“Trust me, baby,” he said softly. “It will be worth it.”
She couldn’t form any coherant words and moaned into the sheets, clenching her hands into fists. His cock and his finger worked in tandem, slowly and steadily moving in and out of each orifice. He added another finger to her ass, and she growled into the sheets. Her entire body shuddered again. His thrusts sped up, and then he drove home hard.
The pressure and fullness were overwhelming, and the orgasm blossomed from her core, tearing a scream from her chest. Lightning could have struck the bedroom and she wouldn’t have noticed. She yelled his name into the sheets and shoved backward, seating him even farther before she finally collapsed into a trembling gelatinous heap.
The bed dipped, and she heard water running in the bathroom for a moment before he reappeared at her side. She cracked open an eye and stared at his still-hard dick. How did he hold back?
“It’s a supernatural thing,” her wolf said with a snicker.
The mate bond fed his arousal straight to her libido. If he could still go, so could she. She rolled to her back, and he crawled up between her legs, sliding his hard cock back into her vagina. God, he feels so good. He found a smooth rhythm and worked her until she was panting for breath again.
She wrapped her legs around his waist, and he rocked back, pulling her onto his lap. He nuzzled her neck, feather-kisses up and down. He claimed her mouth and nibbled on her lower lip. A sting of pain shot through her, and the taste of blood in her mouth made her wolf push against her conscious. Magick writhed between them and surged through her body like a tidal wave. She couldn’t stop it. An overwhelming urge to taste her mate lengthened her fangs, and she followed the instinct to bite, clamping down onto his shoulder. The coppery taste of blood was bitter in her mouth. The bond between them flared. He roared and bit into her opposite shoulder, coming at the same time and flooding womb with his warm seed. Pain flared through the bite for a moment, and then in the middle of chaos, a quiet peace cleared her mind and voices spoke.
“You belong to us, beautiful,” a male voice said in her mind, but it wasn’t Chris.
“Always,” her wolf answered.
She pulled away, and the moment faded. Chris released her shoulder and met her gaze. His concern and worry over her feelings surrounded her through the bond.
“They spoke to each other.”
He nodded and kissed her forehead before pulling her down to lie beside him on the bed. She snuggled close, and he wrapped an arm around her waist.
“When we are joined, blood to blood, they can speak to each other and to both of us. We are four souls joined by blood and magick.”
“It was amazing. Like nothing I could imagine.”
“Yes,” he murmured into her ear. “I agree.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Is she going to be freaked out?
“No, she’ll be fine. She initiated the marking,” his wolf assured him.
Yes, but I kept at her until she was exhausted and instinct took over.
“She didn’t wig out when we spoke. You don’t give her enough credit.”
Look who’s changed their tune now.
“She was human,” his wolf defended.
“Mmm hmm.” Sarah moaned and stirred in his arms.
They’d fallen asleep for a couple hours. The clock on the night table read nine o’clock now. Okay, they’d slept for four hours. He smiled. It had been a long night, and the sleep was well deserved, though he wasn’t looking forward to the ribbing he would get from the others when they finally showed their faces downstairs again.
Damn it. Bonnie and Joe are down there too.
“You’re so going to get it,” his wolf said with a chuckle.
Shut up. It was worth it.
Sarah sat straight up in bed. “Oh God!”
He lay still, waiting for a few more words.
She turned to look at him, her green eyes filled with golden hues. “Did we fall asleep?”
Chris nodded.
“Do you think everyone know that we...” She swallowed. “My parents... Wait, those are your feelings.”
He nodded again.
“Well, I for one need a shower before I’m teased into an early grave.”
A snort of laughter erupted, and he yanked her back down on to his chest. “I say we just stay in this room forever. I can eat–”
“Don’t say it.” She laughed, pressing a hand over his mouth. “Get up and come take a shower with me.”
“Naked and wet. I can do that.”
“No, I mean a real shower.” She slid out of his arms and walked into the bathroom.
“I said naked and wet. How else would you describe a shower?” He chuckled, following her. He flipped the water on and set it to a nice warm temperature. “See, we are already naked. Now we just need the wet part.”
She frowned and crossed her arms over her beautiful breasts, making her cleavage more defined. It was so hard to concentrate. “I want actual scrubbing with soap, and I want to wash my hair. No hands wandering into personal body openings.” Her foot tapped the tile floor, and she was chewing her bottom lip in an effort to keep from smiling.
He raised his eyebrows. “I’m rather fond of your personal body openings.” She frowned again, giving a pretty good I-mean-business face. He held his hands up in mock surrender and stifled a laugh. “No wandering hands. Cross my heart.”
She shook her head and stepped into the shower stall. The water sluiced around her shoulders, flowing in rivulets between her breasts and down her arms. Wet and naked and glorious. She was his. His mate.
“Our mate.”
Yes, she’s ours.
***
The warm water was heaven. After spending most of the night out in the forest and then having the best sex of her life, a shower was first on the list. She grabbed a loofah from the corner and a bottle of squeezable shower gel. The scent read Pine Fresh. I can handle a little pine.
She glanced over her shoulder. Chris was just standing in the shower doorway staring. Warmth rose in her cheeks. They’d made love, and he’d seen everything there was to see, but it was still a little off-putting to feel so strongly about someone she’d just met.
“It’s part of the mate bond. The magick literally binds us together. We will be inseparable unless one of us dies.”
I guess there’s not much of a divorce rate?
Her wolf chuckled. Nope.
“Are you coming in?”
He smiled and shook his head. “If I’m going to keep my promise and not invade your private areas, I will just wait my turn. The view from here isn’t bad.”
She giggled. “Let me rinse my hair, and then I’ll be done.”
“Take your time, love.”
A few moments later, they traded places. He laughed when she stopped at the doorway and turned to watch him soap up.
“You’re right. The view from here isn’t bad.” She flashed a smile, admiring the sculpted thighs, muscular ass, and beautifully chiseled chest. Her hands wanted to wander too. No wonder the man had opted to wait his turn.
“Sarah,” he groaned. He turned toward her, and she gasped. His thick cock stood completely erect again. “You’re punishing me with your desires.”
She laughed out loud. It was about time he got horny because she was thinking about it, instead of the other way around. “Just giving you a taste of your own medicine.”
His eyes glowed gold, and faster than she could object, he’d hauled her back into the shower with him. She squealed and tried to slip out of his soapy hand.
“I already took my shower.”
“The time for showering has passed, love. I don’t do well with teasing.”
His mouth captured hers with a passionate growl. He swept his tongue inside and played with hers. A moment later he’d pinned her to the warm shower wall and seated himself deep inside. His thrusts created just enough friction against her clit that she was panting and shivering in a matter of seconds. He trail
ed kisses down her neck and fondled the place where he’d bit her earlier. The scrape of his teeth excited her, and she moaned, hoping he’d bite her again.
“Yes,” she whispered.
His fangs scraped her skin, and then everything shattered. She floated in a cloud of pleasure, her pussy clenching against his hard length while magick writhed between them as he marked her again. She’d been so afraid to experience it, and now she desired it. She desired life. She wanted to experience everything Chris could give her. Everything the pack could offer. What treasures life must offer to beings who could live for centuries on end.
He licked the wound on her shoulder, and she sighed.
“We don’t have to ever leave this room, do we?”
He moved her under the water and rinsed them both off quickly. She accepted a towel and followed him out into the bedroom.
“Unfortunately, we do have to leave. There are two new latents to settle in, and I’m sure everyone would like to know how you’re doing.”
“If they have ears like mine, I think they know how I’m doing.”
“Touché. Your parents don’t, thank the gods. But, yes, everyone else normally knows everyone’s business. It can’t really be helped. As a pack we are a very closely knitted group. With Chase stepping in as the Alpha, he is connected to everyone in a bond similar to the special mate bond we share as a pair.”
“He has a highway to everyone’s brain?” She raised her eyebrows. That’s got to suck.
“Not a highway, but more of a pulley line. We can push feelings to him and vice versa if needed. He can also locate all of us through the bond.”
She toweled off her hair and draped the wet towel over the knob of the bathroom door. “So, his is like an emergency response line.”
“Yes. That’s a good way of looking at it.” He pulled a pair of jeans from the dresser and slipped into them then turned back to her.
She shifted from one foot to the other. It was his room. She didn’t have any clothes except the ones from the basket by the door, and they really needed a wash. Surely he realized she needed some clothes too?
“Are you going to stand there enjoying the view or get me some clothes from my room?”
“I’m good with what you’re wearing.”
A vicious growl erupted from her throat, surprising her. She covered her mouth and coughed. What the hell?
“Look at my little firecracker. Already figured out how to growl at her mate.”
“How did I do that?”
He grinned. “The magick senses your desire. It simply morphed your vocal chords for the desired impact.”
“That’s all. Just morphed my vocal chords so I could snarl more effectively.”
“Yep, the ones you really have to watch out for are the cats. They are sneaky about morphing their hands into claws without warning. Most all species can growl and drop their fangs at a moment’s notice, but cats have those nasty, sheathed claws. They are a bitch to fight.”
“Do wolves and cats not normally get along? Heath is a lion.”
“Heath is married into the pack. And, yes, we get along with him because he’s family. Scott is also tolerated because he married in. But, otherwise, we would all do our best to ignore each other.”
“So y’all are racist.”
Chris snorted. “No, it’s the animal DNA. We just prefer our own kind. Survival of the species and all. Margaret and Scott got some flak for their mating. He took an of-age female from the Vegas Pack. Heath had the same problem when he mated with Nina. But everyone honors a true mate bond. Magick always has the last word.”
“So their babies...” This was all very confusing.
“Will grow up to be bear shifters and lion shifters. The DNA of the father is always dominant.” He handed her a pair of boxers and a sweatshirt from the dresser behind him. “Here, let’s go see if they left us any breakfast.”
“Pit stop in my room. I need a bra and some underwear.”
“No.” He nuzzled her neck. “No bra and no panties.”
She sputtered but slipped into the clothes. He took her hand and led her out and down to the dining room. It was amazing, but she could hear the conversations before they entered the room. Her parents were talking to Scott and Margaret about the renovations in the inn.
They went through the swinging door into the kitchen, and silence fell over the room. Everyone was standing or sitting around the giant island in the middle of the room. The three Demakis sisters waved, but Margaret hurried to her side first.
“So glad to see you’ve emerged. I see the younger Michaels brother is just as demanding as Sam says Chase is.”
Heat flooded Sarah’s face, and words refused to form. Margaret winked and whispered, “It takes a while to get used to the bond.”
“No kidding,” Sarah answered.
“Come, have some coffee. I bet you’re hungry too.”
“Starved.”
Her mom bustled over and gave her a hug and asked if she was okay. Within a few moments, the conversations started up around the room again. She was pulled over into the female circle and introduced to the young woman named Leslie, another descendant of Stefan Antipas. They pointed out her brother, Paul, standing next to Scott.
“How did you handle the wolf’s voice?” she asked, sipping on the hot mug of roasted liquid deliciousness.
“Oh, I’m an insomniac. I taught myself to nap and to wake up before falling deep enough to hear her. My brother and I both have terrible schedules and exist on an ungodly amount of energy drinks and coffee.”
“What about your parents?”
“Both of them died in a car accident fifteen years ago.”
“I’m so sorry.”
Leslie tucked a lock of her raven-black hair behind her ear and nodded. Her blue eyes sparkled, and she smiled. “It’s okay. They are still in our hearts. I’m actually thankful they won’t be pulled into this mess we’ve been dragged into. I’m thrilled to find a built-in family, but our parents were extremely conservative. This supernatural stuff would have made them sick.”
Conservative? Sarah stared at the blue streaks in the woman’s black hair, the metal ring in her left eyebrow, and the tattoos playing peek-a-boo from beneath her shirtsleeves and other exposed areas of skin.
Leslie laughed. “I didn’t say I was an easy child. But tats and piercings are a far cry from trying to explain the existence of an animal soul sharing your body. We just learned to hide our supernatural problem under the guise of other louder issues.”
“True.” Sarah glanced at her mom and smiled. “It’s certainly not the easiest topic to broach.”
Bonnie shook her head. “I’m glad I can be here for you, Sarah. And so is your father.”
Sarah looked back to Leslie. “Wouldn’t your mother or father have suffered from the same thing?”
“We were too young to remember. We grew up with our godparents.”
“Oh.” Sarah turned to Margaret. “When is Kate coming back to perform the ritual for them?”
“Not sure,... but, in the meantime, Leslie has graciously offered to help us build a secure network for Woodhaven that can link to the other packs around the country. We need something strong enough to keep the Council out of it.”
“You know how to do that?”
“I was a hardware and software engineer for the Air Force. This will be a piece of cake.”
The mate bond flared, and Sarah peeked over her shoulder to catch Chris gazing at her ass. He looked up and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. Really? He smiled and turned back to his conversation about the latest football game he’d missed. Wolves or not, men were still just men. They rarely showed anyone they worried about anything, enjoyed sports way too much, and were always in the mood for sex.
“So does the inn have any type of security system installed?” Leslie asked.
“If it did,” Nicole started, “the raccoons ate it a long time ago.”
The twins high-fived their sister and laughed
.
“Scott had the inn rebuilt with a secure basement. He’s not a techie guy, so he always planned to have the pack send someone to build-out the system. We were thrilled to hear you would be joining us,” Margaret added.
“Sweet. I love getting to build something from scratch. Will I be building the hubs in the other cities as well?”
Waking Sarah Page 9
