by Joyee Flynn
“Is that why you got sick? I felt your guilt, but I didn’t know why,” he replied gently as he hugged me against his chest.
“Yeah, the real world came crashing back, and suddenly I couldn’t breathe.” I sighed and snuggled back against him. “And then I was embarrassed for my graceful flop out of the bed and hitting my head and then throwing up. I just needed some air.”
“Next time tell me, okay, angel?”
“I will. I’m sorry, Curtis.”
“You don’t have to be sorry, Shem. I just didn’t understand what I did wrong,” he said softly as he ran his hands down my arms. “I can’t fix what I don’t know is broken or help you when I don’t know what’s going on.”
“So we need to know what you guys are doing before we talk about what comes next,” Cass said after a few moments. “I mean, we didn’t even ask if we’re welcome with you guys in South Dakota yet. We need to decide what to do with our house and stuff.”
“And where in South Dakota?” Ham asked. “Is it the same spot where Kody was taken in Rapid City?”
“Yes, Rapid City,” Curtis answered as he kissed my neck. “The spot where they were holding Kody was at the back of the property of our family estate. Which is also the compound for the head of the covens in those states. Conley was right when he said it is an inherited job like his. I just don’t know that I want it.”
“Why not? You’re obviously good with crazy. I mean, you handle me well.” I giggled, trying to lighten the mood.
“It’s not that I don’t think I could do the job well.” He sighed. “It’s after everything Harold’s done, there’s a huge mess to clean up. And why would anyone trust me? All they know is that I’m his younger brother and he did a lot more damage than good.”
“Ignore all that and the crap that could come with this,” Cass said gently. “Is this something you want, Curtis? I mean, how long has this position been in your family? Are you willing to let Harold take that all away from you?”
“Yes, it’s what I want, and it’s been in my family since vampires got organized on this continent. I don’t want it to be about Harold, if that makes sense. But now that I’ve mated Shem, the estate would provide the security I’d want for him. And of course I’d want you all there. You’re all adjusting to what happened. I couldn’t bear the thought of you guys all separating when you’re this close.”
“Thank you, Curtis,” Cass replied, and I could just about hear the wheels turning in his head. I knew what was coming next. “We could be of help if you’d let us.”
“How?”
“Our younger litter hasn’t finished their degrees yet,” Cass explained. “They were home for the weekend visiting when everything happened to our parents. Each of them has a semester left, but our older litter has degrees, and we all had jobs we abandoned and I’m sure lost now. I worked in public relations. Raquel is an accountant, Rashnu is a business management, Raziel has a political science degree, and Cameal has one in computer technologies.”
“Fuck, you guys are like any manager or leader's wet dream,” Curtis said with a whistle. “Could the others finish their degrees online or at the college there?”
“I’m sure that’s feasible,” Cass said slowly. “But we need to talk to your family’s attorney. We’re not without resources. We just didn’t want to use our accounts and lead the Hunters to where we were running.”
“I’m a whiz on the computer,” I stated proudly. “I just need my computer that runs in Braille with the Braille keyboard. I was getting a computer engineering degree, and I’m only a few credits shy of graduating.”
“Hot and smart, how did I get so lucky?” Curtis groaned in my ear, and suddenly I was reminded I was in heat. I squirmed in his lap and started panting. “Why are you getting warm, angel?”
“Because I’m not sad anymore, and we’re still in my honeymoon heat,” I moaned as I rubbed my ass over his growing erection. “Are we done talking for now?”
“Yes, if Curtis has decided he truly wants to take the position,” Cass answered.
“Now that I know I won’t be facing the mess to clean up alone, yes I do,” my mate replied as he stood with me in his arms. “Let’s plan on packing everything up here and moving to my family estate by the end of the week, okay? Right now, I need to tend to my mate.”
“You guys go, we’ll plot.” Ham chuckled.
“Bye,” I yelped as Curtis moved fast enough that I felt a breeze in my hair. It had to be less than a minute later that he was laying me on his bed. Hael wasn’t kidding that vampires were really fucking fast.
“Did you mean it earlier when you said you were ready for me?” Curtis asked as he yanked off my clothes.
“Yes, gods yes, take me,” I hissed as my skin heated up so much I felt I was on fire.
“Gladly,” he growled when I was naked. I heard some rustling and guessed he was getting undressed as well. While he was doing that, I pulled my knees to my chest, exposing my hole to him. “Sweet mother of mercy. You’re so breathtaking I’m ready to come now.”
“In me, come in me,” I whimpered as I moved my hands and pulled back the cheeks of my ass to give him a better view. “Take what’s yours, Curtis. Take my virginity.”
“Do you trust me, my angel cheetah?”
“Of course, why?”
“Put your hands next to your head like you’re going to do a back bend,” Curtis ordered as he moved on the bed. I did as he asked immediately, and he moved my feet onto his biceps. “Just hold on and enjoy the ride, my mate.”
“Okay,” I yelped as he raised my hips into the air. I knew he was kneeling on the bed, and I was now at a forty-five-degree angle. I wasn’t really sure what the plan was until he buried his face in my groin. Hot damn, my mate had some kink in him!
“Is this uncomfortable?”
“No, no, lots of fun,” I gasped as his tongue swiped my hole. “Are you going to rim me? Oh, I’ve always wanted to try that.”
“I’ve wanted to lick and eat this sweet ass from the moment I saw you, angel.” His words were muffled as he moved between licking my hole and sucking on my sac. I was ready to blow within two seconds of his attention. Then he thrust his tongue in my ass, and my feet started to slide off his arms. Instead of falling, Curtis threw them over his shoulders as he kept tonguing my ass.
“Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck me,” I chanted as he licked, sucked, and nibbled my hole in between sliding his tongue inside of me. Then he pushed in a finger alongside of his tongue, and I just about fell apart. “Never, never been so full!”
“You’ve never fingered yourself, angel?” he asked, pulling out his tongue but leaving his finger inside of me to do glorious things.
“I lived with nine brothers, three sisters, two moms, and a dad before going away to share a dorm room with four of them.” I snickered. “I barely had time to whack off in the shower without getting caught. And I’ve never been intimate with anyone beyond a hand job from a girl. So no, never had anyone ever even play with my ass.”
“Am I the first man you’ve ever made out with?” Curtis slid in another finger, and I heard the snap of the cap to the lube. Suddenly, he was pouring cool slick over those fingers before pushing them back in.
“Yes, you’re the only man.”
“Are you okay with this? I mean, were you straight?”
“Cats aren’t really gay or straight,” I gasped when he rubbed over my prostate. Now I knew why men went wild over it. Just that one movement sent shocks all over my body. I cried out his name as I suddenly, and without warning, came.
“That’s it, my angel. Enjoy what I’m giving you,” Curtis cooed as he moved his fingers faster. I couldn’t move my hands to control where my cock was shooting my seed and ended up hitting myself in the face. Maybe that should have grossed me out, but right then I was so wrapped up in the most intense orgasm of my life I didn’t give a flying fuck.
“We’re so doing that again,” I said, gasping out each word as I tried to get
air into my lungs. Curtis chuckled as he lowered me back to the bed and leaned over me. I felt his tongue lick off the cum on my face. “Oh shit, you’re gonna make me hard again.”
“That’s the idea, Shem,” he hissed in my ear. Curtis slid in a fourth finger in my ass, and I realized sometime during my orgasmic bliss he’d put a third one in there. I rode his hand as he cleaned up my face, thinking if I got this type of loving, I’d shoot all over my face any day.
“Love me,” I whispered when I couldn’t take anymore.
“I do,” Curtis said and then froze. Damn! This was another time I wished I could see him. But at least I could feel his emotions as I tried to sort through my own. My mate was scared. He was so afraid it was almost crippling.
“You do love me?” I asked hesitantly. Was that what he was afraid of? That he was in love with me already?”
“Yes,” he answered so softly I barely heard him. “I know it’s too soon and you don’t feel the same, but don’t be upset, okay? I didn’t mean to tell you already, but it is how I feel.”
“I’m not upset, big guy.” I chuckled and then pursed my lips. I heard my mate sigh as he brushed his lips over mine. It was sweet and slow and perfect. I wanted to tell Curtis what I knew he wanted to hear, but I couldn’t. “I–I think I do you, too, but I’m not sure yet. I’m sorry. I just want to know for sure before I say it. I’ve never said it to anyone besides family.”
“I understand,” Curtis replied as he started moving his fingers again and nuzzled my neck. “You’re giving me your virginity, angel. That shows me how you feel, okay? I don’t want you to feel pressured in saying it back until you’re ready.”
“You really are like the perfect mate,” I groaned and spread my legs wider. “Fuck me, Curtis. Claim me as yours.”
“Oh yeah,” he snarled, and while that should have scared me, I shivered with delight. It wasn’t a bad, I’m-going-to-attack-you snarl. It was more I-can’t-control-my-lust-for-you-and-need-you-this-second.
I gasped as he pulled his fingers out from me, and then the head of his cock was at my hole. I shook with anticipation and partly from fear. I mean, it was my first time after all.
“Push out while I push in, angel. Just breathe through the slight burning, but I stretched you enough for me.” I nodded with my mouth hanging open, looking like a total drip probably. But I did as he said. It didn’t hurt. It was just weird. Like something that shouldn’t be there or had never been there before.
“There’s no burn. Is that bad?” I asked as he started moving slowly, pushing more of his cock in me each time.
“No, angel. There might be some later when I’m all the way in you since it’s so new to you, okay? Just tell me if you don’t like it or you want to stop.”
“You really would stop if I asked you to, wouldn’t you? You’re already in me and moving, but without a single thought, you’d pull out if I said so.”
“Of course I would, Shem,” he answered, and I could hear the strain in his voice as he took things slowly. “If you didn’t like this or decided you weren’t ready, we’d do something else. It’s what being mated means, angel. Your needs are more important to me than my own.”
“I love you, Curtis,” I blurted out. What he said wiped away any lasting doubt that I’d fallen head over heels for my mate already. “You’re the most loving, sweetest, wonderful man I’ve ever met. And I won the mating lottery getting you as mine.”
“I love you, too, angel,” Curtis sighed, and then we both moaned as he bottomed out inside of me. “You feel like heaven, Shem.”
“It feels weird,” I whispered, still not in any pain but not really enjoying it yet either. I mean, I was thrilled to be with Curtis, but so far I could kind of do without being on the bottom for sex. But Curtis seemed to love it, and that made me want to keep going to find out more.
“It won’t once I start moving. Just give your body a moment to get used to me,” he said against my lips as he leaned over. Then he ran his tongue in my mouth when I opened for him. I moaned into his mouth as I threw my arms around his neck. Curtis explored every inch of my mouth, taking his time as he had when entering my ass.
Our tongues danced and ran over each other for several moments before I realized my mate was shaking. “I’m ready, Curtis. Take me.”
“Oh thank god,” he groaned and slowly pulled back.
“Sorry, didn’t know you were waiting for my green light,” I replied sheepishly. When he thrust back into me that time, it didn’t feel so weird. Almost as if he belonged there.
“I wish you could see how gorgeous we look joined together,” Curtis whispered before thrusting into me again.
“Tell me,” I gasped as he rubbed over my prostate. “Tell me what it looks like so I can imagine it, big guy.”
“Your back arches when I push into you, and your hole sucks me right back in as if it wants me there as much as I want to be there. My sac rubs against your soft ass, angel, and it’s like nirvana. When I start to pull back out, your pretty, hard cock smacks against your stomach and leaves wet spots from your pre-cum. Your balls are already pulled up against your body, and it makes me remember how they tasted in my mouth.”
“Holy shit, you’re going to make me blow,” I moaned as the images he painted in my head played.
“Do it, my angel. Come for me again,” he growled as he started to move faster. “Are you ready for me to claim you?”
“You’re going to come already?” I asked, shocked it was almost over.
“Shem, you’re so tight I can’t last long after that delicious appetizer of your ass. I’ve been waiting all my life to claim my mate and the anticipation had me on the edge before we started.”
“Okay,” I gasped as he thrust into me harder. “Okay, I officially like being on the bottom now. It doesn’t feel weird. It feels fantastic. Claim me, Curtis. Make me yours forever.”
“Thank the heavens,” he moaned loudly and nuzzled my neck. I tilted it to the side to give him more room. Curtis licked my throat, and I started to spin into a blissful spiral of sensations. “I love you, Shem.”
Before I could even respond, he sank his fangs in my neck. I screamed out as my brain turned to mush and my cock erupted. I came so hard I thought I might black out from the pleasure of it all. Curtis went wild at my reaction, pounding into me as he drank my blood. It was like I couldn’t tell where I ended and he started as our mating bond solidified. And I never wanted it to end.
But like all good things, it had to. Moments later Curtis lifted his head and roared as he shot his seed into me. Oh man did I love that feeling. It was as if he was claiming me all over again and branding me from the inside out! He wrapped his body around me as he pumped the last of his cum in me before rolling us over so I lay sprawled all over him.
“Did I hurt you, angel?” He panted as I moved up and down on his massive chest. “I got rough there at the end, and I didn’t mean to do that. I wanted to be gentle with you.”
“Shut up. It rocked. Need sleep,” I grunted out as I slapped my hand over his mouth. “So gonna be the bottom from now on.”
“Get some rest, my angel cheetah.” Curtis chuckled and kissed my palm. “I’ll clean us up and take care of you as soon as I catch my breath.”
“So I was good? I mean, I kept up with your other partners?”
“That was the best sex of my life, Shem.”
“Yeah me.” I yawned, snuggling against his chest. I was glad I could keep him sexually satisfied, and that was my last thought as sleep pulled me under.
Chapter 4
Good to Curtis' word, we were at his family's estate in Rapid City, South Dakota early Friday afternoon. My brothers had packed our few items up and worked with some of Conley’s vampires to get the rest of our belongings from our house in Massachusetts. It was a larger house, and it ended up that the Boston coven was overflowing, so they were going to buy it from us at a good price considering the market.
I was excited for the move and for
Curtis to claim his title as head of the local covens. It was his family’s legacy, and while Harold made the whole thing have a bad taste, I knew it would make Curtis happy. And I loved Curtis, so him being happy was a priority with me.
But when he said that we'd be having a meeting after we got there with the heads of those covens and his entire household, I suddenly felt sick to my stomach. I figured I’d meet a few people here and there, wade into the deep end of this.
Oh no! We were jumping in right away, and it was sink or swim time. It wasn’t bad enough that there were going to be issues with Curtis after Harold, but he was going to introduce his blind, male, shifter mate. This was going to suck huge monkey balls, and I seemed to be the only one who realized it.
“Everything will be fine, angel,” he said in my ear softly as he took my hand and helped me out of the vehicle. “We’ll have a quick meeting to introduce you and your brothers after I lay down a few new mandates. I just need to get the immediate issues out in the open first. Hopefully your brothers can help me with those. Then we’ll get everything to your rooms before meeting with the Rapid City Fire Department.”
Curtis had called them Tuesday when we’d decided to officially make the move and offered the RCFD the chance to use that falling-apart house at the back of the property where Kody had been kept as a controlled burn. It would be a good training tool for the RCFD, and Curtis thought it would bring everyone a lot of closure when it was gone.
“Just catch me if I faint,” I hissed at him as he led me up some stairs. Then we walked for a while amongst lots of whispers. At least I could smell my brothers flanking us, and that helped my nerves some. Finally, he led me up some more stairs onto what felt like a platform. Fuck! Were we on some stage in front of a bunch of people? I was going to beat him later for leaving out that detail.
