A primal snarl burst from his lips while he gloried in the passionate sounds coming from his mate. Extracting his fingers from their warm sheath, Jonas kept one hand around Nicholas’s swollen dick while his own cock jerked and throbbed, weeping freely from the slit. Snatching up the waterproof lube from the corner shelf, Jonas had to admit the little gift went a long way in changing his feelings toward Ridley.
Snapping open the lid one-handed, he flipped the bottle up and poured a generous amount into his palm. Then he tossed the lube over his shoulder, slicked his cock, and lined up the engorged head with Nicholas’s fluttering entrance.
“Deep breath, baby. Just relax and let me take care of you.” He waited for his mate to suck in air and let it out before he flexed his hips and pushed forward. Winding his arms around his lover, Jonas held tight and buried his face in Nicholas’s neck at the first feel of the tight, blazing heat surrounding his cock. “Damn, you’re fucking tight. I’m not hurting you, am I?”
A rumbling in Nicholas’s chest, somewhere between a growl and a moan, was his only answer. Taking it as a good sign, Jonas eased forward, slowly burying himself in Nicholas’s convulsing channel until his balls brushed against the man’s perfectly shaped ass.
Holding completely still to give Nicholas a moment to adjust to the invasion, Jonas kissed and sucked at his mate’s shoulders and nape while his hands mapped out the contours of Nicholas’s muscled body. The man had the sexiest abs on the planet—a corrugated eight-pack with deep rivets over, under, and between each brick of tensing muscles. Sharp and defined, his hipbones outlined his pelvis to exquisite perfection like two parts of an arrow pointing the way to the thick, veiny cock jutting from his groin.
“Move,” Nicholas demanded as he thrust his hips back, impaling himself farther on Jonas’s hard length.
Taking him at his word, Jonas pulled out slowly, then drove forward hard and fast to fill Nicholas’s depths and stretch his inner walls to capacity. One taste of what making love to his mate could be like, and Jonas knew he’d be addicted for life. It was like nothing he’d ever experienced. Neither the adrenaline of battle nor the thrill of victory compared to the overwhelming pleasure coursing through his body.
“Harder,” Nicholas practically whimpered as he began to move, fucking himself on Jonas’s dick.
The perilous hold on his control snapped, and Jonas gripped his lover’s hips in both hands, encouraging Nicholas to increase his pace as he slammed into him again and again. “That’s it, Nicky. Ride my cock. Take what you want.”
He panted the words between gasps for air as the intensity built to a crescendo and finally exploded, sending them both tumbling over the edge of bliss. Nicholas was the first to find his release, roaring loud enough to shake the glass in the shower door as his inner walls constricted in a firm hold around Jonas’s cock.
Grinding his pelvis against Nicholas’s rounded cheeks, Jonas fisted his hand in his mate’s hair and forced his head to the side.
Without kissing, licking, or any other preliminaries, he struck, sinking his canines into the yielding flesh at the apex of Nicholas’s shoulder and neck.
The taste of Nicholas’s blood as it rushed into his mouth was indescribable. It bathed his tongue and trickled down his throat, igniting his body into a raging wildfire of lust and desire. Squeezing his eyes closed, Jonas groaned, the sound muffled by the skin in his mouth, as he reached his own climax. Cum jetted from his cock, splashing against Nicholas’s inner walls and filling his depths to the brim.
When his senses returned to him, Jonas gently extracted his fangs from Nicholas’s neck and placed a tender kiss over the puncture marks. “There,” he said quietly, nuzzling his nose just under his lover’s jaw. “Now, you’re mine. I dare you to try and get rid of me.” Nicholas’s chuckle was tired, but the smile on his face lit up the entire room. “Oh, I’m definitely keeping you around. I have big plans for you later.” He paused and his smile slipped a degree. “Right after I figure out how to save your life.”
“None of that,” Jonas admonished around a yawn. “The sun will be up soon. We need to get clean and get our asses down to the basement.”
“So we don’t shrivel up like bacon?” Nicholas teased.
Jonas groaned and rubbed at his stomach. “Bacon sounds really good. I wonder what kind of food they have in this joint.”
“Don’t die on me, and I’ll buy you as much bacon as you want. Hell, I’ll buy you a whole damn pig farm.”
Jonas shook his head and wrinkled his nose. “Uh, no thanks on the whole piggy thing.” He wasn’t a vegetarian by any stretch of the imagination, but he had no desire to see where his chosen meals came from. Meat looked nice and pretty all packaged up in the supermarket.
Putting a face on his dinner just seemed in poor taste.
Nicholas just rolled his eyes and handed Jonas the shampoo. “I’m exhausted, and we have a lot of work to do tomorrow night. Move your ass, babe.”
“I’ll make you a deal.” Jonas lathered the shampoo in his hair as he spoke. “Don’t call me babe anymore, and I’ll move my ass however you like.”
His mate pretended to think it over for a minute and shrugged.
After washing and rinsing quickly, Nicholas slid the shower door open and stepped out onto the fuzzy bathmat. Then he glanced at Jonas over his shoulder with a mischievous smirk. “Hurry that sweet ass up, sugarplum. I plan to molest you again before the sun comes up.”
Ignoring the ridiculous endearment, Jonas focused solely on the molesting part. “Promise?”
Nicholas bent over seductively as he reached for his towel.
“Maybe twice, if you’re lucky.”
Chapter Eleven
Coming awake the next evening, Jonas immediately knew something was wrong. They’d shared the basement with two other vampires during the day, yet the place was deathly silent. He heard no snores or movement, not even the deep, even breathing that accompanied the truly exhausted once they found sleep.
The absence of the long, lean body he’d fallen asleep against had him scrambling into a sitting position while he blinked several times to clear the blurriness from his eyes. The cell was completely deserted, leaving him alone in the dim light that drifted in from the outside corridor.
Running his hand over the blanket near his hip, he encountered a small bouquet of flowers. Curling his fingers around the stems, he lifted the flowers to eye level and studied them. He couldn’t help but smile, even as panic and anger warred for dominance inside his heart and mind. Clutched in his fist were several freshly bloomed forget-me-nots.
While the gesture was sweet, and the chosen blossom relevant, Jonas would have much rather awoken to his mate. After all the talk of trust and sticking together, he couldn’t believe that Nicholas would leave him behind while he went off to fight a battle that could kill him. He was going to beat the asshole stupid when he finally got his hands on him.
Growling angrily, he slammed his fist down on his thigh then shoved off the bed with a new determination. He didn’t know where the others had gone or how to find them, but he wasn’t staying behind while the man he loved risked his life. He hadn’t waited his whole goddamn life to get everything he wanted just to sit idly by and watch it ripped away from him.
After yanking a shirt over his head and tugging his jeans up his legs, he shoved his feet into his boots, laced them quickly, and marched out of the basement. It was bad enough that Nicholas had ditched him, but the man loved him and, in his mind, was trying to protect him. What excuse did the others have, though? Surely they realized they needed all the help they could get. Jonas might not know a lot about magic, but he was another capable body, willing and able to wield a blade to defend what was important to him.
Storming through the door that led into the main part of the house, he almost barreled right over Ridley Thatcher. Ridley might be the alpha, but he wasn’t Jonas’s, so he didn’t feel too bad about snarling at the guy. “Where are they?”
“Oh, aren’t you ju
st a bucket of sunshine this evening?” Ridley grinned widely, either unaffected or unwilling to act on his anger over Jonas’s disrespect. Judging by what Jonas knew about the alpha and after observing some of his laid-back behavior, Jonas was willing to bet he hadn’t fazed the man at all.
“Ridley, I’m not fucking around here. Tell me where they are.”
“How about some breakfast?”
Jonas growled and lunged for the younger man, but Ridley was ready for him. Dodging his advance, Ridley spun into him, dropped his shoulder into Jonas’s midsection, and swept his legs out from under him. The move was so fast Jonas didn’t see it coming until he was face down on the floor with his right hand wrenched up between his shoulder blades and a knee pressing into the small of his back.
“You’re getting slow,” Ridley taunted him. “Maybe it’s time to quit the game, old man.”
It wasn’t until then that Jonas realized he wasn’t feeling up to top form. His muscles ached, his head throbbed, and he felt tired and weak. His throat burned and his stomach cramped as though it had been weeks rather than hours since he’d ingested any blood.
Holding his free hand up in front of him, he was horrified by what he saw. His usually smooth, pale skin was now gray and wrinkled, almost transparent in its thinness. Instead of the strong fingers he was accustomed to seeing, his digits were now little more than boney claws. “What happened to me?”
Ridley sighed and released him. Then he pushed up to his feet and held a hand out to help Jonas up as well. Panic bubbled inside his chest when Jonas realized he needed the help. He’d felt fine when he’d woken up. Right? Thinking back over the previous minutes since he’d arisen to find himself alone in the basement, Jonas couldn’t find anything amiss.
“I don’t know.” Ridley pushed both hands through his short hair, causing it to stand up in disarray. He studied Jonas’s face for a long time, looking him over carefully before shaking his head. “I just don’t know. You looked tired but otherwise fine when you came up the stairs.”
“Where’s Nicholas?”
“Where do you think he went?” Ridley growled and began pacing the floor. “He’s gone after Phillip. Don’t get all butt hurt about being left behind, either. He’s doing what he thinks is best to keep you safe.”
Unfortunately, that sounded like his Nicky. The man always shouldered the burden and never asked for help. While some may consider it noble or brave, Jonas found it to be one of his mate’s less than endearing qualities. “And you have no idea where they are?”
“I do, but I think it would be better if you stayed here.” Ridley held up his hand to cut off Jonas’s protest. “Man, you can barely stand up, and no offense, but you’re looking worse by the minute.” Jonas was feeling worse by the minute. He didn’t care if he had to crawl the entire way, though. Nothing was going to keep him away from his mate when Nicholas needed him. “Tell me where they are.”
“You’re going to get yourself killed!”
“News flash, I’m already dying.” He could feel his strength deteriorating and his body weakening, preparing to shut down for good. “If I’m going to die, I’d rather do it by my mate’s side in battle rather than whimpering and moaning in this house.”
“You are the most stubborn person I’ve ever met.” Jonas chuckled and shook his head. “You have met Nicholas, right?”
Ridley hesitated for a moment before joining in his laughter.
“Point taken.” Then he became serious again. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
“Yes.” Jonas had never been good with words. Short, sweet, and to the point was how he rolled.
“Fine.” Ridley nodded curtly, as though he’d been having an argument with himself and one side had finally come out victorious.
“I’m going with you.”
If it meant tipping the scales in their favor, Jonas was all for it.
“Grab what you need, and let’s go.”
“I don’t see daggers and guns being much use against magic.” Ridley pressed his lips together and winced. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t repeat the part about the guns. I know The Council forbids its Enforcers to carry firearms, but this is the twenty-first century, and I’m not letting my men die because of the elders’ refusal to evolve.”
“I agree, and we’re not the only ones. Leader Shogard is planning to petition I.C.P.J. about the issue.”
“Good luck,” Ridley scoffed. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve spoken with the elders about it since I became alpha.”
“Well, it’s something to worry about later. Like you said, guns aren’t going to be much use against magic anyway.” There was also the little problem of finding a way to defeat Phillip. If Nicholas was right about the binding spell, they’d also need to kill the wolf, Moonstar, if they planned for Phillip to stay dead this time.
“Where do you think he’s been for the last three years?” Ridley asked as he grabbed his leather jacket off the back of the sofa and pulled it on. “Why has he waited so long?”
“Maybe he didn’t have the book.” Jonas shrugged. It didn’t matter to him how or why the man was back. All he cared about was seeing Phillip underground again.
He took a step forward to follow Ridley to the door and stumbled, nearly losing his balance and taking a header right into the coffee table. Righting himself at the last minute, he shook his head and growled. Weakness was not an option. He couldn’t afford for his body to start falling apart on him now.
Looking up to find Ridley watching him, Jonas didn’t like the concern he saw in the alpha’s eyes. How horrible did he look? Was it really that bad?
Ridley held the door open and motioned him through. “We need to hurry.”
Yeah, it was that bad.
* * * *
It was a smack in the face when Varik drove them right back to the airstrip. At the time, Nicholas had been reeling from recovering his memories. Once he discovered that the others were missing, his only thought had been to keep Jonas safe and get them the fuck out of there.
Now that he looked back on it, there really hadn’t been enough time for Phillip to abduct four men and carry them away without either Nicholas or Jonas noticing. Part of him damned himself for an idiot, but a larger part was just grateful that they’d never made it inside the hangar like Jonas had originally planned.
“We’re sure this is the place?” Kieran asked from the front passenger seat.
“This is the place Galen dreamed about,” Varik answered. “He even described the remains of the plane.” He pointed through the windshield and out toward the charred wreckage.
They’d divided into three SUVs, and Nicholas currently rode with Varik, Kieran, and Demos. The Murphys were in the vehicle behind them with four of the Trinity Pack Enforcers bringing up the rear.
Nicholas had wanted to kiss the beta, Blair, when he insisted that Ridley stay behind and deter Jonas from following them.
It wouldn’t spell good tidings for their relationship, but Nicholas couldn’t stand the thought of purposely dragging his mate to what was sure to be his death. If they survived this, he had a lot of groveling do, and he could only hope that Jonas would forgive him for his deception.
Varik drove past the plane and turned off the asphalt, driving them out through the high grass as they bumped along the uneven ground.
“Where are we going?” Nicholas looked over his shoulder toward the aircraft hangar and frowned. “I thought they were back there.”
“Aslan and Galen both mentioned something about a cemetery,” Varik answered casually as though this sort of thing happened every day. “Ridley said there was a graveyard about a mile west of the airstrip. It’s for pack only so there’s no actual road to it. Usually they walk the caskets from the landing strip.”
“An entire mile?” Kieran asked with some shock in his voice.
Varik shrugged. “He says it’s a way to honor the dead, especially those who have died defending the pack. I’m not saying I get it, b
ut to each their own.”
Nicholas shrugged it off as well. He’d always found shifters a bit strange, but some of their traditions were nice in a way. The mention of a cemetery sent a chill down his spine, though. Not only could nothing good come from this, but having his brother in a cemetery with the Book of the Banished could prove to be downright catastrophic.
He really needed to shake himself out of his funk of thinking they were all going to perish. Nothing was ever accomplished without a positive attitude—or some shit like that. All he really knew was that he was walking into the unknown, and now there was a virtual valley of the dead involved.
They rolled along in silence for another few minutes before Varik pulled up beside an old wooden fence and killed the engine. “Well, this is it.”
Moonbeams illuminated the graveyard, shining on tombstones of all shapes and sizes as they stood guard over the deceased like eternal sentinels. To complete the utterly creepy cliché, thick clouds rolled across the night sky and a thin fog settled over the ground near the base of the headstones.
Headlights flared behind them, and two more vehicles came into view, stopping just behind them. Easing his door open and trying to make as little noise as possible, Nicholas slid out of the backseat and stared out over the cemetery. The quiet pressed in on him like a palpable force. “It’s too quiet.”
“Listen.” Demos held his hand up, silencing the others as they shuffled over to gather around them. “Do you hear that?” Nicholas cocked his head to the side and lifted his ear to the sky.
He didn’t hear anything at first, but then the wind picked up, carrying a muffled voice with it. The longer he listened, the louder and more distinct it became until it seemed to be all around them, swirling with the fog and surrounding them.
“Spiritus mortuorum ego advoca te. Return to consorti mea lux.
Spiritus mortuorum ego advoca te. ” The chanted words made his blood run cold, especially spoken in a voice he hadn’t heard in more than three years.
“What’s he saying?” Kieran whispered in Nicholas’s ear.
Haven 3: Forgotten Sins Page 9
