by Celia Kyle
“I know, man, congratulations.” Stone’s words rang with sincerity. Silence descended, only broken when the gorilla took his leave. “Well, you guys have a good run. I’m gonna head on out and get on my way to Georgia.”
With that, the man strolled away, hips rolling in an easy gait, and Elly turned to her mate. “Why’s he headed to Georgia? I thought he was helping Ricker train here.”
Deuce shook his head. “Not anymore. Alistair’s brother, Niall, contacted the council. The man still holds his brother’s beliefs about how shifters should live. He doesn’t think we should be bound by prides, packs, or any other shifter collectives. He still thinks being forced into a group or facing charges isn’t right. But he never agreed with Alistair’s actions. He told the council of a compound in Georgia where quite a few women have been held, most of whom are Sensitives.”
Her mate paused and she let his words sink in. Sensitives. Those women held a power that was meant to be used to benefit shifters. But Elly knew Alistair used them as sex toys and assisting in keeping his Freedom members calm. Elise had recounted some of her time in Alistair’s clutches and her heart broke for what they were enduring. Possibly at that very moment.
“Alistair’s dead, but his legacy lives on.” Tears clogged her throat.
Deuce dropped a kiss to the top of her head. “Yes.”
“Is the council gonna help them? Give them somewhere to stay and heal and—”
“They plan to send some here if they’re willing. Maddy helped Elise recover and the two of ’em hope to assist others. Plus, Maya has already put in a request for hedgehog ‘if available.’”
Elly rolled her eyes. Only the Prima. “That woman is crazy.”
“Yeah, but just the right kind of crazy for those women. She’ll turn them into badasses like Maddy while Maddy and Elise work on their emotional states.”
“If I can have your attention, please!” Alex’s yell halted their conversation. “Can the Martin and Pierce ladies come forward, please?”
Nervous anxiety replaced the sadness that had plagued her at Deuce’s information. She hated being the center of attention, hated everyone (okay, carnivores) staring at her. But, it couldn’t be helped. Per Maya, she had to do the whole “kneel blood thingy.”
So she was gonna. Soon even. Probably when her legs decided to work.
Deuce’s nudge got her moving and she turned to frown at him before doing as he silently asked. Barefoot, she padded across the empty clearing and toward the waiting Prime. The Prima’s guards and their associated mates formed a semicircle behind the two pride leaders, the two unmated lions, Wyatt and Harding, standing next to Alex and Maya.
By the time Elly made her way to the group, her mother, Autumn, and Deuce’s mother were already kneeling in the grass.
Right. Kneeling.
She trembled, tremors jolting through her body, but she got her legs to obey. With more awkward falling than finesse, she thumped to the ground and swayed.
Thank god her mother was next to her and managed to grab her arm before she fell. Good lord, she was committing herself to living with a bunch of lions. Squirrel to the slaughter.
They were gonna eat her in a bad way.
“I promise we won’t.” Alex’s voice was a deep, laughing rumble.
Dear god, she’d said that out loud.
“Yes, you did.”
“That too?” Oh, look, she realized she was speaking that time. “Can we just get on with this?”
She hadn’t meant to piss off the Prime. Really. But she did.
“Maya.” His teeth were clenched. “We talked about this. No more teaching the women to—”
“Okay, okay. New rule: no ordering the lion-o around.” She even saluted.
Shaking his head with a sigh, Alex seemed to gather himself and got on with the show.
“Welcome, pride!” Roars, a chitter, and a bark answered the Prime’s words. “These past weeks have been troubled, but there’s a new future on the horizon. Change has been rapidly unfolding and all of it for the better. Part of those changes is expanding our pride and accepting these women into our hearts. I welcome Autumn Pierce, sister of Deuce Pierce. I welcome Eloise Martin, mate of Deuce Pierce. I welcome Amya Pierce, mother of Deuce Pierce. And finally, I welcome Rowan Martin, mother of Eloise Martin. With these women, our pride shall grow. They bring the knowledge of the elders and the fruit of youth.”
Maya had been right about Alex’s politician-esque grandstanding.
One by one, the Prime went down the line, greeting them, making the cuts in their arms, pressing them together and repeating the ceremonial words. By the time he got to Elly, she was sure she’d pass out.
She was an herbivore for a reason.
Alex was before her, hand outstretched, palm open, and the other clutching a ceremonial blade. “Elly?”
Trembling, she extended her arm, flinched when his warm fingers encircled her wrist, and winced when the knife sliced through her skin. He pressed their bleeding flesh together and repeated the binding words.
“Blood to blood, heart to heart, fur to fur, I welcome you to my pride.”
Elly wove, swaying when the Prime released her, and she tilted her head back to look at her smiling mate. “Deuce?”
He dropped into a crouch beside her. “Yes, kit?”
“Am I allowed to faint now?”
Chuckling, he rolled to his feet and leaned down, helping her to stand. “Not yet.” He nuzzled her neck, sending a shiver of arousal through her. “Maybe after I make you come a time or ten.”
“Now?” She was all about coming now, about having him deep within her. An orgasm or ten sounded much better than fainting.
“As soon as Alex starts the run.”
Yeah, that made sense. They couldn’t get down and dirty with the pride standing around.
“Okay everyone,” Maddy yelled over the cheering group. “Let the ru—” Ricker slapped his hand over the woman’s mouth and his hissed admonishment could be heard by all.
“We talked about this. No sex unless you pretend Alex runs things. That means no giving directions to the pride.”
Alex growled, glaring at the couple, but turned his attention back to his lions…and the one rabbit. Oh, and the fox. Then there was Elly and her mother…the two squirrels. Damn, she forgot Ricker was a tiger.
They could almost start their own zoo.
The Prime raised his arms into the air, pulling everyone’s attention from the arguing couple. “Let the run begin!”
The rustle of clothing, giggles, and moans filled the silence. Elly kept her gaze averted, trying not to stare while the pride stripped. Squirrels tended to be solitary animals and stripping and shifting typically happened behind bushes or trees. They only came together after they were ready to scamper on all fours. A peek from beneath her lashes revealed that most people were nearly naked, some bare, and a lot of them getting frisky in front of everyone.
The members of the pride who had surrounded Alex were shifted. And Elly tried really, really hard not to laugh at the sight of a white bunny perched on the back of Neal in his lion form.
Really. No laughing.
Before long, Elly and Deuce were alone in the clearing, the crowd having flowed around them as the shifted animals disappeared into the surrounding forest.
“Still feeling like fainting, kit?” Deuce nuzzled her and, with everyone gone, the scent of his arousal was unmistakable.
Her clit pulsed, body reacting to his closeness and scent, and the only thought filling her was how to get Deuce naked as fast as possible
“No. I’ve got a few other feelings now.” She nipped his chest through his shirt.
“Come on, then.” Deuce twined his fingers with hers, stepped out of her arms, and dragged her across the clearing. “There’s a nice secluded spot with our names on it.”
“How far are we talking? Over the river and through the woods or more like parking lot to burger joint?”
With that question
, Deuce spun and tossed her over his shoulder, arm behind her knees to keep her from tumbling off. The sharp pain of his hand colliding with her ass had her gasping.
“Hey!”
“Hush.” Another smack.
Elly grumped. Ideas of how to punish the man rolled through her mind with every thudding stomp toward their destination. Before long, Deuce stopped and lowered her to the ground, giving her a chance to absorb her surroundings.
“Holy shit.” Her voice was barely a whisper. The small pool before her was edged in blossoms of every color and the lush green grass called to Elly’s inner squirrel. Didn’t she want to shift and play? Frolic through the dew and hunt for yummies?
“This is my favorite place and I wanted my favorite mate to see it.” Deuce’s thick, deft fingers tugged at the hem of her shirt and she raised her arms, allowing him to strip her.
“Your only mate.” She said the words without heat, the comment now a joke between them. Plus she was too distracted by her surroundings to care about much else. The bunch of red flowers seemed to ease into the grouping of purple and those flowed into the layer of yellow. She padded toward the pool, peeking in, and she noted the smooth stones that decorated the bottom.
Her shorts went next, her mate’s fingers slipping beneath the waist, and the elastic made it easy for him to slide the fabric over her hips. Then she was nude, bared to nature. And to Deuce.
After weeks of making love, exploring and tasting each other’s bodies, embarrassment had no place in their mating.
Elly tore her attention from the water and turned toward her lion, let her gaze drift over his now bare form. She lingered on his gentle smirk and on to his heavily muscled chest, flat stomach, and farther south. At some point, while he’d stripped her, he’d also removed his clothing.
Yum.
His cock was already hard for her, long and thick. Her pussy responded to his nakedness, his nearness, growing damp and pulsing with need. Her nipples pebbled, not from the cool air, but from arousal.
She wanted him. Again and again. And then again.
She took a step toward her mate, fingers tingling with the need to touch him, but he nudged her backward. One pace and then two, farther and farther until the warm water of the pool surrounded her feet.
“I guess we’re skinny-dipping?” She let him back her up another step.
“To start.” He prodded her farther. And farther still until the warmth enveloped them.
On Deuce, the water rose to his hips. On the much shorter Elly, it hit her breasts.
Elly reveled in the heated water, squirrel rejoicing in the impending lovemaking. Thankfully, she didn’t have to dream of the sensations for long. No, not when Deuce gathered her close, lifted her against his chest, and slanted his mouth over hers.
He slid his tongue into her, lapped at her, and suckled her tongue. She mimicked his every move, sucking, licking, nibbling. With each flex of muscle, her arousal heightened, body burning for her mate.
At his urging, she wrapped her legs around his waist and moaned when the searing heat of his cock pressed against her slick pussy. She rocked her hips, aching for the pleasure of his ownership.
The water flowed around her, slid over her body, and then her back was resting against the hard, smooth surface of a rock.
Deuce’s lips feathered over hers, kisses alternating between raging passion and gentle stimulation. “Sweet mate…”
“Deuce.” His name burst from her lips with a gasp. He’d nicked her lip with his fang and then lapped at the injury, sending tingles of ecstasy dancing through her.
She was perched between her mate and the stone, held immobile by the pressure of his body, and she abandoned the need to cling to him. She relaxed her muscles and trusted in her mate to keep her from drowning.
Drowning during sex equaled bad.
“Need you, kit.” He rolled his hips, his thick length sliding along her spread sex lips and stroking her poor flesh.
“Take me.” She gripped his shoulders, nails digging into his skin, and her mate growled against her lips. Her lion loved it when she gave him a hint of pain, revealed her desperation for him.
Growling, he shifted his hips once again, and she felt the broad head of his cock against her entrance. With one punishing thrust, he filled her, shoved his way into her weeping cunt, and she screamed with his fierce possession.
“Deuce!”
His response was a snarl.
Her mate withdrew and pushed forward once again, filling her, stretching her pussy. She moaned when the ridges of his cock massaged her inner walls, gave her pleasure, and petted her in those perfect places. He repeated the forceful caress, retreat, and advance, his hips meeting hers in a press of skin against skin.
The water surrounding them splashed and danced around their bodies with his every flex.
Deuce buried his face against her neck, kissing her skin and nipping her flesh. He grazed her, hints of pain adding to the growing ball of ecstasy that centered around the juncture of her thighs.
She clung to him, content to enjoy his ministrations and use her body as he desired. This was her mate, her one, the man she loved, and she reveled in his passionate touches.
“More. Deuce, more.” She scratched and clawed him, fought to bring him closer, to eliminate any space between them.
“Pushy.” He growled and bit her, sting of pain slamming down her spine, and the scent of her blood joined the fresh flavors of the forest.
“Yours.” His next thrust was bone-jarring yet caused her heat to clench, need rocketing through her.
He bit her again and she couldn’t resist the need to return the favor. Her teeth lengthened, sharpened, and she slid them into his shoulder. She lapped and licked at the sluggishly bleeding wound, savoring his natural flavors.
The cut she’d created seemed to spur him on, his hips moving faster than before. He pummeled her with his cock, shoving his way in and out of her pussy, fucking her needy cunt with a fierce passion.
Elly gripped him, face pressed against his shoulder and tongue still stroking his injury. His taste was unrivaled, sweet, hot, and seductive as it flowed over her taste buds.
She let him do as he wished, rhythm now punishing and constant. His attentions shoved her toward the edge of orgasm and she let the wondrous feelings envelop her. Nothing was better than her mate’s cock inside her. Nothing.
She sank her teeth into him again and his pace increased, his growls now rolling into snarls, the sounds vibrating through her and wrapping around her nerve-filled nub.
He didn’t stutter in his tempo yet the power behind each thrust grew. His cock stroked that perfect place, his hips collided with her clit just right, and his efforts sent her rocketing to the edge.
Pleasure wove its way through her body, stroking her nerves, plucking her muscles, and circling her cunt. She spasmed around him, milking his length, and each contraction increased her pleasure.
“Come for me, kit. Come on my dick.”
“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” She whimpered, held him close while her body fought to do as he demanded.
“That’s what I’m doing, Elly.” She heard the smile in his voice and she nipped him. “Fuck, kit.”
His cock seemed to swell inside her, twitch and pulse. That extra sensation sent her over the edge, pushed her into flying oblivion, and she came with a scream, his name on her lips.
She lost control of her body, muscles twitching and shuddering with the pleasure that filled her veins. Wave after glorious wave consumed her and she could do nothing but ride the sea of bliss he’d created within her.
Distantly, she felt her mate shudder and jerk, his hips moving against her in massive thrusts. One… Two… Three… He stiffened, cock pressed deep into her throbbing cunt. His dick swelled, then pressed against her inner walls, and she shuddered with the added pleasure the action created.
Warmth flooded her pussy, setting off another round of bliss-filled aftershocks, smaller orgasms that rolled along her sp
ine.
Panting, she slumped against him, let herself rest, and trusted he would hold her close.
Deuce lapped at her wound while she did the same, ensuring she closed the cuts she’d created with her teeth. Nothing tasted better than his blood, but if she thought about it for too long, she’d get squicked out.
Elly nuzzled him, enjoyed the feel of his damp, heated skin beneath her cheek. “Love you.”
Deuce nipped her. “Love you too, kit.”
“Mmm… I’m really glad you won me in that game, lion-o.”
He nipped her again, nicking one of her cuts, and her pussy tightened with the renewed sensations. “Lion-o?”
“Yeah, Maya’s rubbing off on me.” She smiled against his shoulder. “She’s been teaching me to play poker and I figure I’ll be able to beat you in a game pretty soon.” She leaned back and stared into his eyes, recognized the pure love shining in their depths. “What do you say? Aces high, deuces wild?”
“I’ll show you wild, minx.” He rocked against her, cock hardening within her sheath.
She wanted to remind him she was a squirrel, but then his kissed her, did that thing with his tongue. Yeah, she didn’t care anymore.
A roar reached them, the sound unmistakably Alex, and she pulled away from her mate. “Shouldn’t you go see if he needs help?”
Deuce shook his head. “He’s the big, bad Prime. I’m sure he can handle things. If not, the ladies will be sure to tell him how to fix whatever has gone wrong. They’re good that way.” The next roar had her mate stilling, a curse immediately following. “Damn it. Maya’s pissed.”
And that ended their waterlogged lovefest.
Damn it.
*
By the time Deuce got Elly out of the small pool and both of them dressed, snarls and growls were reaching them with scary regularity. Something had the pride in an uproar. Particularly the women, considering more than one foxy howl and bunny screech had drifted their way.
“Come on, kit.” His mate followed him along the path and back to the clearing and pandemonium.
