it while we were coming to get you and the girls.”
Aiden jumped out the door when she opened it and went straight to Utah. The big lug of a tiger licked the face of the little boy, who squealed in delight. He plopped down on his little butt and began moving his hands. Probably the signs he knows. When his little fingers moved down his throat, Jasmine went to the fridge. “I’ve got plenty of juice boxes. Do you mind if Aiden has one?”
“Go right ahead.” Keeley glanced up from placing the twins into the pack and play. “He also has gookies.”
Jasmine cocked a brow. “Gookies?”
“Mrs. Martin makes them,” Rapier said, rubbing Nicolas’ back.
“Ah.” She grabbed one of the juices then took it out to the boy. “Thanks for helping us today, under the circumstances.”
Keeley waved her off. “Don’t worry about it. This will keep me busy plus” —she pointed to her head— “I can always get updates.”
Once the kids were settled, Keeley grabbed her notebook out of her bag. “We talked a little about upgradin
g your security. You said you wanted what we have.” She grabbed one of the forms from between her notes. “This is a breakdown of what we have and the cost.”
“I tol—”
“Yesterday, you weren’t in a position to tell me anything.” She gave Jasmine a knowing smile. “I am sure you’d agree to anything.”
Heat crept into Jasmine’s cheeks. She glanced at Rapier, who stood in the living room near the babies. His chest was puffed out, and he had a smug look on his face. Only her mate. She shook her head. “It’s my fault.”
Jenna snorted. “When isn’t it?”
The teasing lilt to her voice had Jasmine laughing. “Asshole.”
“Takes one to know one.” She pointed to Rapier. “Osirus went out to the shed to help Saber. Something about a specialty item?”
Rapier grunted. “Thanks. I swear to fuck Saber takes way too much time on some of these pieces. He’s such an anal-retentive guy.”
“Just about sums up all of you,” Keeley muttered, then covered her mouth. “Sorry.”
Jasmine snickered. “It’s the truth.”
“Watch it, mate.” Rapier snarled. “So you know, Rashid is also out there. I’m sure they’ll be in and out of the house all day. Cormyr and Wy are fucked off somewhere getting laid, I’m sure.”
“Sounds pretty typical.” Keeley grabbed her pen. “Should we do the walk around?”
Rapier motioned to the door. “Sure.”
“With Jasmine.”
“Me?” Surprise filled her. “Why?”
“You’re the one who will be using this system the most. You should know what you’re getting into and how it works.”
Made sense. She knew Rapier would be on edge until everything with Raymond was finished. Add in some mysterious guy trying her mate in broad daylight... They couldn’t be too careful. “Okay.”
They made their way outside. As they walked the perimeter of the house, Keeley sketched out a rough draft of the exterior then marked the corners with X’s and circled the windows. She pointed to the gate of the back yard. “You can add a small sensor here to alert you if someone gets squirrely enough to try entering from the rear.”
“Do it,” Rapier said. “Can’t be too careful.”
“I have a key fob too.” Keeley glanced at Jasmine. “It’s for when you’re outside and either someone is following you or someone is inside the house that shouldn’t be.”
“I’ll take it.” There were many times while they were in Colorado when she wished they’d invested in some kind of security system. But, all the ones she’d checked out, wanted to charge them for monitoring and would need their address. She couldn’t trust anyone. Raymond had ways of finding people. “I have a question though.”
“Shoot.” Keeley drew the fence then added a bit of written details.
“How much do we have to pay for monitoring?”
She laughed. “Didn’t Rapier tell you?”
“We only pay for installation. Everything else we’re doing.” He wrapped his arm around her, tucking her into his side. “Keeley has an app where we can monitor the inside and outside of the house with our phone. She also has an infrared setting to pick up heat signatures. It’s how Caden caught Raymond in his house to begin with.”
She looked to Keeley. “Seriously?”
“Yeah,” the Alpha female answered. “When we had to hide from Simon, I knew then we’d have to have the best protection imaginable. We were on our own, and after everything, we didn’t trust the police to not turn us in. The system I will be giving you is the same one I designed for Danielle and me when we moved here—with a few new upgrades of course. It never failed us, and it won’t fail you.”
The more she got to know Keeley, the more she hated the first impression she made with the woman. Chalk it up to being alone in the middle of nowhere for so long, or just plain bitchiness, either one was a piss-poor excuse. “Thanks.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” she said. “I have to hang everything, and that’s a noisy pain in the ass. I’d suggest planning a day in town if you want, or something.”
“I can arrange that,” Jasmine said. “Do you need me for anything else?”
“Nope. I’m done here.” Keeley closed her notebook then began filling out the form. “Go do what you need to.”
“Would you like to stay for lunch?” Jasmine opened the screen door. “It’s the least we can do after dragging you out here, under the circumstances and all.”
“I won’t turn down food,” Keeley said. “Thank you.”
Jasmine returned to the house. The soft babbles of babies filled the living room. Jenna sat on the couch staring at the twins while they continued to communicate in some language neither of them understood.
She wished her sister wouldn’t keep her out. She knew Jenna and Osirus were mates, and in a way, she blamed herself for them not being able to settle into their lives. Had she not been pregnant, had she been a little more persistent about staying with Rapier, things would have been different. She also realized Utah stood smack dab in the middle of everything too.
The story about Utah’s mother chilled Jasmine to the bone. The woman, biological egg donor, was hell bent on killing Utah and had Osirus not stepped in and taken the tiger cub, the boy outside who playfully pawed at Aiden wouldn’t be with them.
“You’re quiet.”
Jenna shrugged. “I think I need to find a job. Get out of the house or something.”
“Might be a good idea. Can’t fall into our old patterns, we’re all together now,” Jasmine said.
“I don’t like having idle hands.” Jenna stood then joined her in the kitchen. “So, what did she say?”
Jasmine began taking out the fixings for sandwiches from the fridge. “Everything is top notch. We’ll have key fobs, and we can monitor the house from our phones.”
Jenna grabbed the bread out of the box on the counter, falling into a familiar pattern with her sister. “No shit?”
“Yep. She said because of what happened to her and Danielle, she had to protect them.”
“Sucks about her sister, huh?”
Jasmine frowned. “It does. I can’t imagine what they’re going through. After all they suffered...”
“It’s pretty shitty,” Jenna agreed. “Too much stress.”
“I have a feeling if I hadn’t been so far along when we ran, we wouldn’t have the girls.”
“Shut up,” Jenna said. “Those girls were made to be here.”
“They were.” Jasmine glanced up and watched the Zoe and Bell play with Aiden. Utah had curled his big body around them, securing them from anyone who might want to try something stupid while they were outside. “I can’t imagine our lives without them. They made all this easier to bear.”
“I can’t do this.” Jenna sighed. “I swear every day the walls get closer.”
“It’s normal,” Jasmine said, placing her hand on Jenna’s shoulder. “We’ve gone from being on alert all the time to being here. It’s not been easy for me either.”
“You have Rapier and the girls to help you.”
“And you have Osirus and Utah to help you,” Jasmine replied. “If you let them.”
Jenna turned away from her. “It’s not that simple. You and I both know this. I need time. I need... Space.”
Jasmine snorted as she began putting the sandwiches together. “Don’t you think we’ve both had enough of that?”
The back door opened, and Rashid, followed by Saber and the children, entered the house. Utah took his time, slinking in behind everyone, disappearing into his old room. Jasmine shook her head. The boy, like Jenna, had issues. They all did, if she took the time to think about it. They were all dysfunctional. They were all jumpy and ready to gouge eyes out. She hoped once Raymond was dealt with, their lives would even out, become normal—whatever normal meant for them.
Jenna stood beside her, cutting the sandwiches in half then plating them with a bag of chips. When they finished the last of their prep work,
Keeley and Rapier joined them. Nicolas was still sleeping in his playpen while Colin and Ella watched their every move.
Keeley went right to them. She took them out of the pen and placed them on the floor then grabbed her backpack. After she unzipped it, she retrieved two small containers of puffs and two small bottles of juice. “Eat up.”
The babies, who were very quiet for their age, sat beside their mother and began eating. It surprised Jasmine. She expected them to be rambunctious twins like Zoe and Bell, but they were the opposite.
“I am starving.” Rashid came out of the downstairs bathroom and went right to Ella and picked her, like he’d known her all of her life. Jasmine suspected he probably did, seeing as the guys had been there for over a year. A niggle of jealousy worked through her, and she pushed it away.
The little girl batted her lashes and gave Rashid a small grin.
“Girl, you’re going to be so much trouble for your dad.” He laughed as he walked over to the kitchen island to grab his food. “I bet you bat your little eyes at all the boys, huh?”
Ella gave a gurgled giggle then clapped her hands.
“Yep, I knew it.” As Rashid stepped over to the table to sit down and eat, a small growl came from where Keeley sat then a yip. “Ow! What the fu—” Rashid glanced down. “Someone want to tell me why a black puff ball is gnawing on my ankle?”
“Ohmigod! Colin, no!” Keeley rushed to Rashid’s side. “I am so sorry. We have been working on this.”
“Wait, so he’s done it before?” Rashid stared down at the little wolf pup.
“All the time.” Keeley sighed. “You touched his sister.” She picked up the little boy and tapped his nose. “What have you been told about biting people?”
Colin gave a little growl.
“Oh no you don’t, little boy. We don’t hurt family.” Keeley glanced up at Rashid. “I am so sorry. He usually does this to his uncles.”
“So, I should feel... What exactly?” Rashid sat at the table, Ella still in his arms. The little girl giggled then woofed.
Aiden joined in on the barking while he giggled like a loon.
