by Mikayla Lane
Mikey laughed out loud. He hadn’t considered how embarrassing drunk dialing could be when you had access to a universal phone line like the Shengari’.
“You do the same. I’m pretty handy in bad situations,” he told her and gave her one final squeeze before she pulled away and headed out of the room.
Thjodhild stood next and took her plate to the sink.
“I need to meet Fiorn and Ivint to discuss what we’re going to do to help reinforce our teams in Europe. Call me if I’m needed,” she said with a backhand wave as she left the room.
Everyone said their goodbyes to her, then Mikey stood.
“I’m going to for a walk before I head back to the vid. Would you like to join me?” Mikey said, surprising Lauren when he held his hand out to her.
Lauren blushed a little and looked at Crator, Amun, and Disc, who were suddenly in conversation with one another and pretending to ignore her and Mikey.
“I would love to,” she said as she let Mikey pull her to her feet.
Mikey turned to Discorian.
“Disc, are you stationed here as well? I’d like to get to know you when you have some time,” Mikey said, surprised at how much he meant it.
“I’m also assigned here for a few weeks. Maybe we can get together tomorrow?” Disc asked, knowing he was suddenly assigned here so the men could get to know one another. Although initially surprised to learn he had more family, he was happy to welcome Mikey.
“I’d like that. Crator, I’ll see you later. Amun, thanks,” Mikey said.
He led Lauren from the kitchen and around the path that led to the main street. He almost cringed when they turned the corner, hoping Emily wouldn’t be there. He let out a sigh of relief when the coast was clear, and he led Lauren past the spot beneath his window where Emily usually stood.
“I’m sorry you walked in on that,” Lauren said.
Wrapped in his thoughts of Emily, it took Mikey a moment to realize what she meant.
Mikey squeezed her hand and grinned at her.
“Don’t be, I was going to find out anyway. Granted, it was a little weird at first, but that would have happened under the best of circumstances,” Mikey admitted, not the least bit upset with how any of that went. He’d already liked Crator from the jungle, and Disc and Alaina had really nice energy.
“That’s true. I think you handled it wonderfully though,” Lauren said, proud of him.
Mikey chuckled as he led them down the stone laid street.
“You mean after the whole ‘deer in headlights’ look? They seem to be good people and made it easy for me,” he admitted.
It was Lauren who laughed now.
“Alaina was a little abrasive.”
“Only at first,” Mikey said with a grin. “But I really can’t blame her. It must have been a little creepy when I walked in as you were discussing me.”
“Maybe just a little,” Lauren teased.
Mikey enjoyed the feel of her hand in his. The energy humming between them was pleasant and comforting. It felt like home—a home he didn’t know he could have until he met her. Now it seemed like most of his thoughts centered on her or led to her.
In what he began referring to as “his previous life,” he would have freaked out over someone becoming as close to him as Lauren was. Part of him would always rebel at the thought of deepening a relationship. Granted, a lot of his previous girlfriends were a little crazy and seemed to repel most people, but he began to wonder if that had been his beast making sure he held out for the right one—for Lauren.
“Do you have siblings?” Mikey asked, wanting to know her better.
“No. My parents were considering it when World War II broke out. They left me with Fiorn and Thjodhild while they went back inside Germany to try and get her sister out. None of them returned,” Lauren said sadly.
“Oh Lauren, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have pried,” Mikey said, his heart breaking for the loss he knew she still felt deeply. He could feel it in her energy.
He hugged her close to his side and she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him back.
“It’s OK. It was a long time ago, and my aunt and uncle were really great to me,” Lauren admitted.
Even now, more than 70 years later, she still felt the emptiness inside when she thought of her beautiful mother and her handsome father. But sharing it with Mikey didn’t bring the sharp pain that it usually did when she told anyone about it.
Mikey guided her off the street into one of the gazebos and pulled her into his arms.
“Did you always know you’d be a doctor?” Mikey asked, wanting to change the subject away from something hurtful. The last thing he ever wanted to do was cause her pain.
As much as Lauren loved being in his arms, she knew that they didn’t need to rush anything. The last thing she wanted was to frighten him off when they were starting to make progress in getting to know one another.
Lauren gently pulled away from him and sat down, tugging on his hand until he sat beside her.
“Yes. My parents knew early on what my gift was and encouraged me to learn it and use it. I was lucky to be able to study with my aunt—who was also a doctor—as I grew up,” she said as she shivered slightly from a cool breeze that blew through the street.
Mikey felt her shiver and put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to his side in order to block any more breezes and share his body heat.
“Where are your aunt and uncle now?”
Lauren shamelessly cuddled close to him, enjoying the warmth he radiated like a space heater.
“They were killed in New York when they tried to help someone who was shot and robbed in front of them,” Lauren’s voice caught as she spoke, her eyes misting with tears at their senseless deaths.
“I’m so sorry, Lauren,” Mikey whispered, feeling like an ass for bringing up obviously painful memories.
Lauren mustered a chuckle.
“It’s not like you knew. Don’t feel bad, I had a wonderful life with them and my parents. I live with the people I grew up with, and they’re all like family to me. Certain parts of my life are sad, as with anyone, but overall, I am luckier than most.”
She truly believed that—more so now that she’d opened her eyes to the rest of the world and what was going on in it.
“Did you spend a lot of time in this place?” Mikey asked.
Lauren nodded her head against his shoulder. The combination of his warmth and her exhaustion was making her sleepy.
“Hey, have you slept since we came back from the jungle?” Lauren asked.
Mikey chuckled and shook his head.
“No, I was still too wound up from the adrenaline. You haven’t either, have you?”
Lauren sighed and shook her head, her hand covering her yawn.
Mikey stood, secretly enjoying the small sound of protest Lauren made. He held his hand out to her with a smile.
“Come on, we both need some sleep,” he said, hoping she’d protest so he’d have an excuse to carry her.
Lauren put her hand in his and let him pull her to her feet. He kept her hand as they made their way back to the castle and up the stairs to her room, which was to the right of his.
Mikey stood in front of her, not sure if he should try to kiss her or push her into her room so he wouldn’t. Her subtle, floral scent was beginning to really get to him, and he was having a hard time trying to keep his hands off of her.
Lauren could feel the uncertainty in his energy and didn’t want to ruin the progress they had made, so she leaned up and kissed his cheek.
“We should get some sleep,” she said softly, looking up at him through her lashes.
“Yes, we should.”
Mikey looked into her eyes and his hand rose and gently cupped her cheek. He leaned forward slowly enough for her to pull away if she didn’t want him to kiss her.
His heart pounded in his chest as his energy roared through his veins. Although he knew it had only taken seconds to reach her
face, it had felt like hours before he touched her soft, supple lips. When she didn’t protest—or slap the hell out of him—he pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her.
Lauren could feel their energy drawing them together, and she couldn’t fight it as his full, warm lips pressed tentatively against hers. When he pulled her closer, she wrapped her arms around his neck and gave herself up to the heat building between them.
She barely noticed when he pressed her against the door as his tongue gently pushed through her unresisting lips. Her hands wound through his short hair, gently pulling him closer as she pressed her body against him.
The heat surged between them, the energy bond intertwining more quickly the closer they became. Lauren felt like she was on fire as his tongue danced with her own, and his hands moved up and down her back.
Her mind warred with her body, one sure they should wait while the other thought they’d waited long enough for this moment. When his hand gently brushed against her stomach, she made up her mind.
Reaching one hand behind her, she turned the doorknob and braced herself against him as it swung open.
Chapter Fifteen
Mikey felt the slight brush of air as the door swung open behind Lauren. Reluctantly, he pulled back from her and looked deep into her beautiful blue eyes to make sure he wasn’t mistaking her meaning.
Lauren knew that he was giving her time to change her mind and didn’t want any misunderstandings about what she wanted. Sliding her hand gently down his neck and across his chest, she smiled when he shivered at her touch and his gaze grew hotter. Without breaking eye contact, she took his hand and pulled him inside of her room.
Mikey’s breath caught in his throat, and his mind scrambled to process that he was in her room and she was looking at him with a seductive smile that set his blood on fire. With one last look to make sure she hadn’t changed her mind, he used his foot to kick the door shut, then picked her up and carried her to the large bed in the center of the room.
Lauren kept her hands around his neck as he laid her gently on the bed, pulling him down onto it with her. They laid there for a moment, just staring into one another’s eyes before Mikey cleared his throat.
“I know this is going to sound stupid, but before we go any farther, I need to know you’re doing this because you want to see if we can make this work between us. I’m not a one-night stand kind of guy, and I feel more for you than anyone I’ve ever met, and I don’t want this to be the beginning of the end. I want this to be the end of the beginning, so we can more forward to the next stage,” he said, hoping she wouldn’t think he was being an idiot.
He was never the kind of guy to want anything to do with casual sex, and he wouldn’t treat Lauren like she was anything less than the most important thing in his world.
Tears misted Lauren’s eyes at his sweet words, and she nodded her head.
“I think we’re more than ready to move forward,” she whispered before she leaned into him and took his lips in a passionate kiss.
Mikey ran his hands up her back, pulling her top up until he could slip his hands inside. His groan at the feel of her soft, warm skin broke their kiss, and Lauren smiled up at him as she pulled her shirt over her head, threw it over the side of her bed, and kicked her shoes off.
Mikey saw her full breasts encased in a sexy, red lace demi bra, and he had to close his eyes to stop himself from grabbing her to him. The smoldering fire rushing through his veins felt like it had ignited into a molten lava, and his hand ached to touch her.
When she slid off her pants to reveal matching panties, he felt his mouth go dry as dust, and his fists clenched and unclenched as he tried to stay in control of the desire burning through him. He’d never wanted anything more than he wanted Lauren right then.
Lauren could feel Mikey’s control slipping as the energy flowing between them intertwined rapidly. Sitting up on her knees, he sat up with her, and she pulled his shirt out of his pants and started pulling it over his head.
She grinned and sat back when he realized what she was trying to do and yanked his shirt over his head. Lauren almost giggled when she heard it rip.
She watched as he pulled off his boots before sliding his pants off and was stunned to see that he didn’t wear undergarments. She didn’t have much time to think about it before Mikey leaned forward and gently pressed her back into the mattress, taking her lips again as he did.
The feel of their heated skin touching set their pulses pounding as the energy swirled around them. Mikey felt like he was being consumed by heat and desire, and he couldn’t seem to control any of it as his hand reached behind her to release the catch of her bra.
Lauren pulled the straps from each of her shoulders without breaking their kiss and moaned into his mouth as her taut nipples scraped against his bare, chiseled chest.
Mikey pulled back and looked at Lauren.
“God, you’re beautiful,” he whispered.
Lauren smiled and slid her panties off as she watched his eyes widen before they darkened. She reached up and slid her arms around his neck and pulled him back down to the bed with her. She moaned as his hands roamed her heated flesh while his tongue danced with her own.
She was lost in a world of sensation and pleasure as he pulled away to trail kisses down her neck to her breasts. She sucked in a sharp breath as his warm, wet mouth drove her mindless with pleasure until she was begging him for more.
When he finally pulled away, Lauren felt like she’d melt into the bed until she felt his hard shaft probing at her entrance before he slipped inside. She gasped from the sensation as Mikey braced himself on his elbows above her.
“Are you sure?” Mikey asked hoarsely, barely able to control to the urge to drive himself inside of her.
“Yes,” Lauren managed to say before she cried out as he impaled himself fully inside of her. Her fingers shook as she clutched at his shoulders, and her legs locked around him to keep him from moving until she could adjust to his girth.
“Oh my God! Why didn’t you tell me?” Mikey choked out, realizing he’d just taken her virginity without a care for her feelings.
When he tried to pull away from her, Lauren wrapped herself more tightly around him so he couldn’t move.
“It doesn’t matter, and it doesn’t hurt at all now. Please, Mikey . . . don’t stop now,” she whispered in his ear.
Mikey pulled away to look in her eyes, trying to see if she really wanted to or was lying to him, and he was struck by how incredibly sexy she looked beneath him. He pulled out a little bit and watched her close her eyes as she moaned and tried to pull him close again, and he felt like roaring that she was his.
“Mine,” he whispered as he leaned down to kiss her before driving back inside of her wet heat, setting a mild pace so he wouldn’t hurt her.
“Yours,” Lauren said as she wrapped her legs and arms around him, matching his downward thrusts with her own upward ones.
The heat and the energy swirled around them as Lauren urged Mikey to go faster and to thrust deeper until she finally cried out and grabbed him closer. Mikey waited until he felt her first contractions around him before he let out a cry of his own and collapsed on top of her, trying his best to keep his weight from crushing her.
When their breathing finally slowed, Mikey slid to her side and pulled her close to him. When she rested her head on his chest, he gently brushed her soft locks as she threw one of her legs over his own.
Mikey closed his eyes and had just begun to let the exhausted contentment take him to sleep when he felt a slap on his arm. He bolted upright and looked at Lauren who had reached over to touch her own shoulder. Mikey moved his hand away and stared in open mouthed surprise at the intricate tattoo-like design that had appeared on his upper arm.
At Lauren’s gasp, he looked up to see an almost identical design on her upper arm and shoulder. He was just thinking how damn sexy she looked with it when she said something.
“The ator-ma,” Lauren whispere
d as she ran her fingers over the beautiful and detailed design.
Mikey was getting ready to ask what it was when he went completely rigid, his arms and legs trembling as if under great strain before he felt a pop in his head and he collapsed into the bed.
“Are you OK? Mikey? Talk to me, baby,” Lauren said as she leaned over him in concern.
Mikey panted slightly as he looked up into her concerned eyes. He immediately took stock of himself, realized he felt fine, and turned inward.
“Beast? Are you OK, buddy? Talk to me,” he pleaded, wanting to make sure the beast wasn’t hurt by the seizure or whatever had overcome him.
“You must name me to complete the bonding,” the voice said and Mikey felt like dancing with happiness at the sound.
Mikey turned to Lauren in excitement.
“My beast wants me to name him to complete the bond!” he said, his excitement pouring through his energy to her.
“Then name him,” Lauren said with a brilliant smile, happy that Mikey was truly accepting who he was.
Mikey looked like she’d slapped him.
“I can’t just pick something! It has to be worthy of him. I can’t just call him Bob or anything ordinary. He’s cool as hell and deserves a kick ass name,” Mikey argued, shocked she’d even consider that he’d just pick anything.
Lauren giggled at Mikey’s offended attitude on behalf of his beast.
“I’m sorry, honey. Have you asked him what he would like to be called? I asked mine and we shortened the name he wanted to Lola,” she said.
Mikey looked at her in horror.
“You named your male beast, Lola? Seriously? That’s just cruel,” he accused.
Lauren giggled and tried to explain.
“Yes, but like I said, it’s a shortened version of a really long name, and he likes it.”
“I’m not naming him after a girl,” Mikey said, adamant that his beast would be proud of his name.
“What would you like to be called?” he asked his beast.
