The Fire Goddess and Her Wolves [The Shifters of Freedom Springs 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Maia Dylan

  Jesus, she loved how she felt in the moment when either Cole or Travis pressed so deep inside her she felt like they were a part of her, and in this position, Cole pressed so tight within her that she felt full and stretched to the point there was just a slight bite of pain when he bottomed out within her.

  “Goddamn it, baby,” Cole rasped as he started to move strong and sure within her, clasping her hips and using his strength to pull and push her along his cock. “You fit me so good, and you feel like hot wet, silk wrapped around me.”

  “Oh God, Cole,” Fiona gasped. Her hands clenched convulsively into the sheets of the bed each time Cole pressed in balls-deep. “That feels so good.”

  Fiona felt her orgasm build as Cole worked himself in and out of her, pushing her higher and higher towards her release. Soon, he was pounding within her and Fiona loved every minute of it. She tried to hold onto her orgasm, wanting to prolong the pleasure for as long as she could, but she knew she was fighting a losing battle.

  “Fuck!” Cole snarled from behind her and Faith cried out as he twisted his hips, making sure to hit her G-spot with each thrust. “Come for me, Fiona. I want to feel your tight pussy flutter around me. I want you to cover my cock with your cream, baby. Come. Come now!”

  And that was all it took.

  Fiona threw her head back and screamed Cole’s name as she vaguely registered that Cole roared his pleasure to the room just moments after her.

  Chapter 7

  Ariana’s gaze was locked to the forest that surrounded the highway leading toward the Big Horn National Park. Growing up in New Zealand, she had seen trees and beautiful forests all her life. Hell, anyone who had ever watched a Lord of the Rings or Hobbit movie would know just how beautiful New Zealand was.

  As beautiful as it was, it wasn’t the scenery that kept her gaze out the window. It was the maelstrom of emotions swirling within her like a category five cyclone that hadn’t reached land.

  They were so intense and so damn uncontrollable that they threatened to overwhelm her. She was excited to see her sister and mother again. That was a given. It had been far too long since they had all been together as family. But the fear, anxiousness and pain at the thought of what came with completing her part of the prophecy was almost all-consuming.

  She had told no one what would be required of her to complete her part of the prophecy. She had a feeling that her dad might suspect something fairly close to the truth, but she had worked very hard to ensure he never completely connected the dots. Not an easy thing to do with her dad, but she had managed it.

  She turned her head to look across the center console of their new truck at the man in question. He was a strikingly handsome man, and she wasn’t just saying that because he was her dad. She was saying that because she had watched women throw themselves at him since she was a child. From her first teacher to her work colleagues in her latest job, there was always one who tried to make a play for Kingi Rika.

  Being of Maori descent, his skin was dark, and his hair thick and black, and despite his age only a sprinkling of gray hair at his temples. He was still built like the forestry worker he had been all his life, with a huge barrel chest, massive shoulders and arms, and hands that dwarfed her own and made her feel safe as all daughters do when they are holding hands with their dad.

  What all of those women who tried to turn his head in their direction didn’t know was that her dad was a one-woman man, and that woman was her mum, Maggie. She felt a rush of pleasure spike through her body at the thought of her mum and the fact that she would be seeing her today.

  “Only a couple of miles to go, babygirl.” Her dad’s deep voice was filled with excitement that matched her own.

  “Yeah, I can’t wait to see them both.” Ariana started to bounce in her seat as the town of Freedom Springs appeared around a corner. She suddenly closed her eyes as a wave of feeling washed over her. This place felt like home.

  A couple of minutes later, they pulled up outside the house Casey had purchased, and Ariana felt her sister’s excitement and happiness flood down their link. Casey must have been glued to the large bay window at the front of the house waiting for them to arrive, because she had only just opened the door to the truck when the front door of the house flew open and Casey sprinted right for her.

  Ariana heard herself sob her sister’s name and then they were wrapped in each other’s arms, crying and laughing at the same time. Twenty years of separation melted away as they held each other close. The sound of another woman sobbing made Ariana look up, and there, standing only ten feet from them, was her mum.

  Letting go of her sister, she ran to her mother. “Mum,” she sobbed against her neck. She inhaled deeply, taking the scent of her mother into her lungs, a scent she may not have smelt in twenty years, but one she had never forgotten.

  “Ariana, my beautiful darling girl. Oh, how I have missed you!” Ariana felt her mother murmuring the words against her temple as Maggie kissed her over and over, squeezing her tight in a hug that only mums could give. Ariana closed her eyes and felt a large chasm that had been within her finally close up. She was in the arms of her mum, and from the sounds of things, her little sister was sobbing over their dad and they were together. Finally.

  Her mum tensed in her arms, and Ariana looked up into her face, but her mother wasn’t looking at her. She was looking at something over Ariana’s shoulder, and whatever she was looking at she wanted, longed for and desired with everything in her. Without looking, she knew it was her dad. Stepping back with a huge grin on her face, Ariana got out of the way.

  Casey shot her a grin as she stepped away from their dad as well. Then it was like something out of a movie. No words were said between the two, but Ariana could read the whole damn story cross both their faces, a story of pain and loss, love and hope, need and desire, and finally a euphoria that took her breath away.

  Tears filled her eyes as she watched her mum reach out a hand toward her husband, and as if that was the key that unlocked whatever the force was that held them apart, her father strode quickly and confidently to his wife and swept her into his arms. He lifted her off her feet and his mouth slammed down on hers.

  She watched for a few seconds, filled with joy that her parents were together again. Then she realized she was watching her parents make out, and that was just…wrong! Turning quickly, she saw that Casey had come to the same conclusion and had moved up to wrap an arm around Ariana’s shoulders.

  “Come on, sis!” Casey laughed as she hustled Ariana toward the steps that lead up to the porch that looked like it might wrap around the entire house. “There are some people inside that are dying to meet you! Hell, we need to have some serious sister time. I have so much to tell you, and of course you need to meet my hunky soon-to-be hubby!”

  Ariana wrapped her arm around her sister’s waist and reveled in the ability to touch her, and see her. They jogged up the steps and stepped into the house, and Ariana found herself engulfed in a hug from a tiny redheaded woman who felt warm to the touch. Ariana felt a strong jolt slide over her skin and she knew this was Fiona.

  “Hey, Fiona! It is so great to finally meet you.” Ariana returned her hug and felt tears sting in her eyes. This pint-sized woman had been instrumental in helping her sister to complete the first part of the prophecy. She had pretty much stood toe-to-toe with a god and got a few licks in of her own, and Ariana couldn’t help but be impressed by that.

  “Hi.” Fiona stepped back and grinned up at her. “Damn, are all the Rika woman freakin’ Amazons?”

  Ariana grinned and nodded.

  “Pretty much ninety percent of the human population would seem that way to you, huh, short-ass?” She laughed softly as Fiona’s eyes narrowed threateningly, and she grabbed Ariana’s hand and turned it palm up. Then, suddenly, a flame leapt over her hand, not close enough to burn, but Ariana could feel the flame and laughed as it tickled over her palm.

  “Damn, baby, you know how I get when you start throwing fi
re around like that,” a husky, amused male voice sounded from the living room and Ariana lost her breath when she looked up and saw the room filled to overflowing with men, hot-as-hell, melt-your-panties-in-seconds-hot men, and two of them wore uniforms. Although any one of them could be a damn Calvin Klein underwear model, the one that leant against the wall at the back of the room, left the others in the dust.

  He was blond, with steel-grey eyes that burned with an intensity that had her heart beating faster. She watched as he stepped further into the room, then lifted his head slightly to scent the air. Ariana’s heart that had been beating faster now stilled. Oh, God! Please don’t let it be like this!

  But of course it would be. Fate could not be ignored. Ryan Winters—and it was most certainly Ryan Winters, the Sherriff who had answered her call for help almost six months ago, the man who had turned her to jelly just by talking to her over the phone, the man and the wolf who had come to her in her dreams all her life—suddenly dropped to his knees with a groan.

  “Mate!” he growled, his voice so filled with heat and need that Ariana felt her own body melt and heat to match it. Ariana closed her eyes. It wasn’t fair, so not fucking fair! To have something that was meant for you that you had longed for all your life and wanted more than anything else in the world placed in front of you, knowing that you would never be able to have it. Fucking sucked!

  * * * *

  Well, this just fucking sucks!

  Ryan was a private kind of guy, but to have the mating bond snap into place for him in front of all his brothers, his newest deputy, his mate’s sister—the door opened and Maggie walked in with a huge guy wrapped around her—and apparently her parents, well, that just sucked giant, hairy monkey balls.

  Shaking off the effects of the power surge that had taken him to his knees, he pushed up to stand and locked his gaze to the woman the fates had meant for him. Damn she was more beautiful than he had ever imagined or hoped, with long, dark hair that she had up into one of those twisty bun things that woman do to keep their hair out of their eyes, but to a man, it was sexy as hell. It left the graceful line of her jaw and neck open and clear to see, and right now, Ryan could see her pulse point had started to jump.

  She had startling green eyes that were rimmed in a darker green, and a splattering of sexy-as-all-hell freckles that ran over her cheeks and nose. What he wouldn’t fucking give to have the opportunity to kiss each and every freckle on her face. And neck. And body.

  “Okay, so why don’t we head on into the kitchen and have lunch?” Maggie announced, and Ryan threw her a grateful look. After a few moments of nervous grumbles and the shuffling of feet out of the room, Ryan found himself alone with his mate.

  “Well, this is awkward.” Ariana sent him a small smile, which he returned. She took a deep breath and moved to sit in one of the armchairs, and Ryan walked around the coffee table to sit in the couch across from her.

  “Yeah, I would label this awkward and for at least one of us.” He shot her sheepish grin. “Embarrassing as hell.”

  “Oh, please don’t be embarrassed.” Ariana leaned forward her face filled with concern. “You have absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about. We all know that the mating bond is not something that you can predict or control, and besides, from what I understand Travis and Cole announced the same thing to Fiona on the back porch in a fairly public way.”

  Ryan rubbed his suddenly-damp hands down his thighs, drying them on his trousers. God, he couldn’t remember the last time he had felt so damn nervous! “So, could we perhaps go out for a coffee? Or a drink? I would just really love the opportunity to get to know you better.” His heart pounded as he watched her. Something in her eyes told him that she wanted to say yes, but he had a sinking feeling in his heart that told him she was going to say no. Shit.

  “Ryan, there will be plenty of time for us to get to know each other once we solve this prophecy.” She couldn’t quite look him in the eye, which had his instincts roaring that something was not as it seemed. “I think it would be best to simply put all our energy into helping Fiona at this stage, don’t you think?” Ariana finally lifted her eyes to his. They were pleading for him to say yes, and despite every cell in his body screaming at him to say no and force the issue, he nodded.

  “Thanks, Ryan.” Her relief was almost palpable. “Well, I’d better head out and help dad bring our stuff inside. This house is awesome, huh?” Her voice was what he had immediately been attracted to over the phone. The rich timbre of her tone was sexy and made him think some pretty wicked thoughts. Right now, however, her voice was forced. Her pitch was too high and she had this nervous lilt to it.

  He watched as she smiled a smile that never reached her eyes and walked out of the room. He slumped back against the chair with a sigh. There was something going on with that woman, and although he wanted to get to the bottom of it, he knew he wouldn’t.

  Ariana Rika was his mate, chosen as the woman meant for him by the fates, and he could do nothing more than see to her happiness, even if it meant backing off and not doing what he longed to do, which was to go after her and coerce her in every hot and heavy way he knew and some he was prepared to make the hell up in order to get her to tell him what the barrier to their mating was. He had to be patient. And that fucking sucked, too.

  * * * *

  “Ariana! Stop being a bloody showoff!” Casey yelled as she put both her hands on her hips and stamped her foot. Fiona figured that, as tantrums went, that would have been much more effective if she wasn’t currently hovering eight feet in the air with a nervous Micah waiting below her just in case she fell.

  “You started it!” Ariana huffed back as she folded her arms across her chest and glared at her sister, and if she were asked in a court of law, then Fiona would have to admit that yes, Casey had started it.

  “I did not!”

  “You did, too!”

  “Did not!”

  “Did too!”

  Then there was a slight pause before both women yelled, “Mom! Dad!” at the same time and at the top of their lungs. Both parents came strolling out of the back door with wry expressions on their faces.

  “You bellowed, my darlings?” Maggie asked, leaning back into her husband’s chest as he pulled her closer. At that point, it was hard to make out what was being said because both sisters were pointing at each other and accusing each other of starting the current disagreement which now saw the garden with a few more hills in it than it ever had, and their youngest daughter floating on a cushion of air.

  Despite the hilarity of watching them fighting, Fiona was in awe of how much control they each had over their powers. She was definitely getting there and could now control the intensity of the fires or flames she sparked, but she had real difficulty sustaining an intense flame for any period of time.

  She let the present slip away from her for a moment as she thought back to the day Casey had completed her portion of the prophecy. When she had faced Aeron, she had hit him with short, sharp bursts of flame that had taken him by surprise. The only reason she had been able to keep him occupied for as long as she did was because she kept concentrating on hitting him in the same vulnerable spots, the eyes and neck.

  If he had been even just slightly more prepared or hadn’t underestimated her and what she was capable of, he would have been able to stop her easily. He’d almost had her stopping and falling to the ground in a sobbing mess with his words alone. Facing him again scared the hell out of her, and she wished she had more time. She officially only had ten days of summer left to get this solved and she was really struggling to work out what she was meant to do.

  “I cannot believe I have to tell two grown woman this, but if you two can’t play nicely then you can’t play together at all!” Maggie’s loud voice broke through her thoughts and she focused on the scene in front of her. Casey was now on terra firma, and it was back to its normal, level self. Both girls stood in front of their mother with their heads bent in shame, but Fiona coul
d feel their laughter and joy flooding their Elemental link.

  “What are you two so pleased about?” Fiona asked down their link.

  “Even getting told off by our parents,” Casey laughed, “makes us so damn happy, because—”

  “—they are doing it together!” Ariana finished. “And so happy, they shine brighter than the sun!”

  Fiona froze. Something about that had her mind ticking over and she tried to process what it was that piqued her interest. Without knowing what it was, she somehow knew that it had to do with the prophecy, but what the hell could it be? Try as she might, she couldn’t quite connect the dots in her head.

  For the next couple of hours, the three of them worked together to link their powers by trying different methods of combining their Elements with the aim of creating a different type of offense if the time called for it. The best one so far was when Fiona and Ariana combined theirs. They could effectively create a fireball that could be directed and aimed in the air to land where it would do the most damage.

  Time and time again, Fiona would send a fireball into the air and Ariana would send out a pillow of air to carry it over the water of a nearby lake and strike strategically-placed islands that Casey had erected in the water as targets. They were getting pretty damn good at it, too!

  “So, sister dear,” Casey began, her eyes sparkling with a calculated mirth that Fiona had come to know well. She was about to get all up in Ariana’s business and Fiona was just glad she was not the target of today’s little info-gathering mission. “Ryan recognized you as his mate, and I know damn well that you dreamt of that man just as Fi and I dreamt of ours, so why in the hell aren’t the two of you doing the horizontal mambo and getting it on?”