Loving Lachlyn (Ashland Pride Two)

by Butler, R. E.

  “Jericho?” Grant asked, pulling Jericho’s thoughts from job hunting back to the present.

  “Sorry, what did you say?”

  “Rhett could use some help on the farm. Are you interested? He pays well. I work there with Ethan, Ray, and Wesley.”

  “I was just thinking about what to do for work,” he mused. “Yeah, that would be great. I don’t know much about farming, though.”

  Grant shook his head. “I was telling him how you’ve been fixing stuff around here, and he’s really looking for someone to do more handyman-type stuff than farm stuff. Plus, his mate, Lisa, has got a to-do list two miles long.”

  “Man, I saw that list! She wants a gazebo and a greenhouse!” James laughed.

  Alek said, “We’re going over there for dinner tonight, so you can get to know my brothers, their mate, and my nephews, plus Rhett and Lisa. You can talk to him tonight.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Jericho answered, finishing his coffee cake and cup of coffee. Lachlyn had been upstairs for a while, so she was probably waiting for them. He took a cup of coffee and a plate of coffee cake upstairs to her. She was leaning against the bathroom counter and looking at her face.

  “What’s wrong, sweetheart?” He put the plate and cup on the counter.

  “Nothing. I just thought for a second that my eyes changed color, but they’re just blue. I’m too tired to think straight.”

  “Then into the shower and straight to bed with you,” he grinned, enjoying the way her eyes lit up at the suggestion. While they stripped and got into the shower, he told her about their dinner plans and the suggestion he work at Rhett’s farm.

  She said, “I should probably get a job, too.”

  “You don’t need to work, baby. Alek and I will take care of you.”

  “But I want to work. At least for now. Maybe not when we have kids, but for now I’d like to do something.”

  “Any thoughts?”

  “Yeah, actually. I saw in the community paper that the school library was looking for an assistant. You know how much I love working in libraries.”

  “I remember you crying when your mom wanted to leave the library,” he chuckled, and she elbowed him with a grin.

  “I would have lived there if I could.”

  He kissed her forehead and rinsed off his hair. “You can do whatever you want, Sunshine. All I need to know is that you’re happy and that will make me happy.”

  “I’m happy right now,” she said as she took her turn under the spray, “but I’ll be happier when I’m in bed with my mates.”

  “That can totally be arranged.”

  Sunday night, they went to Alek’s Uncle Rhett’s home for dinner. The large farmhouse was warm and inviting, and Rhett and his mate, Lisa, made him and Lachlyn feel right at home. They were enjoying fresh apple cider from Rhett’s own orchards when Alek’s brothers came into the house with their mate and children.

  Ethan and Eryx were identical twins. Callie hugged Lachlyn and said with a big grin, “I’ve always wanted a sister!” They had twin sons, Elliott and Evan, who looked like miniature versions of their fathers, and Cameron, who had the same auburn hair as his mother.

  “Say hi to your Uncle Jericho and Aunt Lachlyn, boys,” Ethan urged, bringing the twins to stand in front of him. Jericho knelt down so they weren’t craning their necks up to look at him.

  “Hi,” he said, and the boys’ eyes widened.

  One of them turned into Ethan’s side and hid his head and the other hugged his arms around Jericho’s neck and kissed his cheek noisily, then did the same to Lachlyn as she knelt down next to Jericho.

  Ethan chuckled, “That’s Evan. He’s more outgoing than Elliott.”

  Rhett said, “I remember that you and Eryx were like that, polar opposite personalities.”

  Callie said, “They’re still like that.”

  Jericho stood and held Evan’s hand as they walked into the kitchen to have dinner. Lachlyn sat between him and Alek on one side of the table, and his brothers and their family sat on the other, with Lisa and Rhett on the ends. As the food was passed around, Rhett told him about the work that needed to be done.

  He’d come to Ashland many years ago, wanting to get away from the females and make his own way without their threatening behavior. He met and married Lisa, who was human, and they farmed the land together. Ethan and Eryx were the first to come with Callie, and their family followed several months later, with the exception of Alek, who remained in King with John and Henry, until John’s daughter, Jilly, turned sixteen and left home.

  Lachlyn said, “I don’t understand. Jilly left when she was only sixteen?”

  Eryx nodded. “It’s the way of the females. Once a female shifts during her sixteenth year, she leaves her dad’s house and lives with the females.”

  “With her mother?” Lachlyn asked.

  Rhett shrugged. “Anything is possible. We only know for sure that the females don’t care about the males.”

  “They’re like a really horrible sorority. I think it’s a lot of male-bashing type of stuff. Jilly was frosty as hell when I met her, and the women were even worse. One of the boys fell down and got hurt, and they didn’t even blink an eye,” Callie said.

  The meal continued as they talked about the mountain lions and the strange behavior of their females. Once more, Jericho wondered if the females were really done with the males like Alek and the others hoped, or if they were simply lying in wait and watching for an opportunity to strike again.

  Rhett took Jericho outside after dinner and showed him around the main farm and talked to him about the jobs he needed done around the farm. Jericho liked Rhett immediately and looked forward to working for him.

  As he opened the screen into the house, Rhett said, “I’m so glad you’ve joined us here in Ashland, Jericho, and it’s not just because you can fix things. Alek’s been lonely for a long time, and it does my heart good to see him finding a mate and sharing her with a strong male like yourself. Welcome to the family.”

  “Thanks, Rhett. I never dreamed I’d be sharing Lachlyn with someone from another were group, but I can’t deny that it feels right, and Lachlyn is as happy as I’ve ever seen her.”

  “Love will do that to a person,” Rhett said, following him inside the house.

  How true.

  * * * * *

  On Monday, Jericho headed to the farm and met up with Rhett in the storage barn where he put him to work sanding down and painting the railing around the porch of the home. As Jericho fit the sheet of sandpaper around one rung and smoothed it down, he smiled inwardly. He was using his hands to build something, not tear it down. He didn’t go to work today knowing that he’d have to wash blood off his hands at some point. If he bled today, it would be because he did something stupid like smash his thumb with a hammer, not because he would be fighting. Coming to Ashland was turning out to be one of the best decisions he’d ever made in his life. Not only because Lachlyn was safe, but also because he’d found a purpose to his life that didn’t involve loan sharks, collections, or hurting others.

  When the work day was over, his muscles ached, but his spirits had never been happier. The porch railing was a gleaming white, and Lisa’s genuine happiness over what he’d accomplished filled him with a sense of pride he hadn’t experienced in a long time. He imagined that his mother would be proud of the male he had become now, because he was proud of himself.

  Tuesday morning, when he stood at the sink to shave, Lachlyn slipped in the bathroom while Alek still slept and kissed his shoulder. “I have a request.” She hopped up on the counter, shivering as she sat naked on the cool marble.

  He rinsed the blade under the water and arched a brow. “Is it to distract me so I’m late for my second day of work?”

  She smiled sweetly. “Not at all. Alek is working his late shift tonight, and I wanted to know if you would be up for me marking you?”

  He stopped sliding the razor through the shaving cream and looked at her. “I’
d love that.”

  She wiggled her brows and touched her fingertips to his neck at the place where his pulse now pounded in excitement at the thought of what was to come. “I want my mark on your neck. The sooner the better.”

  “My neck is feeling a little bare,” he mused, winking at her and resuming shaving.

  She slipped off the counter and kissed his shoulder. She paused with her hand on the door. “Jer?”

  “Yeah, Sunshine?” He met her eyes in the mirror.

  “Do you think your dad is looking for us?”

  She trembled slightly, so he put the razor down and turned, pulling her into his arms. “I don’t see how he could find us. We’ve been careful. If he is looking, he’ll give up eventually. And besides, with me out of the den, that leaves the succession for the throne up for grabs. I don’t expect that all of the males will be willing to wait for my father to step down gracefully in his old age.”

  She lifted her head from his chest and smiled. “They’ll want to help him take a fast train to the afterlife?”

  He chuckled, kissing her nose and leaving a smear of shaving cream behind. Rubbing it off with his thumb, he said, “I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised.”

  “I can’t wait until tonight, Jer.”

  She slipped through the door and shut it softly. He finished shaving, unable to hide the smile from his face. Even the unwanted thoughts of his father couldn’t dampen his spirits today. Lachlyn was going to mark him, and they would get to spend the entire evening together. Alone. He couldn’t wait.

  He spent the day working on an old tractor. Brio had shared a love of mechanical things with Jericho as a child, and although he was no true mechanic, he had a talent for fixing all sorts of things, from cars to equipment. Attempting to wash the grease from his hands at the sink in the shed, he glanced at the clock and saw that it was time for him to head home.

  “In a hurry?” Grant asked, hanging up his tool belt.

  “Yeah. Lachlyn and I have the night to ourselves. You understand.”

  Nodding, Grant said, “Oh yeah. I never expected to share a mate with my brother, but it’s just so natural now I can’t imagine it any other way. But the times when it’s just me and Sam…I cherish them. Enjoy your time together.”

  Jericho said goodbye, stopped to tell Rhett that he was heading home and would be in late in the morning, and drove as fast as he could to the boarding house. Showering and changing into nice trousers and a button down shirt, he headed down to the kitchen for dinner. Alek left for his shift after the meal was over, and Lachlyn leaned over and kissed Jericho’s cheek and whispered in his ear, “Let’s go out to the camper.”

  He raised a brow, but the look on her face said she expected him to be compliant, so he stood and took her hand and they walked outside. The camper was parked at the side of the house, out of the way of the many vehicles that were parked out front. Lachlyn opened the door and moved up into the back of the camper, and he joined her, shutting and locking the door behind them.

  She took his hands and looked up at him. “I wanted us to have some privacy.”

  He tipped her face up and kissed her, matching their mouths together and igniting a fire in his blood that happened whenever their lips touched. She turned and he followed her into the tiny bedroom that was little more than a queen-size bed. He was surprised to find electric candles flickering on every flat surface. She toed off her shoes and turned to him. His hands slipped under the edge of her top and lifted it slowly over her head, baring her upper body to him. Pink lace covered her breasts, and he cupped them, rubbing his thumbs across the nipples until they hardened. She tugged at his shirt, and he pulled it over his head, his hands slipping around the soft skin of her back and undoing the bra. Pulling it from her, he tossed it to the floor and returned his hands to holding the firm mounds.

  Her hands moved up and down his back as their lips met again, their tongues sliding and dancing together as they’d done so many times before. But things were different now. The kisses they shared had changed on a fundamental level. They were no longer occasional lovers and friends; they were mated. He trailed his fingers from her tight nipples to the sensitive undersides of her breasts and then down the curve of her waist. Undoing the button and zipper of her cotton shorts, he pushed down on the fabric and it skimmed down her legs. He slipped one arm around her back and slid his palm up and down her spine as the fingers of his other hand touched the soft silk of her pink panties. He could feel how hot she was, could feel her tremble in anticipation of their time together.

  Dropping to his knees, he took her panties down to the floor. He glanced up at her and then at the bed, and she took his unspoken cue and sat down, leaning back on her elbows with a smile. Untangling her clothes from her legs, he tossed them aside with her sandals and then stood before her. He stroked his hand down the hard planes of his chest, where his thick muscles had been made with a lot of hard work and dedication. Her eyes darkened as they followed his hand down to the waistband of his jeans, where he paused for a few heartbeats before opening the closure. She made a rumbling sound of pleasure when he pushed the jeans down his legs and stepped free of his clothes and shoes.

  Falling to his knees again, he pushed her legs apart slowly to make room for his broad shoulders. Her body opened for him, her bare skin glistening with arousal and the heady scent of her filling his nose. Slipping his arms underneath her knees, he walked his fingers up the outside of her thighs before gripping her hips and pulling her forward, easing her knees up to hook over his shoulders.

  Inhaling deeply again, he growled, “You smell so good, Lachlyn.”

  Her legs tensed as their eyes met, and he held her gaze while he stroked his tongue up her pussy. She let out a soft sigh and eased onto her back, her fingers splaying on the blanket.

  As eager as he was to feel her teeth in his neck, he wanted her to have as much pleasure as he could give her. He lapped at her pussy leisurely, flicking the tip of his tongue at her clit every few strokes, until her hips began to move restlessly, seeking more contact. He held her still with his hands on her hips and she groaned. He teased her some more with languid strokes, enjoying the flush of passion on her body and the rise and fall of her chest with her quickened breaths. He slid closer, moving his hands from her hips to grip the insides of her thighs, his fingers pulling her puffy lips apart to reveal the glossy secrets of her passion.

  “Oh, Jer,” she moaned, her hands flexing on the blanket.

  He loved to hear his name on her lips.

  He blew a stream of cool air across her heated flesh and she shivered. Pushing closer, spreading her open further, he slid his tongue into her, growling rapturously at the sweet taste. She shivered and her legs tensed further. Circling her entrance with his tongue, he licked around her clit, watching her body for cues that he’d found the sweet spot. As his tongue rubbed along one side, her stomach fluttered and her fingers tightened on the blanket, and he drew his lips around her clit, slowly sucking it into his mouth and rubbing his tongue along the side. Her hands clenched the blanket hard enough to turn her knuckles white as he pushed her to come, her entire body quivering before she cried out suddenly, rocking back and forth underneath him.

  He pulled away, untangling himself from her legs, and flipped her over onto her stomach, jerking her body off the bed until her knees hit the floor. Pressing her legs open, he thrust into her in one hard press, burying himself in her tight, wet heat until he was pressed flush against the backs of her thighs. She’d dragged the blanket down the bed with her, her hands still gripping the fabric. Releasing his grip on her hips, he smoothed his hands up her back, curving underneath her to cup her breasts and lift her upper body from the bed.

  He pounded into her body, holding her close as he drove them hard towards climax. Shifting slightly every few thrusts, he found the place inside her pussy that would shove her over the edge fast, and he gripped her tightly, his fingers digging into her breasts. Her head kicked back and her throat wa
s bared to him. He didn’t need to mark her again, but his bear couldn’t help himself, and he sank his teeth into her skin. She shrieked in pleasure, her body jerking as her pussy clamped down on his cock like a fist, and he came hard, releasing inside her in hot jets. He released her neck, and she let go of the blanket and fisted his hair, jerking his head over her shoulder as she turned towards him.

  With a rough, growling sound she sank her teeth into his neck, and his eyes rolled back in his head. Nothing had ever felt as good as her teeth marking him as hers forever. Her teeth easily split his skin, and she made a purring sound in her throat as she bit down slightly harder and then released him. She kissed the marks she’d made and let go of his hair, collapsing forward onto the bed.

  He covered her body with his, barely able to keep his weight off of her with his arms straightened on the bed. After a few quiet moments, he scooped her up and carried her up the bed, laying her down and settling next to her. Her breasts bore pink marks from where he clutched her so tightly. He brushed her hair away from her neck to check the mark he’d left. His own throat throbbed in a way that could only be described as incredible. He’d left an indentation of his teeth on her neck, but had not broken the skin. Pressing a kiss to the bruised flesh, he pulled away and looked at her.

  Her eyes were closed, but she was smiling.

  He kissed her lips. “I love you, Lachlyn.”

  Her eyes opened and her lips parted in a wide smile. “I love you, too, Jericho.”

  She pushed him over onto his back and tilted her head to look at his mark. Her smile faded into a frown.

  “What’s wrong, Sunshine?”

  She lifted her lips and ran her finger over her top teeth. “I don’t understand.”

  “What, love?”

  Shaking her head, she asked him to come into the bathroom with her. When the light clicked on, he blinked a few times in the glare and then looked at his reflection in the mirror.

  What the hell?