Then his lips softened into sensual caresses. Hands molded to my hips over the small terry cloth towel that barely covered me.
He dragged his lips from me to lean his forehead against mine. “With a kiss like that, to hell with them. I don’t care if you’re my step-sister. Can you feel how I feel? Don’t you know how hard it was each time to see you go? You come back into our lives in the most unexpected way.” His hand combed through my hair and tilted my chin up. “Making us fall in love with you each and every time, and then leaving again.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You should have talked to us. To me.”
“I couldn’t,” I told him, pressing my back against the wall for some distance. “I couldn’t. They were going to send you off for the Warrior assignment.”
“We wouldn’t have gone. Not now. We would’ve stayed.”
I pushed against his chest, but he didn’t move. “You can’t. The mark—”
“Doesn’t matter.” He let go of my hair and reached down to my thighs.
“Zander…”
“It doesn’t fuckin’ matter. Now put your legs around my waist.” He didn’t wait for a protest, before he lifted me. I sucked in a breath and did as he demanded. It was all I could do to prevent myself from falling. The rough fabric of his jeans pressed against my most intimate area, arousing deep tingles in my stomach. His head dipped, and lips touched my breastbone.
“I love you,” he whispered against my skin. Then he bit down. Lightning arousal swept across my body, and my hips bucked.
His strong hands rubbed sensually along the outside of my thigh, not doing any good for my racing heart. “I love you, too, but—”
He bit at my neck, causing another jolting reaction. “No.”
“Zander.” I gasped, clutching his shoulders as my whole body throbbed. “Your dad said you had another chance. That you had a mate.”
He sucked at my skin and pulled my thighs further apart as his wandering fingers went higher on my thigh. “All we have is a chance, but we don’t have another mate, yet. All it’s done is give us empty promises. We’re not waiting for something to come our way, Carly. We already have what we want, and we’re taking it. To hell with them,” he said again.
Fingers slipped between my delicate folds, and my heart trembled.
“You’re so hot, baby. So soft.” He trailed love bites and kisses along the column of my neck, branding me.
I moaned and the back of my head hit the wall. “We don’t have the same mark,” I reason breathlessly.
He shifted again, and my body tensed, ready to release the sweet pressure he built up.
His lips met my ear. “There’s no more pretending.” I shivered when he bit my earlobe then sucked on it. “You know who you belong to.”
I was right there on the edge, painfully aware of his words. My fingers dug into his shoulders as I begged, “Please.”
His caress stilled. I shifted against him, desperate. “No-no-no...”
“Say it,” he demanded, lifting his head to catch my eyes.
A soul of desperation stared back at me. His light peered out through his sea-green eyes and projected warmth and love. His light was beautiful.
“You!” I cried, my heart full. “You, and them.”
Satisfied, he gave me what I wanted. With another stroke of his fingers, light filled my soul, my body trembled, and I came.
His gaze dark with passion, he spoke in a deadly voice. “Don’t lie again. Not to me.”
As he drew his hand away, he kissed me and eased me down. “Now you know,” he whispered softly, and I ducked my head. “Now you know we’re not standing aside.”
I lifted my head. “And you speak for them? Why aren’t they here?”
He snapped his fingers and a stylish dress covered me down to my knees, along with coordinating high heels. My dry hair hung straightened down my back. “Because it takes more than just one to keep our parents busy, and only one orgasm to make you see reason.” He smirked. “I got lucky.”
My mouth popped open, shocked at what he said. “What?”
He took a hold of my hand. “Your stuff is coming to our house. You’re moving in.”
My brows drew together. “Huh? Wait a minute!”
“We gotta go.”
I was still coming down from the most intense orgasm I’d had in my life, and he wanted to go somewhere? “And just where are we going?”
“To set things straight.” Then, he shimmed us away.
Chapter Thirteen
We shimmed into the council room amidst a flurry of activity. A whole mob of people read through papers, and a glow projector-thingy hung in the air. At least that’s what it looked like, with a white circle of mist hanging in mid-air and what seemed to be a video playing in the center of it. Or maybe it was real-time? Who knew?
Everyone paused at our arrival.
Hale, Baxter, and Colten scrambled away from the group and rushed over to where we stood.
“You’re here. You’re okay.” Relieved, Baxter pressed me into his chest.
Did they think I’d been taken? My arms circled his tall frame, and I leaned in. “I’m okay.”
We stayed like that for a brief moment before he passed me to Hale, whose grip tightened around me. His gaze raked over me, reassuring himself I was here and unharmed.
“Don’t leave like that again,” he demanded, sounding like his younger brother.
Again, another set of arms swept me up. Colten. While I was desperately happy to see him, I worried about his talent and what lies he might pick up. It wasn’t like me to be so scared of him, but ever since I found out what he could do, it worried me a bit. No surprise birthday parties for him.
“Where were you?” he demanded.
I straight up told him. “I was at a hotel.”
My mom stepped forward, along with the stepdads, her gaze questioning. “Why? You know you have a place to stay with us.”
I stepped back from Colten and folded my arms around my stomach, insecure under everyone’s inquisitive stares.
“Carly?”
I glanced at my mom.
“You shouldn’t have left,” Henry stated, clearly upset. “You had us all in an uproar, trying to find you.”
Kenneth and Patrick didn’t look happy either.
“No.” Hale stepped in front of me, hiding my view of everyone. Colten’s palm met my back while Zander stepped next to his brother. “We’ve had enough of everyone deciding what’s best for us. Who we can and cannot love.”
“What do you mean?” Colten’s mother asked.
I leaned around Zander and caught a glimpse of her surrounded by her husbands. They were big guys. Wide. Lydent Warriors who did everything they could to protect their human mate.
She stared at us. “What is this about, Colten?”
Colton’s hand burned against my back. “We’ve chosen our mate, Mother.”
Gasps and murmurings filled the room.
“Is this true, son?” one of Baxter’s fathers asked. “You’ve picked Carly as your mate?”
Baxter stepped to my side, and I straightened. His palm brushed against mine before enclosing my hand in his. I sighed. He made me feel tiny. “It doesn’t matter if she has a mark or not,” he answered. “It doesn’t even matter if she receives one, and it doesn’t match ours.”
“Marks are sacred,” Patrick stated.
“As are our feelings about Carly,” Zander defended. “Everyone in this room knows as well as we do that not every Lydent bond group, despite having a mark, will have a mate.”
Guilt trickled through me.
“If and when Carly gets her mark,” Hale picked up with a little bite to his tone, “she’ll get mates. And whoever they are, they’re going to have to get used to us. Zander, Baxter, Colten, and I are not going anywhere.”
“You can send us on the mission to Falls. We’ll go. But we’re taking her with us. Mark or not, she’s ours,” Hale finished.
Kennet
h stepped forward. “You’re saying this despite the change? All of you? We haven’t even looked in the database yet.”
I stepped away from them, subconsciously rubbing the base of my neck where my hair covered my mark. “Change?”
“Their mate marks changed,” Patrick stated as he stood behind my mom, his hands on her shoulders for comfort and support. In their eyes, my mom’s, my stepdad’s, and Colten’s and Baxter’s parents, their expression said it all: devastation. For me, for their sons.
I glanced back to the guys as blood roared in my ears.
Zander took a step forward, but I stopped him with an outreached hand. He paused mid-stride as if one more move would break me. “We don’t care about that,” he whispered.
“We only want you,” Colten added, his golden eyes shining.
I straightened. “I want to see. I want to see the mark.”
Colten stripped off his shirt, they all did, and turned.
Since Zander stood closer, I walked to him. My hand trembled as I reached up and traced the mark. I went from him to Hale, then Baxter, and finally to Colten, tracing their marks, too.
My head bowed to Colten’s shoulder blade, and hot tears flowed. “Colten, they’re the same as mine.”
Colten stiffened then whipped around. His hands spun me so my back was to him and he pushed away my hair, yanking down the zipper of my dress in front of everyone.
“Son, what are you doing?” Henry demanded. “Don’t do that!” he shouted while he hurried closer to defend my honor.
Zander grabbed him.
My head lifted a little as I met Henry’s worried gaze. I gave him a small smile of reassurance. “It’s fine. He’s not hurting me.”
When Colten’s fingertips traced my mark, I shivered. His fingertips lifted, and his lips met my back, a caressing kiss from my neck to my shoulder. Such an intimate gesture in front of all these people.
He moved away, Baxter taking his place behind me. “It’s the same,” he announced in awe. “This whole time you were meant to be ours.”
“It is?” one of Colten fathers asked.
Kenneth’s mouth popped open in surprise. “Carly has her mark?”
“For how long?” Hale asked as he took Baxter’s place.
My lips pursed. I couldn’t lie in front of Colten.
“I think this is enough,” Baxter’s mom spoke up.
“Oh,” Myra jumped in, waving her hand, “let them have their little spat. You know they’ll be making up sooner or later.”
I barely heard what else they said as I turned and braced myself against the hurt in Hale’s eyes.
“I’m sorry,” I told him, lifting my hand to his shoulder. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know it wasn’t like yours. I thought—”
Hale drew me into his arms as tears fell. “Aww, baby, I know what you thought. You never questioned that we might get an extra piece. That our mark wasn’t complete.”
Another hand rubbed my back and lips kissed my head as he zipped up my dress. “We understand.”
“You were the first one to receive the light,” a voice rose. “The first human ever. Why didn’t we think that something like this would happen?” Saul asked. “I believe Philip giving his light away caused a chain reaction.”
“You think?” Patrick asked.
Then everybody started talking.
I turned away from Hale and stared up into Colten’s eyes, then looked over to Solomon.
He’d come over to where we stood and held his hand out. His eyes held a twinkle. “May I be the first to congratulate you on finding your mates, Carly.”
I smiled and put my hand in his. “Thank you.”
He nodded and grinned. “You’re welcome.” He turned back to everyone who had come to search for me, and his voice boomed as he spoke. “Lydents! We can no longer solely rely on what we’ve known to be tradition. The Spirit Whisperer is telling us changes are coming soon. We need to be wise. We need to be prepared. But first, we need to celebrate! A Lydent wedding is in our future!”
Everyone in the room clapped and cheered.
I left the circle of my mates so I could go into my mom’s arms. “I’m sorry, Mom. I just didn’t know what to do. Leaving seemed to be the best idea at the time.”
She patted my back. “I understand. They weren’t easy on you.” She glared at my stepfathers over my shoulder. They seemed remorseful.
Henry hugged me next. “I’m glad things worked out the way they did.” When I pulled away, he tapped my nose like he used to do when I was younger. “Looks like you’re stuck with us, little one.”
I gave him a brilliant smile. Henry was always my favorite.
Patrick came over next. His arms wrapped around me. “I’m sorry, Carly. We should have been more thoughtful with everything. And you,” he said, giving me an extra squeeze. “You should have been more honest.”
“I know.” I let him go.
Kenneth came over then. He stood awkwardly, not sure if he could hug me or not. Uncomfortable because, out of everyone, he tried the hardest to keep the guys and me away from each other.
I twisted my fingers nervously in front of myself. “I’m sorry that I kept things from you, but I’m not sorry for fighting back.”
He sighed and folded me into his arms. “I know, Carly. I know. Sometimes it’s good to fight back. And sometimes it isn’t. I’m sorry for not seeing what separating you guys was doing to my family. For what it did to you. You are my family. Can you ever forgive me?”
I pulled away and gave a hard swallow. “That’s what families do. They forgive even the most hurtful things. Forget? Maybe not. But forgive and learn from their mistakes, yes.”
“Well.” Henry clapped his hands. “It seems like we’re ready for celebrating! I say three days!” He turned to my mom, and then his eyes met Myra’s.
“More like one day,” Baxter said while his mom hugged him.
Then she came to me. I’d only met his parents a few times, but it was nice to feel wanted instead of thrown away.
“One day.” She grinned. “Are you ready for that, sweet one?”
Baxter came up and held my hand as Colten took my other one, and Zander and Hale stood behind me. All of them surrounded me in some way.
Zander said, “Because we accepted the mission in Falls, we only have three days until we’re supposed to arrive.”
I turned, surprised. “We’re moving?”
“Only for a little while,” Zander answered. His heated gaze reminded me what we had done earlier.
I blushed, whirled back to my mom, and shrugged. “I guess we’re moving.”
One of them started tracing my mark again, and I shivered.
“Time to go,” Hale stated, and the five of us shimmed away.
Chapter Fourteen
While the five of us shimmed out of the council room, only four of us shimmed into the rec room at their house.
Hale grabbed my hand and snapped at Colten and Baxter to follow as he led me down the hallway toward the kitchen. But instead of going there, we went up the staircase.
All the while, Colten explained what was happening. “Carly, when Lydents mate, it’s usually done after the ceremony, but we’re a little eager to set everything in stone.”
Baxter and Hale grunted.
“Do you see where we’re going with this?” Colten asked.
“Well, this sounds romantic,” I answered wryly, following along. But even as I said the words, my body hummed with anticipation.
Behind me, Baxter chuckled deep and inviting. “Just you wait. You’ll enjoy it. I swear.”
We entered a masculine room. Straight lines and a fresh color scheme of blues, charcoal, and grays met me when the light turned on.
“My room,” Colten stated smugly.
Baxter stepped forward, tugging me toward the king-sized bed as Hale unzipped me from behind. My arms lifted as Baxter drew the dress off of my body, then my hands met his chest. He grabbed me by the waist and tossed me into t
he center of the bed. I blushed as I watched them strip until Colten, in all his glory, climbed on the bed with a serious expression. My body pulsed with anticipation as he slid across my body, aroused as his golden eyes filled with liquid heat. He brushed my hair back from my face. “You ready, baby?”
I nodded and touched his cheek. “Yeah.”
He gave a big grin because he knew I couldn’t lie to him. “That’s good, real good. Have you ever done this before?”
I sobered. “Twice.”
He cupped my face and stared into my eyes. “It’s okay, baby.” He gave me a reassuring smile. “I just needed to know what kind of pace to set and how careful to be.”
Then he kissed me, a brush of lips along mine. Sweet pressure sent tingles down to my toes. Our first kiss. My arms lifted to his broad back and clutched at him, never wanting to let go. His hands threaded through my hair, drawing back slightly until his gaze met mine once again.
“That was long overdue,” I whispered, lifting my head to catch his lips once again.
“Long overdue,” he growled between breaths before his lips trailed down to my neck and settle there.
“Do you know how long I’ve waited to be close to you like this?” he breathed into my neck. “To touch you in the way only a mate can?”
His body lay over mine, hands cupping my hips while his thumbs caressed the juncture between the top of my thigh and hip. I became very aware of what he meant.
His hot breath trailed down my chest to the soft swell of my breasts, and he nibbled on the plump rise of sensitive skin.
Threading my fingers through his silky hair, my hands gripped tight when his mouth found my nipple and sucked. “Colten, please!”
He chuckled and moved further south until his mouth hovered over my mound. His hands slid down to my thighs and encouraged me to lift them so my knees bent and my thighs spread wide.
“Baby, I’m going to taste you. Don’t move.”
“Okay,” I answered, unsure.
A warm, wet tongue stroked against my pussy lips before dipping down past them, to stroke my already sensitive clit.
“Colten,” I warned, then my breath caught as he sucked.
Falling For Them Volume 2: Reverse Harem Collection Page 107
