“I was confused,” Victoria said. “She’s not the same—”
“Shut up!” Kendra screamed. Koenraad could hear that half the room had stopped breathing. “I missed the end of the game for this bullshit. You and I will talk tomorrow. I expect you’ll come with her, Darius.”
“Of course,” Darius said.
Wyeth raised a finger. “This is serious,” he said to the other judges. “It makes a mockery of this court. Without consequences for our actions, we’re no better than animals. I propose we all meet in the next week to discuss a fitting punishment for Victoria’s actions.”
Koenraad heard shifters leaving, but he was now looking at Monroe. She was positively melting into Spencer’s side like she was trying to hide inside him, and even though Koenraad knew there was nothing between them, he felt a pang of jealousy.
“Wait,” Victoria said. “I challenge… her.”
“You want to be my mate, Vicky?” Spencer asked with a grin.
Koenraad whirled to face Victoria. “Don’t you dare—”
“It’s my right.” The color was back in her cheeks, and her eyes flashed fire. “I challenge her right now.”
Desperately, Koenraad looked to the remaining Council members. Only Sawyer, Chopin, and Darius were left. Darius wouldn’t deny his niece, and Chopin, who was the newest judge, could rule either way.
He would need to convince Sawyer.
“Chopin,” Spencer called out before Koenraad could speak. “Being that I’ve been challenged, can I request that Victoria’s challenge wait until the results of my battle are known?”
“But it’s a sham,” Victoria huffed. “He has no intention of going through with this.”
Sawyer looked at Monroe. “Who is this man to you?”
Her eyes went huge. Don’t say anything, Koenraad implored her silently. Her eyes jerked to his, then went to Sawyer.
“First I was dating Koenraad. Then I met Spencer. Koenraad and I didn’t work out. He said, uh, that we had no future. Spencer’s charming and kind, and he had a proposal and I accepted and he sealed it with a kiss until we work out the details,” she said in a breathless rush. Her heart galloped in her chest, and she was visibly nervous as hell, but she’d told the truth.
Including about the kiss, apparently. He wasn’t thrilled about that. Or about any of it. Monroe was supposed to be headed home, not standing here.
Victoria snorted. “Nice try, Spencer. You’re not mated. Go back to your lab.”
“Sure thing, cupcake,” Spencer said. “As soon as the judges give me a ruling? Chopin? After all, if Victoria wants to challenge for me, wouldn’t it make more sense for us to wait and find out who wins my challenge? Otherwise she could be stuck fighting for Koenraad, and I’m sure she doesn’t want that.”
“I see no fault in your logic,” Chopin said.
“Agreed,” Sawyer said. “Have a good night, all.” He shuffled out.
Chopin pushed to his feet. “You will wait one week for your challenge, Victoria. Though I’m disappointed in all of you. We’ve got a serious crisis on our hands, and you’re using this court to settle…” He agitated his hands. “… Whatever the hell this is.” He noticed Darius staring solemnly at him, and he apparently decided to end his lecture there.
Koenraad hopped the barrier and was moving fast up the steps. “Get her out of here,” he growled.
Monroe kept glancing up at him as they hurried her from the building, her expression confused. He got into the back seat of Spencer’s car, pulling Monroe in after him. Spencer accelerated away from the building like it was on fire.
“What happens now?” Monroe asked.
“I can’t believe you brought her back here!” Koenraad exploded. “I wanted you to make sure she got home safely, not stick her head in Victoria’s mouth!”
“You would be rotting in a cell if I hadn’t, and you’re welcome.”
“I was already coming back,” Monroe said quietly. “I realized we’d made a mistake.”
Koenraad knew he should hold her, but he couldn’t bring himself to move. He was pumped full of adrenaline, and that didn’t mix well with reassuring caresses.
“Anyway, I have a plan,” Spencer said.
“It had better be fucking good.”
“Claim her now. Obviously you have to. Victoria’s going to find out about the transfusion. She knows something happened, and when she thinks about it, she’ll realize what the real con was here. She’s going to be furious. You’d better do it tonight.”
“I’m two seconds from making your challenge a fight to the death,” Koenraad growled.
“Nah. I’m yielding to the superior shark, but I’ll keep that to myself for two days.”
“What’s the rest of the plan?” Monroe asked. She sat stiffly beside him. “She wasn’t supposed to challenge me.”
“We knew it was a risk,” Spencer said. “Why did Monroe need a transfusion anyway?”
“She cut her finger,” he snapped. “So what happens after I claim her, Einstein?”
Spencer shrugged. “You’re the one who’s been doing security the last two years. I’d say that combat strategies would be your area of expertise, brother.”
“I’m going to have to fight her?” Monroe asked.
“No,” Koenraad said at the same time that Spencer said, “Yes.”
Monroe made a strangled sound.
Koenraad shot Spencer a warning look to keep his mouth shut. “If we stay here, you won’t be able to get out of it. But I can hide you.”
“But if she finds me, it’s a fight to the death?”
“She’d have to get permission for that, and since you won’t give it, you would be safe if you were a shifter. But you’re not, and a non-lethal fight would be lethal for you.”
Monroe grew contemplative. “What if I yield my claim like Spencer did?”
Spencer shook his head. “That will work for us because as stubborn and annoyed as your boyfriend is, he doesn’t actually want to kill me. Victoria would have to agree to let you out of it.”
Koenraad was still keyed up, but he pulled her close thinking that any reassurance was better than none. Much of the tension drained from her immediately. All this, and she still trusted him to keep her safe.
“It’ll work out,” he promised her, though he had no idea how he was going to make that happen. He had to claim her. Once they were mated, life without her would be unbearable. So would life with her, because they would have to go into hiding together. They’d have to move constantly because he couldn’t stay in one spot while scouring the ocean for Brady.
“Am I the only one who sees the obvious solution here?” Spencer asked. “Why not kill Victoria? Lure her into the ocean and end it there. They’ll suspect you, but they won’t be able to prove it.”
“You’re right,” Koenraad said. “You should stick to your area of expertise. Victoria’s not dumb. She won’t agree to meet me.”
“You never know. Her plan tonight had some serious flaws.” Spencer shrugged, clearly unperturbed by the complications he’d created. Koenraad really could have punched him.
The moment Spencer reached the marina, Koenraad was hustling Monroe out of the car. He didn’t bother to wave goodbye to Spencer, but Monroe did.
“On the boat,” he ordered.
He pushed The Good Life to her limits. Monroe sat on the bench, her hands white-knuckled on the seat’s cushion as the sleek yacht muscled through the water, sending up a noisy spray.
Koenraad knew she was capable of more speed, and he demanded it, not letting up until their destination was in sight.
The boat practically slid sideways to the pier. He helped Monroe off.
“We’re here?” she asked. “Why?”
“It’s safer for tonight. For whatever reason, Menendez didn’t tell Darius about our blood. That doesn’t mean he kept the information to himself. Even if he did, who knows how long before he talks? I can’t risk the Council grabbing either of us before we’re m
ated.”
“Why is it safe here?”
“The island is mostly uninhabited, for starters. There are no hotels or restaurants. There are a thousand other places I’m more likely to be. Come on.”
He didn’t wait for her and instead grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the crater.
Chapter 19
Monroe gasped as she caught the first glimpse of the lake at night. The clouds above had dispersed, letting the brilliant moon shine. The lake was like a dark mirror. It could have been the portal to another dimension.
Koenraad didn’t let up his pace. He just pulled her along, half supporting her with his iron grip. When they reached the shore, he whirled to face her.
Before he could speak, she threw her arms around him. “I was so worried,” she said.
For the first time since she’d gotten back, he seemed to relax. “We’ll be fine.” His arms circled around her, holding her close. “Claiming is going to hurt,” he said. “It’ll feel good, too, but it’s going to hurt.”
She swallowed and stepped back so she could see his face. “Because of the spines.”
“And the double penetration. But mostly because of the biting.”
She looked at his sculpted, male-model face, his mouth, his full lips, and tried to imagine him hurting her. She couldn’t. “Biting?”
“I have to mark you. The way we do it as shifters is by changing shape to human during the biting. Otherwise the female’s scars would just heal. For a human, it should be easier, but if my blood is still healing you…” His gaze drifted off across the water.
“Then the mark won’t take.”
“No. I’ll have to keep my teeth in you until you heal around them. Like a body modification. It’ll take longer, but it should work. I hope.”
“I’m nervous.”
“I know,” he said. He caught her hands in both his. “If it helps, I’ve done most of these steps before. The penetration, the biting. It’s the final step, the intentional mating bite, that makes all the difference.”
“But that’s going to be the hardest bite.”
“Yes.” He’d drifted closer to her during the conversation, and now his body pressed against hers. She twisted her hips, rubbing against him.
He hadn’t been fully erect, but now he was. She felt him swelling, a massive bulge in his pants. He was breathing harder, too.
“If you keep doing that, my pants will be shredded. Then your dress will get ruined, too.”
She didn’t slow. “Too bad the spikes popped out. I wanted to suck you,” she said.
“Next time.” He wrapped around her, the crook of his arm behind her neck, his muscular forearm cradling the back of her head as he lowered her to the pebbly shore.
The stones were reflected in his eyes, and she could see herself, too, a tiny figure on her back. But then he kissed her, his tongue deep in her mouth, and she couldn’t see anything.
He grabbed her breast through the dress, groping, mauling. He wasn’t bothering with gentle. As his fingers tightened, squeezing her nipple, she began to cry out. Not for him to stop, but for more.
Holding her trapped nipple tightly, he tugged, and she arched up, following his hand with her chest to blunt some of the sharp pain.
He released her, then caught her again, and again she arched toward him. The warm pain in her nipple seemed to have shot between her legs. She was throbbing there, horny, ready.
“I’ll buy you a new dress,” he said as he leaned away. For a moment he stayed like that, his legs around hers as he knelt over her. He was staring down, then he grabbed her breasts and squeezed.
She whimpered, and he squeezed harder, gathered up the fabric on her dress and pulled, rending it with a loud rip. All the while, he stretched her nipples underneath.
When he let her go, she gasped and panted.
“Too much?” he asked.
“No,” she whimpered, even though it was.
“I warned you it would be brutal. There’s nothing soft or romantic about this, Monroe. What I’m doing now is flooding you with endorphins. When we’re in the water, before I bite you, I’ll give you a little of my blood. That will help—”
“No,” she said. “I want to feel this. All of it. The way it’s meant to be.”
His breath caught audibly. “You know we can’t come back from this. You get to liking it, I get used to doing it… sounds like a problem waiting to happen.” He shook his head as his large hands cupped her breasts, gathering them so that her stiff nipples rubbed against each other.
He dipped his head and ran his tongue over her erect peaks, then he sucked both into his mouth.
The stones were beginning to cut into her back and buttocks. It wasn’t comfortable, and she wiggled, trying to redistribute her weight, to vary the pressure.
Her nipples begged for firmer treatment, so he bit them. She cried out, her voice filling the night. “Be still,” he growled.
As he licked and sucked her, she could feel his hips thrusting slightly, bumping the heavy weight of his bulge over her upper thighs, which were squeezed together between his hard knees.
He pinched her nipples between his fingers as he moved back, then he yanked her knees apart.
Her dress met a noble end, shredded on either side of her, and her panties disappeared with one twist of his hand. She knew from the dazed look on his face that he was immersing himself in her smell, and when he leaned forward, he shook with the effort of controlling himself.
Then his hand was pressing on her stomach, his thumb over her clit. She saw his elbow digging into the stones, but it must not have bothered him.
He plunged his tongue into the slick middle of her pussy, his lips sealed around her slit as he repeatedly thrust the stiffened end of his tongue into her.
Her hips came off the ground, striving toward him. It forced her shoulders harder against the stones, but now, like Koenraad, she didn’t care.
And then his thumb stroked her clit, and she came, her hips pumping.
He licked his way up her slit until her nub was between his lips. She wasn’t surprised that he would demand a second orgasm, and she smiled; she was ready to give it to him.
Except then he stopped. “Keep going,” she said, her voice hoarse.
He pushed himself to kneeling and stared down at her sex. She glanced down and saw that she glistened visibly in the night. Some of that was from him, but a lot had come from her.
“That orgasm was to loosen your body. You’ll get more later, but if you’re turned on, that will make this so much easier.”
He took both her hands and pulled her up. Her dress remained in pieces on the ground. He stripped out of his clothes quickly, not bothering to make a show of it, but that didn’t stop her from admiring the breadth of his shoulders and the muscles of his back and ass. Seeing the scars now made her love him even more than when she’d thought he’d fought a shark for her.
When he turned toward her and she caught sight of his cocks, she gasped. From where she stood, the shafts looked smooth though she knew they weren’t. They were long and thick and stood at attention and made her mouth water in a way she never would have predicted. She very much wanted to suck them both, one in each hand, and drive him out of his mind, and she regretted not asking him to keep the spurs retracted.
“Ready?” he asked.
She nodded.
“Once I start, I won’t be able to stop. It will be physically impossible.”
“You told me. However horrible this is, I’m sure I can endure it.”
A wry smile twisted his lips. “What every man wants to hear.” He scooped her up and carried her into the water. It was like being carried over a threshold, she thought, and fitting for a shark shifter.
Cold water splashed on her, and she shivered. “I might not survive your lake,” she said, her teeth chattering.
“In a few minutes, you’ll be glad it’s cold. Going under now.”
“No!” she shrieked, but it did her little good. He
had submerged her to her neck.
She gasped, her mouth wide open in disbelief at the shock. Then Koenraad’s mouth was on hers as he pulled her under the surface.
Chapter 20
He held her close, but Monroe’s heart pounded so fast that he wondered if maybe it really was too cold for her. She was holding her breath. It was easy to distinguish that from simply not breathing because he could feel the minute tremblings as her muscles struggled to hold in the air.
But in the end she would have to exhale, and she did. He knew she’d want to swim up, but he wanted to do this underwater. It would be easier than taking her at the surface, where she’d be constantly thinking about keeping her mouth and nose in the air.
Her fingers scrabbled at his chest and he breathed for her, filtering out water, sending good, clean air into her lungs. Her long hair swirled around them like a veil.
He’d breathed for her before, but then she’d been in shock. This time, she was present.
There was a shorter pause before she exhaled again, which was what he wanted. He couldn’t help but notice that her body was much more efficient than when they’d been here before. It was probably because of his blood coursing through her veins; his blood could carry more oxygen. That would definitely come in handy.
He gave her more air, then moved his face from hers. Her scent was all around him in the water. It made him drunk.
They were close enough to the surface that the moonlight shone down on them. She would be able to see his face so long as he didn’t move too far away.
For the moment, he was staying close. He slid his hands under the backs of her soft thighs, kneading the supple, womanly skin, his cocks stiffening to a painful degree.
Her legs spread easily as he brought her closer, and she arched back. The ends of her hair tickled over his fingers as they moved higher. He hungrily palmed the full buttocks that he often found himself fantasizing about. Continuing his exploration, he slipped one hand around her shapely cheek, then between her legs and forward. Heat radiated off her pussy in waves, and he had to restrain himself as he dragged a finger up her slit.
Oceans Untamed Page 13
