by K. F. Breene
“Yeah. He’s probably afraid you’ll say ‘I told you so’,” Charles added from behind us.
I sighed. “Let’s get home. I’m exhausted and I miss my babies.”
Stefan kissed me on the head and turned to lead the way when Ann said, “Can I ride with you guys? Tim got a shallow knife wound and you would think his arm was falling off. The man is such a baby with the small stuff.”
“What are we going to do with Emmy?” Charles wanted to know.
Jonas still had his arm around his new love-interest and was following the group’s movements at a small distance. I didn’t think it was because of the alone time, though. I had a feeling Emmy wasn’t comfortable being in the presence of Stefan and Charles. Maybe even Ann. I was too tired to force my sparkling wit on her just now, though. I’d have to wait until I got some sleep and some coffee.
“Let Jonas sort it out.” With a last glance at the crumbling building, we headed to our cars and what would hopefully be a stress-free few months to follow.
Chapter Twelve
“I’ve never been anywhere where things were so… lax.” Emmy huddled next to Jonas as everyone got out of the cars at the Mansion. From what the Boss said, they only had about half of their force returning right now. The rest were left behind to collect any that didn’t make it. With the amount of bodies strewn around, Jonas had every reason to believe it would be a black few months to follow as they mourned their lost.
At the moment, though, Jonas could barely keep his eyes opened. He hadn’t slept soundly since he’d been taken. On top of that, he’d battled. He was on empty.
“Sasha is a rare breed. She needs things to stay light and easy or she gets bogged down with the pressure. If she spends too much time in her head, she makes mistakes. She’s in charge, but it helps to often let her forget it.”
“And Stefan—the Boss?”
“It doesn’t help for anyone to forget that he’s in charge. Except Sasha. He bends whichever way she pushes him, generally. Lax around Sasha, alert around the Boss.”
Emmy shot her eyes to the ground as the Boss strode by with a nod to Jonas. Sasha trailed behind, pale and weary. She stopped briefly in front of Jonas and Emmy. To Emmy she said, “I’m full human. Totally, one-hundred percent human. I didn’t even know Stefan’s people existed. The humans wandering around here are the same. When we’re not treated equal, we kick someone in the balls. Well, the others do. I earned my place. I zap them with magic. Anyway, my point is, you will only be lesser as long as you think that of yourself. No one else will see that about you. Hell, you have half their blood—you’re one step above me. And Paulie has already led the way on that score. Plus, he got someone pregnant—but don’t talk to him about it, because he’s totally freaking out about it. He was determined never to have kids. He totally likes the girl, and he’s only ever with her now—they have an understanding, which she is apparently fine with her since he can give her babies—but she’s pressuring him to mate, and he—totally freaking out. Anyway, my point is, you will be like gold. People will be knocking on your door to try and get at your womb. It’s freaking weird, but there ya go.”
Sasha paused and rubbed her hands over her face.
“Did you just say people would try to get at her womb?” Charles asked, aghast. He hovered right behind Sasha.
Ann punched him in the side as she passed. “She’s divulging some heavy shit, Charles. Let the lady work.” Ann snickered and moved up the steps to the Mansion. “Sasha, you need to sleep. Seriously, you’re losing it.”
“You agree with me, yet you still punched me and argued?” Charles stalked after Ann.
“You’re an idiot.”
“What does that have to do with anything?” they barely heard as Charles and Ann went through the door.
Sasha stared at Emmy with bloodshot eyes. “What I mean is, you’re welcome here. You’ll fit in as soon as you stop cowering. Because if you cower, people will think they rock, and that is no good. It goes right to their heads, and then they’ll get kicked in the nuts when they try to put that on another human. And when people veer away from you, it isn’t you. It’s Jonas. He scares people. They’ll think you’re a tough bitch just dealing with him. Also, you have the weekend off, but then you best get in school. You need to earn your keep, and Jonas thinks you’re strong in power, so that’s good. We can use you.”
“You’re babbling, human.” Jonas shooed Sasha toward the door. “Go see your kids. I’ll be by tomorrow to hold one.”
“Oh no. Can’t just take one. You’ll take both or none. Do my job, or don’t. No halvsies just because you’re boinking a halvsie. Get it?”
Sasha’s shoulders drooped and she shook her head. “Yikes. I’m tired. See ya.”
Jonas smirked as he led Emmy up the steps to the front door behind Sasha. They went down the hall slowly so Emmy could take in the Mansion, and then turned up the stairs toward Jonas’ quarters. “Do you mind staying with me? We can have a room made up for you tomorrow if you want your own place.”
“With you is fine.”
Jonas gave her shoulders a squeeze as they walked down the corridor. As Sasha had said, people saw him coming and immediately hustled to the sides to be out of his way. Most had probably been tossed through a door at one time or another and didn’t want a repeat. It made Jonas’ life easier.
“She seems nice. Weird, but nice,” Emmy said quietly. “And the Boss seems to really dote on her.”
“Yeah. They make a good team.”
“Is what she said true—are those with human blood sought after because of their ability to reproduce?”
Jonas couldn’t help stiffening slightly. He wanted this female more than he’d wanted anyone in his whole life. Being near her, hearing her voice, breathing her scent—she felt like a piece of him. He wanted to mate her, mark her if she’d let him, and see if they could bear children. But what he didn’t want, and didn’t know if he could handle, was someone else trying to get at her or her brood. He didn’t think he could share. Not her.
“Toa is thinking that our stunted reproduction might have to do with staying to ourselves. We don’t inbreed, obviously, but we don’t have a lot of input from diverse regions. Humans are great at reproduction anyway, and they are fresh blood. Toa thinks that helps. I, personally, think humans are great at populating. That’s their defense against a harsh environment.”
“Nathanial kept me to himself all these years to try and get me with child. He thought the child would lean toward his race. Yours. Then he was afraid he might be the problem, and didn’t want anyone else to touch me.”
Jonas felt a pang in his chest for her treatment. He squeezed her before he opened his door and waited for her to go in ahead of him. Once the door was closed behind him, he said, “At least you only had one tyrant, rather than multiple.”
Emmy nodded as she wandered into the room, the weight dragging down her shoulders relenting for the first time since she’d met his people. She sighed and then giggled. Hurrying to the other side of the moderately-sized room, she ran her fingers over his various sexual tools, a stand not unlike hers in the dungeon.
“And now I see.” She leaned against the wall as she fingered the paddle. Heat crept into her gaze. “I know you’re tired, but take off your sweats and get on your knees. I want to punish you. Then let’s see if you can get me pregnant before we go to sleep.”
Jonas went from dead-tired to wide-awake with a hard-on in the time it took him to strip his sweats. He knelt right where he stood, doing as she said. He gulped as she released a heavy leather paddle from the stand. His heart started to beat as she stripped out of her blood-spattered dress and stood before him completely in the nude. His stomach flipped as she sauntered toward him with all the command and grace as the first day he’d met her. This time, however, she wasn’t ashamed of her sexual nature. This time, she was exploiting it.
“You’re so beautiful,” he said in a gush.
“I didn’t say speak.” S
he swung the paddle with force. The leather slapped against his stomach. Pain lanced out across his skin.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I said, I didn’t say to speak!”
He heard her giggle right before the paddle slapped across his back. He clenched his jaw and squeezed his eyes shut, soaking into that pain. Feeling it morph into adrenaline. Feeling his dick lurch, begging to touch this beautiful, commanding female.
“Good.” She slapped him across his butt, and then again on his shoulder. He could hear her breathing speeding up. Hear her excitement. She loved being in control. He loved when someone else took the reins. She felt free, and he was free within the confinement. She needed to hold the power to escape her past, and he needed someone to rein him in to quell the violence raging in him from his. They fit perfectly. They were made for each other.
“I love you,” he said without meaning to. “I want to mark you.”
The leather paddle hovered in the air as she stared down at him. Incredulity and uncertainty mingled on her face. “What did you say?”
“Nothing,” he said quickly. He dropped his head. He didn’t even know how she felt—if she felt anything. He could’ve just been her meal-ticket out of her situation.
Way to jump the gun you idiot!
He felt the sting of the paddle. “What did you say?”
To his silence he felt it again. And again. More violent now. He felt her power humming through him. His dick was so hard it was painful.
“Tell me!”
“I love you and I want to mark you,” he blurted. “Please touch me, baby. Please.”
The paddle dropped to his side in a collection of dull thunks. One of her palms slapped the top of his head and pushed his head back. Before he could blink, she bent to his neck in a rush. Her hot breath soaked into his skin before her teeth bit into him. The sweet draw from her mouth was pleasure unlike he’d ever experienced. His eyes fluttered closed and he moaned.
She straightened up and walked quickly to the bed. Her perfect body settled into the middle with her legs bent and slightly spread. Her fingertips trailed down between her breasts. “I love you, too. And I accept.”
Something washed over Jonas. A primal need to take his female. To make this female his. Forever.
He rose on smooth joints and eyed her pale skin amid his crimson sheets. His cock pulsed. His stomach twisted with anticipation. His senses sharpened. A thrill coursed through his body.
Her breath quickened as he approached. Wariness flashed in her eyes before heat-soaked desire took its place.
Mine.
In a gush of speed, Jonas was on her. He pushed her body into the mattress, trapping her under him. Her thighs were pushed wider to accommodate his size. He captured her wrists and held them above her head. With a quick thrust, he entered her fully, stretching her to fit his size. Her heart rapped against his chest. The vein at her neck throbbed.
“You’re mine.” He almost didn’t recognize his voice through the possessive gruffness. Through the raw, unyielding desire. “Forever.”
He bit into her neck and took her blood in greedy gulps. He thrust into her repeatedly, hard and fast, feeling the friction of her body against his sensitive skin. He took his prize as the animalistic secretion in his skin permeated hers. He was laying his mark. If anyone touched her from this day on, he’d kill them without asking questions.
“Yes,” Emmy sighed.
Jonas pumped into her harder. Into his female. Her heat, her wetness, overcame him. He drew once more on her neck, savoring that wild, battle-laden taste. His hard length seared into her soft depths. Faster and harder. His skin slapped off of hers. His bed squealed in protest.
“Yes, Jonas. Please, yes!”
“Take more of mine,” he commanded. He bent so she could reach his neck.
Her draw was such succulent pleasure. It reached down through the core of him. An orgasm rocked his body. He emptied himself into her as she trembled in completion under him. The last of his mark settled firmly into her. His lips sought hers with a deep, lingering kiss.
After they were done, she shifted a tiny bit to get comfortable with his weight, and stroked his back. “It’s kind of late to ask, but are you sure?”
Jonas huffed out a laugh. “I was thinking of asking you the same thing, but I was worried you’d say no.”
“I’m not worried. Not at all. You don’t scare me. I don’t mind when you overcome my strength—it’s hot. I don’t care if you get bossy, or command me—I know you. I feel like I’ve known you all my life. I worried that once you got me home, though, you wouldn’t want me.”
“I should’ve waited. I should’ve let you have a taste of your freedom before I shackled you.”
“You are my freedom. I hope I can give you a baby.”
“It doesn’t matter. If you do or don’t, it doesn’t matter. I have you. And I’m an uncle, of sorts. That is more than I’d ever thought I’d have. I’m the happiest in this moment than I have ever been. And if you tell Charles any of this, I will never speak to you again.”
Emmy blurted out a laugh. “I’m excited to get to know your friends. They aren’t what I’m used to.”
“They aren’t what anyone’s used to. Trust me. And that’s how I know that I fit in this life. With them. Where I am. I’ve finally found a real home.”
Epilogue
I leaned back in the overstuffed sofa as my twin three-year-olds fought over some stupid toy drum. Why Charles insisted on giving them the loudest presents he could find, I did not know, other than he thought it was outrageously funny. Which it wasn’t.
“Mommy!” Sabrina yelled. “He took my drum!”
“Share, you guys!” I shouldn’t yell at them. I knew this. It was not only frowned upon, but also terrible parenting. But seriously: I’d been hounded by Toa all day about my and Stefan’s duty to move up to at least Regional; I’d dealt with a huge fight of humans versus non-humans; and I’d found some dumb kid in the park playing with circles and trying to call demons. Thank God the kid was a nitwit and had no sense whatsoever or he might’ve succeeded. Instead, he lost two days of memory and all his silly witchcraft stuff. I was equally grateful he didn’t notice Charles and Jonas because it meant I didn’t have to take him into our fold and train him with magic.
Speaking of human magic-workers, we had a great many. We were looking for humans around the age of puberty, now. Grab ‘em when they were young and so we could start training when their magic manifested—we called it an after-school club. And it was really working. A new mansion one town over was being built. The rights to the larger territory were being squabbled over. And by squabbled, I mean fought over. Whenever Stefan and I showed up, though, the opposing clan took off. They didn’t have a mage or solid leadership. We had a black who had fought in some hairy battles and a leader who the Council was trying to groom to one day take over Cato’s role.
It wasn’t rocket science as to who was going to win the skirmishes.
Stefan and I were happy at the moment, though. We had a “moderately” sized house in the upscale part of town with five bedrooms, a playroom, and a score of other rooms. Anything compared to the Mansion was called moderate, I found out. If it was just our immediate family staying there, we wouldn’t need a quarter of the space. But, of course, we had a great many more people who made our home theirs on a regular basis, so I was glad in the end we got a large place.
“Mommy! She punched me!”
“Sabrina, don’t hit your brother!”
A knock on the door prevented me from moving. The drum forgotten, my exuberant kids went sprinting for the door.
“Ask who it is!” I shouted after them.
I never used to yell and shout this much. I really didn’t. What was it about kids that made a person want to yell all day?
“Who is it?” Sabrina asked in a sweet voice. That was the voice she used right before she stabbed you. Which was why Jonas stopped giving her anything sharp: she’d gotten Stefan
’s violent side.
“Who goes there!” Savion demanded. He wanted to wear capes all day. Because I only thought of Trek every time I thought of a cape, I tried to dissuade him.
“The boogeyman,” came Charles’ muffled voice.
“Oh good, I wanted to see him.” Stefan sauntered into the room wearing a fitted black shirt that showed off his flawless torso, and slacks that hugged his defined thighs and scrumptious butt.
“No kids in our bed tonight,” I said in a throaty voice.
His gaze swiveled to me as Jonas and Emmy sauntered into the room after him. Jonas was holding his first-born, a two-month-old baby girl that looked just like her mommy. She’d be a beauty someday. The verdict was out on what kind of magic the baby would have until puberty, as was the case with my kids, but everyone wondered. There hadn’t been so much mixed breeding in history as there had been in our clan—at least, Toa couldn’t find any record of it in the scriptures. But with all the humans wandering around, and with the Mansion’s sexual culture… yeah, we had a ton of kids. A TON of them. Stefan’s people were insane with happiness. We had visitors from all over the country asking us how to snare humans. Also making the humans offers to move. It was ridiculous.
“Don’t you guys have your own house?” I asked Jonas.
“Yeah. In the suburbs. But you don’t need half this space.” He settled next to me on the couch. Emmy took the chair to my right and leaned back.
“We do when you stay here more often than not.” I rubbed my head. “I’m tired.”
Emmy nodded and glanced at Stefan. She refrained from commenting. She’d mostly shed her shyness around Stefan, but she didn’t often cut loose either. It was a slow process. In time she’d come around, but as it stood, she just let loose with the humans and Charles mostly.
Charles sprinted in growling like a bear. Sabrina squealed and laughed in his arms. Savion came barreling after him. As soon as Charles was in the room, he stopped in the middle and jostled Sabrina. “I’ve got your sister. I’ve got your sister!”
