by Lacey Thorn
Aleksy. His name was sighed breath through her mind.
Let me enjoy the taste of you, love.
His voice filled her head, and she closed her eyes, leaning her head back and lifting one hand from the wall to tunnel her fingers through his hair, using it to anchor her. He coaxed her into an orgasm, keeping her on the cusp for long moments before letting her fly. Then he eased her back down only to make her fly again. Her legs were weak, and she was sure she’d slide into a puddle around him when he surged to his feet, taking her with him. He lifted her, sliding her ass up the wall as he stepped between her legs. He hooked her knees in his elbows, lifting her slightly higher until his cock slid into place at her opening. He eased her down, letting gravity help work her onto his cock.
Their groans bled together then he was moving, each thrust of his hips sending his cock deep. His shaft stretched her sheath, the wide head tugging as he pulled back then spearing her open again as he surged back in.
He wasn’t holding back. He took her hard and fast, the sound of their bodies slapping together drowning out anything else. She gripped his shoulders tight, her nails indenting his flesh, and she leaned forward, dropping her head to his neck and sucking at the muscle there. She nipped, licked then nipped again. When another orgasm began building, she sucked at his flesh, and as she flew this time, she bit down, hard. He growled over her, his hands tightening where he held her hips and his strokes becoming erratic.
“Mine,” he rumbled, and she glanced up, lolling her head against the wall as she fought to breathe. “You’re mine.”
She was. She knew she was.
He dropped his mouth to the spot he’d made and laved it, filling it with a throbbing heat that made her pussy contract around his shaft. He growled again, a rumbling sound that had his chest vibrating. He sucked at the spot, and it was as if his mouth was back at her clitoris, pleasuring the bud all over again. Then his teeth slid home, and she jerked against him as sensations rushed through her.
There was no part of her untouched as a powerful orgasm ripped through her. Her whole body locked up, everything tightening. His dick forced its way through the contractions of her pussy, each thrust sending her higher and higher until she went completely lax over him, her body giving and allowing her to sink farther onto him. He came with a roar, his cock so deep she felt his seed filling her womb.
She must have blacked out for a moment. The next thing she knew, her back was sliding over soft sheets, and Aleksy was tugging the covers over her.
“Sleep, love. Your body needs the rest.”
She was certain her body needed him, and from the purr he let out at her thought, she guessed he agreed.
“You’ll have me again soon,” he crooned. “Your body needs rest. Just a few days ago, you were…hurt. I could have lost you. I’ve been too rough on you today, too demanding.”
I wanted you and everything we did. I still do.
He smiled and ran a hand over her hair. “I want you, too, but I need to check in with Tony on a few things. Then I’ll get some food. I should have fed you as soon as you woke up.”
I have no complaints.
“I’ll remind you of that later,” he purred. “Now rest.” He brushed his thumb under her eye. “I’m wondering when you were last able to let your guard down enough to really sleep. You can trust me, Lyra. I’ll watch over and protect you. Always. Go to sleep, love. I’ll be here when you wake up.”
She blinked heavy eyelids up at him. She was tired. He was right. It had been a long time since she’d felt safe enough to allow herself more than a few hours of sleep. She’d been running on fumes for far too long. Plus, she did trust Aleksy. Strange as it was, every instinct assured her she was safe with him.
Mates. She let the word roll around her mind. She was beginning to understand the depth of what that one word meant. A bond stronger than blood. And the possessiveness she felt when she glanced at Aleksy told her she’d be a widow before he ever had the chance to leave her for another woman.
He growled. “No one will ever compare to you. I knew I belonged to you the moment I caught your scent. I knew you were mine and mine alone. You warm me,” he touched his chest, covering his heart, “here. Our bond will only grow stronger.”
Already, he continued speaking in her head, we can communicate with our thoughts. I feel you even when I’m not next to you. Your scent covers me as mine does you. Soon, the two will merge until there is no you, no me, only us.
For a moment, she pictured her mom, sitting on the edge of her bed. She’d taken Lyra’s hands and cupped them under hers so that all four cupped her mother’s face. Lyra’s gaze had centered on her mother’s lips. Just you and me, Lyra. It’s us against the world. We can’t trust anyone else. Only us.
For the first time, she wondered if her mother had been wrong. Would things be different if her mother had met someone like Aleksy? Would she still be alive?
“Shh, love,” Aleksy said, dropping a kiss to her brow. “We can’t change the past, and it does no good to play the what-if game.”
He was right. She wondered if he was always right.
His chuckle washed over her. “I’m going to tell you often that I am and remind you of that thought.” He moved away, his fingers brushing along her arm until he could no longer reach her. “I’ll be back soon.”
She nodded and let her eyes close, trusting Aleksy to keep her safe.
Chapter Nine
“I’m going out of my fucking mind,” Aleksy growled as soon as he found Tony. Nathan was in the room, too, sitting at a desk while he scanned over something on a laptop. “Taking a leave of absence?”
“Something like that,” Nathan replied without looking up, and Aleksy growled again. Tony stepped in front of Nathan.
“What do you mean you’re going out of your mind?” Tony asked. “Did something else happen with Lyra?”
“Other than my cock driving her to exhaustion you mean?” Aleksy snapped.
“You look a little tired yourself,” Tony volunteered, stepping forward and looking Aleksy over. It was something Aleksy was used to. The man knew him inside and out, right down to how long it would take Aleksy to heal from something and be back to peak condition. “Tell me what’s going on. I noticed the sexual chemistry when I talked to the two of you earlier.”
“I’m insatiable for her. Coming only seems to make my dick harder. I take her only to want her again and again and again. She was a virgin, and I’ve had her several times in the few hours she’s been awake. What kind of monster does that make me? Jesus!”
“You’re not a monster,” Tony snapped. “I saw her, remember. Your mate didn’t look unhappy. Just the opposite, in fact. Was she on board every time or did she say no?”
“What the fuck kind of question is that?” Aleksy all but roared. “I’d never force myself on a woman.”
“Exactly,” Tony agreed. “I thought you might need to remind yourself of that. Now, talk to me. What are you feeling?”
“Edgy. Hungry. I had to force myself to leave her. I want the feel of her against me. Her skin on mine. I want to taste her, to lick my claiming mark until she’s filled with me and only me. I want to bury my cock in her and keep it there permanently.”
“I warned you about this,” Tony said, and Aleksy growled again.
“Warned him about what? Lyra?” Nathan asked, glancing up from the computer screen.
“About mating,” Tony corrected. “Aleksy is a primal male. Most males might enter a primal state, especially when it comes to their mates and protecting them, but it’s not a sustained state for them. It can also happen when their mates are ovulating.” Tony paused. “Is she?”
Aleksy shook his head.
“Some males have been drugged to induce a primal state. If it lasts too long for them, the animal will take over, forcing a shift. When that happens, the human side may be lost for good. This is a real risk for unmated shifters or those who have lost their mate.”
“Why is that?�
� Nathan questioned.
“Mates have the ability to calm the beast. Aleksy is different. He’s always in a primal state, his beast right beneath the skin. His senses are off the charts. His healing ability beyond that of other shifters. I’ve never met another shifter like him. Hell, he even scares them. Human and shifter alike tend to give him a wide berth.”
“I saw the way the women in the bar were eye-fucking him. So I’m guessing not everyone steers clear,” Nathan challenged.
“Some women like to court danger,” Tony said. “It doesn’t get more dangerous than him.”
“The only woman I care about is Lyra,” Aleksy rumbled. “How this will affect her.”
“Primal is a sustainable state for you,” Tony said. “She’s your mate. The woman created to be your perfect match. I can’t imagine nature would pair you with someone unable to handle who and what you are.”
“Maybe the beast will calm now that I’m mated,” Aleksy suggested.
Tony shrugged, but Aleksy could tell from his expression that he didn’t think that would happen.
“What about this sexual hunger? Do you think it’ll ease?”
Tony shrugged. “I don’t know. We’ll have to watch and see, and before you growl at me, I meant that figuratively on my end. Whether it does or not, I think Lyra can handle whatever you throw at her. She’s your mate. You’ve claimed her. As soon as her beast is allowed free, she’ll mark you. Maybe, that will cool the heat you’re feeling. Maybe, it won’t. There’s no one else like you, Aleksy. I’ve got nothing to compare this to.”
Aleksy paced the room, hands fisted at his sides. Even now, he wanted to charge back upstairs and join her in bed, if only to hold her against him while she slept. There were other things he needed to focus on, though. For her.
“How the hell did our mating heal her hearing? From what I’ve picked up from our bond so far, she’s been deaf since she birth. If her own animal couldn’t heal her, how did mine?”
“I’m actually considering that right now. I’ll need to speak with Lyra to validate everything, but I’m going on the assumption her animal is a white tiger, as her father was and her brother is.”
“Wait,” Aleksy interrupted. “You knew her father?”
“Looked him up in the database. Renly Esponetti. He disappeared a few years ago. His watcher was found dead. Esponetti is believed to have been taken and killed, though I haven’t come across anything concrete on that yet. We’re just learning about him and his children. The oldest child, Reno Esponetti, didn’t come on our radar until a few years ago. Seems the watcher assigned to the elder Esponetti kept a lot of journals but didn’t upload the information. We’re still playing catch up. Lyra wasn’t discovered until earlier this year. And it looks as if there might be a third sibling, another son. Nothing concrete on that yet.” Tony met Aleksy’s gaze with a look Aleksy knew well.
“Before you even suggest it, no, I won’t keep any of this from Lyra. It’s her family, and she has a right to know,” Aleksy stated.
“You know that’s only going to keep me from confiding in you,” Tony warned. “I can’t have you or anyone else going off, half-cocked, to look for someone who may or may not be real. From what I’ve learned about Reno Esponetti and Tah Pearce, they’ll leave no stone unturned when it comes to family. Which reminds me, I don’t believe they’ve figured out that Lyra is Reno’s sister. At least, they didn’t allude to it in the call.”
“Shit,” Aleksy muttered. “What can you tell me about Reno?”
“Okay, this is where I need you to stay calm and hear me out. Agreed?”
Aleksy nodded, gaze narrowing.
“Yeah, I’ve known you too long to take a head nod as agreement. I’m gonna need a promise on this one.”
“You’re fucking pushing it here, Sandoval,” he snapped at Tony then continued when Tony just glared back at him. “Yes.”
“Yes, what?” Tony prompted.
“I promise,” Aleksy growled.
“I’m holding you to that,” Tony vowed. “Now, here’s the thing about Reno Esponetti. I’ve told you he’s Tah Pearce’s right-hand man. Those two and another man named Logan Dobson have been together for years. They were in the Marines together. Tah drifted away from Reno and Logan when they all left the military then the three of them hooked back up. Tah met his mate, a woman named Abby Lane—Abby Pearce now. The two were kidnapped by a man named Harlan Jones, who worked for Marcus Blane. Jones was supposed to find the lion man Abby was searching for and kill him. Abby was to be Jones’ reward.”
“That bastard really needs to die,” Aleksy proclaimed.
“Yeah,” Tony agreed. “Tah and Abby escaped and went on the run from Jones. It appears Pearce didn’t realize he was a shifter before Abby.”
“So, the alpha of this new pride had no idea he was a shifter, much less the alpha fucking shifter?” Aleksy shook his head in disgust. For every shifter who knew who and what they were, there were too many who didn’t. That the alpha had been one of them said a lot about their species. Too many years of hiding, of blending in, which had led to a steady decrease in their numbers. “Interesting, but what does this have to do with Lyra? And me losing my temper?”
“Patience, Costas,” Tony urged. “So, they escape. Tah calls Esponetti and Dobson to meet him. This was the very beginning, before any of them knew who and what they were. They flee to Colorado with Jones in pursuit. Big altercation. Jones is killed. Pearce and Dobson are shot. Oh, and get this, the mate, Abby Lane? Her best friend is Jess Mueller.”
The name rang some bells, but it took Aleksy a moment to place it. Mostly because he didn’t have much to do with other shifter species.
“Isn’t she the mate to the four alpha wolves?” Aleksy asked.
Tony nodded.
“Whoa, this chick has four mates?” Nathan questioned, reminding Aleksy he was in the room. “All alphas? That must be pure hell.”
Tony waved it off. “Sorry, I diverged there. Just thought it was interesting that two best friends ended up mated to the heads of two different shifter species.” He shook his head. “Sorry. Moving on. Or at least back to Colorado and the start of this pride. They decide to do some recon on the Blane family. By this time, there are more people in their party. Many former soldiers who were in the Marines with them. The pride is forming. Reno Esponetti goes to the Blane Farms where he’s captured, tortured and…rescued. He ends up taking the woman who rescued him back to Colorado with him. Get this.” Tony glanced up, and Aleksy felt his pulse quicken at the gleam in Tony’s eyes. “He was rescued by a woman named Amia…Amia Blane.”
“Blane?” The word came out on a growl.
“Marcus Blane’s daughter,” Tony confirmed.
“Did they kill her?” Aleksy asked.
“Why would they kill her? Did you miss the part where she rescued him?” Nathan interjected, obviously caught up in the story Tony spun.
“Probably Daddy’s way to have her lead him right to the heart of the newly formed pride,” Aleksy stated. “She’s a Blane. There had to be an ulterior motive.”
Tony shook his head. “I don’t think so,” he argued.
“Are you telling me she’s a member of this pride?” Aleksy demanded.
Tony nodded. “She’s Reno Esponetti’s mate.”
The rumble started deep in Aleksy’s chest, but he did nothing to stop it. His beast was as angry as he was. “Is this Blane part of the party heading our way?”
“I don’t know for sure,” Tony said.
The growl filled the room. “You know what they did to Lyra. You saw her when I carried her out of there. That was a Blane. I won’t have another one anywhere near her,” Aleksy warned.
“That was Marcus Blane,” Tony replied softly. “I told you to hear me out, so listen. I did some digging on Amia. She ran away from her father and the Blane family several times. Every time she was captured, Marcus had her tortured. Stripped, chained, beaten…buried alive.”
“Fuck!” N
athan exclaimed.
“And she didn’t have any animal DNA to help her heal faster. She also saved a lot of captured shifters, rescuing them and getting them to safety. And even though she was captured and tortured, she never stopped rescuing. I don’t know why Blane didn’t kill her, and I don’t care what her last name is. I’d say she’s more than earned her spot on our side, so cut the woman some slack.”
Aleksy paced around the room. If everything Tony said was true, it was hard to think of Amia Blane as the enemy. But there was no shaking the surge of rage that filled him at the name Blane. Aleksy needed Marcus Blane to suffer before he died. And Blane would die. As would every man who’d been with him when they’d taken Lyra.
“Thank you for the warning,” Aleksy offered. “I promise not to attack first.” He didn’t promise not to fight back if something happened. “But once again, what does all this have to do with Lyra being deaf?”
“As I was saying, Reno’s animal is a white tiger, as was his father’s. My assumption is that Lyra’s is, as well. Here’s the kicker. White cats are predisposed for a condition referred to as congenital deafness. This is caused by degeneration of the inner ear,” Tony informed him.
“Degeneration?” Nathan asked, and Aleksy was grateful the other man had posed the question first.
“It’s where the inner ear breaks down or becomes inhibited in some way. My belief is that her beast would have prevented it from breaking down completely, so her hearing was only inhibited, but since her animal was locked inside her, it didn’t have the ability to heal her. Until you mated her. We both know your healing properties are off the charts. Who knows what hers will be once her animal is released and the two of you are completely mated,” Tony exclaimed.
“She’s overwhelmed,” Aleksy told them. “The world around her was always silent. Now, it’s loud.”
“And it’s only going to get worse,” Tony admitted.
“What do you mean?” Aleksy snapped.
“How do we know if her hearing is completely healed yet? She’s been unable to hear all her life. We have no clue what the damage to her inner ears was or how much they’ve healed. She’s a shifter, mated to a primal. We don’t know what her senses will grow to. They might even elevate to what yours are at a primal level,” Tony added.
