He kissed her shoulder, biting down on it lightly before pulling back and holding himself above her to gently rock in and out of her. He was unable to keep the sounds of pleasure from escaping him as her tight hole gripped him almost painfully.
He held himself up on his right hand as he wrapped his left arm beneath her waist and dragged her up to her knees so that her head and shoulders still lay on the mattress while her ass was presented to him beautifully so he could kneel behind her and pound into her with unrestrained need.
“Deuce,” she moaned, reaching her hands out to hold his legs.
“Come for me now, Mate,” he roared as his hand delved between her slick folds, found her swollen button, and rubbed it with enough force to send her over the edge.
She screamed her pleasure as he pulled her up against his chest as his balls emptied completely inside of her. Her heart was pounding beneath his hand as he wrapped her in his embrace and covered her right breast to squeeze it, showing ownership of her body and soul.
He laid them both down on their sides, his cock still pulsing deep inside of her. He couldn’t pull her close enough to him. She must have felt the same because she pushed back against him and grabbed his hand as it settled against her stomach.
“I love you so much, James,” she whispered, her voice raw with emotion.
“Who do you belong to, baby?” he asked her, biting her shoulder playfully.
“I belong to you, Mate,” she told him immediately, her voice wispy.
Deuce gasped as his cock slipped free of her sweet hole. He turned her body so that she was once again on her knees with her ass presented high in the air.
“Don’t move, Gracie,” he commanded her.
She didn’t think to question or deny his words. It felt right to give him complete control over her body. He had worshiped it and loved it. He had worshiped her and loved her. Why would she do anything but do as he asked?
When he returned a moment later, she felt the prodding of a cool, metal object against her rectum. She was too tired and too sated to worry. She knew Deuce would never hurt her.
“Push out just a little bit, honey,” he instructed, smiling as she did so immediately. He pushed the small butt plug into her, guiding it gently with his fingers until it was seated safely.
“Why, Deuce?”
“I told you before. I was going to come in your ass and plug you so my seed stayed inside of you. I own you, Gracie.”
Gracie’s giggle made him smile. He cleaned her with the cloth he had brought from the bathroom, throwing it aside before gathering her into his arms and pulling her tightly against his chest. He covered them both with the soft sheet and comforter and settled his hand against her belly, feeling the warmth of their baby beneath his palm.
“Deuce,” she whispered on a yawn.
“What, baby?”
“Who owns you?”
Deuce smiled and kissed the mating mark on the back of his mate’s neck.
“You do, Gracie,” he answered quietly.
“You’d better believe it, cowboy,” she told him firmly. “And don’t you ever forget it.”
Deuce smiled against her shoulder, holding her tighter as she reached for his hip and pulled him snugly against her. When she entwined her fingers with his and held them against her stomach, he closed his eyes with pure joy. There was no better place to be than with his mate in their bed, wrapped around each other and loving their life.
“Sleep, Gracie,” he told her quietly, but she was already snoring softly. “Sleep, baby,” he whispered to their child. “I’m so glad you’re here with us.”
The warmth of the new life within Gracie surrounded them both. Deuce held her within his embrace, more content than he had ever been in his life. He quickly succumbed to slumber as the events of the day, as well as their lovemaking, contributed to his exhaustion.
As they slept, the mark of a tiny, gold link that dropped from the connection made by the two entwined links of the original mating mark manifested itself at the nape of both of their necks.
Chapter 15
Deuce tucked his T-shirt into his jeans, watching his mate as she slept in their bed. The Great Spirit had been very generous in His gift of her. Deuce didn’t feel worthy of the blessing, but he was going to be thankful for the gift of his mate every day for the rest of their lives. There was no way he would ever give her up. She was his. Forever.
Gracie’s movement in the bed brought him out of his personal musings. Her moan of pain had him moving toward her immediately. Climbing into bed beside her, he gathered her in his arms and held her gently against his chest.
“Gracie, are you in pain?” he asked her softly, running his hand down her back soothingly.
“Just a little,” she whispered against the hollow of his neck.
“Where, baby?”
When she snuggled against him and mumbled against his chest, his brows furrowed in confusion. He tried to pull away from her, but she had wrapped her arm around his waist and held onto him tightly, preventing him from moving.
“Gracie, you need to tell me.” His voice was deep as he commanded her to be honest with him. If he were honest with himself, he felt a good dose of fear run through his chest as he worried about her.
“I said my butt is sore,” she told him, exasperation evident in her voice.
When he pushed her away from him slightly, he saw the deep blush on her cheeks. Even though it was adorable, he felt a deep sense of guilt that his lovemaking had caused her pain.
“I’m so sorry, baby,” he told her softly, hugging her to his chest tightly. “I’ll take care of you.”
Pulling away, he climbed out of bed and walked to the bathroom. Gracie could hear the running of water and sighed, knowing he would do what he could to help her. When he returned, he pulled back the covers and stared down at her.
“Turn over and get on your knees,” he told her softly.
She immediately turned over and slowly pulled her knees up under her. She couldn’t prevent the moan from escaping her as her sore bottom protested the move.
Deuce knelt behind her and saw the redness of the skin of her rectum that was surrounding the plug. He lifted the warm, wet washcloth and held it to her tender tissues, guilt stabbing at his heart.
“Gracie, I’m so sorry,” he repeated, leaning forward to kiss her right ass cheek lightly. He pulled the cloth away and reached up to carefully grip the bottom of the plug. “Push out, honey.”
She did as he instructed and the plug slid out, bringing with it the remains of his seed from the night before. The sheer animal need that tore through him at the sight of his mate covered in his seed shocked him. He had never been so possessive or needy in his life. But then again, he had never had a mate before either.
He put aside the plug then wiped her clean and held the warm cloth to her swollen bottom. Her sigh of relief made him feel better.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart. If having anal sex with me causes you pain, we don’t have to do it anymore.”
“No.” She was adamant as she turned to lie on her back and face him. “You didn’t hurt me at all when we were making love. It was amazing. And hot.”
She winked up at him, bringing a smile to his face despite his worry. “Think so?” he asked, hoping she would be honest with him. “Tell me the truth, Gracie Lee. I don’t want to ever cause you pain.”
“Deuce, you didn’t. Honest. I loved everything we did. Couldn’t you tell by the way I screamed when I came?”
He smiled at her words but couldn’t put aside his worries. He reached up and pushed the light brown hair out of her eyes, rubbing his fingers along her eyebrows. “Did you enjoy being restrained?”
“I did.” Her answer was firm.
“What about the floggers? Did you like those?”
Gracie blushed lightly as he looked down on her. “Yes. I really liked the floggers. I wouldn’t mind if we used those again.”
The grin that Deuce gave her made her cover he
r face with her hands as embarrassment seized her. She fought to keep her hands in place, but Deuce was a strong man. He didn’t hurt her as he removed her hands from her face, but there was no denying his strength as he insisted on looking directly into her eyes.
“I think that could be arranged,” he told her, his eyes bright with humor and desire. “I have other toys we can use, too. None of them will hurt you. I promise.”
“Okay, whatever you think is good,” Gracie told him, placing her complete trust in him.
“Okay, baby.” He kissed her lips lightly, leaning back and winking at her. “I liked being able to keep my seed inside of you. We’re going to have to experiment with another way that will do that for me.”
“That’s easy, Deuce,” she told him, winking.
“Yeah?”
She nodded, reaching up to touch his jaw and caress him tenderly. “If you get me pregnant, I’ll have your seed inside of me, James.”
The fire that lit Deuce’s eyes made her know that he liked her idea. He immediately covered her body with his. There was something erotic in the feel of his fully clothed body covering her totally naked one.
“Gracie,” he whispered against her lips. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” she told him, laughing at the way he was holding her so tightly. “You’re going to stop me from breathing if you keep squeezing me so hard.”
“Sorry, baby,” he told her, releasing her immediately.
Sometimes he forgot how strong he was. His brothers used to call him a linebacker, and they weren’t far from the truth in their evaluation of his build. With Gracie, he forgot about being so big. She was tall and strong. She fit him and made him feel normal for once in his life. He would have to make sure he took better care with her.
He looked down at her, his eyes bright with love. She had to know how much he cared about her. Even though she didn’t know about her pregnancy yet, she had given him hope that she wanted it as much as he did. When she realized that she was pregnant, he knew she would be just as happy as he was about it. He couldn’t wait to feel his baby moving inside of her. Hell, he couldn’t wait to hold their baby in his arms.
He couldn’t believe that his life was now so full. All the years of loneliness had faded away. He now had his own mate and would soon have a family with her. It was all he had ever wanted, really. He had wanted a special woman to share his life with and love with all that he was. He had that in Gracie. She was more than he could have ever hoped for. She was the balm to his hurting soul. He hoped he could give her every bit of the happiness that she deserved.
“I have to get to work. John is waiting for me. But I want you to rest some more and then take a long, hot bath. I’ll put some Epsom salts on the counter for you. Make sure you put some in the bath. It will help with the inflammation. You’ll need to soak for at least ten minutes.”
“Yes, sir,” she whispered, closing her eyes and snuggling into the pillow. “Cover me, please.”
He reluctantly removed himself from the bed, reaching down to cover her. “What a shame to have to cover all this gorgeous nakedness,” he told her as he pushed aside her hair and kissed the mating mark on the back of her neck.
She sighed as he kissed her, reaching out to grab for his hand and pull him to her so she could kiss his knuckles softly. “You’re just saying that so I’ll keep loving you.”
He smiled and brushed his lips across her shoulder one last time. “I hope you’ll always love me, Mate,” he whispered, running his thumb across the mating mark, smiling at the full body shudder he caused her to have just from that small touch.
His eyebrows drew together in confusion as he looked at the mark. Reaching out, he turned on the bedside lamp to get a better look. To his surprise, he saw an additional small link that was connected to the space where the original two golden links were joined. He had never seen that mark on any of the other mated couples in the area. The fact that it was on his mate concerned him.
She was already asleep, and he didn’t want to disturb her, so he turned off the lamp and walked into the bathroom to see if he had the same new link on the nape of his neck. He took the hand mirror out of the drawer below the sink that Gracie had claimed as her own and turned his back to the mirror over the double sinks. When he held it up and looked at his reflection, he saw that the same small link had also manifested on his neck.
He turned toward the mirror, trying to think it through. After a moment, a small smile ghosted across his lips. Although he didn’t understand why he had never seen the small links on his parents, on Luke and Melanie, or on John and Jamie, he knew in his heart that the new link represented his child that Gracie was carrying.
Placing the hand mirror back in the drawer, he left the bathroom. With one last kiss for his sleeping mate, he left their bedroom and headed down to the kitchen to eat breakfast. He knew Claire was already up and cooking. He could smell the mouthwatering aromas coming from the kitchen. After breakfast, he would meet John at the corral and ask him a few questions. He was determined that he would know for sure what the small, golden link meant and why none of the other couples carried it by the end of the day.
* * * *
“John, would you do me a favor?” Deuce asked his best friend as they stood beside the corral.
“Sure, Deuce. What do you need?” John turned to look at him, waiting. There was no question that whatever Deuce needed, he would do his damnedest to help him with it.
“Would you look at the back of my neck and tell me what you see?”
John’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “Okay.” His voice held amusement, but he pulled himself together when he saw the scowl on Deuce’s face. “Turn around.”
Deuce immediately turned around, pulling off his tan cowboy hat as he did so. John reached up and brushed Deuce’s hair aside so he could look at the nape of his neck.
“I see the mating mark. What am I supposed to be seeing?” John asked him, stepping back as Deuce turned back around to face him.
“Let me see yours,” Deuce demanded.
John turned around immediately, taking off his black hat and lifting his shoulder length hair to expose his neck. “What do you see?”
“I see your mating mark,” Deuce said grimly.
John replaced his hat then turned back around to face him. “Is there a reason you’re angry about seeing the mating mark?”
“What?” Deuce snapped out of his concentration and looked at John in surprise. “No. That’s not it.”
“Then what is it?”
Deuce took a deep breath and wiped his hands over his face in frustration. “I saw a new mark on Gracie’s neck this morning. I looked in the mirror and I saw the same thing on mine, too.”
“What?” John asked in confusion. He reached out and turned Deuce around, brushing aside his hair to look at his neck once again. “I don’t see any new mark, Deuce.”
“I don’t see anything on your neck either, John, but I’m willing to bet that you have the same additional mark that I do. And I think Jamie has it, too.”
“Okay, Deuce, either you’re delusional or there is some really freaky shit going on here.”
Deuce couldn’t help but chuckle at John’s panic. “I don’t think it’s anything freaky, John. I think the Great Spirit has blessed us all with another mark because our mates are carrying our babies.”
John looked at Deuce, his eyebrows lifted in surprise before a sly grin spread across his face. “Our mates are pregnant?”
Deuce nodded, smiling. “Gracie doesn’t know it yet, but I know she’s pregnant. I felt a warmth when I touched her belly after we made love yesterday. I don’t know how I know it, but I do. I feel the warmth of our baby’s life every time I touch her stomach. It gets stronger as the baby grows.”
John nodded, agreeing with Deuce’s words. “I felt the same thing when Jamie conceived,” he told him quietly. “I didn’t tell her right away because I didn’t want to scare her, but I knew the minute we created our
baby. It seems as if the same thing has happened to you.”
“It has.”
“So what’s the new marking?”
“It’s a tiny gold link attached to the space where the original golden links are joined. I think the tiny link represents the Great Spirit’s blessing on our baby.”
“Why do you think we can’t see it?”
“Actually, I can see mine. And I saw Gracie’s, too,” Deuce insisted. “I’ll bet if you look at yourself in the mirror you’ll be able to see the one on your neck, and you’ll be able to see the one on Jamie’s neck if you just take a look.”
“Hell!” John grabbed for his stallion’s reins and jumped up into the saddle in one fluid move. “I’ll be back after I take a look at Jamie’s neck,” he called over his shoulder as he raced away from the corral to head toward his home. “Better yet, give me an hour!” he yelled.
Deuce laughed at his friend as he raced away. This would all be made clear in about an hour’s time. He would be sure to check with Luke when he saw him at the hospital later, too. This new miracle of the additional marking just proved once again that the McKade land and its surrounding area shared a magic that was unique to its people.
He just knew in his gut that the new link was kept hidden from everyone but the mates involved in order to keep their miracle private. He knew John wouldn’t tell anyone about Gracie’s pregnancy. It was not his news to share. It would be a while before Gracie realized that she was pregnant. For now, Deuce would be the keeper of that secret and enjoy the warmth of his child as it grew inside his mate’s body.
He led his chestnut mare outside of the corral, grabbing for the pommel of the saddle and swinging up into it easily. As he slowly walked his mare away from the corral, he thought about his mate. It was going to be sweet when she found out she was pregnant. He hoped she would be as happy as he was. In fact, he really hoped she would want a few more of those little, golden links added to their mating marks in the years to come.
Touching Deuce [Cowboy Mates, Psychic Connections 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 20
